11 February 2020, Berlin: Chancellor Angela Merkel and Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Minister of Defence and CDU Chairwoman, talk at the session of the parliamentary group in the German Bundestag. Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka/picture alliance via Getty Images

Is Germany ready for a male chancellor? Is the CDU modern enough for a gay chancellor? Merkel should go... The headlines in German papers over the last week reflect the confusion unleashed after Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer quit as leader of the Christian Democrats (CDU) and triggered a crisis in the countrys ruling centre-right party.

Kramp-Karrenbauer, Angela Merkels hand-picked heir to lead the CDU and stand as its next chancellor candidate in 2021, resigned days after a political scandal in the eastern state of Thuringia.

Defying the partys promise to never cooperate with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, the Thuringia CDU had lined up with the AfD to vote in a new state premier. Outrage quickly ensued, with protestors taking to the streets to slam the CDU, and Free Democrat Thomas Kemmerich who won the vote thanks to AfD support.

READ MORE: German state premier resigns after outrage over far-right support

The country now faces months of political uncertainty until the CDU elects a new leader in December. However, it could also spell an early end to Merkels fourth and final term, or trigger snap elections before the planned general election in Autumn 2021.

The CDU, which has ruled Germany in different coalition constellations for 50 out of the last 70 years, has plunged deeper into disarray. It was already in the throes of an identity crisis, with some members wanting it to move further to the right and recapture voters who have gone to the AfD, while others support its more centrist policies under Merkel, and fear leaning more right will alienate liberal supporters.

While it won her much respect at home and abroad, Merkels open-door policy during the height of the refugee crisis in 2016 drew harsh criticism from many in the CDU, including from her interior minister Horst Seehofer. It also drove many life-long CDU voters towards the anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, nationalism of the AfD.

AKK not OK

Story continues

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer announces she will not run for chancellor, 10 February 2020, Berlin. Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka/via Getty Images.

Kramp-Karrenbauer, or AKK as she is called in Germany, has not shone since taking over party leadership in 2018. Merkels decision to step down as chairwoman after the CDU suffered heavy losses in several state elections but still carry on as chancellor was unusual  normally the two roles have been carried out by the same person  and people wondered if Kramp-Karrenbauer would succeed in Merkels shadow.

Merkel backed the former premier of the Saarland in the hopes she would reunite and reinvigorate the party. The chancellors chess moves may not have played off as planned, considering the current chaos in the CDU.

READ MORE: Merkels chess: Von der Leyen wins Europe, AKK gets German defence role.

Kramp-Karrenbauer has made a number of missteps in her relatively short time as party boss. In November, she threatened to quit if the party continued to squabble and not get behind her.

Kramp-Karrenbauer was elected by such a small majority, and her approval ratings have been disastrous, said Thorsten Faas, a political science professor at the Free University of Berlin. What happened in Thuringia made it very clear that she lacks authority in her party  and the chancellor then threw her authority onto the scales  which may not have made the situation easier [for AKK].

Merkel, who has avoided commenting on how AKK is doing her job and even defended some of her gaffes, this week harshly condemned the CDU over the far-right fiasco, calling its actions in Thuringia unforgivable.

No appetite for snap elections

In an interview with Reuters TV on Wednesday, Kramp-Karrenbauer, who is staying on until a new leader is chosen, said that she does not believe the stability of the coalition government is at risk. She pointed out that we currently have a chancellor and a government... which is also preparing for the EU Council Presidency."

However, she added that the EU was going through very turbulent times and, especially in the final phase of Brexit negotiations, it was important to have a capable and stable" Germany. Europes biggest economy has often been accused of not stepping up more in terms of EU leadership, for example, appearing to drag its feet on reforms. It is pretty certain that the CDU debacle will not make it any more outward-looking.

Former Social Democrat (SPD) vice chancellor Sigmar Gabriel told the Bild that he suspects it wont be long before there will be new elections. But both the CDU and its junior coalition partner the SPD are doing disastrously in the polls, and could face an absolute drubbing were fresh elections to be called right now.

Merkel bows out?

10 February 2020, Berlin: chancellor Angela Merkel reacts to the resignation of CDU chairwoman Kramp-Karrenbauer during a press conference. Photo:Bernd von Jutrczenka/via Getty Images

Despite frequent predictions that the chancellor would quit or be forced to quit, she has weathered crisis after crisis during her 15 years at the helm. A senior lawmaker from the Social Democrats indicated that breaking up the government was not on the cards  as long as Merkel did not quit early.

We went into this coalition with her. And we will also leave this coalition again with her, SPD general secretary Lars Klingbeil said in an interview (link in German).

Merkel is still by far the countrys most popular politician, with some recent polls showing her with up to a two-thirds approval rating.

Although there are few calls for her to step down, her move to manoeuvre Kramp-Karrenbauer in as her successor has been criticised as control-freakery and counter to how democratically elected leaders should operate. Kramp-Karrenbauers failure to unite the party underlines that Merkels succession plan has not worked.

"To me, this failure is symptomatic of the way Angela Merkel has exercised power," Henrik Enderlein, president of the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, told CNN. "She never allowed anyone to rise within the federal government and become a natural heir."

Men in waiting

Currently one of the candidates throwing his hat in the ring to lead the CDU and be its next chancellor candidate is Friedrich Merz, who is no fan of Merkel.

Friedrich Merz speaks at the 32nd federal congress of the German Christian Democrats on November 22, 2019 in Leipzig, Germany. Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Merz is a corporate lawyer by training and was formerly a parliamentary floor leader before Merkel forced him out in 2002. Openly critical of the chancellor and what he calls her failed leadership he would be keen to shift the party to the right. If he were chosen, it would be hard for Merkel to finish out her term.

He lost out to Kramp-Karrenbauer in the CDU leadership vote in 2018, but has recently announced he is resigning from his supervisory-board job at BlackRock investment company to devote himself to the party.

North-Rhine Westphalia state premier Armin Laschet is also contender for CDU chief. Laschet is a popular premier in Germanys most populous state. He is closely aligned with Merkels policies and a fan of the chancellor

Health minister Jens Spahn, who vied with AKK and Merz for the party leadership vote in 2018 and came in third, is also an option. Spahn is the youngest of the bunch at 39, and has also been critical of Merkels refugee policies in the past.

After being shaped by Angela Merkel for so many years, the CDU needs to learn to walk again," Spahn told Spiegel this week. The CDU has to be configured for the future, with the chancellor no longer at the centre.

Whoever takes over the CDU and runs for chancellor will still need to deal with the fact that the far-right AfD is present in every state parliament and the main opposition party in the federal parliament, and will keep sewing disruption and division like in Thuringia.
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, Feb. 17

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

Turkmenistan and the United Nations discussed a joint action plan for 2020, Trend reports referring to the Turkmenistans Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Feb. 17.

A source in the ministry said that in connection with the plan, a regular meeting of the National Steering and Coordinating of the Partnership Committee for United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) between Turkmenistan and the UN was held.

Deputy Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan Vepa Hadjiyev and UN Resident Coordinator in Turkmenistan Elena Panova emphasized the high level of cooperation between the country and the UN in various areas, the source added.

The parties work together in the areas of providing quality and inclusive social services as well as ensuring environmental sustainability, energy efficiency, and in the fields of employment, economic diversification, trade, governance and the rule of law.

The headquarters of the United Nations Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA) is based in Ashgabat.
A quarantine zone for people suspected with the new coronavirus in the Khanh Hoa Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Khanh Hoa Province. Photo by VnExpress/An Phuoc.

Khanh Hoa Province, home to tourism hotspot Nha Trang, can be declared free of Covid-19 after recording no new patient for 30 days, the Health Ministry stated Monday.

Khanh Hoa had recorded one patient, a 25-year-old hotel receptionist in Nha Trang whod interacted with two infected Chinese persons, on January 17.

The province has since gone 30 days without detecting another case. The woman was discharged from hospital on February 4.

Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen said at a government meeting on measures against the current Covid-19 epidemic that Khanh Hoa has deployed appropriate measures to fight the disease.

The ministry has instructed Khanh Hoa authorities to complete documents to declare the end of its epidemic status, Tuyen said.

Thanh Hoa Province in north-central Vietnam, which recorded one infection, a 25-year-old woman who was among a group of eight employees of Japanese-invested Nihon Plast Company Limited returning from China's Wuhan City, ground zero of the epidemic, will also be eligible to end its epidemic status if no new cases are recorded in the next five days. The woman was discharged from hospital on February 3.

Khanh Hoa, Thanh Hoa and the northern province of Vinh Phuc declared their Covid-19 epidemic statuses on February 1. Vinh Phuc has reported 11 patients so far, including five of the employees returning from Wuhan.

Localities would be eligible to announce the end of their epidemic statuses if there are no new cases in the last 28 days and preventative measures against the disease have been properly deployed.

Its been only seven days since Vinh Phucs last case, a 50-year-old father of a worker from Wuhan, who has also infected her mother, sister, cousin and neighbor.

Vietnam has been lauded by the World Health Organization (WHO) to have responded well to the Covid-19 epidemic from the very outset, preventing its spread, in a statement Saturday. While the U.N. health agency said it highly evaluated Vietnams ability to address urgent public health issues, it also urged Vietnam to stay on high alert and be ready to respond should more infection cases be detected.

The country has recorded 16 infected cases so far. Seven have recovered and been discharged from hospitals.

The global death toll of the epidemic has reached 1,776, with one each in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, France, the Philippines and the rest in mainland China.
OTTAWA - An upcoming meeting in British Columbia is emerging as the focal point for hopes of a speedy and peaceful end to the blockades that have disrupted rail and road traffic across large swaths of the country for more than a week.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/2/2020 (694 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A protester stands between Mohawk Warrior Society flags at a rail blockade on the tenth day of demonstration in Tyendinaga, near Belleville, Ont., Sunday, Feb. 16, 2020. The protest is in solidarity with the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs opposed to the LNG pipeline in northern British Columbia. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg

OTTAWA - An upcoming meeting in British Columbia is emerging as the focal point for hopes of a speedy and peaceful end to the blockades that have disrupted rail and road traffic across large swaths of the country for more than a week.

The meeting, which would involve the federal and B.C. ministers responsible for Indigenous relations sitting down with First Nations opposed to the Coastal GasLink pipeline project, has yet to be scheduled.

Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller arrives at the Office of the Prime Minister and Privy Council building for a meeting of the Federal governments Incident Response Group in Ottawa, Monday February 17, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

That has raised questions about how long Ottawa, in particular, is willing to wait as pressure mounts on the federal Liberal government to end the protests due to the economic damage they are causing. The pipeline has support from the Wet'suwet'en First Nation's elected band council but is opposed by the nation's hereditary chiefs, who claim authority on traditional territory off the First Nation's formal reserve.

Carolyn Bennett, the federal minister of Crown-Indigenous relations, reiterated her desire to meet with those opposed to the $6.6-billion natural-gas pipeline as she sat down Monday with B.C. Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser.

"We have reached out through a joint letter to the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs about meeting with us at the earliest opportunity and are hopeful we can all work together to establish a process for ongoing and constructive dialogue and action to address the issues at hand," the ministers said in a joint statement late Monday.

"Our primary focus is everyone's safety and ultimately, a peaceful resolution to the situation."

The two were invited last week to meet by Gitxsan chief Norm Stephens after members of the First Nation erected a blockade near New Hazelton in support of neighbouring Wet'suwet'en chiefs.

Bennett's sitdown with Fraser in Victoria came as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held an emergency, closed-door meeting with cabinet ministers in Ottawa to discuss the blockades.

Trudeau emerged from the meeting emphasizing his desire to find an end to the crisis, adding he had reached out to a number of premiers and Indigenous leaders to discuss the standoff. But the prime minister was tightlipped about his plan to reach that conclusion.

"I understand how worrisome this is for so many Canadians and difficult for many people and families across the country," Trudeau said. "We're going to continue to focus on resolving the situation quickly and peacefully, and that's what we're going to do."

The prime minister, who cancelled a two-day trip to Barbados this week to deal with the crisis at home, did not take any questions before being driven away by his RCMP security detail.

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair, Justice Minister David Lametti and others who attended the meeting with Trudeau were similarly mum on how they planned to address the crisis.

The ministerial meetings in Ottawa and Victoria came as protesters continued to block rail lines as well as highways and bridges in different parts of the country. Those included shutting down for the first time the Thousand Islands Bridge border crossing near Kingston, Ont.

The Ontario Provincial Police indicated they didn't plan on breaking up that protest, saying "the OPP has no role to play in the underlying issues of the event and is not in a position to resolve them." Protesters lifted their blockade of the bridge in the afternoon.

Mounties in Manitoba also reported about eight to ten demonstrators at a CN Rail crossing on Highway 75 in southern Manitoba. The highway and rail line both run south to the U.S. border crossing at Emerson, Man.

RCMP spokesman Robert Cyrenne said police were stopping traffic for safety, but that vehicles were still able to pass in both directions. CN said train movement in the area had been stopped and that the company was "evaluating our legal options very closely."

The RCMP said it had deployed a liaison team to the site to "establish a dialogue and maintain open and ongoing communication."

Police have largely refrained from direct action against the blockades since the RCMP enforced an injunction outside Houston, B.C. earlier this month, where opponents of the Coastal GasLink project were preventing access to a work site for the pipeline.

While more than 20 people were arrested and the company is preparing to resume work, the RCMP raid sparked more protests and blockades across the country.

Coastal GasLink signed agreements with all 20 elected band councils along the pipeline route, including the Wet'suwet'en First Nation's council. But Wet'suwet'en's hereditary chiefs are opposed to the project and say the council does not have authority over the relevant land.

Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller, who met Saturday with representatives of the Mohawk First Nation near Belleville, Ont., where a rail blockade has shut down train service across much of Eastern Canada, has invoked the Oka and Ipperwash crises in pressing for a peaceful solution.

A Quebec police officer died during a raid in 1990 after Mohawks south of Montreal blocked the Mercier Bridge, which became the Oka crisis.

Five years later, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shot and killed protester Dudley George during a standoff over a land claim by Chippewa protesters outside a Ipperwash Provincial Park.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2020.

 with reporting by Nicole Thompson in Toronto, Rob Drinkwater in Edmonton and Amy Smart in Vancouver.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version incorrectly stated that Ministers Bennett and Fraser had also sent their letter to Gitxsan chief Norm Stephens.
By Phuong Nguyen

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam, where cats are viewed by some as food, hosted its first ever cat show on Sunday, gathering around 60 pedigree cats with feisty stage names such as Angry Alice, Di Maria The Great and Timosa Sumo.

The show, run by the World Cat Federation, the world's largest federation for cats, featured a dozen different breeds. Event organiser Nguyen Xuan Son said the aim was to make people see that cats are worthy of love.

"We also want to form a national playground for pet owners to practice and gain experience before competing in international shows," Son added.

The capital, Hanoi, introduced a ban on eating cats in 2018 but it is still allowed elsewhere.

"In a country where cats are still served as foods and stray cats being mistreated are popular, the event is a chance to raise awareness among people," said Nguyen Dieu Hong, one of the attendees.

"Cat is not a sign of bad luck as many Vietnamese think and should be filled with love."

Over the course of a day, judges poked and prodded the animals, felt their fur, stroked their tails, looked at their teeth and tested their agility.

Seven cats won "best of class" awards and one, Timosa Sumo, won the heart not just of judges but of the public, which applauded him enthusiastically.

The blueish grey cat is of Scottish Fold breed, but owner Dinh Chau Hieu Tam said it was not just his beauty that made him a crowd favourite.

"He spreads the love to everyone," Tam said.

"He is my furry son. I just love him and am proud of him so much."

(Corrects first and fourth paragraphs to show only Hanoi banned eating cats in 2018)

(Reporting by Phuong Nguyen; Editing by Frances Kerry)
John  a McLaren Falls resident was out feeding his chickens when he heard gun shots on Tuesday.

He didnt think much of it because gun shots arent unusual in the country. People are often out rabbit or possum hunting. Then police cars went flying up the road and he put two and two together.

Police later confirmed two people had been shot dead near his home in Omanawa.

The shooting is the latest in a string of events in Tauranga, Te Puke and surrounding areas. It has prompted fears of a new gang war, although police have not confirmed such a link with the latest shooting.

Police Minister Stuart Nash has promised a heightened, armed police presence and reassures residents they are safe.

Mayor Tenby Powell is furious with the outbreak of violence around the city and asking for tough action to crack down on gangs.

It appears not everyone has moved here for the surf, sun and country life.

Tenby says the most recent spate of violence has been occurring over three or four weeks and, based on a lot of feedback, residents are afraid.

I can sum it up in two words. One is fear - people say they're scared, and the second is anger - people say theyre angry, but when I look into the context of what they've written about angry, it actually also means to be scared.

I don't think we need to overdramatise this but it is at the same time a change of dynamic in Tauranga Moana there's no doubt about that.

If nothing is done, Tenby is worried innocent people will get caught up in the crossfire and, in the case of an arson in Greerton on January 27, there had already been collateral damage. A Thai and and an Indian business were both damaged because they were next to the target - Bladed N Faded Barber Shop.

He believed there needed to be more than a tactical response and community leaders needed to sit down and address a change in dynamic, which was not only a Tauranga problem but occurring in several towns and cities around the country.

A McLaren Falls resident, who asked not to be named, says she feels nervous being at home following the shootings at Ormsby Lane on Tuesday.

Since the shootings, she has seen an increase in patched members riding up and down the road. While having dinner on Wednesday night, she saw a handful ride past. She says this puts her on edge every time.

They may come down the wrong driveway. They may cause drama up the road. They may have just been sending their respects to the guys but we dont know. There is too much tension along road Id imagine. It could just be an innocent bike ride, but we are all just a little bit on edge at the minute.

Timeline

It started on New Years Eve when the front corner of the Bladed N Faded Barber Shop in Greerton caught on fire.

The same shop was then victim of another attack when all of its front windows were smashed on January 25. It appeared all five front windows were purposely hit as a hole was created in each glass panel.

One person was then seriously injured along The Strand in the early hours of January 26. Later that same day, a large police presence was spotted in Te Puke where police confirmed that the incident in Te Puke was related to enquiries police made following the assault on The Strand.

The next day, the Bladed N Faded Barber Shop was completely gutted by a fire. The fire was 13 by 13 metres and a third of the building was burnt.

Following on from that, armed police swarmed at property in Harini on January 28, following a shooting in the early hours of the morning. A car was peppered with bullet holes but nobody was injured. Later that same day, gunshots were then heard in Te Puke, along No. 2 Road.

There was no further activity until Tuesday, February 11, when two men were shot dead at a property up Omanawa.

We are investigating each of these incidents separately, as well as any possible links between them, and any potential gang involvement, says Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Turner.
Stefanchuk stands for holding a discussion between factions and groups, as well as an "internal scientific round table."

First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk says Parliament has drafted the final version of the bill on an all-Ukrainian referendum.

"We have actually reached the final version of the law of Ukraine on the all-Ukrainian referendum. This is the first draft of a series of bills related to people's rule," he said during the Conciliation Council of faction leaders and chairmen of parliamentary committees, according to an UNIAN correspondent.

Stefanchuk added that a number of factions that took up the initiative in this matter would also be involved in this work.

Read alsoUkraine's Rada considers 184 of over 4,000 amendments to farmland bill, to continue on Friday

"This is a unique example where we have the opportunity to attract almost all public organizations specializing in this field," he said.

Stefanchuk also advocated holding a discussion between factions and groups, as well as an "internal scientific round table."

Later, Stefanchuk says, the bill must be translated into English to receive reviews from leading institutions dealing with issues of people's rule across the world.
Rohingya Christian refugees abducted, attacked in Bangladesh

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

At least 22 Rohingya Christian families were attacked, a Christian pastor and his 14-year-old daughter were abducted, and a Christian church and school were vandalized in Bangladeshs Coxs Bazar area, which is home to thousands of refugees who fled ethnic and religious persecution in neighboring Myanmar, according to Human Rights Watch.

A large group of men beat up residents, vandalized homes and looted personal property soon after abducting Taher, a Rohingya Christian pastor, and his daughter, in the Kutupalong Camp 2, the group said in a statement urging authorities in Bangladesh to provide protection.

The attack took place on Jan. 27 by machete-wielding Muslim Rohingya men on a Christian community, Radio Free Asia reported.

At least 12 Rohingya Christians were injured and hospitalized and the affected families were relocated to a United Nations transit center.

A police case has been filed against 59 alleged assailants. A group of Muslims also filed a separate complaint later, alleging that the violence was the result of Christians assaulting a Rohingya Muslim man.

Tahers wife, Roshida, said her husband may have been killed and her daughter converted to Islam. No one can give me any clear information, but my relatives told me that my daughter has been forced to convert to Islam and marry, she said, according to HRW.

Some camp residents suspect that the attackers are linked to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, an armed group whose representative denied and condemned the attacks on Christians, according to Benar News.

The ARSA  attacked us, the Christians. They looted our houses, and beat up many Christian members. At least 12 Christians have been undergoing treatment at different hospitals and clinics, a Christian identified only as Saiful was quoted as saying.

Saiful said most of the believers in the camp converted to Christianity in Myanmar and that he and his family crossed into Bangladesh from Baulibazar in Myanmars Maungdaw district in 2007.

About 1,500 Rohingya Christians have been living in refugee camps with more than 700,000 predominantly Muslim Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh after the Myanmar military began its campaign of ethnic cleansing in 2017.

A Christian Rohingya told HRW that camp officials try to avoid our queries. Another said a police officer told him that if they wanted to be safe they should go to the moon.

In a report on his visit to Bangladesh as the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee said in January that Rohingya Christians were in a most difficult position.

They told me they were persecuted due to their religion by the Myanmar Government while they lived in Rakhine, and now they face hostility and violence from a small number of other camp residents. This worries me.

HRW has urged the Bangladesh authorities to urgently locate Taher and his daughter and bring those responsible to justice.

The government should also act immediately to protect all vulnerable groups in the countrys refugee camps, including religious minorities like Rohingya Christians."
From left, actresses Kim Sung-ryoung, Park Shin-hye, Jun Jong-seo and Lee El pose for a photo at a press conference for "Call" at CGV Apgujeong in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap





By Kwak Yeon-soo







Supernatural mystery thriller "Call" is a female-led film that defies one of cinema's fallacies that women and thrillers do not go together well.







Adapted from "The Caller" released in 2011, the movie revolves around two women who are living two decades apart and are connected through an old phone.







Seo-yeon, played by Park Shin-hye, lives in the present day and accidentally stumbles across an old telephone at her house. Then, she begins to receive mysterious calls from a stranger.







Over time, Seo-yeon discovers that the caller is a woman named Young-sook, played by Jun Jong-seo, and the two develop an unlikely friendship.







However, when Young-sook claims to be calling from the past, Seo-yeon begins to question her motives. Young-sook suggests that she will save Seo-yeon's dad in 1999, and in return, asks her to learn about her whereabouts in 2019.







As she foresees her death, Young-sook threatens to take revenge and change her past. Feeling haunted by the disturbing calls, Seo-yeon tries to save herself and family.







"The film boasts heart-pounding intensity and suspense. It was yet the biggest transformation for me as an actress. I've never played such a strong character before," Park said at a press conference for the film at CGV Apgujeong in Seoul, Monday.







Jun, who rose to stardom with "Burning" released in 2018, said it was difficult to play Young-sook because her character is violent and aggressive.







"Prior to shooting the film, I discussed everything with the director, and that whole process has helped me to smoothly portray Young-sook's character on set," Jun said.







On her Hollywood debut in "Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon," she said, "Shooting Call was more exciting than going to Hollywood."







In the film, Kim Sung-ryoung plays Seo-yeon's mother who tries to save her daughter from Young-sook. Lee El plays Young-sook's mother, who tries to stop her daughter from committing crimes.







Lee Chung-hyun, who is making his directorial debut with "Call," said he was excited to present a hardcore thriller featuring four strong female characters. He earned popularity for his short film "Bargain" which was shot in a single take.







"The film is filled with multiple twists and turns, which keep unfolding until the last minute. The audience may also find other attributes of the film interesting  the costumes, spaces, lighting and props," he said.







The director shared that he used color to create different time settings.







"We've worked with colorist Vanessa Taylor to give a strong contrast to different characters and time periods. The color red is used to maximize Young-sook's anger and violence whereas the color blue elicits Seo-yeon's fear and despair," he said.







"Call" is set to hit local theaters in March.










Pakistan PM Imran Khan welcomes Antonio Guterres comments, but New Delhi rules out scope for third-party mediation.

Islamabad, Pakistan  The United Nations secretary general has expressed deep concern at heightened tensions between South Asian neighbours India and Pakistan over the disputed region of Kashmir, calling for India to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms when dealing with discontent in the territory.

Antonio Guterres made the remarks addressing a news conference after meeting with Pakistans Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Pakistans capital, Islamabad on Sunday.

I have repeatedly stressed the importance of exercising maximum restraint and taking steps to de-escalate both militarily and verbally, while reiterating my offer to exercise my good offices should both sides ask, said Guterres.

Speaking at an international conference on refugees on Monday, Pakistans Prime Minister Imran Khan welcomed the comments and called on the UN to do more to intervene over the issue of Kashmir.

If the United Nations does not play its part, this could become one of the flashpoints in the world, he said at an event where he spoke alongside the UN chief. Not to alarm you, but prevention is better than cure.

Pakistan has long invited the international community to involve itself in the Kashmir dispute, which India says is a bilateral issue.

But the two sides have not held any talks since last February, when the two nuclear-armed neighbours almost went to war over Kashmir issue.

They have fought two of their three wars since gaining independence in 1947 over the mountainous region, and while both claim it in full, they currently administer separate portions of it.

Third-party mediation

India has rejected previous offers by US President Donald Trump to mediate in the dispute, and swiftly rejected Guterres offer hours after he spoke, saying India considers the entire territory to be an integral part of India.

Further issues, if any, would be discussed bilaterally. There is no role or scope for third-party mediation, said Indian foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar in a statement.

Guterres called for the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions on Kashmir, which date back to 1948, calling for a plebiscite to be held among Kashmiri residents on whether they would join India or Pakistan.

200123032425866

In February last year, a suicide attack on an Indian security forces convoy in the Indian-administered Kashmir town of Pulwama killed more than 40 people.

India blamed Pakistan, with the resulting military standoff seeing both nuclear-armed countries carrying out air raids on each others territory and an Indian fighter jet shot down in an aerial dogfight.

The threat of war dissipated after Pakistan returned the pilot of the downed jet days later, but tensions have remained high, with frequent artillery fire and mortar shelling across the Line of Control that divides Indian-administered and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Last August, India revoked a special constitutional status accorded to Indian-administered Kashmir, merging it into its political and administrative mainstream, a move decried by Pakistan as being antithetical to the resolution of the continuing territorial dispute.

Since then, Indian-administered Kashmirs approximately eight million residents have been subject to widespread security curfews and communications and transport blockades.

Pakistan has frequently accused India of widespread rights violations as part of those security measures. Independent rights monitors and foreign journalists have been barred from visiting Indian-administered Kashmir.

When we see situations of discontent and unrest [in Indian-administered Kashmir], it is of utmost importance to ensure full respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, said Guterres.
FAIRFIELD (BCN)

A flight carrying U.S. citizens who had been passengers on the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan arrived about 11:30 p.m. at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, where they will be quarantined for two weeks.

"At present there are 171 additional passengers on the installation," Travis officials said in a statement. "This number does not include the previous two cohorts of evacuees from China, who arrived on Feb. 5 and Feb. 7 and have been observing their separate 14-day quarantine."

The evacuees had been tested and determined to show no symptoms of the coronavirus. But 14 later tested positive for tested positive for COVID-19, now the official name of the virus, but were allowed on the flight and were "moved in the most expeditious and safe manner to a specialized containment area on the evacuation aircraft to isolate them in accordance with standard protocols," according to a joint statement from the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Travis officials said the passengers who tested positive would be taken to a separate location off of the base for continued isolation and care.

Any other passenger showing symptoms will be taken to an off-base hospital for containment and specialized care, officials said, noting the Centers for Disease Control is in charge of the quarantine and that base personnel would have no contact with the passengers.

"Every precaution to ensure proper isolation and community protection measures are being taken," Travis officials said. "The safety and security of our Team Travis members and their families remain our highest priority."

Other evacuees were to be taken to Joint Base San Antonio in Texas, according to the joint statement.

Monterey County issued a statement late Sunday saying that local officials had been notified by state and federal authorities to prepare for the possibility of passengers with the virus being brought to Camp Roberts, located in San Luis Obispo and Monterey counties.

"Passengers who test positive for COVID-19 but no longer require hospitalization may be sent to Camp Roberts for the remainder of their isolation period," according to the statement.

"There no certainty at this time that passengers with novel coronavirus (COVID-19) from the Diamond Princess cruise ship will be arriving at Camp Roberts," the Monterey County Health Department said in the statement.

"We understand that a federal team will provide the staffing, food, and medical care at Camp Roberts," said Dr. Edward Moreno, Monterey County Health Officer. "The Monterey County Health Department is working to ensure that we protect the health and well-being of Monterey County residents."

County officials stressed that there are currently no cases of COVID-19 in the county and that any risk to residents is low.

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.
We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message.
2019 ended in turmoil for Latin America. This is one of the signs that suggest the region is still going to see similar results in the future months.

An article from The Wall Street Journal revealed that nations in the region had been witnessing countless protests. This is a product of a catastrophic economic mismanagement and corruption controversies. These two factors had widely contributed to the fall down of governmental support. Also, the support for democracy had been in its lower levels in the past years.

The Basis for the Fall

The recent statistics about the economic performance in Latin America shows that due to the global financial crisis, the United States of America and Europe both met a downturn in 2010. However, Latin America's performance in the global economic setting was soaring. There was a demand of China for various goods originating from the different parts of Latin America. These increased trading activities resulted in a boost of the middle-class society, government funds, and political stability. The gross domestic product of Latin America had increased by 5.8% in 2010.

In 2014, the price and poverty ratio of the entire Latin American population was at 28 percent. That is 31 percent higher compared to the statistics of today based on the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations. It is a group based in Chile that traces trends of social and economic concerns. The anger of the citizens due to corruption and poor service to the public is also a significant contributor to the falling trend of the economy of Latin America.

Expectation vs Reality

According to Cynthia McClintock, a Latin America expert from George Washington and a political scientist, the reasons for the conflicts being experienced throughout Latin America are expected to continue indefinitely. She stated that the world will not see the economic recovery of many Latin American nations. Also, democratic leaders are not expected to be immediately shifted to an ideal situation for the nation.

The Nations and their Contribution to the Economic Falling Trend

From Mexico to Argentina, 24 percent of people are satisfied with the current situation of democracy. This is the lowest reported satisfaction rating for democracy since 1995.

Additionally, the people's satisfaction with the economy is at a lower ratio getting 16 percent less compared to its 2003 results. The approval of the government had fallen from 32 percent to 56 percent during 2010.

Valenzuela, however, had it worst. It was once a nation rich in oil reserves. Due to an economic crisis, millions of its people had taken the initiative to seek asylum abroad, said the United Nations. Change is not expected anytime soon in the country due to its leadership.

Argentina, an agriculture-centered nation, is battling intense recession in the leadership of President Alberto Fernandez. His leadership is aiming another major spending for the restructuring of debt with its bondholders, including the IMF.

Similarly, Chile, Colombia, Bolivia, and Ecuador are also struggling to survive with their weakened economies. All of these nations had been devastated by multiple protests by its people recently. The president of Peru, Martin Vizcarra had ceased the operations of the country's congress. He accused the body to have been blocking the opportunity to change.
Ashley Roberts broke down in tears as she paid a touching tribute to her late friend Caroline Flack on Monday.

The Heart Radio presenter, 38, grew emotional as she discussed the tragic news that Caroline passed away on Saturday.

The former Love Island host, 40, was found dead inside her home by her father Ian after taking her own life while the friend who was staying with her 'popped out to the shops'.

Touching tribute: Ashley Roberts broke down in tears as she paid a touching tribute to her late friend Caroline Flack on Monday

Ashley, who was a longtime friend of Caroline, began: 'This is a tough one to do. It's been a tough few days following the news of... sorry... Caroline Flack'.

As she attempted to hold back tears, Ashley continued: 'For those of us who knew her this has been very surreal...

'It's hard to think anything good can come of this, but if anything it puts the spotlight back on how we treat each other.'

Firm friends: The Heart Radio presenter, 38, grew emotional as she discussed the tragic news that Caroline passed away on Saturday before sharing a series of pictures together online

Ashley went on to reference her own experience with suicide, as her father Pat took his own life in March 2018.

She continued: 'Having survived this first hand with my family, I can't imagine what her family are going through at this time.

'Just be kind to each other, our hearts and prayers go out to her. We love you Caroline.'

Struggling: Ashley, who was a longtime friend of Caroline, began: 'This is a tough one to do. It's been a tough few days following the news of... sorry... Caroline Flack'

Following the show, Ashley went on to share a tribute on social media, posting a selection of pictures that she captioned: 'It's taken me a few days to wrap my head and heart around what's happened. I still don't have the right words.

'May you Rest In Peace sweet Caroline. I can hear your infectious laugh and imagine you dancing. My prayers and heart goes out to her and her family. #bekind.'

Caroline took her own life on Saturday after a worried friend who was staying with her went to the shops, leaving her alone at her London flat.

The producer friend couldn't get back into the flat when she returned.

Tribute: Following the show, Ashley went on to share a tribute on social media, posting a selection of pictures as she urged her followers to be kind

She called Caroline's father Ian who gained entry to the flat where he found the star's body.

Her management team have since described her as 'vulnerable' and criticised the CPS for pushing ahead with a pending court case despite her boyfriend Lewis Burton saying he did not want to press charges.

He had said she hit him with a lamp at her former home in Islington in December and as part of her bail conditions the pair were banned from contacting each other.

Distressing: Ashley went on to reference her own experience with suicide, as her father Pat took his own life in March 2018

Caroline and Ashley were longterm friends after meeting through mutual friends.

The pair's bond was strengthened when Ashley appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2018, where she was partnered with Pasha Kovalev, who won the 2014 series with Caroline.

Ashley went on to date professional dancer Giovanni Pernice, who was Caroline's dancing partner during a Christmas special of the BBC One show.

Pain: In March 2018, Ashley's father Pat took his own life, with Ashley later admitting that she felt in a state of 'shock, confusion, questioning and pain

In March 2018, Ashley's father Pat took his own life, with Ashley later admitting that she felt in a state of 'shock, confusion, questioning and pain' as she struggled to come to terms with the news.

Speaking with You magazine last year, Ashley recalled: Nothing can really prepare you for the harsh reality of what I dealt with. Its tough, its very challenging.

She continued: The passing of my dad made me see how many amazing friends I have over here, who tried to scoop me up.

If you have been affected by this story, please call the Samaritans on 116 123 or visit www.samaritans.org
The National Legal Services Authority of India (NALSA) has asked all its state authorities to raise awareness about a portal launched by the National Green Tribunal through which aggrieved persons can approach the green body.

The communication addressed to all the state legal services authorities said that it becomes difficult for people living in far off places to access NGT and its benches due to geographical distances.

"In their ongoing awareness programmes/camps, disseminate information about online mechanism/remedy of approaching NGT with regard to the victim of pollution and environment damage.

"Apprise panel advocates and para legal volunteers about the same so that they assist needy and eligible persons in filing such online applications in appropriate cases," the communication stated.

The NGT has started the new system in addition to the existing procedure of E-filing.

Recently, NGT Chairperson Adarsh Kumar Goel had requested NALSA to apprise the masses about the availability of the newly-started online service and assist the needy and eligible persons.

NGT was established on October 18, 2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010 for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources.

It is a specialised body equipped with the necessary expertise to handle environmental disputes involving multi-disciplinary issues.

New Delhi is the principal place of sitting of the Tribunal and Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai are the other four place of sitting of the green panel.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A woman accused of strangling a man during a 2013 robbery was arrested after allegedly shooting a man to death Friday and leaving his body in the backseat of a car in southwest Harris County.

Shakiya Cruz, 27, was charged with murder after police found the man in the backseat of a Chevrolet Impala at a Clodine apartment Friday night. The victim was not immediately identified.

WEATHER: Cold front could bring up to 2 inches of rain for parts of Greater Houston

Cruz was in a Chevrolet Impala with the victim in a parking lot off the Southwest Freeway near Wilcrest around 1 p.m. Friday, her boyfriend told detectives. The boyfriend was leaving a shop nearby when he heard several gunshots, a prosecutor said in court.

He ran to the car and found Cruz holding the gun and the victim apparently dead, prosecutors said. Panicked, Cruz and the boyfriend got into the car and sped away, prosecutors said.

Immediately after the shooting, Cruz said nothing other than the victim had been threatening her, the boyfriend told police. The two drove to an apartment in the 15200 block of Gray Ridge Drive, where they left the victim sitting in the backseat, prosecutors said.

Later that night, the boyfriend came forward to police. Cruz was charged the next day.

What led to Fridays gunfire is unclear, but this is the second time law enforcement has accused Cruz of killing someone, according to court records.

A Harris County grand jury indicted Cruz on a capital murder charge in December 2019 for allegedly killing 24-year-old David Oshodi-Alagoa, who was found dead Nov. 11, 2013, inside his apartment in the 2800 block of Shadowbriar. Oshodi-Alagoas computer and watch were missing from the apartment after he was found, according to earlier reports in the Houston Chronicle.

MORE FROM JAY R. JORDAN: Man crashes truck into tree, dies after argument with family in southwest Houston

Two cars were also stolen from the apartment, police said. Detectives initially said Oshodi-Alagoa might have known his attacker since there were no signs anyone forced their way into his apartment.

Police claim Cruz kicked and strangled Oshodi-Alagoa during the robbery, according to court documents. Cruz recently confessed to the killing, a magistrate said Sunday.

Even though she's been facing the capital murder charge since December, she had not been arrested, records show. She was finally booked on the capital murder charge only after she was charged in Friday's killing.

A magistrate set Cruz's bond at $500,000, saying she poses an "extreme danger" to the community. Bond has yet to be set on the capital murder charge.

She was ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation, records show.

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
At the meetings this Monday with European Commission Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans, and with President of the Party of European Socialists, Sergei Stanishev, acting Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) Marcel Ciolacu said that he clarified the issues of the past and that the two European officials assured him of their support for PSD and for the party's efforts.

Ciolacu, who is on a working visit to Brussels, wrote on Facebook that the new European Green Pact, the future EU budget and allocations for Romania, as well as the European minimum wage were on the agenda of talks.

The Social Democratic leader is scheduled to meet President of the European Parliament David Maria Sassoli later in the day.
The governments argument of the telecom companies unconditionally accepting the contract is misplaced as the definition of the revenue itself was not clear and the parties to the contract had the right to disagree to it when the definition of the revenue  to include all revenue that hadnt arisen out of telecom operations  was decided.

The Supreme Courts order rejecting review petitions by the telecom companies challenging its verdict in the Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) case and a threat to initiate contempt proceedings against their top executives was unfortunate. Notwithstanding the legal merits, the 17-year-old litigation across four different governments at the Centre  one led by Atal Behari Vajpayee, two by Dr Manmohan Singh and two by Narendra Modi  sends the wrong signals to the global investor community. This order, coming weeks after the government delivered a public snub to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos during his India visit, does not make a good read for global investors.

This dispute is rooted in the 1999 National Telecom Policy regime, which allowed telecom companies to migrate to revenue-sharing contracts from the earlier fixed annual fee. Though it was intended to boost telecom services in the country, it left the definition of revenue to a later date. Clause 3 of the 1999 migration package, as quoted by the Supreme Court October 24 ruling, reads: On receipt of Trais recommendation and government's final decision, the final adjustment of provisional dues will be effected depending upon the percentage of revenue share and the definition of revenue for this purpose as may be finally decided.

The governments argument of the telecom companies unconditionally accepting the contract is misplaced as the definition of the revenue itself was not clear and the parties to the contract had the right to disagree to it when the definition of the revenue  to include all revenue that hadnt arisen out of telecom operations  was decided. While the government seems to have reserved to have a final say, the reference to Trais recommendation makes one believe expert opinion on the matter would be given due deference. However, the Vajpayee government included non-operational income in sharable revenue in contrast to Trai's 2000 recommendations. Though the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) rejected the government's contention on the definition in 2006, the then government of Dr Manmohan Singh took this to the Supreme Court - complicating the process instead of accepting the recommendations of expert bodies like Trai and TDSAT.

Though the Supreme Court may be correct to set aside TDSATs rejection of the governments definition citing the tribunals lack of jurisdiction and telecom companies unconditional acceptance of migration, an investor with basic understanding of the Indian Contract Act may wonder how could the acceptance be construed as unconditional when the definition of revenue itself  the fundamental component of the contract  was not decided at the time of signing! As per the Contract Act, both parties have a right to disagree if there is a material change in terms of the contract and seek negotiations or specific legal redressal. When such basic legal remedy to an investor, who spent lakhs of crores of rupees, was overlooked, citing lack of jurisdiction, how could investors find courage to invest their money in India?

The Narendra Modi government should takes steps to soften the verdicts impact and restore investor confidence, either by deferring the payment schedule of telecom firms for other dues or waiving the interest and penalty for the period when the definition was under litigation. Otherwise, the shutdown of even one telecom giant would wipe out 12,500 direct jobs and several thousand ancillary ones, and pull the banking sector into yet another mess with the default of over Rs 1 lakh crores in loans.
Bella Hadid prepared for London Fashion Week by getting a 24k-gold face treatment.

The 23-year-old model visited Mimi Luzon, a celebrity aesthetician, in order to undergo the unusual treatment, which other celebrities, such as Kaia Gerbe, Irina Shayk and Alessandra Ambrosio, are well-known advocates of.

Mimi posted a behind-the-scenes video of the brunette beauty undergoing the treatment on her Instagram page.

Golden girl: Bella Hadid prepared for London Fashion Week by getting a 24k-gold face treatment

Top notch: The 23-year-old model visited Mimi Luzon, a celebrity aesthetician, in order to undergo the unusual treatment

She captioned the short, eye-catching clip: 'Angelic @bellahadid dripping in gold with 24K Pure Gold Mask Treatment #glowbymimiluzon (sic)'

The innovative treatment is designed to instantly boost glow and restore hydration, especially after long flights.

Last year, meanwhile, Bella revealed she was donating 600 trees to be planted in order to offset her carbon footprint.

The American star - who is the younger sister of fellow model Gigi Hadid - admitted it 'makes [her] sad' that her job requires so much travel by plane, so she wants to do what she can to help the planet.

Good for her skin: The innovative treatment is designed to instantly boost glow and restore hydration, especially after long flights

She wrote on Instagram: 'Donating 600 trees to be planted , 20 for each flight I took these past 3 months and probably will continue for the rest of the year.

'It makes me sad how much my job effects my carbon footprint and of how brutally climate change is obviously effecting the world. Mother Nature needs some love. (sic)'

At the time, Bella explained that the trees would be planted in her home state of California, to make up for those lost in wildfires, and she also asked fans for suggestions as to where else she should 'show some love'.

She has that glow: Hadid walks the runway at the Burberry show during London Fashion Week February 2020 on Monday

A Burberry gal at heart: She has already appeared in ads for the design giant

She continued: 'This is so exciting and interesting to me, that even though I'm not physically there, trees are being brought to life in the most incredible places that are in demand of them! it's the air we breathe, the water we drink, the biodiversity and animal life we need.'

This comes after her on/off beau Weeknd has confirmed his new album is called After Hours.

The Canadian star took to Instagram to share a video which sees him driving through a tunnel in the city at nighttime before the title is revealed letter by letter on the social media app this week.

Earlier: Hadid walks the runway for Rodarte during New York Fashion Week: The Shows at St. Bart's Church on February 11, left. And on the right the star is seen at the Marc Jacobs Ready to Wear Fall/Winter 2020-2021 fashion show during New York Fashion Week on February 12

The record will be the 'I Feel It Coming' hitmaker's first since 2016's Starboy and follows his 2018 EP My Dear Melancholy.

The upcoming album - due out this year - follows a bunch of singles, including last year's 'Lost in the Fire' with French DJ Gesaffelstein, 'Power Is Power' with SZA and Travis Scott for the 'For The Throne (Music Inspired by the HBO Series Game of Thrones)' LP, plus recent singles, 'Heartless' and 'Blinding Lights'.

The album title comes after the star's track inspired by his relationship with ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez, 'Like Selena, which was registered online with ASCAP, was scrapped.

The Weeknd - who dated the Lose You To Love Me hitmaker between January and October 2017 - is believed to have penned the title track on My Dear Melancholy'about his split from Selena.

The 'Earned It' hitmaker's next studio effort could also be set to feature some more break-up ballads, as he broke up with on/off girlfriend Hadid in August 2019.

Her ex has been busy: This comes after her on/off beau Weeknd has confirmed his new album is called After Hours

However, the model's mother Yolanda Hadid previously predicted that the musician - whose real name is Abel Tesfaye - could get back together again, because Abel is 'still close to the family'.

She said: 'I mean obviously Abel has been with our family since what, Bella's 17 years old.

'You know what I mean? They're still friends.

'He's still close to the family and we don't know what's going to happen in 10 years from now.

'Now everybody has to focus on their career and try to, you know, do what they have to do and everybody's friends!'
Most adults in Illinois give the states public school system only a so-so grade, but they give slightly higher marks for their own local schools.

Thats according to a new survey commissioned by the Illinois Education Association, the states largest teachers union. The survey, called the State of Education Report, also found broad public support for increasing funding for K-12 education and raising educator salaries.

High-quality public education remains a high priority, and while there is no consensus on how to fix schools, funding and quality teachers are seen as a key, IEA President Kathi Griffin said.

The survey of 1,000 adults in Illinois was conducted Nov. 13-21 by Normington-Petts & Associates, a Democratic polling firm, and We Ask America, a Republican-leaning firm. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

When asked to give the states public school system a letter grade, only 2% of respondents gave it an A, while 20% gave it a B, both down slightly from a similar survey conducted last year. Forty-one percent gave the state a C, while 31% gave it a D or F.

Opinions were slightly more positive when respondents were asked about the schools in their own local community: 16% gave an A to their local schools and 37% gave them a B. Forty-three percent gave their local schools a C or lower.

Griffin said the survey revealed no clear consensus about how to improve the states school system, although 59% said having high-quality public schools should be a top priority. The only other issue that ranked higher in the survey was cleaning up corruption in state government. Reducing crime, balancing the state budget and lowering taxes all ranked lower.

The survey also found broad support for increasing education funding in Illinois. Overall, two-thirds of respondents said the state should increase school funding compared to only 5% who said it should be cut and 23% who said it should stay the same.

The survey did not ask respondents where they think the additional money should come from. Griffin, however, said she believes the state needs to continue funding the Evidence Based Funding program that lawmakers passed in 2017, and that it should do so with revenue from the proposed graduated income tax amendment that will be on the November general election ballot.

(T)hat will assist in making sure that our schools have the resources they need so that we can provide a quality education for all of our students, she said.

The survey was conducted just months after Illinois lawmakers passed measures aimed at relieving the states teacher shortage. Those included bills raising the minimum wage for teachers to $40,000 by 2023 and easing some of the states licensing requirements. Griffin, however, said it will take time for the effects of those new laws to set in.

Just over half of all respondents in the survey said they believe teachers in their communities are paid too little, while only 8% said they were paid too much. One-third said they thought teacher salaries were about right.

The survey also found support for other measures aimed at reducing the states teacher shortage, including lowering the minimum retirement age for teachers in the Tier 2 retirement system  those hired since 2011  to 60 instead of 67.
Rhylee Gerber from Below Deck had a little fun with knot tying when she appeared at the Miami International Boat Show over the weekend.

The Alaskan fishing boat captain turned deckhand was called out this season by bosun Ashton Pienaar about knot tying. Pienaar pulled Gerber and deckhand Tanner Sterback aside at one point to review how to tie a certain kind of knot. He was critical of how Gerber tied a knot, asserting that her knot was too difficult to untie.

Rhylee Gerber | Photo courtesy of Rhylee Gerber

Pienaar insisted the deck team use a specific type of knot, called a bowline knot. The appeal of this knot is that it is easy to tie and untie. However, there are many different types of bowline knots too. And one approach isnt necessarily better than another.

She hosted a demonstration at the boat show

Gerber appeared alongside another female boat captain to provide a demonstration of how to tie a bowline knot the way Ashton should have she joked in the video. Captain Devin from BoatUS Foundation did the honors and used the rabbit and the tree approach to getting the knot tied.

The demonstration went off without a hitch and then Gerber wanted to give it a shot. Gerber first cleared up the misconception that she couldnt tie the bowline knot on charter. Ashtons problem with my bowline knot was the fact my rabbit was in my hole and not hanging down below. That was his problem, she shared.

Then Gerber demonstrated the knot like a pro and the audience applauded. Gerber captioned her video by thanking Captain Devin for doing the demonstration. HUGE props to @devinnoone with @boatusfoundation for taking the time to show me the proper way to tie a #bowline knot during the 2020 @miamiboatshow, she wrote. Adding, Theres still 2 days left to check out all the rad vendors and awesome watercraft and not only that, @boatusfoundation has been so kind as to extend my promo code: RHYLEE for the remainder of the year for anyone looking to purchase their on the water training course!!

Kate Chastain learned the same way too

Chief stew Kate Chastain replied to Gerbers video. Hahaha the rabbit and the tree is how I was taught by a bosun (a real one) on an Atlantic crossing. Captain Devin suggested more women on deck next season. All female deck crew next season? she asked. Gerber is here for it. @devinnoone youre in!!

Gerber has been working at the boat show all weekend. Shes taken oodles of photos with fans, happy to meet and smile with anyone who stops to chat. She also swung by the Casa Vieja Lodge booth to tell fans about their giveaway too. All inclusive with @casaviejalodge in Guatemala!! Check it out!!! Badass captains and world class sport fishing!! she shared.

Even though she was at the boat show to help with some boating demonstrations, she was still rocking adorable wedge heels and cute yellow shorts. Her sunny smile was a bright spot during the weekend as rain continued to drench the event.

Catch Gerber once again on Monday when the second part of the Below Deck reunion airs at 8 p.m. on Bravo.
This makeshift settlement in Pakistan houses Afghan refugees, and lies a short drive from a five star hotel in Islamabad where international VIPs are discussing their future on Monday (February 17).

The United States has reached agreement with the Taliban to reduce violence for a week, which could lead to U.S. troops withdrawing from Afghanistan.

But the prospect of a peace deal -- perhaps by the end of the month -- is raising questions about the future of one of the biggest refugee populations in recent history, exiled by decades of war.

There are about three million refugees in Pakistan, many more in Iran. Many were born abroad, without knowing their homeland.

(SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) 32-YEAR-OLD AFGHAN REFUGEE, RUSTUM, SAYING:

"If we leave here, we have nowhere to go back to. I was born here about 32 years ago. If we go, where will we live? We have nowhere to go. Other brothers like us who have gone have nowhere to live. Even if peace returns, we still cannot go. Here at least we get a hut to live in; there, we wouldn't even get a hut."

Others say they fear being forced to go to the vast swathes of Afghanistan controlled by the Taliban, without guarantees of peace and respect for human rights and the rights of women.
One of the most significant achievements of Manmohan Singh was the conclusion of the Indo-US (United States) nuclear agreement in UPA (United Progressive Alliance) 1. PM Manmohan Singh rightly believed that the non-proliferation regime had imposed a nuclear apartheid on India and it would be a major long-term gain for our economy if we could get these restrictions lifted...

...We knew the agreement would be criticized at home. The Left parties were opposed to any closeness to the US and would oppose the agreement on principle. The BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) would criticize the Government for accepting too many conditions...

...In October 2007, Sonia Gandhi asked me to come and see her.She had never done this before, so I was naturally curious. She said Prakash Karat had told her categorically that if we proceeded with the deal, the Left would withdraw support. She also said the PM had told her that the Left would keep badgering the Government and if we were to be pushed to the polls in any case, it was better if it happened earlier rather than later. The PM was concerned that if we had a bad monsoon next year, the economic situation could deteriorate, reducing the scope for manoeuvre, and it was best to move quickly. She also told me that he had offered to resign and let her reshuffle the leadership at the top if she wanted. She wanted me to urge the PM not to resign. He had the full weight of her support and that of the party, but neither the party nor the allies wanted an early election.

Sonia Gandhi said she did not think the nuclear deal was an issue on which to risk an early election. I agreed with her that this was not the time for the PM to force an election. In fact, I pointed out that in the course of the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in Delhi a few weeks earlier, an aggressive questioner, referring to the opposition to the nuclear deal, asked whether the deal was being abandoned. The PM himself had responded by saying we were not a one-issue government. She asked me to brief the PM on our conversation and convey to him that this was not the time to resign.

I reported the conversation to the PM, including my view, and pointed out that the public did not fully understand the benefits of the nuclear deal and a much stronger effort was needed to educate public opinion. I felt we had not adequately emphasized that the waiver from the NSG (Nuclear Suppliers Group), which prohibited members from engaging in nuclear trade with any country that was not a signatory of the NPT (Non Proliferation Treaty), would not just open the door for the US to collaborate with India but allow such collaboration with other countries. In effect, by helping us obtain an NSG waiver, the US would be opening many doors for us that would otherwise remain completely closed. He did not reveal his mind in our conversation but I was happy to find that he did not resign at that time.

Meanwhile, the Left hardened its position...By February, the Left parties said the Government would have to choose between the nuclear deal and its own stability, setting a deadline of 15 March for the Government to indicate its intentions. The Left knew the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) safeguards agreement was an essential step before the US Congress could approve the 123 Agreement, so it concentrated its efforts on preventing the Government from going to the IAEA.

On 25 June 2008, Sonia Gandhi again asked me to come and see her. She said she had been told by many people that the PM was thinking of resigning and it would be a disaster for the party if he did, as none of the allies were keen on an early election. My response on this occasion was different from a year earlier. I had agreed then that it was premature to risk an election on this issue but now felt the situation had changed. The issues involved had been adequately explained in public and we had reached a point where the credibility of the Government would be affected if we appeared paralysed by a Left veto. I informed her that I had already told the PM that the right course, in my view, was to go to the IAEA and take the risk of the Left pulling out. She heard me out and asked me to convey the gist of our conversation and her views to the PM, which I did that very day.

I have no idea whether they discussed the issue further but we know that the PM stood firm and sent the draft agreement to the IAEA shortly before leaving for a G8 meeting in Japan in early July.

True to its word, the Left withdrew support on 8 July. The PM sought a vote of confidence in the House on 10 July. It was tense as both the Left and the BJP were on the same side. The opposition from the Left was not a surprise but the opposition from the BJP was mystifying. Brajesh Mishra, former principal secretary and national security advisor to PM Vajpayee, had supported the deal. The PM told me that he had also spoken to former PM (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee explaining that what the Government had done was the logical culmination of the efforts at rapprochement begun by him. He said Vajpayee seemed to agree but expressed helplessness...

...Fortunately, the Samajwadi Party, led by Mulayam Singh, came to the rescue. Manmohan Singh told me later that he had asked former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, one of the team of scientists that had supervised the nuclear test in 1998, to speak to Mulayam and persuade him of the merits of the nuclear deal. Kalams support was critical in getting the Samajwadi Party to support the Government on this occasion...

...Manmohan Singhs quiet leadership was the critical driving force that made the nuclear agreement a success. He put together a team of key players and got them to cooperate and be part of the consensus that evolved. Leading from the front was particularly important because many in the Congress party were ambivalent about the deal. They worried about the political consequences of seeming to get too close to the US, because they feared loss of support from the Left and were also concerned that closeness to the US would alienate Muslim voters. At critical points, the PM had to mobilize political support from outside the party, such as from Dr Kalam who spoke to Mulayam to support the Government. The PM was able to navigate the choppy political waters with skill and patience and keep his party on board. He certainly could not have achieved this without the support of Sonia Gandhi who was fully aware of the partys ambivalence.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia is former Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of India.These are edited excerpts from his recent book, Backstage: The Story Behind Indias High Growth Years

The views expressed are personal
Fleet-footed canines were star athletes in Sundays annual sheep dog trials, stopping to calm a restless trio of livestock, then zooming across the turf to herd them through obstacles and finally into a small pen in the highly competitive timed event.

The trials, a popular event for dog lovers that has been held at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo since 1997, showcased the precision and teamwork of sheep dogs and their human handlers in five categories, based on the dogs level of experience.

Using well-trained dogs following stop-and-start voice and whistle commands, about 50 furry competitors led sheep around barrels, through chutes and into a pen without making any physical contact with the livestock. Although border collies are the most prevalent breed in the sport, some of the dogs are Australian shepherds or kelpies.

On ExpressNews.com: Rodeo carnival moves to more spacious area

It was the female dogs who took first-place honors in the top two categories Sunday.

In the two categories featuring the most seasoned dogs, Rick Cannon took first place in both rounds Sunday in the open class, working with Roxie in the first round and Gail in the second.

In the open ranch category, Tyler Shupe had the best times competing with Nell in both rounds.

Shupe, who lives in Indiana, rounded out a week of trials in Texas with Sundays competition in the Cattle Barn.

He posted admirable times in the first rounds, including 1 minute, 43 seconds in the open ranch category with Nell, a 3-year-old female, and 1 minute, 26 seconds in the ranch category with Annie, a 2-year-old.

While Nell is a super nice dog that Im really excited about, less experienced Annie is pretty fast on the tight stuff and has a lot of feel for sheep, and so it makes my job a lot easier, said Shupe, 34.

Ive had several dogs, but they havent all fit me personally, he said. But my dogs, theyre very biddable, they want to please, and theyre extremely loyal. They work as a team and not just individuals.

Shupe, who lives in a town just west of Indianapolis and traveled from Central Indiana to compete for the first time in San Antonios arena trials, said he prefers a fast dog with an instinct for herding  traits that are genetic.

As long as they want to help you and work with you, it works out a lot easier, Shupe said.

The ultimate goal is to steadily move and direct three sheep across the floor with as little stress to the livestock as possible. Any biting results in immediate disqualification.

They use the power of their eye and their body position to move the stock. Thats how animals communicate, Shupe said. Their eyes make everything move and everything work.

Most handlers initially use voice commands, then add different tones of whistles, which carry farther, to signal dogs to veer the sheep left or right. When the dogs are not competing or training, they become like pets.

They dont get on the couch. They dont get on the bed. They have their own rules that we go by. But I get attached to them just like you would anything else  anything you spend that much time with and you have a partnership with, Shupe said.

Sundays competition, attended by about 400 spectators, began with a moment of silence in memory of two longtime members of the Texas Sheep Dog Association, Jerry Lynch and E.B. Raley, who both died last year. Both were from Crawford.

On ExpressNews.com: Mexicos official sport joins rodeo lineup

Lynch, 55, a longtime educator and active member of the association for more than 20 years, died in April. Raley, 90, an association member for about 40 years who served as president, died in December.

Shupe is one of the new generation of sheep dog handlers on the rodeo circuit. He started training sheep dogs nearly 20 years ago while in his teens.

We are seeing a lot of younger handlers, me being included in that, I guess. So its really nice to see a lot of younger people coming up. Were kind of like a small family, he said.

I had a great day today, but tomorrow Ill learn something new, Shupe added.

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
A massacre in an anglophone region of Cameroon left up to 22 villagers dead including 14 children, the UN said Sunday, with an opposition party blaming the killings on the army.

Armed men carried out the bloodshed on Friday in the village of Ntumbo in the Northwest region, James Nunan, a local official of humanitarian coordination agency OCHA, told AFP.

Up to 22 civilians were killed, including a pregnant woman and several children, Nunan said, adding that 14 children -- including nine under age five -- were among the dead.

Eleven of the children were girls, said Nunan, head of OCHAs office for the Northwest and Southwest regions, which are home to the West African countrys large English-speaking minority.

Separatists in the regions have been fighting the central government for three years.

The Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon, one of the countrys two main opposition parties, issued a statement saying: The dictatorial regime (and) the supreme head of the security and defence forces are chiefly responsible for these crimes.

A key figure in the separatist movement, lawyer Agbor Mballa, in a Facebook post also accused state defence forces of carrying out the killings.

An army official contacted by AFP early Sunday denied the allegations, saying simply: False. No other official response was immediately available.

The three-year conflict between anglophone forces seeking to break away from French-speaking Cameroon has claimed more than 3,000 lives and forced more than 700,000 people to flee their homes.

Fridays killings followed elections on February 9 that were marred by violence in the regions blamed both on separatists and security forces.

Armed separatists prevented people from voting, threatening reprisals, while government soldiers were a heavy presence.

Separatists kidnapped more than 100 people and torched property in the run-up to the elections, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Wednesday.

The government has not yet announced the results of the elections or turnout figures.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The US administrations push to prevent China from dominating the market for advanced technologies has put it on a collision course with the same American companies it wants to protect. Firms that specialise in microchips, artificial intelligence, biotechnology and other industries have grown increasingly alarmed by the administrations efforts to restrict the flow of technology to China, saying it could siphon expertise, research and revenue away from the United States, ultimately eroding Americas advantage. The concerns, which have been simmering for months, have ...
Proper structures must be instituted to ...
LAS VEGAS - The Latest on the 2020 presidential campaign (all times local):

2 p.m.

Elizabeth Warren is preaching Democratic unity in taking on President Donald Trump, a challenge she framed as an existential crisis for America.

Warren, having partly recovered her voice after catching a cold, said at a Monday afternoon town hall in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson that America is at its best when it takes on a problem.

She said the 2020 election is the moment in history that we have been called to, likening it to the challenges America overcame from its founding revolution, the Civil War, the Great Depression and World War II.

The Massachusetts senator also spoke about how shes adopted policy plans and hired staff from Democrats who have dropped out of the race, including New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, former Obama administration housing chief Julian Castro, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and California Sen. Kamala Harris.

Warren said culling those ideas builds a Democratic Party and coalition that works for all of us.

___

12:50 p.m.

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is joking that hed let Donald Trump stay in the White House after the November election if hes willing to do the chores.

The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was asked at two consecutive town halls in Nevada on Monday about what hed do should Trump refuse to leave the presidency after losing the election.

After making the same joke at each stop, Buttigieg said the question makes it important to win the general election by as big a margin as possible.

He told a group of veterans in Reno that he wanted to win big enough that this election is beyond cheating distance. Buttigieg repeated that at a Carson City town hall and tied it to his pitch that he can assemble the broadest coalition in November.

___

11:45 a.m.

Nevadas Democratic Party says more than 26,000 people cast votes during the first two days of early voting in the states presidential caucuses.

The state party said Monday that more than half of those voting on Saturday, the first day, were first-time caucus goers.

Nevada Democrats are under intense pressure to pull off smooth caucuses and had to reconfigure their plans after problems at Iowas caucuses.

For the first time, Nevadas Democratic Party is offering four days of early caucus voting, when voters fill out a paper ballot marking at least their top three choices for president. Those votes will be combined with in-person votes at about 2,000 precincts in caucus meetings next Saturday.

Democratic officials did not report any major problems over the weekend, but party officials were overwhelmed by long lines at some caucus sites.

About 84,000 people participated in Nevadas Democratic presidential caucuses in 2016.

___

11:30 a.m.

Amy Klobuchar is joining White House rivals Tom Steyer, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg in launching Spanish-language television ads in Nevada.

The Minnesota senator on Monday announced a television and radio ad in Las Vegas and Reno as early voting is underway for the states Democratic caucuses.

Latinos make up 29% of Nevadas population and the Democratic candidates are courting them in the early state before final caucus voting Saturday.

Klobuchar comes from a mostly white state and is among the candidates working to prove she can reach out to diverse groups of voters in Nevada and beyond. She stumbled in an interview last week when she couldnt name Mexicos president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Her ad features a Spanish-speaking narrator who says Klobuchar is a candidate who can actually defeat President Donald Trump and fight for better health care and prices for prescription drugs.

___

8:10 a.m.

Billionaire Mike Bloomberg is taking lots of heat from his rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination. They portray him as an opportunist whos trying to buy his way to the White House.

Now hes pushing back.

On Monday, the former New York mayor posted a video mashup on Twitter showing aggressive and threatening comments by people who appear to be Bernie Sanders supporters, juxtaposed with Sanders calling for civil discourse.

Bloomberg tweets: We need to unite to defeat Trump in November. This type of energy is not going to get us there.

That was a slap at claims by Sanders that he is commanding the excitement and energy in the Democratic race.

Most of the leading candidates are campaigning in Nevada for the caucuses Saturday. Bloomberg isnt competing there. But he might qualify for his first debate, coming Wednesday.
Deloitte India would not provide non-audit services to all listed companies and other entities where public money is involved such as banks and insurance companies, if they are its audit clients.

After Price Waterhouse (PW) India, Deloitte Haskins & Sells has said its network of firms in India will not offer non-audit services to public interest entities they audit here, a press statement said.

Deloitte India would not provide non-audit services to all listed companies and other entities where public money is involved such as banks and insurance companies, if they are its audit clients.

We believe this would increase public confidence in auditor independence and quality and will remove ambiguity in a public and business environment that demands greater clarity about our services, a spokesperson from Deloitte said on Sunday.

Deloitte has become the third such company to do so after PW India and Grant Thornton, and is the second among the big four.

Doing the right thing is at the bedrock of the audit profession, and one doesnt have to wait for regulators to tell you what to do.

"Im pleased to see we were able to lead that change in India, Vishesh C Chandiok, chief executive officer, Grant Thornton India LLP.

Experts said there was pressure from stakeholders to keep audit and non-audit at arms length to avoid conflict of interest.

Deloitte Haskins & Sells was among the two firms that the Serious Fraud Investigation Office had asked the National Company Law Tribunal to bar for alleged lapses in auditing the books of IL&FS Financial Services.

The Bombay high court had granted interim relief to the auditors against any coercive action in November.

An audit quality review by the National Financial Reporting Authority had found that Deloitte Haskins & Sells failed to comply with the standards of auditing and compromised its independence by providing prohibited non-audit services for substantial fees in the matter of IL&FS financial services.

In the press statement issued on Sunday, Deloitte said their voluntary action was in the spirit of self-regulation and extended beyond non-audit services permissible under prevailing rules and regulations in India.

Deloitte Haskins & Sells remains committed to support initiatives, which enhance the quality of financial reporting in India.

A recent consultation paper floated by the corporate affairs ministry called for suggestions on increasing the list of non-audit services and amending existing laws to enhance independence and accountability.

the auditors could be tempted to eliminate certain audit procedures to reduce costs, take on riskier clients, acquiesce to managements demands, or aggressively expand their riskier non-audit services under the banner of a trusted audit firm brand, which would only increase the already continued high rates of audit deficiencies, the paper said.

Most audit firms operate as networks and have a brand licensing agreement with the big four, which are not allowed to undertake audit activity in India.

Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters
Shares of telecom companies were trading on a mixed note in early market hours on Monday.

While Vodafone Idea stock gained 11.34 per cent to Rs 3.83, Bharti Airtel stock was trading 0.27 lower at Rs 563.60 on the BSE.

State-owned MTNL was down 9.40 per cent to Rs 9.35.

Tata Teleservices was up 1.83 per cent to trade at Rs 3.34. Reliance Industries, parent of Reliance Jio Infocomm, was trading marginally up by 0.02 per cent to Rs 1,487 on the BSE.

Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Tata Teleservices are jointly liable to pay dues of over Rs 1 lakh crore, but they have informed the Department of Telecom (DoT) of making only partial payment, as per their representatives.

Even state-owned BSNL and MTNL have not paid the dues. Bharti Airtel on Monday said it has paid Rs 10,000 crore to the DoT towards statutory dues.

Vodafone Idea on Saturday said it is assessing the amount that can be paid towards AGR dues, even as it flagged concerns over the continuation of its business.

Reliance Jio on January 23 paid Rs 195 crore to the DoT to clear all AGR dues accounted till January 31, 2020.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A federal court judge in Massachusetts has ruled that documents in the case of former Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia, who has been accused of extorting marijuana companies seeking to open in the city, can be disclosed to the state Cannabis Control Commission.

Interview reports with five marijuana vendors can be shared with the CCC so that the agency can perform its regulatory duties, ruled Judge Douglas P. Woodlock. Those five vendors were not identified.

The CCC understands that it is permitted to use the protected information in the performance of its legitimate regulatory duties, Woodlock wrote in the Feb. 10 decision. This includes the CCC making public disclosures that, in sum and substance, in its interactions with law enforcement officials, it has not identified any concerns regarding suitability for licensure. However, to the extent that the CCC believes explicit disclosure of the protected information is necessary, the CCC agrees to seek this courts permission before disclosing such information.

The CCC had asked permission to review the reports, according to court documents. The agency can revoke suspend a license associated with a recreational or medical marijuana establishment if the business has committed permitted, aided or abetted any illegal practices in its operations.

Correia, 28, was arrested in September. Authorities said he took bribes from marijuana companies in exchange for non-opposition letters, which are required for licensure of medical marijuana facilities. Correia had claimed he would only issue five or six non-opposition letters, but ended up issuing 14, including two for his girlfriends brother, officials said.

The Fall River Herald News and WSAR have identified Correias girlfriends brother as New Leaf Enterprises president, Pedro Peter Fernandes. In 2018 and 2019, Fernandes donated a total of $875 to Correias campaign.

Hope Heal Health, Inc., and Northeast Alternatives, Inc., both have retail and medical operations in Fall River. Natures Medicines operates a medical facility in the city.

Campaign finance records show that Correias legal defense received a $20,000 donation from J.H. Holdings Group, whose principals include executives of Northeast Alternatives. That donation was four days after Northeast Alternatives signed a host community agreement with Fall River on April 13, 2018. Correia also received political contributions from representatives of Hope Heal Health, Inc. Owner John Rogue, Vice President John Ferrie and CFO Amy Ferrie each donated $1,000 to Correia on Aug. 30, two weeks before the company signed a host agreement with the city.

Federal authorities have not identified any businesses Correia is alleged to have extorted. However, details regarding the third vendor named in the indictment against Correia match earlier reports and campaign finance records about Loop Cultivation.

Prosecutors say that Correia extorted $100,000 from MJ Vendor #3 in the form of cash, a mortgage discharge and campaign contributions. The indictment also states that the wife of that vendor was fined $5,000 for illegal donations to Correia.

In an April 2, 2019 letter, the Office of Campaign and Political Finance notified Dina Pichette that she would be fined $5,000 for skirting campaign finance regulations. The letter states that she donated $1,000 and also had three relatives each pay $1,000, reimbursing them for their payments.

Pichettes husband is Matt Pichette, a principal of Loop Cultivation and Premium Chef Edibles, the Herald News reports.

Less than a year before the marijuana case, Correia was arrested by federal authorities on accusations that he defrauded investors of his app company SnoOwl.

Correia was defeated at the polls in November by now Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan. Before the election, Correia decided to suspend his re-election campaign and take a leave of absence.

A federal grand jury is reportedly investigating host community agreements, which are contracts between municipalities and companies seeking to open recreational marijuana businesses.

The CCC has said it does not believe the agency has the authority to regulate those agreements. A bill that would clearly give the CCC that authority is currently pending. The House passed the bill after a vote earlier this month.

Related Content:
New Delhi, Feb 17 : To strengthen relation between India and Myanmar, Indian Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh is on four-day trip to Naypyitaw and other parts of the neighbouring country to bolster the bilateral maritime relationship.

"He is visiting Myanmar from February 17 to February 20. The visit is intended to consolidate and enhance the bilateral maritime relations between India and Myanmar," said a senior Indian Navy officer.

During his visit, Admiral Karambir Singh will hold bilateral discussions with Admiral Tin Aung San, Commander-in-Chief Myanmar Navy and also call on Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Commander-in-Chief Defence Services, and other senior government officials.

He will also interact with the trainees of the National Defence College in Naypyitaw, and will visit the Naval Dockyard and Training Command of the Myanmar Navy in Yangon.

Myanmar Navy is a member of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium and participates in the activities conducted under the symposium.

"Indian Navy regularly interacts with Myanmar Navy through the medium of staff talks, joint working group meeting on Maritime Cooperation and other operational interactions which include Port visits, Coordinated Patrols, Bilateral Exercises, Training, and Hydrography," the officer said.

In addition, both the Navies also interact during maritime activities such as Admiral's Cup, Goa Maritime Conclave and Exercise Milan.

In October, both the countries held a joint naval exercise at Visakhapatnam.

The joint exercise encompassed a variety of operations including anti-air and surface firing exercises, flying exercises using integral helicopter and seamanship evolutions at sea.

The joint exercises increased scope and complexity and is a testimony of growing maritime cooperation between the two navies.
Airbus 'deeply regrets' US tariff hike from 10 percent to 15 percent (ERIC PIERMONT / AFP)

Friday's decision to hike tariffs from March 18 "further escalates trade tensions between the US and the EU," the European aerospace giant said in a statement, adding it creates "more instability for US airlines that are already suffering from a shortage of aircraft."

The announcement from the office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) came just days after President Donald Trump said it was time to talk "very seriously" about a trade deal with the European Union.

Duties have been at 10 percent since October, when Washington hit European products worth $7.5 billion with tariffs.

"Airbus deeply regrets USTR's decision to increase tariffs on aircraft imported from the EU as well as the decision to maintain tariffs on goods from other sectors," the company said, referring to products -- including wine, cheese, coffee and olives -- which have been taxed at 25 percent since October.

The latest decision "ignores the many submissions made by US airlines, highlighting the fact that they - and the US flying public - will ultimately have to pay these tariffs," it added.

- 'Ultimately harmful' -

The European Commission, in a statement sent to AFP about the US decision on Airbus, struck a cautious tone.

"In our view," it said, "the focus now should be on finding a negotiated solution to the aircraft disputes on the basis of the concrete EU proposals for existing subsidies and future disciplines in this sector."

The German finance ministry said it had taken note of the US move, and reiterated its stance on tariffs.

"Our basic position is clear: we reject any unilateral increase in customs taxes," it said in a statement. "Customs taxes are ultimately harmful to everyone, including the USA."

Washington imposed punitive taxes on $7.5 billion in European products after the World Trade Organization (WTO) gave the United States a green light to take retaliatory trade measures against the EU over its subsidies to Airbus.

Industry executives in Europe and the United States have been on tenterhooks awaiting each new announcement from trade authorities.

"It has become abundantly clear that tariffs on distilled spirits products are causing rough seas on both sides of the Atlantic," the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States said in a statement Friday.

The council called on authorities to withdraw 25 percent taxes on American whiskeys in the EU, and 25 percent taxes on liquors imported from five European countries, pointing to fears of a negative impact on the US economy and jobs.

But Trump, a real estate developer turned politician, sees tariffs as a negotiating tool.

After a trade war with China that lasted nearly two years and featured punishing reciprocal tariffs, Trump signed a "phase one" trade deal with Beijing in January, calling it a "momentous step ... righting the wrongs of the past."

He has now turned his sights to Europe as Washington brandishes the threat of taxing European auto imports, a move targeting Germany, Europe's biggest auto exporter.

Trump wants EU member states to further open their markets to American products, particularly agricultural goods.

He has also threatened to hike tariffs on French wine -- currently taxed at 25 percent -- even further unless there is a deal on a digital tax which European nations want to impose on American giants such as Amazon and Facebook.
Oman is working to reduce tensions in the Persian Gulf and sees prospects of talks between arch-rivals Iran and the U.S., its foreign minister said.

"We are in touch with the U.S. and Iran," Yousef Bin Alawi, Oman's foreign minister, was cited as saying on Sunday by the state-run Oman News Agency at the Munich Security Conference. "We feel that there is a possibility of dialogue between them."
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The global flow meters market size is estimated to reach USD 12.3 billion by 2027, registering a CAGR of 5.8% over the forecast period, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The penetration of IoT has helped the evolution of smart flow rate measurement solutions, leading to an increased demand for intelligent flow meters. The adoption of flow meters is expected to increase as rapid urbanization triggers the need for better water and wastewater management.

The market has been segmented on the basis of product, application, and region. Based on product, the market has been classified into Differential Pressure (DP), Pressure Displacement (PD), magnetic, ultrasonic, Coriolis, turbine, vortex, and others (variable area, multiphase, thermal, and others). The magnetic segment accounted for the largest share of the global flow meters market in 2019. However, the ultrasonic and Coriolis segments are expected to grow at the highest rate over the forecast period owing to the advancements in technology that have made ultrasonic and Coriolis flow meters more reliable and accurate than their counterparts.

Key suggestions from the report:

Water and wastewater is likely to dominate the application segment through the forecast period owing to the increasing initiatives taken by several governments for water and wastewater management

Businesses in Middle Eastern countries such as Iran , Iraq , and Syria are highly vulnerable to political instability. Businesses in other Middle Eastern countries such as UAE, Saudi Arabia , Oman , and Qatar focus on expanding their presence by establishing friendly relations with eminent manufacturers in Western countries

One of the key factors supporting the product demand over the forecast period is the integration of IoT in flow meters, which has led to the introduction of smart flow rate measurement solutions

Custody transfer application in the oil and gas sector is one of the key applications creating lucrative opportunities for ultrasonic and Coriolis flow meters

Asia Pacific is expected to grow at the fastest rate over the forecast period owing to substantial demand and adoption of flow meters in various application sectors, particularly in China , India , and Southeast Asian countries

Flow meter market key participants are ABB (Asea Brown Boveri) Ltd., Emerson Electric Co., General Electric (GE), KROHNE Messtechnik, Hontzsch GmbH, Siemens AG, Hitachi, Ltd., and Yokogawa Electric Corporation

Read 100 page research report with ToC on "Flow Meters Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Product, By Application (Water & Wastewater, Oil & Gas, Chemicals, Power Generation, Pulp & Paper, Food & Beverage), By Region, and Segment Forecasts, 2020 - 2027" at: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/flow-meters-market

Coriolis meters enhance the reliability, accuracy, and efficiency of liquid flow rate measurement. Furthermore, the integration of IoT in flow rate measurement solutions has helped transform Coriolis meters into intelligent flow meters. Hence, the adoption of these meters is expected to grow significantly over the forecast period. Extensive adoption of Coriolis flow meters by the oil & gas, chemical, and refinery sectors is projected to drive the growth of the overall product segment over the forecast period.

Based on application, the flow meters market has been segmented into oil and gas, power generation, water and wastewater management, chemical, pulp and paper, food and beverage, and other application sectors. The water and wastewater segment is expected to witness robust growth over the forecast period owing to rapid urbanization in various parts of the world, particularly in Asia Pacific, South America, and Africa. These regions have aggressively started to adopt efficient solutions for the treatment, control, monitoring, and regulation of water supplies and management of wastewater, thereby driving the demand for flow rate measurement solutions and instruments.

On the basis of region, the market has been segmented into North America, Asia Pacific (APAC), Europe, South America, and Middle East and Africa (MEA). Europe dominated the global market in 2019 as the region is home to several manufacturers and product innovators of flow rate measurement solutions and services, including flow meters. However, APAC is expected to witness the highest growth rate over the forecast period owing to the rapid urbanization underway in APAC countries, which would subsequently trigger the need for adequate power generation and efficient water and wastewater management. The market in India is likely to witness a significant boost over the forecast period on account of the growing need for expanding fuel refining capacity in the country.

With emerging economies in Asia Pacific such as China, India, and other Southeast Asian nations witnessing rapid industrialization, regional manufacturers and providers of flow rate measurement solutions are forming collaborations and partnerships with global players to cash in on opportunities prevailing in the regional as well as global markets. Regional players are also improving their customer engagement activities and enhancing their portfolio of products and services.

General Electric (U.S.), ABB Ltd. (Switzerland), Emerson Electric Co. (U.S.), Yokogawa Electric Corporation (Japan), and Hitachi Ltd. (Japan) are some of the major providers and vendors of flow rate measurement solutions. Market players are constantly emphasizing on product innovation and enhancing their products and solutions. With the lucrative opportunities the oil and gas, petroleum, chemicals, and water and wastewater management sectors offer, manufacturers focus on meeting the various requirements of these sectors in particular.

Apart from the analysis of the global market for flow meters, the report analyzes the facts and key industry trends prevailing in custody transfer application, which is one of the prominent applications of flow meters in the oil and gas sector. The report also highlights how the unstable dynamics of the oil and gas sector would affect the adoption of flow meters worldwide.

Strategic profiling of the prominent industry participants across the globe highlights various aspects of these players such as company overview; financial performance; product categorization with their features, applications, and types; and strategic and recent developments, which have been covered in the research report. Moreover, the report offers an extensive list of other industry players operating in the market, value chain analysis, as well as product mapping of prominent vendors and manufacturers of flow meters. Overall, the study offers in-depth analysis, insights, and a holistic view of the entire market.

Grand View Research has segmented the global flow meter market based on product, application, and region:

Flow Meters Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2027)

Differential Pressure (DP)



Positive Displacement (PD)



Magnetic



Wired





Wireless



Ultrasonic



Coriolis



Turbine



Vortex



Others

Flow Meters Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2027)

Water & Wastewater



Oil & Gas



Chemicals



Power Generation



Pulp & Paper



Food & Beverage



Others

Flow Meters Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2027)

North America



U.S.





Canada





Mexico



Europe



Germany





U.K.





France



Asia Pacific



China





Japan





India



South America



Brazil



Middle East & Africa

Find more research reports on Sensors & Controls Industry, by Grand View Research:

Calorimeter & Photometer Market  Global calorimeter and photometer market is expected to increase significantly over the forecast period. The leading drivers of this growth will be rising demand for advanced, innovative and high-performance products.

 Global calorimeter and photometer market is expected to increase significantly over the forecast period. The leading drivers of this growth will be rising demand for advanced, innovative and high-performance products. Flow Sensors Market  Technological advancements and increasing use in application segments is expected to drive the flow sensors market over the forecast period. Flow sensors enable to measure liquid and gas flow quality.

 Technological advancements and increasing use in application segments is expected to drive the flow sensors market over the forecast period. Flow sensors enable to measure liquid and gas flow quality. Temperature Sensors Market  Increasing demand in application areas is expected to drive the temperature sensors market. Rising government initiatives for environmental conservation is estimated to fuel market demand over the forecast period.

Gain access to Grand View Compass, our BI enabled intuitive market research database of 10,000+ reports

About Grand View Research

Grand View Research, U.S.-based market research and consulting company, provides syndicated as well as customized research reports and consulting services. Registered in California and headquartered in San Francisco, the company comprises over 425 analysts and consultants, adding more than 1200 market research reports to its vast database each year. These reports offer in-depth analysis on 46 industries across 25 major countries worldwide. With the help of an interactive market intelligence platform, Grand View Research helps Fortune 500 companies and renowned academic institutes understand the global and regional business environment and gauge the opportunities that lie ahead.

Contact:

Sherry James

Corporate Sales Specialist, USA

Grand View Research, Inc.

Phone: +1-415-349-0058

Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519

Email: [email protected]

Web: https://www.grandviewresearch.com

Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter

SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc.
Former Chief Minister and president of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha, Babulal Marandi on Monday merged his party with the BJP and rejoined it after 14 years in the presence of senior BJP leader and Home Minister Amit Shah.

The Ghar Wapsi programme took place at Prabhat Tara ground in Ranchi. Amit Shah specially arrived here from New Delhi for the event. Along with Marandi, thousands of JVM-P workers also joined the BJP.

"Efforts were made by BJP leaders to bring me back since 2014. After the 2019 assembly polls, I was again approached to join the BJP which is the only party in the country which carries forward India's spirit of secularism. There is an effort to mislead the people on the CAA," said Marandi after joining the BJP.

Marandi rejoining the BJP was turned into a grand event by the BJP. Tribal Affairs Minister and senior BJP leader Arjun Munda, BJP national vice president Om Mathur, former Chief Minister Raghubar Das, several Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs were present on the occasion.

The BJP seems to have lured back Marandi in order to revive the party among the tribal communities. The party has sidelined senior leader Arjun Munda as he does not enjoy good relations with Raghubar Das who has the blessings of Amit Shah.

The BJP has brought back Marandi to make him the party's tribal face in the state, a senior leader said.

The appointment of the first non-tribal Chief Minister, Raghubar Das in 2014, did not go down well with the tribal communities and the BJP lost a majority of the tribal seats in the 2019 assembly polls.

In the assembly elections, held in November-December 2019, the JVM-P had won three seats which included Babulal Marandi, Pradeep Yadav and Bandhu Tirkey.

In a move for a smooth merger, the JVM-P expelled Pradeep Yadav and Bandhu Tirkey who were against the merger.

Both the expelled JVM-P legislators on Sunday announced they were joining the Congress.

Marandi was the first Chief Minister of the BJP-led government in Jharkhand. He quit the BJP in 2006 and floated his own political outfit.
The minimum age for riding a 50cc scooter or moped will not be lowered in Luxembourg.

Scooter drivers in Luxembourg need to be at least 16 years old and be in possession of the corresponding driver's license. Replying to a parliamentary question by MP Gilles Roth, Minister for Mobility Francois Bausch, stressed that the government was not considering to lower the minimum age for riding a 50cc moped.

Roth had drawn parallels with France, where the minimum age is only 14 rather than 16. Belgium's law in this context comes closer to Luxembourg's legislation. Belgian moped drivers can drive a 50cc vehicle at the age of 15 years and 9 months, after they have passed a theoretical exam.

In Luxembourg, moped drivers need to complete 12 hours in theory courses and 7 hours in practical training. Bausch nevertheless specified that the government was planning on reforming the training period required to obtain the driver's license.
For those in the market for window treatments and solar shades and looking to support a local business rather than a national retailer, one San Antonio-based company has it all.

James McKeon, founder of Solar Shades LLC, started his business back in 1978 as a glass tinting company, originally named Auto Tint & Solar Shades Co.

Over time, local demand grew for a more diverse repertoire, so McKeon eventually expanded the business to include every facet of window treatments.

Window treatment services are important to homeowners, said McKeon, particularly those who are environmentally conscious.

Many homeowners are always looking to improve or update their homes, especially conserving energy, he added, invoking the company motto, Keeping you cool and saving energy one window at a time.

Studies tell us that untreated and uncovered windows only protect residents from about half of incoming harmful UV rays. In the long run, this can harm not only skin but also interior design features of your home, such as furniture. So if you wouldnt leave your home without applying sunscreen, it stands to reason that you shouldnt leave your windows fully exposed to the elements.

A variety of types of shades are available, with differing degrees of openness. These enable natural light management to keep residents safe from broad sunlight.

McKeons services at Solar Shades run the gamut: Customers can acquire solar screens and patio shades, window glass tinting, and interior window shades and blinds (and installation), all at competitive pricing.

For some of his customers, saving on utility bills is top priority. For others, reducing glare is key. For still others, heat problems wreak havoc on their homes. Solar Shades technicians can help with any of these concerns, noted McKeon.

In fact, he said, statistics show that customers who install solar shades can save up to 20 percent on their utility bills.

I enjoy helping customers find a solution, he said.

With rapid advancements in window treatment technologies, he enjoys introducing customers to new technologies, like Smart Home Remote control shades, transitional window films, decorative window films and privacy-cloaking window films for commercial use.

What sets Solar Shades apart is the companys deeply personal approach to sales.

We are a small family-owned business, he said. Were not the pushy salesman-type working on commission.

And as far as McKeon is concerned, time is a commodity hes willing to invest in potential customers.

We take our time talking with the customers about their project, McKeon said, noting that he learns as much as possible ahead of time to be as prepared as possible.

And ethics are important at Solar Shades: McKeon is proud of being a local alternative to large national suppliers. Hes committed to core principles, quality products, consistent delivery and market-competitive pricing.

We are committed to providing you with exceptional personal service and craftsmanship, using the highest quality of energy-saving window treatments available, reads a promise from the company website.

McKeon takes that promise very seriously. At Solar Shades, each and every project is unique and considered on its own merits, with the customers budget and needs taken into consideration.

Other products available include exterior roller shades, exterior shutters, solar screens, solar shades, anti-graffiti-window films, interior roller shades, wood blinds, designer woven wood shutters, decorative films and glass tinting.

We bring the showroom to you, said McKeon, noting that he provides free estimates in San Antonio and the surrounding areas.

And youll never be blindsided by surprise costs when working with Solar Shades: The company works closely with contractors and designers to communicate about budget and ensure the lowest possible project costs.

For more information on window treatment opportunities available through Solar Shades, visit texassolarshades.com or call 210-657-9931.
In December, the election commission announced incumbent President Ghani had won a slim majority of 50.64 percent.

Afghanistans long-delayed results from its presidential elections will be announced within three to four days, an election commission official said, nearly five months after polls were held in the country.

In December, the election commission announced that incumbent President Ashraf Ghani had won a slim majority of 50.64 percent in the September 28 poll. His closest rival, Abdullah Abdullah, alleged vote-rigging, forcing a recount.

The recounting and auditing is completed, Zabihullah Sadaat, spokesman for Afghanistans Independent Election Commission, said.

The delay has left Afghanistan facing a political crisis just as the United States seeks a deal with the Taliban that would allow it to withdraw troops in return for various security guarantees and a promise that the armed group would hold peace talks with the Afghan government.

If all goes well, then whoever wins the election is likely to be the man sitting across from the Taliban at the negotiating table in a bid to chart Afghanistans future.

190402101100457

Whether the results will be accepted remains to be seen.

Earlier this week, Abdullahs team said they would not accept fraudulent results.

Current Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum, a powerful Uzbek former strongman and Abdullahs ally, has also threatened to form a parallel government if fraudulent election results are announced.

Nearly one million of the initial 2.7 million votes were purged owing to irregularities, meaning the election saw by far the lowest turnout of any Afghan poll.

Ultimately, only 1.8 million votes were counted  a tiny number given Afghanistans estimated population of 35 million and a total of 9.6 million registered voters.

Abdullah lost to Ghani in 2014 in a divisive election that saw the US intervene to broker an awkward power-sharing deal between the two rivals.
The UP Khadi Board has already provided fabric samples to Raymonds, which is expected to procure 200,000 metres of UP Khadi annually. We will start the supply of khadi to Raymonds as soon as the samples given by the Khadi Board are approved, UP Khadi principal secretary Navneet Sehgal, who is also the state trade facilitation commissioner, told Business Standard here. He informed that khadi to be supplied to Raymonds would be ...

Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.



As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.



Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.



Digital Editor
The number of deaths from the novel coronavirus has risen to 1,770, with an additional 100 deaths reported Sunday in Hubei, the Chinese province at the center of the outbreak.

There have been more than 71,000 cases worldwide, with the vast majority of those in mainland China. The largest outbreaks outside of China have been in Singapore and Japan, CNN reports.

While the vast majority of deaths have occurred in mainland China, there have been fatal cases of the virus in Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, and France. Cases of the virus have been confirmed in more than two dozen countries worldwide, affecting nearly every continent, CNN reports.

"Right now we're in an aggressive containment mode," Robert Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), told CNN last week. "We don't know a lot about this virus. This virus is probably with us beyond this season, beyond this year, and I think eventually the virus will find a foothold and we will get community-based transmission."

Slowing progression gives more time for researchers to work on developing and testing a vaccine and antiviral drugs for this novel coronavirus. Currently, there is no known cure for the virus.

As the outbreak has worsened, officials in Hubei have faced increasing scrutiny about whether they intentionally downplayed reports of the virus in the early weeks, or ignored evidence that it was being spread from person-to-person, delaying any efforts to contain it before it was too late.

Multiple officials have been removed from their positions, while others have offered to resign. It had been thought that any blame for the delay in response was contained to Hubei itself, and that central authorities were as in the dark as the international community until late January, when Chinese President Xi Jinping stepped in himself, ordering "all out efforts" to rein in the virus' spread.

Read alsoUkrainian plane to evacuate from Wuhan Ukrainian, Argentinian nationals

Over the weekend, however, a transcript of a speech Xi gave earlier this month was published. In it, Xi said he first "issued requirements for the prevention and control of the new coronavirus" on January 7.

While the speech underlines that Xi has been personally directing the response to the outbreak -- something that has been repeatedly emphasized in state media -- the revelation that he knew about the virus when Hubei officials were publicly downplaying its danger, exposes him to the risk of being blamed, along with them, for failing to properly handle the outbreak in its early weeks.

It also raises additional questions for the World Health Organization (WHO), which has previously praised China for its "transparency" and for sounding the alarm early and enabling a global response to the virus.

On Sunday, Hubei announced new measures, including province-wide traffic restrictions on all non-emergency vehicles and the closure of all non-essential public venues. Already there are reports of residential compounds being completely sealed off, with no one able to go in or out except in rare circumstances.

Health screening is to be stepped up, with officials going door-to-door to look for new cases. Anyone displaying potential symptoms "should be immediately reported to the local community or village," the government said in a circular announcing the new restrictions.

Anyone suspected or confirmed to be infected with the virus, their close contacts, or anyone with a fever, should be "timely treated or placed in quarantine instead of self-isolation at home," it said.

On the economic side, Hubei said that "companies should not resume production unless allowed by local epidemic prevention authorities."
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 20:48:58|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

More than 600 additional military personnel from the armed forces have been dispatched to Wuhan to aid the #coronavirus battle. #FightVirus
As the coronavirus appears to be spreading rapidly, its time for employers to get ready for the potential that this illness might impact the workplace.

The effect on the U.S. workplace already has begun.

For instance, a cruise ship carrying more than 3,700 passengers and crew, including more than 400 U.S. passengers (and at least two Virginians), was quarantined off Japan on Feb. 3 after officials determined that there were passengers with confirmed cases of the virus.

Those passengers wont be returning to work as scheduled since they are quarantined on the ship for at least 14 days. Each of them will have different leave and job protection policies.

This is especially true for American employees who have not been diagnosed with the virus but are quarantined and unable to return to work.

Employers can prepare for the potential, albeit unlikely, impact of the coronavirus  and any infectious outbreak  to their workplace by coordinating a rapid response team; identifying resources and avoiding an overreaction or underreaction.
Delhi: Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways and MSMEs Nitin Gadkari arrived at Stockholm today (February 17) to represent India at the 3rd High-Level Global Conference on Road Safety for Achieving Global Goals 2030.

The objective of the two-day conference is to bring road safety on the global agenda and renew the world communitys commitment to safer roads. Leaders from participating countries will draw up a road-map for reaching the United Nations goal set under the UN Decade of Action of reducing road crashes by 2030.

The conference, a follow up of the 2nd High-Level Global Conference on Traffic Safety-Time of Results in 2015 in Brazil, is being organised in active collaboration with World Bank, World Health Organisation (WHO) and other agencies who are assisting it by way of strengthening the capabilities of various institutions, enhancing awareness and improving engineering designs for safer roads.

A significant highlight of the conference will be sharing of the expertise by the nations which have gained experience in road safety management with those who are behind in the learning curve. Emphasis will also be on adopting best practices that are emerging in different parts of the world.

Most developing countries, particularly the South Asian and the South East Asian Region, including India, are expected to focus on certain specific issues and challenges facing them on account of a significant number of their motorised vehicles consisting of two-wheelers.

A large proportion of fatalities and injuries in these countries are accounted for that segment of their population that use motorised and also non-motorised two-wheelers. Gadkari had also signed the Brasilia Declaration on behalf of India at the 2nd High-Level Global Conference on Traffic Safety in 2015, which committed the world community to reduce the number of deaths in road accidents.

The King of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf will attend the opening session of the conference where the Stockholm Declaration will be presented by the Swedish Minister for Infrastructure, Tomas Eneroth. Messages from the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Adina-loans Valean & Transport Commissioner, European Commission, Omnia El Omrani will be read out on this occasion.

During Gadkari's stay in Stockholm, he will have a bilateral dialogue with the Swedish Minister for Infrastructure Tomas Eneroth, Minister for Foreign Trade Anna Hallberg, Minister for Business, Industry & Innovation Ibrahim Baylan and also with the British Minister for Road Safety Baroness Vere.

Gadkari will also hold talks with the World Bank Vice President (South Asia) Hart Schafer.

Swedish and Indian businesses are likely to exchange several MOUs on this occasion.

The United Nations, which has included Road Safety as part of the Sustainable Development Goals, has appealed to the global community to reaffirm their commitment to reducing mortality arising out of road crashes and join hands for making the world a safer place.
Fashion guru Heather Harding first found success selling clothing brands online. Her collection of batwing sweaters sold out within two weeks.

Now, the Lopatcong Township woman is bringing that same ambition, along with one-on-one personalized service, to a new brick-and-mortar boutique. Not Your Sisters Closet plans to open by the end of the month at 436 Northampton St., in Easton.

There, Harding plans to feature racks of tops, sweaters, dresses, rompers and jumpsuits, various bottoms and such accessories as jewelry and winter scarves for women. The majority of pieces will be $80 or under, she said.

The boutique also will cater to all sizes, ranging from small to extra large. There are items for all ages, Harding said, noting her grandmother, mother and college-aged sister have all bought items from the online boutique.

Easton already has so much but I was surprised not to see a clothing boutique like this, Harding said. I feel Easton could really benefit from a place like this.

Juggling ambitions

Going into business for herself always weighed on Hardings mind, she said.

It was at the forefront when the Alexandria Township, Hunterdon County native graduated from Delaware Valley High School and earned a bachelors degree in fashion studies from Montclair State University. Harding also took up a minor in business at Montclair State.

She then entered the corporate world and immersed herself in product development and sales. After a lengthy engagement and getting married this past July, Harding said the timing finally became right to become a business owner -- something shes embarking on in addition to a full-time career.

I was ready to take the plunge, she said. There was no better time than now.

Harding visited a trade show at the Javits Center in New York and became hooked on what various brands were offering. She knew she wanted trendy pieces, such as rope-tie rompers, cardigans, turtleneck crop tops, joggers and skinny denim. Also important to Harding were basic staple items, such as a black blouse or white T-shirt for layering.

Outfits seen today on Pinterest were the obsession of Harding and her three younger sisters back when they would raid each others closets each morning before school.

If you have siblings, Im sure you can understand that nothing is ever yours, Harding said. My clothes were always up for the taking. Years later and clothes are now circulating from house to house instead of closet to closet.

Thats how the boutique got its name.

When walking with her parents and now husband, her father suggested she call the boutique, Your sisters closet.

But its not, Harding recalled replying.

That was just it, she said. I thought, Wouldnt it be so much fun to have all these fabulous pieces in your own closet? You can pick everything you want and none of it is second hand."

Whats to come

Harding has a strong vision of what shed like to see the boutique become in the future.

She wants it to become the place loyal patrons know they can trust when looking to find something quick for an upcoming event. She plans to order more accessories and gift items, such as journals and agendas.

Well have everything from everyday business classics to items you can dress down or wear into the evening, Harding said. Were trying to offer a variety for different women at different stages of their lives.

Harding also wants to carry wedding guest dresses if that becomes a need. Events, such as trunk shows with Lafayette College students, also are ideas.

This is going to be affordable, every day, fast fashion, she said.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
General Motors is exiting Australia, New Zealand and Thailand to save costs in the under performing markets and better hone its focus on growth markets as well as on its electric vehicle and self-driving car strategies.

As a result, GM said it expects to incur net cash charges of $300 million and to record total cash and non-cash charges of $1.1 billion. These charges will primarily be incurred in the first quarter and continuing through the fourth quarter.

But the move will not affect GM's U.S. operations, a GM spokesman said. GM's Spring Hill Assembly plant in Tennessee builds the Holden Acadia SUV for Australia, but the volume is so small that it will not affect Spring Hills production or employment, the spokesman said. The plant will make up the volume with its other products: the GMC Acadia and the Cadillac XT5 and XT6 SUVs.

Ive often said that we will do the right thing, even when its hard, and this is one of those times, said GM CEO Mary Barra in a news release Sunday night. We are restructuring our international operations, focusing on markets where we have the right strategies to drive robust returns, and prioritizing global investments that will drive growth in the future of mobility, especially in the areas of EVs and AVs."

GM employs 828 employees in Australia and New Zealand and 1,500 in Thailand, a GM spokesman said.

Barra said that the actions support GM's global strategy, which it laid out in 2015, but, "We understand that they impact people who have contributed so much to our company. We will support our people, our customers and our partners, to ensure an orderly and respectful transition in the impacted markets.

More: GM to pay salaried workers bigger bonuses despite turbulent 2019

More: GM to pay UAW workers $8,000 in profit sharing

GM said it will wind down sales, design and engineering operations in Australia and New Zealand and retire the Holden brand by 2021. It will focus its strategies for the market on the GM specialty vehicle business.

Story continues

GM Holden's market share peaked in 2001 at 21.4%, but it's seen a steady decline since 2003, bottoming out at just 4.1% in 2019.

The automaker also said it had signed a binding term sheet with Great Wall Motors to purchase GMs Rayong vehicle manufacturing facility in Thailand.

GM will withdraw Chevrolet from the domestic market in Thailand by the end of this year.

GM's plant in Rayong builds the Colorado pickup truck and Trailblazer SUV under the Chevrolet and Holden brands. The vehicles are sold in 16 markets across Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Middle East, Central America and Uzbekistan.

General Motors' Southeast Asia Operations has announced a strategic transformation plan to restructure its operations in Thailand, including a realignment of its Chevrolet product portfolio to focus primarily on trucks and SUVs, which it manufactures at its plant in Rayong (shown here).

GM opened the Rayong plant in 2000 and has built more than 1.35 million vehicles there. GM's produced about 500,000 engines at GM PowertrainThailand since 2011.

GM had considered a "range of options" to continue Holden operations, President Mark Reuss said. But all would required large investments for the highly fragmented right-hand-drive market and they would not deliver a return on investment.

After considering many possible options  and putting aside our personal desires to accommodate the people and the market  we came to the conclusion that we could not prioritize further investment over all other considerations we have in a rapidly changing global industry," said Reuss.

GM will work with its partner, Holden Specialty Vehicles, in Australia and New Zealand to profitably grow the specialty vehicle business there.

Reuss said GM also studied the business case for future production at the Rayong manufacturing facility in Thailand. But low plant utilization and weak predicted sales volumes make GM production at the site unsustainable. Without domestic manufacturing, Chevrolet is unable compete in Thailands new-vehicle market, GM said.

Last month, GM said it would sell its Talegaon manufacturing facility in India and do significant restructuring in Korea. It also said it will continue to invest in its South American operations.

GM said it is well positioned in core markets such as South America, the Middle East and Korea.

In markets where we dont have significant scale, such as Japan, Russia and Europe, we are pursuing a niche presence by selling profitable, high-end imported vehicles supported by a lean GM structure, said Julian Blisset, GM's international operations senior vice president.

In Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and related export markets, GM said it will honor all warranties and continue to provide service and spare parts. Local operations will also continue to handle all recall and any safety-related issues.

Contact Jamie L. LaReau at 313-222-2149 or jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. Read more on General Motors and sign up for our autos newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: GM exits Australia, more overseas markets in restructuring move
The last episode of the Korean hit drama "Crash Landing On You" with lead stars Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin aired and streamed this February 16. Plenty of viewers and loyal fans claimed that the show had one of the best endings. The fans took to Twitter to express their thoughts on and reactions to the ending of the drama. The hashtag #CrashLandinOnYouFinale trended on social media.

One fan expressed on twitter: stating that it was amazing how they gave us like almost 2 hours for the final episode that was like watching a movie. The fans said that the drama deserves all the hype, recognition and awards and the storyline was seamless, from lead actors to 2nd and all supporting cast.

And also another Twitter user shared: that they were so happy for Yoon Se Ri and Ri Jeong Hyeok it was a great ending. He added that they are really destined for each other. But what breaks their heart is Seo Dan and Seungjun. are the BEST SECOND ROLE EVER!

The drama "Crash Landing On You" aired in December 2019, it tells the story of a fashion empire heiress Yoon Se-ri who was paragliding on a windy day and accidentally crash-lands in North Korea. Then she meets the captain of the North Korean army who helps her find a way to return her to South Korea. Eventually, both lead characters to fall in love with each other.

This drama was aired on tvN in South Korea and it was also streamed online Netflix. It has currently been reported that the drama to have the highest viewership rating for tvN beating another show, Goblin.

TVN's drama "Crash Landing on you" ended in a very romantic way. And the cast and crew of the show were very happy for the finale. In the last broadcast couple, who went back to their respective positions in North and South, had a happy ending, reuniting like fate in Switzerland where they first met.

Actors Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin, who showcased their great chemistry so much that their love story was trending and exceeded two digits in the 8th viewer rating, recorded 21.7% according to the Nielsen Korea standard in its final episode on the 16th of February.

There was a celebration in the restaurant in Yeouido, Seoul, where many actors, including Hyun-bin, Son Ye-jin, Kim Jung-hyun, Seo Ji-hye, Kim Jung-nan, Yang Kyung-won, Lee Shin-young, Yu Su-bin, and Hwang Woo Seul-hye, enjoyed the ending the show. At the end of the day, Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin smiled by taking a selfie shot with many people with a cheerfully face. Actor Kim Jung-hyun and Hyun Bin were seen enjoying the after party of the drama for ending of tvN's "Crash Landing on you," held at a restaurant in Yeouido, Seoul on the afternoon of the 16th.
Scientists have a developed a new technique to decipher how millions of individual cells are communicating with each other in miniature tumours grown in the lab, known as organoids, according to new research published in Nature Methods today (Monday).

This is the first time that scientists have been able to analyse many different signalling molecules at once in individual cells within replicas of patients' tumours. Understanding how cells communicate could reveal how tumours are able to evade the immune system and become resistant to treatments.

This could allow scientists to develop more effective new drugs, by revealing why tumours respond the way they do to treatments. It could also help doctors to select the best course of treatment for each individual patient, by testing treatments on a bespoke replica of a patient's tumour before prescribing them.

The technique rapidly analyses each individual cell in an organoid, looking for the presence of specific signalling molecules - messages that cells send to neighbouring cells, telling them how to behave.

Dr Chris Tape, lead researcher of the study at UCL, said: "Organoids are already revolutionising cancer research by allowing us to test whether experimental new drugs are effective on lifelike models of tumours. But crucially, this new technique helps scientists to understand why a treatment works or not, by revealing in unprecedented detail how cells are talking to each other".

In order to listen in on cancer cells, the team grew organoids in the lab. These are self-organising 3D structures made up of cancer cells alongside other types of cells, such as immune cells and connective tissue. They mimic the behaviour of cancer in the human body much more accurately than cells grown in a dish.

They then modified a complex technique called mass cytometry, which is used to detect and analyse protein molecules. The organoids were broken up into individual cells, then antibodies combined with heavy metal atoms were added. Antibodies are proteins that selectively bind to certain cancer signalling molecules. The scientists nebulised the cells, to convert them into a fine mist, and electrically charged the heavy meal atoms, so that a magnetic field could be used to separate out the different signalling molecules.

The researchers tested this technique in bowel cancer cells and were able to simultaneously detect 28 key signalling molecules, across 6 different cell types, in over 1 million cells. They found indications that the cancer cells themselves, as well as immune cells and connective tissue, had 'rewired' the normal signalling networks of bowel tissue, allowing tumours to grow unchecked.

The next steps will be to use this technique to look for ways to block the communications between cells that allow them to withstand treatment. The team also hopes to test this new technique in different types of cancer.

Dr Emily Armstrong, research information manager at Cancer Research UK, said: "Having a better understanding of this complex communication between cancer cells and other types of cell that make up a tumour could reveal secrets of how cancer comes back after treatment and spreads around the body.

"While this technique is in the early stages of development right now, in the future we may be able to grow replicas of individual patients' tumours, to identify early signs that a drug won't work for them so we can personalise their treatment plan. We hope this could one day help more people to survive cancer".

###

Notes to editor:

Reference

Xiao Qin, Jahangir Sufi, Petra Vlckova, Pelagia Kyriakidou, Sophie E. Acton, Vivian S. W. Li, Mark Nitz, Christopher J. Tape, Cell-Type Specific Signaling Networks in Heterocellular Organoids. Nature Methods.

About Cancer Research UK

Cancer Research UK is the world's leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research.

Cancer Research UK's pioneering work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has helped save millions of lives.

Cancer Research UK receives no funding from the UK government for its life-saving research. Every step it makes towards beating cancer relies on vital donations from the public.

Cancer Research UK has been at the heart of the progress that has already seen survival in the UK double in the last 40 years.

Today, 2 in 4 people survive their cancer for at least 10 years. Cancer Research UK's ambition is to accelerate progress so that by 2034, 3 in 4 people will survive their cancer for at least 10 years.

Cancer Research UK supports research into all aspects of cancer through the work of over 4,000 scientists, doctors and nurses.

Together with its partners and supporters, Cancer Research UK's vision is to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured.

For further information about Cancer Research UK's work or to find out how to support the charity, please call 0300 123 1022 or visit http://www.cancerresearchuk.org. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
Welcome Guest! You Are Here:
Boris Johnson is facing backlash from BBC staff and MPs over his 'all-out assault' on the corporation today - amid calls for a referendum on whether to scrap the licence fee.

Downing Street has mooted a radical overhaul that could mean introducing a subscription model, forcing the sale of most BBC radio stations, cutting the number of television stations and reducing the amount of online content.

However, senior BBC figures have been encouraging people to sign a petition demanding the PM stops trying to 'undermine' the broadcaster.

And Tory backbenchers have appealed for Mr Johnson not to 'pick a fight' with the corporation, saying it still plays a key role in national life.

Meanwhile, Conservative ex-minister Robert Halfon has raised the prospect of a referendum on the future of the BBC, saying licence fee payers should be given 'control' of its fate.

Mr Johnson floated reforming the BBC during the election campaign, and plans have been unveiled to decriminalise non-payment of the licence fee.

However, the pressure was ramped up dramatically in briefings over the weekend.

Former culture secretary John Whittingdale, who has long pushed for change at the corporation, has been brought back into government in the reshuffle and tasked with leading the charge.

Other Cabinet ministers have stressed no decisions have been taken, and the BBC's current charter runs until 2027.

Briefings have made clear the government is plotting a major overhaul of the BBC (file picture)

West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine MP Andrew Bowie voiced concerns on Twitter in response to the weekend briefings. His worries were echoed by fellow Tory Tom Tugendhat

Conservative MP Robert Halfon called for a referendum to be held on the future of the BBC

Mr Halfon said he had put forward legislation several years ago that would have triggered a referendum on the BBC.

'They say that we own the BBC but we have no role in it. I think this would be the best way to decide it once and for all,' he told MailOnline.

'You could put a number of options on the ballot paper and you could make it a condition that it needs to receive a certain threshold.

'My view is that either you keep it as it is, or subscription only like Netflix, or you just have adverts.'

'Rather than it be decided by the great and the good, let the licence fee payer take back control, to use a famous phrase.

'We love referendums now, don't we... it could be done online, by test, because you just put your licence fee payer number in.'

What is being mulled by Downing Street? Briefings suggest the government is planning a package of sweeping changes to the BBC, including: Replacing the licence fee with a subscription model

Forcing the BBC to sell off most of its 61 radio stations, but protect Radio 3 and Radio 4

Cutting the number of BBC national television channels, of which there are ten

Slimming down of the corporation's website

More investment in the World Service

Ban on stars taking highly-paid second jobs Advertisement

Campaign group 38 Degrees has launched a petition insisting the 'political attacks' on the BBC, which has garnered around 120,000 signatures since yesterday.

It says: 'Stop attempting to undermine the BBC and the role it plays in independently holding the government to account.

'Don't scrap the licence fee, don't cut TV & radio stations, don't cut services.'

The petition has been backed by senior BBC reporters including Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen, as well as author Philip Pullman.

Mr Bowen said outside the UK people 'cannot understand why anyone would want to dismember' the broadcaster.

A series of MPs have broken cover to warn over the threat to 'whack' the corporation by forcing fundamental reforms.

However, former ministerial aide Huw Merriman was among the Conservatives warning the corporation 'should not be a target'.

Party vice-chair Andrew Bowie cautioned that the move would fuel calls for Scottish independence, saying the BBC was one of the 'last shared institutions' in the UK.

Mr Merriman, chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the BBC, wrote In the Daily Telegraph today that the Tories had not included dropping the licence fee in its manifesto.

He said 'it feels as if senior government aides are now ramping up an unedifying vendetta against this much-admired corporation.

'This culminated in a bizarre promise this weekend to 'whack' the BBC with a suggestion it should 'be slimmed down and put on subscription'.'

Mr Merriman said the BBC has an '80 per cent approval rating from the same public which elected this government'.

He added that given some people had voted Conservative for the first time, 'it begs the question as to why we are picking such a potentially unpopular fight'.

He wrote: 'The BBC should not be a target.

'It not only brings us together at home but helps maintain our influence on the world stage.

'If the BBC ends up in decline, if a much-loved and revered institution is devalued and if the costs go up, it will be this Government which will stand accused by the very people who we will be relying on to support us at the next election.'

Posting on Twitter in response to the weekend briefings, West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine MP Mr Bowie said: 'Uneasy about this.

'From a Unionist perspective, this is one of our last shared institutions - one in which every Briton has an equal stake; one that we as one nation share.

'Yes, we get frustrated with it. Yes, it can do better. But it is ours.'

His view was endorsed by Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Tom Tugendhat, who added that the World Service was 'one of the strongest forces in fighting state propaganda around the world'.

Gloucester MP Richard Graham, the PM's trade envoy, voiced alarm about an 'all-out assault' on the BBC.

'If this is all for real John Whittingdale will face a lot of very unhappy colleagues, especially on local radio,' he wrote.

A Number 10 spokesman said: 'I would point you to what the Prime Minister has said on this before, which was 'at this stage we are not planning to get rid of all licence fees though I am certainly looking at it'.'

Asked whether the broadcaster would be told to shut down local radio stations, the spokesman said: 'How the BBC is run is a matter for the BBC.'

BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen urged people to sign the petition, saying outside the UK people 'cannot understand why anyone would want to dismember it'
A Delhi court Monday dismissed the bail plea of former Fortis Healthcare promoter Malvinder Singh, arrested for alleged misappropriation of funds at Religare Finvest Ltd.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gurmohina Kaur rejected the bail application, saying Malvinder was required to be kept in judicial custody for a proper investigation.

Malvinder (46); his brother Shivinder, also a former Fortis Healthcare promoter; former CMD of Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL) Sunil Godhwani (58); former CEO of REL Kavi Arora (48) and former CFO of RFL Anil Saxena were arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police for allegedly diverting RFLs money and investing in other companies.

The EOW registered an FIR in March last year after it received a complaint from RFLs Manpreet Suri against Shivinder, Godhwani and others, alleging that loans were taken by them while managing the firm but the money was invested in other companies.

They put RFL in a poor financial condition by disbursing loans to companies with no financial standing and (which were) controlled by them. The companies to which the loans were disbursed willfully defaulted in repayments and caused a loss to RFL to the tune of 2,397 crore, the police had alleged.

The police had earlier disputed Malvinder claims that he paid back the money to the entities concerned and said the money was still with RFLs holding company, RHC, controlled by him.

The police counsel claimed that loans were disbursed to shell companies known to the promoters and the ultimate beneficiary was Religare Holding Company (RHC), of which Malvinder and Shivinder are promoters.

Advocate Mohit Mathur, appearing for complainant Manpreet Suri of RFL, said that Malvinder as one of the promoters of RHC had siphoned off money that came to the RHC.

Malvinder had earlier told the court that he has paid back the money to the 14 entities through which he had received it.

Advocate Manu Sharma, appearing for Singh, had said that the EOW cherry picked him because of his affiliation with the family of spiritual head of the Radha Soami Satsang, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, who allegedly conspired with other co-accused in the case in allegedly carrying out financial fraud.

RFL owes money to RHC, Sharma said.

Senior advocate Nidhesh Gupta, appearing for Suri, had earlier told the court that loans were disbursed to shell companies known to the promoters and the ultimate beneficiary was RHC Holding company.

He had further claimed that unsecured loans had been given to shell entities without any due diligence as they were known to the promoters.

Gupta had alleged that documents showed the involvement of Shivinder in disbursal of unsecured loans to the shell companies which were further diverted to other companies and co-accused Malvinder, resulting in huge amount of public money being misappropriated.

RFL is a group firm of REL - Religare Enterprises Ltd, which was earlier promoted by Malvinder and his brother Shivinder.
Drs. Michael Klein and Allon Waltuch Provide Same-Day Dental Implants in Cedarhurst, NY Because of our technology, not only can we get it done same-day, but we can do it without compromise.

Advanced Implant Dentistry and Oral Restoration provides convenient, comprehensive, same-day care with their state-of-the-art in-house lab. This in-house lab includes numerous pieces of cutting-edge technology, allowing the practice to fabricate lifelike and permanent restorations to replace missing teeth in just one day. Drs. Michael Klein and Allon Waltuch welcome new patients in the Cedarhurst, NY and Five Towns area to find out how convenient even complex dental care can be.

Because of our technology, not only can we get it done same-day, but we can do it without compromise, says Dr. Michael Klein about the benefits of an in-house dental lab.

Having an in-house dental lab is a major advantage for both the patients and the team at Advanced Implant Dentistry and Oral Restoration. Traditionally, patients must have their crowns or bridges outsourced to a dental lab and wait weeks for their final prosthesis to return. With the in-house lab, Drs. Klein and Waltuch can design and fabricate the restoration the same day as the appointment. This drastically cuts down on overall treatment time and gives patients a better experience overall. Additional benefits to having an in-house lab include:



The ability to offer same-day dental implants

Better accuracy in matching restorations to patient specifications

Decreased treatment time

Enhanced emergency dentistry care

A practice fully integrated with advanced technologies

One of the biggest benefits patients find with same-day dental implants is the ability to receive emergency dental care. When an accident occurs or a tooth begins to cause severe pain, emergency dentistry is available to allow patients to be seen quickly when treatment will be most successful. If teeth have been lost or need to be extracted, Drs. Klein and Waltuch are able to replace the missing teeth with dental implants and restore them with a natural and fully functional dental crown or bridge in just one day. This means patients do not have to wait to receive a seamless and functional smile.

Advanced Implant Dentistry and Oral Restoration is a full-service dental implant practice, offering the latest techniques and featuring cutting-edge technology. Drs. Klein and Waltuch offer comprehensive dental implant care, able to replace individual missing teeth, multiple teeth and even a full mouth of missing teeth.

Only bringing state-of-the-art technology through their doors, this team uses the Ceramill Motion 2 milling machine to craft same-day restorations. 3Shape Implant Studio, EnvisionTEC Vida 3D Printer, Piezosurgery and Plasma Rich Growth Factors all help the doctors plan each implant surgery and ensure the results are successful and lasting. Using 3Shape TRIOS intraoral scanners, along with a RAYSCAN cone beam CT scanner, they are able to capture 3D images of a patients smile every step of the way. This technology has made it possible for the practice to offer leading implant care, even for those in emergency or complex situations.

Patients interested in learning more or who would like to discuss same-day dental implants in Cedarhurst, NY are encouraged to call the practice at 516-665-1249 to schedule a consultation or visit the website at http://www.advancedimplantsli.com.

About the Doctors

Advanced Implant Dentistry and Oral Restoration has provided cutting-edge dental care to Cedarhurst, NY since 1989. Dr. Michael Klein is the Director of Advanced Implant Dentistry and Oral Restoration in Cedarhurst, New York and has pioneered the technology used in computer-guided dental implant surgery. A prosthodontist, Dr. Klein completed specialized training in restoring complete function and esthetics to patients smiles. Dr. Allon Waltuch received his Doctorate of Dental Surgery, his fellowship in Oral Implantology, and his certification for Esthetic Dentistry from New York University. Drs. Klein and Waltuch value state-of-the-art technology that allows them to treat patients with precision, accuracy, and the highest quality results. As a result, Advanced Implant Dentistry and Oral Restoration has an in-house lab offering the most innovative technology in dentistry and providing patients with the ability to complete treatment in just one day. To learn more about Drs. Klein and Waltuch and the services offered at Advanced Implant Dentistry and Oral Restoration, call the office at 516-665-1249 or visit their website at http://www.advancedimplantsli.com.
A remarkable video shows an ingenious rescue after panicking horses crashed through thin ice in a pond in Russia.

Quick-thinking farmer Sagitzian Idiyatullin, 29, brought his tractor with a lifting jib which was used to pull all seven horses out of the freezing water.

Footage shows the group of trapped horses struggling to stay afloat on an ice pond and trying to reach fora group of farmers.

Seven horses were rescued after falling through ice which they mistakenly thought was thicker, roughly 5ft thick, at a farm in Bashkortostan, Russia. The mammals did this 'out of habit', says the farmer who helped rescue them

The Bashkir horses appear frantic as they desperately try to clamber to safety. Farmer Sagitzian Idiyatullin, 29, brought his tractor with a lifting jib which was used to pull all seven out of the freezing water (pictured)

They form a jam as they try to frantically clamber to safety.

Sagitzian and his workers then harness the horses around the neck with a rope attacked to the tractors lifting gear.

One by one the panic-stricken beasts were pulled out, saving them from being frozen to death or drowning.

Sagitzian is pictured with one of the farm's horses. Speaking about the incident, he said: 'Thank God we acted promptly and pulled them out'

'The cause of this accident is unstable weather of this winter,' said the horse-breeding farmer from oil-rich Bashkortostan.

'The horses walked on the ice out of habit, thinking that as usual half a metre (5ft) thick there.

'Thank God we acted promptly and pulled them out.'

The animals are nearly all saved from drowning and freezing in the ice pond. Unstable weather conditions are thought to be the cause of the accident, claimed Sagitzian

These ancient Bashkir horses are small but known for their endurance.

They remain outside throughout the biting Russian winter.

In many areas of Russia locals report that this winter is milder and the ice thinner than a decade ago.
New Delhi, Feb 17 : The Delhi High Court on Monday issued notices on a petition filed by a Jamia Millia Islamia student seeking compensation of Rs 2 crore for injuries he sustained during December 15 violence.

In the petition, student named Shayyan Mujeeb asserted that he received injuries after the protest against Citizenship (Amendment) Act turned violent.

Mujeeb contended that he spent over Rs 2.5 Lakh on medical treatment.

The court issued notices to Central government and Delhi Police on his petition. They have to submit their response by May 27.

The counsel, appearing for Mujeeb, told the court that his client has fractured both his legs and will limp for life. The Centre, however, objected to his claim.

"There is a CCTV footage for the library," the counsel retorted.

Protests against the newly-enacted Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) had turned violent on December 15 near Delhi's Jamia Nagar.

As many as 14 buses were burnt and 20 private vehicles were torched in that violence.

Sixty seven people, including 31 police officers, sustained injuries and a total of 47 persons, including students, were detained.
Like all major disasters, the demise of Holden after 72 years in Australia is the result of a vast number of factors  some of which were out of its control.

The problems go way beyond the use of the Commodore name on the imported model after local manufacturing ended in October 2017, or the series of misguided advertisements which tried to change Holdens image to appeal to a more cosmopolitan audience.

While a strong Australian dollar made Holden exports unprofitable before 2017, the tide ironically turned after the factory closure.

Holden has since been paying the price for a weak Australian dollar and a lack of investment in new models by its parent company General Motors (GM) in the wake of the global financial crisis.
Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.



As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.



Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.



Digital Editor
Experts from India and abroad have acknowledged the efficacy of traditional medicines in treating non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular ailments, diabetes and stroke at a three-day global conference which concluded here on Monday.

The seventh International Congress of the Society for Ethnopharmacology was organised here by the Jamia Hamdard University where experts and representatives from the industry deliberated on the strengths of the traditional medicine system and the challenge it faces.

The event supported by the Ministry of AYUSH and the Department of Biotechnology among others, saw participation of over 60 experts from around 40 countries such as Canada, Nigeria, the USA and Australia.

At the conference, Dr Ikshit Sharma from AIMIL Pharma spoke in detail about the potential of herbal drug BGR-34 in managing diabetes by not only providing consistent blood sugar lowering effects but also acting as metabolic regulator.

Sitesh C Bachar, Professor and Chairman, Pharmacy Department in the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, stated that many modern medicines have been demonstrated to be strong radical scavengers but they are also carcinogenic and cause liver damage.

His study highlighted the evaluation of natural compounds found in plants as effective drugs against hepatic complications.

Dr Peter O Ajagbouna, an expert from Nigeria, spoke about the pharmacological effects of a plant --Mausanga Cecropiodes -- against cardiovascular diseases which he has experimented on animal models of hypertension myocardial infraction and diabetes.

"Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of mortality in the world today. Although modern drugs are effective, they have their adverse effects. In our country, therefore many researchers have focussed screening natural sources that have been intended with minimal side effects while being used in the treatment of these diseases," he said.

Director of Trigonella Labs in Australia Dr Dilip Ghosh dwelled on medicinal properties of fenugreek seeds which has the generally recognised as safe (GRAS) status in the USA and is as an effective and safe neutraceutical ingredient for blood sugar management.

Similarly, Dr Pradeep Visen who is from Toronto, Canada, shared results of clinical validation of medicinal herbs in the management of Type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease risk factors.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), heart diseases, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases, once linked only to affluent societies, are now global, and the poor suffer the most.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chinese security guards line up before duty in Beijing, China, on Feb. 9, 2020. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Evacuated Cruise Passengers Sent to Nebraska: Coronavirus Updates From Feb. 17

Countries around the world are taking measures to stem the spread of the new coronavirus, dubbed COVID-19, as the death toll continues to rise.

This page has updates from Feb. 17. For updates from Feb. 18, click here.

Evacuated Cruise Passengers Sent to Nebraska

Several Diamond Princess cruise ship passengers who were described as a high risk, along with their spouses, were taken to Nebraska, after displaying potential COVID-19 symptoms or testing positive, said state health officials on Monday.

The Americans were taken University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha for isolation, said state officials in an afternoon press conference.

Christopher Kratochvil, executive director of clinical research for the Global Center for Health Security at the university, said a total of 13 people were taken to Omaha and described them as high-risk patients.

One of the passengers was taken to a containment unit with symptoms of an undisclosed chronic condition, said Shelly Schwedhelm, the head of Nebraska Medicines emergency department.

All of the 13 people have been tested, the officials said. Well have to decide  whether they will stay in their room or be let outside, Schwedhelm said, adding that the rooms are separate.

Like other evacuees, they will have to be placed under federal quarantine for 14 days, according to the health officials.

The State Department said that 14 passengers among the more than 300 evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise shipwhich was docked off the coast of Japan and under quarantine for two weekstested positive for COVID-19 two or three days before.

UK Could Evacuate Citizens from Ship

UK authorities are considering evacuating 74 of its nationals on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, said a spokesperson for the Foreign Office.

We sympathize with all those caught up in this extremely difficult situation. We are urgently considering all options to guarantee the health and safety of the British people on board the Diamond Princess, in line with the latest advice from the Chief Medical Officer and the World Health Organisation, and are working closely with the Japanese authorities and our international partners, a Foreign Office spokesperson told CNN.

Our staff in Tokyo, including the Ambassador, have been in regular contact with the British passengers and crew on the Diamond Princess and we have also been speaking to families in the UK, the spokesperson added.

About 300 Americans have already been evacuated and were transported to military bases for further quarantine measures.

Australia, Hong Kong, and Canada have said they are planning to evacuate citizens from the cruise ship, located off the coast of Yokohama, Japan.

Two buses arrive next to the Diamond Princess cruise ship, with people quarantined onboard due to fears of the new coronavirus, at the Daikaku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama port in Japan, on Feb. 16, 2020. (Behrouz Mehri/AFP via Getty Images)

99 New Cases on Cruise Ship in Japan

Ninety-nine more people have tested positive for the Novel Coronavirus on cruise ship Diamond Princess, Japanese health authorities reported on Monday.

The announcement was made by Japans Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, after testing 504 people on the ship, according to local outlet NHK. Among the 99, 85 are passengers and 14 are crew members.

Read more here.

3 New Infections in Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Health Ministry has confirmed another three new COVID-19 patients.

Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Communicable Disease Branch of the Center for Health Protection, said on Monday that a 69-year-old retired man who lives in Tseung Kwan O has contracted the virus.

The man, who already had diabetes and high blood pressure before being tested positive for the virus, had not traveled outside Hong Kong recently. He was hospitalized on Feb. 16.

The Health Ministry later confirmed two additional cases of the virus: a 45-year-old man, who is a coworker of the 69-year-old retired man, and the wife, 46, of a patient confirmed to be infected with the virus on Sunday.

The new cases brings Hong Kongs known case total to 60.

Chuang Shuk-kwan (L), head of the Communicable Disease Branch of the Center for Health Protection, and Lau Ka-hin, chief manager of quality and standards at Hong Kongs Health Authority, speak at a press conference in Hong Kong, on Feb. 17, 2020. (Bill Cox/The Epoch Times)

Chinas Legislative Meeting Could Be Delayed

The 13th National Peoples Congress (NPC), Chinas rubber-stamp legislature, could delay its upcoming annual session that is scheduled for March 5, state-run media Xinhua reported on Monday.

The annual political meeting is one of the biggest held by the Chinese regime.

The standing committee of the NPC will hold its 16th bi-monthly session on Feb. 24 in Beijing. According to Xinhua, the committee is expected to consider postponing the annual session.

Public Events Canceled in Japan

A public birthday celebration for Japanese royal leader Naruhito on Feb. 23 has been canceled, Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun reported on Monday, citing the Imperial Household Agency.

Naruhito and his wife Masako and family were originally going to greet the pubic three times from a balcony of the Imperial Palace.

We made the decision to cancel the public event at the palace, which is attended every year by many people in close proximity, after considering the risk of the virus spreading, said Kenji Ikeda, vice grand steward of the agency.

Organizers of Tokyo Marathon, one of the six World Marathon Majors, have canceled entries from the general public for the sporting event scheduled on March 1, Tokyo Shimbun reported on Monday.

About 38,000 people from the general public were scheduled to take part in the marathon.

About 200 elite athletes are still scheduled to participate.

14 Americans Infected Leaving Japan

Fourteen U.S. citizens repatriated from Japan have tested positive for the Novel Coronavirus, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Feb. 17.

The infected people were among over 300 U.S. citizens who were repatriated on Sunday from the cruise ship Diamond Princess, which is currently quarantined in the Japanese port of Yokohama.

During the evacuation process, after passengers had disembarked the ship and initiated transport to the airport, U.S. officials received notice that 14 passengers, who had been tested 2-3 days earlier, had tested positive for COVID-19, the statement said.

Their flights left Japan at about 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday, and will land at either Travis Air Force Base in California or Joint Base San Antonio in Texas on Monday morning.

The 14 infected people were isolated from the rest of the passengers on the flights.

Passengers without any symptoms of the virus will be placed under quarantine for 14 days. The 14 infected passengers and others who develop symptoms while on the flight, will be transported to a location for continued isolation and treatment.

Japans Defense Minister Taro Kono tweeted on Monday that the Japan Self-Defense Forces helped transport 340 U.S. passengers on 14 buses from Yokohama to Tokyos Haneda Airport.

About 380 Americans were on the Diamond Princess.

Thailand, Japan, Philippines Report New Infections

One new case of COVID-19 has appeared in Thailand, after a 60-year-old Chinese woman tested positive for the novel coronavirus, local newspaper Bangkok Post reported on Monday, citing the local health ministry.

The woman is one of nine infected members in a Chinese family.

The new case brings Thailands total number of known cases to 35. Among them, 15 have recovered and returned home.

In Japan, a staff member at Sagamihara Chuo Hospital, located in the city of Sagamihara, has tested positive for the virus, local newspaper The Japan Times reported on Monday, citing an announcement by the hospital.

The staff member had been caring for the 80-year-old infected woman who died last week.

Currently, Japan has 61 known cases of the novel coronavirus.

Also in Japan, 16 more Filipinos abroad the cruise ship Diamond Princess have tested positive for the virus, local newspaper Manila Bulletin reported on Monday, citing the countrys department of foreign affairs.

The 16 cases brings the total number of Filipino crew members infected to 27.

The number of confirmed cases inside the Philippines remains at 3, with one death.

China Cuts Medium-Term Rate as Economic Impact of Virus Hits Asian Markets

With no end in sight for the outbreak, Chinas central bank cut the interest rate on its medium-term lending on Monday.

The Peoples Bank of China (PBOC) said it was lowering the rate on 200 billion yuan ($28.65 billion) worth of one-year medium-term lending facility (MLF) loans to financial institutions by 10 basis points (bps) to 3.15 percent from 3.25 percent previously.

The cut saw Chinese stock markets rally.

China CSI 300 erases Covid-19 slump. Why?

* Short selling ban (in China this means the Gulag!)

* Funds need govt approval to sell (prove an outflow)

* Record repo injections by the PBoC, rate cuts

* Xi  will cut taxes and record fiscal stimulus Rally means all is good, right? pic.twitter.com/hCRUaEiHdZ  Jim Bianco (@biancoresearch) February 17, 2020

#Chinas tech-heavy #Chinext index surged 2.4% to hit the highest in more than three years. Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Component are trading 1% and 1.3% higher. pic.twitter.com/RzGVX2exfR  YUAN TALKS (@YuanTalks) February 17, 2020

The central bank attributed the move to keep banking system liquidity reasonably ample to counter factors including maturing reverse repos, but it did not address the specific reason for the rate move.

No MLF loans were due to mature on Monday.

The PBOC also said in the statement that it injected 100 billion yuan of reverse repos to financial institutions on Monday, when a total of one trillion yuan worth of reverse repos are due to expire.

As data from Japan and Singapore on Monday appeared on the brink of recession, many economists also expect Chinas economic growth to slow despite the rate cut.

Ratings agency Moodys on Monday revised Chinas 2020 GDP growth forecasts downward to 5.2 percent.

In Japan, the Nikkei stumbled 0.7 percent after official data showed the economy shrank in October-December at the fastest pace since the second quarter of 2014.

Singapore downgraded its 2020 economic growth forecast and is set to unveil measures to cushion the blow from the epidemic on Tuesday. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Friday that a recession was a possibility.

Singapore has 78 cases and sees its FULL YEAR GDP falling to contraction. China has 60k+ cases and its official est. sees just 1.5% dip in Q1 2020 (to 4.5%) and then a rebound to business as usual. Nothing to see here, plenty of paper/toner at the Chinese central bank. (2/2)  Jim Bianco (@biancoresearch) February 17, 2020

Asias woes saw Wall Street indexes scale to record highs.

Australians on Diamond Princess to be Evacuated on Wednesday

The Australian government has confirmed that it is organizing an evacuation flight with flag carrier Qantas for more than 200 Australians and some New Zealanders quarantined aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship currently docked in Yokohama, Japan.

Australian chief health officer Brendan Murphy said that all passengers would have to undergo an additional 14 days of quarantine at a facility near given the ongoing infections on the ship.

Given there has been recent cases, we cannot be absolutely sure that any of the currently well people on the ship who are coming home on Wednesday are not carrying the virus, he told reporters. And if we cannot be sure, we have to take precautions.

That is why we are going to take them to the Howard Springs facility in Darwin, he told reporters on Monday.

Murphy said he did not know the cause of the ongoing infections.

Second Health Official Tests Positive in Japan

A male official in his 50s working for Japans health ministry has tested positive for COVID-19, NHK reported on Monday, citing the health ministry.

The official had worked on the cruise ship Diamond Princess from Feb. 11 to 15 to relay information on the ship to the ministry.

He developed a fever on Feb. 14 and tested positive for the virus on Feb. 16. He was hospitalized on Monday.

On Feb. 12, Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun reported that a quarantine officer working on Diamond Cruize was the first health official to test positive for the virus.

The officer was taking the temperatures of passengers and collected their medical questionnaires for two days ending Feb. 4. He wore a mask at the time but did not wear protective goggles. He also disinfected his hands after seeing each passenger.

McDonalds, Starbucks Provide Contactless Services in China

McDonalds in China is putting pickup orders in sealed bags and placing them in a special spot for people to pickup without any human contact, Reuters reported on Monday.

Delivery orders are being sent to building entrances for pickup, the report said, with delivery persons washing their hands frequently and disinfecting their delivery bags.

While we look at how to further improve the process, the stepped-up preventive measures apply to all of our servicing channels, McDonalds told Reuters in a statement.

Starbucks has also introduced non-contact pickup points, asking its customers to wait outside of their stores and pick up orders from tables just inside store entrances.

Residents in One Hubei City Banned from Leaving Their Homes

The municipal government in Xiaogan, a city in Chinas Hubei province, announced five new measures to battle the coronavirus outbreak on its official Weibo account on Sunday.

One measure states that all residents are forbidden from leaving their homes. Residents who are sick or pregnant and in need go to the hospital should leave their homes at a determined time slot and travel on a pre-determined route. People who violate the measure will be detained for 10 days.

All vehicles, excluding those such as police cars, medical vehicles, firefighting vehicles, postal service vehicles, are forbidden from driving on the road. People who violate the ban will be detained for 10 days and be fined 500 yuan (about $70).

All pubic places must be closed down except pharmacies, supermarkets, hotels, and farmers markets.

South Korea, Singapore, Japan Report New Infections

South Koreas Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Monday a new case of the novel coronavirus, bringing the national total to 30.

The new patient, a Korean woman aged 68, is the wife of an infected man who had not recently traveled outside of the country.

Meanwhile, Singapores Ministry of Health reported three new cases on Sunday, bringing the total on the island to 75.

Two new patientsboth Singaporean nationals aged 43 and 29also had no recent travel history to China, representing further cases of sustained human-to-human transmission. They are related to 18 confirmed cases of the virus connected to a local church.

The 43-year-old man is a regular serviceman in the Singapore Armed Forces. According to the ministry, he did not go to work after showing symptoms of the virus.

The third patient, a 71-year-old Singaporean woman, is a family member of another infected man. Both of them have no recent travel history to China.

Pedestrians wear protective masks as they walk through a shopping district in Tokyo, Japan, on Jan. 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

In Japan, local newspaper The Japan Times reported on Sunday six new confirmed casesfive in Tokyo and one in Aichi Prefecture, citing local authorities.

In Tokyo, two of the new patients came into contact with an infected taxi driver who tested positive on Feb. 13.

Another patient has been identified as a doctor in his 60s who works at a hospital in Tokyos Ota Ward. He had contact with an infected nurse, according to Japanese outlet NHK.

It was unclear how the remaining two patients in Tokyoone in his 30s and the other in his 60sbecame infected.

In Aichi Prefecture, the new case involves a male resident in his 60s who came in contact with a woman living in Nagoya. The woman tested positive for the virus on Feb. 15 after returning from a trip to Hawaii. The man had not visited China recently.

Currently, Japan has 59 known cases of coronavirus.

For updates from Feb. 16, click here.

Frank Fang, Melanie Sun, and Reuters contributed to this report.
A Gold Coast mother accused of murdering her two adult children with disabilities for insurance payouts has also been charged with attempted murder.

Maree Mavis Crabtree already faces a string of charges including two counts of murder over the death of her daughter Erin, 18, in 2012, and son Jonathan, 26, in 2017.

The new charge against Crabtree, 53, is over the alleged attempted murder of Jonathan at a Gold Coast property in Maudsland on January 10, 2017.

Gold Coast mum Maree Crabtree (pictured left) is accused of murdering her two adult children to claim their insurance money. New allegations suggest she previously tried to kill her son

Police allege she killed Erin, 18, (pictured left) in 2012 and Jonathan, 26, (right) in 2017

Jonathon's dead body was found at a home in the nearby suburb of Coomera six months later.

Erin was found dead at the Maudsland home in September 2012.

Both siblings had disabilities. Police have said previously they died as a result of being forced to take prescription medication.

Crabtree was arrested in January 2018.

She is also charged with the grievous bodily harm and torture of a woman, aged in her 20s, and several fraud offences.

Police said at the time the woman had been abused over several years.

Crabtree did not appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court when her charges were mentioned on Monday.

She is remanded in custody, with all charges expected to be mentioned on March 9.
PM Lee writes Valentines Day note to healthcare workers caring for coronavirus patients

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Friday posted a Valentines Day note, thanking doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers who have been treating and caring for those infected with the coronavirus.

"Your loving care and commitment makes all the difference," he wrote in his note, which he shared on social media. "We all stand with you and give you our full support."

Happy Valentines Day to a very special group of people, doing their duty and more to keep us all safe and well, and to keep Singapore going!  LHL #BraveheartSG https://t.co/gouiUKxhzj pic.twitter.com/3IceIpVlim  Lee Hsien Loong (@leehsienloong) February 14, 2020

Posted with #BraveheartSG, PM Lee said that this is a very special group of people, doing their duty and more to keep us all safe and well, and to keep Singapore going!

#BraveheartSG is a movement started by community group StandUpFor.SG which invites people to handwrite notes of encouragement and thanks to medical staff at the frontline of treating the coronavirus. The organisers have asked people to share pictures of their notes on social media with the hashtag.

The group is aiming to print and deliver these handwritten notes to over 5,000 medical staff starting Friday which is Valentines Day.
By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Azerbaijan's Deputy Defense Minister, Lieutenant General Kerim Veliyev and EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Toivo Klaar have discussed the current situation on the line of contact of the troops of Azerbaijan and Armenia and on the state border, according to the information published on the Defense Ministry's official website.

He has once again stressed that Armenia is occupying 20 percent of Azerbaijans internationally-recognized territories. He added that the negotiation process remains to be ineffective so far.

Veliyev pointed out that Armenia's destructive position is the main obstacle in achieving progress in the negotiations on the conflict settlement.

In turn, Klaar noted the importance of an early and peaceful resolution of the conflict to ensure stability in the South Caucasus region. He stressed that the EU is a supporter of continuing negotiations in this sphere.

In 2013, the European Parliament adopted a resolution which confirmed that Armenian troops have occupied Azerbaijani territories and called for resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis of UN Security Council resolutions and the L'Aquila statement of the mediating countries' leaders in 2009.

According to changes to the resolution, the European parliament recalled its position that the occupation of the territory of an Eastern Partnership member by another member state violates the fundamental principles and objectives of the EU program.
NEW DELHI, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- More than 400 Indian nationals evacuated recently from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, have tested negative for the virus and will be discharged from Monday, India's semi-official news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) reported Sunday.

The 406 people have been put under medical observation at a paramilitary quarantine facility in the Indian capital. "They will be discharged in (a) phased manner from Monday," the report added.

Officials have said that every member of the group tested negative for the virus twice on Friday.

A separate group of Indian nationals was evacuated from Wuhan earlier this month and put under quarantine in an army facility in Manesar in the neighbouring state of Haryana.

India has so far reported three confirmed coronavirus cases in the southern state of Kerala, with two patients discharged from hospital after showing signs of recovery.

The Indian government on Friday said the novel coronavirus situation in the country was under control, with precautionary measures adopted and effective surveillance in place.

India's federal health ministry has launched a 24-hour helpline and is circulating prevention measures recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), which has declared the novel coronavirus epidemic a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC).
Photograph: Seth Wenig/AP

The jury at Harvey Weinsteins rape trial in New York will begin deliberations on Tuesday, with the worlds media and the expectations of the #MeToo movement bearing heavily upon them.

Related: 'Master of his universe': Weinstein saw women as disposable, prosecutor says

The five women and seven men who form the jury hold in their hands the fate of the disgraced movie mogul. If they find him guilty of two of the five counts against him, of predatory sexual assault, he could be sentenced to life in prison.

Since the trial began last month, the jurors have constantly been reminded of intense media interest in the case.

Prosecutors and Weinsteins lawyers have frequently directed jurors vision to the overflowing press benches in courtroom No 99 at the New York supreme court, and alluded to the sound of keyboards rattling as one way of highlighting the high-profile nature of the case.

The process of reaching a verdict will not be easy or brief. The first trial of Bill Cosby, the comedian whose prosecution is often compared to that of Weinstein, ended in a mistrial when the jury failed to agree after six gruelling days of deliberations.

Cosby was found guilty at a second trial and sentenced in 2018 to three to 10 years in prison.

There are two main accusers in the Weinstein case.

Miriam Haley was working as a production assistant in 2006 when she alleges Weinstein lured her to his SoHo apartment in New York and forced oral sex on her.

A woman who the Guardian is not identifying, as she has not indicated that she wishes to be publicly named, alleges she was raped in a New York hotel in 2013.

Weinstein, 67, has also been accused of sexual misconduct by more than 100 women. He denies all allegations of non-consensual sex.

In the New York trial, four women who accuse the producer of rape and sexual assault  Sopranos actor Annabella Sciorra, Dawn Dunning, Tarale Wulff and Lauren Young  were called by the prosecution to give supporting evidence.

Story continues

In closing arguments, Weinsteins lead defence lawyer, Donna Rotunno, and lead prosecutor Joan Illuzzi-Orbon presented the jury with starkly contrasting summaries of the case.

Though #MeToo, the social reckoning galvanised by the accusations of sexual abuse levelled against the Pulp Fiction producer since 2017, has rarely been mentioned in court, it has clearly influenced the lawyers diametrically opposing interpretations of the case in hand.

Related: Donna Rotunno: the legal Rottweiler leading Harvey Weinsteins defense

Rotunno has portrayed the six women as money-grabbing, manipulative individuals who exploited Weinstein in order to advance their careers. According to that view, they were prepared to do anything  including consensual sex  in order to get on.

On Friday, Illuzzi-Orbon gave a very different analysis. Weinstein, she said, treated women who he tricked into entering his lair like ants he could step on without consequences.
A cause has not yet been determined, officials said. Both agencies are asking the public to avoid the area while their investigation continues. The private marina was closed Monday and could not be immediately reached.
Rutgers-Camden chancellor Phoebe A. Haddon, pictured here in 2014, will leave the leadership post in July. Read more

Phoebe A. Haddon, chancellor of Rutgers-Camden, will step aside in July after six years at the helm, the university announced Monday.

Haddon, 70, said she had accomplished more in her five-year term than she had set out to do, including increasing enrollment and improving the schools status as a research institution and community resource.

I thought it was a good place to pause and have them look for new leadership, said Haddon, Rutgers-Camdens first female African American leader.

The Camden campus is one of three that compose the state university. The others are the main campus in New Brunswick and a campus in Newark.

Haddon will leave just as Rutgers, New Jerseys largest university, welcomes its first black president, Northwestern University provost Jonathan Holloway.

Thats not exactly whats prompting this decision, Haddon said, but it does allow Holloway to look for new leadership and allows her time to put more energy into other projects, including her new role as chair of the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

Thats going to take a lot of my attention, she said.

 READ MORE: Former Temple law professor to lead Rutgers-Camden

Haddon, a former Temple University law professor who splits time between her homes in Philadelphia and on Long Beach Island, said she is proud of the campus growth. Rutgers-Camden enrolls about 7,400 students, up from about 6,400 when she arrived.

Helping to fuel that growth was the launch of a tuition-reduction program in 2015, called Bridging the Gap. Through it, families making less than $60,000 a year pay no tuition and fees; Rutgers-Camden pays whatever is not covered by federal and state aid. For families making between $60,000 and $80,000, the university pays 75% of the familys cost after the aid is applied, and for those earning between $80,000 and $100,000, the school covers 50%.

 READ MORE: Rutgers-Camden wants more freshmen, so it changed its financial aid program

Rutgers-Camden also last year was elevated to a classification as an national research university, bringing more prestige. The school has added masters and doctorate programs. They include the states first masters program in forensic science, as well as programs in nursing practice, business analytics, digital marketing, and investments and private wealth management.

Also under Haddons tenure, the university opened a $62.5 million Nursing and Science Building, an alumni house, and a writers house.

Championing excellence, access, and engagement, Phoebe Haddon has moved Rutgers University-Camden forward in vital ways, and we are a better and stronger institution because of her, outgoing Rutgers University president Robert Barchi said in a statement.

Going forward, Haddon said she hopes the university will work even more closely with the K-12 schools in Camden to prepare students to enroll at Rutgers-Camden.

We have done some work, but we can do better, she said.

Haddon said she also would like to see the campus continue to deepen its regional reach, going further into Philadelphia and parts of Delaware and New Jersey.

Haddon, a constitutional law scholar who serves on several local boards, said that she will continue mentoring young leaders through various associations and that her ties to Rutgers-Camden will stay.

Leading this institution has been  and remains  one of the defining honors of my life, she said.


The Hon Grant Robertson MP was in Mahurangi as guest speaker at the Rodney Labour Waitangi picnic at Herons Flight in Matakana on Saturday, February 8. He is pictured here with Labour List MP Marja Lubeck and vineyard owner Mary Evans.

Hopes that Auckland Council and the Government can work together to fund the cash-strapped project to dredge the Mahurangi River may have taken a small step forward, following a visit to the region by Finance Minister Grant Robertson.

On hearing that the project was due to be mothballed unless more funding could be found, and that the $5.1 million cost would escalate to $20 million if the project was delayed, Mr Robertson agreed Government should discuss the issue with Council.

This is something I havent delved into before, but its clearly an important issue for this area that needs to be dealt with, he said. Ultimately, Auckland Council needs to grab a hold of it. But early investment may mean saving money down the line and we can have a talk with Council about that.

He also suggested the Mahurangi River Restoration Trust (MRT) take up the issue with Ministry for the Environment.

Mr Roberston admitted that the project being ineligible for the Provincial Growth Fund, because Warkworth was part of Auckland, was an issue the Government should address.

We need to work out a different way. Shane (Jones) would be the first to say weve learned a lot and we want to apply those lessons in the future.

Following Mr Robertsons visit, a Ministry of Environment spokesperson said the department administered several contestable funds that sought to support community-led projects aimed at improving New Zealands rivers.

There are two funds of possible relevance for the Mahurangi River restoration project, including the Freshwater Improvement Fund and the Community Environment Fund, a spokesperson said. Its possible that the goals for the Mahurangi River may also be aligned with funding programmes managed by the Ministry of Transport or Department of Internal Affairs, among others, and I encourage them to explore those possibilities.

Meanwhile, MRRT is calling on Auckland Council again to instigate talks with the Government to stop the project being abandoned.

Trust spokesperson Steve Burrett said without dredging, fish and aquatic life would decline and the possibility of a ferry would be put on the back burner for years.

Most importantly, Warkworth and the surrounding Rodney area will lose out on the biggest opportunity it has to rejuvenate the whole area, enhance a superb national treasure in the river, create more employment and develop a natural asset for the 25,000 additional people who are destined to reside in the area, he said.

A Council mayoral office spokesperson said Auckland Council continued to work closely with the MRRT to find a sustainable solution.
Nothing says "multi-culturalism" quite like singling out people of one race and telling them that they don't belong in a common area. Such was the case in a video that has been making its rounds on Reddit.

The video, called "Black girl tells whites to leave multicultural student center", shows a student at the University of Virginia asking white people to leave what appears to be a University common area, where they are sitting and working.

"Public service announcement," she starts by saying. "If y'all didn't know this is the MSC. And frankly there's just too many white people in here and this is a space for people of color. So just be really cognizant of the space that you're taking up because it does make some of us POCs [people of color] feel uncomfortable when you see too many white people in here."

She continues: "It's only been open for four days. And frankly there's the whole University for a lot of ya'll to be at. And there's very few spaces for us."

There doesn't seem to be any reaction from other students in in the video, one of whom appears to be an Asian student working on a laptop in the background. The person taking the video then applauds.

As one blogger noted, the video was originally tweeted by a student with the username WUF (@WafaFlofa_Flame), who referred to white students as "a bunch of infiltrators" before deleting her Twitter account.

The University issued a statement shortly thereafter, stating that the centers are open to all members of the University community.
ISTANBUL - A Turkish delegation is in Moscow on Monday for talks on the crisis in Idlib after two meetings held over the past 10 days in Ankara. The meeting, which military and intelligence representatives from the two sides are expected to attend, comes after the killing of 13 Turkish soldiers in two separate Syrian government raids at the start of February.

Turkey has asked Russia to exercise its role as guarantor for the agreements of Astana and Sochi, stopping Bashar al Assad's offensive against rebels in the north-west, and bringing its forces behind the lines in which Turkish military observation positions are located. Moscow for its part has urged Ankara to stop anti-regime ''terrorists''.

After today's meeting, Anadolu reported that talks have been scheduled between Foreign Ministers Mevlut Cavusoglu and Serghiei Lavrov to discuss the situation also ahead of a potential emergency summit between Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin.


Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.

0108263 License for publishing multimedia online



Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349
Jihadi bride Shamima Begum has said her world fell apart after she lost the first stage of her appeal against being stripped of her British citizenship earlier this month.

Speaking from a camp in Syria, the 20-year-old, who fled east London when she was 15 to join Isis, said she had done nothing wrong before joining the terror group.

She told ABC News: "When my citizenship [appeal] got rejected, I felt like my whole world fell apart right in front of me.

You know, especially the way I was told. I wasn't even told by a government official. I had to be told by journalists.

Shamima Begum in front of a British flag embroidered on a cushion. (James Longman/ABC)

"I kind of saw it coming because I did do my research just before I came out. I thought I would be a bit different because I had not done anything wrong before I came to Isis.

Read more: Shamima Begum: I'm being punished because Im famous

Shamima Begum has said she regrets comments made in her earlier media appearances. (BBC)

Last year she claimed she had been brainwashed by Isis and wanted to return to the UK for a second chance.

Shamima Begum, right, fled the UK to join Isis in Syria with two other east London schoolgirls in February 2015. (PA)

When asked by ABC News foreign correspondent James Longman about previous media appearances in which she appeared unrepentant, Begum said: I had just come into the camp. I had just given birth.

I was hearing all these stories about women threatening other women, you know, folk uncovering their faces or speaking to men or doing interviews or anything like that. I just was afraid for my life."

Read more: Shamima Begum says Manchester Arena bombing was 'justified'

She was interviewed by ABC along with US/Canadian Isis bride Kimberly Polman, with whom she shares a tent in Roj, a camp managed by the Western-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.

Polman has knitted Begum a cushion decorated with the British flag.

Begum was one of three schoolgirls who travelled to Syria to join Isis in February 2015. She was found, nine months pregnant, in a Syrian refugee camp in February last year, prompting then home secretary Sajid Javid to strip her of her British citizenship.

Her case has sparked debate over the question of whether or not British Isis fighters should be allowed to return home.

Story continues

Read more: Isis bride Shamima Begum exposed to risk of death by British citizenship removal

Begum took legal action against the Home Office at both the High Court and the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, a specialist tribunal that hears challenges to decisions to remove someones British citizenship on national security grounds.

Her lawyers argued that Javids decision was unlawful as it rendered her stateless, but the tribunal found in a ruling earlier this month that when her British citizenship was revoked, she was a citizen of Bangladesh by descent and was therefore not rendered stateless.

Shamima Begum lost the first stage of an appeal against losing her British citizenship. (PA)

In a separate judgment, the High Court rejected Begums challenge to the Home Offices decision to refuse to allow her to enter the UK in order to effectively pursue her appeal.

Begum said she married Dutch convert Yago Riedijk 10 days after arriving in Syria.

She said she left Raqqa, Syria, in January 2017 with her husband but that her children, a one-year-old girl and a three-month-old boy, had both since died.

Her third child died shortly after he was born in the refugee camp last March.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says rice farmers in Niger Delta area will now be offered single-digit loans. The decision is expected to boost production output as new local brands flood the market, resulting in a crash in price.

The decision to offer the single-digit loan was made after a meeting between the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswil Akpabio, and representatives of the CBN in Abuja, which was meant to develop the Niger Delta area.

It was disclosed that the plan is to use agriculture to develop the Niger Delta, hence the single-digit loan to rice farmers. Cassava, rice, oil palm and cocoa farming were identified in 2018 as the comparative advantage in Niger Delta, a representative of the CBN Governor at the meeting, Anthony Ifechukwu disclosed.

Other plans CBN has for the Niger Delta: The CBN plans to support the livestock and fishery production in the region, and will also provide index insurance for participating farmers.

In a statement released by the Head, Press and Public Relations at the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Patricia Deworitshe, Ifechukwu also assured participating farmers of a guaranteed market price for their produce, explaining that the bank would give a single-digit interest loan for five years.

He advised eligible farmers willing to participate in the scheme to procure quality seedlings from reputable companies and plant their crops in clusters, adding that CBN will do index insurance for participating farmers.

Meanwhile, Akpabio, who was represented by Permanent Secretary at the ministry, Adesola Olusade, said the focus was on land acquisition for the agricultural project, and this would be done in partnership with the governors of the nine states in the region.

Government support yielding result: The Nigerian government has continued to make moves to diversify the economy, moving focus from oil to agriculture. This led to the closure of land border to prevent foreign rice brands from suffocating local production .

In the latest Nairametrics Household Survey, it was disclosed that more brands of local rice continued to flood major markets in Lagos, thereby crashing the prices. The price of local rice reduced significantly across major markets in Lagos as new brands of locally made rice were sighted in various markets. Also, quality of locally-produced rice in Nigeria has recorded significant improvement.

Source: Nairametrics
Sorry!

This content is not available in your region
(Source: Suttons City Holden)

General Motors (GM) has announced that Holden will close down for good in Australia, with nearly 600 jobs to go.

The local sales, design and operations teams will be wound down by 2021 and the decision comes after several options were considered to maintain the brand in the country, according to GM international operations senior vice president Julian Blissett.

But the business has been hampered by highly fragmented right-hand-drive markets, the economics of growing the brand, and poor return-on-investment, a statement from GM said.

After comprehensive assessment, we regret that we could not prioritize the investment required for Holden to be successful for the long term in Australia and New Zealand, over all other considerations we have globally, said Blissett.

The closure means 70 per cent of 800 jobs  roughly 560 jobs  will be lost, with most of these in Melbourne. The remaining 240 jobs will service customers for the next decade.

Blissett added that the Australian teams performance was not to blame for the closure.

This decision is based on global priorities and does not reflect the hard work, talent and professionalism of the Holden team.

Holden Commodores as the car brand bows out of Australia. (Source: autocar.co.uk)

According to the statement, GM will instead focus on the specialty vehicles business.

GM Holden interim chairman and managing director Kristian Aquilina said the announcement would be felt by people who drive and love Holdens, but that the hard work of the Holden team was not enough to overcome challenges.

We understand the impact of this decision on our people, our customers, our dealers and our partners  and will work closely with all stakeholders to deliver a dignified and respectful transition, Aquilina said.

Maven and Holden Financial Services will also be wound down in Australia.

Story continues

How will Holden staff be impacted?

600 Holden employees will be given separation packages and employment transition support, according to the statement.

Holden will work with its dealer network on appropriate transition arrangements, including offering dealers the opportunity to continue as authorised service outlets to support Holden customers, the statement said.

What happens to me if Im a Holden customer?

Holden has said it will continue to honour all warranties and servicing offers that were made at the time of sale, and will continue to provide servicing and spare parts for the next 10 years at minimum through national aftersales networks throughout Australia and New Zealand.

This aftersales network will also handle recalls and safety-related issues that may arise.

Australian Holden customers can get in touch with Customer Care at 1800 46 465 336 or holden.com.au.

Holden customers in New Zealand should contact 0800 465 336 or holden.co.nz.

Yahoo Finance has contacted Holden for comment.

Holdens 164-year history

Although Holden is now known and loved for its vehicles, the iconic Australian company began as a saddlery business in 1856 in Adelaide, and grew over the years to become a full-scale manufacturer of vehicle bodies.

In 1931, General Motors bought Holden Motor Body Builders, and the two companies merged to become General Motors-Holdens.

Car production was put on pause when World War II broke, and Holden became an armaments manufacturer, creating army trucks, aircraft engines and field guns. However, producing these goods helped Holden sharpen their skills and depth.

A new headquarters and assembly plant was opened in Port Melbourne in 1936, and the first all-Australian motor vehicle was launched in Australia in 1948.

Holden in the 1950s. (Source: Holden)

From the 1950s, Holden dominated and shaped the Australian vehicle market, and the 1960s saw the brand export cars to Africa, the mIddle East, South-East Asia, the Pacific Islands, and the Caribbean.

The Commodore was introduced in 1978, and a $300 million Holden expansion program was announced in 1977.

Holden in the 1970s. (Source: Holden)

Holden encountered some hiccups in the 1980s, and the Ford Falcon pipped Holden Commodore as the best-selling Australian car, though Holden reclaimed its place as Australias top car manufacturer by the end of the decade.

However, in the 2000s, Toyota beat Holden as the top-selling brand. In 2013, a high Australian dollar, tough competition and a diminishing large car segment hit Holden hard, alongside then-Prime Minister Tony Abbotts announcement that it would reduce support for automotive manufacturers. That year, Holden announced it would cease manufacturing cars by 2017.

In 2019, GM announced that the Commodore and Astra models would be discontinued in 2020.

Make your money work with Yahoo Finances daily newsletter. Sign up here and stay on top of the latest money, news and tech news.

Follow Yahoo Finance Australia on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Columbia, S.C.

For I.S. Leevy Johnson, the Democrats' search for a challenger to take on President Donald Trump is personal.

"There is what I call an 'ABT mood' in the black community: Anybody but Trump," said the 77-year-old who was the first black graduate of the University of South Carolina's law school. "It has people of color very motivated and excited about voting this time because they know how his administration has adversely affected them."

Now, as the election calendar turns to Nevada and South Carolina, states with substantial minority populations, that "anybody" moves closer to being identified. But the next stage in the nominating fight will test candidates such as Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, and Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind. Their success thus far has come in front of overwhelmingly white electorates in Iowa and New Hampshire.

It's also a potential last comeback opportunity for former Vice President Joe Biden. He finished poorly in those first two contests but argues he has durable support among the minority voters who will soon make their choices.

Nevada's caucuses are this coming Saturday and will feature a growing population of Latinos, African Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Yet no single place in the early going is as important as South Carolina. Up to two-thirds of voters in the Feb. 29 primary could be African American. Biden, more than any other candidate, must show he can win their allegiance.

One candidate who will not be tested in Nevada or South Carolina is Mike Bloomberg, the former New York mayor and billionaire owner of a financial services and media empire. Bloomberg has spent heavily from his personal fortune in states with sizable minority populations that will vote in the March 3 primaries. The Super Tuesday contests are the first where his name will appear on the ballot.

It adds up to a muddled field that lacks clarity even after Iowa and New Hampshire had their turns. Moderates have splintered their votes and created space for Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, to take on the mantle of a front-runner without having reached 30 percent in either of the first two voting states.

That intensifies the spotlight as minority voters in Nevada and South Carolina in trying to clarify the party's search for "anybody" to match against Trump.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

"The system is garbage," said Jason Johnson, a professor at Morgan State University and a high-profile African American political commentator. He argued that the primary calendar should immediately subject candidates not just to racial and ethnic diversity but also regional and ideological differences, and the full city-to-farm spectrum. "I'm not sure this process actually can identify the strongest candidate to defeat Donald Trump," he said.

Jason Johnson said he doesn't blame the candidates because they are merely reacting to a process "that harms everybody." But I.S. Leevy Johnson, the South Carolina businessman and lawyer, said it too easily makes key constituencies in the party an afterthought. "People of color are tired of these promises that candidates are going to do things, and when they make those promises, when they get elected, they don't perform," he said.

Even belatedly, the remaining candidates certainly are trying.

Sanders fell short in 2016 to Hillary Clinton for the nomination in no small part because of his struggles to attract older nonwhite voters. For 2020, he has hired as a senior adviser one of the top Latino strategists in the party, Chuck Rocha. Sanders' lead surrogates include Nina Turner, a former Ohio state lawmaker and leading black progressive, and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, the young progressive icon.
LIMERICKS first Oscar nominee since Richard Harris 25 years ago has said she is truly humbled by her nomination.

Irish-Ethiopian Ruth Negga was this week announced as one of five nominees for a best actress award at the Oscars.

Her fellow nominees are Natalie Portman (Jackie), Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins), Emma Stone (La La Land), and Isabelle Huppert (Elle).

I am truly humbled by the news, and I thank the Academy for this recognition, which I share with my co-collaborators Jeff Nichols and Joel Edgerton, she said in a statement.

The former Love/Hate star, 35, is nominated for her role in Loving, which tells the true story of an illegal inter-racial marriage in 1950s Virginia.

The couple battled before the Supreme Court in 1967 for their right to live together as husband and wife.

It has been such an honour to have been given the opportunity to tell the incredible story of Richard and Mildred Loving, who serve as an inspiration that ordinary people can do extraordinary things.

The Lovings fought quietly yet tirelessly, and changed the course of American legal history.

To be among such extraordinary women - my fellow nominees, my peers with films this year, and the legendary performers whose work of years past has long inspired me. This means a really great deal to me, she said.

Mayor of Limerick, Cllr Kieran O'Hanlon, said he will be writing to her on behalf of the citizens of Limerick to send his congratulations and every best wish for the upcoming ceremony itself.

I was absolutely delighted to hear the news at lunchtime, and all of Limerick is certainly rooting for her. It's great for Limerick - we're on the map now in the film industry, with Troy Studios to set to open in Castletroy, and now we have a second Oscar nominee, he told the Limerick Leader.

Win or lose, I would love to invite her and her family to a mayoral reception in City Hall, when her schedule allows for it, said the Fianna Fail mayor.

There were celebrations in Dooradoyle in honour of the star, who counts a wide extended family in the citys suburbs.

Ger Malone, one of Neggas four uncles in Limerick, where she grew up in her early years, told the Leader that the news was fantastic.

It's great news for Limerick and it's great news for the family, he said.

He said he doubts he'll be attending the Oscars himself on Sunday, February 26 next, but theyll be eagerly watching from home, while she enjoys herself with a family representative.

Mr Malone said all the family have been delighted to witness her success.

Absolutely, were all very proud of her. Shes a hard worker, very committed and deserves every success. She was always a great little actress growing up.

Among her cousins in Limerick is Peter Malone, another son of Ger, who has played rugby with Bruff, St Munchin's, Garryowen, Munster, and who is now Munster Rugby's elite player development manager.

Her cousin Dave Malone has frequently been her companion of choice as she stepped out on successive red carpets at the Golden Globes, and previously in New York and Cannes.

Ruths mother Nora now lives in London, after moving from Limerick, and there are four other aunts and uncles from the Dooradoyle Road, and even more cousins.

Negga, an only child, was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where she lived until she was four. Her mother Nora was working in Ethiopia as a nurse when she met Negga's father.

Ruths father was due to move to Limerick after them but died in a car accident, when she was just seven.

She went to national school in Roxborough, and later spent part of her secondary school at the all-girls Scoil Carmel on OConnell Avenue, which has now closed its door. She moved to London and completing her drama studies at Trinity College Dublin.
Prosecutors flipped through image after image of a homeless woman dead atop the steps near the downtown chancery.

Across the courtroom, her accused killer appeared to quietly wipe away tears.

It was the opening of Lucky Wards death penalty trial, which otherwise began Monday with few frills as jurors heard a brief opening statement and initial testimony in the deaths of Carlos Rodriguez and Reita Long. The 55-year-old had waited for his day in court for almost 10 years while locked up in the Harris County Jail, where guards have labeled him one of their most dangerous inmates.

Lucky Ward is the man who killed those two people, prosecutor Colleen Barnett told the jury. Just for the joy of it.

Barnett set the stage for a trial expected to last through March, introducing the two victims who, she said, were already vulnerable to violence.

Long was a mother and teacher. She had hit hard times and lived on the streets when she couldnt find a place to crash, the prosecutor said.

The other victim, a hairdresser, has been described in court as a transgender woman whose birth name was Carlos Rodriguez. Her friends knew her as Charlie.

Rodriguez and Long were both found dead at separate scenes within a few weeks of each other in September 2010. Long was discovered near the chancery with a bra tightly wrapped twice around her neck, a trauma that medical examiners have described as worse than a suspended hanging, Barnett said. Rodriguez was found naked and covered by blankets in a North Side home, strangled by an unknown ligature.

By spring 2011, grand juries indicted Ward with capital murder in both killings. Court records listed him as homeless.

His attorneys waived their opening statements Monday but entered a not guilty plea for Ward. Tall and wearing a blue suit when he walked into Judge Chuck Silvermans court with shackles around his ankles, Ward wore shaded glasses for most of the day.

Members of the sheriffs offices Emergency Response Team were present for extra security, but were not visible to the jurors.

The first witness to testify at the trial was a Houston crime scene unit officer who took photos and collected evidence at both scenes. Most of his account went uncontested, but one of Wards lawyers, Jimmy Ortiz, questioned why the officer didnt collect or take photos of certain pieces of evidence.

The officer said he was told the house was frequently visited by many people, making it a DNA nightmare. He mostly focused on items that looked related to the scene or appeared fresh, such as Rodriguezs blankets and a Busch beer can, he said.

Several of Rodriguezs friends also testified, saying she had just broken up with a long-term boyfriend. She had brought several men home after nights out, they said.

If convicted, Ward faces a life sentence without parole or the death penalty.

samantha.ketterer@chron.com
The year 2020 is a big year for history, not just in making it but in recognizing its past.

The Mayflower landed 400 years ago. The Boston Massacres 250th anniversary arrives March 5. The geography of Massachusetts changed 200 years ago next month, when on March 15, 1820, Maine left Bay State jurisdiction to become its own state.

Events that still influence our national conscience are intersecting; in 1920, the 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote. And February is, of course, Black History Month, which has caused widespread analysis of the shared goals of equal rights for women and African-Americans throughout the 19th and early 20th Century.

A new exhibit, Voices of Resilience: The Intersection of Women on the Move, has opened at the Springfield Museums. On display at the Blake Court of the DAmour Museum of Fine Arts, it brings life to people and events that are all too often overlooked.

The exhibits web site describes it as a path to highlight diverse hidden figures and narratives, lending insight about women, women of color and others on the move to a more inclusive and just world. It addresses the role of women in history, some of which has been skewed by time and institutional bias.

Two icons of the 19th Century womens equality movement were Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Research shows that Stanton, in particular, was not - to be charitable - as supportive of rights for black women as for whites. Experts such as Colgate University history professor Faye Dudden point out that as co-author with Stanton, Anthony was at least tacitly complicit.

Why is this important? Its because the United States is undergoing a re-examination of its own history, one that makes many people uncomfortable but which is still necessary, because history is not worth understanding unless we understand it in full. Creating heroes and icons is the fast path, but its misleading and very incomplete - and if we are to concurrently celebrate black history and womens rights in 2020, its crucial we look at it as completely and objectively as possible.

America has been, and still is, a nation of maddening setbacks and great triumphs. Our knowledge of ourselves is greater when we understand both. This historical year gives us that chance. Exhibits such as that at the Springfield Museums gives us the avenue. As citizens, lets take advantage by keeping an open mind, which is our best chance of getting it right.
By Express News Service

BHOPAL: Kangaroo justice continues in Madhya Pradesh where a man was reportedly asked by village elders to marry his minor daughter (aged below 14 years) as atonement for accidentally killing a calf few months ago in Vidisha district.

But the Women and Child Development (WCD) department team escorted by police arrived in time and stopped the illegal marriage from happening on Friday.

According to sources at the Pathariya police station in Vidisha district, a man hailing from Lodhi (Other Backward Caste) community, while driving a two-wheeler had accidentally run over a calf, resulting in the mammals death a few months back.

As atonement for the sin of killing the cow, out of the superstitious beliefs, he took the ritualistic bath in the Ganga river and was preparing to throw a feast for village elders to complete the atonement in Kolhua village.

But the village elders refused to turn up for the feast and instead asked him to marry his minor daughter on Friday.

Compelled by the diktats by village elders, the concerned man was about to marry his daughter on Friday, when the WCD team arrived at the marriage venue and stopped the marriage.

The girls family argued there was nothing illegal in the wedding as the girl was of marriageable age. The WCD team then asked the family for the girls Aadhar details, which later revealed that she wasnt even aged 14 years.

While confirming the development, the Pathariya police station in-charge BD Singh told The New Indian Express on Sunday evening that no case was registered in the matter.

The matter is being probed by the WCD department.

Three years back, in a similar incident, a caste panchayat of Banjara tribe had ordered a man to get his 7-year-old daughter married to an 8-year-old boy, as punishment for killing a calf three years back in Guna district.
Associated Press

An all-too familiar escalatory cycle of violence in the Middle East began in December with the killing of a U.S. citizen, perhaps inadvertently, during a fairly low-tech missile attack in Iraq. It ended  we think  with the downing of a civilian airliner in Iran, killing all 176 on board. This was a painful reminder of the blunders and miscalculations that are prone to happen when tensions are high and militaries are engaged without active communications channels and crisis management.

Tensions between the U.S. and NATO with Russia are playing out against a similar backdrop of a communications and crisis management breakdown, which is particularly dangerous given that the U.S. and Russia together possess over 90% of the worlds nearly 14,000 nuclear weapons. Keeping Americans safe from nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction must be the highest priority for any president, and he or she has unique responsibilities in this domain. Only the president can order the use of a nuclear weapon, and there might be only 10 minutes or less to decide. Anyone who would hold the office should have a plan to avoid that moment of crisis and, if necessary, to respond.
With this, Thu Do Multimedia JSC is the first technology company in Southeast Asia to have a solution to protect digital content copyright certified by international standards.

In 2019, Thu Do Multimedia announced the successful research and development of digital content copyright protection solutions by combining DRM (Digital Right Management) and Finger Print Online (solution for detecting re-streaming video sources). This is a solution to protect digital content copyright on the internet environment developed by Vietnamese engineers.

Thu Do Multimedia is a Vietnamese company that has successfully developed DRM solutions and solutions to detect infringements of re-streaming video content on the internet environment.

In December 2019, the digital copyright protection solution (commercially known as Sigma DRM) was also tested and audited by Cartesian to meet international security standards. Thu Do Multimedia is the first company in Vietnam and Southeast Asia and one of six Asian companies to achieve this certification. Cartesian has now certified DRM solutions for all 20 DRM Companies worldwide.

Thu Do Multimedia not only named Vietnam as one of the Top 20 global businesses in developing DRM solutions but also creates opportunities for Vietnamese content owners to apply this domestic solution to curtail the rampant digital content piracy plaguing them.

Talking about the reason why Thu Do Multimedia decided to invest in the research and development of this DRM + Finger Print Online project, CEO Nguyen Ngoc Han said, In the past two years, Thu Do Multimedia has been the only company that has fully developed OTT television solutions in Vietnam. We realise that copyright protection for digital content (including protection of television content, videos, music, and e-books among others) is of paramount importance.

Moreover, almost all content owners in the world refuse to co-operate with Vietnamese content providers as they believe they cannot protect their content. The most recent case was the European Cup which was not allowed to be boradcast in Vietnam in 2017 due to the lack of copyright security."

In order to develop an encryption solution, in addition to requiring software security experience, a deep understanding of the terminals is also a mandatory condition because the entire decrypting process takes place at the hardware side. Moreover, the number of devices in this field ranges from mobile devices to large screens in homes or in cinemas. For that reason, only large companies in the world, such as Apple, Microsoft, and IBM, participated in DRM solution development. In the television DRM segment, there are only about 10 global companies currently developing and providing this solution, such as Nagravision, Conax, and Viacess.

Thu Do Multimedia's passing the accreditation of Cartesian brought the Sigma DRM into the list of 20 DRM solutions meeting global security standards. This is an important achievement for Thu Do Multimedia, as a proof of its capabilities in the field of security development in Vietnam, and opens up opportunities for Sigma DRM solutions to reach out and provide services to television companies and digital content providers in Vietnam and overseas.

The successful development and owning of DRM technology by a Vietnamese company is an important achievement with the rampant copyright infringements in Vietnam. To combat this, besides integrating content protection solutions (DRM), the applying of Finger Print Online solution to detect pirated video sources and prevent content from being recorded with screen recording devices are shaping up as essential tools.

"In terms of security capabilities, Sigma DRM solution is equivalent to solutions being offered globally," said Nguyen Ngoc Han.

The successful development of a DRM solution by a local company will benefit digital content owners and providers in Vietnam. To protect copyright, most Vietnamese content providers are now applying foreign DRM security solutions that come at a high cost.

With the success of Sigma DRM solution, Thu Do Multimedia is confident in bringing international-standard solutions to Vietnam. In addition, having a local server dispels the connectivity issues in getting a security key from overseas servers. Additionally, co-ordinating with a local company would offer advantages in negotiations, support, and upgrades.

From July 2019, the combination of Sigma DRM and Finger Print Online has been applied for VTVcab ON  the OTT TV service of Vietnam cable television corporation (VTVcab).

Protecting the network in the midst of 5G From fully autonomous connected cars to the explosion of Internet of Things devices, 5G wireless network is creating a foundation that is bringing todays emerging ...

Get copyright protection on the internet The acts of copying and cropping articles, images and videos posted on official websites of organisations or individuals, might be subject to administrative and even ...
Indigenous protesters and their supporters are continuing to blockade several major railway lines to voice their support for members of the Wetsuweten First Nation who are opposing the federal Liberal and British Columbia (BC) New Democratic Party (NDP)-backed Coastal Gas Link pipeline project.

Cross-Canada protests erupted after heavily armed police dismantled a barricade blocking access to the Coastal Gas Link (CGL) worksite in northern BC and arrested some two dozen Wetsuweten protesters on Feb. 6.

Publicly the Trudeau Liberal government remains committed to resolving the dispute through dialogue. But big-business lobby groups, many provincial governments, and much of the corporate media are demanding the government ensure speedy resumption of full rail service and uphold the rule of lawi.e. order police to violently intervene to dismantle the barricades.

While protesters have agreed to take some railway blockades down, several key railway lines in Ontario and Quebec remained blocked. Last Thursday, CN Rail, the countrys largest railway, said that the blockades gave it no choice but to shut down its operations east of Toronto. Via Rail, the federal government-owned passenger service, has suspended most of its operations nationwide. Some commuter rail traffic has also been disrupted in both Greater Montreal and Toronto.

The hereditary Wetsuweten chiefs have led a years-long campaign to halt construction of the Coastal Gas Link pipeline along the current proposed route, which traverses ecologically pristine and culturally significant traditional Wetsuweten territory.

The pipeline, which will bring natural gas from northeastern BC to the Pacific Coast port of Kitimat, is critical to a $40 billion project to build a Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) plant that would export LNG to Asian markets. Prime Minster Justin Trudeau has previously boasted that the Kitimat LNG project will be the largest ever single investment in Canada.

The federal Liberal and BC NDP governments have dismissed the opposition to the pipeline from the hereditary chiefs and their Wetsuweten supporters, by pointing to agreements CGL signed with 20 government-authorized elected band councils.

Yesterday afternoon, a spokesperson for Trudeau confirmed that the Prime Minister had been in consultation with cabinet colleagues throughout the weekend over the rail shutdown. Those named included Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, Transport Minister Mark Garneau, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair, Indigenous Services Minister Mark Miller, and Minister for Crown-Indigenous Relations Carolyn Bennett.

Miller reportedly briefed Trudeau on the eight hours of talks he held Saturday with representatives of the Mohawk activists, whose blockade near Belleville, Ontario, on CNs Montreal to Toronto line, has choked the railways operations.

Miller told reporters that modest progress had been made in the talks but refused to divulge any details. In comments Sunday, he added that a negotiated settlement was preferable to police moving precipitously to enforce court injunctions declaring the blockades illegal and risking a repetition of the 1995 Ipperwash clash. On September 6, 1995, Ontario Provincial Police stormed a native blockade and killed an indigenous protester, Dudley George, in Ipperwash Provincial Park. The deadly confrontation occurred after Ontario Tory Premier Mike Harriseager to demonstrate that his hard-right government would not bow to public oppositiondemanded police bring a quick end to a stand-off triggered by the Crowns refusal to return land to the Stony Point Ojibway First Nation that had been seized during World War II for a military base.

Millers meeting with the Mohawk protesters came a day after Trudeau combined a call for dialogue with a veiled threat of state violence. In comments from Germany, where he was attending the Munich Security Conference, Trudeau asserted, We are a country that recognizes the right to protest, but we are a country of the rule of law. And we will ensure that everything is done to resolve this through dialogue and constructive outcomes.

Trudeau also attacked Conservative leader Andrew Scheer for demanding he instruct Public Safety Minister and former Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair to order police to dismantle the blockades.

Scheers tirade, including his declaration that protesters should check their privilege, was denounced, even by sections of the media, as inflammatory. These protesters, these activists, said the Conservative leader, may have the luxury of spending days at a time at a blockade, but they need to check their privilege. They need tolet people whose jobs depend on the railway system, small businesses and farmers do their jobs.

Using Scheer as a foil, Trudeau sought to strike a more conciliatory tone. We are not the kind of country where politicians get to tell the police what to do in operational matters, declared the prime minister.

Nobody should take Trudeaus posturing seriously. The reality is that Trudeaus repeated invocations of the rule of law are a signal that if negotiations fail, his government stands ready to use the full force of the repressive state apparatus to put an end to the protests. In 2016, Trudeaus then Natural Resources minister, Jim Carr, told business leaders behind closed doors that the government had plans in hand to deploy the army against unlawful anti-pipeline protests.

Governments of all political stripes across Canada have increasingly moved to criminalize social opposition, including by routinely illegalizing strikes. Just two weeks ago, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe ordered police to violently break up a blockade set up by locked-out FDL oil refinery workers in Regina, under the pretext of upholding the rule of law.

Anyone still harbouring illusions about the intentions of the Trudeau government and Canadas ruling elite more broadly should examine the secret agreements CGL has struck with the governments Wetsuweten band councils. They contain a legal commitment that the bands will "take all reasonable actions" to dissuade their members from doing anything that could impede, hinder, frustrate, delay, stop or interfere with the project, the project's contractors, any authorizations or any approval process. This includes a commitment to dissuade band members from taking part in any media or social media campaign. In other words, the band councils have signed on to serve as a political police force on behalf of corporate Canada and the Trudeau government.

Trudeaus sanctimonious blather about Canada not being the kind of country where politicians get to tell the police what to do in operational matters is equally dishonest. It was his Liberal government that rammed legislation (Bill C-59) through parliament, granting Canadas premier spy agency the right to actively disrupt threats to Canadas economic or national security. Moreover, the catch-all definition of terrorism fashioned under the battery of security laws passed by successive Liberal and Conservative governments since 2001 is so broad it could be applied to rail blockades and political strikes.

With increasing impatience, important sections of the ruling elite are demanding the Liberal government break up the blockades. In addition to Scheers call for a police crackdown, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney described the protests as a very serious threat to the Canadian economy on Friday. Canadians are losing patience, he fumed.

In an opinion piece for Global News, Rob Breakenridge raised the spectre of the 1970 FLQ crisis, when then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Justin Trudeaus father, invoked the War Measures Act to suspend civil liberties and deploy the army on the streets of Quebec on the spurious claim that two kidnappings by the Front de liberation du Quebec had created a state of apprehended insurrection. After urging Trudeau to borrow a page from his fathers playbook and show resolve, Breakenridge continued, Canadians are looking for some leadership, some clarity, and some backbone. Say what you will about Pierre Trudeau, but he was capable of demonstrating those qualities.

In an indication that the mounting frustration and anger within ruling circles could quickly turn against the Prime Minister himself, the right-wing National Post published an editorial Friday accusing Trudeau of being nowhere on the protests and calling on him to resign.

An Angus Reid poll found that 39 percent of Canadians support the blockades and other protests launched in solidarity with the Wetsuweten protests. This is a substantial figure given the universal hostility towards the protests expressed by the political establishment and corporate-controlled media. According to a CBC report, protest supporters tend to be younger women, as well as those on the lower side of the income scale and those on the left of the political spectrum.

The support for the protests reflects growing disenchantment with the Trudeau governments phony native reconciliation agenda. It aims to reconcile native peoplewho for centuries have been subject to abuse, violence, and neglect at the hands of Canadas ruling eliteto capitalism, by cultivating a privileged petty-bourgeois native elite, who will give social license to corporate Canadas resource extraction projects and use identity politics to separate native people from the rest of the working class.

The support for the protests is indicative of mounting popular anger over the terrible living conditions most indigenous people face, the ruling elites indifference to climate change, and its readiness to use state repression to impose unpopular policies and further swell its wealth.
(HedgeCo.Net) The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has announced the filing of a civil enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado against Breonna Clark, of Denver, Colorado, and Venture Capital Investments Ltd., a Colorado limited liability company, charging them with fraud and failing to register with the CFTC.

The complaint charges that the defendants solicited U.S. residents to trade foreign currency (forex) contracts as well as Bitcoin and other digital assets through a commodity pool operated by the defendants. In connection with these solicitations, the defendants collected $534,829 from approximately seventy-two individuals. Rather than trade, the defendants used at least $418,000 of the funds for personal expensesincluding acquiring a BMW automobileand to make Ponzi-type payments to other pool participants.

The complaint also alleges that the defendants fraudulently solicited prospective pool participants by misleading customers about their experience, expertise, and investment track record while promising future profitability trading forex and digital assets. The complaint further alleges that to conceal their misappropriation, the defendants sent pool participants false account statements, which purported to show trading gains. In addition, the defendants were charged with failing to appropriately register with the Commission pursuant to the Commodity Exchange Act and regulations.

In its litigation against the defendants, the CFTC seeks restitution to defrauded customers, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, civil monetary penalties, permanent registration and trading bans, and a permanent injunction against future violations of the Commodity Exchange Act, as charged.
The agency plans to declare that it is not appropriate and necessary for the government to limit harmful pollutants from power plants, even though every utility in America has complied with standards put in place in 2011 under President Barack Obama. While it will technically keep existing restrictions on mercury in place, it means the government would not be able to count collateral benefits  such as reducing soot and smog  when it sets limits on toxic air pollutants.
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to pass an order on Vodafone-Idea's plea to direct the central government not to encash its bank guarantee in view of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) judgement.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Vodafone-India, mentioned the matter before a bench of Justice Arun Mishra and said that it will deposit Rs 2,500 crore with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) today and Rs 1,000 crore by Friday, and it needs more time to deposit the entire amount arising out of the AGR judgement.

Rohatgi requested to not take any 'coercive measures" against the company, including encashment of its bank guarantees with the government.

After hearing Rohatgi, Mishra declined to pass any instruction to the government.

The Supreme Court, while hearing a plea on payment of dues under the AGR case on Friday, had observed how the telecom companies had violated its order "in pith and substance" and not paid the money to the Centre.A three-judge bench headed by Mishra said: "This case projects a very disturbing scenario. The companies have violated the order passed by this court in pith and substance. In spite of the dismissal of the review application, they have not deposited any amount so far."Justice Mishra, in his order, also made it clear that it appears that the way in which things are happening shows "scant respect to the directions issued by the top court.""A desk officer of the DoT has the temerity to pass the order to the effect of issuing a direction to the accountant general, another constitutional authority, not to insist for any payment pursuant to the order passed by this court and not to take any coercive steps till further orders," the court had observed.Warning the telecom companies of initiation of contempt proceedings against them and a desk officer of the DoT, the top had court ruled, "This is nothing but a device to scuttle order of this court. This kind of order should not have been passed by the desk officer at all.""In the circumstances, we draw contempt proceedings against the desk officer for passing the order and violating the order passed by this court," it added.The telecom companies had appealed before the top court challenging its AGR verdict on Rs 92,000 crore past dues on them. The apex court had upheld the central government's plea on the definition of AGR involving around Rs 90,000 crore.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Ahead of this months crucial South Carolina primary, the wife of presidential candidate Tom Steyer said that the foundation she runs is interested in considering an investment proposal from one of the states largest black church congregations. But she said the foundation wouldnt act on it until after the primary.

During services on Sunday morning at Brookland Baptist Church, Pastor Charles B. Jackson, Sr. mentioned applying for a grant from Steyers foundation in conjunction with renovations at Lakeview Empowerment Center, where many of Brooklands after-school programs are held. The church is in West Columbia, which is adjacent to Columbia, the capital city.

It is the kind of work that Tom and I have historically funded in communities, Steyers wife, Kat Taylor, told The Associated Press on Sunday. The TomKat Foundation would be happy to consider a proposal after the primary.

The states Feb. 29 primary is the first contest in the South on the 2020 election calendar and serves as an important gauge of black support. Black voters make up two-thirds of the Democratic electorate in South Carolina, and Brookland - among the largest black congregations in the state - has been a regular stop for many of the Democrats competing for their partys nomination.

Its banquet and conference centre, adjacent to the main church building, has hosted events featuring Sens. Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders, among others. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Steyer, former Vice-President Joe Biden and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg were among those attending an Urban League event there.

Taylor was stumping in South Carolina Sunday on her husbands behalf. Asked about the pastors remark, Taylor said she had recently toured the facility but that the foundation had not made any offer to fund the renovations, a move she said would be inappropriate during the primary campaign, due to Brooklands influence and the possible appearance of impropriety.

Our singular focus is on winning the nomination and positioning Tom to be the only candidate who can beat Donald Trump, Taylor said. We also dont want to do anything inappropriate, and neither would Pastor Jackson or Brookland Baptist Church want us to do that.

The foundation is completely separate from Steyers campaign, which has been investing in making inroads with South Carolinas black voters who have been thought of as a firewall of support on which former Vice-President Joe Bidens campaign is relying. Steyer has flooded South Carolina airwaves with millions of dollars in ads, building a robust staff of more than 100 employees and making numerous visits, holding more campaign events than any other candidate still in the race.

More than that, though, state director Jonathan Metcalf said Steyers campaign has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in direct investment in various entities throughout the state, including more than $200,000 with the South Carolina Democratic Party and more than $100,000 with other local Democratic parties throughout the state.

It was in our mandate from the start, with Tom, Metcalf said, noting the candidates interest in funding party efforts overall.

Taylor spoke with AP during an open house at the home shes renting in Columbia for the duration of her husbands presidential effort. Last week, the campaign announced that Taylor would be stepping down from her role as CEO of Beneficial State Bank to become more involved in campaigning efforts, particularly in South Carolina and the Super Tuesday states, and have a base of operations on the East Coast.

We wanted to be more in community, Taylor said.

___

Meg Kinnard can be reached at https://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP

___

Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast, Ground Game.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. Armenias delegation led by Healthcare Minister Arsen Torosyan is in the Republic of Korea on a working visit to take part in an event titled Exchange of Knowledge between Armenia, Georgia and South Korea on Health Insurance, the Armenian ministry told Armenpress.

During the visit Minister Torosyan and his delegation will get acquainted with the national health insurance service system of Korea, its implementation principles and other details.

The sides are going to discuss the necessary conditions and main actions for the introduction of a national health insurance system.

The Armenian minister is scheduled to have several meetings, including with the health minister of South Korea, the vice president of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), etc.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
The Trump presidency has been a heyday for bullies at home and abroad  for schoolyard tormentors who have weaponized the presidents odious rhetoric against their Hispanic and black classmates; for tyrants around the world ever more emboldened to threaten dissidents and intimidate journalists. Could there be any clearer sign that malice is in official favor than Mr. Trump using the occasion of the State of the Union speech to honor Mr. Limbaugh, around whose neck first lady Melania Trump hung the Presidential Medal of Freedom? Could there be anyone more antithetical to the purported goal of Mrs. Trumps Be Best anti-bullying campaign?
Q: I write and edit technical manuals as an employee. A friend of mine had an opportunity to write a chapter in a book within his field and he asked if I would help him with editing before he submitted the chapter. He was paid $4,500 and agreed to give me $1,000 for my editing work. I probably spent between 12 and 15 hours doing the work. In doing my tax return a question has popped up that relates to the new tax law. Is my income treated as qualified business income so that I can claim the new 20% deduction for that type of income?

A: I dont think what you describe is a business. If that is true, then you would not be able to claim the 20% qualified business income deduction (QBID). Others may disagree with me so let me expand on a few points that may help you decide how to report this income.

The QBID first appeared in the tax law in 2018. It is not well-drafted but now has final regulations to explain many of the key issues that arise. These regulations are not very clear as to what is a business.

I have had many clients who, like you, had one-off engagements that produced some extra income for them. I have reported this as other income on their tax return and not as business income.

There were two reasons for the way that I previously reported this income. First, I think it is the right answer if the activity was a one-time thing and not conducted with some continuity and regularity. A business is generally thought of as involving regular, continuous activity.

Second, in the past it was generally unambiguously better to report as not having a business. Business income of $400 or more (technically it is $433 but I wont bore you with the details) causes you to be subject to the self-employment (SE) tax.

SE tax can be as high as 15.3% of your net business earnings. The actual rate depends on what other sources of income you may have subject to social security taxes. You are allowed to deduct half of this SE tax against your taxable income.

Lets say that your SE tax is 15.3%. This tax is applied to only 92.35% of your net business earnings so it actually works out to be 14.13%. But that is still a very high rate of tax.

I dont know what federal tax rate you pay, so I am going to use 22% as a marginal tax rate just for illustration. If you pay a 22% tax rate on this additional $1,000 income that is $220. Thats the right answer if the income is not from a business.

If the editing work is a business, you will have to pay $141 in SE tax (14.13% of the $1000). You can deduct $71 for income taxes, which saves you $16 in income tax. But so far you are behind $125 ($141 SE tax minus $16 income tax saved).

But were not done. If this is a business you can claim the 20% QBID. This 20% is applied to the $1,000 minus the $71 deduction you claimed for the SE tax. So the QBID would be $186 (20% of $929).

A deduction of $186 would save you $41 in income tax (22% of the deduction). Now we can figure out the final part of this multi-step calculation.

If the editing activity is a business, you pay $163 more income tax ($220 minus $16 savings from SE tax deduction minus $41 savings from the QBID). But you also pay $141 in SE tax. The total federal tax goes up by $304.

If the editing is not a business, the income tax went up by $220. There was no SE tax so you pay $84 less. New Mexico does not allow a QBID and has no SE tax liability. So New Mexico taxes are the same either way.

I made some assumptions along the way. You really need to plug this into tax software and see what happens. But understand that business classification allows the QBID, but also creates an SE tax payment.

James R. Hamill is the Director of Tax Practice at Reynolds, Hix & Co. in Albuquerque. He can be reached at jimhamill@rhcocpa.com.
State of emergency declared in the Mississippi capital as the Pearl River continues to rise.

It has been a very wet winter across much of the southeastern United States with many cities recording well above average rainfall amounts.

The first two weeks of the month have been extremely wet for the region with a large area seeing more than 175 millimetres (7 inches) of rain.

For some cities, this winter has already been the wettest to date. From December 1 last year to February 15, Columbia, South Carolina had 457mm (18in), Greenville, South Carolina with 557mm (21.94in), and Starkville, Mississippi recorded 676mm (26.61in).

All that rain eventually needs to go somewhere and for the southeast, which is into the rivers and tributaries that eventually lead to the Gulf of Mexico. That process of draining into the open Gulf can take days if not weeks.

One of those rivers that are being impacted is the Pearl River in Mississippi. It runs through Jackson, the states capital, and passed major flood state on Sunday morning at 10.97 metres (36 feet).

The area has not seen the river this high in 37 years.

The states governor, Tate Reeves, said with the latest river projections, officials expect the Pearl River to continue to rise and crest sometime on Monday near northeast Jack, and later in the day in downtown Jackson.

Several parts of Jackson are under evacuation orders.

While Monday is forecast to be a relatively dry day across the southeast, more rain is expected on Tuesday through Wednesday with some areas receiving up to 80mm (3in). Then another round of storms could move through the region towards the end of the week.
High flying software group Altium has blamed the impact of the coronavirus and a slow start for its Octopart business for a downgrade to its financial forecasts.

Delivering its half-year results Atlium said it now expects full year revenues and profit margins to come in at the lower end of a previously stated range. Its shares had just hit a record high of $42.53 in anticipation of the announcement.

Altium chief executive Aram Mirkazemi. Credit:Ben Rushton

"They are still going to hit guidance but the share price has run so hard the market was likely expecting another upgrade," said Altium investor TMS Capital's Ben Clark after the announcement.

Altium confirmed that revenue would still be between US$205 million to US$215 million with an earnings before, interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin of 39 per cent to 40 per cent.
A US cruise operator is working to track down hundreds of passengers who disembarked a luxury liner in Cambodia after one traveller was later diagnosed with the deadly new coronavirus. The Westerdam was at sea for two weeks during which it was barred from Japan, Guam, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand over fears it could be carrying the virus, which originated in China and has killed nearly 1,800 people. Cambodia, a staunch ally of Beijing, allowed the ship to dock Thursday at its southern coastal town of Sihanoukville, with authorities carrying out temperature checks on passengers before they left the ship to catch flights home. But Thai authorities on Monday said any of Westerdam's passengers transiting through the country will face "severe measures", like getting screened upon entry and exit by health officials. One traveller from the vessel was stopped Saturday on arriving in Malaysia after airport staff detected a fever. She was later diagnosed with the coronavirus. The 83-year-old American woman is under observation at a hospital while her husband, 85, is also being monitored. Some 137 passengers from the Westerdam who also took the Malaysia flight with the American have now left on commercial flights for other destinations. - 'Harsh reality' - Cruise operator Holland America said Sunday it was in "close coordination" with Malaysian and Cambodian officials alongside experts from the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The company is working with "national health authorities to investigate and follow up with individuals who may have come in contact with the guest", said Dr Grant Tarling, the operator's chief medical officer. Another 233 passengers and 747 crew remain on the Westerdam, which is still docked at Sihanoukville. Authorities have been allowing them to leave the vessel in groups based on their flight bookings but those on board told AFP they are now not permitted to disembark. A Sihanoukville spokesman said Monday health samples are being collected from all onboard the Westerdam "in order to be clear", adding that passengers will not go off-ship until the tests are completed. Other passengers who have already left the ship are in Phnom Penh waiting for flights home. A tweet by passenger Christina Kerby said Cambodia's health ministry had instructed them to stay in their hotel rooms. She posted light-hearted updates when onboard the Westerdam, but on Monday said she panicked when being tested for the coronavirus by "doctors in moon suits". "It opened my eyes to the severity and harsh reality of this public health crisis," Kerby tweeted. Officials in neighbouring Thailand, which had barred the Westerdam from docking, said passengers transiting through its airports will face strict measures. They would be screened by the airlines and officials at every part of the journey, Suwanchai Wattanajingcharoenchai of the Thai Department of Disease Control said. For those who want to remain in Thailand, they would need permission from the embassy in Phnom Penh. "The foreigners... will be quarantined for 14 days," he added. In China more than 70,000 people have been infected with the coronavirus while about 780 infections have been reported in other countries. Cambodia's decision to allow the Westerdam to berth was lauded by US President Donald Trump, who called the country "beautiful" on Twitter, and US ambassador Patrick Murphy boarded the ship to greet its American passengers. The Westerdam cruise ship has been allowed to dock in Cambodia after being barred by Japan, Guam, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand The Westerdam cruise ship remains docked at Cambodia's southern coastal town of Sihanoukville
MONTREAL - As Indigenous-led, anti-pipeline protests have shut down rail service across much of the country, Quebec and Cree leaders announced Monday the first steps of a wide-ranging 30-year plan to further develop the province's northern territory together.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/2/2020 (694 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault, right, shakes hands with Chairman of the Cree Nation Government Abel Bosum after signing a Memorandum of Understanding on collaborative, long-term economic development at a news conference Monday, February 17, 2020 in Montreal.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

MONTREAL - As Indigenous-led, anti-pipeline protests have shut down rail service across much of the country, Quebec and Cree leaders announced Monday the first steps of a wide-ranging 30-year plan to further develop the province's northern territory together.

Premier Francois Legault told reporters he has been assured the initiative has the consent of the broader Cree community, in contrast, he said, to a natural gas pipeline proposal in British Columbia that has divided First Nations peoples and triggered widespread protests.

Legault was joined by Abel Bosum, Grand Chief of the Grand Council of the Crees, as well as by several other Quebec ministers and Cree representatives. They announced a multi-million dollar feasibility study that will look into developing the James Bay territory, with costs split equally between the Quebec and Cree governments.

Just one potential project, to expand the northern rail system and facilitate lithium mining and transport, is evaluated at $4.6 billion.

The premier called Monday's announcement "a historic moment between the Cree nation and the Quebec nation." He said the agreement was the natural continuation of the 2002 Peace of the Braves, a landmark economic development deal between Quebec and the Cree that ended years of conflict.

Grand Chief Bosum said the Cree Nation wasn't making any sacrifices to sign the agreement, nor was it making any concessions or difficult compromises.

"We chose to be here," he said.

Throughout the news conference, Legault repeatedly noted that the agreement has the support of the Cree people, not just the community's leaders. He was referencing the opposition to the planned construction of a $6.6-billion natural-gas pipeline in northern British Columbia called Coastal GasLink.

Coastal GasLink signed agreements with all 20 elected band councils along the pipeline route, including the Wet'suwet'en First Nation's council. But Wet'suwet'en's hereditary chiefs are opposed to the project and say the council does not have authority over the relevant land. Protests in support of the Wet'suwet'en's hereditary chiefs have sprung up in Indigenous communities across Canada as well as among non-Indigenous people.

"This morning, the chiefs are here," Legault said. "Mr. Bosum showed a lot of leadership. This is a project that we've been working on for a while, long before this current conflict on the rail lines."

Aside from the rail network expansion, Legault and Bosum say the study will analyze other potential initiatives on the northern James Bay territory, also known as Eeyou Istchee, such as electrifying industrial installations and developing the local labour force.

They say the study will consider projects over the next three decades and will also identify new sites designated for environmental protection.

This report from The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2020.
The Munich Security Conference was attended by more than 800 delegates, including 150 heads of state, prime ministers and government members. Those who followed the situation in the Caucasus were particularly focused on the Armenian Prime Minister's visit to the conference, expecting him to provide specific comments on the Karabakh settlement.

However, Nikol Pashinyan's visit to Germany once again demonstrated his unwillingness to abandon his occupational rhetoric, which it all about desire to affirm the unrecognized status of Nagorno-Karabakh. This became clear even before his meeting with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, during a briefing with foreign journalists at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, where the Armenian PM made a number of confessions about the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the glorification of Nazi accomplice Garegin Nzhdeh in Armenia.

Journalists asking Pashinyan questions noted that the PM was not linked to Armenian separatism during escalation of nationalist and ethnic problems in 1988-1992. They also emphasized Pashinyans noninvolvement in the events of the Karabakh war, in which two previous Presidents of Armenia Robert Kocharian and Serzh Sargsyan, who entered the republics modern history precisely because of their 'military merits', took an active part.

They expected Pashinyan to introduce a new political doctrine into the peace process. But, answering journalists' questions, the Armenian PM chose to look for gaps in Azerbaijan's rhetoric, representing Baku as an unpredictable side, which, according to Pashinyan, does nothing to provide security for the Armenian population of Karabakh. Pashinyan believes Azerbaijan "will certainly carry out ethnic cleansing of the region if Armenia voluntarily abandons its occupation policy."

The answer to the question of the glorification of Garegin Nzhdeh destroyed any prospect of reaching phased agreements - the Armenian PM preferred to note Nzhdeh's activities during World War I, deliberately belittling the fact of his cooperation with the Nazis. Pashinyan attributed cooperation with the Nazis to eminent Azerbaijani emigrant Mammad Amin Rasulzade. On the whole, the Armenian Prime Minister's rhetoric regarding the crimes of Garegin Nzhdeh suggested that aiding Nazis is not something criminal for present-day Armenia.

Despite the fact that the Karabakh clan was removed and now opposes Pashinyan, its shadow still hangs over the peace process. The methodology guidelines that have guided Armenian diplomacy in recent decades are still relevant, with the only difference being that the current political elite is not quite confident in using them, often being confused and contradicting itself.
(Newser)  It might have been a catastrophically bad call. Authorities let passengers on a cruise ship docked in Cambodia disembark, insisting none of them had the coronavirus. Not so much. An American woman who was among several hundred passengers allowed to get off the MS Westerdam over the weekend set off thermal scanners at an airport in Malaysia, reports the South China Morning Post. The unidentified 83-year-old has indeed been diagnosed with COVID-19, per the AP. Now world health experts are assessing the scary implications: Other passengers who left the ship scattered to three different continents. "We anticipated glitches, but I have to tell you I didnt anticipate one of this magnitude," William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University Medical Center tells the New York Times. "This could be a turning point."

story continues below

This cruise ship is not the same one that has been quarantined in Japan. This one, the MS Westerdam, set out on Feb. 1 from Hong Kong, but soon ports all over the region fearful of the fast-spreading virus denied it permission to dock. Cambodia, which is closely allied with China and whose leader has downplayed the seriousness of the outbreak, relented and granted the ship entry. Passengers were screened to some extent before being allowed to leave, but the American passenger's illness is now calling into question the thoroughness of that screening. One possibility being considered is tracking down all the passengers and asking them to voluntarily confine themselves for two weeks at home. In the meantime, ship operator Holland America Line says 255 guests and 747 crew members remain aboard the ship awaiting clearance. (Read more COVID-19 stories.)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Ardila Syakriah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 17, 2020

In the not so distant future, you will no longer need to apply for a visa and fly south to study at some top Australian universities. With the ratification of a landmark trade deal with Canberra, the government has decided to bring them here instead.

Indonesia is open to foreign colleges. But the trade pact, ratified by the House of Representatives earlier this month, allows the government to further relax its rules regarding the establishment of local branches of Australian universities.

The first Australian university to announce its Indonesian branch is Monash University, a Melbourne-based public university, which will only offer Master and PhD degrees, as well as executive programs and micro-credentials.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login
The Polisario last week gave another proof of its totally flawed perception. Faithful to its tactics to proclaim imaginary diplomatic victories in the Sahara issue, declared to great trumpeting and chest beating that a Western Sahara inter-group was set up at the European Parliament.

The news was of course relayed by the Algerian news agency and pro-Polisario media as a victory while it was just a fake news.

Actually, last Thursday Feb. 13, German MEP Joachim Schuster gathered in a 20-seat meeting room, LOW 1.1B, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg two representatives of the polisario and a handful of parliament staffers and interns.

After short introductory remarks by the German MEP, the two Polisario members repeated their usual story, before an annoyed audience and the meeting ended with the proclamation of the setting up of an intergroup.

The intergroup, presented by the Polisario and its mentors as a pathway to reconquer the European Parliament, actually has no legal or institutional basis, nor political legitimacy. The European legislative institution explained that an intergroup is not an organ of the European Parliament and cannot speak on its behalf.

Actually, article 35 of the European Parliaments rules of procedure notes that an intergroup is an individual initiative of an MEP which has an unofficial character.

The same regulations stipulate that intergroups shall not carry out activities, which could lead to a confusion with the official activities of the Parliament and its bodies or which may affect relations with the other institutions of the Union or relations with third countries.

An intergroup sponsors are strictly prohibited from using the name or logo of the European Parliament, or of the political groups which compose the institution.

However, all these restrictions were flouted during the meeting on February 13. The logo of the European Parliament was conspicuously displayed at the back of the room and the agenda dealt exclusively with one issue and had one sole objective: affect relations with a third country, in this case Morocco.

In this context, it is worth noting that these elements were explained by the President of the European Parliament David Sassoli, in a letter addressed to the Moroccan Parliament, to the president of the delegation for relations with the Maghreb countries, Andrea Cozzolino and to the EU-Morocco, EU-Tunisia and EU-Algeria joint parliamentary committees.

In his letter, Sassoli said that the European Parliament is particularly committed to avoiding any confusion between its official activities and those of intergroups or any other unofficial grouping of MEPs.

And so, the farce, orchestrated by the Algeria-Polisario propaganda machine, ended as it began: a flop.
A man accused of murdering two drug dealers, who were forced into a toolbox and dumped in a creek, confessed to police twice within 24 hours, a court has been told.

Cory Breton's and Iuliana Triscaru's decomposing bodies were found in a large metal box at Scrubby Creek, south of Brisbane, on February 11, 2016.

Tuhirangi-Thomas Tahiata, 28, has pleaded not guilty to murdering the pair after they were lured to a townhouse in Kingston 18 days earlier and assaulted by a group of his mates.

Cory Breton's (left) and Iuliana Triscaru's (right) decomposing bodies were found in a large metal box at Scrubby Creek, south of Brisbane, on February 11, 2016

But prosecutor David Meredith says the concrete worker confessed to detectives twice during interviews and a jury should convict him.

'If you put someone in a locked toolbox ... and put it in water so it sinks, then you can have only one intent and that is the intent to kill,' he told the Brisbane Supreme Court during his closing argument.

Mr Meredith said Tahiata first confessed to detectives on February 10 and initially told them he had acted alone, saying he wouldn't 'snitch' on his friends.

'(But) after sitting in the watch-house overnight, 24 hours or so, he calls back (the officers) and tells what the prosecution says is not only the logical story, but the true story,' he said.

Mr Meredith reminded the jury Tahiata had admitted to helping load the toolbox on to his Toyota Hilux ute at the townhouse before driving it to the creek with a man named Trent Thrupp.

'When he hears (Thrupp) say ''time to die'' he knows, if he doesn't already know, (Thrupp) intends to kill (Mr Breton and Ms Triscaru) and he does nothing except help,' Mr Meredith said.

Tuhirangi-Thomas Tahiata, 28, has pleaded not guilty to murdering the pair but prosecutor David Meredith says the concrete worker confessed to detectives twice during interviews and a jury should convict him

Tahiata may not have thought up the idea to take the pair to the creek, and he may not have had a motive or put the toolbox in the water, he said.

'But he's still guilty of murder.'

Defence lawyer Chris Minnery told the jury Tahiata's confessions shouldn't be taken seriously.

'The Crown has effectively said 'look, he confessed, that's it, tools down' but it's not as simple as that,' he said.

Mr Minnery said what Tahiata had actually done was tell detectives some 'ridiculous and extremely silly' stories and recounted his client's various statements to police.

Tahiata was probably nervous, scared, stoned, exhausted and overwhelmed having never been arrested before, he said.

Mr Minnery said the Crown had presented a case with very few actual facts and it had no eyewitnesses to what happened at the creek.
Russia continues to harass American warships and aircraft by having their own aircraft and ships maneuver dangerously close. The latest incident occurred on January 9th in the Persian Gulf when a Russian Navy ship appeared to be on a collision course with an American destroyer. The American ship used the internationally warning signal (five short horn blasts) but the Russian ship kept coming then turned away. A similar incident took place in mid-2017 in the Eastern Pacific. There have been recent incidents in the Mediterranean and Black Seas where Russian warplanes persistently flew low and close to American warships. There have been numerous incidents of Russian warplanes performing similar maneuvers against foreign military aircraft in the Baltic Sea.

The Russians always deny responsibility for these incidents but, with smartphone cameras so widely available, there is always incriminating video that contradicts the official Russian denials, or accusations that it was the fault of the Americans. These incidents were common during the Cold War but a written agreement was eventually signed in 1972 that put an end to the practice.

Then, twenty years ago the Chinese began using the same tactics. To senior naval officers who served in the 1980s what the Chinese were doing evoked memories of stories of of the Russian tactics back in the 1960s. The Cold War Chicken (kuritsa) of the Sea confrontations were mainly about keeping American ships from closely observing Russian warships or intelligence ships at sea. It was also about young Russian naval officers showing their bosses that they had the right stuff to deal with the Americans. But the Chinese were not just using these tactics to keep the Americans at a distance of for commanders to show off. China was mainly about asserting sovereignty and control over areas, like the South China Sea, where China, according to international law and treaties China signed, has no legitimate claim.

But the Chinese use of these tactics seems reckless compared to the Russian methods. The Russians used warships to make these threatening maneuvers while the Chinese will often use commercial vessels, especially fishing ships, to get in the way. The Chinese also use these tactics on the high seas (international waters) where there is no disputed territory and a high risk for deadly and expensive accidents. This has led some American naval officers and admirals to believe that some of this behavior is the result of inexperience on the part of Chinese naval officers mixed with a bit of arrogance and recklessness.

Naval historians see familiar patterns here as well. When the Chinese Empire built its first modern, Western style navy in the late 19th century, the force was crippled by corruption, arrogance and inexperience. This led to a defeat at the hands of the similarly modernized, but much more diligent and pragmatic Japanese. From there the Japanese went on to defeat Russia at sea and on land in 1904-1905. It was unprecedented, for East Asians to defeat a Western nation. The Japanese then joined the Allies in World War I and quickly conquered German colonies in the Pacific. Japan got to keep some of those conquests after World War I but felt they had received insufficient respect from their Western allies and that resentment fueled the arrogance that led to Japan attacking the United States and other World War I allies in 1941. That ended badly for the Japanese, a lesson that seems lost on the current generation of Chinese naval leaders.

It appears that China is planning to obtain some disputed territory with grab and negotiate tactics. The way this works the Chinese would quickly mobilize forces and seize some territory from South Korea or Japan and then offer to make peace. This can work but is highly risky if you are facing a foe, like the Japanese, who are better trained, very determined and more experienced in naval operations. Failing to achieve victory with such tactics would be disastrous for the Chinese leadership which is also disliked by its own people because of corruption and mismanagement. The grab and make peace tactics might work against the Philippines or Vietnam but against a more determined neighbor with more powerful air and naval forces, it could get messy and result in a very embarrassing Chinese defeat. China could threaten to use nukes, but to actually do so would be crossing a line that no one else has dared to do since 1945. China is playing a very dangerous game here and some American analysts fear too many Chinese leaders are unaware (or dont care) how dangerous this is. An ominous aspect of this is that the Japanese, with one of the most powerful navies in East Asia, are determined not to back down if the Chinese apply pressure, and make it clear they are ready and willing to fight. This gives experienced and history-minded Chinese naval commanders pause. Chinese political leaders are another matter.

Why the Russians have revived these harassment tactics is less clear. In some respects, it may be a reaction to the greater presence of American and NATO ships and aircraft off the Russian coast than the other way around. The Cold War era Soviet Union fleet was the second largest in the world until the Soviet Union collapsed and dissolved in 1991. One reason for that collapse was the ruinous amount of money the Russians were spending on their armed forces, especially the navy. That and the massive amount of damage the communist practice of state ownership of the economy caused national bankruptcy. The mighty Soviet fleet rapidly fell apart after the collapse. Many of the ships were poorly designed and built and their conscript crews unable to properly maintain them. After 1991 the number of Russian military personnel shank to 20 percent of their Cold War strength. Since the late 1990s the Russians, now with a more efficient market economy, have been trying to rebuild their fleet but have not been very successful. It is believed the Russians see these intimidation tactics as good for morale, showing the West that the tiny Russian fleet is not to be messed with.
The first recorded case of this strange syndrome is that of a 55-year old woman in Netherlands, who experienced the syndrome 1.5 years after an intensive care emergency. The woman experienced several orgasms a day triggered from the foot, without being sexually aroused. The case is published in the medical journal, Journal of Sexual Medicine.

Causes of Foot Orgasm Syndrome

The doctor, Dr. Waldinger who treated this patient, suggested that the foot orgasms occurred as a result of signal mix up in the brain. The nerves of the foot and the vagina enter the spinal cord at the same level. Therefore, the brain is sometimes unable to differentiate between the two regions and hence considered the sensory information from the vagina and the foot to be identical. In the particular case, it is likely that the intensive care emergency the woman underwent a year and a half before the symptoms was responsible for some problem with the nerves that caused the syndrome.

Diagnosis of Foot Orgasm Syndrome

The diagnosis of foot orgasm syndrome can be made based on the history and physical examination of the patient. Other tests that have been used in the diagnosis include an MRI scan to rule out structural abnormalities, study of electrical activity of the involved muscle, and electrical stimulation of the nerves (TENS). The TENS test in the recorded patient produced an orgasmic sensation when the left foot was stimulated at a particular joint, and when the vagina was stimulated on the left side. The first sensation traveled from the foot towards the vagina, while the second sensation traveled from the vagina towards the foot. Doctors feel that there may be more individuals suffering from the same condition, but who do not come forward since they may find it embarrassing to talk to their doctor about it.

Treatment of Foot Orgasm Syndrome

The woman that was reported with the condition was treated with an injection of anesthesia into the part where the nerves of the foot enter the spinal cord, i.e. the left S1 dorsal root ganglion. The treatment caused disappearance of foot orgasms. Repeat treatments may be required if symptoms recur.
VANCOUVER - As cabinet ministers broker urgent meetings over rail blockades in support of hereditary chiefs in northern British Columbia, a series of negotiations over the Wet'suwet'en Nation's land rights have been quietly taking place for a year.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/2/2020 (694 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Banners hang on a fence as protesters stage a blockade of the rail line at Macmillan Yard in Toronto, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020. The protest is in solidarity with the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs opposed to the LNG pipeline in northern British Columbia. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

VANCOUVER - As cabinet ministers broker urgent meetings over rail blockades in support of hereditary chiefs in northern British Columbia, a series of negotiations over the Wet'suwet'en Nation's land rights have been quietly taking place for a year.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cancelled an international trip and instead held an emergency meeting of cabinet ministers Monday in Ottawa, but participants were tight-lipped about potential solutions to a series of national solidarity protests that have disrupted rail transport across the country.

Meanwhile, the B.C. government and Office of the Wet'suwet'en have been meeting on how to explore a path forward together for a year. They issued a joint press release on Feb. 7, 2019 announcing a "reconciliation process."

"This process has emerged from decades of denial of Wet'suwet'en rights and title. Both parties believe that the time has come to engage in meaningful nation-to-nation discussions with the goal of B.C. affirming Wet'suwet'en rights and title," it said.

Former New Democrat MP Murray Rankin, a lawyer and mediator, was appointed as B.C.'s representative to help guide and design the process just weeks after RCMP enforced an injunction last year against opponents of the Coastal GasLink pipeline, who formed a blockade in support of the chiefs outside Houston, B.C.

Coastal GasLink says it has agreements with all 20 elected First Nations councils along the 670-kilometre route, but the hereditary chiefs in the Wet'suwet'en First Nation say they have title to a vast section of the land and never relinquished that by signing a treaty.

While the self-governance talks are independent from any particular project, they take on new significance as a national debate over Indigenous land rights and sovereignty flares.

Na'moks, one of five hereditary clan chiefs, said he believes the talks could solve the impasse over the Coastal GasLink pipeline, a key part of a $40-billion LNG Canada liquefied natural gas export project.

Proper affirmation of Wet'suwet'en title rights would also affirm that Coastal GasLink must leave the territory, he said, but the implications of the negotiations are much bigger than that.

"It will give surety to all companies, it will enhance environmental laws, and our Indigenous rights  which are enshrined in the Constitution  will be a daily thing. We won't have to go to court to remind each other," Na'moks, who also goes by John Ridsdale, said in an interview.

At the same time, he said the talks are specifically non-transactional. In other words, don't expect a deal in which the chiefs consent to the pipeline in exchange for a broader recognition of rights.

The Wet'suwet'en hereditary clan chiefs assert Aboriginal title, or exclusive rights to the land, over 22,000 square kilometres of northern British Columbia.

Although a 1997 Supreme Court of Canada case affirmed that Aboriginal title has not and cannot be extinguished by the provincial government, but fell short of identifying the specific area and boundaries where Wet'suwet'en title applies.

B.C.'s Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser agreed that while the self-governance talks are not about the pipeline, they're relevant.

"It's a much larger issue than a particular project, we all agreed it would be a separate process," he said.

"That being said, as we dig deeper into the conflict here, the rights and title issues come up over and over again, and that's still an outstanding issue that we haven't been able to address."

Fraser said the talks have been "challenged" by the fact that the hereditary clan chiefs have designated representatives instead of participating directly themselves but Rankin continues to visit the territory about once a month.

He also clarified that the province is not seeking to impose any form of governance on the First Nation through the self-governance talks, saying it's up to the Wet'suwet'en to determine the potential roles of hereditary and elected leaders.

While the Indian Act designated elected band councils to lead First Nations, the province's adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the fall gave the government more tools for recognizing traditional forms of governance, such as hereditary systems, Fraser said.

The province is keen to keep dialogue open with the Wet'suwet'en and the title talks began with a smoke feast attended by Fraser and Premier John Horgan last March, he said.

But just as Na'moks held strong against the pipeline, Fraser maintain his government's support for it.

"While the Office of the Wet'suwet'en may have been strong in their position there, we are equally strong as government," he said.

"The project was OKed years ago," he said, adding the province approved its environmental assessment certification following extensive consultations and community meetings.

"There is no basis for shutting it down."

Alan Hanna, assistant professor of law at the University of Victoria, said ironing out Aboriginal title and rights issues has occurred in various venues, including the courts, the modern treaty process and through broader negotiations.

While ongoing talks between the Wet'suwet'en and B.C. government may not directly address the Coastal GasLink project, he said reaching a self-governance agreement could guide what happens in the case of a future impasse.

"Through negotiation, they can determine who sits at the table, how many individuals represent each of the parties and then if they come to an impasse, who or which entity can determine the outcome."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2020.
A plane has pulled off an extraordinary landing at Heathrow Airport, after contending with powerful headwinds brought by Storm Dennis.

Footage shows the pilot's skilful manoeuvre, as the Etihad Airbus A380 aircraft hovered sideways over the runway before successfully landing on Saturday, a report in British media said on Sunday.

The incident came as hundreds of flights into and out of the UK were grounded on Saturday because of Storm Dennis, with easyJet cancelling more than 230 flights

The storm, the second to hit the UK in as many weeks, has unleashed strong winds and heavy rain over the weekend.

In some parts of the UK, more than a month's rain has fallen in just two days, causing the Environment Agency (EA) to issue a record number of flood warnings and alerts for England.

John Curtin, the EA's Flood and Coastal Risk Management Executive Director, said on Sunday that the 594 warnings and alerts in place were a record.

Parts of Wales saw more than a month's rainfall in 48 hours from Friday to Sunday morning.

The Met Office said that 156.2mm of rain had fallen over this period at Crai Reservoir in Powys, Wales, well above Wales' average monthly rainfall of 111.1mm in February.

The village of Nantgarw, Rhondda Cynon Taff, near Cardiff, is among the worst effected in the UK.

Mason said the weather was "unprecedented," adding he had "never experienced anything like this before."

Georgie Timmins, crisis response officer at the British Red Cross, said: "The storms are expected to continue, and water is anticipated to be at peak levels on Monday and Tuesday. It is important people are ready should the worst happen."
The Delhi High Court on Monday sought response of the Centre and the CBI on a plea seeking a court-monitored probe by the agency into the alleged molestation of students during a cultural festival at Delhi University's all-women Gargi College last week.

A bench of justices G S Sistani and C Hari Shankar issued notice to the Centre and Central Bureau of Investigation on a plea filed by advocate M L Sharma.

The plea was filed on Thursday, hours after the Supreme Court declined to entertain the petition and asked the petitioner to move the high court.

Sharma has sought the preservation of all video recordings and CCTV camera footage of the college campus in his plea.

On February 6, a group of men broke into the Gargi College during the festival 'Reverie' and allegedly groped, harassed and molested the students who claimed that security officials stood watching.

The incident came to light after some students took to Instagram to narrate their ordeal and alleged that security personnel did nothing to control the unruly groups.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
DAMASCUS, Syria  President Bashar Assad congratulated his forces Monday for recent gains in northwestern Syria that led to his troops consolidating control over Aleppo province, pledging to press ahead with a military campaign to achieve complete victory sooner or later.

Assad, who rarely appears in public, said in a televised address that the onetime economic hub of Aleppo, the provincial capital, will return stronger than it was before.

This liberation does not mean the end of the war, and does not mean the end of the schemes nor the end of terrorism or the surrender of enemies, Assad said. But it means that we rubbed their noses in the dirt as a prelude for complete victory and ahead of their defeat, sooner or later.

The address came amid an ongoing military advance in northwestern Syria that has created a humanitarian catastrophe which the U.N.s humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock warned has reached a horrifying level. In a statement, he said the U.N. believes 900,000 people have been displaced since Dec. 1, most of them women and children.

In the past few weeks, government troops backed by Russian air power have captured more than 580 square miles in the northwest, consolidating their hold over Aleppo province after capturing 30 villages and hamlets in the western countryside in a single day Sunday. The advance secured the provincial capital that had for years remained within range of opposition fire.

The new gains, along with securing a key highway through rebel territory, are set to better link northern and southern Syria, including the city of Aleppo, which was Syrias commercial center before the war. The highway, known as the M5, links the countrys four largest cities and population centers and is key to controlling Syria.

Lowcock said the crisis in northwest Syria has reached a horrifying level, calling the violence indiscriminate and stressing that the only option is a cease-fire.

He warned that the biggest humanitarian horror story of the 21st century will only be avoided if Security Council members, and those with influence, overcome individual interests and put a collective stake in humanity first. He did not identify any countries but the message appeared directed first and foremost to Russia, Syrias closest ally.

Albert Aji and Sarah El Deeb are Associated Press writers.
South Africas last apartheid-era president, F.W. De Klerk, on Monday apologised and withdrew a controversial statement that apartheid was not a crime against humanity, following an outcry.

De Klerk, 83, shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Nelson Mandela in 1993 for dismantling white-minority rule and ushering in democracy.

But he sparked fury among many South Africans when he publicly denied that apartheid was a crime against humanity, despite the UN declaring it such.

The idea that apartheid was a crime against humanity was and remains an agitprop project initiated by the Soviets and their ANC/SACP allies to stigmatise white South Africans by associating them with genuine crimes against humanity, he said.

The ANC is the African National Congress, which under Mandela fought an underground battle against apartheid before coming to power in South Africas first democratic elections, in 1994.

The SACP is its erstwhile ally, the South African Communist Party.

The remarks were made on February 2 in an interview with the national broadcaster SABC, and reiterated in a statement by De Klerks foundation.

Anger reached a crescendo on Thursday when President Cyril Ramaphosa was forced to delay his annual State of the Union address after lawmakers from the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) staged a rowdy protest in parliament, demanding De Klerk be ejected from the legislature.

It is an insult to those who died and (who were) tortured under the instructions of De Klerk to have De Klerk sitting in a democratic parliament, it said.

Other critics were the SA Council of Churches, other opposition parties and civil society groups, while the ruling ANC slammed De Klerks remarks as blatant whitewash.

A foundation set up by the revered anti-apartheid fighter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, said it was irresponsible to debate the degree of awfulness of apartheid and called for him to retract his statement.

On Monday De Klerk retracted his statement and apologised for the confusion, anger and hurt that it has caused.

I agree with the Desmond and Leah Tutu Foundation that this is not the time to quibble about the degrees of unacceptability of apartheid. It was totally unacceptable, he said in a statement issued by his foundation.

Despite the end of apartheid a generation ago, racial tensions in South Africa remain high and economic inequality and poverty run deep.

An umbrella group called the Anti-Racism Network of South Africa this week launched an annual campaign to tackle racism at the grassroots level.
German Marshall Fund: It Is not too early to think about political change in Turkey

Armenian Foreign Ministry: We call on Azerbaijani authorities to refrain from provocations

Armenia's Geghamasar community head: The situation is stable now

Queen Elizabeth II's favorite fast food revealed

Human Rights Defender: Azerbaijani troops open fire on Armenian sovereign territory

World Economic Forum: Cybersecurity and space pose new risks to the global economy

Defense Ministry confirms Armenian side has 2 victims

Satanovsky on sending Armenian servicemen to Kazakhstan

Unofficial data: 2 servicemen killed as a result of Azerbaijan provocation

CSTO and Kazakh Defense Ministry developing plan

WHO thinks it's too early to consider COVID-19 pandemic

European Commission to require Poland to pay fine of nearly EUR 70 million

White House announces $308 million humanitarian aid for Afghanistan

Erdogan angry at minister after efforts to strengthen lira failed

Armenian FM has phone call with US Assistant Secretary of State

India imposes one-week quarantine even for vaccinated tourists

Armenian ex-president expresses condolences on poet Razmik Davoyan's death

Traction Programme to showcase 8 startups during the Digital Demo Day

Azerbaijan uses artillery and UAVs, 3 Armenian soldiers wounded

NEWS.am daily digest: 11.01.22

Austrian Chancellor confirms plan for mandatory COVID-19 vaccination in February

Armen Sarkissian and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev discuss situation in Kazakhstan

Gulf, Iran and Turkey FMs to visit China

20 pregnant women with COVID-19 die in Azerbaijan in year

Armenia hands over wanted US citizen to United States

Economy ministry: Organizing of accommodation and public catering increased by 61.1% in Armenia

Armenia parliament speaker expresses condolences on European Parliament President death

Azerbaijan opens fire toward Armenia village sector, one soldier wounded

Shoigu: CSTO peacekeepers deployed in Kazakhstan thanks to Syrian and Karabakh experience

Azerbaijan official pledges to remove Armenian toponyms from Google Maps

UN offers two plans to help Afghans totaling $ 5 billion in 2022

Armenia attorney general travels to Moscow on working visit

Azerbaijan MOD blames Armenian side for soldiers death

Dollar drops in Armenia

Shirak Province captives families hold protest outside Armenia government building

Rolls-Royce sales rise to record high in 2021

Ombudsman: Azerbaijanis directed gun at Armenia residents car in which his wife, 3-year-old child were

ANCA urges President Biden and Congress to hold Azerbaijan and Turkey accountable for war crimes

Serbia's Orthodox Patriarch tests positive for COVID-19

Brothers, sisters of 2020 Artsakh war military casualties to get compensation in lieu of their deceased parents

Turkish authorities sanction arrest of 33 suspected FETO ties

Copper rises in price

Erdogan's spokesman, Biden's adviser discuss Armenian-Turkish relations

Armenia deputy defense minister: No one can rule out border tension at any moment

New commander elected of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh

Armenia official: Those 100 soldiers absence will not assume any change in terms of border tension

Millionaire Robert Durst dies aged 78

Reuters: Over 1.13 million cases of COVID-19 detected in US per day

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

Oil is getting more expensive

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
Jakarta: Indonesian Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto has said Indonesians should keep praying to God to ensure the country remains free of Covid-19 and defended his country's handling of the outbreak against international criticism.

Indonesia has seen just 104 people tested for the virus in a nation of about 270 million people. Terawan cited "efficiency in budgeting" as an explanation for why the country had not conducted further tests.

Meanwhile Marc Lipsitch, a Professor of Epidemiology at Harvard University and co-author of a paper that suggested it was statistically improbable there were zero coronavirus cases in Indonesia, said the researchers were not "picking" on Indonesia.

Terawan had attacked the study's findings for "insulting" Indonesia, but Lipsitch said the authors were simply "trying to figure out how many cases are being detected and missed" and pointed out that other countries, including Cambodia, had also been highlighted in the study.
A 22-year-old woman was



allegedly raped in south Kolkata's Patuli area, said police who on Monday arrested the accused and his wife, for aiding him in committing the crime.

The survivor was known to the couple and they had helped her in getting a job last month, said a police official.

The couple, in their late 20s, was arrested on the basis of a complaint filed by the woman alleging rape, which happened on February 9, police sources said.

The arrest was made in the evening and further investigations into the case are underway, the official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) has sent a document to local departments to regulate the use and certification of non-residential real estate projects.

Condotel projects in the central city of Da Nang. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has sent a document to local authorities to regulate the licensing of non-residential property projects.  Photo vietnambiz.vn

The use and certification of non-residential property such as condotels have been a problem for years. The downtrend in the condotel segment has also been attributed to unsolved problems regarding land use certificates for investors.

In the document, which was sent on Friday, the ministry listed some items regarding obligations and terms for non-residential property projects.

According to Article 48 of the Law on Tourism 2017, condotels and other non-residential real estate products are considered accommodation and food businesses. They are bound by Decision 27/2018/QD-TTg issued by the Prime Minister on July 6, 2018.

According to Item 2, Article 10 of the Law on Land and Appendix 01 attached to Circular 27/2018/TT-BTNMT issued by MoNRE on December 14, 2018, property areas used for commercial purposes must be classified as commercial land.

The use and terms of use for commercial land investors are regulated in articles 126 and 153 of the Law on Land. According to the articles, institutional investors may rent and use the land for commercial purposes for a maximum of 50 years. The term of use may be extended up to 70 years for large-scale projects located in disadvantaged areas with low profits.

MoNREs latest document states if a non-residential property meets the transfer requirements regulated by the Law on Real Estate Trading, it is subject to Article 32 of Decree 43/2014/ND-CP dated May 15, 2014 by the Government.

MoNRE also asked provincial departments of natural resources and environment to review the licences given to local property sites regarding their purposes and terms of use.

The licences must assure investors obligations and interests in accordance with existing rules, and the investor must not change the scale, purpose or planning of the project.

According to the HCM City Real Estate Association (HoREA), MoNRE had forgotten to include other types of non-residential real estate products in its latest document.

The document only mentions condotels but ignores shoptels, HoREA said in a statement sent to MoNRE.

HoREA asked MoNRE to amend the document to include the concept of a shoptel, which are usually built inside resorts and sold to secondary investors.

The association also suggested there must be a private area and a shared area for each condotel and the price of condotels must be based on those two areas just like regular apartments.

HoREA recommended the concept of a condotel must be amended from an accommodation apartment to a travel apartment.  VNS

Vietnams estate companies seek investment opportunities in foreign markets More and more domestic real estate firms have begun to seek investment opportunities in global markets, according to Savills Vietnam.
Thousands of Northern Ireland customers who bank with Nationwide are not eligible for their new savings scheme because of NI regulations

Thousands of Northern Ireland customers who bank with Nationwide are not eligible for their new savings scheme because of NI regulations.

The building society has launched a new savings account that puts customers into a regular prize draw and pays 1% interest.

However, the new Start to Save account will not be available to customers here, as it would breach the Betting, Gaming, Lotteries and Amusements (Northern Ireland) Order 1985.

A Nationwide spokesman said that it was a tough decision because they wanted to offer this account to all United Kingdom customers.

However, they could not offer the account to Northern Ireland customers because the prize draw is intrinsically linked to the savings account.

"Start to Save is unfortunately unavailable to Northern Irish savers due to the way prize draws are regulated in Northern Ireland," they said.

"The purpose of the Start to Save account is to encourage people to get into the savings habit. Prize draws are an extra bonus to reward, and promote, positive financial behaviour.

"Anyone opening Start to Save is automatically entered into the accompanying prize draw.

"We understand that Northern Irish savers may be disappointed that they cannot open Start to Save.

"We would have obviously preferred to offer the account to everyone across the United Kingdom but, due to the prize draw regulations, we cannot.

"However, all of the society's other savings accounts, including our Triple Access Online Saver, are available to open in Northern Ireland and we are also looking at alternative options to encourage the savings habit."

The building society, which has 13 branches here, said it is looking at alternative options for Northern Ireland.

However, the spokesman for Nationwide said they could not comment on what the alternative plans were for their Northern Ireland customers, or when it would happen.

Nationwide Building Society said its new Start to Save account is particularly aimed at young people and families who may not have much of a nest egg built up or who are struggling to save on a regular basis.

The account allows balance increases of up to 100 per month.

It aims to encourage people to get into the habit of saving small amounts regularly as savers who consistently grow their balance will have the chance to win 100 through regular prize draws.

The account is part of the society's PayDay SaveDay initiative, which encourages people to save on the day they are paid, whoever they bank with.

Nationwide said figures from the Money and Pensions Service suggesting that more than 11 million people across the United Kingdom have less than 100 in savings.
A lack of schools in big cities has been a serious issue for years.

Many residential areas in Hanoi do not have schools. Photo baodatviet.vn

The Ministry of Construction recently admitted the situation was due to insufficient urban development planning.

The construction of apartment building complexes without schools or parks was the responsibility of urban development management agencies, the ministry said.

In Hanoi, the situation is not uncommon.

Many urban residential areas had been inhabited for 10-15 years, but schools remained in the planning stages.

When investors applied for licences to build apartment complexes, many submitted plans that included schools, but then ignored their responsibilities.

In Hanoi and HCM City, there is not enough land for schools, Prof. Dang Hung Vo, former Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, said at a seminar organised by Giao Duc Viet Nam (Vietnams Education) e-newspaper.

As regulated, a residential construction project must set aside a certain area for schools and parks. But in fact, investors sometimes cut or even leave out these areas, Vo said.

Land prices in inner cities are expensive while schools and parks make less money for investors, he said.

The cases include Phung Khoang Urban Area in Ha Dong District, Me Tri Residential Area in Thanh Xuan District, and Dang Xa New Residential Area in Gia Lam District in Hanoi.

In addition, many projects to build schools in new urban areas, especially in inner-city districts, run slowly because investors transfer them to secondary investors.

For example, the Urban and Housing Development Corporation, an investor in the Viet Hung Project in Long Bien District, transferred land to build five schools to secondary investors. But only one school has been built while several apartment buildings and villas have already been completed.

Tay Nam New Urban Area in Hoang Mai District is in the same situation. There is only one school although the approved design had six.

The investors justify the delays due to obstacles in transferring to secondary investors and site clearance.

State managements responsibility

We can't blame businesses because they always want higher profits, Nguyen Van Dinh, vice president of the Vietnam Real Estate Brokers Association, told at Viet (Vietnams Land) newspaper.

Businesses do think about social issues but they are willing to share part of their profits which ensure their existence and development, Dinh said.

It was easy to understand why construction of schools and parks was always at slow pace because they were less profitable, he said.

According to the businessman, the key issue was State management and regulations.

Project investors were only licensed when they complied with planning regulations, so it was up to management agencies to supervise their performance, he said.

Those agencies must understand planning regulations to ensure a stable ecological system for residential areas, including infrastructure, population density, education facilities, trees, public recreation and services.

This is the responsibility of State management agencies, Dinh said.

Linh Dam Urban Area in Hoang Mai District is another typical case.

Twelve 40-storey apartment buildings were constructed on an area of 3ha, and the area became overcrowded.

To handle the situation, Dinh suggested the Government should punish the managers.

On the other hand, project investors who deliberately violated planning should have to pay local Governments to build public works where they had failed to do so, he said.

Local governments had to accept a drop in revenue from using land for community projects as a way of handling the consequences of these wrongdoings, he added. VNS

Messy construction rampant in Hanois suburban districts Hanoi's outskirts districts have been blighted by rampant and disorganised construction in recent years, according to officials.
(Natural News) For weeks there has been speculation that, because of growing evidence it has rapidly spread beyond the Chinese governments ability to contain it, the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) was actually part of a military weapons program.

Now, there appears to be some confirmation that the virus, while perhaps not a weapon, per se, was indeed manufactured, and this revelation comes on the heels of a White House request to ask scientists to probe the origin of the disease.

AS ABC News reported earlier this month, the Trump administration directed U.S. scientists and medical researchers to find out more about where the virus actually came from as rumors spread over the Internet that it could be the result of some nefarious Chinese plan.

The network reported:

The director of the White Houses Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), in a letter to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, requested that scientific experts rapidly look into the origins of the virus in order to address both the current spread and to inform future outbreak preparation and better understand animal/human and environmental transmission aspects of coronaviruses.

While there are no indications the White House believed the reports of a weaponized virus, clearly there was enough concern among officials to find out if China  and, by default, the rest of the world  was dealing with something other than a hypersonic version of the flu.

Shortly thereafter, Sen. Tom Cotton, (R-Ark.), a former Army infantry officer and combat veteran, also suggested that maybe the coronavirus was manmade.

According to a paper by a pair of Chinese scientists  who, according to Harvard To The Big House  have since deleted their online profiles, it appears as though the virus may indeed have been manufactured.

According to a pre-print of the research paper published by Botao Xiao and Lei Xiao titled, The possible origins of 2019-nCoV coronavirus, In summary, somebody was entangled with the evolution of 2019-nCoV coronavirus. In addition to origins of natural recombination and intermediate host, the killer coronavirus probably originated from a laboratory in Wuhan.

A smoking gun conclusion if there ever was one.

Ground Zero for the outbreak near Chinas only top-level virology lab

The report and its conclusions, according to Harvard To The Big House, is the product of a collaboration between a retired professional scientist with more than three decades worth of experience in genome sequencing and analysis, who also helped design severalbioinformatic software tools, as well as a former NSA counterterrorism analyst.

The researchers attempt to determine if the Wuhan coronavirus is simply the result of a naturally emergent mutation (from an animal to humans) against the possibility that it may be a bioengineered strain meant for defensive immunotherapy protocols that was released into the public, most probably by mistake or accident. Thats possible, the researchers note, because Chinas rate of occupational accidents is about ten-times higher than Americas, and some twenty-times more than Europes, the only other regions on the planet where there are high-level virology laboratories.

Initially, it was reported that the current strain may have mutated to humans from bats, but as the researchers noted, the outbreak began in late December when most of the Wuhan regions bat species are in hibernation.

Also, the Chinese horseshoe bats habitat is massive  covering a region filled with scores of cities and hundreds of millions of people. And yet, ground zero for the outbreak happened to be close to the only BSL-4 virology lab in China, which is located in Wuhan City, home to 11 million people.

Notably, the lab was staffed with at least two Chinese scientists  Zhengli Shi and Xing-Yi Ge  both virologists who had previously worked at an American lab which already bio-engineered an incredibly virulent strain of bat coronavirus, Harvard To The Big House noted.

In short, Wuhan coronavirus may not be a bioweapon but it certainly appears not to have simply occurred naturally.

Sources include:

HarvardToTheBigHouse.com

ABCNews.com

NaturalNews.com








Web Toolbar by Wibiya

Speaking via video-conference from Port-Cartier Institution near Sept-Iles, Jamie Boulachanis said she suffers from anxiety being in a mens prison, that she is groped at, stared at and feels generally uncomfortable in the maximum-security mens prison.

Boulachanis is making her second bid for a transfer to a womens prison with a hearing getting underway this week at the Montreal courthouse.

Boulachanis was convicted in 2016 of first-degree murder in the death of Robert Tanguay, a former criminal associate. The murder happened in 1997 in Rigaud. Boulachanis buried Tanguays body in a sandpit, where it remained hidden for many years.

Boulachanis went on the run for almost 15 years, living in Ontario, Greece and the United States. She was arrested in 2011 and then transferred back to Quebec. While in custody, Boulachanis tried to escape several times, and escape tools were also found in her cell. She was also convicted of obstructing justice for inducing witnesses to lie during her murder trial.

Soon after her conviction, she told medical staff at the Donnaconna Institution she was suffering from gender dysphoria. Boulachanis, who was assigned male at birth, met with several psychologists and medical staff, and a doctor eventually signed off on her starting the process of transitioning to a woman. In August 2018, a psychiatrist diagnosed her with gender dysphoria. At the end of 2018, she legally changed her name from John to Jamie, and on her act of birth, she changed her sex designation.

She started undergoing hormone therapy in January 2019 but has yet to have sex reassignment surgery. A Corrections Canada medical staffer testifying at the hearing said the surgery is complicated, and it was not easy finding a doctor and clinic to perform the surgery near the prison.

Last year, Correctional Service Canada became aware of threats against Boulachanis and segregated her.

Boulachanis made her first legal transfer attempt in April 2019. A judge ruled that not transferring Boulachanis resulted in gender discrimination based on identity of expression. That same month, Correctional Service Canada transferred her to Port-Cartier Institution.

During the hearing, Boulachanis testified that she was suffering from mental anguish because she was in a mens prison. She said she was having issues with the sector she was in.

People expose their penis to me, she said. I am isolated mentally.
The Asia Internet Coalition has urged the Pakistan government to revoke its newly-approved social media rules, warning that such regulations to control cyber space will make it extremely difficult for companies to operate and cripple the countrys economy.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf government last week announced a new set of rules to regulate social media activity and has given all digital companies and social media platforms three months to adhere to the new rules.

Under the new rules, social media companies will be obliged to disclose any information or data to a designated investigation agency, when sought. Failure to abide by any of the provisions will entail a fine of up to 500 million.

The Asia Internet Coalition (AIC) is an industry association that comprises leading internet and technology companies, namely Facebook, Twitter, Google, Amazon, AirBnb, Apple, Booking.com, Expedia Group, Grab, LinkedIn, LINE, Rakuten, and Yahoo.

Managing Director AIC Jeff Paine said the governments new rules to regulate social media activity will make it extremely difficult for digital companies to operate in Pakistan.

In a letter sent to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and other senior officials dealing with technology and digital/social media, he said the new rules were against the basic right of expression and information.

Paine warned that while members recognise Pakistans strong potential for investment and business, the sudden announcement of these rules belies the government of Pakistans claims that it is open for business and investment.

In fact, the rules as currently written would make it extremely difficult for AIC members to make their services available to Pakistani users and businesses, he said.

The letter also said that AIC was deeply concerned to see the Pakistan government release a set of broad reaching online rules without any consultation with stakeholders, including the industry.

Though the government has insisted that the new rules have been created for the protection of citizens, rights groups, media bodies and opposition members in Parliament have expressed concern that they are meant to curb freedom of expression and sharing of information.

We urge the government of Pakistan to consider the potential consequences of the rules in order to prevent unexpected negative impacts on Pakistans economy, the letter said.

It said the AIC members had been working in consultation with governments on this challenge for years, using both computer science tools and human reviewers to identify and stop a range of online abuse.

The letter also observed that the rules were vague and arbitrary in nature, which was a result of the absence of public consultation.

The lack of such discussion was problematic given that the rules demanded that social media companies deviate from established human rights practices concerning user privacy and freedom of expression.

The letter said the way these rules were passed was causing international companies to re-evaluate their view of the regulatory environment in Pakistan, and their willingness to work and invest in the country.

Under regulations that were approved by the Cabinet late last month but were not immediately made public, social media companies will be obliged to help law enforcement agencies access data and to remove online content deemed unlawful.

The new set of rules were approved at a cabinet meeting without being brought up in Parliament for discussion.

AIC seeks to promote the understanding of Internet policy issues in the Asia-Pacific region.
Judge Ann Celine Walsh told him the hammer is called a gavel and often was used to signal to the court clerk that a case had ended and to call a new case. Judges also could bang the gavel to keep order, but that practice has fallen out of use, she said.
he European Union needs independence rather than power, otherwise it will be serving Washingtons interests rather than its own, a senior Russian lawmakers said on Sunday commenting on the EU top diplomats words, TASS reports.

The European Unions foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, told the Munich Security Conference earlier in the day that the European Union needed to learn to speak force and action. "Europe has to develop an appetite for power," he said, noting he meant not only military power.

"The European Union need independence rather than power. And as long as it obediently following its elder brother, who is already using secondary sanctions against its own European partners, its power will bring no good to Europe as it will be serving Washingtons interests," Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the international committee of Russias Federation Council upper parliament house, wrote on his Facebook account.

According to the Russian lawmaker, Borrells would sound right if Russian and the European Union shared a common notion of action, i.e. independence and the ability to contribute to the resolution of common problems. "But the European Union seems to have a different understanding of the ability to act. Indeed, sometimes one really has to demonstrate force and resoluteness. For instance, when the EU nations opted to act as guarantors of the agreement between the government and the opposition in Kiev in 2014 to later back away disgracefully facilitating a constitutional coup and the subsequent civil war. It was resoluteness that was needed back then. It might have saved 13,000 lives in Ukraine," he stressed.

Resolute action, in his words, was also needed when the United States unilaterally withdrew from two major international agreements, on the Iranian nuclear program and on intermediate-and shorter-range missiles. "In both cases, Europe was either mumbling something inarticulate or making helpless gestures - what can we do, Washington has persuaded us," he noted.

More to it, resoluteness and firmness were needed when the United States blocked the implementation of such an important project as Nord Stream-2. But Europe demonstrated "utter helplessness of its diplomacy" again, Kosachev noted, adding that Brussels recalls the language of force only when it is supposed to follow Washington. "Only sanctions and threats, but for remarks by individual politicians, instead of flexibility and the ability to find solutions and maintain dialogue. No way, in such cases, the European Union boasts its resoluteness, solidarity and consensus, and unwillingness to compromise," he added.
Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/17/2020 -- For almost two decades, governments and global bodies have been mulling the need for biofuels that can be a feasible replacement for fossil fuels. Consistent research efforts coupled with financial aids from policy makers and oil companies, several biofuel products have entered the market recently. And, it is on the behest of this trend that the global dimethyl ether market is expected to soar at 9.6% CAGR between 2017 and 2025, finds a recent report by Transparency Market Research report.



To know more, visit our Report Overview@ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/dimethyl-ether-market.html



There are two aspects that support the use of dimethyl ether in the biofuels industry. One  the lower amount of carbon emissions when burnt, and two  the availability of it both synthetically and through natural resources. With these advantages, it allows end-users to opt for dimethyl ether from channels that suit best for their requirements, creating multiple growth avenues for the global dimethyl ether market. TMR analysts predict that the global dimethyl ether market will reach US$ 9,868.1 mn by 2025 riding on the opportunities from biofuel manufacturers.



The competition in the global dimethyl ether market will predominantly be defined by the ability to provide quality products and capacity to meet growing demand. A fertile battleground, most players will be looking at adopting new technology and roping in a larger workforce for the factory floor and a small pool of strategy makers to stay ahead in the league.



To know more, Request Sample@ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=1650



Favorable Policy and Transport Sector to Sustain Demand



As many as 195 countries across the world have signed the Paris Agreement in 2015, an effort to bring down carbon emissions, and eventually strive to control climate change. While every signatory has to play its part, it is the prominent nations like the U.S., India, China, the U.K. France, Germany, etc. that contribute to more than 50% of the total carbon emissions annually. As a result, most of these nations have set stringent targets to bring down their share of carbon footprint, and to achieve them, they have introduced policies that support the use of natural products. One among them is biofuels. It is these favorable policies that will help sustain growth in the global dimethyl ether market.



On the other hand, the automotive sector too will bestow promise for growth in the coming years. Several car manufacturers across the world are exploring options of hybrid models that run on both diesel and bio-diesel. As efforts to sustain energy requirements from renewable sources gather prominence and receive incentives from government, the demand for dimethyl ether to make biofuels will grow.



For More Information,Request Brochure@ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=1650



It is will be prudent for players in the global dimethyl ether market to capitalize on every significant opportunity in the biofuels market.
A US farmer has been awarded $265 million after a jury found Bayer and BASF's herbicide dicamba responsible for destroying his peach orchards.

Bayer said it 'clearly disagrees' with Saturday's (15 February) verdict and would 'swiftly appeal' the decision. BASF also said it would appeal.

Missouri peach farmer Bill Bader sued the German agri-chemical giants, arguing that their product dicamba wiped out his crop.

He argued that the popular weedkiller had drifted onto his trees from nearby farms.

The US jury ordered the firms to pay out $15 million (11.5m) in compensation and $250 million (191.7m) in punitive damages.

In a statement, Bayer said there was 'no competent evidence presented which showed that their products were present on his farm and were responsible for his losses'.

As a company, were constantly investing and partnering with stakeholders to find new solutions in the research and development of integrated weed management solutions.

Plants that are tolerant to dicamba are just one way we are helping growers with new tools to help them control tough weeds on their farms.

Bayer stands firmly behind the companys Roundup Ready Xtend Crop System and Xtendimax herbicide with VaporGrip technology, Bayer said.

These are valuable tools for growers who need effective options to increase yields and combat resistant weeds and do not pose any unreasonable risk of off-target movement when used according to label directions.
Carrum local John Lobo looks out the window at his neighbourhoods newly opened sky rail with a cheeky grin.

"Its very good. Australia is coming into the 20th Century," Mr Lobo says.

He is asked: "Don't you mean the 21st Century?"

"No, I mean the 20th," Mr Lobo replies.
Deputy National Organizer of the National Democratic Congress [NDC] Chief Biney Hamilton has announced his "return" to active politics to fill the political lacuna created when he turned his attention to the marital union with the Deputy MASLOC boss and staunch NPP member, Maame Afia Akoto.



Days after the much talked about headline-grabbing marriage to the NPP Deputy Communications Director, a fired up Chief Biney, declared on social media that he is determined to work extra hard with his colleague NDC stalwarts to drum home into Ghanaians "why HE John Dramani Mahama should be elected come December 7th 2020 to rescue Ghana."



He was thankful to all who supported, criticized and prayed for him during his sacrament of marriage in the post on official Facebook wall.



SM family thank you soo much for granting me a political break to get married on the 12th of February 2020, I am here to thank you all for your support, critique and prayers.



May I use this opportunity to inform you all that I am back from the political break and the Focus now is to work hard as a deputy National Organizer of our great party NDC by making sure that the Organizational department's across the country achieve it constitutional mandate by getting the masses to understand why HE John Dramani Mahama should be elected come 7th December 2020 to rescue mother Ghana, he assured on Facebook with the hashtag #2020isaRescuemission #2020ispossibletogether

Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
TalkRadio has been fined 75,000 over failing to uphold impartiality during episodes of a show hosted by former MP George Galloway.

Three episodes of Mr Galloways programme failed to maintain due impartiality while talking about the Salisbury poisoning and allegations of antisemitism in the Labour Party, the broadcasting watchdog Ofcom said.

Under Ofcom rules, all broadcasters must remain duly impartial when covering matters of major political controversy, Ofcom said.

TalkRadio failed to do so in three episodes of the George Galloway programme during discussions about the poisoning of Yulia and Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, and allegations of antisemitism in the Labour Party.

Mr Galloway was sacked from the station in June 2019 after he was accused of antisemitism for congratulating Liverpool FC over beating Tottenham Hotspur FC in the Champion League final by tweeting No #Israel [sic] flags on the Cup!

Protests against Labour antisemitism Show all 14 1 /14 Protests against Labour antisemitism Protests against Labour antisemitism Protesters clashed during the demonstration Reuters Protests against Labour antisemitism Members of the Jewish community hold a protest against Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn and antisemitism in the Labour Party AFP/Getty Protests against Labour antisemitism Protesters hold placards and flags during a demonstration, organised by the British Board of Jewish Deputies for those who oppose antisemitism, in Parliament Square Reuters Protests against Labour antisemitism Hundreds of people gathered in Parliament Square to protest against antisemitism in the Labour Party EPA Protests against Labour antisemitism Labour MP Luciana Berger speaks during the protest PA Protests against Labour antisemitism A protester blows through a shofar during the demonstration Getty Protests against Labour antisemitism Members of London's Jewish community protest in support of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn outside parliament EPA Protests against Labour antisemitism Labour MP John Mann speaks during a protest against antisemitism PA Protests against Labour antisemitism People protest against antisemitism in the Labour Party as Jewish community leaders have launched a scathing attack on Jeremy Corbyn, claiming he has sided with antisemites again and again PA Protests against Labour antisemitism Labour politicians Stella Creasy and Chuka Umunna leave after attending the demonstration Getty Protests against Labour antisemitism A pro-Jeremy Corbyn protester holds a placard during a counter-protest Getty Protests against Labour antisemitism A support of the Labour Party hold up a placard during the demonstration Reuters Protests against Labour antisemitism Jeremy Corbyn supporters during the demo Reuters Protests against Labour antisemitism A protester holds up a sign reading For the many, not the Jew AFP

The former MP said he was referring to a number of Tottenham fans who were flying the flag of Israel in the crowd, while TalkRadio said it would not tolerate antisemitic views.

In Ofcoms ruling against the stations licence-holder, TalkSport Ltd, the watchdog said the limited viewpoints on Mr Galloways programme which did not align with his own were treated in a very different way to those that did.

Recommended Galloway sacked by TalkRadio after Champions League final remarks

TalkSport, the licensee for TalkRadio, said Ofcom should exercise caution in sanctioning political speech as the views expressed did not amount to hate speech or gravely offensive material.

On three occasions, the former MP joked that listeners who had sent messages about the Salisbury poisoning that differed from his position were writing from Broadmoor psychiatric hospital.

Mr Galloway used his weekly radio programme to cast doubt on the UK governments conclusion of Russian involvement in the poisoning of Yulia and Sergei Skripal in 2018.

In two instances, Mr Galloway also described a listener who expressed views which differed from his own as a gutless coward and in one of those cases described the listener as an ignorant moron and criticised their spelling, Ofcoms ruling said.

The watchdog previously found that Mr Galloway breached broadcasting rules by presenting allegations of antisemitism in Labour as a concocted means to criticise party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

TalkRadio and Mr Galloway have been approached for comment by The Independent on the ruling.

The radio station previously said in a statement: You expect robust opinions from George Galloway, but we accept that on this occasion he crossed the line.

As a station we understand the need for dissenting voices with a range of counter-opinions.

Ofcom also said an episode of the news programme Today on TV channel NTV Mir Baltic, which discussed the political aftermath of the Salisbury poisoning, failed to maintain due impartiality.

The licence-holder for the channel, which is aimed at Russian speakers in the Baltic states, has been fined 20,000 for breaking broadcasting rules.

Both stations will have to broadcast a summary of Ofcom's findings.

Additional reporting by AP
- Odion Ighalo is expected to make his debit for Man United against the Blues

- Solskjaer believes the Nigerian will succeed this season for the Red Devils

- Ighalo was bought as a replacement for injured Marcus Rashford

Manchester United handler Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has made it clear that he believes Nigerian striker Odion Ighalo can provide immediate impact at Old Trafford this season.

Ighalo has been training on his own since he moved to the Red Devils from the Chinese Super League where he scored 10 goals in 17 games before leaving.

He has also been prevented from training at the club's ground as a precaution for the deadly coronavirus that emanated from China where Odion Ighalo came from.

Eyebrows were raised when Manchester United announced the signing of Odion Ighalo for six months loan deal, but boss Ole Gunnar Solsjaer believes the former Watford man is capable.

The Red Devils were forced to enter the transfer market on the deadline day when main striker Marcus Rahford sustained an injury which will make him out for three months.

Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard have not been impressive this season for the Old Trafford landlords in which the Englishman has not even scored a goal in a year plus now.

Solskjaer and his players have returned from Spain where they had a warm weather training in which Odion Ighalo was not part of the traveling crew.

And ahead of the Premier League tie against the Blues, United gaffer Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is optimistic that Ighalo can make excellent impact.

Well, it didn't take me too long. I didn't need to have a training session to come on,'' Solskjaer explained according to UK Mirror.

Earlier, Legit.ng had reported how Odion Ighalo promised to dedicate all goals he score for Manchester United to his late younger sister who recently died in Canada.

Odion Ighalo has already inscribed the name of his sister Mary on all the boots he will wear during his six months loan stay at Old Trafford.

The name of his sister Mary has also been printed on the white underwear he will put on under Manchester United jersey this season in the Premier League and Europa.

Mary and her husband were living in Canada before her demise with Odion Ighalo confirming the sad news on social media.

Nigeria still needs Enyeama, Maradona was my toughest opponent - Rufai | Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng
Though its been just over a month since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced their resignation as senior members of the British royal family, a lot has already changed. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been living a relatively low-key and stress-free life on Vancouver Island in Canada.

When the pair originally announced Megxit, they had hoped to continue on as part-time working members of the British royal family. Unfortunately, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles could not authorize such an arrangement. Instead, the duo will be forging ahead with a new fully independent life.

A new part of their strategy is making sure that their inner circle is tight. The duchess has built an extremely close network of friends who are loyal to her. Now, shes allegedly encouraging Prince Harry to do the same.

Prince Harry was sad to leave royal life, but he felt he had no choice

For Prince Harry, leaving the only life he ever knew was always going to be challenging. However, he refused to allow the duchess and his son, Archie to suffer under the weight of The Crown, the press, and public. We both do everything we can to fly the flag and carry out our roles for this country with pride, he revealed in a speech shortly after Megixt.Once Meghan and I were married, we were excited, we were hopeful, and we were here to serve. For those reasons, it brings me great sadness that it has come to this.

Thankfully, things are looking up for the pair. Meghan is so happy, an insider allegedly explained to US Weekly, She doesnt come from millions. Shes worked hard to get to where she is today. Meghan loves the idea of being the breadwinner. She has no plans to do another show like Suits, but Harrys been encouraging her to do more voice-over work, writing, producing and directing in her free time. As for Prince Harry, Hes really excited about the next chapter in their lives.

Prince Harry had been distancing himself from his friends

When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle began dating and eventually got married, the Sussexes apparently realized that certain personal information was being leaked to the British press and public. As a result, they both reportedly began to trim down their friend circles.

[Prince Harry] has trimmed down his friendship circle. He doesnt see as much of his old friends as he used to., Katie Nicholl the author of Harry & Meghan: Life, Loss, and Love told Cosmopolitan.com in 2018. I mean his school friends, his friends from Eton and his friends from Ludgrove. Hes very much focused on his marriage and his wife, and it has been a case of some of his friends falling a bit by the wayside. Some of the friends, some of the extended circle were speaking out. Its very likely that there was a cutting down, an editing of Harrys friends, and also of Meghans.

Meghan Markle is helping Prince Harry ger rid of unsupportive friends

Markle has learned a major thing about friendship  support and loyalty are paramount. Apparently, Prince Harry is now dealing with a few friends who are questioning him about Megxit. The duchess is reportedly ready to protect her husbands mental health at all costs.

He wants to purge all the backstabbers who have come out of the woodwork and criticized them since the announcement, an alleged source exclusively told Radar Online. Meghan has been helping him delete these people from his life, not just via social media but wiping their numbers and addresses from his contacts book and shredding any photos or letters they may have exchanged over the years.

We dont blame the Sussexes for wanting a clean slate.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
A war of words broke out between



senior Congress leaders Milind Deora and Ajay Maken on Monday after the former praised the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government for doubling its revenue and maintaining a surplus over the last five years.

Former Delhi Congress chief Maken was quick to criticise Deora for his "half-baked facts", and said he may leave the party if he wishes so.

Deora, the former Mumbai Congress chief, in a Twitter post on Monday said, "Sharing a lesser known & welcome fact



the @ArvindKejriwal-led Delhi Government doubled its revenues to Rs 60,000 crore & maintained a revenue surplus over the last 5 years.""Food for thought: Delhi is now one of India's most fiscally prudent governments," the former Lok Sabha member added.

However, this did not go down well with Maken, who also responded with a tweet, saying: "Brother,you want to leave @INCIndia-Please do-Then propagate half baked facts!



"However,let me share even lesser know facts-1997-98- BE(Revenue) 4,073cr, 2013-14-BE (Revenue) 37,459cr. During Congress Govt Grew at 14.87% CAGR, 2015-16 BE 41,129 and 2019 -20 BE 60,000 AAP Gov 9.90% CAGR," he said.

Deora then hit back at Maken saying, "Brother, I would never undermine Sheila Dikshits stellar performance as Delhi CM. Thats your specialty."



Saying it's never too late to change, Deora tweeted, "Instead of advocating an alliance with AAP, if only you had highlighted Sheila jis achievements, @INCIndia wouldve been in power today."



Sheila Dikshit served as Delhi's chief minister for 15 years from 1998 to 2013.

She died in July last year at the age of 81.

Aam Aadmi Party president Kejriwal was sworn in as the chief minister of Delhi for the third time on Sunday, after his party got a landslide victory in the Assembly polls.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Russia sees no progress in the fulfillment of the decisions of the Normandy Summit in Paris

Russias Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Open source

New Normandy Format Summit may take place after the fulfillment of the decisions of December meeting, there is no sufficient progress yet as RBK reported citing Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov.

He noted that the statement of Kyiv on the holding of the Normandy Summit in April is not more than the wish of Kyiv.

Russia does not observe yet the progress in the fulfillment of the decisions of the Normandy Summit in Paris, Lavrov stated.

Besides, Putins Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that the possibility of holding of the next summit in the Normandy Format is discussed but the date is not determined.

Earlier, Russia stated that the decision to hold a new Normandy format summit would be made on the basis of progress in implementing the current agreements.

Last time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met on December 9 in Paris at the Normandy Summit.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the aides to Presidents and Foreign Ministers of the Normandy Four would prepare a new summit in four months.
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman addresses the media along with Ajay Bhushan Pandey, revenue secretary (right) and Rajiv Kumar, secretary, department of financial services (left). (Photo: R. Pavan)

Hyderabad: Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday gave a strong retort to the charges of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and other TRS leaders about the Centre starving Telan-gana state of funds by reducing states share in Central taxes and by not releasing the GST amount.

It was the Finance Commission which red-uced the share of states in the divisible pool of central taxes from 42 to 41 per cent. The share was cut by one per cent because the total number of states has reduced by one and two Union Territories (Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh) were added, Ms Sitha-raman said while addressing reporters in the city in Telugu. The BJP leader and minister said that the Central government has nothing to do in determining the devolution of taxes.

Responding to the TS governments claim that it could not release funds to several welfare schemes because of pending GST money, she clarified that according to law, GST compensation was supposed to be released to states every two months from the GST cess.

Since there was a shortfall in GST cess, the compensation was not released, she said, adding that other states have also not got the compensation and no discrimination was done to Telangana.

The Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman who was in Hyderabad as part of a series of interactive sessions being organised on the Union Budget with different stakeholders in different parts of the country reiterated that Telangana was one of few states which got 128 per cent more funds during the Modi government.

In fact, we have also relaxed fiscal deficit norm to allow Telangana government to raise more debt by 50 additional basis points, a composed finance minister, who has been in news in the recent times for frequently losing her temper, said.

Reacting to IT minister K.T. Rama Raos criticism against her for claiming credit for the Centre giving state its rightful share in taxes, Ms Sitharaman wondered if the usage of word give is unparliamentary.

If the state minister has any problem with the usage of word give, he should write to the Lok Sabha Speaker requesting him to declare the word as unparliamentary.
The race to be chairman of the Dail is shaping up to be a three-way contest, with Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, and the independents indicating support for potential candidates for the high-profile role.

Support for the esteemed position of ceann comhairle is being considered for its outgoing holder, Fianna Fail TD Sean O Fearghail, Fine Gael TD Bernard Durkan, as well as independent Denis Naughten.

The Dail will meet on Thursday and, amid the ongoing jostling and bartering over government coalition options, one of its only expected items of business is going to be the election of a ceann comhairle  always one of the first and most important acts of a new Dail.

Mr O Fearghail told the Irish Examiner he would not be actively canvassing for the seven Dail votes needed to be elected, but said that he would be interested in a second term in the role if he was to receive such support.

The election is expected to take place by secret ballot  if there is a competition  as it did in 2016, when Mr O Fearghail was elected to the role and Mr Durkan came in fifth place.

Fine Gael figures again confirmed yesterday that Mr Durkan was interested in the position.

Labour outgoing leader Brendan Howlin, despite backing for him to take up the mantle of Dail chairman, has ruled himself out of seeking the role.

A number of independent sources have confirmed that Mr Naughten, a former Fine Gael minister, is interested, but this will depend on whether or not he is involved among rural TDs in coalition formation talks with other parties.

Mr Naughten did not respond to queries.

It is expected that Fine Gael will discuss the matter at its first post-election parliamentary meeting today, while Fianna Fails position on the issue will depend on what role the party takes in the coalition talks and whether or not Mr O Fearghail would be needed on the party benches for votes as opposed to being in the position of a non-partisan chairman of the Dail.

Sinn Fein has yet to indicate whether the party would field a candidate for the role or who it might support for the position in the 33rd Dail.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse police say a 37-year-old city man shot in the upper body Sunday morning on Beattie Street is expected to survive.

Officers responded to the 200 block of Beattie St. at 11:28 a.m. for a reported shooting. When they arrived, they found the victim with a gunshot wound to the shoulder, police spokesman Sgt. Matthew Malinowski said.

American Medical Response (AMR) ambulance took the man to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse. The shooting victims injury is not life threatening, Malinowski said.

At the scene Sunday morning, one neighbor said he heard five gunshots then looked out his window to see a Jeep peeling out of the parking lot. Police put evidence markers in a parking lot, between two apartment buildings. A gold-colored car parked at the north end of the parking lot appeared to have been shot at least once, although police have not yet confirmed if any vehicles were struck by bullets.

Syracuse police say they are continuing to investigate the shooting and ask anyone with information to call them at (315) 442-5222.

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.
St. Paul Episcopal Church to get local landmark designation

EDNEYVILLE  St. Paul's Episcopal Church, which is little changed from the time it was dedicated in 1910, is about to become Henderson County's next historic landmark.

Related Stories

The designation, which was submitted by the Henderson County Historic Resources Commission, is on the agenda for the Board of Commissioners on Wednesday. The designation as a local historic landmark makes a property eligible a 50 percent abatement of property taxes, academic in this case since the church is exempt from property taxes.

The Episcopal Church's use of the property dates to 1885, when Aaron W. and Elmira Whiteside donated two acres of land to the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina for a church. Situated on a ridge with a view of Sugarloaf, Bearwallow, Little Pisgah mountains and two Chickasaw Knobs, the site was home originally to a wooden structure "modeled on the lines of an overgrown and top heavy barn," the landmark designation report says. "Sometimes the altar had to be moved because rain leaked through the roof." A locomotive that called parishioners to workship is still in use today. A schoolhouse, attached to the south side of the church, may have been originated by the Rev. Thomas Wetmore, who had come to Hendersonville as rector of St. James Episcopal Church and was the founder, along with his wife, of Christ School in Arden.

After Wetmore left in 1900, few services were held at the mission church and the schoolhouse stood empty and unused. The Rev. Reginald N. Willcox, who arrived in 1902, held services every other Sunday evening and visited to minister to parishioners in times of need such as sickness or a death in the family. Willcox is credited with raising money to reopen the school, in 1905. The school operated seven to nine months each year, depending on how much Willcox and the church could raise for teacher pay. Preaching in the Northeast three months of the year to raise money for the Edneyville mission, Willcox and the church were soon able to open three more schools in rural northeastern Henderson County  Upward, Slick Rock and Bat Cave. The St. Paul school closed in 1914-15 and then closed for good in 1918, the year after Father Willcox left the area.

After a strong wind in 1907 badly damaged the roof of the original wooden church, Willcox retained the Asheville-based architectural firm of Smith & Carrier to design the new stone church. One of the principals was Richard Sharp Smith, the English immigrant who moved to New York City in 1883 and then was sent by Richard Morris Hunt to supervise the construction of the Biltmore House. In Asheville and elsewhere in Western North Carolina, Smith's influence can be found throughout downtown Asheville and in the Montford, Chestnut Hill and Grove Park neighborhoods and in Hendersonville, most prominently, in the neoclassical 1905 Henderson County Courthouse. A devoted Episcopalean, he served on the vestry of St. Mary's Episcopal Church, for which he designed a building in 1914. (The report for the local landmark nomination says that the Rev. Willcox worked with Smith & Carrier to design the church without specifically mentioning Richard Sharp Smith.)

Willcox and the architects designed a church that still stands today, mostly unchanged, of native granite, which church members themselves quarried from a site about 100 yards south of the church property. The load bearing walls are 18 inches thick throughout. A projecting gable end on the main roof shelters the church bell. The floors are heart pine. Two orange and rose colored stained glass windows that flank the altar on the north and south walls are dedicated "To Those Who Came Before" and "Those Who Are To Come," and are the only remaining original windows. Laws Stained Glass Studios Inc. of Statesville made the windows, at first the dual-colored, in 1910. Later, art glass windows were added. The three prominent stained glass windows behind the altar shows scenes of Jesus inviting a crowd to "Come unto ne, all ye that labour and are heavy laden" (center) and blessing the little children (left). The art glass window on the right depicts a scene of musical rejoicing and celebration to the Lord, the King from Psalm 150. New stained glass was added in 1951 and between 1972 and 2004, often by parishioners as memorials to family members.

Willcox designed the wooden altar, also still used today. Carved by Frank Geddes, a wood sculptor in Dorchester, Massachusetts, the heavy wooden piece was shipped by rail to the depot in Hendersonville, then transported the rest of the way to Edneyville by oxcart.

Church members did the construction of the church and the school associated with it. The native gray granite and usually its transportation to the construction site were donated. The cost, not including pews and other furnishings, was estimated to be $2,000.
@Airbus @Bombardier #A220



Bombardier transfers its remaining interest in Airbus Canada Limited Partnership (Airbus Canada) to Airbus SE and the Government of Quebec

Airbus now holds 75 percent of Airbus Canada with the Government of Quebec increasing its holding to 25 percent for no cash consideration

Bombardier work packages for the A220 and A330 will be transferred to Airbus, through its subsidiary Stelia Aerospace, securing 360 jobs in Quebec

Bombardier will receive US$591M, net of adjustments, of which US$531M was received at closing, and is released of its future funding capital requirement to Airbus Canada

Over 3,300 Airbus jobs secured in Quebec

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands and MONTREAL, Feb. 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Airbus SE (AIR), the Government of Quebec and Bombardier Inc. (BBD-B.TO) have agreed upon a new ownership structure for the A220 programme, whereby Bombardier transferred its remaining shares in Airbus Canada Limited Partnership (Airbus Canada) to Airbus and the Government of Quebec. The transaction is effective immediately.

This agreement brings the shareholdings in Airbus Canada, responsible for the A220, to 75 percent for Airbus and 25 percent for the Government of Quebec respectively. The Governments stake is redeemable by Airbus in 2026 - three years later than before. As part of this transaction, Airbus, via its wholly owned subsidiary Stelia Aerospace, has also acquired the A220 and A330 work package production capabilities from Bombardier in Saint-Laurent, Quebec.

This new agreement underlines the commitment of Airbus and the Government of Quebec to the A220 programme during this phase of continuous ramp-up and increasing customer demand. Since Airbus took majority ownership of the A220 programme on July 1, 2018, total cumulative net orders for the aircraft have increased by 64 percent to 658 units at the end of January 2020.

"This agreement with Bombardier and the Government of Quebec demonstrates our support and commitment to the A220 and Airbus in Canada. Furthermore it extends our trustful partnership with the Government of Quebec. This is good news for our customers and employees as well as for the Quebec and Canadian aerospace industry, said Airbus Chief Executive Officer Guillaume Faury. "I would like to sincerely thank Bombardier for the strong collaboration during our partnership. We are committed to this fantastic aircraft programme and we are aligned with the Government of Quebec in our ambition to bring long-term visibility to the Quebec and Canadian aerospace industry.

Story continues

I am proud that our government was able to reach this agreement. We have succeeded in protecting paying jobs and the exceptional expertise developed in Quebec, despite the major challenges we faced in this regard when we took office. We have consolidated the governments position in the partnership, while respecting our commitment not to reinvest in the program. By opting to strengthen its presence here, Airbus has chosen to focus on our talents and our creativity. The decision of an industrial giant like Airbus to invest more in Quebec will help attract other world-class prime contractors, the Premier of Quebec, Francois Legault, stated.

This agreement is excellent news for Quebec and its aerospace industry. The A220 partnership is now well established and will continue to grow in Quebec. The agreement will allow Bombardier to improve its financial situation and Airbus to increase its presence and footprint in Quebec. Its a winwin situation for both the private partners and the industry, pointed out Pierre Fitzgibbon, Minister of the Economy and Innovation.

With this transaction, Bombardier will receive a consideration of $591M from Airbus, net of adjustments, of which $531M was received at closing and $60M to be paid over the 2020-21 period. The agreement also provides for the cancellation of Bombardier warrants owned by Airbus, as well as releasing Bombardier of its future funding capital requirement to Airbus Canada.

This transaction supports our efforts to address our capital structure and completes our strategic exit from commercial aerospace, said Alain Bellemare, President and CEO Bombardier, Inc. We are incredibly proud of the many achievements and tremendous impact Bombardier had on the commercial aviation industry. We are equally proud of the responsible way in which we have exited commercial aerospace, preserving jobs and reinforcing the aerospace cluster in Quebec and Canada. We are confident that the A220 program will enjoy a long and successful run under Airbus and the Government of Quebecs stewardship.

The single aisle market is a key growth driver, representing 70 percent of the expected global future demand for aircraft. Ranging from 100 to 150 seats, the A220 is highly complementary to Airbus existing single aisle aircraft portfolio, which focuses on the higher end of the single-aisle business (150-240 seats).

As part of the agreement, Airbus has acquired the Airbus A220 and A330 work package production capability from Bombardier in Saint-Laurent, Quebec. These production activities will be operated in the Saint Laurent site by Stelia Aeronautique Saint Laurent Inc., a newly created subsidiary of Stelia Aerospace, which is a 100 percent Airbus subsidiary.

Stelia Aeronautique Saint-Laurent will continue the production of the A220 cockpit and aft fuselage production, as well as A330 workpackages, for a transition period of approximately three years at the Saint-Laurent facility. A220 workpackages will then be transferred to the Stelia Aerospace site in Mirabel to optimize the logistical flow to the A220 Final Assembly Line also located in Mirabel. Airbus plans to offer all current Bombardier employees working on the A220 and A330 work packages at Saint-Laurent opportunities around the A220 programmes ramp-up, ensuring know-how retention as well as business continuity and growth in Quebec.

At the end of January 2020, 107 A220 aircraft were flying with seven customers on four continents. In 2019 alone, Airbus delivered 48 A220s, with the further ramp-up to be continued.

For more information about A220-Family

About Airbus

Airbus is a global leader in aeronautics, space and related services. In 2018 it generated revenues of  64 billion and employed a workforce of around 134,000. Airbus offers the most comprehensive range of passenger airliners. Airbus is also a European leader providing tanker, combat, transport and mission aircraft, as well as one of the worlds leading space companies. In helicopters, Airbus provides the most efficient civil and military rotorcraft solutions worldwide.

Contacts for the media - Airbus Marcella Cortellazzi (Mirabel) marcella.cortellazzi@abc.airbus +1 514 244 83 14 Annabelle Duchesne (Mirabel) annabelle.duchesne@abc.airbus +1 438 402 42 76 Anne Galabert (Toulouse) anne.galabert@airbus.com +33 609 240 974 Stefan Schaffrath (Toulouse) stefan.schaffrath@airbus.com +33 616 095 592

About Bombardier

With over 68,000 employees, Bombardier is a global leader in the transportation industry, creating innovative and game-changing planes and trains. Our products and services provide world-class transportation experiences that set new standards in passenger comfort, energy efficiency, reliability and safety.



Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, Bombardier has production and engineering sites in 28 countries as well as a broad portfolio of products and services for the business aviation, commercial aviation and rail transportation markets. Bombardier shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (BBD). In the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, Bombardier posted revenues of $16.2 billion US. The company is recognized on the 2019 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World Index. News and information are available at bombardier.com or follow us on Twitter @Bombardier.

Contacts for the media  Bombardier Jessica McDonald jessica.mcdonald@bmbardier.com +1 514 861 9481 Patrick Ghoche patrick.ghoche@bombardier.com +1 514 861 5727

About Stelia Aerospace

With a turnover of 2,4 billion euros and 7,100 employees worldwide (4,500 in France and 2,600 in North America, Tunisia, Morocco and Portugal), Stelia Aerospace is one of the world leaders in the field of aerostructures, pilot seats and Business Class and First Class passenger seats.

Stelia Aerospace designs and manufactures the front fuselage sections for the entire Airbus family, as well as fuselage sections and specific sub-assemblies for Airbus, fully equipped wings for ATR, fully equipped central fuselages for Bombardiers Global 7500, and complex metallic and composite aerostructure parts for Boeing, Bombardier, Embraer, Northrop-Grumman.

Contact for the media - Stelia Aerospace Caroline Brown caroline.brown.rp@gmail.com +33 622 088 623

About Investissement Quebec

The mission of Investissement Quebec is to participate actively in Quebecs economic development by stimulating business innovation, entrepreneurship and the growth of exports and investment in every region of Quebec. The Corporation provides enterprises and entrepreneurs with support services, including technology-based measures, as well as adapted financial solutions and investments. Through its Investissement Quebec International division, the Corporation assists enterprises with exports and prospects for foreign investments.

Contacts for the media - Investissement Quebec Ewan Sauves Prime Minister's Office Press Manager +1 514 585 44 51 Mathieu St-Amand Press Manager of the Minister of the +1 418 691 56 50 Economy and Innovation and Lanaudiere region

This and other press releases and high resolution photos are available on: AirbusMedia
The founder of the Invisibobble has revealed how she came up with the clever idea for the hair tie while hungover after a night out at university.

Swiss-born Sophie Trelles-Tvede, 27, was 18 and in her first year at the University of Warwick when she went to an 'anything but clothes' night held by the student union.

On her way out the door she caught sight of an old disused telephone on her wall and used its spiral cord to tie up her hair.

The following morning she woke up feeling groggy, but noticed she didn't have a headache or a dent in her locks from the unconventional hair tie.

Swiss-born Sophie Trelles-Tvede, 27, was 18 and in her first year at the University of Warwick when she came up with the idea for Invisibobble (pictured on her wrist)

Sophie called her then-boyfriend Felix Haffa - who is now her business partner - and the pair began working on a prototype for a spiral hair bobble over the Christmas holidays, funding it themselves.

Speaking to the BBC, Sophie told how she asked a man who produced telephone cord to strip out the wire and solder it into a round shape.

Although the first box was 'terrible', Sophie was determined her idea had legs and sought feedback on her product, tweaking it to eventually produce the Invisibobble.

She opted for transparent packaging containing three hair ties, costing 5 for a box.

Sophie went to a theme night while studying at the University of Warwick where you wore 'anything but clothes' - and opted to tie an old telephone cable around her hair

After waking up with no headache - which she used to get from hair bobbles pulling her locks - and no undesirable dent in her mane, Sophie realised she was onto something. Pictured: Invisibobbles

The entrepreneurs swapped to a bigger producer in China in 2012 to produce the ties in bulk and began selling them online and to hairdressers that year.

Sales went through the roof and the Invisibobble went international, shipping to 12 countries in 2013.

Sophie told the publication: 'People were initially really dismissive of my product. I was laughed off because it was "just a hair accessory".

'My flatmates would laugh at my Instagram posts about the business, or if I was creating an invoice on one of the uni computers.'

But Sophie had the last laugh, as by the time she graduated in 2014, her company had an annual turnover of 5million.

Although the first box was 'terrible', Sophie was determined her idea had legs and sought feedback on her product, tweaking it to eventually produce the Invisibobble

She told how she and Felix noticed a shift when they were listed on the Forbes Under 30 European entrepreneurs in retail list, as people began taking the pair more seriously.

After various companies copied the Invisibobble design, Sophie and Felix set about coming up with innovative campaigns and new designs of hair bands and clips to keep their product in vogue.

Now based in Munich, Invisibobble recorded sales of 16.6million last year and is now sold across more than 100,000 locations

Sophie told how she and business partner Felix noticed a shift when they were listed on the Forbes Under 30 European entrepreneurs in retail list, as people began taking the pair more seriously

While its main product, the spiral hair tie, is made from plastic, it's fully recyclable as it's made purely from polyurethane.

Sophie urged other young entrepreneurs with an idea to 'start now', adding that if you have a good idea 'somebody else will do it if you don't'.

She told the BBC: 'If you start a business as a student, you can take a risk because you don't have to leave a full-time job to set up a company. The worst case is - it doesn't work out.'
(Natural News) Researchers from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico have pre-published a new study in the journal medRxiv (associated with the British Medical Journal) that says the actual basic reproductive number, or R0, for novel coronavirus is somewhere between 4.7 and 6.6, as opposed to the 2.2 to 2.7 range being claimed by government health authorities.

While the study has not yet been peer-reviewed as of this writing, its abstract explains that extensive individual case reports on this constantly evolving global outbreak reveal that the R0 estimates put forth by those in charge are essentially flawed.

After evaluating these case reports and assessing them alongside estimated key epidemiology parameters, including the virus incubation period  we now know the incubation period to be closer to a month as opposed to just two weeks  the team determined that each coronavirus-infected person can potentially infect nearly seven others with the disease.

Integrating these estimates and high-resolution real-time human travel and infection data with mathematical models, we estimated that the number of infected individuals during early epidemic double every 2.4 days, and the R0 value is likely to be between 4.7 and 6.6, the paper explains.

Be sure to check out the following episode of The Health Ranger Report in which Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, discusses how the number of coronavirus infections exploded by 33 percent in just one day, recently:

Quarantines arent enough to contain novel coronavirus, paper warns

The paper in question goes on to warn that the measures currently being implemented to address novel coronavirus, especially outside of the United States, arent enough to contain it. Instead, it argues, much more needs to be done to prevent a potential global pandemic situation where the virus becomes completely out of control.

We further show that quarantine and contact tracing of symptomatic individuals alone may not be effective and early, strong control measures are needed to stop transmission of the virus, it eerily states.

One can only surmise that this is implying medical martial law, which were already seeing take place throughout communist China as entire cities with millions of people living in them are brought under mandatory lockdown and quarantine.

If things continue on as they are and the virus isnt contained, well likely see similar developments here in the U.S., sorry to say. Thats because one way or another, novel coronavirus is going to impact our country, whether by mass infection or mass implosion of the economy, if not both.

Right this moment, countless Chinese factories that produce goods for the U.S. and other markets are sitting empty and closed due to quarantines and lockdowns. The Chinese people who normally work at them are being told they have to stay home for public safety, which means nothing is being manufactured.

What this means is that its only a matter of time before stores here in America are empty, especially those that sell products that are mostly made in China. Even if the number of coronavirus cases here on our soil never breaches 100, many of the Chinese products upon which most of us rely could still disappear virtually overnight if supplies eventually run dry.

This is a major consequence of globalism, of course, as the entire machine stands to collapse if even just one crucial component breaks down. In this case, that component is Chinese manufacturing, which accounts for most of the manufacturing that we currently rely on to live in the modern age.

For more of the latest coronavirus news, be sure to visit Outbreak.news.

There are also many more episodes of The Health Ranger Report that talk about coronavirus at Brighteon.com.

Sources for this article include:

medRxiv.org

NaturalNews.com

Brighteon.com
Those of us back here on Earth will have several chances over the next seven days, including a couple particularly good chances, to spot the International Space Station as it orbits our planet.

Depending upon sky conditions, NASA projects that the ISS will be visible for about two minutes at 6:05 a.m., Wednesday. February 19. It will appear in the sky at 10 degrees above the horizon at the south compass point and will disappear at 15 degrees above southeast. It will reach no higher than 15 degrees.

That will be the weakest opportunity over the next seven days because the ISS wont be very high in the sky. NASA explains, The horizon is at zero degrees, and directly overhead is 90 degrees. If you hold your fist at arms length and place your fist resting on the horizon, the top will be about 10 degrees. Each additional fist-depth above the horizon is roughly another 10 degrees of elevation.

NASA doesnt issue one of its Spot the Station alerts for anything less than 40 degrees.

Other viewing opportunities in the upcoming period will occur at 6:05 a.m. Friday, February 21, for four minutes, with the ISS appearing at 10 degrees above south-southwest, disappearing at 36 degrees above east and reaching an elevation of 48 degrees; 5:18 a.m. Saturday, February 22, for three minutes, 12 degrees above south, 24 degrees above east-southeast, 27 degrees; 4:34 a.m., Sunday, February 23,for one minutes, 16 degrees above southeast, 13 degrees above east-southeast, 16 degrees; 6:07 a.m. Sunday, February 23, for 6 minutes, 10 degrees above west-southwest, 11 degrees above northeast, 55 degrees.

Potentially the best viewing opportunity will come at 5:21 a.m. Monday, February 24, for about four minutes, 45 degrees above southwest, 14 degrees above northeast, 85 degrees.

The sighting opportunities occur within a few hours before or after sunrise or sunset, which are the periods when the Sun reflects off the space station and contrasts against the darker sky.

According to NASA, "the space station looks like an airplane or a very bright star moving across the sky, except it doesnt have flashing lights or change direction. It will also be moving considerably faster than a typical airplane (airplanes generally fly at about 600 miles per hour; the space station flies at 17,500 miles per hour).

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.

Contact Marcus Schneck at mschneck@pennlive.com.
Dr. Michael Samuel, co-CEO Acuity Eye Group "The only way to detect AMD is to have a comprehensive eye exam, and early detection is key to slowing down its progression, said Dr. Michael Samuel Co-CEO, Partner and Chief Medical Director at Acuity Eye Group.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of vision loss for people aged 60 and older in the United States. February is age-related macular degeneration awareness month and Acuity Eye Group encourages people to get their regular eye exams.

According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), almost 2 million individuals have AMD. AMD is when a part of the retina, called the macula, becomes damaged due to deterioration or breakdown of the macula. The macula is a small area in the retina at the back of the eye that allows one to see fine details clearly and perform activities, such as reading, recognizing faces, and driving.

The only way to detect AMD is to have a comprehensive eye exam, and early detection is key to slowing down its progression, said Dr. Michael Samuel, Co-CEO, Partner and Chief Medical Director at Acuity Eye Group. We are here to remind people, that even with AMD, there are treatments that can save their sight.

There are two forms of AMD, wet and dry. Symptoms may include:



Blurry distance and/or reading vision

Need for increasingly bright light to see up close

Colors appear less vivid or bright; lose their brightness

Hazy vision

Difficulty seeing when going from bright light to low light (such as entering a dimly lit room from the bright outdoors)

Blank or blurry spot in your central vision

Distorted vision  straight lines appear bent, crooked or irregular

Size of objects may appear different for each eye

Risk factors include:



People age 50 and older

Family history of AMD

History of smoking

Obesity

High blood pressure/cholesterol

Lack of vitamins prevalent in fruits and vegetables

Additionally, Dr. Samuel recommends patients take eye vitamins that are specifically designed to slow the progression of AMD and slow the conversion to the wet form of AMD. His preferred vitamin is EyeScience Macular Health formula. A nationally renowned clinician, surgeon, and researcher, Dr. Samuel specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of various retinal diseases, including AMD.

Acuity Eye Group has multiple clinics throughout southern and central California and is home to some of the nation's top ophthalmologists who specialize not only in general ophthalmology, but also in pediatric ophthalmology, cataracts, and glaucoma as well as retina diseases and surgery.

For more information about AMD and Acuity Eye Group, visit AcuityEyeGroup.com

About Acuity Eye Group:

At Acuity Eye Group, they are committed to helping ophthalmologists and optometrists realize their full potential while providing best-in-class patient care to all those in need. They are experts in the business of ophthalmology with years of experience in the industry. Acuity Eye Group has world-class doctors and surgeons on their founding team who are still in practice today including Tom S. Chang, Michael Samuel, and Michael Davis. Established as one of the largest, integrated eye care-service groups in the country, Acuity Eye Group prides itself on its mission to improve patients' quality of life through excellence in eye care and patient experience.

Headquartered in Pasadena, CA, the Company offers access to ophthalmology services from Visalia to San Diego. Patients interested in being seen at one of the many Acuity Eye Group clinics in California can schedule appointments through the 24/7 Call Center at 800.898.2020. Those interested can also request appointments directly on the Acuity Eye Group website at AcuityEyeGroup.com where they will find additional information on Acuity Eye Groups doctors, locations, and the diseases they treat.
Photography is Sarah Brooke Lyons lifeline.

She fell in love with the art 18 years ago after a series of heartbreaking life tragedies, including the accidental death of her boyfriend and a subsequent marriage that turned abusive.

Lyons found healing in the darkroom, bringing images to life in trays of restorative chemicals. She found a balm in making portraits that self-medication never could provide.

The only things more important are her love for her daughter and God.

Since 2007, Lyons mission has been sharing imagery that celebrates all facets of humanity and shines a light on participants personal messages.

Hundreds of her black-and-white portraits, comprising her 1005 Faces project, are on display at the San Antonio International Airport for Black History Month. Its on exhibit through the end of March.

Its me getting to show that this city is so interesting, and I kind of wanted to force people into seeing that, Lyons, 36, said. Its being able to show people for how they want to be represented. I feel thats a part of diversity and inclusion as well.

On ExpressNews.com: Art exhibits celebrates San Antonios diversity at SA airport

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

Lyons portraits greet passengers en route to flights across the nation and beyond. Each person in each photograph holds a small white board with a personal message written in black marker.

The panels with the images span the wall from gates A-4 to A-6 and feature a wide range of the citys residents from a female mariachi to a poet with a long goatee to notable figures such as Mayor Ron Nirenberg, actress Araceli Godines and former Spurs star Tim Duncan.

Upon close inspection, viewers may find the panels reveal connections from face to face.

On Sunday morning, Tiffany Thomerson and her husband, Heath Thomerson, stopped to look at the portraits as they waited to board a flight to Nashville. She was drawn to a photo of a wounded warrior.

I have a big admiration for people who keep our country what it is, said Thomerson, 43. I was interested in seeing what people had to say.

Service B4 Self! reads the sign of an African American female Navy lieutenant. A man wearing a turban holds a sign that says, Forget what divides us. The sign of a bespectacled Anglo woman reads, You may say Im a dreamer, but Im not the only one, lyrics from John Lennons Imagine.

The messages reveal stories that people can relate to, said airport arts and culture manager Matt Evans.

Its a beautiful representation of the idea of community, he said. And the idea that diversity and inclusion acknowledges that were all part of this experiment. She did a really beautiful job of articulating that in a way thats subtle, but impactful.

Lyons project has been published in a book, and shes also shared her passion in storytelling presentations at TEDxSan Antonio, universities and schools.

Her first portrait was of Kevin Cacy, who arrived carrying a Vespa helmet. He wrote the word, Continuity, a message that prompted Lyons to have all participants hold personal notes to the world.

Like Cacy, 84 people wrote one word on their boards. Another 71 wrote about love; 54 wrote in another language.

Lyons own tale involves overcoming struggles by immersing herself in a cause bigger than her problems. She credits her parents, Darryl and Robin Bird Lyons, for instilling a work ethic in her and her two brothers, Darryl Jr. and Franklin.

They were intent on making a better life for us, she said. And when you grow up with determination and resiliency, it becomes a natural working part of who you are.

In 2002, she was at the University of Texas at Austin when her boyfriend died in an accidental shooting. That same year she was working at Half Price Books in the photography section and became entranced in the world of photo books. Photos shed taken of him with an instant camera became something she could hold on to.

The inspiration for the 1005 project came about a decade later when Shokare Nakpodia, founder of DreamWeek, commissioned Lyons to photograph events at the inaugural summit in 2013.

She documented belly dancers, gentrification talks and panel discussions. Then Nakpodia suggested identifying 1,000 photos to show the diversity of the summit. Lyons said no, 1,005 would be a more interesting number.

Lyons began with family and friends and then widened her circle. She lugged lights and backdrops to photo shoots she announced on social media. People and local businesses responded and joined the initiative.

I felt like the whole city of San Antonio had wrapped their arms around me, Lyons said. It gave me what I needed to get through.

That experience and others encountered during travels abroad combined with a friends introduction to a program of recovery to help her break free from an alcohol addiction that was threatening to overwhelm her.

Now, each morning, she celebrates Feb. 8, 2013, the first day of her sobriety. She celebrates her 15-year-old daughter, Scarlet Sky Lyons, and the portraits project that reaffirms the human spirit.

Mingled among the portraits on display at the airport is a photo of the 1005 Faces creator herself taken by her daughter. She occupies space with a long-haired hugger, a visually impaired spiritual healer and Fiesta Especial royalty flashing a peace sign.

In her photo, Lyons is pushing back a lock of hair with her right hand and holding a sign in her left that sums up her project.

It reads simply,  We are San Antonio.

vtdavis@express-news.net
The fundamental issue is the methodology a government adopts to deal with domestic or international criticism.

Barely a week before US President Donald Trump begins his India visit, the security agencies of both nations are busy visiting places the President and his wife Melania will visit for official functions and sightseeing. However, the background noise generated by US congressmen and senators over Kashmir and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act persists. External affairs minister S. Jaishankar, after an unseemly Twitter row with celebrated historian Ram Guha over a claim in a new book on V.P. Menon that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru never wanted Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in his Cabinet, found himself embroiled in a fresh controversy at the Munich Security Conference.

The fundamental issue is the methodology a government adopts to deal with domestic or international criticism. Last month the public discourse sank to a new low in the electioneering for the Delhi Assembly polls where the Narendra Modi governments ministers, members of Parliament and other leaders used extremely provocative language. Led by none other than home minister Amit Shah, the BJPs total rout showed the peoples total rejection of negative campaigning. Rather surprisingly Mr Shah, at a public function soon afterwards, had the moral courage to concede that. Surprisingly, suave former diplomat S. Jaishankar has also abandoned a lifetime of measured articulation of his views for pugnacious public retorts in defence of a series of divisive and controversial executive and legislative actions of the Modi-2 government. It can be explained as a recent convert to the BJP-RSS acting holier than others of the faith to demonstrate ideological affinity. It could also simply be an attempt to conform to the take-no-prisoners approach of Mr Modi and Mr Shah. It raises the larger issue of how controversial domestic issues are best managed at a diplomatic level. US President Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelts advice to speak softly and carry a big stick remains as valid today as a century ago.

The latest fracas occurred at the Munich Security Conference last week when Mr Jaishankar shared the stage with US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, President Trumps ally and friend, who was leading a 22-member bipartisan US delegation. He is heard distinguishing how democracies deal with internal or external disputes compared to autocratic regimes. He begins by wondering how Scotlands demand for independence may turn out, before deploring the Russian occupation of Crimea or the Chinese shutdown, apparently referring to Uighur issue, before wondering how the Kashmir problem will end, adding but lets make sure the two democracies will end it differently. This he felt was the best way to market democracy at conferences like MSC, where traditionally Russia-European Union relations get centre-staged. Mr Jaishankar retorted that one democracy would end it suitably, then acerbically concluding that the senator would know which one. Much applause followed in India for his sharp rebuke. Did Mr Jaishankar misunderstand Senator Graham, who was referring to UK and India as democracies, which dealt with disputes, internal or external, differently from China and Russia? So where was the need to get hot under the collar.

Perhaps the humility shown by Amit Shah in defeat needs to be emulated in South Block. Indian diplomacy has a tough task marketing normality in Kashmir when even European ambassadors  including the French and German envoys in New Delhi, after the latest conducted tour of Jammu and Kashmir, have accepted progress but simultaneously sought quick further steps. Obviously, the government seems headed away from such steps as two of the three former chief ministers and a former IAS officer have had the draconian Public Safety Act clamped on them. The Supreme Court is to examine the legality of that, in due course. Similarly, the CAA protests have not simmered down despite Mr Shah magnanimously offering to talk to whoever approaches him. The taste of the pie is, however, as they say, in the eating. On Twitter, the BJPs first tweet, after Mr Shahs public confession of failure over the sectarian and divisive electioneering in Delhi, still carried his insistence that the NRC is in the BJPs election manifesto and shall be implemented in future. This tweet was later deleted and a fresh tweet without the last part about the future posted.

Thus, on the eve of the US presidential visit, the backdrop of Indias domestic dissonance will continue. Fortunately for the Modi government, Mr Trump is unlikely to be overly stressed about these developments, except so far as it impinges on Pakistani cooperation, which he needs to implement the finalised-on-paper Afghan accord. Thus, Kashmir and Pakistan will figure in private, if not another public Trumpian stab at mediation. President Trump will seek a mix of hoopla, with teeming masses by the roadside or in a stadium, a trade deal with tangible takeaways that he can brandish particularly for his rural, semi-urban base, and defence deals. He will pitch for exclusion of Huawei and probably put on the table some matching allurement of India-US 5G collaboration.

Mr Jaishankar is also expected in Munich to test the waters for the India-EU summit, which has not taken place for a year and a half. The sticking point would again be Indias domestic developments, particularly Kashmir and the lurking resolution in the European Parliament. India has to also start looking at post-Brexit European Union, as indeed Britain. Meanwhile, South Block has to stop adopting a pugnacious tone in countering criticism abroad. It is one thing to tick off Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, when he absolutely wrongly compares Kashmir to Gallipoli. Did he even realise that many valiant Indian soldiers had laid down their lives in that attack, which was a strategic mistake by British commanders? Does he even know that India is in Jammu and Kashmir after its legal accession to India, and not like Britain trying to counter the emergence of free Turkey? These are arguments that diplomats are supposed to make to neutralise the leader of a major Muslim nation.

But civilised discourse, at home and abroad, begins at the top. Indias diplomats will adjust quickly once they know that the powers that be are willing to cut them the slack to engage and convert critics abroad, not sharply retort and alienate. Ironically, US diplomats are facing a similar dilemma as Twitter-addicted @realDonaldTrump is normally way ahead of the state department in crossing swords and smashing past policy positions. Thus, India can look forward to two days of unpredictable fun and games as Typhoon Trump hits India.
HOLLYWOOD, Md.

(February 13, 2020)By a narrow vote of 4-to-3 the St. Mary's County Planning Commission denied the concept site plan for a 7-11 that was proposed to be built across from Leonardtown Middle School at the intersection of Route 5 and Route 244 at its Feb. 10 meeting.It was the third meeting in which residents continued to protest the project, saying it would create traffic problems at an already stressed intersection as well as bring in problems with increased crime.One board member said they believed the project would exacerbate traffic safety."Whatever deflects from the safety of this project is under our purview," said Joe Van Kirk, who doubted the applicant's claim that the traffic leaving the 7-11 would only use Route 5.Martin Siebert, board member, said he sympathized with concerns from the neighbors, but a denial by the planning commission would almost certainly be reversed."We can all say 'no,'" Siebert said. "But it would be reversed like that by the appeals board, and if not by them, then by the Circuit Court."I'm just not seeing a viable reason to say no to this that will stick."Board member William "BJ" Hall said he was concerned the impact of proliferating gas stations would have; two other 7-11s are proposed, one in Callaway and the other across from Great Mills High School where a gas station once stood.He said that intersection did not have much traffic anyway."How many empty gas stations are we going to have because of this?" Hall asked. "I don't think we should approve things that will cause empty buildings to sit around our county."It bothers me, I'm just a regular citizen, just to hear that my voice doesn't matter when a business wants to come into my community."Board member Joseph Fazekas said the planning commission should consider the spirit of the law versus the letter of the law."The applicant did very good at meeting all the letters of the law," Fazekas said. "But if it's something the community doesn't want it doesn't have to go through."We are supposed to listen to the citizens; does it meet the intention of the county's comprehensive plan."The applicant's representative's, Bohler Engineering, had a rebuttal earlier in the hearing Monday night before the vote, arguing that the concept site plan could be amended to address concerns and that the convenience store and gas station combination would have a fence around it as a buffer from the neighborhood.Board Chair Howard Thompson said since the Town of Leonardtown was working to expand its water and sewer plant capacity, that, coupled with the site's commercial zoning, meant a much larger development could be built on that corner."They're [the applicant] using a small portion of this land," Thompson said. "There could be a lot more on that site."Later that meeting the board approved the concept site plan for the 7-11 in Lexington Park and moved the hearing for the Callaway project to March.
Clinically diagnosed cases, which have been treated as confirmed cases from Feb. 13, have driven the surge in the number of new confirmed cases in China's Hubei Province, center of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. The inclusion of the cases, however, boosts the confidence of frontline medical workers in their battle against the epidemic.



Any suspected cases with pneumonia-related CT scan results are counted as clinically diagnosed cases, according to the latest version of the diagnosis and treatment scheme released by the National Health Commission.

The province reported 14,840 new confirmed cases including 13,332 clinically diagnosed cases on Wednesday, the highest daily increases so far, but the diagnosis criteria revision will give those who have been clinically diagnosed the timely standard treatment of confirmed cases to further improve their treatment success rate, said the provincial health commission.

Early diagnosis and early treatment are essential to contain the spread of infection, said Wu Jing, head nurse of Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan, one of the major designated hospitals to receive patients infected with COVID-19.

"The revision adds more workload, but we are relieved to see fewer suspected patients not given timely treatment in hospitals," said Wu.

Some infected patients tested negative up to four times before the test showed positive results, which indicates the possibility of errors in nucleic acid tests, said Chen Erzhen who leads a Shanghai medical team to assist Hubei.

He added that the current supply of nucleic acid tests can barely meet the demand, so it is key to include the clinically diagnosed cases.

"The production standards of diagnostic kits vary from different producers and the differences might negatively affect the test results, Chen said, adding that manual errors during the intense amount of tests can also be minimized.

The diagnosis criteria revision ensures more complete data of the infected cases, which is especially important in Wuhan, the epidemic center, Chen said.

As one of the medical workers on the front line, the government's determination to publish the data, albeit a surge in confirmed cases, boosts our confidence, Chen added.

Hubei Province reported 2,420 new confirmed cases and 139 new deaths on Friday. The figure for new cases included 1,138 clinically diagnosed cases, while the new deaths also included 34 who were clinically diagnosed.

The number of daily new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection outside Hubei has been dropping for 10 consecutive days, from nearly 900 on Feb. 3 to below 300 on Feb. 13
Public Service Association members are taking a stand against a proposal that would see 16 people at HealthCare NZ in Tauranga lose their jobs.

Around 30 people protesting outside the HCNZ office in Mount Maunganui this afternoon could be heard loudly chanting "health care, don't care" and waving placards to passing cars.

The companys nationwide proposal will disestablish 200 jobs around New Zealand, centralising services in Auckland.

Workers affected by the proposal are home support coordinators, admin staff and service managers.

PSA delegate Donna Wealleans says this move has the potential to "put people at risk."

"The coordinators here look after support workers and vulnerable people in their homes - the support they give both other staff and clients is huge," says Donna.

"There are vulnerable clients that have been speaking to the coordinators for a long time - they are not going to have that anymore.

"They are going to ring a call centre in Auckland - and that person in Auckland won't know how to calm the client, they aren't going to know their history or their family.

"Someone in Auckland who doesn't know their client isn't going to be able to do the job. All that connection between the clients and the workers is going to be lost."

The protest takes place around the arrival of the company chief executive, who is visiting to discuss job cuts with staff.

Healthcare NZ provides home care and support to vulnerable people for multiple DHBs and manages community houses that provide 24-hour support for people with disabilities.

PSA organiser Chris Ollington says the proposal to disestablish jobs is a "bad idea all around."

"They are going to try and get a call centre in Auckland to do the great job that people are doing in the Tauranga offices. It's going to be really hard."

Donna says HealthCare NZ staff in Tauranga are saddened by the news.

"The staff are worried about their clients, and about putting food on the table. They have been in their profession for years, and now they are just being kicked aside."

The PSA is the largest democratic union in New Zealand representing the interests of members working in the health sector, government departments, local government, crown agencies, state-owned enterprises and community and government-funded agencies.
In 1995, I taught a non-credit night course in Russian church history for what would become the Russian-American Christian University (RACU). It was a memorable experience on multiple counts.

The class was held in rented space on the old campus of the Patrice Lumumba Peoples Friendship University, where a larger-than-life bust of the schools namesake Congolese communist martyr was on display in the lobby. Outside my classroom windows were the walls of the Donskoi Monastery, where the Bolsheviks imprisoned Russian Orthodox Patriarch Tikhon until his death in 1925. I team-taught in a stimulating partnership with a friend, Orthodox journalist and future priest Yakov Krotov. And I was teaching unusually attentive students as eager to learn as any I have ever encountered.

For a few short years, less than two decades (1996-2011), an American-style Christian liberal arts university sought to plant seeds in Moscow, where the soil would grow increasingly rocky and thorny. Explanations for RACUs demise are easy to come by. They include an evangelical constituency limited in size and financial wherewithal, economic instability (including the 1998 ruble crisis and the 2008-09 recession), a political order devolving from pseudo-democracy to authoritarianism, deteriorating Russian-American relations, growing xenophobic nationalism, and a declining pool of college-age youth.

Above all, RACU could not overcome increasingly crippling state restrictions on private higher education and the lack of an established rule of law, which fueled (and was fueled by) pervasive corruption. Though the school was predominantly evangelical, it made earnest efforts to develop positive relations with the Russian Orthodox Church, efforts that were successful with some hierarchs but less so in the immediate neighborhood of its new building, which barely opened before pressures on all sides forced its closure and sale.

Fighting to Survive

Taking into account the overwhelming odds against RACU, a key question comes to mind: How did the school manage to survive as long as 17 years and produce ten graduating classes? Part of the explanation for its endurance lies in the enthusiastic support it received from elements of the U.S. Christian college network, as well as generous contributions from evangelical donors on and off its board. (Full disclosure: I was a member of that board.) But the chief reason for RACUs resilience was the competence and character of its founding president, John Bernbaum, who writes about his experience in Opening the Red Door: The Inside Story of Russias First Christian Liberal Arts University.

Bernbaums preparation for the post included a Ph.D. in European history, work in the U.S. State Department, decades of teaching and administrative experience with the Washington-based Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, and a gift for networking and donor development. Just as critical to the enterprise were Bernbaums abiding sense of Gods leading and a seemingly inexhaustible reservoir of energy, optimism, fortitude, and perseverance.

In the context of global Christianity, RACU was part of a rapid, multi-continent expansion of faith-based higher education over the past half-centurya phenomenon ably documented in the 2014 volume Christian Higher Education: A Global Reconnaissance. Compared to Asian and African newcomers, RACUs imprint was quite modest, at least quantitatively. With a student body that never exceeded 200, it was dwarfed, for example, by the 3,500 students of South Koreas Handong Global University (founded one year before RACU) or the 10,000 students of Nigerias Bowen University (founded in 2002).

So why write an entire book on a school with such a limited lifespan and a quite modest enrollment? For one, the saga of RACUs hard-fought, short-lived existence bears telling because it played out in Russia, a nation that rightly commands the worlds attention, for good or ill. In addition, RACUs promise and plight serves as a cautionary tale demonstrating the obstacles confronting any institution struggling to prevail in an environment of widespread corruption, economic uncertainty, and the arbitrary exercise of power.

Article continues below

Bernbaums account features constant combat with corruption and bribery. Refusing to grease palms meant protracted, energy-sapping delays in obtaining an educational license, accreditation, and construction permits, to mention just the most obvious hurdles in Moscows bureaucratic mazes. RACU gave witness to its ethical integrity through a persistent refusal to engage in the commonplace bribery that marked Russian higher education. The school never traded precious admission spots for favors. It never doctored test scores, final grades, or transcripts. And it never sold diplomas, although one enterprising fraudster did advertise a bogus RACU diploma for the equivalent of $500.

To date, it appears that RACU is one of only two Protestant higher education programs to have obtained Russian state accreditation (along with Zaokski Adventist University), a remarkable achievement given the partiality the state affords the Orthodox Church. Unfortunately, in 2009 the Ministry of Education abruptly changed a critical requirement for accreditation, ruling that doctorates issued by American universities were no longer valid in calculating the number of RACU faculty with higher degrees. This left the school with an albatross it could never shake.

Risk and Reward

Throughout its history, Russia has exhibited a love-hate relationship with the West, repeatedly alternating between periods of slavish imitation of Western ways and xenophobic rejection of all things foreign. The clash of Westernizers and Slavophiles in the 19th century is but one of many examples of this phenomenon.

RACU was born during the fleeting ascendency of pro-Western, reform-minded, Yeltsin-era higher-education administrators. They were soon eclipsed by officials unsympathetic to private institutions, Protestants, and liberal-arts education. As a result, RACUs higher-education modelwhich stressed faith-based character formation and the creative stimulus of the liberal artshas little purchase in Russia today. But that could well change if the country, in a post-Putin era, tamps down on nationalistic fervor and once again welcomes the influence of educational models from abroad. In its short existence, RACUs students came to appreciate the marketability of their new English-language and computer-science skills, but they also valued the schools spiritual stress on personal integrity, cross-cultural sensitivity, and lives lived for others. At some future date, the success of RACUs graduates could build momentum for a renewed experiment in a Christian liberal-arts education.

RACUs unsuccessful fight for long-term survival also serves as a case study for any institution determined to pursue a Christian mission in an unpredictable environment. To what extent should risk management inform decision-making? Was it prudent to invest so much time, effort, and money in a Christian university planted where the rule of law is lacking? Was it hopelessly naive on the part of Bernbaum, his board, and his donors to paddle against the current? Certainly in rational, practical terms the odds against RACU were daunting. So to what extent are Christians to base their kingdom work upon rational, practical calculations?

Article continues below

For over a decade, I held a joint faculty-administrative appointment at a Christian college whose chief financial officer advised against short-term support for RACU, even as other Christian colleges with far smaller endowments proved willing to pitch in. I was told that the idea of a Christian college in Russia was too risky a venture. The irony is that this same American college never would have come into existence had its founder exercised a similar measure of caution and risk-aversion. To be sure, any Christian giving of consequence should involve the head and the heart alike, as Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert argued so eloquently in their book When Helping Hurts. And its no surprise that a financial officer, looking at all the relevant factors, would advise against investing in something as improbable as RACU. On the other hand, should the schools stakeholders be faulted for taking risks to fund a Christian liberal-arts university in such a strategic location?

God willing, the day may come when forces of hope, liberty, and freedom of conscience regain ascendance in Russia. And in that day, something like the Russian-American Christian University, which performed so ably in its brief life, might flourish the way its founders intended.

Mark R. Elliott is editor emeritus of the East-West Church and Ministry Report, www.eastwestreport.org.
Mystery shrouds the



death of three relatives of a ruling TRS MLA as their highly decomposed bodies were found inside a car in a canal near here on Monday, weeks after they went missing.

It was a chance finding as the car surfaced when the sluice gates of the Kakatiya canal were closed to search for a woman after the two-wheeler she was riding pillion with her husband fell into the water body on Sunday night, police said.

While the man was rescued, the woman could not be traced, prompting officials to stop the water flow on Monday morning when they found her body and also the car.

The bodies of Peddapalli MLA Dasari Manohar Reddy's sister, her husband and daughter were taken out after breaking open the locked doors of the car, they said.

The three had been missing since they left here for Hyderabad on January 27.

Police said investigations were on to find out the cause of death of the three and how the car landed in the canal, located about four kms from here.

Incidentally, the only son of the MLA's sister had died in a road accident about two years ago.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India is one of the few countries whose actions are compliant with the Paris Agreement goal of keeping rise in temperature to below two degree Celsius, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday.

Addressing COP13 delegates in Gandhinagar via video conferencing from Delhi, Modi said India has been championing climate action based on values of conservation, sustainable lifestyle and green development model. He also said that India is working to conserve migratory birds.

India has prepared a national action plan to conserve migratory birds along the Central Asia flyway, he said.

We are ensuring that development happens without harming the environment, he added.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Mr. Trump did suggest he would talk to Mr. Duterte, and he should. Mr. Trumps presidency has seen a further erosion of the U.S. position in Asia, to Beijings advantage. Thats partly due to the aggressive moves made by the regime of Xi Jinping, but also to Mr. Trumps penchant for quarreling with key allies, such as South Korea, on spurious financial grounds. The president ought to understand that preserving the U.S. presence in nations such as the Philippines is not just a matter of dollars and cents.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 17, 2020 17:30 694 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2064fee0a 1 National fallen-tree,victims,crowdfunding,Yogyakarta,motorcycle,traffic-light,sleman Free

A man from Bantul, Yogyakarta, has started a crowdfunding campaign to help pay for the medical expenses of his wife who suffered multiple fractures after a 10-meter-tall tree fell on her while she was eight months pregnant.

Endi Yogananta and his wife, Israni Silvia, both 26, stopped at a traffic light on Jl. Wates, Gamping, Sleman, on Feb. 5 at around 10:30 p.m., when the tree fell without warning, weather conditions were fine at time. Five other people, including an 8-year-old, who suffered minor injuries, were also injured in the incident.

Endi only suffered bruises on his legs, but Israni suffered severe injuries and was rushed to hospital where she was treated for abdominal and pelvic injuries. At the hospital, doctors recommended an immediate caesarean section, but unfortunately, the baby died hours after birth.

I will fail as a responsible husband if I dont sell everything I have for the sake of my wife and my late child, Endi wrote on his Twitter account on Feb. 10. I dont demand a lot of things. I just want relevant institutions and agencies not to be negligent.

As of Monday afternoon, Endi had raised around Rp 109 million (US$7,900) from a total of Rp 130 million needed for Isranis hospital treatment on crowdfunding platform KitaBisa.

Endi has been trying to seek a response from the local administration. However, up until Monday, he and his wife had not received any compensation from authorities for the incident that, he said, had ruined his dream of starting a little family.

The Sleman Social Agency wanted to provide compensation of a maximum of Rp 20 million for the cost of the ICU, but it later withdrew the offer because my wife and I were identified as Yogyakarta City residents on our IDs. The deputy regent of Sleman did pay us a visit and offered some personal compensation but did not discuss what happened to me and my wife that day any further, he said.

Endi added that he demanded that relevant agencies pay more attention to the condition of old trees along the roadsides. He hopes there will be no more victims experiencing such tragic incidents.

Relevant institutions and agencies need to be more sensitive to this matter because there are lots of big, old trees in Yogyakarta. [During the incident the other day], there was no rain, no strong winds, yet the tree suddenly fell, Endi said. (syk)
The University of Pennsylvanias Lia Thomas competes in a swim meet against Dartmouth and Yale on Saturday. (Kylie Cooper)

After undergoing hormone replacement therapy, Thomas has posted fast times for the University of Pennsylvania's women's team, sparking debates from the starting blocks to online message boards to cable news networks.
The Florida Attorney General's Office approved a $2 million settlement claim for a man who was wrongfully convicted in 1976.

On January 23, the Florida Department of Legal Affairs denied the request on the grounds that new evidence and the subsequent exoneration did not amount to "actual innocence."



But that ruling was overturned, with the explanation that the DLA overstepped its responsibilities in denying the claim in the first place, CBS News reported.



In March 2019, Hubert Myers and his uncle Clifford Williams were exonerated for the murder of Jeanette Williams and the attempted murder of her girlfriend, Nina Marshall. There was no physical evidence tying either man to the crime, but Marshall identified them as the shooters. They were both sentenced to life in prison, and the two men spent 43 years behind bars.



Provided claims are approved, Florida provides a minimum of $50,000 in compensation for every year a person is wrongfully imprisoned, with a maximum of $2 million. Williams was not eligible to receive compensation because he had previously been convicted of attempted arson and attempted burglary.
(Bloomberg) -- Sign up for Next China, a weekly email on where the nation stands now and where it's going next.

China is considering delaying its most high-profile annual political meeting for the first time in decades, as the government attempts to contain an outbreak of a deadly new strain of coronavirus.

The Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress will meet Feb. 24 to consider a delay of the annual meeting of the full parliament planned to convene March 5, the official Xinhua News Agency said Monday. The Standing Committee will also consider measures to curb practices that may have contributed to the deadly strain of virus jump to humans, including a ban on the wildlife trade and the consumption of wild game.

Some 3,000 members of Chinas rubber-stamp parliament, the National Peoples Congress, were expected to convene in Beijing for about two weeks of meetings attended by President Xi Jinping and other top leaders. The annual political pageant also includes meetings by the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference, an advisory body made up of around 2,000 representatives from companies, ethnic minorities, cultural organizations and other groups.

While the decision was widely expected, it represented an acknowledgment by the Communist Party that the health crisis that began in the central province of Hubei had disrupted basic mechanisms of government. China has held its so-called Two Sessions in March every year since 1985, when then-paramount leader Deng Xiaoping formalized the legislative calendar as part of his reforms after Mao Zedongs turbulent rule.

Zang Tiewei, spokesperson for the NPCs legislative affairs commission, was cited as saying the bodys deputies were needed back home, among which a third are local officials. In order to ensure that peoples attention is focused on the prevention and control of the epidemic and that peoples lives and health are given top priority, the chairmans council, after careful assessment, considered it necessary to postpone, Zang said, according to Xinhua.

Story continues

High Risk

China unveils its annual economic targets, defense spending projections and other key policy decisions during the NPC meetings. The party has also used the occasion to announce major policy changes and personnel reshuffles, like Xis 2018 decision to scrap term limits, which paved the way for him to rule indefinitely.

This year the NPC had been expected to deliberate on a draft Civil Code, consisting of sections on property, contracts, personality rights, marriage and family, inheritance and torts. Xinhua also said the Standing Committee would continue to deliberate proposals for appointments and removals, without elaborating -- hinting that further personnel reshuffles could be underway despite the cancellation.

Officials faced the risk that some attendees could unintentionally transmit a virus that has already sickened more than 70,000 and killed almost 1,800 in China. And gathering political leaders at great expense in the capital while many Chinese remain cooped at home could also prompt public criticism.

What You Need to Know About the Spreading Coronavirus: QuickTake

The municipal government of Beijing has instituted rules requiring 14-day self-quarantines for new arrivals in the capital, meaning deputies wouldve had to arrive by this week to attend the meeting without a special exception.

Xi has ordered all-out efforts to contain the crisis, which has already proved more deadly than the SARS epidemic that killed almost 800 people across Asia 17 years ago and led to widespread criticism of Chinas response. Beijing has taken unprecedented steps to slow the latest outbreak, including banning travel from the hardest-hit areas in central China.

On Feb. 13, China abruptly replaced the top leaders of Hubei and its capital Wuhan. Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong was named to replace Jiang Chaoliang as provincial party secretary, in a rare political shakeup.

A flurry of municipal legislatures across China had delayed their annual meetings in recent weeks, including the cities of Jinan, Qingdao, Wenzhou and Zhengzhou. The provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan also postponed their legislative meetings.

Though its a rare move, in reality the possible delay of the legislature meeting wouldnt have much tangible impact on legislative work, said Yang Dong, a law professor at Renmin University in Beijing. The main focus of this years NPC meeting is to vote on the long-expected Civil Code. But other than that, there are no other urgent issues like major personnel reshuffles that need to be addressed.

(Updates with NPC comment in fifth paragraph. A previous version of this story corrected the time in March that the NPC has been regularly held.)

--With assistance from Peter Martin and Jon Herskovitz.

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Yinan Zhao in Beijing at yzhao300@bloomberg.net;Dandan Li in Beijing at dli395@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Karen Leigh

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.
China's ambassador to Australia has labelled the government's ban on Huawei's involvement in the rollout of next-generation 5G networks discriminatory and politically motivated, warning it remains a "thorny issue" in relations between Beijing and Canberra.

Ambassador Cheng Jingye's fresh criticism of Australia's 5G policy comes amid a diplomatic dispute between intelligence partners Britain and Australia stemming from the former's decision to allow the Chinese technology giant into its networks.

Chinese ambassador Cheng Jingye: "It is discrimination against a Chinese company." Credit:AAP

On Monday, Mr Cheng said Australia's ban was "politically motivated" amid a global campaign against Huawei, led by the United States.

"It is discrimination against a Chinese company. At the same time, it doesn't serve the best interests of Australian companies and consumers," he told Sky News. "And it has become a sore point, or thorny issue, in bilateral relations as it damages mutual trust between the two sides."
Pound Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate Drops

Posted by Adam Solomon on 11 Jan, 2022

The Pound Canadian Dollar exchange rate has dipped today, with the Pound (GBP) subdued ahead of key US data and a strong Canadian Dollar (CAD) off the back of rising oil prices. At time of writing the GBP/CAD exchange rate is at around $1.7158, which is roughly -0.2% down from this mornings opening figures. Pound (GBP) Dips amid Subdued Market Mood and Profit Taking The Pound (GBP) has dropped this afternoon following significant gains against its rivals this morning, with Sterling hitting a 23 month high against the Euro....

 Pound Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate Drops
Customers of the German online bank N26 say they feel "outraged" and "betrayed" by the firm's decision to leave the U.K.

Berlin-based N26 announced last week that it would no longer be able to operate in the country as it won't have the appropriate license to do so after Brexit. The start-up will be closing all U.K. accounts on Apr. 15.

The firm made its U.K. foray in October 2018, over two years after the U.K. referendum on its EU membership and six months before Brexit was initially planned.

Miguel Frias Mosquea, an N26 customer based in London, told CNBC he felt "outraged" N26 had blamed its U.K. departure on Brexit: "It's fake news."

"Surely they need an excuse for investors and blame it on Brexit, not on mismanagement or lack of knowledge on how to tackle the U.K. market," the 33-year-old said. "It's better to pretend it's not their own failure."

Another, Ian Cook, said he felt "disappointed" by N26's U.K. closure, saying he was a fan of the firm's offering, having started using it in July 2019.

"They are still my only bankers so I haven't used any other banks," Cook, who is based in the English county of West Midlands, said. "I prefer N26 over other banks because of the 'extras' that come with the accounts."

Cook, 62, said he also felt "betrayed" as N26 "never gave any indication that the U.K. leaving the EU would make trading difficult for them." He added: "I don't believe Brexit was to blame."
Government has accused the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) of extreme recklessness in negotiations of oil contracts and power contracts, as well as mismanaging the energy sector.

This, government said, is suffocating the country, over-burdening national budget and adversely affecting the pace of national development.

Reacting to a press conference by the NDC on the state of the energy sector, Dr Mohammed Adam Amin, a Deputy Minister of Energy, said the NDC has no moral grounding to speak on Ghana's energy sector after such abysmal failure to manage the sector.

Theirs was a period of deal-making instead of strategy-driven solutions, he added.

He said the NDC almost collapsed the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) and Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST).

According to him, in January 2017 when the NDC handed over power, the Bulk Oil Storage and Transport Company Limited (BOST) owed $624 million to suppliers, Bulk Oil Distribution Companies (BDCs) and related parties in respect of crude oil imports for processing at TOR, as well as refined products which got lost from BOST tanks.

He explained that the NPP government has settled $567 million, saying as at February 2020, the outstanding amount to settle to clear the books now stands at $57 million.

Dr Amin said an audit of BOST's accounts showed that between 2013 and 2016, there was a significant rise in the net losses by the company, with the highest net loss of GH569 million recorded in 2016. 70% reduction in losses in 2018

He noted that the 2018 management account showed a 70% reduction in losses from the previous year and a further 41% reduction in the loss level.

This steady decline in the loss level of the company, from 2017 to 2019, shows that during the year 2020, the company will likely make a profit. BOST under the NPP government is in a better position, he said.

Dr Amin said BOST continued to pursue its objectives, including holding strategic reserves of petroleum products, and that other private depots also held sufficient stocks, which together would provide enough buffer for product supply.

He said the country had a reserve of about three weeks of petrol, four weeks of diesel, eight weeks of aviation fuel and a week of Liquefied Petroleum Gas. 2M barrels of crude for broken-down TOR

On TOR, the Deputy Energy Minister said the two million barrels of crude oil referred to by the NDC was not refined at the end of 2016 because the plants were not operational.

According to him, under the stewardship of the NPP government, TOR undertook a shutdown maintenance which enabled the facility to refine the two million barrels of crude in 2017.

Touching on the incentives provided to Aker Energy, Dr Amin said: We should understand that project economics can be enhanced with incentives when market conditions adversely affect the prospects of profitability, and the NDC knows this very well.

The decision to incentivise the project was further informed by the imminent threat of declining crude oil production and its potential effect on our economy.

He said the NPP government renegotiated Ghana's free carried interest from 10% to 15% and local participation from 2.5% to 5%.

He noted that the oil production profile of Ghana showed that the contributions of the three producing fields would peak and reach plateau levels of approximately 230,000 bbls per day this year up to 2023, after which it would begin to decline if new fields were not brought online.

He said the government had recently launched a new strategy for the upstream oil and gas sector anchored on aggressive exploration and the attraction of companies with a track record.

This has become necessary because the value of oil may decline in the future as a result of climate change and declining funding for fossil fuel projects, Dr Amin said.

It is, therefore, imperative that our strategy to provide incentive is aimed at exploiting as many potential reserves as we find to maximise benefits to the nation while oil is still valuable.

The Quad Energy, a consortium of old local Ghanaian companies, who all qualify to operate in the oil and gas industry qualified by law to participate in an oil block.

Dr Amin said the government had proven to be better managers of the oil and gas sector by renegotiating the domestic gas price from $8.8 per mmBtu to $6.08 per mmBtu that would have been lower if Sankofa gas price was less expensive.

He announced that government has commenced an initiative called the Energy Sector Recovery (ESR) programme to ensure all debts in the sector are paid within the next five years.

He explained that the government had managed the sector better, and with the ESR, the state would recover its debts for a solid and financially healthy energy sector.

Dr Amin stated that the NDC's solution to dumsor was to sign several unwanted power contracts, some of which today have imposed serious financial burden on the state due to excess capacity payments.

In 2018, the cost of excess power generation capacity was an estimated $320 million in capacity charges.

As a result of new power plants commissioned in 2019, the excess generation capacity increased the capacity charge costs to $620 million annually.

Power contracts are signed on take-or-pay basis, which means that the cost of power has to be paid whether the power is used or not. This is what has given rise to the excess power payments, he added.

He explained that under the current Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) methodology for electricity, capacity charges for excess capacity generation are not included, compelling government to find money to finance part of this.

Dr Amin stated that all the Petroleum Agreements that are producing crude oil in Ghana were signed by the Kufuor government.

According to him, out of the 13 agreements signed by the NDC between 2013 and 2016, the only companies that have met their minimum obligations are Eni Ghana Exploration and Production Ltd and Springfield Exploration and Production (SEP) Limited.

---citinewsroom
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:

With his knowledge of history, law and politics, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev vanquished Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani MP Hikmet Babaoglu told Trend.

Babaoglu said that on Feb. 15, panel discussions were held in connection with the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the Munich Security Conference with the participation of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan, prime minister of Armenia, the aggressor country.

Such an open discussion on the settlement of the problem was held for the first time, and the attention of all global information resources was focused precisely on these panel discussions, said the MP.

The Azerbaijani president, demonstrating the undeniable fairness of his position, his brilliant knowledge of history, law and political discussion, logically, witty and in a resourceful manner vanquished the prime minister of the aggressor country, Babaoglu noted. Once again, the world learned that Nagorno Karabakh is the Azerbaijani land, and will forever remain as such. During these discussions, the Azerbaijani president also demonstrated deep knowledge in the field of ethnography and toponymy, skillfully using them to open the eyes of the world community to the realities of Azerbaijan.

The political analyst noted that every Azerbaijani can sincerely be proud of the President, who possesses, among other skills, outstanding qualities of a politician and diplomat.

The prime minister of the aggressor country of Armenia, who looked miserable, was facing the head of our state who was confident in himself and in the support of his people, demanding the restoration of violated justice and respect for humiliated international law, said Babaoglu. It is obvious that during the discussions, both from the point of view of history and international law, President Ilham Aliyev managed to convince everyone that Nagorno-Karabakh surely belongs to Azerbaijan.

Two statements by President Ilham Aliyev inflicted stunning blows on Pashinyan and his patrons, the political analyst added. The head of state said that the Armenian people have already exercised their right to self-determination, and they already have an Armenian state. President Ilham Aliyev advised the Armenians to find another place on the planet for the second 'self-determination'. Secondly, the head of state stressed that Armenia wants to preserve the status quo, and thinks that it will be able to keep Azerbaijani territories under occupation forever. President Ilham Aliyev resolutely stated that this wont happen. It was the message of the Azerbaijani president not only to Armenia, but to the whole world that we will free our occupied lands and restore our territorial integrity.

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.
A s Storm Dennis kept most of us couch-bound and covered in blankets over the weekend, we couldn't help but long for warmer days.

If you're in need of some sun ASAP, we've listed our favourite mild climate locales to jet off to immediately.

Golden Bay, New Zealand

February marks the height of the New Zealand summer  temperatures hover around 30C, afternoon swims in warm seas are an everyday occurrence and, with Kiwi kids back at school, it becomes a prime adult playground.

Golden Bay, the often neglected area at the top western corner of the South Island, offers enough golden sand beaches to live up to its moniker, with crystalline waters to match. When youve finished exploring the arty town of Takaka, and dining at coveted favourite The Mussel Inn, head to nearby Totaranui for the regions most beautiful beach (a few days camping here will leave you more relaxed and rested than any trip to the Maldives).

Sicily, Italy

Cutting a solitary figure off the coast of Italy, the Mediterraneans largest island is a treasure trove of delights. The historic sites, such as Agrigentos Concordia temple and Selinuntes columns, are considerably less tourist-filled in the winter months, where temperatures still reach an admirable 18C, and beaches are near-empty.

Foodies will discover a haven outside of the regular tourist haunts. Noto is home to Cafe Sicilia and the famous almond granita with brioche buns, and you can find the best seafood on the island in Taormina. Try Osteria RossoDiVino for anchovy tempura and the trio of fish tartare in a candlelit setting.

Riviera Nayarit, Mexico

Mexico is just about to enter its sweet spot: the winter high season is coming to an end, humidity levels are low and temperatures rarely dip below 30C.

For something a bit different, forget tourist hotspots such as Tulum and Holbox and head west to the Pacific. Riviera Nayarits coastline is dotted with luxe resorts  W Punta de Mita, for example, is a jungle-meets-beach paradise  and the area is a favourite of the Kardashians (should that be appealing).
Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday said Australia would evacuate more than 200 of its citizens onboard a coronavirus-stricken cruise ship being held under quarantine in the Japanese port of Yokohama.

Mr Morrison said the passengers would depart on Wednesday and will be taken to Australias tropical north, where they will be required to be quarantined for another 14 days.

The Diamond Princess Cruise ship, owned by Carnival Corp, has been quarantined since arriving in Yokohama on February 3, after a man who disembarked in Hong Kong, before it travelled to Japan, was diagnosed with the virus.

More than 350 passengers onboard the Diamond Princess have tested positive for coronavirus, including 24 Australians.

Morrison told reporters in Melbourne that for those more than 200 Australians, who will be returning to Australia, we are going to have to require a further 14-day quarantine period to be put in place on their return to Darwin.

He also said space on the Qantas Airways plane will be provided for an unspecified number of New Zealand citizens on the cruise ship.

He added that those passengers would be transferred to New Zealand when they arrive in Darwin.

Despite passengers spending two weeks confined to their cabins, some of which were windowless, Australian health officials said a further quarantine period was necessary.

Brendan Murphy, Australias Chief Medical Officer said given there has been recent cases, we cannot be absolutely sure that any of the currently well people on the ship, who are coming home on Wednesday, are not carrying the virus.

On Sunday, the U.S. evacuated about 400 citizens from the Diamond Princess, while Canada, Italy, South Korea and Hong Kong have also announced plans to repatriate passengers.

(Reuters/NAN)
India will send a consignment of medical supplies on a relief flight to Wuhan city later this week to support China in combating the deadly coronavirus outbreak in the country, Indian Embassy in China said on Monday.

The death toll from COVID-19 outbreak in China has climbed to 1,770 after 105 more people died, mostly in the worst-hit Hubei province, officials said on Monday.

"GoI will send a consignment of medical supplies on a relief flight to Wuhan later this week to support China to fight the COVID-19 epidemic. On its return, the flight will have limited capacity to take on board Indians wishing to return to India from Wuhan/Hubei," the embassy tweeted.

The National Health Commission said 2,048 new cases of the virus have been confirmed, taking the total number of COVID-19 infected cases to 70,548, the state-run Xinhua agency reported.

China has said that it needed medical masks, gloves and suits especially for the medical staff attending the virus affected patients. Masks also have become scarce in China in view of the nationwide demand in the last three weeks.

Hubei and its capital Wuhan have become the epicentre of the virus and most of the fatalities in China have been reported from the province.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
He is reprising his role as Dr Ian Malcolm for the third Jurassic World installment, as well as hosting his very own docu-series on the streaming platform Disney+.

But family man Jeff Goldblum proved that there is no schedule too busy for his wife Emilie and their two sons Charlie, four, and River, two, as they walked hand-in-hand in Beverly Hills on Sunday.

The star and his familial gang were joined by his sister Pamela for some Chinese cuisine at acclaimed restaurant Xi'an.

Family night: Jeff Goldblum was spotted out in Beverly Hills on Sunday evening with his wife Emilie and their two sons Charlie (right) and River (left)

Goldblum embodied his 'cool dad' reputation as he stepped out in a fitted leather jacket layered over a white graphic tee and paired with black skinny jeans.

The actor accessorized in typical Goldblum fashion with his notable glasses frames and black velvet fedora.

Wife Emilie Livingston appeared visibly makeup free as she kept a close eye on the couple's two children while making their way back to their vehicle.

The 37-year-old retired gymnast showed off her trim and toned physique in a pair of black fitted trousers styled with a modern puff sleeved sweater.

Fashion forward: Goldblum remained true to his 'cool dad' persona as he stepped out in a leather jacket and black skinny jeans

Bonding: The couple and their two children were joined at the restaurant by Goldblum's sister Pamela.

Her lengthy auburn locks were pulled up into a high ponytail.

The Goldblum boys were taking clear fashion inspiration from their famous father.

Youngest son River donned a familiar black hat, black knit cardigan, and medium wash denim jeans.

While their eldest son Charlie veered on the lighter side in a marled beige sweater and faded grey jeans.

Darling duo: Jeff Goldblum and his wife Emilie attended the star-studded Vanity Fair after party in Beverly Hills on February 9 following the Oscars

Goldblum and his sister Pamela were assigned cargo duty, as they carried the family's leftovers in hand.

Jeff wed his beloved Emilie back in 2014, having previously been married to Thelma and Louise star Geena Davis in 1987 and actress Patricia Gaul in 1980.

The Jurassic Park alum recently enjoyed a more extravagant evening out with his dancer wife during Oscar weekend when they hit up the highly coveted award show's Vanity Fair after party.

After the star-studded party, Goldblum took to his Instagram page to remark on the 'enjoyable' time he had with Emilie.

He will be back: Last year, it was confirmed that Goldblum would, once again, reprise his role as Dr. Ian Malcolm for the third Jurassic World installment

There he i is! Goldbloom's character made a small cameo in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom back in 2018

'What an enjoyable night at the wonderful @vanityfair Oscar party! A chance to fall even more deeply in love with my wife (if thats possible!), catch up with old friends, form new connections, and to celebrate our global community,' he captioned.

In conjunction with his thoughtful words, the actor shared a slew of snapshots of the couple from their bout during the evening's famous step-and-repeat.

Last year, it was announced that Jeff would reprise his role as Dr. Ian Malcolm, once more, for the the third Jurassic World installment.

It will be an all-star reunion as original trilogy castmates Laura Dern and Sam Neill join Goldblum in the upcoming feature that will continue to star newbies Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard.

The World According to Jeff Goldblum: The Disney+ series takes an in-depth look at beloved cultural phenomenons 'through the prism of Jeff Goldblum'

Variety: The show's first season , which aired its season finale on January 24, delved face first into beloved, but divisive topics, such as sneakers, jewelry, tattoos, and ice cream

The 67-year-old actor has been incredibly busy hosting his own gig for Disney's very own streaming platform, Disney+.

The World According to Jeff Goldblum takes an in-depth look at widely known, but unexplored cultural phenomenons 'through the prism of Jeff Goldblum.'

The show's first season, which aired its season finale on January 24, delved face first into beloved, but divisive topics, such as sneakers, jewelry, tattoos, and ice cream.

On January 17, Variety reported that the Goldblum docu-series would be renewed by Disney for a second season consisting of 10 episodes.
A former couple who already have significant criminal records for sexually abusing children have been jailed for offending against a 12-year-old Perth girl in the 1980s.

Douglass Stephan Withnell, 68, and his ex-wife Bethany Jayne Gilmore, 66, were found guilty of having carnal knowledge of the girl. He was also convicted of indecently dealing with her.

Withnell was sentenced in the WA District Court on Monday to three years in prison, while Gilmore was sentenced to 16 months behind bars.

The now 43-year-old victim, who cannot be named, cried as she testified during the trial.

Douglass Stephan Withnell, 68, and his ex-wife Bethany Jayne Gilmore, 66, were found guilty of having carnal knowledge of the girl, he was also convicted of indecently dealing with her (stock image)

She said she was taken to a dark bedroom where Withnell raped her on a bed, as Gilmore held her hand and repeatedly told her: 'If it hurts, squeeze my hand.'

Withnell also inappropriately touched the victim during a separate incident in a bathroom.

Justice Joseph McGrath described the offending as depraved and premeditated.

The former couple were previously convicted of similar sexual abuse and the court heard totality was a factor in sentencing.

Justice McGrath accepted Gilmore was an 'aider' to her dominant partner, but said she was not acting under the threat of violence.

'You did what you did because you chose to do so, ultimately,' he said.

Justice McGrath acknowledged the mother-of-five had offered to plead guilty to one charge and had written a letter to the court saying she was ashamed, but he said she had limited remorse.

Withnell had not demonstrated any remorse or empathy, he said.

The court heard Withnell's health problems include mobility issues, emphysema and a mild form of leukaemia.

Gilmore also has some health issues including a back injury, and hearing and sight impairments.

Her lawyer had urged for a suspended sentence, but Justice McGrath said the offence was too serious.

Both offenders will be eligible for parole after serving half their respective terms.
Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source!
A woman in north Kerala who filed a rape case against a Catholic priest two months ago, on Monday alleged that there were serious attempts to sabotage the case and accused the police of recording her statements in most unprofessional manner in the presence of undertrials and others at the police station.

The 45-year-old woman who is a housewife, had filed a complaint against Father Manoj Jacob Plakootam of Thamarassery diocese on December 4 last year alleging that he had raped her on June 15, 2017 at her rented home. She said she had complained to the diocese but she was advised not to reveal it to anyone. She said she later went abroad with her husband and filed a complaint last December on her return.

In Chevayur (Kozhikkode district) police station they recorded my statement in a shabby manner. Many people were around and they repeatedly asked the same question to embarrass me. Some undertrials were also there. I was in tears while narrating my plight but it seems they were enjoying it, she told a local television channel.

She said some of them indirectly told her it was not good to pursue such cases against powerful people.

The church let me down badly and now police are also toeing the same line. I really feel there is collusion between the two. The accused was sent abroad for studies deliberately. I have suffered a lot and I will pursue this case come what may, she said adding she faced enough intimidation and threats.

At the time of the alleged crime, Father Plakootam was the vicar of the Nitya Sahaya Matha church in Chevayur.

When contacted, diocese spokesman Father Mathew Kolaparambil said the church had stripped him of all positions after the complaint surfaced.

Church authorities are co-operating fully with the police and he did not want to comment about the case, he said.

The accused who has been absconding has moved a bail plea in the Kerala High Court through his counsel. The police officer investigating the case said the priest was booked under section 376 of the Indian Penal Code and efforts were on to trace him.

Two years ago a senior bishop was also embroiled in a similar case. In 2018 Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mullakal was arrested by the state police in a rape case filed by the nun of the same diocese. Later he was removed from the post. As the trial was about to begin, he filed a discharge petition last month claiming to be innocent.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
We need to contact Irish Water as a matter of urgency, said Cllr Sean McGowan in relation to replacing the trunk water main between Gorvagh and Gortfadda which has had numerous bursts over the past year, with four in the last couple of weeks in Gortfadda alone.

Cllr McGowan said: this is causing considerable disruption and annoyance to homeowners and businesses alike, not to mention the huge damage to the road surface.

A reply to Cllr McGowans motion from the Head of Finance and Water Services stated: We have identified this section of old asbestos cement trunk main along the R201 from Gorvagh to Gortfadda as a priority for replacement under Irish Waters network portfolio programme.

We had hoped that this trunk main would be approved for completion under the network portfolio in 2020.

Unfortunately none of these have been approved and we cannot say Irish Water will provide the funding to upgrade them.

There are significant lengths of old asbestos cement trunk mains in the south Leitrim regional water supply scheme all of which are well over 40 years old and in need of replacement.

In the meantime our staff under the SLA will carry out emergency repairs as required to maintain water supplies and minimise disruption to customers.

Carrick-on-Shannon District Engineer Darragh O'Boyle added: There are no planned works for that water main from the plans I have seen from Irish Water.

Cllr Enda Stenson referred to the situation as an emergency adding; there is no sense spending money on that road and then having to dig it up again.

Cllr McGowan agreed that immediate action is needed saying: I think we need to contact Irish Water as a matter of urgency.

Cllr Des Guckian voiced the opinion that this is not an isolated incident.

Water mains in Leitrim were put down in a hurry 20, 30 and 40 years ago and since then the roads have been widened and pipes have burst as a result of the heavy vehicles.

It is an ongoing issue everywhere and needs to be highlighted.
Women army officers on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court order directing the Centre to grant them permanent commission, saying it will help uplift women across the country and not just in the armed forces.

IMAGE: BJP MP and noted lawyer Meenakshi Lekhi flashes victory sign along with some of the Short Service Commission women officers outside the Supreme Court in New Delhi. Photograph: Ravi Choudhary/PTI Photo

Talking to reporters outside the court premises after the SC order, a woman officer, who was accompanied by some other women colleagues from the army, said whoever qualifies for the job should be given the opportunity to command.

The SC order, which has to be implemented within three months, will uplift women across the country and just those in the Indian Army, she said.

"Commanding cannot be done right away. It needs training. So give them training and whoever fits the benchmark, should be given the opportunity. As per the Supreme Court ruling, the order will be applied on all serving women officers," the officer said.

Advocate Meenakshi Lekhi, who appeared for women officers, said the apex court judgment has given equal rights to the women officers as their male counterparts.

She said a long-pending right has been given to women officers through this order.

"The sky is virtually the limit," Lekhi said, adding the top court has also made some observations on how the army authorities have been "misleading" the court on the issue.

The top court termed "disturbing" the Centre's argument of physiological limitations and social norms for denying women officers command posts and said there will not be any absolute bar on giving them command postings.

It also said women officers in the past have brought laurels to the country and a change of mindset is required on the part of the government to put an end to gender bias in the armed forces.

The top court said despite there being no stay on a 2010 Delhi high court verdict allowing grant of permanent commission to women officers, the Centre has over past one decade shown scant regard in implementing the directive.

It said engagement of women officers in the army has been an evolutionary process and the Union of India should have acted in accordance with the Delhi high court judgment when there was no stay on it.
Posted by Jeremy on at 05:05 AM CST

With the international toy fairs in London and Nuremberg having already taken place, the word is starting to trickle out. From past experience we know that LEGO is good at keeping their set development under wraps. For the most of the year the shroud of secrecy is pulled down tightly so it's only when rumours start circulating right after London and Nuremberg toy fairs that speculation becomes something more solid.Using the notion that building LEGO helps to relieve stress in adults to deflect from the fact that LEGO have finally recognised that they have largely neglected the adult market, a new subtheme of displayable and ornatehelmets - much like the 0.45 scaled helmets that Riddell (1986 to 2007) and Master Replicas (2002 to 2004) produced - will make an appearance in April.Unlike the one-piece wonders of yesteryear, the Stormtrooper (75276) and Boba Fett (75277) helmets will come as around 600 separate pieces that will need building. Marketed for the +18 LEGO fan, these will retail for an estimated $65. The question what stores will stock these, and in what section they will be found remains unanswered - surely going to a Walmart toy aisle defeats their purpose?Also expected to arrive in April is a buildable D-O. Believed to be along the lines of 75181 BB-8 , the nearly 3:1 scale replica that released in 2017, D-O is expected to be half the piece count which would keep this jittery droid to the same proportions.Additionally a fourth set is being linked to LEGO set inventory number 75274, and is expected to retail at $70. At this point this is the full spectrum of speculation on this suspected addition to the LEGOtheme.April will also see the build-up to- because LEGO are the true torch bearers of InternationalDay - with word of coming promotions and teases of the annual LEGO exclusive/direct-to-consumer set. Past sets have included 75144 Snowspeeder (2017), 75181 Y-Wing Starfighter (2018) and 75244 Tantive IV (2019) - and with fan attention being directed to TESB40 it's within the realm of possibility that LEGO will meet expectations. Collectors can also anticipate a polybag and an exclusive gift with purchase from LEGO branded/online stores. Sadly, because these will be LEGO branded store exclusives, none of this will be on show at New York Toy Fair next month so what set 75275 is what fans will get for the rumoured $200 price tag will remain unknown for some months.Typically the only sets on "public" show at New York Toy Fair are those that are already on shelves and those that are due for release in the second quarter of the year. So for those fan media sites, like Rebelscum, who attend New York Toy Fair the main focus is those unknown sets.Rumour has it that, on top of the annual Advent calendar set (75249), there will be sixsets coming out in the Summer. Making use of the vast and meticulously curated LEGO database known only as Brickset shows that there has been a downward trend in the number of second quarter sets, with nine coming out in 2017 and 2018, only seven at the same time in 2019 and six expected this Summer.With it being the first non-movie year since the beginning of the Sequel Trilogy andmovies release cycle in 2015, and a new season of theon Disney+ it's not susprising to hear rumours that LEGO will primarily focus on sets to complement the animated show. These are believed to include a Clone Trooper speeder (75280), Anakin's Jedi Starfighter (75281) and a droid tank (75283). These rumours also include approximate prices of $30, $30 and $40 respectively.It's not allthough, and three sets pulled from movie canon are being touted as part of the Summer release schedule. With it being the 40th anniversary ofthe Imperial AT-AT (75288) is believed to be making a comeback and, at around $150, will be the most expensive set of the Summer. Also expected is a new General Grievous starfighter (75286) for an estimated $80 and finally a set that is really stoking the rumour train's fire - the Night Buzzard ($70). Those that paid close attention towill have noted the Knights of Ren's conveyance trailing the Bestoon Legacy when it made way for Kijimi.An addition the BrickHeadz line will have a dual pack containing The Mandalorian and The Child (75317) out in August.For the most part this information has been gleaned from a number of publically available sources like Eurobricks and Hothbricks who have a track record for being reliable. While all of this sounds accurate and plausible it is still nothing more than conjecture and rumour until LEGO officially releases word. Stay tuned for our New York Toy Fair coverage, where the full and proper grand reveal will take place.
SPRINGFIELD  Illinois is the best state in the country when it comes to animal protection laws, according to the Animal Legal Defense Fund.

The groups annual study assessed the strengths and weaknesses of each states animal protection laws and ranked them accordingly. Kathleen Wood, staff attorney with the organization, said it was no surprise the state topped the list for the 12th straight year.

[Illinois] has the most comprehensive protections for all species of animals, Wood said. They also have really great psychological evaluation laws. It requires any juveniles or animal hoarders who are convicted to undergo a psychological evaluation and treatment.

The organization said Illinois also stands out because of its requirement that veterinarians report suspected animal cruelty. A number of states do allow for the reporting of incidents, though in Kentucky its actually prohibited.

Illinois is unique in that its laws are extremely comprehensive for all species of animals, Wood said. A lot of states have limited definitions of what even constitutes an animal. Some exclude fish or other types of animals.

A recent national trend has resulted in more than 30 states that now have laws addressing animals trapped in hot cars.

There are over 30 states now that have laws that allow either police or civilians to enter the car and remove the animal, Wood said. In Illinois, a police officer or first responder can enter the vehicle to get the animal out, but it doesnt give immunity for civilians to do that.

In spite of the states high marks, Wood said there is room to improve, specifically with what happens to an animal after an owner has been convicted.

In Illinois right now, its really up to the courts discretion whether the animal will be forfeited or returned to the owner, Wood said. And they also leave it up to the judge whether the person is going to get a possession ban, which means theyre prohibited from owning or possessing animals for a period of time. We would really like to see possession bans and forfeitures mandatory after somebody been convicted of animal cruelty.

After Illinois on the list comes Oregon, Colorado and Maine. Wood said there have been some significant improvements in just the past couple of years.

Over the past two years, 12 states have enacted or strengthened their possession ban laws, Wood said. One of the biggest trends this year dealt with animal fighting paraphernalia  criminalizing the possession of things like breaking sticks or gas that are used in animal fighting operations.

New Mexico, Iowa, and Mississippi hold the bottom three spots on the list. Wood said even those states have put better laws on the books, thanks in part to the work of the Animal Legal Defense Fund.

Over the last 14 years one of the biggest drives is just the number of felony animal cruelty laws that there are across the nation, Wood said. When we started this, there were only a handful of states that even had felony cruelty laws. Now all 50 states do.
By Trend





President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev once again exposed the lie by Armenia and by Pashinyan to the international community at the panel discussions on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as part of the Munich Security Conference, Azerbaijani MP Bakhtiyar Aliyev told Trend.

The MP noted that during the debates, President Ilham Aliyev once again brought to the attention of the international community that Nagorno Karabakh is an integral part of Azerbaijan and that Armenia pursues a policy of occupation and ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijan.

"President Ilham Aliyev emphasized that Armenia occupied 20 percent of the territory of Azerbaijan and carried out ethnic cleansing including the Khojaly genocide against peaceful Azerbaijanis in the occupied territories," Bakhtiyar Aliyev said.

President Ilham Aliyev reiterated Azerbaijan's firm position on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The head of state noted that the conflict should be resolved step by step within the framework of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijani MP noted that President Ilham Aliyev put Pashinyan in a hopeless situation.

"Pashinyan was so helpless that he tried to get out of the situation, referring to the lies of some journalist, but President Ilham Aliyev brought to the attention of the panel that what Pashinyan said was the invention of Armenian propagandists living in Russia, and this unsuccessful attempt of the Armenian prime minister was prevented. Pashinyan was so confused that he did not know what he was talking about; he made ridiculous statements referring to some fictional Armenian ruler who allegedly lived before our era. Pashinyan's words were met with laughter from the participants and the leading panel," Bakhtiyar Aliyev said.

The MP added that Pashinyan, trying to deny the UN Security Council resolutions regarding the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, once again proved that Armenia does not respect international law and is an occupying country.

"President Ilham Aliyev also prevented Pashinyan's attempts to misinterpret the [UN] resolutions. The head of state brought to the attention of the panel participants that the Armenian prime minister unsucessfullycomments on the true meaning of the UN Security Council resolutions," the MP said.

The Azerbaijani MP stressed that during the debates Pashinyan again showed his political incompetence and lack of professionalism.








OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has cancelled his planned trip to the Caribbean this week amid criticism over his governments handling of a series of anti-pipeline protests that have disrupted rail service in parts of Canada.

The Prime Ministers Office announced the cancellation Sunday evening, the night before Trudeau was scheduled to fly to Barbados where he was expected to pitch Caribbean leaders on why Canada should get a seat on the United Nations Security Council.

Following the governments ongoing efforts to address infrastructure disruptions across the country, the prime minister will convene the Incident Response Group tomorrow to discuss steps forward, a statement from the PMO reads.

Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne will represent Canada in Trudeaus place, clearing the way for the prime minister to handle the protests.

We will remain in close contact with other orders of government and partners, the statement reads. Our priority remains the safety and security of all Canadians and the swift resolution of this issue to restore service across the rail system in accordance with the law.

The cancellation followed criticism from Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer last week for running around Africa and Europe as protesters opposed to the Coastal GasLink pipeline project in British Columbia blockaded rail lines in B.C., Ontario and other parts of the country.

Scheer as well as various industry groups have called on the federal government to intervene and end the blockades, which they say are causing major damage to the economy. Trudeau has preached the importance of dialogue in reaching a peaceful conclusion to the standoff.

The blockades, which have caused cancellations to passenger and freight service, have been erected to protest the Coastal GasLink project in northern B.C., which is part of a $40-billion LNG Canada export project in Kitimat aimed at getting liquefied-natural gas to foreign markets.

The prime ministers visit to Barbados was to coincide with a gathering of leaders from across what is known as the Caribbean Community, or Caricom, which includes 15 countries as full members and five others as associate members.

Trudeau used similar summits in Ethiopia and Germany last week to make his pitch for a seat on the Security Council to a large cross-section of leaders from across Africa and Europe.

The prime minister had actually left the door open to cancelling his trip to Barbados when he was asked on Friday whether it was still wise to leave Canada when the anti-pipeline blockades were causing havoc with the countrys rail system and economy.

We have been fully engaged, fully seized with this as a government. I myself have been on direct phone calls with premiers like (B.C.) Premier (John) Horgan and my team, Trudeau said. As for next weeks schedule, right now the schedule still stands. But we will, of course, see.

Exactly what the cancellation means for Trudeaus Security Council aspirations will remain to be seen.

Canada would appear on the surface to have an edge over its chief competitors for a spot at the Security Council table, Norway and Ireland. Not only is Canada in the same hemisphere as the Caribbean, it has longstanding historical ties with the region.

Those ties include shared British and French colonial pasts and, more recently, the provision of millions of dollars in Canadian foreign assistance as Caribbean nations began to gain their independence in the 1960s.

Yet with successive federal governments shifting foreign aid toward the lowest-income countries over the past decade, most of the aid Canada was delivering to the Caribbean has dried up. And while free-trade talks with Caricom were launched in 2007, they have largely gone nowhere.

The result is that while some have previously describe Canadas ties with the Caribbean as a special relationship, University of Ottawa associate professor Stephen Baranyi said: Its a bit of a stretch to still call it a special relationship.

Canada, Norway and Ireland are vying for two seats available to Western European countries as well as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Israel. Members of the UN will vote in June, with the winners sitting for two-year terms.

Canada last sat on the Security Council in 2000, with Stephen Harpers Conservative government having lost a bid for a seat in 2010.

Trudeau has said he is seeking a seat for Canada on the powerful UN Security Council because it is where the worlds most pressing issues are debated.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2020.
Houston Police Department

Houston police canceled an Amber Alert for a 10-year-old boy who was allegedly taken by his mothers ex-girlfriend Sunday night.

Joshua Marin was found safe with the ex-girlfriend, identified by police as 30-year-old Nicole Harrison. The pair were found at a hotel on the city's west side Monday afternoon, police said.
: A Muslim couple, holding an



anti-CAA placard, got married at the venue of the ongoing protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act here on Monday.

The couple, Sumayya and Shahin Shah, who arrived at the protest venue at north Chennai, was welcomed by the people and their marriage was solemnised by an Imam.

The priest introduced the couple to the gathering and community elders blessed them. After a brief ceremony during which the tricolour fluttered in the background, the couple was showered with gifts.

Shah, along with Sumayya, held an anti-CAA placard and joined those raising slogans against the 'contentious' law. The placard read: "No CAA, NPR, NRC."



The newly weds have been actively taking part in the protest and decided to tie the knot at the venue, with elders agreeing to it.

The bride was clad in bright red saree with prominent zari works, while the bridegroom was dressed in maroon.

The protest has been on at Old Washermanpet in north Chennai from February 14, and been dubbed as "Chennai's Shaheen Bagh" in the social media.

A congested neighbourhood, Muslims form a sizeable chunk of the population here. Two streets serve as a protest venue and volunteers have put up a lengthy pandal to provide shade.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has told members of her government to "go have a cold shower" ahead of Monday's Labor caucus meeting, after a rebel MP spoke out about "overt bullying" within the party.

Ms Palaszczuk has encouraged disgruntled MPs to air grievances over Jackie Trad's investment property scandal when they meet in Brisbane ahead of the second sitting week of the year, rather than speaking with the media.

Awkward vibes between Minister Cameron Dick, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Jo-Ann Miller at a press conference on Monday morning. Credit:Darren England/AAP

In an interview with ABC Radio on Monday morning, maverick backbencher Jo-Ann Miller labelled Ms Trad a four-letter word.

Host Rebecca Levingston asked Ms Miller whether she thought the deputy premier had damaged the government's bid at re-election.
New Delhi, Feb 17 : The Supreme Court on Monday said it is troubling to see protesters blocking the road as it may set a bad precedent, and suggested that the protest may shift to an alternate venue.

The top court also appointed three interlocutors led by senior advocate Sanjay Hegde to talk to the Shaheen Bagh protestors regarding change in the protest site, and file report in court.

A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice K.M. Joseph, citing replication of protests involving blocking of public roads, said: "We are concerned, what will happen if people start hitting the streets and blocking the roads while protesting....it is a concern." The court suggested that the Delhi Police may also offer an alternative site to the protesters at Shaheen Bagh. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta contended before the court that protesters can't continue blocking roads on grounds of not getting an alternative site.

To this, the court replied: "It is fundamental right of people to protest and people can protest." Mehta also contended that the message that every institution has been kneeling and praying to the protesters should not go out.

"For some reasons, you have not gone there. If nothing works out, we will leave it to you," the bench told Mehta, who insisted that talks were held with welfare and market associations to lift restrictions on road.

The court also observed that the authorities should favourably consider this aspect of right to protest. The other two interlocutors on the matter are advocate Sadhna Ramachandran and former Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah.

The apex court observed that it is not saying that people have no right to protest against a law while the matter is pending in the top court, but the question is where to protest.

The apex court has scheduled next hearing on the matter on February 24.
A suicidal mother made repeated and desperate pleas to health services for help on the day she killed herself - leaving her family blaming failures in the system for her death.

Tammy Peters, 45, was at breaking point when she called Sutherland Hospital's mental health acute care team nine times last May, just three weeks after she had first been admitted there following a suicide attempt.

But her calls to the 24-7 hotline number went unanswered and - unable to get the help she desperately needed - she took her life hours later.

Ten months on, Ms Peters' grieving family are still demanding answers.

Sydney mother Tammy Peters (pictured) tried to get help before she took her own life

Her aunt Kelly Brennan also made attempts to get Ms Peters admitted to hospital after waking up to a frantic message from her niece that she needed help.

Ms Brennan rang Prince of Wales Hospital, where her niece had been discharged three days earlier after she had tried to take her life.

But she was told Ms Peters must instead go to her local hospital Sutherland, which wasn't answering her niece's calls.

Ms Brennan believes her niece would still be alive today had she been admitted to either hospital that fateful day.

'It would be easier to come to terms with Tammy's death if she had just given up,' she told the Sydney Morning Herald.

'But knowing that she didn't want to die  knowing she tried so hard to get help and didn't get it is just devastating.'

Ms Peters had called the 24-7 hotline for Sutherland Hospital's (pictured) mental health acute care team nine times but was unable to get through

Ms Peters left behind a teenage daughter Bree, 14, who described her mum as the life of the party with an generous and caring heart.

'My mum's final [pleas] for help on the day she ended her life were not answered by the hospitals and with that she felt like she had no other option,' Bree said.

Ms Peters had been in regular contact with mental health services in the months leading up to her death.

But her case was complicated by severe headaches she suffered after she undergoing electroconvulsive therapy at a private clinic.

It left clinicians treating Ms Peters confused as to whether her headaches should be treated as chronic pain or part of her psychiatric condition.

Ms Peters' heartbroken family are still seeking answers 10 months on (stock image)

According to an internal South East Sydney Local Health District investigation, Ms Peters told Sutherland Hospital she needed to be admitted for her headaches.

While the report stated 'denied thoughts of self-harm and suicidal ideation', Ms Brennan believes her niece would have told them she was suicidal and needed help.

South Eastern Sydney Local Health District expressed its deepest sympathies to Ms Peters' family.

'SESLHD is distressed about this incident and senior clinicians have been in contact with the family to discuss their concerns and to offer support,' a spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia.

'The tragic death of Ms Peters was the subject of an internal inquiry and the Districts Mental Health Service has reviewed processes to address opportunities that were identified for system improvement.'

For confidential support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, beyondblue on 1300 224 636 or Kids Help Line on 1800 551 800.
Ambassador Tran Duc Binh, head of the Vietnamese permanent mission to ASEAN, chaired the event, the first of its kind under Vietnams ASEAN Chairmanship Year 2020, aimed to review cooperation activities within the framework of the EAS.

He highlighted the theme of a Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN and priorities Vietnam has set as Chair to promote the development of the ASEAN Community and step up relations with ASEAN partners for peace and sustainable development, as well as increase the constructive role of ASEAN in the international community.

EAS countries welcomed this years theme and affirmed their support for Vietnams priorities, saying they are ready to back ASEAN and Vietnam in implementing these priorities along with initiatives and activities proposed by Vietnam.

The meeting acknowledged and appreciated the positive results of cooperation activities to implement decisions made by senior leaders since 2005 and the Manila action plan for 2018-2022 to prevent terrorism and cross-border crime, intensifying ASEAN connectivity, marine cooperation, and collaboration in information technology and communications, energy, the environment and natural disaster management.

Established in 2005, the EAS now has 18 member countries, including the 10 ASEAN states and their eight partners  Australia, China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Russia and the US.
A Protestant pastor whose church was targeted by gunmen in May 2019 in the town of Dablo, Burkina Faso (SESAME PICTURES)

Twenty-four people, including a church pastor, are killed in an attack on a church in Burkina Faso. Pope Francis has repeatedly prayed for the victims of violence in the West African nation and appealed for the promotion of dialogue.

By Linda Bordoni

Both Christians and Muslims were killed in an attack on Sunday in Burkina Fasos Yagha province.

24 people were killed, including a church pastor, at least 10 were injured, and three others were kidnapped during the raid after which the attackers set fire to a Protestant church.

Authorities said some 20 attackers separated men from women close to the church in Pansy town. They reportedly looted oil and rice from shops and forced the three youth they kidnapped to help transport it on their motorbikes.

The past week has seen an escalation of attacks against religious leaders in the area. Last week, also in Yagha province, a retired pastor was killed and aid workers reported the abduction of another pastor.

Pope Francis concern

During his Christmas Day message Pope Francis prayed for "comfort for those who are persecuted for their religious faith, especially missionaries and members of the faithful who have been kidnapped, and for the victims of attacks by extremist groups, particularly in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Nigeria".

His call for prayers for the victims came on the heels of a similar prayer and an appeal for the promotion of interreligious dialogue in Burkina Faso in November, following an attack during which scores of people were killed or injured.

Increasing violence against Christians

Extremist violence has dramatically escalated in the West African Nation, and analysts have voiced their concern that attacks against civilians, including against Christians, are increasing "at an alarming rate."

The director of Human Rights Watch West Africa said "Perpetrators use victims links to government or their faith to justify the killings, while others appear to be reprisal killings for killings by the government security forces."

Burkina Faso, bordering Mali and Niger, has seen frequent jihadist attacks which have left hundreds of people dead since the start of 2015 when Islamist extremist violence began to spread across the Sahel region.

Observers say more than 1,300 civilians were killed in targeted attacks last year in Burkina Faso, more than seven times in the previous year.

The insecurity has created a humanitarian crisis with over 760,000 internally displaced people.
A worker at a Pennsylvania hospital who refused to get a flu shot wasnt fired because of her religion, a federal appeals court has ruled.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit made that call after rejecting Niaja Browns claim that her African Holistic Health lifestyle constituted a religious belief.

Brown, a 15-year employee, was fired in 2017 after refusing to obey an order that all workers at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia be vaccinated against the flu. She had complied with that directive for the prior five years.

Brown, who represented herself in the legal battle, appealed to the circuit court after a U.S. Eastern District Court judge rejected her religious discrimination claim.

The circuit judges agreed she hadnt made even a basic case for religious discrimination.

Nothing in Brownscomplaint suggests that her opposition to the flu vaccine was religious, they found. At one point, she claimed that the vaccine was unnecessary for her because she scrupulously washed her hands, but any concern that the flu vaccine may do more harm than goodis a medical belief, not a religious one.

Therefore, the judges concluded, hospital officials didnt violate federal law which requires employers to make accommodations for their employees religious beliefs and practices, unless doing do would result in undue hardship to the employer.
Local pastor among 24 dead as armed men target Protestant church in Yagha province as religious attacks continue.

At least 24 people were killed after unidentified gunmen attacked a church in northern Burkina Faso, officials said on Monday, in the latest assault against places of worship in the West African nation.

The attack took place on Sunday during a weekly service at a Protestant church in the village of Pansi in Yagha, a volatile province near the border with Niger.

A group of armed terrorists attacked the peaceful local population after having identified them and separated them from non-residents, Colonel Salfo Kabore, the regional governor, told AFP news agency.

The provisional toll is 24 killed, including the pastor 18 wounded and individuals who were kidnapped, he added.

A resident of the nearby town of Sebba said Pansi villagers fled there for safety.

It hurt me when I saw the people, Sihanri Osangola Brigadie, the mayor of Boundore commune, told The Associated Press news agency after visiting victims in the hospital in Dori town, 180km (110 miles) from the attack.





The attackers looted oil and rice from shops and forced three youth they kidnapped to help transport it on their motorbikes, he said.

Alarming rate

Christians and churches have become frequent targets in the north of the country.

Last week, also in Yagha province, a retired pastor was killed and another pastor abducted by gunmen, according to an internal security report for aid workers.

Violence has dramatically escalated in the once-peaceful West African nation.

Analysts are concerned that attacks against civilians, including Christians, are increasing at an alarming rate.

Perpetrators use victims links to government or their faith to justify the killings, while others appear to be reprisal killings for killings by the government security forces, Corinne Dufka, West Africa director for Human Rights Watch, said.

More than 1,300 civilians were killed in targeted attacks last year in Burkina Faso, more than seven times the previous year, according to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, which collects and analyses conflict information.

The insecurity has created a humanitarian crisis with more than 760,000 people internally displaced, according to the government.
Were going to get back to living life, even if it kills us
But India had swiftly made it clear it was unimpressed with the conviction of Saeed, with government sources saying the efficacy of this remains to be seen, given that it comes just ahead of the FATFs plenary meeting in Paris. (Photo: ANI Representational )

New Delhi: With Pakistan trying to wriggle out of the greylist of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) by September this year, the global anti-terror watchdog has said that from February 16, more than 800 representatives from 205 countries and jurisdictions around the world, the IMF, UN, World Bank and other organisations, will arrive for FATF Week in Paris, France and that there will be six days of meetings that will focus on global action to follow the money that fuels crime and terrorism. It added that progress by Pakistan and other countries that present a risk to the financial system will be evaluated.

New Delhi is also keeping a close watch on developments and will be reminding the world about how Pakistan has failed to live up to its promises of ending support to terror groups. Pakistan is trying to wriggle out of the greylist latest by September this year with the help of its all-weather friend China and other nations like Malaysia and Turkey apart from certain Western nations whom it is trying to convince. The FATFs greylist comprises nations like Pakistan who are seen to have failed to fulfil their obligations to combat terror-financing. Earlier, Pakistan was in danger of falling into the FATFs blacklist but that appears extremely unlikely now.

In what was seen as a desperate attempt by Islamabad to convince the world about its intentions on tackling terror, a Pakistani anti-terrorism court had last week convicted Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed on terrorism-related charges and had sentenced him to five and a half years in prison after finding him guilty of having links with terrorist groups, raising funds for terrorism and having illegal property.

But India had swiftly made it clear it was unimpressed with the conviction of Saeed, with government sources saying the efficacy of this remains to be seen, given that it comes just ahead of the FATFs plenary meeting in Paris.

The United States had welcomed the conviction of Saeed.

India has been worried by reports that during the FATFs recently-concluded Asia/Pacific Group meeting at Beijing last month, several other global powers including the United States softened their positions on the issue of Pakistans compliance to anti-terror measures.

According to these reports, Islamabad had succeeded in convincing several countries that it will comply with its obligations. There is also speculation that the US is going soft on Pakistan as it needs Islamabads help to cut a deal with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Indian government sources had said last week, We have seen media reports that a court in Pakistan has sentenced UN designated and internationally proscribed terrorist Hafiz Saeed in a terror financing case. It is part of a long pending international obligation of Pakistan to put an end to support for terrorism. The decision has been made on the eve of FATF Plenary meeting, which has to be noted. Hence, the efficacy of this decision remains to be seen. It has to also be seen whether Pakistan would take action against other all terrorist entities and individuals operating from territories under its control, and bring perpetrators of cross border terrorist attacks, including in Mumbai and Pathankot to justice expeditiously.

It may be recalled that just last month, French diplomatic sources in New Delhi had said that France  the host of the forthcoming FATF plenary meet  is determined to continue combating money laundering and terror financing.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 17)  The Department of Health continues its efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) despite the apparent slowing down of confirmed cases.

Health Assistant Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire on Monday said 453 patients under investigation have tested negative for COVID-19, while 171 remain in hospitals after showing flu-like symptoms. Twenty-two PUIs are awaiting their test results.

She said local transmission remains possible. Philippines' three confirmed coronavirus cases are all Chinese nationals who arrived in the country from China.

"Kahit nakikita natin ngayon na medyo bumababa ang ating mga kaso, hindi po tayo dapat maging complacent. We should always be ready for that possibility na maaaring magkaroon tayo ng local transmission in the future," she said in a media briefing.

[Translation: Even though we see a decrease in the cases, we shouldn't be complacent. We should be ready for the possibility of a local transmission.]

The police and Health department's efforts to trace the contacts of the three cases continue, authorities said. Of the 280 contacts of the first two cases, 221 have completed the required 14-day home quarantine. 45 people remain admitted in hospitals, they said.

For the third case who went to Cebu City and Tagbilaran, Bohol, contact tracing is still ongoing, the health department added. DOH has only traced 255 out of Chinese woman's 740 contacts.

"We are working with the PNP-CIDG and concerned local government units to expedite our contact tracing for the 3rd confirmed case," the DOH said.. "DOH is keen on ensuring that all those who may have come in contact with this case be immediately assessed and facilitated."
VANCOUVER, B.C.JuicyAds announced today that the company's "JuicyAds Cares" initiative commitments have now surpassed the $100,000 mark.

The company's largest effort remains the support of entrepreneurs living in povertyan effort that spans across more than 70 countries. Following that is JuicyAds' ecological initiatives, currently dedicated to the planting of acres of trees to combat climate change.

"This is a huge milestone for JuicyAds," said Juicy Jay, CEO and founder of JuicyAds. "I'm very proud of our efforts to make a difference in the world greater than ourselves. It has taken many years to reach this goal and we are not stopping now."

The company was featured in an interview article by Intimate.io last year highlighting its efforts. Many years ago, before the effort was titled "JuicyAds Cares," it began with donations toward wildlife conservation and humanitarian aid.

Inside the industry, donations have been made to the Cupcake Girls and the company has purchased numerous charity auction items that benefited the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation. Most recently, the company signed on as a Crusader member of ASACP.org.

The self-described Sexy Advertising Network is an award-winning adult traffic service that specializes in banner ads and popunders. As of January 2020, the company is celebrating 14 years experience in the advertising business. JuicyAds offers fully managed campaigns led by industry veterans, and also provides an easy-to-use self-service platform at JuicyAds.com.
Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Censorship. Its everywhere.

Mainstream media daily silences opposition. Social media giants suppress content and suspend accounts at alarming rates. But the form of free speech suppression that goes largely unnoticed is very public. Were surrounded by it. Our roadways are adorned with billboards selling services, products and worldviews.

When it comes to abortion, outdoor advertising companies are increasingly promoting pro-abortion lies while banning pro-life truths.

Ten years ago, the organization my wife and I founded  The Radiance Foundation  was the first to launch public ad campaigns that confronted the leading killer in the black community. Abortion outnumbers the top fifteen causes of death combined yet is celebrated by the Left as healthcare. Our TooManyAborted.com billboard campaigns (Black Children Are An Endangered Species, Black and Beautiful, and Fatherhood Begins in the Womb) highlighted the fact that more black babies were being aborted than born alive by an industry birthed in eugenic racism and elitism. We highlighted sources of help (pregnancy centers, maternity homes, fatherhood mentoring programs) and exposed the unaltered DNA of Planned Parenthood. We caused a media firestorm. It was surreal. Pro-abortion activists tried, in vain, to tear down our billboards or have CBS Outdoor (now Outfront) remove them. They failed.

Then, the outdoor advertising companies became the activists.

In 2018, Outfront and ClearChannel refused to allow our latest WhatAbortionReallyIs.com messaging which included text-only billboards that individually stated: Abortion is Lost Fatherhood, Abortion is Regret, Abortion is Fake Health, Abortion is Systemic Racism and Abortion is Fake Feminism. Outfront Vice President, Patrick J. Smith, wrote in an email: These are not going to be approved. We find them to be in the nature of attack ads and to be unnecessarily provocative and insensitive.

These are the same folks that put up PETA billboards and pornographic strip club ads. But ok.

Our campaign was in response to Outfronts approved pro-abortion billboards aimed at the black community in Dallas declaring: Abortion is Self-Care.

In another Outfront billboard, featuring African-American abortionist Monica McLemore, pregnancy care centers were bogusly attacked for their abortion deception (aka medically accurate information about what abortion is and how it impacts mother, father and child).

In Cleveland, Lamar Advertising allowed Preterm  Ohios largest abortion business  to place 9 of 16 outrageous pro-abortion billboards in predominantly black neighborhoods. The abortion-peddling signs falsely claimed: Abortion is a family value, Abortion is sacred, Abortion is a blessing, Abortion is safer than childbirth and Abortion is necessary.

Necessary for whom? What vulnerable communities need is more life-affirming solutions, not death masquerading as healthcare. At the time of our campaign, though African-Americans made up only 13% of Ohios population, they comprised a hugely disproportionate 44% of the states abortions. Whites made up 78% of Ohios population yet comprised an unrepresentative 49% of the states abortions. Our grassroots Coalition For Life Cleveland was filled with advocates both black and white, Left and Right, and we opposed Preterms deception and heinous racial targeting. Despite allowing Preterm to make outlandish claims, Lamar banned nearly all of our evidence-based messages. Lamar corporate executive, Hal Kilshaw, told me that I couldnt prove that abortion was violence. I asked him if hed ever seen the images of actual abortions. Silence. I told him one of the most infamous abortionists-turned-prolife-advocates Dr. Bernard Nathanson, co-founder of NARAL, declared: All abortion is violence. Silence.

Kilshaw also told me that abortion cant really be racism because white women have abortions, too. Well, then lynching cant be considered racist either with that logic. Some white people were also tragically lynched. The same racist ideology  eugenics that fueled the KKK also spawned Planned Parenthood. Lothrop Stoddard, an Exalted Cyclops of the KKK, was an original board member of Planned Parenthood. But Lamar execs werent interested in facts; they chose to promote fatal fiction instead.

Just this past week in Buffalo, a coalition led by African-American pastors (NYPASTORSFORLIFE.ORG) held a press conference to talk about more billboard censorship. Lamar banned yet another pro-life message trying to raise awareness about abortions devastation of black lives: Abortion endangers us. The pastors want to sound the alarm in a state where black abortion rates are nearly five times higher than the majority population. New York, which passed the heinous and misnamed Reproductive Health Act (making abortion legal throughout all nine months), leads the nation in African-American abortion rates. All abortions are tragic, regardless of hue, but in Buffalo, 43% of black pregnancies are aborted compared to 14% of whites and 24% of Hispanics.

According to the liaison between the coalition and the billboard company, Lamar execs adamantly disapproved of the coalitions website which, in part, invoked personhood and compared abortion to slavery. Lamar said that drawing a connection between slavery and the abortion industrys targeting of the black community is offensive.

Let this sink in. White executives at Lamar want to dictate when and how black pastors talk about personhood.

They rejected the Abortion Endangers Us billboard, which features a beautiful black baby, because they wish not to draw an inference that there is a unique connection between abortion and the black community. Well. Welcome to Black History Month outdoor billboard companies! Fannie Lou Hamer called abortion genocide in the black community. Jesse Jackson, before he ran for President on the Democrat ticket and did a 180, was passionately pro-life and called abortion black genocide, too. The late Dr. Mildred Jefferson, the first black woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School, described abortion as genocide: I would guess that the abortionists have done more to get rid of generations and cripple others than all of the years of slavery and lynchings.

But these leading outdoor billboard companies seem to believe the truth must be banned. Promote abortion in the black community and you get approved. Challenge abortions impact in the black community and your message gets aborted.
By Arthur I. Cyr





Only the third impeachment trial of a president in our history.



These are the sort of words used by various media people to underscore and dramatize the alleged importance of the just concluded political performance in Washington, D.C. Delivered in solemn tones, the statement seems to carry great gravity and the weight of American history.



However, this is a misleading representation of our past  and our present. The impeachment and trials of Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump both took place quite recently in historical terms, over the past quarter century.



The first presidential impeachment and trial in 1868 involved President Andrew Johnson, Abraham Lincoln's successor. For a century thereafter, the experience was considered so terrible, so fraught with danger, and so discredited by the targeting of President Johnson that there was no desire for repetition.



Johnson, a Democrat from Tennessee, was selected as Republican Lincoln's running mate for the presidential campaign of 1864. He owned slaves, whom he freed in 1863, before slavery was formally fully abolished throughout the state. He was also committed to the preservation of the union.



Lincoln picked Johnson for political reasons, reflecting the realities of partisanship and geography. A year of some of the most brutal fighting of the terribly costly American Civil War lay ahead, but victory at last seemed a realistic possibility.



The president wanted a southerner on the ticket who could ease the way of reconstruction and reintegration of the southern states back into the nation. The two men ran on a National Union Party ticket rather than as Republicans.



Johnson had served as elected governor of Tennessee and in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was also military governor of the state after occupation by federal troops, and had additional solid military credentials.



Lincoln's assassination in early April 1865, shortly after the surrender of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, the principal Confederate force in the East, transformed the political environment. Even Lincoln would have been sorely challenged in the Civil War's aftermath, and Johnson quickly revealed his inadequacies for presidential leadership. Belligerent and inflexible, he soon became isolated politically and a target of radical Republicans in Congress.



The Tenure of Office Act passed in 1867 over Johnson's veto prevented the president from removing any officer of the government subject to Senate confirmation without the concurrence of that body. The president's attempt to remove Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, a radical Republican, resulted in impeachment. The law later was repealed.



The Senate vote to remove Johnson from office fell just one vote short of the two-thirds required. Republican Senator Edmund G. Ross of Kansas provided that vote, ending his political career. Johnson survived but with no chance of a second term. Fortunately, U.S. military occupation of the south continued.



In total, this impeachment represented a bitter and destructively divisive capstone to the most costly war in U.S. history, with approximately 600,000 dead over four years. Understandably, the collective lesson drawn by earlier generations of America was that impeachment was to be avoided if at all possible.



That was the situation for just over a century, until the grueling Watergate crisis of 1972-74 led to impeachment of President Richard Nixon, who resigned before any trial. The era also witnessed urban riots and violence, political assassinations, and the bitterly divisive Vietnam War.



During those years, public alienation grew, authority declined. This set the stage for a more casual, cynical view of impeaching a president.





Arthur I. Cyr (acyr@carthage.edu) is Clausen distinguished professor at Carthage College and author of "After the Cold War."


A member of Donald Trump's impeachment defence team has criticised the president, saying his support for attorney general William Barr's move to reduce a sentencing recommendation for Roger Stone "complicated things."

"I do think that the attorney general ... did send a strong message that when you have sensitive matters like a sentencing before a court where someone's liberty is at stake, it's important that the executive branch speak with one voice," Robert Ray said during a Sunday radio interview.

"I think that the president's tweets under the circumstances complicated things and ... are better left for a time that is not so sensitive," Mr Ray said.

He was referring to Mr Trump's tweets and comments last week in which he first floated the notion of the Justice Department backing down from a planned nine-year sentencing recommendation for Roger Stone, a longtime friend and adviser to his 2016 presidential campaign.

After firing off a tweet Monday morning calling the Justice Department's plans to seek a nearly decade-long sentence for Mr Stone "a horrible and very unfair situation" and a "miscarriage of justice," DOJ leaders just hours later announced they would seek a softer sentence.

Everyone Trump has fired or forced out Show all 13 1 /13 Everyone Trump has fired or forced out Everyone Trump has fired or forced out John Bolton Trump claimed to have fired Bolton, his national security adviser, while Bolton claimed he offered to resign. An anonymous White House source that Bolton's departure came as a result of the national security adviser working too independently of the president AFP/Getty Everyone Trump has fired or forced out Anthony Scaramucci Scaramucci lasted only six days in his role as Trump's communications director before being fired by John Kelly, the incoming chief of staff Getty Everyone Trump has fired or forced out Rick Perry Rick Perry announced his resignation just as he became embroiled in the president's impeachment scandal. The White House said Mr Perry was asked by Donald Trump to work with Rudy GIuliani in regards to Ukraine. AP Everyone Trump has fired or forced out Rex Tillerson Tillerson, Trump's first secretary of state, was fired after a series of clashes with the president over policy Getty Everyone Trump has fired or forced out James Mattis Mattis served as secretary of defense from the beginning of Trump's administration until retiring on 1 January 2019. However, the president later claimed that he had "essentially fired" Mattis Getty Everyone Trump has fired or forced out James Comey Comey was fired as director of the FBI early in Trump's presidency after serving in the role for four years prior. His dismissal is widely thought to have been related to the Russia investigation Getty Everyone Trump has fired or forced out Reince Priebus Priebus, Trump's first chief of staff, was forced out after six tumultuous months AFP/Getty Everyone Trump has fired or forced out David Shulkin Veterans affairs secretary Shulkin claims that he was fired, the White House claims that he resigned Getty Everyone Trump has fired or forced out John Kelly Kelly, Trump's second chief of staff, was forced out after 17 months in office. His departure was a confused affair though it is clear that Trump wanted Kelly out AFP/Getty Everyone Trump has fired or forced out Michael Flynn Flynn lasted 24 days as Trump's national security adviser before being fired for lying to the FBI Getty Everyone Trump has fired or forced out Lee Cisna Cisna served as director of citizen and immigration services between October 2017 and June 2019 before being asked to resign amid a major personnel change in the department of homeland security Everyone Trump has fired or forced out Madeline Westerhout Westerhout served as Trump's personal assistant after leaking private information about his family AFP/Getty Everyone Trump has fired or forced out Mira Ricardel Ricardel was forced out of her role as Deputy National Security Advisor after first lady Melania Trump publicly called for her to be fired

Democratic lawmakers and some legal experts warned Mr Trump's actions and words show that after his Senate acquittal, he is throwing around unprecedented amounts of presidential power.

"This doesn't mean that I do not have, as president, the legal right to do so, I do," Mr Trump wrote on Friday morning, "but I have so far chosen not to!"

Recommended Democrats should beware trying to distract Trump from the election

Four federal prosecutors resigned from the Stone case in protest. Since then, more than 1,000 former Justice Department officials have called on Mr Barr to step down over what they called his "unheard of" actions to lower the sentencing recommendation per Mr Trump's wishes.

Mr Barr contends he was surprised by the nine-year suggestion to a judge, and merely altered the recommendation to reflect what he believed was an internal DOJ agreement he had reached with subordinates.

"And I'm happy to say that, in fact," Mr Barr told ABC News last week, "the president has never asked me to do anything in a criminal case."
 Flash

The WHO highly appreciates the tremendous efforts China has made to contain the epidemic, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.



China protects not only its own people but also people from other countries in the world. The WHO sent experts to China not because China lacks capacity but to show the solidarity and cooperation, he said.

These important facts need to be understood by the world, and China's efforts and sacrifices deserve appreciation and gratitude from all countries, Tedros said.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday met with the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus here on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

Wang said when an epidemic occurs, rumors spread and cause panic, and there should be someone to be impartial and tell the truth.

As head of WHO, Mr. Director-General has treated the novel coronavirus epidemic with professionalism and scientific attitude, affirmed the effective measures which China has taken, and called for all parties to maintain confidence, resist rumors and strengthen cooperation. "We appreciate it," said Wang.

No epidemic is invincible, and this one is no exception. With the great efforts of the Chinese people, the prevention and control of epidemic is heading in a positive direction, Wang said.

China welcomes the visit of WHO expert team and is willing to work closely with the WHO to defeat the epidemic as soon as possible, not only safeguarding the lives and health of Chinese people, but also contributing to international public health cause, he noted.

Wang said he believed that the mutual trust and cooperation between China and the WHO will be further consolidated through the fight against this epidemic.

For his part, the WHO chief said epidemic knows no borders, and the international community must unite against this common enemy of mankind.

Tedros said he has called for all countries to unite and cooperate in the scientific approach and on the basis of factual evidence, instead of spreading fake news and stigma.

Given the misinformation about the novel coronavirus epidemic, WHO has communicated with some companies including Google to ensure that the public will get the authoritative information from the WHO, Tedros noted.

The WHO highly appreciates the tremendous efforts China has made to contain the epidemic, Tedros said.

He said China protects not only its own people but also people from other countries in the world. The WHO sent experts to China not because China lacks capacity but to show the solidarity and cooperation.

These important facts need to be understood by the world, and China's efforts and sacrifices deserve appreciation and gratitude from all countries, Tedros said.

The WHO will continue to uphold the truth, adhere to the principles, stand firmly with China and provide all possible help. WHO is confident that the epidemic will be overcome at an early date, he said.
A Delhi court on Monday issued a fresh death warrant for the four convicts of the Nirbhaya gangrape case. The new date issued by the Patiala Court for the hanging of Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta, and Mukesh Singh is March 3 at 6 am.

"I expect this to be the final verdict and have high hopes," said Nirbhaya's mother Asha Devi. Nirbhaya's father, Badrinath said, "It is a very good thing that people are happy and the whole country is happy. Now the hanging os definite. The guilty will be afraid now. Crime will stop only if punishment is metted out."

Nirbhaya's lawyers Seema Kushwaha said, "Where will the delayed tactics be adopted now when the court said that everything will be done in seven days. The lawyers are trying to mislead."

Earlier in the day, the court heard a plea seeking the issuance of fresh death warrants against all the convicts in the 2012 Delhi gangrape and murder case. Additional Sessions Judge Dharmendra Rana pronounced the order on a petition. Tihar Jail`s law officer handed over a status report to the court.

Special Public Prosecutor Rajiv Mohan apprised the court about the current status of the case and also stated that three out of four convicts have already exhausted their legal remedies. There is no petition pending in any court, Mohan said. He also mentioned that Delhi High Court had given seven-day time to the convicts and that period is over.

On February 14, the Supreme Court had dismissed Sharma`s petition. President Ram Nath Kovind had also rejected the mercy petitions of convicts Akshay Thakur and Mukesh Singh. The Delhi High Court on February 5 granted a week`s time to the four convicts to avail of all legal remedies available to them and said that the convicts cannot be hanged separately since they were convicted for the same crime.

A Delhi Court had issued a death warrant against the four convicts on January 7 and they were scheduled to be executed on January 22 at Tihar Jail. Later, the execution was suspended indefinitely by a Delhi court.

The case pertains to the gang-rape and brutalizing of a 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus on the night of December 16, 2012, by six people including a juvenile in Delhi. The woman had died at a Singapore hospital a few days later. One of the five adults accused, Ram Singh, had allegedly committed suicide in the Tihar Jail during the trial of the case.
Noida, Feb 17 : To further tap engineering talent in India, Microsoft on Monday announced the launch of its third India Development Centre (IDC) in Noida, after opening two such premier engineering and innovation hubs in Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

The IDC-NCR will open opportunities for thousands of engineers, said the company, with plans to expand to a full-fledged development centre similar to the other two facilities.

"We have built a strong engineering presence in India over the past two decades and we are excited to be expanding to Noida. Our deep commitment to the region will help us further Microsoft's mission to empower every individual and every organization on the planet to achieve more," said Kurt DelBene, Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Core Services Engineering and Operations, and the Chairman of the IDC Advisory Board.

The IDC-NCR will be home to Microsoft's engineering teams across various technology groups, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and research group, Cloud and enterprise group and experience and devices Group, along with core services engineering and operations.

It will also house "Mixer", Microsoft's live-streaming gaming platform team, thus becoming the first centre to host the gaming team outside the company headquarters in Redmond, Washington State.

"We are excited to tap into the engineering talent available in this part of the country to create a truly pioneering organization that will build innovative solutions for global impact," said Rajiv Kumar, Managing Director, Microsoft India Research & Development Pvt Ltd.

With this addition, the India Development Centre will have teams across all engineering divisions from Microsoft.

First set up in Hyderabad in 1998, the development centre drives Microsoft's strategy of globally shared development to build products and services.
Korat, Thailand  The day of horror started like any other Saturday for Tanatit, Tok, 43, a moto-taxi driver who works in front of Nakhon Ratchasimas Terminal 21 shopping centre.

He was sitting with a group of other riders  making light of another busy day  chatting, laughing between rides. The men could not have known they were about to witness a massacre.

He just walked up and started shooting. He killed two people right here, Tok told Al Jazeera, pointing to a street curb just metres away. He then walked inside and kept shooting. Everyone started running, he said.

Once the shooter entered the centre, Tok immediately began helping the wounded by carrying them away, trying to get them to safety before emergency responders arrived.

One was shot through both legs and hip. The other was shot through the shoulder and chest, he recalled of the wounded he tried to help.

The shooting

It was around 3pm Saturday, February 8, when Jakrapanth Thomma, 32, a sergeant and expert marksman in the Thai armed forces, began his rampage. He first shot and killed his commanding officer, Colonel Anantharot Krasae over a real estate deal gone bad. Then he raided an unprotected weapons bunker at a nearby army base before advancing to Terminal 21 where he began to shoot civilians indiscriminately.

The attack carried on through the night as Thomma went from floor to floor, executing anyone he found hiding in the centre. Finally, in the early hours of Sunday, authorities dispatched the countrys top team of special forces to clear the complex. After about 18 hours of carnage, Thomma was finally shot dead.

Many people are angry. But most citizens of Nakhon Ratchasima  also known as Korat  are quietly dealing with lingering trauma.

One week after the tragedy, the country is still grappling with what happened. Thommas motive is still opaque. And the nation is profoundly disturbed over the question of how a lone soldier went from violently carrying out a vendetta over a financial dispute to killing dozens of innocent civilians.

Some say Thomma is symptomatic of a military out of control  a product of a system that too often seems to encourage violence. Others say the root of the issue comes down to a deadly combination of unchecked mental health issues and access to firearms.

Trying our utmost

In response to the tragedy, Thailands Department of Mental Health (DMH) has dispatched teams to support victims, those who have lost loved ones and anyone who is affected by the event. Health experts agree that the shooting will have long-term effects on Thai society.

Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told Al Jazeera the government was doing everything possible to meet Korats needs.

Were trying our utmost to make sure all patients are taken care of with the highest level that we can. Regarding PTSD, as you can see, we have dispatched psychiatrists and a team to be here and to give consultations to all the people who came in. Were trying to console them, to let them feel that it has passed and they should come back to live their lives normally, he said.

Thailands public health minister said the government is doing everything it can to meet Korats needs [Supplied by memorial organisers/Al Jazeera]

He added the government was taking steps to protect its citizens in the future.

The government is trying to do whatever we can to make sure this will never happen again. And we wont blame anyone. We have to take the blame because we are the administrators. So, everyone in the government feels very sorry, said Anutin.

You could see that the prime minister visited all patients himself. He went to the funerals of the deceased himself. And we are under the process of approving subsidies for all the families of the deceased to make sure that survivors will continue to live a normal way.

Memorials across the country

Over the week, ceremonies were held throughout the kingdom. In Korat, 10,000 monks held prayer vigils for those who lost their lives. Last Thursday, Bangkok citizens also held a vigil in the capital. But many of those who attended the event were not afraid to publicly voice their thoughts on who they thought was responsible.

One of the organisers of the Bangkok event, Nuttaa Bow Mahattana, told Al Jazeera the shooting had left many divided on what caused the attack.

At first, it was shocking. Some responded with sadness, many with anger, Bow said of the shooting. Then after the media revealed the truth about its context and reasons that caused a person to turn violent  political agenda played a role in dividing opinions, she said.

Bow and other organisers submitted a request to parliament to investigate shady business dealings within the army, abuse of power and to inquire at how Thomma was able to raid an arms bunker with such ease.

Over the week ceremonies and vigils commemorating the victims were held throughout the kingdom [Caleb Quinley/Al Jazeera]

Profound gun culture

Although there has never been a mass shooting of this kind, Thailand has the second-highest rate of gun crimes in the region. The latest data from Gunpolicy.org says in 2016 there were 1,729 gun deaths in Thailand.

In 2015, just under 2,000. Only weeks before the Korat shooting, another gunman killed three people and injured four others in a jewellery heist. Last Wednesday morning, a teenage boy was accidentally shot and killed. Last Friday, a man opened fire at Bangkoks Chulalongkorn University  luckily no one was hurt.

It is no surprise that those who study gun-related crimes in the region say that Thailand has a serious problem with guns.

Michael Picard, the research director for GunPolicy.org of the University of Sydney and an expert on various firearm-related issues in Southeast Asia, told Al Jazeera the Korat shooting was the first of its kind in Thailand  noting the military could be negligent.

Whats unique about this shooting compared to other mass shootings around the world, as well as shootings in Thailand, is how deeply it emanates from the armed forces, Picard said.

Several failures on the part of the security establishment allowed for this incident, he explained, citing lax security over military firearms, extortionate dealings by senior-ranking officers with distant subordinates, and special access to personal firearms for security personnel.

Civilians are legally permitted to acquire and possess handguns and low-power rifles like shotguns and .22 rifles and ammunition. But the process of obtaining licensing is strict and only processed through the interior ministry.

Nevertheless, Thailand has a profound gun culture  in many ways reinforced by the government itself  that undercuts the effectiveness of its strict gun laws, he said.

On Saturday, scores of people attended a memorial event inside the shopping centre [Caleb Quinley/Al Jazeera]

Picard said guns are idolised as symbols of power, particularly because security personnel hold hegemony in Thai society. Despite tight gun laws, Thailand has a massive black market for firearms. Because of this, Picard said if someone really wanted a gun in Thai society, they are relatively easy to find.

Chutimas Suksai, an independent researcher examining violent crimes and gun use in Thailand, told Al Jazeera that it was unlikely Thailand would see more mass shootings like Korats.

I do not see that mass shootings of this scale will likely continue to happen in the future because the weapons the gunman used were military assault rifles, which are not readily available to the general public  If armouries are not modernised, mass shootings may happen in military bases with a potential to spill over to civilian areas.

On Saturday, back in Korat, scores of people attended a memorial event inside the shopping centre. Holding back tears, locals wrote notes on a wall of remembrance  honouring those who lost their lives.

Hooky, 44, a local musician who had just finished placing a sombre note on the memorial wall, told Al Jazeera, Everyone in Korat is coming together now. Because of this, we are finding strength to get better. People from Korat are strong. We will get through this.
Jobs in the digital age, and the skills and capabilities required to do them, are transforming at an unprecedented rate.

Understanding the needs of a changing world is Oakridge International School, which brings in unique opportunities for its students by giving them access to the latest thinking from the world's leading educators.

With an exclusive partnership with UNICEF, Oakridgers are encouraged and enabled to research, develop and debate challenges facing our society; directly impacting the Sustainable Development Goals outlined by the UN.

Benefitting from international visits as well as attending international workshops and seminars enables students to experience and understand global scenarios from a different cultural perspective.

Students also have the unique opportunity to address issues at the UN's High-Level Political Forum, resulting in real-world impact based on their learning.

Through collaboration with MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), students also benefit from an interdisciplinary approach to their educational programme.

Students are guided through complex combinations of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, maths), learn digital and transferable skills like collaboration, and enhance the problem solving and communication skills that young people will need in their future careers.

Students are inspired to create and build, through hands-on activities and challenges, guided by world-renowned tutors and expertise.

Enriching the academic curricula with internationally-recognised programs, students of Oakridge International Schools achieve exceptional grades, develop strong values and ambitions.

Oakridge is proud to be part of the Nord Anglia family of 66 premium international schools around the world.

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.)
Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release

SubCategory Select Sub-Category
President Rajapakses cabinet of ministers has approved a paper to transform Kahatagaha Graphite Lanka Limited (KGLL) into a Public Private Partnership (PPP) with a private investor.

Cabinet spokesman Bandula Gunawardena told the media on February 5 that Industry and Commerce Minister Wimal Weerawansa had submitted the plan and that his ministry is expected to call international tenders to find a partner to add value to Kahatagaha Graphite mines. Raw graphite is currently exported from the mine without any added value, Weerawansa told the cabinet.

While no other details about the cabinet paper have been made available, it is a first step towards the complete privatisation the mine, whose workers will face escalating management demands for increased production and job cuts to make the company profitable. It follows International Monetary Fund directives for privatisation and commercialisation of Sri Lankan state-owned enterprises.

The Rajapakse governments moves to transform the mine into a PPP operation follows last months three-day walkout and hunger strike protest involving its 130 workers. The state-owned mine currently produces about 6570 metric tons of graphite per month.

The mine strike, which began on January 21, was held in defiance of the two trade unions covering the mine workers, the Nidahas Sevaka Sangamaya and Jathika Sevaka Sangamaya, which are affiliated to Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and United National Party respectively. The SLFP union now backs Rajapakses Sri Lanka Podujana Peramun (SLPP)-led government.

Striking miners hunger strike and sit-down protest

The striking mine workers, who were demanding higher pay and better conditions, reluctantly ended the walkout after Industry and Commerce Minister Weerawansa promised a miserable 50-rupee increase in their daily wage and to meet other demands by the end of this month.

On January 25, Silumina, a government-owned Sunday newspaper, published an article about the strike headlined A simple discussion solves the deepest mines issue. The newspaper hailed the minister as a workers hero, took the side of the double-crossing the mine management and thanked the government.

The bogus story, which appears to have been planted by the ministry, falsely claimed that for the first time in history all of the workers demands had been granted. But instead of agreeing to all the workers demands, minister Weerawansa has, within weeks, initiated action to privatise the mine.

Government attempts to privatise the Kahatagaha graphite mine in 2016 were met with fierce resistance by the mine workers. In October that year, workers went on strike and held a hunger protest inside the mine for seven days.

Graphite miners occupy the Kahatagaha mine

The proposal to transform the mine into a PPP operation is part of the SLPP-led governments broader plans to privatise other state-owned corporations.

On February 10, Weerawansa told the media that all currently inactive state-owned-enterprises would be revived through PPPs plans. Such claims are false. PPPs are used to deflect workers rightly-held concerns about the job destruction and other socially retrogressive results of privatisation, while the largest private investors and the drive for profit determines all management decisions.

Weerawansa recently announced that Eastern Valaichchenai Paper Mills and North Saltern have been earmarked for their transformation into PPP operations. The Valaichchenai Paper Mills is currently being renovated by the military.

The state-owned Ceylon Ceramic Corporation factory at Oddusudan, in the war-ravaged northern Mullaithivu area, is to be turned into joint-venture operation with Samson Rajarata Tile Private Limited, which is owned by DSI, one of Sri Lankas largest family-owned conglomerates. According to Weerawansa, the Ceylon Ceramics Corporation would retain ownership of the Oddusudan factorys building and machinery but collaborate on production with Samson Rajarata Tile.

Cabinet has also approved to establish a PPP operation for the development of export value added products made from mineral sands extracted by Lanka Mineral Sands Limited.

The Sri Lankan ruling elite is anxious to transform the countrys dependence on the export of raw materials and transform these commodities into valued added products for the world market.

Last September 18, during a parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises, a government official revealed that although one metric ton of Kahatagaha graphite was sold on the global market for $US2,000, one kilogram of graphene, an extract from graphite, could be sold for $5,000. Graphene is used in the manufacture of batteries and for water purification, anti-corrosion paints and polymer composites.

Previous Sri Lankan government plans for the privatisation or commercialisation of state enterprises are now being carried forward by Rajapakses SLPP regime. All the rhetoric about reviving a national economy is a fraud and an attempt to cover up plans to transform the country into a profit- making haven for foreign investors.

In the lines with these plans, President Rajapakse has recently reactivated the Strategic Development Project Act, first introduced in 2008. It provides a staggering 25-year tax holiday for foreign investors. The government has also insisted that it would not subsidise unprofitable and debt-ridden state-owned corporations.

On February 7, the WSWS warned the Kahatagaha mine workers that the government was organising a well-prepared assault on the rising mass opposition of the Sri Lankan working class to its austerity measures.

The Kahatagaha graphite minerslike other workers coming forward to defend their social rightsconfront not just mine management but Colombos pro-investor policies, IMF-dictated austerity, the drive towards an authoritarian regime and, most importantly, the outmoded profit system, the WSWS wrote.

The Sri Lankan governments decision to transform the Kahatagaha mines has confirmed this warning. The fight by graphite miners and other state-sector workers to defend jobs and win better wages and conditions cannot be secured under capitalism but in the fight for workers control and socialist planning under a workers and peasants government.

For that workers need to build their own organisations, workers action committeesindependent of, and in a political struggle against, the trade unionsto fight their own interests and to coordinate their struggle among with other sections of the working class and on the basis of a socialist program.

The author also recommends:

Kahatagaha miners in Sri Lanka must fight for socialist policies

[7 February 2020]

Sri Lankan graphite miners speak to SEP campaigners

[9 August 2012]
Asking domestic steel makers to step up production in the aftermath of coronavirus outbreak, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday said India should target a larger global market share as the impact of the deadly virus will be felt on global steel industry for at least two to three years.

By the end of 2019-20, a strategy paper should be in place for at least 10 million tonnes (MT) of special steel at a cost of Rs 50,000 crore with 50,000 employment potential in the present scenario, Steel and Petroleum & Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said here.

At present, India is the second largest steel producer with an annual output of over 106 million tonne (MT) but lags way behind China that accounted for 928.3 MT of the alloy in 2018.

"When some markets in the globe face pressure, its positive reflection is felt in some other markets. This is an automatic (natural) law. India occupies number two slot in steel production. From capital goods to finished products - how can we derive benefit - we are holding talks with stakeholders," Pradhan said on the sidelines of 'Indian Steel: Fostering Steel Usage in Railways &Defence Sectors' organised by the Steel Ministry in association with CII.

Pradhan also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has offered a helping hand to China to fight the deadly virus.

He urged players, both large and small, including the startups to come forward for the production of special steel and check its import, saying it was a paradox that countries like Japan and Korea were exporting finished goods to India after adding value to raw material imported from India.

He said the global steel industry will remain affected by the impact of coronavirus for two to three years.

"India is a technologically competent country. There is lot of manpower, lot of domestic market, lot of raw material ... Synergising all these factors we have to be self-sufficient, we have to create a new model ... We have to produce good quality of special steel... We can also export," Pradhan said.

He said: "Ten MT special category steel which is imported can easily be manufactured here with Rs 50,000 crore capital spending. It will give direct and indirect emplyment to 50,000 people."



He said that though he was not opposed to imports but at least there should be a "zero import strategy" for Railways and Defence and a strategy paper in this regard should be finalised before the fiscal ends, the Minister said.

The coronavirus that emerged in central China at the end of last year has now killed nearly 1,800 people and spread around the world.

As of Monday, 70,548 people had been infected across China, the majority in and around Wuhan - the capital of Hubei province, where the outbreak was first reported.

Outside mainland China, there have been about 780 infections reported in nearly 30 locations.

Earlier addressing the event, Pradhan emphasised the Ministry of Steel's role as a bridge between the steel industry and the Railways and Defence sectors. He called for a strategic paper highlighting the specific long-term requirement of these sectors to form an action plan with the steel industry for domestic fulfilment of the requirement.

Pradhan mentioned that Japan and Korea which earlier used to import raw materials and then produce value added steel to export are experiencing rising cost of production. Hence, it is opportune time for the Indian industry and the Ministry to create an action plan for production of value-added steel for fulfilment of domestic demand and international demand going forward.

Speaking of imports, Pradhan emphasised the importance of Steel Import Monitoring System (SIMS) in identifying imports for end use sector and reiterated that this data will enable the domestic steel industry in creating an action plan to manufacture specific steel domestically.

Earlier, experts said that in the previous year, Indian Railways consumed 7 MT of steel and witnessed a 17 per cent increase as compared to the previous year.

Indian Railways' plans of decongestion through multi-tracking, high speed projects and concentrated focus on 58 super critical projects are expected to increase the demand at a higher pace. In addition, Dedicated Freight Corridor projects are expected to consume 17 MT of steel in the next five years.

The workshop also witnessed the signing of an MoU between Indian Railways and SAIL for domestic fulfilment of forged axels and wheels.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A chef of a catering company has his body temperature checked before his shift in Shijiazhuang, capital of north China's Hebei Province, Feb. 16, 2020. Eight catering companies in Shijiazhuang provide free meals for frontline medical workers and their family amid the battle against the novel coronavirus outbreak. (Photo by Liang Zidong/Xinhua)
Fried chicken at Elks

Wednesday Night Special at the Casper Elks Lodge is fried chicken with mashed potatoes, green beans and corn. All you can eat for $7, children 5 to 12 are $3, serving from 6 to 7 p.m. or until gone. Members, significant other and guest accompanied by a member. For more information, call 234-4839.

Friday night feed

Friday Night Feed this Friday at the Casper Elks Lodge is bacon-wrapped pork loins and fixins, starting at 6 p.m. Cost is $12 per person. No discount for children, one trip only. Members, significant other and guest accompanied by a member. For more information, call 234-4839.

New interim pastor at Grace Lutheran

Grace Lutheran Church would like to announce and introduce the new interim pastor to Casper. The church is thrilled to have Pastor Teri Hermsmeyer join us during our transition period and help us work toward calling a new pastor.

Pastor Teri was born in Columbus, Ohio but came to Casper from Arvada, Colorado. Teri married her husband, Norris in 1984 and has three grown children.

Teri graduated from LTSG and Ilaff School of Theology in Denver in May 2005. Teri trained for and worked as a chaplain in hospitals and nursing homes. Her first pastor call was in January 2009. Teri specializes in temporary shorter-term ministry because it works best for her and her husband. Teri can do ministry in the church while her husband, Norris, maintains his routine and comfort zone in Boulder where he has lived for 58 years.

Teri and her husband are both Rotarians, living a life of service through church and Rotary. Teri hopes to be involved in a Rotary Club while in Casper, as well as be involved with other pastors in the area.

Come introduce yourselves to Pastor Teri at weekly worship services at 10 a.m. on Sunday mornings or Wednesday nights, March 11 and 25 during Lent. Soup suppers begin at 6 p.m., and worship follows at 7 p.m.

Food bank match successful

All across Wyoming, thank you to all the generous donors in Wyoming who helped secure the $10,000 match from Powder River Energy Foundation for Wyoming Food Bank of the Rockies.

While one in eight people in Wyoming faces the difficult reality of not always knowing where theyll find their next meal, this match helped raise 80,224 meals by the morning of February 14.

Thank you, Powder River Energy Foundation and thank you, Wyoming.

New TaeKwon-Do classes start

The next session of TaeKwon-Do classes begins on Tuesday, February 25 for beginning and advanced students at the Casper Recreation Center. This Korean form of karate is for ages 8 and up (6 & 7 year olds allowed if accompanied by a participating adult).

Martial arts classes help increase endurance, flexibility, coordination and balance; tone and strengthen muscles; and enhance speed and agility. It also improves self-confidence, focus, self-discipline, and self-defense tactics.

Students receive instruction in classical TaeKwon-Do under the requirements of US and International TaeKwon-Do Federations (USTF) involving the skilled application of punches, kicks, blocks, and dodges with bare hands and feet.

Beginners meet twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday; the advanced class meets an additional day on Friday; all classes meet from 5:45-7:15 p.m. Registration fee for the 7 week session is $72 for Beginners, $100 for Advanced, with a $12 discount for those with Rec Center Passes. Instructor Gerald Sisco is a 7th Degree Black Belt and current USTF State Director and instructor Kerri McDill is a 4th Degree Black Belt.

For further information or to register, please call the Casper Recreation Center at 235-8383, stop by 1801 E. 4th St., or go online at www.activecasper.com.

Meat shoot March 6

Rocky Mountain Gun Club will be having a meat shoot Friday March 6, 2020 from 5 to 10 p.m., $5 a round. Bring your friends and family and have fun shooting clay targets and win some meat. Dress warm, you never know what the weather will be like. Ladies bring your friends and show off your skills. We are open every Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. for practice. The club is seven miles north of I-25 on Cole Creek Road. See you there, 235-8067.

Last drum circle Saturday

Casper Community Drum Circle will be ending. This Saturday will be the last performance at 10 a.m., at the First United Methodist Church downtown. We have been blessed for nine years of being a part of the music scene here in Casper. Thanks Casper for wonderful experiences and support. Come jam one last time.

Former Black Hawk at hockey extravaganza





Casper Amateur Hockey Club is pleased to announce Jeremy Roenick, former Chicago Blackhawk as this years guest speaker at the Hockey Extravaganza on March 21 at the Ramkota Hotel. Supper, live and silent auction, celebration of the seniors, and then of course, Jeremy Roenick. Tickets are $35 each and details about the event can be found at www.casperhockey.com. Please contact Diane at (307) 315-0188 for more information or to get your tickets.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has invited Bavarian businessmen to invest in Ukraine.

He said this during a meeting with Minister President of Bavaria Markus Soder on the sidelines of the 56th Munich Security Conference on February 15, the press service of the head of state reported.

We have adopted many laws related to fiscalization, anti-BEPS, laws aimed at attracting investments, such as the law on concession, the president said.

Volodymyr Zelensky told Markus Soder about the progress of reforms aimed at improving the business environment and invited the Bavarian business to take advantage of the investment opportunities that are currently open in Ukraine.

The interlocutors agreed to develop interregional cooperation and expand interaction between the twin cities of Ukraine and Bavaria.

The parties also discussed the situation in Donbas. "We want the war to end, that is why we are primarily interested in the implementation of the Minsk agreements," Zelensky stressed.

The leaders also discussed cooperation in the context of Ukraine's course towards European and Euro-Atlantic integration. At the invitation of the head of state, the Bavarian delegation promised to visit Ukraine.

ish
A REPLICA of the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, which was recently blessed by Pope Francis in Rome, will make its way through the streets of Limerick during a special procession next week.

On Monday, April 4, the treasured icon will commence its tour in Limerick, and will visit 26 cathedrals across the country.

Fr Seamus Enright, of the Redemptorist order, South Circular Road met with the 79-year-old Pope from Argentina last Wednesday in Rome, before a replica of the icon returned to Limerick for the six-week festival in honour of Our Lady.

This year, the Redemptorists, worldwide, celebrate 150 years of devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and the Redemptorists in Limerick have erected a new shrine on the grounds of Mount St Alphonsus, as part of these celebrations.

The pilgrim icon was brought to Mount St Alphonsus during the 7.15pm Mass on Easter Sunday, and is being brought to various centres in Limerick this week.

On Monday, the icon was brought to Our Lady of Lourdes, followed by a visit to Corpus Christi community in Moyross, and is being brought to Milford Care Centre, Adapt House and the Polish community at St Michaels Church, on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the Augustinian Church will be blessed with the presence of the icon, followed by a visit to Monaleen on Friday.

Before the official festive celebration on Monday April 4 at 6pm, the pilgrim icon will be brought to the Bedford Row Project.

It will be carried in a procession from the Redemptorists to St Johns Cathedral on April 4 and from there will be taken on pilgrimage to the 26 Catholic Cathedrals in Ireland, until it reaches its final resting place in Maynooth.

Fr Enright and the Metropolitan Mayor of Limerick, Cllr Jerry ODea, have also unveiled a billboard campaign in the city, which will also be used nationwide, under the banner Follow the Icon to raise awareness of the importance of this event.

Pope Pius IX presented the ancient Icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help to the Redemptorists for veneration on their church in Rome in 1865.

The Pope gave the Redemptorists a mandate: they were to promote devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help throughout the world.

The first copy of the Icon to arrive in Ireland has been venerated in Limerick since December 1867.

The arrival of the Icon was greeted with great festivities. The people of Limerick took Our Lady of Perpetual Help into their hearts and homes from the very beginning.

A beautiful shrine was built in 1868 and 1869, mostly with donations from the men of the Holy Family Confraternity, said Fr Enright.

A notable development happened in 1959 when the women of Limerick donated their jewellery, mostly wedding and engagement rings, to make crowns for the images of Jesus and Mary.

Fr Enright said that while he couldnt put a monetary value on these items, they are priceless because of the generosity of the people at the time and the history that is now associated with them.
[February 17, 2020] FBL Financial Group Announces Leadership Appointments

FBL Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: FFG) today announced the appointment of three individuals to its executive management team: Daniel M. (Dan) Koster as Vice President - Marketing & Agency Services; Ronald L. (Ron) Mead as Vice President - Sales & Distribution; and Jay W. Seiboldt as Chief Operating Officer - Property Casualty Companies. They will report directly to Chief Executive Officer Daniel D. Pitcher. These appointments are effective March 1, 2020. Commenting on this announcement, Chief Executive Officer Daniel D. Pitcher, said, "Dan, Ron and Jay are all proven leaders with FBL Financial Group, for both life insurance and our managed property casualty companies. They have extensive experience in several areas: sales, operations, and marketing. With these appointments, FBL's executive management team is established and well-rounded with valued experience and deep roots in Farm Bureau. We are well positioned to move Farm Bureau Financial Services forward to fulfill our purpose of protecting livelihoods and futures." Koster, 52, is appointed Vice President - Marketing & Agency Services. In this role, he will have responsibility for agent support, client/member experience and marketing for the company's brand Farm Bureau Financial Services. Koster currently serves as FBL Financial Group's Vice President Marketing & Sales Services, a position he has held since 2015. He has held various marketing positions since joining FBL Financial Group in 1998. Prior to FBL, Koster held marketing and research positions with Wells Fargo (News - Alert) Financial, Pioneer Hi-Bred and Wells Fargo Card Services. He holds a bachelor's degree in marketing and a master's degree in agricultural economics,both from Iowa State University.



Mead, 49, is appointed Vice President - Sales & Distribution. In this role, he will have overall responsibility for sales and distribution through FBL's Farm Bureau Financial Services multiline exclusive agency force. Mead currently serves as FBL Financial Group's Vice President Personal Lines & Agriculture, a position he has held since 2013. He has held various claims, operations and sales roles including Regional Vice President, and Business Unit Vice President since joining FBL Financial Group in 1992. He holds a bachelor's degree in business administration-finance and a master's of business administration degree, both from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) and a LIMRA Leadership Institute Fellow (LLIF). He serves on the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) Property Casualty Conference Board as vice chairman. Seiboldt, 60, is appointed Chief Operating Officer - Property Casualty Companies for FBL Financial Group's managed property casualty insurance companies. In this role, he will have overall responsibility for pricing, underwriting, claims and operations for commercial, personal and agricultural lines. Seiboldt currently serves as Vice President - Property Casualty Companies, a position he has held since 2019. He has held various claims, operations and sales roles including Vice President - Claims, and Regional Vice President since joining FBL Financial Group in 1981. He holds a bachelor's degree in political science and government from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU).

FBL Financial Group is a holding company with the purpose to protect livelihoods and futures. Operating under the consumer brand name Farm Bureau Financial Services, its affiliates offer a broad range of life insurance, annuity and investment products distributed by multiline exclusive Farm Bureau agents. Helping complete the financial services offering, advisors offer wealth management and financial planning services. In addition, FBL Financial Group manages all aspects of two Farm Bureau affiliated property-casualty insurance companies for a management fee. Headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa, FBL Financial Group is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol FFG. For more information, please visit www.fblfinancial.com and www.fbfs.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200217005420/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

By Samir Ali - Trend:

President Ilham Aliyev put Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan in a difficult position during panel discussions on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict at the Munich Security Conference, Azerbaijani MP Elman Mammadov told Trend.

Elman Mammadov noted that Pashinyan tried to distort the history and causes of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict shamelessly, deceitfully at the meeting with the Azerbaijani president.

"This was not the first time that Pashinyan, without even expecting it, receives tangible answers from President Ilham Aliyev. However, he does not learn his lessons. As Ilham Aliyev noted, Armenian leaders always found certain excuses not to continue negotiations at the most decisive moment. I believe that not only Pashinyan, but also the Armenian politicians as a whole received a worthy response from President Ilham Aliyev. This response was also a message to the forces that defend Armenians and Armenia in European institutions at various levels," Elman Mammadov said.

The Azerbaijani MP noted that President Ilham Aliyev also gave a weighty answer to Pashinyan's false statement that the Khojaly tragedy was allegedly committed by Azerbaijanis.

"President Ilham Aliyev exposed Pashinyan's lies with facts and logic. This was a severe blow for Pashinyan. In this process, not only Pashinyan and the Armenian state, but also the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, who are mediators in the process of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and some other international organizations are responsible. These international organizations should not create conditions for such slanderous statements of Pashinyan. The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs should finally, clearly, explain to Armenia, as President Ilham Aliyev noted, that Nagorno Karabakh is not Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh is not an independent country," Elman Mammadov added.
Back in the 1980s, I was a competitive analyst for IBM, and it was one of the most interesting jobs I ever held. The practice largely has died out, but at the time we were like the corporate version of the CIA. Since Id been an internal auditor as well  which is somewhat like the corporate version of the FBI  I was a rarity. Few people serve in both agencies.

The downside of the job was that both roles were missioned to provide assessments that generally pissed off powerful people. In audit, I red-flagged the division president for severe violations of a security policy, which didnt endear me to him, and in competitive analysis I caught the SVP of sales sharing one of my highly confidential reports with a competitor  which, at different times, had both men looking to find me a new life.

They were exciting times.

I thought it would be interesting to devote this column to looking at the Democratic presidential field and do what we used to do to competitors, and I realize this undoubtedly will piss off people who are invested in the candidates subjected to this exercise. If youre one of them, I apologize, but at the same time Ill point out that executives often didnt follow analysts advice, and that generally ended badly. I expect that is why that profession largely went into decline.

After all, while it was annoying when we were wrong, it was maddening when they didnt believe we were right, because it actually made the executives look like idiots.

This topic choice may make it seem I have a death wish, but Ill dive in anyway, because this entire primary process, given the Democratic Partys primary goal, bugs the hell out of me.

Ill close with my product of the week: a new chiliPAD item that could be useful in the winter or summer to help with naps or even improve your sleep.

The Analysis Process

This is going to be an abbreviated effort  similar to what typically would be an executive summary of a formal report prepared by a competitive analyst. Thats mostly because Im writing this on a plane, but also because I doubt any of you want to read a detailed report. (Dont feel bad  I doubt many of my old executives ever read the detailed report either.)

Typically, the process would be to look at the environment  including the customer requirements and the strengths and weaknesses of the company  and then, against that backdrop, make a comparison of our proposed or existing product and what the competition had to offer.

Even though Im a moderate Republican, Im going to put Trump in place of the competitor, and the Democratic candidates I think will end up being the top three in place of our products. It has been decades since Ive done this, so forgive me if Im a tad rusty. Here goes.

Our Competitor: President Trump

Strengths: The president is the incumbent, and that provides him with more focused funding, a clear message going into the election, and the advantage of being a known entity. These three things are why incumbent candidates generally win.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Challengers tend to enter the contest wounded badly by the primary process. The incumbent has the advantage of the collective effective competitive positioning created during the primary. All else being equal, this alone gives a typical incumbent  one that has retained the team that got him elected  an overwhelming advantage (more on this later).

The president is both tactically strong and incredibly lucky. My old peers likely are rolling their eyes at this point, but I believe that luck needs to be factored in when considering people. He knows how to use social media, and he has one of the most powerful TV networks as an effective part of his campaign. (I wonder why someone hasnt flagged this as a potential campaign funding violation, given that Fox News and the White House appear to closely coordinate.)

He knows how to capture and own a news cycle not just for hours or days, but seemingly for years. Ive never seen even Steve Jobs do this as effectively. While it appears clear he massively overestimates his net wealth, he should have access to more personal funding than most potential challengers. He is very motivated, given the job currently is protecting him from a massive amount of adverse litigation, and he is using all his resources to win.

Finally, he appears to have a somewhat rare combination of little or no empathy and high charisma. He isnt concerned about collateral damage. If pushed, he could be willing to do anything to ensure both his win and that Congress continues to prove ineffective as a check and balance. This collectively would make him unbeatable, but

Weaknesses: Many team members who got him elected, with clear exceptions, have been forced out of his orbit, so he will enter the election process with what appears mostly to be a brand new core team. Those attempting to protect him from himself have been forced out. At the time Im writing this, his hand-picked attorney general appears to be going rogue.

His use of Twitter and his tendency to rant often make him appear unhinged, and this behavior seems to be getting worse. Every self-inflicted wound runs the risk of being fatal to his campaign. He is at war with an increasing number of powerful people. He seems to relish publicly proving that the moderate Republicans who believe he will get better are wrong.

The Republican-controlled Senate just tried to prevent him from going to war with Iran, and I expect that effort ultimately will fail. While he is an impressive counterpuncher and an expert at ad hominem attacks, he is strategically surprisingly weak and tends to be his own worst enemy.

I expect the president to be very difficult but not impossible to beat. It is likely he will be impeached and removed from office during his second term, which would give Republicans a safer president in Mike Pence unless there is some path to a third term for the president.

Many of the senior Republicans are strategic. They are aware that the runaway debt and potential for another war could lead to the kind of backlash that occurred after George W. Bushs presidency, and they likely have concluded that removal in the second term would be the best way to avoid that outcome, given they have no control over an increasingly erratic president.

Our Product: The Ideal Candidate

To create parity, the ideal candidate will have to pull from a larger pool of voters and get those voters to vote, which is often problematic when you have a primary. The process requires the winner to alienate a significant number of the partys voters. The challenger, therefore, should have a limited presence in the primary process so that the damage is minimized.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

The candidate must be a moderate because its essential to pull from the middle, given that an increasingly acrimonious primary will compromise the hard left.

The candidate will need to have a counter resource to Fox News. So far, MSNBC, the likely counter, does not coordinate with Democratic candidates as Fox does with the president.

The ideal candidate will need to have the ability to get to a war chest that approximates Trumps war chest, and be able to match the president tactically and execute a successful strategy.

Lets look at the three candidates Ive chosen.

1. Bernie Sanders

I expect Sanders is the candidate Trump would like to face. He was most afraid of Biden, but Biden has not been able to win a presidential primary, and weve seen that play out again. Frankly, I think Biden could have won in 2016 but he aged out, and his performance on stage makes the word lackluster seem like an understatement.

Ironically, the president put his presidency at risk to go after an opponent who wasnt a real risk anymore, which should have been obvious, and I say this knowing Biden matches my views better than any other candidate.

Hillary Clinton beat Sanders and Trump beat Clinton badly, suggesting Trump could do the same to Sanders if Trump had the same team he beat Clinton with  but he doesnt.

Still, Sanders doesnt pull from the middle. Hillary Clinton also seems to want him to lose. He lacks the needed strategic skills and doesnt have a counter to Fox News. He cant come up with the same kind of war chest Trump currently has from donors, let alone Trumps wealth. Finally, his history in primaries hasnt been successful at a national level.

2. Pete Buttigieg

Buttigiegs performance in elections has been mixed, and he is new to the national stage. On the positive side, that means he has far less baggage, and he tends to appear impressively competent and ethical. If he connected to millennials, he might be an ideal candidate, but he appears to be polling older.

As an outsider, it isnt clear if he can get the party behind him like President Obama did. Though Buttigieg has similar advantages, Obama was introduced more strongly at a prior Democratic National Convention.

Buttigieg is a member of the LGBT community, which is untested in elections but has proven to be cohesive, if not critically so in the past (that may have changed).

He is moderate and should pull better from the middle than Trump can, but he lacks an offset to Fox News. However, some of the power players in networks competing with Fox are likely to back him more aggressively than they back the other candidates.

He is polling poorly with the black community, which is has been an impressive power in past elections. He lacks the needed war chest, and he is taking fire from primary opponents, both of which suggest he will lose in a heads-up fight without significant additional support than he has generated so far.

I think hell do better than Sanders will in a heads-up match, but barring an admittedly likely major Trump mistake, hell likely fail in the general election.

3. Mike Bloomberg

Im putting Mike Bloomberg in next because he is the only candidate with the funding and the potential to offset Fox News. Granted he has weakened this substantially, but he has proven to be strategic, and he understands media potentially better than Trump. Trump built a popular show, but Bloomberg built a powerful news network. Bloomberg is also very lucky.

He is a known quantity with a decent reputation, but the downside is that hes also pulling weakly from the black community. His combined experience of running a very large company and governing New York successfully suggests he could do the job well. Given he is moderate, has the strongest potential to appeal not only to the middle but to the moderate right.

He hasnt shown much support among Millennials  but neither has Trump, making this something of a wash. The primaries havent badly damaged him, though that could change as he formally enters the race.

He has shown that he can counterpunch at Trumps level, which is not an unusual skill for a top executive. While trying to match Trump with a similar skill in the last Republican primary ended badly, Id argue that it was because Trumps challengers sucked at it.

On paper, Bloomberg is largely untested at a national level. He is the strongest alternative to Trump and has the greatest potential to win, but only if he can use his own company to counter Fox News or find a way to separate Fox from the president. In theory, he could buy Fox News and shut it down, or reverse his decision to put Bloomberg News on the sidelines  neither of which currently appears likely.

Another path to success for all these candidates is Trump continuing to go off the rails in terms of his behavior. He remains the greatest risk to his success as of this writing.

Wrapping Up

If I were to call the election today, Id likely call it in favor of Trump but argue that he is likely to lose the Senate and not recapture the House of Representatives, much like both George W. Bush and Obama did. This will set up a second impeachment, the first in U.S. history. Hell likely be removed from office as the Republicans scramble to save their careers for fear Trumps behavior will degrade further, costing not only their jobs but increasingly their person safety.

Most dont want what could become a global conflict, and the Iran close call appears to have many rattled, given the recent attempt to reduce presidential authority. Mike Pence is far more malleable and certainly safer, and while I doubt he could win an election at a presidential level, the Republicans easily could bring in an external candidate who would put them on a firmer path to the future.

An ideal outcome for the Democrats appears to be to embrace Bloomberg early and put taking over the presidency ahead of far-left initiatives that probably cant get through Congress anyway, particularly if they lose the election. However, that is an unlikely outcome at this time.

It is increasingly likely that the president will damage his re-election effort critically through his behavior, but as likely as that may appear, you cant ever bet on the other side screwing up.

Were I advising a company in a similar position  one that was unwilling to do what was needed to win  Id recommend a path with a more certain outcome. In this case, Id recommend setting up early for that second impeachment instead of betting on the unlikely favorable outcome of the general election.

With this, Ive showcased not only how we used to do this stuff but why it is very hard to find many who still do this, because Ill bet I have pissed off a large chunk of folks in both parties at this point.

I expect that many of the folks doing similar opponent analysis in the parties have learned this, and instead of a report like this one, they have chosen to give their candidates a report that is far more positive and in line with what they want to hear.

Ill leave you with one more story. In IBM, we had a sister organization that did exactly what I just suggested and told the executives that IBM was invulnerable. While my group was disbanded and we had to find new jobs, the folks in the other group got raises and promotions. They also were instrumental in taking IBM from a market leader to a company that almost went out of business.

As Ive aged, my ability to get a good nights sleep has gone from great to dismal. Like a lot of men, I dont sleep well when Im hot. Electric blankets and pads give me concerns due to the long proximity to electric fields, and they mostly arent very smart.

Id thought that an ideal solution was to use something like what they use for race car drivers, jet pilots and astronauts, and circulate water instead of warming wires  both to eliminate the field and provide a much more even and manageable field.

Plus, you could both heat and chill the water  something you cant do with an electric blanket or pad alternative. I use and love the new Ooler, as I think it is both a smarter and better-engineered product than the older chiliPAD design.

Chilis latest offering is the chiliBLANKET, which combines a weighted blanket  something I like, but my wife isnt a fan of  with this same technology.

chiliBLANKET + chiliPAD Control Unit

Its designed more for a single user  youd need two for a couple in bed, though it works fine for two on a couch. This gives people who want the heat and weight on top a better solution.

While I think the couch solution is attractive as a concept, the heater/chiller doesnt integrate well in a living room. Also, the hose became problematic in my use. Unless youre more creative than I seem to be, the better and more likely use is on a single bed, or with two of them on a larger bed.

At US$499, it is an interesting and potentially more portable solution than the chiliPAD, and its ideal for someone who either sleeps alone or has a partner who doesnt want a heating/cooling solution.

What I found is that I like to nap outside, but for much of the year it is either too hot or too cold to do that. This does address that problem reasonably well, so the chiliBLANKET 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 coronavirus outbreak remains at an initial stage in Japan, an expert panel under the health ministry said Sunday, choosing not to raise the country's alert level that would have allowed for a more aggressive response.

"The government is still able to track down infection routes to a certain degree," said Takaji Wakita, chief of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases.

The health ministry had hoped for an upgrade to the next alert level, which signals a rapidly growing outbreak with high domestic transmission rates. Such a move would let the ministry switch focus from screening overseas arrivals and tracking infection routes to catching homegrown cases early on and boosting treatment capacity.

"It was a difficult decision, but we are still at the beginning of an outbreak, and the virus is not yet prevalent," a member of the panel said.

Japan had 53 cases of the coronavirus as of Sunday, apart from those linked to a cruise ship docked in Yokohama. Despite the decision Sunday, the ministry remains concerned about the increase in patients with no direct ties to China, the epicenter of the outbreak.

"We will bolster measures at home in anticipation of an eventual surge in cases," a ministry official said.
Huey Lewis has produced some cracker songs over the years and cemented himself as one of the greats in our music collections.

But the rocker has revealed two of his biggest regrets from the '80s during an interview with Jimmy Kimmel.

Looking back at his career in the Grammy Museum, Huey Lewis revealed that he regrets rejecting a large sponsorship deal and refusing to record a song Bob Dylan sent him.

Lewis recalled that, after Pepsi signed a $50 million deal with Michael Jackson in 1986, the soft drink's biggest rival contacted him. "Coca-Cola asked to have a meeting [so] we flew to Atlanta," Lewis said. "They offered us millions of dollars [to use] 'The Heart of Rock & Roll' in a commercial. I said no. Stupid."
By Trend

During the discussion on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the Munich Security Conference, the Azerbaijani head of state has taken the lead.

All of them [Armenian leaders] wanted to keep status quo unchanged but all of them tried to do it differently, Ilham Aliyev said. People of Azerbaijan, those who suffer from Armenian aggression want to go back to their homes. There is no Nagorno-Karabakh republic. Only two parties to the conflict, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Ask the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. Who are the parties to the conflict? They will say the same. Armenia and Azerbaijan. Nagorno-Karabakh is not. Why is not? It is other question, but it is not and we are not going talk to them. We are talking to aggressor. We are ready to talk to Nagorno-Karabakh in case, Armenia stops funding this illegal entity, Armenia pulls back all their military troops from Nagorno-Karabakh and completely withdraws from our territory. They think that they can keep these territories under occupation forever, and I am sure that will not be the case, and our territorial integrity must be restored.

Faced with the pressure of the facts expressed by the Azerbaijani president, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was constantly lying. Not finding any words to refute the voiced real facts, he once again resorted to the well-known false statement of Armenian propaganda that Karabakh was given to Azerbaijan by the Bolsheviks (a far-left Marxist faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labor Party) during the reign of Joseph Stalin.

Meanwhile, the lies of Armenian propaganda about the decision of the Caucasus Bureau, allegedly according to which Nagorno-Karabakh was handed over to Azerbaijan, were exposed by President Ilham Aliyev.

In 1921, the Caucasus Bureau of the Bolshevik party made a decision to retain Nagorno-Karabakh within Azerbaijan, to retain and not to transfer as some Armenian historians want to present it, Ilham Aliyev said at the Munich Security Conference. The question, if Nagorno-Karabakh is an ancient Armenian territory why does not it have the ancient Armenian name for the capital? Because the ancient name for the capital is Khankandi. - the village of the khan. And Stepanakert because Shaumyans name was Stepan, kert means city in Armenian. Stepanakert was named in the name of that Bolshevik.

Repeatedly making Pashinyan a laughing stock of the public, at the very end of the discussion, President Ilham Aliyev pointedly stated that Armenian people self-determined themselves, they have Armenian state.

My advice is to find other place on Earth to self-determine them for the second time, not in Azerbaijan, noted Ilham Aliyev.

Head of the Expert Council of the Baku Network, PhD Elkhan Alasgarov

Join us on Twitter and Facebook https://twitter.com/BakuNetwork andhttps://www.facebook.com/BakuNetwork

YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp5ic7mhc6rZF6w0TQWqtmg

--

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
For actors Ratna Pathak Shah and Naseeruddin Shah, India is their Valentine.

The Shahs, always vocal about their opinions, say they are firm in their belief that the educated young give them hope in troubling times.

The couple was speaking at an event titled "India My Valentine" here on Sunday.

According to Ratna Pathak, the "khalbali" (churning) she saw in the 60s and 70s is back but the young and educated give her hope.

"During that time everyone was thinking about the progress of India. How to make the nation ours, what kind of nation it should be. Because my family has always been associated with performing arts, we used to have discussions on these topics," she said at the event featuring musical performances, stand-up comedy acts and speeches to celebrate love and unity in the country.

Over a dozen artistes, including Naseeruddin Shah, Vishal Bhardwaj, Rekha Bhardwaj and Swanand Kirkire, came together on one stage at the event.

Ratna Pathak, the daughter of the late actor Dina Pathak, said questions related to nation building were on everyone's mind in the decades past. Now, there is "a possibility of the nation breaking, changing", she said.

"The 'khalbali', the brainstorming of that time, can be seen reflected today. Of course, things have changed, the situation is extremely serious. What I saw and heard today, what I see around me, it definitely increases hope. Never before has India had so many young, educated people alive at one time. It's making a difference and we are seeing it all over the country," she said.

The churn is not limited to Shaheen Bagh or Mumbai Bagh but spread across, she said, referring to the anti-CAA protests in several places in the country.

"Again, art is showing the way. This kind of 'khalbali' is producing such wonderful writing, music, performances," she said.

Naseeruddin Shah said he can't help but wonder about the current situation when he looks around at the state of the nation.

"At a time when a lot of us are grappling to understand what's going on around us, I think I'm not alone in agonising over a question: whether all this was always latent and has finally burst forth, not being able to contained any longer.

"Or has there been in the last decade a complete change in our country... I'm not a social scientist, so I don't know the answer."



The actor then read selections from Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's "The Discovery of India" and said the book can shed some light.

"May be it'll show you the direction... I've also in these times felt the need to re-examine, rediscover what it is that is unique about this country, what it is that has always been our pride and has won the admiration of the entire world," he added.

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

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani judge on Monday took a jibe at India while wrapping up a case against 23 people protesting against the arrest of a Pashtun activist known for criticising the country's powerful military.

Chief Justice Athar Minallah of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) took up the bail petitions of 23 workers of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) and Awami Workers Party (AWP), who were arrested by the Islamabad police last month for staging protest.

"Everyone's constitutional rights will be protected. This is Pakistan, not India," Chief Justice Minallah said.

During the hearing, the chief justice said that "we don't expect that a democratic government will curb freedom of expression."

"An elected democratic government cannot place curbs on freedom of expression. (We) shouldn't fear criticism," he remarked, adding that the courts will protect the constitutional rights of the people.

He asked the people to come to the court if they were not allowed by the government to hold protests.

"If you want to protest, get permission. If you don't get permission, the court is here," he said.

ALSO READ: Pakistan government confirms escape of top Taliban militant responsible for shooting Malala

When Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat told the court that all charges against the protesters had been dropped, the chief justice concluded that case, allowing all 23 activists to go free.

Last month, protesters were holding protests in front of the National Press Club here against the arrest of Manzoor Pashteen, the chief of the rights-based alliance PTM, when he was detained.

Pashteen attended a gathering on January 18 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Dera Ismail Khan city where he had allegedly said that the 1973 Constitution violated basic human rights.

The 27-year-old activist was arrested along with nine other PTM workers from Peshawar, police said.
Coronavirus advice issued by Police and IOM Gov

Police and the IOM Government have issued advice for anyone who thinks they might have symptoms of the coronavirus.

Over the weekend the IOM Constabulary posted information on social media, indicating what the earliest signs are of spotting COVID-19.

Earliest symptoms include a cough, fever and shortness of breath following contact with persons infected, or after visiting affected countries in the last 14 days.

People are advised not to enter any GP practices or hospitals and call 650040 or 650355 (out of hours).

Places currently listed as infected are Mainland China, Thailand, Japan, Republic of Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and Macau.

More information about the coronavirus and for what to do if you think you're infected can be found here.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- An off-duty NYPD detective committed suicide Monday in a Queens home, according to the New York Post.

The detective, Paul Federico, 53, was found in his mothers 79th Street home at around 12:25 p.m., the Post said, citing unnamed law enforcement sources.

Federico worked in the NYPDs liaison unit, the Post reported.

Federico is the first active-duty suicide the department has faced this year after a tumultuous 2019 in which multiple suicides shook the department. A retired 78-year-old NYPD officer shot himself inside of his Graniteville home Jan. 2, the Advance previously reported.

The NYPD was considered to be in a mental health crisis after 29-year-old Michael Caddy killed himself in a car behind the 121st Precinct stationhouse in Graniteville in June, former Police Commissioner James P. ONeill said in a written statement.

Caddy was the first of three active or former NYPD officers to commit suicide on Staten Island in 2019 -- a year when the NYPDs internal policies regarding officers suffering from mental illness were called into question.

The National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255; additionally, the NYPD lists multiple mental health resources for its employees.
New Delhi: India on Monday lodged a strong protest with Turkey over President Recep Tayyip Erdogans recent remarks on Kashmir, with people familiar with developments saying New Delhi is eyeing other measures to register its displeasure.

Ties between New Delhi and Ankara hit an all-time low after Erdogan raised the Kashmir issue at the UN General Assembly last September, saying the region was virtually under blockade. Turkish leaders have also continued to criticise the Indian governments decision to revoke Jammu & Kashmirs special status.

The latest provocation was Erdogans remarks on Kashmir during an address to a joint session of Pakistans Parliament on Thursday, when he said latest developments in the region highlighted the urgency of finding a solution. He added that Turkey was ready to assist efforts by India and Pakistan to find a solution.

On Monday, Turkish ambassador Sakir Ozkan Torunlar was summoned to the external affairs ministry and served a demarche, or formal diplomatic representation, by secretary (West) Vikas Swarup.

India has made a strong demarche with the Turkish government on the remarks made by President Erdogan on the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir during his recent visit to Islamabad, external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

These developments have strong implications for our bilateral relationship, Kumar added.

People familiar with developments said New Delhi is contemplating other measures, including the possible denial of a $2.3-billion deal to TAIS, a Turkish conglomerate, to help Hindustan Shipyard Limited build five fleet support vessels for the Indian Navy. TAIS was to provide the ship design and technical assistance and supply key equipment for the project.

TAIS emerged as the lowest bidder and India had first considered denying the deal last year, but no final decision was made.

The people cited above said that Turkeys top leaders apparently ignored Indias repeated protests about non-interference in the Kashmir issue because they were intent on going ahead with efforts to project their country as a leader of Muslims around the world.

Repeatedly raising issues such as Kashmir fits in with their plans to project Turkey as an alternative to other countries that are seen as leaders of the Muslim world. Its almost as if theyre trying to show they are being victimised for raising these issues, said a person who declined to be named.

Kumar said Erdogans remarks reflect neither an understanding of history nor of the conduct of diplomacy and were completely unacceptable.

He added, They distort events of the past to advance a narrow minded view of the present...This recent episode is but one more example of a pattern of Turkey interfering in the internal affairs of other countries.

India also rejects repeated attempts by Turkey to justify the cross-border terrorism practiced so blatantly by Pakistan, Kumar said.

Besides Erdogans comments, a Pakistan-Turkey joint declaration last week called for the resolution of all outstanding disputes between Pakistan and India, including the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir through a sustained dialogue process and in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

India had on Saturday rejected these references to Kashmir, saying it was an integral and inalienable part of the country and called on the Turkish leadership to not interfere in Indias internal affairs.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Lisa Nandy reignited Labour's trans rights row today after saying violent male offenders including child rapists should have the right to serve their sentence in female-only prisons if they transition.

The Wigan MP became the latest Labour leadership contender to become embroiled in a row that has cause a bitter women's rights schism within the party.

At a campaign rally she was asked her views on whether violent male sexual offenders who transition should be allowed to serve their sentence in a jail assigned to prisoners of their new gender.

Critics of the idea suggest it could put female inmates potentially at harm by forcing them to live alongside violent sex offenders who may still be biologically male.

But Ms Nandy, 40, was applauded as she told the audience: 'I believe fundamentally in people's right to self-ID.

'I believe the Gender Recognition Act strikes the wrong balance in relation to that.

'I think that crimes that are recorded should be recorded as that person wishes, having gone through that process, received support and self-identified.

'I think trans women are women, I think trans men are men, so I think they should be accommodated in a prison of their choosing.'

The Wigan MP became the latest Labour leadership contender to becoming embroiled in a row threatening to cause a bitter schism within the party

Last week Rebecca Long-Bailey backed a campaign which labelled a women's rights organisation a 'trans-exclusionist hate group'

The question was asked by a critic who specifically asked about the case of a man jailed for five counts of child rape, who later transitioned to become a woman.

Yesterday Labour was served with court papers over its policy of allowing anyone who says they are female to stand as a candidate on an all-women shortlist.

Campaigners raised more than 30,000 to pay for the case.

Labours policy allows self-identifying transgender women  those who have not legally changed from male to female  to put themselves forward for all-women shortlists.

Opponents say the policy is unfair as it means candidates just have to tick a box to say they are female, and so could lead to a man being chosen to run for a parliamentary seat ahead of a woman.

In a statement on the Keep All-Women Shortlists Female campaign website, barrister Amanda Jones wrote: We are seeking to challenge the Labour Partys policy that anybody who identifies as a woman (even to the extent merely of ticking a box to say that they identify as such) can stand as a candidate on an all-women shortlist.

But a Labour spokesman defended the policy, saying : Labours all-women shortlists have always been open to trans women so the petition is not factually accurate and the claim has no merit.

Last week Rebecca Long-Bailey backed a campaign which labelled a women's rights organisation a 'trans-exclusionist hate group'.

The Labour Campaign for Trans Rights published a 12-point plan which it said is designed to 'rid the Labour Party of transphobia and to stand up for trans people'.

Ms Long-Bailey tweeted: 'Please sign to show your support for the trans and non-binary community, for whom the Labour Party should always be a safe space.'

The campaign states that there is 'no material conflict between trans rights and women's rights' and calls for the 'expulsion from the Labour Party of those who express bigoted, transphobic views'.

However, one of the campaign's pledges calls for Labour to 'organise and fight against transphobic organisations such as Woman's Place UK, LGB Alliance and other trans-exclusionist hate groups'.

Woman's Place UK, a group which was established to 'ensure that womens voices are heard and our sex based rights upheld', rejected the accusation which it said it believes is 'defamatory'.
At least 24 people were killed Sunday in a jihadist attack against a Protestant church in Pansi, a village in northern Burkina Faso, according to security and local sources.

The pastor of the church was kidnapped by Islamist terrorists. Several people fled to the town of Sebba, where five people, including a pastor, were assassinated a few days ago.

Meanwhile, a French soldier who was part of Operation Barkhane in Burkina Faso was found dead, the Ministry of the Armed Forces announced on Monday.
New Delhi: Delhi Police officials on Monday evening (February 17) met senior advocate Sanjay Hegde to share details related to ongoing anti-CAA protest at Shaheen Bagh, sources told Zee Media. The Police officials went on their own to meet Sanjay Hegde to apprise him about the problems due to the demonstration for the past two months.

Earlier today, the Supreme Court-appointed senior lawyers Sanjay Hegde, Sadhna Ramachandran and former Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah to go and talk to protesters at Shaheen Bagh and convince them to hold the agitation at an alternative site. The top court has posted the matter for further hearing on February 24.

Last week, Nand Kishore Garg and Amit Sahni filed the PIL through their lawyer Shashank Deo Sudhi earlier seeking appropriate directions to the Centre and others for removal of protestors from Shaheen Bagh near Kalindi Kunj.

The PIL stated that people in Shaheen Bagh are illegally protesting against the CAA by blocking the common and public road connecting Delhi with Noida.

The petition also sought appropriate direction to the respondents, including the Government of India for laying down detailed, comprehensive and exhaustive guidelines relating to outright restrictions for holding protest/agitation leading to obstruction of the public place.

The apex court said that blockade of public road at Shaheen Bagh is "troubling us", and suggested that the anti-CAA protestors go to another site where no public place would be blocked. It asked senior advocate Sanjay Hegde to "play a constructive role as an interlocutor" to persuade the protestors to move to an alternative site.

People have a fundamental right to protest "peacefully and lawfully" but blocking public roads and places is a matter of concern as it might lead to "chaotic situation", the SC said, stressing that there has to be a "balancing factor".

Appearing for Delhi government and Delhi Police, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the SC that the solution is to remove these protestors from the site.

Meanwhile, the Shaheen Bagh protesters today said that they are ready to talk to government officials who wish to discuss with them their concerns on Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the National Population Register (NPR) and the proposed NRC.

"If a government official wants to talk to us about CAA, NPR, and NRC, then he is welcome to do so," one of the senior citizens participating in the protest at Shaheen Bagh told ANI.

A large number of people, especially women, from different communities have been staging a protest at Delhi`s Shaheen Bagh since mid-December last year against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).

So far, no Union minister or a government official has gone to meet the protesters in SHaheen Bagh to listen to their grievances.

(With Agency Inputs)
FILE - In this Sept. 20, 2019, file photo, President Donald Trump's White House Senior Adviser Stephen Miller, left, and Katie Waldman arrive for a state dinner with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Trump at the White House in Washington. Trump went from the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2020, to attending the wedding of the two top members of his administration, Miller and Waldman, press secretary for Vice President Mike Pence. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

President Donald Trump attended the wedding of senior adviser Stephen Miller on Sunday evening, according to the White House.

The wedding took place in the presidents Washington hotel, just blocks from the White House: The President is at Trump International Hotel for the wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Miller, read a statement sent to reporters. Though the White House didnt identify the bride, Miller was engaged to Katie Waldman, press secretary for Vice President Mike Pence.

Trump returned to Washington from Florida, where he attended the Daytona 500 NASCAR race  which was later postponed because of inclement weather.

White House statement: The President is at Trump International Hotel for the wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Miller. pic.twitter.com/U7DMg60Cgi  Jeff Mason (@jeffmason1) February 17, 2020

Miller, an immigration hard-liner and frequent speechwriter for the president, is one of the few remaining staffers from Trumps 2016 campaign. Miller has been instrumental in shaping the administrations immigration policies, with ties to Trumps Muslim ban" and "zero-tolerance" family separation policy.

He also came under fire from several Democrats after reports emerged of him pushing theories popular with white nationalists to Breitbart News.

Waldman previously worked for Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Martha McSally of Arizona. Waldman was also previously the spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, where she defended the administration's family separations policy and made some controversial comments about immigrants.
Many people enjoy their beef with a side of pasta, but not like this.

According to FOX56 TV, a tractor-trailer driver who police say was DUI crashed a cattle carrier into an Italian restaurant over the weekend.

The crash occurred at the "A Taste of Italy" restaurant located off Route 11 and interstate 80 near Bloomsburg on Friday night.

FOX56 video and photos of the aftermath of the crash show heavy damage to the front of the restaurant.

PAHomepage reports the crash impact that knocked walls down and abruptly closed the business.

When you see this you think like this cant be possible and to hear this happened last night, its crazy, customer Maria Lussi told PAHomepage

Thankfully, no injuries were reported.

PAHomepage reports the crash occurred less than two hours after the business closed for the night.

South Centre Township police say 34-year-old Justin Aiken was driving a cattle truck under the influence when his rig veered off Route 11 and slammed into the restaurant.

Staffers still inside were not hurt, and no cattle in the truck were injured, PAHomepage reports.

The truck driver has been charged by South Centre Township police with DUI.

At last report, the driver was being lodged at Columbia County Prison.

FOX56 video and photos of the aftermath of the crash show heavy damage to the front of the restaurant. (Photo: FOX56)

READ MORE:

Popular sex therapist from Pa. killed in balcony fall; ex-boyfriend arrested

Woman set on fire during hibachi dinner for her 26th birthday: 'Im on fire

Pa. high school in mourning after girl dies in mysterious crash

Someone is shooting and killing cows in Pa.: state police

Pa. woman faces aggravated DUI charges after hitting girl, 12, getting on school bus

Pa. district attorney under investigation by children and youth refuses drug tests, home inspections

Pa. man out to beat drug test is foiled when young sons bottled pee drops from his pants

Hunt on for 3 women caught on video brutally robbing 4th woman on Pa. street

Pair of $3,000 puppies dog-napped from Pa. kennel

Woman found in blood-soaked blanket; man accused of imprisoning her for sex: Pa. cops
President Uhuru Kenyatta has been challenged to summon his deputy William Ruto to explain the alleged use of his official office in a multi-billion fake arms tender by former Cabinet Secretary Rashid Echesa.

In a press statement, former Nominated Senator Paul Njoroge wants the President to direct DP Ruto to issue a statement over the scandal.

According to Njoroge, there are enough indications that the Office of the Deputy President was an active crime scene.

The Head of State, Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, should give directives with immediate effect for his deputy William Ruto to be summoned concerning the multibillion shillings fake tender deal

The President should issue orders for Ruto to provide statements before the commencement of thorough investigations so as to seal any loophole on the matter since nothing good will come out if Ruto is not meant to provide statements on the same, the former legislator notes.

The outspoken Njoroge further alleged that the Sh39 billion fake arms tender was masterminded to generate money to fund parallel Building Bridges Initiative meetings organised by the Ruto-allied Tanga Tanga faction.

Njoroge also claimed the funds would also be used to fund Rutos presidential campaigns.

The President should therefore ban all parallel BBI meetings and ensure only one BBI forum with government projects exist so as to avoid exposing Kenyans to hatred and meaningless propaganda which in turn compromises national peace and unity, he said.

The former Senator further called on President Uhuru to lead DP Rutos impeachment.

The president should establish a commission of inquiry which includes the Directorate of Public Prosecutions, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, the Ethics and Anticorruption Commission, the Office of the Attorney General and representatives from civil societies to thoroughly investigate and audit Rutos sources of funds and the beneficiaries and the results should be made public and be arraigned if found guilty.
Songwriters, Publishers Call For Ratification Canada-US-Mexico Deal To Close Major Canadian Copyright Loophole

A loophole in Canadas copyright act means that songs in that country lose copyright protection a full twenty years earlier than the rest of the world. This has caused songwriters and publishers to call on the Canadian Parliament to ratify the USMCA trade agreement, closing said loophole.

Guest post by Chris Castle of Music Technology Policy

Well be coming back to this soon, but readers should be aware that theres a loophole in Canadas Copyright Act that can be closed immediately through the the USMCA trade agreement. Canada has an odd anachronism in the copyright term for works other than sound recordingsunlike the majority of Canadas trading partners, Canadian copyright is based on the old life plus 50. (Sound recordings are 70 years from release, essentially.)

What this means is that songs lose copyright protection in Canada 20 years earlier than the rest of the world. USMCA fixes that by harmonizing Canadian copyright term with other Commonwealth countries, Europe, Japan and the US, plus Mexico (which has a longer term).

ButUSMCA also has a 30 month transition period from the effective dateand theres the loophole for Google. For procedural reasons, the implementing legislation was just introduced in the Canadian Parliament even though Prime Minister Trudeau signed the agreement in 2018. The 30 month transition period is not relevant for extending the copyright term unless the Trudeau government is trying to slow walk the implementation. Or got happy feet on the copyright extension due to lobbying pressure from you know who. Why might they slow walk the implementing legislation? Maybe so that Google can rally the anti copyright troops (in the form of Michael Geist of the Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic at the University of Ottawa, which has already happened. And yes, that Samuelson is Pamela Samuelson. Small world, aint it?).

Google has already successfully lobbied a trade off for copyright term extension (and national treatment) in return for exporting their bogus interpretations of the DMCA and Section 230 that Google uses for profiting from infringement and human trafficking, respectively. Now, of course, theyd like to reneg on the copyright term extension part. (You can tell because Geist loves him some Section 230 and opposes term extension as bad for Canada. How exactly?)

Given that theres already been a long delay between signing and legislating a trade agreement that Canadas other two partners have passed, theres really no reason for further delay in implementing the harmonized copyright term beyond the minimum required votes in Parliamentcertainly not another 30 months after enactment. Life of the author may seem like an abstract concept, but Neal Pearts passing reminds us not only of the tremendous contribution to our business by Canadians, but also the march of time. No reason to wait another 30 months.

So the Songwriters Association of Canada, the Screen Composers Guild of Canada and publishers posted this open letter. Lets keep an eye on this issue and support their efforts.

Dear Parliamentarians,

On behalf of tens of thousands of songwriters, composers and music publishers in Canada, we welcome you back and most of all wish you a productive Parliamentary session.

We thank the government for signing the Canada-U.S.-Mexico (CUSMA) trade agreement last year. Under it, copyright in Canada will be strengthened by extending the term of protection by 20 years, to the life of the author plus 70 years.

What does this mean for innovation in Canada?

Canadian songs and scores are heard daily on the radio, on streaming services, in video games, and in film, television and other screen-based productions around the world.

Modernizing the Copyright Act to ensure Canadian rights holders have the same protections as their international competitors is a much-needed move to help Canadian creators, and the companies that invest in them, to continue exporting their creations around the world. A forward-looking, digitally attuned copyright regime will foster Canadian innovation, investment, and growth in a key economic sector for our great country.

It is imperative that CUSMA be ratified quickly to ensure that Canadian songwriters, composers and the small and large businesses that invest in music publishing are properly compensated for their work. The term extension provisions in CUSMA should be enacted immediately, without unnecessary delay and with no conditions.

Adding another 20 years to the life of a copyright means a robust creative sector, more Canadian cultural exports, and the growth of many innovative businesses that have embraced the digital market. It is long past time for Canada to catch up to its international trading partners in this respect.

CUSMA presents an amazing, tangible opportunity to expand Canadas music publishing industry, invest more in emerging songwriters and composers and make our Canadian companies even more competitive globally. We urge all Parliamentarians to make the early ratification of CUSMA their top legislative priority.

Sincerely,

OPEN LETTER TO MPS AND SENATORS OF THE 43RD PARLIAMENT

Share on:
Irish men and German women are the 'ugliest in the world' according to a controversial dating app that only allows attractive people to join.

The Los Angeles-based website beautifulpeople.com has revealed that Irish men had their worst ever results in their annual 'beauty charts', which looks at how many people get approved to join their five million members.

Meanwhile, British men didn't fare much better, placing joint 18th, out of 21 countries surveyed, with only those from Ireland and Poland deemed less attractive.

How many people from each country are approved to join beautifulpeople.com? FEMALE SUCCESS RATE (by nation) 1. Norway - 71% 2. Sweden - 62% 3. Iceland - 61% 4. Brazil - 45% 5. Argentina - 43% 6. Ireland- 35% 6 = France - 35% 8. USA - 32% 9. Canada - 26% 10. Italy - 23% 11. Russia - 22% 12. Spain - 21% 13. Australia - 19% 14. Lithuania - 16% 14 = Portugal - 16% 16. United Kingdom - 15% 16 = India- 15% 16 = Korea - 15% 16 = China - 15% 16 = Turkey- 15% 21. Germany - 13% MALE SUCCESS RATE (by nation) 1. Sweden - 60% 2. Brazil - 41% 3. Denmark - 40% 4. Italy - 37% 5. Portugal - 35% 6.Argentina - 32% 7. Norway - 27% 8. Spain - 25% 9. USA - 24% 10. Canada - 23% 11. Australia - 22% 12. France - 20% 12 =. Germany - 20% 14. Korea - 18% 15. China - 17% 16. Japan - 15% 17. India - 11% 18. United Kingdom - 9% 18 = Russia 9% 20. Poland - 7% 21. Ireland - 6% Advertisement

While the likes of Pierce Brosnan, Colin Farrel and Niall Horan might make people across the world swoon, only six per cent of Irish men who apply to join picky international dating site beautifulpeople.com are approved.

And despite boasting a string of stunning supermodels, including Heidi Klum and Claudia Schiffer, it's German women at the bottom of the list for ladies joining the dating website - with only thirteen per cent of their applications approved.

The Los Angeles-based website has also revealed that this is Ireland's worst ever results in their annual 'beauty charts' which looks at how many people get approved to join their five million members.

In contrast, 35 per cent of Irish women who apply to join the website are approved - making them the sixth 'most beautiful' in the world, tied with France and ahead of the USA.

Irish men and German women are the 'ugliest in the world' according to a controversial dating app that only allows attractive people to join (stock image)

Those in Dublin are the most attractive on the Island of Ireland, according to the website, followed by Cork, Galway and Belfast, with those in Limerick being least likely to make the cut.

German men are also tied with French men, coming in as the 12th best looking in the world with 20 per cent of their applications approved.

Speaking about the trends for both Irish men and women, Greg Hodge, Managing Director of BeautifulPeople, told the Mirror: 'There are many examples of very handsome Irish men in Hollywood, such as Cillian Murphy, Colin Farrell, Michael Fassbender and Jamie Dornan.

'However, this is the exception and not the norm. Unfortunately, when you look at the stats, Irish men are the undisputed ugliest in the world. They really are in a league of their own.

Would they make the cut? While the likes of Pierce Brosnan (right) , Colin Farrel and Niall Horan (left) might make people across the world swoon, only six per cent of Irish men who apply to join picky international dating site beautifulpeople.com are approved.

'But Irish women are continuing to improve their beauty rankings. We looked closely into why Irish women are climbing and Irish men are falling in the beauty rankings. What we found is that a large proportion of Irish women are applying from Dublin - known to be one of the more beautiful areas for Irish inhabitants, whereas the majority of male applicants came from Belfast and Galway, as well as more rural areas which historically have housed some of Ireland's least attractive inhabitants.'

On average, only one in five people make the cut to join the 'elite' dating website, but it's much higher for Scandinavian nations.

More than seventy per cert of Norwegian women that apply to join the website are approved, followed by 62 per cent of women in neighbouring Sweden and 61 per cent of those from Iceland.

Swedish men fare the best with 60 per cent of their applications being approved, followed by 41 per cent of Brazillian men and 40 per cent of Danish men.

Beautifulpeople.com founded in 2002 by Greg Hodge, who has repeatedly defended the websites dating criteria.

Speaking on ITV's This Morning in 2015, he said the website defines beauty in a fair and democratic way' and that 'thousands' of people have been married and had children after meeting on it.
Pre-owned vehicle exchange platform Shriram Automall India Ltd (SAMIL) on Monday said it has acquired BlueJack, an online car selling portal.

The company did not disclose the financial details of the deal.

With this acquisition, Shriram Automall targets to transact yearly over 1.2 million vehicles worth more than Rs 30,000 crore. At present 70 lakh used cars are sold in India every year and the market is expected to be valued at Rs 50,000 crore in 2022, the company said in a statement.

Commenting on the acquisition, Shriram Automall CEO Sameer Malhotra said, "Together, we believe we can offer the best auction experience for our Indian market with innovative technology."



The deal will give over 10 million customers of SAMIL, on its physical and online bidding platforms, and its affiliates additional means of selling car, the company said.

Started in 2016, BlueJack had auctioned more than 25,000 vehicles on its platform. It operates in Delhi with dealers from 10 states.

Manish Kheterpal, Managing Partner of WaterBridge Ventures -- which is a lead investor in BlueJack -- said as the fragmented used car industry formalises both on the consumer and dealers end, using a blend of technology, data, and old-fashioned human touch is the most effective way to solve trust deficit and friction in the industry.

"Synergies between SAMIL and BlueJack are highly compelling, and together they would be a formidable force in this rapidly growing used cars industry," he added.

BlueJack is expected to fully integrate with SAMIL's operations and group companies in first half of 2020.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Talk of secession is in the air -- always.

The Cascadia movement has been around for years in the Pacific Northwest, inspired in part by Ernest Callenbachs 1975 utopian novel Ecotopia, while others in the region call for a conservative, rural-centric state of Jefferson.

Mike McCarter doesnt think anything will come of these efforts.

Im a proponent of the state of Jefferson, the retired La Pine nurseryman says. But I dont see it happening.

Which doesnt mean hes willing to accept the status quo. Secession is a sticky constitutional question, but simply moving a states borders is doable.

Thats been done recently, he told The Oregonian/OregonLive, pointing to a 1961 land transfer that moved about 20 acres from Minnesota to North Dakota after a federal project to straighten the Red River cut off the Minnesota parcels from the rest of the state.

McCarter is one of the leaders of Move Oregons Border for a Greater Idaho. The goal, as the groups name suggests, is to flip Oregons eastern counties into Idaho.

And, while success remains extremely unlikely, Move Oregons Border is gaining a little traction. In the past month, proposals to let voters weigh in on the issue have earned initial approval from Josephine and Douglas counties, setting the stage for a signature-gathering push to get them on the ballot in November.

Were picking up momentum, McCarter says. It takes a lot of oomph to get something like this started. I call it a peaceful revolution.

The group wants to have initiatives on the ballot of every eastern Oregon county this fall.

Our approach is to go county by county rather than a state initiative, McCarter adds. We want people [in the counties that would move to Idaho] to chime in and say, Yes, we want this. It takes more work to go county by county, but it informs the public more.

A Facebook page shows how many signatures are needed for county ballot initiatives. (Facebook)

Of course, its not as easy as that. Even if Oregons eastern counties do vote to join Idaho, approval would then be needed from the Oregon and Idaho legislatures -- and the U.S. Congress.

Valerie Gottschalk, a Josephine County resident and another Move Oregons Border leader, said in an email last week that she expected the effort to grow rapidly, having seen the response to the Recall Kate petition circulated last year -- a reference to a failed attempt to launch a recall election of Oregon Gov. Kate Brown.

People here would prefer Idahos conservative governance to the progressive/liberal current Oregon governance," Gottschalk said. "Every time I look at the Facebook group Greater Idaho, the group has gotten bigger.

Sure enough, the movements Facebook page consistently showcases conservative political views. Last week someone posted an article on the page from an obscure satirical-news site with the headline Breaking: Health Officials Quarantine Portland To Prevent Spread of Communism.

But McCarter, for one, doesnt like to position the issue as Republican vs. Democrat.

Its a lifestyle/values judgment between urban and rural more than anything else, he insists. He says many residents of rural Oregon arent as conservative as me but still see the benefits of being part of a more rural-minded state like Idaho.

He and Gottschalk acknowledge there are a lot of questions eastern-Oregon voters would need to chew on, such as schools funding (Oregon spends more per student than Idaho) and the advantages/drawbacks of a sales tax (Idaho has one, Oregon doesnt) and an estate tax (Oregon has one, Idaho doesnt).

He admits the Oregon counties would have to accept that theyd likely receive fewer services from the state if they jumped to Idaho. But this also could be one of the reasons Oregon might be willing to let them go.

Most of the counties east of the Cascades are upside down, he says. They have to be supplemented by the state. So, potentially, Salem might be willing to do it.

Needless to say, those counties services needs probably wouldnt make a border switch more attractive to Boise.

And thats one reason the target map for Move Oregons Border swings west in the southern part of Oregon. (The group is also targeting parts of northern California.)

Idaho wouldnt be land-locked anymore, McCarter points out. It would have a shipping port in Coos Bay. Thatd be huge.

McCarter recognizes that the movement is a long shot, but he nevertheless believes the dominoes could fall quickly after the counties voters are on record with their wishes. After all, the redrawn border wouldnt create two new U.S. senators, as a new state would, nor is it an attempt to leave the U.S. And it would make Oregon bluer and Idaho redder, which would probably please those legislatures majorities.

How often do you have the opportunity to be part of a movement to make things better for people? McCarter says. We are dealing with our liberty.

-- Douglas Perry

@douglasmperry

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Rio Tinto has approved a $98 million (100 per cent basis) investment in a new solar plant at the Koodaideri mine in the Pilbara, Australia, as well as a lithium-ion battery energy storage system to help power its entire Pilbara power network.

The 34 megawatt solar photovoltaic plant is expected to supply all of Koodaideri's electricity demand during peak solar power generation times and approximately 65 per cent of the mine's average electricity demand.

The plant, Rio Tinto's first company-owned solar facility, will consist of an estimated 100,000 panels, covering an area of 105 hectares. Construction is expected to begin later this year, subject to government approvals, and is due to be completed in 2021.

Complementing it will be a new 12MWh battery energy storage system in Tom Price that will provide spinning reserve generating capacity to support a stable and reliable network.

The solar plant and battery are estimated to lower annual carbon dioxide emissions by about 90,000 tonnes compared to conventional gas powered generation. This is the equivalent of taking about 28,000 cars off the road.

Rio Tinto Iron Ore chief executive Chris Salisbury said "The construction of our first solar plant in the Pilbara is a significant milestone for the business and an important step in reducing our carbon footprint in the region.

"We are investigating additional renewable energy options in the Pilbara, as well as other opportunities to reduce emissions across our entire global portfolio, building on the 43 per cent reduction in absolute greenhouse gas emissions since 2008."

Rio Tinto is working to define new emissions reduction targets from 2020 as part of our transition to a lower carbon world.

Notes for editors

Koodaideri, 100 per cent owned by Rio Tinto, is located approximately 35 kilometres north-west of Rio Tinto's Yandicoogina mine site, and about 110 kilometres from the town of Newman.

Funding for the solar plant and battery sits within Rio Tinto's existing guidance for sustaining capital expenditure for its iron ore business.

The $2.6 billion Koodaideri mine was approved in November last year with construction commencing earlier this year. Production capacity will be 43 million tonnes annually with first production is expected to commence by the end of 2021.

Rio Tinto's Weipa operation in Queensland sources power from an on-site solar facility.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200216005044/en/

Contacts:

media.enquiries@riotinto.com

riotinto.com

Follow @RioTinto on Twitter

Media Relations, Australia

Jonathan Rose

T +61 3 9283 3088

M +61 447 028 913

Matt Chambers

T +61 3 9283 3087

M +61 433 525 739

Jesse Riseborough

T +61 8 6211 6013

M +61 436 653 412

Media Relations, United Kingdom

Illtud Harri

M +44 7920 503 600

David Outhwaite

T +44 20 7781 1623

M +44 7787 597 493

Media Relations, Americas

Matthew Klar

T +1 514 608 4429

Media Relations, Asia

Grant Donald

T +65 6679 9290

M +65 9722 6028

Investor Relations, Australia

Natalie Worley

T +61 3 9283 3063

M +61 409 210 462

Amar Jambaa

T +61 3 9283 3627

M +61 472 865 948

Investor Relations, United Kingdom

Menno Sanderse

T: +44 20 7781 1517

M: +44 7825 195 178

David Ovington

T +44 20 7781 2051

M +44 7920 010 978

Rio Tinto plc

6 St James's Square

London SW1Y 4AD

United Kingdom

T +44 20 7781 2000

Registered in England

No. 719885

Rio Tinto Limited

Level 7, 360 Collins Street

Melbourne 3000

Australia

T +61 3 9283 3333

Registered in Australia

ABN 96 004 458 404

Category: Pilbara
Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

The global HVAC systems market size is anticipated to reach USD 208.6 billion by 2027, according to a new study by Grand View Research Inc., registering a CAGR of 6.1% over the forecast period. Growing commercial sector and rapid urbanization across the globe are driving the demand for HVAC equipment. Furthermore, incentives and rebate programs offered by various governments to promote the use of energy-efficient units is anticipated to drive the market growth.

Moreover, HVAC systems are being integrated with next-generation technologies, such as IoT sensors, remote control systems, and hybrid HVAC units, to increase efficiency and reduce energy consumption. This is also anticipated to support the global market expansion over the forecast period. On the other hand, high installation and maintenance costs, coupled with complexity of retrofit HVAC installations, may hinder the market growth. However, many prominent manufacturers are investing in R&D to develop cost- and energy-efficient units, which will fuel the product demand. For instance, a California-based company developed an ice-powered air conditioner. The new system reduces the energy consumption of the building by freezing a significant amount of water overnight and offers six hours of cooling the next day.

Several residential complexes and businesses are replacing old HVAC systems with new energy-efficient units for higher performance, energy savings, and cost reduction. Moreover, remodeling or new construction of residential, commercial, or industrial buildings require HVAC systems, which is another factor driving the market growth.

Asia Pacific dominated the global market in 2019. This growth is attributed to the rising disposable income and awareness regarding energy-efficient products. Furthermore, the growing real estate sector across the region as a result of increasing population will have a positive impact on product demand. The emergence of smart buildings and government initiatives promoting the use of energy- and cost-efficient systems are also expected to boost the regional market growth.

Further key findings from the study suggest:

Cooling systems dominated the global market in 2019 and this trend is expected to continue through the forecast period owing to the rising demand from the residential and commercial sectors

The residential segment emerged as the leading product segment in 2019 owing to growth of the real estate sector in developing regions

Asia Pacific dominated the global market in 2019, driven by Japan and China, which collectively contributed to more than 50.0% of the total sales in the region. This can be attributed to the high populace, rising disposable income, and improved real estate market

Leading companies and several governments across the globe are promoting HVAC systems through endorsement labels such as ENERGY STAR for energy efficiency and incentive programs, which will boost the market growth

Some of the top companies in this HVAC systems market are LG Electronics, Inc.; Lennox International, Inc.; Carrier Corporation; Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.; United Technologies Corporation; Johnson Controls International PLC; and Daikin Industries Ltd.

Grand View Research has segmented the global HVAC systems market on the basis of product, end use, and region:

HVAC Systems Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2016 - 2027)

Heating

Ventilation

Cooling

HVAC Systems End-use Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2016 - 2027)

Residential

Commercial

Industrial

HVAC Systems Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2016 - 2027)

North America U.S. Canada Mexico

Europe U.K. Germany France Italy Spain

Asia Pacific India China Japan South Korea Australia

South America Brazil Argentina Chile

Middle East & Africa (MEA)

Access full research report on global HVAC systems market:

www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/hvac-equipment-industry
A heading a parliamentary group on on Monday claimed she was denied entry into India despite a valid visa after she landed at the airport here, a charge denied by the government which said she had been informed that her e-visa was cancelled.

Debbie Abrahams, a Labour Party member and chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Kashmir, said in a statement that she arrived in Delhi on Monday morning and was informed that her e-visa, which was valid till October 2020, had been cancelled.

A Home Ministry spokesperson said the British parliamentarian had been duly informed that her visa was cancelled and she arrived in Delhi despite knowing this fact.
32 Shares Share

The truth is: While physicians are not allowed to discriminate against their patients, patients are allowed to discriminate against their physicians.

This is particularly true in the private sector, fueled by online physician profiles permitting patients to choose provider characteristics ranging from those as benign as Ivy League training background to those as problematic as racial ethnicity. In this setting, the U.S.s free-market economy reigns supreme  freedom of choice is everything. However, in the public sector, where large academic institutions reside, things should be different.

My fear is that in the current political climate, where prejudice is not only more rampant but more easily accepted, that patient bias may endanger both physicians of today and the future.

One example of the longstanding impact patient bias can have on medicine is seen in obstetrics and gynecology with the demographic shift towards female providers.

Some women prefer to be treated by female providers, and this seems reasonable to many. However, this was not always the case. Fifty years ago, 90% of OB/GYNs were men, and most women did not even have the choice to request a female physician.

As patient bias turned away from male providers, the entire socio-demographic makeup of the field began to change. In 2017, a study published by the American College of Gynecology (ACOG) found that roughly 59% of OB/GYNs were women with projections as high as 66% in the next decade  a sharp contrast to reports half a century prior. Here, patient bias had an overwhelmingly positive impact on the socio-demographic breakdown of the field, with the specialty becoming one of the most diverse in modern medicine over the past few decades.

Some critics have argued for more male representation, while their counterparts believe it is a natural response to years of women and minorities being excluded from the field. Ultimately, patient bias has a profound impact on not only how medicine is practiced but also how it looks to the average patient.

It is important to direct attention to the current state of permissible patient bias and discrimination in medicine.

A recent Medscape publication on abusive patient remarks to providers over five years reports that 31% of physicians have had patients who requested another physician  most often due to ones gender, ethnicity, or race.

It is no surprise that minority physicians face these challenges at heightened rates, with 70% of African Americans and 69% of Asian Americans reporting biased comments from patients.

A part of me believes this comes down to a certain level of classism that goes uncharted in medicine.

High-income, less-diverse patients have more choice than lower-income patients in the hospital setting  often hiring private consultants directing them on which providers to involve in their care.

Lower-income minority patients, on the other hand, do not have the same power to speak up about what physicians they want included in their care; they must rely on the service physicians provided by the hospital.

Bias in medicine should only be permissible if it is balanced. Minority patients do not have the same authority in the hospital to request minority physicians that unequally places the negative burden of patient selection, discrimination, and bias on those groups.

In large academic hospitals, the art and science of medicine conduct a delicate balancing act.

Academic hospitals generate recognition through scientific discovery and education, the science, while dedicated, selfless physicians collaborate with their patients to tackle illness and disease in a clinical setting, the art.

The interplay between the micro and macro, the art and science, is crucial to the cogwheel that is academic medicine.

I would urge patients to think critically about the choices they make at their doctors office and how their bias and desire for personal comfort can have a longstanding impact on the future of medicine  conceivably disqualifying those who can add to scientific breakthrough so paramount to modern medical treatment.

To physicians, let this be a reminder that while patient bias is occasionally warranted, it is altogether imperfect and unbalanced in the context of our health care system and society at large  often putting a strain on our colleagues who have also suffered for the right to be called doctor.

Olamide Omidele is a medical student.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Derry councillors have supported new dog control orders which will give the local council greater powers to tackle dog fouling and irresponsible owners in the city.

It comes after a recent meeting of Full Council where Derry's Mayor revealed that she lost sight in one eye when she was a child because of dog faeces. Mayor Michaela Boyle spoke about her own ordeal as a five-year-old during a debate on the blight of dog-fouling in the local area.

The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act (NI) 2011 enables Councils to create up to five separate orders to help manage issues associated with dogs in respect of any land in the council area.

They are, failing to remove dog faeces, not keeping a dog on a lead, not putting and keeping a dog on a lead when directed to do so by an authorised officer, permitting a dog to enter land from which dogs are excluded and taking more than a specified number of dogs onto land.

The Department of the Environments published guidance on Dog Control Orders states that district councils must be able to show that this is a necessary and proportionate response to problems caused by the activities of dogs and those in charge of them.

A Dog Control Order for, failing to remove dog faeces, was introduced by Council in 2015. This replaced the previous provisions in respect of permitting a dog to foul.

Further scoping work has been undertaken by the Dog Control Working Group established to consider the potential benefits of introducing additional controls to tackle ongoing issues of irresponsible dog ownership.

The groups primary consideration on behalf of Council is to balance the interests of those in charge of dogs against the interests of those affected by the activities of dogs, bearing in mind the need for people, in particular children, to have access to dog-free areas and areas where dogs are kept under strict control.

Three new dog control orders have been considered by Derry City & Strabane District Council. Not keeping a dog on a lead, not putting, and keeping, a dog on a lead when directed to do so by an authorised officer, and permitting a dog to enter land from which dogs are excluded.

Details of a comprehensive consultation have to be published in local papers.

A number of frontline staff from across the various sections of Council will be able to enforce the orders to ensure a more effective and comprehensive approach to responsible dog ownership.

The level of potential income from the service of fixed penalty notices cannot be readily estimated in advance, however, such monies are required to be reinvested on education and enforcement initiatives.

The fixed penalty will be set at the maximum fine of 80 with a provision for a discount to 50 for early payment.

Alliance Councillor Rachael Ferguson happily proposed the recommendation but sought assurances that the council was not adopting an order around the maximum number of dogs taken onto land as she has constituents who would walk more than four dogs.

Independent Cllr Paul Gallagher was happy to second the proposal which will address what is a major problem in towns and cities. He said this would form part of a long-term solution but suggested a presentation may be needed around other measures that will complement this.

As someone who is absolutely terrified of dogs, SDLP Cllr Brian Tierney said he thinks its best for them to be kept on leads. It was supported by all members of the committee.
Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Assembly Siddaramaiah on Monday demanded that forest minister Anand Singh should either be expelled from the Cabinet or assigned a different portfolio.

This comes amid a number of cases, pending against Singh, including those under the Karnataka Forest Act.

"How can we expect justice from Anand Singh who has been made forest minister and is accused of (illegal mining)? We demand that he should either be dropped out of the state Cabinet or at least his portfolio be changed," Siddaramaiah told ANI.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa allocated portfolios to the 10 newly inducted ministers in his Cabinet.

As part of state Cabinet's expansion, 10 MLAs including Ramesh Jarkiholi, Anand Singh, K Sudhakar, and BA Basavaraja took oath as ministers at Raj Bhawan in Bengaluru on February 6.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
She scrolls through photos online of women and girls in various stages of disrobe and degradation, apologizing now and then for the graphic nature of what I am seeing.

Their faces are contorted in what I assume to be expressions of enticement, but they seem more sad than sexy, more resigned, the eyes vacant and dilated.

Many of the photos show no faces, these women and girls reduced to body parts.

Kara Smith spends hours going through these photos and the social media sites from which they came. She knows some of the females by name, has followed some for years. She knows where they live, where they travel, what they eat, the slang they use, the tattoos they are branded with, the tattoos they have tried to cover.

She knows they are enmeshed in the dark, dirty world of human trafficking, and that the internet is a breeding ground for traffickers, who find their prey and ply their trade online.

For Smith, who tracks down these traffickers, the internet is her hunting ground.

Her dedication to her work has earned her the nickname Kara the Huntress.

Some people say Im like a bulldog at what I do, said Smith, who is wearing a T-shirt that reads I Eat, Sleep, Hunt Human Traffickers. I have a strong need to hold people accountable for their actions and thats why Im doing this.

She is also doing this because underneath the tattoos and the tawdriness are human beings.

Human trafficking should be an unbiased issue that everybody should care about because its slavery, yet its happening under our noses, she said. Whos out there saying Me Too for these girls?

Smith is the senior targeting analyst for DeliverFund, a nonprofit intelligence agency dedicated to fighting human trafficking by providing the intelligence and training needed by law enforcement officers to take down the traffickers.

The company was founded in 2014 in Albuquerque by former CIA special agent and Air Force pararescuer Nic McKinley.

Although it has since moved its main headquarters to Dallas  taking over the building once inhabited by Backpage, the giant online personal ad service it helped shutter because the service was found to be enabling prostitution and human trafficking of girls  DeliverFund still maintains an office in Albuquerque.

This is where I meet Smith, though she is often traveling across the country to assist law enforcement agencies. Earlier this month, she was in Miami assisting in a major anti-trafficking operation connected to the Super Bowl.

Smith has a unique skill set that makes her perfect for this unique organization. She served as an intelligence analyst in the Air Force for six years, deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq to track down terrorists. She also worked in a similar vein for the National Security Agency, then with the FBI monitoring the terrorist watch list.

You wouldnt believe the behind-the-scenes work it takes to keep this country safe, she said.

She left the job to raise a family in Albuquerque. But after two years as a stay-at-home mom, she was ready to go back to work.

Thats when McKinley found her profile on LinkedIn.

Nic says to me, Do you want to hunt human traffickers?  she recalled of their conversation in August 2017. My response was, Hell, yes. 

Hunting traffickers is not that different from hunting terrorists, she said.

From her laptop, she uses state-of-the-art technology and software to hunt down identities and locations of the traffickers who exploit girls and women for sex. Among the arrows in her quiver is Platform for the Analysis and Targeting of Human Traffickers, or PATH, a program created by DeliverFund that can, in minutes, provide law enforcement agents with a CSI-style web of names, locations, past criminal history and connections to other cases in various jurisdictions using the largest database of human trafficking cases in the country.

If you touch anything online, I can find you, she said.

Smith and DeliverFund have worked with local law enforcement, including the Attorney Generals Office, Albuquerque Police Department, the Department of Homeland Security in Albuquerque and they are just beginning to work with the Bernalillo County Sheriffs Department.

Last summer, DeliverFund lent its expertise in busting a sex-trafficking operation at the Best Choice Inn on East Central, resulting in the arrests of three accused traffickers who had been making tens of thousands of dollars by selling drugs and as many as 17 women for sex.

Smith said she can leave behind her job when she is busy being a mom.

I know how to compartmentalize, she said. And when I really need to clear my head, a quick trip to Meow Wolf in Santa Fe always does the trick.

And then she is back to the hunt.

I really enjoy my job, she said.

UpFront is a front-page news and opinion column. Comment directly to Joline at 823-3603, jkrueger@abqjournal.com or follow her on Twitter @jolinegkg. Go to www.abqjournal.com/letters/new to submit a letter to the editor.

Learn more

For more information of the work DeliverFund does, click on deliverfund.org or DeliverFund on Facebook.
P aul Caruana Galizia was at a friends house in Notting Hill when he received the news he realised he had been dreading his whole life. His brother called from their family home in Malta to tell him their mother had been killed  a bomb had been placed under her car.

I felt outside my body, like I was looking down at myself from the ceiling, says Paul, a slim man in a moss green jumper who speaks with remarkable poise about what his family is contending with. I dont know how I managed it, but I cycled home to Stockwell and caught the next flight I could to Malta. My two older brothers and dad met me at the airport. I had a never-ending splitting headache for days, I barely ate or slept  you feel everything is a waste of time.

Paul had always known his mother was different. Daphne Caruana Galizia was the first woman to write a political column in Malta. She earned a reputation as a one-woman Wiki-Leaks, fearlessly investigating neo-Nazis, drug traffickers and political corruption, and facing death threats for her stories.

On her blog, Running Commentary, she reported how she went through the Panama Papers and discovered offshore wealth allegedly linked to the then Maltese Prime Ministers inner circle. The last words she typed on the day she died, October 16, 2017, were: There are crooks everywhere you look now. The situation is desperate.

Growing up it was weird enough to have a mother who worked  all my friends mothers were housewives  let alone one like her, says Paul. It was as if there was only one person in Malta called Daphne  youd hear her name on the news and know it was her. Everyone in my family worried about her, but it felt wrong to even ask her to stop writing.

She tried to shield us  I was six when the first arson attack happened and she said shed dropped a candle; when our dogs were killed she said they had eaten poison. We grew up with threats, so in a way you are prepared for it, its within the realms of the possible, but it still shocks you. My mother was 53, she was the centre of our family. Suddenly we had to reconfigure. I had to go to the morgue and give a DNA sample because they couldnt identify her.

In December 2017, three people were accused of being hitmen and arrested over her death, but there was no investigation of what was behind it. They have all pleaded not guilty. My brother Andrew said it was like arresting the bomb, says Paul.

Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered by a car bomb in 2017 / Pippa Zammit Cutajar

The family still havent grieved. Instead they have been consumed by a fight for justice. Theyve also set up the investigative journalism organisation The Daphne Project to continue her work.

Before Daphne was killed she had been investigating a story which claimed that a senior cabinet minister, Konrad Mizzi, and the Prime Ministers chief of staff, Keith Schembri, had opened shell companies registered in Panama. She was investigating alleged payments to Mizzi and Schembri. Mizzi and Schembri deny these payments, and any wrongdoing.

In November last year, Yorgen Fenech, one of Maltas richest businessmen, was eventually charged with complicity in Daphnes murder. He has pleaded not guilty and the case is ongoing. But it was a turning point for Daphnes family. Paul says they are still discovering how right my mother was.

There is also a case in France, where Fenech owns hotels and a racing stable, looking into whether he made payments to Maltese aides and ministers. And last month Joseph Muscat, the Maltese Prime Minister, resigned. Paul is lukewarm about his successor, Robert Abela. Muscat wanted him. The biggest test will be if Muscat is properly prosecuted.

A newspaper front page after Daphne's death / AFP via Getty Images

Paul asked the UK foreign office to publicly support the call for a public inquiry into Daphnes death. They said they were working behind the scenes but they used the Maltese governments line that it would interfere with the investigation. Individual MPs have been supportive, including Jess Phillips and Andrew Mitchell.

Ive made my job about my mother, says Paul, who left a position at a think tank to become a journalist at Tortoise Media. Now he has made a four-part podcast to find out the truth behind his mothers murder. I would like the podcast to humanise my mother, he says. In the last 10 years of her life she was robbed of her personality and humanity; called a witch, a whore; harassed. She used to love swimming in the sea but she couldnt because it wasnt safe for her to be outside. The whole thing upset her a lot but she would never talk to us about it, she never complained.

Recordings of Daphne feature on the podcast, and this was the first time Paul had heard his mothers voice since she died. I found that really difficult, he says. I told the producer to take over that bit as I couldnt keep listening. I havent listened to the podcast yet  I find it too much  but my family say its good. The hardest thing to deal with is there is no end. I dont know if we have ever grieved because we were just kicked into this battle straight away. I need to force myself not to think about it sometimes so we dont exhaust ourselves, but I dont think were good at that  it dominates our lives.

The wreckage from the bomb / AFP via Getty Images

Daphne was a reserved woman who liked reading. She decided she wanted to be a journalist aged 19 in 1984 after being attacked by a policeman and detained for 24 hours at a protest about religious schools being shut down. For her this was a turning point  she left thinking, What am I going to do?  She met Pauls father, a lawyer who is now 63, at a bar and Paul jokes, She thought he was a creep for approaching her.

Paul says she was the one who looked after him and his brothers. For a lot of people in Malta it was strange to imagine her as a mother, but thats what she was for us. We would have fights, go out to eat, shed nag us about our clothes and girlfriends. She was the one who took us to school, made our lunches. She cooked these homemade burgers.

She wasnt strict about most things, but she was about how if we messed up at school wed pay for it with boring jobs. I remember her telling us, Get out of Malta while you still can because things are only going to get worse. Did she ever consider leaving? She had a big emotional investment in the country and thought she shouldnt have to leave. Later, when Paul came to London to study at LSE in 2009 and stayed, marrying an English woman called Jessica, Daphne was a regular visitor. She liked Soho and Columbia Road Flower Market.

The last time Paul saw her was when he went to see her in Malta in July 2017. Before that she had come to Stockwell at Easter. She bought us two hortensia flowers which we still have, and a bottle of wine I havent opened.

What would Paul say to people who want to visit Malta? Think quite critically about the country and how it is being governed.

Outrage: protesters at an event organised by Daphnes family in Malta last year / Getty Images

Pauls grandparents went to every one of the trials of the case, sitting, he says, closer to Fenech than I am to you today. He was 35 when my mother was murdered. He was rich, married, with two young children. He had everything, yet there he was on a Saturday night, completely alone, about to be charged with complicity in a murder.

But the arrest has given Paul hope. On the anniversary of my mothers death last year there was a vigil in Malta. The mood was different, more energised. For the first time since she died it doesnt feel like we are coming up against a wall. You either feel sorry about it, stay at home and cry and despair, or you keep campaigning. We have to push every lever we can.
AAP will launch a nationwide campaign to connect around 1 crore people from across the nation. This campaign will be active from February 23 to March 23, according to senior AAP leader Gopal Rai. The AAP MLA from Babarpur constituency and other ministers held a meeting with the AAP state office bearers at the CM residence post the swearing-in ceremony.

Rai told the news agency PTI that the work to increase nationwide connect will be focussed on three things. According to Rai, the AAP state units will initiate the month long 'Rashtra Nirman' campaign from February 23. Under this nationwide campaign of the AAP, volunteers will hold public meetings. The target is to connect 1 crore people with the party.

After this, posters inviting people in all legislative assembly constituencies across India will be published urging them to be a part of the "nation building" campaign by giving a missed call to 9871010101. In order "to disseminate the message of nation building by joining the AAP", party's state leadership will hold pressers in capital cities and later in other major cities of the states.

After all this culminates, the party will take a call on what all local polls to contest. According to Gopal Rai, contesting local polls will help the party to strengthen its hold at the grassroots level.

The AAP registered a landslide victory in the Delhi elections 2020 by winning 62 out of 70 seats. The BJP was reduced to single digits as it won only 8 seats and the Congress did not win a single seat in this election.

Also read: AAP invites 'Little Mufflerman' to Arvind Kejriwal's oath-taking ceremony

Also read: Arvind Kejriwal's oath-taking ceremony's speech: key takeaways
A Home Ministry-appointed committee has recommended that two-third seats in the Assam Assembly should be reserved for the indigenous people of the state and 1951 should be the cut-off year to define the local population, sources said on Monday.

The committee has also suggested creation of a legislative council (Upper House) for Assam and introduction of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) to control the movement of people from outside the state, they said.

For the reservation of seats for indigenous people in Assam Assembly, the 13-member panel has recommended two formulas, including a quota of two-third seats (67 per cent) for them.

In case of reservation of seats in the Assam Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies from the state, all members, except three, have suggested that 67 per cent seats should be reserved for the indigenous people. The remaining three members suggested that the reservation in legislative bodies should be 100 per cent.

"We have mentioned that there is no dissenting note but there are two suggestions for the reservation of assembly and Lok Sabha seats," a source said.

In addition to the 67 per cent reservation for the indigenous people, 16 per cent will also be reserved for the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities.

"So, effectively, the reservation will go up to 83 per cent if it is accepted," the source said.

Assam has a total of 126 assembly constituencies, while it sends 14 MPs to Lok Sabha.

The high-level committee, headed by Justice (Retd) Biplab Kumar Sharma, was set up by the home ministry to suggest ways to provide constitutional safeguards to Assam's indigenous people.

The sources said the panel finalised its report last week, conveyed to the home ministry that it was ready to submit it to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and has sought an appointment with him.

The report is expected to be submitted this week itself.

The committee, according to the sources, unanimously recommended that those who were residents of Assam in 1951 and their descendants, irrespective of community, caste, language, religion or heritage, will be considered as indigenous people of the state.

Besides, the panel suggested that the ILP should be introduced in Assam so that movement of people from outside the state could be controlled.

As per the rules, outsiders have to take permission from designated authorities before entering the areas where the ILP is applicable.

The ILP, notified under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873, has been in operation in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram for long and it was introduced in Manipur in December 2019 following an uproar over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

In case of state government jobs, the committee recommended 80 per cent reservation for the locals.

A number of other recommendations were also given for the protection and growth of Assamese and other indigenous languages.

"The committee's job is over. After its formal submission, the central government can either modify, reject or implement (the report) in toto," another source said.

The committee was set up in July 2019 as per the Clause 6 of the 1985 Assam Accord. The clause envisages constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards to protect, preserve and promote cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.

On February 7, addressing a rally in Assam, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said the central government will work expeditiously to implement Clause 6 once the high-powered committee submits its report.

In his speech in Rajya Sabha during a debate on the CAA, Shah had said, "In 1985, the Assam Accord happened. There is a provision in Clause 6 to protect the indigenous culture of the state. From 1985 to 2014, the committee was not constituted for Clause 6."



"I want to assure that the NDA government, through Clause 6, will protect rights of the people of Assam. We have constituted the committee and All Assam Students' Union is part of the committee. I want them to send the report of the committee quickly," he had said.

It is to be seen how the central government will implement the recommendations as the Supreme Court has imposed a 50 per cent cap on quota



According to its terms and conditions, "The committee will assess the appropriate level of reservation of seats in the Assam Legislative Assembly and local bodies for the Assamese people.""The committee will recommend the appropriate level of reservations in employment under the government of Assam for the Assamese people," according to a home ministry notification.

Assam has witnessed widespread protests against the CAA. There has been a growing feeling among the indigenous people of the state that the newly enacted legislation will hurt their interests politically, culturally as well as socially.

The Assam Accord provides for detection and deportation of all illegal immigrants, who entered the country after 1971 and are living in the state, irrespective of their religion.

According to the CAA, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who came to India from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, to escape religious persecution will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship.

The protesters in Assam claim that the CAA violates the provisions of the Assam Accord.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Caroline Flack died by suicide on 15 February. She is pictured at the BRIT awards in London in February 2015. (Reuters)

TV presenter Caroline Flack was found dead in her north London home on 15 February.

A lawyer for the 40-year-olds family said she took her own life.

She was due to stand trial, charged with assaulting her boyfriend last year.

In response to the tragic news, the Samaritans tweeted: If youre findings things tough tonight and feel like youve got nowhere to turn, were here to listen.

Suicide is a leading cause of death, with one person taking their life every 40 seconds worldwide.

In the UK and Republic of Ireland alone, 6,859 people died by suicide in 2018.

Men are three times more likely to end their life than women, with the 45-to-49 age group most vulnerable.

Read more: Why talking is so important for mental health

Our research shows suicide is complex and is rarely caused by one thing, a Samaritans spokesperson told Yahoo UK.

We know many people who express suicidal thoughts and feelings do not want to die; they simply do not want to carry on with the life they have and are unable to see any other way to cope with what they are experiencing.

Talking can really help a person to see a way through this and we would encourage anyone who is feeling low to reach out for help.

We know many people find it hard to speak openly or ask for help when they are struggling, but talking can be life-saving  whether its with a family member, friend or a confidential helpline like Samaritans.

How to spot when a loved one may have suicidal thoughts

Suicidal feelings can affect people of any age, sex or background.

Those who feel this way may have been battling emotions of worthlessness or helplessness for some time.

For unclear reasons, men are more at risk. This may be due to societys expectation to get on with things.

People from LGBTQ communities are also more at risk, possibly due to bullying or discrimination.

READ MORE: The pursuit of happiness may cause depression

Nevertheless, there are no defined warning signs when it comes to suicidal thoughts.

Story continues

Many of those who experience these emotions are depressed, which can lead to substance abuse, fatigue, and disturbed eating or sleeping patterns.

Some also lose interest in activities they once enjoyed, such as sex.

They may struggle to concentrate, remember things or make decisions. Some may also appear irritable, tearful or panicky.

People may just act out of sorts, whether thats by being unusually quiet, confrontational or reckless.

Look out for signs someone may be preparing to end their life, like making a will.

Overall, Rethink Mental Illness urges people to trust their instincts if something seems alarming.

Talking can help people process what they are feeling. (Getty Images)

How to encourage someone to talk

If a loved one seems to be struggling, we often want to help, but are unsure where to start.

The Samaritans stress that you do not have to be an expert  just listening can often help people work through whats on their mind.

The late Reverend Chad Varah, founder of The Samaritans, said: There are in this world, in every country, people who seem to be ordinary, but who, when meeting a suicidal person, turn out to be extraordinary.

They can usually save lives. How? They give the sad person their total attention.

They completely forget themselves. They listen and listen and listen, without interrupting. They have no message. They do not preach.

When it comes to starting the conversation, find somewhere quiet, where you will not be interrupted.

Set aside plenty of time and ensure you are both physically comfortable.

To show you care, put away your phone and maintain eye contact.

Resolve not to talk about yourself  make it all about the other person.

The first attempt to start this conversation may be unsuccessful.

Remember, it can take a lot for a person to open up and they should not feel rushed.

If you are trying to encourage someone to discuss their feelings, try keeping a listening diary, noting the times you listened well and when you were distracted.

The Samaritans encourage non-judgmental listening, where a person is safe to reflect on the emotions they are experiencing.

If they pause, do not rush to fill the silence. It may take time to formulate how they feel or they may struggle to find the words to sum it up.

Aim for open-ended questions that have more than just a yes or no response.

Try: How are you feeling today? You could then follow their answer with: Tell me more.

Show empathy by saying: I cant imagine how painful this is for you, but I would like to try to understand.

Repeating their response shows they have your undivided attention.

It also reassures them you have not misunderstood or made your own interpretations.

If you feel you have said the wrong thing, do not panic.

You could follow with: I realise that was insensitive, Im sorry. I'm still here for you.

Rethink Mental Illnesses stresses that talking to someone about their suicidal thoughts does not make them more likely to end their life.

Many people feel relieved and less isolated when they are asked these sorts of questions, Stephen Buckley, from Mind, told Yahoo UK.

Reassure the person the feeling will not last forever, while encouraging them to get through the day rather than looking to the future.

Importantly, do not tell them to cheer up or pull themselves together.

Do not say they should not be feeling the way they do or that they should be grateful for their good life.

This can make them feel rejected, ignored, patronised or guilty.

Counsellors can help those needing extra support. (Getty Images)

Where to send people who need extra support

If a loved one still feels low after talking it through, they may need extra support from a counsellor.

Try asking: Have you talked to anyone else about this?, Would you like to get some help? and Would you like me to come with you?

If they are reluctant, ask Do you have someone you trust you can go to? and let them know they can talk to you at any time.

If somebody has ongoing suicidal thoughts, you could also offer practical support like helping them access mental health services, said Buckley.

The Samaritans are available 24/7 on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org

The non-emergency NHS number 111 also offers health advice.

For those outside the UK, Befrienders Worldwide lists helplines in different countries.

If someone is speaking of attempting suicide or has hurt themselves, call 999.

Caring for someone in distress can trigger low mood in itself. Ensure you reach out for support if it all gets too much.

If someone tries to end their life, this is not your fault, Rethink Mental Illness adds.
Russia began to deploy its troops along the Aleppo-Damascus (M-5) highway.

The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has officially taken control of the Greater Aleppo area after the last remaining militants fled west along the last road open.

According to a field source in Aleppo, the jihadist rebels completely surrendered the Anadan Plain region after controlling this area for more than six years, according to Al Masdar News.

The capture of the Anadan Plain region came shortly after the Syrian Arab Army announced complete control over all areas that were previously under jihadist control in Aleppo city.

Read alsoRussian strikes kill 11 civilians in Syria's Idlib

With Greater Aleppo and the provincial capital secured, there will likely be a ceasefire between the militants and Syrian Army, with peace negotiations to continue in Astana.

At the same time, according to the European Pravda media outlet, Russia began to deploy its troops, the so-called "green little men," along the Aleppo-Damascus (M-5) highway. Russian military police are setting up new checkpoints in areas previously controlled by jihadists.
The Central University of Odisha will join the Central Universities Common Entrance Test (CUCET) consortium for admission to its various undergraduate (UG), postgraduate (PG) and research programs this year.

Vice-Chancellor of Central University of Odisha, Professor I Ramabrahmam told ANI that it will help in improving the standard of the university.

"Joining CUCET is to increase diversity and help in building the character of the central university in true sense. It would help in promoting quality to a large number of students," said Ramabrahmam.

He also highlighted the collaboration of industries with the university.

"The Central University of Odisha is entering into agreements with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) and other Navaratna companies for industrial tie-ups, he said.

Prof Pujari, the coordinator for the entrance test told that CUCET exam will be conducted in 112 cities of the country.

"The Central University of Odisha is inviting applications for 30 courses. Students from all over the country can apply for this exam online and can opt for their choice," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 14:12:58|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

WASHINGTON, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Eighth-seeded Kyle Edmund of Britain defeated Italian Andreas Seppi 7-5, 6-1 in the men's singles final for the title of the New York Open on Sunday.

Edmund picked up his second ATP Tour crown, with his maiden trophy coming 16 months ago in the Antwerp Open. The 25-year-old improved to 7-3 this year and now leads Seppi 5-1 in their head-to-head record.

"There's a lot hard work throughout the year, a lot of ups and downs that you don't see behind the scenes. To win this title means a lot to me," Edmund said.

"He played a good match today and he deserved to win," Seppi said of Edmund's performance. "I enjoyed my time on this court and played some good matches this week. I'll take the positives from here and move forward."

Both players traded comfortable service holds throughout most of the opening set. But with Seppi serving at 5-6, Edmund raised his level just in time to draw the first blood.

In the second set, Edmund continued to apply pressure in return games while remaining flawless on serve. After taking a 3-0 lead, Edmund never looked back.
FORT MYERS, Fla.  Principal owner John Henry opened his press conference here Monday at JetBlue Park by reading a statement directed to Red Sox fans about trading 2018 American League MVP Mookie Betts.

Watch Henry deliver his full statement above. The complete transcript is below.

The Red Sox traded Betts and David Price to the Dodgers for Alex Verdugo and prospects Jeter Downs and Connor Wong.

I understand that there is probably little I can say today that will change how you feel about this, Henry said during his 6-minute speech. But it is my responsibility to try.

He added toward the end, "We felt we could not sit on our hands and lose him next offseason without getting value in return to help us on our path forward.
Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required.

Your Full Name: (optional)

Your Email Address: Your Email Address is required.
The Delhi High Court on Monday sought response of the Centre, AAP government and police on the plea by a student of Jamia Millia Islamia University seeking compensation for injuries suffered in the anti Citizenship (Amendment) Act related violence at the varsity.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar issued notice to the three seeking their stand on the student's petition which has alleged that both his legs were broken by police when he was studying in the university library.

The plea by Shayaan Mujeeb, filed through advocate Nabila Hasan, contends that he has spent over Rs two lakh on treatment of the injuries suffered by him.

Earlier another student, Mohd Minhajuddin, had moved a plea seeking a probe into the incident and compensation for injuries suffered by him.

Minhajuddin, according to his plea, had lost vision in one



eye in the incident.

On December 15 last year, a protest against the CAA near Jamia turned violent, with demonstrators pelting stones at police and setting public buses and private vehicles on fire.

Police later entered Jamia, firing tear gas shells and baton-charging students.

Several students, including the petitioner, were injured in the police crackdown.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Australia has been planning for such a potentially catastrophic event for years. That is what governments and health groups do. But when the coronavirus outbreak first struck, all the rehearsed responses were left seeming inadequate given the dearth of detail on the origin and form of the virus. When worst-case scenarios cannot be ruled out, fear and anxiety ensue.

A microscope image shows a sample of the virus (in orange) that was isolated from a patient. Credit:NIAID-RML

It did not take long for the virus to surface in Australia, the initial case being that of a man who flew to Melbourne after visiting Wuhan, the city of 11 million at the centre of the outbreak. As the number of infections escalated in China, more cases emerged in Australia and in many other countries. In a world where more than 10,000 planes are flying at any one time, carrying more than 1 million passengers, it was hardly surprising.

And yet in recent weeks, as the cases have skyrocketed in China, with the latest figures surpassing 70,000 infections and 1700 deaths, the combined total for other countries is a few hundred, with very few deaths. In Australia, the tally has been steady at 15 infections for some time, with six people cleared and nine stable. There have been no deaths. That has to be ticked off as a success.

It has not been pure luck. The Australian government moved quickly to strongly advise people to avoid travelling to China, and Prime Minister Scott Morrison soon after announced a ban on arrivals from China, exempting Australian citizens and permanent residents. The ban was recently extended for another week, much to Chinas dismay. It has been devastating for local tourism operators, and universities are scrambling to enable thousands of Chinese students to continue their studies via the internet. The financial fallout will be counted in the many millions of dollars, but the lack of new infections in Australia has shown the decision to be the right one.
System error

error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.

context: ... 21: </%method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: </%perl> 28: <table width="90%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 29: <tr> ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25

/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951

/var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17

/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149



Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f0482467230)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f048471f6d0)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f0482467230)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f048471f6d0)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f0482472aa8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f048471f6d0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f048471f6d0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0481b687a8)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f04866a25a8)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f04866a25a8)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
SPRINGFIELD  Two Chicago-area residents who tested positive for novel coronavirus earlier this year have recovered and were released from home isolation this weekend, according to public health officials.

Federal, state and local health officials made the announcement in a news release Saturday, noting that the risk to the general public remains low and the two patients caused no further spread of the virus.

Based on what is currently known about the virus, and after close consultation with (the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Illinois Department of Public Health), we believe both patients can now safely return to their regular activities, including work, without restrictions, Dr. Allison Arwady, Chicago Department of Public Health commissioner, said in a news release.

Arwady added the patients have had multiple rounds of negative testing for the virus and are clinically well.

They do not need to wear masks, and neither does anyone interacting with them. They have been cleared, she said.

The two patients are husband and wife, and the woman, in her 60s, had recently returned from Wuhan, China, where the spread of the virus began. Health officials said at an earlier news conference that the spread of the virus to her husband was not totally unexpected due to the couples close proximity.

The couple was hospitalized at AMITA St. Alexius Medical Center in suburban Hoffman Estates in January and released to home isolation Feb. 7. Public health officials did not release other identifying information due to privacy concerns.

According to the news release, public health officials worked to monitor individuals who were in contact with either of the two patients who tested positive. A CDC team was also deployed to the state, which became one of the first that can test for the virus without shipping specimens out of state.

According to a situation report from the World Health Organization dated Feb. 16, there have been 51,857 cases confirmed globally, but just 683 of those came from outside of China. The virus has resulted in 1,666 deaths, with three of them outside of China.

In the U.S., there have been 15 positive cases while 60 tests are pending, according to the CDC.

In Illinois, there have been just two positive tests, both in the patients that are now cured, and 48 negative tests. Two more tests were awaiting results Monday, according to IDPH.

Symptoms for the virus include mild to severe respiratory illness with fever, cough and difficulty breathing.

IDPH officials said the test it can administer is intended for people who meet certain criteria, which include having traveled to China and other exposure history, as well as exhibiting the stated symptoms.

Authorities believe symptoms appear between two and 14 days after exposure, and there is not a significant risk of a person transmitting the virus before they develop symptoms.

Public health officials urge the same protections one takes against the common flu  covering coughs and sneezes, washing hands with warm soap and water, and staying home when sick.

The Illinois Department of Public Health maintains a novel coronavirus hotline at 1-800-889-3931 and can be reached via email at DPH.SICK@ILLINOIS.GOV.

Chicago residents can reach CDPH by calling 311, and the Cook County Department of Public Health can be reached at 708-633-4000.

Coronavirus is a large family of viruses, with some causing illness in people, and others circulating among animals, according to IDPH. The virus is named for the crown-like spikes on its surface. Human coronaviruses are common throughout the world and usually cause mild to moderate illness in people, according to IDPH.

The concern over the recent outbreak of the 2019 novel coronavirus comes from the fact that it is a new, unrecognized strain. Previous novel coronavirus strains  such as the ones that caused MERS, or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, and SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome  evolved from animal strains and have been associated with more severe respiratory illness, according to IDPH.

There is currently no vaccine to prevent the 2019 novel coronavirus.

However, the news release noted there are no additional precautions recommended for the general public to take in the U.S. because the virus has not been spreading widely here.
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

New Mexicos billowing eastern plains offer immense wind energy potential, but the massive power lines needed to transport that electricity are generating a gust of opposition in some rural communities.

The most recent dust-up involves the Western Spirit Transmission Line, which the states Renewable Energy Transmission Authority and private company Pattern Development are jointly building. The 150-mile line, expected to come online next year, will carry more than 800 megawatts of electricity from massive wind farms  still under construction by Pattern in central New Mexico near Corona  for sale in western states.

The five-member Valencia County Commission voted unanimously Jan. 15 to oppose the project, backed by a group of local landowners and residents that fears Western Spirits huge towers and miles of high-voltage lines will spoil their rural quality of life by obstructing pristine vistas, impacting wildlife and undermining tourism-related income and property values.

The Socorro County Commission also voted unanimously in September to oppose the project for similar reasons.

Western Spirit is the second major renewable energy transmission line to face such rural opposition, following major local pushback in recent years against the SunZia Southwest Transmission Project, a separate, 520-mile line that another company is developing to carry three gigawatts of wind energy from central New Mexico to Arizona. That line would cross the Rio Grande in between wildlife refuges for migrating birds, generating even stronger opposition than the Western Spirit project from wildlife conservation groups.

Unlike SunZia, however, which must still navigate significant regulatory hurdles, Western Spirit has received all the federal and state permits it needs to move forward, including approval from the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission for Public Service Company of New Mexico to acquire and operate the line after its built. But project developers must still negotiate right-of-way agreements with local landowners in Valencia and Socorro counties to allow the line to cross their lands, and some are holding out.

That and other public concerns, such as the Western Spirit lines possible interference with activity at the Belen Regional Airport, encouraged the Valencia County Commission to oppose the project in January, despite having little chance of stopping it.

We dont really see any options that county commissioners can pursue to stop it, said Valencia County Manager Danny Monette. But commissioners wanted to be on the record that they stand with county residents who oppose the project. We want to make sure our citizens voices are heard.

Total project a $1.5B investment

The Renewable Energy Transmission Authority has been working since 2010 to construct the Western Spirit line. RETA is a quasi-governmental entity the Legislature created in 2007 to help finance and build transmission systems to carry wind-generated electricity from central and eastern New Mexico. It owns the rights to the Western Spirit project.

Pattern, which will construct the line, is a global wind developer. It already operates 550 MW of wind farms near Clovis that now supply renewable electricity to utilities in California and other Western states.

The company says Western Spirit and the associated wind energy its developing represent a nearly $1.5 billion investment, including about $360 million for the transmission line and more than $1 billion for the wind farms. Together, those projects will generate tens of millions in tax revenue, landowner lease payments and salaries, said Johnny Casana, Patterns senior manager for U.S. political and regulatory affairs.

Western Spirit and up to 1,000 MW of associated new wind facilities will create hundreds of construction jobs available to residents of Valencia and surrounding counties, Casana told the Journal. Once operational, there will be more than 150 long-term jobs to keep the wind turbines maintained in good working order for decades to come.

Pattern is also the anchor tenant for the SunZia line. Its planning nearly a dozen more wind facilities near Corona to supply 2.2 GW of electricity for transport through SunZia to Western markets.

Plenty of wind, nowhere to go

RETA Executive Director Fernando Martinez said Western Spirit and projects like SunZia are needed to open up the vast wind energy potential in central and eastern New Mexico.

Without the transmission, our renewable energy remains stranded, Martinez said.

More transmission is critical to grow the states budding renewable energy industry. But PNM also needs the infrastructure, not just to accommodate wind developers who export electricity to other states, but for the utility to meet mandates under New Mexicos new Energy Transition Act, which requires it to derive all electricity from renewables and carbon-free resources by 2045.

PNMs current transmission is too congested to add more wind from the eastern plains, said PNM Vice President for New Mexico Operations Todd Fridley.

Some fear damage to rural quality of life

But Valencia County officials and residents say Western Spirits developers have ignored their concerns.

Local landowners in and around Bosque, where Western Spirit will cross the Rio Grande, have organized in opposition to the project. The group, led by local women whose families live alongside or near the river, has launched a neighborhood petition with about 100 signatures. Theyve met with government officials and Pattern representatives and have attended public meetings to oppose Western Spirit.

Romy Baca, whose siblings and other family members live on about 20 acres of land near the river that their late father divided among them, said the transmission line will lower property values and quality of life.

These are huge towers that will cut right through the area where weve lived all our lives, Baca said. It will destroy the natural beauty.

Stephanie McCleary and Vickie Husbands, two more landowners whose families grow alfalfa on the east and west sides of the river, said they both have small air strips that will be rendered useless by the transmission line.

It will be like putting a brick wall at the end of the runway, Husbands said. The line will run about 1,500 feet from the end of the landing strip. You cant go around it, and if you mis-approach, theres no margin for error.

McCleary said the line wont cross her property directly, but will cross the river about 500 yards south of her familys north-south landing strip.

It will interfere with the safety of the airstrip, McCleary said. Its right in the glide path. It will be extremely dangerous.

The women say they and their neighbors also have health concerns about constant electromagnetic radiation from the transmission line. And theyre concerned about potential effects on migratory birds at the Ladd S. Gordon Waterfowl Complex south of Bosque.

Most impacted locals have signed off on line

RETA says only a minority of landowners and local officials oppose the line. The project will impact 340 tracts of land in three counties. It begins at PNMs existing main line near Clines Corners in Torrance County. From there, it runs south toward Corona, then west to the Rio Grande, and finally back north again to PNMs Pajarito substation west of Albuquerque.

The developers have reached agreements with about 91% of affected landowners, including 301 of the 333 located in Valencia County, Martinez said.

Opponents say many landowners have granted rights of way because they fear RETA could exercise its power of eminent domain. But Martinez said RETA has not used that authority, and would only consider it as a last resort if all other efforts fail.

With so many tracts of land, its not an easy task to get everyone in agreement, Martinez said. But to have reached agreement with 91%, we feel good about that.
Former President John Mahama has admonished Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia to allow Ghanaians the ultimate judge of governments performance in upcoming the December elections.

It comes after Dr. Bawumia rated the government 78 percent in its delivery of manifesto promises so far.

The data speaks for itself. The data and the evidence is clear that we have largely met our manifesto promises. We have delivered and are delivering on over 300 of our promises, and we are on course to do even more, the Vice President said.

Reacting to the claim, the NDC flagbearer said the Vice President could give himself any mark since he is the same person marking his own script.

When you write your own questions and mark your own script you can give yourself any marks. Ive no comment. Thats his assessment of themselves. Statistics can be interpreted anywhere, depends on how you use the statistics. Thats his interpretation of the statistics. Hes marking his own script and giving himself marks. The people of Ghana will mark on 7th December 2020, he said.

Mahama, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), will be challenging incumbent President Akufo-Addo whose party will head for the primaries on April 25.

Mahama, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), will be challenging incumbent President Akufo-Addo whose party will head for the primaries on April 25.

Mr. Mahama has tagged his second challenge for the presidency as a rescue mission.

The NDC has argued the Akufo-Addo government has failed on its promises and must be booted out.

---Starrfm.com.gh
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-18 05:56:53|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

DAMASCUS, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Following years of blind mortar shelling on its residential areas, Syrian northern city Aleppo has become safe from shelling after a wide-scale military operation.

After its liberation in 2016, the provincial capital of Aleppo remained subject to mortar shelling by the rebels in the western and northwestern countryside of Aleppo, which claimed the lives of many people whose number is yet unknown.

Over the past two months, the Russian-backed Syrian army launched a wide-scale offensive in the countryside of Aleppo province and the countryside of the nearby Idlib province in northwestern Syria.

The army captured key areas in the countryside of Idlib but most notably managed to secure much of the northwestern and western countryside of Aleppo, securing thus the vicinity of the provincial capital of Aleppo, and also opening the Damascus-Aleppo highway that has been cut off by the rebels in Idlib and Aleppo since 2012.

The Syrian army released a statement on Monday, saying that dozens of villages and towns returned under government control as a result of the current military operation.

The military operation in western Aleppo was "precise and qualitative," adding that the operation is ongoing, said the statement.

A military officer in the Lairamoun area in western Aleppo told Xinhua that the aim of the current military operation is to secure Aleppo from shelling and to open the road connecting areas in the northwestern countryside of Aleppo, namely the towns of Nubbul and Zahra, with Aleppo city.

"The operation aimed at securing the M5 road connecting Aleppo with the capital Damascus as well as the road linking the northwestern countryside of Aleppo with the provincial capital," the officer said on condition of anonymity.

Another officer reaffirmed that the vicinity of Aleppo is safe as well as the road between northwestern Aleppo and the city itself.

"The road has been secured and it's now safe from the provincial capital of Aleppo toward the towns of Nubbul and Zahra in northwestern Aleppo," he said.

Addressing the military operation in Aleppo, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Monday that the recent victory of the Syrian army in Aleppo province is a prelude to the major defeat of the rebels elsewhere.

In a televised speech following the major victory of the Syrian army in the western and northwestern countryside of Aleppo, Assad said it does not mean the end of war, nor the elimination of terrorism.

"But this victory is a prelude to the complete defeat (of the rebels and their backers) sooner or later," Assad said in his speech aired on the national TV.

Assad, meanwhile, said the battle for retaking all areas in Aleppo and Idlib countryside in northern Syria is ongoing and so is the battle to "liberate all Syrian soil, eliminate terrorism, and achieve stability."

Also, by securing the western countryside of Aleppo, the International Airport of Aleppo will resume working on Wednesday for the first time since 2012.

Syria's Transportation Ministry announced Monday that the International Airport of Aleppo will return to service on Feb. 19.

In a statement, the ministry said that the first flight from Damascus to Aleppo will take off on Wednesday.

Minister of Transportation Ali Hammoud said the airport is ready now and flights to Cairo and Damascus are scheduled for the coming few days.
Sonora, CA  It is Presidents Day and most city, county, state and federal offices are closed.

There is no school today, no mail delivery and the stock market and financial institutions like banks are closed. Also closed are local city halls, county offices, courts and the DMV.

Many retail stores use the three day holiday to tout special sales.

Presidents Day always falls on the third Monday of February in honor of the birthday of President George Washington.
Personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces have picked up 21 suspected members of separatists group, Homeland Study Group Foundation in the Volta Region.

The suspects comprising 20 males and a female were rounded up at their training camp in a forest in Kpevedui during the early hours of Monday by soldiers of the 66 Artillery Regiment.

Over 40 soldiers were accompanied by two crime scene investigators from the police.

The Commanding Officer of the regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Baba Pantoah, told the media that about three other suspected separatists escaped before the arrests were made.

The suspects are expected to be airlifted to Accra later on.

Despite the conclusions of investigations, Colonel Baba Pantoah was adamant that the persons arrested were part of the separatist movement.

What were they doing here around 2 am in this thick forest? We are convinced they are members [of the movement] but further investigations will establish other facts, he added.

This is the largest arrest of suspected separatists since December 2019.

18 men were on December 27, 2019, arrested at Dipa, a village in the Nanumba North Municipality for allegedly having a meeting to discuss the separatist activities.

They were rounded up on the meeting grounds with a joint police and military and a Bureau of National Investigations officer.

They were taken to the Yendi Circuit Court where they were charged with treason felony.

On December 9, 10 suspected members of the movement were also arrested in Tumu in the Upper West Region.

citinewsroom
A driver accused of running over and killing a couple who were on their way home on Valentine's Day allegedly spent eight hours drinking mid-strength beers that day.

Matthew Thomas, 39, appeared at a South Australian court on Monday charged with two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and one count of aggravated driving.

He is also accused of not stopping to offer assistance to Port Augusta couple Stephen Press, 50, and Naomi Braden, 44, who died at the scene.

The court heard both Thomas and the couple were at the Port Augusta Hotel on Friday night to celebrate Valentine's Day, the ABC reported.

Port Augusta couple Stephen Press, 50, and Naomi Braden, 44, were died on Valentine's Day

The accused's wife allegedly came home to find the car had been damaged (pictured)

Thomas allegedly consumed at least a dozen schooners of mid-strength beer over the course of eight hours, before deciding he was OK to drive home.

His wife did not get in the car with him and opted to make her own way home.

The 39-year-old allegedly told police he did not get out of his Toyota Kluger to check on the couple, and called his wife about 2am on Saturday.

The accused told his wife he 'killed a person' and had 'driven off', the court heard.

She then came home to find the car had been damaged, the court heard.

Thomas remained behind bars overnight but is expected to reappear in court where a magistrate will decide if he is eligible for home detention.

The couple leave behind children and will be missed within their community

A tribute has been set up near the site of the crash, where devastated friends and family have left flowers and photographs

Port Augusta Mayor Brett Benbow said the tragic circumstances surrounding the couple's death would haunt the town well into the future.

'It's very sad for the families involved in all areas,' he said. 'There's young children left behind so it's devastating to our community.

'The community is very supportive of each other, though, so I'm sure the families and friends are comforting teach other as best they can.'

Thomas was supported in court by a room full of friends and family, who noted he was a 'good man, a family man.'
Prasanta Mazumdar By

Express News Service

GUWAHATI: The Gauhati High Court has dismissed the writ petition of a woman, declared a foreigner by a foreigners tribunal, as she failed to establish her linkage with her father.

While passing its order, a division bench of Justices Manojit Bhuyan and Parthivjyoti Saikia quoted from the judgement of a 2016 case between Md. Babul Islam versus Union of India passed by the Gauhati HC. It had held that PAN Card and Bank documents are not proof of citizenship.

The division bench observed that land revenue-paying receipts do not prove the citizenship of a person. Land and bank documents were among the 14 admissible documents in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and as such, one wonders about the fate of those who made it to the NRC based on these documents.

READ| Singer Zubeen Garg, opposed to CAA, hugs Assam CM, sets tongues wagging

NRC state coordinator Hitesh Dev Sarma did not answer queries made through WhatsApp. Some advocates, who said they have not yet read the judgement of the division bench, spoke about technicalities while speaking on the issue.

NRC is an administrative matter while this is a judicial matter. Court goes technically based on evidence. I have to first read the courts order and understand in what context, the court made the observation. Only then, I will be able to comment on this, senior advocate Hafiz Rashid Ahmed Chowdhury of Gauhati HC told this newspaper.

Advocate Rahul Dhar said, A land or bank document alone cannot prove ones citizenship. What is to be examined is if it is a pre-1971 document and whose. If it is of a mans father or grandfather, then the man has to prove his linkage with them. In any case, I will get a fair idea once I read the order of the division bench.

Jabeda Begum aka Jabeda Khatun had filed a writ petition in the court challenging the order of the foreigners tribunal, Baksa that declared her a foreigner of post-1971 stream.

A certificate issued by the village chief declaring that Jabeda was the daughter of the late Jabed Ali and married to one Rejak Ali was among 14 documents she had submitted to the tribunal. But the tribunal, as well as the Gauhati HC, ruled that village heads are not entitled to issue certificate supporting the citizenship of a person. They held that the petitioner had failed to file documents linking herself with her projected parents.

This Court in Md. Babul Islam Vs. Union of India [WP(C)/3547/2016], has already held that PAN Card and bank documents are not proof of citizenshipLand revenue-paying receipts do not prove a citizenship of a person. Therefore, we find that the tribunal has correctly appreciated the evidences placed before it and we could find any perversity in the decision of the tribunal, the court observed.


Travelodge is set to create more than 500 new jobs as part of a major expansion in London over the next five years.

The hotel chain said it plans to open 20 more hotels in the capital over the period as it opened the doors to two new sites.

The company said it has invested 22 million into the opening of the two hotels in Beckton and Dagenham in east London, creating 55 jobs in total.

It said it could spend a further 350 million on its ambitious plans to continue its growth in London.

The privately-owned hotel business operates 77 hotels in London and said it is looking at around 100 potential locations as it closes in on further openings.

Travelodges new Beckton site has 113 rooms and has created 35 new jobs, the company said.

Travelodges London City Hotel (Travelodge/PA)

It added that landlord Segro has invested millions into the hotel, which is part of a development built on a former landfill site.

Travelodge has also opened its Dagenham East hotel, which will be its second to open in Dagenham over the past 12 months. The 78-room facility has created 20 new jobs.

The firm said it has opened 10 hotels in London over the past three years, taking its total number of sites in the UK, Ireland and Spain to 589.

Tony OBrien, Travelodges UK development director, said: As one of Londons largest hotel brands, we are delighted to open two hotels in east London this week and boost our portfolio to 77 hotels across the capital.

As we look to the future, London is a world class destination for leisure and business travellers however there still remains a desperate need for more good quality, low cost accommodation  especially across the boroughs.

Therefore to meet this growing demand we are planning to open a further 20 Travelodge hotels over the next five years across London and we are actively looking at opportunities in more than 100 London locations.
India is looking at setting up a separate theatre command for Jammu and Kashmir, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat said

New Delhi: India is looking at setting up a separate theatre command for Jammu and Kashmir, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat said on Monday. The air defence command is to be rolled out by the beginning of next year and the Peninsula command by the end of 2021, Gen Rawat told a select group of journalists.

The Indian Air Force will helm the air defence command and all-long range missiles as well as air defence assets will come under it, he said. "India is looking at setting up a separate theatre command for Jammu and Kashmir," Gen Rawat said.

Indian Navy's Eastern and Western commands will be integrated into the Peninsula command, he said.

India will also have a separate training and doctrinal command and logistics command, he said . He also favoured a policy of staggered procurement of big ticket purchases, including acquisition of 114 fighter jets.

The Navy's demand for a third aircraft carrier will be considered after assessing performance of indigenously-built aircraft carrier, he said.

Gen Rawat also said that submarines are a priority over aircraft carrier for the Navy. India is also looking at overseas bases for logistics, he added.
Paul Dunning has recently been appointed as Chair of Trustees of the Quiet Waters Christian Retreat Centre. He explains how he got involved and how others can do the same.

Paul Dunning has recently been appointed as Chair of Trustees of the Quiet Waters Christian Retreat Centre. He explains how he got involved and how others can do the same.

Magdalene Group: Women's Specialist Practitioner The Norwich-based Magdalene Group needs a Womens Specialist Practitioner to provide gender and trauma-informed support to women experiencing multiple disadvantage and provide support to female sex workers and victims of sexual exploitation and coercion. Read more

Ringsfield Hall offers residential trips on Norfolk border Ringsfield Hall provides children with outdoor residential opportunities through school trips. Activities relate to nature, care for the planet and very special care and respect for the physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing of each child. Read more

Ministers outreach at Sheringham model boat lake Local Christian, Graham Pickhaver has been sharing his testimony by giving out tracts at the model boating lake in Sheringham. Read more

Chance to meet Norwich Christian leaders at lunch Christian church and ministry leaders are invited to the first Transforming Norwich lunch of 2022 on Wednesday January 26 at St Stephen's Church in Norwich city centre. Read more

God of the second chance Jane Walters encourages us to embark on a new start with Jesus as 2022 gets underway. Read more

Yarmouth church provides free hot food for needy Kingsgate Community Church in Yarmouth has re-started their Hot Food Hub, providing free hot meals for local people in need. Read more

Norwich Christian unity service set for RC Cathedral All Christian churches and groups are invited to an ecumenical service on January 20 at St John's Cathedral in Norwich to pray for Christian unity. Read more

Aylsham Christian charity seeks needy recipients The Cressey Henry Page Charitable Trust has been helping the poor of Aylsham for nearly 500 years, and is now seeking more needy people who need help. Read more

Centre offers Christian holidays on the Norfolk coast With stunning locations in North Norfolk and North Wales, Christian Endeavour Holiday Centres are places to relax the body, replenish the mind, and rejuvenate the soul. Read more

YMCA Norfolk needs two Wellbeing workers YMCA Norfolk is looking for a Wellbeing Engagement Worker and a Business Support Officer - Wellbeing Matters. Read more

Two Norfolk churches share in 473k grants boost Two historic Norfolk churches are to share in a 473,700 funding package from the National Churches Trust, the UKs church building support charity. Read more

Hundreds fed at free Norfolk Christmas dinners Hundreds of people who would have spent Christmas Day alone were fed and entertained across Norfolk by church and charity groups. Read more

Norwich church volunteer inspired by kindness A woman who has volunteered for The Salvation Armys Toys and Tins Appeal since 2016 said she will carry on doing so for as long as possible. Read more

Norwich pastor publishes new book Dr Alan Clifford, pastor of Norwich Reformed Church, has published a book on the life and ministry of 18th century church leader Edmund Calamy the Elder. Read more

Life is full of uncertainties for us all says Dean The Dean of Norwich Cathedral, the Very Rev Jane Hedges, say that for every single one of us, at the moment, life is full of uncertainties. Read more

Pantomime cast take part in Norwich carols The cast of Norwich Theatre's pantomime Dick Whittington and his Cat attended a Christmas Carol concert at St Peter Mancroft Church on Thursday December 23 to spread festive cheer and the Christmas message. Read more

Bishop's Christmas refugee message In his Christmas message the Bishop of Norwich the Rt Rev Graham Usher, says at Christmas we look back to the story of someone who soon after his birth, became a refugee, we look back to a story to help navigate our future. Read more
A contractor accused of stealing hundreds of company files and then developing his own rival software has faced court over allegations he subsequently fabricated and tampered with evidence, and attempted to pervert the course of justice.

Peakhurst man Gregory Harris, 58, began working for hospitality software company Generate Group as a contractor in 1996. Ten years later, he left the company and formed his own, Sea-Tech Automation Pty Ltd.

Gregory Harris leaves Bankstown Local Court on Monday. Credit:The Sydney Morning Herald

In 2008, Sea-Tech began selling software similar to Generate's Bevlink, which measures the amount of alcohol poured against a licensed venue's takings.

"Bevlink takes the hard work out of profit management in bars by automatically and accurately measuring the flow of all types of drinks, draught beer, spirits, post-mix, Bevlink makes sure every drink is paid for," Generate's website says.
A former Amazon Executive revealed he switches off his Alexa smart speaker whenever he wants a 'private moment' as he doesn't want it listening in.

Robert Frederick, a former manager at Amazon Web Services, told BBC Panorama he always turns it off during personal and particularly sensitive conversations.

Last year Amazon was forced to admit that some conversations recorded by virtual assistant Alexa were listened to and transcribed by humans.

Amazon says human staff listen to less than on per cent of conversations to check for accuracy and the information is made anonymous before they see it.

A spokesman also questioned why Panorama chose to quote a former employee 'about a technology developed a decade after he left the company'.

Scroll down for video

Amazon's Alexa is being placed in an increasing number of devices including televisions, smart speakers and screens

HOW TO STOP ALEXA LISTENING TO YOU Amazon says it does not save or listen in on Alexa recordings. However, it has admitted it sends some clips off to human contractors. This is to assess the clips in order to improve the functionalities of the smart speaker. But users can turn of this ability so their data is not sent to Amazon staff. Follow the steps below to ensure Alexa doesn't spy on you: Open the Alexa app

Tap the menu button on the top-left of the screen.

Select 'Alexa Account.'

Choose 'Alexa Privacy.'

Select 'Manage how your data improves Alexa.'

Turn the button next to 'Help Develop New Features' to off.

Turn off the button next to your name under 'Use Messages to Improve Transcriptions.' Advertisement

The investigative journalism programme is exploring Amazon's rise from online bookstore to tech giant as well as the way it collects data from its customers.

'Whoever owns, collects the data, if you have access to it, and rights to data, then you are king. It's all about the data. Everything,' Frederick told Panorama.

Amazon now offers an opt out of annotation and are working to give customers the ability to delete the recordings if they don't want them held on the system.

Dave Limp, Amazon Senior VP of Devices and Services told Alexa that if you keep the recordings then the system gets better at recognising your voice.

A spokesperson for Amazon said in a statement: '[Frederick's] quotes do not accurately portray how Alexa works. At Amazon, we take privacy very seriously and designing Alexa was no different.

'Echo devices are designed to detect only your chosen wake word. No audio is stored or sent to the cloud unless the device detects the wake word.

'Customers can review and delete voice recordings at any time in the Alexa App, as well as, choose to have them automatically deleted every 3 or 18 months on an ongoing basis'

Amazon has also come under fire for its Ring doorbells and the way it uses the data, particularly in supplying video to police forces.

Amazon spent $840 million two years ago to buy video doorbell manufacturer Ring.

The company says the doorbells 'make it convenient to speak to and see whomever is at your front door'.

Since Amazon acquired Ring, it has donated doorbells to police forces in the UK and the US including Suffolk Constabulary who were given 1,000 of them.

They handed them out to residents in Ipswich and Det Supt Andy Smith told Panorama he was a convert to the technology.

'I do firmly believe that utopia for me is if every resident had this or an equivalent form of technology,' he said.

'This has the power to eradicate, well certainly get towards that utopian position around residential based crime.'

In the US, Amazon is now using Ring cameras to create a digital neighbourhood watch scheme using an app called Neighbors where residents can share footage.

More than 900 police forces can also access the app, enabling them, with residents' permission to have access to camera locations and footage.

Ring doorbell devices are being handed out by police forces in the UK and the USA as a way to help catch criminals by recording the areas outside houses

Only three forces in the UK have handed out Ring cameras - Suffolk, Leicestershire and the Met - the Neighbor app isn't available in the UK.

Dave Limp said of Amazon's Ring doorbells, 'It's not marketed as a surveillance device. It's marketed as a device that is meant to make customers lives safer.'

A spokesperson for Ring said they are proud of the work they do to help make neighbourhoods safer - 'from solving to preventing home burglaries in the UK'.

'Ring has donated devices to a number of organizations and individuals in the UK after being approached to help support their efforts to make communities safer.

'We design any and all programs with our three pillars of security, privacy and user control at the forefront and police are not given access to users cameras or devices by Ring.'

Speaking to Panorama, the Government's Surveillance Camera Commissioner for England and Wales, Tony Porter warns against Amazon's Neighbors app being introduced to the UK as it would change the 'dynamic of surveillance'.

'It would change to being one of more than simply community reassurance, to a state form of surveillance,' he told Panorama.

'This lays a foundation for a network that quite rightly and properly causes concerns for people that don't want to live in a society that is enmeshed in surveillance.'

'We could end up in a surveillance state and I don't know anybody that wants to live in a surveillance state,' he said.

BBC Panorama's Amazon special is on BBC One tonight at 20:30 GMT
The claim: House Democrats have passed more than 275 bipartisan bills this Congress, but these bills are gathering dust on his desk.  U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso.

Escobar made the claim in the Democrats Spanish-language response to President Donald Trumps State of the Union address, in which she said the president and his allies are the biggest threat to our safety and security because they are unwilling to take action for our country, acting solely in their own interest.

PolitiFact ruling: Mostly True. Escobar counted bills as bipartisan if they had at least one Republican vote in favor or at least one Republican co-sponsor. Political experts said that her measurement is not inaccurate, but it doesnt conform to a general understanding of the term.

Using a higher bar for measuring bipartisan legislation offered by these experts  support from a majority of members of both parties  plus counting legislation that passed on a voice vote, the total comes to 251 bills, which is close to Escobars claim.

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

Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

Discussion: In Escobars remarks, she blamed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Mitch McConnell, the leader of the Senate, is openly stonewalling legislation that would help improve the lives of veterans, women, and families  all of us, Escobar said, according to an English language translation of her remarks provided by her office.

Escobars office shared a list of 291 bipartisan bills that were approved by the House since the beginning of 2019 but are awaiting action in the Senate, as of Jan. 24.

Elizabeth Lopez-Sandoval, spokeswoman for Escobar, said Escobar considered bills as being bipartisan if there was at least one Republican vote on the House floor, or if the bill was passed by a voice vote and has at least one Republican cosponsor.

Bills that passed on voice vote but do not have at least one Republican cosponsor were excluded, she said.

While there is no singular definition of what constitutes a bipartisan bill, four political experts consulted for this piece generally agreed that Escobar used a low bar by which to judge cooperation between political parties.

Kirby Goidel, director of the Public Policy Research Institute at Texas A&M University, said the term bipartisan has taken on a looser definition in regular usage because it is advantageous in terms of public support.

It is not unusual to call a bill bipartisan when it only received a single vote from across the aisle, though that runs against our more general understanding of what the term is intended to mean, he said in an email. It is also easy to imagine individual representatives more willing to compromise because they are Republican representing a Democratic district (or vice versa), so adding one member of the opposition in that context wouldnt strike anyone as bipartisan.

Goidel said a better definition for bipartisan would be legislation that has majority support from both parties.

Though ideally we wouldnt include resolutions or other items that generate little or no opposition, because the term also implies that the parties worked together to compromise on an important and potentially controversial issue, he said.

Members of both parties tend to make claims about bipartisanship based on support from one member of the other party, according to Laura Blessing, senior fellow at Georgetown Universitys Government Affairs Institute.

Everybody does this, she said. This is strategic messaging to a larger audience about the nature of legislation and values of main sponsors in reaching across the aisle, but that doesnt mean it is a meaningless standard.

Of the 291 bills Escobars team marked as bipartisan, 116 passed in a roll call vote and 175 passed by a voice vote. There were 251 that could be called bipartisan using the higher standard.
The government has been urged the deliver fairness to farmers and landowners after Boris Johnson announced that the HS2 high-speed rail link will be built.

Supporters of controversial project say it will improve transport times, increase capacity, create jobs and rebalance the UK's economy.

But preparation and construction have already had a significant impact on farm businesses on the route in the past 10 years.

These plans have sparked concern among the rural community, especially as the costs are expected to spiral from the initial 56bn estimate.

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) has called on the government to deliver 'fairness and certainty' to farmers and landowners affected.

CLA President Mark Bridgeman said: Where land is taken under compulsory purchase, it is only fair that full payment of compensation is delivered immediately when HS2s occupation takes place and that a duty of care is imposed on the company to mitigate the impact on the affected businesses.

This would be a real step change to what has happened over the past 10 years of this scheme.

For farmers affected by the 100bn project, the past 10 years of HS2 has had a considerable impact on their livelihoods.

Compulsory purchases has taken hundreds of acres of land and in some cases causing the closure of farm businesses.

Having to deal with this level of uncertainty and the financial pressures has been 'extremely distressing' for those farmers, the NFU has said.

While the farming industry recognises the importance of investing in transport infrastructure, the union said it is 'crucial' that land needed to build the line does not impact farm businesses.

NFU President Minette Batters said: We must think responsibly about taking land out of food production, particularly as we face a multitude of challenges and opportunities with life outside of the EU.

And we must not forget the vital role farming and land use must play in the global challenge of climate change.

She said it is 'vital' that HS2 improves its communications with landowners and farmers who will be affected.

This means giving longer notice periods before taking land on a temporary or permanent basis and, critically, paying out fair compensation.

The present system is taking far too long, and farmers, their businesses and their families are suffering, the president added.

HS2 must also spend time understanding how farm businesses will be impacted by the construction works and reach compensation agreements at an earlier stage so that agricultural buildings and farmhouses can be relocated and built before possession is taken.

This is the only way some farm businesses are going to stay operating.
Gold prices gained for the fourth consecutive day by Rs 85 to Rs 40,865 per 10 grams in Mumbai's bullion market on uncertainty over the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the global economy but the gain was capped by stronger US dollar.

The yellow metal is likely to take further cues from the Federal Reserve, and the European Central Bank minutes to be released this week.

The rate of 10 grams, 22-carat gold in Mumbai was Rs 37,432 plus 3 percent GST, while that of 10 grams, 24-carat gold was Rs 40,865 plus GST. The price of 18-carat gold was quoted at Rs 30,649 plus GST in the retail market.

According to Navneet Damani, Vice President, Motilal Oswal, gold prices held near its two-week high on uncertainty over the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the global economy. An increase in the number of cases reported in Singapore is increasing fears in the market.

Source: Motilal Oswal

The Chinese government and other officials are trying their best to calm the market and stabilize the economy. Easy monetary, lower bond yields around the globe continue to make gold attractive in the long term.

The Broader trend on the Comex could be $1,560-1,600, and on the domestic front, prices could hover in the range of Rs 40,650-41,300, said Damani.

The gold/silver ratio, which is the amount of silver required to buy one ounce of gold, currently stands at 88.51 to 1.

Silver prices gained Rs 165 to Rs 46,165 per kg from its closing on February 14.

In the futures market, gold rates an touched an intraday high of Rs 40,925 and an intraday low of Rs 40,720 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 164, or 0.40 percent on the MCX trading at Rs 40,815 per 10 grams in evening's trade in a business turnover of 16,278 lots. Gold contracts for delivery in June eased Rs 225, or 0.55 percent, at Rs 40,923 per 10 grams in a business turnover of 6,448 lots.

The value of the April contract traded so far is Rs 1,986.05 crore and June contract saw the value of Rs 54.13 crore.

Similarly, Gold Mini contracts for March declined Rs 134, or 0.33 percent at Rs 40,745 in a business turnover of 8,387 lots.

Axis Securities advised its client to sell April Gold at Rs 40,820 with stop loss at Rs 40,950 and a target of Rs 40,600.

MCX Gold will be trading in a range for the session with support placed at Rs 40,690-40,570 whereas resistance is at Rs 40,950-41,015, according to Motilal Oswal.

The brokerage firm said spot gold has intraday resistance at $1,585-1,588 whereas support is at $1,572-1,565.

At 12:44 pm (GMT), spot gold was marginally down $2.97 at $1,581.35 an ounce in London trading.
According to CNN Health, a group of researchers from Japan carried out an experiment to study the stress-relieving effects that plants can potentially have on employees at a busy workplace.The experts conducted their study on the employees of a Japanese electric company to figure out the variations in their stress levels, before and after a 3-minute long involvement with a plant.The study which got published in the journal HortTechnology revealed a slight drop in the anxiety score of employees with anxiety and a considerable drop in the resting heart rates of the other 27 per cent.The previous research on this subject was mostly carried out in controlled settings involving indirect plant interaction.This study is unique in the sense that it not only analyzed the stress-busting effects of gazing at a plant in an actual office environment, but also the effects emanating from actively taking care of the plants.A positive trend was observed in the mental wellbeing of the employees when they were encouraged to take "nature breaks" lasting for three minutes, told Dr. Masahiro Toyoda, lead author of the study and professor at the University of Hyogo, told CNN Health.According to Dr Charles Hall, Ellison Chair of International Floriculture at Texas A&M University this research is the "latest of those that continue to point out that plants are beneficial to humans."He further added that "it's something we inherently knew but has suddenly been quantified. And so now, we're seeing the numbers behind the reasoning."The methodology of this experiment involved the use of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory index (STAI) and heart rate measurements of the employees, both in the morning and night.The first week of the study was the control phase during which the workers measured their pulse rates by hand at the time when they felt stressed and then once again after staring for three minutes at the computer screen instead of a plant.Before the commencement of the control phase, the workers were taught about how to care for a plant and were asked to choose their favourite one.During the following two weeks, the subjects first measured their pulse under stressful conditions but the second reading was taken after gazing for three minutes at the plant kept on their desk.A slight drop in STAI scores was observed during the two weeks, however, a drop in pulse rate was quite apparent in more than one-fourth of the workers.A drop in resting heart rate indicates the suppression of the body's fight or flight mechanism that sets in when an individual is faced with a stressful situation.The researchers pointed to a few reasons that might have contributed to the aforementioned outcomes.From the point of view of the attention restoration theory, a positive correlation is seen between concentration levels and looking at nature.Furthermore, the affection involved in caring for the plant might have also played an instrumental role.However, it was noted that this approach didn't suit everyone and in some cases, led to a further increase in anxiety.Hall explained to CNN Health: "I think the anxiety among those in the study where their anxiety increased, it was because of that particular phenomenon that all of a sudden they're responsible for taking care of a plant and then all of a sudden the plant's not doing well and they have some anxieties from that."While on the other hand, there were people who gradually got accustomed to the presence of plants and stopped responding to their stress-reducing effects.The study took 63 employees under its ambit who were aged between 24 and 60 and spent an average of 40 working hours in the office.Amid the rising cases of work pressure-induced mental disorders, the authors stated that "the adoption of greenery into the office environment is becoming widespread as the need for improving mental health becomes greater."If by chance, keeping a plant on your desk is not possible, the experts suggest that gazing outside the window for three minutes or taking brief strolls outside the office building can induce similar positive effects. (ANI)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

By Eldar Janashvili  Trend:

The International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) was the first bank which joined Agriculture Loan Evaluation System (AzALES) of the Agrarian Credit and Development Agency under the Azerbaijani Ministry of Agriculture, Trend reports on Feb. 17 referring to IBA.

This was carried out with the aim of expanding the access to the credit products of entrepreneurs working in the agricultural sector, IBA said. Thus, IBA joined this system.

IBA Managing Director Nargizkhanim Bilenderli stressed that rendering financial support for the agricultural projects is one of the priorities for the bank.

IBA is expanding the ties with entrepreneurs working in the small and medium-sized enterprises operating in the non-oil sector, which includes the agro-industrial sector, Bilenderli added.

As for lending for the agricultural projects, it is important for the bank to correctly assess the risks, Bilenderli added. In this regard, our connection to the AzALES system will be very useful. Credit products offered on favorable terms will become more accessible for agricultural producers. In turn, we will be able to increase customer satisfaction by accelerating the loan application process."

The system called AzALES was developed for the Agrarian Credit and Development Agency with the support of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as well as the European Union, Frankfurt School of Finance and Management.

The system allows assessing risks in the agricultural sector more accurately, processing of loan applications faster, facilitating farmers' access to the financial products and at the same time allows banks and credit organizations to save resources and correctly assess the risks.

----

Follow the author on Twitter: @eldarjanashvili
Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Maanvi* had never had children. Perhaps it was a small blessing since her husband has a mental disability and she has spent her time caring for him and working to provide for them both over the many years of their marriage.

However, in India, childlessness carries a crippling social stigma.

Without children, Maanvis neighbors and even her family treated her as if she were already dead. Neighbors began to take over parts of her property without blushing. She had no children to inherit the land, they argued. Someone might as well take it now, instead of having to wait until she was actually in her grave.

Apparently, her family had the same thought. They showed up at her home and forced her and her husband out onto the street.

Adopted by a Compassionate Community

Maanvi had no means to fight back against her familys usurpation of her home, but she wasnt about to give up all hope either. She went from door to door, knocking and then offering the suspicious people who opened up, someone to wash their dishes and clothes.

Conditions were still miserable, but at least she and her husband had food most days and a little bit of money to buy new clothes when the old ones became ragged.

As her 50th birthday came and went, though, Maanvi increasingly began to notice the strain of washing baskets of clothes by hand and kneeling on hard floors to scrub the tiles clean. She could feel her body beginning to fail, the aches and pains of hard work without rest growing until they clamored in her head as she trudged home and drowned out almost any other thought.

One day, unexpectedly, she and her husband were visited by a group of Christians who had noticed her situation. After talking to her, they offered to arrange some means for her to earn a livelihood without having to clean houses.

They explained that they believed in a God who loved her and her husband. Since he cared deeply about their well-being, the team did as well.

They met with Maanvi regularly, explaining the concepts of small business planning and economics. The idea of owning a small shop of her own intrigued Maanvi, especially as they began discussing all of the things that she could sell. Meanwhile, World Challenge partners were contacting members of the community and seeing what things they would be interested in buying from a new shop.

Finding a Life of Dignity

The team pooled some money to help Maanvi launch her new shop, and soon she was able to quit all of the house-cleaning jobs and even put aside some money for savings. Between customers, she began making lovely beads like tiny pearls which she soon had a growing market for as well.

To allow her to save more of her income, the team went on to help her get a civil ration card so she could receive grain from the government.

Now she attends the local church and helps others who are struggling with poverty, hopelessness and shame.

In my hardest times, Maanvi recollected, the committee encouraged and stood beside me so I could overcome the miserable conditions. Now Im able to make money for living, to care for myself and my sick husband.

Most important has been the sense of value and importance she has in who she is as a child of God. Now I can live a good and dignified life.

*Not real name. For safety reasons, we dont release names or specific locations in highly sensitive areas.
Shares is the leading weekly publication for retail investors. It is packed with investment ideas, news and educational material to help build and run portfolios and get more from your money.

Shares puts on free Investor Events throughout the year across the country. They provide an opportunity for investors to learn more about companies on the stock market and hear from a range of investment experts including fund managers and Shares journalists.
SAN FRANCISCO  Just days after a veteran receiving PTSD treatment walked into the Yountville Veterans Home with a rifle and opened fire, killing three women and taking his own life, threats started pouring in to other Veterans Assistance centers around the Bay Area.

In addition to threatening shootings, the calls and voice mails contained hundreds of racial, anti-semitic, and homophobic slurs. In recorded messages, the man told staffers he would carve your (expletive) heart out, using slurs against African-Americans, Jewish people and others.

The caller threatened to show up at a VA center in the Bay Area armed with an assault rifle and randomly shoot people. For a while, workers at VA centers across the region were concerned that a Yountville copycat shooting could be around the corner, according to court records.

Eventually, the threats were traced back to a man named Ronald Joseph Lafaye, a U.S. Navy veteran who prosecutors say has a 20-year history  including multiple convictions  of threatening people. As prosecutors were bringing a federal case against Lafaye for the VA threats, there was a simultaneous state case against him for making threats to kill staffers at U.S. Rep. Jackie Speiers office, authorities say.

Lafaye was sentenced this month to two years and four months in prison for the VA threats. Combined with his state prison sentence, he will serve a total of 10 years. Last year, he was sentenced to seven years and eight months in state prison for the threats on Speiers staffers, court records show.

In a sentencing memo asking for 41 months, assistant U.S. Attorney Alexandra Shepard wrote that Lafaye had, threatened a mass shooting, at a time when society can longer safely assume that these are idle threats. The threats were made in person and on the phone, Shepard wrote.

He threatened to assault and kill three VA officials, threatened their children, spit in one of their faces, and cautioned them to practice their active shooter drills because he was going to come back to a VA facility with an assault rifle and kill people, Shepard wrote. Lafayes threats affected one of the victims enough that they declined to speak at the hearing or even submit a written Victim Impact Statement, out of concern that it would aggravate Lafaye even further.

Lafayes attorney, assistant federal public defender Candis Mitchell, wrote that Lafaye was the product of a horrific childhood that included extreme levels of abuse. Mitchell said Lafayes intent was to speak out on behalf of veterans who he felt were ignored or neglected by the VA system.

These statements and his actions were not the actions of a rational man guided by rational thoughtsbut rather reflect the sum totals of a lifetime of trauma coupled with an ill-conceived attempt to make the lives of others better, Mitchell wrote, adding that Lafaye has battled alcoholism since he was a teenager.

Mitchell also quoted a medical professional who wrote that Lafaye has a delusional disorder, and included a brief statement from Lafaye where he admitted to sometimes having poor impulse control.

I get on a roll, I cant shake it. All the inhibitions go because of my background. I have to retrain myself, Lafaye said, according to Mitchells sentencing memo.
Marcus Morris steadies the boat as his neighbor Chris Sharp readies the trolling motor for another trip through their Pearl River flooded neighborhood in Jackson, Miss., Sunday, Feb. 16, 2020.

In a bit of good news, officials at a reservoir upriver of the capitol said Sunday that water levels in the reservoir had stabilized, allowing them to send less water downriver. The National Weather Service, which had been anticipating the river would crest Sunday at 38 feet, on Sunday slightly reduced that to 37.5 feet. The river is now anticipated to crest Monday.

In one Jackson neighborhood, residents paddled canoes, kayaks and small fishing boats to check on their houses, giving lifts to other neighbors. Some were able to get inside while others peeked into the windows to see what, if any damage, had been done inside. Outside floodwaters lapped at mailboxes, street signs and cars that had been left in driveways.

Gov. Tate Reeves said Sunday morning that the Pearl would continue to rise throughout the day, and he warned that the state faces a "precarious situation that can turn at any moment."

With the waters in the Pearl River continuing to rise in and around Mississippi's capital city and more rain on the way this week, the governor warned residents that it would be days before flood waters start to recede in Jackson.

Water from the Pearl River floods this northeast Jackson, Miss., home and car, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2020. Authorities believe the flooding will rank as third highest, behind the historic floods of 1979 and 1983.

But even with that development, officials urged residents to pay attention to evacuation orders, check on road closures before traveling and stay out of floodwaters, warning that even seemingly placid waters could mask fast-moving currents and pollution. Law enforcement officials went door to door in affected areas, telling people to evacuate, Reeves said.

Rescuers performed four assisted evacuations Saturday, although they said none were needed overnight.

"We expect the river to continue to rise over the next 24 hours or so, " Reeves said at a news conference in Jackson. "We are not out of the woods yet."

Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba said power had been shut off to 504 residences as a safety precaution. He said some city homes had been flooded but officials do not yet know how many. About 30 people are at a shelter that has been set up in Jackson, he said.

Nearly 2,400 structures across the three counties closest to the river and the reservoir  Hinds, Rankin and Madison counties  could be impacted, meaning they either get water inside or are surrounded by water, said Malary White, of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

In the suburb of Flowood, John and Jina Smith had packed up as much as they could and left their home as waters rose Thursday.

On Sunday, their neighbor Dale Frazier took them back to their house in a rowboat, where they checked on the damage, then got in their own canoe and rowed away.

"We've been able to stay in here when the water gets up," John Smith said. "But as you've watched it over the years, you know when to get out. It's time to get out this time."

A foot and a half of water was inside his house, Smith said. He'd already been in touch with a contractor and insurance agent about rebuilding. Both he and his wife said they love their home, where they can sit on their back porch and watch deer and other wildlife.

"It's going to take a while for us to rebuild, but we are safe, and we're all OK," Jina Smith said.
SAN MATEO (BCN)

Police in San Mateo are urging vehicle owners to beware of thieves looking to steal catalytic converters.

On Thursday, police said they've been responding to an unusually high number of catalytic converter thefts across the city.

The converters are valuable because they contain several types of recyclable materials that can be easily scrapped for a quick profit, according to police.

Police believe when the price of scrap metal, like platinum, rise the thefts increase.

ALSO: Man rescued, hospitalized after falling down Marin Headlands cliff

Thieves usually target trucks or SUVs because they're higher ground clearance allow thieves easier access underneath. But, police said, currently they're seeing thieves targeting Toyotas, particularly Prius cars.

In order to avoid being a target, police recommend vehicle owners park their cars in well-lit areas that can easily be seen by passersby.

Owners can also install a catalytic converter protection device that will make it harder to take.

Also, owners are recommended to etch their converter with their vehicle identification number in several different locations, so that police can track the converter if it's stolen.

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.
Great Wall Motors (GWM) and General Motors (GM) today announced an agreement for the sale of GM Thailands manufacturing facilities in Rayong, subject to government and regulatory approvals.

Under a signed binding term sheet, GM Thailand and GM Powertrain Thailand legal entities, which include the Rayong vehicle assembly and powertrain facilities, will transfer to GWM. GM and GWM are targeting end of 2020 to close the deal and hand over the site.

GWM global strategy vice president Mr. Liu Xiangshang said: The global strategy of Great Wall Motors has begun to take shape after more than 10 years of development. In the past two years, through the export model transformation and upgrades, Great Wall Motors has accelerated the pace of its strategic global rollout. In 2019, Great Wall Motors Tula plant in Russia successfully started production, and the company also reached an agreement with GM to acquire its Talegaon Plant in India in early 2020.

The acquisition of GM's Thai Rayong plant will help the business development of Great Wall Motors in Thailand and the ASEAN market. Great Wall Motors will expand through the entire ASEAN region with Thailand as the center, and export its products to other ASEAN countries as well as Australia.

"The ASEAN automotive market is a developing market and a market with great prospects and potential. Entering the Thai market is the first step for Great Wall Motors to enter the ASEAN market, and is also an important step in Great Wall Motors global strategy. Great Wall Motors investment will create more jobs in the local area, including direct and indirect employment and further enhance skill development in the automotive industry. We will also promote the development of the local supply chain, R&D and related industries, plus contribute more to the exchequer of both the local Rayong and Thailand governments, said Liu Xiangshang.

Since commencing manufacturing in 2000, the Rayong site has produced nearly 1.4 million trucks and large SUVs for domestic and export markets, as a regional manufacturing hub for mid-size trucks, SUVs and diesel engines.

GM International Operations Senior Vice President, Julian Blissett, said the company had taken the difficult decision to cease manufacturing operations in Thailand after undertaking a detailed analysis of the business case to allocate a future product program to the site.

With globally-recognized efficiency and achieving key quality benchmarks, the team at Rayong has delivered world-class vehicles for domestic and export markets for two decades, said Blissett.

On behalf of GM, I thank the Thailand team for their outstanding contribution to our company. I also want to thank the Thai Government for its long-standing support of our operations and for sustaining a highly competitive business environment in the market.

Our decision to cease production at the Rayong site is based on GMs global strategy and optimization of our manufacturing footprint around the world. In this context, sale of the Rayong plants to GWM is best option to support future vehicle manufacturing at this site.

GM is committed to supporting impacted employees and will provide a separation package greater than labor law requirements in Thailand, as well as transition support.
McCarrick, who was once one of the most recognizable figures in the U.S. Catholic Church, last year became the first cardinal known to be defrocked for sexual abuse, over incidents that occurred decades earlier. The Vatican is finalizing a long-promised report examining how he rose to the highest levels of the U.S. Catholic Church and remained there despite complaints of misconduct that reached the Vatican as early as 2000.
Armed men carried out the killings on Friday in the village of Ntumbo in the Northwest Region.

As many as 22 villagers, including 14 children, were found dead in the anglophone area of Cameroon, the United Nations said, with an opposition party blaming the killings on the army.

Armed men carried out the massacre on Friday in the village of Ntumbo in the Northwest Region, James Nunan, a local official with the UNs humanitarian coordination agency OCHA, told AFP news agency.

Up to 22 civilians were killed, including a pregnant woman, Nunan said, adding 14 children  including nine under age five  were among the dead.

Eleven of the children were girls, said Nunan, head of OCHAs office for the Northwest and Southwest regions, which are home to the West African countrys large English-speaking minority.

One eyewitness, who spoke to Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity fearing reprisals, confirmed the massacre and said he helped bury 21 bodies in four graves in four different compounds with the help of an associate.

Nine houses were also set ablaze and an unknown number of villagers displaced, the witness said.

Separatists in the regions have been fighting the central government for three years.

One of the countrys two main opposition parties, the Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon (MRC), issued a statement saying: The dictatorial regime [and] the supreme head of the security and defence forces are chiefly responsible for these crimes.

A key figure in the separatist movement, lawyer Agbor Mballa, in a Facebook post also accused state defence forces of carrying out the killings.

An army official denied the allegations saying simply: False. No other official comment was immediately available.

Those responsible for these heinous crimes must be brought to justice. This culture of impunity must stop, Felix Agbor Balla, director of the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa, said in a tweet on Monday.

Thousands dead

Conflict between Cameroons army and English-speaking fighters seeking to form a breakaway state called Ambazonia began after the government cracked down violently on peaceful protesters complaining of being marginalised by the French-speaking majority.

The conflict has forced half a million people to flee and presented President Paul Biya with his biggest threat in nearly 40 years of rule.

The three-year conflict has claimed more than 3,000 lives and forced more than 700,000 people to flee their homes.





Fridays killings followed elections on February 9 that were marred by violence in the regions blamed both on separatists and security forces.

Armed separatists prevented people from voting by threatening reprisals, while government soldiers were a heavy presence.

Separatists kidnapped more than 100 people and torched properties in the run-up to the elections, said Human Rights Watch (HRW).

The MRC refused to field a single candidate after its leader, Maurice Kamto, who spent nine months in jail after his defeat in 2018 presidential elections and is now overseas, called for a boycott of this months election.

The government has not yet announced the results of the elections or turnout figures.
Parkinsons Disease Therapeutics Market Overview

Global Parkinsons Disease Therapeutics Market is anticipated to witness significant growth, owing to the increasing cases of Parkinsons disease, with the growth in aging population levels. Furthermore, increasing environmental factors & genetic heredity is augmenting the growth of Parkinsons disease therapeutics market. Therefore, it may drastically result in expanding the market size during the forecast period.

Pharmaceutical firms are creating new and improved therapies for Parkinsons disease (PD), and lately, there have been some significant product launches in Parkinsons disease therapeutics and other assistive therapeutics. Additionally, most of the global firms have a healthy drug pipeline for the treatment of Parkinsons disease, and as per the estimations, the forecast period may observe the launch of a few blockbuster drugs.

Request Free Sample Copy at: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1572

Parkinsons Disease Therapeutics Market Segmentation

The global Parkinsons disease therapeutics market is analyzed based on type, treatment, and end-user. The global Parkinsons disease therapeutics market, based on the treatment type, is bifurcated into medication and surgical therapy. The medication segment is segmented further into COMT inhibitors, peripheral decarboxylase inhibitors, MAO inhibitors, dopamine precursors, and others. Surgery therapy is further bifurcated into deep brain stimulation (DBS) and carbidopa/levodopa enteral suspension.

Based on end-user, the Parkinsons Disease Therapeutics market is categorized into hospitals & clinics, academic & industrial research, and others.

Parkinsons Disease Therapeutics Market Regional Analysis

The geographical analysis of the Global Parkinsons Disease Therapeutics Market has been conducted in four major regions, namely the Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa.

Parkinsons disease therapeutics market is led by North America owing to the rising healthcare spending that contributes to improving the market growth in this region. The total number of Parkinsons disease patients, combined with the availability of reimbursements and high awareness, is boosting the growth of the market. Additionally, the high cost of Parkinsons disease therapeutics in the United States also leads to significant market size in terms of revenue.

It is projected that Europe stands second in the global Parkinsons disease therapeutics market. The increasing government initiatives to promote the healthcare sector and augmented adoption of research and development projects for chronic diseases in the healthcare domain fuel the market in this region. Moreover, the entry of market players into strategic partnerships and collaborations with the chemical industry drives the growth of the market in Europe.

The Asia Pacific is likely to observe growth in the Parkinsons disease therapeutics market during the review period due to the rising number of healthcare organizations, growing prevalence of Parkinsons disease. Moreover, the growing incidence of the geriatric population in the region influence market growth. India, China, and Japan are the key market players in this region, and the Asia Pacific is valued to be the fastest-growing market for Parkinsons disease therapeutics.

The Middle East and Africa hold the least share in the global Parkinsons disease therapeutics market due to the incidence of stringent government policies and weak economies.

Parkinsons Disease Therapeutics Market Competitive Analysis

The leading market players identified by MRFR in the global market are GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Salix Pharmaceuticals, Impax Laboratories, LLC, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, Apotex Inc., Novartis AG, Mylan N.V., Orion Corporation, Par Pharmaceutical, Cipla Inc., Daiichi Sankyo, and Wockhardt Limited.

Global Parkinsons Disease Therapeutics Market is becoming exceedingly competitive. The recent product launches and the high number of therapeutics in product pipelines of global pharmaceutical firms are contributing to the progressive nature of the market. Several new product launches are projected during the forecast period, which may lead to substantial changes in market shares of pharmaceutical firms presently active in the market.

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), & Consulting Services. MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients.

Contact:

Akash Anand

Market Research Future

+1 646 845 9312

Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
Activists take legal action against surveillance system, fearing it will be used to target critics of President Vladimir Putin.

Activists in Russia, who are concerned at government plans for one of the worlds largest facial recognition systems, are taking legal action.

They fear the surveillance system is being used to target critics of President Vladimir Putin.

Police say law-abiding Russians have nothing to fear.

Al Jazeeras Step Vaessen has been given exclusive access to police headquarters in Moscow.
A 71-year-old Sri Lankan woman on board a tourist bus from Agra to Delhi died, apparently due to illness, police said on Monday.

The deceased has been identified as AJWP Herath Bandaranayaka Mudiyanselage, a resident of Welimada town in Sri Lanka, they said.

According to the police, the woman was travelling with her husband from Agra to Delhi in a bus with a group of tourists from Sri Lanka.

On the way, she fell ill and was taken to Lady Hardinge Medical College by the tour coordinator where the doctors declared her brought dead, a senior police official said.

The Sri Lankan Embassy has been informed, he said, adding that the post-mortem will be conducted on Tuesday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- Nigerian big boy Hushpuppi has revealed his latest investment on social media

- The socialite shared a video of his real estate investment in Ivory Coast

- Hushpuppi thanked God for his latest achievement

Dubai-based flamboyant big boy Ray Hushpuppi has shared his latest achievement with the world. The socialite and Instagram big boy shared a video of the new real estate investment he recently started.

It was gathered that the real estate investment is located in Cocody, Abidjan, in Ivory Coast.

In the video shared on his Instagram page, it could be seen that the estate has about four buildings that are still under construction. The estate is also facing the water with a big tree in the middle of the compound.

PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigeria's #1 news app

Hushpuppi captioned the post with appreciation to God. The Instagram big boy thanked God for his latest milestone.

According to Hushpuppi, the construction of the real estate is going better than what he expected.

PAY ATTENTION: Do you have news to share? Contact Legit.ng instantly

The controversial Instagram big boy also noted that his latest investment is his vision 2020 plan.

READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had earlier reported that the Dubai-based big boy currently celebrated a milestone he achieved with his account on the photo-sharing app, Instagram.

The social media sensation managed to hit 2 million followers, and this feat spurred him into penning a lengthy note about how he managed to get so much following.

He disclosed how he had joined the platform in 2012, and fallen in love with the opportunity it afforded him to showcase himself to the rest of the world, and also meet people from different spheres of the world.

Hushpuppi said that he has had his fair share of ugly moments on Instagram. He, however, stated that it is all part of what made for a memorable experience.

He said it took him 6 years to get up to a million followers, but he was able to double up the count in just another 356 days.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have upgraded to serve you better

Lasisi Elenu Interview - What I learnt from Hushpuppi - Star Chat - on Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng
by Ashutosh Jogalekar

On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union in a typhoon of steel and firepower without precedent in history. In spite of telltale signs and repeated warnings, Joseph Stalin who had indulged in wishful thinking was caught completely off guard. He was so stunned that he became almost catatonic, shutting himself in his dacha, not even coming out to make a formal announcement. It was days later that he regained his composure and spoke to the nation from the heart, awakening a decrepit albeit enormous war machine that would change the fate of tens of millions forever. By this time, the German juggernaut had advanced almost to the doors of Moscow, and the Soviet Union threw everything that it had to stop Hitler from breaking down the door and bringing the whole rotten structure on the Russian peoples heads, as the Fuhrer had boasted of doing.

Among the multitudes of citizens and soldiers mobilized was a shortsighted, overweight Jewish journalist named Vasily Grossman. Grossman had been declared unfit for regular duty because of his physical shortcomings, but he somehow squeezed himself all the way to the front through connections. During the next four years, he became one of the most celebrated war correspondents of all time, witnessing human conflict whose sheer brutality beggared belief. To pass the time in this most unreal of landscapes, Grossman had a single novel to keep him company  War and Peace. It was to prove to be a prophetic choice.

Not only was Grossman present during the siege and eventual victory at Stalingrad  a single battle in which more Soviet soldiers and citizens died than American soldiers during all of World War 2  but he was also part of the Soviet advance into the occupied territories in which the Nazis had waged a racial war of extermination that would almost annihilate an entire race of people. While forward-deployed units of Nazi Einsatzgruppen killed more than a million Jews in Ukraine, Lithuania and other countries, this holocaust by bullets was only a precursor to the horror of Auschwitz and Treblinka. Grossman became the first journalist to enter Treblinka and describe what words could scarcely bring themselves to describe. Most of all, the Holocaust hit home for him in a devastatingly personal way  Grossmans own mother was murdered by the Nazis in the village of Berdychiv; the prewar Jewish population of this small town numbering more than 40,000 was completely annihilated. This singular episode shaped Grossmans worldview for the rest of his life.

Over the next ten years Grossman who had seen Stalins 1937 purges and the postwar takeover of Europe became witness to his own countrys descent into oppression, conquest and genocidal aspirations. The words that proclaimed liberty and brotherhood during the fight against the Nazis started sounding hollow. In 1960 he put the finishing touches to what was the culmination of his career and thinking  Life and Fate, a 900-page magnum opus that was on par with some of the greatest fiction of all time. Today Life and Fate stands shoulder to shoulder with the great novels. And similar to the great novels, it takes in the entire world and nothing seems to be missing from its pages. Love, hatred, war, peace, childhood, motherhood, jealousy, bravery, cowardice, introspection, economics, politics, science, philosophyeverything is contained in its universe. More importantly, like the great works of literature, like Shakespeare and Dante, Dickens and Hemingway, like Grossmans compatriots Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, the themes in Life and Fate are timeless, transcending nationality, race, gender and even its wartime setting. It will be relevant two hundred years from now when men and women will still be fighting and killing and discussing and loving. The novel speaks to human beings struggling with common problems across the gulf of time. And it speaks doggedly against the identity politics that riddles our discourse so widely.

Like War and Peace, Life and Fate straddles almost a hundred and fifty characters spread over a variety of times and locations, from the quiet warmth of a matriarchs dwelling to the absolute nihilism of an extermination camp to several battle locations on the front spread around Stalingrad. Here we encounter characters whose views of life have been forced to be stripped down to their bare bones because of the sheer bleak brutality around them and forced minimalism of their existence. While there are hundreds of major and minor characters, a few key ones stand out. Broadly speaking, the characters fan out from the person of Alexandra Vladimirovna, a factory worker and steely matriarch who had lived in Stalingrad before moving out because of the war, and her two daughters Lyudmila and Yevgenia. The action also centers on Yevgenias old husband Krymov who has been an important party official and her new lover Novikov who is a tank commander. Meanwhile, Lyudmila lives with her husband Victor Shtrum, who in many ways speaks for the conscience of the various other characters in the novel. At least in one sense the most interesting person is Mikhail Mostovskoy, a friend of the family who has ended up in a German concentration camp.

Its hard to keep track of all the characters, but one of the most remarkable things is how even some of the minor, intermittent players leave an indelible memory because of their pronunciations and ideas. There are some extraordinarily poignant moments, such as when Lyudmilas son Tolya is wounded on the front and she hurries to visit him in the hospital, only to find that he has died shortly before. She asks to be escorted to his grave and spends a moment of hauntingly beautiful, ethereal and yet earthly tragedy mourning at his side, covering him with his shawl so that he wont be cold. It takes her several minutes to realize the bare truth of Tolyas non-existence:

The water of life, the water that had gushed over the ice and brought Tolya back from the darkness, had disappeared; the world created by the mothers despair, the world that for a moment had broken its fetters and become reality, was no more.

Perhaps there is no story more emotionally devastating in the book than the story of Sofya Levinton, a Jewish friend of Lyudmilas who has the misfortune of being snared by the Nazis and put on a cattle train to Auschwitz. On the train Sofya runs into David, a six or seven year-old boy who also shared the misfortune of being cut off from his mother and put in a ghetto with his grandmother. When his grandmother died of disease, the woman she had entrusted David to was too busy trying to save herself. Like two atomic particles randomly bumping into each other by accident, David and Sofya bump into each other on the train. They have no one else, so they have each other. They accompany each other into the camp, into the dressing room, and finally into the gas chamber where there is no light, no life, no meaning. As the Zyklon B starts hissing from the openings above, David clings to the unmarried, childless Sofya:

Sofya Levinton felt the boys body subside in her hands. Once again she had fallen behind him. In mineshafts where the air becomes poisoned, it is always the little creatures, the birds and mice, that die first. This boy, with his slight, bird-like body, had left before her. Ive become a mother, she thought. That was her last thought.

In another German concentration camp, Mikhail Mostovskoy has philosophical disputes with a few prisoners who are trying to shake his confidence in communism and are also trying to organize an escape. Mostovskoy is a true believer and is keeping the flame burning bright. But reality is not so easy. The denouement comes when he is called to the office of the camp commandant. His name is Liss. Liss is interested in certain documents which a dissident named Ikkonikov has thrust into Mostovskoys hands, right before refusing to help build a gas chamber and being executed as a result. But that is not Lisss main concern, and he is not here to punish Mostovskoy. Instead he does something worse than provide an easy death: he brings the hammer down on Mostovskoys entire worldview when he tells him how similar Nazism and Stalinism are, how they are built on the backs of oppressed and murdered people, how true believers in both ideologies should ideally stand shoulder to shoulder with each other, how this whole war is therefore an unnecessary farce. Mostovskoy is shaken, and his loss of faith very much mirrors Grossmans own by the time he wrote the book: with its murder and suppression of all dissent, complete control of peoples lives and total disregard for individual freedom, were fascism and communism that different?

But if Mostovskoy had any lingering doubts about whether his faith in collective action has been built on a house of cards, it collapses completely when he reads Ikkonikovs pamphlets and hears him speaking from the grave. Its strange: Ikkonikov is a minor character who appears perhaps in four or five pages of the volume, and the transcript of his documents occupies not more than ten pages in a book numbering almost a thousand pages, and yet in many ways his pamphlet is the single-most important part of the book, communicating as it does the overwhelming significance of individual kindness and action in the face of utter, unending conflict. Individual kindness is the only thing that remains when all humanity has been stripped away from both oppressor and oppressed; when every trace of nationality, race, gender and political views has been obliterated by sheer terror and murder, this kindness is the only elemental thing connecting all human beings simply because they are human beings and nothing else, it is this kindness, this dumb, senseless kindness, that will keep propelling humanity onwards when all else is lost. It is this kindness that goes by the name of good. As Ikkonikov says,

Good is to be found neither in the sermons of religious teachers and prophets, nor in the teachings of sociologists and popular leaders, nor in the ethical systems of philosophers And yet ordinary people bear love in their hearts, are naturally full of love and pity for any living thing. At the end of the days work they prefer the warmth of the hearth to a bonfire in the public square. Yes, as well as this terrible Good with a capital G, there is everyday human kindness. The kindness of an old woman carrying a piece of bread to a prisoner, the kindness of a soldier allowing a wounded enemy to drink from his water-flask, the kindness of youth towards age, the kindness of a peasant hiding an old Jew in his loft. The kindness of a prison guard who risks his own liberty to pass on letters written by a prisoner not to his ideological comrades, but to his wife and mother. The private kindness of one individual towards another; a petty, thoughtless kindness; an unwitnessed kindness. Something we could call senseless kindness. A kindness outside any system of social or religious good. But if we think about it, we realize that this private, senseless, incidental kindness is in fact eternal. It is extended to everything living, even to a mouse, even to a bent branch that a man straightens as he walks by. Even at the most terrible times, through all the mad acts carried out in the name of Universal Good and the glory of States, times when people were tossed about like branches in the wind, filling ditches and gullies like stones in an avalanche  even then this senseless, pathetic kindness remained scattered throughout life like atom This kindness, this stupid kindness, is what is most truly human in a human being. It is what sets man apart, the highest achievement of his soul. No, it says, life is not evil!

And who promotes this kindness? Not religion with its conditional acceptance and demands to conform. Not the state which also imposes its own demands for conformity. Not even capitalism which makes kindness conditional on the invisible hand of selfish actions. In fact no system of organization can impose this kindness, no matter how much it speaks of it in glowing terms. It can only come about when all systems of organization have been obliterated, when humanitys bare existence compels its members to recognize a quality in each other that is completely independent of every group identification, every kind of ism.

And who spoke of this kindness? Not the religious prophets who sought salvation in the one true God and heaven, not the commissars whose mind-numbing bureaucratic machinations threatened to grind every human particle of unique identity into the featureless dust of one level playing field, not even the scientific rationalists whose discoveries can only describe, not prescribe. No, to describe senseless, stupid, all-encompassing kindness one must look to the great poets and writers, not the philosophers. And through everyday characters and conversations, nobody demonstrates the timeless nature of individual kindness as well as Chekhov:

Chekhov said: lets put God  and all these grand progressive ideas  to one side. Lets begin with man; lets be kind and attentive to the individual man  whether hes a bishop, a peasant, an industrial magnate, a convict in the Sakhalin Islands or a waiter in a restaurant. Lets begin with respect, compassion and love for the individual  or well never get anywhere.

If you havent already, dear reader, I cannot exhort you enough to read Chekhov. Read his plays, read especially his short stories, read anything by him. Throughout Life and Fate the nature of indivisible, immutable bonds between human beings  whether it is a commander and his aide, an aging communist and her son-in-law, and of course the more common and enduring sets of relationships between sons and mothers, daughters and fathers  stand above and beyond the basic essentials of the narrative.

Another character, in a completely different set of circumstances on the Stalingrad front:

Human groupings have one main purpose: to assert everyones right to be different, to be special, to think, feel and live in his or her own way. People join together in order to win or defend this right. But this is where a terrible, fateful error is born: the belief that these groupings in the name of a race, a God, a party or a State are the very purpose of life and not simply a means to an end. No! The only true and lasting meaning of the struggle for life lies in the individual, in his modest peculiarities and in his right to these peculiarities.

If that is not a soaring counterpoint to and a damning indictment of the identity politics that has completely taken over our discourse today, I do not know what is.

When word of Grossmans magnum opus got out the KGB stormed his apartment. They considered the novel so dangerous that they confiscated not only the manuscript but also the typewriter ribbons which were used to craft the novel. This level of paranoia could only exist in the Soviet Union. Why they did this is clear after reading it. Not only does Life and Fate show, through devastatingly understated examples of indelible characters who gradually become disillusioned, the hollow nature of the Soviet systems promises and its similarity with the fascism that its patriotic adherents thought they were fighting, but it also demonstrated through the character of physicist Victor Shtrum, the anti-Semitism that while not as fatal as that in Nazi Germany, was slowly but surely brewing in the countrys corridors and the hearts and minds of its people. Even before the war ended it was clear that the Germans campaign of Jewish cleansing in Ukraine and parts of Russia could not have been carried out without the complicity of local populations who held grudges against Jews for decades. Grossmans personal motivation because of his mothers murder brought to his depiction of the Soviet Unions initially benign and then increasingly oppressive anti-Semitism particularly strident and urgent force. The party line in the country refused to have writers like Grossman single out Jewish victims of the Holocaust because they knew that doing so would shine a mirror into their own faces. The combination of Grossmans expose of the Soviets as being little different from the Nazis and anti-Semites to boot sealed his novels fate.

When Grossman asked when his book might see the light of day, a high-ranking party official named Suslov said there was no question of the volume being published for another two hundred years; by announcing such a draconian sentence on Grossmans work, he inadvertently announced the novels incendiary nature. Grossman died in 1964 without seeing his book smuggled out and translated by Robert Chandler, a sad and lonely man in a Moscow apartment battling stomach cancer.

But his act of defiance, expressed in this profound book as an assertion of the fundamental nature of the individual and a rejection of collectivism of all kinds, spoke to the ages, escaped the fetters of its two hundred-year oppressors and brought about the collapse of the Soviet Union. And it could well bring about the collapse of the systems we take so much pride in because we fail to see how they are turning us into inchoate groups. So let us now practice thoughtless, stupid, unwitnessed kindness. Its the one constant in life and fate.
The BJP has decided to hold



protests against the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Uddhav Thackeray in the state on February 25.

State BJP chief Chandrakant Patil on Monday said the party will hold demonstrations in all tehsils against the MVA government's "failure" to solve people's issues and its "opposition" to the Citizenship Amendment Act, the proposed National Register of Citizens and the National Population Register.

"The agitations will take place at nearly 400 places. It will be the second day of the Maharashtra government's budget session," Patil said.

The budget session of the state Legislature will begin from February 24.

On BJP national president J P Nadda's remarks that the party needs to be ready to go solo in future elections, Patil said, "We have not change our strategy. We were saying that the MVA government will fall of its own burden and internal bickering."



During the state BJP's convention in Navi Mumbai on Sunday, Nadda said the Maharashtra government was "unnatural and unrealistic",He also said the BJP should be prepared to go solo in all the forthcoming polls and expressed confidence that his party will win the next Maharashtra elections on its own.

The BJP emerged as the single largest party in the state after the Assembly polls in October last year. But, it failed to form government after the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena snapped ties with it over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post.

The Shiv Sena later forged an alliance with the ideologically different NCP and Congress to form the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government in the state.

Meanwhile, Patil said he does not approve of Marathi 'kirtankar' (preacher) Indurikar Maharaj's recent remarks, wherein the latter said that if intercourse with a woman is done on even date, a male child is born and if it is done on an odd date, a girl child is born.

Patil said Indurikar Maharaj is known for enlightening the society, but he should not have made such comments which were demeaning to women.

However, since he has spoken a lot of good things, he should not be looked down upon for one statement, the BJP leader said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ
A newly appointed Downing Street adviser has quit amid criticism of controversial past comments about forced contraception of the 'underclass' and the IQs of black people.

Government adviser, Andrew Sabisky, suggested black Americans have a lower average IQ than white citizens and labelled public outcry over female genital mutilation a 'moral panic'.

Mr Sabisky also said that 'women's sport is more comparable to the Paralympics than it is to men's' and reportedly advocated legally enforcing the uptake of contraception to stop unplanned pregnancies 'creating a permanent underclass'.

Boris Johnson came under growing pressure to sack the 27-year-old who was apparently drafted in to Number 10 after the PM's chief adviser Dominic Cummings called for 'misfits and weirdos' to apply to advise the government.

Downing Street repeatedly refused to condemn the remarks this morning.

But this evening Mr Sabisky announced he was stepping down due to 'media hysteria' and so as not to be a 'distraction' for Number 10.

He tweeted: 'Hey all, The media hysteria about my old stuff online is mad but I wanted to help HMG not be a distraction. Accordingly I've decided to resign as a contractor. I hope no.10 hires more ppl w/ good geopolitical forecasting track records & that media learn to stop selective quoting.'

In a second tweet after his resignation announcement today, Andrew Sabisky added that he joined the government team to do 'real work' and claimed he was the victim of 'a giant character assassination'

Mr Sabisky announced on Twitter this evening that he was steeping down from his role as a Number 10 adviser

In another tweet soon after Mr Sabisky added that he joined the government team to do 'real work' and claimed he was the victim of 'a giant character assassination'.

He wrote: 'I know this will disappoint a lot of ppl but I signed up to do real work, not be in the middle of a giant character assassination: if I can't do the work properly there's no point, & I have a lot of other things to do w/ my life.'

Before the announcement, Number 10 refused to comments on Mr Sabisky's appointment to the role.

Earlier today the Prime Minister's deputy official spokesman said: 'I am not going to be commenting on individual appointments.'

Asked whether Mr Johnson condemned the comments, the deputy spokesman said: 'The Prime Minister's views are well publicised and documented.'

Downing Street also would not confirm whether Mr Sabisky was actually working in Number 10 but this afternoon reports suggested he has been employed as a contractor as a forecaster, covering defence and other policy areas.

The Financial Times said Mr Sabisky, a self-described 'super-forecaster', had been in Number 10 for a 'couple of days' but is currently in America.

It came as a photograph of Mr Sabisky in front of the famous black door emerged on Twitter from January this year with the caption: 'Number 10 Downing Street lads!'

A picture published on Twitter by Michael Story (pictured middle) on January 17 of this year showed Andrew Sabisky (pictured left) stood in front of the famous black door of Number 10

Boris Johnson, pictured at a meeting of the Cabinet on Friday, is now under growing pressure to sack Mr Sabisky

Who is new government adviser Andrew Sabisky? A 27-year-old Cambridge graduate, Andrew Sabisky is believed to have been appointed as an adviser to the government. Downing Street today refused to comment on his appointment and would not confirm whether he is actually working in Number 10. He is believed to have applied for a position following a blog post from Dominic Cummings in which the PM's top aide urged 'weirdos and misfits' to seek employment with the government. But the appointment of the self-described 'super-forecaster' has sparked fury after a number of his previous remarks came to light. He is believed to be a government contractor rather than a fully-fledged special adviser.

Advertisement

Tory MPs criticised the governmental silence today, with former immigration minister Caroline Nokes tweeting: 'Cannot believe No 10 has refused to comment on Andrew Sabisky.

'I don't know him from a bar of soap, but don't think we'd get on ....... must be no place in Government for the views he's expressed.'

Writing on Mr Cummings' website in 2014, Mr Sabisky said: 'One way to get around the problems of unplanned pregnancies creating a permanent underclass would be to legally enforce universal uptake of long-term contraception at the onset of puberty.

'Vaccination laws give it a precedent, I would argue.'

In another post being circulated on social media, Mr Sabisky claimed black people had lower IQs than white people.

In the article, entitled 'Disabilities by race' he reportedly said: 'If the mean black American IQ is (best estimate based on a century's worth of data) around 85, as compared to a mean white American IQ of 100, then if IQ is normally distributed, you will see a far greater percentage of blacks than whites in the range of IQs 75 or below, at which point we are close to the typical boundary for mild mental retardation.'

On the issue of FGM, he reportedly wrote: 'It is still unclear to what extent FGM represents a serious risk to young girls, raised in the UK, of certain minority group origins. Much of the hue and cry looks more like a moral panic.'

New government adviser Andrew Sabisky also made the above controversial comment on women's sport

Mr Sabisky, a researcher who describes himself as a 'super-forecaster', has been criticised for previous remarks after he was appointed as an adviser to the government

Mr Sabisky was apparently drafted in to Number 10 after the PM's chief adviser Dominic Cummings (pictured) called for 'misfits and weirdos' to apply to advise the government

He also once tweeted that former defence secretaries Penny Mordaunt and Gavin Williamson - both now back in government - were 'proper morons'.

Ian Lavery, the chairman of the Labour Party, said: 'It is disgusting that not only has Number 10 failed to condemn Andrew Sabisky's appalling comments, but also seems to have endorsed the idea that white people are more intelligent than black people.

'Boris Johnson should have the backbone to make a statement in his own words on why he has made this appointment, whether he stands by it, and his own views on the subject of eugenics.'

Controversial comments reportedly made by Andrew Sabisky On women's sport: 'I am always straight up in saying that women's sport is more comparable to the Paralympics than it is to men's.' On enforced contraception: 'One way to get around the problems of unplanned pregnancies creating a permanent underclass would be to legally enforce universal uptake of long-term contraception at the onset of puberty.' On female genital mutilation: 'It is still unclear to what extent FGM represents a serious risk to young girls, raised in the UK, of certain minority group origins. Much of the hue and cry looks more like a moral panic.' On race: 'If the mean black American IQ is (best estimate based on a century's worth of data) around 85, as compared to a mean white American IQ of 100, then if IQ is normally distributed, you will see a far greater percentage of blacks than whites in the range of IQs 75 or below, at which point we are close to the typical boundary for mild mental retardation.' Advertisement

A photograph of Mr Sabisky standing in front of Number 10 Downing Street has emerged on Twitter.

The photo was published by fellow 'super-forecaster' Michael Story on January 17 of this year. It showed Mr Sabisky alongside Mr Story and Thomas Liptay.

Mr Story and Mr Liptay are both co-founders of an app designed to improve the accuracy of forecasts.

Geneticist Dr Adam Rutherford criticised the comments made by Mr Sabisky, writing on Twitter: 'Like Cummings, he appears to be bewitched by science, without having made the effort to understand the areas he is invoking, nor it's history.'

He said the 'moral repugnance' of the remarks was 'overwhelming', adding: 'I am all for scientifically minded people advising government. In fact I am all for scientists advising government. From this perspective, Sabisky and indeed Cummings look bewitched by science without doing the legwork.

'Instead this resembles the marshalling of misunderstood or specious science into a political ideology. The history here is important, because this process is exactly what happened at the birth of scientific racism and the birth of eugenics.'

It has been reported that some government special advisers are prepared to boycott meetings where Mr Sabisky is present and are also planning to refuse to reply to any emails he sends.

Environment Secretary George Eustice said it was a 'matter for Dominic Cummings and Number 10' when asked about the remarks on Sky News.

On Sunday, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told the BBC: 'I don't know the individual but they are particularly not views that I or the Government shares in any way, shape or form.'

Asked if Mr Shapps had been speaking for the government, the PM's deputy spokesman said: 'He was speaking as the Transport Secretary.'
MUSKEGON HEIGHTS, MI  Police have launched an embezzlement investigation into some employees of the soon-to-close Muskegon Family Care health clinic.

The Michigan State Police responded to a request to investigate possible embezzlement involving staff members at the Muskegon Family Care facility in Muskegon Heights, according to a statement from Lt. David Cope, a public information officer for the State Police.

There are no allegations or implications that would directly impact clients of Muskegon Family Care, Cope said. The investigation is in its preliminary stages so the MSP does not have any further information to pass along at this time.

The clinic that provides medical and dental services to an estimated 20,000 patients announced on Monday, Feb. 17, that it will close March 31. It terminated the employment of some workers on Friday, Feb. 14, according to the statement provided by the clinic.

In 2018, nearly 80 percent of the clinics patients were at or below the poverty level, and about 65 percent were eligible for Medicaid, according to the federal Bureau of Primary Health.

The clinic has been operated by an interim executive following the departure of former Chief Executive Officer Sheila Bridges.

A 2014 federal review of the clinic found that it failed to properly track the federal funds it receives and revealed questionable business expenses made by Bridges, according to the report obtained by the Muskegon Chronicle. Some of those expenses included stays at five-star hotels, first-class airfare and limousine accommodations.

The federal review also revealed Bridges received double tuition payments and made decisions that led the facility to lose $153,939 during a lavish celebrity fundraiser held in 2013.

That same year, several staff members, including a doctor, dentists and physician assistants, wrote a letter calling for the resignation of Bridges and the board of directors.

The letter, obtained by the Chronicle, lamented the loss of qualified providers and board members through sudden demotions and voluntary resignations. The memo claimed Bridges had received a $50,000 salary increase during an eight-month period in 2012 and said under her leadership, the working environment included "...threats, unexplained dismissals and administrative paranoia."

In 2014, a Fire Sheila Bridges (Muskegon Family Care) private Facebook group was created to keep communication between all individuals who are seeking justice for the numerous wrongdoings that have been occurring at Muskegon Family Care. Those injustices allegedly created by Bridges and other named administrators were listed as misappropriation of funds, inappropriate denial of patients and intimidation of staff.

Bridges joined Muskegon Family Care as its human resources director in 2004 and was promoted to a COO/operations director position in 2009. She went on to become the interim CEO and was promoted to that position in 2011.

The health clinic dates back to 1973 when it was opened by Dr. Dale Williams. He sold it to Mercy Hospital in the early 1990s, and it was renamed Mercy Family Care Center and then MGH Family Health Center before becoming the independent Muskegon Family Care in 2000.

It moved in 2005 into its current facility, which underwent a major expansion in 2008.

In 2006, Norton Shores accountant Daniel M. Korson admitted embezzling $1.5 million from Muskegon Family Care, for which he was financial director from 2001-2006. He said he used the money to aid Greater Muskegon Catholic Schools and his failing eatery, Sorrentos/USA Cafe Restaurant. He was sentenced to five years in prison.

Read more:

Muskegon Family Care health clinic announces closure, apologizes for misunderstanding

Federal review finds Muskegon Family Care failed to properly track federal funds, follow bylaws

From Koinonia to Muskegon Family Care: key moments in health clinics history
Heres a belated New Years resolution for you, New Jersey: Expand your dining horizons beyond your usual go-to spots and get in early on these up-and-comers before all your friends start talking about them.

Our latest list of restaurants burning up with five-star reviews is full of new sushi spots, authentic Turkish cuisine and several takes on brick oven pizza, the kind we will never, ever tire of here in the pizza capital of the world.

heavy is the head that wears the crown#nationalpizzaday pic.twitter.com/N3n6ltOVri  New Jersey  (@NJGov) February 9, 2020

Oh, did you want like-grandma-made Polish food? Or French fare in a cafe thatll make you think you flew to Paris? How about Filipino cuisine? Or Peruvian? Or Cajun seafood? Yup, yes and yeah, weve got those, too.

I know were partial, but is there a more diverse food landscape than right freaking here? We think not  and our current crop of newbies reflects it.

So get eating, Jersey. And then report back. Wed love to hear what you think in our Facebook group for people in N.J. who love food, which is, well, all of us, right?

We publish these lists quarterly. Know of a great new restaurant we missed? Email jremo@njadvancemedia.com.

Ani Ramen, Maplewood

What: The fifth location of the favorite Jersey ramen chain. Its also BYOB.

One Yelper says: Great place with a cool vibe to get a filling lunch or dinner. The staff is friendly and the service is on point. This isnt instant ramen by any means, but its worth the wait. Favorites are the kimchi ramen and the shrimp buns. Also the spicy edamame!

Bistro dAzur, South Orange

What: A BYOB using locally sourced ingredients to bring the flavors of the French Riviera to Jersey.

One Yelper says: Great service, decor/atmosphere & excellent food! Well definitely be back regularly. We had the lobster crepe, octopus, & fois gras appetizers, and the scallop entree, all were TO DIE FOR!

Brasserie Memere, Closter

What: Traditional French fare in an adorable space thatll make you think youve flown to Paris.

One Yelper says: Very NYC vibe, which we desperately need around here. The menu was sophisticated and unlike any in the area. They had my favorite, steak tartare and pomme frites and I went for it... AMAZING!!! The onion soup was the best Ive had in N.J. and the dirty martini did not disappoint!

Brick + Dough, Union City

What: Brick-oven pizza with creative flavors (like the wild mushroom, ricotta, lemon zest and truffle pie)  and its BYOB.

One Yelper says: We love this new pizza place! We had the four cheese pizza and the meatball pizza. And weve already been twice. You can watch the owner make the delicious pizza right in front of you.

Buddha Fish, Westfield

What: A sushi and Japanese tapas BYOB from the owner of Inspiration Roll, also in Westfield.

One Yelper says: Had the spotted prawn, regular tuna, inspired yellowtail, elm roll and Uni. Everything was perfectly fresh and well constructed. By far the best sushi Ive had in the area.

Canal House Station, Milford

What: Two cooks who wrote an award-winning cookbook open a breakfast and lunch cafe in a beautiful, historic railroad station.

One Yelper says: This place is dynamite! Had all the omelets, sandwiches, sides, coffee...Im picky as hell and they blow myself and my fiance away every time after multiple visits! Finally a quality and consistent restaurant in Milford! Menu a tad limited but perfection every time!

DOMODOMO, Jersey City

What: The N.J. outpost of an award-winning NYC sushi spot known for its hand rolls.

One Yelper says: There really isnt any sushi place comparable in Jersey City, so I think its a great place for higher-end sushi or for omakase when you dont want to head into NY.

El Turco Grill, Hackensack

What: Traditional Turkish dishes, including kebabs and kofte (Turkish meatballs), in downtown Hackensack.

One Yelper says: We had the stuffed eggplant and lentil soup for appetizers. They were delicious! For main courses we had a vegetarian spinach, peppers, onions and tomato dish over rice and the chicken kebab. Both were outstanding. The restaurant is in downtown Hackensack within walking distance of stores and parking.

Fork Hill Kitchen, Union City

What: A BYOB serving modern American cuisine, plus a popular Saturday and Sunday brunch.

One Yelper says: "Coffee was hot and strong. Grilled cheese was nice and toasted and cheesey, gooey goodness. French fries were hot and fresh. The standout was the crispy chicken sandwich, juicy inside and crispy outside, really fantastic for a hungover morning. The vibe is great, nice staff, lots of sunlight, big windows, nice bar to sit at. "

Freetown Road Project, Jersey City

What: West Indian cuisine from a Chopped champion who used to be the executive chef at Porta.

One Yelper says: I dont know much about West Indian food, but this was out of this world delicious. We started with fish cakes that came with a homemade remoulade (just enough spice) that made for a perfect combo. The oxtail stew was so tender, the chicken stew fall-off-the-bone goodness.

Grindstone, Williamstown

What: Wood-fired pizzas in a date-worthy space  also its BYOB.

One Yelper says: Who doesnt love a good BYOB?! We have been to this restaurant twice and cannot wait to go back again! The pizza is fantastic! If youre in the mood for a classic margarita pizza, Grindstone has the best! My personal favorite is the white pie. The Brussels sprouts are a must!

Home Made, Hackettstown

What: Polish favorites the way grandma would make them  and its BYOB.

One Yelper says: These were hands down some of the best pierogies I have ever had. Our table shared the potato & cheddar, sauerkraut, potato & onion, and sweet strawberry pierogi."

Nauti Cajun Crab, Metuchen

What: A seafood boil spot, but in a chic space. You choose the flavor and the spice level; also its BYOB.

One Yelper says: Im always looking for Cajun and/or Creole, and usually when I find it outside Louisiana I am disappointed. Not so with Nauti Cajun Crab, they do a great job. Four of us went, and we ordered the Sea Festival, which for $149 includes a giant pot of King Crab, Dungeness Crab, Snow Crab, Lobster, Mussels & Shrimp, along with Andouille sausage, potatoes, bread and lemonade. It was terrific."

Nazca Cevicheria & Tiki, Dumont

What: A new Peruvian restaurant serving up ceviche, chaufa, pisco sours (and tiki cocktails, too)  from the owners of beloved Casual Habana in New Milford.

One Yelper says: We had the papas a la huancaina, ceviche mixto, jalea and the quinoa chaufa. While all the food was great, there is something in the quinoa chaufa that makes it flipping addictive! We were stuffed and still spooning that stuff in our faces.

Pren Kitchen, Chester

What: Scratch-made comfort food  and its one of Yelps top 15 new restaurants of 2019

One Yelper says: On a cold, icy rainy day today, I found a cure for winter ... It came in the shape of a takeout meatloaf dinner from Pren Kitchen. Juicy, perfectly seasoned meatloaf, with caramelized onion draped over, buttery mashed potatoes with Grandma-whipped texture, and Brussel sprouts roasted into sublimity... Yum!

Reytas Filipino Cuisine, Cherry Hill

What: Authentic Filipino food in a casual space  open since the end of November and already earning rave reviews.

One Yelper says: Definitely your go-to spot if its your first time trying Filipino food or if youre Pinoy and simply miss the taste of home. From takeout, to sitting down for a main course, or topping it off with dessert; this gem embodies the true delicacies of the Philippines.

Roots Ocean Prime, Princeton

What: A new location of the N.J. steakhouse (plus seafood) in a gorgeous space  from the Harvest Restaurant Group.

One Yelper says: We were seated next to the jaw-dropping fireplace and couldnt get over the details imprinted in the dining room. ... We split the Tuna Tartare and Spicy Crispy Lobster for the table and the flavor BURSTING from each of those dishes was amazing. The Spicy Crispy lobster had the perfect kick of spice without taking away from the fresh lobster. The mains then came out, which included the Cauliflower Steak, Specialty Risotto (shrimp, asparagus and CHEESE) and Kobe Slider.

Sunday Motor Co. Cafe, Madison

What: An automotive-inspired cafe in an old gas station, complete with a Porsche Targa inside.

One Yelper says: They currently are offering lighter fare such as avocado toast and specialty treats, all of which are superb. But the real draw for me is the coffee! It reminds me of Italy, since I think thats the last time I enjoyed coffee so much! It is fantastic! My favorite right now is their cappuccino.

Sushi By Bou, Jersey City

What: A teeny tiny reservation-only sushi speakeasy (its inside Ani Ramen) serving a $50 12-piece omakase that you have no more than 60 minutes to eat  a concept from N.Y.C. sushi chef David Bouhadana.

One Yelper says: I love a good speakeasy, so I really enjoyed the experience. Our chef for the night was Kevin, and he took excellent care of us. All 12 sushi pieces were amazing, but my absolute favorite was the tuna with pickled wasabi and the torched fatty tuna.

The Baklava Lady, Englishtown

What: A vegan Turkish cafe, the first standalone location from the popular food market vendor.

One Yelper says: A delicious addition to Englishtowns Main Street whether youre vegan or not. I love Turkish food already and there are quite a few amazing options within a quick drive but none are completely vegan.

The Cheese Bar, Pompton Lakes

What: Small plates, artisan grilled cheese sandwiches and other cheesy delights, like sizzling fresh fig and toasted almond brie.

One Yelper says: Great place! My husband and I went for the first time this weekend and it was delicious. We started with the baked goat cheese and then I got the brie, fig & apple grilled cheese and my husband got the skirt steak, both very good. A lot of people had the tomato basil fondue on their table and Im tempted to try that next time.

The Edge, Jackson

What: New American cuisine in a sleek and stylish space. Offerings include classic dishes, seafood and prime cut meats infused with Latin and Asian accents, plus an expansive bar and handcrafted cocktails.

One Yelper says: Second time dining here. The service was excellent. The Caesar salad was unlike any I have ever had before. It was unbelievably good. The pasta with lobster and uni, out of this world."

The Little Hen, Haddonfield

What: An 18-seat, French-inspired BYOB "dining experience.

One Yelper says: "Weve been to Paris and came back wishing there was a French bistro restaurant where the atmosphere is casual, comfortable, fun, and, best of all, fabulous food! ... Some of our favorite appetizers are Oeufs Sur Oeufs (Deviled Eggs), Mushroom Toast, and Frog Legs to name a few. All the entrees and sides are delicious. "

The Meeting House, Princeton

What: New American cuisine in a stylish but casual space, plus brunch on the weekends.

One Yelper says: One of my favorite new spots in Princeton. Great room, music, vibe, etc. Have been for brunch with kids and dinner as a group. Both experiences were first rate.

Tostchu, Montclair

What: A Turkish deli and panini shop that also serves smoothies  and is earning rave reviews by the day.

One Yelper says: "This place is a real winner! From the great service from the owner to the amazing sandwiches (the everything is an absolute must!) this Turkish deli with great smoothies too is now my go to spot whenever I am near.

---

Read more:

The 23 new N.J. restaurants you need to try this fall

The 28 hot new N.J. restaurants you need to try this summer

The 29 new N.J. restaurants you need to try this spring

The 15 best new restaurants in New Jersey, according to Yelp

Come talk all things N.J. food with us in our Facebook group, Jersey Eats.

Jessica Remo may be reached at jremo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter@JessicaRemoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
Manama

National Security Adviser and Royal Guard Commander, Major-General His Highness Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, yesterday received the newly-appointed Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr Abdullatif Al Zayani, in the presence of Shaikh Ahmed bin Abdulaziz Al Khalifa.

HH Shaikh Nasser congratulated Dr Al Zayani on the precious royal trust bestowed upon him through his appointment to his post, wishing him every success in assuming his duties, and continuing the successes achieved by Bahraini diplomacy in many fields.

HH Shaikh Nasser asserted that the successes of the Bahraini diplomacy reflect His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifas unwavering interest in such as a vital sector, which, he said, has projected to the world Bahrains sober identity and foreign policies.

The National Security Adviser stressed that Dr Al Zayanis wide ranging experience, which he had acquired through the government positions he had held or as a Secretary-General of the Gulf Co-operation Council, would enable him to upgrade Bahraini diplomatic work, develop foreign policy and build on the existing great achievements, in accordance with the Kingdoms fundamentals and policies thanks to which the Bahraini diplomacy has earned worldwide appreciation, respect and confidence.

HH Shaikh Nasser indicated that Dr Al Zayanis enlightened vision in the diplomatic field would enable him to implement HM the Kings directives aiming to ensure the continuous development of the performance of the Bahraini diplomacy in order to ensure its sustainability, readiness and ability to cope with all global development.

The Foreign Minister expressed thanks and appreciation to HH Shaikh Nasser for receiving him and congratulating him on his post, pledging that he will do his utmost to implement the royal vision on ensuring the continuity of the Bahraini diplomacy's successes, as well as on building on its distinguished achievements.

Dr Abdullatif Al Zayani stressed that he would harness his experience for the sake of promoting the values and fundamentals of Bahraini diplomacy to strengthen the worlds respect and appreciation for Bahrain.
The Cabinet, chaired by the chief minister, popularly known as KCR, felt that CAA would lead to discrimination on the basis of religion and jeopardise secularism envisaged in the Constitution.

Hyderabad: The Telangana government on Sunday decided to pass an Assembly resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act, joining the ranks of anti-CAA states.

The Telangana government took the decision in a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, while urging the Centre to repeal the changes in the amended citizenship law.

It also appealed to the Centre "not to discriminate" on the basis of religion in granting citizenship to anyone.

"The State Cabinet appealed to the Union Government, not to discriminate on the basis of religion while granting Indian citizenship. It requested that all religions must be treated as equal before the law," an official release on decisions taken in the Cabinet meeting said on late Sunday night.

The Cabinet, chaired by the chief minister, popularly known as KCR, felt that CAA would lead to discrimination on the basis of religion and jeopardise secularism envisaged in the Constitution.

"The Cabinet further requested the Centre to take measures to abrogate the CAA which will lead to discrimination on the basis of religion while granting citizenship and thereby jeopardising secularism envisaged in the constitution," the release said.

The state Cabinet decided to pass the anti-CAA resolution in the state Assembly on the lines of the ones passed by Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal, it said.

Coming out strongly against the CAA, Rao had said in January he might convene a meeting of regional parties and chief ministers to oppose the amended citizenship law.

"The state Assembly may pass a resolution, like the other states did, against the CAA," he had said then.

The Cabinet meeting, which began on Sunday evening, concluded late in the night.

It also decided to organize "Pattana Pragathi" (progress of towns) programme, aimed at ensuring cleanliness, greenery and planned development in urban areas, for 10 days beginning 24 February in all towns and cities of the state, a separate official release said.

A state-level 'municipal conference', to be attended by mayors, municipal chairpersons, commissioners, MLAs and district collectors, would be held on 18 February in Hyderabad to finalise the guidelines for the proposed programme, it said.
Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Sunday that he told his Russian counterpart at a meeting the previous day that attacks in Syria's northwestern Idlib region must stop immediately and that a lasting ceasefire has to be achieved, TRT World reports.

"I have met with Sergey Lavrov and said the aggression in Idlib should stop," Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters after the 56th Munich Security Conference.

A "permanent ceasefire" should be established, he added.

Cavusoglu also said a Turkish and a Russian delegation will meet on Monday in Moscow to discuss the latest situation in Idlib.
ATHENS, Greece - A delegation of Turkish military officials is due in Athens to resume confidence-building talks amid tension between the two NATO members over maritime oil-and-gas drilling rights.

The talks are due to start in Athens later Monday and last several days, taking place as the East Mediterranean neighbours remain at odds over maritime boundaries in the region.

Greece vehemently opposes an agreement reached last November between Turkey and Libya, which it argues was signed in violation of international law and Greek sovereign rights.

In a related dispute, Athens and the European Union have also condemned Turkeys drilling for gas off the war-divided island of Cyprus.

Greece and Turkey maintain regular military-to-military meetings, aimed at avoiding confrontation along disputed boundaries in the region.

The defence ministers of Greece and Turkey, Nikos Panagiotopoulos and Hulusi Akar, met on the sidelines of a NATO meeting in Brussels last week to discuss the agenda of the talks in Athens.
Hospitality firm OYO Hotels & Homes on Monday reported widening of its consolidated net loss to USD 335 million (over Rs 2,390 crore) for the financial year ended March 2019, mainly on account of international expansion during the period.

The company had reported a net loss of USD 52 million (over Rs 370 crore) for the previous financial year, OYO said in a statement.

Its consolidated revenue for 2018-19 stood at USD 951 million (over Rs 6,785 crore) as against USD 211 million (over Rs 1,500 crore) in the year-ago fiscal, it added.

"The inherent costs of establishing new markets, including those related to talent, market-entry, operational expenses, among others, resulted in an increase in OYO's net loss percentage in the near term, which grew from 25 per cent in 2017-18 to 35 per cent of revenue in 2018-19, to USD 335 million," the company said.

At the same time, in mature markets like India, the company reduced its losses from 24 per cent to 14 per cent of revenue in 2018-19 to USD 83 million, it added.

The business operations in India, a mature market for the company, contributed nearly 63.5 per cent or USD 604 million to the total revenue as the business clocked a 2.9 times growth y-o-y in the home market, OYO said.

Nearly 36.5 per cent or USD 348 million was contributed by the company's operations outside India, primarily China, signifying its strong commitment towards building a sustainable global business at scale with improved operating efficiencies, it added.

"As we work towards consistently improving our financial performance, ensuring strong yet sustainable growth, high operational and service excellence and a clear path to profitability will be key to our approach in 2020 and beyond," OYO Hotels & Homes Global CFO Abhishek Gupta said.

The company's increased focus on corporate governance and building a high-performing and employee-first work culture will also drive this next phase of sustainable growth, he added.

"Since China and other international markets were in development and investment mode during that time, they contributed to 75 per cent of the losses for FY19. These markets constituted 36.5 per cent of the global revenues," OYO said.

While consistently improving operating economics in mature markets like India where it is already seeing an improvement in gross margins, the company is determined to bring in the same fiscal discipline in emerging markets over the coming financial year, it added.

"The company's gross margin in India increased from 10.6 per cent in 2017-18 to 14.7 per cent in 2018-19 indicating the strength of its business model and a positive correlation between market share and economics," OYO said.

The fiscal year 2018-19 marked OYO's transition from an India-centric business to a global organisation, it added.

However, as the company recorded a brisk growth in India and international markets in 2018-19, the period also witnessed layoffs to the tune of over 2,000 employees in India.

"At about an employee base of 12,000 people, we have laid off between 15 to 20 per cent of the employee base in the exercise that took place between January and February 2020," OYO India & South Asia business CEO Rohit Kapoor told reporters during a conference call.

It was a one-time exercise. Now, the company wants to focus on the year ahead, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi, Feb 17 : The outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infection will have its effect on the global steel market for the next two to three years, Union Minister for Steel Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday.

Speaking on the sidelines of an event here, the Minister said that steel production in China will be severely disrupted.

He further said Indian steel companies should take the advantage of the fall in steel production in China.

Earlier, addressing an event organised by CII, "Indian Steel: Fostering Steel Usage in Railways & Defence Sectors", Pradhan said that apart from having strategic implication, there is immense economic and social implications of enhanced steel usage across railways and defence sectors.

Emphasising the Ministry of Steel's role as a bridge between the steel industry, Railways and Defence sectors, Pradhan called for a strategic paper highlighting the specific long term requirement of these sectors to form an action plan with the steel industry for domestic fulfilment of the requirement.

Speaking about reducing imports, he emphasised on zero imports in railways and defence sector and further encouraged the domestic industry to produce special steel as per the industry requirements to support indigenisation. Pradhan stressed upon the need to develop an ecosystem for start-ups that will support production of special steel and urged the investors and industry to come together in nation's interest.
During a discussion on protection of advocatorial secret today, President of the Helsinki Committee of Armenia Avetik Ishkhanyan said the Armenian authorities arent trying to restrain manifestations of intolerance and are working in the opposite direction.

He stated that even though it wasnt easy for Armenian attorneys in the 1990s, there was no social pressure in the conditions of pressure from state bodies.

Human rights activists make offensive remarks and insult attorneys. I have heard attorneys say that the judges of the Constitutional Court need to be detained. The society is collapsing. If Armenia had civilized authorities, they had to restrain this. The authorities are repressing not only authorities, but also those who dont agree with them, he said.
This shocking video shows the devastation to a mother's house and car after Storm Dennis swept muddy flood waters through a Welsh village.

Video filmed today by a distressed Neath Port Talbot local shows the extent of the damage caused by the second big storm to batter Britain in two weeks.

Storm Dennis is reported to have caused the banks of the River Neath, which runs through the village of Aberdulais, to burst.

The woman, who has no insurance, is clearly lost for words as she walks through her hallway, living room, kitchen, utility room, and piano room.

She can be heard moaning about the state of her house before she steps outside to inspect the state of her storm-battered car.

The woman says: 'OK, so this is the day after. It's just a mess, isn't it?

'We've started tidying up, but everything in the bath, the floor, is still soaking.

'When you go in the cupboards, everything is completely saturated. This is all going to have to go. Everything is absolutely ruined, to be fair.

'I don't even know what happens next. I don't even know where to start.

'Where do you begin?

Video filmed today by a distressed Neath Port Talbot local shows the extent of the damage caused by the second big storm to batter Britain in two weeks

She can be heard moaning about the state of her house before she steps outside to inspect the state of her storm-battered car (left and right)

'The sofa is soaking, so that's going to be super heavy. What an absolute mess.'

She then heads outside, where she then says: 'I'm just going to show you quickly the state of my car. It won't start, it stinks in here.

'Baby seats are knackered - oh they're soaking! Just when you think it couldn't get any worse, look at that! Oh my God!'

This comes as hundreds of flood alerts remain in place after Storm Dennis battered Britain as severe weather conditions saw winds of more than 90mph lash parts of the country, while more than a month's worth of rain fell in 48 hours in places.

Major incidents were declared due to flooding in South Wales as well as in Worcestershire and Herefordshire, while a record number of flood warnings and alerts were issued by the Environment Agency.

Parts of Pontypridd suffered severe flooding overnight as the River Taff (pictured) burst its banks following heavy downpours during Storm Dennis

Jules Stewart (pictured) is just one of many people whose homes flooded at Canal Side in Aberdulais near Neath after heavy rain overnight

Shocking drone pictures show the devastating scale of flooding the Welsh village of Crickhowell (pictured) after the Usk flooded

The River Ouse (pictured) burst its banks over the weekend leaving the Cambridgeshire market town of St Ives underwater

Winds and rain are set to die down this week, however floods are expected over the next couple of days, the Environmental Agency warned

West Mercia Police said the operation to the woman in Tenbury is now a 'recovery not a rescue' in light of the 'circumstances of the length of time in the water'.

Thousands were evacuated from their homes, which saw more than a month's worth of rainfall in 48 hours and coastlines buffeted by 90mph winds.

York and the Cambridgeshire market town of St Ives are also nearly entirely submerged after flooding of the River Ouse.

The River Wye is the highest it has ever been, causing more havoc in Herefordshire.

Meanwhile, a baby boy has died in a horror crash between a car and a HGV on the A55 near Gwalchmai in Anglesey, Wales, as a woman is in critical condition. The 21-month-old boy died just after leaving the scene of the collision.

The female passenger was taken to Ysbyty Gwynedd hospital in Bangor before being transferred to Stoke where she remains in critical condition.

A spokesperson from the Welsh Ambulance Service said: 'We were called to a serious road traffic collision on the A55 expressway near Gwalchmai, Anglesey, shortly after 2.00pm yesterday, Sunday 16 February.

'We sent a paramedic in a rapid response vehicle, three emergency ambulances, an ambulance officer and a Helimed crew in a car to the scene, where we were also assisted by colleagues from North Wales Police.'

A baby boy has died in a horror crash (pictured) between a car and a HGV on the A55 as a woman is left fighting for her life

The 21-month-old boy died just after leaving the scene of the collision (pictured) between a Ford Mondeo and a HGV near Gwalchmai in Anglesey, Wales

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing a backlash over the Government's handling of Storm Dennis today as it emerged he has no plans to visit flooding sites today and is staying at a country residence in Kent.

Downing Street said the PM was receiving 'updates' at the Chevening estate near Sevenoaks, and there is no Cobra emergency committee meeting scheduled.

Anger has been growing over the response to the extreme weather, despite new Environment Secretary George Eustice insisting ministers have a 'firm grip'.
Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton has accused China of lying and refusing to hand over all the information they have about the origins of the coronavirus outbreak as he suggested it could be linked to a laboratory.

Cotton raised the possibility that the coronavirus outbreak could have been created in a biological warfare laboratory in Wuhan - the epicenter of the deadly disease - despite repeated push back from officials.

In an interview with Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures, Cotton said the laboratory was near the Wuhan food market where scientists had initially believed the outbreak first originated.

'This virus did not originate in the Wuhan market,' Cotton said. 'We don't know where it originated and we have to get to the bottom of that.

Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton has accused China of lying and refusing to hand over all the information they have about the origins of the coronavirus outbreak as he suggested it could be linked to a laboratory

He acknowledged there was no evidence of links between the lab and the outbreak but Cotton went on to reference the close proximity of the market.

'We also know that just a few miles away from that food market is China's only biosafety level 4 super laboratory that researches human infectious diseases,' he said.

'Now, we don't have evidence that this disease originated there, but because of China's duplicity and dishonesty from the beginning, we need to at least ask the question to see what the evidence says.

'And China right now is not giving any evidence on that question at all.'

He went on to accuse China of lying about the outbreak.

'The situation is very grave in part because... China was lying from the beginning, and they're still lying today,' he said.

Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. Cui Tiankai has previously criticized Cotton for drawing connections between that biological warfare lab and the outbreak.

'I think it's true that a lot is still unknown and our scientists, Chinese scientists, American scientists, scientists of other countries, are doing their best to learn more about the virus, but it's very harmful, it's very dangerous, to stir up suspicion, rumors and spread them among the people,' he told CBS' Face the Nation earlier this month.

Medical workers in protective suits attend to a patient inside an isolated ward of Wuhan Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak

Workers are pictured moving the body of a COVID-19 victim at a hospital in Wuhan on Sunday

'For one thing, this will create panic. There are all kinds of speculation and rumors... How can we believe all these crazy things?'

Cotton took to Twitter on Sunday to address claims he was peddling conspiracy theories by linking the lab and outbreak.

He listed several hypotheses about the coronavirus outbreak, including natural, deliberate and scientific causes.

It comes after Chinese scientists released a report that said the deadly virus may have started life in a different research facility just 300 yards from the Wuhan fish market.

The paper from the Beijing-sponsored South China University of Technology says that the Wuhan Center for Disease Control (WHCDC) could have spawned the contagion in Hubei province.

'The possible origins of 2019-nCoV coronavirus,' penned by scholars Botao Xiao and Lei Xiao claims the WHCDC kept disease-ridden animals in laboratories, including 605 bats.

It also mentions that bats - which are linked to coronavirus - once attacked a researcher and 'blood of bat was on his skin.'

Cotton took to Twitter on Sunday to address claims he was peddling conspiracy theories by linking the lab and outbreak. He listed several hypotheses about the coronavirus outbreak, including natural, deliberate and scientific causes

The report says: 'Genome sequences from patients were 96% or 89% identical to the Bat CoV ZC45 coronavirus originally found in Rhinolophus affinis (intermediate horseshoe bat).'

It describes how the only native bats are found around 600 miles away from the Wuhan seafood market and that the probability of bats flying from Yunnan and Zhejiang provinces was minimal.

In addition there is little to suggest the local populace eat the bats as evidenced by testimonies of 31 residents and 28 visitors.

Instead the authors point to research being carried out withing a few hundred yards at the WHCDC.

One of the researchers at the WHCDC described quarantining himself for two weeks after a bat's blood got on his skin, according to the report. That same man also quarantined himself after a bat urinated on him.

And he also mentions discovering a live tick from a bat - parasites known for their ability to pass infections through a host animal's blood.

'The WHCDC was also adjacent to the Union Hospital (Figure 1, bottom) where the first group of doctors were infected during this epidemic.' The report says.

'It is plausible that the virus leaked around and some of them contaminated the initial patients in this epidemic, though solid proofs are needed in future study.'
The facts show that the last ten years were the most successful ten years in Hungarys last 100 years, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in his state-of-the-nation address.

Detailing Hungarys achievements over the past ten years, Orban said that in no other decade over the past century had the country been both externally and internally balanced while maintaining sustainable growth.



Hungary achieved all this while keeping wealth inequality at a moderate level according to European standards, he said, adding that this meant that Hungarys broader society had benefited from the countrys growth.



Vulnerable social groups like young people, people aged older than 50, mothers and low-skilled workers have all been able to find jobs over the past 10 years, he said. Wages are on the rise and the minimum wage for both skilled and unskilled workers has been doubled, said Orban.



Investments in Hungary and exports both hit record highs last year, he said, noting that Hungary ranks 94th in the world in population size and 34th in terms of the size of its export volume. These have been the achievements of a country of ten million people, Orban said, adding all this was proof of skills and diligence.



The prime minister said those who were critical of Hungarian teachers, the education system and vocational training should hold back on their criticism, arguing that workers, experts and engineers who run the worlds most modern factories here in Hungary all graduated from our schools and universities.



Over the past ten years we also learned that Europe is not in Brussels, Orban said. Europe is us and we dont have to please the tired Brussels elites  In the past we used to think that Europe was our future but today we know that we are the future of Europe.



He said the Carpathian Basin today was a source of strength that stemmed from the recognition that being Hungarian is promising and uplifting. Our nation knows that Hungary comes first, he said.



MTI Photo: Szigetvary Zsolt
Children need to spend more time playing to counter the effects of relentless testing in school and the online distractions at home, the head of a leading museum said yesterday.

Tristram Hunt, director of the Victoria & Albert, said that, with art and other creative subjects being squeezed by the curriculum, making the time to play has never been so important.

Children growing up in England today are among the most tested in the world, whilst, at home, iPhones and iPads have come to the detriment of many of the crucial skills which play offers  such as the opportunity to problem-solve, physically explore and imagine, he argued.

The director of the Victoria and Albert museum Tristram Hunt said that Iphones and Ipads had stopped children learning essential skills (pictured above in 2018)

With art, design and music under pressure in the school curriculum, we believe championing creativity and the transformational power of play is more important than ever.

The V&A is planning a 13million redevelopment of its Museum Of Childhood.

Mary Poppins umbrella, objects displayed at toddlers height, and rooms inspired by Alice in Wonderland will be among the highlights of the venue, due to reopen in 2022.

Mr Hunt said the redevelopment aims to prise young eyes away from their screens and offer an escape from the timetables, Kumon (a maths and English study programme) and cramming.

The museum will trace the myths, fables and inspiration behind characters such as Paddington Bear and Pokemons Pikachu as well as the Loch Ness Monster. Some 2,000 objects from the V&As collections will go on display at the V&A Museum Of Childhood, in Bethnal Green, east London.

The V&A is planning a 13million Museum of Childhood to help recover these skills

It will also be home to Beatrix Potters illustrations from the world of Peter Rabbit and the life-size West End War Horse puppet, Joey.

The original Superman costume and Frankensteins Monster will be on show against a backdrop of theatrical displays to inspire the next generation of screenwriters, authors and story-tellers.

The museum wants to nurture the potential of future generations and become a global champion of childrens creativity, Mr Hunt said. The museum closes for the revamp on May 11.
India plays a crucial role in Etihad Airways' growth strategy, contributing significantly to the airline's global operations, a top company official said.

Marking the Abu Dhabi-based carrier's 15-years of flying to India, Neerja Bhatia, Etihad Airways' Vice President, Indian Sub-continent, reiterated the airline's unwavering commitment to the country over the last 15 years, which she said, has resulted in becoming one of the most preferred airlines for travellers from India.

Etihad began operations in India in September 2004.

A statement released by the airline said Mumbai was the first route in the country to be served by Etihad and today the city ranks highest in terms of total passengers the airline has carried over the years, with the number exceeding 3.5 million.

Owing to passenger demand on this route, Etihad introduced a fourth daily service to Mumbai last year. Delhi and Cochin rank second and third, with the airline carrying over 3.2 million and 2.3 million passengers on these routes, respectively over the years. Etihad has also added a fourth daily frequency on its Delhi - Abu Dhabi route.

As a result of its optimized schedule of non-stop flights between the UAE and India, appealing to greater numbers of point-to-point business and leisure passengers, Abu Dhabi is now the most popular destination for Indian travellers on the Etihad network, said the statement.

Etihad operates 161 return flights per week between Abu Dhabi and 10 key Indian gateways of Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram, connecting each of these gateways to international destinations.

remains committed to its largest and busiest market, India. The UAE and India have shared strong commercial, cultural and historic relations and we will continue to honour these excellent trade and tourism ties through closer partnership with our friends in the Indian travel trade," Danny Barranger, Etihad Airways' Senior Vice President Global Sales, said.
South Dakota reports highest active case count since pandemic started

Tuesday's report included testing conducted over the weekend. Another 4,110 people tested positive for the disease.
Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh will embark on a four-day visit to Myanmar from February 17 to 20 to consolidate and enhance the bilateral maritime relations between the two countries.

"Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh to visit Myanmar from February 17 to 20. The visit is intended to consolidate and enhance the bilateral maritime relations between India and Myanmar," officials said.

Last year in December, Singh had visited Sri Lanka to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral maritime relations between the two countries. He had interacted with the Sri Lanka Navy Board of Management, which comprises the senior hierarchy of the Sri Lanka Navy.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Oman budget carrier SalamAir has signed an agreement with Oman National Engineering and Investment Company (ONEIC) to facilitate cash collection service as part of efforts to offer superior convenience to customers.



ONEIC, a public joint stock company that operates in utilities and engineering sectors, is a key bill collector in Oman handling bill collections for major companies in Oman.



The agreement was signed between Captain Mohamed Ahmed, CEO of SalamAir and Dr Rashid Mohammed Al Ghilani, CEO of ONEIC.



The partnership will allow SalamAir customers to use ONEICs different payment channels (website, kiosks, mobile ap and outlets) to pay for booking tickets and other added services. The facility is now available offline in their 73 outlets across the country.



Captain Ahmed said: We are delighted to sign this agreement with ONEIC which will allow us to enhance our customers experiences. With an intention to live up to our commitment to delivering high-quality solutions to our guests, we are continually looking for inventive ways to enrich and enhance our products and services. Since we have progressively expanded our route network, it is crucial to us that our customers are able to easily book flights and avail our services. This agreement will help us to take advantage of ONEICs wide branch network and services. By opting to be innovative, we are keeping up with the times and making the passenger experience more efficient and convenient in the process.



Dr Al Ghilani said: This agreement is a testament to the significant value SalamAir sees in our services. We look forward to supporting the airlines growth even further. We are thrilled to sign this agreement to provide cash payment service to customers.



SalamAir currently operates three Airbus A320 aircraft and five Airbus A320Neo aircraft making it the first Omani carrier to utilise the highly rated single aisle aircraft. SalamAir flies to domestic destinations including Muscat, Salalah and Suhar and international destinations to Abu Dubai, Dubai, Bahrain, Kuwait, Doha, Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Tehran, Shiraz, Istanbul, Alexandria, Khartoum, Multan, Sialkot, Karachi, Dhaka, Chattogram, Kathmandu, Colombo and Phuket. Additional passenger services to compliment the customer experience on the home-grown airline include options for extra luggage, seat and meal selection, in addition to online check-in facility. - TradeArabia News Service
Skin-to-Skin Care Reduces Stress in Mothers and Infants Before Neonatal Cardiac Surgery

Researchers demonstrated that skin-to-skin care (SSC) is a low-cost, low-risk, nurse-led intervention that reduces maternal stress and anxiety, promotes infant comfort, and supports stable vital signs before and after neonatal cardiac surgery. Following 30 mother-infant pairs, the team of researchers placed the infants in SSC with their biological mothers at two time points for one hour each: once before surgery and once after surgery. They measured mothers' stress and anxiety and infant pain and vital signs immediately before SSC, 30 minutes into SSC, and 30 minutes after SSC had ended. They found that both before and after surgery, mothers' anxiety scores were significantly lowered during and after SSC, and their cortisol levels  indicators of physiological stress  also decreased. Infant pain scores dropped during SSC before and after surgery, and infants were sleepier when compared to baseline. Infant heart and respiratory rates decreased during SSC before surgery, and systolic blood pressure increased. Both before and after surgery, infant cortisol remained stable before and during SSC, but cortisol increased after SSC. Researchers noted that infants with higher baseline cortisol after surgery saw significantly lower cortisol during SSC. Researchers say more research is needed to identify factors that lead to higher infant baseline cortisol and how SSC could be used to reduce stress in infants with congenital heart disease (CHD).

Amy Lisanti, PhD, RN, CCNS, CCRN-K, et al. "Stress Reduction In Mother-Infant Dyads Through Skin To Skin Care."

Training Nurses in the Cardiac Preparation and Recovery Unit to Insert Peripheral Intravascular Catheters Reduced Procedure Delays

Pediatric cardiac patients admitted to CHOP's Cardiac Preparation and Recovery Unit (CPRU) require peripheral intravascular catheters (PIVs) prior to their procedure. However, historically only nurses in CHOP's Vascular Access Service (VAS) were the ones responsible for PIVs for all patients. The procedure monopolized VAS resources every morning and led to scheduling delays in services offered by the unit. To streamline the process and avoid delays in procedures, CPRU nurses developed a program to train their staff in PIV insertion in order to offload that responsibility from VAS nurses. In a two-phase project between 2017 and 2019, CPRU nurses received initial training by the VAS team and then underwent an immersion experience with the VAS team to practice PIV placement for a minimum of two hours. The two teams also developed a partnership so that in difficult cases, the VAS team could support the CPRU nurses. In addition, the team trained three unit-based "Qualified Observers" to help train and mentor other Cardiac Center nurses in PIV placement. Using this two-phase process, the CPRU nursing team was able to increase rates of successful PIV placement by CPRU nurses from 83% success after phase one to 89% after phase two and decrease the number of delayed procedures from 4.6% after phase one to 1.8% after phase two. Overall PIV management and care also improved over the course of the project.

Jamie Fitzgerald, RN, BSN, CPHQ, et al. "Pivoting to a New Approach: Building Unit-Based PIV Competency in a Procedural Area."

Patients at High Risk for Early Atherosclerosis Not Sufficiently Screened for High Cholesterol

CHOP researchers examined how often children in different risk categories had their cholesterol and triglycerides checked. Doctors recommend screening for atherosclerosis  the narrowing of arteries due to plaque buildup  twice during childhood through a universal lipid panel because the condition typically begins in childhood. For patients with congenital and acquired heart conditions, including cardiomyopathy and coronary artery anomalies, the recommendation is to screen early because those patients are at higher risk for developing atherosclerotic heart disease. Researchers reviewed commercial and Medicaid insurance claims databases to assess the rates of lipid screening in children with high-risk cardiac diagnoses, as well as those with congenital heart disease and the general population. Analyzing more than 5 million records, they found that lipid screening in children with high-risk conditions predisposing them to early atherosclerosis was about the same as screening in low-risk cardiac patients (28% vs. 26%, respectively) and only slightly higher than the 19% screening rate for the general population. Patients who had undergone a heart transplant were screened at a higher rate (70%), as were those with cardiomyopathy (41%). However, only 28% of patients with complex two-ventricle or single-ventricle disease were screened. The research team suggests factors like testing access, practice variation and family choice could explain why many high-risk patients aren't being screened, but that more research is needed to understand the phenomenon and increase screening rates.

Justin H. Berger, et al. "Congenital Heart Disease patients at High Risk for Early Atherosclerosis are not Adequately Lipid Screened."

Changes in Ventricular Function Over Time after Fontan

CHOP researchers studied changes in ventricular function over time in patients with single-ventricle disease who had undergone Fontan, a surgical procedure that redirects blood flow from the lower body to the lungs. Although numerous indicators have been developed to measure ventricular function in patients with single-ventricle disease, little data exists on how the parameters change over time. Examining 141 echocardiograms from 18 unique patients between 2006 and 2017, the team found that although measures of ventricular function after Fontan operations were consistently different from what one would expect in a population without congenital heart disease, there was no significant change to these measures over a decade of follow-up. The team suggests that the failure of the Fontan circulation is likely multifactorial and may occur without decline in systolic ventricular function.

Matthew J. Campbell, MD, et al. "Longitudinal Changes in Echocardiographic Measures of Ventricular Function after Fontan."

Links Found Between Post-Operative Outcomes in Tetralogy of Fallot and Serum Biomarkers, Length of Hospital Stay

Infants with Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF), a combination of four congenital heart conditions that often causes oxygen-poor blood to flow out of the heart and into the rest of the body, have worsening right ventricular strain after surgery, which improves over the next one to two years. Given that blood serum biomarkers of myocyte stretch and fibrosis might also be associated with postoperative outcomes, CHOP researchers followed a group of 64 TOF patients between 2014 and 2018 to see if such an association existed. Serum biomarkers were drawn before surgery, and research echocardiograms were performed two and five days after surgery. Patients were divided into two groups: those whose hospital stay was more than seven days, and those whose stay was less than seven days. Patients in the study also had echocardiograms and biomarker measurements one and two years after surgery. Researchers found a longer hospital stay after TOF repair is associated with worse right ventricular strain and higher levels serum biomarker MMP1 one year after surgery, suggesting the length of time a patient spends in the hospital after surgery may correspond with poorer outcomes in the initial months following TOP repair.

Andrea Jones, MD, et al. "Association of Serum Biomarkers and Right Ventricular Strain with Post-Operative Outcomes in Tetralogy of Fallot."

Monitoring Blood Oxygen Levels in the Delivery Room May Help Determine the Need for Catheterization Procedure in Infants with Transposition of the Great Arteries

Researchers studied 76 infants diagnosed at the CHOP Fetal Heart Program and born in CHOP's Garbose Family Special Delivery Unit (SDU) between 2012 and 2017 who had transposition of the great arteries (D-TGA), the most common congenital heart defect to present in the first week of life that results in low blood oxygen levels. Looking at the infants' complete medical records, the researchers investigated the association between the infants' blood oxygen levels in the delivery room and whether or not they later underwent balloon atrial septostomy (BAS), a catheterization procedure in which a small hole is created between the upper two chambers of the heart to increase the flow of oxygen-rich blood. They found that about two-thirds of infants with D-TGA followed in the study were intubated and exposed to 100% oxygen in the delivery room, both interventions that were significantly associated with the infants subsequently undergoing BAS. All patients who were unable to attain a blood oxygen saturation of 74% or higher in the delivery room ultimately underwent BAS, while those who achieved blood oxygen saturation of 85% or higher had a lower likelihood of BAS. The research team concluded that the blood oxygen saturation levels observed as early as the delivery room may help determine whether or not BAS will be needed.

Russell Kesman, MD, et al. "Associations Between Delivery Room Management and Balloon Atrial Septostomy in D-Transposition of The Great Arteries."

Identifying Fetal Characteristics and Postnatal Outcomes of Patients with Absent Ductus Venosus

Researchers in CHOP's Fetal Heart Program studied infants with absence of the ductus venosus (ADV), a congenital anomaly of the fetal circulatory system with two subtypes: extrahepatic, in which the umbilical venous drainage bypasses the liver, and intrahepatic, in which the flow enters the liver. Based on limited published and anecdotal data, extrahepatic ADV patients are thoughts to have an increased risk of developing volume overload while in the womb, and intrahepatic ADV patients may have more genetic syndromes and other non-cardiac congenital anomalies. To better understand the clinical characteristics and outcomes of these patients, researchers reviewed maternal prenatal medical records and fetal echocardiogram images of nearly 200 mothers who were part of CHOP's Fetal Heart Program between 2008 and 2019. Pediatric medical records were also examined when available. They found that patients with extrahepatic ADV had higher incidence of prenatal volume overload, as well as issues like enlarged heart, umbilical venous pulsations and tricuspid regurgitation. These patients also tended to have longer hospital stays during their initial hospitalizations. ADV patients who had concurrent congenital heart disease had a higher rate of postnatal death, a finding that the research team says warrants further study. The research may lead to better prenatal counseling, targeted postnatal management, and improved outcomes.

Somya Shankar, BS, et al. "Clinical Characteristics of Absent Ductus Venosus in the Fetus and Associated Postnatal Outcomes."

About Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals, and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 564-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu

Contact: Natalie Solimeo

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Phone: (267) 426-6246

[email protected]

SOURCE Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Related Links

http://www.chop.edu


Medical personnel enter the air force base in Germersheim, near Stuttgart in southwestern Germany, where German citizens evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan were held in quarantine. (Andreas Arnold/dpa/AFP)

"All the people concerned have been allowed to leave the quarantine zone and rejoin their families," secretary of state for health Thomas Gebhart told a press conference.

None of them was contaminated by the virus which has killed more than 1,600 people, the vast majority in China.

They arrived in Frankfurt airport by plane along with more than 20 foreigners, mainly Chinese, on Feb 1, after being delayed when Russia refused to let the plane land and refuel.

Some were subsequently hospitalised but now all have been released, the health ministry said.

Their two-week quarantine period was spent at the military base at Germersheim, 120 kilometres from Frankfurt.

"These measures have not been easy for the people involved, but were absolutely necessary," said Gebhart.

Germany is the European country with the most people infected with the COVID-19 strain, with 16 cases confirmed, but no fatalities.

The only coronavirus death in Europe to date was that of an 80-year-old Chinese tourist in France.

More than 68,000 people have now been infected worldwide since the virus strain was first detected in December - but the number of new cases has begun to decline.
By Express News Service

TUMAKURU: The Madhugiri police have booked a man who used to claim himself as 'Madhugiri Modi' on charges of spreading videos inciting the people of another community on Monday.

Sources informed TNIE that the accused, Atul Kumar, hails from Honnapura village near Badavanahalli in Madhugiri taluk.

He is a double graduate who had worked with a Bengaluru based IT firm for some time and later quit the profession to take up hardcore pro-Hindu activism.

Atul Kumar had got booked several times over similar incidents in the past.

Kumar had allegedly posted a video derogating the prophet which created a furore on social media, following which sections of the community staged an instant protest.

The protesters also presented a memorandum to the superintendent of police Dr Kona Vamsi hna.

Since his intention was allegedly to disturb the communal harmony by insulting a religion the police booked him under sections 295, 295 A and also IT act.

"We have been in search of him and arrest him as soon as possible," a police officer informed TNIE.
(IOB), whichhas been in the red for the last four-and-a-half years, is mulling to raise funds through a Follow-on Public Offering (FPO) next year, a senior official of the state-owned lender said here on Monday.

Ajay Kumar Srivastava, Executive Director IOB, said that the FPO idea was still "at the drawing board level" and the Board would take a decision on the quantum of funds to be raised and the percentage of stake to be diluted.

The centre holds nearly 95 per cent stake while LIC has three per cent and others-two per cent in the bank, which is currently under the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework of the Reserve Bank.

Raising money from public is on the cards. We plan to do it in the second or third quarter. We will go to the market with FPO.

First we have to go to our Board, we have to go to RBI and SEBI also ( for necessary approvals).

It is on the drawing board, but nothing has been concretised. But it is in our action for next year, he told reporters at a press conference here.

The centre recently increased IOB's authorized capital from Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 25,000 crore.

The Government also infused Rs 4,360 crore capital into the bank.

He said the Chennai-based lender is in the process of improving its performance in terms of controlling Non- performing Assets (NPA) and Net Interest Margin (NIM).

The banks NIM is currently at about 1.94 per cent and is expected to touch two per cent during the current quarter.

"It would take another three of four quarters to touch the three per cent-NIM... We will prefer to go for FPO after we come out of PCA, he said.

The Reserve Bank of India's PCA framework, which intends to nurse financially weak banks back to health, restricts lending and expansion of lenders.

Srivastava said going forward the focus of the credit would more for MSMEs and wants to be recognized as "MSME- focused bank".

He said currently the exposure to the sector is Rs 31,000 crore and efforts are on to take it Rs 50,000 crore in the next 18-24 months.

IOB also classified 200 of its branches as "MSME- focused".
Patna: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president JP Nadda will be coming to Patna on February 22 when he will address the party's state unit to strategize on the upcoming Assembly elections in Bihar.

BJP's Bihar in-charge Bhupendra Yadav, at a party meet in Patna on Sunday, said that this would be Nadda's first visit to Bihar since being anointed as the successor of Amit Shah, the Home Minister of India.

"Mr. Nadda would be inaugurating the newly-built office of the BJP in 11 districts in Bihar including Samastipur, Siwan, Bhagalpur, Arwal, Naugachhia, Lakhisarai, Gopalganj, Sasaram, Saharsa, Aurangabad, and Sheohar by a remote control at Patna office. These new offices are equipped with latest equipment, including an e-library that would help party workers in advancing BJP ideology in their districts," Yadav said.

Nadda will also hold meetings with party functionaries and members of the core committee to ensure the victory of Nitish Kumar who has been declared the face of the NDA in Bihar.

Meanwhile, apparently irked by party leader and MP from Begusarai Giriraj Singh's unbridled useless talks and his knack for creating controversies that put his own party in some very embarrassing situation, Nadda on Saturday summoned him and issued a verbal warning to him to refrain from making any controversial remark that might impede the re-election of Nitish Kumar in the state elections.

Not known for any developmental work but notorious for his extreme right wing cacophony that helps him keep in news, Singh was earlier chastised by even Amit Shah who is privately blaming him and a few others for the party's debacle in the Delhi elections where the BJP secured only eight seats of the 70 with remainder going to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) giving its president a third term as Delhi's Chief Minister.
Life Insurance Corporation on Monday said there is no proposal to merge its subsidiary LIC Housing Finance Ltd (LICHFL) with any other entity

New Delhi: Life Insurance Corporation on Monday said there is no proposal to merge its subsidiary LIC Housing Finance Ltd (LICHFL) with any other entity.

The statement came after some reports suggested that insurance behemoth LIC might expedite the process of merging LICHFL with its banking arm IDBI Bank.

"There was absolutely no proposal to merge LICHFL with any other entity and all such rumours floating in the market are not based on facts," LIC said in a clarification.

LIC Board discussed the future of LIC Housing, IDBI in the last board meet, sources close to LIC Board tell @YashJain88 pic.twitter.com/F7W42ISVsd  CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) February 17, 2020

IDBI Bank in a separate filing clarified that no such proposal has been discussed in its board meeting.

Shares of the LICHFL tanked more than 10 percent in day trade on BSE after the reports. The scrip settled down by 7.71 percent at Rs 380.30. IDBI shares also declined by 2.54 percent to end at 34.50.

IDBI Bank, in which LIC holds 51 percent stake, had reported widening of its standalone net loss to Rs 5,763.04 crore due to higher bad loans. The lender had posted a net loss of Rs 4,185.48 crore during the corresponding October-December period of the previous fiscal year.

The bank witnessed high proportion of bad loans, with gross non-performing assets (NPAs) at 28.72 percent of the gross advances at end of December 2019, little lower than 29.67 percent in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
EDITORS NOTE: On March 10, NJ Cannabis Insider hosts its first semi-annual, daylong industry conference, featuring leaders in the medical marijuana, hemp and legal cannabis industries. Tickets are now on sale.

Youve seen it at yoga studios, holistic stores and even gas stations. So whats next for the burgeoning CBD market in 2020?

Industry insiders will talk the latest in CBD, hemp, legal and medical marijuana at the NJ Cannabis Insider all-day event March 10 at the New Jersey Conference and Expo Center in Edison.

The event, which starts at 10:30 a.m. and features a full day of programming, panel discussions, networking and lunch, also includes panels focused on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and a lunch and learn focused on insurance in the cannabis industry. Tickets are available here. For a limited time, there is a buy four tickets, get one free offer.

When derived from industrial hemp legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill, CBD is legal. Unlike marijuana, hemps cannabis cousin, it will not make a user feel high.

While the sudden legalization of hemp and CBD ushered in a market expansion forecast to reach $20 billion by 2024, it also left operators with more questions than answers. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has green lit only one prescription drug made with the compound to treat severe epilepsy.

The agency has also cracked down on companies making unfounded health claims by advertising CBD as a cure for cancer and other ailments, as well as a few that have sold CBD in food and drink items. While federal officials say they do not know how safe CBD is, they have yet to build the regulatory structure needed to oversee the industry.

From business owners to attorneys, many say the rules are welcomed.

Everyone is looking forward to that because the industry needs that clarity, said Dan McKillop, an attorney for Scarinci Hollenbeck who will speak at NJ Cannabis Insiders event. Its a bit like the Wild West.

In the interim, theres still opportunities to get in on the CBD business.

I would say there is no absolute safe path, only because we are operating in an unregulated industry. But there are some things that you can do, McKillop told NJ Cannabis Insider.

That includes knowing where CBD in a product comes from, and sifting through the glut of providers to buy from the safest, most trust-worthy operators who are following existing regulations.

Its really a due diligence exercise on the front end," he said. "And then on the back end, you want to make sure that you arent crossing that line of making unfounded claims.

Ken VandeVrede, of Hillview Med and Amanda Terpstra of CBD company BestBuds, will speak alongside McKillop at the March 10 event.

The NJ Cannabis Insider Live: Road to Legalization conference is sponsored by Curaleaf, Supreme Security Systems, Ansell, Grimm & Aaron, Archer Law, Genova Burns, Capehart Scatchard, 1906, John Morgan McLachlan Agency, Hardenbergh Insurance Group, Panacea Payroll and Vicente Sederberg.

Tickets to the March 10 event are available here.

NJ Cannabis Insider is a weekly subscriber-based newsletter produced by NJ Advance Media, which also publishes NJ.com, The Star-Ledger and other affiliated papers.
The toy importers of India, a largely unorganised sector, has joined hands in protest against the proposed increase in import duty from current 20 per cent to 60 per cent.

There are 30 crore children in India in the age group of upto 14 years - and this imposition of 200 per cent increase, would put a burden on consumers pocket. The toy importers have already met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and are expected to meet Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal next week.

In Mumbai, the United Toys Association staged a protest at the historic Azad Maidan in Mumbai, on Monday, and demanded a rollback.

As high as 85 per cent of the toys are imported, out of which 75 per cent from China.

Increase in import duty will lead upto 100 % surge in the MRP of existing toys in India, which means a toy costing Rs. 500 will be priced at Rs. 800 to Rs. 1,000 after the imposition of 200% hike in import duty on toys.

Talking to reporters, Farooq M Shabdi, president, United Toys Association said: "It is estimated that within 3-4 months after the hike in import duty on toys, there will be a scarcity of toys in India."

Traders and retailers will not be able to bare such high import duty and stop importing toys. On the other hand, Indian manufacturers will not be able to fulfill the overwhelming demand of toys and in next 3-4 months the stock of toys will be exhausted, Shabdi said.

The most impacted range of toys will be innovative toys which includes STEM toys, Robots, Flying toys, Radio control and battery operated toys, as major part of toys manufactured in India are non-function toys and board games. In fact, some of the domestic manufacturer need to import components and toy parts too.

"The government's budget proposal is a bid to balance trade deficit by including toys in non-essential commodity. However, industry experts say that the country's current toy production cannot fill the gap left by imported toys for the Indian market.

"We are against such unjustifiable hike in import duty on essential commodities that are not manufactured enough in India", said Abdullah Sharif, vice president, United Toys Association.

The move will also hurt 5,00,000+ people - toy traders, retailers and axillary across India.

"As toy prices soar and sales decline, the very livelihoods of the toy traders and retailers will be adversely affected by the move; leading to closure of businesses and rise in unemployment. In the coming days, we will issue a memorandum to the government, appealing to revoke the unreasonable decision of increasing import duty on toys. We stand firm against the proposed hike of 200% in import duty on toys", Abdullah added.

The protesters have demanded that the Indian government treat toys as an essential commodity, akin to educational books for children.
For the New World Order, a world government is just the beginning. Once in place they can engage their plan to exterminate 80% of the world's population, while enabling the "elites" to live forever with the aid of advanced technology. For the first time, crusading filmmaker ALEX JONES reveals their secret plan for humanity's extermination: Operation ENDGAME.

Jones chronicles the history of the global elite's bloody rise to power and reveals how they have funded dictators and financed the bloodiest warscreating order out of chaos to pave the way for the first true world empire.

Watch as Jones and his team track the elusive Bilderberg Group to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III.





to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. Learn about the formation of the North America transportation control grid, which will end U.S. sovereignty forever.





Discover how the practitioners of the pseudo-science eugenics have taken control of governments worldwide as a means to carry out depopulation.





View the progress of the coming collapse of the United States and the formation of the North American Union.

Never before has a documentary assembled all the pieces of the globalists' dark agenda. Endgame's compelling look at past atrocities committed by those attempting to steer the future delivers information that the controlling media has meticulously censored for over 60 years. It fully reveals the elite's program to dominate the earth and carry out the wicked plan in all of human history.

Endgame is not conspiracy theory, it is documented fact in the elite's own words.




XI'AN, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- A makeshift hospital was delivered Monday in a major northwestern Chinese city amid the fight against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak.

The new hospital of the municipal public health center in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi Province, is designated to treat the COVID-19 patients, according to the municipal health commission.

The hospital in the district of Gaoling has a floor area of 27,542 square meters and offers 500 beds.

The municipal health commission has dispatched 666 medical workers to the makeshift hospital.

Construction of the hospital started on Feb. 1, and its main structure was finished on Feb. 10. At the peak construction time, over 7,000 workers were onsite.

By the end of Sunday, a total of 1,770 people had died of the disease and 70,548 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection had been reported in 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps in China.
Scores of New Patriotic Party members in Effutu thronged the principal streets of Winneba on Valentine's Day, the 14th day of February, 2020.



It was a procession not only to celebrate the day but to also honour the Member of Parliament for the Constituency, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin.



In an interview with the media, the MP explained the rationale behind the walk.



"We are in an election year and it is time to put ourselves together, unite and ensure victory in 2020, so we are taking advantage of this day to show how united we are and how we love one another" the MP stated.



When asked if it would be a done deal for him and the NPP in the 2020 elections looking at the large number of people in the procession, the Effutu MP had this to say;



Politics requires hard work; you dont cross the bridge until you get there. We have always worked hard, and we continue to work hard. I dont underrate any opponent. I work hard for victory and I know that with God on our side no doubt at all that we are going to win" Afenyo-Markin emphasized.



He also said the Akufo-Addo administration has done so much for the people of Ghana and Ghanaians will never forget these good things that are happening, and accordingly reward the administration in the coming elections.



He used the occasion to remind Ghanaians that the NDC was in government for 8 years and it cannot be that the NPP being in office for 4 years, Ghanaians will compare and say, the party has not done better than the opposition NDC.



Given the opportunity, Ghanaians will see the true development that they have always desired and they should be reassured that with determination on the part of this government, Ghana will get there, the MP added.



Also participating in the procession were Captain Kwesi Eyi Acquah, Presiding Member of Effutu Municipal Assembly, Deputy Central Regional Youth Organiser, Chairman Kojo Halm, Supi Kofi Kwayera and other Constituency officers.







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.

Featured Video
General Motors is continuing a years-long global restructuring to concentrate on high-profit markets such as North America and China.

The Detroit automaker said Sunday that it will "wind down" its sales, design and engineering operations in Australia and New Zealand and discontinue its Holden brand in the region by 2021.

GM also announced plans to exit Thailand, including withdrawing Chevrolet by the end of this year and selling a plant to Chinese automaker Great Wall Motors.

GM said it expects to take $1.1 billion in charges mostly in the first quarter as a result of the actions, including $300 million in cash.

Chairman and CEO Mary Barra said the actions are part of the automaker's global restructuring, which was initially announced in 2015, to concentrate on profitable markets and prioritize investment on driving "growth in the future of mobility," especially in all-electric and autonomous vehicles.

"I've often said that we will do the right thing, even when it's hard, and this is one of those times," Barra said in a release.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

By Yusif Aghayev  Trend:

Azerbaijans A-Group insurance company paid for the treatment of 25 cancer patients in 2019, Trend reports on Feb. 17 referring to the company.

As of late 2019, A-Group insurance company registered 25 cancer patients appeals and paid over 160,000 manat ($94,117) for their treatment both domestically and abroad, namely in Turkey, Germany, Russia, Israel, Ukraine, Belarus and Iran.

When revealing the disease in the early stages, as well as rendering highly qualified medical care, the chances of curing this disease are quite high.

Cancer insurance is carried out by A-Group insurance company as part of special insurance programs. A-Group Insurance Company OJSC has been operating in Azerbaijan since 1995 as a full-fledged insurance company engaged in non-life insurance. The company has a license for 14 voluntary types of insurance.

The company has been the undisputed leader in the voluntary health insurance segment for a long period of time.

As of 2019, A-Group Insurance Company ranked 12th among domestic insurance companies in terms of premium collection.

In general, the Azerbaijani insurance companies paid insurance indemnities worth 301.5 million manat ($177.3 million) in 2019, which is 61.2 million manat ($36 million) or 25.4 percent more than in 2018.

The voluntary medical insurance payments worth 60.5 million manat ($35.6 million) were made, which testifies to an increase in the amount of payments by 1.7 percent compared to 2018.

Today, 22 insurance companies and one reinsurance companies operate in Azerbaijan.

(1 USD = 1.7 AZN on Feb. 17)
Leo Varadkar has said his party is preparing to go into opposition in the new Dail.

After a six-hour parliamentary party meeting on Monday, the Fine Gael leader said he relishes the challenge to lead in opposition.

It was the first time the parliamentary party had met since Fine Gael lost 12 TDs in the general election.

Mr Varadkar said the onus is now on Sinn Fein to form a government.

Leo Varadkar says he looks forward to being leader of the opposition in the 33rd Dail. He says while he is required to resign as Taoiseach on Thursday, he will then go to Brussels to represent Ireland in talks on the EU budget. pic.twitter.com/aCz4roWDUZ  Aine McMahon (@AineMcMahon) February 17, 2020

He told the media: I relish the challenge of leading the opposition, providing good, robust and detailed and forensic opposition to the next government.

Its very much our view that Sinn Fein has the largest party, the onus is on them to form a government with parties of the left and Independents.

Its not easy to do that, it took us 76 days to do so in 2016.

The onus is on them to deliver on the extraordinary promises that they made to people during the course of the election campaign.

If theyre unsuccessful the onus then falls to Fianna Fail to form a government with Sinn Fein or other parties and Independents, and they should be given the opportunity to do that.

Asked if he would go into coalition if Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail cannot get the numbers to form a government, Mr Varadkar said: I think thats just far too many hypotheticals. But certainly were not going to be rushed into anything.

This time in 2016 we were the largest party, we spent 76 days trying to put together a government involving smaller parties and Independents and we did that, and now the onus falls on Sinn Fein as the largest party in the Dail to do that.

Story continues

Mr Varadkar also said he accepts responsibility for the general election campaign.

He added: I really want to do what I didnt have a chance to do as Taoiseach, which is to be party leader, to be present in Fine Gael, to rebuild our party and to emphasise our identity again.

It shouldnt come to the fact that Fine Gael may be needed. Other parties sought a mandate  they made a lot of extraordinary, impossible promises to the Irish people  and they have a duty now to fulfil those promises or come out here and say that they failed.

His comments come after Mary Lou McDonald said it is still possible to have a Sinn Fein-led government despite the numbers making it difficult.

Mary Lou McDonald (Niall Carson/PA)

The Sinn Fein leader said talks will intensify with smaller parties this week in a bid to form a left-leaning government.

She said: There is undoubtedly a solid block of TDs for change for a new government. I remain very determined that we deliver that government.

And I think that we need to knuckle down on the policy issues on housing, on the need to cut rents and freeze them, on the need to deliver a huge public housing programme, and on the need to resolve the issue around pensions and get it back to the age of 65.

We are still very determined that an alternative and a new government of change can be created. And we will intensify our efforts this week when we have conversations with other parties.

I am very clear that we have been elected in very large numbers to be in government, even to lead the next government. Ive also said that the idea of seeing Fine Gael or Fianna Fail returned again for five years is unthinkable.

We can speculate on many, many things but I think we can be clear that the outgoing government was deeply unpopular and failed people in many and profound ways, and that people voted for change.

Ms McDonald said there is little public appetite for another election but Sinn Fein will fight one if required.

I want to see a good, stable, strong government that can deliver on housing, on health, can deliver on the issues that matter to people. But if there is an election, I mean well go and well fight the election, she said.

Solidarity-People Before Profit has urged the Green Party not to prop up a Fianna Fail and Fine Gael government.

In a meeting on Monday, Solidarity-People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said the two main parties will not implement changes demanded by the public.

meeting @EamonRyan at 2 to discuss gov formation. Will be urging @greenparty_ie not to prop up a gov with FF/FG but to join with left to make a gov that will deliver on housing, health, climate and a fair deal for working people. @pb4p @RTENewsPaulC @MichealLehane @PatLeahyIT  Richard Boyd Barrett (@RBoydBarrett) February 17, 2020

The partys delegation met Green leader Eamon Ryan and TD Catherine Martin to discuss the possibilities for government formation.

The main message we will be trying to put across is urging the Green Party not to prop up a government of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, Mr Boyd Barrett said.

We think there is an overwhelming mandate for change and we want to see that movement for change not sabotaged by seeing a return to power of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael because of the sort of change people are asking for on the housing crisis and health crisis, the cost of living for working people, climate change.

Action is required and that is not compatible with the continuation of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael in government.

We will be urging Eamon Ryan to work with the left with a view to delivering on the mandate and demand for change and to try and press forward with the possibility of a left government to deliver that change.

Solidaritys Mick Barry said the party will urge the Greens to close the door on any deal with Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.

Colleague Paul Murphy said: Even for the Greens own policies to be implemented  for example, they call for a 7.67% annual reduction in carbon emissions  that will not be delivered in a government with Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.

Even their limited demand  which is inadequate  for doubling investment in public transport will not be delivered in government with Fianna Fail or Fine Gael.

There is a majority in society for a whole series of left-wing policies.
What began as one familys bitter split over painful end-of-life decisions and grew into an unprecedented political battle that reached Congress, the White House and the Vatican ended yesterday with the death of Terri Schiavo at a hospice in central Florida. She was 41.

The severely brain-damaged woman died 13 days after the feeding tube that had sustained her for the past 15 years was removed at a judges direction. That simple medical procedure touched off an extraordinary act of Congress, with lawmakers and President Bush racing to enact legislation that forced the federal courts to review her case.

But while politicians succeeded in pushing the family dispute over her life to the federal judiciary, they could not change the outcome.

Three federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, repeatedly refused to overrule state court decisions from Florida that, again and again in the years-long legal fight, had sided with the claims of Michael Schiavo that his wife would not want to be kept alive.

Private tragedy and public uproar collided in the story of Terri Schiavo, which played out in her final days on 24-hour news channels and which will become a landmark in a far broader public debate about the role of government and the courts in end-of-life issues. Her death was met with a mix of tears and outrage, grief and quiet relief. The Florida Legislature paused for a moment of silence. In Washington, the president urged all those who honor Terri Schiavo to continue to work to build a culture of life.

The essence of civilization is that the strong have a duty to protect the weak, Bush said. In cases where there are serious doubts and questions, the presumption should be in the favor of life.

Terri Schiavo suffered catastrophic brain damage 15 years ago after a collapse thought to have been brought on by an eating disorder. She did not have a living will, and the uncertainty about her wishes bitterly divided Michael Schiavo, her legal guardian who believed that she would want to die, and her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, who wanted to prolong their daughters life as long as possible.

Mr. Schiavos overriding concern here was to provide Terri a peaceful death with dignity, his attorney George Felos told reporters yesterday. This death was not for the siblings and not for the spouse and not for the parents. This was for Terri. She has a right to die peaceably, in a loving setting, and with dignity.

Over time, the Schiavo case had drawn impassioned partisans from a vast array of forces -- advocates from the right-to-die movement as well as abortion opponents, religious groups, disability rights supporters and the Vatican. The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, who went to Florida on Tuesday in behalf of the Schindlers, called Terri Schiavos case one of the profound moral and ethical breaches of our time.

In recent weeks, supporters of the Schindlers rallied and held prayer vigils outside the hospice center in Pinellas Park, where their daughter had been cared for since 2000. They waived American flags and portraits of Christ, loudly chanted: Give Terri water! and held signs, some savaging Michael Schiavo and others pleading: Someone help us.

The raw emotions did not end with the news of Terri Schiavos death. The Rev. Frank Pavone, national director of the advocacy group Priests for Life, told reporters in Florida: This is not only a death, with all the sadness that brings, but this is a killing, and for that we not only grieve that Terri has passed but we grieve that our nation has allowed such an atrocity as this, and we pray that it will never happen again.

At the Vatican, Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins called the removal of the feeding tube that had sustained Terri Schiavo an an attack against God. In Texas, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay issued a statement attacking the legal system: The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior.

Michael Schiavo, who was at his wifes bedside along with his brother and two attorneys when she died, did not appear in public yesterday. Mr. and Mrs. Schindler were called to the hospice upon their daughters death; they came and left without comment, looking stricken.

Terri Schiavos siblings, Bobby Schindler and Suzanne Vitadamo, publicly thanked their sisters caregivers and doctors and supporters, and promised to work on behalf of other profoundly disabled people.

Terri is now with God, and she has been released from all earthly burdens, Vitadamo said. Please continue to pray that God gives grace to our family as we go through this difficult time.

Among physicians and medical ethicists, Terri Schiavos case was considered unique -- not because of her brain injuries, but because most disputed end-of-life questions are settled quietly after difficult, private conversations between family members and doctors.

Her case, by contrast, became an emotional, exhaustively litigated showdown that drew politicians and the nation into a difficult public discussion about end-of-life decisions.

Its heartbreaking, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the presidents brother, said yesterday in Tallahassee. I wish I could have done more. Thats the sadness in my heart.

But opinion polls showed that the vast majority of Americans were uneasy with the governments attempts to intervene in one familys anguished fight. A CBS News poll last week showed that 82 percent of Americans thought Congress should have stayed out of the fight over Terri Schiavos life, a sentiment that cut across religious and political lines.

The political fight also left thorny questions about the separation of powers and judicial independence that political analysts said could linger, possibly influencing the 2006 midterm elections and making bruising fights over the presidents judicial nominations uglier.

Theresa Marie Schiavo, who grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and met her husband when they were students at Bucks County Community College in Pennsylvania, became -- ultimately -- the central figure in a vast debate about religion, life, medicine and ethics that swirled fiercely around her.

There was fierce disagreement on virtually every aspect of her case, well beyond the central question of whether her own wish would have been to live or die.

Doctors were divided about whether she was in a persistent vegetative state, with no chance of ever recovering, or if her diagnosis was the more hopeful prognosis of being minimally conscious. Her husband and her parents feuded over basic questions of whether she had any awareness of her surroundings and situation, and whether any therapy could help her. As recently as this week, her parents insisted that she was communicative and responding to them.

Other disagreements were far more bitter and personal, with each side leveling charges that the other was motivated by money from a more than $1 million medical malpractice settlement 10 years ago. Less than $50,000 of that money remained by mid-March.

Terri Schiavos parents also charged that Michael Schiavo wanted their daughter to die because he had moved on and begun a new life, fathering two children with a woman he intends to marry. At least two wealthy observers offered Michael Schiavo hefty sums -- $1 million in one instance, $10 million in another -- to divorce Terri Schiavo and allow her parents to become her guardians.

Michael Schiavo, who also faced repeated death threats, refused. He said he would not divorce his wife because he firmly believed that he was carrying out her true wishes, end-of-life options that he said they had discussed casually when they were a young couple with their future wide open.

Its not about the money, he said. This is about Terri. Its not about the Schindlers. Its not about the legislators. Its not about me. Its about what Terri wanted.

For Terri Schiavos family, there was no reconciliation in her death. Michael Schiavos lawyers said this week that a full autopsy would show what one of his attorneys described as the full and massive extent of the damage to Ms. Schiavos brain and to counter allegations that she was communicative in her final days.

Michael Schiavo also intends to have his wifes remains cremated, as he said she wished, and that her ashes would be interred in his familys burial plot in Pennsylvania. Terri Schiavos parents had a different wish, that their daughter would have a Roman Catholic funeral and be buried in Florida, near them.
EDWARDSVILLE  The appointment of a new director for the Madison County Emergency Management Agency is among items expected to be acted on by the county board at Wednesdays meeting.

Anthony Falconio, the interim EMA director, is expected to be appointed to the position, according to an agenda of the meeting.
A mucky and miserable Mullingar workout for Cork, one which Kieran Kingstons charges were most fortunate to escape from with a win.

No question but Westmeath let slip here a very real opportunity to spring an upset, to record a first ever league win over Cork.

The body language of Shane OBriens players at the final whistle said it all. Mass disappointment. Frustration. Regret.

Westmeath, having played into a hurricane in the first half, found themselves just three adrift at the break. They had Cork in their crosshairs. They had Cork rattled. The sense of there being a shock in the making was as tangible as the rain dancing on the roof of the main stand.

But no scalp could Westmeath take. They never even managed to sneak their noses in front throughout a second half where Cork teetered on the brink of what would have been a most discomfiting defeat for Kieran Kingston and his management team.

If Westmeath players were privately cursing themselves at having failed to capitalise on this rare chance to take down a top-tier side, Cork, at the other end of the long corridor in Cusack Park, were breathing a sigh of relief at having got out of jail.

Twice in the second half, when the gap stood at two, Westmeath had the platform to get back on level footing, if not surge ahead.

The door first lay open to them following their quickfire 1-1 response to Patrick Horgans sweetly struck 37th minute penalty after the same player had been hauled onto the soaking wet canvas.

Horgans goal moved the visitors six clear, but Corks green flag was immediately cancelled out as an Allan Devine 65 went all the way to Patrick Collins net. It should have been kept out. Such juvenile errors, however, were a dime a dozen on an afternoon where horrible weather conditions made the execution of basic skills less than straightforward. The small crowd was treated to far more rucks than scores from open play.

As it was, a Derek McNicholas point, added to Devines goal, left the scoreboard reading 1-8 to 1-6. Momentum sat with Westmeath and on 43 minutes, it appeared they had been handed numerical advantage when referee Liam Gordon sent off Damien Cahalane for a challenge on Aaron Craig. But arising from the same shemozzle, Gordon, much to the disgust of the home management, flashed a second yellow to half-forward Joey Boyle.

I didnt see [the incident], but I know there are a lot of people from Westmeath unhappy with the refereeing decisions, said manager Shane OBrien afterwards.

Though Boyles dismissal temporarily deflated the Lake County men (they went 10 minutes without scoring), a first Division 1 victory of the new season still remained a live possibility for Westmeath when Devine converted his third free on 54 minutes to make it 1-10 to 1-8.

Then arrived a gut punch. Bill Coopers delivery into the danger zone popped out of the hand of Westmeath keeper Aaron McHugh and into the net. It was a stroke of good fortune which Cork so needed. It was also their only score from play from the 10th minute onward.

Westmeath rallied through points from Devine (free) and a belter from distance courtesy of Aonghus Clarke. But a second Horgan penalty, which had its roots in a fine bit of creativity from Declan Dalton to create the goal-scoring opportunity for the fouled Seamus Harnedy, decided Westmeaths faith and, in the process, saved Corks bacon.

Today was a day that got away from us. Today was a day where we could have made history, OBrien lamented.

Youd have to be hugely proud of that performance, but naturally, we are disappointed with the result. We felt that game was there for us, at half-time in particular.

We were 0-7 to 0-1 down at one stage in the opening half while against the wind. But no heads dropped. They stayed positive. The character of the group was clear to everybody. It is frustrating the small little errors that cost us at this level.

Cork boss Kingston was both delighted and grateful for the character his players displayed when matters got hairy in the second half.

Having forged six clear by the 21st minute, Cork, supported by the elements, then went scoreless for 17 minutes. It was a period Westmeath got back within two, and should have levelled matters but for a string of poor wides.

We were a little bit complacent after the start we got, Kingston acknowledged.

We conceded a huge amount of frees and made a lot of simple errors. We should have pushed on, but didnt. At half-time, we regrouped. We knew we were in a battle. Normal hurling skills go out the window. This was just a fight. I was delighted with the character they showed in the second half, facing the breeze, when we had to battle hard for the two points.

A second league win for Cork, but hardly a convincing one.

Scorers for Cork: P Horgan (2-8, 2-0 pen, 0-8 frees); B Cooper (1-0); C Lehane (0-2); T OMahony (0-1 sc), L Meade (0-1 each).

Scorers for Westmeath: A Devine (1-8, 1-0 65, 0-7 frees); D Clinton, D McNicholas (0-2 each); A Clarke, J Boyle (0-1 each).

CORK: P Collins; S OLeary Hayes, E Cadogan, C Spillane; T OMahony, B Cooper, D Cahalane; C OLeary, L Meade; C Lehane, P Horgan, A Walsh; D Dalton, S Harnedy, J OConnor.

Subs: S Twomey for Lehane (12 mins, inj); R Downey for Twomey (49); N OLeary for Walsh (52); B Turnbull for J OConnor (60).

WESTMEATH: A McHugh; A Ennis, T Doyle, C Shaw; A Craig, A Clarke, L Varley; C Boyle, E Price; J Boyle, R Greville, D McNicholas; A Devine, N Mitchell, C Doyle.

Subs: A Cox for Greville (nine-12 mins, blood); D Clinton for Mitchell (45); Killian Doyle for Ciaran Doyle (52); A Cox for Shaw (54); S McGovern for Greville (58); B Doyle for Ennis (65).

Referee: L Gordon (Galway).

How they lined out

By Eoghan Cormican

IT MATTERED

Patrick Horgans second penalty strike nine minutes from the end of regulation time. Handed Cork a six-point buffer, one which proved sufficient in withstanding a late, late Westmeath charge.

CANT IGNORE

The sickening sense of opportunity lost for the home side. They wont get a better chance this spring, nay year, to take down a top-tier side.

GOOD DAY

Patrick Horgan. Even on this most horrible of afternoons, his class shone through.

BAD DAY

Victory aside, there was little to admire about this Cork performance. That they managed just one score from play between the 10th minute and Liam Gordons final whistle says everything about this below-par effort.

SIDELINE SMARTS

Westmeath pulled their full and half-forward lines out the field in the first-half to crowd the middle third, a ploy which worked well given Corks futile insistence on engaging in a short-passing game.

PHYSIO ROOM

Conor Lehane strained his hamstring early in the first-half and, as a result, will miss Sundays visit of Limerick to Pairc Ui Chaoimh.

BEST ON SHOW

Leaving aside Horgans dead-ball heroics, there was nobody on either side who stood out.

MAN IN THE MIDDLE

Liam Gordon issued a straight red card to Damien Cahalane for his late involvement in a second-half shemozzle. Joey Boyle picked up a second yellow card for his participation in same.

NEXT UP

Cork host Limerick on Sunday, winless Westmeath make the trip to Tipp the same day.

A footballers life podcast: 1. Graham Cummins
San Francisco, CA (UroToday.com) Dr. Cora Sternberg gave an overview of the new standards of first-line therapy in advanced urothelial bladder carcinoma.

There has been almost no progress at all during the last 30 years in the management of advanced urothelial carcinoma (figure 1). However, in the last 5 years, five new immunotherapeutic agents have been introduced for the treatment of advanced urothelial carcinoma (figure 2), bringing significant improvement for advanced urothelial bladder cancer patients.







Figure 1  30 years of almost no progress in the treatment of urothelial carcinoma until very recently:







Figure 2  Introduction of 5 new systemic agents in recent years:







Bladder cancer has a high somatic mutation rate, making it a good candidate for the development of new immunotherapeutic drugs. Additionally, a new classification of urothelial cancer by molecular markers has been introduced in recent years (Figure 3), with some showing preference for immunotherapeutic drugs.

Figure 3  New classification or urothelial cancer by molecular markers:







Dr. Sternberg continued to discuss the role of immune-checkpoint inhibitors in the various treatment settings. In the platinum-refractory setting the immune checkpoint inhibitors have shown promising results (Table 1) with objective response rates ranging between 13.4-21.1%, showing improvement of progression-free survival and overall survival.







When assessing atezolizumab in the platinum-treated metastatic urothelial carcinoma patients in the Imvigor 2010 trial, the overall survival was shown to be affected by the PD-L1 status (figure 4).





Figure 4- IMvigor 210  overall survival with atezolizumab in the platinum treated metastatic urothelial carcinoma patients







Interestingly, alterations in DNA damage response and repair genes were associated with PD1/PDL1 blockade response and survival1.

The Keynote-045 phase 3 pembrolizumab study in platinum-refractory patients was an international randomized, open label Phase III study comparing pembrolizumab to chemotherapy. The primary endpoint was overall survival and progression-free survival. The treatment was continued for 2 years2. The results demonstrated a 27% reduction in the risk of death with pembrolizumab (Figure 5).





Figure 5  Pembrolizumab in platinum-refractory patients:







Atezolizumab also demonstrated similar beneficial results when compared to chemotherapy in the same setting, with an improvement in overall survival3 (Figure 6).





Figure 6  Atezolizumab Phase III vs. chemotherapy overall survival:







Immune checkpoint inhibitors have also been assessed as first-line in cisplatin-ineligible patients. Both pembrolizumab and atezolizumab have shown an objective response rate of 29% and 23%, respectively, with improvement in median overall survival (Figure 7).

Figure 7  Immune checkpoint inhibitors as first-line in cisplatin-ineligible patients







The updated overall survival results of the Keynote-052 study, assessing pembrolizumab in cisplatin-ineligible patients demonstrated a significant improvement in 2-year overall survival in patients with a CPS>10 (47% vs. 24%).

An excellent summary slide of key first-line Phase III trials of anti-PD-1/PD-L1 antibodies in urothelial cancer is shown in figure 8.

Figure 8  Summary of key first-line Phase III trials of immune checkpoint inhibitors







Dr. Sternberg moved on to discuss the results of the IMvigor 130 study (Figure 9) assessing and comparing atezolizumab monotherapy to combination with chemotherapy or chemotherapy alone. The intention to treat analysis results of the outcome of progression-free survival and overall survival are shown in Figure 10, and figure 11, respectively, demonstrating an advantage for the atezolizumab + chemotherapy combination arm.





Figure 9 - IMvigor 130 trial design:







Figure 10  Imvigor 130 progression-free survival intention to treat analysis results:







Figure 11  Imvigor 130 overall survival intention to treat analysis results







The JAVELIN Bladder 100 trial (NCT02603432) was discussed next. This study assessed patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma following 1st line chemotherapy, who have not progressed and randomized to either standard of care or avelumab (Figure 12). On January 6, 2020, this trial met its primary endpoint of overall survival at the planned interim analysis.

Figure 12  JAVELIN bladder cancer trial design:







New approaches in metastatic urothelial carcinoma have been developed in the meantime. These include the antibody-drug conjugates. These antibodies are conjugated to a cytotoxic drug or radionuclide. They have been shown to improve the potency and effectiveness of these antibodies. This type of therapy enables targeted delivery of the toxic payload to tumor cells, minimizing non-specific, systemic toxicity. An excellent example is enfortumab vedotin (EV). It targets Nectin-4, highly expressed in cancer cells. In the study assessing its effectiveness in patients with locally advanced or metastatic disease who have been treated previously with cisplatin and immune checkpoint inhibitors, the results demonstrated an objective response rate of 44%. There was a 12% and 32% complete and partial response rate, respectively. There have been other antibodies that have been studied, including sacituzumab govetecan.

Dr. Sternberg concluded her excellent talk pointing out a few important factors. The high mutational complexity that exists in bladder urothelial cancer, has the potential for many neoantigens, possibly triggering an immune response. Immunotherapy is currently the first-line recommended therapy for 1st line cisplatin-ineligible patients and second-line after cisplatin-based chemotherapy. The currently studied combinations in the first line including chemotherapy and immunotherapy are of great interest. Lastly, new therapeutic approaches including antibody-drug conjugates are of great interest.



Presented by: Cora Sternberg MD, FACP Clinical Director of the Israel Englander Institute for Precision Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine

Written by: Hanan Goldberg, MD, Urology Department, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York, Twitter: @GoldbergHanan at the 2020 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, ASCO GU #GU20, February 13-15, 2020, San Francisco, California

References:



1. Teo, Min Yuen, Kenneth Seier, Irina Ostrovnaya, Ashley M. Regazzi, Brooke E. Kania, Meredith M. Moran, Catharine K. Cipolla et al. "Alterations in DNA damage response and repair genes as potential marker of clinical benefit from PD-1/PD-L1 blockade in advanced urothelial cancers." Journal of Clinical Oncology 36, no. 17 (2018): 1685.



2. Bellmunt, Joaquim, Ronald De Wit, David J. Vaughn, Yves Fradet, Jae-Lyun Lee, Lawrence Fong, Nicholas J. Vogelzang et al. "Pembrolizumab as second-line therapy for advanced urothelial carcinoma." New England Journal of Medicine 376, no. 11 (2017): 1015-1026.



3. Powles, Thomas, Ignacio Duran, Michiel S. Van Der Heijden, Yohann Loriot, Nicholas J. Vogelzang, Ugo De Giorgi, Stephane Oudard et al. "Atezolizumab versus chemotherapy in patients with platinum-treated locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (IMvigor211): a multicentre, open-label, phase 3 randomised controlled trial." The Lancet 391, no. 10122 (2018): 748-757.
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.

Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.

If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .

Support our mission and join our community now.
Nirbhaya Case- Balancing the scales of Justice

On December 16, 2012, there occurred a horrendous incident, in Delhi, which shook the conscience of the whole nation. 5 men and 1 juvenile committed the heinous crime of gang rape on a 23 years old physiotherapist trainee, Nirbhaya (name changed in order to protect the identity of the victim in sexual offences) [1], marking it as the black day of the decade for the nation. This led to widespread anger throughout the nation leading to extensive protests demanding justice for the girl because Nirbhaya was critical and wasn't responding well to the treatment administered to her and under the pressure created by the protests, the Union government rushed the victim for treatment to Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore, whereinafter she succumbed to her injuries. All the 6 accused namely Ram Singh(aged about 33 years), Pawan Gupta (aged about 19 years), Vinay Sharma(aged about 21 years), Mukesh(aged about 26 years), AkshayKumar Singh (aged about 28 years) and one minor, were arrested and brought before the court.

The chronology of the events that followed thereafter is as follows: -

- 31st August 2013 - The Juvenile Justice Board sent the minor to a reform facility.

- 13th September, 2013 - The trial court awarded death sentence to the remaining 4 accused.

- 13th March, 2014 - The Delhi High court upheld the decision of the trial court conforming death penalty.

- 20 December, 2015 - The Minor who served three years in a reform facility was released.

- 5th May, 2017 - The Supreme Court also upholds the decision of the high court.

- 9th July, 2018 - Supreme Court dismisses the Review plea filed by Mukesh, Pawan & Vinay.

A bench headed by Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta while hearing a batch of petitions filed after the barbaric crime of gang rape and murder on December 16, 2012 in New Delhi to support the initiatives on women's safety across the country, laid down the rule that 'No person can print or publish in print, electronic, social media, etc. the name of the victim or even in a remote manner disclose any facts which can lead to the victim being identified and which should make her identity known to the public at large. The bar extends to anything which can even remotely be used to identify the victim,'

- February, 2019 - Victim's parents move the Delhi High Court, to expedite the process of issuance of death warrant to the accused.

- 18th December, 2019 - Supreme court dismisses the review petition filed by Akshay.

- Thereafter the Delhi Court direct Tihar authorities to issue notice to convicts to avail their remaining legal remedies.

- January 7, 2020 - The court issues the Death Warrant and orders that the 4 convicts be hanged on January 22 at 7 am.

Advocate Vrinda Grover, who was appointed as Amicus Curiae [2] on the last date by the court to represent Mukesh, informed the court that she had interviewed the convicts in prison and perused their documents. She also submitted before the court that the jail authorities did not give complete information to the convicts in the notice issued to them in pursuance of courts last order. In these notices the authorities had informed that only remedy available to them is a mercy plea. This is misleading as the notices failed to mention curative petition as another remedy available to them.

The order of the Court on January 7, 2020 was passed after hearing the arguments on issuance of death warrants to the convicts. Chapter XXXII Section 413 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Code deals with issuance of death warrant. It says that when a case is submitted to High Court for confirmation of death sentence and the Court of Sessions receives the order of confirmation it issues a warrant or may take the steps it deems necessary.

The remedies left with the convict after the confirmation of death sentence by the High court as well as the Supreme Court is:-

i. Filling a review petition before the Supreme Court under Article 137 of the Constitution of India.

ii. Filling a Curative Petition in the Supreme Court under Article 142 of the Constitution of India. [3]

iii. Filling a mercy petition before the President under Article 72 of the Constitution of India. [4]

At the time of writing of this article Curative Petition filed by two of the accused namely Vinay Sharma and Mukesh has been rejected by Supreme Court on the grounds that the instant case doesn't meet the tests laid down by Supreme Court in Rupa Hurra vs Ashok Hurra Case. While the option of filing Curative petition is still open to remaining two convicts namely Akshay Kumar Singh and Pawan Gupta. On January 15, 2020 Delhi High Court bench comprising of J. Manmohan and J. Sangita Dhingra Sehgal heard convict Mukesh Kumar's plea on setting aside Death Warrant order issued by Delhi Court on January 7th, 2020. The petition drafted by Advocate Vrinda Grover, amicus curie in the case, seeks stay on Death Warrant on the grounds that Mukesh has already filed Mercy petitions with Lt. Governor of Delhi and President of India and execution of death warrant will make his constitutional remedies infructuous. The court opined that there was no error in the trial courts order issuing death warrant and passed the judgement stating that"If the petitioner is of the opinion that the date of execution mentioned in the impugned order needs to be set aside in view of any subsequent event, then he must approach the court that passed the impugned order."

So, despite the brouhaha around the death warrant issued for 22nd January, 7 a.m. It seemed imminent to jurists that the convicts may not be hung on 22nd January by virtue of automatic stay granted by proviso to Rule 14 of Delhi Prisons (Treatment Of Convicts Sentenced To Simple Imprisonment, Death, Female Prisoners, Youthful Prisoners, Leper Prisoners And Lunatic Prisoners) Rules, 1988. [5]

However, they got time to file their Mercy pleas with the President of India under Article 72 of the Indian Constitution, i.e. the last constitutional remedy that was left open to the convicts of Nirbhaya Gang Rape Case, three of the convicts namely Mukesh, Akshay and Vinay have already availed the remedy, fourth convict Pawan Gupta is yet to exercise his right and avail the aforesaid remedy.

Another development in the case came on January 17, when the execution order of 22nd January stayed. On the same day, the mercy plea of Mukesh was rejected by the President Ram Nath Kovind, the appeal against such rejection was also dismissed by the Supreme Court on January 29, 2020. The trial court reissuedblack warrants' for the second time for the execution of all the four convicts in Tihar jail at 6 am on February 1, 2020.

On January 31st, 2020, Tihar Jail Authorities vehemently opposed the application filed by the counsel for convicts, seeking adjournment of the executions. However, ASJ Dharmender Rana after hearing the arguments, passed the order, that the execution of warrants issued on Jan. 17, 2020 deserves to be postponed 'sine die.' [6]

The said order was challenged in the Delhi High Court by the Central and Delhi government through Lt. Governor, on the ground that the Delhi Prison Rules 2018 does not prohibit the consecutive execution of the death sentence of co-convicts, upon rejection of their respective mercy petitions. It was argued that deferring the execution of the death sentence of all the four convicts, specifically when Mukesh's mercy plea had been dismissed by the President, will lead to 'gross miscarriage of justice' to the victim's family as well as society as a whole.

On February 05, 2020, Justice Suresh Kumar Kait refused to accept the Centre's contention and held that 'Since up to the Supreme Court, their fate has been decided by a common order and judgment, therefore, in view of the facts, I am of the considered view that death warrants of all the convicts be executed together but not separately.' The Court also clarified that as per the Prison Rules,if the appeal or application of one of the convicts is pending, the death sentence of all the convicts shall be postponed till the order on the appeal/application comes. It is also mentioned in the proviso [7] that if a petition for mercy has been submitted, the execution of the sentence shall further be postponed pending the orders of the President thereon and also highlighted that it is nowhere mentioned in the proviso that if mercy petition of one convict is pending, the death sentence of other co-convicts will be executed.

Another recent order of the Supreme Court passed on February 11, 2020, by the 3-judge bench, headed by Justices R.Banumathi, Ashok Bhushan andA. S. Bopanna, while seeking response from the convicts against the Central government's challenge, saidthat the pendency of the appeal filed by the Centre and Delhi government before it would not be an impediment for the trial court in issuing fresh date for execution of the convicts.And therefore, granted liberty to the authorities to approach the trial court for issuance of fresh date for the execution.

The whole journey of this case clearly shows that even the damned getthe right to be heard in this mighty democracy of ours. Doesn't matter how many might outpour their outrage over the convicts not being hanged quickly enough. Even today, i.e. 12 February, 2020, the court granted an opportunity to Pawan to choose a counsel of his choice from the list of empanelled advocates with the Delhi State Legal Services Authority, after the intimation by Advocate AP Singh that he would not represent convict Pawan in the Nirbhaya case anymore. While affording the said opportunity to the convict, J. Dharmendra Rana remarked, 'Let justice be done, even though heaven falls. This Court is of the opinion that any condemned convict is entitled for legal aid till his last breath. Granting the prayer made in the application without hearing counsel for convict would render further proceedings ornamental and superfluous.' And also stated that 'Even till his last breath he is entitled to Audi Alteram Partem'. [8]

This clearly shows that thevery edifice of Indian criminal justice system rests on the assertion of William Blackstone, famous English jurist, 'it is better that 10 guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffers'.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] Section 228A of Indian Penal Code. It deals with disclosure of identity of victims of sexual offences.

[2] Latin word meaning 'Friend of the court'. Someone who is not a party to a case and may or may not have been solicited by a party and who assists a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case; and is typically presented in the form of a brief.

[3] Curative petition is a concept that was evolved by the SC in the case of Rupa Hurra vs Ashok Hurra 2002 (4) SCC 388. The question presented before the court in this case was whether an aggrieved person is entitles to any relief against the final judgement/order of the SC after the review petition is dismissed.

Para 47 - The Supreme Court in the said case held that in order to prevent abuse of its process and to cure gross miscarriage of justice, it may reconsider its judgements in exercise of its inherent powers. The judgment also states that though the judges of the highest court do their best, situations may arise in the rarest of the rare cases, which would require reconsideration of a final judgment to set right miscarriage of justice complained of.

Para 42 - The duty to do justice shall have to prevail over the policy of certainty of judgment in the rarest of rare cases as there may be circumstances, wherein declining to reconsider the judgment would be oppressive to judicial conscience and would continue to cause injustice. It is a very wide discretionary powers conferred on the Supreme Court, in the exercise of its jurisdiction, to pass decree or make such order as is necessary for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it under Article 142 of the Constitution. In order to entertain a curative petition, the SC has laid down specific conditions:

- The petitioner will have to establish that there was a genuine violation of principles of natural justice and fear of the bias of the judge and judgement that adversely affected him.

- The petition shall state specifically that the grounds mentioned therein had been taken in the review petition filed earlier and that it was dismissed by circulation.

- The curative petition must be accompanied by a certificate from a senior lawyer relating to the fulfillment of the above requirements.

- The petition has to be circulated to the three senior most judges and judges of the bench who passed the judgement affecting the petition, if available.

- If the majority of the judges on the above bench agree that the matter needs hearing, then it would be sent to the same bench (as far as possible).

- If it is found at any stage that the petition is without any merit and vexatious, it may impose exemplary costs on the petitioner.

Para 64 - The exercise of this power of the Supreme Court also stands recognized by Order 47 Rule 6 of the Supreme court rules which states that nothing in these rules shall be deemed to limit or otherwise affect the inherent powers of the court to make such orders as may be necessary for the ends of justice or to prevent abuse of the process of the court.

[4] The power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence is vested with the President of India through Article 72 of the Indian Constitution. The President does not decide on the clemency cases on his own. He is advised by the council of ministers under Article 74 and Article 163 of the constitution of Indian, even though he is not bound to act on their suggestions.

A convict under the sentence of death is allowed to file a mercy petition within a period of seven days (As per the provisions of the respective Jail Manual, in the present case,Chapter 11 of Delhi Jail Manual which deals with Delhi Prisons (Treatment Of Convicts Sentenced To Simple Imprisonment, Death, Female Prisoners, Youthful Prisoners, Leper Prisoners And Lunatic Prisoners) RulesRule 15 and 16) after the date on which the Superintendent of Jail informs him about the dismissal of the appeal or special leave to appeal by the Supreme Court.

A recent decision of the Supreme Court in January 21, 2014 in the case of Shatrughan Chauhan vs Union of India (2014) 3 SCC 1, the court has framed a number of guidelines for safeguarding the interests of death row convicts. One of the guideline states that a convict cannot be executed until at least 14 days have elapsed from the time he is informed about the fact that his mercy petition has been rejected.

[5] The proviso reads that 'if the sentence of death has been passed on more than one person in the same case, and if an appeal or an application is made by or on behalf of only one or more but not all of them, the execution of the sentence shall be postponed in the case of all such convicts and not only in the case of the convict or convicts by whom, or on whose behalf, the appeal or the application is made.'

[6] sine die - with no appointed date for resumption.

[7] Supra.

[8] Latin phrase meaning 'listen to the other side', or 'let the other side be heard as well'. It is one of the principles of Natural justice.

About the author:

Prakhar Dixit is Managing Partner, Sync Legal. Author Thanks Siddharth Singh Associate, Sync Legal for his valuable inputs.



Join LAWyersClubIndia's network for daily News Updates, Judgment Summaries, Articles, Forum Threads, Online Law Courses, and MUCH MORE!!"





Join our Telegram group

Join our Whatsapp group

"Loved reading this piece by Guest Join LAWyersClubIndia's network for daily News Updates, Judgment Summaries, Articles, Forum Threads, Online Law Courses, and MUCH MORE!!"

Tags : others
Kerin and John Dezell own Sound Designs, an audio-visual company. The couple attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at Philadelphia's Merriam Theater on Feb. 16, 2020. (Weiyong/The Epoch Times)

PHILADELPHIAPerforming arts takes many forms and this afternoon, when the owners of a local audio-visual company crossed paths with Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Merriam Theater, an indelible impression was made on Philadelphias local culture.

John and Kerin Dezell are the owners of Sound Designs and on Feb. 16, 2020, they attended New York-based Shen Yun where they experienced new sights and sounds, and most of all, current events happening around the world that were unknown to them.

Yes, [Shen Yun] was very enjoyable, John said. We didnt expect it to be such a great dance routine. I loved the water sleeves  But the lantern dance was also exceptional.

Shen Yun is made up of roughly 20 short vignettes that tell stories and present scenes from ancient China, modern China, and from Chinas various different ethnicities and neighboring cultures. The artists do this using classical Chinese dance, a highly expressive and ancient dance form known for being especially technically challenging.

Shen Yuns mission is to revive traditional Chinese culture through performing arts and share it with the world.

The orchestra was outstanding, John continued. We could hear quite well. Particularly, [the erhu]  that came through very well. And I was surprised because Ive seen one and played one, and theyre very soft normally. But it came through loud and clear.

Kai Xi is the erhu virtuoso touring with the Shen Yun company the Dezells saw. Shen Yun has seven touring groups that travel the world each year with an all-new show. And each year, the companys artistic director composes all of the music. Kai Xi played a piece titled Roaming Without a Care.

Kerin drew a connection between the deep feeling of sympathy she experienced in Shen Yun and the musical compositions for its live orchestra that blends Eastern and Western instruments.

First of all, I thought the performers were exceptional, and I thought the music brought out a lot of feelings of sympathy for what was happening to the country, she said. And it made you feel sympathetic as to what was going on.

Shen Yun is not allowed to perform in China today because its ruling regime is hostile toward traditional Chinese culture, and even persecutes followers of Chinas ancient spiritual practices. Falun Dafa is one such practice that combines meditation and moral principles and whose followers are especially at risk of violence, abduction, and torture in detention. This happens because the regime feels beliefs like those pose a threat to its legitimacy and power. Shen Yun depicts this tragic reality through some of its dances, which is where the sympathy and feelings arose from in Kerin.

She added that this isnt just a beautiful performance, but there is a deeper meaning as well, one meant for the whole world.

You could understand there was conflict going on towards the middle and sort of towards the end of the show. And it was meant to bring this out into the open so that other people can understand whats going on, she said.

China is a deeply spiritual culture at its heart. It was once known as The Divine Land and as Shen Yun tries to resurrect this culture, it acknowledges and carries on such traditions as belief in the divine, legends about the Creator, and wisdom about what happens when we choose good over evil.

Kerin recognized a good message in Shen Yun, while John expressed his admiration about learning something new and what it means.

I thought it was very, it was new to know how the belief system in a deity was oppressed by the communist regime, he said. And it still happens, and the message was, that I received, is that it doesnt matter, they may oppress actions, but the sentiment and the belief system survives.

Kerins biggest takeaway from Shen Yun is that I dont want to be a part of a communist community. The couple were in agreement about how fortunate they felt to live in a free society.

The business owners had some final messages for the dancers and artists themselves. The couple reiterated that they appreciated Shen Yuns efforts to bring Chinas true culture to the rest of society.

Oh, that they were great, Kerin said.

They were phenomenal, John chimed in. How incredible, when they did the somersaults, how they flipped over without the use of their hands was pretty spectacular.

With reporting by 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.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. Spouse of the Armenian prime minister Anna Hakobyan sent a condolence letter over the death of photographer German Avagyan, Mrs. Hakobyans Office told Armenpress.

With a deep sorrow I learnt about the untimely death of good friend, famous photographer-documentarian German Avagyan. With his death our society has lost a unique color, a dedicated citizen and a photographer with his exclusive works. He was the documentarian of history, and the future generations will know about the newly-independent Armenia also from his photographs.

I extend my sincere condolences to German Avagyans family and relatives, friends and thousands of people who appreciate his art, Anna Hakobyan said in her letter.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
LOS ANGELES  Christina Ruiz travels between two competing realities every day.

At the University of Southern California, she studies public policy alongside some of the most privileged students in the world. At home in South Los Angeles, Ruiz, 25, struggles to adapt.

"I go to school with a very elite level of community and then I ride my bike a mile away ... and I'm back in the 'hood," she said. "This is the everyday reality of living in instability."

Ruiz has experienced homelessness for much of her life, cycling first through the foster care system in Los Angeles, then the criminal justice system. By the time she was 18, she had attended more than 16 schools.

She now lives in stable housing for the first time in at least a dozen years. But along with four walls and a ceiling comes anxiety.

Image: Christina Ruiz

"Housing is not the end," she said. "There needs to be continued support."

More than 150,000 people experience homelessness across California, according to a 2019 count. The crisis is especially acute in Los Angeles, where an affordable housing shortage contributed to 59,000 residents' living on the street last year. As local and state officials tackle the issue, service providers caution that solutions must be sustainable for years to come.

But the pathway out of homelessness is fraught with vulnerability and insecurity. People who once lived on the street must relearn basic skills, such as cooking, budgeting and even sleeping in a bed. Finding a home is not the end of their struggle.

To ease this transition, a new model emerged over the last two decades that pairs homeless people with additional services to sustain long-term housing. The model, called permanent supportive housing, targets people with chronic illnesses or disabilities who have experienced long-term and repeated homelessness.

Permanent supportive housing grew from the housing-first approach popularized in the early 1990s by the New York City service provider Pathways to Housing. The model, still used today, prioritizes finding stable shelter before connecting people with other resources.

Story continues

Image: Christina Ruiz and her son, Robbie

But experts warn that in the absence of ongoing support, people could fall back into homelessness.

"Housing without support sets up people to fail," said Tod Lipka, president and CEO of Step Up on Second, a housing and service provider in Santa Monica, California. "It has to be a transformative experience."

The challenges formerly homeless people face manifest in various ways, he said. Some continue to pile their belongings in a corner, a habit born out of the need to keep their possessions safe. Others, accustomed to sleeping in shelters, wake up at 6 a.m. to vacate their apartments, forgetting that those rules don't apply to private accommodations.

Lipka recalls one client at Step Up on Second who screamed loudly every morning around 3 o'clock. It was a trick the man learned while living on the streets to protect himself by keeping others away.

"When you're homeless, you're literally spending all your energy on surviving. It's a constant struggle," he said. "Once people are housed, they are no longer expending all that energy on surviving. They can start thinking about what they want their life to be now."

Ruiz, a single mother of a 5-year-old son, knows exactly how she wants her life to unfold. She will finish her bachelor's degree at USC's Sol Price School of Public Policy in May, and she is already working toward an accelerated master's degree in the field. She advocates in behalf of incarcerated and homeless youth through her nonprofit, Christina's Pathways to Success, and with the homelessness authority.

"I know I am the exception," she said. "If it's hard for me, what about the people who don't have these resources?"

For Amanda Walker, 27, finding a permanent home was just the beginning of her journey. Like Ruiz, Walker spent her youth in foster care. She often ran away from placements rather than live in abusive or toxic environments. But the streets were unwelcoming, and she developed a substance abuse dependency.

One day about seven years ago, Walker met an outreach team member from Step Up on Second and was intrigued by the services it offered. Yet her thinking was clouded by distrust.

"I was on drugs and all out of whack," she said. "It took me a minute to finally see that Step Up was exactly what I was looking for. It was complicated to trust people who were trying to help me."

Building trust is just the first part of securing stable housing. Many people who have experienced homelessness protect themselves by refusing to believe their situations can change, Lipka said.

"Most of these individuals never think they can get housing again," he said. "You harden yourself against the hope and disappointment."

Once people accept help, they must tackle bureaucracy. Case managers work with people to secure documentation, such as IDs or Social Security cards, needed to apply for financial assistance. After the paperwork is sorted, people receive housing vouchers.

Walker spent a year living in a hotel room before finding a permanent apartment through Step Up on Second. She said the time indoors was crucial.

"I didn't really have any home training," she said.

That included cooking and even shopping for food, Walker said. At one point, she asked her case manager about how to handle fish. Walker wasn't sure whether it should be refrigerated or how long it would last. She learned the hard way.

"My whole apartment stunk," she said, laughing at the memory.

For case managers, no task is too small. Edward James oversees a team of what he calls "house stabilizers" at L.A. Family Housing, a residential and service provider. His staff members accompany tenants to doctor's appointments and teach them how to get money orders for rent. To combat the inevitable loneliness that comes with new surroundings, James and his staff encourage formerly homeless tenants to meet one another and form a community. They also perform wellness checks and even bring in a chef to provide cooking lessons.

"It's little things like that, the little touches, that helps them transition," he said.

Image: Christina Ruiz and her son, Robbie

In the decade James has worked at L.A. Family Housing, none of his tenants has returned to homelessness, he said.

Across Los Angeles County, the retention rate after one year of permanent supportive housing is 90 percent, according to United Way of Greater Los Angeles. Data is not available beyond one year.

Step Up on Second's success rate is closer to 96 percent, Lipka said. He considers Walker one of his many success stories. She is five years sober and thinking about getting a puppy. Walker also sits on the board of directors for Step Up on Second, a position that allows her to give back to the organization that helped provide a fresh start.

"The more you trust people, the more they can help you," she said.
Hong Kong: Unite to fight virus

Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng

After the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, the Government has announced a series of prevention and control measures to reduce the risk of spread of the disease in the community. Compulsory quarantine, on the basis of a public health emergency (under Cap. 599 Prevention & Control of Disease Ordinance), is one of the measures in place. From February 8 onwards, all people entering Hong Kong from the Mainland, including Hong Kong residents, Mainland residents as well as other visitors, are required to be subject to mandatory quarantine for 14 days upon their arrival. Even if they are entering from other places, if they have visited the Mainland over the past 14 days, mandatory quarantine is still applicable upon their arrival. Anyone who violates the regulation may face a maximum penalty of imprisonment for six months and a fine of $25,000 upon conviction. We hope that the new measures could further reduce the flow of people between Hong Kong and the Mainland, reducing the risks for a spread of the disease in Hong Kong.

The Department of Health would gather evidence and conduct investigations into any contravention of quarantine orders before referring the cases to the Department of Justice for making prosecutorial decisions. Our prosecutors would make such decisions based on available evidence, applicable laws and the Prosecution Code. A prosecution would be commenced if there is sufficient admissible evidence for a reasonable prospect of conviction.

Minimising social contact in the community is another key measure to curb the spread of the virus. Hence, we only arranged for a certain number of colleagues, including government counsel, paralegals and supporting staff, to return to the office to handle urgent matters and provide basic public services. The reception counters of the Prosecutions Division and the Civil Division have remained open over the past few weeks to allow members of the public and the legal profession to serve court documents. The shroff office is also partly open for payment service. Details of the service hours are available from our press release.

There are colleagues from different divisions returning to the office to handle emergency works including attending urgent court hearings, processing court documents and attending urgent meetings. We have arranged for sufficient manpower to provide cleansing services at the office to safeguard the health of colleagues. For others, who are given laptops and electronic communication devices, are advised to work at home. I am heartened to learn that the Department of Justice is largely functioning well.

The Judiciary announced that court hearings would be generally adjourned in view of public health considerations but the courts would continue to handle urgent and essential hearings. Colleagues from the Department of Justice have been deployed to attend such hearings to deal with cases including bail applications and sentencing.

I am grateful to all my colleagues for remaining steadfast at their posts at this difficult time. I also urge those who are required to stay at home or other dwelling places for a 14-day quarantine to abide by the law and strictly comply with the quarantine orders. Violation of orders causes a spread of the disease and leads to criminal prosecution. Last but not the least, I appeal to all members of the public to join hands with the Government to do their best to prevent and curb the spread of COVID-19 by maintaining good personal hygiene, thereby ending the epidemic as soon as possible.

Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng wrote this article and posted it on her blog on February 17.

This story has been published on: 2020-02-17. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
What if the actual number of those infected with the coronavirus isnt 71,449 but closer to 1 million and the death total is over 100,000; Could the cover-up be explained as an effort to prevent a world-wide panic.





By James DiGeorgia

Last week we were told by the Chinese government that because they have changed the way the coronavirus (COVID-19) was being diagnosed they had decided to jump the number of both the number of those infected by 15,000 in a single day and increased the number to deaths from the potentially deadly virus to 1,500.

The revelation of a much higher infection rate and the failure of the Chinese to still allow U.S. scientists and medical experts in viral health crisis from the Centers of Disease and Control (CDC) to travel to China and help in a myriad of ways to classify and hopefully contain the virus has the Trump Administration gravely concerned about the numbers of those infected being dramatically undercounted.

This past Friday, the CDC latest risk assessment indicated that the 2019-2020 coronavirus epidemic was unlikely to be contained before the end of 2020. This directly contradicts President Trumps assurances that COVID-19 is under control and will end soon, an echo of what Chinas President Xi is saying publically and privately to President Trump.

President Trump remains so enamored with President Xi he is unable to recognize that a man that runs concentration camps holding over 1 million of his countrys Muslim minority is a pathological liar. The old saying it takes one to recognize another one may result in millions of COVID-19 infections and deaths.

On Friday, the CDC warning about the longevity of the COVID-19 epidemic was just one of several gloomy predictions made in the prior 48 hours, as the number of cases in China continued to grow and totals of those infected tick up slowly in other countries like Japan, Singapore, Great Britain and the United States.

The spread drew comments from a Harvard epidemiologist quoted in a Wall Street Journal article saying

I think it is likely well see a global pandemic. If a pandemic happens, 40% to 70% of people worldwide are likely to be infected in the coming year.

The suggestion that 70% of the worlds population may be infected would amount to over 5.358 billion infections and even at a very conservative death toll of 2% would mean COVID-19 deaths reaching over 107 million. The Harvard epidemiologist statement is backed by some terrifying math, including the idea that not only are the number of cases being reported in China only 10% of the real total but that cases outside of China might only represent 25% of what is actually happening.

The Daily Mail, a UK newspaper pointed out on Sunday that, unfortunately, we have a floating experiment that may prove the Harvard epidemiologist quoted in the Wall Street Journal may be right

When looking at cases outside China, the first location that becomes an obvious red flag in Japan. Official tallies list only 49 cases, but that number seems to be excluding four cases that have, so far, been asymptomatic, as well what are now 285 people aboard the Diamond Princess Cruise ship. But even disregarding the ship and the over 3,000 people still waiting for some resolution, there has been a steady drumbeat of additional cases in Japan. That includes 8 cases in a single day from Tokyo, at least some of which are connected to a taxi driver who attended a party with nearly 100 guests. The number of secondary and tertiary infections in Japan, unrelated to someone who had been in China, is seriously concerning.

But Japan is getting some relief as American passengers are now being removed from the Diamond Princess, a process that will take several days. These evacuees are being removed from the cruise ship and then being flown on chartered flights straight into quarantine in the United States.







One issue of great concern is that only those passengers who have tested negative for coronavirus will be allowed on the flights home. The testing maybe flawed because while at least half of those who have tested positive for coronavirus on the ship have had no symptoms, we have learned people with the virus may not test positive for 14 days and in fact, still prove to be contagious in future days.

The Daily Mail goes on to point out that...

This U.S. approach

Is a reversal of whats happening in most areas in the wild, where people demonstrate symptoms, are tested, and cases are tallied. The situation on the Princess involves people who are being tested, despite not having symptoms, and many of them are still found to be carrying the virus."

The Daily Mail points out

This is a big boost to the lots of undetected cases theory. Not only are there people whose symptoms are mild enough, they may not be reported, there are apparently a sizable number with essentially no symptoms at all. Whats not clear  how great a threat these asymptomatic cases remain for passing COVID-19 to others."



For example, other areas with similar numbers of infections have resulted in bursts of cases that were only discovered after patients were tested, cleared and then found to be infected later. Singapore last week reported new cases overnight on February 13th, then 24 hours later they had 9 cases come in, most of them related to a church that has now been connected with 13 cases.

The Daily Mail went on to point out that

With 67 cases, theyre right with Japan in terms of developing new epicenters outside of China, though if you wanted to pick two spots to combat an infectionit would be hard to do better than Japan and Singapore.

A reference to their mature medical safety net and advanced preparedness in the wake of the prior SARS outbreaks in Asia, but the danger in less prepared countries has raised concerns by the likes of Bill Gates who gave a speech in Seattle that expressed concern that 1 million people I Africa could be infected.

Travel between China and Africa has been steadily increasing, as Chinese companies have made a major play for both African resources and infrastructure projects over the last year.

As reported by Wall Street Rebel, Africa on Friday saw its first confirmed case of COVID-19, with the Egyptian ministry of health reporting that a foreign person had tested positive for the virus and would be in self-imposed isolation for 14 days. The announcement indicated that this infected person might have been trusted to stay at their own residence. If the person has any contact with any other person, they could end up infecting several people who infect more people and end up infecting 10 million people as predicted as a nightmare scenario described by Bill Gates.

Can we trust that since the big jump on Thursday some 13,000 cases, the number of newly reported infected have again flattened out? The latest provincial report from Hubei showed 2,420 total new cases, but only 1,282 that were lab-confirmed. If the province had not begun adding clinical cases, we could be seeing experts painting a very cheery picture of actual cases.

Even with the clinical cases included, it does look as if Hubei has worked through a lot of the backlog.

Another positive indication for some optimism assuming China is accurately reporting came on Thursday when China rolled back most of the other frightening statistic by subtracting 108 deaths as double-counted.

Its not good news that the number of outcomes still hasnt reached that turnover point where more people are recovering than getting sick.



Its very important to consider that the big influx of clinical cases announced last week of 13,000 actually drove the case fatality rate down temporarily, but the number of deaths is once again trending slowly upward.



So, the real question is, are there hundreds of thousands of people infected with coronavirus, many of them wandering outside of China?







The math theoretically indicates when looking at the Diamond Princess as a real-life experiment that we all remain in the dark as to how bad this COVID-19 health crisis will be. There doesnt seem to be a sign that the assumed numbers of hidden cases among the 50-70 million Chinese are generating new epicenters, but we must recognize researchers and physicians despite this outbreak being more than five weeks old still dont yet understand everything about COVID-19.
In a day and age when most marriages dont last 25 years, Sam and Ann Douglass achieved that milestone long ago and accomplished another one: 25 years as business partners as owners of five Discovery Map franchises.



(TRAVPR.COM) MASSACHUSETTS - February 15th, 2020 - Laconia, NH, Camden, ME, Rockland, ME, Hampton Beach, NH, Kennebunkport, ME, Wells, ME, York, ME, Ogunquit, ME, and Waitsfield, VT, Feb 15, 2020 -- In a day and age when most marriages dont last 25 years, Sam and Ann Douglass achieved that milestone long ago and accomplished another one: 25 years as business partners as owners of five Discovery Map franchises. The couple recently celebrated their quarter century in business together with the following Discovery Map locations: the Lakes Region/Winnipesaukee, Hampton Beach, Kennebunkport/Wells, York/Ogunquit and Camden/Rockland.

The Douglasss maps are part of Discovery Map International, Inc. (DMI). DMI is the leading provider of curated guides to top tourist attractions, cities and towns throughout North America. Including the Douglass five, Discovery Map has more than 130 maps across the U.S. and Canada. It is the charge of a franchise owner to sell advertising space on the printed map and the online digital version, available at discoverymap.com.

Im not sure what we envisioned when we first purchased the Discovery Map of the Lakes Region franchise, said Sam Douglass. We thought the maps were great and we became the first franchisee. We could see the value and were attracted to how much people loved the maps. After getting our feet wet with the first one, it was pretty clear that Discovery Map would be useful in a number of areas beyond the Lakes region. So, we went for it.

The couple first encountered Discovery Map while working at the Sugarbush Ski Resort in Warren, Vermont. Ann worked in the marketing department and Sam worked in group sales and on-hill events. He utilized the Discovery Map of the Mad River Valley to help showcase the wide range of attractions for those looking to book outings at the resort.

When the couples colleague, Chan Weller, left Sugarbush and became the Discovery Map franchisorit was then called Resort MapsSam and Ann leapt at the opportunity to own a map.

When we first started out, Sam worked the business full-time and I kept my day job as a sign language interpreter at a local school and helped out part-time, said Ann. But we saw the first map take off and jumped at the opportunity to expand.

In addition to the Lakes Region, the couple purchased Discovery Maps of York/Ogunquit and Kennebunkport/Wells in 1995, closely followed by Hampton Beach, NH and Camden/Rockland.

Like fellow 25-year Discovery Map veteran Brian Bamrick, owner of four franchises in New Jersey and Delaware, the Douglasses made the tactical decision to be as hands-on with their business as possible. From day one, the couple handled sales, creative and distribution.

Personally handling the distribution has been key. That direct contact with your advertisers gives you a real feel for whats going on in the community, said Sam. Thats not only led to continued businesse.g. selling ads to the current business owners and then to the next generation when they retirebut to other opportunities outside of business.

The Douglasses are active in their Chamber of Commerce and the community with events like York Harvestfest. The couple has volunteered their fry-o-laters and their services to making French fries for the 20,000-plus that attend the annual event. Adds Sam, There, were not the map people but the French fry guys.

So, what has the couple enjoyed most about owning five Discovery Map franchises?

Its the flexibility of the lifestyle, said Ann. We work hard to publish our maps, but our daily schedule is flexible. This year, we were able to adjust the schedule of our map sales so we could travel to California to attend our daughters wedding. You just dont get that type of flexibility with a regular 9-to-5 job!

Said Peter Hans, president of Discovery Map International, Sam and Ann are great examples of what is possible when you really invest yourself in your business. They truly are special people and were delighted they live not too far from our headquarters in Vermont so we can see them on a regular basis.

Full-time or part-time, Discovery Map franchise owners come from many walks of life. Some are corporate refugees or semi-retired individuals looking to build a business and fund their full retirement. Others include recent college grads, as well as mothers (and fathers) looking to build a business with hours around the kids school schedules.

Forbes Magazine recently named Discovery Map one of the top 10 franchises to buy with an initial investment under $150,000. In 2018, it won the Top 50 Franchisee Satisfaction Award based on a survey conducted by FranchiseBusinessReview.

For more information on the Discovery Map franchise opportunity, visit https://discoverymapfranchise.com/

About Discovery Map:

Discovery Map International is the countrys leading provider of curated guides to top tourist destinations, cities and towns throughout North America. The distinctively colorful, hand-drawn maps are a favorite of travelers for navigating local dining, attractions, businesses, cultural experiences, ski destinations  and even the best locations to take selfies. Discovery Maps can be found in local hotels, restaurants, shops, visitor information centers and other participating venues, and at discoverymap.com. Named by Forbes as one of the best franchises to buy in 2015, Discovery Maps International is headquartered in Waitsfield, VT, in the heart of the Green Mountains.

Media Contact:

Steve Dubin, PR Works

SDubin@PRWorkZone.com

781-582-1061

###
LOS ANGELES  Amie Harwick, a well-known family therapist, was killed Saturday at her Hollywood Hills home by a former boyfriend, authorities said.

The Los Angeles Police Department on Saturday afternoon arrested Gareth Pursehouse, 41, of Los Angeles Playa del Rey section, for murder in connection with Harwicks death, according to a release from the agency. He is being held on $2 million bail, according to county jail records.

LAPD officers responded around 1:16 a.m. Saturday to a call of a woman screaming in the 2000 block of Mound Street in the Hollywood Hills. When officers arrived, they were met by her roommate in the street. He informed officers that Harwick was being assaulted inside of her residence. The roommate had jumped a wall and went to neighboring residences to call for help.

When officers got to the home, they found the victim on the ground beneath a third-story balcony, gravely injured in a manner consistent with a fall, police said. The Los Angeles Fire Department took Harwick to a local hospital, where she later died from her injuries, police said.

LAPD investigators found possible evidence of a struggle as well as forced entry to the residence. A canvass of the area located further evidence of an intruder entering the property and leaving after the incident.

Detectives learned that Harwick had recently expressed fear about a former boyfriend and had previously filed a restraining order against him. The restraining order had expired and the victim had seen this former boyfriend two weeks ago.

On Saturday afternoon, an FBI-LAPD Fugitive Task Force arrested Pursehouse outside of a residence in Playa del Rey.

Harwick was previously engaged to TV star Drew Carey and appeared in the 2015 documentary Addicted to Sexting.
The ruling class in Germany is determined to promote the return of militarism by all means. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (Social Democratic Party, SPD) underlined this in his opening speech at this years Munich Security Conference.

The world today is not the same as it was in 2014, he warned right at the beginning of his speech. Six years ago exactly, he said, I spoke here about how German foreign-policy responsibility had to prove its validity. Much had changed since then and he therefore wanted to speak plainly about how todays world appears from the German vantage point.

As a result, the German head of state did not mince his words. He drew the picture of a world in which the imperialist powers openly prepared for war and the redivision of the world, as on the eve of the First and Second World Wars. One was witnessing an increasingly destructive dynamic in international politics. The idea of the great power competition is not only influencing the strategy papers of today. He said. It is also shaping anew the reality all across the world, and its tracks can be followed right to the unending wars with huge loss of life in the Middle East and Libya.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier

Seventy-five years after the end of the Second World War, in addition to Russia and China, German imperialism again counts the United States among its international adversaries. Our closest ally, the United States of America, rejects the very concept of an international community. Every country, it believes, should look after itself and put its own interests before all others. As if everyone thinking of himself meant that everyone is being considered. Great againeven at the expense of neighbours and partners, Steinmeier criticised.

His conclusion: the establishment of an independent German-European military and great power policy that will enable Berlin to play a role in the coming conflicts and to assert its economic and geostrategic interests worldwide. For Germany, Europe is not simply something that is nice to have for when other partnerships wilt, he explained. No, it is our strongest, our most fundamental national interest. Today and tomorrow, Europe is the indispensable framework for us to assert ourselves in the world.

Steinmeier left no doubt that this self-assertion meant massively increasing Germanys armaments, war and imperialist crimes, as in the past. The military instrument is indispensable for our security, Steinmeier reminded his audience at the Hotel Bayrischer Hof. The effort to achieve NATOs agreed 2 percent target was correct and necessary, he said. Overall, he said, we should not overburden our foreign policy with the expectation that it will bring salvation, since morally guided positions are more likely to close rather than open our eyes to the necessity and actual possibilities of our actions.

What is being said is unmistakable: In order to assert German interests worldwide, one must get ones hands dirty. Whoever wants to make peace in Libya needs to shake a great many hands, not all of them clean, Steinmeier said provocatively. Whoever wants to combat terrorism in the Sahel regionand we have a few years experience in Malicannot simply make it a case of militaryyes or no? but must above all tackle the complex causes of the conflict on the ground to successfully ensure stability. There can be no conflict resolution, far less understanding, otherwise.

In a subsequent speech, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (also SPD) expressed himself in a similarly bellicose manner. To put it plainly: Germany is prepared to become more involved, including militarily, he announced. But this military commitment must be embedded in a political logic ... Former Defence Minister Peter Struck was right. He once said, German security is also defended in the Hindu Kush. And today we must add, also in Iraq, Libya and the Sahelbut also at the negotiating table in New York, Geneva or Brussels.

Steinmeier and Maas cynically tried to sell their aggressive pleas for a German-European world policy in close alliance with Brussels and France in response to the lessons of German history and the return of fascist and right-wing extremist forces. Today, the evil spirits of the pastethnocentric thinking, racism, anti-Semitismare emerging in our country in a new guise. So wein Germany, but by no means only in Germanyare called upon once again, said Steinmeier.

The speeches of Steinmeier and Maas, as well as the entire political development in Germany, underline that the ruling class has not learned the least thing from the disasters of the 20th century. As in the 1930s, it is reacting to the deep crisis of capitalism with militarism, war and fascism.

Last week, the decision of the Thuringian Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to elect a state premier together with the extreme right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has made visible how directly the German bourgeoisie is already relying on extreme right-wing forces to push through its militaristic and anti-working-class course against the resistance of the population. Steinmeier himself plays a central role in this.

Shortly after his appearance at the Munich Security Conference in 2014, as then foreign minister, Steinmeier solidarized openly with fascist forces in Ukraine. During the Berlin-backed coup, he welcomed Oleh Tyahnybok at the German embassy in Kiev, the leader of the fascist Svoboda Party, which until then had mainly been an ally of the neo-Nazi German National Party (NPD). Tyahnybok is notorious for his anti-Semitic tirades in which he incites against Jewish pigs and other riffraff. His role models are Nazi collaborators like Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych, who were involved in the mass murder of thousands of Ukrainian Jews.

After the AfD moved into the Bundestag (federal parliament) in September 2017, Steinmeier used his speech on German Unity Day to promote closer cooperation with right-wing extremist forces in Germany itself. Speaking about the AfDs election results, he declared, Our differences must not become enmitiesdifferences must not become irreconcilability. At the end of November 2017, he invited the then-AfD cochairs Alexander Gauland and Alice Weidel to political talks at his Bellevue Castle official residence. The now planned rearmament of the Bundeswehr (armed forces) and war offensive will not stop the cooperation with the AfD, but will intensify it further.
The said on Monday that people have a fundamental right to protest against a law but the blocking of public roads is a matter of concern and there has to be a balancing factor.

Hearing pleas over the road blocks due to the ongoing protests at Shaheen Bagh against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), a bench comprising Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph said its concern is about what will happen if people start protesting on roads.

Democracy works on expressing views but there are lines and boundaries for it, it said.

It asked senior advocate Sanjay Hegde and advocate Sadhana Ramachandran to talk to Shaheen Bagh protestors and persuade them to move to alternative site where no public place is blocked.

People have a fundamental right to protest but thing which is troubling us is blocking of public roads, the bench said.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that let a message not go that every institution is on its knees trying to persuade Shaheen Bagh protestors on this issue.

If nothing works, we will leave it to the authorities to deal with the situation, the apex court said.

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 CAA and Register of Citizens.

(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.)
The Bayelsa State Police Command has extended the three-day dusk-to dawn curfew earlier imposed on the state from February 17 to February 23.

The State Commissioner of Police, Uche Anozia, announced the curfew extension on Monday during a press briefing in Yenagoa, the state capital.

The Bayelsa State Police Command wishes to commend the general public over their good conduct in observing the dusk to dawn curfew imposed on the state as a result of the violent protest that accompanied the supreme Court judgement, on Thursday February 13, 2020.

On the other hand, in the light of credible intelligence available to the Command vis-a-vis the prevailing security situation in Bayelsa State, the command has deemed it necessary to review and extend the curfew to Sunday February 23, with effect from today Monday 17, from 10pm to 6am.

READ ALSO:

Members of the public are advised to remain indoors as security agencies will be out to arrest anyone who violates the curfew; such outlaws will be prosecuted. They are also advised to remain calm as the command is poised to ensure the safety of lives and property in the state, he said.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Bayelsa Police Command had imposed three days dusk-to-dawn curfew earlier.

(NAN)
A suspected cattle lifter with a criminal history was injured in an encounter with police early Monday in Greater Noida, officials said.

The accused was held after he and his three-four associates travelling in a canter truck were intercepted by Jarcha area police around 2.15 am, the officials said.

"They opened fire on the police team, forcing retaliatory firing by the police in which one of the accused got hit by two bullets. Two of his partners managed to escape in the night, while the driver of the canter fled with the vehicle. Combing operation is on for those absconding," a senior police official said.

The injured has been identified as Parvez alias Bhoora, a native of Ghaziabad district, and a country-made pistol along with some ammunition was seized from his possession, the officer said.

"He and his partners were involved in lifting buffaloes. They would usually lift buffaloes from villages in the night and didn't shy from opening gun fire if someone resisted their robbery bid," the officer said.

Bhoora, who has around 35 FIRs registered against him, has been to jail earlier also, the police said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ankara (AFP) - Turkey on Saturday hit back at Russian accusations of failing to honour a 2018 deal by insisting it carried out its responsibilities in Idlib, Syria's last major rebel bastion.

"Observation posts were set up and the regime had to stay outside of this area. Russia and Iran were to ensure the regime stayed outside, Turkey had responsibilities too, Turkey fulfilled these," Turkish Vice-President Fuat Oktay told NTV broadcaster.

"Undertaking an extremely risky and difficult duty, Turkey took real initiative to stop the bloodshed of civilians, to prevent a new migration wave and to ensure it did not become a terror nest."

Turkey has 12 observation posts in the northwestern province of Idlib after the 2018 agreement between Russia and Turkey to prevent a Damascus-led offensive.

Up to four of Turkey's posts are now in Syrian regime-controlled territory, Turkish officials say.

Turkey and Russia have been embroiled in a war of words over Idlib as the Syrian regime backed by Moscow has intensified an assault, killing hundreds of civilians.

The Russian defence ministry said earlier this week Turkey did not separate "fighters from the moderate opposition from terrorists."

Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar then said on Thursday force would be used against anyone who did not adhere to the ceasefire, including "radicals".

Idlib is held by an array of rebels dominated by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) jihadist group, which is led by members of the country's former Al-Qaeda franchise.

The tensions began after 14 Turks were killed this month by regime shelling in Idlib.

- Turkey's warnings -

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked the Syrian regime to withdraw from Turkish-manned posts by the end of February, warning that otherwise Ankara will "take matters into its own hands."

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu later on Saturday repeated the threat that Turkey would "take necessary measures" if diplomatic efforts with Russia failed.

Story continues

Despite being on opposing sides, rebel supporter Turkey and Damascus ally Russia have worked closely on Syria.

Cavusoglu told reporters he would hold talks with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Saturday afternoon at the Munich Security Conference.

A Turkish delegation will go to Moscow on Monday, the minister added.

"Russia's role here is very important because we all know what influence it has on the regime and it is the regime's guarantor," Cavusoglu said.

Turkey says it wants to stop the Damascus regime's "aggression" in a bid to stop the deaths of civilians and to prevent a wave of refugees fleeing to Turkey.

The assault has forced 800,000 people to flee since December, according to the United Nations.

Turkey is already home to more than 3.6 million Syrian refugees. "Turkey cannot withstand another migration wave," Oktay said.

In recent days, Turkey has sent multiple military reinforcements to Idlib, and Hurriyet daily on Saturday reported that a 60-vehicle convoy carrying commandoes and armoured carriers was sent to beef up the Turkish posts.
Longford's Maura Higgins has paid tribute to the late TV presenter Caroline Flack (40) who died yesterday.

Ms Flack was the Love Island presenter when Ballymahon bombshell Maura found fame and in a post to her 2.7 million followers on Instagram, Maura wrote alongside a photo of the late Ms Flack;

"Such heartbreaking news, an incredibly kind and beautiful woman. RIP Angel. Thoughts and prayers to all her family."

Other local stars also paid tribute to Ms Flack and took a swipe at how tabloid media covered her career.

Niall Horan tweeted, "Thats our actual friend, a person. Because she is talented and famous she automatically gets treated differently by society and in turn the tabloids and social media. The outcome is societys fault."

Chris O'Dowd suggested, "Might be an idea to ignore every inch of tabloid coverage of this horrible news. They profited from her life, they certainly dont deserve to profit from her death."

Derry Girls star, Nicola Coughlan, whose mum hails from Longford, said most people could never imagine the pressure being in the public eye can put on a person. She added, "That coupled with how vicious social media and the tabloid press can be is such a toxic combination."

Ms Coughlan tweeted: "I met Caroline Flack last summer, she was so sweet and genuine and couldnt have been kinder to me.

She did not deserve this. Its absolutely devastating, all my love to her family and friends."

If you have been affected by this story, you can contact Samaritans Ireland ;

24 Hour Telephone Helpline: 116 123

24 Hour Email Helpline: jo@samaritans.ie

Caroline  Niall Horan (@NiallOfficial) February 15, 2020

Thats our actual friend, a person. Because she is talented and famous she automatically gets treated differently by society and in turn the tabloids and social media. The outcome is societys fault .  Niall Horan (@NiallOfficial) February 15, 2020

Might be an idea to ignore every inch of tabloid coverage of this horrible news. They profited from her life, they certainly dont deserve to profit from her death. #Caroline  chris o'dowd (@BigBoyler) February 15, 2020

I met Caroline Flack last summer, she was so sweet and genuine and couldnt have been kinder to me.

She did not deserve this.

Its absolutely devastating, all my love to her family and friends   Nicola Coughlan (@nicolacoughlan) February 15, 2020

With the best will in the world, most people could never imagine the pressure being in the public eye can put on a person

That coupled with how vicious social media and the tabloid press can be is such a toxic combination

Imagine how you would feel if it were you.  Nicola Coughlan (@nicolacoughlan) February 16, 2020
The Andrews Government has decided to sack Casey council, which has been embroiled in a scandal involving allegedly corrupt land deals, government sources have confirmed.

The decision was made at a Cabinet meeting on Monday and could be enacted in the next day or two. Administrators are expected to be appointed for an extended period, potentially into next year, and elections at Casey Council planned for later this year are expected to be cancelled.

John Woodman late last year, after spending a day on the stand at IBAC. Credit:Justin McManus

The leader of the state government in the lower house, Jacinta Allan, declined earlier on Monday to comment on whether the council should be sacked, but said legislation could be expedited through State Parliament within one or two days.

But it does require the cooperation of both houses of parliament and all members, she said.
A Pune-based software engineer was duped of thousands of rupees by cyber crooks recently when she tried purchasing a bottle of nail paint online.

The incident took place between December 17 and December 30, after the techie had made a transaction worth Rs 388 from her private bank account to buy nail paint from an e-commerce website through an application on her phone.

When her consignment did not reach on the due date, she called up their customer care number to inquire about the reason behind the inordinate delay. According to police, the customer care executive had then told her that they had not received any payment from her, to begin with.

The cyber criminals, who posed as company executives, then asked her to share 10-digit mobile number, promising her to return the amount that had got deducted, reported the Times of India. A police officer attached with Wakad Police Station, where she lodged a complaint on February 15, said more than Rs 90,000 got deducted from two of her bank accounts, within minutes of her sharing the information.

Apart from the five rapid transactions made from her private bank accounts to the tune of Rs 90,946, another Rs 1,500 was debited from an account she held with a public sector bank and transferred to another bank account, the officer added.

He concluded saying the woman who fell victim to cyber crime has told them that no other information regarding her bank account or card details were shared over the phone call. An investigation is underway to identify and arrest two unidentified persons, who have been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Information and Technology Act.
ORLANDOFairvilla stores presented awards in 11 categories as part of their first-ever F Awards recently.

We wanted to do something that acknowledged the fine products from our industry and incorporated our community as well. Were very pleased by the response to this event, both on a local and industry level, said Wade Ulrich, Fairvilla CEO. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners. Were looking forward to another year of innovation and excitement.

These winners represent the products that their customers and employees love the most, as reflected through the Fairvilla shopping experience.

The winners of the inaugural F Awards are:

Funniest Porn Title of the Year: Squirt Squad by BANG!

Gift Item of the Year: Roast & Toast Mugs by Fashion Craft

Best Accessory of the Year: Vesper by Crave

Packaging of the Year: Sportsheets Saffron Line

Apparel Brand of the Year: Escante

Wellness Item of the Year: Coochy Shave Cream

Fetish Item of the Year: Kinklab Neon Wand

Penis-Focused Item of the Year: Manta by Fun Factory

Vagina-Focused Item of the Year: Moxie by WeVibe

Best Pleasure Innovation of the Year: Trinitii by Nu Sensuelle

Pleasure Product of the Year: Womanizer Premium by Womanizer

The winners were crowned at an awards ceremony during Fairvillas annual Valentines Day party on Thursday, Feb. 6, at their flagship store in Orlando, hosted by Central Florida comedian Holly Frost. Presenters included local community leaders, celebrities and Fairvilla team members. Each winner was awarded a hand-crafted trophy, created by Orlando artist Robert Banjo.

Keep an eye on Fairvilla.com to stay informed about future Fairvilla events.
At least six people died and dozens of others became unconscious after reportedly being exposed to poisonous gas in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi on Sunday, Pakistani media reported.

Several victims who were hospitalised have complained of respiratory problems, police said, as reported by The News International.

While the cause of the incident is yet to be ascertained by the police, the Pakistani daily has reported that it is suspected that the leakage of the gas "occurred during offloading chemicals from a cargo ship anchored at Keamari Jetty."

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has taken the notice of the incident and summoned a report from the authorities.

Further details are awaited.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Blog Archive January (21) December (78) November (111) October (92) September (92) August (120) July (122) June (82) May (82) April (76) March (100) February (106) January (139) December (122) November (83) October (60) September (62) August (77) July (67) June (89) May (92) April (75) March (87) February (85) January (86) December (68) November (67) October (60) September (60) August (59) July (62) June (49) May (62) April (52) March (58) February (68) January (66) December (68) November (78) October (97) September (77) August (70) July (68) June (60) May (67) April (54) March (61) February (55) January (67) December (61) November (53) October (48) September (40) August (47) July (55) June (56) May (71) April (55) March (43) February (3) December (14) November (48) October (46) September (39) August (27) July (18) June (33) May (44) April (38) March (31) February (34) January (34) December (26) November (57) October (43) September (81) August (66) July (77) June (85) May (70) April (56) March (49) February (32) January (39) December (42) November (24) October (16) September (36) August (34) July (40) June (55) May (45) April (62) March (56) February (57) January (60) December (58) November (50) October (55) September (31) August (77) July (65) June (27) May (52) April (53) March (77) February (75) January (36) December (24) November (31) October (31) September (29) August (30) July (49) June (53) May (61) April (65) March (96) February (35) January (53) December (56) November (52) October (51) September (109) August (94) July (70) June (65) May (85) April (80) March (96) February (74) January (79) December (75) November (104) October (105) September (108) August (86) July (101) June (106) May (100) April (97) March (103) February (92) January (95) December (137) November (122) October (173) September (111) August (178) July (168) June (184) May (193) April (161) March (149) February (121) January (131) December (120) November (97) October (137) September (105) August (133) July (120) June (103) May (111) April (72) March (48) February (58) January (27)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.17

By Tamilla Mammadova  Trend:

The Czech Republic ranks sixth for the volume of investments in Georgian economy (after Azerbaijan, the UK, Netherlands, the US, and Panama), Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic told Trend.

According to the ministry, the Czech investments are primarily made in tourism and energy sector.

"At the present, we do not register any significant direct investment in the Czech economy by Georgian entities", said the ministry.

In 2018, the mutual turnover between the countries increased by 12 percent to 100 million euro, the ministry noted.

"As we look at the 2018 final statistics, the main export commodities from Czechia to Georgia were machinery and transport equipment, chemicals and related products, and industrial consumer goods. The import from Georgia to the Czech Republic was composed of industrial consumer goods as well as food and live animals", said the ministry.

The Czech Republic is a traditional economic partner of Georgia, though not the key one, noted the ministry.

According to the ministry, priority areas of cooperation for both countries are industry, energy (including renewable energy sources), transport, transportation means and infrastructure, agriculture and food industry, health care, ecology, urban infrastructure and regional development.

Given that Czechia has a leading role in the innovative technologies, a number of projects to support innovative solutions with the participation of the Czech companies are implemented in Georgia, added the ministry.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @Mila61979356
The Delhi High Court has set aside a decision of the Press Council of India and asked it to reconsider the nomination of a member proposed by the Indian Newspapers Society (INS) for filling up vacancies in the PCI's 13th term in 2018.

The court directed the chairman of PCI to re-consider the eligibility of Hormusji N Cama, Director of Mumbai Samachar and a member of the INS, keeping in view the material placed by the Society.

The court passed the judgement on the plea by INS against the rejection of nomination of Cama in the category of medium newspapers.

"The impugned order dated March 20, 2018 in so far as it holds the respondent no.3 (Cama) to be ineligible to be nominated under Section 5(3)(b) of the Act to the PCI is set aside....," Justice Navin Chawla said in a recent judgement.

The court said it is important to remember that the purpose of establishment of the PCI is for preserving free Press and for maintaining and improving the standards of newspapers and agencies in India.

"It is, therefore, important to ensure adequate and proper representation of each category of members, as has been mentioned in...the (Press Council) Act, in the PCI," it said.

According to the Act, the council consists of a Chairman and 28 other members. The PCI Chairman had said that the nomination of the Editors among Working Journalist categories did not contain the required number of members to be nominated.

The judge said there was no merit in the submission of the INS counsel that instead of remanding the matter back to the chairman for fresh consideration, the court should direct Cama to be nominated under the Act as a member of PCI, which was represented through advocate T Singhdev.

The court rejected the INS counsel's submission that the chairman of the previous council should not have embarked upon an enquiry into the eligibility of Cama as was done and held him to be ineligible.

"While it is true that there is a presumption of eligibility of a person being nominated by the association, it cannot be extended to a state of fait accompli for the Chairman of the PCI. As far as the Chairman of the council is concerned, he can hold an inquiry to determine the eligibility of such person being nominated, however, being guided by a presumption that such person is eligible," the court said.

The INS plea contended that the PCI Chairman misread the provisions of the Press Council Act and "wrongly exercised" its power in rejecting the nomination.

Claiming that the decision was "perverse", the INS had said the council's decision should be set aside as it was "bad, illegal and void".

The petition had said that the Chairman was required to invite the panel of names from notified associations for filling up 20 out of 28 vacancies in the PCI and out of those 20, six were to be filled up from among owners or managers of big, small and medium newspapers.

It had said that the PCI rejected the panel of names submitted by the INS by taking the view that it did not contain 12 names for the six vacancies.

"Although the PCI Chairman took the view that the panel was defective as only eight names were provided, yet he purportedly examined the eligibility of each individual name in the panel," the plea had said, adding that the Chairman proceeded to hold that out of the eight names, Cama and Kalyan Barooah were ineligible.

Rest of the six were held eligible, it had said.

The petition had said Cama was a member of the PCI in its 12th term and was seeking nomination to the council in the 13th term.

The INS, which comprises owners of big, medium and small newspapers in India, has sought a direction to the PCI Chairman to recall and set aside the March 20, 2018 decision and forbear from taking any steps in furtherance of the decision.

The plea had said that the PCI should accept the names submitted by the INS on March 13, 2018 and select Cama as per the indicated preference in the category of the medium-size newspapers under the Act.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As authorities started to lose hope of finding her alive, a Chinese student has been found alive on Monday after five days in "extremely dense" Gold Coast bushland featuring flooded creeks.

Chen Yang, 26, disappeared in national park in Tallebudgera Valley on the Gold Coast during heavy rain last Wednesday after she became separated from the man she was bushwalking with.

Chinese student Chen Yang, 26, has been found.

After five nights in the wilderness, local water police officers found her about 11am on Monday with minor leg injuries and serious dehydration.

Sergeant Mitch Gray said Ms Chen was "very lucky to be found alive" and described the search as "the most difficult" he has been involved in, after torrential rain on Wednesday and Thursday.
The FDA has cleared COSMEDs Q-NRG+ metabolic monitor, a device that uses indirect calorimetry to measure a patients energy demands. Q-NRG+, made by COSMED, a company based in Rome, Italy, can help to prevent malnutrition in seriously ill patients without relying on traditional, and often inaccurate, measures such as age, gender, weight, and height.

Baxter has partnered with COSMED to distribute the Q-NRG+ in the United States, as well as in a number of other countries around the world. The technology already has the CE Mark in the EU.

It can be challenging to prescribe clinical nutrition without knowing the exact caloric needs of a patient, said Heather Knight, general manager, U.S. Hospital Products, Baxter, in a press release. With Q-NRG+, clinicians will have access to the latest technology to accurately measure energy requirements and wont have to rely on predictive equations or dated technology  which can be cumbersome and time consuming.

The device can be wheeled from patient to patient, and it automatically calibrates for each session. It can be used on pediatric and adult patients, including those exhibiting spontaneous breathing and those on ventilator.

Heres a COSMED video presenting the companys technology:

Via: Baxter
Heathrow Airport continues to be a scene of chaos 17 hours after an IT glitch shut down departure boards with at least 200 flights grounded and dozens diverted so far.

The essential boards at the UK's busiest airport failed across all terminals for more than three hours yesterday, causing delays and cancellations.

The London airport said the failure was caused by 'technical issues' and wheeled out whiteboards with flight information written on them in black board marker.

Heathrow Airport chaos continues with at least 200 flights grounded and dozens diverted. Pictured: A traveller waits in Terminal 5 this morning

It comes less than 24 hours after essential electronic departure boards at the UK's busiest airport failed across all terminals for more than three hours, causing delays and cancellations. Pictured: A man takes a nap this morning following the 'technical issue' in Heathrow Airport

At least 60 of Monday's arrivals  equivalent to more than 9 per cent of total flights  were cancelled due to the knock-on effect of the problem. Pictured: A man checks a board in the airport this morning

At least 60 of Monday's arrivals  equivalent to more than 9 per cent of total flights  were cancelled due to the knock-on effect of the problem.

A further 33 departing flights were also grounded.

All the flights affected today were operated by British Airways, which is the largest airline at the west London hub.

On Sunday, some 73 departures and 60 arrivals from various carriers were cancelled.

Heathrow apologised for the disruption and said extra staff had been drafted in to help with directing people to their gates.

The problems at Heathrow followed misery for UK air passengers after Storm Dennis caused hundreds of cancellations over the weekend at the start of the half-term break.

The London airport said the failure was caused by 'technical issues' and wheeled out whiteboards with flight information written on them in black board marker

All the flights affected today were operated by British Airways, which is the largest airline at the west London hub. Pictured: A broken board last night

A note was also placed on a board telling travellers not to rely on any information displayed

Frustrated passengers complained about a lack of staff at the airport to support them

No fewer than 40,000 passengers were affected by travel disruption on Saturday as budget airline easyJet cancelled 234 flight into, out of and within the UK.

The situation at the airport on Sunday was described on Twitter by one passenger as 'utter chaos'.

Jenny Nielsen tweeted pictures of whiteboards displaying handwritten flight numbers and destinations.

She said: 'Computer systems down at Heathrow. No electronic tickets allowed, delays & no flight information on screens  Oh Blighty.'

Heathrow apologised for the disruption and said extra staff had been drafted in to help with directing people to their gates. Pictured: Travellers waiting for their flight

At least 60 of Monday's arrivals  equivalent to more than 9 per cent of total flights  were cancelled due to the knock-on effect of the problem. Pictured: Stock image of Heathrow Airport, Terminal 5

A Heathrow spokesman said: 'Following yesterday's technical issue, Heathrow's systems are stable and the airport is operating as normal.

'We apologise for the inconvenience this caused our passengers.

'Our teams continue to closely monitor our systems and will be on hand across our terminals to provide assistance to passengers.'

A British Airways spokeswoman said: 'The technical issue with Heathrow Airport's systems has now been resolved but, after 10 hours of disruption across all terminals, we do expect to see a knock-on effect to today's short-haul schedule.

'We've introduced a flexible booking policy and have brought in extra colleagues to help our customers get on their way as smoothly as possible.'
John Moore

JERUSALEMTwo decades of expanding operations against what United States Special Operations Command called a global insurgency of state and non-state actors has led to fatigue at home and questions abroad about U.S. strategy.

Trump, Afghanistan, and The Tweet of Damocles

The latest Trump administration deal with the Taliban, challenges to the U.S. role in Syria and Iraq, and a potential reduction of forces in Africa point to a global trend in how the U.S. will deal with counter-insurgency in the future.

What were looking at is a global drawdown in U.S. forces committed to counter-terrorist operations at the same time President Donald Trump is demanding other countries, including NATO allies, do more. The idea is for the U.S. to focus on using technology, such as drones, while local forces do the fighting on the ground.

This long-term shift has long-term consequences that mean countries such as Iran, China and Russia, which the U.S. sees as adversaries, will have a larger footprint in places where the U.S. is reducing its role. Outsourcing counter-terrorism to these countries may not have been the plan, but it is likely one outcome.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo began a tour of Africa on Feb. 16 in Senegal where the Flintlock 2020 exercise is underway with neighboring Mauritania. Some 1,600 soldiers from 30 African states and western allies are participating in the annual drill from February 17-28.

The U.S. says it is the years premier special operations exercise that strengthens security across a swath of countries through whats called the Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Partnership. The concept, pushed in 2018 via an act of Congress, was to improve the capabilities of countries to fight terror.

But the picture is bleaker than past U.S. statements have indicated. Funding to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars to fight terror spread across Niger, Mauritania, Mali, Nigeria and a dozen states from Senegal to Somalia hasnt reduced terror and has resulted in Washingtons decision to reconsider what comes next. The U.S. pulled forces out of Libya in 2019 and three Americans were killed in an attack on a base in Kenya by Somalias Al-Shabab in January.

Story continues

The Other Attack on Americans That Has U.S. Forces Unnerved: Kenya

Although Pompeo says that well get it right in terms of U.S. commitment to a swath of African states, reports indicate the U.S. is reducing the footprint on the ground. Washington has downgraded efforts against extremists, the New York Times reported in mid-February.

France, which sent hundreds more troops to the Sahel region recently, has warned this is a bad idea. The overall numbers could mean cutting in half the U.S. presence of 5,000 troops in a dozen locations.

Changes in Africa strategy are only the tip of the iceberg of a much larger policy shift.

On the one hand the U.S. National Defense Strategy wants to move away from counter-insurgency to competing against large states like Iran, China and Russia. The Pentagon believes that inter-state strategic competition, not terrorism, is now the primary concern in US national security.

Since U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) expanded from 47,000 in 2007 to 80,000 today, it might be argued that the U.S. has reached peak strength in fighting terror and now can move on successfully. The problem is that from Afghanistan to the Philippines to Niger there has not been a major success.

In Afghanistan, where the U.S. has been fighting the Taliban for almost 20 years, some sort of peace deal is in the works. President Donald Trump has sought to end such endless wars, and Democrats running to replace him also want to end this one.

In Iraq and Syria the U.S. appears to be reducing its role as well. Trump twice announced a withdrawal from Syria only to relent and keep troops to protect oil while slowly walking away from Americas anti-ISIS partners in the Syrian Democratic Forces.

Plans to use bases in neighboring Iraq to watch Iran have not panned out and the U.S. finds itself pressured to leave most of Iraq after tensions with Iran boiled over in January following U.S. decision to blow away near Baghdad airport Irans Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

Meanwhile, rocket fire has targeted U.S. bases and forces near the U.S. embassy almost every week since October 2019.

The long-term result in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, and across Africa can be seen symbolically in what is already happening in the Philippines.

For two decades Washington and Manila worked closely against extremist groups. Now Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte wants to scrap the Visiting Forces Agreement amid increasingly friendly relations with China.

For a more isolationist-inclined American public that may not matter, but it does mean China and other countries will aid the Philippines in the fight against Islamist insurgents. That has implications across Asia and the Pacific.

In Africa, Russian President Vladimir Putin has set his eyes on a larger role that includes priority access to vital mineral resources. He held a summit in October with African diplomats. Russias Wagner group and other contractors play an increasing role in Sudan, the Central African Republic, Libya and Mozambique.

In each place where the U.S. seeks a smaller footprint there will be a competition to fill the vacuum.

France will try to fill it in Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Burkina Faso, the G5 countries it works with in the Sahel. But in many cases there wont be NATO powers that share U.S. values doing the heavy lifting. Instead it will be Russia, Iran, China, Turkey, and even Saudi Arabia or India playing a bigger role.

That means counter-insurgency that looks more like Riyadhs campaign in Yemen, Russias in Syria and Chechnya, Chinas in Xinjiang, Turkeys in Afrin, or Indias in Kashmir.

While that may fit the bill of a Trump administration that wants to spend less American treasure abroad and wants others to do more of the work, in the long term it means a fundamental change in the international role of the United States.

It also means that in an attempt to shift resources to confronting major states, the U.S. will provide a vacuum for some of those statesChina, Russia and Iranto play a greater role in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!

Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
The consensus view of the CIA, NSA, FBI and a Senate investigation is that Russians interfered in the 2016 election. But those findings don't line up with the ever-evolving story President Trump has been telling about Ukraine.

Last July, U.S. President Donald Trump made the phone call to Ukraine asking the president of Ukraine to investigate a mysterious Democratic National Committee computer server that Mr. Trump said was hidden in Ukraine.

CBS News has found that odd request is a story that has grown over the years and was influenced by Moscow.

The Russian attack on the 2016 election included hacking the computers of the Democratic National Committee. U.S. intelligence agencies found, "the Russian government aspired to help President-elect Trump's election chances when possible by discrediting Secretary Clinton" Former deputy national intelligence officer and CIA Russia analyst, Andrea Kendall-Taylor worked on that report.

"The report itself was based on a large body of evidence that demonstrated not only what Russia was doing, but also its intent," Kendall-Taylor said. "And it's based on a number of different sources, collected human intelligence, technical intelligence."

Read alsoTop U.S. diplomat: no evidence Ukraine meddled in 2016 U.S. election  Reuters

Kendall-Taylor said the evidence is convincing and it isn't a close call. "If you read the intelligence report, it's the consensus view of three intelligence agencies; CIA, NSA and the FBI," Kendall-Taylor said.

The same conclusion was reached by the Republican-led Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. The committee's report on Russia interference was unanimously approved by all of its Democratic and Republican members.

"The Russian project was a top down, government-run covert operation that hacked into the DNC and individuals' personal emails, and weaponized that information to release it at the most important times," committee vice-chairman Democrat Mark Warner said.

But the idea that the Trump campaign was helped by Russia, even unwittingly, was a unanimous judgment Mr. Trump would not accept.

Trump began a campaign to discredit the intelligence community's conclusions. He tweeted, "So how and why are they so sure about hacking if they never even requested an examination of the computer servers?" In Mr. Trump's telling, the FBI failed to look for evidence on the Democrats' computer network. The story of the mystery server was born.

Robert Johnston dealt directly with the FBI as an investigator of the DNC hack for CrowdStrike, a leading cyber security company hired by the Democrats. He told us the FBI didn't physically examine the DNC servers because CrowdStrike gave the bureau copies of the data from the servers.

Read alsoFiona Hill: Ukraine election meddling "fictional narrative" told by Russia

"If there is a server or a computer system of any kind that's involved in the incident you can take an exact bit for bit digital copy of what's on that system. Now that digital copy is just as good as having the real thing," Johnston said.

The FBI used the data to help indict 12 Russian intelligence agents for hacking the DNC. But Mr. Trump's tweets persisted, "Where is the server? I want to know, where is the server? And what is the server saying? With that being said, all I can do is ask the question," Mr Trump said in a press conference while standing alongside President Putin. "My people came to me  Dan Coats came to me and some others  they said they think it's Russia. I have President Putin; he just said it's not Russia. I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be, but I really do want to see the server."

That statement, letting Russia off the hook, forced President Trump to issue a retraction the next day. Through all of this, Vladimir Putin wasn't just standing idly by. He was working to shift blame away from Russia.

"They're picking up on elements or narratives that already exist in a society and amplifying those narratives that advance Russian interests," said Kendall-Taylor.

The interest of Putin was to drive a wedge between his enemy, Ukraine and Ukraine's most important ally, the United States. "A successful, prosperous, Western-oriented Ukraine provides a direct threat to Putin's hold on power," Kendall-Taylor said. "He can't have a successful Ukraine on his southern border, because then it demonstrates to Russians what is possible."

"The word," that Ukraine was involved in election meddling, was amplified by the Trump's defenders in the impeachment inquiry. They pointed to a 2016 opinion article and social media posts, written by Ukrainians, that were critical of Mr. Trump, as though they were equivalent to Russia's covert campaign targeting U.S. computer networks, voting systems and social media. Fiona Hill, Mr. Trump's former senior director for Russia on the National Security Council, warned the committee.

"Some of you on this committee appear to believe that Russia and its security services did not conduct a campaign against our country - and that, perhaps, somehow, for some reason, Ukraine did," Hill said. "This is a fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves."

"What are the chances that this whispering campaign about a Democratic National Committee server in Ukraine is actually a Russian intelligence operation, a Russian disinformation operation?" Pelley asked Bill Taylor, a former chief of U.S. embassy in Ukraine.

Read alsoNYT: Charges of Ukrainian meddling? A Russian operation, U.S. intelligence says

"The Russians are very good at that," Taylor said. "It's these fake stories that they have propagated. And that's what they do. They do it pretty well. We have to be on guard against that."

From Vladimir Putin's perspective it worked. Last November, as impeachment played out and America's next election season was underway, he said, at a forum, "Thank God no one is accusing us of interfering in the U.S. elections anymore; now they're accusing Ukraine."

CBS News reached out to the White House multiple times on this story, but they did not respond.
FREDRICTON, N.B.New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs has announced his government is backing down on a decision to close emergency rooms overnight in six community hospitals in the province, in order to allow for community consultations.

In a statement released late Sunday, Higgs says residents of rural New Brunswick face unique challenges, and that he cant in good conscience move forward with the March 11 implementation date without addressing those concerns.

He says he will visit the communities with the affected departments  Sussex, Sackville, Sainte-Anne-de-Kent, Caraquet, Grand Falls and Perth-Andover  in April and May to get the views of leaders, health-care providers and citizens.

The announcement follows Deputy Premier Robert Gauvins decision last week to quit in protest over the reforms and opt to sit as an independent.

It left the minority government in the precarious position of facing a confidence vote or possibly calling an early election.

Higgs had said as late as Friday that his resolve had not changed, but that he would meet with his caucus to decide how to proceed.

I have said time and time again that we are on a mission to save New Brunswick, and that includes tackling the crisis in health care, Higgs said in his announcement to cancel the closures Sunday.

But we need people in this province to be part of the solution and that must start with hearing from the people most impacted.

Gauvins departure left the Tories and Liberals tied with 20 seats in the legislature. The Green party and the Peoples Alliance have three each, Gauvin is the lone Independent and two seats are vacant.

He was the second Tory MLA to denounce the ER closures, after Bruce Northrup said Thursday he couldnt support the move but intended to continue supporting the government in other areas.

Both the Greens and Liberals said they were prepared to defeat the government on a confidence motion.

The government had said resources diverted from the overnight shift would shore up daytime services, enhance mental health services and allow for more long-term chronic care beds.

Higgs said Sunday that the government will hold a health-care summit in June to develop a strategy for ensuring a sustainable and reliable public health-care system for the future.

The findings from the community meetings and summit will be released in the fall, Higgs pledged.

Read more about:
Savers, pension funds and other clients who have placed their faith in the active management skills of Jupiter and Merian Global Investors would be entitled to ask what they stand to gain from such a merger.

Performance at quoted Jupiter has been lagging amid fund outflows of 4.5 billion in 2019. Chief executive Andrew Formica is seeking to bulk up with a 370m takeover of Merian, the former fund management arm of Old Mutual.

There is nothing wrong with that if savers could be assured of improved performance. Formica is a dab hand at getting bigger. He built up his previous employer Henderson with a series of deals, taking out John Duffield's stricken New Star and Gartmore before linking up with US-based Janus.

Unsettled: Performance at quoted Jupiter has been lagging amid fund outflows of 4.5 billion in 2019

Most fund management deals largely are about taking out costs for the owners of the enterprises rather than jazzing up performance. The latest deal brings 22 billion of additional funds to Jupiter with annual management fees in the order of 140m.

The merger aims to raise earnings of the combined group by as much as 13 per cent to 15 per cent by nudging up profit margins from 45 per cent at Jupiter to 50 per cent-60 per cent. That is all very good for battered Jupiter shareholders who ought to be winners with the share price advancing 3.7 per cent in latest trading.

Merian backers should also do fine with chief executive Richard Buxton and associates in line for a 20m pay out if commercial targets are fully met. Merian investor TA Associates will acquire a 16 per cent stake in the bigger group. That might look like a case for gins and Fever-Tree all around. But there is not much joy in this for investors putting their faith in active management.

As the Woodford scandal has illustrated, the only people making money in many sub-performing active funds are managers and platform operators. They enjoy supercharged personal rewards on the back of fabulous margins, which most of the corporate world can only dream of. This might be more acceptable were the managers and platform operators transparent with clients.

Hargreaves Lansdown (HL) shamefully claims that its multi-asset funds  which were heavily exposed to Woodford  delivered value to investors. Truth is, performance has been lamentable. The over-weight exposure to the failed Woodford Equity Income Fund means that all but one of ten HL multi-manager funds lagged behind similar outfits over the last three years.

The mismatch between the fantastic rewards to Hargreaves Lansdown, fund groups, high-profile managers and ordinary savers is beyond parody. That is why so many savers are choosing passive funds and quoted Exchange Traded Funds where gains are not sucked out by fees and grasping managers. The reputation of the professional savings community has never in recent times been so dismal.

Up to speed

Among the big decisions still to be taken on HS2 is who will be awarded the initial 2.75 billion contract to build 54 trains.

The joint bid from Alstom-Bombardier could possibly be boosted by a proposed takeover of Canada's Bombardier by Alstom maker of the TGV bullet train for 5.4 billion. The others bidders are Japan's Hitachi, Siemens and Spain's Talgo. Now we are all but outside the EU, the Brussels-dictated competitive bidding rules  which have been so costly for UK manufacturing  could be set aside.

UK civil servants and ministers have, in the past, been more punctilious about sticking to the rules than Continental neighbours.

The contract with the most UK industrial heritage would be Alstom-Bombardier. In the great days of Lord Weinstock, the GEC-Alstom joint venture was a world-beating combination winning contracts from South Korea to Houston, Texas. The break-up of GEC saw production (much of it in Rugby) being run down. Bombardier, with is train-building at York, remains the nearest we have to a UK-based train maker.

Given No 10's admiration for the Chinese, don't be surprised if Beijing comes up on the rails with a bid too good to be true.

Web master

Former Slater-Walker investment banker HJ Mark Tompkins has his hands really full as chairman sorting out the governance and finances at NMC Healthcare now that founder BR Shetty has resigned.

All of Tomkins's experience from the last days of Slater-Walker  directly saved from the knacker's yard by the Bank of England with the help of the late Sir James Goldsmith  should be most useful.

It too consisted of an arid web of complex interrelated shareholdings.
In pics: PM Modi to inaugurate new campus of Classical Tamil institute in Chennai tomorrow

India to take lead role in promoting 'green economy': PM Modi

India

oi-Deepika S

Gandhinagar, Feb 17: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that the country would take a leading role in promoting green economy including conservation of mountain ecology with people's participation.

Addressing COP13 delegates in Gandhinagar via video conferencing from Delhi, Modi said, "The present assessment also indicates that the total forest cover is 21.67 per cent of the total geographical area of the country. The number of protected areas has increased from 745 in 2014 to 870 in 2019 with an area coverage of nearly 1.7 lakh square km."

"The range of our initiatives includes an ambitious target of 450 megawatts in renewable energy, a push towards electric vehicles, smart cities, conservation of water and more," he said.

PM Modi to flag off 'Maha Kaal' Express through video link; to inaugurate 30 projects in Varanasi

Highlighting government conservational efforts to save wildlife, PM Modi said "efforts "India is supporting more than 60 per cent of the global Asian elephant population. 30 elephant reserves have been identified by our states."

"We have launched Project Snow Leopard, to protect the animal and its habitat in the Upper Himalayas. The Gir landscape in Gujarat is the only home for the Asiatic lion and the pride of the country. We have initiated an Asiatic Lion conservation project since Jan 2019 to protect them. Today, the population of Asiatic Lions stands at 523," he said.

"India has the distinction of having a population of almost 2,970 tigers. India has achieved its target of doubling the number of targets two years before the committed date of 2022," he said.

"India would be taking a leading role in promoting green economy including conservation of mountain ecology with people's participation," he added.

The UN conference, which started today in Gandhinagar, will conclude on February 22.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, February 17, 2020, 13:47 [IST]
The Indian embassy here on Monday said the four Indians infected with the novel coronavirus on board the quarantined cruise ship moored off the Japanese coast were responding well to treatment even as 99 new cases of COVID-19 were reported, taking the number of those infected to 454 on the vessel.

The embassy in a tweet on Sunday said the number of infected Indians on the ship, Diamond Princess, rose to five with two more testing positive for the disease.

However, on Monday, the mission revised the figure to four.

"All 4 #COVID19 positive Indian nationals as on today receiving medical attention onshore are responding well to the treatment," it said in a tweet.

"@IndianEmbTokyo is in regular touch with Indians on-board #DiamondPrincess. They understand public health safety concerns in such situations," it added.

Meanwhile, the total number of people infected with COVID-19 on the ship rose to 454 after 99 more people tested positive for the disease.

A total of 138 Indians, including 132 crew and 6 passengers, were among the 3,711 people on board the ship that arrived at the Japanese coast earlier this month.

The ship was quarantined after a passenger who de-boarded last month in Hong Kong was found to be the carrier of the COVID-19 on the ship.

The Embassy said it was making efforts for early de-boarding of all the Indians from the ship after the end of the quarantine period and was in discussions with the Japanese government and the ship management company for the disembarkation modalities and welfare of Indians.

The US on Monday evacuated its 340 nationals from the ship.

According to a report in the AFP, the US embassy in Japan confirmed two jets took off from Japan with its citizens evacuated from the ship and those on board were expected to undergo a further 14-day quarantine period on US soil.

The US state department later said that 14 of the evacuees received had the virus, the report said.

China, where the virus outbreak occurred, is grappling to contain the deadly disease as the death toll climbed to 1,770 after 105 more people died, mostly in the worst-hit Hubei province, officials said on Monday.

Of the new deaths, 100 were from Hubei, three in Henan, and two in Guangdong.

The coronavirus outbreak originated in central China's Hubei province in December last year and has spread to several countries, including India.

Many countries have banned arrivals from China while major airlines have suspended flights to the country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India has asked its citizens in Wuhan, the Chinese city at the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus, to connect with the embassy in China to board a special plane it is sending with relief material. The Indian embassy also released emergency contact numbers for those who want to get on the flight.

GoI will send a consignment of medical supplies on a relief flight to Wuhan later this week to support China to fight the COVID-19 epidemic. On its return, the flight will have limited capacity to take on board Indians wishing to return to India from Wuhan/Hubei. Many Indian nationals currently in Wuhan/Hubei Province and wishing to return to India have already been in touch with @EOIBeijing in the past two weeks, the Indian embassy in China said on its Twitter handle.

We urge all Indian nationals from Wuhan/Hubei who intend to avail this flight and have not yet contacted us, to urgently call our hotlines +8618610952903 and +8618612083629 or send email to helpdesk.beijing@mea.gov.in before 1900 hours today (17 February 2020), it further said. The post was retweeted by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

We urge all Indian nationals from Wuhan/Hubei who intend to avail this flight and have not yet contacted us, to urgently call our hotlines +8618610952903 and +8618612083629 or send email to helpdesk.beijing@mea.gov.in before 1900 hours today (17 February 2020) (3/3) @MEAIndia  India in China (@EOIBeijing) February 17, 2020

India is sending a consignment of medical supplies to China to assist Beijing in combating the deadly coronavirus outbreak, Indian Ambassador Vikram Misri said on Sunday. The disease has been named Covid-19 by the World Health Organisation (WHO) which declared it as health emergency.

The death toll from Covid-19 outbreak in China has climbed to 1,665 after 142 more people died, mostly in the worst-hit Hubei province, officials said on Sunday.

China has said that it needed medical masks, gloves and suits especially for the medical staff attending the virus affected patients. Masks also have become scarce in China in view of the nationwide demand in the last three weeks.

Hubei and its capital Wuhan have become the epicentre of the virus and most of the fatalities in China have been reported from the province.

Misri said that India is also facing the threat of infections from the Covid-19 epidemic and the country is working hard to safeguard the health and well-being of its citizens.

India had recently evacuated more than 600 of its citizens from China. They were brought on two Air India B-747 aircrafts on February 1 and February 2 and kept at the government created facilities.

The government said on Sunday that all the 406 people housed at a quarantine facility in Delhi have tested negative, and will be discharged in phased manner from Monday.
A new TikTok challenge called Skullbreaker has been spotted on the internet. The challenge involves three people, one who jumps and the other two kick his/her legs out. A child in Arizona was reportedly admitted in the ICU

A new TikTok challenge is making the rounds on the internet called the Skullbreaker challenge. It is a new challenge that appears to have originated in South America but as always, no one knows who initiated it. As the name suggests, the Rompcraneos or the Skullbreaker challenge can cause fatal injuries to a persons upper body, especially the head and possibly the spine. Before we delve deeper, we kindly request all of our readers to not attempt this challenge and discourage others from doing so. While it might seem like a harmless prank or challenge, the person affected by it could end up with serious injuries.

What is the TikTok Skullbreaker challenge?

Heres how the Skullbreaker challenge plays out; three people stand side by side and the one in the middle jumps as high as possible. People standing on either sides kick the legs of the one jumping, essentially making the person lose their footing. This challenge can cause grievous injuries, some of which have been reported as well.

Latest updates around the Skullbreaker challenge

As per a report, a parent from Arizona shared the story of their son sustaining grievous injuries as a result of the Skullbreaker challenge. The post reads, On Wednesday my son was asked to do a jumping contest with his 2 friends, when he jumped up, the 2 boys kicked him, as hard as they could, so his legs flew out in front of him. He landed hard flat on his back and head, as he struggled to get up he lost consciousness, he fell forward landing on his face.

The school monitor ran to his side, all the while the 2 boys were snickering and laughing as his stiff unconscious body lay on the asphalt. Fast forward at the hospital, he has a head injury, stiches in his face, severe cuts inside his mouth and 2 front teeth I have to keep on eye on. This apparently is a Tik Tok viral prank being filmed and gaining likes on social media. This is not okay, and honestly if your kid believes this is just for fun, you have failed at being a parent. [sic] the post continues.

Similarly, a school in Missouri, Winfield Intermediate, is said to have posted a warning regarding the new challenge in a Facebook post. Currently, the challenge has not been spotted in India.

Where did the TikTok Skullbreaker challenge start?

The Skullbreaker challenge is currently said to be propagating amongst school kids. Santo Tomas Aquino in Venezuela is said to be the school where one of the first videos of this challenge popped up. An Instagram post by Gustavo Duque, mayor of Chacao, Venezuela, reads: In Chacao, we say #NoBullying to the dangerous games that some teenagers are practising in their schools. Our municipal system, for the protection of children and adolescents in Chacao, is resolving and punishing those who encourage bullying in schools. We urge parents, representatives and teachers to report these types of situations to the corresponding instances.
Rudy Giuliani, lawyer for President Donald Trump, on Wednesday called for special counsel Robert Mueller to "put up or shut up" regarding the Russia investigation.

Regis Duvignau/Reuters

Federal prosecutors are still investigating Rudy Giuliani, the president's personal attorney, even after President Donald Trump's impeachment trial acquittal in the Senate.

Trump was impeached on two counts in December of 2019, stemming from a July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky where he discussed his political opponents and asked Zelensky to do him "a favor."

Giuliani was a main figure in the impeachment inquiry, related to his dealings in Ukraine.

The US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York is reportedly looking into Giuliani's and two associates' activity in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Attorney General William Barr has set up an process to receive Giuliani's claims about former Vice President Joe Biden.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Federal prosecutors are still investigating President Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani even after the impeachment trial ended, according to The Washington Post.

Two of Giuliani's associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, were arrested on charges of campaign finance violations in October 2019. The Southern District of New York is reportedly looking into Parnas, Furman, and Giuliani, in relation to their dealings in Ukraine.

Giuliani was a central figure to impeachment proceedings against Trump, which ended in the president's acquittal of two charges, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, in the US Senate earlier this month. He was impeached by the House of Representatives in December.

At the center of the impeachment inquiry was a phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, where Trump discussed a conspiracy theory related to the 2016 election and former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, who previously sat on the board of a Ukrainian gas company. The president has called the call "perfect" and denied any wrongdoing.

Story continues

The call prompted an inquiry into allegations that the president was using a nearly $400 million in congressionally-mandated military aid to Ukraine and a coveted White House visit to pressure Zelensky into announcing investigations into political rivals.

Sources told The Post that prosecutors in New York sought evidence and contacted witnesses as early as last week in relation to the probe against Giuliani and his associates.

At the same time, the Justice Department said this week that it has set up an "intake process" in order to fact check claims that Giuliani has made about former Vice President Joe Biden in Ukraine.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Scientists have successfully 'hijacked' a locust's sense of smell in order to detect bombs and prevent terrorist attacks.

Funded by the US Navy, the project implanted electrodes in the insect's brain, allowing researchers to analyze the neural activity when it encounters certain chemicals like ammonium nitrate  a substance commonly used in bomb-making.

The team exposed the locust to five different explosives and within 500 milliseconds, a distinct pattern of activity appeared in the insects' brains.

The procedure involved making a 'minor' incision in the locusts' heads that allowed the insects to continue moving their mouthparts and antennae freely afterward.

And scientists added around 50,000 olfactory neurons to their tiny antennae, giving them the ability to sense substances in a wide range, OneZero reported.

Scroll down for video

Funded by the US Navy, the project implanted electrodes in the insect's brain, allowing researchers to analyze the neural activity when it encounters certain chemicals like ammonium nitrate  a substance commonly used in bomb-making

Engineers at Washington University in St. Louis, has been given a $750,000 grant to use the highly sensitive locust olfactory system as the basis to create a bio-hybrid nose.

Baranidharan Raman, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the university, said in an interview in 2016:'It appears that biology converged onto a solution for the problem of non-invasive, or 'standoff' chemical sensing and has replicated the same design and computing principles everywhere.'

'Therefore, understanding the fundamental olfactory processing principle is necessary to engineer solutions inspired by biology.'

The team chose to use American locust because they are 'sturdy' and 'can carry heavy payloads'.

The team exposed the locust to five different explosives and within 500 milliseconds, a distinct pattern of activity appeared in the insects' brains. The procedure involved making a 'minor' incision in the locusts' heads that allowed the insects to continue moving their mouthparts and antennae freely afterward

The team chose to use American locust because they are 'sturdy' and 'can carry heavy payloads'

They also found that to transform the insects into cyborgs, they only needed to make a 'minor' incision in its head.

This not only avoid the need for extensive surgery, but also allowed the bugs to keep using their mouthparts and antennae.

Researchers also designed the locust with tiny wheels, so a human operator could control their movements.

According to OneZero, scientists are currently working on silk-based 'nanotattoo' implants that will let the operator control the insects.

This not only avoid the need for extensive surgery, but also allowed the bugs to keep using their mouthparts and antennae. Researchers also designed the locust with tiny wheels, so a human operator could control their movements

It would stick to the locust's wings and generate heat, allowing experts to steer it with a remote control.

The tattoos will be studded with 'plasmonic nanostructures' which will allow the scientists to collect samples of volatile organic compounds nearby.

Using these, they will be able to analyse the chemical make-up of the compounds to work out smells the insects are detecting.
The petitioners in the case demanding equal rights for women officers in the Indian Army, have welcomed the Supreme Court verdict favouring permanent commission for women.

Its a progressive judgement, we want to celebrate. I just want to say congratulations to everybody, said Lieutenant Colonel Seema Singh, one of the petitioners.

The lawyer of the petitioners, BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi, said that Army authorities had misled the court. All those misleading statements were rejected by the court today. Now women will get equal rights in the Army like men. The judgement has paved way for women officers to hold command posts, said Lekhi.

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the Centres submission against a 2010 Delhi high court order which had approved permanent commission for women officers. The court said that the submissions made by the Centre were perpetuates sex stereotypes. Arguments by the Centre founded on physical strength of men and women and grounds of motherhood, family etc violates equality, said the two-judge bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Ajay Rastogi.

To cast aspersions on ability of women and their role and achievements in Army is an insult not only to women but also to Indian Army, the bench said.

The Centre submitted a written note in the apex court earlier this month, containing the proposal of the government, that pointed out to several issues, including physical prowess and physiological limitations as challenges for women officers to meet the exigencies of service in the Army.

the profession of arms is not only a profession but a way of life which often requires sacrifices, commitment beyond the call of duty by the entire family of service personnel involving separation, frequent transfers affecting education of children and career prospects of spouse. As a consequence, it is a greater challenge for women officers to meet the hazards of service owing to their prolonged absence during pregnancy, motherhood and domestic obligations towards their children and families especially when both husband and wife happen to be service officers, the Centres note stated.

It also added that it is best to keep woman away from direct combat since capture of a woman officer or soldier as a prisoner of war would lead to a situation of extreme mental, physical and psychological stress for the captured individual and the government.

The central government had put forward a proposal as per which short-service commissioned (SSC) women officers with up to 14 years of service would be considered for permanent commission; women with more than 14 years of service would be permitted to serve up to 20 years without consideration for permanent commission and then released subject to pensionary benefits; and women above 20 years of service would be released with pensionary benefits immediately upon the completion of the case in the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court held today that Centres policy to restrict permanent commission to SSC women officers with less than 14 years of service was violative of right to equality. The court said that permanent commission should be granted to women officers regardless of their service, and told the government to do so within three months. Now all women officers will benefit from this order, said Lekhi.

The women officers who had moved petition against the Centres decision had pointed out that this notification did not grant permanent commission to women with over 14 years of service and was hence discriminatory. Moreover, the 2019 policy granted permanent commission only for staff appointments and not command appointments.
African-Americans and radical feminists are core constituencies of the modern Democratic Party. Mike Bloomberg, who seeks that partys nomination for president, may soon find himself in hot water with both. However, the circumstances that may land him there vary materially.

If Bloomberg finds himself in trouble with African-American voters, it will be because as mayor of New York he used policing policies that help prevent crime, and because videos show him making politically incorrect but essentially accurate (if exaggerated) statements about crime and credit worthiness. Bloomberg may lose lots of African-American support on account of this, but he doesnt deserve to.

By contrast, if Bloomberg finds himself in trouble with feminists, he may have only himself to blame. Yesterday, the Washington Post ran a lengthy article citing allegations that Bloomberg tolerated, and indeed created, a work environment at his company that was hostile to women.

The article points to Bloombergs alleged use of sexually-charged language so extensive that it made for a 32-page booklet his friends put together called, with irony intended, The Wit and Wisdom of Michael Bloomberg. The article also discusses several lawsuits filed by female employees against Bloommberg and/or his company.

Some of the allegations in these lawsuits are disturbing, and not just to feminists. They may or may not be true, but if believed, they might well do serious damage to Bloombergs quest for the Democratic nomination.

Here is one allegation:

On April 11, 1995 at approximately 11:20 a.m., Bloomberg was having a photograph taken with two female Company salespeople and a group of N.Y.U. Business School students, in the company snack area. When Bloomberg noticed Garrison standing nearby, he asked, Why didnt they ask you to be in the picture? I guess they saw your face. Continuing his penchant for ridiculing recently married women in his employ, Bloomberg asked plaintiff, Hows married life? You married? Plaintiff responded that her marriage was great and was going to get better in a few months: that she was pregnant, and the baby was due the following September. He responded to her Kill it! Plaintiff asked Bloomberg to repeat himself, and again he said, Kill it! and muttered, Great! Number 16! suggesting to plaintiff his unhappiness that sixteen women in the Company had maternity-related status. Then he walked away.

Bloomberg settled a lawsuit over his treatment of Ms. Garrison and the settlement includes a non-disclosure agreement. However, Post reporter Michael Kranish says he obtained verification of the above allegation from former Bloomberg employees. He quotes one of them, a male, as saying he witnessed the conversation. According to this employee, Bloombergs behavior toward Garrison was outrageous.

The Bloomberg campaign denies that the candidate told Garrison to kill her unborn baby. However, it also says Mike openly admits that his words have not always aligned with his values and the way he has led his life, and some of what he has said is disrespectful and wrong.

For a time, the law firm I was with until I retired represented Bloomberg in a suit brought by the EEOC alleging sex discrimination based on the companys treatment of pregnant women. I did a very small of work on the case until the partner in charge of it left our firm and took the matter with him.

I cant reveal much about the case, but its a matter of public record that Bloomberg did not settle it. Instead, he defended himself and his company vigorously and successfully. U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska dismissed the case, finding that the EEOCs failed to show the pattern of discrimination it alleged.

I admire Bloomberg for not knuckling under to the EEOC.

As noted, Bloomberg has settled some cases alleging discrimination by individuals. However, we shouldnt infer from the settlements that the allegations were true. Settling he said, she said cases often makes sense even if the defendant didnt say that which is alleged, given the uncertainly over whom a jury will believe. A suit alleging a pattern of discrimination, such as the EEOC case, may be easier successfully to defend, although the financial cost of defending it can be very high.

Can the Bloomberg campaign ride out charges of sexism by pointing to the judgment in the EEOCs suit and a general admission that some of what the candidate said was disrespectful and wrong? Doing so might well be challenging, especially with reporters like the Posts Kranish digging into specific allegations of improper conduct.

The Clinton campaign rode out allegations that Bill cheated on Hillary with a general admission of marital wrongdoing. But for Democrats, marital infidelity in 1992 wasnt nearly as problematic as sexual harassment is in the age of Me Too.

Bloomberg will have to answer questions about the way he treated female employees. The answer his campaign has offered so far might not be good enough.
Burma Ethnic Shanni Reject Move to Grow Naga Territory in NW Myanmar

Local people in Leshi Township, Sagaing Region meet Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on Jan. 22. / Myanmar State Counselors Office / Facebook

Several ethnic Shanni organizations in northwestern Myanmars Sagaing Division have objected to an ethnic Naga politicians move to have Hkamti and Homalin townships incorporated into the Naga Self-Administered Zone (SAZ).

U Aung Khin, chairman of the Shanni Solidarity Party (SSP), told The Irrawaddy on Monday that his organization objects to the actions of respected Naga politician U Ki Shi Mu, who asked Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to make Hkamti and Homalin part of the Naga SAZ during the State Counselors trip to the area from Jan. 21-23.

Our residents will protest if the government recognizes Homalin and Hkamti as part of Naga, he said. It will become an ethnic conflict if the government recognizes our region as part of theirs.

Homalin and Hkamti townships both fall within Hkamti District in Sagaing Division. The Shanni recognize the area as their territory and it was historically ruled by Shanni saophas, or rulers. Their culture is still alive in the region, but the Shanni say this would be thrown into question if the area is incorporated into the Naga SAZ.

There are 80,000 Shanni in Homalin and 10,000 in Hkamti, according to the SSP.

The Naga were given a self-administered zone under the 2008 Constitution consisting of Lahe, Leshi and Namyun. According the Shanni, the Naga are now asking the government to add Homalin and Hkamti in order to gain access to more flat land for growing food.

Homalin and Hkamti have rivers and farmland. We can survive on that farmland by growing food. For [the Naga], they do not have enough farmland to grow food, as most of their land is in the mountains. Thats why theyve asked for these two townships, said U Aung Khin.

U Ki Shi Mus request to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi last month was not the first time the Naga have asked the government to add Hkamti and Homalin to the Naga SAZ. Local residents recall that the Naga also petitioned Myanmars last government, under U Thein Sein.

The Naga region has faced periodic food shortages and residents have come to ask the Shanni in Hkamti and Homalin for food.

We share our food when they come. Our Shanni treat them well. But they ask that our region become a part of theirs now and our Shanni are not satisfied with it, said U Aung Khin.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi visited Sagaing Division from Jan. 21-23 and held a public meeting in Leshi Township.

Shanni community leaders in Homalin and Hkamti said they did not object to U Ki Shi Mus request to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at first, but were disappointed when they learned that the government appears to be acting on the request. Shanni leaders report seeing a letter sent by officials in the Sagaing capital of Monywa on Feb. 14 asking the Leshi Township Authority to submit paperwork regarding the addition of Homalin and Hkamti to the SAZ.

U Shu Maung of the Naga National Party (NNP) told The Irrawaddy that the issue is political and that other ethnic regions have had similar disputes over territory that must be solved through negotiations.

We can only find a solution if all our Naga and Shanni sit at one table and negotiate it, said U Shu Maung.

He said that his ethnic group is justified in speaking out about their political rights as they are under threat.

He said that U Ki Shi Mu did not make his request to the State Counselor on behalf of all Naga people but that it does reflect the desires of some Naga, as he is a respected politician in the community.

The SSP has reported that some government departments in Homalin have asked Shanni people what they think of the idea of adding Homalin and Hkamti to the Naga SAZ.

We will not accept our region becoming a part of Naga. We replied that we will not be a part of Naga, said U Aung Khin.

You may also like these stories:

Naga Armed Group Holds Rare Meeting with Govt

NSCN-K Leadership Change Could Signal New Opportunities for Peace

Naga Peace Process Hits Rough Patch: Indian Soldiers Killed in Ambush by NSCN-K Rebels
Nigerias National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, has accused President Muhammadu Buharis Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, of undue and dangerous interference on matters bordering on national security.

Consequently, Mr Monguno has fired a warning memo to all service chiefs to desist from taking further directives from Mr Kyari, according to a document seen by PREMIUM TIMES.

Mr Monguno said Mr Kyaris directives to service chiefs were sometimes issued without the knowledge much less approval of the president, a practice he said has added to the governments inability to contain insecurity.

Chief of staff to the president is not a presiding head of security, neither is he sworn to an oath of defending the country, Mr Monguno, a retired major-general, said in the December 9, 2019, letter.

As such, unprofessional practices such as presiding over meetings with service chiefs and heads of security organisations as well as ambassadors and high commissioners to the exclusion of the NSA and/or supervising ministers are a violation of the Constitution and directly undermine the authority of Mr President.

Such acts and continues meddlesomeness by chief of staff have not only ruptured our security and defence efforts, but have slowed down any meaningful gain that Mr President has sought to achieve.

Mr Mongunos letter comes as insecurity returns to centre stage as a major cause for worry among Nigerians.

Violent attacks linked to bandits, kidnappers, armed robbers and vandals have continued to claim multiple lives and properties across the country.

The president has repeatedly promised to curb the crises, many of which he met in office, but has largely failed like his predecessors.

Security experts, opposition and federal lawmakers have responded by advising the president to fire his service chiefs.

The service chiefs have been unable to rein in Boko Haram insurgents since 2015 when Mr Buhari named them to take charge of various arms of the nations security architecture.

While previously held swathes of land have been taken back from terrorists, deadly attacks on civilians and military targets have worsened since 2018.

The Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, said in recent media interviews that the military has degraded insurgents capacity to attack Abuja and other cities outside the war-ravaged northeast.

National security sources told PREMIUM TIMES on Monday that the fresh memo showed how Mr Kyari has helped in keeping the service chiefs in office despite overwhelming call for their ouster.

It also underscored the frustration faced by Mr Monguno and others who found Mr Kyaris influence over the president too domineering for national benefit, sources said.

But it also speaks to Mr Buharis seeming inability to control his appointees. Several open confrontations have broken out amongst his senior aides for the most part of his five years in office.

In 2016, Mr Monguno became locked in a fierce rift with Lawal Daura, a former director-general of the State Security Service (SSS). Structurally, Mr Daura was a subordinate to Mr Monguno in his capacity as the overall coordinator of national security, yet for several years the duo rarely interacted with one another. The battle lasted until Mr Daura was dismissed from office in August 2018, sources said.

On another side, the presidents wife, Aisha, has also been in perpetual animosity with Mr Kyari and other close associates of the president. In late 2019, Ms Buhari publicly lampooned some of the presidents aides and family members, including Garba Shehu and Mamman Daura, accusing them of relegating her in her husbands government.

It was unclear whether the crisis, which has brewed for several years, has been resolved several weeks after it dominated the headlines.

Mr Kyari and two presidential spokespersons, Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu, did not return requests for comments about the memo Monday afternoon.

Read below the full content of Mr Mongunos letter, which was copied to the president and ministers for foreign affairs, defence, interior, police affairs and Mr Kyari himself.

DISRUPTION OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY FRAMEWORK BY UNWARRANTED MEDDLESOMENESS

References:

Advertisements



A. SH/COS/46/2/1429 dated 13 September 2019

B. SH/COS/26/5/A/2609 dated 26 November 2019

References A and B were sent in response to the request for presidential intervention to sustain internal security operations of the police within the shortest possible time. However the contents of the 2 references were in variance with Mr Presidents verbal directives.

Consequently, ONSA scrutinized the documents further and sought clarification from Mr President who has directed that Reference B be disregarded by all parties as it was sent without his endorsement.

2. While it is expected that all heads of security agencies, having spent many years in service would understand means of passing directives from the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, it may be necessary to remind all, in the face of glaring breaches to that procedure.

For clarification, other than direct verbal directives from the President, written directives emanating from Mr President would be conveyed with a copy of his manuscript directive or at minimum, bear his signature.

Additionally, Mr President may convey directives to the heads of defence and security apparatus through the NSA who chairs the Intelligence Community Committee, Joint Intelligence Board and General Security Appraisal Committee on behalf of the President and the supervising ministers of defence and security agencies.

It should be noted that the Chief of Staff to the President does not direct security apparatus of the Federal Republic of Nigeria  his job as it relates to security stops at conveying Mr Presidents written directives.

3. Similarly, you are reminded that the Chief of Staff to the President is not a presiding head of security, neither is he sworn to an oath of defending the country.

As such, unprofessional practices such as presiding over meetings with service chiefs and heads of security organisations as well as ambassadors and high commissioners to the exclusion of the NSA and/or supervising ministers are a violation of the Constitution and directly undermine the authority of Mr President.

Such acts and continuous meddlesomeness by the Chief of Staff have not only ruptured our security and defence efforts but have slowed down any meaningful gain that Mr President has sought to achieve.

4. As professionals, you are aware that the security of the Federal Republic of Nigeria requires concerted and centralized effort taking into account internal, external and diplomatic factors.

It is therefore detrimental to our collective security that the Chief of Staff who is a non-supervising minister holds meetings with diplomats, security chiefs and heads of agencies.

5. Pursuant to the foregoing, you are by this letter directed to desist from these illegal acts that serve nothing but the continuous undermining of our national security framework. Any breach of this directive will attract displeasure of Mr President.

Babagana Monguno

Major-General (rtd)

National Security Adviser

December 9, 2019.
The Diocese of Paterson is facing a lawsuit accusing a priest who taught at the now-shuttered Don Bosco Technical High School of sexual abusing a student more than 100 times in the 1970s.

Former priest Sean Rooney abused the student at various locations including the Paterson school from 1973 to 1975 beginning when the victim was 13 years old, according the suit filed Feb. 7 in Superior Court in Bergen County. The victim, identified only by his initials in the suit, is now a Florida resident.

Rooney is not on the list of 188 priests and deacons deemed credibly accused of sexual abuses involving children released last year jointly by New Jerseys Catholic dioceses. The Diocese of Paterson, which did not return messages seeking comment on the suit Monday, had 28 names on that list.

The website bishop-accountability.org, a group that tracks allegations against priest, includes Rooney and notes he was accused in a 2013 lawsuit of a sexually abusing a 14-year-old seminary student at a retreat house in Massachusetts and at a seminary in New York. The Catholic church has been criticized for leaving hundreds of names off its list of credibly accused priests.

Rooneys last known address is Tempe, Arizona, according to public records. Phone numbers listed for Rooney were disconnected and he could not be reached for comment.

The lawsuit filed by the former Don Bosco Technical High School student is another in the flood of allegations since a two-year window opened on Dec. 1 under a new law signed by Gov. Phil Murphy that vastly expanded the amount of time that victims of sexual assault may bring a lawsuit.

The then-teenage student accused Rooney of "grooming him and giving him special treatment soon after he enrolled at the school, according to the suit.

Shortly after their first meeting, Father Rooney began sexually assaulting and abusing (him), the suit states. Plaintiff estimates that he was abused by Father Rooney in excess of 100 times.

Rooney, a chemistry teacher at the school, gave the student alcohol and showed him pornography, the suit said. The sexual abuse occurred at the school, the suit said. Don Bosco Technical High School closed in 2002.

Rooney was ordained in 1959 and assigned to work in New Jersey multiple times, according to the reference resource The Official Catholic Directory.

Rooney worked at Don Bosco Technical High School from 1971 to 1975, before he was transferred to Archbishop Shaw High School in New Orleans, where he worked until 1979. He was then transferred to work as a financial administrator and counselor at Salesian Junior Seminary in Goshen, New York.

In 1981, Rooney was transferred again to New Jersey, where he worked as a counselor for Don Bosco Preparatory High School in Ramsey. Rooney was transferred in 1983 to Alabama, where he remained for two decades. He returned to New York in 2003. In 2008, the Salesians of Don Bosco announced Rooneys laicization, or removal from sacred orders as punishment for transgression.

Robert Fazio, president of Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, said Monday he had no knowledge of Rooney and could not comment on the lawsuit. The lawsuit does not make any allegations about Rooneys short time at Don Bosco Prep in the early 1980s.

The school over the past decade has made it a priority to investigate all allegations of sexual abuse, Fazio said.

Abuse on any level is unacceptable, Fazio said, adding that the school has embraced the policies and procedures of the Protecting Gods Children Program.

In addition to the Paterson Diocese, lawsuit names the Salesians Society and accuses the diocese and the Catholic Church of engaging in a conspiracy to conceal credible allegations of child sexual abuse against priests.

The lawsuit alleges officials with the Catholic church transferred Rooney and other priests accused of abusing children rather than report them to police.

The lawsuit claims the school and the church failed to alert parishioners about Rooneys prior assignments and that their children were exposed to a known or suspected child molester.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 17:30:27|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- China has dispatched more than 30,000 medical staff, including elite medical groups, to assist in the fight against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in the epicenter Wuhan, Guo Yanhong, an official with the National Health Commission (NHC), said Monday.

China has sent about 11,000 intensive care specialists into the coronavirus-hit Wuhan, making up to approximately 10 percent of the country's total number of intensive care medics, Guo said at a press conference in Beijing.

Guo said three top-level medical groups led by Chinese academicians, namely Zhong Nanshan, Li Lanjuan and Wang Chen, have also joined the fight at the frontline.

"Academicians' groups have provided consultations on the treatment of patients in critical condition and explored new therapies and techniques," Guo said, adding that therapies and medical techniques with good effectiveness would be added into the diagnosis and treatment plan.

A total of 22 national emergency medical rescue teams and three mobile P3 laboratories had gathered in the hard-hit city with selected medical kits to improve the city's ability to treat, cure and conduct virus tests, the NHC official said.

The supportive medical groups were sent by 29 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, as well as the armed forces of China, according to Guo.

As of Sunday, a total of 3,458 patients have been discharged from hospitals after recovery in the city of Wuhan, according to NHC's daily report.
Trudeau Confers With Cabinet Ministers as Rail Blockades Continue

OTTAWAPrime Minister Justin Trudeau was in talks over the weekend with federal cabinet ministers as protesters opposed to a pipeline project in British Columbia continued to halt train service across parts of the country.

Trudeaus spokeswoman Chantal Gagnon said Sunday the prime minister had already spoken to Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, Transport Minister Marc Garneau, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair, and Carolyn Bennett, the minister for Crown-Indigenous Relations.

Gagnon said Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller also briefed Trudeau about his hours-long meeting Saturday with representatives of the Mohawk First Nation near Belleville, Ont., where a rail blockade has shut down train service across much of Eastern Canada.

Gagnon did not reveal what Miller told the prime minister, and said the government would provide updates as they become available.

Miller said during an appearance on CTVs Question Period political show on Sunday that he believes a peaceful resolution could be reached as he pointed to the Oka and Ipperwash crises as reasons why dialogue is preferable over police intervention.

Thirty years ago, police moved in in Kahnesatake and someone died, he said. And did we learn from that? Did we learn from Ipperwash?

A police officer died during a police raid in 1990 when Mohawks at the Kahnawake reserve south of Montreal blocked the Mercier Bridge, which became the Oka crisis. Five years later at Ipperwash, Ont., one man was killed during a standoff over a land claim by Chippewa protesters outside a provincial park.

Miller said the economy is suffering as a result of the blockades, but the governments response is a test of Canadas ability to find peaceful resolutions to such disputes.

Do we believe in peace and dialogue with people that we dont necessarily agree with? he asked.

And the challenge I ask myself at the end of the day is do we use all means to ensure that theres a peaceful resolution to this or do we just dig in like weve done for years and decades and come to the same conclusion? We keep repeating the same errors. So my advice to my colleagues is: Lets ensure that we get to a peaceful solution. That involves dialogue.

The Trudeau government has been criticized for not doing more to end the blockades, which have been erected to protest the Coastal GasLink project in northern B.C., which is part of a $40-billion LNG Canada export project in Kitimat.

Tyendinaga Chief Donald Maracle said he was not involved in Saturdays talks and declined comment. Members of the First Nation at the blockade declined comment.

A spokesman for Miller said he was not available for an interview on Sunday.

After meeting with members of the Tyendinaga Mohawk First Nation on Saturday, Miller said modest progress was made, but he wouldnt elaborate.

We talked openly, frankly, painfully at times, and sometimes with humour. Theres a lot more work to be done, he said.

Miller said the focus of the discussions was on the natural gas pipeline that crosses Wetsuweten territory in British Columbia and is opposed by their hereditary chiefs. But he said other issues arose as well, without going into detail on what else was raised.

The underlying issues did not arrive yesterday, theyve been present in this community for hundreds of years.

Members of the Gitxsan First Nation temporarily took down a rail blockade near Hazelton, B.C., Thursday pending a proposed meeting with the Wetsuweten hereditary chiefs, provincial and federal governments.

On Sunday, the Prime Ministers Office confirmed Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett would be available as soon as arrangements for the meeting are made. B.C. Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser has said he will represent the provincial government.

But while the talks have been represented as a joint meeting with the Gitxsan and Wetsuweten chiefs to engage in dialogue on how the impasse over the pipeline development arose, a Wetsuweten hereditary clan chief says leaders of his First Nation will only participate as witnesses.

Namoks, who also goes by John Ridsdale, said the meeting was proposed by the neighbouring Gitxsan and the Wetsuweten chiefs planned to honour the invitation.

We have a willingness to move forward positively, we still have that in our hearts, he said Sunday, while adding the Wetsuweten chiefs wont budge on the pipeline.

Our answer isnt going to change. The pipeline wont happen on our territory.

Fraser said a meeting is scheduled for Monday in Victoria. Senior ministry staff said Mondays meeting would only be between Bennett and Fraser, and they are drafting a letter to the hereditary chiefs reiterating their desire to meet.

Meanwhile, the PMO announced that Trudeau would convene the Incident Response Group on Monday. The group was described upon its inception in 2018 as a dedicated, emergency committee that will convene in the event of a national crisis or during incidents elsewhere that have major implications for Canada.

Blockades in support of the Wetsuweten across the country have cut both passenger and freight rail services, including GO Transit services between Toronto and Barrie that were affected on Saturday.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford was among those calling for more federal action on Sunday, saying Trudeau must create and publicize a plan to end the blockades.

CN obtained a court injunction to end the demonstration near Belleville on Feb. 7, but the Ontario Provincial Police have not enforced it.

In Tyendinaga on Sunday, Karen Brant, who is non-Indigenous but lives on the reserve, said while the community is generally against the pipeline project, theyre split on whether the blockade is the right way to protest.

People believe in what theyre fighting for, theyre just wondering about the impact its making on the economy, said Brant.

I think people are divided, but they believe in the cause and they want to fight for their cause.

However, she said the issue has brought people together, and throughout the weekend Indigenous and non-Indigenous people showed up at the blockade to bring blankets, toiletries and warm food.

It does pull the community together. It does show that kind of support that you might not have known you had before, said Brant.

Its just unfortunate that it had to go this way to make a point.

CN obtained fresh injunctions to stop three new blockades established on its rail network on Saturdaytwo in Vaughan, Ont., and one in Vancouver.

An injunction in B.C. was enforced earlier this month by the RCMP to give Coastal GasLink access to a work site for the pipeline. More than two dozen protesters were arrested for refusing to obey it.

Coastal GasLink has signed agreements with all 20 elected band councils along the pipeline route. However, Wetsuweten hereditary chiefs assert title to a vast 22,000-square-kilometre area and say band councils only have authority over reserve lands.
Moscow court upholds extended detention of student involved in illegal rally case

 RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov

16:13 17/02/2020

MOSCOW, February 17 (RAPSI)  The Moscow City Court has upheld extension of detention of the Moscow Aviation Institute student Andrey Barshay, who had allegedly given a National Guard officer a poke in the back during an unauthorized summer rally on July 27, 2019, the court press-service informs RAPSI on Monday.

Earlier, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow has extended Barshays detention until February 27, the appeals instance upheld this decision.

The Meshchansky District Court of Moscow is to begin hearings of the case of the student on merits.

Barshay stands charged with using force against a representative of authority.

The student pleads not guilty, denies involvement in the crime he is accused of, and claims that his detention is related to the escape of one more defendant in the 27 July riots case Aidar Gubaidillin.

Protest actions began in Moscow in mid-July after election commissions denied registration of certain opposition members as candidates for the Moscow City Duma elections reasoning that documents submitted by them contained numerous violations.

The first unauthorized rally took place hear the Moscow City Election Commissions building on July 14 and looked like a provocation, according to law experts.

Unauthorized rallies in support of candidates seeking to become lawmakers of the Moscow State Duma but refused registration by the Election Commission were also held on July 27 and August 3 in central Moscow. Over 1,000 people were arrested for various violations as a result.

Following the 27 July rally, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case over mass riots. Investigators believe that the protest action was held with the use of force against representatives of authority.

Several activists have been already convicted and sentenced. Prosecution of five defendants has been dropped.
Just a matter of time for 9 day encounter in Rajouri-Poonch jungles to end

Guided by ex-Pak army officials, operating in buddy pairs: Why the Poonch encounter has dragged so much

Tire, track eliminate: Why has the Poonch encounter dragged on for so long

Delhi: Two criminals killed in police encounter in Pul Prahladpur area

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Feb 17: Two criminals have been killed at around 5 am on Monday in police encounter in Delhi's Pul Prahladpur area.

The encounter took place in the wee hours near Rohini's Prahladpur area when a police team took action following a tip-off.

The two criminals have been identified as Raja Qureshi, Ramesh Bahadur who were wanted in multiple cases of crime, the most recent being a murder case in Karawal Nagar.

After being shot, the criminals were rushed to a hospital were declared dead. The criminals were accused in a number of cases. 

Earlier in October 2020, another encounter had taken place in Delhi's Rohini area. The special cell had laid a trap near Sector 24 of Rohini on the basis of a tip-off, the police said.

NEWS AT NOON, FEBRUARY 17th, 2020

When the police team tried to intercept their vehicle, the criminals opened fire. The police retaliated. The criminals, involved in snatching and robbery cases, were injured, the police said.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, February 17, 2020, 8:31 [IST]
Days before presenting his maiden budget, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday had a pre-budget meeting with MLAs and sought their suggestions on various subjects, including agriculture and education, to incorporate them in the budget.

In the BJP-JJP coalition government, Khattar has kept the Finance Department portfolio with himself.

The budget session of the state assembly begins here on February 20 and the three-day pre-budget meeting with MLAs in Panchkula is aimed at getting feedbacks and suggestions from them.

Prior to this, Khattar has already held meetings with MPs from the state, besides experts from various sectors, including service sector, real estate, industry, and agriculture.

He also met farmers, women, entrepreneurs among others. The meet with legislators is the last one in the series.

Talking to reporters after meeting legislators in Panchkula, Khattar described the state government's pre-budget consultations with different stakeholders as a historical step in the democratic system of the country.

Haryana is probably is the first state in the country where the Budget of the state is being finalized with participation of all, he said.

He hoped other states of the country too would replicate this Haryana model.

On the occasion, MLAs from the ruling BJP and JJP besides those of the Congress and independents gave their suggestions on different topics including agriculture, animal husbandry, school education, higher education, skill development and technical education.

Senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who held a meeting with his party legislators in the morning to firm up suggestions to be given, however, could not attend the meeting with Khattar as he had to rush to Nuh due to the death of former Haryana minister Chaudhary Khurshid Ahmed.

INLD's lone MLA Abhay Singh Chautala rued that not more than two minutes were given to the MLAs to speak and put forth their suggestions, which he said defeated the purpose of the chief minister's pre-budget meeting exercise.

Khattar said the MLAs have given their suggestions by rising above the party lines and he assured them that all their viable suggestions would be incorporated in the state Budget for 2020-21.

Chief Minister also responded to concerns raised by Abhay Chautala, who dubbed the entire exercise as a mere formality saying suggestions were now being sought at the fag end.

Khattar assured that suggestions given by public representatives in six sessions during the three-day discussion would be given due importance in the upcoming budget.

He exhorted the opposition parties not to politicise this issue.

Khattar said he had also asked the MLAs to suggest the sources of revenue as well while recommending new schemes.

He said in the last five years, the state government has worked to meet all basic requirements like food, shelter, clothing, water, electricity, education and security for the people of the state.

Khattar also underlined the need to meet emerging challenges like pollution, quality of foodgrains and water scarcity and asked the public representatives to help the state government tackle these issues.

As many as 38 MLAs gave 71 suggestions today.. this will be the people's budget and I am happy to say this that all MLAs, irrespective of their party affiliations, gave good suggestions, he said.

Abhay Chautala told reporters that Haryana is primarily an agrarian state and legislators should have been given enough time on the topic.

He saw slim chances of suggestions being incorporated in the budget and dubbed the entire exercise a mere formality.

This exercise seems to be aimed at only ensuring newspaper headlines. If the government was keen in seeking our views, this exercise should have been conducted two months before the budget session. How will the officers who are giving final shape to the budget now incorporate so many suggestions at last minute," he asked.

Khattar, however, said, We had allotted five minutes to each MLA to speak. If the time limit is kept indefinite, in that case we may get to hear speeches while suggestions may not necessarily come. I don't think barring one MLA (Abhay Chautala) anyone complained.

Congress MLA Geeta Bhukkal, who was Education Minister in the previous Congress regime, said she was given extra ten minutes to speak as the government sought suggestions from her in detail in the education sector.

Bhukkal said she pointed out to the government that as it was bound to implement the Fundamental Right to Education and impart education to children from class one to eight free of cost, the government should also start pre-nursery classes in government schools and open play schools.

"On agriculture, my suggestion was that many women are engaged in this sector, therefore, a Mahila Kisan Cell should be set up, she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The respective presidents of the European Council and European Union Commission voiced the desire on February 16 to maintain close relations with countries in the Balkans as the EU seeks to preserve credibility with them after membership hopes for Albania and North Macedonia were recently dashed.



"I think it is in our common geostrategic interest to have the Western Balkans as close as possible to the European Union," EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Brussels as an informal EU-Western Balkans meeting takes place on February 16-17.



European Council President Charles Michel said he looks "forward to a frank, intense, and open discussion" with the leaders of the six Western Balkan nations ahead of a key summit in Zagreb in May.



The EU commonly uses the Western Balkans to refer to Albania and the successor states of Yugoslavia that havent joined the 27-nation bloc.



In October, Albania and North Macedonia were told EU membership talks would be postponed despite major reforms on their part.



However, the EU has since recalibrated how it conducts accession negotiations in order to reverse frustrations that were triggered by the French president's scotching membership hopes.



Von der Leyen said in Brussels that the new methodology emphasizes structural reforms -- or how a government functions -- and creates a credible prospect for the Balkan countries to join the EU after a certain time, according to reporting by the dpa news agency.



After French President Emmanuel Macron led a small group that vetoed accession talks last year with North Macedonia and Albania, the social democrat government in Skopje resigned in January and new elections are set to take place in April.



"We are going to work today and tomorrow for the next European Council [summit] to open the door to the European perspective of the Balkan countries," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on February 16.



In addition, the European Commission is scheduled to publish an individual report for candidate countries Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, and Serbia.

With reporting by dpa and AFP
Flying directly into one of the snorkel capitals of the world is about to become easier and more affordable.

Southwest Airlines will launch new non-stop flights from Houston's Hobby Airport to Cozumel starting March 7.

HoustonChronicle.com: Pre-sales begin at Houston's luxury residential tower The Paramount

"Scuba divers and beach fans long have wished to fly with us to enjoy this underwater paradise," Bill Tierney, Vice President of Marketing for Southwest, said in a prepared statement. "We'll bring the world-famous Hospitality and value of Southwest to Cozumel while bringing a new beach destination within reach for our customers, just as we've done before with service to Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas/Los Cabos, the Caribbean, and with our growing service for the Hawaiian Islands."

The twice-daily international route will depart from Houston in the early morning and in the evening each day, with return flights scheduled for 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.

This new destination is part of Dallas-based Southwest Airlines' expansion into more international airports.

Earlier this year, the airline announced the launch of its new $125 million, 140,000-square-foot hangar that replaces the smaller technical operations facility that debuted in 1988. The new space allows for nearly 400 Houston-based technical operation employees to "work simultaneously on up to six 737 aircraft indoors and has space for an additional eight aircraft outside the hangar bays."

"This state-of-the-art hangar will support our Technical Operations Team's unwavering commitment to Safety and maintaining our fleet to the highest standards," said Gary Kelly, Southwest Airlines Chairman and CEO, said in January. "I'm very proud of our hundreds of Technical Operations Employees in Houston for the work they do every day."

Southwest Airlines has been pivotal to the growth of Hobby Airport, it currently operates roughly 90 percent of the flights from that air base.
By Rasana Gasimova

Azerbaijan has approved an action plan for 2020-2025 to implement the country's Employment Strategy.

President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on approving the plan on February 13.

The document aims at forming a long-term state employment policy aimed at ensuring effective employment on the basis of the countrys demographic aspects, development prospects and economic priorities of the country.

The purpose of the strategy is to ensure the transition of employment policy from extensive to an intensive phase, to increase the employment level of the population, to provide full employment, to support decent work and increasing labor productivity.

The implementation of the strategy is also aimed at supporting micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as the development of the labor market.

The strategy envisages decreasing unemployment rate to 4 percent, bringing official employment (except of the agricultural sector) to 80 percent, reducing the percentage of young people (aged 15-24) who are not employed in the labor market and in education to 15 percent, as well as increasing the number of regional vocational education centers to 10.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population has been assigned relevant coordination work and will report details of their work once a year.

Earlier, the Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Population Sahil Babayev noted that this year, the ministry plans to increase the number of employed citizens by 30 percent and bring this indicator to 130,000 people, while the number of people involved in vocational training - by over 40 percent and bring it to 5,000.

Along with these steps, it is also planned to expand the coverage of the self-employment program in 2020. In general, this year, up to 12,000 families will be involved in the self-employment program, 64,000 people - in paid public work.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio  Authorities arrested two shoplifting suspects accused of hitting a North Olmsted police officer with an SUV as they sped away from the Great Northern Mall.

Jamal K. Samhan and Kristalyn N. Marcum were arrested Monday at a home in Cleveland, police said. They are being held at the North Olmsted jail until their arraignments Tuesday in Rocky River Municipal Court.

Samhan, 25, of Lakewood and Marcum, 21, of Hinckley are each charged with felonious assault in the Thursday incident that injured an off-duty police officer, according to court records.

The officer confronted a pair as they tried to leave the mall parking lot in a gray Kia Sportage. The SUV struck the officer before speeding away, police said.

The officer was hospitalized for observation. He is recovering at home but is still being evaluated for a possible concussion and other injuries, police said Monday.

Investigators released surveillance photos from the shoplifting and identified Samhan and Marcum through tips from the public, police said. They obtained arrest warrants for the duo on Friday, according to Rocky River Municipal Court records.

Samhans criminal history includes prior felony convictions for receiving stolen property, theft, failure to comply, criminal damaging and drug possession, according to Cuyahoga County court records.

To comment on this story, visit Mondays crime and courts comments page.

Read more crime stories:

Man shot wife in leg, then took his own life in Cleveland, police say

Duo ran from stolen car after leading Maple Heights officers on hour-long chase, police say

Trio attacked Cleveland man with car jack, tried to shove him into trunk of car, records say

Strongsville priest accused in child pornography case may have participated in child prostitution, prosecutors say

Citizen app debuts in Cleveland, bringing crime alerts to users cellphones
A promotional picture from Laura Ashley's recent advertising campaign. Photo: Laura Ashley

Struggling fashion and home wear brand Laura Ashley (ALY.L) is in crisis talks to secure more funding as sales dive.

The retailer on Monday confirmed it was holding crunch talks with its bank, Wells Fargo (WFC).

Falling sales have left the company unable to borrow as much as expected, so Laura Ashley and its owner, MUI Asia, are trying to convince Wells Fargo to unlock cash to meet the group's immediate funding requirements and to draw down additional amounts to meet ongoing working capital needs.

If the group remains unable to access the requisite level of funding, then the company will need to consider all appropriate options, Laura Ashley said in a statement.

The cash crunch suggests Laura Ashley could collapse into administration if funding cannot be secured, but management downplayed any risks.

We acknowledge that recent trading conditions, in line with the overall UK retail market, have indeed been challenging, chairman Andrew Khoo said in Mondays statement. There is however a robust plan in place to turn the business around.

Shares in the company crashed 34% on the update.

Laura Ashley's stock crashed at the open on Monday. Photo: Yahoo Finance UK

The statement from Laura Ashley followed an article in the Sunday Times over the weekend claiming the company was on the brink following a funding crisis. The Sunday Times said Wells Fargos lending squeeze had left Laura Ashley with a funding shortfall of 20m ($26m) and the company was asking owner MUI Asia for an emergency cash injection to keep the lights on.

Laura Ashley said Monday its plans do not involve a cash injection by MUI Asia Limited into the group. Chairman Andrew Khoo said: The major shareholders have indicated their continued confidence in the business and are fully supportive of the management team and execution of the transformation plan.

Alongside the funding update, Laura Ashley said sales fell 10.8% to 109.6m in the 26 weeks to 31 December 2019. The company blamed weaker consumer spending during the period, which led to a decline in sales of bigger ticket items. The company will report its half-year results in full on Thursday.

Founded in 1953, Laura Ashley is known for its floral prints and home wear. The company has over 150 stores across the UK and had just over 2,700 staff at the end of last year.

The company has struggled in recent years as high street sales more generally have suffered. Laura Ashleys sales fell by 3.5% last year and the company fell to a 9.8m loss. Its share price has fallen around 90% over the last 5 years and now trades at penny stock levels.
OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso  Gunmen killed 24 civilians, including a church pastor, and kidnapped three others, an official said. It was the latest attack against a religious leader in the increasingly unstable West African nation.

The mayor of Boundore commune, Sihanri Osangola Brigadie, said the attack Sunday occurred in the town of Pansi in Yagha province. The roughly 20 attackers separated men from women close to a Protestant church. At least 18 other people were injured.

It hurt me when I saw the people, Brigadie said after visiting victims in the hospital in Dori town, 110 miles from the attack. The gunmen looted oil and rice from stores and forced the three youths they kidnapped to help transport it on their motorcycles, he said.

Both Christians and Muslims were killed before the church was set on fire, said a security official in Dori who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Attacks have targeted religious leaders in the area in the past. Last week, also in Yagha province, a retired pastor was killed and another pastor was abducted by gunmen, according to an internal security report for aid workers seen by the Associated Press.

Extremist violence has dramatically escalated in once-peaceful Burkina Faso.

Analysts are concerned that attacks against civilians, including against Christians, are increasing at an alarming rate, said Corinne Dufka, West Africa director for Human Rights Watch. Perpetrators use victims links to government or their faith to justify the killings, while others appear to be reprisal killings for killings by the government security forces.

More than 1,300 civilians were killed in targeted attacks last year. The insecurity has created a humanitarian crisis, with more than 760,000 people internally displaced.

Sam Mednick and Arsene Kabore are Associated Press writers.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar By

Online Desk

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's second term in office has been no bed of roses so far.

The economy is in tatters. And it hasn't helped that the whiff of hostility towards Muslims has been exacerbated by the passage of the Citizenship Act that has seen protestors, mostly women, take to the streets and demand their rights.

Senior journalist and author Tavleen Singh, once an ardent supporter of the government, is now among the many who have grown disillusioned. In her new book Messiah Modi: A Great Tale of Expectations she elaborates how the Prime Minister has reduced her to hoping against hope "that Modi does not bring to India the kind of parivartan that would destroy all the qualities that made India the world's most noisy, chaotic, diverse and liberal democracy".

Excerpts from her interview with The New Indian Express:

What compelled you to write this book?

It is a book that needed to be written. Nobody has so far assessed Narendra Modis performance as a Prime Minister or tried to explain why parivartan and vikas the way we hoped it would happen, hasnt happened. Thats what I attempted this book.

Your book is titled Messiah Modi: A great tale of expectations. Is this how it began for you, as a tale of great expectations?

It mostly did. The Messiahs are sought in darkness and it was a very dark time. I did think Mr. Modi would be the Messiah.

I have been writing a column for 30 years and have never endorsed a Prime Minister. I believed Modi when he spoke about the economy. India has every reason to be the richest country in the world, but it has failed to become so owing to poor economic policies. The State running big corporations in my view is a very bad idea and it crushed the naturally enterprising people of India. Modi spoke a language that I understood and I thought he meant what he said.

In your book, you have mentioned how the Lutyens elite were against Modi. In retrospect, do you think they were right?

No, they are remnants of an old, corrupt group of elite. It happens in socialist countries. For example, Stalin moved in to the Kremlin. Mao moved into the Emperors Palace. Our elite remain in this bubble called Lutyens Delhi where streets are cleaner than anywhere in India, there are lush trees and big bungalows. And they were so disappointed with the new elites moving in, almost like Animal Farm.

Are you still hoping against hope for Modi to stand true to this word?

In my view, the disappointment has been that he became a socialist. He could have but he didnt dismantle the system of socialism. He didnt even abolish the retroactive tax. He didnt make change in the directions that he promised.

In his second term, the parivartan that he has brought could lead to India being broken up once more. Because everything that has been done is sorta to tell Muslims that they better behave or they cant live here. And that is a bad idea, because we are not talking about a small minority like the Sikhs who were treated almost like lepers after Mrs (Indira) Gandhis death. We are talking about roughly 200 million Muslims. They are the second-largest majority in India. The ones that stayed here hoped that this would be a better place than living in the Islamic Republic. And it has been a better place, a better liberal democracy, where the failures have been mostly economic and political. Here, Modi was a welcome change. But the hatred towards a community that certainly his ministers have been showing has been horrifying. I mean, a junior minister saying goli maro salo ko is beyond horror.

Are officials going to decide if anyone is a citizen or a traitor? I am not even a Muslim, but I dont think an official has the right to ask me if I am an Indian or not.

The Prime Minister lacks company, you write. Is it because of lack of good advisors or missing intellectuals in the right-wing that Modi has been taking such drastic steps?

I really believe that he is the most isolated Prime Minister that I have seen in Delhi. And I am including Indira Gandhi who was very isolated because she only consulted her two secretaries and her son during the Emergency. I think Modi is making a big mistake by isolating himself from public opinion. His only contact is one way. Most Prime Ministers, even the most brilliant ones need consultations and advisors. I think its a worrying situation that he only consults Amit Shah.

Both of them, I have said this in the book, are provincial politicians. Modi has every right to be a national leader now because he won the election on his name. But nobody gave Amit Shah that mandate. So its very worrying that hes almost been declared as Modis heir, without having the mandate to be the second most powerful person in India. He has now become the face of the party because we hardly see Mr. Modi.

The most controversial law (Citizenship Amendment Act) which has caused such upheaval in the country has been piloted by Mr Shah. And prior to that he called illegal Muslim immigrants, who are poorest, most desperate people, termites and followed this by declaring that after this happens there will be an implementation of National Register of Citizens (NRC). The speeches were almost menacing in tone.

What has been the big change from Modi 1.0 to Modi 2.0?

Arun Jaitley was a very refined, dignified, accessible political leader. He was the face of Modi 1.0.

After he died, Amit Shah took up the job and its quite an unpleasant face of Modis government. I hope Modi realises that he needs to take back the lead. The country voted for him, not Amit Shah.

I havent met Modi since his re-election. So, I dont know if he has changed personally. But the agenda and the tone in the second term has changed drastically. One can tell this from the hostility towards the Muslims. There is a hostility towards dissent and dissent is fundamental to democracy. Modi had a cultivated international image. He was seen as the new hope. I believe the tone that has come after Amit Shah has become the face of the government has ended up damaging Modis international image.

But Modi is still a favourite of NRIs...

The Howdy Modi event happened prior to the passage of the law (Citizenship Act). There are now protests against the law in the West. My son (Aatish Taseer), whos now in exile, said that they had to take the protest till Fifth Avenue because there were so many young people disappointed by Modi.

Modi said that he wants to make India a country where young people didnt have to leave to find jobs, that hasnt happened. If there was a Howdy Mody now, he wouldnt be getting such an audience.

Do you feel betrayed by the Indian government after they revoked your son Aatish Taseers OCI?

Absolutely!. Aatish had come to India when he was two-year-old and grew up in this country. He had a brief relationship with his father and only met him when he was 22. His father (Salman Taseer) was assassinated.

Aatish was given a multiple-entry visa and later his Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) card was changed to Overseas Citizen of India (OCI).

There are exceptions possible within the law as they made for Adnan Sami. Its a vindictive act and they are weaponising citizenship.

As soon as his article was published (in Time magazine), BJP spokespersons such as Sambit Patra started calling him Pakistani. Of course he had a Pakistani father who died fighting fanaticism. The Indian government wants to rescue the persecuted minorities now must remember Salman Taseer died defending a Christian woman. Aatish has nothing to be ashamed of.

If you were given private audience now, what advice would you like to give the PM?

Hes unlikely to take my advice, but Id tell him straight away to change the tone of the government. He needs to live up to sabka viswas which he has lost at the moment. Without question, the Muslims of this country dont trust him. If I were Muslim, I would be scared too.

Secondly, he needs to win back the trust of Kashmir. How long is it going to be under lockdown? How can three former Chief Ministers be detained under the National Security Act (NSA)?.

Thirdly, get the economy up. Move the policies in such a way where private entrepreneurs will trust the government.

Messiah Modi?

Author: Tavleen Singh

Publisher: HarperCollins India

Pages: 293

Price: Rs 699
"Serving in the military changes you. The shades and degrees of change vary for everyone, but no one is ever the same as...
A plane carrying American passengers, who were recently released from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan, arrives at Travis Air Force Base in California: AFP via Getty Images

14 American citizens who were evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship and returned to the US have tested positive for coronavirus.

Over 300 people were evacuated from the ship, which is docked and held in quarantine near the port of Yokohama, Japan. Charter flights carrying the evacuees landed at two air force bases in California and Texas on Sunday and Monday.

In a joint statement from the US Departments of State and Health and Human Services, officials said they were notified of the 14 positive cases during the evacuation process, after passengers disembarked the ship.

The agencies said: After consultation with HHS officials, including experts from the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, the State Department made the decision to allow the 14 individuals, who were in isolation, separated from other passengers, and continued to be asymptomatic, to remain on the aircraft to complete the evacuation process.

Any who become symptomatic will be moved to the specialised containment area, where they will be treated.

According to CNN, passengers who landed at Travis Air Force Base in California will be taken to the same facility as other American evacuees who arrived from Wuhan earlier this month.

All passengers who have not tested positive for the virus or developed any symptoms since landing will remain under quarantine for 14 days.

The US was the first country to evacuate its passengers from the cruise ship, which was ordered to stay under quarantine off Japan on 3 Feb.

454 people have tested positive for coronavirus on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, the largest cluster of cases outside China so far.

There are more than 70 Britons on the ship at present. Downing Street confirmed on Monday they are being contacted about the possibility of a repatriation flight.

Globally, coronavirus has infected over 71,000 people and claimed the lives of 1,775 people, mostly in China where the outbreak began.

Read more

Heathrow hotel designated coronavirus quarantine centre
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 18:06:33|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, will meet in late February to deliberate a draft decision on postponing the NPC's annual session, among other items on the agenda.

This was proposed when the Council of Chairpersons of the NPC Standing Committee met on Monday. Zang Tiewei, a spokesperson for the top legislature's Legislative Affairs Commission, told Xinhua the considerations behind the move.

The third annual session of the 13th NPC was originally planned to open on March 5 in Beijing. Preparations for the session have been made.

But after the outbreak of COVID-19, epidemic prevention and control has become the most important work. It is now a crucial moment to curb the spread and win the battle, so no effort should be spared.

Many of the nearly 3,000 NPC deputies, including leading officials at the municipal, provincial levels and other fields, are fighting at the frontlines of the epidemic battle.

After careful evaluation, the Council of Chairpersons decided that it is necessary to postpone the annual legislative session to allow efforts to be concentrated on containing the epidemic. This is in line with putting people's lives and health as the top priority.

According to the Constitution and relevant laws, the NPC meets in session once a year and is convened by the NPC Standing Committee. The decision to postpone the session needs to be made by the NPC Standing Committee.

The NPC Standing Committee shall meet on Feb. 24 in Beijing, and one of the items on the agenda is to deliberate the draft decision on postponing the annual legislative session, as was decided at Monday's meeting of the Council of Chairpersons.

Meanwhile, the NPC Standing Committee will also prepare for revisions of the laws related to epidemic prevention and control.
Richard Dawkins gets backlash for suggesting eugenics would 'work for humans'

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Famed scientist and outspoken atheist intellectual Richard Dawkins has garnered controversy for posting a message to Twitter where he suggested that eugenics would help humanity.

The best-selling author of The God Delusion posted on Sunday about the issue of eugenics, arguing that while advocating for it ideologically would be questionable, the practice would work if implemented.

Its one thing to deplore eugenics on ideological, political, moral grounds. Its quite another to conclude that it wouldnt work in practice. Of course it would, tweeted Dawkins.

It works for cows, horses, pigs, dogs & roses. Why on earth wouldnt it work for humans? Facts ignore ideology.

Dawkins followed up his initial tweet with a disclaimer that he opposed the idea of a eugenic policy and implored people to fight it on moral grounds.

I simply said deploring it doesnt mean it wouldnt work. Just as we breed cows to yield more milk, we could breed humans to run faster or jump higher. But heaven forbid that we should do it, he continued.

It would work in the same sense as it works for cows. Lets fight it on moral grounds. Deny obvious scientific facts & we lose  or at best derail  the argument.

Despite the disclaimers of opposing eugenics as a policy, Dawkins nevertheless garnered much criticism on social media.

I don't have room to explain why in a tweet but we are very confident that eugenics would not work in humans, replied Dave Curtis of the UCL Genetics Institute.

You absolute pin-headed simpleton, tweeted best-selling author Scott Lynch in response. It doesn't work in practice because too many of the goals turn out to be arbitrary fantasies, and too many of those fantasies are the pet projects of abusive bigots who f*** up any civilization they get their hands on. Are you new here?

In tweets posted Monday, Dawkins expressed his displeasure at the tone of many of the negative responses he received to his eugenics post.

Curious about Twitter nastiness, he responded. Why? Has it escalated like loudness of talk in crowded room? Starts quiet but escalates till all yell to be heard. Nastier than thou?

Over the past several years, Dawkins has stirred up the occasional negative backlash for comments he has made on Twitter on a variety of topics.

In 2013, the atheist apologist was widely criticized for a tweet that used the term Islamic barbarians when responding to recent news of the apparent destruction of a historic library in Timbuktu, Mali.

Some people (perhaps 1st language not English) think I was calling ALL Muslims barbarians. No. I was calling Islamic BARBARIANS barbarians, Dawkins later clarified.

In 2015, Dawkins was placed on Twitters Block Bot, which is a program that hides accounts on the social media site deemed to be abusive or offensive.
FEBRUARY 17, 2020  The UTSA Honors College is taking the first concrete step toward becoming a residential collegea comprehensive on-campus living-learning community that will provide its students with the small, supportive, private college experience that many top-reviewed honors colleges in the nation offer.

Starting in fall 2020, all first-year freshmen entering the university as Honors College students will be required (with some exceptions) to live on campus for their first academic year. These students will be part of the Honors Residential Community, where they will live and study with other honors students in a supportive, close-knit community designed to help them succeed.

UTSA is committed to providing our students with an exceptional educational experienceboth in and out of the classroom, said Kimberly Andrews Espy, UTSA provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. Increasing our living-learning communities is one of the many steps we are taking to help new students more quickly find their sense of belonging at UTSA and strengthen the connection they make to their academic experience.

Expanding our living-learning experience will help more honors students network with each other.

SEAN KELLY, Dean of the Honors College

Besides the benefit of being closely networked with peers and living with students with similar priorities, on-campus honors students will enjoy programming and special opportunities geared specifically for them.

Adjusting to college life can be tough at times for even the brightest, most well-adjusted students, said Honors College Dean Sean Kelly. Thus, expanding our living-learning experience will help more honors students network with each other, join study groups or receive informal tutoring, connect over shared experiences, and form close friendships in their first year at UTSA.

On average, students who live on campus their first year are more likely to perform better academically, says Tammy Wyatt, vice provost for student success.

 Visit the UTSA Honors College to learn more about the residential community, including the circumstances for which a student may request a waiver.

The Honors College model is a great example of a living-learning community designed to create more collaborative learning opportunities that can help new and continuing students develop deeper UTSA roots and a have better overall student experience, she said.

Students in the Honors Residential Community will first live in Chaparral Village, then move to the new Guadalupe Hall until a new dedicated residential and academic building is built along UTSA Boulevard according to the UTSA Master Plan.

The Honors College is home to roughly 1,300 high-achieving, academically driven students from across all majors and disciplines. As the only 100% experiential learning honors college in Texas, its hands-on and project-based approach allows UTSA students to chart their own path and achieve their highest potential.
Chase has been one of the most vocal advocates for gun rights in the Virginia Senate. When a joint House-Senate committee voted this year to ban lawmakers and the public from bringing firearms into the Capitol, she hinted that she would buck the rule by stowing her gun in her purse. As a lawmaker, Chase is not screened when entering the building.
The teaser of highly anticipated Sudeep starrer Kotigobba 3 will be unveiled on February 21 at 12 pm IST. The makers have decided to gift the fans of Kiccha Sudeep the first teaser of the auspicious occasion of Maha Shivaratri. The Sandalwood biggie also stars Madonna Sebastian, Shraddha Das, Aftab Shivdasani and P Ravishankar in the lead roles. Directed by debutant Shiva Karthik, the action extravaganza has been shot at Poland, Puducherry, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. The music for the film has been composed by Arjun Janya.

Kotigobba 3 has already generated an immense amount of buzz in the trade circuit. The first look motion poster of the highly awaited movie was released a while back on Makara Sankranti holiday. Boasting of a powerful tagline that says 'The lion is back, Sudeeps uber-stylish look from the film received a lot of love and appreciation from netizens on social media.

For the uninitiated, the franchise took off from the Vishvuvardhan starrer yesteryear classic Kotigobba that released in 1995, which was followed Kotigobba 2 that released in 2016. The third installment of the Kotigobba franchise has been penned by Sudeep himself.

On the work front, Sudeep was last seen on screen in the Salman Khan starrer Dabangg 3. The actor recently completed hosting the seventh season of Bigg Boss Kannada. Produced by Surappa Babu and presented by Rockline Venkatesh, Kotigobba 3 is all set to hit the silver screens this summer in April 2020.





ALSO READ: Sudeep And Darshan Starrers Kotigobba 3 And Roberrt To Clash At The Box Office In April?

ALSO READ: Post Kotigobba 3 And Bigg Boss Kannada 7, Sudeep Starrer Phantom To Go On Floors Next Week
Trump thanks Erdogan for averting catastrophe in Idlib

Trump also conveyed Washingtons desire for a political resolution to the Syrian conflict, White House says.

US President Donald Trump thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by phone for preventing a "humanitarian catastrophe" in northwestern Syrias Idlib province, the White House said Sunday.

"FOR THE EFFORTS TO PREVENT HUMANITARIAN CATASTROPHE"

"Trump expressed concern [yesterday] over the violence in Idlib, Syria and thanked Erdogan for Turkey's efforts to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe," deputy press secretary Judd Deere said in a statement.

"President Trump conveyed the United States desire to see an end to Russia's support for the [Bashar al-Assad] regime's atrocities and for a political resolution to the Syrian conflict," he added.

The two leaders also discussed the need to eliminate foreign interference in Libya, Deere said. "President Trump also reiterated that continued foreign interference in Libya would only serve to worsen the situation," he added.

Turkish troops are in Idlib as part of an anti-terror and peace mission.

In September 2018, Turkey and Russia agreed to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.
California legislators are expected to pass a resolution condemning the states role in the US governments internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War Two.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt's executive order in 1942 led to incarcerations at 10 camps, two in California.

The Democratic assemblyman who introduced the resolution said the state would be apologizing for a time when 'California led the racist anti-Japanese American movement.'

A monument honoring the dead is seen against the background of the Eastern Sierra mountains at the World War Two-era Manzanar internment camp in Manzanar, California, in this 2015 file photo

The measure has bipartisan support, a rarity in the Legislature.

Star Trek actor George Takei, whose family was among those interned, praised California legislators.

'Welcome, yet long overdue,' tweeted Takei, who gained fame by playing Hikaru Sulu on the Star Trek television series in the 1960s and 70s.

Takei's tweet on Sunday included a famous quote from Martin Luther King, Jr, who said: 'The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.'

Takei, who in recent years has amassed nearly three million Twitter followers, has used his large social media platform to blast President Trump.

'Welcome, yet long overdue,' tweeted Star Trek actor George Takei. Takei's tweet on Sunday included a famous quote from Martin Luther King, Jr, who said: 'The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.'

Star Trek actor George Takei (seen above in August 2019) welcomed an expected decision by the California state legislature to issue an official apology on Thursday for helping the federal government round up Japanese Americans and send them to internment camps in 1942

Takei, 82, was a five-year-old boy (left) when he and his family (right) were forced out of their homes and sent to an internment camp in Arkansas

In 2015, Takei (in uniform second from left) starred in Allegiance, a Broadway musical based on his own life story. He is seen above with the cast of the show at the Longacre Theater in New York City in November 2015

The actor, who is also an activist for LGBTQ causes, has compared the Trump administration's policies of detaining illegal immigrants to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's executive order mandating the round-up of Japanese Americans in 1942.

In June 2018, as the nation reacted to the Trump administration's policy of separating migrant families at the border, Takei said what the government was doing to illegal immigrants was worse than the internment of Japanese Americans.

Last year, Takei, 82, published a best-selling book, They Called Us Enemy, a memoir recounting his experiences as a young boy during the internment period

'At least during the internment, when I was just five years old, I was not taken from my parents,' the actor wrote in an opinion piece published in Foreign Policy magazine.

Last year, Takei, 82, published a best-selling book, They Called Us Enemy, a memoir recounting his experiences as a five-year-old who along with his family was rounded up by the government and transported to a camp in Rohwer, Arkansas.

In 2015, Takei starred in a Broadway musical, Allegiance, which tells the story of a Japanese American family forced out of their homes in Salinas, California, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and into an internment camp in rural Wyoming.

The show, which ran on Broadway for about a year, was inspired by Takei's life story.

On Tuesday, Les Ouchida was holding a photo of himself and his siblings taken in 1943 at the internment camp his family was moved to.

He was at the permanent exhibit titled 'UpRooted Japanese Americans in World War II' at the California Museum in Sacramento.

Ouchida is a docent, or guide, for the exhibit.

His family was forced to move in 1942 from their home near Sacramento to a camp in Jerome, Arkansas.

Japanese Americans' internment: A dark chapter in US history In 1942, the government of the United States created a military 'exclusion area' spanning Washington State, Oregon, California, and Arizona - areas with large populations of Japanese-Americans. The above map also shows 10 internment camps After the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in late 1941, the United States government pursued a policy of isolating American citizens of Japanese descent who were suspected of disloyalty. Executive Order 9066, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, forced Japanese-Americans, regardless of loyalty or citizenship, to leave the West Coast and other areas for designated camps surrounded by barbed wire and military police. The order signed by FDR authorized the military to remove any or all people from military areas 'as deemed necessary or desirable.' Half of those detainees were children. The order also created military zones in California, Washington State, and Oregon - all of which had large concentrations of Japanese Americans at the time. Some 120,000 Japanese Americans spent as long as four years in 10 internment camps. The order signed by FDR affected 77,000 U.S. citizens and 43,000 legal and illegal resident aliens. They were taken to camps in Western and Southern states, including California, Colorado, Idaho, Arizona, Wyoming, Utah, Arkansas, New Mexico and other sites. In August 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act, a bill providing $20,000 reparations to Japanese-Americans interned during World War II, conceding that 'no payment can make up for those lost years.' The internment camps were often nothing more than makeshift barracks, with families and children cramped together behind barbed wires. The inmates were law-abiding citizens of Japanese descent who were forced to sell their businesses and properties at a steep loss before they were taken by the war relocation authorities to the camps. 'We came out of these camps with a sense of shame and guilt, of having been considered betrayers of our country,' John Tateishi said of the experience, which he called 'humiliating and disorienting.' 'There were no complaints, no big rallies or demands for justice because it was not the Japanese way,' he told National Public Radio



National Archives Catalog Privacy Policy Advertisement

In this photo from last Tuesday, Les Ouchida holds a 1943 photo of himself, front row, center, and his siblings taken at the internment camp his family was moved to in 1942

Ouchida and his family were forced to move in 1942 from their home near Sacramento to a camp in Jerome, Arkansas

Ouchida is now a guide at the California Museum in Sacramento, which houses a permanent exhibit titled 'UpRooted Japanese Americans in World War II'

A building that was once a housing barrack for Japanese Americans interned at the Manzanar War Relocation Camp during World War II sits on what is now the Manzanar Historic Site

The Manzanar internment camp is seen in the above photo which was taken in 1942

The first group of 82 Japanese Americans arrive at the Manzanar internment camp (or 'War Relocation Center') carrying their belongings in suitcases and bags on March 21, 1942

Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, D-Torrence has introduced the resolution to apologize for California's role in carrying out the federal government's internment of Japanese-Americans.

A similar resolution will be brought up before the state Senate by Senator Richard Pan, D-Sacramento.

Ouchida was born an American just outside California's capital city, but his citizenship mattered little after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and the United States declared war.

Based solely on their Japanese ancestry, the 5-year-old and his family were taken from their home in 1942 and imprisoned far away in Arkansas.

They were among 120,000 Japanese Americans held at 10 internment camps during World War II, their only fault being 'we had the wrong last names and wrong faces,' said Ouchida, now 82 and living a short drive from where he grew up and was taken as a boy due to fear that Japanese Americans would side with Japan in the war.

California's Legislature is expected to approve a resolution offering an apology to Ouchida and other internment victims for the state's role in aiding the US government's policy and condemning actions that helped fan anti-Japanese discrimination.

Japanese Americans are seen above transferring from train to bus at Lone Pine, California - bound for Manzanar

A guard tower stands near the entrance to the World War II Japanese Internment Camp at Manzanar

President Franklin D. Roosevelts executive order No. 9066 establishing the camps was signed on Feb. 19, 1942, and 2/19 now is marked by Japanese Americans as a Day of Remembrance.

Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi was born in Japan and is one the roughly 430,000 people of Japanese descent living in California, the largest population of any state.

The Democrat who represents Manhattan Beach and other beach communities near Los Angeles introduced the resolution.

'We like to talk a lot about how we lead the nation by example,' he said.

'Unfortunately, in this case, California led the racist anti-Japanese American movement.'

A congressional commission in 1983 concluded that the detentions were a result of 'racial prejudice, war hysteria and failure of political leadership.'

Five years later, the US government formally apologized and paid $20,000 in reparations to each victim.

The money didn't come close to replacing what was lost.

Ouchida says his father owned a profitable delivery business with 20 trucks. He never fully recovered from losing his business and died early.

The California resolution doesn't come with any compensation.

It targets the actions of the California Legislature at the time for supporting the internments.

Two camps were located in the state - Manzanar on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada in central California and Tule Lake near the Oregon state line, the largest of all the camps.

'I want the California Legislature to officially acknowledge and apologize while these camp survivors are still alive,' Muratsuchi said.

He said anti-Japanese sentiment began in California as early as 1913, when the state passed the California Alien Land Law, targeting Japanese farmers who some in California's massive agricultural industry perceived as a threat.

Seven years later the state barred anyone with Japanese ancestry from buying farmland.

The internment of Ouchida, his older brother and parents began in Fresno, California.

Three months later they were sent to Jerome, Arkansas, where they stayed for most of the war.

Given their young ages at the time, many living victims such as Ouchida dont remember much of life in the camps. But he does recall straw-filled mattresses and little privacy.

Communal bathrooms had rows of toilets with no barriers between users.

'They put a bag over their heads when they went to the bathroom' for privacy, said Ouchida, who teaches about the internments at the California Museum in Sacramento.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt's executive order in 1942 led to incarcerations at 10 camps, two in California. FDR is seen above in the undated file photo

Before the last camp was closed in 1946, Ouchida's family was shipped to a facility in Arizona.

When the family was freed, they took a Greyhound bus back to California.

When it reached a stop sign near their community outside Sacramento, 'I still remember the ladies on the bus started crying,' Ouchida said.

'Because they were home.'

The resolution, co-introduced by California Assembly Republican Leader Marie Waldron of Escondido, makes a passing reference to 'recent national events' and says they serve as a reminder 'to learn from the mistakes of the past.'

Muratsuchi said the inspiration for that passage were migrant children held in US government custody over the past year.

Ouchida said Japanese families like his always considered themselves loyal citizens before and after the internments.

He holds no animosity toward the US or California governments, choosing to focus on positives outgrowths like the permanent exhibit at the California Museum that provides an unvarnished view of the internments.

'Even if it took time, we have the goodness to still apologize,' he said.
Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

LinkedIn

Email

Telegram



Washington, D.C., February 17, 2020  Pakistan authorities should take swift action to launch a thorough and credible investigation into the murder of journalist Aziz Memon, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Memon, who worked for the privately-owned Sindhi TV channel KTN News and the Sindhi-language Daily Kawish newspaper, was found strangled to death in an irrigation ditch yesterday near the town of Mehrabpur in the Naushahro Feroze District of Sindh province, according to news reports.

The tragic murder of Aziz Memon deserves swift justice, which is something Pakistani authorities have repeatedly failed to deliver for journalists, said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Steven Butler. Given the victims previous allegations of threats from local officials, it is essential that the investigation be free from political meddling.

Months earlier, Memon released a video, now circulating on Twitter, in which he said officials of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party and local police had threatened him over his reporting. His reporting included allegations that individuals were paid to attend a widely publicized 2019 train march, in which PPP Chair Bilawal Bhutto Zardari stopped at train stations to give speeches. The PPP is the dominant political party of Sindh province.

Fawad Chaudhry, Pakistans federal minister for science and technology and the former information minister, called in a Twitter post for the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take notice of the case, and for the Federal Investigation Agency to investigate the murder.

PPP Chair Bhutto Zardari issued a statement condemning the murder and called for a swift and impartial investigation. An email sent to the PPP asking for comment about the allegations against the party was not immediately answered.

Naushahro Feroze Senior Superintendent of Police Mohammad Farooq told CPJ that police were interrogating three individuals in connection with the murder. He added that while Memon had complained about police threats a year ago, Memon did not report any threat to police in the last six months.

Journalists in Sindh have been protesting for months against what they have called abuse by police, as CPJ reported in December. Pakistan ranked 8th on CPJs 2019 Global Impunity Index, with 16 unsolved killings of journalists in the past 10 years. Of the 34 journalists who were murdered for their work since 1992, when CPJ began keeping detailed records, partial justice has been achieved in only three cases, according to CPJ research.

[EDITORS NOTE: The text in the sixth paragraph has been updated to include comments from the Sindh police received after this articles initial publication.]
Albuquerque City Council meetings may move a little faster if Council President Pat Davis has his way.

Davis wants to limit the number of proclamations councilors can make during their twice-monthly meetings, setting a maximum of four per councilor per year.

His proposal would also cap the total number issued at any single meeting at two.

Councilors customarily celebrate constituents and causes in the glow of the GOV TV spotlight by handing out proclamations at the start of their televised meetings. At one recent session, for example, they honored a retiring City Council staffer, Solid Waste Department workers and a high school soccer team.

Councilors have in recent months also presented proclamations to recognize the Albuquerque Womens March, the Albuquerque Isotopes and West Side Day at the Legislature. The recipient of the West Side Day proclamation  the West Central Community Development Group  had also been honored four months prior for work on the Route 66 West Fest event.

Davis said the fanfare  which includes speeches and photos  can sometimes push other City Council decisions late into the night, which is why he is proposing the cap.

People can sit in our meetings sometimes for four and five hours waiting to get to a neighborhood zoning hearing or to substantive (council) business since these proclamations are sometimes taking up the first two hours of our meetings, he said. Were just trying to get to a place that were taking care of business when people have a chance to watch and participate more.

His proposal to amend the City Council rules to limit the proclamations says councilors can still present proclamations at other times and in other venues. As an example, he said he once issued one to a 100-year-old veteran by attending the mans birthday party.

The City Council meeting was never designed to be the only place these could be issued, he said.

HIS HONOR: Charles W. Daniels legacy will live on in court, as the Bernalillo County Commission last week unanimously voted to name a county courthouse courtroom after the late New Mexico Supreme Court chief justice.

Daniels, who died last year, had been a law professor, civil rights and criminal defense attorney before his 2007 appointment to the state Supreme Court.

Several people attended the County Commission meeting to speak about Daniels impact on the community.

District Judge Clay Campbell said Daniels embodied the spirit of justice for all. A University of New Mexico School of Law student said Daniels  who had taught at UNM  was caring and accessible, calling him a man of the students.

Commissioner Debbie OMalley, who sponsored the resolution to name the courtroom after Daniels, said he was worthy of the distinction and a very accomplished man of integrity and courage.

PARK(ING) PLANS: The developer behind Winrock Town Center is lining up funding for a new round of infrastructure upgrades, including a 1,050-space, four-level parking garage east of the womens Dillards, a park in the middle of the property, and a main entrance drive north of the BJs Restaurant and Brewhouse.

The Albuquerque City Council recently approved the Winrock Tax Increment Development Districts issuance of up to $120 million in bonds to refinance older bonds and pay for the new improvements.

Jessica Dyer: jdyer@abqjournal.com
Forget lone hackers and gangs of digital outlaws: Governments, acting for good and ill, have become the prime movers in the cybersecurity world.

What's happening: Three big stories this week drove home government's central role in a myriad of major breaches, hacks and scams.

1. Equifax: Monday, the Justice Department indicted four members of China's military for executing the 2017 Equifax data breach, which exposed the personal data of nearly 150 million Americans.

Equifax had already agreed to a settlement with state and federal authorities for hundreds of millions of dollars, one that focused on efforts to recompense consumers harmed by the breach and to provide incentives to businesses to batten down their hatches against similar future attacks.

By attributing the breach to China and bringing the receipts, the U.S. made clear that what had seemed to be a business story was in fact more about China's hunger for data on U.S. citizens  and the ability of its state-employed actors to execute one of the largest data heists in history.

2. Huawei: The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that U.S. officials say Huawei, the Chinese telecom giant, has been running a decade-long program of installing secret back doors in its equipment that allow it to monitor network traffic on behalf of the Chinese government.

The charges, which Huawei vehemently denies, repeat long-standing U.S. claims against the company, and many experts are critical of Huawei's close ties to the Chinese authorities. But the U.S. has never publicly provided evidence to back the charge.

3. The CIA: For nearly 50 years, a Swiss company called Crypto AG that sold encryption systems to governments around the world operated as a CIA front and enabled the U.S. to monitor those governments' secret communications, a remarkable Washington Post investigation revealed Tuesday.

The audacity, scope and span of the operation (from 1970 to 2018) make it "one of the most momentous and simply mind-boggling revelations in intelligence history," as Thomas Rid, professor of strategic studies at Johns Hopkins, said on Twitter.

Flashback: Even when governments aren't directly pulling the levers, their power shapes events in cybersecurity.

When a group that called itself the Shadow Brokers stole and shared a trove of NSA hacking tools in 2017, third parties grabbed the NSA code and transformed it into what became known as the WannaCry and NotPetya worms, which caused enormous damage to businesses worldwide.

The bottom line: Modest-size criminal attacks on individuals and businesses can be maddening and destructive, and they come from all directions. But increasingly, we're learning that massive-scale hacks and breaches almost always come with a government's fingerprints somewhere on them.
HONG KONG, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- HGC Global Communications Limited (HGC), a fully-fledged fixed-line operator and ICT service provider with extensive local and international network coverage, services and infrastructure, today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Sri Lanka Telecom PLC (SLT), Sri Lanka's leading fixed-line operator and ICT service provider, marking the beginning of the two companies' collaboration on accelerated network integration and expansion using SDN technology.

HGC and SLT will work together to enhance interoperability with the goal of accelerating their customers' digitalization journey through inter-carrier network orchestration between the ASEAN and global communities, as well as network integration on HGC international marketplace by SDN.

The collaboration will enable HGC and SLT to leverage both companies' network resources and capabilities to expand their already-extensive network footprints while utilizing digital technology to provide customers with highly flexible connectivity. This marks an important step in expanding ASEAN connectivity on the SDN-enabled marketplace and demonstrates the elastic flexibility of the company's network provision across carriers. HGC's SDN alliance also enhances interoperability between service providers by riding on HGC's carrier-to-carrier API hub, which is built on SDN architecture.

In addition, the alliance will provide ASEAN and global customers with quick and easy on-demand capacity to access HGC PoPs covering Hong Kong, Myanmar, Singapore, London and Los Angeles, as well as SLT PoPs around the globe and Data Centers based in Colombo  within just a few clicks through HGC international marketplace by SDN, anytime and anywhere. It also complements SLT's existing portfolio of network services, by providing direct, dynamic connectivity to the world's largest cloud providers, such as AWS, Microsoft Azure and Alibaba Cloud; and access to global Internet Exchanges.

Mahinda Samarasinha, SLT's General Manager of Carrier Business said: "We are delighted to announce the start to collaborate on interoperability with HGC. By leveraging both SLT's and HGC's ICT capabilities and global expertise, our corporate customers can enjoy innovative solutions, on-demand services and quick and easy flexible connectivity, giving them the edge in the digital transformation race in both ASEAN and global communities."

Ravindran Mahalingam, HGC's SVP of International Business, said: "The collaboration between HGC and SLT further strengthens HGC's dedication in cultivating SDN federation starting from the ASEAN region, as well as highlighting both companies' efforts to address the customers future connectivity requirements. The robust marketplace not only creates a new business model for infrastructure providers to unite and strategically increase profitability through maximizing capability allocation, acting as a white-label platform, it also boosts competitiveness by providing increased agility throughout the telecommunications ecosystem while providing scalable network access for the ASEAN market."

Contact us to learn more: [email protected]

About HGC Global Communications Limited

HGC Global Communications Limited (HGC) is a leading Hong Kong and international fixed-line operator. The company owns an extensive network and infrastructure in Hong Kong and overseas and provides various kinds of services. HGC has 22 overseas offices, with business over 5 continents. It provides telecom infrastructure service to other operators and serves as a service provider to corporate and households. The company provides full-fledged telecom, data centre services, ICT solutions and broadband services for local, overseas, corporate and mass markets. HGC owns and operates an extensive fibre-optic network, five cross-border telecom routes integrated into tier-one telecom operators in mainland China and connects with hundreds of world-class international telecom operators. HGC is one of Hong Kong's largest Wi-Fi service providers, running over 29,000 Wi-Fi hotspots in Hong Kong. The company is committed to further investing and enriching its current infrastructure and, in parallel, adding on top the latest technologies and developing its infrastructure services and solutions. HGC is a portfolio company of I Squared Capital, an independent global infrastructure investment manager focusing on energy, utilities and transport in North America, Europe and selected fast-growing economies.

To learn more, please visit HGC's website at: www.hgc.com.hk

About Sri Lanka Telecom PLC

Sri Lanka Telecom PLC. (SLT) is the leading Digital Lifestyle Service Provider in Sri Lanka that provides a full range of ICT facilities and services in the areas of voice, data, broadband, wholesale, enterprise, TV and mobile services. SLT has been recognized by the top Enterprises and SMEs in Sri Lanka as the best and most reliable ICT Solutions Provider. Also, the company was entrusted by other telecommunications operators in the country as the wholesaler of choice and the best network provider. SLT's 'Enterprise Solutions' encompass the entire gamut of next generation voice, networking, data hosting and managed services to facilitate local enterprises and SME businesses to compete in the global arena.

SLT launched its global brand "Xyntac" in order to better position itself in the global market as a true global carrier. Accordingly, Xyntac will promote Voice, Data & Connectivity and innovative Digital services with its product portfolio to cater the ever evolving global market requirement. Xyntac (www.xyntac.com) will operate as an SBU of SLT and expand to cater to the global wholesale community.

To learn more, please visit SLT's website at: www.slt.lk

SOURCE HGC Global Communications Limited (HGC)

Related Links

http://www.hgc.com.hk


North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited the mausoleum of his grandfather Kim Il-sung and father Kim Jong-il in the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang on Sunday to pay his respects on his father's birthday, state media reported.

It was his first public appearance in 22 days since a celebration of Lunar New Year's Day and his first appearance in public since the regime declared a national emergency on Jan. 28 to prevent the spread of coronavirus.


WARSAW, Poland - A Polish mayor on Monday deplored the decision by a sister town in France to suspend 25-year official ties with her town because it declared itself an area free of LGBT ideology.

The mayor of the south-eastern town of Tuchow, Magdalena Marszalek, blamed the rare decision by the French community it had been twinned with, Saint-Jean-de-Braye, on campaigning ahead of local elections there.

She expressed regret that severing ties will cut friendly relations among residents, as Tuchow will no longer be able to sponsor visits by people from Saint-Jean-de-Braye.

Marszalek said many in her community do not identify with the declaration adopted last year by local councillors of Polands ruling conservative Law and Justice party.

The sister municipality in central France suspended ties last week and said in a statement that France is committed to combating human rights violations based on sexual orientation ... We cannot accept that the ties that unite our two cities by a twinning oath be tainted. We condemn the position taken by our twin city of Tuchow.

Tuchow was among other towns in south-eastern Poland that adopted the declaration in May saying they wanted to defend themselves against radicals ... who attack freedom of speech, childhood innocence, the authority of family and school and the freedom of businesspeople.

The declaration came in reaction to Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, an opposition politician, declaring the capital city supportive of the LGBT community and its rights.

Polands ruling party and other social conservatives say they are trying to protect children and traditional families from being demoralized and corrupted by a growing gay rights movement.
Ryan Welch, Beuamont Enterprise / The Enterprise

When early voting begins tomorrow for primary elections on March 2, Texans will enjoy an option that voters in other states covet  the ability to vote for either the Democratic or Republican slates. Regardless of how you voted in the last election  or the last 10 elections  you can in effect cross the political aisle and vote for the other partys candidates.

This so-called open primary system is the best option, though like almost anything, it could be abused  like it is right now for the South Carolina primary on Feb. 29. Some Republican officials in that state are urging GOP voters to vote on the Democratic side this time. Its not because theyve had a change of heart, politically speaking. Their goal is to promote the Democratic candidate whom they perceive to be the weakest opponent to President Trump in November. In this case, thats democratic socialist Bernie Sanders.
India-focused funds are planning to route their funds through Singapore to escape higher tax liability after the Union budget removed some exemptions for those based in Mauritius, according to a Mint report.

The shift has been prompted by the budget levying indirect transfer provisions on category II foreign portfolio investors such as those routing their investments through Mauritius, it added.

Mauritius accounted for Rs 4.37 lakh crore worth of portfolio investments into India last year. Shifting to Singapore will ensure that category II FPIs are not saddled with higher tax liability as the city state is still exempt from indirect transfer provisions, the report cited three unnamed fund managers as saying. The removal of exemptions will mean that investors in category II FPI funds have to pay capital gains tax on indirect transfer of shares or other assets, it added.

While a majority of foreign funds were exempted from indirect transfer provisions in 2017, the Finance Bill of 2020 has removed exemptions for category II FPIs, which include hedge funds, and funds that are set up in countries not compliant with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) norms to combat money laundering and terror financing, the report said. Mauritius is not an FATF jurisdiction.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 19:37:46|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Digital maps have become a key part of China's prevention and control of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as people gradually return to their cities of residence after an extended holiday.

Local governments are cooperating with mapping service providers to trace the passenger flows in cities and take prevention measures based on the data.

A big data platform developed by Baidu Map updates the population flow data of more than 300 cities every day, including where the passengers come and go, each city's migration scale and trend, as well as urban travel intensity, providing comprehensive information of population flow for the public, media, government and scientific research.

The platform shows that the overall scale of the post-holiday travel rush has dropped significantly compared to previous years.

From the first day of the Lunar New Year to Sunday, the average congestion distance on expressways decreased by 86.6 percent nationwide and the passenger flow in transportation hubs was only 35.6 percent of the same period last year.

However, Xu Yahua, an official with the Ministry of Transport, warned that passenger transport is returning to normal levels as people start returning to work.

The comparison of population flow before and after the holiday shows that there are still a large number of people who have yet to return to their work cities.

The country's biggest cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen will be the hottest destinations for passenger inflow in the following weeks, according to the big data platform.

Local governments can pay close attention to the latest data of population flow on the platform to make sufficient preparations for epidemic prevention and control, said Li Ying, vice president of Baidu and general manager of Baidu Map.

A voice broadcast function to inform drivers of epidemic checks has been launched on the Baidu Map app in a dozen cities.

Traffic police can mark the location of epidemic checkpoints on the platform and app users will hear the voice prompt set by the police when nearing the checkpoints.

Citizens can also use the map app to check whether there were once COVID-19 patients on the vehicles they took or in the places they have been to, in order to confirm whether they are at risk of infection.

Another leading Chinese mapping service provider AutoNavi has opened an online function to the public to detail the passenger flows of the Beijing subway.

Citizens can open the updated AutoNavi app and check whether different subway stations are crowded. The passenger flow density is graded with the colors red, yellow and green.

The subway passenger flow data of the app is provided by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport.

Li Meng, a researcher from Tsinghua University, suggested that traffic departments better cooperate with tech firms to provide citizens with the latest public traffic information.

Auto Navi said it is willing to provide the service to more traffic departments of other cities.
SHANNON Airport has welcomed a US decision to award a permit to Norwegian Air International to fly across the Atlantic.

The US Department of Transport decision to award a foreign air carrier permit to Norwegian is likely to level the playing field for low cost operators looking at the transatlantic market, according to industry experts, while Shannon has had extensive discussions with the airline and expects services to follow.

A spokesperson welcomed the decision, announced overnight on Saturday, and said it was good news for Ireland and connectivity to the regions in particular.

Further to our extensive discussions with the airline we look forward to welcoming air services with Norwegian in due course.

Mayor of Limerick Cllr Kieran OHanlon welcomed the decision, as did Limerick Chamber CEO James Ring.

This is really positive news for Limerick, Shannon Airport and the greater region. All the indications are that this will translate into more transatlantic services, which will help underpin the growth in tourism and the hugely successful ongoing campaign to attract inward investment, said Mayor OHanlon.

Shannon International Airport is a huge asset to us in that regard as multi-national investment has stated time and time again. Shannon also has a particular offering, in that not alone has it a long standing tradition on transatlantic services, but it also has US pre-clearance, which benefits the business and tourism passenger greatly.

Its also hugely positive news for passengers, both inbound and outbound, as it will mean more affordable fares. Anything that enables people travel more frequently is good news for Limerick, not least given the attractiveness of this region for tourism and doing business in.

Chamber CEO James Ring said it was no secret that Shannon has been activity engaged with Norwegian on this matter from as far back as 2014, right from the very start, and for good reason.

This will translate into new services between Shannon and the US, which is very good and deserved news for Shannon but, moreover, for the wider region.

As the Taoiseach said, this has the potential to do for long-haul what Ryanair has done for short-haul. That means lower prices, more services and the fact that Ireland and Shannon has been at the very start of this movement is very good news for this region. It will be good for tourism and very good also for business.

I want to congratulate all at Shannon for their role from the very start of talks in helping to make this happen, he added.

Norwegian had received preliminary approval earlier in the year for the permit, yet the issue became something of a political one in the US presidential campaign, with then Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders among those to voice opposition to the deal.

Shannon lodged a submission in support of the carriers attempts to win a permit to operate services between Ireland and the US.

Most of the major carriers in the US were against the Norwegian bid, including American, US Airways and Delta, yet industry experts believe the deal will level the playing field for low cost operators looking at the transatlantic market.

It is understood that a service between Boston and Shannon could be on the cards, now that the way has been cleared.

Ireland is likely to become an anchor point for the States, offering a hub opportunity both for Norwegian and other carriers.
WASHINGTON  The Equal Rights Amendment is back  sort of.

Almost half a century after first sending the amendment to the states, the House voted last week to eliminate a 1982 deadline for its ratification.

The 232-183 tally fell largely along party lines, with Democrats backing the proposal and Republicans opposing it. The measure is mostly symbolic at this point, given that the Senate is unlikely to take it up.

House Democrats said that the ERA is as important as ever in light of issues like sexual violence and pay discrimination and that equality shouldnt come with an expiration date.

All Midlands House members stuck with their parties, and Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said it was a relatively easy no vote based on objections to the process.

He noted that even Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, an ERA supporter, recently said backers should go back to square one.

Virginia last month became the key 38th state to ratify the amendment, but several other states have withdrawn their support over the years.
The outbreak in China provides an opportunity for India to expand exports, Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian had said last week

New Delhi: The Finance Ministry will hold a meeting on Tuesday to assess the impact of coronavirus outbreak and any disruptions posed by it to the country's trade or the 'Make in India' initiative.

"On the impact of coronavirus outbreak and any disruptions to 'Make in India' or to Indian export/import, Finance Ministry is scheduled to hold a meeting on Tuesday, 18 February. Stakeholders welcome. If unable to attend please email your inputs at fmo@nic.in," Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a tweet on Sunday.

On the impact of #CoronavirusOutbreak and any disruptions to #MakeinIndia or to Indian export/import @FinMinIndia is scheduled to hold a meeting on Tuesday 18 Feb. Stakeholders welcome. If unable to attend please email your inputs at fmo@nic.in  Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) February 16, 2020

India is one of China's leading trade partners in Asia and has a huge trade deficit with the country.

The toll from China's coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic climbed to 1,665 on Saturday after 142 more people died, mostly in the worst-hit Hubei province, and the confirmed cases jumped to 68,500.

The outbreak in China provides an opportunity for India to expand exports, Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian had said last week.
MUNICH  With backing from several influential Republican lawmakers, U.S. President Donald Trump is requesting a 20 percent increase in the budget for the federal agency that oversees the countrys nuclear weapons stockpile, which falls under the Department of Energy.

Energy Secretary Dan Broulliette  a former lobbyist for Ford Motor Company, and the deputy secretary until he was confirmed in December  is supporting the National Nuclear Security Administrations $19.8 billion budget, which must still receive congressional approval.

Heres part of his conversation with reporters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.

Why hasnt the Trump administration made a decision about whether to extend New START, the only treaty that constrains U.S. and Russian nuclear forces, set to expire next year? What engagement with the Chinese on arms control has there been here, and whats the dialogue between administration officials and European diplomats?

Ive heard bits and pieces of conversations in the hallway about perhaps bringing the Chinese into a larger conversation around START. Id have to defer to my colleagues at the State Department and other places as to whether or not that makes sense, or whether there is even interest on the part of the Chinese in doing something like that.

I fully suspect  or, Im optimistic, if you will  that were going to get to some agreement worldwide with the Russians and others on a new agreement. What that looks like and when that occurs is not something that I can really comment on with any sort of precision or insight.

The NNSA budget proposes a 20 percent increase. Could you talk a little bit about the justification for that increase and where the additional $2 billion would go? Much has been made about it being funded by the subtraction of one Virginia class submarine from DoDs budget request.

Well, the precise accounts where DoD pulled the additional funds from to cover the increase, I dont want to say precisely because I dont know. I can tell you that DoD is covering the cost for this increase. And I can tell you the purpose of the funding is to not only continue the life-extension programs already underway, its to build out perhaps more aggressively the infrastructure around the NNSA complex  Oak Ridge National Laboratory in particular.

Story continues

We look at the lithium processing facility, we at look the need for tritium down the road, and we look at the timetables in which we need them  its very important that we start now. And the president made the decision that he wanted to move up these projects and start them now. So thats been our direction. Thats been our mission. And thats what were going to do.

In order to do that we are going to front load some of this funding and work with Congress to achieve a $19.8 billion dollar request. How [lawmakers] react to it well know in a couple weeks when the hearings start. Well know even further when the appropriators put the pen to the paper as to whether or not theyre actually going to appropriate the funds. But it is our request.

We think weve made a strong case, especially with regard to the infrastructure, that the work needs to start now, or were going to be in a position in five or 10 years that were going to regret.

The Department of Energy has some role in the analysis of Iranian nuclear intelligence. Whats your take on where the situation stands right now, whether theres any kind of follow-on in the works to the Iran nuclear deal, or JCPOA? Wheres Iran at, wheres the administration at?

We do play an important role. We work closely with our colleagues in the interagency process, all of the three-letter agencies as well as others who collect information. We provide the technical analysis through our laboratory system as to whether or not these things are accurate.

The state of play, in Iran now is that what you see in the open source reporting is concerning. [Senior Iranian leaders] announced that they want to increase enrichment. We think that theyre serious about that threat. To the extent that they are, we will validate whether thats true or not. And, you know, from the standpoint of American policy, the maximum pressure campaign will in fact, continue.

I think what were starting to sense is more and more interest in the part of the Europeans and others, to collectively come together and address the issue of not only JCPOA, but the other activity that we see all throughout the Middle East, primarily driven by Iran. The most recent attacks in Saudi Arabia are the latest example and perhaps maybe the most dramatic example.

But the cyber activity in Europe is beginning to be a concern to many of the countries here. If that continues, I think youre going see an additional effort on the part of the Europeans to come together and look at a post-JCPOA approach to Iran.

As the concerns go up, I think the anxiety levels go up. And the time to act is now.

What signs are you getting from European allies here?

You know, after the attack in Abqaiq [a Saudi oil-processing facility], we saw a short spike in oil pricing worldwide. But it came right back down, so the economic impact was not nearly as large [as it could have been]. But with cyberattacks in particular, were starting to see very targeted, very, very direct, very effective efforts to shut down portions of a banking system or shut down portions of the telecommunication system.

When that happens, the effects are acute, and theyre noticed. I think its starting to draw attention in places like Berlin and places like London, other places here in Europe, where its going to force some activity and force some conversations.


AGAINST

Marja Lubeck,

Labour



AGAINST

Jenny Marcroft,

NZ First



AGAINST

Callan Neylon,

Social Credit



CAN'T SAY

Beth Houlbrooke,

ACT



WON"T SAY

Chris Penk,

National

Candidates confirmed or hoping to stand in the proposed new Helensville electorate at the General Election later this year, have mostly come out firmly against any new landfill in the Dome Valley.

Back in November, the Representation Commission, responsible for reviewing New Zealands electoral boundaries, proposed dismantling the Rodney electorate.

If accepted, the proposal would mean parts of Rodney, including the Dome Valley, would move into a rearranged Helensville electorate.

Social Credit has confirmed Callan Neylon, 21, as its candidate for Helensville. Mr Neylon has a strong interest in ecology, having set up an environmental group at Bream Bay College, where he was also a prefect and house captain.

He says Waste Managements plans to construct a landfill in the Dome do not make sense.

At a time when the Government is telling us we must reduce waste and emissions, they have allowed the sale of 1000ha of Dome Valley farmland for what would be the countrys largest rubbish dump, in a flood prone area where the potential risk of toxic leachate spilling into the Kaipara Harbour is high, he says.

Landfills are an antiquated idea that should remain in the 20th century. We should be embracing technological solutions like waste-to-energy plants.

Mr Neylon says if he and other Social Credit MPs were elected, they could play a pivotal role in cross-party negotiations to form a new government and could make the case to ban landfill as part of those negotiations.

Mr Neylons anti-landfill views are echoed by list MP Marja Lubeck who hopes to be confirmed as Labour candidate for Helensville this week.

Ms Lubeck notes that she presented a 1200 signature petition from Fight the Tip campaigners to Parliament last year urging the Government to ban landfills near waterways.

She says while MPs are not obliged to support the petitions they present, she supported this one.

She says locating a landfill in the Dome Valley is incompatible with the Governments aim of improving traffic safety in the Dome. The landfill would likely mean an extra 300 trucks a day travelling through the valley on an already treacherous stretch of highway.

Ms Lubeck shares the concern about leachate spilling into the Kaipara Harbour and has alerted Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash, who will be watching Waste Managements resource consent application to Auckland Council for the landfill closely.

NZ First list MP Jenny Marcroft says NZ First has yet to confirm a candidate for the Helensville electorate, but says the party is vehemently opposed to any new landfills.

She says an anti-landfill remit was passed at the partys annual meeting last year and it is party policy going into the General Election.

Ms Marcroft says NZ First sees waste-to-energy plants as the way of the future and wants to see them located next to railway lines so waste can be transported to them by rail rather than by road.

She adds that since the Fox River landfill disaster, it is especially clear that landfills should not be located anywhere near waterways.

National MP Chris Penk, and current Helensville MP, declined to give his personal view on the proposed landfill but says he is happy to hear from prospective constituents on the matter.

Mr Penk says the resource consent application process now underway must balance environmental and social factors among others.

I would encourage anyone with a strong view on the application to make a submission so that all perspectives can be taken into account, particularly local ones, he says.

ACT party member Beth Houlbrooke says ACT has yet to confirm its candidate for Helensville, though anticipates she would be a likely contender.

Ms Houlbrooke says she is unable to comment on the landfill at this stage as she is still currently a member of the Rodney Local Board. The Board may wish to make a submission on the Waste Management consent application and it would inappropriate for her to make any statement that would pre-judge the issue before reading the resource consent documentation.

The Green Party has also yet to confirm a candidate for Helensville. The party had not responded to enquiries about its position on the Dome Valley landfill before Mahurangi Matters went to press.

However, the decision to grant on Overseas Investment Office consent to allow Waste Management to purchase land in the Dome Valley was made by Green MP and Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage. Ms Sage has previously expressed scepticism of waste-to-energy as a possible alternative to landfill.

Helensvilles new boundaries will be finalised in April and will be in place for the General Election on September 19.

Is waste-to-energy the answer to the landfill blues? See Mahurangi Matters further coverage.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 07:58:50|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Medical team members board the flight to Hubei Province at Changshui International Airport in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, Feb. 16, 2020. The fifth batch of 108 medical workers from Yunnan left for Hubei Province on Sunday to aid the novel coronavirus control efforts there. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)
Pakistan is one of the three countries in the world where the polio virus is still endemic. The door-to-door campaign will be carried out by almost 265 thousand health workers. In the past, Taliban militants attacked groups of vaccinators accusing them of espionage and sterilization.

Islamabad (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The first national vaccination campaign against polio in Pakistan starts today, after the surge in new cases recorded last year. According to Islamabad authorities, around 40 million children will be immunized against the disease that affects the central nervous system. The campaign will be carried out by almost 265 thousand health workers who will go from house to house in search of minors under 5 who have not yet been vaccinated.

Vaccinations will be carried out throughout the territory except in Karachi, where operations started last week. The doctors' goal is to prevent new infections. A few days ago the National Institute of Health confirmed five cases in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, raising the total number of patients to 17 since the beginning of 2020. Last year there were 144 registered cases in the country, another 12 in 2018 and eight in 2017.

Dr Rana Muhammad Safdar, coordinator of the National Center for Emergency Operations, argues that the current geographical spread and intensity of transmission of the virus is a real risk for all Pakistani children. "Reaching every child - he adds - during the national door-to-door campaign will provide the necessary immune boost to our children and guarantee them to be protected from paralysis for life".

According to experts, the infection is mainly due to the distrust of the parents. In the past, Taliban militants attacked groups of vaccinators accusing them of carrying out health campaigns to sterilize children and do espionage.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are among the only three countries in the world - together with Nigeria - where the polio virus is still endemic. According to the World Health Organization, the disease is one of the most serious that affects children in the early years of life. The virus in fact attacks the cells of the central nervous system, destroying the nerves, and comes to cause paralysis or death in the most acute cases.
Photo from Getty Images.

SINGAPORE  In order to avoid an appeal hearing against his conviction and jail term for criminal breach of trust, a 55-year-old man faked his death.

But he was eventually arrested in Malaysia and brought back to Singapore.

Ng Kek Wee, who was sentenced to 30 months jail in May 2017 for misappropriating three million shares from a company, obtained a forged death certificate stating that he had died somewhere near Jakarta on 10 March last year  five days before his scheduled hearing.

For that, the former director of technology company Singalab International was jailed an additional 18 months on Monday (17 February). He pleaded guilty to one count each of abetting the provision of false information to a public servant, fabricating false evidence in a judicial proceeding and knowingly failing to attend court.

Obtained forged death certificate

Ng had initially been sentenced for misappropriating shares from a Singalab subsidiary. He then filed an appeal against his conviction and sentence on 4 July 2017.

He was also granted permission by the courts to travel to China for work after his appeal date was set on 20 July 2018.

On the day of the appeal, Ngs lawyer Lim Chee San successfully applied for an adjournment of the appeal on the basis that Ng was seeking treatment in China for various medical ailments and had been found unfit to travel to Singapore for the appeal. The appeal was adjourned to 14 September 2018.

Lim then applied for a second adjournment, stating that Ng was still seeking medical treatment in China and had been found unfit to travel. The appeal was adjourned to 15 March 2019. In the meantime, Lim informed the court that his client would be returning to Singapore for the appeal.

Lim was ordered to upload a copy of Ngs flight ticket as proof of his return. However Lim was unaware that the itinerary was forged when it was uploaded into the courts database.

The forged itinerary had falsely stated that Ngs return flight from China would make a stopover in Jakarta before arriving in Singapore on 13 March last year.

Story continues

As part of Ngs plan to fake his own death, he also travelled to Indonesia to obtain a forged death certificate. He then convinced someone in Indonesia to e-mail the document to his lawyer, who presented it before Appeal Judge Tay Yong Kwang on 15 March last year.

Checks by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) found that Ng had in fact travelled to Malaysia on several occasions after his supposed death and he was arrested with the assistance of the Royal Malaysia Police on 13 August last year.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Thiagesh Sukumaran sought for an 18-month jail term in relation to Ngs attempt to fake his death.

If the accused was successful in convincing the court that he had passed away, the High Court would have abated the accuseds appeal against conviction and sentence.

The effect of this was that the authorities would have no basis to institute processes that would lead to his apprehension, such as a warrant of arrest or an Interpol notice, said the DPP.

Ng will serve his 18-month jail term after he completes the 30-month jail term for his misappropriation offence.

Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore

Other Singapore stories

Yishun fatal assault: Stepfather and son only wanted to detain alleged stalker

Man took illicit videos and photos of women, including family members, for over 13 years
Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and public sector lender IDBI Bank on Monday denied news reports of merging LIC Housing Finance with the bank.

"This refers to the news item published in the Business Standard of 17 February, 2020 regarding LIC Housing Finance - IDBI Bank merger put on fast track. In this regard we hereby deny the above news item and clarify that no such proposal has been discussed in the Board Meeting of IDBI Bank," IDBI Bank said in a statement to the stock exchanges.

Meanwhile, PTI quoted a separate statement by LIC saying that "there was absolutely no proposal to merge LICHFL with any other entity and all such rumours floating in the market are not based on facts".

Reacting to the news, shares of LIC Housing Finance on the BSE tanked and closed at Rs 379.85 on Monday, down 7.81% from its previous close. Shares of IDBI Bank on BSE closed at Rs 34.5, down 2.54% from its previous close.

The news comes amid the government's proposal to list on the stock exchanges. LIC, India's largest insurer, had a market share of 76.28% in terms of the number of policies sold, and 71% of first-year premium as on 30 November 2019. Its net premium income for FY19 stood at Rs 3.37 trillion, while net income from investments stood at Rs 2.22 trillion.

Interestingly, the government plans to sell its remaining holding in IDBI Bank to private, retail and institutional investors. In January, LIC had completed acquiring a 51% stake in IDBI Bank, after it was approved by the Union cabinet in August 2018.

Mint reported on 14 February that LIC Housing Finance Ltd. has referred 14 real estate projects for last-mile funding through the alternative investment fund (AIF) created to revive stalled housing projects.

The housing finance company's (HFC) management had told analysts on 31 January that there are 260 accounts in the developer loan portfolio and the housing finance company has identified non-performing assets (NPAs). It has also referred five such cases to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The top 10 developer loans account for roughly 15% of the developer loan book as of the December quarter of FY20. Moreover, of the total bad loans of Rs 5,686 crore, slightly more than Rs 2,000 crore is from project loans and the rest is from the retail segment.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
An inspection into one of the country's busiest foster care areas has found continuing shortcomings in some aspects of the service there.

The statutory foster care service inspection report of the Dublin South West, Kildare, West Wicklow area follows a review last September into its delivery of safe and effective services.

It was the third inspection of the foster care service area by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) since February 2018. The earlier checks identified some major non-compliances and serious risks.

This latest inspection found evidence of progress and good practice but also found that of the six national standards assessed, four were moderately non-compliant.

Of 70 children surveyed, most said they saw enough of their family and friends, and they were generally positive about their foster families and their social workers, although 12 children who responded to questionnaires said that they did not have a social worker.

"At the end of the inspection, there were a small number of children who had not been visited by a social worker within the previous six months," HIQA said, adding there was "insufficient evidence of adequate oversight of unallocated cases".

It also said some children were living in other areas of the country for sufficiently long periods to have their care transferred there, but this had not happened in a timely way. HIQA also criticised the quality of record-keeping and said there were 34 children whose child in care reviews were overdue at the time of inspection. There were also 34 care plans which were not up to date.

The inspection report said social workers worked to protect children from abuse and there was good oversight of complaints and allegations, but "the tracking of child protection and welfare concerns against people other than the childrens foster carers required improvement".

It said there were gaps in the aftercare service and there were continuing significant delays in the assessment of relative carers, as well as shortcomings in terms of foster carer reviews.

"One principal social worker estimated that, with these resources in place, the area would take a further 13 months to get all foster carer reviews up to date," it said.

While Tuslas National Child Care Information system (NCCIS) for recording childrens information was implemented in the area in July 2018, the NCCIS user liaison officer post was vacant for the first six months and not filled until January 2019 - "As a result, the NCCIS system was not as well embedded in the area as in other Tusla areas," it said.

"This area is now subject to a service improvement plan, which has been put in place by Tusla National Office," HIQA said.

www.hiqa.ie
Highlights Telegram has added some new features to the app in a bid to make it more attractive to users.

The new features include fast media viewer, people nearby 2.0, redesigned profile pages, 17 New Emojis

Telegram is now being known for the new features it offers with every update.

WhatsApp is the top messaging app in the world. But that doesn't mean Telegram, which is also fairly popular and is growing, is sitting idle. Telegram has added some new features to the app in a bid to make it more attractive to users. The update Telegram v5.15 offers new features like Fast Media Viewer, updated profile pages and People Nearby 2.0.

Now, it is true that the revamped features may not immediately help Telegram take on WhatsApp, which now has over 2 billion active users, and which too continues to add new features to the app -- hello upcoming Dark Mode -- but it surely makes Telegram more competitive. This is also particular true because a lot of privacy-minded users are preferring Telegram over WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook.

As far as the new features are concerned, here is how they will work.

Fast Media Viewer:

Why swipe when you can tap? This is precisely the purpose of this feature. It will keep your phone from getting smudged through swiping. This feature works while you are browsing through media in any section of the app. It allows users to browse media files just by tapping on the right and left edges of the screen. It will work with all media sections of the app.

People Nearby 2.0

Last year in June, Telegram (v5.8) had come up with People Nearby feature. The feature allowed the user to build contacts without actually sharing his contact number. Moreover, the feature helped its users to add "location-based" contacts. For instance, if someone was in the vicinity, a user could get in touch with that person without sharing contact numbers. This enhanced the biggest asset for which the messenger is known, i.e. privacy.

In the latest version, Telegram has come up with People Nearby 2.0 feature and it will help the user meet new people, make groups of like-minded people. By clicking on the Contacts section followed by "Add people nearby" the user will be able to add people and can make himself visible by clicking on "make myself visible".

Redesigned Profile Pages:

One can browse through the profile pictures of their contacts. In Telegram's words, the update transforms profiles into "one of the most functional and beautiful sections" of the app.

17 New Emojis

Last but not the least the app has introduced 17 more emojis to choose from.

Telegram is now being known for the new features it offers with every update. It was only a few days back that the messaging platform came up with features like creating customised themes and a "send when online" feature. Apart from this, it came out with Telegram polls which would help the user take responses from his contacts. Earlier, the v5.13 had also introduced verifiable builds where it became the first-ever messaging app to allow users to verify that the code on GitHub is the exact same code used to build the app released on Playstore.
GOP Senator John Kennedy over the weekend criticized President Trumps decision to tweet about the Justice Departments case against his longtime associate Roger Stone, suggesting that the president should refrain from commenting on sensitive investigations even if he is allowed to do so.

Does the president have a right to tweet about a case? Of course. Just because you can sing, though, doesnt mean you should sing, Kennedy said Sunday on CBS.

You can have a voice like Mick Jagger, but you wouldnt want to start belting out Honky Tonk Women in church, the Louisiana Republican quipped. This is a case where tweeting less would not cause brain damage.

After Trump complained last week on Twitter that the prosecutors seven-to-nine-year sentencing recommendation for Stone constituted a horrible and very unfair situation, his Justice Department submitted a revised filing stating that the prosecutors recommended lengthy sentence could be considered excessive and unwarranted.

Stone was convicted of lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstructing the Houses investigation into the Trump campaigns connections to Russia. All four of the prosecutors who recommended Stones seven-to-nine-year sentence either resigned or quit the case after the DOJ weighed in.

The White House has denied Trump pressured the Justice Department to reduce Stones sentence.

Afterwards, Trump congratulated Attorney General William Barr for taking charge of a case that was totally out of control and perhaps should not have even been brought.

Barr expressed frustration, however, at the presidents public commentary on sensitive investigations, saying Trumps tweeting makes it, impossible for me to do my job and to assure the courts and the prosecutors in the department that were doing our work with integrity.

Stone is pretty good at bad decisions, Kennedy said, but he added that Trumps remarks put Barr in an awkward spot, and Barr did not compromise his integrity by intervening in the case.

More from National Review
Was Queen Elizabeth II really the one who caused Princess Diana and Prince Charles to divorce instead of helping the two mend their relationship?

Princess Diana chose not to remain silent when she discovered that Prince Charles restarted his romantic entanglement with Camilla. She even confronted "the other woman" at her sister's birthday party just to protect her marriage with the Prince of Wales.

After all her efforts to save their then-dying relationship, Princess Diana abruptly stopped since she thought she was not in the position to do anything about it. In the end, it convinced the royal watchers that her decision to break off her ties with Prince Charles was her choice after all.

However, while everyone thought that it was solely Diana's decision to legally separate from the heir to the throne, it was only through her former butler from which people learned that the story was a myth.

Princess Diana Never Wanted a Divorce

Talking with The Sun, the former butler Paul Burrell revealed that Queen Elizabeth II wanted the marriage to end.

According to Burrell, the Queen sent a letter to Princess Diana a few weeks after her bombshell BBC Panorama interview with Martin Bashir in 1995. It was in the same interview where she assured herself that she could not do anything about his husband's affair anymore.

"But I wasn't in a position to do anything about it," Diana said before claiming that there were "three" people involved in the marriage, referring to Prince Charles infidelity with Camilla, now the Duchess of Cornwall.

When asked how she knew, Diana said, "Oh, a woman's instinct is a very good one."

Burrell added that Princess Diana wanting to have a divorce was a myth since she never wanted to do anything but a separation.

"Princess Diana showed me a letter one day which was sent by the Queen," Burrell divulged. "It was very obvious to make out that was from the Queen."

The former butler knew what the Queen's handwriting looks like, and the content shocked him even more.

The letter Princess Diana received said that Her Royal Highness had talks with the Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey, Prime Minister John Major, and Prince Charles. They all agreed that the best solution to stop all the fuss was to let the princess file for a divorce.

Burrell remembered how shocked the Princess of Wales was after seeing the letter. so much so that she exclaimed, "That's rich! They get to decide whether I divorce!"

Princess Diana Still Loved The Prince

The July 1981 "Wedding of the Century" came to an end in August 28, 1996 after Diana and Charles finalized their divorce papers.

The Palace provided her with 17million and 350,000 a year to maintain her private office even after losing her HRH title. Moreover, she also shared custody of their two sons: Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex.

But despite all these riches she had, the 2013 documentary "Royalty Close Up: The Photography of Kent Gavin" which was aired on Amazon Prime revealed that she still loved Prince Charles despite their unhappy ending.

"She said to me after all the rumors of the marriage and everything, she said on a flight somewhere: 'Kent, you won't believe it, but I still love him," Gavin recalled.

Until she died due to a tragic car accident, it was clear that it was Princess Diana who loved more -- and lost the most.
Approximately 1,600 service members from more than 30 African and partner nations are participating in Flintlock 2020 at multiple locations in Mauritania and Senegal from Feb. 17-28, 2020.



U.S. Army Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, commander, U.S. Africa Command, addresses force U.S. military service members at Camp Simba, Kenya, Feb. 12, 2020 (Picture source: U.S. Air Force /Tech. Sgt. Christopher Ruano)

Flintlock is an annual, African-led, integrated military and law enforcement exercise that has strengthened key partner-nation forces throughout North and West Africa as well as Western Special Operations Forces since 2005. Flintlock is U.S. Africa Commands premier and largest annual Special Operations Forces exercise. "Strategic threats will emanate from Africa that will pose not only regional challenges to U.S. interests but global ones as well. These threats include malign actors with regional and global reach as well as terrorist networks with large aspirations. No single nation can combat these threats alone, said U.S. Army Gen. Stephen Townsend, U.S. Africa Command commander. "With over 1,600 troops from over 30 nations participating, Flintlock builds capabilities, improves readiness and enables an international approach to deal with these common challenges.

This year, Flintlock is hosted by Mauritania with one outstation in Senegal. The exercise is designed to strengthen the ability of key partner nations in the region to counter violent extremist organizations, protect their borders, and provide security for their people. The willingness of Mauritania and Senegal to host this years exercise reflects a positive and broader commitment by African partners to help solve African problems. Additionally, the exercise bolsters partnerships between African, U.S., and International Special Operations Forces and law enforcement agencies, increasing their ability to work together during ongoing multinational operations and in response to crises.

Flintlock is an example of how the international community can face complex challenges both in the Sahel and across Africa. No country can defeat these threats alone and no country has every answer. Only by addressing instability, the root of terrorism, as an international problem by building multi-national partnerships can we create a prosperous future, said U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Dagvin R.M. Anderson, Commander, Special Operations Command Africa. participating African nations include Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Cabo Verde, Cote dIvoire, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo. International partners include Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.



Moroccan soldiers from the 2nd Battalion Infantry Paratroopers engage a simulated enemy during the opening days of Flintlock near Thies, Senegal, Feb. 16, 2020 (Picture source: U.S. Army/Spc. Miguel Pena)

Flintlock reflects a mutual commitment to countering malign activity and violent extremists throughout the trans-Sahel region. Since 2005, nations from throughout Africa, Europe, North America and elsewhere have come together in austere environments to work and train together with one clear goal: to help improve conditions and the capabilities of partner nations so the people in this region can pursue a life free from violence.

While regional security is the main focus of the exercise, lessons learned and shared at Flintlock will create lasting effects beyond North and West Africa. The terrorists who seek to expand their influence here also potentially threaten our friends throughout the world. By bringing together the considerable talent of African and international partners, we are collectively stronger, and we can stop the cancer of violent extremism from spreading.

Flintlock is not focused on any specific security situation but instead on developing capacity and strengthening bonds among exercise participants. Each of the hosting nations have been instrumental in leading the planning efforts of Flintlock 2020, and this cumulative exercise will continue to build on the success of previous Flintlock exercises to make all of us stronger and ready to take on the challenges of today and the years to come.



Members of the Guinea Armed Forces practice advanced weapons techniques during the Flintlock Exercise in Nouakchott, Mauritania, Feb. 15, 2020 (Picture source: U.S. Army/Staff Sgt. Sidney Sale)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Jakarta  Mon, February 17, 2020 16:19 694 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2064fc0f6 2 National Papua,human-rights-violations,gross-human-rights-violation,Paniai,TNI,Indonesian-Military Free

Indonesia's military shot dead four students in the country's restive Papua region during 2014 protests and carried out "gross human rights violations", a commission investigating the uprising concluded Monday.

Komnas HAM issued its findings five years after the high-school students were gunned down in Paniai, a central area of insurgency-wracked Papua province, which shares a border with independent Papua New Guinea.

"This incident constitutes crimes against humanity," the commission's chief investigator Muhammad Choirul Anam told AFP in a statement Monday.

The military did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Komnas HAM said it had forwarded its dossier on the unrest to the country's attorney general for possible prosecution.

The probe was hampered by long delays due to attempts by unnamed individuals to hide evidence, the human rights commission said.

'Torture'

Rank-and-file soldiers and their superiors should shoulder the blame for the deaths of the students, aged 17 and 18, as well as "torturing" another 21 demonstrating Papuans, it said, without elaborating.

The protests were sparked by the alleged beatings of other Papuan youths by the army. Security forces eventually opened fire on a crowd after demonstrators threw stones at a military office.

The commission interviewed two dozen witnesses, analysed documents and visited the scene to determine whether the military was involved in the deaths.

So far no-one has been charged.
KANSAS CITY, Kan., Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Dairy Farmers of America, Inc. (DFA) announced today an agreement has been reached with Dean Foods (Dean) for the farmer-owned Cooperative to become the stalking horse bidder to acquire a substantial portion of Dean's assets and business.

The two parties have been working to reach an agreement since DFA became aware of Dean's plan to initiate voluntary Chapter 11 reorganization proceedings.

As part of the proposed deal, DFA has agreed to pay a base purchase price of $425 million, and assume various liabilities, subject to certain adjustments, to acquire 44 of Dean's facilities and associated direct store delivery system, as well as certain corporate and other assets and functions.

While the parties have reached an agreement on the terms of the asset purchase, the transaction remains subject to various approvals, including approval from the Bankruptcy Court overseeing Dean's Chapter 11 reorganization and the U.S. Department of Justice.

"As Dean is the largest dairy processor in the country and a significant customer of DFA, it is important to ensure continued secure markets for our members' milk and minimal disruption to the U.S. dairy industry," said Rick Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer. "As a family farmer-owned and governed cooperative, no one has a greater interest in preserving and expanding milk markets than DFA. We are pleased that we have come to an agreement on a deal that we believe is fair for both parties."

DFA is advised in this matter by Latham & Watkins, LLP, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, LLP and Houlihan Lokey.

About Dairy Farmers of America:

Dairy Farmers of America is a national, farmer-owned dairy cooperative focusing on quality, innovation and the future of family dairies. While supporting and serving 14,000 family farmers, DFA works with some of the world's largest food companies to develop ingredients that satisfy their customers' cravings while staying committed to social responsibility and ethical farming. For more information, please visit dfamilk.com .

SOURCE Dairy Farmers of America

Related Links

www.dfamilk.com


The New Jersey State Police has issued an overdose alert for Sussex County following 11 deaths in January, and the toll could have been worse.

Police and emergency medical service workers reported a 50% increase in administering naloxone, a life-saving opioid overdose antidote, for the month.

The 11 suspected drug-related overdoses in Sussex County represented a 175% increase from the 4 deadly overdoses in December, state police said.

Becky Carlson, executive director of the Center for Prevention and Counseling in Newton, is among those expressing concern.

We were really alarmed, as was everybody. It was a huge number of overdoses for us to incur in such a short time, Carlson told NJ Advance Media on Monday.

This is not the first time that authorities have put a spotlight on overdose deaths in Sussex County, which is home to 140,000.

In April 2017, Sussex County Prosecutor Francis Koch said a deadlier than usual batch of heroin contributed to a dozen overdoses in one week, including three fatalities.

The State Police announcement noted that an increasing amount of heroin, upon analysis by state and independent public labs, has been found to contain fentanyl - a synthetic opioid pain reliever - or fentanyl class compounds.

Moreover, opioids such as fentanyl are being adulterated in some cases with stimulants.

Fentanyl is similar to morphine but is 50 to 100 times more potent, state police said.

Carlsons organization, for more than 45 years, has worked to encourage addiction-free living through a wide range of services.

She said that 20 people attended on Monday a training program on administering Narcan, the brand name for naloxone.

When people overdose, we want to insure they dont pass away, she said.

The New Jersey State Police alert was issued in conjunction with the state medical examiners office and the prosecutors office in Sussex County.

Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RobJenningsNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.
JOURNALIST: An increase has been seen in arrivals of refugees on Greek islands. How does the government plan to deal with this increase?

M. VARVITSIOTIS: Since last July, new arrivals of refugees and migrants have increased by 200%. Turkey is not cooperating enough on checking the flows. This is why we passed a new law that accelerates the asylum procedure and went into effect on 1 January. At the same time, we are restructuring our forces to make it clear that Greece is guarding its borders, and we are trying to increase the number of returns to Turkey.

JOURNALIST: Is it true that 30 people are returned to Turkey every day?

M. VARVITSIOTIS: Yes, but the number of arrivals is five times that, and sometimes ten times that.

JOURNALIST: How are you ensuring the fair consideration of these applications for asylum?

M. VARVITSIOTIS: Consideration of the application is one thing, and opening our borders to this wave of migrants is another. What is being limited is the manner in which migrants can appeal a rejection, not the legality of the procedure.

JOURNALIST: One of your ideas is to construct a barrier at sea ...

M. VARVITSIOTIS: Its not an idea. It is one of the systems we want to test so we can see whether it discourages new flows.

JOURNALIST: Was it taken into account that the barrier may cause new deaths?

M. VARVITSIOTIS: How can that be said when the measure has not even been implemented?

JOURNALIST: The centres on the islands are functioning well beyond capacity: Moria has a capacity of 3,000, and it is hosting 20,000 migrants. Is there any plan for dealing with this?

M. VARVITSIOTIS: They cant leave the islands while their asylum applications are being examined. We dont want to send the message that everyone who gets to Greece immediately leaves the camps. Whats more, the residents of the islands cant take much more of this. We intend to build closed centres for those whose asylum applications are rejected.

JOURNALIST: Will the closed centres be used only for those whose applications have been rejected?

M. VARVITSIOTIS: Yes.

JOURNALIST: And what about the people in other centres?

M. VARVITSIOTIS: This will take time. The new system went into effect at the beginning of January. Many of them were also isolated in the old system. Look: In Greece, we are trying to follow all of the rules on how to handle migrants and applicants for asylum. But we cant convert the Greek islands into a European Ellis Island.

JOURNALIST: How do you see the changes in Turkish foreign policy?

M. VARVITSIOTIS: What Turkey is doing is blackmailing the EU, either for more money or to use the money as it sees fit. For instance, returning persons to Syria in order to alter the demographic make-up of certain regions  or threatening to flood Europe with refugees. This is clearly blackmail, and it isnt directed at Athens. It is directed at Brussels. We should not allow this kind of blackmail. It is absurd for the EU  the most advanced democracy, with a population of 300 million  to fear 100,000 refugees crossing its borders. We should have a mechanism that protects us  a system that bears in mind both the security of our citizens and the Unions humanitarian values. At this point, I would like to thank Portugal for supporting Greece, participating in the refugee relocation programme, sending coastguard personnel to our islands and contributing constructively to the dialogue that is constantly being blocked by the Visegrad countries, who argue that this is not a European problem, but a problem for the countries on Europes external borders. The people who arrive on Lesvos dont want to stay there. They want to go to Frankfurt, Stockholm, Amsterdam. The EU is what attracts them.

JOURNALIST: On the same topic: Recently, there was a European conference on Libya, in which Greece did not participate. There is the matter of the oil in the Mediterranean. How is Greece dealing with all of this?

M. VARVITSIOTIS: Turkey is engaging in ongoing provocation of Greece. This is a major challenge for us, because we want to defend our national space without militarising the crisis. We dont want this to move past diplomacy and become an operational crisis.

JOURNALIST: The Greek Prime Minister is attempting to draw attention to this issue. In fact, he carried out a tour of the Middle East. Is he finding that ears are more sympathetic there than in the EU?

M. VARVITSIOTIS: I think the EU hasnt yet realised that Turkey has changed. There are still countries that believe Turkey may still adopt our values. But the distance is increasing rapidly. I think that, very soon, we will see a discussion of the future of Turkeys relationship with Europe.

JOURNALIST: In terms of indicators, the economic situation in Greece has improved. When will improved indicators translate into an improvement in peoples lives?

M. VARVITSIOTIS: The wounds from the crisis are deep and difficult to heal. The crisis lasted longer than it should have, for two reasons: First, the toxic populist political rhetoric, and second, the mix of measures that were implemented, which proved to be wrong. Greece is returning to the markets and, for the first time, is borrowing at negative interest. And at the same time it is issuing bonds at 1.6% interest. All of this will have a positive effect on households, but it will take time.

JOURNALIST: You set ambitious goals for eliminating the use of lignite in the context of the Green Deal. How do you plan to achieve this?

M. VARVITSIOTIS: We really have set the bar high. The Prime Minister has shown special interest in the green economy, and we believe Greece is in a position to achieve a rapid energy transition. Our goal is to stop using lignite in our energy sector by 2028. Greece is often cited as a bad example. Through our new policies, we want to become a model for emulation.
No casualties reported amid nine enemy attacks in Donbas in past 24 hours - JFO HQ

Russia's hybrid military forces on Sunday mounted nine attacks on Ukrainian positions in Donbas over past day, the press centre of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) has reported.

"The armed forces of the Russian Federation violated the ceasefire nine times on February 16. No casualties were reported amid attacks," the JFO staff said in its update on Facebook on Monday.

The enemy opened fire, employing proscribed 120mm and 82mm mortars, grenade launchers of various types, heavy machine guns, and rifles.

Ukrainian positions near the town of Maryinka, and the villages of Lebedynske, Novoluhanske, Krymske, Orikhove, Novozvanivka, and Khutir Vilny came under attack.
He first took on the character of Han Solo in the original Star Wars in 1977.

And Harrison Ford made a triumphant return as the Captain of the Millennium Falcon in JJ Abrams' Star Wars: The Force Awaken.

Due to the characters untimely death in the 2015 film, the 77-year-old actor was surprised the director wanted to bring him back for the latest adaption Star Wars: The Rise of the Skywalker.

Shock and awe: Harrison Ford recently revealed he was surprised JJ Abrams asked him to reprise his character Han Solo in 2019's The Rise of the Skywalker, after the characters on-screen death in 2015; seen in December

Ford told USA Today late last week that Abrams persuaded him to return yet again for the 2019 film.

'When JJ asked me to do it, I said, "Are you kidding? I'm dead,"' Ford said, though Abrams was sure there was a way. 'He said, "Sorta dead. You can do this."'

The Indiana Jones star added: 'He hadn't written anything at that time. But he said, "This is going to be great." So I said okay.'

'If JJ asked you do something,' he said. 'You'd probably do it too. He's a very persuasive guy.'

Power of persuasion: 'If JJ asked you do something,' he said. 'You'd probably do it too. He's a very persuasive guy'; seen in December

Five decades as Solo: He first took on the character of Han Solo in the original Star Wars in 1977 (on screen with Mark Hamil and Carrie Fisher)

Reunion: He was reunited with Fisher in the The Force Awakens which came 32 years after his last reprisal of the role in 1983's Return of the Jedi (on screen together in 2015)

Ford's return the The Force Awakens came 32 years after his last reprisal of the role in 1983's Return of the Jedi.

His return played an important role in relation to the character of Kylo Ren, played by Adam Driver.

The Hollywood star now views his part in the movie as a 'useful addition' to the plot.

Discussing the role he said: 'It was a useful addition to the story and the continuing development of Adam Driver's character. And the chance to do another scene with Adam was great.'

Another return: Harrison is also poised to return to another of his most famous on-screen roles, having recently been confirmed for Indiana Jones 5 to start filming this summer; seen on February 13

Back again: The last film in the franchise was 2008's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (on screen above), which was one of the highest grossing films of the year

Meanwhile, Harrison is also poised to return to another of his most famous on-screen roles, having recently been confirmed for Indiana Jones 5 to start filming this summer.

The veteran actor has starred as the titular archaeologist in all four of the franchise's movies, and after he insisted that nobody will ever be able to replace his alter ego, Lucasfilm's boss Kathleen Kennedy confirmed the screen legend is very much 'involved' in the project.

Giving an update on the movie's progress, she said: 'We're working away, getting the script where we want it to be and then we'll be ready to go. Harrison Ford will be involved, yeah. It's not a reboot; it's a continuation.'

The last film in the franchise was 2008's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which was one of the highest grossing films of the year.
A federal judge has dismissed Dr Nicholas Meriwether's lawsuit accusing Shawnee State University of violating his constitutional rights by rebuking him for refusing to address a transgender female student using the student's preferred gender terms

A federal judge dismissed a professor's lawsuit against a small, publicly funded university in Ohio that reprimanded him for refusing to address a transgender female student using the student's preferred gender terms.

Nicholas Meriwether's lawsuit alleged that Shawnee State University officials violated his constitutionally protected rights by compelling him to speak in a way that contradicts his Christian beliefs.

Schools officials contended that such language was part of his job responsibilities, not speech protected by the First Amendment, and that the case should be dismissed.

US District Judge Susan Dlott threw out the lawsuit last week, agreeing that the manner in which Meriwether addressed the student, known in the complaint as 'Jane Doe,' wasn't protected under the First Amendment.

'The Court concludes that Meriwether failed to state a claim for violation of his rights under the United States Constitution,' Dlott wrote in her ruling, as cited by Metro Weekly. 'His speech  the manner by which he addressed a transgender student  was not protected under the First Amendment.'

Meriwether, who had taught philosophy at Shawnee State for two decades, had received a written warning for violating the school's nondiscrimination policy and unsuccessfully challenged his reprimand in a grievance process. Meriwether said he treated the student like 'other biologically male students' and continued referring to the student as 'Mr.'

Shawnee State University a small, publicly funded university in Ohio, where Meriwether had taught philosophy or 20 years

In November 2019, the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian conservative law firm based in Arizona specializing in cases involving 'religious freedom, sanctity of life, and marriage and family,' filed the federal lawsuit on Meriwether's behalf.

'In January 2018, a male student demanded that Dr. Meriwether address him as a woman because he identified as such and threatened to have Dr. Meriwether fired if he declined,' the lawsuit, the text of which was obtained by NBC News, read.

'To accede to these demands would have required Dr. Meriwether to communicate views regarding gender identity that he does not hold, that he does not wish to communicate, and that would contradict (and force him to violate) his sincerely held Christian beliefs.'

The professor's lawsuit claimed university officials compelled him to speak to the transgender student in a way that contradicts his Christian belief

The lawsuit alleged that the university 'punished' Meriwether for 'expressing views that differ from its own orthodoxy and for declining to express its mandated ideological message.'

'Continuing in their role as the self-appointed grammar police, Defendants threaten to punish him again if he continues to express his views,' the lawsuit read.

'Under their policies, all professors must refer to each student - both in and out of class - using whatever pronouns the student claims reflect his gender identity.'

Meriwether argued in his complaint that 'the number of potential gender identities is infinite' and that there are 'over one hundred different options currently available.'

Following last week's ruling, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which interceded on behalf of the transgender student during the proceedings, released a statement addressing the lawsuit's dismissal.

'We are pleased the Court affirmed that schools can ensure that all students are able to learn and the access educational opportunities available to all students without fear of discrimination,' it stated.
A professional accountant and native of Najong No.1 in the North East Region, Francis Tingoti Kombong has filed his nomination forms to contest in the New Patriotic Partys upcoming parliamentary primary in the Bunkpurugu constituency on April 25.

Francis Kombong is seeking to defeat the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for Bunkpurugu and North East Regional Minister, Solomon Boar in the internal election.

Mr. Tingoti was escorted by his supporters to file his nomination forms at the partys constituency office.

The MP, Solomon Boar is being challenged by three candidates.

These three contenders are Francis Tingoti Kombong, Minnyinlia Jabong and Daniel Jannamah Duut.

Speaking at the filing grounds, Mr. Tingoti said, his desire to contest the seat followed the overwhelming calls he received from the people to lead the NPP in the constituency.

The people contributed more than half of the filing fee, some of them are teachers, the lists is there and anyone can come and check, he said.

The Bunkpurugu constituency NPP operates from a guest house since the beginning of the constituency in the 1990s, an issue Mr. Francis Tingoti pledged to tackle as his first project for the party.

I will construct a one storey office complex with accommodation so that party members can who visit the constituency can have a place to stay. And also do their work in a more congenial environment.

More than 90% of the people are engaged in farming and Tingoti said, it is his priority to tackle poverty through lobbying for agricultural incentives for the people as well as improving the road network in the area to enhance their economic gains.

The nomination forms were received by the party's constituency election committee led by the Chairman, Mr. D.D Konlan.

He used the opportunity to advise all contestants to abide by the ethics of the party's pollical election rules in the constituency stressing on the need for respect for other candidates' views.

I want to state that if you escorted one candidate to the filing ground doesn't mean you cannot escort the other candidates. If you refuse to do that you are showing the weakness and division of the party, he said.

Mr. Francis Tingoti described himself as a favourite candidate for the people who can help propel the development of the area.

The constituency has three zones, with a delegate vote register of nearly 500.

Whoever wins the primaries will have to face the NDC candidate, Abednego Bandim in the general elections.

citinewsroom
The ring showed up in the mail nearly 47 years after her husband gave it to her.

Debra McKenna, 63, lost the class ring in Portland, Maine, when she was a student at Morse High School, reported the Bangor Daily News and WGME-TV in Portland.

Her husband and high school sweetheart, Shawn, who died in 2017 after a yearslong battle with cancer, gave it to her before he headed off to college. They were married for 40 years.

McKenna told the Daily News she took it off in a department store while washing her hands in the bathroom and forgot to put it back on. By the time she returned for the ring, it was gone. Shawn wasn't upset at her for losing the ring, she recalled.

She had all but forgotten about the ring until a chance encounter nearly 4,000 miles away in January.

A Finnish sheet metal worker named Marko Saarinen stumbled upon the ring while scouring a forest with a metal detector. He told USA TODAY he spends about two hours a week metal detecting, but he has never been able to return something of value to anyone.

"I was very happy that the ring got where it belongs," Saarinen told USA TODAY.

Saarinen noticed the ring had Morse High School engraved on it. He took to Facebook, where he reached out to the Morse High class of 1973.

"Hello from Finland!" the message read. "I was metal detecting in (the) deep forest and found this high school ring."

No one else, reported WGME, had Shawn's initials  and the class group coordinated with Saarinen to return the ring to McKenna.

The ring got to her earlier this month. When it arrived, she told the Daily News, she cried.

Its very touching in this world of negativity to have decent people step forward and make an effort, McKenna told the Daily News. There are good people in the world, and we need more of them.

How, exactly, the ring made its way to the Nordic country remains unclear. McKenna noted that Shawn did travel to Finland once for a work trip, but it was nowhere near where Saarinen found the ring.

Contributing: The Associated Press. Follow Joshua Bote on Twitter: @joshua_bote

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Maine woman's lost class ring found in Finland forest 47 years later
The Shiv Sena on Monday (February 17) slammed the BJP-led government at the Centre for its preparations over the upcoming visit of US President Donald Trump to India, calling it a reflection of the "slave mentality" of Indians.

An editorial in Shiv Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' likened the February 24-25 trip of President Trump to the visit of a Badshah (emperor). Sena also took a jibe at the Gujarat government for constructing a wall to hide slums which are en route from airport to Ahmedabad's Motera stadium where President Trump is scheduled to attend an event.

Before Independence, British King or Queen used to visit one of their slave nations like India. The kind of preparations going on from taxpayers' money for the arrival of Trump is similar to it. This reflects the slave mentality of Indians," said the Saamana editorial.

Former prime minister Indira Gandhi had once given the slogan 'Garibi Hatao', which was ridiculed for a long time. It seems now Modi's plan is 'Garibi chupao' (hide poverty). Is there any financial allocation for such a wall being built in Ahmedabad? Is the US going to offer loan to India to build such walls across the country? asked Sena.

"We have heard Trump is going to be in Ahmedabad for only three hours but the wall construction is costing almost Rs 100 crore to the state exchequer," it added.

According to Sena, Trump's visit to India is a political arrangement between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the US president. It noted that in 2019 'Howdy, Modi!' (a mega event jointly addressed by the Indian prime minister and Trump) was organised in the US and a similar programme has been now organised in Gujarat ahead of the US elections. Sena asserted that the government has decided to host President Trump in Gujarat because of a considerable number of Gujarati people living in America.

Live TV

"But this visit of President Trump is neither going to stop further fall of rupee in the forex market nor offer betterment to those behind the wall (being built in front of slums in Ahmedabad)," it said.

The Sena said Trump is "not someone very wise or a statesman or someone who cares for the whole world", but he has to be treated with respect as he represents the mighty US.

"Sometimes you have to treat someone with respect to get your things done," it quipped.
Apple is expected to launch multiple iPhones this year, with at least one of them being a 5G enabled device. The smartphone is expected to make its way to the market later this year, but ahead of its launch there have been a number of leaks and rumours which claim to reveal important details about the upcoming Apple phone.

The latest claims that Apple is looking at a radical new design for the iPhone 12 for which it is designing a new 5G Antenna setup. This one will be used instead of Qualcomm's 5G antenna.

But even as Apple is working on its new smartphone, it is working on another design, one of which will possibly also use Qualcomm's QTM 525 modem. But for now, reports suggest the company doesn't want to go with the latter as it believes the antenna would make the design thicker than what Apple wants.

The reports suggest that Apple's 5G iPhone would use a phased array antenna that uses two parts to form a signal beam. This beam would be able to be steered electronically. But creating a design such as this would be quite challenging as 5G antenna for mmWave are more difficult to design due to the higher frequencies, there are tighter tolerances for manufacturing.

Apart from this, there is very little that we know about the upcoming iPhone 12. However, this 5G totting phone has been tipped to in the past to be available in four different sizes, with the smallest one sporting a 5.4-inch display, while two phones will get 6.1-inch displays one OLED and one LCD -- whereas the top of the line iPhone for the year will get a 6.7-inch OLED panel.

There's word that the 6.7-inch iPhone 12's display will have a 120Hz refresh rate. This will be significant upgrade on the iPhone 11 which has a 60Hz display on it.

Apart from this, the other big expectation from the new iPhones is that they may sport depth sensing ToF cameras. While not all models are expected to get it, at least two from the series are speculated to come bearing this lens.

div id="tab-link-wrapper-plugin">

ALSO READ: | 5G rollout in India may face potential delay due to Coronavirus
A driver is dead after running a red light at a major intersection in Brisbane's north on Monday night and smashing into two other cars, according to police.

Another driver, who was behind the wheel of one of the other two cars hit, was rushed to hospital in a critical condition.

The driver of the Toyota Corolla (pictured front) died and driver of the Mitsubishi Pajero (pictured back) is critical. Credit:On Scene News Australia

The crash occurred just before 8.30pm at the intersection of Gympie and Rode roads in Chermside.

Police said a white Toyota Corolla was travelling east along Rode Road when it ran a red light and hit a Holden Barina and Mitsubishi Pajero.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-18 04:18:44|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

TUNIS, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Tunisian President Kais Saied said on Monday that he will dissolve parliament if the government of Prime Minister-designate Elyes Fakhfakh fails to obtain parliamentary confidence vote.

Saied's statements came after the Ennahdha Party officially announced it would not vote for the Fakhfakh's government.

Fakhfakh announced on Saturday the lineup of his proposed government, composed of 31 members including 29 ministers and two secretaries of state.

After his appointment on Jan. 20, Fakhfakh was given one month to form his government and submit it for approval at parliament, where he needs at least the votes of 109 out of a total of 217 deputies.

If the prime minister-designate fails to form a new government within the constitutional deadline, the president has full right to dissolve the parliament and call for early legislative elections.
By Trend





The Turkmen Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (UIET) hosted a meeting with Charge daffaires of Ukraine in Turkmenistan Zinoviy Goshovskiy, Trend reports referring to UIET.

The diplomat spoke in favor of intensifying trade and economic cooperation between business representatives of the two countries, stressing that for his part he intends to fully contribute to this, the report said.

The meeting participants identified priority areas of cooperation of mutual interest including organization of joint high-tech enterprises, in particular in the field of agriculture, as well as building up the exchange of goods.

Goshovskiy was informed about the export potential of Turkmen companies and the growing prospects of the domestic tourism industry.

Turkmenistan is an important trade and economic partner of Ukraine in Central Asia, the website of the Ukrainian Embassy in Ashgabat said.

The main articles of Ukrainian exports to Turkmenistan are the railway cars, agricultural products, electric cars, as well as products of chemical, pharmaceutical and timber industries.

Turkmenistan mainly exports to Ukraine refined products, wool, cotton and textiles.

Ukrainian economic entities are involved in the construction of complex engineering communications, oil and gas, transport and other industries in Turkmenistan.

Furthermore, students from Turkmenistan currently take one of the leading positions in the number of foreign citizens studying at Ukrainian universities.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Bryce Baschuk, Jenny Leonard and Shawn Donnan (Bloomberg) Geneva, Switzerland  Mon, February 17, 2020 17:04 694 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2064fcb7a 2 Business Tariff-rise,US,Trump-effect,EU Free

The US said Friday it will increase the tariff rate imposed on aircraft imported from the European Union to 15 percent from 10 percent on March 18.

The move is part of a long-running spat in which the US has sought to penalize the EU for offering illegal subsidies to Airbus that harmed American aircraft maker Boeing.

The US Trade Representative said in the statement Friday that it is leaving duties on certain other European goods such as Scotch and French wine at 25 percent and will make minor changes to the previously released product list.

The US is deploying a trade tactic known as carousel retaliation, whereby governments periodically shift duties and tariff rates on different groups of goods in order to increase pain and uncertainty for exporters. On Oct. 18, Washington imposed the original 10 percent duties on Airbus aircraft and 25 percent tariffs on a range of European consumer exports, like cheeses and Spanish olives.

The US list continued to spare an Alabama Airbus plant that assembles single-aisle aircraft like the A320 by not hitting airplane parts. But the higher tariffs will hit wide body Airbus models not assembled in the US and mean higher prices for those models for US airlines that have orders on the books.

Both Boeing and Airbus have pushed US and EU officials to try and reach a negotiated settlement.

The European Commission, the EUs executive arm, said that is what it was aiming for as well.

In our view the focus now should be on finding a negotiated solution to the aircraft disputes on the basis of the concrete EU proposals for existing subsidies and future disciplines in this sector, spokesman Daniel Rosario said in an emailed statement.

Fifteen years ago, the US filed a dispute against the EUs subsidies for Airbus, and the EU filed a counter-suit shortly thereafter. The WTO has subsequently ruled that both the US and EU were guilty.

The dispute came to a head last fall when the WTO said the US could legally impose tariffs on $7.5 billion of European exports in retaliation for illegal government aid to Airbus. The award was the largest in WTO history -- almost twice as large as the previous record of $4.04 billion set in 2002.

At the time the US held off on penalizing certain luxury goods like cognac and handbags, with administration officials saying their goal in imposing the duties was to persuade the EU to negotiate a settlement.

But a transatlantic trade peace has proved elusive and US officials say the EUs overtures have been unacceptable.

The US Trade Representative subsequently launched a review of its tariffs and sought input on whether it should remove some products from the October list of tariffs; increase duties on certain goods on that list up to 100 percent; or impose levies on additional products not included in the October list.

The longer these disputes are unresolved, the greater the threat of even more tariffs on our industry, the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States said in a statement Friday. The EU has stated it may impose retaliatory tariffs this spring on US rum, vodka, and brandy in its parallel case at the WTO concerning Boeing.
A mother-of-six is dead and her baby son is in an induced coma with serious head injuries after a head-on crash between a car and a truck in central Queensland last week.

The 40-year-old female car driver, Sharon France, was killed and her nine-month-old son, Kaiden, a passenger in the car, is being closely monitored in Townsville Hospital's intensive care unit.

Nine-month-old Kaiden France is in Townsville Hospital's ICU in an induced coma.

Police said a car and small truck, travelling in opposite directions, crashed into each other on Hay Point Road at Hay Point, about 40 kilometres south of Mackay, just before midday on Friday.

Mrs France died at the scene, while Kaiden was taken to the Mackay Base Hospital with serious head injuries, before being transferred to Townsville Hospital.
Several hundred protesters including men on horseback rallied Monday against the construction of a Chinese project in Kyrgyzstan, officials said, in the latest demonstration against Beijing's growing influence.

The building of the $275 million logistics facility was agreed during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to the Central Asian nation last year.

A police spokesman in Kyrgyzstan's central Naryn region said more than 1,000 protesters took part in the demonstration. Local media reports showed images of protesters, including riders on horseback carrying Kyrgyz flags.

"We won't give Kyrgyz land to China," placards at the demonstration read, a government representative of the remote and mountainous region told AFP. The representative, who requested anonymity, said protesters had been misled by rumours that the joint Kyrgyz-Chinese company in charge of the facility would keep the land it is being built on, rather than leasing.

Local activist Amanbol Babakulov said protesters had threatened "real steps" if authorities did not cancel the project by March 1. The logistics hub is set to host a cluster of small businesses and factories that will enjoy trading preferences.

In August last year clashes between Kyrgyz villagers and Chinese employees at a Chinese-owned mine in Naryn left around 20 injured and sparked diplomatic condemnation from Beijing.

In 2016 neighbouring Kazakhstan saw nationwide rallies stired by fears that a reform to the land code would allow Chinese investors to take over Kazakh land. The country's authoritarian leadership abandoned the reform while cracking down on the protests.

Both ex-Soviet countries border China and are part of Beijing's sweeping Belt and Road Initiative to build a massive global trade network.

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

CARMAT (FR0010907956, ALCAR) (Paris:ALCAR), the designer and developer of the world's most advanced total artificial heart (TAH), aiming to provide a therapeutic alternative for people suffering from end-stage biventricular heart failure, announces that the French National Authority for Health (HAS) has deemed the CARMAT TAH eligible with observations to start a clinical study in France as part of the Forfait Innovation program.

The Forfait Innovation1 is a program that facilitates the early access of patients to innovative technologies in the early clinical development phase. According to the HAS, the CARMAT TAH meets the criteria of novelty linked to the use of biological materials in contact with blood, its capacity of auto-regulation and the lighter and quieter external equipment. Moreover, the HAS considers that the device is likely to bring a significant clinical benefit addressing an insufficiently met medical need and that the proposed clinical study allows to collect the missing data needed to assess the improvement of the care provided to transplant-eligible patients suffering from biventricular heart failure.

CARMAT has submitted a prospective multi-center non-randomized study that aims to evaluate the survival rate at 180 days after implantation without a disabling stroke or until a successful cardiac transplantation. CARMAT has obtained the approval to conduct such a clinical study by the French National Agency for Medicines and Health Products Safety (ANSM) and is awaiting the Ethics Committee final approval (CPP). CARMAT is committed to respond to the observations of HAS on the study protocol within the timelines foreseen by the Forfait Innovation program. Upon final approval of the study, CARMAT will initiate budget discussions with the ministers responsible for Health and Social Security.

Stephane Piat, Chief Executive Officer of CARMAT, comments: "We are delighted with this positive opinion from the HAS, which demonstrates a real need for more effective and safer management of heart failure patients in France. Following the recent FDA approval to initiate a feasibility study of our device in the United States, this is another major milestone of our project to make our technology rapidly available to patients eligible for heart transplant

About CARMAT: the world's most advanced total artificial heart project

A credible response to end-stage heart failure: CARMAT aims to eventually provide a response to a major public health issue associated with heart disease, the world's leading cause of death: chronic and acute heart failure. By pursuing the development of its total artificial heart, composed of the implantable bioprosthesis and its portable external power supply system to which it is connected, CARMAT intends to overcome the well-known shortfall in heart transplants for the tens of thousands of people suffering from irreversible end-stage heart failure, the most seriously affected of the 20 million patients with this progressive disease in Europe and the United States.

The result of combining two types of unique expertise: the medical expertise of Professor Carpentier, known throughout the world for inventing Carpentier-Edwards heart valves, which are the most used in the world, and the technological expertise of Airbus Group, world aerospace leader.

The first physiological artificial heart: given its size, the use of highly biocompatible materials, its unique self-regulation system and its pulsatile nature, the CARMAT total artificial heart could, assuming the clinical trials are successful, potentially save the lives of thousands of patients each year with no risk of rejection and with a good quality of life.

A project leader acknowledged at a European level: with the backing of the European Commission, CARMAT has been granted the largest subsidy ever given to an SME by Bpifrance; a total of 33 million.

Strongly committed, prestigious founders and shareholders: Matra Defense SAS (subsidiary of the Airbus Group), Professor Alain Carpentier, the Centre Chirurgical Marie Lannelongue, Truffle Capital, a leading European venture capital firm, ALIAD (Air Liquide's venture capital investor), CorNovum (an investment holding company held 50-50 by Bpifrance and the French State), the family offices of Pierre Bastid (Lohas), of Dr. Antonino Ligresti (Sante Holdings S.R.L.), of the Gaspard family (Corely Belgium SPRL and Bratya SPRL) and of M. Pierre-Edouard Sterin (BAD 21 SPRL), Groupe Therabel as well as the thousands of institutional and individual shareholders who have placed their trust in CARMAT.

For more information: www.carmatsa.com

Name: CARMAT

ISIN code: FR0010907956

Ticker: ALCAR

DISCLAIMER

This press release and the information contained herein do not constitute an offer to sell or subscribe to, or a solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe to, shares in CARMAT ("the Company") in any country. This press release contains forward-looking statements that relate to the Company's objectives. Such forward-looking statements are based solely on the current expectations and assumptions of the Company's management and involve risk and uncertainties. Potential risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, whether the Company will be successful in implementing its strategies, whether there will be continued growth in the relevant market and demand for the Company's products, new products or technological developments introduced by competitors, and risks associated with managing growth. The Company's objectives as mentioned in this press release may not be achieved for any of these reasons or due to other risks and uncertainties.

No guarantee can be given as to any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements, which are subject to inherent risks, including those described in the Document de Reference registration document filed with the Autorite des Marches Financiers under number D.19-0135 on March 12, 2019, as well as changes in economic conditions, the financial markets or the markets in which CARMAT operates. In particular, no guarantee can be given concerning the Company's ability to finalize the development, validation and industrialization of the prosthesis and the equipment required for its use, to manufacture the prostheses, satisfy the requirements of the ANSM, enroll patients, obtain satisfactory clinical results, perform the clinical trials and tests required for CE marking and to obtain the CE mark. CARMAT products are currently exclusively used within the framework of clinical trials.

1 The Forfait Innovation is granted by the ministers responsible for Health and Social Security, after the initial eligibility deemed by the HAS (https://www.has-sante.fr/jcms/c_2035788/fr/forfait-innovation).

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200217005411/en/

Contacts:

CARMAT

Stephane Piat

Chief Executive Officer

Pascale d'Arbonneau

Chief Financial Officer

Tel.: +33 1 39 45 64 50

contact@carmatsas.com

Alize RP

Press Relations

Caroline Carmagnol

Tel.: +33 6 64 18 99 59

carmat@alizerp.com

NewCap

Investor Relations Strategic Communication

Dusan Oresansky

Alexia Faure

Tel.: +33 1 44 71 94 94

carmat@newcap.eu
DUBAI, U.A.E, Feb. 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Webb Fontaine, a leading provider of solutions for trade facilitation powered by Artificial Intelligence and new generation of IT systems, has been awarded a three-year contract to set up, operate and manage a series of Customs-related services in the Central African Republic (CAR). Expected to go live in February, the e-Customs portal will provide operators with a secure and paperless environment for the electronic management of Trade Import or Export Declarations (TID or TED) by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. In addition, it will support the online submission of Customs Pre-Arrival Declarations allowing Customs administration to perform valuation and classification prior to the arrival of goods.

Moreover, operators are also given access to an Import Duties and Taxes Simulator and Trade-related information.

Webb Fontaine will also be tasked with setting up a Centre of Excellence that will enable the customs administration to progressively carry out classification and valuation of imported goods.

Didier Reymond, CEO at Webb Fontaine said: "The agreement between Webb Fontaine and the Government of the Central African Republic is part of the country's drive towards digitization and is a huge step in the right direction for the trade community of the CAR. It will mark a significant improvement of the business climate through the dematerialization of certain commercial procedures and provide the Government with a customs valuation database self-updating itself throughout the trade process."

The implementation of the e-Customs portal will provide the CAR with a range of online services that will greatly save time by reducing travel, delays and costs related to the customs clearance of goods.

Mr. Ange Maxime Kazagui, Minister of Communication and Media, and Spokesperson for the Government of the Central African Republic, outlined the authority's expectations saying: "Our Government is looking forward to the outcome of this partnership with Webb Fontaine. A first of its kind in CAR, the introduction of the e-Customs portal is a significant step in our current modernization reforms and will not only help us improve the customs revenue of the country, but also reinforce the capacity of customs officers through the Centre of Excellence."

The launch of the e-Customs platform will contribute to a decisive step in the establishment of a digital economy throughout the CAR.

About Webb Fontaine:

Trusted by governments globally, Webb Fontaine provides industry wide solutions to accelerate trade development and modernization. The company uses unique technology including Artificial Intelligence to enable countries to emerge as leaders in the future of trade.

Knowledge transfer is at the core of Webb Fontaine; comprising of a team of experts who work across the world, empowering local communities and governments.

As an industry leader with the largest R&D centres in the industry, Webb Fontaine is constantly developing international trade practices connecting countries, borders and people.

For more information visit www.webbfontaine.com

SOURCE Webb Fontaine
The rumor appeared shortly after the new coronavirus struck China and spread almost as quickly: that the outbreak now afflicting people around the world had been manufactured by the Chinese government.

The conspiracy theory lacks evidence and has been dismissed by scientists. But it has gained an audience with the help of well-connected critics of the Chinese government such as Stephen K. Bannon, President Trumps former chief strategist. And on Sunday, it got its biggest public boost yet.

Speaking on Fox News, Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, raised the possibility that the virus had originated in a high-security biochemical lab in Wuhan, the Chinese city at the center of the outbreak.
MONTREAL - The trial of Quebec media star Eric Salvail opened Monday with testimony from a former co-worker who said Salvail cornered him, exposed himself and tried to force him into performing a sex act.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/2/2020 (694 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Former radio and television personality Eric Salvail walks the halls of the courthouse in Montreal on Monday, February 17, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

MONTREAL - The trial of Quebec media star Eric Salvail opened Monday with testimony from a former co-worker who said Salvail cornered him, exposed himself and tried to force him into performing a sex act.

The 50-year-old Salvail faces charges of sexual assault, harassment and unlawful confinement for events in 1993 involving a single alleged victim.

Donald Duguay, 47, told the court he and Salvail both worked in the mailroom at Radio-Canada when he first experienced unwanted advances from Salvail. At Duguay's request, the court has waived the standard publication ban on the identity of alleged victims in sexual assault cases.

He testified that from their first meeting, Salvail made inappropriate comments and tried to seduce him, telling him he had "a nice little ass." He said he was "outraged" and asked Salvail to stop speaking to him that way, but he said in the next days Salvail persisted, grabbing his buttocks a few times and inviting him for "a little quickie."

Despite his repeated rejections and demands that the behaviour stop, Duguay said, the abuse only escalated.

The court heard that the two men were no longer working in the same department by Halloween 1993 when Salvail followed Duguay into a washroom, dropped his pants to expose himself and rubbed himself against Duguay's buttocks, "imitating a penetration."

Duguay testified that Salvail grabbed him and held him against his will. He said it was only when he threatened to scream and report Salvail that he loosened his grip and Duguay was able to flee.

Salvail's lawyer, Michel Massicotte, bombarded Duguay with questions in cross-examination. He questioned whether Duguay and Salvail had actually worked in the mailroom at the same time and he raised contradictions between what Duguay said previously to police and at his preliminary hearing and his testimony at trial.

Some of the contradictions concerned the physical layout of the washroom and the amount of time Duguay took to wash his hands.

Duguay explained that he suffers from post-traumatic stress, and different scenes were reconstructed with the aide of a psychiatrist or psychologist, meaning these details only fell into place later on. Massicotte was skeptical of his explanation.

Salvail, who has pleaded not guilty and opted for trial by judge alone, was one of Quebec's most popular entertainers until he departed show business in 2017 after allegations of sexual misconduct were published by Montreal's La Presse.

He had his own TV production company, hosted a popular talk show on Groupe V Media and was a fixture on afternoon radio in the province.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2020.
Egypt's Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled El-Enany discussed with UK Ambassador to Egypt Sir Geoffrey Adams means to boost joint cooperation in tourism and archaeology, particularly following the UK's decision to lift its ban on flights to Sharm El-Sheikh, the Egyptian tourism and antiquities ministry said.

During the meeting, El-Enany tackled ways to attract more British tourists to Egypt, saying that operating direct weekly flights from Gatwick Airport in London to Sharm El-Sheikh and flights between Luxor and Sharm El-Sheikh will contribute to drawing up new itineraries combining beach and cultural tourism.

Sir Adams asserted the importance of Egypt as a travel destination for British tourists, adding that in addition to the flights from Gatwick, travel operator Easy Jet will operate a new direct flight by mid-2020.

The two officials discussed joint projects to renovate a number of archaeological sites in Egypt.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Image: ANI

Hours after Babulal Marandi-led Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) merged with the Bharatiya Janata Party, two of its legislators, Pradeep Yadav and Bandhu Tirkey joined Congress on February 17.

Congress is a part of the ruling alliance in Jharkhand, led by Chief Minister Hemant Soren's Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). The JMM-led alliance had swept the polls held in the state last year.

The two MLAs, who were sacked by Marandi earlier for hobnobbing with Congress, joined the party in the presence of senior Congress leaders RPN Singh and Randeep Singh Surjewala.

The JVM(P) had won three seats in the 2019 assembly polls.

The JMM-Congress-RJD alliance had won 47 of the state's 81 seats, while the then ruling BJP, which ploughed a lonely furrow, bagged 25

Earlier in the day, Union Home Minister Amit Shah was present at a public rally where he welcomed Marandi, a respectable tribal leader and the first chief minister of Jharkhand, back into the saffron party.

Shah also assured the tribal leader that he will get due respect and responsibility in the BJP.

"I am delighted that Babulal Marandi has returned to BJP. I was working for his return since 2014 when I became the party president," Shah told the gathering.
Chinese health officials are resorting to testing ancient traditional remedies on patients suffering from the deadly coronavirus.

Doctors in the epicentre of the disease outbreak in Wuhan have been using Traditional Chinese Medicine combined with Western medication to try and stem the rate of people being struck down with the new illness.

Currently scientists around the world are working to develop a vaccination for the virus, recently named COVID-19, that has already killed more than 1,600.

Latest figures from Beijing today showed 68,500 cases of the illness in China and 1,665 deaths, mostly in Hubei province.

China has more than 80 running or pending clinical trials on potential treatments for coronavirus.

Medical staff attending to patients in Wuhan Fangcang hospital, a makeshift hospital to treat Covid-19 patients in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, on Friday

The latest figures from Beijing today showed 68,500 cases of coronavirus in China and 1,665 deaths, mostly in Hubei province (pictured a hospital in Wuhan)

Two clinical trials are testing whether HIV and Ebola drugs are effective at treating the symptoms.

New pharmaceutical drugs are being listed alongside traditional therapies that are thousands of years old in a public registry of China's clinical trials.

A database of biomedical studies in China, called The Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, lists ongoing controlled trials as well as traditional medicines.

One of the traditional remedies being assessed is shuanghuanglian - a Chinese herbal medicine containing extracts from Lian Qiao.

The dried fruit is said to have been used to treat infections more than 2,000 years ago.

Around 400 people are taking part in the trial into shuanghuanglian.

Wang Hesheng, the new health commission head in Hubei province told Bloomberg that doctor's 'efforts have shown some good result' in using traditional medicines..

Clinical trials for the antiviral drug Remdesivir, made by US biotech company Gilead Sciences, were approved earlier this month and the first group of patients are expected to start taking it soon.

Medical staff carrying out checks on patients in Wuhan Fangcang hospital. Two clinical trials are testing whether HIV and Ebola drugs are effective at treating the symptoms of coronavirus

The Chinese government said on Friday that a total of 1,716 health care workers had been infected with the deadly disease

The list of clinical trial drugs in China is still growing as the search for a cure continues. However, scientists are warning that only closely monitored trials should be carried out.

Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist at the World Health Organization, warned caution over which medicines are used to treat the disease.

She said: 'We want a scientific approach to testing traditional medicine.'

The coronavirus that emerged in central China at the end of last year has now killed more than 1,600 people and spread around the world.

The latest figures from China show there are almost 69,000 people infected in the country.

Outside mainland China, there have been about 780 infections reported in nearly 30 locations. Taiwan, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Japan have each reported one fatality, while France on Saturday announced the first death outside Asia, an elderly Chinese tourist.

Africa reported its first infection when a patient was discovered in Egypt on Friday.
Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister insisted Monday that his country is no longer a safe haven for terror organisations, adding that his administration fully supports the peace process in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Khans statement comes at a time, when interestingly, The United States, India, and Afghanistan have long accused his country of providing safe havens to terror organisations like the Taliban, the Haqqani network, the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).

Acknowledging publicly that the previous administrations in Pakistan did not take a tough stand against the terror groups, Khan said, I can tell you that there are no safe havens here.

Whatever the situation might have been in the past, right now, I can tell you... there is one thing we want: peace in Afghanistan." Khan said while addressing the two-day refugee summit in Islamabad also attended by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

While Pakistan cannot fully guarantee that no Taliban militants are hiding among the huge number of Afghans in Pakistan, Khan said that his government had done all it can to prevent attacks in Afghanistan, including by building a border fence.

How is the government capable of checking how militants operate from the camps, Khan said, adding that it was not possible because the Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan have had a population of over 100,000.

Khans assertion came after Afghanistan's second vice president, Sarwar Danish accused Pakistan of allowing the Taliban to recruit new fighters from Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan to launch attacks in his country.

Earlier, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres in his address stated that the people of Pakistan for 40 years have responded with generosity in hosting the Afghan refugees.

"Even though major conflict has erupted in some other part of the world; Pakistan is still the second largest refugee host. I am struck by the extraordinary solidarity and compassion," he said.

At the same time, he urged the international community to step up support for Pakistan in tackling the problem of Afghan refugees.

"The global community must step up," Guterres added.
Photo: Ebet Roberts/Redferns

Rick James is being posthumously sued for the rape of a 15 year old girl in 1979. The anonymous victim is seeking $50 million in damages, citing years of physical, psychological, and emotional injury, according to the affidavit. According to the Associated Press, the incident allegedly occurred while the victim was living at a youth group home in Buffalo, New York. He grabbed my hair and pushed my head into the pillow, the victim said in the affidavit. I tried to fight him off, but he told me to shut up and quit moving or Ill cut you. James then threatened the victim into silence, according to the affidavit, telling her he would know where to find her if she told anyone. The lawsuit was filed under the Child Victims Act, which was signed into law in 2019 and extends the statute of limitations on child abuse.

James was previously accused of assaulting two women in 1991 and 1992. The first assault occurred in Los Angeles, when James and his girlfriend allegedly imprisoned and tortured a woman over a period of three days. The second assault occurred while James was out on bail for the previous assault charge. He was sentenced to over two years in state prison in 1993, then acquitted by a jury. James died in 2004.
Huawei's midrange Honor V30 is set to launch in Europe next week. However, in the aftermath of the phone maker's spat with Google, the Kirin 990-toting smartphone will not feature Google Services, arriving instead with Huawei's homemade HMS suite for maps, mail, and other key functions.

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

Rumors, and a post on Honor's official Twitter account, indicate that a host of Huawei devices--including the V30--could launch in Europe after February 24th. These handsets are expected to feature HMS, Huawei's own service suite, instead of Google services.

Huawei is the world's second-largest manufacturer of smartphones, ahead of Apple and right behind Samsung. In recent months, however, the US-China trade war and a spat with Google have raised questions about the sustainability of their smartphone sales in international markets.

The Google service suite including Gmail, YouTube, Maps, the Play Store, and other apps delivers critical day-to-day functionality to many Android users. It's still up in the air as to whether or not Huawei's HMS service suite will deliver comparable functionality. Moreover, security and privacy-related issues may make for few takers in markets outside China.

Barring issues with software and services, the V30 is an excellent midrange device. While compromises have been made-such as the use of an FHD+ LCD panel-it is the cheapest, by far, to feature Huawei's Kirin 990 chipset, which delivers performance on par with the Snapdragon 855.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Turkey increased export of chemical products to Azerbaijan in January 2020, Turkeys Ministry of Trade told Trend on Feb. 17.

In January 2020, Turkeys export of chemical products to Azerbaijan amounted to $22.3 million, which is 12.06 percent more compared to January 2019.

Last month, the export of chemical products from Turkey to the world market increased by 10.6 percent, amounting to $1.7 billion.

In January 2020, Turkeys export of chemical products amounted to 11.5 percent of countrys total exports in this month.

In 2019, export of chemical products from Turkey to Azerbaijan increased by 5.07 percent compared to 2018, amounting to $322.2 million.

In the meantime, Turkeys export of chemical products exceeded $20.7 billion or 11.4 percent of countrys total export in 2019.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
THE IDA remains optimistic for Limericks future growth, following the creation of 1,451 jobs in the region last year, with an additional 400 jobs announced at Northern Trust this week.

Niall OCallaghan, Mid-West regional development manager of the IDA, said they are anticipating employment levels in Limerick to rise further, with over 10,000 people employed in Limerick last year.

This was up from over 6,500 employed in Limerick in 2011, and their target is to grow this by a further 40% up to 2019.

The creation of small pools of jobs in Limerick should never be taken for granted, the outgoing Minister for Finance Michael Noonan urged this week, citing the example of Northern Trust.

From seedling beginnings in 2007 when the US financial services company opened in Limerick with 19 staff, it now employs 1,000 people across its two sites in Limerick at Hamilton House and City East Plaza.

This Mondays announcement that the company is to create a further 400 jobs over the next five years is a further sign that the city has shaken off the shackles of its past, said Mr Noonan.

Minister for Jobs, Innovation & Enterprise, Mary Mitchell OConnor, said 400 lives and families will be positively impacted by the announcement.

Clive Bellows, country head of Northern Trust, Ireland, said the creation of these jobs underlines Northern Trusts commitment to Ireland.

We have seen growth in the scale and operation of our Irish business over the years and the continued expansion of our office in Limerick reflect this, said Mr Bellows.

Acknowledging the support of IDA Ireland, the University of Limerick and the Limerick Institute of Technology, he said half their staff are graduates of those two institutions, and it was due to their presence that they chose Limerick as one of their main bases.

He sees no reason we cannot grow closer to 2,000 people over a ten year period.

Martin Shanahan, head of IDA Ireland, said the companys commitment to Limerick and the country has been exemplary.

Labour deputy Jan OSullivan said this jobs boost is another welcome vote of confidence in Limerick.

At a time when people are worried about a concentration of new jobs on the east coast, it is most welcome to see a big boost like this for Limerick over the next five years, said deputy OSullivan.

Sinn Fein deputy Maurice Quinlivan said the announcement highlights the potential of the city and the region to become a hub for global companies looking for an Irish location.

Mayor Kieran OHanlon said:The company has been in Limerick for 10 years and is constantly expanding its operations in the Limerick city region, to a place where they are one of the regions biggest employers.
Job Title: Senior Legal Officer

Organization: Profiles International

Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda

Reports to: Managing

Director

About US:

Profiles International Uganda Limited (PIUL) is an affiliate

of Profiles International Inc. (PII), a Waco, Texas, USA-based firm that

provides solutions to a wide range of Human Resource challenges. PII is the

recognised world leader in employee evaluation and human resource solutions.

Our client, a Government entity in the real estate sector is

looking for suitably qualified individuals to apply for the vacant position of

Senior Legal Officer. The position reports to the Managing Director on the organizational

structure of our client and is based in Kampala. This is a dream career

opportunity for a highly dynamic, creative, innovative, and astute performer.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:



Prepares, in consultation with the Managing

Director, and distributes the agendas, issues notices for all scheduled Board

meetings at least two weeks before the meeting. The notice may be shorter for

unscheduled meetings. Ensures the minutes and all necessary documents requiring

discussion or comments are attached to the agenda.



Takes notes of proceedings, prepares and keeps

an electronic and hard copy of the minutes of Board of Directors and maintains

an electronic and hard copy files containing all agendas, minutes, and any support

materials from these meetings.



Ensures the accuracy, correctness and

completeness of the minutes.



Distributes to the Board the minutes of the

meeting within one week following each Board meeting.



Safely keeps all company documents and minutes.



Records and distributes to members all actions

undertaken by the Board of Directors between meetings ahead of the next Board

of Directors meeting.



Informs those concerned of the actions they need

to take following the Board meeting.



Provides legal advice/opinions and training to

staff in line with the law and policy of the organisation.



Reviews/prepares/agreements/contracts of the

company.



Prepares/reviews leases/subleases and tenancy

agreements in line with the organizations requirement, approved terms and

conditions and the law.



Prepares and reviews service level contracts/

agreements entered into by the company for the provision of goods and services,

consultancy, safety and security, media and public relations in line with the

companys requirement, approved terms and conditions and the law.



The Senior Legal Officer shall also be in charge

of human resources and administration and perform duties attached thereto.



Performs any other duties/functions as may be

assigned by the Managing Director.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:



The applicant must hold a bachelors degree in

law from a recognized University and a Diploma in Legal Practice from Law

Development Centre (LDC).



A valid Legal Practicing Certificate.



A post graduate qualification in Management, Law

or any business related field and/or ICSA will be an added advantage.



Proven past knowledge/experience in human

resource management related duties is an added advantage.



At least seven years of working experience in

legal practice of which 2 years must have been at a senior level in a reputable

public organization.



Ability to work independently.



Should be computer literate.



Excellent communication and interpersonal

skills.

How to Apply:

If you believe you have the desired competencies for the

job, please send an application and attach a detailed CV, copies of academic

and professional certificates/ testimonials, address, a daytime telephone

contact and names of 3 referees to the National Director using the address

below. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Apply to:

The National Director, Profiles International Uganda

Limited, Plot 519, Old Kira Road  Kamwokya, P. O. Box 3024, Kampala Uganda

Email to: info@profilesinternational.co.ug

Deadline: 21st

February 2020

For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com or

find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline






Advertisement

Two planes evacuating 340 American cruise ship passengers from coronavirus quarantine on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan have now landed back in the U.S. after 14 evacuees were placed in isolation chambers when officials realized they had tested positive for the deadly virus.

The first 747 plane touched down at Travis Air Force Base in Northern California just before 11.30pm on Sunday local time, before the second plane arrived at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas a few hours later.

Fourteen U.S. evacuees had to be placed in special isolation chambers for the duration of the flights after it emerged they had been infected with coronvirus in the lead up to the evacuation.

The passengers had all been deemed 'fit to fly' and were not showing symptoms before disembarking from the cruise ship. As the evacuees were being taken to the airport in Tokyo, results from tests carried out two to three days earlier came back and showed the 14 passengers had the infection.

Despite the U.S. earlier saying no infected passenger would be allowed to leave, those who tested positive were still allowed to board the planes because they did not have symptoms. The State Department said they were being isolated separately from other passengers on the flights.

The U.S. said it arranged the evacuation because people on the Diamond Princess were at a high risk of exposure to the virus given more than 400 passengers have tested positive since the cruise liner was ordered to stay under quarantine on February 4.

After arriving in the U.S., all of the passengers must go through another 14 days of quarantine at the military facilities - meaning they will have been under quarantine for a total of nearly four weeks. The infected passengers will be taken to an isolated facility.

The cruise ship Diamond Princess, by far the largest cluster of coronavirus cases outside China, has become the biggest test so far of other countries' ability to contain an outbreak that has killed 1,770 people in China and five elsewhere.

A second plane carrying Americans evacuated from the Diamond Princess ship arrives at Joint Base San Antonio in Texas after flying back from Tokyo

One of two planes carrying 340 Americans back to the US from Japan where they spent almost two weeks under coronavirus quarantine on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship has landed at Travis Air Force Base in California (pictured)

The State Department confirmed that, after the evacuees had been placed on buses to the airport, 14 people who were not showing symptoms had tested positive for the virus - and were then placed into isolation chambers (pictured)

The sick passengers were allowed to continue on the flight but inside the isolation chambers (pictured), and will be taken for treatment separate to the other passengers after landing

340 Americans decided to abandon ship and take the government charter flights back to the US, where they will be under additional quarantine on two military bases for another 14 days

DIAMOND PRINCESS SAGA: TIMELINE OF CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK February 4: Japan announced 10 people aboard the Diamond Princess cruise liner had been diagnosed with coronavirus. The ship, carrying more than 3,700 passengers, was placed under quarantine. February 15: U.S. authorities announced they would provide two planes to allow the 380 Americans on board the ship to return to the United States. February 16: Officials revealed 454 passengers were now infected on the ship, including about 62 Americans. Japanese authorities, dressed in head-to-toe protective suits, started transporting about 340 Americans to the airport in Tokyo on a convoy of 14 buses. As the evacuees were being taken to the airport in Tokyo, results from tests carried out two to three days earlier came back and showed the 14 passengers had the infection. Despite the U.S. earlier saying no infected passenger would be allowed to leave, those who tested positive were still allowed to board the planes in isolation because they did not have symptoms. February 17: The two planes touch down at Travis Air Force Base in Northern California and Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. All of the passengers must go through another 14 days of quarantine at the military facilities - meaning they will have been under quarantine for a total of nearly four weeks. February 19: The 14-day quarantine for the ship is scheduled to be lifted. Advertisement

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, said Sunday that an infected person who shows minimal symptoms could still pass the virus to someone else.

It came as Japanese officials confirmed 99 additional people had been infected by the virus aboard the quarantined cruise ship, bringing the total to 454. At least 62 Americans are among those infected but it is unclear if that figure includes the 14 who were evacuated.

The United States was the first country to evacuate its passengers from the ship. Australia, Canada, Hong Kong and Italy were planning similar flights of passengers.

More than 71,000 people have now been infected with the virus worldwide, while 1,775 people have died from it. Overall, Japan has 419 confirmed cases of the virus, including one death. The United States has confirmed 15 cases within the country. Separately, one U.S. citizen died in China.

U.S. authorities had announced on Saturday that they would offer the 380 Americans on board the option to leave the ship. The evacuation was not mandatory but the Americans who chose not to leave the ship were warned they wouldn't be allowed to return to the U.S. 'for a period of time' that will be determined later by the Centres for Disease Control.

Those who arrived at Travis Air Force Base in California have been told they will be quarantined at the Westwind Inn on the base, which is the same place where those evacuated from Wuhan are being held. They will be kept in a separate part of the building to those who are already in quarantine.

The Americans who did evacuate the ship said they were frustrated about the additional two-week quarantine in the U.S. because they believed they would be able to walk free from the Diamond Princess when the ship's quarantine is scheduled to be lifted on Wednesday.

'It's like a prison sentence for something I did not do,' passenger Karey Mansicalco told CNN from her cabin. 'They are holding us hostage for absolutely no reason.'

'On cargo plane. You cannot Imagine. Crazy or worst dream ever,' American evacuee Gay Courter wrote on Facebook after boarding one of the flights at Tokyo International Airport.

Her husband Philip added: 'Huge windowless B-747 cargo plane with some seats bolted in. Destination unknown at this time.'

Americans Cheryl and Paul Molesky, a couple from Syracuse, New York, opted to trade one coronavirus quarantine for another, leaving the cruise ship to fly back to the U.S. Cheryl Molesky said the rising number of patients on the ship factored into the decision.

'We are glad to be going home,' Cheryl Molesky earlier told NHK TV in Japan. 'It's just a little bit disappointing that well have to go through quarantine again, and we will probably not be as comfortable as the Diamond Princess, possibly.'

When they eventually boarded the plane with other Americans, Cheryl said: 'Well, we're exhausted, but we're on the plane and that's a good feeling. Pretty miserable wearing these masks though, and everybody had to go to the bathroom on the bus.'

Japan said that 340 Americans were taken to Tokyo's airport to be evacuated, while another those who had already been diagnosed were forced to stay behind for treatment. A handful of others opted to stay

Passengers on board the 747 cargo airplane could be seen taking pictures as they arrived back in America, having been held on the cruise ship since February 3

Buses carrying U.S. passengers who were aboard the quarantined cruise ship the Diamond Princess, seen in background, leaves Yokohama port, near Tokyo, early Monday. The cruise ship was carrying nearly 3,500 passengers and crew members

U.S. passengers from the Diamond Princess are seen on charter buses taking them to Haneda Airport on Monday

Passengers are seen boarding one of two planes bound for the U.S. at Tokyo's Haneda airport late Sunday after they evacuated the Diamond Princess cruise ship

A bus carrying U.S. passengers who were aboard the quarantined cruise ship the Diamond Princess arrives at Haneda airport in Tokyo, before the passengers board a Kalitta airplane chartered by the U.S. government

Other Americans on board the cruise ship declined to evacuate the Diamond Princess, despite being warned they will still have to wait two weeks and test negative for the virus before being allowed back to the United States.

They feared being on a long flight with other passengers who may be infected or in an incubation period.

'My health is fine. And my two-week quarantine is almost over. Why would I want to be put on a bus and a plane with other people they think may be infected when I have spent nearly two weeks isolated from those people?' Matt Smith, an American lawyer on the ship with his wife, tweeted.

He described a fellow American passenger standing on her balcony chanting 'USA, USA' as buses arrived to collect them.

'Of course, in contravention of the rules of quarantine, she's not wearing a face mask and she's talking with a passenger on the adjacent balcony... And you wanted me to get on a bus with her?'

He said American officials in hazmat suits and face masks had visited his room to check if he would disembark but he said he wanted to stay.

Later, when Smith had learned 14 infected passengers were still allowed to board the flights, he tweeted: 'OMG! US Gov't said they would not put anyone on the planes who was symptomatic, and they ended up knowingly and intentionally putting on 14 people who actually have the virus. Decision not to be evacuated = best decision ever!'

Japanese authorities, dressed in head-to-toe protective suits, helped transport the Americans to the airport in Tokyo on a convoy of 14 buses.

Americans Cheryl and Paul Molesky, a couple from Syracuse, New York, said after boarding the flight: said: 'Well, we're exhausted, but we're on the plane and that's a good feeling. Pretty miserable wearing these masks though, and everybody had to go to the bathroom on the bus.'

Americans who evacuated the cruise ship are pictured boarding one of the two planes that took them back to the U.S.

Those Americans who chose to leave the Diamond Princess are seen in a chartered evacuation aircraft to fly back to the US

Phil Courter, a U.S. passenger on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship, wears a face mask on a chartered evacuation aircraft to fly back to the United States at Haneda airport in Japan

Health officials in protective suits are seen ferrying passengers to board the evacuation flights in Tokyo

American Sarah Arana, a 52-year-old medical social worker, said there were no health checks when they passed through a makeshift passport control.

She said the U.S. government should have acted 'much sooner, at the beginning'.

'I am happy and ready to go,' Arana told AFP before leaving the ship. 'We need a proper quarantine. This was not it.'

Across mainland China, officials said the total number of coronavirus cases rose by 2,048 to 70,548. That was slightly more new cases than were reported on Sunday, but hundreds fewer than reported on Saturday.

Chinese authorities say the stabilisation in the number of new cases is a sign that measures they have taken to halt the spread of the disease are having an effect.

However, epidemiologists say it is probably still too early to say how well the outbreak is being contained within China and its central Hubei province, where the virus first appeared.

China has responded to the COVID-19 virus by effectively locking down Hubei's provincial capital Wuhan, a megacity of 11 million people.

Medical workers in protective suits attend to a patient inside an isolated ward of Wuhan Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak

Medical staff members treating a patient infected by the COVID-19 coronavirus at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province

Did coronavirus originate in Chinese government laboratory? Chinese scientists believe the coronavirus may have started life in a research facility just 300 yards from the Wuhan fish market. A new paper from the Beijing-sponsored South China University of Technology says the Wuhan Center for Disease Control (WHCDC) could have spawned the contagion in Hubei province. The paper, penned by scholars Botao Xiao and Lei Xiao, claims the WHCDC kept disease-ridden animals in laboratories, including 605 bats. It also mentions that bats - which are linked to coronavirus - once attacked a researcher and 'blood of bat was on his skin.' The report says: 'Genome sequences from patients were 96% or 89% identical to the Bat CoV ZC45 coronavirus originally found in Rhinolophus affinis (intermediate horseshoe bat).' It describes how the only native bats are found around 600 miles away from the Wuhan seafood market and that the probability of bats flying from Yunnan and Zhejiang provinces was minimal. In addition there is little to suggest the local populace eat the bats as evidenced by testimonies of 31 residents and 28 visitors. Instead the authors point to research being carried out withing a few hundred yards at the WHCDC. One of the researchers at the WHCDC described quarantining himself for two weeks after a bat's blood got on his skin, according to the report. That same man also quarantined himself after a bat urinated on him. He also mentions discovering a live tick from a bat - parasites known for their ability to pass infections through a host animal's blood. 'The WHCDC was also adjacent to the Union Hospital (Figure 1, bottom) where the first group of doctors were infected during this epidemic.' The report says. 'It is plausible that the virus leaked around and some of them contaminated the initial patients in this epidemic, though solid proofs are needed in future study.' Advertisement

Concerns remain about the global transmission, especially on cruise ships which appear to have become especially virulent breeding grounds.

Fears are growing for passengers on the Westerdam cruise ship, who all received a clean bill of health when they disembarked in Cambodia - a staunch ally of Beijing.

An 83-year-old American woman was stopped by authorities in Malaysia over the weekend when she was detected with a fever and later diagnosed with the virus.

There were more than 2,200 passengers and crew on the ship when it docked in Sihanoukville, many of whom have now dispersed around the globe.

With tourism battered and global supply chains disrupted by the virus, experts are fretting about the toll it could take on a fragile global economy.

IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said there could be a cut of around 0.1-0.2 percentage points to global growth but stressed there was 'still a great deal of uncertainty.'

Japan, one of the hardest-hit countries outside China irrespective of the Diamond Princess, suffered its biggest economic slump in more than five years - even before the coronavirus crisis. Gross domestic product in the world's third-top economy shrank an eye-watering 1.6 percent in the three months to December - a much bigger contraction than economists had feared.

It comes after Chinese scientists revealed the deadly virus may have started life in a research facility just 300 yards from the Wuhan fish market.

A new bombshell paper from the Beijing-sponsored South China University of Technology says that the Wuhan Center for Disease Control (WHCDC) could have spawned the contagion in Hubei province.

'The possible origins of 2019-nCoV coronavirus,' penned by scholars Botao Xiao and Lei Xiao claims the WHCDC kept disease-ridden animals in laboratories, including 605 bats.

It also mentions that bats - which are linked to coronavirus - once attacked a researcher and 'blood of bat was on his skin.'

The report says: 'Genome sequences from patients were 96% or 89% identical to the Bat CoV ZC45 coronavirus originally found in Rhinolophus affinis (intermediate horseshoe bat).'
The bill on an all-Ukrainian referendum is at the final stage of development, said First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada and Presidential Representative in Parliament Ruslan Stefanchuk.

"Last week we held a number of working groups and I am extremely pleased that we have open discussion platforms. One of the meetings concerned the working group on democracy and we actually came to the final version of the draft law on the All-Ukrainian referendum. This is the first of the list of bills relating to democracy," said Stefanchuk at a meeting of the conciliation council of the Verkhovna Rada on Monday.

He added that members of other parliamentary factions also joined in the development of the document. Separately, the first deputy speaker noted the unity of relevant public organizations around the process of developing the bill.

"This is a unique example when we have the opportunity to join all the public organizations that specialize in this matter," Stefanchuk added.
Female students say they have faced police violence and police indifference when attacked by others.

New Delhi, India  Swati Singh describes how excited she was to attend her first college festival in the Indian capital, New Delhi.

On February 6, the last day of the three-day festival, as students were preparing for a concert, hundreds of men barged into the college campus and sexually harassed and abused female students.

Singh says she cannot forget the horror she went through at Gargi college, an all womens college affiliated to Delhi University.

I was looking forward to the fest. It means a lot to women like me who come from smaller cities and have never seen such big concert, says 18-year-old Singh, who hails from the central Indian city of Indore.

Students accuse the police and security guards of doing little as the men molested women at the college, which is located in the affluent south Delhi area of Siri Fort.





They were drunk men who groped us, pinched us in the crowd. One of them even threw money on my friend in a demeaning way. We couldnt even move, recalls Samra Ahmed, another student.

Police stood and watched

Students could not make calls for help as phone jammers were installed at the nearby Siri Fort auditorium.

I saw some drunk men masturbating while looking at me, Tanushree, a second-year student, tells Al Jazeera.

Singh says when she approached a police constable outside the college gate, he said, Dont you come to the fest to meet boys?

Police think women attend a music concert for this? she wonders.

Several videos of the festival have surfaced that appear to show the police standing by and watching men scaling the walls to enter the college campus.

Samvedna, another student, says a stalker followed her to the metro station on her way home after the festival. When she complained to the police, she says she was told: Look at the clothes you are wearing. Is this how Indian girls should dress? Should I call up your parents?

Singh says she was disappointed with the reaction of Promila Kumar, the college head. She told us that if you feel unsafe in a college fest, dont attend. Even a womans college is not safe for us?

The students staged a three-day strike demanding Kumars resignation and an investigation into the incident.

Al Jazeera reached out to Kumar but she declined to comment on the issue.

Singh says her parents, who had only reluctantly agreed to allow her to move to Delhi to pursue her higher education, are now insisting she returns to Indore immediately. They say I can join a college in Indore. Its a punishment for police not doing their job?

The police arrested 10 people in connection with the incident but they were all released on bail on the same day.

200216053500418

Police have instead found fault with college authorities. The college was at fault for not making appropriate arrangements, Atul Thakur, deputy commissioner of police for South Delhi, told Al Jazeera.

When asked why the police did not press charges against the accused, Thakur said: We are investigating. We still dont have evidence for assault or molestation.

Turning a blind eye

Its handling of the Gargi college incident has not been the only criticism of Delhi police recently.

On Sunday, video footage  said to have been taken on December 15 last year  was released that appeared to show police beating students inside the library of Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) University, also located in New Delhi.

In early January, police were accused of turning a blind eye to attacks on students protesting against a fee hike by masked men linked to the governing party inside Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi. More than a month after the incident, no arrests have been made.

Gargi College students protest against mass molestation that took place during their annual festival, on February 10 [Biplov Bhuyan/ Hindustan Times via Getty Images]

Four days after the Gargi College incident, police personnel baton-charged hundreds of students from JMI who were trying to march from the university campus to Parliament in protest against a new citizenship law.

Critics say the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)  passed last December  and a planned National Register of Citizens (NRC) is part of the Hindu-first agenda of Prime Minister Narendra Modis government.

In the last two months, videos of young women braving police assault to save male protesters have become synonymous with the anti-CAA protests.

200212090454115

Many female students at JMI have accused the police of using excessive force against them during the February 10 march.

Raziya, a JMI student, says she was beaten on her private parts with a flash rod. They said, These women shield terrorists with their burqa. Take them in a corner and teach them a lesson, said Raziya, who is undergoing treatment for a rib fracture.

Why did they target our hijab. What is wrong with it? she told Al Jazeera.

Iqra, an 18-year-old student at JMI, says she was also beaten by a male constable with a stick on her private parts and her legs. It was a preplanned attack specifically targeting young women who have been proactive in these protests, she said.

Chanda Yadav, another Jamia student, said she was taunted by the police: You protect men because you think we will not hit you? She says a male policeman hit her with a flash rod on her thigh.

But the police have denied the allegations, saying no force was used by the police.

All allegations against us are untrue.The entire protest has been video graphed by us, RP Meena, south east deputy commissioner of police, told Al Jazeera.

In fact, some of our men were manhandled and they received injuries during the scuffle.

The recent incidents have raised questions about the safety of women in public spaces, particularly in Delhi which has seen a high number of sexual assaults against women.

200211180756698

The idea of safety is anyway restrictive, said Shilpa Phadke, a sociologist and co-author of Why Loiter, a book on attitudes towards women in public spaces.

Here, safety for women is also conditional on women being respectable and ticking the right boxes. Attending a protest or a college fest, both do not fit into any box, she told Al Jazeera.

Activists and feminists have long highlighted the lack of gender sensitisation among Indias police as patriarchal values still dominate Indian society.

Rebecca John, a lawyer at the Supreme Court of India, says the polices behaviour at Gargi college is a repetition of how they usually behave with victims of sexual violence.

They dont see anything wrong with assault and groping. They dismiss such victims, call them liars. They try to look away. It is the same narrative here, John told Al Jazeera.

Rehana Adib, a womens rights activist, said the government is afraid of young women taking the lead.

Young women are representing all intersections of the society  Dalit, Muslims, tribals, everyone. This has shaken the government. That is why the police has been instructed to break their determination, weaken them and send them home, show their place in a patriarchal world.
There was shooting last night in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, as soldiers battled to repel Boko Haram insurgents who attempted to invade the city.

The shooting which started at about 7.30 p.m. lasted for nearly an hour as residents around the Muna axis of Maiduguri along Gamboru-Ngala road cringed in fear.

Ahmadu Haga, a local security official who lives in Muna IDP camp, confirmed the incident to PREMIUM TIMES.

He said, the attack happened at a location near Kaliyari somewhere far behind our area.

An official of the Civilian-JTF, Bello Danbatta, informed PREMIUM TIMES on the phone that the attack was at the last military checkpoint near Ngwom village.

They attempted invading the state capital by attacking the checkpoint, but thank God the soldiers were able to stand their grounds and repelled the attackers.

Mr Danbatta could not immediately confirm the casualty in the foiled attack.

The attack occurred at about the same time Boko Haram members attacked Babangida, a community in Yobe State.

An army spokesperson told PREMIUM TIMES the army repelled the Yobe attack.

Details later
The Congress on Monday said the court order issuing fresh death warrants for the Nirbhaya case convicts' execution comes as a "decisive milestone" in stopping violence against women in the country.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the victim of the December 16, 2012 Delhi gang rape, better known as Nirbhaya, is considered a symbol of women's empowerment in the country and every time there is an attacck on a female people compare it with Nirbhaya and remember the gory incident.

He claimed that the Congress party, when in power, took decisive actions and made new laws with regard to stopping crime against women.

"This is a serious matter. The decision is a warning to all those who even dream or think of committing crimes against women or daughters of the country," Surjewala said.

"The decision has come a little late, but for sexual offenders it is a comprehensive warning of the country. I am confident that this decision would prove to be a decisive milestone in stopping violence against women," he said.

Congress spokesperson R P N Singh said December 16 will always remain a nightmare in everyone's minds and people will remember the huge protests that followed the gruesome incident.

Singh, who was Minister of State for Home at the time of the incident, said he had ensured that a section of protesters met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and after receiving a lot of suggestions a new law to give fast punishment to culprits of sexual crimes was passed.

"I think that has been a record.. the kind of sections that were brought about in those amendments," Singh said.

"There were cases of stalking, cases of eve-teasing, every new law to protect women was brought about and I think that was one of the most historical laws that were brought about in fifteen-days time. Unfortunately, as far as the Nirbhaya case is concerned, the judgment has taken a very long time. I think this government has to take steps for getting its perpetrators punished fast," he said.

The Congress leader said Monday's court verdict will serve as a "milestone" reminding sexual offenders that they will not be spared and a deterrent to people who carry out sexual offences.

He added that the present government "has to do something if these processes are repeated".

A Delhi court on Monday ordered that the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case be hanged on March 3 after it issued fresh death warrants, observing that deferring the execution any further would be "sacrilegious" to the rights of the victim for expeditious justice.

The court directed that the four men -- Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Kumar Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar (31) -- be hanged by neck on March 3 at 6 am until they are dead. It is for the third time that the death warrants were issued by the court against them.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nuh : , Feb 17 (IANS) Several organisations on Monday said they have extended support to protesters sitting on a dharna for the past 19 days in minority-dominant Nuh district of Haryana against the controversial CAA and NPR.

The protest has been organised by Mewat Vikas Sabha and Mewat RTI Manch at Badkali Chowk under Ferozpur Jhirka police station against the Citizen (Amendment) Act and the National Registration of Citizens.

Extending the support of Akal India Peace Mission (AIPM) to the protesters, its national convener Daya Singh alleged that the Modi government's wrong policies had put the Hindu-Muslim brotherhood in danger.

"In the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, when the then ruling government allowed the killing of Sikhs, a section of Muslims gave us shelter. Now, a similar situation has arisen for the Muslims. It is now our duty to protect and stand in solidarity with them," Singh said.

Tammana Pankaj, president of United Against Hate organisation, said that the Centre has not come out with even a single policy in public interest in the last six years.

Jagbir Fulia, district convener of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar Mission, said that the the central government's action with regard to CAA and NPR is an attack on the Constitution.

"Our fight from 'sadak se sansad' will go on until the Modi government rolls back the CAA and dumps NRC. At present, 70 per cent farmers, Dalits and backward class people do not have documents. In this case, how would they prove their nationality?" Fulia asked.
Magsaysay awardee and social activist Sandeep Pandey was among 10 people arrested by the Lucknow police when they tried to take out a march against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and NRC from Clock Tower in Thakurganj to Ujariaon in Gomti Nagar on Monday.

On the other hand, womens protest against CAA at Clock Tower completed 32 days.

Pandey and the others were booked under Section 151 (arrest to prevent the commission of cognizable offence) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), said police.

Sandeep Pandey reached Clock Tower in the afternoon. He tried to instigate people for a protest march. We tried to reason with him and arrested him later when he refused to relent. He was booked under Section 151 of the CrPC, said DP Tiwari, assistant commissioner of police (ACP), Chowk.

Sandeep Pandey said, We were a group of 10 people and planned to spread awareness about CAA and NRC by marching from Clock Tower to Ujariaon. But the police arrested us and confiscated the pamphlets we were carrying.

Pandey added that he did not seek any permission from the local administration regarding the march.

The arrested people were presented before the executive magistrate, from where they secured bail.

Sandeep Pandey has been critical of the CAA, NRC and NPR. He was earlier kept under house arrest during the violent anti-CAA protest in UP in December.
The authorities scrutinized three generations of each detainees family, as well as their neighbors and friends. Officials in charge of monitoring mosques reported on how actively the residents participated in ceremonies, including the naming of children, circumcision, weddings and funerals.

The list specified whether detainees learned about religion from parents and grandparents or elsewhere. Dozens were listed as having a heavy religious environment at home  a designation that was often followed by a recommendation that they not be released.

The authorities also studied how many times a day detainees prayed and whether they took part in  or were even interested in  religious pilgrimages.

Outward signs of piety were also recorded. Wore a beard from March 2011 to July 2014, reads a description of one detainee related to several people who had been sent to camps. Officials categorized as trustworthy another man, the father of two detainees, who had cut off his beard and started drinking alcohol after a year of abstaining.

The entries offer detailed explanations of why officials ordered each person to be sent to a camp  information that has previously mostly trickled out through accounts by former detainees and activists.

Officials dissected their movements or plans to travel, particularly to predominantly Muslim nations. Even obtaining a passport was flagged, regardless of whether it was used. One of the most common reasons cited for detention, little known until now, was the violation of Chinas birth restrictions by having too many children.

Some detainees were sent to indoctrination camps for crimes like drug sales or domestic violence. Others were put into camps because they had previously served prison time, including one man who finished his sentence nearly two decades ago.
SPRINGFIELD  Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday will propose millions of additional dollars for Illinois long-troubled child welfare agency as he puts forward a plan to again balance the states chronically unstable budget while simultaneously attempting to convince voters to approve his graduated-rate income tax plan this fall.

The budget proposal Pritzker will present to lawmakers cant rely on any additional revenue Illinois could see from the graduated income tax if voters approve his plan, and the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services is just one area where theres a demand for more state funding.

Pritzkers spending plan also will need to continue pumping more money into public schools under the education funding formula lawmakers approved in 2017, and the states required payments to its underfunded pension systems will continue to grow.

Pritzker wouldnt explain how he plans to handle those challenges in an interview with the Chicago Tribune last week, instead highlighting his proposal to increase funding and staffing at the states child welfare agency for the second straight year as it continues to recover from the budget stalemate under Republican Gov. Bruce Rauners administration and struggles to protect the children in its care.

The nearly $147 million in additional DCFS funding Pritzker is proposing for the budget year beginning July 1 is aimed at boosting the chronically understaffed agencys workforce to reduce heavy caseloads for investigators and meet a projected increased demand for services.

A top aide to the governor hinted at the possibility of proposed increases for other social services programs as well.

This new budget is really about rebuilding and reinvesting in our overall human services system, with a special focus on our child welfare work, Deputy Gov. Sol Flores said last week.

Pritzkers second budget address could mark a seminal moment in his tenure as he continues to push the case to voters for approving his signature initiative: an amendment to the state constitution that would swap the mandated flat-rate income tax for a graduated rate structure, with wealthier residents taxed at higher rates. The governors office has estimated the rates approved by lawmakers last year would raise an additional $3.6 billion in annual revenue.

The governor wouldnt say what cuts hell propose in other areas in order to fund his priorities or whether hell recommend an overall increase in state spending from the $40 billion budget that was approved for the current year with bipartisan support.

Lawmakers last year approved a sweeping gambling expansion as well as a host of tax and fee increases that force Illinois residents to shell out more for gasoline, cigarettes, license plates and other items. But all of that revenue is dedicated to Pritzkers $45 billion Rebuild Illinois infrastructure program. This years operating budget will benefit from tax revenue from legalized recreational marijuana, also approved by the General Assembly last spring.

At a Friday news conference in Chicago, the governor touted $225 million in spending reductions his administration is anticipating for the coming year, mostly from health care savings achieved through union contracts with state workers. While that amount would cover the proposed increase at DCFS, it represents less than 1% of the overall state budget.

At DCFS, he proposes spending $1.46 billion, up 11% from the current budget and a 20% increase from when he took office.

When you look at numbers like weve shown you, where theres a 20% budget increase, that doesnt happen in very many agencies, and it wont, Pritzker said. Its a priority, and thats why youre seeing this budget number. But, yes, you do have to make adjustments to the budget in order to make your priorities.

Pritzkers plan to augment the DCFS budget would put $21 million toward cost-of-living raises for private agencies the state works with to provide the vast majority of the child welfare services in Illinois, with the aim of attracting and retaining skilled workers.

Pritzkers proposal also increases investments in technology and would raise the departments authorized staff head count to 3,056, adding more staff to take hotline calls with reports of child abuse and neglect, and adding workers in other areas to reduce the caseloads of investigators and other employees.

Last year we started the long road of improving the foundation of DCFS, and this years budget and this years plan of action is all about how we rebuild and set a foundation for a system that has not had all the support its needed in the past few years, acting DCFS Director Marc Smith said. I think that our opportunity is to keep moving forward and keep building.

The proposed boost for DCFS will be welcomed by many Democratic lawmakers, whove bemoaned the deterioration of social services during four years of budget battles with Rauner. Some GOP lawmakers also have supported increased funding for the agency.

How that will affect other aspects of state government, and how Pritzker plans to cover the states perennial budget gap, remain open questions, however.

House Majority Leader Greg Harris, a Chicago Democrat, said he wants to see the state continue to increase funding in areas such as human services and elementary and secondary education, but the question is: How are we going to pay for it -- keeping up investments in these areas that we all want?

Were going to have a tough budget situation this year, Harris said last week. Theres going to be a big gap to close, and I think were all going to be listening very closely to how (Pritzker) will close that while we wait for the vote on the graduated-rate income tax.

Harris said he will be watching closely for any new proposals Pritzker rolls out for tackling the states massive pension debt.

While commending the governor and the General Assembly for balancing the current budget, Laurence Msall, president of nonpartisan budget watchdog the Civic Federation, said he continues hoping Pritzker and legislative leaders will overhaul the states budgetary system and put forth long-term plans to pay down its backlog of unpaid bills and mounting pension debt.

Illinois desperately needs to modernize, Msall said. That includes making government services more efficient and modifying the tax system to reflect the 21st century economy.

Along with several other organizations that monitor the state budget, the Civic Federation for years has called for expanding the sales tax to cover some services and taxing retirement income, something done in nearly every other state with an income tax. Pritzker so far has been dismissive of both ideas, even when fellow Democrats earlier this year floated the idea of an expanded sales tax to help offset local property taxes.

Pritzker sold his budget plan last year as a bridge to the graduated income tax, and the final spending plan approved by lawmakers relied on collecting sales taxes from more online sellers, a new tax on insurance companies to help pay for the states Medicaid managed care program, and a measure decoupling the state income tax from a federal tax break for companies that return foreign profits to the U.S. A tax amnesty program also brought in more than $237 million in back taxes, exceeding expectations by $62 million.

In addition, a surprise windfall of tax revenue in April allowed the governor to back off one of the most controversial parts of his budget plan: lowering the states required pension payment by pushing back the funding deadline by seven years.

Democratic Sen. Andy Manar of Bunker Hill, who chairs one of two Senate appropriations committees, said the governor needs to paint a clear picture of the difficulties the state will face in balancing the budget while increasing spending in key areas.

Much like last year, I think whats important is that the governor put forward a blunt assessment of the states finances and the challenges that lie ahead, Manar said.

It would make sense for Pritzker to use the speech to outline how the graduated income tax could help alleviate some of those challenges, he said.

But Manar said the push for graduated tax shouldnt preclude discussion of other tax or fee increases that may be necessary to stabilize the budget.

Too oftentimes, budget balancing was exacted by extending the bill payment cycle, by using overly optimistic revenue estimates, by cutting deep into agencies like DCFS, and that has taken its toll on the state and its people, Manar said.

Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady said hes hopeful Pritzker has identified funding that will allow for property tax relief, and he said he thinks the state budget should include a renewed focus and effort on job stimulus."

But he continued to argue against a move to a graduated-rate income tax.

We believe hes having a very hard time getting people to trust this proposal, Brady said of Pritzkers graduated income tax plan. I dont know that he can say enough that will convince voters that they can trust this proposal, not only in the short run but in the mid- to long run.

15 new Illinois laws for 2020

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:

The results of Aviation Administration of Kazakhstans (AAK) unscheduled inspection of Bek Air airline company the plane of which crashed on Dec. 27, 2019, will be sent to the company no later than Feb. 27, 2020, Trend reports with reference to the Kazakhstans Civil Aviation Committee.

On the morning of Dec.27, 2019, the Fokker-100 plane of Bek Air airline implementing flight on the route Almaty  Nur-Sultan lost its height during take-off and broke through a concrete fence, colliding with a two-story building.

According to the latest data, 12 people died, and 66 were injured as a result of the Bek Air's plane crash on Dec. 27. A total of 98 people were on the plane, including nine children and five crew members.

Shortly after the accident, Bek Air companys operations as well as the use of Fokker-100 type aircraft in Kazakhstan were suspended.

On February 3, 2020, Nur-Sultan Specialized Inter-District Economic Court issued the ruling to dismiss the case filed by Bek Air airline against Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan with the requirement to cancel the decision to suspend the Air Operator Certificate and the Certificates of Airworthiness.

During the trial, AAK experts provided to the court the interim results of airline unscheduled inspection, held after the flight accident occurred in Almaty.

The AAK report said the cause of suspension of the Air Operator Certificate was the air crush of Fokker-100. It was directly indicated in the radiogram directed to Bek Air JSC after the crash of the aircraft occurred on December 27, 2019. The decision was made in accordance with Air Space Management and Operation of Aviation Law of Kazakhstan, which determines that the certificate becomes limited if significant violations of legislation is identified which pose a direct threat to safety of flights.

After the air crash of Bek Air flight, Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan suspended the Air Operator Certificate and Certificates of Airworthiness. This decision was based on the fact that in the last three years the airline had two major incidents.

In addition, based on the estimated number of Bek Air elapsed hours during this time, the frequency of serious security problems was significantly higher than the permissible safety level for passenger air carrier.

In the process of the check the technical center of Bek Air was inspected that revealed significant Grade 1 violations. This was the basis for suspension of Maintenance and Repair Certificate until the corrective actions are taken.

The results of AAK unscheduled inspection of Bek Air JSC will be sent to the airline no later than February 27, 2020.

---

Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh
A 45-year-old Kerala woman, who has accused a Catholic priest of raping her in 2017, on Monday alleged that police on December 5 recorded her statement in a most unprofessional manner before undertrials and others at a police station as part of serious attempts to weaken the case.

The woman filed her complaint against Thamarassery Dioceses Father Manoj Jacob Plakootam in December alleging he raped her in June 2017. She said she had complained to the diocese but was advised to hush up the matter. The woman said she later went abroad with her husband and filed the rape complaint upon her return to India on December 4.

The woman said the police recorded her statement in Kozhikkode district in a shabby manner. Many people were around and they repeatedly asked the same question to embarrass me. Some undertrials were also there. I was in tears while narrating my plight, but it seems they were enjoying it, she said. She said some of them indirectly told her it was not good to pursue such cases against powerful people.

She accused the church of letting her down badly and added the police were doing the same. I really feel there is a collusion between the two. The accused was sent abroad for studies deliberately. I have suffered a lot and I will pursue this case come what may, she said. She added she has faced intimidation and threats.

Plakootam, whose bail plea will come up for hearing in the Kerala High Court next week, is in Italy. He filed the plea through his lawyer in January. He had left the country before the case was filed in December.

The local police refused to comment on the issue while top officers said they would not speak until they have the full details of the case.

Thamarassery Diocese spokesman, Father Mathew Kolaparambil, said the church stripped Plakootam, who was Nitya Sahaya Matha Churchs vicar in Chevayur when he allegedly raped the woman, of all positions after the complaint surfaced. He added the church was cooperating fully with the police and did not want to comment further.

Circle Inspector K Shambhunath, who is investigating the case, said the priest was booked under the Indian Penal Codes Section 376 (rape) in December and efforts were on to trace him.

Sister Jesme, an activist who quit the church 10 years back, said there are strict guidelines for recording statements in rape cases. Her privacy should be guarded at any cost. This is really shocking. What else you expect when money and muscle power come together, she said.

Activist and psychologist Mala Parvati said in many cases often police officers find fault with the victim first not the accused. There are strict guidelines to protect them from further embarrassment but they remain only on paper. Repeated harassment at police stations often forces some to withdraw their complaints. This is nothing in new even in a state like Kerala.

The rape case surfaced over a year after Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mullakal was arrested in 2018 for allegedly raping a nun. The trial, in this case, is set to begin from February 26 even as Mullakal moved court last month with a plea to have charges against him dropped.
Advertisement

Faye Swetlik's heartbroken parents were seen for the first time since the little girl's body was discovered by authorities near her home in Cayce, South Carolina on Thursday.

Surrounded by family, friends and community members, Faye's mom and dad Selena Marie Collins and Chad Swetlik were pictured attending the vigil for their six-year-old daughter on Saturday night.

Hundreds of people gathered at the vigil at the entrance to Churchill Heights neighborhood out of respect for Faye.

A memorial has been growing at the site over the last few days, with teddy bears, flowers, candles and cards left in honor of the little girl.

In heartbreaking images, Collins and Swetlik were seen with their heads bowed as family, including Faye's grandmother Ruth Collins, gathered around them.

Faye Swetlik's heartbroken parents (center) were seen for the first time since the little girl's body was discovered by authorities near her home in Cayce, South Carolina on Thursday

Surrounded by family, friends and community members, Faye's mom and dad Selena Marie Collins and Chad Swetlik were pictured attending the vigil for their six-year-old daughter on Saturday night. Collins and Swetlik are seen with their heads bowed (center) as family, including Faye's grandmother Ruth Collins (right of Swetlik) gathered around them

Hundreds of people gathered at the vigil at the entrance to Churchill Heights neighborhood out of respect for Faye Saturday night

The distraught parents thanked mourners for their love and support following Faye's disappearance and murder

The devastated community has rallied around Faye's family since news broke of her tragic and untimely death

The distraught parents thanked mourners for their love and support following Faye's disappearance and murder.

People held candles aloft in tribute to the six-year-old and tow trucks drove past the memorial with their lights on, on the same day that authorities completed her autopsy and her body was taken to Caughman-Harman Funeral Home, Lexington, by police procession.

Authorities confirmed on Friday that Faye's body was found in woods between her home in Churchill Heights and a Napa Auto Parts store in Cayce, South Carolina, on Thursday around 11am.

The body of a male neighbor, Coty Scott Taylor, 30, was found in his home soon after.

Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher confirmed that Faye's autopsy was completed Saturday but said the results would not be released at the time out of respect for Faye's family so they could have 'privacy and time to process the information'.

The cause of death of Faye and of her suspected killer Taylor will be released at a press conference on Tuesday.

The devastated community has rallied around Faye's family since news broke of her tragic and untimely death.

Caughman-Harman Funeral Home said all expenses for the little girl's funeral will be paid for.

The body of Coty Scott Taylor (pictured), who is linked to Faye Swetlik's (right) death, was found dead in his house shortly after the remains of the six-year-old were discovered in the woods neighboring both their homes

Caughman-Harman Funeral Home said all expenses for the little girl's funeral will be paid for. Meanwhile, a GoFundMe page set up on Friday had reached donations of $5,920 as of Monday morning

People held candles aloft in tribute to the six-year-old and tow trucks drove past the memorial with their lights on, on the same day that authorities completed her autopsy and her body was taken to Caughman-Harman Funeral Home, Lexington, by police procession

Meanwhile, a GoFundMe page set up on Friday had reached donations of $5,920 as of Monday morning.

The page states that it was set up prior to knowing that the funeral would be paid for in full by the funeral home and so the donations would be used to help the family 'over the next several months' including moving costs.

COTY SCOTT TAYLOR: WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR - He was 30 years old - Taylor lived at 602 Picadilly Square, a two-bed unit around 100 feet from Fayes home - Taylor did not have a criminal record and was not known to police - He is not related to the little girl nor is he a friend of the family - Officers had previously spoken to Taylor during the search for the missing girl - Taylor attended Bluffton High School from 2003 and graduated in 2007 - Beaufort County School District said he had good academics and no disciplinary record - He went to University of South Carolina Beaufort in 2007, transferred to its Columbia campus in 2008 and then withdrew from the university in 2009 - He worked at Jimmy Johns restaurant in Columbia but left the company in 2015 Advertisement

Faye's grandmother said on her Facebook page that money would be used to help Faye's mother Selena move away from the home where her child had vanished from never to be seen alive again.

On Sunday, community members came together to protect the memorial site from the elements.

Almost a dozen people covered the memorial with a tarp and tent to protect it from the rain.

'You have absolutely no idea how much this means to us,' a family friend told WIS News.

The community has spoken of the shock that such a tragedy would happen in the neighborhood.

'We never dreamed something like this [would happen] in our neighborhood. It's just unreal,' neighbor Tony Brewer told 10TV.

'I have cried so much you wouldn't believe. It's broken my heart.'

Another mourner, Tequila English told 10TV she has a daughter the same age as Faye and that the tragedy has been hard on all parents and families in the area.

'I have a 6-year-old. I'm certain I can relate. As a mother, I can relate to her feelings right now. She's being very strong to even be here tonight.'

'I just don't understand how someone could take the life of somebody so small it's just horrible,' another local woman said.

Some toys and stuffed animals left for Faye were donated to the local children's hospital at the weekend.

Faye was finally brought home on Saturday, as the Charleston County Sheriff's Department provided a police procession to accompany her body from the coroners office to the funeral home in Lexington County following her autopsy.

Members of the public and officers gathered outside the funeral home to greet the little girl.

The local community is demanding answers, with a Facebook group dedicated to the little girl's death voicing speculation over whether suspected killer Taylor acted alone.

Conspiracy theories circulated online asking whether he had a roommate who may have been involved.

Authorities said Friday there is no danger to the community and that no other arrests had been made.

Photos on rental website Apartments.com show the inside of 602 Picadilly Square where the suspected killer lived and where his body was discovered Thursday

It is listed as a two-bed, one-and-a-half bath unit measuring 1,100 square feet

The listing also details nearby schools, including Springdale Elementary School where Faye was a first-grade student

Hubbard Bowers confirmed to DailyMail.com that the firm manages the property but would not confirm when Taylor moved in or how many people lived at the address

Photos on rental website Apartments.com show the inside of 602 Picadilly Square where the suspected killer lived and where his body was discovered Thursday.

It is listed as a two-bed, one-and-a-half bath unit measuring 1,100 square feet.

The listing also details nearby schools, including Springdale Elementary School where Faye was a first-grade student.

Hubbard Bowers confirmed to DailyMail.com that the firm manages the property but would not confirm when Taylor moved in or how many people lived at the address.

The property is now seen with yellow police tape across the door

Taylor's body was found inside the home - which is around 100 feet from the home Faye shared with her mother

'This is a spacious townhome that features an over-sized living room, a spacious eat-in kitchen, and large bedrooms,' the listing on Apartments.com reads.

'Walk out the patio door to a great outdoor patio that's perfect for entertaining.'

Little is yet known about the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Faye and Taylor, but officers confirmed the two deaths are connected.

Authorities confirmed on Friday that Faye's body was found in woods near her home and that the body of Taylor, 30, was found in his home soon after.

Police searching through rubbish trucks found 'a critical piece of evidence' in a trash can belonging to Taylor, who lived about 100 yards away from the little girl's home.

This is the heartbreaking moment murdered South Carolina six-year-old Faye Swetlik is finally brought home on Saturday, as a police procession flanks the van carrying the little girl's body

Police motorcade for Faye Swetlik LIVE: Faye Swetlik receives a police escort home following her autopsy at MUSC. The Charleston County Sheriffs Department will travel the entire distance to the funeral home with Faye. Full Coverage: https://bit.ly/2SRqiWy Posted by WLTX News19 on Saturday, February 15, 2020

The final moments: An aerial map shows the close proximity between Faye's home, the home of suspected killer Coty Scott Taylor and the wooded area where the little girl's body was found

The Charleston County Sheriff's Department provided a motorcade to accompany Faye's body back to Lexington County following her autopsy Saturday morning

The police escort accompanied the white van (above) carrying Faye on the entire journey, setting off from MUSC in Charleston at 12 pm and heading to Caughman-Harman Funeral Home, Lexington

Lexington Country Coroner Margaret Fisher confirmed the autopsy had been completed, but the results would not be released until Tuesday out of respect for Faye's family

Officers gathered to pay their respects outside the funeral home after the police escort arrived

The community has rallied round after the little girls' death, with people gathering outside the funeral home to greet the convoy

TIMELINE OF FAYE'S DISAPPEARANCE Monday, at 2.45pm Faye Swetlik is seen getting off a school bus after attending first grade at Sprindale Elementary School Monday, between 2.45pm & 3.44pm Faye is last seen playing in front of her Londonderry Square home in Churchill Heights when her mother discovers her missing Monday, 5pm Faye's mother, Selena Collins, reports her missing after a frantic search of the neighborhood. Up to 50 officers canvas the neighborhood. Department of Public Safety's Chief Byron Snellgrove said there did not appear to be any evidence of abduction at the time, and her disappearance doesn't meet the criteria for an Amber Alert Tuesday FBI and SLED helicopter teams join more than 200 law enforcement investigators in the search for Faye. A tip hotline number is set up for the public. Community members gather at Trinity Baptist Church to pray for Faye's safe return Wednesday Cops continue to knock on doors in the neighbourhood, but admit in a press conference not everyone within their search area had been spoken to. Police also search the woods behind the homes. They also make a public appeal for the drivers of an SUV and another car seen in the area to contact them. Only one driver does Thursday morning Cops discover a 'critical' piece of evidence in a trash can belonging to 602 Picadilly Square, where Coty Scott Taylor,30, lives. Police don't reveal what the evidence is, but say leads them to the woods neighboring an autoparts store behind the home Thursday, 11am Cayce Department of Public Safety Chief Byron Snellgrove discovers Faye's body in the woods behind the home of her neighbour, and near her home. Police say her body was moved shortly before she was found, and that she was killed elsewhere Thursday, after 11am Police then head to 602 Picadilly Square where they find the body of Taylor. It is not yet clear how he died Friday Authorities reveal where they discovered Faye's body and confirm neighbor Coty Scott Taylor is linked to her death. They will not reveal more details about the deaths, but said autopsies will be performed Saturday Saturday The coroner completed the autopsies of Faye and Taylor and said results will be announced Tuesday, to give the family time to process the information The Charleston County Sheriff's Department provided a motorcade to accompany the body of the little girl from the coroner's office to a funeral home at Lexington County A vigil was held at night in Churchill Heights neighborhood where Faye's heartbroken parents thanked the community for their support Advertisement

At the time, a search party, led by Cayce Department of Public Safety Chief Byron Snellgrove, had gathered to map out a route to re-canvass the woods behind the home.

The evidence 'led' officers to the same area they intended to canvass, and Swetlik's body was discovered shortly after by Snellgrove.

Police would not say in what condition her body was found, but that she had been moved to the area shortly before she was discovered. The body of Taylor was then found nearby at his home at 602 Picadilly Square.

Police would not confirm how Faye was killed, or how Taylor died.

Taylor, who did not have a criminal record and was not known to police, is not related to the little girl nor is he a friend of the family, authorities confirmed.

'He was merely a neighbor who lived at Churchill Heights,' Sgt Evan Antley, with the Cayce Department of Public Safety, said Friday.

He also confirmed that officers had previously spoken to Taylor during the search for the missing girl.

Police confirmed the two deaths are connected.

Antley assured the community 'that there is no reason to believe there is an active threat in the community'.

No arrests had been made and officers are not seeking any other persons of interest.

Antley would not comment on the condition of the bodies or the causes of death.

Officers had returned to the scene after finding 'critical evidence' in a trash can belonging to the suspected killer on Thursday.

Antley said: 'Based on that discovery we narrowed down an area that we felt as an investigative team that we needed to go back to and look for more evidence.'

Antley confirmed they had been to the area multiple times prior to the discovery.

Officers began a new search and Faye's body was found at around 11 a.m.

Based on preliminary investigations from the coroner's officer Faye had not been in that location 'for very long at all', Antley said.

Shortly after finding Faye, officers found the body of Taylor at 602 Piccadilly Square, which is around 100 to 150 yards from the little girl's home where she was last seen alive, Antley said.

Though authorities would not confirm what the 'critical evidence' that led them to the crime scene was, Antley said it 'would have been listed on her missing person flier'.

The missing person flier stated that Faye was last seen wearing polka dot rain boots, a pink flowered skirt, and a black T-shirt with the word 'PEACE' written on the front.

Antley said he wanted 'everyone to continue to pray for Faye Swetlik'.

Authorities also released the harrowing 911 call made by Faye's mother on Monday to report her daughter's disappearance.

In the call, the distraught mother Selena Marie Collins is heard gasping and sobbing uncontrollably.

'I can't find my daughter,' she tells the dispatcher.

'She was just right in front of my front porch.'

Collins describes the clothes Faye was wearing to the operator, who tells her to stay in the yard until officers arrive.

The Churchill Heights neighborhood where Faye lived continued to be under heavy police presence Friday morning.

Footage posted on Twitter showed that police had extended the crime scene to a different set of apartments near Londonderry Lane where Faye lived.

WIS-TV reported that several law enforcement officers were coming and going in the apartments and the wooded area surrounding them Friday morning.

In the video, Faye (pictured) is seen getting out of her seat and walking to the front of the bus

Footage of Faye getting off the bus on Monday afternoon was release by police on Wednesday

Faye (center) is then seen speaking to the bus driver (left) before exiting the bus

Faye was a first-grade student at Springdale Elementary School. She went missing on Monday after getting off the school bus

A coroner identified the child's body this morning, police confirmed Thursday afternoon

Yellow police tape was also across the little girl's home.

Heartbreaking pictures emerged Friday of Valentine's Day cards that the little girl's classmates made for her in the hope she would be returned alive.

Some of her friends in the first grade at Springdale Elementary School made the cards for her before the news of her death broke Thursday.

Lexington School District Two released a statement Thursday saying the school community was 'heart-broken' by her untimely death.

Flowers, balloons and teddy bears are left at the entrance to the Churchill Heights neighborhood for the little girl

The heartbroken community has set up a memorial for Faye Swetlik

'We are heart-broken with news of the death of Faye Swetlik, a first-grade student at Springdale Elementary, who went missing earlier this week. When the school community experiences a tragedy like the loss of a child, it deeply affects all of us,' it said.

The search for the missing six-year-old came to an end Thursday when authorities confirmed they had found her body in her South Carolina neighborhood.

The body of a deceased adult male was also located in the neighborhood, authorities said.

Director of Public Safety for Cayce, Byron Snellgrove announced the news through tears at a Thursday press conference where he spoke for only about a minute and took no questions.

'It's with extremely heavy hearts that we announce we have found the body that the coroner has identified as Faye,' Snellgrove said.

Faye's death is being treated as a homicide and no arrests have been made, he added.

Authorities did not identify the male or release information about where exactly the bodies were found or whether the two deaths were connected.

However, Snellgrove said 'there was no danger to the public'.

DailyMail.com requests for comment to the Cayce Department of Public Safety and the Lexington County Coroner haven't been returned.

The media was alerted to intensified police activity Thursday morning, with officers and fire crews blocking anyone from entering the neighborhood, even residents.

Investigators were also seen searching trash cans.

Authorities had given an update on the investigation Thursday morning.

At that time, police said they had towed two cars from the home where the child lived.

Antley confirmed that the vehicles were removed from the home but didn't share details of anything that 'may or may not have been found in those vehicles'.

The sergeant also confirmed that officers had searched Faye's home 'multiple times'.

Swetlik's grandmother shared video on Thursday showing her six-year-old granddaughter sing 'You Are My Sunshine'

Young Faye is seen above with her grandmother, Ruth Collins, who provided the video of her singing

'My heart is out there somewhere and I don't know how to handle it,' said Faye's grandmother Ruth Collins a day after her granddaughter went missing

Faye's death is being treated as a homicide and no arrests have been made.

Faye's death is being treated as a homicide and no arrests have been made. Officers pictured during the investigation on Thursday

Authorities said the child's body was found in the Churchill Heights neighborhood where she lived. Police have also found the body of an adult male who has not been identified

Police officers were seen earlier in the week canvassing the neighborhood near Faye's home

The child had been playing in front of her home (pictured) at the time she went missing

Police initially said they were hunting for two cars that were seen in the neighborhood before Faye vanished on Monday. Officials have identified the person driving the Chevrolet Trailblazer, but investigators are still seeking information about the sedan

Police had also closed off the neighborhood where the girl lived to everyone except residents, their visitors and delivery trucks. An officer was also stationed outside of the girl's home.

Hundreds of officers in Cayce, along with state police and FBI agents, worked around the clock to try to find the little girl.

Searchers knocked multiple times on the doors of every home in the neighborhood.

Police initially said they were hunting for two cars that were seen in the Churchill Heights neighborhood before Faye vanished after getting home from school on Monday.

Cayce Department of Public Safety posted images of the cars, saying: 'The two vehicles shown were in the neighborhood during the time #FayeSwetlik was last seen.'

Antley confirmed Thursday morning that they had identified and spoken to the person driving the Chevrolet Trailblazer, but investigators are still seeking information about the silver sedan.

Faye's bereaved grandmother shared a video showing the six-year-old singing 'You Are My Sunshine' on social media in the hours after authorities in South Carolina confirmed she was found dead.

Her grandmother, Ruth Collins, had posted several messages on her Facebook page expressing hope that her granddaughter would eventually be found.

'I want my baby back,' Collins said at a prayer vigil on Tuesday. 'We've got to find her.'

After officials announced that a body had been found, Collins posted a picture of a single burning candle, and a touching picture of her kissing her granddaughter's head.

'He was merely a neighbor who lived at Churchill Heights,' Sgt Evan Antley with the Cayce Department of Public Safety said at Friday's press conference

Director of Public Safety for Cayce, Byron Snellgrove (pictured) became emotional as he announced the death of little Faye

The row of homes where Coty Scott Taylor lived (pictured) was about 100 to 150 yards from Faye's home

Faye was last seen playing in front of the Londonderry Sq home in Cayce, near Columbia, at approximately 3.45pm.

Her family reported her missing at 5pm, saying they had been searching for her.

Police did not say whether the person driving the Trailblazer lived in the Churchill Heights neighborhood.

Authorities released footage of Faye getting off her school bus on Wednesday morning as they announced that the search for the girl had been expanded.

In the footage, Faye gets out of her seat, speaks to the bus driver and then exits the vehicle. According to a witness, this was at around 2.50pm Monday.

Faye - a student at Springdale Elementary School - was last seen wearing a black shirt with neon colors, a flower print skirt and polka dot rain boots. The shirt had the word 'peace' written on it.

Snellgrove said Faye's mother, her mother's boyfriend and Faye's father had all been cooperating with the investigation.

Faye's grandmother, Ruth Collins, had been pleading to the public on social media for help with finding her granddaughter.

For the past few days, Faye's grandmother, Ruth Collins (left with Faye and right), has been pleading to the public on social media for help with finding her granddaughter. 'I'm going crazy not knowing where she is,' Collins said

On Tuesday night, community members (pictured) gathered at Trinity Baptist Church to pray for Faye's safe return

'I'm going crazy not knowing where she is,' Collins wrote in a Facebook post.

In a statement, the family told ABC News that 'Faye is a bubbly and happy little girl'.

'She's not the type of kid that will up and walk away... Faye pays attention to her surroundings. We just want to find Faye and bring her home.'

The child's mother has not made any public statements since Faye went missing earlier this week.

On Tuesday night, community members gathered at Trinity Baptist Church to pray for Faye's safe return.

Faye was lactose intolerant with a speech impediment from having a tethered tongue.

Tethered tongue, or ankyloglossia, is when a thick band of tissue tethers the bottom of the tongue to the tip of the floor of the mouth.

'When she walks into a room she brightens it up. Everyone loves Faye,' Snellgrove said.

'Faye loves dresses, fancy shoes, spending time with her family, cats and playing outside.'

Several public figures have spoken out about the Swetlik case.

Vice President Mike Pence gave a speech to The Citadel, a military academy in South Carolina, according to Fox News.

'[A]llow me to address an issue that I know is on the hearts of people all across South Carolina today,' the vice president said on Thursday.

'And as your vice president and as a father, let me say we were deeply saddened to receive word this afternoon that the remains of Faye Swetlik, a 6-year-old girl who went missing from her parents' front yard just three days ago, have been found.'

Senator Lindsey Graham tweeted: 'Like all South Carolinians, I was heartbroken to hear the news about the death of Faye Swetlik.

'I pray for the family of this beautiful young girl as they deal with this horrific tragedy.'
By PTI

BHUJ: A college in Bhuj town of Gujarat's Kutch district has suspended its principal, hostel rector and peon after police registered an FIR against them for allegedly forcing over 60 girls to remove their undergarments to check if they were menstruating.

Principal Rita Raninga, girls' hostel rector Ramilaben and college peon Naina were suspended on Saturday after the FIR was registered against them, Shree Sahajanand Girls Institute (SSGI) trustee Pravin Pindoria said on Monday.

Apart from these three, a woman, identified as Anita, who is not associated with the college, was also named as an accused in the FIR lodged by Bhuj police.

The accused have been booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 384 (extortion), 355 (assault with intent to dishonour a person) and 506 (criminal intimidation).

No one has been arrested so far. SSGI is a self-financed college, having its own girls' hostel. It is run by a trust of the Swaminarayan Temple, Bhuj.

The college is affiliated to the Krantiguru Shyamji Krishna Verma Kutch University.

After the incident came to light, a seven-member team of the National Commission for Women (NCW) on Sunday met the girl inmates the hostel, who were allegedly forced by the authorities to remove their undergarments to check if they were menstruating.

A student earlier told media persons that the incident took place on February 11 in the hostel, located on the campus of SSGI, which offers graduate and under-graduate courses.

She alleged that over 60 students were taken to the washroom by a woman staffer and made to remove their undergarments to check if they were menstruating.

After a probe, Darshana Dholakia, in-charge vice-chancellor of the university to which the college is affiliated, had earlier said the girls were checked because the hostel has a rule that girls having periods are not supposed to take meals with other inmates.

The hostel authorities decided to check them after they came to know that some menstruating girls had broken the rule and taken the meal.

The police earlier said that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed, with woman police officials as its members, to probe the incident.
The Bachelor Season 24, which features pilot Peter Weber as the lead, is not exactly known for the kindness of its contestants. Since the network often chooses the bachelorette for the upcoming season from the cast on the previous Bachelor season, many Bachelor fans are wondering: out of these mostly not great options, who will be the next bachelorette? Apparently, they could be looking to other seasonsor even previous Bachelorette leads. One former contestant on The Bachelor, Bekah Martinez, said on her podcast that producers are considering Miss Alabama, Hannah Brown, for a second season of the show. Martinez and her co-host, Jess Ambrose, thought this was a terrible idea.

Former cast member of The Bachelor says she heard a rumor about Hannah Brown getting a second season on The Bachelorette

Hannah Brown attends Varietys Power of Young Hollywood | by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images

I heard rumors, Bekah Martinez shared on Chatty Broads with Bekah and Jess, her podcast she shares with her friend Jess Ambrose. Apparently someone  in Bachelor world said that they heard from a very reliable source that they are actually considering Hannah for season 2. Brown was the lead on The Bachelorette in 2019.

Hannah Brown is being talked about for season 2, Ambrose responded.

No! Martinez replied. No! I dont care how I felt about her season or how Ive ever felt about her. This has nothing to do with any of that, my personal feelings aside. Please, no!

Why does Martinez, an alum of Aries season of The Bachelor, feel so strongly about it?

She already had her shot, Martinez said of The Bachelorette. Shes on this fun single train thing right now, just let it be.

Would Miss Alabama Hannah Brown be different as a lead since becoming famous from Dancing With the Stars?

Ambrose, Martinezs Chatty Broads co-host, wholeheartedly agreed.

I dont like when people get recast because they come in different, she argued. Since Browns has now appeared on several reality shows, Ambrose thought the vibe would change.

Shes super famous, she has won Dancing With the Stars, she continued. Its gonna have a different energy.

Ideally, Miss Alabama Hannah is doing more exciting things with her life.

Former Bachelorette Hannah Brown attends the 2019 E! Peoples Choice Awards | Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Hannahs probably going out on dates with celebrities now; shes going out with models, Ambrose continued.

Bekah Martinez (a contestant on Aries season of The Bachelor) explains why she thinks Hannah Brown should not be the bachelorette again

Martinez also argued that Brown is still in that process of discovering herself. She clarified:

I think shes in that mode right now. I think shes not dating and shes figuring sh*t out about navigating her new life in L.A. and making friends and navigating those kinds of relationships and I think thats what shes dealing with right now.

Martinez thought that this was all completely great for the 25-year-old.

To which I say, live your life, and do that, she encouraged Brown. Dont go back on another season of The Bachelorette.

I know, Ambrose replied, I hope not.

Get someone new! Martinez said to Bachelorette producers. We already saw that.

But I also dont want any of these girls, Ambrose said of Pilot Petes contestants of The Bachelor.

Also a great point.
S4 Medical, a Columbus, Ohio-based innovative medical device company, raised a new funding of undisclosed amount.

Investors included Ohio Innovation Fund (OIF), ProMedica, Plug and Play, Valley Growth Ventures, Jumpstart, North Coast Angel Fund, and individual angel investors.

This new funding will enable the company to continue to develop its device.

Led by Co-Inventor and Co-Founder Dr. Emile Daoud, Chief of Cardiac Electrophysiology at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, and William Fuller, Co-founder and CEO, S4 Medical focuses on protecting the esophagus from thermal damage during catheter ablation procedures. The device being developed by the company, called ESolution, is inserted through the mouth into the esophagus and utilizes a proprietary method to deviate the esophagus away from potential thermal injury. S4 Medical completed its first human studies in seven patients in Argentina.

FinSMEs

17/02/2020
The Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma, has asked the Supreme Court to strike out an application seeking to review its judgment on Imo governorship election that declared him the winner of March 9 election.

Emeka Ihedioha, who is the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had claimed that Mr Uzodinma obtained the judgment fraudulently.

Mr Ihediohas claims are contained in an application which he filed on February 5, at the Supreme Court.

The apex court had on January 14, nullified the governorship position held by Mr Ihedioha. He was earlier declared the winner by the electoral umpire, INEC, as the governor of Imo State.

The apex court, however, declared Mr Uzodinma as the winner of the March 9 governorship election in the state.

In the unanimous judgment of the seven-member panel, read by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, the apex court agreed that results in 388 polling units were unlawfully excluded during the collation of the final governorship election result in Imo State.

Justice Kekere-Ekun said with the results from the 388 polling units added, Mr Uzodinma polled a majority of the lawful votes and ought to have been declared the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The judge did not provide the details of the new votes scored by each of the candidates after the addition of the results from the 388 polling units.

Consequently, she voided and set aside the declaration of Mr lhedioha as the winner of the 2019 governorship election in the South-East state.

The court ordered that the certificate of return issued to Mr lhedioha be immediately withdrawn by INEC and a fresh one issued to Mr Uzodinma as the elected governor of the state.

Uzodinmas request

But, in a 19-paragraph affidavit filed in opposition to Mr Ihediohas application, Mr Uzodinma and the All Progressive Congress (APC) said the 60 days allowed for the apex court by the constitution has since elapsed.

The undisputed facts relating to the respondents/applicants motion hereinafter referred to as the motion are to the effect that the judgment of the Court of Appeal was delivered on 21st September 2019, while the one sought to be set aside, was delivered on 14th January 2020. Clearly, the 60 days allowed by Section 285(7) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) for this Hon. Court to hear and determine an appeal from the Court of Appeal in an election matter, lapsed on January 17, 2020. The motion to set aside was filed on February 5, 2020, 19 days after the time allowed by the Constitution.

It is now a settled law that the 60 days time limit to determine and conclude litigation on election matters is sacrosanct and cannot be extended by any guise, they stated, in the counter-affidavit filed on their behalf by their lawyer, Damian Dodo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

In the counter-affidavit deposed to by Mathew Mola, the two respondents said the Supreme Court is not in the habit of sitting on appeal over its own judgment as being demanded by Mr Ihedioha.

The deponent averred that by the rule of the apex court, the court is prohibited from reviewing its own judgment once delivered except to correct clerical mistakes or accidental slips.

As the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court jealously guides its process against abuse by litigants, he said, and does not indulge in academic exercise or answer by hypothetical questions.

He said contrary to the claim of Mr Ihedioha in his application, the scores of all the candidates in the election as declared by INEC, were clearly set out.

The deponent added that a petitioner, whose votes were excluded from the declared results, is entitled to compute the votes excluded in the presentation of his case.

The counter-affidavit denied the allegation that Mr Uzodinma admitted that he allocated votes to himself or that the votes in the 388 polling units were in excess of the registered voters.

I know as a fact that the issue of a total number of votes cast exceeding the total number of accredited voters did not arise from the petition or the appeal considered and determined by the Supreme Court.

I also know that the issue of the votes of 68 other candidates not been reflected was never raised by Ihedioha in the appeal that led to the judgment now being challenged, he added.

The deponent noted that Mr Uzodinma and APC did not mislead the Supreme Court to perpetrate any fraud in the appeal that brought them to power, describing Mr Ihediohas allegations as wild and baseless.

Advertisements



The governor and his party, in their joint preliminary objection, asked the apex court to strike out the request for being baseless and unwarranted.

They argued that the application by Mr Ihedioha constitutes a gross abuse of court process, an exercise in futility and an attempt to force the apex court to sit on appeal in its own judgment.

According to the respondents, by virtue of Section 285 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the Supreme Court could no longer decide on the matter has become statute-barred.

Meanwhile, the apex court will on February 18, consider the merit or otherwise of Mr Ihediohas application.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia has issued a statement on the deaths recorded this year. Armenpress has presented the statement by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia.

Out of the 13 deaths of servicemen (fixed-term and contractual servicemen, officers) recorded in the Armed Forces between January 1 and February 17, 2020, 4 were caused by accidents, 4 were linked to circumstances not connected to military service (disease, personal matters), and there are criminal cases instituted in regard to the remaining 5 (circumstances are being clarified).

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia urges the media, public and political figures, experts and analysts to refrain from speculating the deaths in the army and calls on the public to avoid reading misinformation and follow the official news in order to not be manipulated.

It is clear that any incident in the army sparks great reactions among the public, especially when they lead to deaths. We assure that all cases are thoroughly and comprehensively examined, investigated by the relevant bodies, the conclusions are drawn, and everything is done to make sure the omissions are fixed. We urge everyone to be patient and refrain from being sentimental, be alert and maximally careful when making statements in the media, on social networks and on other platforms.

The death of every soldier is a great loss and pain for the commanders of the Armed Forces. Once again, we express condolences to the families of all the deceased servicemen and wish them patience. We assure you that the efficiency of the servicemen is at a high level, and we continue to meet our combat objectives unwaveringly.
President Akufo-Addo yesterday started a three-day tour of the Volta and Oti regions.

The tour comes barely three months after he toured the Volta Region to inspect and commission many projects, including the landmark rail bridge that connects the Eastern Region to the Volta Region.

The President and his entourage started from the Oti Region, where he interacted with chiefs and people of some traditional areas.

He was expected to cut the sod for the construction of the Oti Regional Food& Agricultural Directorate at Nkwanta in the Nkwanta South District, followed by a brief stop at Kadjebi Akan District, where a business resource centre would be commissioned before ending the day's tour at Jasikan.

The tour today would begin with the inspection of an ongoing construction of the Oti Regional Education Directorate in the Jasikan District.

He would then interact with students and tutors of Bueman Senior High School and commission some projects under the Senior High School Intervention Projects (SHSIPs).

The Oti Regional Health Directorate is at Worawora in the Biakoye District, while the Roads, Highways & Feeder Roads Directorate would be located at Kete Krachi.

From Oti, the President would move to the Volta Region, where he would visit the palace of the late Togbega Gabusu VI to commiserate with the chiefs and people of Gbidukor and sign the book of condolence.

He would also address a durbar of chiefs and people of Afadzato South District at Golokwati.

The third and final day of the tour would start with the inspection of ongoing construction of the Sokode-Ho dual carriageway followed by an interaction with students and tutors of Adaklu Senior High School at Adaklu-Waya in the Adaklu District and later a durbar of the chiefs and people of Adaklu at Waya.

The President would also grace the grand durbar of TESCON's 20th anniversary celebration at the Ho Technical University.

---Daily Guide
Billionaire Michael Bloomberg has spent more than $300 million on television and internet ads that present Mike as an up-from-poverty, self-made fighter for progress and decency, a friend of the common man.

The marketing of Bloomberg involves distortions so grotesque that one commentator recalled the massive advertising campaign by Ford Motor Company, in the early days of television, to promote an exciting new model named the Edsel, arguably the ugliest and most unsuccessful car ever produced.

The Bloomberg campaign is spending more than $1 million a day on average just on Facebook ads. In advance of the March 3 primaries dubbed Super Tuesday, when there will be voting in 14 states, Bloomberg has spent $40 million on television and internet advertising in California, $33 million in Texas, $9.5 million in North Carolina and $6 million in Massachusetts. He is the only candidate to air TV ads in Virginia and Alabama. Except for fellow billionaire Tom Steyer, no other Democratic candidate has thus far spent even $10 million in all 14 states combined.

Michael Bloomberg speaks during his campaign launch of Mike for Black America, at the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum in Houston [Credit: AP Photo/David J. Phillip]

The electoral impact of Bloombergs vast expendituresa drop in the bucket from his $60 billion fortuneis difficult to estimate in advance of the voting on Super Tuesday. March 3 will be the first time that the former mayor of New York City is on a primary ballot. Polls suggest that Bloomberg is close to the 15 percent mark required to win delegates to the Democratic convention. His aim, should he fail to win enough delegates to gain the nomination, is to combine with other moderate candidates to block a victory by the current front-runner, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

Whatever the outcome of the primary campaign, it is clear already that Bloombergs spending exerts a vast influence on the Democratic Party establishment and on the corporate media (of which Bloomberg News, part of his empire, is a major component). It is safe to say that no other Democratic presidential hopeful could have survived last weeks series of press reports on Bloombergs support for stop-and-frisk police attacks on minority youth, his blaming the 2008 Wall Street crash on loans to minority borrowers, and his abusive treatment of female employees.

Last week, reports surfaced of Bloombergs 2015 comments on his policy as New York mayor of stop-and-frisk, in which he declared, Ninety-five percent of your murders and murderers and murder victims fit one M.O. You can just take the description, Xerox it and pass it out to all the cops. They are male minorities, 15 to 25. He went on to add, The way you get the guns out of the kids hands is to throw them up against the walls and frisk them.

In response, the Bloomberg campaign immediately rolled out endorsements of his campaign by three African-American members of Congress.

Anticipating the crisis, Bloomberg had already met with a group of prominent black pastors who had been critical of stop-and-frisk but were willing to administer absolution if the billionaire candidate was sufficiently apologeticand generous. As Calvin Butts, pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, put it, with revealing frankness, He used his money, which is one of the reasons I continue to support him, to express his sincerity.

As a 5,000-word profile in the New York Times Sunday edition detailed, Bloomberg, who spent $270 million on his three successful campaigns to buy the mayoralty of New York City (2002-2013), built an empire of influence through targeted donations to an array of liberal and pro-Democratic Party groups over the past decade. According to the Times account:

Since leaving City Hall at the end of 2013, Mr. Bloomberg has become the single most important political donor to the Democratic Party and its causes. His personal fortune, built on a financial information and news company, is estimated at over $60 billion. It fuels an advocacy network that has directed policy in dozens of states and cities; mobilized movements to take on gun violence and climate change; rewritten election laws and health regulations; and elected scores of politicians to offices as modest as the school board and as lofty as the Senate.

This includes an estimated $270 million to gun control campaigns, largely through the Bloomberg-funded Everytown for Gun Safety group. He has pumped large sums into the Sierra Club, Planned Parenthood, charter school advocacy groups and similar organizations, giving himself near-veto power over their campaigns.

In one incident described by the Times, the Center for American Progress, a Democratic Party think tank, edited a report on anti-Muslim bias in the United States to remove a chapter on New York City police spying on Muslim mosques and communities that had eight references to Bloomberg by name. Bloomberg gave nearly $2 million to the organization.

A longtime Democrat who adopted the Republican label in 2001 to run for mayor, then ran for reelection as a Republican in 2005 and as an independent in 2009, Bloomberg supported Republican presidential candidates George W. Bush in 2004 and John McCain in 2008. He returned to the Democratic Party as an endorser only in 2016, when he backed Hillary Clinton. He later changed his registration to Democratic.

In 2018, Bloomberg spent more than $100 million supporting Democratic Party candidates for Congress through his personal super PAC, and he has pledged to spend $1 billion to elect Democrats this year, whether or not he wins the party nomination.

Among those now singing the praises of Bloomberg are dozens of current and former mayors, many of them African-American, from cities including Philadelphia, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Memphis, Tampa, Sacramento, Miami and Washington DC. This only demonstrates the completely corrupt and cynical character of identity politics, which a layer of the black upper-middle class has used to obtain a bigger share of the wealth and status of the top 10 percent, while the conditions of the vast majority of black workers and youth have continued to deteriorate.

In the wake of the stop-and-frisk controversy, an array of video and audio clips has surfaced documenting Bloombergs long record of racist and sexist comments.

The Associated Press reported last week that Bloomberg made comments in 2008 in which he blamed the collapse of the mortgage security market, which triggered the Wall Street crash, on efforts to restrict the practice of redliningracial discrimination by bankers against predominately minority residential neighborhoods. A spokesman for the National Community Reinvestment Coalition called this a billionaire defending other billionaires and placing the blame on lower-income homeowners.

In a 2018 conversation with International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde, made public Sunday, Bloomberg can be heard opposing minimum wage laws and defending the finger printing of food-stamp recipients. He called the minimum wage one of these impediments to job creation that he favored eliminating.

On Sunday, the Washington Post published a 4,000-word profile of Bloomberg that documented a long series of allegations by female employees, largely about profane and sexist comments, many of them demeaning, some outright threatening. These were not #MeToo-style allegations of personal misconduct, but charges that Bloomberg encouraged a hostile work environment for women employees. These conditions generated dozens of lawsuits and numerous settlements in six and seven figures.

Any of these episodes would have destroyed another candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination. But for Bloomberg and his media acolytes, it is a big so what? Being a right-wing, dictatorial, foul-mouthed, racist, sexist billionaire is not a problem for the Democratic Party establishment, as long as the billionaires money finds its way into their own pockets.

What dominates the Democratic Party, no less than the Republicans under Trump, is the politics of oligarchy. It is naked and shameless.

The financial aristocrats, the multimillionaires and billionaires, control the two-party system and dictate the course of the stage-managed political events called primaries, conventions and elections.

Later this week, Bloomberg and Bernie Sanders are likely to appear on the same platform, if Bloomberg, as expected, qualifies for Wednesdays Democratic debate in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Sanders claims that his campaign is the means to transform the Democratic Party into an instrument of progressive reform, a weapon against the rule of the super-rich. Bloombergs very presence on the debate platform will demonstrate the oppositethat the Sanders campaign is a progressive fig leaf for the oldest American capitalist party, which does the bidding of Wall Street and the CIA.
Outside the US, at least a dozen countries have experimented with some form of online voting, according to Verified Voting

West Virginia's disabled residents and overseas military personnel will be able to vote by smartphone in the US presidential election this year, the latest development in a push to make balloting more accessible despite persistent security fears.

Rising interest in electronic voting has heightened concerns among security experts who fear these systems are vulnerable to hacking and manipulation that could undermine confidence in election results.

Overseas service members from West Virginia first voted by smartphone in 2018 with the blockchain-powered mobile application Voatz, which is now being tested in some elections in Colorado, Utah, Oregon and Washington state.

West Virginia recently expanded the program to people with physical disabilities.

A report released Thursday by Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers uncovered Voatz "vulnerabilities" which could allow votes to be altered and potentially allow an attacker to recover a user's secret ballot.

Voatz called the study "flawed" and said its app has been updated 27 times from the version used by researchers.

MIT researchers Michael Specter, James Koppel and Daniel Weitzner on Friday stood by their findings, saying they used recent versions of the app.

The researchers said that amid the uncertainty, election officials should "abandon the app for immediate use."

Backers of mobile voting argue it is more efficient, and can improve accessibility for deployed troops, the elderly and other people who can't get to polling stations.

Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang endorsed the idea, saying, "Americans should be able to vote via their mobile device, with verification done via blockchain."

Critics however call for caution in light of an array of cybersecurity worries and a fiasco in Iowa over a mobile app that was used for vote tabulation, but could have been adapted for individual ballots.

While internet voting has been implemented in parts of the world, notably in Estonia, security is still a key concern, and that goes double for smartphone voting, say researchers.

Story continues

"Internet voting can't be secured by any known technology," said Andrew Appel, a Princeton University computer science professor and member of a National Academy of Sciences panel which produced a 2018 report, "Securing the Vote," that recommends against internet voting.

A key hurdle for online voting, including with smartphones, is ensuring ballots are secret while at the same time verifying the voter's identity and securing the ballot against tampering.

Appel noted that while many people are used to handling sensitive transactions like banking on a smartphone, the security risks of voting are unique.

The 2018 report, Appel noted, recommends the use of "human-readable" paper ballots which can be audited.

- Blockchain or not? -

Voatz claims its use of blockchain and other technologies can deliver both accessibility and security.

"Voatz leverages the latest security features of smartphones and facial recognition technology to verify and validate the identity of the voter, biometrics to secure that voter's identity, cryptography to automatically produce a paper ballot for tabulation at the jurisdiction, and blockchain for rigorous post-election audits to ensure voter intent is reflected in the overall count without revealing voter identity," a Voatz spokesperson said in an email to AFP.

The Voatz app requires users to scan a driver's license or other identity card and authenticate with a fingerprint reader and a selfie that is matched against it using facial recognition software.

But some analysts say the security using blockchain, which is a shared ledger used for cryptocurrencies that cannot be modified without all parties on the chain being notified, does not address the problems of electronic voting.

"Blockchain solves a problem for elections that pretty much doesn't exist, which is securing votes already cast," said Matt Blaze, a Georgetown University professor specializing in cryptography who has studied election systems.

"It doesn't address the problem of how to know these are the votes people have cast."

Appel said if a ballot is altered by a hacker before it is tabulated, "the hacked ballot would go into the blockchain."

- Moving ahead online -

Still, internet voting appears to moving forward in the US and elsewhere.

At least four US states allow some voters to return ballots using a web-based portal and 19 allow email or fax, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Barbara Simons, board chair of the nonprofit election watchdog Verified Voting Foundation, said some firms are selling new technology by promising increased voter participation.

"This is an incredible myth -- there is little to no evidence showing internet voting is going to increase voter participation," Simons told a conference at Georgetown University.

Outside the US, at least a dozen countries have experimented with some form of online voting, according to Verified Voting.

Estonia's system in place since 2005 is seen by some as a model to follow. But France dropped its system for overseas voting online in 2017 over security concerns.

Appel said one problem in evaluating online voting is that it may be impossible to detect a hack.

For a fully electronic system, he said, "there is no practical way to know if the vote is recorded in an accurate way."
Smartphones with the logos of T-Mobile and Sprint are seen in this illustration

By Hilary Russ

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York on Sunday dropped its fight against the $40 billion merger of U.S. wireless carriers T-Mobile US Inc <TMUS.O> and Sprint Corp <S.N>, saying the state would not appeal a judge's approval of the deal.

New York Attorney General Letitia James said her office would end the court challenge to the 2018 merger agreement between the third- and fourth-largest U.S. wireless carriers.

Instead, she said her office hopes "to work with all the parties to ensure that consumers get the best pricing and service possible, that networks are built out throughout our state, and that good-paying jobs are created here in New York."

A U.S. federal judge gave the companies the green light on Tuesday to complete the deal. New York, California and other states had challenged it on antitrust grounds, saying it would drive up prices for consumers.

The office of California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said it was reviewing the court ruling and its options.

"We are mindful that the California Public Utility Commission also has this matter under consideration," it said on Sunday.

Attorneys general offices for Connecticut and Massachusetts said they are reviewing the decision and evaluating their options. Michigan said it was not in a position to comment.

The eight other states in the group and the District of Columbia did not reply to requests for comment.

In her statement, New York's James said the "process has yielded commitments from T-Mobile to create jobs in Rochester and engage in robust national diversity initiatives that will connect our communities with good jobs and technology."

Other states have also stopped pursing their fight by focusing on jobs they were promised. In October, Colorado became the second state, after Mississippi, to drop its legal challenge after striking an agreement with T-Mobile and Dish Network Corp <DISH.O>, which will buy the assets divested from the merger.

Story continues

Dish pledged to bring 2,000 jobs to Colorado, and T-Mobile agreed to deploy the next generation of wireless 5G across much of the state.

No further details were immediately available on any such specific agreement with New York.

The all-stock deal was originally valued at $26 billion. With gains in the value of T-Mobile shares since it was announced, the deal is now worth $40 billion.

(Reporting by Hilary Russ in New York and Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Shumaker, Dan Grebler and David Gregorio)
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to accept telecom firm Vodafone's proposal to pay Rs 2,500 crore by today and Rs 1,000 crore by Friday against adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues and that no coercive action be taken against it.

A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra declined to accept the proposal given by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Vodafone, after he mentioned the matter.

Rohatgi said they are willing to pay Rs 2,500 crore today and another Rs 1,000 crore by Friday but no coercive action be taken against the company.

He said the bank guarantee deposited with the government by Vodafone should also not be encashed.
On Sunday, Feb. 16, 40 days after of the horrific downing of the Ukrainian airliner, students gathered at Amir Kabir University in Tehran to protest the regime's brutal crackdown against protesters and the downing of flight 752, while also demanding the release of political prisoners. "Fifteen hundred were killed in Nov. protests," they chanted. They asserted that the downing of the Ukrainian plane is a manifestation of 41 years of lies and blackmail. The students also call for a boycott of the upcoming parliamentary "elections" on Feb. 21, chanting, "No voting, no ballot box, boycott the elections."

The students were attacked by the clerical regime's plainclothes agents and the intelligence department of the university.

These mega-lies have become a challenge between the Ukrainian government and the mullahs in Tehran, and it seems that governments are beginning to find out what Tehran has done to the Iranian people through its lies in these 41 years.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed the authenticity of the audio file of a conversation between Tehran air control and a pilot of an Asseman passenger plane near the airport, which he says he obtained from a source in his country's intelligence service: "This tape shows that the Iranian regime knew from the beginning" that "[o]ur plane was shot down by a missile and was aware of this from the shooting moment."

Le Monde adds:

This audio file, which reveals a new the public lie of the Iranian regime's officials is being released as the subject of the accident investigation has become a source of growing tension between Tehran and Kyiv. "The Iranian authorities after first saying they were ready to send the black boxes to Ukraine. refused to do so without mentioning any reason[.]"

Iranian authorities have claimed to have delivered the tape themselves to Ukraine, "the second phase of lies has begun," according to the Jahan Sanat newspaper (February 4).

A regime airline official who thinks he has taken the world's wisdom hostage has stepped forward, saying, "The release of the audiotape by the Ukrainians has made us stop giving them any documentation." Following the allegation, the president of Ukraine declared: "The Iranian regime's air control has by no means delivered the conversation tape to Ukrainian investigators who have traveled to Iran. Ukraine has gained these conversations independently.

Canada urged the United Nations on Wednesday, February 5 to put pressure on the Iranian regime for delays in analyzing the black boxes of the downed Ukrainian aircraft.

Now the question for many international experts are, who ordered the firing? Was it human error? The IRGC's Air Force commander, Haji Zadeh, asserted that the operator was interviewed by authorities, but the Iranian regime refused to broadcast the interview.

Haji Zadeh insisted that he had informed the highest authorities in the early hours, saying: "When I was informed of the shooting I was in the west of the country. I immediately informed the authorities on Wednesday morning that this had happened and that I pointed out with a high probability that we had fired at the Ukrainian plane. "

Hassan Mahmoudi is an analyst, up to date with all current affairs including political and economic issues, critics, informative reports on Iran, and the Middle East.
A Perth court has been played a panicked phone call between two vegan activists after they realised police were closing in on them over the alleged theft of a $1500 calf from a WA family farm.

James Warden, 25, and his co-accused Arkadiusz Swiebodzinski faced Perth Magistrates Court on Monday for the first day of a criminal trial following a nearly year-long legal ordeal, after both pleaded not guilty to charges of stealing and aggravated burglary over the theft of a $1500 Friesian calf in 2018.

Controversial vegan activist James Warden. Credit:Nine News Perth

The court was packed for the state prosecution's opening address after an hour delay due to Mr Warden and Mr Swiebodzinski's defence lawyer Marilyn Loveday claiming she had missed her morning alarm.

Supporters of the two rotated shifts in the courtroom as the trial began.
New Delhi: Indian Army has destroyed two mortar shells of the Pakistan Army which were found after the recent ceasefire violation along the Line of Control (LOC) in Balakot and Mendhar sectors of Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir

The shell had landed near a house in the Balakot area of Mendhar sector during cross-border shelling on February 9 and was noticed by some villagers, who informed the Army.

Army experts immediately rushed to the spot and destroyed the unexploded shell safely.

Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire by targeting forward posts and villages at several places, including Balakot and Mendhar, on February 9, prompting strong and effective retaliation from the Indian Army.
Karan Johar on Monday unveiled a poster of upcoming flick 'Gunjan Saxena

Janhvi looks enthralling in the look of an Air Force officer as she is seen entering in the crowd of fellow fighter pilots applauding her. Jhanvi is seen sporting the navy blue uniform while holding her helmet in her hand smiling through the way.

Karan shared the look in a post on Instagram that reads, "Gunjan Saxena - #TheKargilGirl is ready to take off on 24th April 2020."

'The Kargil Girl' will show Janhvi portraying a real-life person for the first time in her career.

The upcoming movie is based on Saxena, who is one of the first female pilots to fly in combat. She played an important role in rescuing injured soldiers during the Kargil War in 1999 and was awarded the gallantry Shaurya Vir Award for displaying courage during the war.

Directed by Sharan Sharma, 'The Kargil Girl' also stars Pankaj Tripathi, Vineet Kumar Singh, Angad Bedi and Manav Vij in pivotal roles. It is set to hit theatres on April 24, 2020.

The upcoming biopic is produced by Dharma Productions and Zee Studios.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
THE IMPULSE TO transform ones visage is an elemental one, practiced by every culture on earth. From the African continent to the Inuit societies of North America to the islands of Oceania, ancient peoples used materials like mud, wood, bone, feathers and metals to craft masks made for everything from conjuring rain to guiding the dead into the spiritual realm. Aside from ceremony, masks have also long had practical implications: Think of the medico della peste, or plague doctor mask, with its long, birdlike beak, which was worn in the 17th century by physicians hoping to protect themselves from the Black Plague, and which became one of the enduring visual images from that time, a metaphor for the facelessness of death itself.

The superhero masks that DC Comics and Marvel have made ubiquitous are rooted in concepts invented by ancient Greek theater, where expressive, painted ones  sad, angry or happy faces  were worn by actors so that audiences could see their moods from afar. Todays masks also exaggerate emotion  consider Joaquin Phoenixs award-winning Joker, his painted-on grin a grotesquerie of genuine human expression  but more frequently they conceal it, the person and his real identity hidden beneath makeup or a skin of fabric or latex. (The anti-superhero series Watchmen is an exploration of what all that disguising does to us  does it make us feel protected, or does it allow us to avoid what wed rather not examine? Does wearing a mask make us more human  or less?) So threatening is the mask that today it is illegal to wear one at demonstrations in many American and European cities. Last October, Carrie Lam, Hong Kongs chief executive, invoked the Prohibition on Face Covering Regulation, making it a criminal offense to don a mask, even at lawful events. The ban is a strange counterpoint to the resurgence in the United States of the Klan, whose hoods once concealed their identities but who now march openly at their events.
The Supreme Court said on Monday that people have a fundamental right to protest against a law but the blocking of public roads is a matter of concern and there has to be a balancing factor.

Hearing pleas over the road blocks due to the ongoing protests at Shaheen Bagh against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), a bench comprising Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph said its concern is about what will happen if people start protesting on roads.

Democracy works on expressing views but there are lines and boundaries for it, the bench said.

It asked senior advocate Sanjay Hegde and advocate Sadhana Ramachandran to talk to Shaheen Bagh protestors and persuade them to move to an alternative site where no public place is blocked.

The matter has been posted for next hearing on February 24.

People have a fundamental right to protest but the thing which is troubling us is the blocking of public roads, the bench said.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said Shaheen Bagh protestors should not be given a message that every institution is on its knees trying to persuade them on this issue.

The apex court said that if nothing works, we will leave it to the authorities to deal with the situation.

Protestors have made their made their point and the protests have gone on for quite some time, it said.

Restrictions have been imposed on the Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch and the Okhla underpass, which were closed on December 15 last year due to the protests against CAA and Register of Citizens.

The top court had earlier said the anti-CAA protesters at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh cannot block public roads and create inconvenience for others.

The apex court was hearing an appeal filed by advocate Amit Sahni, who had approached the Delhi 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, former BJP MLA Nand Kishore Garg has filed a petition in the apex court seeking directions to the authorities to remove the protestors from Shaheen Bagh.

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, it 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 had said.

In his appeal, Sahni had 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.)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 17)  The man who admitted being the hooded "Bikoy" in the series of viral videos against President Rodrigo Duterte has posted bail over the conspiracy to commit sedition case filed against him by the government.

Peter Joemel Advincula, alias Bikoy, posted bail at around 1pm on Monday at the Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 138. He was accompanied by his legal counsel, lawyer Lorenzo "Larry" Gadon.

Advincula is among the 11 individuals, including former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, who were supposedly responsible for linking the first family to illegal drug trade through the "Ang Totoong Narcolist" video series. A 10,000 bail bond was recommended for their provisional liberty.

Gadon said Advincula has expressed interest in becoming a state witness but would not apply for the government's witness protection program anymore, citing constraints in "freedom and liberty."

It can be recalled that Advincula sought to be placed under the Department of Justice's protection program in August 2019, citing risks to his personal safety. He was both a respondent and a witness in the inciting to sedition complaint filed by the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group despite making a turnaround and tagging the opposition behind the production of the videos.

Vice President Maria Leonor "Leni" Robredo and 25 members of the opposition were cleared of the sedition complaints, while the remaining 11 were charged for conspiracy to commit sedition for "inflicting libelous imputations" against President Duterte.

Aside from Trillanes and Advincula, others who supposedly 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.

Villanueva and Alejo already posted bail last Friday, while Trillanes said he will return to Manila next week to face his case.

The arraignment of all the accused an the pre-trial conference on the case is set on March 17 at 2pm.
New Delhi, Feb 17 : A day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah suggested to the Delhi Police that it should be ready to deal with miscreants with firm hands, an encounter took place in Delhi on Monday in which two criminals were gunned down.

While lauding the Delhi Police on Sunday, Shah had said that the policemen who are ready to sacrifice their happiness and life for the public, will not be let down by the government.

Besides, the Union Home Minister announced to provide vehicles worth crores, CCTV cameras and 700 flats at a cost of about Rs 225 crore to the employees of the police force.

At the new police lines, Kingsway Camp, many IPS officers and Delhi Police Commissioners were also present.

Delhi Police Special Cell's encounter specialist Deputy Commissioner of Police Pramod Kumar Singh Kushwaha arrived a little late at the event. When asked, he told IANS, "Some work is going on. We are working hard. Hoping for some good news soon." on Monday, DCP Kushwaha's team eliminated two dreaded criminals Raja Pahalwan alias Rafiq and Ramesh Raju in Delhi's Pul Prahladpur area.

Police and the miscreants engaged in heavy firing during the encounter. Both the criminals were killed on the spot.

During his speech on Sunday, Shah had praised the Delhi Police, saying, "Delhi Police are following the footsteps of the country's first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who established the police force in 1950. This is also inspiring for the coming generations of Delhi Police." Shah expressed that Patel had taught the Delhi Police how to work patiently.

During the incidents of violence and arson (Tis Hazari court incident and Jamia-Zakir Nagar violence) in November and December 2019, Delhi Police acted patiently, and eventually the same patience proved to be the reason for Delhi Police's victory.

After honouring the Delhi officers and policemen with medals, the Union Home Minister had said, "Police, who work for the welfare of the public, will never be unhappy. Soon, Delhi Police will receive 1,600 motorcycles, about 4,500 other vehicles, and more than 9,000 CCTVs." When Shah was announcing the gifts worth crores for hundreds of Delhi Police IPS officers during the Foundation Day celebrations, no one had a clue what Shah's words mean.

It was learned in the wee hours of Monday that DCP Kushwaha, who arrived at the celebrations a little late, had conducted a secret meeting with his subordinates to arrest the criminals, who were eventually killed in an encounter on Monday.

However, instead of surrendering, the criminals opened fire on the Delhi Police officers, after which the cops retaliated. Both the criminals were killed on the spot.
Be it the name, the design and communication campaign and the engagement processes being imagined between the brand and its buyers, the company is casting its cars in a new mould, reports T E Narasimhan.

Photographs: Kind courtesy Tata Motors/Facebook

More than two centuries since an albatross in the skies inspired Samuel Taylor Coleridge's tragic ballad, 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner,' the bird is whirring up the wheels of imagination in an Indian auto company.

The newly launched hatchback Altroz from Tata Motors, the company said, draws its name from the majestic sea bird.

Its doors opening as wide as the bird's wingspan, the name ticked several boxes -- it met with the company's newly devised bird-influenced naming convention for passenger vehicles, its character mapped into that of Altroz and perhaps, also sparked the hope that the car, like the bird, would be a harbinger of good fortune in the midst of a storm.

The brand is being reimagined at Tata Motors to create an entity that stands apart not only from the rest in the market but also from the way it was perceived in the past.

Be it the name, the design and communication campaign and the engagement processes being imagined between the brand and its buyers, the company is casting its cars in a new mould.

While it has not been an aggressive spender on brand building in the past and ranked seventh in terms of marketing spend in 2019, the company plans to invest heavily in the last quarter of this fiscal (January-March 2020).

Vivek Srivatsa, head of Marketing, Passenger Vehicles Business Unit, Tata Motors, estimates that they will spend as much in three months as they have in the past nine.

A robust personality goes a long way, much further than the star appeal of brand ambassadors, the company believes.

"It is a tougher route, but the right route. We have still not established a clear personality for Tata Motors Passenger Vehicle and this is the right time to do it," Srivatsa says.

Here is where birds come into the frame. The obvious connections between flight and speed apart, fowl-inspired nomenclature allows for great flexibility.

There is something for every car, "fast birds, economically flying birds, big birds, small birds, so it is a very good fit," he adds.

Image: Barkha Singh with Tata Altroz.

Harrier, the compact SUV launched last January is named after a bird of prey, the newly launched SUV Gravitas, like Altroz, is inspired by a sea bird Gravis.

New names and an aggressive advertising strategy have been tied into the new campaign under the 'New Forever' tagline.

Ranojoy Mukerji, automotive writer and analyst believes that the campaign is the need of the hour.

"Tata Motors has managed to somewhat rid itself of its old image of bad quality cars and indifferent manufacturing. The brand is well entrenched in the Indian psyche, has multiple service centres all over the country and is known for honouring its warranty plans. (But) challenges come from well-established players that are positioned better in the Indian consumer's mind."

The new campaign must be seen in the context of the industry slowdown and the mandatory implementation of BS VI emission norms from April 2020.

All auto majors have had to revamp their entire range and the showrooms are full of new cars. How does one stand apart? It is here that perceptions and brand image matter.

Image: The Tata Harrier

For Tata Motors the BS VI upgradation has been combined with defining a new design language for its passenger cars.

A common design theme helps develop a unified personality and state what Tata Motors Passenger Vehicle stands for, says Srivatsa, besides identifying it as a premium label.

"It is important to have newer and newer models dazzling consumers. It is the surest sign of life," says Harish Bijoor, founder, Harish Bijoor Consults.

Srivatsa adds more nuance to the design and brand thinking process. From being a single brand company (Indica), Tata Motors now has five. Tiago, Nexon, Harrier and now Altroz in the premium hatchback category with Gravitas in SUVs.

It is time to tell buyers what they are buying into and "that's why we wanted to start this brand personality communication," he adds.

The campaign is aimed at creating a brand that is tuned in to buyer needs. Altroz, for instance, comes with the possibility of factory-fitted customisation.

Customers can customise their vehicle using a tool 'Imaginator' on the auto company's website.

The company would rather have buyers pay for what they want, instead of forking out more for higher end variants that don't meet their needs, Srivatsa explains.
(Alliance News) - Property firm Plaza Centers NV on Monday said it has agreed to sell a property in Brasov, Romania.

Plaza Centers said an indirect subsidiary on Friday struck a deal to sell the property for EUR623,952.

On Monday, the company added that a legal motion with one of its shareholders at a court in Tel-Aviv, Israel has been closed.

In March 2018, the company received a request from a shareholder to reveal internal documents related to "events surrounding certain agreements" at the Casa Radio building in Bucharest.

In July last year, Plaza Centers said it signed a pre-sale agreement to dispose of its stake in Casa Radio for EUR60 million.

Plaza Centers said it reached an agreement with the shareholder to reveal some documents which he requested.

The company added: "On February 16, 2020, the District Court in Tel-Aviv, Israel, decided that since there is no dispute between the parties that the motion was answered as the shareholder received some of the documents requested by him, and he is not about to receive additional documents; that the motion will be closed without an order for expenses."

Shares in the company were untraded in London on Monday morning, last quoted at 37.50 pence each.

By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Hong Kong: For the past two weeks China's police have been raiding houses, restaurants and makeshift markets across the country, arresting nearly 700 people for breaking the temporary ban on catching, selling or eating wild animals.

The scale of the crackdown, which has netted almost 40,000 animals including squirrels, weasels and boars, suggests that China's taste for eating wildlife and using animal parts for medicinal purposes is not likely to disappear overnight, despite potential links to the new coronavirus.

A shopper walks past a stall at a fresh produce market in Shanghai. Credit:Bloomberg

Traders legally selling donkey, dog, deer, crocodile and other meat told Reuters they plan to get back to business as soon as the markets reopen.

"I'd like to sell once the ban is lifted," said Gong Jian, who runs a wildlife store online and operates shops in Chinas autonomous Inner Mongolia region. "People like buying wildlife. They buy for themselves to eat or give as presents because it is very presentable and gives you face."
By Express News Service

GANDHINAGAR: India and Norway on Sunday agreed to work together to put pressure on rich nations to commit to emission reductions to check global warming and provide $1 trillion to the nations facing threat due to warming. The developed countries yet to make available the promised money to developing nations to fight climate change.

India and Norway held bilateral talks on various aspects of global warming ahead of the 13th Conference of Parties (COP 13) to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) here. The conference will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday and is being attended by delegates from 130 countries.

India and Norway has agreed upon working together on development and transfer of relevant technology and seek quick action from all countries to address global warming. We stressed that finances that were promised to the developing world have not come in the last 10 years and needs to be followed up. The amount stands at $1 trillion. All countries should create a buzz around it. So we have decided to partner in progress, said Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar.








Web Toolbar by Wibiya

The Toronto Book Expo is gearing up to be the most diverse event in Toronto. The event is currently expecting over a hundred vendors including publishing companies. Despite this, the event organizers are still actively accepting publisher vendor applications. If you value diversity and stand against social issues, the Toronto Book Expo is looking for your books.

The Toronto Book Expo will be the ultimate haven for intellectuals, artisans and book nerds this 2020. The event will house several artists, vendors, authors and publishers from all over the world to showcase the cultural and literary vitality of Canada. The expo is expecting to break barriers and tackle social issues by highlighting them boldly and allowing professionals to share their insights on these matters as well.

The Toronto Book Expo encourages the participation of First Nations authors and publishers as well as works from cultural and social minorities. Above all, it aims to bring attention to one of the greatest issues in society today: illiteracy.

The non-profit organization is actively accepting vendor applications on their website. If you or your organization stands for womens, LGBTQ+ or racial rights, or any other social issue, the Toronto Book Expo is the perfect platform for you.

The Expo is also expected to bring in thousands of participants that are eager to add value to their lives. Several academic writers and aspiring authors will also be in attendance. For book publishers, this is the perfect place to find new authors to sponsor.

The Toronto Book Expo will also be held in a special Salon of the main Toronto Reference Library on Saturday, March 21

The non-profit event is the perfect place for publishers to scout new talent and share your advocacy among the diverse range of potential clients. It is also the perfect marketing platform for sharing your published books and promote upcoming releases and authors.

The Toronto Book Expo is drawing near. If you are affiliated with a book publisher and are interested in participating in this momentous event for the Toronto literary community, send in your application now and prepare for a whirlwind of readers and literary joy as books, innovation and diversity are celebrated this 2020.
New Delhi: India is all set to welcome US President Donald Trump. Ahead of his arrival next week, preparations are underway in Agra where the district administration is beautifying the entire route from Kheria Airport to Taj Mahal. Trump will pay a two-day state visit to India from February 24 at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

President Trump is likely to visit the Taj Mahal with his family on February 24 for which security arrangements are being chalked out. A four-member American advance team reached the Taj City to take stock of the security arrangements.

"It has been decided that the US President will be visiting Agra on February 24. So, we are clearing and beautifying the entire route from Kheria Airport to Taj Mahal," Arun Kumar, City Magistrate, told ANI.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Trump is expected to attend an event at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad on the lines of the `Howdy Modi` function that was addressed by the US President and Modi in Houston in September last year.

During the visit, Trump, who will be accompanied by First Lady Melania, will attend official engagements in New Delhi and Ahmedabad, and interact with a wide cross-section of the Indian society, the MEA said in a statement.

Ahead of President Trump's visit, an Indian Navy warship was seen taking fuel supplies from US Navy warship near the South China Sea during a recent overseas deployment where the Indian fleet travelled to ports in countries including Japan, Indonesia and Philippines, said an ANI report citing Indian Navy sources.

Earlier, the White House made an announcement of Trump`s first official visit to India. It also stated that the US President and Modi had agreed during a recent phone conversation that the trip will "further strengthen the United States-India strategic partnership and highlight the strong and enduring bonds between the American and Indian people".
Kottambathur : Three forest guards lost their life battling wildfire at Kottambathur, near Desamangalam on Sunday.

The deceased are Divakaran, Velyaudan Shankaran. While Divakaran and Velayudn died on the spot with 90 percent burns, Shankaran died at the hospital.

The fire broke out at an acacia plantation of the Hindustan News Print Ltd, 12 km away from Cheruturuty.

The group of Forest personnel tried to douse the fire but the fire engulfed the area due to strong winds. The three of them were trapped in the blaze.

Kerala Forest Minister K Raju announced that financial aid would be given to the kin of the deceased.
The allocation of portfolios in the newly-elected Delhi government was finalised Monday, with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal deciding not to hold any departments

The newly-elected Delhi government on Monday finalised the allocation of portfolios, with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal largely retaining his old team, but with some minor changes. Kejriwal will not hold charge of any departments in his third term.

Satyendar Jain has been given the crucial water department, which was held by Kejriwal in the party's previous government. Jain will now be in charge of the Delhi Jal Board, apart from handling the crucial public works department, health, power and urban development, which he was in charge of in the last government.

Senior AAP leader and party's Delhi unit convenor Gopal Rai has been given the environment department,which was earlier handled by transport minister Kailash Gahlot . Rajendra Pal Gautam will handle the women and child development department, which was under senior leader Manish Sisodia.

Gautam was in charge of the social welfare department, SC/ST, gurudwara elections, water and registrar of cooperative societies in the previous government while Rai held the rural development, general administration department, irrigation and flood control and labour departments.

There will be no major changes in other portfolios. Manish Sisodia will continue as the deputy chief minister and will hold the education, finance, planning, land and building, vigilance, tourism, services, art, culture and languages departments.

With inputs from agencies
SYRACUSE, N.Y.  Barriers installed by the federal government have made it difficult for Syracuse landlords and tenants to access $4.1 million intended to improve houses with lead paint hazards.

In the 10 months since Syracuse was awarded the grant money, five units have been successfully treated for lead paint. Another 36 have been awarded money, meaning either work has begun or a contractor has been chosen to do the work.
Ranveer Singh and the entire Bollywood battalion including Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal, Varun Dhawan, Karan Johar, Ayushmann Khurrana returned from Assam on Sunday after attending the Filmfare Awards. They were spotted at the Kalina airport and got loud cheers from paparazzi who were waiting to click their pictures.

Ranveer was high on swag as he walked out of the airport in the golden outfit which he paired with a black hat and shoes and held a boombox in his hand. The actor happily posed for the paparazzi who cheered him with one liners from his film, Gully Boy.

Vicky Kaushal, Varun Dhawan, Karan Johar and Kartik Aaryan at Kalina airport.

Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh, Ayushmann Khurrana and Tahira Kashyap at airport.

Ranveer won the Filmfare Best Actor in a Leading Role award for his role of an aspiring rapper named Murad in Gully Boy. He had also performed at the event and paid tribute to RD Burman. Zoya Akhtars Gully Boy swept the Filmfare Awards by winning all the major accolades at the event including the Best Film Award on Saturday night. Alia also won the Best Female Actor in a Leading Role award and walked out of the airport in casuals.

Ranveer was soon followed by Ayushmann who arrived with his wife and filmmaker Tahira Kashyap. He won the Best Actor (Critics) for his role of a cop in Anubhav Sinhas Article 15, which also won the Best Film (Critics). Tahira had accompanied her actor husband to the Filmfare Awards and soon made way to the ramp on Sunday. She walked the ramp for designer Pooja Shroff in a lehenga at the ongoing Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai.

Tahira Kashyap at Lakme Fashion Week.

Also read: Filmfare Awards 2020 full list of winners: Gully Boys 13 wins make history, Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh take top awards

Ayushmann and Ranveer were high on energy and had also performed an impromptu bhangra ahead of the awards event. A video of them dancing to their hearts content to the sound of dhol beats had surfaced online on Saturday.

Vicky Kaushal, who hosted the event soon followed them out of the airport, as did Varun Dhawan and Karan Johar.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription.
.                ,  The Hill,  ,          ...
Russia delivered a familiar message at the annual Munich Security Conference, accusing the West of stoking tensions and maintaining that Moscow poses no threat. At home, the process of changing the constitution continues -- but not as fast as it looked out of the gate. Irina Lagunina, a senior correspondent with RFE/RL's Russian Service, joins Steve Gutterman to take a look at what's happened and what is to come.
New Delhi, Feb 17 : As India readies for 'Namaste Trump' to match the 'Howdy Modi!' cheer, the top brass at the billion dollar companies have adopted the Indian way of greeting at their flagship conferences, business meets and local events -- shunning handshakes which has been the most basic form of business etiquette as the novel coronavirus or COVID-19 continues to spread.

At a recently held tech event in the US, the senior executives -- from CEOs and Vice Chairmen to country managers -- were seen greeting people with 'Namaste' rather than shaking hands to reduce chances of virus transmission via touch.

The organisers of the now-cancelled Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona had proposed 'No Handshake Policy' owing to the fear of the spreading of coronavirus.

From the World Health Organization (WHO) to the neighbourhood doctor, the emphasis is on keeping your hands virus-free.

"When we sneeze, the droplets transfer to the hands which increases the chance of spreading the virus to other living beings. It is a highly communicable disease and it is strongly recommended not to shake hands," Rajesh Chawla, senior consultant, respiratory medicine, at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals told IANS.

"However, any gesture of respect/acknowledgement like Namaste or bowing down is fine as long as you are not touching anyone," Chawla added.

Doctors advise to frequently and thoroughly clean hands using alcohol-based soap and hand sanitizers.

According to Charu Goel Sachdeva, consultant, internal medicine, Manipal Hospitals in Dwarka, Namaste is a better option to avoid coronavirus because there would be no hand touching.

"Namaste seems like a better way to greet than to shake hands. We also ask people to avoid sharing handkerchiefs and towels to prevent the spread of the disease," said Sachdeva.

By the end of Sunday, a total of 1,770 people had died of the virus and 70,548 confirmed cases of infection had been reported on the Chinese mainland.

"Wear a three-ply surgical mask. Cover your mouth with a tissue and discard it properly. In case a tissue is unavailable cover your mouth with your elbow," said Chawla.

Let us see whether Trump follows Namaste or prefer to go the American way as he meets a plethora of dignitaries and top honchos during his three-day India trip from February 24-26.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
[February 17, 2020] IAT Insurance Group to Help its Employees Accelerate the Repayment of Their College Loan Debt

As a continuing investment in its employees, IAT Insurance Group, a leading provider of specialty property, casualty and surety products, is pleased to announce the launch of the IAT College Loan Assistance Support (CLAS) program. Beginning in the third quarter of 2020, IAT will match 50% of an employee's monthly college loan payment (up to a $300 monthly contribution by IAT) with a per employee lifetime cap of $30,000. The program will also provide debt counseling and refinancing services to all employees starting in March. "We believe that the investment in higher education is one of the best investments that most people make in their lifetime. However, with the high cost of secondary education we know that student loan debt can be a significant burden on our employees," said IAT Insurance Group CEO Bill Cunningham. "At IAT, we are committed to improving the lives of our people, who are the reason for our success. This investment in the CLAS program is one more way we can ensure our benefits program is meeting the needs of our people. We hope that other companies are encouraged to offer a similar benefit." IAT is working with Boston-based Gradifi, an innovator in employee benefits for U.S. employers to create the CLAS program. Gradifi is part of the E*TRADE Financial family of companies and supports progressive organizations across the country, such as PWC, Peloton and Sotheby's, to help employees potentially shave years off their student loans. "IAT's investment in Gradifi's Student Loan PayDown Plan to help accelerate the reduction of emplyee student loan debt shows the company's commitment to their workforce and the financial health and wellbeing of their team," said Kate Winget, SVP of Gradifi. "We look forward to more companies following suit to offer this increasingly important benefit."



The new student loan repayment program builds on IAT's robust benefits package which also provides tuition reimbursement of up to $5,250 per year for employees pursuing a college degree, a 7% dollar-for-dollar 401(k) company match and an additional discretionary retirement contribution of 3% annually. "February is Insurance Careers Month, an industry-wide effort to promote the benefits of a career in insurance," explained Cunningham. "In addition to retaining and developing our employees, we must compete for college students and recent graduates who may not have considered a career in insurance. Strong benefits help us do that."

The IAT CLAS program is available to employees repaying loans incurred while obtaining associate, undergraduate and/or graduate degrees. Participants will continue to make their monthly payments, with IAT sending its matching amount directly to the lender, which will be fully applied to reduce the principal of the loan. About Gradifi Gradifi is an innovator in employee benefits for US employers. Gradifi's mission is to help employers build loyalty with their workforce by providing employee benefits that positively impact their employees' financial well-being. Gradifi offers a single-platform solution to allow employers to offer employees student loan refinancing opportunities, and employer-sponsored contributions to student loans and 529 college savings plan accounts. The E*TRADE Financial family of companies provides financial services, including trading, investing, banking, and managing employee stock and financial wellness benefit plans. E*TRADE Financial Corporate Services, Inc. recently acquired Gradifi, Inc. www.gradifi.com. For insights from Gradifi, follow the company on LinkedIn. About IAT Insurance Certified as a Great Place to Work for the past two years, IAT Insurance Group is a privately owned, specialty insurance company providing property, casualty and surety products for niche markets. IAT goes to market through eight business units - Commercial Transportation, Specialty, Programs, Inland Marine, Excess Casualty Mid-Market, Reinsurance, IFIC Surety and a newly formed Management Liability division. The IAT Insurance Group companies are rated A- Excellent by A.M. Best. Connect with IAT Insurance Group on LinkedIn and learn more about the company at iatinsurancegroup.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200217005433/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
175 Nepali nationals evacuated from the coronavirus-hit Chinese province of Hubei have been sent to a quarantine facility set up at Kharipati in Bhaktapur district of the Himalayan country.

The Nepalis -- 170 students, 1 employee, 2 visitors, and 2 children -- arrived in Kathmandu on Sunday morning on a chartered flight of National Flag carrier Nepal Airlines.

Several of these evacuees took to social media to express their contentment over their return to their homeland, sharing selfies and tweets from the quarantine facilities, and sharing the updates on Facebook.

"Finally arrived and settled here in Kharipati. The arrangements are much better than we expected. Feelings of coming back home in such adverse conditions are beyond description. Thank you all concerned authorities. #Happy" Saurav Luitel tweeted, attaching a photograph of his passport.

Meanwhile, after the setting up of quarantine facility in Kharipati, several residents of the region have temporarily left for the cities owing to fears of getting infected.

"People have left the place fearing they also might be infected with the virus. Those like me who don't have relatives and place to live in the core areas are left here. We had raised the voice against it but there no one is hearing and media also couldn't raise the issue for us," a resident said.

Locals of the Kharipati had previously protested against the government's plan to set the quarantine facility in a government-owned building (Training Facility of NepalElectricity Authority) located in a residential area.

The Nepal government has made provisions for psychological counselling for those inside the quarantine facility and has issued a notice requesting all to abide by the rules and regulations during the stay.

All 175 Nepalis evacuated from different regions of Hubei will be kept in the quarantine facility for a period of 14 days.

Coronavirus first originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan and has since then killed more than 1600 people in that country alone, while cases have been registered in several countries across the world, including Nepal and India.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
On February 15, Russia's FSB detained the vessel, saying that the crew performed illegal fishing activity

The National Police of Ukraine has opened a case on the fact of illegal capture of Ukrainian ship in the Sea of Azov. The Office of Prosecutor General reported that on Monday.

According to the investigation, law enforcement authorities of the occupied Crimea detained a vessel with four seamen aboard in the western part of the Azov Sea. They were taken to the docks of Kerch.

The pre-trial investigation is underway.

On February 15, Russia's FSB detained the vessel, saying that the crew performed illegal fishing activity. Later, Russian law enforcers interrogated the sailors who admitted illegal fishing. They were arrested for 10 days.

Last week, Minister of Defense of Ukraine Andriy Zahorodniuk and Minister of National Defense of Romania Nicolae Ionel Ciuca discussed cooperation in the context of the security of the Black Sea region. The ministers emphasized the need for continued bilateral cooperation, participation in joint multinational exercises and continued cooperation in the framework of the activities of the multinational engineering battalion "Tisa".
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- At least two suspects remain at large in a series of brazen and bizarre heists and attempts at banks on Staten Island.

Monday marks one week since the most recent of three heists on the North Shore in what NYPD identified as a pattern.

The suspect made off with a total of over $16,500 in the three linked robberies, according to a previous police statement.

The suspect allegedly fled with over $7,500 in a heist on Feb. 10 at about 1:36 p.m. at a Chase Bank at 666 Forest Ave. in West Brighton after handing the bank teller a note demanding money, according to a previous police statement.

On Saturday, Feb. 1, the same perpetrator allegedly entered a Richmond County Savings Bank at 1270 Clove Road in Sunnyside at about 10:05 a.m. and gave the bank teller a note demanding money. The teller complied and the individual left with over $7,000, according to a previous police statement.

Three days earlier, the same culprit allegedly entered a Northfield Bank located at 1481 Forest Avenue in Port Richmond on Wednesday, January 29, at about 11:20 a.m. The suspect presented a note demanding money to the teller who complied. The individual fled the scene with over $2,000, according to a previous police statement.

The individual sought for questioning in all three robberies is described by police as being a male Hispanic who was seen wearing a black cap, black coat and black shoes.

In a separate incident, a suspect also is being sought in the bizarre attempted robbery on Tuesday, Jan. 21, at about 1:30 p.m. at the Santander Bank at 1850 Victory Blvd. in Castleton Corners.

An individual in a vehicle entered the drive-through of the bank and passed two notes demanding money through the pneumatic tube system. No money was passed and the individual fled the scene on Victory Boulevard in a red Ford truck, according to police.

The NYPD is asking for the public's help to locate this red Ford truck in connection with an attempted robbery at Santander Bank on Victory Boulevard in Castleton Corners. (Courtesy of NYPD)

SOME ARRESTS MADE

Police already have apprehended suspects in other recent bank robberies.

Ivo Bogdamovic, 49, of 1st Place in Brooklyn, was arrested on Feb. 3. in connection with the incident on Saturday, Jan. 25, at about 1:34 p.m. at the Santander Bank at 1320 Hylan Blvd.

Augustin Nadreau, 25, of the 100 block of Treadwell Ave. in Port Richmond, was arrested in connection with two strange incidents where he went inside banks, announced robberies but left empty handed on Jan. 30.

Nadreau entered the Northfield bank at 519 Forest Ave. at 1:24 p.m. and minutes later went to the Victory State Bank at 755 Forest Ave.

Nadreau apparently took a selfie during the Victory incident and posted the video on his own Instagram page.

People with information are encouraged to contact the NYPDs Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-8477 (TIPS) or for Spanish, 1-888-577-4782 (PISTA). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential.
Two snowbikers were killed when a massive avalanche swept down a mountain side in Colorado.

Dillon Block, 28, Cesar Almanza-Hernandez, 30, and a third rider were hit by the 650ft wide wall of snow near Red and White Mountain in Eagle County on Saturday.

The third rider was only partially buried and managed to dig himself out.

But Block and Almanza-Hernandez, both from nearby Gypsum, were swept into a gully and buried under 20ft of snow.

The survivor raised the alarm and rescue workers spent several hours trying to dig them out but by the time they were found it was too late.

Another snowbike rider described the desperate attempts to find the two victims.

Snowbikers Dillon Block, 28, Cesar Almanza-Hernandez, 30, were buried under 20ft of snow

The avalanche swept down the mountain side and buried them under 20ft of snow in a gully

The victims had been riding snowbikes - a combination of a snowmobile and a motocross bike - when the avalanche struck near Red and White Mountain, Colorado, Saturday (stock photo)

Rescuers dug for hours to try and find the victims after they were buried in the avalanche

Hunter Schleper, of Vail, said in a Facebook post: 'We all rushed as quickly as we could to help assist in locating the guys. Between 10 of us, we each dug and dug for hours.

'The riders were buried so deep that none of our probes could reach them. We finally located each of the riders at a depth of around 20 feet. It was clear that there was no chance of survival from early on.

'Everyone involved in the search executed the quickest recovery we could, but after five hours of digging and uncovering the riders, Vail Mountain Rescue finally arrived and we were immediately told to suspend the recovery.

'They felt it was too late into the evening and we were still in avalanche danger. We all made it out of the woods around 9pm, hearts heavy.

'We want to thank our friends and other riders who worked alongside us no questions asked to get the buried riders out.

'We extend our deepest condolences and sympathies to the families.'

A GoFundMe page was set up by a relative of Almanza-Hernandez, also known as Pollo, which has already raised almost $10,000.

Rescue workers at the scene of the avalanche that buried two snowbikers in Colorado

Elena Hernandez, who is organizing the fundraiser, wrote: 'Pollo was a huge part of the Eagle County community, young or old he touched so many people's hearts.

'Both him and Dillon will be truly missed. They were both such gentle warming souls who touched everyone they met.

'We are raising money for their families for this unexpected tragedy. All funds will go directly to funeral cost of both families. Please keep both families in your prayers.'

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center said three people were riding the bikes  which are a combination of a snowmobile and a motocross bike - about 15 miles north of Vail when the avalanche hit.

'One rider was partially buried and was able to extricate himself,' the center said in a statement.
MUMBAI: The Bombay high court (HC) last week held that an unregistered partnership firm can initiate prosecution for dishonoured or bounced cheques.

A bench of justices PN Deshmukh and Pushpa Ganediwala held that prosecution of an accused under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1888, for dishonour of cheques is not affected by section 69 (2) of the Indian Partnership Act, 1932, which prohibits an unregistered partner firm from filing suits to enforce rights stated in a contract. According to the section, no suit can be instituted in any court by or on behalf of a firm against any third party unless the firm is registered and the persons suing are or have been shown in the Register of Firms as partners.

The issue was referred to the division bench in October 2018, after a single judge refused to accept the view taken by another judge. In a 2016 judgement, the other single judge had ruled that the complaint filed by an unregistered firm under section 138 of the Negotiable Instrument Act, 1888, was not tenable in view of the bar set by section 69(2).

Refusing to accept the 2016 view, the HC bench said the term suit under section 69(2) of the Partnership Act, 1932, cannot be stretched for securing immunity from criminal prosecutions. The bar under section 69(2) of the Act is liable to be confined only to enforcement of contractual obligations, the judges ruled.

They said that even otherwise, the bar under section 69(2) is temporary; if a suit is rejected for being barred by the section, then the partnership firm can, under Order 7 Rule 13 of the Act, present a fresh suit after getting the firm registered.

The division bench noted that sections 138 to 142 of the Negotiable Instruments Act were added by a 1998 amendment, specifically to enhance the acceptability of cheques in liability settlement by making the drawer liable for penalties in case the cheque bounces due to lack of funds. It added that these are penal provisions which entail prosecution and conviction on proving guilt, and the bar on enforcing contractual rights cannot be stretched to these penal provisions.
Beijing  For decades, the Uighur imam was a bedrock of his farming community in Chinas far west. On Fridays, he preached Islam as a religion of peace. On Sundays, he treated the sick with free herbal medicine. In the winter, he bought coal for the poor.

But as a Chinese government mass detention campaign engulfed Memtimin Emers native Xinjiang region three years ago, the elderly imam was swept up and locked away, along with all three of his sons living in China.

Now, a newly revealed database exposes in extraordinary detail the main reasons for the detentions of Emer, his three sons, and hundreds of others in Karakax County: their religion and their family ties.

The database obtained by The Associated Press profiles the internment of 311 individuals with relatives abroad and lists information on more than 2,000 of their relatives, neighbors and friends. Each entry includes the detainees name, address, national identity number, detention date and location, along with a detailed dossier on their family, religious and neighborhood background, the reason for detention, and a decision on whether or not to release them. Issued within the past year, the documents do not indicate which government department compiled them or for whom.

Taken as a whole, the information offers the fullest and most personal view yet into how Chinese officials decided who to put into and let out of detention camps, as part of a massive crackdown that has locked away more than a million ethnic minorities, most of them Muslims.

The database emphasizes that the Chinese government focused on religion as a reason for detention  not just political extremism, as authorities claim, but ordinary activities such as praying, attending a mosque, or even growing a long beard. It also shows the role of family: People with detained relatives are far more likely to end up in a camp themselves, uprooting and criminalizing entire families like Emers in the process.

Similarly, family background and attitude is a bigger factor than detainee behavior in whether they are released.

Its very clear that religious practice is being targeted, said Darren Byler, a University of Colorado researcher studying the use of surveillance technology in Xinjiang. They want to fragment society, to pull the families apart and make them much more vulnerable to retraining and reeducation.

The Xinjiang regional government did not respond to faxes requesting comment. Asked whether Xinjiang is targeting religious people and their families, foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said this kind of nonsense is not worth commenting on.

Beijing has said before that the detention centers are for voluntary job training, and that it does not discriminate based on religion.

China has struggled for decades to control Xinjiang, where the native Uighurs have long resented Beijings heavy-handed rule. With the 9/11 attacks in the United States, officials began using the specter of terrorism to justify harsher religious restrictions, saying young Uighurs were susceptible to Islamic extremism.

After militants set off bombs at a train station in Xinjiangs capital in 2014, President Xi Jinping launched a so-called Peoples War on Terror, transforming Xinjiang into a digital police state.

The leak of the database from sources in the Uighur exile community follows the release in November of a classified blueprint on how the mass detention system really works. The blueprint obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which includes the AP, showed that the centers are in fact forced ideological and behavioral re-education camps run in secret. Another set of documents leaked to the New York Times revealed the historical lead-up to the mass detention.

The latest set of documents came from sources in the Uighur exile community, and the most recent date in them is March 2019. The detainees listed come from Karakax County, a traditional settlement of about 650,000 on the edge of Xinjiangs Taklamakan desert where more than 97 percent of residents are Uighur. The list was corroborated through interviews with former Karakax residents, Chinese identity verification tools, and other lists and documents seen by the AP.

Detainees and their families are tracked and classified by rigid, well-defined categories. Households are designated as trustworthy or not trustworthy, and their attitudes are graded as ordinary or good. Families have light or heavy religious atmospheres, and the database keeps count of how many relatives of each detainee are locked in prison or sent to a training center.

Officials used these categories to determine how suspicious a person was  even if they hadnt committed any crimes.

It underscores the witch-hunt mindset of the government, and how the government criminalizes everything, said Adrian Zenz, an expert on the detention centers and senior fellow at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in Washington, D.C.

Reasons listed for internment include minor religious infection, disturbs other persons by visiting them without reasons, relatives abroad, thinking is hard to grasp and untrustworthy person born in a certain decade. The last seems to refer to younger men; about 31 percent of people considered untrustworthy were in the age bracket of 25 to 29 years, according to an analysis of the data by Zenz.

When former student Abdullah Muhammad spotted Emers name on the list of the detained, he was distraught.

He didnt deserve this, Muhammad said. Everyone liked and respected him. He was the kind of person who couldnt stay silent against injustice.

Even in Karakax county, famed for its intellectuals and scholars, Emer stood out as one of the most renowned teachers in the region. Muhammad studied the Quran under Emer for six years as a kid, following him from house to house in an effort to dodge the authorities. Muhammad said Emer was so respected that the police would phone him with warnings ahead of time before raiding classes at his modest, single-story home of brick and mud.

Though Emer gave Party-approved sermons, he refused to preach Communist propaganda, Muhammad said, eventually running into trouble with the authorities. He was stripped of his position as an imam and barred from teaching in 1997, amid unrest roiling the region.

When Muhammad left China for Saudi Arabia and Turkey in 2009, Emer was making his living as a doctor of traditional medicine. Emer was growing old, and under heavy surveillance, he had stopped attending religious gatherings.

That didnt stop authorities from detaining the imam, who is in his eighties, and sentencing him on various charges for up to 12 years in prison over 2017 and 2018. The database cites four charges in various entries: stirring up terrorism, acting as an unauthorized wild imam, following the strict Saudi Wahhabi sect and conducting illegal religious teachings.

Muhammad called the charges false. Emer had stopped his preaching, practiced a moderate Central Asian sect of Islam rather than Wahhabism and never dreamed of hurting others, let alone stirring up terrorism, Muhammad said.

He used to always preach against violence, Muhammad said. Anyone who knew him can testify that he wasnt a religious extremist.

None of Emers three sons had been convicted of a crime. But the database shows that over the course of 2017, all were thrown into the detention camps for having too many children, trying to travel abroad, being untrustworthy or infected with religious extremism,or going on the Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. It also shows that their relation to Emer and their religious background was enough to convince officials they were too dangerous to let out from the detention camps.

His father taught him how to pray, notes one entry for his eldest, Ablikim Memtimin.

His familys religious atmosphere is thick. We recommend he (Emer) continue training, says another entry for his youngest son, Emer Memtimin.

Even a neighbor was tainted by living near him, with Emers alleged crimes and prison sentence recorded in the neighbors dossier.

The database indicates much of this information is collected by teams of cadres stationed at mosques, sent to visit homes and posted in communities. This information is then compiled in a dossier called the three circles, encompassing their relatives, community, and religious background.

It wasnt just the religious who were detained. The database shows that Karakax officials also explicitly targeted people for activities that included going abroad, getting a passport or installing foreign software.

Pharmacist Tohti Himit was detained in a camp for having gone multiple times to one of 26 key countries, mostly Muslim, according to the database. Former employee Habibullah, who is now in Turkey, recalled Himit as a secular, kind and wealthy man who kept his face free of a beard.

He wasnt very pious, he didnt go to the mosque, said Habibullah, who declined to give his first name out of fear of retribution against family still in China. I was shocked by how absurd the reasons for detention were.

The database says cadres found Himit had attended his grandfathers funeral at a local mosque on March 10, 2008. Later that year, the cadres found, he had gone to the same mosque again, once to worship and once to celebrate a festival. In 2014 he had gone to Anhui province, in inner China, to get a passport and go abroad.

That, the government concluded, was enough to show that Himit was certainly dangerous. They ordered Himit to stay in the center and continue training.

Emer is now under house arrest due to health issues, his former student, Muhammad, has heard. Its unclear where Emers sons are.

It was the imams courage and stubbornness that did him in, Muhammad said. Though deprived of his mosque and his right to teach, Emer quietly defied the authorities for two decades by staying true to his faith.

Unlike some other scholars, he never cared about money or anything else the Communist Party could give him, Muhammad said. He never bowed down to them  and thats why they wanted to eliminate him.
Brands will sometimes release products quietly, making it available with little fanfare or initial marketing. That's what Sony decided to do with the WF-H800 h.ear in 3, a new true wireless earphone that's is coming soon to Malaysia for RM849.

The WF-H800 h.ear in 3 is actually rather similar to the WF-1000XM3, which you can get for RM728 these days on Lazada. However, there are some slight differences in the design side. Although they both sport 6mm drivers, the WF-H800 h.ear in 3 is slightly smaller and comes with more colour options. Where the WF-1000XM3 comes only in black or grey, the WF-H800 h.ear in 3 comes in red, orange, green, blue, and black colours.

In terms of features, the new earphones support active noise cancelling, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant. It also has up to 8 hours of battery life, with the charging case providing another 8 hours for a hefty total of up to 16 hours of playback. For this earphones, Sony seems to be using the same type of charging case like the one for the WF-1000XM3 too, meaning it will give you 70 minutes of playback time after just 10 minutes of charging.

The official Sony product page for the WF-H800 h.ear in 3 on Lazada confirms that its release date is on 23 February 2020, which means it'll be available really soon. Having said that, would you choose this newer model or the WF-1000XM3 now that it is available for a lower price? Let us know on our Facebook page and stay tuned to TechNave.com for more news.
NASHVILLE  On June 8, 1972, Nick Ut, a Vietnamese photographer working for The Associated Press, shot a now-iconic photo of children fleeing napalm mistakenly dropped on their village by South Vietnamese forces. At the center of the photo is a naked 9-year-old girl named Phan Thi Kim Phuc. She is in agony; her skin appears to be melting. None of the helmeted soldiers in the background are looking at the children. Only the photographer sees her pain.

Now we all see her pain. The photo, which was published by The Times and other newspapers three days later, shocked readers with its clarion depiction of the costs of war. The photo won a Pulitzer Prize in 1973. Later that year, U.S. forces withdrew from Vietnam. Whether or not the photo is directly related to the withdrawal, at the very least it fed the growing antiwar sentiment in this country and may have hastened the end of the war.

Napalm Girl belongs to a tradition of photojournalism that furthers the cause of social justice. Theres David Jacksons 1955 image of 14-year-old Emmett Till in his coffin, murdered for being black in Jim Crow Mississippi. Sam Nzimas 1976 photo of a teenager carrying a lifeless child in his arms during the Soweto uprising in South Africa. Kevin Carters 1993 photo of a starving Sudanese child being watched by a vulture. Nilufer Demirs 2015 photo of a 3-year-old lying facedown in the surf, drowned with his mother and brother in a desperate attempt to flee the war in Syria. John Moores 2018 photo of a terrified 2-year-old Honduran child seeking asylum with her mother at the southern U.S. border. These photographs clarify a particular cultural moment; they distill the vast churn of history into a single image so searing it returns in your dreams to make you weep in the dark.
China is really struggling right now. I just thought if they have a shortage of masks and we can help, we should. Im so grateful to those who have pitched in to make this donation a reality.

San Diego-area wealth management firm Reilly Financial Advisors is teaming up with non-profit organization Not Just Tourists to help those in need.

Late last week, Carl Eaton, head of Not Just Tourists Orange County and San Diego chapters, and his wife Tara joined forces with other community members in order to send 53,000 respirator masks to Wuhan-area orphanages in China.

Ordinarily, Not Just Tourists gives travelers suitcases full of medical supplies to take along to the countries they are visiting. Upon request, the organization will even help to locate a clinic in need at each travelers destination. But with coronavirus creating a unique situation, special measures needed to be taken.

In this case, Not Just Tourists provided all masks to be donated, while several others, including Reilly Financial Advisors, pitched in to fund the masks shipment via FedEx.

Perhaps most notable among contributors to the cost of shipping were Nick and Sophia Sykes. The couple, who lives in China but is currently in Southern California for business, adopted a daughter, Faye Sykes, from an orphanage in Wuhan, China, just last November.

Said Eaton, "China is really struggling right now. I just thought if they have a shortage of masks and we can help, we should. Im so grateful to those who have pitched in to make this donation a reality.

Although Not Just Tourists Orange County chapter alone has donated more than 10,000 pounds of supplies to more than 30 countries since its founding in early 2018, Eaton says that this shipment marks the chapters very first donation to China.

This week, Reilly Financial Advisors becomes Not Just Tourists first and only San Diego location for suitcase pickup. Said Eaton, Ive known the Reilly family for some time. In fact, Frank, the firms president, and other members of the Reilly family have delivered multiple suitcases in the past. Im thrilled that his firm is able to serve as a pickup location for Not Just Tourists, expanding our reach into San Diego County and giving us the potential to help even more people in need.

If you, or someone you know, would like to get involved with Not Just Tourists, the process is simple. Simply complete the form on Not Just Tourists website (njt.net) at least one week prior to your departure, pick up a suitcase from one of the many pickup locations around the world (Reilly Financial Advisors will be your pickup point if you live in San Diego), and deliver the suitcase to a clinic in need upon landing. Its that easy.

About Not Just Tourists

Not Just Tourists was founded with the purpose of getting medical supplies to those who cant afford them. Ordinary tourists are given the means to change the lives of the locals they visit. After seeing firsthand the serious lack of medical supplies in Cuba in 1990, Dr. Ken Taylor and his wife Denisefrom St. Catharines, Ontariostarted taking medical supplies to remote areas in Cuba. Soon others who were traveling to Cuba began approaching them to take medical supplies too, and the Not Just Tourists phenomenon started.

Since its inception 25 years ago, Not Just Tourists, with chapters across North America and the UK, has delivered more than 10,000 suitcases across 82 countries. The project does not accept funding, is non-political, and is non-religious. Everything is accomplished through volunteers.

To learn more about Not Just Tourists, or to find a chapter near you, visit njt.net.

About Reilly Financial Advisors

Reilly Financial Advisors is a fee-only Registered Investment Advisor established in 1999 to provide clients with an integrated approach to all their financial needs. By acting in fiduciary standard, Reilly Financial Advisors is responsible for putting clients best interests first, before that of its own compensation.

Reilly Financial Advisors serves clients across the United States and around the world with the tools critical to achieving financial success. Many of Reilly Financial Advisors clients first came onboard during a period of transition, such as nearing retirement, after divorce, or after having recently been widowed. Reilly Financial Advisors works with clients and their portfolios to appropriately manage each individual situation.

To learn more about Reilly Financial Advisors, visit rfawealth.com.
Huawei seems to be fed up with the US, as it stated that it wants the evidence of alleged back doors to be published for everyone to see.

A couple of days ago, the US said, via the Wall Street Journal, that Huawei can access information that is supposed to be available only to law enforcement, and some of the carriers own officials.

Huawei wants the evidence of alleged back doors to become public

Well, Huawei has just denied these fresh claims, and called upon the US to show some evidence of the alleged back doors.

Advertisement

The company did that not only because theyre accused, but because the US said that it has evidence. That information came from the US national security adviser, Robert OBrien.

Huawei has denied these fresh claims via its cybersecurity chief, John Suffolk, who talked to Reuters. He stated that Huawei does not have access to this equipment. Mr. Suffolk said that Huawei does not know what call or information is being intercepted, nor when it is intercepted.

He called the Trump administration to show some evidence of all this by saying dont hide it, dont be shy. Publish it, let the world see it.

Advertisement

This is quite a challenge by Mr. Suffolk, and it sure makes us wonder if there is any evidence to be shown, at all. Lets see how will the US respond to this.

Huawei has been under pressure from the US since last year

As most of you know by now, Huawei has been under immense pressure from the US. The company has been banned from doing business with US companies, to a degree. Huawei doesnt even have access to Googles services at this point.

That has created quite a problem for Huawei. It is allowed to use Android, as its open-source, but it cannot use the Play Store, or any of Googles applications.

Advertisement

Huawei is trying to find a way around all that while, fresh accusations keep on coming from the US. This has been going on for quite some time now, and we dont see an end to it, but well see what will happen.

Huawei is the largest provider of networking equipment in the world. Analysts claim that it is a couple of years ahead of the competition, which makes Huawei quite a powerful player, especially when 5G is concerned.

The US is suggesting other countries to reject doing business with Huawei over 5G, and the best example is the UK. The UK will actually work with Huawei, but will remain careful. It remains to be seen what will happen next.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Monday met the Indians evacuated from the coronavirus-hit Chinese city of Wuhan at an ITBP quarantine facility here, as the first batch of nearly 200 of them left for their respective homes.

"Vardhan interacted with the evacuees housed at an ITBP camp, many of whom are being discharged to leave for their homes," the Health Ministry said in a statement.

They have all tested negative for the COVID19 or (Coronavirus disease 2019) and will be going back to their homes in phases, it said.

"It is indeed a proud and satisfying moment for all of us that our fellow citizens who have returned from Wuhan have been found to be healthy," Vardhan said as he handed over roses to those leaving the facility after completing the quarantine period.

The centre housed a total of 406 people, including seven Maldivians, who were evacuated from Wuhan in an Air India flight.

"After the final coronavirus test, reports of all 406 people living at our facility were found negative, the first batch was discharged today. We expect about 200 people to leave by tonight. The rest will be sent on Tuesday and in the subsequent days as per the travel plans of the inmates," ITBP spokesperson Vivek Kumar Pandey told PTI.

Harsh Vardhan also informed that as on date 3,21,375 passengers from 2,996 flights and 6,387 passengers from 125 ships have been screened for suspected infection.

India has so far reported three confirmed cases of the virus, all in Kerala.

Two of the three medical students who had tested positive for novel coronavirus infection have now been discharged, Harsh Vardhan said.

The condition of the third one is stable, he said.

Their samples were found positive among 2,571 tested in 15 laboratories across India.

A call centre established at the central level has received around 4,400 calls which included 390 international ones, Vardhan said, adding more than 360 emails have been received and responded to.

On Thursday, he had said India has extended support to the Maldives in testing samples and to Bhutan in managing the disease.

"India has also agreed to support Afghanistan in testing samples. India is also extending help to China by sending essential items for combating nCoV as per a commitment made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a goodwill gesture," Vardhan had said.

He added that regular reviews are being held with officials from the ministries of Health, Defence, External Affairs, Civil Aviation, Home, Textiles, Pharmaceuticals, Commerce, Panchayati Raj taking part.

The situation in the country is monitored by the Prime Minister's Office on a regular basis, Vardhan had said.

Also, India is in touch with the Japan government regarding the four Indian nationals infected with coronavirus on board a cruise ship off the Japanese coast.

The Indian embassy in Tokyo said on Monday the four Indians were responding well to treatment.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Air Force dress code makes it easier for Muslim, Sikh airmen to live out their faith

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

The U.S. Air Force has created a more efficient process to ensure that Sikh and Muslim Airmen are allowed to wear sacred garments and grow out hair in accordance with their faiths.

The Air Forces dress code was updated last week to provide an approval process for Sikh and Muslim service members to receive religious accommodations, allowing them to wear turbans, hijabs, beards and other items of religious expression.

Under the new guidelines, Airmen can request a waiver permitting them to wear neat and conservative religious apparel. The Air Force defines neat and conservative as discreet, tidy, and not dissonant or showy in style, size, design, brightness, or color.

The new guidelines provide a concrete process for approval and as well as a timeline for requests to be processed. Under the Air Forces previous policy, accommodations would be granted in a slower case-by-case process.

Under the new guidelines, a final review for the accommodation must take place within 30 days for cases arising within the U.S. and 60 days for all other cases.

According to the policy, there are strict limitations on exception for exigent circumstances.

Exceptions to policy of dress and personal appearance for religious accommodation will be approved when accommodation would not adversely affect mission accomplishment , the policy reads.

However, the policy explains that accommodation may be denied in cases when the religious accommodation would adversely affect mission accomplishment. Accommodations may only be denied when the military policy, practice or duty furthers a compelling governmental interest and is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest.

The change to the Air Forces dress code was celebrated by religious freedom advocates as well as Muslim and Sikh rights groups.

We support these new guidelines as a step toward religious accommodation and inclusion for military personnel of all faiths, Ibrahim Hooper, the national communications director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a statement. Thousands of American Muslims and members of other minority faiths serve in our nations military and should be able to practice their faith while serving.

The Air Forces new policy follows in line with the U.S. Army, which has also altered its rules in recent years to allow for the religious accommodation.

Airman 1st Class Gurchetan Singh became the first Sikh American to secure a religious accommodation to serve in the Air National Guard, according to the Sikh Coalition. Sing was born in India and came to the U.S. in 2012 after his father was granted asylum in 1984.

No Sikh American should have to choose between their religious beliefs and their career ambitions, Sikh Coalition attorney Giselle Klapper said in a statement.

Sikhs have served honorably and capably in the U.S. Armed Forces and other militaries around the world, and while we are eager for a blanket proclamation that all observant Sikh Americans can serve in every branch of the military without seeking accommodations, this policy clarification is a great step forward towards ensuring equality of opportunity and religious freedom in the Air Force.

In 2014, the Pentagon relaxed rules on religious headwear, beards, piercings, and tattoos with a religious significance in an effort to better accommodate religious beliefs on a case-by-case basis.

In November 2018, the U.S. Army altered its policy to lay out a more efficient process for which service members can request religious accommodations. Then-Army Secretary Mark Esper, the current secretary of defense, signed two memos laying out the process to soldiers to wear religious symbols.

The Air Forces new guidelines were also praised by the Becket Fund, a religious liberty legal nonprofit that often defends Christian clients in religious freedom cases.

This is critical progress for religious servicemembers who simply ask that their religious freedom be respected as they bravely serve our country, tweeted Becket Senior Counsel Eric Baxter.

Becket teamed up with the Sikh Coalition to represent Capt. Simratpal Simmer Singh, a decorated Army captain who filed a lawsuit in his quest for an accommodation to wear a beard and turban.

Singhs case helped pressure the army to issue the new regulations in January 2017, stating that soldiers will not be forced to give up their turbans, beards or unshorn hair.
MILTON  Dona Dutchers office at Blackhawk Community Credit Union is a small glimpse into bold plans to remember the history of auto-making in Rock County.

She has piles of photographs, hubcaps and a mannequin wearing a pair of coveralls with employee number 40-19-10414.

There are bricks from the General Motors Assembly smokestack, a place setting from the executive dining room, a nameplate from a 307 Chevrolet and United Auto Workers Local 95 campaign buttons touting Jim Boz Bosben, Terry Meyer, Mike Sheridan and Archie Bailey.

In the basement of the credit union, two separate rooms, one of them a vault, hold frayed and fragile blueprints of GM buildings, reports from a transportation company GM used to haul vehicles from the plant to dealers, postcards, tools and Janesville Gazette newspapers documenting the strike of 1937.

Ive got a lot of stuff, as you can see, Dutcher said last week.

And its only a fraction of her collection.

Dutcher has other storage facilities in Milton, Janesville and Beloit that hold larger items such as industrial fans, three-wheeled bikes used to get around the plant, handrails, carts, welding equipment and cabinets full of tools. She even has lights from the parking lot, multiple fire hydrants and three flagpoles.

And sometime in 2021 the artifacts will come under one roof in downtown Janesville.

Thats where the credit union will open a Legacy Center in the former First National Bank building that was constructed in 1913 at the corner of Main and River streets.

Dutcher, director of the Blackhawk Community Credit Union Legacy Center  and whose husband, Brad Dutcher, started working at GM in 1986 and is a former president of UAW Local 95  has worked for the credit union since 2002 and doesnt consider the Legacy Center a museum. Instead, it will be more interactive. Beyond the exhibits, it will include educational programs and research facilities and be a place for reflection and remembrance of an industry that touched nearly every aspect of Janesville and provided good-paying jobs to generations of families.

GM was just so connected to the veins of this community, Dona Dutcher said.

The need for a place to take in the history of Rock County auto-making became apparent after years of hearing from former employees, and after 1,200 workers there lost their jobs when production of Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe and GMC Yukon sport utility vehicles ended just before Christmas 2008. The Isuzu truck line closed the following April, ending the jobs of the remaining 110 employees. Another 800 or so employees of a long list of GM suppliers and contracted transport companies also were put out of work over the succeeding months.

In 1990, GM employed 5,100 people in Janesville. At its peak in 1978, the sprawling plant on the citys south side had more than 7,100 employees.

So when it came time to remodel the Milwaukee Street branch of the credit union, where Dutcher was working a few years ago, she started looking at ways in which historical items could be displayed in the branch. Her board of directors, however, began thinking about something more that just a few historical photos and signs.

They initially considered combining the Legacy Center with a new corporate headquarters but when plans for the site along the river fell through, the credit union purchased the former Moose Lodge in the city for its headquarters and the First National Bank building last summer for the Legacy Center, located in the midst of a downtown that is undergoing massive redevelopment.

It is important to us that our expansion plans continue to contribute to Janesvilles overall redevelopment strategy, Sherri Stumpf, the credit unions CEO, said when she announced the plans. We are excited that this will not only return a building to its historical significance, but it will make a great backdrop for a museum that honors the men and women and families and friends of General Motors and the UAW.

The history of GM in Janesville dates back to 1918, when the company branched out into farm vehicles by buying the Samson Tractor Co. Within 12 months after the purchase, nearly 150 tractors per day were rolling off the production line. Car production at the Janesville plant began in 1923, but the Great Depression shuttered the plant from 1932 to 1934. The plant made 16 million 105mm artillery shells during World War II and then returned to automotive production after the war.

Its only fitting that Blackhawk Community Credit Union is creating the Legacy Center to pay homage to GM and the other companies created in the city because of GMs presence. The credit union was formed in 1965 with employees of the Fisher Body Division of GM and office employees of UAW Local 95. Today, the credit union has 12 branches, over 60,000 members and over $600 million in assets.

But its safe to say that Dutchers office at the Milton branch that opened last fall is the only one that resembles a museum.

She has archival software on her computer and is always pursuing garage sales, thrift stores and auctions for anything related to auto-making in Rock County. She also gets a steady stream of phone calls and emails from former workers or the families of former employees offering up memorabilia.

Dutcher has collected identification badges for some of the 153 GM employees who worked at a temporary production facility at the year-long Century of Progress International Exposition, also known as the Chicago Worlds Fair, in 1933. She has David Kinservicks UAW membership pins from 1936 to 1942 that were handed out each month, photo albums, shirts and jackets made for specific departments at GM and even a couple of the artillery shells produced in the 1940s.

Im all over the area grabbing things, Dutcher said. I dont know if I know what I need right now because were archiving everything so were getting to a place where were getting a better idea of what we have.

Some of her most physical work came in the spring of 2018, just as the buildings at the GM site were going to be removed. Armed with a headlamp and a power drill tipped with a screwdriver attachment, Dutcher began scouring the buildings for items. She pulled out dozens of signs, found a box of DVDs and VHS tapes that are likely training videos, and removed a fire hose reel. She also scrounged for pieces of wood and metal that could be used in art projects or in the creation of keepsakes like pens and pendants.

I just grabbed, Dutcher said. I didnt know what was going to be important.

Bricks from the buildings and smokestack were given away at two events in May and August and drew thousands of people from around the country. Some of her most prized items from the plant are salvage carts, which were used to move a wide range of bulky items. Some were on the third floor, and with no electricity to power the elevator she had to carry the carts down the steps by herself.

I flipped the carts over and stood them up on their ends and put them on my back and just slowly made my way down the staircase, Dutcher said. It was one step at a time. It took a while but Im so glad I did it because theyre just cool-looking and theyre part of the history.

[Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Blackhawk Community Credit Union CEO Sherri Stumpf's last name and Dona Dutcher's title.]

Photos: Janesville automotive Legacy Center

Barry Adams covers regional news for the Wisconsin State Journal. Send him ideas for On Wisconsin at 608-252-6148 or by email at badams@madison.com.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
H arrison Ford has admitted that he was very surprised when director JJ Abrams asked him to appear as Han Solo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - despite his character dying in a previous film.

Ford, 77, reprised his famous role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015, which Abrams also directed, alongside other original cast members Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill.

However, Han Solo famously met a tragic end in the film when he was killed by his son Kylo Ren, played by Adam Driver.

Despite this, the character briefly reappears in The Rise of Skywalker, which is the ninth and final film in Star Wars Skywalker saga, to speak to his now-repentant son.

Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)- In pictures 1 /52 Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)- In pictures Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Lucasfilm

Recalling his conversation with Abrams, Ford told Good Morning America: When JJ asked me to do it, I said, Are you kidding? Im dead!

Joking that Abrams is a very persuasive guy, he explained: He said Sorta dead. You can do this. He hadnt written anything at that time.

But he said This is going to be great. So I said OK.

If JJ asked you to do something, youd probably do it too. Hes a very persuasive guy.

Ford appeared in The Force Awakens in 2015 ()

Ford said that the emotional scene was a useful addition to the story and the continuing development of Adam Drivers character and added that it was great to have the chance to do another scene with the Oscar nominee.

Last time, it didnt turn out so well for me, he joked. But it worked for him.

The Rise of Skywalker arrived in cinemas in December and was met with mixed reactions from fans and critics.

CGI technology allowed Abrams and his team to repurpose unused footage of Fisher from The Force Awakens to allow Princess Leia to appear in the story, after she died in 2016 at the age of 60.
LAS VEGAS, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC), representing more than 750 broadband and cable operators serving all 50 states, announces a new initiative that allows NCTC member companies to purchase Amazon Fire TV streaming devices at a discount.

The new discount program will enable NCTC's member companies to provide their subscribers with high-quality streaming media devices including Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Stick 4K, and Fire TV Cube. Operators may offer the Fire TV devices bundled with their pay-TV video service offerings or in conjunction with their broadband services. NCTC expects to begin offering the discounted Fire TV products to NCTC's member companies in the coming weeks.

"As more of our members deploy app-based pay-TV offerings, having the option to purchase Amazon Fire TV streaming devices at a discount will help our broadband and cable operator members retain video customers by creating affordable options that do not rely on a traditional set-top box. These devices are a great compliment to services like MobiTV or for broadband only offerings by our members," said Rich Fickle, President of NCTC. "NCTC is committed to creating new ways for independent cable and broadband providers to delight customers by offering the products and services that today's video and broadband consumers want."

About the National Cable Television Cooperative

The National Cable Television Cooperative, Inc. (NCTC) is a Kansas-based, not-for-profit corporation that operates as a programming and hardware purchasing organization for its member companies who own and operate cable systems throughout the U.S. NCTC seeks to maximize current and future opportunities to ensure the profitability, competitive stature and long-term sustainability of its member companies. NCTC represents more than 750 small and mid-sized independent cable and broadband operators across the U.S., in programming and technology acquisition. NCTC is actively engaged in helping network providers and suppliers evolve their business models to deploy new video/data solutions to match the changes in the media landscape.

Contact:

Pam Gillies

NCTC

[email protected]

(720) 594-8085

SOURCE National Cable Television Cooperative
When Maison Danel opens on Tuesday, the Tenderloin will get a new destination for all sorts of viennoiseries, tarts and macarons, along with full afternoon tea service as well as breakfast and lunch.

Its a lot to offer, but owners and husbands Danel and David de Betelu are steadfast in their vision: to create a Parisian-style tea salon with classic French elegance, both in the food and the presentation.

On trips to visit Danels family in France, David was struck by the refinement of local tea salons, where you could spend a few leisurely hours over an intricate plated dessert.

In America, were so obsessed with work that food is often just for filling your belly, David said. In France, breakfast is an event. Everything is celebrated.

Danel and David already operate Cow Hollow neighborhood French restaurant Baker Street Bistro, but they wanted to bring the tea salon experience to the city, too. They searched for a space for six years and, in 2017, signed a lease on three small storefronts in a 113-year-old Edwardian building in the Tenderloin. The building was restored by owner Veritas Investments and the three spaces merged into a luxe 3,000-square-feet restaurant.

The decor looks extremely French, with patterned tiled floors, exposed brick, Victorian chairs, a blue tufted booth and a ceiling made to look like vintage hammered tin. A huge chandelier dominates the pastry case area, where people can line up if they want a latte ($4.50) and pain aux raisins ($5.50) to-go. Even takeaway treats are quickly made into potential gifts with high-end branded boxes and ribbons.

Janelle Bitker / The Chronicle

The owners hope, however, that many will sit down and relax in the dining area, which is full service and accepts reservations. There, diners could simply order dessert like a mille-feuille ($9), a layered treat of puff pastry and cream, or peruse the full breakfast, lunch and brunch menus. Savory options include popular dishes from Baker Street Bistro, including the French toast ($16), croque monsieur ($15) and duck confit ($31). Afternoon tea sets with mini pastries and sandwiches are also available, starting at $40.

Danel, a classically trained chef who opened his first restaurant in France in 1999, brought on Adrien Chabot as head pastry chef. Chabot trained under top chefs in Paris and met Danel while they cooked together at Le Bateau Ivre in New York and found they shared a similar reverence for French culinary tradition.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

Danel and David know competition is stiff for great bakeries in San Francisco, but they say what the others are lacking are beautiful and comfortable spaces to enjoy those baked goods. Not to mention Maison Danels selection of coffee drinks, Champagne and caviar  all of which they plan to offer with a private label in the future. Why bother? Well, its more French, and as Danel said, I just think its cute.

Maison Danel. 7 a.m.-7 p.m. daily. 1030 Polk St., San Francisco. 415-685-5900 or www.maisondanel.com

Janelle Bitker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: janelle.bitker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @janellebitker
Anyone who's been to high school knows how dreadful Valentine's Day can be for teenagers.

Those with admirers or significant others will get love notes, flowers and chocolates delivered to them in class or secretly in their lockers. But for everyone else, it can be downright heartbreaking.

A Texas student didn't want any of the girls at his high school to feel down this year  so he bought every one of them a flower.

Jayme Wooley, a sophomore at Axtell High School near Waco, Texas, said he got the idea after seeing some girls not receive any Valentines the year before.

"Over the past couple of years that I've been at Axtell, not all of the girls were able to get flowers and stuff. Sometimes, it'd just be a secret admirer or popular girls," Wooley told CNN. "It felt heartbreaking knowing that not every girl was feeling special."

So with the help of his mom, Wooley bought 170 flowers and handed them out to every girl from sixth to 12th grade that came to school on Friday.

Kennedi Sherrill, a fellow sophomore at the school, was one of the girls that received a flower from the 15-year-old Romeo.

"He handed me a flower and I thought it was really special because not everyone gets a flower on Valentine's Day," Sherrill said.

Amy Gordon, Wooley's mom, said it didn't surprise her when her son approached her about his idea.

"He's always been that type of kid," Gordon said. "It made me very happy that he was thinking about others and how he's thinking about everybody and not just one girl."

Gordon posted a picture on Facebook showing the 170 flowers on their living room floor.

The post has garnered more than 1,000 likes and hundreds of comments. Gordon said the response has been overwhelming.

"We've gotten several messages from older women around their 30s and 40s saying thank you and that Jayme's their hero because they were that girl that never received a flower," Gordon said.

Gordon added that his one act of kindness sparked other boys to engage in their own acts of kindness, such as holding the door open for girls.

Wooley hopes to do this again next year and make it a tradition for every Valentine's Day.

"I'll probably never forget that moment of just seeing their faces brighten up," Wooley said. "I don't want anybody to feel less important than anyone else."

You'd think a guy with a heart like Wooley would already have a girlfriend, but he said he's still single. So girls, line up.
(Photo : Pixabay)

Experts warn that various tech companies using Artificial Intelligence (AI) 'read' your facial expressions. According to research, the function runs the danger of being unreliable and discriminatory.

Lisa Feldman Barrett, Northeastern University's psychology professor, said that technologies drive a developing frame of evidence that weakens the notion that facial expressions are universal across cultures.

Barrett told The Guardian that organizations continue to justify what they're doing when it's undoubtedly clear what their proof is. "There are some organizations that simply hold to claim matters that can't be true in all likelihood," she said.

ALSO READ: Is Artificial Intelligence Really A Threat To Humanity?

Companies create technology to know facial muscle

Her warning comes as some companies have begun growing technology to recognize facial muscle movements and assign emotion or purpose to those movements.

HireVue's AI system scans candidates' facial expressions, body language, and word desire and cross-references them with developments that considered to be correlated with process success.

Amazon claims its very own facial recognition system, Rekognition, which can stumble on seven fundamental emotions - happiness, sadness, anger, wonder, disgust, calmness, and confusion. In October, Unilever claimed that it had stored 100,000 hours of human recruitment time last year by deploying such software to analyze video interviews.

The EU is mentioned to be trialing a software program that purportedly can detect deception thru evaluating micro-expressions in an attempt to bolster border security.

"Based at the posted scientific evidence, these technologies shouldn't be rolled out and used to make consequential choices about peoples' lives," said Barrett.

Professor Aleix Martinez of Ohio State University said computer algorithms try to understand social cues. Martinez said deciphering a person's intent goes beyond their facial expression, and it's important that people - and the computer algorithms they create.

Professor Martinez said: 'The challenge is how this is probably used in towns like London, which has a large number of safety cameras. If in the future that is used to unmarried out people primarily based on how they behave, that would be very dangerous."



Facial expressions don't totally reflect innermost feelings, too - research suggests

It may appear apparent that AIs could paint out someone's mood primarily based on whether or not they're smiling or frowning. But facial indicators are, in fact, very different signs for our inner feelings, a study has observed.

Professor Aleix Martinez of Ohio State University underscored that one cannot surely tell one's feelings from facial expressions.

Some technology claims to 'stumble' on whether someone is guilty of a criminal offense or not, or whether or not someone is paying attention, or whether a purchaser is glad after a purchase.

The results of the research, according to Martinez, showed that those claims are 'complete baloney.' "There's no manner you could decide those things, and those can be dangerous," Martinez added.

The danger, Martinez said, lies in the opportunity of missing the real emotion or rationale in any other person and make choices depending on the person's destiny or abilities.

ALSO READ: Mirror-Touch Synesthesia: Some People Literally Feel For You

It is likewise true, Martinez said, that sometimes, human beings smile out of an obligation to the social norms. He said people are, in reality, entitled to put on a smile for the rest of the world.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Montrose is going to look very different in the coming years.

Renderings of how the lower Westheimer curve will look when it debuts its mixed-use Montrose Collective have been revealed recently, and it's a decidedly different landscape than longtime Houstonians have come to know and love.

This is the latest development for the neighborhood, which has gone from Houston's onetime patch of eccentricity to a more-polished, pricey zone that's more closely associated with upscale restaurants and high-priced homes than dive bars. (Although, thankfully, some of those still remain.) >>Take a look at Montrose through the years above.

When it was founded by J.W. Link in 1911, "The Montrose" was still a vast farmland. There were just parcels of undeveloped land without a Westheimer to speak of. In 1912, Link commissioned Sanguinet, Staats, and Barnes to build a Neoclassical-style mansion on Montrose Blvd. By 1923, that house was sold to T.P. Lee, an oil tycoon who sold it to a Basilian Father from Toronto. It served as the first building of the new University of St. Thomas and is still known as the Link-Lee Mansion, an enduring institution for the campus.

DETAILS: Montrose Collective is coming soon with shops, restaurants, new library

The early 20th century was a prime time for the area, notable icons like Howard Hughes  who once lived on Yoakum Street  called Montrose home. Clark Gable studied acting here, and Lyndon Johnson taught school in the neighborhood, at Sam Houston High School. Residents could ride the Montrose Line, a streetcar, around the area.

To paint a more vivid image, this is what Texas Monthly's William Broyles wrote of his family history in Montrose:

"My grandfather built our house in the new development of Montrose before World War I. It was in the 500 block of Hathaway, a quiet street just east of Montrose Boulevard. He planted a magnolia and a fig tree in the backyard. When my mother was a child, Houston was a small city of 140,000 people and Southern to its core. The knife sharpener came to the door; so did the milkman and the iceman and the seamstress."

That era eventually ushered in a dramatically different setting for Montrose. Families moved out to the suburbs. New developments were rising in the outskirts and couples with children wanted to be a part of those communities.

HoustonChronicle.com: Former Texas mansion of Dallas Cowboys star Deion Sanders sees massive price cut

Eventually, in the late sixties and early seventies, the area was home to older families until it welcomed an influx of new residents. They were attracted to the area because of cheap rents made available by duplexes and apartment buildings. They also didn't quite fit in into the suburban lifestyle, where Southern traditions were the norm. These were the outcasts of society: gays, starving artists and a whole range of bohemian characters.

This wave of change informed the businesses that cropped along Lower Westheimer and Richmond, and all along Montrose. Tattoo parlors, risque retail and seedy bars better suited this new population than did the grocers and boutiques that once operated there.

But by 2015, the Gay Pride Parade left Montrose for downtown. That was a major indication of the neighborhood's transition.

And today it's still in transition with rising ultra-modern, minimalist mansions, a fleet of mattress stores, and the demise of mom-and-pop restaurants on every block. Now it's tough to find a bungalow there for less than $700,000, or a one-bedroom for under $1,000 per month.

Whether you see the culture shift in the neighborhood as necessary, unfortunate or inevitable: it's maintaining the momentum, and on the verge of a new era when developers complete its future walkable district.
Back on dry land: US passengers wave to reporters as they leave the Daikaku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, Japan. Photo: BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP via Getty

An American woman who disembarked a cruise ship in Cambodia and travelled to Malaysia has tested positive for the coronavirus, raising concerns that the incubation period could be longer than 14 days.

The 83-year-old was among some 2,250 people trapped on the Westerdam cruise for almost a fortnight, after the ship was denied entry to ports in five countries amid coronavirus fears - despite no reported cases.

The ordeal came to an end on Friday when Cambodia offered the cruise ship safe harbour - a move that was praised by the World Health Organisation as a symbol of "solidarity". But the jubilant scenes as relieved passengers began to disembark were short-lived.

While health officials in Cambodia gave travellers the all-clear, Malaysian authorities said yesterday that two separate tests had confirmed that the American woman was infected with the coronavirus, known as covid-19.

More than 140 other Westerdam passengers arrived in Kuala Lumpur on the same plane as the American woman and the vast majority caught connecting onward flights. Seven others were isolated and screened for the coronavirus, but the tests came back negative.

Malaysia has since added that it will not allow any other Westerdam passengers to enter the country and that cruise ships that have travelled to China will not be able to dock.

But the unexpected case prompted some suggestions that the incubation period - the time between picking up an infection and developing symptoms - could be longer than previously thought, as experts question how the woman caught the virus while trapped on the ship.

Most governments have been operating on evidence pointing to a maximum incubation period of 14 days - which is why two-week long quarantines have been enforced. But a provisional paper published last weekend by Chinese scientists found that it might take as long as 24 days for some patients to display symptoms.

Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, said that such a long incubation period "would be problematic" for efforts to contain the outbreak.

"With incubation periods, there's always some degree of uncertainty, as it can be hard to establish when a patient came into contact with [another infected person]," he said. "But even with the Westerdam case, I think the 14-day quarantine period remains appropriate."

Concerns over the unexpected infection in Malaysia come as the global case count surpassed 69,000 and a taxi driver in Taiwan became the fifth fatality outside mainland China - 1,670 people have now died in total.

China reported a decline in new cases for the third consecutive day.

Meanwhile, US officials in hazmat suits boarded a cruise liner yesterday to fly home Americans quarantined for two weeks off Japan, while China said measures such as locking down Wuhan had at last slowed the pace of new cases.

After being held on board the Diamond Princess since February 3, American passengers were told to get ready for Sunday evening charter flights home from the cruise liner, which accounts for around half of all confirmed coronavirus cases outside China.

Canadian, Italian, South Korean and Hong Kong passengers were expected to follow, after their governments also announced plans to repatriate passengers.

Within China, authorities reported 2,009 new coronavirus cases yesterday, down from more than 2,600 new cases the previous day.

Chinese Health Commission spokesman Mi Feng said the slowing rate of new cases was proof that curbs on travel and other drastic measures were having an impact at last.

"The effect of the coronavirus controls is appearing," Mr Mi told reporters. ( Daily Telegraph, London)

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]
MANILA, Philippines  Senators from both sides of the political fence are planning to file a petition questioning before the Supreme Court the countrys termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States without the concurrence of the Senate, Senate Minority leader Franklin Drilon said.

In a statement on Sunday, Drilon revealed the planned petition will be a bipartisan move in asserting the Senates role in foreign policy, adding that he will join Senate President Vicente Sotto III and other administration senators in filing the petition.

While the President is the chief architect of our foreign policy, the Constitution is clear that such a very critical role is shared with Congress, particularly the Senate, Drilon said.

In an interview over radio station DWIZ on Saturday, Drilon bared that Sotto told him about the petition he is preparing and asked him to be a co-author, which he agreed to.

Sotto earlier said that other senators who are members of the majority bloc are interested in joining them in contesting the scrapping of the military pact.

Drilon believes that it is only the Supreme Court can rule with finality on the issue since the Philippine Constitution is silent when it comes to the termination of treaties and international agreement.

We cannot continue putting the fate of critical treaties such as the VFA, which termination has far-reaching consequences, in the hands of one man, he said.

It is our firm belief that if treaties and international agreements the President entered into cannot be valid without the approval of the Senate, the termination of, or withdrawal from, the same should only be effective with the concurrence of the Senate, he stressed.

Once ratified and concurred in by the Senate, a treaty or an international agreement becomes part of the law of the land.

Hence, a treaty may not be undone without that shared power that put it into effect, Drilon added.

The post Senators to question VFA termination before Supreme Court  Drilon appeared first on UNTV News.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has declared Australians will be fuming after Holden allowed its business to "wither away" even as it pocketed $2 billion in taxpayer-funded subsidies.

The federal government vowed that Holden will be held to account over its promise to support the 600 workers and hundreds of dealers affected by the companys decision to cease all Australian operations.

The classic brand will be axed in Australia at the end of 2020, just three years after it wound up local manufacturing. It has posted its lowest monthly sales since the first Australian-made Holden rolled off the production line 72 years ago.

Holden's American parent, General Motors, will close its Melbourne design studio and test track at Lang Lang on the city's south-east outskirts.
Canada's Bombardier said on Monday it had agreed to sell its rail division to France's Alstom for an enterprise value of $8.2 billion, as it focuses more attention on its aviation business and pays down debt.

That price tag includes equity plus debt. The deal will be done mostly in cash, with a chunk paid in new Alstom shares, Bombardier and Alstom confirmed in separate statements.

Bombardier said it would be receiving net proceeds of between $4.2 and $4.5 billion, once it accounts for the portion that will go to Canadian pension fund manager Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, a 30% shareholder in the rail unit.

Caisse will become the biggest shareholder in Alstom following the deal, which is expected to close in the first half of 2021, Bombardier added.

The memorandum of understanding between Bombardier and Alstom was approved by both companies' boards.
Sarah Curtin from Patrickswell - in London

Ive been living in London for a year and a half. I attended Laurel Hill Secondary School and Mary I, completing an undergraduate and Masters degree as many people my age do in the current economic climate.

My boyfriend had already moved to London to teach, because there are minimal secondary school teaching jobs in Ireland right now. I was really keen to work in publishing so I decided to follow him to London, and I am now working for Penguin Random House publishers.

I havent been home to see my family in four months, and that is the longest break that we have had so far. Last Christmas I experienced my first flying home for Christmas moments and they were very special. You really dont understand how green Ireland is when you are landing until you live in another country... The grass really is greener sometimes!

This time around it is more of a necessity, as life continues to change at home and Skype calls can only give so much love. My mother always cries at the airport as we are extremely close, and my father always greets me with a rib-crushing hug. Coming home is important for all of us, even for my brother who gets the obligatory giant Toblerone!

Christmas is an especially important time because not only do I want to make time to spend with my family, including my two grandmothers who are eagerly looking forward to my homecoming, but also my wonderful friends, some of which I havent seen for nearly two years, who are traveling home to Limerick from Dublin, the UK and even Toronto. MF

Laura and Shaun Murphy from Kilmallock  in New York

We'll spend Christmas at home in Yonkers, in New York. Shauns dad Ger and sister Christine are coming to spend the day with us. What we will miss about being away from Ireland at Christmas is being at home with our family for Christmas dinner and being there when Santa comes to our nieces Emmie and Erin Jacob.

Johanna OConnor from NCR  home from United Arab Emirates

Last Christmas was the first Christmas we ever stayed in the United Arab Emirates and we did so because I was expecting our first baby and couldnt fly. It was a lovely Christmas with friends and we enjoyed the famous UAE brunch, but its never the same as Christmas in Ireland surrounded by family.This year, my husband Simon and I will spend Christmas Day at home in Dun Laoghaire, where he is from.We'll probably start the day with a swim

Eamon Dunne from NCW  in the Phillippines

What will I miss about Christmas at home? Family of course, and turkey. They dont do turkey in the Philippines! But I was also here for Christmas last year so Im used to it. The 30 degree weather and spending my first Christmas with my two boys will more than make up for it. Ive been back and forth to the Philippines for the past two years with work, initially with Virgin Media (formerly UPC) and now with a company called Castletown Global Services (CGS). With Virgin I was splitting my time between Ireland and Philippines but am now based here full time with CGS. I met my fiance Jeziel, 28, early on my first trip in 2015. So we have had to handle long distance relationship challenges, especially when I was still splitting time in Philippines and Ireland. Even now my work is in the capital Manila, while Jeziel and our boys are in Cagayan de Oro, her home province and around an hour and half flight away, where all her family support is with her. I split my time between Manila and Cagayan de Oro (CDO) and will spend Christmas in CDO with my new family. For Filipinos, family really is everything so at any given time there are countless different brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews in the house supporting Jeziel and the boys, as well as her mother of course. Its a very different family dynamic to Ireland but amazing support for Jeziel, which is huge relief for me when Im in Manila. Our twin boys, Cian and Zach, were born on September 10, which also happens to be also Jeziels birthday, and I proposed recently by hiding a ring under Zachs pillow. Our wedding is planned for next May provisionally, when my dad and two brothers and close friends will hopefully make the trip to Cagayan de Oro from Ireland to meet my boys face to face for first time.

Janet and Eugene Bennis from Granville Park  in Brisbane

Janet and Eugene Bennis made headlines when they announced that as grandparents they were emigrating to Australia nearly two years ago, as they couldn't bear to be apart from their children and grandchildren. They live in Brisbane, and have five grand daughters - Saoirse 6, Isabelle 4, Teegan 3, Alexia, 2, and baby Ciara, six months.

We are not just having our second Christmas here in Brisbane with just our family, but with three other Limerick kids that have left Ireland. These kids, who grew up with our own kids, are spending Christmas day with us, and we will embrace them like our own  probably telling them to stop drinking so much, stop swearing, stop smoking, etc - the usual parent stuff. We will have Christmas day dinner at our son and daughters, Eoin and Claire, and their partners Hari and Soks home, with Eoin and Haris three girls, Jen, our daughter, son-in-law Rob, their girls, Saoirse and Teegan, Cian and his two friends from Limerick, and Claires best friend from Limerick. Then well spend the rest of the day by the pool. Eoin and Claires partners are also brother and sister, and their Greek parents, who moved to Australia in the 60s, are also coming for Christmas dinner, so it'll be an Irish/Greek celebration. The one thing I love about Christmas in Oz is that we are together. Otherwise, it is hard to believe it is Christmas, because it is so hot. There is no hustle and bustle in the cold, wet, dark evenings, slipping into Nancy Blakes for a hot toddy, in front of a lovely warm fire. Oh, how I miss it, but we are here with our grand daughters and kids and for that, it is no contest. What I will miss about Limerick, and Liverpool, where I'm originally from, are my Irish sisters and brothers, nieces, nephews, uncles and aunts, and meeting friends for The one and the craic. I will miss so much more, but I have gained so much in the nearly two years that we have been here, that I wouldnt change a thing. I hugely miss my sisters and brother flying in from Liverpool on a whim at any given time. I will always miss that, and not just at Christmas. I will miss my aunty Carmels Christmas pudding and Christmas cake that I received every year for the past 30 odd years.

Peter Cummins from Kilmallock  in New York

I'll be spending Christmas Day behind the bar as it is one of our busiest days of the year. Ive been serving drink here in Moriartys for five years now so my regulars have become friends. The best part of Christmas in New York are the lights and the shopping. The city at Christmas time is a wonderful place to visit. The only family I have here in New York is my wife Meghen, who also works in the bar business, so we really dont see a lot of each other around Christmas with us both being busier than usual. What I miss about Kilmallock during Christmas is my family. I call home on Christmas Day and the whole family is at my parents house in Kilmallock so that can make me feel a little lonely being the only one not there, but maybe next year I'll go home for Christmas.
BANGALORE, India, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Tata Elxsi, a global design and technology services company, partnered with Tata Motors in developing their unified Connected Vehicle Platform that powers the Nexon EV range of electric cars.

With a collaborative approach, Tata Motors & Tata Elxsi developed a cloud-based IoT Platform which provides Tata Motors with a common standard technology stack that delivers the scalability and high performance required to support the entire range of electric, commercial and passenger vehicles.

Tata Motors is in the process of offering the connected Vehicle feature as a key differentiator to most of its BS6 range of Passenger & Commercial Vehicles. Nexon EV, 'India's own Electric SUV', is the very first application enabled vehicle, with a number of connected vehicle features.

This unified cloud native approach will enable data & analytics synergies for Tata Motors, across product development, customer use cases, dealerships, allied businesses and service networks, enabling innovations in customer experience, offerings, services and business models.

"In line with Tata Motors stated objective of offering differentiated products based on our CESS philosophy (Connected, Electrified, Safe & Shared), we are delighted to have partnered with Tata Elxsi which not only allowed us to take the decision of developing a native platform for the Connected Vehicle Program, but also helped us to jump start and meet the critical product launch timelines. Tata Elxsi brings strong automotive electronics experience, coupled with an excellent understanding of cloud-based applications, data governance and world class user experience capabilities. The collaboration between the two teams has been outstanding and will continue to ensure a wonderful customer experience," said Rajendra Petkar, President & CTO of Tata Motors.

"We are delighted to partner with Tata Motors in the Connected Vehicle Program, to help unify and synergize data through a common digital services platform enabling completely new services, innovative business models and enhanced customer experience. We are proud to be a strategic ecosystem partner to Tata Motors in their vision for the future of mobility that is Connected, Electric, Safe and Shared," said Manoj Raghavan, MD & CEO of Tata Elxsi.

About Tata Elxsi

Tata Elxsi works with leading OEMs and suppliers in the automotive and transportation industries for R&D, design and product engineering services from architecture to launch and beyond. It brings together domain experience across Connected Infotainment, Autonomous Driving, Telematics, Powertrain, Body & Chassis electronics, along with digital technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Analytics, Cloud and IoT.

For more information, please visit www.tataelxsi.com

Media Contact

Tata Elxsi

Hari Balan

Corporate Communications

+91-80-2297-9123

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Tata Elxsi
Bakery workers on strike in Belfast in a dispute over pay

Bakery workers on strike in Belfast in a dispute over pay

Pancake Tuesday could be back on after workers trying to earn a crust at one of the UKs largest bakeries paused their strike after being made an offer.

Staff at Allied Bakeries in east Belfast walked out early on Sunday morning for the first time in decades in a row over a 3% pay claim.

The factory makes products such as Kingsmill bread and Sunblest pancakes.

Ahead of Shrove Tuesday, this is one of the busiest weeks of the year at the site, which is part of Associated British Foods.

The multinational company owns a series of brands, including clothes retailer Primark, and posted profits of around 1.4bn last year.

A Kingsmill lorry stopped at the gates where dozens of workers carrying red Unite the Union flags demonstrated in the morning chill.

Local police mediated.

Unite regional co-ordinating officer Susan Fitzgerald had said: There will be no Pancake Tuesday celebrated in Northern Ireland and we hope to affect it elsewhere as well.

We will be sending people to stand outside supermarkets leafleting, saying that other working people, in solidarity with Allied Bakery workers, should boycott Sunblest, Kingsmill and the other products that come out of here.

That includes a favourite unfortunately, pancakes, which are going to be in demand next week.

She said the companys turnover was worth 12bn but workers were being denied a 3% pay increase.

But shortly before 8pm, it was announced by the union that strike action had been paused after Allied Bakeries made an improved pay offer

The workforce will now be balloted on whether the new offer is sufficient to end the strike action.

As a direct result of this powerful and effective strike action, which saw delivery vehicles forced to reverse after hours of unsuccessful attempts at passing pickets, an improved pay offer was made, Ms Fitzgerald said.

Today has once again demonstrated the ability of workers to win improvements when they get organised and take action.

In a statement earlier, the firm said it was proud of its reputation as a long-term and stable employer in the community and they were disappointed about the action.

All employees involved are paid at rates above that recommended by the Living Wage Foundation and benefit from subsidised pensions, free life insurance cover as well as a range of other benefits, it said.
Aramin and Elhanan met in 2005 through Combatants for Peace, an organization that aims to end the occupation of Palestine, and they have become close friends. They are now involved in the Parents Circle - Families Forum, an organization for Israelis and Palestinians who have lost family members in the conflict.

McCann met the men in 2015, when he first visited the region with his storytelling nonprofit, Narrative 4. He had been interested in Israel and Palestines history since talking with George Mitchell, the former U.S. senator who helped broker peace negotiations in Ireland and the Middle East, and who appeared in McCanns continent- and century-spanning 2013 novel TransAtlantic.

If anything dilates my nostrils, its the sense of some sort of difficulty, McCann said. I knew I was completely ignorant of what was going on there, and I thought Id like to try and explore.

[ This book was one of our most anticipated titles of February. See the full list. ]
Believe it or not, there is a silent revolution sweeping across India.

After Independence, taking advantage of existing social inequities, opportunistic politicians established a system based on values of power instead of power of values. But today social pressure and the ability of a political leader in delivering development goals are changing the nature of politics. The return of the Aam Admi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal in the Delhi assembly election with a thumping majority can be attributed to this change in the mindset of voters.

Kejriwal won because he convinced Delhis voters that his priority is the establishment of a welfare State. Irrespective of the impact of Kejriwals claims and promises on male voters, women and the young people of Delhi stood by his vision and voted for him in large numbers. The Election Commission of India (ECI) data reveals that the percentage of women voters in Delhi stood at 62.55%. Though it was a little less than in the previous Delhi assembly elections, this may have helped the AAP get an edge.

In a city teeming with middle-class families, free electricity, water, health, and education made a considerable impact on women. To some, these facilities may look insignificant, but for the common people of the city, these amenities can change the quality of life and secure their futures. It is the difference between a comfortable existence and poverty; it provides an additional income cushion, much-needed in these hard economic times. In addition, the heated political discourse on the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests at Shaheen Bagh must have left women disturbed about the implications of possible large-scale violence in Delhi on them and their families.

Its not just Delhi that has turned a new leaf. In Bihar, chief minister Nitish Kumar has been winning elections by advocating a welfare State that is free from fear and insecurities. In the 2005 assembly elections in Bihar, no political party got a majority. As a result, elections were held again in October. Kumar won decisively as the leader of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), and stayed in power for the next nine years.

As soon as he was elected as CM, Kumar reserved 50% of seats for women in panchayats and local bodies. In 2007, he distributed bicycles to school-going girls to ensure that they dont drop out of school. The strict implementation of the alcohol prohibition law, in his current term, was also a result of a strong demand of the women in the state. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also benefited from Kumars concern for the common people and has expanded its footprint over the past decade-and-a-half.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also proved to be resoundingly popular among women and the young at the national level. His governments Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojana, which focused on the protection and education of the girl child, and the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, which saw the distribution of gas cylinders, and Swachh Bharat, which saw the construction of toilets, sealed his victory in the 2019 general elections. The BJP may not have been able to win elections in Delhi, but the Mood of the Nation survey by India Today shows Modi is still the most popular leader in the country.

Women do not like discriminatory politics. In Delhi, the BJP paid a heavy price for the kind of coarse language its leaders used in the election rallies, while the AAPs campaign remained balanced and positive. After the election results were declared on February 11, Union home minister Amit Shah said statements such as goli maro and Indo-Pak match should not have been made by BJP leaders during the Delhi assembly election campaign, and that such remarks may have led to the partys defeat. This is also the latest example of social pressures on politics.

According to the ECI, 8.4% more men voted in the 2004 general elections, compared to women. But in the 2019 general elections, more women voted than men. In the 73 years since Independence, the first four decades were male-dominated. The other half of the population is now rapidly bridging this gap. Women now play a decisive role in electing a government, or ousting it. This is a much-needed shift in a male-dominated society and polity.

Shashi Shekhar is editor-in-chief, Hindustan

The views expressed are personal
Under the agreement, Dairy Farmers of America, a farmer-owned co-op, would pay $425 million to acquire 44 of Dean Foods facilities, as well as the real estate, inventory and equipment necessary to operate them. To move forward, the deal must be approved by the bankruptcy court overseeing Dean Foods as well as by regulators, who have been investigating the potential merger for months.

So far, much of the antitrust scrutiny has focused on the co-ops evolving role in the American milk business. Two decades ago, Dairy Farmers of America was founded to help small farmers market their raw milk to dairy processing companies like Dean Foods, which prepare milk for distribution to retailers.

But over the years, the co-op, which now has more than 14,000 members, has also invested heavily in processing, meaning it buys some of the raw milk that its own marketing branch sells. Those investments have created a conflict of interest, some dairy farmers argue, because processors benefit from lower milk prices, while farmers benefit from higher ones.

Dean Foods, the largest milk processor in the United States with a little under 60 manufacturing facilities and a portfolio of well-known brands like TruMoo and Lehigh Valley, filed for bankruptcy protection in November, hurt by changing consumer habits and a growing market of milk alternatives.

Dairy Farmers of Americas plan to acquire a large portion of Dean Foods assets would significantly expand its processing operations, heightening the conflict of interest, critics of the merger say.
The first US trial over a herbicide called dicamba has landed Bayer and its German rival BASF with another potentially multi-billion problem.

Jurors in federal court in Cape Girardeau awarded $265m (245m) on Saturday to a Missouri farmer who blamed the herbicide for destroying his peach orchards.

The companies now face more than 140 lawsuits over allegations that dicamba wreaked havoc across the Midwestern US when it drifted onto crops that werent engineered to resist it.

While two German industrial giants are involved, the focus is set to fall on Bayer, already seeking to settle thousands of lawsuits claiming exposure to its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer.

Both dicamba and Roundup are produced by Monsanto, which Bayer acquired in 2018.

The loss heaps more pressure on Bayer chief executive Werner Baumann, who staked his career on the $63bn (58bn) takeover of Monsanto.

Last April, after a couple of Roundup trial losses, Mr Baumann became the first CEO of a major German company in decades to lose a shareholder confidence vote.

Activist investor Elliott Management later announced the purchase a stake in the company, raising the prospect of holders pushing to split up the pharma and agro-chemicals conglomerate.

Mr Baumann, a defender of that setup, faces another shareholder vote in April. Since dicamba is another legacy Monsanto product, the latest verdict threatens to undo Bayers recent momentum.

Since June, the shares have recouped about half of the value they lost following the Roundup trial losses. Bayer shares fell 2.5% in Frankfurt trading in the latest session, the sharpest drop in more than four months.

The ruling is a negative for sure though dicamba will probably not grow into a headache as big as Roundup, according to Dennis Berzhanin, an analyst at Pareto Securities in Frankfurt.

The company vowed to appeal, saying there was no competent evidence presented which showed that Monsantos products were present on the Missouri farm and were responsible for the farmers losses.

BASF said it was surprised by the jurys decision and would use all legal remedies available.

The stock dropped less than 1% in Germany.

Bev Randles, one of Bayers lawyers, said the verdict sends a message to all US corporations.

There is no giant too big, she said. Everyone has to follow the law.

- Bloomberg
The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, will meet in late February to deliberate a draft decision on postponing the NPC's annual session, among other items on the agenda.

This was proposed when the Council of Chairpersons of the NPC Standing Committee met on Monday. Zang Tiewei, a spokesperson for the top legislature's Legislative Affairs Commission, told Xinhua the considerations behind the move.

The third annual session of the 13th NPC was originally planned to open on March 5 in Beijing. Preparations for the session have been made.

But after the outbreak of COVID-19, epidemic prevention and control has become the most important work. It is now a crucial moment to curb the spread and win the battle, so no effort should be spared.

Many of the nearly 3,000 NPC deputies, including leading officials at the municipal, provincial levels and other fields, are fighting at the frontlines of the epidemic battle.

After careful evaluation, the Council of Chairpersons decided that it is necessary to postpone the annual legislative session to allow efforts to be concentrated on containing the epidemic. This is in line with putting people's lives and health as the top priority.

According to the Constitution and relevant laws, the NPC meets in session once a year and is convened by the NPC Standing Committee. The decision to postpone the session needs to be made by the NPC Standing Committee.

The NPC Standing Committee shall meet on Feb. 24 in Beijing, and one of the items on the agenda is to deliberate the draft decision on postponing the annual legislative session, as was decided at Monday's meeting of the Council of Chairpersons.

Meanwhile, the NPC Standing Committee will also prepare for revisions of the laws related to epidemic prevention and control.
Press Release

17 February 2020

Amid the current outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19), STR analyzed historical data for China and found that the country's hotel performance recovered quickly following the containment of SARS in 2003. Recovery around the current outbreak situation of 2020 could follow a similar timeline.



"Significant market, economic and social changes over the past two decades render a direct comparison of coronavirus to SARS rather complex when it comes to hotel performance," said Jesper Palmqvist, STR's Area Director for the Asia Pacific region. "However, we felt it important to analyze hotel performance and recovery in China during the early part of the millennium in order to derive possible projections for 2020. All areas of the country, which likely differed in terms of number of reported cases, suffered a negative impact during the SARS outbreak. Some recovered quicker than others, but all bounced back swiftly after containment.



"In the scenario where there is a slowing in new coronavirus cases reported by the end of February, we can then project the recovery trajectory with both historic and current signs that China will rebound quickly, particularly in the domestic market. Regardless, there are questions to be answered around eventual readiness of those hotels that are currently closed in China and how outbound travel will develop."

Advertisements

Photo: STR

For Mainland China, the lowest occupancy month during the SARS outbreak was May 2003 at 18%. At the same time, ADR was at CNY518. Then by August, after containment, occupancy was back up to 67% and ADR was at CNY552. From an ADR perspective, Mainland China reported just three months of declines in April, May and June of 2003.

Beijing was one of the severely infected areas and the last Mainland China city removed from the list of areas with local transmission (24 June 2003). Occupancy fell to as low as 10% in May then recovered back to 52% in July, 65% in August and 72% in September.

Performance in Guangdong, where the SARS outbreak originated, fell in April 2003 and continued until the World Health Organization removed its travel alert at the end of May. The organization then removed Guangdong from the list of areas with local transmission on 13 June, and the market quickly bounced back and showed occupancy of 56% in July.

Hong Kong was removed from the list 10 days later, and occupancy jumped to the 60% level in July then to 75% in August.

Shanghai, Chengdu and Chongqing were not under the spotlight during the SARS outbreak, but were significantly affected. After hitting a low occupancy point in May, occupancy for each was back to the 60% level in July.

Photo: STR

Additional Performance Data

STR's world-leading hotel performance sample comprises 67,000 properties and 9.0 million rooms around the globe. Members of the media should refer to the contacts listed below for additional data requests.
Pope Francis decides to include a year of mission in the training curriculum of the diplomatic staff of the Holy See.

By Andrea Tornielli

Pope Francis' decision to include a year spent in mission territory in the training curriculum of diplomatic Nunciature personnel, comes just a few months after the announcement made by the Pope himself in the concluding speech of the Synod for the Amazon. This announcement now becomes reality for new students of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in the academic year 2020/2021.

First, it is interesting to note the context in which this project was first announced: the need for, and difficulty in finding, priests for the missions. The Pope had quoted the negative response one sometimes receives: "No, I am not suitable for this". "Well," commented the Pope, "this must be reformed... Young religious have a great vocation and it is necessary to train them in apostolic zeal to go to the peripheries". Immediately afterwards, Pope Francis spoke of future diplomats, hinting at a "suggestion" he had received: "In the curriculum of the diplomatic service of the Holy See, young priests should spend at least a year in missionary territory. Not doing an internship in the Nunciature as they do now, which is very useful, but simply in the service of a bishop in a place of mission".

Now this proposal becomes concrete. In his letter to the President of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, the Pope writes: I am convinced that such an experience will be useful for all the young men preparing for or beginning priestly service, but especially for those who will someday be called to work with the Pontifical Representatives and, afterwards, will in turn become Envoys of the Holy See to nations and particular Churches. The commitment of future Apostolic Nuncios will serve as an example, so that other priests will accept the invitation to spend time in mission.

There is no doubt that the decision, now formalized by the Successor of Peter, represents a truly significant change in the course of studies for those who will serve in the Nunciatures and who will, in many cases, be made bishops at a relatively young age. A fundamental piece of the curriculum now becomes the year dedicated to missionary service in the field, far from home, getting ones hands dirty in pastoral work, in the frontier Churches. A year of change, of fatigue, of new experiences, which will allow a better and deeper understanding of the reality of the Church, of her problems and difficulties, but also of her hopes and the comforting beauty of her daily life. A year that will allow the students of the Ecclesiastical Academy themselves, their superiors and the bishops of their dioceses of origin, to better discern individual vocations. A year that could also dissuade someone from undertaking this service. It will certainly be an experience destined to change the outlook and perspective for those who will one day be called to represent the Pope in various countries, thus underlining the importance for the local Churches of helping the Pope by sending good and capable priests in his service.

Once again, Pope Francis reminds us that the whole Church - diplomatic service included - is either missionary or she is not. She either evangelizes or she is not Church. If the Church is not on the move, she decays, she becomes something else", as the Pope stated in the important book interview with Gianni Valente, "Without Him We Can Do Nothing". In this recent publication that deserves to be taken to heart, Pope Francis says: Mission is not a tried and tested company plan. Neither is it a public spectacle organized to flaunt how many people are associated with it thanks to our marketing. The Holy Spirit works as He wills, when He wills and where He wills". Missions mysterious fruitfulness does not consist in our intentions, in our methods, in our impulses and in our initiatives, but rests precisely in this vertigo: the vertigo we perceive when we hear Jesus words: Without me you can do nothing".
Former Playa del Carmen interim mayor sentenced for corruption

Playa del Carmen, Q.R.  The former municipal president interim of Solidaridad, Rafael Castro Castro, was sentenced to two years and two months in jail for the crime of irregular performance of civil service.

Former mayor substitute, Rafael Castro Castro, who stood in for Mauricio Gongora Escalante while he ran for state governor, was arrested in the state of Yucatan in April 2019.

Through a statement, the Prosecutors Anti-Corruption Office said that it was established before a judge that from January to September 2016, 88 contracts were created with 16 suppliers, all of which were found with legal defects which were corroborated by the then mayor.

This means that the defendant today mishandled the public account and the administration of the assets, therefore, did not act in accordance with the law, reported the judge.

This irregular exercise of the public service was carried out in conjunction with other public servants during the Gongora administration. Castro, who performed duties as Municipal President of Solidaridad, also received a fine in addition to being charged for the estate breakdown for approximately 111 million peso.
Spoiler alert! It was the United Kingdom, or more accurately, a British man named Alan Turing, the father of modern computer science as we know it today.

Working full-time at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire, Alan Turing had one main goal. That goal was to crack the enciphering machine that the Germans used to send secret messages during World War 2. That machine was called the Enigma, and Alan Turing played a significant role in cracking its code.

Who Was Alan Turing?

Alan Turing was a British polymath, born in London in 1912. He had extensive knowledge of mathematics, logic, cryptanalysis, and philosophy. His work also served as a foundation for the future fields of computer science and artificial intelligence.

As a young boy, Alan Turing showed signs of high intelligence, pursuing his interest in science and mathematics throughout his teenage years. After his graduation at Cambridge, he was recognized for his research in the field of probability, and eventually enrolled for a doctorate study in mathematical logic at Princeton University. One of the most critical events in his life was definitely his job at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire, where he did top-secret work on breaking nazi codes.

The Enigma Vs. The Bombe

Enigma was the German machine used to send encrypted messages between their forces in World War 2. It only used the 26 alphabet characters with the punctuations being replaced by different character combinations. The security of the enigma transmissions was dependent on the list of key settings that were changed every day. Because of the Enigma, England could never be prepared for the German attacks.

With the help of Gordon Welchman, his colleague, Alan Turing, made his own machine, called The Bombe machine. It was a device that mimicked the action of several Enigma machines together. The Bombe was built on a budget that equals around 4 million pounds in today's worth. It was essential in the cracking of the encrypted german messages that were intercepted during the second world war. It basically sped up the whole process of cracking the Enigma code by using multiple permutations, reducing the duration of the previous efforts of cracking the code from weeks to only hours. By the end of it all, The Bombe was successful in cracking 2.5 million German messages, providing the allied forces with much-needed information to turn the tides of the war.

He Died Because Of His Sexuality

It is no secret that Alan Turings' sexuality played a major role in his death. During those times, homosexuality was illegal in the United Kingdom, and Alan Turing was arrested for gross indecency in the year 1952. He had a choice between imprisonment and chemical castration, in which he opted for the latter. He had to endure chemical castration, and the controversy around his homosexuality made him suffer both physically and mentally. Those same events eventually led to his suicide in the year 1954. Even though his final days were surrounded by controversy and prejudice, his intellectual legacy outshined them all.
The rising cost of a new City Library for Dublin has been likened to projects like the National Children's Hospital.

The Parnell Square development, which has suffered years of delays, has been hit by major funding setbacks.
Karnataka: Hubli residents thrash Kashmiri students for raising pro-Pakistan slogans

India

oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P

New Delhi, Feb 17: Three students from Kashmir who were studying in Karnataka's Hubli were arrested on Sunday on charges of sedition for allegedly raising pro-Pakistan slogans. On Monday, as they were brought to the Judicial Magistrate First Class court premises, the trio were attacked by the residents.

As the tempers were raised, the residents threw shoes and slippers at them while several right wing organisations staged a protest and raised slogans of "Bharat Mata ki Jai" at the court.

Talib Majeed, Basit Asif Sofi and Aamir Mohiuddin Wahi, the three civil engineering students at the KLE Institute of Technology are said to be from Shopian in Kashmir. It is reportedly said that the trio were accused of celebrating Pulwama terror attack with slogans of Azadi.

Omar's PSA dossier cites his remarks at internal party meet, Mehbooba's pro-separatist stand

A video of them celebrating the Pulwama attack was viral on social media which prompted college principal Basvaraj Anami to suspend them from the college.

Meanwhile, the district lawyers' association in Hubli reportedly said that none of its members would represent the trio in the case.

As many as 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans lost their lives on February 14, 2019, after a suicide bomber rammed his vehicle with explosives into the convoy.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, February 17, 2020, 15:01 [IST]
New Delhi: Amid reports of fissures appearing in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra over the recent decision taken by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar has called a meeting of party leaders in Mumbai on Monday (February 17). According to reports, the transfer of Elgar Parishad probe to NIA and Muslims quotas are among the issued that are likely to be taken up for discussion during the meet.

The meeting is being watched in the context of Pawar recently expressing his displeasure over Uddhav government's decision to allow handing over the Elgar Parishad case to the NIA. "Law and order is a state subject. It is not proper to encroach upon the rights of the state. Maharashtra`s support to the move is also unfair," Pawar had stated recently. This was the first instance wherein Pawar, the architect of the MVA alliance of Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress, took public stance opposing Uddhav in the fledgling 75-day old government.

Modi government's Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and its related processes, which includes the National Population Register (NPR) drive, is also expected to be discussed in the meeting. Recently, reports had surfaced that the Uddhav government, in a snub to its allies Congress and NCP, had decided to roll out the NPR in the state from May 1. However, later, NCP leader and state Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad dismissed the reports and told PTI that the "Maharashtra CM has assured that any decision on the NPR will be taken in the interest of people through discussions."

Meanwhile, the former union minister's annoyance on Uddhav came after a Pune Sessions Court transferred the Elgar Parishad case to the NIA and directed all accused to be produced before the Special NIA Court in Mumbai on February 28 where the matter will be heard henceforth. After initial resistance, the state government came around to the view that it had no objections to the transfer of the case to the NIA, as dictated by the Centre last month.

The Centre's move came barely a couple of days after Pawar had written to the CM to set up a Special Investigation Team to re-investigate the case including the role of the Pune Police, while several NCP and Congress leaders have termed the entire case as fabricated and the Centre`s move as 'unconstitutional'.

The case dates back to December 31, 2017, Elgar Parishad in Pune, followed by the caste riots next day, January 1, 2018, in Koregaon-Bhima, and subsequently the nationwide swoop on over a dozen activists in June-August 2018. The activists and intellectuals were charged with harbouring Maoist links, indulging in anti-national activities, planning to create political disturbances, preparing to wage a war against India, conspiring to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi and plotting to overthrow the government.
Feel Good about Your SNPs: Your Roadmap to Health by Dr. Amy Yasko Parents love getting to hear Dr. Amy. She is a favorite speaker of conference attendees, and she is really a pioneer in her foundational approach to health and wellness.

AutismOne today was delighted to announce the return of autism physiology pioneer Dr. Amy Yasko to the AutismOne Conference. Dr. Yasko will be available throughout the five-day event, and she will be presenting on Saturday, May 23. On Sunday, May 24, Dr. Jun Suzuki, founder of the Autism Recovery Project outside Tokyo, will elaborate upon the success possible with implementation of the Yasko Protocol.

Dr. Amy Yasko designed the Yasko Protocol. The Yasko Protocol uses nutrigenomics to optimize the health of children and adults. Underlying genetic susceptibility combined with exposure to infectious agents, toxic chemicals, and the stress of lifestyle all contribute to complex health issues. Understanding the contributing factors gives you the information needed to pick the right tools to get back on a path to health and well-being. Dr. Yasko holds a doctorate in molecular biology and immunology, and she has worked with thousands of families of children with autism.

Dr. Amys presentation, Feel Good About Your SNPs, will focus on importance of the methylation cycle and SNPs (single nucleotide proteins).

Dr. Amy told us, I have always felt that it is important for anyone on the autism spectrum to focus on the methylation cycle. In addition, family members should realize that those genetic susceptibilities are inherited, meaning that you may carry that same genetic pool of information. As a result, it is also important for family members to think about their own methylation cycle. When considering support to bypass SNPs in the pathway, the goal is to look at the composite of SNPs and how they impact the function of the methylation cycle. Thus, making overall observations about the pathway in addition to looking at specific SNPs can give a sense of some of the larger issues to consider in terms of the pathway as a whole.

Said Ed Arranga, AutismOne president, Parents love getting to hear Dr. Amy. She is a favorite speaker of conference attendees, and she is really a pioneer in her foundational approach to health and wellness.

After the presentation, Dr. Amy will host a special meet-and-greet during her book release signing!

To learn more about Dr. Amy, please visit http://www.DrAmyYaskoAutismOne.com.

On Sunday, May 24, Dr. Jun Suzuki, founder of the Autism Recovery Project outside Tokyo, Japan, will speak of recovery achieved by virtue of the Yasko Protocol. He will lend insight to both parents and professionals on how they, too, can reach parallel success stories.

Dr. Suzuki said, In Japan, I support the implementation of the Nutrigenomics Dr. Amy Yasko Protocol for Japanese autistic children. This time I present a case of successful recovery from the diagnosis of autism. At the same time, I would like to share the secrets that Nutrigenomics Dr. Amy Yasko Protocol has enabled autism recovery in Japan."

The AutismOne 2020 Conference will be held at the beautiful Loews Chicago OHare Hotel, which is just ten minutes from Chicago OHare International Airport. The conference will be held Wednesday, May 20 through Sunday, May 24. For more information or to register, please visit http://www.autismoneconference.com.
Towards the end of 2019, engaged couple Morgan Lolar and Evan Smith announced they were moving from Virginia to California. According to Lolar, her fiance left for the West Coast a couple of months before her and reportedly cheated her on with 21-year-old Instagram models.

Even though the two seemingly broke up, Lolar still made the cross country move to California but hung out with a co-star for Valentines Day.

Morgan Lolar, Evan Smith | Mario Perez

Morgan Lolar and Evan Smith on Temptation Island

In September 2018, Evan Smith and his then-girlfriend, Kaci Campbell, arrived at Temptation Island with the hopes of leaving as an engaged couple.

After dating exclusively for five years, Campbell finally wanted a ring, and Smith wanted to prove himself to her. However, he almost immediately fell for real estate agent, Morgan Lolar.

Once he chose her for his second date, Smith never picked anyone else and only gave her his attention. Additionally, he asked Lolar to be his girlfriend before he talked to or broke up with Campbell.

When he saw his now ex at the Final Bonfire, he finally admitted he wanted to leave her for Lolar, crushing the Los Angeles-native. Six months later, Smith proposed to Lolar.

The couple lived together in Virginia for a little over a year until Lolar abruptly wiped her Instagram clean of all pictures with her fiance.

Morgan Lolar and Evan Smith broke up

On January 11, 2020, a few days after she deleted the photos, Lolar revealed Smith left for California and claimed he was working when he allegedly had nightly sleepovers with 21-year-old Instagram models.

Lolar also removed Smiths name from her social media profiles and began publicly communicating with his ex, Campbell, on Twitter. However, she hinted they werent broken up a few times and posted a picture on her Instagram story wearing her engagement ring, confusing many fans.

Is it ever okay for an ENGAGED man to leave his fiance across the country to work but actually has nightly sleepovers with 21yo Instagram models? Oh, and his phone happens to die every night at the same time. I know, Im a dumb ass and everyone saw it coming, but me #played  Morgan Lolar (@morganlolar) January 11, 2020

Therefore, they began believing the two were faking a breakup to appear on MTVs Ex on the Beach. However, Lolar quickly took to Twitter to debunk those theories.

Smith still has his photos with Lolar visible on his social media profiles, but he also deleted her name from his Instagram bio.

Morgan Lolar spent Valentines Day with Erica Steinhauer amid breakup

Before the breakup, Lolar and Smith announced they were moving to California. Even though they ended up parting ways, Lolar still made the move across the country to the West Coast.

On February 4, she announced on Twitter that she arrived at her destination, and began hanging out with some of her Temptation Island co-stars, including Erica Steinhauer.

You were the best Valentine in the world! Rose, hot tub and @tacobell was a dream come true!!  Morgan Lolar (@morganlolar) February 16, 2020

Even though the California-native didnt develop a connection with any of the guys on the island, she forged a great relationship with Lolar. The two hung out in a hot tub, drank wine, and ate Taco Bell for their Valentines Day as Lolar didnt spend it with Smith.

However, according to her Tweet, the holiday went like every other day of her 2019 because she bought dinner and didnt get flowers or gifts of any kind.

While Lolar spent her day with Steinhauer, her ex-fiance hung out with his friend, Adam Quinn, and the two played video games.
A 55-year-old guitar teacher from Mumbai has been arrested for allegedly molesting a student, who flew back from the US a decade after the ordeal and filed a complaint against him, police said on Monday.

The victim was around nine years old when the accused began molesting her. She later migrated to the US for higher studies when she was 12, a police official said.

The accused sexually abused the victim for three years between 2007 and 2010 at her home in suburban Andheri when he used to give her music lessons, the official said.

The victim, now around 21 years old and studying at a college in the US, arrived here on Sunday and lodged an FIR against the accused.

After recording her statement, the Oshiwara police arrested the accused, the official said.

The victim in her statement alleged that the teacher used to molest her and speak in vulgar language during music lessons, he said.

"We have arrested the teacher under Indian Penal Code Sections 354 (molestation), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult modesty of a woman) and 506 (criminal intimidation). It is an old case of the offence that took place between 2007 and 2010, before the victim went to the US," Oshiwara police station's senior inspector Dayanand Bangar said.

The police were trying to find out if the accused molested other students also, another official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Fourteen people who had tested positive for the new coronavirus were among more than 300 US citizens and family members evacuated by plane from a quarantined ship in Japan, the US State Department said Monday. The passengers had already disembarked from the Diamond Princess and were preparing to return to the United States on chartered aircraft when US officials were informed 14 of them who had been tested days earlier were positive for COVID-19, it said in a joint statement with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). After consultation with HHS, the State Department decided to allow them onboard, but isolated them from the other passengers. "These individuals were moved in the most expeditious and safe manner to a specialized containment area on the evacuation aircraft to isolate them in accordance with standard protocols," it said. "During the flights, these individuals will continue to be isolated from the other passengers." All passengers were being closely monitored throughout the flights. "Any who become symptomatic will be moved to the specialized containment area, where they will be treated," the statement said. The first flight is due to land shortly at a US Air Force base in California, where all passengers will undergo 14 days quarantine, while a second plane is heading to another base in San Antonio, Texas. More than 600 people are already in quarantine in the United States, evacuated earlier from the virus epicenter in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday. An American passenger from the Diamond Princess gives a thumbs up to reporters at Haneda Airport in Tokyo before boarding a chartered flight home. Officials said 14 passengers on one flight had tested positive for the coronavirus
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  A plan to take more money from New Mexicos largest permanent fund to expand early childhood programs has been resuscitated at the Roundhouse.

Just two days after the measure stalled in the Senate Rules Committee because several senators left before a vote could be taken, a scaled-back version won the panels approval Monday.

The committee voted 6-2 to advance the proposal, with several former skeptics voting in support of the revised measure.

We need to do something, because what were doing is not working, said Sen. Clemente Sanchez, a Grants Democrat, who voted in favor of the measure.

However, the proposed constitutional amendment, House Joint Resolution 1, advanced only after backers agreed to two changes aimed at reducing its fiscal impact.

One change would reduce the proposed increase in the annual distribution rate from the Land Grant Permanent Fund from 1 percentage point to 0.5 percentage point. The rate is currently set at 5% of the funds average value over a five-year period.

That revision would reduce the amount generated for home visiting and other early childhood programs, which had initially been pegged at $180 million a year.

Meanwhile, the other change would block the higher distribution rate if the funds total value dipped below $17 billion. It was valued at $19.7 billion earlier this year.

Backers of the idea have been trying for about a decade to get it passed, but despite winning approval in the House, they have been repeatedly stymied in the Senate.

Its imperative that these funds be made available as we build a world-class early childhood educational system, said Rep. Antonio Moe Maestas, D-Albuquerque, one of the measures sponsors.

Despite Mondays vote, the measure still faces tough sledding to win final approval before the 30-day session ends at noon Thursday.

It now advances to the Senate Finance Committee, where it has died in some previous years. If passed there, the measure would still have to win approval on the Senate floor and then be accepted by the full House before adjournment.

Lawmakers have already sent a separate early childhood funding bill to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham for final approval that would use some of New Mexicos budget surplus to pay for prekindergarten, home visiting and other programs through a recently established state agency.

That measure, House Bill 83, calls for $20 million to be appropriated from the fund during the 2022 budget year  and larger amounts in future years. Its expected to be signed into law in the coming days.
The client list at Ann Hand's namesake jewelry store in the Georgetown area reads like the who's who of Washington D.C. She's sold pieces to Laura Bush, Lady Bird Johnson, Nancy Reagan and Alma Powell. But the 86-year-old was shocked to see Nancy Pelosi wearing a brooch from her collection when the Minority Leader opened the impeachment debate in the House of Representatives in Dec.

I was surprised but delighted when I saw her wear it on TV," Hand told the Houston Chronicle. It was purchased by her friend at our store last year. We didn't know if she would get it or when. We didn't know if she would wear it."

HoustonChronicle.com: History of Houstons iconic River Oaks is disappearing with teardowns

Hand, who was born in Houston and is a graduate of St. Agnes Academy, relocated to Washington D.C. when her husband, Lloyd Hand, served as chief of protocol of the United States in the 1960s.

I followed my husband when he was an aid to then-Senate majority leader Lyndon B. Johnson, Hand said. I opened my shop more than 30 years ago.

Pelosi's shiny gold pin, which stood out against her lapelless black suit, is not just any brooch. It's shaped like a mace, a symbol of both the governmental authority of the United States and the legislative authority of the office Pelosi holds.

Three and a half inches long, the gold and brass mace features a pearl, which represents the globe, and an eagle atop 13 rods that signify the original 13 states.

Since Pelosis public appearance at Dec.s impeachment debate, orders for the $125 brooch have skyrocketed. But it was originally designed when Pelosi was elected the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House in 2007. "It was not popular at that time," Hand said.

The Speaker has worn the mace since Dec. It was pinned to her cream suit at the State of the Union in February when she ripped up pages of President Donald Trump's speech.

She had also worn it before the impeachment debate. In Oct. 2019, it adorned the lapel of her powder blue jacket at the House Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Rep. Adam Shiff.

Hand has also created pieces for the Naval Academy, the White House and West Point.

My passion is creating designs that honor America, she said.

Marcy de Luna is a reporter. You can follow her on Twitter @MarcydeLuna and Facebook @MarcydeLuna.
A Delhi court sent Sharjeel Imam, arrested on sedition charge last month, to one day custody of Delhi Police on Monday in a separate case related to protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) that turned violent at the New Friends Colony on 15 December.

New Delhi: A Delhi court sent Sharjeel Imam, arrested on sedition charge last month, to one day custody of Delhi Police on Monday in a separate case related to protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) that turned violent at the New Friends Colony on 15 December.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gurmohina Kaur gave the order after the police said that they want to quiz Imam after an accused in the 15 December violence case, Furkan, has alleged in his disclosure statement that he was provoked by Imam's speeches. Imam has not been booked in this case.

The court granted custody to the police after Imam was interrogated in the court for half an hour. It said Imam's custodial interrogation was necessary for proper investigation in the case.

The police had earlier told the court that Furkan was arrested on the basis of a CCTV footage which showed him carrying a container allegedly containing petrol. In its remand application, the police said that on 15 December last year, a large gathering assembled near Escort hospital at New Friend's Colony to protests against the newly amended law.

"Gathering was warned by the police to not take law in their hands but they kept raising anti-CAA slogans. The unruly mob armed with sticks started targeting the public and broke vehicles. On the identification of accused Furkan was arrested in the case, who disclosed he was provoked by the speeches given by accused Sharjeel (Imam)," it said.

The police sought permission from the court to interrogate Imam and arrest him for further investigation.

It said they need to interrogate him to identify the place where he gave the alleged provocative speeches and collect evidence regarding a larger conspiracy here.

Four people were arrested in the case on 16 December and sent to judicial custody. Furkan was arrested later.

Imam, who came into the limelight during the ongoing protests at Shaheen Bagh here against the CAA and the National Register of Citizens, was arrested from Bihar's Jehanabad on 28 January in a separate case for allegedly making inflammatory speeches at the Jamia Millia Islamia University and in Aligarh.

A case had been registered against him on sedition and other charges on 26 January in this regard.

Protestors had torched four public buses and two police vehicles as they clashed with police in New Friends' Colony near Jamia Millia Islamia during the demonstration against the CAA on 15 December, leaving nearly 60 people including students, cops and fire fighters injured.

The police used batons and teargas shells to disperse the violent mob. They entered the Jamia university campus, saying that rioters had taken shelter there. However, the Jamia students had denied that they were involved in the violence and had alleged police brutality.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) Chinmoy Biswal had said groups of people, who were coming from the Jamia side, gathered near New Friends' Colony and blocked the road. The protesters, around 1,500, did not pay heed to the police appeals to clear the area.

The protest was being held against the contentious law which seeks to provide citizenship to non-Muslims religious minorities from three neighbouring countries who arrived in India to escape religious persecution before 2015.
The yellow metal traded lower amid profit booking on February 17 as investors closely monitor the impact of China's coronavirus on global economy.

The February gold contracts fell 0.19 percent or Rs 76 to Rs 40,907 per 10 gram on the MCX at 09:37 hours.

It touched an intraday high of Rs 40,907 and low of Rs 40,851 in morning trade.

However, silver futures gained 0.30 percent or Rs 138 to Rs 46,365 per kg after hitting an intraday high of Rs 46,390 and low of Rs 46,308 per kg.

In the international market, gold futures declined 0.05 percent to $1,585.50 per troy ounce while silver futures traded at $17.825 an ounce, up 0.51 percent.

"The downside in the bullion was limited as investors anticipate Jerome Powell & Christine Lagarde to provide stimulus due to fears of slowing global growth. Nationally, the virus has infected over 70,000 people and killed more than 1,700. The jump in new cases puts extra pressure on the Chinese government to treat thousands of patients, many of whom are in mass quarantine centres or in isolation facilities," Jigar Trivedi, Fundamental Research Analyst - Commodities at Anand Rathi Share and Stock Brokers said.

Find Latest Gold Price Here

Last week gold prices had gained around 1 percent and silver also closed on a positive note both in international as well as domestic markets.

Despite strength in dollar index both the precious metals gained amid fear of coronavirus and weaker than expected US consumer spending and industrial production data.

"At MCX, if gold prices sustain above Rs 40,770 per 10 gram, could extend rally towards Rs 41,100-41,330, while Rs 40,500 act as a major support for gold," Manoj Kumar Jain of IndiaNivesh.

"If silver prices sustain above Rs 46,000 per kg, then could extend rally towards Rs 46,500-46,750, while Rs 45,850 act as a major support for silver," he added.

Both the precious metals breached crucial resistance of $1,584 and $17.70 per troy ounce respectively.

"We expect both the precious metals remain volatile this week and buy on deep strategy will work as fear of coronavirus persist and expectations of slower global growth in the year 2020," said Manoj Kumar Jain.

"If gold prices sustain above $1,584, could extend rally towards $1,592-1,600 levels, while $1,572 act as a major support for gold. If silver prices sustain above $17.70, could extend rally towards $17.84-18 per troy ounce, while $17.55 act as a major support for silver," he added.

FOMC and EBC minutes will be out this week, hence traders might take cues from the same for further confirmation.

"The safe-haven buying has emerged in both the greenback and the yellow metal too. If we look at Comex gold closely, $1,545 to $1,590 is a consolidation zone and we believe this may continue for the next couple of weeks too with a positive undertone. Once $1,590 is broken with strong volume support it may unleash an unprecedented force in the gold market. Gold's consolidation in recent weeks is not yet over, but everything points to a break above the $1,590 mark by spring," Jigar Trivedi said.
Reggae/dancehall star Buju Banton alongside his enigmatic 10-piece Shiloh Band performed his first concert in Africa following his release from prison on the Valentines day aftermath of Saturday 15th February, 2020 at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), Nairobi Kenya. And what legendary night of destiny it was!

A mammoth crowd turned out to watch Buju Banton aka Gargamel live again (and for the second time in Africa but first time since he was released from prison) after such a long period and of deprivement and a long walk to see him reach the motherland.

After much anticipation,speculation and two time postponement of his show, Bujus first performance since being released from federal prison in the U.S. could not have been held in a more fitting location. The KICC, an iconic symbol of Kenya and the one piece that no picture says this is Kenya if it does not have KICC in the background.

The opening acts for the night were a mixture of veteran reggae deejays and MCs. DJs Kace, Double Trouble, Juan, Selector Technix and ZJ Heno with reggae crooner Lavosti and Fyah Mummah Jahmby Koikai making her first major live appearance since released from hospital, alongsize DJ Xclusive and Teargas The Entertainer turned in a rousing performance just before Buju took the stage at a few minutes to 1am. Every one of the supporting acts rose to the occasion, performing as if they knew this was one of those 'where were you' moments in history.

First came in members of his band, 'Til Shiloh' and the excitement and anticipation peaked. His stage production team ensuring everything is seamless. Emerging from his backstage tent wearing dark shades, a goldchain, black t-shirt with matching back shoes, dressed in greyish ankara suit with matching sunflower patterns (designed by Kenya's fashion designer, Lookslike Avido) Buju was drowned by a sea of phone lights with crowds of concertgoers straining for a glimpse of the perfect picture and video.

"How are you Africa?" Buju kicked off with 'Mama Africa,' sprinkling candid remarks of his hopes for the motherland. Destiny kicks in to hear his strong voice once again, proud and tall, jumping, raising his hand to the crowd draws such strong emotions in us.

The crowd is excited and in unison lifts their hands back to him. Once again the crowd rises to its feet. Jumping up and down we sing along to It's Not An Easy Road, before he breaks it down; "Greetings Nairobi," his thunderous voice echoes, "It is my first time here and we just want to share this reggae music with you."

Our voices rise again as we join him in Hills And Valleys and Lord Give I Strength, during which the saxophonist and guitarist who had towered to the front pave way for the percussionist with an interlude on a huge djembe drum. Buju is dancing as he takes turn to hit the djembe.

His production team planned this concert so perfectly and that shines throughout the stage. "Dancehall is diverse," he reckons and the ever-blazing dancehall medleys from the star hit another peak. Cuts like Championresonate with the younger energetic generation of listeners.

'I do not know the party you like Nairobi, but what I like is a lively party," Buju addresses the audience, ''Nairobi are you here to party?"

With that address comes in the powerful discography with Batty Rider. After touching a few more dancehall classics, Mighty Dread is an invitation to be uplifted as rasta. Switching with percussionist who pulls forward with the djembe and Buju jumps back at his spot playing the percussion. The upliftment continues with Better Muss Come.

Tying his long dreadlocks round his head in a crown like fashion, Buju does not let the overdose simmer down, quickly jumping into Cry No More and I wanna Be Loved, "We want to play something for the ladies. We have to learn to love and appreciate the African woman truly!" The ladies segment crescend builds further with Browning and Black Woman.

Pull Up The Vibes is such a joy to behold. His dreadlocks fall from his head even as he had earlier tried to tie them behind his head as knot and sometimes round his neck as a scarf. His message to Africa is clear, "Preserve and love each other. The battle is ahead."

The catalogue of Steppa, Trust, Mr. Nine, No Respect, God Of My Salvation and Driver prove his legendary status. As the evening builds on, Buju invited out a special guest, Uganda's Bobi Wine who share with Buju a warm embrace before breaking down into revolutionary music. They tap into the magic of what music can do to create change.

The night is one for the books as staring at Buju who is dripping with sweat. He left everything on that stage because that stage needed that energy and vibration, it needed that spiritual awakening and mystical communication.

A few minutes past 3am, Banton and the Shiloh Band exited the stage and the audience gave a mighty roar of applause. Continuing from Banton and the band's vibe, London's best kept secret, the SilverStar Sound deejays, keeps the party going till morning.

Buju Banton's concert will go down as a milestone in Kenya for the mighty musical genre of reggae. Surely the strong and steady lion spirit we experienced from Banton on February 15th has given all reggae musicians and reggae lovers alike in the 254 a second wind for the genre they deeply love. While watching Banton on stage, the audience experienced that his deeper message was to unify Africans in the motherland and in the diaspora. Without a doubt, Kenyans will be hoping Gargamel returns back to the motherland sooner than later. Love and blessings from the 254.

BY Embukane Libosso

Photos: Sourced On Twitter

Buju Banton - Image Credits - Nrg Radio

Buju Banton Concert - Image Credits - Boniface Mwangi

Buju Banton Concert - Image Credits - Dj Niche 254

Buju Banton Concert - Image Credits - Dj Niche Kenya

Buju Banton Concert - Image Credits - Mwalimu Rachel

Buju Banton Concert - Image Credits - Nrg Radio 7

Buju Banton Concert - Image Credits - Nrg Radio 2

Buju Banton Concert - Image Credits - Nrg Radio 3

Buju Banton Concert - Image Credits - Nrg Radio 4

Buju Banton Concert - Image Credits - Nrg Radio 5

Buju Banton Concert - Image Credits - Nrg Radio 6

Buju Banton Concert - Image Credits - Nrg Radio 8

Buju Banton Concert - Image Credits - Nrg Radio 10

Buju Banton Concert - Image Credits - Nrg Radio

Buju Banton Concert - Image Credits - Proovan 1

Buju Banton Concert - Image Credits - Proovan 2

Buju Banton Concert Sound Check - Image Credits - Nrg Radio 2

Buju Banton Concert Sound Check - Image Credits - Nrg Radio

Buju In Kenya - Kelvin Rono Image Credits
Kennedy Osei, son of rich Ghanaian businessman Kwame Osei Despite, got married over the weekend to the love of his life, Tracy Osei.

Accra was virtually brought to a standstill as a result of their wedding ceremony.

They paraded some of the most powerful cars on earth on the streets of Accra as part of the ceremony.

The new couple said 'I do' at a white wedding held at the Faith Presbyterian Church at Shiashie in Accra after an extravagant traditional wedding on Thursday.

The wedding comes as one of the most expensive ones Accra has seen following the display of affluence.

It got everyone  especially those on social media  talking about the sheer display of wealth.

Amidst the display were the parading of luxury cars, including Tesla, Rolls Royces, G Wagons, Ferrari and expensive designer clothes.

The wedding was followed by a reception at the Kempinski Gold Coast Hotel in Accra, where some of Africas most celebrated musician performed.

Among them were Amakye Dede, Dbanj, Kidi, Sista Afia and Diana Antwi-Hamilton.

---Daily Guide
Danang targets suffer blow with declining visitors

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Danangs city leaders often gather with the business community at the Spring Seminar to share difficulties and respond to business questions. However, this year, the event was replaced by a series of meetings regarding the coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic. While the health sector is trying its utmost to prevent the disease, the citys tourism industry is facing a sharp reduction in revenue.

During the Lunar New Year festivities, Danang welcomed about 355,000 visitors, an increase of 2 per cent over the same period. However, the number of stays since has decreased by up to 20 per cent.

Huynh Duc Tho, Chairman of Danang Peoples Committee said, The disease is raging and tourism is declining, and so our GDP growth target of 10 per cent on-year is at stake.

Truong Thi Hong Hanh, director of Danang Department of Tourism, said that foreign tourists in the city were mainly South Korean and Chinese, of which South Korean citizens accounted for more than half of the total international visitors to Danang.

However, representatives of travel companies and tourism business units specialising in transporting South Korean tourists to Danang have said that, over the past week especially, the number of tourists from South Korea heading to Danang and other localities in Central Vietnam is continuously declining.

Many travel agencies have booked hotels but tourists afraid of disease have cancelled their tours mid-way, while travel agents still had to pay for the rooms. The number of Chinese tourists coming to Danang has traditionally been high, while a lot of wayward information on social networks saying that Danang was suffering from the epidemic have caused hesitation among South Korean tourists to visit the city.

Kim Teamin, representative of Omega Tours, specialising in bringing South Korean tourists to Danang, said, Our business has suffered a lot of damage because of sudden cancellations but we still have to pay. We propose that the city intervenes to share difficulties, reduce costs, or not charge for rooms when guests cancel the tour.

Cao Tri Dung, chairman of the Danang Tourism Association said, The unit has sent a written request to the Vietnam Tourism Association, and to the government and relevant ministries for official notification of the epidemic situation disease in Vietnam.

The Vietnam Tourism Association is set to organise a seminar with the participation of the largest tourism business applications in the country to collect comments and propose solutions to overcome difficulties in the period of preventing and combating respiratory infections.

We will be the channel to settle issues, continued Dung. The association works with service providers including airlines, hotels, and restaurants to quickly implement stimulus packages and very attractive policies to stimulate the source of visitors back to Danang. We must minimise losses and quickly restore the South Korean guest market, as this is the largest market for Danang.

Facing an epidemic that negatively affects the tourism industry and may freeze real estate, Tho of Danang Peoples Committee has asked the local Department of Tourism to urgently search for other tourism markets in order to limit the influence from the Chinese market to the citys tourism industry as well as to contribute to achieving growth targets. In addition, Tho has directed the department to soon issue a notice to tour operators and relevant agencies in order to provide clear information about prevention and control of COVID-19 in Danang, to help serve not only Chinese and South Korean tourists, but those from neighbouring nations such as Singapore and Malaysia.

Many have shared that Danangs tourism industry needs to turn the health crisis into an opportunity to continue expanding more new quality markets.

According to Hanh of Danang Department of Tourism, by May there should be operation of a new route connecting Danang with New Delhi in India, with the frequency of five flights per week by Vietjet. In the immediate future moves like these help explore the market, then long-term plans to exploit potential markets can be formulated, Hanh added.
New Delhi, Feb 17 : The Authentication Solutions Providers' Association (ASPA) has urged the government to eliminate illicit tobacco trade as only 10 per cent of tobacco consumption in the county constitutes legal cigarettes.

Illicit tobacco trade included chewing tobacco, bidi and gutkha, it said.

"The legal cigarettes' share in tobacco consumption in India has declined from 21 per cent in 1981-82 to 10 per cent in 2016-17. During the same period, the overall tobacco consumption increased 33 per cent. This drop in legal cigarette revealed the shift to illegal cigarette," it said.

Titled 'Report for Nation - Confronting illicit tobacco trade in India for economic & development', the APSA advisory report said illicit trade siphons tax revenues and hurts the authorities' capability to provide good governance. It also reduces allocation of resources for socio-economic development, particularly in low-income nations that rely on consumption taxes.

According to experts, the yearly loss of income from tobacco taxation globally was $40-50 billion, that's about 600 billion sticks or 10 per cent of consumption.

Stating that all tobacco products are harmful to human health, even if produced and marketed legally, the APSA said illicit tobacco harmed people in additional ways.

It's estimated that the illegal market reduces average cigarette prices by 4 per cent and is accountable for about 2 per cent higher cigarette consumption.

Nakul Pasricha, ASPA President, said, "Illicit trade in tobacco and tobacco-based products is a global problem, leading governments to join public health agencies in calling for stronger measures to combat it. Implementation of tax stamps has been one of the most effective measure." In Bangladesh, illegal cigarette trade was reduced from 20 per cent in 2000 to 1.2 per cent in 2009, and in Turkey tobacco tax revenue rose 31.5 per cent within the first year of its implementation, even though tax rates remained the same.

In India, according to reports, usage of tax stamps has minimised the tragedies due to spurious liquor and increased the excise revenue collection by 15-20 per cent. It could generate similar results for the tobacco industry, Pasricha said.
Help India!

By Nazish Hussain, TwoCircles.net

Ranchi (Jharkhand): Aisa kya hoga hai ki aaplog sadak par nikal gayee hai? (What has gone so bad that you are you taking to streets), Tara Bua asks her employer Shagufta Yasmeen.

Support TwoCircles



Tara, a middle-aged housemaid at Shafugtas home in Ranchi is oblivious about the ongoing protests across India against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). For a working-class woman like Tara, disputes or conflicts among neighbours is nothing new. However, for her, Muslim women from every locality leading protests and raising slogans are completely new. She could see these women were not seasoned leaders but as ordinary as her employer.

On hearing Taras naive question Shagufta picks up a smart example to explain why she has been protesting. Indicating to the recently passed CAA, mother of four children Shagufta tells, For a woman, her children and her home are the most important possession. If she senses any danger to them then she will do anything to ensure their safety.

By bringing in this act, the state has put both her children and her home in danger, which is why, as she puts it, large numbers of women have decided to join the protests against the CAA.

The CAA, pushed through by the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was passed in Indian Parliament in December last year. The contentious act makes it easier for Hindu, Jain, Sikh, Parsi, Christian and Buddhist persecuted migrants from neighbouring Muslim majority Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to get Indian citizenship. However, it does not include Muslim migrants for naturalization in India.

Large scale protests against the CAA and National Register of Citizens (NRC) broke out across the country following security forces brutal crackdown on students of Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) on January 16 when the students tried to hold protest march near their campuses.

Drawing her inspiration from the sit-in protest at Delhis Shaheen Bagh, Shagufta, along with a few others, have successfully organised a similar sit-in protest against the CAA at Kadru Bagh in Ranchi.

Shagufta would closely follow every thing unfolding at Shaheen Bagh and get insights about the sit-in protest from her cousin and friends in Delhi.

As she hoped to organise a sit-in protest at her city, Shagufta took a tour to Delhi. She visited Shaheen Bagh and Bundel Bagh in Nawada to better understand the nature of the protest and what goes into organising them.

As she was a frequent participant at protest rallies in Ranchi, it did not take her long to find like-minded people. Soon she had a group of women working with her disseminating information about CAA and NRC, and persuading people to attend sit-in protesst. However, she had to face reluctance and scepticism initially but after attending to their queries and apprehensions I would get their confidence and support, Shagufta said expressing her accomplishment.

It all started in Ranchi on January 19, 2020, when Hum Bharat Ke Log (We the People of India)- a coordination committee- called for a sit-in protest near Haj House Kadru. As Shagufta was already trying to organise a Shaheen Bagh-like protest, she joined it as soon as she came to know about it.

In a way, it is heartening to see women who have never set their foot outside the traditionally limited spaces of their dwellings are coming out and speaking their mind in these protests, rejoiced Shagufta with the fact that women from Muslim community are leading the protests.

She further added, People from different districts and even from far-flung villages joined the protests. They joined the sit-in protest and listened to speakers. In the evening, at the time of leaving the protest site they hugged and wept.

Narrating about how people are being self-motivated in participating in the protest she said that one woman couldnt leave the protest site, she stayed back. Later on, she went back to her place and got a bus full of women to join the sit-in protest against CAA.

Since the day the sit-it protest began at Kadru, the number of women protestors has only grown. According to Shagufta whosoever attends the protest they tend to bring in other women and speak out their concerns to the protesters.

On the stage at the protest site speakers raised crucial issues and critiqued the governments recent policies. Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Indu Nazia accused the PM of failing to deliver on his promises of acche din (good days).

Nazia who lost her business due to demonetisation criticises the BJP government on several grounds. Calling out BJPs tall claims of saving Muslim women through Triple Talaq law (an act which criminalises instant divorce by Muslim men) a farce Nazia terms the CAA against the Constitution and an anti-Muslim law.

She says as if losing her business wasnt enough, she now finds herself at the risk of losing her citizenship, her home, her family. Since she got to know about the sit-in protest by women in Ranchi, she too decided to join the protest. She has been regular at the protest site delivering daily speeches and reading out her poems.

Social Media, Autonomy and Protests

20-year-old Shabana is up in arms along with a group of young women, mostly of her age, against the police brutality at Jamia University in Delhi on February 10. The group of young women, consisting of first-time protesters, coordinates using WhatsApp to organise for their February 11 protest rally.

I want to contribute to the protests in whatever capacity I can. I have been following the protests happening in the city, where I have met many other girls and have formed a group now; we share information and updates.

The young women coordinate over messaging applications and plan what would be their slogans during the protest rally at a meeting point decided by them over a messaging application. In the meantime, one of them raises a concern -if something goes wrong in the protest. However, to boost her courage, another pitches in and says we are doing nothing wrong. Boys, bystanders all join us in protests.

Cutting into this conversation two other girls argue that sit-in protests might not be enough to make the government repeal the discriminatory CAA. Afreen who is a regular protester indicating to take the protest to the streets says, Are we going to sit here forever? I dont see this working anymore.

The group continues their dialectics. Their discussions continue on various online platforms. Social media and messaging applications have been instrumental in connecting first-time protesters thus bringing them to the forefront at the protest sites.
India will send medical supplies on board a special relief plane to China's Wuhan city, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus, this week and bring back Indians as well as citizens from all neighbouring countries who are still stuck there on the return flight, the Indian Embassy said on Monday.

Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri said that subject to capacity, the special flight to Wuhan can take nationals from "all our neighbouring countries", besides Indians.

"Subject to capacity limitations and space availability on the incoming aircraft, #India is also willing to facilitate nationals from all our neighbours boarding it on its return journey to #NewDelhi. Those interested are requested to contact @EOIBeijing," Misri tweeted.

China is grappling to contain the deadly disease as the death toll climbed to 1,770 after 105 more people died, mostly in the worst-hit Hubei province, officials said on Monday.

Of the new deaths, 100 were from Hubei, three in Henan, and two in Guangdong.

The Indian Embassy also announced that the Indian government will be sending a consignment of medical supplies on board a relief flight to Wuhan later this week to aid and assist China in its efforts against the COVID-19 epidemic.

On its return, the flight will have some limited capacity to take on board Indian nationals wishing to return to India from Wuhan/Hubei Province, it said, asking the Indian nationals to get in touch with it.

Indian officials said they are in touch with the Chinese authorities to grant necessary permissions to the flight to land and take the stranded Indians.

India operated two special Air India flights on February 1 and 2 and airlifted 647 Indian nationals, mostly students, and seven Maldivian nationals.

Many Indian nationals currently in Wuhan/Hubei Province and wishing to return to India have already been in touch with @EOIBeijing in the past two weeks, a tweet by the Indian Embassy said.

We urge all Indian nationals from Wuhan/Hubei Province who intend to avail this flight for India and have not yet contacted @EOIBeijing, to urgently call our hotlines +8618610952903 and +8618612083629 or send email to helpdesk.beijing@mea.gov.in before 1900 hours today (17 February 2020), it said.

Indian officials said there are still 80 to 100 Indians still stuck in the worst-hit Wuhan and other areas of Hubei province and many of them have been making desperate pleas to the Indian government to airlift them.

This includes 10 Indians who could not board the two special flights due to high body temperatures. They were expected to make it in the third flight as they reported to have recovered.

Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh have airlifted their nationals, while 800 to 1000 Pakistanis are still held in Hubei.

Those who are held up in the province were being taken care of by Chinese authorities with regular supplies for food and other essential materials.

The Indian officials said the operation to earlier airlift two batches of Indians was a logistical nightmare as both Wuhan and Hubai were locked down with a ban on public and private transport.

On Sunday, Misri said in a video message that India will do everything within its means to assist the people of China to combat the deadly coronavirus outbreak and would soon send a consignment of medical supplies.

Earlier, India lifted the ban and cleared some of the medical equipment ordered by the Chinese importers to meet the requirements.

China said it needed medical masks, gloves and suits especially for the medical staff attending the virus-infected patients.

Masks also have become scarce in China in view of the nationwide demand in the last three weeks.

On February 9, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote to Chinese President Xi Jinping, offering India's assistance to China to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.

Hubei and its capital Wuhan have become the epicentre of the virus and most of the fatalities in China have been reported from the province.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A scramble intensified Monday to trace passengers from a US cruise liner allowed to disembark in Cambodia despite at least one traveller later being diagnosed with the deadly coronavirus. There are fears scores of cruise goers have been scattered across the world without full health checks -- as Cambodia on Monday afternoon treated a few dozen of the passengers to bus tours around the capital Phnom Penh. Passenger Christina Kerby, whose drole tweets as the Westerdam was bounced across ports drew widespread attention, admitted she "was surprised" to be allowed on a tour of the Cambodian capital before being given the complete all-clear from the virus. "I have young kids back home (in the US) and wouldn't want to risk infecting them or anyone around me if I am carrying the virus," she told AFP. The Westerdam was at sea for two weeks during which it was barred from Japan, Guam, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand over fears it could be carrying the virus, which originated in China and has killed nearly 1,800 people. On Thursday Cambodia, a staunch ally of Beijing, allowed the ship to dock at Sihanoukville. It was met by the kingdom's bombastic premier, who hugged disembarking passengers as he swiftly latched on to the Westerdam's PR potential for a nation more often in the spotlight for human rights abuses. His stance won applause from US President Donald Trump. But three days later one Westerdam passenger, an 83-year-old American, was stopped on arrival in Malaysia and later diagnosed with the coronavirus. On Monday Malaysia said over 130 other passengers who also took the flight with the sick American women left for the US, Europe and Australia and Hong Kong. Thailand, a flight hub already used by scores of the Westerdam passengers, on Monday mulled a ban on transit by cruise goers, as the region played catch up to the risks posed by the boat. "Passengers on ship are at risk and travel by airplane will cause risk to other passengers," health minister Anutin Charnvirakul said Monday. Cruise operator Holland America is working with national health authorities "to investigate and follow up with individuals who may have come in contact with the guest", chief medical officier Dr Grant Tarling said late Sunday. - 'Harsh reality' - Yet health risks appeared secondary to authorities in Cambodia, a poor country with a threadbare medical system. On Monday afternoon, passengers waiting for onward flights were gifted the bus tour of Phnom Penh. Photos in government-aligned media showed them smiling, giving thumbs ups and none with a mask on. "There were tons of media lining the street" Kerby said, adding she "was not expecting such a showing". Another 233 passengers and 747 crew remain on the Westerdam, which is still docked at Sihanoukville. Authorities have been allowing them to leave the vessel in groups based on their flight bookings but those on board told AFP they are now not permitted to disembark. A Sihanoukville spokesman said Monday health samples are being collected from all onboard the Westerdam "in order to be clear", adding that passengers will not go off-ship until the tests are completed. China's foreign minister Wang Yi will meet Southeast Asian counterparts in late Laos this week to discuss the unprecedented health crisis, which has battered manufacturing and tourism across the region and led to an array of travel restrictions In China more than 70,000 people have been infected with the coronavirus while about 900 infections have been reported in other countries. Passengers who disembarked from the Westerdam cruise ship in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, were given a bus tour of Phnom Penh while waiting for onward flights -- and before being given a complete all-clear from the new coronavirus The Westerdam cruise ship remains docked at Cambodia's southern coastal town of Sihanoukville, with almost 1,000 passengers and crew still aboard, after others were allowed to disembark
live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

Godrej Properties has taken a 10.76 hectares plot on lease in Delhis Ashok Vihar area from the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) in a deal said to be valued at Rs 1,359 crore, top RLDA sources told Moneycontrol.

Godrej Properties has emerged the highest bidder for the Rail Land Development Authoritys (RLDA) land parcel in North Delhis Ashok Vihar area. The selected bidder has offered an upfront lease premium of Rs 1,359 crore for leasehold development rights spanning across 99 years," Ved Prakash Dudeja, Vice Chairman  RLDA, told Moneycontrol.

The Ashok Vihar land parcel held by RLDA is spread across 10.76 hectares and has a development potential of 2.66 million square feet, he said.

The residential development envisaged shall stand out to be one of the most modern integrated residential project of Delhi-NCR. The selected developer partner Godrej intends to make it as a smart and healthy living place, catering to demand of mid and premium segment housing, he said.

Railway Land Development Authority (RLDA), the nodal authority under the Ministry of Railway is entrusted with the task of monetisation surplus land parcels spread across 43,000 hectares at a pan country level, including prime locations in metro cities. The envisaged development in these land parcels ranges from a residential township, mixed land use to Grade A commercial projects.

RLDA had last year decided to monetise two of its land parcels spread across 10.76 hectares located in North Delhis Ashok Vihar area.

The bids for the two land parcels measuring 10.76 hectares (approximately 26.58 acres)  the western side measuring 7.87 hectares and the eastern side measuring 2.89 hectares  were opened this year. The reserve price of the land was Rs 1,280 crore, and the lease period was 99 years, RLDA sources had told Moneycontrol last year.

As much of 80 percent of the land can be utilised for residential development, and 10 percent can support commercial retail and 10 percent community facilities, they had said.

Commenting on the deal, Pirojsha Godrej, Executive Chairman, Godrej Properties said, We believe this project in central Delhi is one of the most exciting projects in our development portfolio and will contribute significantly to the growth of our business in NCR. We will seek to ensure a landmark project that delivers an outstanding lifestyle for its residents."

The development format chosen by RLDA is the Upfront Lease Premium model. Under this model, the commercial consideration of land premium is to be paid to RLDA in eight installments over seven years, with a two-year extension option.

Approval plans may take six to eight months, with construction beginning by the middle of next year, he had said, adding consortium participation would be allowed.

A long term lease of 99 years would be given to the developer entity or the successful bidder. The commercial consideration of land premium is to be paid to RLDA over eight installments over seven years with the option of two more years of extension. The reserve price for lease premium on land area of 1,07,620 sq m with effective FSI of 2.30 is Rs 1280 crore, RLDA had said.

The entire land parcel, of which the existing land use is residential, can support 2.66 million sq ft built-up area.

The 10.76hectare land parcel is surrounded by green spaces on three sides. It is located close to the Netaji Subhas Place and Pitampura metro stations.

This is expected to be an integrated residential development. RLDA has applied for NOC for felling trees at Ashok Vihar site from Forest Department of the Government of NCT of Delhi.

Further, Northern Railway has identified land parcels at some locations in Delhi region for compensatory tree plantation, he had said.

Besides mid-segment housing, the developer entity will have to construct 135 Type I/II railway quarters. the additional space has been reserved measuring 0.52 hectares adjoining RITES colony and Type III railway quarters have also been earmarked.

The additional floor area of minimum 400 sq m, or at the rate 0.6 percent of permissible FAR, shall be allowed to cater to community needs such as community, recreational hall, creche, library, reading room, senior citizen recreation room, club, and society office.

RLDA is also in the process of preparing a detailed project report (DPR) for projects in Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Bangalore for the development of various railway stations.

In Mumbai, we are redeveloping railway colonies. We have land parcels in Tamil Nadu & Hyderabad or PAN India, Dudeja had said, adding all these are located in prime locations.

vandana.ramnani@nw18.com
The Council of Europes Secretary General Marija Pejcinovic Buric spoke of concerns about ongoing political developments in Armenia when she met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in Munich at the weekend.

The meeting focused on the Armenian governments judicial reforms and, in particular, its controversial decision to hold a referendum on replacing most members of the countrys Constitutional Court.

In his opening remarks at the meeting publicized by his press office, Pashinian again accused the court of maintaining close ties to the former Armenian leadership.

We are in a very, very careful process of demining our democracy, our judiciary, and I am very glad to have this opportunity to give you some information about the current processes because recently we decided to have a referendum connected with the Constitutional Court, he said.

Of course, from the Council of Europe side we watch very carefully what is going on, responded Pejcinovic Buric. There are some concerns and I would like to hear from your side how you see this process developing.

For us, it is very important that obligations and standards are followed as we have other bodies that will be involved in work with Armenia within the judiciary and the Constitutional Court, she added in English.

According to a statement by his office, Pashinian then spoke in detail about the circumstances of the referendum slated for April 5. Pejcinovic Buric expressed the Council of Europes full support for reforms, including in the judicial field, taking place in Armenia, said the statement. It did not elaborate on the concerns mentioned by the head of Europes leading human rights organization.

The Council of Europe issued no statements on the meeting held on the sidelines of the annual Munich Security Conference.

Armenians are due to vote on April 5 on draft constitutional amendments that would end the powers of seven of the nine Constitutional Court judges installed by the countrys former governments.

Pashinian has repeatedly accused the judges -- and chief justice Hrayr Tovmasian in particular -- of impeding his efforts to make the Armenian judiciary truly independent. Critics claim that he is seeking to gain control over the countrys highest court.

Opposition lawmakers have denounced the amendments drafted by Pashinians My Step bloc as unconstitutional. They also say that the Armenian authorities should have consulted with legal experts from the Council of Europes Venice Commission before putting the proposed changes on the referendum.

Earlier this month, the Armenia co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) urged the authorities to submit the changes to the Venice Commission for examination as soon as possible. A senior Armenian lawmaker countered that Yerevan is under no legal obligation to seek such judgment.
Overall, around 72,000 people are infected all over the world

As of February 17, the total number of infected with Chinese coronavirus (Covid-2019) amounts to 71,710: 1,775 of them died and 11,175 successfully recovered. This was reported by the press service of Ukraines Ministry of Health.

The Ministry noted that there were no cases of infection recorded in Ukraine.

It was also reported that 349 cases of Covid-2019 virus infection had been detected on a Diamond Princess cruise ship, quarantined at the Japanese port of Yokohama. Two of them involve Ukrainian citizens, who are currently hospitalized in Japan.

As we reported earlier, Ukrainian passenger aircraft will take Ukrainian and Argentinian citizens aboard on February 18; it is supposed to deliver them from China's Hubei province to Kyiv on the day after that. The information was provided by Argentina's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"The government of Ukraine informed our embassy in Kyiv about the readiness to provide a place on an aircraft for Argentinian citizens who stay in Wuhan; this country prepared a flight that is to depart on February 18 and plans to return to Kyiv on the next day," the message reads.
Gold & Wood is a luxury glasses brand that has some famous faces adorned by its spectacles, including Sylvester Stallone and Snoop Dog.

Gold & Wood is a brand of wooden glasses frames, which handmakes its glasses in precious wood or buffalo-horn. The brand's headquarters is an hour's north of Luxembourg City. Launched in 1995, Gold & Wood has since become a pioneer in wooden glasses frames.

Wood sheets are cut and then plated with different colours and textures before being carefully polished and varnished. These frames come to life through the expert hands of some 20 employees, with some combining wood with titanium or stainless steel.

Maurice Leonard, the brand's founder, explains how the employees get to their level of expertise. First of all, they must have technical, mechanical, or electromechanical aptitudes. Finishing and polishing tasks are trained on the job. It usually takes six months to train an employee. As Daniel Filieux explains, you have to know how to position the branch in order to correctly polish it. Filieux is 57 years old and has spent 22 years with Gold & Wood.

He is a cabinet maker by trade and has taught his colleagues some of the minutious work required into crafting glasses. His colleagues have also come from completely different backgrounds, one of whom was trained as a hairdresser.

 AFP 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.

Prices exceeding 10,000 a pair!

Employees need to be well-versed in versatility, rigour and precision to create the glasses. The finished items start at 500 and some can cost more than 10,000, the latter being models set with diamonds. Leonard admits that the brand will never compete with other large brands, claiming the wooden glasses are certainly a niche.

The entrepreneur also wishes to highlight the Luxembourgish identity of the products, describing it as having both a 'French kiss' and German rigour. Ranging from noble veneers to frames adorned with hand-painted silk, Leonard highlights his commitment to working with local suppliers. Nevertheless, the origins of the products remain further afield. Notable examples in the range include a tanganika wood, an amber wood originating from equatorial Africa, as well as the bolivar and speckled maple of Northern America and European walnut.

For the past twenty years, Gold & Wood has also offered a buffalo horn range, as buffalo horn is a particular interest for certain markets. As Leonard puts it, 'it is very chic, it's luxurious, and each product is unique because of the different veins, drawing, and colours of the horn. You could never reproduce an identical match.'

Hollywood fans

The firm had a sales turnover of 4 million last year thanks to distributing the frames in Europe and North American, the latter representing almost 40% of Gold & Wood's market. The clientele of the glasses brand features some famous faces, such as actor Sylvester Stallone, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and rapper Snoop Dog.

Luxembourg's craftsmanship boom

Crafts weave their web in Luxembourg, offering a number of jobs - more than large multinationals, banks and other international institutions do, despite the latter being the stereotype of the Grand Duchy. To date, there are 7,303 small and medium-sized enterprises of a craftsmanship nature. According to the Chamber of Skilled Trades and Crafts, this figure has skyrocketed by 80% since the start of the century.

Trade and crafts have become the largest employer in the country, representing one out of five jobs - a figure twice the amount of the financial sector.
Imagine if American health policy were established by the consensus of health economists. What would the system look like? A survey of nearly 200 Ph.D. health economists working in the United States provides some clues.

The survey, presented at the American Society of Health Economists conference in Washington last summer, was conducted by the health economists John Cawley of Cornell University, Michael Morrisey of Texas A&M and Kosali Simon of Indiana University.

Obamacare would stay

Whether the Affordable Care Act should be repealed has been one of the highest-profile health policy issues ever since its passage in 2010. Health economists are clear on this: They strongly reject repeal, with 89 percent opposing the idea.

Health economists also overwhelmingly (81 percent agreement) said the A.C.A.s individual mandate  in which people paid a fine if they chose not to be insured  was essential for its success. Without it, they said, the people who sign up would disproportionately be sicker, causing insurance to become ever more expensive. This phenomenon, also known as adverse selection, could collapse the market.
The visceral, retributive reactions to Mr. Madoffs petition, including from liberals who claim to want to end mass incarceration, reveal the obstacles to transformational criminal justice reform. The truth is, there is only a small number of entirely sympathetic people in prisons who could be released without any scruples by the public or affront to their victims. Those incarcerated for violent offenses compose a vast majority of our prison population, in spite of a false narrative that most people are in there for nonviolent drug offenses. The pain and harm experienced by their victims is real, and thats also true for Mr. Madoffs victims. But criminal justice policy cannot be constructed in response to our feelings about individual, high-profile cases  the so-called worst of the worst.

This worst of the worst argument, for example, has long undergirded the death penalty, which still stands in 30 states despite its racial and class biases and other flaws that have led hundreds of innocent people to death row. It is also part of why the Democratic presidential candidates, with the exception of Bernie Sanders, dont support the enfranchisement of those in prison. But creating a separate category for Mr. Madoff, sex offenders or those others in the criminal justice system will not help end mass incarceration. There will always be another high-profile case that can impede the implementation of more humane policies.

Those on the left who press for criminal justice reform emphasize empathy in their attempts to reframe the conversation about people who have committed crimes. Conservatives use the word redemption. These words carry a profound responsibility: What do they mean for sympathetic and unsympathetic prisoners? There are 200,000 people over the age of 55 incarcerated in the United States. The question of compassionate release for Mr. Madoff affects not only him but these others and their victims as well.

Mr. Madoff lost both his sons while incarcerated (one died of cancer) and was unable to attend their funerals; is a social pariah, almost universally condemned; and has spent 11 years in federal prison. This is not to say he deserves sympathy, but he has been punished. In Norway, where Anders Breivik was sentenced to 21 years in prison for a horrific mass murder, 11 years would be considered harsh enough. Our American punitiveness has distorted our sense of what is an adequate sentence for serious offenses.

When considering compassionate release, we also have to ask: Has the person been rehabilitated? Does the punishment serve legitimate penological objectives (like deterrence and public safety) other than retribution? (Something to consider, for instance: The number of Ponzi schemes prosecuted went up, not down after Mr. Madoffs incarceration.)
You have permission to edit this article.

Edit Close
Sir Elton John said he was deeply upset and sorry (Matt Crossick/PA)

Elton John is seen on a jumbotron, as he reacts after prematurely ending his show, at the Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand February 16, 2020 in this screen grab obtained from a social media video. Sarah Parsons/via REUTERS

Sir Elton John has said he was deeply upset and sorry for cutting short a concert in New Zealand after being diagnosed with walking pneumonia.

The music star, 72, was performing at Aucklands Mount Smart Stadium on Sunday when he lost his voice and broke down in tears on stage.

In footage shared by fans on social media, Sir Elton is seen crying as he is escorted from the stage while thousands of concert-goers give him a standing ovation.

Sir Elton posted on Instagram a short while later: I want to thank everyone who attended tonights gig in Auckland.

I was diagnosed with walking pneumonia earlier today, but I was determined to give you the best show humanly possible.

I played and sang my heart out, until my voice could sing no more.

Im disappointed, deeply upset and sorry. I gave it all I had.

Thank-you so much for your extraordinary support and all the love you showed me during tonights performance. I am eternally grateful. Love, Elton xx.

Expand Close Elton John is seen on a jumbotron, as he reacts after prematurely ending his show, at the Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand February 16, 2020 in this screen grab obtained from a social media video. Sarah Parsons/via REUTERS / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Elton John is seen on a jumbotron, as he reacts after prematurely ending his show, at the Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand February 16, 2020 in this screen grab obtained from a social media video. Sarah Parsons/via REUTERS

He shared a picture of himself accompanied on the stage by a member of the crew.

According to one fan on social media, Sir Elton had told the audience earlier in the show: My voice has completely gone, Im so sorry.

Video of the Day

He was tended to by a medic for around five minutes earlier in the set and continued to play before he was forced to stop completely.

Following his departure from the stage, one fan tweeted: Sir Elton John  you gave it everything you had  so sad you had to finish your concert in Auckland an hour early after your voice gave out.

Hope you feel better soon.

Lesley Warwick, from Auckland, who attended Sir Eltons concert, told the PA news agency: I was so sad for Sir Elton  the show was fantastic and he gave it everything he had.

Before his first song he forewarned the audience that he had been diagnosed with walking pneumonia earlier in the day but he was going to give it his best shot to get through the show.

Kiwis are a very understanding and compassionate lot  he was given a standing ovation as he left the stage. Dont Go Breaking My Heart played and the audience sang the lyrics as he left.

Sir Elton is due to perform two more concerts in Auckland on Tuesday and Thursday as part of his last ever tour, Farewell Yellow Brick Road.

According to the American Lung Association, walking pneumonia is a non-medical term for a mild case of pneumonia.

Generally called atypical pneumonia, it can be caused by bacteria or viruses and symptoms, including a cough, fever, chest pain, mild chills and a headache, are similar to that of a bad cold.

Symptoms are usually mild enough for a sufferer to be able to continue their daily activities.

Sir Eltons Auckland show came less than a week after he won an Oscar along with his long-time writing partner Bernie Taupin for best original song for their Rocketman track (Im Gonna) Love Me Again.
Latest News Sydney property prices might not drop yet, as planning problems persist NSW planning approvals have fallen off a cliff since October, showing that the supply crisis might yet continue

The key trends for property investment in 2022 analysed The key trends for property investment in 2022 analysed, with rentvesting and borderless investing likely to surge

Pepper Moneys Australian and New Zealand CEO Mario Rehayem has announced plans to shave his head on 12 March as part of his quest to raise money for the Leukaemia Foundation.

He's currently just $3,000 away from his $10,000 goal, with around two weeks to go.

Im committed to shaving my hair because we need to find a cure for blood cancer. I dont know of anyone that hasnt been impacted by this disease in some way, said Rehayem.

According to the foundation, a $56 donation helps provide financial assistance for a family in distress when treatment makes it impossible to work, an $80 gift covers one night of emergency patient accommodation for a family who must urgently relocate for treatment, and $145 enables the work of a researcher for a day  helping to move things along towards the next breakthrough.

If youd like to contribute, you can donate here.

Im keen to raise as much money as possible  not only in Australia, but through my global networks, as its a global issue we are tackling, said Rehayem.

I am very appreciative of the fact that so many people have already donated to the cause, including friends from the USA and Puerto Rico.

To provide an additional incentive and make things interesting, he has said that whoever pledges the most money gets to take the first shave.

Currently, the non-bank heads good friend James Symond, Aussie CEO, is first in line to shave his head with his donation of $500.

Id love to see someone top that, said Rehayem.
EDWARDSVILLE  Two city committees discussed banning the use, possession, distribution or delivery of kratom during Tuesday meetings.

While not illegal statewide, several area municipalities have already banned it  Jerseyville, Alton, Glen Carbon, Maryville and Wood River, as have Indiana, Wisconsin and Arkansas.

Kratom, also known as Mitragyna Speciosa, is a tropical evergreen tree in the coffee family that is native to Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Papua New Guinea, where it has been used in traditional medicines since at least the 19th Century.

Police Chief Jay Keeven came to the public safety committee to amend kratom to the illegal substances under the citys existing bath salts ordinance, which has been on the books for 10 to 15 years ago.

What were finding now is kratom creates an opium-like high, Keeven said. Its like an opioid-drug high.

He said typically quick-marts or smoke shops sell kratom, much like bath salts.

Alderwoman Janet Stack noted that there have been no reports of injuries or deaths due to Kratom but then she noted the same was said for vaping until recently.

Resident Dylan Jerrell, who attended the meeting, said he knows people who use kratom, including himself.

Its not like bath salts; its not some synthetic high, he said. One guy used it to curb the craving for heroin; its actually very beneficial. A friend of mine Ive known since high school has cerebral palsy and he uses it to treat the chronic pain in his muscles.

Jerrell denied kratom gets anyone the kind of high that leads to impairment. He described a strong disinformation campaign designed to make people think kratom is similar to bath salts.

He said there have been no kratom overdoses and overdoses on record have occurred from other substances and kratom coincidentally happens to be in those peoples systems.

Keeven said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns people not to use kratom. They are concerned that kratom affects the same opioid brain receptors as morphine and appears to have priorities that expose users to risk of addiction, abuse and dependence.

The committee voted to move the item to the administrative and community service (ACS) committee for first reading, which gives public safety committee members time to research the topic. ACS voted unanimously for the ban, sending the ordinance on to the full city council for first reading.

Police Lt. Mike Lybarger said he worked narcotics in the early 2000s and he remembers receiving intelligence briefings on kratom, but it never reached the Midwest.

Its finally here in our community; its sold at a couple of shops in town, he said. It simulates an opiate and a stimulant. Therere arguments made that it can help with opiate withdrawal. I sit on a partnership for drug-free communities and I go to meetings at the hospital, which is staffed by medical personnel and Ive never heard the word kratom brought up.

Lybarger said FDA and the Mayo Clinic recommend against using it. The side effects far outweigh the benefits of anything this will do. The danger is we dont know the dangers, Lybarger said.

City Attorney Jeff Berkbigler said kratom is not regulated.

People ingest it, thinking its safe but there might be stuff other than kratom added to it, he said. Lybarger mentioned reading about a study involving kratom that was tainted with salmonella.

Berkbigler said the city is trying to get ahead of the state, which will probably eventually prohibit kratom. In other action, the public safety committee approved the following items:

 An ordinance prohibiting parking at all times on both sides of Cass Avenue east of North Jefferson Avenue

 An ordinance approving a four-way stop at the intersection of Whiston Lane and Buckland Court in the Hawthorne Hills subdivision

The next city council meeting is Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. in city hall, located at 118 Hillsboro Ave.

Reach reporter Charles Bolinger at (618) 659-5735
The Supreme Court is likely to pronounce its verdict on Monday regarding the permanent commissioning of women officers in the Indian Army, possible paving the way for allowing women in combat roles

The Supreme Court is likely to pronounce its verdict on Monday regarding the permanent commissioning of women officers in the Indian Army, possibly paving the way for allowing women in combat roles, Bar and Bench reported.

In response to a note filed by the Centre on the issue, petitioners gave written submissions before the Supreme Court and said that the arguments made on the physical capabilities of women, the composition of the rank and file and psychological realities "need to be rejected with the contempt that it deserves".

The statement was made in response to a plea, filed by some women officers, that was being heard by a Supreme Court bench comprising Justices DY Chandrachud and Ajay Rastogi. The petition filed concerned the denial of Permanent Commission (PC) to women officers in the armed forces. The Centre has filed appeals against a 2010 judgment of the Delhi High Court. The judgment had held that Short Service Commissioned women officers of the Air Force and the Army, who had applied for Permanent Commission (PC) but were only given extension commensurate to the SSC level, are entitled to PC at par with male Short Service Commissioned officers with all consequential benefits.

Women may not be suited for commanding roles in the Indian Army as male troops are not prepared to accept women officers, the Central government told the Supreme Court earlier this month. During the hearing, the Centre said that male and female officers could not be treated equally when it came to postings because of their different physical standards, apart from greater family demands, the perils of women being taken as prisoners of war and reservations about over-exposing women officers to combat situations.

The composition of rank and file being male, and predominantly drawn from rural background, with prevailing societal norms, the troops are not yet mentally schooled to accept women officers in command, the Centre, being represented by senior advocate R Balasubramanian and lawyer Neela Gokhale, said in an argument note.

Lawyers Meenakshi Lekhi and Aishwarya Bhatti, who were representing the women officers, cited the example of Minty Agarwal who, as flight controller, had guided Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman when he shot down a Pakistani F-16. They also brought to the Benchs notice the example of Mitali Madhumita, who was awarded the Sena Medal for her bravery when terrorists attacked the Indian embassy in Kabul, adding that women had displayed exceptional bravery in adverse situations.

In response, the Centre said that armed forces require the commitment of the entire family of the personnel, given the frequent transfers. It is a greater challenge for women officers to meet these hazards of service owing to prolonged absence during pregnancy, motherhood and domestic obligations towards their children and families, especially when both husband and wife happen to be service officers, the Centre said.

Balasubramanian said that future wars are likely to be short, intense and lethal and the induction of women officers into Indian Army, hitherto a male bastion, needs to be viewed in the perspective of changed battlefield environment.

Inherent physiological differences between men and women preclude equal physical performance resulting in lower physical standards and hence the physical capacity of women officers remains a challenge for command of units, the Centre held.

The Bench said, A change of mindset is required with changing times. You need to give them opportunity and they will serve to the best of their capabilities.

Changing recruitment rules for women in defence

While the court spoke of a need to change mindsets, it is apparent that the Centre has generally been less than enthusiastic about inducting women in the armed forces, especially in commanding roles. A historic decision to allow women in field operations came as late as 2015, when then defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that women will be inducted into the Military Police. The recruitment process started only in 2019, with India Today reporting that the plan was to recruit women in roles ranging from probing crime cases to assisting the army in field operations wherever required.

In fact, the recruitment of women in the army even in non-combat roles did not begin till 1992, when it was opened up on Short Service Commission basis. The tenure was initially five years and was later extended to 14 years in 2004.

In 2010, a Delhi High Court bench of Justices SK Kaul and Mool Chand Garg granted relief to women Short Commissioned Officers in Army and the Air Force, observing that denial of PC to such women officers when their male counterparts were given PC would be a "gross denial of Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution".

The Centre had agreed to grant permanent commission to women officers who had served up to 14 years in the Army but not above that. Additionally, women officers with over 14 years of service would be allowed to serve till 20 years without permanent commission and those with over 20 years of service would be released with pensionary benefits. Since they were on short service, they were given limited exposure and training of 24 weeks, as opposed to 49 weeks for men.

Before 2016, women made up just 2.5 percent of India's armed forces, working in mainly non-combat roles, according to a BBC report. As of June 2019, women were inducted in all branches of the Indian Air Force, with terms and conditions for women officers being issued from time to time. As of January 2019, 3.89 percent of the army personnel comprised women, while 6.7 percent of the navy and 13.28 percent of the air force personnel respectively were women as of June 2019, Minister of Defence Shripad Naik told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

However, several prominent voices have raised concerns about involving women in combat roles in recent times as well. For instance, former army chief General Bipin Rawat had told News18 that women are not ready for combat roles because they have the responsibility of raising kids. He also said that a woman officer would feel uncomfortable at the frontline and accuse jawans of peeping as she changes clothes.

He also highlighted the issue of maternity leave and said the Army would not be able to give her leave if she is the commanding officer as she cant leave her unit for six months, but said objecting to the leave could create a ruckus.

Women in combat roles

Not withstanding the conservative approach of the army, the navy and air force broke the gender barrier and recruited female fighter pilots.

In May last year, Flight Lieutenant Bhawana Kanth became the first woman pilot of the Indian Air Force to qualify to undertake combat missions on a fighter jet. She completed her operational syllabus for carrying out combat missions on Mig-21 Bison aircraft during day time, India Today reported.

She is from the first batch of woman fighter pilots of the IAF. Three women - Kanth, Avani Chaturvedi and Mohana Singh - were commissioned as flying officers in July 2016, less than a year after the government decided to open combat roles for women on an experimental basis.

The first woman pilot of the Indian Navy Lieutenant Shivangi joined Naval operations in December last year, PTI had reported. "Shivangi will graduate to become the first female pilot of Indian Navy," a source told the agency. She was inducted into the Indian Navy as SSC (Pilot) as part of 27 NOC course in Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala and got formally commissioned by Vice Admiral AK Chawla, in June 2018.
ANN ARBOR, MI -- A breakfast and lunch restaurant similar to Detroits Hudson Cafe opened in downtown Ann Arbor.

The Jagged Fork, 414 S. Main St., carries a nearly identical menu to the popular Detroit brunch cafe, which is like a sister restaurant to the new Ann Arbor eatery, owner Mike Kemsley said. Tom Teknos, who opened Hudson Cafe, partnered with Kemsley after he designed and built the Detroit restaurant nine years ago, Kemsley said.

The Jagged Fork opened on Friday, Jan. 24, and is already facing 45-minute waits on weekends.

Ann Arbor is a real big city base. You dont really need to leave Ann Arbor to do anything. We know if you do it right here, restaurants succeed, said Kemsley, who owns four other Jagged Fork restaurants in Grosse Pointe Farms, which was the first to open in 2014; Rochester; West Bloomfield and Lathrup Village.

Each restaurant has its own interior concept. Some are warm and cozy while others are more contemporary. Ann Arbors is adorned in exposed brick, copper-colored containers, glass jars, whimsical lights, and what Kemsley calls a city-urban vibe.

I went for a Manhattan Beach meets Manhattan, New York, Kemsley said.

The restaurant also received its liquor license but is holding off on serving alcohol for a few weeks to ensure operations are running smoothly, Kemsley said. In the meantime, he suggests trying his favorite menu items, such as the breakfast burger, tamales, very berry stuffed French toast and beef hash skillet.

Kemsley entered the food industry when he and his business partners and childhood best friends Stavros and Francesco Adamopoulos, grew up working at Hercules Coney Island in Farmington Hills, a family-owned restaurant that was sold to Leos Coney Island, he said. He took a hiatus to work in real estate but he couldnt stay away.

I always tried getting away from it, but I always came back to it, he said.

The 2,800-square-foot space, which previously housed Marnee Thai Restaurant, seats between 76 and 80 guests. Kemsley has 10 employees in Ann Arbor but is regularly hiring.

Despite having a more metro Detroit-based presence, Kemsley isnt worried because The Jagged Fork is, what he calls, a destination spot.

On the other side of town, the name kind of does it for us. Out here, were the new kid on the block. It just goes back to the consistency, the attention to detail and making sure we love what we do. Our food Is great. We take the time to make sure that everyone is taken care of, Kemsley said.

The restaurant is open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day.
Apple has been steadily improving its Maps service, adding more data and features to the app on all its platforms. After rolling out the revamped Apple Maps in the US, it has now started rolling out transit data to some European cities.

Users in some European cities such as Barcelona, Spain, have started noticing that Apple Maps now shows transit information, along with new features and information about more points of interest and locations. It shouldnt be long for the company before it adds more information and layers such as buses, trains, and trams in those regions.

The Cupertino-based firm has started to portray Apple Maps as a viable alternative to Google Maps, which is still the best maps and navigation solution in most parts of the world. Although Google still has more information, Apple Maps is making it attractive to users via a more easy-to-use and pleasing UI design. After Europe, the company plans to expand improved Apple Maps throughout the world.

Apple Maps launch alongside iOS 6 was a disaster, but the company has improved a lot over the years. Apart from features like Collections, Flyover Tours, Look Around and indoor layouts for malls, Apple is also bringing forth the privacy aspect of Apple Maps. It is a part of the companys larger marketing push towards the user privacy aspect of all its platforms.

https://twitter.com/guillamet/status/1229107793036107777

Over the past few years, the company added important features such as turn-by-turn navigation and 3D models of important buildings and landmarks. If you live in Europe, let us know if youve started seeing transit information in the Apple Maps app on your iPad, iPhone, or macOS.
PHILADELPHIA

Feb. 14, 2020

Denver, Colorado

Philadelphia

www.TherapServices.net

/PRNewswire/ -- Wrapping up a successful national conference in, Therap looks ahead to its 2021 National Conference, with the City of Brotherly Love taking a turn as host. The annual event is a platform for system administrators, management and professionals from across the nation to share ideas and experiences, and learn from each other and expertise on implementation and processes they've developed, or are drafting to incorporate their data and accountability into the disability software's electronic health record.This year's conference featured keynote speeches on EVV, Quality and System Change, Charting the LifeCourse, Automated Data Acquisition and the Therap's role in the Internet of Things. The three-day event welcomed more than 600 attendees, Therap users and administrators from across the US. More than 200 sessions were offered including workshops on EVV, data-driven outcomes, mobile apps, business intelligence dashboard reporting, program writing, community-based employment documentation and setting up system tools like pharmacy interface and electronic claims billing.Theconference includes tracts for agencies just starting to use the system, including specific module walk-throughs and user experiences, to advanced sessions and state-specific topics covering the scope of registrants' needs. Sessions on specific topics like dashboard reports/business intelligence, moving to community-based employment, tools for children's services providers, aging providers and agencies with early intervention and early childhood programs will be on the schedule. For state departments and representatives from state agencies, sessions on comprehensive incident management, eligibility and determination, referral, waiver management and waiting lists are covered. Breakout discussions on specific state regulations and the latest trends in the intellectual and developmental disability and broader LTSS field feature heavily in sessions, from Value-Based Reimbursement (VBR), managed care, health exchanges and interoperability to EVV and care coordination. The event is an opportunity for agency leaders to gather invaluable practical knowledge, processes and networking for their organizations.Learn more at

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/therap-announces-national-conference-in-philadelphia-pennsylvania-february-2-4-2021-301005414.html



SOURCE Therap Services




Kyly Clarke (nee Boldy) has come a long way since her days working as a Paramatta grid-girl.

Since marrying her now-estranged husband Michael Clarke in 2012, Kyly has slowly transformed herself into one of Australia's most glamorous WAGs.

Perhaps the most obvious change over the years has been Kyly's locks, which have become much shorter and darker over the years.

Kyly Clarke's WAG-formation revealed: How the former grid girl transformed herself into a glamorous socialite after marrying Michael. Pictured left is Kyly posing in a bikini in 2002 when she appeared on Temptation Island, right at the premiere of Chicago in 2019

On her wedding day, the glamazon sported a head of brunette locks, but these days she dyes her mane a light chestnut hue. When she first came to prominence she was even blonde.

She has also traded her beloved hair extensions for a shorter, more sophisticated look over the years.

Kyly's famous face also appears to have changed in the years since she tied the knot with Michael.

The way they were: Kyly announced her split from her now estranged husband Michael last week. The pair are pictured on their wedding day in 2012

Left: Kyly strikes a pose in a gold bikini at the Inside Sport magazine's model search in Sydney in 2002. Right: Kyly at Crown for the Allan Border Medal in Melbourne in 2016

Past: In 2002, then blonde and still called Kyly Boldy, the WAG appeared on reality show Temptation Island (pictured)

Refined: Perhaps the most obvious change over the years has been Kyly's hair locks, which have become much shorter over the years. Pictured left in 2012, right in 2018

Fans have noticed the mother-of-one has developed a plumper-looking pout in recent times, while her complexion appears to have become more taut, subtle and line-free.

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia in January 2019, leading plastic surgeon Dr Hayworth claimed that Kyly appears to have invested in non-surgical lip fillers in recent years.

'Certain photographs of Kyly suggest she may have had her lips plumped with a filler of sort, most likely a hyaluronic acid such as Juvederm.'

What's her secret? Fans have noticed the mother-of-one has developed a plumper-looking pout in recent times, while her complexion appears to have become more taut, subtle and line-free. Pictured left in 2013, right in 2019

In 2018, another cosmetic expert, Dr Meaghan Heckenberg, told Woman's Day she 'suspect[ed] Kyly had some jaw slimming with Botox'.

However, in 2016, Kyly claimed that her smooth complexion was all down to her Maltese background.

'I am lucky with my skin. My mum is Maltese and she has really, really good skin,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

Tweaks? In 2018, another cosmetic expert, Dr Meaghan Heckenberg, told Woman's Day she 'suspect[ed] Kyly had some jaw slimming with Botox'. Pictured left in 2011, right in 2019

'I do get a few compliments on my skin, which is really lovely, but I have to give all of the credit to my mum because it's the Maltese skin. We all have lines and wrinkles, but she looks 10 years younger!'

Kyly has also developed a more muscular physique over the years.

The fitness-loving socialite often takes to social media to document herself performing a variety of different high intensity workouts and weight-lifting routines.

Fit and fabulous! Kyly has also developed a more muscular physique over the years

'Exploring all types of fitness means that you are giving your body the best chance of 'bettering your best' and finding the 'best version of you',' she wrote on Instagram last April.

Kyly and and Australian cricketer Michael announced their split on Wednesday night last week, despite parting ways in September last year.

The Clarkes, who were high-school sweethearts, have said the 'amicable' decision to separate was 'the best course' for their four-year-old daughter Kelsey Lee.

Working it! The fitness-loving socialite often takes to social media to document herself performing a variety of different high intensity workouts and weight-lifting routines
Telangana Chief Minister K



Chandrasekhar Rao turned 66 on Monday with a host of leaders including President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi extending their wishes.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, chief ministers of different states also greeted the TRS supremo, who spearheaded the movement for a separate state.

Kovind and Naidu greeted Rao over telephone and wished him a happy, healthy and long life, a release from the Chief Minister's office said.

"Greetings to Telangana CM KCR Garu on his birthday. Praying for his long and healthy life," Modi wrote on Twitter.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and former AP CM and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu also wished him on Twitter, the release said adding Rao thanked all of them.

Telangana ministers and other leaders of ruling TRS celebrated the occasion by taking up a plantation drive, as per a request made by Rao's son and Working President of TRS, K T Rama Rao.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India's poultry industry has lost 13 billion rupees ($182 million) in three weeks after speculation on social media that chickens are a cause of the spread of coronavirus, denting demand for chicken and nearly halving prices, say industry officials.

Millions of small poultry farmers have been hit by a sudden drop in sales. Soybean and corn producers are also being affected with prices of both the commodities used in animal feed have falling up to 8% in the last three weeks.

While the disease has infected more than 70,000 people in China and killed at least 1,770 there, only three confirmed cases have been reported in India. However, rumours that coronavirus can be transmitted through chickens have appeared on the WhatsApp message platform in India prompting the authorities to issue a statement last week that eating chicken is safe.

The western state of Maharashtra has called for the police to act against anyone spreading the rumours.

"Many people stopped eating chicken believing rumours spread on WhatsApp," said Uddhav Ahire, chairman of Anand Agro Group, a poultry company based in the western city of Nashik. "Chicken prices have crashed due to an abrupt drop in demand."

Broiler chicken prices have fallen to 35 rupees a kg from around 70 rupees in January, he said, adding that farmers are still losing money as broiler prices are hovering at 40 rupees per kg.

Clarifications issued by the authorities appear to have allayed some fears, with sales starting to gradually improve, said Prasanna Pedgaonkar, general manager of poultry-focused Venky's, which has seen its shares slide more than 20% in the last month.

"Sales are not fully recovered. It will take time to go back to normal level," he said, adding that small and medium farmers are struggling to absorb losses.

Vasant Kumar Shetty, president of the Poultry Breeders Welfare Association in Maharashtra, said: "The industry has been losing 120 million rupees per day due to lower prices."

Soybean and corn demand has seen a sharp decline in the last three weeks as poultry farmers cut down animal feed purchases.

Small farmers are responding to lower prices by reducing production and this could lead to lower supplies and higher prices from April onwards, industry officials said.

Also Read: Bajaj Finance replaces SBI as one of top-10 most-valued companies on BSE

Also Read: AGR issue: Vodafone Idea tells SC it can only pay Rs 2,500 crore; gets no relief

Also Read: India's GST collections below potential, says IMF
FREDERICTONNew Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs says criticism of his governments decision to close emergency rooms overnight in six community hospitals exposed serious gaps in the plan and led him to reverse course.

I cant in good conscience move forward without addressing the concerns and fears that have been brought to light, Higgs told a news conference Monday.

Higgs issued a statement Sunday night saying he was cancelling the closures, scheduled to take effect next month, in order to allow for community consultations.

Since it was announced Feb. 11, the plan has drawn criticism from the affected communities, health professionals, opposition parties and members of his own minority Tory government.

The reforms were intended to address a shortage in human resources and an aging population. They would have seen an increase in mental health services in the communities and the conversion of acute care beds to long-term care for patients awaiting nursing homes.

Higgs said the changes raised many questions that could not be answered.

I didnt expect that there would be so many gaps in the rollout plan, and gaps that people legitimately identified that could not be legitimately answered, he said. Higgs said he was even told that the provincial ambulance service had not been consulted.

As a result, he met Sunday with representatives of the two regional health authorities. Their recommendation was not to proceed at this time, Higgs said.

He said he will visit the communities with the affected departments  Sussex, Sackville, Ste-Anne-de-Kent, Caraquet, Grand Falls and Perth-Andover  in April and May to get the views of leaders, health-care providers and citizens.

The government is also planning a summit in June aimed at ensuring the provinces health-care system is sustainable and reliable. This must also address the challenges faced in the rural communities, Higgs said. The recommendations from the summit are to be released in the fall.

The decision to halt the changes follows deputy premier Robert Gauvins announcement Friday that he was quitting in protest over the reforms to sit as an Independent. It left the minority government in the precarious position of facing a confidence vote or possibly calling an early election.

Higgs said his reversal had turned down the temperature on the prospect of an early election, but he would be discussing the situation with his caucus later this week.

Gauvins departure left the Tories and Liberals tied with 20 seats in the legislature. The Green party and the Peoples Alliance each have three, Gauvin is the lone Independent and two seats are vacant.

Green Leader David Coon said Higgs had done the right thing by cancelling the changes, adding that he looked forward to making recommendations for health reform.

Last week, both the Greens and Liberals said they were prepared to defeat the government on a confidence motion, but on Monday Coon toned down his position. These changes are on the shelf right now, he said, so until we see how that works out, it changes the water on the beans.

But Liberal Leader Kevin Vickers expressed his continued opposition to the government.

Premier Higgs has lost credibility and the trust of New Brunswickers over the health-care cuts fiasco. These cuts and further cuts to health care are still very much part of the Blaine Higgs agenda, Vickers wrote on Twitter. His surprise from the controversy over the last week shows just how out of touch he is with New Brunswickers.

Kris Austin, leader of the Peoples Alliance, which had also opposed the closures, welcomed the governments reversal. He said the necessary support systems, including advance care paramedics, were not in place to provide for care in the overnight hours.

Dr. Chris Goodyear, president of the New Brunswick Medical Society, said there were too many unanswered questions for the closures to go ahead.

We observed since the announcement that many physicians and citizens expressed passionate and thoughtful views about the implications of these changes, he said in a statement. Many agreed that our health system must be modernized to reflect the population needs of our province and that stakeholders must have a voice prior to decisions being made.

Read more about:
 Flash

More than 500 high-level international decision-makers gathered over the weekend in Munich to discuss the world's current crises and future security challenges at the annual Munich Security Conference (MSC).



This year's agenda was centered on the theme "Westlessness", referring to the loss of the common standing of what it means to be part of the West, according to a security report published ahead of the conference.

As many participants pointed out, the so-called "Westlessness" is essentially a lack of collective action to address the most urgent threats to international security as nations dwell on narrowly-defined national interests and retreat from dialogue and cooperation.

The MSC discussions highlight the fact that multilateralism is not out-of-date and even more needed at a time when the international community face many common security challenges.

'Soul-searching' of the West

The majority of speakers at this year's conference sounded the alarm for the current global security environment. In his opening remarks, MSC chairman Wolfgang Ischinger expressed his disappointment at the lack of collective action to address the most violent crises and most dangerous threats to international peace and security.

"It's not enough for the most powerful people in the world to shrug your shoulders and say that this is the way things are," Ischinger said, adding that "the present state of global insecurity is absolutely unacceptable."

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who delivered an opening speech this year, said that the withdrawal to concentrate on a narrowly-defined national interest prevents the nations from taking joint action and coming up with convincing answers to the issues and problems that no one can solve alone.

"The idea of international community is not outmoded," Steinmeier said, adding that "withdrawing into our national shells leads us into a dead end, into a dark age."

Like many European leaders, Steinmeier reflects on the lack of unified action on the European level to address common challenges. "Each of the major players is pursuing its own advantage even at the expense of Europe's unity."

Echoing Steinmeier, French President Emmanuel Macron, who attended the conference for the first time, called for "a European strategy", hoping to see "a Europe that can protect the basis of its sovereignty, a Europe that has more vitality, and a Europe that is enthusiastic about its future."

Macron said in a dialogue with Ischinger that Europe needs to develop their own European policy, instead of a transatlantic policy, when it comes to relations with neighbors such as the Middle East, Russia and Africa.

Gu Xuewu, professor of political science at the University of Bonn, said that discussions on "Westlessness" expose problems that currently plague the relations between the European Union and the United States.

"There is a sense of loss on the European and American influence in leading global affairs, a loss of trust, and a loss of solidarity between Europe and the United States," Gu said, noting that it is difficult for the West to formulate a unified strategy with the "America First" policy of the United States in place.

Call for upholding multilateralism

For some participants, talking about "Westlessness" may seem a little self-absorbed, as it is questionable that to which degree the West and Non-West divide is still relevant these days.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a panel discussion that the core of "Westness" is the "respect for diversity." The Western model is not the only one that matters in the world.

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said she found the theme of "Westlessness" a little insular. Multilateralism is also being practiced by Asian countries, according to Kang, who cited the example of ASEAN centrality.

At the conference, the Chinese delegation renewed their call for upholding multilateralism in the face of a complex and changing international environment.

"Strengthening global governance and international coordination is urgent right now," Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a speech on Saturday.

"We need to get rid of the division of the East and the West and go beyond the difference between the South and the North, in a bid to build a community with a shared future for mankind," Wang said.

He said that the novel coronavirus epidemic had made mankind realize that it is now an era with traditional and non-traditional security threats being interwoven. A regional issue can be transformed into a global one, and vice versa. No country can stay alone and be immune to the threats.

Wang further expounded the concept of multilateralism from the Chinese perspective. Multilateralism denies the priority of a single state and holds that all countries share the same right for development, he told the conference.

Meanwhile, the West should also discard its subconscious mentality of civilization supremacy, give up its bias and anxiety over China, and accept and welcome the development and revitalization of a country from the East with a system different from that of the West, said the Chinese top diplomat.

Success of multilateralism calls on major nations to play key roles and take major responsibilities. Therefore, big nations must shoulder responsibilities and safeguard the common interests of all countries, Wang also noted.

Major nations should strive to maintain the openness of the world, not to confront and counteract each other, and to join hands to safeguard world peace and stability, he added.

He said that China will further deepen the strategic partnership of coordination with Russia, continue to explore ways of peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation with the U.S., and will comprehensively deepen cooperation with Europe.

At this year's conference, discussions on new security challenges posed by technology, climate change and global health issues underline that need for more cooperation and coordination among nations, as well as among big companies, media and other concerned parties.
The June 2019 raid related to a series of ABC reports in 2017 called The Afghan Files, based on leaked defence documents. David William McBride, a former military lawyer, has previously admitted leaking material to the ABC that formed the basis of its reports and has been charged with a raft of criminal offences. AFP officers leave the ABC headquarters in Ultimo after the June 2019 raid. Credit:Wolter Peeters The AFP wrote to ABC reporters Dan Oakes and Sam Clarke in September 2018 and said they were suspected of criminal offences relating to the alleged receipt of information from Mr McBride. At a hearing in October, Melbourne barrister Matthew Collins, QC, for the ABC, told the Federal Court the raid was "nothing short of an intimidating attack on freedom of the press".

He said it sent a "sent a chilling message that there can be very grave consequences" for people exposing alleged wrongdoing to journalists. Loading "The warrant provided no protection at all to confidential sources," Dr Collins said. The ABC challenged the validity of the search warrant on a number of bases, including that the decision to grant it, made by a NSW Local Court registrar, was legally unreasonable. In written submissions, lawyers for the ABC said a "reasonable person" in the position of the registrar would have declined to issue the search warrant having regard to a range of factors, including "the very significant intrusion of privacy that the search warrant purported to authorise" and the "importance of the protection of sources".

The broadcaster also contended that the implied freedom of political communication in the Commonwealth Constitution served as a handbrake on the circumstances in which a warrant may be issued. Justice Abraham said the broadcaster's submission relating to the protection of sources "elevates source protection to a position which, on the current state of the law, it does not have". The protection afforded to journalists' sources was not absolute and "an informant cannot be promised or guaranteed anonymity". Justice Abraham said that while the ABC had "repeatedly stated it was not arguing for a position of immunity from investigation of offences for journalists, or for the proposition that there is a guarantee of anonymity for a confidential source", as a "matter of logic" those propositions "do underlie its arguments". The so-called "chilling effect" on the willingness of sources to come forward "would still exist" in any case, Justice Abraham said, unless the ABC was "contending for a position where no search warrant could be issued in relation to media premises (of the type and in the circumstances of this case) where there is a risk of such [confidential] information being held".

Peter Greste, spokesperson for the Alliance for Journalists' Freedom, said the decision was "a powerful reminder of the need to write the principle of press freedom into the very DNA of our legal code, so that the courts have a clear obligation to take it into account whenever they deal with these kinds of cases". "We acknowledge the important role of the security agencies in protecting national security. In seeking to enforce the narrow letter of the law, however, they have undermined the media's role in maintaining the health of our democracy, and as a result, made the entire system less transparent and less stable," Mr Greste said. Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, chair of the Senate inquiry into press freedoms, said the ruling showed our press freedom laws are broken. If the law wont protect journalists then we must have legislated safeguards to guarantee the freedom of the press and whistleblower protections. These protections must be independent of the government, she said. A government spokeswoman said: A number of Parliamentary inquiries are currently on foot in relation to freedom of the press. The Government will consider the recommendations of these inquiries.

In a joint statement, shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus and Labor spokeswoman for communications Michelle Rowland said the ruling confirmed journalists still faced the threat of prosecution and jail just for doing their job. Labor has made clear our commitment to freedom of the press and the publics right to know and we expect the government to quickly bring forward appropriate legislation to address the concerns of the Right to Know coalition [of media organisations, including the ABC and Nine]. The court heard the AFP advised the ABC months before the raid that it would seek a search warrant. In an email on January 24 last year, federal agent Ian Brumby proposed the broadcaster be given two to three weeks collate material within the terms of the warrant, which would then be collected by the AFP. Michael Rippon, a lawyer in the ABC's legal department, gave evidence in October that he had a further conversation with Mr Brumby in February last year in which the federal police agent said words to the effect of "we don't want any sensationalist headlines like 'AFP raids ABC'". The ABC declined to assist and the AFP raided the broadcaster's Sydney headquarters on June 5, a day after they executed a separate search warrant on News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst's Canberra home over an unrelated story.
Obukhiv district council asks Volodymyr Zelensky not to allow the accommodation of evacuated Ukrainians in the establishments, which are not suitable for temporarily isolation

Obukhiv district council asks President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky not to allow the accommodation of 280 Ukrainians from Chinese Wuhan (Hubei province) to quarantine in private sanatorium in Obukhiv area, Kyiv region as Obukhiv district council reported on Facebook.

On February 14, the urgent session of the council took place; the agenda include only the non-admission of the entry and spread of covid-19 coronavirus infection to the territories of settlement of Obukhiv area.

The council decided to appeal to President Volodymyr Zelensky and MP from the Servant of the People Party Oleksandr Dubinsky on the non-admission of accommodation of evacuated citizens of Ukraine from Wuhan in the establishments, which are not suitable for temporarily isolation of potentially infected people and excluded extra risks for local citizens.

Meanwhile, Ukraines Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk stated that Ukrainians evacuated from Wuhan would be accommodated in three-four places.

As we reported, the Chinese coronavirus claimed another 100 lives in Hubei province; this made the worldwide number of fatalities as big as 1,770.
A San Antonio eatery was named to Texas Monthly's list of The Best New Restaurants in Texas for 2020.

The magazine ranked the top 10 restaurants that met their criteria: the establishment must have opened between Dec. 1, 2018, and Dec. 1, 2019, and it must be the restaurants first Texas location.

Savor, the classroom laboratory at the Culinary Institute of Americas Pearl campus, earned the No. 10 spot.

Texas Monthly noted the restaurant's global menus are devised by faculty chefs and feature "dishes as diverse as pan-seared Gulf red snapper with spicy Thai red curry and tagliatelle tricked out with crispy pancetta and creme fraiche."

READ MORE: Review: Student chefs excel at Savor in the Pearl

"Given that all the players are amateurs, the quality is impressive," Patricia Sharpe writes. "The price  $39 for three courses, $46 for four, plus a la carte options  means a meal here is always a bargain."

Savor opened at 200 E. Grayson St. on Jan. 22, 2019. Express-News food critic Mike Sutter gave the student-run restaurant 1.5 stars in a May review.

A second San Antonio restaurant earned an honorable mention nod from the magazine.

Evo, the contemporary Mexican eatery from chef Arturo Fernandez, was lauded for its upscale cuisine and proper service.

"Bonus: Its quiet enough that you can actually converse while enjoying your fresh crabmeat salad cleverly wrapped in paper-thin avocado slices," Sharpe writes of the Olmos Park restaurant.

The No. 1 spot on the magazine's ranking belonged to Comedor in Austin.

Mark Dunphy is a breaking news reporter and general assignment writer. Read him on our breaking news site, MySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | mark.dunphy@express-news.net | @m_b_dunphy
In the last one month in the city, 78 residents with recent travel history to China were monitored by the health department for development of symptoms of the novel coronavirus, according to officials.

A resident, who was found to have developed similar symptoms days after returning from China, was admitted to a private hospitals isolation ward for a few days last week. However, tests were found to be negative for the virus, said officials, adding that the patient was discharged on Saturday after recovery.

Coronavirus has been identified as a highly contagious pathogen, which can cause pneumonia, along with other symptoms, such as fever, respiratory issues, etc. Experts said since symptoms are similar to many other respiratory diseases, extra screening and precaution are needed. No vaccine is currently available for the virus.

The earliest cases of coronavirus were reported around December 31 last year from Wuhan, a Chinese city having a population more than 11 million. So far, more than two dozen countries have confirmed cases of coronavirus and the total number of such cases has crossed 65,000.

The ministry of civil aviation in India had, in January, directed seven airports including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata to make arrangements for the screening of passengers arriving from China.

According to district health department officials, the residents under surveillance were screened by airport authorities after arriving in the country. However, they werent found to have any immediate symptoms. The health department has been tasked with monitoring their health for 14 days after their arrival. Health officials have been making visits to these people to get updates on their travel history and health condition. Follow-ups are being done telephonically, said Dr Ram Prakash Rai, district epidemiologist.

The district health department had, last month, asked major private hospitals in the city to create isolation wards for patients suspected to be suffering from the infection. Representatives of private hospitals said that patients with influenza-like symptoms are being screened multiple times and are being categorised on the basis of severity.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has asked people to cover their mouths and noses while sneezing, wash their hands afterwards with soap or sanitiser, and keep a distance of at least a metre from those who are sneezing and coughing.
T hree more serious stabbings at the weekend in different parts of east London have provided yet another unfortunate reminder of the terrible damage the blight of knife crime is inflicting on this city.

The victims of the latest incidents include two teenagers, one of whom is a 15-year-old boy from Clapton who is today still fighting for his life after an attack in which he is said to have been dragged off a moped and stabbed several times in a suspected gang ambush.

These details have yet to be confirmed by the police. But the crime appears to bear a dismally close resemblance to the similarly awful attack in Leyton just over a year ago in which 14-year-old Jaden Moodie was murdered after being knocked off a moped and stabbed repeatedly.

Prosecutors later told the Old Bailey trial of his attacker that the killing was a violent and frenzied attack that formed part of a shocking wave of gang crime drawing in ever-younger people.

There has been much effort by the police since to get on top of this problem, with the Met recently announcing 170 arrests during a campaign targeting habitual knife offenders and violent criminals operating around transport hubs.

Stop and search continues to be deployed frequently too, with useful results. But the fact that stabbings such as this weekends are still occurring with depressing regularity shows how much is still to be done  particularly when it comes to delivering the public health approach that the Evening Standard supports as a way of addressing underlying factors that can lead young people into crime.

In this respect, the London Mayor Sadiq Khan is one of those with most responsibility. He has recognised the merits of a public-health approach and begun to direct investment and energy into supporting work that can contribute towards achieving this effect.

A sensible announcement last week of extra funding for peer mentoring that can help children in pupil referral units is an example, but the Mayor still needs to do more and spend more of the time that he devotes to scoring political points to dealing with the knife-crime problem instead.

We also need to hear more from Home Secretary, Priti Patel, whos made much of her ambition to tackle violent crime, but so far given little detail of how she plans to achieve success, beyond promising 20,000 more police officers nationwide.

Last year was a bleak one in London, with 25 teenage homicide victims, and with knife-crime figures still running at record levels, it is time for all concerned to redouble their efforts.

Help coronavirus Brits

Their frustration is understandable after 14 days spent largely confined to their cabins and its clear that action to help them needs to be taken rapidly as the number of infections rises, with 99 extra cases today among the 3,700 passengers on board.

Leaving the Britons there longer looks increasingly likely therefore to result in their infection, whereas evacuation  either to a controlled health facility in Japan or quarantine here  should minimise this risk.
Iranian Christian convert fears execution if deported for giving wrong answers on Bible quiz

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

A 38-year-old Christian convert, who says he would face imprisonment, execution and separation from his British wife and daughter if deported to Iran, has once again applied for asylum to the U.K.s Home Office, as his appeal was earlier rejected because he wasnt able to name Judas as the betrayer of Jesus at an immigration hearing.

Reza Karkah from Bradford, who fled Iran for the U.K. in 2003, said if he's deported, Iranian authorities would punish him for his conversion to Christianity, said the Christian Legal Centre, which is supporting his case.

At an earlier immigration hearing, Karkah found it difficult to understand the 150 questions he was asked, including his favorite passage from the Bible, and identifying the betrayer of Jesus and the denomination into which he was baptized, according to The Times (of London). Unable to answer some of the questions correctly, his application was rejected as the judge was not convinced he was a real Christian.

Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, stressed, Reza Karkah is the real deal. A courageous man transformed by the gospel and the hope of the Lord Jesus Christ. At stake here is not just the life of Reza, but also his equally brave yet vulnerable wife, and their beautiful daughter.

If he is deported, his wife, Leigh Riley, would find it difficult to look after their 4-year-old daughter, Rosie, Karkah said. I am afraid that my daughter will think I have abandoned her if I was deported.

I feel weighed down and that my life is on hold. Knowing that I could be snatched off the street makes me nervous about leaving the house. We pray each time we go out that Jesus will have mercy on us. I now have a new life and a new hope. To think that this could be taken from me in a moment is horrible.

Leigh, who was born in Yorkshire, said, When I was down and out on the streets, meeting Reza changed my life. He was the first person who was kind to me. Now we are a family and I am a mother to a beautiful four-year-old daughter. I dont even want to think about what they might do to my husband if he was returned to Iran. You hear such terrible stories.

In its judgment in 2018, the Home Office said that he would not be exposed to a real act of persecution if he was deported.

Williams argued that the Home Office often fails to properly understand the nature of Christian faith or the scale of the challenges faced by Christians in Iran. Converting from Islam is illegal in Iran and punishable by death.

Karkahs initial bid for asylum was rejected in 2004, making him homeless, addicted to drugs and a petty criminal. Thats when he met Leigh. A year later, they converted to Christianity as a result of a local churchs outreach program.

After being baptized, Karkah quit drugs and is now an active member of a church. He has not committed any crime over the last five years.

The people at the soup kitchen spoke to me about Jesus Christ, the Bible and the need for salvation, Karkah recalled. They were kind and compassionate giving us access to a doctor, sleeping bags and clothing. I found hope, we both became Christians. Since then our lives have completely changed. My wife is unrecognizable from the disheveled, broken and abused woman I met in 2012.

Last year, the Home Office said it would take a second look at another Iranian Christians asylum claim after the department first denied the application, arguing that Christianity is not a peaceful religion.

The department faced international criticism for attacking Christianity as a violent religion in a letter stating their reasons for denying the Christian convert's asylum application.
The first wedding legendary events planner Bruce Russell organised was his own.

He and his husband married nine years ago, having met "the old fashioned way," Bruce jokes, on match.com. The marriage took place shortly before he set up his own wedding planning business. "But I didn't become a wedding planner because I planned my own wedding and it was wonderful," he laughs now. He looked after the ideas, did the research, he recalls now, but both of them were very involved. "I would present him with three options and he could pick the one."

Next Saturday (February 22), Bruce is in Ireland, where he and fellow wedding planner, Tara Fay, his co-host from the RTE show My Big Day: Home or Away, will host The Ultimate Wedding Retreat at Adare Manor.

The couple had almost 100 guests on their big day, which they held at a typical English manor country house they hired for 24 hours. "For us the important part was that we wanted almost to feel like they were coming to our home; it was very much that kind of day. So one fast rule we had was the only guests we invited were people that both of us knew. If somebody wanted to bring a plus one, it had to be somebody we knew. If we hadn't met them, then no. We didn't want anybody at our wedding that we didn't know."

It was his first wedding to plan, but Bruce explains that he had always been the go-to friend or family member to help when any kind of event organisation was required. "It was always kind of part of my DNA." In high school he was on the student council, always involved in organising concerts and variety shows.

French Canadian, he is originally from the east coast of Canada, born in Nova Scotia. Before moving to London 15 years ago, he moved all over Canada for his career.

Before setting up his business Bruce, who is 47, had been working in the hospitality industry for about 15 years in luxury hotels in Canada, the US and London. One day, a client he had worked with on an event said to him "I wish I'd known you years ago, you would have been brilliant to plan my wedding." It got him thinking, he recalls. "It just kind of put that in my ear, and I thought 'oh, you can actually make money from that'. So I started researching, and a few years later, I started my own business, and I've never looked back."

Bruce has now organised weddings and events all around the world. "Logistically one of the most challenging was having a bride who was based in Boston, and a groom who was based in Pakistan," he reveals. "We had to plan four days of weddings in London, for 300 people, with 90 days to do it. It was literally hundreds, and I'm not exaggerating, of emails and WhatsApp messages daily. For three months. But we pulled it off."

No one gets through a wedding without a certain amount of stress. As the planner, part of Bruce's role is to take on that stress for his clients. "Part of the role is to make the planning, and the decision-making side of things manageable for them. They're paying you to not only plan a wedding, but also to manage things, and really be in charge and save them stress."

A day's work can involve anything from sourcing 500 butterflies, in just the right shade, to release during a ceremony, to tracking down a suitable palace as a venue, but you don't get the sense that he finds his work massively stressful.

Video of the Day

"It's a way of thinking," Bruce explains. "I think logically. I think that way even in my day-to-day life. Everything to me is planning; planning for lunch, planning for dinner, planning our home, planning our holiday. There's always a structural nature to that, so for me, it's almost second nature. Where I would say the stress is from is the people management side of things." Yes, the people. Other people are the biggest cause of stress for people organising a wedding, Bruce reflects. As anyone who has planned a wedding will know, it's not just about what you want. It's about what your own mother, the mother-in-law, the difficult aunt or demanding cousin needs. Hell is other people interfering with your wedding planning. "It's always the bride being bombarded by friends or family; 'what are you doing? My friend did this. This is better'. Usually the stress is brought on by those closest to you."

Bruce is the calm in this storm.

"Whether you're dealing with the bride, the bride groom, or I guess tensions maybe with family members or in-laws, I always say I'm the neutral part in all of that, either Switzerland or the therapist in some cases. I'm the glue. And sometimes I think you need to just step back from that and take time for yourself. Recharge."

The best-case scenario is one where a client develops full trust in Bruce. Stress can arise when they have a hard time letting go, he says, adding delicately "that just makes my job more difficult. You need approval for every single thing if somebody is so involved they just can't let go. That makes things stressful."

Bruce doesn't necessarily work on big weddings; in the past he has planned a day where just two people are involved. "As long as there's a budget for me to be creative with, I don't have a set idea of how many people need to be involved."

As well as working together, Bruce and Tara, who is one of Ireland's original wedding planners, often turn to each other for advice on separate projects. "With Irish weddings the really important thing that comes up all the time is the party; they want a party," he smiles. "The flowers can be beautiful, the entertainer and the music can be chosen, but they just want to have a party. If it's one of those venues that closes at midnight, forget it. This is going to go on. It's not about the craziness, it's about the family celebration, and about having a wonderful time. That's what I love about Irish weddings, they're so personal; it's not just a show, it's really a fun time."

Tara first began wedding planning in Ireland in the late 1990s. She is married for twenty years, and has three children. She was already working in events and wedding planning when she planned her own wedding. "It slotted into a weekend that was free, essentially," she says.

During the Celtic Tiger, she says, "there was more is more," when it came to creating a wedding. "Everything that you could think of was to be thrown at a wedding," she smiles. Like Bruce, Tara identifies a break down or failure to communicate as a major cause of stress. "Not having a clear plan in place from the very beginning."

She's wary about being too prescriptive over wedding trends, but says that they do tend to follow lifestyle trends. Which means currently it's all about being authentic, being sustainable, creating an experiential event. Sounds like a huge improvement on our Celtic Tiger days.

Bruce Russell and Tara Fay lead a host of world renowned designers at The Ultimate Wedding retreat at Adare Manor, on February 22. Bruce and Tara, along with leading experts, will host demonstrations and give advice on planning your big day. The retreat will include hair and make-up demonstrations, a floral showcase, a fashion show, a styling session, photography tips, afternoon tea and a luxury goody bag. Guests staying on for the dinner and overnighting will also enjoy a cocktail reception before their meal. For more information see adaremanor.com





Bruce's tips for planning the perfect wedding day

* Set yourself a budget.

* Each make a list of what is most important for the wedding day independently, and then compare the lists. This can avoid rows at a later stage due to misunderstanding or miscommunication.

* Look around, shop around. Give yourself options. The more people you involve the more opinions you have, so if you are going to go down that route (for wedding dress shopping, tastings, etc) just make sure you can deal with it.

* Try to make decisions that are not based on emotion. When you're planning a wedding, you're making very big business decisions with your emotions, which can create very expensive mistakes. So try to look at it from a business point of view sometimes before you sign a contract.

* Taking a break is very important. Take a weekend, don't talk about it, think about it, look at a photo. Step back. It will help you think about what you're doing and the decisions you're making.
Indian officials denied a British lawmaker entry on Monday after she landed at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, according to an accompanying aide

New Delhi: Indian officials denied a British lawmaker entry on Monday after she landed at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, according to an accompanying aide.

Debbie Abrahams, a Labour Party Member of Parliament who chairs a parliamentary group focused on the disputed region of Kashmir, was unable to clear customs after her valid Indian visa was rejected, the aide, Harpreet Upal, told The Associated Press.

Abrahams and Upal arrived at the airport on an Emirates flight from Dubai at 9 am. Upal said the immigration officials did not cite any reason for denying Abrahams entry and revoking her visa, a copy of which, valid until October 2020, was shared with the AP. A spokesman for India's foreign ministry did not immediately comment.

Abrahams has been a member of Parliament since 2011 and was on a two-day personal trip to India, she said in a statement.

I tried to establish why the visa had been revoked and if I could get a visa on arrival but no one seemed to know," she said in the statement. Even the person who seemed to be in charge said he didnt know and was really sorry about what had happened. So now I am just waiting to be deported ... unless the Indian Government has a change of heart. Im prepared to let the fact that Ive been treated like a criminal go, and I hope they will let me visit my family and friends.

Abrahams has been an outspoken critic of the Indian government's move last August stripping Kashmir of its semi-autonomy and demoting it from a state to a federal territory.

Shortly after the changes to Kashmir's status were passed by India's Parliament, Abrahams wrote a letter to India's High Commissioner to the UK, saying the action betrays the trust of the people of Kashmir.

India took more than 20 foreign diplomats on a visit to Kashmir last week, the second such trip Prime Minister Narendra Modis Hindu nationalist government has organized in six months.

Access to the region remains tight, with no foreign journalists allowed.
An abortion is carried out to terminate an unwanted pregnancy . In India, an induced abortion is permitted within 20 weeks of pregnancy in cases where continuing with the pregnancy puts the life of the mother at risk, the baby is likely to be born with abnormalities that will last a lifetime, or for social causes like for a pregnancy following rape, or an unplanned pregnancy in a woman with low socio-economic status who already has other children to care for.

An abortion can be induced with the help of medications and through a surgical procedure. Oral medications are used in the first trimester (up to 49 to 63 days since the last period depending on the local laws) and include mifepristone, misoprostol and sometimes methotrexate.

Mifepristone blocks the effect of progesterone (the hormone that supports the pregnancy) on the uterus. It also stimulates the release of prostaglandins by the uterus and sensitizes the uterus to the effects of prostaglandins. Prostaglandins increase uterine contractions and soften the cervix, thereby promoting expulsion of the uterine contents.

Methotrexate interferes with cell division and interferes with the development of the placenta. Though it is usually administered intramuscularly, it can also be given orally.

Misoprostol is a prostaglandin that stimulates uterine contractions, softens the cervix and helps in the expulsion. It thus has a synergistic effect when administered with mifepristone or methotrexate.

The preferred option for abortion pills is mifepristone followed by misoprostol 36 to 48 hours later. Mifepristone is administered in a dose of 600 mg, though a lower dose of 200 mg has also been found to be effective and is often used. Misoprostol or another prostaglandin can be administered either orally as pills or can be inserted into the vagina. The intravaginal route appears to be more effective than the oral route and is also associated with lesser side effects. The combination produces a complete abortion in around 95% cases when administered within 63 days of the last period.

The combination of methotrexate with misoprostol also has a good success rate. Methotrexate is administered first followed by misoprostol a week later.

Several women prefer medical methods of abortion as compared to the surgical methods since they are more private and often less invasive. Every woman should, however, be informed of the possible adverse effects before undergoing a medical abortion. Side effects of abortion pills include the following:

Excessive and prolonged bleeding: Bleeding to expel the products of conception is normal following the intake of abortion pills. Normal bleeding following abortion pills is usually more than what occurs during a menstrual period and may last for 9 to 16 days, and sometimes even for more than 30 days. Large clots may be present in the initial period. Excessive bleeding should be suspected if the woman soaks through 2 thick sanitary pads per hour for 2 consecutive hours. Excessive and continuous bleeding may result in dizziness and shock and should therefore be treated with medications to tighten the leaking blood vessels (vasoconstrictors), saline infusion, and curettage of the inner lining of the uterus to scrape off the inner lining of the uterus. Blood transfusion may be required in rare circumstances. To prevent excessive bleeding, mifepristone should not be used for abortion in women with previous bleeding or clotting disorders, severe anemia, or those taking blood thinners.

Infections : Bacterial infections that can be serious enough to cause septic shock have been reported in patients who have taken misoprostol. The patient may complain of high fever, abdominal or pelvic pain along with other symptoms like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or weakness. Antibiotics are required for the treatment of infections.

: Bacterial infections that can be serious enough to cause septic shock have been reported in patients who have taken misoprostol. The patient may complain of high fever, abdominal or pelvic pain along with other symptoms like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or weakness. Antibiotics are required for the treatment of infections. Incomplete abortion : In some cases, some products of conception may remain in the uterus, resulting in continuous bleeding. A complete abortion can be confirmed through clinical examination, an ultrasound done one to two weeks following the intake of the medication, or the measurement of the blood levels of human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG), the level of which is high during pregnancy and falls following the abortion. A surgical procedure to completely evacuate the uterus will be required to resolve the issue. The medications methotrexate and misoprostol cause fetal malformations, and therefore, if the abortion does not take place following the oral medications, surgical abortion is a must. The absence of bleeding following the medications should prompt an immediate visit to the doctor.

: In some cases, some products of conception may remain in the uterus, resulting in continuous bleeding. A complete abortion can be confirmed through clinical examination, an ultrasound done one to two weeks following the intake of the medication, or the measurement of the blood levels of human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG), the level of which is high during pregnancy and falls following the abortion. A surgical procedure to completely evacuate the uterus will be required to resolve the issue. The absence of bleeding following the medications should prompt an immediate visit to the doctor. Pain in the abdomen: Pain in the abdomen is usually due to contractions of the uterus and is more pronounced following misoprostol as compared to mifepristone. Over-the-counter painkillers can be used to reduce the pain. Aspirin should not be used, since it is a blood thinner and can cause excessive bleeding.
Chinese Christians in the UK are experiencing racism as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, a church leader in London has reported.

Rev Kong Ching Hii, who leads the King's Cross Methodist Church (KXMC) in London, told the Methodist podcast: "In the north east, one community has stopped the Sunday worship service and also the community in Birmingham, one of the ministers was shouted at: 'you Chinese, go home' and also some of my church members face different kinds of discrimination."

He said that some students wearing face masks have received a "strange look" or "verbal abuse", while one of his church members was "chased after by a group of people asking them to return home".

The pastor said that many members of KXMC appear to be staying away from services.

"I didn't expect many changes until I arrived at the church on Sunday morning and realised that half of the community did not turn up for the Sunday worship service and last week, coupled with the thunderstorm, three-quarters of them were missing on Sunday," he said.

The church, which runs weekly services in English, Cantonese and Mandarin, has advised Chinese members of the congregation not to return to China for the timebeing in light of the outbreak. Anyone who has returned from China recently should self-quarantine for 14 days before coming to services, the advisory states.

"In view of the outbreak and spread of the new Coronavirus, designated 2019-nCoV, we need to work together and focus on the trends of the epidemic and how to take care of the health of individuals and families," it states.

It continues: "We need to take this situation very seriously and learn how to pray for the situation."

The advisory goes on to ask for prayer for the World Health Organisation (WHO), China's political leaders and everyone affected by the coronavirus.

"Pray for God's mercy to heal this earth, and let the epidemic subside soon," it says.

Other Church organisations are also asking Christians to pray.

Bishop Efraim Tendero, head of the World Evangelical Alliance, said he had been following news of the outbreak with concern and that many in the organisation's global constituency are praying for those affected, as well as an end to the crisis.

"We would like to now specifically call on churches and individual believers to take time to pray for God to intervene in this crisis and stop the virus from spreading any further," he said.

He continued: "We are saddened by the daily increasing numbers of infected people and those who lost their lives due to the virus and pray with urgent heart for a fast turn-around of the situation, but we also hold onto hope in our loving God who intervenes in visible and invisible ways in times of tragedy.

"We are thankful for a much speedier response to the current virus than what had been seen in the past; we are grateful that the vast majority of infected people are experiencing full recovery; and we pray that God's presence and his all-surpassing peace and comfort would be with those who have lost loved ones. Together with the Psalmist, we pray: 'Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him.'" (Psalm 62:5)

In addition to calling for prayer, the World Council of Churches (WCC) is urging people to make every effort to share accurate information - specifically updates from WHO - and not hearsay or rumours.

Dr Mwai Makoka, WCC programme executive for Health and Healing, warned that fake news was hampering an effective response.

"During an outbreak like this, fake news raises false alarms and false confidence alike. There has been a misinformation boom," he said.

Dr Manoj Kurian, coordinator of the WCC Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, said that individual church leaders had a responsibility to provide only accurate information to their members.

"It's important that church leaders read and depend on reliable information before they make statements and before they declare something. It's important not to depend on hearsay," he said.

"It's also very clear that we need to be in solidarity with those affected."

He added: "Pray for people affected by coronavirus, and try not to discriminate or exclude people who may be perceived as having this infection but in fact do not."

The Church of England's Mission and Public Affairs division this week published advice to parishes on practical steps to reduce the risk of infection from coronavirus.

The guidance has been made available on a dedicated web page and advises simple precautions and hygiene practices that churches can incorporate into their worship services, particularly during the celebration of the Eucharist.

The guidance advises against shaking hands during the Peace and the practice of intinction - dipping bread into the wine - during Communion.

Priests should use hand sanitiser before Holy Communion, while parishioners with symptoms should receive Communion in one kind only.

The Bishop of Carlisle, James Newcome, the Church of England's lead bishop on health issues, said: "We pray for all those affected by Coronavirus (COVID-19) here and around the world, particularly in China, and for all those caring for them.

"The virus not been declared a pandemic and at present the risk in this country is assesses as 'moderate'. However, there are, of course some practical measures churches can take.

"Much of that is simply maintaining good hygiene including, for example, priests and servers washing their hands and using alcohol-based hand-sanitiser before Holy Communion."
By Kim Bo-eun





The image provided by Hanwha General Insurance's digital non-life insurer Carrot shows a customer checking insurance premium rates on a mobile phone / Courtesy of Carrot
Travel restrictions triggered by the coronavirus outbreak in the Gulf region may pose the biggest risk to Dubais hospitality and tourism industry, analysts at ratings agency S&P Global told Reuters news agency on Monday.

All members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)  Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait  stand to suffer from the travel restrictions, but the business hub of Dubai, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), could see the biggest impact.

Virus-related travel restrictions, if not lifted as we expect, could weigh on the GCCs hospitality industry, but more so in Dubai, which received almost one million visitors from China in 2019, the S&P said.

Mohamed Damak, senior director for S&P Middle East & Africa financial institutions, said there will certainly be an impact on visitors to the region, investments and potentially commodity prices if the virus is not contained by March and travel restrictions remain. In such a scenario, the number of visitors expected to attend Expo 2020 Dubai will also drop. Dubai had hoped to attract 11 million foreign visitors for the six-month event that kicks off in October.

The coronavirus has killed more than 1,770 people and infected more than 70,548 and is yet to show convincing signs of peaking, with more than 2,048 new cases reported on Monday. There have been nine confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in the UAE. Most of the people infected have been Chinese nationals.

Jihad Azour, director of the International Monetary Funds Middle East and Central Asia Department, said that it is too early to forecast the impact of the outbreak on economic growth in the Gulf. We still need time in order to assess the magnitude of this shock and how long it takes for China to address it  we still need a few weeks to have clarity, he said.

Bankers attending a trade finance event in Dubai on Monday said the coronavirus had not yet impacted trade flows in the Gulf but that companies were beginning to assess contingency plans in case Chinese exports are limited further over the coming months.

S&P analyst Zahabia Gupta said Omans economic downside risks were higher this year because of weaker oil demand and its exposure to China. About 45 percent of Omani exports, mostly oil, go to China, making it the most exposed of the Gulf Arab states to developments in that country.

Fiscal deficits in the region will rise next year because of expected higher spending, lower oil prices and weak growth, Gupta said, adding that Saudi Arabias fiscal deficit could hit 7.4 percent of gross domestic product this year and rise to 8.1 percent in 2021.
Megan Fox and Bruce Willis will headline Midnight In The Switchgrass, a thriller casting the stars as partner agents in the FBI.

In the film, Fox teams up with a Florida State police officer (played by Emile Hirsch) for a probe amid a series of murders, according to Deadline.

The Oak Ridge, Tennessee-born beauty, 33, is coming off a busy year in which she appeared in a trio of films.

Dynamic duo: Megan Fox, 33, and Bruce Willis, 64, will headline Midnight In The Switchgrass, a thriller casting the stars as partner agents in the FBI

They included the war drama The Battle of Jangsari, the James Franco comedy Zeroville and the romantic drama Above the Shadows.

Production on the film, which has a $15 million budget, is set to commence in Puerto Rico on March 9, according to Deadline.

It's the first stint in the director's chair from Randall Emmett, a veteran producer who's also made headlines for his relationship with reality star Lala Kent of Vanderpump Rules fame; and his social media spat with his one-time business associate, 50 Cent.

Emmett took to Instagram on Sunday with a screengrab of the Deadline story, writing, 'Its happening, so grateful!'

In demand: The Oak Ridge, Tennessee-born beauty, 33, is coming off a busy year in which she appeared in a trio of films - The Battle of Jangsari, Zeroville and Above the Shadows

Calling the shots: The film marks first stint in the director's chair from Randall Emmett, 48, a veteran producer who's also made headlines for his relationship with reality star Lala Kent, 30

Proud: On his Instagram Stories, he showed an image of a brown leather Il Bisonte wallet prepared ahead of production that featured the title of his film and his credentials

'

On his Instagram Stories, he showed an image of a brown leather Il Bisonte wallet prepared ahead of production that featured the title of his film and his credentials.

On our way to Puerto Rico to prepare for pre-production,' Emmett said. 'Excited ... I got this.'

Emmett was in the headlines last April after 50 Cent, who he worked with on the show Power, called him out online over a $1 million debt, and engaged in a vicious war of words with Kent, as well.

The rapper posted screengrabs of his exchange with the producer, which caught attention after Emmett mistakenly called the rapper 'Fofty.'

Speaking on What What Happens Live last summer, the In da Club rapper said that the spelling error was just a typo and not a nickname or inside joke.

'He was speeding, going fast,' he said of Emmett's texting.
UPDATE: Oregon Democrats will slow down cap-and-trade bill, seek more Republican input

SALEM  Oregon lawmakers kicked off what promises to be a tense and potentially dramatic week in the Capitol with Senate Republicans warning their Democratic colleagues against passing a controversial cap-and-trade plan to reduce greenhouse gas pollution.

Republicans in both chambers of the Legislature have expressed their willingness to flee the Capitol and deny Democrats the two-thirds quorum necessary to conduct business. Stress and acrimony have been building in recent weeks, with political insiders predicting Republicans could walk out later this week as Senate Bill 1530 advances.

The cap-and-trade proposal, which is largely the same as a plan that Senate Republicans helped kill by boycotting the Capitol last year, is scheduled for a work session at the Joint Subcommittee On Natural Resources at 4:45 p.m. today. In the end, Senate Democrats also lacked the votes to pass the 2019 bill but this year, they are expected to muster the necessary support.

The bill was also scheduled for a possible vote at the full Joint Committee on Ways and Means at 11 a.m. Tuesday. That prompted Sen. Dallas Heard, R-Roseburg, to caution Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, against a maneuver Courtney used in 2019 to get the last cap-and-trade plan out of the budget committee: commandeering the seat of Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose, a committed opponent of the plan.

Thats called rigging the vote, Heard said during a floor speech Monday morning, during which he also acknowledged Senate rules are on Courtneys side. Its immoral, its unethical. And the people of Oregon are not going to stand for it anymore.

Heard said the bill is too contentious to be decided by the Legislature and should be referred to voters. If it were amended to allow that, Heard said he would vote yes on it.

If you do not do that, I dont understand it, Heard said, shaking his finger at Courtney. Dont rig the vote.

Early Monday afternoon, the Tuesday Ways and Means work session on the bill was canceled.

Courtney returned briefly to the Senate Monday but has been absent from most floor sessions so far as he recovers from an infection in his replacement hip.

With three weeks left in the short legislative session, the pace of bill passing is just beginning to pick up and many priorities  such as legislation to allocate hundreds of millions of dollars to child welfare programs, the state psychiatric hospital, forestry department, parole and probation, homelessness services and affordable housing  have yet to pass.

In a letter to Courtney on Monday, Senate Republican Leader Herman Baertschiger Jr. of Grants Pass appeared to anticipate criticism that his caucus would likely face if they stall or kill those other priorities by walking out to halt the climate bill.

I propose that we focus on the true intent of the short session and work on the budgets, emergencies, and fixes to other legislation, Baertschiger wrote. We need to live up to the intent of the short session that Oregonians voted for. When we have completed the intent of the short session, then we could move on to other more controversial legislation, that we may or may not come to an agreement on, but at least we would have finished the peoples business.

 Hillary Borrud | hborrud@oregonian.com | 503-294-4034 | @hborrud

Visit oregonlive.com/newsletters to get our 2020 Oregon Legislature newsletter delivered to your email inbox.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam's push to ban the sale of assault weapons has failed after members of his own party balked at the proposal.

Senators voted to shelve the bill for the year and ask the state crime commission to study the issue, an outcome that drew cheers from a committee room packed with gun advocates.

Four moderate Democrats joined Republicans in Monday's committee vote, rejecting legislation that would have prohibited the sale of certain semiautomatic firearms, including popular AR-15 style rifles, and banned the possession of magazines that hold more than 12 rounds.

The bill was a top priority for Northam, a Democrat who has campaigned heavily for a broad package of gun-control measures.

The legislation also engendered the biggest pushback from gun owners and gun-right advocates, who accused the governor and others of wanting to confiscate commonly owned guns and accessories from law-abiding gun owners.

Northam has said repeatedly he does not want to confiscate guns, but argued that banning new sales of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines would help prevent mass murders.

Virginia is the current epicenter of the country's heated debate over gun control and mass shootings.

Tens of thousands of gun-rights activists from across the country flooded the state Capitol and surrounding area in protest, some donning tactical gear and carrying military-style rifles.

Northam has been able to get much of his gun-control agenda passed this year, but struggled with the proposed assault weapon ban. Earlier proposals to ban possession of AR-15-style rifles or to require owners to register them with state police have been scrapped.

The governor had hoped a watered-down would win over enough Democratic moderates for passage.

An estimated 8 million AR-style guns have been sold since they were introduced to the public in the 1960s. The weapons are known as easy to use, easy to clean and easy to modify with a variety of scopes, stocks and rails.

Lawmakers in both the House and Senate have already advanced several other gun-control measures and should finalize passage in the coming days.

Those bills include limiting handgun purchases to once a month, universal background checks on gun purchases, allowing localities to ban guns in public buildings, parks and other areas, and a red flag bill that would allow authorities to temporarily take guns away from anyone deemed to be dangerous to themselves or others.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Makers of Kangana Ranaut starrer 'Tejas' on Monday unveiled the first look of the actor as a daring Indian Air force fighter pilot.

Kangana looks captivating as a pilot as she poses with a fighter jet in the background. Dressed in full flying gear, Kangana is holding her helmet in her hand and also sporting classic aviator sunglasses with hair tied in a bun.

The Indian Air Force was the first of the country's defence forces to induct women into combat roles in 2016. The film takes inspiration from this landmark event.

The 'Panga' actor who feels honoured to play the character of a fighter pilot stated, "Very often the sacrifices made by our brave women in uniform go unnoticed by the nation. 'Tejas' is a film where I have the honour of playing the role of one such Air Force pilot who puts country before self. I hope we instill a sense of patriotism and pride in the youth of today with this film. I am looking forward to the journey with Sarvesh and Ronnie on this one."

The flick will be bankrolled by Ronnie Screwvala under the banner RSVP. Expressing his excitement for the project Ronnie stated, "We made an army-centric/army-based film with 'Uri: The Surgical Strike'. 'Tejas' is our dedication to the brave fighter pilots of the Indian Air Force, who always put the country first. We are excited and honoured to share this brave story with viewers and hope it inspires many more women to join the Air Force."

The debutant director and writer of 'Tejas', Sarvesh Mewara said: "When your debut film has Ronnie Screwvala as the producer and Kangana Ranaut as the lead actor, going all out to chase your dreams feels worth it."

Integrity, courage, and honor are the three pillars on which the story of 'Tejas' is based. The script is crafted to make audiences feel the adrenaline rush that India's brave soldiers experience daily, without once thinking of personal gain or needs. Following one of its core themes, Tejas brings an exhilarating account of what women can achieve when given a chance.

'Tejas' is set to go on floors this summer and release will hit the theatres in April 2021.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Amazon river dolphin faces new threats because its meat is used as bait to catch a popular catfish.

The fish-like mammal is considered intelligent and friendly. The animal is known as the pink dolphin because its skin turns from gray to pink as it ages or when it gets excited.

But some wildlife activists are concerned about new threats facing the worlds largest freshwater dolphin. Brazilian fishermen hunt and kill the animals illegally to make bait for a catfish called the piracatinga.

A temporary, legal ban on fishing for piracatinga ended last month. Since then, environmentalists and researchers have called for the ban to be restarted to help save Amazon river dolphins.

One supporter of bringing the fishing ban back is biologist Vera da Silva. She has been working to protect Amazon river dolphins for the past 25 years.

Silva told Reuters news agency that she and her team catch dolphins to examine, measure and mark them. The animals are then released into the Mamiraua Sustainable Development Reserve in northern Brazil.

Such wildlife areas are established to protect land and animals in places where traditional populations live. The Mamiraua reserve covers about 11,000-square kilometers of flooded rainforest and wetlands.

We captured a dolphin mother and her calf today and saw them calling out to each other, Silva said. They have a very strong relation until the calf becomes independent after three years.

After being brought to a floating research center in the reserve, Silvas team takes blood and milk samples from the dolphins. A pregnancy usually lasts about 13 months. The mother then feeds her calf underwater for two years.

Because of this extended feeding period, females only reproduce every three to five years. Silva says this low reproduction rate increases the risk of extinction when the population of the Amazon river dolphins suffers major drops.

Legal officials in Brazils Amazonas state sought the catfish ban in 2015. At the time, they warned that as many as 2,500 dolphins were being killed each year for bait.

Currently, Amazon river dolphins can still be found in large numbers across South Americas huge Amazon and Orinoco river basins. But Silva says she fears the animals could disappear like the Yangtze river dolphin did in China in 2006, after years of overfishing and pollution.

We dont want the dolphins to become just a legend of Amazonia, she said.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Reuters reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

_______________________________________________

Words in This Story

bait  n. food used to catch fish or animals

calf  n. the young of various large animals

extinction  n. a situation in which a kind of animal no longer exists

basin  n. a large or small depression in the surface of land or the ocean floor

legend  n. an old story from ancient times
Qantas will evacuate more than 200 Australians trapped on a cruise ship in Japan after a surge in coronavirus cases on board forced the Australian government to launch a rescue mission.

At least 16 Australians are among the 355 cases confirmed on the Diamond Princess since the first passenger tested positive on February 5, amid fears the vessel is acting as an incubator of the flu-like disease.

Dozens of families who have been trapped inside their cabins for two weeks will spend another fortnight in quarantine at a Darwin mining camp once they return to Australia. They will join 250 Australians who arrived at the camp from the centre of the outbreak in China on February 9.

More than 100 Australian residents remain stranded in the Chinese province of Hubei, where more than 1690 people have died from the virus and 58,182 cases have been confirmed.
The opposition Congress in Odisha hit out at the ruling Biju Janata Dal over Home Minister Amit Shah's proposed pro-Citizenship (Amendment) Act rally in the state capital and asked Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to make his government and party's stand clear on the contentious law.

Shah will be on a two-day visit to Odisha from February 28 during which he is slated to address a pro-CAA public meeting.

Raising the issue in the Legislative Assembly during Zero Hour, Congress MLA S S Saluja said, "Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MPs supported CAA in both Houses of Parliament. But the chief minister after meeting a delegation of the minority community in Bhubaneswar, had said the state will not support the National Register of Citizens (NRC)."



This "change of stance" was creating confusion among the people, he said and sought to know whether the BJD leaders would also join Shah in the proposed pro-CAA rally or keep distance from it.

Saluja said the state government should have taken the people, who voted the BJD to power in the state five times in a row, into confidence before supporting the bill to amend the Citizenship Act.

Amid criticism over the BJD's support to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Parliament, Patnaik had in December assured Muslim and Christian community members that he was not in favour of a nationwide NRC implementation.

Saluja, who belongs to the Sikh community, said the people of Odisha live peacefully and believe in brotherhood.

"We live in Lord Jagannath's land where all communities are equal. We do not want a Delhi-like atmosphere in Bhubaneswar or Odisha. The state's communal harmony should not be disturbed at any cost," he said.

Delhi has been witnessing frequent protest on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act issue.

Alleging that the "bonhomie" between the BJD and the BJP was no more a secret, the Congress legislator said, "They (BJP) had only 23 MLAs, still they got elected one member to Rajya Sabha with the help of the BJD."



Last year, Patnaik had announced BJD's support to the BJP's Rajya Sabha candidate and former bureaucrat Ashwini Vaishnav.

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

In the early 16th Century, pioneering Renaissance painters Michelangelo and Raphael jostled to be recognised as the great artist of their day.

And half a millennia later, the two rival Italian 'masters' will compete for attention once more after 12 tapestries designed by Raphael were hung on the walls of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel.

It is the first time in centuries Raphael's works have been placed in the Pope's palatial residence in the Vatican to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the artist's death.

The tapestries, which were weaved in Brussels by the famed studio of Pieter van Aelst from Raphael's sketches, depict scenes from the Acts of the Apostles, such as The Stoning of St. Stephen and St. Paul Preaching in Athens.

For the next week, they are back in the Chapel, where they were between the time Michelangelo finished painting the ceiling in 1512 and when he began painting the massive Last Judgement wall behind the main altar in 1536.

Gloved staff wearing protective suits were today pictured shouldering the furled tapestries into the Chapel before delicately unrolling them on the floor.

A tapestry of The Acts of the Apostles cartoons designed by Italian artist Raphael - one his works on display at the Sistine Chapel for the first time in centuries

500 years after Michelangelo and Raphael jostled to be recognised as the great artist of their day, the two rival Italian 'masters' will compete for attention once more after 12 tapestries designed by Raphael were hung on the walls of Michelangeo's Sistine Chapel

Raphael's works have been placed in the Pope's palatial residence in the Vatican to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the artist's death

A tapestry designed by Renaissance artist Raphael is installed by gloved workers on a lower wall of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican

Tapestry 'The sacrifice of Lystra' designed by Renaissance artist Raphael, widely regarded as one of the greatest artists of the era

A crane then hoisted the art works up on to the wall, with the help of hardhat-wearing workers perched on scaffolding.

'They were conceived for this space and so we thought it was the best way to celebrate,' said Barbara Jatta, director of the Vatican Museums.

All 12, made with silk, wool and gold and silver thread, have been painstakingly restored by Vatican Museum conservationists in the last 10 years.

'This place is of universal importance, not only for visual arts but for our faith,'Jatta said, standing in the Sistine Chapel.

'So we really want to share this beauty with people, even if only for one week'.

Seven of the tapestries, commissioned by Pope Leo X, were hung in the chapel on St. Stephen's day, Dec. 26, 1519.

Gloved staff wearing protective suits were today pictured in the Chapel shouldering the furled tapestries before delicately unrolling them on the floor

Tapestry 'The healing of the lame man' designed by Renaissance artist Raphael. Seven of the tapestries, commissioned by Pope Leo X, were hung in the chapel on St. Stephen's day, December 26, 1519

Tapestry 'St. Paul preaching at Athens'. For the next week, it is back in the Chapel, which it was between the time Michelangelo finished painting the ceiling in 1512

'The last record that we have of all of them being hung in the Sistine is from the late 1500s,' Alessandra Rodolfo, the curator of the exhibition.

Previous exhibitions, some of which lasted only a few hours or a day, included only the 10 larger tapestries, some measuring about six by five metres. Two of the twelve are narrow and hung vertically as borders.

A selection are normally on display on rotation behind glass in climate-controlled spaces in the Vatican Museums.

The Vatican Museums' conservationists and restorers allowed all 12 of the delicate tapestries to be put on show at the same time for only a week, in part to protect them and in part because some will be on loan to other museums.

One will be going soon to Rome's Quirinale Palace's Scuderie museums and another will be going to the National Gallery in London later this year.

'It's exactly what Pope Francis is asking us, which is to share and to be a museum open to everybody and to share our beauty,' Jatta said.

Raphael was probably there to see them but he died four months later at the age of 37.

The others were finished after his death.

Along with Michaelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci, Raphael forms the trinity of Italian 'great masters'.

Raphael: How the loss of his father forged one of the world's most legendary artists Born in Urbino, Italy as Raffaello Sanzio, he was encouraged to pursue art from a young age. His father, Giovanni Santi, was an artist for the Duke of the city and passed on his skills to his son. When Santi died when Raphael was just 11, he took on the monumental task of taking over the family workshop. But he quickly proved to be one of the finest painters and aged only 14 was commissioned for his first major work - to paint a church in a nearby town. In 1504 he moved to Florence, which was becoming the hub of the Italian art movement thanks to the likes of Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. Ten years later, he had become so renowned he was able to hire a crew to pursue a career as an architect, and designed Rome's Santa Maria del Popolo Chapel. Aged 37, in 1520, died of mysterious causes. Raphael - along with Michaelangelo and Da Vinci - forms the trinity of Italian 'great masters'. Advertisement

A crane hoisted the priceless art works up on the wall, with the help hardhat-wearing workers perched on scaffolding

Gloved staff wearing protective suits were today pictured in the Chapel shouldering the furled tapestries before delicately unrolling them on the floor

Tapestry 'The death of Ananias' designed by Renaissance artist Raphael is on display on a lower wall of the Sistine Chapel

Tapestry 'Christ's charge to Peter'. All 12, made with silk, wool and gold and silver thread, have been painstakingly restored by Vatican Museum conservationists in the last 10 years
Gloria Lee Snover has peered down the abyss of election nightmares.

Last November, just as polls closed, Snover, the chairwoman of the Northampton County Republican Committee, quickly realized that something had gone wrong with the states new voting machines.
A natural gas line exploded Monday in Corpus Christi, temporarily halting production at nearby facilities at the Port of Corpus Christi.

Corpus Christi firefighters were called to a natural gas line rupture and fire near the northbound lanes of Interstate 37 and Buddy Lawrence Drive shortly before 8:30 a.m. Monday, KRIS-TV reported. The fire was contained and normal traffic resumed about an hour later.

No injuries were reported but with the fireball next to the Corpus Christi Citgo refinery, authorities closed part of I-37 and other underground pipelines in the area as a precaution. Nearby industrial facilities at the port followed suit.

Fuel Fix: Get daily energy news headlines in your inbox

Although not directly affected by the fire, the Javelina Gas Processing Plant off I-37 receives natural gas from other lines in the area. The facility told the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that those lines were shut off, prompting the plant to vent and flare thousands of pounds of butane, ethylene and other compounds.

Port of Corpus Christi officials reported that the fire did not affect operations at South Texas waterway but port police assisted in securing the scene.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Citgo officials confirmed that a pipeline owned by a third party caught fire outside the company's east refinery and was extinguished without injury.

"This incident does not pose any threat to the surrounding community, our employees or contractors," the company said in a statement.

Read the latest oil and gas news from HoustonChronicle.com
Sixty is the new 45, 80 is the new 60, and 100 is  well, really dang old. But even centenarians know that once you stop learning, you star...
COLUMBUS, Ohio - An Ohio man who has been in quarantine in California said he expects to be released Tuesday, free of the new coronavirus, after leaving his home in China.

John McGory, who is from Westerville near Columbus, had lived and taught English at a university in Wuhan, China for six years.

He was in the process of moving back to the United States when he was temporarily trapped in the country due to a travel ban Chinese authorities imposed on Wuhan. When McGory had the opportunity to get a seat on a U.S. military cargo plane, he left behind numerous possessions -- including most of his clothes and some items he picked up on his Asian travels - which he doesnt expect to get back.

Its really unfortunate it ended so abruptly -- in such a strange manner, McGory, 65, said Monday by phone at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

Evacuation

After six years teaching English at Jianghan University and missing his four beloved grandchildren back home, McGory said he was ready to return to the U.S. permanently. He resigned from the university just before the break for Chinese New Year, but sought permission from the law enforcement to extend his visa so he could pack, say goodbye to friends and attend to other affairs.

He planned to leave China around the first week of February, he said. But on Jan. 23, the city was put on lock down due to the infection, now officially called COVID-19.

McGory was stuck in the country.

The U.S. government began flights to evacuate citizens out of Wuhan. He couldnt make the first flight, due to the police having his passport for the process of extending his visa, he said.

John McGory holding his American passport, after he got it back from Chinese law enforcement. He had originally given it to them because he was trying to extend his visa. (Contributed)

Another pair of U.S. flights was announced -- two cargo planes scheduled to leave Feb. 4. McGory said he got his passport back. But then there was the challenge of getting to the airport, 40 miles outside of Wuhan. Public transit, ride shares and taxis were not operating and he didnt have a vehicle.

He spread the word that he needed a ride and learned of someone heading to the airport at roughly the same time. He met them at a coffee shop -- lugging 75 pounds of his possessions -- and leaving everything else at his home.

Outside the airport there was a police checkpoint.

He asked to look at our passports, but he didnt want to touch them," McGory said.

The flight back to the U.S. took 37 hours. It was Feb. 5 in California when it landed.

It was cold, being a cargo plane, he said. Everybody was wearing masks.

The flight had many Chinese-Americans who too were trapped in the country because they had visited family for Chinese New Year. There were about 60 children on the flight, he said, of a total of 230 people.

About 150 Americans had missed the flight -- most likely because they couldnt find ways to the airport, he said.

The Wuhan Tianhe International Airport was empty in early February, as people are generally not allowed to travel in and out of the area. (Contributed, John McGory)

Under quarantine

At the Marine base, McGory said his temperature is taken twice a day -- once by a masked person working for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and once by himself, after which he sends the results to the CDC.

He hasnt experienced a high temperature or any coronavirus symptoms -- fever, cough or shortness of breath, he said.

McGory has stayed by himself in an apartment on base that has a small outdoor area for people to walk around.

He watches television. He and the others in quarantine were given iPhones. He surfs the internet and visits WeChat, the popular Chinese social media platform, to hear from students and colleagues at the university.

None have fallen ill, although hes read many tragic stories, he said.

You read notes, My dad wont come out of the bedroom, he just locks the bedroom and stays in all day.

A friends colleague described a woman whose husband died -- shortly after making a turn for the better, which McGory said is a symptom of the infection that hes heard many times.

The wife wasnt allowed inside the hospital to see her husbands body. She waited outside, until the truck with his body drove by. And that was her only way to say goodbye. There are countless sad situations, McGory said.

Police check people leaving Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak. (Contributed by John McGory)

Whats next

McGory -- who has been a spokesman for the Ohio Supreme Court in the 1980s, and worked as a lobbyist and in real estate before working in China -- doesnt know when Tuesday he will be released from the base. He said that he plans to stay with sisters in the San Diego area, then visit his brother in Los Angeles -- before returning to Ohio in March, where his children and grandchildren live.

Ohio-based Columbus Press published his book last year, Seeking Balance: The Ultimate Guide to English-Speaking Excellence for the Shy, Foreign or Frustrated.

Hes working on another book about his experience living through the outbreak.

I already have about 40 pages, he said. It basically writes itself. All the people and the fear you see. Its something Ive never experienced. Its looking inside the beast of fear.
Embattled travel software firm Datalex has tapped Bobby Healy, one of the most highly regarded names in Irish technology, for a new technical advisory role with immediate effect.

Irish stock market listed software company Datalexs main platform helps customers, mainly airlines, boost sales of ancillary items to passengers.

Bobby Healy is best known for his time at CarTrawler, where he helped propel the Irish start-up to global scale, providing a software engine for airlines seeking car rental offers for their passengers. His current venture is Manna - a drone delivery as a service business which he plans will revolutionise online food delivery.

His joining Datalex, even in a non-executive and non-board role, is a boost for a company under almost unprecedented pressure - including seeking to raise equity while trading it its shares is suspended on the stock market following a tumultuous year triggered by an accounting scandal.

About 100 people lost their jobs at Datalex last year company as a result of the accounting irregularities that were unearthed. Its then chief executive, Aidan Brogan resigned, as did long-time chairman Paschal Taggart.

Datalex appointed Sean Corkery as chief executive last year in a bid to staunch the crisis, he said Bobby Healy will provide valuable input and will help Datalex to identify ways to accelerate delivery of its powerful digital platform.

He understands the business and will be an important technical sounding board as we drive Datalex to growth and a profitable future, Mr Corkery said.

For his part, Bobby Healy said hed been close to the Datalex team, products and strategy for over 20 years.

And always admired the manner in which they have driven transformational growth for the airline industry they serve. Im honoured to provide technology guidance during this next exciting phase of growth for the business.
Pakistan was absent on the opening day of the 13th 'Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (COP13 CMS) hosted by India in Gujarat.

Pakistan has ratified the membership as a party to CMS in 1987. There are altogether 130 parties to the Convention.

When asked about Pakistan's absence, a source said, "We do not know anything at this stage. Officially we have not received confirmation that they are here. Although they had registered, they have not turned up."

China too did not participate in the CMS COP 13 and sent a formal apology.

According to sources, China, which is not a party to the convention, sent an apology for backing out from the conference due to travel restrictions imposed by India in the wake of the coronavirus epidemic.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 13th CMS COP through video conferencing today.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kenya Moore is known to be quite messy on The Real Housewives of Atlanta but her ambush with a woman claiming to have dirt on Tanya Sams fiance caused tons of backlash.

The woman known as the cookie lady sent Twitter ablaze when she became feisty with Sam during a sit-down conversation. Twitter was so upset that they dug up the cookie ladys criminal history and exposed her for being arrested for fraud.

Who is the cookie lady on RHOA?

Viewers were first introduced to the cookie lady during a cast trip to Toronto, Canada. During the final night in Canada, they had a sit-down dinner that almost turned sour when Kenya Moore asked the group about whether or not theyd want to know if their significant was unfaithful.

All women agreed that they would want to be informed, but it was Sam who claimed that her relationship with her fiance Paul Judge was almost perfect. Moore was privy to information that could negate Sams feelings.

Just weeks prior to their trip, Moore and Bailey were approached by a woman they referred to as the cookie lady who alleged that Judge flirted with her at a local bar. Moore decided not to reveal the information at the dinner, but Sam was made aware by Bailey at a later date.

The Cookie Lady has a successful bakery

Once Sam was told about Judges alleged flirting fiasco, she and Moore engaged in shady banter. Moore took things a step further by ambushing Sam with the cookie lady during filming. The cookie lady was revealed to be a bakery owner named Shiana White.

White owns A Haute Cookie, a popular bakery in Atlanta. Shes been featured on Aspire TV and Food & Wine to promote her business. The Atlanta Journal Consitution featured Whites bakery in a list of hot spots. According to the blurb, the cookie boutique sells gourmet items including frozen cookie dough bars, brownie cookie dough sandwiches and designer ice cream bowls  some of which are available in vegan options.

Despite running a successful business, White found time to participate in the ambush. She became heated during the exchange with Sam and hurled several insults her way, including telling Sam that it wasnt her fault that she was gorgeous and her fiance was attracted to her.

Source: YouTube

Why fans believe The Cookie Lady, is a fraud

Sam opted to take the high road with White and not engage in any further conversation. She later revealed that Judge was out with a group of his guy friends who offered White and her crew a round of complimentary drinks. Judge insisted there was nothing more to the story and Sam believed him. Nonetheless, Sam was displeased and took to Instagram live to explain what she says really went down the night in question.

Viewers were less than pleased with Whites behavior at the ambush. Fans accused her of being thirsty for camera time and vying for an official spot on the show, which they believe fueled her fire.

#Thecookielady definitely wanted a reaction out of Tanya that she didnt and thats why she try throw shade! GIRL BYE! #RHOA  KG (@XcuseMyKharisma) February 10, 2020 Source: Twitter

Viewers called her out on Twitter and even blasted her business on Yelp by leaving negative reviews out of anger from her appearance on the show.

Things to a darker turn when Twitter dug up Whites criminal record. According to multiple Twitter users findings, she was charged with three felonies: identify fraud, financial transaction card theft, and theft by deception. White was only found guilty of identity fraud.

The charge that White was found guilty of allegedly stemmed from her using someones credit card without their permission or knowledge in 2017. She was reportedly sentenced to two years probation.

Fans of the show speculate that White was on probation while she filmed the show as court records reveal that she was sentenced in October 2017 and her probation would not have been up until October 2019  RHOA began filming in the summer of 2019.

How messy! Fans justify their findings by claiming White should have never appeared on the show, considering her legal matters. White has not responded to the claims.
Nirbhaya case: The four convicts of the 2012 Delhi gang-rape case will be hanged on March 3 at 6am. A Delhi court issued the fresh death warrants against the convicts. This is the third time that death warrants against the convicts in the Nirbhaya case have been issued.

The new date for execution was set by Additional Session Judge Dharmender Rana at the Patiala House court after Supreme Court granted permission to the authorities to approach trial court for the issuance of a fresh date.

Asha Devi, mother of the victim said, "I am not very happy as this is the third time that death warrant has been issued. We have struggled so much, so I am satisfied that death warrant has been issued finally. I hope they (convicts) will be executed on 3rd March."

Six people were convicted in the gang-rape and brutalising of 23-year-old paramedical student that shook the entire country. One of the convicts was a juvenile and another one, Ram Singh, allegedly committed suicide in Tihar Jail during the trial of the case.

Also read: Nirbhaya case: SC junks accused Vinay Sharma's plea; dismisses 'mentally ill' argument

Also read: Nirbhaya case: President rejects clemency plea of convict Vinay Kumar Sharma
By PTI

LONDON: A British MP, critical of India's move to withdraw Jammu and Kashmir's special status, on Monday said she was denied entry despite a valid visa after she landed at Delhi airport and deported to Dubai from where she had flown into the Indian capital.

Labour Party MP Debbie Abrahams claim that she had a valid visa was rebutted by India's Home ministry which said she was informed about her e-visa being cancelled.

Abrahams, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Kashmir, said she was travelling on a valid e-visa to India to visit family and friends but her visa was revoked without explanation.

A Home Ministry spokesperson in New Delhi said the British parliamentarian had been duly informed that her visa was cancelled and she arrived in Delhi despite knowing this.

When contacted, Abrahams told PTI she "had not received any emails before February 13".

After that, she had been travelling and was away from office.

Her office in the UK confirmed she was put on a plane to Dubai, which is where she flew into Delhi from earlier on Monday.

"We are in contact with the Indian authorities to understand why Deborah Abrahams MP was denied entry to India. We provided consular assistance to her whilst she was in New Delhi Airport," said a British High Commission spokesperson in New Delhi.

Abrahams' e-visa was reportedly issued last October, and was valid until October 2020.

Recounting her experience at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, she said in a statement on Twitter that she arrived here on Monday morning and was informed that her e-visa been cancelled.

In her statement, Abrahams said she had presented herself at the immigration desk along with her documents and e-visa.

"...the official looked at his screen and started shaking his head. Then he told me my visa was rejected took my passport and disappeared for about 10 minutes.

"When he came back he was very rude and aggressive shouting at me to 'come with me'. I told him not to speak to me like that and was then taken to a cordoned-off area marked as a Deportee Cell. He then ordered me to sit down and I refused. I didn't know what they might do or where else they may take me, so I wanted people to see me," the British MP said.

The immigration officer disappeared again, she said, adding that she phoned her sister-in-law's cousin who she was going to be staying with.

"Kai got in touch with the British High Commission and he tried to find out what was going on," she wrote on Twitter.

She said later several immigration officials came to her but none of them knew why her e-visa was cancelled. "Even the person who seemed to be in charge said he didn't know and was really sorry about what had happened."

Reacting to Abrahams' deportation, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor asked why the government was scared of critics if it claimed the situation in Kashmir was normal.

"Reacting to the British MP Who Criticised Govt on J&K Stopped At Airport: conduct really unworthy of a democracy & guaranteed to give us a far worse press than if she had been admitted," he said on Twitter.

Abrahams was among a group of MPs who issued formal letters following the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 in August last year.

"We are gravely concerned at the announcement by Indian Home Minister, Amit Shah, that Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, which grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir, has been removed by Presidential Order," the Opposition MP had noted in her letter to the UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab at the time.
OTTAWA - An upcoming meeting in British Columbia is emerging as the focal point for hopes of a speedy and peaceful end to the blockades that have disrupted rail and road traffic across large swaths of the country for more than a week.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/2/2020 (694 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A protester stands between Mohawk Warrior Society flags at a rail blockade on the tenth day of demonstration in Tyendinaga, near Belleville, Ont., Sunday, Feb. 16, 2020. The protest is in solidarity with the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs opposed to the LNG pipeline in northern British Columbia. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg

OTTAWA - An upcoming meeting in British Columbia is emerging as the focal point for hopes of a speedy and peaceful end to the blockades that have disrupted rail and road traffic across large swaths of the country for more than a week.

The meeting, which would involve the federal and B.C. ministers responsible for Indigenous relations sitting down with First Nations opposed to the Coastal GasLink pipeline project, has yet to be scheduled.

Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller arrives at the Office of the Prime Minister and Privy Council building for a meeting of the Federal governments Incident Response Group in Ottawa, Monday February 17, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

That has raised questions about how long Ottawa, in particular, is willing to wait as pressure mounts on the federal Liberal government to end the protests due to the economic damage they are causing. The pipeline has support from the Wet'suwet'en First Nation's elected band council but is opposed by the nation's hereditary chiefs, who claim authority on traditional territory off the First Nation's formal reserve.

Carolyn Bennett, the federal minister of Crown-Indigenous relations, reiterated her desire to meet with those opposed to the $6.6-billion natural-gas pipeline as she sat down Monday with B.C. Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser.

"We have reached out through a joint letter to the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs about meeting with us at the earliest opportunity and are hopeful we can all work together to establish a process for ongoing and constructive dialogue and action to address the issues at hand," the ministers said in a joint statement late Monday.

"Our primary focus is everyone's safety and ultimately, a peaceful resolution to the situation."

The two were invited last week to meet by Gitxsan chief Norm Stephens after members of the First Nation erected a blockade near New Hazelton in support of neighbouring Wet'suwet'en chiefs.

Bennett's sitdown with Fraser in Victoria came as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held an emergency, closed-door meeting with cabinet ministers in Ottawa to discuss the blockades.

Trudeau emerged from the meeting emphasizing his desire to find an end to the crisis, adding he had reached out to a number of premiers and Indigenous leaders to discuss the standoff. But the prime minister was tightlipped about his plan to reach that conclusion.

"I understand how worrisome this is for so many Canadians and difficult for many people and families across the country," Trudeau said. "We're going to continue to focus on resolving the situation quickly and peacefully, and that's what we're going to do."

The prime minister, who cancelled a two-day trip to Barbados this week to deal with the crisis at home, did not take any questions before being driven away by his RCMP security detail.

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair, Justice Minister David Lametti and others who attended the meeting with Trudeau were similarly mum on how they planned to address the crisis.

The ministerial meetings in Ottawa and Victoria came as protesters continued to block rail lines as well as highways and bridges in different parts of the country. Those included shutting down for the first time the Thousand Islands Bridge border crossing near Kingston, Ont.

The Ontario Provincial Police indicated they didn't plan on breaking up that protest, saying "the OPP has no role to play in the underlying issues of the event and is not in a position to resolve them." Protesters lifted their blockade of the bridge in the afternoon.

Mounties in Manitoba also reported about eight to ten demonstrators at a CN Rail crossing on Highway 75 in southern Manitoba. The highway and rail line both run south to the U.S. border crossing at Emerson, Man.

RCMP spokesman Robert Cyrenne said police were stopping traffic for safety, but that vehicles were still able to pass in both directions. CN said train movement in the area had been stopped and that the company was "evaluating our legal options very closely."

The RCMP said it had deployed a liaison team to the site to "establish a dialogue and maintain open and ongoing communication."

Police have largely refrained from direct action against the blockades since the RCMP enforced an injunction outside Houston, B.C. earlier this month, where opponents of the Coastal GasLink project were preventing access to a work site for the pipeline.

While more than 20 people were arrested and the company is preparing to resume work, the RCMP raid sparked more protests and blockades across the country.

Coastal GasLink signed agreements with all 20 elected band councils along the pipeline route, including the Wet'suwet'en First Nation's council. But Wet'suwet'en's hereditary chiefs are opposed to the project and say the council does not have authority over the relevant land.

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.

Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller, who met Saturday with representatives of the Mohawk First Nation near Belleville, Ont., where a rail blockade has shut down train service across much of Eastern Canada, has invoked the Oka and Ipperwash crises in pressing for a peaceful solution.

A Quebec police officer died during a raid in 1990 after Mohawks south of Montreal blocked the Mercier Bridge, which became the Oka crisis.

Five years later, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shot and killed protester Dudley George during a standoff over a land claim by Chippewa protesters outside a Ipperwash Provincial Park.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2020.

 with reporting by Nicole Thompson in Toronto, Rob Drinkwater in Edmonton and Amy Smart in Vancouver.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version incorrectly stated that Ministers Bennett and Fraser had also sent their letter to Gitxsan chief Norm Stephens.
President Donald Trump's campaign manager has deleted a dramatic photo of Air Force One flying over the Daytona 500 crowd after people pointed out the image was actually from 2004.

Brad Parscale had initially tweeted the photo on Sunday after Trump arrived at the famous Florida rally course.

Trump had earlier given the thousands of fans a flyover in Air Force One as he became the second president ever to attend the 500-mile Nascar showpiece.

The photo that Parscale tweeted showed Air Force One taking off behind the stadium at the Daytona International Speedway.

But the photo was actually from George W. Bush's visit to the speedway back in 2004.

Brad Parscale had initially tweeted this photo on Sunday after Trump arrived at the famous Florida rally course. But the photo was actually from George W. Bush's visit to the speedway back in 2004

Parscale's tweet - which had the caption '@realDonaldTrump won the #Daytona500 before the race even started' - was up for several hours before it was deleted. It has since been replaced with a photo (above) that was actually taken on Sunday

Parscale's tweet - which had the caption '@realDonaldTrump won the #Daytona500 before the race even started' - was up for several hours before it was deleted.

It has since been replaced with a photo that was actually taken on Sunday.

The original photo is available in Getty Image's online archives and was used by several media outlets this week to promote Trump's attendance at Daytona 500.

The original photographer, Jonathan Ferrey, told CNN: 'I have a lot of talented colleagues photographing the Daytona 500 this year. I am unfortunately not there today, but apparently I won the Daytona 500 photography before the race even started.'

Trump had given an election-year embrace to NASCAR and its fans when he arrived at the race track.

Given the honor of grand marshal for the race, Trump gave thousands of fans a flyover of Air Force One and then rode onto the track in the presidential motorcade as the audience roared with delight

Trump's motorcase took to the track before pulling aside in an infield staging area

The presidential motorcade took to the track to join in a warm-up lap after he had told the crowd that the racers and their teams were competing 'for pure American glory'.

Following a recitation of the opening command, 'Gentleman, start your engines,' Trump got into his black limousine for a ceremonial spin around the speedway.

He had joked moments earlier in a Fox interview that while as president, he was not allowed to drive his own car, 'I'm going to hop into one of these cars and I'm going to get into this race if possible. I love the idea.'

Given the honor of grand marshal for the race, Trump gave thousands of fans a flyover of Air Force One and then rode onto the track in the presidential motorcade as the audience roared with delight.

The motorcade took roughly a quarter lap before pulling aside in an infield staging area.

Asked what it was about NASCAR that he most enjoyed, the president said, 'I think it's really the bravery of these people... it takes great courage.'

Bush also appeared at the race during his reelection year.
After joining the BJP, former Jharkhand chief minister Babulal Marandi on Monday asked the minority community not to "fear" the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and called upon party workers to drive out the horror from their minds.

Marandi said the CAA is for Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Buddhists and Parsis who had faced persecution for several years in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and there was no reason for the natives to fear it.

"The in the country over CAA is instilling fear. I tell the minority community, there is nothing to fear. It is our responsibility to remove the fear from their minds," Marandi said at the "Milan Samaroh" (merger ceremony).

The JVM(P) merged with the BJP on Monday, giving stimulus to the saffron party smarting from defeat in the November-December 2019 state assembly polls.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J P Nadda were present on the occasion.

Marandi, the chief minister of Jharkhand from November 2000 to March 2003, said he toured several places in the last 14 years, travelling 6 to 7 lakh km, "and what I experienced is that leadership is confined to family with political parties having no ideology".

"Only the BJP is a worker-based party and an ideology-based party. So my 'pasand' (likeness) is towards it, so I returned," Marandi said.

Asserting that his decision to return to the saffron party was not sudden, Marandi said the BJP leaders had been in touch with him ever since he left the party in September 2006.

"But due to my zidd (stubborness), I did not return. Amit Shah ji had even sent an emissary, Sunil Tiwari, during Rajya Sabha polls, asking me to return, but I refused," Marandi said.

To media queries on what position he expected to hold in the BJP, he said, "Even when I joined I never asked the party (for any position). Today also I assure that whatever responsibility the party gives me, even if asked for 'jhadoo laga ne ke liye' (sweeping), I will do it."



Taking a swipe at the Hemant Soren government in Jharkhand, Marandi said, "Governance on Twitter will not hold much time. The people will drive you out. The people want peace, as peace and progress go together."



He assured Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah that the BJP would be "stronger" with the merger of his Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) with the BJP.

Marandi is four-time former MP and also served in the cabinet of late Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He won the Dhanwar assembly segment on JVM-P symbol, winning for the first time after floating the party.

Pradip Yadav and Bandhu Tirkey have also won the November-December assembly elections on the same symbols.

Later, the two MLAs were expelled by the party for anti-party activities.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan insisted Monday that his country is no longer a militant safe haven, and said his administration fully supports the Afghan peace process. Khan's assertion was however challenged hours later, when a suicide bomber targeted a religious rally in the southwestern province of Balochistan. The premier's comments come as the US and the Taliban appear on the brink of a deal that would see US forces begin to pull out of Afghanistan. In return, the Taliban would enter talks with the Afghan government, stick to various security guarantees and work toward an eventual, comprehensive ceasefire. Pakistan, which has long been accused of supporting the Taliban and other extremist groups along its border with Afghanistan, is seen as key to helping secure and implement any deal. "I can tell you that there are no safe havens here," Khan said at a conference in Islamabad. "Whatever the situation might have been in the past, right now, I can tell you... there is one thing we want: peace in Afghanistan." His comments came after Sarwar Danish, Afghanistan's second vice president, accused Pakistan of allowing the Taliban to recruit new fighters from Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan. On Monday evening, police said a suicide bomber had targeted a rally in the southwestern city of Quetta in Balochistan province. At least eight people -- including two police officers -- were killed. Balochistan, Pakistan's largest and poorest province -- bordering Afghanistan and Iran -- remains home to Islamist, separatist and sectarian insurgents, even as violent incidents have dropped elsewhere in Pakistan. Khan was addressing a conference marking 40 years of hosting Afghan refugees in his country. While Pakistan cannot "completely guarantee" that no Taliban are hiding among the estimated 2.7 million Afghans living in the country, Khan said his government had done all it can to prevent attacks in Afghanistan, including by building a border fence. US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who has for more than a year led talks between the Taliban and Washington, also attended the conference. He said he was "cautiously optimistic" about progress toward an eventual deal. The US has "commitments from the Talibs on security issues," he said. The Taliban, Afghanistan's security forces and the US are supposed to be launching a seven-day "reduction in violence", officials announced last week. The move is part of a confidence-building measure ahead of the announcement of a fuller deal. But bloodshed continued over the weekend, including a Taliban attack in Kunduz province. Refugees began flowing into Pakistan after the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and continued to come during the Taliban regime. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who is on a three-day visit to Pakistan, credited the nation for supporting Afghan refugees. He also praised the "remarkable transformation" of Pakistan's security situation. Imran Khan's comments come as the US and the Taliban appear on the brink of a deal
TAMPA, Fla., Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Checkers & Rally's, an iconic and innovative drive-thru quick service restaurant chain, announced today that Frances Allen has been named Chief Executive Officer and a member of the company's Board of Directors, effective February 17, 2020. Ms. Allen succeeds Rick Silva, who has decided to leave the company after 13 years as CEO and President.

Ms. Allen comes to Checkers & Rally's with a proven track record of success in the restaurant industry and deep expertise across brand strategy, menu and marketing, franchising, restaurant technology, and restaurant operations, among other disciplines. Most recently, Allen served as Chief Executive Officer of Boston Market, where she implemented a multi-faceted transformation plan setting up the brand for future growth. Prior to Boston Market, Allen served as President of Jack-in-the-Box from 2014 to 2018, where she held full strategic and operational responsibility for the 2,200-unit, $3 billion hamburger quick service restaurant chain, generating superior results and upgrading the quality of the menu. Allen's prior leadership experience includes successful tenures as Chief Brand Officer and Chief Marketing Officer at Denny's Corporation, where she helped lead a successful turnaround and repositioned the brand as "America's Diner," and as Chief Marketing Officer of Dunkin' Donuts USA, where she played a key role in elevating the brand from a regional to a national player. She has also held leadership roles at Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications, PepsiCo, and Frito-Lay.

Kevin Mailender, member of the company's Board of Directors and Partner at Oak Hill Capital, said: "We are delighted that Frances will be leading Checkers & Rally's through its next leg of growth. She is an accomplished leader in the restaurant industry. Her wealth of experience with leading brands and impressive set of skills will be highly valuable to our business and its outstanding franchisees. With a demonstrated ability to develop and inspire winning teams, Frances is the right leader to guide Checkers & Rally's to its full potential." Mr. Mailender added, "On behalf of the entire Checkers & Rally's family, I would like to thank Rick Silva for his partnership and many years of leadership. Rick has played a key role in positioning the system for long-term success, and we wish him well on his future endeavors."

Ms. Allen said: "I am thrilled to be joining this unique brand with so much potential for growth. Checkers & Rally's will continue its tradition of putting the customer first and serving its communities by delivering high quality, craveable food at exceptional values. There is much work to do, but I am eager to build on the company's recent momentum and set out on this exciting journey alongside Checkers & Rally's passionate employees and talented franchisees."

ABOUT CHECKERS & RALLY'S RESTAURANTS:

Based in Tampa, Florida, Checkers & Rally's Restaurants, Inc. operates and franchises Checkers and Rally's quick service restaurants. For over 30 years, Checkers & Rally's has been known for its delicious craveable food, convenient drive-thru service, exceptional value, and a people-first approach. With nearly 900 restaurants and room to grow, Checkers & Rally's is a proven brand with flexible building formats that is aggressively expanding across the country. In recent years, the brand has been awarded several of the industry's most prestigious awards including: Ranking #88 on Entrepreneur's 2019 Franchise 500, Top Food and Beverage Franchise by Franchise Business Review, 2016, 2017, & 2018, Best Franchise Deal and "Best Drive-Thru in America" by QSR Magazine, the "Hot! Again" award from Nation's Restaurant News, and "#1 Most Craveable Fries" by Restaurant Business. For more information about franchise opportunities with Checkers & Rally's, please visit www.checkersfranchising.com.

Media Contact:

Kim Francis

Checkers & Rally's Spokesperson

813.528.2252

[email protected]

SOURCE Checkers & Rally's Restaurants, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.checkersfranchising.com


Gods will: President Donald Trump: Part Two By Michael Moriarty

Our countrys Second American Civil War. Yes! Now!! It is going on this very moment!!! Meanwhile?! Donald Trump

Is,

Always was

And always shall be

As inevitable

A miracle

Within the United States of America

As Winston Churchill

And

Abraham Lincoln

Symbolized! Fact! This Second Civil War, however, is far more complicated than the First American Civil War. Why? The Second, Southern Confederacy of the United States is now what they call The Progressive New World Order; containing the same contempt for the likes of Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill and Donald Trump! The same, criminally low opinion of the human race as Adolph Hitler had! THE HUMAN RACE

DOESNT KNOW,

THOUGHT THE FUHRER

OF NAZI GERMANY,

WHAT I KNOW!!!! Was he right? The Progressive New World Order seemed to have begun as a hair-brained revolution, cooked up by President George H. W. Bush. However, The New World Order has been an idea floating around the Establishment of the World for centuries. Despite its popularity among closet and not-so-closeted dictators and tyrants?! The dream of a unified humanity under the same governing system is not at all insane! The question is: What form of government can the entire human race live under?! The governing principles that insure the greatest amount of individual freedom, while, at the same time, insuring the basic sanity of the entire human race?! That seemingly impossible dream was already created over two hundred years ago! The principles and rules for such human salvation are contained in The Declaration of American Independence! The Constitution of the United States! And the American Bill of Rights! The finest governing principles of a so-called New World Order already exist! They rule and govern and insure the eternal existence of The United States of America! Nothing and no one will ever bring down or destroy the certain and unquestionably eternal existence of the United States of America! It aint ever gonna happen!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why? Because if it ever did happen?! The human race would inevitably, and without knowing it, be committing suicide! I dont see why the soul of America cannot become The Governing Principles of a United States of the Entire World! Every corner of the Entire Mother Earth! You all are looking for a revolutionary idea that will insure the preservation of the entire human race? I just gave it to you! 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
This technique developed by researchers from UCL and Barts Health NHS Trust can be used by doctors to help recommend treatments which could improve a patient's blood flow.Heart disease is the leading global cause of death and illness. Reduced blood flow, which is often treatable, is a common symptom of many heart conditions. International guidelines, therefore, recommend a number of assessments to measure a patient's blood flow, but many are invasive and carry risk.Non-invasive blood flow assessments are available, including Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (CMR) imaging, but up until now, the scan images have been incredibly difficult to analyse in a manner precise enough to deliver a prognosis or recommend treatment.In the largest study of its kind, funded by British Heart Foundation and published in the journal Circulation, researchers took routine CMR scans from more than 1,000 patients attending St Bartholomew's Hospital and the Royal Free Hospital and used a new automated artificial intelligence technique to analyse the images. By doing this, the teams were able to precisely and instantaneously quantify the blood flow to the heart muscle and deliver the measurements to the medical teams treating the patients.By comparing the AI-generated blood flow results with the health outcomes of each patient, the team found that the patients with reduced blood flow were more likely to have adverse health outcomes including death, heart attack, stroke and heart failure.The AI technique was therefore shown for the first time to be able to predict which patients might die or suffer major adverse events, better than a doctor could on their own with traditional approaches.Professor James Moon (UCL Institute of Cardiovascular Science and Barts Health NHS Trust) said: "Artificial intelligence is moving out of the computer labs and into the real world of healthcare, carrying out some tasks better than doctors could do alone. We have tried to measure blood flow manually before, but it is tedious and time-consuming, taking doctors away from where they are needed most, with their patients."Dr Kristopher Knott (UCL Institute of Cardiovascular Science and Barts Health NHS Trust) added: "The predictive power and reliability of the AI was impressive and easy to implement within a patient's routine care. The calculations were happening as the patients were being scanned, and the results were immediately delivered to doctors. As poor blood flow is treatable, these better predictions ultimately lead to better patient care, as well as giving us new insights into how the heart works."Dr Peter Kellman from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the US, who working with Dr Hui Xue at the NIH, developed the automated AI techniques to analyse the images that were used in the study, said: "This study demonstrates the growing potential of artificial intelligence-assisted imaging technology to improve the detection of heart disease and may move clinicians closer to a precision medicine approach to optimize patient care. We hope that this imaging approach can save lives in the future." (ANI)
ALTON  The Yoga Connection and West East Yoga are partnering in Alton to provide a 200-hour yoga teacher training program.

The nine-month program begins March 13; students graduate in November. West East Yoga was founded by Dr. Jaime Sanchez who has been teaching yoga for decades. The Yoga Connection is an established studio managed by a graduate of West-East Yoga.
The Supreme Court, on February 17, directed the Centre to grant permanent commission to all women officers in the Army, irrespective of their years of service, rejecting the stereotypes that only women are responsible for domestic duties, News18 has reported.

The apex court said that the permanent commission should be granted within three months and said there will not be any absolute bar on giving them command postings.

A bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud rejected the Centre's argument of physiological limitations and social norms for denying them a permanent commission and command postings, saying it is disturbing and against the concept of equality.

The bench said women officers in the past have brought laurels to the country and change of mindset is required on the part of the government to put an end to gender bias in armed forces.

The top court said despite there being no stay on the 2010 Delhi High Court verdict allowing the grant of permanent commission to women officers, the Centre showed scant regard in implementing the directive in past one decade.

Equality of opportunity to all citizens and gender justice will guide the engagement of women in the army, said the apex court.

While pronouncing the order, the court cited Captain Tanya Shergill, Captain Madhumita as well as women officers as convoy commanders in Leh, Udhamnagar among others.

The women officers called the Supreme Courts judgement great.

This ruling is going to uplift women in the army and across the country. We were seeking parity for permanent commission. We want to serve. We were not leaving the army, the army was trying to leave us, reported News18 citing women officers.

This ruling will give Indian women a special place in the world. We had full faith in the judiciary, the women officers were further quoted as saying.

(With inputs from PTI)
In his plea filed through advocate Nabila Hasan, Shayaan Mujeeb has contended that he was in the Jamia library on 15 December, 2019 studying, when police personnel entered the building and allegedly beat up the students there

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday sought responses of the Centre, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and the city police on a plea by a Jamia Millia Islamia student seeking compensation for injuries suffered allegedly in police action against anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protesters on 15 December last year.

A bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar was initially of the view that the petitioner ought to have filed a civil suit if he was seeking compensation as the claims made by him would have to be proved through evidence which cannot be done in a writ petition.

"These are matters of evidence. Why are you not filing a suit for damages? On the basis of annexures in a writ, claims cannot be proved," the court said and added that "it has become a fashion in Delhi to file a writ for everything".

However, the bench subsequently issued notices to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the university, the Delhi government and the police seeking their stand on the plea in which the student has alleged his both legs got fractured in the "brutal violence carried out" by security personnel.

In his plea filed through advocate Nabila Hasan, Shayaan Mujeeb has contended that he was in the university library on 15 December, 2019 studying, when police personnel entered the building and allegedly beat up the students there. Hasan told the bench available CCTV footage show the police entering the library and beating up the students.

Apart from seeking a Rs 2-crore compensation for the injuries suffered, Mujeeb has also sought registration of an FIR for the offences allegedly committed by the police. The petitioner has also sought reimbursement of Rs 2 lakh, claiming he spent the amount on treatment of his broken legs, in one of which a rod has to be inserted due to the severity of the fracture.

Earlier, another student, Mohd Minhajuddin, had moved a plea seeking a probe into the incident and demanding compensation for injuries he suffered. Minhajuddin, according to his plea, lost vision in one eye in the incident.

On 15 December last year, a protest against the CAA near Jamia turned violent, with demonstrators pelting stones at police and setting public buses and private vehicles on fire. Police later entered the university, firing teargas shells and baton-charging students. Several students, including the petitioner, were injured in the police crackdown.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, February 17, 2020

The Washington State Senate has passed a privacy bill that would give state residents new rights over data collection and use, including the right to opt out of targeted advertising.

The Washington Privacy Act, which cleared the Senate 46-1 late Friday, now moves to the House where its future is uncertain.

A similar bill was passed by the state Senate last year, but stalled in the House.

Sen. Reuven Carlyle (D-Seattle), who sponsored the measure, stated late last week that the bill takes the best practices from Europe, California and other states to build a data privacy regulatory framework that will help set a standard and lead the nation in bringing our data privacy laws into the 21st century.

advertisement advertisement

The bill gives residents the right to access data about themselves, correct errors, delete the information, and opt out of having their data used for ad targeting and profiling.

If enacted, the bill's restrictions would generally apply to companies that conduct business in Washington and handle data of at least 100,000 consumers a year. (Data brokers that derive at least 50% of revenue from selling data are subject to the bill if they handle data of more than 25,000 consumers.)

The measure passed by the Senate does not contain a controversial provision that would allow consumers to bring private lawsuits over violations. Privacy advocates have said consumers should be able to sue to enforce the measure, but the ad industry argues that allowing individuals to bring lawsuits would encourage frivolous litigation.
A 9-judge bench of the Supreme Court observed on Monday that making offerings at places of worship may be a religious practice, but the law can regulate the money donated at such places if it is used for "terrorism" or "running casinos".

The top court said the old practices of "human sacrifices" and 'sati' amounted to murder under law and could not be saved on ground of "essential religious practice".

The Constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde, made these observations as it commenced hearing to deliberate upon the issues pertaining to the scope of freedom of religion as also of judicial scrutiny into "essential religious practices" of separate "religious denominations".

The bench is also examining the issue whether a person, who does not belong to a particular faith, can file a PIL questioning the religious practice of another religion or sect of a religion.

The questions have arisen out of a judgement in the Sabarimala case.

"The IPC can be read as the guard against the practice of human sacrifices, because it is murder under the IPC. Likewise 'sati' also amounted to murder... Even a religious aspect can be the subject matter of reform," said the bench which also included justices R Banumathi, Ashok Bhushan, L Nageswara Rao, M M Shantanagoudar, S A Nazeer, R Subhash Reddy, B R Gavai and Surya Kant.

Examining scope of judicial power in religious matters, it gave illustration of practice of giving offerings or money in temples and said they were part of religious practices.

"But if money is being used for terrorism or for running a casino etc. then this is secular part of the religion and can be regulated by the law," it said.

It also said financial activities of a religious trust pertaining to "donations, hygiene and health" can be regulated by laws.

"Even if there is an essential religious practice, it can be regulated if it affects the three grounds (public order, morality and health) in Article 26," Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said while initiating submissions on behalf of the Centre.

"This is the hallmark of our Constitution," the bench said while giving examples of practices of "human sacrifices" and 'sati' being held illegal.

Mehta referred to Articles 25 and 26 and said all persons have freedom of religion "subject to public order, morality and health" and every "religious denomination" shall have the right to establish, own, maintain and manage religious institutions.

"Defining 'religious denomination' would be the most crucial part during the course of this hearing", he said.

Referring to various judgements, Mehta said there were two striking features in them which were "the affected parties were present and there was a challenge to a specific law".

The bench, which assembled at 10.30 AM for hearing the Sabarimala reference, rose around 11.45 AM for 10 minutes, but it did not re-assemble and adjourned the hearing till Tuesday as one of the judges was feeling unwell.

As the hearing commenced, senior lawyer K Parasaran apprised the bench of the lawyers and their order in which they would argue, and said that Mehta would open the case on behalf of the government.

Senior advocate Indira Jaising and other lawyers supported it saying that they wanted to know the stand of the government in the matter.

Mehta said, "Can there be a PIL by a person not belonging to a particular religious denomination" and gave examples of various sects like 'Shaiva', 'Vaishnava' and 'Shakt', saying that separate group of persons cannot satisfy the requirements of a particular denomination.

"Asking somebody to perform 'namaz' in a particular manner amounts to interference into somebody's religion," the bench asked.

"You are saying the word religion is something which determines the relationship of a man with the creator and all these sects or denominations have the right to regulate and decide the nature of this relationship. And someone outside the denomination cannot decide as to what is the essential religious practice...,' the CJI asked.

"Are you saying, you can't have a situation of Muslim questioning Hindu practice and where Buddhist cannot decide Muslim practices," the bench asked.

The law officer said the State or the court can intervene if any religious practices relate to public order, health and morality.

There were two things for court's consideration, and one of these is the modes of "worship, rituals, observances, ceremonies" which constitutes a religion, the law officer said.

The other is whether a particular facet was "essential religious practice" or not and who, either the court or the religious denomination itself, will decide the nature of that practice, Mehta said.

The bench had framed seven questions pertaining to fundamental rights on religion and their interplay with faith and would evolve a judicial policy to deal with them.

"What is the interplay between rights of persons under Article 25 of the Constitution of India and rights of religious denomination under Article 26," read one of the issues.

Another question pertains to whether rights of a religious denomination under Article 26 are subject to other fundamental rights apart from public order, morality and health.

"What is the scope and extent of the word 'morality' under Articles 25 and 26 of Constitution and whether it is meant to include constitutional morality," read a question.

The bench said it would also examine the "scope and extent of judicial review" with regard to a religious practice as referred under Article 25 of the Constitution.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NEW YORK, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Canon Business Process Services (Canon) has been named to the Leader category of the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals' (IAOP) 2020 Global Outsourcing 100 list. The list defines the standard of excellence in outsourcing service delivery. This is the fourteenth straight year in which Canon has been named a Leader in The Global Outsourcing 100. Only four other companies, including some of the largest outsourcing and consulting companies in the world, have achieved the same record of distinction.

"Buyers understand there are hundreds of qualified service providers and advisors out there, but what they need to understand now is what makes each one exceptional," said IAOP CEO Debi Hamill. "The Global Outsourcing 100 list has done just that. We are proud to recognize Canon Business Process Services for being among these companies this year."

IAOP is the global association that brings together customers, providers, and advisors in a collaborative, knowledge-based environment that promotes professional and organizational development, recognition, certification, and excellence to improve business service models and outcomes. The Global Outsourcing 100 and its sub-lists are essential references for companies seeking new and expanded relationships with the best companies in the industry. The lists include companies from around the world that provide the full spectrum of outsourcing services; not just information technology and business process outsourcing, but also facility services, real estate and capital asset management, manufacturing and logistics.

The organizations selected for The Global Outsourcing 100 are being recognized at the IAOP 2020 Outsourcing World Summit, currently taking place in Orlando, Florida. Canon is exhibiting at the Summit with experts on hand to help organizations better understand how business process outsourcing services can help reduce costs and drive efficiency.

About Canon Business Process Services (Canon)

Canon Business Process Services leverages advanced technologies and services to deliver agility, exceptional workplace experiences and improved business performance. We achieve these results by applying our workforce management capabilities, Six Sigma methodologies and implementation expertise. With professionals across the US and in the Philippines, we have been named a Global Outsourcing 100 leader by IAOP for 14 straight years. Canon Business Process Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canon U.S.A., Inc. Learn more at cbps.canon.com and follow us on Twitter @CanonBPO.

All referenced product names, and other marks, are trademarks of their respective owners.

Press Contact: Ken Neal, [email protected]

Canon Business Process Services  2020

SOURCE Canon Business Process Services

Related Links

http://www.cbps.canon.com


Intermittent fasting has been well-received. Thanks to its many purported health benefits including weight loss, improved focus, and better cardiovascular health. Evidently, intermittent fasting can reduce the risk of many diseases, like cancer, diabetes and heart disease, to help you live a long, healthy life, according to a new review article in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The study summarizes the impact of intermittent fasting at both a cellular and an organ/body system level.

The results consistently suggest the simultaneous suppression of glucose and insulin levels and upregulation of ketones induced by fasting lead to stress resistance, cellular repair, mitochondrial biogenesis, and upregulation of a variety of cellular maintenance processes, all of which may lead to improvements in a wide variety of conditions linked to poor metabolic health.

The idea might sound New Age-y, but the concept is getting some serious backing in scientific studies.

Another study by the researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) and Kyoto University examined what exactly happens when the body goes without food. Studying 4 subjects, they found 44 substances that increase in the body during fasting, and many of them are connected to health benefits.

The health trend may help slow down aging through increasing ketosis, inducing hormesis and increasing autophagy.

Also Read: Fasting Man Dies Trying To Match Jesus' 40 Days Without Food

A common intermittent fasting schedule is 16/8 which involves eating all of your food between the hours of 12-8 pm. Therefore, you are fasting for 16 hours and feeding for 8 hours.

In intermittent fasting, our bodies release a hormone called ghrelin. Although the little agent is primarily released by the stomach, it stimulates a psychological desire in mammals to work harder.

Another study published by the Journal of Endocrinology indicates that it was determined that intermittent fasting encouraged the recruited participants to exercise more regularly by reason of increased amounts of ghrelin in their system in addition to lowering their body mass indexes.

Meanwhile, manipulating mitochondrial networks inside cells may lengthen lifespan and promote health, according to new research from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Published online in Cell Metabolism, the research sheds light on the basic biology involved in cells' declining ability to process energy over time, which leads to aging and age-related disease, and how interventions such as periods of fasting might promote healthy aging.

Another way intermittent fasting seems to slow down aging is reduced inflammation. It is linked to reduced inflammation in the brain, and other researchers have seen the effect in other tissues.

"Recent aging studies have shown that caloric restriction and fasting have a prolonging effect on lifespan in model animals but the detailed mechanism has remained a mystery," said Dr. Takayuki Teruya in the journal, Scientific Reports.

Related Article: Study: Longer daily fasting times improve health and longevity in mice

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal by an environmental group over the dismissal of its case alleging that a Government plan aimed at tackling climate change is flawed and inadequate.

In a published determination, the Supreme Court noted the issues raised are of "general public and legal importance" and that all the parties involved accept there is "a degree of urgency in respect of the adoption of remedial environmental measures".

The appeal will now be case-managed and a hearing date will be fixed later.

Friends of the Irish Environment has appealed a High Court decision rejecting its challenge to the outgoing government's National Mitigation Plan, published in July 2017.

The plan sets out measures described as the first steps on a path designed to transition Ireland to a low carbon, climate-resilient and environmentally sustainable economy by 2050.

In High Court proceedings against the Government and the State, FIE sought to have the court quash the government's approval of the plan and to direct the government to produce a plan that will properly tackle the risks posed by global warming, including flooding, fires, ecological destruction and loss of life.

The existing plan fails to specify any measures to urgently reduce greenhouse gas emissions as it is required to do, it claimed.

The State respondents argued the plan was not justiciable, meaning its adequacy or otherwise could not be decided on by a court. FIE, they submitted, was impermissibly advancing a prescribed policy and seeking to impose a positive obligation on the State to deliver such a policy.

In his September 2019 judgment dismissing FIE's case, Mr Justice Michael McGrath ruled the government must be afforded broad discretion in adopting plans under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015. The court, in light of the constitutional separation of powers, could not interfere with the plan, he held.

FIE sought to appeal and three Supreme Court judges, in a recently published determination, agreed to hear a "leap-frog" appeal, one directly to the Supreme Court rather than the normal route via the Court of Appeal.

The judges noted there is no dispute between the parties as to the science underpinning the plan and the likely increase in greenhouse emissions over the lifetime of the plan.

"The parties accept the gravity of the likely effects of climate change," they said.

It was therefore unlikely that the questions of law or factual issues raised will be further refined if the appeal was heard before the Court of Appeal, they observed.

The availability of judicial challenge to the legality of the plan; the standard of such review if adoption of the plan is justiciable as a matter of law, and the broader environmental rights asserted by FIE under the Constitution, European Convention on Human Rights and/or from Ireland's international obligations are issues of general public and legal importance, they said.

The court was satisfied the threshold for a leapfrog appeal was met, they ruled.
Gunmen have killed 24 people and wounded 18 in an attack on a Protestant church in a village in northern Burkina Faso where jihadists frequently target Christians.

A group of 'armed terrorists' raided the village of Pansi, in Yagha province 'and attacked the peaceful local population after having identified them and separated them from non-residents', the governor, Colonel Salfo Kabore, said in a statement.

The assault occurred on Sunday during a weekly service at a Protestant church, security officials said.

'The provisional toll is 24 killed, including the pastor... 18 wounded and individuals who were kidnapped,' Kabore said.

A resident of the nearby town of Sebba said Pansi villagers had fled there for safety.

Both Christians and Muslims were killed before the church was set on fire, said a government security official in Dori who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to the media.

A 2008 file photo shows a congregation worshipping at a church in the district of Toleha in Burkina Faso

A Burkina Faso soldier patrols at a district that welcomes Internally Displaced People (IDP) from northern Burkina Faso, in Dori on February 3, 2020

Pictured: A locator map showing the village of Pansi in eastern Burkina Faso, where militants killed worshippers at a Protestant church

The mayor of Boundore commune, Sihanri Osangola Brigadie, said roughly 20 attackers separated men from women close to a Protestant church. At least 18 other people were injured.

'It hurt me when I saw the people,' Brigadie said after visiting some of the victims in the hospital in Dori town, 110 miles from the attack. The gunmen looted oil and rice from shops and forced the three youth they kidnapped to help transport it on their motorbikes, he said.

Christians and churches in northern provinces have become frequent targets by armed Islamists.

On 10 February, suspected jihadists in Sebba seized seven people at the home of a pastor. Five bodies were found three days later, including the pastor, according to the local governor.

One of the poorest countries in the world, Burkina Faso is on the front line of a jihadist insurgency advancing in the Sahel.

Since 2015, around 750 people have been killed in Burkina and around 600,000 people have fled their homes.

A picture taken on October 30, 2018 shows Burkinabe gendarmes sitting on their vehicle in the city of Ouhigouya in the north of the country

Also in the north of the country, five soldiers were killed on Sunday when their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device near Banh, in Loroum province, security sources said.

'Three of the five were killed instantly and the two others died later from serious injuries,' one of the sources said.

Thirty people in Burkina Faso have died in four attacks by highway bombs since the start of the year, according to a reported toll.

They include seven schoolchildren in the northwest of the country who were among 14 killed aboard a bus that had taken a road that had been banned because of the security risk.

According to UN figures, jihadist attacks in Burkina and neighbouring Mali and Niger left nearly 4,000 people dead last year.

A man drives past a church in the city of Ouahigouya, northern Bukina Faso, on October 30, 2018

Their armed forces are weak, struggling with poor equipment and lack of training and funding.

In Niger, a policeman was killed on Sunday at a police post near Ayorou, in the western region of Tillaberi, in the second attack in the area in a week, a security official said.

Analysts are concerned that attacks against civilians, including against Christians, are increasing 'at an alarming rate,' said Corinne Dufka, West Africa director for Human Rights Watch. 'Perpetrators use victims' links to government or their faith to justify the killings, while others appear to be reprisal killings for killings by the government security forces,' she said.

More than 1,300 civilians were killed in targeted attacks last year in Burkina Faso, more than seven times the previous year, according to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, which collects and analyzes conflict information.
A number of European Union countries are blocking a decision to resume a naval operation in the Mediterranean Sea over concerns that it might encourage migrants to set out from the Libyan coast in search of better lives in Europe, the EU's top diplomat said Monday.

The naval mission, Operation Sophia, was launched in 2015 amid a wave of irregular migration from North Africa to Europe. The aim was to crack down on migrant smugglers and enforce a U.N. arms embargo on Libya.

But tension over how to distribute migrants picked up in the sea among EU member states, and claims that the naval presence might encourage smugglers, led Italy to block the deployment of further ships last year.

It currently functions almost exclusively using aircraft and pilot-less drones. Austria too is opposing the return of warships.

"There are people who believe that more assessment has to be done to be sure that it's not going to produce a pull effect, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters in Brussels as he arrived to chair a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers.

"My analysis of the figures, the data, I am not convinced of that. But some believe it," Borrell said.

He did not name the countries concerned, but he cast doubt over whether the issue would be resolved this month, despite increasing international calls for help in ensuring that the arms embargo on Libya is respected.

Libya has been in turmoil since 2011, when a civil war toppled long-time dictator Moammar Gadhafi, who was later killed. The arms embargo is routinely flouted.

A weak UN-recognised administration that now holds the capital of Tripoli and parts of the country's west is backed by Turkey, which recently sent thousands of soldiers to Libya, and to a lesser degree Qatar and Italy, as well as local militias.

On the other side is a rival government in the east that supports self-styled General Khalifa Hifter, whose forces launched an offensive to capture Tripoli last April.

They are backed by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, France and Russia.

Borrell said the situation on the ground is very, very bad. Ahead of Monday's talks, Borrell's services circulated a memo suggesting that Sophia should be renamed Operation EU Active Surveillance.

It urged member countries to agree on whether gathering information on, and upholding, the U.N. embargo should become the naval mission's core task. Monitoring people smuggling would be relegated to a supporting task carried out from the air.

The memo warned that we run the risk that, short of concrete action, the EU will become irrelevant and others will continue to determine the development of events in Libya in ways that will not respond to our interests."



Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said that the German-led political process is not worth much if there is no control over the arms embargo and the troops that move around in Libya. That's why we have to watch the sea. It's a European obligation.

Asselborn took aim in particular at Austria, which is also blocking the naval mission, saying: it's too much, to abandon or break with our consensus just to avoid having to save a few people.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Cheng Si, China Daily | Feb. 15, 2020

The civil aviation sector has given quick a response to the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak, helping to transport medical supplies and medical workers to support the epicenter of Hubei province amid the epidemic, a senior official said at a news conference organized by the State Council Information Office on Saturday.

Li Jian, deputy head of Civil Aviation Administration of China, said that 21 domestic airlines have carried out 241 flights between Jan 24 and Feb 14, transporting 29,364 people.

Among these flights, 181 were missions for transporting medical supplies and medical teams to Hubei, and nine were charter flights that ferried back to Hubei 1,185 travelers who were stranded overseas because of the epidemic outbreak.

He said that the civil aviation sector made a rather quick response to the emergency to complete missions in a short time.

"In two days we coordinated 50 charter flights to transport 6,288 medical workers to Wuhan," he said. "The farthest flight landed in Durban, South Africa, bringing 54 tons of medical supplies home."

General aviation has also played a key role in containing the epidemic thanks to its convenience and flexible usage, he said.

"We've streamlined procedures for approval and enhanced ground services, also released preferential policies on fuel settlement to secure air traffic amid the epidemic," he said.

According to Li, 123 general aviation companies have participated in missions of transporting medical supplies and spraying for disinfection, with a total of 4,898 flights and 1,308 working hours recorded.
There is much debate on social media and opinion within the Army is divided. Many like me have had women officers serving under us in the most challenging circumstances in Kashmir and elsewhere and vouch for their professional capability and dedication. There are challenges galore awaiting them.

Editor's note: This article was originally published on 17 February. It is being republished in light of the Government of India's decision that women officers in the Indian Army can now be granted Permanent Commission (PC).

Women officers first entered the Indian Army in 1992 as part of the increasing gender sensitivity of the times. The terms and conditions at that time were clear. It was a Short Service Commission (SSC) for five years; later it was extended to 10 and yet again to 14. They could receive permanent commission in only two departments  the Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Branch and the Army Education Corps (AEC). There was no commissioning in the Combat Arms (Infantry, Armoured Corps and Mechanised Infantry with Artillery included in this list too). SSC was received only in five Combat Support Arms (Signals, Engineers, Army Air Defence, Aviation and Intelligence) and three Services (ASC, AOC and EME).

Progressively, as the time for their exit came based on terms and conditions, women officers expressed their disenchantment with the lack of equation with their male counterparts and sought the legal route for redressal. The case hung fire for long and judgments were challenged at each level. Some women officers, who had completed their terms and conditions of engagement, exited while others stayed beyond awaiting the legal outcome.

An implication of only SSC and no permanent commission for women officers was always that career opportunity was limited and women officers were ineligible for consideration for the first select rank of Colonel (after 2004, and before that Lt Col). In a command oriented army such as the Indian Army, career progression is based upon performance in appointments with command responsibility. Command starts with the rank of Colonel and to be selected for that an officer has to undergo a criteria appointment in command of a sub unit, as a Major/Lt Col, and be put through a promotion board which evaluates performance in criteria appointment through confidential reports on record along with qualifications and record of service. The selection is deep with wastage as high as 70 percent. Since women officers were ineligible for career progression to select rank they were rarely trained in requisite courses of instruction and also given criteria appointments as Maj/Lt Col only on whims of their superiors. In other words they were ineligible for command opportunities.

In September 2019, the Ministry of Defence rectified one anomaly based upon a judgment, by accepting that from April 2020 women officers will be eligible for permanent commission but only those commissioned from 2014 onwards will be eligible for the same. There was no reference to command opportunities for WOs and how their career management would be ensured.

What the Supreme Court has directed on the basis of its judgment is that permanent commission will be open to all women officers irrespective of their date of commission. It means many of the women officers awaiting the judgment and having crossed the service levels of their terms and conditions, will now be eligible for permanent commission. By implication, they can serve till the age of superannuation  54. The Supreme Court judgment will need further clarity whether permanent commission for these women officers will be by selection, as in case of male SSC officers, or otherwise. Since terms and conditions are equated it is presumed that a selection board will need to decide this and only a percentage of women officers will receive permanent commission and not all of them.

Having opened permanent commission to women officers, the Supreme Court also addressed the most important aspect of their career management. It has made them eligible for career progression through availing command opportunities denied to them thus far. In all 10 Arms/Services or departments they can be promoted, by first being tested in sub-unit criteria appointments and on the basis of the confidential reports put before a promotion board. Of course, these promotion boards are supervised and approved at requisite levels up the chain.

The Army was apparently unhappy about giving command of units to women officers and felt that their career progression should be managed through testing in staff appointments or those appointments which deal least with troops, where they will not bear command responsibility. Its argument was on two counts; first that physical risk in command was far too high and second that the male soldiers who will be under their command were not yet psychologically prepared to report to female Commanding Officers (COs). The Supreme Court has overruled these arguments and afforded women officers a new phase in career management and responsibility.

There is much debate on social media and opinion within the Army is divided. Many like me have had women officers serving under us in the most challenging circumstances in Kashmir and elsewhere and vouch for their professional capability and dedication. There are challenges galore awaiting them. It would be best if the Army gives command to selected women officers of the three Services first in peace locations and moves on to field areas. For the five Arms the same policy should be executed with a proviso that it will be reviewed after five years.

What most people objecting to the SC judgment do not realise is that the Army has strict standards of selection. It is not as if every woman officer is going to be handed command responsibility. Only the best will meet the criteria which must be exactly equal to that applicable to male officers. In the Army, respect for superiors is based upon their professional capability and human qualities and nothing else. There are enough women officers who will meet that important criterion. The very fact that full career opportunities await them shall be sufficient motivation for better performance at different levels thus overcoming some of the weaknesses which have otherwise been noticed in the performance of WOs.

It may be some time before the next bastion is reduced; the entry of women into Combat Arms. It will happen probably when its time comes but the grounds for such a decision should be prepared now and mindsets must be progressively overcome.
What began as a joke in a Rochester brewery became an internet sensation among New York's political class Sunday.

Rich Azzopardi, a spokesman for Gov. Andrew Cuomo, posted a photo of the governor holding a can of The Governor's IPA, a beer brewed by Swiftwater Brewing Company in Rochester. Cuomo received the gubernatorial India pale ale while visiting Saranac Lake to promote snowmobiling in New York. He tried the beer and liked it, Azzopardi said Monday.

After the photo was posted on social media, Andy Cook said in an interview with The Citizen that his phone "blew up" with messages from friends. Cook, who grew up in Cayuga County and whose family owns Aurora Ridge Dairy Farm, is the owner and manager of Swiftwater Brewing Company.

"It's pretty cool," Cook said of the photo of Cuomo holding a can of The Governor's IPA. "It's a fun picture to get, for sure."

The idea for the beer started as a joke with one of the brewery's regulars who works on Cuomo's advance team. The joke became a serious proposal that gained traction when the brewery wanted to recognize Cuomo's support of craft beverage producers.

Since Cuomo took office in 2011, he has advanced policies to grow the craft beverage industry. One of those policies is a law that established the farm brewery license.

Swiftwater opened as a farm brewery in 2015, Cook said. Under the farm brewery law, which took effect in 2013, licensed breweries must produce beer using a certain percentage of New York-grown ingredients. From January 2019 through December 2023, 60% of the hops and 60% of other ingredients used by farm breweries to make beer must be grown in New York.

"I have friends from all over the political spectrum and I think we, as beer lovers, can agree that over the last eight years the New York state government as a whole has really done a lot to support the craft beverage industry and done a lot of economic development through breweries, distilleries and wineries," Cook said. "We just really wanted to highlight the growth of that farm-to-pint glass agriculture and manufacturing industry."

The Governor's IPA was made with 100% New York-grown ingredients obtained from farms across upstate New York, according to Cook. One variety of hops used in the beer came from Addison in Steuben County, while another variety came from a farm in Cortland County. The grains came from farms in Wayne and Yates counties. Some of the grains were malted by 1886 Malt House in Fulton, Oswego County.

The beer was first released in 2018, but Cook conceded that it didn't receive the same amount of attention it is now. It also wasn't available in cans two years ago.

An employee at Swiftwater created the can's design, which features a blue and gold color scheme. The name of the beer, The Governor's IPA, appears inside a map of New York state. There are several nods to New York on the can  the I Love NY logo, an "S" for Syracuse University, the "Visit Adirondacks" logo and a standing buffalo in recognition of upstate's largest city.

The only thing Cuomo said could make it better, Azzopardi told The Citizen, is if "ale pluribus unum"  a play on the official U.S. motto  was on the can.

The sources of the beer's ingredients are listed on the outer part of the beer's labeling.

The beer is available in cans and on tap at Swiftwater in Rochester. Cook revealed that "a couple of kegs" were sent to bars in Albany.

"Judging by the response, it's probably something that we'll make again and make a larger amount so we can send some out to the rest of the state," he said.

The Governor's IPA and the attention it's received in the last day or so is a high point for Cook. Growing up on a dairy farm in Aurora, he wanted to find a way to continue supporting agriculture in New York. He pursued careers in academia, but it was challenging to find full-time employment.

Cook's father, who doubles as his business partner, encouraged him to keep looking. One option was to grow hops  something Cook had done as a homebrewer. Ultimately, he decided to open a brewery.

While the brewery is in Rochester, it has a strong connection to Cayuga County. According to Swiftwater's website, close to 80% of the barley used in the brewery's beer comes from Aurora Ridge Dairy.

"We really want to support New York agriculture from ground to glass," Cook said.

Online producer Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.

Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 0

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Three men were arrested for allegedly robbing a Railway Protection Force constable last week by offering to share a cab with him from Delhi to Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, police said on Monday.

Constable Ravinder Singh after arriving by train at Delhi's Hazarat Nizamuddin Station around 5 am went to the Inter State Bus Terminal (ISBT) at Anand Vihar on February 10, they said.

Instead of taking a bus to his native place Meerut, he chose to share the cab with two of the accused who posed as passengers, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) G Ram Gopal Naik said, adding that the third posed as the cab's driver.

Sunil Paswan (27), Amir Paswan (27) and Md Dulare (35) have been arrested. In the last three months, they have committed 33 robberies in Gurgaon, Panipat, Bawana and at the ISBT, police said.

Singh, who is posted with the RPF in Mumbai, was looted of his belongings and beaten up, they said, adding that the robbers made him withdraw money from different ATMs in the city.

They also purchased jewellery from a shop in Rohini using Singh's debit card, police said.

Singh managed to escape from their grasp around 9 pm on February 10 at the Bawana Industrial Area and then approached police, the DCP said, adding that a case was registered at the Patparganj Industrial Area police station.

The robbers were identified using CCTV camera footage and arrested from Shalimar village here, Naik said.

Five mobile phones, a laptop, a gold chain, two gold rings, Singh's driving licence and the car used in the crime have been recovered, he said.

During interrogation, the accused said they have robbed over 100 passengers by offering to share cabs. They targeted those at bus terminals and stands in early morning hours, police said.

Dulare, who is the gang's leader, always posed as the cab's driver, they said.

They robbed passengers after taking them to a secluded place and later let them go, police said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Congress party on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court's decision of granting permanent commission to women officers in the Indian Army.

"I am very happy that this is the continuation of the step taken by Congress party under which, when we had introduced women into the Armed Services, the restriction was in Short Service Commission then. I am sure that women will do India proud always," senior Congress leader and former Minister of Women and Child Development, Renuka Chowdhury, told ANI.

The Apex Court on Monday ruled that women Army officers can get command positions on par with their male counterparts, asserting that the government's arguments against it were "discriminatory", "disturbing" and based on a stereotype.

The court also added that permanent commission would be available to all women, regardless of their years of service.

The judgement has to be implemented within three months.

"Congratulation to the women power of India, despite stiff opposition from the Modi government, the Supreme Court approved the permanent commission of women in the army. Not giving rights to women shows the prejudice of the Center," Congress leader Randeep Surjewala wrote on Twitter.

"Mr Modi failed to stop the woman from serving Mother India," he added.

Woman officers, at present, can serve for 10-14 years in the Short Service Commission.

The government had told the Court that "troops are not yet mentally schooled to accept women officers in command of units" since they are "predominantly drawn from a rural background.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Since the overthrow of Gaddafi, Libya has been locked in a power struggle between two governments in east and west.

Nine years after the revolution, Libya is suffering from a political, economic and security crisis and its people say their struggle has fallen prey to foreign agendas and internal divisions.

In February 2011, the Libyan revolution started in Benghazi. Libyans had lived for 42 years under the oppression of Libyas ruler Muammar Gaddafi.

Their uprising gave Libyans a sense of hope for a better future. But nine years since the end of Gaddafis rule, the country is in chaos.

Citizens recall vividly the first hours of February 17, and the months after, but say the revolution was stolen from them.

Yes, it was stolen by foreign powers. Because if this country manages to rise, it will have no parallel because its history is renowned with its educated people, said Hamid al-Tabouli, a resident of Benghazi.

Al-Tabouli appealed to Libyans and the international community to stand with the Libya National Army (LNA), the armed forces of the eastern administration of Libya, saying it is the safety valve of the country.

We had welcomed the February 17th revolution and had wished for it after 42 years of torture and oppression  But it was stolen afterwards, said Sanusi al-Maqsabi, a Benghazi resident.





Endemic insecurity

Since the overthrow of Gaddafis government, Libya has witnessed a power struggle between two separate governments in the east and west of the country.

The internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) controls a shrinking patch of land around Tripoli in the west and enjoys the support of powerful militias from Zintan and Misrata, and the backing of Turkey, Qatar and France.

The east is controlled by the Benghazi-centred administration of renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar and his tribal allies, who have in recent months tried to push into Tripoli and shut down oil production in the east to deprive the GNA of funds.

Haftar is backed by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Russia.

Much of the south is controlled by various tribal and other armed groups, causing endemic insecurity and a rise in human-trafficking networks.

Recent efforts to establish a ceasefire and enforce an arms embargo have failed but a new round of talks is expected to begin in Geneva soon.

On Wednesday, February 13, the UN Security Council endorsed a 55-point road map for ending the war in Libya and condemned the recent increase in violence in the oil-rich North African country.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 21:09:01|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- China vowed continued efforts to expand the coverage of the broadband network and upgrade internet access among primary and secondary schools to facilitate online learning for students amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said Monday.

Efforts will be made to encourage three major telecommunications operators - China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom - to roll out more convenient online learning services like cloud classrooms and free livestreaming, the MIIT said.

China Telecom, for instance, has provided online classes for primary and secondary schools across the country, with an average of over 10 million students watching every day. Greater support has been given to Hubei Province, the epicenter of the outbreak, enabling over 240,000 students to have access to cloud classrooms.

China has postponed the spring semester due to the coronavirus outbreak that has infected over 70,000 people nationwide as of Sunday. Millions of students staying at home turned to online learning as the back-to-school season started.

The MIIT said it would further pool its resources to provide greater assistance to students' online learning.
The NCW has asked the Meerut superintendent of police to look into the killing of a teen by her cousin and to take strict legal action against the culprits.

According to a media report, a 19-year-old girl was shot at her private parts by her cousin in Meerut in a suspected case of honour killing.

The commission, in a statement, said it is "disturbed" by the incident's report where it is mentioned that the victim's family tried to cover up the actual cause of death in name of robbery, with an intention to mislead the inquiry.

"We have taken suo motu cognisance of the matter and shall ensure justice to the deceased. National Commission for Women (NCW) has written to Avinash Pandey, SP of Meerut, to look into the matter thoroughly and take strict legal action against all culprits, and report to the commission at the earliest, on their action taken report to date," it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A minister of the Maharashtra government said on Monday it will form a special investigation team to probe the Elgar Parishad case after it was transferred from the state police to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), triggering a huge political row.

The announcement came from Maharashtras minority affairs minister and Nationalist Congress Party leader Nawab Malik after NCP chief Sharad Pawar called a meeting of all party ministers earlier in the day.

The meeting was held amid reports of rising differences with ally Shiv Sena over the transfer of the case to the central agency and after Pawar expressed his displeasure over chief minister Uddhav Thackerays decision to allow the handing over to NIA.

Malik pointed out that under the NIA act a state can also investigate a case.

There is nothing wrong in the chief ministers decision to hand over the case to NIA because going by the NIA act it is binding on the state. But section 10 of the act also empowers the state to hold a parallel investigation in such a case, Malik said.

Pawar saheb has asked the home minister to act following the provisions. The home minister will appoint an SIT to probe the case, he said.

Malik said the Supreme Court had also observed that the case needs to be thoroughly investigated though it has denied bail to the accused in Elgar Parishad case.

From the beginning, the NCP chief was of the view that activists were wrongly implicated in the case. He has also written letters to the chief minister and the home minister demanding SIT probe which will happen now, Malik said.

Last week, Pawar said that while the Centres decision directing NIA to take over the case was inappropriate, the state governments approval to it was not good either.

It was for the first time that Pawar had criticised any decision taken by the chief minister since the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government  made up of the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress  was formed on November 28, 2019.

The state home minister, Anil Deshmukh, said he will seek legal opinion over setting up an SIT in the Elgar Parishad case.

The Elgar Parishad case was discussed in todays meeting. I will seek legal opinion over constituting an SIT in the matter. With legal opinion in place, I will also discuss the case with the chief minister to take the decision, Deshmukh said.

Deshmukh, who is from the NCP, had said last Thursday that Uddhav Thackeray used his discretionary powers to approve the handover. Deshmukh said they are still of the opinion that the Centre should have taken the state government into confidence before handing over the probe to NIA.

And on Saturday, Deshmukh had said the states home department has sent a note to the advocate general seeking his legal opinion on whether an SIT can be constituted for probing Elgar Parishad case.

As soon as the MVA government was formed, Pawar had written a letter to Thackeray demanding a probe by a special investigation team into the case. The NCP chief had said the erstwhile Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government abused its power to book activists and called their arrests a conspiracy.

After Pawars letter, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar held a meeting with officials of the home department to review the case. The home department had also been considering appointing a special investigation team to probe the Elgar Parishad case.

However, before it could do so, the Centre directed NIA to take over the case. The central agency has the power to take over investigations over cases which have a bearing on national security.

The case relates to the violence on New Years Day in 2018 on the banks of the Bhima river, where thousands of people, mostly Dalits, had gathered to mark the anniversary of an 1818 victory of the British Army, manned primarily by Dalit soldiers, over the Peshwa, the then rulers who instituted oppressive caste practises.

A group of unidentified men on motorcycles attacked the visitors and pelted stones, killing one person and injuring 40.

The police investigation initially pointed at far-right Hindu groups but then concentrated on the event called the Elgar Parishad on December 31, 2017. Police said the event was funded by Maoists, and that the provocative speeches made at the gathering triggered the clashes a day later.

In June and August of 2018, police arrested nine prominent activists and raided the homes of many others in Delhi, Mumbai and other cities.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
International Halal Accreditation Forum (IHAF) has highlighted the importance of developing ISO-level halal standards to capitalise on the Islamic economy, which is projected to reach Dh11.7 trillion ($ 3.2 trillion) by 2024, according to the Global Islamic Economy Report 2019/2020.



Dr Rehab Al Ameri, secretary-general of IHAF, noted the importance of facilitating the development of ISO-level halal standards, in her speech at the 5th Global Halal Industry Platform, reported Emirates news agency Wam.



Halal is gaining prominence among businesses and companies that aim to meet the demands of the 1.2 billion Muslim consumers worldwide, she explained.



The event, held under the patronage of Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, and chairman of Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (ESMA) was opened by Abdulla Al Maeeni, director general of EMSA.



"Today, we are proud to see that Halal standards are being followed by countries to penetrate into various new markets as well as cater to the increasing Muslim population and a growing number of non-Muslim consumers who prefer to consume halal products. Various governments across the globe have taken initiatives to support the development of the Halal industry and this has led to entering new markets, upgrading existing facilities, research and development, technology acquisition, marketing and promotion," she said.



The secretary-general said that developing ISO-level halal standards and harmonising these standards worldwide is essential in protecting the growing number of halal consumers and to facilitate international halal trade.



"Harmonisation of halal standards will not only eliminate trade barriers but also facilitate easier, seamless international trade relations, thus contributing to the economic growth of countries as well as wider opportunities for halal goods to access new halal markets globally," she added.



Today, IHAF has 37 member bodies and 34 member countries, which she said is a remarkable increase in the number of members from when the Forum was founded almost four years ago.
Anthony Stott was last seen at Brisbane airport at 3pm on Sunday after returning from a holiday to Peru

A car belonging to a French language teacher who was hit and killed by a truck after allegedly being held captive on a farm was filmed speeding down a highway without headlights on in the hours before he died.

Anthony Stott, 43, a teacher at prestigious private school St Peters Lutheran College in Brisbane, was run over and killed at 7am last Monday on the M1 near Cudgera Creek in northern NSW, less than 24 hours after he returned from a trip to Peru.

Mark Francis Frost, 46 - known locally as Frosty - and Lauren Claire Grainger, 38, are accused of torturing him for six-and a-half-hours on their nearby farm before he was freed - or managed to escape.

He was allegedly tied to a white chair in their shed with rope around his neck and wrists during the ordeal before somehow making his way to the roadside, where he was hit by oncoming traffic in what has been described as an accident.

Dashcam footage obtained by Nine News showed Mr Stott's silver BMW speeding down the M1 near Cudgera Creek at about 1am on the day he died.

A nearby truck driver flashed his high beam lights toward the driver as the car sped down the road.

About an hour later, the same dashcam recorded the car again. This time it was stopped in the left hand lane.

The car was unlocked and Mr Stott's personal belongings, including keys and wallet, were left inside, police said.

Anthony Stott, 43, was a respected French teacher at Brisbane's St Peters Lutheran College and died about 7am on Monday

It is not clear if Mr Stott was driving the car at the time, but it has since been identified as belonging to him.

At the nearby farmhouse, the teacher appeared brandishing a knife, according to his alleged abductors.

Grainger claimed the couple only detained Mr Stott to find out why he was on their property armed. She claims they let him go, court documents allege.

'I tried to restrain him... I marched him out there [to the shed],' she allegedly told police, according to the Courier Mail.

The couple are charged with detaining Mr Stott with intent to obtain advantage.

They allegedly took photos of him in the chair, restrained with rope around his hands and neck, one of which was shown in Tweed Heads Local Court on Monday as Grainger applied for bail.

Mark Francis Frost, 46, (left) and Lauren Claire Grainger, 38, (right) have been charged with detaining with intent to obtain advantage

Dashcam footage of the moments prior to Mr Stott arriving on their farm show his silver BMW stopped dead in its tracks on the left hand lane of the M1

How a French teacher came to be killed on the side of a highway WHO WAS ANTHONY STOTT? The 43-year-old French teacher taught at St Peters Lutheran College at Springfield HOW DID HE DIE? He was fatally hit by a semi-trailer while walking along the M1 at Cudgera Creek, south of Tweed Heads, on February 10. WHO HAS BEEN CHARGED? Mark Frost, 46, and Lauren Grainger, 38, have been charged with detaining Mr Stott with intent to obtain advantage. They faced Tweed Heads Local Court on Monday. Grainger was denied bail while Frost did not apply for bail. They are accused of holding him captive before he died. COURT HEARS FIRST DETAILS Grainger initially claimed she was asleep and unaware Mr Stott was at the property. Police allege they found a photograph on Grainger's mobile phone of Mr Stott tied to a chair. It's not known if he was released or broke free from the chair. Grainger's charge was adjourned for mention on April 6 while Frost will reappear on Wednesday. Advertisement

Police are yet to find the chair and rope allegedly used to tie up Mr Stott, despite an extensive search of the property.

Grainger allegedly told police Mr Stott was released the next morning and 'casually' walked towards the M1.

Witnesses said he raised his arms as he emerged from bushes by the side of the highway before he was hit.

Police opposed bail for Grainger, allegedly she had not been 'completely honest' with detectives and that knives similar to the one she claimed Mr Stott had were in the farmhouse' kitchen.

Magistrate Geoff Dunlevy denied her bail despite her brother putting up a large bond and offering a place to stay.

He said he was concerned Grainger would interfere with the ongoing police search for the rope and chair - key pieces of evidence.

Frost has not applied for bail and is still behind bars.

Mr Stott was last seen alive landing at Brisbane Airport, he was then allegedly abducted and held at a property in Cudgera Creek in northern NSW. Later, he was struck by a truck and died

Police are yet to find the chair and rope allegedly used to tie up Mr Stott, despite an extensive search of the property (pictured)

The pair are part of a team of vegetable and flower farmers who won Best Lettuce and Best Tomato at the Murwillumbah show last year. Their tomatoes and flowers were regularly sold at a local farmer's markets and stores.

A neighbouring farmer told Daily Mail Australia that Frost seemed like a 'professional' farmer.

Frost and Grainger were both previously witnesses in the trial of a local cattle farmer in 2013, over a pub brawl they allegedly witnessed.

NRL star Craig Field was convicted of Tweed cattle farmer Kelvin Kane's manslaughter at the conclusion of the trial.

Puzzled investigators are examining how and why Mr Stott - a well-respected teacher at St Peters Lutheran College - allegedly ended up at a property in Cudgera Creek.

Mr Stott's silver BMW had been found abandoned on the highway, close to the couple's property, several hours before he was killed

Police are wanting to speak with anyone who may have seen his vehicle last Sunday afternoon - a silver BMW with NSW registration ANL 72Y

Police are probing whether the teacher was known to the accused couple.

Detective Acting Superintendent Brendon Cullen said last week: 'We do not know what that relationship is, we don't know how he ended up in their house or why he ended up there.

'What we do know is he was there and he was detained against his will there... what we don't know is what happened after he left that place.

'We want to speak with anyone on the NSW Far North Coast or across the border in Queensland who may have had dealings with or had spoken with him since Sunday 9 February.

'We're also wanting to speak with anyone who may have seen his vehicle on Sunday afternoon  a silver BMW with NSW registration ANL 72Y.

'Piecing together his movements in the 24-hours prior to his death is crucial and I urge anyone who may have any information to contact Crime Stoppers.'

Investigators aren't ruling out the involvement of illicit drugs in Mr Stott's death and alleged abduction, but noted the teacher was 'by all accounts a fine member of the public'.

Anthony Stott, 43, taught French at St Peters Lutheran College, a prestigious $24,000-a-year school in Brisbane

Supt Cullen also said at this stage there is no evidence pointing to connections to bikie gangs.

In a statement, St Peters Lutheran College Springfield said it was 'devastated' by Mr Stott's 'tragic passing'.

'Mr Stott was a primary school teacher at the College from 2018 and was a popular and well-regarded member of our community,' the school said in a statement.

'This is a very difficult time for the St Peters community and the College is offering support to Mr Stott's family as well as staff, students and families.

'Out of respect for Mr Stott's family, and because this is now an active police investigation, it is not appropriate for the College to make any further public comment.'

Do you know more? Email tips@dailymail.com
Portland and Salem police seized a cache of guns, money and marijuana on Friday in the course of an investigation into a burglary ring that targeted marijuana businesses.

Portland Police officials said the bureaus Narcotics and Organized Crime Unit served a warrant in Salem based on their investigation of a string of burglaries at cannabis businesses in Oregon and southwest Washington.

The Salem Police Department assisted in the operation.

Police seized:

16 firearms

$33,000 in cash

30 pounds of marijuana

six pounds of butane hash oil , a marijuana concentrate

burglary tools

They also found clothing and other material from some of the businesses targeted.

Police disclosed few details into the operation. Assistant Chief Andrew Shearer tweeted Sunday that at least one person was arrested.

Evidence recovered by @PortlandPolice Narcotics and Organize Crime (NOC), and @SalemPoliceDept from a multistate burglary ring targeting marijuana businesses. Arrest made and more to follow. #goodpolicework pic.twitter.com/C0TmsijrH1  AC Andrew Shearer (@PPBInvestigates) February 16, 2020

But the bureau withheld information on arrests and the location where the warrant was served, citing the ongoing investigation.

-- Elliot Njus
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari is all set to represent India at the third High-Level Global Conference on Road Safety for Achieving Global Goals 2030 in Stockholm, today.

The objective of the conference is to bring road safety on the global agenda and renew the world community's commitment to safer roads. Leaders from participating countries will draw up a road-map for reaching the United Nation's goal set under the UN Decade of Action of reducing road crashes by 2030.

During his stay in Stockholm, Gadkari will have a bilateral dialogue with his Swedish Minister for Infrastructure Tomas Eneroth, Minister for Foreign Trade Anna Hallberg, Minister for Business, Industry & Innovation Ibrahim Baylan and also with the British Minister for Road Safety Baroness Vere.

Gadkari is also scheduled to hold talks with the World Bank Vice President (South Asia) Hart Schafer. Also on Gadkari's itinerary will be a Sweden-India Transportation Safety and Innovation Partnership meeting to be attended a number of CEOs.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The criminal case against one-time mining minister Ian Macdonald over his alleged role in providing inside information which helped the Obeid family make millions of dollars from a mining deal was a reductionist, revisionist attempt to rewrite history, his barrister told the NSW Supreme Court.

Instead, Mr Macdonald was a "proactive minister who was passionate about mining" and who always acted in the best interests of the people of NSW, barrister Jonathan Martin said.

Ian Macdonald, right, arrives at court with his barrister Jonathan Martin. Credit:Dean Sewell

Former Labor ministers Macdonald, 70, and Eddie Obeid, 76, along with his son Moses, 50, have pleaded not guilty to the charge that they conspired between September 1, 2007, and January 31, 2009, over the granting of a coal exploration licence which conferred substantial wealth on the Obeid family.

Crown prosecutor Sophie Callan said that each of the accused was part of a conspiracy in that they intentionally entered into an agreement where Mr Macdonald would commit misconduct in public office.
PUNE: A bank in Hong Kong on Monday returned part of the money lost by Cosmos Bank in India in the August 2018 malware attack that cost the bank Rs 94,42,00,000.

Rs 5.73 crore was returned to Cosmos Bank from Hong Kong in the cyber malware attack case, said Sambhaji Kadam, deputy commissioner of police, cyber crime and Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Pune.

The money was returned by Hang Seng Bank in Hong Kong on Monday. The bank returned a total of Rs 5,72,95,870 ($801,283.650), according to Pune police.

The accused had transferred Rs 13,92,00,000 from Cosmos Bank to Hang Seng Bank account in the name of ALM Trading Limited using swift code generated by the bank. The transaction took place at 11:30am on August 13, 2018, two days after 14,849 transactions involving cards had cost the bank Rs 80,50,00,000. Therefore, the total online cheating was worth Rs 94,42,00,000.

A case under Sections 120(b), 420, 467,468,471 and 34 of Indian Penal Code along with Sections 43(a)(b)(c)(e)(g)(i), 65, 66, 66(c), 66(d), 84(b), and 85 was registered at Chatuhshrungi police station. The case was later transferred to cyber police station. The cyber crime police wrote to the police authorities in Hong Kong. As the Hong Kong police department was of little help, the police advised the bank officials to file a civil suit against the Hang Seng Bank. The case continued and the foreign bank deposited Rs 5,72,95,870 as the first instalment of the repayment.

The police have arrested 18 people in the case that is still under investigation.

In an overnight attack on August 11, 2018, the Cosmos Bank had lost Rs 80,50,00,000 through 14,849 card transactions involving Visa and Rupay cards. The second attack was on August 13, 2018, when a transaction involving a swift code cost the bank over Rs 13,00,00,000.
This is the terrifying moment a giant huntsman spider crawls along a door motion sensor.

The view from the security camera shows black and white footage of a man's front porch at night.

It then becomes an arachnophobe's worst nightmare when two hairy legs and a large fang appear over the camera.

A massive huntsman spider has shocked an Australian home owner after it triggered the motion sensor on his front door recently

The creepy security footage was posted around midnight on Sunday by Reddit user Wet_Jimmy on r/Australia, with the title 'Got a motion alert at the front door. Don't think I'll answer...'

The huntsman appears to stay on top of the camera for some time by which the house's occupant was alerted to the situation to see who was at his door.

The video quickly sparked comment about Australian wildlife.

'I f****g hate spiders. Yesterday I mowed the lawn and about 5 huntsman ran out of the grass up onto the fence. Two of them were the most magnificent white brown and black things I'd ever seen. I couldn't help but stand there and marvel at their beauty. I f*****g hate spiders though,' one user commented.

The video shows security camera footage of an unsuspecting front porch at night when all of a sudden two hairy legs and a fang appear and rest on the camera for around 20 seconds

'Yeah at least our crocs and sharks are based in water' another user commented.

'Cut up a fallen gum on my property and when I was backing off the bark from the logs it literally exploded with hundreds of baby huntsman. Needless to say my resident magpies capitalised on the situation,' another user commented.

'He's just waiting for someone to open the door and introduce himself to your face.'
Patna: A youth was taken into custody on Monday after he made an attempt to throw a slipper at former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar.

The youth was thrashed by workers and supporters of Kanhaiya Kumar before being taken into custody by the police. The incident occurred while he was addressing a public meeting in Bihars Lakhisarai.

Calling Kanhaiya Kumar traitor, the youth who hurled a slipper at him said that he has been upset with the ongoing agitation against the CAA, NPR and NRC. He also called himself a Godse supporter and said that attacks against Kanhaiya Kumar will continue.

The youth identified as Chandan Kumar Gore was rushed to a local government hospital for treatment. Talking to reporters he said, Kanhaiya Kumar has been trying to create an atmosphere of hatred through his speeches but left ideology will not work in our country. Patriots like me are not worried about being beaten up.

Kanhaiya has raised the political temperature in Bihar by leading a massive Jan Gan Man Yatra to protest against the CAA, NPR and NRC.

Organisers of the program told this newspaper that he has been facing continuous violent attacks during his state-wide tour. Activists accompanying him said that this was ninth attack in two weeks and slogans being raised by people who have been trying to disrupt his tour indicate that they belong to a particular ideology.

I am not bothered by such attacks. Bihar today needs employment and not NPR. I would like to urge the state government to pass a resolution in the assembly to prevent the implementation of CAA, NPR and NRC. Kanhaiya told reporters in Lakhisarai. Earlier his convoy was attacked in Gaya, Arrah, Nawada, Katihar, Supaul, Begusarai, Sitamarhi and Bhagalpur.
JERUSALEM (AP)  The Israeli military on Sunday said it has thwarted an attempt by the Hamas militant group to hack soldiers' phones by posing as young, attractive women on social media, striking up friendships and persuading them into downloading malware.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus told reporters that the phones of dozens of soldiers had been infected in recent months, although he said the army detected the scam early on and prevented any major secrets from reaching the Islamic militant group.

We do not assess there is any significant breach of information, the military spokesman said.

Conricus said this was the third attempt by Hamas to target male soldiers through fake social media accounts, most recently in July 2018. But he said this latest attempt was by far the most sophisticated.

He said Hamas used a number of social media platforms, including WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and Telegram, to make contact with unsuspecting soldiers. Posing as young women on social media, the group struck up friendships with the soldiers, sending photos, texts and voice messages to them.

The women claimed to be new immigrants to explain their poor Hebrew, and even claimed to be deaf or hard of hearing as an excuse for texting, instead of speaking directly on the phone, Conricus said. The profiles appeared on multiple platforms, and he said the photos were disguised to make it difficult to reverse track them, giving the accounts additional authenticity.

We see that the level of social engineering is much higher and much more advanced and sophisticated when compared to previous attempts done by Hamas, he said. We see that they're of course learning and upping their game.

Eventually, they sent the soldiers links to seduce them into downloading what they said was a Snapchat-like app to exchange photos that could quickly disappear, Conricus said. In reality, the links were to three malware programs  Catch&See, ZatuApp and GrixyApp  that allowed Hamas to gain access to the soldiers' phones.

Story continues

He said it was very clear that Hamas was behind the effort. He said the malware linked to known Hamas servers and at least one of the profiles had been used in a previous Hamas scam. There was no immediate comment from Hamas

Conricus declined to say how many soldiers had been targeted. But he said that dozens had downloaded the malware. He said soldiers had reported the suspicious activity relatively early on, allowing the army and the Shin Bet internal security service to monitor their phones. It is now in the process of removing the malware, he said.

Israel and Hamas, an Islamic movement that seeks Israel's destruction, are bitter enemies that have fought three wars and numerous skirmishes since the group seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007.

The enemy sides have been holding indirect talks through Arab and U.N. mediators aimed at reaching a long-term truce under which Israel would ease a blockade on the Gaza Strip in exchange for Hamas assurances to maintain quiet.

But low-level fighting has persisted. Early Sunday, Israel carried out a number of airstrikes on Hamas targets in Gaza in response to the firing of two projectiles from Gaza into southern Israel. No casualties were reported on either side.
Research News

Scientists resurrect mammoths broken genes

Artist's illustration of a woolly mammoth. Evidence suggests that in their final days, mammoths suffered from a variety of genetic defects that may have hindered their development, reproduction and ability to smell.

By CHARLOTTE HSU

Beyond suggesting that the last mammoths were probably an unhealthy population, its a cautionary tale for living species threatened with extinction: If their populations stay small, they too may accumulate deleterious mutations that can contribute to their extinction. 

Some 4,000 years ago, a tiny population of woolly mammoths died out on Wrangel Island, a remote Arctic refuge off the coast of Siberia.

They may have been the last of their kind anywhere on Earth.

To learn about the plight of these giant creatures and the forces that contributed to their extinction, scientists have resurrected a Wrangel Island mammoths mutated genes. The goal of the project was to study whether the genes functioned normally. They did not.

The research builds on evidence suggesting that in their final days, the animals suffered from a medley of genetic defects that may have hindered their development, reproduction and ability to smell.

The problems may have stemmed from rapid population decline, which can lead to interbreeding among distant relatives and low genetic diversity  trends that may damage a species ability to purge or limit harmful genetic mutations.

The key innovation of our paper is that we actually resurrect Wrangel Island mammoth genes to test whether their mutations actually were damaging (most mutations dont actually do anything), says lead author Vincent Lynch, an evolutionary biologist at UB. Beyond suggesting that the last mammoths were probably an unhealthy population, its a cautionary tale for living species threatened with extinction: If their populations stay small, they too may accumulate deleterious mutations that can contribute to their extinction.

The study was published Feb. 7 in the journal Genome Biology and Evolution.

Lynch, assistant professor of biological sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, joined UB in 2019 and led the project while he was at the University of Chicago. The research was a collaboration between Lynch and scientists at the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, University of Virginia, University of Vienna and Penn State. The first authors were Erin Fry from the University of Chicago and Sun K. Kim from Northwestern University.
U.S. passengers who were evacuated from the quarantined cruise ship the Diamond Princess and officials wait for the takeoff of a Kalitta Air airplane bound for the United States at Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan, on Feb. 17, 2020. (Cheryl and Paul Molesky via AP)

WHO Official Explains Why Coronavirus Hasnt Been Called a Pandemic

Dr. Michael Ryan, a top World Health Organization (WHO) official, revealed why the organization is not classifying the COVID-19 outbreak as a global pandemic.

I think we need to be extremely cautious in using the term pandemic. We had lots of controversies during the H1N1 situation, around when it was pandemic and when it wasnt pandemic, and I think we need to be careful, he said, referring to the swine flu virus.

A pandemic, Ryan suggested, would have to entail efficient community transmission outside of China, where COVID-19, or the Novel Coronavirus, is believed to have originated. He is the executive director of WHOs Health Emergencies Program.

At the present time, were not observing that. And as such, were not in a position to have that discussion. What were seeing is, again, as weve said previously, the majority of cases outside China have a direct link still back to China, Ryan said in a news conference on Monday.

Its important for his organization not to create fear in the world by labeling the outbreak as a pandemic, according to the official.

Weve said that the risk is very high in China, its high regionally and its high around the world. That is not, the risk is high of a pandemic. The risk is high that the disease may spread further, and I think at face value, that is true, Ryan remarked.

A day earlier, Dr. Tony Fauci of the U.S. National Institutes of Health said the outbreak of COVID-19 is on the brink of becoming a pandemic.

It certainly is on the verge of that happening reasonably soon unless containment is more successful than it is right now, Fauci told CBS News, adding that two dozen countries outside of mainland China have approximately 500 cases of the virus.

A worker uses a thermometer to check the temperature of a customer as she enters a Starbucks shop as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Beijing, China, on Jan. 30, 2020. (Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)

Several of them, he added, are starting to get to the second and third transmission. A pandemic officially means that there are several countries with sustained transmission from person to person to person, Fauci explained.

The World Health Organization several weeks ago declared the virus a health emergency of international concern.

The United States on Sunday had a total of 15 cases of the virus from California, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Texas, Illinois, Arizona, and Washington State. However, that number rose on Monday after Americans who were evacuated from a cruise ship held in quarantine arrived in the United States.

Health officials said that 13 evacuees who were removed from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, currently docked off the coast of Japan, were taken to a hospital in Nebraska. Some of them showed signs of COVID-19 while others tested positive, officials said in a press conference on Monday.

The bulk of the cases are in mainland China, centered around Hubei Province and Wuhan, its capitol. Chinese regime officials have implemented lockdowns in dozens of cities, affecting hundreds of millions of people while triggering global supply-chain slowdowns. Last week, top White House advisor Larry Kudlow, said he was disappointed with how China has handled the outbreak. The virus is contained in the United States. We dont know if its contained in China, he said.
A Somali journalist has been shot dead near Mogadishu, police said Monday, in a country which has come under fire from rights groups over the harsh treatment and dangerous conditions facing reporters.

Freelance journalist Abdiweli Ali Hassan, was gunned down on Sunday in the town of Afgoye, some 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the capital.

"Several gunmen attacked the journalist near his house and killed him. The police reached the area a few minutes after the shooting unfortunately, the killers have escaped before they had reached the scene," local police officer Abdirahman Aweys told AFP.

The journalist contributed to the London-based Somali channel Universal TV and the Mogadishu-based Kulmiye Radio Station.

The murder comes just days after Amnesty International said in a report that journalists in Somalia are "under siege", facing bombings, beatings, attacks and arrests.

"A surge in violent attacks, threats, harassment and intimidation of media workers is entrenching Somalia as one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist," Amnesty said, calling on the government to take action.

However, Somalia's government rejected the report, calling it a "fabrication" and "ludicrous allegations", and accusing journalists who had fled the country of making up stories to secure asylum abroad.

At least eight journalists have been killed since 2017, and at least eight more fled the country fearing for their lives, the report said.

Reporters Without Borders ranks Somalia 164th out of 180 countries on its global list of press freedom, with more than 43 journalists killed over the past decade.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Pier 1 Imports filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and announced Monday that it will close 450 locations nationwide.

The company is also in the process of closing two distribution centers to reflect its revised store footprint.

Nine Massachusetts locations will close, including the previously announced closure of the Holyoke location, according to Pier 1s Facebook page.

The locations to be closed have already been removed from the find-a-store function on the Pier 1 website.

In Holyoke, landlord Edward J. Barowsky of BRE Development Inc. said back in October that the Pier 1 at 98 Lower Westfield Road would close. A phone message at the store Monday said Feb. 26 is its last day.

Pier 1 has not put out list of all the stores it will close. But Business Insider compiled a list by comparing an older list it had with the Pier 1 website after the stores that are to be closed had been removed.

According to Business Insider, missing from the list are stores at:

120 Granite St., Braintree

1 Worcester Road, Framingham

289 North Main St., Leominster

133 Turnpike St., North Andover

555 Hubbard Ave., Pittsfield

122 Colony Place Road, Plymouth

145 Highland Ave., Seekonk

9 Mozzone Boulevard, Taunton

Staffers at the Pittsfield location on Monday confirmed the closure but didnt know when the last day will be.

According to the revised map, area Pier 1 locations that will remain open are: 571 Boston Turnpike, Shrewsbury; 249 Hartford Ave., Bellingham; and 34 Hazard Ave., Enfield, Connecticut.

Last month, Pier 1 reported that its comparable-store sales fell 11.4% in its most recent quarter compared with the same time period a year before. The chain said it is having trouble competing with online retailers and discounters.
SPRINGFIELD  State lawmakers are considering changes to the states criminal justice system, including a proposal to end cash bail in Illinois.

At a hearing of the Special Committee on Public Safety last week, legislators heard from several officials about how to improve the justice system.

Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton said the governors office would like to end the practice of requiring people to post cash bail. She said many people remain in jail after being accused of petty crimes because they cant afford bail.

You see for many families, $1,000 or even $100 in bond might as well equal $1 million dollars, Stratton said. Does the cash bail system protect public safety or does it protect wealth?

Brittany Williams, a 29-year-old mother of three from Chicago, said her life was turned upside down in October 2017 when her husband was arrested on a traffic charge. His bail was set at $100,000, meaning he needed to pay 10 percent, or $10,000, to be released.

This experience was traumatic because it took time away from my newborn and it caused me to get back to work before I was even ready, Williams said.

Advocates for ending cash bail have said that the practice has a disproportionate effect on the poor. Those unable to post money to be released from jail while awaiting trial risk losing employment and rental housing and face greater pressure to accept unfavorable plea deals, according to a 2018 study.

Law enforcement groups spoke in opposition to ending the cash bail system in Illinois.

DuPage County States Attorney Robert Berlin, representing the Illinois States Attorneys Association, said prosecutors across the state have concerns about the proposal.

The biggest issue that prosecutors see with the current bail system is we all have stories of violent offenders who get out on bond and then commit violent offenses, Berlin said.

McHenry County Sheriff Bill Prim, representing the Illinois Sheriffs Association, asked committee members to consider the victims of crime.

When they are violated in their homes or in public by predatory neighbors, what will they think when that same predator walks by a free man later that same day? Prim said.

The hearing included members of two Senate committees and one House committee that will address criminal justice reform issues during the legislative session.
Extinction Rebellion activists have dug up the front lawn of a Cambridge University college in an environmental protest.

The group said they were campaigning against Trinity College's plans to sell off land they own in Suffolk to someone with their sights set on developing a lorry park for thousands of vehicles.

"We must call time on those profiting from the destruction of nature," XR Cambridge said.

The environmental campaigners also accused the college of investing millions in oil and gas companies, as reported in student newspaper Varsity.

Images showed tufts of grass scattered over the lawn in the aftermath of the protest.

Extinction Rebellion block roads at London Fashion Week, February 2020 Show all 22 1 /22 Extinction Rebellion block roads at London Fashion Week, February 2020 Extinction Rebellion block roads at London Fashion Week, February 2020 PA Extinction Rebellion block roads at London Fashion Week, February 2020 PA Extinction Rebellion block roads at London Fashion Week, February 2020 PA Extinction Rebellion block roads at London Fashion Week, February 2020 REUTERS Extinction Rebellion block roads at London Fashion Week, February 2020 PA Extinction Rebellion block roads at London Fashion Week, February 2020 REUTERS Extinction Rebellion block roads at London Fashion Week, February 2020 PA Extinction Rebellion block roads at London Fashion Week, February 2020 REUTERS/Henry Nicholls Extinction Rebellion block roads at London Fashion Week, February 2020 REUTERS Extinction Rebellion block roads at London Fashion Week, February 2020 REUTERS Extinction Rebellion block roads at London Fashion Week, February 2020 REUTERS Extinction Rebellion block roads at London Fashion Week, February 2020 REUTERS Extinction Rebellion block roads at London Fashion Week, February 2020 PA Extinction Rebellion block roads at London Fashion Week, February 2020 PA Extinction Rebellion block roads at London Fashion Week, February 2020 REUTERS Extinction Rebellion block roads at London Fashion Week, February 2020 PA Extinction Rebellion block roads at London Fashion Week, February 2020 PA Extinction Rebellion block roads at London Fashion Week, February 2020 PA Extinction Rebellion block roads at London Fashion Week, February 2020 REUTERS Extinction Rebellion block roads at London Fashion Week, February 2020 REUTERS Extinction Rebellion block roads at London Fashion Week, February 2020 REUTERS Extinction Rebellion block roads at London Fashion Week, February 2020 REUTERS

A college spokesperson said: Trinity College regrets the criminal damage done to its property beside Great Gate.

"The College respects the right to freedom of speech and non-violent protest but draws the line at criminal damage and asked the protestors to leave."

Cambridge Police said they were working with the college following the incident.

"A crime has been recorded for criminal damage," they said.

XR Cambridge blocked a road in the city on Sunday to campaign for greater action against climate change, the group said on social media.

They said activists plan to cut off Trumpington Road in a week-long protest "to force local institutions to take action on the climate emergency".

Following the demonstration on Trinity College's lawn, a spokesperson said: "Academics at Trinity are actively engaged in research to understand and develop solutions to climate change, and taking practical steps forward.

"The College fully supports the University initiative, Cambridge Zero.

Extinction Rebellion also demonstrated outside the International Maritime Organisation's headquarters in London on Monday.

The protest, which saw activists dressed as polar bears, aimed to call on the UN's international shipping regulator to introduce stricter rules on exhaust pollution from ships.

Climate activists also targeted London Fashion Week last week, calling for the event to be cancelled over concerns about the clothing industry's environmental impact.

Additional reporting by Press Association.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Christina Lake Cannabis Corp. (the Company or CLC or Christina Lake Cannabis) announces today that Mr. Benjamin Asuncion has resigned as a director and Mr. Arie Prins has stepped down as President, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and a director of the Company effective immediately. The board of directors has appointed Mr. Joel Dumaresq, Director and Chief Financial Officer as the Companys interim-CEO to replace Mr. Prins.



Mr. Dumaresq has been active in Christina Lake Cannabis since the outset and will manage the Company through its planned public listing, pending Health Canada licensing, and planned cultivation and processing phases.

Over the past 15 months, Mr. Prins oversaw the acquisition, buildout and construction of CLCs 131-acre outdoor grow facility as well as the recent submission to Health Canada of the Companys final evidence package in conjunction with its application for a Standard Cultivation License.

Christina Lake Cannabis is also pleased to announce that Nicco Dehaan, a sizable investor in, and director of the Company since its founding, has agreed to assume the role of Chief Operating Officer of CLC. Mr. Dehaan is highly experienced in the industry having held for over seven years a license for the growing of medical Cannabis. Nicco will be responsible for overseeing all of CLCs cultivation and processing operations along with expansion on the Companys 131-acre owned-property and over 200 acre optioned-property, once the necessary licenses have been secured.

The Company further announces the immediate formation of an advisory committee to provide management with input and advice as the Company nears production. Christina Lake Cannabis is pleased to welcome Mr. Gil Playford and Mr. Mervin Boychuk to the Advisory Committee. Mr. Asuncion will remain involved with Christina Lake Cannabis as an advisor to the Company, and has chosen to vacate his Board position in order to make room on the Board for individuals with direct operational experience.

Gil Playford, presently one of Christina Lake Cannabis largest shareholders with over a 10% ownership, is a seasoned senior mining executive and founder of LionOre Mining International, with nickel and gold assets in Africa and Australia. In 2007, Mr. Playford spearheaded the sale of LionOre Mining to Norislk Nickel for C$6.8 billion in cash. Mr. Playford started his professional career with Union Carbide Corp. for 25 years and various senior executive positions including Managing Director in Switzerland, Belgium and Germany. Mr. Playford also was the Chairman and CEO of Union Carbide Canada and Chief Financial Officer of Union Carbide in New York. He became Chairman and CEO of UCAR Carbon, a joint venture with Mitsubishi and took the partnership public as GrafTech International. Mr. Playford is presently Chairman and CEO of Bearing Lithium Corp. (BRZ-TSXV), a mineral and exploration development company listed on the Toronto Venture Stock Exchange (TSXV). Gil holds an Engineering Degree from McGill University in Montreal and a Masters in Business Administration from York University in Toronto.

Mervin Boychuk is a serial entrepreneur having founded, built, and sold four private businesses over his 35-year career. Mr. Boychuk joined South Rock Ltd, a private road construction company, in 1978 and subsequently became President & CEO in 1980. Under his guidance, the company grew from 20 employees to over 350, with annual revenues in excess of C$180 million, before subsequently selling to Aecon Group Inc. in 2009. During his tenure at South Rock, Merv co-founded RecycleWest, a waste oil collection and supply company, which was later sold to Newalta in 1995. In 1996, Merv co-founded EnviroWest which serviced the BC, Alberta, and Saskatchewan vacuum truck sludge and waste oil collection markets. EnviroWest was sold to GFL Environmental in 2010, a large waste management company which employs over 8,850 people. Merv is a significant shareholder in Christina Lake Cannabis and continues to be active in the family-owned waste treatment business in Calgary and Edmonton.

Commented Joel Dumaresq, I would like to personally thank Arie for his leadership during the construction of what we believe is Canadas premier outdoor grow facility. As we await Health Canada approval of our cultivation application, and further as we prepare for our public listing, our operational capabilities have been greatly enhanced with the addition of Nicco, along with Gil and Merv, two highly-accomplished private entrepreneurs and operators.

About Christina Lake Cannabis Corp.

Christina Lake Cannabis Corp is a late-stage applicant under the Cannabis Act, having submitted its Statement of Readiness and Evidence Package for a Standard Cultivation License, in addition to a Research and Development License. CLCs facility is comprised of a 32-acre property, which includes over 870,000 square feet of outdoor grow space, offices, propagation and drying rooms. CLC plans to cultivate cannabis using strains specifically developed for outdoor cultivation and it is planning to produce up to 17,700 kg from its 32-acre facility before developing its adjoining 99-acre expansion property, which will bring its cultivation footprint to over 4.35 million square feet or over 88,000 kg of low-cost, high-quality, sun-grown cannabis annually.

For more information about CLC, please visit: www.clcannabis.com

Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information and Statements

Forward-Looking Information: This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed forward-looking statements. The use of any of the words anticipate, continue, estimate, expect, may, will, would, 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. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks including various risk factors discussed in the Companys disclosure documents which can be found under the Companys profile on www.sedar.com

On behalf of:



Christina Lake Cannabis Corp.

Joel Dumaresq

Joel Dumaresq

CEO and Director

Phone: 604-687-2038

Fax: 604-687-3141
POINCIANA, Fla. - A Florida SWAT team fatally shot a murder suspect early Monday after investigators say he pulled a gun on them after barricading himself inside a house.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said his SWAT team first shot Rudy Shorty Arenas, 40, with beanbag guns to knock him down in an attempt to disarm him, but when he retrieved his .22-calibre handgun and pointed it at them, three members fatally shot him.

Judd said Arenas stole the gun Sunday from an acquaintance and then called Orlando Rivera, telling him to come see him as he wanted to show Rivera something. Rivera arrived with his wife, Brenda, after picking up food for their children, pulling up next to Arenas as he stood on a suburban street at about 7:30 p.m. Sunday.

Arenas pulled out a wad of cash and started counting it, Judd said. When Orlando Rivera complained that he didnt have time to watch Arenas count money, Arenas pulled his gun and fired numerous rounds into the minivan, killing Orlando Rivera and seriously wounding his wife, Judd said. She was hospitalized in stable condition.

Judd said Arenas then went to see his daughter, who called 911. He left, and when deputies spotted Arenas again, he pulled in front of a relatives home and ran inside, locking himself in the bathroom. The SWAT team was brought out.

Judd said Arenas appeared to be on drugs, telling deputies he was on fentanyl. After long negotiations that included Arenas making suicide threats and a robot delivering him a cigarette, he walked out of the bathroom early Monday with his hand in his pocket.

The SWAT team then shot him with beanbags, knocking him down, and his gun fell to the floor. Judd said Arenas picked it up and pointed it at the deputies.

That was his last bad choice, Judd said. Deputies opened fire, killing him.

Judd said both Arenas and Orlando Rivera had long criminal histories in Florida and elsewhere  Arenas in Rhode Island and Rivera in Philadelphia.
Earlier rumors claimed that iPad Pro will receive an update in the first half of this year. Typically, Apple updates iPad Pro every 18 months on an average and thus the 2020 iPad Pro might be launched in March this year.

A summary of a DigiTimes report claims that iPad Pro production has already begun and is slated to launch around March. However, the coronavirus epidemic that originated in Wuhan seems to have played a spoilsport and made it difficult to ramp up iPad Pro production. That apart, the Lunar New Year has also effected the iPad Pro production schedule.

Apple is scheduled to launch its new iPad Pro series around March, with related suppliers already kicking off production for the model ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. However, their output has started growing slowly after the extended Lunar New Year break in China with shipments unlikely to peak until after April, according to industry sources.

We are inching towards Apples spring event and the company is expected to launch a bevy of products. To begin with, Apple is expected to launch a budget iPhone SE 2/iPhone 9. Furthermore, the company is also likely to unveil a 13-inch MacBook Pro that will come with a scissor-switch keyboard. That apart, Apple might also launch other new products. We will update the article with new insights as and when DigiTimes publishes the full-story.

Previous reports mention that iPad Pro might be launched with a 5nm A14 chip in the second half of 2020. It remains to be seen whether Apple will update iPad Pro in the first half of the year or will push the launch to the second half of the year. Another report claims that iPad Pro likely to get a triple rear camera setup that includes a depth-sensing camera.

[via Digitimes
Mask-clad commuters get off a train at a Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) stop in Taipei following the Chinese New Year holidays. (Photo: AFP)

A 61-year-old man from central Taiwan with underlying health problems but no recent overseas travel history died in hospital on Saturday after testing positive for the virus, officials confirmed.

It is the fifth recorded death outside mainland China - previous victims were in the Philippines, Hong Kong, Japan, and France.

"This latest case was an unlicensed taxi driver. His main clients were people who had been to China, Hong Kong and Macao," health and welfare minister Chen Shih-chung told reporters.

Chen said authorities were examining the driver's client list and their travel history, in an attempt to trace the possible source of infection.

A 50-year-old male relative of the victim was later confirmed to have contracted the virus, Chen added, although he was not showing any symptoms.

Taiwan's confirmed cases now stands at 20.

France reported the first coronavirus fatality outside Asia on Saturday, fuelling global concerns about the epidemic.

Nearly 1,000 Taiwanese are still awaiting repatriation in Hubei province - the epicentre of the outbreak - after Beijing and Taipei accused each other of "political manipulation", causing delays.

Taiwan did fly 247 people from Hubei's capital Wuhan on mainland-owned China Eastern Airlines flight on 3 February.

But how that evacuation was carried out caused disagreements.

The relationship between the two is complicated by the fact that Beijing views Taiwanese people as its own citizens, not as foreign nationals.
Indeed, the system has numerous shortcomings. Many families dont have computers. Those with more than one child may not have more than one device. Child care in many families in China is provided by grandparents, who may not be Internet-savvy. There is also the problem of extended screen time.
Feb 17 (Reuters) - French transport infrastructure company Alstom is in talks over a potential $7 billion acquisition of Canada's Bombardiers train business, marking the latest attempt by Western rail companies to bulk up in the face of Chinese competition.

Chinese trainmakers CSR Corp Ltd and China CNR merged into CRRC Corporation Limited in 2015 to create the world's biggest rail conglomerate by sales and listed on the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges.

Bombardier and Alstom have both attempted to merge with German engineering company Siemens.

Alstom has sites in 60 countries, including manufacturing facilities in France, Canada, the United States, Australia, Brazil, Poland, Italy and India and its rail and e-bus division reported over 6 billion euros ($6.50 billion)in orders in the fiscal year to March 2019.

Bombardier has 75 production and engineering sites including in the UK, the United States, Sweden, Spain, Poland, Mexico, Germany, China, Brazil, Canada and Australia and reported nearly $36 billion in orders backlog for its transportation unit in 2019.

The following is a timeline of merger attempts between the three companies over the past three years:

April 2017 - Talks between Bombardier, exploring a possible sale of all or a part of its rail business, and Siemens reached an advanced stage, but stalled because of both companies' desire to keep control of the merged business, according to sources. (https://reut.rs/2u4s6Di)

Sept. 26, 2017 - Siemens and Alstom agree to mergetheir rail operations, creating a European champion to compete with China's state-owned CRRC Corp. (https://reut.rs/2wmZNRj)

July 6, 2018 - Deadline passes for Siemens and Alstom to offer concessions to the European Commission, which they did not do. (https://reut.rs/39EmsXG)

July 13, 2018 - EU antitrust regulators open a full-scale investigation into the Alstom-Siemens deal, saying it could reduce competition and lead to higher fares for travellers.

Dec. 12, 2018 - Alstom and Siemens agree to submit measures to the European Commission to reduce their combined sales by more than half a billion euros in a bid to get their planned rail merger approved.

Story continues

Feb. 6, 2019 - Siemens and Alstom's plan to create a European rail champion collapses after EU regulators block the deal, prompting calls for an overhaul of European competition policy.

Dec. 9, 2019 - Europe's antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager, who blocked the Siemens-Alstom deal in February 2019, says EU regulators would review two-decade old rules to take into account globalisation and digitalisation.

Jan. 22 - Alstom shares hit their highest level in almost 10 years after talk of the possible Bombardier acquisition.

Feb. 12 - Alstom's board meets to decide on a possible offer for Bombardier's rail business.

Feb. 13 - Airbus teams up with the Quebec government to buy Bombardier's 33.5% stake in the A220 passenger jet programme, completing its exit from civil aviation.

Feb. 17 - Alstom confirms it is in talks over a possible $7 billion acquisition of Bombardier Transportation.

Jan. 24 - Bombardier approaches Alstom and Japan's Hitachi as potential merger partners for its rail business. ($1 = 0.9225 euros) (Reporting by Sarah Morland in Gdansk Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority (THEA) announces its sponsorship of the University of South Florida (USF) College of Engineerings 28th Annual Bridge Competition. The competition will take place at USFs Engineering Expo on February 22, 2020, and is open to all Hillsborough and Pinellas County middle and high school students. This years student winners will receive a private, engineer-led tour of the Selmon Extension construction project to give students a behind-the-scenes view of STEM principles in action.

The USF-Selmon Balsa Bridge Design Competition began in the 1980s as a student-run project to connect the University with area under-represented middle and high school students and provide a fun, extra-educational enrichment opportunity in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) philosophies. The competitions theme of Design It, Build It, Break It! allows teams of three students to design and build balsa wood model bridges and test their load capacities.

Teachers and student teams are encouraged to watch workshop videos on the competitions webpage (https://usfbalsabridge.weebly.com/workshop-videos.html), which provide an opportunity to prepare for the competition, and then work with an engineering mentor to develop lesson plans that incorporate the fields of engineering and design with math and science through bridge-building.

Through its partnership with USF, THEA seeks to provide mentorship, encourage the STEM mindset, and raise educational opportunities for Tampa Bay area students. The USF-Selmon Balsa Bridge Design Competition is a branch of THEAs Selmon STEM Scholarship Program, which supports through education and exposure to transportation careers, USF engineering students who are graduates of Hillsborough County high schools.

For more information on the USF-Selmon Balsa Bridge Design Competition, visit https://usfbalsabridge.weebly.com/. For rules and regulations, or to register for the competition, visit https://usfbalsabridge.weebly.com/registration.html.

About THEA:

The Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority (THEA) is a user-financed public agency led by a board of local citizens. Operating with no tax dollars, THEA develops and owns toll highways, including Lee Roy Selmon Expressway. THEA also owns and maintains non-tolled roads, including Brandon Parkway and Meridian Avenue, and the Selmon Greenway, a bicycle and pedestrian path through downtown Tampa. All tolls collected by THEA are reinvested into projects in Hillsborough County. For more information, visit http://www.tampa-xway.com.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Angola on Sunday night, as the Trump administration tries to counter the growing interest of China, Russia and other global powers in Africa and its booming young population of more than 1.2 billion.

Pompeo will meet the oil-rich country's President Joao Lourenco, who is making strides against corruption, including actions against close relatives of the former leader.

Pompeo arrived from Senegal where he started his Africa visit, the first US Cabinet official to visit in more than 18 months.

After Angola, Pompeo heads to Ethiopia, Africas second-most populous nation with more than 100 million people and the headquarters of the African Union.
Outside of El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie managing to tie up loose strings in the iconic Breaking Bad saga, Better Call Saul continues the golden standard of writing the original show enjoyed. Anchoring the whole series is star Bob Odenkirk whos become one of todays greatest dramatic actors, despite being associated with offbeat comedy for decades.

When seen in interviews, Odenkirk is known for displaying those sometimes oddball comedy skills, though hes clearly an astute businessman.

In an interview this last fall on KTLA, Odenkirk revealed some interesting things about his life and work on the show.

His action in sharing a home in New Mexico to film Breaking Bad proved him as one of the most generous people in Hollywood, though also for another good reason.

Two cast members live with Odenkirk with his wife in New Mexico

Bob Odenkirk | Jesse Grant/Getty Images for AMC

Living in New Mexico for about half the year is a far cry from the confines of living in Los Angeles. Some might argue NM is a better place to live long-term than in the overcrowded environment of Tinseltown.

According to Odenkirk from his KTLA interview last August, he says he offered two cast members room and board in his NM house. Its Rhea Seehorn and Patrick Fabian apparently living there to help save them money andwell, loneliness.

Filming away from home like that for months at a time removes them from their immediate families. A sense of isolation might start to creep in without some serious group support.

Odenkirk had the astuteness to realize this and offer Seehorn and Fabian extra bedrooms to live in. Living in the house with them is Odenkirk and his wife.

Seehorn and Fabian are important members of the cast

Those who watch Better Call Saul regularly have known Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler whos Saul/Jimmys girlfriend. They confide with each other about everything, making her almost like his wife. She was also fortunate enough to find herself escaping from the troubled law office of Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill to start her own legal practice.

Then theres Patrick Fabian who plays Howard Hamlin, one of the partners in the law firm. His character didnt always get along with Jimmy/Saul, though now he takes orders from Sauls brother, Chuck.

These actors have obviously grown close with Odenkirk since theyve had more than a few intense scenes together over the years. Whats most notable, however, is Odenkirks generosity in allowing acting friends to stay in his home. He says its all due to the isolation aspect and being better as a group than apart.

The actors all interact together at the house

New Mexico is hosting the fifth season of AMC's "Better Call Saul." Starring Naperville-native Bob Odenkirk (he was born in Berwyn), the series follows Jimmy McGill, who eventually becomes meth lord Walter White's lawyer Saul Goodman on "Breaking Bad." https://t.co/cxUfY6IM9d pic.twitter.com/dg59e7bacw  CBS Chicago (@cbschicago) April 8, 2019

Odenkirk notes he and his wife hang out with Seehorn and Fabian to help thwart any sense of being alone. After all, many actors know what thats like when living in another state or part of the world for months on end while filming a movie.

No doubt Odenkirk knows this sometimes and what it can do to ones mental health. With his action, it proves how good of a person he is, which isnt always typical. Then again, theres been many stories over the years of actors helping fellow actors if they needed help.

Some of those stories even involved actors having their peers living in the formers house when facing financial ruin or other life problems. Countless stories exist like this ranging from Peter Bogdanovich giving room and board to broke Orson Welles to Mel Gibson paying for housing to Robert Downey, Jr. after the latter became destitute from drug addiction.

Now add Odenkirk to this list, only because he had the sixth sense to know the value of mental health when working away from family.
Stargazing scientists have recently begun to focus on the prospect of encountering intelligent extraterrestrials, and the more they think about it the more they realize the first meeting probably wont be with little green men in flying saucers.

What aliens might look like is a growing question among astrobiologists, who are increasingly conjuring up creatures more Lilliputian than mega-brained or reptilian.

The intriguing possibility is they are, in fact, here, but we just dont know it, said Andrew Fraknoi, the emeritus chairman of the astronomy department at Foothill College who recently taught a course on aliens at the University of San Franciscos Fromm Institute and believes space aliens could very well be microscopic or unrecognizable as a life-form.

Fraknoi is on the board of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, known as the SETI Institute, based in Mountain View, where questions about alien civilizations are often discussed. He has long speculated that members of a civilization billions of years old might by now have evolved into a mechanical-biological mix, like a robot with a brain, capable of living for thousands of years as they travel through space.

But it is also possible, he said, that advanced civilizations would have sent into space thousands of tiny canisters holding the germs of life programmed to incubate and grow when they encounter suitable conditions around a star.

In all the mathematical models, a species that started early in the history of the galaxy and had the will and resources to diffuse could by now have filled many parts of the galaxy with its artifacts or biological spores, Fraknoi said.

The otherworldly speculation comes after the recent discovery of two interstellar objects zipping past Earth prompted a surge of interest among scientists in space travel and alien civilizations.

A spinning, red, cigar-shaped object called 1I/Oumuamua was spotted in 2017, followed by the sighting last year of a comet named 2I/Borisov. They were the first verified sightings in human history of objects speeding by from outside our solar system.

The objects, by their very existence, brought home to many astronomers the reality that rocks or vessels potentially carrying biological spores from other solar systems could actually reach Earth.

The notion got a major boost from Avi Loeb, the chair of Harvard Universitys astronomy department. He co-wrote a scientific paper suggesting that Oumuamuas odd, elongated shape and peculiar nongravitational acceleration could mean it is a mechanical probe  a light sail driven by sunshine  sent by an alien civilization.

The object, first spotted by the University of Hawaiis Institute for Astronomy, was, by all accounts, strange. Observations from Earth as it shot past the sun on Sept. 9, 2017, at a speed of 196,000 mph showed that it was slowly spinning, like a bottle on its side, and that it was missing the tail of gas or dust that would signify a comet.

Astronomers around the world immediately attacked Loebs hypothesis, and a subsequent study published in Nature Astronomy last year concluded that Oumuamua was a rocky conglomeration, not a space ship.

But Loeb said his point was that objects like Oumuamua and Borisov could have been synthetic and that humans would be well served by developing techniques for determining if such visitors were constructed. He believes the possibility of extraterrestrial life is too important for humans to discount without investigation, especially considering how useful it would be in figuring out the origin of life.

Intelligent life is more recent in the Earths history, but at the same time, given that it happened here, there is the possibility that it exists elsewhere, Loeb said. I dont think we should pretend that we are the only ones  the smartest kid on the block  because very likely we arent the smartest kid on the block.

The questions about what form alien beings might take are rooted in what is known as the Fermi paradox, named after Italian American physicist Enrico Fermi, who created the first nuclear reactor. He asked during a casual lunchtime conversation in 1950 why aliens have never been spotted, given the high probability of their existence.

SETI has been searching the skies for radio signals or some other sign of life beyond Earth for nearly four decades without a single peep.

Despite the failure, belief in the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations has only increased since Fermis time. Thats largely because powerful telescopes have recently detected numerous planets orbiting their stars at a habitable distance, known as the Goldilocks zone. Calculations indicate there are habitable planets around at least a quarter of the tens of billions of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy, possibly including the closest star, Proxima Centauri, 4.2 light-years from Earth.

Most astrophysicists believe life must have sprung up somewhere, some time, in the 13.5 billion years since the galaxy was formed. Given that our sun is 4.6 billion years old, Fraknoi said civilizations in other parts of the galaxy could have been using robotics, artificial intelligence and tapping the energy from their stars as many as 8 billion years before our solar system was created.

In other words, Fraknoi said, there has been ample time for a civilization to become advanced enough to send alien microbes or micro-artifacts around the galaxy, including to our solar system.

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.

Astronomers have even concocted a sciency name, directed panspermia, to describe the act by an alien civilization of planting the seeds of life in another world.

Samantha Rolfe, a lecturer in astrobiology at Bayfordbury Observatory at the University of Hertfordshire in England, suggested recently that such organisms could be hidden inside what she called a microscopic shadow biosphere that is so different from ours that we dont even recognize it as biological in origin.

So why havent we found it? We have limited ways of studying the microscopic world as only a small percentage of microbes can be cultured in a lab, she wrote in an article for the Conversation website. We do now have the ability to sequence the DNA of unculturable strains of microbes, but this can only detect life as we know it  that contain DNA.

Some have suggested that these alien life-forms could be small inactive spores floating in our solar system waiting for the right conditions to grow or as active monitors  transmitters  used by alien civilizations to determine whether Earthlings are a threat and might need to be eliminated.

Then again, a growing number of astronomers speculate that humanity itself might have originated somewhere else, possibly clinging to a chunk of rock ejected from a planet that was hit by a giant meteor.

We know there are rocks on Earth that came from Mars, so you could imagine that microbes could have potentially survived the journey, Loeb said. So its possible we are all Martians. If you can do it from Mars, you can potentially bring life from other planets in other galaxies.

Loeb recently published a paper calculating how asteroids could graze Earths atmosphere, scoop up microbes like the foamy cream off a latte, and potentially carry the seeds of life into outer space. Maybe, he and others suggest, this swapping of biological spores has happened since the beginning of time.

Either way, most experts believe an alien encounter is likely someday. The question, say those who think about such things, is whether humans will know it when they see it.

Potentially, we could be part of an experiment where life was planted on Earth and someone is watching, Loeb said. If thats the case, for sure they are disappointed. That would be my assessment by reading the morning newspaper.

Peter Fimrite is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: pfimrite@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @pfimrite
U.S. President Donald Trump spoke by phone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on February 16, "expressing concern over the violence in Idlib, Syria," according to White House press secretary Judd Deere.



Trump called for Russia to end its support for the Syrian regime's "atrocities" and conveyed the United States' "desire to see an end to Russia's support" for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.



He urged "a political resolution to the Syrian conflict," which has lasted for nearly nine years.



Their conversation came a day before a new round of talks are scheduled between Ankara and Moscow who back opposing sides in the conflict.



Backed by Russian air strikes, Syrian government forces made significant advances on February 16 in the country's Aleppo province, seizing most of the last rebel-held region.



Turkey, which supports rebels who want to remove Assad from power, has urged Russia to stop the attacks in the Idlib region, warning it would use military might to drive away Syrian forces unless they withdraw by the end of the month.



By the end of February 16, regime forces "were in control of all the villages and small towns around Aleppo for the first time since 2012," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.



The UN says that, since December, 800,000 people have been displaced due to fighting in the area.

Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters
STORY LINK Pound Canadian Dollar (GBP/CAD) Exchange Rate Sinks as Rising Oil Prices Boost the Loonie

GBP/CAD Exchange Rate Falls as Risk Appetite Returns for Canadian Dollar

GBP/CAD Exchange Rate Falls, No-Deal Brexit Fears Return

GBP/CAD Outlook: Could the Pound Rise on Record-Low Unemployment?

Like this piece? Please share with your friends and colleagues:

The Pound Canadian Dollar (GBP/CAD) exchange rate fell by -0.5% today, with the pairing currently trading around CA$1.720 as increasingly muted fears over Chinas coronavirus outbreak has strengthened oil prices and boosted the risk-sensitive Loonie.Ray Dalio, co-chief of investment at Bridgewater Associates, one of the worlds largest hedge funds, said that the short-term effects of Chinas coronavirus outbreak may be exaggerated.Dalio also added:I think the most likely outcome is that this virus will be a larger version of SARS that will have a significant temporary effect but wont have a big long term influence, so the downward market price moves related to it are probably becoming exaggerated.With Canadas economy being particularly sensitive to effects on the global supply chain reaching back to China, any signs of the coronaviruss spread slowing down is beneficial for the risk-averse Canadian Dollar.Due to rising hopes that China will take stimulus measures to prevent the viruss negative impact on the economy, market appetite for the Loonie has increased on hopes of a boost for the global economy.The Pound (GBP) has remained subdued against many of its peers today after it was revealed that the French Foreign Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drain, believes that UK-EU post-Brexit trade negotiations would likely result in the two ripping each other apart.Mr Le Drain also added:But that is part of negotiations, everyone will defend their own interests.In UK economic news, today saw the publication of Februarys Rightmove House Price Index, which rose by 0.8%, while the year-on-year figure increased by 2.9%. However, this failed to boost the GBP/CAD exchange rate as UK investors continue to remain subdued over no-deal Brexit fears.Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove, was optimistic in his analysis, however, commenting:After three and a half years of Brexit uncertainty, dither, and delay, many now seem to have the 2020 vision that this is the year to satisfy their pent-up housing needs.Sterling traders will be looking ahead to tomorrows release of the UK ILO unemployment rate report. If it continues to remain at record-lows, however, we could see the Pound begin to edge higher against the Canadian Dollar.Tomorrow will also see the release of the UK average earnings report for December, which is forecast to rise by 3%.Meanwhile, Canadian Dollar investors will be awaiting tomorrows publication of Decembers manufacturing sales gauge, which is expected to rise from -0.6% to 0.5%.

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.

TAGS: Canadian Dollar Forecasts Pound Canadian Dollar Forecasts
New Delhi, Feb 17 : The Congress has rejected former Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia's contention that then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wanted to quit after Rahul Gandhi tore the Ordinance, proposed by the UPA government.

Congress chief Spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, "We are not privy to conversation that took place between the two person (Singh and Ahluwalia), but we can say Rahul Gandhi has said he considered Manmohan Singh his guru. Thus, there is no question of disrespecting Singh." Hailing Rahul Gandhi's vision, Surjewala said the Supreme Court had now asked the parties to place in the public domain the reason behind nominating a tainted person. "It vindicates Rahul Gandhi's stand," he said.

The Congress said when all the political parties were in agreement to go ahead with the Ordinance, Rahul Gandhi tried to change the course because he wanted "the Ganges of politics to be clean".

In an interview to IANS, Alhuwalia said Rahul Gandhi used strong words. "On hindsight, I think, Singh took the right call." Explaining his reasoning, the ex-aide of Singh said had Rahul Gandhi been a member of the council of Ministers, things would have been different. "But he was the Vice-President of a political party," Ahluwalia said.

That the Congress leader kept Singh in the dark about his thinking, Ahluwalia quoted Rahul Gandhi saying the choice of words could have been better.

"You must realise, in a democracy, there is nothing wrong to have dissent within the party. I don't think there's much merit in running a party in a way where everyone in a party simply endorses the top leadership," he said.
Deputy head of the Islamic Republic's Organization for Educational Research and Planning (OERP) has denied that school text-books have been changed in the country to "curry favor with Moscow and exonerate it from the historical crimes the Russian Empire committed in Iran."

Speaking at an academic session on Sunday, February 16, Hassan Maleki insisted that a series of references to Russia in Iranian school-books were merely omitted to "decrease the volume" of the textbooks.

Furthermore, he dismissed the critics of the "omissions", describing them as suffering from pessimism and psychological problems.

Earlier, in a series of tweets, an expert in educational affairs, Adel Barkam, had disclosed that some of the topics related to Russia's historical crimes against Iran had been omitted from the second volume of the Persian textbook for the eleventh grade.

In the tweets published on February 2, Barkam circulated images of the book's pages and noted that not only some of the paragraphs related to Russia had been dropped, but some others had also been edited.

In the new version of the textbook, Barkam argued, the word "Russians" has replaced the term "Russian Army."

As another example, Barkam highlighted a paragraph in the older textbook that says, "Soon, the flag of Russians was raised over the soil soaked with the blood of innocent people."

The sentence in the new edition of the book was changed to, "Soon, the Russian Army conquered the region."

The obvious changes, all in favor of Russia have triggered a barrage of criticism in recent days in Iran.

The Islamic Republic officials have repeatedly tried to play down the changes, dismissing them as "minor amendments."

Ali Zou-Elm, the Director of the Iranian Organization for Educational Research and Planning, insisted on February 4, "Our fundamental view, about what has happened in history, is that Tsarist Russia's crimes could not be omitted (from the text-books). We also do not deny that the Eastern Bloc's style of interaction was hegemonic under the Soviet Union. We'll never omit them (from the text-books)."

Disregarding the obvious changes presented by the critics, the mid-ranking cleric referred to Moscow-Tehran friendly relations, maintaining, "The fact that the Russian Federation is currently working and interacting with Iran does not mean that a period of history could be ignored. We disapprove of manipulation of history."

Nevertheless, it is crystal clear that the Islamic Republic has started implementing a comprehensive plan to restructure its approach towards the educational text-books, critics say.

Late last January it was announced that the Islamic Republic was set to add "America's Crimes and Conspiracies" as a new topic to the curriculum of local schools and universities, according to a decision by parliament.

The new topic will be taught at universities from the next Iranian academic year, September 23, 2020, the General Manager of Higher Education Planning Department at the Islamic Republic Ministry of Science, Research and Technology (MSRT) announced on January 23.

Meanwhile, according to critics, many classic Persian masterpieces have been replaced by propaganda pieces in favor of the clergy-dominated establishment in Iran.
Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) condemns in the strongest terms possible in the killing of a young freelance TV and radio journalist, Abdiwali Ali Hassan aka Abdiwali Onine) who was shot dead in Afgoye town, 30KM south of Mogadishu, on Sunday evening 16 February, 2020.

Unidentified gunmen have shot several bullets on the head and the chest of Abdiwali causing serious injuries as he was returning to his home in Hawo Tako neighborhood in Afgoye around 6:14 p.m local time, family members and colleagues told SJS. The journalist succumbed to his injuries as he was rushed to the hospital. The assailants fled the scene and were not arrested.

Abdiwali was shot more than five times by men armed with pistols when he was going home from work. He died on the way to the hospital, Mohamed Said Halane, who works at Radio Afgoye and close friend of Abdiwali told SJS.

According to Abdiqani Abdullahi, Radio Kulmiye news editor, Abdiwalis last news report on Saturday 15 February, covered Somali National Army operations in several districts in the Lower Shabelle region targeting al-Shabaab held locations . Mogadishu-based Universal TV editor, Abdullahi Ahmed Nur told SJS that Abdiwali also covered another story about the inaugural ceremony of a new school in Shalanbood district and the renovation of Shalanbood District Commissioners offices.

Colleagues told SJS that Abdiwali sometime last year told them that he has received a death threat due to his work as a journalist.

We condemn in the strongest terms possible the killing of our colleague Abdiwali Ali Hassan, who was killed in Hawo Tako neighborhood of Afgoye town, 30KM south of Mogadishu. Late Abdiwali was shot dead by unidentified gunmen on the evening of Sunday as he was going home from work. He was a young freelance journalist who was simultaneously reporting to both Radio Kulmiye and Universal TV covering security and humanitarian news in the conflict-ridden Lower Shabelle region, Abdalle Ahmed Mumin, the Secretary General of Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) said.

This is indeed another sad day for Somali journalists. We call for the Somali Federal Government and the local authorities to carry out prompt investigations and bring the killers into the justice, adds Mr. Mumin.

Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS), on behalf of its members and the Somali journalists at large, sends sincere condolences to the families and friends of Abdiwali, May his soul rest in peace.

Abdiwalis death records as the first killing against journalists in Somalia. Late Abdiwali, 25, left behind a wife and two children.
Amy Klobuchars results in Nevada on Saturday and South Carolina, Feb. 29, will likely be more modest than her surprisingly strong finishes in New Hampshire and Iowa. Yet, the senior senator from Minnesota might have the best chance of any Democrat in America of becoming presidentsooner or later.

How could that be? The Real Clear Politics average of all major polls shows her with under 5 percent support nationwide. Well, it takes a bit of odds-making, coupled with a dash of wishful thinking for Klobuchar and her staff, but it goes like this:

First, Klobuchar could still emerge from the narrowing field of Democratic contenders and win the nomination in July, especially if none of the front-runners has enough delegates to prevail on the first ballot. A deadlocked convention seems increasingly possible, with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg dividing the early votes and former Vice President Joe Biden still garnering the most support among African-American Democrats, even as his overall campaign slumps badly. Former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, with his massive bank account, must be taken seriously.
We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

Submit
The move comes months after the UK lifted a four-year ban on direct flights to the popular winter sun destination in October 2019, citing "improvements in security procedures at the airport."

Egypt's Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport received two TUI operated flights from the UK for the first time since 2015, a statement from the civil aviation ministry read late Sunday.

The first flight came from London's Gatwick Airport, carrying 184 passengers, while the second one came from Manchester Airport, carrying 190 passengers.

The British tour operator is scheduled to operate three flights weekly from Gatwick to the South Sinai tourist city in the current winter season till March 25.

The move comes months after the UK lifted a four-year ban on direct flights to the popular winter sun destination in October 2019, citing "improvements in security procedures at the airport."

British flights were suspended in November 2015 over security concerns after a Russian passenger jet crashed in Sinai minutes after take-off from Sharm El-Sheikh airport, killing all 224 people on board.

The first British flight after the ban was lifted arrived in Sharm El-Sheikh from London last December.

Last month, Britain's budget airline easyJet said it will resume flights to the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh this summer for the first time in over four years.

The resumption of British flights is expected to contribute to boosting the country's tourism industry, a pillar of the economy and a key source of hard currency.



Search Keywords:

Short link:


(Natural News) Many scientific investigations have been conducted to figure out if there is a connection between the tide and earthquakes. For decades, scientists have failed to understand exactly why there is an uptick in earthquake tremors during low tide. A new study, published in the journal Nature Communications, has finally figured out the mysterious link between the two.

In this study, led by researchers from the Earth Institute of Columbia University, the scientists believe that they have uncovered the mechanisms that explain this phenomenon.

Everyone was sort of stumped, explained Christopher Scholz, seismologist at Columbias Earth Observatory. Because according to conventional theory, those earthquakes should occur at high tides. However, Scholz and his team found that the answer to the mystery comes down to the magma lurking beneath the mid-ocean ridges.

Scholz explained that the magma chambers breathe, expand and contract along with the tides. This is what made the faults move during low tide. He further explained that they found the correlation with low tide surprising because of the way mid-ocean faults move.

Scholz described the mid-ocean faults as two pieces of the Earth. During movement, one block, the upper block, slides downward, causing friction and triggering an earthquake. Because of this, scientists believed that tremors should occur during high tide, when there is more water sitting on top of the fault. Theoretically, this would have pushed one block down and caused earthquakes. However, the decades worth of evidence have shown that thats not what happens and instead, the lower block is pulled upward during low tide because of forces that are trying to push it up.

New evidence goes against the tide

Their evidence came after Scholz and his team, which included colleagues from the University of Bristol, studied the Axial Volcano. It is a submarine volcano at the Juan de Fuca Ridge, a mid-ocean ridge located approximately 300 miles off the coast of the Pacific Northwest. It stretches from around Oregon to the Canadian province of British Columbia. They chose Axial because its known to erupt approximately every 10 years. (Related: Deciphering earthquake patterns: Scientists examining sediment cores determine large quakes are not as random as previously thought.)

Scholz and his team set up a large network of instruments at the bottom of the ocean and they used the data gathered by these instruments to figure out exactly how low tides could be causing the tremors.

With the help of the instruments, Scholz and his team inspected a component that other scientists had not considered before: the magma chambers, which are soft, pressurized pockets sitting underneath the ridge. With the help of the instruments, Scholz and his team observed that when the tide was low, there would be less water sitting on top of the chamber, giving it a lot more freedom to expand. As it puffed up, the magma chamber caused the rocks around it an incredible amount of strain, which forced the lower block on the fault to slide upward, creating an earthquake in the process.

Furthermore, Scholz and his team found that the tidal earthquakes produced in the region of the Juan de Fuca Ridge were so sensitive that even the tiniest stress on the fault could trigger an earthquake. They said that if the seismic waves from another earthquake reached the fault or if fracking wastewater were to be pumped underneath the ground, an earthquake could happen.

With this new research, Scholz and his team hope to give the world a better understanding of how pressure from hydrofracking can cause earthquakes. People in the hydrofracking business want to know, is there some safe pressure you can pump and make sure you dont produce any earthquakes? said Scholz. And the answer that we find is that there isnt any  it can happen at any level of stress.

Sources include:

ScienceDaily.com

Nature.com

NewsHub.co.nz
Two college students have



been arrested after drug worth Rs 12 lakh were seized from them in West Bengal's Malda district, police said on Monday.

They were arrested from Kani More area in Malda town on Sunday night, a police officer said.

One of the arrested persons is a woman, he said, adding, 500 gm of brown sugar, two mobile phones and Rs 2,000 in cash were seized from their possession, the Inspector in- charge of English Bazar police station, Amalendu Biswas, said.

They were produced before a court on Monday and remanded to police custody for 11 days, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An Oklahoma man accidentally shot and killed his best friend while he was cleaning his gun, authorities have said.

The man, who has not been named, was cleaning his semi-automatic handgun inside a mobile home in Midwest City, near Oklahoma City, when it accidentally discharged and struck 21-year-old Joshua Allen fatally in the chest.

The tragic accident unfolded on Sunday afternoon when the victim was reportedly playing video games inside the mobile home.

Officers responded to a 911 call from someone saying their brother had shot 'his best friend' while he was 'messing with a gun'.

An Oklahoma man accidentally shot and killed his best friend at a mobile home (above) while he was cleaning his gun, authorities have said

The man, who has not been named, was cleaning his semi-automatic handgun inside the mobile home (above) in Midwest City, near Oklahoma City, when it accidentally discharged and struck 21-year-old Joshua Allen fatally in the chest

'I need an ambulance fast,' the caller told dispatchers.

'My brother was messing with a gun and it went off accidentally hitting his best friend.'

Police arrived on the scene to find Allen dead from a single gunshot wound to the chest.

Witnesses inside the trailer at the time of the incident reported that a man living at the home was cleaning the firearm when it accidentally discharged, officers said.

Allen, who was playing video games at the time, was fatally struck once in the chest, the Midwest City Police Department said.

Officers were called to the scene on Sunday afternoon. The victim was reportedly playing video games inside the trailer when he was shot

Midwest City Police Chief Brandon Clabes said in a statement Monday that the death did not appear deliberate but was an 'unfortunate, tragic event'

Midwest City Police Chief Brandon Clabes said in a statement Monday that the death did not appear deliberate.

'This is still an active case but at this time, all evidence indicates the shooting was not intentional  an unfortunate, tragic event while mishandling a loaded firearm,' he said.

The case will be presented to the Oklahoma County District Attorney's Office to review for any possible criminal charges.
In the second hearing of his trial, a controversial Iranian activist and publicist captured last year by the Islamic republics intelligence has denied all charges leveled against him.

Rouhollah Zam is on trial facing seventeen charges, including "spying for the Israeli intelligence service through the spy service of one of the regional countries", "spying for the French intelligence service", "cooperating with the hostile government of the United States against Iran." All these charges are punishable by death under the Islamic Republic law.

Zam, 46, was the owner of AmadNews (Persian acronym for Awareness, Combat, and Democracy), later renamed Sedaye Mardom (Voice of the People.) He had been a vociferous critic of Iranian regime for the past several years with millions of followers on social media, often spreading information about corruption by officials. His trial, by a notorious hardliner judge, Abol-Qassem Salavati, held its first session on February 10.

During the second session of the trial, Judge Salavati demanded Zam to elaborate on his responsibility concerning the anti-Islamic Republic protests in late December 2017-early January 2018 that spread to more than 100 cities across Iran.

"The protests have got nothing to do with me," Zam curtly replied.

In the heat of the uprising against the clergy-dominated regime, the Islamic Republic authorities had accused Paris-based Zam of fomenting unrest against the establishment through online postings. The protests were brutally suppressed and left more than thirty dead.

Pressed by the Judge, Zam said that he had temporarily severed online activities days before the unrest and resumed it months after the protests.

Responding to another charge of "cooperating with the hostile government of the United States against Iran," Zam insisted that the U.S. does not constitute a "hostile" government.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps' fearsome Intelligence Organization boasted on October 14 that it had detained Zam through "an elaborate" scheme. Later, the daily Le Figaro quoted French officials as saying Zam had flown to Iraq. The paper also quoted sources as saying Iranian agents had convinced Zam that Iraq's influential Shi'ite religious leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani was ready to grant him an audience.

These reports indicated Zam might have been abducted in Iraq and taken to Iran.

In a statement on February 14, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said it was extremely concerned about AmadNews website editor Rouhollah Zam's trial.

"Pro-government media that attended the first hearing in his trial before a Tehran revolutionary court have published photos showing masked security agents in a nearly empty courtroom and a visibly tired Zam sitting opposite Abol-Qassem Salavati, a judge widely regarded as one of the worst executioners' of Iranian journalists. There was no sign of a defense lawyer," RSF noted in its statement.
Union minister has said the Centre aims at self-sufficiency in the sector by 2024 and the changes in the mining policy have been effected to achieve the same.

Joshi -- Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Mines and -- was speaking at a two-day brainstorming session in Narmada district, about 100 km from Vadodara. Senior officials of the coal ministry, chairmen and managing directors of public sector undertakings are attending the event.

Joshi said India stood fifth in terms of coal reserves and the Centre was working towards achieving self-sufficiency in coal production.

He also talked about a move of the government that opens up the sector to players outside steel and power as well as removes end-use restrictions.

Adding that the move is likely to create an efficient energy market and bring in more competition as well as reduce coal imports.

In 2018, the government allowed commercial mining by private entities and set a mining target of 1.5 billion tonnes by 2020.

Out of this, 1 billion tonnes was set to be from Coal India, while 500 million tonnes was to be from non- entities.

This target has now been revised to 1 billion tonnes by 2023-24, Joshi stated.
Irked over repeated failures of the states to file their replies on setting up of community kitchens across the country, the Supreme Court on Monday imposed an additional cost of Rs five lakh each on six of them for not complying with its directions to file their affidavits on a PIL.

Besides the cost imposed on February 10 for non-compliance of court orders, a bench of Justices N V Ramana, Ajay Rastogi and V Ramasubramanian imposed additional cost of Rs five lakh each on Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Orissa, Goa and Delhi.

The states have been directed to file their counter affidavits within one week.

The top court also rejected the request of several states, except Kerala, for a cost waiver.

The bench asked Attorney General K K Venugopal to file an affidavit on behalf of the Centre including responses of various ministries impleaded as parties in the PIL.

Advocate Ashima Mandla, appearing for the petitioner, has been asked by the bench to prepare a chart of all the states who have filed their replies to the PIL.

The bench posted the matter for hearing on April 8.

The top court had on February 10 said that five states -- Punjab, Nagaland, Karnataka, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand -- and Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobar and Jammu and Kashmir, who have filed their responses on the PIL by Anun Dhawan, will not pay any fine.

Mandla had told the court that five months had passed since the apex court issued notice and except for five states and one union territory, no other states and UTs have filed their response.

She had said 69 per cent of children under the age of five have lost their lives due to malnutrition and it is high time that states take steps to set up community kitchens.

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 rates.

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.

"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.

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



Navnirman Sena workers were detained in Parli in Beed district on Monday for holding a protest without permission, police said.

They were protesting against Latur-based Panangeshwar Sugar Factory for allegedly not clearing payments of sugarcane farmers.

The MNS workers had gathered at Shivaji Chowk, close to where former state minister and BJP leader Pankaja Munde stays, an official said.

"The MNS workers tried to block a road and also came face to face with a group of BJP functionaries. There was some tension for a little while after which the situation defused. We detained 41 MNS workers for holding a protest without permission and later released them," the official said.

"A team from Panangeshwar Sugar Factory held talks with the MNS workers at Parli police station and agreed to pay Rs 6 crore in dues," Inspector Hemant Kadam said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Texas man who was convicted on a charge of murder a decade ago could be just weeks away from a complete exoneration thanks to a groundbreaking DNA analysis method that relies on a computer algorithm.

Lydell Grant, 42, was seven years into his life sentence when in November 2019 he was released on bail after DNA evidence collected from the fingernails of his purported victim, Aaron Scheerhoorn, was re-examined by a proprietary software, which conclusively ruled him out as a suspect.

When the evidence was plugged into the FBI's vast Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, it produced a match. According to police, the new suspect, Jermarico Carter, has since confessed to stabbing Scheerhoorn outside a Houston gay bar in 2010.

Lydell Grant, 42, could be fully exonerated in a matter of weeks in a 2010 murder thanks to a new kind of DNA testing (pictured in November 2019 after his release on bail)

Grant was convicted in 2012 of murdering Aaron Scheerhoorn, 2018, in 2010. Grant was seven years into his life sentence when he was ruled out as a suspect

Witnesses testified they saw Grant stab Scheerhoorn in the stomach outside this gay bar in Houston

Grant's case has sparked a debate in scientific and legal circles over the use of a new type of DNA analysis known as probabilistic genotyping, which uses mathematical algorithms instead of manual methods, especially in instances where the tested sample includes DNA mixture from multiple people, as NBC News first reported.

What is probabilistic genotyping in DNA testing and why is it controversial? A new type of DNA analysis, known as probabilistic genotyping, has emerged and evolved over the past two decades, relying on sophisticated computers rather than lab technicians. Whereas standard DNA testing requires an analyst to interpret electronic data, probabilistic genotyping uses mathematical algorithms, especially in instances where the tested sample is very small, or includes DNA mixture from multiple people. There are a handful of private companies on the market that offer their services to law enforcement agencies using their proprietary methods, including supercomputers running algorithms, to conduct probabilistic genotyping. Those include Cybergenetics in Pittburgh, and STRMix in California. Cybergenetics, which helped clear Lydell Grant of murder in Texas, employs its software, TrueAllele, to statistically analyze DNA samples. In Grant's case, his DNA was excluded from evidence found under the victim's fingernails with a one in ten trillion likelihood ratio. Proponents of this new approach to DNA testing, which harnesses algorithms to untangle complicated DNA samples, rather than discard them for being inconclusive, believe it could lead to more innocent people being exonerated. But critics point to a veil of secrecy drawn over the companies' source code. Legal experts argue that private outfits like Cybergenetics and STRMix should be more transparent and reveal their methodology, so that both prosecutors and attorneys have equal access to the source code. Advertisement

This emerging approach to DNA testing relies on statistics and reduces subjectivity in the interpretation of results.

The reliability of this emergent technology has come under scrutiny by criminal defense lawyers and experts, because the source code of probabilistic genotyping programs is proprietary, and the handful of private companies that are spearheading this approach have been reluctant to lift the veil on its inner workings, citing stiff competition in the marketplace.

Grant, 42, has emerged as a poster child of probabilistic genotyping, given that his case revolved around a mixture of DNA evidence belonging to the victim and an unknown male.

Houston's police crime lab, using traditional DNA analysis, was unable to conclusively say that the unknown male was Grant, but an expert testifying as a witness for the prosecution told the jury during his 2012 trial that the defendant 'could not be excluded.'

Grant had an alibi for the night of Scheerhoorn's murder, but several witnesses picked him out of a police lineup, ultimately leading to his conviction.

Grant, who had a prior criminal record, has vehemently denied killing the 28-year-old Scheerhoorn and wrote to Project Innocence of Texas, asking the organization to take on his case.

In 2018, Project Innocence of Texas referred Grant's case to A&M University School of Law, where students proceeded to re-examine the evidence, focusing on the DNA sample.

Mike Ware, executive director of the Innocence Project of Texas, became convinced that Grant's could not have been part of the sample, which the Houston Police Department's crime lab failed to fully interpret.

In March 2019, students working on Grant's case reached out Cybergenetics, a Pittsburgh-based DNA testing company that had tested unidentified remains of victims killed in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

Cybergenetics used its TruAllele supercomputer to re-analyze the DNA sample from the 2010 crime scene by running it through its algorithm with 170,000 lines of code, and concluded that Grant's DNA was not a part of it.

The Innocence Project of Texas in March reached out to the DNA-testing Cybergenetics, which uses its proprietary TrueAllele technology to run DNA samples through an algorithm

TrueAllele's algorithm uses 170,000 lines of code to analyze complicated DNA samples

TrueAllele statistically excluded Grant from Scheerhorn's fingernails with a one in ten trillion likelihood ratio

Cybergenetics then teamed up with another crime lab in South Carolina with access to the FBI's 14million sample-strong DNA database, CODIS, that identified Scheerhorn's likely killer, Jermarico Carter.

After the sample was plugged into FBI's database, it produced a new suspect: Jermarico Carter, 41 (pictured)

Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said in a statement last December that Carter, who has a past criminal record, has admitted to stabbing Scheerhorn to death.

Acevedo also issued an apology to Grant and his family 'as they have waited for justice all these years.'

Authorities tracked down Carter, 41, in Georgia, where he was arrested in late December. Charges against him are pending.

FBI typically does not allow third parties direct access to its database, instead requiring organizations like the Innocence Project to partner with law enforcement agencies or authorized crime labs to conduct searches through CODIS.

While the new evidence in Grant's case is expected to be presented before a judge in Houston in the coming weeks, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals will have the final say in declaring him innocent of murder.

Ware said he believes erroneous eyewitness identifications based on outdated and flawed techniques used by police detectives helped to wrongly convict Grant.

Mistaken eyewitness identifications contributed to more than 70 per cent of the more than 360 wrongful convictions in the US that have been overturned by post-conviction DNA evidence, according to the Innocence Project.


The last time I had to comment on TV licence, it was to express consternation about the call by the Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC), that the government bails out Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) from its crippling debt (NMC asks govt to bail out GBC  owes GHC 25m electricity bill, Graphic.com.gh, 2019).

Equally distressing was the President's seeming U-turn about GBC as the propaganda arm of the (NDC) government (2016) and his directive that immediate steps be taken to settle GBC's debt.

While commending the President's gesture of assistance, my argument remains that rather than commit taxpayers money to settling a perennial problem, which to all purposes and intents will recur, the NMC which has a constitutional obligation to ensure high journalistic standards and insulate the state-owned broadcaster from government interference (1992 Constitution of Ghana) should be leading the effort to seek the support of the President for the efficient collection of the TV licence.

It is my considered opinion that this is a more enduring means of guaranteeing GBC both editorial and operational independence.

The public spat between the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association, GIBA and the Ministry of Communication over Set-Top Boxes, STBs, threw my concerns into sharper focus (We'll fight MoC's free-to-air TV access restriction  GIBA, Classfmonline.com, 2020).

Being the representative of the President, the Chairman of the NMC would have misspoken, or spoken out of

the turn had he suggested even remotely, that the President supports the TV licence collection effort.

This is because there has since January 2017, been a quiet attempt to repeal and replace the TV licence with a Digital Access Fee (DAF).

Per the National Communication Authority, NCA guidelines published on their website, the Government of Ghana in 2019 revised its policy on the transition from analogue to digital television.

The new policy introduced a Digital Access Fee (DAF) to replace the existing TV licensing fee for TV receivers imposed by the Television Licensing Decree, 1966, (N.L.C.D. 89) (Minimum Requirements for reception of digital terrestrial and satellite television services, 2019: 13).

Being the Director-General of GBC at the time and at the forefront of the public spectacle that characterised and undermined the television licence collection, I find this development both intriguing and to put it bluntly, cowardly.

Intriguing because it completely flies in the face of the claim that the same New Patriotic Party government is seeking ways to transform GBC into an effective Public Service which by definition should have an independent (from market and political forces) and regular source of funding.

How does one square this DAF, which clearly goes to the signal carrier with a TV licence regime which seeks to support the generation of independent and bold content?

Besides the difference in who accesses the fee and its intended use, the more troubling feature of this arrangement is the tenuous position it throws Free to Air (FTA) broadcast.

The NCA Guidelines states that the policy also requires that Conditional Access (CA) and middleware technology should be employed for the collection of the DAF (NCA, 2019: 13), meaning that signals to FTA equipment will be encrypted and inaccessible to anyone who fails to pay the DAF.

The point is not so much that this is a worse form of TV licence, it is that it fundamentally undermines the citizens' right to access information and commodifies a public good for personal gain.

Besides depriving the citizen of partaking in national discourse through such commodification, this cash and carry TV model undermines the critical feature of Public Service Media as a cornerstone of the democratic dialogue.

It is important to point out that the question of encryption of broadcast content as a means of collecting TV licence was earlier raised, discussed and firmly rejected on the grounds that it undermines access, deprives meaningful and productive interactions among citizens, and stymies the democratic process.

So why is Digital Access Fee a preferred and better revenue stream than a TV licence?

Everyone who supports public service media should be interested in this dangerous development which without doubt seeks to transform FTA into a subscription service, and as a by-product, deprive millions of Ghanaians of accessing vital information that they rely on for their daily use.

Imagine the human cost if signal encryption deprives ordinary Ghanaians of receiving early warning public service announcements. As the Australian Broadcasting Corporation has demonstrated all through the country's devastating fires, a PSM still has an important role to play even in older, richer democracies with abundant media choices.

The Ministry of Communication is well advised to discontinue from travelling further down this dangerous road and as quickly as possible, explain to Ghanaians why it feels its DAF policy rather than the existing TV licence law better serves Ghanaians' media aspirations.

Perhaps making every effort to pass the Broadcasting Bill into law will serve as a good beginning whiles opening up the policy space for further inputs and deliberation.

Finally and relatedly, I still struggle to comprehend why politicians and their institutional surrogates transformed the TV licence collection into a public stunt when all the government had to do was repeal the TV licence law and announce its replacement.

Why was there a need to publicly lynch and subsequently terminate without cause the Director-General of the GBC's appointment when no wrongdoing has been established?

The quest to build strong media institutions for our collective interests and benefit will remain a fleeting illusion of we continue to vilify the messenger because we dislike the message.

Equally distressing is the steady but insidious encroachment of direct political power in the affairs of CEOs and other agencies which by the Constitution of Ghana, are expected to remain nonpartisan, including the NMC, the country's foremost media regulator.

Maybe it is time to pause to enable us to address our minds to why politicians will on the one hand advocate for the passing of legislation to use public funds to support political parties but do everything in their power to undermine an existing law that provides public funding support for PSB.

If political parties are the vehicles that bring actors into the political arena, PSB is the public sphere (Habermas, 1972) where their actions are debated and critiqued by the citizens who mandated them in the first place.

To call for the former and discount, even undermine the latter is not only disingenuous but outright dishonest and a blatant attack on the citizen's right to free access to information and public debate.

PSB should not be transformed into a subscription service.

It is an affront to our collective quest to create a democratic culture of deliberative and reasoned discourse because it commodifies a public good.

Access is more than the mere reception of media content. It also implies participation.

Decoupling the two is akin to being a mere voter or spectator instead of an active citizen.
Environmental experts will today attempt to examine a 'ghost ship' run aground off the Cork coast to determine if it poses a significant pollution risk.

The 80 metre (240ft) vessel, believed to be the MV Alta, was driven ashore near Ballycotton in east Cork by the raging seas of Storm Dennis and left wedged on rocks by the high tide.

Both the Coast Guard and Naval Service are monitoring the situation though the vessel was empty and unmanned when it ran ground.

Cork Co Council confirmed it now hopes to have its environmental experts inspect the ship to determine the quantity of fuel still aboard and any pollution threat posed.

The public have been warned to stay away from the grounded vessel amid safety fears.

"Cork County Council has convened its Oil Spill Assessment Team as part of its Oil Spill Contingency Plan in response to the grounding of a cargo ship in Ballycotton," a council spokesperson said.

"The council is currently liaising with the Coast Guard in relation to the pollution risk and with the Receiver of Wreck in relation to ownership of the vessel which grounded at Ballyandreane, Ballycotton, Co. Cork (Sunday)."

"Cork County Council, which has responsibility for land based oil pollution risk, is continuing to monitor this ship in relation to any possible oil spillage or risk arising from cargo."

"The council understands that the vessel was most likely diesel-fuelled which poses less risk of pollution than heavy fuel oil. The exact risk level cannot be confirmed at this time. The ship will be inspected in daylight and from a land vantage point in order to access this further."

"However, Cork County Council does not believe that this wreck currently poses a risk to the Special Area of Conservation within the Ballymacoda/Ballycotton area."

The council stressed that the vessel's position is considered both dangerous and unstable with the public urged to stay away from it. It is understood the vessel had been abandoned over a year ago on the high seas as part of a complex maritime dispute.

Unconfirmed reports indicated that the 'ghost ship' involved is the merchant vessel MV Alta which was abandoned in October 2018 roughly 1,400 nautical miles south east of Bermuda.

The vessel, if it proves to be the MV Alta, was discovered by a Royal Navy ice patrol ship in September 2019 drifting in the mid Atlantic.

The Royal Navy crew found no one on board. The MV Alta made global headlines in 2018 when the US Coast Guard rescued its 10-strong crew after they had been stranded on the disabled ship without food or water for 20 days in the west Atlantic.

At the time, the ship was under a Tanzanian flag and had been en route from Greece to Haiti. However, it encountered mechanical problems which the crew were unable to repair.

It had been drifting away from Atlantic sea channels for almost 12 months before a succession of Atlantic storms drove the vessel close to the Irish coast.

The sea surge from Storm Dennis is understood to have driven the vessel towards the east Cork coast before it became wedged on rocks just a short distance from dangerous cliffs.

Irish officials will today try to ascertain the level of damage suffered by the ship's hull and whether it can be successfully towed

away from the Ballycotton shore and taken to port for repair or scrapping.

Locals are worried that the vessel, if it breaks up on the rocks, could pose an environmental and pollution threat to the area through the leakage of engine and fuel oil.

Ballycotton is a famous fishing port while, just around the headline, Garryvoe ranks as one of Cork's most popular beaches with several large caravan parks.
Thank you for reading!

Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue.
New York City straphangers recently had to make way for a crew of motorbike riders in a scene that a passerby described as 'absurd.'

Video posted to Twitter Sunday night shows three men rolling their motorbikes across a crowded subway platform and onto train cars, in an apparent violation of city laws.

'This is not only alarming for other passengers but it's completely unsafe,' said MTA Chief Safety Officer Patrick Warren, according to the Daily News. 'Motorized vehicles pose a hazard to our customers and are banned in the subway system.'

A still from a video posted to social media shows a man rolling his motorized bike onto a subway car in midtown Manhattan. The unidentified rider was one of three men to board the train with their motor bikes, which an MTA spokesman described as 'completely unsafe'

The three motor bike riders are shown grouped together on the subway platform. A bystander-shot video shows the two men in front board the train car while the bike rider to the left splits from the group and rolls his bike into the next available car

The video doesn't immediately identify the subway station, but an overhead announcement suggests the trio were boarding a Queens-bound F train at the 47th-50th Rockefeller Center station.

Two of the men can be seen rolling their motorbikes into one train car while the third rider attempts a right turn  only to pause to avoid hitting someone  before rolling his bike into the next car.

An off-camera bystander can be heard describing the situation as 'absurd,' while Twitter users denounced the scene as 'complete lawlessness' and 'rude, disrespectful.'

The NYPD is investigating the matter, according to the New York Post.
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) said one person was crushed to death and four others were injured by a truck on Sunday at Kugbo along Nyanya road, Abuja.

The Corps Public Education Officer (CPEO), Bisi Kazeem, who confirmed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the accident occured at about 2 p.m.

At about 1400 hrs, a BUA truck fully loaded with bags of cement had a failed brake at Kugbo while heading towards Nyanya and ran into a Dangote truck from behind.

This situation caused total blockade. However, our men from Emergency Ambulance Service Scheme known as Zebra and Nyanya Unit promptly moved in and created an alternative route through Kugbo mechanic village for gradual movement of traffic.

And the four injured persons were immediately taken to Nyanya General Hospital and Medical centre Mararaba while a lone corpse from the crash has been deposited at the Mararaba Federal Medical Centres mortuary.

The Dangote truck has been moved out of the road while our tow truck is still working tirelessly to move the BUA truck as the engine, gear and prime mover are all detached from the tail.

The bags of cement are also being moved out of the road,  he said. (NAN)
Alabama voters on Super Tuesday will decide the fate of the state school board.

A proposed constitutional amendment, called Amendment One, asks whether or not voters want to change how the folks in charge of education at the state level are selected. Currently, voters elect eight state school board members by district.

A yes vote would end the current system. That means state school board members would no longer be elected. They would be chosen by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate.

A no vote would keep things the way they are.

Why should I care?

According to the National Association of State Boards of Education, Alabama is one of just seven states and the District of Columbia where voters still elect all members of the state board of education.

Supporters are pushing for a more professional board on multiple fronts, pointing to Alabamas dead last ranking in math on the recent national report card, but also criticizing the elected board for having five different superintendentsthree permanent, two interimin a short period of time and initially adopting Common Core standards. Opponents argue its wrong to limit the peoples right to choose.

How would this work?

The biggest change, and the reason a Constitutional Amendment is required is because the proposal converts the 8-member elected state school board into a 9-member appointed commission. The Governor will choose appointeesone from each of Alabama's seven Congressional districtsand two at-large members, and the Senate will have to confirm those appointees. It sets term limits for commissioners, too. Commissioners will serve no more than two consecutive 6-year terms.

Won't that put a lot of control in the Governor's hands?

Yes, it puts all control in the Governor's hands. The Senate will still have to confirm commission members, though, so they'll have veto power.

What does the state school board do?

The state school boards most prominent role is appointing the state superintendent of education and approving the contract, including salary.

The board also adopts the states standards of learning, called the course of study, for each subject area, including a list of textbooks local schools can use. The board approves all teacher preparation programs at the states universities and colleges, approves changes and additions to certification programs, and sets cut scores for teacher testing.

Related: Common Core math eradicated, Ivey says, after Alabama school board vote on new math standards

Will the Governor remain as a voting member of the school Commission?

If the Amendment passes, the Governor will no longer be a member of the state school commission and will no longer have a vote. Currently, the Governor serves as President of the state school board.

When does the Amendment take effect if voters approve it?

If voters approve Amendment One, it takes effect immediately.

What happens to the board members who are already in place if Amendment One passes?

The terms of current school board members will end as soon as new commission members are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. The legislative session is underway, so that could happen before the session ends in May.

What else does Amendment One do?

Amendment One calls for a few things, including changing how the people who govern K-12 public education in Alabama are selected. It also calls for a new set of learning standardsminus the controversial Common Core standardsto be developed.

It also converts the State Superintendent to the state Secretary of Education, a cabinet-level position. The Secretary will still be appointed by the commission and confirmed by the Senate. There is no mention of any limit to the number of years a Secretary of Education can serve.

How will this affect the makeup of the board?

Additional representation for African Americans is one of the benefits of the change, supporters say. There are provisions in the law attached to the changes that require commission members to "reflect the geographical, gender, and racial diversity of students."

The current state school board is made up of six females, four of whom are white and two of whom are African American, and two white males.

K-12 public school enrollment, however, breaks down this way:

32% African American students,

54% white students, and

9% Hispanic students.

Fewer than 5% of students are American Indian, Asian, or identified themselves as two or more races.

The minority caucuses in the House and Senate will be responsible for submitting a total of three nominees for the Commission to the Governor.

What will happen to the current state superintendent, Dr. Mackey?

Dr. Mackey's current contract runs through May 2022. The authorizing law doesn't specify exactly what happens to the current superintendent. It says the chief state school officer shall be the Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education, which could mean Mackey stays in place. But its likely open to interpretation.

In Mackey's recent annual evaluation, Ivey gave him above-average marks, as did other current board members, with the exception of one board member, Stephanie Bell, who was first elected in 1994.

Are there any other new requirements if Amendment One passes?

Yes. If Amendment One passes, a second law requires the Secretary to submit an annual report to the chairmen of the House Education Policy and Senate Education committees

What about the Common Core? Isn't there something about that in the Amendment, too?

Yes, Amendment One requires the newly appointed commission to replace Common Core standards.

Didn't the school board already get rid of the Common Core math standards?

According to Gov. Ivey, yes, when the school board voted in a new set of math standards (to be used beginning in 2021), Common Core math was eradicated. Alabama teachers compiled the new set of standards based on what Alabama students need to know, she said.

While it is true that the math standards were changed, it doesnt mean every word connected to Common Core is gone. Most of the changes in standards were at the middle and high school level, and elementary math appears to remain mostly the same.

Who supports the Amendment?

Gov. Ivey has been a strong supporter from the start, announcing her Take the Lead, Alabama initiative in June, complete with a fact sheet of how poorly Alabama ranks in K-12 education. Ranking after ranking shows that Alabama is failing its school children, the sheet proclaims.

Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh, in sponsoring the authorizing law, has said from the start that this is one change that should be made. Marsh told AL.com, Currently, one of the reasons that education is consistently the most pressing issue for most Alabamians is because our state school board is completely dysfunctional."

What do school support groups say?

Of the education special interest groups, the Alabama Education Association, the School Superintendents of Alabama, A+ Education Partnership and the Council for Leaders in Alabama Schools arent taking a position.

The Alabama Association of School Boards issued a statement in May that their board of directors voted to support the amendment. The change in governance is needed, they wrote, to drive significant, sustained improvement in our schools across the state.

They say this could be a pivotal turning point adding that their support is not a personal attack or driven by a particular issue.

Former state Sen. Phil Williams, who now leads policy strategy for the right-leaning Alabama Policy Institute, also supports the measure. In an editorial in November, Williams wrote Alabama needs an appointed school board so that the likelihood of dysfunction is mitigated and a team approach to setting policy can be emplaced.

Who is opposed to the Amendment?

The Alabama Republican Partys executive committee in August passed a resolution opposing the Amendment, saying it is wrong to take away the ability to vote for the state school board.

State school board member Jackie Zeigler, who represents parts of south Alabama and is running for re-election this year, launched a campaign in October to save the elected board. As representative for State Board of Education District One, Zeigler wrote, I am vehemently opposed to any attempt take away the voice of the people.

What about other states? How are their state school board members chosen?

Most states appoint the state board. In 32 states, the Governor appoints members and lawmakers approve the appointments. In four states (Mississippi, New York, South Carolina and Washington), governors and other officials appoint state school board members.

Five statesAlabama, Colorado, Kansas, Michigan, and Texaselect state school board members by partisan ballot. Two statesNebraska and Utahand D.C. elect via nonpartisan ballot. Utah is moving to a partisan ballot for state school board elections this year.

In three statesLouisiana, Nevada, and Ohiosome members are elected and some are appointed.

Four statesMinnesota, Wisconsin, New Mexico and North Dakotahave no state school board.

Can I vote on Amendment One without voting in the primary?

Yes. According to the Alabama Secretary of States Press Secretary Grace Newcombe, voters can request a ballot with only the constitutional amendment on it. The same voting requirements (photo ID, etc.) apply.

What will I see on the March 3 ballot?

Sample ballots, posted on the Alabama Secretary of States website, show the following language at the end of the ballot:

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, to change the name of the State Board of Education to the Alabama Commission on Elementary and Secondary Education; to provide for the appointment of the members of the commission by the Governor, subject to confirmation by the Senate; to change the name of the State Superintendent of Education to the Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education; to provide for the appointment of the secretary by the commission, subject to confirmation by the Senate; and to authorize the Governor to appoint a team of local educators and other officials to advise the commission on matters relating to the functioning and duties of the State Department of Education. (Proposed by Act 2019-345)

Yes ( ) No ( )

For all Alabama education coverage, click here: https://www.al.com/education/.

Update: 3:45 p.m. to correctly describe the gender breakdown of the current state school board. We regret the error.

Updated: 2/18/20 10:45 a.m. to correct the title of the Alabama Policy Institutes Phil Williams.
Thank you for reading!

Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau canceled an official visit to the Caribbean at the last minute due to indigenous protests that have paralysed railways in eastern Canada for more than a week, his office said Sunday.

Following a tour of Africa and Europe, which wrapped up on Friday, Trudeau was scheduled to visit Barbados on Monday and Tuesday as part of Canada's bid for a seat on the UN Security Council.

"The Prime Minister will no longer attend the CARICOM Intersessional Heads of Government Meeting this week," his office said in a statement. Foreign minister Francois-Philippe Champagne will go in his place.

Trudeau called for a crisis meeting Monday morning with the ministers of finance, public safety, transport and indigenous services, among others, to try and find a peaceful solution.

The prime minister has been criticized by the opposition for his repeated absences while protesters have blocked roads, rails and ports across the country and occupied government offices in a bid to "shut down Canada."



Canadian National Railway (CN), the third largest railroad in North America, moves an estimated Canadian dollar 250 billion (USD 190 billion) worth of goods across Canada each year.

The demonstrators support certain leaders of the indigenous Wet'suwet'en First Nations people, who are fighting construction of the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline through their traditional lands in westernmost Canada.

The pipeline is part of a Canadian dollar 40 billion natural gas export project that also includes a new Pacific coast terminal.

Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller visited one of the roadblocks in Ontario on Saturday. He spent all day talking with protesters and Mohawk First Nation officials.

He said the discussions had produced modest progress, but no blockades were lifted.

Several authority figures, including Conservative opposition leader Andrew Scheer, have called for law enforcement to intervene and lift the blockades, but Trudeau's administration has rejected this option.

The ongoing protests are an important test for Trudeau's efforts for reconciliation with First Nations people, which he has said is a priority.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 18:44:38|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- China's top political advisory body, the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), on Monday held the Chairperson's Council meeting in Beijing.

Since the novel coronavirus outbreak, the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee has attached great importance to the prevention and control work, according to the meeting presided over by Wang Yang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of CPC Central Committee and chairman of the CPPCC National Committee.

Noting that the prevention and control work is still at a critical stage that allows no lax efforts, the meeting stressed the participation of political advisory bodies and advisors at all levels to win the battle.

The meeting also studied matters related to postponing the third session of the 13th CPPCC National Committee and the 10th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th CPPCC National Committee.
The Kashmir Press Club on Monday expressed concern over the alleged harassment of journalists in the valley and demanded that the government allow the media to function freely as guaranteed by the Constitution.

"The Kashmir Press Club demands Home Minister Amit Shah as well as the Jammu and Kashmir government to take note of the appalling conditions in which press in Kashmir is working since August 5 last year," a spokesperson of the club said in a statement.

"As such, it is once again urged that the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression and speech is being respected in the region by allowing press and journalists to function freely," he said.

He said the KPC took serious note of the continuous harassment of journalists in the valley, including an incident that allegedly occurred recently in Pulwama district.

"On Sunday night, a multimedia journalist Kamran Yousuf, working with the 'Newsclick', was picked up from his home by the police. Recalling the details, Kamran said that a police party led by DySP and SHO Pulwama entered his home around 11 pm and knocked on the door," the spokesman said.

The spokesperson said that Yousuf alleged he was taken in a police vehicle to the office of DySP and questioned about a Twitter account operated by Kamran Manzoor.

The journalist claimed that they checked his phones and asked me about Kamran Manzoor as they suspected that he was operating the account.

The spokesperson cited the journalist as saying that as the police officers did not get anything objectionable from his phones, he was let go at around 1 am.

"The police's nocturnal raid at the house of a journalist has once again highlighted the dangers faced by journalists in the valley," the KPC spokesman said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved.
The most recent guidelines for primary prevention recommend aspirin use for individuals ages 40 to 70 years who are at higher risk of a first cardiovascular event, but not for those over 70. Yet, people over 70 are at increasingly higher risks of cardiovascular events than those under 70. There has been considerable confusion from recently reported results of three large-scale randomized trials of aspirin in high risk primary prevention subjects, one of which showed a significant result, but the other two, based possibly on poor adherence and follow up, did not. As a result, health care providers are understandably confused about whether or not to prescribe aspirin for primary prevention of heart attacks or strokes, and if so, to whom.

In a commentary published online ahead of print in the American Journal of Medicine, researchers from Florida Atlantic University's Schmidt College of Medicine and collaborators from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and the Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, provide guidance to health care providers and their patients. They urge that to do the most good for the most patients in primary care, health care providers should make individual clinical judgements about prescribing aspirin on a case-by-case basis.

"All patients suffering from an acute heart attack should receive 325 mg of regular aspirin promptly, and daily thereafter, to reduce their death rate as well as subsequent risks of heart attacks and strokes," said Charles H. Hennekens, M.D., Dr.P.H., senior author, the first Sir Richard Doll Professor, and senior academic advisor in FAU's Schmidt College of Medicine. "In addition, among long-term survivors of prior heart attacks or occlusive strokes, aspirin should be prescribed long-term unless there is a specific contraindication. In primary prevention, however, the balance of absolute benefits, which are lower than in secondary prevention patients, and risks of aspirin, which are the same as in secondary prevention, is far less clear."

The researchers emphasize that, based on the current totality of evidence, any judgments about prescribing long-term aspirin therapy for apparently healthy individuals should be based on individual clinical judgments between the health care provider and each of his or her patients that weighs the absolute benefit on clotting against the absolute risk of bleeding.

The increasing burden of cardiovascular disease in developed and developing countries underscores the need for more widespread therapeutic lifestyle changes as well as the adjunctive use of drug therapies of proven net benefit in the primary prevention of heart attacks and strokes. The therapeutic lifestyle changes should include avoidance or cessation of smoking, weight loss and increased daily physical activity, and the drugs should include statins for lipid modification, and multiple classes of drugs likely to be necessary to achieve control of high blood pressure.

"When the magnitudes of the absolute benefits and risks are similar, patient preference assumes increasing importance," said Hennekens. "This may include consideration of whether the prevention of a first heart attack or stroke is a more important consideration to a patient than their risk of a gastrointestinal bleed."

Individual clinical judgements by health care providers about prescribing aspirin in primary prevention may affect a relatively large proportion of their patients. For example, primary prevention patients with metabolic syndrome, a constellation of overweight and obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol, and insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes mellitus, affects about 40 percent of Americans over age 40. Their high risks of a first heart attack and stroke may approach those in survivors of a prior event.

"General guidelines for aspirin in primary prevention do not seem to be justified," said Hennekens. "As is generally the case, the primary care provider has the most complete information about the benefits and risks for each of his or her patients."

According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 859,000 Americans die of heart attacks or stroke every year, which account for more than 1 in 3 of all U.S. deaths. These common and serious diseases take a very large economic toll, costing $213.8 billion a year to the health care system and $137.4 billion in lost productivity from premature death alone.

###

Collaborators in this commentary are Alexander Gitin, B.S., first author, an honors graduate of FAU and a first-year medical student at the University of Florida College of Medicine; David L. DeMets, Ph.D., the first Max Halperin Professor and chair emeritus of biostatistics and informatics at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health; and Marc A. Pfeffer, M.D., Ph.D., the first Dzau Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Hennekens was the first to discover that aspirin prevents a first heart attack in men and stroke in women and has lifesaving benefits when given during a heart attack as well as among long-term survivors' prior events. Science Watch ranked him as the third most widely cited medical researcher in the world from 1995 to 2005, and five of the top 20 were his former trainees and/or fellows. Science Heroes also ranked Hennekens No. 81 in the history of the world for having saved more than 1.1 million lives, and the Via Academy lists him as the No. 14 top living medical researcher in the world.

He has accepted an invitation to present these findings at the International Academy of Cardiology meeting in July in Boston.

About the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine:

FAU's Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine is one of approximately 152 accredited medical schools in the U.S. The college was launched in 2010, when the Florida Board of Governors made a landmark decision authorizing FAU to award the M.D. degree. After receiving approval from the Florida legislature and the governor, it became the 134th allopathic medical school in North America. With more than 70 full and part-time faculty and more than 1,300 affiliate faculty, the college matriculates 64 medical students each year and has been nationally recognized for its innovative curriculum. To further FAU's commitment to increase much needed medical residency positions in Palm Beach County and to ensure that the region will continue to have an adequate and well-trained physician workforce, the FAU Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine Consortium for Graduate Medical Education (GME) was formed in fall 2011 with five leading hospitals in Palm Beach County. The Consortium currently has five Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) accredited residencies including internal medicine, surgery, emergency medicine, psychiatry, and neurology.

About Florida Atlantic University:

Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University, with an annual economic impact of $6.3 billion, serves more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students at sites throughout its six-county service region in southeast Florida. FAU's world-class teaching and research faculty serves students through 10 colleges: the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, the College of Business, the College for Design and Social Inquiry, the College of Education, the College of Engineering and Computer Science, the Graduate College, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. FAU is ranked as a High Research Activity institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University is placing special focus on the rapid development of three signature themes - marine and coastal issues, biotechnology and contemporary societal challenges - which provide opportunities for faculty and students to build upon FAU's existing strengths in research and scholarship. For more information, visit http://www.fau.edu.
To describe Canada as a totalitarian state-in-progress sounds like a gross and indeed absurd exaggeration. Yet many premonitory signs are present. In the words of political philosopher William Gairdner, author of The Book of Absolutes, The Great Divide, and The Trouble with Canada, Canada "has just crossed the red line between soft-socialism and soft-totalitarianism."

Gairdner has assembled a virtual mountain of evidence for his claim: Bill C-25 seeking to impose "diversity" on all corporations; financial penalties against organizations that do not comply with government programs; a teeming brigade of government surveillance "inspectors"  that is, spies: wage spies, speech spies, feminist spies, pay equity spies, Human Rights spies; paralegal bodies known as Human Rights Tribunals with the power to levy crippling fines, bankrupt families, and shut down businesses, impose prison time for contempt of court, and compel conformity via "re-education."

The list goes on. Bill C-16 prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity and gender expression, which sounds unexceptionable except for the obvious fact that "discrimination" is in the eye of the offended beholder and the government enforcer. The bill effectively mandates that citizens address others by their preferred pronouns and transgender fantasies  or else! It's "zir," "ze," "zem," or "zeir," or you're done for. It's Emily, not Brian, or your job's in peril. The Ontario Human Rights Code stipulates that "refusing to refer to a trans person by their chosen name and a personal pronoun that matches their gender identity ... will likely be discrimination" in social areas like employment, housing, education, and so on. As Queen's University law professor Bruce Pardy writes, "human rights have become a weapon to normalize social justice values and delegitimize competing beliefs." There are other laws on the books, bills such as C-59, C-75, and C-76, that reduce and even criminalize freedom of expression, infringe on privacy rights, compromise due process, and render government transparency a thing of the past.

The assault against normalcy, common sense, civil rights, and charter freedoms gives no indication of relenting. Bill S-202, an act to amend the Criminal Code now before Parliament, would outlaw what the government misleadingly calls "Conversion Therapy"  that is, by criminalizing parents, lawyers, physicians, and church leaders who object to state-compelled hormone-drugging and genital mutilation procedures, the bill would effectively prevent minor children undergoing forced transgender operations, surgical and hormonal, from receiving the help they need. "This whole agenda to sterilize and mutilate children," write the editors of Action4Canada, "is pure evil and in violation of ... the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as a physician's ethical commitment promising to 'First, do no harm.'"

In an article for the National Post, columnist Rex Murphy, one of that rare breed of truth-telling Canadian journalists, writes: "This government, or the agencies of this government, are establishing a pattern of misusing the authority of the law." Among other instances of official malfeasance, Murphy skewers the Liberal government's fraudulent case against Rebel News founder Ezra Levant for publishing and promoting a book critical of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, The Librano$, during the October 2019 election without "registering" the book with a government agency. "Can anybody name any other book, ever," Murphy asks, "which has been the subject of an investigation by the Commissioner of Canada elections? ... Will PEN Canada, defender of authors and journalists, take up the banner for Mr. Levant?" Rhetorical questions, obviously.

As of this writing, new developments have come to the fore. Not satisfied with relying on the misapplication of electoral law or conducting dodgy prosecutorial attacks on individuals whom the party wishes to intimidate, silence, or arrest, Trudeau's Liberals are considering a motion requiring all news contentcreators to procure a government license for approved content, thus controlling public access to information. "These are autocrats that Canada has empowered," writes spokesman for Canadians for Language Fairness Gordon Miller (personal communication). "Now we will pay the price."

Not content with such despotic measures, the CRTC (Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission) proposes to identify news sites that are "accurate, trusted, and reliable" with the intent to enhance the "diversity of voices." Truth be told, there are precious few "accurate, trusted, and reliable" news sites in Canada. As in the U.S., they are almost all parabellum outfits, taking dead aim at honest reporting. Moreover, we know that emphasizing "diversity of voices" is equivalent to the imposition of the grievance-driven identity-group and social justice model on public broadcasting while constraining factual reporting and bridling the dissemination of genuine news. It is, in effect, tantamount to a government monopoly on information, which, as Conservative shadow minister for industry and economic development Michele Rempel Garner rightly warns, "puts us in league with countries that control the media."

That the warning comes from a Conservative M.P. who, like the majority of her colleagues, has embraced many of the Liberals' woke policies and progressivist attitudes shows how far gone we are. Indeed, the contagion has spread throughout the House. All of Canada's political parties signed on to Bill C-76, which received royal assent in December 2018 and imposes further restrictions on third-party speech during extended election periods. This is to be expected. Every political party steers to the Left, including, as noted, the Conservatives, who are essentially Liberal Lite. Trudeau is simply the most visible embodiment and effective bellwether of the political virus infecting the country.

The treatment of Omar Khadr is another case in point. A Canadian citizen and youngest son of an Al-Qaeda terrorist family who was detained at Guantanamo Bay for "violations of the laws of war" in Afghanistan, including killing American combat medic Christopher Speer, Khadr was repatriated to Canada and awarded a $10.5-million compensation settlement by Trudeau. Although the issue is clouded and precise information is difficult to find, it appears likely that he remains on a no-fly list. No matter: Khadr recently flew first class to keynote a panel discussion at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia.

The beleaguered Levant confronted him with a series of questions  was he aware of a no-fly list? Did he donate a portion of his cash windfall to the widow of Dr. Speer? (Levant did not mention that Khadr has purchased a strip mall in Edmonton for a substantial portion of his payout.) Khadr is regarded as a Canadian hero who suffered at the hands of the dastardly Americans, while Levant is nothing but a gadfly, so it was no surprise to see Levant grilled by four policemen and unceremoniously escorted from the airport. They got the wrong guy, as the expression has it, but that's how things happen in a nascent police state.

Canadian combat veteran Jeremy MacKenzie, who attended the event  or tried to  was livid with righteous fury, recalling his buddies who gave their lives in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban and the likes of the extended Khadr family. Responding to Trudeau's excuse in reference to military veterans' pensions that veterans "are asking for more than the federal government can afford," MacKenzie fumes that, that notwithstanding, "we will make Omar Khadr, the Taliban terrorist, a multi-millionaire." Canada, he proclaims, "is not the country that I signed up to fight for and it is certainly not the country that those men and women died for." Like Levant, he was escorted from the premises  an analogy for the dwindling remnant of patriotic Canadians being escorted from their country.

These are developments that should not be dismissed as mere desultory details. They add up. As Gairdner points out, soft totalitarianism is a considerable way from hard totalitarianism. "But it all starts somewhere, and this week, the road got shorter." There is a sort of political Martini curve at work as Canada races to keep up with the Leftist conformity of the modern international elite. Regrettably, Canada has no Donald Trump or Viktor Orban or Boris Johnson on the current political horizon. Nor is there a term limit on the office of prime minister, which suggests that a socialist troll and ideological jamoke like Justin Trudeau may be in power for years to come. The one party that promised a return to social, political, and fiscal sanity, Maxime Bernier's The People's Party of Canada, was deep-sixed by the media and wiped out at the polls. That tells us all we need to know.

To say it can't happen here  the title of Sinclair Lewis's 1935 novel, though he targeted the wrong constituency  is an expression of overweening confidence and lack of historical awareness. One does not have to think back to the demise of the Weimar Republic in Germany. A mere glance at the European Union's unelected, bureaucratic authoritarianism, or a recognition of what the Democrat Party is demonstrably planning for the United States, should awaken us to the danger. To be awakened, we might remark, is the opposite of being woke. Canada stands as a vivid illustration of what would be in store for the U.S. under a Democrat administration.

It can happen here, and it is happening right now, right here, in Canada.

David Solway's latest book is Notes from a Derelict Culture, Black House Publishing, 2019, London. A CD of his original songs, Partial to Cain, appeared in 2019.

Photo credit: Jared Grove.
The plane is set to arrive in Kyiv February 19.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Argentina says Ukraine has offered to take out of Wuhan, a Chinese city in the epicenter of COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic, Argentinian nationals who happened to be in that locality.

"The Government of Ukraine has informed, through our Embassy in Kyiv, their willingness to provide a place for Argentine citizens who are in Wuhan, China, on a flight prepared by that country that is departing on February 18, planning to return to Kyiv the next day, where passengers must be quarantined for two weeks," the ministry said in a statement.

Read alsoTaiwan confirms first coronavirus death on island, cases at 20  Reuters

"Once again our foreign ministry expresses gratitude to the Ukrainian government for its generosity and to the government of China for its collaboration in this invaluable action," the diplomats say.

The report does not elaborate on the number of Argentinians set to be evacuated.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the Ukrainian liner is set to take Ukrainian citizens from Wuhan on February 18.
Andaman and the Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep under ecological stress

by Mayank Aggarwal and Sahana Ghosh

February 17,2020 | Source: Mongabay

Located in the Arabian Sea, off the western coast of India, Lakshadweep is a group of 36 islands and is the smallest union territory of India. Its total geographical area is only 30 sq. km and it has a total population of only 0.064 million. According to the ISFR 2019, the forest cover in the union territory is 27.10 sq. km. which is 90.33 percent of its geographical area. About 82 percent of the land mass is covered by privately owned coconut plantations. It has a vast lagoon of 4,200 sq. km. with sandy beaches and abundance of marine fauna. The livelihood of inhabitants of Lakshadweep is dependent on fishery and tourism but one of the most serious concern the region faces is coastal erosion.



Lakshwadeep is a densely populated area unlike the general perception that it is a deserted paradise. The biggest stress that the whole ecological system of the area faces is climate change. In maximum, two-three generations it will become inhabitable. One other major concern is the large scale commercial fishing taking place which is emptying the fish stocks. In terms of forests, it is largely coconut plantations, Rohan Arthur, a senior scientist and founding trustee of the Nature Conservation Foundation, told Mongabay-India.



Unsustainable tourism and development



The Prime Minister Narendra Modi led central government has been focusing on improving tourism facilities in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands for some years now, with the intention of turning it into a world-class tourism destination. Following the intent, the Indian governments policy think tank, the NITI Aayog, has been working with different stakeholders to achieve the goal. In January 2020, Indias Home Minister Amit Shah, chaired a meeting of the Island Development Agency (IDA) wherein the government reviewed the progress made towards the development of islands. An official statement after the meeting noted that model tourism projects  both land-based and water villas  were planned and bids have been invited for private sector participation. According to the statement, As a unique initiative, to spur investment, it was decided to obtain clearances for implementation of the planned projects up-front. All necessary clearances would be in place before bids finalization. Environment and coastal regulation zone (CRZ) clearances have already been obtained for four exemplary tourism projects of Andaman & Nicobar Islands.



The proposed airports in Great Nicobar Island of Andaman & Nicobar and Minicoy Island of Lakshadweep would catalyse the development process in the region, it added. Conservationists and experts advise caution. Some local experts of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, who did not wish to be named for fear of being targeted, said even though the government is going full throttle to develop tourism facilities in the islands, there are not many takers. Additionally, the encroachment of forests and wetlands is increasing in the region, they say. Sejal Worah, who is the programme director with the conservation group WWF India, said Indias island chains of Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep are ecologically and socio-culturally unique and distinct from each other.



What they do share is the fragility and vulnerability of their ecosystems and the people who reside on them. The livelihoods and culture of people living on the islands are intrinsically linked to the ocean and dependent on the health of marine systems. Any development planned for the Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands must, therefore, be sensitive to impacts on natural systems and should be undertaken based on genuine consultation with the island stakeholders, Worah told Mongabay-India.



Manish Chandi, a human ecologist and senior fellow with the Andaman Nicobar Environment Team, said the infrastructure or tourism projects that are being discussed in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are not new. They have been part of the discussion in one form or the other from 20-30 years. The difference compared to the past is the way the present administration is moving forward on them overriding concerns and consultation with the local experts and stakeholders. While they may seem as economic development ventures, to whose larger benefit is very questionable. When seen in a macro perspective the rural economy in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is generally stagnant and stratified not just in the hinterland but even in villages beyond Port Blair, Chandi told Mongabay-India.



Apart from the huge dependence on government services, and some involvement, rather than much local investment in tourism, the local population needs much more than just large infrastructural projects for collective benefits. There needs to be a rethink on how not just money can be generated, but rather how local communities can benefit beyond just monetary value. In general, the projects which have been repeatedly discussed and put in cold storage by the earlier administrations for precisely these concerns and ecological stability are now being revived and there is a lot of movement on that front, said Chandi.



They have been part of the discussion in one form or the other from 20-30 years. The difference compared to the past is the way the present administration is moving forward on them without any consultation with the local experts and stakeholders. In general, the projects which have been repeatedly discussed and put in cold storage by the earlier administrations are now being revived and there is a lot of movement on that front, Chandi told Mongabay-India. Additionally, Ragavan said: In ANI extensive efforts have been taken to improve the degraded/tsunami impacted areas by forest department through plantation efforts. However, no species-specific efforts have been taken to improve the population of rare/threatened mangroves species.



- Andaman and the Nicobar Islands, as also the Lakshadweep archipelago, both hundreds of kilometres away from mainland India, are battling pressures of climate change, seismic impacts, tourism and developmental activities.

- The 2019 Forest Survey of India report has said the forest cover in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands has increased by 0.78 sq. km. while the mangrove cover has decreased by one square kilometre, relative to their 2017 status report.

- In terms of diversity, density and growth, mangroves of Andaman and Nicobar Islands are best in the country. The Islands also house a diverse array of forest types.

- Any development planned for the Andaman, Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands must be sensitive to impacts on natural systems and should be undertaken based on genuine consultation with the island stakeholders.
(Newser)  The search for a missing Milwaukee woman and her two young daughters ended with a horrific find in a garage Sunday. Police say they found the bodies of 25-year-old Amarah Banks, 5-year-old Zaniya Ivery, and 4-year-old Camaria Banks in the garage following the arrest of Banks' boyfriend, Arzel Ivery, in Tennessee, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports. Banks and her daughters had not been seen since around 1am on Feb. 8, hours after she buried her baby son. The boy, 1-year-old Arzel, died of natural causes, family members say. Ivery, 25, has been charged with aggravated battery. Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales says he will also be charged with murder, reports CBS58. Morales says Ivery directed investigators to the garage after he was taken into custody.

story continues below

Banks and her daughters were reported missing the day after they were last seen, but an Amber Alert was not issued until a week later. Morales defended the delay when he spoke to reporters Sunday, saying foul play was not initially suspected. "People will blame the police department regarding these deaths," he said. "That's unfair, uncalled for, and unwarranted." Relatives say Ivery was the father of Arzel and Zaniya. "You have to be a heartless monster to do something like this to someone," Shilloh Loper, Banks' aunt, tells Fox 6. "I don't know what to even say, but I know I'll never get over this. Not ever in my life will I get over this. I will never get over someone doing this to my niece." (Read more Milwaukee stories.)
Peer pressure is in part driving Australias sluggish uptake of electric vehicles, with new research showing Aussies are considering their family and friends' opinions along with cost and car size.

Deakin University researcher James Davidson released his research on Monday showing prevailing attitudes and social norms were as important factors in driving consumer behaviour as tangible things like purchase price, operating costs, driving range, emissions and acceleration time.

Australians aren't buying electric cars, in part because of the opinions of their friends and family. Credit:Bloomberg

Its not just the tangible attributes that underpin buying behaviour, but social norms, such as what your friends and family might think of your purchase and attitudes towards the vehicles," Dr Davidson said.

"It doesnt matter how good a vehicle is or how much it costs, if a potential buyers friends and family encourage it as the right choice that will make the real difference.
Taylor Swift's father has fought off an intruder who broke into his $4 million Florida penthouse.

Scott Swift, 67, returned to his residence in Vinoy Place Towers, St. Petersburg around 10pm on January 17 to find Terrence Hoover, 30, inside.

Hoover used an emergency escape stairwell to climb 13 floors and enter the penthouse just 30 seconds before Swift Sr arrived home, according to The Tampa Bay Times.

Swift Sr and Hoover allegedly fought, before the latter quickly fled the scene.

Hoover has a lengthy arrest record that includes domestic violence by strangulation, aggravated battery, burglary, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and kidnapping and false imprisonment.

Taylor Swift's father, Scott, fought off an intruder who broke into his $4 million Florida penthouse last month. Terrence Hoover (right) has now been charged with burglary

Swift resides in a penthouse at the ritzy Vinoy Place Towers in St. Petersburg, Florida

Swift Sr picked Hoover out of a photo lineup and police say Hoover called them to report the altercation.

Hoover could not be found, however, until last week, when he was arrested on burglary charges. He was being held Monday on $50,000 bond.

Taylor Swift was not with her father and it is unclear whether the intruder targeted the home.

Hoover's mother told The Tampa Bay Times that her son got lost while searching for his estranged wife and should only be charged with trespassing.

The penthouse encompasses the entire top floor of one Vinoy tower and includes 5,359 square feet, three bedrooms and three full baths.

Scott Swift, who previously worked as a stockbroker for Merrill Lynch, hit headlines last year after he was the subject of a malicious internet hoax which claimed he had shared right-wing memes on his personal Facebook account.

Taylor Swift is known to be very close with her father, as well as her mother, Andrea, 62. She credits both of her parents for her stratospheric success.

Scott Swift, who previously worked as a stockbroker for Merrill Lynch, is very close to his superstar daughter. The pair are photographed back in 2015

Scott and Taylor Swift are pictured together back in 2011

Scott and Andrea reportedly separated in 2012 after 25 years of marriage, but are thought have remained on good terms.

Andrea was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, with Taylor revealing last month that she has now been diagnosed with a brain tumor.

'She was going through chemo, and thats a hard enough thing for a person to go through. While she was going through treatment, they found a brain tumor,' Taylor told Variety.

'The symptoms of what a person goes through when they have a brain tumor is nothing like what weve ever been through with her cancer before. So its just been a really hard time for us as a family,' she explained.

Supportive dad: Scott posed for photos with fans, and handed out guitar picks last year to celebrate the launch of Taylor's latest album, Lover

Taylor Swift is close with both father, Scott, and mother, Andrea (right)
The Mi 10 series recently launched in China with 5G connectivity, Snapdragon 865 and 108MP cameras. Manu Kumar Jain recently tweeted about launching the flagship smartphone in India. However, since India lacks state of the art manufacturing facilities, al

Xiaomi has promised more premium play in India this year. The company recently held a roundtable with noted tech publications to announce its bringing back Mi flagships to India and compete in the premium segment. And now that the Xiaomi Mi 10 has launched, there are high expectations that it will make its way to India soon. However, there may be a caveat in place.

Hot on the heels of the launch in China, Xiaomi India VP Manu Kumar Jain tweeted asking fans whether they would like to see the smartphone come to India. However, he also mentioned that India presently lacks the state of the art facilities to manufacture the Mi 10 series in India. As a result, if Xiaomi decides to bring the flagship series to India, it will have to import all the units from China, thereby adding to the final price.

However, making such a device requires state of the art facilities, which are not available in India.



We will have to import 100% of units if we launch the #Mi10 in India. Hence, it will have a different pricing model than usual.



RT with #Mi10 if you want to see it in India. https://t.co/FbRGe4tvjL  Manu Kumar Jain (@manukumarjain) February 13, 2020

"We will have to import 100% of units if we launch the #Mi10 in India. Hence, it will have a different pricing model than usual, Jain wrote in his tweet.

Testing waters before hitting premium

With the Tweet, Xiaomi may just be testing waters to see if theres enough demand to launch the flagship in India. Whether Indians will dish out a higher premium for a device thats 100% imported from outside India. And theres good reason for that.

If imported from China, the Mi 10 series could very cost a lot more than the best performing premium smartphones presently. The government announced a hike in import duties for electronic items in 2020. Theres now an additional 10 percent service welfare cess imposed which was previously waived on for electronics. The government did that to encourage domestic manufacturing of electronic goods sold in India. Turns out, the facilities at present are not good enough to get these cutting-edge Xiaomi flagships at an affordable price.

The very fact that Xiaomi had to softly mention it may have to consider new pricing models means its wary of the Indian audience calling out the product for being overpriced, something that happened with the K20 series previously.

Why does the Mi 10 Series have to be imported from China?

Manu Jain cited the cutting-edge hardware inside the Mi 10 series as the reason behind it not being manufactured in India. The Mi 10 series is powered by the Snapdragon 865 and supports 5G connectivity. Furthermore, it has a 108MP sensor as the primary camera along with three other cameras. The Snapdragon 865 already adds a lot more to the BOM cost reportedly, in comparison with the older Snapdragon 855 particularly for the Snapdragon X55 5G modem that it comes paired with. Xiaomi must also had to rework the antennae arrangements to enable 5G connectivity.

Now all this is offered in China starting CNY 3,999 (roughly Rs 40,000) for the Mi 10 and CNY 4,999 (Rs 50,000 roughly) for the Mi 10 Pro. Considering the present circumstances, the Mi 10 and the Mi 10 Pro could launch at a much higher price in India. Will you be interested in paying more than Rs 50,000 for a Xiaomi flagship?
Two-time Oscars nominee Margot Robbie is one of the few people who have expressed their support of the controbersial "Megxit." After all, the decision of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to take a step back from their royal duties to start a simple and independent life in Canada was not a very popular choice.

Building a New Home

In a recent interview with The Sun, Robbie spoke about the friendship she has built with the royal couple. Unlike their other friends, though, the actress explicitly supported their decision to move away from the limelight of royal life.

She said that she understands how difficult it is to move away from a place you have called your home.

"I have known Prince Harry for a while and he is a really great guy," Robbie said. "I know as much as anybody what a big decision it is to move halfway across the world. I still miss London a lot but I had my reasons for moving and they have their reasons for the decision."

The actress lived in London for many years with her friends until she moved to Los Angeles. She is now living there with her husband, filmmaker, Tom Ackley.

The "Suicide Squad" actress then send an invite to Prince Harry and Meghan for a dinner with her and her husband when they move to LA.

"Their move to LA should never be taken lightly. If they do decide to move, we would love to have dinner with them," Robbie said.

The actress, who is known for her iconic role as "Harley Quinn," added that she thought Prince Harry was the most normal guy ever despite being a royal.

Building a new home away from what you were used to can be quite a challenge. Prince Harry and Meghan are currently in transition. Their decision to move away from the royal life received a lot of negative criticisms, but the couple remained sturdy.

In fact, people close to them said that the two have never been happier. They are enjoying their sweet time in Canada. At the moment, they are currently looking for a more permanent home they could call their own.

Meeting a Prince

It was back in 2015 when Margot Robbie met Prince Harry. They were both guests at the housewarming event of Suki Waterhouse, per Metro U.K.

The actress revealed that when they first met, she was not fully aware of who he was. It apparently took her nearly an hour to recognize that she was talking to Prince Harry. At first, she thought he was Ed Sheeran.

"When I saw him at the party, I was like, I didn't know Ed Sheeran was invited to the party," Robbie previously said. "And he was really offended that she simply told her, "Shut up!"

Prince Harry, despite his royal stature, has remained to be simple, much like his mom, the late Princess Diana.

When people learned about his decision to take a step back, most of those who know him were not a bit surprised. They know how challenging it is to live like a royal when everyone has expectations of who you are.

Will Margot Robbie ever have dinner with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle? People will have to wait until the royals take a vacatior or permanently move to Los Angeles.
SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford has called for the Prime Ministers chief adviser to give evidence before a parliamentary committee.

Mr Blackford has expressed concerns over the what he calls a revolving door of ministers in the UK Government, following last weeks reshuffle  accusing the Prime Minister of acting in a presidential way.

The SNP leader also described Mr Cummings, the former head of the Leave campaign during the EU referendum, as the power behind the throne, raising worries about the power of unelected advisers in Downing Street.

Former chancellor Sajid Javid stood down last week during a reshuffle when he was told he would need to fire his advisers and merge with Number 10.

The charge which is made, and rightly so, is that what the Prime Minister is doing - supported by Dominic Cummings - is surrounding himself with yes men and women that will do his biddingIan Blackford, SNP Westminster leader

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Rishi Sunak was appointed to the role.

Mr Blackford has written to the Liaison Committee at Westminster, to urge them to take evidence from Mr Cummings.

The committee regularly takes evidence from prime ministers.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland on Monday, Mr Blackford said: Ive written to the clerk of the Liaison Committee to ask that he use his powers to make sure that Dominic Cummings appears before that committee.

Its been clear for a long period of time that this is the power behind the throne.

Mr Blackford went on to raise questions about the replacement of former Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith and the former attorney general Geoffrey Cox in the Thursday reshuffle, claiming the Prime Minister is surrounding himself with yes men and women.

He added: Its right that the Prime Minister is questioned by the committee, but also the person thats responsible  the power behind the throne  Dominic Cummings, who is having such an impact on government which has seen not just the removal of ministers but special advisers losing their job as he continues to play games in Number 10.

Mr Blackford said the Prime Minister was surrounding himself with yes men and women (House of Commons/PA)

When questioned about the right of the Prime Minister to determine ministers in his Cabinet, Mr Blackford likened the actions of Mr Johnson to US President Donald Trump.

He added: Thats why its important that Parliament does its job and the Liaison Committee, which is the chair of all the select committees, doesnt just call the Prime Minister but uses its power to call Dominic Cummings, who we know is having a significant impact on the way this Prime Minister is behaving, so we can hold this Government  and Dominic Cummings  to account.

The Ross, Skye and Lochaber MP went on to claim that the scale of changes in the Cabinet since the Prime Minister took office was quite unprecedented.

When asked for evidence that the Prime Minister is running government in a presidential way, Mr Blackford said: The charge which is made, and rightly so, is that what the Prime Minister is doing  supported by Dominic Cummings  is surrounding himself with yes men and women that will do his bidding.

If you look at the history over the course of modern times you havent seen the reshuffle to the extent thats taking place in the recent past, its a revolving door which is taking place.

The key element of this is that if you dont do the bidding of Boris Johnson, if you dont accept everything that he wants to do, then youre going to leave.
We are saddened to note that after the political change at the top, our torturers continue to move freely in the country without being held accountable for the serious crimes they have committed, said Joseph Musubao, a priest of the diocese of Kinshasa, in a statement issued on 1 February 2020. One year after the inauguration of Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, no strong signal has been sent by his administration in the fight against impunity for serious crimes, said representatives of 121 civil society organizations in the same statement, reminding him of the serious crimes committed in Ituri, Beni, North and South Kivu, the massacre of followers of Bundu dia Kogo [religious and politico-cultural movement fighting for the defence of the Kongo people], the crimes committed in Tanganyika, in Kasai Central, Kasai Oriental and Kasai, in Yumbi, as well as during the violent repression of public protests calling for free, transparent and inclusive elections.

The 121 NGOs made 13 recommendations, saying that the most urgent would be to set up a joint specialized unit composed of civilian and military magistrates and investigators to prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes before the competent courts. This joint units, if created, would allow the civilian courts, which have only had jurisdiction since 2013 to prosecute international crimes, to benefit from the experience of the military courts, which have been investigating these crimes since 2002.

Lack of experience

Civilian courts have not been very active because of this lack of experience and sometimes lack of will, says lawyer Guy Mushiata, human rights coordinator for the NGO TRIAL International. But Gentil Safari Kasongo, DRC researcher at Impunity Watch, thinks civilian courts can help obtain justice where military courts are limited. When military courts had exclusive jurisdiction, we faced a number of problems, particularly related to the independence of military magistrates, he told Justice Info. Another problem was the impossibility of using the direct referral procedure in military courts. If the military prosecutors office does not initiate proceedings, a victim cannot refer the matter to the judges. In the civilian courts, a victim can apply directly to the judge without going through the public prosecutors office.

Less corrupt

Many of the victims lawyers interviewed confirm that the military courts are far more advanced, to date, in the repression of mass crimes. The military courts receive the victims with dignity, deal with their complaints promptly, and the military prosecutors offices make an effort to collect as much evidence as possible, says lawyer Sylvestre Bisimwa, who, together with other Congolese civil society actors, has been campaigning since 2018 for the establishment of so-called peoples courts. The rights of the accused are taken into account. They respect the dignity of the victims by protecting them. They are less corrupt than the ordinary courts.

Kasongo thinks the fact that military courts are less corrupt could be because of their recourse to outside assistance. Several trials in recent years linked to serious crimes have been assisted financially, logistically and technically by the UN and NGOs, he says, while noting nevertheless that influence peddling by senior officers suspected of crimes constitutes a major obstacle to military justice, just as it does for civilian justice. For the moment, the facts speak for themselves: according to TRIAL, only one case for mass crimes has been tried by a civilian court, the Lubumbashi Court of Appeal. The latter handed down four convictions, at the end of 2016, in a trial in which 23 Bantu and 10 Pygmies were suspected of crimes against humanity and crimes of genocide linked to violence between their communities.

Thirty cases in thirteen years

The military justice system has dealt with some 30 cases of mass crimes since 2006, when the Songo Mboyo trial made history by qualifying rape as a crime against humanity for the first time in the DRC. Jean-Pierre Bembas militiamen attacked a village at night and raped some 60 women. The judgment, handed down on April 12, 2006 by the military court in Mbandaka, in the west of the country, inspired others, including the recent Koko di Koko trial in Bukavu.

Recommended reading DRC: militia leader sentenced to life for crimes against humanity

Most of the cases since 2009 have been tried in the provinces of South Kivu, North Kivu and Ituri, says Daniele Perissi, head of the Great Lakes programme at TRIAL International. As of 2015, the fight against impunity for serious crimes has become a priority area for the reform of the Congolese justice system. Laws incorporating the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court into Congolese law entered into force in 2016. Thanks to this, and to the improved support provided by international partners, we have seen an increase in recent years in the quantity and quality of the military justice systems judicial response. For example, between 2016 and 2019, 10 cases of mass crimes involving approximately 30 defendants were tried by the military courts in South Kivu province alone. South Kivu continues to set an example at the national level.

Difficulties

While the results of Congolese military justice are incomparably more than the ICC, which has convicted three Congolese military leaders, they nevertheless remain fragile and limited. The head of state has made the fight against impunity, especially for serious crimes, one of his priorities, says Souleymane Kafana Coulibaly, coordinator of transitional justice and the fight against impunity at the UN mission MONUSCO. But, he admits, the military courts are experiencing difficulties that hinder their proper functioning and therefore the proper administration of justice. He points to weak financial and human resources, logistical difficulties, the precarious security situation, and difficulties in prosecuting members of armed groups and some senior officers. Despite these difficulties, says Coulibaly, we have had some emblematic trials with convictions of members of the defence and security forces and armed groups, in South Kivu in the Koko di Koko case and in Ituri in the Djugu case. He recommends that the government should speed up the installation of courts and tribunals throughout the country to bring justice closer to the people.

On 14 February, the President appointed senior judges, which was his first decision on the judiciary in a year of office. Tshisekedi told the cabinet that this was the starting point for major reform () to put an end to impunity, injustice and corruption. With regard to the magistrates Tshisekedi appointed president and prosecutor general of the Military High Court, they had already been appointed by his predecessor Joseph Kabila to the same posts.
A local councillor has quit scandal-plagued Whittlesea Council, saying he no longer has faith in the council's ability to discharge its duties in the best interests of the community.

Whittlesea Councillor Ricky Kirkham. Credit:Whittlesea Council

The council, in Melbournes north-east, has been beset by claims of bullying and alleged workplace safety breaches since late 2019.

The councils chief executive, former police chief Simon Overland, was sacked in December after a long-running effort by councillors to oust him. He was the third chief executive in four years to be fired by the council.

Mr Overland, who was on leave for medical reasons, was sacked a week before giving highly-anticipated evidence to the royal commission into Victoria Police's handling of barrister-turned-informer Nicola Gobbo.
Nepal has officially proposed to the UK a review of a 73-year-old tripartite agreement with India and Britain over the recruitment and deployment of Gurkha soldiers and their perks and facilities and replace it with a bilateral one, according to a media report on Monday.

An agreement between New Delhi, London and Kathmandu following India's independence from colonial rule in 1947 allowed India and Britain to recruit Gurkhas, The Kathmandu Post reported.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on February 12 sent a letter to London, seeking a review of the tripartite agreement, the report said.

Nepal's official request for a review comes months after Prime Minister KP Oli first raised the issue during his meeting in June last year with the then British prime minister Theresa May in London.

After the meeting between Oli and May, Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali had said that Nepal had proposed a review of the agreement, to which May had responded positively. A joint statement issued after the meeting, however, stopped short of mentioning that Oli had raised the issue.

A senior official at the Prime Minister's Office said that the letter was sent to the United Kingdom for their consideration as per the policy of the present government to scrap or review all discriminatory treaties and pacts signed with other countries and make them applicable to the changed context, the paper said.

We are following up on the matter in line with discussions held between the prime ministers of Nepal and Britain last year, the official told the Post on condition of anonymity as he was not allowed to speak to the media. We are equally concerned about the grievances of Gurkha veterans.

The tripartite pact between Nepal, India and Britain assures that all perks, remuneration, facilities and pension schemes for Nepalis serving in the British and Indian armies will be equal to those of British and Indian nationals. However, Gurkha veterans have long alleged that Britain has put in place discriminatory policies in remuneration.

In the letter to the UK government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that Gurkha veterans have genuine grievances that require a generous response from the British side on the basis of equality, justice and fairness, according to a copy of the letter obtained by the Post.

The former Gurkhas have demanded that besides providing equal pension, the British government should compensate the entire amount that former and serving Gurkhas did not receive over the years due to discrimination against them in terms of pay, pension and other facilities.

The British government started providing equal pay and pension to Gurkhas in 2007. Since Gurkhas retire after 15 years of service, those who were recruited after 1993 retired after 2007, and became eligible for equal pension. But they were deprived of equal pay and facilities for their service period before 2007.

Moreover, those recruited from 1975 to 1993 retired before 2007 and were deprived of equal pay, pension and facilities; those who served the British Army from 1947 to 1975 when there was no provision for pension were not provided equal pay and facilities.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
On Monday, budget-lodging startup Oyo reported a loss of $335 million on $951 million revenue globally for the financial year ending March 31, 2019, and pledged to cut down on its spending as the India-headquartered firm grows cautious about its aggressive expansion.

The six-year-old startup's growing revenue, up from $211 million in financial year ending March 31, 2018 (FY18), is in line with the company's ambitions to be in a clear path to profitability this year, said Abhishek Gupta, Global CFO of OYO Hotels & Homes, in a statement.

But the startup's loss has widened, too. Its consolidated loss at $335 million in FY19 rose over sixfold from $52 million in FY18. In India, where Oyo clocked $604 million in revenue in FY19 (up 2.9X since FY18), it was able to reduce its loss to 14 percent (from 24 percent) of revenue in FY19 to $83 million.

Indian laws require every local startup -- and international businesses -- to disclose their annual financials. Most of them filed their financials in early October.

The startup, which today operates more than 43,000 hotels with over a million rooms in 800 cities in 80 nations, said its expansion in China and other international markets contributed to the loss. Oyo entered China in 2018, and says the world's most populated nation has already become its second largest market.

"These markets constituted 36.5 percent of the global revenues. While consistently improving operating economics in mature markets like India where it's already seeing an improvement in gross margins, the company is determined to bring in the same fiscal discipline in emerging markets in the coming financial year," the startup said in a statement.

Aditya Ghosh, who served as a chief executive of the startup and is now a board member, said in a call with reporters that since Oyo entered a number of markets last year it was in the growth phase and that needed some investments. Speaking especially of China, Ghosh said the company, like many others, is watching the outbreak of coronavirus that has resulted in shutting down some hotels.

Story continues

He also said that Oyo has pared back from some markets, including India, where it pulled out of about 200 cities. The startup is currently not looking to expand to any new markets, he added.

It is now working on improving its gross margin. In India, its gross margin increased to 14.7% from 10.6% as of FY18.

Oyo's growth in international markets

Oyo has come under scrutiny in recent months for its aggressive expansion in a manner that some analysts have said is not sustainable. The startup, which rebrands and renovates independent budget hotels, has also engaged in sketchy ways to sign up new hotels, as documented by the New York Times earlier this year. Several hoteliers have claimed that Oyo did not honor its agreements and owed them money.

In 2019, Oyo, which counts Airbnb among its investors, expanded in Europe and the U.S. among other markets. It bought Leisure Group from Axel Springer for $415 million to target Europes vacation rental market. It also announced plans to invest another $335 million for this effort. In the same month, it announced it had acquired the Hooters Casino Hotel Las Vegas for about $135 million in its first U.S. property purchase.

It also entered Japan in a partnership with SoftBank. Bloomberg reported on Sunday that Oyo currently has about 12,000 rooms in the country, far fewer than its ambitious 1 million target.

In recent months, Oyo executives have acknowledged that the startup grew too fast and is confronting a number of "teething issues." Oyo has laid off at least 3,000 employees, mostly in India, in last three months. Ghosh said the startup is still hiring for new roles, but only in key areas such as data science.

"The companys increased focus on corporate governance and building a high-performing and employee-first work culture will also drive this next phase of sustainable growth for us," said Gupta.
New Delhi, Feb 17 : At a time when Delhi and other cities are witnessing anti-CAA protests, now-defunct Planning Commission's former Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Monday cautioned against labelling dissent as disloyalty.

Referring to the protests against Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the country's once- foremost policymaker told IANS: "There are many protests going on right now in the streets. I frequently hear, sort of, wherein dissent is equated with disloyalty. I think that's completely wrong. Peaceful dissent is an essential part of the democratic process. If people feel that's not happening, then I think the government should reassure them that, you know, they are under misapprehension and live up to those standards." In an interview to IANS, Ahluwalia said: "I do feel that in a multi-identity, complex country (like India), expression of dissent is an essential part of democracy. To my knowledge, everyone recognises this. And if that's not happening, then we should worry." His comments assume significance in the wake of a high-voltage and often acerbic campaigning in Delhi Assembly elections, including shouting of slogan "desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maro saalon ko" at a rally addressed by Union Minister Anurag Thakur.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, during the campaigning, "Earlier it was that the Congress used to feed biryani in Kashmir, now it is (Delhi Chief Minister Arvind) Kejriwal who is doing the same in Shaheen Bagh...." Speaking on the importance of dissent, Ahluwalia pointed to Rahul GAndhi's act of tearing up an ordinance copy during the UPA rule.

"You must realise, in a democracy, there is nothing wrong to have dissent within the party. I don't think there's much merit in running a party in a way in which everyone in a party simply endorses what the party leadership thinks. This is an example of democratic dissent surfacing (within the party). In my view nothing wrong with it."
Burma Yangon MPs Draft Bill to Rein In Mismanagement of Public Funds

Yangon Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein (standing) and members of his government appear at a press conference in June 2019. / The Irrawaddy

YANGON  The Yangon regional parliament is drafting a law to increase transparency in the use of public funds and to reduce waste through mismanagement, according to a regional lawmaker.

The chairwoman of the regional parliamentary committee on finance, planning and economy, Daw Sandar Min, told The Irrawaddy the regional government refused to pay tax on its company running the Yangon Bus Service, the public transport system launched by Yangon Region Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein in 2017.



She said: When it was asked to pay tax, it said [the company] was owned by the regional government. When the [Yangon] auditor-generals office said it would then audit it, the [regional government] said it was a private company. The bill is intended to control such mismanagement.

Rather than taking control, it will make sure there is less waste in businesses in which the government invests public funds, she added.

The committee has drafted the Region Funds and Investment Law, which is now being discussed by Yangons bill committee and attorney-generals office. Then input would be sought from business owners, she said.

The law is also aimed at promoting good management and preventing corruption in business deals and the leasing of government land and property.

The bill would require companies established by the regional government with public funds to be audited by the auditor-generals office and the government to make regular reports to the Yangon parliament about its business activities.

The finance, planning and economy committee plans to submit the bill in June.

Daw Nyo Nyo Thin, founder of Yangon Watch, an independent watchdog monitoring the Yangon governments performance, welcomed the move, saying it would help protect the public interest and establish a cleaner government.

I heard that the law was drafted in response to the Yangon regional governments violation of financial regulations over the past few years, she said.

While the parliament provided the checks and balances for the government by enacting laws, the government was obliged to comply with those laws, Daw Nyo Nyo Thin added. A government that does not follow procedures should step down, she said.

External relations director U Aung Thu Nyein of Institute for Strategy and Policy Myanmar, a non-governmental think-tank, told The Irrawaddy: It is good to exercise checks and balances. But I dont think a law is enough. Other mechanisms like an anti-corruption commission need to be strong to make the system effective.

The 2008 Constitution stipulates certain provisions that regional and state governments have to follow in using public funds and Yangon has violated those provisions, he said.

According to the Yangon Auditor-Generals report on spending in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 fiscal years, the regional government failed to comply with financial regulations, overstepped its authority, gave favor to organizations or individuals when awarding contracts and public funds were lost due to mismanagement.

One of the examples is Yangon Metropolitan Development Co. Established by the Yangon government to build housing for the homeless, it has barely realized its stated purpose while using its public funding for other purposes.

Another example includes violating tender regulations in the purchase of 30 billion kyats (US$21 million) worth of transformers with presidential special funds.

The regional government also refused to pay income tax on 700 million kyats (US$485,000) in profits from the Yangon Region Transport Authority (YRTA), saying that it was a public company and not a government institution.

The YRTA was formed by the Yangon regional government and tasked to oversee all transport services in the region.

In June last year, the Yangon government intervened to limit the distribution of the Yangon Auditor-Generals report on its spending in fiscal 2017-18. Yangons chief minister and the regional parliamentary speaker assigned the parliaments Public Accounts Committee to review the report, rather than delivering copies to every lawmaker, as was the case in previous years.

Annually, the office prepares the report and submits its findings to the Yangon parliament as dictated by the Union Auditor-General Law. It is also customary to send copies of the report to each regional lawmaker in advance so they can study it before joining parliamentary debates on the governments spending.

Yangon regional minister for electricity and transport Daw Nilar Kyaw responded to the auditor-generals report in January but lawmakers complained that she did not give clear answers.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko

You may also like these stories:

Yangon Region Govt Hides From Scrutiny at Friendly Press Conference

Details Scarce on Funding, Planning for Flood Prevention at New Yangon City Project

The President Intervenes to Save Yangon from Its Govt
ALBANY  A reader left me an angry voicemail. This time, at least, I was not the source of the ire.

The man who called last week was mad about the Central Warehouse  the big, hulking, peeling and brutally ugly building just north of downtown Albany. He demanded to know why Gov. Andrew Cuomo hadn't done something about it.

"How can the state of New York allow this monstrosity in its capital city?" he asked without leaving his name or number.

I enjoy blaming Cuomo for things as much as the next guy, but I'll give him a pass on this one. The Central Warehouse was a hideous blight before Cuomo took office, and it seems likely to remain that way long after the governor has gone to work for President Mike Bloomberg.

Still, I do understand the caller's frustration. Anybody who cares about Albany should want to see changes at a warehouse that is as visible as any landmark on the skyline.

The Big Ugly, as I like to call the warehouse, is both big and ugly, a decaying ruin built on a monumental scale.

The 11-story building on Montgomery Street is owned by Evan Blum. In 2017, Blum purchased the warehouse for $1 and vowed to transform it into an arts hub that would also accommodate aspects of his downstate architectural salvage business.

No progress has been evident since, but Blum on Monday insisted he's moving forward with "special plans" that will be "very fruitful." He declined to provide specifics, but did ask for patience and a little less carping from the Capital Region's press and citizenry.

"We're just getting our ducks in a row so we can move forward," Blum told me. "It's more complicated than anybody can know, but I'm not giving up."

Well, good to know. Certainly, a 500,000-square-foot warehouse built in the 1920s for cold storage is an unusually difficult piece of real estate with which to wrestle. On that, we can all agree.

But I'll remind Blum that owning a building as visible as The Big Ugly is naturally going to entail public scrutiny and interest. If you couldn't suffer the heat of this particular kitchen, you shouldn't have purchased it.

My caller isn't alone with his impatience. I get exasperated calls and emails about The Big Ugly fairly often. And recently, the Altamont Enterprise published a passionate call for a #KnockItDown campaign that would fund a warehouse demo likely to cost millions.

"Theres nothing to be redeemed from this irredeemable property," Jesse Sommer wrote, adding that "the Central Warehouse has no retrofitted future."

Sommer ignored an important point. Though Blum owes back taxes on the building, much of which accumulated before he took ownership, The Big Ugly is private property. To raze the warehouse at this moment, Albany likely would have to seize it by eminent domain in a costly legal battle.

Meanwhile, is The Big Ugly really irredeemable?

I say no. It would take nothing more than a mural to turn this lemon into lemonade.

Here's an idea: Turn one side of the warehouse into an Albany version of Mount Rushmore, with a mural of the four New York governors who went on to the presidency. In case you're wondering, that's Martin Van Buren, Grover Cleveland, Teddy Roosevelt, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

(To secure state funding for the project, we might need to squeeze Mario Cuomo's visage in somewhere.)

More Information Contact columnist Chris Churchill at cchurchill@timesunion.com or 518-454-5442. Want more from Chris Churchill? Sign up for his weekly newsletter. See More Collapse

Other sides of the building could be painted to celebrate the Adirondacks, say, or the "eggcellence" of life in Albany. With that, the warehouse would become an entirely different symbol of the city, one indicating progress and creativity instead of stagnation and decay.

"It would be the best facelift the city could get," said Kevin Clark, a Niskayuna-based artist who painted the massive new mural on the Hedley Building in Troy. "Even just a base coat on the building would be wonderful."

Clark said the Central Warehouse gnaws at him every time he drives by, so badly does he itch for a chance to paint it. What a canvass! With Interstate 787 streaming by  at least until Cuomo gets around to removing the highway  it couldn't be more visible.

The hardest part, Clark said, would be the prep work  the scraping and priming that, by his guess, could cost nearly $1 million. (For perspective, the Albany Skyway project, which will turn a highway ramp near the warehouse into a pedestrian walkway, is expected to cost $15 million.)

But again, The Big Ugly is private property. So I asked Blum for his thoughts on murals for the warehouse, which led him to reveal that he has "good plans for the exterior."

And what might they entail? "You'll see when it happens," Blum said.

I won't hold my breath. Want more from Chris Churchill? Sign up for a weekly newsletter.

cchurchill@timesunion.com  518-454-5442  @chris_churchill
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday asserted that his government firmly believes in the path of sustainable development and is ensuring that growth happens without harming the

He also said India is one of the few countries whose actions are compliant with the Paris Agreement goal of keeping the rise in temperature below two degrees Celsius.

Addressing the 13th Conference of Parties (COP) of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) at Gandhinagar via video, he said India has been championing climate action based on the values of conservation, sustainable lifestyle and a green development model.

"My government firmly believes in the path of sustainable development. We are ensuring that development happens without harming the environment," Modi said.

India, the Prime Minister told the conference, has been traditionally practising the mantra of 'Athithi Devo Bhava'. "This has been reflected in the slogan theme for the CMS COP 13 -- 'Migratory species connect the planet and together we welcome them home'," he said.

India proposes to strengthen its bonds with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and East Asia Summit countries. This would be in sync with the Indo Pacific Ocean Initiative (IPOI), wherein New Delhi will be playing a leadership role, the Prime Minister said.

He also said India will hold presidency of the Convention for the coming three years and has prepared a national action plan to conserve migratory birds along the 'Central Asian Flyway'.

Several protected areas in the country share common boundaries with other nations, he pointed out, pitching for cooperation in conservation of wildlife that could lead to positive outcomes.

The number of protected areas increased from 745 in 2014 to 870 in 2019 with an area coverage of nearly 1,70,000 square km, the Prime Minister said, adding, the range of "our initiatives include ambitious target of 450 MW renewable energy with push towards Electric Vehicles, smart cities and conservation of water".

"For ages, conservation of wildlife and habitats has been a part of the cultural ethos of India, which encourages compassion and co-existence... India is one of the most diverse countries of the world. With 2.4 per cent of the world's land area, it contributes about 8 per cent of the known global biodiversity," Modi noted.

The Prime Minister said the critically endangered bird - the Great Indian Bustard - which is also the mascot of COP 13, has also been the focus of India's conservation efforts.

"The Great Indian Bustard, a critically endangered bird, has also been at the focus of our conservation efforts. As part of the captive breeding programme, nine eggs have been successfully hatched from the wild.

"This has been accomplished by the Indian Scientists and Forest Department with technical assistance from International Fund for Houbara Conservation, Abu Dhabi. "We have, therefore, made the mascot 'GIBI- The Great', as a tribute to the Great Indian Bustard," he said.

Speaking about four biodiversity hotspots, the Prime Minister said India is blessed with diverse ecological habitats. "India is blessed with diverse ecological habitats and also has four biodiversity hotspots. They are - the Eastern Himalayas, Western Ghats, Indo-Myanmar landscape and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

"In addition, India is also home to around 500 species of migratory birds from across the globe," he said.

Talking about tiger population in India having gone up, he called upon tiger range countries to come together to strengthen the big cat's conservation.

The number of tiger reserves has increased from nine since its formative years to 50 at present, Modi said. He said at present India has the distinction of having a population of almost 2,970 tigers and that India has achieved its target of doubling the number of tigers two years before the committed date of 2022.

"I call upon Tiger Range Countries present here and also others to come together to strengthen tiger conservation through sharing of benchmark practices," Modi said.

The Prime Minister said during its presidency, India would actively work towards conservation and an action plan has been prepared to protect migratory birds along the Central Asian Flyway.

"India is part of the Central Asian Flyway for migratory birds. With a view to conserve the birds along the Central Asian Flyway and their habitats, India has prepared a 'National Action Plan for conservation of Migratory Birds along the Central Asian Flyway'.

"India would be happy to facilitate preparation of action plans for other countries in this regard. We are keen to take the conservation of migratory birds to a new paradigm with active cooperation of all the Central Asian Flyway Range Countries," he said.

The PM said he wishes to establish an institutional mechanism for undertaking research, studies, assessments, capacity development and conservation initiatives by creating a common platform.

He also mentioned about the Project Snow Leopard to protect the species in the upper Himalayas.

"India recently hosted the Steering Committee of the Global Snow Leopard Ecosystem Programme of 12 countries, which resulted in New Delhi declaration envisaging development of country specific framework for snow leopard conservation.

"I am happy to share that India would be taking a leadership role in promoting Green Economy including conservation of mountain ecology with people's participation," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Buses believed to carry the U.S. passengers of the cruise ship Diamond Princess leave the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan on Feb. 17, 2020. (Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)

13 American Cruise Evacuees Taken to Nebraska Hospital Over Coronavirus Fears

Several Diamond Princess cruise ship passengers who were described as a high risk, along with their spouses, were taken to Nebraska, after displaying potential COVID-19 symptoms or testing positive, said state health officials on Monday.

The Americans were taken University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha for isolation, said state officials in an afternoon press conference.

Christopher Kratochvil, executive director of clinical research for the Global Center for Health Security at the university, said a total of 13 people were taken to Omaha and described them as high-risk patients.

Around 2 or 3 this morning, we were asked to bring individuals who had tested positive or had a high likelihood of testing positive, based on the symptoms they were showing, Kratochvil said.

One of the passengers was taken to a containment unit with symptoms of an undisclosed chronic condition, said Shelly Schwedhelm, the head of Nebraska Medicines emergency department.

When asked, neither Schwedhelm or the other officials could confirm the number of patients who are being held at the hospital. They have WiFi, they have TV, they have a small refrigerator, she said of the rooms.

Two buses arrive next to the Diamond Princess cruise ship, with people quarantined onboard due to fears of the new coronavirus, at the Daikaku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama port in Japan, on Feb. 16, 2020. (Behrouz Mehri/AFP via Getty Images)

All of the 13 people have been tested, the officials said. Well have to decide  whether they will stay in their room or be let outside, Schwedhelm said, adding that the rooms are separate.

Those who have tested positive for this novel coronavirus are only showing mild symptoms of the disease, stated a release distributed at the news conference, reported KTIV.

On Monday, Dr. Robert Kadlec, assistant secretary for the federal Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, confirmed to the Omaha World-Herald that 10 passengers and spouses were taken to the UNMC campus for isolation.

Like other evacuees, they will have to be placed under federal quarantine for 14 days, according to the health officials.

The State Department said that 14 passengers among the more than 300 evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship tested positive for COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, two or three days before.

The virus outbreak on the Carnival Corp.-owned cruise ship is believed to have originated from an elderly Hong Kong man who had tested positive for the virus. Japanese health officials later placed the entire cruise ship under quarantine for two weeks, starting in early February.

But as the days went on, more and more cases of COVID-19 were being confirmed. As of Monday, 454 people were sickened by the mysterious virus on the ship, said Japanese health officials.
Part of this decrease is expected, Tan said. Many Chinese in the United States have recently visited China for the Lunar New Year, and church leaders have advised those who just returned to avoid services for two weeks as a courtesy to other attendees. There are also, however, some congregants who have not left the United States in months but are nonetheless fearful of visiting the church.
Paladion's AI-Driven MDR We are thrilled to work with this innovative company to expand their cybersecurity technology with powerful analytics, extensive threat hunting, and auto containment mechanisms.

Paladion, a global leader in AI-Driven Managed Detection and Response, is pleased to announce it is the cybersecurity partner of choice for a pioneer and global leader in high-performance testing and sensing solutions. Paladion will deploy a full-service Managed Detection and Response (MDR) solution with IT infrastructure.

This AI-Driven MDR solution will keep confidential information safe. Paladions newest client can expect to see many benefits from the MDR solution, including an ability to anticipate security breaches before they occur and deep insights into endpoints, user behavior, application, and network.

We are thrilled to work with this innovative company to expand their cybersecurity technology with powerful analytics, extensive threat hunting, and auto containment mechanisms, said Rajat Mohanty, CEO at Paladion. Paladions robust MDR solution will unlock a unique ability for our client to protect confidential information without relying on manual processes to detect and contain security threats.

Paladions MDR solution provides unrivaled threat intelligence, threat hunting, security monitoring, incident analysis, and incident response. It extends beyond traditional security monitoring to analyze critical data, including endpoints, user behavior, application, and network.

With security threats becoming more advanced and challenging to detect, Paladions MDR solution stands out from other options available because of its proactive analytics based on Artificial Intelligence and machine learning.

The benefits of this next-generation solution include:



Threat anticipation: Anticipate potential threats in advance using contextualized data

Threat hunting: Identify and hunt stealth attack campaigns before they can cause a breach using AI-driven insights

Security monitoring: Monitor and protect your systems in real-time from known and current attacks.

Incident analysis: React to individual needs of a company based on high-level insights and industry trends

Auto containment: Machine learning algorithms allow you to contain attacks in minutes, not days.

Response orchestration: Evict attackers, eradicate threats, and advance your defenses faster.

Paladions MDR solution covers every threat stage before, during, and after an attack using a proprietary AI platform that expands, accelerates, and automates most security activities. The system is able to:



Reduce threat detection time by 80%

Reduce analyst effort by over 50%

Reduce time to respond to and remove threats by 85%

For more information about Paladions client partnerships and its Managed Detection and Response solution, contact us here.

About Paladion:

Paladion is a next-generation cybersecurity provider to technology, manufacturing, and cloud-first companies across the United States. They are consistently recognized and rated by independent technology advisory firms for their Managed Detection and Response Services, Cloud security, and Vulnerability Management & Response services, which is anchored by their patented Artificial Intelligence platform  AI.saac.

For more information, please visit http://www.paladion.net.
Quarantine, isolation and lockdown protocols have been strategies in the global assault on the coronavirus that has killed more than 1,700 people since December despite mixed reviews on their value.

Quarantine involves separation of those who have been exposed until confirmation of the presence or absence of the disease. Isolation separates the confirmed cases from the populace to avoid further transmission. A lockdown is aimed at halting movement of all individuals within the concerned area, regardless of whether individuals are exposed, ill or not.

Michael Ryan, who leads the World Health Organization's emergencies program, urged global leaders to carefully strike balances between the common good and the rights of individuals.

"There is no zero risk in the world for anything," Ryan said at a news conference Monday. "We need an approach that allows us to function as a society. ... We need to be extremely measured in what we do."

It's been more than two weeks since the United States began implementing 14-day quarantines. After Japan quarantined a cruise ship off Yokohama, the United States and other countries removed their citizens to bring them home  to more quarantines.

Ogbonnaya Omenka, an assistant professor and public health specialist at Butler University's College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, told USA TODAY that the U.S. decision to directly oversee the isolation and quarantine processes of Americans makes sense from an intervention perspective.

"These approaches may prevent the wider spread of the disease temporarily," he said, but "they are not guaranteed to stop further transmissions" or deaths.

Why US broke the Diamond Princess quarantine: 'Something went awry'

China ordered massive lockdowns

China has led the way. Last month, President Xi Jinping ordered entire cities locked down to slow the outbreak, including its epicenter, Wuhan, a city of 11 million people. About 60 million people remained locked down Monday.

Story continues

This week, the government ordered lockdowns expanded to include residential communities within urban and rural areas of the region. The government closed nonessential public places and banned public gatherings and the use of private vehicles.

U.S. evacuees from the Diamond Princess cruise ship arrive at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland on Feb. 17.

China efforts draw uneasy support

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO's director general, said the government's efforts to contain the outbreak at its source "appear to have bought the world time." Lawrence Gostin, director of the WHO Collaborating Center on Public Health Law & Human Rights, warned that such lockdowns can drive an epidemic underground, provoking fear and panic. "Trapping more than 50 million people together in a hot zone of contagion will lead to cross-infection, fear, and social isolation," he wrote in the Health Affairs blog.

US quarantine measures

U.S. citizens returning from China's Hubei Province are subject to up to 14 days of mandatory quarantine to ensure they are provided proper medical care and health screening. Returning citizens who have been in the rest of mainland China within the previous 14 days will undergo proactive health screening at a select number of ports of entry and up to 14 days of monitored self-quarantine to ensure they have not contracted the virus and do not pose a public health risk.

Diamond Princess quarantine

The Diamond Princess was carrying 2,666 guests and 1,045 crew when it was quarantined in Japan after 10 cases of coronavirus were reported Feb. 4. The totals included 380 Americans. Two charter flights brought American passengers to military bases in California and Texas, and they face a new 14-day quarantine period to ensure they are free of the coronavirus.

Why the US broke the quarantine

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, said the quarantine process on the ship failed. "I mean, I'd like to sugarcoat it and try to be diplomatic about it, but it failed," he told USA TODAY. "Something went awry in the process of the quarantining on that ship."

Omenka said the U.S. decision made sense in terms of synchronization of response, "especially when there is no available cure or universal treatment for the disease."

The future is unclear

Over 73,000 cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed, all but a few hundred of them in mainland China. Those few hundred are scattered across more than two dozen nations. Fifteen cases have been confirmed in the USA, but health officials said dozens more Americans apparently have the virus on the ship.

WHO declared a global health emergency, but Ryan stressed that the spread of the disease outside China has been minimal.

"This is a very serious outbreak, and it has the potential to grow," Ryan said. "But outside Hubei (province), this infection is affecting a tiny, tiny, tiny proportion of people. We need to be extremely measured in what we do."

Contributing: David Oliver

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: Can quarantines, lockdowns and isolation stop the charge?
YEREVAN, 17 FEBUARY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 17 February, USD exchange rate stood at 479.05 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 0.10 drams to 519.43 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.03 drams to 7.57 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 0.24 drams to 624.63 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price up by 97.80 drams to 24356.43 drams. Silver price up by 1.00 drams to 272.69 drams. Platinum price up by 107.81 drams to 14970.56 drams.
Ryu Hyun-jin of the Toronto Blue Jays has joined the club's spring training camp in Dunedin, Florida.

Training for pitchers and catchers began on Friday but Ryu arrived in Dunedin on Feb. 9 to get warmed up early on.

Ryu signed a four-year contract worth US$80 million with the Blue Jays -- the biggest deal ever for a Korean pitcher -- in December last year after playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers for seven years.

Meanwhile, Kim Kwang-hyun made the front page of the St. Louis Cardinals' website on Feb. 11 in an article headlined, "Cards lefty Kim comes out firing in first session."

Kim threw more than 50 pitches, whereas most starters are asked to throw 30 to 40 in their first spring outing.

Also in December last year, Kim signed a two-year contract worth US$8 million with the Cardinals, finally realizing his lifelong dream of playing in the big league.
With a career expanding 18 years, Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Brandon Vargo of Cass City now serves as Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command (NMRTC) Bremertons leading petty officer for the hospitals career counseling team.

In that 18 years, the Cass City High School and Craven Community College graduate has spent 15 of them in Navy medicine.

I came into the Navy in a total different direction than I am now," said Vargo. I originally came into the Navy through the nuclear training pipeline but after 'A' school and power school I just knew I wasn't where I belonged.

He initially joined the Navy to see the world and wanted to stay Navy, but was not happy being in the nuclear community. He then jumped on the opportunity to change jobs as soon as the option arose.

I was at a crossroads and not quite sure what I was going to do, he recalls. Thats when I was able to train with many different ratings. It was during some on-the-job training at Naval Hospital Groton that I was first introduced to Navy medicine.

Vargo went to Hospital Corpsman A school and then to train as a surgical technician before reporting to Naval Hospital Cherry Point, North Carolina, saying, From there, thats where the real story began.

Seeing the world is exactly what he has done, and continues to do. Since joining the Navy medicine community, Vargo has been either been stationed or visited nine states across the U.S.  Illiniois, South Carolina, New York, Connecticut, Virginia, North Carolina, Califorinai, Hawaii and Washington  and during deployment visited Hong Kong, Dubai and Bahrain.

He mentioned his time aboard the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2) being a notable tour of great professional achievement.

I was on the shipboard surgical trauma training team, completed the helicopter underwater escape training, did multiple mass casualty drills, did a West Pacific deployment, and got triple qualified all as a member of Fleet Surgical Team 1, he said.

Tripled qualified refers to Vargo earning his enlisted surface, air, and information warfare specialist devices.

Even with all of the above accomplishments, when asked Vargo said the best part of his Navy Medicine career is, fulfilling the duties of a command career counselor where your days are long, the job is tedious, and it's never boring.

Vargo was hand selected as command career counselor based off his past performance. So he dropped his surgical technician designation to work full time helping Sailors at NMRTC Bremerton navigate their careers with such duties as coordinating reenlistments, handling contract extensions, and navigating the selection process for duty assignment orders.

It's been quite an experience, and the greatest part was being able to interact and affect so many people's lives both from a patient care aspect and a Navy leader aspect, Vargo said.
" " Face it: Your gadgets don't have a long shelf life. nelik/iStock/Thinkstock

Unless your company sells breakaway glass to the movie industry, "built to break" is hardly a winning marketing slogan. But for many consumers who have purchased anything electronic in the past 15 years, it often feels as though our shiny new devices need to be replaced practically the moment we buy them. Could it be true that our computers are actually built to break?

A 2009 report by warranty service company SquareTrade found that about 20 percent of laptops and 24 percent of less-expensive netbooks will suffer a hardware malfunction (read: fail) within the first three years of ownership [source: SquareTrade].

Advertisement

Even if the device itself still works, new software updates or operating systems may be incompatible with our "old" computers, rendering them obsolete before their time [sources: Chaves, Electronics Takeback Coalition].

The Economist argues that planned obsolescence is part of the business strategy for the computer industry, with the next generations of software and processors in development before the last ones are even on the market [source: Economist].

A 2013 study commissioned by Germany's Green Party found that electronic goods lasting less than two years may have been built badly on purpose, or at least knowingly. The study cited smartphones and notebooks built with batteries that cannot be replaced or with cases that can't be opened because they are glued rather than screwed together [source: The Local].

Others have noted laptops designed with heat-sensitive capacitors on the hottest part of the circuit board (where they are sure to fail), unavailable replacement parts and repair costs that make it almost as expensive to fix a device as it would be to replace it [source: Chaves, Seydtaghia].

The upshot: Unless computer manufacturers experience a sudden urge to come clean, we might never know whether our computers are in fact intentionally built to break. But intentional or not, both evidence and experience seem to indicate that at the very least modern consumer electronics aren't built to not break, so  to the consumer  the end result is the same.
While Indian real estate attracted more than $5 billion in private equity inflows in 2019, firms from US, UAE and Singapore remain bullish on the sector even as Japanese and South Korean investors are evaluating options in 2020.

As per data made available by Anarock Capital, US-based Blackstone remains bullish on Indian real estate and pumped in over $1.8 billion in 2019 over $1.1 billion in 2018. Others included US-based Hines, UAE-based ADIA and Lakeshore and Singapore-based Xander Group.

A few Japanese investors or corporates have been evaluating the Indian real estate investment options and we can expect them to get into gear in 2020, along with pension and insurance funds, it said.

The interest of the Japanese firms is not limited to Mumbai alone but is also in other top cities such as Delhi-NCR. Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and Chennai.

Interestingly, South Korean companies may also be evaluating the Indian commercial market.

South-Korea-based Mirae Asset Financial Group is showing interest in Indian commercial market but its still too early to say when and where, experts said.

As per data from Anarock Capital, the momentum of equity investments from foreign investors into real estate restarted from 2014 onward. Since then, Indian real estate sector has received $16.6 billion worth of foreign investments.

"In this period, investors focus has remained largely on big-ticket income-yielding commercial and retail assets  72 percent in aggregate. This period also saw the entry of significant Canadian pension funds into Indian real estate, either directly or through platform deals with Indian counterpart. While Singapore-based funds led by GIC remained very active in this period, US-based funds led by Blackstone continued their love affair with India real estate and invested more than 5.7 bn dollars in the same period," said Shobhit Agarwal, MD & CEO  ANAROCK Capital.

In 2020, funding focus is expected to remain on Grade A income-generating assets along with last-mile funding opportunities in residential projects.

"A few Japanese investors/corporates have been evaluating Indian real estate investment options and we can expect them to get into gear in 2020, along with pension and insurance funds. These funds are inherently patient and come with longer investment tenures. As such, they will play a significant role in providing the long-term solutions Indian developers now need. In fact, 2020 promises to be an action-packed year for Indian real estate funding," he said.

MMR and NCR were the top favourites for private equity investors in 2019; together, the two regions received close to $2.7 billion worth of PE funds, comprising a whopping 53 percent overall share. Previously in 2018, rather than NCR, it was Hyderabad that was on top in the radar of private equity investors, Anarock Capital said.

The commercial segment continued to lure investors in 2019, with total PE inflows crossing $3.3 billion - though reducing by 13% on yearly basis. Meanwhile, both the retail and residential segments saw an uptick in investments in 2019 against the preceding year, it said.

The residential sector received PE inflows of 395 mn dollars in 2019 against 265 mn dollars in 2018, the report said.

The high potential of logistics and warehousing notwithstanding, this segment attracted about 200 mn dollars PE funds - a drop of nearly 50 percent against the previous year.

Mixed-use developments saw inflows of approximately 155 mn dollars in 2019, as against 310 mn dollars in 2018, it said.

"Total PE inflows in Indian real estate remained more or less the same in 2019 against 2018. However, NCR once again emerged as a major hotbed for private equity activity in 2019. Besides office real estate, the retail sector helped NCR gain traction from both foreign and domestic funds," Agarwal added.
[February 17, 2020] CGI announces intent to repurchase 6.01 million of its shares held by Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec

Represents $600.0 million transaction by CGI MONTREAL, Feb. 17, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - CGI (TSX: GIB.A) (NYSE: GIB) announced today that it intends to enter into a private agreement with Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec ("la Caisse") for the purchase for cancellation of 6,008,905 of its Class A subordinate voting shares ("Class A Shares") held by la Caisse for a price of $99.85 per Class A Share, which represents a discount to the closing price on February 14, 2020 of the Class A Shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX"). The transaction will be made in connection with the periodic portfolio rebalancing of la Caisse. Once completed, la Caisse will continue to hold approximately 31.4 million Class A Shares, representing approximately 11.9% of CGI's total outstanding shares.

"Once again this year, CGI continues to produce excellent results for its shareholders, and this transaction is an opportunity for la Caisse to monetize a portion of our investment to the benefit of our depositors," said Charles Emond, President and Chief Executive Officer of la Caisse. "La Caisse remains a significant shareholder of CGI and intends to continue supporting the growth and globalization of this information technology leader." "This transaction is immediately accretive and consistent with our value creation strategy," said Francois Boulanger, Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer, CGI. "We remain very well positioned to continue executing our Build and Buy profitable growth strategy through our strong cash flow generation and access to our credit facility."

A favourable decision was obtained from the Autorite des marches financiers to exempt CGI from the issuer bid requirements under securities legislation applicable to the transaction, which will be made at a discount in accordance with the decision and is expected to be entered into later today and settled on February 19, 2020.

The share repurchase will be made under CGI's normal course issuer bid ("NCIB"), the renewal of which was announced on January 29, 2020. Under the NCIB, CGI is authorized to repurchase up to 20,149,100 Class A Shares by February 5, 2021. The NCIB allows for purchases outside the facilities of the TSX by private agreements pursuant to exemption orders issued by securities regulators. As at February 14, 2020, CGI had not repurchased any Class A Shares under its current NCIB.

Information regarding the share repurchase, including the number of Class A Shares purchased for cancellation and aggregate price paid, will be available on the SEDAR website at sedar.com following the completion thereof. CGI will not issue any additional press release in respect of this share repurchase. About CGI

Founded in 1976, CGI is among the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world. With 77,500 consultants and other professionals across the globe, CGI deliversan end-to-end portfolio of capabilities, from strategic IT and business consulting to systems integration, managed IT and business process services and intellectual property solutions. CGI works with clients through a local relationship model complemented by a global delivery network that helps clients digitally transform their organizations and accelerate results. With Fiscal 2019 reported revenue of C$12.1 billion, CGI shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB). Learn more at cgi.com .



Forward-looking information and statements

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities laws and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other applicable United States safe harbours. All such forward-looking information and statements are made and disclosed in reliance upon the safe harbour provisions of applicable Canadian and United States securities laws. Forward-looking information and statements include all information and statements regarding CGI's intentions, plans, expectations, beliefs, objectives, future performance, and strategy, as well as any other information or statements that relate to future events or circumstances and which do not directly and exclusively relate to historical facts. Forward-looking information and statements often but not always use words such as "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "anticipate", "foresee", "plan", "predict", "project", "aim", "seek", "strive", "potential", "continue", "target", "may", "might", "could", "should", and similar expressions and variations thereof. These information and statements are based on our perception of historic trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other assumptions, both general and specific, that we believe are appropriate in the circumstances. Such information and statements are, however, by their very nature, subject to inherent risks and uncertainties, of which many are beyond the control of CGI, and which give rise to the possibility that actual results could differ materially from our expectations expressed in, or implied by, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include but are not restricted to: risks related to the market such as the level of business activity of our clients, which is affected by economic and political conditions, and our ability to negotiate new contracts; risks related to our industry such as competition and our ability to attract and retain qualified employees, to develop and expand our services, to penetrate new markets, and to protect our intellectual property rights; risks related to our business such as risks associated with our growth strategy, including the integration of new operations, financial and operational risks inherent in worldwide operations, foreign exchange risks, income tax laws, our ability to negotiate favorable contractual terms, to deliver our services and to collect receivables, and the reputational and financial risks attendant to cybersecurity breaches and other incidents; as well as other risks identified or incorporated by reference in this press release, in CGI's annual and quarterly MD&A and in other documents that we make public, including our filings with the Canadian Securities Administrators (on SEDAR at www.sedar.com) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (on EDGAR at www.sec.gov). Unless otherwise stated, the forward-looking information and statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and CGI disclaims any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information or forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. While we believe that our assumptions on which these forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are based were reasonable as at the date of this press release, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking information or statements. Furthermore, readers are reminded that forward-looking information and statements are presented for the sole purpose of assisting investors and others in understanding our objectives, strategic priorities and business outlook as well as our anticipated operating environment. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Further information on the risks that could cause our actual results to differ significantly from our current expectations may be found in the section titled "Risk Environment" of CGI's annual and quarterly MD&A, which is incorporated by reference in this cautionary statement. We also caution readers that the above-mentioned risks and the risks disclosed in CGI's annual and quarterly MD&A and other documents and filings are not the only ones that could affect us. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial could also have a material adverse effect on our financial position, financial performance, cash flows, business or reputation.

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cgi-announces-intent-to-repurchase-6-01-million-of-its-shares-held-by-caisse-de-depot-et-placement-du-quebec-301005675.html

SOURCE CGI Inc.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ablekuma West Constituency, Mrs Ursula Owusu Ekuful, has laced her boots to retain the parliamentary seat of the party by throwing a challenge to anyone who wants to contest her to come on board.



She said if anyone thought they were bold and courageous and could face her, the doors of the constituency office is open.



We have not started the campaigning yet, we just came to submit our forms. If you think you are courageous come and face me. What we have done so far is just comedy, she said.



Mrs Owusu Ekuful, who is also the Minister of Communications, said that last Friday shortly after submitting her forms to contest the parliamentary primary of the NPP for the constituency.



Nominations are expected to close on February 20, 2020 and so far only Mrs Owusu Ekuful has filed her nomination, the Ablekuma West Constituency Chairman, Mr Bright Osei-Puni, has said.



Procession



Before the submission of the forms, Mrs Owusu Ekuful embarked on a procession from her campaign office at Zodiac through to the Dansoman Roundabout, Mamas Inn, Bechem Junction, Exhibition market and then finally to the Exhibition Roundabout to the Ablekuma West Constituency office of the ruling party.



Mrs Owusu Ekuful, who was standing in an open-top vehicle, responded to cheers from party supporters and passers-by as she led the procession amidst brass band music and hiplife music from loud speakers mounted aboard another vehicle.



Excited supporters clad in the MPs T-shirts also distributed flyers showing some of the works done by the MP in the constituency to pedestrians, those who came out of their homes and commercial and private car drivers.



Commended



When Mrs Owusu Ekuful mounted the stage, she said the people in the constituency were witnesses to the good works done by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and herself for the past three years and one and a half months.



There is no household in Ghana which has not felt the positive impact of the change that we voted for in 2016, she said.



She said the love shown by the people in walking with her from Zodiac to the party office to submit her forms was an indication of the fact that they had acknowledged the good works of the government.



She said, for instance, the issue of roads, which was a big problem in the constituency, was being addressed and that the government had begun improving the road networks in the constituency.



Before the President declared the year 2020 as the year of roads, we had started ours in 2019. So if anybody doubts that they should come and see Ablekuma West, she said.



She mentioned the end of the power crisis (dumsor), free senior high school (SHS) programme, planting for food and jobs, information and communication technology laboratory, small loans to about 2,000 people, among others, as some of the good works that had been done by the government and in the constituency.



We are focused and on course to do more. You are all witnesses to what we are doing because the votes that you gave us are what we are using to improve the country. Please continue to help us because we would not disappoint you, she said.



Development



Mrs Owusu Ekuful said this was not the time for experiment since the country had gone too far in terms of development, saying that so we are not about to hand over the governance of this country to people who have no clue on how to govern, who have no clue on how to manage our economy, who are the reviewers general, reviewing what someone has done.



Come out with an original idea and try it and lets see, she said.



Ghana, she said, was on the move and there was no way the country was going to retrogress. She, therfore, urged the people to vote for her on April 25 for the good works to continue.



We just dont talk, we are working and we would continue to work, she said.



She thanked the people for showing love to her on Valentines Day by coming in their numbers.



Mr Osei-Puni said so far it was only Mrs Owusu-Ekuful who had picked and submitted forms to contest for the parliamentary primary.

Source: Daily Graphic









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The Bank of Mum and Dad helps to fund as many as 60 per cent of first-time buyer home purchases in some parts of the UK.

With high house prices making raising a deposit tough, parents and grandparents regularly step in with potentially tens of thousands of pounds to give the younger generations a leg-up.

But proposed changes to inheritance tax could make it more costly for families to help their children onto the housing ladder, with a proposed 10 per cent tax levied on sums above 30,000 given away each year.

On average 40% of all first-time buyers receive some early inheritance to put towards their deposit, but the percentage varies between 60% in London and 13% in Northern Ireland, according to Habito's research

Research by mortgage broker Habito has revealed that on average 40 per cent of all first-time buyers receive some or all of their inheritance early to put towards their deposit, but that figure varies substantially around the country.

It is as high as 60 per cent in London and 45 per cent in the South East, but these areas drag up the overall average with most places falling between 25 per cent 35 per cent of first-time buyers getting an early inheritance to help out.

Under the current rules, just 3,000 a year can be given away outside of the inheritance tax net, but if the person making the gift survives for seven years afterwards it is no longer liable for IHT.

A taper system sees the inheritance tax levied step down from 40 per cent through that seven-year period.

However, new inheritance tax rules recently proposed by MPs would see this system scrapped and replaced with a 10 per cent tax on annual gifts of more than 30,000, potentially eating into the deposits given to first-time buyers to secure their first home.

In return for that 10 per cent gift tax, inheritance tax itself was proposed to be slashed to 10 per cent and the current nil rate bands of 325,000 tax-free, or 650,000 for a married couple, would remain as a tax-free death allowance.

The average first-time buyer deposit varies widely across the country, from 106,000 in London, to 18,600 in County Durham, according to banking giant Halifax.

Currently, in theory this could all be gifted to the buyer by a parent tax-free as long as they didn't die within the next seven years.

If they did, it would be considered part of their estate liable for inheritance tax. Above 325,000 given away by any individual, this is imposed at 40 per cent.

Under the proposed overhaul this would all be replaced by a a single 'personal gift allowance'.

This could make gifting a deposit more costly, particularly in some areas where large sums are given away and in years when they may combine with other amounts handed out.

If a parent were to gift their child the average deposit of 46,187, some 16,187 would be taxed at 10 per cent, yielding a total bill of 1,618.

In London however, some 76,000 of the average deposit would be liable to the tax, yielding a bill of 7,600.

The tax would be calculated on what the gifter has already given away in a year, not what the receiver has received.

This means that if the parent had already given away over 30,000 that year, then the whole amount could be taxed at 10 per cent.

How does inheritance tax work? Inheritance tax is imposed at 40 per cent on the estates of those who die, above the main threshold set at 325,000 for a single person. This doubles to up to 650,000 for married couples and civil partners, who pass on their wealth to the surviving spouse on death and have not used any of their allowance themselves. This is because spouses can transfer assets to each other without being liable for inheritance tax. Any unused allowance from the first spouse to die is then taken on by the surviving partner. An additional main residence nil rate band of up to 125,000 each is available for those passing their home to direct descendants.

Who would be affected?

Habito found that Londoners are almost a third more likely to receive their inheritance early in order to help them get on the property ladder than those in any other region in the UK.

Some 80 per cent of Londoners are offered financial support from their families to help with a home deposit, 65 per cent of which accept, it claimed.

Amazingly, over a third of first time buyers in the capital said their families helped them with 80-100 per cent of their deposit - with the average London deposit at 106,000, according to Halifax, that means hefty sums are changing hands

At the other end of the spectrum, just 13 per cent of first-time buyers in Northern Ireland take inheritance early to fund a deposit, that compares to around a third in Scotland, the West Midlands and the North West.

Due to lower house prices in those areas, smaller sums chnage hands.

Daniel Hegarty, Habito chief executive, said: 'While first-time buyers really drove the property market last year, it's clear that most have to rely on help from their families who are going to incredible lengths to help get their adult children get on the ladder.'

The OTS chart shows the effective rate increases from under 5% for estates with a net value under 1m, up to 20 per cent for estates valued at 2-3m. It then levels off, until hitting just above 20% for estates valued at 6-7m, before falling to 10% for estates worth 10m-plus.

Why change inheritance tax?

Inheritance tax is Britain's most hated tax, despite the fact that just 5 to 10 per cent of estates pay it.

The plan to simplify the hated 'death tax' follows calls by the Government's own tax gurus last year to overhaul long and complicated forms and scrap confusing rules on giveaways to loved ones in favour of a single 'personal gift allowance'.

The taxman raked in 5.4billion from bereaved families in the 2018-2019 tax year, up an annual 3 per cent as rising property prices meant more estates than ever became liable for a levy originally aimed at the very wealthy.

Inheritance tax is set at 40 per cent but the 'effective rate' is lower due to use of allowances and exemptions.

This allows the super rich to pay proportionally less - 10 per cent on average for estates worth 10 million-plus - than the wealthy who pay 20 per cent on estates of 2million to 9million, according to figures compiled by the Office of Tax Simplification, an independent arm of the Treasury.
BEIRUT - Lebanese national air carrier Middle East Airlines (Mea) has annulled a decision announced yesterday to only accept payment in US dollars amid the growing devaluation of the Lebanese lira.

Lebanon since last summer has been in deep financial crisis, accentuated by prolonged popular protests that kicked off in Beirut and other areas of the country in mid-October, Banks have imposed since mid-November strong restrictions, limiting the circulation of dollars - used since 1997 in each economic transaction like the local lira - and blocking foreign transfers. Compared to the official exchange rate of a dollar worth 1,500 local liras, the US currency is exchanged on the regular market for about 2,400 liras. The price of goods has gone up by as much as 30% in a few months and the unemployment rate has risen, particularly in poorer areas.

In this context, considering that the Lebanese diaspora includes over 20 million people living in Africa, Asia, Europe, America and Australia, Mea yesterday announced it would not accept payments in Lebanese liras but only in dollars.

However hundreds of people gathered at the carrier's airport offices - the only bureaus open on Sunday - to try to buy tickets before the new decision came into effect.

Meanwhile the move was harshly criticized on social media, prompting the government of Hassan Diab - which fears new protests - to find an agreement with the management of the airline to cancel the new measure.


NEW YORKA 14-year-old has been arrested in the fatal stabbing of a Barnard College student in a park during a robbery in December, a crime that rattled New York City residents, authorities said Saturday.

Rashaun Weaver has been indicted by a grand jury and was taken into custody Friday night without incident, New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said at a news conference.

Weaver, charged with second-degree murder and robbery, is the second teenager to be charged in the attack on 18-year-old Tessa Majors in a Manhattan park.

We are confident that we have the person in custody who stabbed her, Shea said. And that person will face justice in a court of law.

The Associated Press is naming the juvenile defendant because of the seriousness of the crime and because he has been charged as an adult. Weavers attorney, Elsie Chandler, did not immediately return a call to Neighbor Defender Service of Harlem seeking comment.

Hes a 14-year-old child and hes presumed not guilty, Chandler told the New York Post after Weavers bail hearing Saturday, at which he was ordered held without bail at a juvenile facility until his arraignment Wednesday.

Majors was stabbed as she walked through Morningside Park early the evening of Dec. 11. She staggered up a flight of stairs to street level and collapsed in a crosswalk.

A criminal complaint released Saturday described Majors as struggling on a landing with three people and screaming, Help me! Im being robbed!

Weaver said Majors was hanging onto her phone when he tried to take it, according to the complaint.

Officials said they have evidence from videotapes, witness identification, and DNA evidence from Majors fingernail clippings linking Weaver to the crime.

The attack, two days before the start of final exams at the womens school, troubled city residents because of its proximity to campus and its apparent randomness. Barnard is part of the Ivy Leagues Columbia University.

This arrest is a major milestone on the path to justice for Tessa Majors, said District Attorney Cy Vance.

A 13-year-old who was arrested Dec. 13 and charged as a juvenile with felony murder told detectives he was at the park with other youths but wasnt the one who stabbed Majors.

Vance said his office and the police are in active investigation in terms of other suspects, and that will continue.

Majors, of Charlottesville, Virginia, played in a rock band and had told an editor from a newspaper internship in high school that she planned to take journalism classes in college.
Can a woman beat Mr. Trump?

Women have driven Democrats electoral victories, but many Democratic voters are nevertheless convinced a woman cant beat Mr. Trump. Story after story documents Democratic voters  men and women alike  expressing the view that a woman cant win. This may explain the lackluster to poor results so far for Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Yet by multiple measures, she is broadly liked by Democratic voters, second only to Mr. Biden in the Economists measure of who voters are considering. Her marquee policy position, a two-percent tax on wealth over $50 million, polls at 63 percent, including 55 percent support from independents and 57 percent support from Republicans.

Women have powered the resistance to Mr. Trump: The Womens March was likely the biggest protest event in American history, and increased support from women drove a blue wave in the 2018 midterms. And in many elections, women candidates outperformed men: Among Democrats, female candidates in 2018 are more likely to defeat male candidates than the other way around, reports Ella Nilsen of Vox.

Mike Bloombergs money can buy a lot, but probably not the nomination.

Big business loves politics because sums that amount to pocket change in major industries buy big influence in Washington. Mr. Bloomberg is investing unheard-of sums in his race  he has more staff members than any other campaign, and his ads are everywhere. That spending has quickly elevated his poll numbers.

But there can be diminishing returns on spending: In 2016, Hillary Clinton outraised Mr. Trump three-to-one  and lost. Mr. Bloombergs record is dicey: He spoke at the 2004 Republican convention, praising George W. Bush and his war on terrorism. His stop and frisk regime was so brutal and discriminatory, it was struck down by a federal court as violating its victims civil rights. His presence supercharges the message from Mr. Sanders and Ms. Warren that billionaires are buying our democracy. He could win enough delegates to be a player at a contested convention, but its unlikely he can win a majority  and if the Democratic Party gave the nomination to a billionaire who supported Mr. Bush, it might as well shoot a big chunk of the Democratic electorate into space and hand Mr. Trump his re-election.

Black voters are the backbone of the Democratic Party, but 

So far, white voters have discounted their views. Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., and Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota are flatlining with black voters, polling at 4 percent and 0 percent, respectively, in the latest Quinnipiac poll. Their records are troubling. Mr. Buttigieg oversaw a sharp decline in the number of black police officers, pushed out both the black police chief and fire chief, and his handling of the shooting of a black man by a police officer prompted anger and outrage among black residents. For her part, a case Ms. Klobuchar cited as an example of her tough-on-crime approach during her tenure as a county prosecutor might have resulted in the wrongful conviction of a black teenager. Sunny Hostin, a former prosecutor and co-host of the The View, called the case one of the most flawed investigations and prosecutions that I think I have ever seen. But both have been propelled forward because white voters have made up nearly all of the votes cast so far.

There are other mysteries.

Turnout is down, based on Iowa  except that it might also be up, based on New Hampshire. More moderate candidates are more electable, based on a study of congressional candidates  except that the leftier candidate might also be more electable, judging by Barack Obamas dominant win in 2008 after beating Hillary Clinton for the nomination. Twitter is not real life, based on the composition of the Democratic electorate  except when it is, foretelling Mr. Bidens fall and Mr. Sanderss rise. There are two lanes, progressive and moderate  except when there arent, as Ms. Klobuchars surge in New Hampshire took voters away from both Ms. Warren and Mr. Biden.

One thing we do know for sure.

The last time Democrats unseated a Republican incumbent was in 1992, when we nominated the guy who had to go on 60 Minutes during the primary season to deny credible allegations of infidelity and who did not win a single state until Super Tuesday. President Bill Clinton went on to win 370 electoral votes. And the last time we won the popular majority was when we nominated the black man who had admitted to using cocaine, who was caught on tape calling working-class whites bitter people who cling to guns and religion, and who sat in the pews with a pastor who declared, God damn America. Mr. Obama went on to win 365 electoral votes, carrying states like Indiana.
The viscera samples of the 40-year-old Kenyan lawmaker, who was found dead in a Mulund (West) hotel on February 12, has been preserved for analysis. Cyrus Omondi was a member of the county assembly (MCA), Kahawa Wendani. The viscera samples would be sent to the forensic lab for further tests to ascertain the exact cause of the legislators death.

The three-member panel of doctors at Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar who conducted a post-mortem on Saturday have reserved the cause of Omondis death.

Mulund police, which is investigating the case, suspect that Omondi died of cardiac arrest and have prima facie ruled out any foul play in the case. The police have registered an accidental death case, but are investigating other angles, after the lawmakers family told the Kenyan media that he did not have any heart ailment. We checked the CCTV footage of the hotel where he was staying and he can be seen entering alone, said a police officer privy to the investigation.

While the Kenyan media reported that Omondi was in the city to attend a workshop with his colleagues in the education committee, the police said he was part of a delegation which had visited the city to participate in a karate tournament at Mulund. However, Omondi arrived in the city after the tournament concluded, the police said.

On February 11, Omondi had dinner with his Kenyan colleagues and Indian co-ordinators and went to sleep at Trimurti Hotel around midnight. Around 7.30pm on February 12, an Indian co-ordinator went to call him for shopping and sightseeing, as they had decided earlier.

Omondi did not answer the door, following which his Kenyan colleague, who was staying in Thane, was called to the hotel. After Omondis colleague reached the Mulund hotel, the hotel staff opened the door using a duplicate key. Omondi was lying on the floor, beside the bed, with his face facing the floor. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead before admission.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Supreme Court's appointment of two interlocutors to persuade the Shaheen Bagh protesters to move to another venue brought a little disappointment to the demonstrators though many of them believe there is finally an avenue to talk to the government about their dissent.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court's appointment of interlocutors to persuade the Shaheen Bagh protesters to move to another venue brought a little disappointment to the demonstrators though many of them believe there is finally an avenue to talk to the government about their dissent.

Hundreds of people, especially women, have been camping at Shaheen Bagh for over two months in protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act, blocking an arterial road due to which the city has been facing traffic congestions.

A section of the women protesters said the tent put up by them symbolised the venue as their "battleground for justice and equality". They said they were not averse to the idea of moving but first demanded detailed talks with the government on the CAA.

"We started our protest on 15 December when the students at Jamia Millia Islamia were beaten up miserably by police. We won't be too happy to move but since it is the court's decision, we will accept it with full respect," said Shaheeda Khan, a resident of Batla House.

"However, moving the point of protest won't be a decision accepted by all," she added.

Ritu Khosla from the Shaheen Bagh Co-ordination Committee told PTI, "The SC's decision is welcome and we fully accept it. We will be happy to meet the mediators who have been appointed by the apex court. I don't know if the protesters would agree to move. The decision to change the venue of the protest will entirely depend on the joint decision taken by all protesters of Shaheen Bagh."

The famous grandmothers or 'dadis' of Shaheen Bagh welcomed the decision saying they now expect genuine mediation with the government.

"We have wanted to talk to the government for two months. We tried various times to have a dialogue and marched towards the home minister's house too. However, the police always stopped us. We are ready to talk but there should be a genuine interaction and mediation between us and the government," Sharvari Dadi of Shaheen Bagh said.

The Shaheen Bagh protestors had marched towards Union Home Minister Amit Shah's residence on February 16 seeking to talk to him about the new citizenship law. They were stopped by Delhi Police midway. The march had included senior citizen women, popularly known as the 'Dabangg Dadis' of Shaheen Bagh.

The men at Shaheen Bagh said the SC's decision had brought a small but important victory for the protesters as the Centre will now have to talk to them.

"We are happy that at least the SC thought that there should be a dialogue because the government has been avoiding a dialogue. The government may think that removal of the protest point is their victory but the victory is ours because now we will directly talk and bring a solution in rolling back the CAA," Azim Khan, a resident and shop keeper at Shaheen Bagh, said.

The Supreme Court on Monday, while hearing a plea against the blockade, appointed senior advocate Sanjay Hegde and advocate Sadhana Ramachandran to mediate with the protesters and persuade them to move their protest to an alternative site where no public place is blocked.

The apex court said people have a fundamental right to protest against a law but the blocking of public roads is a matter of concern and there has to be a balancing factor.

The top court was hearing an appeal filed by advocate Amit Sahni 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 15 December.
Update:

San Antonio police identified Erick Eduardo Casas, 28, as the driver of a white Ford F-150 who ran a red light and crashed into a 19-year-old woman's vehicle Monday morning. The woman was transported to University Hospital, where she later died.

Casas was arrested at the scene on charges of intoxicated manslaughter.

The woman has not been identified pending the notification of next of kin.

Original story:

A 19-year-old woman has died after the driver of a white Ford F-150 ran a red light and crashed into her vehicle Monday morning on the West Side, according to San Antonio police.

The unidentified woman was traveling westbound through the intersection of Micron Drive and Culebra Road in her silver Subaru Forester just after midnight when the incident occurred.

Police said the F-150 T-boned the woman's vehicle on the driver's side.

The woman suffered massive injuries and was transported to University Hospital, where she later died.

On the scene, the driver of the F-150 was determined to be intoxicated, police said.

That driver was arrested on charges of intoxicated manslaughter.

Taylor Pettaway is a breaking news reporter and general assignment writer. Read her on our breaking news site, MySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | taylor.pettaway@express-news.net | @TaylorPettaway
New Delhi: Lashing out for the second time in three days at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans extremely controversial remarks supporting Islamabad on the Kashmir issue while on a visit to Pakistan recently, India summoned the Turkish envoy in New Delhi on Monday and issued a strong demarche, saying the remarks are one more example of a pattern of Turkey interfering in the internal affairs of other countries which India finds completely unacceptable.

New Delhi also said the Turkish Presidents remarks reflect neither an understanding of history nor of the conduct of diplomacy and that these distort events of the past to advance a narrow minded view of the present.

New Delhi also rejected the repeated attempts by Turkey to justify the cross border terrorism practiced so blatantly by Pakistan, adding that these developments have strong implications for our bilateral relationship.

President Erdogan along with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad have been extremely critical of India in the past few months while supporting Pakistan, after India revoked Article 370 and divided the erstwhile J&K state into two Union territories in August last year. In apparent response, India had also last year said it was deeply concerned at the unilateral military offensive by Turkey in north-east Syria, asking Turkey to exercise restraint and respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria, and adding that Turkeys actions can undermine stability in the region and the fight against terrorism which has the potential for causing humanitarian and civilian distress.

In his extremely controversial recent remarks supporting the Pakistani position on Kashmir, President Erdogan had compared Kashmir to the battle of Gallipoli during World War-I that the Turks had fought back then.

We have never forgotten and will never forget the help, which the Pakistani people extended, by sharing their own bread during our war of Independence. And now, Kashmir is and will be the same for us. It was Canakkale (Gallipoli) yesterday and it is Kashmir today, [there is] no difference, President Erdogan was quoted by the Turkish media as having told a joint session of Pakistans parliament during his official visit to the country.

He had further continued, This approach (by India), which aggravates the current situation and revokes the freedom and vested rights of the Kashmiri people, does not benefit anyone ... The Kashmir problem can be solved not by conflict or oppression, but on the basis of justice and equity. The reference to the sharing of bread appears to be a misplaced attempt by the Turkish President to describe the support extended by Indian Independence movement leaders to Turkey back then as support by Pakistan which was not even in existence at that time.

In response to a media query on comments made by the President of Turkey on Indias internal matters during his recent visit to Pakistan, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said, India has made a strong demarche with the Turkish government on the remarks made by President Erdogan on the Indian Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir during his recent visit to Islamabad. These remarks reflect neither an understanding of history nor of the conduct of diplomacy.

They distort events of the past to advance a narrow minded view of the present. India made a strong demarche with the Turkish government.

The MEA added, This recent episode is but one more example of a pattern of Turkey interfering in the internal affairs of other countries. India finds that completely unacceptable. We particularly reject the repeated attempts by Turkey to justify the cross border terrorism practiced so blatantly by Pakistan. The demarche was made by (the MEAs) secretary (West) to the ambassador of Turkey in New Delhi earlier today.

Just on Saturday, in response to queries regarding references to Jammu & Kashmir by the Turkish President and the Turkey-Pakistan Joint Declaration, the MEA had said, India rejects all references to Jammu & Kashmir, which is an integral and inalienable part of India. We call upon the Turkish leadership to not interfere in Indias internal affairs and develop proper understanding of the facts, including the grave threat posed by terrorism emanating from Pakistan to India and the region.

Last October India had said, India and Turkey are friendly countries. We, therefore, deeply regret that since August 6, there have been repeated statements by the Turkish government on a matter completely internal to India. These statements are factually incorrect, biased and unwarranted. We call upon Turkish government to get a proper understanding of the situation before making any further comments.
Country

United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe
A popular Rwandan gospel musician who was found guilty of conspiracy to murder or harm President Paul Kagame has been found dead in a police cell.

Kizito Mihigo, 38, an ethnic Tutsi survivor of the 1994 genocide that killed more than 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus who tried to protect them, died by suicide in the cell in Rwandas capital Kigali, police said.

The official account of a suicide is expected to be met with scepticism in a country where the government is frequently accused of targeting perceived critics.

Described by many as Rwandas biggest cultural icon and a devout Catholic known for songs promoting healing and forgiveness, Mihigo had been pardoned in 2018 after he was convicted in 2015 but was re-arrested last week. Police asserted that he had been trying to flee to neighbouring Burundi to join groups fighting the Rwandan government.

He has been in police cell for three days as police investigated why he was crossing the border illegally and cases of bribery, police spokesman John Bosco Kabera said in a statement.

Police said Mihigo had been allowed to meet family members and his lawyer. It was not immediately known whether he had been in a solitary cell.

A family member declined to comment. The news of the death was met with disbelief.

Too often, sensitive cases in Rwanda result in mysterious deaths or disappearances, said Lewis Mudge with Human Rights Watch. He called for an investigation that would examine the possibility that Mihigo could have been ill-treated or killed in custody.

The Rwanda Investigations Bureau tweeted that the countrys security organs had handed over Mihigo, saying the charges against him included illegally crossing to Burundi, joining terrorist groups and corruption.

Mihigo was arrested in 2014 and sentenced the following year to 10 years in prison after he was found guilty of conspiracy to murder or harm Mr Kagame and other top leaders. He was also convicted of complicity to overthrow the government and conspiracy to form alliances with negative groups to destabilise the country.

He pleaded guilty to all charges, leading the judge to say he was given a lenient sentence because he had made the courts work easy.

He was pardoned in 2018 by Mr Kagame alongside Rwandas leading opposition leader, Victoire Ingabire. But last week, police said his attempt to escape constituted a breach of conditions of the presidential order, meaning the revocation of the pardon.


By Lee Min-hyung



Stocks of state-run companies have plunged amid doubts that they will not carry out "profit-driven management" in order to stay in line with government policy drives.



Starting this year, shares of a number of state-controlled organizations listed on the main bourse have been on a downward curve, according to data from the Korea Exchange.



They included the Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) and the Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), two of the nation's most representative public corporations.



The stock price of IBK rose to as high as 12,500 won ($10.58) Dec. 16, but it plummeted to 10,450 won as of Feb. 12 after the bank was hit hard by the month-long scandal surrounding its leader Yoon Jong-won.







Yoon, a former senior secretary at Cheong Wa Dae, was named for the position of IBK chief in early January. But with union members staging a fierce protest against the appointment, he failed to enter its headquarters office for about a month.



But the scandal, in itself, was not the sole reason behind its falling stock value. Experts said the decline was attributable to weakening investor appetite toward the bank, as the former ranking government official is unlikely to run the organization simply to maximize investors' interests.



The government holds a 53.2-percent stake in IBK, and this is the key reason for the bank's stock value to be in the doldrums, according to analysts.



"There is no clear correlation between management performance and the CEO's background," Meritz Securities analyst Eun Kyung-wan said. "But the bank's stock value was hit by escalating concerns that the state-run bank would be under pressure from the government to follow certain policies, such as the expansion of low-interest loans."



"Of course, the conflict between Yoon and the union also came as a negative factor in terms of investment sentiment," the analyst said.



He also expected the bank to offer a similar level of dividends to shareholders in 2020, compared to a year ago. This is because the company will unlikely suffer an additional decline in earnings this year, and its dividend of 690 won per share appears not that bad in consideration of the bank's stock price he said.



Expectations are that the bank will not carry out management to maximize shareholders' interest as the Moon Jae-in administration is characterized by a policy drive for welfare of the underprivileged.



Shares of KEPCO have also began spiraling downward this year  it was was traded at around 28,000 won in December, but fell to 25,050 won, Feb. 3.



This is the lowest share price in the past five years, and the firm's stock value has declined by more than 20 percent in the past year.



The state-controlled electric utility company has also been mired in a series of controversies due to its involvement with the government.



"In general, the prices of stocks of state-run companies are affected more by government policies than private ones," Hwang Sei-woon, an economist at the Korea Capital Market Institute, said.



"As such public corporations are also listed firms, they pursue profits," he said. "But any shift in government policies inevitably affects their earnings and stock prices."



Shares of Korea District Heating Corporation also fell in recent months. The company was traded as high as 49,850 won as of Nov. 18, but its valuation steeply declined to 39,800 won on Feb. 5.



Kangwon Land, a state-run casino and resort operator, also suffered from a decline in its valuation. Its stock value was traded at around 30,000 won, but fell below 27,000 won as of Feb. 13.


Leaked data has revealed that China is compiling extensive data on its Uighur Muslim minority including whether they're growing a beard, if they've attended Hajj and their 'family's trustworthiness'.

As a Chinese government mass detention campaign engulfed Memtimin Emer's native Xinjiang region three years ago, the elderly imam was swept up and locked away, along with all three of his sons living in China.

Now, a newly revealed database exposes in extraordinary detail the main reasons for the detentions of Emer, his three sons, and hundreds of others in Karakax County: Their religion and their family ties.

The database profiles the internment of 311 individuals with relatives abroad and lists information on more than 2,000 of their relatives, neighbors and friends.

Each entry includes the detainee's name, address, national identity number, detention date and location, along with a detailed dossier on their family, religious and neighborhood background, the reason for detention, and a decision on whether or not to release them.

Issued within the past year, the documents do not indicate which government department compiled them or for whom.

This 16 February file photo shows details from a print of a leaked database. The text reads, 'Family circle: Total relatives 11, two imprisoned, one sent to training, Father: Memtimin Emer... sentenced to 12 years, is now in the training center at the old vocational school'

Wang Yi (right), the Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister, praised his country's Muslim 'vocational education centres' while meeting the press in Cairo with Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry (left) in January

Mr Wang has said the facilities, referred to as 'concentration camps' by human rights activists, have made significant contribution to the international counter-terrorism efforts by eliminating extreme thoughts. In this photo taken on December 3, 2018, a guard tower and barbed wire fences are seen around a facility in the Kunshan Industrial Park in Artux, Xinjiang, China

Taken as a whole, the information offers the fullest and most personal view yet into how Chinese officials decided who to put into and let out of detention camps, as part of a massive crackdown that has locked away more than a million ethnic minorities, most of them Muslims.

The database emphasizes that the Chinese government focused on religion as a reason for detention - not just political extremism, as authorities claim, but ordinary activities such as praying, attending a mosque, or even growing a long beard. It also shows the role of family: People with detained relatives are far more likely to end up in a camp themselves, uprooting and criminalizing entire families like Emer's in the process.

Similarly, family background and attitude is a bigger factor than detainee behavior in whether they are released.

'It's very clear that religious practice is being targeted,' said Darren Byler, a University of Colorado researcher studying the use of surveillance technology in Xinjiang. 'They want to fragment society, to pull the families apart and make them much more vulnerable to retraining and reeducation.'

The native Uighurs have long resented Beijing's heavy-handed rule. With the 9/11 attacks in the United States, officials began using the specter of terrorism to justify harsher religious restrictions, saying young Uighurs were susceptible to Islamic extremism.

A still from a documentary shows members of the Uighur community interred at an unknown 'concentration camp' in China

This photo taken on September 12, 2019 shows a man posing on the street in a small village where ethnic Uighurs live on the outskirts of Shayar in the region of Xinjiang

After militants set off bombs at a train station in Xinjiang's capital in 2014, President Xi Jinping launched a so-called 'People's War on Terror', transforming Xinjiang into a digital police state.

The leak of the database from sources in the Uighur exile community follows the release in November of a classified blueprint on how the mass detention system really works. The blueprint obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists showed that the centers are in fact forced ideological and behavioral re-education camps run in secret. Another set of documents leaked to the New York Times revealed the historical lead-up to the mass detention.

The latest set of documents came from sources in the Uighur exile community, and the most recent date in them is March 2019. The detainees listed come from Karakax County, a traditional settlement of about 650,000 on the edge of Xinjiang's Taklamakan desert where more than 97 per cent of residents are Uighur. The list was corroborated through interviews with former Karakax residents, Chinese identity verification tools, and other lists and documents.

Detainees and their families are tracked and classified by rigid, well-defined categories. Households are designated as 'trustworthy' or 'not trustworthy', and their attitudes are graded as 'ordinary' or 'good'. Families have 'light' or 'heavy' religious atmospheres, and the database keeps count of how many relatives of each detainee are locked in prison or sent to a 'training center'.

Officials used these categories to determine how suspicious a person was - even if they hadn't committed any crimes.

Dozens of students are shown at their desks learning Chinese and law in the programme aired by CCTV that introduced the 'professional vocational training institutions' in Hotan

Shohrat Zakir, Xinjiang's Uighur governor, said last month that people who were at vocational training centres had all 'graduated' and were living happy lives. This photo taken on May 31, 2019 shows the outer wall of a complex which includes what is believed to be a re-education camp where mostly Muslim ethnic minorities are detained, on the outskirts of Hotan

'It underscores the witch-hunt mindset of the government, and how the government criminalizes everything,' said Adrian Zenz, an expert on the detention centers and senior fellow at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in Washington, D.C.

Reasons listed for internment include 'minor religious infection,' 'disturbs other persons by visiting them without reasons,' 'relatives abroad,' 'thinking is hard to grasp' and 'untrustworthy person born in a certain decade.' The last seems to refer to younger men; about 31 per cent of people considered 'untrustworthy' were in the age bracket of 25 to 29 years, according to an analysis of the data by Zenz.

When former student Abdullah Muhammad spotted Emer's name on the list of the detained, he was distraught.

'He didn't deserve this,' Muhammad said. 'Everyone liked and respected him. He was the kind of person who couldn't stay silent against injustice.'

Even in Karakax county, famed for its intellectuals and scholars, Emer stood out as one of the most renowned teachers in the region. Muhammad studied the Quran under Emer for six years as a kid, following him from house to house in an effort to dodge the authorities. Muhammad said Emer was so respected that the police would phone him with warnings ahead of time before raiding classes at his modest, single-story home of brick and mud.

Though Emer gave Party-approved sermons, he refused to preach Communist propaganda, Muhammad said, eventually running into trouble with the authorities. He was stripped of his position as an imam and barred from teaching in 1997, amid unrest roiling the region.

In this 2017 file photo Uighur security personnel patrol near the Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar in western China's Xinjiang region

When Muhammad left China for Saudi Arabia and Turkey in 2009, Emer was making his living as a doctor of traditional medicine. Emer was growing old, and under heavy surveillance, he had stopped attending religious gatherings.

That didn't stop authorities from detaining the imam, who is in his eighties, and sentencing him on various charges for up to 12 years in prison over 2017 and 2018. The database cites four charges in various entries: 'stirring up terrorism', acting as an unauthorized 'wild' imam, following the strict Saudi Wahhabi sect and conducting illegal religious teachings.

Muhammad called the charges false. Emer had stopped his preaching, practiced a moderate Central Asian sect of Islam rather than Wahhabism and never dreamed of hurting others, let alone stirring up 'terrorism,' Muhammad said.

'He used to always preach against violence,' Muhammad said. 'Anyone who knew him can testify that he wasn't a religious extremist.'

None of Emer's three sons had been convicted of a crime. But the database shows that over the course of 2017, all were thrown into the detention camps for having too many children, trying to travel abroad, being 'untrustworthy' or 'infected with religious extremism,'or going on the Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. It also shows that their relation to Emer and their religious background was enough to convince officials they were too dangerous to let out from the detention camps.

'His father taught him how to pray,' notes one entry for his eldest, Ablikim Memtimin.

'His family's religious atmosphere is thick. We recommend he (Emer) continue training,' says another entry for his youngest son, Emer Memtimin.

Even a neighbor was tainted by living near him, with Emer's alleged crimes and prison sentence recorded in the neighbor's dossier.

The database indicates much of this information is collected by teams of cadres stationed at mosques, sent to visit homes and posted in communities. This information is then compiled in a dossier called the 'three circles', encompassing their relatives, community, and religious background.

It wasn't just the religious who were detained. The database shows that Karakax officials also explicitly targeted people for activities that included going abroad, getting a passport or installing foreign software.

A Muslim Uighur woman walks with her son past security forces in the town of Kashgar, Xinjiang Province in April 2008

Pharmacist Tohti Himit was detained in a camp for having gone multiple times to one of 26 'key' countries, mostly Muslim, according to the database. Former employee Habibullah, who is now in Turkey, recalled Himit as a secular, kind and wealthy man who kept his face free of a beard.

'He wasn't very pious, he didn't go to the mosque,' said Habibullah, who declined to give his first name out of fear of retribution against family still in China. 'I was shocked by how absurd the reasons for detention were.'

The database says cadres found Himit had attended his grandfather's funeral at a local mosque on March 10, 2008. Later that year, the cadres found, he had gone to the same mosque again, once to worship and once to celebrate a festival. In 2014 he had gone to Anhui province, in inner China, to get a passport and go abroad.

That, the government concluded, was enough to show that Himit was 'certainly dangerous.' They ordered Himit to stay in the center and 'continue training.'

Emer is now under house arrest due to health issues, his former student, Muhammad, has heard. It's unclear where Emer's sons are.

It was the imam's courage and stubbornness that did him in, Muhammad said. Though deprived of his mosque and his right to teach, Emer quietly defied the authorities for two decades by staying true to his faith.

'Unlike some other scholars, he never cared about money or anything else the Communist Party could give him,' Muhammad said. 'He never bowed down to them - and that's why they wanted to eliminate him.'
British Airways has cancelled more than 80 flights to and from the UKs busiest airport following another IT failure.

On Sunday afternoon Heathrows system handling check-in and flight information failed in all four terminals.

The failure hit all four passenger terminals, both landside (before the security check) and airside.

Unlike some previous episodes, the cause was the airports systems, not BAs. But the airlines passengers bore the brunt of the disruption.

More than 100 flights were cancelled, almost all of them on British Airways. Some of those had been pre-planned because of the disruption caused by Storm Dennis, but most were made on the day.

With departure screens out of action, airport staff wrote gate information on whiteboards.

Passengers talked of chaos in the terminals. Tim Barton, who was flying on BA from Heathrow Terminal 5 to Dusseldorf, said: Its just an absolute mess.

Had to keep asking people whats going on. Im afraid the ground staff didnt have a clue what to do. Zero out of 10 for customer service.

To clear the backlog of flights, departures continued long after the usual curfew  with one flight to Abuja in Nigeria taking off well after midnight, 100 minutes behind schedule.

Some flights left without baggage, and others with baggage but without all the passengers.

After the problem was solved, the airport told travellers: Heathrows systems are returning to normal. We apologise for the inconvenience this has caused our passengers.

Our teams will continue to monitor our systems and be on hand across our terminals to provide assistance to passengers as we work to resume our regular operations.

All the grounded flights are short-haul, with Milan, Geneva, and Barcelona affected by multiple cancellations.

British Airways is telling passengers: We would anyone due to travel from London Heathrow check the status of your flight for the latest on your flight before you leave from the airport.

If your flight is still due to go ahead but you would prefer not to fly from London Heathrow then you can opt for a full refund of your flight, or rebook your journey for another day up to and including 20 February.
There are many things which unite Australia and New Zealand: the Queen as the head of state, our very similar flags, and a love for taking the mickey out of each other.

But when it comes to usage of our supposedly common language, the divide between the Tasman Sea neighbours is at its most stark.

Here, Daily Mail Australia has compiled a list of some of the more unique phrases used in the two countries.

And while some phrases may result in a few strange looks, nothing is more confusing than a trip to the beach. (Pictured: People carrying an esky - also known as a chilly bin)

In Australia, these are called thongs, however, in New Zealand they are known as jandals

Whether it's a 'trip to the dairy (corner shop) to grab some chuddy (chewing gum)' or 'Mandy packing a sad' (having a tantrum), some Kiwi phrases will be met with blank stares in Australia.

And a trip to the beach will provoke the most confusion.

While Kiwis will grab their jandals and togs and pack a box of beers in their chilly bin, Australians will be reaching for their swimmers, thongs and filling up their eskys with a slab.

And while one of those beers may be called a 'stubbie', be aware that term can also refer to short shorts typically worn by young farmers.

Confused yet?

In New Zealand you would say: 'We're going for a walk to the dairy (corner shop) to grab some chuddy (chewing gum)'

Another odd phrase that is extremely common across the ditch but rarely heard in Australia is 'hard case'.

When New Zealanders say 'Bill is hard case,' they simply mean that Bill can be relied on to make you laugh, whereas Australians hearing that phrase may think Bill is a bit of a troublemaker.

You might also hear a Kiwi say that 'Bill is a skux', which means he is attractive. It is a term most commonly used by the young, or someone trying to pass themselves off as hip.

New Zealand YouTuber Jordan Watson, who goes by the name How To Dad, attempted to explain some New Zealand slang in one of his videos but even he had trouble translating.

In his video, How to Understand New Zealand Slang, he points out New Zealanders often say 'yeah, nah' when they're unsure.

'Yeah, nah, I was going to go to that party but it was out in the wop wops,' he says in the clip.

Wop wops means the middle of nowhere; similar - but not the same - to the Australian term woop woop.

But the misunderstanding does not flow one way. Many Australian terms will provoke head scratching in New Zealand.

Aussie gems such as servo, bottle-o, doona and derro are unique to its shores.

When an Australian YouTuber took to the streets to share common Aussie slang with visitors, he left many tourists confused.

Phrases such as 'chuck a sickie', 'onya mate', and 'chockers' left them shaking their heads.
Bars in major Chinese cities are delivering their happy hour drinks deals to customers' places of residence as a large number of people remain stuck indoors because of the outbreak of the new coronavirus.

Happy hour deals, where drinks are discounted, are usually reserved for patrons who are physically present at an establishment.

But with people staying at home in China and some cities putting a ban on dining out in groups, to try to contain the spread of the virus, bars are taking drinks to where their customers are.

In the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, a major trading and economic hub, a number of bars have started delivering their discounted drinks.

Bandidos, a Mexican eatery, is packing its 25 yuan ($3.58) Margaritas into jars and sending them with a straw to customers. Their happy hour is from Monday to Friday between 4 p.m. to 7 p.m local time. Customers can contact one of the representatives for the bar on messaging app WeChat to order their drinks.

A gin bar called Evening Standard has launched a delivery menu for their cocktails too.

And Hope and Sesame, a "speakeasy" jazz bar which was on Asia's 50 Best Bars list for 2019, is selling bottled versions of their cocktails.

In Beijing, a brewpub called Jing-A Brewing Co. said it is remaining open but only for takeaway orders, deliveries to peoples' residences and refills when people bring their own beer containers, known as growlers.

"This change is due to local authorities prohibiting groups of more than 3 from dining or congregating in our brewpub," the company said in a WeChat post.

The bar, which has a couple of locations in the Chinese capital, said it has extended its delivery hours from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Beijing time. Users can order through delivery platform Meituan. Jing-A is offering deals on its beer delivery.

The coronavirus has spread across the world, claiming the lives of over 1,700 people, mainly in China. Businesses stayed shut longer than usual after the Lunar New Year holiday while many people are still working from home. This has forced them to rely more on deliveries of products from platforms like Meituan or JD.com.

Despite drinking establishments trying to make the best out of a bad situation, it doesn't appear to be hugely helping their businesses.

"At least (delivery) is better than nothing," Philip, the owner of Evening Standard in Guangzhou, told CNBC.

Another bar owner, who wished to remain anonymous to protect his business, said he is considering introducing deliveries but is concerned about the impact.

"It doesn't compare with being open. We aren't profitable doing this," the owner told CNBC.

 CNBC's Evelyn Cheng contributed to this report.
Advertisement

Days of relentless rain have caused devastating flooding in the South and led rivers and dams in both Mississippi and Tennessee to swell, as evacuations are ordered for thousands of people.

In Mississippi the Pearl River reached its third-highest crest on record on Monday just before noon at 36.7 feet. The river passed major flood stage on Sunday morning after exceeding 36 feet, causing the Ross Barnett Reservoir to breach capacity.

The area has not seen the river this high in 37 years since 1983, prompting the evacuation of more than 3,000 people in Jackson.

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves declared a statement of emergency on Saturday as the capital city braces for more rain this week. He warned Sunday that the state faces a 'precarious situation that can turn at any moment'.

In a tweet, Reeves said the state should prepare for 'the third worst flood' in its history. 'This is a historic, unprecedented flood,' Reeves added.

On Monday Reeves said there have been 16 assisted evacuations with Wildlife and Fisheries and there were 200 door to door visits and 600 contacted to evacuate flooded areas.

'Although this is relatively good news for Jackson and Central Mississippi, we as a state are not in the clear yet,' he said.

This week the South, already reeling from abnormally wet weather and flooding, will be inundated with even more rain as a series of storms will sweep through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia through Thursday, hammering the Pearl River basin the hardest.

Scroll down for video

Days of relentless rain have caused devastating flooding in the South and led rivers and dams in both Mississippi and Tennessee to swell, as evacuations are ordered for thousands of people. The flooded Pearl River pictured above in Mississippi

In Mississippi the Pearl River reached its third-highest crest on record on Monday just before noon at 36.7 feet. The river passed major flood stage on Sunday morning after exceeding 36 feet, causing the Ross Barnett Reservoir to breach capacity. First responders pictured working in Jackson

The water was so high in some areas it reached the windows of homes and covered entire porches in water

Pounding rain and flooding turned streets in to waterways, forcing locals to evacuate via boats

Chris Sharp studies the water damage from the Pearl River that floods his neighborhood in Jackson, Mississippi on Sunday

In Jackson the flooding was so high that a man caught a Bowfin fish that swam onto a swamped road on Saturday

As of Monday morning minor, moderate and major flooding was reported on nearly every gauge on the Mississippi River south of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, according to Accuweather.com.

Flooding was also common along larger rivers in the Carolinas, Louisiana, western Alabama and southern Arkansas.

More rain will pound the area on Tuesday and Tuesday night in a storm system that will bring snow to parts of the Upper Midwest and the Northeast.

Rains will continue, but be less intense on Wednesday, and storms will barrel eastern Texas and Louisiana Wednesday night into Thursday.

Mississippi will see one to two inches of rainfall early this week.

Local man Ben Gray was filmed catching a fish that got trapped on a flooded street across from the Pearl River on Old Brandon Road on Saturday

Jackson officials pictured rescuing locals trapped in the Pearl River floodwaters over the weekend

Flowood emergency crews rescue homeowner Janis Hart Landrum from her house in Flowood, Mississippi as the Pearl River flooded on Saturday

Sunday and Monday's Mississippi evacuation map pictured above showing Jackson, Bentonia and Bovina as suffering from major flooding

This map shows major flooding in the South. The Pearl River in Mississippi and the Tennessee River in Tennessee are hitting the area the hardest

The rain forecast and temperature highs for Mississippi pictured above

This week the South, already reeling from abnormally wet weather and flooding, will be inundated with even more rain as a series of storms will sweep through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, through Thursday, hammering the Pearl River basin the hardest

'With the very wet soil conditions, expected one to two inch rainfall amounts Tuesday into Wednesday will lead to areas of flash flooding and worsen ongoing river flooding,' the NWS said.

Tennessee is also being battered by pounding rain and fast-rising waters that are sweeping entire neighborhoods underwater.

Dramatic video posted by a Tennessee fire department showed two houses tumble down a bluff over the Tennessee River.

In some areas floods have reached the rooftops of homes, causing entire neighborhoods to disappear in muddy water below the Tennessee Valley Authority's Pickwick Reservoir.

'It absolutely kills you, knowing that' houses are getting destroyed downstream from the dam, TVA spokesman Jim Hopson said Monday. 'We have engineers on duty 24-7 trying to figure out what's the most effective way to move this water downstream with the least impact. They feel it. I feel it.'

February's rains have been '400 percent of normal, and we have more coming in this week. It's kind of a never-ending battle,' Hopson added.

Tennessee is also being battered by pounding rain and fast-rising waters that are sweeping entire neighborhoods underwater. This image released by the Hardin County Fire Department in Savannah, Tennessee shows a devastating landslide that swept a home into the Pickwick Reservoir on Saturday

In the landslide two homes collapsed and plunged into the waters along Glendale Road following heavy rains in the area that loosened the soil

An aerial view of a home destroyed in the landslide on Saturday pictured above

Dramatic aerial video footage shows severe flooding in the Tennessee River in Hardin County, Tennessee on Saturday

Video footage shows how flooding in Hardin County, Tennessee over the weekend

Shocking drone footage shows entire homes disappearing under water in Hardin County in Savannah, Tennessee

To tackle the deluge and floodwaters 146,000 sandbags were distributed in Jackson, Mississippi. The National Guard, the Highway Patrol and other high-water rescue teams are also on standby.

Gene McGee, mayor of Ridgeland, Mississippi, issued a mandatory evacuation for those who live in Harbor Pines subdivision in Ridgeland.

Residents paddled canoes, kayaks and small fishing boats to check on their houses, giving lifts to other neighbors along the way in one Jackson neighborhood.

Some were able to get inside while others peeked into the windows to see what, if any damage, had been done inside. Outside floodwaters lapped at mailboxes, street signs and cars that had been left in driveways.

In Jackson the flooding was so high that a man caught a Bowfin fish that swam onto a flooded road in Jackson across from the Pearl River on Old Brandon Road.

This map shows the forecast of thunderstorms and rain that will pummel the South on Tuesday

Rain will continue to batter Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia though Thursday

This map shows the current river flood status showing major flooding along the Pearl River in Jackson and the Tennessee River in Savannah

Water from the Pearl River floods a residence on Florence-Byram Road in Rankin County, Monday

Sandbags protect the front of a credit union in downtown Jackson, Mississippi on Monday

Floodwater from the Pearl River continues to flood downtown Jackson, including a construction business, right, and the main post office, pictured left

Water from the Pearl River floods Florence-Byram Road near Byram, Mississippi on Monday

The high Pearl River waters take over the Byram Swinging Bridge that connects Hinds and Ranking Counties in Byram, Mississippi

Marcus Morris steadies the boat as his neighbor Chris Sharp readies the trolling motor for another trip through their Pearl River flooded neighborhood in Jackson, Mississippi on Sunday as 3,000 were evacuated

Strong currents from the swollen Pearl River push under the Old Brandon Road Bridge in Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday

With the waters in the Pearl River continuing to rise in and around Mississippi's capital city and more rain on the way this week, the governor warned residents that it would be days before flood waters start to recede

Gov Tate Reeves said Sunday morning that the Pearl would continue to rise throughout the day, and he warned that the state faces a 'precarious situation that can turn at any moment'

A mailbox stands above the Pearl River floodwater in this northeast Jackson, Mississippi, neighborhood on Sunday

In a bit of good news, officials at a reservoir upriver of the capitol said Sunday that water levels in the reservoir had stabilized, allowing them to send less water downriver.

But even with that development, officials urged residents to pay attention to evacuation orders, check on road closures before traveling and stay out of floodwaters, warning that even seemingly placid waters could mask fast-moving currents and pollution.

Law enforcement officials went door to door in affected areas, telling people to evacuate, Reeves said. Rescuers performed four assisted evacuations Saturday, although they said none were needed overnight.

'We expect the river to continue to rise over the next 24 hours or so, ' Reeves said at a news conference in Jackson. 'We are not out of the woods yet.'

Marcus Morris inspects his girlfriend's house in Jackson, Mississippi, as Pearl River flood water is reflected on the living room floor, on Sunday

Water from the Pearl River enters this northeast Jackson, Mississippi, home, on Sunday. Residents of Jackson braced for the possibility of catastrophic flooding in and around the Mississippi capital as the Pearl River rose precipitously after days of torrential rain

A submerged vehicle is seen with its trunk open on Sunday in Jackson. Residents of Jackson braced Sunday for the possibility of catastrophic flooding in and around the Mississippi capital as the Pearl River rose precipitously after days of torrential rain

Water from the Pearl River floods in northeast Jackson, Mississippi, home and car, on Sunday

Abandoned vehicles are semi submerged in floodwater from the Pearl River in northeast Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday

Strong currents from the swollen Pearl River flood over the Old Brandon Road Bridge in Jackson, Mississippi, over the scenes)

Strong currents from the swollen Pearl River push past the Old Brandon Road Bridge in Jackson, Mississippi on Sunday

Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba said power had been shut off to 504 residences as a safety precaution.

He said some city homes had been flooded but officials do not yet know how many. About 30 people are at a shelter that has been set up in Jackson, he said.

Nearly 2,400 structures across the three counties closest to the river and the reservoir could be impacted, meaning they either get water inside or are surrounded by water, said Malary White, of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

That includes 1,925 structures in Hinds County, 461 in Rankin County and 31 in Madison County.

In the suburb of Flowood, John and Jina Smith had packed up as much as they could and left their home as waters rose Thursday.

On Sunday, their neighbor Dale Frazier took them back to their house in a rowboat, where they checked on the damage, then got in their own canoe and rowed away.

'We've been able to stay in here when the water gets up,' John Smith said. 'But as you've watched it over the years, you know when to get out. Its time to get out this time.'

A foot and a half of water was inside his house, Smith said. He'd already been in touch with a contractor and insurance agent about rebuilding.

The Pearl River is expected to reach its highest peak of 38 feet on Sunday evening - it is currently at 36 feet on Monday

Mississippi Gov Tate Reeves signs a state of emergency for the area and warns locals to have an escape plan in place

Residents of Canton Club Circle subdivision in Northeast Jackson, Mississippi, use a boat to get to flooded homes on Saturday

Both he and his wife said they love their home, where they can sit on their back porch and watch deer and other wildlife.

'Its going to take a while for us to rebuild, but we are safe, and were all OK,' Jina Smith said.

On Frazier's lot next door, the water was at the bottom of the driveway but had not crept inside the one-story house where he's lived for 23 years.

'The water is very close to my house. It could flood; it could not flood. It depends on the crest right now,' he said.

Down the street, a Presbyterian church and several businesses were flooded.

While the focus now is on the Jackson area, the heavy rains and flooding has affected a much larger swathe of the state. State emergency management officials said Sunday that they had received preliminary damage reports from 11 counties connected with the severe weather that hit the state starting on February 10.

The Pearl's highest recorded crest was 43.2 feet on April 17, 1979. The second-highest level occurred May 5, 1983, when the river rose to 39.58 feet.

There was between $500million and $700million worth of damage in 1979, which saw 15,000 people evacuated.

Mario Vargas (right) his sister Alondra Rodriguez, (left), and their aunt Nadia Castillo, back, carry a washing machine from Vargas' mother's mobile home in the Harbor Pines Mobile Home Community as they are warned to evacuate from flooding

Flood waters begin to encroach the Harbor Pines Mobile Home Community forcing all residents to evacuate on Friday

The Pearl River at its normal height - it is expected to cause the 'third worst flood' in history in Mississippi on Sunday

On Saturday night, officials released water from the nearby Barnett Reservoir to control its levels.

They urged residents in northeastern Jackson who live in the flood zone downstream from the reservoir to leave immediately. By Sunday morning, Reeves said the reservoir's inflow and outflow had equalized.

Reservoir officials said that allowed them to release less water than expected.

'We have some good news today,' said John G. Sigman, who oversees the reservoir's operations, during a separate news conference Sunday afternoon.

Once the river crests Monday, it will take the water three to four days to go down significantly. Part of the reason is that forecasters expect more rain between midday Tuesday and Wednesday evening.

'It will be days before we are out of the woods and waters start to recede,' the governor said.
16.02.2020 LISTEN

PREAMBLE

The government of Ghana seems determined to change the entire Port Management systems in operation in Ghanas Port now. The existing systems have been established at significant cost and with a lot of resource outlay. Fortunately, in our view, the existing ports management systems (GCNET & West Blue) are a few of successful projects successive governments have executed.

The establishment of these systems were not without controversy- the paperless system was resisted as were many others, but Government persevered and the results seem to have proven that the Policies were proper. Generally, there has been an improvement in Port Revenues management compared to previous times. More improvement is needed and is welcome, but they clearly must make sense and must be justified.

We should be careful throwing out the hard work of many governments starting in earnest from the establishment of the GCNET and West Blue systems which had issues but which have also seen a lot of improvement over time.

As we write this all the progress made at the ports are under threat because of a determined effort by the Government to replace all the systems with a new untested alternative. The GCNet contract ends in 2023 while the West Blue contract expires in 2020. This means that there are still three and one more years, respectively, for them to operate the single window system.

To be clear, as a free enterprise think tank, IMANI is very supportive of Public Private Partnerships as a principle. We are however not oblivious of the abuse of this concept. Further still it is important to always subject government decisions and Policies to simple common sense and value for money tests as we have done over the years.

We all have to objectively assess what out governments do in our name and where there are objective clear bases for questioning those decisions we must question them.

Imani Africa has already made representations on this matter and forced some attention and even changes. We however worry that regardless of the glaring issues and clear danger, those behind this policy are pushing ahead to root out and replace all existing players in this sector. That would be worrying if only the process was a problem but the outcome was guaranteed to be a success! It is therefore most alarming beyond worry that we have NO EVIDENCE that the success of this new system is even reasonably likely much more expected and further more absolutely guaranteed but there seems to be movement to implement. See IMANI: Why Government must reconsider its decision on the controversial UNI-PASS customs and ports technology (https://imaniafrica.org/2020/01/31/imani-why-government-must-reconsider-its-decision-on-the-controversial-uni-pass-customs-and-ports-technology/ )

We will show in this publication the objective basis for our concern. We however wish to use this publication to just highlight the issues raised upon a legal scrutiny of the contract itself.

The contract covering such a major exercise is quite simplistic and shallow. We commissioned a review of the contract to help us understand more whether it was fit for purpose. The outcome of the review is below.

In general terms the conclusions of the review add to our concern that Ghana seems to be rushing into something serious and complex with not enough contemplation and preparation.

LEGAL REVIEW

Reviews can be done in sterile fashion, where no external circumstances are factored in, or with the prevailing circumstance and context taken into account. This review is done with the circumstances and context in mind. That is required to make sense of the assessment because context is what gives meaning to such interpretations.

The main context for this review is this:

There is no exigent problem requiring urgent treatment, intervention or change. There is an existing system which has been improved over a number of years and is presently working satisfactorily. It gives almost no detail about motivations except to express that government wishes to change the system for a more comprehensive one. It bears mention that no criticism of the present system was stated as a reason. The Ghana government owns part of the existing systems and risks significant direct and related losses if it changes the existing system There are other third party contractors involved in the present system whose contracts are in force and whose termination would lead to serious consequences

Given the above circumstances, any legal review will factor in the exigent need to take any steps which could trigger liability, and weight the liability against the potential benefit of that step. A good move will be one which will yield a benefit above the costs.

BREVITY

Contracts covering contracts of significant size complexity are expected to be sufficiently detailed to contain all relevant information within one document so it can show as clearly as possible all pertinent issues under consideration by the parties and also express the rights and responsibilities in sufficient detail. For a contract of the magnitude of the UNIPASS contract, the brevity is worrying, so is the lack of detail. The pronouncements and warranties seem to have been made without connection to any proof of ability to perform or lien in default.

This contract in its brevity still gives much space to the rights of the Ghana Link Limited (also referred to as The Contractor) and the responsibilities of the Ghana Government and penalties attendant to default on the part of Ghana Government. Not sufficient space is allotted to the responsibilities of the Contractor and the penalties for their failure.

Section 2. APPOINTMENT OF CONTRACTOR

The appointment clause is complete, emphatic and unequivocal. Such emphasis suggests a certainty which could only be the result of complete due diligence. Such due diligence is not evident or obvious nor is it referred to at all. This contract is not for the purpose of outlining the outcomes of the due diligence exercise, so it must be assumed that due diligence was done and favourable. Any scrutiny of this contract in its entirety must go into the outcomes of the due diligence done.

Section 3. CONDITIONS PRECEDENT

This section normally should set out conditions prior to certain actions for each party. It however seems skewed to only things the Government of Ghana has to perform.

it is reasonable to expect that this section would contain undertakings by the Contractor also to perform certain preliminary tasks before the Government of Ghana will commit.

Our review revealed that the conditions precedent listed are one-sided in favour of the contractor at the expense of Government of Ghana.

There are also clauses which show that Government of Ghana plans to hand over some assets and facilities belonging to existing service providers to the Contractor ahead of this contract. It is not clear under which contracts these handovers would be conducted since the existing service providers, have not been engaged by the government. Further, West Blue and GCNET, have been quite vociferous in their rebuttals to the crookedness of the current arrangement and swore never to hand over such assets (years of investment and knowledge to match) in the manner contemplated by government.

A contract is to protect the parties, a reviewer for Government of Ghana would worry about such unsecured commitments and rightly so. What covers the handing over of GCNET and West Blues assets and the commencement by the contractor of operations handed to them?. It is a most worrying omission and worse still if there are no subcontracts covering these hand overs.

The contractor in 3.1.4 only provides assurances and lists Plans to perform certain functions. It is not sufficient under this circumstance that there is no liability assumed by the contractor for all the assets and operations it has been given. At a minimum one would expect a certain minimum investment by the contractor and a Performance Bond or something similar to assure Government of Ghana that it is covered and would not be the loser if things go wrong. It is definitely not sufficient that one party extends real assets and property, whereas the other extends assurances backed by nothing evident.

Section 4. REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF BOTH PARTIES

A legal review of the contract show that this section is generally sweeping in its provisions. Again it must be assumed that there are several other more detailed and more technical agreements beneath this main contract. It will be quite worrying if there are no such contracts. If there are, they surely must be attached as Appendices to this for a fuller understanding. In this section the contractor simply warrants that he has capability and legal authority to perform the contract.

Observing this agreement as it is, facially gives the contractor lopsided advantages without sufficient lien on its own assets. It is also not clear what the contractor is risking as their Skin in the business. A reviewer would expect these warrants to be based on something certifiable, such as a contract with the owners of the UNIPASS system (CUPIA) and Ghana Link, or other such firm proof to back the capability statements made. There is no evidence of such.

The simple question one could ask is, what are these warranties based on? Where is the proof that the Contractor can fulfill them, and what are the penalties for failure or fallback for Ghana Government?

Regarding the governments own warranties to contractor in this section, Government purports to recognize that contractor has rights in and to the unfettered legal, technical and commercial management of the services under this agreement. This is both vague and unfounded.

Contractor has no inherent right to government property and those of third parties such as West Blue and government cannot grant that by such a statement. For such unfettered access to resources and systems, some of which are owned by third parties, there must be more elaborate detail on the quid-pro-quo; What is the contractor giving for these and under what terms? Do these rights extend to parties such as West Blue and other 3rd Parties?

Section 5. SCOPE OF SERVICES

This section describes the actual job. It states as follows:

the contractor.shall deliver and install a tailor made comprehensive national single window platform .. a parsing of these words reveal that the contractor will impose an end to end system which they control. it is not clear but suggested that this will be their own system and not necessarily an assemblage or blend of existing systems managed by different entities as presently pertains. This presents many questions, key of which is how such a sweeping system can be imposed in the present situation. It could be that (as suggested earlier) the existing systems will be handed over to contractor and he will work them all into one seamless system, it must be noted that not all the systems belong to Ghana Government.

The lack of clarity on this is extremely worrying. If not properly sorted out, that could be the deal killer, bringing everything down with attendant costs and confusion. Again it is important to study any underlying contracts which make this possible without legal, financial and operational problems.

Section 6. THE UNIPASS SYSTEM

The UNIPASS system is described here. The key questions which arise from a review of this section are well outlined in the questions and recommendations section of the Imani Africa article. (https://imaniafrica.org/2020/01/31/imani-why-government-must-reconsider-its-decision-on-the-controversial-uni-pass-customs-and-ports-technology/ )

The key question which arises is whether there is an exigent need to change this system and what the cost and benefit analysis looks like.

The level of urgency serves to either justify a certain cost or make it pointless.

This legal review so far has not detected any urgency for which the present system must be disrupted. This also raises questions around why the Ghana Government will give so much away for the UNIPASS system.

If the Ghana Government sought independent objective legal advice on this, it is likely they would be advised to allow UNIPASS to make a competitive Bid against the existing system and prove why they must take over the system plus the rewards of such a move. The present arrangement looks like the Government is handing over the contract on a silver platter at no evident cost to the contractor herein, and then also grants them generous terms and wide latitude to operate without proving either their capability or producing proof upfront of what they bring in terms of investment and other resources. This will no doubt attract suspicions of undue influence.

FEES

A legal assessment should not stray too much into that analysis, but it is highly recommended that the present fees being charged be compared to the proposals agreed in this contract and a determination on value for money made.

In this instance however, it is pertinent to note that other examples exists and constitute precedence and a guide for assessing these fees. This issue is also raised in the Imani Africa article.

A cursory glance reveals that this level of fees is significantly higher than the existing but reveals no added benefits to justify the higher cost to Ghana.

According to the contract, the processing fee for the UNI-PASS system will be 0.75% of Free on Board (FOB), compared to the existing combined fees of GCNet (0.40% of FOB) and West Blue (0.28% of CIF) which sums up to 0.68%. However, as government receives 35% out of the GCNets 0.40% fee, in real terms, GCNet receives 0.26% (0.40% less 35%). This means the total cost to government under the existing system is 0.54% (GCNets 0.26% + West Blue 0.28%) while UNI-PASS fee will be 0.75% of FOB.

OBLIGATIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT

Another worrying section is with regards to the stated obligations of government. Read together with the conditions precedent section, it is clear that there are many obligations placed on government which is in this case the sovereign entity, and the safer partner to deal with; and little obligation is placed on the side of the contractor which is the service provider.

In this arrangement, the sovereign is more at risk in a default because whereas the contractor could go out of business and leave huge problems, the country Ghana will remain and the locus in quo (the ports) will always be there. It falls to reason therefore that the obligations on contractor be better spelt out for the protection of government in case of contractors failure, rather it is clear that more obligations are placed on government.

This is usual if the contractor drafted the agreement, but it is expected that government would amend these lopsided provisions to balance things out. Presently it doesnt seem there has been a balancing of the relative responsibility and the effects of a potential default risk.

OBLIGATIONS OF THE CONTRACTOR

One would expect This section to outline obligations and conditions to be met by contractor before commencement or even the landing of equipment for installation. It however skips all that and starts with an obvious stipulation which is trite, that contractor shall commence and complete installation of the UNIPASS system. This is trite because that is what the contractor is contracted to do.

His obligations should be related to timelines for performing certain preliminary functions which then would open way for full implementation. It has already been observed that the contractor is already installing systems and proceeding as if everything has already been concluded. The obligations listed here are essentially the contractors operational requirements for performing on the contract without which there can be no contract.

It should be clearer what the contractor has to produce to show that he is capable of performing his duties under the contract, such as proof of availability of financial, technical and other resources, and setting up escrows and other conditions to ensure the right levels of mobilization by contractor before Ghana commits to them and removes the operators on the ground.

REPORTING

A useful provision, but there must be some detail (hopefully in another document about linkages with institutions on ground such as GRA)

LICENSE

A necessary and Proper provision but raises the question of what rights contractor has regarding the software and other systems. This emphasizes why Government of Ghana must have a view into the contract between contractor and CUPIA.

GOVERNING LAW AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION

This is the best part of the agreement. The contractor is a Ghanaian company domiciled in Ghana under the laws of Ghana and conducts business in Ghana. This arrangement leaves out the complexities of an international agreement with its attendant costs and nuances.

The parties also accept that the Laws of Ghana will apply entirely in dispute resolution and other matters

TERM OF THIS AGREEMENT

It would be useful to streamline regarding the potential difference between commencement date and effective date. This is important because liabilities apply from effective date. There must be agreement on the date when all parties assume rights and responsibilities.

TERMINATION

Termination clauses are regular and proper, but as dispute clauses, they always create stress and must therefore be well set out. The payments due upon termination clauses complicate this.

Termination of the UNI-PASS contract by the government either voluntarily or through material breaches occasioned by it, attracts graduated fees of between US$93 million in the first year to US$12m in the tenth year. Given that the UNIPASS/Ghana Link Network Services single window contract was awarded for US$40 million for ten years, these termination clauses only benefits the contractor. There is need for further scrutiny of other relevant documents on how those figures were arrived at.

Curiously, the Ministry of Trade has not published revenue projections from implementing UNI-PASS because it has not published such reviews to justify the signing of the UNI-PASS agreement. Our advice to government will be to shelve UNI-PASS until its promoters have demonstrated value far and above existing systems.

CONCLUSION

This is intended to be a review of the legal aspects of the contract. The goal is to pronounce on whether in a normal situation under regular conditions this contract can be described as legally sound and fit for purpose. The verdict on that is this, for a purpose so complex, this simple contract is not fit for purpose.

Between the two parties herein this is legally binding, however it is easy to surmise from the above analysis that there are other encumbrances attendant on the capacity of the two parties herein. These encumbrances have a direct effect on whether the parties can perform their responsibilities under this contract. To the extent that the encumbrances can lead to the frustration of this contract they are also material and crucial.

The government of Ghana is encumbered in the sense that there are third parties with valid contracts within this same space with some engaged in Joint Ventures with the Government itself. The resolution of the rights of these third parties and the introduction of this new player (Ghana Link) will not be simple and straightforward. At least, West Blue and GCNET have said in interviews, that, the UNIPASS-Ghana Link contract can never be effective as existing critical systems, they own cannot and will not be handed over to another private vendor in the manner proposed.

Ghana Link as a party to this contract brings the UNIPASS system, which is the main service being offered. It is clear that they dont own the UNIPASS system and the extent of their rights regarding the system it is not stated. It is also not evident if they have run this system anywhere else. If their partners, and the owners of UNIPASS, (i.e. CUPIA) have a change of mind for any reason, this whole project will suffer.

This contract, whether stated or not in reality touches many parties in different ways. Such a multifaceted and multi layered arrangement covering a crucial sector of the Ghanaian economy, (i.e. Ports) and a strategic area (revenue generation) is not one to be sufficiently concluded in such a sparse agreement with little detail, and which seems to have been drafted for the protection of just one of the parties.

It is not possible to describe this contract as sufficient or fit for the present purpose. Instead of clarifying rights and responsibilities as every contract should do, this contract complicates things and is likely to create more problems once the third parties involved decide to assert themselves. If possible this whole arrangement should be given a thorough re-consideration.
Kellye Nakahara, an actress who played Lieutenant Nurse Kellye Yamato on MASH, died on Sunday, her family told TMZ. She was 72.

Nakahara died after a short battle with cancer, according to the report.

Nakahara was born in Oahu, Hawaii, and moved to San Francisco as a young adult to pursue a career in art. In 1973, she was cast in her breakout role, originally as Nurse #1," according to Heavy.

That role turned into Nurse Kellye Yamato, in which she appeared on the show for its entire run from 1973 through 1978. In all, she appeared in 167 episodes.

Later in her acting career, Nakahara appeared in movies like Clue in 1985 and the 1998 version of Doctor Doolittle with Eddie Murphy.

Nakahara is survived by her husband David Wallace, their two children, Nalaani and William, and four grandchildren, according to Heavy. Earlier this month, MASH director Gene Reynolds died of heart failure.

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.

READ MORE
A face-to-face meeting of the WCO Working Group on E-Commerce (WGEC) was held at the WCO Headquarters in Brussels from 12 to 14 February 2020. The meeting brought together close to 120 delegates from Member Customs administrations, partner international organizations, representatives of the postal and express service industry, e-vendors, e-commerce platforms, logistics service providers, Customs brokers and technology service providers.

In his opening remarks, Mr. Pranab Kumar Das, WCO Director Compliance and Facilitation, took stock of the progress achieved so far in the cross-border E-Commerce domain. In June 2018, the Council endorsed the WCO Framework of Standards on Cross-border E-Commerce (E-Commerce FoS), while the June 2019 Council sessions witnessed the endorsement of the WCO E-Commerce Package, with the exception of three Annexes to the E-Commerce FoS Technical Specifications.

The E-Commerce FoS provides 15 baseline global standards with a focus on the exchange of advance electronic data for effective risk management and enhanced facilitation of the growing volumes of cross-border small and low-value Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) shipments, through simplified procedures with respect to areas such as clearance, revenue collection and return, in close partnership with E-Commerce stakeholders. It also encourages the use of the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) concept, non-intrusive inspection (NII) equipment, data analytics, and other cutting-edge technologies to support safe, secure and sustainable cross-border E-Commerce.

The E-Commerce Package contains Technical Specifications to the E-Commerce FoS, definitions, E-Commerce Business Models, E-Commerce Flowcharts, Implementation Strategy, Action Plan and Capacity Building Mechanism, as well as two case study templates, developed with the objective of further enriching the Framework of Standards for its effective implementation. The Package is designed to provide necessary resource guidance to Members and relevant stakeholders when implementing various standards of the Framework.

The Director further informed delegates that in June 2019, the Council had approved a second 1-year extension of the term of the WGEC, which had to conclude its work, in a virtual manner, by June 2020. Mr. Das then explained that, in October 2019, when considering the outstanding E-Commerce work items, the Permanent Technical Committee (PTC) had discussed the challenges and constraints of work being performed solely in virtual fashion and had requested the Secretariat to explore the possibility of an in-person meeting. Furthermore, in December 2019, the Policy Commission had taken note of an E-Commerce Package Progress Report and had agreed to hold a face-to-face meeting by March 2020.

In this context, the WGEC face-to-face meeting had the important task of enabling the completion of the three outstanding Annexes to the E-Commerce FoS Technical Specifications. These annexes are Reference Data Set for E-Commerce; Revenue Collection Approaches; and E-Commerce Stakeholders: Roles and Responsibilities.

Under the apt chairmanship of Mr. Mike Leahy of the Canada Border Services Agency and Mr. Norm Schenk of the Private Sector Consultative Group, and thanks to the delegates constructive engagement, the WGEC endorsed revised texts of the three annexes. The revised text of the Revenue Collection Approaches document contains a reference to Members case studies on different revenue collection approaches. Similarly, the Reference Datasets for Cross-Border E-Commerce document contains references to distinct datasets developed and/or piloted by Members to effectively track, target and identify small shipments and cross-border e-commerce parcels. Through the E-Commerce FoS maintenance mechanism, these annexes will keep evolving with the objective of providing resource guidance for harmonized implementation of the Framework.

The WGEC welcomed presentations by the Customs administrations of Brazil and Korea on the E-Commerce Case Studies submitted by the two Members for inclusion in a WCO Compendium of Case Studies on E-Commerce. Furthermore, the WGEC invited Members and stakeholders to submit their case studies and information on E-Commerce datasets.

The WGEC examined a draft PTC decision on the update/maintenance mechanism of the E-Commerce FoS, further developed it and endorsed it for submission to the April 2020 PTC. The WGEC discussed the implementation of the E-Commerce Framework of Standards by Members and the associated Capacity Building support. In this regard, the WGEC examined possible draft indicators on implementation of the E-Commerce FoS with the ultimate objective of achieving an expeditious and harmonized implementation of the Framework of Standards by Members, working in close cooperation with other relevant government agencies and stakeholders.

The outcomes of the face-to-face meeting of the WGEC, as well as the draft Compendium of Case Studies on E-Commerce will be presented to the April 2020 PTC and to the June 2020 Policy Commission and Council for endorsement.

With the duration of the WGEC coming to an end in June 2020, the future work in the area of cross-border E-Commerce will be carried out by the PTC and the Enforcement Committee as per their respective mandates.
First Minister unveils cabinet reshuffle after Derek Mackay resignation

Kates Forbes will become Scotlands new Finance Secretary, Nicola Sturgeon has announced.

It follows the resignation of Derek Mackay, who was forced to step down from the post after details of him sending inappropriate text messages to a schoolboy emerged.

Forbes stepped in at the last minute to deliver Mackays budget earlier this month.

Sturgeon has also announced that Fiona Hyslop will take on the new job of Economy, Fair Work and Culture Secretary, replacing her existing role as External Affairs Secretary.

As the process of Brexit, and the discussion on Scotlands constitutional future move into a new phase, Michael Russells responsibilities will be expanded as Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, Europe and External Affairs.

Fergus Ewing will take on the role as Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Tourism.

Jenny Gilruth is also set to join the Scottish Government as Minister for Europe and International Development, where she will support Russell.

Ben Macpherson will move to join the finance team as Minister for Public Finance and Migration.

He will also work on issues around green and climate finance, to help ensure Scotland can deliver its target of ending its contribution to climate change. He will also be tasked with ensuring that wellbeing sits at the heart of the budget process.

The First Minister will propose the new appointments of Kate Forbes and Jenny Gilruth to the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday.

As a result of these changes, and excluding the Law Officers, the Scottish Government will be fully gender balanced at 13 men and 13 women, and seven out of the 12 members of cabinet are women.

Sturgeon said: These appointments bring new talent into government and deliver a real focus, not only on driving forward our economy, but also on addressing the challenges of Brexit, increasing our population and ending Scotlands contribution to the climate crisis.

I am pleased to make these appointments and  in particular  to be able to put Scotlands finances and Scotlands economy into the hands of two incredibly talented colleagues.

Fiona Hyslop has been an outstanding Cabinet Secretary, delivering a successful expansion of Scotlands overseas presence and recognition, supporting our booming tourism industry and demonstrating the huge importance of culture - not just to our economy, but more importantly to who we are and how we see ourselves.

I know she will bring that drive, passion and sharp focus to Scotlands economy. Working alongside Kate Forbes as the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, she will continue to drive forward our economy, support our key industries and maintain Scotlands long tradition as an outward-looking, dynamic and enterprising nation.

Ben Macpherson will continue to make the case for Scotland to have a distinct migration system in order to meet our economic, social and financial needs  and as Public Finance Minister will also take the lead on identifying ways to fund climate action, and he will work across government to build a wellbeing economy.

Jenny Gilruth will join government for the first time  having proven herself as a talented and hard-working MSP  and takes on the role of Minister for Europe and International Development. She will have the important task of promoting Scotland, building new links in a post-Brexit environment and delivering on our global responsibilities  and I know she is more than up to that challenge.
A former Ohio megachurch pastor has settled a lawsuit against famed televangelist Ernest Angley, who he claimed sexually abused and harassed him for more than a decade.

Brock Miller, a former assistant pastor at Grace Cathedral, filed the lawsuit against Angley, a self-proclaimed prophet, and the Cuyahoga Falls church in August 2018.

Miller alleged that Angley forced him to get a vasectomy, inspected his genitals and asked him sexual questions while Miller worked under the internationally-known televangelist from 2004 to 2014.

The two sides reached an agreement during a private mediation on Friday in Summit County Common Pleas Court, the Akron Beacon Journal reported.

The settlement, which is confidential and includes a non-disparagement clause, marks the end of a bitter legal dispute over the allegations against Angley, which he and other church leaders staunchly denied.

Brock Miller (left), a former pastor at Grace Cathedral in Ohio, has settled a lawsuit against famed televangelist Ernest Angley (right), who he claimed sexually abused and harassed him for more than a decade

Miller, 34, resigned from Grace Cathedral in 2014 and filed his lawsuit four years later.

The suit sought full back pay and benefits; compensatory and punitive damages, and either reinstatement to the position he 'would have obtained in the absence of discrimination' or front pay.

Grace Cathedral filed a counter claim against Miller in November 2018 which accused him of making false and defamatory statements.

They charged that Miller concocted the allegations to oust Angley and replace him, or force a pay off.

Miller, who grew up in the church and whose mother worked there, maintained that his allegations were true and said that he came forward to prevent a repeat of what he endured.

The case was set to go to trial on Monday but was pushed back due to a conflicting murder trial.

Had it gone forward, the attorneys involved had agreed the 98-year-old Angley wouldn't be required to testify due to age-related maladies.

Miller, a former assistant pastor at Grace Cathedral in Cuyahoga Falls (pictured), filed the lawsuit against Angley and the Cuyahoga Falls church in August 2018

Angley, now 98, led Grace Cathedral until February 2019, when his health began declining rapidly. He is seen in an undated video shared by Ernest Angley Ministries on Sunday

A young Miller (left), who grew up attending Grace Cathedral before being hired there in 2004, is seen in an undated photo provided by his family

Ahead of Friday's mediation, Miller told the Beacon Journal: 'I try every single day to see some light shine on the horrible sexual abuse I endured and, even if I never get justice for myself, maybe the truth and my story can impact someone else and save them from the same hell I lived.'

The outlet obtained hundreds of pages of court records about the case, many of which were later sealed by a judge.

Miller claimed that the abuse began when he was hired by the church in 2004 when he was 18.

He said that he sought advice from Angley over his impending marriage, at which point the church leader told him he needed to see Miller masturbate in front of him to ensure that he ejaculated correctly.

In the fall of 2006, Miller said Angley invited him to his home for a 'special anointing', during which he massaged Miller while he was naked.

Miller said Angley subjected him to at least a dozen 'anointing' sessions over the next six years.

During the final session in November 2012, Miller said Angley tried to teach him how to French kiss - which he referred to as a 'tongue sandwich'.

Miller said he refused and turned down future invitations to sessions.

He also said Angley repeatedly asked him about his sex life over the course of his 10 years employed by the church.

Miller alleged that Angley forced him to get a vasectomy, inspected his genitals and asked him sexual questions while he worked under the internationally-known televangelist from 2004-14

Angley, a self-proclaimed prophet, is seen during a healing service in Toronto in 1984

Miller's lawsuit states that Grace Cathedral knew or should have known about Angley's abuse and failed to protect him.

He said he suffered 'severe and permanent injuries, great pain of body and mind, mental anguish, and required physical and mental treatment' because of the abuse.

Asked during a deposition why he didn't put a stop to the abuse sooner, Miller said: 'I knew that if I said no to him and refused to come over, that he could take away my job, my house, my car, turn my family and my friends against me and I would lose absolutely everything.'

Miller added that he'd seen others 'face repercussions' for going against Angley in the past.

He said he told his family, his now-ex-wife and a longtime Grace Cathedral pastor, Rev Chris Machamer, about Angley's behavior prior to his resignation.

Miller said many of the things he feared might happen occurred after his resignation. He currently lives in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, with his fiancee and works for a payroll company.

'The journey hasn't been easy for me or my loved ones,' Miller, who now lives in South Carolina, said in his most recent statement to the Beacon Journal.

'However, somehow through all the hell I endured for so long, I found that maybe it is my purpose to embark on this journey and bring the truth about Ernest Angley and Grace Cathedral to everyone else's ears.'

Five leaders, employees and members of Grace Cathedral gave depositions in support of Angley.

Among them was Machamer, who denied Miller's claim that he told the pastor about the abuse before his resignation.

Machamer said he was told Miller wanted to force Angley to resign so he could take control of the church.

'I just considered it a power grab and a blackmail scheme,' he said.

Catherine Shupe, the finance manager for Grace Cathedral and Winston Broadcasting Network Inc, blamed Miller for the church's dwindling membership numbers and revenue in her deposition.

She said Miller defamed the institution 'by bringing out allegations and by causing problems for the church by doing so'.

Steven Millar, a pastor at Grace Cathedral since 2010, said he believes Angley over Miller.

'When you have two people saying two separate things, you have to make a choice,' Millar said in his deposition.

Michael Kish, a long-time church member and usher, also said he thought Miller's claims were baseless, despite having never spoken to the plaintiff.

Kish, Angley and Machamer spoke out against Miller in a church service after his resignation.

'You're fighting the devil himself, straight from the pits of hell,' Kish said in the service.
The Laredo City Manager Search Ad-Hoc Committee on Saturday ranked the four city manager applicants as follows, according to a source with knowledge of the ranking:

READ MORE: Drama unfolds around open Laredo city manager position after candidate drops out after news reports

1. Robert Eads, co-interim city manager of Laredo

2. Samuel Keith Selman, assistant city manager of Corpus Christi, Texas

3. Jose R. Madrigal, deputy city manager of McKinney, Texas

4. Corby D. Alexander, city manager of La Porte, Texas

The committee conducted interviews for over eight hours and deliberated in closed session for another two on Saturday. They filled out the scoring cards individually; the ranking is reflective of their combined scores.

Eads

Laredo Co-Interim City Manager Robert Eads presented his vision and mission statement to the committee  for Laredo to be a first-class, progressive and diverse community of choice for people to live, work and play. His mission statement would be to deliver consistent, top-level, customer-centric service and to establish an environment for greater business, tourism and trade.

He suggested that the city take a more in-depth look at how they annex land. Right now they do so without analyzing how it would impact the community, he said.

Eads also proposed looking into voter-approved bond packages that would include infrastructure projects. He said the cost to address this need is around $100 million.

Eads spent a long time going over his history at the cities of Del Rio and San Luis, Arizona, which he tied into his ethical principles.

In 2012 in Del Rio he alerted the Texas Rangers to a theft of hundreds of pieces of evidence within the Police Department. Eads said his termination by the City Council two years later was a fallout of that event. In San Luis he resigned after an elected official told him not to discipline a department director, who had been driving around city employees with an expired license and was arrested for a DWI, he told the committee.

Eads also spoke about the need for the city to commit to the Viva Laredo Comprehensive Plan. At their Tuesday meeting, council will be tasked with making a decision for a road project to move forward at current roadway standards, which does not follow the comp plan. Eads said he would not want to make an exception to the comp plan.

Selman

Samuel Keith Selman worked for the City of Laredo for 20 years, from 1991 to 2011, leaving as the planning and Metropolitan Planning Organization director. He said that that to be awarded the city manager job here would be like coming home.

He is currently an assistant city manager for the City of Corpus Christi. For a period of time he was also the interim city manager of Corpus Christi, and developed the organizational chart for the city administration in that role.

While in Laredo, Selman worked on projects such as presidential permit and design of the World Trade Bridge.

When asked how to foster development and growth in Laredo, Selman said the city needs a cooperative, business-friendly development process. This does not mean acquiescence, he said.

Laredo has to compete with other cities to attract industry, and regard itself as a city where people want to work, live and play, he said. Selman also argued that the city needs to focus on its image, especially along the I-35 corridor.

Its been a priority of his to get Laredo to reorient itself to face the river, Selman said. Every other city in the country with a river gets to engage with it, turn it into an amenity and have it be a part of their identity.

My gaze has been on that river for a couple of decades, he said.

His guiding principals are his Christian faith, being a husband, father and public servant, in that order, Selman told the committee.

Madrigal

Up first on Saturday was Jose R. Madrigal, deputy city manager of McKinney, Texas. He worked on community-police relations after McKinney fell into the spotlight following a violent incident five years ago; a video went viral that depicted a McKinney cop tackling a black teenager to the ground at a pool party. Madrigal said he helped coordinate events with police in the neighborhoods and got cops on bikes for community policing in order to develop trust between them and residents.

He also spoke about innovative workforce development projects he has been a part of, such as giving high school students hangar space at the airport, which they used to construct an airplane, giving them experience for jobs in aviation, where there is a workforce shortage.

Madrigal said he believes it is not his job to manage City Council; his role would be to assist them and remain in constant communication with them, he said. With staff, he believes in challenging them, letting them be creative and feel empowered to voice ideas and concerns.

In McKinney he has had to deal with council member overreach. Madrigal recalled a council members who wanted a police lieutenant fired for what Madrigal discovered was a customer service problem, a non-terminable offense. He did not fire the employee, noting that its a big sin to sacrifice staff at the whim of council.

He admitted that it takes time to build employee moral under a new city manager. He said he would hold employee town halls with each department if he were appointed.

Before he left, Madrigal asked the committee what they would judge as success in someones first year as the city manager. Schwebel said it would be someone who will work with every sector of the community, be open, straightforward and honest.

Alexander

Corby D. Alexander Sr. is the city manger of La Porte, a smaller city near the Houston Ship Channel. Although the expansive port does not belong to the city, La Porte receives as many as 70,000 trucks carrying cargo through the city each day, Alexander said. Several members of the committee expressed surprise at this number; Laredo sees around 16,000 trucks cross over its bridges daily.

READ MORE: Vandalism of iconic South Texas shrine has law enforcement searching for answers

As a port city, they are obligated to hold a 90-day cache of city funds in case of disaster. Alexander said La Porte has enough built up maintain operations for a year if they lost all of their revenue during that time.

Julia Wallace may be reached at 956-728-2543 or jwallace@lmtonline.com
Attorney-General Christian Porter has warned companies will soon be "absolutely and utterly compelled" to pay staff correctly after supermarket giant Coles revealed on Tuesday it had underpaid about 600 staff $20 million over the past six years.

The company identified underpayments for its salaried team members across its supermarkets and liquor businesses, becoming the latest major retailer to be caught up in an underpayment scandal.

In an announcement on Tuesday morning released along with the company's half-year results, Coles revealed under 1 per cent of its team members had been underpaid due to differences between their remuneration and the General Retail Industry Award (GRIA).

The underpayments occurred over the past six years and primarily affected salaried department managers across its supermarkets. The company has flagged $12 million in back payments for those store members and $4 million in interest and additional costs.
Representative image

A Delhi court on February 17 set a new date for the hanging of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya case.

The execution has been scheduled for 6 am on March 3.

The court was hearing the applications by Nirbhaya's parents and the Delhi government, seeking fresh death warrants for the four convicts after the Supreme Court granted liberty to the authorities to approach the trial court for issuance of fresh date for the execution of these convicts.

The convicts were to be hanged on January 22 at 7 am in Tihar Jail, a Delhi court had announced on January 7 while issuing their death warrants.

However, on January 17, the court had issued a fresh death warrant for the execution of the four Nirbhaya convicts, with the convicts now scheduled to be hanged at 6 am on February 1.

The court had, however, on January 31 stayed the hanging of the four death-row convicts. The trial court had postponed the execution of the death warrant till further notice.

Earlier in the day, Additional Session Judge Dharmender Rana reserved the order after hearings during which Mukesh Kumar Singh, one of the four death row convicts in the case told the court that he does not want to be represented by advocate Vrinda Grover.

The court then appointed advocate Ravi Qazi to represent Mukesh.

The court was also informed that another death row convict, Vinay Sharma, is on hunger strike in Tihar jail.
A growing number of countries around the world are evacuating or planning to evacuate diplomatic staff and citizens from parts of China hit by the new coronavirus.

Following are some countries' evacuation plans, and how they aim to manage the health risk from those who are returning.

- Australia will evacuate more than 200 of its citizens and an unspecified number of New Zealand citizens onboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship being held in the Japanese port of Yokohama. The passengers will depart on Wednesday and will be required to be quarantined for another 14 days.

- A plane load of New Zealanders, Australians and Pacific Islanders evacuated from Wuhan arrived in Auckland, New Zealand on Feb. 5, officials said.

- Nepal on Sunday evacuated 175 of its nationals from the Chinese city of Wuhan.

- Canada said late on Saturday it chartered a plane to evacuate its citizens onboard the Diamond Princess cruise liner docked in Yokohama, Japan. After arriving in Canada, the passengers will undergo a 14-day period of quarantine, the government's statement added.

- Canada, after evacuating 215 people earlier, flew back 185 Canadians from Wuhan on Feb. 11. All evacuees are quarantined on the Trenton, Ontario base for two weeks.

- The United States and Hong Kong have said they will send aircraft to Japan to bring back passengers from the quarantined cruise ship, which has seen the most coronavirus infections outside of China.

- The United States authorized the voluntary departure of its government employees and their family members from Hong Kong on Feb 11. On Feb. 6, two planes with about 300 passengers, mostly U.S. citizens, took off from Wuhan for the United States, the State Department said.

- A second evacuation flight is bringing back another 174 Singaporeans and their family members from Wuhan to the citystate on Feb. 9, Singapore's foreign ministry said.

- Thirty Filipinos returned to the Philippines on Feb. 9 from Wuhan, the Department of Foreign Affairs said. The returning passengers and a 10member government team will be quarantined for 14 days.

- Britain's final evacuation flight from Wuhan, carrying more than 200 people, landed at a Royal Air Force base in central England on Feb. 9. A plane carrying 83 British and 27 European Union nationals from Wuhan landed in Britain last week.

- Uzbekistan has evacuated 251 people from China and quarantined them on arrival in Tashkent, the Central Asian nation's state airline said on Feb. 6.

- Taiwan has evacuated the first batch of an estimated 500 Taiwanese stranded in Wuhan.

- The 34 Brazilians evacuated from Wuhan landed in Brazil on Feb. 9, where they will begin 18 days of quarantine.

- Italy flew back 56 nationals from Wuhan to Rome on Feb. 3. The group will spend two weeks in quarantine in a military hospital, the government said.

- Saudi Arabia has evacuated 10 students from Wuhan, Saudi state television reported on Feb. 2.

- Indonesia's government flew 243 Indonesians from Hubei on Feb. 2 and placed them under quarantine at a military base on an island northwest of Borneo.

- South Korea evacuated 147 people on a third chartered flight from Wuhan that arrived on Feb. 12. The country flew 368 people home on a charter flight that arrived on Jan. 31. A second chartered flight departed Seoul for Wuhan on Jan. 31, with plans to evacuate around 350 more South Korean citizens.

- Japan chartered a third flight to repatriate Japanese people, which arrived from Wuhan on Jan. 31, bringing the number of repatriated nationals to 565.

- Kazakhstan, which previously evacuated 83 people from Wuhan, will send two planes to China on Feb. 10 and Feb. 12 to evacuate its citizens. Out of 719 Kazakhs remaining in China, 391 have asked to be repatriated.

- Spain's government is working with China and the European Union to repatriate its nationals.

- Russia said it would begin moving its citizens out of China via its Far Eastern region on Feb. 1, regional authorities said. It plans to evacuate more than 600 Russian citizens currently in Hubei, Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said. A first Russian military plane took off on Feb. 4 to evacuate Russian citizens from Wuhan, the RIA news agency reported.

- The Netherlands is preparing the voluntary evacuation of 20 Dutch nationals and their families from Hubei, Foreign Minister Stef Blok said. The Netherlands is finalising arrangements with EU partners and Chinese authorities.

- France has evacuated some nationals from Wuhan and said it would place the passengers in quarantine. It said it would first evacuate nationals without symptoms and then those showing symptoms at a later, unspecified date.

- Swiss authorities said they hope to have about 10 citizens join the French evacuation of nationals from China.

-A plane brought 138 Thai nationals home from Wuhan on Feb. 4. They will spend two weeks in quarantine.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


3 1 of 3 Patrick Semansky/Associated Press Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Susan Walsh/Associated Press Show More Show Less 3 of 3





Katie Rose Waldman and Stephen Miller, who both work in the Trump White House, were married Sunday at Trump International Hotel in Washington. Rabbi Aryeh Lightstone, who is a senior adviser to David Friedman, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, officiated.

Katie Miller, 28, is a special assistant to President Donald Trump and the press secretary to Vice President Mike Pence. From November 2017 to February 2019, she served as a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security during the tenure of Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.
A recovered female patient (right) returns to the hospital to donate blood in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on February 14. [Xinhua]

Thirty-two patients who have recovered from the novel coronavirus had donated 10,650 ml of plasma by Saturday, said China National Biotec Group, a state-owned biological products maker.

The donation came one day after the company announced on Friday that it has developed convalescent plasma to treat patients with novel coronavirus pneumonia.

The current treatment of novel coronavirus pneumonia lacks vaccines and specific drugs, but recovered patients plasma has been put into clinical treatment which achieved initial results.

The company said they have set up a special team to collect plasma from recovered patients in Wuhan, Central Chinas Hubei province, since Jan 20.

On February 8, three critically ill patients in a hospital in the Jiangxia District of Wuhan received plasma treatment. More than 10 critical patients received the treatment so far, the company said.

The clinical results showed that patients clinical symptoms have improved significantly 12 to 24 hours after the treatment, with inflammatory indicators in the laboratory decreasing significantly and some key indicators, such blood oxygen saturation, showingn promising results.

Convalescent plasma has also been proved effective in the treatment of severe acute respiratory syndrome and Ebola virus disease.

(Source: Xinhua)
A traffic police officer shows a man his violation captured by police camera on a phone in Hanoi. Photo by VnExpress/Ba Do.

Residents of five localities will be able to pay traffic fines online via the national public services portal starting March 12.

The scheme will be piloted in four major cities  Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Hai Phong and the south central Binh Thuan Province.

The fines can be paid at dichvucong.gov.vn.

"The five localities have been chosen because they account for half of the nations traffic sanctions," said Colonel Vuong Ngoc Bac, deputy chief of staff at the Traffic Police General Department under the Ministry of Public Security.

The department will update information of violators on its database and link it with the national public services portal.

People can track their names and violations and follow the steps shown on the portal to pay the fines. They can also register their addresses if they want to get their driving licenses and vehicle registration certificates back by post.

Following the pilot project, the department will complete its data infrastructure for applying the process nationwide from June.

Ngo Hai Phan, head of the Administrative Procedure Control Agency (APCA) under the Government Office, said at a meeting in Hanoi last October that on-the-spot and offline payment procedures were not only time-consuming and strenuous, they also allowed corruption and "negative experiences."

It is not uncommon that traffic police receive bribes from citizens violating the law, he said, adding that the bribery was either initiated by the violator looking to avoid paying a bigger fine or have their documents or vehicles confiscated, or by the police officers willing to let violators off for a price.

Four years ago, the traffic police department and state-owned Vietnam Post, designated to provide public postal services, struck a deal wherein post offices could collect fines and return papers seized from violators.

This agreement has allowed residents to pay fines and collect confiscated documents back at post offices nearest to their homes or officers. However, they still have to go to the post office in person to do this.

The national public services portal, inaugurated last December, has been described by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc as an e-document exchange platform facilitating quicker and safer delivery of official documents. The portal will be managed by the Government Office.

Apart from collecting traffic violation fines, the portal will also provide other services for all 63 cities and provinces, including: re-registering driving license and medical insurance schemes (on expiry or if they are damaged or lost); electricity supply related services; and obtaining certificates of origin for products.
Along with several other organizations that monitor the state budget, the Civic Federation for years has called for expanding the sales tax to cover some services and taxing retirement income, something done in nearly every other state with an income tax. Pritzker so far has been dismissive of both ideas, even when fellow Democrats earlier this year floated the idea of an expanded sales tax to help offset local property taxes.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 01:48:04|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Visiting Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani (L) holds a press conference with his Syrian counterpart Hammoudeh Sabbagh in Damascus, Syria, following their meeting in the Syrian Parliament, Feb. 16, 2020. Visiting Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said on Sunday that his country is expecting major economic cooperation with Syria in the future. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)

DAMASCUS, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said on Sunday that his country is expecting major economic cooperation with Syria in the future.

Larijani made the remarks during a joint press conference with his Syrian counterpart Hammoudeh Sabbagh in the capital Damascus following their meeting in the Syrian Parliment.

"We underscore the importance of cooperation between the Syrian and Iranian businessmen and we see that these businessmen will definitely pave the way for a future busy with economic cooperation between the two countries," Larijani said.

Meanwhile, Sabbagh said he believes the future of the economic cooperation between the two countries will be "prosperous."

"As the brothers in Iran have had a role in supporting Syria in the unjust war against it, Iran will also have a role in the reconstruction process," he noted.

During the Syrian war, Iran has emerged as a key regional ally of the Syrian government which has repeatedly said friendly countries like Iran will have a role in the Syrian reconstruction.
Semen Indonesia rebrands as Semen Indonesia Group

17 February 2020

Semen Indonesia has rebranded to become Semen Indonesia Group (SIG), including a new logo, to reinforce the companys environmental efforts and introduce itself as a provider of building materials solutions.

Launching the new strategy, Adi Munandir, Semen Indonesia's director of Marketing and Supply Chain, told local press that: "We are already in the phase of thinking about our future. Cement manufacturers have a very industrialist connotation, sometimes connoted to activities that are not environmentally friendly. Therefore, in addition to launching the new logo, Semen Indonesia is also committed to creating products that are more environmentally friendly, efficient and cheaper. We are innovating to create products that answer the needs of industries that care about the environment, are affordable, easily accessible."

Hendi Prio Santoso, managing director, explained how the rebranding is also being used to introduce the new face of the company as it is no longer focused on cement production. SIG will begin to focus on service businesses that are related to infrastructure development such as housing to roads. "The company has now become an example of a provider of building material solutions that supports sustainable living by producing innovative solution products that refer to the limitations of natural resources and community needs," he said.

Doddy Sulasmono, finance director, added that he hopes that with the rebranding the company will be able to overcome issues such as excess production capacity or over supply. " We went further downstream. That's our efforts for the foundation in the future can escape obstacles because of over-supply," he highlighted.

Published under
SACRAMENTO, Calif.  A mountain lion attacked a 6-year-old girl Sunday while she was walking in a California park, wildlife officials say.

The girl was walking on a trail at the Rancho San Antonio County Park and Open Space Preserve in Cupertino, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a news release.

She was about 2 miles from the main parking lot when a mountain lion attacked, Fish and Wildlife said. Rangers were treating the girl for minor injuries.

An adult punched the mountain lion, estimated to weigh 160 pounds, in the ribs, KGO reported.

Right about when it grabbed ahold of the girl, there was an adult there that pushed the lion away into the bushes, and it ran off, Brad Pennington, a ranger with Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, told KGO. She has minor injuries, a couple puncture wounds on her calf, and she was treated for minor first aid. Then, her parents took her to the hospital.

The park is closed until officials can determine it is safe. Rangers are trying to find and identify the mountain lion, Fish and Wildlife said in the news release.

This is the second mountain lion attack that the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has on record this year. It is the 17th attack since 1986, according to data the department keeps.

Mountain lions live throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains region and generally are not a threat to people, Fish and Wildlife said in the news release. Most avoid areas of human activity and are easily scared off by loud noises. Seeing a mountain lion is rare and an encounter like this is very unusual.
The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and private organization Eurasia Foundation (the United States) have signed trilateral memorandums of cooperation as part of the implementation of the Open Data for Cities in Ukraine program with chairmen of city councils of Mariupol, Sloviansk, Ternopil and Kharkiv.

"Cooperation is aimed at developing an open data policy in cities at all levels: audit of open data and improving the regulatory framework; development of technical infrastructure and the creation of an open data portal; professionalization of employees for the publication and use of data; cooperation with business, the public, the media and the formation of open data communities," the ministry said on its Facebook page on Monday.

The ministry said that for citizens it is: an increase in the amount of open city data; more transparency and accountability of city authorities; grounded decisions in the formation of urban development policies of society; more useful services and solutions based on data to solve the daily problems of citizens.

Cooperation with cities is part of the Open Data for Cities in Ukraine program, which has been in effect in Ukraine since 2018 with the support of the USAID/UK Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services (TAPAS) project.

The Finance Ministry said that currently, nine cities of the country have already joined the program.
Bahargul Toleheng [For China Daily]

Dance lessons, a lending library and psychological counseling are not what you would expect to see in a hospital for patients infected with novel coronavirus pneumonia, which has killed more than 1,600 people on the Chinese mainland.

However, such services have gained increasing popularity among the patients being treated at temporary hospitals in Wuhan, Hubei Province, and medical workers and patients said these are just as important as medical treatment in the recovery process.

Bahargul Toleheng, a medical worker from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, became an internet sensation after the video of her teaching dance to patients at a temporary hospital in the Wuhan Parlor exhibition center became very popular on social media.

Although she was wearing a protective suit, Bahargul still managed to show the essence of her traditional Uygur and Kazak dances with lively gestures.

"The patients loved it and had a good laugh. I believe lifting their spirits is a part of the treatment," said Bahargul, who is of the Kazak ethnic group.

The medical team from Xinjiang is responsible for 189 patients at the temporary hospital. Bahargul noticed that many patients were very anxious and she wanted to do something to ease their tension.

Since other medical teams have already started to encourage their patients to do some light exercises by leading dance and tai chi classes, she decided to teach them traditional dances from Xinjiang.

As soon as the music started to play, a crowd began to gather. People then started to move their bodies. More importantly, many of them burst into laughter after seeing each other's clumsy moves.

Bahargul Toleheng [For China Daily]

"Laughter is so precious at the hospital as people are away from their families and uncertain about when they can be discharged. All they think about is the disease," Bahargul said.

The regular dance lessons offered by the Xinjiang medical team have become a star event at the hospital and the crowd is getting bigger, she said. Netizens joked that the temporary hospitals are maybe the only places in China that people can still gather and dance together at the moment.

Like other temporary hospitals, the Wuhan Parlor hospital, which started operation on Feb 7, admits patients who have been confirmed with the infection but show only light symptoms.

They should have no respiratory diseases, be between 18 and 65, and have the ability to care for themselves. The hospital currently houses more than 1,450 patients.

By Saturday, nine such hospitals had been set up in gymnasiums and exhibition centers in Wuhan, epicenter of the epidemic.

Li Zhiqiang, vice-president of Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, now runs the Wuhan Parlor temporary hospital. He said more functions have been gradually added at the temporary hospital to provide better care for the patients.

Patients diagnosed with the novel coronavirus pneumonia borrow books at the temporary hospital in Wuhan Parlor exhibition center in Hubei Province on Saturday. [For China Daily/Zhu Xingxin]

"We've focused more on offering psychological support for the patients who have been through a lot. We've arranged a series of activities for them such as dance lessons and reading sessions to ease their minds," Li said.

Yang Yibing, 41, was among the first 17 patients who had recovered from the novel coronavirus pneumonia at the temporary hospital and was discharged on Saturday. He was also among the first group of the patients that the hospital received.

"The hospital is more like a community. We don't see ourselves as patients but community members," Yang told China Daily over the phone on Sunday. He needs to be isolated for another 14 days at home after being discharged.

At the hospital, his temperature and blood oxygen were checked and recorded three times a day. "People will be immediately transferred to hospitals if their health condition deteriorates. There was nothing to be worried about," Yang said.

Yang enjoyed his daily walk circling the hospital. "There are students doing their homework while some are livestreaming their life at the hospital on social media. We're in this together, and we will win this together."

Yang said the Xinjiang dance classes are his favorite although he's got two left feet.

"It cheers everyone up including the medical team. I was there when Bahargul danced in the white protective suit. She was just like a chubby angel."

(Source: China Daily)
Many insects, mosses and lichens in the UK are bucking the trend of biodiversity loss, according to a comprehensive analysis of over 5,000 species led by UCL and the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH).

The researchers say their findings on UK biodiversity between 1970 and 2015, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, may provide evidence that efforts to improve air and water quality could be paying off.

"By looking at long-term trends in the distribution of understudied species, we found evidence of concerning declines, but we also found that it's not all bad news. Some groups of species, particularly freshwater insects, appear to be undergoing a strong recovery," said the study's lead author, Dr Charlie Outhwaite (UCL Centre for Biodiversity & Environment Research, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, and the RSPB).

Funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the researchers analysed trends in the distribution of invertebrates (such as insects and spiders), bryophytes (such as mosses) and lichens over a 45-year period, to see whether they were following the same declining trends reported in better-studied groups such as mammals, birds and butterflies.

Across all 5,214 species surveyed, overall occupancy (distribution) was 11% higher in 2015 than in 1970. The researchers were not able to estimate the total numbers of each species, but gauged how well each species was doing by whether its geographic range was expanding or shrinking.

They found substantial variation between the different groups, and between individual species within each group. Among the four major groups studied, only one of them - terrestrial non-insect invertebrates (mainly spiders, centipedes and millipedes) - exhibited an overall trend of declining distribution (by 7% since 1970).

More positively, freshwater insects, such as mayflies, dragonflies and caddisflies, have undergone a strong recovery since the mid-1990s, recently surpassing 1970 levels following a 47% decline from 1970 to 1994. Mosses and lichens have also increased in average occupancy (distribution) by 36%, while terrestrial insects, such as ants and moths, exhibited a slight increase.

The data included over 24 million records, each identifying a sighting of a particular species in a particular location, sourced from numerous biological recording schemes. People from across the UK have been contributing to the recording schemes on a volunteer basis for decades.

While the volunteers used inconsistent methods to collect their records, having such a vast quantity of data enabled the researchers to analyse it effectively using occupancy modelling techniques.

"Our study demonstrates the power of citizen science, as anyone can contribute to impactful academic research. We couldn't have done this research without the hard work of thousands of volunteers who have contributed to recording schemes over the years," said Dr Outhwaite.

While the study period only went back to 1970, other research suggests that many of the species studied would have been experiencing long-term declines dating back to the industrial revolution or further, due to pollution or habitat losses from agricultural expansion and urbanisation.

While they did not investigate the particular reasons for the declines and recoveries found in this study, the researchers say that it's likely that environmental protection initiatives are helping some species recover. Mosses and lichens are known to be susceptible to air pollution, while freshwater insects likely benefited from improvements in waste water treatment since the early 1990s.

###

Co-author Professor Richard Gregory (RSPB and UCL Centre for Biodiversity & Environment Research) said: "Other studies have shown improvements in air and water quality and local improvements in biodiversity as a result of conservation efforts. We think our findings demonstrate that policies designed to safeguard the natural environment are working and can yield positive change."

The researchers say the findings add nuance to reports of biodiversity losses across the globe, but they stress that great progress still needs to be made.

Senior author Dr Nick Isaac (UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology) added: "These results show that biodiversity change is more complex than we thought. Unlike birds and butterflies, which we have not studied, the overall pattern is that losses in some species are balanced by gains elsewhere. We need to know more about why this is happening, and what it means for ecosystems."
Private colleges that compete with public schools are scrambling to find a way to keep attracting students. To do so, freezing or lowering tuition rates have grown in popularity to bring in cost-conscious young people. Colleges such as St John's in Maryland and New Mexico, Wells College in New York, and Utica College in New York have made major budget cuts to lower their tuition.Tuition freezes keep tuition at a plateau for a set number of years. Expenses for room and board, though, can still increase. When a private school instead opts for a tuition cut, such as Wells College , the one-time cuts are usually more dramatic: Tuition can fall by 20 percent to 50 percent. Students rarely paid the full advertised price (the sticker price), so by cutting tuition, students and their parents don't experience such "sticker shock."Cuts don't always make college more affordable, though: financial aid is often cut simultaneously. It can still be difficult for lower- and middle-income students to afford a private school. The initial publicity of cutting tuition rates can boost enrollment because a school looks cheaper. When the University of the Cumberlands in Kentucky announced a 57 percent tuition cut for the 2019-2020 school year, it dropped the small Baptist university's advertised tuition from $23,000 to just $9,875 per year.The tuition cut approach is not yet dominant. Between 2006 and 2017, the average private college increased its tuition by 29 percent, according to the College Board.When they happen, though, tuition cuts can hide other costs. Albright College in Pennsylvania announced a 45 percent tuition cut starting in 2019, dropping tuition from $44,206 to $24,500. Although they cut tuition, Albright stated that And when Utica lowered their tuition by $14,000 in 2016, president Laura Casamento noted thatThe school then attempted to price the tuition slightly more than the price of a public school.While tuition cuts are becoming popular within private colleges, tuition freezes are happening at public universities.The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education approved a tuition freeze to keep in-state tuition at $7,716 across the system's 14 universities. According to Inside Higher Ed, it was the second tuition freeze in the system's past 36 years. Virginia's public colleges also announced a tuition freeze for the 2019-2020 school year; The Washington Post noted that it was theUNC-Chapel Hill also announced a tuition freeze for the 2019-2020 school year to keep prices low.Some universities increase tuition and fees before freezing it. Ohio State University raised its tuition and fees by 3.3 percent, then froze it for the next four years. The university also increased aid so that according to a press release.Though a tuition cut or freeze might look like a win for students, it's not always the full story. Students, parents, and the media need to ask whether fees, student services, and financial aid are changing as well. Otherwise, the real cost may not be dropping as much as a college claims it is.
Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Marcel Ciolacu had a meeting in Brussels on Monday with the President of the European Parliament, David Maria Sassoli, on the topic of the European budget.

"I continued the series of today's meetings with a constructive discussion that I had with Mr. David Maria Sassoli, President of the European Parliament, on the European budget. We support an increase in cohesion funds and a correct implementation of the common agricultural policy. I underscored the determination of the PSD [the Social Democratic Party] to work closely with the current leadership of the European Parliament on the main European issues," Ciolacu wrote on Facebook.

He added that he invited Sassoli to visit Romania and hold a speech before Parliament's joint plenary session, and he accepted.

Marcel Ciolacu is on Monday and Tuesday on a visit to Brussels, on which occasion he has several meetings with European leaders.
The woman who was hit by a deputy U.S. Marshal suspected of drunken driving died Saturday, a little more than two weeks after the crash, according to San Antonio Police.

Police said that on Jan. 31, Jonathan Jones, 40, was driving the wrong way on Loop 1604, near Babcock Road, at about 1 a.m. when he hit Taylor McCowan's small sedan head-on.
Tutanota , the popular free and open-source end-to-end encrypted email software, has been blocked by Russian authorities.

The popular free and open-source end-to-end encrypted email service Tutanota has been blocked in Russia on Friday evening. Since early February, the Russian government has blocked other encrypted email and VPN services in Russia, including ProtonMail and ProtonVPN VPN service.

Tutanota is listed in the registry of blocked sites provided by Russian activists.

Roskomnadzor explained that the services were abused by cybercriminals and some of the blocked companies refused to register their services with state authorities. The Russian government asks all Internet service providers and VPN providers operating in the country to provide information about their users.

As of March 2017, Tutanotas owners claimed to have over 2 million users of the product.

The blockage of the Tutanota service has been verified by the OONI Explorer, an open data resource on internet censorship around the world.

Tutanota is disappointed of the block and explained that the decision of the Kremlin is an act against encryption and confidential communication in Russia.

Tutanota focuses on providing a secure and confidential communication channel to citizens, but also to journalists and activists. states Tutanota.

Encrypted communication is a thorn in the side to authoritarian governments like Russia as encryption makes it impossible for security services to eavesdrop on their citizens. The current blocking of Tutanota is an act against encryption and confidential communication in Russia.

People who need secure communication in Russia and in other countries wher e the Tutanota service has been blocked, such as Egypt, can still access Tutanota by using the Tor browser or a VPN.

We condemn the blocking of Tutanota. It is a form of censorship of Russian citizens who are now deprived of yet another secure communication channel online, says Matthias Pfau, co-founder of Tutanota. At Tutanota we fight for our users right to privacy online, also, and particularly, in authoritarian countries such as Russia and Egypt.

On Thursday, a court in Moscow fined Twitter and Facebook 4 million rubles (roughly $63,000) each for refusing to store the personal data of Russian citizens on servers that are located in Russia. According to the media, these are the largest penalties imposed by the Kremlin on Western IT firms under internet use laws since 2012.

The fines of nearly $63,000 are the first five-figure fines levied on tech companies since Russia adopted a flurry of legislation starting in 2012 designed to tighten the governments grip on online activity. reported the Associated Press.

Roskomnadzor is attempting to oblige the IT giants, including Facebook, Twitter, and Google to move data related to Russian citizens to servers in Russia allowing the Government to monitor them.,

Roskomnadzor pointed out that the fines are the only anticipation of further penalties for both companies that would be fined 18 million rubles ($283,000) each if they dont comply this year.

The Russian government could also ban IT companies that will not comply with the same law.

Pierluigi Paganini
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has pledged to continue an onslaught on the countrys last major rebel stronghold, saying the war was not yet over but a complete victory was in sight.

The fierce Russian-backed government offensive has displaced 900,000 people in the northwestern region since the start of December, the United Nations said on Monday, warning that the horrifying crisis was forcing those fleeing to sleep outside in freezing temperatures and had resulted in babies dying of cold as camps are full.

But in a rare address carried on state television on Monday, al-Assad congratulated his forces for recent gains that led to them consolidating control over Aleppo province and pledging to press ahead with a military campaign in Idlib province.

This liberation does not mean the end of war and it does not mean the end of the schemes nor the end of terrorism or the surrender of enemies and it doesnt mean our enemies will surrender, he said.

But it means that we rubbed their noses in the dirt as a prelude for complete victory and ahead of their defeat sooner or later.

We should not rest, but continue to prepare for coming battles, and therefore, the battle of liberating the Aleppo countryside and Idlib will continue.

The offensive has disrupted the fragile cooperation between Turkey and Russia, which back opposing sides in the conflict but have collaborated towards what they say is a political solution to the nearly nine-year war.

Ankara, which supports several Syrian rebel groups in the northwest, has been outraged since Syrian attacks in Idlib province killed 13 Turkish troops in two weeks. It has called on Moscow to stop the attacks, warning it would use military power to drive back Syrian forces unless they withdraw by the end of the month.





Turkey has, so far, sent thousands of troops and hundreds of convoys of military equipment to reinforce its observation posts in Idlib, established under a 2018 de-escalation agreement with Russia.

In his address, al-Assad also alluded to Ankaras warning, saying the offensive will go ahead despite empty voices that are coming from the north.

Al Jazeeras Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from the Turkey-Syria border, said al-Assad appeared to want to tell his own people that this [offensive] is something that might take longer than expected.

Particularly if Turkey continues its involvement and there is no deal between Turkey and Russia about implementing a ceasefire, Ahelbarra added.

Humanitarian crisis

Rami Khouri, a professor of journalism at the American University of Beirut, said it is not clear what al-Assads defiant message means for Syrias relationship with Turkey.

Khouri said that Turkey was unlikely to engage in conventional warfare with Syria because it would threaten its own ties with Russia.

The Turkish-Russian relationship is way more important than the Turkish-Syrian government [relationship, he said.

Separately, Mark Lowcock, the UN head of humanitarian affairs and emergency relief, warned on Monday that the violence in the northwest was indiscriminate.

Health facilities, schools, residential areas, mosques and markets have been hit. Schools are suspended, many health facilities have closed. There is a serious risk of disease outbreaks. Basic infrastructure is falling apart, he said in a statement.

We are now receiving reports that settlements for displaced people are being hit, resulting in deaths, injuries and further displacement.

He said a massive relief operation under way from the Turkish border has been overwhelmed. The equipment and facilities being used by aid workers are being damaged. Humanitarian workers themselves are being displaced and killed.
Former Mumbai Congress President Milind Deora is facing flak from his own party colleagues for praising Arvind Kejriwal after he said that Delhi Chief Minister made the national capital a surplus state.

Milind Deora wrote on Twitter, "Sharing a lesser known & welcome fact - the @ArvindKejriwal-led Delhi Government doubled its revenues to Rs 60,000 crore & maintained a revenue surplus over the last 5 years. Food for thought: Delhi is now one of India's most fiscally prudent governments."

The first reaction came from Ajay Maken, who wrote replying Deora, "Brother, you want to leave @INCIndia - Please do - Then propagate half baked facts!"

Ajay Maken then compared the revenue generation from 1997-1998 onwards and said that during the Congress rule in 2013-14 BE (Revenue) was Rs 37,459 cr, which grew at 14.87 per cent. He said this has come down to Rs 60,000 crore in 2019-20, a growth of only 9.90 per cent.

Not even Maken, former Chandni Chowk MLA Alka Lamba also attacked Deora, who is considered close to Rahul Gandhi. She said: "Join Congress in the name of father, get ticket because of political lineage and then lose the election while leading the party. But when it's time to fight for the party, play guitar" (In an obvious reference to Deora).

Another party leader Radhika Khera, who contested from Janakpuri but lost, criticised Deora. She wrote on Twitter, "As a young first time contestant, I find this extremely disappointing from our senior leaders, who instead of encouraging our own party to do better are busy patting AAP's back! Food for thought: Delhi has run a surplus since 1994, this peaked in 2011 under Sheila Ji."

The first banner was raised by Sharmishtha Mukherji who criticised P. Chidambaram for praising AAP.

The party has reprimanded its leaders not to speak in Public and discuss the matter in the party forum only.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday asked senior advocates Sanjay Hegde and Sadhna Ramachandran along with a third person, as interlocutors to hold talks with the shaheen bagh protestors.

A bench comprising Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph also asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to look into alternatives that can be agreed upon for shifting the location of the protest to another part of the national capital.

One section of the society holds one point of view, its fine, they want to voice it in a form of like a social build-up, its acceptable but the limited question is the place which it can be done, Justice Kaul remarked.

Echoing the same concern, Justice Joseph said, We arent saying people dont have right to protest even after the law is under challenge before this court but road cant be blocked.

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.

The bench also asked lawyer representing Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar Azad, who had moved an intervention in the appeal and other intervenors to try and speak to the Shaheen Bagh protesters and ask them to leave the site.

Opinion formation takes place when there is a protest. Every right has to be coupled with responsibility. You have a right to protest but there is a larger issue of competing interests, the bench said while slating the hearing for February 24.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar on Sunday (February 16) reacted strongly to UN chief Antonio Guterres's comments on Jammu and Kashmir, stressing region is and will remain an integral part of India and the only issue which must be addressed is of vacation of territories "illegally and forcibly" occupied by Pakistan.

Kumar reiterated that the Kashmir issue is between India and Pakistan and there was no role or scope for any third-party mediation on this matter. The MEA spokesperson made the statements after UN Secretary-General Guterres, who is on a visit to Pakistan, on Sunday expressed concern over the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. Guterres had also offered to mediate between New Delhi and Islamabad to resolve the Kashmir issue.

"India's position has not changed. Jammu and Kashmir has been, is, and will continue to be an integral part of India. The issue that needs to be addressed is that of vacation of the territories illegally and forcibly occupied by Pakistan," the external affairs ministry spokesperson said.

"Further issues, if any, would be discussed bilaterally. There is no role or scope for third-party mediation," he added.

Kumar noted that Guterres should put pressure on Pakistan to take credible, sustained and irreversible action in order to end cross-border terrorism. For his part, Guterres remarked that India and Pakistan must take steps to de-escalate "militarily and verbally" and exercise "maximum restraint".

Live TV

Talking to media after his meeting with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the UN chief said he was "deeply concerned" over the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and the rising tensions along the Line of Control.

"Diplomacy and dialogue remain the only tools that guarantee peace and stability with solutions in accordance with the Charter of United Nations and resolutions of the Security Council," Guterres told reporters.

Guterres said he had "repeatedly stressed on the importance of exercising maximum restraint". "I offered my good offices from the beginning. I am ready to help if both countries agree for mediation," he said.
A physically-disabled woman



was booked in Aurangabad in Maharashtra along with ten relatives after she allegedly refused to take possession of the body of her husband who died in a road accident, said an official on Monday.

Arjun Rathod (30) had died after his motorcycle was hit by a four-wheeler on Paithan-Aurangabad Road on February 11, and his wife Devaki refused to take the body for cremation after legal formalities later that day, said the MIDC Paithan police station official.

"She said she would claim her husband's body only after the driver of the four-wheeler was arrested. She also asked us to get the four-wheeler owner to pay her Rs 10 lakh as compensation, which we refused as this demand was not possible for us to meet," said MIDC Paithan police station in charge Archana Patil said.

"Devaki and her relatives created ruckus in the police station and attacked staff. We booked 11 of them under various provisions of the IPC," Patil added.

Devaki, however, accused the police of hitting her and her kin, and demanded that the cases lodged against them be withdrawn.

Superintendent of Police Mokshada Patil said CCTV footage would be examined after which further action will be initiated in the case.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
British banking is at a tipping point. Twelve years on from the financial crisis, the Big Four lenders have survived but neither their share prices nor their reputations have recovered.

And now, with Brexit, only one has a settled boss in place  and she has only just been appointed.

The leadership of the other three hangs in the balance. This looks like a crunch moment for the entire industry.

Troubled times: The future of Barclays' chief executive Jes Staley, who is under investigation by City regulators over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, is plainly up in the air

The future of Barclays' chief executive Jes Staley, who is under investigation by City regulators over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, is plainly up in the air.

Matters may not be so dramatic at HSBC and Lloyds, both of which announce their results this week, but it is unclear how much longer the men who present them will be in situ.

We all have a stake in having the right people running our financial institutions: one only has to recall Fred the Shred and his cohorts to be conscious of that.

This is a bad time for there to be uncertainty and turmoil at the top of our lenders. As we extricate ourselves from the EU, the country needs its bank bosses to focus on supporting the economy and not to be distracted by speculation over their futures.

Unfortunately, this is far from the case.

HSBC, the country's biggest bank, has been without a permanent chief executive for several months.

Instead, it is being run by interim boss Noel Quinn, who is this week about to unveil details of a huge overhaul, likely to involve the loss of 10,000 jobs worldwide.

Quinn is looking at getting rid of its branches on the west coast of the US and at ditching the loss-making retail banking operations in France along with improving performance at the investment bank.

In other words, this is a very major revamp indeed, but Quinn does not even know whether he will be in the top job to implement it, or whether he will have to hand the project over to someone else.

Informed sources suggest the bank is unlikely to name a permanent chief executive next week.

This is clearly unsatisfactory for Quinn himself, but also for investors: they cannot be happy being kept in ignorance as to whether he will get the job, since the success of any plan depends so heavily on the person delivering it.

Over at Lloyds, the leadership has been constant under Antonio Horta-Osorio, the chief executive of nine years' standing.

However, there are signs patience may be wearing thin with the status quo.

The critical review by Sir Ross Cranston late last year into the bank's handling of the HBOS Reading scandal is the latest cause for discontent.

There are mutterings that it is time for fresh blood. The long-serving chairman, Lord Blackwell, is due to step down in 2021, but change may come sooner than that.

Some observers believe Osorio may move on this year, when his three-year strategy comes to an end.

Back at Barclays, leadership crises have for the past two decades been a way of life. It has lurched between appointing traditional British bankers and buccaneering North Americans like Matt Barrett, Bob Diamond and now Jes Staley, who seems unlikely to remain long at the helm.

Whatever the outcome of the probe into his relationship with Epstein, the risk is that Staley becomes a harmful distraction from the performance of the bank. If that is the case, he should perhaps resign.

The banks face some tough challenges. They need to cut costs without alienating too many customers; to increase revenues without ripping people off; to compete against the new fin-tech operators; to repair their still-damaged reputations and to revive their share prices, which remain below pre-crisis levels.

Well-run banks are an indispensable part of a thriving economy, so it is disconcerting to see so much uncertainty in the boardrooms of our High Street lenders.

Only at RBS, to be renamed NatWest, where newly-installed chief executive Alison Rose took over in November, does the situation seem relatively settled.

It's early days for her and, after the resignation of Sajid Javid, it's dangerous to see anyone as secure in their post.

But it's quite a turnaround when the most stable leadership is to be found at RBS.
President Donald Trump warned Germany that the United States will cut off intelligence sharing if Berlin does not ban Chinese telecoms company Huawei Technologies from its 5G infrastructure.

The warning, announced by the US ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, heightened tensions in US-German relations over Chancellor Angela Merkels ambivalence to a company that Washington described as a Trojan horse for Chinese intelligence services.

On Thursday, the US justice department accused Huawei of intellectual property theft. Its executive director, Meng Wanzhou, is facing an extradition trial in Canada which could result in her being sent to the US to answer criminal charges that include illegal dealings with Iran.

Trump just called me from [Air Force One] and instructed me to make clear that any nation who chooses to use an untrustworthy 5G vendor will jeopardise our ability to share intelligence and information at the highest level, Grenell wrote on Twitter on Sunday.

Similar pressure on the UK, however, did not stop the government from last month allowing Huawei a maximum of 35 per cent share in the non-sensitive parts of its 5G infrastructure, while US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ruled out any changes to intelligence sharing between Washington and London.

The US presidents threat came as Germany considered how to proceed with its 5G plans. Merkel faces resistance from cabinet members on a proposal to let telecoms companies choose their 5G suppliers.

On Saturday, US Secretary for Defence Mark Esper asked European allies not to use Huawei, because such a move posed a threat to the future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

European states, while sceptical of US pressure, value the role of Nato after a 70-year period of Cold War with the Soviet Union and turbulent relations with Russia.

The Chinese government has asked the European Union to give Huawei a level playing field. The company, which has repeatedly denied any US allegations, said that its technology was years ahead of major competitors such as Ericsson and Nokia. It also promised to abide by European rules.

Story continues

For Huawei, the German market, the biggest in the EU, is hugely important.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, her 5G plans under pressure at home, is now hearing from Washington. Photo: DPA

Merkel has moved cautiously with 5G policy, fearing that any open rejection of Huawei would upset Beijing and lead to economic retaliation against companies such as Siemens and Volkswagen, which have extensive business interests in China.

Under Merkels initial plan, German operators such as Deutsche Telekom would have the final say on which 5G suppliers they want to be their partners. The plan would have allowed the US government to put direct pressure on Deutsche Telekom, for instance, as it also runs T Mobile US, the countrys third largest wireless carrier.

Purchase the China AI Report 2020 brought to you by SCMP Research and enjoy a 20% discount (original price US$400). This 60-page all new intelligence report gives you first-hand insights and analysis into the latest industry developments and intelligence about China AI. Get exclusive access to our webinars for continuous learning, and interact with China AI executives in live Q&A. Offer valid until 31 March 2020.

More from South China Morning Post:

This article US President Donald Trump warns Germany Huawei 5G deals will put intelligence sharing at risk first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2020.
Ukraine has all technical capabilities to decrypt 'black boxes' of UIA plane shot down by Iran  Danilov

The Ukrainian side continues to insist on the need for a priority study of the flight recorders of the Boeing-737-800 aircraft of Ukraine International Airlines (UIA), which was shot down in Iran on January 8, 2020.

This was stated by Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) Oleksiy Danilov during a meeting with Secretary of the Supreme Council of National Security of Iran Ali Shamkhani in Tehran, the press service of the Council reports.

"Danilov paid particular attention to the urgent need to study black boxes, emphasizing that Ukraine has all the technical and scientific capabilities for this. The parties agreed on the need to avoid politicizing the issue of technical investigation as much as possible and agreed on the need to intensify the interaction of experts and specialists," it says.

Danilov emphasized that the key goal for Ukraine is a comprehensive and complete investigation of all the circumstances of the disaster and ensuring compliance with international legal norms.

Shamkhani, in turn, expressed condolences to the families of those killed in the crash and noted Iran's complete readiness to cooperate in the investigation of the disaster.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said the Telecom department has been actively engaging with telecom companies over the issue of statutory dues and she would wait to hear its decision.

Post the court's latest verdict, it will only be proper to wait and hear from the department concerned, she told reporters here when asked whether the government was mulling relief for the telecom companies after the recent Supreme Court orders directing them to clear the dues.

"The department has been actively engaging with telecom companies, immediately after the orders and subsequently also after the review so the department is fully in touch with the companies and I will wait to hear from the department or on behalf of the government from the department, so that we know what is the position that the department wants to take on the matter," the Finance Minister said.

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a plea by telecom firms including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea Ltd for extension in the payment schedule and asked them to deposit an estimated Rs 1.47 lakh crore in past dues for spectrum and licenses by March 17.

Some telecom firms have said they were already struggling with mounting losses and debt and the additional liability has raised concerns of them defaulting on existing loans.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dublin, Feb. 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Von Willebrand Disease (VWD) Epidemiology Forecast - 2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



This report delivers an in-depth understanding of the disease, historical, and forecasted epidemiology trends of Von Willebrand Disease (VWD) in the United States, EU5 (Germany, Spain, Italy, France, and the United Kingdom), and Japan.





This forecasting model has defined the diagnosed prevalent population of Von Willebrand Disease in children and adults. In the US population, people belonging to the latter half of the first decade and the early first half of the second-decade life (i.e., 0-18 years) reported higher diagnosed prevalence than that of people belonging to other age groups. Whereas, in the German population, people belonging to the age group of 19-44 years reported higher diagnosed prevalence than that of people belonging to other age groups.



According to this research, the total diagnosed prevalent population of Von Willebrand disease (VWD) in seven major markets was 33,758 in 2017. The number of Von Willebrand disease (VWD) cases in the 7MM is expected to increase during the study period of 2017-2028.



Among the 7MM, the highest diagnosed prevalence of von Willebrand Disease (VWD) is estimated in the United States with 11,336 diagnosed cases in 2017.



The research analysts have assessed that approximately 83% of Von Willebrand Disease patients had VWD Type 1, followed by VWD Type 2 (~11%) and Type 3 (~6%). In 2017, there were 9,422 VWD Type 1 patients, 1,250 VWD Type 2 patients, and 664 Type 3 patients in the United States.



Among the European countries, the United Kingdom had the highest diagnosed prevalent population of von Willebrand Disease (VWD) with 10,842 cases, followed by Germany which had diagnosed a prevalent population of 4,040 in 2017. On the other hand, Spain had the lowest diagnosed prevalent population of 740 in 2017. Japan had 1,285 diagnosed prevalent cases of von Willebrand Disease in 2017.



Key Report Insights:

The report covers a descriptive overview of the Von Willebrand disease (VWD) Infections, explaining its causes, risk factors, pathophysiology, and diagnosis.

Comprehensive insight has been provided into the epidemiology Von Willebrand disease (VWD) in the 7MM countries covering the United States, EU5 (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom), and Japan.

Assesses growth opportunities in 7MM countries with respect to the patient population.

Key Report Features:

10-Year Forecast

7MM Coverage

Epidemiology Segmentation by Total diagnosed cases

Gender-specific diagnosed prevalent cases

Type-specific diagnosed prevalent cases

Age-specific diagnosed prevalent cases

Key Topics Covered:



1. Key Insights



2. Von Willebrand Disease (VWD): Patient Overview at a Glance

2.1. Total Patient Share (%) Distribution of VWD in 2017

2.2. Total Patient Share (%) Distribution of VWD in 2028



3. Disease Background and Overview: Von Willebrand Disease (VWD)

3.1. Introduction

3.2. Symptoms of Von Willebrand disease

3.3. Classification of Von Willebrand disease

3.4. Causes of Von Willebrand disease (VWD)

3.5. Clinical Manifestations of Von Willebrand disease (VWD)

3.6. Genetic Basis of Von Willebrand disease

3.7. Pathophysiology of Von Willebrand disease (VWD)

3.8. Diagnosis of Von Willebrand disease

3.9. Diagnostic Guidelines of Von Willebrand disease (VWD)



4. Epidemiology and Patient Population

4.1. Key Findings

4.2. 7MM Total Diagnosed Prevalent Patient Population of von Willebrand Disease



5. Country Wise-Epidemiology of von Willebrand Disease

5.1. United States

5.2. EU5 Countries

5.3. Japan



6. Appendix



7. Capabilities



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/acn4r1

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.
When the subject of Attorney General William Barr comes up these days, it's hard not to think of John McCain. Not the late senator, mind you, but the USS John S McCain, the naval destroyer named after his father and grandfather.

It was an incident involving this ship that, as much as anything else, captures how the Trump administration - and its attorney general - operates.

It explains Barr's intervention into the criminal sentencing of Trump's long-time friend and adviser, felon Roger Stone, and much, much more.

The McCain was docked at the Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan in May 2019, when the 7th Fleet issued a directive that had originated from conversations with the White House military office. The president was coming to Yokosuka on Memorial Day, and so, accordingly: "USS John McCain needs to be out of sight." So sailors were ordered to hang a tarp over the vessel's name, and they removed any coverings that bore the words "John S McCain".

President Donald Trump didn't need to say a word. It just happened. He didn't even know, he later said. But he was hardly displeased. "I was not a big fan of John McCain in any shape or form," Trump said. "Now, somebody did it because they thought I didn't like him, OK? And they were well-meaning."

Anticipating Trump's narcissistic whims and desires in just this fashion remains the key to survival in his administration, and outside the White House proper, no one does it better than Barr. It's thus entirely believable, as both Barr and Trump have said, that Trump never gave Barr any instruction about Stone's case.

But no one could doubt, least of all Barr, what Trump's reaction would be to line prosecutors' recommendation of a seven- to nine-year sentence for Stone. When Stone was convicted in November on seven counts of witness tampering and lying to Congress, the president of the United States tweeted, "Well, what about Crooked Hillary, Comey, Strzok, Page, McCabe, Brennan, Clapper, Shifty Schiff, Ohr & Nellie, Steele & all of the others, including even Mueller himself? Didn't they lie?"

So when it came to Stone's sentence, Barr likely knew what to do, without ever being told. And he has known what to do, whenever feasible, to keep Trump happy all along.

Even before he became attorney general, he was singing a tune that must have been music to Trump's ears: he sent an unsolicited memo to the Justice Department arguing (wrongly) that Trump was legally incapable of obstructing the Mueller investigation.

Later, when he received Mueller's final report, Barr misled the public about it, facilitating Trump's endlessly repeated - but false - mantra that the report exonerated the president. Since then, Barr has personally supervised a mysterious re-investigation of the Russia investigation, seemingly trying to substantiate his boss's conspiracy theories about the original investigation's origins. And now we have his intervention in favour of Stone, which duly earned him the president's praise, and his reported review of politically sensitive (meaning, sensitive to Trump) criminal cases, such as the one against former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

The most important thing Barr did for Trump, though, involved the arms-for-dirt-on-Biden Ukraine scandal - which should have prompted a full-blown criminal investigation with a special counsel.

Any US attorney's office would fall over itself to investigate, for example, a state governor who, while running for re-election against a former mayor, so much as hinted to the mayor's successor that, say, highway funds would be restricted unless the current mayor were to announce an inquiry into her predecessor's alleged corruption.

But instead of investigating the Ukraine shakedown, Barr's Justice Department immediately gave the president a clean bill of health. Saving Trump from that criminal investigation was more than what Roy Cohn ever did for any of his clients.

So when Barr announced last week that "I think it's time to stop tweeting about Department of Justice criminal cases", and that the president's statements "make it impossible for me to do my job and to assure the courts and the prosecutors and the department that we're doing our work with integrity" - he wasn't actually standing up for the Justice Department's integrity, or its independence, or for the rule of law.

To the contrary, as his (and my) friend Fox News host Laura Ingraham put it, "Barr was basically telling Trump, don't worry I got this". In other words, don't blow this by calling attention to all that I do for you. Don't say the quiet part out loud.

But the president will never listen, and what Barr does for him will never be enough.

Now having been acquitted by the Senate, Trump thinks he's bulletproof, legally and otherwise. He now brags, as he tweeted on Saturday, that he is "the King" who was targeted but not taken down. And, drawing on a story in the 'New York Times' that suggested he is stained but unshackled, Trump boasted that he has indeed survived "triumphant" and "emboldened" and "focused" more than ever on prosecuting "his case of grievance, persecution and resentment".

So Trump wants to say the quiet part out loud; he wants to say he's got this. And there's no one to stop him. ( Washington Post)
Puffy sleeves, pie-crust collars, gathered skirts and pretty sprigged flower prints: in its 1980s heyday, Laura Ashley was a huge success.

To women of a certain vintage, who bought their party frocks and even wedding dresses there, it is sad to learn that the company is in crisis talks with its lenders.

Its sales slumped by nearly 11 per cent in the second half of last year and it desperately needs emergency funding from its banks in order to continue trading.

Grim: Laura Ashley sales slumped by nearly 11 per cent in the second half of last year

Grim stuff. In truth, though, the business has been a shadow of its former self for years.

In the turbulent 1980s, a decade marked by industrial strife and social division, Laura Ashley's nostalgia  with fashion shoots in idyllic rural settings  tapped into a longing for a gentler, slower era.

Laura herself died in 1985 shortly before the company floated on the stock market, sparking a mania for its shares, which peaked at more than 2 in the mid-1990s. They plunged to 2.03p yesterday.

Laura Ashley is suffering from woes common to all retailers, such as having to stump up for heavy business rates. But the root cause of its predicament is that it failed to move with the times.

The company has been struggling to establish an online presence, and its plans to expand in China, where the brand still has some cachet, have been dealt a blow by the coronavirus.

One issue may be a lack of authenticity. The business has for some years been majority-owned by the Malaysian MUI Group, controlled by tycoon Khoo Kay Peng, and may have lost touch with its tradition of British decorative design.

The brand has tried to reinvent itself with a collaboration last year with fashion chain Urban Outfitters and has also launched into themed hotels and tea rooms, but with no visible signs of success.

But whatever the brand's future, its influence has been pervasive.

Its retro ethos is visible everywhere from Cath Kidston homewares to the floaty, flowery dresses that are as popular as ever.

But the style-conscious shoppers of 2020 buy them from labels like Ganni or Kitri, and not dear old Laura Ashley.
Wamkele Mene, during his presentation at the Department of Political and International Studies' annual Teach-In in 2017

We speak to one of his two mentors who propelled him towards a non-traditional career path in international relations.

Rhodes University alumnus, Wamkele Mene, was last week installed as the secretary-general of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), a first for the continent.

Mr Menes appointment followed what was described as a tight contest that included rounds of voting at the African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The AfCFTA is a free trade area created by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement among 54 of the 55 AU nations. It forms part of broader efforts to foster intra-African trade by cutting tariffs up to 90%, with the aim of fighting under-development and poverty, as well as advancing peace and prosperity on the continent.

Talking to Ilva Pieterse from the University, Mr Mene reminisced about the good relationship with two of his mentors, Professors Rok Ajulu and Paul Bischoff, who made a major impression in his career development.

He credits both for convincing him to take a chance on a non-traditional career path in international relations.

Late Prof Ajulu came to Rhodes University in 1994, where he taught African Political Economy and African International Relations. He is described in his professional circles as a larger than life figure, a man of the Left from an African perspective.

He left Rhodes University in 2003.

Prof Bischoff remembers Mr Mene as an outstanding student who had an appetite for knowing about the wider world. He stood his ground when disagreeing with a lecturer, but was also able to accept the consequences.

PIC: Professor Emeritus Paul Bischoff

During his formative years as a BA Law undergraduate student in the late 1990s, Mr Mene already showed a propensity for leadership. He served as the Student Representative Council President in 1998.

My time at the University absolutely inspired me to aspire for leadership, Mr Mene remembers. He has, over the years, 'paid it forward' by presenting various topical talks to Rhodes University students, as part of the Department of Political and International Studies' annual Teach-In talks.

The major advantage that Rhodes University has is that we are a very small research-intensive institution. Here, we know our students by name. They are not student numbers, said Luzuko Jacobs, Rhodes Universitys Director for Communications and Advancement.

From undergraduate years, they get to be taught by Professors, Doctors or professional researchers in an intense and intimate teaching, research and community engagement environment, Jacobs continued. For any student who makes it to our institution, the Rhodes University experience is leadership in practice.

Mr Mene sees his election as a demonstration that South Africa has the capacity to train and produce world-class global leaders.

Asked for advice to young future leaders, Mr Mene advised: Let your sense of purpose be driven by your passion - do what you enjoy doing and dont focus on the money. This is what employers look for.

He urged students not rush into their postgraduate studies. Dont feel like you need to jump straight from Honours to Masters and get started on a PhD right after that. Life experience matters. Take time off in-between to nurture the balance between theory and practise.

When you have that degree, send your application to as many potential employers as possible. Most of them will probably say no, but if you persist, eventually you will succeed.

Mr Mene was South Africas Chief Negotiator in the AfCFTA and is a former Trade Diplomat at the World Trade Organisation.

The AfCFTA Secretariat will be inaugurated in March ahead of the 1 July target date for the free trade implementation, which Mene sees as a priority.

Rhodes University Vice-Chancellor, Dr Sizwe Mabizela, said Mr Mene joins an ever-growing list of illustrious alumni of the University, who take up major national and international roles.

We are extremely proud of Mr Mene. We wish him well and we have no doubt that he will serve Africa and its peoples well in his new role, he said.

Source: Communications

Please help us to raise funds so that we can give all our students a chance to access online teaching and learning. Covid-19 has disrupted our students' education. Don't let the digital divide put their future at risk. Visit www.ru.ac.za/rucoronavirusgateway to donate
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 day testing site.


Workers load medical supplies on a Y-20 transport aircraft at Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu on Thursday morning. LIU CHANG/FOR CHINA DAILY

By Zhang Yangfei

An additional 2,600 military medics sent by the People's Liberation Army to help fight the novel coronavirus epidemic have all arrived in Wuhan, Hubei province, after the final dispatch of 1,200 military medics arrived on Monday.

Medical personnel and sanitary supplies were transported by air and rail.

The PLA Air Force is using eight transport planes, including several domestically developed Y-20 strategic heavy-lift aircraft, to carry medical personnel from different cities at the same time, including Chengdu in Sichuan province, Lanzhou in Gansu province and Shenyang in Liaoning province. The first Y-20 aircraft landed at Wuhan Tianhe airport at around 9 am.

Trains carrying medical materials departed from Nanjing, Jiangsu province, Xi'an, Shaanxi province and Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, and began arriving at Wuhan's railway stations at around 10:20 am.
Researchers have developed a new blood test that can measure the body's own immune response characteristic of inflammation and some malignancies, an advance that may lead to a new diagnostic tool for ovarian cancer.

According to the researchers, including those from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Australia, about 3,00,000 new cases of ovarian cancer are diagnosed globally each year, with nearly 60 per cent of the women dying within five years of diagnosis.

The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, found that testing for a specific immune biomarker may allow clinicians to identify whether growths on the ovaries are cancerous or not, without the need for other costly, time consuming tests.

"Our new test is as accurate as the combined results of a standard blood test and ultrasound," said study co-author Magdalena Plebanski from RMIT.

"This is especially important for women in remote or disadvantaged communities, where under-resourced hospitals may not have access to complex and expensive equipment like ultrasound machines or MRI scanners," Plebanski said.

In the study, the researchers used a marker for inflammation (IL-6) together with cancer markers to detect epithelial ovarian cancer in blood.

They validated the results across two separate human trial cohorts.

Using the new blood test, the scientists said, patients with benign cysts identified through imaging may be spared unnecessary surgeries.

"This study looked at women with advanced ovarian cancer, but we hope further research could explore the potential for adding this biomarker to routine diagnostic tests at earlier stages of the disease," Plebanski said.

"Developing tests that are simpler and more practical may help get more women to hospital for treatment more effectively, with the hope that survival rates will improve," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A container of Dean Foods Co. Dairy Pure brand sour cream is displayed for a photograph in Dobbs Ferry, New York, U.S., on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019.

Dairy Farmers of America announced Monday that it has agreed to buy Dean Foods, America's largest milk producer, for $425 million.

The dairy co-operative will also assume Dean's liabilities as part of the deal to acquire 44 of the company's facilities, as well as other assets.

Dean filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November as the business struggled to attract consumers who have instead turned to nondairy milk or private-label products. At the time it filed for bankruptcy, Dean had reported a net loss in seven of its last eight quarters.

"We have had a relationship with DFA over the past 20 years, and we are confident in their ability to succeed in the current market and serve our customers with the same commitment to quality and service they have come to expect," Dean Foods CEO Eric Beringause said in a statement.

If approved by the bankruptcy court, the agreement would make the Dairy Farmers of America the stalking horse bidder, meaning that the transaction would be subject to receiving higher or better offers while the company is in bankruptcy. The company is also talking with other buyers interested in plants and assets not included in the deal with the co-op.

The deal would also need approval from the Department of Justice, which has reportedly begun probing the merger, according to the Wall Street Journal.
In a move that exposes cracks in



the ruling MVA in Maharashtra, the NCP on Monday said party leader and Home Minister Anil Deshmukh will work out modalities for a parallel probe through an SIT into the Elgar Parishad case which is already being handled by the NIA.

Last week, the Uddhav Thackeray-led government had given its nod to handover the investigation into the Elgar Parishad case to the NIA, a move criticised by the NCP, the second largest constituent in the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition.

In this backdrop, NCP president Sharad Pawar, who has openly expressed his displeasure over Chief Minister Uddhav Thackerays decision to allow the central agency to probe the case, presided over a meeting of party ministers on Monday.

Speaking to reporters, NCP chief spokesperson and state minister Nawab Malik said, "The meeting of NCP's Cabinet ministers decided that Home Minister Anil Deshmukh will examine all the required procedures and set up an SIT for the Elgar Parishad issue."



Malik justified the decision for a separate probe in the sensitive case, a move that is likely to trigger a political row.

"Legally, any state government can set up a parallel investigating team for a single incident. According to Article 10 of the NIA Act, a separate committee can be set up (to conduct a parallel probe)," the NCP minister said.

Besides the NCP, the Congress is also a part of the Shiv Sena-led government in the state.

On Sunday, Pawar alleged the Centre has handed over probe in the Elgar Parishad case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) as the previous Devendra Fadnavis government in Maharashtra wants to "hide something".

Pawar had earlier demanded constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the case in which human rights activists have been arrested for alleged links with Maoists.

He had said the Centre should have taken the Maharashtra government into confidence before handing over the case to NIA.

The Centre handed over the case o the NIA in late January.

The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches delivered at the Elgar Parishad conclave, held at Shaniwarwada in Pune on December 31, 2017, which the police claimed, triggered violence near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial in the district the next day.

The Pune Police have claimed the conclave was backed by Maoists.

During the probe, the Pune police arrested Left- leaning activists Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Shoma Sen, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bharadwaj and Varavara Rao for alleged Maoist links.

They have been booked under relevant sections of the IPC and anti-terror law UAPA.

The Pune court hearing the Elgar Parishad case has transferred it to the special NIA court in Mumbai.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Buoyed by the thumping victory in the Delhi assembly polls, the AAP aims to take the "Arvind Kejriwal model of development" to Uttar Pradesh and strengthen its base in the state, a party leader said on Monday.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will launch a massive membership drive in UP from February 23, senior party leader Sanjay Singh told a press conference here.

However, he added that AAP's immediate focus was on strengthening its base across the 403 assembly constituencies and it was for the party's high command to decide on whether or not it will contest theelections on them, due next in 2022.

"The AAP's massive membership drive will be launched from Lucknow on February 23 and continue till March 23 where people can become members of the party by physically reaching out to our offices and getting receipts, by giving missed calls or by enrolling through our website," Singh, a Rajya Sabha member and party's UP unit incharge, said.

Around 5,000 posters and banners would be put up in each assembly constituency, totalling over 20 lakh across the state to talk about our model of and development, Singh said, adding that the party has 60 active district-level units in UP while maintaining presence in all districts.

Singh said there are around a dozen AAP leaders hailing from various places in UP who have been elected to the Delhi assembly in the just-concluded polls. They include ministers Manish Sisodia, Gopal Rai, Satyendar Jain, Imran Hussain, among others.

These leaders would be felicitated in their home towns and awareness raised in the state regarding the "Kejriwal model of development".

He slammed the BJP for its of "hate" during the run up to the Delhi polls and also criticised Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over a host of issues, especially the law and order situation in the state.

Stating that Delhi has sent out a message that " of hate" will not work against "politics of work", he claimed that only a party which gives good education, health care, cheap power and water and helps the cause of the common person will win.

He hit out at Yogi Adityanath over the law and order situation in the state, citing reports of minors getting raped, school children being served salt and roti in midday meals and kids dying in hospital due to shortage of oxygen.

"Yogi ne UP ko rogi bana diya hai (Yogi has made UP ill)... He stops crime only his speeches but not on the ground," Singh alleged.

The AAP registered victory on 62 of the 70 assembly seats in the just concluded polls in Delhi, with Kejriwal taking oath as the chief minister for a third time on Sunday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The last time Bihar had a Congress chief minister was 1990, the year Indian pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami were born.

Indias most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, saw the exit of its most recent Congress CM, Narayan Datt Tiwari in 1989.

In West Bengal, the third-largest electoral state after UP and Maharashtra, the waiting list for the Congress is even longer. The party has not had a chief minister since the Emergency ended in 1977. Sure, the party tasted power briefly in Bengal for one-and-a-half years in alliance with the Trinamool Congress in 2011 but the partnership collapsed when the Trinamool withdrew support from the UPA government at the Centre.

Tamil Nadu, which oscillates between the two regional giants, the AIADMK and the DMK, last saw a Congress CM when it was still called Madras State and yet to be renamed as Tamil Nadu. The term of Minjur Bhaktavatsalam, the last Congress CM, ended in 1967, two years before Madras State became Tamil Nadu.

The Congress may have, at one time or the other, ruled 18 of the current 28 states in the union when Indira Gandhi was the PM, but over the past two decades, its performance has dipped. In contrast, the BJP, which has, at one time or the other, ruled 9 of the 28, has seen its performance improve in the past 5 years.

Also read | BJP, Congress to gain big as 51 Rajya Sabha MPs are set to retire in April

Sanjay Kumar of CSDS said,The Congress used to be the umbrella party of OBC, Dalit and Muslim voters for a long time. Now, regional parties have strong support base of these sections and the Muslims have shifted towards the dominant regional party like the AAP (Aam Aadmi Party) realising they have potential to take on the BJP. To my own sense, the Congress has two options: it must continue to fight in these states alone to revive in the long run. Or, it may keep forming alliances with the dominant party in state. It must not focus on all seats but focus on increasing the winnability factor.

One trend that is becoming evident is that Indian polity has undergone a fundamental transformation  from the Congress at pole position to strong, regional satraps in key states (especially in the post-Mandal era; and most of these grew at the expense of the Congress) who existed along with the Congress, to strong regional satraps that now co-exist with the BJP. From West Bengal to Odisha, UP to Bihar, and Telangana to, most recently, Delhi, it is becoming clear that if theres a strong regional force to take on the BJP, the Congress gets reduced to a poor third.

Senior Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi said, There is no denying that in some states the regional parties have gained a strong foothold at the expense of the Congress. In the long term perspective, we have to adopt ekla chalo re (go by yourself) policy in these states for at least 5 years. But our mid-term interests say exactly the opposite. So frankly, I am yet to find a solution to this problem.

In Delhi, where the party ruled for three consecutive terms with Sheila Dikshit as the chief minister, it has scored a unique double zero in consecutive elections in 2015 and 2020. With the meteoric rise of Arvind Kejriwals Aam Admi Party, the Congress has seen a dramatic decline in the capital city. Its vote in the recently-concluded election was lowest ever at 4.26%.

Delhi, once a Congress versus BJP battleground, is now an AAP versus BJP phenomenon.

In some ways, this is a repeat of Odisha -- the main players are now Naveen Patnaiks BJD and the BJP  or Uttar Pradesh  the BJP in pole position and the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)  or even West Bengal (the BJP and Trinamool).

There many factors for the fall of Congress regional outfits vis-a-vis the regional players. Since 1990s, major transformative changes occurred in India such as assertion of Dalit politics, the emergence of the right wingers and liberalisation of the economy. These factors have resulted in changes in both caste and class term and rise of local parties, said economist Prasenjit Bose.

Bose also draws a difference between the regional parties in south India and north India. While southern parties mostly come with specific regional agenda, northern parties strive for a larger role in national politics.

In UP, the Congress tally has reduced from 309 in 1980 (a year after the Mandal Commission was formed) to just 7 in the 2017 assembly polls. Similarly, in states such as Odisha and Gujarat, the Congress has not been in power for 20 years and 24 years, respectively. Between 1961 and 1970, at its peak, the party had 49.2 % legislators across India in state assemblies; today just 21% of MLAs belong to the Congress.

Still, the Congress may have no choice but to continue with its current approach of allying with local partners.

Party insiders believe that the Congresss national ambitions hinge on its performance in four statesUP, Bihar , West Bengal and Tamil Naduwhich together send 201 MPs to the Lok Sabha. In both 2004 and 2009, the Congress had strong allies in Bihar, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, while improving its tally in UP.

A party veteran who did not want to be named said, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has adopted the approach of allying with strong regional outfits and consolidating the partys base in other states. This model will continue for the Congress in the coming days while the party will try to revive its fortune in states dominated by regional parties, he added.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Overcoming enormous difficulties, we have accumulated extraordinarily rich experience in the affirmation of our identities and the construction of our societies and a country.





by Anwar A. Khan





It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves. - William Shakespeare





We forsook the British colonial rule in 1947 and created Pakistan, divided into two parts of the country, East Pakistan and West Pakistan. People of East Pakistan consisted 54% of Pakistans total population and our mother tongue is Bangla. But Punjabi dominated Pakistan state forcefully imposed on us Urdu as the state language in utter disregarding the mother tongue of the majority population of Pakistan. We abandoned one colonial rule, but we again got into another colonial rule of Pakistan which lasted more than two decades. But an entirely different episode or a movement of great gravid in the history of Bangladesh took place on 21February 1952. incredible as it may seem.









This movement brought all people in Bangladesh together. Wikipedia says, The Language Movement, was a political movement in former East Pakistan advocating the recognition of the Bengali language as an official language of the then-Dominion of Pakistan in order to allow its use in government affairs, the continuation of its use as a medium of education, its use in media, currency and stamps, and to maintain its writing in the Bengali script. Russel Hoban has taught us, Language is an archeological vehicle ... the language we speak is a whole palimpsest of human effort and history.Along the same lines, some legendary figures played a pivotal role in giving momentum to struggle for establishing Bangla language for the majority people the-then East Pakistan.





Fidel Castro said, I began the revolution with 82 men. If I had to do it again, I would do it with 10 or 15 and absolute faith. It does not matter how small you are if you have faith and a plan of action. And if history is a record of good deeds, it is filled with our heroes. Born and growing up in Bangladesh, I saw and often heard the names of these historical figures. Later I understood: If some Bengalis have kept certain ideals, it might be due to the actions of some of these prominent figures, whose legacy will definitely endure the centuries.





It is well known that we have been ruled more by deceit and force by the Pakistani colonial rule; a falsifier, conspirator, liar, coward, looter, killer. Edward Gibbon once said that History is the register of the follies, crimes and misfortunes of mankind. You might think he was exaggerating. But Gibbon, the most prominent world historian, was not bluffing. Overall, our Language Movement was obtained and maintained at the price of cold-blooded killing of activists of the movement by the Pakistani ruffians.





The rapidity and timing of that dramatic change were the result of a combination of long-building tensions in Pakistani colonial rulers. There were some of our fiery orators whose speeches often made our audience cry of emotion. The themes of the struggle for establishing Bangla language as a state language focus on sensuality, love, patriotism, all of which are expressed in the idealisation of this movement. It is showing a history of harmony and cohesion among the people in the world of Bangladesh.





We believe that aesthetic, philosophical and political tendencies of the most varied sort could find common ground during that time. Victor Hugo aptly said, Human society, the world, and the whole of mankind is to be found in the alphabet. It is the Language Movement of 1952 that catalysed the assertion of Bengali national identity in the-then East Pakistan, and became a forerunner to Bengali nationalist movements, including the 6-Point Movement and subsequently the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. In Bangladesh, 21 February is observed as Language Movement Day, a national holiday. The Shaheed Minar(Martyred Minaret) monument was constructed near Dhaka Medical College in memory of the movement and its great fallen heroes.





The Language Movement had a major cultural impact on Bengali society. It has inspired the development and celebration of the Bengali language, literature and culture. 21 February, celebrated as Language Movement Day or Martyrs Day, is a major national holiday in Bangladesh. A month-long event called the Ekushey Book Fair is held every year to commemorate the movement. EkusheyPadak, one of the highest civilian awards in Bangladesh, is awarded annually in memory of the sacrifices of the movement.





Songs, such as, Abdul Gaffar Choudhury's Amar BhaierRokteRangano(my brothers maculated blood redden), set to music by Shaheed Altaf Mahmud, as well as plays, works of art and poetry played a considerable role in rousing the people's emotions during the movement. Since the events of February 1952, poems, songs, novels, plays, films, cartoons and paintings were created to capture the movement from varied point of views. UNESCO recognised 21 February as "International Mother Language Day on 17 November 1999.





Bangladesh in the 1960s and 1970s underwent a profound and often violent process of political movements. Those movements in Bangladeshs history have been marked by some dramatic and significant developments on the countrys political terrain. There was several decisive moments in our history which have raised the idea that the human being is, individually or collectively, the maker of his own history.





The concept of reason thus appears indissolubly linked to that of emancipation. Emancipating reason is expressed in a classical triptych: liberty, equality and patriotism. In fact, the glorious Language Movement has pealed the bells of freedom for our independence in 1971. Ernesto Che Guevara said, Wherever death may surprise us, let it be welcome, provided that this battle cry may have reached some receptive ear and another hand may be extended to wield our weapons. As a matter of fact, it happened in Bangladesh during our glorious Liberation War in 1971.





Bangladeshs politics, as indeed, politics elsewhere in the world, are in a permanent state of evolution. The ideological slogans that underpinned the framework were that of nation-building. These are massive and conclusive expressions of the fight for a better future. Men are necessary for changes, institutions to make changes live There are no premature ideas, there are timely moments one should know how to wait for ...Men do not accept changes except out of necessity: they do not see necessity excepting a crisis. This experience cannot but be evoked as we gather in Bangladesh, more than four decades later, to reflect on the forms of cooperation among the societies in the country.





Today, like yesterday, it is imperative to erect spaces of cooperation that will contribute to the strengthening of our societies and to the development of our country. If in the 1960s it was the revolutionary upsurge that boosted our people, we are now summoned by the urgency of strengthening our academic and scientific communities, creating the conditions that will allow the development of critical thinking and the generation of knowledge to be placed at the service of man and of the construction of solidarity, equitable and fair societies, inspired by the past glorious struggles for freedom.





By making the generation and appropriation of knowledge into one of the main instruments of domination, it is clear that it has also been turned into an arena of struggle for emancipation. One of our tasks is to create conditions so that, through cooperation among the societies and countries of the world, we can shape channels that will allow us to acquire greater strength in these fields, creating robust academic and scientific communities.





We know the indelible marks of domination, poverty, exclusion, but also libertarian struggles and the notable capacity to develop strategies for survival in the midst of poverty and exclusion. Overcoming enormous difficulties, we have accumulated an extraordinarily rich experience in the affirmation of our identities and the construction of our societies and a country.





For historical and political reasons, we continue to look to the West as the sole horizon and we have magnified it into the goal and the arrival point, within a perspective that under values our traditions and experiences. It is indispensable for us to turn our regard back toward our traditions and experiences. It is not a question of ignoring or undervaluing what the West has contributed in their fields, but of establishing a relation that will allow us to develop a virtuous circle in which it is possible to enrich ourselves with the knowledge and analysis of our realities, the dialogue among them, and their critical assimilation.





Our societies and the country must work united based on to develop new forms of cooperation on the basis of the study of our history, culture, forms of organisation and projects for society, and of the exchange and circulation of our scientific and technological knowledge. The strengthening of cooperation for knowledge about our histories, and the development of relations on the basis of the differences, is a fundamental contribution to the consolidation of our identities and the search for shared horizons that will allow us to face and overcome the challenges derived from the manner in which our country and societies have been configured, and a path for advancing in the collective construction of societies based on solidarity that will make equity, social justice and freedom in real sense of the terms.





On this International Mother Language month, people in Bangladesh, should take a vow and get together on the basis of the true ideals and spirits of our glorious Liberation War of 1971 to fight back the remnants of the defeated forces of our 1971 war and reduce them to ashes. Joy Bangla (Victory of Bangladesh). Joy Bangabandhu. Joy Bangladesh.





-The End 





The writer is an independent political observer based in Dhaka, Bangladesh whowho writes on politics, political and human-centred figures, current and international affairs.
Origo has seen tremendous uptake in the US market as companies increasingly look for ways to optimize their cash flow, cut costs, and gain competitive advantage, and now those benefits are being made to our first international customers.

Third Corner, Inc., developer of the Origo oil & gas data integration and financial reporting solution, announces the signing of software licenses for Calgary-based Sitka Exploration Ltd and Prairie Thunder Resources Ltd. The announcement marks the first international deployment of Origo, Third Corners flagship oil & gas product and emerging leader in upstream and midstream financial reporting that integrates disparate sources of accounting, production, economics, and other datasets for rapid insight.

Sitka was looking to streamline its financial reporting and we believe we have found that solution in Origo, said Greg Jerome, Chief Financial Officer at Sitka Exploration Ltd.

The Origo oil & gas software suite is a cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) product that seamlessly integrates with a companys existing applications and data sources, including accounting, reserves, and production. By directly accessing and bringing scattered data together in the cloud, Origo delivers critical financial reporting faster with enhanced visibility into key performance indicators across the petroleum enterprise.

Prairie Thunder wanted the ability to merge reporting from several data bases into one comprehensive reporting tool. Third Corners Origo software will be able to accomplish this for us, said Bill Lewington, Chief Financial Officer at Prairie Thunder Resources Ltd.

The easy to use Origo toolset features multiple out-of-the-box data integrations with leading oil & gas commercial software solutions. Combined with state-of-the-art financial reporting and analytics, Origo extends and complements general ledger reporting by bringing different datasets together to help companies better understand economic returns and manage expenses.

By leveraging Origos advanced financial reporting, Sitka Exploration Ltd. and Prairie Thunder Resources Ltd. will benefit on multiple dimensions, including:



Ability to roll-up assets by cost center and drill-down to rapidly understand returns, variances, received pricing, and margins.

Quick look analysis to assess budgets, scenarios, and improve process efficiencies.

Immediate return on software investment by optimizing cash flow, improving operational efficiency, and reducing G&A.

Whats more, Origo helps companies weather market downturns and uncertainty with the data-driven insights needed to stay positioned for future growth.

Origo is such a powerful financial and analytical toolset because it unlocks the tremendous value that exists across the petroleum enterprise, from siloed accounting and lease operating expenses to reserves and production forecasts stored in an operators economics software, said Colby Nate, CEO of Third Corner. He said, Weve seen tremendous uptake in the US market as companies increasingly look for ways to optimize their cash flow, cut costs, and gain competitive advantage, and now those benefits are being made to our first international customers. Nate added, a warm welcome and a big thank you to Sitka and Prairie Thunder in Calgary, we look forward to powering faster, more informed decisions together!

About Third Corner

Headquartered in Plano, Texas, Third Corner is a developer of cloud-based software solutions focused on helping oil & gas companies access, integrate, and analyze the data energy professionals rely on to understand financial returns, expenses, and asset performance. Origo, the companys flagship oil & gas software product, spans the petroleum enterprise to bring scattered sources of accounting, production, and reserves data together for rapid reporting and analysis over the web. By directly accessing data silos and application databases, Origo eliminates the need to move, manipulate, and manage data in a data warehouse, accelerating financial reporting and decision-making. Leveraging Origo data integrations, companies can extend their existing general ledger or ERP systems with advanced reporting and data-driven financial statements that leverage interdisciplinary data. Additionally, Origo supports a number of other accounting and reporting workflows, including oil & gas accounts payable, production data capture, and supplier management. For more information, please visit http://www.OrigoSys.com.
When Premier Doug Ford was on the Bruce Peninsula for Groundhog Day celebrations earlier this month, Wiarton Willie predicted an early spring.

As MPPs return to the legislature Tuesday after a 10-week winter break, it doesnt take a soothsaying woodchuck to predict it could be a hot time for Fords Progressive Conservative government.

Ontario is gripped by education strife with all public elementary, secondary, Catholic, and French-language schools closed this Friday for a one-day general strike after weeks of rotating walkouts.

Teachers and parent activists are expected to protest en masse at the Conservatives annual policy convention next weekend in Niagara Falls.

The Tories face two Feb. 27 byelections in the Liberal strongholds of Ottawa-Vanier and Orleans that they fear could result in fourth-place finishes behind the Grits, New Democrats, and Greens.

Revived in every recent public-opinion poll, the Liberals, who were toppled by Ford less than two years ago after being in power since 2003, will elect a new leader on March 7.

The previously moribund partys delegate-selection meetings suggest former cabinet minister and ex-Vaughan MPP Steven Del Duca will take the party into the 2022 election.

And against that backdrop the Tories will table a budget  possibly on March 26  that they hope will be more popular with Ontarians than last years disastrous financial blueprint, which cost the then treasurer his job.

Its going to be a very, very busy session, said government house leader Paul Calandra, noting the sitting will be anchored by next months budget.

Finance Minister Rod Phillips said he has just completed the most extensive budget consultations that the Ontario government has ever had.

We heard about peoples concerns about affordability, we heard very much about people wanting to make sure were investing in services  and we heard about the importance of balancing the budget, said Phillips, who is coping with a $9 billion deficit this year and is not expected to balance the books until 2023.

I can tell you I learned a lot by listening and hopefully well do a good job of reflecting their priorities, he said.

Phillips is mindful that Ford shuffled his predecessor Vic Fedeli just 10 weeks after last Aprils budget due to negative fallout from cuts in a spending plan that blindsided many groups.

Weve listened very closely to what Ontarians are saying, the finance minister said.

I think youll see a balanced document that helps build the province and makes a clear, clear indication of what this government is about in terms of taking care of the needs of regular families, he said.

NDP MPP Taras Natyshak (Essex) said the official opposition plans to keep the governments feet to the fire on the ongoing allegations of cronyism.

Natyshak said he is concerned over revelations in the Star this month that mysterious full-page newspaper ads attacking teachers unions were linked to Tory patronage appointee Quinto Annibale.

This stinks to high heaven, said the New Democrat, who wants Annibale, now vice-chair of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, recalled before a legislative committee to explain himself.

If Mr. Annibale is going to sit on a public board, control public assets, and collect a public paycheque, he needs to answer the publics questions, added Natyshak.

His group spent six-figures running attack ads against teachers using the governments talking points, and Ontarians need to know why, if hes going to continue to hold that public position.

The advertisements from Vaughan Working Families appeared in the Star, the Toronto Sun, the Globe and Mail, and the National Post on the eve of a ramping up of strike actions by education unions.

Warning teachers unions are risking student success, one ad boasting a foreign stock photo of a woman brandishing a mock report card that featured a number of grammatical errors.

While Fords office said Annibale, who has refused to comment, will continue to serve in his current role as part-time vice-chair of the provincial booze monopoly, the ad blitz was embarrassing to Education Minister Stephen Lecce.

Both the premier and Lecce have been photographed with the Woodbridge lawyer, who has donated money to the Conservatives.

Im not in any way involved with that matter, the education minister said of the ads.

He is on the board of a long-term care facility in my riding so I meet with him in various capacities  but I was not aware of the matter and Im not going to be distracted from my priority of getting a deal (with teachers).

Robert Benzie is the Stars Queens Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie

Read more about:
live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

Bharti Airtel share price gained 0.6 percent to hit a record high of Rs 568.60 intraday on February 17 after the telecom operator paid Rs 10,000 crore to the government towards adjusted gross revenue (AGR) liability.

Bharti Airtel said it paid Rs 10,000 crore on behalf of Airtel, Hexacom and Telenor to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) with respect to AGR liability, CNBC-TV18 reported.

"We will make balance payment after self-assessment exercise and will submit supportive details at time of making the balance payment," it added.

Motilal Oswal remained bullish on the stock, given the adverse situation for Vodafone Idea.

Bharti Airtel was one of biggest gainers among largecaps, doubling in a years period. It was quoting at Rs 566.20, up Rs 1.10, or 0.19 percent, on the BSE at 1036 hours IST.

The telecom operator may complete its self-assessment exercise in a week and could make remaining payment by next hearing ie on March 17, sources told CNBC-TV18.

The Supreme Court on February 14 came down hard on the government for not recovering AGR liability from telecom companies even after the lapse of January 23 deadline.

The telecom companies had filed a plea in the top court to allow them to engage with the DoT for verifying the amount and deciding the payment modalities.

Instead of offering relief, the court was critical of both the telecom companies and DoT for failing to comply with its order on AGR.

The case will now be heard on March 17, on which top officials of the companies and the department will have to be present.

The courts hard stance forced DoT to demand immediate payment of the complete AGR liability. It leaves little room for telecom companies to get relief from legal or government sources.

The total AGR liability stands at Rs 1.47 lakh crore, of which Bharti and Vodafone Idea (including spectrum) need to pay Rs 34,000 and Rs 44,000 crore.

Bharti Airtel has already raised $3 billion (around Rs 21,000 crore) in January to pay AGR dues, which was its plan-B. The remaining Rs 13,000 crore could be funded by bank loans, sources said.

But it looks difficult for Vodafone Idea which increases risk of shutdown.

"The impact of this could have serious repercussion on the telecom and banking sectors in particular and the economy in general with large magnitude of debt default, job losses and customer annoyance as Vodafone Idea faces an imminent risk of shutdown. Even with the will to make payment of complete AGR liability, VIL's stressed balance sheet (only Rs 12,530 crore cash) will make it difficult to pay such a large

magnitude of liability in such a short period," Motilal Oswal said.

Vodafone Idea has a gross debt of Rs 1.2 lakh crore, of which around Rs 90,000 crore is government's deferred spectrum debt, while around Rs 25,000 crore is bank debt.

"A default of such a large scale could increase Indias fiscal deficit by around 40bp, thus having the deepest impact on government receipts despite winning the suit, while creating ripples in the banking sector. Further nearly 300 million subscribers (around 25 percent of Indias population) may face the annoyance of network shutdown and churn, while around 13,500 employees could face job losses. This is merely

the direct impact, while the indirect impact on multiple vendors and other stakeholders could be even worse," the brokerage said.

Given the adverse situation for VIL, Reliance Jio and Bharti could gain disproportionately, it feels.

"Thus, irrespective of an adverse ruling, Bharti has best hedged position even assuming that it pays the AGR liability," it said.

"Assuming subscriber share of 40:60 for Reliance Jio/Bharti, both telcos could see EBITDA addition of Rs 15,000/Rs 10,000 crore with 50 percent margin, implying a jump of 29/22 percent on FY22E EBITDA to Rs 67,100 crore/Rs 54,700 crore. However, the exponential pace of data volume growth coming from unlimited plans has already burdened the networks with subpar speeds," it added.

Hence, Motilal Oswal increased its target price for Bharti Airtel to Rs 650 (implying 15 percent potential upside from current levels) on SOTP, assigning 12x on FY22E India wireless EBITDA and 6x on Africa.

"If we assume a duopoly scenario, Bharti can generate incremental Rs 10,000 crore EBITDA assuming it gets 40 percent revenue share and 50 percent EBITDA margin (building incremental network cost for higher capex intensity). Thus, it can garner EBITDA of Rs 55,000 crore in FY22, without factoring any further ARPU increase. At 10x EV/EBITDA, it could derive a blue-sky target price of Rs 825," it said.

Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.

The above report is compiled from information available on public platforms. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
Unfortunately, some health care proposals that legislators continue to explore would not only fail to address affordability challenges for patients at the pharmacy counter, but would stifle lifesaving innovation and could limit the availability of prescription options to patients. These policies would discourage private sector investment and depress the innovation ecosystem in Virginia, greatly limiting the life sciences sectors ability to produce innovative treatments, create jobs and drive economic growth.

If the General Assembly ultimately adopts restrictive and onerous regulations, many biotechnology companies might decide that the regulatory environment in Virginia is too burdensome, and instead of continuing to grow in the commonwealth, they could relocate to states with more innovation-friendly economies. For instance, our neighbor directly to the south, North Carolina, has a similarly booming life sciences industry and could pull thousands of jobs and millions of dollars out of Virginia should our lawmakers decide to pursue policies that could jeopardize innovation.
New Delhi, Feb 17 : In another turn of events in the Tata Sons-Cyrus Mistry saga, the latter has moved the Supreme Court saying his family -- Shapoorji Pallonji Group -- deserved more relief from the the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).

As per the appeal filed by Mistry, NCLAT, being the last forum for finding of facts, had arrived at a clear and unequivocal finding of prejudicial conduct by the majority shareholders of Tata Sons, but failed to provide certain important reliefs that would have put an end to the oppressive conduct of the majority.

"The NCLAT failed to even notice, let alone take into account, the note on illustrative instances of prejudice occasioned to Tata Sons and the appellants, by the manner in which the affairs of Tata Group companies were conducted. The instances of prejudice have been discussed in detail above and are part of the record. The same are not being repeated in the interests of brevity. A consideration of this material would have led to the NCLAT granting the reliefs sought by the appellants," the petition said.

Last month, the Supreme Court stayed an NCLAT order reinstating Cyrus Mistry as Tata Sons Chairman. Later it also stayed the appellate tribunal's order dismissing the Registrar of Company's (RoC) plea to modify its verdict on the Tata Sons matter.

On December 18, NCLAT had ordered the reinstatement of Mistry as Tata Sons Chairman. It had also termed the action of the RoC to allow conversion of Tata Sons into a private limited company illegal.

However, Mistry later said that he was not pursuing Tata Sons' top position but would fight for the rights of minority shareholders of Tata Sons.
The ship was quarantined after a passenger who de-boarded last month in Hong Kong was found to be the carrier of the coronavirus on the ship.

Tokyo: Two more Indians on board a quarantined cruise ship off Japan have been tested positive for the novel coronavirus, taking the number Indian nationals infected with the virus on the vessel to six, according to an official statement on Monday.

The Indian Embassy in Tokyo said in a statement that 99 new positive cases on-board Diamond Princess have been confirmed on 17 February, bringing the total number to 454.

"This included 2 Indian crew members who have been transferred to medical facilities for necessary treatment and quarantine. The number of Indian nationals who have tested positive for COVID-19 now stands at six," it said.

"The four Indian crew members who earlier tested positive continue to receive treatment. Their health conditions are stable and responding well to the treatment," it added.

The embassy said it is coordinating with the Japanese government and ship management company for health and welfare of all Indian national on board."The embassy is in constant touch with on board Indian nationals who are successfully braving out the situation and understand public health safety in such situations," the statement said.

A total of 138 Indians, including 132 crew and 6 passengers, were among the 3,711 people on board the ship that arrived at the Japanese coast earlier this month. The ship was quarantined after a passenger who de-boarded last month in Hong Kong was found to be the carrier of the COVID-19 on the ship.

The Embassy said it was making efforts for early de-boarding of all the Indians from the ship after the end of the quarantine period and was in discussions with the Japanese government and the ship management company for the disembarkation modalities and welfare of Indians.

The US on Monday evacuated its 340 nationals from the ship. The US embassy in Japan confirmed two jets took off from Japan with its citizens evacuated from the ship and those on board were expected to undergo a further 14-day quarantine period on US soil.

The US state department later said that 14 of the evacuees received had the virus, the report said.

China, where the virus outbreak occurred, is grappling to contain the deadly disease as the death toll climbed to 1,770 after 105 more people died, mostly in the worst-hit Hubei province, officials said on Monday. Of the new deaths, 100 were from Hubei, three in Henan, and two in Guangdong.

The coronavirus outbreak originated in central China's Hubei province in December last year and has spread to several countries, including India. Many countries have banned arrivals from China while major airlines have suspended flights to the country.
John Meredith, of Huntsville, is a former Capitol Hill lobbyist who was recognized as one of the countrys 100 most influential Black Republicans.

In a nation claiming reverence for the Lord, an oath before God cannot be meaningless.

In a nation claiming to respect the rule of law, breaking those laws can never be excused, even if it furthers the cause of a political party. In a nation where trial and punishment are only visited upon ones political enemies and those without means, justice is impossible.

Ignoring the role of Attorney General William Barr in orchestrating the demise of the rule of law in America, three actions taken by POTUS in particular have forever stained the legacy of American jurisprudence and symbolize the end to the unbiased administration of justice.

John Meredith is a contributing columnist for AL.com.John Meredith

First, and arguably the most nefarious, was granting a pardon to Arizonas disgraced xenophobic Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Convicted of disobeying a federal judge's order to stop racial profiling in detaining people thought to be in the U.S. illegally, President Trump pardoned Arpaio before he was even sentenced for his crime. What makes this act so detrimental to our criminal justice system is that POTUS used the constitutional power of his office to block a federal judge's effort to enforce the Constitution itself.

The next action taken by the President threatening the rule of law was his instructing recipients of duly served subpoenas not to honor the compulsion of their appearance. Investigation is indispensable to addressing crime. Subpoenas compel those with knowledge of a crime to share that knowledge with law enforcement or the courts. Without the knowledge gained through subpoenaed testimony, the majority of crime in America will not be prosecuted due to lack of evidence and our streets would soon teem with unaccountable felons.

The latest presidential act to redefine American justice involves the sentencing memo for convicted felon, Roger Stone. Since the 1980s, every federal criminal case resulting in conviction employs the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines for determining punishment. In Stones case, POTUS has defied his own Department of Justice by preemptively encouraging leniency to his friend, regardless of the standard to which others violating the same laws are held.

The aforementioned trifecta of judicial breaches affects both pretrial and trial viability. In addition, it mitigates findings of guilt both before and after sentencing. As a result, we now have trials without proper evidence or fact witnesses. As a result, convicted criminals may well escape punishment if their crimes benefited the rich or powerful while granting no recourse for the falsely accused.

In other words, the faithful administration of justice is functionally impossible in America today. What remains is the illusion of justice. The weight of that illusion is borne entirely by those without influence and administered by the unaccountable hands of those without mercy.

Perhaps the most troubling aspect of the attack on law and order in America is the failure to protect those who come forward after witnessing blatantly illegal acts. They are the bedrock of American jurisprudence. They must be protected from retaliation, not terrorized for bearing witness to the truth.

Upon further reflection, the plethora of openly brazen political payoffs to partisan Senate jurors for the willful violation of their impeachment oaths, is the worst element of Donald Trumps assault on truth and justice. One documented example of this flagrant miscarriage of justice occurred only days after the vote for acquittal when Senator Lisa Murkowski miraculously landed a $20 million U.S. Department of Transportation grant for port infrastructure development in her home state of Alaska.

A Christian nation that fails to embody biblical teachings is an anathema to God. A democracy that does not administer justice blindly is destined for autocracy. Before the Founding Fathers roll over in their graves ashamed of what we have done with their greatest gift, citizens must summon the courage to demand the restoration of the rule of law in America. Until then, those who have paid the ultimate price for our freedom will have done so in vain.
South Africa: Police nab suspected sexual predators

An extensive police operation has netted five alleged sexual predators across Gauteng for child pornography.

The arrests were effected by the South African Police Services Serial and Electronic FCS Investigation (SECI) -- a specialised section within the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit -- across Gauteng during an operation code named Moonlight last week.

In a statement, police spokesperson Colonel Brenda Muridili said the operation was conducted by members from National and Gauteng SECI, in collaboration with the United States of Americas Department of Homeland Security officers, the National Crime Intelligence Cyber Crime Unit and Gauteng Forensic Social Work Services.

The US Department, Muridili said, assisted with expertise in crime scene forensic analysis.

The arrests came after the team acted on information received from the Crime Intelligence Cyber Crime Unit. The initial investigation produced viable information to allow members to apply for and receive search warrants.

The search warrants were executed at various properties, resulting in the arrest of five men -- aged between 30 and 62 years -- for possession of explicit child abuse material (images and videos).

Several personal computers, hard drives, flash drives, tablets and cell phones, which contain explicit child abuse material (child pornography), were seized during the operation for further investigation and as exhibits, Muridili said.

The first arrest was effected in Rietfontein, Pretoria, on 10 February 2020.

The 30-year-old man, living with his parents, has appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate Court and he has been granted bail, said Muridili.

The second suspect, a 42-year-old married man and father of three from Claremont, Pretoria, was also arrested on the same day.

The cases have been postponed to 12 March and 28 February, respectively.

A day later, the team detained a 62-year-old married pensioner. He appeared at the Roodepoort Magistrate Court and his case was remanded to Monday, 17 February.

On 13 February, a fourth suspect (42) was arrested in Daspoort, Pretoria. He has also appeared in court and he will appear again on 8 April 2020.

The last and fifth man (34) was arrested in Kempton Park, said Muridili.

The suspect, she said, has a previous conviction of rape and sexual assault, for which he received a five-year suspended sentence that will end on 15 March 2020.

He will appear before the Kempton Park Magistrate Court on Monday, 17 February.

Muridili said another search warrant was executed in Garsfontein, Pretoria, but the suspect was not arrested, as there was no material found on his premises. However, his electronic equipment was seized for further investigation.

The suspect has a pending 2012 case of possession of child pornography and bestiality due for judgment on 20 April 2020.

All the accused that have already appeared in court have been granted bail of R5 000.

They cannot be named as the police are still conducting thorough investigations and cannot rule out the possibility that some of the children on the material that has been confiscated might be South African, and therefore their identity has to be protected, said Muridili.

Divisional Commissioner of Detective Services, Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili, applauded the collaboration of various units and commended the team for the arrests.

"The groundwork has been done. Ours is to now ensure that these alleged sexual predators are convicted and given the harshest sentences, and to continue educating parents and caregivers on the dangers of not monitoring their children's activities on the internet and social media, said Mosikili.

The police have called on parents to exercise strict measures that ensure their children do not fall prey to sexual predators lurking on the net. It is recommended that parents supervise their childrens access to the internet and social media.

It is pertinent for parents to also note that WhatsApp and Facebook have age restrictions of 13 years within their respective terms of services, which prohibit children under 13 years from utilising WhatsApp and Facebook, the police said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-02-17. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
By The Associated Press Feb. 17, 2020 | 05:37 AM | CARSON CITY

With the Nevada caucuses less than a week away, Democratic presidential candidates campaigning this weekend were fixated on a rival who wasn't contesting the state.

Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg all targeted billionaire Mike Bloomberg, accusing him of buying his way into the election and making clear they were eager to take him on in a debate.

He thinks he can buy this election, Sanders said of the former New York mayor at a Sunday rally in Carson City, Nevada. Well, Ive got news for Mr. Bloomberg  the American people are sick and tired of billionaires buying elections!

Their attacks are a sign of how seriously the field is starting to take Bloomberg as he gains traction in the race and is on the cusp of qualifying for Wednesday's Democratic debate in Las Vegas. Bloomberg has bypassed the traditional early voting states including Nevada, focusing instead on the 14 states that vote in the Super Tuesday primary on March 3. He has spent more than $417 million of his own multibillion-dollar fortune on advertising nationwide, an unprecedented sum for any candidate in a primary.

The focus on Bloomberg comes amid anxiety among many establishment-aligned Democrats over the early strength of Sanders, who won last week's New Hampshire primary and essentially tied for first place in Iowa with Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana. Sanders is hoping to notch a victory in Nevada on Saturday as moderates struggle to unite behind a candidate who could serve as a counter to the Vermont senator, who has long identified as a democratic socialist.

The hundreds of millions of dollars that Bloomberg has pumped into the Super Tuesday states has only heightened the sense of uncertainty surrounding the Democratic race.

At Sanders rally, the crowded cheered as the Vermont senator joked that Bloomberg is struggling, hes down to his last $60 billion" and derided him for skipping the early primary states.

It marked an escalation of the salvo Sanders launched Saturday against the former mayor, when he ticked off a litany of conservative positions Bloomberg has taken in the past, including opposing a minimum wage hike and his opposition to a number of Barack Obama's policies while president. On Saturday, Sanders suggested the former mayor's past conservatism and controversial comments make him a weak candidate against President Donald Trump, charging that Bloomberg, with all his money, will not create the kind of excitement and energy we need to beat Trump.

And on Sunday, he was joined by the current mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, who just this week endorsed Sanders. De Blasio introduced Sanders with an attack of his own on his predecessor, telling the crowd, Im sorry to report to you the chief proponent of stop and frisk is now running for president.

Klobuchar, speaking on CBS Face the Nation, accused Bloomberg of avoiding scrutiny by blanketing the airwaves and sidestepping debates or tough televised interviews.

I think he cannot hide behind the airwaves and the money," she said. I think he has to come on the shows. And I personally think he should be on the debate stage.

Klobuchar said she's raised $12 million since her better-than-expected finish in third place in New Hampshire. She's maintained her campaign through a series of strong debate performances and argued that Bloomberg being on stage with his rivals would level the playing field.

Im never going to beat him on the airwaves, but I can beat him on the debate stage, she said.

Biden, speaking on NBC's Meet the Press, suggested that Bloomberg will face increased scrutiny as the race continues, pointing to his record on issues relating to race.

$60 billion can buy you a lot of advertising, but it can't erase your record, he said.

Biden knocked Bloombergs past support of stop-and-frisk policing policies and his comments suggesting cracking down on racist mortgage lending practices, known as redlining, contributed to the financial crisis, as well as his 2008 refusal to endorse Barack Obama for president. Bloomberg has been airing ads that tie him closely to Obama on issues like gun control and climate change.

When asked on MSNBC about whether Bloomberg shares the values of the Democratic Party, Warren also went after the former mayor over his comments on redlining, declaring that anyone who is out there trying to blame African Americans for the financial crash of 2008...is not someone who should be representing our party.

Buttigieg likened Bloomberg to Trump when asked about reports that Bloomberg made sexist comments towards women and fostered a culture of sexism at his company.

I think he's going to have to answer for that and speak to it, Buttigieg said.

He later added: Look, this is a time where voters are looking for a president who can lead us out of the days when it was just commonplace or accepted to have these kinds of sexist and discriminatory attitudes. Right now, this is our chance to do something different.

But even as the front-running candidates kept one eye on their Super Tuesday showdown with Bloomberg, they also focused on the more immediate task of winning over minority voters, who will play a pivotal role in the contests in Nevada and South Carolina.

Biden reminded older parishioners at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in North Las Vegas of 1960s television footage of black protesters in Birmingham, Alabama, being attacked by police dogs and sprayed with fire hoses on the orders of city official Bull Connor.

Biden said today's racists are not Bull Connors, not out in overalls. They're wearing fine suits, and they're living in the White House.

The former vice president is relying on his strength among black voters and an explicit appeal to Latinos and other minorities to deliver him a strong showing in the coming contests after posting disappointing finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire, which both feature electorates that are whiter on average than the national population.

Biden has been hammering home the need for any Democratic candidate to appeal to voters of color. On Sunday, he told black lawmakers and other political figures at the Nevada Black Legislative Caucus's Black History Month observance that the black community has in its power to determine who the next president of the United States is going to be."

Nevada and South Carolina are also a key test for Buttigieg and Klobuchar, who have thus far ridden on momentum from stronger-than-expected finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire, respectively, but have both faced questions about their appeal to minority voters.

On Sunday, when asked to name a mistake he had made as mayor, Buttigieg acknowledged that he failed to recognize the pain that his decisions made, particularly for communities of color.

I was laser-focused on making sure we did the right thing legally ... I didnt always hear the voices who were talking about the story behind the story, Buttigieg said. I was a data guy.

Later that day, at a luncheon for the Nevada Legislative Black Caucus, Buttigieg said he was proud of his work with black leaders in his city to deliver affordable housing and improve the black unemployment rate, but he said he was humbled by the work left to do.
One House member, state Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, has fended off challenges from candidates with Wilks and Empower Texans funding before and thinks the family is determined to buy a seat at the Legislature.

I guess they dont have a better way to spend that money, Geren told The Texas Tribune. If I were that wealthy, Id sure be finding something better to do with my money.

Votes are not for sale in this district

Since joining the race in mid-December, Francis has raised more than $600,000, mostly from JoAnn and Farris Wilks, who each contributed $250,000. A sizable chunk of his other contributions came from donors with the last name Wilks, donors who work at a company named Wilks or both, according to a Texas Tribune analysis of campaign finance reports.

The generosity of the Wilks political machine has drawn criticism, particularly from Rogers, who calls it troubling that there is a lack of transparency to the average voter of the source of Francis money.
The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you, we are excited to offer 4 weeks FREE Digital & Print access to all subscribers new and returning alike.

We are dedicated to continuing providing reliable, high quality journalism. This is possible with the trust and support of our subscribers in the community we are proud to serve.
Burundis main opposition party, the National Congress for Liberty, known by its French acronym CNL, on Sunday picked the current chairman of the National Assembly, Agathon Rwasa, as its candidate in the presidential election in May.

The 65-year-old candidate fought in Burundis civil war, as did current President Pierre Nkurunziza.

As we are approaching elections, its surprising to hear that there are people thinking about rigging elections Burundians will not let them do it, Rwasa told delegates of his party after his appointment was announced.

In January, Burundis governing party has said Secretary General Evariste Ndayishimiye will be its candidate in the countrys presidential election.

An ally of Nkurunziza, 52-year-old Ndayishimiye also heads the department of military affairs in the presidents office and has served as minister of the interior and security.

Nkurunziza, who came to office in 2005, announced in June that he will not seek re-election.

The 55-year-old was widely expected to take advantage of recent constitutional changes adopted by a referendum to stand for re-election, raising concerns that Burundi would see a repeat of deadly unrest that erupted after he controversially stood for a third time in 2015.

The ruling CNDD-FDD party has welcomed his decision to step down, conferring on him the title of Supreme Guide of Patriotism and lavish send-off perks including a luxury villa and a one-off sum equivalent to more than $500,000.

The United Nations has warned that human rights abuses might increase again ahead of the elections. Since 2015, when Nkurunziza ran for a third disputed term in office, hundreds of Burundians have been killed in clashes with security forces.
Gonjaland UK and Ireland held their Annual General Meeting on 15th February, 2020 in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom to deliberate on the progress of the Union.

It is a group of people from the Savannah Region of Ghana, formerly part of Northern Region who reside in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The president of the group Mr Gamel Mahama in his opening address described the group as one of the oldest Ghanaian community groups in the UK.

As a charitable and welfare group, members were thanked for their support towards completed projects over the years.

The most recent project according to the President of the Association was a donation of 40 dual desks in November, 2019 to two primary schools in Central Gonja district of the Savannah Region. Members were reminded that, the new region is a great opportunity to collaborate and support developmental projects in the young region.

It is important to help the community in all sectors such as Education, Healthcare, Agriculture, Tourism and more.

The region is endowed with a lot of natural and human resources which if harnessed rightly would create job opportunities for Gonjalanders and Ghanaians in general.

The chief of the Gonjaland community in UK, Chief Malik Dramani Mahama presented the message of the King of Gonjas, Yagbonwura Tutumba Boresa 1.

In his address, the Yagbonwura appreciated the continuous support of GLUK to communities in the Savannah Region. He appealed to the group to remain united and educate diasporian Gonjaland children about traditions and culture through cultural events. He prayed for Gods protection and success for his kinsmen.

Elizabeth Amoaa founder of Speciallady Awareness shared her operational experience of managing her charitable organisation. She acknowledged there are challenges. However, with fortitude and diligence the outcomes are unimaginable, far reaching and rewarding. Henceforth, she advised that, a large and established group like GLUK could do more with proper organisation.

Also, Rashid Seidu Co-founder and former Vice Chairman of Medway Ghanaian Association added his recommendations of improving communications and development of GLUK.

The Chairman for the AGM, Mr Awudu Sannie in his closing remarks thanked all the members who defied the challenges of the stormy weather to attend the meeting. He appealed for unity and reminded members to be selfless, citing President Kennedy Ask not what your country can do for you-ask what your can do for your country.

Savannah Region and Ghana needs diasporian input in its development effort and imperative upon Gonjalanders to seek partners to support Governmental and NGO efforts.
In its landmark verdict that ordered the government to give permanent commission to women in the army, the Supreme Court on Monday also ended the prohibition on women being considered for command appointments.

The army had been reluctant to let women hold these posts, arguing that the male soldiers mostly drawn from rural areas were not mentally schooled to accept women officers in command of units. It had also claimed that women officers have a lower physical capacity which would pose a challenge for them since officers are expected to lead the soldiers from the front and should be in prime physical condition.

A two-judge bench of the top court comprising justices DY Chandrachud and Ajay Rastogi rejected these arguments, holding that such arguments cast aspersions on the ability of women and their achievements. It is not only an insult to women but also to the Indian army, the Supreme Court ruled.

The top court has given the government three months to comply with the verdict.

Women in Army

The Army opened its doors to women in 1992 when about 1,800 candidates applied for 50 vacancies, an average of 36 applicants for each vacancy. In 2005, the figure shot up to 150 applicants per vacancy. The number of women in the army saw a steady increase and by 2018, crossed 1,500. That figure excludes women officers in the medical, dental and nursing streams.

Permanent Commission

The Supreme Court directed the Centre to grant permanent commission to women officers who opt for it irrespective of the number of years they have spent in the armed force.

This new policy will benefit all Short Service Commission (SSC) women officers, noted the top court. SSC women officers with less than 14 years, as well as beyond 14 years of service will be granted permanent commission, the court observed.

The Centre had earlier said short service commissioned women with up to 14 years of service would be considered for permanent commission. Women with more than 14 years of service would be permitted to serve up to 20 years.

Command Appointments

The Supreme Court has also held that the army stand to let women officers hold only staff appointments, and not command appointments, violated the constitutional guarantee of equality.

Retired army officer Lt Gen Satish Dua welcomed the top court verdict. Gen Dua told news channel NDTV that women had acquitted themselves in every role that had been assigned to them.

Women officers who had challenged the governments policy of restricting the number of years in service and limited the nature of posts that they could hold, had rebutted the army. They argued that they had led platoons and companies of soldiers and men, both in peace locations as also hostile locations and operations.

The officers argued that the governments stand was not only highly regressive but also completely contrary to the demonstrated record and statistics.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-16 23:24:53|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Female community workers select and pack goods for residents of a building kept in quarantine during the novel coronavirus outbreak in Nanchang, east China's Jiangxi Province, Feb. 5, 2020. (Xinhua/Peng Zhaozhi)

The rhetoric that some people have used to stigmatize China's quarantine measures ignored the basic laws of epidemic prevention and control in modern society, and worryingly politicized the issue of science.

BEIJING, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- As the battle against COVID-19 is at a critical stage, some outside noises have posed a threat of their own.

Since the outbreak, China has introduced the unprecedented lockdown of a metropolis at the center of the outbreak, applied stringent quarantine measures across the country, pulled extensive resources into hard-hit areas and shared information with the international community.

China made these efforts not only for the sake of its own people, but also for the people of the world. Viruses know no borders. Ensuring the safety of the world's most populous country is a key step to shield people in other countries from further crisis.

Faced with the spread of a contagion, relying on our community with a shared future becomes all the more vital.

Regretfully, some people outside of China have gotten the wrong message. Out of prejudice or habit, they vilify China's quarantine measures as a violation of human rights, smearing its release of information as not transparent, fanning unnecessary panic and causing overreactions.

Rural health worker puts on a protective face mask with the help of a colleague before visiting a quarantined home in Taojiazhen Township of Jiulongpo District, southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, Feb. 7, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Chan)

This rhetoric played up the side-effects of the quarantine, ignored the basic laws of epidemic prevention and control in modern society, and worryingly politicized the issue of science.

In fact, China's efforts are paying off. As a professional multilateral organization focusing on public health, the World Health Organization (WHO) sees the whole picture. It praised China's hard work as unprecedented and incredible, having helped prevent large spillover effects to other countries.

Outside of China, there are 526 laboratory-confirmed cases from 25 countries and two deaths, according to Feb. 15 figures from the WHO.

The Chinese people "are protecting the world from an even faster spread through their willingness to make sacrifices and their commitment," said Michael Schumann, head of the German Federal Association for Economic Development and Foreign Trade. "They deserve our respect and our active and energetic support."

When people's lives are in peril, discussing how to protect human rights is nothing but empty talk. In the face of a virus epidemic, applying strict quarantine measures is an absolute necessity. Without quarantine, how can people's lives be secured?

Community workers receive patients who have recovered from novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuchang District of Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 11, 2020. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)

The speed and transparency of China's response is also impressive. After China detected the outbreak, it isolated the virus, sequenced the genome and shared it with the WHO and the world. The government holds daily briefings and updates the numbers of new infections, deaths and recoveries. It alters the statistical method to help patients get faster access to treatment. As leaders of many foreign governments and international organizations have put it, in many ways, China is setting a new standard for outbreak response. This is no exaggeration.

Now, China is fighting two battles: containing the epidemic and restoring momentum in its economy. How to steer the world's second-largest economy through the choppy waters of the epidemic is a severe test for China's decision-makers. China contributes nearly one-third of global economic growth. Properly handling the economy in this critical period will also leave a deep impact on the global economy.

Epidemic control is a global issue. Solidarity, not stigma, is needed to fight the common enemy of mankind. Vilification, malicious attacks on China, and politicizing public health issues will only undermine our strength against the virus, risk writing off previous gains, and harm the common interests of the global community.

The battle is still intense. It is time to push unhealthy emotions aside, and let science and unity take the lead. 
RACINE COUNTY  Tuesday, Feb. 18, is primary election day and all Racine County voters will have the option to vote in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election and some voters will be able to cast votes in several local races.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. For questions about whether you have a local primary in your area today, check the Racine County website or your local municipal website, or call your municipal clerks office.

Heres whats on the ballot in Racine County:

Wisconsin Supreme Court

All voters are eligible to cast ballots in the primary for a 10-year term as a justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The three candidates running are Incumbent Justice Daniel Kelly, Dane County Circuit Court Judge Jill Karofsky, and Marquette University law professor Ed Fallone.

Voters cast votes for one of the candidates and the top two vote-getters in the race will advance to to the spring general election on April 7.

City Council District 4

Four candidates are in the running for Racine City Council District 4 on the citys north side: retired electrician and contractor Dennis Montey; general contractor Edwin Santiago; retired facilities manager William Hinca; and catering manager Robert Case.

The top two finishers in the race advance to to the spring general election on April 7.

The 4th District seat has been vacant since Alderman Tracey Larrin resigned in November, citing health issues and a new job which conflicts with city meetings. Initially there were five candidates, but William Leverson was removed from the ballot after his nomination papers were contested and the challenge was sustained.

The 4th District is just north of Downtown and is roughly bordered by the Root River, Lake Michigan, English Street, Charles Street, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Marquette Street.

County Board District 5

Incumbent David Cooke of Racine, who currently serves as the boards vice chairman and works as a business manager at a Franksville-based metal fabricator, is trying to defend his seat against two challengers, both of whom are attempting to enter elected politics for the first time.

His challengers are Phil DeHahn, an electrician with Racine Unified School District from Mount Pleasant, and Jody Spencer, a retired United States Postal Service letter carrier and local labor activist from Racine.

The top two vote-getters in the race will advance to to the April 7 general election.

District 5 includes part of the northwestern portion of the City of Racine, including John H. Batten Memorial Airport and Johnson Park; Armstrong Park and its surrounding area north to Four Mile Road in Caledonia; and a small residential tract west of Highway 31 and north of Spring Street adjacent to, but not including, Meadowbrook Country Club in Mount Pleasant.

County Board District 20

In District 20, longtime incumbent Thomas Pringle is set for a primary against former legislative candidate and City of Burlington Alderman Joel Jacobsen and Rochester Village Trustee Doug Webb.

District 20 encompasses north Burlington and part of Rochester.

The top two vote-getters in the race will advance to to the April 7 general election.

Burlington District 1

The only contested race in the City of Burlington this spring is in District 1, where incumbent Alderman Theresa Meyer, an English teacher and retired Air Force veteran, is facing three competitors: Casey Kemper, a school art teacher; Joann Koenecke, a civic volunteer; and highway maintenance worker Jonathan Schroeder.

The top two finishers advance to to the April 7 general election.

In Burlington, there are two aldermen for each of the citys four aldermanic districts; one elected in even years and the other in odd years. Aldermen are elected for two-year terms and earn $3,600 annually.

Yorkville School Board

Five people are running for two open seats on the Yorkville Elementary School Board: 12-year board incumbent Jeff Gruhn; former longtime board member and board president Dave Callewaert; construction manager Scott Nelson; stay-at-home mom Amy Malate; and marketing executive Lori Christiansen.

The top four vote-getters advance to the April 7 election.

In September, more than 25 members of the Yorkville Elementary School staff signed a letter to the School Board alleging a toxic working environment. Two weeks later, Jeff Peterson, who took on the superintendent role July 1 after formerly serving as principal, took a leave of absence.

Michael DeGuelle, the schools business manager, left the school under unclear circumstances around the same time.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
February 17 : Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala speaker P Sreeramakrishnan on Monday told reporters that the CAG audit report on the social and general sector during the 2013-18 period had been leaked prior to its tabling on the floor of the assembly.

Terming it very serious, the speaker said that there were valid reasons to draw the inference that the CAG report was leaked before it was tabled in the assembly on February 12.

Necessary action would be taken after considering the opinion of the public accounts committee, he said.

Congress MLA P T Thomas had levelled serious corruption allegations against the state police in the assembly on February 11. The CAG report tabled in the assembly on February 12 contained damning revelations of corruption and financial irregularities in the police force.

This has led to the suspicion that the report was leaked prior to its tabling in the assembly. Even as the ruling CPI(M) has alleged a conspiracy, congress has dismissed the charges, adding that the similarities in Thomass speech in the assembly and the contents of the CAG report were a coincidence.

The opposition UDF has clarified that the CAG seeks explanations from various departments of the government during the audit. This is a not a secretive process and hence the officials would be aware of the audit details, they argue.

CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishan had also the other day alleged that the congress MLA raising charges of financial irregularities a day before the CAG tabled a report with similar findings smacked of a conspiracy.

The CAG report has kicked up a massive political storm. The report flags alleged diversion of funds and financial irregularities at the top of the police hierarchy, putting state police chif Loknath Behera in the dock. One of the findings against Behera is that he allegedly diverted central funds earmarked for construction of staff quarters for subordinate officers to construct villas for himself and four ADGPs.
Charles Barry, 56, is a serial thief who has been arrested 139 times by New York police. He has served six stints in state prison for nonviolent crimes like selling drugs and larceny

A serial thief who has racked up 139 arrests in New York City for pickpocketing unsuspecting subway commuters has thanked the Democrats because bail reform allows him to commit more crimes.

Im famous! Charles Barry, 56, told a New York Daily News reporter outside Manhattan Criminal Court on Saturday after he was released due to the new lenient law.

I take $200, $300 a day of your money, cracker! You cant stop me!

Barry has been arrested six times so far in 2020 - and each time he has been freed without paying bail thanks to a new state law that went into effect on January 1.

As police led Barry out of a precinct on Thursday after his latest arrest, he yelled to a reporter: Bail reform, its lit!

Its the Democrats! The Democrats know me and the Republicans fear me.

You cant touch me! I cant be stopped!

On two occasions, he was arrested for stealing money from subway commuters who were in the process of buying Metrocards from the vending machines in the subway station.

On January 19, Barry allegedly stole $50 out of a womans hand inside the subway station at West 42nd Street and Sixth Avenue near Manhattans Bryant Park.

He was then issued a desk appearance ticket for failing to show up for a court hearing.

The arrests in 2020 are in addition to the 133 other arrests for crimes like grand larceny, petty larceny, and fraudulent accosting, according to the New York Daily News.

The new law in New York State, which was passed after Democrats took control of the legislature in Albany, requires judges to release those accused of misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies.

Police say Barry has impersonated an MTA employee and approached commuters offering to help them with purchasing Metrocards at vending machines (like the one seen above at the 14th Street-Union Square station in Manhattan) - only to run off with their money

In order to ensure that those arrested return for their court dates, the judge may impose non-monetary conditions, like electronic monitoring or supervised release.

If someone is suspected of committing a violent felony and the judge is not convinced that he or she will show up for their court date, the judge can impose bail.

Supporters of the reform say it is necessary to reduce the pre-trial jail population and combat mass incarceration.

Opponents say that it allows recidivist criminals to continue committing crimes without a deterrent.

Since Barrys crimes are considered nonviolent, judges are not allowed to send him to jail while his case awaits trial.

According to authorities, Barry has a history of sneaking up on commuters and stealing their wallets.

Police say he has even pretended to be a Metropolitan Transportation Authority worker and offered help to riders buying subway cards, only to run off with their cash and credit cards.

The 56-year-old Barry has served six terms in state prison.

He was sentenced after being convicted for selling drugs as well as grand larceny.

A transit police officer says the new bail reform law is to blame for Barrys continuing to commit crimes.

At least before, hed be remanded and be behind bars for a couple of days. He wouldnt be able to victimize people, said Assistant Chief Gerald Dieckmann, the No. 2 officer in the NYPDs Transit Bureau.

Critics of the bail law say it should be amended so that judges have some discretion to impose bail on potentially dangerous suspects.

But supporters of the bail law accuse the NYPD of amplifying Barrys arrests to promote their agenda.

We adamantly oppose any changes to the bail law as it is written, The Legal Aid Society said in a statement.

The LAS, which is representing Barry, says putting him in jail does no one any good.

Mr. Barrys case underscores the need for economic stability and meaningful social services, not a need to rollback bail reform, the Society said in a statement.

Locking up Mr. Barry on unaffordable bail or worse, remanding without bail, ultimately does nothing to protect the public and fails entirely to address his actual needs.
The ninth meeting of the Ukrainian-Czech intergovernmental commission on economic, industrial, scientific and technical cooperation will be held in Kyiv on March 10-11, 2020, the Embassy of Ukraine in the Czech Republic has reported.

As part of the ninth meeting of the Ukrainian-Czech joint commission, which is scheduled for March 10-11 in Kyiv, chaired by Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba and Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic Karel Havlicek, promising areas and specific projects of economic cooperation will be considered in order to bring it to a new level," the statement reads.

On February 17, Ukrainian Ambassador to the Czech Republic Yevhen Perebyinis and Czech Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Martina Tauberova discussed preparations for the meeting and current issues of Ukrainian-Czech relations in the economic sector.

"The parties noted their interest in maintaining the high dynamics of Ukrainian-Czech trade and economic cooperation and commended the fact that, according to the results of 2019, the volume of trade between Ukraine and the Czech Republic increased by 9%, reaching a record high level of USD 2.86 billion," the embassy says.

The eighth meeting of the Ukrainian-Czech intergovernmental commission on economic, industrial, scientific and technical cooperation was held in Prague on June 12, 2018.

ish
Both MLAs Pradeep Yadav and Bandhu Tirkey suspended from JVM last month.

Union minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah welcomes Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM-Prajatantrik) chief Babulal Marandi after he merged his party with the BJP in Ranchi on Monday. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi/Ranchi: The Jharkhand Vikas Morcha founded by Babulal Marandi headed for a straight split on Monday with the former chief minister announcing the merger of the party with the BJP, shortly after which the two other JVM MLAs surfaced at the AICC Headquarters in Delhi saying they were joining the Congress.

The two MLAs Pradeep Yadav and Bandhu Tirkey claimed that at a meeting on Sunday an overwhelming 95 per cent of the workers of the JVM had decided to join the Congress.

Mr Tirkey said that the party has passed a resolution to this effect and Congress president Sonia Gandhi has accepted that.

The Congress said that since the two out of three existing JVM legislators had joined the party, anti-defection law does not apply as two-thirds of the floor strength of the party was with them. Mr Yadav is also the partys floor leader in the Jharkhand Assembly.

Questioned as to whether the ruling alliance would seek the disqualification of Mr Marandi then, Congress general secretary in-charge of Jharkhand R.P. N. Singh said that it was an issue on which the Speaker of the Assembly has to take a call.

Congress alliance partner Jharkhand Mukti Morchas Rabindra Nath Mahato is the Jharkhand Assembly Speaker at present.

Very soon we would be organising a rally which former Congress president Rahul Gandhi would address and we will make other senior state leader of the JVM join us, Mr Singh told the media here.

Incidentally, both Mr Tirkey and Mr Yadav were suspended from the party by Mr Marandi last month.

Meanwhile in Ranchi, the former chief minister announced the merger of the JVM with the Bharatiya Janata Party at an event in the presence of home minister Amit Shah and BJP chief J P Nadda.

Mr Marandi had become the first Jharkhand chief minister in 2000 and also the first BJP CM. He formed the JVM in 2006 after splitting with BJP.

Welcoming Mr Marandi in BJP, the home minister said: I have been trying to bring Babulal Marandi into BJP since I was made BJP chief in 2014. Someone rightly said that he is quite stubborn. We couldnt persuade him easily. He has now joined BJP as per the wish of the people of Jharkhand.

Before that, Mr Marandi also said that the BJP has been trying since 2014 to bring him back into the party fold.

In the Jharkhand Assembly polls held in December last year, the pre-poll alliance between Congress, JMM and Rashtriya Janata Dal won majority with a total of 47 seats between them. Out of the three, JMM won 30 seats, Congress won 16 seats and RJD won one seat. With the addition of the two JVM MLAs the strength of the ruling alliance would go up to 49.
Among the three flights, two departed from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi to Guangzhou, and the remaining one from Nha Trang to Chengdu.

While conducting the flights, Vietnam Airlines applied strict protection, inspection and quarantine measures to ensure security, sanitary and epidemiological safety, and health for both passengers and crew members.

Vietnam will actively consider granting licence to Chinas planes to fly to Vietnam to bring Chinese citizens home according to request.

* On February 15, in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho, the Honda Vietnam Co. Ltd. launched a programme to join hands with the community in preventing and combating the acute respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus (Covid-19).

The programme is taking place over 45 days, from now until the end of March, during which employees and volunteers of Honda Vietnam will present 300,000 masks on antibacterial cloth to thousands of workers in 15 key industrial parks in Can Tho, Da Nang, Hai Phong, Thai Nguyen, Vinh Phuc, Bac Ninh, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

At the same time, Honda staff and volunteers will raise awareness among the workers on Covid-19 symptoms and infection risks, as well as on how to correctly wear and take off masks, based on the official information source of the Ministry of Health related to the Covid-19 situation in Vietnam.

* In an effort to prevent and combat Covid-19, Vietnams new carrier Bamboo Airways is implementing a policy of supporting the transportation of medical equipment for partners and passengers on its domestic routes, via the forms of cargo priority and freight charge support.

The policy applies to batches of goods which have full invoices and certificates of transportation for humanitarian purposes or charitable activities.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 08:10:50|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

A chef of a catering company has his body temperature checked before his shift in Shijiazhuang, capital of north China's Hebei Province, Feb. 16, 2020. Eight catering companies in Shijiazhuang provide free meals for frontline medical workers and their family amid the battle against the novel coronavirus outbreak. (Photo by Liang Zidong/Xinhua)
CAMBRIDGE, England, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- STORM Therapeutics, the biotechnology company focused on the discovery of small molecule therapies modulating RNA epigenetics, today announces that it has published a scientific paper in the peer reviewed journal Nature Communications.

The paper is entitled: 'A computational platform for high-throughput analysis of RNA sequences and modifications by mass spectrometry' and showcases breakthrough analysis of RNA sequences and modification using STORM's mass spectrometry. The work, which was carried out in collaboration with the University of Cambridge, University of Tubingen, Germany, and the University of Pennsylvania, US describes a novel algorithm that allows the quantitative analysis of RNA modifications in the context of their RNA sequence using mass spectrometry. See link to paper: http://dx.doi.org/, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-14665-7

Dr Oliver Rausch, CSO of STORM Therapeutics, said: "STORM is a pioneer in RNA epigenetics and we are very pleased to see the publication of this paper in Nature Communications, validating the use of STORM's algorithm, created to extend the use of mass spectrometric data to RNA epigenetics in order to boost the discovery power of teams investigating the role of RNA modifications in disease."

The study describes a novel computational algorithm named Nucleic Acid Search Engine (NASE) that allows sequencing of RNA molecules by mass spectrometry including positional identification of chemical modifications on the RNA molecules. In particular, the algorithm enables the mapping of RNA fragmentation patterns obtained by mass spectrometry to RNA sequence databases, thus identifying the originating RNA molecules

Dr Hendrik Weisser, Principal Scientist at STORM and senior author on the paper commented: "I am delighted to see the publication of this new algorithm in a world leading journal. Our algorithm represents a novel approach for characterizing modifications on many different RNA species. Unbiased quantitative analysis of RNA modification on specific RNAs is one of the key challenges in the novel field of RNA Epigenetics and resources like NASE are critical to rapid innovation and advancement in the discovery of RNA modifications. By making this approach available publicly we are providing a new tool to the community that will accelerate overall progress in the field."

NOTES TO EDITORS

About STORM

STORM Therapeutics, founded in 2015, is a University of Cambridge spin-out translating the ground-breaking work of Professors Tony Kouzarides and Eric Miska in RNA epigenetics into the discovery of first-in-class drugs in oncology and other diseases. Storm is the leading company tackling disease through modulating RNA modifying enzymes and is developing a unique platform and pipeline to address these enzyme classes, including RNA methyltransferases.

STORM is backed by blue chip investors Cambridge Innovation Capital, M Ventures, Pfizer Ventures, Taiho Ventures LLC, Seroba Life Sciences and IP Group, who share the team's ambitions to build a world-leading company in the field.

SOURCE STORM Therapeutics
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Enview, a leading 3D geospatial AI company, announced today that they have entered into a contract with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to deploy Enview's AI analytics capabilities for use by the 60th Air Mobility Wing (60 AMW) to support their national defense-related mission need in the area of natural disaster relief.

Access to current and actionable geographic information is difficult to maintain in a rapidly changing post-disaster environment. The mission impact of this project on the Air Force and the Department of Defense will be to increase disaster response effectiveness by providing clear, current, and actionable mapping intelligence.

"We're proud to work with the Air Force to deliver new capabilities that enhance decision-making for Contingency Response and Air Mobility Operations missions. Air mobility and logistics are highly complex," said Enview CEO and Co-founder San Gunawardana. "New AI tools can help inform the selection and opening of airfields to more effectively facilitate the distribution of relief supplies."

To support U.S. National Security strategies, Enview also announced today that John Dombzalski has joined the team as Vice President of Public Sector. Dombzalski has spent the last decade supporting IT modernization efforts within government agencies and organizations across the globe. Working with U.S. agencies and allied nations, Dombzalski's focus has been on the application of geospatial and location-based capabilities to improve mission-critical outcomes, strengthen coordinated responses, and maximize efficiencies and transparency.

"I'm excited to join the Enview team. In addition to leading geospatial and AI expertise, Enview's leadership developed a deep appreciation for National Security end-users while embedded with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan. That experience gives us an intimate understanding of front line experiences and provides valuable context for how we apply advancements in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Computer Vision to solve real problems for the mission," said Dombzalski.

Enview also recently attracted former NGA Director Robert Cardillo to their Advisory Board and was chosen by the U.S. Air Force technology accelerator program (AFWERX) to deploy artificial intelligence analytics capabilities for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HA/DR) and Adaptive Basing mission planning.

Enview's 3D Geospatial AI has been deployed at TRL 9 for Fortune 500 companies for automated 3D mapping of terrain, buildings, vegetation, infrastructure, route planning, line of sight, change detection, and other bespoke requirements. The platform rapidly generates accurate 3D maps to enhance tactical and theater-level decision-making. Enview's platform is powered by artificial intelligence, 3D computer vision, and scalable high-performance computing.

About Enview

Enview is the world's leading 3D Geospatial Analytics company. The Silicon Valley-based company exists to protect people and critical infrastructure, and to enhance national security by mapping the world in 3D. The Enview AI Engine reveals what was previously invisible by fusing human and machine intelligence. Enview combines expertise in remote sensing, computer vision, and geospatial big data to enable energy and government customers to see the invisible, predict future threats, and prevent those threats from becoming incidents. For more information and a demo, visit enview.com or email us at [email protected].

SOURCE Enview

Related Links

http://www.enview.com


Public health department officials suspect that Sakthikumars ill health could have been aggravated possibly by the coronavirus attack and are investigating.

PUDUKKOTTAI: A 42-year-old man from Tamil Nadu who returned from China died of suspected coronavirus infection, at a private hospital at Madurai on Saturday. If confirmed, his could be the first death due to the novel coronavirus-2019 (Covid-19) infection in the country.

Official sources said on Monday that the victim Sakthikumar, who runs a small restaurant in China, recently returned home due to jaundice and underwent treatment in his village. However, due to manpower shortage to run his eatery there, he returned to China recently despite his illness.

Sakthikumar again retu-rned home on February 4 as his health deteriorated and was admitted to a private hospital at Madurai on Friday. He died on Saturday.

Public health department officials suspect that Sakthikumars ill health could have been aggravated possibly by the coronavirus attack and are investigating.

Sakthikumar had been missed by the elaborately set-up surveillance system at the airports. Unlike in the case of other China returnees, Sakthikumar had possibly eluded the airport scans, possibly because he said he was suffering from jaundice.

After his sudden death, public health department officials camped at his village, Kothaimangalam in Pudukkottai district to thoroughly investigate whether Shakthikumars death was caused by Covid-19 or was due to other medical factors, sources added.
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

The Valencia County Commission cited a litany of concerns about the Western Spirit Transmission Line after voting Jan. 15 to oppose the project.

Environmental impacts are high on the list, such as potential disruption of pristine landscapes, dangers to migratory birds and other wildlife, and possible health effects from electromagnetic radiation. Commissioners also fear a drop in tourism-related income and local property values.

In addition, the commission says the Renewable Energy Transmission Authority is violating the state constitutions anti-donation clause by planning to turn the line over to Public Service Company of New Mexico after its built. And it calls RETAs possible use of eminent domain to obtain rights of way on private land an abuse of power that tramples on citizens rights.

Commissioners took particular offense, however, at an alleged assertion by Western Spirit developers that Valencia County offers the path of least resistance for building the 150-mile transmission line. The commission interpreted that to mean the countys population is generally low income and rural, making people there less likely to resist the Western Spirit project than more wealthy, urban communities.

County Manager Danny Monette called that offensive and unacceptable in a letter to RETA. The line is socially unjust, he said.

RETA Executive Director Fernando Martinez said most of the commissions concerns are based on misinformation.

While the phrase path of least resistance was an unfortunate choice of words, those words have been taken out of context and were not a reference to a particular political path or intended to insult anyone, Martinez said in a response letter to the county. Rather, the phrase was used to refer to the Western Spirit projects efforts to plan routing to traverse parcels owned by landowners supportive of the project, thus avoiding resistant landowners.

Martinez also said eminent domain is a last resort that RETA has not used. And he said RETA is not turning the transmission line over to PNM, but selling it to the utility at fair market value.

The line is estimated to cost at least $360 million, and possibly up to $400 million, Martinez said.

PNM will pay $285 million up front to acquire Western Spirit. It will pay back the remaining costs to the builder, Pattern Development, through discounted use of the line by Pattern to transport electricity from wind farms in central New Mexico to Western markets.
Lowering thermostats, closing chimney flues, keeping vents and radiators unblocked, stocking up on blankets and wool socks ... those are some of the evergreen tips suggested for homeowners looking to save money each winter.

Even better? Have a jet stream that functions like a polar bouncer, preventing cold weather from gaining entry.

The jet streams flow has kept temperatures warmer in Connecticut and throughout the United States this winter. That, in turn, has translated into reduced costs for many state residents accustomed to shelling out money on heating and snow removal.

It went from a colder northwest flow to a southwest flow in December and warmed temperatures, said Bill Jacquemin, a meteorologist and the Chief Operating Officer of Danbury-based CT Weather, about the jet stream. As a result, storms and cold weather have stayed away from us.

According to the Northeast Regional Climate Center, Connecticuts average temperature in January (33.4 degrees) was 7.2 degrees higher than usual, making it the seventh warmest in the last 126 years.

February is also off to a warmer-than-usual start, and Jacquemin doesnt see expect any sudden reversal.

Temperatures are going to be below average the next few days, but then warmer weather comes in, said Jacquemin. Thats been the pattern so far this winter: There might be a couple of colder days and then it heats up again.

Oil and natural gas savings

Among those positioned for savings are 45 percent of Connecticut homeowners who heat their homes with oil.

As of Feb. 10, the average price for residential heating oil was $2.865 per gallon, down from $3.203 in early January and $3.251 at this time last year, according to DEEP, the states Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

The average price for mid-February was the lowest since 2017.

Reductions can be bank-account friendly: A 300-gallon oil delivery that cost $975 last February would set you back $859 this year.

Natural gas users might not be feeling as flush. Although the average gas supply charge for CNG, Southern, and Eversource  the states three regulated utilities  was down slightly in January and in February from the same months last year, a rise in tariffs has led to higher overall rates.

Based on data from the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority and the Connecticut Energy Marketers Association, the average normal tariff for customers has increased from $1.0883 per ccf (one hundred cubic feet, or 748 gallons) last February to $1.4099 per ccf this February.

That 29.6 percent upswing is somewhat mitigated by lower usage. The number of heating degree days  a measure used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from July 1 to June 30 of each year  has dropped significantly.

A heating degree day (HDD) [is considered] the difference between a days average temp and 65 degrees, where it is assumed 65 degrees is a comfortable temperature and anything below that might lead you to turn on your heating system, said David Chu, the vice president of the Connecticut Energy Marketers Association.

So a day with an average temp of 45 degrees generates 20 HDDs.

Through Feb. 12, Connecticuts heating degree days days were 369 fewer than normal and 193 fewer than for the same period in 2019.

So heating fuel sales could be off by up to 5 percent from last year, Chu said.

Electric use

Above-average temperatures can also mean less need for electricity, according to a spokesman for Eversource, the states largest electric distribution company, which services 149 of the states 169 towns and cities.

Every customer is different, but cold-weather months typically mean higher usage, said Mitch Gross. In a warmer winter like this, people generally use less electricity.

That, however, doesnt mean customers are automatically saving money. Eversource and United Illuminating, the states second largest electricity provider, have their rates set twice each year, and the most recent adjustment on Jan. 1 raised rates for both companies.

According to the states Office of Consumer Counsel, Eversources standard generation rate rose from 8.123 cents per kilowatt hour to 9.41 cents, with United Illuminatings climbing from 8.353 cents per kilowatt hour to 10.56 cents.

For residential customers on standard service (and not heating with electricity) using 750 kilowatt hours per month, the new rates translate to an extra $9.65 on their monthly bill from Eversource and about $16.55 more on their monthly bill from United Illuminating, according to the Consumer Counsel.

Less snow a mixed bag

Residents and businesses  especially those in the southwest part of the state  are also spending less on snow removal.

Based on readings at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford this winters current snow total of 10.1 inches is seven inches below the normal amount by mid-February, said Jacquemin. At Windsor Locks the current total of 25.7 inches is 1.6 less than normal.

Business is down more than 50 percent at this point, said Paul Tuccinardi, the owner of PLT Landscape Contractors in Stamford, which does snow removal for homes, condos, and businesses. Weve done a bunch of saltings but only two plowings. Usually by this time weve been out a lot more.

Consumers are likewise making fewer purchases of shovels, salt, and snowblowers.

That part of the equation is down, said Tom Dunne, the store manager at Ridgefield Supply. People typically wait until its snowing to come out and buy shovels.

Despite the relatively warm weather, the state Department of Transportation has actually spent more money this winter than at the same point in 2019.

We set aside $39 million, which is based on a 10-year storm average, said DOT spokesman Kevin Nursick. Thus far weve used $17.8 million. Last year we had used a little over $15 million by now.

What drives the cost is not the number of events, but the duration and also the time of the event, Nursick added.

For example, we spend more money when we are dealing with four inches of snow spread over eight hours than we do with four inches in two hours. We also spent more (paying workers) if the event takes place at night or on the weekend or holidays.

If the jet stream continues its friendly path and the rest of the winter remains mild, the state DOT could end the storm season with its first significant surplus since 2015-16, when it spent $32.2 million. But Nursick wont celebrate prematurely

Ive learned to never concede the end of winter, he said. In Connecticut we can get some rather interesting weather right through March and into early April.
H Khogen Singh By

Express News Service

As Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal began his third term on Sunday, the Bharatiya Janata Party will rue another missed opportunity at holding the reins of power in the national capital. The saffron party last ruled the national capital in 1998, which seems aeons ago. The late and affable Sushma Swaraj was the last BJP Chief Minister of Delhi more than 22 years back. Since then the saffron party has struggled to stay relevant in Delhi, although it has done well at the municipality level, having captured power in all the three civic bodies.

The best chance to return to power in Delhi was in 2013, when the Congress, after being in office for three consecutive terms, was hobbled by growing anti-incumbency. But the BJP blew it, thanks to infighting and factionalism in the party. When the elections were held again in 2015, Narendra Modi was already the Prime Minister and at the peak of his popularity. In theory, the BJP should have capitalized on the immense nation-wide goodwill prevailing for Modi and come to power but that was not to be. Instead, it got blown away by the Kejriwal wave and managed a mere three seats, the rest going to the still fledgling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

This time around the odds were stacked against the BJP. With no chief ministerial face to project nor armed with strong local issues to woo the voters, it was an uphill task from the very beginning. Given this reality, the party should have begun preparations long back. But that was not the case. It was instead the AAP that took the lead in getting into election mode.

After getting drubbed by the saffron party in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections when it not only drew a blank but trailed even the Congress in vote share, the AAP systematically went about putting its house in order.

It highlighted the good work the AAP government had done in the fields of education and health. That was followed by a series of populist measures that reaped huge goodwill among a cross section of people.

In contrast, the BJP had no local issues to highlight to Delhiites. During a visit to a prominent BJP leaders official residence in Lutyens Delhi about six months ago, this author found a massive hoarding that lauded Modi for scrapping Article 370 in the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state.

Even favour seekers, hangers-on and party cadres were quick to note that national issues such as Kashmir would carry no weight with the electorate in the assembly elections. The goodwill generated by Article 370 will wear out by the time the Assembly elections are held, said one. At another BJP leaders house, an old timer in Delhi politics, this author only encountered complaints against the party leadership. The two visits to gauge what is going on in the saffron camp only reinforced the view that the BJP was a house divided, rudderless and lacking direction.

Many analysts have said that the BJP lacked a local face. Yes it did. But if that was the only reason for its defeat then the AAP should also not have been accepted by Delhiites in such an overwhelming manner.

After all, strictly speaking Kejriwal is also not from Delhi, having been born in Hisar in Haryana. Nor is Manish Sisodia, Amanatullah Khan or Atishi. Delhis demographic profile has changed dramatically over the years. It is no longer a city dominated by Punjabis and traders who fled Pakistan after Partition in 1947. Today Delhi is home to people from the south, north, central and even northeast India. Its people speak not only Punjabi and Hindi but also Tamil, English and Kashmiri.

Given this reality a Union minister calling Kejriwal an outsider in the midst of the campaigning only underlined how cut off the BJP was from the ground situation. What the BJP lacked was a credible face, not a local face. None of its leaders can match Kejriwals reputation in honesty and sincerity. Its time they groomed one, the earlier the better.

Many analysts have said that the BJP lacked a local face. Yes it did. But if that was the only reason for its defeat then the AAP should also not have been accepted by Delhiites in such an overwhelming manner. After all, strictly speaking Kejriwal is also not from Delhi, having been born in Hisar in Haryana.

H Khogen Singh

Resident Editor, New Delhi Email: khogensingh@newindianexpress.com
The University of Uyo has gone to the Court of Appeal, Calabar, to challenge an order of a lower court asking it to reinstate a lecturer it unjustly sacked 18 years ago.

Inih Ebong was an associate professor in the department of Theatre Arts when his appointment was terminated in 2002. Akpan Ekpo and Peter Effiong were the vice-chancellor and registrar respectively at the time.

Mr Ebongs sack was considered by many to be a vendetta because of the lecturers constant criticism of the university authorities then.

The lecturer once rejected the university almanac and sent it back to the school with a note that the faces on it were not deserving of his sitting-room since, as he claimed, they were the very persons who were victimising him.

Mr Ebong fought a prolonged legal battle for almost two decades spanning three different administrations after the one that sacked him, before the National Industrial Court in Uyo ordered his reinstatement in January.

The court, presided by Justice M. A. Namtari, ordered the University of Uyo to pay all the salaries, allowances, and entitlements that would have accrued to Mr Ebong since August 1, 2001, when his salary was stopped, and from March 28, 2002, when his appointment was wrongfully and unlawfully terminated.

The court ordered the university to pay the lecturer the equivalent of his full annual salaries and allowances for the 2001/2002, 2007/2008, and 2014/2015 academic years when he should have gone on sabbatical leave in accordance with the terms and conditions of his employment.

The court also ordered the university to pay Mr Ebong an additional N10 million as damages.

The University of Uyo has, however, said they are dissatisfied with the decision of the National Industrial Court, according to a notice of appeal filed at the Court of Appeal, Calabar.

The university in its grounds of appeal said the judgement of the lower court was against the weight of evidence. It has asked the appellate court to set aside the judgment.

READ ALSO:

A date has not yet been fixed for the hearing of the case at the Appeal Court. The case is most likely going to drag on, perhaps for some more years, in the appellate court.

PREMIUM TIMES contacted Mr Ebong for his reaction.

That is to show the inveterate hatred and mischief that the university harboured against me, each successive vice chancellor after Akpan Ekpo swore that over his dead body even if I won the case it will not be in their time to pay the money, he told PREMIUM TIMES Monday evening.

The tenure of the current Uniuyo vice chancellor, Enefiok Essien, ends by December this year.
With massive Rs 1.47 lakh crore of AGR dues pushing telecom firms to the brink, Governor on Monday said the central bank is "very closely monitoring" the fallout of the crisis on lenders by way of a default, if any, by telecom players.

In an interview with PTI, Das said so far no red flags have been raised but the central bank continues to monitor the situation closely.

The Supreme Court last week rejected a plea by mobile carriers such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea Ltd for extension in the payment schedule and asked them to deposit an estimated Rs 1.47 lakh crore in past dues for spectrum and licences by March 17.

Some telecom firms are already struggling with mounting losses and debt and the additional liability has raised concerns of them defaulting on existing loans.

Das said he cannot comment on the Supreme Court ruling.

"With regard to the impact on the banking sector, we are very closely monitoring it. It all depends on how the companies concerned are able to make the payments and when they are able to make the payments. We are monitoring it," he said.

Of the estimated dues that include interest and penalty for late payments, Airtel and Vodafone Idea owe about 60 per cent.

While Airtel on Monday paid Rs 10,000 crore out of the Rs 35,586 crore dues that Department of Telecommunications (DoT) thinks the company owes to the government, Vodafone Idea's plea for being allowed to pay Rs 2,500 crore immediately and another Rs 1,000 crore by Friday to clear a part of the DoT estimated dues of Rs 53,000 crore was rejected by the apex court on Monday.

Airtel has said it will clear the remaining dues before the next date of hearing on March 17 but Vodafone Idea has so far not provided a clear deadline for making payments.

Das said no red flags on default by any telecom company has so far been raised with the central bank. "We are monitoring the situation. We are monitoring it very closely."



The telecom sector, he said, has been one of the pillars of the economic growth of India in the last two decades.

It created demand as well as jobs just like other pillars of massive infrastructure push given by the construction of the Golden Quadrilateral highway project and information technology or IT sector.

"In the telecom sector, there was a huge expansion. India was able to capitalize on that," he said.

The telecom boom not just lowered the cost of making phone calls and internet usage charges but also created massive employment.

In recent times, few companies in the telecom sector have folded up under mounting debt pile and intense competition, leading to job losses. Even in the current crisis, there are apprehensions being expressed about the continuation of at least one company.

Vodafone Idea Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla had in December stated that the company may have to shut if there is no relief on the statutory dues. "If we are not getting anything, then I think it is the end of the story for Vodafone Idea," he had said. "It does not make sense to put good money after bad We will shut shop.

(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.)
Novel Coronavirus

live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

Near-term caution for ABS, fluorine, amine, adhesives makers- Positive for basic chemical manufacturers

-

5-10% shift in demand from China to India a game changer

The world is on edge after the Coronavirus scare. So far, the deadly virus has claimed more than 1,700 lives.

As economies struggle to contain the spread of the epidemic, its impact on India is still being assessed.

In continuation of our two-part series on the potential impact of the flu on the Indian chemical industry, here are a few more observations on select value chains and takeaways for investors.

Also read: The impact of the coronavirus epidemic in China on Indias chemical industry Part-1

ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene): The domestic ABS market dominated by Ineos Styrolution and Bhansali Engineering may be adversely impacted by the supply chain disruption. As ABS finds application in autos, whitegoods, electronics and cellphone industries, the key challenge comes from the disruption in these end markets.

According to the management of Ineos, a lot of components for consumer durables are sourced from China. As a result, some of these companies may operate at lower utilization levels, thus affecting demand.

Further, imports of ABS, which constitute about 30 percent of the demand, is likely to remain stable as it is primarily taken care of by countries other than China, including Korea. The fear is the already adverse supply-demand situation due to the auto slowdown is likely to get worse. On the positive side, there has been a substantial drop in prices for key raw materials --styrene, butadiene and acrylonitrile, which can provide some respite.

Chart: ABS Imports in FY18 (tonne)

Source: Moneycontrol Research, Chemical and Petrochemical Statistics at a Glance  2018

Surfactants: Companies in this segment are relatively immune to imports from China. However, the advantage is on the raw material front. China is the second-largest palm oil importing nation in the world. Its annual import is in the range of 70 lakh tonnes. A sudden drop in demand of palm oil has pulled down its prices. This also translates into lower prices for palm oil derivative such as lauryl alcohol, which is utilised by the surfactant industry as a key raw material that makes up 50 percent of the input cost.

Amines: In the case of amine players Balaji Amines and Alkyl Amines, the China situation can pose a daunting challenge as both the players have a significant exposure to end markets  APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredients) and agri-chemicals, which are staring at significant supply chain disruption. According to Balaji Amines, the situation towards the end of February 2020 needs to closely watched. Any extension of production shutdown in China to March and beyond may spell trouble for the availability of matching ingredients required for the production of respective pharma drug and agri-chemicals.

Fluorine chemistry: As for fluorine twins  SRF and Navin Fluorine  companies need to be watchful about prices of the key raw material  fluorspar. To give you a context, fluorspar constitutes about 60 percent of the input cost for Navin Fluorine. As the company does not depend on China for fluorspar and SRF has alternative sources for the same, sourcing itself dont appear to be a big issue. However, as China is the largest producer of fluorspar, production curtailment can lead to jump in prices. Having said that, the impact of higher raw material pricing is likely for inorganic fluoride and refrigerant gas business. In the case of specialty and contract research and manufacturing services (CRAMS), any increase in input cost is likely to be passed over to clients.

This review also analyses dependence on China for other key chemicals. Some of the chemicals where Indias dependence on China is higher are titanium di oxide, carbon black, acetic acid, citric acid, aniline and calcium carbide. Chemicals where total imports are quite substantial compared to domestic production are caustic soda, acetic acid, acetone, phenol, aniline, isopropanol, PVC and nylon.

Among others, Vinyl Acetate Monomer, the key raw material for adhesives, is mainly imported from China. This means companies such as Pidilite and Astral Poly may have to keep tabs on the sourcing of this raw material.

Prices of isocyanates (raw materials for Polyurethane used for footwear and mattresses) can also see an upward push after a sharp correction over the past one year. This could be a result of a likely shortfall in supply. Additionally, TDI (toluene di isocyanates) in domestic market is under review for anti-dumping investigation. Investors would do well to keep track of GNFC and Sheela Foam in this space.

While most Indian chemical companies have their raw material inventory requirements covered till April 2020, there are expectations that the Chinese production would resume by the end of February or early March. This taking account of logistics should be just in time. But any delay beyond this would have an impact on Q1 FY21 results.

Table: Management commentary

Source: Moneycontrol Research

Chart: Dependence on China for select chemicals

Source: Moneycontrol Research, Chemical and Petrochemical Statistics at a Glance  2018

Note: Data updated till 2018; Doesnt account for few capacity additions by Deepak Nitrite, Himadri Specialty and the like

Given this context, in the short term, companies that may appear attractive here are those dealing in some of the basic chemicals. For instance, GNFC (Aniline, Acetic Acid, TDI, Nitric Acid), Tata Chemicals, Gujarat fluorochemicals, GHCL, Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals (Caustic Soda, Soda Ash), Deepak Nitrite (Acetone and Phenol), Amal (Sulphuric acid) and Deepak Fertilizers (Isopropanol). Basic chemicals which particularly caught out attention are aniline and acetic acid that have diverse applications and act as a starting point for many value chains.

Other chemical names which can be beneficiaries of this tactical opportunity are NOCIL, Himadri Speciality, Phillips Carbon, HEG, Graphite India and Dye manufacturers.

Table: Aniline applications

Table: Acetic acid applications

Source: GNFC

On the structural level and for the long term, scale of few basic/bulk chemicals production capacity between India and China gives some hint about the opportunity. To put into perspective, Indias share in global chemical trade is still around 3 percent. This is about one fourth the share of China in global trade.

Source: ICIS, Moneycontrol Research

For integrated chemical manufacturers such as Aarti Industries and Atul Industries, it could mean new opportunities because of the growing preference for India as an alternative reliable supplier of chemicals. Over the years, supply chain disruptions in China due to operational hazards, environmental compliance issues and higher cost of operations have made the case for this likely shift. A 5-10 percent business shift to India can actually more than double the opportunity size for many chemical companies.

(This is the concluding part of the two-part series on the impact of the coronavirus epidemic in China on Indias chemical industry.)

Follow @anubhavsays

For more research articles, visit our Moneycontrol Research page
Daniel Craig will not be traveling to China to promote his last turn as James Bond.

The premiere and publicity tour planned for No Time to Die in China has been canceled due to the continuing coronavirus outbreak in the country, according to Dateline. China, where the virus initiated, has been hit with more than 70,000 cases and last reported a death toll of over 1,700.

No Time to Die, the 25th film in the secret agent franchise, was set to premiere in Beijing and go on to feature a tour with the actors. The movie opens April 10 in the U.S.

No Time to Die stars Craig, Rami Malek, Ana de Armas, Lashana Lynch, Lea Seydoux, Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw and Jeffrey Wright.

Per the studios description of the film, in No Time To Die, Bonds peace in Jamaica is short-lived when an old friend from the CIA turns up asking for assistance. Bonds mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous  leading Bond to do everything he can to stop Maleks Safin and a dangerous new technology.

RELATED: Watch the First Trailer for Daniel Craigs Final James Bond Film No Time to Die

No Time to Die | Splash News Online

Craig, 51, took over the role from Pierce Brosnan for 2006s Casino Royale, and went on to reprise the character in 2008s Quantum of Solace, 2012s Skyfall, and 2015s Spectre.

His participation in No Time to Die had been rumored to be his last, something he confirmed during a visit to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last year.

Are you done with Bond? Colbert asked Craig, to which the actor replied, Yes.

Its done, he added.

Craig also opened up about moving on from the action film franchise. Someone else needs to have a go, he told German outlet Express, according to Esquire.

A total of six actors have portrayed the secret agent created by novelist Ian Fleming in 1953 over the course of his time on the big screen  including Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, and Pierce Brosnan.
A Denver rally organised to consolidate Bernie Sanders early gains in the race for the Democratic nomination was infiltrated by a group who appeared to support far-right neofascist organisation the Proud Boys.

Led by Louis Huey, a vocal supporter of the right-wing organisation in the state of Colorado, the group made their way into the crowd, which they described as communists, in live streamed footage of the event.

The group recorded themselves entering the rally while raising hand signals associated with white nationalism and wearing the red Make America Great Again hats made famous by Donald Trumps run for the presidency.

In shaky live-stream footage posted to other supporters, backers of the far-right group could be seen making hand gestures associated with white nationalism: Facebook

Mr Huey, who has previously interviewed Trump confidant Roger Stone for his podcast, could be seen arguing with audience members as the group settled near the stage where Mr Sanders addressed some 11,000 supporters.

Made up of at least three men wearing jackets emblazoned with the far-right groups logo, they were eventually taken to one side before electing to leave the event, according to witness reports.

The Proud Boys were established in 2016 and classified as extremist by the FBI in a 2018 report which linked the organisation to white nationalism. Originated by Vice magazine co-founder Gavin McInnes, they are also listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Centre.

They are known for violent clashes with antifascist groups, with two members sentenced to four years in prison last October for their involvement in a political street fight

However, the organisations supporters claim the group is not racist and instead furthers an agenda which is anti-political correctness and anti-white guilt while endorsing western values.

The arrival of supporters of the far-right group was not the only dissenting opinion to arrive at the event, which follows a surge in the polls that has seen Mr Sanders edge forward to lead the race for the democratic nomination.

The avowed socialist used his time in the Colorado  one of the super Tuesday states that will announce their candidates on 3 March  to call for Medicare for all, a green new deal and a $15 federal minimum wage.

Story continues

The stump speech comes ahead of the Nevada caucus on 22 Feburary, the next big test of the scale of the candidates support and the first state with a sizable latino minority to declare its nomination.

Read more

Would Bernie Sanders really wreck the US economy?
Fourteen years after he quit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Jharkhand strong man Babulal Maranadi in a grand show of homecoming will announce a formal merger of his Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) with the BJP on Monday.

The homecoming of the former Jharkhand chief minister comes soon after the BJP faced a drubbing in the assembly elections held in December, and is making concerted attempts to build bridges with the tribal communities in the state.

The lack of a recognisable tribal face in Jharkhand was identified as one of the prime reasons for the partys defeat in the assembly polls, which was exacerbated by the incumbent chief minister Raghubar Das failing to retain his seat.

The BJP has been assiduously wooing the tribal communities in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. However its efforts have failed to reap rewards, because the party does not have strong leadership among the tribals communities, even though it included tribal faces such as Arjun Munda in the current Union cabinet. In the last cabinet, Jual Oram from Odisha was the partys tribal face.

The growing schism between the tribal communities and the BJP has also been flagged by the partys ideological mentor, the RSS.

After the party lost elections in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the RSS had identified a vacuum in the leadership as a reason for the partys poor show, especially in states where it was in power for decades.

The BJP and the RSS are confronted with issues such as subsuming the tribal identity within the larger Hindu fold, land rights for tribal communities.

With Marandi back in the party fold, the BJP is hopeful of strengthening its tribal outreach.

The merger will take place in the presence of the BJP top brass including party president JP Nadda, former president Amit Shah and hundreds of party workers from across the state.

A former Sangh pracharak, Marandi rose to prominence in the BJP after defeating another tribal leader and JMM strongman Shibu Soren in 1998 and his wife Rupa Soren in 1999 from the Dumka parliamentary constituency. He was given charge as the minister for environment and forests in the Atal Bihar Vajpayee cabinet and later became the chief minister, a position he held till 2003.

His return to the BJP is anticipated to earn him a bigger role in the state unit. There is speculation that he could even be the state unit president.

He has been a vice president of the BJP, he has helped build the party cadre in the state, so it is obvious that we will continue to hold a key position and be involved in decision making. His return to the party comes at a time when the party has to regain lost ground; the merger will be beneficial for both the party as well as Marandi and his JVK, said a BJP functionary on condition of anonymity.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
At a campaign event over the weekend, Mr. Biden, apparently undeterred by the unions decision, cited his support from labor unions and then added, I know in their hearts the Culinary Workers are there  in their hearts.

Mr. Biden can still be unfocused at times, a problem that has hindered him throughout the race. During a rally in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson on Friday evening, he declared that he did not want to use the teleprompters that had been set up for him, and later wound up talking to the crowd about Chinese land that is polluted with the metal cadmium. A minute later, he brought up an obscure government agency, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA. And a minute after that, his speech was over.

In those closing moments, he never mentioned the caucuses or explicitly asked attendees to support him.

But his time on the campaign trail in Nevada has also shown the promise of more diverse states. During a visit to a Black History Month festival on Saturday, he was greeted with enthusiasm by attendees as he made his way through the crowd. Before he spoke onstage, the M.C. referred to him as President Biden and offered to serve as the host at his victory party.

Mr. Biden was introduced by one of his newest endorsers, Mr. Horsford, who told the crowd that Mr. Biden has our back and added, I know it because he had Barack Obamas back as vice president for eight years.

And so far, there is simply not the same kind of widespread criticism of his Nevada caucus organization that dogged him in Iowa. He has been aided by Yvanna Cancela, a state senator who is working as a senior adviser to the campaign, and Jennifer OMalley Dillon, a former Obama campaign official who ran former Representative Beto ORourkes presidential campaign and is assisting in a volunteer capacity.
A $155 million lawsuit seeking to hold San Francisco financially accountable for selling pricey taxi medallions that have plummeted in value is slated for a court hearing on Friday.

If a judge lets the case proceed to a jury trial, the San Francisco Federal Credit Union, which made loans to cabbies to buy $250,000 medallions, will argue that the city let the taxi industry collapse  in part by turning a blind eye as Uber and Lyft ravaged the market  and now must make good on about 620 medallion loans.

No one has purchased a San Francisco medallion, the permit allowing a taxi to operate, since April 2016. Meanwhile hundreds of drivers, who say they are swamped by the debt on their loans, are seeking to sell their medallions and 172 drivers have had their loans foreclosed.

But the city says the medallion market is still operating.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has not ended the program, the city wrote in a motion seeking to dismiss the credit unions case. SFMTA has continued its efforts to revive demand for both taxis and medallions.

They just dont want to say theyve ended the program because if they do, they have to write a very large check to medallion holders and to the credit union, said Dan Bailey, the credit union lawyer.

If a San Francisco Superior Court judge denies the citys request for summary judgment, the case is slated for trial April 20.

The credit union says it has several smoking gun pieces of evidence bolstering its claims that the Municipal Transportation Agency guaranteed to back the loans, and that the agency now must concede that the medallion market is kaput.

The city and the credit union have a contract, said John Cote, a spokesman for City Attorney Dennis Herrera. The city has not broken that contract, so San Francisco taxpayers should not be forced to bail out this financial institution. Certainly the taxi industry landscape has dramatically changed in ways that were impossible to foresee, but the city has worked in good faith and met its obligations under the contract.

Items cited by the credit union include:

 An email from Mariam Morley, a San Francisco deputy city attorney, to agency staffers written in March 2010 just as the city was seeking lenders to finance its then-new plan to start selling medallions. Previously they were given free to drivers after years on a waiting list.

As we discussed, if the market price of the Medallions falls precipitously, i.e, no one is willing to buy for the price paid previously in a deal that a Qualified Lender loaned on, SFMTA will end up making up the gap, Morley wrote.

The credit union said the email was circulated to it and other prospective lenders before it decided to become a medallion lender. The city said in a brief that the communication was confidential attorney-client privileged email that is irrelevant and inadmissible, and that it did not know the credit union had seen it and was relying on it as a guarantee.

 A private report from taxi industry experts hired by the city in 2017, which said the current program is not viable, referring to medallion sales. The same experts produced a report that was released publicly referring to the program as being stalled, with the implication that it could be restarted.

 Municipal Transportation Agency correspondence, depositions and declarations showing that it previously ended two other medallion programs within the past few years without a vote by its board of directors. In the lawsuit, the agency contends that the medallion sales program remains operational unless the board votes to end it.

Cote said the city argued in a brief filed Friday that the credit unions opposition is based entirely on irrelevant and inadmissible evidence.

In cities where market forces determine medallion prices, they have plummeted since the advent of Uber and Lyft.

Average New York medallion prices fell 67%, from $602,917 in 2010 to $199,418 in 2019, while those in Chicago fell 82%, from $178,428 in 2010 to $31,573 in 2019, according to a declaration from taxi industry expert Matthew Daus. In Philadelphia and Miami, medallion prices fell 93% and 92%, respectively.

How this story was reported Reporter Carolyn Said has interviewed more than two dozen taxi drivers over the past few years about their industry's implosion since the advent of Uber and Lyft and their struggles to pay their medallion loans. She has written several articles about this issue, also including perspectives from the Municipal Transportation Agency and the city's taxi companies. Last week she met with two attorneys for the San Francisco Federal Credit Union who provided hundreds of pages of court filings from both the credit union and the city, flagging several items that they viewed as " smoking guns. " The San Francisco city attorney's office provided her its brief seeking a summary judgment before it filed the document with the court on Friday. See More Collapse

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

But in San Francisco, the Municipal Transportation Agency has not changed the price, even as taxi drivers saw their business dwindle in the face of cheaper, more nimble ride-hailing rivals  who had fewer regulatory hurdles. Chris Sweis, CEO of Yellow Cab, the citys largest cab company, said that he thinks the medallions are worth less than $75,000.

By keeping it at a ludicrous price of $250,000, (the agency) decided to end the program, Bailey said.

But the city attorneys office says its agreement with the credit union prohibited it from lowering the price without the banks OK  and that the bank rebuffed the city when it sought to discuss cutting the price. The credit union lawyers theres no express requirement for the bank to consent to the Municipal Transportation Agency lowering the price.

Many drivers say they are desperate to get free of their medallion loans. They point to city code that says that if the agency ends the medallion program, it shall repurchase medallions for their original price at the holders request. But because the transit agency maintains it has not ended the program, the drivers cant collect.

While the lawsuit focuses only on the credit union, a win for the credit union might help drivers in their quest to offload their medallion debt. Thats because if a jury finds that the agency has ended the medallion program, the drivers could force the city to pay them back under the municipal code.

Im rooting for the credit union; theres no doubt about that, said Marcelo Fonseca, a longtime cab driver, who has one of the free medallions. Medallion holders can only hope that a favorable ruling will bring them social justice and put an end to a decade of neglect, conflicts of interest and exploitative policies by the regulators.

But driver Ejaz Ahmed, who says the burden of his paid medallion causes him depression and anxiety, was not hopeful.

They are suing for their own money; they are not fighting for us, he said of the credit union.

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 20:12:51|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

MANILA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Personal remittances or the money sent home by overseas Filipinos in 2019 reached a record high of 33.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2019, 3.9 percent higher than that of 2018, the Philippine central bank said on Monday.

According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) or the Central Bank of the Philippines, the sustained growth in personal remittances during the year was primarily driven by a 3.5-percent increase in remittances from land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more, which amounted to 25.6 billion U.S. dollars from 24.8 billion U.S. dollars.

Moreover, the BSP said a 6.5-percent rise in personal remittances from sea-based and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year, amounting to 7.1 billion U.S. dollars from 6.7 billion U.S. dollars, contributed to the growth in personal remittances.

In 2019, the BSP said personal remittances, which boost household income and consumption, accounted for 9.3 percent and 7.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and gross national income (GNI), respectively.

Much of the remittances from overseas Filipinos were in the form of cash that were coursed through the banks, the BSP said.

The BSP further said total cash remittances in 2019 amounted to an all-time high of 30.1 billion U.S. dollars, 4.1 percent higher than the 28.9 billion U.S. dollars recorded in 2018.

Notwithstanding pockets of political uncertainties across the globe, the BSP said cash remittances in 2019 remained strong.

"This is evident in inward remittances from Asia, the Americas, and Africa, where inflows grew annually by 12.3 percent, 10.6 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively. The growth of inflows in these regions more than made up for the 9.8 percent decline in remittances from the Middle East," the BSP said.

During the year, the BSP said remittance inflows were sourced mainly from the United States, which accounted for the highest share to total remittances at 37.6 percent, followed by Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Japan, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Canada, China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Germany and Kuwait.

Remittances, or the money sent home by overseas workers to help support their families, have become the single most important source of foreign exchange for the Philippine economy and a significant source of income for recipient families.

The government estimates the number of overseas Filipino workers at 10 million, accounting for one-tenth of the country's population.
Funding for Pure Michigan in the current budget cycle could be back on the table.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer line-item vetoed Pure Michigan funding when signing the Fiscal Year 2020 budget in September 2019, and the campaign wasnt included in a supplemental spending bill agreed to by the Whitmer administration and the Republican-led legislature late last year.

But another spending bill directing funding to Pure Michigan in the current budget cycle is very possible," Whitmer recently told reporters.

I do think that there are some resources that we can put into Pure Michigan now and do some ad buys for this spring," she said.

Several northern Michigan Republicans, including Sen. Wayne Schmidt, R-Traverse City, have been pushing to restore Pure Michigan funding in the current budget cycle.

Schmidt said hes advocating for somewhere between $15 and $20 million in spending for the campaign in Fiscal Year 2020, depending on how much airtime the department can realistically purchase to draw visitors in late summer and early fall.

Theyre not asking for more than they can use efficiently or properly. I dont want that, and they dont want that," he said. Its moving forward - its going to take a little more time, a little more work. Ultimately, Im confident that well get there.

Currently, Pure Michigan has no paid advertising in the market, a spokesperson confirmed. After the line-item veto last fall, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation got approval to use unallocated money to stretch Pure Michigan campaigns through the end of 2019.

We remain actively engaged in conversations to help restore funding for FY20, as we still have time to benefit the states economy through the critical upcoming spring and summer travel seasons, MEDC communications specialist Courtney Overbey said in a statement.

Any supplemental spending for this year would be separate from the proposed $15 million Whitmer included in her latest budget proposal, which served as the first step in negotiations between the administration and legislature over how to fund state government for Fiscal Year 2021.

Schmidt said hes looking for a minimum of $30 million in the next budget, something in the ballpark of the $36 million Pure Michigan budget approved in Fiscal Year 2019. He said the proposed halving of Pure Michigans former budget in Whitmers latest budget plan was very disappointing.

If we could get it back to at least $30 million and continue to work on things, Id be satisfied in the short term, he said. It was very short-sighted of the governor and the director to cut a budget that promotes the entire state.

Travel industry insiders have called for Pure Michigan funding to be fully restored - although some critics praised the governors decision to veto funding for the campaign last year, arguing its ineffective and unfairly favors certain industries over others.

At a press conference following the budget presentation this month, Whitmer said she has always supported Pure Michigan, but said she felt the general fund is not the place to pay for the campaign to the extent it was in previous years.

The budget Ive introduced makes a sizable investment in Pure Michigan, and Im happy about that, she said. The tourism industry I know thinks that there should be additional dollars there, and Im eager to work with them on where those dollars might come from.

Her stance echoed comments Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clark Lake, made to reporters in December about the future of the Pure Michigan campaign.

Those who benefit the most from Pure Michigan should be the ones who primarily fund it, he said at the time. We came up with a research and development project, a test to see if this would work. Taxpayers funded it, proved that it would work, so it took all of the risk out of that risky investment. And now I believe the industry should own most of it."

The Pure Michigan campaign made its first regional debut in 2006 and was launched to a nationwide audience for the first time in 2010.

Pure Michigan has since evolved to become a core part of the states economic development brand, resulting in partnerships with corporations like Coca-Cola. Partnerships with Michigan companies and local artists have produced Pure Michigan ice cream, Vernors cans and an ambient music album.

The phrase is featured on the states license plates and welcome signs and is also a popular hashtag on social media, where people share their best Michigan nature photos and comment on life in the state.

Related coverage:

No funding coming for Pure Michigan in immediate future

Pure Michigan budget cut stings for travel industry: It feels like a veto of our state

Pure Michigan ads will remain on airwaves for now, despite budget cut

From Water Wonderland to Pure Michigan: A history of the Great Lakes states tourism campaigns
Fans of Lifetimes Married at First Sight Season 10 were worried at first that Katie Conrad wasnt ready for her arranged marriage to Derek Sherman.

For one thing, at just 25 and 26, Katie and Derek were both some of the youngest cast members on the show thus far. Whats more, Katie got cold feet about her upcoming wedding after a former fling contacted her and professed his love.

Still, the young couples honeymoon in Panama went well, after Derek and Katie discovered a mutual attraction and plenty of chemistry and similarities.

On the Feb. 12 episode of Married at First Sight, New Wife, New Life, Katie and Derek continued to discover even more about each other after they moved back home to D.C. together. But when Derek showed Katie his old apartment and she started snooping a bit, she might have discovered more than she anticipated.

Katie Conrad | MAFS Lifetime via Instagram

Derek gave Katie a house tour after they moved into their new apartment

After their tropical honeymoon, Katie and Derek were ready to move in together and start their new lives in a shared apartment.

Moving into my new home, I know theres gonna be some bumps in the roadbut Im very much looking forward to actually making this home our home, Derek said of the next step in their relationship.

Katie agreed that she was excited about embarking on a new adventure with her husband. Marriage to me is having a life partner, the Married at First Sight star told Lifetime producers. Somebody to be there for you. So have somebody like Derek who is on that same pageis huge.

When the couple headed to Dereks old house for a tour, Katie said he lived in a nice single-family home. Still, she explained that she hoped hed outgrow his current roommate situation and mature as a husband, ready for married life with a full-time partner.

His room is small, she explained. It kind of looks like he lives with his parents.

Katie was shocked to find what looked like a gun in Dereks nightstand

Katie began to poke around a bit, with Dereks permission. Should I be nervous about opening any of these drawers? Im nervous, she joked as she peeked at his bedside drawers.

When her husband told her she was free to open the drawers if she wanted, he warned her that Dr. Pepper Schwartz, one of the shows experts, had found condoms during her house visit.

But what Katie glimpsed was a lot more shocking than a condom. She opened up Dereks nightstand to find what looked like a gun and a pile of $20 bills.

A gun?! Who did I marry? she exclaimed, half-joking.

Its fake, its totally fake, he promised her as she stared at the firearm in shock.

Here I am thinking hes this like nerdy, innocent guy, and he has a wad of cash and a gun, Katie told Lifetime producers, adding that it was not at all what she expected. She laughed, Im like, does he have another life? What has he been up to?

The Married at First Sight star exclaimed to Derek, Did you f***ing rob a bank?

Katies husband assured her the firearm was fake

Derek showed Katie the gun was fake, but he defended his choice to stow away an imitation firearm.

Im a firm believer that you should always have some form of protection in your room, the Married at First Sight star told Lifetime producers. You gotta be safe. Even if its a fake gun, its still something.

He added that the feeling of security against an intruder was worth the purchase. If someone storms into your house in the middle of the night and you hold up a fake gun to them, theyre gonna think its a real gun, he argued.
Tziporah Malkah has broken her silence on rumours that she once enjoyed a flirty night out with Richard Wilkins in Sydney 15 years ago.

The 46-year-old socialite, formerly known as Kate Fischer, told New Idea that the Today Extra host, now 65, had made a pass at her at a cocktail party around 2005.

'Richard seemed to have been hit by Cupid's [arrow]. I remember seeing him across the room in a suit similar to the kind Don Johnson used to wear in Miami Vice,' she said.

'I'm surprised that dashing Dickie wanted to romance me!' Tziporah Malkah has broken her silence on rumours that she once enjoyed a flirty night out with Richard Wilkins 15 years ago

Richard apparently started flirting with Tziporah, who was wearing a 'fetching cocktail dress', before inviting her to spend time with him after the party.

'He looked me in the eyes and blurted out, "Why don't we get out of here and go somewhere else?"' she claimed.

'I'm quite surprised that dashing Dickie wanted to romance me. I guess it made sense that two tall TV types could end up in the boudoir together - and he is an attractive, knowledgeable fellow.'

'He is attractive': The 46-year-old socialite, formerly known as Kate Fischer, told New Idea that Richard, now 65, had made a pass at her at a cocktail party around 2005. Pictured in 1994

Bold claims: 'He looked me in the eyes and blurted out, "Why don't we get out of here and go somewhere else?"' Tziporah said. Pictured: Richard on November 24, 2001 in Sydney

Tziporah was single at the time, having split from her ex-fiance James Packer five years earlier, but wasn't looking for a relationship.

She decided not to take things with Richard any further and left the party without him.

Tziporah went on to confirm that she and Dickie were never an item, and that they haven't seen each other in a long time.

Thanks, but no thanks! Tziporah was single at the time, having split from her ex-fiance James Packer five years earlier, but wasn't looking for a relationship. Pictured in November 2000

Fancy that! Tziporah recently struck up a friendship with Richard's son Christian (left)

Once one of Australia's most glamorous women, Tziporah famously appeared in the film Sirens alongside Elle Macpherson and Portia de Rossi.

She split with James Packer after a two-year engagement in 1998 and later relocated to the U.S., eventually becoming an American citizen.

Upon her return to Australia several years ago, however, she found herself broke, homeless and living in anonymity.

Eventually she found work in aged care in Melbourne, but was thrust back into the headlines in 2016 when unflattering photos of her wearing a bedsheet outside of her house were splashed across the tabloids.

She has since embraced her return to the spotlight, appearing on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in 2017 and signing with celebrity agent Max Markson.
The Supreme Court Monday rejected telecom firm Vodafone's proposal to pay Rs 2,500 crore by the end of the day and Rs 1,000 crore by Friday against Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues, while also refusing its plea that no coercive action be taken against it

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Monday rejected telecom firm Vodafone's proposal to pay Rs 2,500 crore by the end of the day and Rs 1,000 crore by Friday against Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues, while also refusing its plea that no coercive action be taken against it.

A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra declined to accept the proposal given by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Vodafone, after he mentioned the matter.

Rohatgi said they are willing to pay Rs 2,500 crore today (Monday) and another Rs 1,000 crore by Friday but no coercive action be taken against the company.

#AGR Case Update | Supreme Court refuses Vodafone Idea's plea to ask the government to not encash the bank guarantee. Mukul Rohatgi appears for co in the AGR case pic.twitter.com/1XcaWZkHAw  CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) February 17, 2020

He urged the bank guarantee deposited with the government by Vodafone should also not be encashed.

The top court had on Friday warned of contempt proceedings against top executives of Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-Idea and other telecom firms for failing to comply with its directive to pay an estimated Rs 1.47 lakh crore in past dues, and asked whether there was no law left in the country.

With the apex court's rap, the government came down heavily on telcos following which Bharti Airtel on Monday said it has paid Rs 10,000 crore to the telecom department towards statutory dues.

The company said it will make payment of balance amount after self-assessment exercise.

"The...amount of Rs 10,000 crore has been paid on behalf of Bharti Airtel, Bharti Hexacom, and Telenor," the Sunil Mittal-led company said in a statement.

In the Friday order which will have a far-reaching implications for the telecom sector, the apex court expressed displeasure at the "temerity" of a desk officer in the Department of Telecom for "scuttling" its order by issuing a written directive to not take any coercive action against firms for not depositing dues by the 23 January, 2020, deadline.

The bench, also comprising Justices S Abdul Nazeer and M R Shah, said the companies have violated its order "in pith and substance" and asked them to clear dues before the next date of hearing on 17 March.

Following the apex court rap, the Department of Telecom withdrew its 23 January, 2020 order that had called for no coercive action against defaulting firms and started issuing notices to telcos asking them to deposit dues before midnight of Friday.

Expressing displeasure over an order passed by the DoT's desk officer, which virtually stayed the effect of its verdict, the apex court said this is nothing "but a device to scuttle" its judgment and this case projects a "very disturbing scenario". It issued a notice to the officer.

The bench noted that the desk officer "has the temerity to pass the order "to the effect of issuing a direction to another constitutional authority, the accountant general, "not to insist for any payment pursuant to the order passed by this court and not to take any coercive steps till further orders."

The top court made it clear that in case its order is not complied with, the desk officer of the DoT and top executives of these companies "shall remain personally present" before it on 17 March.

The court had on 24 October last year ordered that non-telecom revenues should be included in the AGR for calculating statutory dues such as license fee and spectrum charges.

The DoT calculated that Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and others owe as much as Rs 1.47 lakh crore in past dues, including penalties and interest, while non-telecom firms, who had taken some licence from it, owed another Rs 2.65 lakh crore.

On 16 January, a bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra dismissed petitions of telecom firms seeking review of that order saying it did not find any "justifiable reason" to entertain them.
Pier 1 Imports, the home goods retailer that in the 1990s became a popular destination for exotic rattan chairs and cheap embroidered pillows only to cede its market niche over the last decade to lower-priced competitors, announced on Monday that it had filed for bankruptcy and was pursuing a sale of the company.

The retailer has weathered years of declining store revenue and undertook an overly ambitious turnaround plan, industry analysts said. The company said last month that it would close up to 450 of its 936 stores, including all its locations in Canada.

The Pier 1 bankruptcy underscores fundamental challenges facing American retailers that rely heavily on brick-and-mortar stores. This month, Macys announced that it would close about 125 of its stores over the next few years and shed about 2,000 jobs. Last year, a number of fashion retailers declared bankruptcy, among them Barneys New York, Payless Shoesource and Forever 21.

The rise and fall of Pier 1 offers a case study of a successful business that found itself unable to adapt after competitors began to replicate and scale its retail approach. Founded in 1962 in San Mateo, Calif., the retailer developed a novel strategy that focused on importing eclectic home goods from India, Indonesia and other countries and selling them at low prices. By the 1990s, Pier 1 had developed a recognizable, quirky aesthetic that drew consumers who would drop in just to check out the latest animal-shaped umbrella stands, colorful painted plates and woven baskets.
YEREVAN.  The majority of My Step faction at the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia convened a sitting today at the office of the ruling Civil Contract party, which is also attended by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

The agenda is probably the issue of the forthcoming referendum on constitutional amendments.

The campaign season for the referendum has started today.

The referendum will take place on April 5.
The Timbers are back on the pitch in Portland, taking on Cascadia rival the Vancouver Whitecaps Sunday in a preseason tournament at Providence Park.

Follow along for live updates from Sundays match below and watch the live stream at Timbers.com (available only in the Timbers regional broadcast territory).

LIVE UPDATES RECAP

Portland improved to 4-0-0 in preseason play and has outscored its opponents 10-3 with Sundays 2-1 victory.

GOALS

34: Diego Valeri recorded the 10th preseason goal of his career with a penalty kick following a foul by Vancouver on Felipe Mora near the edge of the six-yard box after receiving a pass from Sebastian Blanco.

39: The Whitecaps countered minutes later after Ali Adnan delivered a cross from the left edge of the box to the near post to Lucas Cavallini, whose diving header into from close range found the back of the net.

46: The second half opened with a missile from Andy Polo just 20 seconds in, taking a pass from Valeri in stride and giving the Timbers the deciding goal from the right side of the box to the top left corner of net.

Just 15 seconds into the second half... Andy Polo did this. #RCTID | @old_trapper pic.twitter.com/YyVZewkJvW  Portland Timbers (@TimbersFC) February 17, 2020

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 00:43:00|Editor: Xiaoxia

Video Player Close

Chairman of the Munich Security Conference (MSC) Wolfgang Ischinger addresses the closing session of the 56th MSC in Munich, Germany, Feb. 16, 2020. The 56th MSC closed on Sunday as attendees didn't share consensus on "Westlessness," the theme of this year's conference. The debates on "Westlessness," which refers to the loss of common standing of what it means to be part of the West, would likely continue. (Xinhua/Lu Yang)

MUNICH, Germany, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- The 56th Munich Security Conference (MSC) closed on Sunday as attendees didn't share consensus on "Westlessness," the theme of this year's conference.

The debates on "Westlessness," which refers to the loss of common standing of what it means to be part of the West, would likely continue.

In his closing remarks, MSC Chairman Wolfgang Ischinger said that there're differences of views among partners from the European Union (EU) and the United States, stressing that "if we don't listen to each other, we would have problems."

"I'm glad we managed to provoke a bit of debate (on "Westlessness"), some agree, some disagree," Ischinger said, hoping the discussion on optimism for peace and stability in Europe and beyond will move to a new phase.

The chairman also called on Germany to come up with a positive response to French President Emmanuel Macron who, in his speech to the MSC, called for a European strategy and more actions at the European level in the face of challenges.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for crossing East-West differences and practicing multilateralism.

The Munich Security Conference was first held in 1963. Its original aim was to shore up commitments and help coordinate western defense policies. It has since grown to involved representatives from around the world and served as a platform for debates on global security issues.
The UK is reportedly preparing to reject several of the stipulations contained in a draft European Commission negotiating mandate. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

UK chief Brexit negotiator David Frost will on Monday travel to Brussels to outline his countrys vision for a post-Brexit trade deal.

In a rare public appearance, Frost is expected to tell attendees at Universite Libre de Bruxelles that the UK wants to pursue a trade deal similar to those the EU has negotiated with Canada, Japan, and South Korea.

Frost is all but certain to underline the UKs governments desire to strike a deal with zero tariffs and quotas on goods, but with no alignment on standards, which is a key part of the EUs current trade deal with Canada.

But no alignment on standards would also almost certainly result in the introduction of customs checks, additional paperwork, and other limits on what types of goods can be traded.

The UK is reportedly preparing to reject several of the stipulations contained in a draft European Commission negotiating mandate, including one that would force the UK to abide by EU tax and workers rights rules.

READ MORE: AKK is not OK  Germany's conservatives are in chaos

The draft mandate insists that there must be a level playing field between the UK and EU to prevent distortions of trade and unfair competitive advantages.

Noting the geographic proximity of the UK to the bloc, the mandate says there should be common high standards in the areas of state aid, competition, state-owned enterprises, social and employment standards, environmental standards, climate change, and relevant tax matters.

Frost will likely point out that the EU has largely tariff-free agreements with Canada, South Korea, and Japan, without any regulatory alignment of this kind.

While the UK officially left the EU on 31 January, it is currently in a time-limited transition period that concludes at the end of 2020.

Talks on the trading relationship that the UK will have with the EU are due to begin in March.

Frosts visit comes after French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Sunday predicted that the UK and EU would rip each other apart during the negotiations.

I think that on trade issues and the mechanism for future relations, which we are going to start on, we are going to rip each other apart, the close ally of French president Emmanuel Macron said.

But that is part of negotiations  everyone will defend their own interests.
ROME - The United Arab Emirates has given approval for the activation of the first nuclear plant in the Arab world, in Barakah, said the country's permanent representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

"The Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) approved the operating license for reactor 1 at the Nawah company plant," said Hamad Alkaabi in a press conference in Abu Dhabi, adding that the reactor (the first of four) will be activated in the "near future".

The plant in Barakah, in the country's northwest, was created by a consortium led by Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) and Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), at a cost of 24.4 billion dollars (about 22.5 billion euros).

The first of the four reactors was supposed to go into service at the end of 2017, but the start date was postponed several times to meet security requirements. When the four reactors are fully operative, they will be able to produce 5,600 megawatts of electricity, about 25% of the country's energy requirement.

The main supply source in the United Arab Emirates, an oil-rich country, is in crude.


At least 23 people have been reported killed in a stampede that occurred as officials of the Borno State Government distributed food items to Nigerian refugees living in Niger Republic.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the Governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum, on Sunday, travelled to Diffa, a border community in Niger Republic, where he met over 120,000 Nigerians who fled their homes some years ago.

The 120,000 are among the millions of Nigerians who have been displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency in North-east Nigeria. Majority of the displaced victims reside in other communities and displaced persons camps within Nigeria. Hundreds of thousands of others, however, fled to neighbouring countries like Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

Government sources said Mondays stampede happened hours after the governor left Niger Republic for Maiduguri.

Mr Zulum had on Sunday supervised the distribution of the food items to about 30,000 refugees before he left with an instruction that the state emergency agencies should continue to distribute the materials.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the stampede happened on Monday morning as refugees began to protest the delay in the continuation of the food distribution at the two distribution sites called the MJC Boys and Girls Club in Diffa province.

A Borno official who witnessed the incident said Nigeriens living around the camp stormed the place with the hope of getting some food even though they were not meant to benefit.

The distribution supervised by Governor Zulum on Sunday was successfully carried out as the entire 30,000 that received the meal token, all got their food and clothing, the witness said, asking not to be named as he was not authorised to talk to journalists.

READ ALSO:

After the governor had left, the official continued the distribution at a venue called Gidan Wasa, where over 6000 refugees received their shares.

But things went out of control the second day when some local Nigeriens got wind of the distribution exercise continuing on Monday.

They rushed down to join the Nigerian refugees at the distribution locations; and in attempts to be the first to get the relief items, a serious stampede ensued.

The source said of the 23 persons that died, 19 were Nigeriens, while four were Nigerians.

Most of those that died were aged women and children, the source said.

The official said the fact that Nigeriens were involved in the stampede explains the fact that there is serious poverty and hunger in that axis.

When contacted, the spokesman of the Borno State governor, Isa Gusau, confirmed the development.

He said the government will not be making any official comment on the matter now, until the governor receives a detail report of what transpired from the committee handling the distribution of the items to the refugees.
A High Court in Uyo, on Friday, sentenced Nwalozie Julius to three years imprisonment for impersonating the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele.

Justice Agatha Okeke said Mr Nwalozies sentence is without an option of fine, according to a statement by the anti-graft agency, EFCC, on Monday.

The convict was first arrested by operatives of the EFCC Uyo Zonal Office on December 6, 2019, and later charged on a one-count bordering on impersonation and obtaining by false pretence to the tune of N4.5million.

The EFCC said Mr Nwalozies arrest followed credible intelligence on the activities of internet fraudsters operating in Owerri, the Imo State capital.

According to part of charges, the convict committed the crime on August 26, 2019, by impersonating the CBN governor and using the email address, emefielegodwin586@yahoo.com, with intent to obtain money, property or any advantage from one Omar Deep and other unsuspecting persons.

The EFCC said his offence was contrary to Section 22 (2) (b) (ii) of the Cybercrime (Provision, Prevention Etc) Act, 2015 and punishable under Section 22 (2) (b) (iv) of the same Act.

In the course of his arrest, the commission said the convict had confessed to the crime and forensic analysis of the HP laptop recovered from him further implicated him.

It said several incriminating documents of false pretence and fraudulent extortions were printed from Mr Nwalozies laptop which he also admitted emanated from him.

The commission added that the investigation also revealed that the convicts speciality was business email compromise (BEC) and his modus operandi involved searching for email addresses via Google search and sending convincing emails to his victims.

Court Session

He pleaded guilty to the charge, prompting Joshua Abolarin, the prosecuting counsel, to pray the court to review the facts of the case through a prosecution witness, Haliru Bagudo, an operative of the EFCC.

While reviewing the facts of the case, the prosecution tendered various exhibits through Mr Bagudo, which were admitted in evidence. Consequently, Mr Abolarin asked the court to invoke Section 274 (2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA and convict the defendant in view of the evidence adduced and the plea of the defendant.

In her judgment, Ms Okeke said she was satisfied with the evidence before the court that then the defendant was guilty as charged.

Prosecution has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant, Nwalozie Onyebuchi Julius, committed the offence as charged.

I, therefore, convict you accordingly. The court equally takes cognisance of the spree with which fraudsters defraud innocent citizens and therefore sentence you Nwalozie Onyebuchi Julius to three years imprisonment with effect from the date of your arrest.

Additionally, the convict forfeited his HP laptop, which was his instrument of crime as well as the N1 million recovered from him to the federal government.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 20:48:58|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The proposals to postpone China's "two sessions," a key event in the country's political calendar, came out Monday in a timely and responsible manner, as the latest evidence that China is trying its best to buy time for the world to contain the outbreak of novel coronavirus or COVID-19.

The openings of the annual sessions of the National People's Congress, China's highest organ of state power, and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's top political advisory body, had been held on March 5 and March 3, respectively, since 1998.

Monday's proposals conform to the reality that China has entered the most crucial stage of fighting the novel coronavirus epidemic and must prevent any risks of rendering the previous sacrifices of the entire nation in vain.

Through arduous efforts, the epidemic overall is generally under control. Outside the hardest-hit Hubei Province, the number of confirmed cases had been declining for 13 consecutive days across China by Sunday. China contains 99 percent of COVID-19 cases within its borders.

Among nearly 3,000 national lawmakers and more than 2,000 political advisors, many of them are fighting at the frontlines. Any lax efforts at this time will cause huge losses, both for China and the world.

The announcement demonstrates a responsible and transparent attitude toward epidemic control work. The proposals will gain wide public endorsement and boost national confidence.

By postponing the sessions to an appropriate time, decision-makers will have more time to examine the current situation and roll out measures more precisely and effectively to restore normal economic and social activity.

At the two sessions, national lawmakers and political advisors are expected to review and discuss a series of work reports which cover every aspect of China's development and the people's wellbeing. Growth targets and reform goals need to be set. Budgets, development plans and laws need to be reviewed and put to vote.

All these should be done on the basis of full awareness about the virus, what the impacts are, how to minimize them and boost development accordingly. The decisions and measures will also be significant to the world as China contributes nearly one-third of global economic growth.

China has given its top priority to ensure the safety and health of the Chinese people and has created a window of opportunity for other countries to intensify preparedness.

The window is still open and the best way to make up for the loss is to tackle the epidemic with speed, determination and unity.
Leo Varadkar will tell his party today that Fine Gael is preparing to go into opposition and that Sinn Fein or Fianna Fail should instead put together a government as they both have the numbers.

The move comes amid pressure for Mr Varadkar and Fianna Fails Micheal Martin to end their parties civil war rivalry and do a deal to enter coalition.

Instead, Mr Varadkar believes Fine Gael would only enter government as a last resort.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner ahead of his parliamentary party meeting in Leinster House, the Taoiseach said: Fine Gael is preparing for opposition. The country will need a strong and effective opposition. I relish the challenge of leading it.

Sinn Fein should try to put together a government of the left with Independents. Its difficult and would take time but the votes are there.

If that doesnt work, Fianna Fail should try to form a government with the Greens, Labour, and Social Democrats parties and Independents. The numbers are there.

Mr Varadkars remarks come despite Sinn Fein last week saying it could not form a coalition without Fine Gael or Fianna Fail.

His move is also expected to buy Fine Gael time ahead of the Dail sitting on Thursday, where there will unlikely be a successful vote for Taoiseach.

Nonetheless, party strategists point out that Sinn Fein has a potential 87 Dail votes to call on  outside of Fine Gael and Fianna Fail  in order to reach a government target of 80.

Senior Fine Gael figures are today also expected to rule out a reverse confidence and supply deal, where the party would have to support Fianna Fail in government.

The public gave their verdict on that in the election. It wouldnt work, said a party source.

Nonetheless, Mr Varadkar is still open to the possibility that his party may be required in a government formation deal.

As I said during the election campaign, Fine Gael will not let down the State and republic we founded, said Mr Varadkar.

We are willing to consider participating in a government but only as a last resort and only if we are wanted and needed.

The stand-off comes as smaller parties ramp up coalition talks this week.

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has invited parties to a fresh round of talks where policies are likely to be independently costed and red lines teased out. The Greens, a likely kingmaker in any coalition, wants parties to negotiate six key areas, including housing and climate change.

Mr Ryan, who is in a strong position to become Tanaiste, admitted the process could take weeks, but he warned parties about any fake approaches,

If it is just a veneer, we wont go in, he said.

Senior former political figures have also weighed into debate about the coalition talks.

Former Fianna Fail leader Bertie Ahern dismissed reports that there could be a new government by St Patricks Day in less than four weeks.

Thats not going to happen, he told RTEs The Week in Politics.

Any grand coalition would require the Social Democrats and rural Independents, as well as Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, and the Greens, he said.

Former Fine Gael leader Alan Dukes said it would be difficult to get his partys members to agree to a coalition with Fianna Fail, but it was achievable.

However, a senior party source disputed this, saying: If we go in as a smaller party in a coalition with Fianna Fail, it is lights out.

A move into opposition for Fine Gael automatically triggers an internal vote of confidence in Mr Varadkar within two months, as required under the partys constitution.
By PTI

GENEVA: The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday warned against "blanket measures" over the novel coronavirus outbreak, pointing out the epidemic outside of China was only affecting a "tiny" proportion of the population.

WHO also said that - with a mortality rate of around 2 percent -- COVID-19 was "less deadly" than other coronaviruses such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

WHO officials rejected the suggestion that all cruises should be halted to avoid risking a new nest of infection like the one on the coronavirus-hit Diamond Princess off Japan.

"Measures should be taken proportional to the situation. Blanket measures may not help," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva.

The outbreak, which has infected some 70,500 people in China and killed over 1,700, has battered manufacturing and tourism across the region and led to multiple travel restrictions including for flights and cruises.

"If we are going to disrupt every cruise ship in the world on the off chance that there might be some potential contact with some potential pathogen then where do we stop?" said Michael Ryan, head of WHO's health emergencies programme.

Ryan said that even at the epicentre of the crisis in the city of Wuhan in central Hubei Province, the "attack rate" -- a measure of the speed of spread of the virus -- was four per 100,000.

ALSO READ: 99 more confirmed virus cases on board Japan cruise ship

"This is a very serious outbreak and it has the potential to grow, but we need to balance that in terms of the number of people infected. Outside Hubei this epidemic is affecting a very, very tiny, tiny proportion of people," he said.

Tedros also referred to an apparent decline in new cases of the disease in recent days but said that the trend "must be interpreted very cautiously".

"Trends can change as new populations are affected. It is too early to tell if this reported decline will continue. Every scenario is still on the table," he said.

Tedros said that more than 80 per cent of patients infected with the virus have mild disease and recover, while 14 per cent have severe diseases such as pneumonia.

Around five per cent of cases are considered critical with possible multi-organ failure, septic shock and respiratory failure and, in some cases, death," he added.

Tedros said there were "relatively few cases" among children and more research was needed to understand why.
After a while, I began to wonder: Why did Washingtons biographers spend so much time on something that did so little to break the first president out of his marble mold  their own stated intention? And if they focused so much on this, had their Great Man worship influenced their interpretation of other aspects of the life of our founding-est founding father? When I dug into the primary sources, I found myself immediately vexed.

Lawrence Washington, the presidents half-brother, is always presented as his god, for example, and Mary, his mother, as his scourge. Lawrence, according to Mr. Chernow, concocted a plan to spring fourteen-year-old George from his mothers domination and launch him on a promising career in the Royal Navy. She doesnt consent, and Mr. Chernows takeaway is that she seemed to measure her sons worth not by what he might accomplish elsewhere but by what he could do for her, even if it meant thwarting his career.

Its a strange read. Lawrences own letters home from service had been harrowing, and Lawrence was an officer. George would be a midshipman, a low-ranking position. About a third of recruits around his age did not survive their first two years. Marys refusal set him on a better, safer path: By age 17, George, who loved the outdoors and was good at math, was the youngest surveyor in Culpeper County, and by age 18, he owned thousands of acres of land.

The same thing happened when I looked into his final act. The way his biographers tell it, youd think that George Washington, who held hundreds of people enslaved at the time of his death, had a change of heart during the Revolution, which led him to free his slaves in his will  a generous read that allows for a redemptive conclusion.

Its true that the Marquis de Lafayette, a French aristocrat Washington met during the Revolution, spent the rest of his life proposing various ways Washington could free his slaves during his lifetime, setting a powerful example for the infant nation. Instead, Washington freed one man, Billy Lee, upon his death. The 123 other people had to wait until Martha Washington either died or chose to free them  which they were aware of, because Washingtons will was published. Martha, who wrote things like Blacks are so bad in thair nature that they have not the least Gratatude for the kindness that may be shewed to them, was terrified, and she signed a deed of manumission a year later.
The states attorneys office supports this proposal, said Aviva Bowen, the officers director of external affairs. Providing the judiciary with all of the relevant information regarding an offenders background is imperative for setting a bond that protects the public while at the same time maintains the individuals rights. We remain committed to ensuring public safety in Cook County and reviewing procedures to keep firearms out of the hands of those most likely to commit violent crimes.
In a major land deal, realty firm on Monday said it has acquired nearly 27 acre land parcel in the national capital for Rs 1,359 crore to develop luxury housing project.

The company said in a statement that it has added a new project in theresidential market of Ashok Vihar, Delhi.

"With the land acquisition value at Rs 1,359 crore, this is one of the largest land transactions in India in recent times," said.

The payment for this land will be made in instalments over several years as stipulated in the tender documents.

The company will develop a luxury housing project on this 26.58 acre land parcel, with a built up area of 3.28 million sq ft.

This is Godrej Properties' second project in Delhi after the launch of Godrej South Estate in Okhla in 2019.

The company has developed many successful residential projects in other parts of NCR, including Gurgaon and Noida.

Pirojsha Godrej, Executive Chairman, Godrej Propertiessaid, "We believe this project in central Delhi is one of the most exciting projects in our development portfolio and will contribute significantly to the growth of our business in NCR. We will seek to ensure a landmark project that delivers an outstanding lifestyle for its residents".

is a real estate arm of the Godrej group.
A level II fire has broken out in the GST Bhavan at Maharana Pratap chowk in Mumbai's Mazgaon. The fire broke out on the 8th floor of the GST Bhavan. Fire tenders have reached the spot and rescue operations are underway.

Several people are feared to be trapped inside. What led to the fire is yet to be ascertained.

(This is a developing story)
TROOPER BHPian



Join Date: Jul 2019 Location: BOM<->IXE Posts: 376 Thanked: 3,067 Times

View My Garage





re: Going forward, all 4x4 cars from Tata Motors will be branded 'Safari Edition' Quote: revvharder Originally Posted by I don't think the company backed the product, TATA themselves are ruining it's name. The product just won't sell because it has a magic ride, the same happened with Duster. They could learn a thing or two from Mahindra on how to sell a decade old product by getting him some new clothes and teaching him new party tricks, there is a reason the Scorpio still sells like hot cake and the legendary Safari was struggling to the point that they had to pull the life support.



Add to this, I don't know how Mahindra treat their premium customers, but in my short experience, Tata still seem clueless on that front, for now.



And now Tata has another unwanted record in their name. A '-1' in the sales chart attributed to the Safari. At a time when it should be receiving a respectable, if not a grand farewell. I agree. They treated the Safari for a decade, just like they treated the Harrier initially. Expected the featureless Safari to sell in a market where feature requirements are being dictated by customers. Mahindra regularly made decent efforts to update the Scorpio. Makes me wonder if they gave the Safari the cold shoulder just to promote the Hexa.Add to this, I don't know how Mahindra treat their premium customers, but in my short experience, Tata still seem clueless on that front, for now.And now Tata has another unwanted record in their name. A '-1' in the sales chart attributed to the Safari. At a time when it should be receiving a respectable, if not a grand farewell. Last edited by TROOPER : 14th February 2020 at 21:30 .
Besides Egypt, which already has a confirmed case of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), researchers and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have identified Algeria and South Africa as African countries most at risk while Nigeria, Ethiopia, Sudan, Angola, Tanzania, Ghana and Kenya as having moderate chance of importing the virus.

The researchers, in a study published in Nature, said they were most concerned about Nigeria, Ethiopia, Sudan, Angola, Tanzania, Ghana and Kenya because of their weak healthcare systems, low economic status and unstable political situation which make them highly vulnerable.

WHO Director General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, had said the agencys decision to declare the outbreak a global health emergency, was mainly based on concerns that the epidemic could spread in nations with fragile healthcare platforms.



For that reason, researchers are also worried about the disease spreading among people in Africa.

An epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, United States and a co-author of the Harvard teams model, Marc Lipsitch, said though Africa was not as exposed to the ailment as those nations in South East Asia due to direct international flights from Wuhan.

But, he nonetheless feared that a large number of Chinese labourers on the continent and their travels between China and Africa were a possible route for transmission.

The analysis, posted on medRxiv, examined flights to Africa from Chinese cities that had reported infections, but it excluded towns in Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, because of the lockdown that has restricted travels from many locations there since late January.

Follow Us on Facebook  @LadunLiadi; Instagram  @LadunLiadi; Twitter  @LadunLiadi; Youtube  @LadunLiadiTV for updates
The Southern Environmental Law Center has filed a motion to prevent the U.S. Council of Environmental Quality from moving forward with proposed environmental policy changes until the organization provides requested public documents.

The request for a preliminary injunction, filed Thursday by SELC attorneys, is the latest development in a federal lawsuit from the Charlottesville-based organization against the agency.

Spurred by a notice of proposed changes to the regulations of the National Environmental Policy Act, the lawsuit argues that requests made by the SELC under the Freedom of Information Act have not been met.

This led the SELC to file the request for the injunction, which would prevent the agency from closing a 60-day comment period and effectively stall the proposed changes.

The SELC claims that the proposed changes to NEPA are sweeping and industry-friendly, and could cause long-term environmental damage. Officials have claimed NEPA holds up infrastructure projects and that change is needed.

Currently, before major infrastructure projects such as bridges, highways and pipelines can begin, an environmental impact review is required, outlining potential harm.

The proposed rules would change the regulations, narrowing which projects require an assessment and creating a deadline of one year to complete studies for small projects and two years for bigger projects.

Through FOIA requests, the SELC has attempted to obtain public documents that could shed light on the decision making behind the proposed changes.

In the time since the SELC filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Charlottesville in November 2018, the organization has only received a few responsive documents.

But, according to a January motion from the Council of Environmental Quality, officials have been trying to respond reasonably promptly and expect to produce all responsive documents by November.

This case is about an agency with less than two dozen employees and a budget of under $3 million per year that is responding in good faith and reasonably promptly to FOIA requests while also performing its core mission under a number of federal laws, including overseeing all federal agency implementation of the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) through promulgation and interpretation of government-wide regulations, the subject matter of which SELCs instant FOIA request centers, the filing reads.

However, the SELC has taken issue with officials proposed deadline, which falls in the same month as a presidential election and far after the end of the 60-day comment period.

The irony of all this is that the comment process puts a high value on informed input from the public, but at the same time, the Trump administration is keeping information away from the public, Kym Hunter, a senior SELC attorney who filed the request for the preliminary injunction, said in a news release. The rules call for openness and transparency, but instead the administration has shut the door and boarded the windows.

NEPAs public input requirements have resulted in improved outcomes that better served communities, the SELC argued in the release.

The Trump administration is breaking the law by not providing information to the public and, unbelievably, is doubling down on that duplicity to gain an advantage, Hunter said. Our communities deserve to know who or what drove this decision, and were committed to getting those answers.

Cale Jaffe, director of the Environmental and Regulatory Law Clinic at the University of Virginia and a former SELC attorney, echoed similar sentiments as Hunter.

NEPA has remained largely untouched for 50 years, and Jaffe said the speed at which the agency is looking to make changes is unprecedented.

[In order to] do something as mammoth as this, there is a need for meetings and there are public comment requirements, he said. Its a deliberative process; a rollback like this is not designed to move quickly.

NEPA was intended to create an environmental mandate, Jaffe said, forcing developers and the government to consider the environmental impact of potential development and determine less harmful methods.

Further complicating matters, Jaffe said, is an argument made by New York University professor Richard Revesz, who said he does not believe the proposed changes would hold up in court.

[Revesz] has predicted that rollbacks would violate core statute of NEPA, which instead of speeding up the process, it would slow it down because it would result in more litigation, Jaffe said.

No hearing dates are currently set in the lawsuit, and the Council of Environmental Quality has yet to respond to the motion filed last week.

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
by Thom Forbes @tforbes, February 14, 2020

At Amazons request, a federal judge has temporarily halted Microsofts implementation of the $10-billion, cloud-based Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) program that aims to modernize the Department of Defenses technical infrastructure. Amazon maintains that President Donald Trump personally intervened in the awarding of the contract because of his animosity toward the company and its founder, Jeff Bezos.

The contents of the decision, issued Thursday by Judge Patricia Campbell-Smith in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, remains under seal. But the order increases the pressure on the U.S. government as it defends against a formal protest filed by Amazon Web Services over its handling of the contract process, CNNs Brian Fung reports.

advertisement advertisement

Earlier this week, Amazon asked the court for permission to gather testimony from President Donald Trump, defense secretary Mark Esper and former defense secretary James Mattis. A decision is expected on that request within weeks, Fung reminds us.

Its unclear why the documents were sealed, writes CNBCs Annie Palmer, who broke the news about yesterdays action.

Amazons cloud-computing arm, Amazon Web Services, is instructed to earmark $42 million for any costs and damages that could be incurred in the event that the injunction was issued wrongfully, the filing states. Amazon must file a notice with the courts indicating it has obtained the $42 million by Feb. 20. Microsoft and Amazon must respond to the filing by Feb. 27, Palmer writes.

Amazon, which had been seen as a front-runner to win the contract, filed a lawsuit in November just weeks after the contract was awarded to Microsoft. The Amazon lawsuit said the Defense Departments decision was full of egregious errors, which were a result of improper pressure from President Donald Trump, who launched repeated public and behind-the-scenes attacks to steer the contract away from Amazon to harm his perceived political enemy, Bezos," write Reuters David Shepardson and Nandita Bose.

When Microsoft was awarded the contract, the Defense Department was explicit that the bidding process had been correctly executed. The acquisition process was conducted in accordance with applicable laws and regulations, it said at the time. All offerors were treated fairly and evaluated consistently with the solicitations stated evaluation criteria, Kate Conger reports for The New York Times.

In public, Mr. Trump has said there were other great companies that should have a chance at the contract. But a speechwriter for former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said in a recent book that Mr. Trump had wanted to foil Amazon and give the contract to another company, Conger adds.

The order comes just one day before the Defense Department had planned to go live with what it has long argued is a crucial national defense priority. A Defense Department spokeswoman said the litigation will hurt U.S. troops, Aaron Gregg reports for The Washington Post.

We are disappointed in todays ruling and believe the actions taken in this litigation have unnecessarily delayed implementing DoDs modernization strategy and put our nations warfighters in harms way, Rachel VanJohnson, a spokeswoman for the Pentagons cloud computing program office, said in a statement. However, we are confident in our award of the JEDI Cloud contract to Microsoft and remain focused on getting this critical capability into the hands of our warfighters as quickly and efficiently as possible, Gregg writes.

Bezos owns The Washington Post. Trump has raged about that papers coverage of him since 2015, Jonathan Chiat pointed out in an Intelligencer column for New York when the lawsuit first came to light.

The story here is almost certainly a massive scandal, probably more significant than the Ukraine scandal that spurred impeachment proceedings. Trump improperly used government policy to punish the owner of an independent newspaper as retribution for critical coverage. It resembles the Ukraine scandal because it is a flagrant abuse of power, and has been hiding in plain sight for months  The scale of the abuse, though, is far more serious, because it is a concrete manifestation of Trumps authoritarian ambitions, Chiat wrote.

That was before some more recent developments, such as Trump being accused yesterday of attempting to Extort NY Governor in Plain Sight, as the headline over Jerry Lambes story for Law&Crime puts it. Or Trumps tweeted criticism of federal prosecutors original sentence recommendations for his pal Roger Stone, who was found guilty of witness tampering and lying to Congress, as The Washington Posts Amber Phillips recounts.

And who knows what this long weekend will produce? Enjoy your Presidents' Day and well see you Tuesday.
RACINE  John Lehman mostly identifies as a grandparent now, but hes better known in Racine as a former teacher, city alderman, state representative, state senator and candidate for lieutenant governor.

But before all that, Lehman made a decision that profoundly shaped his life: In the midst of the Vietnam War, on Aug. 5, 1968 he refused to be inducted into the U.S. armed forces; refusing to do so was a felony.

He was sentenced to 90 days in jail and 21 months of community service at a hospital. It wasnt the worst sentence he could have received, but it did mean he had a felony record.

On Sept. 16, 1974, then-President Gerald Ford announced the formation of a clemency board which would review applications from people convicted of draft violations, desertion or abandoning their post. A press release of the announcement states that Ford, wishes the heal the divisions caused by the Vietnam War.

For Lehman, it was a lifeline. After he received his full pardon in July 1975, he was able to go back to teaching and eventually begin his career in politics.

Lehman recently talked about his experiences with reporter Jillian Weinberger from the Vox Media podcast called The Impact, which looks at how policy decisions affect people.

With some presidential candidates considering Fords clemency board model to address the lingering impacts of the war on drugs, the podcast looks at how that board affected Lehmans life and the life of someone who took a very different path.

Two sides of the war

In the podcast, Lehmans experience is juxtaposed with Jim Dougovito, another Midwesterner from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan also born in 1945 shortly after their fathers returned from fighting in World War II.

But unlike Lehman, when Dougovitos draft card came in the mail, he accepted induction and served in Vietnam in 1969 and 1970.

Dougovito still walks with a limp from a bullet he took in the leg during a firefight with the Viet Cong, an insurgent group of South Vietnamese that aligned with the North Vietnamese and fought the U.S. and South Vietnam armies.

When Dougovito returned to Michigan, his feelings towards the war were complicated. He joined the Michigan National Guard, displays his Silver Star medal for valor and has Combat Wounded Veteran stamped across his customized license plate. Its an important perspective about how he sees himself. But he also told Weinberger: 58,000-plus lives, thats a big sacrifice for what little we got out of that.

Ford, who is originally from Grand Rapids, Mich., wanted someone from Michigan on the clemency board and Dougovito got the call. He said the board was a mix of conservatives and liberals  Dougovito describes himself as a conservative  but he found himself sympathetic to some of the applicants.

The podcast emphasizes how stuck Lehman was before he was granted clemency. With a felony on his record, he couldnt teach and was living with his wife and child in an apartment above the garage at the DeKoven Center, 600 21st St., where he worked as a maintenance man without pay. While he had a free apartment, he needed a second job for income. But more than anything, he felt stuck.

That all changed when he received his pardon in the mail.

The rest of the story

The podcast switches gears shortly after Lehman received his pardon, but of course his story went on from there.

Lehman said that while he had his teaching career back on track, there were some other options to ponder, such as entering politics. But he initially believed that would never happen for him.

Because I thought nobodys going to want to elect someone whos been to jail, he said. So, I just went about my business.

Then the sitting alderman in his district died suddenly of a heart attack. Lehman put his name in to be considered as a replacement. He wasn't selected but a few years later, he ran for the office and was elected in his own right.

People through the years have been pretty understanding or forgiving, said Lehman. I firmly believed on the basis of my religious beliefs that I couldnt serve in Vietnam ... years later I think some people had a certain amount of respect for that.

Some conservative groups used Lehmans record against him, particularly when he ran as the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, but he didnt think they influenced his election results (Lehman and his gubernatorial running mate Mary Burke lost the 2014 election to Scott Walker and Rebecca Kleefisch). He believes that was partly due to his record with supporting veterans.

I never thought that anyone who served in Vietnam was a bad guy; I thought they were by and large patriotic, Lehman said. I just felt that the Vietnam War was wrong and I had to stand up against it. But that doesnt mean I dont have a lot of respect for Vietnam veterans, or any veteran.

But mostly he attributes overcoming of any resentment on anyones part to time.

The real healing thing is the elapsing of time, said Lehman. It was just so long ago. Time heals. And part of it is that era is like it is now, where theres big division and our society doesnt want that huge division. So after Vietnam, I think there were a lot of people who calmed down about it and saw how complicated it was.

Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 2

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
North Canton City Schools

A purse lost by a girl 63 years ago has been found in the wall of a school in Ohio.

Chas Pyle, a custodian at North Canton Middle School in Ohio, found the red purse wedged behind a locker while carrying out maintenance work last year.

After investigating its contents, the school this week identified the purses owner as former student Patti Rumfola.

Rumfola, who lost the item in 1957, died in 2013 but the school was able to get in contact with her children to return the purse.

The school said in a Facebook post: Thanks to the investigative work of many of you on Facebook, we were able to track down Patti's family. Unfortunately, we found out that Patti has passed away.

"Pattis five children were together for a family gathering in the fall where they opened the purse to have a glimpse into their mothers life as a teenager at Hoover High School.

With Rumfolas childrens permission, the school revealed that the purse held their mothers identification card, membership cards to various organisations, several ticket stubs, photographs of family, friends and a dog, and nine coins.

Some of you may remember the purse that was discovered at North Canton Middle School last spring. The purse belonged to... Posted by North Canton City Schools on Thursday, February 13, 2020

One of the photos had a written message that said: Patti, good luck to a swell girl and friend. Never forget the wonderful times we had. I hope we can be friends always, even though were far apart. Bonnie, 56.

It also contained a comb, some make-up, stationery and a stick of chewing gum, typical items for a teenage girl in 1957 to be carrying.

Rumfolas five children each kept one of the nine coins found as a token of remembrance of their mother, said the school.
The new Defra Secretary has been urged to seize the opportunities for British farming post-Brexit transition period.

George Eustice was appointed the new Defra Secretary on Thursday (13 February) after years of experience in the department as farming minister.

Theresa Villiers was dropped from the role following a dramatic post-election cabinet reshuffle.

Mr Eustice has now become the seventh Environment Secretary since 2010.

He stepped up from his previous role as minister of state for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food at Defra, a post he held for six years.

The NFU said the industry must work with him to 'pave the way for a thriving food and farming sector post-Brexit'.

NFU President Minette Batters said that the Secretary of States support will be crucial as UK farming faces new opportunities and challenges in life outside the EU.

Mr Eustice will play a key part in ensuring Britains food values are not compromised in future trade deals, she added.

I look forward to working with the new Secretary of State to position British food and farming as a global leader in sustainable, high quality climate-friendly food.

George Eustice is well respected within the farming community for his knowledge and understanding of farming but also his hard work as a minister in Defra over the past six years.

I hope to welcome him on to my farm very soon to further discuss British farmings potential as we start a life outside of the EU, Mrs Batters said.
These days, Chloe Chang, a Taiwanese woman stranded at the center of Chinas coronavirus outbreak, says she wakes up every half-hour during the night. Sometimes she breaks down in tears.

She and her family are effectively trapped in her grandmothers apartment building, where a man recently died from the virus. Workers in hazmat suits haunt the surrounding streets, and the neighborhood has a strong police presence. There are shortages of food and other essentials throughout Yichang, the Hubei Province city of more than four million where they have been in limbo for weeks.

No household can go out at this time, said Ms. Chang, a 26-year-old industrial artist. She said she feared that even a trip for groceries would increase her chances of contracting the virus.

My child has eaten nine meals of plain noodles in the past three days, she said of her 2-year-old son.
Pediatric cardiologist, Houston, Texas

The child of a Mexican father and a Brazilian mother who met in an English class in Chicago, Keila Natilde Lopez has always wanted to be a doctor. But Hispanic doctors are rare: In her class at the University of Illinois, 10 Hispanic students started out as premed majors; two made it to medical school. At graduation from med school, she was the last one standing.

Throughout the entire process, I felt an urge that there are so few of me that make itI cant just be the doctor that sees one kid at a time, so I have to do more.

During her residency, a flier came across her desk. God is kind of funny, Lopez recalls. It said something like: Do you feel like you want to do something more? It advertised a minority health policy program at Harvard.

After graduating from the program, she felt so inspired that she almost abandoned cardiology for public health. Instead, she discovered how to apply her knowledge with the passion she gained.

Next, she began a fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine, where she noticed a pattern in her patients. How come the kids that I see that have this problem are all Latino? Lopez wondered. Today, she explores what might be causing a cluster of cases of congenital heart disease among Latinos.

Lopez has now seen over 1,000 patients, beginning in utero through an infant surgery. As some of her patients are growing into their teen years, she noted that depression, anxiety, or ADHD are high among kids with congenital heart disease or cardiac arrythmias. Further, rates of anxiety and depression are substantially lower if youre black, Hispanic, or Asian, which may mean an under recognition ...

1

You have reached the end of this Article Preview You have reached the end of this Article Preview To continue reading, subscribe now. Subscribers have full digital access.

Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here.
Jersey City still has not paid nearly $200,000 in fees awarded to attorneys for the Kushner Companies, who took the city to court over public records related the massive twin tower One Journal Square project.

And the city may be on the hook for even more, a Hudson County Superior Court judge said in a recent ruling that revived the 18-month battle over city emails and documents sought through the states Open Public Records Act.

Judges last year awarded attorneys for One Journal Square Partners  whose proposal included two 56-story residential towers near the Journal Square PATH Station  $98,756 and $94,606 in two separate rulings. The awards stemmed from a judges ruling in December 2018 that forced Jersey City to provide the documents.

The documents were sought as evidence in a federal lawsuit, claiming Jersey City denied a tax abatement for the $821 million project based on city officials hatred of President Trump. Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law, is the former CEO of Kushner Companies. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit, but it was amended and refiled.

By the time Jersey City completed handed over 18,155 documents, attorneys for Kushner Companies had already argued before the court that the records were deficient and overly redacted.

The two sides had a hearing scheduled for Sept. 13 over the redactions, but they agreed to adjourn it in light of dismissal of the federal suit. In October, the citys order to resolve the litigation was approved by Judge Joseph Isabella when it appeared that the Kushner Companies attorneys failed to oppose the order.

It turns out the opposition to the order was filed before the deadline, but it was somehow not connected to the other filings in the case, Isabella said in his ruling dated Jan. 29.

The Kushners already have thousands of emails, and the facts are that they didnt find anything to substantiate their absurd claim, Jersey City spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione said. It is embarrassing for the Kushners that they put in a bogus lawsuit to begin with, and they just cannot accept the fact that they arent entitled to a tax abatement. This is more desperation on their part.

In his decision, Isabella reopened the case and scheduled a new hearing on the redactions for Feb. 28. The judge also said Kushner Companies attorneys could be awarded more money because of litigation that resulted from (Jersey Citys) continuous failure to provide the records in violation of Court orders and the substantive issue of whether the documents provide are insufficient.

Attorneys from Sills, Cummis and Gross of Newark, who represent the Kushner Companies, could not be reached for comment Monday.

In August, Wallace-Scalcione said the Kushners have not received a nickel from Jersey City and she didnt expect that to change.

The property in the heart of Journal Square has been vacant since an L-shaped strip of stores and offices were demolished 14 years ago. In the meantime, one of three Journal Squared buildings has been completed and a second one is under construction.

The developer of that project is the Kushner Real Estate (KRE) Group, headed by Jonathan Kushner, who is related to Jared Kushner.

This report was updated on Feb. 18 to include a response from Jersey City officials.
By Kanwal Sibal



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 neighboring Islamic countries, namely, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, to acquire Indian citizenship on a relatively fast track basis.





Kanwal Sibal
It might be a tradition for royal women to pose for photos on the Lindo Wing steps after having a baby, but the Duchess of Cambridge has admitted she found her own first post-birth photo call with Prince George "terrifying".

Kate made the comments on the Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast with Giovanna Fletcher.

The Duchess' appearance on the podcast was part of her work with the Early Years Foundation, which aims to help improve early childhood with expert studies and research.

Kate and William with Prince George outside the Lindo Wing / Getty Images

The work has also seen the Duchess go behind the scenes for a few days at Kingston Hospital Maternity Ward.

Kate and William pose with Prince George on the steps of the Lindo Wing / Getty Images

Kate told Fletcher sitting inside the hospital after having Prince George in 2013 and knowing there were crowds of cameras and well-wishers outside was a "terrifying" prospect.

Press and well wishers outside the Lindo Wing in 2013 / getty images

"What is was like knowing so many people were outside after you've given birth and you're in your little cocoon with your new family?" asked Fletcher.

The Duchess of Cambridge talks about parenting with Giovanna Fletcher / PA

"Yeah, slightly terrifying, slightly terrifying, Im not going to lie" the Duchess responded.

Kate and William pose with Prince Louis in 2018 / AFP/Getty Images

"Everyone had been so supportive and both William and I were really conscious that this was something that everyone was excited about and, you know, were hugely grateful for the support that the public had shown us, and actually for us to be able to share that joy and appreciation with the public, I felt was really important" she said.

Kate and William pose with Princess Charlotte / AFP/Getty Images

"But equally it was coupled with a newborn baby, and inexperienced parents, and the uncertainty of what that held, so there were all sorts of mixed emotions."

Kate posed again on the steps after having Princess Charlotte in 2015 and Prince Louis in 2018.

Diana with Prince Harry on the steps of the Lindo Wing / NJ/REX/Shutterstock

The royal tradition of giving birth at the Lindo Wing began with Princess Anne, who had her two children, Zara and Peter Phillips there.

Kate's late mother-in-law Princess Diana also took to the steps to show off a newborn Prince William and Prince Harry.

Diana with William on the steps of the Lindo Wing / REX/Shutterstock

But the question of whether royal women should be obliged to pose for photos outside the wing, which is part of St Mary's Hospital Paddington, has thrown up debate in recent years.

Harry and Meghan with Archie at Windsor Castle / Getty Images
EU foreign ministers have agreed to a naval mission in the Mediterranean to enforce an arms embargo in Libya that has been repeatedly violated. Experts doubt the operation will lead to a lasting ceasefire.

"We all agreed to create a mission to block the entry of arms into Libya," Italian Foreign Minister Luigi di Maio said Monday following an EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels.

The talks, a follow-up to Sunday's Munich conference and last month's Berlin summit, had been undermined by wrangling between member states about whether to revive an EU-led naval mission to uphold the arms embargo in Tripoli.

Austria and Hungary were against the idea fearing that it could create a "pull effect" for migrants hoping to cross into Europe.

Di Maio and his Austrian counterpart Alexander Schallenberg insisted the new maritime mission was not a repeat of the 2015 Operation Sophia, an EU military response to human smuggling rings.

"There is a basic consensus that we now want a military operation and not a humanitarian mission," Schallenberg said, referring to the rescue fleet that ended up ferrying migrants across the Mediterranean to Europe.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said there had been a long discussion about whether a naval element was needed but finally it was agreed it was "necessary to get a complete picture."

Flood of weapons

"But it will be only in the eastern Mediterranean, where the weapons routes run," Maas said.

On Sunday, UN deputy special envoy to Libya Stephanie Williams, described the current arms embargo in place as a "joke", calling on those who breach it to be held to account.

It is unlikely the EU's revamped maritime mission will end the comedy.

"In order to make an embargo work you need to have the political will to convince those that are sending weapons to Libya to stop," reckons Mitchell Belfer, head of the European Gulf Information Centre in Rome.

Story continues

"For example, the United Arab Emirates is only supplying [General Khalifa] Haftar because Turkey has not stopped supplying [Fayez al] Sarraj. If you cannot stop one weapon flow, you cannot stop the other and there's no country in Europe that is willing to get their hands dirty on this," Belfer told RFI.

Foreign weapons have flooded into the North African state almost a decade after Muammar Gaddafis fall in 2011.

Turkey intervention

Violence escalated in April last year when renegade General Khalifa Haftar launched a bid to take the capital, Tripoli, from the UN-recognized government, led by Fayez al-Sarraj.

Haftar and his Libyan National Army are backed by Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, France and Russia, whereas the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) of premier Fayez al-Sarraj is backed by Turkey, Qatar, and Italy.

The standoff has intensified with the intervention of Turkish troops last month to shore up al-Sarraj who has lost control of most of Libya's oil facilities.

The race to rearm has seen the combatants violate a truce signed at last month's summit in Berlin more than 100 times, with the UN warning that it is "holding by a thread."

The series of talks have done little to produce a lasting solution to Libya's crisis, partly because the main protagonists have been absent.

"Neither side has been able and willing to meet each other for a very long time," comments Emmanuel Dupuy, president of the Institute for European Prospective and Security in Paris, suggesting EU leaders should look for a representative to speak on behalf of the warring rivals.

Ambivalent approach

"At the last African Union summit, there were calls for an African solution to Libya's crisis, notably led by Congo President Denis Sassou Nguesso," Dupuy told RFI, referring to the upcoming Inter-Libyan Reconciliation Conference.

For Belfer, more cohesion and less division on Europe's part is needed.

"If the international community wants to see a more Islamist dominated or a more Muslim Brotherhood dominated Libya, then support the Sarraj Government. If they are interested in a more secular form of governance in Libya, then it should be Haftar, but decisions have to be made. "

Prime minister al-Sarraj on Saturday warned that foreign backing for his rival would only "prolong the war and create deeply rooted hatred that will be difficult to overcome."

Belfer however, reckons that "artificially freezing the conflict" through ceasefire deals is what is prolonging the conflict and that it is high time that world leaders settled on one clear victor.

"The current ambivalent approach to Libya is just prolonging the conflict for generations to come," he said.
Buylolskins.com scored 44 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 3 Jan 2014, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

The total number of people who shared the buylolskins homepage on Delicious. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the buylolskins homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if buylolskins has a Facebook fan page). The total number of people who shared the buylolskins homepage on StumbleUpon. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the buylolskins homepage on Twitter + the total number of buylolskins followers (if buylolskins has a Twitter account). The total number of people who shared the buylolskins homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button.

Basic Information

PAGE TITLE buylolskins.com DESCRIPTION KEYWORDS OTHER KEYWORDS pax sivir, buylolskins, sivir, pax jax, silver kayle, silver, kayle



The description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. The title found in the head section of the homepage. The keywords meta-tag 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.

Domain and Server

DOCTYPE HTML 5.0 CHARSET AND LANGUAGE English (United States) UTF-8English (United States) DETECTED LANGUAGE English English SERVER Apache/2.2.25 (Unix) mod_ssl/2.2.25 OpenSSL/1.0.0-fips DAV/2 mod_bwlimited/1.4 (PHP/5.3.26) OPERATIVE SYSTEM Linux Linux

Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) Type of server and offered services. The language of buylolskins.com as detected by CoolSocial algorithms. Character set and language of the site. Operative System running on the server.

Site Traffic trend during the last year. Only available for sites ranked <= 100000 in the world.

Referring domains for buylolskins.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

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 type of Facebook page. The description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users. The URL of the found Facebook page. Facebook Timeline is the new layout of Facebook pages. 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
Government is aware that the State Council of Traditional Rulers has stepped into the matter and we are confident that the council will take appropriate steps to preserve peaceful coexistence among the Obas in the state. We do not want any crisis in any part of the State.
She's still working to complete 250 hours of community service as part of her sentence in the college admissions scandal.

And on Sunday, Felicity Huffman once again headed to her work placement, this time with daughter Sophia whose SAT scores were inflated after the former Desperate Housewives star paid $15,000.

The 19-year-old, whose dad is actor William H. Macy, carried what appeared to be a tray of muffins as she accompanied her mother into the facility.

Sentence: Felicity Huffman continued her court-ordered community service in LA on Sunday and was accompanied by daughter Sophia, 19, whose SAT scores she paid $15,000 to boost

Huffman, 57, pleaded guilty to a fraud conspiracy charge on May 13 last year and served just under two weeks in federal prison, being released on October 25.

In addition to her prison term and community service, her sentence included 12 months of probation and a $30,000 fine.

Her famous husband, with whom she also shares daughter Georgia, 17, was not charged as a result of Operation Varsity Blues.

The scandal, however, does not seem to have damaged Sophia's ambitions to follow her famous parents into a Hollywood acting career.

She bragged on Instagram last month that she has landed a part in the second season of Jordan Peele's rebooted Twilight Zone series for CBS All Access.

Scandal: Huffman, 57, pleaded guilty to a fraud conspiracy charge on May 13 last year as part of the college admissions scandal and served 11 days in federal prison, being released on October 25. Her sentence also includes 12 months of probation and a $30,000 fine

Moving on: The scandal, however, does not seem to have damaged Sophia's ambitions to follow her famous parents into a Hollywood acting career

Cast: Sophia bragged on Instagram last month that she has landed a part in the second season of Jordan Peele's rebooted Twilight Zone series for CBS All Access

For her community service requirement, Huffman has been working at The Teen Project in Los Angeles.

The non-profit organization serves at-risk homeless and sex trafficked young women.

The Transamerica star was one of 50 parents accused of paying bribes and cheating to help their children get into some of America's top universities.

Full House star Lori Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli were among those indicted in the case and they have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.

The couple have been charged with paying $500,000 to get their daughters Bella and Olivia into USC as crew recruits, even though neither of them are rowers.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 02:18:06|Editor: Xiaoxia

Video Player Close

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban delivers his annual state-of-the-nation speech in Budapest, Hungary, on Feb. 16, 2020. Viktor Orban on Sunday announced a new climate action plan and spoke about future challenges in his annual state-of-the-nation speech. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)

BUDAPEST, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Sunday announced a new climate action plan and spoke about future challenges in his annual state-of-the-nation speech.

"The government has adopted a climate action plan this week. On July 1, illegal landfills will be eradicated and polluters will be punished. Disposable plastics are banned, allowing metal and glass bottles to be reused. We will protect the Danube and the Tisza rivers from pollution," Orban said.

Under the climate action plan, 10 trees will be planted for every newborn in Hungary and by 2030 the proportion of the country's forest area will be increased to 27 percent.

Under the plan, the Hungarian government will support the production and purchase of cheap electric vehicles and by 2022 new buses in public transport will all be electric.

Orban said his government would expect multinational companies to adopt environmentally friendly solutions. The government will support the transition of small- and medium-sized businesses to go green with 32 billion forints (103 million U.S dollars) over the next two years.

Orban also spoke about his concerns for the future: "In the years ahead, we have cause for concern. I see the coming of dangerous years, even in 2020 -- climate crisis, demographic decline and sinister shadows threatening the European economy."

"The European economy and the eurozone have come to a standstill, and as 85 percent of Hungarian goods go to the EU, their problem is also ours," Orban warned.

Internationally, he said: "Competition will never cease to exist in the world, but Europe seems to want to stay out of it, to restrict competition within the (European) Union in terms of taxation, employment and services."

"If we do not want Europe to be pushed off the track, competition between Member States must be established so that they can compete with each other," he added.
French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said Sunday she had been chosen by the ruling party to run for mayor of Paris, replacing Benjamin Griveaux, the candidate toppled by a leaked sex video.

"I'm going for it with the aim of winning," Buzyn told French news agency AFP.

A ruling party source confirmed that she was quitting the government to launch her campaign and would be replaced in the coming hours.

Griveaux, a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron, pulled out of the race on Friday over a video posted online which showed a man masturbating, along with racy text messages sent to a woman.

His departure left Macron's Republic on the Move (LREM) party scrambling to find a replacement candidate for Paris mayor, just a month before the vote.

A haemotologist who entered politics after Macron's election 2017 Buzyn is seen as one of the stronger performers in government.

She faces a stiff challenge to close the gap with incumbent Socialist Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who is leading in the polls.
Korea Investment Management Co., Ltd (KIM) has acquired almost all shares in Hung Viet Fund Management JSC (HVCapital).

Vietnams State Securities Commission (SSC) last week passed a decision to approve the transfer of all 2.5 million shares of HVCapital, a Vietnamese fund management firm, to foreign investors, the regulator announced on its website.

Under the decision, KIM acquired a 99 percent stake in HVCapital, while the remaining one percent was split equally between two South Korean individuals, Yun Hang Jin and An Jong Hoon.

The SSC did not disclose the value of the transactions or provide further information on the two South Korean individuals.

Korea Investment Management Co., Ltd, founded in 2000, is a South Korean fund operating in areas such as investment banking, asset management, hedge fund management, and venture capital.

It has a number of member funds operating in Vietnam with billions of dollars worth of assets under its managment. KIM Vietnam Growth Securities Master Investment Trust is currently KIMs biggest fund in Vietnam, managing assets worth more than $850 million.

According to data published by the SSC, HVCapital is a fund management firm based in Ho Chi Minh City with total paid-up capital of VND25.4 billion ($1.09 million). The company reported a VND2.18 billion ($93,817) post-tax loss last year, from a VND2.33 billion ($100,272) profit in 2018.

HVCapital claims to manage three investment contracts with total assets of nearly $70 million.
Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi has denied a news story that he was caught up in a gun attack in Kaduna on Sunday night.

Daily Nigerian reported that the minister and hundreds of train passengers escaped narrowly Sunday night after suspected kidnappers opened fire on their vehicles as they left the Rigasa station in Kaduna.

But in a reaction on his Twitter handle, Amaechi thumbed down the report as fake news.

 This  is completely concocted, he wrote.



According to Daily Nigerian, the gunmen, suspected to be kidnappers, opened fire from their ambush position in Mando on the cavalcade of vehicles leaving the station, in search of preys to capture. They wanted to force the vehicles to stop.

The train reportedly arrived at Rigasa train station around 8:15pm.

But no sooner the shooting began than mobile policemen and soldiers arrived the scene in armoured vehicles. The hoodlums .

We were lucky the police and soldiers are nearby to come our rescue. The minister of Transport Rotimi Amaechi was among the passengers. His convoy had to make a detour onto Rigasa Road, said a passenger, Musa Lawan, who spoke with Daily Nigerian.

The police are yet to speak on the attack.

Follow Us on Facebook  @LadunLiadi; Instagram  @LadunLiadi; Twitter  @LadunLiadi; Youtube  @LadunLiadiTV for updates
Libya: Di Maio, EU agreement for arms embargo mission Operation Sophia no longer exists. 'I'm very happy'

(ANSAmed) - BRUSSELS, FEBRUARY 17 - Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Monday at the conclusion of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels that he is "very happy" that "all EU States are in agreement for creating a mission that blocks the entrance of arms into Libya".



"Now the EU will engage with an air and naval mission with ground availability as well, to block the entrance of arms into Libya," he said.



"Operation Sophia doesn't exist any longer. Now there's a mission that blocks arms," he said.(ANSAmed).




UN chief claims Pakistan is world's second largest host of refugees

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres who started a three-day visit to Pakistan on Sunday, urged the international community to support the country that continue to host millions of refugees from war-shattered Afghanistan.

It is doubtful whether the UN chief is unaware or is pretending to be ignorant of the fact that Pakistan is driving away its own citizens of non-Muslim faith or making them refugees in Pakistan itself.

Guterress call comes after meeting some Afghan refugees in Pakistan who were forced to flee their country following attacks by Pakistan-supported Taliban. The UN chief also conveniently decided to overlook human rights violations in the provinces of Sindh, Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Instead he called for India and Pakistan to defuse tensions over Kashmir and emphasized the absolute need" for Indian authorities to fully respect human rights in the disputed majority Muslim region.

Guterres is in Islamabad for meetings with Pakistani leaders and to deliver a keynote address to an international conference on Monday (today) marking Pakistans four decades of support for Afghan refugees.

He also addressed an event on Sustainable Development and Climate Change, in Islamabad, on Sunday.

Addressing a news conference in the Pakistani capital, Guterres said despite its own challenges and limited support from the international community, Pakistan has sheltered Afghan refugees for 40 years, making it the worlds second largest host of the refugees.

One can only imagine how much worse the plight of Afghans would be, and how unstable the region might be without Pakistans stellar example of hospitality and compassion, Guterres noted.

He reaffirmed the world bodys continued support for Pakistan and called on other developed nations to support the country and indeed show similar leadership in sharing this responsibility in this region and around the world.

The U.N. estimates that some 4.6 million Afghans, including 2.7 million registered refugees, still live outside of Afghanistan. Around 90 per cent of them are being hosted by Pakistan (1.4 million) and Iran (1 million).
Egypt's president also inaugurated, via video conference, a number of new military production projects in other military factories including Factory 144 in Banha, Factory 270 in Qaha, and Factory 999 in Helwan

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi attended the inauguration of Military Factory 300 operating under Abu Zaabal Industries Company, specialising in small and medium-size ammunition.

The president visited a number of production lines and talked with the engineers supervising the operations, Presidential Spokesman Bassam Rady said in a statement on Monday.

The inauguration was attended by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Mohamed Zaki, Minister of Military Production Mohamed Al-Assar, Armed Forces Chief-of-Staff Mohamed Farid, and other ministers.

According to the statement, the president also inaugurated, via video conference, a number of new military production projects in other military factories including Factory 144 in Banha, Factory 270 in Qaha, and Factory 999 in Helwan.

Minister El-Assar said at the opening that his ministry's main goal is to secure the army's needs of ammunition and equipment.



The approach adopted by El-Sisi is to acquire the latest techniques in armament, El-Assar said, adding that "our target now is to manufacture arms locally despite looming challenges."



El-Assar reviewed his ministry's achievements since 2014, saying that it is regarded as the primary source of armament for the Egyptian Armed Forces that seeks to serve the economy and support development projects within the framework of Egypt's Vision 2030.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-18 04:36:46|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Policemen disperse demonstrators during a protest against pension reform in Lille, north France, Jan. 9, 2020. (Photo by Sebastien Courdji/Xinhua)

Challenging a taboo, the government has proposed a point-based pension system with same rules applying to all, regardless of profession or sector, to replace the current system of 42 regimes.

"Today is the time for responsibility towards the French through a discussion that will take the time it needs," said the newly-appointed Solidarity and Health Minister Olivier Veran while addressing the National Assembly.

PARIS, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- French lawmakers on Monday began debating the government's draft bill on pension reform, which had brought crowds into the streets and disruptions to transport services in December and January.



Defending a reform "whose ambition is great, even immense," the newly-appointed Solidarity and Health Minister Olivier Veran argued that an universal system "is the pillar of social protection."

"Today is the time for responsibility towards the French through a discussion that will take the time it needs," he addressed the National Assembly.

Challenging a taboo, the government has proposed a point-based pension system with same rules applying to all, regardless of profession or sector, to replace the current system of 42 regimes.

It also plans to end a specific regime for workers of public transport companies RATP and SNCF, which allows train drivers and other staff who work underground to retire at 52 -- a decade earlier than the legal retirement age for a full public pension.

Under the new system, every hour worked will earn pension rights, which will benefit gig economy workers who often do not earn enough to lock in pension rights under the current system.

Demonstrators go on a strike against the French government's pension reform, Jan. 16, 2020. (Photo by Aurelien Morissard/Xinhua)

"Our predecessors have carried out courageous reforms but always for budgetary reason ... Our reading is broader, our ambition exceeds the balanced budget. It is a social overhaul that the government is proposing," Laurent Pietraszewski, secretary of state for pension reform, told lawmakers.

Willing to compromise on the disputed reform, the government has offered some concessions including a temporarily removal of "pivotal age" of 64, the most contested measure of the reform. It invited unionists to dig for another way to balance the pension deficit during a financing conference. Otherwise, the measure will be added back in before the bill is slated to be voted into law this summer.



However, the sweeteners fell short to abate fierce opposition to President Emmanuel Macron's plan to overhaul pension regime.

Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of "France Unbowed" party, pledged "tough, relentless and long-lasting" two-week debate at the National Assembly.

"We will do everything we can to prevent this law from being passed," he told local media.

As the debate in the lower house of the parliament seemed to be heated, trade unions are still a long way from a deal with the government over the planned reform.

Unions have planned countrywide protests on Feb. 20. During last two months, large crowds including teachers, civil servants, medical staff, drivers, police and even students had participated in seven separate days of nationwide demonstrations to pressure Macron to reconsider his reform.

They say the reform would effectively force people to work longer, in particular public sector workers that have been allowed to retire earlier often because of hard working conditions. The government argued that the costly pension system, which is almost entirely borne by the state, needs to be brought into balance. 
Iranian news agencies on Monday reported that an Iranian citizen detained in Germany for violation of sanctions and facing extradition to the United States was freed and returned to Iran with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Sunday evening.

Ahmad Khalili was arrested in Germany in 2018 for trying to circumvent U.S. sanctions the reports say without further information. It is also not clear if Iran has also freed any foreign prisoner in exchange or made any promises.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi on Monday said that Khalili was released after intense diplomatic negotiations and with "cooperation of the judiciary and IRGC Intelligence Organization".

Khalili had been detained in Germany by the request of U.S. prosecutors on the "on the pretext of violating illegal and unfair sanctions of the United States was freed last night,  Mousavi said.

According to Mousavi, Khalili returned to Iran on Sunday evening with Foreign Minister Zarif who was in Germany to attend the 56th Munich Security Conference.

After Iran released Chinese-American graduate student Xiyue Wang who had been held for three years on espionage charges in December 2019, the Iranian Foreign Minister said: "After getting our hostage back this week, fully ready for comprehensive prisoner exchange".

Wang was freed in exchange for Iranian scientist Massoud Soleimani who had faced a U.S. federal trial in Georgia over charges he violated sanctions by trying to have biological material brought to Iran.

Iran and the United States negotiated the prisoner swap indirectly through Switzerland.

Other American detainees in Iran include U.S. Navy veteran Michael White, who is serving a 10-year sentence, environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, an Iranian with U.S. and British citizenship and 83-year-old Baquer Namazi and his son, Siamak Namazi, dual Iranian-American nationals who were convicted of collaborating with a hostile power.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 02:24:06|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

ADEN, Yemen, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations announced on Sunday that the Yemeni government and the Houthi rebel group agreed on a detailed plan to conduct a large-scale exchange of prisoners.

The exchange of prisoners is the largest since the beginning of the conflict in a move toward the fulfillment of the parties' commitment to the phased release of all conflict-related detainees according to the Stockholm Agreement.

After concluding a seven-day meeting in Jordan's capital Amman, representatives of the warring parties decided to immediately begin with exchanging the lists of prisoners for the release, the UN said in a statement obtained by Xinhua.

The statement considered the meeting as "the third round of deliberations for the Supervisory Committee on the Implementation of the Prisoners' Exchange Agreement since the Stockholm consultations in late 2018."

"The committee brings together delegations from the parties to the conflict, as well as representatives from the Arab coalition," the statement said.

Yemen's Houthi rebels said in a statement that their representatives agreed to exchange around 1,400 prisoners, including Sudanese and Saudi soldiers in accordance with Stockholm Agreement.

Yemen has been plagued by a civil war since late 2014 when Houthi militias forced the internationally-recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into exile.
A Denver rally organised to consolidate Bernie Sanders early gains in the race for the Democratic nomination was infiltrated by a group who appeared to support far-right neofascist organisation the Proud Boys.

Led by Louis Huey, a vocal supporter of the right-wing organisation in the state of Colorado, the group made their way into the crowd, which they described as communists, in live streamed footage of the event.

The group recorded themselves entering the rally while raising hand signals associated with white nationalism and wearing the red Make America Great Again hats made famous by Donald Trumps run for the presidency.

Mr Huey, who has previously interviewed Trump confidant Roger Stone for his podcast, could be seen arguing with audience members as the group settled near the stage where Mr Sanders addressed some 11,000 supporters.

Made up of at least three men wearing jackets emblazoned with the far-right groups logo, they were eventually taken to one side before electing to leave the event, according to witness reports.

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

The Proud Boys were established in 2016 and classified as extremist by the FBI in a 2018 report which linked the organisation to white nationalism. Originated by Vice magazine co-founder Gavin McInnes, they are also listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Centre.

They are known for violent clashes with antifascist groups, with two members sentenced to four years in prison last October for their involvement in a political street fight

However, the organisations supporters claim the group is not racist and instead furthers an agenda which is anti-political correctness and anti-white guilt while endorsing western values.

The arrival of supporters of the far-right group was not the only dissenting opinion to arrive at the event, which follows a surge in the polls that has seen Mr Sanders edge forward to lead the race for the democratic nomination.

The avowed socialist used his time in the Colorado  one of the super Tuesday states that will announce their candidates on 3 March  to call for Medicare for all, a green new deal and a $15 federal minimum wage.

The stump speech comes ahead of the Nevada caucus on 22 Feburary, the next big test of the scale of the candidates support and the first state with a sizable latino minority to declare its nomination.
Our Divisions

Copyright  2021-22 DB Corp ltd., All Rights Reserved

This website follows the DNPA Code of Ethics.
As per the last available estimates, Airtel owes nearly Rs 35,586 crore, including licence fee and spectrum usage charges, to the government.

New Delhi: Telecom operators Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Tata Teleservices are likely to make payment for adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues on Monday to avoid stringent punitive action from the Telecom Department, according to an official source.

Sources say telcos Bharti Airtel & Vodafone Idea might seek a meeting with the Telecom Minister this week#CNBCTV18Exclusive#AGRCase pic.twitter.com/sBOvo7eA9Y  CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) February 15, 2020

The three companies are jointly liable to pay dues of over Rs 1 lakh crore, but they have informed the Department of Telecom (DoT) of making only partial payment, as per their representatives. "Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Tata Teleservices have said that they will make payments on Monday. DoT will take action after evaluating the amount paid by them," an official source told PTI.

Earlier on Friday, Bharti Airtel offered the DoT to pay Rs 10,000 crore by 20 February, but a DoT official said that the department can't grant any extension. Vodafone Idea on Saturday said that it is assessing the amount that can be paid towards AGR dues, even as it flagged concerns over the continuation of its business. Telecom operators are collectively liable to pay Rs 1.47 lakh crore in AGR dues as per the Supreme Court order dated 24 October 2019. The deadline to pay the amount ended on 23 January, but none of the telecom operators, except Reliance Jio, paid the amount. Even state-owned BSNL and MTNL did not pay the dues. As per the last available estimates, Airtel owes nearly Rs 35,586 crore, including licence fee and spectrum usage charges, to the government. Vodafone Idea is staring at dues worth Rs 53,000 crore, which includes up to Rs 24,729 crore of spectrum dues and another Rs 28,309 crore in licence fee. Tata Teleservices owes around Rs 13,800 crore, BSNL Rs 4,989 crore and MTNL Rs 3,122 crore. Out of Rs 1.47 lakh crore, around Rs 1.13 lakh crore is likely to be recovered, as other companies, which are liable to pay AGR dues, have folded up their businesses. Reliance Communications and Aircel are going through insolvency proceedings.

Vodafone Idea says the co has received letters from @DoT_India directing immediate payment of dues. Co says its ability to continue as a going concern is essentially dependent on a positive outcome of the application for modification of the Supplementary Order. pic.twitter.com/b6SWS85Rfw  CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) February 15, 2020

The apex court on Friday came down heavily on the Telecom Department for not taking steps to recover statutory dues, estimated to be around Rs 1.47 lakh crore from operators.

The DoT issued fifth and final notice to telecom operators on 14 February for making payment on the same day, but none of the companies paid the dues.

When asked about telecom operators having sought time to assess the amount they have to pay, the DoT official said that the court gave them three months to do so and even after missing 23 January deadline telecom operators had sufficient time to calculate their dues.

"Before the due date, DoT has sent telecom operators 4 notices and reminders to pay to avoid punitive action under license condition. After court order on modification plea, telecom players are not left with any excuse to delay the payment and the DoT can take action against them without serving any further notice," the source said.

The apex court pulled up telecom operators and the government on non-payment of AGR dues despite its order. It has asked managing directors and directors of the company to be present in person before court on the next hearing, scheduled for 17 March, in case there is violation of its order in the AGR case.

Public sector companies, that do not sell telecom services, owe DoT around Rs 2.65 lakh crore, with GAIL India alone owing around 65 per cent of the total amount. However, these PSUs have the option to approach court for a legal recourse.
Former Tripura chief secretary



Yashpal Singh -- a key accused in a multi-crore PWD scam -- was arrested on Monday from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, in a joint operation by police officers of the two states.

Inspector General (Law and Order) Puneet Rastogi said the Tripura team had been carrying out raids for over a month in Ghaziabad, acting on information gathered during probe.

The former chief secretary had been evading arrest for almost five months.

"Singh was arrested today morning from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh. He will be produced in court there. We can obtain his custody only after getting the court's permission. The process is on," Rastogi said.

The Tripura Police had last year issued an arrest warrant against former PWD minister Badal Choudhury, former PWD engineer-in-chief Sunil Bhowmik and ex-chief secretary Yashpal Singh, in connection with the Rs 600-crore scam.

Chowdhury, who was a minister for four terms in the previous Left Front government, was arrested from Agartala on October 21, days after Bhowmik was taken into custody.

Both were, however, released on bail as police failed to file a chargesheet against them.

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

17 February 2020

Five-star property Park Hyatt Dubai has announced Sabine Renner as its hotel manager.

Renner will be expected to oversee the property's sales and marketing division, along with the rooms division and the residential villas. She and her team will continue to increase the hotel's ADR and increase its market share, as well as identify new markets for the hotel to leverage.

A hospitality veteran, Renner brings more than two decades of experience to her post. She first entered the industry after completing her tourism management degree. She has worked across Austria, the USA, Germany, Spain and the UAE, holding positions in accounts, rooms division, guest relations, front of office and eventually sales and marketing.

She first joined Park Hyatt in 2018, where she was the director of sales and marketing.

Park Hyatt Dubai explained since Renner joined, she has brought in new demographics to the property, along with a diversified guest roster and an increased number of weekend leisure travellers.
Ram Gopal Varma on Monday met Sahamshabad Additional Commissioner of Police as the filmmaker is working on an upcoming movie based on rape and murder case of a veterinary doctor in Ranga Reddy district in Telangana.

Varma visited RGI Airport Police Station and met the Sahamshabad Additional Commissioner of Police to gather information for a film based on the case.

Speaking to ANI, Varma said, "This incident rocked the entire nation and as a part of an exercise to do scripting of the film, I am trying to collect some research on various experiences and wanted to know how the actual things happened. It will help me in scripting the film properly."

The veterinarian was gang-raped and killed allegedly by the accused before they burnt her body in Telangana's Shamshabad on November 27. Her charred body was recovered a day later.

A few days later, the accused -- Mohammed Arif, Naveen, Shiva, and Chennakeshavulu -- were killed in a police encounter.

Following the encounter, a batch of petitions was filed in the top court. Subsequently, the court had last week ordered setting up of a three-member inquiry commission to probe the encounter case.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ford Motor will commit $500 million to the Australian market in 2020 and is likely to hire more staff as global automotive giant General Motors prepares to quit by the end of the year.

After closing the company's local manufacturing operations in 2017, GM will now 'retire' the Holden brand in both Australia and New Zealand, axing about 600 jobs.

But Ford Australia & New Zealand president and CEO Kay Hart says the company is 'committed to Australia' and will spend about $500 million investment in 2020, as well as hire new staff.

More jobs are expected to be created at Ford as the company promises to invest $500million over the next year (stock image pictured)

The promise of new jobs from Ford comes as job cuts are made at competitor General Motors. (Pictured: People are seen exiting the GM-Holden headquarters in Melbourne after the company announced it will retire the Holden brand)

Ms Hart says Ford has a big design and engineering team in Australia and is 'hiring at the moment'.

'I am sure there is some great talent in that Holden team. We would definitely be looking for that skill set that would fit with us and there may well be opportunities for that team at Ford in the future,' she told ABC radio on Tuesday.

However, she said any long-term decisions about the future of Ford's Australian operations would be considered and made by its US-based parent company.

'Ford Australia is committed to our operations here in Australia and we're excited about what our future lies ahead for us here,' Ms Hart said.

'As a company, they will make that decision based on what is right for the corporation globally, but at the moment we are extremely committed, in terms of the Ford Motor Company, is extremely committed to Australia.'

Ford Motor will commit $500 million to the Australian market in 2020 and is likely to hire more staff as global automotive giant General Motors prepares to quit by the end of the year

Car dealers will learn within 24 to 48 hours how far they will be able to discount their remaining stock after General Motors announced it will quit the market

Federal industry minister Karen Andrews said with a workforce of just over 2000 people, the government did not expect Ford to follow in General Motors' footsteps.

'They are very focused on design and engineering so I am not foreseeing any imminent issues with Ford,' Ms Andrews said.

Ms Andrews said Ms Hart had not given her a 'never-ending commitment' about its operations remaining in Australia.

However, the company had agreed to 'keep in touch', with the pair expected to meet in the coming weeks.

GM and Holden have pledged to work closely with all their workers offering generous redundancy packages to staff across Australia and New Zealand, with most expected to be gone by June.
A worker died while two sustained injuries after a heap of soil fell on them while laying a water pipeline at Lal Kuan here, police said on Monday.

According to information, the National Highways Authority of India had undertaken the work of laying a water pipeline from the Masuri Ganga canal to Seemant Vihar Colony.

They were rescued by a team of the National Disaster Response Force, police said.

SHO Kavi Nagar Mohammad Aslam said the heap of soil deposited on the edge of a pit fell on Pankaj (26), Amit (20) and Anshu (20) while laying the pipeline.

They were immediately rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment, where doctors declared Anshu brought dead, the SHO said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A tweet shared by business tycoon Anand Mahindra that showcases the perfect example of Swachh Bharat has received much praise from netizens. Waste management and cleanliness has remained a concern for citizens and administration alike and Mahindras tweet gives a glimpse of how a city has come forward to rectify the situation.

The tweet shared by Mahindra shows two pictures of a sabzi mandi (vegetable market) in the city of Indore. The market looks surprisingly clean and you can clearly see separate dustbins for wet and dry waste. Along with this, rangolis are drawn around the dustbins for a prim and proper look.

Markets are known to be among the dirtiest and most crowded places in any city and such a clean initiative taken in Indore has wowed the business tycoon.

More evidence of how Indore has transformed even the most commonand usually the most chaotic aspect of an Indian town, reads the caption.

More evidence of how Indore has transformed even the most commonand usually the most chaotic aspect of an Indian town... https://t.co/AreWG58YVX  anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) February 17, 2020

Shared on February 17, the post has garnered over 18,700 likes and tons of appreciation from netizens. The positive response prompted Mahindra to post another tweet urging everyone to follow the footsteps of the Indore sabzi mandi and keep their surroundings clean.

Such a positive response to my RT. What a transformation it would be if all Sabzi Mandis in India were to follow this pattern. RT & push the municipal corp. in your town to emulate the neat demarcation of the vendors, the use of rangoli, & waste segregation. https://t.co/JGdbMiqDSF  anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) February 17, 2020

While some gave insights about possible ways to tackle waste, others appreciated the implementation of the Swachh Bharat initiative.

Swach Bharat Abhiyan implimenting on micro level  Dnyaneshwer Kale (@Dnyaneshwer1980) February 17, 2020

The rangoli around Dustbin is very attractive.. this is very innovative idea to get attention and ensure propel use it..   kiran (@kiranpaic) February 17, 2020

Swachh Bharat is really in making..  Nikhil Surana (@nikki_surana) February 17, 2020

Sir Indore leads in Swacch Bharat movement. May I also add that the garbage compaction station is so clean that the authorities challenge people that you wont even find a Kilogram of garbage there. Hyva compactors have made it possible..  Dinesh Joshi. (@dineshjoshi70) February 17, 2020

Amazing it is...

Properly implemented.    (@AjayKMalhotra1) February 17, 2020

What do you think of this initiative?
As Australians have weaned themselves off tobacco, one part of the country has become more addicted to cigarettes and smoking. The federal budget. So addicted is the budget to the revenues gleaned from smokers that if this year the government delivers a surplus, it will be solely due to the nation's smokers.

In an effort to crack down on the illegal tobacco market, Scott Morrison changed in the way tobacco importers would be taxed.

Two specific measures, announced in the 2016-17 and 2018-19 budgets, are pivotal to the government's surplus pledge. And both measures depend on smokers and their habits. In the 2016-17 budget, handed down by then treasurer Scott Morrison, the government unveiled its plan to sharply lift the excise on tobacco. Every September for the next four years, excise would go up by 12.5 per cent as the government sought to make smoking prohibitively expensive for youngsters who might be tempted to take up the vice.

The third of those increases kicked in on September 1 last year in a move that, combined with the other two previous excise lifts, was forecast to net the government $2.7 billion for the 2019-20 budget. Two years later, the government went back to the smokers' lounge. As part of an effort to crack down on the illegal tobacco market, Morrison announced a change in the way importers of tobacco would be taxed.

Instead of collecting excise after the tobacco had been imported and stored in warehouses, from July 1 excise was to be paid as soon as the tobacco was brought into the country. The aim was to crack down on tobacco that seemingly disappeared between the nation's ports and warehouses and ended up in the underground market.
After holding several rounds of negotiations with the police, anti-CAA protestors who had gathered here in large numbers on Sunday agreed to not proceed with their march from Shaheen Bagh to the office or residence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Protestors had stated that approximately 5000 people will start marching from Shaheen bagh to Shah's residence at 2 pm for a dialogue over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Following this, rounds of negotiations were held with protestors by senior police officers and they were persuaded to not take out the march. They were informed to take prior appointment from the Home Minister before trying to meet him.

Police personnel were deployed at Shaheen Bagh to maintain law and order in the area.

Senior police officials of southeast district also interacted extensively with a group of protestors, especially Dadis (grandmothers) of Shaheen Bagh, urging them to postpone their march as it was unlawful and did not have necessary permission from concerned law enforcement agencies.

Police have requested the protestors to form a delegation and the same will be facilitated for further appointment and meeting.

Meanwhile, in Tamil Nadu, in what is being called Chennai's Shaheen Bagh, protestors continued to agitate against the Central and State governments and against the CAA, Population Register (NPR) and the Register of Citizenship (NRC) for the third consecutive day.

Muslim women who participated in the protest said they will not stop their agitation until CAA is revoked.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 09:50:33|Editor: Xiaoxia

Video Player Close

SYDNEY, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Farmers in Northern Australia have begun retail trials for a new variety of mango, and so far the results have yielded sweet success.

"We're over the moon with the quality of the fruit, the flavor, the shelf life, all very positive," Queensland State mango farmer Brad Bowen told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Sunday.

In the making for two decades, red mango varieties are a result of a 20-year research project involving Australia's national science body, the CSIRO, and the agriculture departments of Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

Known by the breeding codes NMBP 1243, 1201 and 4069, Bowen said the summer fruit has the flavor of traditional yellow-skinned varieties such as Calypso, Honey Gold, R2E2 and Kensington Pride.

"They tend to be the one I go to when any family and friends come - we always give them one of the new varieties and they say it's their favorite," he said.

Facing oversupply issues on the domestic market which has driven the prices down in recent years, the industry is hoping to export around 20 percent of the new red mango crops.

"We've had about 1,000 trays in total this year so it's still very small numbers," CEO of Australian Mangoes Robert Gray said.

"We expect over the next couple of years, we'll be getting a few thousand from each farm across the regions, so we'll be able to assess them more thoroughly."

With slightly firmer flesh, good shelf life and smaller seeds, Gray added that "hopefully they'll also allow us to expand into new markets and new consumers who aren't currently engaging in mango supply.
OSLO, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Norway's Conservative Prime Minister Erna Solberg will remain in office as head of a minority three-party coalition following the resignation of the right-wing Progress Party, Solberg said on Monday.

Finance Minister Siv Jensen earlier announced the resignation of Progress over the cabinet's decision to bring home from Syria a woman suspected of Islamic State affiliation. (Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Gwladys Fouche)
Priscilla Shirer says lung surgery was 'curative': 'Praise the Lord!'

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Bible teacher and author Priscilla Shirer announced that the surgery she recently underwent to remove a node from her left lung was curative" and praised the Lord for His faithfulness.

I am recovering well from the surgery, Shirer announced in an Instagram post over the weekend. My breathing is still pretty labored so I am working on my lung capacity and getting a little breath back here. But doing really good and recovering well.

The surgery was curative, praise the Lord, so I dont have anything else to do in that regard other than recover.

The Going Beyond Ministries founder said her family has been extremely grateful for the outpouring of support theyve received following the death of her mother, Lois Evans, wife of well-known pastor Tony Evans.

Lois Evans died of cancer Dec. 30, 2019. Shirer is one of the Evans four children.

Many of you know that weve lost quite a few family members recently, the most recent of which was our sweet mom, Shirer said.

Thanks for continuing to pray for us, for our family, as we recover from everything that has gone on, the "War Room" actress concluded. Every card youve sent, every gift youve sent, Ive read them all, gotten them all, and Im really grateful. Thank you all so, so much.

Shirers initial announcement about the surgery said the issue was one her doctors had been monitoring. In January, she revealed that three years ago doctors discovered a small nodule in her left lung.

Several pulmonary specialists and I have watched it meticulously since then. This past summer, it was clear that something surgical needed to be done as the nodule had begun to grow and show signs of dangerous irregularities, she said.

At the time, Shirer said the past few months had been filled with difficulty for her family.

For those reasons, the surgery was delayed but I cannot put it off any longer without jeopardizing my own health, the mother of three said. So this Monday, 1/13/20, surgeons will be removing an entire lobe of my left lung. Thank you for praying for me and for our entire family. We refuse to cave to fear, anxiety or a decrease in faith because, well ... aint nobody got time for that!

On his Instagram account, Tony Evans, Shirers father and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, also thanked those who have supported his daughter, writing: This IS a glimpse at the Body of Christ in action. Thank you for praying for Priscilla today.

In a separate post, Evans asked supporters to continue praying for his family as they grieve the loss of Lois Evans.

So many of you prayed for my wife, so many of you sent cards, so many of you gave encouraging words," Evans said.

It was a long journey, he continued. While God didnt give us exactly what we wanted, which was total healing of course, He did extend her life beyond what doctors said she had given the rare nature of this particular disease.

Evans said that the prayers of supporters sustained his family through the ups and downs, through the struggles and stresses, through the pain.

It was a difficult season and life does hit us that way sometimes, he acknowledged. But I just want you to know what your prayers are doing for me now: They are keeping me strong. I still trust God. I dont always understand Him, but I do trust Him.

I choose to believe, even with the loss of Sister Evans, my precious wife of 49 and a half years, that Hes still good, He still knows what Hes doing ... Hes still the God of my salvation and I will rejoice in Him. I want you to rejoice in Him too. And I want you to keep trusting and keep praying to Him.
A new Windows update appears to be removing files from users' PCs.

The failed update was supposed to bring security improvements, but instead led to serious issues for the computer users who installed it.

The update has since been pulled and will be replaced with an "improved version", according to Microsoft. But because Windows 10 updates itself automatically, many people may already have it on their computer.

Initially, reports suggested that the update included bugs that would affect the menus on the computer. Users said their start menu or desktop would switch back to their default settings, losing any customisation.

But since then more dramatic problems have emerged, with users saying that files on the desktop were not just being hidden but removed entirely.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

The new updates have been pulled but users may still be affected if their computer downloaded them and has not been updated since.

Recommended PCs stop working properly because of strange Microsoft outage

The latest problem update is known as KB4532693, and Microsoft said it would be fixing it with another download.

"Were working on an improved version of this update in coordination with our partners," a Microsoft spokesperson said. "Please see here for more details including a workaround."

The company did not say when the new version of Windows would arrive.

The new issues follows another update, known as KB4524244, which was recently pushed out and then pulled when it became clear it was causing similarly destructive problems on people's computers.
One fast-food restaurant in Afghanistan recently made a buzz by employing a robot as a waiter. Many customers duly headed to the Times Restaurant in Kabul to see this high-end tech in action. Interestingly, just by having this robot in Afghanistan's capital as a waiter has highlighted some of the concerns among the country's conservative families. For example many of these families have not been happy with having male waiters, so this robot waiter has solved a problem.



Four months ago, Mohammad Naeimi opened the Times Restaurant in the Shahr-e-Now neighbourhood of Kabul. Then one month ago, he equipped his restaurant with a secret weapon: a robot.



'Everyones happy with this robot'



Naeimi claimed he imported this robot from Japan:



Our restaurant is not that big but we have 40 workers. Employing a robot was partly to attract the younger generation to our restaurant and to show them that it is possible to have new tech in Afghanistan too.



We wanted to familiarise them with new technolgies. This robot can welcome the customers, take their order, bring the order, give them the bill, receive the payment and also collect the dishes. It can manage eight tables at the same time, and it can speak in Persian, Pashtun and English. Its battery lasts for about 12 hours and then it has head to the charging station.



News about this robot has been everywhere on Afghan media and has even been covered by international media, such as Radio Free Europe. However many Afghans question the motivations behind employing a waiter robot in a country with 25 to 30 percent unemployment. The restaurant owner says he has not fired anyone for a robots job and it is just assistance to the restaurant's workers.



The Times Restaurant in Kabul. Source here





'With this robot, we no longer have unhappy conservative customers in our restaurant!'



Mohammad Naeimi continues:



The robot has also solved another problem that we had with conservative families. In many cases, they do not like that a male server approaches them to take orders or anything, so with this robot, we solved that problem.



When families are here with women with a hijab, we send our robot. So now they can eat our food and we have more customers. These customers can enjoy our restaurant without any problem. Everyones happy! So far everything is good. And we have customers who only come here to check out our robot.



Buy a robot or pay an Afghan worker for 10 years



However, many people havemade fun of this whole idea, saying it's not a good move. Others have suggested that the restaurant could employ a woman instead of the robot.



In addition, this robot came from China, not Japan. Its official name is Amy and it's produced by the Suzhou Pangolin Robot Corp. The price of this Chinese robotic waiter varies online from $6,000 to $7,500 (5,537 to 6,921). This means that this robot costs between 463,000 and 579,000 Afghani, which is equivalent to a salary for eight to 10 years for an Afghan worker...
Chief Minister of Gujarat Vijay Rupani on Monday said that US President Donald J Trump will be given a grand welcome on his arrival in Ahmedabad from Washington on February 24.

"US President Donald J Trump will arrive in Ahmedabad from Washington on February 24. He will be given a grand welcome. There is a lot of excitement over his arrival here," said Rupani while speaking to reporters here.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Trump is expected to attend an event at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad on the lines of the 'Howdy Modi' function that was addressed by the US President and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Houston in September last year.

During the visit, Trump, who will be accompanied by First Lady Melania, will attend official engagements in New Delhi and Ahmedabad, and interact with a wide cross-section of the Indian society, the MEA said in a statement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
If we are made aware of questionable or potentially improper reimbursement of travel expenditures and expenses, we would move forward with opening an investigation.

 N.M. Auditors Office

It is entirely relatable to bring a spouse along on a business trip. To add a vacation onto the front or back end. To want to show your two grandchildren the world. Even to be so deathly afraid of flying you only travel on land.

But to expect city taxpayers to cover two family cabins on the train to Philadelphia, an extra junket to Washington, D.C., to visit lawmakers who are routinely in Albuquerque and New Mexico, plus a trip to New York in between because its cheaper than coming all the way home from Philly and then taking the train again to D.C.?

We call shenanigans on City Councilor Klarissa Penas weak justifications for sticking the public with much of her $6,300 summer of 2019 travel tab.

Pena told KOAT-TV Channel 7 that she hasnt traveled in four years and is deathly afraid of planes. We dont have a lot of money. So, I come from where this was a great opportunity to take my grandkids. Obviously my expenses were going to be covered so that would be a reduced cost for my family. She says she believes she paid for 75% of the trip because she covered her familys meals, taxis and Uber trips. She says on the citys website, cabq.gov, that I made efforts to fold multiple objectives into one trip to the same region of the country.

Except the only really justifiable trip is the one to Philly, to the National League of Cities, Large City Council Presidents conference, and not via the two family cars with eight beds KOAT reported. There is exactly zero city-business reason to go to D.C. to meet with Sen. Martin Heinrich, Rep. Deb Haaland and Rep. Xochitl Torres Small because they are often here. And there is no logical reason why taxpayers should be expected to pick up any of the New York trip in between.

Its fine if the councilor wants to add a D.C.-New York trip on as a family vacation  heck theyre in the area, as she notes  but that entire bill should be on her. Not the public.

Pena is no stranger to controversy when it comes to family interests  the boondoggle of the ever-expanding Route 66 Visitors Center is supposed to be operated and managed by her husbands West Central Community Development Group.

That Pena still doesnt acknowledge its flat-out wrong to pass her family vacation bill on to taxpayers puts her judgment into question. Can she be trusted to make decisions on behalf of her constituents? In her note on the city website she writes I welcome a review of my travel documents and will gladly reimburse any costs determined not in compliance with the Citys Travel Regulations.

Auditors Office, you have been made aware.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif.  One of two charter flights carrying cruise ship passengers from Japan landed at a California air force base early Monday, starting the clock on a quarantine period to ensure passengers dont have the new virus thats been spreading in Asia.

A plane carrying American passengers touched down at Travis Air Force Base in northern California just before 2:30 a.m., local time. Another flight was headed to Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.

Japans Defense Minister Taro Kono had tweeted earlier that Japanese troops helped transport 340 U.S. passengers on 14 buses from Yokohama port to Tokyos Haneda airport. About 380 Americans were on the cruise ship.

The U.S. said it arranged the evacuation because people on the Diamond Princess were at a high risk of exposure to the virus. For the departing Americans, the evacuation cuts short a 14-day quarantine that began aboard the cruise ship Feb. 5.

The State Department announced later that 14 of the evacuees received confirmed they had the virus but were allowed to board the flight because they did not have symptoms. They were being isolated separately from other passengers on the flight, the U.S. State and Health and Human Services said in a joint statement.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, said Sunday that an infected person who shows minimal symptoms could still pass the virus to someone else.

After arriving in the U.S., all of the passengers must go through another 14 days of quarantine at the military facilities  meaning they will have been under quarantine for a total of nearly four weeks.

Australia, Canada, Hong Kong and Italy were planning similar flights of passengers. Other governments, including Canada and Hong Kong, also will require the passengers to undergo a second 14-day quarantine.

Japan on Sunday announced another 70 infections on the Diamond Princess, raising the ships total number of cases to 355. Overall, Japan has 419 confirmed cases of the virus, including one death. The United States has confirmed 15 cases within the country. Separately, one U.S. citizen died in China.

Americans Cheryl and Paul Molesky, a couple from Syracuse, New York, opted to trade one coronavirus quarantine for another, leaving the cruise ship to fly back to the U.S. Cheryl Molesky said the rising number of patients on the ship factored into the decision.

We are glad to be going home, Cheryl Molesky earlier told NHK TV in Japan. Its just a little bit disappointing that well have to go through quarantine again, and we will probably not be as comfortable as the Diamond Princess, possibly.

She sent The Associated Press a video of her and her husband boarding the plane with other Americans.

Well, were exhausted, but were on the plane and thats a good feeling. Pretty miserable wearing these masks though, and everybody had to go to the bathroom on the bus, she said.

Some American passengers said they would pass up the opportunity to fly to the United States because of the additional quarantine. There also was worry about being on a long flight with other passengers who may be infected or in an incubation period.

One of the Americans, Matthew Smith, said in a tweet Sunday that he saw a passenger with no face mask talking at close quarters with another passenger. He said he and his wife scurried away.

If there are secondary infections on board, this is why, he said. And you wanted me to get on a bus with her?

He said the American health officials who visited their room was apparently surprised that the couple had decided to stay, and wished them luck.

Thanks, but were fine, Smith said he told them.

___

Associated Press journalists Mari Yamaguchi, Yuri Kageyama and Emily Wang in Tokyo contributed to this report.

___

Read more about the coronavirus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak
PUDUKKOTTAI: A-42-year-old man from Tamil Nadu who returned from China and who is from Kothaimangalam village in Pudukkottai district of Tamil Nadu died of suspected coronavirus attack, at a private hospital at Madurai on Saturday.

Official sources said on Monday the victim Sakthikumar, who runs a restaurant in China recently returned home due to jaundice and underwent treatment in his village. However, due to manpower shortage to run his eatery there, he returned to China recently, despite his jaundice.

Sakthikumar again returned home as his health turned bad and was admitted to a private hospital at Madurai on Friday. But he died on Saturday. Public health department officials suspect that poor Sakthikumars ill-health could have been aggravated possibly by coronavirus attack and are investigating.
By Alex Ho

Investing.com - Gold prices slipped on Monday in Asia as China imposed tightened restrictions on movement in the Hubei province to prevent the spreading of the coronavirus.

Gold Futures for April delivery slipped 0.1% to $1,584.85 by 1:25 AM ET (05:25 GMT).

Sixty-million people in the Hubei province have been told to stay at home unless there is an emergency, while the use of private cars have been banned indefinitely, according to the South China Morning Post. A single person from each household is allowed to leave the building every three days to buy food and essential items, the article added.

Hubei accounts for over 80% of the confirmed cases of the new virus.

China has announced a drop in new cases for a third consecutive day. There were 1,933 new cases and 100 new deaths on Sunday, according to data released by the Chinese government.

Asian stocks rebounded today, with Chinese equities gaining more than 2%. Japans Nikkei 225 underperformed its regional peers, however, after the country reported weaker-than-expected GDP data.

Related Articles

Oil prices steady as coronavirus-related demand concerns weigh

Gold Diggers Resist the Rallys Lure

Oil Prices Mixed as Traders Await Coronavirus News, Data Pointers
More than 1,100 former employees of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) have called on Attorney General William Barr to step down over his handling of the sentencing of Donald Trump ally Roger Stone.

The decision to reduce the prison sentence faced by the self-described dirty trickster led to four DOJ prosecutors resigning from the case  amid fears the department was being unduly influenced by the Oval Office to offer preferential treatment for Mr Trumps close confidant.

Now in an open letter 1,142 former employees of the government department have called the attorney generals decision to intervene on a case following anger from the president the behaviour of an autocracy.

The growing list of signatories, a group of Democrat and Republican appointees which includes Bush-administration deputy attorney general Donald Ayer, said the move constituted a grave threat to the fair administration of justice.

In this nation, we are all equal before the law, the letter said. A person should not be given special treatment in a criminal prosecution because they are a close political ally of the president.

Everyone Trump has fired or forced out Show all 13 1 /13 Everyone Trump has fired or forced out Everyone Trump has fired or forced out John Bolton Trump claimed to have fired Bolton, his national security adviser, while Bolton claimed he offered to resign. An anonymous White House source that Bolton's departure came as a result of the national security adviser working too independently of the president AFP/Getty Everyone Trump has fired or forced out Anthony Scaramucci Scaramucci lasted only six days in his role as Trump's communications director before being fired by John Kelly, the incoming chief of staff Getty Everyone Trump has fired or forced out Rick Perry Rick Perry announced his resignation just as he became embroiled in the president's impeachment scandal. The White House said Mr Perry was asked by Donald Trump to work with Rudy GIuliani in regards to Ukraine. AP Everyone Trump has fired or forced out Rex Tillerson Tillerson, Trump's first secretary of state, was fired after a series of clashes with the president over policy Getty Everyone Trump has fired or forced out James Mattis Mattis served as secretary of defense from the beginning of Trump's administration until retiring on 1 January 2019. However, the president later claimed that he had "essentially fired" Mattis Getty Everyone Trump has fired or forced out James Comey Comey was fired as director of the FBI early in Trump's presidency after serving in the role for four years prior. His dismissal is widely thought to have been related to the Russia investigation Getty Everyone Trump has fired or forced out Reince Priebus Priebus, Trump's first chief of staff, was forced out after six tumultuous months AFP/Getty Everyone Trump has fired or forced out David Shulkin Veterans affairs secretary Shulkin claims that he was fired, the White House claims that he resigned Getty Everyone Trump has fired or forced out John Kelly Kelly, Trump's second chief of staff, was forced out after 17 months in office. His departure was a confused affair though it is clear that Trump wanted Kelly out AFP/Getty Everyone Trump has fired or forced out Michael Flynn Flynn lasted 24 days as Trump's national security adviser before being fired for lying to the FBI Getty Everyone Trump has fired or forced out Lee Cisna Cisna served as director of citizen and immigration services between October 2017 and June 2019 before being asked to resign amid a major personnel change in the department of homeland security Everyone Trump has fired or forced out Madeline Westerhout Westerhout served as Trump's personal assistant after leaking private information about his family AFP/Getty Everyone Trump has fired or forced out Mira Ricardel Ricardel was forced out of her role as Deputy National Security Advisor after first lady Melania Trump publicly called for her to be fired

Governments that use the enormous power of law enforcement to punish their enemies and reward their allies are not constitutional republics; they are autocracies.

Stone, who was found guilty in November on a number of counts including obstructing a congressional investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, had been set to face a prison sentence of nine years following recommendations from justice department prosecutors.

But senior officials in the department, including Mr Barr, overruled the sentence to replace it with a more lenient alternative after the president wrote on Twitter that almost a decade of prison time for the 67-year-old was a horrible and very unfair situation.

Both the attorney general and the president have since attempted to distance themselves from claims of political interference, with Mr Trump saying he has so far chosen not to exert influence over criminal proceedings handled by the department.

Shortly after four of his own prosecutors removed themselves from the case, Mr Barr appeared to chide his commander in chief while stating he was not going to be bullied or influenced by anybody  whether its congress, a newspaper editorial board, or the president.

However critics point out that the more lenient sentencing approved of by the president still stands. The letter added: Mr Barrs actions in doing the Presidents personal bidding unfortunately speak louder than his words.

Those actions, and the damage they have done to the Department of Justices reputation for integrity and the rule of law, require Mr Barr to resign.

The Independent has approached the DOJ for comment.
U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouilette believes Russias Gazprom will not be able to complete the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project on its own due to U.S. sanctions, Bloomberg reports, citing the official who spoke on the sidelines of an energy conference in Germany, the destination of Nord Stream 2.

Its going to be a very long delay, because Russia doesnt have the technology, Brouilette told Bloomberg in an interview. If they develop it, well see what they do. But I dont think its as easy as saying, well, were almost there, were just going to finish it.

Last month, after the U.S. levied sanctions on companies involved in the construction of the pipeline, Gazprom said it would complete the project on its own.

"The Nord Stream 2 project, which is already 94 percent complete, will be finished by the Russian side," the director-general of Gazprom Export told media in January.

The twin pipe of Nord Stream will carry an additional 55 billion cu m of Russian gas to Europe and more specifically, Germany, whose gas hunger is growing as it shuts down coal and nuclear power plants. The controversy around the project centers on Ukraine: Nord Stream bypasses the main transit corridor of Russian gas and could, the Ukrainians and the EU fear, reduce Ukraines gas transit revenues severely.

There is also the geopolitical factor, of course, with the U.S. claiming that the additional pipe will increase Russias influence in Europe to unacceptable levels.

Despite Brouilettes upbeatness, not all agree that Nord Stream 2 can be stopped. According to experts, ICIS reported earlier this month, all difficulties around the projects are surmountable.

Finishing the pipeline in the first quarter of 2021 could be realistic if Russia is able to restart construction works in the first half of 2020. But it will probably take up to twelve months to modernise the ship and this modernisation is intended to allow the ship to work on Sakhalin fields, actually not related to Nord Stream 2, a Poland-based energy consultant, Mateusz Kubiak from Esperis Consulting, told ICIS.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads from Oilprice.com:
To celebrate its operations being certified as carbon neutral by the Carbon Trust for the second consecutive year, Jaguar Land Rover has completed a zero-emissions vehicle tour of its UK manufacturing and product development facilities.

An all-electric Jaguar I-Pace was driven from Gaydon to Halewood, stopping at the companys Whitley headquarters, the home of Land Rover in Solihull, the newly electrified Castle Bromwich manufacturing facility in Birmingham and the OEMs Engine Manufacturing Centre in Wolverhampton.

') } // --> ') } else { console.log ('nompuad'); document.write('') } // -->

') } else { console.log ('nompuad'); document.write(' ') } // --> ') } else if (width >= 425) { console.log ('largescreen'); document.write('') } else { console.log ('nompuad'); document.write('') } // -->

The I-Pace was charged at Gaydon using one of 166 smart chargers powered by solar panels fitted to the new Advanced Product Creation Centre. With a 292-mile (470km) range, the Jaguar I-Pace comfortably completed the 142-mile route on one charge.

Jaguar Land Rover was certified on January 31, 2020, confirming business operations have met the internationally recognized PAS 2060 standard for carbon neutrality between April 2018 and March 2019 across the companys vehicle manufacturing and development sites. Together, these areas represent 77% of Jaguar Land Rovers global vehicle production.

Jaguar Land Rover was the first UK automotive manufacturer to have met the internationally recognized PAS 2060 standard for carbon neutrality across its vehicle manufacturing assembly operations and product development sites; and the organization has continued to deliver further reductions over the past 12 months, which is great to see. Were delighted that Jaguar Land Rover has remained committed to delivering carbon neutral manufacturing in the UK, said John Newton, head of certification at the Carbon Trust.

To achieve carbon-neutral status, Jaguar Land Rover has invested in energy-saving projects and technologies, including solar panels and LED lighting. In the UK, operating CO 2 emissions are down 74% versus 2007, including the purchases of REGO-backed electricity, and the energy used to build a vehicle has reduced by 37% since 2007.

Jaguar Land Rover has also invested in Gold Standard carbon offset voluntary emissions reductions around the globe as part of the formal certification. These include clean and safe water projects in Kenya and Uganda, and clean cook stove programs in India and Ghana, delivering both environmental and social impact benefits.

Chris Thorp, responsible business director, commented, Destination Zero places long-term sustainability at the heart of our business. A decade of innovations has enabled us to achieve carbon-neutral status, and to be certified two years in a row reflects the hard work and dedication of the entire business. But were not stopping here  we will continue to drive forward projects across our business to help us close the loop on precious resources.
In the southern province of Long An, there is a large market, existing for tens of years, called a hellish market, where wild animals are slaughtered and sold every day.

Visiting wildlife markets in the western provinces of the southern region, reporters repeatedly witnessed countless endemic animals being plucked and slaughtered.





However, what they saw at Thanh Hoa Farm Produce Market in Long An proved to be much more horror. Thousands of Red-book animals in Mekong River Delta were displayed and sold there.



There were about 40 stalls that sold wild animals with hundreds of iron cages containing birds, turtles and snakes and co oc (Anastomus oscitans).



Co oc (Anastomus oscitans) are the main character in the film Khi co oc tro ve (When the storks return) which has just been awarded the first prize at the National Film Festival about the environment in early 2018.

I n the southern province of Long An, there is a large market, existing for tens of years, called a hellish market, where wild animals are slaughtered and sold every day.

The stocks in the film helped farmers kill snail-fish which devastates crops. The film shows a beautiful image that Vietnamese farmers could not see for a long time: the flocks of stocks fly in the blue sky above the green rice fields.



However, at Thanh Hoa Market, hundreds of storks were seen confined in tens of iron cages. They were wrapped with tape around the bodies, while their wings were clipped. The poor storks were lying about in the stalls. Some of them were plucked, while others were burnt alive to be delivered to clients.



Besides co oc, a lot of chim cat (falcon), ga nuoc (Rallidae) and young eagles which were still blood red and trembling in fear were also put up for sale. Later, they would be slaughtered and sold to customers, who wanted to eat them. Some storks were seen kicking convulsively when the fire from the mini gas stoves hit them.



All these images haunted people who witnessed them.



Along with birds, snakes were also displayed at the market. During the two-day presence at the hell market, reporters saw trucks bringing many snakes to the market. The snakes were later put into the iron cages covered with net at the stalls.



All species of snakes, from commonly seen water snake to cobra (Ophiophagus Hannah) weighing several kilograms were displayed for sale in the open air despite ban.



Turtles were also available at the market. About 10 stalls in the markets displayed turtles, including rua ba go (Malayemys subtrijuga), rua rang (Heosemys annandalii), rua hop lung den (Cuora amboinensis kamaroma) and rua nui vang (Indotestudo elongate), with about 200 individuals.



Reporters witnessed hundreds of transactions in which hundreds of animals were sold and carried to other provinces.

Linh Ha

Vietnam to keep close eye on wildlife import, sale 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.
The Syrian Liberal Party aims at keeping the dreams of the 2011 revolution alive and bring about a free and liberal Syria writes Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

The first woman-led Syrian opposition party was launched this week, aimed at reviving the pro-democratic values of the 2011 revolution and work towards establishing a free and fair Syria.

The Syrian Liberal Party [Ahrar Party] envisions a politically liberal society in Syria, where human rights form the pillar of the state with political and economic participation open to all.

When we speak of a liberal party we speak of freedom of individuals and equality as a fundamental principle the start from, party leader Yasmine Merei told The New Arab.

Politically, the party seeks to establish a united and democratic state in Syria that abides by international charters and principles on human rights.

We also aim for is economic developments, equal chances on an economic, educational and knowledge level and offer equal political participation for all, Merei said.

After nine-years of war  which has seen half of Syrias population displaced and half-a-million killed  there are still thousands of Syrians living in opposition areas or exiled abroad keeping the revolution alive.

Being the first woman leader of a Syrian opposition party, Merei feels this fits with the Syrian Liberals ethos of equality and opportunity for all, regardless of gender and background.

We are starting with equality as a fundamental principle and that means for all members in the party it is the same whether a man or woman leads it, but it will benefit the whole feminist scene in Syria, Merei said.

So its not just about having a woman in a leading political position, its about providing equal opportunities and chances for all people in Syria.

Other high-profile examples of Syrian women putting the war back under the spotlight include Waad Al-Kateab, co-director of the Aleppo documentary For Sama, and Amani Ballour, a doctor who worked in besieged Eastern Ghouta and the focus of the film The Cave.

Both films were nominated for Oscars and put the issue of Syria  particularly the brutal regime and Russian assault on opposition Idlib  centre stage.

Everyone has the right to stay alive, and live in dignity and with equality and we would say what Waad and Amani delivered through showing up at the Oscars is a huge achievement in showing the world you know about us now, you know what is happening in Syria now, Merei said.

The attempts by Bashar Al-Assads regime to suppress the revolution with some extremists looking to divert it from its original course are obstacles activists have faced since 2011, but these have not ended the fight for democracy in Syria.

It is a struggle liberal and leftist activists in Syria have endured for decades. Under Hafez Al-Assad and later his son Bashar, all political activity outside the Baath Party and its aligned movements was banned.

Syrians of all political shades and religious persuasions were detained, tortured and killed by the regime since Hafezs Corrective Movement in 1970.

People who joined Communist Party faced the destiny of being jailed for decades and there is a huge need in Syria for a real political work for people to join and practice, Merei added.

Merei like most Syrians was forced to join the Baath Party as a student but when the 2011 revolution broke out she saw the opportunity for change to the one-party system.

I joined like many Syrian men and women during the revolution seeking dignity and freedom. We cant speak about political life before the revolution, Merei added.

Despite the step backs the political opposition have experienced in the past nine-years, the Syrian Liberal Party aims to highlight the repression committed by the regime and give hope to millions of Syrians that a new, democratic Syria can eventually emerge.

Films such as For Sama and The Cave have shown the world the atrocities committed by the regime. Activists in Idlib are helping highlight the massacres currently being committed by Russia and the regime there.

Merei said that in a social media driven world there are no excuses for people not supporting movements such as the Syrian Liberal Party working towards a free and democratic Syria.

We are facing ignorance when we talk about the Syrian tragedy. In 1982 there was a massacre in Hama and sometimes when we speak people [outside Syria] we hear some say that ok, there was no media in Syria at the time so we didnt know what happened, said Merei. Now, everyone knows what is happening there.

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 Florida Attorney General's Office on Saturday approved a $2 million settlement claim for a man who was wrongfully convicted in 1976. The move comes a little over three weeks after the Department of Legal Affairs initially denied the request for compensation.

In a January 23 letter, the Florida Department of Legal Affairs denied the request on the grounds that new evidence and the subsequent exoneration did not amount to "actual innocence."

"That someone else could have been involved in the crime does not establish actual innocence," the letter from Associate Deputy Attorney Carolyn Snurkowski reads. "Petitioner presented no credible, persuasive, exonerating evidence to support his actual innocence."

On Saturday, that ruling was overturned, with the explanation that the DLA overstepped its responsibilities in denying the claim in the first place.

"The DLA cannot second-guess decisions made by courts, in either vacating a conviction or determining, by clear and convincing evidence, that a petitioner was wrongfully incarcerated and eligible for compensation," DLA general counsel Richard Martin said in a letter.

"While it appears Ms. Snurkowski has concerns about a lack of evidence presented on behalf of the victims at the time the original sentencing court found Mr. Myers had been wrongfully incarcerated, the prosecuting authority did not present this evidence or contest the petition. As the statute does not permit the DLA to reject an application due to procedural or evidentiary concerns with a court finding, the DLA will inform the Chief Financial Officer that the application meets the requirements of the statue and is complete."

walkout-nateclifford.jpg

Clifford Williams, left, and Nathan Myers, right. Florida Innocence Project

In March 2019, Hubert "Nathan" Myers, 61, and his uncle, Clifford Williams, 76, were exonerated for the murder of Jeanette Williams and the attempted murder of her girlfriend, Nina Marshall. There was no physical evidence tying either man to the crime, but Marshall identified them as the shooters. They were both sentenced to life in prison, and the two men spent 43 years behind bars.

Story continues

Forensic evidence showed the shooting could not have happened as Marshall described it at trial. Marshall stated Myers and Williams fired at her and Jeanette Williams from the foot of their bed, but evidence showed the shooter was standing outside the bedroom window and only one gun was fired. There were also alibi witnesses who said the two men were at a birthday party at the time of the shooting. Defense lawyers in the initial trial called no witnesses and presented no evidence. In addition, another man would later confess to the crime, although he died in 1994.

A report from the state attorney's office concluded, "The culmination of all the evidence, most of which the jury never heard or saw, leaves no abiding confidence in the convictions or the guilt of the defendants."

Kissing the ground. On @ActionNewsJax at 6:00 two men who were wrongfully convicted are free. They spent 42 years in prison for crimes they didnt commit. pic.twitter.com/Q5WUvBrDAy

 Bridgette Matter (@bridgetteANjax) March 28, 2019

Following his release, Myers submitted a claim for compensation for his wrongful imprisonment.

Provided claims are approved, Florida provides a minimum of $50,000 in compensation for every year a person is wrongfully imprisoned, with a maximum of $2 million. Williams was not eligible to receive compensation because he had previously been convicted of attempted arson and attempted burglary. Florida's "Clean Hands Provision" means only those who were "not convicted of another violent felony or more than one non-violent felonies" are entitled to compensation.

 Tyler Kendall contributed reporting

WWII vet surprised with thousands of Valentine's Day cards

New program healing U.S. service members from injury using VR technology

Thousands fleeing Syria as tensions surge between Turkish and Syrian troops
A 17-year-old tribal student died under suspicious circumstances at a D-Mart store after he was caught by the security staff for allegedly stealing a chocolate at Vanasthalipuram on the outskirts of Hyderabad on Sunday night, the police said.

The deceased, identified as Lavudya Satish Naik from the Lambada community, was a second-year Intermediate (Class 12) student at Sri Chaitanya College near Hayathnagar.

Naiks father L Balaji, a farmer from Mellacheruvu village in Suryapet district, alleged that his son was thrashed by the supermarkets security staff on suspicion of stealing a chocolate, but the police said that footage from the stores Closed Circuit Camera Television (CCTV) doesnt seem to suggest this.

We have booked a case of suspicious death based on the complaint filed by the deceaseds father and the college authorities. We have sent the body to Osmania General Hospital for post-mortem to find out the exact cause of his death, said A Venkataiah, Vanasthalipuram circle inspector.

Sunpreet Singh, L B Nagar deputy commissioner of police (DCP), added that if the allegation is true: We wont spare the supermarket authorities. We have collected evidence and seized footage from all the CCTV cameras in the supermarket.

Venkataiah said that the incident occurred at around 9:30 pm on Sunday, when Naik and two of his friends visited the D-Mart store around closing time. They didnt buy anything and were leaving when Naik was accosted by one of the D-Mart staff members for allegedly stealing a big chocolate bar.

As Naik and his friends were coming out of the store, the security guard called him back. Naik dropped the chocolate and went back to the guard. As he was being frisked by the security staff, a woman guard noticed the chocolate and handed it over to one of her colleagues. Naik collapsed suddenly during his questioning by the security staff, the inspector said.

Initially, the supermarket staff thought that Naik was faking it, but when he did not get up after a while they took him to a nearby private hospital, where he was declared brought dead. Some of Naiks classmates helped the D-Mart management to inform the college authorities, who broke the news to his parents, the inspector said.

On Monday, Naiks parents -- Balaji and Manemma -- and relatives rushed to the D-Mart store and staged a sit-in, alleging that he was beaten to death by the supermarkets security staff . Even if my son stole a chocolate, he should have been handed over to the police or the college authorities should have been informed . How can they beat him to death? Balaji asked.

Naiks father also demanded action against the college authorities for allowing Naik to leave the hostel for shopping without informing either his parents or local guardian.

However, college principal Upender Reddy told reporters that the hostel authorities had taken a written undertaking from Naik and two of his friends before allowing them to go out for an hour.

The D-mart authorities have refused to comment on the issue. The CCTV footage has been given to the police and they are doing the investigation, said a manager of the supermarket who asked not to be named.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Small children were among at least 22 people killed in weekend fighting between separatists and the military in Cameroon, residents said.

The government acknowledged some of the deaths occurred when a fuel tank exploded in the fighting, causing a fire that burned homes and killed a woman and four children.

Civilians have suffered for years in the conflict between separatists and the military in the Central African nations English-speaking North West and South West regions.

The latest deaths occurred in the village of Ngarbu, residents said.

Fleeing villagers said they saw armed men dressed in Cameroon military uniforms carrying out the latest attack.

Cameroons government said that eight members of the security forces carried out a raid in Ngarbu the night of February 14 against separatists.

Defence Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Rene Claude Meke told state broadcaster CRTV the military has been professional in its fight against the separatists.

We need the support of the population in these difficult moments, he said. They should come to us, inform us and strictly respect orders and advice we give to them so that this crisis which has overstayed should come to an end.

They should come to us, inform us and strictly respect orders and advice we give to them so that this crisis which has overstayed should come to an end

In January, Cameroon said it deployed at least 1,000 additional troops to the English-speaking regions ahead of the February 9 local council and parliamentary elections that separatist fighters had vowed to disrupt. Since then, there have been several attacks on suspected separatist strongholds.

The United Nations humanitarian office in Cameroon has called for immediate investigations into the latest attacks. Human Rights Watch has blamed both government troops and separatist fighters for gross human rights violations in the conflict.

The unrest broke out in English-speaking regions in 2016, when teachers and lawyers protested the dominance of the French language and French-speaking officials. Rebels took up arms a year later, demanding a separate English-speaking state.

Some civilians have fled the clashes, saying they dont believe the government can protect them.
Headline: The horizontal fence is back in town

Move over, wrought-iron fences and traditional picket fences  theres a new trend in town: the modern horizontal fence.

Horizontal fencing is nothing new; it dates well back to prairie fence days and was once considered the traditional way to build a fence. A common pioneer-day form of property enclosure, it fell out of favor sometime in the past 30 to 40 years as concerns mounted about climbability. And so it was that vertical-slat fences came into vogue.

But theres no denying the horizontal fence is back in a big way  and is an efficient way to update and elevate your homes appeal.

Providing a sophisticated look with clean lines, solid structural integrity and near-total security, the horizontal fence trend began to reemerge in the past few years, coming into vogue in California neighborhoods. It has now traveled as far as San Antonio and is rapidly growing in popularity.

Sightlines are at a minimum with this style of fence, so a horizontal fence provides more intense coverage and privacy from the scrutiny of neighbors or bystanders than the average vertical fence.

And, lending truth to the truism of good fences make good neighbors, horizontal fences  unlike most vertical fences  are aesthetically pleasing for neighbors on both sides of the fence, creating a sleek and contemporary beauty everyone can appreciate.

So whether you opt to have your horizontal fence professionally installed or build your own DIY option, this fence is a fresh new look: the rising star of enclosure aesthetics.

You can, of course, build one yourself by cutting rails to length and installing them, one slat at a time. And dont worry  there are a wide array of online resources to help, if this is the path you choose to take. (But if you use extra-long boards, you might want to consider installing some extra vertical supports.)

Or, if youre not too handy with power tools, you can call in the professionals, who can help you create the fence of your dreams to enhance your propertys perimeter.

Horizontally hung slats offer a more customizable design from the start than vertical slats do. Make the most of this opportunity by exploring natural wood, stained wood, vinyl or metal slat options, and dont be afraid to get creative with the design of the slats.

Vinyl panels can be a cost-cutting option to install the horizontal fence of your dreams, but if youre looking for classic wooden horizontal slats, youll have to make some choices  rough lumber or smooth lumber, for example, can mean the difference between a more rustic look or a more silky-smooth, delicate appearance to your finished fence.

Avoid pressure-treated wood, and instead opt for a hardwood like Mangaris or  more affordably  a softwood like redwood or Douglas fir for an exquisite finished product. (Redwood can be a terrific option if youre hoping to stain the wood, as its more porous than Douglas fir and is easier and more efficient to stain.)

And, when you design your horizontal fence, keep in mind that if you can dream it, you can build it. Planks can be aligned for a sleek modern look, or staggered to achieve a more brick-adjacent effect. Tongue-and-groove planking will provide the most security, with the panels close together, but adding even a fraction of an inch between the planks can provide a more open and expansive appearance without compromising privacy.

Or, if youre really daring, consider using different planks of different lengths to create a more contemporary-looking appearance for your yard.

And of course, one of the greatest benefits to a modern horizontal fence is it visually expands your property lines, making your enclosed space appear larger than ever before.

Dont delay: A horizontal fence can be a great choice to update your property today.
Gunmen killed 24 civilians, including a church pastor, and kidnapped three others on Sunday in Burkina Faso, an official said. It was the latest attack against a religious leader in the increasingly unstable West African nation.

The mayor of Boundore commune, Sihanri Osangola Brigadie, said the attack occurred in the town of Pansi in Yagha province. The roughly 20 attackers separated men from women close to a Protestant church. At least 18 other people were injured.

It hurt me when I saw the people, Brigadie said after visiting some of the victims in the hospital in Dori town, 180 kilometers (110 miles) from the attack. The gunmen looted oil and rice from shops and forced the three youth they kidnapped to help transport it on their motorbikes, he said.

Both Christians and Muslims were killed before the church was set on fire, said a government security official in Dori who spoke on condition of anonymity because they werent authorized to speak to the media.

Attacks have targeted religious leaders in the area in the past. Last week, also in Yagha province, a retired pastor was killed and another pastor was abducted by gunmen, according to an internal security report for aid workers seen by The Associated Press.

Extremist violence has dramatically escalated in once-peaceful Burkina Faso.

More than dozen people were killed at an evangelical church in last December, and back-to-back attacks targeted Protestant and Catholic gatherings last spring.

Analysts are concerned that attacks against civilians, including against Christians, are increasing at an alarming rate, said Corinne Dufka, West Africa director for Human Rights Watch. Perpetrators use victims links to government or their faith to justify the killings, while others appear to be reprisal killings for killings by the government security forces, she said.

More than 1,300 civilians were killed in targeted attacks last year in Burkina Faso, more than seven times the previous year, according to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, which collects and analyzes conflict information.

The insecurity has created a humanitarian crisis. More than 760,000 people are internally displaced, according to the government.
(Reuters) - Alstom SA has reached a preliminary deal to buy Bombardier Inc's train business for more than $7 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter. Quebec pension giant Caisse de depot et placement, which owns a 32.5% stake in Bombardier's train unit, has agreed to sell its stake to Alstom and buy a minority stake in the combined train company, the report added https://on.wsj.com/2wh5tMB

(Reuters) - Alstom SA has reached a preliminary deal to buy Bombardier Inc's train business for more than $7 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Quebec pension giant Caisse de depot et placement, which owns a 32.5% stake in Bombardier's train unit, has agreed to sell its stake to Alstom and buy a minority stake in the combined train company, the report added https://on.wsj.com/2wh5tMB.

(Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Pakistan is likely to import insecticides from arch-rival India to brace itself for any locust attacks this summer, bypassing a ban on trade between the neighbouring nations.

A copy of Cabinet agenda for a Tuesday meeting seen by Reuters has the import option on it.

Pakistan severed all diplomatic and trade ties with New Delhi in August after India revoked the special status of Kashmir, a disputed territory between the two rivals, who have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan region.

Yes definitely, there is a fear of locust attack in June- July, this is the reason we are planning and preparing in advance, Dr Falak Naz, Director General Department of Plant Protection, Ministry of National Food Security and Research, told Reuters.

China, currently battling the coronavirus outbreak, is the other place from where Pakistan can import the insecticides.

Pakistan declared a national emergency over locust swarms early this month after the food ministry gave a briefing to parliament, warning that the country was facing the worst locust infestation in two decades.

Desert locusts, large herbivores which resemble grasshoppers, are said to have arrived in Pakistan from Iran, and have already damaged maze, cotton, wheat and other crops.

Khusro Bakhtiar, the national food security minister, quoted by local English language newspaper The Express Tribune, said in the briefing that the locust swarm was currently on the Pakistan-India border.

Action has been taken against the insect over 0.3 million acres (121,400 hectares) and aerial spray was done on 20,000 hectares, he said.

Swarms of desert locusts have invaded eastern Africa, ravaging crops, decimating pasture and deepening a hunger crisis. United Nations says hundreds of millions of the insects have swept over the Horn of Africa in the worst outbreak in a quarter of a century.
O ne of the architects of Mifid II has defended the controversial financial regulations as they face a large-scale review.

Kay Swinburne, a former Welsh MEP and KPMGs vice chair of financial services, has urged European authorities not to rip up the legislation. Its forerunner was brought in in 2007 and revised in 2018 to restore confidence in financial markets after the economic crash.

She told the Standard: This was a mammoth task to implement this enormous piece of regulation and it needs time to bed down. Theres a lack of data to make major changes at this time.

Most of my clients would say they would prefer a period of stability to bed this in rather than actually have a wholesale change of the rules for a second time, said the former Deutsche Bank banker who left politics last year and joined the accountancy giant.

The European Commission is carrying out a scheduled review of the legislation, brought in, which will take 18 months to complete.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has launched a separate consultation on transparency of trading equities, a key element of Mifid II, with industry input due by next month. A second study into bond trading is due this week. ESMAs findings will be released to the EU Commission in July and form part of the Mifid II review, made more complicated by Brexit negotiations being conducted in tandem.

Authorities admit the nature of Britains Brexit deal will play a big part in the regulations future. It is currently unclear how much of Mifid II Britain is likely to replicate, and a row is brewing between the UK and Europe over equivalence. However, industry sources pointed out the parts of the Mifid II rules covered by equivalence are relatively minor.

Mifid II was introduced to improve transparency for investors in European markets. However, it has been blamed for a fierce price war over research among brokers and investment banks, triggering a wave of consolidation and failures among small-cap brokers.

It has been suggested the review of Mifid could see research on smaller companies rebundled with commissions for brokers and tighter rules to stem the rise of dark pool trading  marketplaces where the price of a deal is disclosed only after the trade.

Andrew Monk, chief executive of small-cap broker VSA Capital, said Mifid II has contributed to investors shunning small caps in favour of private equity. He urged regulators to attempt to understand what investors want. He added: They also need to act quicker and with more clout when major issues occur  people watch [fallen funds star] Neil Woodford walk off with tens of millions whilst they lose their pensions and the regulator appears to do nothing  what message does that send out?
There are a lot of students who come to the University of Montana from other countries who are eager to learn but challenged with limited English skills.

It's Sara Schroeder's job to make sure those students gain the English skills they need to succeed in their courses in just one or two semesters.

Schroeder is an English instructor for an intensive program at UM's English Language Institute, or ELI, where she has taught international students from over 60 countries, many of whom are concurrently enrolled in regular university courses.

"Each culture seems to have its own writing style, so students may not be accustomed to being that direct in their writing so we work with them on that," she said. "But more importantly, we answer questions about the culture so they fit in better."

Hiroka Umeda, an undergraduate student from Osaka, Japan, who is majoring in biology, said Schroeder has helped her learn scientific words she needs to know for her coursework, while also teaching her basic words, grammar and colloquial sayings.

"She is just awesome compared to other teachers," Umeda said, who is just beginning her second semester of the program.

Schroeder has been in her position since 2013 and was recently recognized as one of 12 faculty members across the state for the Montana University System Teaching Scholar award, along with UM professors Lauren Fern and Tobin Miller Shearer. The professors are working separately with faculty groups to develop high-impact practices for teaching students.

Schroeder works primarily with students from Japan, China and Saudi Arabia, in addition to students who come to UM from developing countries through a state-sponsored program called the Humphrey Fellowship. Schroeder said UM has the only program in the country that offers English support to Humphrey Fellowship students while they participate in the five-month program before transferring to larger institutions in the U.S., and eventually take the knowledge they learned back to their home country.

Schroeder said it's inspiring to see students progress in the short time she works with them, but her favorite part of the job is simply getting to meet people from other countries and learning about different cultures.

"I learn so much about culture, and I learn about so many different perspectives, and I don't know any other way I'd be able to learn all of that," Schroeder said.

Nobukatsu Tbuse, an undergraduate student from Tokyo, said Schroeder is always willing to provide students with additional help, and that her sense of humor and knack for joking around with the students has helped him engage in the class.

It's important to Schroeder that students not only learn, but also feel welcome on campus. She said she wants the classroom to feel homey for the students and that she keeps a Keurig coffee maker on a table in the corner, which many of the students help themselves to daily.

"Just little things like that help them to feel comfortable opening up here and then hopefully that will ultimately translate into happening in their other classes, too," Schroeder said.

She also has other teaching practices to make sure students stay engaged, such as placing dictionaries on desks, which she said helps curb cellphone use by eliminating a common excuse from students that they are using their phone as a dictionary to look up words.

Recently, she worked with students on a "speaking and listening" project consisting of a website with links to podcast episodes made by her students that cover a variety of topics. For each podcast, she created a downloadable worksheet that students can use to assess their understanding of what they heard.

Schroeder also makes sure she stays busy outside of teaching. Off campus, she can be found occasionally playing trombone for the Missoula City Band, the Community Band, and the Missoula Big Band.

You must be logged in to react.

Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
ST. PAUL  A number of Minnesota lawmakers are looking to tackle climate change from the Capitol with a roster of multi-million dollar state investments.

On Monday, Feb. 17, the Minnesota House Climate Action Caucus proposed a package of bills to invest in electric buses and cars, solar production, energy efficiency improvements to buildings and more. The 15-bill package totals $191.5 million in one-time funds, which legislators said would be funded with the state's budget surplus .

State Rep. Todd Lippert, D-Northfield, at a Monday news conference said the package aims to alleviate the effects of climate change and pollution already being felt in the metro and Greater Minnesota, as well as prevent further repercussions down the line.

"We all depend on a healthy and stable climate and we need to respond to climate change this session," Lippert said. "Waiting to act threatens our future."

The largest portion of the package, $85.5 million, is devoted to energy efficiency improvements to homes, public schools, nursing homes and commercial buildings. The second-largest chunk would go toward transportation  Minnesota's largest air pollutant, according to Pollution Control Agency data  with funding for electric school and public transit buses, as well as electric vehicle rebates.

ADVERTISEMENT

The plan also includes funds for solar panels for both homes and public schools, as well as conservation, research and local government projects.

Legislators formed the House climate caucu s in September, and senators followed suit with their own climate caucus in December. Though House leadership was not present for Monday's news conference, state Rep. Patty Acomb, D-Minnetonka, who co-chairs the caucus, said the bill package has their support  as well as Minnesotans'.

"We created this proposal because Minnesotans were asking their state legislators to recognize the urgent challenges posed by climate change and respond in a way that allows people from all across Minnesota to take part in can-do solutions," she said.
Airbus said Saturday it "deeply regrets" the U.S. decision "to increase tariffs on aircraft imported from the EU."

The European aerospace corporation said in a statement the new tariffs would heighten "trade tensions between the US and the EU, thereby creating more instability for US airlines that are already suffering from a shortage of aircraft."

The U.S. Trade Representative's Office said Friday tariffs on aircraft imported from the European Union would rise from 10 percent to 15 percent.

The tariff hike is expected to go into effect on March 18.


A new policy of staggered procurement of major military platforms including for 114 fighter jets for the Indian Air Force will be adopted to address the problem of obsolescence and encourage the domestic defence industry, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat said on Monday.

He said going for mega deals at one go may make the platforms redundant after a period of time as technology is advancing at a rapid pace.

When asked whether the government will follow the new model of staggered procurement for IAF's proposal to buy 114 aircraft, Gen Rawat said, "Yes. It will be under the new framework."



The chief of defence staff said government is adopting the new approach to encourage the domestic defence industry as total reliance on import will not serve the Make in India initiative.

" I think we should go for staggered approach of placing orders for big-ticket purchases. If we are buying 100 aircraft, then it should be in four packages of 25 aircraft each," he said.

"That is why we ordered only 36 Rafale aircraft," Gen Rawat said without clarifying whether the government will go for procuring more Rafale jets from France.

In April last year, the IAF issued an RFI (request for information) or initial tender to acquire 114 jets at a cost of around USD 18 billion, which is billed as one of the world's biggest military procurement in recent years.

The top contenders for the deal include Lockheed's F-21, Boeing's F/A-18, Dassault Aviation's Rafale, the Eurofighter Typhoon, Russian aircraft MiG 35 and Saab's Gripen.

The chief of defence staff, who has been tasked to prioritise military procurement, said utility and a futuristic approach will be major factors in deciding big-ticket purchases.

The government appointed Gen Rawat as CDS on December 31 to bring in convergence among the three services and restructure military commands to effectively deal with future security challenges.
Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg at a campaign rally at the National Constitution Center earlier this month. Read more

When Elizabeth Warren was emerging as a front-runner in the Democratic presidential primary last fall, Helen Springer enthusiastically contributed $100 to the liberal Massachusetts senators campaign.

She was trending high, said Springer, 75, of Kennett Square. That didnt last.

Springer, a retired human resources administrator, has watched with dismay since then, concerned that none of the candidates who competed in Iowa and New Hampshire can win the nomination, unite the party, and defeat President Donald Trump in November.

But another candidate is giving her hope: Mike Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York and Republican-turned-Democrat, who was skipping the early-voting states and spending hundreds of millions of dollars on television commercials making the case that Mike will get it done.

We Democrats have to be absolutely pragmatic. We have to be cold-eyed, said Springer, who described her politics as way way way way to the left.

We have to look at the situation were in and get behind somebody who can stand toe to toe with Trump, said Springer who, like others interviewed for this article spoke last week. Its very uncertain right now. Its really scary, and weve gotta have somebody who can take it all the way with Trump. Bloomberg, I think, can.

Springer isnt alone among Democratic voters in the Philadelphia suburbs. For some, the first votes this month have reinforced concerns that the party will nominate a candidate who cant beat Trump in such battleground states as Pennsylvania that delivered him the White House in 2016.

Former Vice President Joe Bidens lackluster performance so far has created a hunger for another moderate alternative to the leading progressive candidate, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. And even some self-described progressive voters said they are open to Bloomberg, in part because theyre worried that the candidates running on more liberal platforms cant win.

Democratic voters said their anxiety was exacerbated by Trumps purge of some who testified in his impeachment trial, and tweets last week that raised the specter of his meddling in the sentencing recommendation for his convicted associate Roger Stone.

Add to that an unprecedented advertising blitz, and Bloomberg is getting a serious look from voters in the suburbs  a key region that helped Democrats take control of the House of Representatives in 2018 and where the party swept Republicans out of power in local elections last year. In a fluid nominating contest shaping up as a drawn-out fight, Pennsylvanias April 28 primary could be critical. Voters in the suburbs could help determine the nominee, and in November they will form a crucial bloc in a state Trump won by less than 1% in 2016.

A Franklin and Marshall poll of Pennsylvania voters, taken in January before voting started, found Bloomberg with the support of 7% of Democrats  well behind Bidens 22% but ahead of former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, the leading moderates who have competed in the early states. Newer national polls put Bloomberg in third place behind Sanders and Biden, according to an average of surveys tracked by RealClearPolitics.

Over the weekend, rival candidates treated Bloomberg like a threat, accusing him of trying to buy the election, blasting his record on race relations, and questioning his treatment of women over the years.

There is a growing sentiment to take a closer look at what he might be able to bring to the whole campaign and what his presidency might look like, said Dick Bingham, chairman of the Chester County Democratic Committee.

The Bloomberg campaign said that by this weekend, it will have opened field offices in Media, Langhorne, West Chester, and Ardmore  one in each of Philadelphias four collar counties. He already has offices in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Harrisburg, with the campaign on its way to almost 100 staffers in the state. Biden headquarters his national campaign in Philadelphia, but no Democrat besides Bloomberg has built up substantial Pennsylvania infrastructure of any kind.

 READ MORE: Mike Bloomberg is getting a head start on the Pennsylvania Democratic primary with a huge hiring spree

Two days before Sanders won the New Hampshire primary, Marsha Peltz, vice chair of the Chester County Democrats, hosted about 25 people from across the region at her Malvern home for an informational session about Bloomberg. Among those who showed up were three self-identified Republicans, said Peltz, who is running to become a Bloomberg delegate at the Democratic convention.

I see on the grassroots level how hes uniting those Republicans that are looking for some place to go, she said. Registered Republicans cannot vote in the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania.

 READ MORE: Mike Bloomberg helped two Republicans win big Pennsylvania elections. Now he wants the Democratic nomination for president.

Bloomberg has spent more than $14 million on television and radio commercials in Pennsylvania, according to Advertising Analytics, an ad-tracking firm. No other Democratic candidate has bought airtime in Pennsylvania media markets.

Its gotten to the point of saturation, said Ron Kolla, chairman of the Horsham Democratic Committee, in Montgomery County. Im on Facebook and he comes up in my Facebook feed. Im driving to work, Im listening to the radio, I hear him on the radio.

"Its almost as if hes the only candidate currently running in Pennsylvania, Kolla said.

A few minutes after an interview, Kolla said he received a phone call from someone conducting a poll. It was paid for by the Bloomberg campaign.

 READ MORE: Mike Bloomberg is spending an unprecedented amount of money on Pennsylvania TV ads

An ad contrasting Trumps inflammatory rhetoric with lofty speeches from such former presidents as John F. Kennedy caught the attention of Stephanie Mullen, 47, of Phoenixville. Mullen, who works for a nonprofit foundation, said shes undecided on a candidate and in November will vote blue no matter who.

Im not quite as progressive as the Bernie crew and all of them, she said, calling her top priority beating Trump.

Bloomberg is only starting to come under the kind of scrutiny his opponents have endured for months.

He has faced renewed criticism for his support, as mayor, of a policing policy known as stop and frisk, which a federal judge in 2013 ruled was unconstitutional and had led to indirect racial profiling. Bloomberg apologized for his position shortly before he announced his campaign in November  after vigorously defending it for years.

Some African American mayors and other elected officials have flocked to Bloomberg as Biden has struggled. It remains to be seen how black voters will ultimately weigh the legacy of stop and frisk in deciding whether to back him.

I have problems with him, the stop and frisk, said Spencer Lewis, 51, a digital marketing strategist who is black.

Lewis, of Whitpain Township, founded a local chapter of the anti-Trump group Indivisible after the 2016 election. He favors Warren and Sanders, and said his top priority was getting rid of that kind of corporate money in Washington.

Bloomberg, he said, is part of that class that has too much influence in our government.

 READ MORE: Mike Bloomberg apologized for stop and frisk. Dont expect his surrogate Michael Nutter to do the same.

Melissa Chargel, 43, of Whitpain, cited lobbying and money in politics as the biggest issue confronting the country: I think we have Trump because things were already broken.

Collecting signatures at a grocery store last week for her petition to become a Warren delegate, Chargel said Bloombergs candidacy was tricky for her. A mother of two daughters, ages 4 and 2, she said she was terrified by Trumps election and got involved with the anti-gun-violence group Moms Demand Action. Friends she knows through that group support Bloomberg, she said. The nonpartisan organization is affiliated with the Bloomberg-financed group Everytown for Gun Safety.

He has put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into gun violence, Chargel said. And that is a big issue for me, and I appreciate that.

But shes not comfortable with a campaign that Bloombergs opponents denounce as him trying to buy the election.

Like Lewis, Chargel said shed vote for Bloomberg if he were the nominee.

Bloombergs best bet may be winning over Democrats discouraged by Bidens shaky campaign.

Ive heard concern about Biden for months, said Jill Zipin, a self-described moderate Democrat who is active in Montgomery County politics. Friends tell her of the 77-year-old Biden: He seems older, more frail. Hes not the Biden of 10 years ago. Bloomberg is 78.

Gary Wasserson, 63, a former communications-industry executive, and his wife hosted a gathering of about 80 friends at their Penn Valley home a few days after the Iowa caucuses, to hear a presentation from Bloomberg campaign officials.

Virtually everybody who attended either loved the idea of Bloomberg or wanted to hear more about what he was doing, Wasserson said. Upon hearing Bloombergs platform, he said, a close friend who voted for Trump and who has continued to support the president told him he would register as a Democrat and vote for Bloomberg in the primary.

That shocked me, he said.
Vocational training schools in Vietnam will continue to use curricula transferred from Australia and Germany until the end of 2020 and 2025, respectively, following the technical vocational education and training (TVET) reform plan.

Trainees at Ha Tinh Provinces Ly Tu Trong Vocational College in an industrial electricity class.

The plan, developed by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), aimed to develop high-quality TVET institutes, teachers and managers as well as pilot key vocational training courses at ASEAN and international levels.

According to MOLISA Deputy Minister Le Quan, Vietnam had 45 vocational schools offering 12 Australian courses and 22 German courses.

Tuition fees for these courses are kept low while the diplomas they receive are issued by either our Australian or German counterparts, he said.

Nearly 300 teachers have taken English language courses in Australia under the plan, and will go on to train other teachers in the vocational education sector.

Meanwhile, more than 260 teachers were sent to Germany to consolidate their lecturing and vocational skills in preparation for 66 new courses that started in November 2019.

The schools include the Lilama 2 International College, the Hanoi College of Electro-mechanics and the Hue Industrial College, which are highly valued for their facilities.

New opportunities

Nguyen Tien Thinh enrolled at Bac Ninh Province Electro-mechanics Vocational College after taking a gap year, a bad decision in the eyes of many Vietnamese people.

The programme, which is transferred from Australia, is much more demanding than the domestic equivalent. As trainees are requested to reach B1 English level, the 23-year-old spent a year studying the language.

After another two and a half years of professional training, my English skills were good enough to work for foreign companies. If I go to work in Europe, I only need to submit the English certificate besides the vocational education diploma, Thinh said.

Having both professional and English languages skills are advantages for the programmes graduates.

Vu Hoai Phuong, director of Hue Tourism College in Thua Thien-Hue Province, said collaboration with foreign vocational training colleges helped Vietnamese counterparts approach international standard curricula. Graduates from Hue Tourism Colleges two courses on resort management and tour guide training following Australian standards secure improved job opportunities.

Our transferred programmes are evaluated by German experts. After any session, trainees have to fill an assessment form. These programmes also ask trainees to have a one-year internship at companies, accounting for 30 per cent of the curricula, said Dong Van Ngoc, director of Hanoi College of Electro-mechanics.

The school has offered two German courses of industrial electricity and metal cutting since the end of 2019 with 16 trainees for each class.

Extension

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc urged Vietnams vocational training to efficiently promote labourers skills at Skilling up Vietnam  the countrys largest-ever forum on vocational training held in Hanoi in November 2019.

He stressed that the population of nearly 100 million people was the economys major engine, not natural resources.

Labour skills, management skills, intellectual capacity and professional capacity determine national growth, said PM Phuc.

Expanding the scale and improving the quality of vocational training plays an important part of creating skilled human resources and increasing productivity, he added.

However, the percentage of domestic businesses working with vocational schools remained low at 12.3 per cent, according to a report released by the National Assembly's Committee for Culture, Education, Youth, Adolescents and Children released in last October.

Loose co-operation made it difficult to improve vocational education, satisfy the markets rising demands for workers and solving unemployment in Vietnam, the report said.  VNS

Vocational training and education needs to attract participation of enterprises Enterprises are not interested in collaboration with vocational training facilities to train students or update their internal training programmes because the laws are not clear about their role and responsibilities.

Companies in Dong Nai, HCM City face staff shortage The number of foreign companies and corporations choosing Vietnam for investment and production has increased strongly in recent years but their recruitment of staff has faced problems, according to labour departments and centres.
Qatar Petroleum has decided to postpone the start of expansion operations at its North Field, four unnamed sources told Reuters.

The Qatari state energy firm was supposed to select foreign partners for the expansion soon, but it will delaying that, the sources said.

Gas prices have been low for months amid a growing glut, falling demand for LNG in China, and still growing production, especially in the United States, casting a shadow over more than one project.

Qatars North Field, which it shares with Iran (South Pars), is the largest gas deposit in the world. Qatar had previously put a moratorium on any production expansion at the field, but two years ago it took many market players by surprise when it announced its plan to ramp up production. That decision was made as Australia began challengingsuccessfullyQatars number-one position as the worlds largest LNG exporter and cheapest producer.

Qatar Petroleum shortlisted half a dozen energy supermajors as partners for the expansion project and said it would announce their names in the first quarter of this year.

Interestingly enough, Reuters recalls that last year Qatar Petroleum had also said it planned to up its initial production expansion plans from 40 percent more than current levels by 2027 to 60 percent more than current levels, which would come in at a total of 126 million tons of LNG, from 77 million tons currently.

Meanwhile, the LNG price benchmark for Northeast Asia, according to S&P Global Platts has entered a bear market, slumping by over a third since the start of the year to an all-time low of $2.763 per Mmbtu as of last week.

I think Qatar has decided to firm up the capex of the project before they go to international oil companies. I think the decision should be ready by the end of 2020, one of the Reuters sources said.

Qatars cost base is very low compared to other projects but in todays environment, every project has to compete for capital, another said.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari will represent India at a two-day global conference on road safety in Stockholm on February 18 and 19.

The objective of the conference is to bring road safety on the global agenda and renew the world community's commitment to safer roads, the highways and road ministry said in a statement.

"Road Transport & Highways and MSMEs Minister Nitin Gadkari reached Stockholm today to represent India at the '3rd High Level Global Conference on Road Safety for Achieving Global Goals 2030'," the statement said.

Leaders from participating countries will draw up a road map for reaching the goal of reducing road crashes by 2030 set under the 'UN Decade of Action'.

The conference, a follow up of the 2nd High Level Global Conference on Traffic Safety-Time of Results in 2015 in Brazil, is being organised in collaboration with the World Bank, World Health Organisation (WHO) and other agencies.

A significant highlight of the conference will be sharing of the expertise by the nations which have gained experience in road safety management with those who are behind in the learning curve, the statement said.

Emphasis will also be on adopting best practices that are emerging in different parts of the world.

It said developing countries, particularly in the South Asian and the South East Asian region, including India, are expected to focus on certain specific issues and challenges facing them on account of a significant number of their motorised vehicles consisting of two-wheelers.

India alone accounts for about 5 lakh road accidents every day in which 1.5 lakh people die.

India has signed the Brasilia Declaration in 2015, which committed the world community to reducing the number of deaths in road accidents.

During his stay at Stockholm, Gadkari will have bilateral dialogue with Swedish Minister for Infrastructure Tomas Eneroth, Minister for Foreign Trade Anna Hallberg, Minister for Business, Industry & Innovation Ibrahim Baylan and also with the British Minister for Road Safety Baroness Vere.

He will also hold talks with World Bank Vice President (South Asia) Hart Schafer.

Swedish and Indian businesses are likely to exchange several MoUs on this occasion.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Companies guilty of wage theft could be publicly named and shamed under proposed industrial relations reforms.

Attorney-General Christian Porter, who is also industrial relations minister, has released a discussion paper looking at options to tackle worker underpayments.

The paper raises the prospect of adverse publicity orders, which could require an employer to display a notice admitting to underpaying workers.

Company directors could be disqualified from holding office and businesses that fail to prevent wage theft banned from hiring migrant workers.

Attorney-General Christian Porter (pictured) is set to bring legislation that could result in jail time or fines for companies who exploit workers

Mr Porter said the vast majority of underpayments were not deliberate.

But he said the issue was incredibly serious and bordered on negligence in the case of big companies that should be capable of following workplace law.

'Like most Australians, the government has been appalled by the number of companies that have recently admitted short-changing their staff - in some cases by hundreds of millions of dollars,' he said.

The Morrison government is also due to introduce legislation in coming week to criminalise the most serious forms of worker exploitation with significant jail terms and fines.

Mr Porter said the coalition had already increased some civil penalties by a factor of 10.

'But it is clear to me that more still needs to be done to motivate companies to improve their performance, such as disqualifying directors of organisations that continue to get it wrong,' he said.

Celebrity chef George Calombaris (pictured) was revealed to have underpaid staff by $7.8million last year

The measures stem from the Migrant Worker Taskforce, which came after shocking revelations of underpayment across 7-Eleven shops.

The discussion paper also asks whether the small claims process available through courts could be streamlined to encourage greater participation at reduced costs.

A formal role for the Fair Work Commission to help mediate disputes between employers and employees is under consideration, as a way of delivering faster and cheaper outcomes.

Wage scandals have engulfed the hospitality and retail sectors in recent years, with high-profile cases including celebrity chef George Calombaris and Woolworths making headlines.

Mr Porter has also released a discussion paper looking at improving the building code.
Breege and Stephen Quinn, parents murdered man Paul Quinn at Stormont on Monday for talks with political parties. Pic Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker

The mother of Paul Quinn has visited Stormont to hold talks with politicians about the murder in Co Monaghan 13 years ago.

Breege Quinn said Finance Minister Conor Murphy has put her family through hell due to comments he made about the 21-year-old's murder in 2007.

Ms Quinn reiterated her call for the Finance Minister to go to police with any information he might have about her son's murder.

Paul Quinn was beaten to death by the IRA in a barn in Oram, Co Monaghan, in 2007. The 21-year-old Cullyhanna man had previously clashed with the son of the local Provisional IRA commander.

Following the murder Mr Murphy said in a BBC interview Paul was a criminal and a smuggler, remarks he later denied making but was forced to admit after a tape of the interview was unearthed.

He went on to retract his comments and apologised but has so far refused the family's demand that he categorically state Paul was not a criminal.

Both Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald and vice president Michelle O'Neill have stated he was not a criminal.

Speaking in Stormont on Monday, Breege Quinn said: "Conor Murphy said he was sorry for the hurt he put us through. He did not say that Paul was not a criminal. He said he does not know why he said those words on that day," she continued.

"He says now he is sorry for saying those words... [he has] put our family through hell."

Posting on Twitter, Breege Quinn said she hopes politicians listen to her message.

"I hope Conor Murphy is listening so that we can move our attention back to the men who killed our Paul and who are walking freely around Cullyhanna and Crossmaglen while our son is in the ground."

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald responded to Breege Quinn's statement. "The hurt felt by the family is very genuine," she said.

"I've spoken to Breege and I hope to meet her and I would like her and Conor Murphy to sit down and talk. I wish her peace of mind and I wish her justice because those who carried out this brutal murder are still at large.

"I hear [her statement] and our next move has to be to actually sit down face-to-face," she said.

Last week, Stormont's Finance Committee wrote to Conor Murphy telling his conduct around the incident "calls into question" his fitness for the office of Finance Minister.

The letter asks him to explain why he branded Paul a criminal and why he "denied the comments for the past 13 years".

Responding to the letter, a Sinn Fein spokesman said: "When Conor Murphy took up the post of Finance Minister only weeks ago, nearly all of these parties wished him well and supported him in the role.

"And now, over the last week, they have developed serious considerations about his place in office over remarks made 13 years ago.

"Conor has written to the family, unreservedly withdrawn his remarks and apologised, and he continues to carry out the important task of Finance Minister."
February 16, 2020  Ottawa  National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces

The Government of Canada is committed to upholding the values and interests that are core to Canadas prosperity and security: democracy, human rights, and the rules-based international system.

Defence Minister Harjit S. Sajjan concluded a constructive trip to Munich, where he attended the 56th Munich Security Conference February 14 and 15, 2020. With the current global political and security climate, these necessary discussions at the conference focused on the importance of maintaining the rules-based international order in the face of international security challenges, including the recent downing of Ukrainian flight PS752, tensions in the Middle East, and the protection of democracy and democratic institutions.

At the conference, Minister Sajjan participated in a number of bilateral meetings with the Ministers of Defence from France, Sweden, Australia, Georgia, Singapore, Switzerland, Japan, as well as the UN Under-Secretary General Jean-Pierre Lacroix, and the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government. During these meetings, the Minister addressed Canadian defence and security priorities such as the protection of the Arctic, the importance of the UN Smart Pledge concept, and the need for increased coordination between partners and allies. The Minister also attended the Cohen Breakfast, where General Tod D. Wolters, NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe and Commander of U.S. European Command, presented on challenges to Trans-Atlantic security.

While in Munich, Minister Sajjan also participated on a panel on Arctic security, along with the Danish and Norwegian Foreign Ministers, and the European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries. Minister Sajjan highlighted the important investments Canada is making in our Northern communities, the impact climate change is having, and the work that Canadian Rangers do to protect Canadians every day.

The Minister will continue to work with international partners to grow our relationships around the world.
A court in Karnatakas Hubli on Monday sent three students from Kashmir to judicial custody after they were arrested on Sunday, for the second time, on charges of sedition for allegedly shouting pro-Pakistan slogans.

Karnatakas home minister Basavaraj Bommai defended the police action against the civil engineering students at the KLE Institute of Technology in Hubli, about 400km north of Bengaluru.

Any anti-national will have to face the law, the minister said.

Responding to questions about why the students were arrested on Saturday and released on a bond only to be rearrested on Sunday, Bommai said the police commissioner had asked for a report on the incident and that the matter was being investigated.

Talib Majeed, Basit Asif Sofi and Amir Mohiuddin Wahi were hit with shoes and slippers earlier in the day by members of right-wing organisations protesting against them and shouting slogans of Bharat Mata ki Jai and Vande Mataram.

They were attacked when they were being taken away from the court of the judicial magistrate first class (JMFC). Police intervened quickly and took away the students.

The students, said to be from Shopian in Kashmir, were rearrested on Sunday for allegedly shouting pro-Pakistan slogans.

They have been accused of celebrating the Pulwama terror attack with slogans of azadi or freedom set to the song of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISI), Pakistans military media wing, on February 14, the first anniversary of the suicide bombing that killed 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers.

A video of their alleged celebration was widely shared on social media prompting college principal Basavraj Anami to suspend them pending investigation on Saturday.

The district lawyers association in Hubli has passed a resolution saying that none of its members would represent the accused.

The president of district lawyers association, Guru Hiremath, said that all the 1600 odd members had unanimously decided to not represent those accused of anti-national activities.

Members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student organisation affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), protested against what they called the police mishandling of the incident which they said resulted in the release of the accused before they were rearrested.
COMMUNIST MANIFESTO: ITS RELEVANCE 150 YEARS ON

The Manifesto of the Communist Party, written by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, is a rich historic document which has affected the lives of millions of people around the world. As communist and workers parties around the world are celebrating its 150th anniversary, their enemies are at work, churning out the usual claims that the 150-year-old document is dated and irrelevant.

The Manifesto of the Communist Party (or Communist Manifesto as it has become commonly known) was written as a program document for the Communist League and first published in February 1848. The Communist League was a federation of socialist workers and intellectuals of various nationalities which had been formed in 1836 by German revolutionary exiles.

The name Manifesto of the Communist Party emphasised the need for the working class to create its revolutionary organisation  its own political party.

The Manifesto reflects the three sources and three component parts of Marxism as Lenin described them: classical German philosophy; classical English political economy; and French socialism with French revolutionary doctrines in general.

Class Struggle

There had been revolutionary turmoil in Europe since the French Revolution of 1789, which removed the feudal barriers to the development of capitalist society in France.

In England the Industrial Revolution had been underway since 1770. British manufacturing was thriving, and both the proletariat and bourgeoisie were growing in size and strength as capitalism developed.

Trade unions were formed as wage workers began to organise themselves. A meeting of 60,000 workers in Manchester in 1819 had been savagely attacked by the militia  the famous Peterloo Massacre.

In Britain pressure for laws against the fierce exploitation in factories and mines was strong enough to lead in 1819 to the first laws against child labour.

The Peoples Charter of the Chartists, drawn up in 1832, contained the demands for universal suffrage, secret ballot, and other reforms.

In developing the theories that laid the basis for the Manifesto Marx and Engels drew on other philosophers, economists and political leaders, as well as their own analyses and experiences in the political struggles of that time and before them.

Coherent Body of Theory

Marx and Engels clarified ideas, opposed unscientific beliefs, added much that was new and developed a coherent body of theory that reflected reality.

They developed the philosophical system of dialectical and historical materialism  the consistent continuation and extension of materialism  and raised the struggle for socialism from a utopian vision to a science.

This is how Marx, in part, described the fundamental principles of materialism as applied to human society and its history:

In the social production of their life, men enter into definite relations that are indispensable and independent of their will, relations of production which correspond to a definite stage of development of their material productive forces.

The sum total of these relations of production constitutes the economic structure of society, the real foundation, on which rises a legal and political superstructure and which correspond to definite forms of social consciousness.

Marx, in a letter written in 1852, stated explicitly what was new on his part. He had shown:

(1) that the existence of classes is bound to definite historical phases of the development of production,

(2) that the class struggle necessarily leads to the dictatorship of the proletariat and

(3) that this dictatorship is itself only a transition to the abolition of all classes and leads to a classless society.

These achievements are embodied in principles that form the foundation of The Communist Manifesto.

Historical Materialism

The first of these principles is the scientific method used by Marx and Engels, known as historical materialism.

They used the principles of historical materialism to make their analysis of capitalism, its origins and the way in which the working class can achieve its emancipation.

Marx and Engels understood the revolutionary role of the bourgeoisie as society moved from feudalism to capitalism.

They recognised the bourgeois revolution as the victory of one exploiting minority over another, and looked ahead to the next revolution, the overthrow of the bourgeoisie by the working class.

The powerful productive forces that were unleashed by capitalism (machinery, technology, the skill of working class) would become incompatible with the existing property relations, (the private ownership of the means of production and the commodities and services produced).

Class Struggle

Their analysis of society brought them to the conclusion that The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles. This is the second principle in the Manifesto. Today, the struggle between classes in society still determines economic, political and social developments.

The class struggle takes forms and varies in its sharpness and intensity but never lets up.

The struggle around working hours and conditions, wages, safety, jobs, the right to form and join trade unions, and the right to strike are all part of the class struggle between labour and capital today. So too are the struggles for public services, and basic needs such as pensions and unemployment benefits.

The Workplace Relations and Trade Practices Acts are weapons to crush the rights of the working class. The capitalist state machinery  military, police, courts, laws protecting private property, parliament  are at the service of the capitalist class, reinforced by the capitalist media.

Far from being dead, the class struggle is alive and kicking, worldwide.

Nature of Capitalism

The third principle is the Manifestos explanation of the nature of capitalism in terms of commodity production, private ownership of the means of production, accumulation of capital, wage labour, and the expansion of markets.

It is still valid to speak of the class of modern wage-labourers who, having no means of production of their own, are reduced to selling their labour power in order to live, as Engels refers to the proletariat in a note to the English edition of the Manifesto.

The need of a constantly expanding market for its products chases the bourgeoisie over the whole surface of the globe. It must be everywhere, settle everywhere, establish connections everywhere, says the Manifesto.

This is the scientific characterisation of the growth of trade colonisation, out of which imperialism developed during the fifty to sixty years following the writing of the Manifesto.

It remains true in the present era imperialism and globalisation, as transnationals extend their tentacles to every corner of the globe.

So today, on the whole globe surface, imperialism can be seen enforcing naked exploitation and seeking global domination through military and economic means. So today also, the statement that the bourgeoisie (now in the form of US imperialism) compels all nations, on pain of extinction to adopt the bourgeois mode of production ... remains true.

Historic Inevitability of Socialism

A fourth principle is the historic inevitability of socialism.

Marx and Engels demonstrated why the workers of all countries are the grave-diggers of capitalism.

The fall of the bourgeoisie and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable, they wrote. The working class is that class which has the greatest reason to bring an end to capitalism. It is also the most numerous and best organised.

The Manifesto puts forward a clear theoretical and political program of a genuinely democratic nature, be it small or large in scale.

Role of Communists

The role of the working-class parties and communists is clearly defined. They have no interests separate and apart from those of the proletariat as a whole.

Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communistic revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win.

The ruling classes still tremble. Their fear of communism has been demonstrated time and time again  whether it be the Cold War, Suhartos or Hitlers massacre of communists, McCarthyism in the US, blockade of Cuba, outlawing of communists in the public sector in Germany and the never-ending anti-communist propaganda churned out by the mass media.

Marx and Engels foresight and understanding of social and economic developments is no better illustrated than in the Manifestos final words, the call to struggle, as relevant today as when they were written: Working men of all countries, unite!

This article appeared in the Guardian, February 1998
I just want the best for my kids, Pamela said as she returned home to the island of Abaco. Standing in what used to be her front yard, shards of roofing littered the ground and overturned boats surrounded her on the overcast day.

It was one of the many challenges Pamela faced returning home: How would her family find joy and motivation when so much had been lost?

As Red Cross relief workers unloaded kitchen supplies, water, food and clean-up items from the back of a truck to her doorstep, they also paused to listen.

My mother suffered a stroke after the storm; she couldnt bear the pressure of all we went through. The rising water, the looters, it was too much, she recalled. We swam out the roof of our house and made it to a clinic by way of a floating school bus.

Pamela was in need of the basics to carry on everyday tasks of life: pots and pans to make meals, utensils to eat with, buckets and soap to clean. But she also needed a sign that would tell her things could get better during what had become an overwhelming situation.

Helping Neighbors by Volunteering with the Red Cross

Weeks after she received aid, Pamela answered a call from her friend Christine. Were looking for volunteers to help this week, and I was wondering if youd be interested? Christine, a long-time Bahamas Red Cross volunteer, was drawing on her trusted community to make it possible for neighbors to receive help.

Pamela soon realized that Christines offer could also be one that may also bring her reassurance, right in her own backyard.

As a single mother of three kids, our house is still unlivable. But I know one thing: I am good at keeping things going. Im used to managing projects at work, so mark my words: If you give me a task, Ill find a way to make it happen.

Its that type of mindset that the Red Cross depends on to deliver aid in challenging conditions, like Abaco, where power and electricity still have not been fully restored.

At 9 oclock sharp the next morning, Pamela arrived at the aid distribution site with a handful of her girlfriends, who also decided to lend a hand. Theyre now among dozens of Bahamas Red Cross volunteers who continue to show up daily and make a difference, despite all of their lives having been turned upside down last fall.

As Pamela worked the relief station, she saw neighbors she hadnt connected with in months. Some of their eyes filled with tears as they realized that aid was being delivered on-the-spot, and that a familiar face like Pamelas was the comforting source.

That comfort extended straight to Pamela, too, who still gives her time on Abaco to help her own community recover.

When I can see people show up and smile, thats what lights me up. Theyre in such low spirits before coming here. But when they leave with that smile, thats everything to me.

American Red Crosss role in the Bahamas

The American Red Cross deployed more than 40 relief workers to assist the Bahamas Red Cross in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian. Teams distributed emergency shelter kits, food, water and millions of dollars in cash to families in need. Thanks to generous donors, the American Red Cross is still in the Bahamas, helping communities recover. Find more information about our work in at redcross.org/dorian.
A Hollywood sex therapist who was once engaged to Drew Carey has been murdered by a different ex-boyfriend after the restraining order she took out against him expired.

Dr. Amie Harwick, 38, was found unconscious on the ground at around 1.15am on Saturday after officers responded to a report of a 'woman screaming' in a Hollywood Hills neighborhood, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement.

She had been thrown from her third floor apartment's balcony, according to police.

Gareth Pursehouse, 41, was arrested at around 4.30pm on Saturday in Playa Del Rey on suspicion of murder.

Harwick had previously told friends she feared he would hurt her. She had filed a restraining order against him but it had expired two weeks ago.

The doctor's roommate told police that after Pursehouse broke in, they ran out of the apartment to get help for her.

By the time officers arrived at the property, she had been thrown from the balcony.

Scroll down for video

Dr. Annie Harwick, a popular sex therapist in Hollywood, was found unconscious outside her Hollywood Hills home after falling from her third-floor balcony early Saturday morning. She was pronounced dead at a hospital

Gareth Pursehouse, Harwick's ex-boyfriend, has been arrested and charged with murder, according to the Los Angeles Police Department

Harwick was found unconscious after falling from a third-floor balcony in her home (seen above) at around 1.15am on Saturday

Harwick, the author of The New Sex Bible for Women, was the former fiancee of Carey, host of The Price Is Right game show.

The two split in 2018 after dating for more than a year.

Los Angeles Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Carey's publicist for comment.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Pursehouse has worked as a photographer as well as a software engineer and developer.

His most recent job was as lead architect at Internet Brands.

Hours after Harwick died and before his arrest on Saturday afternoon, Pursehouse, who is active on Twitter, posted messages on the site.

You cant get fit without that new gym clothing, he wrote at 9.07am on Saturday.

But they wont give you that gear until youre fit. Soo  Tough t***ies bucko.

Hours before the alleged murder, Pursehouse tweeted about politics.

Harwick was once engaged to Drew Carey, host of The Price Is Right. The ex-couple is seen above in this 2017 file photo

The New Sex Bible for Women is described as 'an all-encompassing and fully comprehensive guide for women covering everything from masturbation, oral sex, self-esteem and self-care, sex positions, safety and concerns, and sex aides'

I cant figure out why gerrymandering isnt a federal crime, he wrote on Friday evening.

His Twitter page is full of tweets critical of President Trump.

Reminder... Once Trump is not president, the FBI can prosecute him for all the Mueller report findings, he wrote on Wednesday.

Harwick is a well known sex and family therapist in the Hollywood area.

She received her degree in psychology from California Polytechnic University in Pomona, California.

Hours after Harwick died and before his arrest, Pursehouse, who is active on Twitter, posted messages on the site. You cant get fit without that new gym clothing, he wrote at 9:07am on Saturday. But they wont give you that gear until youre fit. Soo  Tough t***ies bucko.

Hours before the alleged murder, Pursehouse tweeted about politics. I cant figure out why gerrymandering isnt a federal crime, he wrote on Friday evening

Harwick is pictured above at the University of Southern California in October 2019

She also earned her masters of arts in clinical psychology from Pepperdine University.

In 2014, Harwick published The New Sex Bible for Women: The Complete Guide to Sexual Self-Awareness and Intimacy

In 2015, Harwick appeared in the popular online documentary titled Addicted to Sexting.

A year later, she made an appearance on the reality television show Braxton Family Values.

The show, which airs on WE tv, follows the lives of the Braxton sisters - Toni, Tamar, Traci, Towanda, and Trina - as well as their mother, Evelyn.

Harwick has also published articles in various online news and advice sites.

According to her web site, Harwick worked out of an office on Santa Monica Boulevard.

She offered weekly therapy sessions at $200 per session, according to her site.
CUPERTINO (BCN)

Rancho San Antonio County Park and Open Space Preserve in Cupertino will be closed temporarily after a child was injured by an animal - suspected to be a mountain lion - while walking with others on a park trail, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District officials said Sunday.

The injuries to the child were minor, and the child was treated on-scene, Midpen spokeswoman Leigh Ann Gessner said Sunday afternoon.

The encounter took place about 10 a.m. Sunday on a trail about two miles from the preserve's main parking area. The child, whose gender and age were not provided, was with family members when the attack occurred, Gessner said. Adult family members scared the animal away.

Santa Clara County Sheriff's deputies and Santa Clara County Fire paramedics responded.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife officers, with help from Midpen rangers, are investigating the incident and working to locate and positively identify the animal. The preserve will be closed until the investigation is finished and will reopen when Midpen officials determine it is safe to do so, Gessner said.

Mountain lions live throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains. They generally are not a threat to people, and encounters like Sunday's are unusual, rangers said. Nevertheless, park visitors should remain vigilant when in mountain lion territory.

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.
UN chief says international community must help to achieve peace in Afghanistan and aid refugees in Pakistan and Iran.

Islamabad, Pakistan  The United Nations has thrown its weight behind a peace process aimed at ending almost 20 years of devastating war in Afghanistan, with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calling it an opportunity that cannot be missed.

Guterres was speaking at a high-level international summit in Pakistans capital, Islamabad, held on Monday to mark 40 years of Afghanistans southeastern neighbour hosting millions of refugees from armed conflict.

In his speech, the UN chief urged the international community to aid Afghan refugees who reside in Pakistan and Iran and do everything possible to achieve peace in Afghanistan, where tens of thousands of civilians have been killed since a United States invasion in 2001.

We do not have the right to miss this opportunity, said Guterres, who is in Pakistan on a four-day trip. No Afghan will forgive us if this opportunity is missed.

His comments came as the US and the Taliban appear to be close to embarking on a seven-day reduction in violence in Afghanistan as a prelude to a peace deal to the USs longest war. The two sides have been wrangling over Washingtons demand for a ceasefire before the signing of a final peace agreement, which is expected to outline the withdrawal of US troops and a guarantee Afghanistan will not be used as a launchpad to conduct attacks abroad.

The deal also proposes talks between the government in Kabul and the Taliban. The armed group, which has been fighting the US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan since it was toppled from power in 2001, has so far refused to speak to the Western-backed Afghan government, calling it a puppet regime.

In October, the UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) said it chronicled record-high civilian casualties from the war with the Afghan Taliban. In total, at least 2,563 civilians were killed and more than 5,600 wounded in the first nine months of 2019, UN data showed. UNAMA has recorded at least 27,390 confirmed civilian casualties as a result of the war since 2009, when it began gathering data under a standardised methodology.

Khan: Pakistan supports peace process

The rocky peace process looked to have hit an impasse in September last year, when US President Donald Trump decided at the 11th hour to call off planned talks with Taliban leaders at his presidential Camp David retreat.

Since then, the USs Afghan peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has been rebuilding the process, holding talks with Taliban officials in Qatars capital, Doha, as well as with Afghan government leaders in Kabul and Pakistani military and civilian leaders in Islamabad.

On Thursday, Trump said a peace agreement was very close and could be signed in the next two weeks.

Speaking at the same event as Guterres, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan reiterated the resolve of his government  accused for years by the US and Afghanistan of supporting the Taliban  to back the peace process.

190402101100457

Our security forces are on the same page, he said on Monday. There was an idea that the security forces in Pakistan had their own policy and the government had their own policy. This is not the case any more.

Khan said Pakistan had facilitated the US-brokered peace process, and that it is not in the interest of Pakistan for there to be any strife in Afghanistan.

More funding needed

Pakistan is home to at least 1.4 million registered refugees from Afghanistan, per data from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). At least as many are estimated by the authorities to be living in the country without official refugee cards, which Pakistan stopped issuing to new refugees in 2015.

Mondays summit was attended by the UN chief, Pakistani prime minister and other top officials from Afghanistan and Iran, another Afghan refugee-hosting country. Participants called on the international community to increase funding to help the millions of Afghans who remain displaced by the 19-year war between the US-led NATO forces and the Afghan Taliban.

For 40 years, the people of Afghanistan have faced successive crises. For 40 years, the people of Pakistan have responded with generosity, said Guterres, who previously served for 10 years as UNHCR chief. We must recognise that international support for Pakistan has been minimal compared to [Pakistans own funding]. As we look to the challenges ahead, the global community must step up.

UNHCRs budget for operations in Pakistan is $35m, roughly 21 percent of which is currently funded, according to UNHCR data. Pakistan allocated $3.5m of its federal budget this year for Afghan refugees.

For his part, Khan said he was disappointed by how European countries and others had treated arriving Afghan refugees.

Political leaders use refugee problems to divide humanity. To get votes, they transfer hatred towards refugees who are already suffering  They face xenophobia in so many affluent, rich countries.

Pakistani and UN officials encouraged the voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees to their home country through a UN-assisted system. An increase in violence in Afghanistan has seen a dramatic drop in such returns in the last year.

In 2019, at least 8,079 refugees returned home to Afghanistan, including 6,062 from Pakistan and 1,939 from Iran, according to the UN data. That number was 59 percent lower than voluntary returns in 2018, and the lowest since the UN began keeping records following the 2001 outbreak of the war between the US-led NATO forces and the Taliban.

From the refugee perspective, that path remains uncertain, said Filippo Grandi, the UNHCR chief. Inside Afghanistan fighting continues to kill and maim civilians, shut down schools and clinics and limit economic activity.

More than 400,000 people were displaced within the country last year alone.

Asad Hashim is Al Jazeeras digital correspondent in Pakistan. He tweets @AsadHashim
Fighting for our lives!

On 22nd February, hundreds of thousands of Australians will be in the streets fighting for our lives, for the survival of humanity.

The ruling elites and the corporations they serve are the principal obstacles to change. They cannot be reformed, and they will not give up power willingly. And this means revolution, we have to take power into our hands to save our lives.

The richest 0.54 per cent, or 42 million people across the world, are responsible for more emissions than the poorest half of the global population or 3.8 billion people.

Australia is the highest emitter on a per capita basis in the world, yet our Government continues to undermine international efforts to bring climate change under control as they did at the recent Madrid Conference.

Capitalist business is driven by the bottom line, by how much profit can be made. There is no meaningful planning for the future. Each day corporate decisions have to be made to please the investors and stockholders. They will not redirect the trillions of dollars and scientific and technical expertise spent on the military toward saving us from environmental catastrophe.

The chaotic nature of capitalist markets and the capitalist drive for profit got the planet into the current predicament and wont provide the way out. At its core the driver is for profit whatever the cost, not the needs of people. Our economic system ignores the fact that all production ultimately depends on the use of materials from the natural world, and all waste from production and consumption eventually finds its way into the environment.

We the people will have to make the changes needed to save our world.

As oceans rise and temperatures soar, ecosystems will continue to collapse. As resources diminish, social unrest and civilisation collapse are likely. The most marginalised and vulnerable in society will be hit first and hit hardest. And if we continue on our current path, the future of our species is at risk.

Damage resulting from climate change is already with us  bush fires and floods, more intense and frequent extreme weather events like hurricanes, droughts, and heat waves; rising sea levels that threaten the homes, lives and livelihoods of millions of people.

Climate change has become more destructive. Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their lives through drought; from killer hurricanes, cyclones and tornadoes; from landslides and flooding; from raging bushfires. Species are disappearing.

The scientific consensus is that the path ahead is far worse with widespread food and water scarcity, increased exposure to diseases, economic decline and damage to the infrastructure, ecosystems, and social systems that provide essential benefits to communities.

Australia has seen an extraordinary season of environmental catastrophe including thirty deaths, 3,000 houses burnt to the ground, 1 billion animals killed and over 3 million hectares of land burnt to a crisp and all this on top of the worst drought for years. Despite this the Coalition Government continues to give credence to the climate change deniers in its ranks.

We have to get rid of the vested interests that continue to profit from our suffering if we have any hope of saving our lives. A huge political and economic struggle is needed to turn things around.

It is impossible to reverse the momentum toward disaster without economic planning.

In order to have sustainable development, a country has to have a plan for its economy. There are only a few countries today with planned economies. Most notable are China and Cuba.

Socialism offers the scope and means, which capitalism does not have, for solving the environmental crisis and to deliver to workers a sustainable planet, with a decent life, work, and rights.

Workers must be part of climate solutions, and benefit from just and equitable transition programs. To free themselves from climate chaos workers and trade unions must join with other groups to fight for system change. This will not happen without struggle.

In recent years a new movement, often led by young people, has grown up in Australia and many other countries. Calls for system change and signs that denounce capitalism have become increasingly popular.

Large marches of hundreds of thousands of people have taken place but the huge corporations continue to dominate the political agenda. They block efforts to limit global warming, promote climate deniers and spread lies about environmentalists. The capitalist ruling class is fighting to stay in control and prevent any real change.

In Australia, the Murdoch press and Sky News employ the likes of Andrew Bolt, Alan Jones, and Peta Credlin to use every subterfuge and lie to defend the relentless mining of Australia for the profit of rich individuals.

The two-party system is obsolete and unable to move on climate change. Fighting for our future means supporting and voting for progressive and socialist parties.

The coming decades must be a time of massive environmental struggles. Our movement is demanding action now to delay and hopefully reverse the growing climate disaster which threatens every living thing on this planet. And this demands real system change.

Join the Climate Crisis National Day of Action

Saturday February 22
Some protesters stormed the national secretariat of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday, demanding the removal of the partys national chairman.

The protesters, who described themselves as a concerned youth wing of the party, hinged their reasons for holding the protest on the recent loss of the governorship of Bayelsa State to the main opposition, PDP.

Nigerias Supreme Court, last week, sacked David Lyon of the APC as the governor-elect of the state and declared Douye Diri of the PDP winner of November 16 governorship election in the state.

This is the second time in three months that protesters will be protesting at the party secretariat to demand Mr Oshiomholes outright removal.

The previous group of protesters was countered by thugs when a similar move was made against the chairman, late November.

They faulted Mr Oshiomholes leadership style, which they said, is responsible for the seats lost in states such as Oyo, Zamfara, Bauchi and other states that were under the control of the APC before the 2019 general elections in the country.

According to some of the staff of the party at its headquarters, who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES on arrival at the scene, the protesters were not dispersed by any security operative. They left at their will.
On Monday, a tense situation prevailed at the court premises as a mob tried to attack the three students identified as Ameer, Basit and Talib from Shopian district of Kashmir.

Hubballi: In a day of dramatic developments, the Gokul Road police in Hubballi arrested three Kashmiri students of KLE Institute of Technology, Hubballi, who are facing sedition charges and produced them before the 3rd JMFC court on Monday. The court has remanded them to judicial custody till March 2.

Earlier on Sunday, the three engineering college students who had shouted pro-Pakistan slogans on the anniversary of the Pulwama massacre on February 14, were initially released under section 169 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). But the police detained them again following protests from activists of Hindu organisations.

On Monday, a tense situation prevailed at the court premises as a mob tried to attack the three students identified as Ameer, Basit and Talib from Shopian district of Kashmir. They threw slippers at the police van which was carrying the youth demanding stern action against them.

Lawyers present at the Hubballi court too shouted slogans like Bharat Mata Ki Jai when the police produced the youth before the court. Activists of Bajrang Dal and other Hindu organisations surrounded Hubballi-Dharwad police commissioner R. Dilip demanding immediate arrest of the trio. Right-wing activists accused the police of trying to protect the youth despite the fact that a non-bailable case was lodged against them.
(CNN)  Jeff Bezos is throwing his weight  and wealth  behind the fight against climate change months after Amazon employees publicly pressured him and the company to do more to address the issue.

The Amazon CEO on Monday announced a new fund to back scientists, activists and organizations working to mitigate the impact of climate change. Bezos will commit $10 billion "to start," he said in an Instagram post.

The initiative, called the Bezos Earth Fund, will begin giving out grants this summer. The $10 billion commitment constitutes less than 8% of the world's richest man's estimated $130 billion net worth.

"Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet," Bezos said in the post. "I want to work alongside others both to amplify known ways and to explore new ways of fighting the devastating impact of climate change."

Bezos has been under pressure from his employees to do more to protect the environment. Thousands of Amazon employees signed a letter last May asking how the company planned to respond to climate change, and many of them staged a walkout in September calling on it to do more.

A day before the walkout, Amazon announced a pledge to go carbon neutral by 2040, ten years before the deadline set out by the Paris climate agreement. The company also said it will deploy 100,000 electric delivery vans by 2024.

"It's going to take collective action from big companies, small companies, nation states, global organizations, and individuals," Bezos said.

Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, the group that staged last year's walkout, responded to Bezos' latest pledge by saying more needs to be done to address underlying causes like fossil fuel consumption.

"We applaud Jeff Bezos' philanthropy, but one hand cannot give what the other is taking away," the group said in a statement Monday, calling on Amazon to stop working with oil and gas companies or funding think tanks that deny climate change.

"Will Jeff Bezos show us true leadership or will he continue to be complicit in the acceleration of the climate crisis, while supposedly trying to help?" it added.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Jeff Bezos commits $10 billion to fight climate change"
A driver was slapped with a hefty fine and had their driving license revoked on Monday for driving against traffic on an expressway connecting Hanoi and the northern city of Hai Phong.

CCTV cameras installed on the Hanoi - Hai Phong Expressway detected a car moving on the wrong side of the high-speed road at 9:27 am on Monday, the company in charge of the roads management and operation confirmed on the same day.

The vehicle was running against traffic in a lane that allows a top speed of 120 kilometers per hour, the company added.

The car had been moving wrong-way for a total of 4.8 kilometers before it was pulled over by traffic police officers at 9:35 am the same morning near a toll station in Hai Phong.

The driver was slapped with a hefty fine of VND17 million (US$730), which is around five times the basic monthly income in Vietnam, and had their drivers license revoked for six months.

Driving wrong-way on an expressway is a violation punishable by VND16-18 million in fine and a drivers license revocation of 5-7 months, according to a government decree stipulating fines for road traffic violations in Vietnam.

The Hanoi  Hai Phong Expressway runs for 105.5 kilometers connecting the Vietnamese capital with the port city located to its east.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. British historian Lord Actons observation was painfully accurate. Within our lifetimes, starting with the Holocaust and continuing through the impeachment charade, holders of coercive power enhance their positions while destroying those of lesser influence. It operates in Oregons Legislature as well; working across the aisle has largely been abandoned by Democrats who can say we have the votes  we dont need you, while Republicans are excoriated for walking out. With both sides right and wrong, did those with the power use it to bring the Legislature  and the state  together? No, the Democrats were fully prepared to run over the Republicans, leaving them with only the nuclear option of walking out. Could we describe this as a working representative democracy, all parties committing to honorable opposition? As the Duke may have put it, Not hardly.

One power-obsessed party and one temporarily weakened one is a recipe for disaster. When power changes hands, revenge absorbs the victors (compare Trumps firing of the witnesses). When Mitch McConnell positioned the Republicans first priority as making Obama a one-term president, we heard another revenge-seeking loser; hes continued proving that during the past four years.

If this trend continues, my grandchildren may live under a dictatorship masquerading as democracy. Unless the political system begins to attract a class of people who demonstrate genuine interest in the success of all citizens, this Great Experiment will be over. Some legislators appear to get it  Im not hopeful about the remainder.

William R. Walker, Portland
Both chambers are also setting aside money in anticipation of increasing the minimum wage, which would affect contractors and some state workers. The House and Senate have each passed slightly different versions of a wage increase bill, so the hit on the budget wont be clear until they settle on a compromise approach.
The novel Coronavirus has become a global concern with total number of deaths crossing 1,700 and more than 71,000 people being infected worldwide. However, even as scientists and researchers continue with the struggle to find a vaccine to control the fatal outbreak, Hindu Mahasabha believes that the novel virus is not a virus but an angry avatar to punish non-vegetarians.



"Corona is not a virus, but avatar for the protection of poor creatures. they have come to give the message of death and punishment to the one who eats them," said Swami Chakrapani, the National President of All India Hindu Mahasabha.



Interestingly, the leader even drew an analogy with Lord Narsingh taking an avatar to kill a demon with that of Chinese being "taught a lesson" of not "torturing animals and turning vegetarian".

The Swami even claimed that there is a way out for Chinese to tackle the virus.

Swami Chakrapani said Chinese premier Xi Jinping should "create an idol of Corona and seek forgiveness". He advised that all Chinese people should "pledge of not harming any innocent creatures in future, then the anger of Corona will come down".

Furthering his embarrassing statement, he added, if Chinese follow his prescription, the "avatar" will "return to its world".

The Hindu Mahasabha Chief assured Indians of not being scared of the deadly virus, even as it has already claimed three lives in the country.

According to him, "God worshipping and Gau Raksha believer Indians" are immune to Coronavirus.

His bizarre statement was met with slow claps on Twitter. People on social media said that humans have been eating animal meat for ages now and that there isnt room for buffoonery.



People were eating non vegetarian food for millions of years. It is really interesting to hear such foolish utterances from this idiot. If they don't know anything about life on earth, it is better for them to shut their mouth and keep quiet.  kingston fernandez (@kingstonfernan6) February 16, 2020

Slow claps   Sudhakar VJA (@SudhakarVja) February 16, 2020

Another gem...

Hindu Mahasabha says coronavirus an 'angry avatar' to punish non-vegetarians https://t.co/eL0BYcRle7 via @bangaloremirror  bhanutej (@bhanutejnagari) February 17, 2020

Bizzare! Hindu Mahasabha says coronavirus an 'angry avatar' to punish non-vegetarians - Mumbai Mirror



Hate to break it to him, but vegetarians and vegans are just as susceptible. https://t.co/wP2TrBVKru  Delaware Sasquatch (@shaneandmisty) February 16, 2020

Animal rights organisation PETA has linked the virus outbreak to animals. "Experts theorise that the outbreak might have originated in a market in Wuhan, China, where humans have direct contact with live animals and animal flesh," it had stated.

But the shocking twist by Hindu Mahasabha chief is nothing short of daft.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 14:09:57|Editor: Xiang Bo

Video Player Close

SHIJIAZHUANG, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- China's leading sport utility vehicles (SUV) and pickup maker Great Wall Motors on Monday said it will purchase General Motors' Rayong car production facility in Thailand.

According to a binding agreement inked by the two companies, the transaction and handover, which include a car plant and a power assembly plant in Rayong currently operated by the Detroit carmaker, are expected to be completed by the end of 2020.

As a regional manufacturing center, the Rayong plant has produced nearly 1.4 million cars since it went operational in 2000.

It will be the Great Wall's 11th full-process complete vehicle manufacturing base globally, the third outside China, following a plant in Russia's Tula region which was put into operation in June 2019 and another one in Talegaon, India, bought from General Motors earlier this year.

Liu Xiangshang, the Great Wall's global strategy vice president, said the purchase will boost the company's development in the Thailand and ASEAN markets and help export products to other ASEAN nations and countries like Australia.

"The ASEAN automotive market is developing with great prospects and potential," Liu said. "Our investment will create more jobs for the locals, improve their skills and stimulate supporting, R&D and related industries there."

Headquartered in the city of Baoding, northern China's Hebei Province, the company owns several SUV and car brands like Haval, Great Wall, WEY and ORA. With more than 500 overseas branches, its products have been exported to over 60 countries and regions including those along the Belt and Road.
Dhangadhi, February 17

The World Nepali Literature Festival is going to be held in Dhangadhi, the capital of Sudurpaschim province, from February 26 to March 3.

Coinciding with the literature festival, a food festival will also be organised here. The Sudurpaschimanchal Literary Society is organising the literature festival while Hotel Entrepreneurs Association, Kailali, is hosting the food festival.

Preparations for the literature festival have been stepped up. President of the Sudurpaschim Literary Society, Ram Lal Joshi, says the festival is being organised to familiarise all about literature, art, and culture of the Sudurpaschim region as well as to learn about the same from other places.

More than 200 litteratuers from within the country; Siliguri, Darjeeling, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur of India; and many places from Bhutan, Burma, the United States and Bangladesh, among other countries will participate in the literature festival.

RSS
Absolute exclusion of women from command appointments in the Indian Army is against Article 14 and unjustified, the Supreme Court said in a judgement on Monday, calling denying permanent commission based on years of service 'a travesty of justice'

Absolute exclusion of women from command appointments in the Indian Army is against Article 14 and unjustified, the Supreme Court said in a judgment on Monday, calling denying permanent commission based on years of service a travesty of justice. It also directed that a Permanent Commission be granted to women officers irrespective of the years of service, except in combat roles.

The judgment was passed in the plea filed by women officers and was being heard by a Supreme Court bench, comprising Justices DY Chandrachud and Ajay Rastogi. The petition concerned the denial of Permanent Commission (PC) to women officers in the armed forces. The Centre has filed appeals against a 2010 judgment of the Delhi High Court. The judgment had held that Short Service Commissioned women officers of the Air Force and the Army, who had applied for Permanent Commission (PC) but were only given extension commensurate to the SSC level, are entitled to PC on par with male Short Service Commissioned officers with all consequential benefits.

Calling the induction of women in the army an evolutionary process, the bench upheld the 2010 Delhi HC order and dismissing the Centres appeals against it, the Supreme Court Bench said, "It is an insult to women as well as the army when aspersions are cast on women, their ability and their achievements in the army.

Further, Chandrachud slammed the Centres written submissions, adding that reasons such as physiological differences and domestic obligations cited for denying command appointments to women perpetuate gender stereotypes. To deny grant of PC on these stereotypes represent deeply entrenched biases. 30 percent of women are actually deployed in combat areas. True equality in army must be brought, Chandrachud said.

Another reason mentioned by the Centres attorney was the reluctance of male troops predominantly from rural background to accept women in command. Society holds a strong belief in gender roles that men are physically stronger and women are weak and submissive. It is a flawed notion that women are the weaker sex, the Bench observed.

The court also said that the deployment of women on command assignments will be considered on case-to-case basis, adding that all terms of appointments of women officers in the army shall be same as their male counterparts. It added women officers, including those who have retired, shall be entitled to all consequential benefits as per the order.

Written submissions by women officers countered the Centres arguments about the aforementioned reasons for denying command appointments. Submissions referred to examples of women officers like Squadron Leader Minty Agarwal, Divya Ajit Kumar and IAF officer Gunjan Saxena who received gallantry awards for displaying courage during combat. The court had earlier reserved orders in the case on 5 February.

On 25 February last year, the Centre had taken a policy decision to grant Permanent Commission to Short Service Commission Women Officers in eight streams of Indian Army - Signals, Engineers, Army Aviation, Army Air Defence, Electronic and Mechanical Engineers (EME), Army Service Corps, Army Ordinance Corps and Intelligence), in addition to the existing two streams of Judge Advocate General and Army Educational Core (AEC). The policy, however, did not apply, to Short Service Commissioned women officers with service above 20 years. The policy thus was challenged for denying equal benefits to all classes of Short Service Commission Women Officers.
(Newser)  An Ohio man who fatally shot his ex-wife and her husband indicated they ambushed him and his current wife in the driveway of their luxury home and a shootout erupted, the AP reports. Authorities responding to the property near Yellow Springs after the gunfire Wednesday morning found Hollywood stuntwoman Cheryl Sanders, 59, and her husband, Reed Sanders, 56, dead outside the home of her ex-husband, Lindsey Duncan. Duncan said he and his wife, Molly, were returning home and stopped to pick up mail and a delivery at their gate when a man in a mask and a hoodie appeared and held a gun near her head. I didnt know what to do, Duncan said at news conference Friday. Whatever happened after that was instinct. The initial investigation indicated that after the first alleged assailant was shot, the ex-wife also arrived, armed, and was killed in an exchange of gunfire, Greene County Sheriff Gene Fischer said.

story continues below

Authorities recovered three firearms and were seeking surveillance video, Fischer said when the investigation began. He indicated then that the armed homeowner, later identified as Lindsey Duncan, has a concealed carry permit. A man who described himself as a close confidant of Reed Sanders in North Carolina told the newspaper that Reed and Cheryl Sanders had traveled to Ohio to confront Duncan in an ongoing dispute. They were fighting over college funds for Lindsey and Cheryl's daughters, said the friend, Adrian King. But per Molly Duncan, "We were caught off guard. They said nothing and they started shooting at us. The initial incident report from the sheriff's office lists the case as a justifiable homicide; it remains under investigation, and will likely be presented to a grand jury to determine whether any charges are merited.

(Read more Ohio stories.)
The mother of the December 2012 Delhi gang-rape victim said on Monday her family had complete faith in the judiciary after a local court issued a fresh and the third death warrant for the four convicts in the case and hoped they would be executed on March 3.

Her reaction came minutes after the court ordered that the four men, convicted of rape and murder of her 23-year-old daughter, be hanged at 6am on March 3.

Judge Dharmender Rana was hearing the petition filed by the womans parents for issuance of a fresh death warrant. He had reserved his order after arguments by both sides earlier in the day.

We have complete faith in the judiciary. But our real victory would be when the convicts are actually hanged, she said.

However, she also said that she was not very happy because this was the third time that the death warrant had been issued.

We have struggled so much. So I am satisfied that the death warrant has been issued finally. I hope they (convicts) will be executed on March 3, she was also quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

The parents had moved the court after Delhi High Court had given seven days to the convicts to exhaust their legal remedies and which ended on February 12.

Through their lawyer, they had told the court during the hearing last Thursday that patience of the society is being tested by this case.

The date of execution for Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Kumar Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar (31) was first fixed for January 22 in Tihar jail, and then deferred for 6am on February 1 by a January 17 court order.

The physiotherapy intern was gang-raped and assaulted by six men on the night of December 16, 2012, in a moving bus in south Delhi. She died of her injuries a fortnight later in a hospital in Singapore after she was airlifted for better medical care.

The six people - the four convicts, Ram Singh and a juvenile - were named as accused.

The trial of the five adult men began in a special fast-track court in March 2013.

Ram Singh, the prime accused, committed suicide by hanging himself in Tihar jail days after the trial began. The juvenile, who was said to be the most brutal of the attackers, was put in a correctional home for three years.

He was released in 2015 and sent to an undisclosed location amid concerns over a threat to his life. He was released when he turned 20 years old.

The four other convicts were sentenced to death in September 2013 by the trial court.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 19:36:46|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

TOKYO, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The novel coronavirus outbreak remains in its initial stage in Japan, a Japanese expert panel under the health ministry said here on Sunday.

The Japanese government held a meeting on Sunday to discuss expanding countermeasures, as more infections have been found in the capital of Tokyo, as well as Aichi Prefecture.

"We agreed that the present situation represents the early stage of a domestic outbreak. This could progress further," Takaji Wakita, head of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, who chairs the expert panel, said at a news conference after the panel's first meeting at the prime minister's office.

According to Wakita, the whole nation needs to act together to contain the spread of the epidemic. Patients with mild symptoms should recuperate at home, while those with severe symptoms should receive treatment as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said that the government needs to "take countermeasures to deal with the possibility that patients could increase."

Noting that the situation is changing all the time, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for the strengthening of the disease detection system, as well as the expansion of the treatment and counseling system.

According to local media, the novel coronavirus has infected more than 510 people in Japan, including 454 people quarantined on a cruise ship.
The foreign ministry noted that Moscow would continue to insist on compliance with the agreements already reached.

The decision to hold a new summit in the Normandy format will be made based on progress in implementing the existing arrangements, says Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, Alexander Grushko.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, he said: "The agreement was absolutely clear that the new summit [in the Norman format] should summarize what was discussed at the previous summit. This concerns disengagement of forces, ceasefire, demining, prisoner swap, introduction of Steinmeier formula in [Ukrainian] legislation, and some other things," RBC reports.

The main condition for holding a new summit is "progress on a set of agreements  both on the security track and on the political track," according to the official.

"Simultaneous movement on these tracks is the core of the philosophy that was laid down in the Minsk agreements," the Russian official added.

Read alsoPompeo: Russia has contempt for territorial integrity of other nations

According to Grushko, Russia will continue to insist on compliance with the agreements already reached.

"It is possible to get together, but if there are no changes for the better on the ground, the benefits of such meetings are dubious," he said.

As one of the main obstacles to the implementation of the Minsk agreements, Grushko called "the lack of Kyiv's readiness for a normal dialogue with Donetsk and Luhansk."

As UNIAN reported earlier, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Ukrainian authorities were making every effort to ensure that the next Normandy Four summit took place in April this year. In turn, Foreign Minister Vadym Pristayko noted that the Normandy Summit may not take place in April, as previously scheduled.

Zelensky also ruled out the possibility of direct dialogue between the Ukrainian authorities and representatives of occupation administrations in eastern Ukraine's Donbas.

"We are ready for dialogue with the civilian population of these territories, but not with those who haven't been recognized from the international law perspective, and therefore cannot represent the local population of Ukraine," Zelensky said during the Munich Security Conference.
The Question Hour was washed out in the Uttar Pradesh legislature on Monday as agitated Samajwadi Party members stalled proceedings in both Houses over the issue of alleged threat call to their party chief Akhilesh Yadav.

The Samajwadi Party (SP) members raised slogans leading to adjournment of proceedings in the state assembly for 30 minutes, which was extended for the entire Question Hour by Speaker Hriday Narain Dixit.

Similar scenes were witnessed in the legislative council over the threat which Yadav had earlier said he received over the phone.

As soon as the state assembly met for the day, Leader of the Opposition Ram Govind Chaudhary of the Samajwadi Party raised the issue demanding immediate discussion on the matter, but the Chair did not allow the same.

At this, the SP members got furious. Sensing their mood, the Speaker adjourned the House proceedings till Zero Hour.

When the House reassembled, Chaudhary again raised the issue and said it was a serious matter.

Responding to his concerns, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna said Yadav had been provided 'Z-Plus' category security which comprises 182 security personnel led by an Additional SP rank officer, circle officer, six inspectors, 14 sub-inspectors besides CoBRA commando jawans.

Usually 56 security personnel guard an 'Z-Plus' protectee, but in his (Yadav's) case, 182 personnel are posted, the minister said, adding that it was not a security breach but a "trivial" incident.

Akhilesh Yadav had recently claimed at a meeting that he had received a threat call and a message on his phone from a BJP leader. He made the allegation after a youth disrupted his meeting, shouting 'Jai Shri Ram'.

Opposition parties have been raising the issue of law and order in the state in the Budget session of the state legislature.

The matter had its echo in the Upper House as well, with the Question Hour becoming a casualty amidst the din created by the SP members over alleged threat to their national president.

As soon as the legislative council met in the morning, SP leader Ahmad Hasan raised the issue and alleged that security of Akhilesh Yadav was reduced and the BJP was trying to threaten the opposition.

When leader of the House and Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma sought to know on which rule they were trying to raise the matter, SP members rushed to the Well of the House, raising anti-government slogans.

Council Chairman Ramesh Yadav adjourned the House for half-an-hour. The session was later extended due to which the Question Hour could not take place.

Opposition Samajwadi Party, the BSP and the Congress also staged a walkout in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly as they accused the BJP-led state government of being "insensitive" towards Dalits following the recent caste clashes in Mangta village where 25 people were injured.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, however, dismissed the allegation and said every incident should not be seen through a "political prism" and local disputes should be resolved "locally".

The matter was raised during Zero Hour by BSP leader Lalji Verma, who alleged that the state government was insensitive towards Dalits and demanded compensation to the victims.

Congress leader Aradhana Mishra Mona also joined him and termed the incident as serious.

Twenty-five people were injured in clashes that broke out between two groups in Mangta village here in Kanpur Dehat district on February 13.

Rubbishing the opposition charges, Adityanath said, "The incident arose from a local dispute among villagers" and advised the opposition members not to "add fuel to fire" and allow peace to prevail.

"Every incident should not be seen through a political prism. The administration officials are camping in the village and the government is committed to provide security to the people. Timely action was taken by the police and arrests were also made," the chief minister said.

He also said compensation was promptly paid to those affected as per the provisions under the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and there was no need for opposition members to recommend doles for the victims.

Dissatisfied with the reply, the opposition parties staged a walkout from the House.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ROCKY RIVER, Ohio -- The Rocky River Community Chorus has been a popular mainstay in the city for about 40 years. The city is now looking for a new chorus director.

Emily Ortolano, of Parma, was the chorus director and accompanist for more than 10 years. In 2017, she said, I sadly needed to resign my position in order to be around and available more for my two active preteen/teen daughters. I want to be able to spend as much time with them as I can before they graduate and move on to college.

Ortolano spoke about the chorus and its history with pride and a sense of friendship they all had. Members have come from all over the western side of Cleveland, she said. They are not limited to Rocky River residents.

The group has varied in size from a low of 35 members up to 70 members at one point, she said, and they have ranged in age from high schoolers through adults.

Anyone is able to join and no audition is required, she noted. Even singing experience isnt required, but it is helpful."

Ortolano said the group performs approximately five concerts per year, which means fall season, Christmas season and winter/spring season. The groups concerts are held at various venues around the area, but mostly nursing homes and churches.

The music the chorus performs also varies greatly, Ortolano said. There is always a wide variety of songs.

Mayor Pam Bobst and Michael Greco, director of human resources for the city, posted information on the citys website that gives an overview of qualifications for the position for the chorus, which rehearses on Monday evenings from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Duties include:

 Conduct the weekly rehearsal, September through December and then February through June.

 Select music for the two main performances each year.

 Choose an accompanist.

 Assist in arranging additional performances.

 Recruit new members.

The position requires a formal education in a program related to music. Also required is choral music experience and demonstrated ability in music directing.

Ortolano is quite encouraging to anyone who would like to apply. (The chorus members) are a very warm and welcoming group that has a lot of fun together, she said. There is a great camaraderie amongst them.

For more information or to apply for the position, visit http://s804876413.onlinehome.us/hr_docs/employment_application.pdf or pick up an application at Rocky River City Hall, 21012 Hilliard Boulevard. Submit the application with a cover letter and resume to Michael Greco, Human Resources Department, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Read more from the West Shore Sun.
They have been an item for about two-and-a-half years.

But on Sunday, Sofia Richie spent her day browsing around Beverly Hills solo, amid reports that she and beau Scott Disick have had a on-again/off-again relationship, behind the scenes.

The Rolla's jeans model, 21, opted to keeps things comfy and low-key in the fashion department during her alone time.

Solo outing: Sofia Richie, 21, enjoyed some alone time in Beverly Hills on Sunday

The daughter of music legend Lionel Richie wore white sweatpants with a loose-fitting brown sweatshirt.

She also donned dark sunglasses, white sneakers and wore her dyed blonde tresses long, straight and with a part in the middle.

With her head held down at times, it appeared as though she was feeling a little down and withdrawn.

Sporty wear: The model kept things low-key in the fashion department in white sweatpants, brown sweatshirt and white sneakers

This past week People reported that Richie and Disick are often caught in 'some kind of drama' and that they 'constantly split up and get back together.'

The pair have been dating since around May of 2017.

Despite the chatter, they appeared to be blissful when they headed out for a romantic Valentine's Day dinner on Friday.

Richie shared a number of photos of their night out on her Instagram Story.

Lovers time: All appeared to be blissful when Richie and beau Scott Disick headed out for a Valentine's Day dinner amid reports that they have had a on-again/off-again relationship

In recent weeks, Richie has been in full promo mode for her new campaign with Australian brand Rolla's jeans, which included sharing another scorching topless photo.

In the latest snap, the 21-year-old model laid back on the floor, wearing nothing but a pair of high-rise blue jeans, with her hands covering her ample assets

Her campaign with Rolla's jeans is slated to launch on February 23.
* "Most Popular Intellectual Property Law Blawg" of all time according to Justia rankings , January 2022.

* "Most Popular Copyright Blawg" of all time according to Justia rankings , January 2022.

* PermaKat Eleonora Rosati listed as one of the World Intellectual Property Review's "Influential Women in IP" of 2020.

* PermaKat Eleonora Rosati listed as one of the Managing Intellectual Property magazine's "Fifty Most Influential People" of 2018.

* IPKat founder and Blogmeister Emeritus Jeremy Phillips listed as one of the Managing Intellectual Property magazine's "Fifty Most Influential People" of 2005, 2011, 2013, and 2014.

* Recommended by the European Patent Office as reading material for candidates for the European Qualifying Examinations, 2013.

* Listed as "Top Legal Blog" in The Times Online, March 2011.

2010 ABA Journal 100. * One of the only two non-US blogs listed in the Blawg100.

* Court Reporter Top Copyright Blog award winner, November 2010.

* Number 1 in the 2010 Top Copyright Blog list compiled by the Copyright Litigation Blog, July 2010.

* Selected by the United States Library of Congress for inclusion in its historic collections of Internet materials related to Legal Blawgs as of 2010.

* Top Patent Blog poll 2009: 3rd out of 50 in the "Favourite Patent Blog" poll and 2nd out of 50 in the "Most-read" poll.

Blog of the Year, 20 August 2008. * ComputerWeekly IT Law and Governance, 20 August 2008.
Ejisu Municipal Education Directorate's Director Mrs Akyaa Aseidu Amoah has lauded Hon Kwabena Owusu Aduomi, MP for Ejisu Constituency and Deputy Minister for Roads and High Ways for his support to Education in the Ejisu Municipality.



The MP has donated Gh10,000 to the education directorate to buy a photocopier machine to aid them in printing and other works.



Showing their appreciation to the Member of Parliament, the Municipal Education Director said;



"We thank Honourable for the donation of the photocopier machine by donating Gh10,000"



Again, she indicated that they want teachers in the Municipality to give good accounts of themselves in terms of delivery because of the new standard base curriculum introduced by the National Academic Authority and Ghana Education Service



"We have trained the teachers already but we needed to give refresher training to them especially the Form 3 teachers. We appealed to him, he agreed to sponsor the program by donating Gh5000 that saw our target group of 270 teachers being trained in the new standard based curriculum" Mrs Akyaa Aseidu Amoah



On his part, the 2nd Vice Chairman of the New Patriotic Party in the Ejisu Constituency, Mr Twumasi Kwaku, on behalf of the MP Hon Kwabena Owusu Aduomi, donated 100 dual desks to the Ejisu RC Basic School and Manhyia MA Basic School.









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
US businesses in Vietnam expect less revenue courtesy of coronavirus epidemic

70 percent of respondents in a survey of U.S. firms in Vietnam say the Covid-19 epidemic could reduce revenues by 10 percent or less this year.

However, they said it was too early to gauge the full impact of the novel coronavirus on 2020 revenues, according to the survey by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) released last week.

More than half of manufacturing companies said they were experiencing difficulty sourcing supplies/materials due to disruptions caused by the Covid-19 crisis, while one-third said current supply chain disruptions were seriously impacting their companys global operations.

The biggest challenges facing the crisis-hit firms was inventory management, including securing alternative materials and goods, they said.

"The ongoing new coronavirus outbreak is causing anxiety and uncertainty for both people and businesses in Vietnam," said AmCham Executive Director Adam Sitkoff. "For companies and the broader economy in Vietnam, the outbreak is already a serious problem, which goes far beyond the immediately vulnerable travel, tourism, and education sectors."

Supply chain disruptions and travel restrictions are and will continue to impact many business sectors, he added.

A quarter of 650 members of AmCham participated in the survey said Vietnams GDP could drop by more than 1.5 percent this year while another quarter expect little or no change.

American firms in the country have taken different measures to respond to the Covid-19 epidemic.

60 percent of surveyed companies now allow staff to work from home and almost all of them offer hand sanitizer in the workplace.

One-quarter of respondents were restricting staff travel within Vietnam, while three-quarters restricted travel to some or all countries abroad.

The survey also found about 50 percent of respondents experiencing difficulties in bringing people to Vietnam from abroad, and almost 80 percent said they have cancelled or postponed meetings or events due to concerns over Covid-19 outbreak.

As of Monday morning, Covid-19 had infected 16 people in Vietnam and killed 1,775 globally.
Amid the fear of Coronavirus, people with travel plans to countries around, and even far way, from the epicentre of the outbreak are now reconsidering their plans.



Most of the airline employees and tour operators have been inundated with calls from people making changes to their dates or ditching their plans altogether.



Twitter/Picture For Representation

According to an IANS report, travel plans to South East Asian cities have been disrupted. The airfares to the second most popular tourist destination - Bangkok - have witnessed a steep drop. Apart from this, even business-related travel on South East Asian routes has been impacted badly.

The ticket prices are especially shockingly cheap, i.e; a round trip airfare could cost as low as 9,325 for making the journey even within a week.

The costs for a flight from New Delhi to Bangkok on travel aggregator website Make My Trip, starts at just Rs 6,177 one way.

Makemytrip

The cheapest round trip ticket on Delhi-Bangkok route is being offered by NokScoot for flying to Bangkok on February 26 and returning on March 1.

The price range in NokScoot, a Thailand based airline company, starts at 4000 Thai Bhat which roughly comes to Rs 9,000, one way.

nokair.com

As per online travel aggregator MakeMyTrip, a return fare on the route by Air India for the same journey dates is available for 12,419 (inclusive of fees and surcharges).

Airline industry sources said that bookings for flights to Vietnam has also fallen, with drop being as sharp as 40 per cent. The largest domestic private carrier, IndiGo, which first launched flights to Hanoi and then to Ho Chi Minh City in October last year, has reduced frequency to the South East Asian nation.



MakeMyTrip

A one-way fare on Kolkata-Ho Chi Minh City by Thai Air Asia, is currently available for 7,773.



After World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Coronavirus outbreak a global emergency, international travel was severely impacted.

The latest count shows over 1,700 deaths in China, with total infections crossing over 70,000. Apart from China, as many as 25 countries have reported positive Coronavirus cases.



ALL INPUTS IANS.
Albania: Rome supports 'prompt start of EU talks', Di Maio Meeting with premier Rama and commissioner Varhelyi in Brussels

(ANSAmed) - BRUSSELS, FEBRUARY 17 - Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio on Monday said the ''integration of the Balkans is a strategic investment for Europe's stability. Italy is besides Albania for the prompt opening of adhesion negotiations'', the minister said, opening a business lunch with Albanian Premier Edi Rama in Brussels.



The gathering was also attended by the European Commissioner in charge of enlargement and neighborhood policies , Oliver Varhelyi, who on Twitter spoke about ''good talks with Di Maio and Rama on progress'' made by Albania in domestic reforms, stressing the ''strong solidarity'' of the EU and Italy towards Albania ''after an earthquake in November, ahead of the international donor conference today'' to support the country in reconstruction efforts. (ANSAmed).




Facebook head Mark Zuckerberg was expected in Brussels on Monday to lobby top European officials who have become the world's toughest enforcers on regulating big tech.

The founder of the world's biggest social network, which also owns Instagram and Whatsapp, comes to EU headquarters just as Brussels is set to unveil a highly anticipated strategy to regulate artificial intelligence.

His visit comes on the heels of similar meetings by Google boss Sundar Pichai, who in January called on Brussels to tread carefully in regulating AI.

An EU spokesman on Monday said Zuckerberg would discuss the "digital agenda" with European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager and Commissioner Thierry Breton.

European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova meanwhile "intends to raise issues related to the protection of democracy and fundamental rights, free and fair elections, the fight against disinformation, including the transparency of political advertising," the spokesman added.

In an editorial ahead of the visit, Zuckerberg wrote that his company now firmly backed deeper regulation for big tech, a change of heart that came after the Cambridge Analytica data scandal.

"I don't think private companies should make so many decisions alone when they touch on fundamental democratic values," he said in the Financial Times.

In a statement in January, Facebook said Zuckerberg would "discuss a framework for new rules and regulation for the internet."



Facebook is currently fighting several probes with European data protection agencies and Brussels is looking more deeply into possible anti-trust problems on data use.

The EU's proposal on AI on Wednesday is expected to pursue a "risk-based" approach to assessing machine learning similar to how Europe approaches food safety concerns, such as GMOs and certain chemicals.

The EU was expected to back away from a ban on facial recognition technology, instead asking companies and European authorities to think hard before deploying it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Apple said Monday that it does not expect to meet its quarterly revenue forecast because of lower iPhone supply globally and lower Chinese demand as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. The company initially said that it expected to report net sales between $63 billion to $67 billion in its fiscal second quarter. Apple did not provide a new forecast for its fiscal second-quarter revenue on Monday. The company said it provided a wider range than usual in late January, citing the uncertainty around the coronavirus outbreak. "As you can see from the range, anticipates some level of issue there. Otherwise, we would not have a $4 billion range," CEO Tim Cook said at the time. Apple makes most iPhones and other products in China. The Coronavirus has caused it to temporarily halt production and close retail stores in China. Some Apple retail stores reopened in China with reduced schedules last week.

The company said Monday it is "experiencing a slower return to normal conditions than we had anticipated" after the extended Lunar New Year holiday. All iPhone manufacturing facilities in China have reopened, but Apple said it still expects supply shortages of the phone globally. This is the second time in the last 13 months that Apple has had to cut its guidance due to concerns in China. In January 2019, Apple was forced to slash revenue guidance for its fiscal first quarter of 2019 due to weak iPhone sales in China. Apple is widely expected to announce a new, cheaper iPhone model this spring. It's unclear if the delays in China will affect that launch. Read the full letter to investors that Apple released Monday: As the public health response to COVID-19 continues, our thoughts remain with the communities and individuals most deeply affected by the disease, and with those working around the clock to contain its spread and to treat the ill. Apple is more than doubling our previously announced donation to support this historic public health effort.
HOLLYWOOD, Md.

(February 13, 2020)For years MedStar St. Mary's Hospital, formerly St. Mary's Hospital, provided medical supplies to local rescue squads at no cost but in 2014 the hospital administration, according to county rescue officials, began providing billing statements to local rescue squads for the supplies.However, rescue squads were informed that they did not have to pay the bills and that the statements were being used to track how many supplies were being given out. But now, rescue officials say, the hospital is holding them responsible for paying them back.A letter from the Lexington Park Rescue Squad's Chief Mark Miller to the county's Emergency Services Board Secretary Shawn Davidson, requested an open discussion on the issue at this week's Feb. 12 meeting."This request is from our Board of Directors and directly involves the approximately $110,000 of debt that currently shows against LPVRS financial statement and audit due to this issue," Miller wrote. "We understand the reasons the county wants us to close out the audit, but we believe that action incumbers LPVRS with officially accepting the liability of this new debt."The supplies, which do not involve narcotics but items such as bandages and tourniquets, have been distributed under what was the community benefit program and went out to all the county rescue squads.Steve Walker, director of the Department of Emergency Services, said the issues affects all rescue squads in St. Mary's. "Basically, this is several years of billing," Walker said.Davidson, who is also the county emergency medical services chief, said he was confidant some kind of understanding could be reached with the hospital administration."It's trying to get some assurance in writing that we won't be held liable for these tremendous debts," Davidson said. "We have to get something worked out. "There's no rescue squad in the county that could absorb that amount of debt."Dr. Stephen Michaels, Chief Operating Officer at MedStar St. Mary's, said the hospital leadership and the rescue squads are in continued talks about how to deal with the problem."At some point there was a need and we felt it was wise to bring accountability to the situation regarding who was receiving medical supplies and how they were being used," Michaels told The County Times. "I'm not aware of an arrangement where the medical supplies were now and forever would be free."Michaels said the hospital would continue to support the rescue squads while they worked out an agreement on how to proceed."There has been no decision on how this will be resolved," Michaels said. "It hasn't been negotiated."We are completely supportive of the EMS community; we're going to find a solution that makes sense to everyone."
Unemployment is when individuals above a specified age are not self-employed or in paid employment. The ILO (International Labor Organization) claimed that over 5% of the worlds total labor force was jobless in 2018. The unemployment rate refers to the number of jobless individuals as a percentage of the regions workforce. Economists use unemployment to determine the health of a given economy. A low unemployment rate means a regions economy is maximizing outputs while raising the living standards and driving wage growth. Some of the countries with the lowest unemployment rate in the world include:

10. Qatar - 0.14%

Other than being the most advanced Arab nation for human-development, Qatar had the lowest unemployment rate on the planet in 2019. The unemployment rate in Qatar has been below 0.15% since 2016. Qatar has the worlds highest per-capita income and is considered by the United Nations to be a nation of very high human development. Qatar has been a high-income economy since 1987. Its economy is backed by one of the biggest oil reserves and natural gas reserves on the planet. The discovery of oil in 1940 helped transform the countrys economy and made it possible for the government to invest in several industries that are still thriving. The gas and oil industry has helped the government create new employment hubs. As Qatars economy diversifies, new employment opportunities are created in all sectors.

9. Niger - 0.26%

Niger is a developing nation that was ranked one hundred and eighty-ninth in the UNs HDI (Human Development Index) in 2018. Nigers economy supported by livestock, subsistent farming, and their largest uranium deposits. Nigers economy has been affected by desertification, drought circles, and a decrease in the demand for uranium. The countrys unemployment grew from 1.47% in 2000 to 3.1% in 2005. However, the country qualified for enhanced-debt relief in 2000 from the IMF. The relief reduced the nations debt servicing obligations, therefore, freeing more funds to spend on several programs that could help eradicate poverty and invest in rural infrastructures. Niger received 100% debt relief in 2005, which made it possible for the government to invest in more infrastructures and reduce the unemployment rate. Nigers unemployment rate has been reducing since 2005 (3.1%) to 2019 (0.26%).

8. Lao PDR - 0.57%

Other than being the only landlocked state in Southeastern Asia, Laos had the third-lowest unemployment rate in the world. The unemployment rate of Laos from 1991 to 2019 has averaged at 1.35% with an all-time low of 0.57% in 2019 and a record high of 2.6% (1995). The countrys economy depends on trade and investments from its neighbors China, Vietnam, and Thailand. The countrys unemployment rate has been reducing from 2009 when it was 0.8%. The decline is a result of investments from its neighbors and also lifting the trade ban by the United States. President Obamas administration lifted the ban, thus making it possible for Laotian firms to receive finance from the American Export-Import Bank.

7. Thailand - 0.69%

Other than being the worlds twenty-second most populous state, Thailand had the fourth lowest unemployment rate on the planet in 2019. Thailand has the second-highest economy in Southeastern Asia, and it is considered to be an emerging economy. Thailand is a newly industrialized state with a GDP of $1.236 trillion in 2017. Some of the factors contributing to Thailands low unemployment rate include the informal sector, which has employed over 64% of the labor force, and low birth rate, among others. Thailand has no unemployment insurance; therefore, there is no drive for anyone to remain jobless for a very long time. Anyone who loses his/her job enters the informal sector.

6. Bahrain - 0.97%

Other than being the third smallest Asian nation, Bahrain has one of the lowest unemployment rates on the planet. Bahrain was the first state to develop a post-oil economy in the region. Even though Bahrains oil has virtually dried up, the country still depends on its tourism and international banking sectors. Bahrain invested a lot for the last few decades in the tourism and banking sectors. Currently, most of the biggest financial companies on earth have branches in Bahrain, which is referred to as the business capital of the Persian Gulf.

5. Rwanda - 0.99%

Other than being one of the smallest African Nations, Rwanda had the second-lowest unemployment rate in Africa in 2019. Rwandas economy was heavily affected by the genocide of 1994; however, since then, its economy has improved. The per-capita GDP of Rwanda has increased from $416 (1994) to $2,090 in 2017. The 1994 genocide made it impossible for the country to receive foreign investment, however after President Kagame took over in 2000, the countrys economy has improved, and corruption level has dropped. The political stability enjoyed in the country has made it possible for the informal sector to grow, which has a considerable percentage of the labor force.

4. Tonga - 1.02%

Tonga is an archipelago and Polynesian sovereign nation that is made up of over 169 islands, of which only 36 islands are inhabited. Tonga is a constitutional monarchy that was a British protectorate state in the past. The economy of Tonga is characterized by a huge non-monetary industry that is dependent on the remittances of its population working abroad, mainly in the United States, New Zealand, and Australia. Tonga has a low unemployment rate since over 50% of its population lives and works abroad.

3. Cambodia - 1.02%

Even though Cambodia is considered to be one of the least developed nations on the planet by the United Nations, Cambodia has one of the worlds lowest unemployment rates. The countrys economy has been growing at an average of 7.6% in the last decade. Its per-capita income was $1,309 in nominal per-capita and $4,022 in PPP. According to the ILO, Cambodias unemployment rate is low since over 80% of the population work in the informal sector.

2. Nepal - 1.25%

Other than having one of the worlds lowest unemployment rates, Nepal had the thirty-seventh biggest labor force on the planet in 2017. The countrys unemployment rate decreased from 1.26% (2018) to 1.25% (2019). Even though Nepal has many huge industries, over 70% of the population is involved in the informal sector.

1. Afghanistan - 1.52%

Although it has high levels of corruption, child malnutrition, poverty, and terrorism, Afghanistan has one of the worlds lowest unemployment rates. Agriculture is the leading sector in the country, with opium accounts for over 16% of the countrys economy. Afghanistans economy was affected by political unrest for a very long time, but currently, it is improving. The main factor that contributed to the economic growth and reduction of the unemployment rate is the return of over 5 million expatriates. The expatriates brought wealth-creating skills with them and funds to open up businesses in the country. Currently, a considerable percentage of the locals are involved in the construction industry. Several factories and companies that are operating in Afghanistan have helped create new jobs.
In 2017, they moved in and got to work. We started working with scrapers to get the old paint and grime off the walls, Ms. Li said. The whole apartment was painted really weird colors: brown, salmon, super-bright orange. The wallpaper in the kitchen was painted a color Ken accurately described as dirty: a mix between gray and brown.

In an older four-unit building like theirs, many of the repairs they made led to additional, unanticipated work. You replace one thing, other things break, Mr. Li said.

They discovered that early on, when Ms. Li scraped off the painted wallpaper in the kitchen. Underneath she found more wallpaper, so she scraped that off, too. But it took a lot of the plaster with it, which meant that Mr. Li needed to replaster sections of the wall before they could repaint.

A number of the fixes were cosmetic: They replaced all the light fixtures in the apartment. In the kitchen, they covered the deteriorating floor with stick-on linoleum, painted the counters with a textured paint that mimics marble and used peel-and-stick paper printed with subway tile to create a backsplash.

I hate it and I love it at the same time, said Mr. Li, of the faux subway tile. Its a stick-on, which makes me mad, but it looks so good, especially from a distance.

Real subway tile was out of the question. They didnt want to invest more than $100 in any one project, to avoid spending more than they would have on a brokers fee.
PERTH, Australia  The Australian Federal Court ruled Monday that a police raid last year on the countrys national broadcaster was legal, prompting fears of increasing secrecy in Australias institutions.

The Australian Federal Police raided the state-backed Australian Broadcasting Corporations Sydney headquarters in June over the leaking of classified documents. Dubbed the Afghan Files, ABC had reported in 2017 allegations of unlawful killings and misconduct by Australian special forces in Afghanistan.

The raids sparked public outrage and were condemned as media intimidation.

ABC launched a challenge to the validity of the warrant, arguing it was legally unreasonable, but the case was dismissed by Federal Court Justice Wendy Abraham, who ordered ABC to pay the costs of the other parties.

The decision allows the Australian Federal Police to keep all the material seized during the raid.

In a written submission, ABC lawyers said the search warrant was a very significant intrusion of privacy.

Abraham said the police tried not to be too intrusive in the execution of the warrant as evidenced by ABCs lawyers being present throughout the search.

Under Australias stringent national security laws, it is illegal for Commonwealth officers to leak documents or publish the information.

The whistle-blower, former military lawyer David William McBride, has previously admitted leaking documents that formed part of the basis for ABCs reports. He has been charged with a raft of criminal offenses.

ABC managing director David Anderson said the warrant was an attempt to intimidate journalists.

This ruling highlights the serious problem with Australias secrecy laws, he said. Australia has by far the most onerous secrecy laws of any comparable Western democracy.

This is at odds with our expectation that we live in an open and transparent society, he said.

ABC news director Gaven Morris called for reform to protect whistle-blowers. The way public interest journalism is able to be undertaken in this country is a mess, he said. Its time to recognize that we have a right to know what goes on inside our democracy and its time we go on and fix it.

Tristan Lavalette is an Associated Press writer.
[February 17, 2020] IAOP Names Canon Business Process Services a Top 100 Global Outsourcing Leader for the Fourteenth Straight Year

NEW YORK, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Canon Business Process Services (Canon) has been named to the Leader category of the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals' (IAOP) 2020 Global Outsourcing 100 list. The list defines the standard of excellence in outsourcing service delivery. This is the fourteenth straight year in which Canon has been named a Leader in The Global Outsourcing 100. Only four other companies, including some of the largest outsourcing and consulting companies in the world, have achieved the same record of distinction. "Buyers understand there are hundreds of qualified service providers and advisors out there, but what they need to understand now is what makes each one exceptional," said IAOP CEO Debi Hamill. "The Global Outsourcing 100 list has done just that. We are proud to recognize Canon Business Process Services for being among these companies this year." IAOP is the global association that brings together customers, providers, and advisor in a collaborative, knowledge-based environment that promotes professional and organizational development, recognition, certification, and excellence to improve business service models and outcomes. The Global Outsourcing 100 and its sub-lists are essential references for companies seeking new and expanded relationships with the best companies in the industry. The lists include companies from around the world that provide the full spectrum of outsourcing services; not just information technology and business process outsourcing, but also facility services, real estate and capital asset management, manufacturing and logistics.



The organizations selected for The Global Outsourcing 100 are being recognized at the IAOP 2020 Outsourcing World Summit, currently taking place in Orlando, Florida. Canon is exhibiting at the Summit with experts on hand to help organizations better understand how business process outsourcing services can help reduce costs and drive efficiency. About Canon Business Process Services (Canon)

Canon Business Process Services leverages advanced technologies and services to deliver agility, exceptional workplace experiences and improved business performance. We achieve these results by applying our workforce management capabilities, Six Sigma methodologies and implementation expertise. With professionals across the US and in the Philippines, we have been named a Global Outsourcing 100 leader by IAOP for 14 straight years. Canon Business Process Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canon U.S.A., Inc. Learn more at cbps.canon.com and follow us on Twitter @CanonBPO.

All referenced product names, and other marks, are trademarks of their respective owners. Press Contact: Ken Neal, [email protected] Canon Business Process Services  2020 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/iaop-names-canon-business-process-services-a-top-100-global-outsourcing-leader-for-the-fourteenth-straight-year-301005976.html SOURCE Canon Business Process Services

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Orange Egypt has completed a major business transformation project implemented by Ericsson, a leading communications service provider, using its billing solution.



Orange Egypt and Ericsson reengineered Orange's business processes and BSS environment  implementing the new and improved Ericsson Billing solution, said a statement.



With Ericsson Billing, Orange will improve offering time-to-market and the solution will also help Orange to enhance operational efficiency.



Abdelfattah Aly Mabrouk, chief information officer at Orange Egypt, said: We transformed our BSS environment to enhance our competitiveness, and further improve customer experience, so that we can grow our market share in a fast-moving market.



This partnership with Ericsson is a crucial part of Oranges mission to accelerate its digital development to offer an unmatched customer experience, he said.



In addition to reducing operational cost, this project also lowers capital expenditure and enables innovative digital services with shorter time-to-market and with higher quality, flexibility, automation, simplicity and experience for users and partners.



The transformation of Oranges billing system is one of Ericssons biggest projects in a partnership established in 2007.



Mathias Johansson, head of Ericsson Egypt, STC and Saudi Arabia, said: We have worked with Orange Egypt, offering Ericssons different solutions in charging and billing, yet this is the biggest business transformation project we have done together to date.



Our company was selected for this transformation due to our unique digital capabilities in consulting and systems integration across complex network and IT environments. Orange Egypt now has a platform that allows for experimentation and discovery of new business models  resulting in a better end-user experience, he added.



The transformation involves process re-engineering and delivery of Ericsson Billing and customer care system. This convergent billing system is designed to enable Orange Egypt to introduce new offerings in real time, meeting customer needs and empowering them with full cost control.



Orange Egypt can now enjoy increased flexibility when launching promotions, discounts, incentive programs and targeted campaigns, it stated.  TradeArabia News Service
Global Internet giants, rights watchdogs, journalists, and activists have opposed Pakistans sweeping new rules for regulating social media.

The regulations, adopted by the federal cabinet late last month, were notified last week. They seek to establish complete government control over social media platforms, a move that many see as ultimately aimed at silencing dissent and curbing online free speech.

First and foremost, we wish to express our sincere concern that unless revoked, these rules will severely cripple the growth of Pakistan's digital economy, Jeff Paine, the managing director of Asia Internet Coalition (AIC), noted in an open letter to Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The AIC is an association of leading IT companies including Google, Facebook, Apple, Twitter, Amazon, AirBnb, Booking.com, Expedia Group, Yahoo, Grab, LinkedIn, and Rakuten.

In his February 15 letter, Paine noted that the rules are vague and arbitrary. The rules demand that social media companies deviate from established human rights practices concerning user privacy and freedom of expression, he noted, urging Islamabad to initiate a proper public consultation to ensure wider participation to develop a new set of rules.

The letter warns Islamabad of impending consequences if it fails to review the regulations.

The rules as currently written would make it extremely difficult for AIC members to make their services available to Pakistani users and businesses, the letter said. No other country has announced such a sweeping set of rules, Pakistan risks becoming a global outlier, needlessly isolating and depriving Pakistani users and businesses from the growth potential of the internet economy.

AICs response came after the Pakistani government adopted a new set of rules called the Citizens Protection (Against Online Harm) Rules, 2020. They detail unprecedented rules for social media companies essentially requiring them to regulate content, provide user data, and immediately comply with official requests of content removal. The new rules require tech giants to establish offices and servers in the country. The regulations can also slap fines of more than $3 million for violations.

We urge the government of Pakistan to consider the potential consequences of the rules in order to prevent unexpected negative impacts on Pakistans economy, the AIC letter noted.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), a leading nongovernmental watchdog, however, is worried that the authorities want to use the regulations to control the freedom of expression and opinion in the guise of protecting religious, cultural, ethnic, and national security sensitivities.

HRCP says that after imposing extensive censorship on print and electronic media, the new rules are aimed at controlling social media, which was the last vestige of free space. Instituting such stringent rules will contract the space that exists for citizens to access information that the mainstream media does not, or cannot, provide, a February 14 statement noted.

Journalist Hamid Mir, a leading TV presenter, says the new rules will create a headache for Khans government by maligning it internationally. This law was not discussed in parliament, its enforcement without any discussion is [also] a contempt for Parliament and constitution, he tweeted.

Lawmaker Maleeka Bukhari, the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf political partys parliamentary secretary for law and justice, acknowledged that the growing criticism of the rules might prompt authorities to reexamine them.

It is clear that many journalists, social media activists, and international organizations do not agree with this law [rules], so the government has to review its plan, she told the private Hum TV.

It is still not clear whether the government plans to scrap the new rules or is open to holding public consultations and debate them in the parliament.
In the CT room at Wuhan Hankou Hospital, doctors are on duty 24 hours a day and get the results for each patient in a timely manner. [For China Daily]

Lu Yong, a staff member at the Wuhan Hankou Hospital has captured the intensity, relief, laughter and pain endured by her colleagues and their patients on the front line of the battle against COVID-19 in Wuhan.

Lu Yong is a staff member on the management team at the Medical Information Department at Wuhan Hankou Hospital. It is one of the three designated hospitals that receive patients infected by the new coronavirus. Only 4 kilometers away from the South China Seafood Wholesale Market, the hospital bears a huge pressure of diagnosis and treatment.

Since Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, has been on lockdown in an effort to contain the epidemic outbreak, Lu has been responsible for complicated matters such as the hospital's epidemic information report and packaged meal delivery for medical staff and patients. At intervals, she used her cell phone and camera to capture some of the most precious images of her colleagues fighting the epidemic.

The medical staff work in strict accordance with the operating procedures. [For China Daily]

January 23

From 10 am on January 23, Wuhan was on lockdown due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus. The Wuhan Hankou Hospital, where I work, is listed as one of the city's designated hospitals for dealing with the epidemic. It specializes in treating patients with respiratory symptoms with fever, and patients from other wards have been transferred to other hospitals.

A portion of our hospital staff is assigned to package meals for front line medical staff and patients (free meals for patients). I changed into protective clothing and entered the clinic and the ward fully prepared, taking advantage of meal delivery opportunities, and taking pictures of the fight against the epidemic on my mobile phone.

It was already after 6 pm, and the patients still crowded the outpatient's hall. Medical staff could not attend meals, but instead work calmly among intensive care patients, triage patients, answer consultations, and soothe anxiety.

A nurse delivers the medicine to a patient and informs her of the doses in detail, while patiently answering various inquiries..[For China Daily]

January 24

On Lunar New Year's Eve, more than 30 members of the Wang Zhengyan expert team of Wuhan Hankou Hospital and representatives of the Wang Zhengyan youth volunteer service team, under the leadership of Wang Zhengyan, a national moral role model, solemnly swore: Take the lead, charge ahead and fight against the novel coronavirus on the front line.

January 28

When ordering food in the morning, I saw paper-cuts that offer wishes for good luck decorating the windows and doors of the ward. Red lanterns hung in the corridor of the hospital. The rain stopped, and the sun came out.

We were grateful that people from all walks of life sent supplies for our dinner, not to mention fruit, snacks and milk, all of which were urgently needed.

On Lunar New Year's Eve, more than 30 members of the Wang Zhengyan expert team and representatives of the Wang Zhengyan youth volunteer service team, under the leadership of Wang Zhengyan, a national moral role model, solemnly swear to fight against the novel coronavirus on the front line. [For China Daily]

February 4

At 8:30 this morning, six ambulances came to our hospital to transfer 26 confirmed patients to Huoshenshan (Fire God Mountain)Hospital.

Our hospital experts had evaluated the condition of each patient. The medical staff helped patients prepare their medical records and personal belongings, and completed their discharge procedures. The hospital also sent doctors to escort the patients to ensure their safety during the referral process.

On February 12, the report from the hospital shows that all figures are in a good direction and the death rate is at a record low.[For China Daily]

February 6

Wuhan is on lockdown, but love is not. Every day we receive selfless donations from groups and individuals from all corners of the world, and we are filled with warmth and gratitude.

Some donate medical equipment, sterilization and isolation supplies, and some send daily boxed meals for our medical staff and patients, with menu continuously changing for each of the three daily meals.

The 100 oxygen generators donated by the team of the academician, Zhong Nanshan, to our hospital have already been put to good use.

The staff breathe a long sigh of relief; for the convenience of patients, the test cabinet is relocated to the first floor. [For China Daily]

February 8

Today is the Lantern Festival, the 15th day of the first month in the lunar calendar. There are no dragon dances and no lanterns.

The epidemic situation is still grim. More than 40 colleagues work around the clock, and some have been infected with the new coronavirus. However, our determination and refusal to back down has won the day.

February 10

Today, I put on a yellow protective suit donated by the army and went to the clinic and the ward to take some pictures.

The number of patients at the referral clinic was significantly reduced.

The doctors in the office were patient and careful.

There were fewer people in the infusion hall.

The yellow protective suits are very stuffy and we were all sweaty.

Patients crowd the outpatient's hall on January 23, and the medical staff could not attend meals, but instead work calmly. [For China Daily]

February 12

The weather is fine today, and my friends are feeling better when they deliver the meals.

After finishing my report at 6 pm today, I find the number of outpatient visits was at a record low, and there were no deaths.

The number of deaths in the hospital was also at a record low, and my colleagues and I could not help but breathe a long sigh of relief. Standing outside the department and watching the setting sun is so comfortable. I couldn't help taking a group photo to celebrate.

(Source: China Daily)
by Robert Frodeman and Evelyn Brister

Where is philosophy in public life? Can we point to how the world in 2020 is different than it was in 2010 or 1990 because of philosophical research?

On the first day of class, philosophy professors tell their students that philosophy promises to make us better citizens and to increase our understanding of science, politics, and art. Or in the words of the American Philosophical Associations guide for undergraduates, philosophy develops the capacity to see the world from the perspective of other individuals and other cultures; it enhances ones ability to perceive the relationships among the various fields of study; and it deepens ones sense of the meaning and variety of human experience.

We agree. But more needs to be said about the relevance of philosophy to shaping society than that. People want to know that philosophy and the humanities are valuable not only to college students while taking a class or two, but also how the massive bodies of professional research that are being produced are relevant to society at large.

This is where philosophy (and the humanities generally) has failed: philosophers dont investigate the specificities of philosophys relevance. Granted, theres a pile of works (e.g., Martha Nussbaums Not for Profit, Fareed Zakarias In Defense of a Liberal Education, Michael Roths Beyond the University) that provide a general defense of the humanities. But when the question is put: How specifically is humanities research relevant to society?, any answer is seen as either a political challenge aligned with a defense of ignorance or else as being self-evident.

We think that askingand answeringthis question is neither a disrespectful nor a trivial task.

As it stands, professors teach their classes and write their books and articles, trusting that their insights will eventually seep out into the culture at large. In a nod toward Reagan, call it the trickle-down model. The whole process is radically accidental. Humanities research is rarely given an active push to get it in front of wider audiences.

Of course humanists do work thats directly relevant to society: they spot inconsistencies in scientific practice and uncover missed opportunities for social justice. Whats missing is the follow-throughpractical efforts to see that ones research makes it into the hands of those who could field test the ideas. This is not a matter of individual incompetence. The problem is institutional: tenure committees, publishing houses, and philosophy journals do not require an action plan as part of the work humanists produce. Demonstrating relevance is not part of the everyday workflow.

As it turns out, the science community has been debating the nature of relevance concerning their research for more than 20 years. As we might expect, their language is somewhat different: the term of art has been impact. But the issues at stake are similar. They have made some headway, too, in understanding how to better connect research to the ongoing needs of the public.

How could it be that the sciences elaborated a philosophy of impact before philosophers did? In 1997, in response to GPRA, the 1993 Government Performance and Results Act, the US National Science Foundation changed its criteria for the review of grant proposals. It required that applications be judged in terms of their broader impact as well as for their intellectual merit. (And this wasnt only a US phenomenon. Science agencies in the UK, the EU, and Brazil (among others) all enacted requirements where scientists had to describe the expected societal impact of their research.) This has led to a twenty-year effort to understand what broader impact means, how attempts to achieve them can be evaluated, and how such impact can be increased.

Making scientists explain how their research would improve society marked a decisive break with the past. Previously the sciences behaved in the same way that philosophy still behaves: the sciences had their own version of the trickle-down model. The canonical statement of this view was provided by Vannevar Bush, head of the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development during the Second World War. In Science, The Endless Frontier (1945), Bush described a world where science functions best, and indeed ends up being most relevant, when scientists are left alone to pursue their own curiosity. In an ironic twist, societal relevance was best served by not thinking about relevance at all.

Changing this attitude wasnt easy. In the case of the NSF, in the first years the scientific community simply ignored the new criterion. When NSF forced the issue in 2001 by refusing to review proposals that did not address broader impacts, scientists protested its implementation, claiming the idea was incoherent, and that in any case social impact wasnt their responsibility. Gradually, however, the idea of broader impacts took hold. Today, some twenty years on, broader impacts marks a decisive (indeed, philosophic) change in scientific culture: the scientific community now accepts that social responsibility is an intrinsic part of their work.

Not that the conceptual work has been completed. The debate over the impact agenda continues; in fact, it has been in the news recently. As part of initiatives launched by the new Boris Johnson government, in late January, United Kingdom Research and Innovation announced that they will be removing the Pathways to Impact section from grant applications. This change was described in terms of the cutting of red tape. Some have read this as a retreat from giving attention to impacts. But rather than marking the failure of the impact agenda, its a sign that impact or social relevance has been so integrated in the knowledge production system that a separate section has become unnecessary. In other words, the conversation has advanced.

All of these issues stand as an open invitation for philosophers and humanists to jump into the debate. When they do (and a small number have been doing so for some time) they will find that they have two tasks to take up  helping the science and science policy communities reckon with the intricacies of understanding impact, and developing a philosophy of impact for research across the humanities.

The amount of money at stake in the humanities is trivial compared with the sciences. And traditional defenses of the humanities  that they involve noble thinking far above the merely pecuniary interests of other fields  will remain important. But society is increasingly focused on understanding the practical results of its funding. Call it an accountability moment. Humanists should get out in front of these demands before reductive versions of impact are forced upon them.
Police in Costa Rica seized five tons of cocaine in a container due to be shipped in the Netherlands during a drug haul. They discovered the illegal drugs last Saturday in the largest drug haul in Costa Rica's history. The cocaine was hidden in ornamental flowers at the APM Terminals port of Moin, Limon.

Authorities found over 202 suitcases which held 5,408 packages of cocaine. According to the AFP news agency, the packages weighed 1 kg each. Police said the drugs were produced in South America, but they did not specify where.

The drugs are estimated to have a value of 126 million euros or $136 million. Police then arrested an unnamed, 46-year-old Costa Rican.

Drugs in Costa Rica Over the Years

Costa Rica has faced a lot of problems with drugs over the years. In July of 2019, a fisherman was caught smuggling drugs in the country. The smuggler was a wealthy fisherman who owned large private properties and luxury vehicles. He led groups called "transportista", which meant "carrier" in English.

According to CRHoy.com, the Nicaragua national, who was nicknamed "Antorcha", was arrested on charges he ran fleets of drug boats along the Pacific coast. The man owned two docks in the port city of Puntarenas. The fishing boats that used the docks were loaded with illegal drugs that his son and three other men transported.

More recently, in January of last year, authorities also arrested a 36-year-old man named Alfaro Bustamante. Bustamante led a ring that moved cocaine in exchange for Jamaican marijuana.

The Costa Rican coast provides open water for boats and vessels to transport in illegal drugs. These ports are also feeding the European cocaine pipeline.

Cocaine seized in Costa Rica hit a record of 33.6 tons in 2018. A single week in March of the same year saw 6.4 tons of cocaine. Authorities also found a submarine carrying almost 1.5 tons of drugs. Then, the month of April 2018 also saw the discovery of another ton of cocaine aboard a boat.

Costa Rica was considered as an established warehouse and trading center for drug cartels. Colombian drug-running organizations were detected bringing drugs into the country, where they store and sell them to the Mexican buyers.

Violence related to drugs has also seen a continuing increase. Homicides in Costa Rica reached a record level of 603 people in 2017, 196 more than the killings in 2012.

Costa Rica is among the most violent regions in the world. Many of the killings the past few years were attributed to drugs and drug trafficking. According the article by Business Insider 2018, The deputy director of Costa Rica's judicial investigation body said 48% of the deaths stemmed from gang violence, while 25% were related to drug trafficking.

Costa Rica is a famous port for neighboring countries as a transshipment point for all drugs heading north. Many of the areas along the coast saw a steady increase in homicide cases where drug activity was rampant.

Costa Rican security officials said they were unable to stop traffickers and smugglers from using their territory.

"There does not exist a beach in Costa Rica where narcos haven't penetrated with a boat with cocaine, coming from Colombia," Public Security Minister Gustavo Mata told legislators in February 2017.

The deputy director of the Judicial Investigation Organism, Michael Soto, expect crime and violence to remain problems in Costa Rica unless "something extraordinary happens."








Web Toolbar by Wibiya

The biggest literary festival this 2020 has captured the eyes of bookworms and foodies from across the border. New Yorkers are expected to flock to Canadas capital to experience the ultimate celebration of diversity, literature, innovation and the culinary arts.

The Ottawa Expo is expecting buses full of New Yorkers to make a pit stop at the Expo over the holidays. The event has caught the eye of attendees across the border thanks to a Meetup group.

The Meetup group has organized several over the weekend trips for interested New Yorkers who have yet to experience Ottawa. It not only gives them an opportunity to explore the city without the exorbitant fees that airlines charge, but it also allows them to experience events and places that they otherwise would not have access to.

Thanks to this, the capital of Canada is nowmore than ever, easily accessible to New Yorkers who want a taste of authentic Canadian life. Ottawa is quickly becoming a tourist destination for people from the Big Apple without the need to hop on a plane.

Interested New Yorkers will be able to join convenient, over the weekend tourist bus trips to Ottawa alongside locals who are eager to share the full experience. The bus trips enable participants to enjoy the view while mingling with fellow passengers and enjoying a whole weekend of fun exploration.

Among the New Yorkers expected to attend, the Ottawa Book Expo organizers are also expecting several tourists from different areas in neighbouring countries as well as tourists from across the globe.

The Ottawa Book Expo has quickly become a mixing pot for different cultures. The Expo has also become the perfect platform for advocating diversity and innovation in all forms. Several First Nations authors as well as authors from as far as South Asia are expected to make an appearance and utilize this prime marketing opportunity to reach thousands of willing eyes and ears.

The Ottawa Book Expo is not only expected to break barriers by becoming the biggest literary celebration in Canada, but it is also expected to usher in an era of locally-grown tourism. This type of tourism is perfect because it encourages locals to befriend and share an authentic Ottawa experience with tourists to entice them to stay longer and come back more frequently.

Do not miss this opportunity to participate in one of the biggest and most beneficial events in Canadas history. Tickets are available for presale at the Ottawa Book Expo website.
RailTel, the Miniratna PSU, said that the free WiFi services at 415 stations will continue even after its contract period with Google expires in May 2020.

According to a release by RailTel, it had entered into a contract with Google for providing WiFi services for "415 A1, A, C category stations only. In this partnership, Google provided the Radio Access Network (RAN) and support and RailTel provided the physical Infrastructure and Internet bandwidth."

"We entered into a 5 years contract with Google for supporting us with setting up Wi-Fi at 415 stations only and the contract is going to expire in May 2020. However, RailTel will continue to provide uninterrupted WiFi service, with the same speed and network quality, to passengers at these 415 stations after May 2020 as well," the release added.

The PSU, which comes under the Ministry of Railways, also thanked Google for help in the past five years.

RailTel added that it is providing free WiFi at "5190+ B, C, and D Category stations as well", apart from the aforementioned 415, which takes the total tally to 5600 plus stations around the country, with the help of a "number of partners."

Assuring passengers that they will not face any hardships post-May, 2020, RailTel added that it "will also continue to execute Wi-Fi connectivity at the balance stations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-18 03:36:42|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

LISBON, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Petrotec Group, a Portuguese company focused on the production, marketing, distribution and technical support of systems for the retail areas of the oil industry, will open a fuel pump production plant in India, the company said Monday in a press statement.

The new plant is expected to start operating later this year. It will allow Petrotec "to exceed the threshold of 100 million euros (108 million U.S. dollars) in turnover for the next five years, 30 percent of which will be in the Indian market," Petrotec said.

"With this investment, we are strengthening the bet made 20 years ago, at a time when few companies saw business opportunities in India," said Petrotec CEO Nuno Cabral.

The new unit will be constructed in Gandhinagar, capital of the state of Gujarat, where "it will generate 400 new jobs," the company said in the statement.

"Investment in India goes towards the strategy of strengthening globalization of the Petrotec Group, leveraging all activity in Asia," Cabral said.

"The potential of the market justifies the bet in this market and requires a direct presence," he added.

Founded in 1983, Petrotec registered a turnover of 80 million euros last year and expect to reach 87 million euros in 2020. (1 euro = 1.08 U.S. dollars) Enditem
A boy aged 15 is fighting for life today after witnesses said he was dragged off a moped and knifed in a suspected gang ambush.

The teenager was one of three victims seriously injured in a series of stabbings in just over an hour of bloodshed across east London.

Residents said the boy was pulled off the moped in Brooke Road, Hackney at about 5.15pm yesterday before being stabbed.

He staggered and then collapsed a few hundred yards around the corner with a severe head injury.

Police and medics arrived and took him to hospital where he was today in a life-threatening condition.

Forensic staff at the crime scene in Brooke Road / NIGEL HOWARD 

One resident said: We were looking out the window and the boy was on the floor, one of the neighbours was there with him too and police officers were surrounding him.

"There was a helmet in the middle of the road, he was dragged off his bike and stabbed.

Another neighbour said: I saw flashing lights and looked out and saw him lying in the road ... the paramedics were working on him for a long time before they got him in the ambulance.

She added: I have a 15-year-old too so it is worrying. There seems to be stabbings everyday but it is a shock when it happens on your doorstep.

Forensics officers last night removed a black Jeep from the scene, which is said to have fingerprints on the bonnet belonging to his attackers

A crime scene remained in place today as police questioned two people aged 18 and 19 on suspicion of attempted murder.

Stop and search powers were stepped up across Hackney until 10am today.

A policer officer in Brooke Road / NIGEL HOWARD 

Police said the attack is believed to be gang-related. In a separate stabbing, a man in his twenties was attacked in Sandringham Road, Barking just before 4.30pm.

His condition in hospital was described today as critical.

The incident is being linked to a 19-year-old man who was stabbed in the hand in Porters Avenue, Dagenham. Two men were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

Then at 5.44pm, police came across two men fighting in New North Road, Ilford.

Police cordon at New North Road, Ilford / NIGEL HOWARD 

A man in his thirties suffered stab and slash wounds and was in a life-threatening condition in hospital today. Police said a man has been arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm.

A Met spokesman said: If any young people have information about violence or knife crime, they can visit fearless.org where they can pass on information anonymously.

"Fearless is part of the Crimestoppers charity, and is also independent of the police.
About 50 activists have held a memorial service near the Embassy of Iran in Kyiv during which they lit 176 candles and laid red roses to mourn citizens of six countries killed in the sky over Iran, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"We came here because 40 days have passed since the lives of 176 people ended to honor their memory and remind the Iranian authorities that the evil has not yet been punished," activist Alla Ihnatchenko told reporters.

The participants in the rally said that they had gathered in response to a call on social networking sites. While talking to each other and journalists, they spoke about the need to punish those responsible for the tragedy.

A Ukraine International Airlines Boeing-737, performing flight PS752 en route from Tehran to Kyiv, was shot down by two rockets shortly takeoff from the Tehran airport.

The disaster took the lives of all 176 people on board - 167 passengers and nine crew members. Citizens of Ukraine, Iran, Canada, Sweden, Afghanistan, and the United Kingdom were killed in the tragedy.

op
Dr Suborno Bose, the founder of the Young Chef Olympiad, Co-chairman and CEO of the International Hospitality Council (IHC) and Founder and Chief Mentor, Indismart Group, was awarded ET Now, Leader Of The Year (Education) at a glittering awards ceremony organised in Mumbai on February 16, 2020.

The award is a deserving recognition of Dr Bose's efforts to put India on the Global Hospitality Map.

ET Now, India's leading and finance news channel, honoured Dr Bose with this prestigious award in the wake of his instrumental leadership in founding and organising the International Young Chef Olympiad (YCO).

On February 02 2020, the sixth edition of YCO concluded where young student chefs and their mentors from 55 countries of the world gathered to participate in the biggest culinary competition.

The YCO 2020, organised by the IHC in association with the International Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM), brought so many countries on a single stage at a time when the world is divided on political, social and economic issues.

The YCO 2020 gold winner was Malaysia, silver winner was Philippines and bronze went to England.

Dr Bose pioneered this unique initiative six years ago. With him are culinary experts like Professor David Foskett, MBE, Chairman of IHC and of the YCO Jury and author of culinary Bible, Practical Cookery series.

Dr Bose spearheaded the competition roping in iconic Indian and international chefs to judge the competition.

Padma Shri Chef Sanjeev Kapoor has been Principal Judge and Mentor of YCO for many years. YCO 2020 had 19 international judges including Chef Brian Turner, CBE, President of the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts, Chef Chris Galvin, Michelin-starred chef and co-owner of Galvin Restaurants in England, Chef Anton Edelmann, former Maitres de Chef of the Savoy Hotel in London and other distinguished chefs of the world.

The YCO is also a mutual understanding of cultural and educational exchange with the 55 countries.

MoUs signed during YCO with every country's representatives are agreements to conduct educational exchange programmes with IIHM.

YCO 2020 had a unique theme of sustainability, roping in the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Dr Bose also exhibited solidarity with Sustainability through the Food Aid initiative.

Food Soldiers from IIHM and students around the country conducted food drives among the underprivileged.

This story is provided by PRNewswire. 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.)
Regulatory News:

Gecina (Paris:GFC) is pleased to welcome two new outstanding tenants KKR and Eastdil Secured to its building at 9/15 avenue Matignon, with two leases signed on a pre-letting basis at 900/sq.m for a total of 1,000 sq.m.

These leases have achieved significant rental reversion and highlight the rental market's robust performance for high-quality buildings in premium locations.

Valerie Britay, Executive Director Offices: "The Gecina Group is delighted to welcome these two leading tenants to an iconic building from our portfolio. These first leases signed at 900 per square meter reflect the solid trends that we can see for the best buildings in the most central markets, confirming our strategic choice to increase our portfolio's exposure at the heart of centrality sectors".

Gecina, at the heart of urban life

Gecina owns, manages and develops property holdings worth 19.9 billion euros at end-June 2019. As a specialist for centrality and uses, the Group is building its business around Europe's leading office portfolio, with nearly 97% located in the Paris Region, and a diversification division with residential assets and student residences. Gecina has put sustainable innovation at the heart of its strategy to create value and anticipate the expectations of around 100,000 customers and end users, thanks to the dedication and expertise of its staff, who are committed to an understated, fluid and inclusive city. To offer its customers high-quality services and support their changing needs, Gecina has launched YouFirst, its relational brand.

Gecina is a French real estate investment trust (SIIC) listed on Euronext Paris, and is part of the SBF 120, CAC Next 20, CAC Large 60, Euronext 100, FTSE4Good, DJSI Europe and World, Stoxx Global ESG Leaders and Vigeo indices. In line with its community commitments, Gecina has created a company foundation, which is focused on protecting the environment and supporting all forms of disability.

www.gecina.fr

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200217005399/en/

Contacts:

Financial communications

Samuel Henry-Diesbach

Tel: +33 (0)1 40 40 52 22

samuelhenry-diesbach@gecina.fr

Virginie Sterling

Tel: +33 (0)1 40 40 62 48

virginiesterling@gecina.fr

Press relations

Julien Landfried

Tel: +33 (0)1 40 40 65 74

julienlandfried@gecina.fr

Armelle Miclo

Tel: +33 (0)1 40 40 51 98

armellemiclo@gecina.fr
tech2 News Staff

The launch of Google's next Pixel phone is not happening anytime soon, but tipsters continue to keep consumers on the edge with perpetual leaks and speculations. The latest leak comes with some renders of the purported Google Pixel 5 XL.

According to some video renders shared on the YouTube Channel, Front Page Tech, the Google Pixel 5 XL is likely to come with a triple rear camera setup at the back. The camera module that also includes a wide-angle lens, is placed at the center on the back, unlike Pixel 4 or iPhone. The render reveals that the camera module might come with a glass-finish while the back might come with a matte texture.

(Also read: Google may launch three mid-range pixel 4s in 2020, one of them with 5G support: Report)

The YouTuber, however, also said that in contrast to the renders seen in this video, two other prototypes of the said Pixel 5 XL that he came across, has a square-shaped camera module instead, just like its predecessor Pixel 4.

One noteworthy thing here is that the render does not come from an official source, which means there is no guarantee that we will see it on the final unit.

The YouTuber did not provide any other details about the processor or display or battery.

The smartphone launch is expected to take place in October 2020 like every year.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently also announced on Twitter that they will be hosting its Google I/O 2020 on 12 May, there are chances that the company might launch Google Pixel 4a.

Cosmos aligned. We'll be back at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View for this year's #GoogleIO on May 12-14! pic.twitter.com/3bZqriaoi1  Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) January 24, 2020

The event will take place in Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View from 12-14 May.


Yes, these dinners are part of the job. Your assistant is there to work. If the lecturers were not there, you and he or she would not be out on the town together. Rather, you would both be free to spend time with your respective spouses or friends.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 17) A senator on Monday filed a resolution which seeks to extend media giant ABS-CBNs franchise until the end of 2022.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said Senate Joint Resolution No. 11which targets to extend the franchise validity from March 30 to December 31, 2022would provide lawmakers enough time to review the networks application for a fresh license.

"If you do not do this, in six weeks time the continued existence of the ABS-CBN is open to question," Drilon told reporters.

Drilon's proposal would need a counterpart in the House, which has until now refused to act on 11 bills seeking the renewal of ABS-CBN's franchise. Both chambers need to pass the joint resolution, which has the force and effect of law once signed by the president.

"When we get the concurrence, then the franchise will be extended unless the President vetoes it," Drilon said.

Some lawmakers in the House are also suggesting that Congress pass a concurrent resolution allowing ABS-CBN to continue operating beyond March 30 for as long as there are pending bills on its franchise.

A concurrent resolution, unlike a joint resolution, does not have the force of law and merely expresses the opinion of Congress.

"Since it's Congress that has the power to issue or to allow or grant franchises by way of legislation, it might be good to send a very clear message to the NTC (National Telecommunication Commission) by way of a House resolution, not just mere pronouncements," Agusan del Sur 1st District Rep. Lawrence Fortun said.

But for Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman and Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate, the passage of a joint resolution by Congress will just be a temporary solution to ABS-CBN's problem.

"If we pass a resolution, a joint resolution, why not enact or why not pass the bills granting the renewal of franchise of ABS-CBN? 'Yan ay malinis, wala nang duda," Lagman said.

House leaders earlier said they may not be able to tackle the proposed measures soon, with more urgent bills on deck for lawmakers.

RELATED: Cayetano says Congress too busy to tackle ABS-CBN franchise renewal

Ahead of any action by the House on the ABS-CBN franchise, the Senate will hold its first hearing on the matter on February 27, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri said.

Senate Grace Poe, who chairs the public services panel, told reporters Monday that they seek to independently tackle the franchise issues, even if their colleagues at the lower chamber have yet to calendar a hearing on the matter.

"In the case of the Senate, I think we should be able to exercise our mandate, otherwise we are not fulfilling our responsibility," Poe said in a media briefing Monday.

Poe conceded, however, that their hearings on ABS-CBN's franchise would be all for nothing if the House continues to sit on the counterpart measures before them.

The franchise renewal case was highlighted anew following a petition filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida, who sought to nullify the companys existing franchise.

In his controversial plea before the Supreme Court, the governments top lawyer cited the network's alleged "highly abusive practices" including foreign ownership and operational issues. ABS-CBN has repeatedly disputed the claims.

CNN Philippines' XIanne Arcangel, Xave Gregorio and Alyssa Rola contributed to this report.
She has an envious figure thanks to healthy living and an active lifestyle.

And on Sunday, Isabelle Cornish turned up the heat in a revealing outfit while attending the Earth Frequency music festival near Ipswich, Queensland.

The 25-year-old actress, who lives in Byron Bay, wore a daring ensemble for the occasion and brought a very practical accessory - a hydration backpack.

Flaming hot! Isabelle Cornish left little to the imagination in very revealing outfit at the Earth Frequency music festival in Ipswich, Queensland over the weekend

'If you're going to turn up the heat you should do it the right way! I dont like to drink but I do like to dance with my camel back HYDRATION,' she wrote in the caption.

Adding: 'I bought this dress in London at a sober dance party. Hand made, and glows in the in the dark. Thanks for a full heart.'

Isabelle's eye-catching festival look featured a red colour skirt that melded perfectly into a revealing mesh bodice.

Bright spark! Isabelle's eye-catching festival look featured a red colour skirt that melded perfectly into a revealing mesh bodice

The risque ensemble was completed with two strategically placed flame emblems that covered her chest, leaving little to the imagination.

The part time model accessorised with a pair of trusty combat boots and a chic beige coloured hat.

Isabelle rose to fame on coming-of-age series, Puberty Blues, and recently re-located back to Australia after living in Los Angeles for three years.

A case of puberty blues: Isabelle rose to fame on coming-of-age series, Puberty Blues, and recently re-located back to Australia after living in Los Angeles for three years.

Speaking to Stellar in 2018, Isbabelle described her time in the city as 'disheartening' and admitted there was a time when she went almost three years between jobs.

Isabelle previously revealed that that she doesn't go to her older sister, actress Abbie Cornish, for advice.

The younger Cornish sister told The Daily Telegraph in 2018, 'We are very different and there is such a big age gap, so I don't really go to her for advice.'

Abbie, 36, starred in Oscar-winning 2017 drama Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri.

However, in the revealing interview Isabelle said she couldn't relate to her sibling on a professional level.

'I have a different style to her and we don't discuss acting,' Isabelle explained, before adding: 'But it's really great having my sister with me in LA.'

The leggy blonde decided to ditch Hollywood and move back to Australia after the Marvel series Inhumans,which she starred in flopped, and was ultimately cancelled.

In January Isabelle revealed in a candid Instagram post: 'When I feel lost, alone, confused or scared across the world, I go home. To nature.'
After moving our rides and runs around a fair bit last week and giving our Tuesday evening ride a new name, we're settling back into some normal routines here at Slowtwitch Indoors. All of our runs will be moving to a central location in Watopia, while our rides move into some familiar scenery this week.

100/100 Challenge Support Runs

Into the home stretch now! With just two weeks remaining in the 100/100 Challenge, we thought we'd give you some inspiration for a little bit more speed. All of our runs will now take place on May Field. This gives you a chance to speed up or slow down as you see fit, all while keeping most of the group together throughout the run. As always, runs will take place on Mondays and Wednesdays, with options at 7 AM Eastern or 7 PM Eastern.

Slowtwitch Indoors Rides

It's Yorkshire time! Our women's only structured-training workout heads over to the latest UCI addition to Zwift. In honor of heading to the UK for this ride, you'll be pedaling along to What's This, a workout inspired by Radiohead's "Paranoid Android." Yes, I'm a dork.Although we recommend road bikes for all of our Slowtwitch Indoors events, you will definitely be on the clock with this week's course selection of Tick Tock. The workout of "Hold On" features a lot of late intensity -- be prepared to go deep into the well tomorrow night.Our Thursday morning bracer heads for the hills of Richmond. We'll hold a neutral first lap together before dropping the fence for sprints and KOMs on the second lap. The B group will likely get one last sprint in before calling it a day. Look for Matt, Mark, and Shaun as your respective B/C/D ride leaders.The Thursday night ride sticks in Watopia, going Out and Back Again. We like this particular course due to the good mix of terrain. As always, the Ds begin 5 minutes before the Cs, who get a 5 minute head start on the Bs. Work together as a group, and hopefully we'll all end having covered roughly the same distance.
Help India!

TCN Staff Reporter

Cambridge, Massachusetts: The fight to save Indian democracy against the onslaughts of the Nazi-inspired groups like RSS and BJP, can be won only when not only Muslims but even the upper caste and upper class lead a protest in gated communities of India, said poet and screenwriter Hussain Haidry. He was speaking on Being Muslim in contemporary India at the Harvard India conference on Saturday, February 15. Other members of the panel were Arfa Khanum Sherwani, Raqib Hameed Naik, and Aman Wadud.

Support TwoCircles



I have sharp criticism on this and I might get lots of criticism for saying this but there have to be protests in gated communities, in upper-caste and upper-class colonies of India. It is the Ashish Nagars that have to have the protests. Rahul Sharma will have to protest because the upper caste and upper class have the most amount of power, he said provoking applause from the audience for his straightforwardness. But he didnt make the point without thanking the allies.

I am very glad that a lot of upper caste and upper-class people are our allies and we are extremely grateful for that but there has to be more because if the regime has to be countered, the counter movement has to be supported a lot more by the majority community as well, added Mr. Haidry who wrote lyrics for Bollywood films like Gurgaon, Qarib Qarib Single, and Mukkabaaz. Haidry shot to fame when his poem Hindustani Musalmaan went viral on social media. Later he left his job as head of finance with a health care firm in Kolkata and moved to Bombay to become a full-time writer.

Mr. Haidry said that the dehumanization of Indias Muslims have been done through words.

Language has been mutilated so as to spread a certain kind of hate and bigotry among the people of India. A lot of it has to do with words. If it is an election campaign they come up with words like abki Baar Modi sarkaar and that is a good enough selling pitch. Mandir wahin banayenge is good enough to raze a mosque down to the ground. Desh ke gaddaron ko goli maro saalon ko, rhymes, is musical. It is fanatical but it also rhymes, he explained how words become genocidal.

Zeher jis bhasha me phailaya ja raha hai hume usko usi bhasha me counter karna hai (We need to counter the hate in the same language it is being spread in.) All the beautiful words of India has been distorted. Secular became sikular, and liberal became libtard, he added.

So if they say Desh ke gaddaron ko goli maro saalon ko, I say Desh de gaddaron ko Satta se hatao salen ko (remove the traitors from power). Desh ke gaddaron ko/vote na dena saalon ko. (Dont vote for them, he said with a member of an audience adding school bhejo salon ko (Send these rascals to school).

Haidry highlighted that one needs to look beyond the dehumanization and romanticization of the protesters at Shaheen Bagh.

The protests involve lots of pain. There is no cushion for these protesters. They are sitting there sometimes on just a mat for hours and hours. You try sitting in the mat for ten hours, your bones will feel the chill. There is no washroom nearby. A lot of the protesters has to take medicines. These facilities are not at their disposal but they have to do, he added.

Raqib Hameed Naik, a Kashmiri journalist who has extensively reported on human rights abuses in Kashmir including forced disappearances and lethal use of non-lethal weapons on protesters in Kashmir, was part of the panel to present the Kashmiri perspective on the subject.

He said that the ruling BJP used the pain of Kashmiri Pandits as a weapon to communalise the conflict in Kashmir. He recounted the fear and trauma of his family members who were attacked in Jammu after Pulwama attack so much so that that they had to flee from their homes, cross the nearby river and take refuge in the house of a Sikh friend for several days.

He said that Islamophobia and anti-Muslim bias has become a fashion statement in India and Indian discourses. He talked about how the Indian state continuously dehumanized people from Kashmir which always led to attacks on them across the country. That language of dehumanization which is being used against Muslims, have always been used against Kashmiris too.

In particular, Mr. Naik referred to the recent statements of the Consul General of India in New York advocating that India should follow Israel model of establishing settlements in Kashmir.

An Indian diplomat talks about making Israel style settlements in Kashmir. This is a genocidal language that we should be concerned about. We need to call it out as it is, he added

On questions of democracy in Kashmir, Mr. Naik answered, Nearly 70000 dead, 8K to 10K enforcedly disappeared, 2700 unknown graves, 1500 half widows and 8000 youths blinded in last 8 years and you still call India a democracy?

Aman Wadud, a prominent human rights lawyer from Assam, explained in detail how despite the rhetoric of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, the CAA will affect not only Muslims but also poor and different groups of marginalized people across the country. He recounted two incidents to highlight how the fear over CAA took over the lives and psyche of people in India.

A professor of the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University called me when NRC was implemented only in Assam, saying that the names of his father was abbreviated in one certificate as MD and was mentioned as Mohammad in another. He was clearly nervous and asked me how is he going to be affected and what to do, he said in order to explain the extent of fear among people.

In another incident, I got a call from a young man from a poor family informing me that his mother is being sent to detention centers and that she told him not to waste money on her legal fee as they didnt have money. It was heartbreaking but let me tell you this is just one among thousands of such cases in Assam, he said adding that such heart-wrenching stories might become a national phenomenon.

Your citizenship has been questioned to the extent that it can be stripped off. The CAA cant be read in isolation. Its a lethal weapon with NPR as the Modi government intends it to be, added Mr. Wadud.

He strongly asserted that everyone must protest against the CAA because it is going to affect everyone and everyone will be harassed on the pretext of documents.

I can talk about two major reasons for that. The NPR enumerator can declare anyone doubtful citizen if he/she has any doubt while taking the data. And secondly, suppose even if you are Hindu and will finally be given citizenship through CAA, but will you erase your history in India if you dont have the documents. What will you say which country you came from?, he asked.

Arfa Khanum Sherwani, the senior editor with The Wire, said that increasing awareness of ones Muslim identity is one of the contributions of the Modi government. Talking about the difference Modi government brought about in a Muslim reporters life, she said,  Being a reporter and also being a subject of the reporting. Thats new.

She said the project of dehumanization and demonization of Muslims was done in the first term of the Modi government through communalisation of crimes where accused with Muslim names become focus of national media; Muslim men are projected as incapable of loving women by propaganda terms like love jihad; demonize Muslim men and patronize Muslim women.

In the second term post-2019 the government is capitalizing on that dehumanization, she said while explaining how the dehumanisation of Muslims makes them sub-human in popular media and facilitates easy trampling on their human rights by the government.

In the first term marginalization of Indian Muslims was informal but post-2019 its legitimized and legal. She also talked about the silver line of the protest against the Citizen Amendment Act. Muslim women stepped out of the kitchen and transitioned to protest site, is indicative of the reforms that the society was waiting for.

The panel discussion concluded with Haidry reciting his viral poem.
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.

Kentucky

Kentucky is all but certain to vote for Donald Trump in November. It has voted Republican at the presidential level - with few exceptions - since 1956. The president carried the state by 30% in 2016, continuing a fairly consistent trend of increasing GOP margins in each election since 2000.

Given this inevitability, the second half of this piece is dedicated to the boogeyman of the left, Mitch McConnell. Democrats revile the cunning effectiveness of the Senate Majority Leader and hope, perhaps naively, to oust him in November.

First though, lets look at Kentuckys political legacy and how it evolved into the deep red state it is today.

Statehood and Civil War

Until 1792, the region we know as Kentucky was a part of Virginia. The Appalachian Mountains isolated western Virginians, who started to push for an independent state. In 1790, the Virginia legislature approved the new state and two years later Congress accepted it. The new state was framed by its geography, with the Ohio River to its north, Mississippi River on its western tip, and the Cumberland Mountains in its east.

For most of its first elections, Kentucky voted along with the rest of the south for Thomas Jeffersons Democratic-Republican Party. The party broadly advocated for a less powerful federal government and supported the agrarian lifestyle of the south. Once the Democratic-Republican Party fractured, Kentucky shifted to the Whig Party that was founded by Henry Clay, at that time a U.S. Senator from the state.

In 1860, Kentucky cast its electoral votes for the Constitutional Union Party, which was a single-issue party focused on keeping the Union together. The state had economic ties to both the Confederate South and Union North and was physically located in the middle of the conflict  bordered by Tennessee and Virginia to the south and Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois to the north. Kentucky decided not to secede and initially claimed neutrality in the war. This stance ended in 1861 when the Confederate army invaded Kentucky in order to take control of tactical land before the Union army could. From then on, Kentucky sided with the Union.

Post-War Democratic Dominance

Kentucky, like most of the south, was steadily Democratic following the Civil War. The western region of the state was historically slave-holding territory and therefore voted for the Democratic Party. Meanwhile, the population in the states east had supported the Union and would reliably vote Republican. Through most of the 19th Century, however, these Republican regions were not enough to make the state competitive. Democrats regularly won the state by double digits.

The 1896 election broke the streak. That year, Democrats nominated the bimetallist and populist, William Jennings Bryan. The Republican standard bearer, William McKinley, eked out a 0.07% popular vote victory over Bryan, making him the first Republican presidential nominee to ever carry Kentucky. The state would flip back to its Democratic roots for the next six elections, but by smaller margins than before. In five of the six elections from 1900 to 1920, the Democratic nominee would win by less than 6%. In the 1920s lead-up to the Great Depression, Kentucky voted for two Republicans in 1924 and 1928. These were the Roaring Twenties and Kentucky, along with most of the nation, rewarded the incumbent Republican Party for the strong economy.

Then came the Great Depression. Kentucky voted for Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal which employed thousands of people in Kentucky and helped prop up and revive the coal, bourbon, and tobacco industries in Kentucky.

A Shift Rightward

The popularity of the New Deal and Roosevelt would help Democrats win Kentucky through the 1952 election. Eventually, though, the Democratic Partys leftward shift on social issues would push Kentucky progressively deeper into the Republican Party. In 1956, President Dwight Eisenhower won reelection and carried Kentucky in a landslide election over his Democratic opponent, Adlai Stevenson. Since that 1956 Republican victory, Democrats have only carried the state four times.

All of these victors were southerners. First is Lyndon Johnson who carried Kentucky in his 1964 landslide. Second is Georgian Jimmy Carter who won Kentucky in his initial election of 1976 but lost it to Ronald Reagan in 1980. The last Democrat to win Kentucky was Bill Clinton of Arkansas in his 1992 and 1996 elections.

Bill Clinton was also the last Democratic presidential nominee to be competitive in Kentucky. Four years later, Democrats nominated Al Gore, whose signature issue was environmental protection. This did not play well in Kentuckys coal country and, along with the Democratic Partys liberal shift on social issues including abortion and gun control, helped push the state decisively towards George Bush.

Recent Elections & Political Landscape

Starting in 2000, every Republican nominee would carry Kentucky by double digits. George Bush did so by 15% and 20% in 2000 and 2004. John McCain beat Barack Obama by 16% in the state even as Obama won nationally by 7%. In 2012 Mitt Romney won the state by 23%. And finally, in 2016, Donald Trump expanded that margin to 30%, the largest margin of victory since 1868.

In 1996, Bill Clinton carried counties across the state. He won majorities in the mountainous east, the ancestrally Democratic west, and in the urban regions. Support for Democrats steadily eroded in most of these counties and every four years since, the Democratic nominee carried fewer counties than their predecessor.

While external forces are more to blame for the coal industry's decline, Barack Obamas strict regulations on coal production did little to ingratiate his party to Kentuckians. In 2016, Hillary Clintons infamous we're going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business quote did even more damage.

As jobs in the coal and manufacturing industry evaporated, Kentucky struggled to replace them. While the urban and suburban communities inside the Golden Triangle of Lexington, Louisville, and Cincinnati have thriving auto, equestrian, logistics, and bourbon industries, the rest of the state is in worse shape. Outside of this economically humming region, Kentuckians are facing lower incomes, higher poverty rates, shrinking populations, and drug addictions.

In 2016, Hillary Clinton won just two counties, Jefferson and Fayette, that encompass the states biggest cities of Louisville and Lexington and are far more diverse than the state overall. Meanwhile, Donald Trump, expanded on Romneys margin in nearly the entire state. He improved most in the states northeastern rural Appalachia. His populist calls to Make America Great Again were most effective with this struggling, shrinking, and disaffected population.

Demographics make the recent rightward shift unsurprising. 68% of the state's population are whites that do not have a college degree. This is a core constituency of today's GOP. Only neighboring West Virginia has a higher proportion (75%) of residents in this category.

Republican Mastermind and Democratic Nemesis: Mitch McConnell

While Kentuckys presidential contest in November is all but decided, Senate Majority Leader and Democratic boogeyman, Mitch McConnell, is up for reelection and Democrats are drooling at the idea of ousting him.

The Kentucky primary in the state is not until May, but both nominees are all but decided. Republicans are destined to re-nominate McConnell. Democrats are on track to nominate former Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath. In 2018, McGrath made a high-profile congressional bid in Kentuckys Sixth District against incumbent Rep. Andy Barr. It is a district much more receptive to Democrats than the state as a whole, but McGrath lost by 3%.

Democrats look at Kentuckys 2019 gubernatorial election and hope that 2020 could be a repeat. Last year, Democrat Andy Beshear beat Republican Matt Bevin in Kentuckys off-year gubernatorial election. However, Bevin was a historically weak candidate who alienated voters at every turn.

McGrath boosters also point to McConnells extreme unpopularity as an indicator of his vulnerability. McConnell has had no problem carrying the state in the past even with low favorability ratings haunting him for much of his career. While his first two elections in 1984 and 1990 were real competitions  he won by just 0.4% and 4.4%  after that he was entrenched. His next four victories would be by 13%, 29%, 6%, and 17%. Even in 2008, a heavily blue year where Barack Obama won the national popular vote by over 7%, McConnell still won his election by 6%.

These victories were back when Kentucky was bluer, partisanship was weaker, and split ticket voting was more common. Voters today are less likely than ever to break with their party identity and Kentucky is more Republican than ever. With Trump at the top of the ticket, likely carrying the state by another 30% margin, Democrats would need an electoral miracle to oust McConnell. And with a candidate as vetted and battle-tested as he is, there is unlikely to be any surprising or unknown revelations that could damage his candidacy as to make him vulnerable.

The Cook Political Report has the election rated as Likely Republican. The newsletters Senate and Governors Editor, Jessica Taylor, explained to us why she is bullish on McConnells reelection prospects.

Given the sheer amount of money that Amy McGrath has been raising means this is a race to keep an eye on, but Democrats have been aiming to take down McConnell for years and have failed, and the Senate Majority Leader is heavily favored once again.

McConnell is a shrewd politician who will do anything to win, especially when it comes to his own seat. The Kentucky governor's race may have flipped, but that was even close with an incredibly unpopular Republican, and voters look differently at federal versus state races. McGrath got off to a rocky start too when she rolled out her campaign, and many House Democrats were not happy with the race she ran in 2018 which should have been winnable in a very good year for Democrats. The environment won't be as favorable for Democrats again in a presidential year with Trump expected to carry Kentucky handily.

If we are talking about this being a toss up race in the fall, Democrats will definitely be taking back the Senate and winning the presidency. But that's really hard to imagine such a scenario.

Last week, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee  the campaign wing of the Senate Democrats  endorsed McGrath. But as Taylor points out, McGrath would likely need an extremely favorable national environment to oust McConnell. Her impressive fundraising numbers might help her get her message out, but in the deep red Bluegrass State, that message is unlikely to resonate with enough voters to propel her to victory.

Next Week: Massachusetts
The Meeting was hosted by P. D. Hinduja Hospital & Medical Research Centre

The Department of Biotechnology, India and the National Institute of Health, USA supported the 9th Annual Joint Leadership Meeting of RePORT India from February 10 to 12, 2020.

The Meeting was hosted by P. D. Hinduja Hospital & Medical Research Centre, Mahim, Mumbai.

The RePORT India Initiative is a bilateral programme of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA, with an aim of advancing tuberculosis research in India. A network of seven Indian Institutions and five US Universities constitute the RePORT India Consortium with the co-ordination hub located at JIPMER, Pondicherry.

The Consortium is chaired by Dr. Sonali Sarkar, Additional Professor, JIPMER on the Indian side and Dr. Amita Gupta, Professor, Johns Hopkins University, USA from the US side with oversight provided by DBT and NIH.

The Joint Leadership meeting is an annual event and provides a forum for discussions on current scientific activities and for outlining future priorities. P. D. Hinduja Hospital & MRC is one of the Indian Institutions of the RePORT India Consortium with focused research on Multi Drug Resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB).

A Letter of Intent (LoI) was signed by the Hospital with with NIH in 2016, following which nearly 100 MDR-TB patients were enrolled for the study.

The efforts are important considering that, 1.5 million people die of Tuberculosis (TB) annually across the world and India carries the highest burden of TB related deaths worldwide  449,700 deaths in 2018.

Scientists from various institutes of the consortium participated actively and shared their knowledge of novel biomarkers, drug targets and vaccines for effectively addressing the threat of tuberculosis (TB).

Dr. Sonali Sarkar, India chair of RePORT India programme said, We are also learning new science of how the bodies react to tuberculosis which helps in designing better vaccines and therapies against TB.

Dr. Amita Gupta, the US Chair of RePORT India said, The RePORT consortium is an excellent example of how collaboration between Indian and US scientists and governments can effectively advance discovery of new diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines for tuberculosis. Medical and public health research often happens in silos. By bringing together leading researchers from India and the US, our team science approach is greater than the sum of its parts in fighting the scourge of tuberculosis.

Researchers speaking at the consortium said that working with TB patients and their families and following them over time has helped them identify the influence of conditions like malnutrition, diabetes, age and air pollution on the risk of getting tuberculosis or having a bad outcome from treatment.

Dr. Camilla Rodrigues, Consultant Microbiologist, P. D. Hinduja Hospital & MRC and Chairperson Infection Control Committee, said, The contribution of P. D. Hinduja Hospitals team to the RePORT India consortium includes the MDR Mukt initiative, as part of which newly diagnosed MDR TB patients are offered routine diagnostics, treatment and counselling. State of the art diagnostics include MICs, whole genome sequencing and assessment of drug levels for second line TB drugs.

Experts said that it is a really exciting time to be involved with TB research as there are so many new and improved diagnostics, treatments and vaccines to study for TB. RePORT India consortium thus is a great example of how leading scientists and families impacted by TB can come together to collectively fight against TB, the number one killer from an infectious disease.
The record-setting finsih to 2019 marks the biggest 1-year expansion of our customer base in FieldCap's history.

FieldCaps Vice President of Operations & Business Development, Donovan Volk, says the record-setting finish to 2019 marks the biggest 1-year expansion of our customer base in FieldCaps history. It puts FieldCap on the map when it comes to electronic field ticketing solutions and proves that our solution is capable of addressing the core needs of service companies in the energy sector  jobs, tickets, timesheets, and invoicing. The addition of 25 clients in 2019 means that we have the capacity for even greater growth due to the efficiency and additional people weve added to the company.

FieldCaps VP Technology & Co-Founder, Tom Peterson, was equally optimistic about the future of FieldCap. Our investment in people was a key factor to our growth in 2019 and means we can set our sights even higher in 2020. The additional staff for development and service delivery gives us the horsepower we need to almost double our implementations in 2020.

Our success in 2019 was amazing, said Brad Peterson, President and Founder of FieldCap. Im extremely proud of our team and how they pulled together to help our clients. I know that growth will happen if we keep doing the right things and doing things right  and that means serving our clients and helping them use FieldCap to their advantage.

The FieldCap-advantage is our ability to meet the unique needs of the service companies in energy sector with a cost-effective solution that can be implemented in 6-8 weeks, continued Donovan Volk, VP Operations & Business Development. There are lots of ticketing and form-based solutions on the market but energy services companies are different  they need the flexibility that FieldCap offers to be able to keep working the way that their clients (energy Producers) expect. Our clients cant change their entire way of business just to conform with the way an ERP or Financial system work  thats why FieldCap is such a great addition for the field staff and office managers. We bridge the gap and help them be more accurate and efficient  and those are things everyone needs as the industry remains pressured to keep costs down.

I expect 2020 will be another banner year for FieldCap, says Brad Peterson, President. There are still thousands of services companies that need our help and can benefit from using FieldCap. Our goal is to spread the word and help as many as we can!

To learn more about how mobile field ticketing solutions can add value to your oilfield or related service company visit http://www.fieldcap.com.

About FieldCap

FieldCap is a leading provider of cloud-based, mobile field ticketing solutions serving the energy services industry in Canada and the US. FieldCap simplifies the capture of information from the field by replacing paper, spreadsheets, and form-based systems with an easy-to-use web-based solution that can be used offline and without an Internet connection. FieldCap enhances the speed and accuracy of data collection which has the direct benefit of accelerating the approval process, increasing cash flow, and reducing the Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) for our clients. FieldCap is based in Calgary, AB, Canada and operates throughout North America.

To learn more, visit http://www.fieldcap.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

Contact:

Donovan Volk, VP Operations & Business Development

donovan.volk@fieldcap.ca

403.275.2617

http://www.fieldcap.com
A Maoist was gunned down during a gun battle between the left-wing extremists and an elite anti-Maoist wing of Maharashtras Gadchiroli Police in a jungle bordering Abujhmad region of Chhattisgarh on Monday morning.

According to reports reaching the divisional headquarters in Nagpur, troopers of C-60 cordoned off the area of Podewada jungle where the Maoists were holding a meeting under the leadership of politburo member M Venugopal Rao alias Bhupathi.

When the Maoists realised they were trapped, they challenged the security personnel by opening fire.

The C-60 personnel immediately retaliated and a gun-battle ensued. The encounter between the militants and the security forces continued for at least one hour.

The Maoists fled deep into the jungles after failing to counter the security forces action.

However, one militant was killed in the firing and is yet to be identified. Police suspect that at least four to five rebels were injured in the encounter but succeeded in fleeing along with others.

Shailesh Balkawade, superintendent of police of Gadchiroli, said the police have seized a huge cache of arms, including AK-47 rifle and ammunition, and Maoist literature from the spot.

A search operation has also been launched in the area to flush out the rebels, he said.

Bhupathi, who was holding the meeting there, is a very senior leader of CPI (Maoist). He is one of the politburo members of the banned outfit while he served as secretary of Gadchiroli division, secretary of Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee and a member of the central committee of the CPI (Maoist).

He is the younger brother of CPI (Maoist) politburo member M Koteswara Rao alias Kishenji, who was killed in West Bengal in 2011 by security forces.
ROCHESTER, Ind. (AP)  A northern Indiana mother of three children killed as they were crossing a rural, two-lane highway to get on a school bus will not face charges for attacking the driver who had just been sentenced to prison for the crash, prosecutors said Friday.

The office of Miami County Prosecutor Jeff Sinkovics confirmed that he's decided not to press charges against Brittany Ingle of Rochester, WRTV-TV reported.

After Alyssa Shepherd was sentenced on Dec. 18 to four years in prison for the deaths of Alivia Stahl, 9, and her twin 6-year-old brothers, Mason and Xzavier Ingle, the children's mother rushed past security and attacked Shepherd.

Brittany Ingle hit Shepherd in the head "with what appeared to be her hand/elbow," the force of which pushed Shepherd's head into the wall, court documents said. Ingle was restrained and taken from the courtroom in handcuffs.

Fulton County prosecutors requested a special prosecutor last month, saying they could not be unbiased after working closely with Ingle on the case.

Shepherd's vehicle hit the three siblings in October 2018. A fourth child, Maverick Lowe, 11, was seriously injured in the crash. A jury convicted Shepherd of three counts of reckless homicide, criminal recklessness and passing a school bus, causing injury.

After the crash, Shepherd told authorities she didn't realize that she was approaching a stopped school bus, despite its activated stop arm and flashing lights. She told police she saw the lights but didn't recognize the vehicle as a school bus until the children were right in front of her.

The Indiana Legislature increased penalties for drivers who illegally pass stopped school buses following the crash.
By John Burton





Hollywood producers call it "capturing lightning in a bottle"  trying to create a film with unique characteristics that unexpectedly appeals to a broad audience. That effort to trap something elusive and fleeting seems almost an impossible task. The film "Parasite" falls into that category.



Although it won the Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and many American film critics praised it as the best movie of 2019, it's still astounding to me that a Korea art house flick with subtitles won the Oscar for best picture. Perhaps more amazing is that this is the first time that a Korean film had been nominated for the award and won it as the first non-English language film in this category.



The odds seemed heavily stacked against "Parasite." Its director, Bong Joon-ho, had complained about the insularity of Hollywood. Suddenly, he was the recipient of four Oscarsincluding ones for best original screenwriting, best foreign-language film, best director and best picture. That is an annual personal record that has only been matched by Walt Disney in 1954 and for much less prestigious awards at that. No wonder Bong told the Oscar audience that "I'm ready to drink tonight until next morning."



It was truly a historic night for Korean cinema and represented a culmination of the admiration that Korean films have long received by cinephiles around the world. That trend can be traced back to the pansori-themed "Seopyeonje" in 1993, the first Korean hit on the international art house circuit.



In many ways, K-film has built on the success of K-drama, which has been a training ground for craftsmanship and professionalism. But what distinguished K-film from the formulaic structure of K-drama is its choice of international themes and its willingness to borrow techniques from foreign films. In his Oscar speech, Bong, for example, cited Martin Scorsese as a major influence.



K-film has been confident in tackling many genres: thrillers such as "Shiri" (1999) and "Joint Security Area" (2000), horror films such as "Train to Busan" (2016) and comedies such as "My Sassy Girl" (2001).



Korea has also produced a stable of directors who deal in dark and edgy themes that resonate overseas. Korea's holy trinity of directorial talent includes Kim Ki-duk with "The Isle" (2000), "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ... and Spring" (2003) and "Pieta" (2013), which won the Golden Lion, the top honor at the Venice International Film Festival. Besides directing JSA, Park Chan-wook has gained fame for his psychological thrillers such as "Oldboy" (2003) and "The Handmaiden" (2016).



Of the three directors, Bong is considered the most accessible and the one most interested in dealing with social issues. In that respect, the success of "Parasite'" rests on its ability to capture the zeitgeist with its black comedy tale of social inequality and exploitation. This has become a big issue not only in Korea, but around the world. It is a theme that is driving the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign and the rise of Bernie Sanders as the possible Democratic nominee.



Bong is no stranger to addressing political issues. The theme of social inequality had echoes in his breakthrough film, "Memories of Murder" (2003), and the science fiction "Snowpiercer" (2013) dealt with the issues of social hierarchies.



"Parasite" lives up to Bong's nickname of Bong-tail, referring to his meticulous attention to detail. The brilliant screenplay is by turns comic and dark with well-drawn characters. The sets were impressive. More importantly, the talented acting ensemble, led by Song Kang-ho, powered the film and won the top award at the Screen Actors Guild.



But Bong had to do what everyone else in Hollywood does to be an Oscar contender: mount a publicity campaign. His appearances on American talk shows presented a modest and down-to-earth figure instead of an arrogant auteur director. Even his charming translator, Sharon Choi, won attention to the extent that she was profiled in the New York Times.



"Parasite" also benefited from a battle between the old and new Hollywood. The old Hollywood is seen as too white and too male. The new Hollywood is more interested in promoting diversity, which includes a greater appreciation of foreign filmmakers. It is noteworthy that non-American directors have dominated the Oscars over the last decade, including three Mexicans (some of whom have won twice) and one other Asian (Ang Lee).



The future of Bong as a Hollywood A-lister seems assured. He is reportedly working on a limited U.S. cable TV series based on "Parasite" as well as a new English-language film.



But "capturing lighting in a bottle" also implies a rare event. "Parasite" was an idiosyncratic film that managed to be in the right place at the right time. So don't expect that Korean films will suddenly sweep across the U.S. no matter how good they are.





John Burton (johnburtonft@yahoo.com), a former Korea correspondent for the Financial Times, is a Washington, D.C.-based journalist and consultant.


The defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has provided the Indian Air Force with 83 Tejas fighter aircrafts at a reduced cost of Rs 39,000 crore. Earlier, the cost of this deal was Rs 56,500 crore. The reduction by approximately Rs 17,000 crore came after a round of exhaustive negotiations and deliberations between the two parties.

According to a source, the procurements file will now be sent to the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) for the final stamp of approval now that the deal has been finalised in Rs 39,000 crore. It is being reported that the file could be cleared before March 31. After the contract is finalised, HAL could start the deliveries of Mark-1A jets in 3 years, according to a Times of India report.

Tejas Mark-1A jets are likely to come with 43 upgrades over the Mark-1 jets. These improvements are improving maintainability, AESA (active electronically scanned array) radar, air-to-air refueling, long range beyond visual range (BVR) missiles, and advanced electronic warfare aimed at jamming the enemy's radars and missiles.

The Defence Acquisitions Council first approved the induction of 83 Tejas fighter aircrafts at a cost of Rs 49,797 crore in 2016. The HAL responded with a quotation of approximately Rs 56,500 crore and this allegedly led to prolonged negotiations over cost.

Also read: Finally, squadron of Sukhoi-30 MKI jets gets inducted in South India

Also read: Pulwama attack anniversary: India will never forget sacrifice of CRPF martyrs, says PM Modi
By Yang Tiehu

LONDONFeb.17 -- The ninth formal conference among the five nuclear-weapon states (also the five permanent members (P5) of the United Nations (UN) Security Council) was held in London from February 12 to 13, 2020. It was chaired by Thomas Drew, Director General for Consular and Security at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the UK, with Chris Ford, Assistant Secretary of State of the US, Vladimir L. Leontiev, Deputy Director of the Department for Non-Proliferation and Arms Control of the Russian Foreign Ministry, and David Bertolotti, Director of Strategic, Security and Disarmament Affairs of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs also attending the meeting. Fu Cong, Director-General of the Arms Control Department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, headed Chinese delegation to the conference.

Fu said that the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is the cornerstone of the international nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation system and also an important part of the post-war international security system. With intensifying competition among major powers, the process of nuclear disarmament between the US and Russia is regressing and the use of emerging technologies for military purposes is accelerating. Global strategic stability is undermined. At the same time, the prevalence of unilateralism in some countries has caused difficulties to solve regional nuclear hotspots. The tendency to politicize in the peaceful use of nuclear energy is prominent, obstructing normal international cooperation. The NPT regime faces severe challenges as a result of the above factors.

Fu stressed that the five nuclear powers, as NPT legal nuclear weapon states, have the responsibility to strengthen coordination and cooperation and promote the success of the tenth review conference of the treaty. He then proposed four principles:

First, the P5 should abide by multilateralism, firmly maintain the international order based on international law, adhere to the common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable approach to nuclear security, and seek common and universal security.

Second, the P5 should strengthen nuclear policy dialogue and cooperate to reduce nuclear risks, maintain restraint in the construction and deployment of strategic capabilities, maintain the existing international arms control system, regulate the militarization of new technologies, and maintain global strategic stability.

Third, the P5 should maintain international consensus on nuclear disarmament, promote political and diplomatic solutions to regional nuclear hotspots, create cooperation highlights for peaceful use of nuclear energy, and strengthen the NPT mechanism.

Fourth, the P5 should adhere to unity and cooperation, respect each other's concerns, and safeguard common interests.

The P5 regime is a coordination mechanism formed by China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US as NPT legal nuclear weapon states during the review process of the treaty. Since 2009, the five member states havebeen maintainingregular communication on important issues of strategic security and jointly promoted the NPT review process.

This conference focused on the current international strategic security situation and the cooperation among the five nuclear powers in preparation for the tenth NPT Review Conference to be held this year.

The delegations from the five countries formed a work plan for the next step and agreed to carry out continued exchanges and cooperation on nuclear policies and strategies, as well as the reduction of strategic risks.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-18 00:13:26|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

The ICU team members of Guangdong medical team in Wuhan attend a teleconsultation with medical staff of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University in Guangzhou, at the west campus of Wuhan Union Hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province on Feb. 11, 2020. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- China has stepped up efforts to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. Here are the latest developments:

-- Beijing will convert an industrial building into a new mask factory, which is expected to produce 250,000 masks per day, in six days to meet the surging demand amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

-- Delivery points will be set up in all residential communities and villages in Wuhan to curb virus spread.

According to a notice issued by the city's epidemic control headquarters, packages will be delivered at designated points near the entrances of residential communities or villages to create "no face-to-face contact" delivery.

-- Among the COVID-19 patients currently receiving convalescent plasma therapy in Wuhan, one has been discharged from hospital.

Another patient has become able to walk and the rest are recovering, Sun Yanrong, an official with the Ministry of Science and Technology, said at a press conference in Beijing, adding that another 10 patients will receive the convalescent plasma therapy this week.

-- Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been proven effective in curing COVID-19 patients, a Chinese health official said Monday.

A medical worker (3rd, R) records patients' information as a part of a reception work at Jiangxia temporary hospital in Wuhan, capital city of central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 14, 2020. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)

TCM has been used in treating 60,107 confirmed cases in China, or 85.2 percent of the total.

-- Beijing reported one new confirmed case of the novel coronavirus on Sunday, bringing the number of infections in the capital to 381, the Beijing Municipal Health Commission said Monday.

-- Shanghai gave the green light for freight vehicles to transport freely in the Yangtze River Delta starting from Monday, to facilitate factories resuming operation and people returning to work amid the epidemic.

-- More Chinese provinces and cities said they would waive entrance fees to their major scenic spots for the nation's medical workers this year.

-- A makeshift hospital was delivered Monday in the northwestern Chinese city of Xi'an to treat the novel coronavirus disease patients. The hospital in the district of Gaoling has a floor area of 27,542 square meters and offers 500 beds.

-- Xiaogan, one of the cities hardest hit by the novel coronavirus in central China's Hubei Province, has prohibited all urban residents from going out to contain the spread of the highly infectious disease.

It has also banned rural residents from wandering, visiting others or gathering in villages.

-- China reported 2,048 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 105 deaths on Sunday from 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

Among the deaths, 100 were in Hubei Province, three in Henan, and two in Guangdong. Another 1,563 new suspected cases were reported Sunday.

-- A total of 10,844 patients infected with the novel coronavirus had been discharged from hospital after recovery by the end of Sunday.

A patient (in the vehicle) receives a hospital certificate of discharge at the "Wuhan Livingroom" makeshift hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 15, 2020. (Xinhua/Li He)

By the end of Sunday, a total of 1,770 people had died of the disease and 70,548 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection had been reported in 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps in China.

-- China's daily new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection outside Hubei, the epicenter province of the outbreak, have since Feb. 3 dropped for 13 consecutive days. A total of 115 new confirmed cases were reported on Sunday outside Hubei.

-- Hubei Province reported 1,933 new confirmed cases and 100 new deaths Sunday. The latest report brought the total confirmed cases in the hard-hit province to 58,182. Wuhan, the provincial capital, recorded a total of 41,152 confirmed cases.

-- Nearly 4 million workers from China's primary-level medical and health institutions, including both community health service centers in cities and clinics in rural areas, have played an important and unique role in the fight against the coronavirus.

Medical workers at the primary level have engaged in timely detections of fever patients and suspected cases to ensure the implementation of isolation and patient transfer, while they also need to carry out daily diagnosis and treatment for common diseases and the management of chronic diseases. 
The Prime Ministers tough talk assumed significance in view of protests against the CAA in various parts of the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the closing ceremony of the centenary celebrations of Shri Jagadguru Vishwaradhya Gurukul at Jangamwadi Math in Varanasi on Sunday. (Photo: PTI)

Varanasi: Ruling out any rethink on decisions on CAA and Article 370, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday asserted that his government remains and will remain firm on the steps despite pressure from all sides.

Be it the scrapping of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir or the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the country waited for decisions on these for years, he told a public meeting here during a day-long visit to his Lok Sabha constituency.

These decisions were necessary in the interest of the nation. Duniya bhar ke saarey dabao ke bawjood, inn faislon par hum qayam hain aur qayam rahengey (Despite pressure from all sides, we remain firm on these decisions and will continue to remain firm, Modi said.

Provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution, which accorded special powers to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, were abrogated by the government in August last year.

The Prime Ministers tough talk assumed significance in view of protests against the CAA in various parts of the country.

Citing certain key decisions of his government, Modi referred to the trust set up for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya and asserted that it would work rapidly.

A trust has been formed for the construction of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya. This trust will work rapidly, he said.

He said that after setting up of the trust, the work on the construction of Ram dham will start with fast speed and added that his government has also decided to transfer 67 acres of land to the trust.

The government had recently set up the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra on the Supreme Courts directive to the Union government to form a trust that can look into the construction and management of the temple.

The Prime Minister earlier launched or laid foundation of 50 projects worth Rs 1,254 crore in his Lok Sabha constituency.

He also flagged off IRCTCs Maha Kaal Express through video link during his day-long visit to the city.

It will be the first overnight privately-run train in the country to connect three Jyotirling pilgrimage centres of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, and Ujjain and Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh.

The Prime Minister dedicated to the nation the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Memorial Centre and unveiled a 63-foot statue of the RSS ideologue  the tallest statue of the leader in the country.

The soul of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya give us encouragement. We are working for uplift of Dalits, deprived and others sections. And this is what Upadhyayas Antyoday says  to give all facilities to last beneficiary in the queue, Modi said.

He also inaugurated a 430-bed super-speciality government hospital here.

He said that in past few years, Rs 25,000 crore worth developmental projects have either completed or were going on in fast speed in Varanasi.

Roadway, highway, waterway and railway have been given top priority by the government and the Purvanchal Expressway work was going on at fast speed in Uttar Pradesh.

The Prime Minister also laid emphasis on better connectivity of heritage and religious sites, saying that tourism will be the main source of making the country 5 trillion dollar economy.

He said, Our behaviour as a citizen will decide direction of the country in future. Country is not made by governments only, but values of people residing here.

Soon after his arrival here, Modi participated in the closing ceremony of the centenary celebrations of the Shri Jagadguru Vishwaradhya Gurukul and released the translated version of the Shri Siddhant Shikhamani Granth in 19 languages and its mobile application.

Uttar Pradesh governor Anandiben Patel, Chief Minster Yogi Adityanath

and Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa were present on the occasion.

Launching the Shri Siddhant Shikhamani Granth Mobile App, the prime minister said it is a coincidence that the centenary celebrations are taking place at the beginning of a new decade and that this decade will once again establish Indias role in 21st century in the world.

He said the digitisation of Shri Siddhant Shikhamani Granth via Mobile App will further strengthen the engagement with the younger generation and will also inspire their lives.

Mr Modi suggested conducting an annual quiz competition on topics related to Granth, via this Mobile app.

He said translation of Granth in 19 languages will help in making it accessible to a wider public.

The Prime Minister said, Our conduct as a citizen will determine the future of India, will decide the direction of a new India.

He said following the path shown by the saints, we have to fulfil the aspirations of our lives and continue to cooperate fully in nation building.

Mr Modi appreciated peoples contributions in creating awareness about cleanliness and taking the Swachhta Mission to each and every corner of the country.

He urged them to use Made-in-India products.

He also asked everyone to participate in Jal Jeevan mission to make it a success.

The Prime Minister said a significant and visible improvement was made in cleaning the Ganga River. This, he said, could be achieved only because of the public participation.

He said under Namami Gange Programme, projects worth Rs 7,000 crores have been completed while work on projects worth Rs 21,000 crores is under progress.

Mr Modi inaugurated Kashi Ek, Roop Anek, an arts and handicrafts exhibition, at the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Hastkala Sankul here.

He evinced keen interest in the products on display as he went around several stalls and personally interacted with buyers and artisans coming from different countries, including the US, England and Australia.

Kashi Ek Roop Anek showcased products from over 10,000 artisans from all over Uttar Pradesh. There are 23 lakh artisans and weavers residing in Uttar Pradesh. Of them, about 35,800 artisans and 1.5 lakh weavers stay in Varanasi alone.

The Uttar Pradesh government had launched the ambitious scheme One District, One Product (ODOP) in which one craft per district was identified.
This is the heart-stopping moment a gunman pursues a fleeing diner before opening fire outside the restaurant owned by Real Housewives of Atlanta star Kandi Burruss.

Three people, including a teenage girl, were wounded in the Valentine's Day shooting at the popular East Point, Atlanta, eatery on Friday night.

Couples enjoying the romantic evening at Old Lady Gang watched in horror as the shooter burst into the restaurant and squeezed the trigger.

Dramatic dashcam footage then captured the moment he gives chase to his target before gunning him down, non-fatally, in the parking lot.

The anonymous man whose car captured the video described the terrifying moment he saw the muzzle flash and the victim fly to the ground.

This is the heart-stopping moment a gunman pursues a fleeing diner before opening fire outside the restaurant owned by Real Housewives of Atlanta star Kandi Burruss

The Old Lady Gang is a restaurant co-owned by Kandi Burruss, the star of Real Housewives of Atlanta

His footage, released to Fox 5, begins by showing a busy night outside the restaurant.

A sleek black car, believed to be a Bentley, cruises up to the entrance and a man dressed in bright orange tracksuits steps out before calmly making his way to the entrance.

In his hand he clasps a small black object, although it is not clear if it is a firearm.

The video the cuts to a few minutes later when a man wearing black stampedes out of the restaurant with the gunman hot on his tail.

He sprints between two parked cars and turns to reach for a woman, who is also fleeing the gunman.

But as he turns, the shooter raises his right arm and points the pistol squarely at his target.

Dramatic dashcam footage then captured the moment he gives chase to his target before gunning him down outside the Atlanta restaurant

A sleek black car, believed to be a Bentley, cruises up to the entrance and a man dressed in bright orange tracksuits steps out before calmly making his way to the entrance

The moment he opened fire is not shown and the clip jumps a few seconds to show the gunman bundling back into the Bentley which screeches from the scene.

The victim is sprawled on the tarmac but quickly sits upright and appears to cradle his left leg.

He speaks to the woman accompanying him and appears to be all right - it was later revealed the target and two bystanders caught in the crossfire all suffered non-fatal wounds.

The names and ages of the people injured were not immediately released.

East Point police Capt. Allyn Glover said that the shooter was not in custody.

Serving Southern cuisine, Old Lady Gang is owned by Burruss and her husband, Todd Tucker, and named after Burruss' mother and two aunts.

Police were seen outside the Old Lady Gang restaurant in East Point, Georgia, on Friday night after three people were shot and wounded by a gunman who fled

The first restaurant opened in Atlanta in 2016, and the East Point location - situated in a large shopping complex about five miles west of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport - followed in 2018.

The reality star wrote on Instagram: 'My family and I are truly saddened by the unfortunate events that occurred at Old Lady Gang.

'As African-American business owners, it has been our goal to invest in our community by bringing jobs, quality dining, and a positive experience to the greater Atlanta area.

'We hope that you know and understand that the acts of violence that occurred yesterday evening do not, in any way, serve as a reflection of OLG or its values.'

Burruss has been a cast member on the Real Housewives of Atlanta since its second season in 2009 and met Tucker, a former line producer, on the show.

She's appeared on other shows, including the 2019 iteration of Big Brother.
Chlorthalidone, the guideline-recommended diuretic for lowering blood pressure, causes more serious side effects than hydrochlorothiazide, a similarly effective diuretic, according to a new study led by researchers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. The findings, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, contrast with current treatment guidelines recommending chlorthalidone over hydrochlorothiazide.

The researchers found that patients taking chlorthalidone had nearly three times the risk of developing dangerously low levels of potassium and a greater risk of other electrolyte imbalances and kidney problems compared with those taking hydrochlorothiazide. Information from the largest individual database studied by the team revealed that 6.3% of patients treated with chlorthalidone experienced hypokalemia (low blood potassium), compared with 1.9% of patients who were treated with hydrochlorothiazide.

Hypokalemia rates remained higher for patients taking chlorthalidone even when given at a lower dose than hydrochlorothiazide.

"Doctors prescribing chlorthalidone should monitor for certain side effects in their patients," says George Hripcsak, MD, MS, chair and Vivian Beaumont Allen Professor of Biomedical Informatics at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and lead author of the study.

The study, which looked at 17 years of data on more than 730,000 individuals treated for hypertension, is the largest multisite analysis directly comparing the two antihypertensive drugs in the general patient population.

The results were generated by the Large-Scale Evidence Generation and Evaluation in a Network of Databases (LEGEND) Hypertension study, a method for analyzing data in millions of electronic health records around the world developed by the Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics (OHDSI) network, which has a central coordinating center at Columbia University.

An earlier LEGEND Hypertension study, published in The Lancet, found that thiazide diuretics were more effective and caused fewer side effects than ACE inhibitors when used as first-line antihypertensive drugs.

In the current paper, the researchers found that chlorthalidone and hydrochlorothiazide were similarly effective in preventing heart attack, hospitalization for heart failure, and stroke. However, patients treated with chlorthalidone had a significantly higher risk of side effects, including hypokalemia, which can lead to abnormal heart rhythms; hyponatremia (low sodium), which can cause confusion; kidney failure; and type 2 diabetes.

"The difference in the occurrence of side effects was striking," says Hripcsak. "Hypokalemia, hyponatremia, chronic and acute kidney problems, along with other electrolyte imbalances, are all potentially dangerous side effects."

The new study is not the first to find side effects associated with chlorthalidone. A previous observational study found that the drug was associated with more electrolyte imbalances than hydrochlorothiazide.

Nearly 95% of patients in the study were first treated with hydrochlorothiazide, which was the preferred diuretic for treating hypertension throughout most of the study period (2001-2018). However, in 2017, the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association issued new guidelines favoring chorothalidone, based on the drug's longer half-life and indirect evidence that it may be more effective in reducing cardiovascular risk.

"Until we have more studies directly comparing the two diuretics, we don't really know whether the risk of the side effects seen in observational studies outweighs the potential cardiovascular benefits," says Hripcsak, who notes that the VA Office of Research and Development is now conducting a randomized clinical trial to help settle the debate.

The research team performed several sensitivity analyses (time at risk, blood pressure, dose), as well as other best practices developed within the OHDSI network (including propensity scoring and the use of negative controls) to ensure a lack of bias in the results. These best practices are used throughout the LEGEND project, which OHDSI collaborators believe will continue to impact critical decisions in health care. These analyses ensure that the compared groups are similar in severity of illness, comorbidities, baseline blood pressures, age, sex, and all other measurable variables.

"LEGEND is a novel approach that could transform the way we use real-world evidence in healthcare," says co-author Patrick Ryan, PhD, adjunct assistant professor of biomedical informatics at Columbia. "Rather than inefficiently conducting bespoke analyses one-question-one-method-one-database-at-a-time, leaving us vulnerable to various threats to scientific validity, LEGEND provides a systematic framework that can reproducibly generate evidence by applying advanced analytics across a network of disparate databases for a wide array of exposures and outcomes."

"Not only does LEGEND offer a path to scale to the real needs of the health care community," Ryan added, "it also provides the complementary diagnostics to help us understand how much we can trust the evidence we've produced."

###

About the Study

The study was developed through tools and best practices set by the OHDSI network, a multi-stakeholder, interdisciplinary collaborative to bring out the value of health data through large-scale analytics. OHDSI is an open-science community which, through its central coordinating center at Columbia University, has established an international network of research and observational health databases. OHDSI, which has produced scores of peer-reviewed papers since its 2014 inception, develops open-source analytics tools to generate and disseminate real-world evidence.

The paper is titled "Real-World Evidence on the Effectiveness and Safety of Chlorthalidone and Hydrochlorothiazide."

Additional authors are Marc A. Suchard MD PhD (University of California, Los Angeles, CA) Steven Shea MD (CUIMC), RuiJun Chen MD (CUIMC), Seng Chan You MD (Ajou University, Suwon, South Korea), Nicole Pratt PhD (University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia), David Madigan PhD (Columbia University), Harlan M. Krumholz MD, SM (Yale University, New Haven, CT), Patrick B. Ryan PhD (CUIMC, Janssen Research and Development), and Martijn J. Schuemie PhD (Janssen Research and Development).

This study was partially supported by National Institutes of Health grants R01 LM006910, T15 LM007079, and U19 AI135995 and National Science Foundation grant IIS 1251151.

Patrick Ryan and Martijn Schuemie are employees of Janssen Research and Development, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. George Hripcsak and Marc Suchard have received grant funding from Janssen through their universities to support methods research not directly related to this study. Janssen did not have input in the design, execution, interpretation of results, or decision to publish.

Steven Shea receives funding from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the Health Resources & Services Administration.

Additional disclosures are included in the article.

Columbia University Irving Medical Center provides international leadership in basic, preclinical, and clinical research; medical and health sciences education; and patient care. The medical center trains future leaders and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, public health professionals, dentists, and nurses at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Mailman School of Public Health, the College of Dental Medicine, the School of Nursing, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions. Columbia University Irving Medical Center is home to the largest medical research enterprise in New York City and State and one of the largest faculty medical practices in the Northeast. For more information, visit cuimc.columbia.edu or columbiadoctors.org.
bvoip, the leading provider of integrated communications for MSPs, today announced that CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, has named CEO George Bardissi and Vice President of Business Development Alec Stanners 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.

Georges background as an MSP led him to 20 years in the industry. This unique perspective allowed him to start bvoip in 2014 with a strong focus on the MSPs and what they need.

Alec has spent the last decade among different channel companies as well as his time working in a startup VAR. Alec is responsible for the growth of the bvoip partner base as well as setting up our existing partners for success.

Myself and Alec are two staples in the industry as we can often be found traveling the globe. We are honored and privileged to be listed to the Channel Chief list for the second consecutive year, said George Bardissi, CEO at bvoip. being a Channel Based Company is not something that is a side program here at bvoip. It is the blueprint and ethos of why and how we built this company. We will continue to progress our efforts forward to grow our partner community so that we can thrive together. 

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.

To learn more about bvoip, please visit http://www.bvoip.com

About bvoip

bvoip (http://www.bvoip.com) helps IT and Managed Service Providers attack voice and unified communications worldwide. Having come out of the MSP space, bvoip designed its program to not only automate how MSPs interact with their existing systems and tools but to also assist MSPs with an offering to standardize their Unified Communications offering to their customers. bvoip is currently available in North America, Europe, and the Australian / New Zealand Regions. http://www.bvoip.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 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 http://www.thechannelco.com.

###
The leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has discussed the ongoing situation in Idleb and has called on all men in the area to take up arms reports Baladi News.

The leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, recently toured a variety of media outlets in northern Syria, promoting his new directives and his way of dealing with the coming phase.

Last week, Jolani met with a number of media activists in Idleb province, focusing on theories that will need be applied over several months, including whether it is too late to fortify the remainder of the liberated area and harness the energy of all the factions besides Tahrir al-Sham to defend the region.

He said that his group is covering eight out of ten fronts in southern and eastern Idleb, and southern and western Aleppo, in a clear message accusing the other groups of betrayal and negligence and pursuing a policy of throwing mistakes on others.

Jolani returned again to appear with the media figure Taher al-Omar, who is close to Tahrir al-Sham, and spoke in the same manner, calling on the young men of Idleb and the liberated areas join the fronts, and denied that his group had taken away any of weapons from Free Army factions, or that there were any Free Army commanders or fighters in its 32 prisons.

In his statements and during his recent appearances, Jolani finally acknowledged the Syrian revolution, replacing the terms mujahideen with revolutionaries, and Levantine areas with liberated areas, in contrast to his previous interviews and statements.

Jolani also indirectly threatened the National Army groups in a recent interview, saying that if the liberated areas of Idleb were not made safe, then the Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch areas would not be any better.

Jolanis fears can be explained by the possibility of Turkey and National Army factions taking control of Idleb, and losing the territory on which he has built his dreams and security state. On one hand he is trying to get closer to Turkey and the factions it supports, while with the other he is trying to impose himself as the only one who can resolve the internal security risks that may arise from his fighters and the Islamic State fighters it has in its prisons, as well as the risks that may arise from a large segment of his faction, whose minds have been nurtured with ideas of the National Army being infidels.

Tahrir al-Sham is more of security group than a military group. It emerged into the open in late 2012 as Jabhat al-Nusra and then changed its name to suit each stage of the past seven years, ending up with the name Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which put an end to 23 factions of the Free Syrian Army, to dominate Idleb province and determine its fate internal and externally through its civilian branch, the Salvation Government, whose actions and decisions have negatively impacted the area under its control.

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.
Ukraine's economy minister presents economic growth strategy

14:20, 17.02.20 5395

Ukraine should attract at least US$50 billion in investment in the coming years, according to the minister.
Love Island returned to ITV2 on Monday night with a touching tribute to Caroline Flack.

Caroline had hosted Love Island from 2015 but was replaced by Laura Whitmore for the most recent series due to personal reasons.

Advertisements

Tragically, Caroline passed away aged 40 on Saturday night.

Both Saturday and Sunday's episodes of Love Island were cancelled but the show returned at 9PM last night.

It began with a tribute to Caroline given by show narrator Iain Stirling.

He said: "We are all absolutely devastated by the tragic news that Caroline, a much loved member of our Love Island family, has passed away. Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this dreadful time.

"Caroline and me were together from the very start of Love Island and her passion, warmth and infectious enthusiasm were a crucial part of what made the show connect with millions of viewers.

"Like many of you, right now we're all just trying to come to terms with what has happened.

"My only hope is that we can all try and be kinder, always show love and listen to one another.

"Caroline, I want to thank you for all the fun times we had making our favourite show. You were a true friend to me. I'm going to miss you Caz."

Ahead of the show, Kevin Lygo, Director of Television at ITV said in a statement this evening: Everyone at ITV is absolutely devastated and still trying to process this tragic news.

"Caroline was part of Love Island from the very beginning and her passion, dedication and boundless energy contributed to the shows success.

After Caroline stepped down from the show ITV made it clear that the door was left open for her to return and the Love Island production team remained in regular contact with her and continued to offer support over the last few months.

Love Island will return tonight and will include a tribute to Caroline that the team in South Africa and Iain Stirling have put together.

Advertisements

"Caroline loved Love Island and was very vocal in her support of the show. Viewers could relate to her and she to them and that was a big part of the programmes success. We will all miss her very much."

Meanwhile, show sponsors Just Eat omitted its adverts from the programme, replaced with idents offering help and support to those in need.

ITV and Just Eat said in a joint statement: "In light of this weekend's tragic events, Just Eat and ITV have worked with Samaritans to replace the idents for this evening's episode of Love Island so that anyone affected by Caroline's death can access support."

While Love Island aired this evening, there was no episode of spin-off Love Island: Aftersun tonight.

Advertisements

In addition, ITV have said they will not be releasing a Love Island: The Morning After podcast tomorrow morning.

The Love Island final is due to take place live this Sunday night from the villa in South Africa.
UT Southwestern Medical Center data scientists analyzing genetic sequences of the COVID-19 coronavirus have identified potential vulnerabilities that could help in vaccine development and further study of the infectious disease now spreading worldwide.

Specifically, the researchers point to areas where the viral genome encodes T cell and B cell antigens that could stimulate a response from the human immune system. They then compared those against the immunological maps of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) gathered in those coronavirus outbreaks. The resulting analysis was posted to the bioRxiv preprint server this week prior to peer review.

"Few studies have reported on the immunological features of this new coronavirus. Our analyses in this respect could serve as a reference resource for immunological studies and for potential therapeutics and vaccine development," says Yang Xie, Ph.D., director of the Quantitative Biomedical Research Center (QBRC) and a professor of population and data sciences and in the Lyda Hill Department of Bioinformatics. Scientists in China made the virus sequences available in January.

Although mutations in this virus' genome are still very limited, they locate in genomic regions whose homologous counterparts in SARS and MERS are proved to be highly mutated, indicating these regions are potential mutation hot spots to watch out for." Tao Wang, Ph.D., assistant professor of population and data sciences and an investigator in the Center for the Genetics of Host Defense

Immunologists and vaccine designs should take these into consideration, as mutations will significantly affect the potential of the viral proteins to stimulate the immune system, the authors say.

Related research projects:

The QBRC scientists also created a publicly available web browser with an immune vulnerability map of the COVID-19 virus to facilitate study of the disease by research groups worldwide.

John Schoggins, Ph.D., associate professor of microbiology, is studying how mammals  including humans, mice, and bats  control viral infections. Bats can harbor numerous viruses without becoming sick. Schoggins (pronounced sk-ah-gins) is exploring whether the bat immune system contributes to their being asymptomatic viral reservoirs. His work on immune responses centers primarily on a signaling molecule  interferon  that "calls in the cavalry" to help cells mount their antiviral defenses and block the infection. This "cavalry" consists of hundreds of interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs), each with specialized functions tailored to cripple viruses in very unique ways. The Schoggins lab has pioneered various screening platforms, including CRISPR screens, to rapidly screen hundreds of ISGs for antiviral activity targeting a diverse panel of human viruses, including emerging viruses like coronavirus and Zika virus. J Immunol. 2018 Jan 1;200(1):209-217.
Puratos, looking to improve its knowledge of all things sourdough, has established a UK sourdough collection in Fringford, Oxfordshire. British Baker was invited for an exclusive look.

Its a nippy morning when British Baker arrives at the Puratos Innovation Centre in Fringford, Oxfordshire. Located next to a mill that dates back to the Domesday Book, it is hidden from the main road. Unlike the mill, the centre is modern and looks out on its green surroundings.

Inside, nestled in a former wine fridge, sleep the 20 sourdough starters, or babies as they are fondly referred to by the staff. Here, the babies are kept asleep at 5C and are fed weekly.

The array of colours is astounding  from oft-seen creamy sourdough to almost white, through to peanut-butter brown and dark coffee-coloured ones.

Not to be confused with the World Heritage Sourdough Library in Belgium, which is also hosted by Puratos, the Fringford site was developed to help understand UK sourdough and the impact local environment and ingredients can have. These ingredients include fermented nettles grown on-site, sloe berries from a few miles away, and waste from a nearby winery.

We created it to look at diversity in sourdough, says Georgia Wills, Puratos R&D application specialist. Theres a big push for diverse and unique flavours, as well as fermented goods.

It doesnt get more unique than hyper-local ingredients and open jars being waved around outside to capture wild yeast and bacteria in the air as they search for the Fringford flavour.

When it comes to flavour, to the sourdough novice at least, things arent as simple as they seem.

Adding things such as honey doesnt necessarily mean the bread will taste of honey. It provides different food for the lactic acid bacteria.

The ingredients do, however, impact any resultant loaves when it comes to crumb and gluten structure, aroma and taste  just not in the way many would expect (see below). Notably, the aroma changes throughout the feeding cycle, with a nail polish smell indicating the starter needs feeding.

Some of the starters have already been DNA-mapped (the rest are to follow) to reveal the specific strains of wild yeast and lactic acid they contain and further understand the science behind sourdough, particularly the effects of scaling-up.

Heres a closer look at four of the sourdough babies:

Teff

Made with the increasingly popular ancient grain, the teff sourdough starter produces bread with a nutty, earthy flavour, with a few sweeter notes likened to that of dried apricots. Overall, it has a really good flavour, but lacks the gluten to develop an impressive crumb structure.

Honey II

Honey II, not to be confused with Honey I, is made with a local Oxfordshire cream honey and white organic flour. It has a strong banana smell and produces quite an acidic flavour when used for baking. However, the resultant loaf doesnt taste of honey. The starter has a lot of fermentation power, resulting in an open crumb structure.

Rye and Wine

Made with organic rye flour and red grape sediment from a nearby winery, the starter was bright purple when it was first created, but the colour has diluted as it is refreshed. The aroma is reminiscent of cooked fruit and a sweet, malty and slightly acidic loaf with an open crumb structure.

Malted Barley

The malty, coffee aroma of the malted barley starter reminds many of an espresso martini cocktail. When baked, it produces a very dark loaf with a sweet caramel smell.

Whats next for sourdough?

What is clear from the sourdough made with these unusual starters at Puratos is that the taste produced by sourdough goes far beyond the sour flavour some consumers associate with it.

As people have greater exposure to sourdough and try it in different things, they will realise it doesnt taste like vinegar and can encompass more flavours, says Wills. We always say to people get rid of your perceptions of sourdough, because it can be used for so many things.

This is likely to change further as sourdough makes headway into sweet bakery.

Whereas sourdough is seen as being more savoury, people are very willing to experiment. There are so many salty and sweet flavours so its really about mixing those two elements together, says Lydia Baines, digital and communications manager at Puratos.

She highlights the growth of sourdough in categories other than bread, noting sourdough biscuits, crackers, bagels, flatbreads and even croissants and pastries.

Next up, according to Baines, is a chocolate and sourdough combination. Pump Street, she notes, has already made moves into this arena with its Sourdough & Sea Salt Chocolate.
New Delhi, Feb 17 : The Supreme Court on Monday said the non-consideration of women for criteria or command appointments by the army couldn't be sustained in law, and it also didn't agree with the guarantee of equality under Article 14 of the Constitution.

The Centre had argued that women by the nature of their biological composition and social milieu had a less important role to play compared with men. Terming it "disturbing", a Bench, comprising Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice Ajay Rastogi, said, "It ignores the solemn constitutional values, which every institution in the nation is bound to uphold and facilitate. Women army officers have brought laurels to the force." The Supreme Court cited eleven instances where women officers had achieved distinction. It included Captain Tania Shergill, who became the first Indian woman parade adjutant to lead an all-men contingent of the Corps of Signals at the Republic Day parade; Lieutenant Colonel Sophia Qureshi (Army Signal Corps), the first woman to lead an Indian Army contingent at a multi-national military exercise named 'Exercise Force 18'; Lieutenant Colonel Anuvandana Jaggi, who served as the women team leader of the UN Military Observers Team in Burundi; women officers with complex tasks of transporting 30-50 vehicles' convoys in militancy-prone areas of Leh, Srinagar, Udhampur and the north-east; and women officers' participation in the UN Peace Keeping Force since 2004 and their deployment in active combat scenarios in Syria, Lebanon, Ethiopia and Israel.

"Their track record of service to the nation is beyond reproach. The time has come for a realisation that women army officers are not adjuncts to a male-dominated establishment whose presence must be 'tolerated' within narrow confines," observed the top court.

Justice Chandrachud appreciated the Centre's decision to extend permanent commission to short-service commission (SSC) officers in all 10 streams as a step forward in recognising and realising the women's right to equality of opportunity in the army. "This marks a step towards realising the fundamental constitutional commitment to the equality and dignity of women," said the court.

On granting of command assignment to women, the court said it's for the competent authority to consider with regard to the exigencies of service, performance and organisational requirements. "In the present case, the army has provided no justification in discharging its burden as to why women across the board shouldn't be considered for any criteria or command appointments," the court noted.

On the limitation associated with granting command assignments, as it was not automatic for men SSC officers to get permanent commission, it wouldn't be automatic for women either, the court said.

"The absolute exclusion of women from all others, except staff assignments, is indefensible. If the army has cogent reasons for excluding women from a particular criteria or command appointment, it may provide them to the relevant authorities, and if necessary to future courts," the Bench said. But such a justification must be on case-to-case basis, in light of the requirements and exigencies of a particular appointment, it added.

For 10 years, the Centre delayed the policy on grant of permanent commission to women officers, despite the March 12, 2010 Delhi High Court order. The Centre had appealed the Delhi HC order stating that SSC women army officers were entitled to permanent commission at par with gentlemen SSCOs with all consequential benefits.

The HC had also directed that the benefit would be conferred to the serving women officers, as on the date of the order, and also women officers who retired during the pendency of the petition, including promotion, at par with gentlemen SSCOs.
The producers of RTE2's hit show Pulling with my Parents are looking for Louth singletons to take part in the new series.

The series follows young singles from all over Ireland who are stuck in a merry-go-round of bad dates and dating apps. The twist? Their parents will be challenged to find them the one!

Calling for Louth singletons to form an orderly queue the producers said: "Do dating apps have you on a road to nowhere? Could your Mam pick the love of your life? Does your Da know marriage material when he sees it? Its time to find out if swiping right was all wrong.

"Pulling with my Parents will be back soon on RTE2, and the show wants to save young singles from the merry-go-round of bad dates.

"The show is looking for men and women from all over Ireland, who are jaded with swiping, ghosting and disastrous dates, to give something new a go.

"Why not hand over the reins to mam and dad! Parents of misguided millennials will roll up their sleeves to give their babies' dating profiles an old fashioned overhaul. Say goodbye to saucy selfies and hello to a family snap from your sister's wedding!

"As well as a crash course in emojis, your parents will also try some more traditional ways to find a date. Will a small ad in the Farmers Journal be just the ticket? Is the local GAA club brimming with talent or does one of the neighbours have a niece just home from Australia?

"If youre single and up for a laugh  or if your childs love life is in need of some TLC  then email: dating@alleycats.tv "

If you want to apply, you will need to be over 18 years of age and living in Ireland. If your mam is camera shy, fear not! Grandparents, aunts, uncles, step-parents and single parents are all welcome.
A woman seen on a tube wearing a face mask. A total of nine people in the UK are now being treated for the coronavirus. (PA)

Senior NHS figures have warned that millions of people in the UK could be ordered to self-isolate by staying at home for a fortnight if the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise.

Nine people in the UK are currently being treated for the disease, which has infected more than 68,000 worldwide.

According to The Sunday Telegraph, NHS managers have been told that once around 100 cases have been confirmed the health service would stop testing for coronavirus.

If numbers rise sharply, those displaying symptoms may be told to stay at home in order to stop the disease spreading.

The Department of Health and Social Care did not comment when asked about the self-isolation direction.

How do you self-isolate?

Only those told to self-isolate by Public Health England (PHE) or the Department for Health and Social Care will have to stay at home, BBC News claims.

PHE says those people should stay indoors and call NHS 111, even if their symptoms are mild.

In parts of the country where 111 isnt available, those affected are urged to call NHS Direct on 0845 46 47 and those in Northern Ireland should call a GP.

PHE says common sense should be employed when self-isolating and those with symptoms should avoid contact with others where possible.

That means staying at home for 14 days, and not going into work or busy public places.

Within the home you should stay in a well-ventilated room which is separate from other members of the family and not invite visitors in.

A coach carrying the first British Coronavirus evacuees leaves quarantine. (Getty)

How many people have been tested in the UK?

As of Saturday, 2,992 people in the UK have been tested with 2,983 confirmed as negative and nine positive, the department said.

Earlier, an NHS spokesman said all 94 people in quarantine at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral had been released.

They had been kept in isolation at the hospital after returning to the UK from China  the centre of the outbreak.

More than 100 people remain at the Kents Hill Park Hotel in Milton Keynes, the NHS added.

Story continues

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: I am also pleased that eight of the nine individuals who tested positive for coronavirus have now been successfully treated and discharged from hospital.

I want to stress that any individuals who are discharged from hospital are now well and do not pose any public health risk to the public.

Again, this is evidence of how well prepared our NHS is to deal with the Wuhan coronavirus.
Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

As many as 228,000 medical masks with unclear origin were confiscated the same day, reported the Ministry of Industry and Trades General Department of Market Surveillance.

From January 31 to February 15, a total of 4,419 cases were dealt with nationwide.

On February 7, Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung signed Decision 155/Q-BTC with articles allowing import tax exemption on medical masks, hand sanitiser, mask materials, disinfectant and protective clothing in an effort to fight the outbreak of new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The groups of goods subject to the exemption include medical masks with international harmonised system (HS) codes of 6307.90.40 and 6307.90.90, disinfectant gel or liquid hand sanitiser with HS code 3808.94.90, mask materials include non-woven fabrics and antibacterial filters; elastic bands with the regulated HS codes, disinfectants with HS codes of 3808.94.20 and 3808.94.90, protective clothing including trousers, shirts, goggles, medical masks, helmets, gloves and shoes with HS code 6210.10.90.

The decision took effect from February 7, 2020 until the end of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The new decade has dawned with an increasing sense of climate emergency. We must add the devastation of the Australian bushfires to the tragic roll call of lives transformed and land destroyed by our warming climate. The reaction of Australians has eclipsed the official response and is a great example of how we need to become more interconnected and mindful of our relationships with nature and each other if we are to cope with extreme weather.

As we react to the climate emergency we should consider how our individual and collective mental state affects nature and the environment. We have long understood that there is a positive link between nature and our mental health, but what about the other way around? How does the way we think affect nature? To make UNDPs work combatting climate change even more effective, particularly in our Nature Based Solutions, we need to understand the systemic linkages between our mental health and the health of our planet.

UNDPs Green Commodities Programme is exploring these links with the California-based Compassion Institute. At one level people working in the organization may need support to shape their personal response to working with the climate emergency. At a larger scale, its important that UNDP gains a science-based understanding of how the wider population can be helped to deal with any psychological consequences of the changes we are seeing.

The positive effects of nature

Studies have shown that time spent in nature has a positive therapeutic effect, whether it is a walk in the forest or living beside water. In some countries health professionals prescribe time spent in nature in preference to drug therapies. But what if theres no nature left? In Australia, 8.4 million hectares have burned, more than 1,800 homes have been destroyed, at least 34 people are dead and one billion animals are gone. News interviews with those affected reveal their grief at all of this loss, and their urge to band together to help each other.

We might expect that their grieving will follow the five stages identified by psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross fifty years ago. The first stage is deniala stage that many have been jolted out of by the magnitude of the disasterfollowed by anger, positively expressed by our young people in the school climate strikes. Kubler-Ross third stage is bargaining, followed by depression as the fourth stage and then acceptance.

Over the years we have learned that these five stages arent clear-cut, and that people can progress quickly through some of them and onto the next. Australians say that one of the positive aspects of the experience is the way that communities have come together to face the crisis  rather than getting stuck in anger about the official response, or depression about the loss of life and land, people went straight to acceptance that their best role was to make their own contribution by helping stranded residents, cooking food for firefighters, or caring for injured animals.

Recognition of community

It could be that this recognition of communitythat we are all in this together, that we are interconnectedoffers our best chance of keeping the climate crisis within manageable limits. Acceptance of the scale of the problem, and anger at the opportunities to find a solution that have been wasted, could bring a realization in Australia, and all over the globe, that the past decades of individualism must give way to new ways of living together with kindness, empathy, and humility.

Just as nature affects our mental health, our mental state affects nature. If we feel that we are above nature; that it is simply a resource to be exploited and then thrown away, we have little chance of meeting the challenges of the future.

However, if we accept that we are a part of nature, at one with the world around us, then we will care properly for others and the natural world and find that our actions are rewarded by the positive feedback it will create. Thats certainly what the Australian community volunteers are saying.

Strategic commitments

UNDPs Strategic Plan includes the commitment to improve partnerships and build on recent progress in engaging citizens through volunteerism, empowerment, participation and other means. Could it be that the environmental effects of climate change will strengthen that progress by increasing our individual motivation to work together?

Perhaps the sheer scale and intensity of the bushfires was the necessary trigger for this acceptance of community and one-ness amongst Australians. The question for the rest of us is how we can reach that realization without being surrounded by burning forest, loss of life and ecological disaster? What could cause us to come together to deal with climate change?

If we are truly interconnected, Australias grief should be our spur to action.
I mean, fine? LOL



were they supposed to not be happy or something?

Reply

Thread

Link

Thats what ppl want, yeah.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Miserable ass people want then to get divorce so he feels stupid for leaving the Royal Family for her. 



People will find any excuse just to blame everything on her.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Well Harry has apparently not looked happy for many months, and naturally that's been all because of how miserable he is with Meghan.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

They look happy 

Reply

Thread

Link

are they supposed to come off the plane pouting with middle fingers up?

Reply

Thread

Link

Why were they in the US? Was this after the trip they did to Stanford? Or was it a different trip?

Reply

Thread

Link

Stanford trip.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

go Away

Reply

Thread

Link

lo good for them

Reply

Thread

Link

PghMom, Pittsburgh, United States, about an hour ago



Its a impostor Harry...the same one who played the Santa Claus. Check out eye color and how he walks and most importantly shape of the ear.



wow were they around for the kristen stewart cheating fiasco a few years ago

Reply

Thread

Link

These psychos legit think Meghan is using a fake Harry and that all the pictures of Archie are actually of a little girl who lives in turkey or some shit. 

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I saw this and they had red lines drawn on his face and I was like jfc imagine not understanding how perspective and angles work

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

just leave them alone

Reply

Thread

Link

Lmfaoooo I am cackling. not only were they photographed going commercial but carrying their own luggage to boot. the subtlety

Reply

Thread

Link

I know they hate the paps, but I wonder if they call them this time around just to show how simple of a lifestyle theyve been living in the North America...



Edited at 2020-02-17 05:08 am (UTC)

Reply

Thread

Link

Tbh I think majority of pap pics of any celeb are staged/called in

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Same. Unless a celeb is going through a scandal or something juicy that will sell, I don't think the paps would bother going after them.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I hope Harry will use his new found freedom to get hair plugs.

Reply

Thread

Link

i was watching Fringe the other day, and totally forgot she was in it. i rly liked her character. i wonder why she didn't ended up recurring. Her character was certainly set up to...

Reply

Thread

Link

and now i need to watch Fringe again

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Wasn't her angle, like, finding Bible passages that matched with whatever sci-fi nonsense was happening that episode? Not a ton of range there to begin with

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

World shattering.

Reply

Thread

Link

What?? Carrying their own bags?? Omg theyre so down to earth!! So relatable!

Reply

Thread

Link
The body of a 6-year-old girl named Faye Marie Swetlik was found Thursday. She was reported missing last Monday after she vanished outside her home in South Carolina.

The Day She Vanished

Faye lived with her mother in the Churchill Heights neighborhood and attended school at Springdale Elementary School.

Her mother waited for her at the bus stop after school on February 10, a statement that a neighbor confirmed. The bus arrived around 2:50 pm. Faye and her mother walked back to their home at Londonderry Lane.

Her mother told the police Faye went inside to get a snack upon returning home. She then went outside to play in their yard and was never heard from again.

Faye's family began looking for her around 3:45 pm. Her mother called 911 at 5 pm. Cayce Department of Public Safety, the agency investigating Swetlik's death, released the audio recording Friday.

The Search

After the frantic 911 call, more than 100 officers joined in on the search. By Tuesday, the FBI assisted with more than 250 officers.

The police scoured the neighborhood for three days until they came upon a piece of evidence found in their neighbor's trash. The search party then focused on an area 100 to 150 feet away from Faye's front yard. The neighbor was identified as Coty Scott Taylor.

The police have not released the full details of the evidence, other than it was a detail that would have been listed on Faye's missing person flyer.

Police discovered her body in the wooded area between her home and a parts store around 11 am on February 13. According to the investigators, Faye's body hadn't spent a lot of time in the area before it was discovered.

The Link

Shortly after Faye's body was found, police announced another casualty. Taylor, Faye's neighbor, had also been found dead inside his home.

Police had been inside Taylor's home during the three-day search. Taylor, who lived just steps away from the Swetlik's home, was neither a relative nor a friend of the family.

Police have provided no details on his cause of death. The autopsy of Taylor's body is scheduled for Saturday.

Coty Taylor has not been named as a suspect, but police believe the deaths are connected.

Who is Coty Scott Taylor?

Coty Scott Taylor did not have a criminal history. He was not known to local law enforcement.

A search of court records revealed he had multiple traffic violations: one in Lexington County from February 2018, and at least four in Richland Country from 2013 and 2015.

Court records show Taylor won a case against City Garage and Body Shop in June of 2019. The case involved a disagreement about payment.

According to WLTX-TV, Taylor graduated from Bluffton High School in 2007. He was a member of the school's robotics team and was involved with Model United Nations. He also attended the University of South Carolina but no record of him graduating was found.

"A Bubbly Girl"

Faye Swetlik was last seen wearing flower print shorts, polka dot boots, and a black T-shirt with neon colors. Police have released a video that shows her getting off the school bus.

Her family described Faye as a bubbly little girl. "She always wants to play and have fun," her family said in a statement released by Fox Carolina Tuesday. "She's not the type of kid that will up and walk away."

"We just want to find Faye and bring her home."

Are There Suspects?

According to Cayce Department of Public Safety Sgt. Evan Antley, there are no suspects or any persons of interest at this time. No arrest has been made either.

"At this time I want to assure you, our community and all of our parents out there, that we have no reason to believe that there is an active threat in the ... community or the city of Cayce as a whole," Antley said

Police are treating the girl's death as homicide.
A gang of German far-right extremists who were arrested last week were plotting mosque attacks similar to last year's atrocity in New Zealand, officials said today.

The 12 men were detained in raids across Germany last Friday and 'shocking' details of their plans have since emerged.

The suspected terror plotters were planning major attacks including mass-casualty assaults on Muslims during prayers, it is believed.

The group planned to use semi-automatic weapons to copy last March's attacks in Christchurch in New Zealand, where 51 people were killed at two mosques.

A suspected German far-right extremist is bundled into a van by masked federal police officers in Karlsruhe after the gang was arrested

'It's shocking what has been revealed here, that there are cells here that appear to have become radicalised in such a short space of time,' interior ministry spokesman Bjoern Gruenewaelder said in Berlin today.

Investigators learned about the plot from someone who had infiltrated the group, the reports said.

Their meetings and chat activity had been under observation and the alleged leader had detailed his plans at a meeting last week.

According to German newspaper Bild, the ringleader was a 53-year-old from Augsburg named by investigators as Werner S.

'It is the task of the state, and of course of this government, to protect free practice of religion in this country, with no reference to what religion it might be,' Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said.

'Anyone practising their religion in Germany within our legal order should be able to do so without being endangered or threatened'.

Prosecutors said on Friday they had launched early morning raids to determine whether the suspects already had weapons or other supplies.

Of the 12 men arrested on Friday, four are believed to have founded the group while eight more had promised to support them with money and weapons.

One of the suspects (wearing the blue jacket) is hauled to his arraignment at the Federal Supreme Court in Karlsruhe on Saturday

The suspects, all of whom are German citizens, also included a police officer previously suspended over his links to the far right, North-Rhine Westphalia state interior minister Herbert Reul said on Friday.

Bild claimed to have identified him as Thorsten W, a 50-year-old medieval history enthusiast whose posts online included pictures of himself with a sword and shield and rants describing Germany as a 'radical left dictatorship'.

German authorities have turned increased attention to the country's underground extreme right scene since the murder of conservative local politician Walter Luebcke last June.

In an October attack on a synagogue in Halle, an assailant armed with home-made weapons killed two people at random on the street and in a Turkish restaurant after failing to breach the temple's solid wooden door.

Interior ministry spokesman Gruenewaelder said police have identified around 50 extreme right adherents as 'dangerous' individuals who could carry out a violent attack, compared with 660 Islamists and fewer than 10 far-left extremists.

In the summer of 2019, authorities arrested more than 30 people linked to a neo-Nazi movement called 'Northern Cross'.

They were suspected of planning to murder a number of leftwing and pro-migrant figures after ordering body bags and quicklime, a chemical often spread at mass grave sites, regional newspaper group RND reported.

On Monday, Gruenewaelder said that the latest arrests 'prove that the security services are remaining vigilant'.
Anthony Weiner has been lobbying to be allowed access to his son's school again, after he was blocked from the premises following his conviction for sexting a 15-year-old girl.

The former US Congressman, 55, continued to take his eight-year-old son Jordan to school in New York after her served 18 months in prison, but he is only allowed to collect the child from the gate.

Now Weiner  who represented New York's 9th congressional district for more than 12 years  reportedly wants to gain access to school grounds and it has upset parents of attendees.

The disgraced politician not only wants to pick up his son from inside, but wishes to attend parent-teacher meetings, a source claimed.

Anthony Weiner has reportedly been lobbying for access to his son's New York school

The convicted sex offender is only allowed to the gate of the school attended by his eight-year-old son Jordan (center). Weiner's Huma Abedin wife (left) filed for divorce in September 2017 before he was locked up for his sex offence. But she withdraw the petition in January 2018, deciding to settle the case privately

'Parents are very upset,' the insider told Page Six. 'The school has kids that are 16 and 17  the same age as [the kid] that he was [sexting] with.'

The source has claimed the school in downtown Manhattan is considering letting Weiner back onto the grounds. It prompted worried parents to ask a representative to reach out to the New York Post, detailing the school's alleged consideration.

The school - which has not been identified - declined to comment, Page Six reports. Weiner also declined to comment on their source's claim.

Sex offenders are usually banned from places where children are commonly around. However the school board may make exceptions in certain circumstances to allow convicts pass the gate.

Weiner's wife, Huma Abedin, filed for divorce in September 2017 before he was locked up for his sex offence. But she withdrew the petition in January 2018, deciding to settle the case privately.

A source has claimed the school in downtown Manhattan is considering letting Weiner back onto the grounds. Sex offenders are usually banned from places where children are commonly around. However the school board may make exceptions in certain circumstances

On October 31, 2017 the pair were spotted on the school run despite their rocky relationship. Then they were seen dropping Jordan off again on Halloween two years later.

It was only last week that the parents were pictured in a rare moment together, without their child.

It's unclear whether they are together but DailyMail.com previously revealed that Weiner had moved into the same apartment building as 43-year-old Hillary Clinton aide, Abedin, just a few months after he was released from prison.

Weiner's devices were subject to investigation after DailyMail.com revealed he'd had an online sexual relationship with an underage teenager for months, and sent her lewd messages and pictures.

The investigation into Weiner's devices began when DailyMail.com revealed that the disgraced congressman had an online sexual relationship with an underage teenage girl for months and sent her lewd messages and pictures.

The investigation into Weiner's devices began when DailyMail.com revealed that the disgraced congressman had an online sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl for months and sent her lewd messages and pictures

The technician tasked with rifling through Weiner's iPad, iPhone and laptop in September 2016 found 340,000 emails between Clinton and Abedin, Weiner's estranged wife, with many using a hillaryclinton.com address.

But the shocking discovery went ignored at the FBI because senior officials were 'overwhelmed' by the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, Stewart wrote.

Nobody at Quantico was taking action, so one agent went outside the chain of command and shared the allegations with New York prosecutors, which led to James Comey reopening the investigation days before the 2016 election.

One agent said he was 'scared' by the damning emails he found and then 'pressed on his superiors to follow up on the bombshell discovery'.

After DailyMail.com exposed Weiner, and he admitted to knowing the age of the victim from North Carolina, he was given 21 months in prison for sending sexually-explicit texts to the underage girl. He was released three months early on good behavior.

The girl was pictured but never identified. Weiner was aware that the girl was underage, according to DailyMail.com interviews with the girl and her father, as well as a cache of online messages.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 16)  The recent approval of a cannabis product for compassionate use does not necessarily increase the chances of the government's legalization of medical marijuana, the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) clarified Monday.

"On the contrary, this will just show na hindi na kailangan 'yong bill na 'yan kasi (thay they don't need such bill anymore because) they can have this medicine for compassionate use," DDB Chair Catalino Cuy told CNN Philippines' Newsroom.

Citing similar sentiments from the Department of Health and the Philippine Medical Association, Cuy said the approval of marijuana component cannabidiol (CBD) provides the same effect to patients in need, therefore invalidating the use of the proposed medical marijuana bill which has been pending for congressional approval since 2014.

Cuy clarified that they do not have the power to legalize medical marijuana. They only reclassified medicines with CBD component in a bid to keep up with the standards of the United States Food and Drug Administration and its 0.1 percent tetrahydrocannabinol threshold which previously allowed CBD use in treatment. This means CBD is different from cannabis per se.

Tetrahydrocannabinol is the main psychoactive compound which gives off the "high sensation" in marijuana.

"We [only] reduced some requirements na napag-aralan naman natin na hindi na necessary to provide the medication na 'yan for compassionate use sa 'ting mga pasyente," Cuy said.

[Translation: We ony reduced some requirements which we discovered were unnecessary to provide the medication for compassionate use of our patients.]

It also clarified that marijuana use remains illegal in the country for both recreational and medical use.

"Matagal nang pinag-usapan yan dahil for compassionate use na nga lang 'yan para pagbigyan yung mga pasyente, mga loved ones. Pero according to DOH, meron din naman kasing ibang medicine na makapagprovide ng same relief," Cuy added.

[Translation: It has long been tackled that this is only intended for compassionate use as a way of responding to the pleas of patients and their loved ones. But according to DOH, other medicine alternatives are capable of providing relief.]

The DDB chief noted that the importation of cannabidiol will only be allowed as long as permits will be authorized by the DDB and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

Sections 2 and 3 of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 allows for the reclassification, addition, and removal of any drug from the list of dangerous drugs, Cuy said.

The administration of President Rodrigo Duterte has been widely called out for its massive anti-illegal drug campaign since he took office. Real Numbers PH previously bared that as of January, the death toll of suspected drug dealers and users had risen to 5,552 since the governments crackdown had started in 2016.

Rights groups, on the other hand, claimed that there were 13,000 reported deaths in the country under the administration.
The Syrian Democratic Forces have denied taking part in any attacks against opposition groups on the side of the regime writes Brocar Press

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) denied on Sunday that they took part in the Syrian regimes attacks on the Idleb area, after accusations that its forces had participated alongside Syrian regime forces northwest of Aleppo.

Media circulated reports regarding the participation of the Syrian Democratic Forces in regime military operations in the Idleb area, the SDF said on its website.

We at the command of the Syrian Democratic Forces confirm that this news is not true.

Local activists said on Saturday, that the SDF had handed over sites to the Syrian regime west of the towns of Nubul and al-Zahraa, on Aleppos northwest front, in preparation for attacks on villages and towns under the control of opposition military factions in that area.

At dawn on Saturday, regime forces attacked the Sheikh Aqil front in the western Aleppo countryside and made progress, but rebel groups announced that they had regained the al-Raqam hill and the destroyed regime machinery after expelling it from the area.

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.
Click here to read the full article.

Dogs, in their rambunctious domesticated way, can lead us overly civilized humans a step or two closer to the natural world. So its only fitting that the best dog movies have saluted that unruly canine spirit without a lot of artificial flavoring. Hollywoods classic dog tales, like Old Yeller (1957) or Lassie Come Home (1943), are lyrical marvels of plainspoken storytelling  primal fables of love, loss, heart, and home  and so, in its way, was the last great dog movie, Marley & Me (2008), which treated the title pooch of John Grogans memoir as a scruffy agent of canine chaos who was also, in his way, a figure of faith. That said, Ive never had much patience for synthetic anthropomorphic dog comedies like Beethoven or Benji or Turner & Hooch. If I want to see a dog turned into a cartoon, Id rather watch a cartoon.

The Call of the Wild, an adaptation of the Jack London classic thats true to the spirit, if not always the letter, of the 1903 novel (which I admit, as a kid, I could never get through), is a dog movie thats more concocted than it has any right to be. It was produced by 20th Century Studios, back when the company had a Fox in its name, but in this case theres something almost poetically appropriate about the fact that the film is now emerging from the gates of the Disney empire. Thats because The Call of the Wild, directed by Chris Sanders (the co-director, with Dean DeBlois, of How to Train Your Dragon and Lilo & Stitch), is a semi-live-action film that nevertheless bounces along with the glibly overdone visual logic of an old Disney dog comedy from the 1960s.

More from Variety

Story continues

The films style, to put it bluntly, is more than a bit fake.

Early on, when we meet Buck, a St. Bernard/Scotch Collie mix with a keen intelligence and adorable eyes, hes ruling the roost of his big pastoral home in Santa Clara, California, and the way the film establishes what an innocently fearsome beast he is to have the cupboards of the kitchen shake, rattle, and roll as he bounds around the house. Hes a very big dog, but all I could think was: Come on, hes not frigging Godzilla! Why the exaggerated effect?

Because thats the films way of coddling the audience, treating us as if we needed a collective pat on the head. Buck doesnt spend a lot time at the house before being stolen by an evil canine kidnapper, who trains him with a club and sells him into service as a sled dog. Its the 1890s, and Buck lands in the bustling town of Skagway, Alaska, gateway to the Yukon and the dreams of a thousand prospectors. As soon as he hooks up with Perrault (Omar Sy) and Francois (Cara Gee), who run a mail-delivery route for the U.S. government, he learns how to be part of a dog team  but here, too, his exuberance is communicated with sled-dog sequences that have the feel of stylized CG action rides, because thats essentially what they are.

The filmmakers employ a blend of live action and digital enhancement, and I guess you could say its an achievement that we cant totally tell where the one leaves off and the other begins. But what we do know is that everything were seeing is a shade faster, more bumptious, more animated than real life. Does that mean its more exciting? Id say that makes it less exciting.

In episodes like the one where Buck takes on and defeats the leader of the pack, a snarling Siberian husky named Spitz, or rescues Francois after she falls under the ice, you know you arent seeing the events play out with the kind of transcendent naturalism that was so enthralling, 37 years ago, in the wild-hound-in-the-Arctic landmark Never Cry Wolf. It may come as a shock to learn that The Call of the Wild was shot by Janusz Kaminski, who in his work with Steven Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan, Schindlers List, Munich, The War of the Worlds) became a maestro of gray-streaked deep-focus existential realism, qualities that would have worked marvelously in a dog drama set in the wilderness. There are visually enthralling moments in The Call of the Wild, including an impressive avalanche, but most of the film has an impersonal look of sun-dappled squareness. Its a picture-postcard saga with a real-dog-whos-also-a-CG-dog, and that may lead some to dismiss the movie as a dog.

And yetmuch as I wish the filmmakers had put more trust in the organic heartbeat of their material, The Call of the Wild gets better as it goes along. In Skagway, Buck forms a momentary connection with John Thornton (Harrison Ford), a furry figure whos been cut loose from his family by tragedy. Buck finds Thorntons harmonica in the snow and brings it to him (they dont see each other again for a while), but we can already tell that this is going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. And the way Harrison Ford plays it, it really is. Ford acts with pure soul here (he also narrates the film with his lovely storybook growl); its a minimalist performance, mostly very reactive, but the saintly gruffness of Fords thick-gray-bearded, sad-eyed presence helps to nudge Buck to life as a character. The Call of the Wild turns into a movie about a difficult but devoted dog and the master whos a bit of a lonely old mutt himself.

In John Thornton, Buck, at last, has found a master whos worthy of him. Thats why he keeps running away with bottles of whiskey  he can sense how the booze dampens Thorntons spirit. The two move into an abandoned prospectors cabin and even hit pay dirt, but the film gets very Zen about this. Its all about Thornton rediscovering how to live in the moment  which, of course, is what dogs, at least in human society, are the masters of. Theres a villain who must be defeated (totally flat, boilerplate stuff), but as Buck spends more time in the wilderness and begins to fuse with it, he becomes the free creature he was meant to be. He cuts himself loose from the artificial, concocted world. You only wish that the whole movie had done the same thing.

Best of Variety

Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Latest News Sydney property prices might not drop yet, as planning problems persist NSW planning approvals have fallen off a cliff since October, showing that the supply crisis might yet continue

The key trends for property investment in 2022 analysed The key trends for property investment in 2022 analysed, with rentvesting and borderless investing likely to surge

The bankless business overdraft of non-bank lender GetCapital is seeking to establish itself as a core working capital solution for brokers, five months after launching.

Following the move of traditional banks to significantly reduce lending to small businesses, non-bank lender GetCapital said it saw an opportunity to offer a standalone business overdraft to serve as a working capital for growing businesses of varying sizes.

The bankless overdraft can allegedly link to any Australian business account, meaning that GetCapital is entering a territory that has been traditionally held by banks, according to GetCapital CEO Jamie Osborn.

Our business overdraft offers businesses of all sizes access to working capital through an online platform that provides them with control, transparency and ease of transacting  it offers a genuine alternative to a bank overdraft, said Osborn.

He continued, We have been pleasantly surprised with how quickly the broker market has embraced the offering. In our first few months, we have provided over $50m in limits.

He added, Brokers account for over 60% of the asset finance originations, however they tell us they only write a small volume of overdraft facilities because it has traditionally been 'owned' by banks. The opportunity for brokers is that, for the first time, they can offer their clients an easily accessible overdraft facility.

The proprietary technology utilises GetCapitals bank connect technology to allow customers to control their funds with seamless and real-time links to external business bank accounts.
Hours later, the regime shot down a Ukrainian airliner just after it left Tehran airport and killed all 176 civilians on board after supposedly mistaking it for an incoming missile.

Forty days later, a traditional day of mourning in Iran, the regime has warned families against holding ceremonies for their loved ones, hinting that they will be subjected to arrest.

At the same time, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said Iran wouldnt hand the black box from the flight over to any foreign country, despite the fact that the regime cannot decipher it themselves.

This sets off clear alarm bells about the regimes intention to hide their role in this tragedy, which has turned into a domestic and foreign crisis for the regime. Those being cited by flight control experts as responsible for the attack and the cover-up are Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and senior IRGC commanders, including IRGC chief Hossein Salami and missile units chief Ali Hajizadeh.

The experts said that, following standard procedures, the IRGC should have informed all of Irans airport control towers before the missile launches, so that passenger flights could be grounded. This did not happen on January 8.

The experts also said that the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), which is chaired by President Hassan Rouhani, was fully informed about the attack. This makes Rouhani, the SNSC, and all of its members, including Zarif, complicit in the regimes downing of the PS752 passenger flight.

The decisions made by those at the top could have prevented the plane crash, especially when the flight was scheduled and traveling along a normal route, which the IRGC would have been informed about. The IRGC claimed their missile defense system mistook the plane for a missile, but this is clearly a lie. After all, what missile gains altitude over your country, unless you fired it?

The regime already lied about the cause of the plane crash, until irrefutable evidence forced them to admit the truth, and have been destroying the crash site to conceal evidence. What else are they covering up by hiding the black box?

Something that the Iranian Resistance says played a huge role in the downing of the plane is that one of the Iranian regimes largest ballistic missile sites is close to the Khomeini International Airport.

The Resistance wrote: The fact that these sites are located so close to the Khomeini Intl Airport portrays the important role played by this IRGC missile complex in the downing of the Ukrainian airliner. The base of the 99th Air Defense Group associated with the regimes classic army ground forces is located south of this site.

Read more:

Inside the Aerial Murder of the Iranian Government
India and the US are negotiating a trade deal to resolve certain issues and promote two-way commerce.

India is expecting substantial outcomes from US president Donald Trumps visit, the possibility of a mini trade agreement during his visit and higher investment commitments from American companies and industry groups.

AFP

India is in demand of the exclusion of high duties which are imposed by the US on certain steel and aluminium products, restarting of export benefits to certain domestic products under the Generalised System of preferences and greater market access for its product from few sectors such as agriculture, automobile, auto components and engineering.

While on the other hand, the US wants a little more access for marketing the manufacturing products, dairy items and medical devices, data localisation, and cutting on import duties on some information and communication technology products. The US also has raised concerns over the high trade deficit with India.

The trade between India and US:

The US wants India to have a level playing field for international digital services such as credit cards. India govt has delayed the negotiation American unwillingness to allow testing of Dry Distilled Grain Soluble (DDGS) poultry feed for live GM Components.

While the tough talks were going on, the US trade representative 'Robert Lightizer' called off his visit to India. The mini-deal is the most important to trump as he heads into election and to show how his stance has improved the commerce for the US. The current situation presents an opportunity as the US president would like to have a deal. This trade part can be added to the list of Trump's list of achievements that reflects better deal for US products.

AFP

The sources said that the Indian representatives are interested in getting the deal done, but both sides apparently remain at a distance from each other. S. Jaishankar met a few people like the US speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and another congressional delegation which was led by 'Jim Inhofe' who is the head of the Powerful Armed Services committee. He spoke on the same and said Discussed our growing strategies cooperation. Value their interest in building the ties.



In another tweet Jaishankar tweeted about his meeting with foreign minister of Saudi Was a pleasure to meet His Highness Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia. Appreciated his perspectives on global and regional issues. Look forward to working with him in the Strategic Partnership Council.



Was a pleasure to meet His Highness Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia. Appreciated his perspectives on global and regional issues. Look forward to working with him in the Strategic Partnership Council. pic.twitter.com/9oq0PxU1au  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) February 15, 2020




Thailand has raised more than USD 3.2 billion in an auction of 5G licences, as operators race to snap up high-frequency spectrums needed for a commercial rollout of the next-generation technology.

A subsidiary of Advanced Info Services, the country's top mobile operator, dominated Sunday's bidding, securing 23 of the nearly 50 licences up for grabs.

Governments around the world are rolling out 5G networks, which offer vastly faster mobile internet speeds.

Washington has been pressing countries to ban Chinese tech giant Huawei from providing equipment for the networks, saying it is a security risk.

Key US allies in Europe, notably Britain and France, have said they will not ban Huawei but will impose restrictions.

Thailand, like other Southeast Asian countries with close ties to China, has mostly shied away from the issue.

Thailand's National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) hailed the auction as a "good day" for the country.

"We are becoming a 5G country, which will help Thailand to lead in (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations)," NBTC secretary general Thakorn Tantasit said in a statement.

It is not clear when the 5G network will be rolled out, but Fitch Ratings said Advanced Info Services was clearly aiming for this year.

"They would like to be the first mover of 5G rollout," said Obboon Thirachit, director of the credit ratings agency in Thailand.

"In the past, one of the keys to competitiveness... is the spectrum they hold and the speed of introducing the new technology.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The last DAC had met on January 21 and had accorded approval for procurement of equipment worth over Rs 5,100 crore from indigenous sources.

New Delhi: The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by Defence minister Rajnath Singh from now on will take up arms and ammunition proposals which are prioritised by the chief of defence staff (CDS).

This means that chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Force will have to co-ordinate and discuss their proposals with CDS and the chief in consultation with them will set priority of which arms or ammunition are needed and should be acquired.

Interestingly, according to the new rules the capital acquisitions still comes defence secretary Dr Ajay Kumar and revenue comes under the department of military affairs headed by CDS. But, even then it is the chief of defence staff who will set the priority of capital acquisitions.

In the last DAC meeting which was also attended by CDS the old proposals on which had some work had been done were cleared. However, from now on proposals which are prioritised by the CDS will be taken, said a senior official.

The last DAC had met on January 21 and had accorded approval for procurement of equipment worth over Rs 5,100 crore from indigenous sources.

CDS General Bipin Rawat has already indicated that he may not be in favour of Indian Navys proposal to have a 3rd aircraft carrier and he may not like Air Force to buy another 100 fighter jets at one go.

Based on change battlefield dynamics, CDS is expected to cancel approvals granted for acquisition of equipment that are now obsolete, said the official. The technology is changing fast. The old Acceptance of Necessity (AoNs) which don't meet the changed battlefield dynamics will be cancelled. Anyway AoNs are there only for 2 years and after which they themselves expire, said the official.

AoN clears the way for the tendering process for acquisitions to start after which the next step is the issuance of the Request for Proposal (RFP). CDS is the permanent member of DAC and Defence Planning Committee chaired by National Security Adviser (NSA).
FALFURRIAS, Texas  Authorities are searching for vandals who damaged a south Texas shrine to faith healer Don Pedrito Jaramillo.

The damage to the shrine to Don Pedrito Jaramillo in Falfurrias, about 150 miles (241 kilometers) south of San Antonio was reported Friday, according to Brooks County Sheriff Urbino Benny Martinez.

Were really working hard on it because I think its really unfortunate that that would happen to Don Pedrito, Martinez said. Its been there for years and years.

Right now were all in the dark as far as the motive, Martinez told the San Antonio Express-News.

Jaramillo was known as the healer of Los Olmos, for using natural remedies to heal the sick.

He came to the Los Olmos Ranch near Falfurrias in the early 1880s and died in 1907. The shrine began at his burial site and received a Texas Historical Marker in 1971.

Falfurrias City Administrator Melissa Landin said damage to crosses and statues of Jaramillo may be irreparable.

The cross with Jesus, a large one that was on the wall, was on the floor broken in pieces. The Virgin Mary was broken into pieces. Two statues of Don Pedro were shattered, Landin told The Monitor.
Hot Spots & Night Life, Seasonal & Current Events

By Brooke Hein Published: February 17 2020

The LongIsland.com Guide to St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patricks Day is the annual commemoration of the patron saint of Ireland, who is credited for bringing Christianity to the country. It is celebrated on March 17th, the date of the death of Saint Patrick. The date is a public holiday in Ireland and is commonly celebrated by Irish populations, and Irish-at-heart populations, around the world!

St. Paddys Day, as it is commonly called, is super popular on Long Island as well. Many towns across both Nassau County and Suffolk County hold parades throughout the month of March where residents hit the streets decked out from head to toe in green and gold garb, bake delicious soda bread, drink a variety of Irish beverages, and eat the traditional corned beef and cabbage.
There's no doubt that money can be made by owning shares of unprofitable businesses. For example, although Amazon.com made losses for many years after listing, if you had bought and held the shares since 1999, you would have made a fortune. But while history lauds those rare successes, those that fail are often forgotten; who remembers Pets.com?

So, the natural question for LightLab Sweden (STO:LLSW B) shareholders is whether they should be concerned by its rate of cash burn. In this article, we define cash burn as its annual (negative) free cash flow, which is the amount of money a company spends each year to fund its growth. Let's start with an examination of the business's cash, relative to its cash burn.

View our latest analysis for LightLab Sweden

Does LightLab Sweden Have A Long Cash Runway?

A company's cash runway is calculated by dividing its cash hoard by its cash burn. LightLab Sweden has such a small amount of debt that we'll set it aside, and focus on the kr5.7m in cash it held at December 2019. In the last year, its cash burn was kr40m. Therefore, from December 2019 it had roughly 2 months of cash runway. It's extremely surprising to us that the company has allowed its cash runway to get that short! You can see how its cash balance has changed over time in the image below.

OM:LLSW B Historical Debt, February 17th 2020

How Well Is LightLab Sweden Growing?

At first glance it's a bit worrying to see that LightLab Sweden actually boosted its cash burn by 23%, year on year. Also concerning, operating revenue was actually down by 16% in that time. Considering both these metrics, we're a little concerned about how the company is developing. In reality, this article only makes a short study of the company's growth data. This graph of historic earnings and revenue shows how LightLab Sweden is building its business over time.

Can LightLab Sweden Raise More Cash Easily?

Given its revenue and free cash flow are both moving in the wrong direction, shareholders may well be wondering how easily LightLab Sweden could raise cash. Companies can raise capital through either debt or equity. Commonly, a business will sell new shares in itself to raise cash to drive growth. By comparing a company's annual cash burn to its total market capitalisation, we can estimate roughly how many shares it would have to issue in order to run the company for another year (at the same burn rate).

Story continues

LightLab Sweden has a market capitalisation of kr127m and burnt through kr40m last year, which is 31% of the company's market value. That's fairly notable cash burn, so if the company had to sell shares to cover the cost of another year's operations, shareholders would suffer some costly dilution.

How Risky Is LightLab Sweden's Cash Burn Situation?

We must admit that we don't think LightLab Sweden is in a very strong position, when it comes to its cash burn. Although we can understand if some shareholders find its increasing cash burn acceptable, we can't ignore the fact that we consider its cash runway to be downright troublesome. Once we consider the metrics mentioned in this article together, we're left with very little confidence in the company's ability to manage its cash burn, and we think it will probably need more money. 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 LightLab Sweden CEO receives in total remuneration.

If you would prefer to check out another company with better fundamentals, then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt or this list of stocks which are all forecast to grow.

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 State Planning Board has approved Rs 7,900 crore annual plan for 2020-21, about 11 per cent higher than 2019-20, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said.

Presiding over the meeting of State Planning Board here on Monday, Thakur said social services sector has been accorded priority by allocating Rs 3,487.24 crore, which is 44.14 per cent of the total annual plan.

Transport and communication sector is allocated Rs 1,394.89 crore, whereas agriculture and allied activities has been allotted Rs 974.29 crore, he said.

Irrigation and flood control has been allotted Rs 508.05 crore, while Rs 499.05 crore has been earmarked for energy sector.

The chief minister expressed concern over the gap between male and female literacy rate. He said efforts should be made to reduce this gap.

Thakur said the state's per capita income at Rs 1,76,968 in 2018-19 had shown increase of 10.12 per cent from 2017-18 and was better than that of national average and most other states.

He said Himachal Pradesh was the second state after Sikkim to become open defecation free (ODF).

Thakur said that since 90 per cent population of the state lives in rural area, emphasis should be laid on increasing crop production and farm income.

The state government is ensuring that focus is laid on qualitative improvement of education and health institutions instead of going for expansion, he added.

The CM said the state government is also committed to making Himachal a favourite tourist destination in the country.

He said the work on four-laning projects was expedited to ensure better connectivity. In order to ensure better air connectivity, all three existing airports are being expanded and improved.

He also released two publications of the Planning Department on the occasion.

State Planning Board Vice Chairman Ramesh Dhawala said the state economy achieved a growth rate of 7.3 per cent in the financial year 2018-19.

Cabinet Ministers Mahender Singh, Suresh Bhardwaj, Sarveen Chaudhary, Dr. Ram Lal Markanda, Vipin Singh Parmar, Virender Kanwar, Bikram Singh, Govind Singh Thakur and Dr. Rajiv Saizal, MLAs and non-official members also gave suggestions in the meeting.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
One could be forgiven for a bit of skepticism where Pete Buttigiegs campaign and its supporters are concerned. This is a politician who claimed to have no knowledge of or involvement in the editing of his Wikipedia presence, despite having emailed Wikipedia from his own account to give it permission to use a photograph that was only available through his office. The campaign also previously used a stock photo of a woman in Kenya on a webpage meant to explain his anti-racism plan for the U.S. So when users on Twitter started wondering whether a devout Pete supporter in Nigeria was actually the campaigns senior communications adviser, Lis Smith, it certainly seemed to fit a pattern.

Advertisement

People first took notice of the account thanks to a tweet by user @FeralHogs420, which called attention to an admittedly bizarre tweet from @easychinedu.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Why would someone who was not Lis Smith tweet Its Lis? The controversy really started picking up steam when Jewish Currents editor David Klion also tweeted out the claim that this account was secretly run by Smith.

This website is free (and this account is a burner run by Lis Smith, Pete Buttigieg's top advisor, who is pretending to be a Nigerian fan of her candidate) pic.twitter.com/FeJC9B6F21  DavidKlion (@DavidKlion) February 16, 2020

Advertisement

Advertisement

Other little details, such as the fact that @easychinedu was claiming to have just woken up when it was actually 5 p.m. in Nigeria seemed only to strengthen the investigators belief that Smith had been caught running a fake account.

Slate got in touch with Chinedu, the man behind the (now-deleted) account in question, @easychinedu. After video chatting with Chinedu (who asked us not to use his last name so that he might attempt to salvage some degree of privacy) and asking him some questions about his big day online, Slate feels comfortable saying definitively that, unless Petes campaign possesses some incredible CGI technology, this man is not Lis Smith. And he has a plausible account of why he seemed to tweet out that he was. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Ashley Feinberg: So, hows your day been?

Chinedu: Its very stressful, as you can imagine, Im responding to emails. Its almost 10 p.m. here. And my Instagram account is locked and I had to deactivate my Twitter account. And this is all because I just tweet about Pete Buttigieg.

What did you first think when people started accusing you of being Lis Smith?

Advertisement

Advertisement

Yeah, it was kind of funny because, you know, you can clearly hear my voiceIm not Lis Smith. So I thought it was just a joke because this guy, David Klion, he asked his followers to follow me, because apparently I was a sock puppet account that Smith was apparently controlling, you know. And then theyre going through my tweets, and there were tweets that I made that said, Hi, Im Lis, or something like that. It felt like they were really reaching.

Advertisement

So just to be clear, are you affiliated with the campaign in any way?

No, no, Im not affiliated with the campaign. It said that on my bio, but I had to deactivate my account. Im just a supporter of Pete. I like Pete. I think hes the best candidate running. And thats all. I just tweet about Pete.

Have you ever spoken to Lis Smith?

No. You mean like, Yeah, whats up? Or Skype or something like this?

Yeah, just any communication with her.

No, no. I did tweet out to her and she said thanks, I think once. But I think thats the most of it.

Advertisement

And about that one tweet where you said Hey. Its Liscan you just explain what that was?

Advertisement

Yeah. So basically, if you follow the Pete campaign, they have something they call, like, the phases. Phase One is, like, getting Pete known. Phase Two was building the ground organization. And then Phase Three was striking contrast, I think. Im not 100 percent sure. But that was when Pete started making contrasts with Elizabeth Warren about Medicare. And then Phase Four was pretty much about getting out the vote. That was just before the Iowa caucus.

Advertisement

And essentially what happened was I read a campaign email on Twitter that said: Im Lis. You know, this is Phase Four. And, you know, in the Team Pete community, everybody has been waiting for Phase Four because Phase Three was in October or something. So when this came out, everybody was excited, you know, so I was just having a little fun and joking about it, trying to rally the troops to get out and phone-bank.

Advertisement

So you were just mimicking what was in the email, basically?

Yeah. I mean, I didnt say much. I just said: Hi, its Lis Smith. Its time to leave it all outyou know. The way she phrased it was kind of interesting to me. So I thought it would be funny. And obviously the people that I follow on Twitter know that Im not Lis Smith. So it was kind of just a joke for other supporters. But then, you can imagine, I just get back to Twitter after a few hours and everyones saying Im Lis Smith or, you know, that Lis Smith is controlling me or its a fake Nigerian account. I can assure you that this is Nigeria and Im supporting Pete.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

How come? Why are you such a big Pete fan?

Well, I think hes very intelligent. Hes very compassionate, I think. I dont know. I watched one of the town halls he did on YouTube, and I thought it was really great. I just think hes a really good candidate. Theres no real explanation. The thing is, if you really dig in, youll see that there are a bunch of international supporters of Pete. If you checkwell, its unfortunate I had to deactivate my accountbut if you check the people I follow, most of them are international supporters of Pete. People from other parts of Africa, someone from Ireland, someone from Scotland, someone from the Netherlands. So there are people that support Pete. Its just that Im very  I guess, vocal, right?

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

I guess it is kind of strange, and I understand where the controversy comes from, because its like, theres this Nigerian account thats tweeting about a very specific candidate from in the U.S. But its OK. I just hope it dies down.

When did you first start getting into Pete?

Oh, I started following Pete last January, I think, or maybe February, I guess. It was before he launched. I had been using my business Twitter account to tweet, but then I thought it wasnt professional. So I started using my own. I created an account, I dont remember when, maybe July or August, or sometime in September. But anyway, the point is, Ive been following Pete for pretty much a year. Its just a combination of following someone and, you know, checking out what they are doing and his improbable rise. And its just interesting to me to follow that.

Advertisement

Advertisement

I should point out that I used to live in the U.S. So its not like Im just coming at this from nowhere. I went to college in the U.S.

Whos your second favorite candidate thats running?

Thats a good question. Well, lets put it this way. In 2016, I liked Bernie. But I dont know, I think that after Pete, its really tough, you know? Its really, really tough. I would support any other candidate to beat out Trump. But I dont know. I think Pete is kind of a unique candidate. Its hard to say. I still would support whoever gets the nomination.

So who knows, if Biden wins, you could start seeing a bunch of Biden tweets from me, and there could be another scandal.

Advertisement

Advertisement

How come you chose Pete over Bernie this time?

Well, lets put it this way: Bernie has the right diagnosis of the problems. You know, a lot of my friends struggled with student loan debt. People dont have health insurance, things like that.

But I think Petes way of getting there is a way that unites people and brings in people who might not agree on the solution. Then, its also more pragmatic in how its likely to get solved. Like, I think Medicare for All Who Want It seems more likely to get passed than Medicare for All. I just thought Pete had more pragmatic answers.He was fresh, new on the scene. He had good ideas, pragmatic ideas, common sense ideas.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

But I will tell you that supporting Pete wasnt easy, because a lot of my friends, they follow U.S. politics casually, but they have other candidates they like. Theyre not crazy about Pete.

Why dont they like Pete?

Because they feel like Pete would struggle with his electability. So some of my friends feel like its his electability. Hes a small-town mayor. They just felt Biden had more clout. That was early last year.

What about LisI know she has some fans on Twitter. Are you a big Lis Smith fan?

I mean, I support Pete and Lis, obviously. And, you know, everybody affiliated with the campaign. But Im not affiliated with the campaign. Im just a regular guy who likes Pete. Thats all.

And I know there was another thing people were pointing to, where you said that you had just woken up when it was about 5 p.m. in Nigeria. What was the reason for that?

Yeah. I was trying to explain to people that you could take naps in Nigeria. I guess its a controversy to wake up at odd hours. But I was trying to draw attention to the fact that I was just on Twitter after a hiatus, and then suddenly found out I was Lis Smith and I was the center of a controversy. Its kind of weird. Im getting so many people trying to pry into my Instagram account and my email information. People are sending me tweets, messages to confirm fake emails, either reporters or just regular people trying to get me to confirm who I am. So I just want my privacy, you know? Thats all I want from this.








Web Toolbar by Wibiya

Ten unidentified women have filed a class-action lawsuit accusing Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard of rape and sexual trafficking.

In a press release on the lawsuit released Thursday, the women state that Nygard lured and enticed young, impressionable, and often impoverished children and women with cash payments and false promises of lucrative modelling opportunities in order to assault, rape, and sodomize them. When the victims were not swayed by promises, many were drugged to force compliance with Nygards sexual desires.

Many of the women were younger than 18 at the time of the alleged assaults.

Nygard, 77, is the fashion executive, founder and chairman of Winnipeg-based Nygard International, known for making and selling women wear.

According to the press release, Nygard would instruct his employees to procure the children and then take them to lavish pamper parties, where they were plied with drugs and alcohol and then violently assaulted. In one of the cases, Nygard is alleged to have brought a 15-year-old girl to his mansion in the Bahamas, where he attempted to sodomize her, raped her and then asked her to defecate in his mouth before offering her cash.

Many of the alleged incidents occurred at Nygards luxury Mayan-style mansion at Lyford Cay in the Bahamas, according to the release.

After hearing these tragic stories, we were compelled to act and bring a voice to those who have been hurt for so long, said Greg Gutzler, one of the lawyers who filed the suit. We know many others were afraid to come forward initially and hope that this lawsuit will pave the way for them to also seek justice.

The facts in this case represent the tip of the iceberg of an international sex trafficking ring that ends today.

Ken Frydman, a spokesperson for Nygard, said the accusations in the class action suit were false. He added that the lawsuit was just the latest in a 10-plus year string of attempts to try to destroy the reputation of a man through false statements and that it stems from a dispute between Nygard and his neighbour in the Bahamas, hedge fund billionaire Louis Bacon.

The allegations are completely false, without foundation and are vigorously denied, Frydman told the National Post.

Peter Nygard looks forward to fully exposing this scam and once and for all clearing his name.

The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, also mentions several of Nygards New York-based corporate entities for their role in financing, facilitating and covering up the abuse.

This hasnt been the first time Nygard has been accused of sexual assault. In the 1990s, he paid to settle three sexual harassment complaints filed by former employees in Manitoba. Last November, Tribune 242, a Bahamas newspaper, published that the police were investigating six allegations of rape made against Nygard. The complaint alleges that for years, it has been no secret that Nygard bribes Bahamian government and police officials and uses intimidation tactics to coerce silence, reads the press release.

Sex crimes are widely under-investigated and often swept under the rug, said Lisa Haba of Haba Law Firm, who also filed the suit. With this lawsuit, we aim to give these victims a voice and hold Mr. Nygard, and his network of accomplices, accountable for their horrendous conduct. The abuse stops here.
The Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has stated that the free senior high school (SHS) policy is the most significant social intervention introduced in the country since independence.



He said the policy was the best way a government could invest and build the capacity of students for the future of the country.



Speaking at the 61st Speech and Prize-giving Day of the Swedru SHS (SWESCO) last Saturday, the Vice-President said: The future of this nation depends largely on the kind of education that is provided for its citizenry.



He said it was against that background that the Presidents focus had been on the provision of quality education for every Ghanaian child, irrespective of his or her social or economic status in society.



Every Ghanaian child, through quality education, must be empowered to become economically independent, he stated.



Speech day



The speech and prize-giving day was organised by the 1970, 1980, 1990 and 2000 year groups of the school on the theme: Free SHS: A scheme for developing human capital through practical, scientific and technological education.



The ceremony was interspersed with performances by the schools cadet corps, cultural troupe and masquerade group.



Enrolment up



The Vice-President said parents and all well-meaning Ghanaians could attest to the fact that the free SHS policy was a good and viable one.



Three years into the policy, he said, enrolment in SHSs had increased to about 69 per cent.



He said in response to the increase in enrolment, the double-track system was introduced as a temporary solution to the growing numbers, while the provision of infrastructure continued.



Without the double-track system, hundreds of students will not be able to access free SHS, he added.



Ending double track



Dr Bawumia said the government was investing in the construction of new infrastructural facilities in SHSs across the country towards ending the double-track system.



He said the government was seriously expanding infrastructure in all public academic institutions, particularly in SHSs, to improve access and reduce congestion in the classrooms.



The double-track system will, therefore, be over in just a few years in all schools when the infrastructure is completed, he said.



When all was complete, he said, the schools would revert to the single-track system.



Directive to contractors



Dr Bawumia revealed that the government had issued a directive to all contractors working on various infrastructural projects, such as classroom blocks and dormitories, to work within the scheduled time of completion, so that spaces would be made available to end the infrastructural deficit that necessitated the introduction of the double-track system.



He added that the free SHS policy was irreversible, and that the government would continue to commit to and invest heavily in infrastructure and other logistics and facilities towards achieving the aim for which the policy was introduced.



The Vice-President noted that work had begun on the construction of 20 state-of-the-art Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions across the country, as well as the upgrading of the national vocational training institutes (NVTIs) to help train the needed human capital for the country.



The government is in the process of extending the free SHS policy to cover TVET institutions, so that such institutions will train the required human resource to contribute to the transformation of the nation, he stated.



Delivering quality education



Dr Bawumia said the government would continue to play its role towards the provision of quality education through free SHS and, therefore, required otherstakeholders, such as parents, teachers and students, to complement the effort of the government to provide the needed education for students.



He admonished the students to take their academic work seriously to excel in their final examinations to enable them to gain admission to the tertiary institutions of their choice.



The Vice-President donated GH?20,000 to the school and also promised to provide it with a pick-up vehicle and a bus.



Parental responsibility



The Minister of State in charge of Tertiary Education, Prof. Kwesi Yankah, who was the guest speaker, asked parents not to leave everything about the education of their children in the hands of the schools but collaborate with school authorities to improve the performance of their children.



He said free SHS was a relief, but it should not lead parents to completely abandon their responsibilities towards their children, adding: Children can only become future leaders if parents discharge part of their responsibilities for nurturing.



What we need as a country is a partnership between parents and teachers towards the proper welfare of children, he added.



Progress



In her report, the Headmistress of the school, Mrs Alberta Obiriwaa Rigg-Stewart, commended President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for not only implementing the free SHS policy but also introducing the double-track system that had made it possible for a significant number of junior high school graduates to gain admission to the school.



She noted that despite the challenges the school faced, 677 out of the 883 students it presented for the 2019 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), representing 76.6 per cent, qualified for tertiary education.



She lauded successive governments and the old students for adding to the infrastructure of the school and further appealed to the government to fast-track the completion of all abandoned infrastructural projects to enhance teaching and learning.



Mrs Rigg-Stewart further appealed for the rehabilitation of roads in the school, since they were all in a deplorable state.



A former Director of the Ghana School of Law and old student of SWESCO, Mr George Agyemang Sarpong, who chaired the event, donated GH?5,000 towards the establishment of an endowment fund, from which the overall best General Arts student would be rewarded annually.



Honours



At the event, the immediate past chairman of the schools Board of Governors, Mr Bernard Joe Appeah, and the headmistress were honoured with citations for their immense contributions towards the growth of the school.



Additionally, the refurbished Chemistry laboratory, which was fully funded by Mr George Owusu of the 1967-Year group, and a new dais at the ceremonial grounds, constructed by Ms Esther Hanson of the 1975-Year group, were inaugurated.

Source: Daily Graphic









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
by Pranab Bardhan

Many find fault with liberal democracy because it exacerbates inequality, particularly when wedded to unbridled capitalism. But inequality has been rampant in authoritarian countries as well, with or without capitalism. Many non-capitalist countries in actual history have been friendly neither to liberty nor equality, never mind the soaring rhetoric, whereas some liberal democracies have provided their alert citizenry with the means of taming the harshness of capitalism, showing the possibility of liberty and equality working together at least up to some distance.

Others find fault with liberal democracy because its emphasis on individual freedom may loosen community bonding and rootedness, but liberty and fraternity need not work at cross-purposes, and one should keep in mind that communitarian excesses without liberalism can hurt interests of minority and dissident or non-conformist groups and individual autonomy. For a discussion of these issues see my piece, Can the Local Community Save Liberal Democracy?. Yet why is liberal democracy so fragile? All around us demagogues rule even in traditional bastions of democracy; and majoritarianism so easily hollows out democracies and keeps only the shell (and even sometimes triumphantly gets that shell described by the oxymoronic term illiberal democracy).

In my article, Coping with Resurgent Nationalism I have suggested that if the constitution in some democratic countries incorporates liberal inclusive values and is reasonably difficult to change, it can provide the basis of some form of civic nationalism (or what Habermas called constitutional patriotism) that may resist the marauding forces of majoritarianism or exclusivist ethnic nationalism. But the ethnic nationalist leaders are so adept at whipping up our primordial or visceral evolutionary defensive-aggressive urge to fight against so-called enemy groups, that such resistance is currently crumbling in many countries for example, conspicuously in India under the onslaught of Hindu nationalism, even after several decades of reasonably successful civic nationalism based on values of pluralism enshrined in the constitution and undergirded by centuries of folk-syncretic tradition of tolerance and pluralism of faith among the common people.

In an insightful article economists Sharun Mukand and Dani Rodrik detect the fundamental problem in something lacking in the origin of the democratic political settlement. One popular version of this settlement in European history has been that democracy came about as a compromise between the economic elite (interested in securing their property rights) afraid of mass upheavals and the organized working classes and peasants, clamoring for political rights. This led to extension of franchise and political representation, and rights to express, assemble, and organize, which ultimately led to welfare states of varying strengths. The workers in their turn accepted some limits in their demands so that capitalist property rights and opportunities are essentially preserved. In this democratic settlement the economic elite had the strength of their wealth and the workers the strength of numbers. But the groups that lost out in this bargaining process (or never had a chance) are those who have neither wealth nor numbersthe various minority groups in society (defined by ethnicity, religion, ideology, language, gender identity or sexual preference). Way back in 1787 James Madison in the Federalist Papers rightly put the issue of minority rights at the center of democratic concern in a new republic. Today it has become the Achilles Heel of liberal democracy.

Mukand and Rodrik distinguish between political rights and civil rights, the latter largely relating to protection of those minority groups (including protection of the rule of law, habeas corpus, equal access to public services, etc.). They point out that in the aforementioned bargaining equilibrium between the economic elite and the majority of workers, those civil rights may go by default, and there may not be a strong enough group to fight for them or make any credible threats to the other groups. Some exceptions may take place where the ethnic minority is part of the economic elite (as in the case of the Chinese businessmen in parts of south-east Asia, or some Jewish Americans important in the business and media elite of their countrybut even in these cases hate-crimes and discrimination against such minority groups have not been uncommon).

The distinction between political and civil rights is related to the distinction between participatory and procedural aspects of democracy that I have emphasized in all my recent writings on populism. Majoritarian populists either of the right or the left variety usually ride roughshod over the procedural aspects (like the due process that the minorities are entitled to under rule of law). The question is, how does one preserve and sustain these procedural aspects?

An alternate way of looking at the origin of democracystill keeping to an essentially interest-based (rather than idea-based) explanationmay provide a bit more hope for the political logic behind the sustenance of civil rights or procedural aspects of liberal democracy. This alternative ascribes the rise of democracy to competition within the elite, rather than the threat of mass uprisings faced by the elite as a whole. In my 1984 book, The Political Economy of Development in India, I ascribed the survival of democracy in India, against a formidable set of odds, not so much to the strength of liberal values in the belief system of the Indian population, as to how in a country of immense diversity, even the elite is so fragmented (with no element individually sufficiently strong to hijack the system by itself) that they agree on some minimum democratic rules in their transactional negotiations, to keep their rivals at the bargaining table under some limits of moderation. (Of course, when the diversity or the lack of trust is extreme the process may unravel, and the rival groups turn to civil war, as has often happened in Africa).

In the book I had referred to the 19th-century British example of the industrial bourgeoisie allowing an extension of franchise to the working classes, not necessarily out of love or fear of the latter, but more to checkmate their elite rival in the landed aristocracy. (Roughly similar, episodic, cases have been cited by political scientists in the history of Denmark, Greece, Spain and France in the 19th century, and of Argentina and Portugal in the early part of the 20th). In Federalist Paper no. 10 James Madison looked upon a great number of what he called factions (the most important example of factions in his mind was the different type of interest groups) and their diversity as the safeguard against tyranny - he pointed to the greater security afforded by a greater variety of parties (i.e. factions), against the event of any one party being able to outnumber and oppress the rest.

One, of course, needs more institutional structure for sustenance of civil rights. If elite fragmentation is such that each fragment is suspicious that some other fragment may get too powerful to endanger its civil rights, each fragment may then have a stake in a social contract that ensures some minimum framework of civil rights for everybody. (This is somewhat akin to the Rawlsian theory of justice under a kind of veil of ignorance, applied here to procedural rights). Mukand and Rodrik have a somewhat similar case in the special situation when there is no permanent majority or minority in society, and if coalitions keep shifting.

To make such a social contract binding the elite fragments may then be interested in constitutions or other such founding documents that limit over-reach on the part of anybody through built-in arrangements like separation of powers and checks and balances. In particular the institutions like judiciary within the governmental set-up, and the media, universities, and other civil society organizations outside can become watchdogs against abuse of power, particularly in oppressing minorities. In India, Turkey, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Brazil, and elsewhere popularly elected governments are now systematically using their majoritarian muscles to weaken and intimidate these institutions that safeguard minority rights. In the United States these institutions, for all their faults, have been somewhat stronger all along, and are offering a bit stiffer resistance so far against a marauding President and his subservient party legislators, but even there the judiciary seems to be in the process of being captured by partisan political appointments, and the media torn by sectarian polarization.

Yet on the lines of Madisons thinking it is the diversity of interest groups, regions and identities and their collective action ability that may be the main source of lingering hope in extremely diverse countries like India. The Hindu nationalists currently enjoy a great deal of advantages in their onward march: a massive cadre-based disciplined, though thoroughly bigoted, organization (RSS) attempting to forge cultural homogenization among the Hindus, a charismatic political leader not averse to spreading misleading half-truths, lies and disinformation, access to a disproportionately large amount of corporate donations for election funds, and an infernal ability to use the arms of a pre-existing over-extended state to harass and persecute dissidents and intimidate the rest (through ample use of investigative and tax-raiding agencies, and misuse of colonial-era sedition laws against critics of the government, threats of withdrawal of public advertisements from critical media outlets, allowing impunity for the partisan lynch-mobs or police against minorities, and so on). The atmosphere of fear and intimidation has immobilized many civil society groups. Labor unions as a possible center of organized opposition have been in a kind of structural decline. Sadly, even the judiciary seems to have been compromised, and often timid or erratic.

Nevertheless in the long run the odds are against such drastic homogenization and cramming of the manifold diversities of Hindu society into the Procrustean bed of an invented, artificial, poisonous, religious nationalismagainst which Gandhi, the father of the nation, fought all his life. Hinduism has never been an organized or standardized religion and in a country of extreme linguistic, cultural and other diversities and powerful centrifugal forces, the project of suppression of the civil rights of the worlds largest minority population in any one country (nearly 200 million Muslims, apart from other dissidents) is unlikely to be viable over a long period, at least not without giving up all semblance of democracy. Social movements for group and regional autonomy and political movements for more decentralization and devolution of power are likely to grow in reaction. Already the military lockdown of Kashmir and particularly the anti-Muslim Citizenship Amendment Act and the proposed National Registry of Citizens for the whole country have provoked widespread unrest, often led by women. It has been an invigorating sight in recent times in the streets of different parts of India where diverse crowds of young people have gathered in thousands chanting the preamble to the liberal-pluralistic Constitution of India, while a repressive government has continued to use violence and intimidation against protesters. In the near future civil disobedience movements and regional resistance against arbitrary laws that seem to violate the spirit, if not always the letter, of the Constitution are likely to grow and provide formidable opposition.

Of course, this opposition needs to be organized in all fronts, in the legislatures, in the media and in the streets, and by the state governments that are still controlled by opposition parties. For far too long even the opposition states have allowed the central government to usurp powers arbitrarily, to assault the basic structure of the constitution in many ways, reorganize and overhaul some states, violate the spirit of federalism in not involving or consulting the state governments while ramming through crucial legislations on policing, law and order and social welfare services (all of which constitutionally are state subjects), in changing the terms of reference of the constitutional body of Finance Commission that allocates resources between the central and state governments, in introducing questionable forms of election funding, and so on. Even when the central government actions are technically legal, one can follow Gandhi who had taught Indians to organize mass civil disobedience when the laws are not socially legitimate. Such movements even when started by refreshing bursts of spontaneity and the vigor and authenticity of decentralized leaderlessness, for gathering steam and ultimate sustenance over the medium to long run theyll need some coordination and direction, particularly from some degree of association with mass organizations, with minimum common agenda for diverse groups and youthful leaders.

This is an uphill battle for protecting the essence of liberal democracy that liberals all over the world should keep a vigilant eye on. It is vitally important particularly at a time when the Achilles Heel of liberal democracy everywhere looks grievously exposed.
TORONTO, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Rubicon Minerals Corporation (TSX: RMX |OTCQX: RBYCF)("Rubicon" or the "Company"), based in Toronto, Ontario and focused on developing the Phoenix Gold Project in Red Lake, northern Ontario, today announced that George, Ogilvie, P.Eng., President and CEO of Rubicon, will present live at VirtualInvestorConferences.com on February 20th.

DATE: Thursday, February 20th

TIME: 10:00-10:30am ET

LINK: https://tinyurl.com/022020VIC-PR

This will be a live, interactive online event where investors are invited to ask the company questions in real-time. If attendees are not able to join the event live on the day of the conference, an archived webcast will also be made available after the event.

It is recommended that investors pre-register and run the online system check to expedite participation and receive event updates.

Learn more about the event at www.virtualinvestorconferences.com.

Recent Company Highlights

(Please refer to the Cautionary Statements at the end of this news release.)

Delivered a 2019 Preliminary Economic Assessment (" 2019 PEA ") for the Phoenix Gold Project, demonstrating after-tax IRR and NPV 5% of 40.2% and C$135.2 million , respectively. See news release on August 19, 2019 (Link to news release: https://rubiconminerals.com/Investor-News/News/Press-release-details/2019/Rubicon-Minerals-Delivers-New-PEA-Demonstrating-a-402-After-Tax-IRR-and-C191-million-Free-Cash-Flow-Potential-of-the-Phoenix-Gold-Project/default.aspx)

") for the Phoenix Gold Project, demonstrating after-tax IRR and NPV of 40.2% and , respectively. See news release on (Link to news release: https://rubiconminerals.com/Investor-News/News/Press-release-details/2019/Rubicon-Minerals-Delivers-New-PEA-Demonstrating-a-402-After-Tax-IRR-and-C191-million-Free-Cash-Flow-Potential-of-the-Phoenix-Gold-Project/default.aspx) Updated 2020 Mineral Resource Estimate shows expansion of Measured and Indicated Resource Estimates to 811,000 ounces of gold and Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate of 464,000 ounces. See news release on January 7, 2020 (Link to news release: https://rubiconminerals.com/Investor-News/News/Press-release-details/2020/Rubicon-Minerals-Continues-Year-Over-Year-Expansion-of-Measured-and-Indicated-Mineral-Resource-Estimates-and-Advances-the-Phoenix-Gold-Project-to-Feasibility-Study/default.aspx) and NI 43-101 Technical Report dated January 3, 2017 (

(Link to news release: https://rubiconminerals.com/Investor-News/News/Press-release-details/2020/Rubicon-Minerals-Continues-Year-Over-Year-Expansion-of-Measured-and-Indicated-Mineral-Resource-Estimates-and-Advances-the-Phoenix-Gold-Project-to-Feasibility-Study/default.aspx) and NI 43-101 Technical Report dated ( On schedule to deliver a Feasibility Study for the Phoenix Gold Project in H2/2020. See news release on January 20, 2020 (https://rubiconminerals.com/Investor-News/News/Press-release-details/2020/Rubicon-Minerals-Continues-to-Deliver-Positive-Assay-Results-and-Provides-its-2020-Plans/default.aspx)

About Rubicon Minerals Corporation

Rubicon Minerals Corporation is an advanced gold exploration company that owns the Phoenix Gold Project, located in the prolific Red Lake gold district in northwestern Ontario, Canada. Additionally, Rubicon controls the second largest land in Red Lake consisting of over 285 square kilometres of prime, strategic exploration ground, and more than 900 square kilometres of mineral property interests in the emerging Long Canyon gold district that straddles the Nevada-Utah border in the United States. Rubicon's shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (RMX) and the OTCQX markets (RBYCF). For more information, please visit our website at www.rubiconminerals.com .

RUBICON MINERALS CORPORATION

George Ogilvie, P.Eng.

President, CEO, and Director

About Virtual Investor Conferences

Virtual Investor Conferences is the leading proprietary investor conference series that provides an interactive forum for publicly-traded companies to meet and present directly with investors.



A real-time solution for investor engagement, Virtual Investor Conferences is part of OTC Market Group's suite of investor relations services specifically designed for more efficient Investor Access. Replicating the look and feel of on-site investor conferences, Virtual Investor Conferences combine leading-edge conferencing and investor communications capabilities with a comprehensive global investor audience network.

Cautionary Statement regarding Forward-Looking Statements and other Cautionary Notes

This news release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements" and "forward looking information" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words, expressions or statements that certain actions, events or results can, could, may, should, will (or not) be achieved or occur in the future. In some cases, forward-looking information may be stated in the present tense, such as in respect of current matters that may be continuing, or that may have a future impact or effect. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to statements regarding mineral resource estimates, the anticipated timing of the delivery and details of a Feasibility Study for the Project, the results of the 2019 PEA (including any anticipated economics, such as return on capital (including IRR) and NPV, free cash flow, gold production (payable or otherwise), capital and operating costs, life of mine (or LOM), estimated tonnes and grade, mineable inventory, construction period and other results of the 2019 PEA, all of which are estimates only), impact of infrastructure on the economics of the 2019 PEA or any Feasibility Study for the Project, the potential impact of the data from the 2019 drilling program after September 30, 2019, the potential tonnage of mineralized material and its grade from the Project (including, but not limited to, any Explore Target areas), the potential to improve mineral resource estimates (including but not limited to expanding the quantity and converting or upgrading the classification) and any further steps necessary to do so (including the anticipated outcome of further drilling of the Project) and mine plans.

Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made and represent management's best judgment based on facts and assumptions that management considers reasonable. If such opinions and estimates prove to be incorrect, actual and future results may be materially different than expressed in the forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Rubicon to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, those described in the Company's annual information form dated March 22, 2019 under the heading "Risk Factors" (the "2019 AIF"), the Cautionary Statements and footnotes in Company's news releases dated August 19, 2019, January 7, 2020 and January 20, 2020 (collectively, the "Cited News Releases"), the Technical Report for the Phoenix Gold Project dated January 3, 2020 (the "2020 Technical Report") including but not limited to its Cautionary Statements, and the Company's other continuous disclosure documents, all available under its profile at www.sedar.com and on the Company's website at www.rubiconminerals.com.

Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release and Rubicon disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement, and those contained in the Cited News Release and 2020 Technical Report.

Cautionary Note to U.S. Readers Regarding Estimates of Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources

This news release uses the terms "Measured" and "Indicated" mineral resource and "Inferred" mineral resource. The Company advises U.S. investors that while these terms are recognized and required by the Canadian Securities Administrators, they are not recognized by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The estimation of "Measured" and "Indicated" mineral resources involves greater uncertainty as to their existence and economic feasibility than the estimation of a "Reserve". The estimation of "Inferred" mineral resources involves far greater uncertainty as to their existence and economic viability than the estimation of other categories of mineral resources. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an "Inferred", "Measured", or "Indicated" mineral resource estimate will ever be upgraded to a higher category.

Under Canadian rules, estimates of "Inferred" mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility studies, pre-feasibility studies or other economic studies, except in prescribed cases, such as in a preliminary economic assessment (or PEA) under certain circumstances. The SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute "Reserves" as in-place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures. Under U.S. standards, mineralization may not be classified as a "Reserve" unless the determination has been made that the mineralization could be economically and legally produced or extracted at the time the Reserve determination is made. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of an "Inferred", "Measured" or "Indicated" mineral resource exists or is economically or legally mineable. Information concerning descriptions of mineralization and mineral resources contained herein may not be comparable to information made public by U.S. companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of the SEC.

SOURCE Virtual Investor Conferences
Minor Ortiz Delgado, a leader of the Bribri indigenous people in Salitre, Puntarenas province, Costa Rica, describes an attack on the indigenous community on 4 January 2013. He was shot for a third time in February 2020. Photo: Jeffery Lopez / YouTube

By Nina Lakhani

17 February 2020

(The Guardian)  An indigenous leader leading his peoples effort to reclaim ancestral land in Costa Rica has been wounded in a gun attack  the latest in a spate of targeted violence which has gone unpunished by authorities.

Mainor Ortiz Delgado, 29, a leader of the Bribri indigenous people in Salitre, Puntarenas province, was shot in the right leg earlier this month  the third time Ortiz has been shot allegedly by members of the same family in 14 months.

The suspected gunman, who carried out the gun attack in broad daylight in front of Delgados 13-year-old son, was detained but released within 24 hours.

Costa Rica, an eco-tourism hub with 5 million inhabitants, is Central Americas safest and most equitable country.

But in recent years, the Bribri people attempting to recoup lost land have been subject to dozens of violent attacks, racist harassment and trumped-up retaliatory lawsuits with almost total impunity.

As a result, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued precautionary measures in 2015, calling on Costa Rican authorities to protect the lives and physical integrity of the Bribri and their indigenous neighbours, the Broran people.

Sergio Rojas, an indigenous land activist, is pictured during a interview in Salitre, Buenos Aires de Puntarenas, Costa Rica, on 2 October 2015. On 19 March 2020, the government announced that he had been murdered by unknown attackers. No arrests were ever made. Photo: La Nacion / REUTERS

But the violence continued because the state failed to take action, according to Vanessa Jimenez, a lawyer with the not-for-profit organization Forest Peoples Programme who works with the indigenous communities.

This latest gun attack comes less than a year after 59-year-old Sergio Rojas Ortiz, an internationally acclaimed Bribri land and human rights defender, was shot dead at home in Salitre following years of death threats, harassment and assaults linked to his work.

At the time, the government acknowledged the growing violence against the countrys indigenous peoples involved in conflicts with mestizo families who have illegally occupied their ancestral lands, and pledged to deliver justice. Rojas Ortizs killers remain at large, and the land disputes remain unresolved.

The state has relinquished its duty and has abandoned these indigenous people to seek justice in the court system which also fails them, Jimenez told the Guardian. The impunity has empowered those who want to do harm to the Bribri and Broran. []

Last year, Magdalena Figueroa Morales, a Bribri elder, was seriously injured after a disgruntled neighbour threw liquid pesticide in her face. Shortly after, the elderly womans makeshift shack was burned down in a suspected arson attack. No one was arrested. [more]

Costa Rica indigenous leader shot amid tensions over land rights
Leading provider of team collaboration and productivity software Atlassian Corporation Plc, had their CIO, Archana Rao in India recently, stressing on how every industry in every country is undergoing transformation, whether its agile, digital or a cultural transformation. She notices enterprises making massive investments in building capabilities around automation, with a lot of new trends around AI/ML at both the front-office and back-office level, whether its Robotic Process Automation (RPA) or others. She opines while digital transformation is impacting scale at unprecedented levels; automation and building business capabilities along with security is driving overall value for all their customers globally.

At the recent Atlassian Cloud Connect 2020 summit in India, where Atlassian, the maker of Jira, Confluence, Bitbucket and Trello products, announced a commitment to delivering on its advanced cloud offerings for the India market, Archana stated that  In a digital-first market, businesses can no longer rely on built-to-last strategy to keep up with consumer demands. Her advice to enterprises that have a lot of legacy and are looking to transition, would be to take advantage to leapfrog, as they dont require to go through the same lifecycle of change that the industry has gone through in the past. These enterprises need to embrace cloud, agile and open ways of working to be future-ready.

She mentioned that the companys top priority would be that Atlassian Cloud is the deployment of choice for all customers, while ensuring that those customers who are using their data centers and server products are operating at the right level of scale and agility.

From a channel perspective, the companys top three priorities would be to firstly recruit new solution partners, essentially System Integrators (SIs) who have ITSM, cloud, agile and DevOps capabilities. Secondly, with and through their solution partners help local customers adopt Atlassians cloud solutions, that includes migration from server to Atlassian Cloud, and finally enable their partners capabilities through online training, mentoring and other certification courses.

In the context of India, she said, With India embracing digitisation across industries and enterprises accelerating cloud adoption, our solutions are uniquely placed to serve the Indian customers looking to leverage the immense benefits of cloud. We have announced new programs and tools that will aid existing customers in their transition from our self-managed, on-premise offering to the cloud, in turn giving them access to the latest security, reliability, privacy, and compliance roadmap for our products and services.

Cloud has been the key driver of Atlassians growth and innovation, with overall subscription revenue, which is primarily cloud driven, growing at 50% year-over-year. The company has plans to invest aggressively over the next 12 months to grow its cloud business in India. With cloud security being a major focus for its cloud customers, Atlassian has also announced enterprise-grade controls and security features, with data privacy upgrades to its underlying cloud platform. It has introduced new cloud plans including a Premium offering, giving customers the highest level of service with advanced features, a 99.9% uptime SLA, unlimited storage and access to premium security tools, ensuring enterprises have everything they need to confidently scale. The company has also launched Forge, its new cloud app development platform, allowing their ecosystem developers to more easily and securely build cloud apps.

The company has also launched new integrations, allowing customers to integrate Atlassian Cloud products with Microsoft Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS) for SSO, Google Cloud Identity for SSO and user provisioning, and Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) providers for cloud security. Atlassians comprehensive cloud security offerings include data residency for customers who want greater control over where their data is located, and data encryption at rest and in transit to help guard against unauthorised access.

Its customers in India include Ola Cabs, Reliance, Walmart Labs, and Flipkart, among others. The company is also aiming to double its number of Indian employees, working to add 300 more local employees to help support the growth of the world-class Atlassian R&D centre which opened in Bengaluru in 2018.

Atlassian serves over 164,000 customers worldwide, and has been named a Best Place to Work by Great Place to Work Institute in every market where they have a staff presence.
TAMPA, Fla., Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Gearing up for rapid nationwide growth, RNR Tire Express (RNR), the nation's fastest-growing tire and custom wheel franchise, has signed an agreement to bring 25 new locations to Indiana over the next five years.

The first location will open in Anderson and Muncie this spring. The agreement will also bring RNR Tire Express to Kokomo, Marion and Fort Wayne. The new stores will be managed by Scott Robertson, an automotive industry and franchising veteran. Robertson's extensive 15+ years of automotive and franchising experience will be pivotal as the brand expands its presence across Indiana and bring the lease-to-purchase model to communities in the area.

"Indiana's positive economic climate and unique demographic makes it a perfect fit for RNR Tire Express," said Robertson. "We are looking forward to giving back to the community by bringing RNR's convenient, pay-as-you-go services and safe tires to the communities across Indianapolis."

RNR has carved out a unique niche in the tire and wheel industry with its convenient, no hassle payment plans to fit each client's budget. RNR offers and professionally installs high quality tires and custom wheels to a growing underserved market and has established a business model that allows clients to pay off name brand tires and wheels on a weekly or monthly plan that is affordable to them.

"As a brand based in the Southeast, we are thrilled to further develop across the Midwest on our mission to make safe tires and wheels accessible to communities across the nation," said Larry Sutton, Founder and President of RNR Tire Express. "We have no doubt that Scott and his team will help the brand make a positive impact on the local communities surrounding the greater Indianapolis area by offering convenient payment options and top-tier customer service."

With a corporate culture that allows franchise partners to have a high degree of entrepreneurial freedom and a proven record of same-store revenue growth for three consecutive years, RNR's proven model is a profitable and rewarding franchise investment. The initial franchise fee for RNR is $35,000 with the total single-unit investment ranging from $500,000 - $700,000. For more information on the RNR franchise opportunity, visit www.RNRfranchise.com.

About RNR Tire Express:

RNR Tire Express is a national franchise retailer of quality tires and custom wheels offered with convenient, no credit hassle payment plans designed to fit each customer's unique budgets. Established in 2000 by lease to purchase veteran, Larry Sutton, RNR has grown to 130 locations in 24 states. The brand was recently ranked No. 40 in Franchise Gator's Top 100 list. RNR is ranked No. 218 in Entrepreneur Magazine's 2019 Franchise 500 list and was also recognized by Inc. magazine as one of America's fastest-growing private companies. Most recently, RNR ranked No. 271 in Franchise Times magazine's top 500 largest franchises in 2019. RNR Tire Express is seeking qualified multi-unit franchisees to expand even further nationally with prime markets available throughout the country. For more information regarding the RNR franchise opportunity, please visit www.RNRfranchise.com.

Media Contact: Claire Symington, Fishman Public Relations, 847-945-1300 or [email protected]

SOURCE RNR Tire Express

Related Links

http://www.rnrtires.com


Dipping electoral fortunes is raising the temperatures within the ranks of Congress leaders, which is evident from some of the public spats that have taken place since the party registered a disastrous defeat in Delhi. The Congress did not win a single seat second time in a row; it was in power in Delhi for three consecutive terms under Sheila Dikshit.

Milind Deora and Ajay Maken

Both the leaders had a public meltdown on Twitter late Sunday and early Monday over Deoras support of Aam Aadmi Partys win. He tweeted a video of Arvind Kejriwal and said that AAP was running a fiscally prudent government in Delhi, and it doubled its revenues while maintaining a revenue surplus in the last five years. Maken, not taking to it kindly, said that Deora could leave the party if he wishes to but he should not peddle half-baked fact, and went on to list stats from Delhi government under Congress, in which Maken was a minister.

Brother, I would never undermine Sheila Dikshits stellar performance as Delhi CM. Thats your specialty.



But its never too late to change!



Instead of advocating an alliance with AAP, if only you had highlighted Sheila jis achievements, @INCIndia wouldve been in power today https://t.co/aiZYdizdUL  Milind Deora   (@milinddeora) February 17, 2020

Things took an ugly turn when Deora accused Maken of undermining former chief minister Sheila Dikshit, and said that if instead of advocating an alliance with AAP, Maken had highlighted Sheilas achievements, perhaps Congress would have been in power.

The public spat is unusual for Congress leaders, many of whom keep personal equations away from the public eye. Deora has been seemingly unhappy with the party, speaking against the partys moves in both Maharashtra and in Delhi. For the usually reticent Maken, this was a rare outburst.

Sharmistha Mukherjee and P Chidambaram

Soon after the partys defeat, Delhi Congress leader Sharmistha Mukherjee took on party veteran P Chidambaram on Twitter after he tweeted in support of AAPs win. Chidambaram tweeted that in AAPs win, bluff and bluster has lost, and said he salutes the people of Delhi for setting an example. This angered Mukherjee who replied to him asking whether the Congress has outsourced the task of defeating BJP to state parties, and if that is the case, then state units of the Congress should then close shop, she said.

With due respect sir, just want to know- has @INCIndia outsourced the task of defeating BJP to state parties? If not, then why r we gloating over AAP victory rather than being concerned abt our drubbing? And if yes, then we (PCCs) might as well close shop! https://t.co/Zw3KJIfsRx  Sharmistha Mukherjee (@Sharmistha_GK) February 11, 2020

The outburst is layered with context if one looks at the relationship that Chidambaram shared with Mukerjees father, former president Pranab Mukherjee. By the latters own admission, the relationship was a strained one. It is also quite rare for a Congress leader to take a public potshot at a senior leader.

PC Chacko and Pawan Khera

The Delhi defeat has opened a can of worms inside the Congresss Delhi unit, as state in-charge PC Chacko and Pawan Khera, too, having a bit of a Twitter run-in. Soon after the defeat, Chacko sought to pass off blame for the defeat to Dikshit, and told reporters that the downfall of the Congress started in 2013 when Dikshit was the chief minister, and the party never recovered. This led to a public outburst from two leaders, Milind Deora and Pawan Khera. Deora said that it was unfortunate to blame her after her death. Khera, who was Dikshits political secretary too, took on Chacko.

Just a data point. In 2013, when we lost, @INCIndia vote share in Delhi was 24.55%. Sheila ji was not involved in 2015, when the vote share slipped to 9.7%. In 2019, when she was back in charge, the vote share came up to 22.46%. https://t.co/MvwHouRILh  Pawan Khera (@Pawankhera) February 12, 2020

He laid out data and said that in 2013 when the Congress lost to AAP, its vote share in Delhi was 24.55%. Sheila ji was not involved in 2015, when the vote share slipped to 9.7%. In 2019, when she was back in charge, the vote share came up to 22.46%, he wrote.
Within moments of stepping out of a gay club with his partner one morning in Moscow, Roman Yedalov was lying on the ground bleeding to death.

A stranger had stabbed the 47-year-old in the heart in the latest hate-fuelled incident to shock Russia's beleaguered gay community, which already endures abuse from the government.

It appeared to be an open and shut case in court earlier this month, but the killer was acquitted by a jury despite overwhelming evidence against him.

Yevgeny Yefimov, Mr Yedalov's former partner, said he had not experienced any violence or hostility until they left the club that day in the capital last June.

Mr Yefimov recalled a man shouting homophobic slurs at him as he checked a taxi-hailing app on his phone, before he felt a blow to his head. The attacker, a war veteran with a criminal record, knocked down both men and fled. Mr Yefimov got up, and the attacker pulled out a knife.

Mr Yedalov stood up and in an instant, he was stabbed in the heart. The attacker, Anton Berezhnoi, was acquitted after he confessed to assaulting the couple. He claimed Mr Yedalov "fell on the knife". He was given 23 months' house arrest for attacking Mr Yefimov. "No prison sentence can bring Roman back," Mr Yefimov said. "But I want justice."

Artyom Lapov, the couple's lawyer, blamed the verdict on the wording of a question the jury had to consider.

Russian law enforcement does not compile statistics of crimes against LGBT people but it is clear such offences have increased. LGBT-advocacy group Stimul recorded 13 hate attacks on LGBT people last year. Actual numbers were far higher, say analysts, as most attacks go unreported.

Researchers studying hate crimes in Russia say constant anti-gay rhetoric and a lack of high-profile guilty verdicts make them easy prey. A 2013 law against "homosexual propaganda" among minors triggered a wave of violence against gay people, said Natalia Yudina, of Sova, a Moscow group that studies human rights, nationalism and xenophobia.

Vladimir Putin last week made his opposition to same-sex marriage clear: "As long as I'm president, we won't have Parent One and Parent Two - we'll only have mum and dad." ( Daily Telegraph, London)

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]
A Milwaukee woman and her two daughters who went missing earlier this month were found dead in a garage Sunday, authorities said.

An Amber Alert was issued Thursday for Amarah Banks, 26, and her daughters Zaniya Ivery, 5, and Camaria Banks, 4, after Banks was reported missing by her family on February 9.

The three were found dead Sunday. Autopsies were scheduled for Monday, the Milwaukee Medical Examiner said on Twitter.

Arzel Ivery, Banks' boyfriend, gave police investigators information that led them to the Milwaukee garage where Banks and her daughters were found, Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales said in a news conference.

Ivery, 25, is being held in Memphis, Tennessee, on a charge of fugitive from justice without a warrant, according to Shelby County Jail records. He has not been charged in connection with the deaths, Morales said.

Ivery appeared before a judge Monday and waived an extradition hearing. He is expected to return to Wisconsin to face an aggravated battery charge.

The Memphis Police Department called Milwaukee police Saturday to tell them it had been in contact with Ivery, Morales said.

It was unclear whether Ivery has legal representation.

Banks and her children were last seen February 8, Milwaukee police said. It was also on that day that Ivery was charged with aggravated battery in Milwaukee, according to online court records.

Banks' mother, Valeria Spinner-Banks, told CNN affiliate WITI she last saw her daughter the day before, after the funeral for Banks' 1-year-old son, Arzel. Banks' sister dropped her off at her apartment after the funeral, Spinner-Banks told the station.

"She's just the kind of person that's very consistent," Spinner-Banks said. "For her not to get in contact with us, and not to let us know that something is wrong."
Last Friday I was shocked when I was crossing the road in front of the Police Headquarters at Cantoments. When the traffic light turned red and all the cars stopped, I saw a motor bike approaching. I was already three steps in the road so I was lost; whether to return or continue crossing the road. But to my surprise the motor rider stopped. At this time I was in the middle of the road but the temptation of turning to look at the rider to make sure he had really stopped was too high. He had stopped but my amazement had doused when I realised he was wearing a white skin.

In that instant, all my experiences with Okada drivers were flashing in my mind. I have never boarded one so I have no experience of the convenience this form of transportation brings. Though I dont doubt it.

On numerous occasions, I have met Okada drivers on the pavement of roads where pedestrians and cyclists are supposed to use. More frightening is that, the motorists could be coming from your back or meandering through people towards you from the front on top speed.

Im always scared when I find myself in that situation; whether at the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange (Circle) or Kaneshie. Whenever I have to cross the road through halted cars because of traffic, I am always alert for an unannounced Okada driver who thinks the traffic lights are a waste of resources. Sometimes you see police personnel at the back of these motorbikes. Other times the police personnel show absolute contempt to the traffic lights when on these motorbikes. Who then is to check the Okada driver?

No wonder the Head of the Accident, Emergency and Orthopedic Department at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr Frederick Kwarteng was vehemently calling for the ban of Okada in January this year. His call was premised on the fact that 58 motorcycle accident victims were recorded in the hospital from December 21, 2019 to January 1, 2020. He added that this is causing the victims to lose their lives, legs and arms, brains, wealth and entire social life. On the 15th of January this year, the Daily Graphic in an editorial indicated that 732 people died through Okada accidents in 2019.

Before I even continue, Okada is banned in Ghana. Section 128 (1) of the Road Traffic Regulations, 2012 states: The licensing authority shall not register a motorcycle to carry a fare paying passenger.

However, regardless of the growing menace that these motorbikes pose, some Members of Parliament- Muntaka Mubarak leading the pack - have been opposing the ban because according to them, the Okada business is putting food on the table of the riders. This is a genuine reason enough but the negligence of the same people who are supposed to create jobs for the people are now pushing for the legalization of a menace because it favours their Parliamentary seats.

I make this claim because of the assertion that the legalization of Okada will help our effort to Industrialise by assembling motorbikes and export them to the West African sub-region. This is just rhetoric.

Imagine how we are going to assemble motorbikes for the sub-region when we have folded our arms for Neoplan Ghana Limited to fold up. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) absolutely neglected a company that have or had the potential to employ thousands of youths and also solve our transportation problem by producing buses for public transport. The current government confuses me. Neoplan needs to be saved but the government is pushing for a so-called industrialization agenda that doesnt seem to recognize how important saving the company is.

The MP for Asawase, in his spirited defense for the legalization of Okada in March 2019, indicated that most people use these motorbikes because they want to get through the thick traffic of the cities to get to their destinations in good time. Is that the best way we can solve the problem of traffic congestion?

He also advocated that Accra should emulate Lagos, the Nigerian city, which can be described as the market leader in Okada in West Africa. Lagos, it must be said had made Okada illegal the same year Ghana had also decided to criminalize it- 2012.

But political expedience had prevented the city of not less than 20 million people from enforcing the law. On 1st February 2020, Lagos started enforcing the ban to immediately address the chaos and disorderliness created by illegal operations of Okada

I think we must rather emulate Lagos in this vein. Even though the process through which the ban is being enforced in Lagos is fraught with mistakes as some have described it as a rushed decision, we can learn from their mistakes and phase this illegality and nuisance out gradually.

I intentionally didnt mention the criminal activities that spur with the use of these motorbikes. Currently, the cons of the Okada business outweigh the pros. Youthful lives are being snuffed and that cannot be tolerated any longer. The appropriate authorities must enforce the law and eschew political opportunism in this worrying situation.

By Kofi Boateng ([email protected])
YEREVAN.  Armenias Minister of Justice Rustam Badasyan received today the Ambassador of France Jonathan Lacote.

The Minister thanked the Ambassador for the great support provided by France to Armenia within the framework of the European Union, and highlighted the success achieved in the field of legal cooperation based on the agreements reached with the French Minister of Justice Nicole Berube in Strasbourg last October.

The French ambassador expressed readiness to develop cooperation and inquired of the minister about the priorities of Armenias judiciary.

Badasyan touched upon the need to check the integrity of judges provided by the judicial strategy, the respective functions of the Committee on the Prevention of Corruption, the procedures for appointing new judges, and a number of other issues.

At the end of the meeting, an agreement was reached to develop cooperation in a number of directions.
Six members of an inter-state



gang stealing heavy-duty tipper trucks and selling them in several parts of the country were arrested in Aurangabad district in Maharashtra, police said on Monday.

Superintendent of Police Mokshada Patil identified them as local resident Shivaji Lahire (26), his Nashik-based relative Mahesh Birute (38), and ring leader Abdul Kaleem (40) from Surat in Gujarat.

Divakar Eknath Chavan (22) and Subneshkumar Bhatia (26) use to steal the trucks from Maharashtra, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, while Mohammad Istikhan would deactivate the GPS and other equipment in them, Patil added.

Lahire was held two days ago and his questioning led to the arrest of five others on Sunday, Patil informed.

"They would sell the trucks across the country with forged documents and fake numbers. We started a probe after a truck theft case was registered on February 11 in Vaijapur police station," the SP said.

Two cars and a tipper truck have been recovered while a team had gone to take possession of two trucks parked in Deenanagar area in Punjab, the official added.

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

The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement will be approved by the National Assembly in the forthcoming meeting, which will be a new milestone towards reform and integration of Vietnam's economy. With the ratification of this agreement, the EU, which is a fastidious market that demands the highest standards in the world, will officially recognize the efforts of Vietnam in rebuilding reforms and its market economy and sustainable development measures, while also strengthening cooperation with Vietnam.

As a new generation FTA, EVFTA is like a vital "highway" that will connect Vietnam to a larger and more lucrative world market for products, finance and technology. Benefits will be seen, weighed, measured and be countable as a result. The European Union will remove 85.6% off tariffs, and help increase competitiveness by 70.3% for Vietnamese exports in this particular market. Vietnam will be able to reduce input costs on manufacturing, reduce price of goods and services, and open new avenues of trade with the EU market, a market with the second largest purchasing power in the world, only after the United States.

EVFTA will enable access to high-quality goods and services at lower prices for both Vietnamese and European people. French and Italian wines will become more familiar to Vietnamese people, while Vietnamese shrimps will become part of an EU family meal.

Trade flow, investment flow and technology transfer will contribute to upgrading "Made in Vietnam" products for the global value chain that Vietnam is trying to join in. With participation of European partners, we expect technological support in manufacturing in Vietnam to increase.

In addition, efforts to reach international standards on national governance and corporate governance, labor, and environment will also create new energy sources for Vietnam's sustainable development strategy. "Sustainable development" is a key phrase, a platform to interact through economies and businesses under the framework of new generation FTAs, such as EVFTA.

Expectations from enterprises

First of all, businesses must make a deep and concerted effort to understand punctuality and commitment, as well as challenges and opportunities related to their industry and field so as to reposition themselves and take immediate and prompt action. They must restructure to face market requirement, customer demand, check supply availability and take full advantage of the opportunities that are set to open.

In addition, businesses must accelerate efforts, upgrade their own competitiveness of their business model, strategy, management style, human resource, and quality of goods and services, to meet the tough European standards. Without consistent and sustainable competitiveness, enterprises will not be successful in this market.

However, even during the process to excel and succeed in a world market, businesses must stay grounded on their own soil and local Vietnamese market. The domestic market with nearly one hundred million people must remain the platform and fulcrum for Vietnamese enterprises to reach out to lucrative world markets.

As the world market opens, great opportunities will also open, but competition will be fierce. In theory, in areas where there will be a direct confrontation between Vietnamese enterprises and EU businesses, competition in EVFTA will become more complicated. However, in general, the economic structure of Vietnam and EU countries is complementary and mutually supportive, so there will be less direct competition.

Intense competition will only be in some areas where Vietnam is still weak while the EU is very strong, such as logistics and animal husbandry. However, even within these sectors, we do not have to worry too much, because of our commitments. Markets that are opening in EVFTA will be moderate, with a long term roadmap that will allow the rise of domestic enterprises.

The problem is that efforts to rise to face competition must be the focus for integrating businesses, and not continue to rely on protectionism. The practice of our highly competitive industries and fields are now those that have said no to protectionism, committed to competition, and are bravely opening into new avenues and integrating simultaneously.

State will pave way and lead

Enterprises need to work closely with Government agencies in their effort to implement EVFTA. In order to improve the institutional capacity to prepare for integration, reforms must not only ensure compliance with commitments, but also best use of opportunities. Deeper and broader institutional reforms mean committing to opening development space for the Vietnamese economy.

If EVFTA is seen as a highway, the domestic institutions will act as inner roads and inner cities will serve as feeder roadways. These roads must follow clear and disciplined guidelines to accelerate Vietnam to a stronger economy. Attempts at integrating institutional reforms must continue to strengthen transparent and fair competitive platforms; sustainable development; ensure harmonization of economic, social and environmental objectives; support micro, small and medium enterprises; promote business ties; develop supporting industries; and create a symbiotic ecosystem of mutual benefit between foreign and domestic enterprises.

The key to EVFTA integration in particular, or international economic integration in general, must ultimately stem from State institutional reform efforts, by upgrading governance and improving competitiveness in businesses. These are extreme future challenges for the Vietnamese economy to meet and face and overcome if it wants to succeed.

Translated by Mathew Hung

Vu Tien Loc, Chairman of VCCI
By PTI

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday urged the UN to fulfil its commitments with the people of Kashmir and help them achieve the right of self-determination as he met chief of the global body Antonio Guterres here.

During his meeting with the UN Secretary-General, Prime Minister Khan highlighted the "dire human rights and humanitarian situation" in Jammu and Kashmir following India's August 5 decision to end the special status of the region.

"The Prime Minister underscored that the Kashmiri people continued to look to the United Nations to honour its commitments for the realisation of their right to self-determination, as enshrined in numerous UN Security Council resolutions," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.

Tensions between India and Pakistan spiked after New Delhi ended the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5 last year.

India's decision evoked strong reactions from Pakistan, which downgraded its diplomatic ties and expelled the Indian envoy.

India has defended its move, saying the special status provisions only gave rise to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

"The country took the decision of abrogation of Article 370, which had only given separatism and terrorism to that state," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in October last year.

India has rejected any third-party intervention to the Kashmir issue and has maintained that all outstanding matters in Indo-Pak ties should be resolved bilaterally.

Khan claimed that India's belligerent rhetoric, intensified ceasefire violations on the LoC, and other aggressive actions were imperilling peace and security in the region, the statement said.

He also highlighted the possibility of a false flag operation by India to divert global attention from its "unacceptable actions" in Kashmir, it said.

ALSO READ | Terror groups continue to get funds from supporters: FATF's veiled dig at Pakistan

Talking about Afghanistan, Khan underscored that there was no military solution to the Afghan conflict and reaffirmed Pakistan's steadfast support for peace and reconciliation in the war-torn country.

Khan also highlighted Pakistan's generosity in hosting millions of Afghan refugees for the last four decades, the statement said.

Earlier, Guterres and Khan attended the International Conference on 40 years of hosting Afghan refugees in Pakistan.

The Prime Minister also stressed that climate change posed an existential threat to mankind and assured the Secretary-General that Pakistan would work for hand in hand with the global community to pursue swift implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement.

He also highlighted the landmark '10 billion Tree Tsunami'.

Guterres also held talks with Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Monday.

ALSO READ | British MP, critic of India's Kashmir policy, deported after being denied entry into India

Matters of mutual interests, overall regional security situation including Afghan refugees issue, Afghan reconciliation process and the Kashmir dispute were discussed during the meeting, Pakistan army said in a statement.

"Visiting dignitary said that there is a need to implement UN resolutions on Kashmir," the statement said. The UN chief on Sunday arrived on a four-day visit to Pakistan during which he will also visit Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib. Guterres thanked Pakistan for "full access given to United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) in Kashmir," it said.

He also commended the improved security situation in Pakistan and positive efforts towards regional peace and stability.

The UN chief also acknowledged Pakistan's contribution in UN peacekeeping missions and extraordinary achievements in counter-terrorism.

Separately, United States special envoy for Afghan reconciliation ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad also called on General Bajwa, the statement said.

"During the meeting, matters of mutual interest including overall regional security situation and ongoing Afghan reconciliation process were discussed," it said.

Khalilzad was in Pakistan to attend the conference on Afghan refugees and discuss the Afghan peace process.

He also met Prime Minister Khan.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-16 23:41:55|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

A worker returning from southwest China's Guizhou Province displays the QR code showing physical condition for checking upon arriving at Hangzhou East Railway Station in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, Feb. 16, 2020. The customized train for returning workers left Guiyang, capital of Guizhou Province, Sunday afternoon, carrying nearly 300 workers from Guizhou who are returning to work in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province, the first such train service in China after the Spring Festival. (Xinhua/Huang Zongzhi)

BEIJING, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- A customized train for returning workers left Guiyang, capital of Guizhou Province, Sunday afternoon, carrying nearly 300 workers from Guizhou who are returning to work in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province, the first such train service in China after the Spring Festival.

To meet the employment demand of enterprises and reduce the risks of epidemic spread, Hangzhou had applied to the railway department for a special train for those returning to work from places where the epidemic situation is relatively stable and the number of employees coming to Hangzhou is high, according to China Railway Chengdu Group Co. Ltd.

Special measures have been arranged for passengers on the train, including strict temperature monitoring, better ventilation and scattered seating.

More "point-to-point" direct trains for returning migrant workers will be opened to help workers from Sichuan, Chongqing and Guizhou return to areas including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou after the Spring Festival, according to China Railway Chengdu Group Co. Ltd.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip display is easier to scratch than you may think, according to a newly-released durability test. This test has been conducted over at JerryRigEverything YouTube channel.

The phone has been submitted to a number of different tests in this 12-minute long video. The most interesting one is definitely the display scratch test, which proves that its quite easy to scratch.

Well get to that part, however, lets take it one step at a time. First and foremost, its worth noting that Samsung said that this phone can be flipped over 200,000 times. That should give you some peace of mind.

Advertisement

The Galaxy Z Flip durability test proves theres a plastic layer on top of its UTG display

Samsung utilizes Ultra Thin Glass (UTG) on this phone, instead of a plastic display. It seems like it does have a protective layer on it, which makes it somewhat easy to scratch. That information has been shared by Max Weinbach, who simply shared Samsungs statement on this display.

As you can see in the provided durability test, this display starts scratching with a level 2 pick. That is the same level the Galaxy Folds display starts scratching up, and the same goes for the Motorola Razr.

That actually means that the phones display is quite easy to scratch. Samsung said that you need to handle this phone with care, the same as the Galaxy Fold. This display is much more prone to scratching than a display on your regular smartphone, which is protected by Gorilla Glass, or something of the sort.

Advertisement

The screens raised bumps are made out of plastic

The raised screen bumps on top of the phones bezels are made out of plastic. The phones physical buttons are made out of metal, and the same goes for its side-facing fingerprint scanner.

The Galaxy Z Flips frame is also made from metal. The phones outer display, the so-called Focus Display, wont scratch as easily. It starts scratching with a level 6 pick, which is what youd expect out of a smartphone display these days.

The phones display lasted for about 15 seconds under direct flame, and the pixels didnt recover after that.

Advertisement

The Galaxy Z Flip managed to survive the bend test, to a degree. The phones plastic bumps popped out on the first bend. The second bend pushed the phone out of shape near antenna lines. During the third bend the phone snapped, but not in half. The frame cracked near the power button. The fourth bend managed to crack the glass on the back, but the display remained functional.

The phone handled pocket dust really well

The source also poured some pocket dust on the phone. Well, its not exactly pocket dust, he poured some small rocks with dirt on the phones display, to see how will it handle those. The phones hinge did make sounds after that, but after blowing away the dust, those sounds went away, for the most part. Samsung may be onto something with this hinge design. Thats basically the takeaway from the Galaxy Z Flip durability test.

Do note that Ice Universe, a well-known tipster, also tweeted out something regarding this display. He says that the phones display is supplied by SCHOTT, from Germany. Its thickness measures 30 um (1/16th of ordinary smartphone glass), and Samsung has applied a PET film on top of it for protection. That PET film is what scratches.
China signaled Monday that it would postpone its most important political spectacle of the year, a sign of deepening anxiety within the ruling Communist Party about the threat posed by the coronavirus epidemic.

Chinese officials said the annual full meeting of the National Peoples Congress, which typically takes place with pomp and pageantry in early March, could be delayed because of the outbreak  a highly unusual symbolic blow to a government that typically runs with regimented discipline.

The announcement underscored the partys efforts to be seen as taking the crisis seriously, after the governments slow initial response and its efforts to play down the danger drew public fury.

The epidemic, which has killed at least 1,873 people, almost all in China, and severely hindered the countrys economy, has damaged the partys credibility and quickly become one of the most serious threats to its rule in decades.

Chinas leader, Xi Jinping, scrambling to contain the virus, is putting in place Mao-style social control measures across broad swaths of the country. But the government, worried that a sudden economic slump could undermine its grip on power, is also working to get vital industries back on track and reopen factories.

The annual meeting of the party-dominated congress is a cherished political tradition in which the party proudly showcases its governance model. It takes place in the imposing Great Hall of the People in Beijing, where Xi and other leaders, alongside nearly 3,000 delegates, lay out their agenda, issue the annual budget and pass major legislation.

The likely postponement of this years meeting suggests the coronavirus crisis is far from over. Even in 2003, when China was battling the severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, epidemic, the congress went ahead as usual.

Its a fairly extreme move, said Jane Duckett, director of the Scottish Center for China Research at the University of Glasgow. They certainly seem to be very, very worried.

The committee that oversees the congress said it would vote next Monday on whether to delay the gathering. Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency, quoted a committee spokesman as saying that to ensure that attention is entirely focused on preventing and controlling the epidemic, it is considered necessary to appropriately postpone the congress.

Yet Duckett said it would be hard for Xi to win back trust. When youre in charge of everything and when things go wrong, youre responsible, she said.

Overall, the virus has sickened more than 73,200 people globally.

China has been wary of allowing international experts to assist in the crisis. It has ignored offers of help from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, for example. And it did not allow an outside team of experts affiliated with the World Health Organization to visit until this week.

The WHO group began field inspections Monday, according to Chinas state-run news media.

But in a sign of Beijings efforts to control information about the epidemic, the experts will not visit Hubei province, which is home to Wuhan and where the vast majority of deaths have occurred. They will be permitted to travel only to Beijing and the provinces of Sichuan and Guangdong, according to Chinese news media reports.

Chinese officials are working to persuade the public that the government is taking swift action. Much of the country remains in lockdown, with hundreds of millions of people facing hard limits on going outdoors.

Javier C. Hernandez is a New York Times writer.
One of the highlighting features of the new Galaxy Z Flip is its "Ultra Thin Glass" display which folds. Unlike other folding phones with a plastic panel, the Galaxy Z Flip has a unique kind of glass that bends. Obviously, that raises a lot of questions about its durability.

Well, lucky for us, JerryRigEverything on YouTube decided to do a durability test on the phone. Zack from JerryRigEverything, in case you don't know, is known for his durability tests. It's become a thing now where people actually wait for Zack to test a phone's durability before they drop their money on it.

In his Galaxy Z Flip video, Zack shows you exactly how easy it is to scratch the phone's "Ultra Thin Glass". You'll see that he was able to leave visible and permanent marks on the display with just his tools and fingernails. Now that seems like a bit of a concern.

Here, check it out -

Yeah, that didn't take a lot of effort, did it? In Samsung's defence, there is a warning label that says that you're not supposed to place hard objects on the screen for exactly this reason. When the folks over at The Verge reached out to Samsung about this, the company said this:

"Galaxy Z Flip features an Infinity Flex Display with Samsungs Ultra Thin Glass (UTG) to deliver a sleek, premium look and offer an immersive viewing experience, and that Samsungs first-of-its-kind UTG technology is different from other Galaxy flagship devices. While the display does bend, it should be handled with care. Also, Galaxy Z Flip has a protective layer on top of the UTG similar to Galaxy Fold."

 YouTube/ JerryRigEverything

Look, the folding screens, as appealing as they may look, aren't as durable as the glass on our normal phones. So if you fancy a folding phone today, then you got to be ready to handle the phone with extreme care. That's just how it is.
In bed no. 329 at the oncology ward of Kanti Childrens Hospital in Kathmandu, a child is lying on her back, with her mom lost in her thoughts next to the childs worried grandmom.

Dr Bishnurath Giri enters the room and the grandmother gets ups. She instantly asks, What will happen to my granddaughter now? He asks her back, Did you discuss it in the family?

The equally worried mother replies, We will treat her even if we have to sell our property, but what are her chances?

She has a very complex kind of blood cancer. We have records of treating 1 among the 40-45 such patients, says the doctor speaks ambiguous words, She is only eight months old so the risk is there, but with treatment and the right nutrition, she will get better.

Not quite satisfied, the mother says softly, so its up to God

***

In the next bed is Sarita Sah from Mahottari. She is here for her daughters treatment. Nine months ago, her 10-year-old daughter had a fever. She would vomit as soon as she eats and complained of severe pain in her hands and legs. She went to many local hospitals but to no avail. Finally, she has come to Kanti. Recently, it has been confirmed that she has cancer.

In these nine months, she has spent more than Rs 400,000 for treatment. When she was informed that the treatment would continue for another three years, she was perplexed. She is staying at a hotel in Gaushala while her husband is abroad for employment, We have sold all of our land; the money he [the husband] sends is not enough. There is so a huge loan to reply, she laments.

And, in yet another next bed is Rambabu Yadav, also from Mahottari for his sons treatment. His son has blood cancer and has been in the hospital for three years. He has a loan of Rs 800,000 and has spent a million rupees he got from selling land, in treatment only. He has an additional monthly expense of Rs 8,000 for a room where he is residing with his wife. It is said that it will take two more years for the treatment to finish.

I was working abroad and came back to Nepal when he got sick. What I had earned is all gone, so is our land. The loan is adding on, whereas the treatment has not finished, he says, I feel like leaving the treatment at once.

There are a lot of people in the ward who share the same story. From the burden of treatment cost to a lack of rooms near the hospital area, the families face the problems galore. Sah says, The hotel is expensive, and Ive been searching for a room for the past six months.

***

About a month ago, Bagmati Sahani from Chandranigahapur of Rautahat district reached Kanti Hospital with her daughter. The daughter was diagnosed with blood cancer. Oncologist Dr Giri sent her to the Shukraaraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital (Teku Hospital) for a bone-marrow biopsy. However, the mother never returned. They later found out that she did not even have a Rs 1,000 to do the biopsy.

She could not afford to live in Kathmandu for a year. Naturally, her status did not support her plea to get a loan either. In the end, she compromised heavily and ditched the idea of treatment of her daughter.

Sahani is only a case in point here. There is a pool of people sharing similar stories, who after the disease is diagnosed, choose to not get treatment because they do not have money. Dr Giri says one of the 10 cases he deals with gets untreated.

***

According to the World Health Organisation, as many as 300,000 children are diagnosed with cancer every year. The statistics say that the number of children dying of cancer is high in developing countries like Nepal, almost quadruple the number of such deaths in developed countries. Most of the victims belong to lower and medium-class families.

In Kanti Hospital only, there are 200 new cancer patients annually whereas 500 come for follow-ups. BP Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital of Bharatpur in Chitwan treats 100 children every year.

Of such patients in the Bharatpur hospital, 60 per cent have blood cancer, says Pediatric Oncology Units head Dr Niva Tiwari. In Kanti also, the ratio of blood cancer to other types is 60:40, says Dr Giri. Among 12 hospitals that treat cancer in children, 525 children were admitted in 2015. Of them, 205 were fighting against blood cancer.

That year, there were only 14 children at oncology ward of Kanti Hospital. The number reached 171 in 2019. In Bharatpur, the number reached 104 in 2016 from 50 in 1999.

Based on the records of countries with proper cancer statistics, it is assumed that around 120 in every one million children below 19 suffer from cancer. However, no such research has been done in Nepal. The doctors estimate that around 1,500 children with cancer reach hospitals in Nepal, but the actual number is just half. It suggests the other half cannot afford to visit a hospital. Dr Giri hints at the possibility that only 20 per cent of children with cancer have reached the hospitals.

***

Dr Giri says the number of children with cancer admitting to the hospitals has risen up because of the growing awareness in people about the disease. But, the hospital has not been able to give the proper services to them given the lack of equipment, agrees with the doctor. Though the number of patients has increased, investments in both Kanti and Bharatpur hospitals have not. All services they are providing are based on limited equipment, medicines, beds, specialised doctors, and nurses.

The Bharatpur hospitals director Dr Bijay Chandra Acharya claims that around 95 per cent of cancer seen in children can be detected in the hospital. Even with limited resources, he says, the hospital still gives quality services, But the problem is that people cannot afford treatment.

Dr Giri also claims Kanti is giving quality services despite not having enough resources.

***

Among the 750 children who reach Kanti for diagnosis, only 250 complete the treatment procedures. Doctors say if the children get full and consistent treatment, their life can be saved.

About 100 children are diagnosed with cancer at BP Cancer Hospital annually. But, 60 per cent of them do not follow the treatment procedure and only 30 per cent of them get complete treatment. In Kanti, 200 children are diagnosed, but 10 per cent of them do not show up again while 10 per cent of them leave the treatment halfway.

Generally, the treatment for cancer is expensive than one of any other diseases. The patients have to go to the hospital for at least five years. The course also involves expensive oral medicine that continues for years. This is why the lower class people cannot afford the treatment.

In Kanti and Bharatpur, services like blood tests, urine tests, x-ray, CT (computerised tomography) scan, and bed charges are free for cancer patients. For children below 15, the hospital also provides food. Likewise, the government also offers a discount of up to Rs 100,000 on medicines at the hospital pharmacy. Dr Tiwari in Bharatpur Hospital says, The Rs 100,000 sum from the government is enough to cover the chemotherapy for the child.

But even with such incentives from the government, a middle-income family cannot afford the expenses of treatment. Many of the medicines still need to be purchased from outside while for some tests, they even have to go as far as to India. Those from outside Kathmandu have to come to the capital, prepared to rent a room. These factors play to force the families to give up the treatment course and the hope for the lives of their children.

Dr Giri says, for the treatment at Kanti alone, one needs Rs 400,000-500,000. In a private hospital, it costs Rs 1.5 to 2.5 million. With the cost of a cancer treatment done in private hospitals, six children can get treatment in Kanti.

***

The familys failure to afford the treatment is not the only problem. It is neither easy to diagnose cancer. Even Kanti Hospital does not have a functional MRI machine; the hospitals outside Kathmandu even do not have CT scanners. No Nepali hospital has a machine required to detect 40 types of blood cancer cells.

Because the right diagnosis is not possible, children with a brain tumour are more likely to lose their lives early, says Director of the Hospital Prof Dr Rishikesh Narayan Shrestha. It is the second common diagnosed disease in children. Based on different studies, it is assumed that 20 to 25 per cent of the children with cancer who reach hospitals are diagnosed with a brain tumour. However, in the cancer registry of 12 hospitals in Nepal, it is only eight per cent.

Even today, the blood samples are sent to India for an examination which costs about Rs 25,000 to 50,000. It costs the same if one has to detect blood cancer. If the test equipment had been available in Nepal it would have cost around Rs 5,000 only, says Dr Giri.

According to the doctors, a flow cytometre can be bought for Rs 50,000 to Rs 70,000, but an MRI scanner costs as much as Rs 100 million.

Dr Giri says the MRI scanner is necessary but there is no need to get the flow cytometre in Kanti right away. He says Bir Hospital or Teku Hospital can get the flow cytometre. It is not necessary to have all equipment in all hospitals, but if the government invests Rs 50 million to get the equipment in Teku Hospital, we will no longer need to send the samples to India for tests.

***

According to the WHO, the success rate of cancer treatment has not increased because people are visiting the hospital too late, possibly because they think they cannot afford the treatment. The survival rate in developed countries is 80 per cent whereas it is just 37 per cent in the underdeveloped countries.

Nepals survival rate is 50 to 60 per cent while it is 20 per cent in Africa, says oncologist Sudhir Sapkota. He says, To increase the survival rate, we need to increase awareness among the people. If we can just reach out to the children who are out of reach now, we can save a lot more lives.

The WHO has pledged to save one million lives from cancer by 2030. It means the number of cancer survivors has to double. For this, we have to up the quality of services that we have now in terms of cancer diagnosis and treatment, says Dr Sapkota.

Then, the number of paediatric oncologists in Nepal has to go up. The Ministry for Health and Population has not allocated any separate quota for a paediatric oncologist in the hospitals. Nevertheless, there are two paediatric oncologists, a resident doctor and nine nurses in Kathmandu.

According to the standards set for the underdeveloped countries, there should be 25 cancer-specific nurses and six doctors along with medical officers in one hospital.

Most of the previous government policies prioritised only communicable diseases, which is why cancer diagnosis and treatment have not been a priority, says the ministrys spokesperson Mahendra Shrestha. The new provincial governments are working on policies for the quota for the paediatrician(s) and oncologist(s) in provincial-level hospitals, Shrestha assures.

Photo: Chandra Bahadur Ale
With the exception of factories producing medical protective equipment, which the Chinese government has asked to run around the clock, few businesses seem to be returning yet to their previous pace.

Toyota said that its four assembly plants had operated on two work shifts a day before the virus spread. But it planned to reopen three of them on Monday and Tuesday with just one shift and leave closed for now the fourth and smallest, in the western Chinese city of Chengdu.

Foxconn, the Taiwan company that makes iPhones and other gadgets on behalf of Apple and global electronics companies, declined to detail which plants have reopened since the Chinese holiday ended but denied a media report that it was aiming to reach 50 percent production levels by the end of this month. It did not respond to requests for additional comment. Apple also declined to comment, but its chief executive, Timothy D. Cook, said last month, without offering specifics, that some of its suppliers could be disrupted.

Chinas consumer electronics components factories slowly reopened through last week, and by Monday practically all had reopened except those in Wuhan, at the center of the epidemic, said Anna-Katrina Shedletsky, the chief executive of Instrumental, a remote quality monitoring system used by global brands to track and manage electronics manufacturing. She added, however, that many of these factories were not at full production.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, which has members across much of the industrial heartland in east-central China, said that the majority of its members had restarted at least some operations. But the bulk of these members are not at full production, mainly for lack of workers, said Ker Gibbs, the chambers president.

The reopening of businesses means trying to bring together again much of Chinas 700 million-strong labor force after what had become a nearly three-week national holiday. Chinas containment efforts have effectively carved up the country. At least 760 million people  slightly over half the countrys population  are under various kinds of lockdown.

The authorities have begun trying to reconnect the country. Chinas agriculture ministry demanded over the weekend the removal of road and highway blockages in rural areas that have prevented the movement of livestock and animal feed. The southern province of Jiangxi announced last Thursday that it would dismantle checkpoints at highway entrances and exits.
The man accused of murdering detective garda Adrian Donohoe was under curfew and on bail facing charges at the time of the fatal shooting, a court has heard.

This afternoon, the jury in the trial of Aaron Brady (29), who denies capital murder, heard evidence of a voluntary statement he gave to gardai 11 days after the killing.

Garda Inspector Mark Phillips, who was then a detective sergeant with the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation at Harcourt Square in Dublin, said that a team had been sent to Dundalk to assist the garda inquiry.

He agreed with Brendan Grehan SC, prosecuting, that Aaron Brady had arrived at Dundalk Garda Station on February 5, 2013 with a solicitor to make a voluntary statement.

Insp Phillips also agreed with counsel that Mr Brady was not under arrest and at that stage was not a suspect. The statement was then read out to the court by Mr Grehan to the Central Criminal Court jury.

The accused told gardai that he had a curfew for around 9pm as part of conditions related to criminal damage and dangerous driving charges he was facing before Dundalk Circuit Court while he was living in Tullydonnell, Co Louth, but that his bail address was another address at a holiday home owned by his grandfather.

In his statement Aaron Brady said that he finished school at 16 after completing his GCSEs and worked as an electrician until he was 18 or 19. He then moved to Australia for four months and later went to the US around the time he turned 20. While there he worked in Boston with one of his best friends he had known from school, who cannot be identified for legal reasons.

Mr Brady told gardai that when he returned home after three months he worked with his father, Tony Brady, who had an advertising business and was also the chairmen of Crossmaglen Rangers.

Aaron Brady, the court heard, told gardai that he was trying to get money together to pay off compensation in relation to the criminal damage incident.

He said he had "3,000 bail up" and hoped to get a thousand or two thousand euro extra.

After he finished working with his father, the jury heard, he went on the dole. He also said that he got a claim of around 4,000 from a car accident in Newry, during which the vehicle he was a rear seat passenger in was struck from behind, and that he "lived off that".

The jury were told that in his statement Mr Brady said that he broke his right hand playing GAA two or three years previously and later had two screws and one plate inserted into it during an operation in Belfast on December 7, 2012.

He said it was his "dominant hand" and that he struggled to lift more than 20kg or 30kg with his right hand.

The court heard that at around 2.30am on the morning of January 25, Mr Brady said he and his friend went to collect his then 17-year-old girlfriend from a nightclub in Dundalk.

In this statement he said that he had a fight with his girlfriend because "she was wearing some fella's" hat when she came out of the nightclub.

Mr Brady said he then spent the night at a house in Bellurgan with the friend who he had also worked with in Boston, and they woke up after midday that day.

Aaron Brady and this individual then travelled to Tullydonnell at 1pm where they collected another man known to them, who also cannot be identified for legal reasons, the court heard.

He then said they got food along the Carrickmacross to Castleblayney Road and described the route they took to a closed filling station in Cullaville, Co Armagh, at around 2pm, where they were deciding what they were going to do for the day

The jury of eight men and seven women will continue hearing evidence of the accused's voluntary statement to gardai tomorrow morning.

Aaron Brady (29), of New Road in Crossmaglen, Co Armagh, has pleaded not guilty to the capital murder of Adrian Donohoe, who was then a member of An Garda Siochana acting in the course of his duty, at Lordship Credit Union in Bellurgan, Co Louth, on January 25, 2013.

He has also denied the robbery of approximately 7,000 in cash and assorted cheques from Mr Pat Bellew at the same location on the same date.

Earlier Donald Whiteside, a wildlife ranger in Northern Ireland, gave evidence of coming across a burnt out car at Cumsons Road, Newtownhamilton, Co Armagh, the day after the murder.

Mr Whiteside said that on January 26, 2013, he was requested to check out an area of tree felling for environmental or wildlife in the area of Cumsons Road near Fews Forrest.

He was travelling in his 4x4 with his son when they noticed a burnt out car reversed into a gateway at the entrance of a field, the court heard.

The witness agreed with Lorcan Staines SC, prosecuting, that the tyres of the vehicle were smouldering and that the car's bonnet was lukewarm when he touched it.

Mr Whiteside agreed that burnt out cars were left in the area on a weekly basis and that he didn't search the area around the car as it wasn't procedure.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Michael White tomorrow morning.
When completed, the Barakah power plant will have four reactors with a total capacity of 5,600 megawatts.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) issued an operating licence for the first reactor at the Arab worlds first nuclear power plant, paving the way for it to start production later this year.

The Barakah nuclear power plant in Abu Dhabi, which is being built by Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), was originally due to open in 2017 but the start-up of its first reactor has been delayed several times.

A 60-year operating licence will be granted to the plants operator, Nawah Energy Company, Hamad al-Kaabi, deputy chairman of Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) told a news conference on Monday.

Nawah can now begin the commissioning phase by loading fuel into the reactor in preparation for operation, a process that will take a number of weeks and will be accompanied by testing of the safety systems, al-Kaabi said.

When completed, Barakah will have four reactors with a total capacity of 5,600 megawatts.

Al-Kaabi said construction of the plants second reactor was 95 percent complete and that FANR had started looking into an operating license for it.

Christer Viktorsson, director-general of FANR, said Nawah can start initial power production by May or June of this year. Reaching the first reactors full production capacity would take eight to 12 months if all tests went well, he added.

Today marks a new chapter in our journey for the development of peaceful nuclear energy with the issuing of the operating license for the first [unit of] Barakah plant, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed wrote on his official Twitter account.

Qatari concern

Last month, state news agency WAM reported an operational readiness assessment performed by the Atlanta centre of the World Association of Nuclear Operators concluded that the first of the four planned reactors was fit for its start-up phase.

The UAE is the only country that has purchased a KEPCO reactor.

Expressing concern, Qatars foreign affairs ministry reportedly sent a letter in March to the International Atomic Energy Agency saying a radioactive plume from an accidental discharge could reach its capital, Doha and a radiation leak could harm the Gulfs water supply.

The UAE insists its nuclear power programme is transparent, safe and only intended for civilian use.

Qatar is currently under a continuing diplomatic, trade and transport blockade by the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt over allegations that Doha supports terrorism and is too close to Iran. Qatar has rejected such claims.
Everyday app Grab has partnered with together with the local government of San Jose Del Monte Bulacan to provide create thousands of livelihood opportunities for the residents.

Aside from that, the program will develop a hyper-localized mapping system that aims to improve the access to commercial and public services in the city.

By next month, Grab will be launching its everyday services in the city including GrabTrike, GrabFood, and GrabExpress.

The City Government of San Jose Del Monte is excited and hopeful, that with this partnership, this will be a significant step in our goals of becoming a digital-ready city while remembering our citys rich history and recognizing the deep traditions of our people. We are fortunate to have found a partner in Grab  and we hope that as we roll out our partnership, this will not only bring livelihood opportunities and economic growth to the city but also a sense of delight and convenience to the many Grab customers in San Jose Del Monte, San Jose Del Monte Mayor Arthur Robes said.

We also hope that as soon, with the blessing of the LTFRB, we could somehow fulfill the long-time prayers of many of our people  to have TNVS in our city, he added.

The introduction of Grabs services in San Jose Del Monte is not only poised to banner and democratize technology to improve public service in the city, but it also aims to expand economic opportunities for local businesses and create livelihood opportunities for thousands of driver- and delivery partners in the city.

We have always placed our faith in the hard work, dedication, and determination of the Filipino people, and with responsible use of technology and innovation, we hope to continue in helping realize the aspirations and dreams of many Filipinos  by providing them honorable and equitable livelihood opportunities that they can all be proud of, said Brian Cu, Grab Philippines President.

With the help of the local governments such as San Jose Del Monte and its communities and residents, we aim to continue the use of technology to help improve our access to public service and commercial services. I am humbled and excited that this partnership is the start of many more meaningful synergies between Grab and the City Government of San Jose Del Monte, Cu added.

Story continues

In response, San Jose Del Monte Representative and House Committee on Transportation Vice Chair Florida Robes expressed confidence on the newly-forged partnership.

San Jose Del Monte is a fast-growing city, and we need partners who are willing to take on the challenge with us. We need increased accessibility to and from our city and we think Grab can help us deliver various mobility solutions to San Josenos, she said.

More than that, we are looking forward to encouraging livelihood and entrepreneurship by supporting local business and microentrepreneurs through GrabFood, Grab Tricycle, and Grab Express, the lawmaker added.

Further, the partnership shall build a hyper-localized mapping system of the city to effectively identify significant points-of-interest in the communities to help improve the accuracy and efficiency in delivering public and commercial services to its residents such as food delivery, parcel delivery, and pick-up and drop-off points.

In compliance with the Philippine data privacy laws, Grab and San Jose Del Monte will also share relevant data on the updated base map or satellite imagery of San Jose Del Monte City.

Grab also turned over 100 pieces No Parking signs as donation to help with the local governments initiative in bringing traffic solutions to the growing city.

Also read:

The post Grab Creates Jobs, Mobility Solutions for San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan appeared first on Carmudi Philippines.
Physical climate risk from extreme weather events remains unaccounted for in financial markets. Without better knowledge of the risk, the average energy investor can only hope that the next extreme event won't trigger a sudden correction, according to new research from University of California, Davis.

The paper, "Energy Finance Must Account for Extreme Weather Risk," was published Feb. 17 in the journal Nature Energy.

"If the market doesn't do a better job of accounting for climate, we could have a recession -- the likes of which we've never seen before," said the article's author, Paul Griffin, an accounting professor at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management.

The central message in his latest research is that there is too much "unpriced risk" in the energy market. "Unpriced risk was the main cause of the Great Recession in 2007-2008," Griffin said. "Right now, energy companies shoulder much of that risk. The market needs to better assess risk, and factor a risk of extreme weather into securities prices," he said.

For example, excessive high temperatures, like those experienced in the United States and Europe last summer, can be deadly. Not only do they disrupt agriculture, harm human health and stunt economic growth, they also can overwhelm and shut down vast parts of energy delivery, as they did in Northern California when PG&E shut down delivery during fires and weather that could trigger fire. Extreme weather can also threaten other services such as water delivery and transportation, which in turn affects businesses, families and entire cities and regions, sometimes permanently. All of this strains local and broader economies.

"Despite these obvious risks, investors and asset managers have been conspicuously slow to connect physical climate risk to company market valuations," Griffin said in his article.

"Loss of property is what grabs all the headlines, but how are businesses coping? Threats to businesses could disrupt the entire economic system."

Climate-vulnerable locations also factor into risk for energy markets. In the United States, U.S. oil refining is located on the Gulf Coast, an area exposed to sea-level rise and intense storms. Oil refining in Benicia and Richmond, in Northern California, can be exposed to coastal flooding. Energy companies' transmission infrastructure is located in arid areas, increasing risk of damage, such as the destruction from recent wildfires in California. In addition, it is not clear insurance will be available to cover such risks. Add to those risks, Griffin said, "litigation, sanctions and even loss of business from the property destroyed.

"The climate litigation risk already priced into energy stocks (after, for example, a protracted ExxonMobil court case in the 1990s) would prove insufficient."

Extreme weather climate risk, in summary, is hard to predict.

"While proprietary climate risk models my help some firms and organizations better understand future conditions attributable to climate change, extreme weather risk is still highly problematic from a risk estimation standpoint," he concluded in the article.

"This is because with climate change, the patterns of the past are no guide to the future, whether it be one year, five years or 20 years out. Investors may also normalize extreme weather impacts over time, discounting their future importance."

###

The link to the article, after the embargo lifts, is https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41560-020-0548-2

Related study: https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/extreme-heat-impacts-firms-stock-value-study-finds
The grounding of the Boeing 737 Max continues to play havoc with the flight schedule at San Antonio International Airport.

Two major airlines are temporarily cutting routes here as they shuffle planes around the country, moving them to higher-demand routes at other airports, to fill holes left by the Max.

For San Antonio-area passengers, efficient nonstop service is getting even harder to come by at San Antonio International, an airport thats routinely criticized for having too few direct flights.

Southwest Airlines, the largest carrier at the airport, cut weekday service to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Feb. 10, according to a San Antonio Aviation Department report.

The flights will resume in early March, but only on Saturday and Sunday. Seven-day-a-week service wont restart until early May, according to the Southwest flight schedule.

The airline has also canceled its daily flight from San Antonio to Oakland, Calif., which has seen several service suspensions since the Federal Aviation Administration grounded the Max nearly a year ago.

Oakland service will resume in early March but only once a week, on Saturdays. Sunday service will be added May 24. The flight schedule shows the Dallas-based airline has no plans to resume daily service between now and August. Southwests current flight schedule runs through Aug. 10.

In addition, Southwest continues to cut the frequency on routes  depending on the month  between San Antonio and Atlanta, Chicago Midway, Dallas Love Field, Houston Hobby, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Phoenix and Nashville, Tenn., according to the Aviation Department report.

A Southwest spokesperson said the airline is attempting to preserve as much service as possible and cause the least amount of disruption for passengers. Southwest had 34 Max planes in its fleet at the time flights stopped last year, the largest of any U.S. airline. It was supposed to take delivery of an additional 27 planes in 2019.

The grounding of the plane is also affecting American Airlines. The carrier suspended direct service from San Antonio to Philadelphia for part of last year, but it resumed Nov. 4. However, American has suspended the flight again and wont restart it until early June.

While the grounding has cut into flight schedules globally, it has hit travelers at San Antonio International particularly hard because the canceled flights were the only direct routes to Fort Lauderdale, Oakland and Philadelphia.

Making connections in other cities can add hours to a passengers journey.

In some cases, passengers wanting to fly nonstop can travel to a nearby destination. For example, American flies from San Antonio to Miami, about a one-hour drive from Fort Lauderdale.

But with less seat capacity overall from San Antonio to South Florida, higher fares may be in the offing on that route in addition to other flights with fewer available seats.

Boeing has repeatedly pushed back estimated dates to bring the Max back into service. The Chicago-based aerospace giant temporarily suspended production of the aircraft in December.

About 60 Max planes are stored near Boeings facility at Port San Antonio.

In December, FAA Administrator Steve Dickson told then-Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg to back off a pressure campaign to speed the process to allow the Max to fly again. Muilenburg has since resigned.

A Boeing spokesman said the company hopes to begin flying the Max again by midyear.

We are currently estimating that the ungrounding of the 737 MAX will begin during mid-2020, Bernard Choi said. This should not be interpreted as an attempt to influence or interfere with the FAA and other regulators absolute authority to determine the timing and conditions of return to service.

Southwests announcement last week that it will keep the Max off its schedule until Aug. 10 is bad news for travelers during the busy summer travel season. The airline has cut 371 flights systemwide from its daily peak schedule of more than 4,000 flights.

On ExpressNews.com: Southwest Airlines to add additional nonstop flights to Las Vegas out of San Antonio

Southwest wouldnt discuss specific cuts at San Antonio International. But a look at its summer flight schedule shows that previously announced increases in service to designations such as Las Vegas and Houston Hobby wont be happening.

Southwest, however, still plans to offer once-a-week service to Albuquerque, N.M., and to expand Denver service to four times a week.

Meanwhile, American plans to keep the Max out of its schedule until June 10, according to its website.

The FAAs Dickson told reporters Feb. 11 that there was no timetable for the Max to return to service, though he said a flight to certify the planes airworthiness was coming up. Regulators grounded the Max globally after two crashes  one in October 2018, the other nearly a year ago  killed more than 300 people.

randy.diamond@express-news.net
A 32-year-old Indian man has died in the UAE after sustaining severe burn injuries in his bid to save his wife from a fire at their home in Abu Dhabi last week, according to a media report on Monday.

Anil Ninan, who hails from Kerala, sustained 90 per cent burn injuries in the fire on Monday last week, reported the Khaleej Times. His wife Neenu also suffered injuries in the incident, however her condition is said to be stable.

"This is a difficult time for us. His wife Neenu is still recovering at the hospital. She is safe. But, all of us are shocked at his death," a close relative was quoted in the report.

It is suspected a short circuit caused the fire at Ninan's home.

"We do not know the exact details. But Neenu first caught fire while she was in the corridor. Anil, who was in the bedroom, ran to his wife and was trying to save her when the flames spread to him," Sojan Thomas, vicar of St Thomas Mar Thoma Church in Ras Al Khaimah, told the daily.

The couple, who has a four-year-old son, was rushed to the Sheikh Khalifa General Hospital in Umm al Quwain and was later shifted to Mafraq hospital in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for critical care.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two Marines in the Marine Corps 5th Division cemetery on Iwo Jima pay their respects to a fallen comrade. United States Marine Corps Film Repository, USMC 101863 (16mm film frame)

When most Americans think of the World War II battle for Iwo Jima  if they think of it at all, 75 years later  they think of one image: Marines raising the U.S. flag atop Mount Suribachi, the islands highest point.

That moment, captured in black and white by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal and as a color film by Marine Sergeant William Genaust, is powerful, embodying the spirit of the Marine Corps.

But these pictures are far from the only images of the bloodiest fight in the Marines history. A larger library of film, and the men captured on them, is similarly emotionally affecting. It can even bring Americans alive today closer to a war that ended in the middle of the last century.

Take for instance, just one scene: Two Marines kneel with a dog before a grave marker. It is in the final frames of a film documenting the dedication of one of the three cemeteries on the island. Those two Marines are among hundreds present to remember the more than 6,000 Americans killed on the island in over a month of fighting. The sequence is intentionally framed by the cinematographer, who was clearly looking for the right image to end the roll of film in his camera.

I came across this film clip in my work as a curator of a collection of motion picture films shot by Marine Corps photographers from World War II through the 1970s. In a partnership between the History Division of the Marine Corps and the University of South Carolina, where I work, we are digitizing these films, seeking to provide direct public access to the video and expand historical understanding of the Marine Corps role in society.

Over the past two years of scanning, I have come to realize that our work also enables a more powerful relationship with the past by fostering individual connections with videos, something that the digitizing of the large quantity of footage makes possible.

The campaign within the battle

Iwo Jima, an island in the western Pacific less than 1,000 miles south of Tokyo, was considered a key potential stepping stone toward an invasion of Japan itself.

During the battle to take the island from the Japanese, more than 70,000 Marines and attached Army and Navy personnel set foot on Iwo Jima. That included combat soldiers, but also medical corpsmen, chaplains, service and supply soldiers and others. More than 6,800 Americans were killed on the island and on ships and landing craft aiding in the attack; more than 19,200 were wounded.

More than 50 Marine combat cameramen operated across the eight square miles of Iwo Jima during the battle, which stretched from Feb. 19 to March 26, 1945. Many shot still images, but at least 26 shot motion pictures. Three of these Marine cinematographers were killed in action.

Even before the battle began, Marine Corps leaders knew they wanted a comprehensive visual account of the battle. Beyond a historical record, combat photography from Iwo Jima would assist in planning and training for the invasion of the Japanese main islands. Some Marine cameramen were assigned to the front lines of individual units, and others to specific activities, like engineering and medical operations.

Most of the cameramen on Iwo Jima used 100-foot film reels that could capture about two and a half minutes of film. Sgt. Genaust, who shot the color sequence atop Suribachi, shot at least 25 reels  just over an hour of film  before he was killed, roughly halfway through the campaign.

Other cameramen who survived the entire battle produced significantly more. Sgt. Francis Cockrell was assigned to document the work of the 5th Divisions medical activities. Shooting at least 89 reels, he probably produced almost four hours of film.

Sgt. Louis L. Louft fought with the 13th Marines, an artillery regiment; his more than 100 film reels likely resulted in more than four hours of content. Landing on the beach with engineers of the 4th Division on Feb. 25, 1945, Pfc. Angelo S. Abramo compiled over three hours of material in the month of fighting he witnessed.

Even taking a conservative average of an hour of film from each of the 26 combat cameramen, that suggests there was at least 24 hours of unique film from the battle. Many surviving elements of this record are now part of the film library of the Marine Corps History Division, which were working with. The remainder are cataloged by the National Archives and Records Administration.

While military historians visiting the History Division in the past have used this large library, the bulk of its films have not been readily available to the public, something that mass digitization is finally making possible.

For many decades, the visual records made by Marines have been seen by the public only piecemeal, often with selected portions used as mere stock footage in films, documentaries and news programs, chosen because a shot has action, not because of the historical context of the imagery.

Even when they are used responsibly by documentary filmmakers, the editing and selection of scenes imposes the filmmakers interpretation on the images. As a historian and archivist, though, I believe it is important for people to directly engage with historical sources of all types, including the films from Iwo Jima.

The highest and purest form

After the battle, the Americans buried their dead in temporary cemeteries, awaiting transportation back to the U.S. The film segment just before the graveside scene shows a service honoring the Americans of all backgrounds who had bled and died together.

At that service, Rabbi Roland B. Gittelsohn, the Marines first-ever Jewish chaplain, gave a eulogy that has become one of the Marine Corps most treasured texts. Noting the diversity of the dead, Gittelsohn said, Here lie officers and men, Negroes and whites, rich men and poor  together. Here are Protestants, Catholics, and Jews together. Here no man prefers another because of his faith or despises him because of his color.

Gittelsohn called their collective sacrifice the highest and purest democracy.

Connecting to the present

After the dedication ceremonies, Marines walked the 5th Division cemetery, looking for familiar names. The photographers were there, and one recorded the footage of the two Marines  names not known  and the dog, at a grave with only the number 322 as a visible marking.

The image stood out. The two Marines looking directly at the camera seemed to reach across the decades to compel a response. Researchers at the History Division identified the Marine beneath marker 322 as Pfc. Ernest Langbeen from Chicago. It felt appropriate and important to add his name to the online description for that film, so I did.

I then located members of the Langbeen family, and told them that this part of their familys history existed in the History Divisions collections and was now preserved and available online after more than seven decades.

Speaking with the family, I learned more about the Marine in grave 322. One of the two Marines in the picture may well be his best friend from before the war, a friend who joined the Corps with him. They asked to serve together and were assigned to the same unit, the 13th Regiment.

Now, family members who never knew this Marine have a new connection to their history and the countrys history. More connections will come for others. The digital archive were building will make it easier for researchers and the public at large to explore the military and personal history in each frame of every film.

The visual library of more than 80 online videos from Iwo Jima carries in it countless Pfc. Langbeens, ordinary Americans whose lives were disrupted by a global war. Each film holds traces of lives cut short or otherwise irrevocably altered.

The films are a reminder that, 75 years after World War II, all Americans remain tied to Iwo Jima, as well as battlegrounds across the world like Monte Cassino, Peleliu, Bataan and Colleville-sur-mer. Americans may find their relatives in this footage, or they may not. But what they will find is evidence of the sacrifices made by those fighting on their behalf, sacrifices that connect each and every American to the battle of Iwo Jima.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
The association "eran, eraus... an elo?" ("in, out...and then?") brings people together who share a common interest for the justice and penal system in Luxembourg.

In their latest letter, members of the association call for Justice Minister Sam Tanson to vehemently transform Luxembourg's penal system from "a middle aged circumstance to the 21st Century".

Speaking to the "Luxemburger Wort" a week and a half ago, Serge Legil argued that of those individuals sentenced to life in prison, not a single person was granted parole sooner than 28 years.

The association organised a meeting back in March of 2018 with then Justice Minister Felix Braz to discuss the "deplorable situation of the penal system". Braz had told members of the association that the prison would be modernised as of 2022.

Despite the association not fully agreeing to the delay, they felt that Braz showed interest and motivation to implement long-term improvements. The theme of modernising Schrassig prison was therefore also included in the government programme of 2018. Yet last week many were surprised to hear that the discussion on tearing down or rebuilding the prison was suddenly on the table. Despite physical modernisation of the prison being a good idea, core problems with the penal system will remain, the association argues.

Alternatively, the justice ministry should consider reducing the size of the prison, with Luxembourg just having "113 people in prison for each 100,000 inhabitants."

In this context, Sam Tanson has drawn inspiration from Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands, where penal codes are lighter and flexible.

Concrete plans for the future of Schrassig or the penal system are yet to be put forward.
TOKYO  A Syracuse couple quarantined aboard a cruise ship in Japan due to the coronavirus has boarded a flight back to America.

Cheryl and Paul Molesky opted to leave the cruise ship along with about 340 other Americans to return home to one of two Air Force bases here. Theyll spend an additional two weeks here in isolation, making a four-week ordeal out of what was supposed to be a cruise vacation.

"Were exhausted, but were on the plane and thats a good feeling. Pretty miserable wearing these masks though, and everybody had to go to the bathroom on the bus (from the ship to the airport) Cheryl Molesky said in a video she sent to the Associated Press.

The Moleskys have cataloged each day aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship via their YouTube channel, where theyve sent well wishes to friends and family and documented their best efforts at keeping their spirits up despite not being allowed to leave their cabin.

On Sunday, Cheryl Molesky made a last video on the ship as they waited to get on a plane to come back to the United States.

Its a bittersweet, mostly sweet, moment to think about," she said. "On the one hand, were going home. On the other hand, we wont see our family or our friends for two weeks because well be in quarantine, again.

Fourteen of the American evacuees had the virus but were allowed to board the flight because they did not have symptoms, according to the State Department. They were being isolated separately from other passengers on the flight, the U.S. State and Health and Human Services said in a joint statement to the Associated Press.

As of Sunday, the Moleskys were still waiting on results from their coronavirus test, they said in a video.

About 355 of the cruise ships 3,700 passengers contracted the flu-like virus, according to the Associated Press.

The Americans were flown to Travis Air Force Base in California and Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.

We are glad to be going home, Cheryl Molesky told NHK TV in Japan. Its just a little bit disappointing that well have to go through quarantine again, and we will probably not be as comfortable as the Diamond Princess, possibly.

The couple has repeatedly joked in their videos that a quarantine aboard the Diamond Princess is at least better than a cold winter day in Syracuse.

Want to keep up with the Moleskys? Watch their video diary on YouTube.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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.
Chengdu, China  Working long, intense hours, Liu was one of the first healthcare workers to come to the front line to fight the coronavirus outbreak that has killed at least 1,770 people and infected 70,548 others in mainland China.

For days, she helped dispense medicine and administer intravenous therapy to infected patients at a crowded hospital in Wuhan, the epicentre of the epidemic.

Then on January 26, just three days after Wuhan was placed under a lockdown, she developed a dry cough and started to get a fever.

Liu could not remember exactly how and when she might have contracted the virus. But by the time she had received her test results, her body temperature had been hovering above 38.5 degrees Celsius (101.3 Fahrenheit) for over four days.

When I was admitted to the hospital, a colleague of mine burst into tears and said she was so scared and so tired, said Liu, who asked Al Jazeera to identify her only by her last name.





At that time, we already had at least 150 colleagues who had either confirmed or suspected to have been infected  were all very scared.

Every time someone comes into the ward, Id try to hold my breath and not talk, because Im afraid that the virus would spread that way, said Liu.

Getting them infected is the last thing I want to do now.

1,716 health workers infected

For the first time since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, Chinas National Health Commission reported on February 14, that at least 1,716 health workers had been infected while treating patients with the virus. This has raised concerns about the capability of the government to protect the caregivers in direct contact with the afflicted.

Zeng Yixin, the deputy director of Chinas health commission said during a news conference on Friday that infected medical workers comprise 3.8 percent of all those who have contracted the virus across the country.

He told the public the number would not rise as China was increasing its efforts to ensure that supplies of protective equipment for medics would be adequate. However, the high number of coronavirus deaths in China has already set off warning bells in the medical community.

A nurse takes a breather against a wall at a COVID-19 ward at a hospital in Wuhan on Sunday [Stringer/EPA]

1,700 is a very large number and shows healthcare workers are at clear risk of infection elsewhere in China and globally, Tom Inglesby, the director of Johns Hopkins SPH Centre for Health Security, wrote on social media.

Hospitals need administration controls, engineering controls, and supplies and personal protective equipment for their healthcare workers caring for patients with COVID-19.

But this is not the first time that medical workers in China have been left vulnerable before.

During the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome epidemic in 2002 and 2003, a significant proportion of healthcare workers in mainland China also succumbed to the virus with about 20 percent of them contracting SARS.

Naked in biohazard environment

If we cant protect those who are helping us at literally the worst place possible during this battle, then what good are we? one netizen wrote on Weibo, Chinas equivalent of Twitter after the numbers came out.

Despite reports that medical equipment suppliers have resumed work to aid the governments fight against the disease, doctors and nurses have continued to report severe shortages of medical supplies, especially masks and hazmat suits.





A doctor who had contracted the virus 11 days ago and works at Wuhan Central Hospital told Al Jazeera that doctors and nurses in his hospital lacked most of the protective gear needed.

We are pretty much naked in the biohazard environment, the doctor who requested anonymity said. Its getting better than the first few days, of course, but the needed medical supplies are still in shortage.

Because of the lockdown, the entire country has been brought to a near standstill, with deliveries of goods and medical supplies to Wuhan also affected.

Long hours at work

Volunteers have also expressed frustration over their donations not getting to Hubei.

As a result, medical workers are exposed to more risk of getting infected, due to the lack of protective gear.

The initial cover-up of the outbreak by the Chinese government has directly contributed to the large number of healthcare workers infected, Yanzhong Huang a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Coupled with the lack of medical supplies, we have the unfortunate large number of medics being infected.

There are more than 170,000 healthcare workers, including 20,000 doctors, battling the coronavirus outbreak in China [Stringer/EPA]

Li Wenliang, one of the whistleblowers whose death sparked national grief and outrage, for example, contracted the virus while he was treating a then-infected glaucoma patient while not wearing any protective gear.

Additionally, the lack of rest and long hours are putting the health of these hospital staff in jeopardy.

There are currently more than 170,000 healthcare workers battling the coronavirus outbreak, including the more than 20,000 doctors and nurses sent from across the country to Hubei.

Medical workers risking their lives

And health workers in Wuhan are finding it difficult to cope with the sheer numbers as the cases grow exponentially.

Peoples immune system will be compromised if the body is not well-rested, and frankly, the majority of the medical workers are working too much for them to be able to cope with such a high level of intensity of medical care, Zhou Liqiang, a doctor at the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, said.

Front line healthcare workers are also actively isolating themselves from their families for the fear of spreading the virus.





Wu, another nurse who works in the same hospital as the infected nurse, Liu, and is also helping treat her colleague, told Al Jazeera that she had not gone back home for more than two weeks now.

I now live in a hotel close to the hospital, because I cant in good conscience go back home and risk spreading the virus to my two-year-old daughter, Wu said on the phone, before having to hang up to treat another patient.

Thanks to the generosity of the hotel owner, I dont have to pay for the accommodation, said Wu, who also asked that she be identified only by her last name.

Of course, I miss my daughter and we try to video chat every night, Wu later said in a text message.

But my husband is taking very good care of her and Im sure they both understand the decision I took.
Gone are the days when a Democrat could go into the voting booth without worrying about what the Democrat next to them is doing in theirs. In the old days, whoever emerged victorious at the end of the night likely would be a candidate most of them could live with. This time, too much is at stake to get it wrong.
Multiple Sclerosis Drugs Market Report 2020 Size, Share, Growth, Business Analysis, and Regional Forecast to 2026 is latest research report on Global Multiple Sclerosis Drugs Market published by Fortune Business Insights. According to report the Global Multiple Sclerosis Drugs Market to grow at 6.7% CAGR and reach $39,289.5 million value by 2026. Multiple Sclerosis Drugs Industry report anlayzes Market for Animal drug by Drug Class (Immunomodulatory, Immunosuppressant, Interferons, Others), By Route of Administration (Oral, Injection), By Distribution Channels (Hospital Pharmacy, Retail Pharmacy, Online Stores), and Regional Forecast 2019-2026.

Multiple Sclerosis Drugs Industry Key Players Analyzed in Report Are:

Pfizer, Merck & Co, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, and Sanofi.

Request a Sample Copy of the Multiple Sclerosis Drugs Market Report

Global Multiple Sclerosis Drugs Market Insights:

The global Multiple Sclerosis Drugs market size is predicted to grow $39,289.5 million by 2026, exhibiting a CAGR of 5.6% during the forecast period. Market for Multiple Sclerosis Drugs was valued $23,460.3 million in 2018. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is disease which damage the nerve cells insulation cover.

A non-profit organization called the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) has found that the U.S. spends around US$ 28,000 Mn every year for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. This is indicative of the high demand for multiple sclerosis drugs, which will in turn drive the global multiple sclerosis drugs market. Multiple sclerosis directly impacts the brain and spinal cord of a body. Consequently, multiple sclerosis symptoms include visual disturbances, memory and thinking problems, difficulties in coordination, and muscle weakness.

As per a study conducted by the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, around 2.3 million people across the world live with multiple sclerosis. Considering this, the report predicts the global market for multiple sclerosis drugs to expand at a CAGR of 6.7% between 2018 and 2026. Furthermore, the market was worth US$ 23,460.3 Mn in the year 2018 and is expected to reach US$ 39,289.5 Mn by 2026.

Multiple Sclerosis Drugs Market Segmentation:

The global Multiple Sclerosis Drugs Market is segmented on the basis of Drug Class, Route of Administration, Distribution Channel and Region.

Based on Drug Class the Global Multiple Sclerosis Drugs Market is segmented into Immunomodulatory, Immunosuppressant, Interferons, Others.

Based on Route of Administration the Multiple Sclerosis Drugs market is segmented by Oral, Injection.

Based on Distribution Channel the Multiple Sclerosis Drugs market is segmented by Hospital Pharmacy, Retail Pharmacy, Online Stores.

On the basis of region market for Multiple Sclerosis Drugs segmented by North America, Europe, Asia-Pacifica, Africa and other regions.

Regional Market Insights:

Report analyzes Global Market for Multiple Sclerosis Drugs by North America, South America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa.

North America is expected to dominate the global multiple sclerosis drugs market through the forecast years. Novel drugs manufactured are increasingly getting FDA approvals and these companies are planning to focus on commercialization of drugs. Influenced by this, the multiple sclerosis drugs market share is likely to expand in this region. Moreover, the regional market is worth US$ 13,826.7 Mn and owing to the mounting cost of drugs, the demand for multiple sclerosis treatment increases. Furthermore, the presence of potential drug candidates in North America is expected to create growth opportunities for the market during the forecast period.

Apart from North America, Europe is also anticipated to show immense growth opportunities for the market owing to maximum support from government. Europe is the second- leading region in the global market owing to rising per capita spending on healthcare.

Improved distribution network among companies in Asia Pacific is the primary factor responsible for the markets growth. The market is expected to witness high growth in this region during the forecast region.

Global Multiple Sclerosis Drugs Market Growth Insight:

The multiple sclerosis drugs market share is expected to rise in the forecast years. Immunomodulators lead the market over immunosuppressants and interferons, in terms of drug class. The segment covered a share of 67.4% in the global market in 2018. The demand for immunomodulators is increasing as they offer better treatment options for multiple sclerosis. This, coupled with new product launches, is expected to drive the segment by 2026. This will further boost the multiple sclerosis drugs market. In addition to this, immunomodulators are growing rapidly owing to the increasing number of clinical studies and rising research and development (R&D) activities.

As per the route of administration, injection covered the maximum share in the global market in 2018. The wide market approvals and government support are driving the segments growth. However, the oral segment is expected to grow considerably in the forecast years.

Several pharmaceuticals companies are undergoing clinical trials for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. Companies are putting efforts to develop innovative therapies in multiple sclerosis radiology for patients suffering from this disease. Considering this, Adamas Pharmaceuticals is undergoing phase 3 of a clinical trial on an investigational amantadine agent called ADS-5102. This oral therapy is conducted to determine if multiple sclerosis or MS patients can improve their walking speed. The U.S. FDA granted approval of a drug called Mayzent to Novartis. This is the first-ever treatment for patients suffering from secondary progressive multiple sclerosis or SPMS. Drugs like these will improve the patients quality of life, which will contribute to the growth of the market.

As per the report, Biogen, Novartis AG, and F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd cover the majority share in the global multiple sclerosis market. Among these, Biogen was the leading player owing to the increasing sales of Tecfidera in 2018. The company entered into strategic partnerships to further extend its distribution network. Following Biogen, Novartis is the second-most leading company in the market. The company developed a drug called Gilenya and owing to its higher demand, Novartis was leading after Biogen.

Highlights of the Report:

In-depth analysis of various insights, namely, Multiple Sclerosis Drugs Market trends, growth drivers, opportunities, and other related challenges.

Comprehensive details of key market players, their core competencies, and Multiple Sclerosis Drugs Market share.

The potency of suppliers and buyers to make better business decisions.

Lists out the market size in terms of volume.

Key questions answered in the report:

What will the market growth rate of Ophthalmic market in 2025?

What are the key factors driving the global Ophthalmic market?

Who are the key manufacturers in Ophthalmic market space?

What are the market opportunities, market risk and market overview of the Ophthalmic market?

What are sales, revenue, and price analysis of top manufacturers of Ophthalmic market?

Who are the distributors, traders and dealers of Ophthalmic market?

What are the Ophthalmic market opportunities and threats faced by the vendors in the global Ophthalmic industry?

What are sales, revenue, and price analysis by types and applications of Ophthalmic market?

What are sales, revenue, and price analysis by regions of Ophthalmic industry?

Table of Content:

Introduction

Research Scope

Market Segmentation

Research Methodology

Definitions and Assumptions

Executive Summary

Market Dynamics

Market Drivers

Market Restraints

Market Opportunities

Key Insights

Continued

About us:

Fortune Business Insights offers expert corporate analysis and accurate data, helping organizations of all sizes make timely decisions. We tailor innovative solutions for our clients, assisting them address challenges distinct to their businesses. Our goal is to empower our clients with holistic market intelligence, giving a granular overview of the market they are operating in.

At Fortune Business Insights we aim at highlighting the most lucrative growth opportunities for our clients. We therefore offer recommendations, making it easier for them to navigate through technological and market-related changes. Our consulting services are designed to help organizations identify hidden opportunities and understand prevailing competitive challenges.

Contact Us:

US: +1 424 253 0390

UK: +44 2071 939123

APAC: +91 744 740 1245

Email: sales@fortunebusinessinsights.com
Pete Buttigieg isnt taking lectures on family values from conservative talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh.

Mr Buttigieg, a Democratic presidential hopeful, has responded to Mr Limbaughs on-air claim that the former South Bend, Indiana mayors youth and sexual orientation would be rejected by voters come election day.

A gay guy, 37-years-old, loves kissing his husband on debate stages, Mr Limbaugh said. Can you see Trump have fun with that?

Sebastian Gorka, a fan President Donald Trump who briefly worked at the White House, suggested that Mr Buttigiegs sexuality should exclude him from discussing abortion.

Why is that homosexual man lecturing us about the sanctity of life in the womb? Just a little curious there, strange, Mr Gorka said.

Pete Buttigieg and South Bend Show all 7 1 /7 Pete Buttigieg and South Bend Pete Buttigieg and South Bend The population of South Bend is around 100,000 Andrew Buncombe Pete Buttigieg and South Bend Annetter Newbill is fighting for justice for her son, Eric Logan, who was shot and killed by a white police officer Andrew Buncombe Pete Buttigieg and South Bend Mr Logan was shot by police, who claim he was trying to break into cars with a knife - an accusation his family has denied Andrew Buncombe Pete Buttigieg and South Bend Henry Davis, a council member who failed in a 2015 to oust Buttigieg, said he would not endorse him as a presidential candidate Andrew Buncombe Pete Buttigieg and South Bend When Pete Buttigieg returned to South Bend after the shooting, he was confronted by protesters Getty Pete Buttigieg and South Bend Buttigieg has pitched himself as "Mayor Pete", and a man who can get things done Getty Pete Buttigieg and South Bend Logan's mother says Buttigieg is only interested in 'running for president' AP

Mr Buttigieg appeared on Fox News Sunday over the weekend and brushed off the criticism when asked for a response to the comments by host Chris Wallace.

I am in a faithful, loving and committed marriage. Im proud of my marriage. And Im proud of my husband, he said. And Im not going to be lectured on family values from the likes of Rush Limbaugh or anybody who supports Donald J Trump as the moral as well as political leader of the United States. America has moved on and we should have politics of belonging that welcomes everybody. Thats what the American people are for.

Mr Buttigieg rejected the notion that his sexuality could derail his electoral ambitions.

I came out during a general election in South Bend, and this was at a time when Mike Pence was the governor of Indiana and we didnt know what would happen, Mr Buttigieg said. I tell you what happened: I got reelected with 80 per cent of the vote.

Mr Buttigieg then expressed his sadness for the state of the Republican party.

And I am saddened for what the Republican Party has become if they embrace that kind of homophobic rhetoric.

Mr Trump doesnt fully agree that America isnt ready to vote for a homosexual man.

Fox News reported that during a radio interview with Geraldo Rivera on Clevelands Newsradio WTAM, Mr Trump was asked if he thought the American people would vote for a gay candidate.

I think so, Mr Trump said. I think there would be some that wouldnt. I wouldnt be among that group, to be honest with you.

Recommended Limbaugh says America will be disgusted seeing Buttigieg kiss husband

Senator Lindsay Graham, a staunch ally of Mr Trump, agreed with the presidents perspective.

Its a miscalculation as to where the country is at, Mr Graham said. I think the country is not going to disqualify somebody because of their sexual orientation.

Mr Limbaugh was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom during the State of the Union address earlier this month. He was recently diagnosed with advanced stage lung cancer.
But Ishiwakas own message  that women should have the same footwear choices as men  hasnt always been well received in Japans conservative, dont-rock-the-boat society. Its not a question, she patiently reiterates, of telling women they cant wear high heels, or even suggesting they should be allowed to wear sneakers, but an attempt to level the playing field so women are not forced by corporate dress codes to conform to a different standard from men.
Allison Farrand | MLive

Don't Edit

By Emily Bingham | ebingham@mlive.com

Don't Edit

LANSING, MICH. -- Michigan bibliophiles in search of a few great reading recommendations need look no further than this years list of Michigan Notable Books.

The list, compiled each year by the Library of Michigan, features 20 books published during the previous calendar year that are about or set in Michigan, or are written by a Michigan author.

This year's list encompasses fiction and non-fiction, with titles exploring everything from the life of Aretha Franklin to the Anishinaabe sharpshooters of the Civil War.

The Michigan Notable Books selections clearly demonstrate the rich subject matter Michigan offers to writers, State Librarian Randy Riley said in a statement. Everyone will find something of interest that speaks to their lives or experiences in our great state.

Read on for the full list, with descriptions from the Library of Michigan website.

The official list of 2020 Michigan Notable Books can be found online here.

Don't Edit

"A Good American Family: The Red Scare and My Father"

by David Maraniss

Elliott Maraniss, Davids father, a WWII veteran who had commanded an all-black company in the Pacific, was spied on by the FBI, named as a communist by an informant, called before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1952, fired from his newspaper job, and blacklisted for five years. Yet he never lost faith in America and emerged on the other side with his family and optimism intact. Maraniss weaves his fathers story through the lives of his inquisitors and defenders as they struggle with the vital twentieth-century issues of race, fascism, communism, and first amendment freedoms. (Simon & Schuster)

Don't Edit

"All Manner of Things"

By Susie Finkbeiner

After Annie Jacobson's brother Mike enlists as a medic in the Army in 1967, he mails her the address of their long-estranged father. If anything should happen to him in Vietnam, Mike says, Annie must let their father know. In Mike's absence, their father returns to face tragedy at home, adding an extra measure of complication to an already tense time. Annie and her family will grapple with the tension of holding both hope and grief in the same hand, even as they learn to turn to the One who binds the wounds of the brokenhearted. (Revell: Baker Publishing Group)

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

"Broke: Hardship and Resilience in a City of Broken Promises"

By Jodie Adams Kirshner

Bankruptcy and the austerity it represents have become a common "solution" for struggling American cities. What do the spending cuts and limited resources do to the lives of city residents? In "Broke," Jodie Adams Kirshner follows seven Detroiters as they navigate life during and after their city's bankruptcy. For them, financial issues are mired within the larger ramifications of poor urban policies, restorative negligence on the state and federal level andeven before the decision to declare Detroit bankrupt in 2013the root causes of a citys fiscal demise. (St. Martins Press)

Don't Edit

"Camera Hunter: George Shiras III and the birth of wildlife photography"

By James H. McCommons

In 1906 George Shiras III (18591942) published a series of remarkable nighttime photographs in National Geographic. Taken with crude equipment, the black-and-white photographs featured leaping whitetail deer, a beaver gnawing on a tree, and a snowy owl perched along the shore of a lake in Michigans Upper Peninsula. "Camera Hunter" recounts Shirass life and craft as he traveled to wild country in North America, refined his trail-camera techniques, and advocated for the protection of wildlife. This biography serves as an important record of Shirass accomplishments as a visual artist, wildlife conservationist, adventurer, and legislator. (University of New Mexcio Press)

Don't Edit

"The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls"

By Anissa Gray

Althea, the eldest sister and substitute matriarch, is a force to be reckoned with and her younger sisters have alternately appreciated and chafed at her strong will. They are as stunned as the rest of the small community when she and her husband, Proctor, are arrested, and in a heartbeat the family goes from one of the most respected in town to utter disgrace. The worst part is, not even her sisters are sure exactly what happened. (Berkley: Penguin Random House)

Don't Edit

"Come See About Me, Marvin"

By Brian G. Gilmore

In this collection, Brian G. Gilmore seeks to invite the reader into a fantastical dialogue between himself and Marvin Gayetwo black men who were born in the nations capital, but who moved to the Midwest for professional ambitions. In trying to acclimate himself to a new job in a new placea place that seemed so different from the home he had always knownGilmore often looked to Marvin Gaye as an example for how to be. These poems were derived as a means of coping in a strange land. (Wayne State University Press)

Don't Edit

"Deadly Aim: The Civil War Story of Michigan's Anishinaabe Sharpshooters"

Sally M. Walker

Sally M. Walker explores the extraordinary lives of Michigans Anishinaabe sharpshooters. These brave soldiers served with honor and heroism in the line of duty, despite enduring broken treaties, loss of tribal lands, and racism. Learn about Company K, the elite band of sharpshooters, and Daniel Mwakewenah, the chief who killed more than 32 rebels in a single battle despite being gravely wounded. (Henry Holt and Company)

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

"The Deer Camp: A Memoir of a Father, A Family, and the Land That Healed Them"

By Dean Kuipers

Bruce Kuipers was good at hunting, fishing, and working, but not at much else that makes a real father or husband. Conflicted, angry, and a serial cheater, he destroyed his relationship with his wife, Nancy, and alienated his three sons-journalist Dean, woodsman Brett, and troubled yet brilliant fisherman Joe. He distrusted people and clung to rural America as a place to hide. So when Bruce purchased a 100-acre hunting property as a way to reconnect with his sons, they resisted. What happened next was a miracle of nature. (Bloomsbury Publishing)

Don't Edit

"Detroits Birwood Wall: Hatred & Healing in the West Eight Mile Community"

By Gerald Van Dusen

In 1941, a real estate developer in northwest Detroit faced a dilemma. He needed federal financing for white clients purchasing lots in a new subdivision abutting a community of primarily African Americans. When the banks deemed the development too risky because of potential racial tension, the developer proposed a novel solution. He built a six-foot-tall, one-foot-thick concrete barrier extending from Eight Mile Road south for three city blocksthe infamous Birwood Wall. It changed life in West Eight Mile forever. (History Press)

Don't Edit

"The Girls: An All-American Town, a Predatory Doctor, and the Untold Story of the Gymnasts Who Brought Him Down"

By Abigail Pesta

"The Girls" is a profound exploration of trust, ambition, betrayal, and self-discovery. Award-winning journalist Abigail Pesta unveils this deeply reported narrative at a time when the nation is wrestling with the implications of the MeToo movement. How do the women who grew up with Nassar reconcile the monster in the news with the man they once trusted? In "The Girls," we learn that their answers to that wrenching question are as rich, insightful, and varied as the human experience itself. (Seal Press)

Don't Edit

"Guardians of Detroit: Architectural Sculpture in the Motor City"

By Jeff Morrison

"Architectural Sculpture in the Motor City" is a 332-page book with 770 original photos. It is a unique effort to explore, explain, and document Detroit's amazing collection of architectural sculpture on a building-by-building basis. Using telephoto photography, building details that are barely visible to the naked eye are brought down from the heights and made available for up-close appreciation. In some cases, ornamental elements that have been hidden from public view for more than 100 years are now brought to light. (Painted Turtle Books: Wayne State University Press)

Don't Edit

"The Queen Next Door: Aretha Franklin, An Intimate Portrait"

By Linda Solomon "

"The Queen Next Door: Aretha Franklin, An Intimate Portrait" is a book full of firsts as Solomon was invited not only to capture historical events in Arethas music career showcasing Detroit but to join in with the Franklin familys most intimate and cherished moments in her beloved hometown. From performance rehearsals with James Brown to off-camera shenanigans while filming a music video with the Rolling Stones, from her first television special to her first time performing with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, to her last performance with her sisters at her fathers church and her sons college graduation celebration. (Painted Turtle Books: Wayne State University Press)

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

"Ruffage: A Practical Guide to Vegetables"

By Abra Berens

It is Abra Berens first cookbook and rooted in her experiences as a chef, former farmer, and everyday eater. It is a teaching cookbook that aims to help build readers confidence in preparing vegetables by providing easy-to-follow recipes, detailed explanation of cooking techniques, and a myriad of variations for each recipe to inspire future dishes. (Chronicle Books)

Don't Edit

"Shades: Detroit Love Stories"

By Esperanza Cintron

Esperanza Cintrons "Shades: Detroit Love Stories" is a short story collection that is distinctly Detroit. By touching on a number of romantic and sexual encounters that span the historical and temporal spaces of the city, each of these interconnected stories examines the obstacles an individual faces and the choices he or she makes in order to cope and, hopefully, survive in the changing urban landscape. (Wayne State University Press)

Don't Edit

"Sport: Ship Dog of the Great Lakes"

By Pamela Cameron, illustrated by Renee Graef

A stray dog wanders the Milwaukee docks until he realizes his calling--to be a ship dog! After being rescued from the Milwaukee River, Sport lives on the lighthouse tender ship the Hyacinth. He helps the crew as they deliver supplies to lighthouses and maintains buoys and other safety features on the lake. Through Sport's story, young readers will learn how working on Lake Michigan during the early 20th century was both dangerous and thrilling, and about the role of the lighthouse tender in keeping the lake safe. (Wisconsin Historical Society Press)

Don't Edit

"Teacher/Pizza Guy"

By Jeff Kass

"Teacher/Pizza Guy" is a collection of autobiographical poems from the 201617 school year in which Jeff Kass worked as a full-time English teacher and a part-time director for a literary arts organization and still had to supplement his income by delivering pizzas a few nights a week. In the collection, Kass is unapologetically political without distracting from the poems themselves but rather adds layers and nuances to the fight for the middle class and for educators as a profession. (Wayne State University Press)

Don't Edit

"We Hope for Better Things"

By Erin Bartels

When journalist Elizabeth Balsam is asked to deliver a box of old photos to a relative she didn't know she had, the strange request seems like it isn't worth her time. But as she explores her great-aunt's farmhouse with its locked doors and hidden graves, she soon discovers just how dramatically some of the most newsworthy events of the previous two centuries shaped her own family. As she searches for answers to the riddles around her, the remarkable stories of two women who lived in this very house emerge as testaments to love, resilience, and courage in the face of war, racism, and misunderstanding. (Revell: Baker Publishing Group)

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

"Where Today Meets Tomorrow: Eero Saarinen and the General Motors Technical Center"

By Susan Skarsgard

Longtime GM designer Susan Skarsgard weaves a detailed insider's account of the early days of General Motors, the initiation of the technical center project under Eliel Saarinen, its design and construction under Eero Saarinen, and the enthusiastic acclaim the campus received upon its opening. Many leading lights of midcentury modernism were involved in the project as design consultants or artists, including Harry Bertoia, Alexander Girard, Florence Knoll, and Alexander Calder. This lavishly illustrated account is a unique document of a landmark project, presented in photographs and architectural drawings, interviews, documents, and ephemera, many never before seen. (Princeton Architectural Press)

Don't Edit

"The Women of the Copper Country"

By Mary Doria Russell

In July 1913, twenty-five-year-old Annie Clements had seen enough of the world to know that it was unfair. Shes spent her whole life in the copper-mining town of Calumet, Michigan where men risk their lives for meager salariesand had barely enough to put food on the table and clothes on their backs. The women labor in the houses of the elite and send their husbands and sons deep underground each day, dreading the fateful call of the company man telling them their loved ones arent coming home. When Annie decides to stand up for herself, and the entire town of Calumet, nearly everyone believes she may have taken on more than she is prepared to handle. (Atria Books)

Don't Edit

"The World According to Fannie Davis: My Mother's Life in the Detroit Numbers"

By Bridgett M. Davis

In 1958, the very same year that an unknown songwriter named Berry Gordy borrowed $800 to found Motown Records, a pretty young mother from Nashville, Tennessee borrowed $100 from her brother to run a Numbers racket out of her home. That woman was Fannie Davis, Bridgett M. Davis mother. Part bookie, part banker, mother, wife, granddaughter of slaves, Fannie ran her numbers business for 34 years, doing what it took to survive in a legitimate business that just happened to be illegal. (Little, Brown and Company)
DUBLIN, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "White Oil Market - Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2020 - 2025)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The market globally for White Oil is expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 1.5% during the forecast period of 2019-2024. Major factors driving the market studied is the increasing use of cosmetics.



Cosmetics is one of the major applications for white oils. White oils are used as a base oil in a variety of products, such as hair oils, hair creams, makeup products, facial creams, and body lotions. Their application in cosmetics accounted for a healthy share of the global market in 2018.



The increasing pharmaceutical industry is also providing growth to the white oil market. In the pharmaceutical industry, it is used in the manufacturing of ointments, emollients, eye lubricants, and in the penicillin production process.



However, stringent government regulations on the use of white oil in the food and pharmaceutical industries is acting as restraint to the market studied.



The Global White Oil market is partially consolidated with many healthy competitions in the market. The major companies are Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL), British Petroleum, Calumet Specialty Products Partners, Columbia Petro Chem Pvt. Ltd, ExxonMobil Corporation, H&R Group, HollyFrontier Corporation (Sonneborn), JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation among others.



Increasing Demand from Personal Care across the Globe

White oils are an important part of many cosmetic formulations and are commonly used in almost all types of cosmetic and personal care products, from emulsions to anhydrous cosmetics, such as lip balm, baby oil, skin care, hair care, creams, lotions, and emollients.

This oil is used in hand and body care cosmetics at levels ranging from 1% to 99%, depending on the quality of the product needed. For example, pressed powders, mascara, eyeliner, and foundations have up to 60% white oil, and eye makeup remover contains 99% white mineral oil. Cosmetic-grade white oil is used in this application, which is refined to meet specifications appropriately.

In Europe , the white oil used in the cosmetic lip care products should be in line with the purity specifications on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, as reflected in the safety requirements given in EU cosmetic regulation 1223/2009. In 2009 and 2013, the European Food Safety Authority had established an ADI (Acceptable Daily Intake) of 12 mg/kg bw/day for high viscosity and medium viscosity white mineral oils.

, the white oil used in the cosmetic lip care products should be in line with the purity specifications on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, as reflected in the safety requirements given in EU cosmetic regulation 1223/2009. In 2009 and 2013, the European Food Safety Authority had established an ADI (Acceptable Daily Intake) of 12 mg/kg bw/day for high viscosity and medium viscosity white mineral oils. Exxon Mobil Corporation and Sonneborn LLC (HollyFrontier Corporation) are the major manufacturers offering white oil products for personal care and cosmetics applications.

The personal care segment accounted for the second-largest share, in terms of application, in 2018. Globally, the cosmetics market has been growing continuously with a significant Y-o-Y growth rate. In 2018, the market for cosmetic products had observed a growth rate of 5.50% over 2017, according to L'Oreal. This, in turn, is expected to drive the market for white oil in the manufacturing of cosmetic products.

Asia Pacific to Dominate the Market

Asia Pacific region is both the largest and fastest growing market for White Oil.

region is both the largest and fastest growing market for White Oil. Asia-Pacific region accounted for around 61% of the white oil consumption. China is the largest consumer of white oil in the Asia-Pacific region.

region accounted for around 61% of the white oil consumption. is the largest consumer of white oil in the region. China is becoming the largest market for cosmetics and skincare products, globally. The beauty sector in the country has witnessed a growth of around 5% over the past ten years, and it is set to grow at around the same rate throughout the upcoming years too.

is becoming the largest market for cosmetics and skincare products, globally. The beauty sector in the country has witnessed a growth of around 5% over the past ten years, and it is set to grow at around the same rate throughout the upcoming years too. In India , the largest application of white oils in the country is the hair oil, which is a part of the cosmetics and personal care industry. The overall cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries account for around three-fourths of the white oil consumption in the country.

, the largest application of white oils in the country is the hair oil, which is a part of the cosmetics and personal care industry. The overall cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries account for around three-fourths of the white oil consumption in the country. Japan is the world's third-largest cosmetics market. Although Japanese demographics are shrinking, an upturn in consumer confidence and the demand from incoming tourists have been driving the growth of the cosmetics market.

is the world's third-largest cosmetics market. Although Japanese demographics are shrinking, an upturn in consumer confidence and the demand from incoming tourists have been driving the growth of the cosmetics market. Japan has more than 2,500 cosmetics manufacturers, of which Shiseido and Kao rank 7th and 9th, respectively, among global cosmetics companies.

has more than 2,500 cosmetics manufacturers, of which Shiseido and Kao rank 7th and 9th, respectively, among global cosmetics companies. Moreover, with the growing demand for Japan -made cosmetics from Asian consumers, manufacturers are investing in cosmetics production in the country. Recently, one of the largest cosmetics producers in the country, Shiseido, has announced an investment of JPY 40 billion to 50 billion to open a new factory in the southern main island of Kyushu around 2021. The company is also planning to build two other plants in Tochigi Prefecture, by 2019 and Osaka Prefecture , by 2020 to double its production capacity in the country.

-made cosmetics from Asian consumers, manufacturers are investing in cosmetics production in the country. Recently, one of the largest cosmetics producers in the country, Shiseido, has announced an investment of to 50 billion to open a new factory in the southern main island of Kyushu around 2021. The company is also planning to build two other plants in Tochigi Prefecture, by 2019 and , by 2020 to double its production capacity in the country. Owing to the increasing demand for textiles, plastics/polymers, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and adhesives, the demand for white oils is likely to increase during the forecast period.

Key Topics Covered



1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Study Assumptions

1.2 Scope of the Study



2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY



3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



4 MARKET DYNAMICS

4.1 Drivers

4.1.1 Growing Cosmetics and Personal Care Industry

4.1.2 Increasing Pharmaceutical Industry

4.2 Restraints

4.2.1 Stringent Government Regulations on the Use of White Oil in the Food and Pharmaceutical Industries

4.3 Industry Value Chain Analysis

4.4 Industry Attractiveness Porter's Five Forces Analysis



5 MARKET SEGMENTATION

5.1 Application

5.1.1 Plastics and Elastomers

5.1.2 Adhesives

5.1.3 Personal care

5.1.4 Agriculture

5.1.5 Textile

5.1.6 Food and Beverage

5.1.7 Pharmaceutical

5.1.8 Metalworking Applications

5.1.9 Other Applications

5.2 Grade

5.2.1 Technical/Industrial Grade

5.2.2 Pharmaceuticals Grade

5.3 By Viscosity

5.3.1 Low

5.3.2 Medium

5.3.3 High

5.4 Geography

5.4.1 Asia-Pacific

5.4.2 North America

5.4.3 Europe

5.4.4 Rest of World



6 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

6.1 Mergers & Acquisitions, Joint Ventures, Collaborations, and Agreements

6.2 Market Share Analysis

6.3 Strategies Adopted by Leading Players

6.4 Company Profiles

6.4.1 Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL)

6.4.2 Calumet Specialty Products Partners

6.4.3 Columbia Petro Chem Pvt. Ltd.

6.4.4 ExxonMobil Corporation

6.4.5 H&R Group

6.4.6 HollyFrontier Corporation (Sonneborn)

6.4.7 Nynas AB

6.4.8 Oxiteno

6.4.9 Renkert Oil

6.4.10 Royal Dutch Shell PLC

6.4.11 Sasol

6.4.12 Savita Oil

6.4.13 Sinopec Petrochemical & Chemical Corporation



7 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE TRENDS

7.1 Potential Usage in the Food and Beverage Industry



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/gwega9

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

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

http://www.researchandmarkets.com


A walker has died after falling in Glen Nevis as Scotland was hit by wild winds from Storm Dennis.

The 42-year-old man plunged from the path for the mountain Stob Ban on the south side of the glen on Sunday.

Police were told of the incident at 1pm and a search was launched.

After at least eight hours of searching, the man was pronounced dead at the scene and his body was recovered by the Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team.

A yellow weather warning for wind was in place for the whole of Scotland on Sunday during the second storm to hit the UK in seven days.

Police have not released any further details about what caused the incident.

Inspector Isla Campbell, of Fort William police station, said: Our thoughts are with the mans family and friends at this time.

I would also take the opportunity to thank our partner agencies for their assistance.
(Photo : Screenshot From Yahoo Singapore Official Facebook Page) Singapore against Covid-19

Singapore's high standards when it comes to precautionary measures have been able to save them three times more cases of Covid-19 than what they are currently experiencing. Harvard University has put together a thorough research that has supported this statement and has even suggested that if Singapore's safety measures are being met to the exact standard around the world, there would be a smaller risk of infection.

Singapore's safety standards have been kept at an optimum to ensure civilian safety

According to reports, the rest of the world is only able to detect 38% of what Singapore is capable of detecting. Although this statement has not yet been solidified, it is highly likely that this statement has some truth to it because the infection rate of Singapore is at an all-time low compared to neighboring countries.

Read Also: Should We Trust A China Research Showing the Number of Coronavirus Covid-19 Cases is Declining?

The epidemiological surveillance of Singapore is at a high standard to ensure that contract-tracing can be done by mapping their well observed data gathered by high standards of detection. Treatment in Singapore has already proven itself capable of a high success rate but what makes this possible is the intent resources and effort spent by Singapore itself to detect and identify any slight chances of this Virus as it travels from one host to another.

Singapore has been strong despite neighboring countries having problems with this virus

The World Health Organization (WHO) has already pinpointed 191 territories around the world with aggregated data but it seems that even though Singapore is in the hot zone, Singapore is still very well kept and the safety standards of its citizens are met with great action. Naturally, the culture of Singapore is known around the world to be much disciplined. This first world country may be the smallest country in South-East Asia but it has proven its strength in dealing with its internal matters.

Read Also: Coronavirus Pathogens May Linger from Flushing Without Closing the Lid

Although an attributing factor could be that the population of Singapore is drastically smaller than other countries, it is still very well respected for being able to cater to the health and safety of its citizens with the full force of their scientists and doctors. Brilliance lurks around Singapore and the Singaporeans have managed to put their great minds to good use.

The relationship between Singapore and China has made their detection methods even more amazing

Because of Singapore's strong business relationship with China, there is a given expectation that they would experience a bigger casualty when it comes to infection of the Covid-19 but it is not the case. Singapore is known as the perfect middle man and has survived and prospered economically because of how they treat business and relationship with other countries which pose a huge risk to them when it comes to infection but Singapore is still very capable of handling themselves.

The hygienic culture of Singapore has also contributed to their defense against the spread of infection

There are a few laws that are strictly being followed in Singapore like how it is illegal to spit just anywhere that have contributed to a culture that does not easily spread contamination. In fact, hygienic practices are being highly imposed in well-populated areas around Singapore. Singapore's Standards have Prevented Massive Covid-19 Breach because of their culture, efforts, and the help of technology.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
FLINT, MI  Trachelle C. Young is ready to fight.

Perhaps thats why Young, who is running for Genesee County prosecutor, housed her campaign headquarters inside the Jung Do Martial Arts Academy building on the citys north side.

Young faces a tough challenge in unseating current Prosecutor David Leyton, who won his first election in 2004, followed by successful campaigns in 2008, 2012 and 2016.

What we are doing, where we are trying to go, and what we are trying to accomplish, we are starting a battle, she told a crowd of roughly 50 supporters gathered for the announcement. This is going to be a fight. We are intending to be warriors for justice.

Young, who previously held positions as the Flint City attorney, Genesee County assistant prosecutor and a JAG officer in the U.S. Army, said her campaign is based on a platform including community prosecution, restorative justice, juvenile justice, as well as mentorship.

Its not about taking the quick, the short, the convenient solution to problems. Thats what weve been doing, said Young. We need to develop a long-term, proactive approach where we partner with community members and we figure out what is the real issue thats impacting society and we develop a solution together.

She spoke of providing alternative options, programs and rehabilitation to change peoples behavior.

We need to connect people so that they understand what they do has a real impact, not only on the person but indirectly on the entire community, said Young.

She pitched a mentorship program through the prosecutors office with law enforcement to broach what Young called one of the biggest disconnects in our community.

Our youth are afraid of law enforcement, but a sadder thing is our law enforcement are afraid of our youth, she argued. Its becausethey dont know each other. They dont understand each other and when you dont know, it breeds fear.

If the conversation doesnt take place with children until high school, Young said, Weve already lost them.

When you get in trouble in school, the first thing they do is kick you out, then they refer you to the criminal justice system, she commented. The criminal justice system will chew you up and spit you back out in the street and youll be worse than you were when you went in the system.

Young said children need to be reached and taught as part of juvenile justice reform.

They can learn to live and fight another day, she said. They can learn that guns are not the answer to your problem. They can learn that youve got to have self-respect. They can learn that respect is a two-way street.

Young also called for victims going through the system to have a say in determining a fair and appropriate sentence as part of restorative justice.

Whatever your position, whatever your perspective, if you are the victim you have a right for your position to be considered, she said. I will always make sure that the victim has a voice when I do any kind of criminal prosecution.

It is not lost on her that she is the first African-American female to run for the position. Young referenced it during her announcement speech.

I say today, we will start that journey, we will fight, we will get it done and on Aug. 4, 2020 we will claim the victory, she said.
A monthly average of 11,500 people traveling from the Horn of Africa to Yemen last year made the so-called Eastern Route the busiest maritime migration path on earth, the UN migration agency said on Friday.

Most are unaware of the security situation in Yemen where they face serious protection concerns, including active fighting, or abuses such as kidnapping, torture for ransom, exploitation and trafficking.

While tragedies along the Mediterranean routes are well reported, our staff bear witness daily to the abuse suffered by young people from the Horn of Africa at the hands of smugglers and traffickers exploiting their hopes for a better life, said Mohammed Abdiker, International Organization for Migration (IOM) Regional Director for the East and Horn of Africa.

After five years of conflict in Yemen, the Eastern Route has spiked as travelers appear undeterred by the Gulfs strict immigration policies for undocumented migrants.

Data collected by IOMs Displacement Tracking Matrix revealed that over 138,000 people crossed the Gulf of Aden to Yemen last year, as compared to the more than 110,000 migrants and refugees who crossed the Mediterranean Sea to Europe during that same period.

And this is the second year in a row that the Eastern Route reported more crossings than the Mediterranean. In 2018, roughly 150,000 people made the journey.

To get to Yemen, they crammed about 280 of us into one boat, a thirty-two-year-old Ethiopian man told IOM in Aden, Yemen. There was no oxygen, and some people committed suicide by throwing themselves into the sea.

An eighteen-year-old Ethiopian migrant said: We were beaten, tortured, abused and threatened for ransom. My family sent $900 to save my life so I was released.

Perilous journey

Those making the perilous journey  crossing deserts and territories controlled by armed groups, with little food or water  either travel in search of economic opportunities or are fleeing insecurity, human rights abuses and adverse living conditions.

Approximately 92 per cent of those who disembarked in Yemen were Ethiopian nationals, the vast majority of whom aimed to continue to Saudi Arabia.

Smugglers and traffickers also operate boats from Obock in Djibouti and Bosasso in Somalia. Last year, 38 per cent of migrants arrived from Djibouti and 62 per cent from Somalia.

The journeys from their home to Saudi Arabia can take months or even longer, depending on whether they stop to work or are detained along the way.

While IOM works across the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Gulf to provide life-saving emergency support to migrants in need and support development in home communities, the agency maintains that legal pathways for migration are the most effective protection mechanism for migrants.

IOM is committed to supporting all authorities along the Eastern route to better manage migration, ensuring the safety and dignity of migrants, underscored Mr. Abdiker.
LABOUR TD Alan Kelly will formally kick-off his bid to replace Brendan Howlin as party leader tomorrow.

The outspoken Tipperary TD is the first senior TD to publicly express an interest in taking charge of the party.

Labour failed to bounce back from its disastrous 2016 general election in this month's vote and is down one seat to six.

Mr Howlin announced last week that he intended to resign following the election.

He also said the party would not be entering into any government arrangement with the larger parties.

Mr Kelly will officially launch his leadership bid at an event in Dublin tomorrow.

The Labour Party this afternoon announced his intention to contest in a statement that offered a short biography.

It notes he has been a party member since he was 16 and was elected to the Seanad in 2007 before winning a seat in the European Parliament.

He was elected to the Dail in 2011 and went on to serve as Transport Minister.

In the last Dail, he was the partys spokesperson on health and member of the Public Accounts Committee.

The statement says: "He was recognised for his championing of the cause of the 221 group of women at the heart of the CervicalCheck controversy."

From Portroe, Co Tipperary, Mr Kelly is a father-of-two.

Other potential leadership contenders are Louth TD Ged Nash and Dublin Bay North TD Aodhan O Riordain both of whom have yet to declare their intentions.
Big money from labor unions, real estate agents, tech executives  and even one candidates mother  is pouring into an open state Senate race on the Peninsula ahead of a fiercely contested March primary.

A crowded field is vying to replace Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, who is termed out after eight years representing the 13th Senate District, a wealthy suburban stretch from Brisbane to Sunnyvale.

With more than half of voters registered Democratic and only 15% signed up as Republicans, a Democrat is almost certain to win the seat in November. But only two candidates can advance from the primary scuffle.

That has raised the stakes for the five Democrats in the race, several of whom are putting hundreds of thousands of dollars of their own money behind their efforts. If they can advance to the runoff, they may just have a clear path to victory.

Republican Alexander Glew and Libertarian John Webster are also on the ballot, though neither has reported raising much money.

A look at the leading candidates:

Josh Becker, 50, of Menlo Park has raised the most cash  more than $950,000  and is endorsed by Hill and Gov. Gavin Newsom. He has received significant contributions from people in the tech industry, including Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg. LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman put $500,000 into an independent committee supporting Becker.

Becker said his background in social entrepreneurship would make him a voice for innovation in government. He started a biotech company, co-founded a venture capital firm focused on socially responsible businesses and created the Full Circle Fund, which provides grants and leadership training to Bay Area nonprofits.

His major priority is to be a leader on progressive climate legislation. Becker worked on environmental and energy policy in Washington, D.C., after college and started an early investment fund for clean energy businesses. He said its a strong foundation for integrating Californias transportation sector into its green energy grid and improving storage capacity so the state has clean electricity sources available 24 hours a day.

He wants to improve economic opportunity by better coordinating the schedules and fares of the Bay Areas public transit systems and investing more in affordable housing. One idea he has floated is requiring big tech companies to fund a unit of housing with each job they create.

Shelly Masur, 55, a city councilwoman in Redwood City, says her experience in public education spurred her to run. She was on the local school board for a decade and lobbied the Legislature against budget cuts during the recession. Until recently, she was CEO of a public education policy nonprofit.

Ive seen it from both sides, Masur said.

One of her top priorities is moving California from the bottom 10 states in per-pupil spending for K-12 schools to the top 10. She supports the likely November initiative that would change how property taxes are calculated for commercial properties, sending billions of dollars in new revenue to local governments and schools.

Masur has a masters degree in public health and spent her early career defending abortion clinics. Those experiences motivate her to work on expanding health care access, she said, so people dont have to choose between eating dinner and going to the doctor.

Politically powerful interests in both of those areas  teachers unions and the California Medical Association  are funding an independent expenditure campaign that has spent more than $170,000 in support of Masur. She has raised more than $460,000, with her largest donations mainly coming from organized labor.

Masur is also the only candidate in the race who endorsed SB50, San Francisco Democratic Sen. Scott Wieners controversial plan to spur denser housing around public transit and in wealthy suburbs. Masur said the measure, which failed last month, would have provided a framework to address Californias housing shortage and climate goals together. She worked with Wiener on amendments giving cities more time to develop alternative local plans.

He did really bring the issue of housing to the forefront, Masur said. And love or hate SB50, everyone has been talking about the issue of housing.

Mike Brownrigg, 58, served for more than a decade as a U.S. diplomat in Syria, Hong Kong, China and Washington, D.C., which he said gave him the experience to build bridges between people with competing interests and get things done at the state Capitol.

Now a city councilman in Burlingame who has worked in venture capital and impact investing, Brownriggs agenda for Sacramento is affordability in the morning and climate in the afternoon.

Although he sees a role for the state to set housing targets for cities and ensure they meet those goals, he objected to SB50 because it reflected a view that the main problem is local officials not approving things.

Brownrigg said the bottleneck is in financing and that California should focus on boosting funding. He proposes to help nonprofits buy buildings where rent is relatively low, essentially turning them into affordable housing.

Cities should have a crack at reaching their housing goals, he said, and if they cant get it done, then we can have a harder conversation.

Brownrigg plans to pursue legislation transitioning California to a carbon-free energy system by 2030 and reducing single-use plastics. He supports the commercial property-tax initiative and other efforts to increase school funding.

He has raised nearly $470,000, and his campaign has been boosted by $350,000 of his own money. Last month, his mother put $460,000 into an independent committee to elect him. He argued it was less problematic than interest groups backing other candidates, because she would expect nothing in return except that I come to visit more often.

Sally Lieber, 58, of Mountain View, calls herself the most liberal candidate in the race  a minimum wage, pro-environment, pro-choice, Medicare for All kind of progressive Democrat.

She was in the state Assembly from 2002 to 2008, which she says taught her tenacity: It took three tries to pass her biggest accomplishment, a bill raising the state minimum wage to $8 an hour, then the highest in the country.

Lieber wants to address income inequality by expanding the earned income tax credit for the working poor, getting the state to the top five in per-pupil spending and reducing the cost of Caltrain so more people can afford to take it. She also said the state must focus on building low-income housing, an area when it has dramatically underperformed.

Since leaving the Legislature, Lieber has worked on environmental advocacy in the Bay Area.

Her campaign is largely funded by $200,000 from her own pocket, which she said has always been her approach to campaigns and gave her a real sense of freedom in the Capitol during her Assembly tenure.

Annie Oliva, 60, a real estate agent and city councilwoman in Millbrae, said a close connection to Californias homelessness crisis was her call to action to run for Senate. Her son struggles with addiction and mental health issues and has been homeless, off and on, for years.

So when I see a homeless person, I know it could be any one of us, she said. These people are people.

Olivas plan on homelessness involves declaring a state of emergency, expanding the use of conservatorships and increasing funding for prevention services.

It also includes building more housing, which she wants to concentrate around public transit. Oliva said the state must upgrade its transit systems so more people will use them. But she does not support SB50, which she said would destroy single-family neighborhoods.

Oliva has raised more than $400,000 and has backing from an independent committee funded by the California Association of Realtors, which has spent more than $475,000 on her behalf.

Alexei Koseff is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: alexei.koseff@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @akoseff
Stock Market News

USA Markets - US states reject drug distributors opioid settlement 17-02-2020 02:27



Stock News headlines are gathered from financial news sources around the web. Views and opinions on each item are from their respective authors and website. They are not opinions of LiveCharts.co.uk
COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho, Feb. 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KORE Power , a leading developer of high density, high voltage energy storage solutions, today announced that its Mark 1 battery cells have passed the following testing and factory audit requirements. KORE Power remains on course to fulfill global customer orders for Mark 1 battery cells this quarter.



UN 38.3 ; Requirements for Transportation of Batteries Containing Lithium

; Requirements for Transportation of Batteries Containing Lithium UL 1973 ; Batteries for Use in Stationary, Vehicle Auxiliary Power and LER Applications

; Batteries for Use in Stationary, Vehicle Auxiliary Power and LER Applications IEC 62619; Secondary Cells and Batteries Containing Alkaline or Other Non-acid Electrolytes - Safety Requirements for Secondary Lithium Cells and Batteries, for use in Industrial Applications

KORE Power will now focus its efforts on evaluating the Mark 1 module and rack, with testing to begin early February, in order to conform to UL 1973, UL 1998, UL 991, UN 38.3, and IEC 62619. These tests are related to battery usage in stationary energy storage, the battery management software and transportation of lithium-ion batteries.

Targeting to commence in April 2020, KORE Power is in the final stage to select an accredited certification body or laboratory to complete testing of the Mark 1 module and rack per UL 9540A; Test Method for Evaluating Thermal Runaway Fire Propagation in Battery Energy Storage Systems, which helps manufacturers prove compliance with the latest regulations for fire safety and building codes. The Company will also begin shipping modules and racks that do not require UL 9540A to regions including the U.S., Europe, India and Australia. The first shipments will be to existing customers and partners, which will enable them to begin testing the Mark 1 cells, modules and racks for stationary energy storage applications.

KORE Power expects to ramp up Mark 1 Energy Storage System production to participate in large installations in 2020.

"Successful completion of this first round of product certification testing represents a major growth milestone for KORE Power. Weve promoted the safety, efficacy and density of KORE Powers Mark 1 battery cell, and now were able to prove these benefits and fulfill orders for Mark 1 battery cell integration into large scale energy storage systems across the globe," said Lindsay Gorrill, CEO of KORE Power. "Further, we recognize the importance of UL 9540A testing, particularly with the industrys push and efforts to enhance safety around battery technologies. Were pleased to be a part of the industrys shift to supply safer battery products."



About KORE Power



Based in Coeur dAlene, Idaho, KORE Power is a leading developer of high density, high voltage energy storage solutions for global utility, industrial and mission-critical markets. KORE Power designs and manufactures the industry-leading, 1500V Mark 1 Energy Storage System. Developed to lower installation and operation costs with higher efficiency, the Mark 1 includes proprietary NMC cells and modules, with innovative safety features, managed and optimized by the Mark 1 BMS. KORE Power serves the growing demand for applications such as replacing fossil fuel peaker plants, wind and solar plus storage projects, Microgrid optimization, behind-the-meter C&I, E-Mobility, mining energy solutions and the Military.

To learn more about KORE Power, please visit www.korepower.com .

Contact:

Tom DeRosa

Vice President of Business Development

+1 208 758 9395

tderosa@korepower.com





Media Contact:

FischTank Marketing and PR

+1 646 699 1414

KORE@fischtankpr.com

Cautionary Statement

Certain statements contained herein constitute forward-looking statements, including but not limited to statements about the plans, objectives and expectations. All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking information and such information involves various risks and uncertainties. KORE Power believes the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements in this news release should not be unduly relied upon. Forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and KORE Power 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 expressly required by applicable securities legislation.




The Jammu and Kashmir government in coordination with the Centre will spend Rs 2,000 crore to upgrade infrastructure for tourists in the union territory which was visited by around one crore people last year, officials said here on Monday.

The government is also getting a lot of queries relating to investment in Jammu and Kashmir, they said.

"Many undesirable narratives are doing the rounds primarily focusing on security aspects. These are misinformation campaign by some vested inteSrests that do not want to see J&K emerge as among the top tourist destinations," Tourism Secretary Zubair Ahmed said.

"The Jammu and Kashmir administration in coordination with the central government will spend Rs 2,000 crore to upgrade infrastructure and create better facilities for tourists," Ahmed said at a roadshow here.

"Nearly one crore tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir in the calendar year 2019. In 2020, the figure will definitely cross one crore," said Commissioner Secretary, school education, Hirdesh Kumar, J&K.

Kumar was speaking at the road-show on the upcoming Jammu & Kashmir Global Investors Summit to be held in the Union territory.

He said though the summit will be held in May, the government has already received investment proposals worth Rs 20,000 crore.

The atmosphere in Jammu and Kashmir is safe and the only thing needed now is to spread this message across, the official said.

"We are trying to remove any suspicion or doubt which might be there in the minds of investors and tourists. Though some disturbances might have happened in the past, there has been not a single incident of any businessman or industrialist getting harassed," he said.

With the abrogation of Article 370 which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, people are now inclined towards J&K since they can buy land there and become a voter, Kumar claimed.

"Earlier, people were hesitant to go. But now the scenario has altered. The government is getting a lot of queries relating to investment in J&K," he said.

The J&K government has identified 14 sectors which would be showcased at the summit for inviting investments.

The sectors include tourism, hospitality, education, information technology, skill development and pharmaceuticals.

This is the first roadshow before the summit. It would be followed by Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi and Hyderabad.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Le Khanh Lam - Partner and head of Tax and Consulting Services RSM Vietnam

Due to affecting the tax base and the tax amount payable, the establishment of appropriate prices for transfer of goods, intangibles, and services between FIEs and their related parties, commonly referred to as transfer pricing (TP), is a great concern for both tax authorities and the enterprises themselves.

In the meantime, many FIEs have reported continued losses while still carrying out business expansions. This has aroused suspicions that they have been involved in TP.

However, FIEs may sustain genuine losses due to many business reasons such as heavy startup costs, unfavourable economic conditions, poor management, deliberate business strategies, and more. For example, they may follow their groups business strategies by setting their prices especially competitive for market penetration, in order to increase their market share, and expect to earn potential profits in the foreseeable future.

Generally, other independent enterprises are also expected to carry out the same strategies in comparable circumstances. According to United Nations Practical Manual on Transfer Pricing for Developing Countries 2017, and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Transfer Pricing Guideline for Multinational Enterprises and Tax Administrations, such strategies may be acceptable if the business and economic circumstances require the FIEs and other independent enterprises to determine prices in the same comparable manner.

Therefore, tax authorities should not automatically assume that FIEs with related party transactions were planning to manipulate their profits, especially in the case of these enterprises incurring losses that continue for a long period of time.

Maintaining updates

Given this, proper TP regulations are crucial in dealing with problems for both tax authorities and taxpayers. In the case of taxpayers, they need to comply with regulations and administrative reporting requirements. For tax authorities, specific matters arise at both policy design and practical implementation.

In Vietnam, TP guidance was written in tax regulations starting from 1997 by the Ministry of Finance (MoF), with simple terms to define the related parties. Today, due to the great public concern, these TP regulations have become more complex and included a large number of reporting requirements.

With the efforts to tackle tax evasion and implement international best practices, in early 2017, the Vietnamese government released Decree No.20/2017/ND-CP on providing tax administration applicable to enterprises with related party transactions. It introduced new concepts and principles from the OECDs TP guideline, as well as implemented certain actions from the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action Plans.

Through this decree, Vietnam has taken a significant step forward in dealing with TP issues in line with international practice.

From 1997 to the present, the designing of a legal framework and formulating regulations on TP have been improved strongly. During this period, it has been observed that there are two major issues in designing TP regulations in Vietnam.

Firstly, regulations were designed with the ability to apply to all types of enterprises. However, in reality, these regulations are not suitable to a number of enterprises in some specific industries.

For example, many enterprises in capital-intensive industries such as real estate or construction have given comments to the Vietnamese government that they are facing difficulties with the regulation on the 20 per cent cap on earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation, on the tax deductibility of total interest expenses written in Decree 20.

Therefore, last December, the MoF circulated a draft decree to amend and supplement this regulation, and will seek public and specific comments from the affected entities.

Secondly, the pace of regulation update is not in line with the speed of the transformation of the economy, which creates new issues that cannot adopt the current regulations in many cases. Therefore, it is not surprising to see that the prevailing regulations shall be regularly updated to deal with new issues that arise.

To keep TP regulations updated and comparable with the latest development of international tax practice, the Vietnamese authorities should closely watch the development of TP rules elsewhere in the world.

According to the aforementioned 2017 UN practical manual, it also provides guidance on the mechanisms available for developing countries to obtain training and information updates, and to engage in international tax dialogue as below:

- Regional co-ordination through existing intergovernmental agencies such as the International Organization of Tax Administrations, Inter-American Centre of Tax Administrations, the African Tax Administration Forum, Study Group on Asian Tax Administration and Research, and the Commonwealth Association of Tax Administrators;

- Engage with institutional stakeholders such as the UN, the OECD, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund;

- Create a clearing house for information and capacity development with like-minded countries;

- Participate in the south-south dialogue for capacity development.

Vietnam should, through participation in regional and global dialogues, be able to benefit from the use of existing consultancy bodies, used by countries with similar legislation, or countries located within the same geographic region.

Considering outside funds

As a developing country, overseas investments are important and integral to the Vietnamese economy. These funds have contributed to boosting technological transformation, improving the quality of human resources, increasing product quality, and maintaining economic growth in the country. Therefore, the consideration of continuously attracting foreign investment is one of the key concerns for the government.

In respect to this, TP rules which have significant impacts on the activities of multinational enterprises may act as barriers for such investment. Before the government released Decree 20, the concerns from enterprises on TP requirements were not high. But currently, FIEs intending to invest into Vietnam need to pay high attention to, and be in compliance with, the stricter requirements laid out in Decree 20. In other words, the stricter control in TP will create hindrances to attract the flow of foreign investment.

With the beneficial effects of international investment on the efficiency and growth of the Vietnamese economy, the government should consider updating TP rules to control, but also attract, such funding. Besides this, the rules are necessary to compare with neighbouring competitors and international standards.

Unreasonable corporate income tax rates, high compliance costs, and uncertainty in TP rules could discourage foreign investors from pouring money into one country, redirecting the flow of that investment to other nearby nations.

The next step

The fast and wide spread of digitalisation, and development of the liberation in trade policy, have advanced the pace of globalisation and created the continuing transformation of the global economy. As a result of digital transformation, customer-facing and/or user-facing activities will be carried out by more and more enterprises from a remote location, with zero or minimal physical presence in the market.

The challenges of how taxing rights on income generated from cross-border activities should be allocated among jurisdictions are of high concern.

To resolve these problems, the OECD has recently suggested many new proposals which could lead to important changes in fundamental international principles in TP rules.

In a statement released after a meeting held on January 2930, member countries joining the inclusive framework on BEPS also adopted the OECDs proposed unified approach. Therefore, it is also expected that domestic TP regulations in these countries, of which Vietnam is one, will be updated soon to reflect the changes.
New Delhi: Former Jharkhand chief Minister and president of JVM(P) Babulal Marandi merged his party with the BJP. Union Home Minister Amit Shah welcomed Marandi, the first chief minister of Jharkhand, and his supporters into the saffron party at a rally in Ranchi on Monday (February 17).

Assuring Marandi that he will get due respect and responsibility in the BJP, Amit Shah said, "I am delighted that Babulal Marandi has returned to BJP. I was working for his return since 2014 when I became the party president."

Addressing the well-attended rally, Amit Shah also raised the Ayodhya issue and withdrawal of special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Home Minister said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ensured Kashmir becomes an integral part of India forever by scrapping articles 370 and 35(A) of the Constitution."

Amit Shah also said that while being in opposition, the BJP will support public welfare schemes of the Jharkhand government, adding " but we will oppose attempts of encouraging Naxalism, terrorism and corruption. We will fight against these issues in and outside the Assembly."

Prior to merger of the JVM(P), it had issued a show-cause notice to Poriyhaat MLA Pradeep Yadav on February 4, for statements made by him which the party said were against the interests of the organisation. Yadav has also been accused of making comments against Marandi.

Earlier on February 7, Babulal Marandi decided to expel MLA Pradeep Yadav from the party on the charges of anti-party activities. Yadav is the second legislator to be expelled from the party.

The JVM-P had also sacked its Mandar MLA Bandhu Tirkey on January 21, after accusing him of being involved in anti-party activities. Bandhu was also served a show-cause notice.

The action against both the MLAs was taken just to clear the path for the merger with the BJP.

In the crecently 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.

Babulal Marandi was the first Chief Minister of the BJP-led state government in Jharkhand, from November 2000 to March 2003, but he quit the party in 2006 and formed the new party-Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik).
China's state media has published a speech that President Xi Jinping delivered on Feb. 3 about his involvement with the country's response to the coronavirus epidemic. The speech was published late Saturday.

Local Chinese officials have been criticized for their handling of the virus outbreak, while the president's involvement was been downplayed, until now.

The publication of Xi's speech, however, has done little to squelch questions about China's management of the response. The president apparently handed down instructions on combating the virus on January 7 and he ordered the shutdown of Hubei province.

"On Jan. 22, in light of the epidemic's rapid spread and the challenges of prevention and control, I made a clear request that Hubei province implement comprehensive and stringent controls over the outflow of people," Xi told a meeting of the top leadership of the Communist Party.

Officials from the Wuhan - the city where the virus apparently emerged -- and from Hubei -- the province were Wuhan is located -- have been fired by the Communist Party because of what was perceived as their inadequate response to the virus emergency.

The speech also seems to indicate the country's top leaders were slow to release information about the severity of the virus. A young doctor who took to social media to issue a warning about the emerging virus was upbraided by local police. The doctor later died from the virus.

Meanwhile, Hubei's provincial government said Sunday that it will prohibit vehicle traffic across the province in an effort to stop the spread of the virus. Emergency and public service vehicles will be exempted.

The World Health Organization said late Saturday there are 50,580 "laboratory-confirmed" cases of the coronavirus around the world, with the vast majority of the cases - 50,054 - located in China.


A five-month-old baby was left 'looking like Homer Simpson' after his mother forgot to wash off her fake tan before breastfeeding him.

Keziah Jozefiak, from Derby, had applied fake tan ahead of going out for a meal with her partner James Smith, 21, on Valentine's Day when her son Raf woke up hungry.

The 20-year-old mother didn't think twice before picking her son up for a feed despite her Bondi Sands fake tan not having had time to properly dry.

When Raf had finished, the five-month-old was left with a circle of fake tan covering his lips, the bottom of his nose and his chin - just like the stubble that appears on Homer Simpson's face in The Simpsons.

Keziah Jozefiak, from Derby, breastfed her son Raf before her fake tan had time to properly dry, leaving her son with a circle of fake tan on his face (pictured)

Kaziah took to Twitter to share a photograph of Raf grinning after the hilarious blunder, which has since been liked more than 101,000 times.

'When I looked down at Raf I just burst out laughing. I couldn't believe the tan had left his mouth looking like Homer [Simpson],' she said.

'Raf was asleep so I thought I could squeeze in some tanning time but he woke up starving mid-tan.

'It is the first and definitely last time I feed him with my tan still on. It hadn't actually occurred to me that the tan could transfer onto him.

Keziah (pictured with Raf) had been tanning ahead of going on a Valentine's Day meal out with her partner James Smith

It took Keziah an hour to remove the hilarious tan lines from around her son's face with baby oil and wipes (Pictured: Raf without the tan)

'I took a picture and sent it to my girl friends and they were all laughing as well. Everyone is finding it hilarious and my mum rang me in tears she found it so funny.'

Keziah said she usually tans once a week and applies it in the evening before bed so it never comes into contact with her son.

It took an hour for the panicking mother to remove the tan from her baby boy's face.

Keziah said: 'It took me a good solid hour to get the tan off his face properly but he found the whole thing hilarious.

'I used baby oil and baby wipes and he looked shiny and clean after.

'Fortunately, Bondi Sands tan is really good for your skin.'
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Community Development and Territories Denys Shmyhal has announced the reform of the construction industry in Ukraine until the end of 2020.

"The construction industry will be reformed before the end of this year. It will be connected with many factors: with the insurance factor, with the certification factor of specialists, with the transition to European design standards, technical standards and norms. This all requires a lot of effort. We know what to do and we're doing it. We have a lot of allies and experts in this reform," Shmyhal said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

The deputy prime minister emphasized that the construction market in Ukraine is one of the fastest growing and most successful, therefore, improving the construction industry in terms of norms, standards, specialists and the absence of corruption is a priority for the authorities. Regarding the issue of construction conflicts, Shmyhal noted that the reform in the construction sector would be very similar to the reform of decentralization.

"It will be very easy to put a question why someone's rights are being violated at the local level. That is, the state should be included when an undisguised crime occurs. There are no illegal construction projects all over the world, because people understand that to build illegally it's just like stealing a wallet from someone and it is a prison term," he stressed.

The deputy prime minister said that the government is now making a system that will prevent "even good developers, architects, contractors from entering illegal schemes."

To a clarifying question whether this means that since 2021 there will be no new illegal construction projects in Ukraine, Shmyhal emphasized that "we are working and are doing everything to ensure that they do not exist."

As reported, the President's program "Big Construction" will start on March 1 and provides for large-scale construction and major repairs of schools, kindergartens, reception wards of hospitals, stadiums and roads throughout the country. Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk said that in each region of Ukraine, the heads of regional state administrations are responsible for the timely start and implementation of the "Big Construction" project.
A Delhi court Monday sent Sharjeel Imam, arrested on sedition charges, to one day custody of Delhi Police in a case related to violent protests against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at New Friend's colony on December 15.

This is different from the sedition case against Imam.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gurmohina Kaur sent Imam to the custody after the police said that another accused in the case disclosed that he was allegedly provoked by Sharjeel's speeches.

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

Police had booked Imam, who came into limelight during the ongoing protest in Shaheen Bagh, on January 26 for allegedly delivering inflammatory speeches against the amended Citizenship Act and a possible National Register of Citizens.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A North Carolina mother has blasted hospital security guards and police for tackling her 16-year-old son to the ground, punching him and Tasing him after she brought him to doctors during a 'mental health episode'.

Jessica Long took her son Hayden to the hospital in Lincolnton, near Charlotte, in December.

He has a history of mental health problems and, according to staff at the hospital, had been saying he had a gun and wanted to shoot people.

When she arrived at Atrium Health emergency room, a security guard who came outside pushed him to the ground. He then threatened to Tase Hayden but Jessica stood in between them.

A second guard then intervened and, as his mother's back was turned, grabbed Hayden by the neck and threw him to the ground.

Jessica Long took her son Hayden to the Atrium Health hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina, in December. Once she got there, she gestured for a security guard to come and help them

Hayden said something to the guard to prompt him to tackle him to the ground. Jessica maintains it was too harsh

Jessica Long says her son Hayden (right) was treated unfairly and that he should have been given help rather than be arrested

Four sheriff's deputies then were called to the scene. Hayden spat blood in one of the officer's faces. In response, the deputy punched him.

After the incident, Hayden was charged with four counts of assault. He is due in court on Monday.

Neither the hospital nor the sheriff's department have apologized and both say their staff acted appropriately to gain control of the situation.

But Jessica believes they acted too harshly.

In an interview with CBS on Monday, she said: 'They did the worst; they made it worse.

'They just immediately went for full-blown physical force. And these were big guys, and my son's, what, maybe 120 pounds.'

Footage of the incident taken on the hospital's surveillance cameras shows Jessica arriving at the emergency room with Hayden.

After getting out their car, she gestured for a security guard inside to come and help them.

There is no sound on the video so it is unclear what Hayden said to him but the guard pushed Hayden to the ground, knocking him down with such force that the teenager's shoes flew off.

A second security guard then came to assist them. At one stage, it seemed to be under control and Jessica was retrieving items from her car

As her back was turned while she fetched something from her car, the other guard slammed Hayden to the ground. She turned around to find him lying on the ground

Four sheriffs deputies then came to assist. Hayden spat blood in one of their faces

The deputies threw him back and one punched Hayden repeatedly. He was later charged

He then threatened to Tase him.

Jessica stopped him by standing in between the pair.

The boy's mother and attorney are speaking out now because they say he was treated unfairly

In bodycam footage of the same moment, she is seen yelling: 'No! No!' while standing in front of her son.

The sheriffs' deputies were called to assist and can be seen helping the guards restrain Hayden on the ground.

The teenager spat blood in the face of Deputy Justin Polson.

He was defended by his boss, Lincoln County Sheriff Bill Beam, who said: 'Spitting blood in a law enforcement officer's face is a felonious assault.'

Maureen Swick, an official at Atrium Health, defended the security guards too.

'He kept saying to the officers that he had a gun and he wanted to shoot people.

'So, he took the action that he thought was necessary to contain the situation,' she said.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) has begun enforcing anti-homeless ordinance measures passed by the Las Vegas city council this past November and January. Bill 201936 was passed by a 52 margin over the objections of the hundreds of workers, students and activists who packed the November 6, 2019, council meeting. The ordinance further criminalizes poverty, making it illegal to sleep or camp on sidewalks or in public spaces, if there is space available at the Courtyard Homeless Resource Center.

Homeless man detained by police [Credit: U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Timothy Young]

The law is a further assault on the most vulnerable in society, with punitive measures ranging from monetary fines, up to $1,000, and/or the possibility of a six-month jail sentence.

A similar ordinance passed by the city council of Boise, Idaho, was struck down by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in December of last year. The court ruled that it is cruel and unusual punishment, to issue fines to people for sleeping outdoors while not providing adequate space for those that need it.

Advocates of the law, including the LVMPD, have stressed that the ordinance is a critical new tool for the police to use against the homeless. Unable to organize society to meet human need, the dictates of capital demand that property values be maintained by removing the eyesore of the homeless who have nowhere else to sleep but on sidewalks, in doorways or on park benches.

Sin City is bereft of social services and affordable housing, yet the police were able to grow their budget by $30,892,504 or 5.6 percent over the 2018/19 fiscal year thanks to an increase in the regressive sales taxes passed by a compliant city council. The total budget for the department now exceeds $631 million for 2020. The new funds will allow the city to hire 82 more police officers in order to maintain a ratio of two police officers for every 1,000 residents.

The new anti-homeless ordinance first took effect without the penalty provisions on November 10, however less than two weeks before the enforcement mechanisms were to take effect on February 1, the city council passed an additional street-cleaning ordinance which further expands the reach of the police, allowing them to fine or imprison anyone sitting or sleeping on sidewalks or streets during designated cleaning times. The month-old street-cleaning ordinance does not have the same stipulation as Bill 201936 regarding availability at the Courtyard shelter, meaning that even if there is no space available a person can be cited or jailed.

The city-funded Courtyard Homeless Resource Center, the only 24-hour, 7-day-a-week shelter in the city, has current capacity of 450 and is a chain-linked ghetto within the sardonically named Corridor of Hope. Next to the courtyard is the CARE Complex, a non-profit center that provides secure lockers and various services to those that stay in the Courtyard such as helping them to acquire an identification card.

CARE Complex President Michael Swecker recently spoke to NBC 3 regarding the current state of the Courtyard. Its a scary place and its not any place you would bring a child, Swecker noted. He advised that single women should not stay there overnight. He concluded the interview with the hope that with additional funding the Courtyard would become a more humane place. The city of Las Vegas is currently in the midst of an $20 million upgrade to the facilities with the stated goal of increasing the capacity to 800 by 2021. As of right now, in total, the city only offers 1,300 shelter beds for those without a home to sleep on.

Those who stay in the facility are provided a roughly six-inch thick rubber mattress on which to lay. The sleeping area is a concrete slab where the blue mats are arranged in compact columns and rows with roughly one foot separating them, similar to an ICE detention facility or concentration camp. While there is a roof overhead the Courtyard is not an enclosed space.

No bedding is provided and those with pets must keep them locked in separate pens. Residents are provided one black plastic tote in which to store all of their possessions and are provided one bottle of water a day to drink. Twelve portable toilets are located within the Courtyard for the roughly 300 to 500 people that filter in and out of the facility daily.

Mayor Carolyn Goodman has faced increasing criticism from residents over the Dickensian legislation implemented under her direction and at urging of the local business community which is dominated by large casino operators. In her state of the city address Goodman defended the law, stating, I will not allow the city of Las Vegas to become a skid-row harbor of rampant crime and potential pandemic disease. In interviews following her address Goodman expressed her desire that the new ordinances will become a model that can be replicated elsewhere in Nevada and hopefully elsewhere in the country.

There have been several protests and demonstrations against the law since its passage and up until the beginning of its enforcement. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, roughly 50 people staged a march from City Hall to the Fremont Street tourist district in a demonstration dubbed Occupy Fremont.

Protesters carried signs reading Homes Not Handcuffs, No to the Camping Ban. Once they arrived at the tourist district they were quickly surrounded by horse-mounted police. A few protesters pitched small camping tents while the rest formed a circle around the tents. After ordering the group to disperse, the police moved swiftly on the few dozen left and within twenty minutes twelve protesters were arrested with one reported injury.

After the demonstration the former Democrat and now Independent Mayor Goodman took to the airwaves to denounce the protesters as outside agitators and paid protesters, who were reading a script from a cell phone. This was quickly rebutted by homeless advocate Katie Krikorian of the nonprofit group Food not Bombs, who was one of the twelve arrested. Rebutting the mayors baseless slander in a telephone interview, Krikorian stated, I was arrested protesting against homelessness on the Occupy Fremont Street event. I am a resident. Im a homeowner, and if youd like to see me, I will be out there tonight.

The mayor has tried to frame the new laws as her getting something done while demonstrating compassion, arguing that laws are there to help those who want to help themselves while providing an avenue to get services to those that need it. The truth is that neither of the new ordinances provide new funding for sanitation, housing or transportation to the nearly 14,000 chronically homeless in southwest Nevada or the over 6,500 without permanent housing within the city limits.

While the law has been in effect for two weeks, the police and City Hall have maintained that no one has been fined or arrested yet under the new guidelines, and according to various press reports, they have been given directives not to enforce the punitive measures for another week.

However, a cellphone video shot on February 11 by Krikorian casts serious doubts on the police and City Hall claims that they havent already begun to levy fines and detain violators. In the early morning video, a woman can be seen bent over the hood of a Las Vegas police sport utility vehicle with her hands cuffed behind her back. As Krikorian approached the vehicle, filming the entire time and inquiring as to the reason for the womans detention, the police quickly released her.

The briefly-detained woman produced to Krikorian a pink citation slip which stated it was for violating the street-cleaning ordinance, with an accompanying $1,000 fine.

According to Krikorian, there were no street-cleaning vehicles present and no signage posted indicating when street-cleaning crews were supposed to be present, as mandated by the new law. Police disputed this account, without saying what the person was cited for nor how much the citation was. The police went on to explain that the reason the woman was handcuffed was because she refused to sign the citation.

In anticipation of the Nevada caucuses on February 22, this past Saturday the Clark County Democratic Party hosted a Kick off to the Caucus gala which featured speeches from the candidates at the Tropicana Casino and Resort in Las Vegas. The event boasted a VIP reception, along with dinner and speeches from the candidates including billionaire Tom Steyer, former Vice President Joe Biden, Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar, and former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg. Tickets for the event started at $125 and reached up to $2,500.
Top WHO experts, including from the US, have joined the fight against the novel coronavirus in China that has claimed 1,770 lives, as Beijing stepped up its efforts by deploying 30,000 more medical staff in the worst-affected Wuhan city to contain the spread of the epidemic.

China's National Health Commission (NHC) said on Monday that 105 people died of the virus on Sunday while 2,048 new cases of infection have been confirmed, taking the total number of COVID-19 infected cases to 70,548, the state run Xinhua agency reported.

Of the new deaths, 100 were reported from the central Hubei province, three in the central Henan province, and two in the southern Guangdong province.

The efforts to combat coronavirus picked up pace with the global experts mobilised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) joining hands with their Chinese counterparts.

China has confirmed that the WHO team reportedly comprising 12 members includes experts from the US, which has been a major demand from Washington.

"The foreign experts on board the China-WHO Joint Mission have arrived in Beijing. They have started relevant activities. We have experts from the US in the Mission," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told online media briefing here on Monday.

They will carry out field trips in Beijing, Guangdong and Sichuan, he said.

The Hubei province and its provincial capital Wuhan, the epicentres of the virus, however, were a surprise omission from their places of visit.

The NHC said a joint expert team consisting of experts from China and the WHO began field inspections on the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus outbreak on Monday.

The expert team will go to Beijing, Guangdong province and Sichuan province to conduct inspections, Mi Feng, spokesperson for the NHC told the media here.

A symposium was held by the NHC on Sunday, which was attended by nearly 80 people, including joint expert team members and representatives from the State Council's joint prevention and control mechanism, Mi said.

The attendees talked about Hubei, the virus-hit province, during a teleconference, and discussed the situation of the epidemic, control and prevention measures in communities and rural areas, wildlife management and drug and vaccine development, state run Xinhua reported.

The joint expert team acknowledged China's prevention and control measures, as well as the dedication of Chinese medical workers, Mi said.

Also on Monday, China dispatched more than 30,000 medical staff, including elite medical groups, to assist in the fight against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in Wuhan, Guo Yanhong, an official with the NHC said.

China has already deployed several hundred military medical workers in Hubei province.

China has sent about 11,000 intensive care specialists into the coronavirus-hit Wuhan, making up to approximately 10 per cent of the country's total number of intensive care medics, Guo told reporters here.

Guo said three top-level medical groups led by Chinese academicians, namely Zhong Nanshan, Li Lanjuan and Wang Chen, have also joined the fight at the frontline.

Chinese officials, who have been asserting that the cases of the virus showed a significant drop in the past few days, announced more stringent measures to contain the spread of the virus.

The local government in Beijing has announced that all the foreigners including diplomats who are arriving back to the city to join work have to undergo 14-day quarantine at home or at designated places.

Meanwhile, Hubei, where 18 cities with over 50 million people are under lockdown since January 23, announced a slew of more stringent measures to control the epidemic, including enforcing province-wide traffic restrictions on all non-emergency vehicles and closing all non-essential public venues.

A statement by the provincial government said the health screening campaign should be strengthened and no one should be missed. Also, companies should not resume production unless allowed by the local authorities. Those that have resumed work including public institutions should follow strict prevention measures.

The measures came as the situation remains "grave", the statement added.

Chinese health officials said the average time from the onset of symptoms of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) to diagnosis has been shortened to 4.95 days.

"We have shortened the diagnosis time in order to make early and timely treatment, which is an effective way to improve the recovery rate," Guo said.

Data from the NHC shows that a total of 10,844 COVID-19 patients had been discharged from hospitals after recovery by the end of Sunday, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Reservation Boys starts filming this month!!!



Fuck me up, Taika!

Reply

Thread

Link





Also the cutest thing post-Oscars!



taika waititi and tessa thompson dancing together at the oscars after-party LITERALLY the cutest people i know pic.twitter.com/l3pk8Dk5Sr  young taika waititis y/n (@mcuwaititi) February 13, 2020



Edited at 2020-02-17 04:38 am (UTC) I love the way Taika curls his hair.Also the cutest thing post-Oscars!

Reply

Thread

Link

You mean quiffs it? Or does he actually get a perm? 

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Yeah the curly quiff.



Taika got naturally curly hair so I don't think he needs to perm it to achieve the effect.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Jojo Rabbit was awful, enough with the satires.

Reply

Thread

Link

I just watched Taika's 92Y interview about JoJo Rabbit (which I have yet to see) -- kinda fascinating.

Reply

Thread

Link

Another Thor movie?

Reply

Thread

Link

they are making one aren't they? because Marvel lies when they name films "Endgame"

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link





https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Marvel_Cinematic_Universe_films Yep. It's supposedly coming out in November 2021.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

this reminds me that I have like two more episodes left of The Young Pope. I kind of stopped it because it was too WTF for me. I had no idea what the fuck kind of weird Catholic acid trip I was watching. Maybe I have too much cog fog or maybe I'm just not aware enough of Catholic weirdness to understand lmao



I liked the bit with him demanding Cherry Coke Zero tho I love that shit

Reply

Thread

Link

As long as they don't use Bruce Lee as a show monkey...

Reply

Thread

Link

I didn't know Jude Law was still acting.

Reply

Thread

Link







Selena will probably get questions about ARDiNY which is great. I just wish we brought that same energy to white men (and women)



Timmy's fanbase dgaf and it wont impact his attempts at advocacy or activism.



same w/ Elle



from the film's wiki:



"Without commenting on the allegations against Allen, Law said in November 2018 that it's "a terrible shame" the film got shelved.""



More about the film's release: I wish a different actor was in this. :(Selena will probably get questions about ARDiNY which is great. I just wish we brought that same energy to white men (and women)Timmy's fanbase dgaf and it wont impact his attempts at advocacy or activism.same w/ Ellefrom the film's wiki:"Without commenting on the allegations against Allen, Law said in November 2018 that it's "a terrible shame" the film got shelved.""More about the film's release: https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/12/a-rainy-day-in-new-york-makes-surprise-american-debut

Reply

Thread

Link

taika is so hot

Reply

Thread

Link

Why not a female protagonist though? Especially a woc.

Reply

Thread

Link

I refuse to support or be excited about any of his future work until he gives us were wolves

Reply

Thread

Link

omg



werewolves not swearwolves

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

No, a lot of us appreciate his talent and his popularity here started long before Thor. He has been around for 15+ years. Kind of side-eyeing reducing him to his skin color as if he's a token, calling into question the purity of racial identity with a sprinkling of colorism. A Jewish Maori playing Hitler was a good indicator of his casting. Kind of necessary to go the kitschy root considering the film's tone and serious subject.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

i don't think his personality/looks hurt lol but i mainly love his work: he's done some excellent things before he directed Thor and started getting more attention-



seriously, watch What we do in the Shadows sometimes, or, imho the best film he's done, Hunt for the Wilderpeople (everytime i'm feeling down, this makes me feel better. i've watched it about 20 times now lol)

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

This is a very bad comment.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Jude Law's career continues to puzzle me. He ages terribly and can't act. I'd rather see Taika Waititi star in this.

Reply

Thread

Link
New Delhi, Feb 17 : State-owned gas importer Petronet LNG Ltd may sign the $2.5 billion agreement with US LNG developer Tellurian Inc to pick up 18 per cent stake in Louisiana-based Driftwood LNG Terminal during the upcoming visit of US President Donald Trump to India later this month, two sources privy to the development said.

The agreement would conclude months of negotiations between the two companies where the deal first fell through in April/May last year when the Petronet board disfavoured a deal involving equity investment when global gas prices had rock bottomed and the fuel was readily available in the market.

Sources said that a lot of forward movement has taken since since September last year when a non-binding memorandum of understanding was signed between the two companies that gave Petronet and its affiliates the option to buy 5 million tonne per annum (mtpa) LNG from Tellurian's Driftwood project on the banks of Calcasieu river in Louisiana. Now a definitive agreement may be signed for completing its investment in the project.

Under the terms of the agreement being finalised, Petronet will spend $2.5 billion for an 18 per cent equity stake in the $28 billion Driftwood LNG terminal -- the largest outside holding so far in the project -- and negotiate the purchase of 5 million tons of gas per year. The remaining $5 billion of the total $7.5 billion investment will come from a debt commitment, according to a statement given earlier by Tellurian Chief Executive Officer Meg Gentle.

The Driftwood project is expected to deliver low cost LNG priced at $3.5 per mmBtu on sea under an optimistic scenario and at $4.5 under base case scenario. The delivered priced of gas in this range could be $6-8 per mmBtu. The low price is expected to work to the advantage of India that imports more than half of the clean fuel it consumes.

The Tellurian deal, once concluded, will be first long term LNG deal under the Modi government since 2014. The previous long term gas supply deals were signed before 2014. The deal for 7.5 mtpa of LNG from Qatar, 1.44 mtpa from Australia, 2.2 mtpa from Russia and 5.8 mtpa from US were concluded by the previous UPA government. The landed price of some of the earlier concluded long term LNG supply deals is higher at $9-10 per mmBtu that is being renegotiated by Petronet now.

Though the deal likely during Trump's visit, sceptics say that it would not work to the advantage of India as the first gas from the Driftwood project would reach Indian shores only by FY24.

As per analyst presentations given by Tellurian, the first phase of the 27.6 million tonne per annum (mtpa) Driftwood project will be able to deliver LNG only in 2023. This would mean that Petronet will have to wait for LNG under long term contract from the US project for four long years. The wait is long, given competitively priced LNG is available in plenty in the spot market to meet immediate energy needs of the country.

The Driftwood project is a proposed LNG terminal where actual construction work is yet to start. Though Tellurian has appointed Bechtel as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) partner for the project, it is still waiting for investment commitments from partners for starting construction work. So far only French energy major Total has committed to invest $500 mn in the project for 2 mtpa of LNG. The Petronet deal is still some way off as actual negotiation for investment and supplies is yet to be concluded.

Sources said of the 5 mtpa contracted quantity, Petronet may not get even fully capacity from the first phase 11 mtpa Driftwood project to be ready for delivery by 2023. As the US project is proposed to be constructed in four phases, sources said full capacity may not be reached before 2030. By then, the gas market may be looking lot different and may make Petronet's investment unproductive.

For Petronet, another issue of concern would be mobilising huge investment commitment of $2.5 billion for Driftwood. With a cash and reserves of just over Rs 8,500 crore, it would have to look at other means of funding its US investment commitment. The government could either rope in more PSUs to fund the project with Petronet or permit it to tap overseas market to raise cheap funds.

Tellurian is selling 51 per cent holding in Driftwood to third parties while it itself would retain 49 per cent stake or control over 13.6 mtpa of LNG. Tellurian expects to generate $8 per share cash flow from the project.

(Subhash Narayan can be contacted at subhash.n@ians.in)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-18 04:32:46|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

ROME, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Italian farmers are looking at the warmest winter in recent memory in the Mediterranean basin as a warning that they will have to face the challenges in the coming years.

According to data from the European Medium-term Weather Forecast Center, this winter's average temperatures in the Mediterranean region were 3 degrees Celsius warmer than average temperatures for the region, the highest seen in the area in at least 30 years.

"This kind of change represents an enormous challenge for the agricultural sector," Angelo Gentili, head of the agriculture section for the environmental lobby group Legambiente, told Xinhua.

"A change in temperature this significant means plants start to flower too early, mixed with drought and other changed rain patterns," he said, adding "This is the biggest single challenge facing the agricultural sector."

Gentili and other leading analysts said that warming temperatures will also have an impact on the way plants are pollinated. Additionally, they said, flowering plants that bloom too early run the risk of having the flowers destroyed by a late cold snap.

"If this trend continues it will have a ripple effect across the entire agricultural sector," Gentili said. "We cannot predict all the impacts but they will be significant."

According to Franco Verrascina, president of Copagri (the Confederation of Agricultural Producers), the challenges facing Italian farmers are greater than those in most other parts of Europe.

"Italy is a peninsula in the middle of the Mediterranean," Verrascina said in an interview. "The impacts are already hitting Italy very hard and over time they will only become more severe."

Verrascina believes that the impacts will be wide-ranging, from the production of grains, like corn for the production of cornmeal, to high-end products like grapes and olives used for making wine and olive oil.

Verrascina said while climate change does not mean temperatures will consistently rise year after year, the phenomenon does mean the overall trend of rising temperatures over time.

"Italy is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of biodiversity and as temperatures increase ,that biodiversity is increasingly at risk," he said. "In the agriculture sector, we're likely to see less production and production of lower quality."

Verrascina said Italy should take steps to lessen the blow of rising temperatures: making better use of water and using seeds for more resistant crops. Farmers need to have contingency plans for extreme weather events and use technology to make the process more efficient.

Analysts said the fact that Italy's agriculture sector is dominated by small farms -- only one in 25 farms are larger than 50 hectares (around 124 acres), according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Uunion -- which makes it harder for the sector to make changes quickly.

Agriculture is an important economic sector for Italy, representing nearly 2 percent of the country's gross domestic product, according to figures from the World Bank.
A US cruise operator is working to track down hundreds of passengers who disembarked a luxury liner in Cambodia after one traveller was later diagnosed with the deadly new coronavirus. The Westerdam was at sea for two weeks during which it was barred from Japan, Guam, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand over fears it could be carrying the virus, which originated in China and has killed nearly 1,800 people. Cambodia, a staunch ally of Beijing, allowed the ship to dock Thursday at its southern coastal town of Sihanoukville, with authorities carrying out temperature checks on passengers before they left the ship to catch flights home. But Thai authorities on Monday said any of Westerdam's passengers transiting through the country will face "severe measures", like getting screened upon entry and exit by health officials. One traveller from the vessel was stopped Saturday on arriving in Malaysia after airport staff detected a fever. She was later diagnosed with the coronavirus. The 83-year-old American woman is under observation at a hospital while her husband, 85, is also being monitored. Some 137 passengers from the Westerdam who also took the Malaysia flight with the American have now left on commercial flights for other destinations. - 'Harsh reality' - Cruise operator Holland America said Sunday it was in "close coordination" with Malaysian and Cambodian officials alongside experts from the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The company is working with "national health authorities to investigate and follow up with individuals who may have come in contact with the guest", said Dr Grant Tarling, the operator's chief medical officer. Another 233 passengers and 747 crew remain on the Westerdam, which is still docked at Sihanoukville. Authorities have been allowing them to leave the vessel in groups based on their flight bookings but those on board told AFP they are now not permitted to disembark. A Sihanoukville spokesman said Monday health samples are being collected from all onboard the Westerdam "in order to be clear", adding that passengers will not go off-ship until the tests are completed. Other passengers who have already left the ship are in Phnom Penh waiting for flights home. A tweet by passenger Christina Kerby said Cambodia's health ministry had instructed them to stay in their hotel rooms. She posted light-hearted updates when onboard the Westerdam, but on Monday said she panicked when being tested for the coronavirus by "doctors in moon suits". "It opened my eyes to the severity and harsh reality of this public health crisis," Kerby tweeted. Officials in neighbouring Thailand, which had barred the Westerdam from docking, said passengers transiting through its airports will face strict measures. They would be screened by the airlines and officials at every part of the journey, Suwanchai Wattanajingcharoenchai of the Thai Department of Disease Control said. For those who want to remain in Thailand, they would need permission from the embassy in Phnom Penh. "The foreigners... will be quarantined for 14 days," he added. In China more than 70,000 people have been infected with the coronavirus while about 780 infections have been reported in other countries. Cambodia's decision to allow the Westerdam to berth was lauded by US President Donald Trump, who called the country "beautiful" on Twitter, and US ambassador Patrick Murphy boarded the ship to greet its American passengers.
The city of Houston approved nearly 80 demolition permits for homes in the River Oaks area over a two-year period, data show, revealing a flourishing teardown trend in Houston's toniest neighborhood.

As younger Houstonians move into the neighborhood, they're tearing down the grand old estates in favor of shiny new builds with soaring ceilings, airy kitchens and cavernous wine rooms.

The demolition permits, recorded in 2018 and 2019, are spread among the area's three main sections: River Oaks, Country Club Estates and Tall Timbers, as well as their adjacent subdivisions.

Two of the homes were city of Houston historic landmarks:

--The Tuttle House at 2223 Inwood, built in 1931 in one of the oldest sections of River Oaks, was designed by architect William D. Bordeaux, who was also responsible for Midtown's 1929 Spanish Revival Isabella Court.

When previous owners James C. and Deanna Murphy filed for the landmark designation in 2007, they argued the home should receive historic status because it was an endangered example of the original small homes built in River Oaks.

"At just 3,100 square feet, the Tuttle house and other historic homes of this size in River Oaks are currently being demolished and replaced with structures twice the size of the originals," the December 2007 application read.

RELATED: Meet the developer behind Houston's ubiquitous 3-story towhomes

The home's first owners included Dr. L. L. D. Tuttle Sr., who was one of the first interns at Hermann Hospital and later Chief of Surgery at Methodist, according to the landmark application filed by former owners James C. and Deanna Murphy in 2007. Tuttle's children, Yvonne Tuttle Streit, founded the Briarwood School and the Brookwood Community. His son, Dr. L. L. D. Tuttle Jr., was a thoracic and general surgeon in Houston for almost 40 years.

Leitch Properties purchased the Tuttle house for between $1.4 and $1.6 million in June 2018.

--The T. J. and Ruth Bettes House at 1059 Kirby Dr. was built in 1928 in the Southern Colonial style by Houston architect Charles Oliver, designer of some 75 houses in River Oaks.

Houston politician and developer Roy Hofheinz -- and the driving force behind the development of the Astrodome -- was the second owner after after mortgage executive T. J. Bettes. More recent owners Vesta and Pedro Frommer applied for the landmark status in March 2009.

Luxury builder Al Ross purchased the house in December 2018 for between $2.5 and $2.9 million.

Clarification: An earlier map accompanying this story showed fewer than 10 addresses that were commercial properties. Those have been removed and the correct number is now reflected.
Chetumal prisoner arrested for robbery days after being released

Chetumal, Q.R.  After only a few days of freedom, a former prison inmate in Chetumal was rearrested after returning to his former life of crime.

Authorities say that a newly released inmate from del Centro de Readaptacion Social (Cereso) was arrested after committing a robbery. The robbery occurred 3:00 p.m. Friday at Punto Modelo. The offender, who was allegedly armed with a knife, demanded cash from the sales clerk, however, the person in charge resisted and managed to gain possession of the knife.

The frustrated assailant fled with bleeding hands, a detail that allowed police to easily identify him. He was quickly located and rearrested.
A Naval helicopter from Ramnad's Naval Air Station intercepted a Srilankan boat within Indian waters off Dhanushkodi and confiscated illegal gold, the Navy said on Monday.

"The boat was intercepted on February 15 and it was illegally carrying 3.5 kg of gold which was confiscated," the statement said.

Further investigation in the matter is underway.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Monday defended his country's controversial new citizenship law and crackdown in Kashmir, as he came to Brussels to promote what he hopes will be closer strategic ties to the Europe Union.

Delhi's top diplomat was the guest of honour as EU foreign ministers met in Brussels with an eye to renewing relations and boosting trade with the south Asian giant.

EU president Ursula von der Leyen's new Commission wants to give Brussels a more "geopolitical role" and as part of that hopes to host a March summit with powerful Indian leader Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"India and the European Union share a lot of things," said Europe's high representative for foreign policy Josep Borrell, citing climate change, the digital revolution and rise of China as shared challenges.

Jaishankar, standing by Borrell, noted that the new government in India and the new commission in Brussels are "both quite fresh" and that they hoped to take relations to a "new level".

He said he hoped the lunch talks would confirm the "strategic partnership." Taken together, the EU member states are Delhi's biggest trade partner, with India's imports and exports to and from the bloc each representing about 45 billion euros a year ($49 billion).

But -- while Europe has inked trade deals with big Asian players Japan, Vietnam and Singapore -- the pair have no formal agreement, and India approaches such agreements carefully.

"You don't necessarily need trade deals to do trade," Jaishankar told AFP, stressing that India's economy is driven by domestic demand.

"Trade deals are useful, I mean I'm not at all denying that, but I think they are not necessarily as compelling as sometimes all of us tend to tend to think." European business wants to win more access to markets in a country with 1.4 billion people, and Jaishankar was clear that Delhi would like closer cooperation with Europe on security and strategic policy.

But some in Europe are worried about what they see as India's populist shift under Modi's right-wing government.

Lawmakers in the European Parliament have drafted a resolution condemning India's Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019 as "discriminatory in nature and dangerously divisive." But the non-binding resolution has yet to be passed and Jaishankar insisted the law had been misunderstood.

The CAA laws eases citizenship rules for religious minorities such as Hindus and Christians from Muslim-majority Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Protests have erupted in India, and concerns have been raised abroad over the new citizenship law.

But Jaishankar said Delhi's critics have misunderstood the government's policy and been taken in by the politics of a "very passionate" democratic society.

He compared the CAA rules to immigration and refugee resettlement policies across Europe, pointing out that many EU countries also use national or cultural criteria.

"They created pathways to naturalisation to citizenship," he said, citing among others Germany's rule allowing ethnic Germans from eastern Europe to seek citizenship.

"Now, they did it with a context and they did it with a criteria. I mean, no European country said: 'Anybody anytime, anywhere in the world can come because they feel it's nice to live in Europe'." Without mentioning Pakistan by name, he said some of India's neighbours have Islam as a state religion, "and there are persecuted religious minorities who came to India because many of them find people have the same faith."



He said India's new law would reduce statelessness, and pointed to the fierce debates that Europe has also had around immigrations and the "political changes" these have caused.

Modi's government also raised eyebrows in Brussels when it stripped Kashmir of its partial autonomy.

Indian invited international ambassadors to tour the region last week and Jaishankar was keen to stress that, alongside the political dispute, the government is investing there.

"Kashmir in its social economic outlook was less and less aligned with the rest of India because the rest of India is moving in a very progressive direction," he said. Jaishankar reeled off a list of projects in Kashmir, including the electrification of 330,000 homes and increasing pension and benefits coverage from 62 to 80 percent of the population.

Seven medical colleges are "in the pipeline" and three frozen hydroelectric projects have been unfrozen.

"It's our case that Jammu and Kashmir is moving in the right direction but we also have been honest enough in saying that, well, there are there are challenges still ahead," he said.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 17)  President Rodrigo Duterte still holds the key for media giant ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation to get a fresh 25-year franchise as Congress can rush its approval before its expiry on March 30 if he certifies it as urgent.

PBA party-list Rep. Jericho Nograles, who sits in the House panel that handles legislative franchises, said Congress can approve the renewal of ABS-CBNs new franchise in their remaining 15 session days before they adjourn for a seven-week break in March if Duterte moves to expedite its passage.

If the President certifies it as urgent, then yes, sapat ang 15 days (15 days is enough.) But if the President will not certify the bills as urgent, then hindi sapat ang 15 days (15 days is not enough,) Nograles told CNN Philippines on Monday.

However, he concedes that Duterte  who has been vocal about his distaste for ABS-CBN over its failure to air his 2016 campaign ads and has vowed to put the TV network out of business  may not certify bills seeking the renewal of its franchise as urgent.

Eleven bills for the renewal of ABS-CBNs franchise are still sitting with the House Committee on Legislative Franchises chaired by Palawan 1st District Rep. Franz Chicoy Alvarez, and the House leadership is adamant that it will not rush into conducting hearings on these measures.

We do not see the urgency of a hearing at this point. It will be tedious, contentious, and it threatens to drain the momentum that has allowed the 18th Congress to accomplish so much, House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said on Facebook.

Nograles said Cayetano has repeatedly assured them that they will hear the bills on ABS-CBNs franchise, but has never said when this would happen. Cayetano has told reporters that May is the earliest time they can conduct hearings on the TV networks franchise  two months after its franchise expires.

Something is getting stuck somewhere. The question is why? political analyst Dindo Manhit told CNN Philippines.

Critics have said the House is merely following Dutertes wishes  a claim that lawmakers have denied.

President Duterte, while he has spoken many times against ABS-CBN, he has also many times said that he will leave it to Congress. So there is that independence, Nograles said.

Issues vs ABS-CBN can be raised in hearings

Nograles said 90 lawmakers from the House have expressed their willingness to conduct a hearing on the ABS-CBN franchise, which he said would be the proper venue to raise issues hounding the TV network, including Dutertes complaints against it.

If theres really a complaint on any business who has a franchise, then let it be out in the public. Let there be debates and discussions about it and ask ABS-CBN to answer, Manhit said.

For martial law-era Public Information Minister Francisco Kit Tatad, there is a need for people to know what sins ABS-CBN has committed against the public and that the appropriate penalties should be meted out.

We have to know as citizens of this Republic why an important medium of free speech is being denied its right to operate, Tatad, a former senator, said.

Ahead of any action by the House on the ABS-CBN franchise, the Senate will hold its first hearing on the matter on February 27, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri said.

Senate Grace Poe, who heads the public services committee, told reporters Monday that they seek to independently tackle the franchise issues, even if their House colleagues are yet to calendar a hearing on the matter.

Poe conceded, however, that their hearings on ABS-CBN's franchise would be all for nothing if the House continues to sit on the counterpart measures.

Congress in hotseat

ABS-CBNs broadcasting franchise is not the only thing hanging in the balance. The renewal of the legislative franchises of its communications subsidiary ABS-CBN Convergence and Sky Cable, which it partly owns, are also pending.

Aside from a battle in Congress, ABS-CBN is also facing another challenge before the Supreme Court, where Solicitor General Jose Calida filed a petition to void the TV networks franchise over alleged highly-abusive practices.

READ: SC the wrong place for complaint vs ABS-CBN  legal expert

Calida alleged that the network allowed foreign investors to take part in its ownership and also went beyond its mandate when it launched a pay-per-view channel on its TV Plus service without approval from the National Telecommunications Commission. ABS-CBN has refuted these allegations.

The governments top lawyer used a quo warranto petition to void ABS-CBNs franchise  the same way he used to unseat Maria Lourdes Sereno as chief justice.

Human rights lawyer Chel Diokno, who unsuccessfully ran for a Senate seat in 2019 under the opposition ticket, said the ouster of Sereno from the Supreme Court through a quo warranto petition opened the door for Calida to use the same petition to nullify the networks franchise.

Diokno said that similar to the nullification of Serenos appointment to the high court, the administration is short-circuiting processes by bypassing Congress.

The franchise was issued by Congress, so the body that is in the best position to either renew it or not is Congress and that should be respected, he said.

But until the House moves on the franchise bills, ABS-CBNs fate hangs in the balance, raising the possibility of a shutdown after March 30 and potentially leaving around 11,000 workers jobless.

When that happens, and if that happens, then Congress will be in the hot seat and the accountability of Congress and members of Congress will be put in the spotlight, Nograles said.

ABS-CBN had previously been shut down during the martial rule of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos, with the TV network being taken over by Marcos cronies.

The governments efforts to shut down the network, yet again, has critics drawing comparisons with this era, considered to be the darkest days of press freedom in the Philippines.

Martial law, maraming pagkakamali. Uulitin ba natin ngayon? Tatad said.

[Translation: There were many mistakes during martial law. Will we repeat them again?]
A major neighbourhood feud has broken out over a local hoarder's backyard that is littered with everything from bird cages to barbecues and even a shipping container.

The 'nightmare' home in Warnbro, south of Perth, is surrounded by trailers and an junk including old furniture and paint tins.

Desperate residents called for action to be taken against the the owner of the house on Jean Pierre Drive.

One concerned neighbor, Pauline, told 7News: 'It's just a mess and it's just getting worse.

Neighbours in Warnbro, south of Perth, called for action to be taken on a local hoarder's home

'I hate it but I just try to ignore it.'

Neighbours also commented about the state of the home on Facebook.

One wrote: 'Rockingham City Council fails to deliver. Would you like to live in this mess? We have for the last three months.

The property on Jean Pierre Drive is littered with junk, old furniture and a sea container

'We have rung and emailed about the mess and other goings on and they do nothing.'

The post continued: 'I thought it was council's duty of care to look after their law abiding rate payers, but once again the unlawful seem to get away with it!'

Emails sent from annoyed residents to the Rockingham Council were also obtained by 7News.

Another neighbour said: 'This property is getting more untidy each day. There is a steady stream of cars dropping off furniture which is then stacked up along side of the driveway.

'Can you please advise me as to when this complaint will be looked into and some action taken,' the email asked.

The Mayor of Rockingham Barry Sammels said that he was not aware of the situation and would be looking into it.
The search for German Chancellor Angela Merkel's eventual successor begins in earnest this week, as her centre-right CDU party opens the race to elect a new leader after her heir apparent stepped down.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who was Merkel's preferred successor, was toppled after just 14 months as CDU leader following a row over apparent cooperation with the far-right AfD party in a regional parliament.

The 57-year-old will hold talks this week with the three favourites to succeed her: long-time Merkel rival Friedrich Merz, Health Minister Jens Spahn and Armin Laschet, the premier of Germany's largest federal state North-Rhine Westphalia.

After Kramp-Karrenbauer failed to unite the party behind her, fears abound that the bid to find a worthy successor to Merkel could split the CDU, as the top candidates have differences in political direction.

"The problem with political giants is that they have to end like giants... an orderly transition of power is not possible," wrote popular daily Bild on Sunday, comparing Merkel to former CDU chancellor Helmut Kohl.

After nearly two decades in which Merkel has positioned the CDU firmly in the centre, the race is set to be defined by differing visions of the party's future.

Merz and Spahn, both of whom ran against Kramp-Karrenbauer in the last leadership race, advocate a return to the party's conservative roots, while Laschet is more of a centrist like Merkel.

Merz, a 64-year-old former lawyer and board member at the German arm of investment firm BlackRock, called Merkel's government "unsustainable" and "abysmal" last November.

Ambitious 38-year-old Spahn, meanwhile, has combined social liberalism on issues such as gay marriage with a harder line on immigration.

Speaking to Bild on Sunday, the leader of the CDU's parliamentary youth wing Mark Hauptmann said a "team solution" between Merz and Spahn would be "ideal". "They would speak to the conservative wing but also to the youth, and cover both rural and urban milieus," he said.

Though widely seen as the continuity candidate, 58-year-old Laschet criticised Merkel's European policy in a speech Sunday, calling for a "quicker and more decisive response" to French President Emmanuel Macron's EU reform proposals.

And some believe that cooperation between all three candidates may be the best way to keep the CDU united.

"The CDU needs all three, regardless of which roles they take," former CDU general secretary Ruprecht Polenz told Bavarian radio on Saturday.

The contest comes as the CDU struggles to fend off electoral pressure from the AfD to the right and the Green Party, which is soaring in the polls, to the left. It has tumbled from 40 percent of the vote under Merkel in 2013 to poll at just 26 per cent, according to an Infratest survey published last Thursday.

Leading conservative figures have warned that the party could lose further support if the leadership question is allowed to drag out.

"We need clarity, quickly," Alexander Dobrindt, the parliamentary leader of the CDU's Bavarian sister party CSU, told broadsheet Die Welt on Sunday.

Kramp-Karrenbauer herself has repeatedly said she wants the question of her succession to be resolved by the summer.

After this week's meetings with candidates, she will hold further talks with CDU grandees next Monday before agreeing a definitive time frame for her departure.

There may yet be another twist in the tale, however.

Kramp-Karrenbauer has called for her successor to also be named as the CDU and CSU's joint candidate for chancellor at the next elections.

Yet CSU leader Markus Soeder said Monday that he believes the two questions should be answered separately.

While the CSU would not meddle in the CDU leadership debate, Soeder said, "the question of the election candidate can only be answered together".

His comments will prompt speculation that the CSU leader favours a fourth prospective successor to Merkel: himself.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The broader U.S.-Taliban agreement is nearly identical to one negotiated in September that was canceled by President Trump after a Taliban attack that killed a U.S. soldier before it could be signed. The deal would begin the withdrawal of U.S. troops and require the Taliban to pledge not to harbor terrorist groups with the intention of attacking the West.
Suffering from cabin fever? Looking forward to the warm months ahead?

Now is as good a time as any to take a boater safety course to get that out of the way. One has the option of taking a course in a classroom setting or doing it online.

By 2025, all power boat operators in the state will be required to have a boater safety course under their belt or face a possible fine.

The legislation, called Briannas Law (S.5685/A,4853.A) was signed into law last summer and took effect Jan. 1. Prior passage of this law, only boaters born after May 1, 1996 were required to complete a boater safety course.

The new expands that requirement. Under the 5-year phase-in plan that begins this year, all motor boat operators born on or after Jan. 1, 1993 must complete the safety course.

Those born on or after Jan. 1, 1988 must complete a safety course beginning in 2022. Those born on and after Jan. 1, 1983 must complete a safety course beginning in 2023. Those born on or after Jan. 1, 1978 must complete a safety course beginning in 2025.

By 2025, all motor boat operators must have taken a boater safety course, regardless of age.

Failure to do so could result in a fine between $100 and $250, depending on the circumstances.

Those whove previously taken a state-approved boater safety course and dont have a certificate to prove it, wont have to take the course again. A new certificate can be obtained through the New York State Parks website at a cost of $10.

Certain allowances to this law have been made for visitors to New York, persons renting a boat from a livery and persons purchasing a new boat for the first time. See the NYS Parks website about this and other frequently asked questions.

The legislation mandating the taking of a boater safety course is named Brianna Lieneck, an 11-year-old girl killed in a boating incident in Long Islands Great South Bay in 2005. The girls mother, Gina Lieneck of Deer Park, lobbied lawmakers to pass the boater safety bill.

The state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, which administers the law, estimates that nearly one million boaters will have to take the safety course before the end of the phase-in period Jan, 1, 2025.

See the NYS Parks website for dates of a boating safety class being offered near you and information about the state-approved online courses.

Operators of sailboats, kayaks, standup paddleboards, rowboats, canoes and any other watercraft without a motor are not required to have a boating safety certificate to be on the water. However, it is always a good idea to take a boating course. You can find an on-the-water paddling course in many areas of the state or you may want to take a free online course.

MORE

NYS courts out-of-state snowmobilers with free weekend in March

DEC: Record number of bears killed by hunters in Southern Zone last fall

Sick of snow and ice: We think this might change your mind (video)
Of all the tax breaks available, the home office tax deduction is among the murkiest and most misunderstood. And the passage of the 2018 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has made things even more complicated.

So if you work at home, what should you do? Allow us to explain exactly who can take the home office tax deduction these daysand who can'tas well as how to do it right. Here's what you need to know before filing this year.

Who can claim the home office tax deduction?

We've got some good news and bad news. The bad news? In years past, if you worked for a company (and received a W-2) but worked from home occasionally or full-time, you could claim a home office tax deduction. But not anymore.

"There is a major change to the home office deduction: It is no longer available for company employees," says Bill Abel, tax manager at Sensiba San Filippo in Boulder, CO. "This has many remote employees frustrated."

But there is a ray of hope for these W-2 telecommuters. You could see if your employer will allow you to change your work status from an employee to an independent contractor (also discuss this option with a tax adviser), which would allow you to continue taking this deduction. Consider the pros and cons of such a move beyond just the tax benefits, however.

Another small loophole also exists, if your employer is willing to play along: Just ask your employer to set up what's called an "accountable plan."

For example, instead of being paid $100,000, your employer could pay you $95,000 in wages plus a $5,000 home office expense reimbursement, making your salary the samewhile saving you more on taxes.

As for the good news? If you're one of the 40 million or so people out there who are self-employedfrom business owners to bloggersyou can still continue to take this deduction.

How to take a home office deduction if you're self-employed

If you're self-employed, you have every right to take a home office tax deduction, but that's not to say it's easy.

In a nutshell, you'll be writing off part of your home expenses on your tax return by separating out the costs associated with using your home for personal purposes (making pancakes) and business (answering work email).

To claim the deduction, an area of your home has to be designated as your principal place of business, andthe clincherused exclusively for work. Everything in that designated space needs to be for work purposes only.

What makes an office an office?

To be clear, that room you work in which doubles as a guest room when mom visits won't pass muster, even if you spend 40 hours a week there, says Abby Eisenkraft, a financial expert and author of "101 Ways to Stay Off the IRS Radar." So if you really want to do things right, have mom sleep on the couch!

If, say, your desk is parked in a corner of your bedroom or part of an open floor plan, simply measure the space you use for your office, whether or not there are walls.

The key is that the area must be used only by you, just for worknot to peck out personal email. To make that delineation easier, you can even put up a physical barrier like a partition or shelves.

And according to the IRS, an office can also be a "separate free-standing structure, such as a studio, garage, or barn."

How to claim a home office tax deduction

The IRS offers two ways to calculate a home office tax deduction, one simple, the other a bit more involved, says Jeff Morris, accounting partner at Nathaniel Jacobson, serving Maryland and Washington, DC.

The simple method: Figure out the square footage of your home that you use for business purposes. Each square foot you use for work is worth $5, and you can claim up to 300 square feet, for a maximum annual claim of $1,500, says Morris.

The complicated method: Track all the costs of your home (think maintenance, insurance, repairs, utilities, etc.) and depreciation (normal wear and tear).

Next, separate and allocate those expenses based on the percentage of the home you use solely for business purposes. So if your office space breaks down to 10% of your home's total square footage, you can deduct 10% of your home costswhich could add up to a sizable chunk of change. The key to using this deduction is keeping careful records.

Isn't the home office tax deduction a red flag for an audit?

Nope. In fact, the IRS simplified their method of measuring out your office space to take the audit scare out of the home office tax deduction.

"This might surprise some people, given the fear of an audit that the home office deduction used to strike in the hearts of many taxpayers," says Morris.

The reality is that the deduction is becoming increasingly common, and it doesn't make a taxpayer any more susceptible to an audit than any other deduction a small-business owner may take.

The post How to Take a Home Office Tax Deduction When You Work From Home appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.
A bushfire relief charity concert featuring notorious Australian rap groups has been cancelled after garnering attention from the anti-gang task force.

Strike Force Raptor officers held concerns for public safety at the Ausrap fundraiser, which vowed to donate all profits to the National Bushfire Disaster Appeal.

The February 28 gig was set to feature 'drill' music, a genre defined by dark, violent, nihilistic lyrical content.

Some of the featured artists, including 21 District, allegedly have connections to rival groups accused of criminal gang activity, prompting attention from police.

Some of the featured artists, including 21 District (pictured), have connections to alleged criminal gang activity, prompting attention from police

The February 28 gig was set to feature 'drill' music, a genre defined by dark, violent, nihilistic lyrical content

Strike Force Raptor officers held concerns for public safety at the Ausrap fundraiser, which vowed to donate all profits to the National Bushfire Disaster Appeal

Police have cited the group's lyrics for a reason behind the safety concerns, arguing their music incites violence between rival gangs.

21 District rapper A1, whose group represent Sydney's inner west, denied their lyrics promote violence, and said their songs tell a story of their lives as young Polynesian men.

'We rap about our truths. If we were to write a book or whatever about what we've been through, I'm pretty sure police wouldn't go out of their way to stop the book from getting out,' AI told Nine News.

'This is all for a good cause. We're trying to help the best way we can and that's through our music. We have a platform and we're trying to use it in a positive way to help out those affected by the bushfires, but the police don't see that.'

Managers at Sydney's Potts Point Hotel, where the gig was set to be held, are equally as frustrated by the police's decision to call off the fundraiser.

However New South Wales Police refuted claims they forced the pub into cancelling the event.

'While police provide safety and security advice to venues, promoters, and other stakeholders ahead of major events, the decision as to whether or not an event will proceed lies with the relevant venue and the event promoter.'

A1 compared his group's plight to that of US hip hop group NWA, who were targeted by authorities in the late 1980s over their controversial song 'F**k the Police'.

He said all 'street rappers' are being affected by the shake down, and claimed police stand in their way of achieving their dreams of being recording artists.
Hyderabad: The Telangana state Cabinet on Sunday appealed to the Union government not to discriminate on basis of religion while according Indian citizenship.

The Cabinet urged the Central government to take measures to abrogate the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019, which discriminated on basis of religion while granting citizenship, and thereby jeopardising secularism as envisaged in the constitution.

It reminded the Centre that all religions must be treated as equal before law. The State Cabinet further decided to pass a resolution to this effect in the Assembly akin to resolutions passed by the legislative houses of Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal.

The Cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, also decided to finalise guidelines for the proposed programme on February 18 and hold a state-level municipal conference at Pragati Bha-van. The Cabinet also decided to take all participants, including mayors, municipal chairpersons, commissioners, MLAs, collectors, additional collectors who attend the municipal conference should be taken on a visit to Gajwel mandal in Siddipet in the afternoon to visit various facilities, including vegetable and meat markets and cremation grounds. The Cabinet approved the Lokayukta ordinance and decided to introduce the Bill in the Budget Session of TS.

In the Cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Rao also asked officials not to trouble street vendors till an alternative land was shown to them.

The cabinet also decided to organise Pattana Pragathi programme for 10 days beginning from February 24 in all towns and cities across the state.

According to the Chief Ministers Office (CMO), while speaking at the meeting, Mr Rao hoped that the Pattana Pragathi programme should lay a strong foundation for the best urban living and its goal should be a journey towards it.

He said that urban areas should reflect cleanliness, good sanitation and greenery and that there should be a planned development so that citizens could get better services. He said that steps should be initiated to improve living standards of people in urban areas.

It was decided to hold the Pattana Pragathi taking the ward as a unit and appoint a special officer for every ward and identify works to be done ward-wise, besides those identified at town and city-level. The Cabinet resolved to identify illiterates as part of Pattana Pragathi programme. The government would release Rs 78 crore per month for GHMC and Rs 70 crore for other municipalities and corporations in the state from the Finance Commission.

The Cabinet has decided to allocate Rs 311 crore for the GHMC and Rs 500 crore for municipalities and corporations in the state from the Rs 811 crore fund to be received from the 14th Finance Commission.

The Cabinet resolved to give priority to develop greenery, sanitation work, cleaning of drainages and fill up sewer pits and plant sapling in large numbers and identify places in each ward to set up plant and sapling nurseries.

The Cabinet has decided to provide 3,100 vehicles for sanitation works to municipalities and corporations. Mr Rao informed the Cabinet that 600 vehicles have already arrived and the remaining 2,500 should be arranged immediately they should be sent to various beneficiary towns.

It was resolved to strengthen drinking water network in urban areas and improve main roads and internal roads in and fill up the potholes. It was decided to select sites to set up vegetable and meat markets and constructs public toilets, besides exclusive she-toilets for women.

The responsibility for reviewing the Abhaya Hastham scheme has been entrusted to finance minister Harish Rao and panchayat raj secretary Sandeep Sulthania.

The CM congratulated ministers from Warangal district Errabelli Dayakar Rao and Satyavathi Rathod for the successful conduct of Sammakka Saralamma Medaram Jatara.
Hyderabad: MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi has demanded that a case be registered against the Delhi Police on the complaint of the Vice Chancellor of Jamia Millia. He asked why an FIR has not been issued, and whether the Police is a holy cow.

Speaking to the media, Mr Owaisi said with the emergence of the CCTV footage of the scenes in the library of Jamia Millia Islamia it is proved that the government and Delhi Police lied when the latter said they had not entered the university. The visuals show the girls pleading to be allowed to go out while the police are beating them. The university Vice Chancellor had complained to the Union ministry of human resources development that the complaint and FIR against the police should be registered.

Mr Owaisi said this is an example of the brutality and atrocious behaviour of the police. Its like the Nazis in Germany pushing the Jews into gas chambers. Beating the students in the library must be condemned, particularly now that the video footage shows the brutality with which the students were treated, he said. He pointed out that the footage showed a student reading a book and was not ready to accept that the students had pelted stones at the police.

Mr Owaisi asked why an FIR has not been registered against the police personnel concerned. The Vice Chancellor did not give them permission to enter the university, so why did they do so? A case must be registered and the matter investigated as students were injured in the attack and girl students entering the womens hostel were beaten, Mr Owaisi said.

He welcomed the decision of the Telangana Cabinet on Citizenship Amendment Act, and requested the Chief Minister to put a stay on the National Population Register exercise just as the government of Kerala has done. The NPR has no relation to the census or social welfare schemes and was purely an exercise to implement the NRC in the future, he said.

We are not against the Census, but the NPR and NRC are two sides of a coin, he said. Asked what he thought of a leader of the Hindu Mahasabha claiming that the corona virus is an avatar to punish meat eaters, he requested the government to arrange a special aircraft to fly the man to Wuhan.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 02:13:05|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

NAIROBI, Feb.16 (Xinhua) -- International coffee players have blamed the current coffee crisis to persistently low prices and the increasing effects of climate change.

Participants who attended the week-long 18th African Fine Coffees Association (AFCA) conference and exhibition which ended in Mombasa on Friday complained that low prices have denied smallholders an opportunity to enjoy their hard-earned sweat.

The price decline, the players noted, has so far created disillusionment to majority of over 25 million coffee family farmers worldwide who are facing losses as they struggle to cover their operating costs while prices decrease amid rise in inputs, compliance and transactions cost.

According to Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE), coffee earned Kenya 1.3 billion shilling (13 million U.S. dollars) in December 2019, down from 2.2 billion shilling in the same period of 2018, representing a 41 percent decline.

"Despite the recovery in the global prices, the average price as at the end of the December 2019 remained lower than the same period in 2018 by 25.73 percentage points from 176 dollars in December 2018 to 150 dollars in 2019 per 50 kg," NCE chief executive officer Daniel Mbithi told the forum.

Denis Seudieu, International Coffee Organization (ICO) lead economist noted that the crop might be scarce in the market in the future as many countries are likely to cease producing due to a decrease in prices which currently are 30 percent below their 10-year average.

This, Seudieu said, is over and above the competition from other economic sectors such as real estates and general urbanization, high cost of production and governments not offering subsidies especially in third world countries.

Seudieu said the current scenario coupled with vagaries of climate change is thus expected to provoke stiff competition from other beverages mainly tea, cocoa, and soft drinks.

"As world coffee community we fear that the downward trend of prices is likely to demoralize farmers and thus contribute to reduced production even as the demand of the beans continues to grow at a healthy rate of two percent annually. Since 2016 the coffee market has experienced a continued downward trend and today prices are 30 percent below the 10-year average," he said.

AFCA executive director Samuel Kamau argued that value chain players need to fast-track discussions and suggestions bordering on instituting a new price discovery mechanism.

In doing so, Kamau said, will help in taming the price volatility in the global market.

Following the exit of the United States from the ICO in 2018, there are emerging discussions on favoring other price discovery mechanisms as the New York Coffee Exchange (NYCE) is no longer justifiable.

Disregarding the NYCE, Kamau argued, the value chain players can resort to countries established price platforms, for example, Nairobi Coffee Exchange and Jakarta Coffee Exchange in Kenya and Indonesia respectively.

In September 2018 during the 122nd International Coffee Council Session in London, coffee value chain players expressed an alarm about low prices by the passage of Resolution 465 which entrusted the ICO with a number of tasks.

These include guarantee fair living income to the coffee farming community and also ensure long term sustainability of the global coffee sector.

The director-general of Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) of Kenya, Anthony Muriithi said farmers are suffering from low prices in addition to the high cost of production and increasing effects of climate.

"We have lined up a number of strategies geared towards shielding the farmers against the current price volatility. We are implementing new industry regulations, reviewing standards, enhancing provision of quality seeds and general relook of the current legal framework," said Muriithi.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip

Lisa Eadicicco/Business Insider

Samsung's $1,380 Galaxy Z Flip is the company's latest foldable phone.

As its name implies, it has a bendable screen and hinge that allows the phone to snap shut just like an old-school flip phone.

The phone's hinge and flexible screen enable you to prop it up on a table or flat surface, making it easy to watch videos hands-free or use it as second miniature display throughout the workday.

But there aren't many apps available to take advantage of the Z Flip's unconventional design, and it's still noticeably pricier than other standard smartphones despite being cheaper than other foldables.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Despite last year's mishap with the Galaxy Fold, Samsung isn't giving up on foldable phones yet.

The company launched the Galaxy Z Flip on Friday, a $1,380 phone with a foldable screen that snaps shut like an old-school flip phone. When opened, the Galaxy Z Flip has a lot in common with many standard smartphones. It has a 6.7-inch screen similar to the Galaxy S20 Plus, for example, and two 12-megapixel main cameras: one with a wide-angle lens and another with an ultra-wide-angle lens.

But thanks to its flexible glass display and hinge, it's able to snap shut just like a flip phone  hence the name Z Flip.

Before spending some time with the Z Flip, I was apprehensive about the advantages that foldable flip phones like the Z Flip and its closest competitor, the $1,500 recently-launched Motorola Razr, would bring to the way I use my phone. But after spending roughly an entire work day using the Flip, I'm starting to see the potential in having a phone that bends in half. For example, being able to keep the phone open with its screen propped up on my desk throughout the day made it much more useful as a second screen at the office.

But it's not perfect, of course. Most apps aren't optimized to take advantage of the Flip's unconventional design. And although its hinge is useful, it would be much more helpful if the phone's top half could be set at a variety of angles.

Story continues

Here's a closer look at what it's been like to spend some time using the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip.

First, perhaps the most obvious benefit of using the Z Flip is its compact size when closed.

Galaxy Z Flip Closed Holding

Lisa Eadicicco/Business Insider

When closed, the Galaxy Z Flip was much easier to fit in my jacket pocket than my longer, rectangular iPhone. But it's noticeably thicker than your average smartphone when closed. In terms of thickness, it's about as chunky as two phones stacked on top of each other.

This didn't bother me too much, though, since the fact that it can fold in half when not in use already makes it compact enough.

But what I loved the most about the Z Flip, after my limited time using it, was how useful it became when opened halfway.

Galaxy Z Flip Tripod

Lisa Eadicicco/Business Insider

During its launch event on Tuesday, Samsung showed how the bottom half of the Galaxy Z Flip can be used as a tripod for the top half of the display when taking photos  a feature that's intended to help the phone take more stable shots.

But I found myself really enjoying using the Z Flip in this mode in other ways, too. For example, I kept the phone opened half-way, with the top portion of the display propped up so that the phone makes an "L" shape, while watching a video on YouTube at work alongside my computer screen.

I could easily see this being useful in a variety of circumstances: imagine propping the phone up on a nearby table while showing friends photos and videos from a recent vacation, rather than having to hold the phone or hand it over. Or imagine using the Z Flip in this mode to watch videos or make a video call while at the airport.

These are use cases that make me see the potential for flip phones, beyond the portability and novelty behind it.

However, most apps aren't optimized to work in this way yet.

Galazy Z Flip Google Play Store

Lisa Eadicicco/Business Insider

I'd love to use the top half of the Z Flip's screen as an secondary display during the work day. But unfortunately, since the Z Flip is so new, most apps aren't optimized for it yet. Many apps run just like standard smartphone apps on the Z Flip and aren't tailored to utilize its offbeat design, such as the Google Play Store as shown above.

Launch Slack with the Z Flip's screen opened halfway, for example, and the entire chatroom will stretch across the top and bottom of the screen, just like it would on a regular smartphone. I'd much prefer to see the most recent messages in my work Slack channel on the top portion of the display that's propped up, so that I can easily glance over while typing to make sure I'm not missing any important alerts.

I did work around this, however, by launching Slack in Samsung's split-screen mode, which evenly splits two apps above and below the screen's fold. It's the best use case I've found yet for Samsung's split-screen mode.

And I do wish the hinge was more flexible.

Galaxy Z Flip Business Insider

Lisa Eadicicco/Business Insider

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip's ability to stay halfway open on its own makes it very useful when propped on a table or similarly flat surface. But when holding it, you're best bet is to open the phone up entirely so that it can be used like a standard smartphone.

I wish the hinge was slightly more flexible, making it possible to adjust the top half of the display when held to allow for a comfortable reading angle. The "L"-shaped angle it takes when opened halfway is just a bit too rigid to use comfortably when holding the device.

That being said, the hinge does feel durable, and the fact that Samsung used glass for the screen rather than plastic made it feel premium and polished. During my time using the Z Flip, I didn't notice any creaks or bumps.

Being able to close your phone also makes it feel more private.

Galaxy Z Flip Notification

Lisa Eadicicco/Business Insider

Since the Galaxy Z Flip snaps shut like a flip phone, the main screen isn't visible when the phone isn't in use. That certainly feels more private than having my phone's lock screen light up with notifications, letting the world around me know when I've received a new text message.

The Z Flip does have a small screen on its cover for viewing the time, notifications, and other information. But it's too tiny for onlookers to see from a distance.

But these benefits do come at a cost that's considerably high compared to the average smartphone.

Galaxy Z Flip and Ultra

Lisa Eadicicco/Business Insider

The Galaxy Z Flip costs $1,380, making it noticeably pricier than the $1,000 Galaxy S20, $1,200 Galaxy S20 Plus, $1,000 iPhone 11 Pro and $1,100 iPhone 11 Pro Max. It is cheaper than other foldable phones, like Samsung's $1,980 Galaxy Fold and Motorola's $1,500 Razr.

But before you buy, it's worth considering whether the perks that come with a screen that bends in half are worth spending roughly an extra $200-$400 more than the average smartphone. That's especially important considering that the crease in the display is still fairly noticeable, and the Z Flip is lacking some modern smartphone features  like a triple lens camera. Instead, it has a dual-lens 12-megapixel camera.

It's also not dust and water resistant like most of today's smartphones.

Galaxy Z Flip Side

Lisa Eadicicco/Business Insider

After what happened with last year's Galaxy Fold, Samsung is eager to prove that its new foldable smartphone is adequately durable. The company says the device's hinge uses nylon fibers to keep debris out of the phone, and when unveiling the device it said that it can withstand being folded and unfolded more than 200,000 times.

But the customer care directions that come with the Galaxy Z Flip also warn that it's not dust or water resistant and urge owners to avoid exposing it to liquid or small particles. That would make me wary about regularly using the Z Flip as my everyday phone without using a case.

Other modern smartphones that are cheaper than the Z Flip, like the iPhone 11 Pro and Galaxy S20, are IP68 certified, meaning they can withstand some exposure to water but aren't advised for use in the pool.

Overall, the Galaxy Z Flip feels like one step closer to what the next evolution of the smartphone could look like.

Galaxy Z Flip Apps

Lisa Eadicicco/Business Insider

The Galaxy Z Flip may not be perfect, but it certainly feels more practical thank the Galaxy Fold. That phone offers the benefit of functioning as a tablet and a phone in one, but the phone experience wasn't quite polished enough.

When closed, the Fold's cover screen was too thin and awkward to use for more than checking notifications or the time, and when opened its screen was too large to comfortably use with one hand.

But even after just a few hours with the Z Flip, it feels like it checks two important boxes: it brings something new to the smartphone experience, but also performs well enough as a standard smartphone.

Read the original article on Business Insider
In nearly 20 years with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rear Adm. Nancy Knight, director of the agencys global health protection division, has led the development, coordination and implementation of public health policies and programs in countries including Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. Before joining the C.D.C., Dr. Knight trained as a family physician and before going to medical school she was a Peace Corps volunteer in Lesotho.

In 2008, Dr. Knight helped start Nigerias Field Epidemiology Training Program, training disease detectives to identify diseases and how to respond to them. When Ebola came to Lagos, she returned to Nigeria and worked with the government and the detectives to deal with the disease.

Those people we trained were instrumental in fighting Ebola because they were leading the effort on the ground, looking at daily cases and running that response within those communities, she said.

Dr. Knight talked about the coronavirus, what travelers can do to avoid it and how the C.D.C. works with governments and other groups around the world to help countries stay prepared for the possibility of an outbreak of a contagious disease, and to tackle those diseases when they occur.
The 9th edition STEP Conference, the leading technology festival for emerging markets, has concluded in Dubai with over Dh600 million ($163 million) worth of funding deals announced between companies, regional and homegrown startups.



The two-day event held under the theme of the World in Dubai drew 7,000 visitors with a total of 300 international and local exhibitors from 24 countries and 200 speakers taking part in the event.



Ray Dargham, founder & CEO at STEP, said: One of the best things about this years STEP Conference is breaking our record with 300 showcasing startups from all over the world. We are also proud to have several funds and startup investments announced at STEP 2020.



Ammar Al Malik, managing director of Dubai Internet City, added: Over the last nine years, STEP has evolved into one of the largest and most exciting tech festivals in the region, and as a strategic partner, we are extremely proud to have contributed to its growth. Continuing the success of previous years, the 2020 edition of STEP, a proven hot bed for entrepreneurs, start-ups and investors, was a great way for DIC to kick-off its plans for the year and reiterate its notable economic contributions to the UAE and beyond.



This year, DIC hosted Float Your Pitch competition, and the response received was remarkable and earmarked another great event for us.



Some of the key announcements from the conference:



New investment platform Nuwa Capital was launched by managing partner Khaled Talhouni and is targeting up to $100 million in commitments in emerging markets, primarily covering the Mena region, including Saudi Arabia and UAE, East Africa, Pakistan and Turkey



Khaled Talhouni, managing partner at Nuwa Capital said: "We are at a pivotal moment for the ecosystem, where beyond capital, it has never been so important to provide founders with the right mentors, partners and operators, dedicated to helping them navigate the region's complex operating environment, and that is the vision behind Nuwa. Year after year, STEP continues to be Mena's hallmark event for startups, investors and other main stakeholders of the industry, and we as Nuwa Capital were very glad to have launched at the heart of the ecosystem."



Vezeeta, Middle East and Africas leading digital healthcare platform secured $40 Million in its Series D round led by Gulf Capital, the Middle Easts largest and most active alternative asset management firm. The round had strong support from existing investor, Saudi Technology Ventures (STV), who led Vezeetas Series C round in September 2018.



Okadoc, the leading instant doctor appointment booking platform, closed its $10 million Series A round, following a $2.3 million seed round in 2018. The latest fundraising round is the largest heathtech Series A in Mena.



EAT app, a Dubai-based online restaurant reservation platform used throughout the Middle East, has raised a $5 million Series B round of funding led by 500 Startups and Derayah VC. This brings EATs total amount of money raised to $9.2 million.



Other key highlights from the conference:



 Shorages, a simple e-commerce storage and fulfillment services for small and media companies, won the Volkswagen Mobility Challenge.

 Wamda, a startup ecosystem enabler in the Middle East, launched its 'The state of the pre-seed startups in Mena' report in collaboration with STEP Conference at the event on 11 February 2020.

 Dubai Chamber Market Access program took place on sidelines of STEP where corporates such as EmiratesNBD and Mediclinic amongst others were matched with startups.

 Top conversations were led by Khalfan Belhoul, moderated by Fadi Ghandour; the head of Emerging Technology and Global Partnerships at the Smart Dubai Office, Chief Digital Director Zeina El Kaissi and Henrik Landerholm, Ambassador of Sweden.

 Khadoum, an app that enables users to unlock a set of missions presented in the form of volunteer ideas and community challenges, won the STEP pitch competition

 Amna Al Qubaisi, the first female Emirati racing driver joined STEP Show.  TradeArabia News Service
The Calcutta High Court has set aside the life imprisonment of a man convicted of raping a five-year old girl in East Midnapore district in 2012.

A division bench, comprising justices Sahidullah Munshi and Md Nizamuddin, ordered the release of Gurupada Das who was convicted on May 19, 2014 by the additional district and sessions judge, East Midnapore.

Passing the order on Friday, the division bench held that there was a possibility of the accused not having committed sexual assault upon the victim as it was stated before the doctor that the girl suffered the injury due to fall from a running bicycle.

The doctor in the note sheet also noted that a prime witness stated that the injury was caused to her due to a fall from the bicycle despite asking whether was there any sexual assault or not, according to the division bench.

The incident was alleged to have taken place on May 26, 2012 and a complaint with the police was filed on May 31. The accused was arrested a week after the complaint was lodged.

This gives rise to a suspicion in the evidence adduced by the prosecution and it does not show that prosecution has been able to prove the case against the accused beyond any reasonable doubt, the bench held, setting aside Das' conviction and sentence.

Das had appealed against the judgment and order of conviction by the additional district and sessions judge, East Midnapore.

It was alleged in the complaint by the relatives of the girl that while playing outside her house after coming back from school, Das called her and took her on his bicycle to a nearby bush near his house and then allured her in the name of buying biscuit and new garment.

Thereafter, the appellant made a bed with short cloth, according to the prosecution.

It was alleged that the accused tried to make the victim fall sleep and committed the offence upon her, the division bench noted.

The evidence provided by the prosecution, however, could not prove the charge, Das' lawyer Kallol Mondal told the division bench.

He submitted that the prosecution proceeded on a wrong footing and the framing of charge in the case was defective.

Prosecution lawyer A Maiti submitted that the appellant was rightly convicted by the trial court.

He submitted that the argument advanced by the appellant that there are contradictions apparent on the face of the evidence adduced by the prosecution does not hold and that the judgement and conviction by the trial court does not call for any interference.

After hearing both the parties, the division bench set aside the trial court order and ordered Das' release from correctional home.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
[February 17, 2020] Web.com Group Appoints Michael Bouchet as New CIO

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Feb. 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Web.com Group , a leading web technology company helping millions of customers around the globe thrive in a connected world, today announced the appointment of Michael Bouchet as Chief Information Officer (CIO). Bouchet joins Web with more than 25 years of experience in IT and strategic leadership, most recently serving as Senior Vice President of Cloud and Infrastructure at One Call Care Management, a provider of specialized healthcare solutions for the workers compensation industry. Bouchet will report to Web.com Group CEO Sharon Rowlands and will be based in the companys global headquarters in Jacksonville, FL.

While at One Call, Bouchet drove a service culture transformation across the IT organization and helped lead the development of a modern cloud infrastructure practice. In his new role, Bouchet will lead the information technology organization and be responsible for supporting Webs operations through the delivery of innovative technology systems and platforms that accelerat the companys growth strategy and digital transformation initiatives.



We are very pleased to welcome Michael to Webs leadership team, said Sharon Rowlands, CEO of Web.com Group. Michael brings a wealth of experience and creative thinking to the CIO position and his success in managing large-scale, global IT infrastructure and driving technological change will be invaluable as we continue our transformation. Prior to joining Web, Bouchet also held global IT leadership positions at JPMorganChase, BBVA, and RELX Group. Before One Call, he was VP of Global Infrastructure at RELX Group, where he was the executive responsible for technology infrastructure across 40 operating countries. Bouchet is skilled in strategic planning, large scale program execution, and crisis management, and has a consistent record of improving performance levels and reducing costs.

This is a very exciting time in the history of Web.com Group, said Bouchet. I am thrilled to join the talented leadership team that is driving the companys strategic growth and organizational transformation. I look forward to contributing to Webs ongoing development and look forward to serving as an integral part of the companys continued success. About Web.com Group

Web.com Group is a leading web technology company serving millions of customers around the world. Through our portfolio of brands  CrazyDomains, Network Solutions, Register.com, Sitebeat, Vodien and Web.com  we help customers of all sizes build an online presence that delivers results. Web has the breadth of capabilities and depth of knowledge to be your go-to partner in todays always-on digital world. With our extensive product offerings and personalized support, we take pride in partnering with our customers to service their online presence needs. Learn more at www.web.com . WEB.COM MEDIA CONTACT

Finn Partners for Web.com

(415) 348-2724

[email protected]



[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Implementation of the CAA and NRC is simply a brutal step to change India into a purely Hindu land





by Ali Sukhanver





Another bolt from the blue for Hasina Wajid the Prime Minister of Bangladesh; a senior leader of Jamaat-e-Islami Abdus Subhan died in a hospital a few days back. He had been in prison since 2012. He was convicted on war crimes charges. According to media details, he was undergoing treatment at the Dhaka Medical Hospital. His party sources say that he was deprived of proper treatment in jail on the instructions of the Hasina Wajid government. Moreover, according to his party leaders, the cases brought against him were politically motivated and made as per the government will. Abdus Subhan was given death penalty by the local International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in February 2015 for his alleged involvement in crimes against humanity during the countrys so-called liberation war in 1971.









People in Bangladesh are very sad on his death and they are holding Hasina Wajid responsible for this judicial murder. Every day thousands of university students are staging demonstrations in protest. Situation is becoming seriously alarming for Hasina Wajid as the people were already in a state of rage and anger on Hasinas silence on announcement of the CAA and NRC in India. People in Bangladesh are of the opinion that these newly introduced laws would destroy the whole social fiber in the region particularly in the region around the Indian borders. Bangladesh would also be among the most affected areas. After implementation on the CAA and NRC in India, everyone in Bangladesh is looking towards Hasina Wajid with expectant eyes; this is the time she will have to prove what is more important for her; good-will of the Modi sarkar or larger interest of her own people.





Apparently things seem not favouring Bangladeshs Prime Minister Hasina Wajid as she has always been accused of showing an unfair and unjust tilt towards the Modi government considering Mr. Modi her strongest benefactor rather a god-father. A few months back, in October 2019, she had to face very harsh reactions of her people when she returned from India after signing seven bilateral treaties. Each and every treaty was seen as benefiting India against Bangladeshs own interests and well-being. The most objectionable treaties include a new MoU on the use of Chattogram and Mongla ports and a MoU on withdrawal of 1.82 cusec of water from Feni River by India.





Commenting on Hasinas four-day trip to India DW said in a report, Hasina struck seven deals that, among others, allowed India to access water from a river flowing within Bangladesh. She also signed agreements allowing New Delhi to monitor Bangladesh's coastal region and use two seaports for transporting goods. After those treaties, people started looking at her with suspicious eyes and thinking whether she was the care-taker of her own peoples interests or a representative of the BJP sarkar in Bangladesh. Her selfish rather self-interested behaviour no doubt disappointed and enraged the whole of Bangladeshi people. In the past she had earned a lot of hatred by hanging mercilessly very old and agile leaders of her countrys religious parties. Recent death of Abdus Subhan in jail would add more disgust to already present hatred against her.





The fear, the people of Bangladesh are expressing, is no doubt of a very genuine nature. The implementation of CAA means migration of millions of stateless refugees to Bangladesh legally or illegally as Bangladesh is in closest access and immediacy to all of them. Moreover most of the expected immigrants would be the Muslims. Bangladesh, being a Muslim country wont be in a position of closing doors on its Muslim brothers in trouble. In short Bangladesh will have to bear an unbearable financial pressure of these Muslim immigrants. In 2015, Bangladesh had to face the same calamity when Myanmar started pushing out Rohingya Muslims from its Rakhine State as they were not recognized and admitted as an ethnic group. So those stateless, homeless and helpless Muslims had to take shelter in refugee camps in Bangladesh. Hosting such a huge number of refugees proved a serious burden on Bangladeshs economy in the same way as the Afghan refugees shattered the economic balance of Pakistan.





According to the UN Refugee Agency, there were more than 723,000 Rohingya Muslims who were forced to flee to Bangladesh in 2017.In September 2018 this number reached 1.1 million as pointed out by Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during her address to the 73rd United Nations General Assembly. Now Bangladesh is expecting again the same type of turmoil in shape of refugees from India. They are demanding their Prime Minister to put a pressure on the BJP government not to push immigrants to Bangladesh after the enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act. Feeling the extreme pressure of the political leaders and of the general public and just to pacify them, Hasina Wajid has sought a written assurance from the Narendra Modi government that refugees would not be sent to Bangladesh. India has yet not consented to give any such written assurance to Bangladesh. This situation is widening the distances between India and Bangladesh and just to convey resentment over the issue; Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Minister A.K. Abdul Momen and Home Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Khan have recently cancelled their already planned visit to India.





Implementation of the CAA and NRC is simply a brutal step to change India into a purely Hindu land; experts are of the opinion. After the enactment on these two amendments India would start drifting towards the status of a pure- breed Hindu country as these amendments would deprive so many other communities from their basic human rights. The affected communities would leave with no other option but to migrate to other countries; Bangladesh would be in their easiest approach. These communities include not only the Muslims but also Dalits, Tamils, Gorkhas, Adivasi and Vanvasi tribes and so many others. Apprehending very severe impacts of the CAA and NRC on their own society, the Bangladeshi people are expecting from Hasina Wajid that she would raise her voice against these two amendments. Unfortunately Hasina is not in a position to do so with sincerity and honesty as her stance over the CAA and NRC would simply annoy her masters. This situation is moving towards the demand of a separate homeland for those whom India, the Hindu India, is not willing to accept.
The UN said Monday that 900,000 people have been uprooted by violence in northwest Syria since December  100,000 more than previously recorded  as the Syrian army said it had retaken dozens of towns in Aleppo province.

A Russian-backed Syrian regime offensive in northwest Syria has displaced 900,000 people since the start of December and babies are dying of cold because aid camps are full, the UN said on Monday.

That figure is 100,000 more than the United Nations had previously recorded.

"The crisis in northwest Syria has reached a horrifying new level," said Mark Lowcock, the UN head of humanitarian affairs and emergency relief.

He said the displaced were overwhelmingly women and children who are "traumatised and forced to sleep outside in freezing temperatures because camps are full".

"Mothers burn plastic to keep children warm. Babies and small children are dying because of the cold," Lowcock said.

The Idlib region, including parts of neighbouring Aleppo province, is home to some 3 million people, half of them already displaced from other parts of the country.

The offensive that began late last year has caused the biggest single displacement of people since the conflict began in 2011. The war has killed more than 380,000 people since it erupted almost nine years ago following the brutal repression of popular demonstrations demanding regime change.

Lowcock warned Monday that the violence in the northwest was "indiscriminate".

"Health facilities, schools, residential areas, mosques and markets have been hit. Schools are suspended, many health facilities have closed. There is a serious risk of disease outbreaks. Basic infrastructure is falling apart," he said in a statement.

"We are now receiving reports that settlements for displaced people are being hit, resulting in deaths, injuries and further displacement."

He said that a massive relief operation under way from the Turkish border has been "overwhelmed", adding: "The equipment and facilities being used by aid workers are being damaged. Humanitarian workers themselves are being displaced and killed."

Story continues

US President Donald Trump on Sunday called for Russia to end its support for the Syrian regime's "atrocities" in the Idlib region.

Syrian army makes gains in Aleppo province

The Syrian army said on Monday it had taken full control of dozens of towns in Aleppos northwestern countryside and it would press on with its campaign to wipe out militant groups wherever they are found.

The advances were made after President Bashar al-Assads forces drove insurgents from the M5 highway linking Aleppo to Damascus, reopening the fastest route between Syrias two biggest cities for the first time in years in a big strategic gain for Assad.

Backed by heavy Russian air strikes, government forces have been fighting since the start of the year to recapture the Aleppo countryside and parts of neighbouring Idlib province where anti-Assad insurgents have their last strongholds.

Government air strikes on Monday hit Darat Izza, near the Turkish border about 30 km (20 miles) north of Aleppo city, wounding several civilians and forcing two hospitals to close, according to hospital staff.

Witnesses also reported air strikes in southern areas of Idlib province.

Civilians flee towards border with Turkey

The advances have sent hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians fleeing towards the border with Turkey in the biggest single displacement of the nine-year-old war.

It has also upset the fragile cooperation between Ankara and Moscow, which back opposing factions in the conflict.

Turkey and Russia began a new round of talks in Moscow on Monday after several demands by Ankara that Assads forces should back down and a ceasefire be put in place.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that militant attacks on Russian bases and Syrian positions have continued and it is not possible to leave this unanswered.

Troops from Russia and Turkey on the ground in Syria, in Idlib, are in constant contact with each other, looking at changes in the conditions. They have a full understanding of each other, said Lavrov.

However, the Syrian armed forces said in a statement they would push on with what they called their sacred and noble task to rid what remains of terrorist organisations wherever on Syrias geography they are found.

Syrian minister: Aleppo airport to re-open

Syria's transport minister, Ali Hammoud, announced on Monday the re-opening of Aleppos international airport with the first flight, from Damascus to Aleppo, scheduled for Wednesday and flights to Cairo to be announced within days, state news agency SANA reported.

Pro-Damascus Al-Watan newspaper said the M5 highway, a vital artery in northern Syria, would be ready for civilian use by the end of the week.

The Syrian army had also opened the international roadway from northern Aleppo to the towns of Zahraa and Nubl towards the Turkish border, a military news service run by Lebanons Assad-allied pro-Damascus Hezbollah group said.

Aleppo city, once Syrias economic hub, was the scene of some of the most vicious fighting of the war between 2012 and 2016.

The insurgent forces arrayed against Assad include Western-backed rebels and jihadist militants.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said his military would drive back Syrian forces if they do not withdraw from Idlib by the end of the month. On Saturday, he appeared to move that date forward, saying Turkey would handle it before the end of the month if there was no pull-back.

Alarmed by the new refugee crisis on its border, Turkey has sent thousands of troops and hundreds of convoys of military equipment to reinforce its observation posts in Idlib, established under a 2018 de-escalation agreement with Russia.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and REUTERS)
February 17, 2020

What is conversational artificial intelligence? Whether via touch, voice, or text - today, people can easily interact with various applications and devices. To target a broader audience, attract more people, and provide a more personalized experience, companies appealed to innovative technology solutions. The latter include chatbots, voice assistants, messaging apps.







Think of how many times a day you use Facebook, Siri, or WhatsApp. Dozens! This is the time when you interact with humanlike platforms. According to Gartner (News - Alert) forecasts, by 2020, people will manage 85 percent of their interactions with organizations without natural communication.

Although voice assistants, chatbots, and messengers are often viewed as separate technological advancements, they can obviously converge in one powerful conversational platform to deliver all sorts of connections. Consumers choose to text to their favorite retailers instead of making a call to a support service. Thus, every business today should be prepared to hold this seamless interaction across every possible channel. Those who lag behind technology innovation would probably fail to thrive in a highly competitive environment.

Messaging Applications

Being a low-cost alternative to emails, messaging apps have taken the love of millions of people over the world. With fast access to the Internet, these apps matured into AI-fueled platforms for communication. With the evolution of chatbots, some messaging apps were empowered with conversational AI. What benefits did it bring to businesses?

1. One-to-one communications in high-load enterprises. Today, businesses can hold millions of chats simultaneously using the apps native user experience.

2. Addressing a strong need in personalization. With data analytics advancements, businesses can create highly personalized offerings based on previous behavior, historical data, and individual interests.

3. Engaging consumers via push notifications. Once companies know what their consumer would like, they can send direct push messages containing some attractive offers for the chosen products or services.

4. Increasing revenue. AI-fueled chatbots can ensure end-to-end sales funnels that lead customers from awareness to purchase.

5. Enhancing productivity. AI conversational solutions can help people find the necessary information or schedule a meeting. These capabilities free up time for more important activities.

Voice Assistants

Technically, voice bots differ from text bots slightly. Both harness the capabilities of artificial intelligence to communicate with users. The only thing that distinguishes text apps from voice assistants is their cost. A lot of people shifted to chatting because it was an excellent alternative to SMS. And if voice messaging is in-built, that gives even more opportunities for consumers.

So, why voice assistants are worth your attention? Voice gives people speed. Saying a few words and sending them to your friend is much faster than texting for several minutes. Voice messages can take seconds to be sent. Another application of voice is giving commands like setting your alarm or checking emails with Siris help, for instance. Amazon Echo, for example, allows users to add items to their shopping lists or even purchase products on Amazon.

Artificial Intelligence

Each of the tech giants like Google, Facebook (News - Alert), or Amazon, is investing huge resources to drive digital transformation with the help of artificial intelligence. A lot of banks use the benefits of biometrics technology and personalized insights to provide conversational experience for consumers. So, AI-powered banking software solution is a good fit for those financial institutions that want to be a few steps ahead of their competitors. Banks exploit AI in front systems to provide seamless customer authentication, chatbots for humanlike communication with customers, and personalized recommendations based on previous user behavior.

Although conversational platforms are one of the top trends for 2020, they still face some challenges. For example, Gartner says that the way of communication offered by bots is very structured, which very often leads to frustration among users. Conversational AI can be of different forms. Some platforms address only specific needs, the others offer everything to deliver excellent customer experience.

Key Pillars of Conversational AI

So, what is actually conversational AI? Below are eight technologies that are used to create quite different realities, according to Deloitte (News - Alert):

1. Natural Language Processing (NLP) ensures the ability to read texts composed by humans.

2. Intent Recognition provides the capabilities to understand user requests.

3. Entity Recognition is able to refer some text to a particular category, for example, April is a month.

4. Fulfillment is all about extracting data from databases through relevant APIs.

5. Voice Responses is intended to deliver an optimized experience, for example, voice plus humanlike emotions.

6. Dynamic Text to Speech can convert written text into sounds.

7. Machine Learning (ML) ensures that machines learn from humans how to respond.

8. Contextual Awareness is the ability to find the needed information from the history of conversations.

What Value Can Your Business Get from Conversational AI?

As you can see, conversational AI can do many things but, unfortunately, not every business understands what value it could deliver to them. Here is a list of the most attractive benefits of adopting conversational platforms and tools:

Enhance customer interaction with a company:

 Consumers can easily search for information and buy what they need from anywhere.

 People receive more personalized offerings and recommendations that are relevant to their expectations.

 Customers get the best offer suggestions, which improves loyalty.

Increase employee productivity and satisfaction:

 AI-fueled bots can do some repetitive tasks instead of humans. The manual workload can be reduced. With automation, employees can focus on more meaningful tasks.

 Robots can provide first-class training to support onboarding and recruitment in the most efficient way.

Increase revenue:

 By supporting the marketing and sales departments, AI provides more opportunities for people to sell products.

 Advanced and predictive analytics driven by AI empowers businesses with valuable insights and forecasts on what consumers will likely buy.

Final Words

Act now to feel the advantages of conversational AI. Whether you are a business owner or an everyday consumer, everybody can discover the innovation and decide if it is worth using this or that advancement of artificial intelligence. It builds new types of realities full of unexpected experiences, reshapes the way we interact with the world, and will someday grow in something more powerful than today.

Authors Bio

Iryna Kravchenko

Iryna works as a copywriter at Diceus. She creates blog articles as medium information between a company and its prospects and customers. She believes that people reading a copy seek service for themselves. With this in mind, Iryna is focused on clearly expressing her thoughts and speaking the readers language. Irynas professional interests include research, proofreading, and editing. She also contributes to web content creation, outreach, and content marketing activities.
Beijing: For decades, the Uighur imam was a bedrock of his farming community in China's far west. On Fridays, he preached Islam as a religion of peace. On Sundays, he treated the sick with free herbal medicine. In the winter, he bought coal for the poor.

Details from a leaked database that offers an insight into how Chinese officials decide who to put into detention camps. The text reads: "Family circle: Total relatives 11, 2 imprisoned, 1 sent to training, Father: Memtimin Emer ... sentenced to 12 years [and] is now in the training centre at the old vocational school." Credit:AP

But as a Chinese government mass detention campaign engulfed Memtimin Emer's native Xinjiang region three years ago, the elderly imam was swept up and locked away, along with all three of his sons living in China.

Now, a newly revealed database exposes in extraordinary detail the main reasons for the detentions of Emer, his three sons, and hundreds of others in Karakax County, a traditional settlement on the edge of Xinjiang's Taklamakan desert where more than 97 per cent of its roughly 650,000 residents are Uighur.

Those reasons? Their religion and their family ties.
Canadas big banks are in the midst of executing a threefold strategy as part of a digital shift with respect to their physical locations. They are scaling down branch sizes, relocating branches to more populated areas and closing unprofitable ones, mostly in rural locations.

Based on the banks statements, this process will continue in coming years. The Royal Bank of Canada plans to cut branch space by 20 per cent by 2023, and the Bank of Montreals CFO was recently quoted saying he expects a gradual decline in the number of branches. Credit unions are no different.

With Canadas population growing, and banks closing branches, the number of commercial bank branches per 100,000 adults decreased from 25 in 2008 to 20 in 2018. The impact of fewer, leaner, and more productive banks is reflected in their financial results: The Big Six collectively made $45.3 billion in profit in fiscal 2018 and 2019 results are similar.

At the same time Canada Post, with more than 6,100 retail post offices across the country, operates the largest retail network in Canada. But in a dramatic contrast to the vast amounts of money banks make, Canada Post is struggling financially. In 2018, it reported a loss of $110 million, and in the first three quarters of 2019, it lost $37 million.

But the big banks behaviour  which leaves many rural communities unserved or underserved  coupled with Canada Posts financial woes, is actually creating an opportunity to reintroduce a modern version of the Post Office Savings Bank, which operated for a full century until it was shut down in 1968.

There is a strong case for why Canada Post should offer banking services today.

First, it will fill a social need. A 2014 report for the Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association (CPAA) found that of the 2,620 small towns and rural communities with post offices, 1,178 or 45 per cent did not have any bank branches. With continuous closure of branches since then, the rate is even higher today.

Moreover, Anderson reports that the situation is even more dire among Indigenous communities: in Canadas more than 700 Indigenous localities, there are only about 66 bank or credit union branches.

Canada Post, as a Crown corporation, can and should fill that gap, serving rural communities, Indigenous people and eliminating so-called bank deserts.

A second motivation for Canada Post to open the teller window is that lucrative business of banking can boost financial results. Postal banking is common around the world, operated successfully in about 60 countries.

PostFinance, for example, is Swiss Posts fully owned subsidiary, and one of Switzerlands leading financial institutions. It serves more than three million customers, and in 2018 its customers had assets valued at 119 billion Swiss francs (roughly $162 billion (Cdn.)). Swiss Post as a group, made 405 million Swiss francs ($552 million (Cdn.)) in profit in 2018.

Canada Post can offer a spectrum of financial services including savings and chequing accounts, online banking, ATMs, credit and debit cards, cards, money transfers, foreign currency exchange, insurance, loans and investment products. It can make money and still offer services at a discount compared to the big banks. No wonder the lobby group representing the banks opposes such a move.

Canada Post should also consider entering the payday lending market, which still exists in most provinces, to provide short-term, high-rate loans to low-income individuals who struggle to make ends meet. While these loans do carry high risk, it should be possible, after carefully managing that risk, to offer payday loans at significantly lower rates than those offered by some outlets that charge effective rates as high as 300 per cent per annum.

In an attempt to introduce postal banking, NDP MP Irene Mathyssen tabled a private members bill on October 2018 but it was voted down by both the Liberal and Conservative parties. But with a minority government currently ruling, the NDP has significant bargaining power, which it could leverage to get the Liberals on board.

There is also strong support among the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, CPAA and additional socially minded organizations to introduce postal banking as part of a wider, sustainable-vision proposal  Delivering Community Power  that was introduced a few years ago.

Even in the U.S., the case for postal banking is back as part of the Democratic party platforms. As Senator Elizabeth Warren once put it: If the Postal Service offered basic banking services  then it could provide affordable financial services for underserved families, and, at the same time, shore up its own financial footing.

The same logic applies in Canada.

Amir Barnea is an associate professor of finance at HEC Montreal

Read more about:
(Bloomberg) -- The U.K. said it will spend 1.2 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) on developing the most powerful weather and climate supercomputer in the world.

The program aims to improve weather and climate modeling by the government forecaster, the Met Office, Business Secretary Alok Sharma said in a statement Monday. The machine will replace the U.K.s existing supercomputer, which is already one of the 50 most powerful in the world.

Come rain or shine, our significant investment for a new supercomputer will further speed up weather predictions, helping people be more prepared for weather disruption from planning travel journeys to deploying flood defenses, said Sharma, who will preside over the annual round of United Nations climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, in November.

With Britain hosting the year-end climate summit, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is seeking to showcase the U.K.s leadership in both studying the climate and reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. His government plans to use data generated by the new computer to inform policy as it seeks to spearhead the fight against climate change.

The U.K. was the first major economy to say it will phase out greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 -- a so called net zero target it says the new computing power will help it to reach.

Sixfold Power Increase

The new machine could help protect against the worst effects of climate change by enhancing preparedness for extreme weather events, thus minimizing the damage to homes and businesses, the Business Department said. The data produced will help select the most suitable locations for flood defenses, allow airports to prepare better for disruptions and help the energy sector protect against potential blackouts and power surges.

It could also contribute to emissions reductions, for example by allowing airlines to take advantage of tailwinds.

The investment will replace existing Met Office supercomputers over a 10-year period from 2022 to 2032, with spending in the first five years increasing computing capacity sixfold, the department said.

Story continues

Sharma was appointed on Thursday as president of the year-end UN talks, known as COP26. That followed the dismissal last month of Claire ONeill, who had been due to preside over the summit. Thats left Sharma playing catch-up for the tricky role, in which his task will be to help broker a deal between more than 190 nations with vastly different economic interests.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Thomas Penny

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.
The Supreme Court on Monday said people have the fundamental right to protest in a democracy but they should not be blocking roads. There must be a balance. This could create chaos, a two-judge bench comprising justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and KM Joseph observed in course of a hearing on the Shaheen Bagh protest that has been blamed for causing inconvenience to people.

The question is where should they protest... It should not be a place like a street, the bench said right at the beginning of the hearing on Monday.

Democracy works on expression of views. But there are lines and boundaries. They can protest and need not wait for the Supreme Court judgment (on the Citizenship Amendment Act). But the issue is, is a road the place to hold protests, said Justice Kaul.

Two petitions had been filed in the Supreme Court by lawyer Amit Sahni and BJP leader Nand Kishore Garg to ask the top court to order anti-CAA protesters to end the road blockade on the Shaheen Bagh  Kalindi Kunj stretch. Last week, Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Azad also requested the court to become a party in this case.

The Kalindi Kunj road 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 lakh of commuters who are not able to use the road due to the blockade. Azad, in his request, however, underscored that a bit of this inconvenience was linked to the police blocking other roads that could have been used by commuters. Azad had also alleged that the authorities would use any order to remove protesters to justify police force on the peaceful protesters.

The judges have asked two senior lawyers Sanjay Hegde and lawyer Sadhana Ramachandran to reach out to the protesters at Shaheen Bagh to ask them not to block roads.

Right to protests has been recognised world over in democracies, especially in India. It is a fundamental right subject only to public order and security of state, said Justice KM Joseph. The bench hoped the two lawyers could possibly suggest an alternative site where the protesters could be shifted.

Tushar Mehta, the centres senior most-senior law officer, however, asked the court not to make the protesters removing themselves from the road conditional upon their getting an alternative site to protest.

The message should not go that we have been brought to our knees, Tushar Mehta said.

The Shaheen Bagh protesters are opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), passed on December 12, 2019 that allows the government to fast-track citizenship for minorities from three neighbouring countries, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
She's the self-proclaimed Champagne Dame.

And in a few months time, Kyla Kirkpatrick, 42, will be making her reality TV debut on the upcoming fifth season of The Real Housewives of Melbourne.

Kyla is the first of three new housewives to be introduced with the rest to be announced in the coming weeks, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Making her reality TV debut! 'Champagne Dame' Kyla Kirkpatrick, 42, (pictured) is set to join the upcoming season of The Real Housewives of Melbourne

The announcement comes after weeks of speculation she would be appearing on the series.

'Nothing has been confirmed but I have been approached as have a number of women,' she previously told the Herald Sun earlier this month.

The upcoming series will also see fan favourites Lydia Schiavello, Janet Roach, Gina Liano and Gamble Breaux return.

Incoming! Kyla is the first of three new housewives to be introduced with the rest to be announced in the coming weeks, according to The Daily Telegraph

Meanwhile, Jackie Gillies, Sally Bloomfield and Venus Behbahani won't be returning.

While no official release date for the upcoming series has been announced, the series has been confirmed to air on Foxtel's Arena later this year.

Kyla's quest into becoming a self-proclaimed Champagne Dame kicked off in 2005 after a brief stint in France.

Self pro-claimed! Kyla's quest into becoming a Champagne Dame kicked off in 2005 after a brief stint in France

She was also previously an ambassador for the Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy empire.

It comes after fellow housewife Jackie Gillies revealed the real reason she is leaving the franchise.

Speaking to Stellar, Jackie revealed that she is quitting the show to focus on starting a family with her musician husband Ben.

Parenthood: Jackie Gillies (pictured) revealed the reason she is quitting The Real Housewives of Melbourne is to focus on starting a family with her musician husband Ben (left)

The 39-year-old reality TV star said she was confident in her decision to put a pause on the show and to grow their family in their hometown of Newcastle.

She also revealed to the publication that she is on her fourth round of IVF and that she kept her treatments under wraps because she felt she'd be judged.

'Keeping it hidden meant I also wasn't being honest to who I am. And since I've started telling people, everyone has been so supportive,' the ever-positive personality said.
Your chance to be in the movies with Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Adam Driver is coming up.

The Last Duel will soon be filming in Ireland and they are now advertising an Open Casting for huge crowds of Irish based film extras to attend and apply next Friday February 21 in Dublin City Centre.

The Last Duel is an Epic Period Feature Film soon to be shooting in various parts of Ireland over the coming months. It will be Directed by Ridley Scott and will star Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Adam Driver and Jodie Comer.

Filming will mostly take place around Dublin, Wicklow, Meath and Tipperary. Affleck, Damon and Nicole Holofcener have written the screenplay which is based on the book The Last Duel by Eric Jager. Set in Medieval France, the story is an epic tale of betrayal and justice.

Movie makers will be looking to directly employ LOTS of Film Extras for huge crowd scenes in the coming months. They are holding an Extras Open Casting day next week in Dublin City Centre. It is paid work and the open casting will be open to adults.

To apply, people should go along anytime between the hours stated, details below

DUBLIN

LIBERTY HALL (SIPTU BUILDING), EDEN QUAY, DUBLIN 1, FRIDAY 21st FEBRUARY 2020 ANYTIME BETWEEN 10AM  6.00PM.

What they are after...

Appearances Men & Women, Bone thin, Medium or Broadly built, Sporty types, Tall, Short, Long & Short hair, Bald men & women, Naturally coloured hair or be prepared to dye it, Long and short beards, No beards, Amputees, Crooked or missing teeth.

Skills Artisan Crafts People, Sword & Axe, Blacksmiths, Farmers, Military Trained, Marching, Archers, Bakers, Fishmongers

QUIRKY, UNUSUAL, WEIRD & WONDERFUL LOOKS OR SKILLSSTAND OUT FROM THE CROWD? EVEN IF YOU THINK YOU DONT, WE WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOU THERE ANYWAY!!!

There will be FEATURED & SPECIAL EXTRA roles too & WE WILL be casting people on the day

You DO NOT necessarily need to have had any previous experience to apply.

Remember, THIS IS NOT A DEFINITIVE LIST OF APPEARANCES, SKILLS OR HAIRSTYLES, we wish to see all types!

-You should LIVE LOCALLY (IRELAND) to be considered & have a work visa/pps number!

-You DO NOT need an appointment and can turn up anytime between the hours stated

-To apply, you do need to attend

-You will be asked to fill out an application form, which we will give you upon arrival

-We will take a photo of each person when there after you fill out the application form

-Please only attend if you wish to apply, time is limited and we want to give everyone genuinely wishing to apply a chance.

-You will be asked to leave if you are just hanging out with friends!

- The process will only take about 20x mins when you get into the venue

-You need to be a full time resident and living in Ireland with a working visa and PPS number .

-We will not call anyone from outside of Ireland so please DO NOT travel to our open casting if you DO NOT FIT THE CRITERIA!

-We will be filming mostly in Wicklow, Meath & Tipperary.

- When we call for work/fittings, notice can sometimes be very short so availability should be good

-Please be prepared and arrive with knowledge of your measurements e.g. your Height, Chest, Dress, Shoe sizes etc. as you will be asked to put all these details on the application form

-You do not need to bring an additional CV or Headshots along, but we will accept them if you wish

- Filming will begin March 2020

- All jobs are casual/temporary

- If you arrive late to the open casting we cannot permit entry as we have only hired the venues out for a set amount of hours and need to vacate the premises at said times. Doors open at 10am sharp and will close at 6.00pm.

- If selected, we may call people anytime between now and end of filming

- When called, we will discuss dates of filming and rates of pay with people and ask you to come out to the studio for fittings before your 1st day of filming

- To give yourself a better chance. Please fill out the application forms fully and correctly, include name, telephone numbers etc!
Prime Minister Designate Ludovic Orban said that the Government is considering developing a mechanism to support the financing of projects agreed between Romanian localities twinned with localities in the Republic of Moldova.

"We know very well what the situation in the Republic of Moldova is. We are very interested in supporting the projects of the local communities and local administrations in the Republic of Moldova and here we are actually thinking of an instrument to help the localities in Romania that are twinned with localities from Bessarabia, to be able to have the necessary financing to fund those projects that are agreed upon with the mayors in Bessarabia," the prime minister said.

Orban made these statements after a representative of the local authorities in the Republic of Moldova demanded that the various forms of financial support be allocated as a priority to the projects of the local authorities. "We would very much like for you to help us. But how? Stop giving money to the central governments. Help us by ensuring that all the support coming to the Republic of Moldova is conditioned by real reforms, by real fight against corruption and by focusing as much as possible on the local public authorities," he said.
In 2016, a man escaped from Crimea but later returned to the peninsula

Open source

In annexed Crimea, Russias FSB detained a partaker of Crimean Tatar volunteer battalion named after Noman Celebicihan as Interfax reported.

The suspect in August 2016 went to the territory of Ukraine, where he entered the Crimean Tatar volunteer battalion named after Noman Celebicihan headed by Lenur Isliamov, the FSB message said.

Later a man returned to Crimea but he did not stop his participation in the illegal armed formation as Russia recognized it. He had to come to the state authorities with the application on the stop of the activity.

The criminal case was opened against a man due to the participation in the activity of the illegal armed formation, acting in the territory of the foreign state with aims, contradicting the interests of Russia. He was detained and took into custody.

As we reported, Kirov district court of annexed Crimea convicted Crimean Tatar Diliaver Gafarov to ten years in jail. Gafarov is accused of the participation in the illegal armed formation and participation in the economic blockade of Crimea.

Crimea was annexed by Russia by way of the illegal referendum that was held on the peninsula in March 2014. Earlier, the Russian military captured all strategic military objects and buildings of the key authoritative bodies. Neither Ukraine nor the rest of the civilized countries recognized the results of the referendum. A number of the European and the world countries, including Ukraine, imposed the economic sanctions against Russia.
The Chinese Communist Party calls it "discourse management". It's more than mere censorship and bigger than propaganda. And Beijing is pretty good at it. The party uses it to control its own people, but also to manage foreign governments.

Take the new coronavirus, for instance. It may be a made-in-China global pandemic, and China might have bungled its handling of it, but that's somehow irrelevant and China's government says it's "unhappy" with Australia. Come again?

Illustration: Dionne Gain Credit:

The outbreak is classified by the World Health Organisation as a global health emergency. It was created in China, of course. The consensus among virologists is that the likely cause was the Chinese authorities' persistent tolerance of unsafe animal and food handling practices.

After the 2003 outbreak of a novel coronavirus, the SARS epidemic, the Chinese government banned all trade in wild animals. Once the crisis had passed, the authorities relaxed the ban, announcing 54 types of exemption. In other words, it was going to happen again one day. Then, once this outbreak was discovered, the Chinese authorities seriously mismanaged it. This is now the subject of frenetic blame-shifting inside China.
Australians stranded on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan will be evacuated home on Wednesday, where they will be quarantined for a further 14 days.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said more than 200 Australians currently on board the Diamond Princess would have to face a further 14 days of quarantine at a workers village outside Darwin.

I thank the Japanese government for the care and assistance they have provided to those Australians who have been onboard the vessel, he told reporters in Melbourne on Monday.

He added that New Zealand citizens will also be offered a seat on the chartered flight with Qantas.

Australias chief health officer Brendan Murphy explained that the additional 14 days quarantine was necessary as there have been ongoing infections on the ship.

Given there has been recent cases, we cannot be absolutely sure that any of the currently well people on the ship who are coming home on Wednesday are not carrying the virus, he told reporters. And if we cannot be sure we have to take precautions.

That is why we are going to take them to the Howard Springs facility in Darwin, he said.
Darby Auto Center, Darby PA TaxMax saves you money while getting your money to you faster.

Darby Auto Center, one of the best-known used car dealers in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, has teamed up with TaxMax to help local customers use their income tax refunds as down payments on used cars, trucks, and SUVs. Under the program, Darby Auto offers free income tax preparation through TaxMax with refunds placed on debit cards eligible for immediate use toward a down payment. The new service provides a direct and immediate way for customers to meet down payment requirements for a used vehicle purchase. Under the program with TaxMax, Darby assumes tax prep costs to help customers apply the maximum amount of their tax refund toward a vehicle purchase.

The TaxMax program is the latest addition to Darby Auto Center's package of financing options available to its customers. As a "buy here, pay here car dealership", the ability to offer a range of auto financing programs is an essential part of its client service offering. Darby Auto is well known in the community for helping people start or re-establish their credit. It prides itself on helping individuals and families who may have been turned down elsewhere to own and finance the vehicles they need. As a community based local business, Darby staff know their customers and, in many cases, have helped them buy and finance multiple cars or trucks over the years.

Tax Refunds Through TaxMax are Eligible to Use for Down Payments on Any Vehicle

Darby Auto Center is regarded as having one of the best used vehicle selections in the southwest Philadelphia area, and it includes cars, trucks, and SUVs from every major automaker. Just as it offers auto financing on any vehicle in its inventory, the tax refund down payment program is available for any vehicle. Besides assisting with the purchase of a used car, the tax prep program offers customers the opportunity to prepare and file their taxes at no change. It provides valuable savings compared to paid tax prep services that provide similar preparation assistance. Because TaxMax is available now, customers can take care of their taxes long before the April 15 deadline, and own a vehicle with financing even sooner.

Darby Auto has long been known as a used car dealer with financing serving Delaware County, PA, and Southwest Philadelphia. Understanding that many dealers turn down clients with minimal effort to help them, Darby Auto takes a personal interest and tries to assist. Its close relationships with auto lenders and assistance throughout the credit application process have helped many people buy and finance vehicles they otherwise would have been unable to own. As a family-owned business dedicated to serving clients with respect and integrity, Darby Auto has been a part of the community for more than 25 years. Everyone on the team is dedicated to the highest standards of courtesy and professionalism.

TaxMax Tax Preparation is Available at Darby Auto Center Now thru April 15.

Clients eligible for tax refunds have until April 15, 2020, to apply for TaxMax tax preparation services at Darby Auto Center  but the earlier, the better. There is no reason for clients to wait if they are shopping for a used car, truck, or SUV now. The preliminary application requires no more than a current employer W2 form. Also, any client can apply for vehicle financing conveniently online through Darby Auto's website. The application process is fast and easy, with the customer's needs in mind. For people who have been turned down elsewhere, Darby Auto often can help. Assisting customers with financing that allows them to own the car, truck, or SUV, they want and need has been the goal for 25 years in business.

For anyone who has never visited Darby Auto Center, they are easy to reach from anywhere in southwest Philadelphia and eastern Pennsylvania. Conveniently located on North McDade Boulevard at U.S. 13, they are a short drive from many nearby towns and neighborhoods. Few Darby used car dealers can match the auto financing options and quality vehicles at Darby Auto. Custom financing and buy here, pay here used cars are a specialty. All members of the car-buying public are encouraged to stop in for complete information about the TaxMax program for auto financing down payments.
FLORIDA CITY, Fla.  On a recent afternoon, many stools stood empty beside a conveyor belt where workers examined a stream of green tomatoes and tossed aside those with holes and cracks at a South Florida packing house.

Paul J. DiMare, one of the countrys leading producers of fresh tomatoes, recalls the days when hundreds of foreign workers lined up to labor in the fields or box the produce at his facility in Florida City. The machines roared for more than 12 hours a day as truckloads of tomatoes rolled in to be washed, inspected and packaged. Now, they run for only four.

If you have no labor, you cant run your operation, DiMare says.

The influential farmer and head of DiMare Inc. is among a group of businessmen trying to kill a Florida bill that would require private companies to verify each new hires eligibility to work in the U.S. through a screening process called E-Verify. DiMare says that could reduce the pool of candidates when his business faces a labor shortage of more than 30%.

I think illegal immigration is one of the worst things that has happened to this country, he said. But we dont have a good immigration policy. And what are we going to do to replace those people?

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has made the issue a priority, saying it would remove an incentive for people to come illegally. The state Senate Judicial Committee approved a watered down version of the proposal Tuesday. It exempts agriculture employers and companies that have fewer than 150 employees, but otherwise requires companies use E-Verify.

Sen. President Bill Galvano has been skeptical about a law that would require all employers use E-Verify because it would create a burden for employers in Floridas vital agriculture, tourism and construction sectors. Similar measures have failed in the past.

More than 54,000 employers in Florida are currently enrolled in the E-Verify database, federal government records show. That list includes local and state agencies, which have been required to use the database since 2011. U.S. Census Bureau data shows Florida had more than 480,000 establishments with employees in 2016.

The American Business Immigration Coalition, which DiMare co-chairs, says the measure could devastate the economy and cost Florida companies billions of dollars because they cant hire as many laborers. The group says the first year of E-Verify compliance would cost small businesses anywhere from $1,250 to $24,422 per company.

The Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association says its a food security matter, as Florida harvests the majority of fresh fruits and vegetables for the U.S. in the winter months. It says reducing the workforce would mean relying more heavily on imports.

The Florida GOP chairman, Sen. Joe Gruters, is championing the bill. He says by curbing illegal immigration to Florida it will allow market forces to increase wages at the low end.

Farmers however say they have already been raising wages to solve the worker shortage as the unemployment rate reaches record lows. Raising the cost of doing business has put them at a disadvantage with international competitors.

It will render (our produce) unsellable, said Dan Richey, one of the largest growers of grapefruit. If you try to sell a fruit made in America for $3, or three for $1 made elsewhere, what do you think the consumer will pick?

Richey had to close one of his harvesting companies last summer because he couldnt replace dozens of workers who were aging out. The CEO of the Vero Beach-based Riverfront Packing Company says using guest worker visas has been cumbersome and expensive because of housing and transportation costs.

Another Republican in Tallahassee has sponsored a compromise plan that would exempt the private sector. But critics say it still pushes companies to use E-Verify because it subjects private employers to a stricter hiring process than federal law does.

Its a de facto E-Verify mandate, said Alex Nowrasteh, director of immigration studies at the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute. If the Republican proponents of E-Verify ran businesses they would understand.

Nine states have required all or nearly all employees to be screened through the portal. In a Fox News interview last year, a few months after all the Trump Organization properties enrolled in the system, President Donald Trump acknowledged that verifying each new hires eligibility would be tough for farmers if the mandate were expanded to all states.

Studies have shown that comprehensive mandates have reduced the number of unauthorized workers, but not eliminated them, indicating that some workers switch to the informal economy.

Mississippi passed a mandate in 2008, yet hundreds of people were arrested there in immigration raids last summer at food processing plants. The numbers suggest employees and employers have found ways to work around the requirements.

Even so, Moses Kashem, a young Florida farmer, says he worries that lawmakers will make it even harder for him to find workers to harvest kale, tomatoes, cucumbers and other vegetables. Kashem, who sells produce to Whole Foods, says hes tried to attract college students, without much luck.

Typically 80% of them are not cut out or dont have the desire to work on a farm, no matter how well you pay them, Kashem says.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
The premiere of renowned Chinese musician Tan Dun's new composition, "Sound Pagoda -- The 12 Sounds of Wuhan," was performed by the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra in the Queen Elizabeth Hall on Saturday.



The concert, conducted by Tan, was the first held by the international music community to extend love, care and support to the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, which has so far caused over 1,600 deaths and infected more than 68,000 people in China.

Around two pools of clean water in the center of the stage were placed 12 gongs, one of the many kinds of Chinese musical instruments which first made its way into Western orchestras.

Dedicated to supporting Wuhan's battle against the epidemic, Tan, who has won Academy and Grammy Awards for his original piece for the Oscar-winning blockbuster "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," created the new composition during his flight from New York to Brussels earlier this week.

The composition was written to honor Wuhan's percussion instruments as the city is known for its cymbals and gongs throughout the world. The Antwerp Symphony Orchestra has three Wuhan gongs which were played in the performance.

"The Wuhan gongs, which have left a deep impression around the world, are a must for symphony orchestras," said Tan. "Without the Wuhan gongs, there would be no such wonderful classical music like Beethoven's 'Ode to Joy' or Mozart's 'Requiem.'"



"This is why Wuhan and the people of Wuhan hold a special meaning for musicians," Tan said in front of a large gong.

It was no coincidence for Tan to choose 12 large gongs to perform his new composition. "'The 12 Sounds of Wuhan' symbolizes not only the 12-hour life cycle, 12 Chinese zodiacs and 12 months, but also spiritual culture and harmonious coexistence between man and nature, calling on the world to fight COVID-19 (abbreviation for the novel coronavirus disease)."

"I hope that we can commemorate our friends of Wuhan and let the world remember the fabulous music brought by Wuhan through the sound pagoda built by 12 Sounds of Wuhan," Tan said. "These 12 gongs are no longer physical instruments, but a sound bridge connecting Wuhan to the world."

Filip Stuer, director of communications and marketing of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, said that "I believe that the fight against COVID-19 is a global fight, and not only China's to win. I firmly believe that we are capable of winning through concerted efforts and cooperation."

"I feel honored to be able to organize this concert. We would like to offer our sympathy to all those involved, as well as our support to the doctors and scientists, and to all those who are helping to contain this epidemic," said Stuer.

Zhang Ming, head of Chinese Mission to the European Union, told Xinhua after the concert that "Tonight's performance is the artist's support for the people of Wuhan and their fight against the epidemic."

Tan conveyed a heartwarming message for Wuhan at the end of the piece. "Dear Wuhan, I promise to perform 'The 12 Sounds of Wuhan' and Beethoven's 'Ode to Joy' for you at home once the epidemic is over."
On a day Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) chief Babulal Marandi announced the merger of his outfit with the BJP, the Congress on Monday sprung a surprise saying two of the three JVM(P) legislators have joined it and the entire regional party would merge with it on March 1.

The announcement by the Congress' in-charge of Jharkhand R P N Singh came soon after former chief minister Marandi announced JVM-P's merger with the BJP in presence of Amit Shah.

The two MLAs -- Pradeep Yadav and Bandhu Tirkey -- said two-third of the party legislators have announced joining the Congress and hence theirs is the "real JVM(P)", and other office bearers would join the Congress soon.

Yadav claimed that 95 per cent party members and office bearers are with them and not with Marandi.

"Two of the three MLAs of JVM(P) have joined the Congress and the 'real' JVM-P party would merge with the Congress soon at a public rally to be addressed by Rahul Gandhi," Singh told reporters.

To a question that the two MLAs have already been suspended by the party, Singh said the decision would be taken by the Jharkhand assembly speaker.

Yadav is the JVM(P)'s legislative party leader, a former minister and five-time MLA. Tirkey is a three-time MLA and a former state minister.

When asked about the charge that the Congress was indulging in poaching of MLAs, its chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala alleged that Amit Shah was the "vice chancellor of the University of Poaching" as he has indulged in such activities across the country.

"Who is the poaching guru and who is the vice chancellor of the Poaching University?" he said.

R P N Singh said three JVM(P) MLAs were elected to the current Jharkhand Assembly and two of them are with the Congress. "On March 1, JVM's top leaders will join the Congress in a ceremony. We have requested Rahul Gandhi to address this ceremony, and he has accepted it."



He said the JVM(P) held a meeting under the leadership of both the two MLAs on Sunday and they have decided to merge their party with the Congress, which has also been accepted by the Congress president.

The Congress announcement came a little after Marandi announced merger of the JVM(P) with the BJP on Monday, giving stimulus to the saffron party smarting from the defeat in the November-December, 2019, Jharkhand assembly polls.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, credited with BJP's phenomenal expansion as its president, was present at the well-attended public rally where he welcomed Marandi, a respectable tribal leader and the first chief minister of Jharkhand, back into the saffron partys' fold. Shah also assured Marandi that he will get due respect and responsibility in the BJP.

"I am delighted that Babulal Marandi has returned to the BJP. I was working for his return since 2014 when I became the party president," Shah told the gathering that cheered on.

Shah said after quitting the BJP over "personal and organisational" issues in 2006, Marandi became "a 'ghumantu' (roving) leader, sharing the sorrow and happiness of the people of Jharkhand, setting an example of how to be among people without power, too".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
American woman from cruise ship tests positive again for coronavirus in Malaysia The cruise ship MS Westerdam at dock in the Cambodian port of Sihanoukville, Cambodia

By Ebrahim Harris and Matthew Tostevin

KUALA LUMPUR/ SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia (Reuters) - An American passenger from a cruise ship that docked in Cambodia has tested positive for the new coronavirus a second time in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia said on Sunday, after the cruise firm and Cambodian authorities sought further tests.

The 83-year-old woman was the first passenger from the MS Westerdam, operated by Carnival Corp <CCL.N> unit Holland America Inc, to test positive for the virus. She tested positive in the Malaysian capital where she arrived on Friday from the Cambodian port of Sihanoukville.

But the cruise ship operator had sought more tests, saying the first result was preliminary. Cambodian authorities also called on Malaysia to review its test results.

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Waz Azizah Wan Ismail said on Sunday the American woman tested positive again on Saturday night.

"The COVID-19 retest was carried out on the husband and wife pair late last night and the results were the same. That is positive for the wife and negative for her husband," Wan Azizah told reporters.

A total of 145 passengers from the cruise ship had arrived in Malaysia but only the American couple showed symptoms, Malaysian authorities have said.

Wan Azizah said 137 passengers have left Kuala Lumpur, while another six are awaiting flights to their destinations.

Malaysia will not allow any more Westerdam passengers to enter the country "taking into account that all those passengers were in close contact with the earlier positive case", she said.

Malaysia will also turn away any cruise ship that departed or transited at any port in China, Wan Azizah said.

The Westerdam passengers were tested regularly on board and Cambodia also tested 20 once it docked. None was found to have the new coronavirus that has killed more than 1,600 people, the vast majority in China.

It arrived on Thursday in Cambodia carrying 1,455 passengers and 802 crew. It had spent two weeks at sea after being turned away by Japan, Taiwan, Guam, the Philippines and Thailand.

Story continues

Holland America said 236 passengers and 747 crew remained aboard the vessel.

Cambodia's government said its own tests had been done in collaboration with the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Mam Bun Heng, Cambodian Minister of Health, was not immediately available for comment on Sunday.

There are widespread fears that cruise ships around Asia may be spreading the virus. The biggest cluster outside China has been on the Diamond Princess, quarantined off Japan's Yokohama. Out of about 3,700 passengers and crew on board, 355 people have tested positive.

Vietnam turned back two ships on Friday.

(Reporting by Ebrahim Harris and A. Ananthalakshmi in Kuala Lumpur, Matthew Tostevin and Clare Baldwin in Sihanoukville, Prak Chan Thul in Phnom Penh; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
Actor Ajith left the film Vilimai midway. Reports said that Thala Ajith was engaged with some other projects and he was not able to shoot on a planned schedule. The director H Vinoth was upset because of the delay in a shoot. Find out why.

Valimai: Thala Ajith begin the shooting of the film Valimai in the month of December but now he has been engaged with some other projects which lead to the delay in the shooting. Reports said Ajith was busy in the UAV project which has to be presented this year for that he asked for the time from the director and requested him to adjust the dates as per his convenience. Director H Vinoth seemed upset with the demand and said no to it. Because of his engagements, Thala Ajith left the shooting of Valimai in midway.

Director H Vinoth and Thalapathy Ajith have united once again after the Tamil remake of Bollywood film Pink. The film was named Nerkonda Paravai, just after that, the makers have announced another film with Thala Ajith. The film is Boney Kapoor production and was expected to go on floors on Diwali 2020.

Earlier, the report was found where Ajith was involved in the making of an unnamed aircraft with a student, because of his keen interest he was appointed as an advisor for the students. He wen for the UAV project and secured second place along with the team Daksha in Australia in 2018. Now the team is working on an another project which forced Thala to leave the film midway.

Also Read: Guilty first poster: Kiara Advani in never-seen-before avatar, trailer out tomorrow

Also Read: Angrezi Medium new release date: Irrfan Khan, Kareena Kapoor starrer to hit the theatres on March 13

Also Read: Bigg Boss 13: Colors issues statement rubbishing tweet saying show favoured Sidharth Shukla

Till now there is no such statement made by the director and the actor regarding the cancellation or pause in the shotting. Thala Ajith is a well know actor of South Indian cinema, he is also known for his perfection and dedication in the work. The official announcement from the sides of makers awaited, stay tuned.

For all the latest Entertainment News, download NewsX App
Foreign ministers agree on creating new mission to block entry of arms, since current rule is routinely flouted.

European Union foreign ministers have agreed to launch a new mission in the Mediterranean to enforce a United Nations arms embargo on Libya.

In their meeting on Monday in Brussels, the ministers attempted to find a new solution to stem the bloodshed since the current embargo is routinely flouted.

We all agreed to create a mission to block the entry of arms into Libya, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi di Maio said, adding that the mission would include a naval element to enforce the embargo  a sticking point for some member states.

If it creates a pull factor, that is to say the ships attract migrants, the mission will be stopped.

The news was confirmed by his German and Austrian counterparts.

Austria had led opposition to reviving Operation Sophia  set up in 2015 to fight people smuggling across the Mediterranean  to enforce the embargo with ships, fearing it could reactivate a rescue fleet that would end up ferrying migrants across the Mediterranean to Europe.

Hungary, whose right-wing populist government has taken a tough anti-immigration stance, is understood to have supported Austrias objections.

Libya has been in turmoil since 2011, when a civil war toppled longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was later killed.

There are two competing administrations in the country: the UN-recognised, Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), and a separate administration based in the eastern city of Tobruk, which supports the rebel military commander Khalifa Haftar.

The GNA is supported by Turkey, which recently sent thousands of soldiers to Libya.

Haftar, whose forces launched an offensive to capture the Libyan capital of Tripoli last April, is backed by the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.

The UN said in November that the UAE, Sudan, Turkey and Jordan have violated the arms embargo imposed on Libya.
[February 17, 2020] Castor Provides Free Access to Data Capture Platform to Support Non-profit COVID19 Research Projects

AMSTERDAM and HOBOKEN, New Jersey, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Castor, a health-tech company that enables medical researchers to capture standardized data to support data driven medical decision making, announced that it will provide free access to its data capture system to all non-profit COVID-19 research projects. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the new airborne contagious coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2 a.k.a 2019-nCoV), that causes the disease dubbed COVID-19, a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. The WHO is providing technical guidance [ https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/technical-guidance ] on how to conduct useful early investigations and has highlighted the need to assemble large amounts of accurate and usable data as quickly as possible. Castor has developed and made available ready-for-use electronic Case Report Forms (eCRFs) based on the WHO standard CRFs, to help researchers start their study or registry in less than an hour, ensuring they capture high quality data to help drive the global research effort. By ensuring researchers capture standardized data on Castor's clinical data platform, clinical data from around the world can be easily aggregated. This approach can accelerate the work of researchers who are trying to understand the virus and disease. Commenting on the initiative, Castor's CEO Derk Arts, MD, PhD, said: "When novel strains of viruses like the Coronavirus emerge, data quickly becomes our most valuable asset. On behalf of the team, I am proud to announce that Castor is joining the fight against COVID-19 by making our data capture platform available for free for all non-profit COVID-19 research projects. "A standardized approach in collecting clinical data is critical in order to better understand the natural history of disease and describe clinical phenotypes and treatment interventions (i.e. clinical characterization). For a global data collection effort to be truly successful, we need to go beyond standardized forms. The threshold for capturing these datasets should be as lw as possible, to ensure anyone is willing and able to contribute valuable data."



Castor encourages all non-profit COVID-19 researchers in need of standardized, high quality data to submit for a free billing code via [email protected] , to start their studies by registering here , and to visit their online academy to become familiar with the platform. The WHO-defined CRFs can be downloaded here . [https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/who-ncov-crf.pdf?sfvrsn=84766e69_2] Castor's Electronic Data Capture (EDC) system enables every researcher worldwide to easily capture and integrate medical research data from any source in real-time, including clinicians, patients, devices and wearables. Researchers on the platform generate vast amounts of data from traditional and decentralized trials, and Castor recently reached milestones of 130,000,000 data points and 1,400,000 enrolled patients.

About Castor Based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and New Jersey, US, Castor is an international health-tech company founded by CEO Derk Arts, MD, PhD to leverage machine readable data to increase clinical trial efficiency. Castor's Electronic Data Capture (EDC) system enables every researcher worldwide to easily capture and integrate medical research data from any source in real-time, including clinicians, patients, devices, wearables, and EHR systems. More than 37,000 researchers across 90 countries are using Castor to supercharge their research. Castor's platform has supported more than 4,000 commercial and academic studies that cover a broad range of disease areas including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, rare diseases, and oncology. Researchers on the platform generate vast amounts of data from traditional and decentralized trials, and Castor recently reached milestones of 130,000,000 data points and 1,400,000 enrolled patients. Castor's goal is to make the world's research data reusable, enabling AI-driven clinical trials, and ultimately creating a future in which they maximize the impact of data through reuse. In 2018 Castor raised $6.25m in funding from early-stage investor INKEF Capital in the Netherlands. For more information about Castor please contact: Castor

John Ambrose, Esq

Head of Marketing

[email protected] Media & IR Enquiries

Optimum Strategic Communications

Mary Clark/ Hollie Vile/Manel Mateus

[email protected]

Tel: +44-(0)-20-3922-1906 Website: www.castoredc.com

Twitter: @Castor

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/ciwit-b-v- View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/castor-provides-free-access-to-data-capture-platform-to-support-non-profit-covid19-research-projects-301005826.html SOURCE Castor

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Digitalisation has many benefits for businesses particularly Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs). These include profitability, better customer service, increased efficiency and productivity, ability to work faster and simpler, and improved employee communications. By adopting new technologies, businesses can embrace mobility confidently in order to survive in a continually changing business world.



Vodafone as a brand has over the years demonstrated dynamism and technological innovation across the globe. The telco has set landmarks in the areas of product innovation, customer experience, industry, community interventions and in deploying mobile technology for social and economic good.



The culture of innovation that exists within Vodafone propels its delivery of groundbreaking products and solutions. The telco continues to demonstrate commitment to introducing pioneering solutions for businesses through its enterprise arm, Vodafone Business.



Vodafone Business is a customer-centric service provider that believes that its technology can transform lives and society. Being a total digital solutions provider, it collaborates with customers to achieve their desired business outcomes and ambitions, through the provision of bespoke technology solutions.



The enterprise unit of Vodafone Ghana is the reigning Enterprise Provider of the Year and has won this industry award three years in a row at the Ghana Information Technology and Telecom Awards (GITTA). The ambition of Vodafone Business is clear  to connect for a better future.



Since its inception ten years ago, Vodafone Business has transformed many businesses in Ghana. With a robust portfolio of products including Mobile, Fixed, Cloud, IoT and Value Added Services, Vodafone Business is able to provide solutions for small and large organisations. These include small local home offices and huge multinational corporations across the world.



Tawa Bolarin, Director of Vodafone Business, who joined Vodafone in November 2019, has pledged her commitment to take customers along on a digital journey that leads to ultimate transformation.



According to Tawa, Vodafone Business has successfully simplified communications for large companies and multinationals. She added that Vodafones fully integrated products enable customers to become more effective, profitable and competitive in their industry.



She said: Success in the corporate world requires a whole paradigm shift in the tools employed by corporate organisations. This belief has positively advanced the digital needs of the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo), one of our corporate customers.



Through the provision of hundreds of thousands of our Global IoT SIMs, NEDCo has been able to implement transformational changes via a smart metering system. The solution provides NEDCo with real-time visibility and insights through a mobile networking platform. The platform enables them to control and manage usage, detect malfunctions, leakages and proactively take measures to prevent outages in a bid to improve upon power supply and management in Ghana, she added.



Another product, known as V-Track, is digitally transforming businesses, especially large multinationals. The solution enables customers to centrally manage and control their assets as well as fleet operations. This enables customers to become more efficient and drive greater revenue and profits through digital transformation.



It is undeniable that SMEs constitute the majority of Ghana's economy and are directly responsible for its growth and success. These small businesses however, need support, education and technological empowerment to transit to the next stage of their journey.



Although every business is unique, most SMEs face similar challenges with digital transformation. For some it may simply be about becoming more efficient with technology such as the telecommunications or IoT to cut costs and reduce waste.



Vodafone Business remains unabashedly committed to SMEs. The industry leader continues to demonstrate that its preoccupation is to make small and medium businesses ready for the future; to compete on the international level and lead in using modern digital trends and platforms for their businesses.



Speaking on the varied products Vodafone Business has for SMEs, Tawa said customers should look out for Red Trader, a new and unique product that will be unveiled in February 2020.



We recognize that our SME customers are struggling to keep records of income and expenditure; something utterly crucial for the success and longevity of a business in the modern world. In helping them address this challenge, we are working to create a digital platform where traders will be able to receive payments and manage stock, by accessing real time stock and business information on their mobile phone. We are working directly with our friends at the Makola Foundation to bring this product to life, and ensure it matches exactly what traders today need.



Our priorities are around what technology we can build to drive the digital transformation agenda in 2020 and beyond. We are looking outside the traditional mobile and fixed offerings, with the objective to deliver value to our customers, to solve their challenges and provide growth opportunities for their businesses,  she explained.



Vodafone Business is certainly no longer just a provider of fixed and mobile products. The enterprise unit of Vodafone Ghana has demonstrated its commitment to empowering businesses with the skills they need in order to succeed.



Commenting on Vodafones unquestionable support for SMEs, Tawa said: Our drive is to see SMEs succeed in Ghana. This commitment has given birth to a plethora of initiatives including SME Ghana Awards (SMEGA) and the Vodafone Masterclass Programme. Through our support for SMEGA, we celebrate thriving SMEs and focus on how businesses can deploy digital technology to their advantage.



Our SME Masterclass programme is a unique project we introduced in partnership with the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), to build the capacity of SME business owners and introduce them to key business and corporate insights. Among some of the key modules delivered are Corporate Governance, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Growth, Financial Management and Social Media.



Tawa says Vodafone invests heavily in training and capacity building programmes for their SME and SoHo customers. That has changed the stories of thousands of businesses across the country. One of the many ways Vodafone supports SMEs is by dedicating the month of September to focus energies on their growth and development.



Throughout the month, we outline many activities to really stamp our authority on the sector. We also organize various customer clinics and market storms across Ghana, to introduce SMEs to a new digital future. This is critical for us because SMEs are a reflection of our economy and the more we empower them, the more we see progress and transformation in our economy. We aim to digitally transform these companies and make them ready for the global stage,  she says.



Vodafone Business cares about the environment and has announced that beginning February 2020, it has transformed, by moving from a manual paper billing process to a digital online portal. This move redesigns how it engages with its customers. Essentially, customers can now conveniently make payment from anywhere and at any time. The digital transition will also reduce the carbon emissions from the high volumes of paper produced in Ghana each year. This forms part of a broader campaign by Vodafone to protect the environment.



Vodafone Business is here for businesses, no matter the size or location. To get in touch, customers can call 0800 10 000, speak to an advisor in any of its retail shops or visit vodafone.com.gh for further information.

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.

Featured Video
As the field of candidates challenging President Donald Trump in the 2020 election narrows, two military veterans are still in the race: Tulsi Gabbard, a major in the Army National Guard; and Pete Buttiegieg, a former intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve.

Both are running as Democrats in a field that includes six other Democratic contenders -- Joe Biden, Mike Bloomberg, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer and Elizabeth Warren -- and one Republican challenger: Bill Weld.

In the pivotal Feb. 11 New Hampshire primary, Buttiegieg maintained his status as a top contender, coming in second with 24.4% of the Democratic vote; while Gabbard brought up the rear with 3.3% of the vote.

Here's what you need to know about these veteran candidates and their priorities.

In this image provided by the Pete Buttigieg Presidential Campaign, Pete Buttigieg poses for a photo when he was deployed in Afghanistan. Buttigieg volunteered for military service and did a seven month tour in Afghanistan as an intelligence officer. He walks a narrow path between giving his wartime service its due and overstating it. (Pete Buttigieg Presidential Campaign via AP)

Pete Buttiegieg

Service branch: U.S. Navy Reserve

Years served: 2009-2017; he resigned his commission as a lieutenant.

Military specialty: Naval intelligence officer; he entered the Navy through its direct-commissioning program, which allows civilians with specific skills or expertise to join the officer ranks without going through traditional entry-level training or a service academy.

Deployments and awards: He deployed to Afghanistan in 2014, notably taking a leave of absence from his role as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, to do so. While in Afghanistan he supported the Afghan Threat Finance Cell counterterror effort in Kabul. His awards include the Joint Service Commendation Medal and Joint Meritorious Unit Award.

Biography: Buttiegieg was born in South Bend, Indiana on Jan. 19, 1982. He graduated from Harvard University and then attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. He worked as a consultant for McKinsey & Company in Chicago from 2007-2010, eventually departing the job to focus on his political career. After an unsuccessful bid for Indiana state treasurer in 2010, he was elected mayor of South Bend in Nov. 2011. He served in that position until Jan. 1, 2020.

Notable positions on veterans' issues: He supports expanding access to benefits for veterans with "bad-paper" discharges; creating a White House coordinator position to oversee the effort to create a single electronic health record for veterans; ensuring guaranteed access to suicide and mental health care prevention services; and improving availability of services for rural vets. He opposes privatization of health care services offered by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Notable positions on foreign policy issues: He believes leaving the Iran nuclear deal was a mistake; wants to bring home U.S. troops from Afghanistan, but under the conditions of a peace agreement; supports a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine that "that achieves legitimate Palestinian aspirations and meets Israel's security needs;" and wants the U.S. to stop supporting the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen.

Notable positions on military issues: He wants to get rid of the military ban on transgender service; shift prosecution of sexual assault from commanders to independent prosecutors; require commanders to make regular reports on racism within the military ranks; and pause student loan repayment requirements for military spouses on permanent change-of-station orders.

Recent news: Vox reported this month that Buttiegieg is "becoming more guarded" on his foreign policy views, declining to answer related questions he has previously addressed in speeches and questionnaires. The campaign has described this as an effort to avoid loss of nuance on questions Buttiegieg has addressed at length; critics have said they're concerned by his unwillingness to engage.

Tulsi Gabbard, then a Hawaii Army National Guard military police officer, in Jakarta, Indonesia, Aug. 19, 2019. (U.S. Army/Sgt. Andrew Jackson)

Tulsi Gabbard

Service branch: Hawaii Army National Guard

Years served: 2003-present; she holds the rank of major.

Military specialty: She began in the National Guard as an enlisted medical specialist. She earned an officer commission in 2007 and joined the Military Police Corps.

Deployments and awards: Gabbard deployed in 2004, serving 12 months in Iraq with Medical Company, 29th Support Battalion, 29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team at Balad Air Base, north of Baghdad. She deployed again to Kuwait from 2008-2009, helping to train the Kuwait National Guard in counterterrorism efforts and serving as a military police platoon leader. Her awards include the Combat Medical Badge, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster for subsequent award and the Army Achievement Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster.

Biography: Gabbard was born on April 12, 1981 in American Samoa. In 2002, at age 21, she became the youngest member ever elected to represent her district in the Hawaii House of Representatives, serving in the seat until 2004. She completed the Accelerated Officer Candidate School at the Alabama Military Academy in 2007, becoming her class's distinguished honor graduate. She then earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Hawaii Pacific University in 2009. She served as a member of the Honolulu City Council from 2011-2012, then was elected to represent Hawaii's 2nd district in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2013. She has also served as vice chair of the Democratic National Committee.

Notable positions on veterans' issues: Gabbard has supported legislation to end gender disparity in care at the VA; to provide mental health assessments and mental health care to veterans with other-than-honorable discharges; and to require the VA to reimburse non-VA health care providers to that veterans get faster access to care. She has said she opposed VA privatization but thinks community care options are a good solution for veterans in rural areas. She's the founder and co-chair of the Post-9/11 Veterans Caucus and a member of the Congressional Burn Pit Caucus.

Notable positions on foreign policy issues: Gabbard's foreign policy viewpoints have drawn outsize attention and stirred controversy. She traveled to Syria in 2017 to meet with dictator Bashar al-Assad, accused of using chemical weapons on his own people. She opposes Assad's overthrow and has also said in an interview that Assad is not an enemy of the United States because Syria does not post a direct threat to the U.S. An anti-interventionist, she has opposed Trump publicly on Iran, calling for a return to a joint nuclear agreement. On Afghanistan, Gabbard says she would bring all U.S. troops home before the end of her first year in office.

Notable positions on military issues: Gabbard supported the Military Justice Improvement Act, which would remove oversight of sexual assault cases from the chain of command. She supports tight regulation of military burn pits and health care for those sickened by burn pit exposure.

Recent news: Gabbard, who suspended her campaign in August 2019 for two weeks to drill, has taken some criticism for leaning too heavily on her military service as a recommender for the office of president. She recently got attention for defending Trump's decision to dismiss Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman from his position in the White House following Vindman's testimony against Trump during impeachment hearings.

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.

Read More: Army Kills Laser-Guided Rocket, Cuts Bradley Buy in 'Night Court' Session
Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil on Monday said Devendra Fandavis would have been chief minister for another five years and broken former CM Vasantdada Naik's record if the party had not been "back stabbed", an apparent reference to the Shiv Sena breaking ties to form government with the Congress and NCP.

He was speaking at a function to felicitate Murlidhar Mohol for becoming Pune mayor.

He said elections can't be won by "event management" and victory will have to be achieved by working for the masses like Fadnavis did.

He said people understood that Fadnavis worked honestly and that he was the one who would give reservations to the Maratha and Dhangar communities and waive off farm loans.

"A lot of people said being a Brahmin, he (Fadnavis) would not be accepted and that there will be a revolt in 6 to 8 months. But nothing of this happened. Had there been no back-stabbing, Fadnavis would have broken Vasantdada Naik's record and become CM for another five years," Patil said.

Reffering to all parties felicitating Mohol, Patil said, " in the future will go on these lines. I sometimes say jokingly that if the Devendra Fadnavis government comes to power, why not to have a good Congress MLA such as Rajesh Tope in the cabinet."



He also praised local NCP leader Ankush Kakade.

Fadnavis said unlike other states, all parties in Maharashtra were on cordial terms.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Democratic leftist superstar Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has risen to national  and even global  fame from an unlikely position as a young first-time congresswoman from New York.

Related: Try to keep up: how Ocasio-Cortez upended politics in her first year in office

But now she faces 13 different challengers, including from within her own party as well as Republicans, as she prepares for her first congressional re-election campaign. News of the multiple bids to unseat AOC, however, came as a surprise to many voters on the streets of her district in the Bronx last week.

Some voters still had not heard of the progressive superstar. Others said they would weigh the merits of her rivals as the contests heat up over the summer. But most voiced support, arguing that almost two years since Ocasio-Cortez threw a grenade at the Democratic establishment by ousting incumbent Joe Crowley, her progressive agenda  touting universal healthcare and a Green New Deal  was only now taking hold in the nations political capital.

Give her a chance! We knew who she was when we sent her, that shed make a noise, and making a noise was why we sent her, said local businessman Abdul Abbas.

Shes done good things for the Bronx, concurred Carol Heraldo. I like how she presents herself as woman, that shes firm, that she took what she believed and made it real. We dont see a lot of young people accomplish a lot because theyre afraid  and shes not afraid.

We knew who she was when we sent her, that shed make a noise, and making a noise was why we sent her Abdul Abbas

Thats not how all see it. The first-term congresswoman is facing eight Republican and five Democratic candidates aiming to unseat her. Some appear symbolic, with little fundraising potential or appetite for collecting the necessary 4,000 signatures to get on the ballot.

At her first campaign rally on Saturday, Ocasio-Cortez said she hoped to multiply turnout by four, reaching 60,000 votes in the primary election. She declined to be drawn on the challengers that have lined up to contest her seat.

Story continues

I think everyone has a right [to run]. I of course won my seat with a primary, she told the New York Post. I would never begrudge anyone trying to run in a primary.

Ocasio-Cortezs Republican challengers certainly seem to have their work cut out for them. In 2018 she steamedrolled the Republican candidate by a margin of 78%.

With about $3.4m in her campaigns re-election coffers in a solidly Democratic district, Ocasio-Cortezs Republican challengers probably plan on merely damaging her or securing a bigger national media profile by taking on such a famed opponent.

John Cummings, a former police officer, raised $425,000 in 10 weeks after announcing his candidacy for the Republican nomination on Fox & Friends. Jamaican immigrant Scherie Murray gave her first interview to Fox Newss Sean Hannity and raised a similar amount.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks at a rally for Bernie Sanders in Venice, California, on 19 December 2019. Photograph: Christian Monterrosa/EPA

But having led a campaign to prevent Amazon from establishing a headquarters in neighboring Long Island City, and established herself as a leading member of the Squad, the self-described group of progressive congresswomen that includes Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ocasio-Cortez is a political target.

In a district that hasnt voted Republican in half a century, the Republican candidates are tackling a candidate who has become a lightning rod for rightwing anger nationally.

Anything that indicates AOC is vulnerable would be godsend to people who dont like her or are upset about the Amazon loss of 27,000 jobs in New York, said veteran Democratic party strategist Hank Sheinkopf, warning: Politics are unstable across the nation. Things are happening that we havent seen or thought about before.

Strategically speaking, a challenge to one of the most influential voices on the American left also could affect candidates in other, more marginal races. Within New York City, more than three dozen candidates promoting progressive, generational change are taking on congressional incumbents.

In her own district, enthusiasm among supporters for Ocasio-Cortez is unwavering. The Working Families party knows Ocasio-Cortez will beat any challengers who might arise because shes fighting tirelessly for her district and her agenda speaks to the people of Queens and the Bronx, the group said in a statement to the Guardian.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez serves drinks in support of One Fair Wage at the Queensboro restaurant in Queens, New York, on 31 May 2019. Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

But the Ocasio-Cortez campaign also knows that opposition to her remains deep within the Democratic party establishment. Open warfare broke out in July when the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, took aim at her and her close colleagues in the Squad.

All these people have is their public whatever and their Twitter world, Pelosi said. But they didnt have any following. Theyre four people and thats how many votes they got.

In a tweeted response, Ocasio-Cortez said: That public whatever is called public sentiment. And wielding the power to shift it is how we actually achieve meaningful change in this country.

The progressive-moderate split could be clearly discerned, too, in the battle last year over the election of a new Queens district attorney when Tiffany Caban, an Ocasio-Cortez-backed candidate running on a platform to reduce record levels of incarceration, initially declared victory with a margin of 1,100 votes.

But establishment-backed candidate Melinda Katz demanded a recount and ultimately pulled ahead by 55 votes after a series of court challenges over voter eligibility.

Ocasio-Cortezs most coherent Democratic challenger to date is former longtime CNBC correspondent and anchor Michelle Caruso-Cabrera. Caruso-Cabrera, who published a book in 2011 called You Know Im Right: More Prosperity, Less Government, is a skeptic of big government and a proponent of free markets.

Michelle Caruso-Cabrera in May 2011. Photograph: Evan Agostini/AP

Caruso-Cabrera is a relatively recent Democratic party member who registered her candidacy last week, appear to be preparing a more serious challenge as she seeks to take on Ocasio-Cortez in the Democratic primary.

Caruso-Cabrero is as wild a card as AOC was two years ago, said Sheinkopf. Caruso-Cabrero is likely to lead a spirited challenge and could be very competitive.

She certainly fancies her chances.

I am the daughter and granddaughter of working-class Italian and Cuban immigrants, Caruso-Cabrera said in a statement. I am so lucky to have had such a wonderful career and I want everybody to have the opportunity that Ive had. Thats why Im running.

Ocasio-Cortezs campaign declined to comment on the challenge. But people close to the campaign said Caruso-Cabrera could be AOCs most potent opponent at least from the Democratic side, even though she represents a radically different vision of the party.

Itll be interesting if she decides to hide her libertarian-conservative ideology, one source said. Certain conservatives are upset that AOC beat Crowley and over Amazon so there maybe certain Koch-type figures who have had some role in recruiting her. I dont think [Caruso-Cabrera] is going to get young Democrats from around the country to work for her, but you could see young conservative activists in the district because they all spend so much time condemning her politics or lusting after her.

However, candidates on both sides will be looking to raise money from outside the relatively poor, racially diverse district. Ocasio-Cortezs fame has long transcended the borders of her hardscrabble patch of the Bronx.

AOC can raise an awful lot of money throughout the country from all sorts of people, but within the district theres not an awful lot of money to raise, said Sheinkopf.
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.
Catherine Oshotse, a 27-year-old entrepreneur from Lagos, Nigeria, has the internet to thank for her growing business. Selling hair extensions and womens handbags online to customers across Africa and abroad has grown her client base from 10 in 2015 to more than 1,000 currently. Of these, 70% are in Africa and 20% in the United Kingdom and the United States.

You just go to my website and click on the item you want to buy. I receive an email that somebody has placed an order, then I deliver the package. Very easy! Ms. Oshotse tells Africa Renewal in an interview.

Online shopping for goods and services is booming in Africa and its changing the very nature of many start-ups, especially among young entrepreneurs.

With the emergence of online technologies, Africa is joining the burgeoning world of digital economies. Estimates suggest about 264 e-commerce start-ups are operational across the continent, active in at least 23 countries. Theres significant potential to create new jobs  as many as 3 million by 2025. These jobs will be directly in online marketplaces, supporting services and spin-off economic activity.

Benefits will include opening markets to otherwise isolated rural communities and servicing Africas fast-growing consumer class. Young entrepreneurs are taking a keen interest in e-commerce because it entails reasonable start-up funding, offers revenue-generating prospects, and has an open door to all, in ways traditional workplaces may not. African e-commerce can be a force for sustainable development.

The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) estimates that Africa had at least 21 million online shoppers in 2017, 50% of which were in Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya. Although this is only a small portion of the African population which is over a billion, the number has been increasing by 18% annually since 2014, which is 6% higher than the world average.

Challenges and the opportunity in continental trade

Despite the growing popularity of e-commerce in Africa, the industry faces obstacles.

The E-commerce Index 2018 by UNCTAD which measures an economys preparedness to support online shopping covers 151 world economies, including 44 African countries. Mauritius was ranked 55th, the highest among African countries. Nigeria and South Africa ranked 75 and 77 respectively. Nine of the last ten countries in the ranking are African.

Challenges include slow and expensive internet connectivity, inadequate infrastructure and weak delivery logistics. Consumer protections are weak or non-existent, affecting trust between the seller and the buyer.

While mobile payment is growing, cash-on-delivery remains popular in Africa, making cross-border e-commerce difficult. Also, policies are often not adapted to complex payment supply chains, meaning Africas merchants have fewer options to connect their local e-payments systems with services used by global customers.

Policy-makers also need to work to improve local and global payment system interoperability. This would help bolster Africas position as a global leader in mobile payments.

The new Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a gamechanger. Set to start trading in 2020, the AfCFTA aims to create the worlds largest trading bloc, with a market of 1.27 billion consumers, expected to reach 1.7 billion by 2030. Bridging the digital divide and creating an enabling environment would help entrepreneurs like Catherine Oshotse grow their clientele even further and offers vast opportunities for innovation.

The role e-commerce can play in realizing the AfCFTA is also critical. E-commerce has the potential to lift intra-African trade from the current rate of 18% and to boost Africas share of global trade, currently estimated at less than 3%, said Ajay Kumar Bramdeo, the African Unions ambassador to the UN in Geneva, during e-Commerce week in Geneva in 2019.

https://www.un.org/africarenewal/
After three years, Jodi Anasta (nee Gordon) has quit her role on Neighbours.

And ahead of her final scene airing on 10Peach, Jodi claims viewers won't see the dramatic ending coming.

Teasing her exit from the show, the 35-year-old actress told The Herald Sun: 'It will be next level brutal. I cant believe I get to do this on television.'

'I don't have any say in the way I exit the show': Neighbours star Jodi Anasta (nee Gordon) reveals her final scene on popular soap will be 'next level brutal'

Jodi has played unpredictable character Elly Conway since 2016.

'I dont have any say in the way I exit the show, but Im very, very happy with my exit,' she admitted.

It's unclear when exactly her last episode will air.

'Im very, very happy with my exit': Ahead of her final scene airing on 10Peach, Jodi claims viewers won't see the dramatic ending coming

In January, Jodi told The Daily Telegraph that her decision to leave the show came from a personal place.

The career move will see her move back to Sydney, which will allow her to spend more time with her daughter, Aleeia, five.

She has previously spoken about how difficult it was being away from Aleeia - whom she shares with her ex-husband, Braith Anasta - due to her filming commitments in Melbourne.

'I'll get to do more school drop offs': The career move will see her move back to Sydney, which will allow her to spend more time with her daughter, Aleeia, five

'It'll be a huge change for me,' she said. 'I'll get to do more school drop offs, all that kind of stuff, and just get back into auditioning again.'

Jodi added that her character, Elly, was somewhat tapped out, with her having done 'absolutely everything' in regard to storylines.

Jodi took a three-week hiatus from filming due to 'exhaustion' in June last year, with her manager blaming the constant travel between Sydney and Melbourne.

Neighbours airs 6:30pm weeknights on 10Peach
Reza Farahan tried to attack a man who accused his husband of sexual harassment on Monday's episode of Shahs of Sunset.

The 48-year-old reality star earlier confronted his husband Adam Neely, 34, about the rumors circulating that he played strip Jenga with men when Reza was out of town.

Adam suggested it had been a joke made in passing to their former friend Ali Ashouri, growing incensed that their castmate Destiney Rose, 37, shared those allegations with Reza.

Sexual harassment: Reza Farahan tried to attack a man who accused his husband Adam Neely of sexual harassment on Sunday's episode of Shahs Of Sunset

Reza called Ali 'a troublemaker,' saying that he had befriended every person in his friend group: 'As soon as Adam started to include Ali in our friend circle, all of sudden he's everywhere.'

Reza then met up with Ali and Destiney to figure out what was going on, and ask Ali what his motivation was for sharing that information.

'I talked to Merc a couple weeks ago, and she said you're not happy in your relationship,' Ali explained, referring to Mercedes 'MJ' Javid, 47, whom he called his 'best friend.'

Reza, who had known MJ 25 years, and considered her his best friend, scoffed at that claim.

Glass toss: The 48-year-old reality star earlier tossed a drink at Ali Ashouri

'If I were in your shoes, I would want to know this information,' Ali went on.

'Adam has, when we were friends, he would send me really inappropriate text messages all the time, like every day, a couple times a day. It was to the point of me being sexually harassed. He's done it to other people, too.'

'Are you crazy?' Reza retorted. 'You think you're going to come here and tell me my husband sexually harassed you? Check yourself and stop talking to me crazy. If you say 'harassment' one more time, I'm gonna knock you into mother***ing next week.'

Inappropriate messages: Ali told Reza that his husband sent him inappropriate messages to the point of being sexually harassed

Ali threw pages of texts at Reza, who privately admitted that Adam was 'super-inappropriate', but said that Adam sent these texts to him and their friend Mike Shouhed, 41, too.

Reza asked Ali why he didn't just go away if he felt so objectified, calling him 'a piece of s***.'

Reza told Destiney that if she continued to be friends with Ali, she couldn't be friends with him, and he later sent a text to the rest of his friends with the same message.

Pick friends: Reza told Destiney that she had to pick between him and Ali

'He's cruising at the gym,' Ali said, throwing the texts at Reza again. 'He's harassing other people.'

Reza threw a glass of water at Ali, saying, 'Get the f*** out of here, you f***ing piece of s***!'

'Stop, stop, stop, stop!' Destiney yelled, as Reza went and pushed Ali. 'Who's he harassing you f***ing liar? Get the f*** out of my face. I could f***ing destroy you'

Held back: Ali told Reza that Adam was cruising at the gym and harassing other people and he went after him

'Go f*** yourself!' he added, as he stormed off.

Secretly, however, he wondered: 'Is my husband cheating on me, and I'm the only idiot in the room who doesn't know what's going on, and all my friends are laughing behind my back?'

When he confronted Adam later, Reza told him he'd been stupid about the whole thing.

Feeling insecure: Reza in a confessional wondered if Adam was cheating on him

Even though Reza didn't trust Ali, and knew that Adam had cut him out of their lives, he continued to give Adam a hard time for giving rise to rumors.

'So you're either a dick, an idiot or intentionally trying to hurt me,' Reza earlier complained.

Adam said he had thought he was just joking with Ali, and said that it was something he just did with people he was comfortable with.

Candid conversation: The reality star later confronted his husband over his texting with Ali

'That's gonna end today or you're gonna be divorced,' Reza told him. 'How could you be so careless and reckless?'

'I'm disgusted with myself for what I did, but could you please not call me stupid?' Adam asked, and Reza apologized.

Adam decided he could no longer be friends with Destiney any longer.

Just jokes: Adam said thought his sexual messages to Ali were funny

In a more serious matter, MJ, who was 36 weeks pregnant, was preparing to be induced to prevent her baby from being stillborn.

MJ had already been on bed rest for three-and-a-half-months after learning her cervix had shrunk, a diagnosis that was terrifying in itself.

'When you have an incompetent cervix, it's basically like a broken door, and that's the door that your baby is relying on to stay inside,' she explained.

Shrunken cervix: MJ, who was 36 weeks pregnant, was preparing to be induced to prevent her baby from being stillborn and already had been on bed rest for three-and-a-half-months after learning her cervix had shrunk

MJ got the 'all clear' from her doctor at 34 weeks, but was next diagnosed with cholestasis, which she described as 'a disease that causes your gallbladder to stop functioning, and the acid can cause a sudden stillbirth.'

Shams Francis Feight was born on April 17, 2019. His father, Tommy Feight sent Reza a text message to let him know how the birth turned out.

'We had to do an emergency C-section,' Reza read. 'Baby is here, healthy and happy, but my wife had a lot of complications. She lost a lot of blood. They had to remove her uterus and one of her Fallopian tubes, so she can't have more kids. She'll probably be in ICU all day.'

New addition: Shams Francis Feight was born on April 17, 2019

Tender moment: MJ held her baby after an emergency C-section delivery

Despite his concern, he later called a pregnant MJ in the post-natal ICU to find out what she had told Ali about him and Adam.

Golnesa 'GG' Gharachedaghi, 38, who was trying to get pregnant like MJ, met new cast member Sara Jeihooni for lunch.

GG invited Sara to watch a grunion run at the beach, an event that found the fish engaging in a mating ritual at high tide, which was supposed to help human fertility.

Grunion run: Golnesa 'GG' Gharachedaghi, 38, invited everyone to watch a grunion run at the beach

'I smell sex in the air,' GG said as all of her friends gathered with her at the beach.

In another segment, Mike announced that he was trying to develop a $50 million apartment property with his two brothers.

He was going to spend the next two years of his life on it, he said, emphasizing that he deserved to draw a salary for his efforts.

Beach talk: GG waxed poetic about the moon and sex

In the meantime, he and his girlfriend Paulina held a luxurious Passover meal for his friends at his house, at which his family told the story of why they held the traditions they did.

Mike said he finally felt like his parents were proud of him, as he was becoming the man they wanted him to be.

With his new project, however, they said they could not save him if he messed up again.
Turkey's Atlas Global Airlines filed for bankruptcy and all its flights were canceled, the country's civil aviation authority said Friday.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in tweet the private airline filed for bankruptcy because it could not continue its operations.

The airline had temporarily suspended its flights and resumed operations in December.

Launched in 2001, the airline which flew to 18 destinations, was facing financial troubles since 2018.

Image & Text:  AA
The Indian Embassy in Tokyo on Monday said that all four Indians who tested positive for the coronavirus onboard cruise ship off the Japanese coast in Yokohama are responding well to the treatment.

"All 4 #COVID19 positive Indian nationals as on today receiving medical attention onshore are responding well to the treatment. @IndianEmbTokyo is in regular touch with Indians on-board #DiamondPrincess. They understand public health safety concerns in such situations," the Embassy wrote on Twitter.

On February 12, two Indian crew members were found positive of the coronavirus for the first time on the ship.

On Sunday, two more Indians on board a quarantined cruise ship off Japan have tested positive for the novel coronavirus

A total of 138 Indians, including 132 crew and 6 passengers, were among the 3,711 people on board the ship, Diamond Princess that arrived at the Japanese coast earlier this month.

"Over the last 2 days, 137 new cases on #DiamondPrincess tested positive for #COVID19, including two Indian nationals, taken to onshore medical facilities for treatment. Three other Indian crew members, receiving treatment are responding well, with no fever or pain," the Indian Embassy tweeted in the weekend.

Earlier, three Indian crew members were tested positive for the virus and are currently receiving treatment.

The Mission is also coordinating with relevant Japanese authorities and the cruise company to ensure the well-being of all Indian nationals on-board the ship and for their early disembarkation after the end of the quarantine period.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Well, I got it partly wrong last week. Not my fault, of course, Fianna Fail let me down.

As the count started and the numbers started to come in, there was no doubt that FF would end up in the low forties and SF in the high thirties.

Between them, they were bound to reach the magic number of 80, and a two-party government would have been irresistible.

But as Sunday turned into Monday, FF began to lose seats they should have won. And by the end of the day, only a three-party government was possible. And doubts immediately began to creep in.

In the end, only Sinn Fein and the Greens could be said to have won. FF found themselves a bit forgiven, but still not trusted.

Labour still carried the burden of trying to fix a broken economy with some bad decisions along the way. And Fine Gael were hammered for forgetting that a strong economy is meaningless if aspects of society are broken.

The latter outcome was predictable from the beginning. Again and again FG told us that we were wonderful  and by extension they were wonderful.

Look at the brilliant job done to rebuild a strong economy after the wreckage. Fastest growth in Europe, job creation going gangbusters, Brexit managed well, the budget in surplus.

And the people listened and said, grand. If were that good, that wonderful, how in the name of everything that matters are old people lying on trolleys? How are so many children homeless? How are so many young people unable to get on the bottom rung of the property ladder? We came to see the boasting about the economy as a sort of snake-oil, the miracle cure that could cure nothing.

And then in the immediate aftermath of the count the situation was further complicated by Sinn Fein triumphalism.

They got an awful lot of votes in this election from people who would never have voted Up the Ra. People heard the story of the murder of Paul Quinn, held their noses, and voted for a party they believed could fix health and housing. The last thing they wanted to hear in the aftermath was pub chants of a different agenda, an agenda that would mean the end of our republic as we know it.

But still. Sinn Fein got a mandate, and a powerful one. As doubts crept in, one of the popular messages on radio and television was the thought that yes, they got 25%  but 75% of the people voted for someone else.

Thats not the way we work in Ireland. Its well established now that we vote for coalitions.

The last time a single party got an overall majority in Ireland was 43 years ago. Jack Lynch won that majority, and as stable as it looked at the time, his career was finished two years later, fatally undermined by a man who played Iago to Lynchs Othello.

The Iago in question, Charles J Haughey, presided over two minority single-party governments subsequently  one of them bolstered by the Tallaght strategy, which was the confidence and supply arrangement of its day  but he made a mess of both of them. (Incidentally, his second government was brought down by superb political management led by Brendan Howlin, one of the deadliest and most effective opposition whips the Dail has ever seen.)

So, for nearly half a century Ireland has been governed by coalitions. And in every single one of them the party that got the largest share of the seats occupied the dominant position. Every single one of them involved compromise.

Charles Haughey: presided over two minority single-party governments

Fianna Fail, despite their poor election and despite the fact that they are hugely outnumbered by Sinn Fein in the capital, are in that position. Sinn Fein have won the right to be a virtually equal partner. I mightnt like that, but its a fact.

Instead of the logical  and democratic  thing happening, FF and FG are seeking to discover if they can put aside a century of bad blood, bitter rivalry, and endless back-biting to work together to deprive Sinn Fein of its hard-won mandate. Theres something terribly wrong about that.

Ive always thought that it would be the beginning of real new politics in Ireland if the parties of the Civil War could come together. But not in these essentially anti-democratic circumstances.

Can Sinn Fein prevent it? I reckon there are two things they need to do.

First, what people want from them now  and it would make a big difference  is a formal recognition of the Constitution of Ireland, Bunreacht na hEireann.

That document talks about the nation, the principle of consent, the primacy of parliament, the role of the courts. It sets out the rights and duties of citizens, and it lays out the fundamental democratic principles that underpin everything we do, and how we go about change.

It would be refreshing and different to hear Mary Lou give a speech about that  a speech that would make it clear, as a promise, that her party was committing itself to Bunreacht na hEireann, and all its mechanisms and procedures.

Second, she and they need to recognise that the clear and unequivocal message from the people was that there are two sets of fundamentally defining issues that must be the priorities beyond all other priorities for the next government.

One set of issues  health and housing  are the over-riding concerns of this generation. But we owe it to the next generation to begin to deal decisively with the other set  global warming, climate change, and the survival of our species. Of course theyre not enough.

The government that is formed now, if there is one, also has to be careful and responsible when it comes to the management of the economy. Fine Gael were right when they said Brexit wasnt done yet, and it will require skilful management and discipline.

So the next programme for government has to contain compromise. But a government that is committed  as an entire government  to fixing health and housing can do it, or most of it, within a term.

A government that takes a 'whole of government' approach to the major environmental issues will have to make unpopular decisions in the short term, but they will visibly pay off in the next five years.

Theres everything to play for here. We will lose a golden opportunity if Sinn Fein continue to hector, and if the other parties try to confound a democratic outcome just because they dont like it.

I guess the posturing will continue on all sides until the Dail meets and fails to elect a taoiseach. Then the clamouring will begin for the national interest to dominate.

But the national interest wont be served if the system doesnt at least try to respect the views of the electorate.

The people of Ireland want Sinn Fein to be allowed to try. Sinn Fein need to respond to that with humility, recognising why so many are afraid of them. But others need to set aside unthinking obduracy.

The people have voted for a fresh start, and heaven knows we need it.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The National Legal Services Authority of India (NALSA) has asked all its state authorities to raise awareness about a portal launched by the National Green Tribunal through which aggrieved persons can approach the green body.

The communication addressed to all the state legal services authorities said that it becomes difficult for people living in far off places to access NGT and its benches due to geographical distances.

"In their ongoing awareness programmes/camps, disseminate information about online mechanism/remedy of approaching NGT with regard to the victim of pollution and environment damage.

Apprise panel advocates and paralegal volunteers about the same so that they assist needy and eligible persons in filing such online applications in appropriate cases," the communication stated.

The NGT has started the new system in addition to the existing procedure of E-filing.

Recently, NGT Chairperson Adarsh Kumar Goel had requested NALSA to apprise the masses about the availability of the newly-started online service and assist the needy and eligible persons.

NGT was established on October 18, 2010, under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010 for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources.

It is a specialised body equipped with the necessary expertise to handle environmental disputes involving multi-disciplinary issues.

New Delhi is the principal place of sitting of the Tribunal and Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai are the other four place of sitting of the green panel.
Chief election commission (CEC) on Monday nominated election commissioner Sushil Chandra as his nominee to the proposed delimitation commission for Jammu and Kashmir, a poll panel officer aware of the development said.

CEC Sunil Arora nominated Chandra upon the request of legislative department of the law ministry to take forward the exercise of setting up the commission. The ECI nominee has been named as per the desire of the law ministry, said the official quoted above.

The proposed Delimitation Commission will redraw assembly constituencies in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.The commission is likely to be set up by the home ministry. Delimitation is the process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country or a province with a legislative body.
She recently enjoyed a break from the chilly weather in the UK by treating herself to a wellness trip in Marrakech.

But Amber Turner was back on home turf as she enjoyed a girls' night out with Love Island's Francesca Allen, Elma Pazar and Maria Wild at Mayfair's Bagatelle in London on Sunday evening.

The TOWIE star, 26, stood out from the pack as she slipped her curves into a burgundy ruched mini-dress, which featured a low-cut, squared neckline.

Here come the girls! Amber Turner (R) enjoyed a gals' night out with (from left) Love Island's Maria Wild, Elma Pazar and Francesca Allen at Mayfair's Bagatelle in London on Sunday

Flashing her tanned legs, the dress' clingy material highlighted Amber's figure, with its long sleeves providing a hint of warmth amid Storm Dennis.

The reality star displayed her fresh white pedicure in black ankle-strap heels, and toted her essentials in a designer, chain-strap handbag.

With her tresses worn in a straight fashion, the social media sensation complemented her beauty with a dewy make-up look.

Love Island 2019 contestant Francesca, 23, meanwhile, nailed sophisticated chic in an elegant blazer, teamed with a white shirt, sheer tights and velvet ankle boots.

Wow-factor! The TOWIE star, 26, stood out from the pack as she slipped her curves into a burgundy ruched mini-dress, which featured a low-cut, squared neckline

Catching the eye: Flashing her tanned legs, the dress' clingy material highlighted Amber's sensational figure, with its long sleeves providing a hint of warmth amid Storm Dennis

Style savvy: Love Island 2019 contestant Francesca, 23, meanwhile, nailed sophisticated chic in an elegant blazer, teamed with a white shirt, sheer tights and velvet ankle boots

Close pals: The clothing shop owner beamed as she held hands with former co-star Elma, 27, who stunned in a sparkling asymmetrical dress

Standing tall: The eyelash technician paired her statement ensemble with patent heels by Christian Louboutin

Chic: Amber's TOWIE co-star Courtney Green was also in attendance, where she caught the eye in nude co-ords

Striking: Appearing to follow in her pal's fashionable footsteps, the former PA, 24, wowed in her ruched two-piece

Elma, 27, stunned in a sparkling asymmetrical dress, while Casa Amor reject Maria, 22, turned heads in leather hotpants and a long-sleeved jumper.

In the romance department, Amber reunited with her on-off beau Dan Edgar late last year.

During their brief break, the blonde faced drama with her co-star Chloe Sims when it was revealed Dan, 29, had been two-timing the pair.

The couple first began dating in May 2017, but their rocky romance saw the pair split on several occasions.

Smitten: In the romance department, Amber reunited with her on-off beau Dan Edgar late last year (pictured in December)

Things have been tense between Amber and Chloe, 37, ever since, with the girls becoming embroiled in a war of words during the TOWIE Christmas special, after coming face-to-face for the first time in eight months.

The mother-of-one claimed dating Dan had been her 'biggest regret of 2019' and quizzed Amber on why she would still want to date the Essex boy.

Chloe previously hit out at the former blogger for branding her a 'lunatic' and being cruel about her 15-year-old daughter Madison - claims Amber has denied.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Sausan Atika (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 17, 2020

The Jakarta administrations plan to resolve persistent traffic congestion near Tanah Abang railway station in Central Jakarta faces objections from vendors who have protested a plan to relocate them to ease the flow of traffic.

As one of the capitals major transit stations, Tanah Abang Station serves an average of 1.5 million passengers a month. Just across the station, Tanah Abang Market, the busiest textile market in Southeast Asia, coupled with dozens of street vendors and road users surrounding the area have resulted in daily traffic congestion.

Jl. Jatibaru is never empty of angkot (public minivans), bajaj (three-wheeled taxi), Transjakarta buses and app-based ojek (motorcycle taxi) scrambling to pick up passengers.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login
Book by former PGC officer highlights unusual wildlife encounters

Dick Bodenhorn has published a book highlighting some of the unusual encounters he had while working with the Pennsylvania Game Commision.
In this photo illustration, the Huawei logo and Chinese flag is seen displayed on an Android mobile phone.

5G refers to next-generation mobile networks that promise super-fast data speeds and the ability to underpin critical infrastructure, which is why it is viewed as so high stakes. The U.S. is concerned that Huawei has close links to the Chinese Communist Party and point to laws that appear to compel companies to comply with any requests for data from Beijing. Huawei has said it would never give customer data to the government .

The threat of cutting off intelligence sharing is an argument that the U.S. has used several times , including against the U.K. which recently allowed Huawei to play a limited role in its 5G networks .

On Sunday, Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, tweeted that President Donald Trump had called him and instructed him to "make clear that any nation who chooses to use an untrustworthy 5G vendor will jeopardize our ability to share intelligence and information at the highest level."

The U.S. has maintained that China's Huawei is a national security risk and that its networking equipment could be used by Beijing for espionage on American citizens. Huawei has repeatedly denied those claims.

China has accused the U.S. of double standards in its criticisms of telecommunications giant Huawei, bringing up a past allegation that Washington tapped the phone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel .

In response to Grenell's tweet, Hua Chunying, the spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accused the U.S. of hypocrisy.

"Who he (Grenell) is threatening? Who's the real threat? Remember, Snowden said US spied on Chancellor Merkel's phone!," she tweeted.

TWEET

In 2013, former U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden released numerous documents relating to the organization's activities. German publication Der Spiegel reported at the time that the documents revealed the NSA had bugged European Union offices in Washington and infiltrated the EU's computer networks.

In October 2013, Der Spiegel published a piece in which it claimed that the U.S. tapped Merkel's phone. The allegations led to an investigation by German federal prosecutors which was eventually dropped because of a lack of evidence that would stand up in court.

At the time, the White House insisted in a statement that it "is not monitoring and will not monitor" Merkel's phone.

The latest salvo between the U.S. and China comes after more than a year of pressure on Huawei. The Chinese giant was put on a U.S. blacklist last year, restricting its access to American technology. Last week, the Department of Justice expanded its indictment against Huawei, accusing the company of racketeering and plotting to steal trade secrets from American companies. Huawei denies the allegations.

Germany is the next battleground between the U.S. and Huawei after the U.K. decided to allow the Chinese firm a partial role in its 5G networks. Germany has yet to decide whether to exclude Huawei.

Merkel's Christian Democratic Union party backed a strategy paper that stops short of a full ban on Huawei's involvement in Germany's next-generation mobile infrastructure. Bloomberg reported that a vote will take place this week on this paper in a motion that dubs 5G as "critical infrastructure" that must have the highest security standards. The draft motion does not single out China or Huawei, Bloomberg said.

The decision over Huawei could spark a row between Germany, China and the U.S. If there is not an outright ban on Huawei, the U.S. will feel slighted. But if Huawei is banned, China is no doubt going to be angered. Germany will have to carefully balance its relationship with the U.S. and China, two of the country's top trading partners.

Over the weekend, U.S. lawmakers continued to ramp up pressure on Huawei. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Chinese domination of 5G would be akin to "choosing autocracy over democracy on the information highway."

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described Huawei and Chinese state-backed tech companies as "Trojan horses for Chinese intelligence."
Pakistani police say a powerful suicide bombing has killed at least eight people and wounded 16 others at an Islamist rally in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan Province.



Quetta Police Chief Abdul Razzaq Cheema said the February 17 rally was being staged by dozens of Sunni Muslim followers of the radical Ahle Sunnat Wal Jammat (ASWJ) party.



The ASWJ is considered the political entity of the Lashkar-e Jhangvi -- an extremist faction that has claimed responsibility for numerous deadly attacks against Pakistan's Shi'a minority.



There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the February 17 bombing.



Baluch separatists as well as rival Shiite and Sunni militant groups operate in the province and have staged similar attacks in the past.



Hospital officials in Quetta say some of the injured people were listed in critical condition.



Cheema told RFE/RL victims killed in the blast included three police officers and four civilians.



Quetta Civil Hospital spokesman Waseem Baig put the number of those wounded at 19. Cheema said the blast occurred as a protest was under way in front of the Quetta Press Club.



A police official told RFE/RLs Radio Mashaal that the suicide bomber was riding a motorcycle and detonated his explosives when he was stopped by authorities as he approached the demonstration.



The blast also damaged several vehicles parked nearby.

With additional reporting by AP
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:

Azerbaijans Central Election Commission (CEC) has considered an appeal regarding the 34th Khatai Constituency No. 2 as part of the recent parliamentary elections in the country, at the CEC meeting on Feb. 17, Trend reports.

At the meeting, it was noted that violations were observed during the elections in the constituency and that during the investigation the complaint was partially confirmed.

CEC member Ilkin Shahbazov proposed invalidating the results of voting at precincts No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 18, 30 and 35 of this constituency. After the vote, the proposal was accepted.

Mikhail Zabelin is the leading candidate for this constituency.

Parliamentary elections were held in Azerbaijan Feb. 9.
An on-farm retail store provides a unique opportunity, not only to sell products directly to customers, but to also bring them to the farm on a regular basis. Bridging the gap between customers and their dairy foods is important to the four farms in our February 10, 2020, Round Table article, They sell their own products.

Besides being passionate about making and selling high-quality products, these farms are eager to educate the public in both their store and on their farms. The trick is balancing agricultural advocacy with the daily grind of operating a dairy, creamery, and store. Some families open their barn doors and offer farm tours on a regular basis; others, like the Kelley family from Fond du Lac, Wis., host special events instead.

Tim and Karen Kelley and their son, Clark, operate Oak Lawn Farm (pictured). Ten years ago, they opened Kelley Country Creamery, where they make and sell their own ice cream. The past few years, they have hosted an event called Sunflowers Taking Flight to support a good cause, the Northeast Wisconsin Old Glory Honor Flight organization. Read on to learn more about this event and how each of these families promote agriculture in their own way.

DeBacker Family Dairy Farm, Daggett, Mich.: We have a petting zoo during the summer instead of giving farm tours. We have an older 1970s style barn, so tours arent really feasible, and we are concerned with biosecurity.

Glo-Crest Dairy and Mountain Fresh Creamery, Clermont, Ga.: We give farm tours and field trips by reservation only. We offer those three days per week. They last about two hours and include the dairy and the creamery. We have a booking calendar on our website, and people can also book by calling the creamery.

Kilgus Farmstead, Fairbury, Ill.: We allow customers to tour our farm by appointment only. Tours cost $4 per person, which includes the 1.5 to two hour walking tour and ends with an ice cream cone in the country store.

Many groups schedule tours. We see everyone from school and home-school groups, colleges, international visitors, 4-H clubs, moms clubs, Red Hat Ladies, and retirement homes.

Each tour is catered to the group. For instance, with the school groups, we talk more about animals and animal care. For the retirement homes, we reminiscence about their farms growing up  and we always learn something from them! Moms groups are more interested in the creamery and are confused with labeling and marketing and what is best for their families to eat and drink and why. We talk a lot about all different kinds of farming practices and why farmers do what they do.

Oak Lawn Farm and Kelley Country Creamery, Fond du Lac, Wis.: We hold a big event called Sunflowers Taking Flight where we grow sunflowers as a fundraiser for veterans to go on Honor Flights to Washington, D.C., and for other memorials. We ask for a $10 donation for a bundle of five sunflowers. We also design a new T-shirt each year for the event and ask for a suggested donation of $10.

The first year, $9,200 was raised, and this year we raised $20,248. All donations go to the Northeast Wisconsin Old Glory Honor Flight organization. The creamery or farm takes no money for the expense of the sunflowers, shirts, and so forth. The event generally lasts 10 days.

Farm tours are done on a limited basis due to time constraints.

The farm has diversified further with a new business last fall called Kelleys Farmstead, which is a fall agritourism business. We grow pumpkins for our guests to pick and have activities for all ages, including a corn maze. This spring, we will also have a lambing barn where guests will be able to come to the farm to see baby farm animals and feed and hold them.

To comment, email your remarks to intel@hoards.com.

(c) Hoard's Dairyman Intel 2020

February 17, 2020
TRENTON, MI - The body of an 86-year-old woman who had been missing for two weeks was recovered over the weekend at a southeast Michigan landfill.

Irene Kin, of Trenton, was found dead on Sunday, Feb. 16, at Riverview Land Preserve in Brownstown Township, FOX2 Detroit reports. Kins light green 2002 Ford Taurus was found with her at the landfill. She had been missing since Feb. 1.

Trenton Police Department, Michigan State Police and Brownstown Township Police are investigating the death, the report said. Police have not indicated whether they suspect foul play.

READ MORE:

Man found inside Freeland home may have frozen to death

Police seek more victims of sex-assault, child porn suspect

Mother and daughter charged with murder, held on $1M bond
By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Azerbaijans former president Ayaz Mutallibov has described as "absurd" the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyans statement regarding the massacre of Azerbaijanis by Armenian forces in 1992.

"Pashinyans statement, in which he claims that as if I said Azerbaijanis were involved in committing the Khojaly genocide is absurd. His remarks lack any real grounds, Mutallibov told local media.

On February 15, during the panel discussions on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with the participation of President Ilham Aliyev in Munich Security Conference, Pashinyan voiced a conspiracy theory, saying in the mid 1990s former President of Azerbaijan Ayaz Mutallibov gave an interview to the Russian paper Argumenti I Fakti saying that the provocation in Khojaly was allegedly organized by Azerbaijani opposition to overthrow him.

"In an interview with a Russian newspaper [to which Armenian PM refers], I stated that definitely, there was Armenian trace in Khojaly events. I noted that Armenia was trying to further destabilize the situation in Azerbaijan then. Furthermore, the local opposition was also interested in complicating the situation within the country. I have repeatedly stated that I did not say Azerbaijanis committed the Khojaly genocide. This is ridiculous," Mutallibov emphasized.

He pointed out that the Argumenty i Fakty newspaper itself, to which Pashinyan referred in Munich, is unfriendly towards Azerbaijan.

"From the very beginning the issue was formulated in a way to associate me with this topic. Then I didnt have time to polemize on this interview. The situation in the country was so difficult that there was no time for this. I have repeatedly stated and I am saying it directly: I have never said that Azerbaijanis did it. By referring to this interview, Armenians try somehow to rehabilitate themselves," he concluded.

President Aliyev also commented on Pashinyans claims during the panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference.

To say that Azerbaijanis themselves brutally killed 63 children, 100 women and 1000 people are still missing, is a peak of cynicism, Aliyev said.

Who committed the genocide in Khojaly, their names are well known. They were local Armenians, Armenians from Armenia and Armenians from diaspora. The names of these people are well-known, and many books and international articles were published about that. , Aliyev stated.

On the night of February 26, 1992, Armenian armed forces, directly supported by the 366th regiment of the former USSR, stationed at that time in the town of Khankendi in Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan attacked, from five directions, the town of Khojaly.

About 613 civilians mostly women and children were killed in the massacre, and a total of 1,000 people were disabled. Eight families were exterminated, 25 children lost both parents, and 130 children lost one parent. Moreover, 1,275 innocent people were taken hostage, and the fate of 150 of them remains unknown.

---

Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
A parishoner (left) takes a photo as Archbishop Charles J. Chaput officiates his final Sunday Mass at the Cathedral Basilica SS. Peter & Paul in Philadelphia. Read more

In the glowing Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul, Archbishop Charles Chaputs voice echoed over the murmur of his congregants as he led them in reciting the Ten Commandments.

See, you did pretty good! he said after the 10th. I bet if I had asked you to say it by yourself, you wouldve gotten through it.

The message was, perhaps, symbolic: Sunday evening was the last time in 8 years that Chaput would lead the faithful in prayer  the last Mass he would celebrate as archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia before his successor, Bishop Nelson Perez of Cleveland, is installed Tuesday.

In his final sermon before about 200 parishioners, Chaput left his flock with a prescription for happiness: following the commandments as a pattern of life" that shows us "how to be good.

In the towering Center City cathedral, people sat in nearly every pew, though overflow seating on each side remained empty. As they walked in, some said they would miss Chaput, and praised him for being humble, sweet, and caring.

I think its a little sad, but I think hes happy. I think its time for him to relax, Eileen Heiler, 81, said on her way into Mass. Hes just a loving man. He tried to do everything he could for us.

 READ MORE: Philadelphia Catholics have long known Nelson Perez as a buddy, mentor, and friend. On Tuesday, he becomes their archbishop.

The archbishops farewell drew sustained applause as he thanked the parishioners for the wonderful gift of their presence in his life and at his 6:30 p.m. weekly Mass.

Im very grateful for your presence. It really is the highlight of my week. Its hard for you to believe that, isnt it? The highlight of my week is looking at you all," Chaput said, drawing laughter from the crowd. Its been a very important part of my life. Im very grateful to you."

And, he added, Ill still be around. Im not dying, Im just retiring.

Chaput, who was appointed as archbishop in 2011, offered to retire upon reaching age 75, as is customary. He has been praised for stabilizing the archdioceses finances and for navigating the aftermath of a damning grand jury report on clergy sex abuse that implicated top church leaders in allowing credibly accused priests to remain in ministry.

Throughout his tenure in Philadelphia, Chaput has been known for his outspoken, sometimes controversial views on secular politics and conservative traditionalism.

His final sermon warned against sin  for example, among young people who have sex while dating  and offered a decisive message on divorce.

People today raise questions about does Jesus really mean you cant divorce and remarry? Is it all that bad? Chaput said, citing the evenings reading from the Book of Matthew. The teaching of Jesus on divorce is really clear, and that doesnt seem that he allows for exceptions for any of us.

Arjun Dias of Northeast Philadelphia, who attended the Mass with his wife, said the evening was bittersweet.

We like him a lot. Hes done a lot for the diocese. He cares a lot about the people here, said the 30-year-old accountant.

Just that afternoon, Julie Milora, 23, learned from the news that it would be Chaputs final sermon. She has been attending his Mass weekly since she moved to Philadelphia last year.

I love him, said Milora, a nurse. Hes so sweet. I see him every Sunday. His [sermons] have always been so nice.

As Chaput closes his era, Perez, his successor, opens a tenure that could last much longer  he is 58, relatively young for the role. Many wonder how Perez, who is widely described as warm and engaging and who will be the regions first Hispanic archbishop, may change the tenor of the church.

Chaput on Sunday said Perez is a very good man and will serve you very well as your archbishop.

 READ MORE: As Philadelphias archbishops, Charles Chaput and Nelson Perez may differ less in substance than in style

Laura Baciu, who for the last two years has laid out the vestments before the archbishops sermons, held up a blue gift bag full of homemade granola as she walked in.

Ive made five flavors to send him off, she said, ticking off a list that included cocoa, espresso, and brandy cherry.

Baciu, 62, will be there on Tuesday for Perezs installment, and shes excited for him, too.

But Chaput was the reason she came to the cathedral each Sunday evening.

I started going to 6:30 Mass because I learned more about my religion from him than I did in grade school. ... He explains the Bible as it relates to today, she said. Ill miss him.
Ukraines National Police have arrested alleged mafia boss Yevhen Anisimov, who has been wanted for six years on numerous charges mainly related to extorting money from businesses in the Zaporizhzhya region located in the southeastern part of the country.



Anisimov, 44, was apprehended in the capital Kyiv on February 16 by an elite police unit and taken to Zaporizhzhya where he was allegedly engaged in shaking down businesses during the truncated presidential term of Viktor Yanukovych between 2010 and early 2014.



He is facing charges of creating an organized crime group, extortion, property theft, money laundering, and the illegal use of firearms.



One of his alleged victims, Yevhen Chernyak, owner of a leading Ukrainian vodka producer based in Zaporizhzhya, rejoiced at the news of the alleged criminal's arrest on Facebook.



The owner of Global Spirits has accused Anisimov of trying to take over his business 10 years ago and called him the "mafia enforcer" for Yanukovych in the Zaporizhzhya region.



Chernyak said a close associate of the alleged criminal gave him up to authorities.



Anisimov was on an international wanted list and his last hideout was in Koncha-Zaspa, a wooded district in northwestern Kyiv that is home to many summer cottages, health resorts, and children's camps, said Deputy Interior Minister Anton Herashchenko.



Another alleged victim of extortion in Zaporizhzhya, money-transfer company owner Yuriy Komisarov, told RFE/RL in 2013 that the suspected underworld boss offered to split cash proceeds with the entrepreneur as well shares in his company.



During much of Yanukovychs presidency, local city and regional officials in Zaporizhzhya denied Anisimov was a criminal kingpin and instead was an example of a socially responsible businessman and a prominent philanthropist.
"The group also hacked into the computers or phones of lawmakers' staff, journalists, North Korean defectors, and lawyers," he added.

Moon Jong-hyun of cybersecurity firm ESTsecurity in Seoul told the Chosun Ilbo on Sunday, "A North Korean hacker group launched a spear-phishing attack on specific individuals or companies rather than many unspecified people or corporations by planting malware in their computers or smartphones."

North Korean hackers stole private data including phone numbers and text messages, from the phone of Thae Yong-ho, the former No. 2 in the North Korean Embassy in London who is running for a National Assembly seat here.

The group is identified as "Kimsuky" which hacked Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power in 2014.

This suggests that the safety of Thae, who uses the name Thae Gu-min to evade tracking since his defection in 2016, from his murderous former employers might be compromised.

According to ESTsecurity, the group's cyberattack on Thae's phone was discovered in the process of tracking down an earlier cyberattack on the phone of a South Korean journalist handling political affairs last year.

They tried to hack the journalist's phone under the pretext of providing "information on North Korea" by attaching a malicious website link through KakaoTalk.

But the reporter became suspicious and asked ESTsecurity to track it down. ESTsecurity retraced the messages and was able to gain access to the hackers' server, where it found a variety of data stored.

"The hackers were using a Samsung Galaxy," Moon said. "We found that the server had a lot of data stolen from Thae's phone." Thae was told of the hack and the problem was solved, the company said.

"Normally, hackers approach specific individuals through social media or messaging apps to make them set up a malware and infect their smartphones or computers," Moon added. "If you use infected computers or smartphones, all data will be transmitted to hackers.






PARIS  Renault's first loss in a decade triggered a no-taboos commitment on Friday to cut costs by 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) over the next three years as the automaker tries to put the Carlos Ghosn affair behind it.

As ex-Volkswagen brand manager Luca de Meo prepares to take over as chief executive of the French automaker, which has been rocked by the Ghosn scandal, it did not exclude job cuts in a promised review of its performance across all factories.

Like many auto industry rivals, including its alliance partner Nissan, Renault is grappling with tumbling demand in key markets like China, and said it expects the sector to be hit further this year, including in Europe. Nissan this week had its first quarterly loss in nearly 10 years and cut its operating profit forecast.

In a reflection of this sobering assessment of the market outlook, Renault set a lower operating margin target of between 3% and 4% for 2020, down from 4.8% in 2019, and cut its proposed dividend against 2019 by almost 70% from a year earlier.

While Renault faces high investment costs to produce cleaner car models and supply chain problems due to China's coronavirus outbreak, a major challenge remains moving on from the scandal involving former boss-turned fugitive Ghosn, which strained its relations with Nissan and paralyzed joint projects.

"It has been a tough year for Groupe Renault and the alliance," acting Chief Executive Clotilde Delbos said on a conference call, adding that the broader autos downturn had hit the company "right when we were facing internal difficulties."

Renault could not afford to wait for De Meo's arrival in July to attack costs, Delbos said, adding that nothing would be "taboo" as it reviews its business.

Meatier goals would be made public in May, she said, alongside joint plans with Nissan, as executives repeated assurances that the alliance was on track.

Delbos also stressed that Renault's automotive operational free cash flow, under scrutiny from analysts, would be positive in 2020 after stripping out restructuring costs.

Story continues

"We're very confident that there is no topic on cash availability within the group," Delbos said.

Renault shares recovered from falls in early trading, and were up 1.8% at 1200 GMT despite it posting a loss of 141 million euros ($153 million) for the group share of net income.

This followed charges linked to some of its Chinese joint ventures, where it said performance needed to improve, while the contribution from Nissan, in which Renault has a 43% stake, also fell and it was hit by a French deferred tax charge.

Ghosn, who ran Renault and oversaw its alliance with Nissan, was arrested in Japan in late 2018 on financial misconduct charges, but fled to Lebanon in December.

He has denied wrongdoing and hit out at his past employers, saying the Renault-Nissan alliance was all but dead without him.

De Meo, who used to run Seat, is taking over from Delbos, who is also Renault's financial chief and who stepped temporarily into the CEO role after Thierry Bollore, a long-standing Ghosn ally, was ousted in October.

Renault forecast that the global auto market would fall in 2020, with sales in Europe and Russia down around 3%, after it was penalized by its performance in the likes of Argentina and Turkey in 2019 and its withdrawal from Iran continued to weigh.

The group has a factory in Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic, which has been in lockdown, and the firm said other plants might come on and off in the coming weeks due to supply chain interruptions.

Renault's group sales fell 3.3% to 55.53 billion euros in 2019, down 2.7% at constant exchange rates, and it forecast these would be flat in 2020.

Related Video:



Click here to See Video >>
It may surprise some to discover that we are not the gun-toting, globe-trotting, martini-drinking spies frequently portrayed on the silver screen, the C.I.A. website says, adding that the work of most intelligence officers resembles any other nine-to-five job in terms of logistics and lifestyle.

The trial testimony has focused on a corner of the C.I.A.s Center for Cyber Intelligence, where Mr. Schulte worked until his resignation in 2016. Every developer in Mr. Schultes group, which was predominantly made up of men, had top-secret security clearance, one witness testified.

The group worked on classified projects, writing the code that allowed other C.I.A. officers to carry out sophisticated cyber operations and penetrate the computer networks of foreign targets.

Though Mr. Schultes former co-workers said the office was focused on the national security mission, it was also a breeding ground for sophomoric pranks and fights.

One C.I.A. employee, identified only as Michael, testified that he and Mr. Schulte once flicked each other with rubber bands until late at night in the office. The fight escalated, and they wrecked each others desks. Then, backed up against a desk, Michael said he hit Mr. Schulte.

Another C.I.A. employee, who used the pseudonym Jeremy Weber, testified that once, when he left his computer open, Mr. Schulte used it to send a profane message to everyone in their group under Mr. Webers name.

In the prank message, Mr. Weber described himself as a jerk, using a cruder term.

Insults regularly flew in the office. One co-worker with braces was known as metal mouth, Mr. Weber testified. Mr. Schulte was mocked for being bald.
Bay of Plenty

Our client has plenty of work in the pipeline and as such they are in need of qualified or experienced carpenters for an...



View or Apply on GoodWork.co.nz
Two men have been arrested after an assault and robbery in Sydney's west last week, which left a woman in hospital with facial injuries.

Mikato Pearce, 50, was walking to Kingswood train station on her way to work at 5.15am on Wednesday when she was approached by two men.

Mikato Pearce had to go to hospital for significant facial injuries after she was robbed on Wednesday night.

CCTV shows one punching her and causing her to fall to the ground. The men then take her backpack, which held her phone and wallet.

Ms Pearce was treated at Nepean Hospital for facial injuries before being released.
N eighbours of a luxury block of rental flats owned by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason say out-of-control parties thrown by short-term tenants in the property are causing misery in their quiet street.

Almost 100 revellers descended on Gifford Street near Kings Cross on Saturday, February 1 for a party in Drum Court, where flats are rented out by American short letting company Sonder for up to 439 a night.

Police were called to disperse the crowds just before midnight, although some partygoers remained in the flat until 7am the next day.

Journalist Helen Coffey, 32, told the Standard: There were about 100 people. It is really quite intimidating.

Another neighbour said: A group of them came back and were kicking my front door... it woke me up.

Residents in the street claim that it is only the latest out-of-control party to take place at the 5.7 million development, owned by a property company where Mason is the majority shareholder.

The tenants in a small block of flats owned by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason are accused of holding noisy parties. / NIGEL HOWARD A

The block is on the site of two former warehouses that are thought to have once housed the drummers vintage motorcycle collection.

Sales manager Ian Gould, who lives in the street, said: The property that Nick Mason owns is causing the local residents misery.

Since 2018, there have been multiple major disruptions due to parties of up to 60 people who book out a flat via Sonder, cheat the system and then transform my quiet street into a gangland paradise with all manner of anti-social behaviour.

On July 22, 2018 a man was stabbed for his watch in Gifford Street during a party that witnesses say took place in Drum Court.

Mr Gould, 40, added: Im asking Nick Mason to please take this seriously and work with us local residents who have had to bear the brunt of this. No more of my 11-month-old baby being kept awake from midnight to 4am by these people.

Mr Mason, who is no longer a director of the property company and is understood to have nothing to do with day-to-day management of the building, was approached for comment.

In an email seen by the Standard, a staff member at his music company wrote: We are taking this matter seriously and are in talks with Sonder about our contract with them.

"While Nick is affiliated with the company that owns Drum Court, he does not deal nor respond to matters in relation to everyday operations.

Sonder said: We enforce a strict no-party policy and make our guests and residents aware of these rules in advance of their stay.
Thirteen Buddhist monks, who were on a peace journey from Thailand to France, were stopped in Rajasthans Barmer district on Monday after they failed to show the required documents to cross over to Pakistan, police said.

Officials said the Thai monks were stopped as they did not have the valid permission to enter the restricted bordering areas in Barmer. The monks, they said, had visas to enter India and Pakistan but their other itinerary has not been mentioned in those documents.

Under the foreigners act, the entry of foreign nationals is restricted areas of Barmer district. They have to get the district administrations nod to enter these areas, according to the act.

They were brought to Barmer where they have been kept in a hotel, a police official said.

The 13 Thai monks are on a peace journey and have valid single entry visa of India and Pakistan. But, the route of their travel has not been specifically mentioned in their documents Vijay Singh Charan, circle officer in Barmer, said.

Charan said they have explained the rules to the monks and also informed higher authorities about the situation.

If the Thai monks are able to arrange permission to go through this route, we will allow them. Otherwise, they will have to return, the police officer said.

Phra Sutham Nateetong, the leader of the delegation, said while speaking to reporters they did not know the reason behind the police action.

Nateetong said he had completed a peace journey of 10,000 kilometres from Thailand to New York in 2019 and this time along with 12 other monks he is on a similar mission from Thailand to France and will cover about 9000km.

The monk said they want to convey the message of peace, happiness and love to a world, which has so many problems, through their march.

He said his delegation has so far walked around 4000km to reach India from Thailand.
Thats a very short time, Ianni said of the seven weeks that victims will have to participate in the settlement program. It is very hard for survivors to come forward.

Ianni, who is outspoken about her experience of being abused by her local priest, William Reinecke, when she was a child, said she would want to put a lot of thought into filing a claim.

Our concern from SNAP, as far as compensation programs go, is  yes  victims may get funds that they need, but information is not exposed, Ianni said. Theyll lose their right to sue. Theyll lose their right to have their day in court.

In a news release, SNAP called for Virginia to eliminate its civil statute of limitations for sexual abuse, which prevents people from bringing civil action 20 years after the abuse. SNAP encouraged survivors of abuse to learn about their legal rights before signing any settlement agreement, but said in a statement that it supported anyone who decides that participating in the program is the best course of action.
Reducing drug deaths has been made a national priority for An Garda Siochana under a new operation similar to the high-profile crackdown on burglaries.

The campaign, codenamed Operation Tara, is being driven from the top of the organisation and involves a range of initiatives:

Dedicated drug units in each of the divisions;

Involvement of regular garda units and community gardai in combatting drug dealing in communities;

National coordination of the operation under Special Crime Operations, headed by assistant commissioner John O'Driscoll;

Oversight of divisional drug units by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (DOCB)

A reinvigorated structure to help address drug-related intimidation of users and their families by gangs;

Awareness campaign to educate people on drugs and the drug trade

The national prioritisation given to reducing drug-related deaths comes on the back of rising fatalities, growing treatment figures and the spread of drug-related violence outside the cities, as seen in Drogheda and Longford.

There have also been several community-based research projects which have detailed the lure of the drugs trade for young people and children, the control gangs have on certain communities and the need for a greater local policing response and youth interventions.

It has been reported in the Sunday Times that Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has written to the country's chief superintendents instructing them to set up divisional drug units.

Operation Tara is due to start in April and will be broken down into different phases.

The organisation has traditionally been based on a district model and many divisions had district drug units, while some rural divisions did not have any full-time drug units at all.

Gardai have identified a lack of consistency in how gardai are policing the drugs trade at a local level. The divisional drug units, as well as reporting to their local chief superintendent, will feed back into DOCB.

With the implementation of the new operating model, being rolled out by Commissioner Harris, policing services are being delivered on a divisional basis  with specialist units operating across the entire divisions.

The cuts in garda numbers under austerity depleted local drug units and in some cases removed them from existence.

Under Operation Tara, divisional drug units will combat local drug gangs and dealing and will tie-in more with divisional asset profilers, trained by the Criminal Asset Bureau.

Crucially, the operation will also see a more formal and enhanced role for regular units and community gardai in addressing local drug dealing and associated problems on the ground.

Gardai at different ranks have acknowledged that, because of austerity, the presence of gardai on the ground in communities most affected by drug dealing, much of it involving juveniles, has been lacking.

DOCB will continue its close cooperation with CAB in terms of targeting national and international trafficking gangs.

Special Crime Operations will coordinate and supervise the operation, as it does with Operation Thor. The anti-burglary initiative, which Operation Tara is being modelled on, is considered to have had success in tackling burglary gangs.








Web Toolbar by Wibiya

A judge has ordered the father of a transgender teen who violated several court orders not to give any further interviews about his childs case.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Michael Tammen also ordered that a video that contains an interview with the dad that was posted online in the past few days be removed from the internet.

The move came after lawyers for the teen went to court over concerns that the dad and several of his supporters  including former Peoples Party of Canada candidate Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson and political activist Jenn Smith  had violated publication bans or prior court orders in the case.

The bans prevent identification of the teen and his father and mother, and the names of the medical professionals involved in providing the youth with medical treatments to transition to being a boy.

The court orders, mandating that the dad not discuss details of the case, were issued after the B.C. Court of Appeal in January upheld a ruling allowing the medical treatments to go ahead. The dad had opposed the testosterone injection treatments while the mother supported them.

Tammen issued his orders Wednesday after submissions from the parties, including lawyer Sarah Chaster, who told him that the dad had given interviews that were posted online on multiple platforms and which had violated the bans.

Chaster, who represents the teen, said the interviews represented wilful breaches of the bans and included the father identifying himself and naming the doctors involved in the case.

She said an interview posted Feb. 7 was removed two days later after a request from the teens lawyers but that the dad then participated in a second hour-long interview, this time with Thompson. In the second video, the dad spoke about the case in detail using his own name, identifying himself as the father of the teen and referring to his child as his daughter, all in violation of the court orders, said Chaster.

The video, which was posted on Twitter and YouTube, was removed only after correspondence with the social-media companies but it still remains online elsewhere, said Chaster.

Material posted online by Smith also violated the bans by naming the father and the medical professionals, she said.

An online interview with Smith and the dad had been scheduled for Wednesday night but the judge, quoting from the prior court orders, put a stop to that.

What it clearly means is that what you cannot do is give interviews that are likely to be broadcast in any way, in any form and thats what has occurred here, the judge told the dad. Youre simply not entitled to do that, sir. Do you understand that part of it?

Replied the dad: I completely understand that part of it, yes.

The judge reminded the dad of the bans on the names of the parties in the case and said he had violated the orders.

You must not do that, sir, you are in breach of the court order, said the judge.

I mean the reason I do it, or did it, is because I am taking the best interests of my child at heart, said the dad.

The judge warned the dad that if there are any further breaches of the bans and court orders, the lawyers for the teen might come back to court and seek to have him cited for contempt of court and face serious consequences.

Tammen also told Thompson and Smith not to commit any further violations of the bans and court orders.

Thompson, who argued that the issue of transgender treatments in Canada is a living, breathing nightmare, said she was throwing herself at the mercy of the court. There was loud applause in the public gallery after her comments, with the judge ordering people not to clap any more in the courtroom.
By Abdul Kerimkhanov

The Armenian Armed Forces killed an Azerbaijani soldier by a sniper on February 15, on the eve of the meeting between the two countries leaders at the Munich Security Conference, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Leyla Abdullayeva has said.

The killing of Seymur Alasgarov, the soldier of the Azerbaijan army, shows that Armenia continuously and consistently, intends to jeopardize and even undermine the ongoing peace process under the auspices of OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, Abdullayev said in the statement published on the Foreign Ministrys official website on February 15.

The ministry spokesperson reminded that another Azerbaijani soldier was killed by Armenian forces ahead of the meeting of the foreign ministers of two countries in Geneva in late January.

Abdullayeva emphasized that all responsibility for the provocation, which serves to rising tension, lies with Armenia.

Earlier, on February 15, Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported the killing of soldier Alasgarov on the line of contact of troops saying that the Armenian side bears the entire responsibility for the escalation of the situation in the front line.

Armenia and Azerbaijan are locked in a conflict over Azerbaijans Nagorno-Karabakh region, which along with seven other regions were occupied by Armenian forces in a war in the early 1990s. Around one million Azerbaijanis were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities that were started by the Armenian forces due to territorial claims against Baku.

A temporary cease-fire agreement was signed between the countries in 1994, however a final peace deal has not been reached yet. Peace negotiations mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs have yielded no results to this date.

Since 1992, negotiations have been underway for a peaceful settlement of the conflict within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group. In 1993, the UN Security Council adopted four resolutions (822, 853, 874 and 884) on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. However, due to the unconstructiveness of Armenia, they still remain on paper.

---

Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Justice Rustam Badasyan received today Ambassador of France to Armenia Jonathan Lacote, the ministry told Armenpress.

The minister thanked the Ambassador for the visit and the great support provided by France to Armenia within the frames of the EU, as well as attached importance to the achievements recorded in the legal cooperation field based on the agreements reached with his French counterpart in Strasbourg last October.

The French Ambassador expressed readiness to develop the mutual cooperation and was interested in the priorities of the judicial field.

The officials reached an agreement to develop the cooperation in a number of directions.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller arrives at the Office of the Prime Minister and Privy Council building for a meeting of the federal government's Incident Response Group in Ottawa, on Feb. 17, 2020. (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld)

Federal Emergency Group Remain Tight-Lipped on Ending Anti-Pipeline Blockades

An emergency meeting of cabinet ministers to discuss antipipeline blockades that have shut down swaths of the countrys train system broke up at midday in Ottawa on Feb. 17, with participants tightlipped about what theyd decided.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had previously said the Incident Response Group would talk about how to handle the protests against a planned naturalgas pipeline that crosses Wetsuweten territory in northern British Columbia.

Wetsuweten hereditary chiefs are opposed to the project.

The group was described upon its inception in 2018 as a dedicated, emergency committee that will convene in the event of a national crisis or during incidents elsewhere that have major implications for Canada.

Trudeau cancelled a planned twoday trip to Barbados, where he was to meet with Caribbean leaders to campaign for a seat on the United Nations Security Council.

He faced criticism last week over his presence in Africa and Europe as the protests were beginning, so Foreign Affairs Minister FrancoisPhilippe Champagne will represent Canada in Trudeaus place.

As the Mohawkled blockade on Tyendinaga territory continued near Belleville, Ont., on Feb. 17, Wetsuweten supporters across the country geared up for solidarity events. In Toronto, a march to the legislature has been planned for the afternoon, while in Montreal, some were preparing to gather at McGill University. A rally was also planned for Ottawas Confederation Park in the afternoon.

Meantime, theres mounting political pressure for Trudeau to put an end to the blockades.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford spoke with Trudeau late on Feb. 16 and issued a statement urging the federal government to take action.

Premier Ford asked the prime minister to take immediate action and provide detail on a clear plan to ensure an end to this national issue, the statement read.

Federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said last week that Trudeau should tell Public Safety Minister Bill Blair to use his authority under the RCMP Act to end what he called the illegal blockades.

But Trudeau shot back, arguing that Canada is not a country where politicians get to tell the police what to do in operational matters.

Thus far, the publicfacing part of Trudeaus plan appears to centre on discussions and negotiations, rather than police action.

Carolyn Bennett, the minister for CrownIndigenous relations, is due to meet with her British Columbia counterpart today, Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser. Bennett is also ready to meet with Wetsuweten hereditary chiefs, should they give the goahead.

In Ontario, federal Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller met Mohawk Nation representatives for hours on Feb. 15 and said they made modest progress. The focus of their talks, he said, was on the pipeline in northern B.C. rather than the blockade on Tyendinaga territory near Belleville, Ont., which was at that point in its 10th day.

Miller pointed to the Oka and Ipperwash crises as reasons why dialogue is preferable to police intervention, in a Feb. 16 appearance on CTVs political show Question Period.

A police officer died during a police raid in 1990 when Mohawks at the Kahnawake reserve south of Montreal blocked the Mercier Bridge into the city, which became the Oka crisis. Five years later at Ipperwash, Ont., one man was killed during a standoff over a land claim by Chippewa protesters outside a provincial park.

Thirty years ago, police moved in in Kahnesatake and someone died, Miller said. And did we learn from that? Did we learn from Ipperwash?

But while Ontario Provincial Police have so far declined to enforce injunctions and remove protesters from that blockade, RCMP in B.C. have made more than two dozen arrests while enforcing similar injunctions near worksites for the pipeline at the centre of the dispute.
The US has issued a stark warning that intelligence sharing could be put at risk by the decision to allow Huawei a role in the 5G network.

Donald Trump conveyed the tough message to key allies including the UK and France at a security conference in Munich last night.

The American ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, said the president told him to make clear 'any nation who chooses to use an untrustworthy 5G vendor will jeopardise our ability to share intelligence and information at the highest level'.

The rebuke came after Boris Johnson sparked fury from Mr Trump by announcing that the Chinese tech giant will be allowed a limited role in Britain's communications upgrade.

Australian MPs are also believed to have cancelled a visit to the UK next month amid the bitter row over Huawei.

Boris Johnson sparked fury from Donald Trump by announcing that the Chinese tech giant will be allowed a limited role in Britain's communications upgrade

The American ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, said the president told him to make clear 'any nation who chooses to use an untrustworthy 5G vendor will jeopardise our ability to share intelligence and information at the highest level'

Mr Johnson gave the go-ahead for the company to help build 5G in January, despite concerns by allies including the US. It will be subject to tough restrictions, such as being barred from the 'core' network and a maximum 35 per cent market share.

Despite a relatively muted response in public, Mr Trump was said to have been 'apoplectic' with anger in a phone call to Mr Johnson.

Mr Grenell, who has been attending the high-profile security conference in Munich, said on Twitter last night: '@realDonaldTrump just called me from AF1 and instructed me to make clear that any nation who chooses to use an untrustworthy 5G vendor will jeopardize our ability to share Intelligence and information at the highest level.'

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the conference on Saturday that Huawei was a 'Trojan horse for Chinese intelligence.'

The tech firm has dismissed the US allegations and Beijing has complained of 'economic bullying.'

The Australian Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee was scheduled to arrive at the end of March and meet with the House of Commons intelligence committee, Britain's security agencies and other national security figures during the first week of April.

However, the Sydney Morning Herald reported the visit has been abruptly cancelled in the wake of an angry letter.

The UK's High Commissioner Victoria Treadell is believed to have written to two Australian MPs to demand an explanation about the leaked conversations involving British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.

Mr Raab met with parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee during a visit that was aimed at securing closer ties in the UK's post-Brexit era.

The British High Commissioner was reportedly angered that those conversations were leaked to the media, showing that Australian MPs had criticised the UK for allowing Huawei into its 5G network.

Australia - which, like the US, is part of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance - has banned the Chinese firm from its 5G network because of spying fears.
Police at the scene of the shooting incident at Ardglen Place in north Belfast

Armed thugs shot a man in front of a woman and four children during a "merciless" attack in a house in north Belfast at the weekend.

The victim had been walking nearby in the Jamaica Road area of Ardoyne on Saturday night when he was approached by two masked men who dragged him into a property in Ardglen Place, where he was shot in the thigh.

The victim, who is in his 30s, was taken to hospital where he was treated for his injuries.

PSNI Detective Inspector Andrew George said: "This was a savage attack carried out by two masked men who showed no regard for the other people who were present in the house, which included a woman and four children under the age of 16.

"There is no doubt the merciless actions of the thugs responsible will have left them all traumatised."

Mr George added: "Those who are involved in these attacks do not represent the interests of this community, nor do they contribute anything to it.

"Nothing gives these people the right to violate the human rights of people, and their actions should be condemned by all.

"Our investigation is under way and we are working through a number lines of enquiry to establish a motive for this brutal attack."

He appealed for anyone with information to contact police.

Local Sinn Fein councillor JJ Magee hit out at the people behind the shooting.

"This attack is wrong and I condemn it," the Oldpark councillor said.

"There is no place for guns on our streets.

"Anyone with information should bring it forward to the police."

Ardglen Place is a small cul de sac of relatively new dwellings built off Jamaica Road in Ardoyne. Yesterday, residents in the area were remaining tight-lipped about the brutal shooting.

Asked for her reaction to the attack, one young woman said she knew nothing about it or where it had happened.

Others were even less forthcoming. However, a girl was able to identify the semi-detached house where the attack happened, where a child's toy scooter lay outside.

There were sounds of movement from inside, but no one wanted to talk about the savagery of the previous night.

Across the street, another young woman said she'd been away at her boyfriend's house when the shooting happened, and had only heard about it on the news.
Frontrunner: Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders speaks at a campaign rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the weekend. Photo: Getty

Democratic presidential candidates over the weekend turned their guns on Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire former New York mayor, as he rises swiftly in the polls.

Three separate surveys put Mr Bloomberg, who is estimated to have spent $386m (356m) on his campaign, in third place in the race to challenge Donald Trump.

But just as he starts to make his presence felt in the race, allegations of past sexism and controversy over his stop-and-frisk policy in New York have provided ammunition for his opponents.

He has had to explain the policy he enacted while mayor, which critics said disproportionately affected black and Latino men.

His immediate concern is the impact it will have on his campaign. He is hoping to make his mark on the race on Super Tuesday - March 3 - when 14 states, including California and Texas, hold primaries and caucuses.

Mr Bloomberg, who is garnering considerable African-American support, has apologised for the strategy. But this did not stop his rivals capitalising on the issue.

Referring to Mr Bloomberg's estimated wealth, Joe Biden said on NBC's 'Meet the Press': "$60bn can buy you a lot of advertising, but it can't erase your record. You take a look at the stop-and-frisk proposals... at his ideas on red-lining he's talking about.

"You take a look at what he's done relative to the African American community. I'm anxious to debate Michael on the issues relating to, you know, what we're going to face in Super Tuesday."

Bernie Sanders, the current frontrunner, did not mince his words over the weekend either, saying stop and frisk was "racist".

"Regardless of how much money a multi-billionaire candidate is willing to spend on this election, we will not create the energy and excitement we need to defeat Trump if that candidate pursued, advocated for and enacted racist policies like 'stop and frisk', which caused communities of colour in his city to live in fear."

Elizabeth Warren, competing with Mr Sanders for progressive support, joined the attacks on Mr Bloomberg, focusing on his remarks about the financial crisis a dozen years ago.

"The notion that Michael Bloomberg blames the financial 2008 crisis on restrictions on banks, so they couldn't discriminate more against black and brown communities, is truly outrageous. And anyone who thinks that should not be a candidate for president," she said in Las Vegas.

Mr Bloomberg's campaign was also attacked by Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar, who performed well in the New Hampshire primary.

"I don't think you should be able to hide behind airwaves and huge ad buys," she said.

"I know I'm not going to beat him on the air, but I can beat him on the debate stage because I believe my argument for my candidacy is so much stronger than his."

Over the weekend, the 'Washington Post' published a 1990 booklet allegedly containing the "wit and wisdom" of Mr Bloomberg, with sexist remarks including some unflattering references to members of the British royal family.

Mr Bloomberg (78) has also faced several lawsuits alleging harassment and discrimination at the media company he founded in 1981.

"Virtually all of this has been reported over the past two decades," said Alejandro Soto, a Bloomberg campaign spokesperson.

Mr Sanders, eager to build on winning New Hampshire and a photo-finish for first place in Iowa, mentioned only the former New York mayor among his competitors in a speech at a Democratic party gala in Las Vegas - the next primary is in Nevada on Saturday.

He was critical of Mr Bloomberg's stances on minimum wage laws, policing, taxing the rich and regulating Wall Street.

Bloomberg campaign spokeswoman Galia Slayen said Mr Bloomberg raised taxes on the wealthy when he was mayor.

"As president, Mike will raise rates on high-income earners, tax capital income more equitably, close loopholes and bolster enforcement," she said.

"He will get it done because he's done it before."

Mr Sanders's remarks appeared dismissive of other candidates who did speak at the forum.

They included former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who raced Mr Sanders to a photo-finish in Iowa and trailed him narrowly in New Hampshire earlier this month.

Early voting started in Nevada on Saturday, with 11,800 Democrats participating. One party official characterised turnout as higher than expected. ( Daily Telegraph, London)

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]
Global LNG markets are struggling with a glut of unprecedented levels.

International expansion in Australia, Qatar, Mozambique and Egypt, combined with a continuously strong US shale gas export drive, is pushing down prices further. Analysts have warned before that a possible LNG glut could end in tears, but nobody was expecting that the market would also be hit by a demand side shock such as Chinas coronavirus. The last couple of weeks, major LNG export cargoes to China have been diverted to other clients or are still looking for a destination in an already woefully oversupplied market.

Major LNG producers such as Qatar or Egypt are feeling the pain already. During Egypts EGYPS2020, a major oil and gas conference, participants showed concern about the imminent future of the East Med gas hub, as new LNG export contracts still have not been signed and asking prices are unlikely to be met.

Todays announcement that Qatar has delayed its choice of Western partners for the worlds largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) project by several months isnt going unnoticed. Without direct statements by Qatar Petroleum, sources have stated that the delay decision has been made based on current market fundamentals and the still unclear impact of the Corona virus. Qatar has been fighting an uphill battle as the market has been glutted by US shale gas exports and a drop in Chinese demand.

International interest for the Qatar LNG expansion has been large, and among those interested were industry giants such as Shell and ExxonMobil . No list of interested parties has been issued by QP, but around six Western companies are believed to have shown interest. The market was expecting the announcement of its partners by QP in Q1 2020, but this will be delayed until later this year. Rationally the decision to delay is needed, as a 60% LNG production expansion by QP to reach a volume of 126 million tons by 2027 will be a real risk.

At the same time, the coronavirus has put the total global market on edge. Demand for oil and gas is feared to be hit very hard, even when current demand figures of China and others are way above what some analysts have been expecting the last weeks. Lower prices have enticed Chinese fill up storage tanks. Still, if Chinese authorities fail to contain the virus, Asian economies could come to a partial standstill, which would gravely impact demand for transportation fuels and natural gas. Related: IEA: Oil Demand To Fall For First Time In A Decade

Not only traditional LNG exporters, such as Qatar, or East Med producers like Egypt or Algeria, are being hit by the current glut. US shale gas exporters are now facing a major crisis too. Dreams about entering global strong markets with high price settings however have been destroyed, as due to an already existing gas glut, prices have been low already. US gas exports are now only contributing to the glut, pushing prices even further down. Booming U.S. exports combined with lower Asian demand is a major recipe for disaster, effecting most IOCs, but especially Shell, Total and ENI, as all have been concentrating their own investment and expansion strategies in natural gas. Some US producers, such as Chesapeake Energy are already fighting bankruptcy, and IOCs have been hit by a slump in profits.

For Arab producers, especially Qatar, Algeria or Egypt, the future is uncertain. New gas discoveries will need to be monetized to support economic growth and diversification plans. For Qatar current expansion plans are needed, not only for new exports but also to keep the international investors and operators interested in the success story of Qatari LNG. Algeria at the same time is looking at other routes to get additional cash to prop up its fledgling economy the coming years. Egypts Energy Hub strategy, in cooperation with Cyprus and Israel, is a matter of life or death. International cooperation and investment strategies are needed to the regional economy going. Without markets or clients, however, all will be put on ice, as no investor or IOC will be willing to spent another $10 billion on a possible new 8 million tons LNG train. In Qatars case, the planned expansion is slated to cost around $60 billion.

All eyes are currently on China, as the Asian giant has accounted for 40% of the global growth in LNG demand since 2015. Strategies were decided on demand projections for China to exceed 82 million tons per year by 2023. The same was expected, at lower volumes, for India and possibly other areas in Asia and even Europe. The current slump and the coronavirus effect has put all in doubt. A main concern will be that the LNG glut spirals out of control, pushing major operators over the edge too.

By Cyril Widdershoven for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
She voted to stay with Amanda Micallef during the first commitment ceremony on Married At First Sight.

But it's clear their relationship doesn't work out, after Tash Herz broke her MAFS contract by attending a red carpet event with another woman over the weekend.

The 31-year-old bartender made her first official public appearance with her new girlfriend, Madison Hewitt, at an event in Melbourne on Sunday night.

Scroll down for video

Look away now, Amanda! Tash Herz (right) broke her MAFS contract by attending a red carpet event in Melbourne on Sunday night with her new girlfriend, Madison Hewitt (left)

Tash has not been shy about her new romance in recent weeks, and was first spotted with Madison on a Gold Coast beach in January.

She appears to have moved on several months ago, after filming her MAFS wedding with Amanda back in September.

Tash and Madison packed on the PDA while arriving at a party hosted by celebrity dentist Dr Deepan Duraisamy, a.k.a. Dr Dee.

Despite still being 'married' to Amanda on Nine's social experiment, Tash ditched her wedding ring while stepping out with her new love interest.

The look of love? Tash and Madison packed on the PDA while arriving at a party hosted by celebrity dentist Dr Deepan Duraisamy, a.k.a. Dr Dee

Tash opted for a bold and glamorous look by wearing a longsleeve sequin wrap dress.

Meanwhile, Madison showed off her slender frame in a black bandeau top with an oversized suit jacket and matching pants.

Despite their various public sightings, Tash has yet to share a single photo of her girlfriend to Instagram.

Happily ever after? Tash and Amanda (left) at first appeared to be a perfect match when they tied the knot, but the bartender is now in a relationship with tattooed blonde Madison

Tash and Amanda at first appeared to be a perfect match when they tied the knot.

But while on their honeymoon, Amanda complained about their lack of intimacy and Tash confessed that she wasn't attracted to the personal trainer.

During Sunday night's commitment ceremony, Tash voted to stay in the experiment despite having doubts about their relationship.

Married At First Sight continues on Monday from 7:30pm on Nine
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Ivany Atina Arbi and Apriza Pinandita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, February 18 2020

Rights activists have urged the West Sumatra Police to stop their legal process against NN, a sex worker currently facing criminal charges after allegedly being entrapped by a lawmaker from the Gerindra Party, Andre Rosiade, in a hotel room in Padang last month, pointing out that the she is actually a victim of unaddressed human trafficking in Indonesia.

The director of the Padang Legal Aid Institute (LBH Padang), Wendra Rona Putra, who represents NN in the case, explained that the 27-year-old single mother was involved in prostitution because she struggled to make a living to support her 2-year-old child in a city far from her home in West Java.

"NN moved to Padang with her aunt to avoid her abusive partner and eventually became a sex worker to make ends meet," Wendra said recently.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login
Democratic presidential candidates are attacking former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg in the run-up to the Nevada Primary, accusing him of attempting to buy the election in a massive spending spree.

He thinks he can buy this election, Senator Bernie Sanders (D., Vt.) told a crowd in Carson City, Nevada on Sunday. Well, Ive got news for Mr. Bloomberg: the American people are sick and tired of billionaires buying elections!

Bloomberg has spent $417 million of his own $60 billion fortune on advertising for his campaign, even as he sits out the first four state primaries, including Nevada. RealClearPolitics polling averages currently show Bloomberg with 14.2 percent of the national vote, behind Joe Biden (19.2 percent) and Bernie Sanders (23.6 percent).

I think he cannot hide behind the airwaves and the money, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.) told CBSs Face the Nation. I think he has to come on the shows. And I personally think he should be on the debate stage.

$60 billion can buy you a lot of advertising, but it cant erase your record, Joe Biden said on NBCs Meet the Press on Sunday.

Bloomberg is also facing scrutiny from Democrats over his past willingness to switch parties and donate to causes on both sides of the aisle. During his term as mayor, Bloomberg ran in elections as a Republican.

It is unclear whether Bloomberg will meet the qualifications needed to enter the Democratic debate scheduled for this Wednesday in Las Vegas.

More from National Review
Last Friday the Trump administration did something odd. It removed a US tariff on European prune juice and replaced it with one on kitchen and butchers knives.

Along with an increase in tariffs on European aircraft, from 10 per cent to 15 per cent, the substitution of knives for prune juice was part of a World Trade Organisation sanctioned $US7.5 billion ($11.2 billion) package of tariffs the US imposed on the European Union last year in retaliation for European governments subsidies for Airbus.

The Trump administration's US Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer, has reportedly been contemplating a particularly unpleasant tactic to force the European Union into agreeing to a trade deal. Credit:Bloomberg

Along with the tariffs on aircraft and prune juice, the US slapped tariffs on French wine, Italian cheese, olives, British whisky and a wide range of other products.

The WTO gave permission for the duties after making a finding in a 15-year-old dispute between the US and Europe over allegations by the US that European governments had subsidised Airbus, giving it an unfair advantage over its main rival, Boeing.
Intelligent Pills Market Size, Growth and Trends Analysis by Applications (Sleeping disorders, capsule endoscopy, Reflux Monitoring, Mobility Monitoring, Stress Management), Prescription (prescription smart drugs and others)  Forecast to 2027

Intelligent Pills Market Overview

The innovations in the drug delivery process are estimated to boost the intelligent pill market 2020. The pharmaceutical industry reports are put forth by Market Research Future, which focusses on market options for growth. The market is poised to gain an astounding CAGR in the forecast period.

The change in treatment processes is expected to create momentum for the development of the intelligent pill market in the forecast period. Moreover, the augmented use of monitoring for treatment is expected to further enhance the market for intelligent pills in the upcoming period. The improvement in the production process of drugs is expected to further invigorate the market for intelligent pills in the upcoming period.

Intelligent Pills Market Segmental Analysis

The segmental study of the intelligent pills market is conducted based on applications, end-user, prescription and regions. Based on applications, the intelligent pills market is segmented into capsule endoscopy, sleeping disorders, reflux monitoring, stress management, mobility monitoring, and others. Based on the prescription, the intelligent pills market comprises of prescription smart drugs which include Dexedrine, Ritalin, Adderall and non-prescription based. Based on end-users, the intelligent pills market consists of hospitals, clinics, home care and others. Based on the regions, the intelligent pills market consists of Africa, North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East.

Request Free Sample Copy at: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1032

Intelligent Pills Market Regional Analysis

The regional evaluation of the intelligent pills market is conducted based on Africa, North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East. The North American region is the principal market for intelligent pills. The North American regional market for intelligent pills is expected to grow at a stable CAGR. The developing use of intelligent pills and intensifying lifestyle disorders and compulsion towards smoking & alcohol are expected to boost the progress of the intelligent pills market in the North American region. The European region is the next biggest market for intelligent pills which is anticipated to develop in the forecast period. The Asia Pacific region is forecasted to display steady growth in the global market. The market is estimated to be bolstered by India and is likely to be the fastest developing market. The market, however, displays slow development in the Middle East and African region.

Intelligent Pills Market Competitive Analysis

The challenges in the market are projected to be neutralized, which will further induce favorable market growth in the market. The market is expected to increase its share in the forthcoming period with the demand levels increasingly developing. The objectives for growth are predicted to be successfully achieved in the duration of the forecast period. The potential opportunities in the market are estimated to be utilized effectively in the course of the forecast period. The market forces are anticipated to motivate the expansion to a great extent in the coming period. The market opponents are encouraging the development of the product range to a great extent. The introduction of a new product is predicted to alter the overall market structure in the upcoming period. The investment level in the market is estimated to rise at a rapid rate in the coming period.

The outstanding contenders in the intelligent pills market are Given Imaging Ltd. (Israel), (Bio-Images Drug Delivery) BDD LTD (UK), Medimetrics (Mexico), CapsoVision, Inc. (US), Proteus Digital Health (US), among others.

Intelligent Pills Market Updates:

Jan 2020 PwC Australia has recently aligned with Colorcon and TruTag to progress an innovative solution that encourages supply chain transparency in the pharmaceutical sector. The original solution permits tablets to be digitally connected to a data ledger by means of an edible barcode that can be scanned with generally popular mobile devices.

Table Of Contents

1 Intelligent Pills Market Report Prologue

2 Intelligent Pills Market Introduction

2.1 Introduction

2.2 Scope Of Study

2.3 Research Objective

2.4 Assumptions & Limitations

2.4.1 Assumptions

2.4.2 Limitations

3 Intelligent Pills Market Research Methodology

3.1 Research Process

3.2 Primary Research

3.3 Secondary Research

4 Market Dynamics

4.1 Intelligent Pills Market Drivers

4.2 Restrains

4.3 Challenges

4.4 Opportunities

5 Intelligent Pills Market Factor Analysis

5.1 Porters Five Forces Model

5.1.1 Bargaining Power Of Suppliers

5.1.2 Bargaining Power Of Buyers

5.1.3 Threat Of New Entrants

5.1.4 Threat Of Substitutes

5.1.5 Intensity Of Rivalry

5.2 Supply Chain Analysis

6 Intelligent Pills Market, By Material

6.1 Prescription Smart Drugs

6.1.1 Dexedrine

6.1.2 Ritalin

6.1.3 Adderall

6.1.4 Others

6.2 Non-Prescription Based

7 Intelligent Pills Market, By Application

7.1 Sleeping Disorders

7.2 Capsule Endoscopy

7.3 Reflux Monitoring

7.4 Mobility Monitoring

7.5 Stress Management

TOC Continued

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), & Consulting Services. MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients.

Contact:

Akash Anand

Market Research Future

+1 646 845 9312

Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
The CCTV footage released by Delhi Police was of 15 December, the night violence took place of Jamia campus.

An old adage rightly points out that there are two sides of a story and truth usually lie somewhere in the middle. On Sunday when the video released by Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC) showing police entering Jamia Millia Islamia library and beating up students indiscriminately surfaced, the common reaction was of utter disdain and disgust for Delhi Police, who had allegedly unleashed their brute power on students peacefully doing what they are supposed to do; sitting and studying in the library.

However, a day after the video showing students being attacked in library surfaced, another video was released by the Delhi Police Crime Branch's Special Investigation Team (SIT) which reaffirms the adage mentioned above, that truth usually lies somewhere in between.

The video released by JCC is a part of the long CCTV footage that must have recorded the entire events of the day and perhaps holds a precursor to the police brutality. But, those interested in pushing a particular narrative would want only a particular part of the recording to be made public.

In this clash of videos released by JCC and Delhi Police, there are some connecting dots that need to be linked to reach to the full truth.

The CCTV footage released by Delhi Police was of 15 December, the night violence took place of Jamia campus. And, in the video what is evident is that there is much more to the story than a brute police force being unleashed on the students without any provocation. In the video released by Delhi Police number of students can be seen in a balcony with stones in their hands. Another video shows a group of students being ushered into the library, with some of them carrying stones in their hands, which would hold books a few minutes later.

If the videos showing the police entering the library and beating students bear the testimony to the force used by the police, the video released by the Delhi Police proves that the use of force by the Delhi Police was not unprovoked.

One can argue about the authenticity of the video released by the Delhi Police, showing students with a mask on their faces and stone in their hands. But, then this argument about the authenticity of the video also holds valid in the case of the video released by JCC. To mark one video as unauthenticated, pushing it in the realm of doubt and treating the other as gospel truth clearly established the bias of this whole narrative.

If the video released by the JCC clearly shows police beating the students, the video released by the Delhi Police also shows students studying with their faces covered. And both have to be acknowledged to understand the actual sequence of events.

If one also disregard the video released by the Delhi Police that shows students armed with stones and applies little logic then also the chain of events becomes clear. How is it even remotely possible that when the campus was witnessing the violence of the scale where petrol bombs were being used, a group of students was sitting peacefully studying in the library, oblivious to all the violence.

What happened on 15 December, 2019, was unfortunate by all means. Police entering campus and the library and attacking students should be condemned at all cost.

But before condemning the police action, a valid question that needs to be asked is whether campuses can be made a safe haven for any sort of illegal activity and a student tag can be used to attain immunity against any criminal act.
NEW YORK, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --

Global B2B E-Commerce Platform Market to 2027  Analysis and Forecasts by Type (On-Premise and Cloud); Enterprise Size (SMEs and Large Enterprises); End-user Industry (Automotive, Electricals & Electronics, General Industries, and Others)  Analysis and Forecasts



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05862081/?utm_source=PRN



The global b2b e-commerce platform market accounted for US$ 714.0 Mn in 2018 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.8% over the forecast period 2019-2027. The global b2b e-commerce platform market would account for US$ 1,909.1 Mn by 2027. The growth in APAC region for the b2b e-commerce platform market is rising due to rapid urbanization and industrialization in countries such as China, Japan, and India. Also, the region is one of the biggest exporters of products, goods, and services. APAC is the global leader in e-commerce market size as it is a home to two out of the top five highest revenue generating e-commerce countries across the globe. China alone contributes over one-half of global e-commerce revenues. Other leading countries include Japan and South Korea.



In addition, India is growing at a rapid pace in e-commerce market.Further, the Southeast Asia is home to around 350 million online shoppers and represents a significant opportunity for international brands.



The e-commerce industry growth in developing Asian markets has been propelled by the establishment of marketplaces such as Flipkart in India, broadband infrastructure and increased logistics. India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, and Vietnam are the five major countries in the Asia which are expected to grow at a significant growth rate in the e-commerce industry over a span of 5 years.



The b2b e-commerce market keeps on progressing and experiences high development in both developing and developed markets.Through the growth of nonbanking players in the payments industry, the e-commerce market is expanding at a rapid pace.



It is also supporting the growth of MSMEs eventually.For instance, in India, strategic government initiatives such as, Skill India, Digital India, Startup India, and Make in India, have been propelled to make a favourable business condition in MSME sector.



Besides the government initiatives, certain improvements have been observed in the private business portions.This situation has propelled the emergence of the business-to-business e-commerce players, who have not just grown to offer specialty administration to MSMEs but are also filling in as a stimulus to the growth of the MSMEs and India's GDP.



Pertaining to the fact the ecommerce industry and B2B transactions are escalating in different countries in Asia Pacific, the demand for robust software or platforms is significantly growing. The SMEs as well as large enterprises in the countries mentioned above are heavily emphasizing on the procurement of B2B ecommerce platform with an objective to upshoot respective annual profits and facilitate the end-users to easily and efficiently purchase their products. Thus, growing emphasize on ecommerce platforms among the B2B industry players in Asia-Pacific countries is driving the b2b e-commerce platform market.



The global b2b e-commerce platform market is segmented into type, enterprise size, end-user industry and geography.Based on type, the b2b e-commerce platform market is segmented as on-premise and cloud.



Based on enterprise size, the b2b e-commerce platform market is segmented as SMEs and large enterprises.Based on end-user industry, the b2b e-commerce platform market is segmented into automotive, electrical & electronics, general industries, and others.



Geographically, the b2b e-commerce platform market is segmented into five strategic regions  North America, Europe, APAC, MEA, and SAM.



Globally the b2b e-commerce platform market constitutes some prominent market players including Apttus Corporation, Big Cartel, LLC, Infomart2000 CORP. (3DCART), Insite Software Solutions, Inc., KIBO Software, Inc., Magneto IT Solutions Pvt. Ltd, Shopify Inc., Salesforce.com, Inc., Volusion, LLC., WooCommerce (Automattic Inc.) among other market players with global presence and diverse customer base.



The overall global b2b e-commerce platform market size has been derived using both primary and secondary source.The research process begins with exhaustive secondary research using internal and external sources to obtain qualitative and quantitative information related to the global B2B E-Commerce Platform market.



It also provides an overview and forecast for the B2B E-Commerce Platform market based on all the segmentation provided for the global region.Also, primary interviews were conducted with industry participants and commentators to validate data and analysis.



The participants who typically take part in such a process include industry expert such as VPs, business development managers, market intelligence managers, and national sales managers, and external consultants such as valuation experts, research analysts, and key opinion leaders specializing in the B2B E-Commerce Platform industry.



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05862081/?utm_source=PRN



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________

Contact Clare: [email protected]

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001

SOURCE Reportlinker

Related Links

www.reportlinker.com


The contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) created a buzz in Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B)s annual general election on February 17.

According to a report in The Times of India, a social media post emerged ahead of voting in IIT-B, urging students not to cast votes for a candidate because he was found sloganeering at an anti-CAA protest.

The post had a video from the December 19, 2019 protest at August Kranti Maidan, Mumbai in which he was had reportedly participated in. It was captioned as: "He is a candidate, think twice before voting". The report suggests that the post has created a stir on the campus.

The candidates close friend told the newspaper that the malicious content and intent of the post had distressed the candidate so much that he suffered an anxiety attack. He may seek help from counsellors, the friend added.

Not only the candidate, but also his family is under stress after looking at the campaign against him, the friend further claimed. He believes in the Constitution and has been passionate about social work, the friend added.

Some students have also reportedly urged others to opt for NOTA (None of The Above).

The social media post had also named another candidate. Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

Amid the stir over the posts against the candidate, a Facebook post has emerged, condemning influence of external groups on the institutes election.

"We absolutely denigrate the targeting of our fellow students. No matter what the debate within our campus is, the calling out of a student within our campus as a seditious individual by organizations outside our campus is horrifying," the post read.

IIT Bombay General Election held under the Student Gymkhana is responsible for electing five General Secretaries along with Institute Secretaries and Overall Coordinators of four major Independent Bodies.

General Secretaries are the apex of the student body and represent each of their councils.
Top Trump administration officials are in discussions to reassign deputy national security adviser Victoria Coates to the Department of Energy from the National Security Council, per two sources familiar with the planning.

Why it matters: Coates' working relationship with National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien, who elevated her to the deputy role only months ago, has strained amid an effort by some people inside the administration to tag her as "Anonymous"  a charge she has vehemently denied to colleagues.

Coates could take on a senior role under Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette, the former deputy secretary who was elevated to lead the department in December after Rick Perry's departure.

A decision on such a personnel move has not been finalized and discussions could still fall apart, one source tells Axios.

"We do not comment on personnel matters," National Security Council spokesman John Ullyot told Axios. Coates declined comment.

Driving the news: As Politico first reported, Coates has been the target of a whisper campaign in recent weeks making a circumstantial case that she was the identity behind an op-ed in the New York Times and later a bestselling book describing a resistance movement against President Trump in his own White House.

One of the literary agents behind Anonymous' book, "A Warning," went so far as to release a statement saying explicitly that Coates is not the author, did not edit the book, did not see it in advance and did not know about it.

Between the lines: Coates' potential reassignment comes as Trump, fresh from acquittal in his impeachment trial, institutes personnel moves to bring early loyalists back into the White House and tests purges of staff he considers disloyal throughout the federal government.

Coates was an original member of Trump's national security team, having been brought in during the transition by Trump's first NSA, Michael Flynn.

Don't forget: Coates has strong working and personal ties to the Energy Department. She advised Perry in his 2012 presidential campaign and regularly coordinates with the department in her NSC role on issues including sanctions and oil and LNG supplies and touching on Iran, Iraq and the Gulf region.
Portland, Maine, Feb. 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As Portland, Maines music scene gains national recognition , Portland Bach Experience is once again breaking down barriers to classical music through its 12-day festival this June. Known for its innovative performances and nationally-acclaimed artists, Portland Bach Experience will present more than two dozen events with locations in Portland and throughout Southern and Coastal Maine. The festival runs from June 3rd to June 14th, 2020.

Dr. Emily Isaacson , founder and artistic director, is planning a wide variety of musical experiences for all ages, including Bach and Beer, Picnic Performances, Handel Happy Hour, BachBends Yoga, and intimate salons where attendees can meet the musicians.

Live music by talented artists has the power to move all people, said Dr. Isaacson. Our goal is to take this incredible art outside of traditional concert halls and into everyday venues where people already gather  to make it accessible to everyone. Why ask people to pause their lives to go hear music when we can bring world-renowned music and performers to them?d

The festival includes ensembles from solo cello to full orchestra, but regardless of who is performing, Dr. Isaacson likes to rethink the traditional. This year, she will conduct Vivaldi and his Virtuosa, a program of Vivaldi works with a 13-person all-female orchestra featuring 2020 GRAMMY-nominated soprano, Teresa Wakim . Vivaldi and his Virtuosa will be performed in a traditional concert hall at The Episcopal Church of Saint Mary in Falmouth and as a picnic performance at Halo at The Point at Thompsons Point in Portland.

"I'm so looking forward to bringing this energetic and passionate program of Vivaldi's solo vocal works in Vivaldi and his Virtuosa to Portland audiences! It is so refreshing to perform with an all-female orchestra led by a female conductor, said Wakim. Vivaldi's music at the time was performed by women and girls at the Pieta in Venice, so this adds another level of historically-informed performance! Also, a little dose of Girl Power!

"Part of my goal with this festival is to bring world-class music into experiences that are meaningful and accessible to different people at different stages in life, regardless of whether they are familiar with classical music. We are breaking down the barriers to this music by providing opportunities to hear live performances while doing yoga, while drinking a beer with friends, and while your kids dance along, said Dr. Isaacson.

Tickets for the Portland Bach Experience June Festival go on sale on March 1, 2020 at www.portlandbachexperience.com.





# # #



About Portland Bach Experience

Portland Bach Experience (PBE) is a nonprofit organization with a mission to enliven, strengthen, and connect communities by creating world-class, high-touch classical music experiences for everyone.

PBE believes live music bridges generations, connects friends, and strengthens communities. Thats why programming includes a wide range of events for people of all ages and interests, including full orchestral performances, intimate salons in private homes and art galleries, public sing-alongs, outdoor performances, educational lectures, and hands-on events for children.

Portland Bach Experience began in 2017 as a week-long festival in June, and has expanded to include an Oktoberfest weekend and the Portland Nutcracker Experience in December, as well as other classical music events throughout the year. PBE is led by founder and artistic director Dr. Emily Isaacason, who was named the Maine Artist of the Year by the Maine Arts Commission and one of 50 Mainers Leading the State by Maine Magazine.

The Portland Bach Experience June Festival 2020 is funded in part by the Maine Office of Tourism, as well as the Maine Arts Commission, an independent state agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.


State-owned GAIL India on Monday said Manoj Jain has assumed charge as its Chairman and Managing Director. A mechanical engineer with an MBA in operations management, Jain joined GAIL as a Graduate Engineer Trainee in 1985 and rose through the ranks to his current position.

"Before his appointment as CMD, Jain was Director (Business Development) of the company," GAIL India said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

According to the company, Jain possesses rich and diverse experience in the areas of business development, projects, petrochemicals, pipeline integrity management and gas marketing which has allowed him to gain insight and knowledge across multiple business units and functional areas.

As Director (Business Development), he was responsible for building GAIL's business portfolio in India and abroad, merger and acquisition, petrochemical O&M and expansion, exploration & production, R&D, start-up, health safety & environment management, quality management, project development including feasibility study and investment approval for new pipelines, process plants, renewables, etc.

Also Read: ONGC share hits record low on disappointing Q3; brokerages maintain 'Buy' rating

Currently, Jain is also chairman of GAIL Global (USA) Inc. (GGUI), GAIL Global (USA) LNG LLC (GGULL) and Konkan LNG Pvt. Ltd (KLPL).

Earlier, he looked after gas marketing activities in his role as executive director (Marketing-Gas). Jain also spearheaded the installation and commissioning of the mega-grassroots Petrochemical complex at Lepetkata, Assam, as Chief Operating Officer of Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Ltd. (BCPL).

Jain had worked in operation and maintenance of natural gas pipelines and played a significant role in establishing the National Gas Management Centre (NGMC) and systems and procedures for transmission and marketing of comingled gases, the company said.

Meanwhile, shares of Gail India closed Monday's trade at Rs 118.05 apiece, up 1.59 per cent, on the BSE.

By Chitranjan Kumar

Also Read: Oyo loss widens to $335 million in FY19, revenue jumps over four-fold to $951 million
In this Oct. 17, 2019, photo, tanks and pipes move product through the MarkWest Bluestone Gas Processing Plant in Evans City, Pa. President Donald Trump has aligned with Pennsylvania's natural gas industry, but his support for the industry in the nation's No. 2 natural gas state may not yield the expected political boost in what is perhaps the nation's premier presidential battleground state. Read more

Though it might not feel like it, the Democratic presidential race has only just begun. Nonetheless, many pundits and prognosticators are already focused on Pennsylvania, confidently predicting that Democrats who support a ban on fracking will lose the state, and hence the election, to Donald Trump. Its a common refrain, but there is zero evidence to support it -- and plenty of evidence that Pennsylvania voters have backed anti-fracking candidates.

This talking point says that by supporting a ban on fracking, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren play right into Trumps hands. The same pitch is even coming from Democrats like Lt. Governor John Fetterman. But this falls apart when you look at what actual voters say.

A recent Franklin & Marshall poll found that more Pennsylvania voters actually support a fracking ban than oppose the idea (48 to 39 percent). And in previous years, that same poll has shown that voters have dramatically shifted, with a solid majority saying the environmental costs of drilling outweigh the supposed economic benefits.

Of course, fossil fuel companies tout jobs when they talk about frackings importance to Pennsylvania. What they dont tell you is that a relatively small number of Pennsylvanians work in the shale industry-- and that number is shrinking, thanks to the industrys inability to turn a profit from gas drilling. Hundreds of drilling jobs were lost last year in the Pittsburgh area, and 2020 is not looking to be any more favorable, with very few new wells being drilled.

Polls are just one part of the story. The real question is whether this has been tested at the ballot box. It turns out that Pennsylvania voters are responding to anti-fracking candidates  by electing them. Progressive Democrats like Summer Lee and Sara Innamorato won seats in 2018 by speaking out against frackings toll on the health and safety of the communities they represent. The grassroots campaign against the Mariner East pipelines in Delaware and Chester Counties mobilized support for candidates like Danielle Friel Otten, who stood up to the industry. And last year, intense opposition to local fracking projects in the Pittsburgh suburbs flipped town councils, putting anti-fracking majorities in charge. In one case, anti-fracking candidates in Franklin Park won by turning precincts where Trump won handily and turning them blue.

The 2020 election is already showing that increasing numbers of voters want to see political leaders take serious action to combat the climate crisis. Thats one reason why groundbreaking policy ideas like the Green New Deal are so popular, especially with Democrats and independents. There are plenty of reasons to think that climate-minded voters are very likely to support candidates who speak out against fracking: After a decade of touting gas drilling as a bridge to clean, renewable energy, it is abundantly clear that fracking has only prolonged our addiction to fossil fuels. A new report from Food & Water Watch shows that a comprehensive accounting of the carbon dioxide and methane emissions linked to drilling and fracking shows that we are barely making progress in the fight to avert the worst effects of the climate disaster.

The decades-old paradigm pitting jobs vs. the environment needs to be upended for the 21st century. The present and future belong to building out a clean, renewable energy system that creates good-paying jobs in manufacturing, efficiency, and retrofitting while improving public health in communities that have shouldered the pollution burden linked to fossil fuels. There is every reason to believe Pennsylvania voters will reward candidates who prioritize this positive vision for our future.

Wenonah Hauter is the executive director of Food & Water Action, a national advocacy organization.
Argos celebrates launch of green cement at Rioclaro

17 February 2020

Cementos Argos' Rioclaro plant has started its new 0.45Mta calcined clay production line involving an investement of US$78m investment for the manufacture and distribution of green cement.

In this process, the use of clinker is reduced thanks to the incorporation of calcined clays (artificial pozzolan). During the production process, CO 2 emissions are reduced by up to 38 per cent and energy consumption lowered by 30 per cent.

"With this project, we are leading the industry and sowing the seeds of Argos for the future, which today, starts a new production line in Rioclaro, and which also has a huge growth potential in all geographies," said Juan Esteban Calle, Cementos Argos CEO. "This is not only from a product point of view, but rather from a concrete action for the sustainability of our industry. In our commitment to climate change, this project clearly makes us very proud," he added.







Published under
As the coronavirus continues to take a toll on oil markets, competition is heating up for crude oil suppliersall of which are vying for a piece of the dwindling oil demand in China and Japan as refineries there cut their run rates.

Crude oil suppliers are now slashing prices for certain grades of crude oil, according to refinery officials and trading managers who spoke to S&P Global Platts. The difference in some cases are multiple dollars per barrel for April loadings compared to March loadings.

Chinas Mega Refiners Make Drastic Cuts

Thousands of flights have been cut into and out of China, and travel within certain areas of the country have also been restricted. As a result of these restrictions and on reduced industrial throughput, fuel demand from the otherwise oil-thirsty nation continues to sink.

As Chinas demand for fuel wanes, refiners are faced with a grim realityit might be some time before demand picks back upso its best to settle in and get comfortable. That comfort has come in the form of cutting run rates.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec, Asias largest refiner, cut its refinery production by 600,000 barrels per day this month. This is a 12% cut of its 5 million bpd average that it saw in 2019.

PetroChina, Chinas second largest refiner, has also cut refinery runs, by 320,000 barrels per day PetroChina has also asked Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait about the possibility of deferring its crude oil loadings or reducing volumes. This volume equates to about 10% of its 3.32 bpd of fuel production.

Related: Shale Gas Drillers Are Facing A Perfect Storm



Independent refiners in China are also cutting run rates, with many operating at even less than half capacity. The independents are in the unfortunate position of not being able to export fuelsunlike the state-held refinery giants such as Sinopec and PetroChina. IN Shandong province, independents have said that they have collectively shut in 795,000 bpd of refinery runs, according to S&P Global Platts.

Altogether, IHS Market has estimated that Chinas February refinery runs will take a 1.7 million bpd hitcompared to its previous expectation that refinery runs in China would increase by 760,000 bpd.

Related: The Coronavirus May Mark The End Of Russia-OPEC Cooperation

But the pain extends beyond China. Japan refiners, too, are cutting run rates by between 3-4% from the last week of January to the first week of February.

The Trickle-Down Effect

As these refiners cut back their runs in a big way, naturally they will have a reduced need for crude oil, and suppliers in Brazil, Russia, and Angola are having to adjust to stay at the top of the pile as the Asian refiners look to take less crude.

Brazils Lula crude grade, according to Platts, was trading at a $3 premium to dated Brent for April delivery this week, compared to a $4 premium last weekand compared to an $8.50 per barrel premium for March delivery. Related: Asias Demand For Middle East Oil Plunges On Coronavirus Outbreak

Angolas Pazflor grade traded at a premium of just $0.20 to dated Brent for March loading cargo, compared to a $2 premium for February loadings.

One shipment of Russias Sokol crude for April 8-14 loading sold at a premium of $4.30 per barrel to Platts Dubai crude, while March loadings were trading at a premium upwards of $8 per barrel. In October, in the wake of the embargo on Chinese tankers, it was trading at a premium of $9.

The number of coronavirus cases had claimed 1,357 lives as of Thursday, with the total number of confirmed cases rising to more than 60,000with a sharp increase in the number of new cases reported on Wednesday.

Despite the sour note oil prices were trading modestly up on Thursday, even as Russia and OPEC have not yet come to an agreement as to how they will handle the depressed demand.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Ejaz Kaiser By

Express News Service

RAIPUR: Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee, appreciating the innovative people-oriented development schemes launched by Chhattisgarh, will be visiting the state in July this year to observe their performance.

Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, who is on a 10-day visit to the United States along with the state officials, congratulated Banerjee on winning the Nobel Prize and apprised the Indian-born American economist about the various experiments executed through various schemes undertaken in Chhattisgarh state for economic development.

READ| No real fear of Muslim takeover in India: Abhijit Banerjee

During the course of the meeting held at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Boston in US, the CM Baghel shared details on innovative programme of Narwa-Garwa-Guruwa-Badi Narwa aiming to boost the rural economy, Haat Bazaar clinic yojana, Suposhan (nutrition) campaign and other programmes. Professor Banerjee praised the states initiatives and on the request of the chief minister agreed to visit Chhattisgarh in the month of July to see the novel schemes," the official spokesperson told the Express.

Banerjee expressed his inclination to look through the unique experiments pioneered by the government as he suggested the state on identifying special regions through cluster approach for economic decentralisation and monitor them.

After a meeting that continued for an hour and a half, Banerjee gifted his signed books to the chief minister. Baghel, on his first foreign trip after becoming the chief minister, is accompanied by the state chief secretary R P Mandal, additional chief secretary Subrat Sahu and other officials.
During its meeting at the headquarters of the Civil Contract Party, the My Step faction of the National Assembly discussed the content and results of the Pashinyan-Aliyev meeting, the campaign for the referendum for constitutional amendments and several issues related to the National Assembly. This is what Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Alen Simonyan told reporters today.

When asked if the authorities are concerned about the fact that nobody has created a NO campaign ahead of the referendum, Alen Simonyan said he is certain that there will be a NO campaign and that even if it isnt created, there is nothing to worry about.

He added that its normal that Armenian human rights activists have submitted an application to create a NO campaign. Touching upon the format for the campaign, Alen Simonyan said there is still no decision on the formats. The Prime Minister will participate in the campaign because he loves to interact with the people, he said.

Talking about a political scientists view that Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Suren Papikyan has been designated as head of the YES campaign since he has good ties with regional governors and heads of municipalities and can use their resources, Simonyan said Papikyan was the head of the My Step headquarters during the parliamentary elections and his experience can be of use during the campaign for the referendum.
At the invitation of Ms. Anita Montoute, Saint Lucias Acting Comptroller of Customs, WCO Secretary General Dr. Kunio Mikuriya visited Castries, the capital city of Saint Lucia from 13 to 14 February 2020 to discuss the challenges and opportunities of Small Island Economies in the Caribbean region.

Dr. Mikuriya participated in a high-level meeting at the Ministry of Finance in the presence of the Minister for Commerce, Industry, Investment, Enterprise Development and Consumer Affairs, Hon. Bradley Felix and other senior government officials to exchange views on improving business climate, implementing international trade obligations and Saint Lucias sustainability strategy, which also applies to other islands in the Caribbean region.

Secretary General Mikuriya had a fruitful meeting with Saint Lucias Customs management team to review the progress of Customs reform, including the use of risk management and technology as well as organizational arrangement of Customs. He also met young Customs officers of Saint Lucia to discuss Customs challenges.

During a visit to the Caribbean Customs Law Enforcement Council (CCLEC) in Saint Lucia that also hosts the WCO Regional Intelligence Liaison Office (RILO) for the Caribbean region, Dr. Mikuriya met Mr. Albert Sandy, its Permanent Secretary, to discuss ways to enhance cooperation with the WCO, involving the UK Border Force and other international and regional organizations.

Dr Mikuriya also had an on-site visit to observe Customs operations on marina, ferry and cargo terminals linking small island economies in the Caribbean region. He appreciated the opportunity to examine the reality of Customs administrations in the Caribbean region and also the possibilities for the future, including regional integration.
To the Editor:

When President Donald Trump was running for office, he promised to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Obviously, this was his first lie with many lies to come! Trump has proposed $4.8 trillion deep cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, food stamps and student loan assistance.

This will harm millions of Americans who are disabled, elderly and working families. Basically, he is attempting to cut our countrys safety net programs. Also, Trumps proposed budget contains cuts to affordable housing, infrastructure, environmental protection and more.

We need a budget that invests in our countrys future, one that protects and improves the lives of people with disabilities, seniors, children, low and middle-class families. We need a budget that focuses on strengthening our economy, protecting our environment, lowering health care costs, lowering the cost of child care, expanding Medicare, and lowering the cost of prescription drugs.

This presidents proposed budget priorities makes it clear to me that he doesnt care about people with disabilities, seniors, people who are poor and the middle class.

We must reach out to our House of Representatives and our Senators to oppose this proposed budget and most of all, we must get out and vote.

Sally W. Johnston

President

Disabled in Action of Greater Syracuse Inc.

Syracuse

Also in Opinion: Editorial cartoons for Feb. 16, 2020: New Hampshire votes, Trump tips the scales of justice
A Delhi court Monday issued fresh date for execution of death warrants for March 3 at 6 am for the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case.

Additional Session Judge Dharmender Rana issued fresh warrants against death row convicts -- Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Kumar Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar (31).

The court was hearing the applications by Nirbhaya's parents and the Delhi government, seeking fresh death warrants for the convicts after the Supreme Court granted liberty to the authorities to approach the trial court for issuance of fresh date for the execution of these convicts.

The date of execution, first fixed for January 22, was postponed for 6 am on February 1 by a January 17 court order. The trial court later, on January 31, stayed, "till further orders" the execution of the four convicts in the case, who are lodged in Tihar Jail.
A 14-year-long legal battle is now coming to a conclusion as almost all of the telecom majors face their adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues. In succession to the Supreme courts decision imparted in October last year, Rs 1.47 lakh crore still stand unpaid by the telecom majors, which the apex court is now demanding to be paid at the earliest.



A major propellant for the payment of these dues came on Monday as a three-judge bench of the Supreme court expressed its anguish over the delay in this payment. The court reacted on a notice issued by a Department of Telecommunications (DoT) official to circle officers preventing any coercive action against telcos who stood at fault.

How can a desk officer do this to the Supreme Court's order? Is this the law of the country? Is this the way you treat the courts," the bench comprising Justice Mishra, Justice S Abdul Nazeer and Justice M R Shah said. It then directed the top executives of the involved telcos as well as the desk officer of DoT to come up with an explanation for not holding any contempt against them for non-compliance of the order.

As a result, some of the telcos have started clearing their AGR dues in part. But as the process has just begun, here is a look at what these telecom operators face, whether they stand at a position to do so and what effect this might have on the telecom as well as bank customers going forward.

(Representative Image: Reuters)

Total unpaid dues

As per the existing laws, telecom operators in India need to pay 3-5 per cent of their AGR as spectrum usage charges while 8 per cent is charged to them as the licence fees. In numbers, this amounts to a total of Rs 1.47 lakh crore yet to be paid by the telecom operators at default.

A breakdown of this shows Rs 92,642 crore in unpaid licence fee and Rs 55,054 crore in outstanding spectrum usage charges. The defaulters here comprise of Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Tata Teleservices which have outstanding AGR dues of over Rs 35,500 crore, Rs 53,000 crore and nearly Rs 14,000 crore, respectively. State-owned BSNL and MTNL are also on this list with total unpaid dues of Rs 4,989 crore and Rs 3,122 crore respectively.

Payments start

Bharti Airtel paid Rs 10,000 crore to DoT as a part of this due on Monday. The company further promised to pay the rest of the amount before 17 March, the next date of hearing for the case in supreme court. As per the company, the amount has been paid on behalf of Bharti Airtel, Bharti Hexacom, and Telenor."

Vodafone Idea, on the other hand, said on Monday that it can pay only Rs 2500 crore as of now to the telecom department, with a promise to follow up with another Rs 1000 crore in AGR dues by February 21. The Rs 3,500 crore will account for 50% of its estimated principle AGR dues of Rs 7,000 crore. The company further appealed to the court for no coercive action against it in order to let it continue its operations smoothly. The appeal comes even as the company reflects on the continuation of its business in the country.

Even though the Department of Telecom had sent the demand notice to all 15 defaulters in the list, so far only two have responded to it. Payment of dues or corresponding responses are still awaited from the others.

Reliance Jio was the only one to clear its dues in time. The company paid its AGR dues worth Rs 195 crore before January 23, becoming the only telecom operator in the process to do so.

(Representative Image: Reuters)

The larger impact

Any negative impact on the telecom consortium will not be a stand-alone one. The same was recently confirmed by the SBI chief Rajnish Kumar, who cleared that the banks will have to pay the price if the collection of AGR dues results in any negative impact.

If there is a negative impact on any enterprise, it impacts a larger ecosystem, whether it is banks, whether it is employees, whether they are vendors, consumers, so everybody gets impacted. So, that impact, when it comes, we will have to pay the price," Kumar said.

Here Kumar highlights a situation wherein telecom operators declare bankruptcy. With almost none of the remaining defaulters showing the potential to pay the exorbitant dues implicated on them, there is a potential of them filing bankruptcy, in which case external help would be needed to help balance the sector.

More than bankruptcy, there are chances of an upcoming consolidation between these entities. Vodafone Idea was the most recent example of this, which merged to form India's largest mobile phone company last year citing rising competition in the market. The impending AGR dues might be a similar shove towards a consolidation or even dissolution for other entities.

The end result can very possibly be a market domination by those who will be able to pay these AGR dues without any external support. Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio are the biggest possibilities of this and looking at how others still struggle to pay their dues, the two firms might find a boon in these dues in the form of scarce competition afterwards.

(Representative Image: Reuters)

Effect on customers

For now, any impact on consumers of these telecom services cannot be pinpointed. Even though some changes are inevitable, these might occur as standalone modifications to revenue models of singular operators. There are, of course, chances that the industry-wide service rates are heightened for the consumers.

Glimpses of this can be seen already, as operators increase the data and call rates of their services. Moreover, the situation can further impact the consumers if banks are called upon to the rescue of these firms. Though Kumar reassures that the heightened premium would never be collected from the consumers, there is no other way to keep a check on that apart from his word.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 17, 2020 15:36 694 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2064fa1b5 1 News surakarta,tourist-train,tourism-industry,travel,Central-Java,Train Free

The Surakarta city administration in Central Java has collaborated with state-owned railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) to operate an old steam locomotive as a tourist train.

Named KA Joko Kendil, the 99-year-old D 1410 steam locomotive and its cars were recently restored.

It is the only D 1410 train in the world that can still function, Edi Sukmoro, president director of PT KAI, told tempo.co on the train's launch on Sunday in Surakarta, Central Java.

He added that the locomotive was created by German producer Hanomag in 1921, while the antique cars are were manufactured in the Netherlands in 1938 and were used for luxury-class passengers.

Read also: Traveling back in time in Ambarawa

Surakarta Mayor FX Hadi Rudy Rudyatmo said the train would serve a 7-kilometer route from Purwosari Station to Sangkrah Station.

If possible, it will reach Wonogiri [Station], he added.

According to kompas.com, the city administration and PT KAI teamed up in 2009 to operate an old steam locomotive named Sepur Kluthuk Jaladara or the Jaladara tourist train.

The train will take passengers on a journey from Purwosari Station to Solo Balapan Station. During the 6-km trip, the vintage train will make stops at popular tourist attractions, such as Loji Gandrung, Sriwedari Park, Triwindu antique market and batik centers in Gladag and Kauman.

Edi said that vintage trains had attracted travelers from Indonesia and abroad. He hoped the Joko Kendil tourist train will further improve the city's tourism. (wir/wng)
The party workers should work as a competent Opposition party and bring the party back the power, said BJP national president JP Nadda.

Mumbai: Forced to abandon power by the three-party alliance of Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress in the state, the BJP on Sunday vowed to come back to power on its own. The party workers should work as a competent Opposition party and bring the party back the power, said BJP national president JP Nadda.

Addressing the state BJP convention at Nerul in Navi Mumbai, Mr Nadda said the party needs to be ready to go solo in future elections. He said despite the BJP getting mandate after the state Assembly polls last year, some with selfish motives parted ways with it and joined hands with those in the Opposition to come to power.

The Maharashtra government is unnatural and unrealistic. Some people have parted ways with the BJP for their selfish gains, Mr Nadda said without naming any party or individual. The BJP chief also alleged the government led by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has put the brakes on the states development.

He, however, expressed confidence that his party will win the next Maharashtra Assembly polls on its own. The BJP should be prepared to contest all the forthcoming elections on its own. You should be ready for all versus one (BJP) kind of political battle in the future, Mr Nadda said addressing the party workers.

The BJP is going to win the next Maharashtra Assembly election single-handedly. The state, under the leadership of Devendra Fadnavis, was making progress but sadly, the development is now being halted, he said.
In a letter to the president of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, Francis calls on the school that trains the Vaticans diplomatic staff to add a year of missionary work. For the pontiff, the missionary experience we wish to promote will be useful not only to the young students but also to the individual Churches with whom they will work.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Pope Francis has sent a letter to Mgr Joseph Marino, the President of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, the Vaticans diplomatic service school, saying that future Vatican diplomats should undertake a one-year missionary experience in a diocese other than their own.

In the letter, dated 11 February, Francis writes: I expressed the desire that priests, who are preparing for the Holy Sees diplomatic service, train for a year doing missionary work in a [different] diocese. [. . .] I am convinced that such an experience will be useful to all young men training for or starting priestly service. This is especially true for those who will be called in the future to work with pontifical representatives and, later, be sent by the Holy See to the nations and individual Churches.

Citing his own speech to the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, Francis adds that The mission that you will be called to carry out one day will take you to all parts of the world: to a Europe that needs to awaken; to an Africa thirsty for reconciliation; to a Latin America hungry for nourishment and interiority; to a North America seeking to rediscover the roots of an identity that is not defined through exclusion; to Asia and Oceania, challenged by the capacity to stir in the diaspora and engage in dialogue with its many ancestral cultures.

The letter goes on to say that To positively address these growing challenges for the Church and the world, it is also necessary that future Holy See diplomats acquire  beyond a solid priestly and pastoral education, as well as the one specifically offered by this Academy  a personal missionary experience outside their native dioceses, walking together with the missionary Churches and their communities, [as well as] taking part in their daily activity of evangelisation.

The Pope wants to see a richer academic curriculum that includes a year dedicated entirely to the missionary service in individual Churches around the world. Such a new experience will start with the new [cohort of] students who will start their education in the coming Academic Year 2020/2021.

To work on this project with greater depth and to start it well, it is necessary first of all to work closely with the Secretariat of State, most notably with the Holy Sees Section for Diplomatic Staff (the third section), as well as with the [Office of the Delegate for] Pontifical Representations, who certainly will not fail to give proper help in choosing individual Churches that are ready to take on students and closely monitor their experience.

I am certain that  by overcoming initial concerns that might arise from this new style of training future Holy See diplomats  the missionary experience we wish to promote will be useful not only to the young students but also to the individual Churches with whom they will work. I hope that this will awaken in other priests of the universal Church the desire to make themselves available for a period of missionary service outside their own diocese.
Appointment

17 February 2020

The St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort, a AAA Five Diamond and Forbes Five-Star resort, has announced the appointment of Gregory Polino as general manager. In his new role, Mr. Polino will oversee day-to-day operations of the acclaimed 216-room oceanfront resort including the resort's four distinct dining concepts: Atlantikos, The Grill at St. Regis, The St. Regis Bar, and La Gourmandise as well as the Forbes Five-Star Remede Spa.

Mr. Polino joins The St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort with over 17 years of experience in global luxury hotel, resort, and restaurant operations, most recently as general manager at W Miami. Mr. Polino's celebrated success is a result of his extensive experience in the luxury hospitality industry, having worked in diverse environments across several countries. His career began at Monaco's Hotel de Paris in Monte-Carlo as assistant director of food & beverage, where he worked directly with James Beard award-winning Chef Alain Ducasse's on new menu implementation and all aspects of food and beverage management. Mr. Polino then traveled to Paris, where he held a leadership position at the five-star and AAA Five Diamond property, Hotel Plaza Athenee, before relocating to Miami to lead the food and beverage team at Sofitel Luxury Hotels. While with Sofitel Luxury Hotels, he continued to excel and was asked to manage hotel operations for their New York City flagship property. Following his time at Sofitel, he continued his hotel management track and oversaw the opening and all aspects of operations for Conrad Hotel, another signature flagship hotel for the Conrad-Hilton brand.

Now as general manager at The St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort, Mr. Polino will continue his commitment to deliver service excellence and ultimately enhance guest experiences. His proven track record of providing the highest quality of guest experiences and consistent attention to detail is a testament to his many strengths as a leader.
The federal government should get out of schools and let state governments decide the appropriate mix of funding between public and private schools, the nations former top mandarin has said.

Martin Parkinson, who helmed the federal bureaucracy for four years before retiring in August last year, said voters needed one level of government to hold accountable for declining school results.

Former public service chief Martin Parkinson. Credit:James Alcock

Speaking to a forum on federal and state finances at NSW State Parliament on Monday, Dr Parkinson said states should take on sole responsibility for the early learning, primary and high school sectors, while the federal government should do TAFE and universities.

"Im a great fan of a position that the Commonwealth should be right out of anything right up to year 12. Once beyond, in the world of thinking about anything to do with employment, give it all to the Commonwealth," he said.
Often you have heard that in many jails, inmates are treated badly and in a bad way, they are tortured. But there is also a country in the world where the inmates of the jail themselves dig their graves. Yes, you will be surprised to know this, but if some former prisoners are believed then it is absolutely true. The name of this country is North Korea. By the way, the whole world knows about North Korea and its dictator Kim Jong Un and people know very well about the peculiar rules here. Apart from this, how badly the prisoners are treated here is also not hidden from anyone, especially foreign prisoners. According to media reports, these prisoners are also forced to work here.

To visit this starge city you need to enter another country

It is said that inmates of North Korea's jails are put to sleep in very small cells, they are given rats and frogs to eat. Apart from this, the prisoners are also beaten regularly and they are forced to do hard labor for about 12 hours in 24 hours. The laws in North Korea are very stringent. Hard enough that you can hardly guess. In 2012, a Korean American man who went to North Korea was found with a hard disk full of religious material from Kenneth Bay, after which he was sentenced to forcible labor for 15 years. However, due to ill health, he was released from prison in 2014. Also in 2016, 22-year-old American student Otto Warmbier was also sentenced to 15 years of hard labor on charges of attempting to steal a billboard of a hotel. Although he was also released after a few months, he went into a coma.

Be careful before scanning the QR code, keep these important things in mind

According to a report, North Korea's jails are one of the most dreadful jails in the world. Thousands of people, including children - are kept in prison camps and North Korean prisons. It is said that there are some of them who have not committed any crime, but still, they are imprisoned. It is said that inmates of North Korea's prisons are forced to dig their own graves. Apart from this, they are also raped in the name of punishment and sometimes even the suffering prisoners suddenly disappear, which is not known.

Fossil of this giant turtle found in desert
The Allahabad High Court has stayed a notice issued by the Kanpur administration seeking damages from a local resident over the destruction of property during protests against the amended citizenship law.

The stay, ordered last week on a petition by Kanpur's Mohammad Faizan, comes against the backdrop of scores of similar recovery notices sent by district authorities in Uttar Pradesh in recent weeks.

Justices Pankaj Naqvi and S S Shamshery passed the stay order on Faizan's petition against the recovery notice issued on January 4 by an additional district magistrate (ADM).

The bench said the notice violated the guidelines laid down by the apex court in 2009 when it heard the matter related to Destruction of Public and Private Properties Vs State of A.P and others.

The judges also said the issue was still pending before the Supreme Court.

The High Court bench has asked the state government to file its reply within a month. The case will now be listed for the week beginning April 20.

The judges observed that the Supreme Court guidelines had said the power to compute damages and investigate liability for destruction of public property will be exercised by a serving or retired high court or district court judge as claims commissioner.

The petitioner's counsel argued that an executive officer like the ADM had no power to issue such a notice in view of the 2009 Supreme Court order.

The judges added that the rules under which the notice was served is also under challenge before the apex court.

So the operation of the notice should be put in abeyance till the issue is determined by the apex court, the bench said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The company is in talks with JSC Ukrgasvydobuvannya

Royal Dutch Shell PLC was presented as an international partner of the state-owned JSC Ukrgasvydobuvannya in a presentation accompanied by the report made by Andrii Favorov, Naftogaz-Ukraine's Director of Integrated Business, at the press conference "Own gas: Results and Prospects".

"I can not give specific information. Negotiations are ongoing," Favorov answered when he was asked by 112 Ukraine TV Channels correspondent about the possibility of resuming cooperation.

It is worth noting that Shell and Chevron were granted the rights to develop explorations on Yuzivska and Olevska gas-bearing plates in December 2013. Under a shareholding agreement with Ukrgasvydobuvannya, Shell conducted exploratory exploration of prospective sites and even drilled two wells.

However, the debit was very low. Based on the results of the exploration, Shell and JSC Ukrgasvydobuvannya agreed that further activity within the project was not economically feasible.

Thereafter, Shell's plans to resume gas production in Ukraine were not reported.

As we reported earlier, according to Naftogazs Chairman of the Board, the company ready to discuss the extension of the contract on gas transit with the Russian Federation.
Advertisement

They may look like relics of an alien civilisation, but these structures are actually Brutalist monuments and war memorials found across Central and Southeastern Europe.

The architectural jaw-droppers - some of which now lie abandoned - have been captured in a set of stunning photographs by British photographer Mark O'Neill.

The Berkshire-based photographer's obsession with Brutalism in the former Yugoslavia and surrounding countries began in 2011 when he visited Bulgaria with his parents.

The intriguing Monument to the Revolution of the People in Croatia overlooks the small town of Podgaric

The astonishing Memorial House of the Bulgarian Communist Party, on Buzludzha Peak, was built 'as a tribute to the socialist movement in Bulgaria', according to a website dedicated to the building, and opened in 1981. It is now abandoned and its interior covered in graffiti. Still, people travel from far and wide to gaze upon this UFO-esque wonder

It's possible to take a tour of the Buzludzha monument. The spectacular view is one of the attractions

The Gligino Brdo monument in Bosnia stands at 10 metres tall (32 feet) and is shaped like a flower, but vandalism and graffiti are both evident on the exterior at the bottom

The stunning Spomen Park in Serbia features a monument of tunnels and large triangular structures, all erected in 1981 to pay tribute to Partisans who took on the Germans in World War II

This quirky monument located near Makljen, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was erected in 1978 and was built to pay tribute to Partisans who were killed during the Battle of the Wounded (the Battle of Neretva) in 1943

The unusual structures work well with my style of photography and are visually impressive, but I became absorbed by the stories behind the monuments, Mark said.

Located in former war zones, many of them have become victims of their political environment and bear the scars to show it. Some were subject to military occupation during the Balkan conflicts and it's not unusual to find bullet-holes and spent ammunition around the sites.

Marks photographs include incredible shots of jagged rock structures and huge, imposing monuments whose glories have faded over time. Some boast chilling clues to a war-ravaged past, while some have either been vandalised or left to decay.

Some though stand in readiness for restoration, thanks to a surge in interest and popularity for Brutalist masterpieces.

The famous Petrova Gora Monument in Croatia was built in 1981 on the highest peak of the mountain range of the same name and pays tribute to those who died in World War II

The 65ft Monument to the Detachment in Croatia's Brezovica Forest was built after the death of the original elm tree that grew on the site of a World War II memorial

Situated in Bosnia, the jagged, symmetrical Tjentiste monument commemorates the Battle of the Sutjeska in 1943 when Axis powers attacked Partisan forces

Due to its remote location and protected status within a national park, the Monument to the Revolution in Bosnia escaped vandalism during the war-torn 1990s

The Monument to Fallen Soldiers in Serbia is all jagged, geometrical shapes that rise out of the ground impressively

The Stone Sleeper monument in Sumarice Memorial Park in Serbia is shaped to resemble haystacks, to pay tribute to farmers and peasants who were slaughtered by the Nazis in World War II

The grand Bulgarian-Soviet friendship monument in Varna is an ageing Brutalist relic built to embody the countries' Communist regimes

The stunning Barutana - Memorial to the Fallen of the Ljesanska Nahija Region - stands proud like a huge tree with mountain ranges in the background

This sleek, curved stone structure in Grmec in Bosnia and Herzegovina - the Monument to the Revolution - is reflected in an adjacent lake

This stunning interior shot of the Monument to the Revolution reveals broken stone and moss-covered walls

Mark trained his lens on places like the Battle of Sutjeska Memorial Monument Park  situated in what is now Bosnia  which paid tribute to Communist leader Tito but became a minefield during the devastating Balkan wars between 1991 and 2001.

Other monuments and buildings  like the 12-story Petrova Gora monument in Croatia  were also used by the military during the conflicts.

Mark has captured these amazing pieces of history in both daylight and at night, with some of the more stunning results coming after he camped out during darkness to achieve the perfect, spooky shot.

The Kosmaj memorial complex in Serbia is home to this stunning star-shaped structure, which Mark photographed against an equally starry night sky

Mark often uses torches worn on his head to produce stunning effects, like this image taken in Susnjar Monument Complex in Bosnia

The stunning Stone Flower monument in Croatia was built in 1966 and dedicated to victims of atrocities committed at the Jasenovac concentration camp, a camp run by the Croatian government in league with Nazi Germany

The huge and ominous Viktorovac Cemetery Monument in Sisak, Croatia, pictured here pointing towards the night sky

Abandoned or neglected sites such as the Stratiste Memorial Complex in Jabuka, Serbia, make for superbly spooky images, especially if taken at night

Monuments - or 'spomeniks' - are dotted around the former Yugoslavia and offer a sobering reminder of the old country's war-torn past

I like to capture photographs between dusk and dawn, he continued. With light being the medium of photography, the night becomes my blank canvas and allows me creative freedom.

'Using a hand-held torch to illuminate structures, I can pick out the individual elements I want to work with and combine my lighting with the effects of a long exposure to create a surreal aesthetic. Visiting these places at night also brings a completely different element to exploring a foreign land.

Visit Marks Instagram page or website to see more of his work.
Westfield Republican Kelly Pease is running for state representative in the Houses 4th Hampden District.

Pease picked up his nomination papers last week, according to a statement from his campaign. State records show he formed a campaign committee in December.

A former member of Chesters Board of Selectmen, Pease is a 20-year Army veteran. He served in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo and a number of other countries, according to his campaign.

He recently spent eight months working as a legislative aide to former Republican state Sen. Donald F. Humason, who was elected mayor of Westfield in November. Pease is currently completing a masters degree in law at Western New England University.

The 4th Hampden Districts current state representative, Westfield Democrat John Velis, is running for state Senate in the 2nd Hampden and Hampshire District. Southwick Republican John Cain is also running for the Senate seat, left vacant when Humason was sworn in as mayor. A special election for the Senate seat will be held March 31.
Fourteen evacuated Americans were found to have the virus shortly before they boarded a chartered flight to the U.S. And the Japanese Health Ministry announced that 99 more cases had been confirmed on the ship, bringing the total to 454.

China signaled a delay of the most important political event of the year, the full meeting of the National Peoples Congress  a sign of deepening anxiety within the Communist Party about the threat posed by the epidemic.

Here are the latest updates and maps of where the virus has spread.

The latest: The Tokyo Marathon was canceled for everyone except elite athletes, raising questions about what will happen to the Olympic Games in the city this summer. Separately, a prominent legal activist who accused Chinas leader, Xi Jinping, of trying to cover up the outbreak was detained over the weekend, according to his friends.

Impact: Japans economy shrank in the last quarter of 2019, its worst contraction in more than five years. The results predated the coronavirus epidemic but were affected by a monthslong slump in Chinese demand for Japanese exports.
WARREN, N.J., Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- GlaxoSmithKline (LSE/NYSE: GSK) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Voltaren Arthritis Pain (diclofenac sodium topical gel, 1% (NSAID)- arthritis pain reliever) as an over-the-counter (OTC) product for the temporary relief of arthritis pain in the hand, wrist, elbow, foot, ankle or knee in adults (18 years and older). With the FDA's approval, Voltaren Arthritis Pain becomes the first and only prescription strength, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) topical gel for arthritis pain available OTC in the United States.

Voltaren Gel, which GSKCH owns the rights to, is currently only available with a prescription in the US. Today's OTC approval of Voltaren Arthritis Pain will provide the nearly 30 million Americans with osteoarthritisi over-the-counter access to this topical treatment option.

Franck Riot, Head of R&D, GSK Consumer Healthcare said: "For the millions of people around the world living with arthritis, joint pain and stiffness are daily realities. At GSK, we are committed to improving the quality of life of these people and today's approval is progress towards this, providing consumers in the US with increased access to an effective, proven arthritis pain relief option. Voltaren is currently the number 1 OTC topical pain relief brand globally, and we look forward to expanding its availability in the US."

Dr. Roy Altman, Professor of Medicine in Rheumatology at UCLA said: "Osteoarthritis treatment guidelines from several international and United States medical societies, including the 2019 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) endorse the early use of topical NSAIDs for treating arthritis pain of the knee and hand. In contrast to prior guidelines, the recommendations are inclusive of all age groups, not just the elderly."

In addition, the Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) recently updated and expanded their guidelines for non-surgical management of OA by developing patient-focused treatment recommendations. These updated guidelines strongly recommend topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for individuals with knee OA. Of the non-core interventions assessed as part of this guideline update, topical NSAIDs were recommended more strongly than all oral analgesics due to favorable balance of consistent efficacy and minor transient side effectsii.

The submission in support of today's approval of Voltaren Arthritis Pain was based on clinical data in hand and knee OA supporting the original prescription approval. The data demonstrated a consistent and appreciable onset of pain relief beginning as early as week 1 (as evidenced by appreciable improvements in pain symptoms across multiple pre-specified endpoints).

About Voltaren Arthritis Pain

The active ingredient in Voltaren Arthritis Pain, diclofenac sodium, is an effective medicine that is clinically proven to relieve joint pain due to arthritis. Voltaren Arthritis Pain penetrates through the skin at the application site to deliver arthritis pain relief. Voltaren Arthritis Pain offers consumers who suffer from OA an alternative option to oral analgesics. It targets pain directly at the site and the amount of diclofenac sodium that is systemically absorbed from Voltaren Arthritis Pain is on average 6% of the systemic exposure from an oral form of diclofenac sodium. GSK anticipates Voltaren Arthritis Pain will be available on US shelves in Spring 2020. For more information, visit www.VoltarenGel.com.

About osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis. OA occurs when the cartilage between joints begins to break down and wear away, resulting in joint pain and stiffness. OA occurs more frequently with age, and the pain can gradually worsen over time. The most common symptoms associated with OA include joint pain, stiffness, and decreased range of motion.

GSK's commitment to pain relief

We are the world leader in pain relief. With a portfolio of (systemic and topical) products to relieve pain, our range brings comfort and ease to millions. World-leading brands including Advil, Panadol and Voltaren; and beloved local brands like Excedrin in the US and Fenbid in China help people manage their symptoms so they can enjoy life to the fullest.

Important safety information about Voltaren Arthritis Pain

Before using the product, consumers should read the Voltaren Arthritis Pain Drug Facts Label.

About GSK

GSK is a science-led global healthcare company with a special purpose: to help people do more, feel better, live longer. For further information please visit www.gsk.com.

About GSK Consumer Healthcare

We are the world's largest Consumer Healthcare company following our new joint venture with Pfizer Consumer Healthcare. We develop and market a portfolio of consumer-preferred and expert-recommended brands including Sensodyne, parodontax, Poligrip, Advil, Centrum and Theraflu.

Cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements

GSK cautions investors that any forward-looking statements or projections made by GSK, including those made in this announcement, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Such factors include, but are not limited to, those described under Item 3.D 'Principal risks and uncertainties' in the company's Annual Report on Form 20-F for 2018.

Registered in England & Wales:

No. 3888792

Registered Office:

980 Great West Road

Brentford, Middlesex

TW8 9GS

i Arthritis By The Numbers. Arthritis Foundation. (2018)

Retrieved from https://www.arthritis.org/Documents/Sections/About-Arthritis/arthritis-facts-stats-figures.pdf

ii OARSI guidelines for the non-surgical management of knee, hip, and polyarticular osteoarthritis

Crossref DOI link: https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JOCA.2019.06.011

SOURCE GlaxoSmithKline

Related Links

http://www.gsk.com


New Delhi, Feb 17 : A Delhi court on Monday sent Sharjeel Imam, a JNU student facing sedition charges, to one day police remand so that his involvement in December 15 violence in Jamia Millia Islamia could be probed.

Imam has been arrested by the Delhi Police Crime Branch in connection with the case.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Gurmohina Kaur sent him to remand after another accused in the case told the police that he was provoked by Sharjeel's speeches.

Protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) had turned violent on December 15 near Delhi's Jamia Nagar. Several buses were set afire during the violence in which police and protesters sustained injuries.

He was also slapped with a sedition case last month for allegedly making inflammatory speeches against the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC).

He is accused of mobilising students and is currently in judicial custody in connection with the case.

In a purported video, Imam was seen talking about splitting the North-East from India to block the implementation of the NRC.
A Russian woman on board a cruise ship quarantined off the coast of Japan has tested positive for the coronavirus, Russia's Embassy in Tokyo said on February 17.

The woman is the first confirmed case among the 24 Russians on board the Diamond Princess. She is also thought to be the first Russian national to contract the coronavirus.



"A female citizen of Russia has tested positive for the coronavirus in the course of Covid-19 screening of all passengers by Japanese authorities. The Russian woman will soon be hospitalized in order to receive treatment," the embassy tweeted.

"The Embassy will continue to provide comprehensive assistance to our citizens," it added.



Two previous cases found in Russia -- one in the Siberian city of Chita and one in the Tyumen region -- were both Chinese nationals. They have both recovered and have been discharged from hospital.



The Diamond Princess departed from Yokohama on January 20 with 2,666 tourists and 1,045 crew members on board for a two-week cruise to Kagoshima, Hong Kong, and Okinawa.



The cruise was supposed to end on February 4. But one of the passengers who disembarked in Hong Kong tested positive for the coronavirus and the cruise ship was quarantined in Yokohama for 14 days.

In St. Petersburg, a court on February 17 ordered a Russian woman who escaped from a virus quarantine to be forcibly returned back to the hospital she fled.



Alla Ilyina, 32, escaped from the facility last week, saying she had tested negative for the virus but was told to remain quarantined for two weeks.



Ilyina returned from China last month. Doctors diagnosed her with "acute virus illness" that they suspected could be the new coronavirus.



More than 70,500 people have been infected by the COVID-19 across China, with the death toll in the country reaching 1,770.



There have been more than 500 cases in nearly 30 other countries and territories. Four people died in France, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Japan.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Current Time, TASS, Interfax, AFP, and AP.
Secretary of State Pompeo says US must balance Senegals security needs with its own interests on Africa tour.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addressed Senegals security concerns on a visit to the country.

Violence on the continent by armed groups such as the ISIL (ISIS) group in the Greater Sahara and Boko Haram has doubled, with 4,000 deaths last year, according to the United Nations.

Pompeo said that he would work with Senegal and other countries to fight the rising attacks.

But he also warned of Chinas growing economic influence in Africa.

Al Jazeeras Nicolas Haque reports from Dakar.
Josh Anderson, the assistant director of residential services at Resources of Human Development, leaves one of the residences the agency leases from Nestidd in the Fox Chase area of Philadelphia. Read more

Patricia Menszak manages 26 group homes for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Delaware and Chester Counties.

And one house, in Drexel Hill, no longer suits the three women who live there, because they cant climb stairs anymore.

Instead of having to find a replacement house herself, Menszak turned to Nestidd, a two-year-old start-up that buys single-family houses, customizes them, and leases them to service providers like the one Menszak works for, Catholic Social Services. The company also offers to cut the grass, remove snow, and perform other maintenance.

Were going to rent the one for the ladies at the new location. Well have a lease agreement with them for that location, and then they will buy the home that we own, Menszak said. Its a win-win.

Menszak previously used Nestidd, cofounded in 2017 by Philadelphia-area native Andrew Parker, for a house for three men in Prospect Park.

Parker, who grew up near Valley Forge and graduated from Conestoga High School in 2007, joined with a college friend from the University of Michigan, Tad Ritter, to found Nestidd to relieve agencies of their real estate burden  a task that lies outside the agencies expertise but is essential to serving their clients with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the community.

Though it is based in Chicago, Nestidd owns 25 houses in Pennsylvania out of its 65 total. Because of that, Parker spends about half his time in the Philadelphia area, where his parents live. The other states where Nestidd owns houses are Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Illinois, Nevada, and Texas.

It provides property management for an additional 220 houses, Parker said. Among Nestidds newest customers for property management is Media-based Elwyn, which this month started trying out Nestidds services for a group of community homes that it owns in New Jersey.

Early last year, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services said more than 50,000 Pennsylvanians participate in the states programs for individuals with intellectual disabilities, including 5,413 licensed group homes with the capacity to care for 18,713 people. Thousands more are on the states waiting list.

Nestidd, which said last month that its second investment fund had received $20 million in equity commitments, is tapping a niche in the burgeoning market for single-family home rentals, a sector that has received hundreds of billions of institutional investment since the start of the housing crisis in 2006 and 2007. Among the big players are FirstKey (a Cerberus Capital Management unit) and Invitation Homes (started by the Blackstone Group), Parker said.

One problem with the single-family rental industry is the constant turnover, Parker said. When you lease a house to a 27-year-old young couple, theyre going to live there for a year and a half, and then theyre going to move out.

Thats not a problem for Nestidd, which previously raised a $13 million fund. It typically signs five-year leases with agencies serving disabled individuals, Parker said. For a $200,000 house, including all management services, Nestidd typically charges about $2,000 a month in rent, depending on property taxes and other factors. Total revenues are running about $2 million a year.

Scioto Properties, based near Columbus, Ohio, is a competitor that owns more than 1,600 properties in 41 states, serving over 6,500 individuals with developmental disabilities, according to its website. Another competitor is CapGrow Partners, based in Chicago, Parker said.

Nestidd started operating in late 2017, when it bought four houses for Overbrook Friedlander Programs, which is affiliated with Philadelphias Overbrook School for the Blind. Overbrook Friedlander Programs operates residential programs for adults with blindness or deaf-blindness and intellectual disabilities.

Early on, Nestidd also bought two homes from Blossom Philadelphia, a group home provider that collapsed in 2017, and now leases them to the Salvation Army, which took over the services, Parker said.

Resources for Human Development leases a dozen homes from Nestidd, said Dennis Roberts, chief program officer for the nonprofits intellectual and developmental disabilities services.

We know service delivery. They know real estate, Roberts said. To have someone with expertise that we can work in partnership with is extremely helpful. Roberts cited zoning and building codes as areas where Nestidd is helpful.

Plus, Roberts said, by working with Nestidd, Resources for Human Development can take resources that it would have put toward finding and managing real estate into services for clients.

Menszak, administrator for the Communities of Don Guanella, part of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, said she has an additional seven properties she rents for clients and plans to move all of that business to Nestidd as those leases expire.

That is absolutely the intention, she said.
New Delhi: A British MP who chairs a parliamentary group on Kashmir was denied entry into India on arrival at the New Delhi airport on Monday, with officials saying she had been informed in advance of her e-visas cancellation.

Debbie Abrahams, the Labour Party MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth since 2011 and chair of the all-party parliamentary group for Kashmir from 2018, and her aide Harpreet Uppal arrived at the airport in an Emirates flight from Dubai at 9am.

A statement issued on her behalf said Abrahams, 59, was told by immigration officials her e-visa, issued last October and valid till October 2020, had been rejected. She said the officials didnt cite any reasons for denying her entry.

An official of the home ministry, who asked not to be named, said Abrahams e-visa was cancelled and she was informed regarding the decision in advance. He added that she didnt have the visa when she landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Another official, who too didnt want to be named, said Abrahams was denied entry as she was not in possession of a valid visa to visit India.

Abrahams was put on a return flight to the UK in the afternoon. Responding to reports she didnt possess a valid visa, she tweeted: Im sorry but that just is not the reality.

She intended to make a personal visit to New Delhi to meet Indian relatives before travelling to Pakistan for a three-day official visit as a member of the all party parliamentary group for Kashmir. Abrahams told the UK media she wouldnt be surprised if the denial of entry was linked with her work with the group.

I became a politician to promote social justice & human rights FOR ALL. I will continue to challenge my own Government & others while injustice & abuse is unchecked, she tweeted.

A British high commission spokesperson said: We are in contact with the Indian authorities to understand why Deborah Abrahams MP was denied entry to India. We provided consular assistance to her whilst she was in New Delhi airport.

Abrahams told AP she had been unsuccessful in organising a visit to Kashmir with the Indian high commission in London since October. She added she had received permission to visit Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. It was implied to me that it was linked to that, Abrahams said, referring to a conversation with British officials in New Delhi.

She has been critical of the Indian governments decision to revoke Jammu & Kashmirs special status last August. In a petition, she called on the UK government to use all diplomatic and economic measures at its disposal to exert influence on India to recognise that Kashmiri people must be at the heart of any changes to constitutional arrangements in the region.

Her latest intervention was on February 4, when she asked the Boris Johnson government to send a team of the all-party parliamentary Group on Kashmir to the region on a fact-finding mission.

Heather Wheeler, the parliamentary under secretary of state for foreign and Commonwealth affairs responded: The Foreign Secretary raised this issue with the Foreign Minister for India. Perhaps I could write to the Hon. Lady afterwards.

India has described the changes in Kashmir as an internal matter and rejected criticism of the move by other countries.
UPPER TOWNSHIP  The dull bang-bang-bang of gunshots was unmistakable through the cinder block walls.

As Fred Hauber gave a presentation Sunday on active shooter response for churchgoers at Full Metal Jacket Gun Range, however, firearms were noticeably absent, aside from the 9 mm on his hip.

Hauber ran through how to react if shots ring out in a place of worship, how to find cover or escape, how to attend to victims or notice trauma in survivors. He also advised situational awareness.

The NRA-certified instructor and former Miami police officer showed security footage from the church shooting in White Settlement, Texas, from Dec. 29 that left three dead, including the gunman, who was shot by churchgoers.

The attacker had been acting erratically from the time he arrived, wearing a wig and a long coat, Hauber said, and never should have been let in.

Now I know as congregations we have to be welcoming and all of that, said Hauber, 74, of Hamilton Township. But lets face it, folks: Jesus believes in common sense just as much as anybody. Probably more so.
Local councillors have clashed over the PSNI after it was suggested that a community policing body should be scrapped due to growing costs.

Comments were exchanged between Independent Councillor Gary Donnelly and DUP Alderman Maurice Devenney at a meeting of Derry City and Strabane District Councils (DCSDC) Health and Community committee.

Members of the committee were made aware of the NI Housing Executive Community Safety Strategy 2020-2023 Working Together for Safer Communities consultation.

Approval was sought for the Policing and Community Safety Partnership (PCSP) manager to prepare a response to this consultation.

Council was notified on December 19 of last year that the 12-week consultation would be open until March 13, 2020.

The strategy outlines the key achievements of the Housing Executive over the lifetime of the previous strategy Safer Together, to help tackle anti-social behaviour and alleviate the fear of crime in local communities.

It sets out what will be done over the next three years to continue this work and recognises that it may need to re-focus its priorities in response to emerging or changing issues.

A council officer recommended that members note the report and approve that Derry & Strabane PCSP will be responding to the consultation and the PCSP Manager would also respond on behalf of DCSDC.

Sinn Fein Councillor Aileen Mellon said she was happy to propose but queried whether changes from an anti-social behaviour order (ASBO) to a criminal behaviour order (CBO) in Britain would have any affect in NI.

She asked council officials if community safety forums and ASB forums would remain and said she doesnt like the anti-social label as what is deemed anti-social differs from one person to the next.

Independent Councillor for the Moor area, Gary Donnelly, said he had proposed getting rid of the PCSP at last weeks setting of the rates council meeting.

PCSP was set-up with the aim to make communities safer by focussing on the policing and community safety issues that matter most in each local council area.

Vanity project

However, Cllr Donnelly believes it is ineffective and doesnt agree with a hike in funding for the body. Since he was elected in 2014, funding for the PCSP has increased from around 60k to 220k in 2019/20. While funding for community safety wardens, who operate alongside the PCSP, has risen from 168k in 2015/16 to 177k - or a combined total of 397k

At this stage my views on the PCSP are known, I have a great relationship with the NIHE, its a great body. But the PCSP is part of a vanity project to promote the police service. Just look at the Creggan and Brandywell areas.

I want to put on record that Im disassociating myself from it.

DUP Alderman Maurice Devenney said that if Cllr Donnelly contacted the PCSP he would discover the work it has done in the Moor area. They deliver a really good service, he added.

He suggested that Cllr Donnellys issue lies with the PSNI and not the PCSP, and as a member of the PCSP, assured the Moor Cllr that the police service is held to account for all serious issues, including anti-social behaviour.

In response, Cllr Donnelly agreed that he was 100% correct in his assertion that his issue lay with the PSNI and he disagreed with it getting 400,000 from ratepayers just to build confidence in the PSNI.

Nobody in this room can say that is what they are doing, theres a party in here which supports them but one of its MLAs said confidence is at rock bottom last year, he said, in reference to comments made by former Sinn Fein MLA Raymond McCartney.

He continued: If you want, you can come to Creggan and the Bogside where there are regular raids and false allegations. You are right, my problem is the PSNI.

The recommendation was backed by a majority of councillors and a response will be brought back before the committee.
Explosion takes place near rally organised by the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jammat party in the centre of Quetta.

Islamabad, Pakistan  A suicide bomb attack near a religious rally in the Pakistani city of Quetta has killed at least seven people and wounded 25 others, according to officials.

Zia Langove, home minister of the southwestern Balochistan province, said Mondays explosion took place close to the event organised by Ahle Sunnat Wal Jammat (ASWJ), a political party allegedly linked with a sectarian armed group.

An attacker came on a motorcycle, and he was stopped by police [near the rally], Langove told Al Jazeera. Then, there was an explosion.

No group has so far claimed responsibility.

Quetta police chief Abdul Razzaq Cheema told reporters the attack was being treated as a suicide bombing.

Instead of stopping, [the attacker] attempted to continue going forward, he said. They struggled with him, toppling him and stopping him. As he fell, he detonated himself, which killed two of our men, those who had stopped him  and [others].

A man wounded in the explosion is taken to hospital in Quetta [Jamal Taraqai/EPA]

The casualties were taken to Quettas main government hospital, about a kilometre (0.6 miles) away from the attack site.

We have received seven dead bodies, Waseem Baig, a hospital spokesperson, said, adding that at least eight of the wounded were in serious condition.

Witnesses corroborated the police version of events, saying the explosion appeared to take place at a police barricade near the rally in the centre of Quetta.

I was near the explosion. When the blast took place, I ran this way and debris hit me on my back, said a man who was wounded in the attack and declined to be identified.

I ran away from there and I dont know what happened after that. A sudden darkness came and I lost consciousness.

The ASWJ, a far-right Sunni Muslim political party, has long called for Shia Muslims  who make up roughly 20 percent of Pakistans population  to be declared non-Muslim under Pakistani law.

The party has long been associated with the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) armed group that targets Shia Muslims across Pakistan, and particularly in Quetta. ASWJ denies the alleged links with LeJ.

Asad Hashim is Al Jazeeras digital correspondent in Pakistan. He tweets @AsadHashim.

Additional reporting by Saadullah Akhtar in Quetta
The fire started from the ninth floor of the building and spread to the 10th floor, officials said.

Mumbai: Scores of employees were evacuated from the GST Bhavan in south Mumbai after a massive fire broke out in the multi-storey building on Monday, but no casualty was reported, civic officials said.

Nearly 3,500 staffers were working in the building in the Mazagon area when the fire broke out around 12.30 pm, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said. He assured a probe into the the fire, but clarified no records were lost in the blaze due to digitisation of documents.

Firefighters battled for almost three hours to douse the flames, which started on the ninth floor of the 10-storey government-owned building, the officials said.

Speaking to media persons at the spot, Pawar said the fire spread rapidly due to presence of papers and wooden material in the building, from where thick smoke billowed out. Over 20 fire engines were pressed into service to put out the inferno and cooling operation was underway, they said.

The fire started from the ninth floor of the building and spread to the 10th floor, the officials said.

"The fire engulfed the entire ninth floor of GST Bhavan building, said Mumbai's chief fire officer Prabhat Rahangdale. He said the building was smoke-logged and hence firemen used breathing apparatus sets to put out the flames.

According to the Fire Brigade, a portion of the building was under repair.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials said scores of employees were evacuated from the fire-hit building, but no casualty was reported.

Though some staffers blamed short circuit for the fire, the officials said the exact cause was under investigation.

The building was earlier known as the Sales Tax Bhavan, but since the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax regime in 2017, it was rechristened as GST Bhavan.

Last week, a massive fire had partially gutted a three-storey commercial building in suburban Andheri.
LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / February 17, 2020 / Compare-autoinsurance.org (http://compare-autoinsurance.org/) is a top auto insurance brokerage website, providing car insurance quotes online from trustworthy agencies all over the United States. This website offers car insurance info about different coverage types, available discounts, and money-saving tips.

Insurance companies define high-risk drivers as persons more likely to be involved in an accident and to file claims. They compensate for the higher risk by considerably increasing the coverage costs. A high-risk driver can pay double, triple or even more expensive premiums when compared to a standard driver. This is why such drivers should carefully analyze the market and use the following tips:

Know what is expected for a high-risk driver. Depending on the severity of the traffic violations, some drivers may be required to carry SR-22. This is a certificate of insurance, also referred to as a financial responsibility filing. Drivers convicted for DUI or driving without insurance are usually required to carry SR-22 for a number of consecutive years. Before getting quotes, ask what other responsibilities must be met, like minimum coverage and type and if there is any continuous coverage period imposed.

Depending on the severity of the traffic violations, some drivers may be required to carry SR-22. This is a certificate of insurance, also referred to as a financial responsibility filing. Drivers convicted for DUI or driving without insurance are usually required to carry SR-22 for a number of consecutive years. Before getting quotes, ask what other responsibilities must be met, like minimum coverage and type and if there is any continuous coverage period imposed. Look for specialized non-standard carriers . Many insurance companies, even the top 10 ones, have subsidiaries or work with smaller companies that are specialized in dealing with high-risk drivers. Their insurance rates are usually lower than the ones offered by traditional carriers.

. Many insurance companies, even the top 10 ones, have subsidiaries or work with smaller companies that are specialized in dealing with high-risk drivers. Their insurance rates are usually lower than the ones offered by traditional carriers. Use online car insurance quotes . Even if a person is a high-risk driver, many insurance companies are still willing to provide coverage. Comparing online quotes will help drivers find companies that will insure them. Mention all negative aspects when filling in an online form and see which companies will provide coverage.

. Even if a person is a high-risk driver, many insurance companies are still willing to provide coverage. Comparing online quotes will help drivers find companies that will insure them. Mention all negative aspects when filling in an online form and see which companies will provide coverage. Look for discounts. Many discounts are available for all drivers, high-risk included. Discounts for getting married, graduating a defense course, moving to a better neighborhood, and for installing safety devices will lower car insurance rates.

Many discounts are available for all drivers, high-risk included. Discounts for getting married, graduating a defense course, moving to a better neighborhood, and for installing safety devices will lower car insurance rates. Drive a car that is cheap to insure. Look for cheap cars that come with installed safety devices. In that way, the owner can save more on premiums.

Look for cheap cars that come with installed safety devices. In that way, the owner can save more on premiums. Consider dropping coverage. , When driving an old car that is worth less than the deductible, consider dropping the collision and comprehensive insurance.

, When driving an old car that is worth less than the deductible, consider dropping the collision and comprehensive insurance. Improve credit score. All states, except California, Hawaii, and Massachusetts use the credit score to calculate insurance rates. Improving the score will help the driver get better rates. One reason why a person may be considered "high-risk" is a poor credit score.

For additional info, money-saving tips and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.org.

Compare-autoinsurance.org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc.

"Being considered a high-risk driver comes with more expensive insurance premiums. However, there are some things drivers can do in order to get better rates", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company.

CONTACT:

Company Name: Internet Marketing Company

Person for contact Name: Gurgu C

Phone Number: (818) 359-3898

Email: cgurgu@internetmarketingcompany.biz

Website: https://compare-autoinsurance.org

SOURCE: Internet Marketing Company

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/576638/Cheap-Car-Insurance-2020-How-To-Get-Affordable-Coverage-For-High-Risk-Drivers
Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden admitted during a TV interview on Friday the Obama administration locked up illegal immigrant children in cages and said he regrets having deported 3 million immigrants.

During a 20-minute interview on Jorge Ramoss Real America show on Univision, Biden said he regretted that some 3 million illegal immigrantsmany without a criminal recordwere deported during the Obama administration where he served as vice-president.

The point is there were too many, he attested. I saw the pain in the eyes of so many people who saw their families being deported. I know what its like to lose family members. It was painful, Biden said about the fact that many immigrant families were segregated.

We took far too long to get it right, Biden admitted. It wasnt until 2012 that we began to get it right with the DACA program and trying very much in 2014 to expand that and moving in the right direction, Biden said.

The DACA program was a regulation signed into law by executive order by President Barack Obama in 2012 that allowed the children of illegal immigrants to stay in the United States without the risk of being deported.

At the debate in Houston, you said that during the Obama administration and I quote, We didnt lock people in cages, but you actually didnot in the same numbers as the Trump administration, but you did, Ramos told Biden.

Biden explains to Jorge Ramos why the Obama administration put kids in cages: We kept them safe They came unaccompanied. Unaccompanied. pic.twitter.com/r6KWD6IDiB  Eddie Zipperer (@EddieZipperer) February 15, 2020

We found a picture of an 8-year-old boy from Honduras, Ramos added. I spoke with the photographer, Ramos continued pointing out the photo was from a detention center in McAllen, Texas, in 2014.

Yes, Biden said. And what happened was, all the unaccompanied children coming across the border, we tried to get them out. We kept them safe and get them out of the detention centers, Biden replied. Essentially that center, that were run by Homeland Security and get them into communities as quickly as we can.

Im saying that the numbers in your administration were not the same as the ones were seeing right now with the Trump administration, Ramos responded.

Well, beyond that, but look how quickly we got them out and got them back to families. Look how we didnt engage and we sought the relatives here, Biden said, adding: We sought to get them into safe communities. We sought to get them out of the control of Homeland Security to get them safe. But they came unaccompanied, unaccompanied.

Ramos went on to ask whether the presidential candidate also has an immigration plan of his own, just like his Democratic competitors Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.

Biden said he would expand legal immigration, bolster the asylum process, and halt construction of President Donald Trumps U.S.-Mexico border wall, a signature campaign promise of Trumps.

I already have the bill, he said, adding that he would put it into action during his first week in office.
Sixty-seven new cases of coronavirus were confirmed on the Diamond Princess cruise ship Saturday, as the U.S. government is set to evacuate Americans who have been quarantined since last week.

A statement from Princess Cruises on the new cases said the cruise line is following guidance from Japan's Ministry of Health on plans for "disembarkation protocols to provide medical care" for those infected. Five of the new cases involve American citizens.

Officials announced a chartered aircraft is expected to arrive in Japan on the evening of Feb. 16.

A letter from the U.S. Embassy Tokyo was sent to passengers on the ship Friday, informing them that they'll have the opportunity to leave the ship soon. More than 3,000 passengers and crew members were put under quarantine when dozens of fellow passengers began testing positive.

"This is a dynamic situation. We are deeply grateful to the cruise line and government of Japan for working diligently to contain and control the spread of the illness," the U.S. letter to cruise ship passengers said. "However, to fulfill our government's responsibilities to U.S. citizens under our rules and practices, as well as to reduce the burden on the Japanese healthcare system, the U.S. government recommends, out of an abundance of caution, that U.S. citizens disembark and return to the United States for further monitoring."

Once the aircraft arrives, passengers and their belongings will be bused from the ship to the planes. There, passengers will be screened for symptoms to see if they are able to fly home or must remain in Japan.

"We are working with our Japanese partners to ensure that any symptomatic passengers receive the required care in Japan if they cannot board the flight," the letter said.

There are around 400 Americans on board the Diamond Princess.

MORE: China reveals massive toll of coronavirus on health workers

Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the government is working with the U.S. on the disembarkation of the passengers.

Story continues

"The Government of Japan believes that the measures taken by the U.S. Government will help mitigate the Government of Japans burden regarding medical response in the 'Diamond Princess' and appreciates such measures," the statement read.

The plane with evacuated passengers will land at Travis Air Force Base in California, with some passengers continuing to Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.

FILE PHOTO: A passenger wearing a mask stands on the deck of the cruise ship Diamond Princess, as the vessel's passengers continue to be tested for coronavirus, at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan February 13, 2020. (Kim Kyung Hoon/Reuters)

Once on the ground, passengers are required to undergo to be quarantined for 14 days, officials said.

"We understand this is frustrating and an adjustment, but these measures are consistent with the careful policies we have instituted to limit the potential spread of the disease," the letter said.

If passengers on board the Diamond Princess choose not to be evacuated, the U.S. government said they would be "unable to return to the United States for a period of time."

MORE: Here are the coronavirus symptoms to watch out for amid outbreak

Since the Diamond Princess arrived at the port of Yokohama in Japan on Feb. 3, at least 285 people on board have tested positive for the new coronavirus.

PHOTO: A bus leaves a port where the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship is docked Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020, in Yokohama, near Tokyo. (Jae C. Hong/AP)

Meanwhile, the first coronavirus death in Europe was reported Saturday in France.

"I was informed last night of the death of the 80-year-old patient who had been hospitalized at the Bichat hospital (Paris) since Jan. 25, and who had a coronavirus pulmonary infection," French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said at a press conference Saturday morning. "He had been hospitalized at Bichat hospital with strict isolation ... His condition had deteriorated rapidly and he had been in critical condition for several days in intensive care."

Buzyn said the victim's daughter was also admitted, but her health isn't cause for concern and she should be released soon. France has 11 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, according to Buzyn.

"We must prepare our health system to face a possible pandemic diffusion of the virus and, therefore a circulation of the virus on the national territory," she said.

The coronavirus, which has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization, has spread rapidly in the China.

As of midnight Friday, there are 66,491 coronavirus cases in mainland China, with 2,641 new cases reported in the last day. There have also been 1,523 coronavirus-related deaths in the country.

More than 67,000 people have been infected globally.

In the U.S., there are only 15 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus.

ABC News' Conor Finnegan, Ibtissem Guenfoud, Morgan Winsor, Erin Schumaker and Ella Torres contributed to this report.

67 new cases of coronavirus confirmed on cruise ship that has quarantined Americans originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Big Events Ghana, organizers of the prestigious gospel awards event, Africa Gospel Awards Festival (AGAFEST) has announced South Africa as the new host from 2020 to 2025.



At a press conference last Wednesday, held at the Alisa Hotel, the Chief Executive Officer of Big Events Ghana, Prince Mackay disclosed that the objective of South Africa hosting the event for the next five years is to promote unity amongst gospel artistes across Africa.



In achieving this feat, the organizing committee has agreed to allow other African countries the opportunity to also host the annual.



The vision of AGAFEST is to reach out to all gospel stars in all Africa nations to promote one purpose which is to celebrate and acknowledge the excellence of gospel talents. It is in this regard that South Africa has accepted the hosting right for five years, Prince Mackay stated.



Ayanda Ncwane, the Chief Executive of Ncwane Communications who has been announced as president AGAFEST, South Africa stated that gospel artistes should not be apologetic about the gospel and to claim their rightful positions in the industry.



I always say apart from Superman, Batman and Deadman, I honestly believe that Gospel artists are the real Super Heroes. Gospel music is the only genre that gives hope and resonant people from their challenges, she said



Ncwane further disclosed that the AGAFEST platform would be a channel to help get other African gospel music on other African countries platforms and collaborate with their gospel stars as well.



?

Lets break down the boundary that separates us and divide us and become one Africa through the AGAFEST platform, she noted



Ms. Matepe, the South African High Commission representative to Ghana, also indicated that Ghana handing over the AGAFEST baton to South Africa to host for five years shows a strong bond between them.





She noted that the AGAFEST platform would be used to promote cultural diversity and tourism among the African States.



The maiden edition of AGAFEST was hosted in Ghana in March 2019.



AGAFEST South Africa 2020 which is scheduled for October 30, 2020, is anticipated to be the biggest gospel awards festival in Africa.

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.

Featured Video
The Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) was once widespread throughout the United Kingdom. It is believed that the species was hunted to extinction for its fur and castoreum oil (used for flavoring and scents). The beavers were last recorded in Wales and England in the 12th century. In Scotland, populations held on until the 16th century. Since the mid-20th century, reintroduction programs throughout Europe have led to the return of beavers in over 25 countries. There is no evidence of past beavers in Northern Ireland. In Scotland, beaver populations are currently found in two areas. While in England, several reintroduction trials are taking place in both fenced and unfenced areas. There are also proposals for the reintroduction of beavers in Wales. Beavers are preferred candidates for reintroduction due to their ability to manipulate the environment to create wetland habitats that support greater biodiversity. Their ability to change the environment can have both positive and negative effects on agriculture, flood management, and freshwater fisheries.

Reintroduction of Beavers in Scotland

Feasibility studies on the reintroduction of beavers in Scotland began in 1995. The findings from the study were published in 2015 in the Beavers in Scotland report. It was produced by the Scottish Natural Heritage on behalf of the Scottish government. There are currently two populations of beavers in Scotland. At Knapdale in Argyll, there is a population of about twelve animals (as estimated in 2017). The population was reintroduced into the area as a result of a licensed beaver trial project that ran between 2009 and 2014 on Scottish Ministers National Forest Estate. Organizations involved in the project included the Scottish Wildlife Trust and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS). A larger population of beavers is found at the Tay and Earn catchments (Tayside). The population at Tayside is as a result of illegal or accidental release. A survey conducted in 2012 put the population at 146 animals. Tests done by RZSS vets showed that the animals were healthy and free of disease. The Minister for Environment decided that the population at Tayside should remain in situ until a decision was made on the future of the beavers in Scotland.

The Devon Beaver Project

In 2011, a pair of Eurasian beavers were introduced into three hectares of fenced private land in northern Devon. The objective of the project was to use the animals to restore the wet grassland habitat of national importance. Besides, it also helps to understand the effects of the species on the environment. Findings from the projects will help inform future decisions on the potential reintroduction of the species into a wider area. The effects of the animals are monitored through water quality tests, fixed-point surveys, and surveys on flora and fauna. So far, the effects of the project have been positive. The dense willow canopy is finally opening up and allowing culm grassland beneath to thrive. A diverse habitat has been created, and limited amounts of water that used to flow through the site have been transformed into an amazing series of waterways. Beaver activity has also improved the lands ability to hold water and reduced sediment load in the water.

The River Otter Beaver Project

In 2014, a beaver population was discovered living in the wild in east Devon. The beavers presumably escaped into the wild or were as a result of an unsanctioned release. The beavers were initially supposed to be rehomed due to a perceived disease risk posed by the animals and their potential undesirable impact on the wildlife and landscape. Following unprecedented support from the local community, the Devon Wildlife Trust was granted permission by Natural England to commence a five-year monitoring program. In 2015, the new-born beavers, which were part of Englands first wild beaver trial, were recorded on film on the River Otter. In 2018 beavers were observed moving into new areas and creating dams to form wetland habitat. Over the years, beaver activity in the area has helped in the filtering of agricultural chemicals and silt out of the water.

The Ham Fen Beaver Project

The Kent Wildlife Trust introduced two families of Eurasian beavers to 30 hectares of enclosed land at Ham Fen in 2001. The project was necessitated by challenges faced in the restoration of the last fenland in Kent using machinery. Restoration using beavers proved very successful with ancient fenland and wet grassland, now thriving thanks to the beavers. The project is praised for is its sustainable approach to maintaining wetlands and various wildlife species.

The Welsh Beaver Project

The Welsh beaver project is currently working to reintroduce beavers into the Welsh landscape. Feasibility studies that have been carried out have determined that there is suitable habitat in Wales for the beavers.

The Cornish Beaver Project

Eurasian beavers were introduced to Cornwall by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust and local farmers in 2017. The objective of the project was to show that beavers can help in the formation of new habitat, reduce flooding, and make streams cleaner. The beavers were reintroduced into a fenced area upstream of Ladock Village. The village had experienced severe flooding in the past before the introduction of the project, which was aimed at helping mitigate the challenge.

Gauging Success or Failure

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) guidelines on the reintroduction of a species state that the anticipated impact of such programs has to be considered, including the impact on humans before initiating such schemes. Besides, such projects can be inhibited by human-wildlife conflicts and human-human conflict. Therefore, identifying the perceptions of the public and stakeholders is critical. In addition to evaluating the health and reproduction of reintroduced animals, one can also gauge the success or failure of the program by evaluating stakeholder perceptions and environmental impact.

Stakeholder Perception of Beaver Reintroduction

In various parts of the world, human-wildlife conflicts have been experienced, particularly due to land-use change and human population growth. Such conflicts occur when wildlife is perceived to have an undesirable impact economically or on human wellbeing. Human-human conflicts occur between groups holding differing perceptions on wildlife and management solutions. Human-human conflicts are, in most cases, polarised, with complex debates framed as distinct opposing arguments. For example, conservationists believe that the reintroduction of the animals into river catchments is a sustainable technique that makes the landscape more resilient to climate change. Beaver dams hold water during the dry period and reduce the impact of flash flooding downstream.

Beavers also create complex river systems that slow water flow, reduce erosion, and improve the quality of water by holding silt. Farmers, however, have concerns over the reintroduction of beavers with the National Farmers Union, saying that it could have a massive impact on farming and the countryside. The farmers are worried that the species which has not been in the country for hundreds of years could affect several benefits obtained in their absence. Some of the concerns include land drains potentially being blocked in lowland arable areas. Others are concerned that their dams will block the migration of salmon and sea trout. The perception gap indicates that the reintroduction program has not had much success in aligning perceptions and expectations among stakeholders, therefore, living room for future human-wildlife or human-human conflict.

Environmental Impact

Beavers are considered ecosystem engineers (organisms that cause physical environmental changes that influence ecological community structures) due to their roles that include dam building and tree-felling. Beaver activity provides several ecosystem services or benefits to humans. For example, beavers play a role in natural flood management by attenuating water flows during periods of high rainfall. Some specific habitats and species of high conservation importance can, however, be adversely affected by beaver populations if appropriate management is not done. Beavers are likely to have a detrimental impact on certain woodland habitats such as aspen (Populus tremula) woodland and the Atlantic Hazelwood climax community. A lack of woodland regeneration, especially when there is high deer abundance could lead to habitat degradation.

So far, beaver reintroduction has not harmed the environment. In Scotland, a positive effect on biodiversity is expected. For example, beaver activity is expected to provide an important habitat for the great crested newt (Triturus cristatus), the otter (Lutra lutra) and water vole (Arvicola amphibius). Studies that have been conducted on the environmental impact of beavers, including those examining beaver-salmonid interactions, have confirmed that beavers have a positive influence on biodiversity. Beaver reintroduction can, therefore, be classified as a success in this regard.

Conservation of Beavers in the UK

Scotland recently introduced legislation making it illegal to kill beavers or destroy their dams and lodges without a license. Wildlife campaigners have hailed the move as it prevents a repeat of the beavers historic demise in Great Britain. The Scottish government has described beavers as having a huge significance to Scotlands biodiversity and farming hence the need for a licensing system when culling is needed. Experts have also advocated for active land management to deal with the localized negative impact caused by beavers. Educating local communities living around areas occupied by beavers is also encouraged to prevent human-wildlife conflict.
A criminal trial will open next month in Italy against members of the Legion of Christ, a disgraced religious order, for trying to obstruct an investigation into an abusive priest.

Prosecutors allege that Legion lawyers and priests tried to obstruct justice and extort Yolanda Martinez's family by offering them money to recant testimony to prosecutors in hopes of quashing a criminal investigation into the abusive priest, Vladimir Resendiz Gutierrez.

Martinez, a mother of three, choked up when she recalled the day she received the phone call from her son's psychiatrist.

It was March of 2013, and her oldest son had been receiving therapy on the advice of his high school girlfriend. Martinez thought she was about to learn that she would be a grandmother.

"A priest calls us, Rev. Guidetti, he is a psychotherapist, and he tells us he wants to talk to us. Obviously our family never thought our son could have ever suffered sex abuse. We actually smiled as parents thinking he got his girlfriend pregnant," said Martinez.

Instead, Dr. Gian Piero Guidetti told Martinez and her husband that during therapy their son had revealed that he had been repeatedly sexually molested by a priest, Vladimir Resendiz Gutierrez, starting in 2008, when he was 12 and a middle schooler at the Legion's youth seminary in Gozzano, northern Italy.

Guidetti, himself a priest, told them he was required by his medical profession to report the crime to prosecutors.

"We sat down in the office of this psychotherapist and he tells us what had happened (the abuse) in Gozzano. We wanted to die. The priest himself told us: I am a priest, but I will be at the police station tomorrow morning to report this," recounted Martinez, with tears in her eyes.

The psychotherapist complaint, and Martinez's own testimony to prosecutors, sparked a criminal investigation that resulted in Resendiz's 2019 conviction, which was upheld on appeal in January.

Resendiz, who was convicted in absentia and is believed to be living in Mexico, has until the end of March to appeal the conviction and six and a-half-year prison sentence to Italy's highest court.

The Vatican defrocked him on April 5, 2013 - just a few weeks after Italian prosecutors first heard about Martinez's son.

Italian police were never informed by the Legion or the Vatican. Italy doesn't require clergy to report suspected child sex abuse.

When police finally did get wind of the case in March 2013, they uncovered elaborate efforts to keep Resendiz's crimes quiet.

After abusing Martinez's son in 2008 Resendiz was sent to Venezuela, where evidence seized by police shows he continued his abuses.

But the investigation, netted evidence that went far beyond Resendiz's own wrongdoing.

Documents by police and seen by AP in the court file showed a pattern of cover-up by the Legion and the pope's envoy that stretched from Milan to Mexico, the Vatican to Venezuela and points in between.

In 2013, Martinez and her family were coping with the trauma of her son's abuse, when a Legion priest very close to the family travelled to Milan to meet them on October 18, bringing a proposed settlement to compensate the family.

They met in a room off the parish playground of the Sant'Eustorgio basilica where Martinez worked.

"He (a Legionary priest Rev. Luca Gallizia) hands us this letter and he puts his hand on mine and says 'read it at home, not here'. We say goodbye, but in the meantime I had taken a peek and I told him 'Rev. Luca there is a sentence that I already don't like'. 'Don't worry' he said, 'you need to read it all together and you will see that we can reach an agreement'. That evening we read it, and that was a second violation for us, both as people and friends of Rev. Luca because he was not only our friend, but also my husband's spiritual father," remembered Martinez.

The document the Legion wanted Martinez's family to sign stated that her son ruled out having been sexually abused by Resendiz, and regardless didn't remember.

It said he denied having any phone or text message contact with him, and that his ensuing problems were due to the fact that he left the seminary and was having trouble integrating socially into his new public high school.

The document set out payments for the son's continuing education and therapy and required "absolute" secrecy.

If the family were called to testify, they were to make the same declarations as contained in the settlement - denying the abuse.

A few months later, the Legion realized it had erred in leaving the proposal with Martinez, and proposed a revised settlement acknowledging the abuse occurred.

Now, though, it required the family to pay back double the 15,000 euro (16,250 US dollar) settlement offer if they violated the confidentiality agreement.

Martinez recalls telling the Legion's lawyers when they presented her with a revised settlement agreement: "It's not just the abuse of a 12-year-old child: you took God from my son's heart. For me, this is very grave."

It was then that Martinez called the Vatican cardinal running the disgraced Legion of Christ religious order, Cardinal Velasio De Paolis.

Then Pope Benedict XVI had entrusted De Paolis, one of the Vatican's most respected canon lawyers, to turn the Legion around in 2010, after revelations that its founder, the late Rev. Marcial Maciel, had raped his seminarians, fathered three children and built a cult-like order to hide his crimes.

In 2010, there had been calls for the Vatican to suppress the Legion but Benedict decided against it, apparently determining in part that the order was too big and too rich to fail.

In January 2014, Martinez called De Paolis to tell him the Legion had proposed a second financial settlement for the sexual abuse her son suffered at the hands of one of its priests that seemed highly problematic.

During the January phone call, De Paolis laughed it off and told Martinez to simply not sign the proposed settlement and hash out a better one without lawyers.

A few hours later, on January 8, 2014, De Paolis opened the Legion's 2014 assembly where he formally ended the mandate given to him by Pope Benedict to reform the religious order.

"At that time De Paolis was the envoy sent by the Vatican to the Legion, and they prepared this letter without consulting with De Paolis. However, De Paolis didn't do anything to help us, he was sorry about this, but he said: this is how it gets done here," recounted Martinez, adding she told him she didn't want the money and wouldn't sign the letter.

The wiretapped conversation between the aggrieved mother and De Paolis, as well as the six-page settlement proposal, are key pieces of evidence in the criminal trial opening next month in Milan against Legion's members for obstruction of justice and extortion.

Four years later, in January 2014 during his final Mass as the pope's delegate, De Paolis gave the Legion a clean bill of health, saying it was "cured and cleaned" of Maciel's toxic influence.

De Paolis refused from the start to remove any of Maciel's old guard, who remain in power today.

He refused to investigate the cover-up of Maciel's crimes. He refused to reopen old cases of abuse by other priests, even when serial rapists remained in the Legion's ranks, unpunished.

The effects of his short-circuited reform are now becoming apparent.

Victims of these other Legion priests are coming forward in droves with stories of sexual, psychological and spiritual abuse, and how the Legion's culture of secrecy and cover-up remains intact.

"He (De Paolis) betrayed us for sure. He could have done much more. He should have not completed his investigation saying he had taken the Legion out of the tunnel. He did not take it out of the tunnel, he covered up many things, not only for what concerns us, but also during that year, exactly in those dates many things happened, many other abuses," repeated Martinez.

"I think he did nothing for the victims," she added through tears. "He covered up again the face of the church, he covered up the face of the Legionaries and he lost souls, because they lost many souls. They will have to face God, not me," said Martinez.

De Paolis is beyond earthly justice - he died in 2017 and isn't accused of criminal wrongdoing since there is no evidence he knew of, or approved, the settlement offer before it was made.

But his wiretapped phone call and documents seized when police raided the Legion's headquarters in 2014 show that he turned a blind eye to the superiors who protected paedophiles.

Even when he first learned about Resendiz's crimes in 2011, he approved an in-house canonical investigation but didn't report the priest to police.

And when he learned two years later that other Legion priests were apparently trying to impede the criminal investigation into his crimes, the pope's delegate didn't report that either.

With the trial against two Legion lawyers and three priests set to begin on March 12, Martinez still can't cope with the trauma of what Resendiz did to her son, and what the Legion did to her family also after the abuse.

"My testimony is necessary exactly because they say they are close to the victims and they help their (the victims') relatives. This is my testimony, that this hasn't happened, they contacted us only to say that this (abuse) hadn't happened. I believe in justice, and there is a sentence in the Bible that I really like: truth and only the truth will set you free," she said.

"It's their modus operandi, it's in their genetic structure," said Alberto Athie, a former Mexican priest who has campaigned for more than 20 years on behalf of clergy sexual abuse victims, including victims of the Legion.

"They always try to control victims, minimize them, defame them, accuse them of exaggerating things," Athie told AP at his home in Mexico City.

"Then, if they don't achieve that level of control, they go to the next level, looking for their parents, trying to minimize them or buy them off, silence them. And if that doesn't work, they go to trial," said Athie.

Eventually, Resendiz confessed - but only to the Legion and Vatican authorities, and only about other boys he abused, not Martinez's son.

Lawyers for the five suspects declined to comment.

The Legion says they have professed innocence.

A spokesman said that at the time, the Legion didn't have in place the uniform child protection policies and guidelines that are now mandatory across the order.

(Pic Credit: Pixabay)
The National Police has entered into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations a case on the possible theft of international technical assistance with the participation of the Anti-Corruption Action Center.

These actions were carried out at the request of MP Andriy Derkach. In a statement posted on Facebook, he claims that if the case is brought to a logical conclusion by the National Police, Chairman of the coordinating council of the Charity Fund 100% Life Dmytro Sherembey and Head of the Anti-Corruption Action Center (AntAC) Vitaliy Shabunin may face from seven to 12 years in prison.

"In particular, they organized a scheme for embezzlement of international technical assistance through the All-Ukrainian Network of PLWH [now 100% Life Charity Fund] established by Sherembey. In 20152017, $142.9 million passed through PLWH-controlled structures," said Derkach.

Derkach said that there was also information that Sherembey and Shabunin lobbied the interests of the commercial companies when purchasing medical equipment and medicine.

Some of these companies are with signs of fictitiousness and with a negative business reputation," the MP said.

According to Derkach, the United States should help in the investigation of this case.

"Since the funds of the U.S. government have been used, I think that the investigation must use the opportunities of the international and legal aid in the frames of the valid agreements," the MP said.
American officials had initially said they wouldnt allow infected people to board evacuation flights from the ship, the Diamond Princess, which has been quarantined in Yokohama for more than 10 days. The infected passengers were placed in a specialized isolation area of the plane, and all passengers will be quarantined upon reaching the U.S.

Here are the latest updates and maps of where the virus has spread.

Related: More than 1,000 passengers left another cruise ship in Cambodia over the weekend after assurances that the vessel was disease free. One of them later tested positive for the virus, leaving health officials scrambling to assess the scale of the problem.

Quotable: Amid the outbreak, some Asian-Americans have felt suspicion just for sneezing. Instead of Bless you or Are you OK?, their reaction is an instant state of panic, said Aretha Deng, a university student in Arizona.

Another angle: Toilet paper has been sold out across Hong Kong for weeks after rumors that manufacturers in mainland China would cease production amid the outbreak. A deliveryman was robbed today at knifepoint of more than $100 worth of toilet paper.
[February 17, 2020] IDRICA Starts Global Operations and Aims for a Total Digital Transformation of the Water Industry Worldwide

VALENCIA, Spain, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Spanish smart water company IDRICA will start operations this month after gathering more than a decade of experience in the deployment of services and technological solutions for the water industry. Headquartered in Valencia, Spain - and with operations in Europe, United States, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America - IDRICA aims to become a leading company in the digital transformation for the water sector, providing services and technological solutions for managing the entire water cycle. It will focus on improving drinking water, irrigation and wastewater management around the world. Jaime Barba, IDRICA's founding CEO, stated: "Innovating the ways and means of managing the entire water cycle and looking into the needs of future generations is a responsibiliy for all of us in the water industry. We want to reshape the future of the industry and enable citizens to have safer and wider access to water. We have the best engineers, developers and experts to do it," he explained.



The company is born with a founding team of 180 experts, and around the GoAigua technology, developed a decade ago by centennial Spanish company Global Omnium. GoAigua constitutes a scalable solution for public and private clients, with the ability to transform water management in major cities across the world.

The company is born with a brand new engineering division, responsible for creating ground-breaking water projects in the areas of management, operation and maintenance, engineering and consultancy. IDRICA also offers high added-value services based on its experience in the sector and technology implementation. These include Master Plans, Digital Transformation, Non-Revenue Water reduction, Smart Metering Roll-out and analytics, Digital Twin, project management, technical support and energy efficiency via processes optimization and automation. The company also has the required competence to run the Operations & Maintenance of water networks and infrastructures. IDRICA is launched internationally to become a global benchmark in fostering 'Smart Water for a Better World.' In the United States, the company will work under the brandname GoAigua Inc. under the direction of its American CEO, Mr Pablo Calabuig. "Our unique differential value is based on its experience and knowledge of the sector. We want to be identified by private and public clients, globally, as experts in digital transformation for the water industry," Calabuig stated. www.IDRICA.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/idrica-starts-global-operations-and-aims-for-a-total-digital-transformation-of-the-water-industry-worldwide-301006200.html SOURCE Idrica

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Prince William and Kate Middleton are preparing for a heartbreaking trip to Australia. The country has been devastated by bushfires in recent months, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are reportedly deeply saddened by the massive amount of loss the country has faced. Details of the trip have yet to be ironed out, but the couple hopes that their visit will help the country recover in the years to come.

Prince William and Kate Middleton | Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images

Prince William and Kate Middleton up their royal responsibilities

The trip to Australia is yet another example of how Prince William and Kate are taking on more responsibilities in the wake of Prince Harry and Meghan Markles stunning exit.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced their departure at the start of the year. The two are stepping down as senior members of the royal family and will be splitting their time between the UK and North America.

As a result of their exit, other members of the royal family will be forced to pick up the slack. This includes Prince William and Kate Middleton, who already had a packed schedule to begin with. Other royals, such as Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, may also be asked to step up, though nothing official has been announced.

Harry and Meghans exit is expected to become official this spring. The couple is reportedly planning on returning to the UK for one final engagement before they embark on the next chapter in their lives.

Australia faces historic bushfire season

Australia has been dealing with one of the worst bushfire seasons in its long history. The fires raged for months across Victoria and New South Wales, killing 33 people and burning over 2,000 homes to the ground.

Thousands upon thousands of local wildlife have also perished in the fires, which will reportedly cost Australia over $5 billion. To make things even worse, Australia is also dealing with a major drought.

In light of the widespread devastation, Prince William and Kate released a statement on social media expressing support for the people of Australia as they recover from the fires.

Prince William and Kate Middleton Will Partake in Australia's Bushfire Recovery Tour https://t.co/A1MK9S126q  Harper's Bazaar (@harpersbazaarus) February 11, 2020

We continue to be shocked and deeply saddened to hear about the fires that are destroying homes, livelihoods, and wildlife across much of Australia, they shared. Our thoughts and prayers are with all the people and communities who are affected by this devastating event.

The statement came following Harry and Meghans tour of Australia in 2018. The Sussexes made a slew of stops on the continent over the course of 16 days. They also visited New Zealand, Tonga, and Fiji.

Inside the Cambridges trip to Australia

Prince William and Kate initiated the trip to Australia after reading about all the devastation caused by the bushfires. Inside sources claim that the two were shocked and deeply saddened by the news.

According to Daily Mail, Prince William and Kate hope to meet with victims of the fires during their trip to Australia, as well as some of the men and women who have been fighting back. The two are reportedly in discussions with the prime minister of Australia, Scott Morrison, about the details of the trip.

Kate Middleton and Prince William Expected to Visit Fire-Ravaged Areas of Australia: Report https://t.co/PYLEIoiTgK  People (@people) February 11, 2020

Some of the potential stops include the like of South Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales. The palace is expected to make an official announcement in the coming weeks.

This will mark Prince Williams fifth trip to the region. William and Kate first toured Australia in 2014. They returned in 2011 following a series of floods that hit the country.

How are Prince William and Kate Middleton dealing with Megxit?

While Harry and Meghan are enjoying their time away from the royal spotlight, Prince William and Kate have been forced to take on more responsibilities as senior members of the royal family.

The added appointments have put a lot of stress on the couple, but sources claim that the drama has also brought them closer together.

The Cambridges are busier than ever since Harry and Meghan left the UK. Youd think their hectic schedule would put a strain on the marriage, but its actually brought them closer together, the insider dished. Working as a team and supporting each other is essential at a time like this, and thats exactly what theyre doing.

As far as Harry and Meghan are concerned, the two have been relaxing in Canada for the past month. They did, however, recently book a speaking gig at a Miami summit that was hosted by JP Morgan.

The pair reportedly got paid for appearing at the event, though it is unclear how much they made. As part of their exit plan, the Sussexes will no longer accept public funding and will be financing their own endeavors.

Prince William and Kate Middleton have not commented on Prince Harry and Meghan Markles exit.
An organisation of the Gorkhas



has sought land rights protection for the community members in the North Eastern region and permanent political solution of their longstanding Gorkhaland demand in West Bengal.

These demands were adopted in the two-day National Council Meet (NCM) of the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh (BGP) that concluded here.

Following signing of the Bodo Accord, the land rights of the Gorkhas in the NE region should be protected, a BGP release said here on Monday.

The BGP also called on the central and West Bengal governments to bring a resolution to the "long pending demand of Gorkhaland with a permanent political solution".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
File photo shows firefighters control the Tollgate Canyon fire as it burns near Wanship, Utah. The Bureau of Land Management has announced plans to fund 11,000 miles of strategic fuel breaks in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada and Utah in an effort to help control wildfires, on Feb. 15, 2020. (Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP)

US Agency to Pay for 11,000 Miles of Fuel Breaks in 6 States

PORTLAND, Ore.The Bureau of Land Management has announced plans to fund 11,000 miles of strategic fuel breaks in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada and Utah in an effort to help control wildfires.

The fuel breaks are intended to prop up fire mitigation efforts and help protect firefighters, communities and natural resources, The Oregonian reported Saturday.

According to the BLM, wildfires are becoming bigger and more frequent across the Great Basin states. Between 2009 and 2018, more than 13.5 million acres of BLM land burned in the project area.

Recovering from the devastating effects of wildfires can take decades in the rugged, high-desert climate of the Great Basin. These tools will help firefighters contain fires when they break out, said acting Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Land and Minerals Management Casey Hammond in a news release. Thats why creating fuel breaks is incredibly important to the entire basin, the people who live in these communities, and our wildland firefighters.

Fuel breaks are intended to break up fire fuels by creating breaks in vegetation that slow a blazes progress. By implementing them strategically, they help firefighters control the spread of fire, and can protect homes and resources.

Some scientists debate the effectiveness of fuel breaks, raising questions about whether these efforts are worth funding.

File photo shows members of Emergency Wildfire Forest Management Project construct shaded fuel breaks by hand pruning vegetation to minimize fire risk in the Sierra Foothills in Colfax, Calif. on July 31, 2019. (Daniel Kim/The Sacramento Bee via AP)

But the BLM reports that assessments of more than 1,200 fuel breaks found that 78 percent of them helped control wildfire and 84 percent helped change fire behavior. According to the news release, the BLM has extensively documented that fuel breaks, and other types of fuel treatments, are effective.

Jennifer Jones, a spokeswoman for the BLM, said the program will help streamline the implementation process by reducing or eliminating the need for environmental analysis.

The timeline for implementation and the location of fuel breaks will depend on what offices develop plans and apply for funding.

Because BLM offices have not requested funds, said Jones, the BLM cant provide a figure for what the plan will cost.

Costs will depend on how many fuel breaks are actually constructed, what types of fuel breaks are constructed, where they are constructed, whether they are constructed by employees or contractors, Jones said.

The public can comment on the plan for the next 30 days, after which the BLM will make final decisions.
Struggling high street chain Laura Ashley is battling to stay afloat  putting more than 2,700 jobs at risk.

Shares in the fashion and homewares brand fell by 38 per cent yesterday as its Malaysian owners confirmed it was seeking an emergency injection of funds.

Investment firm MUI Asia, the stores main shareholder, is trying to secure a 20million lifeline from US bank Wells Fargo to allow it to keep trading.

Laura Ashley had secured the 20million loan facility with Wells Fargo in October, but falls in its share price has cut the amount the firm can access [File photo]

If it does not get the funds, it said it would have to consider all appropriate options  including going into administration.

Founded in 1953 by Welsh fashion designer Laura Ashley and her husband Bernard, the chain became a middle-class favourite in the 1970s and 1980s with its floral prints, and Princess Diana was among a legion of well-heeled fans.

But it has since struggled to attract younger buyers, with a slump in demand for its chintz furniture in particular leading to multi-million-pound losses in recent years.

After a mini-revival in the late 1990s under new owners MUI  backed by Malaysian tycoon Khoo Kay Peng  Laura Ashley has battled to compete with more modern, cheaper rivals such as Zara.

The chains troubles echo a wider malaise on the high street, which is struggling against online rivals, rising rents and business rates [File photo]

It made the decision in December 2018 to close 40 stores across the UK and, in August last year, it announced a half-year loss of 14million.

In a statement issued to the stock market yesterday MUI said trading continued to be challenging, with sales falling by nearly 11 per cent in the second half of the year.

Laura Ashley had secured the 20million loan facility with Wells Fargo in October, but falls in its share price has cut the amount the firm can access.

Reports over the weekend that the companys future was in doubt prompted yesterdays statement.

But it has since struggled to attract younger buyers, with a slump in demand for its chintz furniture in particular leading to multi-million-pound losses in recent years

Mr Pengs son Andrew Khoo, who took over from his father as chairman of Laura Ashley in 2018, said: We acknowledge that recent trading conditions, in line with the overall UK retail market, have indeed been challenging.

There is, however, a robust plan in place to turn the business around.

Part of this plan involves closing more of its 155 UK stores.

Retail expert Kate Hardcastle said Laura Ashley has lost its way, adding: That chintzy British look was quite interesting to the Asian market but Laura Ashley has not really found its way back into the hearts and minds of consumers.

Struggling high street chain Laura Ashley is battling to stay afloat  putting more than 2,700 jobs at risk [File photo]

The chains troubles echo a wider malaise on the high street, which is struggling against online rivals, rising rents and business rates.

Last year Mothercare, Debenhams and Bonmarche joined a growing list of household names which have gone into administration or dramatically cut back operations.

Yesterday Shoe Zone became the latest retailer to warn of store closures unless business rates are slashed.

The budget footwear chain urged the Government to overhaul the levy, as it revealed rates across its 500 stores have risen by more than a half in a decade.

It said failure to take action could result in the closure of around a fifth of its outlets.

Chief executive Anthony Smith said: If people want vibrant high streets, they really need do need retailers like us to keep our shops open in smaller towns.

Business rates are based on the rental value of commercial properties such as shops or offices but disproportionately hit high street locations.

Boris Johnson has promised a fundamental review of the tax, with new Chancellor Rishi Sunak expected to announce more details in the Budget.
DETROIT  Stunt drivers have stopped traffic on Detroit highways multiple times in the past year, forcing police to crack down  now theyre also hoping to find a safe place for drivers to legally show off their skills, FOX 2 Detroit reports.

Stunts in recent months have resulted in several arrests, charges and tickets for reckless driving and fleeing and eluding, the report said.

On @FOX2News #LetItRip with @charlielangton - Chief talks about street racing, drifters & safe solutions. Posted by Detroit Police Department on Sunday, February 16, 2020

Social media posts point to group TSNLS. The group was part of a joint interview with Detroit Police Chief James Craig on FOX 2 on Sunday. Craig said the group reached out to him to create a legal place for stunt driving. He said Sacramento and Kansas City have successfully done this. Craig is working to acquire property on Detroits east side for this purpose and is in talks with Detroit automakers to build a road course.

Craigs main concern is that an onlooker or driver could be seriously injured or killed, the report said.

One of the drivers from a stunt on I-94 last year was recently caught driving on a suspended license while awaiting sentencing for charges related to the incident. 22-year-old Devin Ray Cronk was remanded by the judge in the case who raised his bail to $5,000 and is now requiring him to wear a tether.

The I-94 incident was the second on a Detroit-area freeway that was shared on social media last year.

READ MORE:

Royal Oak police investigating multiple gunshots at Airbnb house party

Detroit Police Department investigates co-sleeping death of 3-month-old boy

Detroit man charged with murder of Bashar Kallabat, a nationally-known hair stylist

Missing Trenton, Michigan woman, 86, found dead at Riverview Land Preserve

Man found inside Freeland home may have frozen to death
DETROIT, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Preti, Flaherty, Beliveau & Pachios, LLP; Freed Kanner London & Millen LLC; Kohn, Swift & Graf, P.C.; Spector Roseman & Kodroff, P.C.; and Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC ("Settlement Class Counsel") announce that the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan Southern Division ("Court") has approved the following announcement of proposed class action settlements with the Mitsubishi Electric, HIAMS, DENSO, and Diamond Electric Defendants. The lawsuit claimed that Defendants conspired to raise, fix, maintain, and stabilize prices, rig bids, and allocate the supply of Ignition Coils sold in the United States, in violation of federal antitrust laws.

The settlements affect those who purchased Ignition Coils in the United States between January 1, 2000 and March 12, 2018 directly from any of the following entities (or depending on the specific settlement agreement, their parents, subsidiaries, affiliates and joint ventures): DENSO Corporation; DENSO International America, Inc.; DENSO Products & Services Americas, Inc. (f/k/a DENSO Sales California, Inc.); DENSO Korea Corporation (f/k/a separately as DENSO International Korea Corporation and DENSO Korea Automotive Corporation); Diamond Electric Mfg. Co., Ltd.; Diamond Electric Mfg. Corporation; Hitachi, Ltd.; Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd.; Hitachi Automotive Systems Americas, Inc.; Mitsubishi Electric Corp.; Mitsubishi Electric US Holdings, Inc.; Mitsubishi Electric Automotive America, Inc.; Hanshin Electric Manufacturing Co., Ltd.; Toyo DENSO Co., Ltd.; Weastec, Inc.; and Yura Corp.

A hearing will be held on June 17, 2020, at 1:30 p.m., before the Honorable Marianne O. Battani, United States District Judge, at the Theodore Levin United States Courthouse, 231 West Lafayette Boulevard, Detroit, MI 48226, Courtroom 250 (or such other courtroom as may be assigned for the hearing), for the purpose of determining: (1) whether the proposed settlements with the Mitsubishi Electric, HIAMS, DENSO, and Diamond Electric Defendants totaling $5,940,332 should be approved by the Court as fair, reasonable and adequate; (2) whether the Court should approve the proposed plan of distribution of settlement proceeds to members of the settlement classes; and (3) whether the Court should approve Settlement Class Counsel's requests for an award of attorneys' fees, reimbursement of litigation costs and expenses, and an incentive payment to the Class Representative.

A Notice of Proposed Settlements (the "Notice") was mailed to potential Settlement Class members on or about February 7, 2020. The Notice describes the litigation and options available to Settlement Class members with respect to the Mitsubishi Electric, HIAMS, DENSO, and Diamond Electric settlements in more detail. The Notice also explains what steps a Class Member must take to: (1) remain in the settlement classes and file a Claim Form to share in the settlement proceeds; (2) object to the settlements; or (3) request exclusion from the settlement classes. The Notice and other important documents related to the settlements can be accessed at www.AutoPartsAntitrustLitigation.com/IgnitionCoils, or by calling 1-888-526-1645 or writing to Ignition Coils Direct Purchaser Antitrust Litigation, P.O. Box 2691, Portland, OR 97208-2691. Those who believe they may be a member of any of the Mitsubishi Electric, HIAMS, DENSO, or Diamond Electric settlement classes, are urged to obtain a copy of the Notice.

SOURCE United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan Southern Division

Related Links

http://www.AutoPartsAntitrustLitigation.com/IgnitionCoils


The investigative journalism group Bellingcat says a probe into the 2019 killing of a former Chechen separatist commander in Berlin shows that the attack was planned and organized by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).



Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a Georgian national, was shot dead in broad daylight in a Berlin park on August 23 in a case that has prompted political fallout between Berlin and Moscow -- including tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats -- after Germany said evidence suggests either the Russian government or authorities in the Russian North Caucasus region of Chechnya likely ordered the killing.

Moscow denies the allegations of the German government.



A suspect who'd traveled to Germany on a Russian passport issued in the name of Vadim Sokolov was detained by police in Berlin shortly after the killing.



He is now on trial in a German court on charges of murder and weapons violations. In December, Bellingcat identified him as Vadim Krasikov -- a man also suspected in the 2013 killing in Moscow of a Russian businessman.



Many commentators have drawn parallels between Khangoshvilis assassination and the 2018 poisoning in Salisbury, England, of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal.



In a report following a monthlong probe, Bellingcat said it found that preparations for the killing of Khangoshvili were supervised directly by Eduard Bendersky, chairman of the Vympel Charitable Fund For Former FSB Spetsnaz Officers, and other senior members of the fund.





Bellingcat said phone metadata it obtained shows that a plot to kill Khangoshvili with Krasikov as the assassin was in the works no later than March 2019."

Sergei Goncharov, the honorary president of an association uniting veterans of FSB's elite special-forces unit Alpha, said allegations that the murder was an operation carried out by Vympel were false.



"The allegations of this [murder] being an operation of Vympel are yet another attempt to bully Russia," Goncharov told state TASS news agency.



The investigative group said billing records show that starting in early 2019 and ending just before his trip to Berlin, Krasikov was in frequent communication with as many as eight members of the Vympel Association of Former FSB Spetsnaz Officers. It said three of the people Krasikov communicated with hold senior positions within the organization.



Bendersky is a former officer of the FSB spetsnaz -- or special military force -- and the current owner of several private security companies that employ ex-spetsnaz soldiers.



He also appears often on Russian state media as a de facto spokesman for Department V -- the FSB successor to the former KGB Vympel unit which, in his words, has recast itself from engaging in overseas subversive operations into domestic anti-terror operations against insurgent groups in the North Caucasus region.

In an exclusive RFE/RL report in December, Bendersky was identified as the father-in-law of a Russian man who has been indicted by U.S. authorities for allegedly overseeing a massive cybertheft ring. The man, Maksim Yakubets, married Bendersky's daughter in the summer of 2017; Bendersky himself was shown in wedding photographs and videos attending the ceremony.



Yakubets was named by U.S. and British authorities as the alleged mastermind behind a cybercrime group called Evil Corp.

According to the U.S. government, Yakubets had worked for the FSB since 2017, including on government projects such as "acquiring confidential documents through cyberenabled means and conducting cyberenabled operations on its behalf."



Khangoshvili, an ethnic Chechen from Georgias Pankisi Gorge, was part of the separatist insurgency against Russian forces in Chechnya.



His killing fits a pattern of assassinations targeting former Chechen insurgents that have shown signs of Russian state involvement.



Khangoshvili was shot dead by a gunmen who approached him on a bicycle in Berlins Kleiner Tiergarten park.



Bellingcat said in a December 3 report that Krasikovs records have been purged from Russian state databases.
A Boston man was arrested after allegedly assaulting a boy with a knife last week at the Dudley Station bus stop in Roxbury, authorities announced Sunday.

Terrell Brewester is accused of attacking a juvenile Wednesday after the two got into a verbal dispute while traveling on a Route 28 bus. The 27-year-old man allegedly assaulted the boy as he was exiting the vehicle, MBTA Transit Police said in a statement.

The juvenile was taken to a local hospital with serious injuries that were not considered life-threatening, the statement said.

Brewster was placed into custody and transported to TPD HQ for the arrest booking process, police said.
WASHINGTON  Heres a look at how area members of Congress voted over the previous week.

HOUSE VOTES

AID TO PUERTO RICO: The House has passed the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief and Puerto Rico Disaster Tax Relief Act (H.R. 5687), sponsored by Rep. Nita M. Lowey, D-N.Y. The bill would provide $4.67 billion to Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories for spending related to disaster recovery, and also expand the number of tax credits available for residents of Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories. A bill opponent, Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, said the tax credits were unnecessary and would cost more than $16 billion, while the $4.67 billion of aid was premature because Puerto Rico still had substantial available unspent funds from past disaster recovery legislation. The vote, on Feb. 7, was 237 yeas to 161 nays.

NAYS: Steil R-WI (1st)

WOMENS HISTORY MUSEUM: The House has passed the Smithsonian Womens History Museum Act (H.R. 1980), sponsored by Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, D-N.Y. The bill would establish at the Smithsonian Institution a council charged with recommending a site for building a womens history museum in Washington, D.C. The vote, on Feb. 11, was 374 yeas to 37 nays.

YEAS: Steil R-WI (1st)

CHILDREN AND HOMELAND SECURITY: The House has passed the Homeland Security for Children Act (H.R. 2932), sponsored by Rep. Donald M. Payne, Jr., D-N.J., to require the Homeland Security Department to account for the needs of children in the development of its programs and policies. The vote, on Feb. 10, was 374 yeas to 11 nays.

YEAS: Steil R-WI (1st)

HOMELAND SECURITY ACQUISITIONS: The House has passed the DHS Acquisition Reform Act (H.R. 3413), sponsored by Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, to modify acquisition management programs at the Homeland Security Department. The vote, on Feb. 10, was 380 yeas to 4 nays.

YEAS: Steil R-WI (1st)

FEDERAL WILDERNESS LANDS: The House has passed the Protecting Americas Wilderness Act (H.R. 2546), sponsored by Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., to designate close to 1.4 million acres of federal government land in western states as wilderness, with resulting restrictions on human use of the land. DeGette said the designations will help protect the air we breathe and the water we drink. They will help protect wildlife and some of our favorite, world-class recreation areas. A bill opponent, Rep. Russ Fulcher, R-Idaho, said the federal government was already unable to adequately manage its existing wilderness lands. The vote, on Feb. 12, was 231 yeas to 183 nays.

NAYS: Steil R-WI (1st)

EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT: The House has passed a resolution (H.J. Res. 79) sponsored by Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., to eliminate the time deadline for ratification by the states of the Equal Rights Amendment, which would prohibit discrimination based on sex. An opponent, Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., said the ERA was unnecessary because the Constitution already recognized womens equality of rights, and many federal, state, and local laws already prohibit sex discrimination. The vote, on Feb. 13, was 232 yeas to 183 nays.

NAYS: Steil R-WI (1st)

Along with roll call votes, the House also passed these measures: the Securing Americas Ports Act (H.R. 5273), to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop a plan to increase to 100 percent the rates of scanning of commercial and passenger vehicles entering the United States at land ports of entry; the Protecting Critical Infrastructure Against Drones and Emerging Threats Act (H.R. 4432), to require the Department of Homeland Security to prepare a terrorism threat assessment relating to unmanned aircraft systems; and the Drone Origin Security Enhancement Act (H.R. 4753), to prohibit the Secretary of Homeland Security from operating or procuring foreign-made unmanned aircraft systems.

SENATE VOTES

APPEALS COURT JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Andrew Lynn Brasher to serve as a judge on the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Brasher has been a U.S. district court judge in Alabama since May 2019; previously, he was Alabamas solicitor general from 2014 to 2019, and a private practice lawyer in Birmingham. A supporter, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said: I have the utmost regard for his vast legal ability and his commitment to the rule of law, and I believe he is well suited for this respected position. An opponent, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said that in his time as Alabamas solicitor general, Brasher worked on controversial efforts to restrict voting rights, limit reproductive rights, and undermine gun safety laws. The vote, on Feb. 11, was 52 yeas to 43 nays.

YEAS: Johnson R-WI

NAYS: Baldwin D-WI

ALASKA DISTRICT JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Joshua M. Kindred to serve as a judge on the U.S. district court for the Alaska district. Kindred was an Alaska state prosecutor from 2008 to 2013, counsel at the Alaska Oil and Gas Association from 2013 to 2018, and since 2018 has been a regional solicitor at the Interior Department. The vote, on Feb. 12, was 54 yeas to 41 nays.

NOT VOTING: Johnson R-WI

NAYS: Baldwin D-WI

MISSOURI DISTRICT JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Matthew Thomas Schelp to serve as a judge on the U.S. district court for the eastern district of Missouri. Schelp has been a private practice lawyer in St. Louis since 2010; from 2001 to 2010, he was a prosecutor in the U.S. attorneys office for the eastern district. The vote, on Feb. 12, was 72 yeas to 23 nays.

NOT VOTING: Johnson R-WI

NAYS: Baldwin D-WI

ILLINOIS DISTRICT JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of John Fitzgerald Kness to serve as a judge on the U.S. district court for the northern district of Illinois. Kness has been general counsel at the College of DuPage in suburban Chicago since 2016; before that, he was a prosecutor in the northern district and a private practice attorney in Chicago. A supporter, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., praised Kness as diligent, thoughtful, and principled. The vote, on Feb. 12, was 81 yeas to 12 nays.

NOT VOTING: Johnson R-WI

YEAS: Baldwin D-WI

NEW YORK DISTRICT JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Philip M. Halpern to serve as a judge on the U.S. district court for the southern district of New York. Halpern has been a private practice lawyer near New York City since 1984. The vote, on Feb. 12, was 77 yeas to 19 nays.

YEAS: Johnson R-WI

NAYS: Baldwin D-WI

TERRORISM AND MILITARY FORCE: The Senate has tabled an amendment sponsored by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., to a resolution (S.J. Res. 68) on a potential war with Iran. The amendment would have exempted military force against designated terrorist organizations from the resolutions requirement that Congress give authority for force against Iran. Cotton said the exemption was needed to state authority for action against Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, responsible for helping kill hundreds of U.S. soldiers in Iraq. An opponent, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said the exemption would set the very dangerous precedent of allowing action against all designated foreign terrorist organizations without declaring war against them. The vote to table, on Feb. 13, was 54 yeas to 46 nays.

NAYS: Johnson R-WI

YEAS: Baldwin D-WI

DIPLOMACY AGAINST IRAN: The Senate has tabled an amendment sponsored by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., to a resolution (S.J. Res. 68) on a potential war with Iran. The amendment would have added to the resolution findings that the U.S. is not now engaged in military hostilities against Iran, and that the Trump administrations strategy of applying maximum pressure against Iran has reduced Irans ability to fund terrorism and proxy groups in Middle East conflicts. The vote to table, on Feb. 13, was 54 yeas to 46 nays.

NAYS: Johnson R-WI

YEAS: Baldwin D-WI

CONFLICT WITH IRAN: The Senate has passed a resolution (S.J. Res. 68), sponsored by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., to prevent the use of military force against Iran in the absence of a declaration of war by Congress or specific legal authorization from Congress. Kaine said it was needed to make sure that Congress is involved in decisions about war. An opponent, Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., said: The Iranians will interpret a vote in favor of this resolution as tying the presidents hands, and that would lead Iran to believe, once again, that it can get by with anything. The vote, on Feb. 13, was 55 yeas to 45 nays.

NAYS: Johnson R-WI

YEAS: Baldwin D-WI

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
LAS VEGAS  A growing number of Democratic lawmakers, union officials, state leaders and party strategists agree that Bernie Sanders is a risky nominee to put up against President Donald Trump. Theres less agreement about whether  and how  to stop him.

Critics of the Vermont senator, who has long identified as a democratic socialist, are further than theyve ever been from unifying behind a moderate alternative. None of the viable centrists in the race is eager to exit the campaign to clear a path for a candidate to become a clear counter to Sanders. And Sanders is looking to Saturdays Nevada caucuses to post another win that would further his status as an early front-runner.

With fear and frustration rising in the partys establishment wing, a high-stakes math problem is emerging. It could be impossible to blunt Sanders as long as a trio of moderate candidates  former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Vice President Joe Biden and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar  stay in the race. And with former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into the swath of states that vote on Super Tuesday, March 3, the effort to stop Sanders will become even more challenging when the campaign goes national next month.

You see this tremendous angst in the party  What are we going to do?' said Terry McAuliffe, a former Virginia governor who was also chairman of the Democratic National Committee. We need to unify as fast as we can.

The dynamic is complicated because each of the major moderate candidates has glaring vulnerabilities.

Biden began the campaign as a front-runner, but the aura around his operation took a hit after a fourth-place finish in Iowa gave way to a fifth-place finish in New Hampshire. Buttigieg has proved to be the most effective centrist in raising money from the partys traditional high-dollar donors, which puts him in a strong position to compete in an expensive national contest. But the 38-year-old faces linger questions about his experience and his ability to win support from black and Latino voters, a challenge that could come into greater focus if Buttigieg loses badly in Nevada and South Carolina.

Kloubchar is newly emboldened after a third-place finish in New Hampshire, but she too has little support among minority voters and has largely run a bare-bones campaign operation.

When you have three or four candidates in that same lane, math becomes a problem, said Harold Schaitberger, general president of the International Association of Firefighters and a Biden loyalist, who admits being disappointed by Bidens bad performances and Sanders rise.

Though the opening contests of the primary have only begun, time may quickly run out for a moderate alternative to emerge.

By the end of Super Tuesday, more than one third of all delegates will be awarded. Should Sanders build a significant delegate lead  and his strength in California alone makes that possible  it would be very difficult for any other candidate to catch him in the slew of state-by-state elections that follow based on the way delegates are apportioned.

We have a lot of good candidates, but in general were incredibly frustrated that the field hasnt winnowed, said Robert Wolf, a major fundraiser for Barack Obama, who said he has donated money this cycle to more than a dozen Democrats. Sanders is not one of them.

The situation is similar to the Republican primary in 2016, when several anti-Trump alternatives divided their partys moderate vote and allowed Trump to become the nominee despite failing to win a majority of the vote in early primary contests.

There is no significant movement in the works to stop Sanders. And so long as there are a half-dozen viable candidates in the race, it may not matter if there were.

Sanders team expects his Democratic critics and their allies to intensify their attacks in the coming weeks, although they suggest time may be on their side with Super Tuesday just two weeks away. If Sanders comes out of Super Tuesday with a 100-delegate lead, which is possible based on his popularity in California alone, they believe it would be virtually impossible for anyone to catch up before the partys national convention in July.

Sanders was showing new signs of confidence as he campaigned over the weekend in Nevada ahead of the states caucuses next Saturday. Rallying supporters in Carson City on Sunday, he declared he could win Nevada, then California and the Democratic nomination and highlighted attempts from his rivals in both parties to stop him.

Ive been attacked by the media establishment, Ive been attacked by the corporate establishment, Ive been attacked by the Republican establishment, Ive been attacked by the Democratic establishment, and theyre nervous, Sanders said.

Sanders told The Associated Press last week that he was ramping up his outreach to other lawmakers and party officials who have been skeptical of his White House bid, although he offered no details. The senator has also agreed to host at least two fundraisers for the Democratic National Committee, which he had previously resisted.

Asked about the response he was getting to the establishment outreach, Sanders said: I think were going to do just fine.

Yet as Sanders strength grows in the early voting states, there is no evidence that his standing is improving among the partys skeptical political class. Several elected officials in recent days have raised concerns about his ability to beat Trump and his impact on other Democrats running for election this fall.

The competition for endorsements helps tell the story of the moderate muddle.

Since Bidens underwhelming finish in Iowa, Sanders hasnt received a single congressional endorsement. Buttigieg and Klobuchar, who have shown some strength on the campaign trail, have earned just one congressional endorsement each.

Over that same time, at least seven congressional endorsements have gone to Bloomberg, a 78-year-old former Republican who is threatening to become a top-tier candidate even after skipping all four February primary contests.

Steve Shurtleff, a Biden backer and the speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, believes Buttigieg and Klobuchar are the new leaders in the partys moderate wing, while Bloomberg is making a case.

As for Sanders, Shurtleff noted that most New Hampshire voters supported somebody else. Indeed, Sanders won last weeks primary with just 26% of the vote, a low bar made possible because his moderate alternatives split up the rest of the electorate.

Its very crowded in that lane, Shurtleff said. Its really kind of a conundrum.

Just dont ask any of Sanders rivals to step aside.

An energized Klobuchar said in an interview that her third-place finish in New Hampshire left her as scrappy as I was when I started.

She shrugged off any concerns about moderates dividing the vote. And she highlighted her strengths in Nevada, where she and Biden earned the endorsement of the states largest newspaper and may benefit from the success of female candidates. Both of the states U.S. senators are women and the state legislature is majority female.

I dont think its as simple as two lanes, she said in an interview. Everyone brings something else to this.

___

Fram reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro in Washington and Nicholas Riccardi in Carson City, Nevada, contributed to this report.

___

Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast, Ground Game.
Listen, when your wife is comedic actress, mom-extraordinaire, and goddess-among-mere-mortals Kristen Bell, there are sometimes ways you dont measure up. Though hubby Dax Shepard has had plenty of success as a comedic actor, he is not as instantly recognizable as Bell. Bell became a household name for her roles like Eleanor on The Good Place, the title role on Veronica Mars, and Sarah Marshall in Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell | Trae Patton/Getty Images

Shepard himself is known for his roles in films like Idiocracy, and Without A Paddle, and television shows like Parenthood. Does he ever worry about not measuring up to Bell, especially when it comes to the question of net worth?

Dax Shepard is cool with his net worth being way less than wife Kristen Bells

Shepard is totally cool with his wife bringing in a heck of a lot more money than he does. In fact, hes probably just glad his family is so secure, as he has talked openly on his podcast Armchair Expert about the difficulty of growing up poor.

Bell has also talked about how important the couple finds it to raise empowered daughters. Shepard probably thinks its wonderful for his daughters to see their mom kicking butt and taking names in her career.

The couple has been together since 2007, after an initial meeting without romantic sparks led to real-deal flirting a few weeks later. Shepard proposed in 2009; but they waited to get married in recognition of the lack of marriage equality for same-sex couples. They didnt get married officially until 2013 after Prop 8 had been overturned in California.

They now have two daughters, Lincoln and Delta. One of the many reasons Shepard is probably fine with earning less than his wife is the fact that her income helps provide for their family and gives the girls something to aspire to.

Dax Shepard has had a lot of fulfilling success with his podcast lately

Even though hes not as well-known as Bell, Shepard is still arguably crushing it on the career front. His podcast, Armchair Expert, which he co-hosts with writer and actress Monica Padman, has recently received plenty of success and continues to get more popular over time.

The Los Angeles Times called the podcast wholly unique because of Shepards spin on the podcast format, popularized by trailblazers like Marc Maron and Howard Stern. In fact, its likely viewed as his most successful project to date. This is impressive considering his acting career, which roles on shows like Parenthood, The Ranch, and Robot Chicken.

So what exactly is his net worth and how does it compare to Kristen Bells?

Shepards net worth is estimated to be about $12 million dollars, which is not bad at all! His money mostly comes from acting roles, which started when he appeared on the prank show Punkd back in 2002. However, Bell definitely does have him beat on the money front with her estimated net worth being about $20 million dollars  yowza! Its clear that keeping busy (and voice-acting in Disney classics like Frozen and Frozen II) has its financial perks!

The celebrity couple has a combined net worth of about $32 million dollars, which allows Shepard to set aside his anxieties about his children growing up as poor, as he did. Given that the two recently launched Hello Bello, a line of plant-based baby products, one can expect their combined net worth to grow accordingly.
Britain on Monday began to clear up after Storm Dennis battered the country over the weekend, leading the government's weather agency to issue a rare "danger to life" warning amid widespread flooding and high winds.

Hundreds of flood warnings remained in place, including five "severe" warnings around the River Teme in Worcestershire in western England, after more than a month's worth of rain fell in 48 hours in some parts of Britain.

A record 594 warnings and alerts had been put in place on Sunday, extending from Scotland's River Tweed to Cornwall in southwest England, while major incidents were declared in South Wales and parts of western England due to flooding.

The storm also battered much of France, with some 20,000 people still without electricity on Monday after suffering power cuts in the northwest of the country and rail traffic disrupted.

In south Wales, the government's weather agency issued a rare red warning, saying there was a risk of "significant impacts from flooding" that included a "danger to life from fast flowing water, extensive flooding to property and road closures".

Pictures circulated on social media showed the nearby River Taff bursting its banks, while rescue workers rushed to reach people trapped in their homes in Powys.

Police said a man in his 60s died after entering the River Tawe, north of the Welsh city Swansea, but later clarified that the death was not "linked to the adverse weather".

Winds of over 90 miles (150 kilometres) per hour were recorded in Aberdaron, south Wales.

In northern England, the government deployed the army to help deal with the situation.

Environment Secretary George Eustice, visiting York, said the government had done "everything that we can do with a significant sum of money" to combat increased flooding.

"We'll never be able to protect every single household just because of the nature of climate change and the fact that these weather events are becoming more extreme," he added.

Roads and railways across Britain were badly affected by the downpours and winds, having barely recovered from a similar storm last week.

The defence ministry deployed troops in West Yorkshire, northern England, which suffered badly from flooding caused by last weekend's Storm Ciara.

"Our armed forces are always ready to support local authorities and communities whenever they need it," said defence minister Ben Wallace.

British Airways and easyJet confirmed they had grounded flights, with footage posted online showing a massive Airbus A380 jet being blown about as it attempted to land.

Earlier, two bodies were pulled from rough seas off the south England coast on Saturday as the storm barrelled in.

One of the men is assumed to have been the subject of a search triggered when an LPG tanker reported that one of its crew was unaccounted for.

France was also affected by the storm, especially northwestern Brittany where the Finistere and Morbihan regions were temporarily placed on orange alert for rain and flooding, according to the national weather service, Meteo-France.

Electricity provider Enedis said it had deployed 450 staff to restore power to 30,000 homes in Brittany. Power cuts also hit parts of northern and central France.

The storm interrupted two high-speed TGV train services, one stopped by a fallen tree and the other by a power failure, the national rail company SNCF said.

By Sunday evening, Meteo-France said the worst seemed to have passed as winds dropped to below 100 kph.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Newfoundland and Labrador's premier has announced he is stepping down after more than four years leading the province.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/2/2020 (694 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Dwight Ball applauds during an announcement made at Memorial University Signal Hill Campus in St. John's on Monday, February 10, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Daly

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Newfoundland and Labrador's premier has announced he is stepping down after more than four years leading the province.

Dwight Ball said in a video released Monday that he has asked the president of the provincial Liberal party to convene a leadership process to choose a successor "at the earliest opportunity."

Ball, who was re-elected with a minority government last spring, said he is resigning to live a "more private life" with friends and family in Deer Lake.

Ball, 63, said he will stay on as premier until a new leader is chosen and will continue to represent the Humber-Gros Morne district in the legislature until the next provincial election.

He said he decided to start the leadership process now given his government's minority status and the unpredictability of the next election date.

"Now is the time for me to make way for new leadership in my party and in my province," said Ball, who in the video was seated at his desk, flanked by Newfoundland and Labrador and Canadian flags.

The premier said he will continue overseeing budget preparations and will prioritize protecting ratepayers from the cost overruns of the Muskrat Falls hydro dam.

His announcement Monday comes one week after a joint announcement with Ottawa that the two governments would rewrite the financial structure of the beleaguered megaproject on Labrador's Lower Churchill River.

Currently priced at $12.7 billion, the dam has come to represent one-third of the province's net debt since it was sanctioned in 2012.

The dam is set to produce more power than the province can sell, and its existing financial structure would have left electricity ratepayers on the hook to make up the difference starting in 2021.

Though last week's announcement was light on specifics of the new model that will redirect benefits of the project to ratepayers, Ball vowed again on Monday that rates would not rise above current levels.

"Our plan will work," he said in the video.

Federal Natural Resources Minister Seamus O'Regan, who joined Ball in St. John's for last week's announcement, said in a tweet that Ball "demonstrated his doggedness, his decency, and a keen understanding of the challenges we face" during the discussions.

"He fought hard for the people of our province," O'Regan wrote.

Ball came to power in 2015 after serving as leader of the official Opposition since 2012, and he has presided over difficult economic times in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The province entered 2020 facing a bleak financial forecast. Auditor general Julia Mullaley reported late last year that the province's net debt is higher than it's ever been and cautioned that the government "is not living within its means."

Despite challenges, Ball had insisted that under his leadership the government would get the province's finances back on track. Ball repeated Monday that he "set out to change the course" when he became premier.

"I took on the job when our province was facing challenges that were unprecedented in our history," he said. "We have navigated through those challenges together."

Progressive Conservative Leader Ches Crosbie, who leads the opposition in the legislature, congratulated Ball for his service but criticized his opponent for lacking leadership, especially after what he called last week's "non-announcement" about hydro rate mitigation.

Crosbie called the resignation a "crisis," coming at a time when lawmakers need to focus on serious issues such as the budget and rate mitigation.

"This is the wrong time for us in Newfoundland and Labrador to have a caretaker government, and that's effectively what we have. The premier is now a lame duck," Crosbie said in a telephone interview. "We're going to drift for several more months at least."

In his video, the premier thanked his constituents, staff, party and family, saying he looks forward to contributing to the province in other ways.
Ahead of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) discussion on Pakistan dossier, the country's intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has held a big meeting with commanders of terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in Rawalpindi. The Pakistan government has assured the JeM and other terrorist groups that it will gradually remove the restrictions against terrorist organizations.

This meeting was attended by Jaish operations commander Mufti Abdul Rauf Asghar and the ISI asked him to carry out terrorist attacks Jammu and Kashmir and other areas of India. The ISI has also asked Rauf to execute the attacks on India in such a manner that Jaish can be saved from international surveillance, according to the intelligence agencies report.

The JeM has also been told to once again intensify its old activities in Madrasas and other related institutes. These institutions have been asked to teach religious bigotry and jihad against India.

The Jaish is also engaged in slowly shifting the terrorists deployed in Afghanistan to Jammu and Kashmir to carry out major attacks in India. The JeM terror camps in Balakot have been activated once again and the task for training the terrorists has also started.

In a major conspiracy, Pakistan is training a total of 27 terrorists at Jaish-e-Mohammad's Balakot to infiltrate India and launch an attack, according to sources. Terrorists from Afghanistan are giving training to the 27 terrorists and eight of them are from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). According to sources, the Balakot camp is being run by the son of terrorist Maulana Masood Azhar, Yusuf Azhar. Two terrorists from Pakistan's Punjab and three from Afghanistan are giving training to these terrorists. This is one of the reasons why Pakistan has been violating ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) so that it can help the terrorists infiltrate and carry out the attacks.

The Pakistan government has begun to relax restrictions on the collection of funds through charitable organizations linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba and JeM. The Jaish terrorists have also been asked to collect money in the name of Kashmir Jihad. Pakistan is preparing to gradually give relaxation to JeM and other terrorist organizations to trick the FATF. The purpose of this strategy of Pakistan is to show the world that it is acting against the JeM but in reality, it has been decided to speed up the activities of the terrorist outfit, Jaish-e-Mohammad.

The key plenary session of the FATF began in Paris, France, on February 16. The watchdog on February 21 will examine whether Pakistan has taken the required steps and implemented its plan of action to fight terror financing or not. More than 800 representatives from 205 countries and jurisdictions around the world, including the IMF, UN, World Bank, and other organisations, will take part in the meeting.
The Kenyan government has dispatched a consultant to assess the damage that desert locusts have caused since they crossed into northeast Kenya on December 28, 2019.

The Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture Mr Peter Munya made the announcement on Sunday, Feb 16, when he came face to face with a fresh swarm in Mbeere, the expansive and arid part of Embu County.

Munya said the consultant and a team of experts will soon be dispatched to affected counties to carry out rapid assessments.
Americans began leaving a quarantined cruise ship in Japan on Monday to board chartered flights home as the number of new coronavirus cases diagnosed on the vessel jumped to 355.

The evacuation came as Japanese authorities stepped up warnings over the deadly outbreak, urging citizens to avoid crowds and anonessential gatherings.a

The Diamond Princess was placed in a 14-day quarantine in early February after a former passenger tested positive for the virus.

But U.S. authorities announced Saturday they would offer Americans on board the option to leave the ship and fly home, where they will face another 14-day isolation period. Several other governments have announced plans to remove their citizens from the ship as well.

Late Sunday and into the early hours of Monday, Americans who opted to leave were brought off the ship in groups, passing through a makeshift passport control but undergoing no health checks, American passenger Sarah Arana told AFP.

They boarded buses driven by personnel in head-to-toe protective suits and were told that the more than a dozen vehicles would travel in a convoy.

Earlier Sunday, health minister Katsunobu Kato said 1,219 people on the ship had now been tested for the virus, with 355 diagnosed with the illness.

Japan has not been able to test all those on board due to limited supplies of testing kits, facilities and manpower, which are also needed by authorities tracking the spread of the virus on land.

But the health ministry said Saturday that passengers older than 70 are being examined and those testing negative and in good health will be allowed to leave the ship from Wednesday.

Tests on younger passengers were expected to start Sunday and healthy people will be allowed to disembark after Wednesday, it said.
Starting my company JavaPresse was a bold step for me, especially because I planned on maintaining my full-time job while doing so. As entrepreneurs, we are always searching for game-changing ideas. The e-commerce economy has been on an upward trajectory with no signs of slowing and I knew that's where I wanted to explore my options.

It is never wise to jump into a new venture without first investigating if it is the right move for you and your investment. There is an overabundance of areas to consider before getting your foot in the door, and conducting the correct research is paramount. Market research, learning about your customers, knowing how to grow your audience, and cash flow are vital aspects to a successful entrepreneur.

If your first, or next, e-commerce venture is to be sustainable, start by considering these important factors.

Conduct smart market research.

Being successful as an entrepreneur in the e-commerce space takes dedication to the right market research. Finding the right product is paramount. It must be a product that appeals to consumers' needs and wants as well as engages them where they are in life.

When I started my company, I studied over 100 different markets, product lines, and niches before choosing the industry I wanted to serve. In my research, I studied four main areas: price point, competitors, pain points, and profit margin. Through this process, I discovered a list of potential product possibilities, as well as setting up the next phase of my research.

Know your audience.

Finding the right audience is just as important as finding the right product. One thing I needed to find out was how excited do people get about the products and experiences associated with this niche. To accomplish this, I used three tools.

Audience Insights on Facebook allowed me to assess consumer behavior on Facebook through relevance scores, which measured how relevant the posts a specific page puts out are to their target audience. Google Trends and Google Keyword Planner provided me with information on how many people were searching for particular keywords online, and the frequency of those searches over time.

This ability helped me understand how many people were searching for the coffee-related products I had identified on Google. Finally, Kickstarter supplied information that allowed me to assess how successful product launches related to coffee were. I was able to learn how receptive consumers were going to be to my new and unknown brand.

Once the right audience has been identified, speak to them, and grow that following. Make sure there are a variety of people in your target customer base. Interacting and engaging with consumers will help you learn more about them and exactly what they are hoping to gain from your product. The feedback will be authentic, allowing you to meet customers where they are and gain valuable insight into what they value.

Allow that audience to grow organically. Your happy and engaged consumers will share with their friends and family about their love for your product.

In the beginning, it's all about sales and cash flow, not profit.

Starting a new venture is hard, and cash flow can be tight. In early 2018 I had the unique opportunity to meet and learn from Shark Tank's Daymond John, and he gave me a great piece of advice. You must spend money to make money. This means investing in developing your product, making it better, and fine-tuning it, so it's better than the competition.

In the beginning, and to this day, sales remain my top priority. I have always invested a sizable amount on the best training and mentors so that I develop an edge over the competition. Invest in the type of mentors you can help you achieve your goal. For me, that was learning how to sell online effectively.

Be nimble in product development, so you create a product that generates a steady stream of cash, allowing you to continue to serve your customers. Be generous with your company and invest the profits you have coming back into the business, focusing on making the product better, marketing, and advertising.

Cash flow can be stressful, but if you stay on top of the numbers and keep your goals in sight, don't let it overwhelm you. With wise choices, based on valuable research and planning, the cash will flow even when you take a vacation.

Entrepreneurs are all about opportunities that are intriguing, promising, and sustainable. The right venture can't be rushed. Stick to your plan, learn and research as much as you can to make sure your product is of excellent quality, fills a need or niche in the marketplace, and attracts the type of consumers you are targeting.
The World Health Organization said late Saturday there are 50,580 laboratory-confirmed cases of the coronavirus around the world, with the vast majority of the cases -- 50,054 -- in China.

WHO said 1,527 new cases had been reported globally in the last 24 hours. China had 1,506 of the new cases in the period, according to WHO.

Chinas statistics, however, differ from those of WHO because Chinas government recently changed its methodology for diagnosing and counting new cases, causing a spike in the number of reported cases. Under the new method, doctors can use lung imaging and other analyses to diagnose a patient instead of relying on laboratory testing.

China says nearly 1,700 people have died from the virus and more than 68,000 people have been infected. The health commission confirmed 1,843 new cases Sunday, representing a drop from higher numbers of new cases in recent days. Over the previous two days, China had reported more than 7,500 new infections.

Chinas National Health Commission said Saturday that most of the new deaths were in Hubeis provincial capital of Wuhan, where the coronavirus outbreak is believed to have begun.

The risk assessment for the virus is very high in China and is high for the rest of the world, WHO said.

WHO to investigate

China and WHO have launched a joint probe into the coronavirus.

Were concerned about the lack of urgency in funding the response from the international community, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Saturday at the annual Munich Security Conference.

Officials in Chinas capital have initiated a 14-day self-quarantine policy for all people returning to Beijing. The state-run Beijing Daily newspaper reports that those who refuse to seclude themselves or violate other containment rules will be held accountable under the law, but it is was not immediately clear what the consequences of refusing to self-isolate would be.

An 80-year-old Chinese tourist died Friday in a hospital in Paris. He was the first person in Europe to die of complications from the virus.

In addition, the first coronavirus infection on the African continent has been reported in Egypt.

Cruise passengers evacuated

The Diamond Princess, a quarantined cruise ship docked in Yokohama, Japan, has reported another 70 virus-infected people, bringing the ships total cases among the nearly 4,000 passengers and crew to 355.

We must anticipate a spread of infections, Japanese Health Minister Katsunobo Kato said Sunday.

The Japanese health minister told state broadcaster NHK that efforts must be focused on preventing people from becoming gravely ill or dying. He added, We will make the people feel at ease by providing information in a timely manner and continue to forestall measures.

Canada, Hong Kong and the U.S. say they are sending planes to Japan to evacuate their citizens from the ship.
Last week was a study in contrasts for publicly traded marijuana stocks. Two 300-pound gorillas of the industry, Aurora Cannabis (NASDAQ:ACB) and Canopy Growth (NASDAQ:CGC), both reported their latest quarterly results. Although the pair's bottom lines bettered analyst estimates, there was a world of difference between their performances.

In short, Aurora's quarter deepened pessimism about the prospects of marijuana companies generally. A day later, Canopy Growth's report brought the bulls roaring back into the sector, and peer weed stocks rose in sympathy. Here's more:

Aurora Cannabis' Awful Q2

Let's face it, Aurora's Q2 results were grim. Quarter-over-quarter net sales cratered 26%, and while the market was expecting a deep net loss, it wasn't expected to be as bottom-touching as 1.3 billion Canadian dollars ($981 million).

Like that net revenue figure, a worryingly high number of both financial and operational metrics were down for Aurora during the quarter: production, selling prices, even ancillary revenue. The only significant items to rise were the ones no investor wants to see go higher, such as selling, general, and administration expenses (up 23% sequentially), and a whopping CA$762 million ($575 million) goodwill impairment charge.

One factor at least partly responsible for certain Aurora declines in Q2 was the suspension of its license to sell medical marijuana in Germany. This occurred not because of the callousness or favoritism of the German authorities, but rather because the company insisted on putting irradiated product on the market. This was a big no-no that wouldn't have happened had Aurora been following the basic practices and procedures of its business.

Somehow, Aurora's stock has actually traded up (by around 8%) since it released its earnings report on that train wreck of a quarter. I'm not sure why this is; maybe because results weren't as disastrous as some expected, or perhaps there's a crowd of bottom-feeder investors supporting the shares. Either way, I see almost nothing to be positive about here, and I think this is a clear case of a stock that's well worth avoiding.

Canopy Growth's Q3: Cruising to the top

In a refreshing contrast, one day after Aurora reported its latest quarter, Canopy Growth followed suit with its Q3 figures.

Those losing faith in marijuana stocks following Aurora's dim results quickly gained it back. Canopy Growth was true to its name in terms of net revenue, managing to improve it by over 60% on a quarter-over-quarter basis. The company is putting its head down and getting the job done, building out its retail presence and getting more product into the hands of customers.

Make no mistake about it: Canopy Growth is still not a runaway success story. Expenses, while coming down, are still considerable. Feeding into that, the bottom line remains well in the red (at a cool CA$124 million, or $94 million), even though this dropped by almost 70% quarter over quarter.

With this, Canopy Growth is the darling of marijuana stocks right now. It's going to continue with its buildout, which is encouraging because peddling more product is the best way to keep those growth numbers on the rise.

Canada's Cannabis 2.0 segment also provides a fine opportunity, particularly given the company's relationship with its key shareholder and pot beverage-making partner Constellation Brands. That is, if Canopy Growth can roll out those products in a timely way.

In short, there was much to like with Canopy Growth's recent financials. The company isn't there yet with profitability, but I'd give it more of a chance of flipping into the black soon than I would many of its rivals.

Canopy's stock rose almost 20% on Friday in the wake of its earnings announcement, and that bouncy optimism spread throughout the sector. Many investors are coming back to publicly traded weed; hopefully for them, the sector will provide more results like Canopy Growth's, rather than the ugliness that was Aurora's latest.
Indian Navys Poseidon 8I anti-submarine warfare aircraft was deployed to carry out surveillance on movement of Chinese troops during the 73-day-long standoff between India and China in mountainous Doklam.

Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat confirmed the use of the naval aircraft while talking about the need for bringing in tri-services synergy in dealing with national security challenges.

The P-8I aircraft of Indian Navy was deployed in Doklam (during the face-off), Gen Rawat told a group of journalists.

Troops of India and China were locked in a standoff in Doklam from June 16, 2017 after the Indian side stopped the building of a road in the disputed area by the Chinese Army.

The face-off triggered fears of a war between the two neighbours. The standoff ended on August 28, 2017 after over 10 rounds of talks between diplomats of the two sides.

The P-8Is were also deployed to keep an eye on movement of Pakistani troops after the Pulwama terror attack last year.

The P-8I aircraft were the most potent platform to carry out surveillance -- be it sea or mountains. The aircraft were live-streaming data to support decision making during the Doklam face-off, said defence expert Capt D K Sharma (retd).

Sharma said deployment of the P-8Is signified synergy among the Army and the Navy in dealing with the major crisis.

The P-8I, based on the Boeing next-generation 737 commercial air plane, is a variant of the P-8A Poseidon used by the US Navy.

India was Boeings first international customer for this aircraft. The first P-8I aircraft was inducted into the Indian Navy in 2013 and, at present, it has a fleet of eight P 8Is.

In 2016, the defence ministry had placed a follow-on order for four additional P-8I, the delivery of which will begin by April 2020.

Last year the government cleared procurement of another batch of six P-8Is.
People gather at this tree to remember a "passionate and influential" educator who died last week following a vehicle crash on the Tauranga Eastern Link.

It was Sue's Walmsley 19th year working at Pyes Pa School. She held many roles there  deputy principal, junior teacher and special education needs coordinator.

Described as someone who gave everything to school, school principal Blake Carlin says there has been an outpouring of grief since the news of her passing.

Students, whanau, colleagues and friends have been visiting the memorial tree all week. Her positive influence on the school and community will be extremely hard to replace, he says.

Best friend and longtime Pyes Pa school colleague Janet Bilbe speaks of Sues devotion to the school-wide community.

"Sue knew how to guide people and make them come alive. She was an out-of-the-box teacher - dedicated to her profession, colleagues and the children."

The long-serving teacher was the driving force behind supporting students with additional learning needs, says Blake.

Janet agrees. She had a passion for empowering special needs children through learning. She would always find a way forward.

Sue arrived in Tauranga from the United Kingdom in 1996. Her first job was at Gate Pa School, formerly known as Tauranga South, working with junior classes.

She then moved to Omokoroa Point School for two years.

Along with being an all-around awesome teacher, Sue was also an incredibly special friend, says Janet.

As one parent said, I was robin to her batman. We worked as a team and had the same sense of humour. If she was your friend, you were bloody lucky.

Janet encourages those who knew Sue to remember her advice and wisdom. Celebrate the life she had, and realise how lucky you were to have her in your life.

Sue's husband Roy Walmsley asks that donations are made to the TECT Rescue Helicopter instead of flowers. To donate visit this page.

"The family wish to express our thanks to the TECT Helicopter Service for their assistance," Roy says.

A service for Sue is being held at the Olive Tree Cottage in Pyes Pa today at 1pm.
Rio Rancho becomes a part of the textile industry with Green Theme Technologies Inc. moving from Albuquerque.

Gary Selwyn founded Green Theme Technologies with the mission to develop a water-resistant formula fluorocarbon, or PFO-free.

Many outdoor clothing lines use PFOs to make products water-resistant. Clothing is washed in a chemical formula that contains PFOs. This pollutes water used during the process and the chemical wash is harmful to people, according to a report from the National Collaboration Centre for Environmental Health, NCCEH.

Green Theme Technologies doubled the size of their original space by moving to 4132 Jackie Road in Rio Rancho. This new locations main purpose is research and development, and Selwyn is gearing up for production there

Part of the plan for here is to do Kevlar operations that have to be done in the U.S. That is a military requirement, that it has to be made in the U.S., he said.

Kevlar is used for bulletproof vests and is a military-grade fabric.

The reason why there is no textile operation in the Southwest is because water is scarce, but this is a game-changer because it requires no water and generates no pollution, Selwyn said.

This location has about five employees. Selwyn said he plans to double it within a year.

Selwyn has a Ph.D. in chemistry and believed there had to be a way to make a product water-resistant without environmental and human health risks, he said.

In 2012 he began his research.

The first work was literally done in my kitchen; you know, the standard entrepreneurial activities. Then Under Armour got interested in it. Then they wanted to come out and see my facility. I thought, Well I better get something a little respectable. I relocated to the BioScience Center (a business incubator in Albuquerque); I was there for a year, he said.

The textile industry is responsible for 20 percent of the worlds water pollution, Selwyn said.

Mostly from dying but also from what is called DWR, which is durable water-repellent finishing. We have DWR as a commercial product. We are working on bringing water-free dye as the next product, he said.

Most Green Theme fabrics are processed in Taiwan. There are about 14 employees at the Taiwan location, Selwyn said.

In some areas where there is a lot of textile operation, China and a lot of Asia, there is so much demand for water that it has inhibited community water availability and has polluted the water table, too, he said.

According to the NCCEH report, exposure to high levels of PFOs has been linked to pregnancy complications, risk of prostate and bladder cancer, changes in cholesterol levels and changes in thyroid hormone levels.

Some results were determined to be inconsistent and more work is needed to confirm findings.

Humans are exposed to many chemicals in addition to PFOs. The long-term health effects of multiple, low-level exposures are poorly understood. Chemical exposures to the developing fetus, infants and children are the greatest concern; these periods are the most sensitive stages of human development, stated the report. These are a few contributing reasons Selwyn founded Green Theme to use no PFOs, he said.

The idea was to create a water-repellent treatment that would be environmentally friendly and would not involve fluorocarbons, he said.

With funding from himself and Under Armour the EMPEL process underwent its development.

Later, Under Armour changed management and pulled out. Selwyn said it was a blessing in disguise.

He had been about to secure about $7 million from investors, he said. Selwyn said he has been able to go far with that money.

This process involves no water and is created through high pressures.

At the Rio Rancho location is a long steel high-pressure pod. Fabric is rolled up and inserted into the pod where a chemical formula will be pressurized to 500 psi.

Without question, we have the best water-repellent treatment in terms of performance and in terms of laundry durability, nobody else comes close, he said. And the reason is we put it into a chamber at 500-psi pressure. The chemistry, instead of just sitting on the surface, boom! It goes in from the gas pressure; its like (snaps fingers). And then we cure it, which forms a polymer and it stays there. So the chemistry becomes part of the fabric.
live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) touched a 52-week low of Rs 101.10, falling 2 percent in the early trade on February 17 after the state-run company reported its third quarter numbers.

The company posted a 49.75 percent year-on-year (YoY) fall in standalone profit at Rs 4,151.63 crore for the quarter ended December 31. The state-run oil explorer posted a profit of Rs 8,262.70 crore in the same period last year.

EBITDA came at Rs 12,298.3 crore against CNBC-TV18's poll of Rs 12,734 crore, while EBITDA margin stood at 51.9 percent against CNBC-TV18's poll of 52 percent.

The companys total income fell 16 percent YoY to Rs 25,112.55 crore during the quarter under review.

Macquarie | Rating: Outperform | Target: Rs 210 per share

The research house lower its FY20 EPS estimate by 4% on weak Q3, while largely maintaining the FY21-22 EPS estimates at Rs 29-27.

Macquarie sees deep value in the company but says it lacks catalyst in the near term and prefers GAIL & HPCL in the Indian oil & gas space.

CLSA | Rating: Buy | Target: Cut to Rs 180 from Rs 225 per share

Lower production, weak gas price and higher depletion drove 14-20% cut in FY20- 22 EPS.

The broking house reiterates buy as the company is the cheapest E&P stock in the world. It trades at compelling core FY21 PE of 3.6x & offers 7.7% dividend yield, it says.

The governments indication on reduced ETF use may provide relief on share supply overhang and expect stock to more than double in three years.

Nomura | Rating: Buy | Target: Rs 175 per share

The Q3 is a miss driven by lower oil sales/realisation & higher opex.

It expects gas production/sales volumes to increase hereon and gas price realisations to likely decline moderately further in Q4.

Nomura expects a sharper reduction in gas realisations from Q1FY21, while continued stake sale by the government is a key overhang.

Jefferies | Rating: Buy | Target: Cut to Rs 155 from Rs 160 per share

The research house cut FY20 EPS estimate by 6% to factor in softer Q3. The softer lower oil prices in Q4 will lead to inventory losses at HPCL & MRPL.

The lower Brent is the key risk and any reform to gas price framework and lower ETF equity supply are catalysts.

At 0918 hours, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation was quoting at Rs 102.35, down Rs 0.90, or 0.87 percent, on the BSE.
I met Olivia Wynkoop, a sophomore at San Francisco State University, on Feb. 3 in a journalism class. Id been invited to share reporting techniques, and I talked about covering homeless and underprivileged communities in the East Bay.

I told the students that reporting on homelessness must include the voices of the homeless. That means engaging people living on the streets and getting to know their names and stories.

Many of us are so privileged that support  physical, mental or financial  is just a phone call away. Shouldnt we use our privilege to help the less fortunate?

Wynkoop, 19, took my words to heart.

On Feb. 4, she took a homeless man shopping after meeting him on Muni. But the gesture left her furious, and not because of anything Gabriel did.

She was upset by how the employees and shoppers reacted to seeing her shopping with a homeless person.

Security came up to ask me if I was OK as if there wasnt a man beside me who was deprived of the basic needs we often take for granted, she wrote me in the email the same night. I would see people avoid him in aisles and gawk at him like he was a spectacle.

Her words put a lump in my throat. The last time an email similarly affected me was in May 2018, when Barbara Lustig called me out about male entitlement. Lustig and I still keep in touch.

Wynkoop said she was aware of the stigma associated with homelessness, but she didnt have a sense of what it felt like to be shunned until she walked beside Gabriel.

Im so thankful I could use my privilege as a normal looking, white, female college student to advocate for what he needed in the store, she wrote. Without me next to him, Im afraid that his needs would be dismissed as a threat.

Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle

I wanted to hear more about her experience, so we met for brunch in the Castro. Wynkoop is from Dixon, a small Solano County city. She said she wants to be a journalist. The incident cemented career plans.

It was around 8 p.m. on Feb. 4 when Gabriel and another homeless man got on Muni at Civic Center. Wynkoop saw Gabriels side was bandaged under his T-shirt. She offered her seat, and Gabriel began writing in a notebook.

The whole time I was really reflecting on what you talked about in class, said Wynkoop, who often writes when shes lost in her thoughts on Muni.

Gabriel asked Wynkoop for directions to Target. Theres a Muni stop in front of Stonestown Galleria, where theres a Target.

Wynkoop said Gabriel told her he was surprised she wasnt afraid to talk to him. He was with another man, whom he said hed met only two days before. Wynkoop said she didnt speak to the other man who sat down inside the store as she and Gabriel shopped.

Gabriels T-shirt and sweatpants were filthy. His steps were labored. He was worried security was going to kick him out.

Wynkoop said a security guard and two employees shadowed them even after she made it clear that they were together.

I feel its so easy to criminalize and villainize people just based on the way they look, Wynkoop said. People dont deserve to be treated that way.

But thats exactly what were conditioned do in this country, whether the status is about race, immigration or housing.

Gabriel selected the cheapest sweatpants he could find, but Wynkoop didnt think they were thick enough. She chose a more expensive pair. She bought sweatpants, eight pairs of socks and groceries. She spent $60, which includes the $20 she gave Gabriel as they parted ways.

Her mother called. They talked about the experience, and her mother asked how she was feeling. Wynkoop said the question made her cry. As she recounted the conversation, the tears returned.

Its just really not fair, she said. I just got this incredible feeling of guilt.

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.

She wondered whether she did enough to help. In her email, she asked whether covering homelessness affects me.

Can it drain you emotionally and tax your well-being, despite how much good youre doing in the process? she wrote. What advice would you give to help ease this feeling?

Oh, there isnt a day that Im not pained by what I see on our streets. But I didnt know how to ease Wynkoops guilt, so I called Thomas Plante, a professor of psychology at Santa Clara University.

To foster community solidarity, every student at Santa Clara University, regardless of major, has to take whats called an Experiential Learning for Social Justice course. Plantes students spend two hours a week at Julian Street Inn, a San Jose shelter that provides emergency and transitional housing for adults coping with homelessness and mental illness.

He told me guilt can be productive.

We should feel guilty when were running around San Francisco and the Bay Area and walking over a person laying on the street in order to get our $5 latte, he said. If guilt can help us to continue to humanize folk, thats a good thing.

If it motivates us to pressure our politicians or our hyper-rich billionaires in the community to help, thats a good thing.

Weve trained ourselves to look past homelessness until someone gets on public transportation, sets up a place to sleep in our neighborhoods or walks into a store.

How is it just so much easier to just walk away from someone than finally see people as people and try to help them out? Wynkoop asked me at lunch.

Thats exactly what Im trying to figure out.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Otis R. Taylor Jr. appears Mondays and Thursdays. Email: otaylor@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @otisrtaylorjr
The priest who performed the funeral for murdered teen Keane Mulready-Woods reiterated an oft-repeated inconvenient truth.

It illustrates the hypocrisy and double standards of the younger generation who make their mark on society and politics from a very wobbly moral high ground.

For clarification, I am referring to the woke, politically-correct, self-righteous, virtue signalling, #MeToo, competitively-outraged cohort of that generation to be precise.

In his hard-hitting homily Fr Phil Gaffney reminded the congregation that the inhuman, unthinkable abduction, murder and dismemberment of Mr Mulready-Woods  whose body parts were dumped on a street as a warning to others  was a consequence of our societys love affair with cocaine.

He said that the atrocity should be a wake-up call for all of us as a society to realise that actions have consequences... drug-taking, doing a line of coke, has become as normal as having a drink.

The people who murdered the Drogheda 17-year-old are involved in a blood feud for control of the cocaine trade so that they, and not their competitors, can become the sole suppliers to the same law-abiding society that is so shocked and repulsed by their savagery.

Read More

This is the same motivation that drives all the other horrific gangland feuds, including the Kinahan/Hutch gang war. Organised crime is a parasite that is nourished and enriched by the social habits of a large cohort of the population.

Yet the twittering generation, who are so easily (and selectively) upset, outraged and angered by social injustice and inequality will detach themselves from this awkward reality.

Some will continue to hoover up the lines of white powder, ensuring that the cycle of violence will continue ad infinitum.

This partly explains why so many had little difficulty supporting Sinn Fein in the election, despite the partys long troubling relationship with the rule of law, and the way it treats the victims of murder and sexual abuse committed by the IRA.

While the herd of independent minds continue to stampede en masse after the latest shiny new moral outrage to present itself in an unfair capitalist world of inequality and injustice, they chose to ignore the heartbreak of Breege and Stephen Quinn, whose son was beaten to death by an IRA mob.

One would wonder how the same so-called snowflakes would react if the Quinns were living in Trumps America or Israel or South America: social media portals would crash under the weight of their indignation.

The fact that Sinn Fein politician Conor Murphy and party leader Mary Lou McDonald have conveniently forgotten the Quinns now that the election is over, and that Murphy is still refusing to say their son was not a criminal, should be the source of much soul-searching and introspection amongst the right-on luvvies.

If that isnt bad enough, how can the huge #MeToo following here in Ireland reconcile their support for the Shinners when everyone is aware of the plight of IRA rape victims such as Paudie McGahon and Mairia Cahill? In those cases, Sinn Fein deliberately attempted to bury the truth and prevent the crimes from being reported to the police.

And what do they think about the smear campaigns being directed against these victims by the Republican movement? Campaigns aimed at diminishing, demonising and silencing victims.

What about Sinn Feins determination to begin tinkering with the administration of justice in this country, particularly the abolition of the anti-mafia Special Criminal Court which, in these particularly violent times, is the most important weapon against the gangs and the terrorists?

If this sceptical generation were so easily duped by Mary Lous announcement that the party is to review the courts purpose, what did they make of how quickly the mask slipped and the displays of Provo triumphalism that saw chants of Up the Ra and jubilant declarations that they had brought down the Free State?

To put the Sinn Fein/IRA position on the Special Criminal Court in context  it would be a bit like a drug trafficker coming out of prison and getting involved in politics with the aim of abolishing the Drug Squad which nicked him.

The shadowy men behind Sinn Fein/IRAs long war strategy, who still pull the partys strings and dictate everything from the centre, probably always prayed for the coming of the gullible generation.

The confluence of conditions  including the poor performances of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael  when such large numbers of millennial voters were beguiled to disengage from their much-hyped moral values and turn their backs on the victims of murder and sexual abuse, must have the Provo politburo on its collective knees giving thanks.

But before this generation  which cares so much about climate action while flying without a thought  reaches for their keyboards or smartphones it is worth pointing out the fundamental fact of life that the whole world, and each and everyone of us in it, are hypocritical, contradictory and prejudiced.

None of us are infallible or perfect.

We are all human and as Gerry Adams declared in one of his more famous attempts to divert attention from his organisations outrages: We are all to blame.

But thanks to the social media revolution this new boom-time generation is more vociferous, moralistic, self-righteous and politically correct than the rest of us.

So theyll either have to suck it up, or fall back on the default position  more competitive outrage.
The Sudanese government and a coalition of rebel groups on Monday extended peace talks for another three weeks after missing a deadline for a final peace deal.

The Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) -- a coalition of nine rebel groups -- and Khartoum representatives signed a deal to keep negotiations going after failing to wrap up talks by February 15.

"Hopefully this will be the last extension for these talks," SRF deputy chair Yasir Arman told AFP.

Important steps have been made to "finalise a peace agreement," Arman said.

The peace talks, which began in South Sudan in October, aim to end conflicts in Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan, where rebels have fought bloody campaigns against marginalisation by Khartoum under ousted president Omar al-Bashir.

Hopes of a peace deal were raised after Sudan's transitional government, led by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, made ending conflict in these areas a priority.

So far the parties have agreed on a ceasefire, humanitarian access, land issues and the resettlement of those displaced by the conflicts.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


PARIS (Reuters) - French health minister Agnes Buzyn will run for Paris mayor after the previous ruling party candidate pulled out over a sexting scandal, party officials said on Sunday. Buzyn, a doctor who has been leading France's response to the coronavirus, had put her name forward, a source close to President Emmanuel Macron's LREM party told Reuters

PARIS (Reuters) - French health minister Agnes Buzyn will run for Paris mayor after the previous ruling party candidate pulled out over a sexting scandal, party officials said on Sunday.

Buzyn, a doctor who has been leading France's response to the coronavirus, had put her name forward, a source close to President Emmanuel Macron's LREM party told Reuters.

"Agnes Buzyn is deeply keen to get involved in Paris. She has convinced us," party member Mounir Mahjoubi, a former minister, said on Twitter.

Buzyn, 58, will have to reinvigorate a campaign blown off course when Benjamin Griveaux, one of Macron's closest lieutenants, pulled out of the race on Friday after it was alleged he sent sexual images to a woman.

Griveaux - one of the "Macron boys" group that helped propel the former investment banker into power in 2017 - said he and his family had been subjected to months of anonymous statements defaming him.

A Russian dissident artist, Pyotr Pavlensky, published screenshots of an online chat which he said was between Griveaux and a woman who is not his wife. Griveaux has not disputed that he sent the messages.

French politicians from all camps denounced the leak of private material, which many said constituted an unacceptable Americanisation of politics in France, where politicians' private lives have long been considered off limits.

(Reporting by Michel Rose and Caroline Pailliez; Editing by Toby Chopra and Andrew Heavens)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
The Congress on Monday described RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's remark that divorce cases were more in educated and affluent families as one that smacked of arrogance.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala condemned Bhagwat's remarks, saying it came from a "dogmatic mindset".

"Such a statement by the RSS chief is very unfortunate and needs to be condemned," Surjewala told reporters.

"Does the RSS chief want all people to become less educated?" the Congress spokesperson asked. "Dogmatic mindset is not good for society or for the ruling party. Such a statement smacks of arrogance and is not cultured."



Bhagwat had on Sunday said the cases of divorce were found more in "educated and affluent" families now as education and affluence brings arrogance, which results in families falling apart.

The RSS leader also said there was no alternative to a Hindu society in India.

"Nowadays the number of divorce cases have increased a lot. People fight over trifle issues. The cases of divorce are more in educated and affluent families, because with education and affluence comes arrogance, as a result of which families fall apart," Bhagwat was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the RSS.

"The society also falls apart because society is also a family," Bhagwat had said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Police catch fugitive fake nun hiding in convents to evade prison

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

A 47-year-old Italian woman who disguised herself as a Catholic nun and had been hiding out in convents to evade arrest for two years was finally arrested by police in northern Italy, according to reports.

The woman, who has not been named, fled Sicily in 2017 after being convicted of fraud by a court and sentenced to two years in prison, The Local reported, saying she was arrested from a Benedictine convent in Gallarate, north of Milan.

The convict, who changed her identity frequently, stayed in convents in the Lombardy and Piedmont regions.

Investigators said the woman called convents pretending to be a sister looking for help and claiming she was severely ill, according to Il Globo, which said the nun who reported her to the police got suspicious because the womans stories were full of contradictions.

The nuns at one of the convents where the fugitive stayed said she presented herself as the niece of one of their sisters. In another convent, she claimed to be a mother superior.

The woman was cooperative after she was taken to a police station but seemed confused about basic biographical details, according to The Guardian. Police found that she was carrying a stolen identity card, and later identified her as the person sentenced in Sicily and arrested her.

A native of Acqui Terme near Alessandria, she now faces fresh charges of claiming false identity as well.

In a similar incident in 2013, a 61-year-old drug dealer from Calabria, who had disguised himself as a priest, was caught importing cocaine from France in his car.
The JVM(P) of former Jharkhand chief minister Babulal Marandi merged with the BJP on Monday, giving stimulus to the saffron party smarting from defeat in the November-December 2019 state assembly polls.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, credited with BJP's phenomenal expansion as its president, was present at a well- attended public rally where he welcomed Marandi, a respectable tribal leader and the first chief minister of Jharkhand, back into the saffron party.

Shah also assured the tribal leader that he will get due respect and responsibility in the BJP.

"I am delighted that Babulal Marandi has returned to BJP. I was working for his return since 2014 when I became the party president," Shah told the gathering that cheered lustily.

Shah said after quitting the BJP over "personal and organisational" issues in 2006, Marandi became "a 'ghumantu' (wandering) leader, sharing the sorrow and happiness of the people of Jharkhand, setting an example of how to be among people without power, too".

"Today, he is back with lotus (BJP's election symbol) in hand. The BJP will now grow further in strength," he said.

Referring to the defeat in the assembly election, the home minister said, "Electoral win or loss is not BJP's goal. Its goal is the progress of the state. We worked hard when in power, we will work harder in the opposition. We will fight corruption, terrorism and naxalism with even greater vigour."



He also spoke about the Ayodhya dispute and withdrawal of special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Shah praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for resolving intractable Reang-Bru crisis and for the new Bodo accord.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ensured Kashmir becomes an integral part of India forever by scrapping articles 370 and 35(A) of the Constitution," he said.

The home minister said he was confident that the BJP will move forward and establish greater connect with the masses in Jharkhand under the triad of Marandi, Union tribal affairs minister Arjun Munda and former chief minister Raghubar Das.

He assured all leaders and workers of the JVM(P) who joined the BJP that they will feel at home and get the respect they deserve.

Marandi was the chief minister of Jharkhand from November 2000 to March 2003.

A four-time former MP, he gradually drifted away from the BJP and launched his own outfit-- Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) in 2006.

In his address, Marandi said his return to the BJP was not sudden and that leaders of the saffron party had been trying to persuade him to return since the time he floated the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) in 2006.

"PM Modi had sent an emissary to me during my visit to Kolkata in 2014 after my party lost both Lok Sabha and assembly elections but I refused. I was stubborn (ziddi). But I admit whatever I am today is because of the BJP," he said.

Marandi said he never hankered after power and position, and will accept whatever responsibility he given by the party.

He also briefly touched upon the issue of the contentious citizenship law, claiming "fear" was being spread about it by opposition parties.

"Our country is secular because of Hindutva and the BJP is its foremost proponent. Most parties now work for one family. If there is one worker-centric party, it's the BJP," he said.

The JVM(P) had won three seats in the 2019 assembly polls. Marandi, who also won, later sacked two MLAs-Pradip Yadav and Bandhu Tirkey- for hobnobbing with the Congress.

The JMM-Congress-RJD alliance had won 47 of the state's 81 seats, while the then ruling BJP, which ploughed a lonely furrow, bagged 25.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ansell has ramped up production of protective body suits at its Chinese factory and fast-tracked the importation to China of rubber gloves and masks in response to a surge in demand due to the coronavirus.

Ansell boss Magnus Nicolin said its factory in the Chinese province of Xiamen is considered a "priority" facility by local authorities, and the company had received help from Chinese authorities to get staff back to the factory after Chinese New Year.

Travel in China has been severely curtailed by restrictions, as authorities seek to combat the deadly coronavirus outbreak. The Ansell factory has about 600 staff.

Demand for productive suits has surged. Credit:AP

"We're now producing at full speed, or even actually higher than normal production rates. So we're quite pleased about that, especially in view of the fact that most plants in China are not even operating at the moment," he said.
Chandigarh, Feb 17 : The Punjab government will honour IX class student Amandeep Kaur for showing exemplary courage by saving four children in the Longowal school van tragedy.

This was announced on Monday by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who said Amandeep would be conferred the bravery award on Independence Day and the state government will sponsor her education.

The girl, accompanied by her father Satnam Singh and Congress leader Daman Thind Bajwa, met the Chief Minister at his official residence.

She shared with Amarinder Singh details of the incident that claimed lives of four minor children and her own role in rescuing the four kids from the burning van.

The Chief Minister also consoled Kuldeep Singh Bajwa, a member of the family that lost their children in the accident in Sangrur district on Saturday.
A court here sent Sharjeel Imam, arrested on sedition charge last month, to one day custody of Delhi Police on Monday in a separate case related to violent protests against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at New Friends Colony on December 15.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gurmohina Kaur gave the order after the police said that they want to quiz Imam, as an accused in the December 15 violence had alleged that that he was provoked by Imam's speeches. Imam has not been booked in this case.

Imam, who came into limelight during the ongoing protest in Shaheen Bagh against the amended Citizenship Act and the National Register of Citizens, was arrested from Bihar's Jehanabad on January 28 for allegedly making inflammatory speeches at the Jamia Millia Islamia University here and in Aligarh.

A case had been registered against him on sedition and other charges on January 26 in this regard.

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 last year, leaving nearly 60 people including students, cops and fire fighters injured.

Police used batons and teargas shells to disperse the violent mob. They entered the Jamia university campus, saying that rioters had taken shelter there. However, the Jamia students had denied that they were involved in the violence and had alleged police brutality.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) Chinmoy Biswal had said groups of people, who were coming from the Jamia side, gathered near New Friends' Colony and blocked the road. The protesters who were numbering around 1,500 did not pay heed to police appeals to clear the area.

The protest was being held against the contentious law which seeks to provide citizenship to non-Muslims religious minorities from three neighbouring countries who arrived in India to escape religious persecution before 2015.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The show must go on. Elton John was forced to cut short a gig in New Zealand after falling ill with pneumonia  but hell be back as soon as his voice heals. Daniel Craigs publicity tour of China has been scrapped because of the coronavirus  but hell be touring as much of the globe as possible to promote No Time to Die. Boris Johnson would no doubt dearly love to rest his voice, ditch his schedule and quarantine himself off in the Caribbean, but the PM has a mounting in-tray of problems to manage. He has to finalise the Budget, decide on a negotiating position for EU trade talks, and show hes on top of another flooding crisis. No time to slouch. Im Adam Forrest, and welcome to The Independents Inside Politics newsletter.

Inside the bubble

Our deputy political editor Rob Merrick on what to look out for today:
It was the sweetest homecoming of all for 96 Sydney-based Australian citizens and permanent residents who had been quarantined on Christmas Island for a fortnight after leaving China's Hubei province.

There were plenty of family members at the arrivals gate of Terminal 2, and although a lot of returnees sidestepped the media scrum, some were more than happy to talk about their experiences.

Yen Hoang, who works at the University of Western Sydney, said he would probably wait until next week before returning to work.

"It was a great experience, we feel a lot of gratitude for what people did for us. We had a lot of support."
A 33-year-old man was arrested for allegedly stealing high-end bikes in the national capital, police said on Monday.

Zacky Rex, a resident of Manipur, used to target people possessing Royal Enfield and other high-value motorcycles, they said.

According to the police, the accused used to deliver motorcycles from Delhi to Manipur through packers and movers services.

One Bhagat Singh, a resident of Lajpat Nagar here, reported on February 5 that around 6 am, he noticed two unknown persons in front of his house who tried to steal his bullet motorcycle.

He raised an alarm following which one of the accused was nabbed, while the other fled with his bike, police said.

"During interrogation, Rex disclosed the name of his associate as Kangabam Sanatomba, the kingpin of the gang. They used to target bullet motorcycles due to its higher value," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) R P Meena said.

The gang used to target motorcycles parked in residential areas of Delhi and NCR. They used to visit Delhi every month from Manipur and after stealing 10-15 motorcycles, they returned to Manipur to dispose them, the DCP said.

The gang used to supply the stolen motorcycles in Manipur through different packers and movers. Seven bullet motorcycles and lock breaking equipment were found with the accused, the DCP added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Paris, Feb 17 : France has warned Britain and the European Union (EU) of a fierce battle as they try to negotiate their post-Brexit relationship.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian predicted the two sides would "rip each other apart" as they strove for advantage in the negotiations.

He also said it would be tough for the UK to achieve its aim of agreeing a free trade deal by the end of the year.

The UK government said it wanted a deal based on "friendly co-operation between sovereign equals".

The UK formally left the EU two weeks ago but still trades like a member under a transition period which ends on December 31.

Speaking at a security conference in Munich on Sunday, Le Drian said the two sides were far apart on a range of issues, BBC reported.

He said, "I think that on trade issues and the mechanism for future relations, which we are going to start on, we are going to rip each other apart.

"But that is part of negotiations, everyone will defend their own interests." Le Drian, a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron, is the latest senior EU figure to warn that the negotiations will be difficult.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and chief negotiator Michel Barnier have both cast doubt on Boris Johnson's aim to reach a comprehensive agreement by the end of the year.

Some points of tension have already come into focus with the EU rebuffing Britain's call for financial services firms in the City of London to retain access to the single market even if the UK breaks away from European rules.

Britain Prime Minister Boris Johnson, however, has threatened to walk away from the talks if he doesn't get his way.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Made Anthony Iswara (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 17, 2020 14:43 694 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2064f7298 1 Business exports,imports,trade-balance,trade-deficit,BPS,Statistics-Indonesia,oil-and-gas Free

Indonesia recorded a US$864 million trade deficit in January on the back of plummeting oil and gas exports, Statistics Indonesia (BPS) announced on Monday.

The country recorded a total of $13.41 billion in exports in January, a 3.71 percent decrease year-on-year (yoy), while total imports fell 4.78 percent yoy to $14.28 billion.

Indonesia's oil and gas exports experienced the largest decline, falling 34.7 percent yoy in January to $805.9 million, resulting in a deficit of $1.18 billion, while the non-oil and gas sector booked a surplus of $317 million.

The government has implemented various policies, such as increasing the use of B30 [blended biodiesel], which we hope will create a surplus, BPS head Suhariyanto said in Jakarta.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo urged stakeholders to accelerate the implementation of the government's policy increase the biodiesel blend from 20 to 30 percent crude palm oil by January 2020 and up to 50 percent by the end of 2020. Such a policy is expected to reduce the countrys fossil fuel imports.

Indonesia recorded $167.53 billion in exports and $170.72 billion in imports last year, resulting in a trade deficit of $3.2 billion, lower than the $8.7 billion deficit recorded in 2018.
Tender Board, the independent regulator of Bahrain Government procurement activities, said a total of 182 tenders were awarded or launched in 2019 in implementation of the Government Action Plan for 2018-2019, including the GCC Development Programme.

This comes in line with the directives of HRH Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa to enhance infrastructure across the kingdom, stated Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Minister, Essam Khalaf.



Bahrain had awarded a total of 89 projects worth BD199.3 million ($525.5 million) in 2019. Of these, 44 were in the construction and maintenance sector, 23 in the sanitation sector, eight in the roads sector and 14 in the services sector.



Meanwhile, 93 tenders, with an estimated of cost BD106.6 million, were launched during the same year, including 14 in the roads sector, 27 in the sanitation sector, 41 in the construction and maintenance sector and 11 in the services sector, said the minister.



Khalaf pointed out that the Works Ministrys requests to finance a number of key service projects within the GCC Development Programme had been approved. These projects, he stated, are directly related to the lives of citizens and residents.



In this regard, 20 tenders had been awarded or launched within the GCC Development Programme, at an estimated cost of BD146.7 million, he added.

Meanwhile, the Tender Board said it had opened 16 bids related to six tenders for three purchasing authorities.

Of these, four were opened for Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA) and one each for Tatweer Petroleum and Bahrain Airport Company (BAC).



The Tatweer tender was for the supply of Lufkin Spares for five years, while the BAC tender was for supporting infrastructure for (BIA) Network & Communication Fiber Ring at Bahrain International Airport. Three applications were received for this tender, it added.



Bahrain Tender Board said the bidding process was attended by representatives of the companies participating in the tenders.



In line with the Tender Boards guidelines on competitiveness and fairness, the bids will be assessed on all relevant technical and financial criteria before being awarded to the best fit candidate, it added.-TradeArabia News Service
At least twenty two people, including 14 children and women were killed Friday in the village of Ntumbo, populated by the English-speaking minority in northwest Cameroon. The majority of children are under 5.

The opposition and local NGOs have accused the government and the military, who have been fighting Anglophone secessionist armed groups for three years, of being responsible for the killing.

On his Facebook page, lawyer Felix Agbor Mballa, president of the Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA), condemned the horrible murder of women and children ( ) by the state defense forces.

All testimony accuses the army, opponent Edith Kah Walla, presidential candidate in 2011, twitted.

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), at least 100 individuals were abducted by armed separatists in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon before the legislative and municipal elections of Feb. 9. The NGO accused the soldiers of new abuses.

The state security forces have not adequately protected civilians from threats from the separatists, but rather have committed further abuses against them during the same period, HRW stated.

The conflict has reportedly left more than 3,000 dead since 2017 and forced more than 700,000 people to flee their homes.

Armed separatists want the independence of the central African countrys two English-speaking regions, which they call Ambazonia.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.  A local church set up shop for a 10 a.m. service amidst the tents and campers inside turns 3 and 4 at Daytona International Speedway.

The service, which started promptly at 10 a.m. with a song, had some empty seats underneath its roadside tent. Three men wearing Trump 2020 hats strolled past, took a glance and kept on walking.

You really couldnt blame them. The real revival with race grand marshal President Donald Trump wasnt for another five hours.

   

NASCAR has long been friendly to the GOP and Republican presidents. Ronald Reagan attended the July 4 race at Daytona in 1984, a race that ended up as the final victory of Richard Pettys storied career. Reagan mingled throughout the race and after, even staying to have a post-race meal with drivers in the garage.

George W. Bush attended the Daytona 500 in 2004. That, like 2020 is for Trump, was a re-election year. Bush gave the command for drivers to start their engines and watched the first half of the race before heading to an event in Tampa.

What happened Sunday was NASCARs strongest political intermingling yet.

Trump flags have been omnipresent throughout the infield at Daytona since the presidents inauguration. This weekend, they multiplied. The only flag more popular than a Trump 2020 flag at Daytona was an American flag. And the most popular Trump flag was one that said no more bull---- below his last name.

[Rain postpones Daytona 500 to Monday]

For a president that sees the presidency as an extension of himself, the Trump flags flying in the ocean breeze with the American flags were undoubtedly a glorious site when he entered the track from the airport at approximately 1:20 p.m.

About an hour later, Trump addressed the crowd. Then he returned for the races opening ceremonies before giving the command and leading the field on a pace lap in the presidential limousine.

President Donald Trump speaks before the start of the Daytona 500. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Drivers, It was an honor to officially open this years Daytona 500 and drive the first Parade Lap with you, Trumps radio message to the 40 drivers in the field on the pace lap said. Thank you. You are the best in the world at what you do, and I want to wish you luck in todays Daytona 500. I hope you all have a fantastic race.



You should all be proud to be competing in this incredible event. The Daytona 500 is the biggest race in the world and all of America is watching. Give the fans a great show.



And to all the race fans. I love your passion for this sport. I hope you enjoy The Great American Race. God Bless you and God Bless the United States of America.

Story continues

As Trumps limo circled the track, he was greeted with a raucous ovation. Chants of USA, USA, USA and Four more years broke out, much like they would have at a Trump campaign rally.

   

When then-NASCAR CEO Brian France and assorted drivers appeared at a Trump rally in 2016, NASCAR said that Frances endorsement of the future president was a personal and private one and not one on behalf of the racing governing body.

Trump didnt see it that way. He said numerous times that had received the endorsement of NASCAR itself  an endorsement by France that came seven months after NASCAR moved the postseason banquets for the Truck Series and Xfinity Series from Trumps Doral, Florida, resort after pressure from Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis.

Born in Lebanon, the influential Lemonis had, like many others, taken issue with comments about immigrants by Trump at the start of his presidential candidacy. Had NASCAR kept the awards banquet at Doral, Lemonis said that no one from his company that sponsors the Truck Series would attend the event.

The Truck and Xfinity Series banquets are now in Charlotte. France, meanwhile, made his first public appearance at a NASCAR race Sunday since he was arrested in August 2018 on DWI and drug possession charges. He was spotted getting off Air Force One with the president and Donald Trump Jr. after the plane landed at the Daytona Beach International Airport just outside the speedway.

   

The presidents public schedule for Sunday had him leaving the track eight minutes before the race began. But after Trumps limousine led the field on a pace lap it turned into the infield and parked near the 500 Club building. It appeared Trump was going to stay for at least a few laps of green flag racing.

That didnt happen. Rain started falling at Daytona just before the race  moved back approximately 15 minutes for Trumps presence as the grand marshal  and the presidents motorcade left the track to head back to Air Force One not long after the rain delay commenced.

President Donald Trump's limo takes a lap. (Saul Loeb/Pool Photo via AP)

While he didnt see any racing in-person, Trump certainly got the visuals that he wanted. Air Force One landing on the Daytona airport runway just behind the backstretch is a tremendous sight. The footage of the new Beast presidential limousine leading the field before the race will be played in perpetuity. And Trump got the cheers he wanted too. Since he heard boos at the World Series, Trump has been to sporting events with fans that generally lean politically conservative.

NASCAR, however, didnt get what it wanted. Or at least all of what it wanted, anyway. The energy from Trumps presence was quickly washed away with two rain delays sandwiching just 20 laps of racing. The fans that went through long and detailed security procedures just to attend the race and were standing in their seats for Trumps laps around the track were soon running for cover from the rain.

   

As television ratings and interest have fallen over the last decade-plus, NASCAR is searching for ways it can find new fans while also keeping the ones that it currently has.

The move to have Trump attend Sundays race to such fanfare clearly was an attempt to satiate a fanbase that leans strongly to the right while also ginning up some mainstream attention. But its also a move that has a potential downside when it comes to attaining the new fans that NASCAR so desperately craves.

Its no secret that Trump is the most polarizing president in modern American history. Those that support him do so passionately, and likely had no problem with three-hour security lines at the track if they were there or the pageantry they saw on their screens if they were watching from somewhere else.

But the dislike for this president is sizable too. To many, NASCARs feting of the president will spark the good ol boy southern stereotypes that the sanctioning body has worked to distance itself from. Or it could have even turned off the segment of fans  however small  that dont identify as Republican.

NASCAR isnt in a position to push any fans away in 2020. When Bush attended the race in 2004 he did so to less fanfare and with an approval rating hovering above 50 percent. Most importantly for NASCAR, nearly 18 million people tuned into at least part of the race.

Trumps approval rating has spiked among his supporters in the wake of his impeachment acquittal and is just a couple points lower than Bushs was 16 years ago. But just 9.3 million watched the 2019 Daytona 500  a 47 percent audience decline from that 2004 race. Trumps appearance Sunday was undoubtedly seen by far, far fewer people live than Bushs was in 2004.

That can be both good and bad. The stage NASCAR gave Trump wasnt as popular as the one Bush got in 2004. But fewer people might have seen Trump and turned the channel to something else.

Through the first three years of his presidency, Trump has sought to keep his base energized and happy instead of attempting to build a broader base of support. Sunday, NASCAR took a page out of his playbook and tried something similar. Making an attention-loving president the center of the show in a heavily-red area of a state he carried in 2016 was a move that guaranteed immediate results.

But like with Trumps presidency and re-election strategy, it still remains to be seen how NASCARs embrace of him will play for a sanctioning body that hopes its Cup Series has stopped hemorrhaging viewers and fans. Maybe it backfired and turned potential fans off. Maybe the embrace of Trump will have no impact at all and the rain-delayed race will diminish the appearances impact.

On Sunday, one thing was for certain, however. It sure felt good for the drivers and NASCAR power brokers who got to mingle with the president before the race and the thousands of fans in attendance who cheered him on.

      

Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.

More from Yahoo Sports:
Two Journal staff writers have taken on new roles on our business desk as of late last month.

Stephen Hamway, who for about a year has covered retail and real estate, has shifted to reporting on economic development, health care and tourism in Albuquerque and across the state.

Pilar Martinez, who since 2016 has covered weekend breaking news, has taken over the retail/real estate beat.

Hamway moved to Albuquerque from Bend, Oregon, last spring, where he spent four years covering business and environmental issues for the citys daily newspaper. He grew up next door in Arizona and received his masters degree in mass communications from Arizona State University.

Martinez is an Albuquerque native who graduated from Highland High School and completed a bachelors degree in political science at the University of New Mexico in 2018. Before joining the Journal, she worked for a media group in Washington D.C. covering Congress.

News tips are welcomed by both reporters. Hamway can be reached at shamway@abqjournal.com, and Martinez at pmartinez@abqjournal.com.
A 40-year-old woman chartered accountant was duped of Rs 95,000 by fraudsters when she was updating her know your customer (KYC) details on an e-commerce payment system.

Complainant Bindu Bhardwaj of Sector 24, Panchkula, told police that on February 11, she was updating her KYC details on Paytm to get a FASTag for her car when she received a link on her mobile number.

Police said that as per the complainant, she found a phone number from Google for assistance and made a call on it for the purpose. Bhardwaj said the person on other side of the phone asked about her mobile number linked with the bank account. As I shared my mobile number, the person sent me a link and asked to click it. He also asked me to forward the link on another number given by him after clicking it, she told the police.

Investigating official in the case, assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Narender Kumar, said that after the woman forwarded the link on the mobile number given by the accused, he asked her if she had Google Pay installed in her mobile. When the woman told him that she had Google Pay, she suddenly started receiving messages of different transactions from her bank account. The woman has submitted that she received messages on her number about six withdrawals of different amounts, totalling to Rs 95,000. She then approached a branch of the bank concerned and got her account blocked, the ASI said.

CASE REGISTERED

Police said they have initiated an investigation in the matter and a cyber cell team is reviewing the fraudulent transactions and the mobile numbers used by the tricksters. A case under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code was registered at Sector 5 police station.

In a similar incident on February 5, a 65-year-old man of Sector 20, Panchkula, was duped of Rs 25,000 after a fraudster contacted him to update his Paytm accounts KYC details. In another incident on January 24, an accounts officer of Haryana education department was duped of Rs 1.15 lakh after tricksters contacted him to update his Paytm KYC details.
Swarms of desert locusts fly above trees in Katitika village, Kitui county, Kenya, on Friday, 31 January 2020. Photo: Ben Curtis / AP Photo

By Madeleine Stone

14 February 2020

(National Geographic)  East Africa is in the midst of a crisis that sounds like something out of the Book of Exodus: A plague of locusts is spreading across the region, threatening the food supply of tens of millions. City-sized swarms of the dreaded pests are wreaking havoc as they descend on crops and pasturelands, devouring everything in a matter of hours. The scale of the locust outbreak, which now affects seven East African countries, is like nothing in recent memory.

The insects behind the mayhem are desert locusts, which, despite their name, thrive following periods of heavy rainfall that trigger blooms of vegetation across their normally arid habitats in Africa and the Middle East. Experts say a prolonged bout of exceptionally wet weather, including several rare cyclones that struck eastern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula over the last 18 months, are the primary culprit. The recent storminess, in turn, is related to the the Indian Ocean Dipole, an ocean temperature gradient that was recently extremely pronounced, something thats also been linked to the devastating bushfires in eastern Australia.

Unfortunately, some experts say it may be a harbinger of things to come as rising sea surface temperatures supercharge storms and climate change tips the scales in favor of circulation patterns like the one that set the stage for this years trans-oceanic disasters.

If we see this continued increase in the frequency of cyclones, says Keith Cressman, senior locust forecasting officer with the Food and Agriculture Organization, I think we can assume there will be more locust outbreaks and upsurges in the Horn of Africa. []

Map showing the progression of locust swarms in East Africa, 2018-2020. Graphic: National Geographic

The worst of the outbreak may be yet to come. The fall rains, Cressman says, tipped the situation into something not only very usual but very dangerous by effectively enabling at least another two generations of locust breeding.

By June 2020, he fears the desert locusts will have increased their numbers 400-fold compared with today, triggering widespread devastation to crops and pastures in a region thats already extremely vulnerable to famine. Over 13 million people in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia experience severe acute food insecurity, according to the FAO, while another 20 million are on the brink.

Its all about timing, Cressman says, explaining that most crops are planted at the beginning of East Africas first rainy season, in March or April. When that rainy season starts and farmers are ready to plant, that will coincide with this new generation of swarms. [more]

A plague of locusts has descended on East Africa. Climate change may be to blame.

A swarm of desert locusts flies up into the air from crops in Kenya on Friday, 31 January 2020. Photo: Ben Curtis / AP Photo

Hundreds of billions of locusts  fueled by conflict and climate change  are swarming East Africa

By Max Bearak

12 February 2020

BORENA ZONE, Ethiopia (The Washington Post)  From a distance, it looks like billowing smoke. But as it nears, the swarm of locusts comes into focus: billions upon billions of them, thick as a blizzard, uncountable as raindrops, a jaw-dropping procession of the ravenous creatures of biblical infamy, flailing and flapping in the air, blocking out the sun like a bad omen.

The pests, known and feared by the worlds most ancient civilizations, are invading southern Ethiopia and neighboring parts of Kenya in numbers not seen in generations.

They breed freely in areas outside government control in conflict-ravaged Yemen and Somalia, and they reach their voracious adolescence while migrating west toward the feeding grounds of lusher inland Africa. Unseasonable rain, linked to a climate-change-driven event in the Indian Ocean, has turned the region into a buffet for locusts. []

A major humanitarian crisis looms. Locusts can decimate cropland, crippling farms and leaving markets empty and livestock with nothing to eat. Around 19 million people already face high levels of food insecurity in East Africa.

The Washington Post traveled to southern Ethiopia, which is facing its worst locust outbreak in generations after an uncommon weather pattern in the Indian Ocean caused relentless rains across East Africa. Posted on 12 February 2020. Video: The Washington Post

Our only option is to try to kill them all, said Bayeh Mulatu, a pest control expert at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopias capital. A similar surge of locusts in northern Ethiopia in 1954 devoured nearly 100 percent of green-leaf plant cover and, along with a drought, caused a year-long famine, Bayeh said.

Despite technological improvements, the prospects of control remain slim. Hundreds of swarms have hatched in the sandy soil of Yemen and Somalias coastal plains, where little to nothing is being done to control them. Ethiopia has only three operational planes to spray insecticides, and Kenya has five. Meanwhile, the biggest of the swarms are getting closer every day to Ethiopias breadbasket in the Great Rift Valley, where smaller swarms are already stripping some farms.

There is no such thing as containment of locusts, Bayeh said. There is only control. Only killing.

A swarm of locusts descends on Enziu, Kenya, on 24 January 2020. Video: Agencia EFE / TIME

The United Nations says $76 million is needed immediately to increase spraying capacity.

The funding is required by, actually, now, said FAO chief Qu Dongyu at a recent news briefing. If after April the money has come, its somehow useless.

Ethiopia is likely to be hit the hardest by the infestation, which began last June but is only now reaching epic proportions. While giant swarms have been reported in Kenya, and smaller ones in Djibouti, Eritrea, Sudan and Somalia, Ethiopia is the only country among them where adolescent or gregarious swarms are expected to descend en masse on cropland. The locusts moved into Uganda this week and may move into South Sudan, the United Nations warned.

Our resources are not enough, said Zebdewos Salato, director of plant protection at Ethiopias Agriculture Ministry. Soon we may see the locusts passing over the whole country, into the major crop-growing regions.

[more]

Hundreds of billions of locusts  fueled by conflict and climate change  are swarming East Africa

Farmers look across as swarms of pink desert locusts create a thick blanket covering trees on their farmland in Kenya on Friday, 31 January 2020. Photo: Ben Curtis / AP Photo

Locust swarms and climate change

6 February 2020 (UNEP)  East African nations have been battling with swarms of desert locusts since the beginning of 2020. In what is being called the worst outbreak the region has seen in decades, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations warns that rising numbers of desert locusts present an extremely alarming threat to food security and livelihoods in the Horn of Africa.

According to the organizations recent update on the desert locust upsurge, the current situation may be further worsened by new breeding that will produce more locust infestations in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia and possibly further afield.

We interviewed Richard Munang, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) expert on climate and Africa, on the relationship between environmental factors, climate change and the locust emergency.

A swarm of desert locusts feeds on crops in Katitika village, Kitui county, Kenya, in 2020. Photo: Sven Torfinn / FAO

What is the relationship between locusts and and climate change?

During quiet periodsknown as recessionsdesert locusts are usually restricted to the semi-arid and arid deserts of Africa, the Near East and South-West Asia that receive less than 200 mm of rain annually. In normal conditions, locust numbers decrease either by natural mortality or through migration.

However, the last five years have been hotter than any other since the industrial revolution and since 2009. Studies have linked a hotter climate to more damaging locust swarms, leaving Africa disproportionately affected20 of the fastest warming countries globally are in Africa. Wet weather also favours multiplication of locusts. Widespread, above average rain that pounded the Horn of Africa from October to December 2019 were up to 400 per cent above normal rainfall amount. These abnormal rains were caused by the Indian Ocean dipole, a phenomenon accentuated by climate change. [more]

Locust swarms and climate change
ELYRIA, Ohio -- Ladies who lunch (and tea) gathered at the Lorain County Historical Societys annual Valentine Tea at The Hickories in Elyria on Feb. 9. The tea this year was subtitled Petticoat Justice. Together, about 225 women took the plunge back into the early 20th century and the fight to finally win womens right to vote.

The Hickories was the perfect backdrop for the walk back into history. The house, owned by Arthur Garford --an inventor, entrepreneur and political wannabe -- was built over a two-year period from 1894-1896. The mansion was named for the shagbark hickory trees on the property on Washington Avenue, a dirt road at the time.

The large house was the first in Elyria to have electricity, central heating and running water, according to the historical society. The windows are made of imported sheet crystal and stained glass. The dark, bulky, masculine wood inside the house remains.

Cynthia Murnyack-Czarnecki, of Avon, dressed for the part of Rose Moriarty, the local deputy auditor who held several positions in the 1800s Elyria city government and became known as the Petticoat Mayor of Elyria. (Linda Gandee, special to cleveland.com)

The house was deserted for 15 years after Garford died in 1933.

He left a rich legacy as a friend of President Theodore Roosevelt, running an automobile business that manufactured Studebaker-Garford cars, organizing the Elyria Chamber of Commerce and serving as director of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.

The house was operated as a boarding house for 25 years, starting in 1948, before finally being purchased by the historical society as a museum in 1975.

For the look-back at the time of womens suffrage, the women attending the tea waved flags as womens rights reformers in costume told stories of their restricted lives and their activities working for womens rights in the mid-1800s as the movement was gaining momentum. But the seeds of that struggle extended long before, even back to the 1700s.

As the women poured tea from lovely teapots and dined on finger sandwiches and dainty desserts, they read printed cards at their tables with mini-biographies of the women who fought for the right to vote.

Many of the women of the time died before they were able to witness the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution being passed by Congress on June 4, 1919, and ratified on Aug. 18, 1920. According to the historical society, The 19th amendment guarantees all American women the right to vote. Achieving this milestone required a lengthy and difficult struggle; victory took decades of agitation and protest.

The Lorain County Historical Society has much to offer for the education of todays girls and women on the history of the struggle. Tours of The Hickories at 509 Washington Ave. are also available. For more information, visit www.lchs.org, email lchs@lchs.org or call 440-322-3341.

An exhibit on the centennial of womens right to vote is running through the end of the year at the History Center down the street from The Hickories, at 284 Washington Ave.

Read more from the Sun Sentinel.
A memorial stone with the inscription "PS 752, 08.01.2020" was unveiled on February 17 at Boryspil International Airport outside the Ukrainian capital.

Ukrainian officials have unveiled a monument at Kyiv's international airport to commemorate the victims of a Ukrainian airliner that crash in Iran last month.

A memorial stone with the inscription "PS 752, 08.01.2020" was unveiled on February 17 at Boryspil International Airport outside the Ukrainian capital, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported.

Read alsoIran not to hand over black boxes from UIA's downed plane to outside governments

The Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) Boeing 737-800 crashed on January 8 after taking off from Tehran's primary international airport, killing all 176 people aboard. Three days after the tragedy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) admitted that Flight PS752 had been shot down "unintentionally" by the country's air defenses, amid heightened tensions in the region.

The ceremony was attended by relatives of the victims, as well as Ukraine's Foreign Minister Vadym Prystayko, the secretary of the Ukrainian Security Service, Oleksiy Danilov, and UIA President Yevhen Dyhne.

Representatives of other countries which lost their citizens in the crash  Afghanistan, Britain, Canada, Germany, Iran, and Sweden  were also present.

Addressing reporters, Prystayko said the investigation into the crash was still underway.

"The Prosecutor General's Office addressed the Iranian side with a request to create a joint investigation group which will result in punishing all those guilty  not only the person who pressed the button," he said.
A former UUP leader has blamed unionist sectarianism for driving him from office as he urged unionism to wake up to the existential threat facing it.

Mike Nesbitt compared unionism to a frog sitting in a pot of water unaware of the threat to its life as the temperature gradually rises.

Mr Nesbitt said unionists needed to stop disregarding the importance of human rights and start thinking about how to tackle sectarianism within Northern Ireland society.

The Strangford Assembly member was addressing the launch of a new report on sectarianism at Parliament Buildings in Stormont.

"If we tackle sectarianism, we tackle one of the most toxic legacies of the Troubles." - @mikenesbittni speaking at the launch of Sectarianism: The Key Facts. He also discussed how Unionism can benefit from embracing NI's growing diversity. pic.twitter.com/GBgWvKXVTC  EqualityCoalition (@EqualityCoal) February 17, 2020

Sectarianism: The Key Facts was commissioned by the Equality Coalition  an alliance of non-governmental organisations convened by the public service union Unison and human rights organisation, the Committee on the Administration of Justice.

Mr Nesbitt quit as UUP leader in 2017 after a disappointing Assembly election.

Some attributed his partys poor performance to Mr Nesbitts campaign pledge to transfer his second preference vote to the nationalist SDLP as he urged voters to back a middle-ground powersharing coalition.

Addressing Mondays event at Stormont, Mr Nesbitt recalled as a child being driven by his father to the hills around Belfast to watch sectarian disorder that saw Catholics and Protestants burned from their homes.

A more recent memory is a couple of years ago when I was leader of the Unionist party and I said I would give a preference vote in the 2017 election to the SDLP and, figuratively, I was burned out of office by some rather sectarian reaction from the unionist community.

My message, completely thinking from the unionist perspective, to unionists is wake-up.

Mr Nesbitt said the old reality of a Protestant majority in Northern Ireland was gone.

Mike Nesbitt announces his resignation as UUP leader in 2017 (Liam McBurney/PA)

He said the region was no longer the binary Protestant or Catholic  but was instead an increasingly diverse society.

Mr Nesbitt, who co-sponsored the report launch at Stormont with SDLP MLA Colin McGrath, then referenced a story he had read recently about how a certain species of frog reacts when in a pot of warming water.

The characteristics of the frog is if you put it in a pan of cold water and slowly and really slowly bring the water to the boil the frog dies because it doesnt realise that the environment around it is changing in a manner that represents an existential threat to its existence, he said.

And I think and fear that unionism sometimes is that frog.

We need to be aware that things are changing. We need to stop disregarding the importance of human rights and we need to think about how we tackle sectarianism.

Mr Nesbitt said one of the most effective ways to tackle sectarianism would be the creation of a single education system.

If you are mixing children from the ages of three or four every day you are giving them an inoculation against sectarianism.

And if we can tackle sectarianism we can tackle one of the most toxic legacies of our Troubles.

There is "a long legacy of sectarian decision making" in Northern Ireland" - Dr Robbie McVeigh, who is launching his new research report, Sectarianism: The Key Facts, at Stormont today. He argues for the effective equality proofing of decisions going forwards. pic.twitter.com/2UhoPCwzAE  EqualityCoalition (@EqualityCoal) February 17, 2020

The 50-page report was penned by independent researcher Dr Robbie McVeigh.

Dr McVeigh said there was a need to consider the problem in the context of Northern Irelands changing demographic landscape.

He said the region was no longer characterised by a Protestant majority and Catholic minority and was instead a place of three minorities  Protestant, Catholic and increasing number who identify as neither.

He said disparities between Protestants and Catholics still existed in many areas across the public sector  expressing particular concern about stalled efforts to make the PSNI more representative of the community it serves.

He urged authorities in Northern Ireland to learn from an initiative undertaken by former prime minister Theresa May when she ordered an audit of all government departments to establish areas where racial disparities existed.

Dr McVeigh said departments were then challenged to either explain the disparities or take action to address them.

Declan Kearney said sectarianism was the elephant in the room across society in the region (Liam McBurney/PA)

Stormont Junior Minister Declan Kearney also addressed the event. He insisted the executive was committed to tackling the poison of sectarianism.

Sectarianism remains endemic within northern society and in my view it is at the very crux of all our political, social and community divisions, he said.

Sectarianism isnt some kind of abstract concept  it is omnipresent.

In many ways, it is our elephant in the room.
Karnataka Deputy Chief



Minister Laxman Savadi, who was BJP candidate, has been declared elected to the state Legislative Council after bypoll for one MLC seat was held on Monday, officials said.

While Savadi got 113 votes, his opponent B R Anil Kumar, who had announced his retirement from the contest at the last moment, did not get any vote.

Kumar, a Congressman, who had filed his nomination with the support of JD(S) leaders as an independent candidate, had on Saturday announced his decision to "retire" from the contest.

Despite Kumars pulling away from the contest, election was held as he did not withdraw his nomination before the scheduled date of February 10, and the contestants names were already gazetted.

Congress which had not fielded any candidate for the bypoll did not take part in the voting, so did JD(S) after Kumar pulling away from the contest.

However, senior JD(S) legislator G T Devegowda, who has several times in the recent past openly expressed his differences with party leadership, allegedly voted in favour of Savadi, despite legislature party meeting's decision not to take part in the voting.

G T Devegowda said, I have voted, cant say who I have vote for.

Reacting to this, JD(S) floor leader and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said, "The door was open for him to go wherever he wants, lets see where he goes."



Why should I expel (G T Devegowda), he can go wherever he wants, door is open. Why discuss about him... why did we call JDLP meeting? Despite him getting message about the meeting, instead of attending it, he was with another legislature party leader discussing on various things, and voted in favour of the Minister, he added.

The bypolls was necessitated, with a seat falling vacant, following the election of one of the council member Rizwan Arshad of Congress to legislative assembly, during the December bypoll.

This MLC bypoll was crucial for Savadi, who was not the member of assembly or council.

He could have only continued in office as non- legislator Minister for six months, and that tenure was to end on February 19.

Thanking BJP leadership, Savadi expressed his gratitude to BJP MLAs, independents and other party legislators who voted in his favour.

This win has given me boost to work for the party and the government with honesty, he added.

Savadi who had lost from Athani in 2018 assembly polls, had sulked after being denied ticket to contest from there in December bypolls, as BJP as per the agreement fielded Mahesh Kumthalli, who defected from Congress in favour of the party and faced disqualification.

The party then assured him an MLC seat and promised that he continue as deputy chief minister, after which he worked for Kumthallis victory in the bypoll.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 26-year-old woman who spent five days alone and lost in the bush has miraculously been found alive.

Yang Chen went missing on February 12 from the Tallebudgera Valley, on the outskirts of the Gold Coast, during a walk with a friend.

When the man realised she was no longer behind him, he raised the alarm and a frantic search began.

Yang Chen went missing from the Tallebudgera Valley, on the outskirts of the Gold Coast - she was found five days later

She was found barefoot perched on a 50-metre gorge less than a kilometre from where she went missing on Monday

The search was repeatedly suspended due to treacherous weather.

But after more than five days in the dense forest, Ms Chen was found barefoot perched on a 50-metre gorge less than a kilometre from where she went missing at 11am on Monday.

She had spent four nights sleeping inside a large plastic sack she found, which was understood to protect bananas in the area.

All she ate for five days was a single berry from a tree, which she spat straight out after discovering its bitter taste.

Ms Chen was taken to Robina Hospital for medical treatment for scratches and malnutrition, but was otherwise unharmed.

Ms Chen was taken to Robina Hospital for medical treatment for scratches and malnutrition

Ms Chen told Courier Mail she saw search crews three days ago, but due to the thick forest waterfalls they couldn't hear her.

'She just kept saying thank you, thank you,' said a rescuer when she was found.

Police were concerned they would be finding Ms Chen's body.

'I had that unfortunate feeling in my stomach that we weren't going to find her alive,' Acting Senior-Sergeant Mitch Gray, of Gold Coast Water Police, said.

'I've got to be honest, I had knots in my stomach, I really did. Having a win, it's nice for everyone involved.'

He said divers risked their lives to scale the rock ledge to save Ms Chen and it was one of the toughest searches of the year.

Senior Sergeant Gray said the man Ms Chen had been with felt extremely guilty about her going missing.

He said she was very dehydrated but would be fine once she was treated in hospital.

Ms Chen is in a stable condition in hospital.

Senior Sergeant Gray said the man Ms Chen had been with felt extremely guilty about her going missing. He said she was very dehydrated but would be fine once she was treated in hospital
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently Published Report on "Trauma Implants Market Size, Share, Growth and Forecast, 2019 - 2026": Acumen Research & Consulting

Get Free Report Sample Pages for Better understanding @ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/request-sample/1763

North America dominated the global trauma implants market in the year 2018. The region has experienced the potential growth owing to the presence of trauma implants companies such as Smith & Nephew, Zimmer Biomet, Conformis, Orthofix Medical Inc., and Acumed LLC among others. The presence of a large customer base along with favorable reimbursement policies is additionally accelerating the regional market growth. Moreover, stringent government regulations regarding implant treatment and growing number of laboratories and clinic centers are expected to enhance the market growth in the global trauma implants market in future. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) require all biopharmaceutical products and vaccines to undergo stringent testing to ensure the product is safe and free of contaminants.

Growing prevalence of such chronic diseases further expected to rise the demand for trauma implantsin North America. The Europe region is expected to exhibit a second-largest share in the trauma implants market. R&D Investments in replacement jointsand growing investment in medical device industry, growing number of bone replacement treatment in countries, such as Germany, the UK, France, Spain, and Italy, are expected to enhance the market growth in the global trauma implants market during the forecast.

Asia-Pacific region is expected to exhibit highest CAGR in the trauma implants market. The rapid growth in the urbanization, growing healthcare industry in developing countries, and liberalization of foreign direct investment in the medical device sector are the major driving factor for the region in the global market. Moreover, the rising chronic diseases population and growing awareness regarding treatment options increases its dominance in the global trauma implants market in future.

View Detail Information with Complete TOC @ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/trauma-implants-market

Growing demand for trauma implants in various applications, increase demand for new products and medical devices in healthcare industry across the globe and rising number of pharmaceutical and clinic firmsare the main drivers for the market growth of the global trauma implants market over the forecast period. Furthermore, supportive government investment in life science and growing number of laboratory and research centers further grows the demand for trauma implantsover the forecast the period. Moreover, technological advancement and increase in the number of applications, and availability of advanced healthcare facilities in developing countries are expected to enhance the market size. This also expected to open investment opportunities in the global market for the manufacturers in the coming years. However, the high cost associated with the research and development, stringent regulatory standards, risks associated for skilled professionals, time consuming approval process are expected to hamper the growth of the global trauma implants market during the forecast period.

Internal trauma fixation devices segment have dominated the product type segment in the year 2018 and the segment is projected to maintain its dominance over the forecast period from 2019 to 2026. The product type segment further classified intointernal trauma fixation devices, craniomaxillofacial fixation devices, and implantable trauma stimulators. Several guidelines and recommendations issued by regulatory authorities and escalating demand for intointernal trauma fixation devicesin bone replacement further expected to drive the demand for the segment. The manufacturers such asWright Medical Group N.V., Smith & Nephew, Zimmer Biomet, and Stryker Corporation are the mainly investing in the development of intointernal trauma fixation devicesin implants, which expected the lead the market in the coming years.

Related Reports

Healthcare Business Intelligence Market  https://finance.yahoo.com/news/healthcare-business-intelligence-market-value-163900949.html

Medical Affairs Outsourcing Market  https://finance.yahoo.com/news/medical-affairs-outsourcing-market-size-143000816.html

Telemedicine Cart Market - https://finance.yahoo.com/news/telemedicine-cart-market-size-hit-150010649.html

Hospital segment dominated the trauma implants market on the basis of end user in the year 2018. The major factors that are driving the growth of this segment are growing demand for implants in hospitals and growing number of hospitals drives the consumption of implants across the globe. This expected to enhance the dominance of the hospital in the global market over the forecast period.

Some of the leading competitors are Acumed LLC, Aesculap, Inc.  a B. Braun company, Wright Medical Group N.V., Stryker, DePuySynthes Companies, Wright Medical Group N.V., Smith & Nephew, Zimmer Biomet, Conformis, and Orthofix Medical Inc.

Some of the key observations regarding trauma implants industry include:

In March 2019 , Stryker Corporation launched new knee with less pain. This new products helps the patient with less need for in-patient physical therapy, improved knee flexion and soft tissue protection, and less need for opiate analgesics.

, Stryker Corporation launched new knee with less pain. This new products helps the patient with less need for in-patient physical therapy, improved knee flexion and soft tissue protection, and less need for opiate analgesics. In September 2018 , DePuySynthes Companies announced opening of new scientific laboratory in Singapore . This expansion of new laboratory focuses on developing new implants and enhance customer base.

, DePuySynthes Companies announced opening of new scientific laboratory in . This expansion of new laboratory focuses on developing new implants and enhance customer base. In October 2018 , DePuySynthes Companies signed partnership agreement with Ortho Development Corporation. The partnership focuses on new implant development and other primary knee development.

Request for [email protected] https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/request-customization/1763

The report is readily available and can be dispatched immediately after payment confirmation.

Buy this premium research [email protected] https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/buy-now/0/1763

If you would like to place an order or have any questions, please feel free to contact at [email protected] | +1 407 915 4157 OR +1 408 900 9135

About Us

Acumen Research and Consulting (ARC) is a global provider of market intelligence and consulting services to information technology, investment, telecommunication, manufacturing, and consumer technology markets. ARC helps investment communities, IT professionals, and business executives to make fact based decisions on technology purchases and develop firm growth strategies to sustain market competition. Among the industries served include aerospace and defense, information and communication technology (ICT), semiconductor and electronics, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, chemicals, advanced materials, banking, finance services and insurance (BFSI), and others.

Our collective industry experience of over 100 years has helped us to offer appropriate market information and our global reach and regional connects ensures appropriate insights into regional markets to guarantee apt delivery of information.

Our regional market intelligence helps our clients to identify potential opportunities and develop growth strategies across regions and countries. Our services are geared towards offering best market research to our clients.

Contact Us:

Mr. Frank Wilson

Acumen Research and Consulting

17890, Castleton St #218

Rowland Heights

CA 91748 United States

Tel: +1-407-915-4157 OR +1-408-900-9135

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com

SOURCE Acumen Research and Consulting
Jadavpur University Vice- Chancellor Suranjan Das has appealed to all stakeholders of the institute to "remain calm and maintain peace" during students' union polls on February 19.

Das, in a statement issued recently, expressed hope that the "long-standing tradition of cooperation and harmony on university campus would be upheld" on the day of elections.

"Our students have been at the forefront of various movements for social justice, awareness and equality....

"Another matter of pride for all of us has been the calm, orderly and peaceful way in which students' union polls have been conducted at our university, setting an example for other institutes of higher across India," Das said in the letter, made available to media on Monday.

He called upon all members of the university - students, teachers, researchers, non-teaching staff, officers and others - to work together to "preserve the spirit of democracy and the sanctity of the great institution".

"Students of Jadavpur University have showed that democracy cannot function in an environment of violence or intimidation... the atmosphere that has prevailed during and after previous elections in the university has remained a testimony to this," the VC stated.

Students' union polls would be held at the state university after a gap of three years.

A teacher at the varsity said the appeal by the VC assumed significance amid heightened tension on the campus, with the RSS-affiliated ABVP and the CPI(M)-backed SFI accusing each other of trying to thwart their campaigns by tearing down posters and intimidating supporters.

Despite repeated attempts, Das, however, did not respond to phone calls.

The ABVP, for the first time, has fielded candidates for several 'general' category seats and eight central panel posts -- four in arts and four in engineering faculties.

State unit secretary of the ABVP, Saptarshi Sarkar, said, "The varsity students are fed up with SFI's politics of gherao and frequent demonstrations on the campus, disrupting academic activities. They will vote for our candidates in large numbers, this time."



The SFI, which has put up candidates for all eight central panel posts and 40 general seats, exuded confidence that it would win the polls by a huge margin.

Debraj Debnath, an SFI leader at JU, said the students at the "university would re-elect SFI candidates - who stand for secularism and democratic values".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip is Samsungs hottest new flip phone and while the latter part of this might remind you of 2005, the phone is every bit 2020. Samsung (and Motorola with the Razr) has used cutting edge technology to bring back a classic form factor.

Weve got our hands on a Mirror Purple retail unit of the Galaxy Z Flip and have been getting an idea of what its like to use as a daily driver. Exactly how does a smartphone with a clamshell form-factor work differently than the regular candy bar design weve settled on in the last decade - here's what a day with the Z Flip was like as we start work on our review.

The Galaxy Z Flip is all about its design. When folded, its far more compact than any modern smartphone, making it far more pocketable. Thus, the need for an external display on this kind of phone is crucial. Bringing back memories of a decade ago, the external screen lets you check who is calling, see missed notifications, and even shoot photos although that last bit is a little challenging.

The opening and closing actions of the hideaway hinge is great, but it has far more resistance than your average flip phone from the last decade. It will take some practice to open it in a single move. You kind of need to cock your wrist back as you break the magnetic seal between the two halves, and then flick your wrist forward with just enough force to get the hinge to reach the fully open position.

The Galaxy Z Flips external screen is behind the reflective piece of glass so you might miss it at first glance. Still it supports swiping gestures, so you can even do stuff such as switching cameras.

This sounds great in theory, but in practice it is a slim screen, so the viewfinder is only going to help you make sure your face(s) are in frame. However you are using a very slim screen to capture a square aspect ratio photo so framing is never going to be ideal. Perhaps this is something Samsung should address with a software update by offering more settings for shooting selfies with the external screen.

Also, since you have to flip the phone open to see the full viewfinder, you might find yourself missing a shot every once in a while because that extra step slows down the process of firing up the camera. However, if you double tap the power button before you open the screen, you can shave some time off.

As youd expect, you can see a brief description of your notifications as they arrive. You can then tap on that notification and proceed to open and unlock the Galaxy Z Flip to see the corresponding app on screen.

Alternatively, when playing music, you can access music controls from the external screen, so you dont have to open the phone to skip a track.

The Galaxy Z Flip has an always-on display like many of Samsungs other phones, but it only works on the internal screen while the phone is flipped open. The Z Flip doesnt support an always on for the external screen, but for what its worth, the little screen stays on while the phone is charging.

The Galaxy Z Flip debuted the phones new Flex Mode - it takes advantage of the fact that the phone can sit on a flat surface when folded about halfway. In supported apps, it can shift some of the UI around so you get the content in the upper half and controls in the lower part. The main purpose of this mode is so that you can place the Z Flip on a tabletop and still use it comfortably.

Flex Mode is only supported by three apps at the moment: Gallery, Camera, and Google Duo. That last one is probably the most useful, because you can prop up the phone on a desk or table and do a video call completely hands-free. You can also prop the phone up for a hands-free selfie video or use Flex Mode to scroll through your Gallerys photos.

We only see using Flex Mode with Google Duo and the Camera app as viable. Since Samsung worked with Google for Flex Mode, the feature will come to more apps with support for non-Samsung devices. We would like to see Flex Mode supported on Spotify so you can see the controls on the lower half and the album art on the top half.

Wrap-up

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip has a unique hinge design that might help it create a whole new class of high-end smartphones. Although there are some unique software features that its folding design enables, I feel like there could be more features in the external display or with the external viewfinder on the camera.

Otherwise, our first impressions of the Galaxy Z Flip are great. The hideaway hinge and display both impress. We'll need to complete the full review to see how good battery life, performance, and image quality of the cameras are, but it all looks promising.

As we enter our review process, feel free to ask any questions you might have about the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Ruth L. Navarra (Inquirer.net/Asia News Network)  Mon, February 17, 2020 13:01 694 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2064f0f3e 2 Entertainment Crash-Landing-on-You,Netflix,Korean-drama,Son-Ye-jin,Hyun-Bin Free

The meeting of Hyun Bins and Son Ye-jins characters in Crash Landing on You is no accident. Its serendipity.

This will be your conclusion after watching the first four episodes of the Netflix Original.

Director Lee Jeong-hyo dropped a big hint about the story line during the dramas press conference at the Grand Ballroom of the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul last Dec. 9.

The two main characters have a special memory in Switzerland, he said when asked about their shoot abroad. This one sentence was actually a huge clue and a bigger promise of kilig factor. This meant that Jung-hyuk (Hyun Bin) and Se-ri (Son) had crossed paths before she crash-landed into his arms.

Crash Landing on You is about a South Korean heiress and a North Korean officer who fall for each other in North Korea. The setting makes the show a fantasy because the tense relationship between the two countries make it impossible for regular citizens to meet at all. 

Because its impossible to shoot in North Korea, they had to shoot in different locations instead. A train station in one episode was actually filmed in Mongolia. The scenes in the Korean Demilitarized Zone were shot in Jeju. 

Fans of the show have been coming up with their own theories about what happened between Jung-hyuk and Se-ri while they were abroad years before meeting each other again in North Korea.

This might explain why Jung-hyuk treats Se-ri the way he does. He probably remembers her and she does not.

Son talked about Switzerland in an interview with Super K. Se-ri has a story to tell in Switzerland. Despite the place being so beautiful, theres a rather sad story there. During the scenes, there was a sense of beauty and sadness. I tried to capture that in my acting, Son said.

Se-ri came to die in Switzerland, a country where euthanasia is legal and accepted. Jung-hyuk, on the other hand, was there to pursue a dream. They truly were opposites even before they became aware of each others existence.

Read also: Cross-border love story smashes South Korea TV ratings

Hyun Bin said, I look forward to showing the viewers the beautiful scenery we were able to capture. My first shoot was in Switzerland. I remember being both nervous and excited to be there. Fortunately, I think we did a pretty good job and got the scenes we wanted, he said.

Shooting outside Seoul is still exciting for a seasoned actor like him. His last series, Memories of the Alhambra, was shot partly in Spain.

The viewers of Crash Landing on You are enamored with Hyun Bins character Jung-hyuk. His qualities would make any man next to him look bad. Like a true protagonist, he is handsome and a true gentleman. But what really sets him apart is the way he does household chores. He can make his own fresh noodles, roast coffee beans and improvise a bathtub.

When Se-ri complained that she cant survive washing her hair with just soap, he purchased body wash, shampoo and conditioner from the black market for her.

He is a by-the-book soldier but he is a softie when it comes to Se-ri. Jung-hyuk does not think indulging a woman is a weakness.

During the past few years, I played men who led a gritty life. I wanted to do a lighter and less serious role. I came upon this drama at just the right time, he said. The script was really fun. The lines, characters and the story were really well-written and fun, so I wanted to bring that to life.

The sentiment was echoed by Son. She said that she loved the script from the start. She described it as intriguing.

I really wanted to do it. I think it was destiny that I came upon this drama. The characters, the situations, and also the sadness and pain the characters suffer later on. This series conveys a variety of emotions, so it was an easy yes for me, she said.While the two already denied real-life dating rumors, we wanted to know if Son thinks a man like Jung-hyuk is worth a possible heartbreak. She replied by talking about Jung-hyuks impact on her characters life. She said that Se-ris birthright and success was her own undoing. She is spoiled and used to getting her way and it took a Jung-hyuk to change all that, according to Son.

She feels things shes never felt before. Through her attraction toward him, she changed as a person. For Se-ri, Jung-hyuk is her destiny and someone who completely changes her life. Hes worth more than a heartbreak, she said.

Hyun Bin voiced his admiration for Son. He said that they worked on a project before but they were not able to do any scenes together. This made him very curious about her when they started working together. Her professionalism as an actress is really great. We were able to work closely together. When we meet on set, she has already prepared for the scenes that we are about to do, he said. It challenged me to do better and learn a lot from her.

Topics :

This article appeared on the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post
Mr Yovich has asked Mr Bagdonavicius why he used to write a symbol on lab documents and exhibit bags he was involved in examining or testing. The symbol was a cross drawn inside a circle.

He said he would ensure he made the symbol with the same coloured pen, for all documents that related to one case, in order to avoid anyone "forging his documents".

He said he and two other scientists had their own symbols to mark their work, but that they eventually stopped doing so.

Mr Bagdonavicius: I don't think there was any occasions when I came across any of those documents being forged.

Mr Yovich has now moved onto asking Mr Bagdonavicius about when he became aware of trace DNA, and how the lab's practices began to change around that time.

He said scientists began changing gloves more frequently, using disposable equipment and face masks to avoid contamination.

Mr Bagdonavicius: We were overcautious and it's just a possibility, the fact that you handle something does not necessarily mean it will transfer, or it will be detected.

Mr Yovich is now showing Mr Bagdonavicius an exhibit list of some of the items taken from Jane's crime scene in Wellard, and referring him to a branch found near Jane's body, known as RH22.

Mr Yovich: Do you recall any item examination of that item and others like it?

Mr Bagdonavicius: I think I participated and examined quite a few bags of branches.

He said during the examination in August 2003, he was supervising two female police officers.

"There was an impression at the time that with sex assaults - if we were going to find some results, it would make it a little easier if we did have any contamination, whether it was a male's or female's," he said.

Mr Bagdonavicius said he never touched the branches, and was standing nearby wearing a lab coat and gloves during the examination.

"I think we too at least a week, it may have been longer, for all the plant material we had to examine," he said.

Mr Yovich has now shown a document for the same process as above, carried out for RH21, another branch found by Jane's body that was examined by his Pathwest colleague, Louise King.

Mr Yovich: As with RH22 and the others, did you take care not to touch any of the vegetation?

Mr Bagdonavicius: Yes.

In his opening address, Mr Yovich said the following of RH21.

Swab taken from a branch on top of Jane's body, known as RH21, when tested in 2007 showed a partial profile which matched a victim of a completely unrelated crime whose samples were processed in the lab some days either side of the sample.
"This drama should end soon, and it will definitely happen. The Congress party and the AAP, all of them are behind it," said Choubey.

Patna: Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Ashwini Kumar Choubey on Sunday blamed Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at Shaheen Bagh in the national capital.

Shaheen Bagh has been the epicentre of the protests against the newly amended citizenship law since December last year.

Shaheen Bagh protesters took out a march towards Union Home Minister Amit's Shah's residence earlier today and were later stopped by the police as they did not have the required permission for the march.

The development came three days after Home Minister Shah said at an event that anyone having doubts over the CAA could seek an appointment from his office and he would be willing to meet the person within three days.
Survivor All Stars contestant Felicity 'Flick' Egginton shed an impressive 15 kilograms before returning to the challenging reality show this year.

And on Monday, the 27-year-old revealed the surprisingly easy way she lost the weight, and got ripped in the process.

Speaking to NW magazine, Flick explained she developed a passion for the gym and became a huge fan of F45 workouts.

Survivor All-Stars Felicity Egginton, 27, has revealed the secret to her incredible body transformation, after she shed 15 kilograms before the latest series (L) 2016 (R) 2020

'As soon as I started working out four years ago, I lost 10 kilograms,' she told the publication.

'I got into F45, I lost another five kilograms,' she added.

Flick, who previously weighed 78 kilograms, slimmed down to a svelte 63 kilograms.

Training: Speaking to NW magazine , Flick explained she developed a passion for the gym and became a huge fan of F45 workouts

Changes: Flick, who previously weighed 78 kilograms, slimmed down to a svelte 63 kilograms

Flick said the workouts helped to control her struggles with anxiety and depression.

The reality TV star finished by saying that she has never felt better mentally.

The blonde beauty has been open about her body image struggles in the past, and thought that she used to look 'fat'.

She wrote in a heartfelt Instagram post that she hated her 'curves', which drove her to unhealthy habits.

'I used to hate my curves because I put on 20kg in less than a few years and wasn't used to them,' Flick revealed.

'I thought I was 'fat' and always put myself down for the way I looked.

Journey: The blonde beauty has been open about her body image struggles in the past, and thought that she used to look 'fat'

'Instead of choosing healthy lifestyle choices I went the opposite way because it was easier to deal with then actually doing something about it.'

Felicity said she suffered a mental breakdown following her elimination from Survivor in 2016 - where she placed fourth.

Speaking to OK! Magazine previously, she said: 'I've suffered from anxiety and mental illness in the past, and I did fall back into that.'

Australian Survivor: All Stars continues on Monday, Channel Ten, 7.30pm.
FILE - In this Jan. 13 file photo, Attorney General William Barr speaks to reporters at the Justice Department in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) Read more

During his years as the top federal prosecutor in Pittsburgh, David J. Hickton said, there was always a very clear line between policy direction from Washington and interference from the White House.

But in recent days, he said, that line appears to have disappeared.

Hickton, an appointee of President Barack Obama who served from 2010 to 2016, is among more than 2,000 former Justice Department employees who have signed on since Saturday to a public letter calling on Attorney General William Barr to resign.

The group  including more than a dozen past federal prosecutors from Pennsylvania and New Jersey  criticized his handling of the case against President Donald Trumps longtime friend Roger Stone. They exhorted current department employees to report unethical conduct and prepare, if necessary, to leave their jobs in protest.

The line between permissible policy direction by the administration and impermissible illegal political interference is very clear, Hickton said Monday. It has been crossed here. Whats going on is clearly illegal.

That groundswell from alumni is the latest sign that the Justice Departments handling of the Stone case has ignited a crisis of confidence among many of its former employees and affected morale among career prosecutors across the country.

On Tuesday, a national association of sitting federal judges is expected to convene an emergency meeting to address similar concerns, its president, Philadelphia-based U.S. District Judge Cynthia M. Rufe, said.

There are plenty of issues that we are concerned about, Rufe, a George W. Bush appointee, told USA Today. Well talk all of this through.

The list of former employees from U.S. Attorneys Offices in Pennsylvania and New Jersey who signed this weekends letter includes registered Republicans and Democrats, career prosecutors and political appointees  some stretching back as far as the Carter administration.

Among the signatories are Peter J. Smith and Paul Fishman  Obamas top federal prosecutors in Harrisburg and New Jersey, respectively  as well as Michael Levy, who twice served as interim U.S. attorney in Philadelphia, once each under Obama and Bush.

Many of those who signed said they had worked under Barr during his first stint as attorney general in the early 90s during the George H.W. Bush administration.

They said they had been hopeful when he was renominated for the post in 2018 that he would restore steady, apolitical stewardship to an office that had become a frequent presidential punching bag during special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Barr behaved extraordinarily professionally back then, said Barry Gross, who served more than two decades as an assistant U.S. attorney in Philadelphia and is now a partner at the Center City offices of law firm Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath.

But the attorney generals public defense of Trump after the publication of Muellers report last year and his actions in the Stone case last week have caused some former colleagues to question whether he has gone too far in protecting the president and his allies.

Stone, a top adviser to Trumps 2016 campaign, faces sentencing this week after his November conviction for lying to Congress and obstruction of justice.

The four line prosecutors who tried the case had originally recommended a prison sentence of seven to nine years. But after the president publicly attacked their recommendation on Twitter, the Justice Department, at Barrs urging, filed an updated sentencing memo suggesting Stone should receive a lighter sentence.

Barr has said he did not talk to the president about the Stone sentence  a claim that drew skepticism from DOJ alumni in their Sunday letter.

Mr. Barrs actions in doing the presidents personal bidding unfortunately speak louder than his words, it read. Those actions, and the damage they have done to the Department of Justices reputation for integrity and the rule of law, require Mr. Barr to resign.

All four of the prosecutors originally assigned to Stones case withdrew from the case in protest. One of them, Jonathan Kravis, resigned from the department. He had been a traveling DOJ trial attorney assigned to prosecute cases across the country and had a hand in many of Philadelphias most notable public corruption cases in recent years.

Kravis was part of the team that secured the 2016 conviction against former Democratic U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah on bribery and corruption charges. He also led the trial prosecution of State Sen. Larry Farnese, who was acquitted in 2017 of bribery charges, and helped build the case that sent two of former U.S. Rep. Bob Bradys top advisers to prison for campaign violations last year.

Gross, who faced off against Kravis in court representing one of Fattahs codefendants, praised his decision to leave the Stone case and his job.

Even though I fought him in court and took a completely different view of the evidence, I found him to be 100% professional, ethical, and a really bright guy, Gross said. I applaud him for what he did here.

Fattahs case was also disrupted last year when intervention from Justice Department officials in Washington sewed division with the local federal prosecutors who had secured the former congressmans conviction.

Last year, the U.S. Attorneys Office filed a sentencing recommendation seeking at least two years incarceration for former Philadelphia Deputy Mayor Herbert Vederman, who had been accused of bribing Fattah for years. But Vedermans lawyers took their campaign to Justice Department officials in Washington, and just before sentencing, the department filed a new sentencing recommendation asking for one year behind bars.

The move so upset the local team that had originally tried the case that they boycotted Vedermans sentencing hearing in protest. But Levy, the former interim U.S. attorney from Philadelphia who also spent three decades as a line prosecutor before retiring last year, drew a distinction between what happened in that case and in Stones.

That was a fight over the merits of differing opinions, he said. The Trump administration didnt put their thumb on the scale for a friend.

Barr has not responded to Sundays letter, and Justice Department officials did not return requests for comment on Monday.

Levy, like the other signatories, said he wasnt holding out hope that the attorney general will heed their call to step down.

And even if he does, Levy said, be careful what you wish for. You dont know who could come next.
The hunt is on for offensive clips of Michael Bloomberg talking off the cuff, and over the weekend a new one circulated. In the version passed around, Bloomberg nonchalantly tells his Oxford audience that he could teach anyone how to farm  even people in this room: Its a process; you dig a hole, you put a seed in, you put dirt on top, add water, up comes the corn. He adds that modern information economy jobs require more gray matter.

The denunciations came quickly and furiously, many of them pointing out that farming these days is a pretty high-tech endeavor. There are three things to know about this episode.

First, the version of the clip that went around left out important context. Bloomberg was very explicitly not talking about modern farmers, but rather about the agrarian society that lasted 3,000 years before the industrial era, which lasted 300. His point was that the modern economy does not create good, reliable jobs for low-skilled workers the way that past economies did. You can see the full discussion starting around 41:30 here (though the actual query that prompted Bloombergs rambling answer starts at 37:30):

Second, while the added context renders countless responses to the clip irrelevant, it doesnt change the fact that Bloomberg comes across as a condescending jerk. His entire comment feels like an in-joke between him and the elite Oxford audience. At one point he talks of the need to provide the dignity of a job to the masses so they dont set[] up the guillotines someday. And of course, even primitive farming hundreds of years ago was not just a matter of dig hole, plant seed, water, up comes corn.

But third, the broad outline of his economic analysis is correct  unremarkable, even  in terms of the basic facts rather than the tone with which they are spoken. So even as Bloomberg proved he was almost comically out of touch, he raised important issues that policymakers really should be thinking about.

Story continues

It is true that, after living most of their history as hunter-gatherers, humans switched to agriculture and later to industrial production. Its also true, by definition, that in a society where the overwhelming majority of people actually work as farmers  as was the case even into Americas early years  farming must be something that the overwhelming majority of people can learn to do. And most important, its true that work is changing today in ways that give a big advantage to high-IQ people with college degrees, while making it difficult for folks at the bottom as those agricultural and manufacturing jobs disappear.

When Bloomberg emphasized that old-school work involved processes, he evoked the concept of the routine task, meaning something accomplished by following and repeating a specific series of steps. It has been extremely well documented for more than a decade and a half that jobs focusing on these types of tasks are in marked decline, largely because routine tasks are the easiest type of work to automate.

Back in 2003, one of the earlier papers on this subject found that about 60 percent of the demand shift toward college-educated workers from 1970 to 1998 could be explained by computerization. More recent work confirms the decline of routine jobs and adds that robots can displace competing human workers and reduce wages. A famous book about a decade ago argued that, in a race between education and technology, the demand for highly skilled workers had outpaced the supply of people with the needed education and training, leading to high wages for a select few and widening inequality.

Unlike farming hundreds of years ago or manufacturing work after World War II, many of these new jobs are not the kind of thing that just about any healthy person with a good work ethic can learn to do. They might require extensive training and technical knowledge, a four-year degree or more, specific personality traits, etc. Some people are of the belief that everyone in the country, no matter their natural intelligence or disposition, is capable of acquiring these things with enough effort, but even if thats true, we have not come anywhere near making it happen. Its a legitimate matter of concern.

As I spelled out in a print piece last year, I dont think its time to panic over automation right now, though the combination of automation and trade has certainly clobbered manufacturing work in the areas that relied on it most. Nationwide, unemployment is low and productivity growth is anemic, which is the opposite of what youd expect to see if robots were taking jobs at a pace that should worry us.

But I dont think thats going to be true forever, as robots become able to do a higher and higher percentage of the things humans can. While its far in the future, the ultimate fear is that robots will become capable of doing just about anything productive that most people could do  and do it cheaply  paving the way to a world where theres no need for a lot of people to work at all.

At that point, maybe government handouts like a universal basic income will be enough to pacify the folks left behind. Or, as Bloomberg speculated, maybe the pitchforks really will come out for the arrogant technocrats who run everything.

More from National Review
Photo credit: U.S. Air Force Photo by Ethan D. Wagner

From Popular Mechanics

U.S. Special Operations Command wants to purchase up to 75 planes capable of both reconnaissance and strike missions.



At the same time, the U.S. Air Force is canceling plans to buy up to 300 light attack planes.

The new planes will replace aircraft that carry out the same missions unarmed, giving SOCOM two planes for the price of one.

U.S. Special Operations Command plans to purchase up to 75 armed overwatch planes that will conduct intelligence, reconnaissance, and even strike missions. The planes will begin replacing older U-28 Draco aircraft currently in heavy use around the world. The news comes as the U.S. Air Force officially backs out of a similar program to purchase a large fleet of light attack aircraft.

Photo credit: U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Joel Miller

Special Operations Command, a military command overseeing U.S. special operation units from across the armed services, wants to field an armed overwatch plane within five years, drawing from existing light aircraft attack offerings. An armed overwatch plane might fly in the vicinity of special operations troops on the ground, tracking enemies near them while providing the ability to launch short-notice air strikes. The plane would operate in theaters with a relatively low air defense threat, such as Somalia, Syria, or Afghanistan.

Thanks to the U.S. Air Force, SOCOM will be able to pick from a pool of known aircraft. The U.S. Air Force has conducted extensive tests of the Sierra Nevada/Embraer A-29 Super Tucano and Beechcraft AT-6 Wolverine (pictured at the top of this article) for the services own OA-X program . OA-X was a requirement for a light attack aircraft, and the Air Force was allegedly interested in buying up to 300 of them for special operations and counterrorism duties. The Air Force finally stated earlier this week OA-X was dead and the service would not move forward with the program.

SOCOM is asking for $106 million to get the ball rolling on an eventual purchase of up to 75 armed overwatch planes. Apparently the U.S. Air Force does not see a pressing need for the planes but SOCOM, the command that would have used OA-X most often, most certainly does. SOCOM will almost certainly buy one of the two planes, using the Air Forces testing data from the last three years to make a determination.



Story continues

Photo credit: U.S. Air Force Photo by Ethan D. Wagner

The new SOCOM plane will replace the U-28A Draco , a single engine turboprop plane that carries a crew of four, including a combat systems officer and a tactical systems officer. The U-28A was first fielded in 2006 and has advanced communications, navigation, and electro-optical sensors giving it the ability to spy on enemy forces on the ground. It is in effect a manned Predator drone, complete with a pair of analysts on board to analyze the data stream. It is however fairly expensive to operate , and the planes have been flown heavily in the post 9/11 era to where the Air Force/SOCOM wants a replacement.

The new plane will likely have the same (or better) suite of electro-optical sensors, but trade a crew of four for a crew of just two. Adding weapons to the plane ensures that one plane can accomplish the reconnaissance and strike roles in a single mission, eliminating a need for two different aircraft. Weapons the new plane will carry likely include the new Stormbreaker glide bomb , laser guided bombs, satellite guided bombs, laser-guided rockets , and machine guns.

Source: Air Force Magazine

You Might Also Like
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 23:56:24|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- China will enhance inter-provincial coordination to ensure a steady supply of daily necessities to Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, and surrounding areas in the central province of Hubei which is in a critical stage of the anti-epidemic battle.

The Ministry of Commerce said in a circular released Monday that more efforts will be made to secure the supply of vital necessities including vegetables, meat, rice and cooking oil as Hubei expands lockdowns to contain the virus.

Noting that epidemic prevention and control have entered a critical stage that requires stringent efforts, the circular said related parties should fully engage in ensuring steady supplies, so as to prevent the occurrence of continuous gaps in the market or panic buying.

The circular stressed offering guidance to commerce, trade and logistics enterprises in resuming their businesses in an orderly manner, and that local governments should balance epidemic prevention and control with the flexible return of workers.

For areas that have effectively controlled the spread, they should be ready to support key areas affected by the epidemic by properly expanding the scale of production resumption and enhancing their outbound supply capacities.

Led by the commerce ministry, the supply coordination mechanism was established after the coronavirus outbreak with the participation of nine provincial-level regions.
Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat on Monday indicated that the Indian Navy may not get approval for a third aircraft carrier anytime soon as the priority is to bolster its submarine fleet.

Gen Rawat, who has been tasked to prioritise military procurement, said cost could be a major factor in deciding on the issue as aircraft carriers are "very expensive".

On December 3, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh said the Navy's long-term plan is to have three aircraft carriers so that two carrier battle groups are ready for deployment in the Indian Ocean Region round-the-clock.

The Navy has been pitching for three aircraft carriers to deal with China's growing naval prowess and its growing influence over the Indian Ocean region, a strategically key area for India.

"The Navy says its submarine fleet is dwindling. Then submarine should be our priority," Gen Rawat told a group of journalists while talking about steps being taken to ensure synergy among the three services.

At present, the Indian Navy has one aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya, which is a Russian origin platform.

Indigenously built aircraft carrier (IAC) INS Vikrant is expected to be fully operational by 2022.

"We will see how it (INS Vikrant) comes out. Examine the performance," he said when specifically asked whether India will not have a third aircraft carrier.

Gen Rawat also said that India is looking at having overseas military bases to provide logistics support to its ships and vessels, as the country is looking at expanding its maritime presence.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi, Feb 17 : The relaxation in norms for private sector banks have resulted in a staggering windfall gain of Rs 23,300 crore to Uday Kotak, according to financial analyst Hemendra Hazari.

This major relaxation given to only one bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, has seriously undermined the credibility of the Reserve Bank of India, Hazari said in a blog.

In a surprise capitulation, the RBI had relaxed the rules for the ceiling on percentage of shares held by the founders of private banks.

Hazari claimed that RBI has carved out this exception for just one bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, whose founders have been allowed to reduce their stake to 26 per cent from 30 per cent at present within six months of the final RBI approval. To date, this has resulted in a staggering gain of $3.3 billion or Rs 23,300 crore to the founders of Kotak Mahindra Bank or essentially, Uday Kotak, Hazari said in his blog.

Thereafter, no date has been set by the banking regulator for the stake to be reduced to 15 per cent.

Hazari said that in contrast, the RBI took action against Bandhan Bank in September 2018 when the founders did not reduce their stake, restricting the bank's business by not allowing opening of new branches.

As part of the settlement with the regulator, Kotak Mahindra Bank will withdraw its case against the RBI, Hazari said.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court said on Monday that people have a fundamental right to protest against a law but the blocking of public roads is a matter of concern and there has to be a balancing factor.

Hearing pleas over the road blocks due to the ongoing protests at Shaheen Bagh against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), a bench comprising Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph said its concern is about what will happen if people start protesting on roads.

Democracy works on expressing views but there are lines and boundaries for it, the bench said.

It asked senior advocate Sanjay Hegde and advocate Sadhana Ramachandran to talk to Shaheen Bagh protestors and persuade them to move to an alternative site where no public place is blocked.

The matter has been posted for next hearing on February 24.

People have a fundamental right to protest but the thing which is troubling us is the blocking of public roads, the bench said.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said Shaheen Bagh protestors should not be given a message that every institution is on its knees trying to persuade them on this issue.

The apex court said that if nothing works, we will leave it to the authorities to deal with the situation.

Protestors have made their made their point and the protests have gone on for quite some time, it said.

Restrictions have been imposed on the Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch and the Okhla underpass, which were closed on December 15 last year due to the protests against CAA and Register of Citizens.

The top court had earlier said the anti-CAA protesters at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh cannot block public roads and create inconvenience for others.

The apex court was hearing an appeal filed by advocate Amit Sahni, who had approached the Delhi 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, former BJP MLA Nand Kishore Garg has filed a petition in the apex court seeking directions to the authorities to remove the protestors from Shaheen Bagh.

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, it 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 had said.

In his appeal, Sahni had 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.
Bayers innovative technologies guarantee sustainable agriculture. Photo: Le Toan

After being adopted by the EU Parliament last Wednesday, the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) will have to get ratified by the European Council and Vietnams National Assembly.

After coming into force, the EVFTA will reduce trade tariffs for goods such as coffee, pepper, and honey to zero. Additional tariffs for seafood and forestry products will be reduced by 50 and 80 per cent, respectively. In addition, the EU also commits to apply zero tariffs to 80,000 tonnes of ground and unground rice per year in the beginning. After three to five years, the tariffs for rice products will be completely removed.

Pham Thai Binh, general director of Trung An High-tech Agriculture JSC, a company in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho said, So far, we have exported rice into the EU with additional tariffs of 5-45 per cent. This is one of the biggest hurdles for expanding our exports for us.

Nguyen Tien Vuong, deputy general director of Hapro Mart under BRG Group, said that the EVFTA was a chance for his group to push exports into the EU. BRGs export turnover into the EU values $20 million a year, 33 per cent of its total export volume. With these many trade tariffs removed in the first few years, the EVFTA helps us increase our competitiveness by adjusting our prices and widening our target market. Besides this, it also helps diversify sources of goods in our retail system serving the domestic market, he said.

According to these local companies, the agreement with its high requirements regarding food safety and quality will urge producers to make use of advanced technologies and improve their management capacity.

However, Vuong also said that the EU is a demanding market with tightened rules for food safety and hygiene. While the tariff barriers will be removed, it is likely that the non-tariff barriers of some countries will be raised, and rules of origin are difficult to meet, Son added.

Meanwhile, Weraphon Charoenpanit, country head of Crop Science, Bayer Vietnam, said that Vietnam has become the EUs second trading partner through an FTA in the region after Singapore. The EVFTA will bring numerous advantages to not only by attracting foreign investors but also by giving the Vietnamese society access to a range of high-quality products, he said.

Since its debut in the country 26 years ago, German-backed Bayer has accompanied Vietnam in its sustainable development projects and implemented many solutions to support local farmers and the whole agricultural sector. It has been more important for European enterprises and Vietnamese producers to come together, learn from each other, and help develop a world-leading agriculture sector in Vietnam with safe, certified, and traceable produce, Charoenpanit said.

The majority of Vietnamese farmers work on less than one or two hectares, accounting for 70 per cent of the consumption of agricultural production. Bayer has brought its digital solutions to enhance farmers technical capabilities to optimise their cultivation methods and achieve higher yields, quality, and profits.

Furthermore, within the Rice Value Chain co-operation programme between Bayer and Trung An, both jointly promote the local application of unmanned aerial systems in agriculture and provide customised plant protection services to help improve cultivation capacities and control residues in high-quality rice production, which is primarily targeted at export markets.

The pilot project has been implemented at Trung Ans 200-hectare farm in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang since last May and will last two years.

Bayer is also working on other joint projects with key stakeholders to develop Vietnams agriculture sustainably. As a world-leading agriculture company, Bayer has the mission to set standards for sustainability, Charoenpanit said.

According to Charoenpanit, the companys innovative technologies will contribute to professionalising farming and agriculture while increasing its attractiveness for the younger generation.

On the global level, Bayer has invested more than 2.3 billion ($2.49 billion) annually in agricultural research and development to help farmers enhance their productivity, create new values, and reduce the use of required input resources. In Vietnam, Bayers activities help to increase agricultural productivity in a sustainable manner as well as contribute to keeping the countrys agriculture competitive in international markets.

Meanwhile, fellow German group BASF is also actively co-operating with Vietnamese farmers and provides modern solutions such as the Xarvio Scouting, a digital tool to identify weed and diseases, and receive product recommendations. Last year, the company trained more than 15,000 Vietnamese farmers in food safety and supported around 50,000 farmers with technical issues.
Unidentified gunmen killed drug users while they were sleeping in an open area near Kabuls Qargha mountain.

Gunmen shot dead nine homeless drug users in the Kabul, officials said on Sunday, shining a light on chronic drug abuse in Afghanistan, which is the worlds biggest producer of opium. But the incident is also a rare case of apparently coordinated violence against addicts.

The motive for the Saturday night attack by the unidentified gunmen in Kabul was not known and police said they were investigating the incident. The men had been sleeping in an open area and a forensic examination had shown they were drug users.

The shooting took place at the side of the Qargha mountain, a spokesman for Kabul police, Ferdaus Faramarz, told Reuters news agency.

There are an estimated 2.5 million drug users in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Public Health says, with most thought to addicted to heroin made from opium poppies grown in Afghanistan.

Some 20,000 drug users are homeless, with half that number in Kabul, at times straining relations with residents of some communities.

Its a social crisis, said Dr Shokoor Haidari, deputy of the ministrys counter-drug department.

The ministry can only treat 40,000 people a year but far more seek help, said Haidari.

Lack of social services, unemployment and easy access to drugs have fuelled drug abuse in Afghanistan, Haidari said.

Harsh winter weather killed at least 50 homeless drug users in the past two months, the Ministry of Public Health said.

Afghanistan has been the worlds biggest producer of opium for years despite some $8.9bn spent since 2002 by the US government to stop production and trafficking in narcotics.

With compelling economic incentives and politically protected networks  from cultivators to producers and distributors  deeply entrenched, officials say there is little they can do to stop it.

The Interior Ministry this month announced the arrest of five top police officials, including the head of Kabuls counter-narcotics force, for suspected involvement in drug trafficking.
WUHAN, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- A total of 1,200 medical professionals, which make up the second group of the 2,600 reinforcement medics sent by the armed forces of China, arrived in Wuhan Monday to help contain the virus.

This group of medical personnel is tasked with treating patients in the branch of Hubei's Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital at the Optics Valley in Wuhan and will start to work immediately after the facility is completed.

China promised to send 2,600 additional medical professionals from the military to assist in curbing the epidemic in Wuhan last week and the first group of 1,400 enlisted men and women arrived on Feb. 13. Upon arrival, they have been treating confirmed patients of the COVID-19 in Taikang Tongji Hospital.

So far, the armed forces have dispatched 4,000 healthcare professionals in three batches to support Wuhan in the fight against the virus outbreak.
(Bloomberg) -- New ideas are hard to come by, so it was a case of deja vu for many investors when President Cyril Ramaphosa again touted the idea of a state-owned South African bank and sovereign wealth fund.

The desire for the countrys wealth, minerals, land and its banks to be owned and shared by all South Africans harks back to 1955, when the now ruling African National Congress and allies against racial segregation adopted the Freedom Charter. The government proposed a sovereign wealth fund as early as 2010, while plans to form a state bank that will improve access to credit, are yet to get off the ground.

But now is not seen as the right time to push them through. The governments coffers are all but dry and its debt levels worryingly high. Besides, most state-owned entities are in disarray -- their finances plundered after years of corruption and mis-management.

To actually talk about a sovereign wealth fund in our context really is quite honestly a distraction, said Cas Coovadia, managing director of the Banking Association of South Africa. What weve got to concentrate on is getting our negative fiscal situation sorted out. It should be taken off the table.

The National Treasury shot down the idea of a state-owned bank last year, telling Parliament that it would be hard to justify in the absence of major market failures. At least 90% of adults use some form of financial service, the Treasury said, citing a 2018 report by the Finmark Trust. Also, only 1% of South Africans made use of the national post offices financial-services arm Postbank.

Government should be getting smaller and reducing SOEs, not creating new ones, said Chris Eddy, head of investments at 10X Investments.

Ramaphosa is leaving the details to Finance Minister Tito Mboweni when he presents his budget speech later this month.

Fiscal Exhaustion

We question how either of these can be realistically capitalized against the backdrop of weak growth and fiscal exhaustion, Absa Group Ltd. economist Peter Worthington said. The inclusion of these proposals in the presidents speech on Thursday was regrettable, he said.

Story continues

While creating a sovereign wealth fund could be exciting and place South Africa in the same league as Nordic and Middle Eastern nations, the timing is poor, said Peter Takaendesa, head of equities at Mergence Investment Managers in Cape Town.

The sovereign wealth fund has been proposed for years at this point, but perhaps it is a sign of consistency that the government keeps bringing it up as a priority, he said. There are other things that are significantly more important, and that should be further ahead in the queue.

While South Africa grapples with a moribund economy and 29% unemployment, it is also trying to turn around its ailing state-owned companies. These include its over-indebted power utility, which is struggling to stabilize supply, and its bankrupt airline. The government already owns a development bank, an agricultural bank and a lender focused on industrial projects.

Though Ramaphosas speech highlighted the need to re-purpose state-run companies the decision to establish a state bank, at a time many SOEs are in severe trouble, is inexplicable, Business Unity South Africa, a lobby group, said in an email. We must also question what a state bank can do that the private banking sector cant.

(Corrects name and title of analyst on sixth paragraph)

--With assistance from Adelaide Changole.

To contact the reporter on this story: Roxanne Henderson in Johannesburg at rhenderson56@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stefania Bianchi at sbianchi10@bloomberg.net, Vernon Wessels, Rene Vollgraaff

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.
The Odisha Assembly on



Monday passed the State Commission for Backward Classes (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and a separate resolution, paving the way for conducting surveys of the social and economic condition of people belonging to backward classes.

The bill and the resolution were passed unanimously, even as the opposition Congress expressed unhappiness over the state government obtaining the nod of the House without any "meaningful discussion".

While Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik moved the resolution, the ST, SC Development, Minorities and Backward Class Minister Jagannath Saraka piloted the bill.

"In a historic move today, this August House has resolved to amend the Odisha State Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993..." Patnaik said.

He also described the resolution as "historic".

"The state will do survey of social and educational condition of people belonging to the backward classes," Patnaik said.

He said to further accelerate inclusive growth, it is important to have reliable data about the backward classes of Odisha.

"Unfortunately, we do not have access to any recent data on this. The last census was done in 1931 which is now almost 90 years old. With a century-old data in hand, we cannot make an accurate and focused planning to reach out to the backward classes of the society," the CM said.

Patnaik said media reports claimed that former Home Minister Rajnath Singh had made a mention of the backward classes survey being included in the Census 2021. The BJD has raised the issue in Parliament, he added.

"However, there has been no response from the Centre. On February 12, we constituted the Odisha State Commission for Backward Classes with retired justice Raghunath Biswal as its chairman," Patnaik said.

Congress whip Taraprasad Bahinipati said: "We are not opposed to the bill and have supported it. But, it should have been debated properly... while making provisions for the Other Backward Classes, the concerns of poor people belonging to other castes should also have been considered.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The story about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leaving the royal family continues to make headlines even after more than one month.

In fact, more reports have been born out of it, including the rift between the brothers William and Harry. Sadly, this one looks like the battle lines have been drawn.

Moving On

On one side of the story, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are experimenting on their new life outside of the royal family. They are in the transition phase and are slowly moving everything they value in North America.

Although they have yet to find the house they will permanently live in, Meghan and Harry are already starting to plant their seeds in the new place.

In truth, the last couple of weeks were very hectic for the royal couple. They have been invited to several events and have been meeting very rich people with strong connections with practically everyone important in society.

However, although Harry and Meghan may mean well, the two have been heavily criticized for their actions. In fact, their possible presence in important events in Hollywood have been the talk of the town recently, as their actions could be seen as a breach of contract with the Queen.

To make a point, Meghan and Harry have reportedly fired 15 members of their staff and closed their Buckingham Palace office for good. The Daily Mail reported that this move of the royal couple is their way to send a strong message that they are unlikely to ever return to the U.K.

Their private secretary, Fiona Mcilwham, and the head of their communications, Sara Latham, were both fired at the same time. After this dramatic move, it seems pretty clear that Meghan and Harry do not consider U.K. as their home anymore.

Royal vs. Royal

Overall, even though when they were still in the U.K., Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were often the subject of criticisms while Prince William and Kate Middleton were (and still are) the media darlings.

With that said, the media narrative of the royal family has not changed at all. However, the only thing that has changed and has been greatly emphasized is that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are now the face of the family -- both in the present and in the future.

Whenever they show up in public places and celebration, Prince William and Kate always appear charming as ever. The two have taken on the role of senior royals. and they are making the most of it.

Just recently, Kate went to the Northern Irish Farm and the Scottish Cafe to promote "5 Big Questions On The Under Five." It is a campaign about childhood care and development.

In March, William and Kate will be visiting the Republic of Ireland. The royal couple are also planning a bushfire recovery tour in Australia after that.

All in all, it appears that Prince Harry and Meg and Prince William and Kate have been pitted against each other as they try to pave their own separate ways.

When they were working together, they were dubbed as the "Fab Four." Now, they are on an even playing field, trying to make a change in their own ways.

Royal Feud

When the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced their decision to leave the royal family, Prince Harry had reportedly been out of touch with his brother and future king.

The brothers have not been in good terms, and it all began when the documentary of Prince Harry and Meghan during their African tour came out. William felt as if he was betrayed by his brother after Harry spoke of how tiring it was to be part of the royal family.

In a previous interview, Prince William admitted that he and his brother have not been on speaking terms. However, he failed to divulge the real reason why they were fighting. Instead, he simply dismissed it as a common problem among brothers and family.

There have been conflicting reports recently on whether the royal feud has been fixed. However, one thing is clear: all the stories will not stop, especially now that the "Fab Four" are no more.
Two days after Bollywood bestowed the most outstanding icons of the industry at the annual Filmfare Awards in Guwahati, director and veteran member of the film industry Karan Johar expressed his gratitude towards Assam Police and Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

Johar took to Twitter to express his thankfulness to Assam Police and CM Sonwal for helping the cinema fraternity arrange the award function smoothly.

"Assam Police @assampolice thank you for your fantastic planning and support at the Filmfare Awards it was very well planned. And respected @sarbanandsonwal ji thank you for hosting us in Awesome Assam," read Johar's tweet.

The 65th edition of the annual award function took place in the capital of Assam on the eve of February 15 which saw participation of some of the biggest stars of the industry.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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. Low-dose methotrexate associated with small increase in some adverse events

Abstract: http://annals.org/aim/article/doi/10.7326/M19-3369

Editorial: http://annals.org/aim/article/doi/10.7326/M20-0435

URL goes live when the embargo lifts

A pre-specified secondary analysis of a double-blind placebo-controlled randomized trial found that low-dose methotrexate (LD-MTX) was associated with a small to modest increase in the risk for some adverse events, including skin cancer and gastrointestinal, infectious, pulmonary, and hematologic effects in patients at risk for heart disease. The risk for kidney-related side-effects was decreased. The findings are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

LD-MTX is the most commonly used drug for systemic rheumatic diseases worldwide and the recommended first-line agent for rheumatoid arthritis. Despite decades of clinical use, few randomized controlled trials have studied adverse events associated with LD-MTX use.

Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital randomly assigned 4,786 patients at risk for heart disease to receive LD-MTX or placebo over a median follow-up of 23 months to objectively assess adverse event rates, risk, and risk differences in those receiving LD-MTX. All participants also received folic acid 1mg per day for six days a week. The researchers found that there was a small absolute increase in adverse events with LD-MTX compared to placebo. With the exception of an increased risk of skin cancers, there was no difference between treatment arms for the risk of other malignancies and risk for adverse events such as cirrhosis and pneumonitis in the LD-MTX group was similar to that seen in previous reports. According to the authors, this data provides new evidence to improve the monitoring guidelines and safe prescribing of LD-MTX, which is considered an efficacious and generally well-tolerated treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases.

Media contacts: For an embargoed PDF please contact Lauren Evans at laevans@acponline.org. To speak with the lead author, Daniel H. Solomon, MD, please contact Haley Bridger at hbridger@bwh.harvard.edu.

2. New guidelines address chronic insomnia disorders and obstructive sleep apnea in military personnel and Veterans

Abstract: http://annals.org/aim/article/doi/10.7326/M19-3575

URLs go live when the embargo lifts

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) recently approved a joint clinical practice guideline for assessing and managing patients with chronic insomnia disorder and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Positive airway pressure therapy, or CPAP, is recommended as a first-line treatment for OSA and cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is a key recommendation for treating insomnia. A synopsis of the key recommendations is published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Military service is an established risk factor for sleep disorders. Accordingly, military personnel and Veterans have a higher prevalence of sleep disorders than the general population. Also, these populations have high rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI) and other mental health disorder. When patients have insomnia and/or OSA along with PTSD, TBI or other mental health disorders, the treatment of both their sleep and other disorder is challenging. Physicians are beginning to recognize sleep disorders as an important issue to be addressed.

The guidelines recommend CPAP be used for the entirety of a patient's sleep period. For patients who do not use PAP for at least 4 hours per night, this therapy should be continued along with addressing barriers to better PAP adherence. CBT for insomnia (CBT-I) is the recommended treatment; however, brief behavioral therapy for insomnia (BBT-I) is also acceptable. Sleep hygiene is not recommended as standalone therapy for chronic insomnia disorder. Pharmacotherapy with doxepin, nonbenzodiazepine benzodiazepine receptor agonists is second-line treatment for chronic insomnia disorder and should be used for a short course of treatment. Over the counter agents to include diphenhydramine and melatonin are not indicated for the treatment of insomnia.

According to the authors, the guideline is a major step for the VA and DoD in recognizing the importance of appropriately diagnosing and treating sleep disorders in these unique populations. The guidelines highlights commitment of both organizations to adhering to evidence-based practice. The guideline was written by a joint, multi-disciplinary VA/DoD work group that utilized a standardized process to develop 41 evidence-based recommendations. The guideline is relevant to all providers who treat patients with sleep disorders. The full guideline is available at: https://www.healthquality.va.gov/guidelines/CD/insomnia/index.asp.

Media contacts: For an embargoed PDF please contact Lauren Evans at laevans@acponline.org. To speak with the lead author, James Sall, PhD, FNP-BC, please contact him directly at James.Sall@va.gov.

3. Statins might be effective in treating xanthelasmas in patients with normal lipid levels

Abstract: http://annals.org/aim/article/doi/10.7326/L19-0797

URLs go live when the embargo lifts

Researchers from the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada, observed the regression of xanthelasmas in a patient with normal lipid levels after treatment with a statin. Typical treatments for patients with xanthelasmas with normal lipid levels carry risks and high recurrence rates. The Case Report is published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Xanthelasmas are benign, yellowish growths made up of cholesterol under the skin that appear on or around the eyelids. In about half of cases, they are associated with familial high cholesterol. In these patients, regression of xanthelasmas can occur with lipid-lowering drugs, such as statins. Many patients with xanthelasmas, however, have normal lipid levels. In these patients, xanthelasmas can be removed with liquid nitrogen, topical trichloroacetic acid, laser ablation, or surgical excision, but these therapies all carry risk for scarring or residual pigmentation and high recurrence rates (up to 40 percent).

To report the effect of statin therapy for a person with xanthelasmas with normal lipid levels, researchers prescribed 10 mg of rosuvastatin, a statin to help lower "bad" cholesterol (mainly LDL) and raise "good" cholesterol, to a 52-year-old woman with normal lipid levels who wanted her xanthelasmas removed for cosmetic reasons. Within three months of treatment, the patient's LDL cholesterol level had decreased by 50 percent, remaining steadily in that range for the next four years. Within 12 months, she reported some regression of her xanthelasmas, and after four years of rosuvastatin, they had almost completely regressed.

Media contacts: For an embargoed PDF please contact Lauren Evans at laevans@acponline.org. To speak with the lead author, Robert A. Hegele, MD, please contact him directly at hegele@robarts.ca.

Also new in this issue:

Getting Incentives Right in Payment Reform: Thinking Beyond Financial Risk

Vinay K. Rathi, MD; J. Michael McWilliams, MD, PhD; Eric T. Roberts, PhD

Ideas and Opinions

Abstract: http://annals.org/aim/article/doi/10.7326/M19-3178

Inpatient Notes: Optimizing Inpatient Nutrition--Why Hospitalists

Should Get Involved

Philipp Schuetz, MD, MPH, and Jeffrey L. Greenwald, MD

Hospitalist Commentary

Abstract: http://annals.org/aim/article/doi/10.7326/M20-0120

###
A presidential statement on Monday described as fake a report that President Muhammadu Buhari was poised for a 20-day vacation to the UK.

A blog had claimed the president was bound to embark on a 20-day vacation to the UK on Wednesday, after which he would visit Saudi Arabia and then on March 2, depart for Austria for the World Economic Summit.

However, not only is a 20-day vacation between February 19 and March 2 impossible, the said World Economic Summit always holds at the end of January in Davos, Switzerland. The 2020 edition held between 2024 January.

Presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina, described the report as an unfounded information and nothing but falsehood from mischievous minds.

Mr Adesina also urged Nigerians to be careful what they consume as news, and also share with others, particularly from the social media.

We urge Nigerians to be discriminatory about what they accept as credible information, and restrain themselves from sharing what they have not authenticated as genuine. That is how we can all collectively beat the malevolent minds at their pernicious games.

This latest round of false report ascribed to the office of the presidency joins a viral video where the president was said to be set for a phantom wedding with two of his ministers, finance minister Zainab Ahmed and humanitarian affairs minister Sadiya Farouq.

The State Security Service has since apprehended the alleged mastermind of the video, Kabiru Mohammed, a 32-year-old indigene of Kano.

Citing sections 392 and 393 of the Criminal Penal Code, the SSS filed charges of defamation and injurious falsehood against Mr Muhammad  charges which could earn him maximum of three years imprisonment, without fine, if found guilty.

READ ALSO:

Also, in the buildup to the last presidential election, President Buhari had his name smeared by a report that he was an impostor.

Called a certain Jibrin from Sudan, the report, attributed to fugitive IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu, claimed the real Buhari had died from a chronic illness.

It took a rare rebuttal from the president himself before the flame of the claim was doused.

Referencing these cases, the federal government has shown willingness to tackle fake news in the country. But some critics see the governments intent as a move to clamp down on opposition and gag dissent.

Meanwhile, much to the backlash of the public, two bills: social media and hate speech bills are receiving legislative consideration at the nations upper chamber.
Conductor Richard Peirson (at piano), Amelie Metcalfe and Ronan Millar (the lost children), and Raymond Keane (the night porter) in the INO/Theatre Lovett production of Hansel and Gretel

It's been noticeable that when the Abbey management has entered into co-production with other companies in recent years, the most successful have been where it's hard to see the Abbey's own input.

And it's certainly true of the current presentation (the first opera on the Abbey stage, to the best of my knowledge) in co-production with the Irish National Opera and Theatre Lovett - both of them dynamic and at the top of their game. INO hit the ground running at its inception, and shows no sign of slowing down under Fergus Sheil's artistic guidance; and Theatre Lovett, under Muireann Ahern and Louis Lovett, have long had international recognition in the world of children's and young people's theatre.

Now they have combined to offer a mischievous, imaginative and slightly naughty version of Engelbert Humperdinck's sub-Wagnerian Hansel and Gretel. Ahern and Lovett as directors seem to revel in fidelity to the composer's wish of making a work that will appeal to children as well as adults, while cocking a snook at any notion of reverential approach; and this is well suited to conductor Richard Peirson's re-scoring for INO's seven piece ensemble rather than a full orchestra (himself on piano).

The forest has become The Forest Edge Hotel; the haunted wood the hotel's Haunted Wood Bar, and the witch's gingerbread house is a floating will-o'-the-wisp. (The enticing goodies are revealed in a refrigerator that has been transformed from the hotel reception desk.) And Father and Mother and the children are weary and homeless lest we forget about 2020.

The score gives INO the opportunity of inviting our own Wagnerian Miriam Murphy home to sing the part of Mother, marvellously matched by Ben McAteer's weighty baritone as Father. Amy Ni Fhearraigh and Raphaela Mangan are gloriously touching and well-matched as the children, Ni Fhearraigh as a bossy Gretel, and Mangan in the cheeky trouser role of Hansel.

Carolyn Dobbin sustains comic gusto with vibrant musicality as the witch, and Emma Nash doubles the roles of the Dew Fairy and the Sandman. Actor Raymond Keane, master of choreographed movement, is eerily sinister as the night porter who morphs into various "presences," and young actors Ronan Millar and Amelie Metcalfe make enchanting/enchanted waifs.

Designers Jamie Vartan (set and costumes), Sarah Jane Shiels (lighting), and Jack Phelan (video) add to the perfection of this utterly delightful production which will tour nationally, and should not be missed.

*******

They were innocent days: the era when Irish cookery expertise presented apple tart as high art, while a Spanish omelette was mysterious and exotic. They were the days when Maura Laverty was queen of the kitchen, largely through her cookbook All in the Cooking.

My mother had it - her only cookery book - because the ESB (I think) handed one out as a freebie with the purchase of a cooker.

Video of the Day

So who was Maura Laverty? Bairbre Ni Chaoimh and Yvonne Quinn have re-constructed her life in Maura Laverty: This was Your Life (at the Civic Theatre, and touring nationally.) She had it tough: her father drank, her mother struggled and preferred Maura's sister. Packed off to Spain as what would become known as an au pair, she learned the rudiments of good food, and fell for an Austrian.

Returning to Ireland, she dumped him for an Irish journalist, whom she married on (very) short acquaintance. She lived to regret it, even before he disappeared with a younger woman, and Maura was left to raise their three children, two of whom, admittedly, were almost adult.

But she had become famous through the ESB-sponsored radio programme, and was even invited to the US for a St Patrick's Day cookery demonstration. She was also writing plays for the Gate theatre. Stories of simple Dublin life, they were highly successful but, not for the first time, the Edwards-MacLiammoir management didn't pay up.(She also wrote novels: to her credit, they were banned in Ireland.)

But Maura hit the jackpot when the new Irish TV station commissioned her to write its first TV soap, Tolka Row, which she was still writing at the time of her lonely death from drink, and possibly (although it is only an implication) from suicide. Her body was not discovered for some days.

It is all revealed through the device of Rip (geddit?) Reilly's TV chat show, in which he raises people from their graves to interrogate their lives. Ni Chaoimh plays Laverty, with Malachy McKenna as an oily TV host, directed by Joan Sheehy.

Together, they re-create a woman who may have been responsible for her own misfortunes in many ways, but still deserved better from life.
So, what is Zirca Digital Solutions doing differently to help brands? For one, its helping brands have a better conversation with their customers but with the backing of science and technology. It is a combination of design, strategy, and execution, believes Neena Dasgupta, CEO & Director, and their Managing Director Karan Gupta.

In conversation with exchange4media, the two take us through the journey so far and the ambitious plans the company has its eyes set on.

The team is passionate about everything - brands, content and advertising - and that has been the driving force for the companys success since its inception. Says Neena, I believe what we're focused on is helping brands succeed talk to their customers. That's our focus. We do that using technology, some of these technologies are our own and some of the technology is dominant in the market, like the Google platforms, like other programmatic platforms etc. We have partnered with most of them. However, what works in that part is the strategy, your innovation and your execution that helps you succeed and allows the brand to achieve their business outcome aligned to their business objectives. In the content part, the uniqueness of your product helps you have a better conversation.

It is their endeavour as a company to constantly ensure that they are armed with all the right tools to help brands succeed. Case in point their partnership with UK based CoLab Media Consulting, to take their business to the next level. Besides helping Zirca with complete brand positioning, they are also helping them expand to other international markets.

Europe is one of the markets that we're looking at expanding into, shares Neena. She further adds, So, now our entire brand positioning is getting put in place in a way that works globally. Because boundaries for us are beginning to disappear completely.

Elaborating on their work with international clients Gupta pitches in, As part of our heritage of what you've been doing for a long time is also help international companies, who are in the technology space within marketing and advertising come into India and be able to establish themselves. So, while we do work with a lot of the more established Google's and the likes, we also pick and choose some of the people, who we believe, would be able to would fit in perfectly with the Indian ecosystem and help them come into India.

He explains how once these companies have established themselves Zirca ends up becoming one of their biggest clients in the country so that they can then use their technology along with their own proprietary technology to help brands position themselves. CoLab is also helping them identify these brands and a lot of them are originate out of Europe

The companys aggressive strategies and understanding of the market has helped them see significant growth over the years. Elaborates Neena, We are significantly profitable. We started with two people and are about 130 people now. From half an office we are now in three structure offices and six satellite offices in India, we're adding two more. We have an office in Singapore. We're looking at Indonesia right now. And planning another one in or around London. From a business perspective we're also looking to move ahead with acquisitions. So, acquisition in the technology space and acquisition in the creative space.

Without divulging too many details of their acquisition plans, Gupta shares It is work in progress. We just put out feelers into the market right now. We have a pretty good idea of what are the kind of companies we're looking for. It usually takes about three months to be able to get a good list of companies and then however long it takes for the acquisition.

Neena Dasguptas vision for Zirca in the near future is clear, Expansion, acquisition and consolidation, this is very clearly the agenda for 2020-21.

Not one to follow fads or trends, Dasgupta believes that brands should not blindly follow them either if they dont fit into their scheme of things. Her view stems from the belief that today consumers control the trends, There is a massive shift in consumption and if consumption is happening using voice, audio, video, then by default, these strategies will start shifting towards how to connect with the consumer.

Further adding, Brands need to start shifting on density of engagement and that will come only under how their customer is responding to a format. So I don't want to talk about trends. I want to talk about customer responses. How is consumption shifting? And that's the trend I always want to keep my eyes on

Which is why Zirca focuses on tailor made solutions for brands. Completely, says Dasgupta, whether some brands appreciate it or some brand dont. We do it with agency partners, brand partners, supply partners, but you have to.

Adds Gupta,  We work a lot not only with brands, we also work a lot of the time with agencies and an agency might have their preference, which we may or may not agree with, but we have a very scientific way of figuring out what exactly is it? That's not just the trend but what is it that your consumer likes to consume. While audio may be a trend but does your brand really need audio?

Our tools actually figures out as far as content consumption is concerned, in what particular format does your consumer like to consume their content and then you should go after them in that particular format there's no point in just following trends. He explains.



Given their expertise with content, do they then recommend it over other forms of communication or formats?



We don't necessarily recommend content marketing over others, we actually say content marketing is the hook that engages and advertising market is the sealant. We say that you should put 30% on content and you should put 70% on the sealant. Content is the way to engage.

The company has heavily invested in in-house tools to help marketers and brand with their digital journey. They claim to be the only company in India to have two major proprietary platforms - ContentdB and ContentiQ. While ContentdB is Asia's first native advertisement management platform, ContentiQ is a tool that leverages Zirca's proprietary content intelligence to reveal unique insights about a marketer's target audience.

While they have multiple brands associations to boast of, they exclusively represent nine international brands including The Economist, Fast Company, Microsoft, Inc.com, and Skype in India.

Despite the impressive line of work with brands, Zirca is also keen to help even traditional mediums like Print benefit from the digital wave. A project that they have undertaken and is close to Neenas heart is the need for transformation for print media. They are already working on the pilots and are looking to integrate digital solutions into the print medium.

We want to work with print publishers and print agencies and help them embrace digital transformation. Print is not dying, anyone can come and say print is dying. It is a general sweeping statement to get make. Print is not going anywhere. In our country Print and TV are there to stay, stresses Neena.

Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
An Uber driver accused of raping a passenger says the drunk 17-year-old came onto him and suggested they have sex in his vehicle at a Bondi car park, a court has heard.

Onur Dedeoglu, 39, is on trial in Sydney's Downing Centre District Court over the alleged sexual assault of the teenager, who can't be named for legal reasons, after he drove her and two of her friends home in August 2018.

The court on Monday was played the western Sydney man's police interview during which he claimed the teenager repeatedly consented to sex with him before suddenly changing her mind, getting out of the car and walking home.

Onur Dedeoglu, 39, is on trial in Sydney's Downing Centre District Court over the alleged sexual assault of the teenager

Police have accused Dedeoglu of sexually assaulting the 17-year-old while she was passed out in the back seat of his Nissan sedan in the early hours of August 26.

After he picked up the teen and two males in the CBD, he dropped off the other passengers at Bondi before taking her to her home at North Bondi.

The court heard that when they arrived, she was passed out and Dedeoglu had to wake her up by shaking her leg.

It was at that point, he claims, she told him 'I don't want to go home', smiled before telling him that she wanted to go to 'your home'.

Dedeoglu told detectives, through a Turkish translator, that when he told her they could not go to his home, she suggested they go 'somewhere else'.

'I swear that I asked at least three times: Are you sure? Are you sure?... She says sure,' he said during his police interview.

He went on to tell detectives: 'I said should we go to the beach? She said yes.'

He said when he drove her to a car park near the beach, he initially decided she was too drunk after finding her passed out once more.

'I changed my mind, she's not herself, I better not do anything, I gave up,' he said.

Dedeoglu told detectives, through a Turkish translator, that when he told her they could not go to his home, she suggested they go 'somewhere else'

He said she suddenly woke up, was showing no signs of intoxication and invited him into the back seat.

Police allege he sexually assaulted the girl while she was passed out but he claims she consented to being kissed on the neck and chest, that she pulled down her pants and he touched her on the buttocks.

He told police she then suddenly decided she wanted to stop and 'she said I want to go home'.

'I said OK, I can take you home,' he told police.

'She said no. I didn't know what to do then.

'She said no I want to walk. I was going to insist to take her home but I realised she was getting upset. The more I talk, the more she gets upset.'

The trial before Judge Nicole Noman continues.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 11:12:43|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres makes a special talk on sustainable development and climate change in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Feb. 16, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Tian)

It is always difficult to have a quick solution, but China has made a "very strong and very impressive response," said Guterres.



ISLAMABAD, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed confidence in China's great efforts to combat the current outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia, or COVID-19, here on Sunday.

Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres answers questions after a special talk on sustainable development and climate change in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Feb. 16, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Tian)

The measures put in place by the Chinese government "is a gigantic effort and we are very confident that efforts will allow for the progressive reduction of the disease," the UN chief told Xinhua during his joint press conference with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.



Highlighting the huge challenge the coronavirus outbreak is posing, he said that it is always difficult to have a quick solution, but China has made a "very strong and very impressive response."

Staff members work in a laboratory in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, Feb. 9, 2020. (Photo by Liu Yucai/Xinhua)

Guterres is on his first official visit to Pakistan since he took office on Jan. 1, 2017. During his four-day stay here, he will also attend an international conference on Afghan refugees. 
They are famously known for selling furniture pieces with unique Swedish names that are seemingly impossible to pronounce.

And now IKEA Australia has revealed the secret meanings behind the names of the popular items - and how the retailer came up with the words.

In a new series of podcast episodes called 'Did You Know...?', Kent Eriksson, Swedish IKEA co-worker, looked at how the Scandinavian culture inspired the names throughout various departments.

The episodes draw on all areas of IKEA expertise, from the stores and range, to work towards climate action and equality that aims to help people create a 'better everyday life'.

IKEA Australia has revealed the unique meanings behind the Swedish names of the products

Ever wondered how IKEA came up with the names of the towel rail, shower head, toilet roll holder or the washbasin? The bathroom products and accessories are named after Swedish lakes and bodies of water

BATHROOM

Ever wondered how IKEA came up with the names of the towel rail, shower head, toilet roll holder or the washbasin?

The bathroom products and accessories are named after Swedish lakes and bodies of water.

BROGRUND is a series of accessories with lots of useful items for the sink, the shower and the toilet. The range is named after a shoal in Sweden.

The naturally submerged ridge is located in Kalmar county, in the southern part of the country, about 170km south of Stockholm in the headline of the country.

The RINGSJON shower curtain ring set is perfect for hanging shower curtains in your bathroom.

BROGRUND is a series of accessories with lots of useful items for the bathroom. The range is named after a shoal in Sweden (left: IMMELN shower basket and right: BROGRUND towel rack)

The useful product also happens to share a name with a lake situated in the middle of Skane County, Sweden. At 41 square kilometres, RINGSJON is the second largest lake in the county.

The IMMELN bathroom organisers series has suction cups that grip tightly to smooth surfaces like tiles or glass.

The series of bathroom organisers shares a name with lake Immeln, which is known for its clean water, good fishing and cheap fishing permits.

Revealed: The unique meanings behind IKEA products Bathroom articles: Names of Swedish lakes, watercourses Bed textiles: Flowers and plants Beds, wardrobes, hall furniture: Norwegian place-names Bookcases: Professions, Scandinavian boys' names Bowls, vases, candle and candle holders: Swedish place-names, descriptive words, spices, herbs, fruits and berries Boxes, wall decoration, pictures and frames, clocks: Swedish slang expressions, Swedish place-names Children's products: Mammals, birds, descriptive words Desks, chairs and swivel chairs: Scandinavian boys' names Fabrics, curtains: Scandinavian girls' names Garden furniture: Scandinavian islands Kitchen accessories: Fishes, mushrooms and descriptive words, sometimes the product-uses Kitchens: Usually product uses, sometimes Swedish slang expressions and Swedish place-names Lighting: Measurement units, seasons, months, days, shipping and nautical terms, Swedish place-names Rugs: Danish place names Sofas, armchairs, chairs and dining-tables: Swedish place names Advertisement

HOME DECOR

SVAJPA is a clock (pictured) without the tick-tock, thanks to its smart quartz movement. But did you know it shares its name with the Swedish slang term 'to swipe'

The home decor products are named after Swedish places and slang.

SVAJPA is a clock without the tick-tock, thanks to its smart quartz movement. But did you know it shares its name with the Swedish slang term 'to swipe'.

Want a clock without the tick-tock? The STOLPA wall clock is for you. This wall clock shares its name with the Swedish slang term STOLPA which means to walk in long paces or strides.

CHILDREN

The DUKTIG toy series includes a mini-kitchen and workbench with lots of realistic tools and accessories, making it easy and fun for 'kids to copy what adults do'. Seems only fitting that duktig in Swedish means 'skilled, capable, or hard-working'

Babies will have the best night's sleep in the GONATT cot which means goodnight in Swedish

The products found in the children's department are named after mammals, birds and adjectives.

The DUKTIG toy series includes a mini-kitchen and workbench with lots of realistic tools and accessories, making it easy and fun for 'kids to copy what adults do'.

Seems only fitting that duktig in Swedish means 'skilled, capable, or hard-working'. In phrases like Oj, vad duktig du ar! (Wow, how skilled you are) it's a compliment.

Babies will have the best night's sleep in the GONATT cot which means goodnight in Swedish.
Getting the Canadian Right, right  revised and expanded By Mark Wegierski

There is now occurring a major debate about the shape and future of conservatism in Canada, in the wake of the defeat in the October 2019 federal election, and the resultant leadership race in the Conservative Party of Canada. Andrew Scheer, although he was able to reduce the Trudeau Liberals to a minority government (a plurality of seats in the House of Commons), has proven to be a highly ineffectual leader. There are three main groups in Canada that do not understand what the Canadian Right amounts to today -- the mainstream media, the other parties, and conservatives themselves. In the last few decades, Canadian conservatism has frequently been hurt by its too-ready association with the U.S. Republican Party, and a lack of knowledge of its own roots and history. Actually, the very bivalent term Red Tory can represent some of the best tendencies of Canadian conservatism (such as that articulated by Canadian traditionalist philosopher George Parkin Grant), as well as of a less-salubrious opportunistic embrace of left-liberalism. The so-called right-wing of the Conservative Party has often been marked by an infatuation with the so-called free market philosophy and the reduction of all policy to tax-cuts and budget-cuts. Free-market fundamentalism has not traditionally been a hall-mark of conservatism in Canada. At the same time, social conservatives, who putatively really care about social and cultural issues, have become bogged down in the now-fruitless debate over abortion rights and same-sex marriage. In the Canadian context, it is almost unavoidable that abortion rights and same-sex marriage have become an indelible part of the Canadian political landscape. Arguing against them as part of an official party policy, would present almost insuperable obstacles to the election of a Conservative government. Nevertheless, it is possible to promote pro-family policies (especially through the tax-system) that can win broad acceptance in Canadian society today. For example, the tax-penalty on households with one main breadwinner in the marriage, should be ended. The obvious fiscal irresponsibility of the current Administration may lead to a virtual economic collapse in a matter of years. The Conservative Party of Canada should be leading a crusade against the fiscal profligacy of the current Administration. Although it may seem difficult to believe, real conservatism and Green philosophy have a lot in common  the stewardship of the land for future generations. A clear way forward for conservatism, and the CPC, is one that sees significant efforts being directed towards enunciating and promoting a Green Conservatism. Conservation issues and the defence of the environment cannot be left to opponents of conservatism. This would mean the acceptance of a carbon tax, a fiscal conservative idea in the first place, which fits the bill for being the most free-market oriented tool in an ecological policy. There is a strong core of conservative belief that criticizes the excesses of multiculturalism, and the very high levels of immigration being promulgated by the current Administration. A total of a million immigrants over the next three years have been promised  about 330,000 a year. (Canadas current population is around 38 million, with about a quarter-million immigrants arriving every year since the late 1980s, about eighty percent of them from the Third World. Prior to that the immigration rates since the 1960s were on average about 100,000 a year, about seventy-five percent of them from the Third World.) The need for the promotion of Canadian values among immigrants should be given serious consideration. There is also an ecological argument that could be made for significantly reducing immigration levels. There is also the near-disappearance of praise for real masculinity, and the devalourizing of the military and the police in Canadas general culture. Canada has one of the lowest percentages of men under arms ever seen in human history. It would also be ridiculous to penalize legal gun-owners, by so-called total gun bans, when most of the crime comes from illegally-held guns. Conservatives also believe that the dangerous weakening of the Canadian military and security assets under the current Administration, could be an effective point of criticism. Military spending should be raised to the recommended NATO levels. This would, for example, allow Canada to more meaningfully assert its sovereignty over the Arctic, and make Canada generally less beholden to U.S. military hegemony. The exercise of foreign policy has long fallen under the paradigm of soft power  with development aid the preferred instrument of policy. Some Canadians imagine that they are seen as a uniquely virtuous nation in many parts of the Third World, on account of their do-gooder policies. It is more likely that they are simply seen as credulous suckers. There must be some pruning of the foreign aid budget. Some further attention should be paid to broader cultural issues. There is today in Canada a massive cultural fracturing, under the pressures of the American cultural hegemony, and of the extremes of multiculturalism. Ironically, the greatest champions of Canadian culture today are also usually mavens of political correctness. The core Canadian identity is in danger of disappearing, the centre cannot hold, only the so-called fringes are powerful today. One might question the drowning of a shared identity in a sea of identity politics dictating what, and whose, current particularities are the most important. The goal should be to re-orient cultural funding to give more voice to core Canadian identity, and core Canadian culture and history. Also, the climate in the Canadian academy today (especially in the humanities and social sciences) has become unbearably woke, devoted to identity politics, and intersectionality. Non-woke voices are frequently silenced. There should be legislation to try to restore greater freedom of speech in the academy, and in society as a whole. There should also be a move away from the current Administrations blatant promotion of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in the academy, in favour of general merit and excellence. And there is the multifarious crisis of family and morality. It has been pointed out by various commentators that no matter how many rights and benefits a given society offers, it may still be considered a failing society, if it fails in the most essential task of reproducing itself  both in the purely physical as well as cultural sense. The government must therefore significantly increase the incentives for married couples to have or adopt children. Related to the crisis of morality is the triumph of the permissive society  the death of respect for legitimate authority and the sometimes seemingly absurdly lax operation of the criminal justice system. There should be a general tightening up of the legal system  as far as real punishments for real crimes  as opposed to the imagined offenses against political correctness. If there is anything true conservatism is characterized by, it is a pragmatic approach to the free-market, often embracing economic policies that appear to be social democratic, and a pro-social and cultural approach to community and nation, with an emphasis on remembering and mostly cherishing the long history and culture of ones own country. The history of Canadian Confederation is painted as a union of two, long pre-existent, historic nations, English Canada and French Canada. The Aboriginal peoples were included in that history insofar as they were traditionally considered to be under the special protection of the Crown. What are today called the First Nations or Indigenous Peoples are now finally receiving the respect due to them  but this cannot be achieved by disrespecting the history, culture, politics, and laws of the country as a whole  and especially what were traditionally called the founding nations of Canada (the British and the French). Thoughtlessly demonizing the entire past (as in the current frequent attacks on Sir John A. Macdonald, Canadas superlative founding Prime Minister) and even aspects of the present, achieves nothing except the self-loathing of most Canadians. Mark Wegierski is a Canadian writer and historical researcher. Home
Some of Sydney Harbours most iconic and historically valuable locations are under increasing threat from redevelopment and commercialisation. With the Sydney Harbour Trusts unveiling of support for 49-year leases over landmark sites around Sydney Harbour, we must ask, is this in line with its goal of ensuring Sydney Harbour remains in public hands?

A 49-year lease seems nothing short of a thinly veiled attempt at commercialising Sydneys iconic harbour foreshore. Not only that, if the Cockatoo Island Foundation gets its way with its plans for a lease over the entire island, it will set a precedent for other trust sites. It will be a slippery slope down a line of de facto privatisation as federal Opposition Leader, Anthony Albanese put it.

The sites managed by the Harbour Trust include Cockatoo Island, Sub Base Platypus, Headland Park (Chowder Bay, Georges Heights, Middle Head), North Head, Macquarie Light Station and the Marine Biological Station. All these sites are at risk from private control and development if the granting of long-term leases is allowed.

The 1.8 hectare Sub Base Platypus site was transferred to the Harbour Trust in 2005.

What is concerning is that the current requirement of Parliamentary approval will no longer exist with only Ministerial endorsement required for 49-year leases to be entered into. This will erode the current checks and balances.
Sharon Hastings' story is one of endurance - and the positive power of healing along the way. The 37-year-old from Newtownards lives with her husband Robert in Newcastle, Co Down. She has spent at least two years of her life in total in hospital.

Her lifetime has seen her experience severe and enduring mental illness, being diagnosed with a range of conditions including depression, bipolar disorder and eventually schizoaffective disorder. She has experienced episodes of mania and psychosis and has been tortured by her own thoughts.

What is more remarkable is that Sharon suffered all this while studying to become a doctor, and despite her struggles - which included being detained on a psychiatric ward during her final year - she achieved this.

She has written her story in a book to help start a conversation about severe mental illness, and to help people understand the journey people can go on.

Her story begins after she visited her Aunt Olivia in LA the summer before her final year of medicine at Queen's University Belfast in 2006.

Red flags started to appear; she had become disinterested in doing anything while on holiday and it was only when her aunt asked her did it occur to her that she might be depressed.

It was the first time she had heard that word used in connection with herself and immediately thought she could not possibly be a medical student and depressed.

Sharon saw a therapist while she was there and when she came home was given antidepressants and was referred to psychiatry.

She says: "The idea of being depressed, I felt stigma from that moment, self-stigma. I can't be a medical student and be depressed, it doesn't go together,

"Faith was important to me, and I was also thinking because of that, this shouldn't be happening to me either."

Expand Close Sharon Hastings and husband Robert / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Sharon Hastings and husband Robert

Meanwhile, Sharon threw herself into her studies which became her main distraction from her health as she started final year, but her condition was deteriorating.

"I used to go to the hospital at eight in the morning and wouldn't come home to midnight some nights," she explained. "I wasn't eating properly and it started to become visible to people that something was wrong."

When Sharon had her first appointment in September the consultant wanted her to take a break from her studies, but she resisted.

And although things were on a downward spiral, by January 2007, remarkably Sharon had gotten through her written finals, but she began having suicidal thoughts.

She was admitted to the psychiatric ward voluntarily. However, after a week she wanted to leave, and had to be detained.

She recalls: "After a week or so I decided, 'no I can't do this I want out'. They were very concerned about me and I said I was going home, and they said you can't.

"I was still insistent I was going and they brought my GP in to do the detention.

"They detained me and I remember trying to break out, and I ran through the door set off all the alarms and of course, security brought me back again. That was a bit of a turning point, I had to accept I'm here now."

Sharon negotiated being able to do a tutorial once a week but gradually over time this stopped. Her studies were something she had control over, however, and she did not want to lose that.

"I had this dichotomy going on that I was having suicidal thoughts and didn't want to go on, I knew I wouldn't be well enough to be a doctor, but was adamant I was going to do my finals, that's where I was getting my identity from," she continues.

"People didn't understand. They'd say, 'Why are you so focused about your finals when you are so ill' but I said 'no I can't let go, that's the last thing that I have'."

Incredibly, Sharon made it through and got her degree in medicine in 2007. But finding out she had become a doctor while a patient on a psychiatric ward was not what Sharon had imagined.

"I was so glad to have it done. People started congratulating me in the ward, and said you can use the title now Dr McConville, but I thought, what for?

"My thoughts became really black at that time, and I just thought what is the point now?"

I had gone quite against Christianity and thought God had just abandoned me Sharon Hastings

Subsequently Sharon was diagnosed with an 'eating disorder not otherwise specified', because she did not have a confused body image - rather she knew she was thin, but felt she didn't deserve food.

She was sent to a specialist centre in London twice to try and get her weight up before trying to treat her mental health. But they were not successful trips and when she came back home she was a "mess".

In desperation she began to look online and came across a centre in America called New Beginnings. It was also a Christian centre which was something Sharon had rejected in recent years.

"I had gone quite against Christianity and thought God had just abandoned me," she says.

Sharon spent six months there in 2008 and came home a healthy weight, eating properly and knowing she did not want to go down that road again.

However, she was still battling depression.

Her GP helped get her back into a routine with specialists through the NHS. And soon Sharon thought about getting back to medicine and reapplied to the GMC (General Medical Council) but she was rejected quickly as she was still having treatment.

In January 2010, Sharon thought she was having a breakthrough - she felt incredible. But in fact, this was her first major manic episode.

"I didn't realise it as what it was at the start, I thought I was doing super-well, I felt amazing, everything was falling into place for me," she recalls.

"I wrote a novel in two weeks, I spent a lot of money on odd things.

"When I saw the psychiatrist, I was weirdly dressed and I was acting strange, like an overexcited child."

Here she was given a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. This gave Sharon a new sense of hope that if they knew what the problem was, at least they could treat it.

With this renewed confidence of a diagnosis and treatment plan, she reapplied to the GMC and was told she would have two interviews with two different assessors. The first one went well, she was told "doctors with bipolar work".

But somewhere in the six weeks in between the assessments something scary began to happen.

"I became aware of this network of messages, this fourth dimension, and started to have conspiracy theories going on in my head and had these flapping creatures I could see out of my left eye," she says. "It was terrifying."

When she had her appointment with the second GMC assessor he knew immediately what was going on. "Everything was happening, the tormentor things were there, I was looking up at them and then looking way.

"He told me he would be writing to my GP that day."

In his letter the assessor referred to Sharon as "floridly psychotic".

"I can't remember exactly what happened but by the time I got the letter from the GMC I knew what the implications of it were and shortly after that I had a suicide attempt," she says.

In 2011 a breakthrough diagnosis would shape the rest of her life, when Sharon was told she had schizoaffective disorder.

Sharon says: "I had got used to saying I was bipolar, and people generally do understand what bipolar is now, ups and downs in mood, manic depression, etc. That for me was the same momentous thing as the first time I said I had depression.

"I really shied away from that and didn't want to be called that. But at the same time they were saying, look if we know what it is we can treat it.

"But I was thinking you knew when it was bipolar and depression so what is it going to be next."

Unlike a physical illness - enduring mental health disorders can take time to get to the true diagnosis. "People have to see the evolution of an illness and how people present and it is a much more of a clinical expert opinion because you can't do a blood test to see it," she adds.

Expand Close With her husband Robert / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp With her husband Robert

After that things began to settle and Sharon joined a creative writing class - and in January 2012 she met her now husband, Robert Hastings.

She was up front about her past from the outset.

"I looked normal, it wasn't obvious I was mentally ill, I was in a period of remission," she explains. "I told him what I had been through. I was telling him I've spent a total of two years in hospital and I could see him turning a bit grey when I told him some of the things that had happened.

"He said, 'It's hard to believe and hard to take in, you don't seem like a person who has this degree of illness', but he didn't run."

As they began dating, Sharon also felt her interests in other things coming back, and she started going to church again. She recalls: "I thought God had abandoned me but he got me through all this and I started to re-evaluate my whole faith.

"I was re-evaluating my whole life. I was quite stable and hopeful."

The couple faced further ups and downs - including some more intense moments - but they managed to get through it and worked hard on their relationship.

After three years of dating, on New Year's Eve, Rob proposed. "I thought marriage equals stability, I've got this loving and supportive person who has been through this with me and still wants to be with me."

They got married on April 23, 2015.

But the feeling of contentment and steadiness that Sharon hoped marriage would bring to her life didn't happen automatically.

"I thought marriage was the goal and we'll be settled and build a family," she says. "And of course it wasn't.

"So for the first time since 2011, in 2015 I was admitted to hospital with psychotic depression and that was Rob's first experience of visiting me in hospital."

Life since has been a roller coaster.

Over the years Sharon always read a lot, and took comfort in other people's experiences. But she wanted to read an account about someone who shared her faith, and when she couldn't find this, a friend suggested she write her own story.

That is how her book, Wrestling With My Thoughts was born. Even during the writing of the book, she struggled, especially with going over the difficult subject matter.

But since mid-July 2019 Sharon has not been back in hospital and is taking things a day at a time.

"There are bits that are harrowing in the book and it's probably more harrowing to write them than it is to read them," she says.

For Sharon, it's a book that tells a personal story of endurance and how healing and happiness can happen along the way. "It's not a story about healing from schizoaffective disorder, it's not like this was then and now things are great and it's sorted and I can write my story and it's all tidy," she says.

"It's still a struggle. I still do that wrestling with my thoughts."

She explains: "People ask me, 'do you not think things can get better and improve?' And I totally do. Sometimes people ask me, 'do you not think God has the power of healing?' And He does, but He doesn't always do that.

"My experience is usually with these illnesses people do live with them for life and often they can be managed better as people get older because there is more experience of what have we used in the past that worked."

Sharon has also been on a journey with her faith - and hopes the church can grow in their approach to understanding mental illness.

She adds: "I wanted the book not just to be a story of the mechanics of mental illness but to say where faith has influenced me and I do think there is a role for people if they can understand. Once people can understand they are less scared."

Now, Sharon wants people to know there is hope along the way. "It's nice to be able to give people hope of recovery but I think there is hope within the journey as well," she says.

Expand Close 07/02/2020 Dr Sharon Hastings pictured at St Annes square in Belfast. Mandatory Credit - Stephen Hamilton Stephen Hamilton / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp 07/02/2020 Dr Sharon Hastings pictured at St Annes square in Belfast. Mandatory Credit - Stephen Hamilton

"I have a faith which helps me and I have recognised I've been blessed with really good things, I have a husband who doesn't give up on me and loves me for who I am. He finds it hard and has days when he is stressed out by it too, but we just seem to get through it.

"Good things have happened in the midst of the struggle and it's looking back and recognising that."

Sharon wants people to take comfort from the book and not to feel alone.

"I want other people to feel, here is someone who lives with this illness but is holding on to the positives," she says. "The other motivation was for carers, looking at Rob's role and how he struggled at times.

"We have a good conversation in the community about depression and anxiety and with young people's mental health, but there isn't much conversation about severe mental illness. It's important to let people see a human at the centre of the struggle."

Sharon especially wants people to become more honest in communicating their feelings.

She adds: "It's very tempting to keep that veneer of 'everything is fine', that's what everyone wants to hear. It's breaking through that first layer of self-stigma, and to stop censoring everything."

Wrestling With My Thoughts is available through IVP books and on Amazon. If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, contact the Samaritans on 116 123, or Lifeline on 0808 808 8000
Selfie obsession or selfie disorder is the obsessive need of some persons to click photos of themselves on smartphones and post it on various social media . Psychologists and counselors warn that this may be a mental disorder and should be treated as such.

Holding the smartphone above your head and twisting your hand at weird angles to get that perfect selfie shot capturing your smile or mood may seem the most normal thing to do, especially among the youth. However recent studies seem to suggest that if this urge to click selfies and share it with the world is unchecked and out of control, it may indicate underlying mental health issues.

Also referred to as selfitis, the term was coined in 2014 in a spoof (fake) news story which claimed that the American Psychiatric Association was considering the option of classifying this as a mental disorder.

The spoof article nevertheless spurred a series of clinical studies, and interestingly in about two or three years, these studies appear to confirm that selfitis disorder does indeed exist and have even established a Selfitis Behaviour Scale to assess the severity of the condition.

Dr. Mark Griffiths, Distinguished Professor of Behavioral Addiction in Nottingham Trent Universitys Psychology Department, who conducted a recent major study on the selfie obsession says, Whilst the (original) story was revealed to be a hoax, it didnt mean that the condition of selfitis didnt exist. We have now appeared to confirm its existence and developed the worlds first Selfitis Behaviour Scale to assess the condition.

Studies conducted have identified six factors most likely to be associated with selfie obsession. These included the following -

Environmental enhancement

Selfie taking enhances mood and helps to appreciate the environment better

To form good and happy memories of various experiences

Selfies are cherished possessions for future memories

Social Competition  Needing to be best

Elevates social status and importance

Getting more likes and comments on social media

Creates a healthy competition among social circle

Making my selfie look better than others by using photo editing tools

Attention Seeking

Helps to be popular in social and friends circle

Gaining attention and notice and comments on social media

Mood Elevation

Makes me happy, less stressed and good about myself

Improvement in Self-confidence

Feel more confident and self-assured when taking selfies

Looking at my selfies in private makes me more confident

Conforming to Peer Group Expectation

Feel accepted and respected only when I take and post selfies

Feel isolated if I do not indulge in taking and posting selfies

Selfie obsession disorder or selfitis is a strange urge to keep snapping pictures of oneself and sharing it on social media. Studies indicate that persons obsessed with selfie-taking may have an underlying mental health disorder and need to seek help. Depending on the severity of the condition, selfitis is classified into three levels.

Levels of Selfitis

Borderline - Clicking ones photos at least three times a day but not posting them on social media.

- Clicking ones photos at least three times a day but not posting them on social media. Acute - Taking self-pictures at least three times a day and posting all of them on social media.

- Taking self-pictures at least three times a day and posting all of them on social media. Chronic- Uncontrollable urge to take selfies continuously and posting them on social media more than six times in a day.

Persons obsessed with taking selfies may have one or more of the following emotional and mental health issues and may need medical help before things get out of hand

Loneliness

Unconscious cry for help

Obsessed with self and oblivious to other peoples opinions or needs

Highly attention seeking

Difficult relations with family and friends

Addiction tendencies

Lacking in confidence and feeling the need to fit in and gain approval

Suffering from stress

Based on questionnaires, the dominant characteristics of the person are identified as any of the following  loneliness, attention seeking, self-centered, or narcissistic (love of self).

Unless treated, the underlying personality traits and mental health issues may lead to more serious conditions such as depression, Substance abuse, suicidal tendencies and disruption in relationships.

The Selfitis Behavior scale is a questionnaire consisting of 20 statements where the person rates each of these statements from 1 to 5 (1 meaning strongly disagree and 5 meaning strongly agree), with a maximum score of 200. A higher score increases the chances of suffering from selfitis.

Taking selfies gives me a good feeling to better enjoy my environment Sharing my selfies creates healthy competition with my friends and colleagues I gain enormous attention by sharing my selfies on social media I can reduce my stress level by taking selfies I feel confident when I capture a selfie I think my peer group accepts me better when I take selfies and share them on social media I can express myself more in my environment through selfies Taking different selfie poses helps increase my social status I feel I become more popular when I post my selfies on social media Taking more selfies improves my mood and makes me feel happy I become more positive about myself when I take selfies I become a significant member of my peer group through selfie postings Taking selfies provides better memories of the occasion and the experience I post frequent selfies to get more likes and comments on social media By posting selfies, I expect my friends to appraise me Taking selfies changes my mood instantly I take more selfies and look at them privately to increase my confidence When I dont take selfies, I feel detached from my peer group I take selfies as trophies for future memories I use photo editing tools to enhance my selfie to look better than others

Broken relationships and loneliness

Tendency for other addictions as well

Putting oneself at risk of cyberbullying and trolling by frequent posting of selfies

Going to extreme lengths to secure validation of others, for example developing eating disorders to look thin and beautiful

Depression and risk of suicide

Psychopathic nature manifesting as taking dangerous selfies from edge of cliff, top of buildings, bridges

Selfie deaths  being run over, falling from heights while taking selfies

Currently, no scientifically approved treatment for selfie obsession disorder exists. Some of the following measures may be tried to overcome the obsession. In some severe cases, psychological counseling and cognitive behavior therapy may be required.

Ask yourself whether you need to carry your smartphone throughout the day and instead choose to have a basic phone to carry around

You should decide when and how to use your smartphone to benefit you

Decide to reduce the frequency of logins to social media, perhaps twice or thrice a week. Indulge in other enjoyable activities to resist the urge to keep visiting social media sites or reaching for your phone

Set realistic goals to achieve your targets. Give yourself time. Believe in yourself

Practice relaxation techniques and stress management

Seek your parents or well-wishers cooperation to help you achieve your goals and wean you away from your selfie habit

In more severe cases when the above measures do not yield the desired result it is necessary to seek specialist help.

CBT is atype of psychotherapy, found to be effective in obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD). Exposure and response prevention (ERP), a type of CBT therapy, involves exposing the person gradually to the object of obsession (smartphone in this instance) and teaching them to develop coping skills to avoid their instinctive response and the associated anxiety at not being able to indulge in the obsessive behavior.

Sessions may be individual, family or group therapy sessions.

ERP takes effort and practice, but the results can be rewarding - better quality, improved relations and a new outlook on life.

Medications:

Severe cases of selfie obsession may need a referral to a psychiatrist and medications as appropriate. Often a combination of CBT and medications have been found to offer maximum benefit in OCD. Other underlying mental disorders should be appropriately treated as well.

In conclusion, although it may sound dramatic to refer to selfie obsession as a mental health disorder, several scientific studies have strengthened the validity of this claim. Like all things in life, using smartphones and social media are best done in moderation.
YEREVAN.  The Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Armenia has published the list of MPs in favor of the "Yes" campaign for the referendum on constitutional amendments. Vahagn Hovakimyan, MP from the majority My Step faction of the National Assembly, is the authorized representative of the campaign, Armenpress reported.

The list includes 44 deputies of the faction.

The referendum will be held on April 5.

The referendum proposes to terminate the tenure of serving President of the Constitutional Court, Hrayr Tovmasyan, and 6 members of the court.

The referendum campaign kicks off on February 17, and will continue until April 3.

The ruling Civil Contract party has already set up a "Yes" headquarters led by Suren Papikyan, Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure.

The deadline for deputies to set up a "No" campaign headquarters is February 17, but no parliamentary force has yet announced the formation of such headquarters.

Parliamentary opposition Prosperous Armenia party has decided not to participate in the conduct of the referendum on constitutional amendments.

Another opposition force in parliament, Bright Armenia, has also announced that it will not launch a "No" campaign. Edmon Marukyan, the leader of the Bright Armenia party, has urged other forces to also not to form a "No" front.

If a "No" campaign is not registered by MPs within the prescribed period, it may be formed by a group of at least 50 citizens. The petition(s) for the registration of a "NO" campaign by citizens may be submitted to the CEC starting February 18.

Extra-parliamentary political forces also have not announced about carrying out a "no" campaign.

The former ruling Republican Party of Armenia has stated that it will not participate in the process, while the ARF Dashnaktsutyun Party has called for a boycott of the referendum.
The shrine is found in the small village of Al Our, from where most of the victims came. The memorial shows the men kneeling with a large statue of Christ behind them, his arms open in an embrace of salvation. A museum that preserves the testimonies of the victims was also opened.

Cairo (AsiaNews/Agencies)  Egypts Coptic Orthodox Church on Saturday, 15 February, inaugurated a memorial to the Christian men beheaded in Libya five years ago to the day.

The shrine includes a large statue of Christ with his arms open as if to embrace the statues of the 21 Christian martyrs who were killed by Islamic State militants on a beach in Sirte because they refused to give up their faith.

The men, 20 from Egypt and one from Ghana, are shown kneeling, as ordered by the terrorists, who beheaded them and threw their bodies into a mass grave.

The memorial was built in Al Our, a small village in Minya province, from where many of the victims hailed.

Two years, the Coptic Church inaugurated the Cathedral of the Martyrs of Faith and the Homeland in the same village, also on 15 February, to honour the victims. Funding came from the Egyptian government.

In addition to the memorial, Bishop H. G. Bevnotious of Samalut opened a museum dedicated to the martyrs, with exhibits about the lives of the victims, from the moment of their abduction to the repatriation of their bodies to Egypt. The latter were found two years after the massacre.
Church attack kills at least 24 in Burkina Faso

Unidentified armed men attacked the church in Yagha province in the Sahel Region during a religious ceremony on Sunday.

At least 24 people were killed and 18 others injured after gunmen attacked a church in northern Burkina Faso, the region's governor said on Monday.

24 DEAD, 18 INJURED

"The provisional death toll shows 24 people murdered, including the pastor of a Protestant church. We also deplore 18 injured and abducted people," local media quoted Colonel Salfo Kabore, governor of the Sahel region, as saying.

"The injured were evacuated to Sebba and Dori for appropriate care" Kabore added. Burkina Faso is witnessing a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian emergency.

In October 2019, over 486,000 internally displaced people were registered, more than twice of the July 2019 figure. The Centre-Nord and Sahel regions in Burkina Faso are the most-affected, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

A state of emergency in northern Burkina Faso which ended on Jan. 12 was extended for another year to boost the fight against terrorism.

It is currently being implemented in seven of 13 regions in the country
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday emphasised that the state government is firmly resolved to carve out a "new Odisha-empowered Odisha".

"People-centric governance is the essence of a true democracy. The continuous trust of the people of Odisha is the ultimate energy that guides the policies of my government. There was a time Odisha was identified with acute poverty and calamities. Today, we are known for the highest reduction of poverty in the Country and setting global benchmarks in disaster management," Patnaik said on the Motion of Thanks to the Governor's speech.

"Our resolve to carve out a new Odisha-empowered Odisha is firm. During the last 20 years of our governance, we promised what we could deliver and delivered what we promised. We are the only state which has doubled farmers income. We have brought more than 8 million people out of poverty in the last decade," Patnaik added.

Patnaik said that this could not have been possible without bringing in significant improvements in the household income of the farmers of the state.

Talking about the KALIA scheme, Patnaik said that it is a unique scheme tailor-made to the needs of farmers and now is a model for the nation.

"Through KALIA scheme we support about 50 lakh small and marginal farm families and about 25 lakh landless agriculture households," he said.

The Chief Minister added, "Empowerment of women is very close to my heart. It is the surest way to ensure socio-economic development of the households. 'Mission Shakti', our women self-help group movement today is spread in every corner of the state. More than 40 lakh mothers have been assisted under MAMATA. We are now considered as a nutrition champion state."

Patnaik said that his government's intervention in providing education to more than five lakh ST and SC students with hostel facility is unprecedented in scale.

"We are the leading state in the country in implementing the Forest Rights Act. We are aware that the GenNext citizens of Odisha are aspirational. They want their state to emerge as a leader with confidence. My government is determined to measure up to that expectation and work hard for the complete transformation of the state by implementing the '5T Mantra'," he said.

Sharing some of the ambitious targets which the state government is focusing on, Patnaik said, "By August 15, 2020, our citizens will have the freedom not to visit government offices for any services. April 1 is the dateline for shifting of all wage payments through banks for all line departments. IFMS in all government transactions across departments by April 1. Mo Sarkar in all departments by March 5, 2020."

Patnaik said that they have now reached a certain stage in development and governance from where we should take a leap to the next level.

"People are aspirational and that should motivate us to provide effective governance. In this backdrop the state government is going to focus on employment and value addition on a big scale comparable to the best in the world... All this leading to a new Odisha - empowered Odisha," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily!

Your notification has been saved.

There was a problem saving your notification.

{{description}}

Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
[February 17, 2020] IAR Systems Simplifies Full CERT C Compliance in Leading Embedded Development Tools

UPPSALA, Sweden, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- IAR Systems, the future-proof supplier of software tools and services for embedded development, announces the availability of a major update of its static code analysis tool C-STAT in the complete C/C++ compiler and debugger toolchain IAR Embedded Workbench. In addition to the already broad compliance with industry coding standards defined by MISRA and CWE, the updated version of C-STAT extends its compliance into complete coverage for the CERT C Coding Standard. The CERT C Coding Standard, which is developed and owned by the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, provides rules for secure coding in the C programming language. The goal of these rules and recommendations is to develop safe, reliable, and secure systems, for example by eliminating undefined behaviors that can lead to undefined program behaviors and exploitable vulnerabilities. C-STAT is an add-on tool to IAR Embedded Workbench and performs advanced code analysis to find potential issues. The analysis provides code alignment with industry standards like MISRA C:2012, MISRA C++:2008 and MISRA C:2004, and also detects defects, bugs, and security vulnerabilities as defined by the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) and CERT C. It is fully integrated with the IAR Embedded Workbench IDE, enabling static analysis in a straightforward way and as a natural part of a developer's daily development workflow. This helps developers to ensure their code is safe and of high quality at an early stage, which also aids companies to shorten their time to market as impact of errors further down the line might be very time consuming and expensive. C-STAT was launched in 2015 as a response to customers' requests on static code analysis early in the development cycle. Since then, IAR Systems has continuously refined its technology to meet new demands and standards. IAR Systems is showcasing its latest technology, including the updated C-STAT, at embedded world 2020, in Nuremberg, Feb 25-27, in booth 5-340. To read more about C-STAT, visit www.iar.com/cstat. Editor's Note: IAR Systems, IAR Embedded Workbench, Embedded Trust, C-Trust, IAR Connect, C-SPY, C-RUN, C-STAT, IAR Visual State, IAR KickStart Kit, I-jet, I-jet Trace, I-scope, IAR Academy, IAR, and the logotype of IAR Systems are trademarks or registered trademarks owned by IAR Systems AB. All other product names are trademarks of their respective owners. Contact: IAR Systems Contacts AnnaMaria Tahlen, Content & Media Relations Manager, IAR Systems

Tel: +46-18-16-7800 Email: [email protected] Tora Fridholm, CMO, IAR Systems

Tel: +46-18-16-7800 Email: [email protected] This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/iar-systems/r/iar-systems-simplifies-full-cert-c-compliance-in-leading-embedded-development-tools,c3037221 The following files are available for download:







https://mb.cision.com/Main/386/3037221/1195431.pdf Release https://news.cision.com/iar-systems/i/iar-embedded-workbench-pressimage,c2749275 IAR_Embedded_Workbench_pressimage

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/iar-systems-simplifies-full-cert-c-compliance-in-leading-embedded-development-tools-301005951.html SOURCE IAR Systems

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Story, a musical about the life and work of Marley, the reggae superstar and political voice, will begin previews on Feb. 6, 2021, at the Lyric Theatre in Londons West End.

Arinze Kene has the title role in the production, which has been in development for several years. The book is by Lee Hall, who wrote the book and lyrics for Billy Elliot: The Musical. Dominic Cooke, artistic director of the Royal Court Theater from 2007 to 2013, is directing. The music will be Marleys and will include No Woman No Cry, Exodus, Three Little Birds and Get Up, Stand Up.

The lead producer is Suzette Newman, formerly of Island Records, the label that brought Marley to a global audience. Chris Blackwell, the founder of Island Records, is also a producer. Earlier iterations of the musical include Marley, written and directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah, and presented in 2015 at Center Stage in Baltimore while Mr. Kwei-Armah was the artistic director there. Another producer of this musical, he is now artistic director at the Young Vic.

In 2017, the same musical by a different name, One Love: The Bob Marley Musical, played at the Birmingham Repertory Theater in Britain.
President Trump spoke with our nations Governors last week in Washington D.C.

Trump was Mondays KVML Newsmaker of the Day. Here are his words:

As I said in my State of the Union last week, were in the midst of a great American comeback. With the help of many of the people in this room  and youve done, really, a fantastic job  I think I can say that just about everybody  Ill say just about, just in case. Someday, somebody is going to run or do something that I wont like, and I can have a little bit of an out when I say just about. (Laughter.) I said, No, he was included in the just about. But were creating the most prosperous economy and the most inclusive society ever to exist, actually.

Since my election, America has gained 7 million new jobs. We added 225,000 jobs in January alone, crushing expectations. The unemployment rate reached the lowest level in 50 years. And a statistic thats incredible to me is: The average unemployment that weve had during this three-year period is the lowest in the history of our country. Compared to any other administration, the lowest in the history of our country. The unemployment rate for African American, Hispanic American, and Asian Americans have reached the lowest level ever recorded.

Low-income workers have seen a 16 percent pay increase since my election  something thats so great to see. When I campaigned, they hadnt had rate increases, pay increases for 20 years, 21 years. They were working three jobs and two jobs, and making less money than they made 20 years ago.

Median household income, as you all know very well, is the highest ever recorded, by far. Since 2016, 28 states have reached or matched their lowest unemployment rate on record. So we have 28 and you  I think, soon, were going to have just about everybody. And at the end of last year, a record 39 states had unemployment below 4 percent. Again, another record.

Just as I promised during my campaign, were fighting every day to expand opportunity for African American communities all across our country. African American youth  we have such great news on African American youth  unemployment has reached its lowest level ever recorded. Its a great statistic. African American poverty rates have plummeted to their lowest rate ever in history. And wages for African American workers have increased $2,400 a year. Thats also a record.

At the center of our economic agenda are Opportunity Zones. I hope youre embracing them. I think many of you are. My administration has worked with the governors in this room to create nearly 9,000 Opportunity Zones in our most vulnerable communities. Jobs and money are pouring into these areas that have never seen investment. I mean, they havent seen them in decades and decades and decades. And hundreds of millions of dollars are pouring into certain communities  individual communities. Hundreds of millions of dollars. And theres never been anything like it: Opportunity Zones. Tim Scott did a great job on that. Senator Tim Scott.

I urge all governors to create a state-level version of our White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council to coordinate the efforts of state government to provide maximum support for the Opportunity Zones. And were there to help you. If you have a problem, call me. Literally, call me and well work it out. But the Opportunity Zones  and thats Democrat or Republican, by the way. Opportunities have been fantastic.

We must not stop until we have delivered equal and abundant opportunity for every community in our land. And thats whats happening.

To give former prisoners a second chance  this has worked better than any program ever  I was proud to sign the landmark criminal justice reform into law. And since that time, 10 states have passed legislation following our lead. And there were numerous states. I know Texas was there, Governor, with criminal justice reform. Amazing. And Kentucky and a few others that were thought of as being very strict states and yet they had criminal justice reform. We looked at a lot of what Texas did and some of the other states where it worked so well.

And Alice Johnson, as an example, she was in for 22 years and she had another 20 years to serve on something that  everything is bad, but to be in jail for 40 and 50 years for what Alice did on a telephone was crazy.

Thanks to our roaring economy, former inmates are now finding jobs. And the employers are so happy. Now, the economy is really helping, but its the first time ever where prisoners coming out of jail are finding jobs, loving it. And the employers  the feedback were getting from so many people, so many employers are: These are among the best people they have. And they were, in a way, forced by the economy, the good economy, because its hard to get people. Down to 3.5 [percent] and actually, it went to 3.6 [percent] because were opening up the valve. Theyre hiring more and more people. That was a positive. Two hundred and twenty-five thousand, as I said.

But the prisoners are now working and theyre doing a phenomenal job, for the most part.

Our booming prosperity is being fueled by our historic regulatory reduction campaign. In my first month in office, I imposed a two-for-one rule, requiring for every one new regulation, two old ones must be eliminated.

Well, that turned out to be  we went to four, we went to six, we went to eight. We had a period where we were at 22 to 1. Twenty-two to one. And were eliminating, on average, $3,100 in regulation costs per family a year. Nobody has ever even heard of such a thing.

And were getting housing built too. We have rules and regulations  made it impossible. I hope California gets their act together because the cost of regulation is almost the cost of a house. And they need housing, and they cant  they cant build it. They dont know what theyre doing.

The Governors Initiative on Regulatory Innovation is designed to continue our unprecedented progress through straight  state-level deregulation.

Governor Doug Ducey has achieved 3 for 1 on cuts. Wheres Doug? Good job, Doug. (Laughter.) Well, you only won by about 17 percent, so, you know. He should be  in fact, at 17 percent, you should be at 4 to 1, I think. Right? (Laughter.) That was a big win. A big win. That was a great win.

And Governor Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma has reached 2 for 1 and going to 3 for 1. Wheres Kevin? Hi, Kevin. Good job. Great.

Were also working together  and many of you in the room have done much better than 1 for 1. Some of you, youre up to four.

Were also working together to reform occupational licensing. Just this year, at least 12 governors have taken action to reduce burdensome occupational licensing requirements. That means licensing, where either its unnecessary or where you actually can do it very quickly. There are some licensing requirements that takes years to get approved, and it could take a matter of days. Could take a matter of days.

Governors understand the need to get infrastructure projects quickly approved. To speed up permitting and reduce traffic conjection  congestion, last month, we issued a proposed new rule to reduce permitting and the permitting time for new infrastructure by more than 70 percent. Highways that were taking 12 years to get approved, 14, 15, 17, 21 years, were trying to get it down to one year. That means you may get rejected if you have an environmental problem or a safety problem. In many cases, these highways became much more unsafe and they took a long time because theyd try and get away from certain problems, including nesting. But theyd try and get away, and instead of having a straight run, theyd create curves in the highway, which obviously make it much more dangerous. And they had problems with some of those highways. And theyre much more expensive to build  not only the time  the design but the time. I mean, by the time they get it approved.

So we have highways that would take 21 years. We have roads that took 10 years, 11 years, 12 years to get approved. And Elaine Chao has been fantastic. Elaine, thank you very much. The job youre doing at transportation, we appreciate it very much.

And, Jeff, you were over there for a long while, I will tell you, so I have to give you at least partial credit. Right now youre at a different location. (Laughter.)

But you really did  you did a great job on that. And  so we have it down to two years now, but we  I think were going to get it down to one. And very good chance youll be rejected if it doesnt meet environmental standards and tests.

And we are rescuing students from failing government schools by introducing the Education Freedom Scholarships and Opportunity Act, which will replicate the great success of tax-credit scholarships available in 18 states. We believe very strongly, or at least many of the people in this room  not all of them  but believe very strongly in school choice.

Were also working closely with the states to improve public safety. This includes the incredible work being done by our nations heroic ICE officers. Weve moved thousands of MS-13 out of the country, back to where they came from  whether its Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico.

And, as you know, we reached agreements with those countries so that we can do that. And the past administration, they wouldnt accept them. Theyd come from one of the countries, tough countries, and we would send them back and they wouldnt take them. Not me. They take them now. Now they say, Thank you so much for sending them back. We were looking for this killer. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. But they all take them now. They take them very quickly.

Before, they used to say, Dont ever even think about landing that airplane. We dont want those people. So they take them back rapidly. Someday theyll tell the real story as to why, but thats the way it has to be. We have thousands and thousands of killers and gang members that were bringing back to countries that now accept them. They were not taking them back.

Last year alone, ICE officers arrested 120,000 criminal aliens charged with nearly 10,000 burglaries, 5,000 sexual assaults, 45,000 violent assaults, and 2,000 murders. You know, some of them we keep here when they  its very egregious. We dont necessarily trust other people to take care of justice, so we keep them here. But, you know, we dont like having people in our prisons for 50 years, 60 years. And we have to pay for it. And so, for the most part, we bring them back to their countries and give them a very bad recommendation.

State and local cooperation is the backbone of this effort. We have a tremendous relationship with many of the states and governments, cities. Its essential that all of our states and cities honor ICE detainer requests to ensure that safe transfer of criminal aliens into federal custody takes place.

Jurisdictions that adopt sanctuary policies that instead release these criminals put all of Americans in harms way. A very, very, serious problem. I mean, were all here for the same thing. I know we have different policies, different feelings, different everything, but sanctuary cities are causing us a tremendous problem in this country.

We have stone-cold killers that they dont want to hand over to us, and then they escape into communities and they cause, in some cases, tremendous havoc.

Another vital element of federal and state cooperation is the relentless fight against opioids and the drug epidemic. Weve had great progress. Were down 18, 19, 20 percent in some of the communities. The First Lady has been very much involved in that. Kellyanne has been very much involved in that. A lot of the people in this room  almost everybody in this room has been involved in it.

So  and I want to thank you for that. Were making progress. Very tough. All over the world  this is a problem all over the world. This is a big problem here, but its a big problem almost everywhere.

For the first time in three decades, weve achieved a decline in drug overdose deaths, including, as an example, Ohio. Mike is around here someplace. Mike? Mike? Mike?

AIDE: He left, sir.

THE PRESIDENT: Twenty-three percent in Ohio. Nineteen percent in Pennsylvania. Ten percent in Wisconsin. And were averaging probably about 16, 17 percent. So its been  its not enough, but were making a lot of progress. And if we had more help in Congress, we could get it even lower.

My administration is truly grateful for the leadership, cooperation, partnership, and friendship of the governors in this room. No matter our party, we must work together and really do the job. And I think thats whats happening. Our country is now receiving thousands and thousands of companies that are coming into the United States. Some had left and some had never been here before, but they all want to be where the action is.

We lost 60,000 plants and factories over the years. Sixty thousand. Its hard to even conceive. And weve got many of them back, and many are coming back. And theyre moving to a lot of your states. I know a lot of them are coming into Texas and Florida and a lot of different locations  South Carolina, North Carolina, Pennsylvania. Its incredible whats happening. Ohio is a big beneficiary. Michigan is a tremendous beneficiary, with the car companies. Tremendous. Somebody was saying theyre so happy in Michigan.

And I meet with Prime Minister Abe of Japan. I say, You have to  Shinzo, you have to get more car companies here. We have a deficit with you. You have to get them in. And they are  theyre sending a lot of companies. We hadnt built a plant in years and years and decades, frankly. And now we have car plants being built all over the United States. And we have expansions  a lot of expansions of existing plants.

So its been, really, an incredible thing. Were doing incredible work. And were the number-one country in the world right now, in terms of the economy.

When I was running, and long before I was running, Id always heard that China  I have great respect for President Xi and great respect for China, frankly  but that China was going to be the number-one economy in the world during 2019. Actually, it was 2018, 2019. You all heard it, that we were going to go to number two.

And I will tell you, we had our battle. And we took in hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs and other things. And you saw the  it was just announced the trade deficit was the lowest its been in years with China. It just happened two days ago. They just announced.

But we are now so far ahead of China, in terms of the size of our economy, that if somebody is smart thats at this position for times into the future  hopefully, after five years  I wont joke by saying nine, thirteen, fifteen. (Laughter.) It drives them crazy  for the governors. It drives them crazy. (Laughter.) Even when I joke, it drives them crazy, so I wont say that. But if somebody smart is in this position, itll never happen where China overtakes us. Itll never happen.

So we, right now, have  were so far ahead of them. Theyre not catching us for a long time. If the wrong person stands here or sits in the White House  that beautiful chair in the White House, in the Oval Office  sure, theyre going to  you know, theyre going to catch. They have 1.5 billion people; we have 350 million people. But we have a very special place and a very special country, and nobody is going to catch us if we have great leadership. And you have been great leaders for your states, and we appreciate very much that youre at the White House. Thank you very much.

So what were going to do is  I thought maybe we could take a few questions. If you want, we could leave the press there. The press would love that, Im sure. Or we could have them leave and we could talk in a different fashion. You wont have to showboat. (Laughter.)

So would anybody prefer  well leave them here for a little while, and then well go a different route perhaps. Any questions, please? Please.

GOVERNOR PARSON: Mr. President, (inaudible) do you feel like your infrastructure? Youve got a budget coming out, I think, today. Where are you going to be on infrastructure?

THE PRESIDENT: Were doing a big infrastructure potential deal. We need  obviously, we need help from  we need the votes of Democrats. Theyve been so focused on something else and wasting a lot of peoples time, although my poll numbers have been driven way the hell up, so thats one way to do it, I guess.

But they have been so focused on the impeachment hoax that they havent had time to do anything else. But were ready to go with a big infrastructure bill if theyre ready to approve it. Were also ready to lower drug prices very substantially. We did  last year was the first time in 51 years that drug prices  prescription drug prices  went down. First time in 51 years.

But to get them really down, we have to do exactly what were doing. Were  we have  we need the votes of the Democrats, and they just didnt have the time to do anything. So maybe they will now have the time.

But were all ready to go on infrastructure, on reducing drug prices very substantially. We can reduce drug prices unbelievably easily and substantially, but we have to get Democrat votes. Okay?

Thank you. Thank you, Governor. Please.

GOVERNOR RICKETTS: Mr. President, youve had a lot of successes on trade  USMCA, China, and Japan. Whats next on your agenda for trade?

THE PRESIDENT: So, Europe has been treating us very badly. European Union. It was really formed so they could treat us badly. So theyve done their job. That was one of the primary reasons. But they treat us badly there and they treat us badly, frankly, on NATO. But NATO, Ive gotten, as you know, $130 billion more they will pay.

Because NATO was going down like a rocket ship. Our past leaders would go over, make a speech, and leave. I went over, made a speech, and said, You got to pay more. Because the United States was paying everything. Essentially, they were paying close to 100 percent. And I let them know: You have no choice. And they are paying more. They paid $130 billion.

I think my biggest fan in the whole world is Secretary General Stoltenberg, head of NATO. And he said he cant believe it, because for 20 years it went down. Its like a roller coaster dip. No  none of this; just down. They paid less and less and less. And it got more expensive and more expensive with time.

But I raised $130 billion my first meeting, and I raised $400 billion the second meeting. So now its in good shape. But, you know, we were taken advantage of by a lot of countries  a lot of allies, frankly. Sometimes allies do a better job on you than the enemy, because the enemies you watch out for, right?

So, Pete, I think that the next thing could be Europe where we talk to them very seriously and they have to do it because theyve  theres been a  over the last 10, 12 years, theres been a tremendous deficit with Europe. They have barriers that are incredible. I didnt do  I didnt want to do them while we were doing China, Japan, South Korea. You know, I didnt want to do the whole world at one time. Does that make sense? (Laughter.) People have learned that doesnt work out too well, even on trade.

So were going to be starting that. They know that. They know that. Theyre ready for it. You know, we made a good deal with Japan. Were going to do a bigger, much more comprehensive deal. But were taking in $40 billion from Japan, which they didnt expect. Nobody expected. Weve done great on the trade. Its going to have a tremendous impact.

Now, the virus that were talking about having to do  you know, a lot of people think that goes away in April with the heat  as the heat comes in. Typically, that will go away in April. Were in great shape though. We have 12 cases  11 cases, and many of them are in good shape now. So  but a very good question.

Yes, please. Colorado.

GOVERNOR POLIS: Yeah. You mentioned deporting criminal aliens. What about also  what are your ideas for fixing it for the  for the, kind of, for the DREAMers and the folks who are here that are hardworking? And, you know, its really tough out there, and they work on our farms, and the kids who grew up here. And how do we do that, and at the same time youre also, kind of, enforcing the other side for those who violate our laws?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, we almost had a deal on that with the Democrats, as you know. It was done. And then we lost the decision, and the Democrats said, Trump? Whos that? Trump? Whos that? But we were very close to having a deal on the DREAMers with the House and with the Senate. It wouldve been a very good deal for everybody.

So were looking at that, but now were before the Supreme Court. I think were going to win, because if we dont win, that gives the President of the United States unbelievable powers.

You know, President Obama signed that bill. It was an executive order. And when he signed it, he said  essentially, he said, I dont have the right to do this, but Im going to do it anyway. And he was upheld by a judge. And anyway, it will be before the Supreme Court pretty soon. And at some point, I think well probably make a deal on that. I do feel that way. Okay? Good question.

A question? Yes, please, Gary.

Hows Mitt Romney?

GOVERNOR HERBERT: I havent talked to him.

THE PRESIDENT: You keep him. (Laughter.) We dont want him. Go ahead.

GOVERNOR HERBERT: States are used to 

THE PRESIDENT: Doing a great job in Utah, by the way. Go ahead, Gary.

GOVERNOR HERBERT: States are used to balancing the budget. So I think, by and large, we dont spend more than we take in. And I know youve unveiled your budget today, and I know theres  a concern for you is the growing debt.

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.

GOVERNOR HERBERT: I know weve had nonpartisan economists talk to us as governors saying this is going to come back to bite us in the future if we dont do something about it.

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, I agree.

GOVERNOR HERBERT: What are we doing, and how can we get to a more balanced budget  certainly reduce the debt as opposed to continuing to grow the debt?

THE PRESIDENT: So were putting out a plan today that, over a period of  not that long a period of time, brings our budget and our deficit down to what it should be, which is close to zero. And I think people are going to be very impressed by it.

Were not touching Medicare. We want to keep Medicare. Were not touching Social Security. Were making our country stronger again. Were not decreasing Medicaid. But were doing a lot of things that are very good, including waste and fraud  tremendous waste and tremendous fraud.

So were doing that, in terms of certain programs. And were taking good care of our military. Were increasing spending on our nuclear program because we have no choice  because of what China is doing, what Russia is doing in particular. And so we have a very big number in for that.

Now, at the same time, Russia and China both want to negotiate with us to stop this craziness of spending billions and billions of dollars on nuclear weapons. But the only way, until we have that agreement  the only thing I can do is create, by far, the strongest nuclear force anywhere in the world, which, as you know, over the last three years, we very much upgraded our nuclear.

But were buying new. We have the super-fast missiles  tremendous number of the super-fast. We call them super-fast, where theyre four, five, six, and even seven times faster than an ordinary missile. We need that because, again, 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. But thats how it happened. And China, as you know, is doing it.

So we have a tremendous $740 billion for military. But again, its also jobs in the United States. So its  you know, everything is made in the United States, proudly. And we have the best in the world. We have the best equipment in the world. The best missiles, planes, rockets. Everybody wants our equipment. We have to be very selective, obviously.

But were  were going to have a very good budget with a very powerful military budget because we have no choice  okay?  about that.

Ron, do you have something about, for instance, your plan of buying and cutting prescription drugs? You want to tell them what were doing?

GOVERNOR DESANTIS: Well, so we had a panel about the  your administrations approval under an old 2003 law that prior administrations did not utilize to allow safe and affordable drugs to be imported from Canada. So thats going through the regulatory process.

We, in Florida, are working our own parallel track. As soon as your rules are done and in place, you know, were looking to buy. And, you know, we can save a lot of money just for things like our prison system 

THE PRESIDENT: Right.

GOVERNOR DESANTIS:  because the drugs are a lot cheaper.

So we think therell be good savings here. But I think it opens up a larger conversation, which I know you want to have, about: Why are we funding the drugs for everyone in the world?

THE PRESIDENT: Right.

GOVERNOR DESANTIS: You know, Americans want relief and I know youve fought hard for that. But thanks for approving the Florida program.

THE PRESIDENT: You can go  and Colorado is doing that also  you can go to certain countries, and the exact same pill, made in the exact same plant, factory  wherever it may be  from one of the big companies will sell for 50, 60, 70 percent less than the United States is paying, because its broken; its a broken system.

And so one of the things Ive authorized is that certain states have requested  probably after this, everybody in this room will go back  (laughter)  but if we buy from Canada, youll save 50 percent at this moment.

Now, that may go up or everything may come down. One thing is going to happen or another. Either the drug companies are going to raise it and not make it possible to buy. Theyre going to raise it in Canada, meaning so you wont be able to do it, or everyone is going to go down. Because you have a middleman in the middle that are making a fortune. Nobody knows who these people are, but theyre getting rich. Because we had a broken system and its about time it gets fixed. So a lot of  a lot of shakeup is going to take place.

But if we had Democrats helping us, we could solve this problem in one day, but they dont want to vote again. They dont have any time to vote. They dont have any time to do anything other than what they do. So they seem to be freed up a lot now. Theyre freed up a lot, actually, I hear.

How about a couple of more and then well let the press go and relax and take it easy? (Laughter.)

Please, Governor.

GOVERNOR ABBOTT: Your administration has done a  your administration has done a great job with regard to addressing the opioid crisis.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.

GOVERNOR ABBOTT: An aspect about that is the growing problem of fentanyl, especially fentanyl coming across the southern border.

THE PRESIDENT: Right.

GOVERNOR ABBOTT: And it is my understanding that theres some information about a lot of that coming from China.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes.

GOVERNOR ABBOTT: What Im curious about is what the status is with regard to the reduction of fentanyl coming from China and our ability to corral that and to reduce that.

THE PRESIDENT: So, as you know, its gone down. I met with President Xi on the trade deal. And I said, You have to stop fentanyl coming into our country. You have to do me a favor and stop it. You have to get it stopped. It has to end  because its a favor for our country. And were losing thousands and thousands of people to fentanyl. I mean, the size of a pinhead can kill a lot of people. Its unbelievably bad. And they send it direct and they send it through Mexico and through the border. And we would catch a lot of it, but even if a little bit got through, its a very deadly drug.

And they have cut it way back. And theyve also criminalized  it wasnt a criminal. They considered a corporate kind of a thing. It was a drug of a different nature. And now, theyve put it into their criminal statutes. And criminal, in China, for drugs, by the way, means thats serious; theyre getting a maximum penalty. And you know what the maximum penalty is in China for that. And it goes very quickly.

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. I dont know that our country is ready for that. But if you look throughout the world, the countries with a powerful death penalty  death penalty  with a fair but quick trial, they have very little, if any, drug problem. That includes China.

But theyve put fentanyl now into their  hes working on that, and weve  its gone down a lot, as you know. Theyve put it into their penalty system, and people will be getting the death penalty in China now for fentanyl. That was a big thing. Its not  its not part of the trade agreement, but it is part of the trade agreement. And they have acted on it.

Now, of course, theyre working on something else. And I think theyre doing a good job on that, on the virus. I had a long talk with President Xi  for the people in this room  two nights ago, and he feels very confident. He feels very confident. And he feels that, again, as I mentioned, by April or during the month of April, the heat, generally speaking, kills this kind of virus. So that would be a good thing.

But were in great shape in our country. We have 11, and the 11 are getting better. Okay?

Its a great question. I think that fentanyl is a huge problem. Its almost, at this moment, 100 percent made in China. And they are starting to enforce it on our behalf. We have a good relationship with China now. Probably the best weve ever had. Okay.

Okay, so I think what well do  any other questions from the governors? Yes, please.

GOVERNOR HUTCHINSON: Mr. President, I want to thank you for giving the states more flexibility in healthcare, particularly. Last week, your Health and Human Services announced the Medicaid block grant 

THE PRESIDENT: Right.

GOVERNOR HUTCHINSON:  waiver authority for the states. Arkansas will be pursuing that. But I wanted to thank you for that and also ask you: In terms of your State of the Union Address, you talked about healthcare. Is there anything that we can expect this year in Congress, with an election year  is there anything that we can get done that youre going to be a priority in Congress this year?

THE PRESIDENT: So we did a big thing on healthcare. We got rid of the individual mandate on Obamacare, which basically made Obamacare not Obamacare anymore. It was the most unpopular thing in Obamacare, and basically, you paid a lot of money for the privilege of not paying to have bad healthcare. And nobody wanted that. And we got rid of it. Big, big move.

And I had a choice: I can make  so it really isnt Obamacare anymore, but I can  and we do  as you know, we left preexisting conditions and everything. We left it. Because preexisting will always have  and I think I can speak for Democrats too. But we are all going to have preexisting conditions. We are always going to make sure that thats taken care of, the preexisting condition situation.

I think I can speak  I know I can speak for Republicans. I think I can speak for Democrats. Its a  its a part of our society right now, and nobody is going to change it. If a law is overturned, thats okay because the new law is going to have it in. The new law would replace the old law that was overturned. It would have preexisting conditions. So I think thats important to say.

But one thing that we will be doing is, at least from a Republican standpoint  you have 180 million people out there that have great health insurance. They love it. Private health insurance. And were going to save it. Other people are thinking about terminating it, which is brutal for unions and others. So I dont know how theyre going to get around that, but were going to be saving that.

But when I took over, I had a choice. We got rid of the most unpopular thing in Obamacare, almost got rid of Obamacare, but essentially we did. But now I said: Do we run it really well, or do we run it really poorly? Do we make everybody unhappy and blame the Democrats, or do we make people relatively happy with a bad law? Its a bad law. Bad  its a bad policy. But do we make people relatively happy? And I chose  I felt I had an obligation to do the latter.

So its been working out pretty well, and it goes along, and weve done block grants. Weve done a lot of different things with different states. And were tailor-made  really, its tailor-made for different states. We are doing thing for states. Some people want block grants, some people want something else. And were working with individual states, and I think governors are really happy and really surprised that were doing that.

I couldve just cold-lined it and just said, Were not doing anything, and everybody would be happy, everybody would be complaining. But I think the best thing for our country to do is the way were doing it, until we get a replacement for Obamacare, a full replacement, thats going to be great.

And I would say this: If we change the House  if we get the House, the Republicans get the House back, we will have that; otherwise, well just have to negotiate with the Democrats. And I think at some point they will come around and start negotiating these things, because they really are good.

So, media, thank you very much. We appreciate it and well have a little more discussion. Thank you very much.

The Newsmaker of the Day is heard every weekday morning at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML.
On Sunday, exactly two months after violence in Delhis Jamia Millia Islamia university, a group coordinating the agitation in the university against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act released a disturbing video. It showed eight to nine personnel in police and paramilitary uniforms enter the Jamia library, and beat unarmed students with lathis and batons, apparently on the evening of December 15. Subsequently, two other videos appeared online. One showed a man carrying a stone and hiding in the library, while the other showed a group of people  some carrying stones  in a corridor on the campus. A fourth video, which emerged on Monday, provided more elaborate footage of security personnel indiscriminately beating students even as they prayed for mercy, and smashing property. The sequence of the events is not clear, nor is it clear who leaked the footage.

But the first and the fourth video have established three things. One, despite the claim of the Delhi Police that it had neither entered the library nor vandalised it, the video appears to quite conclusively prove that the police (and possibly a paramilitary force) entered the library and used force. Two, while the police and government supporters have used the second and third video to suggest that rioters entered the library, it still does not justify the behaviour of the security personnel. Even if those who engaged in violence outside sought shelter in the library, the police should have followed due process, and, under no circumstances, should have engaged in the kind of violence that they are seen to be inflicting on students. And three, the video lends credence to the testimony of students, who alleged police brutality, about the events inside the campus.

Over 100 people were injured in the violence in Jamia. Despite the university having filed a complaint against Delhi Police, no First Information Report (FIR) has been registered. The university has now decided to go to court seeking the registration of an FIR. The manner in which the Delhi Police acted on December 15 in Jamia, its subsequent refusal to register an FIR, and its reluctance to act in Jawaharlal Nehru University on January 5, when a mob attacked students and faculty members, point to a disturbing pattern. The Delhi Police, instead of being impartial and following the law, has been complicit in violence  either through commission or omission. It also appears to be acting as an adjunct of political masters. For justice, accountability and its own credibility, the police must initiate strict action against those who committed excesses, end the culture of impunity, and reform its mode of functioning.
Controversy over Downing Street aide Andrew Sabisky heightened today after the emergence of comments issued under his name which said there were very real racial differences in intelligence.

Downing Street has refused to say whether Boris Johnson agrees with previous comments in which Sabisky suggested black people were mentally inferior and advocated compulsory contraception to prevent a permanent underclass.

Asked repeatedly at a Westminster media briefing whether the prime minister would condemn or distance himself from his aides comments, a No 10 spokesman said only: The prime ministers views are well publicised and well documented.

The failure to condemn Sabiskys remarks was denounced as disgusting by Labour, while Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon said it was time for Downing Street to demonstrate some basic but fundamental values.

Mr Johnson was coming under intense pressure to sack the aide, apparently recruited by Dominic Cummings after he responded to the senior advisers appeal for misfits and weirdos to work at No 10.

Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out Show all 17 1 /17 Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out Out: Sajid Javid Resigned as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Mr Javids departure comes just one month before a crucial budget, intended to chart the course for the new government  and makes him the shortest-serving chancellor for more than 50 years Getty Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out In: Rishi Sunak Promoted from Chief Secretary to the Treasury to Chancellor of the Exchequer after the dramatic resignation of Sajid Javid Getty Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out Out: Esther McVey Sacked as housing minister AFP via Getty Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out Out: Andrea Leadsom Sacked as business secretary EPA Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out Changed role: Alok Sharma Appointed business secretary (previously international development secretary). He has also been put in charge of the UKs COP26 climate change summit PA Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out Out: Attorney General Geoffrey Cox Resigned as the government's most senior law officer AFP via Getty Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out In: Suella Braverman Appointed Attorney General and she will attend cabinet EPA Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out Out: Theresa Villiers Sacked as environment secretary PA Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out In: George Eustice Appointed environment, food and rural affairs secretary. He was a farming and fisheries minister Reuters Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out Changed role: Anne-Marie Trevelyan Appointed international development secretary (previously parliamentary under-secretary for defence) Getty Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out Out: Julian Smith Sacked as Northern Ireland secretary Reuters Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out In: Brandon Lewis Appointed Secretary of Northern Ireland Reuters Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out In: Stephen Barclay Appointed chief secretary to the Treasury PA Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out In: Oliver Dowden Appointed culture secretary, succeeding Nicky Morgan Getty Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out Out: Chris Skidmore Sacked as eucation minister Getty Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out Out: Nus Ghani Sacked as transport minister Chris McAndrew/UK Parliament/CC BY 3.0 Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out Out: George Freeman Sacked as transport minister Getty

Acting Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said the government had become a national embarrassment and called on the PM to curb Cummings power to appoint and sack at will.

Conservative former immigration minister Caroline Nokes, who now chairs the Commons Women and Equalities Committee, said there was no place in government for the views expressed by Sabisky.

Cannot believe No 10 has refused to comment on Andrew Sabisky, tweeted Ms Nokes. I dont know him from a bar of soap, but dont think wed get on ....... must be no place in Government for the views hes expressed.

As the furore raged, Sky News uncovered further comments released under Mr Sabiskys name and his Twitter avatar in 2014, suggesting that there may be genetic reasons for differences between the races in intelligence and that these should be taken into account when framing immigration policy.

There are excellent reasons to think the very real racial differences in intelligence are significantly  even mostly  genetic in origin, though the degree is of course a very serious subject of scholarly debate, the post stated.

That debate busily bustles on and Im sure well have more precise answers in another five years or so, though whether the politicians will pay any attention is debatable.

It would be nice if they did from the standpoint of immigration control  in the UK, that is.

Meanwhile, a 2014 book review by Sabisky emerged in which he suggested that the UKs constitution may have to be amended to respond to the likelihood that Britain would be a Muslim majority nation by 2050.

Will institutionalised power-sharing (as in Northern Ireland) become the norm in the West  not between Catholic and Protestant, but between Muslim and non-Muslim (by around 2050 Britain is forecast to be a majority Islamic nation on current birthrate trends)? he wrote. How much internal resistance will there be to the adaptation of current institutions? How much of the resistance, and counter-resistance, will be violent?

The No 10 spokesman was asked around 40 times about Mr Johnsons opinions on Sabiskys comments on eugenics and racial intelligence during a half-hour media briefing in Downing Street on Monday but declined to set them out.

Instead, the spokesman repeatedly read from a text stating that his views were well-publicised and well-documented.

Despite repeated requests, the Downing Street spokesman was unable to point to a single example of the prime minister expressing a view on eugenics or the intelligence of black people, merely saying that reporters would find that his opinions were well-documented on the public record.

He declined to say whether Mr Johnsons views on the issue were reflected in a magazine article in which the PM referred to black people as picaninnies with watermelon smiles.

Whilst editor of The Spectator, Mr Johnson published an article in which columnist Taki Theodoracopulos wrote: On average, Orientals are slower to mature, less randy, less fertile, and have larger brains and higher IQ scores. Blacks are at the other pole, and whites fall somewhere in the middle, although closer to the Orientals than the blacks.

Asked subsequently about his contributors remarks, Mr Johnson described Theodoracopulos as a very distinguished columnist.

Calls have been made for Johnson to fire Sabisky (BBC)

Mr Johnson had already been coming under pressure to sack Sabisky over comments in which he:

- Called for the young to undergo compulsory contraception to prevent the creation of a permanent underclass;

- Disparagingly compared womens sport to the Paralympics;

- Suggested that black people were more likely than whites to be close to mental retardation;

- Suggested that much of the hue and cry against female genital mutilation looks more like a moral panic;

- Said that mental performance-enhancing drugs which might pose a risk to childrens lives were probably worth a dead kid once a year; and

- Made a case for eugenics as a means of selecting for good things in the population.

 Grant Shapps avoids answering questions on controversial comments made by Andrew Sabisky

The Downing Street spokesman refused to confirm his appointment or to say whether he was working as a special adviser to the PM paid by the taxpayer.

And he appeared to back away from the attempt by cabinet minister Grant Shapps to distance himself from Sabisky at the weekend when the transport secretary said that his reported comments were views that neither I or the government share in any shape or form.

Asked whether Mr Shapps was speaking on behalf of the government, the No 10 spokesman replied: I didnt hear specifically what the transport secretary said. The transport secretary was speaking as the transport secretary. I have answered the question on behalf of the prime minister.

Labour party chairman Ian Lavery said: It is disgusting that not only has Number 10 failed to condemn Andrew Sabiskys appalling comments, but also seems to have endorsed the idea that white people are more intelligent than black people.

Boris Johnson should have the backbone to make a statement in his own words on why he has made this appointment, whether he stands by it, and his own views on the subject of eugenics.

And Ms Sturgeon said: These are really not acceptable headlines for any government to be generating  or allowing to be generated. They need to get a grip fast and demonstrate some basic but fundamental values in terms of our public debate.

Acting Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said: When you have a prime minister who has referred to people as picaninnies with watermelon smiles, it is sadly no surprise that Boris Johnson has signed off on Dominic Cummings recruiting someone with such extreme and offensive views.

This Conservative government is a national embarrassment. By giving Dominic Cummings such power and then failing to control him, Boris Johnson is revealing who really is in charge.

The prime minister must do the right thing and put an end to the offence caused and sack Andrew Sabisky. He must also make crystal clear why he signed off on this appointment and curb Dominic Cummings power to appoint and sack at will.
Bloombergs Bucks Wont Protect Him From Nasty Battle for Nomination

Commentary

I was sorry to get the news that Mike Bloomberg (D.,R.,I.,D.-N.Y.) is apparently not considering tapping Hillary Clinton as his running mate, should he be successful in buyinger, winningthe Democratic nomination.

I say apparently because, although the headline of the news story spoke of how his campaign shuts down the claim, the report itself was full of rhetorical throat-clearing and equivocationtoo early to speculate, focus on the primary, and so on, and so on.

The original story was a Matt Drudge exclusive, which may or may not mean that he heard the rumor from some guy blocking his fedora hat. He noticed that Bloomberg and Clinton (and several others) had dinner in New York in December, or he made it up out of whole cloth, which really would be exclusive.

In any event, though salivating briefly over the prospect of a BloombergClinton ticket, I put the story down as too good to be true. The only thing more delicious would be a ticket featuring former golden boy, now felon, Michael Avenatti.

It seems like only yesterday that pundits were falling over themselves to declare Avenatti to be Donald Trumps worst nightmare, the savior of the republic (yes, really), a hero, likely presidential contender, and so onand on and on. On Feb. 14, we learned that, having been found guilty on all counts, he faces a long stint as a guest of the government for his efforts to extort money from Nike.

Of course, he will appeal, but as Mark Steyn noted on the Tucker Carlson Show, Avenatti, though a flash-in-the-pan celebrity, is not a fully paid-up member of the A-team, as are (for example) Hillary Clinton, James Comey, Sally Yates, and (as we found out last week) Andrew McCabe, the former deputy director of the FBI. McCabe lied under oath, leaked (or arranged to leak) documents, but, since he lives under the protective penumbra of the establishment, hes immune from prosecution.

Two-Tiered

Or so it seems. John Durham is still beavering away with his investigation into possible wrongdoing in the so-called Trump-Russia investigation, and who knows what interesting tidbits he will uncover. But the general point holds. The public has lost faith in the Department of Justice.

They think that the DOJ operates what Andrew McCarthy calls a two-tiered system, wherein people like Hillary Clintonshe of the 33,000 missing emails, bleach-bit servers, smashed smartphones, and at-this-point-what-difference-does-it-make arroganceget treated one way while people like Mike Flynn, whom Barack Obama doesnt like, gets treated in a very different way: set up by the FBI, career destroyed, bankrupted, and possibly facing jail time, and for what? For misremembering some details of a conversation (an entirely innocent conversation, by the way) he had with Sergey Kislyak, then the Russian ambassador to the United States.

As Napoleon said in Animal Farm, all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.

That, as I say, is the public perception. Is it accurate? I think there is a lot of truth to the perception, though I acknowledge that it is a complicated story and, moreover, I believe that Attorney General William Barr is determined (as he said in his confirmation hearings) to restore the ideal of impartiality at the Department of Justice. (Maybe that is a tendentious comment, since one seeks to restore only what one has lost, and the question of whether the DOJ has lived up to its obligation to be impartial is the question at issue.)

How Things Look

But politics is only incidentally about the realities of any given situation. Mostly it is about perception, about buzz, spin, whos up and whos down in that least impartial of courts, the court of public opinion.

Hence, the relevance of Avenatti to the metabolism of our politics. A year or two ago, he was the toast of the town. Now, he is contemplating a new wardrobe in orange.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the political contest we are approaching revolves around the question of rhetoric, the art, as Aristotle noted, of persuasion.

On the Republican side, things are largely quiescent. Donald Trump enjoys enormous Republican support. There is a potentially dangerous element embedded in governmentthe permanent bureaucracy which, regardless of party, defaults to big-government morass and turf protection above all else. And there are the loud but impotent Never Trumpers, who are like gnats on a summer day. But the main current of Republican politics is surging under Trump, bearing him along as standard-bearer.

Things are very different on the Democratic side, where a gigantic clash of narratives is just getting revved up. Someone will be the Democratic nominee, but who? The communist Bernie Sanders, who wants to jail oil executives and dismantle American capitalism? Joe Biden, who wants to keep his son Hunter out of jail but cant quite remember what day of the week it is? Or Mike Bloomberg, who, with $60 billion, can buy almost anything?

Of the announced candidates, those are, in my view, the serious contenders as of Feb. 16. Elizabeth Warren is finished. Amy Klobuchar is still alive, but barely. I cant even remember the names of the others.

Note that I said Bloomberg could buy almost anything. The adverb is important. Because it is already clear that the left, and not just the Bernie-inspired Gulag-loving commie left, is going to go after Bloomberg big time. That speech in which Bloomberg claimed that 95 percent of murders were committed by young blacks went viral and is the object of hand-wringing consternation wherever leftists congregate.

The distaff side is hopping up and down in anger because he had a habit of making rude comments to or about female staffers. That news isnt going away, either. Nor is his former support for policies like stop and frisk or his analysis of the 2008 financial meltdown as a consequence of easy credit for minorities.

Its one thing to support redlining when you are mayor of New York. It is quite another thing to do so when you are running for president.

Still, were I a betting man, I would bet on Bloomberg getting the nomination. But the tea leaves have not yet settled into an intelligible pattern. Since Bernie would take at most four or five states, I suspect that the Democrats will find some way to stop him. But it will be a nasty, nasty battle. Whoever emerges victorious will be much scarred.

What doesnt kill me makes me stronger, Nietzsche once said. But that is clearly not true. Bernie and Bloomberg (or whoever) will survive, but that will not be enough. I expect whoever becomes the nominee to be like Robert Frosts Oven Bird: The question that he frames in all but words/ Is what to make of a diminished thing.

Roger Kimball is the editor and publisher of The New Criterion and publisher of Encounter Books. His most recent book is The Fortunes of Permanence: Culture and Anarchy in an Age of Amnesia.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Katie Rose Waldman and Stephen Miller, who both work in the Trump White House, were married Feb. 16 at Trump International Hotel in Washington. Rabbi Aryeh Lightstone, who is a senior adviser to David Friedman, the United States ambassador to Israel, officiated.

Mrs. Miller, 28, is a special assistant to President Trump and the press secretary to Vice President Mike Pence. From November 2017 to February 2019, she served as a spokeswoman for the United States Department of Homeland Security during the tenure of Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

Mrs. Miller graduated from the University of Florida and received a masters degree in public administration from George Washington University. She is a daughter of Sheryl Waldman and Glenn Waldman of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Mr. Miller 34, is a senior White House adviser, which includes serving as Mr. Trumps top immigration adviser, directly shaping policies that aim to restrict the number of immigrants coming to the country.
AMMAN/ANKARAA car bomb attack by the Kurdish YPG militia killed two people and wounded five on Sunday in the northeastern Syrian town of Tel Abyad, near the Turkish border, the Turkish Defence Ministry said in a statement.

The Arab town, from which Turkish-backed forces last October pushed out the YPG militia in a major campaign spearheaded by the Turkish army, has seen a series of car blasts that have killed dozens of civilians.

The perpetrator was captured alive along with another terrorist who came to the area with a bomb-rigged vehicle for a second attack, the ministry said.

Turkey views the YPG as a terrorist organization linked to Kurdish insurgents on its own soil. The group was not immediately available for comment.

Turkeys state-run Anadolu news agency said earlier, citing security sources, that four civilians were killed in the attack.

Syrian Arab rebels accused the YPG of carrying out the blasts, which they say seek to sow fear in areas where Turkey has carved a sphere of influence with the help of Syrian Arab rebels it backs and arms.

The Arab inhabitants of the area look at Ankara as their protector and accuse the Syrian Kurdish militia of forcibly pushing out the tribal population from these border area where they claim the YPG has sought to change its demography.

The U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish militia, which has seen talk of a potential withdrawal of U.S. troops under the Trump administration, refutes those claims and says Turkey has expansionist designs. It also defends policies that adversaries say discriminate against Arabs as redressing historic grievances as persecuted Kurds.
By Matthew Tostevin and Clare Baldwin

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia, Feb 16 (Reuters) - More tests are needed to confirm that an American passenger from a cruise ship docked in Cambodia has the new coronavirus after she tested positive in Malaysia, the MS Westerdam's operator said on Sunday.

The 83-year-old woman was the first passenger from the MS Westerdam, operated by Carnival Corp unit Holland America Inc, to test positive for the virus.

"While the first results have been reported, they are preliminary at this point and we are awaiting secondary testing for confirmation," Holland America said in a statement.

Cambodian authorities called on Malaysia to review its test results.

Holland America said 236 passengers and 747 crew remained aboard the vessel, which is docked in the Cambodian port of Sihanoukville.

It arrived on Thursday carrying 1,455 passengers and 802 crew. It had spent two weeks at sea after being turned away by Japan, Taiwan, Guam, the Philippines and Thailand.

The passengers were tested regularly on board and Cambodia also tested 20 once it docked. None was found to have the new coronavirus that has killed more than 1,500 people, the vast majority in China.

The American woman flew to Malaysia on Friday from Cambodia along with 144 others from the ship, the Malaysian health ministry said in a statement, adding that she was in stable condition.

The woman's husband had shown symptoms but tested negative, it said. The couple were the only ones among the 145 to show symptoms, the ministry said.

Cambodia's government said its own tests had been done in collaboration with the World Health Organisation and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"The Ministry of Health requests the Malaysian authorities to review the results of the test," Cambodia's Ministry of Health said in statement.

There are widespread fears that cruise ships around Asia may be spreading the virus. The biggest cluster outside China has been on the Diamond Princess, quarantined off Japan's Yokohama. Out of about 3,700 passengers and crew on board, 285 people have tested positive and been sent to hospital.

Story continues

Vietnam turned back two ships on Friday.

The American woman's case brings the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Malaysia to 22.

An 80-year-old Chinese tourist infected with the coronavirus has died in France, the first fatality in Europe and the fourth outside mainland China.

Most of the deaths so far have been in the central Chinese province of Hubei, where the virus is believed to have originated at a wildlife market. (Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Writing by Matthew Tostevin; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) is leading a new 8m (US$10.4m) consortium to open up vast amounts of travel data for vehicle makers, inventors, coders and entrepreneurs to develop new transport products and technology to improve transportation across the UK.

The public-private consortium will set up a national data exchange named ConVEx with 4m (US$5.2m) of funding from the UK Government, matched by a further 4 million from the private sector. Along with TfWM, the project consortium also includes Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), Bosch, the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) department at the University of Warwick, and three innovation partners: Valerann, Synaptiv, and Immense. As the transport arm of the West Midlands Combined Authority, TfWM will use the National Data Exchange to accelerate the development of new mobility products and services in the UK. This includes connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs), fleet operations, intelligent infrastructure, and new freight and passenger services.

') } // --> ') } else { console.log ('nompuad'); document.write('') } // -->

') } else { console.log ('nompuad'); document.write(' ') } // --> ') } else if (width >= 425) { console.log ('largescreen'); document.write('') } else { console.log ('nompuad'); document.write('') } // -->

The UK Government funding for the National Data Exchange comes from the Testbed UK Fund, which recognises that the success of the countrys future mobility depends on the successful collection, aggregation, analysis and critically, the availability of data. The project team notes that data sharing is difficult, especially for organisations that do not have the necessary resource or capability. The new investment will enable the UK to capture the benefits of new transport technologies sooner, which includes improved safety, easier access to mobility, and more efficient transport. It will also help the UK to grow its market share in research and development for new mobility products and services.

The facility is to be headquartered in the West Midlands at the WMG campus at the University of Warwick and will be developed over the course of 2020, with commercial data sharing operations commencing at the end of the year. There will be a partner office at Boschs Connectory facility in London. The facility will aggregate data from a diverse range of sources that are either publicly available, available under licence, or can be purchased by the consortium. Services will include the curation of vast datasets within in a single shop window; data cleansing and analysis; and enabling organisations to monetise their data resources that may previously have been left dormant.



We have worked alongside government, academia, automotive OEMs, technology providers and SMEs to define the solution that will allow the traditional transport sector and new mobility entrants to capitalize on the vast amounts of valuable business and operational insight that can be drawn from the data that the ConVEx platform will make available, explained Mike Waters, TfWMs director of innovation, policy and strategy. The ConVEx is intended to signal the end of hard to reach data and overly complex relationships between data providers and consumers that ultimately stall our market growth and potential. It heavily complements the strategic investments the UK has already made in this sector, such as the West Midlands 5G Program, Midlands Future Mobility Public CAV Testbed, our pathfinder Future Mobility Zone, the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre and many more.

UK Business Minister, Nadhim Zahawi, said, The vehicles we drive are getting increasingly advanced as technologies develop rapidly. At the heart of this technology are vast amounts of data. This funding will help companies use and share that data securely and meaningfully  boosting the innovations that keep our vehicles safe and efficient.

Follow us on twitter @TrafficTechMag
Dear United States, this isnt new  but it is alarming. For centuries, autocrats, authoritarians, and dictators have held a fascination with using architecture as a political tool to glorify their regimes, often while also dismissing modern architectural styles as lowbrow, cold, or weak. The current crop of far-right world leaders with authoritarian impulses is no differentand that now appears to include President Donald Trump.  Slate
OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso  Gunmen killed at least 24 people, including a pastor, in an attack on a church during Sunday Mass in northwestern Burkina Faso, four security sources said on Monday.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the attack, but jihadist groups with links to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State are seeking to gain control over rural areas of Burkina Faso by exacerbating ethnic and religious conflict.

Hundreds of people have died over the past year, and more than half a million have fled their homes.

The timing of the shooting, during a church service in the village of Pansi in the Yagha region, mirrors other recent attacks on Christians, including assaults on churches and the assassinations of pastors and priests.
HECKER, Ill.  The first fingernail tattoo started off as a joke.

The client, a man who had lost part of two fingers in a construction accident, wandered into Eternal Ink Tattoo Studio and asked for a fingernail design at the tips of his fingers. It was his way of making light of a bad situation.

The idea amused everyone in the studio. But once Eric Catalano, the owner, had finished the tattoo and put away his needles, the mood changed in here, he recalled recently. Everything turned from funny to wow.

A photo of the inked fingers went viral, and Mr. Catalano, 39, was thrust into the emerging world of paramedical tattooing. The fingernails looked so realistic that even Ripleys Believe It or Not! tracked him down to feature his work.

There was a lot of pressure after that, Mr. Catalano said. I was so nervous. But it turns out the next one came out amazing. Just like the first one.
Gandhinagar, Feb 17 : Following their security protocol, the American side is flying in equipment for the safety of the US' first couple, with the first transport plane, carrying security gadgets, arriving at the airport here on Monday.

US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump are arriving here on February 24. The high security measures being taken began with the arrival of the C-17 Globemaster plane, which was accorded a priority landing.

The plane carried various security equipment including a security car, sniper units, fire safety equipment, spy cameras etc.

Furthermore, four more such planes are expected to arrive at the Ahmedabad airport by Saturday. Two other planes will also arrive along with the Air Force One bringing the Trumps here, and also carrying a bullet-proof vehicle for his use.

Moreover, 18 officials from the US Secret Service inspected the security arrangements at the Motera stadium on Monday, where the 'Kem Cho Trump' event is being held to welcome the US President.

American agencies have set up a control room in the Motera stadium while 200 of its security personnel have arrived.

Similarly, the Special Protection Group and Gujarat Police have also set up their own control rooms at the stadium.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A 27-year-old man was arrested in connection with an attempted heist at a Dongan Hills gas station over the weekend, police said.

Fadie Said, of Winfield Street in South Beach, faces charges that include robbery, according to a spokeswoman for the NYPDs Deputy Commissioner of Public Information.

Authorities received a call for an attempted gunpoint robbery after a man entered a Citgo gas station at 1870 Hylan Blvd. around 5:20 a.m. Saturday, an NYPD spokesman said.

The suspect allegedly displayed a black firearm and demanded money, police said. The victim refused and the suspect fled without any money, according to a police spokesman.

Bond was set at $50,000/$25,000 cash, and Said is due back in Criminal Court on Friday, according to public records.

An attorney for Said did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The requested page is currently unavailable on this server.

Back to [RTHK News Homepage]
US should not undermine alliance with Korea



The tricky issue regarding the U.S. deployment of an anti-missile battery in South Korea is likely to resurface as Washington has floated the idea of installing additional launchers here while asking Seoul to fund the construction of a U.S. base for the battery. This idea is a cause for concern on the part of the host country as it appears to be unrealistic and hard to accept.



A fresh controversy erupted last week when the U.S. Department of the Army's budget proposal for the 2021 fiscal year revealed some details about money set aside for the battery. The proposal said the U.S. earmarked $49 million for the development of a South Korean town where the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery has been deployed.



The outlays are required to build a base, including facilities and infrastructure, for the operation of the anti-missile system in the southeastern town of Seongju. However, the problem is that the U.S. is apparently trying to make Korea pay for the construction. The budget plan states, "The possibility of host nations programs has been addressed." It added: "Funds from host nations programs are available to support this requirement."



Such a U.S. position runs counter to an agreement between the two countries that Washington would foot the bill for building facilities while Seoul would provide the site. How could America attempt to pass the burden on to the South, despite the accord? Some critics speculate that the U.S. might try to use the construction cost issue as a bargaining chip to force the government to agree to greater share of the cost for the upkeep of the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) stationed here.



The Trump administration has already invited the ire of South Koreans and the government for making an irrational demand that Seoul pay about $5 billion for the U.S. troop presence this year, five times last year's payment. The two sides are in a tug of war over the defense cost sharing negotiations.



We cannot understand why the Trump administration is engrossed in extorting money from Seoul without valuing the importance of the bilateral alliance. The THAAD battery is designed to address growing missile threats from North Korea. It should not be used as a means for mere financial gain.



Also worrisome is another U.S. idea of deploying more THAAD anti-missile launchers here or moving some of the six launchers deployed up north nearer to Pyeongtaek or other central regions. Vice Adm. John Hill, director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, stressed the need for forward deployment of the battery to increase strategic flexibility on the peninsula.



The U.S. is also making efforts to upgrade the THAAD capability by combining it with its Patriot anti-missile system. In this case, South Korea may be forced into the U.S. global missile defense network, which could trigger a strong backlash from neighboring countries such as China and Russia.



South Koreans still vividly remember the diplomatic row with China when the country allowed the U.S. to deploy the THAAD battery here in 2017. The country has suffered huge damage due to Beijing's economic retaliation. The U.S. should refrain from making excessive demands. The Moon Jae-in administration should make every effort to avoid putting ties with Beijing at risk again while maintaining the alliance with Washington.






Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif takes part in the panel discussion 'A conversation with Iran' during the 56th Munich Security Conference in Munich on February 15, 2020. Thomas Kienzle | AFP via Getty Images

MUNICH  Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called the deadly U.S. strike on Iran's top military leader an "act of terror" and blamed President Donald Trump's advisors. "This moment is a very dangerous moment because the United States has been misled. I believe President Trump, unfortunately, does not have good advisers," Zarif told an audience Saturday during a discussion at the Munich Security Conference. "Unfortunately somebody else is trying to mimic John Bolton and promised the president that killing Soleimani would bring people to dance in the streets in Tehran and Baghdad. And that the continuation of maximum pressure would bring us to our knees before his reelection campaign," he said, adding that none of it came to pass.

Iranian mourners gather during the final stage of funeral processions for slain top general Qasem Soleimani, in his hometown Kerman on January 7, 2020. Atta Kenare | AFP | Getty Images

"That was an act of terror," he said of the Jan. 2 strike that killed Gen. Qasem Soleimani, a key military figure of Iranian and Middle East politics. "The United States conducts operations and wants to be immune from the consequences, that doesn't happen," he added. On the heels of the strike, Iran launched at least a dozen missiles from its territory on Jan. 7 at two military bases in Iraq that house U.S. troops and coalition forces. A day later from the White House, Trump said that Iran appeared "to be standing down" and warned Tehran to abandon its nuclear ambitions. "As long as I am president of the United States, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon," Trump said speaking from the grand foyer of the White House. But he suggested that the U.S. is open to negotiations with Tehran. "We must all work together toward making a deal with Iran that makes the world a safer and more peaceful place," he said on Jan. 8. He then urged other world powers to break away from the Obama-era nuclear agreement with Iran and work out a new deal.
Days after the CAG report



found shortage of 25 INSAS rifles and 12,061 live cartridges at the Special Armed Police Battalion here, Kerala police on Monday said a physical verification has found that no rifles are missing.

"As the CAG is a very responsible auditing agency and their allegation has to be taken seriously, a crime has been registered as per their report," ADGP, Crime Branch, Tomin Thachankery, told reporters here.

He said it was SAPB's responsibility to come clean on the matter since the charge was against them.

The battalion was asked to produce all their rifles for inspection, he said.

The ADGP said a physical examination of the 660 guns brought from 13 locations found no guns had gone missing.

"At least 660 rifles from 13 places were brought to the camp on Sunday and a physical verification and preliminary inspection was held", he said.

The corresponding body numbers of each rifle was physically examined and verified with the records, after which it was concluded that no guns were missing



Thirteen guns are at Manipur I R battalion.

"We held a video conference and their body numbers were checked and matched with records. When the police personnel return from their training from Manipur in March, it will be examined once again", he said.

However, the probe on the missing cartridges was continuing, he said.

The CAG, in a damning report tabled in the state assembly on Feb 12, had found shortage of 5.56 mm INSAS rifles and 12,061 live cartridges from the battalion here,



It had also come down on state police chief DGP Loknath Behera for purchasing luxury vehicles and constructing villas diverting funds and violating norms.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In Republic of Religion: The Rise and Fall of Colonial Secularism in India, advocate and author Abhinav Chandrachud explores how India aspired to become a secular country and argues that this secular structure was an unnatural foreign imposition on a conquered people by a colonial power.

In Republic of Religion: The Rise and Fall of Colonial Secularism in India, advocate and author Abhinav Chandrachud explores how India aspired to become a secular country, and argues that this secular structure was an unnatural foreign imposition on a conquered people by a colonial power. By showing how secularism was imposed on Indian citizens, it discusses how, in some measure, once colonialism ended, it was bound to come apart.

The following is an excerpt from the book's first chapter 'Holy Cow', which examines how independent India, by permitting laws that ban cow slaughter, became less secular than British India.

This excerpt from Republic of Religion: The Rise and Fall of Colonial Secularism in India by Abhinav Chandrachud has been reproduced here with permission from the publisher Penguin Random House India.

***

In British India, Muslims were allowed to sacrifice cows during the festival of Bakr Id (the word bakr is Arabic for cow), though Hindus worshipped cows. This changed shortly after India became independent, when laws banning cow slaughter were enacted in many states. This was despite the fact that leaders like Gandhi and Nehru strongly opposed such legislation. Though Gandhi considered it his duty, as a Hindu, to protect cows, he believed that he had to persuade Muslims to voluntarily give up beef. Nehru did not think much of the cow protection movement and once even promised Jinnah that his government would not ban the slaughter of cows. However, after Independence, cow protectionists succeeded in making the ban on cow slaughter a directive principle of state policy by arguing that there were advantages, to Indias predominantly agricultural economy, in keeping cows, bulls and bullocks alive so that they may yield milk, work as draught animals, breed and produce manure. These arguments were then used by the Supreme Court to uphold the validity of cow protection laws.

Though the economic arguments in favour of cow protection are sometimes tenuous, and though there are obvious religious motivations in favour of the ban on cow slaughter, soft secularism in independent India means that cow protectionists have to mask their religious arguments with economic ones. Indian Muslims can now be prevented from sacrificing cows on the grounds that Islam does not make cow slaughter mandatory, though matters of faith are often not about what is mandatory.

Cow Slaughter in British India

Hindus regard cows to be sacred and consider cow slaughter to be a sin. This principle is of relatively recent vintage in Hinduism and dates not to the Rig Veda (around 1500 BC) but to the Gupta dynasty (around 319 AD). Muslims, by contrast, used to slaughter cows during the festival of Bakr Id. In the colonial period, this was a constant cause of communal tensions. Clashes and rioting took place between Hindus and Muslims because of the slaughter of cows by Muslims. Broadly speaking, there was no blanket prohibition in British India against the slaughter of cows. The East India Company temporarily included a ban on cow slaughter in their treaties with some Indian rulers. Cow slaughter may have been regulated by some municipal governments since the 1920s or earlier. Colonial-era laws placed restrictions on how and where cows could be slaughtered. For instance, a law in 1662 in Bombay said that there could be no cow killing in Hindu quarters. During the colonial period, Muslims were told by the law that they could slaughter cows provided that they did so in a walled enclosure, away from the gaze of Hindus, and discreetly, without much fanfare. Hindus who objected to such sacrifices were considered to be hypersensitive.

Enacted in 1860, Section 295 of the Indian Penal Code made it a crime for any person to destroy any object held sacred by any class of persons or defile any place of worship, knowing that this would be considered an insult to their religion. This provision was originally intended to prohibit cow slaughter in a sacred place. In an explanatory note, the framers of the Indian Penal Code wrote that they were moved to draft this provision, among other reasons, because the slaughter of a cow in a sacred place at Benares in 1809 caused violent tumult, attended with considerable loss of life. Two Muslims were then convicted by a magistrate in the United Provinces under Section 295 for slaughtering cows. Setting aside the conviction, however, the Allahabad High Court, in a hugely controversial decision in 1887, held that a cowa living creaturecould not be considered an inanimate object and Section 295 only spoke of the destruction of objects. The judgment of the Allahabad High Court heightened communal tensions between Hindus and Muslims in north India. Indian Muslims thereafter began to carry out cow slaughter in greater numbers, a higher proportion of cows were slaughtered in the 1890s, and prominent Hindus like the Maharaja of Darbhanga lent their support to the cause of cow protection.

Around 1882, the Calcutta High Court allowed Muslims to slaughter cows because the animals were sacrificed within a walled enclosure, no one could see the process from the outside and the sacrifices did not result in noisy or riotous demonstration[s] that could disturb the neighbours. Hindus, it was held, could not object to cow slaughter because theirs was simply and solely a matter of religious feeling. Thereafter, several cases were decided by the high courts of British India, especially the Allahabad High Court, in which Muslims were permitted to slaughter cows.

In another case decided in 1908, a district magistrate banned the slaughter of cows by Muslims in a village called Behta Gushain in north India. The Allahabad High Court set aside the order. The court began by saying that it would be in the highest degree desirable for members of the different religious persuasions in India to show respect for the feelings and sentiments of other religions while observing their religious ceremonies. However, it held that cow slaughter by Muslims was not illegal and that it was the legal right of every person to make such use of his own property as he may think fit, even if, in doing so, he hurts the susceptibilities of others. Muslims were allowed to slaughter cows in the village, so long as they did not create a nuisance.

In 1928, the Allahabad High Court allowed a Muslim to sacrifice a cow in his residential house and in any place which is not exposed to the public view. Thereafter, in 1930, an Indian judge of that court, Justice Sen, allowed Muslims to slaughter cows over the protests of Hindus. He said that if the sacrifice took place within walled enclosures, so that no one could see the process from outside, or if it took place quietly, with decency, and unattended with noisy or riotous demonstration, then no Hindu could object. He added that if such sacrifices offended the Hindus individually or collectively, the act cannot be branded as a public nuisance for the law makes no allowance for the susceptibilities of the hypersensitive.

On the other hand, a Muslim who deliberately tried to slaughter cows in a manner that would be visible to Hindus was considered to have violated the law. For instance, a Muslim who slaughtered a cow in front of a Kali temple was put through a trial and convicted.

However, cows were not only slaughtered or consumed by Muslims in British India. As Gandhi repeatedly wrote, there were slaughter-houses in all the big cities of India where [t]housands of cows and bullocks were slaughtered, for supplying beef to the British. We say nothing to the English in India for whose sake hundreds of cows are slaughtered daily, he wrote. Our rajas do not hesitate to provide beef for their English guests, he said. Our protection of the cow, therefore, extends to rescuing her from Mussulman hands. Nehru too believed that cows were frequently slaughtered in British India in order to supply beef to the British army. Even Hindus were partially responsible for cow slaughter in British India. As Gandhi wrote, The cows find their neck under the butchers knife because Hindus sell them. To blame the butcher, he wrote, is like blaming the doctor for your fever. He also noted that cows were exported to Australia, often from Gujarat and Kathiawar, for producing beef that was worth crores of rupees.

Even our Muslim brethren, he wrote, do not carry out so much slaughter on Bakr Id day. We [ie Hindus] thus commit this sin directly, he added. Livestock census results for 1935 showed that while 80 per cent of cows in India died naturally, 20 percent were slaughtered.

It was not merely the British and Muslims who consumed beef. As Ambedkar wrote, census results showed that the meat of the dead cow was the [c]hief item of food consumed by communities which are generally classified as untouchable communities. Though members of lower castes did not slaughter cows, Gandhi wrote of how they ate carrion with the greatest relish. Even upper-caste Hindus sometimes consumed beef. Gandhi spoke, on more than one occasion, of his Vaishnava friend who had beef tea saying he had to take it because his doctor said that he would not survive without it.

Gandhi frequently argued that cows should not be slaughtered in British India. In supporting this argument he appealed both to religion and to economics. Thus, on the one hand, he wrote that the cow was the protector of India because India was an agricultural country... dependent on the cow and the cow was a most useful animal in hundreds of waysan argument founded in economics and the importance of the cow to Indias agricultural economy. On the other hand, he would say: If someone were to ask me what the most important outward manifestation of Hinduism was, I would suggest that it was the idea of cow protectiona plainly religious argument. The worship of the cow, thought Gandhi, was Hinduisms unique contribution to the evolution of humanitarianism. Cow-preservation is an article of faith in Hinduism, he wrote. He even encouraged his followers to give up buffalo milk and ghee. Cows butter (and ghee), he said, has a naturally yellowish colour which indicates its superiority to buffalos butter (and ghee) in carotene. Indias prejudice in favour of buffalos milk and ghee, he felt, was making the cow extinct. Gandhi was of the view that cow worship was largely confined to Gujarat, Marwar, the United Provinces and Bihar.

However, Gandhi believed that Muslims should not be forced to give up cow slaughter, that they should do so of their own volition. He urged his followers to try to peacefully convince Muslims to avoid slaughtering cows. [I]t would redound to the credit of Hinduism, he wrote, if stopping of cow-slaughter was brought about not by force, but as [a] deliberate voluntary act of self-denial on the part of Mussalmans and others. He praised Muslim leaders like Maulana Abdul Bari who urged their followers to avoid cow slaughter, and the Ali brothers who stopped beef-eating in their households. He wrote that cow slaughter was optional in Islam, that Muslims were not enjoined by the Quran to sacrifice a cow. He, of course, strongly argued against the use of violence in preventing Muslims from slaughtering cows. However, he also felt that legislation should not be enacted to ban cow slaughter in India. To force a Muslim, by law, to avoid cow slaughter, he believed, would amount . . . to converting him to Hinduism by force.
Japanese automaker Nissan Motor (OTC:NSANY) posted a net loss of 26.1 billion yen ($239 million) and a 78% decline in operating profit in the quarter that ended on Dec. 31, as its new CEO outlined a plan to return to growth in the crucial U.S. market.

Nissan also cut its guidance for the fiscal year that will end on March 31.

The loss was Nissan's first quarterly net loss since the April-to-June quarter of 2009, when the auto industry was reeling in the midst of the global economic crisis.

The raw numbers

Like many Japanese companies, Nissan uses a fiscal year that begins on April 1 and ends on March 31. The quarter that ended on Dec. 31 was the third quarter of Nissan's 2019 fiscal year.

Metric Q3 FY2019 Change vs. Q3 FY2018 Revenue 2.504 trillion yen (17.8%) Vehicles sold (thousands) 1,195 (10.8%) Operating profit 22.7 billion yen (78%) Operating profit margin 0.9% (2.5 pp) Net income (loss) (26.1 billion yen) 96.5 billion yen lower

What happened at Nissan in the quarter?

Nissan has a new CEO: Former China chief Makoto Uchida took the company's helm on Dec. 1, following the ouster of longtime CEO Carlos Ghosn amid a series of financial scandals.

Here's a look at how each of the company's regional business units performed:

Japan posted an operating profit of 18.3 billion yen, down 68% from the year-ago period, as sales fell 19.8% to about 100,000 vehicles following a tax increase and damage caused by typhoons.

North America generated operating profit of 21.6 billion yen, down 26.6% from a year ago, as sales declined 16.7% to about 404,000 vehicles. Nissan is dealing with an aging product portfolio in the U.S. market and has been working to reduce dealer inventories. Nissan's operating margin in North America was just 1.6% in the quarter, down from 2.5% a year ago.

Europe posted an operating loss of 4.4 billion yen, versus a loss of 7.3 billion yen in the year-ago quarter, on an 8.1% decline in sales to about 130,000 vehicles.

Asia (excluding Japan) posted an operating profit of 10.8 billion yen, down 56.1% from a year ago, on a 3.6% decline in sales to about 441,000.

Nissan's plan to fix its U.S. business

In a presentation to investors, Nissan's chief operating officer, Ashwani Gupta, said the company's plan to improve profitability in the United States has three key components:

A shift in emphasis to quality of sales versus quantity of sales. Put another way, Nissan -- following most of its rivals -- will reduce its dependence on incentives in a bid to prioritize profitability over sales totals and market share.

New products. The average age of Nissan's U.S. lineup is 5.2 years, Gupta said, older than all of its key rivals'. The company will launch eight new or redesigned products in the U.S. over the next two years, bringing that average age down to between three years and 3.5 years.

An effort to win broad support from its U.S. dealers for the changes, including increased marketing spending and improved bonuses for dealers that hit certain sales targets.

Is it enough to put Nissan back in the black? It may not be: Globally, Nissan is struggling with underutilized factories and a sluggish product pipeline. These efforts will yield incremental improvements in the U.S. over several quarters, but I suspect that more drastic action will be needed to ensure that Nissan is sustainably competitive and profitable.

Looking ahead: Nissan cut its guidance again

Nissan again cut its guidance for the fiscal year that will end on March 31, 2020. For the full year, auto investors should now expect:
Siddhanta Mishra By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday underscored his politics of development after taking the oath of office and secrecy, at the sprawling Ramlila Maidan. Ours is the politics of better schools, hospitals, cheap power supply 24x7, water, roads, womens security and making the administration corruption-free. This new brand of politics is already being talked about all over the country. It will help create the India of the 21st century, Kejriwal said, hinting at plans to go national with his development model.

Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal greets AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal after he took oath as the Chief Minister at Ramlila Maidan on Sunday | Parveen Negi

Kejriwals Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has already announced its intention to fight every local body poll across the nation. It also hopes to wrest control of the Municipal Corporation in Delhi from the BJP. Party leaders from across the country gathered at CMs residence in the evening to deliberate upon expanding the AAPs national footprint. Waving the Tricolour and carrying placards, thousands gathered at the iconic ground to catch a glimpse of Kejriwal, who overcame incumbency and scored a landslide in the Assembly polls last week, picking up 62 seats in the 70-member House.

In a contrast to the swearing-in ceremony in 2015, Kejriwal this time spoke about taking everyone along for the development of Delhi and forgiving the Opposition for its sharp language in the run up to the elections. I forgive all my opponents for their remarks against me. I want to take everyone along. I will not work alone but with all of you, said Kejriwal. I have never discriminated against them in the last five years. I have worked for everybody, and never discriminated against people who did not vote for me.

It was an AAP-only show as no Opposition biggies were invited.

However, BJP MLA from Rohini Vijendra Gupta was present. According to sources, the AAP did not want to turn it into an Opposition unity event, since it would have made the messaging combative instead of the positive tone the party intended to have. That strategy was reflected in Kejriwal seeking PM Narendra Modis blessings for smooth governance. The PM reciprocated by extending his best wishes for a fruitful tenure. Kejriwal thanked Modi, adding: We must now work together towards making Delhi a city of pride for all Indians.

Dilli ke Nirmatas swell with pride on big day

I am overwhelmed and am feeling very proud that I got invited to the swearing-in ceremony of the chief minister. I really am grateful to be the face of the entire teaching community, said an excited Manu Gulati who is a teacher at Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya. Development in the field of education had been one of the biggest electoral plank used by Arvind Kejriwal while campaigning for the assembly elections. Now, connecting with lakhs of teachers and parents seems to have worked in favour of Kejriwals party.

Gulati, who was born and brought up in Delhi, started her career back in 2004. Similarly, Nidhi Gupta, a Metro pilot for the past 10 years, who graced the occasion as a special guest under Dilli Ke Nirmata said, It is an opportunity of a lifetime for me, Delhi government has brought in many changes in the education sector and focused on ensuring safety of women which I appreciate, said Gupta.

The Delhi government was not able to do a lot on the front of adding new buses in the previous term, but in terms of improving womens safety, Kejriwal introduced Bus Marshal in the buses, a previous manifesto promise. It is an honour for me to represent the bus marshals at this event. Delhi government has given me a lot of respect. I was impressed by the serious attempts made by the AAP government towards women safety, said Arun Kumar, cluster bus marshal. Kumar who last year made news for saving a six-year-old girl from being kidnapped by a man in Dhalua Kuan area, however, requested that bus marshalls be provided weapons to protect themselves in case of danger in buses.

It is a good day for us. We have with us 50 special guests as Dilli Ke Nirmata. Delhi is not created by us, or the politicians, or parties. Delhi is Delhi because of teachers, students, doctors, auto drivers, rickshaw pullers, businessmen, architects... I am happy that we have a metro pilot Nidhi Gupta with us. We have bus marshal Arun Kumar, who saved a girl from being kidnapped by risking his life. Delhi is run by all these Nirmatas, said Kejriwal in his speech. These special guests featured school teachers, students, farmers, anganwadi workers, social activists, wives of slain service personnel and fire fighters, PWD engineers, pharmacists, auto drivers and sanitation workers among others.

Voted in favour of womens safety: DU student

For Afreen Khan, a Delhi University student who came in early from east Delhi to attend the swearing-in of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday, one of the best parts of his speech was when he referred to the issue of womens safety. Kejriwal, who took oath as the Chief Minister of Delhi for a third successive time said that the new politics is about work, building schools, round-the-clock electricity supply and womens safety, among other issues. I voted in this elections thinking about womens safety, Afreen said.

Aim to complete pending work soon

Within few hours of taking the oath, social welfare minister Rajendra Pal Gautam reached his office at Delhi secretariat and resumed work. Gautam won his seat from Seemapuri for the second time. I aim to complete all the pending work as soon as possible for the benefit of the public. I am grateful to Arvind Kejriwal who chose me as a cabinet minister and gave me another chance, said the social welfare minister after joining.

All precious things in life come for free

Cm Kejriwal in his speech stated that all good things in the world come for free and that his love for people of Delhi is free. They said Kejriwal is making everything free, but I want to say that everything precious in the world is free. The love that a mother has for her child is precious and priceless, the fact that a father stays hungry to afford a good future for his child is priceless. Shravan Kumar served his parents with all his might. Kejriwal is your Shravan Kumar, said the CM.

All 6 ministers may retain portfolios

Along with Kejriwal, all six ministers in the outgoing government took their oaths of office and secrecy. While the portfolios are yet to be officially announced, sources said they are likely to retain their respective positions. The AAP invited around 50 commoners and treated them as guests of honour, with seats on the dais

AAP chalks out national plan

Ready to take the next big step, senior AAP leaders held a meeting with all its states in-charges to work on a national expansion plan. Gopal Rai informed that a three-point action plan under Join AAP for Nation Building campaign has been formulated. From February 23 to March 23, a Rashtra Nirman campaign will be launched.
India's annual electricity generation from coal-fired utilities fell in 2019 for the first time in a decade, government data showed, amid a broader economic slowdown and increased use of renewable energy.

India is the second largest consumer, importer and producer of coal behind China. The world's third largest greenhouse gas emitter consumed nearly 1 billion tonnes of the fuel in 2018/19, with utilities accounting for over three-quarters of the total demand.

While greater adoption of renewable energy contributed to lower output from coal-fired utilities, weak economic growth added to a slowdown in overall demand for electricity, economists say.

Analysts and power sector executives say the fall in annual coal-fired generation was a blip and largely due to a broader economic slowdown.

"It is very much an aberration now, but it's a portent to what is inevitably going to happen in 5-10 years," Tim Buckley, director of Energy Finance Studies, at the Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, in Australia, told Reuters on the sidelines of Coaltrans India conference.

Electricity generation from coal-fired utilities fell about 2.5% to 965.53 billion units in 2019, an analysis of fuel-wise electricity generation data by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) showed.

Seeking to expedite clean energy as some coal-fired power plants face closure, Asia's third-largest economy has set a target to raise renewable energy capacity to 175 gigawatts by 2022.

Solar energy output rose by over a quarter while wind energy generation rose 5%, the data showed. The contribution of solar and wind energy to India's overall energy generation rose to 8.8%, more than double their share of 3.6% in 2015.

India's electricity requirement grew at the slowest pace in six years in 2019, according to government data.

Power sector executives say while electricity demand could recover in coming months, it is not expected to grow consistently at mid-single digits.

"Slower growth in power demand, lower cost of renewable energy and the state of electricity distribution companies will drive an organic transition to solar and wind energy," an industry executive told Reuters.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to increase adoption of green energy sources to fight climate change and increase the share of renewable energy to 40% of installed capacity by 2030, from 23.3% now.

India's renewable capacity rose 16% to 85.9 GW in 2019, while coal-fired capacity rose 3.9% to 198.5 GW.

Electricity generation from gas-based power plants fell for the first time in five years to 47.98 billion units in 2019, down 4.5% from 50.26 billion units the previous year, CEA data showed.

Output from power plants using polluting fuels such as lignite and diesel also fell, while electricity generated by renewable energy sources such as solar and wind rose.

Generation from non-conventional sources such as biomass and bagasse fell during the year, while nuclear energy generation rose 6.3% to 43.57 billion units.
Prime Minister Edi Rama warned Monday that Albania will be "in trouble" if a donor conference does not pledge at least 400 million euros to help it recover from a powerful earthquake.

The impoverished Balkan state was hit by a 6.4-magnitude quake in November, killing 51 people, leaving 17,000 homeless and creating a recovery bill of more than a billion euros ($1.08 billion), according to an official assessment.

As major donors as well as UN agencies, assembled in Brussels to gather pledges of financial support, Rama said he had been impressed by the speed of the EU response.

"The assessment of the post-disaster report which was prepared together with the World Bank, United Nations and the EU is quite frightening, because it says that the damages exceed a billion euros," Rama told reporters.

"For a country with a GDP of 13.5 billion it is quite a big sum and it's beyond our human possibilities to address all that need alone."



Rama said he did not expect the conference to cover the whole amount, but "a minimum of 40 percent because -- otherwise we might be in trouble".

Albanian expectations have been dampened by what Rama called a "political earthquake" in October, when three EU states blocked Tirana from starting membership talks to join the bloc -- the second such delay in less than six months.

"We have to be realistic and not raise the expectations beyond a certain bar because we have learned the hard way that we should not have excessive expectations from today's European Union," Rama said.

France -- which led the Netherlands and Denmark in October's veto -- softened its opposition at the weekend after the European Commission, the bloc's executive, proposed a tougher and more political admissions process for new members.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that if a commission report on Albania and fellow hopeful North Macedonia next month confirms enough progress on reforms, he would be ready to agree to start the long accession process.

"They speak about dates and we are like lovers that wait for the date to get married and then the other side don't show up," Rama said.

"I'm expecting nothing. If it will come, it will be a great joy, if it will not come we continue with more stubbornness and with more willingness to do what we have to do and to prove them wrong.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In his rant, Zarif also accused the MEK of being funded by Saudi Arabia.

This is obviously a lie and should not need to further discussed, but we will address the lies here and tell you the truth.

The MEK is not a terrorist group

The MEK, which has spent 55 years fighting two dictatorships in Iran, has no ties to terrorism. The only reason they ended up on the terrorist watch lists in the US, the UK, and France, was because those countries were trying to appease the mullahs.

Through many subsequent court battles, the MEK proved that they had no links to terrorism and that any terrorist attacks they were blamed for could, in fact, be linked to the Iranian Regime and its proxies.

The MEK is not funded by any other country

All of the MEKs money to fight the regime comes from donations by Iranians inside and outside of Iran, despite the risk of arrest or execution by the regime as a result of supporting the MEK.

Of course, this doesnt stop the regime from claiming that the MEK is funded by a rival state in a blatant attempt to discredit them. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei made this exact same claim in the January 2018 uprising. Zarifs regurgitation of these lies only shows how desperate regime leaders are to discredit the ongoing anti-regime uprising.

The Regime is actually the terrorist entity

In just under two years, seven of the Iranian regimes diplomats have been expelled from European countries for their direct involvement in terrorism and another is in jail awaiting his trial.

Of course, this is typical of Zarif, who is an accomplice to the regimes crimes over the past 41 years. He has previously given his full support to the regimes Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), after it was designated by the US as a foreign terrorist organization in April 2019, and given diplomatic cover to the regimes terrorists abroad.

The Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran wrote: Along with the regimes Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, its President Hassan Rouhani, and other officials, Zarif must face justice for his role in crime against humanity, as did Hitlers Foreign Minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop.

Read more:

Iran Regimes Demonization Campaign Against MEK: Part 1
Peeved at the death of a sanitation worker in a road accident, scores of domestic helps disrupted the traffic here on Monday.

They sought an improvement in road safety and enhanced facilities as they protested outside a residential society in Sector 100 in the morning, police said.

"Monu Nagar, a sanitation worker, was hit by an unidentified vehicle near the red light of Lotus Boulevard here on Saturday. He was referred to a hospital in Delhi where he succumbed to his injuries," a police official said.

Monu's family members were joined by the domestic helps in protest.

They demanded the construction of speed breakers on both sides of the road near the red light, CCTV cameras, jersey barriers and the deployment of traffic police personnel in the area to prevent such crashes, the official said.

Police said normal traffic movement was restored after the protesters were pacified.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
IMAGE, India's first Centre of Excellence(CoE) for gaming, VFX, computer vision, and (AI) was launched in Hyderabad on Monday. This is also the first incubation centre for focused on IP in gaming, VFX, AI, computer vision set up by Software Technology Park of India (STPI).

At the launch of the facility, STPI-IMAGE signed MoUs with five partners - Telangana VFX, Animation and Gaming Association(TVAGA), Hyderabad Angels, Hyderabad Software Exporters Association (HYSEA), and IIIT-Hyderabad, with an objective to promote start-ups and budding entrepreneurs by offering mentoring, technology support, infrastructure and funding among others.

The 10,000 square feet IMAGE-CoE, located inside the existing STPI facility, plans to incubate up to 25-30 start-ups per year for the next 5 years. A total investment of Rs 19.68 crore would be spent over a period of 5 years for the CoE in addition to existing infrastructure in the STPI facility.

"The CoE will bring a paradigm shift in revving up research and innovation in gaming, VFX, computer vision and AI through a robust ecosystem in collaboration with tech partners, industry, investors, industry associations and government, and will bolster indigenous product development while propelling the growth of tech entrepreneurship in the country. By collaborating with industry associations, academia and angels, we have ensured the IMAGE incubation model is built on a solid foundation to realising our mission to build world-class gaming, animation, and deep tech providers to the world," STPI director general Omkar Rai said.

On selection, start-ups will be assisted with a seed fund of Rs 5 lakh. In the first year, IMAGE will select 20 start-ups for onboarding in this programme. Each start-up will be given access to best-in-class infrastructure and R&D lab facilities, for development and validation of solution from design to prototyping to demcratise innovation, including the newly set up and first of its kind motion capture lab, according to the centre.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam's push to ban the sale of assault weapons has failed after members of his own party balked at the proposal.

Senators voted to shelve the bill for the year and ask the state crime commission to study the issue, an outcome that drew cheers from a committee room packed with gun advocates.

Four moderate Democrats joined Republicans in Monday's committee vote, rejecting legislation that would have prohibited the sale of certain semiautomatic firearms, including popular AR-15 style rifles, and banned the possession of magazines that hold more than 12 rounds.

The bill was a top priority for Northam, a Democrat who has campaigned heavily for a broad package of gun-control measures.

The legislation also engendered the biggest pushback from gun owners and gun-right advocates, who accused the governor and others of wanting to confiscate commonly owned guns and accessories from law-abiding gun owners. Northam has said repeatedly he does not want to confiscate guns, but argued that banning new sales of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines would help prevent mass murders.

Virginia is the current epicenter of the country's heated debate over gun control and mass shootings. Tens of thousands of gun-rights activists from across the country flooded the state Capitol and surrounding area in protest, some donning tactical gear and carrying military-style rifles.

Days before the rally, the FBI arrested a group of alleged white supremacists who were accused of planning to infiltrate the protest. They were allegedly caught saying they hoped the rally would cause 'civil war'.

Northam has been able to get much of his gun-control agenda passed this year, but struggled with the proposed assault weapon ban. Earlier proposals to ban possession of AR-15-style rifles or to require owners to register them with state police have been scrapped. The governor had hoped a watered-down would win over enough Democratic moderates for passage.

Story continues

An estimated 8 million AR-style guns have been sold since they were introduced to the public in the 1960s. The weapons are known as easy to use, easy to clean and easy to modify with a variety of scopes, stocks and rails.

Lawmakers in both the House and Senate have already advanced several other gun-control measures and should finalize passage in the coming days. Those bills include limiting handgun purchases to once a month, universal background checks on gun purchases, allowing localities to ban guns in public buildings, parks and other areas, and a red flag bill that would allow authorities to temporarily take guns away from anyone deemed to be dangerous to themselves or others.

Read more

How George Washington's legacy was almost ruined

Hundreds of justice officials call for Barr to step down

US passengers evacuated from cruise ship test positive for coronavirus
Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) has announced that work related to airport developments in the kingdom is moving at a steady pace.



These include the approval of designs for the new Abha airport and the expansion of Hafar Al Batin airport besides the signing of a contract for the new Al Baha airport, stated GACA President Abdulhadi Al Mansouri.

The new Al Baha airport is expected to have the capacity to handle one million passengers a year. It will have a 23,368-sq-m terminal with 17 check-in counters, eight boarding gates and four air bridges.



He was speaking during a visit by Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz bin Mohammed bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Emir of Jazan region, to the Saudi city to review the new King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Airport project work besides the other development works in the region.



Earlier, Al Mansouri had visited Prince Mohammed bin Nasser bin Abdulaziz, the Emir of Jizan Region, and briefed him on the various stages of work at the new airport in the presence of his deputy.



Al Mansouri said the project was moving at a steady pace with the work on Phase One, including the runway and aircraft parking bay, nearing completion. -TradeArabia News Service
Boris Johnson on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show in December 2018. (Jeff Overs/BBC/handout via Reuters)

More than 130,000 people have signed a petition demanding Boris Johnson stops attacking the BBC.

The prime minister was accused of adopting Donald Trumps playbook amid the governments ongoing war with the corporation.

As of 5.30pm on Monday, 131,000 people had signed the Save Our BBC petition, just one day after it launched.

Johnson said during the election campaign that he was considering scrapping the 154.50 licence fee that makes up 75% of the BBCs budget.

The government, unhappy at the BBCs coverage of the Tories during the campaign, promptly banned ministers appearing on flagship shows like Today and Newsnight.

Earlier this month, then-culture secretary Nicky Morgan also announced a government consultation into decriminalising non-payment of the fee.

Under pressure: BBC (PA)

The petition blurb reads: The government have declared war on our BBC. It's a thinly veiled attempt to clamp down on being held to account. They've pledged to scrap the licence fee and cut dozens of TV & radio stations, they want to prune its reach into people's homes.

Our BBC is a world-leading public service. The way that it is funded means that it's independent of government and corporate pressure. At a time when fake news can spread like wildfire and when so much is at stake, this is a dangerous attack on democracy.

We need to protect the BBC from this political attack. The Prime Minister has already tried to ban journalists he doesn't like from No.10 briefings, now he and his close advisers are going after our public broadcasters. This is a move straight out of Donald Trump's playbook.

Boris Johnson and his political adviser Dominic Cummings. (Peter Summers/Getty Images)

Already MPs from all parties are up in arms about this attack, but to stop it, it's going to take a huge amount of public pressure.

As Yahoo News UK reported earlier this month, the BBC is fighting for its very survival. It can only fall back on the licence fee until December 2027, when the current Royal Charter expires.

Story continues

However, it is also facing internal strife, with 450 job losses announced last month as part of cost-saving measures.

Its output is also being questioned like never before.

A YouGov survey commissioned during the election campaign found that just 44% of Britons trust the BBC to tell the truth, while the corporation is also struggling to be relevant for a young audience in the digital streaming age.

Brexit briefing: 318 days until the end of the transition period




Haiti - Environment : Launching of the popularization process of the PNCC





Friday, February 14 at the Hotel Montana, Joseph Jouthe the Minister of the Environment and the Ministry of Planning and External Cooperation, in the presence of officials and executives of Public Administration, representatives of partner institutions, including the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the European Union, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), UN-Environment and the media, have officially launched the popularization process across the national territory of the National Policy for the fight against Climate Change (PNCC).



Fernando HiraldoI, the UNDP Resident Representative in Haiti welcomed the commitment of the Haitian Government which, through the Haiti Strategic Development Plan, the Nationally Determined Contribution and the National Policy on Climate Change has been able to endow the country of strategic tools that should contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. He took the opportunity to reiterate the support of the UNDP to the Haitian Government in its efforts to fight against global warming "I am confident that we all understood the urgency to act together and especially to act now !"



Wilfrid Trenard, Director General of the Ministry of Planning, drew attention to the fact that adaptation to climate change has definitely become an important component of planning at all levels. According to him, this National Policy is necessary to operationalize government orientations in the fight against the harmful effects of climate change of Haiti".



In his intervention Minister Jouthe, said he was aware of Haitis exposure to hydro-climatic risks, and reaffirmed the Governments will to respond effectively to the challenges posed by climate change. According to him "the National Policy to fight climate change aims to put the country on the path of green growth, through the existence of key socio-economic sectors, resilient to adverse climatic conditions, generating new jobs and likely to contribute significantly to the eradication of poverty and hunger. Thus, they will be endowed with a great capacity to respond to adverse climatic conditions."



It should be recalled that the National Policy for the fight against Climate Change is intended to be an essential tool, setting the main national guidelines for various ambitious interventions and actions, both in terms of adaptation and mitigation. To this end, it must promote the taking into account of climate change in the various sectoral policies of the country and lay the solid bases of work between all the actors of national life.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Vineet Upadhyay By

Express News Service

DEHRADUN: Ahead of the fire season, the Uttarakhand government has sanctioned funds worth `16 crore to fight forest fires which devastate large tracts of land every year. The fire season in the hill state extends for four months from February 15 to June 15. Preparations have been made to tackle forest fires. Now that we have got a budget, it will be easier to work towards saving the forests from the fire, said VK Gangte, chief conservator (forest fire and disaster management).

Work started in December end  depending on snowfall and dry weather  for the precautionary exercise of rotational and controlled burning to prevent the outbreak of forest fires. The forest department completed the pre-emptive exercise in February.In rotational burning, forest areas infested with dry weeds are pruned out so that they can be burned in a controlled manner in cycles. Controlled burning involves setting planned fires to vegetation for specific purposes such as limiting the amount of dry brush in an area prone to wildfires.

While more than 1.50 lakh hectares of area have seen rotational burning till February 15, controlled burning is still on in patches. With 40 control rooms and one IT and Geoinformation Cell (ITGC) in Dehradun, the forest department keeps a tab on wildfires with the help of 1,437 crew stations and 174 watch towers across Uttarakhand. Forest officials hope that there will be no repeat of the 2003 devastation which saw forest fires destroying 4,983 hectares of land  the most disastrous in the 2000-2018 period. Nevertheless, forest fires are feared as Uttarakhand has seen about 500 per cent spike in such incidents in these 18 years according to an RTI response. As per RTI reply, forest fires affected 44,518.45 hectare of land and caused a loss of `1.85 crore. The maximum economic loss was reported in 2018 with damages estimated at Rs 86.05 lakh, while the year 2010 was a relief for the forest department as the losses were found to be less than Rs 1 lakh.

Rs 16 crore

allotted for fighting forest fires

8,700 km

of fire lines cleared

to avoid fires

1.50 L ha

of forested land cleared via rotational and controlled burning

What is the extent of damages?

From 2000 to 2018, forest fires devastated 44,518.45 hectare of land while the total economic loss was pegged at `1.85 cr. The maximum damage in terms of areas was reported in 2003 when 4,983 hectare of forest land was destroyed.

What are the causes of these fires?

According to a FSI (Forest Survey on India) report, over 95% of wildfires are man-made in India. But, it is also a fact that wildfires are sometimes a natural phenomenon.

How common is forest fires in Uttarakhand?

Forest fires are a common occurrence every year. In Uttarakhand, the fire season usually starts from mid-February to mid-June. Rains in June help to check forest fires.

What are the other steps taken so far?

Toll-free numbers established and drones and ground staff are deployed. Forest department is also using social media so that the people can alert its personnel about such devastating wildfires
Facial expressions do not reflect our innermost feelings, new research suggests

Facial expressions have generally been thought to reliably reflect a persons innermost emotions but new research indicates otherwise.

Based on preliminary findings presented at a science conference in the US, scientists have gone as far as to say it might be more accurate to say we should never trust a persons face.

Aleix Martinez, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at The Ohio State University in the US, said: The question we really asked is: Can we truly detect emotion from facial articulations?.

And the basic conclusion is, no, you cant.

He also described the technology many companies use to recognise facial muscle movements and assign emotion or intent to those movements as complete baloney.

Prof Martinez and his team analysed four million facial expressions from 35 different countries.

They found that attempts to define emotions-based facial expressions were almost always wrong.

Prof Martinez said: Everyone makes different facial expressions based on context and cultural background.

And its important to realise that not everyone who smiles is happy. Not everyone who is happy smiles.

I would even go to the extreme of saying most people who do not smile are not necessarily unhappy.

And if you are happy for a whole day, you dont go walking down the street with a smile on your face. Youre just happy.

The researchers also looked at algorithms some companies use to determine customer satisfaction and other human emotions through facial expressions.

The context of an expression should also be considered, researchers said (PA)

Prof Martinez said: Some claim they can detect whether someone is guilty of a crime or not, or whether a student is paying attention in class, or whether a customer is satisfied after a purchase.

What our research showed is that those claims are complete baloney.

Theres no way you can determine those things. And worse, it can be dangerous.

According to Prof Martinez, the so-called danger lies in the possibility of missing the real emotion or intent of a person and then making decisions based on an assumption.

Story continues

After analysing the data they gathered about facial expressions and emotion, the research team concluded that it takes more than facial expressions to correctly detect emotion and facial colour, body posture and, more importantly, context all need to be taken into consideration.

The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Seattle.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK Lifestyle
LEBANON, Ind. (WLFI)  The Lebanon Police Department is investigating an armed robbery that was reported early Monday morning. According to police, around 3:19 a.m., officers were called to the Speedway Station, located at 1335 South Lebanon Street for a report of an armed robbery.

The victim reported two males entered the store, one wearing a ski mask, the other a hooded sweatshirt. One of the men held a gun to the attendant's head and demanded money. The suspects then left with an undisclosed amount of cash and items.

Still images of security footage of Lebanon Speedway Station armed robbery Still images of security footage of Lebanon Speedway Station armed robbery

The suspects were described as in their early to mid-20s with one suspect being approximately 55 and the other approximately 59. One of the suspects was wearing a red hoodie with a black jacket and dark pants. The other was dressed in a dark jacket with dark pants. Both suspects were last seen running from the Speedway Station to the east. Officers searched the area but were unable to locate the suspects or a vehicle.

These suspects are considered armed and dangerous. If you know either of the suspects, please call 911 or the Boone County Communications Center at 765-482-1412, option 8.
Get this newsletter in your inbox Monday-Friday by signing up at subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters.

Top stories for Monday, Feb. 17

PRESIDENTS DAY: Heres whats open and whats closed.

RESCUE SHUFFLE: Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts plans to end his agencys use of outside search-and-rescue groups like Portland Mountain Rescue and replace them with one of his own.

NICK FISH REMEMBERED: Several hundred gathered to celebrate the life of the Portland City Councils veteran political figure and longtime affordable-housing champion who died Jan. 2 from stomach cancer at age 61. It was a touching ceremony  one Fish organized himself.

PRICEY PLAN: A plan to shore up the levees along Portlands northern edge is estimated at $157 million. However, that price tag leaves out some potentially expensive aspects of the project.

A JOKE: Oregon regulators response to the illegal disposal of 2 million pounds of radioactive fracking waste at a chemical landfill in Arlington is so weak its almost meaningless, observers say.

WARNING SIGN: West Linn cops raised concerns years ago about racially insensitive remarks by a fellow officer whos since been put on leave in an unfolding wrongful arrest case.

HOSPITAL MATH: A Portland psychiatric hospital seeking a state bailout failed to raise one aspect of its financial crisis: It hasnt seen the demand for its psychiatric emergency room  a central piece of its treatment model  that it expected.

EASTERN OREGON FLOODING: A woman killed as the Umatilla River overflowed left a legacy of environmental activism. Sen. Ron Wyden and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown pledged to support the ongoing recovery during separate visits Friday and Saturday.

JEREMY CHRISTIAN TRIAL: After three weeks of testimony, attorneys in the double murder trial of Jeremy Christian are expected to make their closing arguments this week.

Keep up with the trial at oregonlive.com/crime, by subscribing to our free email newsletter, or via podcast or your digital assistant of choice - well have dispatches from the courtroom most afternoons.

Snap of the day

Jamie Hale/Staff

PROPOSAL ROCK: This Neskowin landmark has long held a romantic allure for all who visit  especially those who pop the question in its midst. (Jamie Hale/Staff)

More news

Damian Lillard proposes, gets engaged to longtime girlfriend Kayla Hanson

Portland Public Schools struggles to find contractor for security upgrades in 31 schools

Elizabeth Warren wants HUD action on radon after Oregonian investigation. So do 10 other Massachusetts lawmakers.

Colin OBrady, Portlands Antarctic adventurer, releases detailed response to criticism, calls for National Geographic retraction

On the market: Homes for sale with Oregons most loved home feature, an in-law suite

Find more at oregonlive.com

Weather and traffic

Mostly cloudy with a shower. High 49, low 32.Get the latest forecast at oregonlive.com/weatherStay up to date on traffic conditions at oregonlive.com/commuting

Advice

Ask Amy: Grandmas high-pitched baby-nonsense sending Mom over the edge

Dear Abby: Woman snubbed at tea time unsure of her place in couples friendship

Dear Annie: Brother-in-laws coughing behavior is truly sickening

Find more, including todays horoscope, at oregonlive.com

Todays comics

Click here to see today's comics

Todays obituaries

Click here to find area deaths reported recently

Today in history

In 1801: The U.S. House of Representatives broke an electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, electing Jefferson president; Burr became vice president.

In 1863: The International Red Cross was founded in Geneva.

In 1964: The Supreme Court, in Wesberry v. Sanders, ruled that congressional districts within each state had to be roughly equal in population.
FREELAND, MI - Help is available for those struggling to pay gas or electric bills this winter, say Consumers Energy and local community organizations.

Police in Saginaw County are investigating the case of a Freeland man whose utilities were shut off. Relatives of 62-year-old Arnoul Jaros say he was found dead on Saturday, Feb. 15, in a mobile home at the Falconview Estates mobile home park.

Police confirmed late Monday that Jaros died of accidental hypothermia.

Consumers Energy said it stopped providing natural gas to the residence in May 2019 and electricity in July 2019 due to non-payment of bills. Jaros paid the past due amount but never asked Consumers to restore his utilities.

Consumers spokesman Terry DeDoes said resources are available for those who are struggling with utility bills. He encouraged customers to access their online payment assistance page, which contains information on how to enter into payment plans and links to organizations that can lend a hand.

There are lots of resources available if someone finds that theyre facing a hardship. The best course of action is to call 211 and get connected to the United Way. They have a myriad of resources available to help folks," said DeDoes. Not just with utility bills but if someone is struggling financially to pay utility bills, they may be facing other financial struggles as well.

A view of a the toilet bowl water frozen inside Arnoul Jaros' home where was found dead in Freeland. According to Consumers, his electricity has been shut off since July 2019 and the responding officer said he passed due to freezing to death. (Courtesy Karina Jaros)Courtesy Karina Jaros

Consumers Energy stated that it is working with local law enforcement official to understand the situation while reviewing Jaros account records. Police could not be reached immediately for comment on Monday, Feb. 17.

Saginaw County is served by the Northeast Michigan branch of 211. Those looking for help in the area can either call or text 211, chat online, or search 211s community resource directory. 211 can be reached 24/7.

Thats kind of our goal, our hope, is anytime, anywhere, anyplace, you can get a hold of us, said Sarah Kile, executive director of 211 of Northeast Michigan.

In Saginaw County alone, 211 fielded 8,861 calls for assistance. Of those calls, 42% were for utility assistance requests. Staff at 211 help callers navigate through different utility assistance programs, including through the process of applying for help with the Department of Health and Human Services.

Kile explained that even if 211 is not able to find utility assistance, her caring staff is willing to listen and help as much as they are able to.

Utilities, thats tough. Sometimes there are times of the year where there is no help, but we can help with other things," said Kile. "In Saginaw, we can find you maybe a food pantry. If we can alleviate some of your food bill then maybe you can use that for other areas.

211 has certified call specialists, according to Kile, who are equipped to deal with mental health issues.

Sometimes its tough asking for help. Thats why were free, were confidential, were 24/7. It doesnt hurt to give us a call," she said.

Marvin Schur, a 93-year-old Bay City man, froze to death inside his home in 2009 after his body was found in his home at 1600 S. Chilson St. days after city workers said they limited electricity flowing to the house.

Bay City Electric Light & Power had placed a limiter device outside Schurs home, between Schurs electricity meter and electrical service. Schur was a World War II vet that owed almost $1,100 in electricity bills to the city of Bay City and the amount was found clipped to the past due bills on Schurs kitchen table.

Schurs death led to changes in city policies regarding utility shutoffs.

Related news:

Man found inside Freeland home may have frozen to death

State police report reveals grim details of Marvin Schurs freezing death
The number of reported new cases of coronavirus in Chinas Hubei province rose on Monday after two days of falls, as authorities imposed tough new restrictions on movement to prevent the spread of the disease which has now killed more than 1,700 people, Trend reports citing Reuters.

The tighter lockdown on the central province where the flu-like virus originated in December came as American passengers were taken off a cruise liner on Sunday to fly home after being quarantined for two weeks off Japan.

Seventy new coronavirus cases were confirmed on board the Diamond Princess where 3,700 passengers and crew have been held since Feb. 3. Some 355 people on board have tested positive for the disease, by far the largest cluster of cases outside China.

Canadian, Italian, South Korean and Hong Kong passengers were expected to follow soon, after their governments also announced plans to repatriate passengers.

Leaving in a few hours. No details. Might be going to Texas or Nebraska, Gay Courter, one of the American passengers on board, told Reuters. She said she expected to spend another two weeks in quarantine on U.S. soil.

In Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, health officials reported 1,933 new cases and 100 new deaths on Feb. 16, the lowest daily death count since Feb. 11.

The number of new cases rose nearly 5% from the previous day, but the number of deaths fell from 139.

Nearly 90% of the new cases were in the provincial capital of Wuhan, a city of 11 million people where the virus is believed to have originated at a market illegally trading wildlife.

The total number of cases in the province reached 58,182, with 1,696 deaths.

Chinese health officials on Sunday said two days of falls in the number of new confirmed cases showed their efforts to halt the spread of the virus were bearing fruit.

The effect of the coronavirus controls is appearing, Mi Feng, spokesman for the Health Commission, told reporters.

Mi said the proportion of confirmed cases who were critically ill had fallen to 21.6% on Saturday, from 32.4% on Jan. 27. He said this showed the authorities were able to treat patients more quickly, preventing cases from becoming critical.
Today, China has a coronavirus disaster, one that the general public is becoming aware of that has the government response at the heart of it. Listen to this podcast, Fear, Fury and the Coronavirus. All politicians and senior government officials should take note of what has happened in China. China has an authoritarian government that seeks to censor any dissension from its citizens and actively pursues those that speak out. In the podcast, you will hear average Chinese people speaking out about the slow response to the coronavirus and also speaking against their government.While here in the United States, we feel free to speak our minds, to post what we want on Facebook and even march in the streets, the above activity in China is very unusual. They are angry and don't believe that the government has done what is necessary to combat a new virus.How this translates to North America is the lesson that governments everywhere, especially those at the local level, which is where public health functions need to be attuned to providing as much information as possible and being very proactive in addressing a disease outbreak.You cannot overcommunicate! Don't feel like you don't have anything new to say, keep saying the same thing you have been saying. Say it in a different way. Not everyone is listening at the same time  thus, there will be new listeners. Unfortunately, there are not as many readers as there were in the past, so newspapers are no longer a go-to way to communicate. In today's world. you need your own social media channels.There is nothing wrong with saying what it is that you "don't know." Better to create uncertainty in the population than to build overconfidence in your ability to counter the disease or another disaster.
By Trend

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev once again exposed the lie by Armenia and by Pashinyan to the international community at the panel discussions on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as part of the Munich Security Conference, Azerbaijani MP Bakhtiyar Aliyev told Trend.

The MP noted that during the debates, President Ilham Aliyev once again brought to the attention of the international community that Nagorno Karabakh is an integral part of Azerbaijan and that Armenia pursues a policy of occupation and ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijan.

"President Ilham Aliyev emphasized that Armenia occupied 20 percent of the territory of Azerbaijan and carried out ethnic cleansing including the Khojaly genocide against peaceful Azerbaijanis in the occupied territories," Bakhtiyar Aliyev said.

President Ilham Aliyev reiterated Azerbaijan's firm position on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The head of state noted that the conflict should be resolved step by step within the framework of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijani MP noted that President Ilham Aliyev put Pashinyan in a hopeless situation.

"Pashinyan was so helpless that he tried to get out of the situation, referring to the lies of some journalist, but President Ilham Aliyev brought to the attention of the panel that what Pashinyan said was the invention of Armenian propagandists living in Russia, and this unsuccessful attempt of the Armenian prime minister was prevented. Pashinyan was so confused that he did not know what he was talking about; he made ridiculous statements referring to some fictional Armenian ruler who allegedly lived before our era. Pashinyan's words were met with laughter from the participants and the leading panel," Bakhtiyar Aliyev said.

The MP added that Pashinyan, trying to deny the UN Security Council resolutions regarding the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, once again proved that Armenia does not respect international law and is an occupying country.

"President Ilham Aliyev also prevented Pashinyan's attempts to misinterpret the [UN] resolutions. The head of state brought to the attention of the panel participants that the Armenian prime minister unsucessfullycomments on the true meaning of the UN Security Council resolutions," the MP said.

The Azerbaijani MP stressed that during the debates Pashinyan again showed his political incompetence and lack of professionalism.

--

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
1. Plastic sheeting and tape.

That was one passengers description of the quarantine zone created on a chartered jet, above, for 14 Americans infected with the coronavirus. They were among the more than 300 Americans who landed in the U.S. today after being quarantined for nearly two weeks on a cruise ship in Japan.

Those infected were not supposed to be flown out, but the test results came in after the evacuation had begun, and U.S. officials decided to proceed  to the surprise of many, including the other passengers.
President Moon Jae-in Korea Times photo by Wang Tae-seok



By Do Je-hae



There is no breakthrough in sight for South Korea's diplomatic efforts which are facing challenges that could hamper relations with its biggest partners  the U.S., China and Japan.



Arguably one of the most pressing concerns for President Moon Jae-in's diplomatic team has been to narrow differences with the U.S. on some key bilateral issues such as North Korea.



President Moon's engagement-centered policy toward the North has raised concerns over a potential clash with Washington's consistent focus on the need to maintain sanctions on the country until it takes visible steps toward denuclearization.



Moon said that he will look to engage with North Korea on projects such as tourism and inter-Korean railways, but Washington has not responded positively to these proposals for advancing inter-Korean relations. Latest news reports from U.S. media outlets such as CNN said U.S. President Donald Trump does not want a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un before the presidential election in November.



But despite this, Cheong Wa Dae is still looking for ways to revive moribund North Korea-U.S. denuclearization talks. "We do not believe that such reports reflect the policy of the U.S. government," a senior presidential aide told reporters last week.



The two countries have also been at odds over the Korea-U.S. Special Measures Agreement to determine Korea's share of the cost for the upkeep of U.S. troops stationed here. Due to the huge gap between the two, negotiations have not proceeded smoothly and they have been unable to set a date for the next round of talks.



The mounting diplomatic tension between Korea and the U.S. has underlined the need for a summit between the leaders of the two countries at an early date. The latest visits to Washington by key Cheong Wa Dae officials suggested a possible pending summit. If realized, it would be the first time for the leaders to meet since New York in September 2019. However, another presidential aide denied Monday some media reports of a possible summit in March.



In addition, the U.S. making improvements to a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile battery in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, has emerged as another problem that could bring about a backlash from China, which claims the facility is being used to spy on its military, and not just North Korea. ?



Moon is also facing a setback regarding diplomacy with China as his planned summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping could be postponed due to the 2019-nCoV (COVID-19) outbreak. Cheong Wa Dae had been pushing for a date in March or April, but it is likely that Xi's first visit to Korea in six years could take place as late as June.



Relations with Japan have also not been going anywhere despite a Korea-Japan summit in December 2019.



The foreign ministers of Korea and Japan met Feb. 15 during a security conference in Germany but parted without achieving any breakthrough on a number of thorny bilateral issues, such as a row over trade regulations and the Korean Supreme Court's rulings on compensation for Korean victims of forced wartime labor during the 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule of the peninsula.



Concerns are rising that bilateral relations could quickly deteriorate once again if Korea decides to terminate the General Security of Information Agreement (GSOMIA) with Japan, a military intelligence sharing pact signed in 2016. Korea had decided to temporarily maintain the pact while negotiations were underway to settle their trade dispute.


NIPPON Platform Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Tokyo, Japan, Founder and CEO of Overseas Business: Jun Takagi) and Hana Bank (Head Office: Seoul, Republic of Korea, President CEO: Ji Sung-Kyu) have entered into a strategic partnership to expand Hana Financial Group's global alternative payment hub, Global Loyalty Network (GLN), in Japan.

About GLN Services

GLN is a Global Alternative Payment Hub that involves a total of 58 companies from 14 countries around the world.

It provides an integrated platform to connect financial institutions, retail companies and loyalty point operators around the world to a single network, allowing them to freely transfer digital assets and e-money globally.

GLN provides services to enable online and in-store mobile payments, remittances, and ATM cash withdrawals via mobile without border restrictions.

In particular, GLN applies real-time exchange rates in each country for transactions, allowing convenient prepaid and debit payments around the world.

Background and Next Steps

Besides its banking app, 1Q and loyalty program/e-wallet app, HanaMembers, GLN has strategically partnered with key players in the payment industry in Korea.

For instance, the retail giant Shinsegae Group (SSG Pay), the largest P2P money transfer company (TOSS), and SK Telecom's e-wallet (SK Pay). Also, in collaboration with Taiwan and Thai financial institutions, GLN has over 85 million users.

Japan will host the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games this upcoming July, and the number of foreign tourists will inevitably increase during this period. NIPPON Platform and GLN would like to give to the upcoming tourists "a seamless, inexpensive cross-border payment experience".

We estimate that usage of e-wallet, a form of electronic stored value which is used for transactions made online or in-store through a computer or a smartphone, is increasing, and it is expected to become one of the most preferred payment methods alongside credit and debit cards.

GLN will serve as an integrated hub platform enabling cross-border payments and providing services to the users and companies globally.

GLN Coupon Mall offers global coupon services, and provides discount coupons and incentives not only for South Korean visitors to Japan, but also tourists from all over the world.

Nippon Platform integrates various GLN services with its own services and introduces the GLN system to its approximately 100,000 merchants (a total number of terminals) in Japan. It will promote alternative payments services to foreign visitors in Japan which will increase the mobile payments volume in its affiliated shops.

About GLN

With an initiative to build a network of digital assets, GLN born from the idea of Kim Jung-Tai, Chairman CEO of Hana Financial Group, was launched in 2017. In November 2017, the First GLN Consortium was held in Seoul, Korea.

Over 100 members from 36 participant companies of 11 countries participated in this meeting. They belong to global banks and retail companies from Japan, Taiwan, China, Thailand, Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom.

GLN Consortium member countries include representative banks, major retail companies, and point business companies from Japan, Taiwan, China, Thailand, Russia and Turkey. It is also pushing to expand GLN membership to India, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Canada.

Hana Bank

Hana Financial Group is a leading South Korean financial group providing integrated services through its subsidiaries, including Hana Bank.

Company Profile of Hana Bank

Head office: Euljiro 35, Jung-gu, Seoul, KOREA History: Seoul Bank was established in 1959, Korea Exchange Bank was established in 1967, Hana Bank was established in 1991 Amount of sales: 26,003,753,000,000 won (as of 2018) Net income: 2,092,800,000,000won (as of 2018) Total assets: 421,115,600,000,000 won (as of September 2019) URL: http://www.kebhana.com

About NIPPON Platform

NIPPON Platform provides "Payment platform services," "Services related to business for visitors to Japan" and "Services for small and middle-sized retailers."

Payment brands which are available at NIPPON Platform Payment service (as of 14 February 2020)

Amazon Pay, d payment (d Pay), pring, atone, PAY ID, WeChat Pay, NETSPay, DBS PayLah!, OCBC Pay Anyone, UOB Mighty, Global Loyalty Network (GLN)

NIPPON Platform Co., Ltd.

Head office: 2-14-5-3F Kamiosaki, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, Japan URL: https://nippon-platform.co.jp/en/ Directors: Jun Takagi, Founder and CEO of Overseas Business Shinsuke Hishiki, President and CEO of Domestic Business Established: September 2016 Capital: 502,487,400 JPY (Including capital reserves) Business: Payment platform services, Services for small and middle-sized retailers Adviser: Koiti Hashida (Professor at the University of Tokyo) He is a PLR technical adviser. PLR (Personal Life Repository) is one of PDS (Personal Data Store).

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200216005008/en/

Contacts:

Contact Inquiries

NIPPON Platform Co., Ltd. Public Relations

Rie Masui Tel: +81-34546-1766 E-mail: pr@nippon-g.jp
Downing Street has refused to say whether Boris Johnson agrees with an adviser who suggested black people were mentally inferior and advocated compulsory contraception to prevent a permanent underclass.

A Number 10 spokesman was repeatedly asked at a Westminster media briefing whether the PM wished to distance himself from a string of controversial remarks made by Andrew Sabisky, who was recruited by senior advisor Dominic Cummings.

Presented with a series of Sabiskys comments and asked whether the PM backed them or would condemn them, the spokesman responded only: The prime ministers views are well publicised and well documented.

Despite frequent requests, the Downing Street spokesman was unable to point to a single example of the prime minister expressing a view on eugenics or the intelligence of black people, merely saying that reporters would find that his opinions were well-documented on the public record.

He declined to say whether Mr Johnsons views on the issue were reflected in a magazine article in which the PM referred to black people as picaninnies with watermelon smiles.

Mr Sabisky resigned later on Monday, citing the media attention on his views.

Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out Show all 17 1 /17 Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out Out: Sajid Javid Resigned as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Mr Javids departure comes just one month before a crucial budget, intended to chart the course for the new government  and makes him the shortest-serving chancellor for more than 50 years Getty Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out In: Rishi Sunak Promoted from Chief Secretary to the Treasury to Chancellor of the Exchequer after the dramatic resignation of Sajid Javid Getty Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out Out: Esther McVey Sacked as housing minister AFP via Getty Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out Out: Andrea Leadsom Sacked as business secretary EPA Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out Changed role: Alok Sharma Appointed business secretary (previously international development secretary). He has also been put in charge of the UKs COP26 climate change summit PA Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out Out: Attorney General Geoffrey Cox Resigned as the government's most senior law officer AFP via Getty Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out In: Suella Braverman Appointed Attorney General and she will attend cabinet EPA Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out Out: Theresa Villiers Sacked as environment secretary PA Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out In: George Eustice Appointed environment, food and rural affairs secretary. He was a farming and fisheries minister Reuters Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out Changed role: Anne-Marie Trevelyan Appointed international development secretary (previously parliamentary under-secretary for defence) Getty Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out Out: Julian Smith Sacked as Northern Ireland secretary Reuters Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out In: Brandon Lewis Appointed Secretary of Northern Ireland Reuters Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out In: Stephen Barclay Appointed chief secretary to the Treasury PA Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out In: Oliver Dowden Appointed culture secretary, succeeding Nicky Morgan Getty Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out Out: Chris Skidmore Sacked as eucation minister Getty Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out Out: Nus Ghani Sacked as transport minister Chris McAndrew/UK Parliament/CC BY 3.0 Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle: Who's in and who's out Out: George Freeman Sacked as transport minister Getty

Whilst editor of The Spectator, Mr Johnson published an article in which columnist Taki wrote: On average, Orientals are slower to mature, less randy, less fertile, and have larger brains and higher IQ scores. Blacks are at the other pole, and whites fall somewhere in the middle, although closer to the Orientals than the blacks.

Asked subsequently about his contributors remarks, Mr Johnson described Taki as a very distinguished columnist.

The PM is coming under growing pressure to sack Mr Sabisky over comments prior to his appointment in which he:

- Called for the young to undergo compulsory contraception to prevent the creation of a permanent underclass;

- Disparagingly compared womens sport to the Paralympics; and

- Suggested that black people were more likely than whites to be close to mental retardation.

The 27-year-old self-styled superforecaster responded to Mr Cummings call for misfits and weirdos to apply to work at 10 Downing Street.

But his extreme views immediately sparked outrage online after it emerged that he had made comments about the IQs of black people on a blog post published in 2014.

Andrew Sabisky (BBC)

In it, he wrote: If the mean black American IQ is (best estimate based on a centurys worth of data) around 85, as compared to a mean white American IQ of 100, then if IQ is normally distributed, you will see a far greater percentage of blacks than whites in the range of IQs 75 or below, at which point we are close to the typical boundary for mild mental retardation. That parsimoniously explains the greater diagnostic rates for blacks when it comes to Intellectual Disability.

Mr Sabiksy has also come under fire for previously stating that much of the hue and cry against female genital mutilation looks more like a moral panic. He also suggested that giving children mental performance-enhancing drugs which might pose a risk to their lives was probably worth a dead kid once a year. In 2016, the Cambridge graduate argued the case for eugenics, which aims to improve the genetic quality of the population by excluding certain groups judged to be inferior, writing: Eugenics are about selecting for good things.

The Downing Street spokesman had earlier refused to confirm his appointment or to say whether he was working as a special adviser to the PM paid by the taxpayer.

And he appeared to back away from the attempt by cabinet minister Grant Shapps to distance himself from Mr Sabisky at the weekend, when the transport secretary said that his reported comments were views that neither I or the government share in any shape or form.

 Grant Shapps avoids answering questions on controversial comments made by Andrew Sabisky

Asked whether Mr Shapps was speaking on behalf of the government, the No 10 spokesman replied: I didnt hear specifically what the transport secretary said. The transport secretary was speaking as the transport secretary. I have answered the question on behalf of the prime minister.

Labour party chairman Ian Lavery said: It is disgusting that not only has Number 10 failed to condemn Andrew Sabiskys appalling comments, but also seems to have endorsed the idea that white people are more intelligent than black people.

Boris Johnson should have the backbone to make a statement in his own words on why he has made this appointment, whether he stands by it, and his own views on the subject of eugenics.

Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon said: "These are really not acceptable headlines for any government to be generating - or allowing to be generated. They need to get a grip fast and demonstrate some basic but fundamental values in the terms of our public debate."
The Trump administration is considering slapping China with new trade restrictions that would curb the countrys access to American chip technology in a move targeting Huawei Technologies Co., Chinas largest smartphone maker.

The Commerce Department is proposing tightening what is known as the foreign direct product rule, which limits the ability of foreign countries to use American technology for military or national-security purposes. The new rules would require factories across the globe to obtain licenses in order to make chips for Huawei using American equipment, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The new restrictions are intended to restrict the worlds second-largest economys imports of U.S. semiconductor technology, one of Chinas largest American imports. An additional new rule would curb the ability of American companies to supply equipment to Huawei from their overseas facilities. Critics worry the rules could also harm the growth of U.S. companies who supply to Huawei.

Last week, U.S. officials warned that Huawei, which is closely tied to the Chinese Communist Party, has for over a decade been able to use a backdoor method intended only for law enforcement to gain access to U.S. cellular networks and private information without the knowledge of the networks.

In November, the Federal Communications Commission blocked Huawei from accessing billions of dollars in federal-broadband subsidies over concerns that Huawei could use its inroads into American broadband infrastructure to spy on the U.S. and steal sensitive data.

President Trump, who has said he wants U.S. companies to do business with Huawei as long as the equipment does not compromise national security, has reportedly not reviewed the new restrictions proposed by the Commerce Department.

The U.S. signed a phase-one trade deal with China last month, in which China agreed to buy about $200 billion worth of U.S. goods over two years and the parties agreed to a new intellectual-property regime, a contentious point in the trade negotiations between the two countries.

More from National Review
Eric Gay/Associated Press

Houston pipeline operator Kinder Morgan won a legal battle against opponents of the Permian Highway Pipeline, which will move natural gas from the Permian Basin of West Texas to the Katy Hub near Houston.

U.S. District Court Judge Robert Pitman in Austin struck down a request on Friday by opponents of the $2 billion project. They had sought a temporary restraining order halting construction of the pipeline through Texas Hill Country and over the Edwards Aquifer, an underground reservoir home to several threatened and endangered species of salamander, fish and insects.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Nina A. Loasana (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 17, 2020

After recording 1 million passengers this year, city-owned bus operator Transjakarta is dreaming big in 2020 with a vision of doubling the figure.

The companys acting president director, Yoga Adiwinarto, expressed his optimism that the countrys first bus rapid transit (BRT) service could unlock even more achievements this year.

Yes, it took us 16 years to transport 1 million passengers a day, but were confident that we can reach 2 million in a year, Yoga told The Jakarta Post in an exclusive interview on Thursday.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login
Kathy Covington, center, watches the powerful floodwaters of the Pearl River rush through her Florence, Mississippi, yard on 16 February 2020. Photo: Barbara Gauntt / Clarion Ledger

By Doyle Rice, Luke Ramseth, and Wilton Jackson

17 February 2020

JACKSON, Mississippi (USA TODAY)  Weeks of heavy rain have inundated a large portion of the southern U.S., bringing near-record flooding to Mississippi and Tennessee.

In Jackson, Mississippi, hundreds of residents either watched their homes flood over the weekend or worried their residence would soon be drenched as the Pearl River crested Monday at 36.8 feet, its third-highest level ever recorded.

Calling the Jackson floods historic and unprecedented, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said in a Sunday press conference that we do not anticipate this situation to end anytime soon. It will be days before we are out of the woods and the waters recede.

Reeves declared a state of emergency Saturday because of the floods.

February has seen a constant stream of wet storms rolling across the Deep South, said AccuWeather meteorologist Paul Walker, who called it a crazy month for the amount of rain thats fallen across the region.

More wet weather is on the way: Rain showers will develop Monday night over the Mississippi River Valley, further saturating an already soggy South, the Weather Channel said.

The National Weather Service said that this entire area is quite soaked and any additional rainfall may lead to more runoff issues and additional flooding. []

Mississippi is in a state of emergency on 17 February 2020, after historic levels of flooding damaged at least 200 homes near the state capitol of Jackson. At least four people had to be rescued from their homes as the Pearl Rivers rising water flooded entire neighborhoods. Omar Villafranca is in Jackson to report on the latest damage. Video: CBS This Morning

In Tennessee, Februarys rains have been 400% of normal, and we have more coming in this week, Tennessee Valley Authority spokesman Jim Hopson said. Its kind of a never-ending battle. []

The southern flooding could be a precursor to another disastrous year for flooding, especially in the central U.S.

In fact, there are troubling signs spring 2020 could bring a repeat of widespread flooding in the nations midsection somewhat reminiscent of last years massive event, the Weather Channel warned.

[more]

Historic, unprecedented flooding swamps southern USA; Mississippi and Tennessee hardest hit

Map showing reports of flood river gauges in the Southern U.S., 17 February 2020. Source: ESRI; NOAA, as of 17 February 2020. Graphic: US NEWS

Mississippi getting more rain as residents endure unprecedented flooding

By Max Golembo, Emily Shapiro, and Dan Peck

17 February 2020

(ABC News)  A storm system moving across the country is set to dump even more rain on Mississippi, which is already enduring massive flooding.

Gov. Tate Reeves has declared a state of emergency amid what he called a historic, unprecedented flood.

Residents should anticipate more heavy rainfall  possibly one to two inches  on Monday night and Tuesday, the governor warned at a news conference Monday.

Water from the Pearl River enters this northeast Jackson, Mississippi, home, on 16 February 2020. Photo: Rogelio V. Solis / AP

The water is expected to recede relatively quickly over the next two to three days, but as it recedes itll be fast-moving, the governor said.

Do not walk or drive through floodwaters, he stressed. Turn around, dont drown. []

The pounding rain extends beyond Mississippi. More than 10 inches of rain fell in parts of the South over the last week and a half, pushing many rivers over their banks.

Flood warnings continue for rivers across the South from Texas to the Carolinas. Some areas could get several more inches of rain. [more]

Mississippi getting more rain as residents endure unprecedented flooding
English Lithuanian

A subsidiary of AB Linas Agro Group, Panevezys District Zibartoniu ZUB, has signed stock sales-purchase agreement with the owners of the stock of agricultural company ZUB Nemunas for obtaining 67.15% of the stock of ZUB Nemunas. The total investment amount to EUR 2,005,000.



Agricultural company ZUB Nemunas, based in Miegenai village, Kedainiai district, was established in 1992. The company cultivates 1,051 ha of land, from them 243 ha are own. Runs dairy farming, has 496 units of cattle, including 196 dairy cows; also grow cereals and oilseeds - over 3,400 tons per year. The total headcount of the company is 25. In 2019, the revenue of the company exceeded 1 million euros. Assets are valued at EUR 1.89 million.

We are the neighbors of Nemunas. Our farming company Panevezys District Zibartoniai ZUB is located nearby. The agricultural company Nemunas is attractive to us because it is close to us and its activities are diversified. We believe to have something to offer to our neighbors, and first and foremost our experience. We have been managing agricultural companies since 2003.

All activities of our Group revolve around agriculture: we supply goods to farmers and market their crops, grow cereals, produce milk, operate a full-cycle poultry business in Latvia. The production of agricultural produce is one of our most important activities, where we directly face the same problems like the other farmers, therefore have the opportunity to test how in fact useful the products and equipment we offer are, what is helpful and what isnt. Besides that, these activities allow us to make useful experiments and test various new technologies before offering them to our customers.

Our agricultural companies are not just a testing ground for new technologies - they are strong and efficient businesses. Their employees exchange experiences and learn from each other. This is also reflected in the results of our performance: the average yield of wheat we grow is 38% higher than the average in Lithuania, and the yield of rapeseed is 48% higher. In the poor year 2018, the gap was even larger - 56% and 52% respectively. Taken together, our companies are also a fairly large milk producer in Lithuania, with average milk yields also 74% higher than the Lithuanian average. In the financial year 2018/2019, the milk production at the agricultural company Panevezys District Zibartoniu ZUB increased by 12.2%. Coming to Nemunas we will strive for similar operational efficiency, comments Andrius Pranckevicius, Deputy Managing Director of AB Linas Agro Group.

AB Linas Agro Group owns six agricultural companies located in fertile areas of Lithuania - Panevezys District Aukstadvario ZUB, Sakiai District Luksiu ZUB, Birzai District Medeikiu ZUB, Sidabravo ZUB and Kedainiai District Labunavos ZUB. They are engaged in production of milk, cereals, rapeseed and sugar beet. In 2018 Sakiai District Luksiu ZUB was the second most efficient milk producer in Lithuania in the category of companies, with an average milk yield of 11,262 kg per cow. The third most efficient among the enterprises was the company Sidabravo ZUB, where on average 10,471 kg of milk was milked from a cow.

About AB Linas Agro Group

AB Linas Agro Group together with its directly and indirectly controlled companies (hereinafter  subsidiaries) makes the Group, which was founded in 1991 and operates in four countries  Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and the Ukraine. The Group has 39 companies and 2,064 employees. The financial year of the Group begins on 1 July. The revenue of the Group was EUR 743 million in FY 2018/2019, EBITDA - EUR 5.6 million.

The companies of the Group produce, handle and merchandise agricultural and food products, also provide products and services for farming. The Group is the leading exporter of grains and has own network of thirteen grain elevators. Also is one of the leaders in supplies of agricultural inputs (such as certified seeds, fertilizers and agricultural machinery) in Lithuania, has seed preparation plant. The Group is a major milk producer in Lithuania and the biggest poultry producer in Latvia.

Additional information:

Andrius Pranckevicius

Deputy Managing Director of AB Linas Agro Group

Mob. + 370 687 71 419

E-mail a.pranckevicius@linasagro.lt
Late Love Island presenter Caroline Flack told how she became 'Prince Harry's bit of rough' in her 2014 memoir called Storm in a C Cup.

The 40-year-old TV personality took her own life on Saturday in the run up to her trial for the alleged assault of her boyfriend Lewis Burton.

But more than a decade earlier, she and the Duke sparked up a romantic relationship after spending an evening 'chatting and laughing' when they first met.

Late Love Island presenter Caroline Flack (pictured with Prince Harry in London in 2009) told how she became 'Prince Harry's bit of rough' in her 2014 memoir called Storm in a C Cup

Her and the Duke sparked up a romantic relationship after spending an evening 'chatting and laughing' when they first met

Harry, who was 25 at the time, was still serving in the Armed Forces while Caroline was making a name for herself as the co-host of Gladiators.

Her friend, Caroline Pinkham, set the pair up after she had previously dated the royal herself.

In her memoir, Flack wrote: 'I knew (Caroline Pinkham) was friends with Prince Harry, and Id never met him, so I thought, ''Oh thats quite exciting'', and for a moment I perked up.

'So I was just sitting there and he arrived with a few others in tow and we all spent the evening chatting and laughing.'

However, the intense scrutiny from the media forced the pair to stop dating.

Caroline wrote: 'Once the story got out, that was it. We had to stop seeing each other.

The last post: A collage of pictures posted by Flack on Thursday to her 2.4million followers, showing her playing with her dog, Ruby

Caroline Flack has been found dead at her London flat aged 40. She is pictured above attending the Brit awards last year

'I was no longer Caroline Flack, TV presenter, I was Caroline Flack, Prince Harrys bit of rough.'

Prince Harry hasn't yet spoken about Caroline's death.

Flack took her own life after a worried friend who was staying with her went to the shops, leaving her alone at her London flat.

Lou Teasdale, 36, couldn't get back into the flat when she returned. She called Flack's father Ian who gained entry to the flat where he found the star's body.

Her management team described her as 'vulnerable' and criticised the CPS for pushing ahead with the case despite her boyfriend Lewis Burton saying he did not want to press charges.

He had said she hit him with a lamp at her former home in Islington in December and as part of her bail conditions the pair were banned from contacting each other.

The saga surrounding her court case saw her 'step down' from hosting Love Island - the first ever winter series is currently on air that is currently hosted by Laura Whitmore. ITV and Love Island's producers will now come under scrutiny for that decision and what support they gave her. Reality shows have been warned by Ofcom that they have a duty of care towards their stars.

Contestants Mike Thalassitis and Sophie Gradon took their own lives following their appearances on the dating programme, throwing the show's future into question

Flack has been described by friends as feeling 'she was on her own' and 'couldn't see a way out', and she was struggling with her mental health and using anti-depressants before her death.

The TV presenter's death was confirmed by the family, who said: 'We can confirm that our Caroline passed away today on the 15th February. We would ask that the press respect the privacy of the family at this difficult time.'

Flack's death has led to calls for the ITV2 flagship show to be axed. She is the third person connected to the show to have killed themselves after contestants Mike Thalassitis and Sophie Gradon took their own lives.
Biosecurity officers are mobilising after a confirmed case of the invasive pest fall armyworm in far north Queensland.

Biosecurity Queensland has confirmed a moth found near Bamaga has been positively identified as fall armyworm.

"Biosecurity Queensland has proposed a response plan that is being considered by the national Consultative Committee on Emergency Plant Pests," a spokesman said in a statement on Monday.

Invasive pest species fall armyworm has been discovered on the Australian mainland for the first time, with a confirmed case in far north Queensland Credit:Biosecurity Queensland

"Surveillance for fall armyworm will commence on the Atherton Tablelands, wet tropics, Port Douglas, Mossman and Cairns regions this week."
Enfield and Vernon police were able to locate a man who is blind using drones Saturday, after the man survived freezing temperatures overnight while lost in the woods.

Enfield police said the mans brother called them around 8:43 a.m. and said he had been unable to get in touch with his brother.

Neighbors told police the man had not been seen since 10 a.m. Friday.

Due to the temperature, there was concern about hypothermia and it was clear that time was of the essence for a successful outcome, Enfield police said on Facebook.

A drone pilot with the Vernon Police Department was called in, and set about searching.

The pilot found the missing man after about 30 minutes of searching, police said. He was found about 100 yards into the woods behind an embankment, where he was hidden from view, police said.

The man told first responders he had become disoriented, and had been forced to stay out overnight, when temperatures dropped to 9 degrees Fahrenheit.

Police said the man was outdoors for about 33 hours before he was found by the drone pilot and EMS personnel. He was carried out of the woods on a stretcher, according to video of the incident posted to Facebook.

The missing mans identity was not released.

He was transported to the hospital for evaluation and treatment, Enfield police said.
Their attacks are a sign of how seriously the field is starting to take Bloomberg as he gains traction in the race and is on the cusp of qualifying for Wednesday's Democratic debate in Las Vegas. Bloomberg has bypassed the traditional early voting states including Nevada, focusing instead on the 14 states that vote in the Super Tuesday primary on March 3. He has spent more than $417 million of his own multibillion-dollar fortune on advertising nationwide, an unprecedented sum for any candidate in a primary.
The court was hearing pleas over the road blocks due to the ongoing protests at Shaheen Bagh against the CAA

New Delhi: The Supreme Court said on Monday that people have a fundamental right to protest against a law but the blocking of public roads is a matter of concern and there has to be a balancing factor.

Hearing pleas over the road blocks due to the ongoing protests at Shaheen Bagh against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), a bench comprising Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph said its concern is about what will happen if people start protesting on roads.

Democracy works on expressing views but there are lines and boundaries for it, the bench said.

It asked senior advocate Sanjay Hegde and advocate Sadhana Ramachandran to talk to Shaheen Bagh protestors and persuade them to move to an alternative site where no public place is blocked.

The matter has been posted for next hearing on February 24.

People have a fundamental right to protest but the thing which is troubling us is the blocking of public roads, the bench said.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said Shaheen Bagh protestors should not be given a message that every institution is on its knees trying to persuade them on this issue.

The apex court said that if nothing works, we will leave it to the authorities to deal with the situation.

Protestors have made their made their point and the protests have gone on for quite some time, it said.

Restrictions have been imposed on the Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch and the Okhla underpass, which were closed on December 15 last year due to the protests against CAA and Register of Citizens.

The top court had earlier said the anti-CAA protesters at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh cannot block public roads and create inconvenience for others.

The apex court was hearing an appeal filed by advocate Amit Sahni, who had approached the Delhi 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, former BJP MLA Nand Kishore Garg has filed a petition in the apex court seeking directions to the authorities to remove the protestors from Shaheen Bagh.

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, it 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 had said.

In his appeal, Sahni had 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.
BHAINSA (NIRMAL): Union minister of state for home G. Kishan Reddy on Sunday said that Bhainsa town would not have witnessed huge damage to property had police reacted promptly and expressed regret that victims of the communal violence had not received any help from the government so far.

Promising that efforts were being made to restore peace, the Union minister said, if needed, the Central government would order an inquiry into the communal clashes that took place in Bhainsa. He was speaking to media after visiting affected houses and interacting with victims of both communities in Korbagalli. He reviewed the situation with Musharaff Ali Farooqui, district collector, and Shash-idhar Raju, superintendent of police, Nirmal.

He said that police should have taken preventive steps as Bhainsa was a communally sensitive town and polls were slated to be held when violence occurred. As a result of inaction from the police, innocent poor and middle-class people belonging to both communities lost their properties.

Union minister of state for home G. Kishan Reddy said that that he, and other BJP leaders, did not visit Bhainsa immediately after the clashes to avoid the situation from getting vitiated. Mr Reddy said that the state government must provide full protection to people living in fear.

He asked district officials to immediately issue documents listing the details of property lost by the victims following the destruction.

Local people have told me that communal clashes were pre-planned because of municipal elections, Kishan Reddy said, and assured that those who had hatched the conspiracy to incite clashes would be punished.

He further disclosed that the Nirmal police had sent proposals for compensation of Rs 2.33 crore to 101 victims in the Bhainsa incident to the government.

BJP state president K. Laxman, BJP MPs Soyam Bapurao (Adilabad), Bandi Sanjay (Karimnagar) and Dharmapuri Aravind (Nizamabad), Rammohan Rao (Rajya Sabha), and other party leaders including Ramadevi, Payal Shankar and Suhasini Reddy and others were present.
TerraGo, an industry leader in smart cities and utilities software, announced today a new milestone in its global expansion with a new partnership agreement with Urban Control, the UKs leading provider of integrated smart city solutions.

This relationship combines Urban Controls market-leading smart city technology solutions with TerraGos award-winning software, giving customers an integrated toolset thats operationally-proven to accelerate projects, lower costs and increase energy savings and other benefits. The official partnership comes after a series of successful collaborations, with the two companies working together in the City of London, City of Glasgow, London Borough of Brent, City of Westminster, County of Surrey, and more.

Terry Dean, CEO of Urban Control said, Weve been using TerraGos Streetlights software on some of our biggest projects, and know that we can trust the quality and care that they put into their products and client engagements. Were confident that our customers will see the benefits in every step of the life cycle of their projects with the full integration of TerraGos technology with Urban Controls smart city solutions.

TerraGo is thrilled to officially partner with Urban Control after getting the chance to collaborate on their projects with them, and seeing such great results. Urban Control demonstrates a real dedication to helping their customers adapt technology to their unique needs, while saving time and money on their smart cities projects. Were excited to help them continue delivering superior customer results with TerraGo Streetlights, said Dave Basil, President & CEO of TerraGo.

TerraGos intelligent streetlight management software is being utilized on some of the biggest smart cities and utilities projects and systems around the world, including the City of Chicago, Greater Toronto, London, Glasgow, Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) and Jamaica Public Service. Designed specifically for smart streetlight projects, the platform has earned three Smart 50 Awards for results and innovation, enabling customers to deploy and maintain networked lighting systems more efficiently, producing a clear, measurable return on investment. Urban Control will offer a private-labeled, customizable version of TerraGos mobile and web apps, offered as UrbanApp and UrbanConnect respectively.

Hertfordshire-based Urban Control Ltd are an intelligent technology solutions provider who have won several significant customers and projects in the City of London, London Borough of Brent, and the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. In order to truly benefit those living in these cities, towns and boroughs, they provide support throughout the full cycle of a smart cities project, treating each city as its own unique case with solutions tailored to each citys needs.
ConsumerAffairs is not a government agency. Companies displayed may pay us to be Authorized or when you click a link, call a number or fill a form on our site. Our content is intended to be used for general information purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment based on your own personal circumstances and consult with your own investment, financial, tax and legal advisers.

Company NMLS Identifier #2110672

Copyright  2021 Consumers Unified LLC. All Rights Reserved. The contents of this site may not be republished, reprinted, rewritten or recirculated without written permission.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

By Ilhama Isabalayeva - Trend:

The speech of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev at the Munich Security Conference, based on historical facts and international legal acts, again put the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan in a hopeless situation, Head of Azerbaijans Ombudsman Office Aydin Safikhanli told Trend.

Panel discussions on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were held between President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 15.

Aydin Safikhanli noted that during a panel debate on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, President Ilham Aliyev referred to historical documents, as well as the documents of international law, and once again stated that Karabakh is a historical Azerbaijani land.

"Stressing that Azerbaijanis were historically subjected to ethnic cleansing and genocide by Armenians, that the Azerbaijani lands were occupied by Armenia, and that present-day Armenia was created on the historical Azerbaijani lands, the head of state brought historical and other documents to the attention of those present at the panel," Safikhanli said.

Head of Azerbaijans Ombudsman Office noted that this time too, Pashinyan, who prior was known from the first days of coming to power as an indecisive person, this time will be remembered with a populist statement, with unjustified historical facts.

"Pashinyan's continuous glancing at his notes as a student who does not know the lesson, and an excited speech referring to an article written in a distorted form and published in the newspaper by an Armenian journalist, puzzled the panel attendants. Pashinyan was so confused that in a speech he admitted that Nagorno Karabakh is Azerbaijani land, and then apologized to everyone. In his speech, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev informed the panel that Armenia could never pursue an independent policy, was not interested in ceasefire, pursues an aggressive policy and the leaders of Armenia at the most decisive moment in the peace negotiations found certain reasons to interrupt or evade them," Safikhanli said.

"Stressing that Armenia wants to keep the status quo unchanged, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said that Armenians may believe that they will constantly keep these territories under occupation. But this will not remain so and the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan will be restored," Aydin Safikhamli said.

Safikhanli added that in his speech, President Ilham Aliyev, addressing international and regional organizations, as well as member countries of these organizations, which have the right and authority to ensure international law, including the settlement of the conflict, called for respect for the decisions they made and resolutions and ensure the rule of law.

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.
Strasbourg, 15 February 2020 (SPS) - The new representative of the Polisario Front in Europe and in the European Union (EU), Oubbi Bucharaya Bashir, welcomed on Thursday the creation of the European Parliamentary Intergroup "Peace for the Saharawi people," considering it as a "core part" of Saharawi people struggle for independence and self-determination.



"The European Parliamentary Intergroup "Peace for the Saharawi people" is required to make Europe more accountable to our people and to keep pace with its just struggle in the context of supporting the diplomatic action of the Polisario Front and the Saharawi Government in general," said Oubbi Bucharaya Bashir, shortly after the official announcement of the creation of this new support group for the Saharawi people, led by German Social Democratic Party MP Joachim Schuster.



According to the Polisario Front's Representative, Europe has been in recent years, especially since the decisions of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in 2016 and 2018 and due to the positions of some influential countries within this continental bloc, "part of the problem of Western Sahara instead of contributing to the efforts to achieve a final solution in accordance with legitimacy and law as stipulated in the relevant United Nations and Security Council resolutions."



"Despite the challenges presented, due particularly to Moroccan arrogance and intransigence, which are fed by the lack of political will of the UN Security Council to exert sufficient pressure for the organization of the referendum on self-determination in Western Sahara, and the negative role of some parties, there are promising opportunities during this year and also in 2021, in particular with regard to the expected court decisions and also with regard to the appointment of a new personal envoy of the UN Secretary General to resume the process of settling the conflict in Western Sahara," occupied by Morocco since 1975.



The European intergroup "Peace for the Saharawi people" was officially announced on Thursday in Strasbourg.(SPS)

062/SPS/APS
The United Arab Emirates has issued an operating license for the first reactor at the Arab worlds first nuclear power plant, a senior official at the nuclear regulator said.



The license granted to the plants operator Nawah Energy Company will be for 60 years, deputy chairman of Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) Hamad Al-Kaabi told a news conference.

"This is a historic moment for the UAE, making it the first Arab country in the region to operate a nuclear power plant," Arab News cited him as saying.



"Today marks a new chapter in our journey for the development of peaceful nuclear energy with the issuing of the operating license for the first (unit of) Barakah plant," Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan wrote on his official twitter account.



The Barakah nuclear power plant in Abu Dhabi, which is being built by Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), was originally due to open in 2017, but the start-up of its first reactor has been delayed several times. When completed Barakah will have four reactors with a total capacity of 5,600 megawatts (MW).
The Hon. Supreme Court on Friday rapped the telecom operators and ordered them to pay the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues by the stroke of midnight on Friday. This is akin to a Death Warrant for Vodafone-Idea.

The legal system has to follow the rule book and is bound by law. However, its the executive which has to think on its feet and figure out the best solution for this situation from a holistic viewpoint, vis-a-vis nailing a culprit. All eyes would be on the Telecom Minister, Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad, who will need to think ...

Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal. They do not reflect the view/s of Business Standard.
The feel-good story of how Cambodia allowed a cruise ship to dock after it was turned away elsewhere in Asia for fear of spreading the deadly virus that began in China has taken an unfortunate turn after a passenger released from the ship tested positive for the virus.

over the weekend that an 83-year-old American woman who was on the ship and flew from Cambodia to Malaysia was found to carry the virus froze further movement of the passengers and crew of the MS Westerdam. Some are now in hotels in Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, while others are still aboard the ship.

The American woman was among several hundred passengers who were flown out of Cambodia on Friday and Saturday. According to authorities in Malaysia, 143 continued their flights home from that country, while the woman and her 84-year-old husband, who was diagnosed with pneumonia, remained behind for treatment.

The virus has infected more than 71,000 people globally and killed more than 1,770, with the vast majority of the cases in China, where the outbreak began two months ago.

The dispersal around the world of passengers from the ship with possible exposure to the virus has sparked concern.

"I think now given that there is a confirmed case that is suspected to have acquired infection on board the ship, the other passengers should be asked to quarantine themselves at home and alert health authorities if they develop fever or respiratory symptoms within the 14 days since disembarkation," said Professor Benjamin Cowling from the School of Public Health at Hong Kong University.

Dr Gagandeep Kang, executive director of India's Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, said it is unclear whether the woman's infection could result in an outbreak in another part of the world.

"We will have to wait and see," she said, adding that it would depend on where the woman got the infection, and at what stage of the infection she was in while in contact with other people.

The ship's operator, Holland America Line, said in a statement Sunday that it was working closely with government and health officials in Malaysia and Cambodia and experts with the US Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization.

"At this time, no other guests or crew, either on board or on their way home, have reported any symptoms of the illness," the statement said. "Guests who have already returned home will be contacted by their local health department and be provided further information."



The statement pointed out that the American woman who tested positive in Malaysia was not one of the 20 people on board the Westerdam who had reported symptoms to the ship's medical center. It was those 20 who were tested specifically for the virus by Cambodian health officials, and all those results were negative.

The rest of the passengers and crew had health checks that included filling out a written health questionnaire and having their temperatures checked, which has become standard procedure for air and sea passengers considered at risk.

Several Westerdam passengers from the United States and elsewhere have already returned home and spoken to the media.

Two of the passengers, Joseph Schaeffer and his wife, Paulette, a retired nurse, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal from their home in Henderson, Nevada, that they felt the hue and cry over the released passengers was not totally merited.

"It doesn't seem to me that the whole world should be jumping at this," Joseph Schaeffer said.

"There are more deaths from the flu than there have been from this particular virus," his wife said.

The couple said they were screened on their way home at airports in Phnom Penh and Singapore by thermal scanners that remotely monitor arrivals.

On arrival in Los Angeles, they said, they were among a large crowd getting screened that included fellow cruise passengers. They said they answered questions given by someone from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that included whether they felt sick, had visited mainland China or knew anyone who had contracted the virus.

Two Canadians who returned via Vancouver International Airport were asked to put on protective face masks on arrival but were not otherwise isolated, Canada's CBC reported.

"We were asked a few questions and filled out an immigration form, and they very nicely helped us bypass the usual lineups and let us out the door," said Joseph Hansen, who took the cruise with his wife. We're feeling fine. Hansen, from Surrey, British Columbia, told CBC that he did not hear about the American woman in Malaysia with the virus until he landed in Vancouver on Sunday.

"I guess on the one hand it's upsetting to know that there was one case, but we're feeling fine, he said. We've had health scans, temperature scans and we don't have any concerns for our own health.

Cambodia's government had originally earned kudos from the head of the UN's World Health Organization and the US ambassador there for allowing the ship to dock at the port at Sihanoukville on the Gulf of Thailand after being turned away by Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Guam and Thailand.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
RCMP began enforcing an injunction earlier this month that prevents interference with construction of a $6.6-billion natural gas pipeline in northern British Columbia.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/2/2020 (694 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A protester walks past a train signal with red dresses during the twelfth day of protest in Tyendinaga, near Belleville, Ontario, on Monday Feb.17, 2020, as they protest in solidarity with the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs opposed to the LNG pipeline in northern British Columbia. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg

RCMP began enforcing an injunction earlier this month that prevents interference with construction of a $6.6-billion natural gas pipeline in northern British Columbia.

Here is a timeline of the dispute, along with rail disruptions by people showing solidarity with the hereditary Wet'suwet'en chiefs opposing the Coastal GasLink project:

Dec. 31, 2019  The B.C. Supreme Court grants Coastal GasLink an injunction calling for the removal of any obstructions including cabins and gates on any roads, bridges or work sites the company has been authorized to use.

Jan. 1, 2020  The Wet'suwet'en First Nation serves Coastal GasLink with an eviction notice, telling the company workers are "currently trespassing" on their unceded territory.

Jan. 27  The British Columbia government appoints former New Democrat MP Nathan Cullen as a provincial liaison with Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs in the LNG pipeline dispute.

Jan. 30  The hereditary chiefs of the Wet'suwet'en agree to seven days of meetings with the province.

Feb. 5  The talks that were intended to de-escalate the dispute fail after just two days.

Feb. 6  Protesters outside of Belleville, Ont., east of Toronto, start holding up railway traffic.

Feb. 7  Via Rail halts service along one of its busiest routes because of the Belleville-area blockade. All travel between Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal is cancelled. Canadian National Railway obtains a court injunction to end a demonstration by members of the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory near Belleville. Protesters also begin disruptions at ports in Vancouver and Delta, B.C.

Feb. 8  Protesters in Toronto disrupt Canadian Pacific Railway traffic moving through the downtown.

Feb. 9  Kahnawake Mohawk community members south of Montreal erect a blockade on a CP rail line.

Feb. 10  Demonstrators in the Montreal area disrupt commuter train service on the Exo Candiac line. A shuttle bus service is in effect for affected rail stations.

Feb. 11  CN stops transport between Prince George, B.C., and Prince Rupert, B.C., because of a blockade near Hazelton, B.C. The company says it has halted more than 150 freight trains since blockades started on Feb. 6.

Feb. 12  The Manitoba government says it may seek a court injunction to end a blockade on a rail line west of Winnipeg, but CN obtains its own court order. The RCMP also formally end enforcement operations in a region of northern B.C. that's at the centre of the pipeline dispute. Two hereditary Wet'suwet'en chiefs start a constitutional challenge of fossil fuel projects, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calls for demonstrators across the country to observe the rule of law.

Feb. 13  CN shuts down its operations in Eastern Canada. The railway says blockades have ended in Manitoba and may come down soon in British Columbia, but the orders of a court in Ontario have yet to be enforced and continue to be ignored.

Feb. 14  A rail blockade that halted train traffic to and from the Port of Prince Rupert is lifted as First Nations leaders agree to meet with federal and provincial politicians. A date for that sit-down is to be arranged. CN spokesman Jonathan Abecassis says the blockade was removed overnight.

Feb. 15  Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller says "modest progress" was made in talks with the Mohawk First Nation over a rail blockade that's shut down train service across much of Eastern Canada. But Miller declined to say what progress was made after nine hours of meetings on Tyendinaga Mohawk territory near Belleville, Ont., saying he would deliver that message to Trudeau directly.

Feb. 16  Trudeau cancels his planned trip to Barbados, less than 24 hours before his scheduled departure, so he can handle the protests in Canada. Meanwhile, protesters briefly shut down a busy Ontario border crossing.

Feb. 17  Trudeau convenes the Incident Response Group, an emeregency committee that meets in the event of a national crisis.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2020.
A Former Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Lower West Akim in the Rawlings administration, Mr Emmanuel Kwaku Asante, has predicted a one-touch victory for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in this years general election.



According to him, the NDC would win by 80 per cent to send the New Patriotic Party (NPP) back to opposition.



He said the electorate would vote massively for former President John Dramani Mahama as president in this years polls for him to continue his good works as the government had failed to deliver on its promises made to the electorate.



Mr Asante, who is also a cadre, made this known to the media when he submitted his nomination forms to contest the New Juaben North parliamentary primaries of the NDC at the constituency office in Effiduase- Koforidua in the Eastern Region last Friday.



The event, which was attended by some constituency executive members and party supporters, including some branch executives, was to support Mr Asante to enable him to snatch the seat from the NPP in this years general election.



Confident of winning



Mr Asante stated that the NDC would give the NPP a good run in the 2020 polls and that the party was confident of wresting political power from the NPP.



The NDC is poised to work very hard with all party members as well as supporters to realise its winning dream. As a cadre, I understand the concept of grassroots mobilisation and will not make any mistake to get a solid team in place to campaign for victory in the primary and the 2020 elections as a whole. Constituency party executives will not be left out in our quest to snatch the seat from the NPP, the former MCE said.



Mr Asante said the campaign team would be explaining to the delegates and the electorate about the policies and programmes of the party.



Issue based



"I will not insult my other contenders for the sake of votes," Mr Asante stated.



He indicated that he would win the primary which had Mr Oti Boateng and Dr Abdul Manan Mustapha contesting.



Politics of insults



The New Juaben North Constituency Chairman of the NDC, Alhaji Nasiru Abdul-Rahaman, admonished parliamentary aspirants in the constituency to desist from insulting each other as they went about campaigning for votes ahead of the 2020 polls.



He also urged them to respect the partys constitution and do decent campaigns to propagate their messages well to the party delegates.



According to Alhaji Abdul-Rahaman, the branches at the constituency level would be adequately resourced to ensure that the partys victory at this years polls was achieved.

Source: Daily Graphic









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Retailers fear the impact of Brexit. (Richard B. Levine / PA)

Retailers are warning prime minister Boris Johnsons Brexit trade plans could lead to higher food prices and reduced stocks in UK shops.

The prime minister wants to leave the single market and customs union by 2021, leaving Britain to strike trade deals around the world and diverge from EU rules.

But a trade body for UK retailers fears that could mean a mountain of paperwork and new border checks on goods traded between Britain and the EU. Trade is currently still friction-free as Britain remains under EU rules, as part of a transition deal until the end of the year.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said food stocks for UK supermarkets and other shops could be at particular risk. Many retailers rely on just-in-time supply chains across the continent, with more than 80% of all food imports reported to be from the EU.

The UK government and the EU hope to strike a trade agreement this year, agreeing not to impose tariffs or quotas on the other sides goods. But EU officials insist a zero-tariff, zero-quota deal depends on Britain signing up to EU standards, which Johnson has so far refused to do.

Read more: Uncertainty over UK budget date as Johnson tightens grip on Treasury

Retailers are demanding Johnson secures a zero-tariff agreement, but warn trade will not be frictionless and the economy will take a hit even if a deal is reached.

Some non-tariff barriers, which in some cases can prove just as if not more disruptive than tariffs, are expected whatever deal is agreed. Firms may have to deal with new paperwork on issues such as VAT and excise duties, freight rules, health standards, exit and entry declarations and safety permits, according to the BRC.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, called on the government to secure a deal that at least keeps new trade bureaucracy and physical border checks as minimal as possible. The group hopes pragmatic solutions can be found with the EU.

The introduction of excessive or avoidable checks would mean businesses face a mountain of paperwork to be filled out by an army of newly trained staff, coupled with exhaustive checks on thousands of lorries every day. And the result for consumers would be higher costs and reduced availability on the shelves, said Dickinson.

Story continues

Read more: UK deterring skilled workers as immigration plans to be unveiled

Trade groups also worry the government and firms are simply not prepared for the scale of the change in less than a years time.

New systems and IT software need to be launched. Customs officers and border staff need to be hired and trained. Border checkpoints and holding facilities for need to be constructed for vans awaiting checks, particularly at Dover and Folkestone, according to the BRC. The government has no time to lose, added Dickinson.

It comes as a separate survey showed UK manufacturers export orders weaken for a second quarter in a row in the last quarter of 2019. Adam Marshall, director of the British Chambers of Commerce, which ran the survey, said exporters were already suffering the impact of Brexit uncertainty.

Marshall firms still needed clarity on Britains future trading relationship with Europe despite the decisive election result.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo Finance UK
China's Huawei will host a series of "town hall meetings" across the country as it seeks to capitalise on the UK's decision to approve the use of the company's telecommunications equipment in its 5G networks and have its Australia ban overturned.

Next month's forums come amid tensions between Australia and Britain over UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's decision to allow Huawei into its 5G network, which resulted in the cancellation of a planned trip by the Australian government's intelligence and security committee late last week.

Huawei will host a series of public forums to let Australians form their own view on the company. Credit:AP

Huawei's chief security officer in the US, Andy Purdy, will fly to Australia for the forums, which are set to take place in mid-March across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra. Each session will include a presentation and an open on-the-record discussion between invited guests and members of the public with staff and non-Huawei speakers from businesses or charities who work directly with the company.

The forums, titled "Let's Talk Huawei", will eventually expand to regional areas and will be supplemented with podcasts available on the Huawei Hub website. The telecoms giant will also use its sponsorship of rugby league team Canberra Raiders to publicise the events.
Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle

TROY  Shots were fired downtown Monday afternoon, sending at least one bullet through the front window of a local guitar shop.

Police said Collar City Guitars was not the intended target. Instead, police said, the gunman opened fire on a man who climbed out of a car near the intersection of Fourth and Division streets.
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks during a panel talk at the 2020 Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, on Feb. 15, 2020. (Johannes Simon/Getty Images)

Zuckerberg Seeks Regulations for Social Media to Preserve Free Speech

A regulatory framework that seeks to preserve free speech online needs to be adopted for social media before repressive countries like China begin influencing the rules about the free flow of information, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told global leaders and security officials in Europe over the weekend.

Zuckerberg told the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Feb. 15 that he was very worried that countries like China were encoding authoritarian values into how the internet is regulated.

To encode democratic values, open values, weve got to move forward, move quickly, before more authoritarian models get adopted in a lot of places first, he said, according to media reports. Where people can share and inform communities, that is a positive force.

Zuckerbergs remarks echoed those from an Oct. 17, 2019, speech at Georgetown University in which he said his company has refused to expand into China because its very different values dont align with Facebooks.

Until recently, the internet in almost every country outside China has been defined by American platforms with strong free expression values, he said. Theres no guarantee these values will win out. A decade ago, almost all of the major internet platforms were American. Today, six of the top ten are Chinese.

It is bad enough when local laws undermine free expression and peoples human rights, [but] its even worse when countries try to impose their speech restrictions on the rest of the world, he said.

China is now exporting their vision of the internet to other countries.

Zuckerberg faced criticism from the left for saying in that address that he didnt think its right for a private company to censor politicians or the news in a democracy.

As a principle, in a democracy, I believe people should decide what is credible, not tech companies.

In Munich, he said Facebook now employs 35,000 people to review content and handle security issues. More than 1 million fake accounts are suspended each day and the vast majority are detected within minutes of signing up.

Zuckerbergs latest speech comes as U.S. lawmakers are under growing pressure from both left and right to act legislatively against Facebook because of how the company is thought to treat users.

Republicans say Facebook is biased against conservatives and censors their pages. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said legislation is needed to combat anti-conservative political censorship.

Democrats claim Facebook favors President Donald Trump and tipped the scales to get him elected. Critics claim Facebook was asleep at the wheel while Russia used it to try to affect the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.

The European Union is considering various antitrust proposals aimed at Facebook, which has more than 2 billion users worldwide.

In the Georgetown speech and in a March 2019 Washington Post opinion piece, Zuckerberg had previously asked for the regulation of social media companies. In Munich, Zuckerberg said Facebook has gotten better at fighting online election interference.

I do think that there should be regulation on harmful content  theres a question about which framework you use for this, he said in Munich.

Right now there are two frameworks that I think people have for existing industriestheres like newspapers and existing media, and then theres the telco-type model, which is the data just flows through you, but youre not going to hold a telco responsible if someone says something harmful on a phone line.

I actually think where we should be is somewhere in between, he said.

German-born Dallas, Texas-based attorney Dr. Nick Oberheiden, who studied law in Munich, told The Epoch Times it was very interesting that Zuckerberg chose to address a world-preeminent military and national security conference, as opposed to a Las Vegas social media conference with some techies.

But no one has asked what he was doing there, he said.

Leaders and officials of countries whose values run counter to those of the United States want to befriend him personally, said the lawyer, whose firm, Oberheiden P.C., operates in 11 cities across the United States.

Facebook is building a database that may compete with or supersede the databases of government agencies in some countries, he said. I think the intelligence community that was present at the Munich conference more and more relies on the digital, detailed information that social platforms can provide.

Should all countries have the same access? he said. Why is a social media entrepreneur at a military and national security conference?

Its just not an obvious forum for an American entrepreneur, he said. We need to stimulate a debate that is strikingly missing.

The rise of Facebook has revolutionized the definition of what can be considered national security, Oberheiden said.

It is no longer just military secrets, and who is your spy, but is the underlying economic information  and trade secrets, individuals locations, and their connections with other individuals.
When Sabrina Poturovic arrived at the Rochester Alternative Learning Center two years ago, she felt like her academic life had reached a dead end.

Her grades were terrible. A John Marshall High School student, Poturovic was piling up absences to the point of being truant. She had no plans for the future.

But her mom wasnt keen on sending her daughter to the ALC, a school she associated with underachieving and "bad kids." Poturovic convinced her mom to take a tour of the school. If she didnt like it, she promised her mom, she wouldnt go.

"When we took the tour, she signed me up right away," Poturovic said. "She loved it."

Two years later, Poturovic can hardly believe the turnabout in her life. She is taking college-level courses at Rochester Community and Technical College and earning top grades. She has plans to attend college and become a registered nurse.

ADVERTISEMENT

"I have no idea how I got a 4.0 GPA at RCTC, but I do," she said incredulously.

Poturovic said she owes her academic transformation to the teachers at the ALC. She also credits another factor: her decision to begin taking Post Secondary Enrollment Option classes offered by RCTC.

At first, she was reluctant to take the college-level courses. At the ALC, she was finally getting good grades, and she feared that she wasnt ready for the increased rigor and that her grades would plummet again.

But she surprised herself. She not only survived the college-level courses, but found that she thrived in them. Her confidence grew.

Poturovics experience echoes the conclusions of a new report called "Dual Credit: Opportunity and Equity Indeed."

Authored by Joe Nathan, director of the Center for School Change, the report argues that dual enrollment programs  PSEO, College in the Schools, and Concurrent Enrollment  have an "enormous positive impact" on students, particularly low-income and minority students. That makes it a powerful tool for reducing the achievement gap between majority and minority students.

But the potential of these programs remains untapped, Nathan argues, because of barriers that districts and charter schools place in front of students.

"Too many of the people who can really benefit from (these programs) are being excluded from it," he said. "Or they simply do not have the facts."

ADVERTISEMENT

Whats worse, these barriers are inhibiting students who might excel in these programs, particularly if its focused in a hands-on trade or specific academic area for which the student has a passion. Often viewed as programs designed to appeal to high-achieving students, dual-enrollment programs can pull up and empower high school underachievers, too, the research shows.

One of those barriers is informational. The study looked at the websites of 95 districts across the state and found that none of them had all of the up-to-date information about dual enrollment programs, as required by state law.

Although not perfect, the Rochester school district scored well in this area, he said. It was one of only three districts in the study to include info that students can use school computers to take PSEO.

Nathan has spent the past decade preaching about the transformative value of such programs, appearing on radio programs, talking to legislators, and attending community meetings. And yet, everywhere he goes, he hears the same complaint from parents: Weve never heard of them.

"We think theres this huge information gap," he said.

The data is particularly dramatic in terms of how dual enrollment programs affect graduation rates. And it shows how even one PSEO class can markedly improve academic performance. In 2012-13, 58% of African-American students graduated in four years. But when a black student took one or more college-level courses, the graduation rate leaped to 88%  an increase of 30 percentage points.

The same vast difference in scores can be seen in the performance of white students and all other minority groups.

"Weve seen double-digit increases in graduation rates for kids of color," said state Sen. Carla Nelson, chairwoman of the Senate E-12 Finance and Policy committee and a longtime supporter of dual enrollment programs. "Not only do more of them graduate, more go to and graduate from college."

ADVERTISEMENT

PSEO are college-level courses offered on campus or via the internet. College in the Schools are courses taught by high school teachers under the supervision of University of Minnesota faculty. Concurrent Enrollment is similar to College in the Schools but offered by Minnesota State Colleges and Universities.

Nathan argues that colleges and universities should be more flexible in the standards they set for allowing students to take PSEO courses. He notes that PSEO applicants at RCTC are required to complete an Accuplacer entrance exam or have ACT test scores of 21 or higher in English and 22 or higher in math.

But that hurts students who arent great test-takers but have the potential to become plumbers, glaziers or auto repair specialists. Unions and businesses in the Twin Cities have teamed up to offer PSEO programs in welding and glazing to high school students. There are no admission requirements to get in.

It may seem counterintuitive that a student who struggles in high school would thrive in a college-level course. But surveys show that PSEO students, for example, appreciate the opportunity to delve into a topic they are passionate about.

PSEO students tend to be surrounded by like-minded students who are as passionate as they are about the subject, Nathan said. And they are often taught by teachers, whether high school or college, who share that passion.

"When you are in a class with people who share your interest, thats a good thing," Nathan said.
Comparing the Canadian and the American Right  updated to 2020 (Part Four) By Mark Wegierski

The Conservative Party was finally able to win a strong majority in the federal Parliament in the 2011 federal election. This was the first putatively conservative majority in the federal Parliament since that won in 1988. However, in October 2015, Justin Trudeaus Liberals rebounded, and won a strong majority. Their return to power meant the undermining of whatever small steps in a conservative direction that Stephen Harper had undertaken. In the October 2019 federal election, the Liberals hung on to a strong minority government  which will probably be supported by the federal New Democratic Party (NDP), which is even further left. It should be well noted that left-leaning infrastructures such as feminist groups (who are indeed often tightly enmeshed with governmental bureaucracies) outweigh in resources such right-leaning infrastructures (such as, most notably, the Fraser Institute think-tank) by astronomical factors. And, although there is a quite substantial amount of debate about economic issues and economic conservatism, as far as social conservatism and right-wing patriotism, these have almost no register on the Canadian political scene. Left-liberals are quite content to allow the presence of a soulless managerial Right that manages the economy  so long as they themselves get to control all the social and cultural issues.

Conrad Black at the National Post Some Canadian newspapers, notably The National Post (formerly owned by the Canadian-born conservative press baron Conrad Black  who is now largely disgraced), have some degree of right-wing content, including a few surprisingly acerbic columnists. There are a handful of prominent conservative academics, especially in Alberta. There also arose in April 2011, a right-leaning news outlet on television  Sun Network News  but it closed abruptly on February 13, 2015 (putting around 200 people out of work). Ezra Levant has also founded a major news website  The Rebel Media. Candice Malcolm has also founded a substantial media initiative  True North Canada. However, this is all very, very little, compared with the comparatively massive right-wing presence in the United States. The presence of a large, organized, political Right in the U.S., and its absence in Canada, will probably lead to increasingly divergent futures for both countries. Many of the more pleasant aspects of life in Canada are likely to disappear with the increasing triumph of ever-more-insistent, utterly unchecked and unimpeded left-liberal and left-wing policies. The political situation in Canada, with the virtual non-existence of an intellectual and cultural Right, cannot be described as healthy for Canadian society. Persons of traditionalist or conservative outlooks in Canada are faced with the unappealing prospect of the spiraling into oblivion of many congenial aspects of Canada, about which they can do virtually nothing. Their feelings of chronic hopelessness may perhaps to some extent be assuaged by looking to more hopeful developments in the United States, or perhaps in East-Central Europe and Russia. Considering that Harper has been badly stymied in his efforts at systemic reform through the federal Parliament, there might arise increased calls for regional devolution, so that, for example, Alberta or all of Western Canada could carry out social and economic policies more congenial to itself. It could be seen that Harper, during his majority government, has decisively failed, and such scenarios of regional devolution may, ironically, become the best hope for some fragmentary survival of traditionalism and conservatism in Canada. The more furiously and immoderately the Left opposed Harper, thwarting the work of the Conservative federal majority government, the more it might have created the preconditions for frustrated Conservative voters to turn to devolutionist scenarios. Mark Wegierski is a Canadian writer and historical researcher. Home
By IANS

NEW DELHI: The now-defunct Planning Commission's former Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Monday said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi used "strong words" in 2013 while tearing up an ordinance on convicted lawmakers, but insisted then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did the right thing by not resigning.

In an exclusive interview to IANS, Ahluwalia said: "On hindsight, I think, Dr Singh took the right call."

Giving his reasons, the former aide to Manmohan Singh said that had Rahul Gandhi been a member of the then Union Council of Ministers, things would have been different. "But he was the Vice President of a political party," he pointed out.

When pointed out that Gandhi kept Dr Singh in the dark about his sudden move on the ordinance, he quoted former Congress Vice President (Gandhi) to suggest that his choice of words could have been better.

"You must realise, in a democracy, there is nothing wrong to have dissent within the party. I don't think there's much merit in running a party in a way in which everyone in a party simply endorses what the party leadership thinks. This is an example of democratic dissent surfacing (within the party). In my view, nothing wrong with it. Mr Gandhi himself, I think, said that may be the words he used were not very appropriate... I think he said 'complete nonsense', okay? Strong words! But the bottom line is, had he simply gone there and said 'this has happened that I frankly have great doubts about'... I think there would not have been anything wrong with that. That's what democracy is all about. People should freely express their views, and if you disagree with them, you discuss that. And that's what they did," Ahluwalia said.

Ahluwalia has mentioned this incident in great detail in his latest book "Backstage: The Story behind India's High Growth Years".

He said that after his brother wrote an article to advocate Dr Singh's resignation, he showed the article to the then Prime Minister.

"The first thing I did was to take the text across to the PM's suite because I wanted him to hear about it from me first. He read it in silence, and initially made no comment. Then, he suddenly asked me whether I thought he should resign. I thought about it for a while and said 'I do not think a resignation on this issue is appropriate'."

In 2013, after the Supreme Court ruled that sitting lawmakers convicted of a crime would be immediately disqualified and not continue as MPs, MLAs or MLCs pending an appeal, the then United Progressive Alliance government sought to bring an ordinance to counter the verdict.

Rahul Gandhi appeared unannounced at an event to oppose his own party's line and tore a copy of the ordinance, an act seen as undermining the Prime Minister's authority while he was in the US.
A.E. Hotchner, a well-traveled author, playwright and gadabout whose street smarts and famous pals led to a loving but litigated memoir of Ernest Hemingway, business adventures with Paul Newman and a book about his Depression-era childhood that became a Steven Soderbergh film, died Saturday at age 102.

He died at his home in Westport, Connecticut, according to his son, Timothy Hotchner, who did not immediately know the cause of death.

A. E. Hotchner, known to friends as Ed or Hotch, was an impish St. Louis native and ex-marbles champ who read, wrote and hustled himself out of poverty and went on to publish more than a dozen books, befriend countless celebrities and see his play, The White House, performed at the real White House for President Bill Clinton.

He was a natural fit for Elaines, the former Manhattan nightspot for the famous and the near-famous, and contributed the text for Everyone Comes to Elaines, an illustrated history. Hotchners other works included the novel The Man Who Lived at the Ritz, bestselling biographies of Doris Day and Sophia Loren, and a musical, Let Em Rot! co-written with Cy Coleman.

In his 90s, he completed an upbeat book of essays on aging, O.J. in the Morning, G&T at Night. When he was 100, he wrote the detective novel The Amazing Adventures of Aaron Broom. At 101, he adapted Hemingways The Old Man and the Sea for the stage.

He was a memorable storyteller  sometimes too memorable. Hotchner wrote an article about Elaines for Vanity Fair that included an anecdote about director Roman Polanski making advances on a woman on the way to the funeral of his wife, Sharon Tate, who was murdered in 1969 by Charles Mansons followers. Polanski sued the magazines publisher, Conde Nast, for libel and in 2005 was awarded some $87,000, plus court costs, by a jury in London.

The son of a furrier who went broke during the Depression, Aaron Edward Hotchner was born in 1917 in St. Louis, a city he would recall with deep affection despite times so dire he claimed to have eaten paper to fight hunger. Hotchner wrote about his youth in King of the Hill, published in 1972 and adapted 20 years later into a Soderbergh film of the same name.

Clever and determined, Hotchner managed a scholarship to Washington University, where he and Tennessee Williams both worked on the schools student magazine. Hotchner then joined the Air Force, a time he recalled good-naturedly in the memoir The Day I Fired Alan Ladd, and Other World War II Adventures. After the war, Hotchner settled in New York and became an editor at Cosmopolitan, and worked on literary fiction.

One submission was J.D. Salingers Needle on a Scratchy Phonograph Record, a World War II story the author gave to Hotchner under the condition that nothing  not a comma  be altered. Hotchner, who had been friendly with Salinger, came through  almost. The actual story was printed intact, but Cosmopolitan changed the title to Blue Melody.

Salinger never spoke to Hotchner again.

Around the same time, however, Hotchner lucked his way into literary history. Cosmopolitan wanted Hemingway to write an article about The Future of Literature and sent Hotchner to Cuba to track him down. So began a friendship that lasted until Hemingways suicide, in 1961. From Spain to Idaho, they hunted, drank and went to bullfights. They lived through Hemingways inspiring highs and fatal lows, chronicled by Hotchner in Papa Hemingway, which came out in 1966 and has been translated into more than 25 languages.

But the book has a troubled history. Hemingways widow, Mary Hemingway, sued unsuccessfully to stop publication, alleging that Hotchner had violated the privacy of her husband and herself. She was reportedly upset that he contradicted her contention that her husband had only accidentally shot himself. Critics, meanwhile, doubted the accuracy of the many long dialogues between Hotchner and Hemingway.

Once you learn the rhythms of speech of a person, the actual words resonate with you, Hotchner explained during a 2005 interview with The Associated Press. I can hear him right now: How do you like it now, gentlemen? Things he said. Youre sort of born with that I guess, a kind of tape that runs through your head.

Their relationship was also professional. Hotchner often served as his agent, helped edit his bullfighting book The Dangerous Summer and helped come up with the title for the posthumous release of Hemingways memoir about Paris, A Moveable Feast. In the 1950s and early 60s, he adapted several Hemingway stories for television, including The Battler, which led to his first meeting with Newman.

James Dean had agreed to star as the titular faded ex-boxer, but Newman took the role after Dean died in a car crash. Newman and Hotchner became friends, pranksters, fishing buddies, neighbors and business partners. When the actor wanted to sell his homemade salad dressing at some local shops, he called on Hotch to help out.

That was just a joke, Hotchner told the AP in 2005. It was something on the fly. Lets put up $40,000 and well be businessmen.

Their caper turned into the multimillion-dollar Newmans Own nonprofit empire of salad dressing, popcorn, lemonade and assorted recipes; all proceeds went to charity, notably the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp for kids with life-threatening illnesses.

After Newmans death in 2008, Hotchner wrote about his friend in Paul and Me. Other projects in recent years included a collection of letters between himself and Hemingway and a reissue. In 2013, he was among the commentators seen in Shane Salernos documentary about Salinger.

Hotchner was married three times, most recently to actress Virginia Kiser, and was the father of three children. He had numerous animals over the years, including peacocks, pedigreed chickens, and an African parrot named Ernie.

Hillel Italie is an Associated Press writer.
A crude tanker stuck at sea for over a year has become the latest front in the battle over Venezuelas oil riches after being seized last week.

Citgo Petroleum Corp., led by appointees of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, was weighing filing an insurance claim last week for theft after a tanker holding almost 1 million barrels of oil was seized by Venezuela, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The contested oil, purchased by Citgo and loaded on the tanker Gerd Knutsen, floated offshore Venezuela for more than a year. In December, a shadow board of Citgo directors chosen by President Nicolas Maduro attempted to seize the cargo but was blocked by a U.S. court. The roughly 960,000 barrels of Venezuelan crude that was once bound for a Citgo refinery in the U.S. was instead discharging in the Port of Jose at a terminal run by Petroleos de Venezuela SA, the national oil company controlled by Maduro, according to people familiar with the matter and ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

FUEL FIX: Get our energy news in your inbox each weekday

The oil tanker and its cargo worth about $50 million is caught up in Venezuelas power struggle, which heated up after Guaidos first official visit to the White House to meet President Donald Trump earlier this month. After the meeting, Maduros regime moved to imprison six former Citgo executives whod been living under house arrest. The tanker was stuck in limbo after the U.S. imposed tougher sanctions on PDVSA in late January 2019 to curtail Maduros income from oil sales.

The cargo that was discharged consisted mostly of diluted crude oil, as well as 30,000 barrels of Pedernales crude, the person said.

Citgo and PDVSA didnt immediately return messages seeking comment, while a representative at Venezuelas Information Ministry declined to comment.

--With assistance from Patricia Laya.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Patna: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejaswi Yadav, speaking to reporters in Delhi on Sunday, asked the Bihari voters to emulate their Delhi counterparts who, once again overwhelmingly rejected the divisive politics of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) giving Arvind Kejriwal his third consecutive term as the Chief Minister of Delhi.

"People of Bihar need to do exactly what they did in Delhi to reject the politics of division and hatred as espoused by the BJP and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who, shedding all pretense of being a secular leader, has now turned into an unabashed cheerleader of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and other divisive policies of Narendra Modi. However, in order to attain an NDA-free Bihar, it is our responsibility to form a formidable opposition in the state to show the door to Nitish Kumar who has completely destroyed Bihar in the last 15 years," Yadav, the son of Lalu Prasad Yadav who is credited for introducing 'Jungle Raj' in Bihar during his 15 years rule in the state marred by more than half a dozen financial scams, said.

Yadav, the former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar during the Nitish-led Grand Alliance rule, said he was embarking on his 'Berozgari Hatao' (Eliminate Poverty) Yatra from February 23 to expose the failure of the Nitish administration and to elect a government that was pro-people, like Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and not pro billionaires who, he said, controlled the current government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

Taking shot at his bete noire Nitish Kumar, Yadav said that the Chief Minister was a very cunning fellow and a shape-shifter who would go to any extent to remain in power.

"He has no core or conviction and will do anything to keep occupying power. For years, he touted his secular credentials but now that he cannot go back to any other party, he has completely given up on any pretense of secularism and has adopted the divisive RSS ideologies," he said.

Despite infightings and constant struggle over the leadership, the RJD-led Grand Alliance remains fractured and a united front to take on Nitish Kumar, who has the support of Modi and Shah, remains a far-fetched fantasy particularly in light of party leader Lalu Prasad Yadav being behind bar in connection with several scams including the multi-crore rupees fodder scam.
Martins zinger lands with snap in director Bill Rauchs burnished and powerfully acted production, now running at Arena Stage after originating at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. But other aspects of this work by Octavio Solis (El Paso Blue) are less satisfying. Through the lens of Martin and Williams present-day road trip, Mother Road aptly ponders looming current concerns, including racism, immigration, economic inequality and environmental crisis, issues that both echo and diverge from the realities captured in Steinbecks 1930s-set novel. But the plays episodic structure creates diffuseness, certain plot twists are strained, some psychological epiphanies are too tidy, and the narrative treads an uneasy tightrope between realism and symbolism.
Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is currently trying to buy the Democrat nomination. His spending doesn't just buy recognition; it keeps him from having to appear in person, revealing how nasty he is.

In 1997, Sekiko Sakai Garrison sued Bloomberg for sexual harassment. She alleged that when she told him she was pregnant, he told her, "Kill it." She also alleged racism toward blacks:

On another occasion when she expressed she was struggling to find childcare, Bloomberg told her to hire 'some black'. 'It's a f------ baby! All it does is eat and s---! It doesn't know the difference between you and anyone else! All you need is some black who doesn't have to speak English to rescue it from a burning building,' Bloomberg said in July 1993.

Another employee corroborated the "kill it" comment, adding, "He talked kind of crudely about women all of the time."

Bloomberg claimed that Garrison had misunderstood him. Her allegations, though, are consistent with a 1990 booklet that admiring employees assembled: The Portable Bloomberg: The Wit and Wisdom of Michael Bloomberg: An Unauthorized Collection of Unauthorized Sayings.

The editor assures readers that the quotations in the booklet are accurate:

Yes, these are all actual quotes. No, nothing has been embellished or exaggerated. And yes, some things were too outrageous to include.

The booklet reveals an intelligent, cynical, calculating man with the cast-iron testicles needed to become a multibillionaire. It also reveals someone cruel, sexist, racist, homophobic, and vaguely anti-Semitic.

For Bloomberg, sexual analogies were constant and crude:

"Make the customer think he's getting laid when he's getting f-----."

"A good salesperson asks for the order. It's like the guy who goes into a bar, and walks up to every gorgeous girl there, and says 'Do you want to f---?' He gets turned down a lot  but he gets f----- a lot, too!"

He saw women, even famous women, in crude sexual terms:

"What do I want? I want an exclusive, 10-year contract, an automatic extension, and I want you to pay me. And I want a blow job from Jane Fonda. Have you seen Jane Fonda lately? Not bad for fifty."

He was big on revenge and threats:

"Let me tell you something, buddy boy, I have pictures of you and they're not with your wife."

He had harsh words for one competitor, showing a mean streak of homophobia:

"Cokehead, womanizing, fag."

That revulsion to homosexuality re-emerged when he spoke about the future of computers:

"You know why computers will never take the place of people? Because a computer would say that the sex of the person giving you a blow job doesn't matter!"

And the homophobia, as well as the misogyny, again made their appearance when he talked about the British royal family:

"There's only one queen in Buckingham Palace  the rest are in Trafalgar Square."

"The Royal family  what a bunch of misfits  a gay, an architect, that horsey faced lesbian, and a kid who gave up Koo Stark for some fat broad."

As the reference to both Koo Stark and Fergie shows, for Bloomberg, at least in 1990, women are stupid objects:

"If women wanted to be appreciated for their brains, they'd go to the library instead of to Bloomingdale's."

"I only look."

"I just like to look."

"I know for a fact that any self-respecting woman who walks past a construction site [and] doesn't get a whistle will turn around and walk past again and again until she does get one."

However, he did proudly boast that "the Bloomberg" itself would give blowjobs  and in the same breath brutally demeaned the women to whom he was speaking:

"It will do everything, including give you a blowjob. I guess that puts a lot of you girls out of business."

Although he's never hidden his Jewishness, Bloomberg was, at the very least, ambivalent about being Jewish:

"The three biggest lies are: the check's in the mail, I'll respect you in the morning, and I'm glad I'm Jewish."

The same casual racism Bloomberg showed when telling the employee who sued him that she should get "some black" to care for her baby showed up again in a nasty remark about both Hispanics and Jews:

"If Jesus was a Jew, why does he have a Puerto Rican first name?"

It's also becoming clear that Bloomberg doesn't believe in capitalism  despite the booklet quoting him saying, "I believe in the capitalist system and free enterprise." If he really believed in capitalism and free enterprise, he would not have been caught on camera in 2011 stating that it was time to implement death panels:

This video of Bloomberg saying we should deny care to people once they're past a certain age (because it isn't worth it) is everything about him which is so awful.pic.twitter.com/iL1FGf3Ha0  The Meturgeman (@HaMeturgeman) February 16, 2020

Death panels are a fixture in socialized medicine.

And as a bonus, don't forget Bloomberg's utter contempt for farmers:

Mike Bloombergs contempt for rural America is real. https://t.co/j42L7N5lMB  Cam Edwards (@CamEdwards) February 16, 2020

Bloomberg's words paint him as a mean, arrogant, self-centered man. While Trump ran for love of country, Bloomberg is running for love of Bloomberg.
Journalists asking the prime minister's deputy official spokesperson: Does Mr Sabisky have a job in Downing Street?

Spokesperson: As I say, I'm not going to be commenting on individual appointments.

Q: Does the PM think it's worth thinking about mandatory contraception to prevent a permanent underclass in the UK?

Spokesperson: As I say in relation to this subject, I won't be commenting on individual appointments. The prime minister's views are well publicised and documented.

Q: Does the PM think black people have a lower IQ than white people?

Spokesperson: I've answered your question.

Q: That was a different question.

The prime minister's views are well publicised and well documented.

Q: Can you remind us of the prime minister's views?

Spokesperson: As I say, they're well publicised and well documented.

Q: Can you direct us to where to find the PM's views on eugenics?

Spokesperson: I've answered the question.

Q: You haven't answered the question.

Spokesperson: I've been clear, I'm not commenting on individual appointments and as I say the PM's views on a range of subjects is well publicised and well documented.

Q: Does the PM believe that women's sport is closer to the paralympics than men's sport?

Spokesperson: As I say, the PM's views are well publicised and well documented.

Q: Eustice said it was for the PM to answer - is it?

Spokesperson: As I say, I'm not going to be commenting on individual appointments.

Q: Who will?

Spokesperson: As I say, I'm not commenting on individual appointments.

Q: Would the PM condemn the views attributed to his adviser?

Spokesperson: As I've said, the PM's views on a whole range of topics are well publicised.

Q: If you find anything on those topics can you send them to us by email?

[No answer]

Q: Any involvement by the cabinet office in the recruitment?

Spokesperson: I appreciate the persistence, but I'm not going to be commenting on individual appointments.

Q: Can you comment generally on the appointment of aides?

Spokesperson: I would point to the guidance on the cabinet office website. In response to this one in particular I won't be commenting any further.

Q: Is the Cabinet office looking again at that process to see if it's good enough?

Spokesperson: I would point you to their advice online.

Q: If we can't find a reference to the PM's views on eugenics, what inference can we draw from that?

Spokesperson: As I've said the PM's views are well documented.

Q: They're not.

Spokesperson: As I've said the PM's views are well documented.

Q: None of us know what they are. Could you just tell us?

Spokesperson: As I've said I've answered this several times now.

Q: Should we take it from your lack of comment that he's refusing to condemn the views set out by contractor?

Spokesperson: Not at all, I've been clear. The PM's views are well documented.

Q: You haven't. We don't know what the PM's views are. That's why we're asking.

Spokesperson: I've answered this question.

Q: With respect, you haven't. Should we take it then that if we cannot find a clear condemnation of these specific issues in the PM's previously published remarks, that means the PM does not condemn these suggestions by his own adviser?

Spokesperson: As I've said the PM's views are well publicised and well documented.

Q: Does the PM expect his contractors to reflect his own views?

Spokesperson: As I say, I'm not going to comment on individual appointments. And the prime minister's views are well documented. I appreciate the persistence in this but I'm not going to be commenting further.

Q: Shapps said these were not the government's views, distanced himself. Does the PM think he was right or wrong to do that?

Spokesperson: The transport secretary said what he said. I've said what I'm going to say, which is that the prime minister's views are well documented. I won't be commenting any further on this.

Q: Was the transport secretary speaking on behalf of the government or as an individual?

Spokesperson: I didn't hear specifically what the transport secretary said.

Q: Was he right in saying that? Was he speaking for the government?

Spokesperson: The transport secretary was speaking as the transport secretary. I've answered the question on behalf of the PM. He was speaking as the transport secretary.

Q: One of the PM's most well documented views on race is calling black people "picaninnies". Should we take that as his well documented view that you're referring to?

Spokesperson: As I've said, the prime minister's views are well publicised and well documented.

Q: What about the one about "watermelon smiles"?

Spokesperson: I appreciate the persistence, but I'm not going to be saying any more on this.

Q: By saying you won't comment on appointments, are you confirming he has been appointed?

Spokesperson: As I've said I won't be commenting on individual appointments.

Q: He's been appointed, that's why you won't comment?

Spokesperson: I won't be commenting on individual appointments.

Q: How can we find out whether he's been appointed?

Spokesperson: As I say, I won't be commenting on individual appointments.

Q: Don't you have to confirm special advisers?

Spokesperson: Special advisers are set out in the usual way and they're published in the usual way on the cabinet office website.

Q: Will any ministers be appearing before the commons liaison committee to discuss the reshuffle?

Spokesperson: I'm not aware of any invitation, but the PM appears in front of the liaison committee as and when required.

Q: There has been a call for Mr Cummings to appear before the liaison committee. Would the PM be happy to see that?

Spokesperson: I think it's for politicians and MPs to appear before the liaison committee. As I said I haven't seen an invite yet.

Q: To be absolutely clear, you're refusing to say what the PM's views on the intelligence of black people are?

Spokesperson: I'm not saying that. I'm saying the PM's views are well publicised and well documented.

[BREAK FOR OTHER DISCUSSION]

Q: When we leave this briefing, we don't know whether the PM is in favour of or not in favour of eugenics?

Spokesperson: I haven't said that. I'm saying the PM's views are well publicised and well documented.

Q: What are they? It should be a really easy question to answer.

Spokesperson: His views are well publicised and well documented.

Q: If we can't find a record of his view on eugenics we won't know his views on eugenics, that's what you're saying?

Spokesperson: I think there are certain things that are a given. And the Prime Minister's views are well documented.

Q: What is a given? What's a given about eugenics?

Spokesperson: As I say, the PM's views are well publicised and well documented.

[BREAK FOR OTHER DISCUSSION]

Q: Can you understand why we might think these are the PM's views, considering he's hired someone who holds these views? That he condones them?

Spokesperson: I haven't given any indication of that. I've simply stated the PM's views are well documented and well published.
JeM chief Azhar `missing' from Pak Army custody ahead of FATF meeting

Pakistans intransigence towards tackling terror and terror financing, which poses a risk to the global financial system, has been more than demonstrated by reports that Pakistani terror mastermind Masood Azhar and members of his family have gone missing just ahead of the beginning of the key plenary session of terror financing watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in Paris.

The other Pakistani terror head and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed and an aide were given five-and-a-half year prison terms in two terror financing cases by a Pakistani court four days before the FATF meetings.

However, Islamabad has failed to prosecute other UN-designated terrorists such as LeT operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar.

Even more intriguing is the UN secretary-general Antonio Guterress raking up the issue of escalation in tensions between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir issue and his appeal to both sides to deal with it through dialogue.

In fact, the UN chief has maintained that his good offices are available for mediation if both sides ask for it. But India has ruled out any third-party mediation.

Guterres, however, seemed to be least interested in ensuring human rights in the provinces of Sindh, Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during his four-day visit to Pakistan.

As Muttahida Qaumi Movement's (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain put it, reports of JeM chief and UN-designated terrorist Masood Azhar and his family having gone missing from so-called custody of the Pakistani Army, just ahead of the beginning of the key plenary session of FATF in Paris, only raised questions on the state policy of Pakistan towards banned outfits.

This week, the Paris-based global terror financing watchdog will evaluate whether Pakistan has taken sufficient steps and implemented its plan of action to fight terror financing or not.

More than 800 representatives from 205 countries and jurisdictions around the world, including the IMF, UN, World Bank, and other organisations, will take part in the meeting.

In a separate tweet, Hussain expressed his concern over the visit of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to Pakistan.

The MQM leader went on to ask if the UN chief would visit the provinces of Sindh, Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during his four-day visit and listen to their stories of suppression.

A statement issued by FATF listed progress by Iran, Pakistan and other countries that present a risk to the financial system among the important issues to be discussed at the FATF Week, which started on 16 February and conclude with the plenary meeting during 19-21 February.

The meetings will also discuss developments in the financing of Islamic State, al-Qaeda and affiliates. Since Pakistan was put into the watchdogs grey list, several FATF reports have said the country has failed to do enough to end fund-raising by LeT, JeM, Taliban, Islamic State, al-Qaeda and the Haqqani Network.

This is the second FATF Week under the Chinese presidency of Xiangmin Liu.

On Sundaymore than 800 representatives from 205 countries and jurisdictions around the world, the IMF, UN, World Bank and other organisations will arrive for?FATF Week?in ParisSix days of meetings will focus on global action to follow the money that fuels crime and terrorism and reduce the harm caused to people and society, the statement said.

Indian officials had noted both the timing of Saeeds conviction and the fact that it can be challenged in higher courts. Hence, the efficacy of this decision remains to be seen, said a person who declined to be named.

They also pointed out that Pakistan was yet to prosecute those involved in financing and planning key terror attacks such as the ones in Mumbai and Pathankot.

With the US overly dependent on Pakistan for swinging a deal with the Afghan Taliban, diplomats of other Western nations expect an easing of pressure from Washington on Islamabad. Pakistan is also not expected to be put on FATFs black list, which would entail harsher sanctions, as such a move would be blocked by China, Malaysia and Turkey.

Three countries are enough to prevent a move from going ahead and Turkish President Recep Erdogan has already spoken of supporting Pakistan at FATF meetings.
Click here to read the full article.

Dawn Mello, former president of Bergdorf Goodman, died on Sunday morning at her home in New York.

As president of Berdorf in the 1980s, Mello helped transform the department store from a carriage trade retailer into an emporium of the worlds most sought-after labels, introducing Americans to now-household names such as Michael Kors, Fendi and Armani.

More from Footwear News

In the late 80s, Mello started a new chapter at Gucci; during a five-year tenure at the Italian label, she assisted in the rerelease of the iconic Gucci loafer. She returned back to her Bergdorf roots in 1994, opening a mens store and expanding the home goods department.

Since departing from Bergdorf in 1999, Mello had continued to influence the fashion space through her consulting firm and the Atelier Fund, which she founded with Marty Wikstrom. Mello was honored by FN for her contributions to the industry in 2010, when she was inducted into the illustrious Hall of Fame.

Below, read the story written upon Mellos induction into FNs Hall of Fame.

What Anna Wintour is to Vogue, Dawn Mello was to Bergdorf Goodman.

Thats how Vicki Haupt, former SVP and GMM of the luxury department store, described Mello, who has spent more than 50 years in the industry, as an executive at May Department Stores, Gucci and, of course, Bergdorf Goodman. Dawn has written new chapters in fashion history, said Haupt.

As president of Bergdorf in the 1980s, Mello oversaw the revitalization of the store, from what had been a carriage trade retailer into a modern emporium of the most sought-after designer labels. In the process, she introduced American women to many now-familiar names, including Armani, Fendi, Christian Lacroix and Michael Kors.

Story continues

She invented a whole generation of designers, said Kors, who first met Mello while outfitting a mannequin in the window of Lothars, for which he also designed gowns. She was very behind Italian fashion and young American designers. Prior to that, American fashion was nuts-and-bolts sportswear and European fashion [was Paris], but she saw outside of the box.

To transform the department store, Mello said she and then-chairman Ira Neimark relied on an influx of capital from storeowner Carter Hawley Hale Stores Inc. And with that, they were able to update the building, installing escalators and building a new entrance on Fifth Avenue, but also  and most important  they changed the product vision.

Bergdorf Goodman was a store nobody would go into when we got there, and in fact, some of the designers would not even sell to us, said Mello. When the French wouldnt sell to us, we went to Italy, and Italy was brand new and no one had ever heard of the Fendis or Giorgio Armani.

But there were risks to working with untested names. Giorgio didnt have any money, so we had to pay up front. He had a partner and they were just starting their business, so we had to pay in advance so he could afford to have the clothes made.

Bergdorf also struggled to change public perception, so Mello and her team traveled to Paris and bought couture designs off the runway. They then placed them in the windows on Manhattans 57th Street and sold the dresses at cost. We did it just to create excitement and to get the press involved, said Mello. And suddenly [the buzz was] Bergdorf Goodman has French couture. I must stop by there and take a look.

By the late 1980s, the store was thriving, but Mello was ready for a new challenge. It soon came in the form of a phone call from Maurizio Gucci, who had recently wrested control of his familys business. He wanted an American to help him turn it around, and he hired me, recalled Mello. So I left Bergdorf, much to the astonishment of everyone in the industry. At the time, they were selling Gucci on tables in front of Macys. It was in serious need of fixing.

She took along with her a team of young talent, including Richard Lambertson as creative director, Tom Ford as designer of womens ready-to-wear and Neil Barrett as menswear designer. Their mission was to return the fashion house to its glory, but it wasnt easy.

There was a little resistance, especially from the Florence group, Ford told Footwear News. We were making a lot of changes, and they didnt all like it. One season I made a pink leather dress, and the women in ready-to-wear were all walking around saying, He doesnt know what hes doing.

One change that did catch on: the redesigned Gucci loafer. Mello and others at the company noticed that hip kids on Carnaby Street in London were snatching up vintage pairs, so the company re-released the shoe with the classic silhouette, in 15 colors of suede.

The most exciting moment of my Gucci days was being in France one weekend and there, walking toward me on the beach, was Michael Kors wearing pink suede Gucci loafers that hed just bought, laughed Mello.

But after five years in Italy, it was once again time for a change. In 1994, Mello returned to Bergdorf Goodman as president, taking over for Burt Tansky, who had moved to Neiman Marcus. When she left and went to Gucci, it was like Id lost my fairy fashion godmother, quipped Kors. And when she came back, it was like that scene from Hello Dolly.

Over the next few years she expanded the retail space, opening a mens store and growing Bergdorfs home goods department. Mello also continued to do what she loved most: finding and nurturing talent.

She promoted me to SVP and GMM pretty soon after we started working together [at Bergdorf], said Haupt. We worked together for five years and it was truly a privilege and a pleasure. Shes a great mentor and partner.

And Haupt isnt alone. Many in the industry have benefited from her guidance, including George Malkemus, who, while working as a copywriter at Bergdorf, received some fateful advice. She told me, you need to take a break and go over to Madison Avenue and meet someone at Manolo Blahnik. Theyre having terrible financial troubles, and I think you should buy the company and turn it around, recalled Malkemus, who has been president of Manolo Blahnik USA for the past 28 years.

What made her so successful has been her ability to spot talent, said Ford. Her gift is her ability to spot trends and designers.

Since leaving Bergdorf Goodman in 1999, Mello has continued to wield that talent through her consulting firm and the Atelier Fund that she founded with Marty Wikstrom. Dawn is a generous person. Shes a great teacher in a subtle way, said Wikstrom. Shes especially generous with young talent, and thats probably why shes been so influential in so many peoples careers.

Best of Footwear News

Sign up for FN's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Patches made from human placenta could prevent men becoming impotent following prostate cancer surgery.

The patches are wrapped around key nerves before the cancer is removed to prevent incontinence and erectile dysfunction, which can occur in up to seven in ten men undergoing the surgery.

Pilot studies suggest that growth hormones and other repair cells in the tissue, donated by mothers having Caesarean deliveries, protect the nerves and aid recovery after surgery.

Patches made from human placenta could prevent men becoming impotent following prostate cancer surgery (file image)

Around 40,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year. The most common treatment is a radical prostatectomy, which involves surgically removing the prostate gland, which sits between the bladder and the penis.

While the surgery has a good success rate  up to 80 per cent of men who undergo it are alive ten years later  as many as 20 per cent of men experience incontinence afterwards, while up to 70 per cent have erection difficulties.

The challenge for surgeons is that the area around the prostate is a forest of nerves  including the cavernous nerves, which help trigger erections, and others involved in bladder control. Problems occur if these become damaged during the operation or by scarring and inflammation.

Eat more Mussels, as having them regularly yields significant benefits, such as a reduced risk of cardiac arrest and lower risk of chronic diseases. Mussels, as having them regularly yields significant benefits This is thanks to their high omega-3 content, thought to protect the heart and blood vessels and help maintain brain health. Advertisement

Surgeons hope to protect the nerves by wrapping them in human amniotic membrane or amnion, a thick membrane that forms the innermost placenta layer.

Amnion is tough and flexible and contains a cocktail of compounds, including growth factors (proteins that stimulate the growth of cells), immune system cells and mesenchymal amniotic cells  the latter are stem cells, or master cells, that can form other kinds of tissue.

Animal studies have also shown that it has nerve-protecting effects. One, reported in the Journal of Immunology Research, showed that amnion cells could stop inflammation  a cause of scarring  and trigger the recovery of damaged nerves in mice with multiple sclerosis.

In the new trial at the Lukas Hospital in Neuss, Germany, 30 men undergoing surgery for localised prostate cancer will first have amnion patches  which have been sterilised and dried  wrapped around those key nerves. Once in place, the sheets become moist and stick to the tissue without the need for stitches.

Results from a previous small trial show that it can be highly effective. At first follow-up after six weeks, 41 per cent of men who had the patch were able to sustain an erection compared to 5 per cent in men who did not have the patch, according to the results reported at the World Congress of Endourology in Taiwan.

Professor Raj Persad, a consultant urologist at Bristol Urology Associates, said: Use of amniotic membrane will need to be subjected to larger-scale trials before wide acceptance will be possible.

It is possible however  as sounds to be the case  that the anti-inflammatory and anti-scarring effects may lead to better functional outcomes, together with the rejuvenating stem cell effect for delicate nerve and blood vessel tissues.

A form of the mineral selenium, which is found in eggs, is effective against prostate cancer cells, according to laboratory studies. Research has shown a link between high levels of selenium and a lower cancer risk. Now researchers from the Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Food Nutrition and Human Health have shown that selenium triggers death in prostate cancer cells that were resistant to other treatments. Writing in The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, they say theirs is the first study to make this finding.

Patches made from human placenta could prevent men becoming impotent following prostate cancer surgery.

The patches are wrapped around key nerves before the cancer is removed to prevent incontinence and erectile dysfunction, which can occur in up to seven in ten men undergoing the surgery.

Pilot studies suggest that growth hormones and other repair cells in the tissue, donated by mothers having Caesarean deliveries, protect the nerves and aid recovery after surgery.

Around 40,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year. The most common treatment is a radical prostatectomy, which involves surgically removing the prostate gland, which sits between the bladder and the penis.

While the surgery has a good success rate  up to 80 per cent of men who undergo it are alive ten years later  as many as 20 per cent of men experience incontinence afterwards, while up to 70 per cent have erection difficulties.

The kitchen cupboard cures that really do work. This week: Tea bags for styes A stye is a painful lump on the eyelid that often develops into a pus-filled spot. The idea of using a warm tea bag on the stye is that it acts as a compress, and the warmth will help to draw out the pus, says Dr Anthony Bewley, a consultant dermatologist at Barts Health NHS Trust, London. A warm tea bag on the stye acts as a compress The tannin in the tea bag is also thought to help reduce the size of the stye. Steep a regular tea bag in just-boiled water and remove. Leave until cool enough to handle, and place over the affected area until the heat has gone. Repeat as needed. Advertisement

The challenge for surgeons is that the area around the prostate is a forest of nerves  including the cavernous nerves, which help trigger erections, and others involved in bladder control. Problems occur if these become damaged during the operation or by scarring and inflammation.

Surgeons hope to protect the nerves by wrapping them in human amniotic membrane or amnion, a thick membrane that forms the innermost placenta layer.

Amnion is tough and flexible and contains a cocktail of compounds, including growth factors (proteins that stimulate the growth of cells), immune system cells and mesenchymal amniotic cells  the latter are stem cells, or master cells, that can form other kinds of tissue.

Animal studies have also shown that it has nerve-protecting effects. One, reported in the Journal of Immunology Research, showed that amnion cells could stop inflammation  a cause of scarring  and trigger the recovery of damaged nerves in mice with multiple sclerosis.

In the new trial at the Lukas Hospital in Neuss, Germany, 30 men undergoing surgery for localised prostate cancer will first have amnion patches  which have been sterilised and dried  wrapped around those key nerves. Once in place, the sheets become moist and stick to the tissue without the need for stitches.

Results from a previous small trial show that it can be highly effective. At first follow-up after six weeks, 41 per cent of men who had the patch were able to sustain an erection compared to 5 per cent in men who did not have the patch, according to the results reported at the World Congress of Endourology in Taiwan.

Professor Raj Persad, a consultant urologist at Bristol Urology Associates, said: Use of amniotic membrane will need to be subjected to larger-scale trials before wide acceptance will be possible.

It is possible however  as sounds to be the case  that the anti-inflammatory and anti-scarring effects may lead to better functional outcomes, together with the rejuvenating stem cell effect for delicate nerve and blood vessel tissues.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 22:41:13|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

TOKYO, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Imperial Household Agency on Monday said a public birthday event for Emperor Naruhito that was scheduled for the weekend at the Imperial Palace has been canceled due to concerns over the new coronavirus.

Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako were scheduled to greet the public three times on Sunday morning from a balcony in the palace.

The birthday address by the emperor, who will turn 60 years old, would have been the first since he ascended the throne on May 1 last year.

"We made the decision to cancel the public event at the palace, which is attended every year by many people in close proximity, after considering the risk of the virus spreading," vice grand steward of the Imperial Household Agency, Kenji Ikeda, told a press conference on the matter.

The imperial family will still go ahead with private celebrations and a banquet to which senior government officials including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will attend, and a tea party, the guests of which will include dignitaries from foreign diplomatic missions in Japan, local media reported.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 23:02:17|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

LONDON, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- British consumers will face higher costs and reduced availability of goods next year if the country fails to secure a comprehensive post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union (EU) by the end of December, an industry body warned Monday.

British Retail Consortium (BRC) launched its report, "A Fair Deal for Consumers: EU Trade Roadmap", outlining the retail industry's priorities for the upcoming government negotiations with the EU.

Almost 80 percent of all the food that British retailers import comes from the EU. Most of this comes through Dover and Folkestone, two of Britain's largest roll-on roll-off ports, which handle almost 7,000 lorries every day. However, by exiting the EU on Jan. 31, Britain is set to lose its frictionless trade with the EU members after the Brexit transition period ends in December.

Britain and the EU are expected to start trade talks in March. Doubts still remain whether the trade talks could be wrapped up by the end of the transition period.

"The issue is simple -- higher tariffs and extensive checks will harm consumers, retailers, and the UK economy," said Chief Executive of the BRC Helen Dickinson, urging the British government to negotiate "a zero tariff agreement" that minimizes checks and red tape.

"The introduction of excessive or avoidable checks would mean businesses face a mountain of paperwork to be filled out by an army of newly trained staff, coupled with exhaustive checks on thousands of lorries every day, " Dickinson said.

"The result for consumers would be higher costs and reduced availability on the shelves," Dickinson said.

The BRC called for pragmatic solutions on future compliance and regulatory checks that will apply from January 2021.

Apart from reaching a zero tariff trade deal, the BRC also urged key mitigation measures which include cooperation with the EU to minimize trade friction, coordination on VAT, customs and excise procedures, advance information on new checks and paperwork and timely construction of necessary infrastructure at British ports.
Hong Kong: Protective gear rules explained

The Government Logistics Department will comply strictly with the guidelines on distributing protective gear and accord priority to frontline staff participating in quarantine-related work, quarantine order execution and essential public service maintenance.

The Financial Services & the Treasury Bureau made the statement today in response to media enquiries about the guidelines on distributing protective gear within government departments.

The bureau said with the development of the novel coronavirus infection situation, the demand for protective gear such as masks and isolation gowns has drastically increased in recent days.

Facing a worldwide shortage of masks, the Government Logistics Department has adopted a multi-pronged approach and stepped up its global sourcing efforts to meet operational requirements.

The statement said the department has at present a stock of about 12 million masks, and that together with the stock kept by individual departments and production by the Correctional Services Department, the current total stock can last for only about two months.

It also pointed out that all government departments have worked very hard to keep their demands for masks to a minimum and the total demand has been reduced to about eight million masks per month - the majority of which are used for tackling and preventing the novel coronavirus infection.

These include demand from the Department of Health's medical and port health staff and staff from other government departments providing essential and emergency services.

Citing Police as an example, the statement said officers have very often been deployed at the frontline to tackle the novel coronavirus infection together with other government departments, including being stationed at quarantine centres and boundary control points to help with quarantine duties, as well as conducting spot checks on people under compulsory quarantine.

The provision of masks to government officers who perform these duties is in compliance with the current guidelines on the distribution of protective gear within the Government, it added.

This story has been published on: 2020-02-17. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Dian Septiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 17 2020

Indonesia will receive fisheries surveillance vessel Hakurei Maru as well 2.2 billion yen (US$20 million) in funds for maintenance and equipment as a grant from Japan by the end of the year, the Foreign Ministry has announced.

The ministrys director for East Asia and Pacific affairs, Santo Darmosumarto, and Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia Masafumi Ishii signed an exchange of notes marking the handover of the fisheries patrol vessel in Jakarta on Friday.

The 63.37 meter long, 741 gross ton Japanese ship was manufactured in 1993 and has a maximum carrying capacity of 29 people. It will be handed over to Jakarta after it is decommissioned by Tokyo next month, the first of its kind under a Japanese grant.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login








Web Toolbar by Wibiya

(Natural News) If the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) pandemic began from an accidental release, it sure was a happy accident for the globalists. Everything the pandemic is achieving just happens to perfectly fit the top priorities of the globalist agenda.

Consider the following:

 The coronavirus pandemic is currently on track to infect 60%  80% of the world population and kill up to 15% of those infected, according to an increasing number of doctors and scientists. Conservatively, this could kill up to half a billion people (500 million people), which would go a long way toward accomplishing the globalist goal of depopulation.

 All the governments of the world are going broke covering entitlement payments for retired workers, such as Medicare, pensions, social security, etc. Killing off the elderly helps governments stay functionally solvent while they continue to operate on debt. (No government has any use for a citizen after they stop paying taxes and retire.) Note carefully that this virus tends to kill the elderly while leaving working-aged citizens alive so they can continue to run the factories, pay the taxes and fund the tax plantations that fiscally feed governments.

 The pandemic allows governments to declare medical martial law, with gunpoint-enforced quarantines, mandatory vaccinations and government kidnapping of children from parents who refuse to go along with the medical tyranny. Its a dream come true for the CDC and the vaccine industry.

 Simultaneously, the pandemic also allows Big Tech to justify total censorship and de-platforming of anti-vaxxers, who will of course be immediately blamed for every infection and every death, as soon as a commercial vaccine is available.

 The economic collapse thats now inevitable from the pandemics effects on the global supply chain will cover up all the counterfeit money printing by the central banks and shift blame for the economic collapse to the virus instead of failed monetary policy. Yes, the global economy was already headed for a cascading debt collapse apocalypse, but now the governments can claim the virus did it.

 If they can get the virus to spread quickly enough, globalists might even be able to crash the U.S. economy in time to defeat Trumps re-election in November, removing a key enemy of the globalists and possibly even installing Hillary Clinton as Vice President (shes rumored to be the running mate of Bloomberg).

Make no mistake, this CoVid-19 Wuhan coronavirus outbreak is almost the perfect weapon against humanity that keeps the globalists in power and even increases their tyranny on a global scale.

Its almost as if  dare we say  the virus was intelligently designed with these goals in mind
A federal government delegation led by the Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, arrived Katsina State on Monday, extending heartfelt condolences to Governor Aminu Bello Masari and Emir of Katsina, Abdulmuminu Usman, over the recent killings by bandits.

The delegation was sent by President Muhammadu Buhari to commiserate with government and people of Katsina, and also get a full brief on the security situation in the state, and the attack that claimed many lives in Batsari Local Government Area at the weekend.

In a condolence message delivered by the chief of staff, the president commiserated with families of the 31 victims of the attack, praying that almighty God will comfort all of them and grant the departed rest.

President Buhari assured the state government and the emirate council that his administration will do whatever it takes to rid the country of bandits, terrorists and criminals.

The governor, who received the delegation shortly after his return from Batsari Council, regretted that the latest incident had marred seven months of unbroken peace in the state, following measures put in place by his administration.

Mr Masari said the only enduring remedy to banditry was provision of education, and he gave a strong assurance that education will continue to be a priority of the government.

The governor appreciated the president for sending a strong delegation to condole with the state.

The Emir of Katsina also thanked the president for sending the team to Katsina, urging the military and police to put more effort in tackling the menace.

We must go all out and spare no effort in tackling them. They are trying to destroy the country, he added.

READ ALSO:

At the meeting, the heads of security agencies, military and police, gave their situation reports to the delegation, adding that Nigerian Air Force fighter helicopters, with night vision capability, will support the ground operation against bandits.

The federal government delegation included Minister of Defence, GenBashir Magashi; Minister of Police Affairs, Mohammed Dingyadi; Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika and Director General of National Intelligence Agency, Ambassador Ahmed Rufai Abubakar.

Others on the delegation: Senior Special Assistants to the President, Household and Social Events, Malam Sarki Abba, and Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.

Source: Garba Shehu

Senior Special Assistant to the President

(Media and Publicity)
Jetstar has cancelled around a quarter of its domestic flights scheduled for Wednesday in preparation for an all-day strike by ground crew and baggage handlers amid a bitter standoff over pay and conditions.

The Transport Workers Union told the airline on Friday that about 250 of its members would walk off the job for 24 hours at Sydney, Melbourne, Avalon, Brisbane, Cairns and Adelaide airports starting Wednesday morning.

The 24-hour strike comes after the TWU held two-hour stop works in December. Credit:Justin McManus

Jetstar on Monday confirmed it had cancelled 48 domestic flights - out of about 200 it operates daily - to "minimise the impact" of the stop-work. Other flights have been consolidated and some passengers have been moved onto flights operated by its parent airline Qantas.

A Jetstar spokeswoman said all passengers booked to travel on Wednesday would arrive at their destination on the same day and that most passengers on impacted flights would travel "within a few hours" of their original flight. International flights have not been affected.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 16:43:18|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

A researcher makes preparations in a laboratory in Beijing Health-Biotech Group in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 14, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei)

The new mask factory is expected to produce 250,000 masks per day.



BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Beijing will convert an industrial building into a new mask factory in six days to meet the surging demand amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The factory, being constructed by the China Construction First Group, is expected to produce 250,000 masks per day.

Construction started Monday with workers alternating shifts to ensure the project is completed by Saturday. To protect workers from potential infection, the construction company will take temperatures on a daily basis and set aside rooms away from the living areas for workers with symptoms, according to Song Chao, a project manager with the company.

As China battles the epidemic, masks have been in great demand by medical workers, disease control personnel as well as the general public.

The government has encouraged medical supply manufacturers to step up production among other measures to fill in the supply gap. 
LAS VEGAS - A growing number of Democratic lawmakers, union officials, state leaders and party strategists agree that Bernie Sanders is a risky nominee to put up against President Donald Trump. Theres less agreement about whether  and how  to stop him.

Critics of the Vermont senator, who has long identified as a democratic socialist, are further than theyve ever been from unifying behind a moderate alternative. None of the viable centrists in the race is eager to exit the campaign to clear a path for a candidate to become a clear counter to Sanders. And Sanders is looking to Saturdays Nevada caucuses to post another win that would further his status as an early front-runner.

With fear and frustration rising in the partys establishment wing, a high-stakes math problem is emerging. It could be impossible to blunt Sanders as long as a trio of moderate candidates  former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Vice-President Joe Biden and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar  stay in the race. And with former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into the swath of states that vote on Super Tuesday, March 3, the effort to stop Sanders will become even more challenging when the campaign goes national next month.

You see this tremendous angst in the party  What are we going to do? said Terry McAuliffe, a former Virginia governor who was also chairman of the Democratic National Committee. We need to unify as fast as we can.

The dynamic is complicated because each of the major moderate candidates has glaring vulnerabilities.

Biden began the campaign as a front-runner, but the aura around his operation took a hit after a fourth-place finish in Iowa gave way to a fifth-place finish in New Hampshire. Buttigieg has proved to be the most effective centrist in raising money from the partys traditional high-dollar donors, which puts him in a strong position to compete in an expensive national contest. But the 38-year-old faces linger questions about his experience and his ability to win support from black and Latino voters, a challenge that could come into greater focus if Buttigieg loses badly in Nevada and South Carolina.

Kloubchar is newly emboldened after a third-place finish in New Hampshire, but she too has little support among minority voters and has largely run a bare-bones campaign operation.

When you have three or four candidates in that same lane, math becomes a problem, said Harold Schaitberger, general president of the International Association of Firefighters and a Biden loyalist, who admits being disappointed by Bidens bad performances and Sanders rise.

Though the opening contests of the primary have only begun, time may quickly run out for a moderate alternative to emerge.

By the end of Super Tuesday, more than one third of all delegates will be awarded. Should Sanders build a significant delegate lead  and his strength in California alone makes that possible  it would be very difficult for any other candidate to catch him in the slew of state-by-state elections that follow based on the way delegates are apportioned.

We have a lot of good candidates, but in general were incredibly frustrated that the field hasnt winnowed, said Robert Wolf, a major fundraiser for Barack Obama, who said he has donated money this cycle to more than a dozen Democrats. Sanders is not one of them.

The situation is similar to the Republican primary in 2016, when several anti-Trump alternatives divided their partys moderate vote and allowed Trump to become the nominee despite failing to win a majority of the vote in early primary contests.

There is no significant movement in the works to stop Sanders. And so long as there are a half-dozen viable candidates in the race, it may not matter if there were.

Sanders team expects his Democratic critics and their allies to intensify their attacks in the coming weeks, although they suggest time may be on their side with Super Tuesday just two weeks away. If Sanders comes out of Super Tuesday with a 100-delegate lead, which is possible based on his popularity in California alone, they believe it would be virtually impossible for anyone to catch up before the partys national convention in July.

Sanders was showing new signs of confidence as he campaigned over the weekend in Nevada ahead of the states caucuses next Saturday. Rallying supporters in Carson City on Sunday, he declared he could win Nevada, then California and the Democratic nomination and highlighted attempts from his rivals in both parties to stop him.

Ive been attacked by the media establishment, Ive been attacked by the corporate establishment, Ive been attacked by the Republican establishment, Ive been attacked by the Democratic establishment, and theyre nervous, Sanders said.

Sanders told The Associated Press last week that he was ramping up his outreach to other lawmakers and party officials who have been skeptical of his White House bid, although he offered no details. The senator has also agreed to host at least two fundraisers for the Democratic National Committee, which he had previously resisted.

Asked about the response he was getting to the establishment outreach, Sanders said: I think were going to do just fine.

Yet as Sanders strength grows in the early voting states, there is no evidence that his standing is improving among the partys skeptical political class. Several elected officials in recent days have raised concerns about his ability to beat Trump and his impact on other Democrats running for election this fall.

The competition for endorsements helps tell the story of the moderate muddle.

Since Bidens underwhelming finish in Iowa, Sanders hasnt received a single congressional endorsement. Buttigieg and Klobuchar, who have shown some strength on the campaign trail, have earned just one congressional endorsement each.

Over that same time, at least seven congressional endorsements have gone to Bloomberg, a 78-year-old former Republican who is threatening to become a top-tier candidate even after skipping all four February primary contests.

Steve Shurtleff, a Biden backer and the speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, believes Buttigieg and Klobuchar are the new leaders in the partys moderate wing, while Bloomberg is making a case.

As for Sanders, Shurtleff noted that most New Hampshire voters supported somebody else. Indeed, Sanders won last weeks primary with just 26% of the vote, a low bar made possible because his moderate alternatives split up the rest of the electorate.

Its very crowded in that lane, Shurtleff said. Its really kind of a conundrum.

Just dont ask any of Sanders rivals to step aside.

An energized Klobuchar said in an interview that her third-place finish in New Hampshire left her as scrappy as I was when I started.

She shrugged off any concerns about moderates dividing the vote. And she highlighted her strengths in Nevada, where she and Biden earned the endorsement of the states largest newspaper and may benefit from the success of female candidates. Both of the states U.S. senators are women and the state legislature is majority female.

I dont think its as simple as two lanes, she said in an interview. Everyone brings something else to this.

___

Fram reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro in Washington and Nicholas Riccardi in Carson City, Nevada, contributed to this report.

___

Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast, Ground Game.
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 02/17/2020



ADVERTISEMENT

FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS!

Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source!

ADVERTISEMENT

Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

star Austin Hurd has revealed he and wife Jessica Studer felt uncomfortable showing affection in front of Season 10's other couples who were struggling in their marriages.It's no secret Mindy Shiben 's marriage to Zach Justice is barely progressing on due to his lack of attraction to her, and Meka Jones and Michael Watson are simply trying to develop a friendship after Michael allegedly gave his wife an ultimatum they sleep together during their Panama honeymoon or he'd want out of the relationship.Given the two couples were clearly unhappy together in Panama, Austin admitted during a Wednesday appearance on : Unfiltered that he and Jessica didn't feel right being lovey-dovey with each other during gatherings with the struggling couples.After Mindy explained on Unfiltered she was feeling rejected by Zach on her honeymoon, Austin shared, "Hearing that they're going through difficult times is difficult to hear.""Jessica and I have this great connection and we're growing pretty quickly, [so] yeah, it's hard to show affection in front of everybody else," he added.Not only did Jessica and Austin consummate their marriage on their honeymoon, but they got along seamlessly and appeared to enjoy each other's company without having any disagreements or finding any red flags in each other."We're very observant of [our affection] and we want to be as nice as we can whenever we hang out with anyone else," Austin explained.Mindy, clearly feeling a little guilty for how her relationship might've been affecting other people, expressed how Austin's sentiment was sweet -- but she told him, "You don't have to feel like that.""I'm rooting for you guys really hard," Mindy insisted, "and for all of us, of course.""I mean, what more can you guys do? That's the thing," Austin said.: Unfiltered host Jamie Otis pointed out, however, it was nice of Austin and Jessica to not "flaunt their happy relationship" in front of the other couples, who were having problems."Yeah," Austin replied.When Austin and Jessica were only five days into their marriage, Jessica gushed about how their romance felt so comfortable and natural."[We are] so cute!" Austin joked.When asked what it was like waking up next to Jessica at that point in the extreme experiment, Austin replied, "Every single day, yes, it feels more and more comfortable."Jamie noted things never seemed awkward between Jessica and Austin, but Austin joked, "I think it was always awkward."But he clarified, "That's what made it comfortable sometimes," considering he and Jessica are both quirky individuals who love to crack silly jokes and make light of tense or serious situations.The latest episode showed Austin and Jessica moving into a neutral apartment in the Washington, D.C. area.Given they appear to be such a great match, Jamie wondered how things might have gone had Austin and Jessica met in the real world and off camera."Do you think that if you had met Jessica organically and not through , you would have been able to open up and become so close with her so quickly?" Jamie asked."I think part of it is this process but part of it is how goofy she is, and she matches that with me, where we kind of just want to be ourselves and not have to have any guards up," Austin revealed."My walls were just down from the beginning, and she made that very easy from those first moments with her."Jamie suggested the experts found a match made in heaven with Austin and Jessica.'s tenth season also stars Brandon Reid and Taylor Dunklin as well as and Katie Conrad and Derek Sherman Married at First Sight currently airs on Wednesday nights at 8PM ET/PT on Lifetime.Interested in more news? Join our Married at First Sight Facebook Group
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath on Monday said the National Population Register (NPR) will not be implemented in the state as of now amid confusion over a notification for the controversial biometric database of all usual residents in India.

Madhya Pradesh is the third state after Kerala and West Bengal that has refused to implement NPR and the first Congress-ruled state to say no to the exercise.

The notification of National Population Register (NPR) being talked about is of December 9, 2019. The central government enacted the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) after this notification, a statement issued from the Congress office on Monday quoting the CM said.

Hence, the NPR notified (by the state government) has not been notified under CAA, 2019. It was done under rule 3 of CAA, 1955s rules-2003, it said.

But, anyway, the chief minister has made it clear that NPR will not be implemented in Madhya Pradesh as of now, the statement added.

The proposed NPR will be carried out along with the house listing phase of the Census exercise from April 1 to September 30.

NPR as opposed to the Census, which is a database of households, has generated controversy with the opposition parties contending that the exercise is linked to NRC, which is aimed at identifying illegal immigrants.

The government, which has in the past described NPR as the first step towards a nationwide NRC, now maintains that there is no link between the two and that an all-India NRC is not immediately on the anvil.

Kamal Naths statement on NPR came after Congress lawmaker from Bhopal Central, Arif Masood, took exception to a notification issued by the state government on December 9, 2019, regarding its implementation.

Masood urged Kamal Nath to reject NPR and issued a warning that if it was not done he would reconsider whether or not he should remain in the government or not.

A campaign would be launched from Bhopal on no CAA, no NRC and no NPR, he said.
1. Yes. The downtown area needs a good draw. Some quality taverns would be a plus.

2. Yes. Too many storefronts are vacant. Bars could help to bring in needed revenue.

3. No. Putting a number of bars downtown is just asking for trouble. Dont change things.

4.No. Several churches have located downtown. Putting bars close by would be a bad fit.

5. Unsure. It would depend on how the law is written and what standards are enacted.

Vote

View Results
TOKYO  Japans economy has already been staggered by a devastating typhoon and a wallet-shutting tax increase. Now, the coronavirus that has brought business in neighboring China to a virtual standstill threatens to knock Japan into a full-blown recession.

Japan said on Monday that its economy had shrunk at an annualized rate of 6.3 percent in the three months that ended in December, the worst contraction since mid-2014. The results predated the virus epidemic but were affected by a monthslong slump in Chinese demand for Japanese exports.

Officials had been optimistic that an easing of the effects of Typhoon Hagibis and the consumption tax increase would return the country to growth as the new year began. But then the coronavirus began its deadly spread in China, halting the lucrative flow of tourists from that country and further imperiling Japanese exports.

If Japans economy  the worlds third largest after the United States and China  shrinks again in the first quarter of 2020, the country will officially fall into recession for the first time since a brief dip in 2015. A recession is generally defined as two straight quarterly contractions.
If we are going to provide the social care services that people desire  and in many cases, deserve  we are going to have to ensure that there is in place a large cadre of wealth creators.

A great example is that of Brian McCarthy, an individual who arrived in Killorglin as assistant manager at the local AIB branch. A decade later he set up Fexco to provide bureau de change services. In 2017, the company had annual revenues in excess of 200 million.

It is a mainstay of the south Kerry economy. It acquired and then recently sold  at a profit  a majority stake in Goodbody Stockbrokers and in 2018, it purchased Londons largest foreign exchange firm.

It has just announced the establishment of a new technology and research hub for start ups.

Fexco has made light of what is a fairly remote geographical location.

In recent decades, the country has  to a considerable degree  imported much of its prosperity, from the US, in particular.

There is really no need to list all the big name corporations who have established their European bases in this country.

One can pick holes in this model which is based  at least in part  on competitive tax rates and an accommodating regulatory system. However, what is clear is that foreign direct investment  or FDI  has been a great engine of job and wealth creation, bringing well-paid jobs to towns across the country.

We cannot be sure that we will be able to rely on this source of economic activity to anything like the same degree in the future.

We would be well advised to consider generating more of our wealth closer to home  and by this I mean, genuine wealth creation, not the property-based activity with which so many of us are familiar.

There is evidence that the recovery in place since 2013 has led to an upsurge in entrepreneurship.

According to Emma Quinn of the European Migration Network, Ireland ranks in sixth place in the most recent Global Entrepreneurship Monitor which measures levels of such activity across 20 European countries.

As many as three in every 100 Irish adults aged between 18 and 34 are actively engaged in the early stages of starting a business while one third of this cohort have gone ahead and started one. Some 17,000 start ups were registered in the year to last October.

This attests to a degree of confidence and self reliance out there. The big question is how many of those businesses can be taken to the next level where products and services can be taken into overseas markets.

According to the Global Enterprise Monitor, one-in-nine Irish entrepreneurs are engaged in promoting ideas that are medium or high tech related. High tech clusters in areas such as Fintech have emerged.

Enterprise Ireland has put together a programme called STEP or Start Up Entrepreneur Programme. The aim is to stimulate productive investment by attracting high potential start ups. Conditions are attached including a minimum investment of 50,000 and the creation of at least 10 jobs. The firm must have an Irish headquarters. The plan must be for a business that is scalable or innovative.

Over the five years to the end of 2018, 435 applications have been received under STEP, not all of them kosher. However, 155 permissions have been granted  a 30% success rate. There is a separate Immigrant Investor Programme with a minimum requirement of 1m.

Immigrants often make good entrepreneurs, apparently. This is the view of Michael OConnor, founder of Cork BIC, a city-based company that works with high potential start ups. Cork BIC also runs a business angel investment network focusing on the South West and Mid Regions. Last year, it did 17m worth of deals with early stage enterprises.

Back in the 1950s, the Government went out of its way to attract in businesspeople from overseas. It generally worked well as a strategy.

Nowadays, with a better educated workforce, we are better placed to grow our own, but immigrant entrepreneurs can serve to provide a real injection of entrepreneurial energy in the process opening up markets to Irish businesses.

We would be wise not to take our current prosperity  however imbalanced it may be  for granted. Ireland, as a stable advanced society with a robust legal system is well placed to host enterprises, but we would be well advised to ignore the siren calls of those who would aim to tax business wealth to the hilt.
Emily Ratajkowski enjoyed a New York City dog-walk this Monday with her husband Sebastian Bear-McClard.

The 28-year-old supermodel bared her taut midriff in a white crop top and teamed a cream overcoat with high-waisted slacks.

The cover girl wore her luxurious brown hair down, accessorizing the look with a cross-body bag and a pair of sleek sunglasses.

Legging it: Emily Ratajkowski enjoyed a New York City dog-walk this Monday with her husband Sebastian Bear-McClard

Origin story: Emily and Sebastian wed in New York City in 2018; she famously had on a $200 Zara trouser suit

Meanwhile, her hunk modeled a T-shirt advertising the acclaimed new Safdie Brothers movie Uncut Gems starring Adam Sandler.

Sebastian, who is a producer on Uncut Gems, threw a bomber hoodie over the top and slipped into a pair of Adidas sweats while walking Colombo.

Emily recently starred in a Super Bowl block-party themed ad for Babe, a brand of canned rose for which she is 'Chief Of Taste.'

The company was founded by Josh Ostrovsky aka 'The Fat Jew,' who is infamous for a 2015 online joke-stealing scandal.

When you got it: The 28-year-old supermodel bared her taut midriff in a white crop top and teamed a cream overcoat with high-waisted slacks

Mover and shaker: She wore her luxurious brown hair down, accessorizing the look with a cross-body bag and a pair of sleek sunglasses

Meanwhile: Her hunk modeled a T-shirt advertising the acclaimed new Safdie Brothers movie Uncut Gems starring Adam Sandler

Josh and Emily co-starred in the ad with none other than Diplo, the DJ and songwriter whose real name is Thomas Wesley Pentz.

Emily, who while showing Vogue around her vast LA apartment in 2015 said she was for a platform to 'redistribute wealth in this country,' got married in February 2018.

She made a splash with her surprise courthouse marriage to Sebastian in New York City, wearing a $200 Zara trouser suit.

Last year, she defended her producer husband after he was accused of wriggling out of paying rent on his apartment.

Top brass: Sebastian, who is a producer on Uncut Gems, threw a bomber hoodie over the top and slipped into a pair of Adidas sweats while walking Colombo

Hard worker: Emily recently starred in a Super Bowl block-party themed ad for Babe, a brand of canned rose for which she is 'Chief Of Taste'

His landlord told the New York Post that Sebastian was exploiting a starving artists' loophole to avoid ponying up a total of $120,000 in rent.

Although he was reported to be worth multi-millions, Emily denied as much on her Twitter page a couple of weeks after the New York Post article.

'He's an independent movie producer so people thinking hes rich is real nice but not based in fact. He was raised in the neighborhood he lives in now, both of his parents are artists who were priced out of their homes in downtown New York,' she claimed.

Saying she 'moved in w/ him a year ago,' she wrote: 'Im proud hes fighting the good fight against a real estate conglomerate that bought the building he lives in for 40 million and has continued to spread misinformation on its tenants in order to profit.'
ISTANBUL - The 4th edition of Italian Design Day will take place on March 23 and 24 in Istanbul, followed by Ankara and Smirne, to promote the many facets of Made in Italy design in Turkey, a country that has always been rich with opportunities for Italy.

Italian Design Days are organised around the world by the Italian Foreign Ministry with the participation of more than 100 Italian diplomatic missions.

The Italian Consulate in Istanbul and the Italian Institute of Culture organised the events in Istanbul, in collaboration with Yildiz Technical University and Yildiz Teknopark.

World-famous Italian designers will come together in a series of events at Palazzo Venezia, the Italian Institute of Culture, Salt Galata, Mongeri House, and Yildiz Technical University.

The theme of this year's edition is "Designing the Future: Development, Innovation, Sustainability and Beauty".

Events in 2020 have been expanded as part of the collaboration between industry and university, with Yildiz Teknopark - the most successful technological part in Turkey, according to 2018 data from the Turkish Industry and Technology Ministry - among the organisers.

In this light, the areas of collaboration between local and Italian businesses have begun to expand.

Italian Design Day is curated by world-famous architect Luca Molinari, and will host some of the most famous Italian representatives in the fields of architecture, industrial design (component, furniture, automobile and yacht design) and fashion, in panel discussions and workshops.


Over the past three decades, the Louisiana School for the Deaf in Baton Rouge has been plagued by allegations of sexual misconduct, troubled academics and high turnover among its leaders.

Now the boarding school, which is open to students from across the state, and others under an umbrella called the Special School District are undergoing yet another reorganization, this one sparked by the hiring of a new superintendent, Ernest Garrett III, a Missouri transplant.

Garrett, 38, said that while the School for the Deaf and the Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired have potential, he heard stories on arriving about parents being ignored or lied to and some employees simply drawing a paycheck.

New superintendent named for district that oversees Louisiana School for the Deaf The former executive director of a foundation for the deaf was named Friday to be superintendent of the school district that includes the Loui

"We have to change the culture," he said in an interview. "In my opinion, the culture is not conducive to prioritizing achievement for students."

Changing the culture means turning around schools that rarely get much attention in state education debates, and usually for all the wrong reasons when they do.

A state report in 2018 said the School for the Deaf suffered from low morale among students and other problems, and that major changes were needed in the Special School District.

Louisiana School for the Deaf, others targeted for improvements The state is launching a three-year plan aimed at improving oversight and expertise in the troubled Louisiana School for the Deaf and others, 

A few months later, the director of the School for the Deaf was replaced, part of a revolving door of leaders throughout the district.

In 2008, the School for the Deaf was closed temporarily by state leaders so that changes could be made to ensure the safety of students. That same year, a five-month investigation by The Advocate showed that, over a five-year period, seven adults, including three teachers, were accused of improper sexual behavior with four girls at the school.

A four-part series in 1999 by WBRZ-TV uncovered "numerous and unabated" sexual incidents among students at the school, including rapes and molestations.

In 2018, Special School District Superintendent Monte Burke left his post amid controversy over problems spelled out in the report that year.

Louisiana Special School District interim chief's tenure a 'failure,' BESE president says The president of Louisiana's top school board accused the interim superintendent of the Special School District of running the schools through

Most recently, interim Superintendent Pat Cooper left his job in 2019 after his appointment expired and after the president of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education accused Cooper of running the schools through fear.

Cooper was serving because state plans to have a permanent superintendent in place the previous year died when Jon Harding, director of the Kansas State School for the Blind, turned down the offer.

Now, Garrett is assembling his own team, including finding all-important directors of the school for the Deaf and Visually Impaired.

Critics within the Special School District say privately that veteran leaders of the district have been summarily dismissed and question whether their replacements can help students with hearing and visual impairments reach their potential.

Director of Louisiana School for the Deaf replaced as part of staff shakeup The state has replaced the director of the Louisiana School for the Deaf in Baton Rouge after a report earlier this year blasted school operat

"I didn't come here to be popular," Garrett said. "We have work to do, serious business."

Garrett, who is paid $150,000 per year and started on Sept. 3, is the former CEO of the Deaf Empowerment Awareness Foundation Inc. in the St. Louis area. Before that he was the first deaf and black superintendent of the Missouri School for the Deaf.

Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

State Superintendent of Education John White, who made the hire, called Garrett "a strong leader and passionate advocate" with extensive experience as a school administrator and social worker in both school and clinical settings.

White is resigning effective March 11.

Less noticed is the fact the Special School District also manages educational programs for students in the state Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Office of Developmental Disabilities and other state offices.

The School for the Deaf, which has 137 students, was rated F by the state for the 2018-19 school year. The interim principal is Jamie Green, and Garrett said finding a director for the school is a priority and not far off.

The School for the Visually Impaired, which has 87 students, did not get a grade last year because it did not have enough students. The principal is Melanie Brenckle.

Four Louisiana special education top officials cleared of wrongdoing, back at work Four top officials of a state facility for children with developmental disabilities suspended during a State Police probe have been absolved o

Both are boarding schools, with students leaving the Baton Rouge campus on Brightside Drive on Fridays and returning on Sundays. The two schools have 276 employees and annual operating budgets of $26 million, according to the district.

Garrett said on his first visit, he was struck by the size of the campus and the advantages of having the schools in an urban setting.

He said he has also heard lots of rhetoric about possible improvements.

After Special School District was targeted for change, one director defends herself despite departure The former director of the Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired in Baton Rouge said Wednesday she was forced to resign her job Feb. 28 a

"I want to get past the talk," Garrett said. "We have to execute, you know?"

Garrett was picked over Jamie Wong, then director of special education for the state Department of Education, and Janet Amelin Harris, director of human resources for the East Baton Rouge Parish school system.

Since then, he opted to hire Harris as assistant superintendent of schools.

Another new hire is Donald Snider, who is director of strategic initiatives policy and development. Snider is a former franchisee of McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Papa John's.

Other recent additions include Joe Amacker, executive director of information technology and educational technology and former IT manager at Southern University; Marie Smith, executive director of special school programs; and Donica Jones, special assistant to the superintendent and former admissions and records coordinator for the School for the Visually Impaired.

Katherine Granier, who is chief operating officer, is former director of the Division of Finance for the state Department of Education.

Garrett said one of his key takeaways from the 2018 report that criticized the district was the need for competent leadership.

"You can have all the best ideas on what it takes to move from potential to execution," Garrett said. "But if you don't have the right people ... you are just not going to achieve that."

"I realize we really and truly, not just me but the district, we have our work cut out for ourselves."
Tripoli's Mitiga International Airport on Monday announced it had to suspend its activities after being attacked, Trend reports citing Sputnik.

"Mitiga International Airport has recently been subject to indiscriminate shelling that coincided with a take-off of a Libyan Airlines plane. As a result, the plane returned and air traffic in the airport has been suspended until further notice", the airport wrote on Facebook.

The airport often suspends its activity amid the ongoing military confrontation between the Libyan National Army (LNA) and the rival UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA). On 9 January, the LNA included the airport in the no-fly zone due to its offensive to capture the capital, which is the seat of the GNA. However, the airport was reopened after the sides announced a ceasefire three days later. One more suspension took place after rocket fire on Wednesday, but the airport was soon reopened.

Since the killing of long-time Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the country has been gripped by conflict. Libya is now divided between two governments, with the eastern part controlled by the LNA, headed by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, and the western part governed by the UN-backed Government of National Accord.
Bangalore, Karnataka, India  Business Wire India: ExdionPOD has been recognised by The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers (CIAB) as one of the top 16 Insurtech solutions to watch in the category of platform and tools that automate the application, renewal and documentation process for brokers and their clients.

ExdionPOD is an AI powered comprehensive platform designed to enhance the insurers overall efficiency when it comes to policy issuance. It makes use of Cognitive Computing to read over 2000 policy applications and proposal formats quickly. This fuels the automation of high volume, mundane underwriting and brokering processes. So, ExdionPOD enables the insurers to focus more on optimizing the customer experience and driving their businesses to generate higher returns on investments.

ExdionPOD is the answer to insurers primary concerns of scale and complexity when it comes to automating their policy checking and renewal processes. More often than not, the insurers struggle to meet the requirements of operations and marketing teams when conducting the processes manually. These challenges have for long forced many insurers to stay dependant on out-dated processes and spend more on outsourcing work to other firms. This intelligent platform saves the insurance firms from unnecessary expenses and E&O risks that arise as a result of breakdown in processes.

L.S. Ram, CEO of Exdion Solutions said, We are thrilled that ExdionPOD is recognized by CIAB as one of the top insurtech solutions. With ExdionPOD our clients have realized significant revenue protection and smartly mitigated E&O risks. As trusted partners committed to driving transformation that would benefit the insurers, we realized the requirement of cutting-edge innovative products and solutions for both revenue protection as well as generation. We have recently introduced innovative AI based products such as ExdionQCOMP, ExdionRNU, and ExdionQREV that will make Insurers stay profitable and competitive. We thank our customers for their continued trust and support.

For more information on ExdionPOD and to start using the product, please get in touch with harshal.vaske@exdion.com

The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers (The Council/CIAB) is the leading association for the top regional, national and international commercial insurance and employee benefits intermediaries worldwide. CIAB member firms annually place 85 percent of all U.S. commercial property/casualty insurance premiums and administer billions of dollars in employee benefits accounts. The Council also publishes the award-winning industry publication, Leaders Edge. Founded in 1913, The Council is based in Washington, D.C. Learn more at www.ciab.com.

Exdion Solutions is a consulting and technology centric firm that is helping Insurance agencies and brokers transform their operations and round-the-clock customer engagements. Exdion delivers transformational excellence through strategic levers that include consulting, technology, robotic process automation, artificial intelligence, data science products, and BPM. Exdion Solutions not only helps Insurance agencies navigate through current business contours but also support them in their journey to become the agencies of the future using sustainable & affordable solutions. To know more, click http://www.exdion.com

Disclaimer: This content is distributed by Business Wire India. No HT journalist is involved in creation of this content.
Police constable Lalit Salve, who



underwent sex change surgery and came to be treated as a male one-and-a-half years ago, tied the knot with a woman on Sunday.

Salve, whose journey from Lalita to Lalit was full of ups and down and legal battle, underwent the first stage of sex reassignment surgery (SRS) at the state-run St George's Hospital in Mumbai in May 2018.

After the second and third stage operation in following months, Salve (30), a resident of Rajegaon village of Majalgaon tehsil of Beed district, finally acquired a new identity and name - Lalit.

Post the surgery, Salve started getting benefits granted to a male constable in Maharashtra's police force.

Salve got married with a woman in adjoining Aurangabad city on Sunday at a small function.

"I got a rebirth after three-stage sex change surgery. I have started a new life after my marriage and will now live happily. My family members and relatives are happy with my marriage," said Salve, posted as a constable at the Majalgaon city police station.

Born in June 1988 as Lalita Kumari Salve, she noticed changes in her body about four years ago and underwent medical tests, which confirmed the presence of Y chromosome in her body, according to her petition filed in the Bombay High Court.

While men have X and Y sex chromosomes, women have two X chromosomes.

Salve, after joining the police force, had approached the state police department to allow leave to undergo the sex change surgery.

The department had then turned down her plea as the eligibility criteria for men and women constables are different, including height and weight.

Salve had then moved the HC seeking a direction to the DGP to grant leave to undergo the surgery. The constable had sought leave for a month to undergo the sex reassignment surgery, but the request was refused by the Beed police authorities, following which she approached the HC.

However, the HC had directed Salve to approach the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal since it was a service matter. Salve was subsequently granted leave by the home department to undergo sex change surgery.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A British MP has been refused entry to India after she voiced criticism of the Indian governments policies in the disputed Kashmir region.

Debbie Abrahams, the Labour MP for Oldham and chair of a parliamentary committee on Kashmir, arrived at Delhis international airport shortly before 9am on Monday, but was stopped at immigration and told her e-Visa was no longer valid.

Speaking to The Independent from on board a plane deporting her back to her layover destination of Dubai, Ms Abrahams said blacklisting critical lawmakers from other countries was the sign of a very unhealthy democracy and everybody should be very concerned.

India moved in August last year to revoke its portion of Kashmirs special constitutional status and autonomy, as well as its position as a state, and blocked internet access in a crackdown that, in some parts of the valley, remains in place to this day.

The 59-year-old Ms Abrahams, who was due to visit friends and family in Delhi for two days before flying on to take part in a formal delegation to Pakistan-administered Kashmir, said she believed she was blacklisted over the fact she had expressed concerns about the Modi administrations actions, as well as her onward travel plans.

I cant see it not being connected, she said. Ms Abrahams travelled to India with an e-Visa that permitted her to attend technical/business meetings, and was due to expire in October 2020.

During the hours she spent blocked at Delhi airport she was told not one word about why she was being refused entry. She said the immigration official who first denied her entry was rude and aggressive and treated me like a criminal, but that the many other officials she dealt with had been very polite and courteous.

A government source told The Independent that Ms Abrahams was not in possession of a valid visa to visit India, adding that entry into the country was therefore denied. Separately, the Associated Press quoted an unnamed official as saying the MP had been informed of this prior to travel in another communication sent to her.

Ms Abrahams tweeted about her situation while waiting in a room marked as a deportee cell, and was met by a large number of critical or abusive replies, purportedly from Indian accounts, saying they were glad she was refused entry, calling her a terrorist sympathiser and suggesting she could have been put in prison or shot on sight.

Protests against India's new citizenship law Show all 15 1 /15 Protests against India's new citizenship law Protests against India's new citizenship law Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti activists take part in a torch light procession to protest against the government's Citizenship Amendment Bill, in Guwahati AFP via Getty Protests against India's new citizenship law Police clash with protesters during demonstrations against India's new citizenship law in Lucknow AFP via Getty Protests against India's new citizenship law Muslim women raise their hands and shout slogans during a protest rally held by the Muslim community against India's new citizenship law in Bangalore AFP via Getty Protests against India's new citizenship law Young protesters shout slogans and demonstrate with their body painted during a demonstration against India's new citizenship law AFP via Getty Protests against India's new citizenship law A woman holds a placard at a protest outside Jamia Millia Islamia university over Indias new citizenship law in New Delhi AFP via Getty Protests against India's new citizenship law A policeman looks at protesters from leftist groups trying to break through a barricade as they demonstrate against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and India's new citizenship law in Kolkata AFP via Getty Protests against India's new citizenship law Police beat protesters with sticks during a demonstration against India's new citizenship law in Lucknow AFP via Getty Protests against India's new citizenship law A man holds a placard as he shouts slogans to protest against India's new citizenship law, during a demonstration in New Delhi AFP via Getty Protests against India's new citizenship law Protesters stand with a large Indian flag by the Jama Masjid mosque at a demonstration against Indias new citizenship law in New Delhi AFP via Getty Protests against India's new citizenship law AFP via Getty Protests against India's new citizenship law A protester from Shaheen Bagh, with an Indian map painted on his face, takes part in a demonstration against India's new citizenship law at Jantar Mantar AFP via Getty Protests against India's new citizenship law Muslim women drink chai (tea) on a street in front of a wall covered with posters and graffitis to protest against India's new citizenship law, during a demonstration in Mumbai AFP via Getty Protests against India's new citizenship law Members of the Karnataka Reserve Police Force swing their sticks to beat two men on a scooter who rode too close to a barricade set up on a street in Mangalore, amid heightened security due to protests over Indias new citizenship law AFP via Getty Protests against India's new citizenship law The deserted Shaheen Bagh area, that has been blocked off by demonstrators AFP via Getty Protests against India's new citizenship law Students from various colleges under the aegis of National Students Union of India (NSUI) hold a national flag during a protest rally against India's new citizenship law in Bangalore AFP via Getty

She defended speaking out about the situation in Kashmir, saying I think human rights should be the focus of the All Party [Parliamentary] Group [on Kashmir]. We are signatories of the UN Convention on Human Rights and it is every states obligation, when we see issues that we are concerned about affecting different populations in a state, that we have to speak out.

The Indian government is highly sensitive about international criticism of its actions in Kashmir, and in a separate incident on Monday summoned the Turkish ambassador to Delhi over President Tayyip Erdogan's remarks on the disputed region.

During a visit to Pakistan last week, Mr Erdogan said the situation in Indian-administered Kashmir was worsening because of the sweeping changes introduced last August, and that Turkey stood in solidarity with the people of Kashmir.

Foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said Mr Erdogans comment was but one more example of a pattern of Turkey interfering in the internal affairs of other countries. India finds that completely unacceptable, he said, adding the episode would have strong implications for our bilateral relationship.

It all comes just a day after India lashed out at the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, for offering his own mediation as part of enhanced dialogue between Pakistan and India over Kashmir. Both countries administer a portion of the region and claim it in its entirety.

Mr Kumar said on Sunday that Jammu and Kashmir, Indias name for the wider region it administers, is and will continue to be an integral part of India further issues, if any, [will] be discussed bilaterally with Pakistan.

Ms Abrahams plans to stay overnight in Dubai before flying on to Islamabad on Tuesday, saying she would not let the episode with India affect her plans to visit Pakistan.
Bernie Sanders has been on the rise in South Carolina -- among Republican voters.

Huh?

With the Democratic Party's primary in the Palmetto State set for the last day of the month, and with Republicans having cleared the way for the renomination of President Donald Trump, some South Carolina Republicans have hatched a plan to vote with the Democrats, and to cast their ballots for the septuagenarian socialist senator from Vermont. Why? Because they believe he'll be the easiest for Trump to beat come November.

And there you have it. Folks hoping above all else to see Trump defeated need to get this news out to those in the army of young Sanders supporters -- if they can get them to stop shouting long enough to hear, and consider, a reasoned argument.

Sanders and his backers have repeatedly asserted that if he's the Democratic Party's nominee, some heretofore legion of hidden voters will rise up, from the shadows, and hasten to the polls to send Trump packing. A realist's response to that notion: Yeah, right. In your dreams, kids.

Sanders finished in the Iowa caucuses in a virtual tie with Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and just barely eked out a victory over the young and largely inexperienced onetime small city executive in the New Hampshire primary a week later. And in neither contest was turnout anything to write home about.

Those who'd like to beat Trump would do well to look elsewhere. Because the so-called Bernie brothers are telling themselves a fantastical tale.

The long and the short of it is this: If Democrats nominate a pragmatist, a moderate, someone left of center but reasonable, the election will, in many ways, be a referendum on Trump. And that's a race that the right Democrat can win. But if they nominate Sanders, the election will be turned into a referendum on socialism. There are already videos of a shirtless Sanders singing "This Land is Your Land" with his comrades in Moscow, and of Sanders and his wife, Jane, praising the Soviet system.

And that is merely a hint of what would be ahead if Sanders were the nominee.

Republicans are going to tell an endless string of lies about the Democratic nominee, no matter who it is. Democrats shouldnt hand them a big pile of nasty truths to tell, too.
When Raz Gal Or was waiting at the Beijing Capital International Airport to catch a flight to Tel Aviv ahead of the Spring Festival, both the 26-year-old entrepreneur and his traveling companion Brian O' Shea were struck by the number of people wearing masks in the airport. Having been preoccupied with their business, they were not aware before that an epidemic was spreading in Wuhan, Hubei Province in central China.



Several days later, they collected 229 boxes of medical supplies in Israel within one day, and successful donated them to Huanggang, east Hubei on February 9 to assist the fight against the epidemic.

The whole donation process of 384 hours, is recorded in a book, "China, We Got Your Back", published in Chinese and English by New Star Press, a Beijing-based publishing house under the China International Publishing Group. The book, which is the first in subject of fighting against the novel coronavirus, also witness the selfless assistance to Hubei and cooperation between young Israeli and Chinese entrepreneurs.

Assistance from Israel

After arrived Tel Aviv, both Raz Gal Or and his friend, Brian O' Shea from Argentina, were concerned about the situation in China. The spike in the number of patients in Wuhan and the reported shortage of medical equipment made them decide to collect surgical masks for Chinese hospitals in need.

"My dad always tells me that the Chinese helped us Jews a lot in history,"said Gal Or, believing it was time to repay the kindness.

Joked himself as "Foreigner in China 2.0," Raz Gal Or is a famous foreigner Internet star in China.

The first-born of a successful Israeli entrepreneur who has business in China, Raz Gal Or has lived in Beijing for over 12 years. In 2014, he became the first Israeli under-graduate student of Peking University.

Raz Gal Or is co-founder of YChina, also known as the Foreigner Research Institute, a business development company specializing in China. Uploading videos that sharing thoughts of young generation of foreigners in China, YChina has soon attracted millions of fans after releasing its first video in January 2017.

January 25, Gal Or and OShea went to pharmacies in Tel Aviv to buy face masks but found had only a couple of thousands in stock, which was far to their goal. They turned to Gal Or's father for help.

Raz Gal Or's father Amir Gal Or is a well-connected businessman and president of the Israel Chamber of Commerce in China. In 2017, Amir Gal-Or won the friendship award, which is the highest award that the Chinese Government issues to foreigners for their outstanding contribution during Chinas development.

"China helped the Israeli people so many times in history, especially in World War II. China is all about mutual help of each other," Amir Gal Or said, "So it's only naturally that everything possible we should do. There is no question about that, and it should be done again, again and again."

He invited his son to speak at meeting of the chamber in Tel Aviv that was attended by several officials from medical institutions.

The young Gal Or's donation proposal received echoes at the meeting.

"Face masks, medical equipment, everything that we can assist, we will do that," said Professor Roni Gamzo, CEO of Tel Aviv Medical Hospital,

Tslil Klainman from the chamber said, "We remember... how China helped Israeli in time of crises. And we really want to be there now for China."

The Sheba Medical Center, one of the top 10 medical centers in Israel, alone donated 30,000 masks and helped them get more by connecting them with a supplier.

The duo then drove to to talk with Kodan Medicam, a medical supplier in Jerusalem serving only major hospitals and the army, donated 50,000 medical gloves.

Cooperation between young generations



Within 24 hour, the two young men had also collected over 100,000 surgical face masks, 50,000 medical gloves, and 7,000 protective suits.

"In this more and more interconnected and globalized world, everybody should not just concern what is happening in the world around us, but also concern what is happening in the distance," Raz Gal Or said.

But the sense of achievement was short-lived as new challenges emerged. How to send 229 boxes, weighing more than 1 ton, to China?

According to a new policy announced by the Chinese Government, foreign donations can be shipped directly to the recipient hospitals. So the team also began to go through information available online about hospitals to assess which one needed supplies most badly. Finally, they chose one in Huanggang, a city in eastern of Hubei Province.

The team then contacted Cainiao, the global parcel tracking platform of the Alibaba Group, to handle the logistics. But their progress slowed down again. Following the World Health Organization's announcement on January 30 that the epidemic was a public health emergency of international concern, many countries dramatically decided to decrease or cancel flights to China.

Eventually, Cainiao located an Israeli shipping company that was willing to provide free shipping. The boxes were ready, with all the necessary documentation done, and finally set sail from Tel Aviv on February 1. The ship passed through Moscow and arrived in the city of Guangzhou in south China four days later. The hospital received the supplies on February 9.

"It seemed like the whole world was going against us, but we still managed to get to this point," Gal Or said in relief, "Hanging there guys, we are behind you."

A unique memory



Though what was to be a holiday trip turned out to be something else, the two friends created unique memories on their camera. They posted the videos on the social media and video-sharing websites, which won tremendous appreciation on the Internet.

New Star Press was looking for heart-warming stories during the period of epidemic. Ding Ning, a senior planner with the publishing house, was keen on tales of people working together for a common goal, putting race and other differences aside. Gal Or's initiative was proof that each individual can contribute something as long as people get started.

"This faith is very important for people fighting the virus, which will lead us out of all difficulties," Ding told Beijing Review.

When she approached YChina with the book proposal, they hesitated at first since the initiative was not meant to generate publicity or sell books. But Ding persuaded them that it was not her intention either. The aim was to give readers a warm feeling during the time of crisis and pay a tribute to the deep friendship between Israelis and the Chinese.

"China, We Got Your Back" also shows the sense of responsibility and strength of the post-1990s generation, who are shouldering their responsibility to build a better world and will play bigger role in future.

New Star completed the Chinese and English versions within eight days. A Hebrew edition of the book in collaboration with Israeli publishing houses is on the anvil.

"We plan to donate the profit generated from the book to assist medical students in Hubei," Ding said, "That is our way to assist the fight against the epidemic."
17.02.2020 LISTEN

Apparently, our negative thinking towards some politicians stems from the shenanigans and hypocrisy that accompany a job in which, in the cut and thrust of the day-to-day political encounters, one must always be right and the adversary must always be wrong.

Thus, the general consensus is that one side is always motivated by the public interest, while the adversary is motivated by base and unworthy aims.

But that said, we cannot deny or ignore the fact that the vast majority of Ghanaians have a deferential regard for people who have the heart and the abilities to make sacrifices.

Of course, most Ghanaians do hold in high esteem people who have the wherewithal to do the right thing. And we are often inclined towards people who have the courage of their aspirations. Yet some politicians would betray the trust we repose in them. Why?

Whatever the case, Ghanaians cannot do away with serious and committed politicians, in spite of their persistent disappointments.

It is, indeed, quite regrettable that discerning Ghanaians have to endure such shenanigans from a section of our politicians.

Somehow, we, the electorates, are obliged to give our votes to the politicians, who are in turn, required to implement expedient policies that would move the nation forward.

Therefore, in contrast to our expectations, it will, be devilishly difficult to do away with politicians, in spite of the persistent failures.

Given the circumstances, we should not and cannot stand accused of exhibiting risible and inborn proclivity towards the irresponsible public officials who prefer to dip their hands into the national purse as if tomorrow will never come.

Indeed, it is quite nauseating to see some public officials who prefer to be called honourable behaving somewhat dishonourably.

Ghanaian politics has regrettably become a scorned profession, not a noble profession it used to be.

Suffice it to stress that it takes good peoplegood citizens and leaders to build a prosperous nation. Yet a lot of good people would never go into politics. They dislike the toxic levels of partisanship. They hate the intrusive media scrutiny and they wont pay the high personal costs of the political life.

Yes, once upon a time, anyone who gained a seat in parliament was looked up to and respected by all; alas, this is not the case anymore.

Take my word for it, in most democratic and enlightened societies, the acceptable word is reasoning, unlike Ghana, where respect has always been the norm.

Unfortunately, however, in Ghana, one must always seek to discharge his/her emotional intelligence and show deference for fear of being castigated for upsetting the antiquated and the crude majoritarian Africa culture of respect.

Obviously, it is that hackneyed and dowdy word respect that has given the grown up people in Africa as a whole the licence to misbehave over the years.

If that was not the case, how come our shameless, incompetent and corrupt public officials continue to sink the economy deeper and deeper into the mire, create loot and share our resources and often go scot free?

Trust me, dearest reader, you would be tagged disrespectful for criticising for instance, the Members of Parliament who shamefully choose to grab double salaries as if tomorrow will never come. For God sake, how could it be disrespectful for calling a spade a spade?

Truth must however be told, our Members of Parliament must earn the honourable prefix/suffix by living exemplary lives and desist from desecrating our honourable parliament.

How could honourable Members of Parliament knowingly keep double salaries to the detriment of the poor and the disadvantaged Ghanaians?

It beggars belief that individuals could form an alliance, create, loot and share gargantuan sums of money belonging to the state and would eventually slip through the justice net.

For argument sake, if the law can excuse a suspected double salary grabbing NDC parliamentarian from prosecution, the law might as well make room for the equally important contributors such as farmers, teachers, and doctors among others.

Why must we allow a section of the population to perpetrate criminalities and then hide behind the law?

I must confess, though, I had mixed feelings when I read some time ago that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service had submitted the dockets on the investigations of the double salary grabbing NDC Members of Parliament to the Attorney Generals Office for advice.

Obviously, my incertitude stems from the fact that Ghanas justice system tends to clampdown heavily on the goat, cassava and plantain thieves, and more often than not, let go the impenitent criminals who hide behind the narrow political colorations.

I have always maintained that if we are ever prepared to beseech the fantastically corrupt public officials to only return their loots without any further punishment, we might as well treat the goat, plantain and cassava thieves same. For after all, what is good for the goose is good for the gander.

I am afraid, the democratic country called Ghana may not see any meaningful development, so long as we have public officials who are extremely greedy, corrupt, and insensitive to the plight of the impoverished Ghanaians.

Regrettably, we began life with the likes of South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore, and, look at where they are. They are diligently making cars, Mobile phones, electronics, good roads and good housing. And, they have put in place pragmatic policies and programmes to developed their respective countries and just look at where we are today.

Disappointingly, however, we now go to those countries we started life with, and beg for donations, or borrow money--do you recall the STX housing deal which was unsuccessfully pursued by Mills/Mahama administration, and yet cost us a staggering $300 million ? I weep for my beloved Ghana.

Obviously, we need a true leadership with vision and ideas, altruistic and charismatic leadership devoid of corruption, greed, Incompetence and capable of transforming us into an industrialized and robust economy.

Sadly, the unresolved cases of political criminals unscrupulous activities often leave concerned Ghanaians with a glint of bewilderment.

Indeed, when it comes to the prosecutions of the political criminals, we are often made to believe: the wheels of justice turn slowly, but it will grind exceedingly fine.

Yet we can disappointingly recount a lot of unresolved alleged criminal cases involving political personalities and other public servants.

Where is the fairness when the political thieves could shamefully dip their hands into the national purse as if there is no tomorrow and go scot free, while the goat, cassava and plantain thieves are incarcerated?

I have always insisted that there is no deterrence for political criminals. If that was not the case, how come political criminals more often than not, go through the justice net, despite unobjectionable evidence of wrong doing?

In fact, the Special Prosecutor, Mr Martin Amidu, hit the nail on the head when he once aptly beseeched the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Ghana Police to investigate the NDC MPs alleged double salaries to its logical conclusion and those who are found to have indulged in any criminalities prosecuted accordingly (See: Double salary probe: MPs must face the law  Amidu; citinewsroom.com/ghanaweb.com, 19/04/2018).

As a matter of fact, corruption is found in all countriesbig and small, rich and poorbut it is in the developing world that its effects are most destructive.

Regrettably, despite the fact that corruption slows down the nation building, some corrupt officials are bent on siphoning our scarce resources to the detriment of the poor and disadvantaged.

Going forward, we must not and cannot use the justice net to catch only the plantain, goat and cassava thieves, but we must rather spread the justice net wide to cover the remorseless criminals who are often disguised in political attire.

Let us therefore humbly remind the Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu and the Attorney General, Gloria Akufo that the right antidote to curbing the unbridled bribery and corruption is through stiff punishments, including the retrieval of all stolen monies, sale of properties and harsh prison sentences.

K. Badu, UK.

[email protected]
A man in Texas is on the run after police say he shot his ex-girlfriend at work several times on Valentines Day.

Danielle Mitchell, 30, was working at a Taco Bell in Houston when her ex-boyfriend, Darryl Thompson, 54, confronted her with a gun in hand just before 9 a.m. Friday, police said in a news release.

Darryl Thompson, 54, pictured here in this 2017 mugshot, is wanted by Houston police after they say he shot his ex-girlfriend on Valentines Day.

Mitchell tried to run away from Thompson, but he shot at her several times, hitting her more than once, the release said. Mitchell was ultimately able to run out of the restaurant, but Thompson escaped, Houston police say.

Mitchell was rushed to an area hospital.

Thompson is still on the loose and is charged with aggravated assault, according to the release.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to contact HPD Major Assaults & Family Violence Division at 713-308-8800 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) expresses its dissatisfaction with the European Union following the partial suspension of the "Everything But Arms" (EBA) trade program

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, Feb. 17, 2020 /CNW/ - The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) is disappointed with the decision announced on 12 February 2020 by the European Commission to partially suspend the "Everything But Arms" (EBA) trade program for Cambodia.

The EBA allows EU countries to import products from Cambodia (except for arms) free of tariffs and quotas. The major beneficiaries of the program have been the country's garment and travel goods sectors represented by GMAC. These industries account for some 75 percent of Cambodia's total merchandise exports and some 90 percent of exports to the EU, which is the largest market for the goods that are produced by the manufacturers that GMAC represents.

Employment in these sectors supported by EBA trade preferences now exceeds 750,000 and has contributed to lifting millions of Cambodians out of poverty. Most of the workers are women who manage households, care for the health and wellbeing of children and provide direct income support to more than 20 percent of families in the country.

We urge the European Commission and members of the European Parliament to reconsider their decision by taking into account the values and goals that the program was based on when it was put in place nearly 20 years ago: development assistance, poverty reduction and the dignity of employment. The EBA program has been a clear success in Cambodia in meeting these objectives. The partial withdrawal announced on February 12th will lead to nothing more than job losses and affect the workers livelihoods, especially women.

As part of our reciprocal commitment to the EBA program, GMAC has established a culture of transparency and accountability in labour compliance and working conditions. In what became known as the "Cambodia model", the GMAC was the first association in the world to welcome the UN International Labour Organization (ILO) to establish a monitoring program to inspect our factories for compliance with national and international labour requirements. No sector in any other country that benefits from preferential access to the EU market has a better record of cooperation with the ILO.

GMAC has also supported the effective operation of Cambodia's Arbitration Council as well as other innovations in industrial relations which have supported the development of a strong trade union movement in our sectors.

The GMAC respects and supports the EU's engagement to improve its human rights policies. Unfortunately, summarily pulling the rug from under the feet of hundreds of thousands of Cambodians is not the way to proceed.

The EU's decision is bound to cause confusion with respect to our trade status. It will incentivize buyers to source from countries with far weaker legacies of trade union rights. It is likely to cause the loss of employment for tens of thousands of our workers, most of whom are trade union members. It will increase poverty in our country and make it more difficult to improve wages and benefits for other workers.

GMAC members are proud of the contributions they have made and will continue to make to the economic development of Cambodia. We have long understood that the resolve to better one's life begins with a roof overhead and food on the table.

We urge the EU to act quickly to restore full EBA benefits for our sectors for the sake of sustainable development and for the hundreds of thousands of Cambodians who have risen from poverty to gain employment, advance their rights and support their families.

About GMAC: We represent more than 580 garment, footwear and travel good production facilities in Cambodia that directly employ 750,000 workers. Our mission is to make Cambodia a preferred partner in a highly competitive global market by adhering to the highest standards in the quality of goods and quality of life for our workforce. https://www.gmac-cambodia.org/

Media Contact:Ken Loo

Phone: +855-12-282288

Email: kenloo@gmac-cambodia.org
We're sorry, you encountered a page that doesn't exist.
A powerful suspected suicide bombing at a religious rally in Pakistan's restive province killed at least eight persons, including policemen, and injured 23 on Monday, according to media reports.

The bombing took place during the religious rally at the Quetta Press Club near the Shahrah-i-Adalat road. Several vehicles parked in the vicinity have also been damaged due to the impact of the blast, Dawn newspaper reported.

The attack came the same day UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who is in Pakistan, termed the improved security situation in Pakistan as "absolutely remarkable".

Security personnel have cordoned off the area and are conducting a search operation. Officials added that the nature of the blast has not yet been ascertained.

At least eight persons, including policemen, were killed and 23 injured in the incident, Duniya News reported.

No group took responsibility of the attack but Baloch nationalists and the Taliban militants were involved in such attacks in the past.

Provincial home minister Zia Ullah Langu said that investigations by bomb disposal officers indicated that a suicide bomber carried out the attack, according to Duniya News.

Quetta is the capital of province, the country's largest but most sparsely populated province, rich in mineral resources and the route of much of the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.

Prime Minister Imran Khan directed the authorities concerned to provide the best medical treatment to the injured.

Governor Amanullah Khan Yasinzai condemned the blast and said: "Such a cowardly attack can't weaken the morale of the nation and the security forces."



On January 10, a blast inside a mosque in Quetta's Satellite Town area during Friday evening prayers had claimed 15 lives and left 19 people injured.

(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.)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 17)  President Rodrigo Duterte is set to be the poster boy of local tourism as the Philippines braces for the negative impact of the coronavirus outbreak to the country's tourism.

Tourism Undersecretary Art Boncato on Monday said Duterte is expected to tour the country's major islands starting the end of the month or early March. In February alone, the country is expecting to lose P14.8 billion in tourism or a total of P42.9 billion in revenue if the travel ban on China, Hong Kong, and Macau lasts for three months.

"We are lining up destinations like Boracay, Cebu, even Bohol. It's part of the initial list of destinations the President would most likely visit in the next couple of weeks... The intention is to visit as many destinations as possible," he said in a media briefing.

Boncato said this will also help the country as it experiences "slowing down" in terms of arrivals from certain foreign markets.

The Department of Tourism is coordinating with the Office of the President to align Duterte's schedule with the efforts to boost the tourism industry.

Duterte on February 14 encouraged Filipinos to travel with him around the country, assuring them it is safe to go around the Philippines "be it an issue of health, be it an issue of law and order, and be it an issue of accessibility."

Some airlines and hotels have agreed to come up with multiple promotions to help address the decline in revenue. Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat previously said the department will double its media placements to let foreign tourists know that it is safe to come to the country, even though it has three confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones said the national events of the Department of Education will also help country's tourism. The postponed regional events will push through in March and April. She added the Palarong Pambansa slated in May is expected to draw 30, 000 students and their family members.
A Catholic middle school director who used IVF to get pregnant has reportedly been fired because shes not married.

Friends of Michelle Gabriel, who is the former director of Maryknoll Middle School in Honolulu, Hawaii, said the soon-to-be mother was fired because she is expecting and without a husband.

Gabriel, who is eight months pregnant, was reportedly asked to step down from her position last month.

A family friend told Hawaii News Now that Gabriel underwent in vitro fertilization and told the school she was pregnant when she hit the fourth-month mark.



Follow Us on Facebook  @LadunLiadi; Instagram  @LadunLiadi; Twitter  @LadunLiadi; Youtube  @LadunLiadiTV for updates
He portrayed Chinas leader, Xi Jinping, as hungry for power. He accused Mr. Xi of trying to cover up the coronavirus outbreak in central China. In one of his most daring writings, he urged Mr. Xi to resign, saying, Youre just not smart enough.

Then, over the weekend, Xu Zhiyong, a prominent Chinese legal activist, went silent. The authorities in the southern city of Guangzhou detained him on Saturday, according to Mr. Xus friends, after he spent nearly two months in hiding. His girlfriend, Li Qiaochu, a social activist, went missing on Sunday, Mr. Xus friends said.

The activist is the latest critic to be caught up in Mr. Xis far-reaching efforts to limit dissent in China. The crackdown, which has ensnared scores of activists, lawyers, journalists and intellectuals, is likely to intensify as the ruling Communist Party comes under broad attack for its handling of the coronavirus outbreak, one of its biggest political challenges in years.

Mr. Xu, a 46-year-old former university lecturer, has long railed against government corruption and social injustice in China. He went into hiding in December as the police began rounding up human rights activists who met with him in the eastern city of Xiamen.
The account will be handled out of the agencys head office in Mumbai

White Rivers Media has won the social creative and digital mandate for Germany-based cosmetic brand Cosnature, following a multi-agency pitch.

Within the scope of this mandate, White Rivers Media will curate digital strategies for Cosnatures pan India launch and operations. The account will be handled out of the agencys head office in Mumbai.

Commenting upon the association, Nicolas Camci, Director, Cosnature, India, said: Cosnature carries a worldwide reputation of all-natural, high-performance cosmetics that are Made in Germany. Our intentions to land a strong footing in the Indian market critically requires an equally strong data-backed digital marketing strategy. White Rivers Media understands our product and marketing philosophies. Together with its creative and technological capabilities, we are optimistic about the brands success in India.

Kabir Arora, Chairman, Cosnature (India) said: A steady growth in Indias natural and organic cosmetics market, and the heightened environmental awareness among the population has our attention. We are here to win our consumers with a promise of certified products. White Rivers Media has deciphered an optimised digital plan, which complements our vision for the brand in the country.

Shrenik Gandhi, Chief Executive Officer & Co-founder, White Rivers Media added, We are excited to work with Cosnature as it will be one-of-its-kind proposition for young Indian consumers. The brand has a prodigious reputation globally in terms of both its products and marketing philosophies. Parallel to that, we shall curate strategies that leverage precision targeting & communication to discover, capture, and engage audiences in India, and then convert them into brand evangelists.

Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
British tourists have arrived on one of the first flights from the UK to Sharm el-Sheikh since restrictions were lifted.

Flights between the UK and the Egyptian resort were halted in November 2015 following the bombing of a Russian airliner soon after take-off from Sharm el-Sheikh airport, which killed all 224 people on board.

A Tui flight from Gatwick arrived on Sunday and was greeted by celebrations.

British tourists have arrived on one of the first flights from the UK to Sharm el-Sheikh since restrictions were lifted. A Tui flight arrived on Sunday and was greeted by cheers

A passenger said the flight was met by fire engines jetting water over the top of the aircraft, before a reception featuring flowers, music and cocktails with local dignitaries.

The resumption of flights to Sharm el-Sheikh this month by Tui, the UKs biggest travel company, was announced last year.

It has scheduled three flights a week between Gatwick and Sharm el-Sheikh until late March.

It came after the Department for Transport (DfT) lifted restrictions in October due to 'improvements in security procedures' and 'close co-operation between our aviation security experts and their Egyptian counterparts'.

Passengers on the Tui flight from Gatwick to Sharm el-Sheikh were greeted with a reception featuring flowers, music and cocktails with local dignitaries

Hundreds of thousands of UK tourists went to the Red Sea destination each year before the ban on flights was introduced

One passenger on the Tui flight said it was met by fire engines jetting water over the top of the aircraft

Tui was believed to be the first major travel company to announce when it would resume flights.

Hundreds of thousands of UK tourists went to the Red Sea destination each year before the ban on flights was introduced.

The measure sparked a steep decline in UK visitors, as it forced them to either take multiple flights or a ferry from Hurghada.

It was one of the factors that led to the collapse of airline Monarch in October 2017.

In January, it was announced that easyJet would also resume flights to the resort.

The airline said two flights a week would be launched from Manchester from June 7, and flights from London Gatwick would begin on September 30.

On Sunday, flag carrier EgyptAir said it would start operating a weekly flight between London and Sharm el-Sheikh later this month.

Smaller firms and travel agents have also relaunched services to Sharm el-Sheikh.

Egypt's tourism industry has shown signs of recovery in recent years with arrivals reaching 11.3 million in 2018, compared with 5.3 million in 2016. Pictured is one of the beaches in Sharm el-Sheikh

Russia, another major source of tourists to Egypt, initially suspended all direct flights to the North African country following the attack.

It resumed direct flights to Cairo in 2018 but has yet to restart them to popular Red Sea resorts.

Egypt's tourism industry has shown signs of recovery in recent years with arrivals reaching 11.3 million in 2018, compared with 5.3 million in 2016.
The firefighter who claims he was sacked by the New South Wales Rural Fire Service after exploding at Scott Morrison has vowed never to return to his role - and revealed the one politician he trusts.

RFS commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons denied on Monday Mr Parker was fired because of his foul-mouthed directive at Mr Morrison on the New South Wales south coast, in which he urged the prime minister to 'get f***ed'.

While his dislike of Mr Morrison remains unwavering, on Monday an interview with Nine News emerged showing the volunteer firefighter and tradesman praising One Nation leader Pauline Hanson.

'There's only one person who cares about this country and that's Pauline Hanson. Come and see us in Nelligen Pauline,' he said.

'Mate you're unreal. You care about the country - the rest of them don't.'

Paul Parker (pictured), the firefighter who exploded at Prime Minister Scott Morrison during the height of the bushfire crisis, has vowed never to return to his role

The firefighter claimed on Sunday night he was told by the captain of a Batemans Bay brigade he was 'finished' because of his foul language directed at the prime minister.

As confusion grew over the situation on Monday, Mr Morrison confirmed his office had asked for clarification from the RFS over whether or not Mr Parker had been fired over the incident on January 5.

'There should never be any question about whether he should have been fired or not - of course he shouldn't,' he said.

Mr Fitzsimmons admitted there may have been conversations locally in the Batemans Bay region regarding Mr Parker's role with the service, and said: 'Paul remains a member of the NSW RFS and has not been dismissed.'

But the Nelligen firefighter has claimed the RFS was simply trying to cover 'their a***' following the negative publicity which followed his appearance on The Project on Sunday.

Parker claimed he had gone to gather his thoughts following his fiery speech to a TV camera when the captain of another brigade told him he had been stood down.

It comes as footage emerged of the volunteer firefighter claiming One Nation leader Pauline Hanson was 'the only person who cared' about Australia

'There's only one person who cares about this country and that's Pauline Hanson (pictured). Come and see us in Nelligen Pauline,' Mr Parker said

'He said 'you're stood down, you're finished. You're finished because of your allegations and foul language against the Prime Minister of Australia while representing the RFS',' 7 News reported.

Mr Parker's own home was seriously damaged in the blaze which flared up around Nelligen in early January, and he said he was still waiting on his insurer to 'pay up'.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the NSW RFS for further comment.

On Sunday Mr Parker (pictured left with his wife) said he had been told by a brigade chief with the state's rural firefighting service his career was over because of his comments to the TV camera

On Sunday Mr Parker said he had been told by a brigade chief with the state's rural firefighting service he was 'finished' because of his verbal tirade.

'There were comments with gestures and arm movements saying that I'm finished - (that) it's all over,' he said on The Project.

'Another captain from another brigade within Batemans Bay come out and I asked him ''what's going on?''

'He said ''you're finished because of your allegations and foul language against the prime minister of the country while representing the RFS''.

The Rural Fire Service said Mr Parker was tasked to take time off volunteer work because of exhaustion (pictured lying down on ground exhausted following rant) and the firefighter was never facing sack, but he claimed he was told he was finished

'I didn't know you could get sacked from a volunteer organisation but apparently you can.'

Mr Parker also explained the reasoning behind his televised outburst, saying it was a response to Mr Morrison's earlier comment that rural firefighters should not be paid.

Since taking time off from the RFS following the fiery outburst to camera, Australians have donated hundreds of dollars to his bar tab at his local pub in the small village west of Batemans Bay.
US scientists have released the first images of the new coronavirus that's spread to more than 70,000 people worldwide and killed more than 1,700.

Scientists at the National Institute of Health (NIH) collected the sample from an infected American, though it's unclear which one.

They captured images of the virus emerging from various cell types, and had their teams of medical visual artists colorize the to better delineate the virus from the healthy cells.

Scientists were unsurprised to see that the microscope images resemble those of the related SARS virus, with which the new one now shares a partial name: SARS-CoV-2.

Stunning artist's colorizations of images of the coronavirus taken with a high-powered electron microscope reveal its crown-like shape

These are the most high-resolution, detailed images taken of the new pathogen to-date

Coronaviruses, as a family, are named by the resemblance of their shape to a corona, or crown (not to be confused, as many social media users have done, with the beer).

Bacteria are cells, made up of organelles, the same basic structures that make up humans, animals and plants, but viruses are built different.

Instead, they consist of just either DNA or RNA, enclosed by a protein shell, called a capsid. Some have an additional outer layer.

One virus differs from another in its genetic makeup - the RNA and DNA - and the proteins on its exterior that give it the ability to penetrate the membranes of other cells.

Coronaviruses are ringed by spiked shells that give them the resemblance of a crown.

These spike proteins appear as slightly fuzzy points protruding from the circumference of each virus particle in the vibrant photos released by the NIH.

Sequencing the new virus's spike proteins is what allowed other NIH scientists - namely, Michael Letko and Vincent Munster - to identify it as a close relative of SARS.

The death toll climbed by another 105 people in China on Monday, with global fatalities nearing 1,800 and more than 71,710 cases worldwide

Health care workers monitor the condition of a coronavirus patient. Understanding the virus's structure, they hope, will help scientists find treatments and vaccines more quickly

This artist's rendering show the coronavirus's protein shell, or capsid in blue

And its similarity to SARS led the World Health Organization to not only name the virus SARS-CoV-2 (and the disease it causes COVID-19), but to create a naming convention that links the two viruses together.

Proteins making up these spikes also suggest to the scientists that this virus originally came from bats, and that mutations to them along their evolutionary progression are what make the virus able to penetrate human cells - particularly respiratory ones.

In the microscope images, the cells can be seen emerging from some cells to go attack other ones, sometimes in very concentrated clusters.

Viruses are strange, tiny beasts.

In fact they're so small that they can't be seen with a light microscope like you would find in most high school or college classrooms.

SARS-CoV-2 (pictured here in yellow) is made up of particles far tinier than the cells that compose human or animal tissues (pictured here in blue and pursple_

Instead, the NIH scientists had to use a more high-powered electron microscope to see the particle.

Because they're so simplistic, viruses can't survive and multiply on their own, which is why they have to find a host to live off of.

They piggy back on the enzymes of other living things to derive energy with which to replicate.

Electron microscope images show these tiny attackers emerging and moving between cells to feed off of.

Identifying the shape and structure of the virus won't stop it for say, but it gives scientists important clues in how to disarm it.

Monday, Chinese scientists reported that they are giving infected patients plasma transfusions from people who have recovered from the disease.

Viral particles (yellow) can invade various types of human and animal tissues (red and gray). SARS-CoV-2 is adept at attacking respiratory tissues

This type of treatment may work because recovered people's plasma contains antibodies their immune systems built up to identify the virus by its spiky protein shell, and attack it.

Trials are underway in China to test the use of HIV antivirals against the new virus as well.

Another treatment that's been tested in at least one of the 15 US patients - the first, in Washington - uses a drug originally designed to treat Ebola, and appears to be more anecdotally effective in treating COVID-19 than it was for treating the hemorrhagic fever.

In tests performed on macaque monkeys last week, scientists reported that the drug seemed to work against MERS - another related coronavirus - both to treat it and prevent it.

This is also likely because they share similar protein spikes, identifiable in the newly released images.

And its these genomic and structural similarities that suggest the vaccine that US scientists developed to treat SARS during the 2003 outbreak and have now taken out of storage might be modifiable to work against the new virus that's raced around the globe and infected more than 71,000 people.
A fuel tax, a targeted rate for development land and levy on accommodation providers are being floated as ideas to fund major infrastructure projects, as Auckland Council looks to limit rate rises.

Mayor Phil Goff released his proposed Annual Budget this month, saying he is committed to keeping rate rises to 2.5 percent and is exploring a raft of proposals to fund the shortfall. The plan, which is currently short on detail, will go out for consultation early next year.

A fuel tax at 10 cents a litre has been mooted, but any tax would require Government approval. Hibiscus & Bays Local Board chair Julia Parfitt and deputy chair Janet Fitzgerald have said in the past that Coast ratepayers would be hit disproportionately hard by a fuel tax. That is because limited public transport and a shortage of local employment means that most residents drive to and from work.

Landowners on the Hibiscus Coast, particularly in areas zoned Future Urban in Silverdale, Wainui and Dairy Flat, could be hit by a proposed targeted rate aimed at curbing land-banking and funding infrastructure for housing.

Currently a central tool for funding infrastructure for new subdivisions is development contributions, which average about $30,000 per dwelling. This is paid when a dwelling is consented or connected to the water and wastewater network, but the Council says these charges often dont cover costs.

The targeted rate would provide an ongoing fund that could be spent on infrastructure while also increasing land-holding costs, discouraging land banking. Details on where the rate would apply and how it would be struck havent yet been finalised.

The Mayor has also proposed an accommodation levy of about three to five per cent per room. It is anticipated the cost would be passed on to consumers. The levy is expected to raise $20-30 million.

Destination Orewa Beach chair and Beachcomber manager Brie Edwards-Adams sees the proposed levy as potentially being an opportunity to invest in infrastructure to support and encourage visitors to this area.

If additional revenue is required to support tourism infrastructure, we see an industry-wide approach across the nation to be key and not isolated to Auckland or accommodation providers only, she says. Aspects that need to be addressed include how funds will be allocated and a fair way of gathering them across the tourism sector. I hope that we find a solution to support tourism that does not ultimately discourage business.

Local boards will provide feedback on the proposals and the budget will go to consultation in February next year. The Annual Budget will be adopted on June 19 next year.
MBABANE - Supreme Court Judge Majahenkhaba Dlamini and three others are accused of causing instability at Nkhaba that may lead to bloodshed.

A faction that consists of ETVA Chief Executive Officer Bongani Sigcokosiyancinca Dlamini, Indvuna Vusi Petros Kunene and Gwajumbe Hezekiel Dlamini has since taken Judge Majehenkhaba, Palestine Jonga (nee Dlamini), Thumbumuzi Dlamini and Absalom Shabangu to court. Nkhaba is the home area for both the judge and the ETVA boss. In the court papers, the judge has been cited as an adult male of Nkhaba and his position is also mentioned. The bone of contention emanates from a chieftaincy dispute in the area that has been dragging for some years. The faction that consists of Sgcoko claims that a family council unanimously agreed to designate Mandla Napoleon Dlamini as the Chief while the judges group wants Mbuso Dlamini.

Warriors

It is alleged that the Judge Majahenkhaba-led faction has followers comprising of men called libutfo (warriors) and women. According to Indvuna Kunene, the warriors were a risk and potential danger to the peace and stability not only to the chiefdom, but also to the entire nation, which is otherwise known for peace and stability. On or about January 26, 2020, while our inner council, through a standing practice introduced by the acting chief, that each and every year we start the year with a prayer, the respondents came to the prayer session at or around the cattle byre to disrupt the prayer meeting, submitted Indvuna Kunene. He alleged that the judge and the three others came with a contingent of 10 to 12 men and women to the prayer service that was held outside the cattle byre.

Disrupt

Kunene, who holds himself as the rightful Indvuna of the area, alleged that the judge and his cohort had on three occasions forced their way into the chiefs residence to disrupt and/or hold meetings in full view of people who had restrained themselves from a possible bloody confrontation. On October 12, 2019, the respondents came leading a contingent of their followers and bulldozed their way into the chiefs residence cattle byre despite the inner council and my resistance. They slaughtered a cow, got Mbuso Dlamini shown to the people as chief designate and performed installation traditions in full view of everyone.


Tamatem, an Amman, Jordan-based mobile games publisher in the Arabic speaking market, raised $3.5M in Series A follow-on funding round.

The round was led by existing investor Wamda Capital, with participation from Modern Electronics Company (a subsidiary of AlFaisaliah Group) and North Base Media.

The company intends to use the funds to double down on its efforts in the region, and to expand beyond the MENA to underserved markets worldwide. In 2020, Tamatem will grow the marketing scale of their existing titles, including through offline events. In addition, they will open its offices in Riyadh.

Led by CEO Hussam Hammo, Tamatem is a mobile games publisher in the Arabic speaking market, working with developers from all over the world to expand their reach in the market. Following success in the Arabic speaking market- with over 75 million downloads, 3.5 million monthly active users and a $2.5MM venture round in 2018, the company will be publishing titles in other emerging and underserved markets.

FinSMEs

17/02/2020
By Asif Shahzad

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan is likely to import insecticides from arch-rival India to brace itself for any locust attacks this summer, bypassing a ban on trade between the neighbouring nations.

A copy of Cabinet agenda for a Tuesday meeting seen by Reuters has the import option on it.

Pakistan severed all diplomatic and trade ties with New Delhi in August after India revoked the special status of Kashmir, a disputed territory between the two rivals, who have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan region.

"Yes definitely, there is a fear of locust attack in June- July, this is the reason we are planning and preparing in advance," Dr Falak Naz, Director General Department of Plant Protection, Ministry of National Food Security and Research, told Reuters.

China, currently battling the coronavirus outbreak, is the other place from where Pakistan can import the insecticides.

Pakistan declared a national emergency over locust swarms early this month after the food ministry gave a briefing to parliament, warning that the country was facing the worst locust infestation in two decades.

Desert locusts, large herbivores which resemble grasshoppers, are said to have arrived in Pakistan from Iran, and have already damaged maze, cotton, wheat and other crops.

Khusro Bakhtiar, the national food security minister, quoted by local English language newspaper The Express Tribune, said in the briefing that the locust swarm was currently on the Pakistan-India border.

"Action has been taken against the insect over 0.3 million acres (121,400 hectares) and aerial spray was done on 20,000 hectares," he said.

Swarms of desert locusts have invaded eastern Africa, ravaging crops, decimating pasture and deepening a hunger crisis. United Nations says hundreds of millions of the insects have swept over the Horn of Africa in the worst outbreak in a quarter of a century.

(Writing by Asif Shahzad; Additional Reporting by Syed Raza Hasan in Karachi, Pakistan; Editing by Toby Chopra)
Accusing the president of authoritarian tactics once seemed exaggerated. Now it is a fair description of the days news. A pattern of presidential misbehavior has become a crisis in the rule of law. Those who ignore Trumps actions may think they are staying in the shadows, but they are actually in the hot spotlight of history. Every Republican who has lectured others on their insufficient respect for the Constitution now has the chance to defend the constitutional order from the despotic populism the founders most feared. But nearly all of them have failed. When the moment of testing came, they were absent without leave.
A pavement made of bouncy material that could save 'thousands of lives' is in development.

Nearly 100,000 people a year in England suffer hip fractures, and falls are the most common cause of deaths from injury in those over 75.

However, a pavement surface  more than half of which is made of recycled rubber tyres  could reduce injuries for those who lose their footing.

A bouncy pavement made of of recycled rubber tyres that could save 'thousands of lives' is in development (stock image)

It works similarly to the material in the ground in play areas, which prevents broken bones if children topple from swings or slides.

But the new type of asphalt, presented at the annual conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Seattle, is durable enough to cope with pedestrians.

On a conventional road surface, a fall from just eight inches carries a 90 per cent risk of head injury, and a 55 per cent risk that it will be severe.

But safety tests show the impact-absorbing surface drastically reduces this. It is being tested in Sweden, and is hoped to be rolled out around the world.

Professor Cesare Sangiorgi, of the University of Bologna in Italy, who is part of a team developing the material, said: 'My mother, who is 75, told me she wasn't going out because it was chilly and she was scared she might fall.

'But if people fall on our pavement, they are less likely to suffer injuries because the severity will be substantially reduced.'

It works similarly to the material in the ground in play areas, which prevents broken bones if children topple from swings or slides (stock image)

Dr Viveca Wallqvist, of RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, said: 'Thousands of lives could be saved by this surface, both in the UK and other countries.'

Pavements are 95 per cent an 'aggregate' of crushed rock, sand and gravel, and 5 per cent bitumen, a thick tar-like material taken from crude oil. Scientists changed the recipe to make asphalt whose volume is 60 per cent rubber from recycled tyres.

It is part of a project called SaferUp, which is EU-funded at a cost of around 200,000.

Caroline Abrahams, of charity Age UK, said: 'Falls are a major hazard to older people, so anything we can do to lessen the severity of the injuries they cause is definitely worth exploring.'
The #MeToo movement caught national attention at the end of 2017 after allegations against media mogul Harvey Weinstein sparked a national conversation about sexual harassment and sexual assault.

The following year, New Jerseys four-year college campuses saw a 15% increase in rape reports and a 47% increase in fondling allegations, according to an NJ Advance Media review of campus security data.

There were 166 rape allegations at the states 28 residential, four-year colleges and universities in 2018, the latest available data in annual campus crime reports published by the schools.

That is 15% more rape reports than in 2017 and 50% more reports than in 2015, according to NJ Advance Medias review.

New Jerseys campuses also received 94 reports of fondling, 247 domestic violence complaints, 127 reports of stalking, 45 dating violence complaints and six statutory rape reports in 2018, the data shows.

It is unclear if the increases in rape and fondling allegations are related to the #MeToo movement or to efforts by many college campuses to make it easier for students to file reports and receive counseling.

The reality of this isnt that sexual violence on campus is necessarily occurring any more often than it did in years prior, but rather that students on campus are becoming more comfortable reporting the harassment and assault theyre experiencing, said Marissa Marzano, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

The increase in reports could mean students have more clarity about how to report sexual violence on campus, Marzano said.

Here are the number of reported incidents at each of New Jerseys four-year colleges with residential campuses in 2018. They are listed from the campuses with the most reported rapes to the least:

Rowan University

Enrollment: 19,465

Rapes: 21 (compared to 13 the previous year)

Fondling: 11

Dating violence: 0

Domestic violence: 70

Stalking: 56

Rutgers University- New Brunswick/ Piscataway

Enrollment: 50,254

Rapes: 15 (compared to 30 the previous year)

Fondling: 6

Dating violence: 0

Domestic violence: 49

Stalking: 5

Stockton University

Enrollment: 9,621

Rapes: 15 (compared to 6 the previous year)

Fondling: 7

Dating violence: 0

Domestic violence: 22

Stalking: 10

Princeton University

Enrollment: 8,374

Rapes: 13 (compared to 12 the previous year)

Fondling: 21

Dating violence: 2

Domestic violence: 1

Stalking: 4

Ramapo College

Enrollment: 6,174

Rapes: 13 (compared to 10 the previous year)

Fondling: 3

Dating violence: 4

Domestic violence: 3

Stalking: 9

Rutgers-Newark

Enrollment: 13,451

Rapes: 12* (compared to 3 the previous year)

*(1 of the 12 reports was determined to be unfounded, the school said.)

Fondling: 3

Dating violence: 0

Domestic violence: 19

Stalking: 0

Montclair State University

Enrollment: 21,115

Rapes: 9 (compared to 9 the previous year)

Fondling: 1

Dating violence: 7

Domestic violence: 15

Stalking: 3

The College of New Jersey

Enrollment: 7,686

Rapes: 7 (compared to 5 the previous year)

Fondling: 3

Dating violence: 6

Domestic violence: 0

Stalking: 1

Seton Hall University

Enrollment: 10,162

Rapes: 7 (compared to 4 the previous year)

Fondling: 4

Dating violence: 3

Domestic violence: 0

Stalking: 4

Kean University

Enrollment: 14,056

Rapes: 6 (compared to 7 the previous year)

Fondling: 4

Dating violence: 3

Domestic violence: 2

Stalking: 0

Stevens Institute of Technology

Enrollment: 6,929

Rapes: 6 (compared to 6 the previous year)

Fondling: 0

Dating violence: 5

Domestic violence: 1

Stalking: 3

Drew University

Enrollment: 2,263

Rapes: 6 (compared to 5 the previous year)

Fondling: 5

Dating violence: 1

Domestic violence: 1

Stalking: 3

Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences- Newark campus

Enrollment: 6,900

Rapes: 6* (compared to 0 the previous year)

*(2 of the 6 were determined to be unfounded, the schools said.)

Fondling: 5

Dating violence: 0

Domestic violence: 17

Stalking: 0

William Paterson University

Enrollment: 10,198

Rapes: 5 (compared to 4 the previous year)

Statutory rape: 1

Fondling: 6

Dating violence: 5

Domestic violence: 1

Stalking: 4

Monmouth University

Enrollment: 6,167

Rapes: 4 (compared to 9 the previous year)

Statutory rapes: 5 (All involved the same victim at a summer camp, the school said.)

Fondling: 1

Dating violence: 0

Domestic violence: 8

Stalking: 0

Fairleigh Dickinson University- Florham campus

Enrollment: 3,400

Rapes: 4 (compared to 5 the previous year)

Fondling: 1

Dating violence: 1

Domestic violence: 4

Stalking: 1

Georgian Court University

Enrollment: 2,458

Rapes: 4 (compared to 3 the previous year)

Fondling: 0

Dating violence: 1

Domestic violence: 0

Stalking: 0

Centenary University

Enrollment: 1,802

Rapes: 4 (compared to 2 the previous year)

Fondling: 1

Dating violence: 0

Domestic violence: o

Stalking: 0

Caldwell University

Enrollment: 2,189

Rapes: 3 (compared to 1 the previous year)

Fondling: 2

Dating violence: 1

Domestic violence: 1

Stalking: 0

Saint Peters University

Enrollment: 3,452

Rapes: 2 (compared to 1 the previous year)

Fondling: 0

Dating violence: 0

Domestic violence: 1

Stalking: 1

Felician University

Enrollment: 2,004

Rapes: 1 (compared to 0 the previous year)

Fondling: 3

Dating violence: 2

Domestic violence: 0

Stalking: 1

New Jersey Institute of Technology

Enrollment: 11,423

Rapes: 1 (compared to 2 the previous year)

Fondling: 0

Dating violence: 0

Domestic violence: 2

Stalking: 2

Rider University

Enrollment: 4,824

Rapes: 1 (compared to 2 the previous year)

Fondling: 4

Dating violence: 0

Domestic violence: 11

Stalking: 3

Fairleigh Dickinson University- Metropolitan campus

Enrollment: 6,464

Rapes: 1 (compared to 0 the previous year)

Fondling: 0

Dating violence: 0

Domestic violence: 1

Stalking: 0

Rutgers-Camden

Enrollment: 7,171

Rapes: 0 (compared to 3 the previous year)

Fondling: 0

Dating violence: 0

Domestic violence: 14

Stalking: 1

Bloomfield College

Enrollment: 1,685

Rapes: 0 (compared to 2 the previous year)

Fondling: 0

Dating violence: 3

Domestic violence: 4

Stalking: 0

New Jersey City University

Enrollment: 7,991

Rapes: 0 (compared to 0 the previous year)

Fondling: 3

Dating violence: 0

Domestic violence: 0

Stalking: 10

College of Saint Elizabeth

Enrollment: 1,186

Rapes: 0 (compared to 0 the previous year)

Fondling: 0

Dating violence: 1

Domestic violence: 0

Stalking: 1

Where do these numbers come from?

Jeanne Clery, a Lehigh University student, was raped and murdered in her dorm room in 1986 in a case that prompted advocates to call for safer campuses and more transparency.

Colleges are required by a federal law named after Clery to publish their campus crime statistics every year. The 2018 numbers were distributed to students this school year.

Several years ago, the law was amended to require colleges to break out how many sexual offenses on campus were classified as rapes to give students a clearer picture of safety at their schools.

Neither the state nor the federal government tracks how many campus crimes there are in New Jersey each year. NJ Advance Media reviewed reports from each of the states four-year colleges with residential campuses to calculate the statewide totals.

The numbers include alleged crimes reported on campus, including in dorms. The totals also include the areas immediately surrounding a campus, including public property and land and facilities not owned by the school.

Why do some colleges have high numbers of rapes while others have none?

Rowan University had more rape reports than any other four-year school in New Jersey in 2018, according to the data. The Glassboro-based public university received 21 rape reports in 2018, compared to 13 the previous year.

Rutgers Universitys New Brunswick/ Piscataway campus had the second highest number of rape reports with 15, compared to 30 the previous year.

At the bottom of the list, the College of Saint Elizabeth, New Jersey City University, Bloomfield College and Rutgers-Camden had no rape reports in 2018.

Rowan and Rutgers-New Brunswick are among the largest universities in the state, so their numbers could be a reflection of their size and their high number of dorms.

Rowan officials said the 21 rape reports, 70 domestic violence complaints, 56 stalking reports and 11 fondling allegations on their campus in 2018 could also be a result of resources to support alleged victims and encourage reporting.

At Rowan, we actively raise awareness about the prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses and highlight all of the resources and support available to victims that they can help reduce the rate of incidence and help those affected begin to heal, said Joe Cardona, Rowans vice president for university relations. Clearly, more work needs to be done at all of New Jerseys colleges and universities.

At Rutgers, school officials said they launched a campaign in 2016 to increase student awareness about sexual violence resources. Campus police were given new training and more victim assistance centers opened.

At Rutgers-Newark, a new Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance office opened in 2017. The following year, the number of reported rapes at Rutgers-Newark quadrupled to 12, though one of the cases was later determined to be a false report, according to the campus crime report.

The university believes the increase in the number of reported sexual assaults at some of our locations and the decreases at other locations since that time reflects our ongoing efforts to raise awareness about sexual violence resources, and we are encouraged that those seeking help have connected with these resources, Rutgers officials said in a statement.

What is considered rape or fondling?

College campuses are required to use the federal description of crimes when classifying reports of rape, fondling, dating violence and other crimes for their campus crime reports.

A rape of a woman or a man is defined as the penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus, with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.

Fondling is defined as "the touching of the private body parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification, without the consent of the victim, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her age or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental incapacity."

Dating violence is sexual or physical abuse by someone in a relationship, including the threat of violence, according to the federal definition.

Monmouth and William Paterson universities also reported statutory rape cases in 2019. Those cases, which involved people allegedly having sex with minors under 16, are considered non-forcible offenses and are counted in a separate category from rape on the campus crime reports.

Was anyone arrested for these alleged rapes?

The campus crime data provided by the colleges only details how many reports were made on campus. The crime reports do not say if anyone was arrested for the alleged rapes or if the cases ever made it to trial.

Are these numbers accurate?

The colleges self-report the crime statistics and critics say there is no independent reviews to make sure they are accurate. Sexual assault prevention advocates also say campus rape statistics only provide a narrow window into the campus climate.

Whenever we see official reports, we know its often only the tip of the iceberg. Sexual violence remains the most vastly underreported crime. Some students will simply never feel safe reporting their victimization to authorities on- or off-campus," said Marzano, the spokeswoman for the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

The best thing we can do is continue to create communities where every person feels their reported experience will be handled with the care and attention that it deserves, she said.

Read more about sexual misconduct in New Jersey:

--Rutgers refuses to investigate some sexual harassment claims. Are students at risk?

--Rutgers finally investigating more sexual harassment complaints. But critics say change is coming slowly.

--#MeToo was supposed to fix things. But women in N.J. politics say theyve been groped, harassed -- and worse.

--Tell us your stories about sexual harassment in N.J. politics, says new committee looking for solutions

Tell us your experiences with allegations of sexual misconduct in New Jersey: Heres how to share your story.

Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KellyHeyboer. Find her at KellyHeyboerReporter on Facebook.
When given a choice Saturday, the Onondaga County Democratic Committee chose a candidate for Congress whos more closely aligned with the politics of party moderates than progressive activists.

Francis Conole, 41, an Iraq war veteran and Navy commander from Syracuse, won on the first ballot at the committees designating convention, capturing 54 percent of the vote over two challengers.

In doing so, committee members rejected their pick of two years ago, Dana Balter. In 2018, she went on to win the Democratic primary election with the help of 1,900 volunteers and the backing of grassroots and progressive groups who organized as part of the local Indivisible movement.

Conole pulled off the upset Saturday over Balter and a third candidate, Roger Misso, 31, a Navy veteran and native of Red Creek in Wayne County, with the help of some of the top names in local Democratic politics from the past and present.

Onondaga County Comptroller Marty Masterpole, the only Democrat serving in countywide office, backed Conole.

Conole also won endorsements from four members of the Syracuse Common Council (Khalid Bey, Timothy Rudd, Pat Hogan and Latoya Allen) and Onondaga County Legislators Chris Ryan, Peggy Chase and Bill Kinne.

Tom Young, who served two terms as Syracuse mayor, and former state Assemblyman Joe Nicoletti, were among Conoles early supporters.

Conole won the endorsements while touting a mix of moderate and progressive policies aimed at lowering the costs for healthcare and prescription drugs, addressing climate change and taking the influence of money out of politics.

His support for making Medicare for All an option, allowing people to keep their private health insurance, helped earn him the support of the only local labor union to endorse in the race  Iron Workers Local 60.

Balter supports establishing Medicare for All in a phased process that would place most Americans on a government-run insurance program. She would not eliminate private insurance companies.

Despite those differences, Balter, Conole and Misso agree on the basic outlines of most issues. All three supported the impeachment of President Donald Trump and oppose the Republican tax reforms passed by Congress in 2017.

Now Conole says his focus will be to unite the Democratic Party across the four-county 24th Congressional District in advance of the June 23 primary election.

Conole won the party designation from Democratic committees in Onondaga and Cayuga counties, representing more than 80 percent of the active Democratic voters in the district.

Balter, 43, of Syracuse, won the Democratic designation in Oswego County and vowed Saturday that she would force a primary election. (Wayne County decided not to designate a candidate.) Misso plans to announce the future of his campaign on Wednesday.

Balter said she has the best chance of beating Rep. John Katko, R-Camillus, in the November election. She plans to run on her record from 2018, when she built a large volunteer network and had the unanimous backing of Indivisible and Democratic activist groups.

Balter ultimately won more votes than Katko in Onondaga County, but she lost the election by 5 percentage points as Katko won decisively in Cayuga, Oswego and Wayne counties.

Conole said in an interview Monday that he will spend the upcoming weeks trying to unite Democrats across the district behind his candidacy. He said his message of unity will extend beyond the party to all Central New Yorkers.

I think were coming out of a dark period for our country, Conole said. Ive spent a lifetime leading and bringing together people from all backgrounds. You dont ask someone when youre serving in the military if youre a Democrat or a Republican. You just focus on the mission and getting the job done.

The next test for Conole and Balter will be to gain enough signatures on nominating petitions to make it onto the June 23 primary ballot. Candidates can begin passing petitions Feb. 25.

Conole will have an advantage in the petition process. As the candidate designated by the Democratic Party in Onondaga and Cayuga counties, party committee members will pass petitions and use their resources to help Conole.

In 2018, the local Democratic party committees helped Balter pass petitions. But the national party endorsed and passed petitions for Syracuse lawyer Juanita Perez Williams. Balter won the primary election by about 20 percentage points.

Read more

Francis Conole wins Onondaga County Dems designation to challenge Katko

Dana Balter plans to challenge Francis Conole in Democratic primary for Congress

Rep. John Katko starts 2020 campaign with $1 million edge over Democrats

Contact Mark Weiner: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751

Thanks for visiting Syracuse.com. Quality local journalism has never been more important, and your subscription matters. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Monday, February 17, is Presidents Day in the United States.

In general, most people are aware that its a day set aside to honor the Americans who have served as our presidents throughout our nations history. But for many Americans, this holiday represents little more than an opportunity to relax at home or get out of town for an extended weekend.

Yet Presidents Day also celebrates a remarkable fact of our nations history that every American should be proud of: for 244 years, power has been transferred peacefully from one United States President to the next 44 times. This is not a power line determined by birth or military power, but by the people.

The history of Presidents Day begins, appropriately, with our first president, George Washington.

In September 1796, worn out by burdens of the presidency and attacks of political foes, George Washington announced his decision not to seek a third term. Washington knew that as the first ruler of our new nation he would have the once-in-a-generation opportunity to set a historic precedent for the Executive Office. With the history of lifelong rulerships of kings back in England, Washington believed a president should not view the office as a lifelong appointment but rather as a term of service to ones nation. So, after serving two terms as president of our early nation, he announced he would not seek a third term as president.

With the assistance of Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, Washington composed in a Farewell Address his political testament to the nation. Washingtons address included his carefully thought out counsel to the American people as they would ensure the success of the great American experiment. He wanted to remind them that religion and morality must remain the foundation and the fabric of our society:

Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them.

He also added:

And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle. It is substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule indeed extends with more or less force to every species of free government. Who that is a sincere friend to it can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric?

Because of George Washingtons example, the Twenty-Second Amendment establishing a two-term limit on the office of the President would eventually be added to the U.S. Constitution.

Since 1896, Washingtons Farewell Address has been read on the floor of the Senate by a United States Senator. This takes place close to Presidents Day each year, on February 22, commemorating Washingtons birthday. The member selected to read the address alternates between political parties.

The 7,641 word speech serves as a powerful reminder to serve our nation as George Washington did  sacrificially and to unite on the foundational principles that birthed our nation.

We cannot forget Washingtons strong charge to us  to cherish religion and morality because it is upon those pillars that the security of our nation rests.
On its face, Donald Trump's remark to Fox News personality Sean Hannity about the African-American poverty rate was just another bold pronouncement. But, as often is the case, a review of his government's own data suggest it was something of a whopper -- even by his standards.

"I mean you see what's going on.There's a revolution going on in this country. I mean a positive revolution. So African-American, Hispanic-American, Asian-American, we have the best numbers we've ever had. African-American, the poverty numbers are now reversed," the president said in an interview that aired before the Super Bowl on February 2.

"And they're the best that they've ever had," Mr Trump said.

Politifact, a nonpartisan fact-checking organisation, has deemed the president's claims of record-low minority unemployment rates to be accurate. But his claim about the African-American poverty rate being "reversed" is challenged by data compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau.

In 2018, the latest year for which the agency has released poverty figures, 20.8 per cent of the group was considered unemployed. That's down from a 21.2 per cent rate in 2017, Mr Trump's first as president.

A decline, with another expected in 2019, for sure. But a "reverse"?

The Democratic field of presidential hopefuls have a different assessment.

"We're also getting a lot of questions from black voters about a vision and an agenda for black Americans, at a time when we have seen all of the ways in which systemic racism has persisted and led to a different American experience for so many black Americans, on everything from how you experience the economy, to the health care system, to the criminal legal system, to our democracy itself," Pete Buttigieg, former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said this week.

Mr Buttigieg, however, has drawn criticism for his claims that the black poverty rate in his city "fell by more than half" during his mayorship. The nonpartisan organisation Politifact rated that claim "mostly false" because when looking at "five-year estimates with greater reliability, shows a decline of about 6 per cent."

Still, that Mr Trump and Mr Buttigieg are talking so much about African-American poverty rates shows it likely will remain a big issue in the presidential race.

In the Hannity one-on-one and other public remarks, Mr Trump's often gives himself and his administration sole credit for the declining poverty rate among African-Americans and other minority groups.

"Just as I promised during my campaign, we're fighting every day to expand opportunity for African-American communities all across our country. African-American youth, we have such great news on African American youth, unemployment has reached its lowest level ever recorded," Mr Trump told GOP governors at the White House earlier this month. "It's a great statistic.

"African-American poverty rates have plummeted to their lowest rate ever in history," he said. "And wages for African-American workers have increased $2,400 a year. That's also a record."

And on January 24, Mr Trump told this to a group of mayors during an event at the White House: "We've lifted 650,000 single mothers and 1.4 million children out of poverty. True. Ten million people have been lifted off of welfare in less than three years."

But, at least when it comes to the African-American unemployment rate, it has been dropping since 2011.

Barack Obama was president then. In fact, he had not even begun to seriously seek his eventual second term when 27.6 percent of blacks were considered unemployed.

Mr Trump leaves that statistic out.

He also excludes another data point: The largest one-year decline, a 2.1 per cent drop, since 2011 occurred twice: between 2014 and 2015, then again between 2015 and 2016.

Both were under Mr Obama's watch.

What's more, experts suggest that diving deeper inside economic and other data than the president does in his election-year rhetoric about unemployment rates shows a much less rosy picture.

"In America, race and poverty are intertwined, doubly disadvantaging black students," according to Emma Garcia of the Economic Policy Institute.

"A black child faces a very high probability of ending up in a school where a majority of her peers are both poor and students of colour. While less than 1 in 10 white students attend high-poverty schools with a high share of students of colour, six in 10 black students do," according to Garcia. "In contrast, about a fourth of white students attend schools where most of their peers are white and not poor, while only 3.1 per cent of black children attend such schools."

But a senior administration official echoed Mr Trump, who often repeats claims true, false and somewhere in the middle until his supporters repeat them.

"The numbers don't lie: All Americans are winning under President Trump," the senior official said. "African-Americans under President Trump are lifting themselves from poverty at record setting levels because they are employed at record highs and enjoy a boom in wage growth."
Scientists have created one of the most detailed maps of breast cancer ever achieved, revealing how genetic changes shape the physical tumour landscape, according to research funded by Cancer Research UK and published in Nature Cancer today (Monday).

An international team of scientists*, brought together by an ambitious 20 million Grand Challenge award from Cancer Research UK, has developed intricate maps of breast tumour samples, with a resolution smaller than a single cell.

These maps show how the complex cancer landscape - made up of cancer cells, immune cells and connective tissue - varies between and within tumours, depending on their genetic makeup.

This technique could one day provide doctors with an unparalleled wealth of information about each patient's tumour upon diagnosis, allowing them to match each patient with the best course of treatment for them.

In the future, it could also be used to analyse tumours during treatment, allowing doctors to see in unprecedented detail how tumours are responding to drugs or radiotherapy. They could then modify treatments accordingly, to give each patient the best chance of beating the disease.

Dr Raza Ali, lead author of the study and junior group leader at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, said: "At the moment, doctors only look for a few key markers to understand what type of breast cancer someone has. But as we enter an era of personalised medicine, the more information we have about a patient's tumour, the more targeted and effective we can make their treatment."

The researchers studied 483 different tumour samples, collected as part of the Cancer Research UK funded METABRIC study, a project that has already revolutionised our understanding of the disease by revealing that there are at least 11 different subtypes of breast cancer.

The team looked within the samples for the presence of 37 key proteins, indicative of the characteristics and behaviour of cancer cells. Using a technique called imaging mass cytometry, they produced detailed images, which revealed precisely how each of the 37 proteins were distributed across the tumour.

The researchers then combined this information with vast amounts of genetic data from each patient's sample to further enhance the image resolution. This is the first time imaging mass cytometry has been paired with genomic data.

These tumour 'blueprints' expose the distribution of different types of cells, their individual characteristics and the interactions between them.

By matching these pictures of tumours to clinical information from each patient, the team also found that the technique could be used to predict how someone's cancer might progress and respond to different treatments.

Professor Carlos Caldas, co-author of the study from the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, said: "We've shown that the effects of mutations in cancer are far more wide-ranging than first thought.

"They affect how cancer cells interact with their neighbours and other types of cell, influencing the entire structure of the tumour."

The research was funded by Cancer Research UK's Grand Challenge initiative. By providing international, multidisciplinary teams with 20 million grants, this initiative aims to solve the biggest challenges in cancer.

Dr David Scott, director of Grand Challenge at Cancer Research UK said: "This team is making incredible advances, helping us to peer into a future when breast cancer treatments are truly personalised.

"There's still a long way to go before this technology reaches patients, but with further research and clinical trials, we hope to unlock its powerful potential."

###

Notes to editor:

*The researchers where based at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge, the University of Zurich, Switzerland and the British Columbia Cancer Research Centre, Canada.

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in the UK, with around 55,200 new cases each year. 78% women diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK survive their disease for 10 years or more.

About Cancer Research UK

Cancer Research UK is the world's leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research.

Cancer Research UK's pioneering work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has helped save millions of lives.

Cancer Research UK receives no funding from the UK government for its life-saving research. Every step it makes towards beating cancer relies on vital donations from the public.

Cancer Research UK has been at the heart of the progress that has already seen survival in the UK double in the last 40 years.

Today, 2 in 4 people survive their cancer for at least 10 years. Cancer Research UK's ambition is to accelerate progress so that by 2034, 3 in 4 people will survive their cancer for at least 10 years.

Cancer Research UK supports research into all aspects of cancer through the work of over 4,000 scientists, doctors and nurses.

Together with its partners and supporters, Cancer Research UK's vision is to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured.

For further information about Cancer Research UK's work or to find out how to support the charity, please call 0300 123 1022 or visit http://www.cancerresearchuk.org. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
A FORMER teacher who retrained as a psychotherapist after losing her father is helping people overcome their mental health difficulties by introducing them to her horses.

Sally Hudson practises equine therapy, which she says can help you get in touch with your true feelings when conventional talking treatments havent helped.

The 50-year-old, from Sonning, holds 90-minute sessions at a paddock in Waltham St Lawrence, where her mares Pica, 20, and Stylish, 30, are stabled.

Clients first discuss their troubles with her before entering the paddock to interact with the horses, which can involve petting, grooming or walking alongside them.

They can visit at any time of year, although the warmer months are typically more popular.

Ms Hudson observes the clients interactions with the horses while chatting to them about their feelings.

Often the way they relate to the horses can reflect the difficulties they have faced with people and they feel free to express emotions which they have been bottling up.

Ms Hudson, who has owned and ridden horses recreationally since she was a child, said: Horses are herd animals and therefore highly sensitive to relationships because their survival depends on understanding each others needs and looking after one another.

When we walk into a field theyre naturally curious about us and without any judgement at all.

They want us to feel safe because that makes them feel safe, so their presence naturally lowers our defences. Its a very natural way of working.

The horses can instinctively pick up on whats going on with us and help regulate our emotions without us realising.

Its the same as being outside in nature  its where we were meant to be, hence why we feel better after going for a walk.

It brings things up from deep within which the client can talk about with me and this links their problems to the more developed human part of the brain.

People often feel really judged by humans but horses dont care what you look like, how you smell or how youre dressed.

You can just go in and be yourself, which is very helpful for people whove been traumatised in relationships with others.

Ms Hudson was born in Holyport, near Maidenhead, and moved to Worcestershire when she was six. She trained as a personal assistant and worked in Australia and America, among other countries, before moving to Switzerland to teach English as a foreign language.

She returned to the UK in 2005 when her father Edward was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer and cared for him alongside her mother Jane, who now lives in Hampshire, until he died later that year.

Ms Hudson started seeing a psychotherapist in 2009 after becoming mired in grief and after six months she was finding it so useful that she began studying a diploma at the Centre for Counselling and Psychotherapy Education in London.

She qualified four years later and decided to pursue a masters degree in the subject straight afterwards.

She finished this in 2014 by which time she was living in this area and had Stylish, a former polo horse from New Zealand, and another horse called Buster who has since died.

She researched and wrote her masters dissertation on the benefits of equine therapy by working outside with clients alongside her regular therapy work, which she still practises from a London office and in Sonning.

In 2017 she bought Pica, another former polo horse, from Argentina, and also became a qualified practioner of mindfulness, a discipline which reduces stress by encouraging people to only pay attention to the present moment.

Ms Hudson said: In my younger years I always felt like I was in the wrong movie and thought finding my place in the world was all about the external search, so I did a lot of travelling and lived abroad for a long time.

I was experiencing this intense grief after my father died and didnt really know how to handle it or whether I would ever feel different again.

I realised I needed support to work through it and thrive rather than just being stuck in survival mode. The therapy taught me that life is about the internal search and I enjoyed the process of self-discovery so much that I decided to study it.

Ms Hudson says one client, a teenage girl who was being homeschooled following a period of severe bullying, had a moment of revelation when Pica suddenly walked away to investigate a noise which had startled her.

She said: As soon as Pica turned around, I could sense that this girls energy had plummeted so I asked what was happening.

She told me, I dont like it when people turn away from me because I always feel like Ive done something wrong. Its a great example of an interaction that allows us to unpick whats going on.

As she started to get her energy back, Pica returned and was calm because the noise wasnt a threat so they were both more content.

In another session, a client was stroking the horse with a big smile on her face and they were very close together. I could sense a slight nervousness underneath so I asked her if everything was okay and she said yes.

I asked again and she said she was feeling a bit crowded so I asked what she could do to change that and she stepped back while the horse stayed in the same place.

She had the powerful realisation that she never usually took a step back in her relationships and may not have realised that just from talking.

Horses are masters of emotional agility  they dont ruminate about the past or worry about the future as we do. They live completely in the moment so if they feel any fear they will flee, then shake the feeling off when the danger passes and go back to grazing.

Ms Hudson says talking can still have benefits but there is a growing awareness that different methods work for different people.

She said: We have a much better understanding of the neuroscience of healing, which involves the whole body. You have to find the right treatment at the right time but equine therapy means our insights are deeply felt and not just talked about. We are human beings yet so often were human doings and rarely take the time to simply exist among nature. Were constantly overloaded by information and under so much pressure  technology can be great but it has a dark side and we need to be able to give ourselves space.

I had one client whod been in therapy for a number of years but when they did an equine session they realised it was all about getting in touch with your body instead of thinking youve got to be perfect.

We often want to fix ourselves to meet an ideal but were all works in progress.

Ms Hudson says looking after the horses benefits her too.

She said: Ill come back from a long day in London and sit with the horses while they feed, which is sometimes by moonlight if it has been a long day, and that gentle munching sound among the silence of the countryside is a really good way of balancing myself after long hours on the M40 or the M4.

Ive always loved horses but wasnt conscious of how helpful they are when I was younger.

Any horse is suitable for the therapy  with my two, Pica wears her heart on her sleeve and does a lot of the interacting but Stylish still has an important role to play. She will often be standing a little way off and bringing an enormous presence to the process.

She did some incredible work with a client whose father had died and she couldnt access her grief. Her father had loved horses but she was frightened of them and couldnt understand his love for them.

She arranged a session even though she was afraid and when she went into the paddock, it was Stylish who came up to her first.

She has an almost maternal presence and just dropped her head and breathed around her heart area and within two minutes the tears were rolling down her cheeks.

She said she got it at last and was able to access her grief while understanding more about her father.

Ms Hudson would like to have a bigger plot and more horses.

She said: There are so many unwanted horses out there and I like the idea of being able to provide a home for a small herd so that they can help us find a home inside ourselves.

I once saw a lovely illustration which said home isnt always a place and I think thats very true.
F ourteen US citizens, who were passengers of the Diamond Princess cruise ship, have tested positive for coronavirus as they were evacuated home from Japan.

More than 300 US citizens are being repatriated after spending almost a fortnight isolated on the ship off the coast of Yokohama in Japan since February 3.

The ship has become one of the focal points of the outbreaks as 3,500 people were quarantined on the ship while hundreds fell ill with the Covid-19 virus.

Passengers were finally given the green light to disembark the ship over the last few days.

US passengers on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship, who have chosen to leave, are transported by shuttle bus in Yokohama to Haneda airport / via REUTERS

During the evacuation process of US passengers, it emerged that 14 individuals had tested positive for coronavirus, the US State Department and the Department of Health and Human services said in a joint statement.

US officials were told of the results after the passengers had left the ship and were on the way to Haneda Airport in Tokyo, the statement added.

A US passenger thumbs up to reporters while arriving at the Haneda Airport, in Tokyo / AFP via Getty Images

The State Department said they made the decision to allow the infected individuals, who were in isolation and separated from other passengers, to continue their journey home to complete the evacuation process.

Two flights carrying the passengers were headed to Travis Air Force Base in northern California and Joint Base San Antonio in Texas.

A bus believed to carry the US passengers of the cruise ship Diamond Princess as they board a flight home. / REUTERS

They departed Japan on Sunday and are due to land in the US on Monday morning, where all passengers will go into a two-week quarantine at the respective military bases.

The statement read: "All passengers are being closely monitored by medical professionals throughout the flight, and any who become symptomatic will be moved to the specialised containment area, where they will be treated.

US passengers of the Diamond Princess cruise ship, who have chosen to leave, are seen in a chartered evacuation aircraft to fly back to the United States / via REUTERS

"Upon landing in the United States, passengers will deplane at either Travis AFB or Joint Base San Antonio and will remain under quarantine for 14 days.

"Passengers that develop symptoms in flight and those with positive test results will remain isolated on the flights and will be transported to an appropriate location for continued isolation and care.

"Every precaution to ensure proper isolation and community protection measures are being taken, driven by the most up-to-date risk assessments by US health authorities."

It comes as China announced a further 2,048 cases of the disease on Monday as the death toll rose by 105 to 1,770.
SmartDrive is a video-based safety program combining video safety, analytics, telematics, and compliance from a single box. The system tracks speed, throttle, g-forces, and acceleration. In addition to tracking these metrics, the SmartDrive team developed a program capable of merging the data with ELD technology, providing managers with a better understanding of driving performance.

The SmartDrive system allows our drivers to continuously improve through:



Access to video within minutes

Extended recording options

Interactive visualizations

Protection from all angles with a flexible camera

Video and vehicle data

We began to see results immediately after uniting with SmartDrive in 2014. Not only did our drivers change their habits by driving more carefully, but we witnessed a cultural shift throughout the company, said Matt Fridley, Corporate Manager of Safety, Health, and Security at Brenntag. In all aspects of their work, employees throughout the company became safer. We attribute 100% of this company-wide impact to SmartDrive.

At Brenntag, safety always comes first. Striving for zero accidents and incidents worldwide, we aim to set industry standards for safety measures. To ensure we hit our safety goals, over 1,200 camera system units were installed in our truck fleet in the United States. The renewed three-year contract will allow us to continue to focus on this implementation in 2020.

Throughout the course of our collaboration, Brenntag has experienced remarkable improvements to its bottom line and, most importantly, the safety of its employees, said Steve Mitgang, Chief Executive Officer at SmartDrive. Building and expanding on success to date, we are excited to continue driving measurable safety and operational gains across all divisions of Brenntag North America.

In July of 2019, Brenntag was awarded the SmartDrive Safety Ambassador Award, which recognizes individuals who champion safety within their fleet, demonstrating a passion to make our roads, their company, and their drivers as safe as possible.

About Brenntag:

Brenntag is the global market leader in chemical and ingredients distribution. We connect our suppliers and customers in value-adding partnerships. Our more than 16,600 employees provide tailor-made application, marketing and supply chain solutions. Technical and formulation support, market, industry and regulatory expertise as well as advanced digital tools are just some examples of our services that are aiming to create an excellent customer experience. Our full-line portfolio comprises specialty and industrial chemicals and ingredients of a world-class supplier base. Building on its long-standing experience, unmatched global reach and local excellence, Brenntag works closely alongside its partners to make their business more successful. We are committed to contribute towards greater sustainability in our own business and the industries we serve, and to achieve sustainable profitable growth. Headquartered in Essen (Germany) and with regional headquarters in Philadelphia, Houston and Singapore, Brenntag operates a unique global network with more than 580 locations in 76 countries and generated sales of EUR 12.6 billion (USD 14.8 billion) in 2018. Brenntag shares are traded at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (BNR).

For more information on Brenntag North America, please visit brenntagnorthamerica.com.

About SmartDrive Systems:

SmartDrive Systems gives fleets and drivers unprecedented driving performance insight and analysis, helping save fuel, expenses and lives. Its video safety, predictive analytics, telematics, compliance and personalized performance program help fleets improve driving skills, lower operating costs and deliver significant ROI. With an easy-to-use managed service, fleets and drivers can access and self-manage driving performance anytime, anywhere. The company, which is ranked as one of the fastest growing companies by Deloittes Technology Fast 500 for five consecutive years, has compiled the worlds largest storehouse of more than 250 million analyzed risky-driving events. SmartDrive Systems is based in San Diego, Calif., and employs over 725 people worldwide.

For more information on SmartDrive, please visit https://www.smartdrive.net/

Credits: The Brenntag and ConnectingChemistry logos are registered trademarks of Brenntag AG or its subsidiaries. Any other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
MBABANE  The National Budget delivered by the Minister of Finance, Neal Rijkenberg, seeks to fix the business environment, policies and provide opportunities for entrepreneurs.

This was a view by the Federation of Swazi Business Community (FESBC) Deputy President, Hezekial Mabuza. He said the budget had highlighted a number of opportunities to be explored by the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) such as renovations and construction. Given these opportunities that were outlined by Rijkenberg, Mabuza pleaded with government that the opportunities should be availed firstly to SMEs over international organisations. Parliament has to pass legislations and policies that will curb the outflow of revenue from the country so that it circulates at least 18 times for the country to generate revenue through tax collection and benefit local players, he said. Mabuza also noted that the Finance minister also outlined intentions to improve the economy and support SMEs. He said what was missing was the threshold which would curtail in tax reduction for entrepreneurs.

Benefitting

The tax threshold at the moment, according to Mabuza, was benefitting those bringing foreign direct investment (FDI). For example, he said, if an SME makes E50 000 profits per month, it should be tax-free so that the entrepreneur could re-invest that gain and improve their well-being and the economy. Currently, the benefit is higher for the FDI and local SMEs are financing the gap. Mabuza said his organisation was seeking that government also devise policies that would assist SMEs access finance. He said at the moment, some SMEs were being accessible to opportunities but were failing to explore them as there was minimal or no funding at all.

He said the access to finance would improve the business sectors prospects of exporting their produce. Mabuza said the export markets were critical for the country as they would contribute immensely to the Sothern African Customs Union (SACU) receipts apportioned to the country. "If we export our goods in the SACU region, the foreign currency and the tax contributions come into the country. The tax contributions are receipted in SACU and therefore, the country benefits.

He further implored entrepreneurs to source their raw materials in the SACU region to better the revenue allocated to the country. For this to be possible, Mabuza said, government had to realign policies and laws to favour such business prospects. Mabuza said the Empowerment Bill should explicitly state that any business engagement by government parastatals or ministries should at least have 25 per cent of its services and goods procured from local entrepreneurs.
Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello are both actors in Hollywood who are known for their good looks and on-screen talent. Vergara has been starring on Modern Family for 10 years now while Manganiello is recognized for his role on True Blood and the Magic Mike film series.

Although both Vergara and Manganiello are both quite accomplished, Vergara seems to be more well-known, especially in the press. As a result, some fans might be wondering whether Vergara could have a higher net worth than her husband. Read on below to find out the answer.

How Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello met

Sofia Vergara | Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Vergara and Manganiello first crossed paths in 2014 at the White House Correspondents Dinner. Vergara was actually engaged to businessman Nick Loeb at the time. However, she and Manganiello were suddenly linked to each other after a photo surfaced on the internet of Manganiello checking out her backside at the event.

That same month, Vergara suddenly called off her engagement and started seeing Manganiello. The pair went public with their relationship in August 2014.

Manganiello later admitted that he was, indeed, admiring Vergara at the dinner, but nothing happened between them until Vergara and her then-fiance broke up.

We had talked, I guess, or kinda bumped into each other but we didnt start dating until she was single, Manganiello said. She had a boyfriend at that time, so I probably couldve gotten into a fight for doing that. Im not trying to start a fight at the White House.

How Joe Manganiello proposed to Sofia Vergara

Vergara and Manganiellos relationship ended up moving rather quickly. They moved in together a few months after they started dating, and Manganiello proposed to Vergara in December 2014.

Manganiello later revealed that he went all out for the proposal and even recited a speech in Spanish for his Colombian-born partner.

I proposed to her on Christmas Eve, he told Haute Living. When you know, you know, and we knew right awaylike, very quickly. We had this big bay window [that I opened up], and the sun was going down pink over the mountains and over the bay, and I had this ring I had a whole speech prepared in Spanish. I proposed to her on one knee in Spanish with the sun going down. It was awesome.

Vergara and Manganiello got married in November 2015 in Palm Beach, Florida. It was a rather big event with about 400 people in attendance, including celebrities like Reese Witherspoon, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Vergaras Modern Family co-stars.

What Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiellos married life is like

After marrying Vergara, Manganiello became a step-father to her son, Manolo, who was born in 1992. Manolos father is reportedly Vergaras high school sweetheart.

Vergara and Manganiello do not currently have children together, but Vergara has shared that it could happen in the future.

She told The Edit: My husband is younger than me and he wants kids so were trying to figure out what were going to do. The idea of doing it all again doesnt scare me but, hey, its not like its going to happen naturally, is it?

Does Sofia Vergara have a higher net worth than Joe Manganiello?

Vergara has a net worth of $160 million. In 2018, she was even named Forbes highest-paid actress on television.

Meanwhile, Celebrity Net Worth estimates that Manganiello is worth around $16 million. It is definitely not a number to scoff at for many people, but Manganiellos net worth is no doubt not as high as his wifes.

Vergara and Manganiello live in a $10.6-million home in Beverly Hills. It boasts 11,400 square feet of residence, a home theater, and a home gym. The couple also has a beach house in the Bahamas.
Jill Karnicki, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

District 135 was a longtime Republican seat until 2018, when it flipped as part of the blue wave that swept across Harris County. Justin Ray, a former councilman and mayor of Jersey Village, is the best candidate to bring the seat back to the GOP.

Its going to be a large, widescale discussion of ideas and vision and philosophies, he told the Editorial Board. Its going to take people who want to work hard and engage with the voters, and Ive done that before.
The airline began operations in India in September 2004 and it has grown to become its second largest market after the UAE, carrying over 18 million passengers to and from the country.

Mumbai was the first route in the country to be served by Etihad and today the city ranks highest in terms of total passengers the airline has carried over the years, with the number exceeding 3.5 million. Owing to passenger demand on this route, Etihad introduced a fourth daily service to Mumbai last year, underscoring its commitment to offer guests greater choice and more travel options between Abu Dhabi and key destinations across its network. The cities of Delhi and Cochin rank second and third, with the airline carrying over 3.2 million and 2.3 million passengers on these routes respectively over the years. Etihad has also added a fourth daily frequency on its Delhi - Abu Dhabi route, to meet high demand on this sector.

Danny Barranger, Etihad Airways senior vice president global sales, said: Etihad Airways remains committed to its largest and busiest market, India. The UAE and India have shared strong commercial, cultural and historic relations and we will continue to honour these excellent trade and tourism ties through closer partnership with our friends in the Indian travel trade. We are proud that today Etihad Airways serves more destinations in India than any other country across its network, truly supporting the growth of air travel to and from the country.

Neerja Bhatia, Etihad Airways vice president, Indian Sub-continent said: India plays a crucial role in Etihad Airways growth strategy, contributing significantly to the airlines global operations and we are honoured to support demand in one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the world. Our unwavering commitment to the country over the last fifteen years has resulted in Etihad Airways becoming one of the most preferred airlines for travellers from India, and we will continue to offer guests unmatched hospitality and convenient access to destinations across the world.
Unaccounted cash worth Rs 3.75 crore and over 39 kg of gold and silver have been seized after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids in multiple cities against jewellers associated with an alleged gold-smuggling hawala racket, the probe agency said on Monday.

The raids were conducted at locations in Jaipur, Kolkata and Chennai under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), with the ED claiming that the action has led to detection of "huge evasion" of customs duty, GST as well as Income Tax.

"The ED received reliable input that Maharaja Jewellers (proprietor Tara Chand Soni), Bhagwati Jewellers (owner Ram Gopal Soni) and Ladiwala Associates (owner Honey Ladiwala) of Jaipur were purchasing smuggled gold bars from Harsh Bothra of Chennai and Banka Bullions Pvt. Ltd etc," the agency said in a statement.

While acting on the information, it was found that various individuals were involved in smuggling of gold bars and subsequent dispatch of those to Jaipur. Gold bars were mainly arriving in Jaipur via Kolkata and had high purity level, it said.

The suspects used to remove the foreign mark of manufacturer or bank engraved or embossed on the gold bars and then smuggle those into the country, the ED said, adding those were then dispatched to various domestic markets by different modes of transportation to escape the scanner of enforcement agencies.

The accused jewellers did not account for jewellery manufactured from smuggled gold and illegal funds generated were then transferred through hawala agents based in these cities, the probe agency said.

Hawala denotes the illegal manner of transferring funds by skirting banking channels and dealing in cash through agents.

"Searches at various premises in Jaipur, Kolkata and Chennai resulted in seizure of unaccounted Indian and foreign currency worth Rs 3.75 crore, gold bar and jewellery weighing 26.97 kg and silver weighing 12.22 kg along with incriminating documents.

"Electronic and digital devices seized are still to be examined and may lead to further details of illegal dealings," the ED said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The United Nations has warned if the locust swarms spreading across East Africa are not stopped now it could affect millions of people and cost more than $1bn (766.5m).

In a stark warning to the world's governments, the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) said it will be vastly more cost effective to raise the $76m (59m) needed to stop the swarms now instead of dealing with the consequences if it turns into a plague.

It said up to 13 million people's food security could be further threatened if the pests are not tackled imminently.

The desert locust swarms were first spotted in December in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia and reached Uganda on Sunday, prompting its government to deploy military forces to help with pesticide spraying.

It is the worst locust invasion Kenya has seen in 70 years and the worst in Somalia and Ethiopia in 25 years, with crops destroyed as the insects exploit wet conditions after unusually heavy rains.

The desert locust is considered the world's most dangerous migratory pest, with a swarm of one square kilometre (0.38sq mile) able to consume the equivalent of crops that could feed 35,000 people for a year.

The WFP's executive director, David Beasley, said: "The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) needs US$76m to help stop the locusts. "Do nothing now and WFP will need up to 15 times that amount - more than $1bn - to assist people devastated by losing crops and livelihoods. "Preventing a catastrophe in East Africa is a far better investment than responding to its consequences and impact on the lives of millions across the region."
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post) Bandung  Mon, February 17, 2020 18:34 694 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2065063d5 1 National Burung-Indonesia,BurungIndonesia,bird,species,Science,nature,nature-conservation Free

Twenty-one new species have been added to the list of bird species endemic to Indonesia as of the beginning of 2020, bringing the country's total to 1,794 bird species.

Achmad Ridha, a research and communication officer at nonprofit bird conservation organization Burung Indonesia, said that the additional species included seven newly described bird species - including the Alor myzomela (Myzomela prawiradilagae) and the spectacled flowerpecker (Dicaeum dayakorum) - as well as 14 species that were split off from previously discovered species.

The Alor myzomela was announced as a new species in Oct. 2019. The bird is endemic to Alor Island, East Nusa Tenggara, and lives in a terrain 900 to 1,270 meters above sea level.

Meanwhile, the new Latin name given to the spectacled flowerpecker honors the Dayak people of Kalimantan, who have extensive knowledge about the flora and fauna of their native regions.

Other new species include the Peleng fantail, the Peleng leaf warbler, the Taliabu bush warbler, the Taliabu myzomela and the Taliabu leaf warbler. Three of the species are endemic to Peleng Island, Central Sulawesi, while the two other species are endemic to Taliabu Island, North Maluku.

The research to collate the list of birds in Indonesia has been ongoing since the beginning of 2019. The research was done through literature study based on the newest reference material regarding bird taxonomy, Achmad told The Jakarta Post in an email on Saturday.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) also recently updated its Red List of Threatened Species, which showed that eight Indonesian bird species had an increased risk of extinction.

The eight species are the pale-bellied myna (Acridotheres cinereus), the brown-cheeked bulbul (Alophoixus bres), the Javan leafbird (Chloropsis cochinchinensis), the Sumatran leafbird (Chloropsis media), the greater green leafbird (Chloropsis sonnerati), the blue-eared iory (Eos semilarvata), the Tanimbar megapode (Megapodius tenimberensis), and the Javan white-eye (Zosterops flavus).

The declining population and increasing threats are related to unsustainable hunting, as well as habitat disappearance due to degradation and land function shift, Achmad said.

He said in recent years many people in Java and Bali liked to domesticate birds because of their beautiful plumage and birdsong. However, the trend has contributed to the declining population of the birds in the wild. (gis)
The Samsung Galaxy S20 series got announced about a week ago, and some people are already looking forward to the Galaxy Note 20. One of them is Waqar Khan, a well-known concept creator. He has envisioned the Galaxy Note 20 design in concept renders, as he partnered up with WindowsUnited.

These renders have been published in both picture and video formats. Waqar Khan has published a 2-minute long video on YouTube, in which you can see his latest creation.

This Galaxy Note 20 concept is a cross between the Galaxy S20 & Note 10

This Galaxy Note 20 concept design is based on the design of the Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy S20. Both of those designs have been taken into consideration by the designer.

Advertisement

The Galaxy Note 20 leaks still havent started popping up, its still way too early. Its possible that Mr. Khan is onto something here, though. The Galaxy Note 20 may look like a cross between the Galaxy Note 10 and S20. It will not look identical to this concept, though, of course.

The designer envisioned three Galaxy Note 20 smartphones, in fact. The Galaxy Note 20, Note 20+, and Note 20 Ultra This is obviously modeled after the Galaxy S20 series.

Samsung introduced two Galaxy Note 10 handsets last year, though, so its possible itll do the same this year. In any case, the Galaxy Note 20 smartphone concepts look quite similar to the Galaxy S20 from the back.

Advertisement

The camera modules are what differentiates them, along with their size. The corners of these phones are much sharper than those on the Galaxy S20 smartphones. That part of the design comes from the Galaxy Note 10 series.

You can also see that each of these phones has an S Pen stylus, of course. The back side of the Galaxy Note 20 smartphones is curved, as is the front.

The designer has envisioned glass backs on all three phones, and really thin bezels. Youll also notice a centered display camera hole on each of these phones.

Advertisement

The designer showed us a number of color variants

As you can see, the source shared quite a few color variants of these three phones. The Galaxy Note 20 is presented in black, light blue, and pink colors. The Galaxy Note 20+ is shown in black, gray, blue, and red colors. The Note 20 Ultra comes in black and gray options.

The Galaxy Note 20 series will probably arrive in August. All Galaxy Note 20 handsets will be fueled by the Snapdragon 865 in the US and China, while the Exynos 990 will fuel them in India and Europe.

The Galaxy Note 20 series will pack in top-of-the-line specifications, and some improvements over the Galaxy S20 series, for sure. If youre interested in checking out these concept designs, check out the video and images down below.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 17:43:29|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will travel to Vientiane, capital of Laos, from Wednesday to Friday for the Special ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers' Meeting on Coronavirus Disease, spokesperson Geng Shuang announced Monday.

The meeting, to be co-chaired by Wang and Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin, will also be attended by other ASEAN foreign ministers.

Besides, Wang will co-chair the fifth Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Foreign Ministers' Meeting with Lao Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith and pay a visit to the country, Geng said.
A Co Tyrone man has been convicted of attempting to pay for sexual services.

Alan Hamilton, a registered sex offender, committed the offences while going through the court system for other sexualised offences, according to the dates of the charge.

Under the Human Trafficking and Exploitation Act 2015 it became an offence to pay or attempt to pay for sexual services here.

Already a convicted sex offender, Hamilton (58), of Drumcoo Green, Dungannon, was also found guilty of breaching a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) in the process of trying to pay for sexual services.

He denied trying to obtain sexual services from a female in exchange for payment on at least five separate occasions between March 1 and September 4, 2019.

There were further charges of entering into a relationship without prior disclosure and using sexual language with a person he was not in an established relationship with, which is prohibited under the SOPO.

A contest was scheduled for Monday at Dungannon Magistrates Court but it emerged Hamilton had gone absent before the hearing was ready to begin.

The case went ahead and after studying papers, the judge convicted Hamilton in his absence for attempting to pay for sexual services as well as breaching the SOPO.

Proceedings concluded with the issuing of a warrant for Hamiltons arrest.

The judge previously expressed concerns over a Public Prosecution Service (PPS) decision to keep Hamiltons case at magistrates court instead of transferring to crown court.

Despite sending the file back to a senior prosecutor for review the judge was later advised the decision remained, despite his reservations around sentencing powers.

A PPS spokeswoman said: All prosecution decisions are taken in line with the PPS Code for Prosecutors. Every case is considered individually.

When a case can be heard either in the magistrates court or the crown court, we take into account a variety of factors including whether the court has sufficient sentencing powers to reflect the gravity of the offence when deciding the most appropriate venue for a case.

Hamilton already has two separate sexual convictions on his record.

He is awaiting sentencing for sexually communicating with children in June 2018, which he initially denied then changed his plea just before Christmas.

In that incident Hamilton approached a group of female children and asked, Are you ok girls? Are you up for sex?

Four months later, Hamilton committed another sexual offence, this time targeting a waitress in a restaurant.
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLT) on Monday reportedly allowed JSW Steel to acquire of Bhushan Power & Steel (BPSL) for Rs 19,700 crore by providing it immunity from prosecution.

Shares of JSW Steel were trading 0.21% lower at Rs 288.4 on BSE.

According to media reports, a two-member bench headed by chairman justice S J Mukhopadhaya, said that JSW Steel will be immune from the acts done by the former promoters of BPSL. However, it also said that prosecution against the former promoters under the money laundering act by the Enforcement Directorate can continue. It has also rejected the petitions filed by operational creditors, seeking higher claims.

The bench reportedly said that the EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) earned by BPSL during its Corporate Insolvency resolution period will be given to JSW Steel.

On 10 October, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) had attached assets worth over Rs 4,025 crore of debt-ridden BPSL in connection with its money laundering probe linked to an alleged bank loan fraud by its former promoters. JSW Steel, which emerged as the successful resolution applicant with its Rs 19,700 crore bid for BPSL, filed an appeal against the ED's move before the NCLAT. The appellate tribunal had on 14 October directed the ED to immediately release the confiscated assets of BPSL in favour of the resolution professional of the debt-ridden firm.

JSW Steel is a flagship company of the JSW Group, an integrated steel manufacturer in India with an installed steel-making capacity of 18 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). Its consolidated net profit slumped 87% to Rs 211 crore on a 12.1% fall in net sales to Rs 17,416 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2018.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Getting married isn't just the preserve of younger folk, as these three NI couples tell Leona O'Neill.

Colm Flanagan (68), a sound consultant originally from Ballywalter and his wife, retired Church of Ireland vicar Mercia (65), live in Bangor. They married, both for the first time, two years ago. Mercia says that she had given up on finding love until her future husband came into her life.

"I have an interest in CS Lewis and had done a sabbatical project at Lewis' home in Oxford in 2012," she says. "I ended up doing a project on his relationship with Tolkien and how that challenged the sectarianism he had been brought up with in Belfast. I was asked to do lots of little talks around the country and Colm heard one of these talks.

"He was doing some work with Premier Christian Radio, doing interviews with a Northern Ireland slant. He thought that I might make a good piece to do. He tracked down my number and came to interview me. We just clicked from that day.

"Normally the interviews take about an hour. But we spent five hours together that day.

"We took it a bit slowly at first, because we had both been hurt in the past. But then when we decided that there might be something in this, everything went very fast indeed.

"We started going out properly in February 2017, got engaged in May and were married in September."

Expand Close Colm and Mercia Flanagan on their wedding day / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Colm and Mercia Flanagan on their wedding day

Mercia, who was vicar at Carnmoney and Ballyholme Parish churches before retiring, says that Colm shocked all their friends with a romantic proposal.

"We had talked about getting married," she says. "Getting married was a huge change and would mean major upheaval in both of our lives. At that stage in life you wonder if it is really worth it. But we just wanted to be together, we enjoyed each other's company immensely. We had been talking about what the future might look like.

"I had a house up on the north coast and I used to go there on my day off. So he drove me up one day. I had planned to go to lunch at a particular place and he drove past it. I wondered why. He took me to a viewpoint, up Bishop's Road, which looks across to the Scottish islands.

"It was an amazing view and was quite chilly, but he proposed there. It was beautiful. And driving back down he played me the Moody Blues song Heaven on Earth with the lyrics 'It's heaven on earth when you're close to me', and I was just in bits. He astonished all his friends because nobody thought he would have that in him. But he does."

Mercia says that at her age she had all but given up on finding love.

"I got married at 63 years old," she says. "I never expected to find 'the one' then. I had not ruled it out, but I think I had got to the stage when I thought it wouldn't happen and I was resigned to carrying on, albeit perfectly contentedly, with a very busy life and lots of friends. By that stage in life you don't really think love is going to happen, but it can.

"We are very settled in Bangor and are very happy. We are very compatible. We enjoy each other's company and we enjoy being together. I think we bring out the best in each other. Our life is just lovely.

"I would say to others, never give up on love. For both of us, this was something out of the blue. It can happen to others too."

At our first encounter we had an argument, now were looking forward to our wedding

Expand Close Wedding date: Sheila Edwards and Arthur Kealey, are tying the knot this Easter / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Wedding date: Sheila Edwards and Arthur Kealey, are tying the knot this Easter

Retired florist Sheila Edwards (62), from Londonderry, is set to marry her Dungiven beau Arthur Kealey (52), a former steel joiner, on Easter Monday. The couple have seven children and 15 grandchildren between them.

"The first time we met we fell out about flowers," Sheila says. "I was passing through the town and I called into one of the bars on the Main Street.

"We struck up a conversation about flowers and I happened to mention that I had taught the man who owned the florists across the street. Arthur said that the man was his nephew and that I didn't teach him, that his aunt taught him.

"Eventually we marched around to the florist and asked him who taught him, and he said I did. So that was the argument over.

"A few days later I wrote a letter and asked him for directions to a certain place, and he said he would come with me and show me the way. So that is how it started."

Sheila says that, despite their unpromising first meeting, she knew that they were well suited.

"We just knew straight away that we were made for each other," she says.

"We clicked and got on so well. We are together now eight-and-a-half years.

"We got engaged two years after we met.

Expand Close Sheilagh Edwards and Arthur Kealy from Eglinton who are getting married this Easter. Martin McKeown / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Sheilagh Edwards and Arthur Kealy from Eglinton who are getting married this Easter.

"We were in Derry one day and were passing a jewellery store. Arthur said we should go in. He said he wanted to buy me a ring and make me his.

"We are getting married in the Belfray Arms on the Glenshane Road on Easter Monday.

"It's going to be a huge wedding - there are around 260 people coming.

"Country music star John McNicholl is going to sing me down the aisle. It is going to be beautiful."

Sheila says that it's never too late to find love.

"I didn't expect to find love at my age," she says. "I thought I was over the hill. I am so happy to find love again. It's great. I'd recommend it to everyone. There is always light at the end of the tunnel.

"Our life together is just great. I couldn't ask for anything better.

"I would say to others who think it's too late. Remember that life goes on and love goes on."

I was quite content on my own but my life with Mark is lovely

Expand Close Solid bond: Cathy and Mark ODonnell / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Solid bond: Cathy and Mark ODonnell

Londonderry couple Cathy (56) and Mark O'Donnell (58) were friends from childhood who met again later in life after both their marriages broke up. The couple, who have seven children and 14 grandchildren between them, had a rather rocky start after Mark suffered a stroke just before they had planned to get engaged.

"We met when we were young because his cousins lived beside me," she says. "We have been friends since we were children. When the very first Rocky film came out I was about 12 years old and Mark took me and his cousin to see it. He was 15 at that time and he said he was too old for me.

"We would always run into each other over the years. Mark got married and had a family and so did I. Both our marriages, for different reasons, didn't work out.

"Mark was a taxi driver and I just seemed to run into him more often because I didn't have a car. Every time I got a taxi it was Mark. I used to say to him that he must be sitting at the top of my street waiting for me to call.

"My mum sadly passed away and a few months after that I got a card from the Foyle Hospice to say that a donation had been made in mum's name from Rosemount Taxis. I thought it was lovely and rang them. The guy on the phone told me that Mark had collected money in the taxi rank and donated it to them in memory of my mum. I was out that weekend with some of my friends and ran into him. I thanked him and that was that, I couldn't get rid of him! That was 14 years ago."

Cathy and Mark's world was rocked when he took a stroke and was left disabled just two years into the relationship. However, this only served to make their relationship stronger.



Expand Close Cathy and Mark ODonnell. / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Cathy and Mark ODonnell.

"When we were together for about two years Mark bought me a ring when we were on holiday in Turkey," Cathy says.

"One of my daughters was getting married and we said we would wait, that we would give them their big day. But when we came back from holiday Mark had a very severe stroke which left him with a lot of disabilities. He is in a wheelchair and needs full-time care. So I became his carer.

"He was in hospital for eight months. When he started to come round a bit he said to me, in his own way because his speech was affected, that he didn't want to be a burden to me. He gave me a chance to go if I wanted to go. And I said no way, I was staying. And another day I went over to visit him, he said 'you and me forever', and that was that.

"Three years after he had the stroke we got married. I was in my late 40s by then and just wanted a small wedding but our children wanted a big celebration, especially after all Mark had been through. The funny thing was that our registrar had a double booking and the only date we could work with was Friday, May 13. She asked me was I superstitious, but I told her about what had happened to us already.

"We had a brilliant night, a great big party."



Expand Close Happy couple: Cathy and Mark on their wedding day / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Happy couple: Cathy and Mark on their wedding day

Cathy says she thought she would never find happiness and love again after her first marriage broke down.

"I didn't expect to find love later in life," she says. "When my first marriage dissolved I thought, never again. I was 36 years old and had four children when that happened and I was quite content on my own. I didn't have time and I didn't think it would happen. But then every time I looked around, Mark was there. He was just so nice and good to me.

"Between us we have seven children and they were all very happy for us finding love. They knew that we were happy. The kids were all adults themselves and by the time we got married we were grandparents. I think they were just happy that their parents wouldn't be growing old on their own."

Cathy says that despite the challenges she and Mark have faced, their love has seen them through.

"Our life together is lovely," she says. "It's no different than anyone else's life, we just have a little bit more pressure because Mark needs the care that he does.

"We are very happy. A lot of people who come to see us say they love to visit because of the banter between myself and Mark. We just have fun.

"I try to stay positive all the time. I am not one to sit and cry because we have had a bit of bad luck. We might have had bad luck but we are still here.

"Life has thrown its challenges at us, but love is stronger than that."
U.S. Senators Ron Johnson, John Barrasso, and Chris Murphy attend a news briefing following their meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kiev on Feb. 14, 2020. (Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)

US Senators Meet With Zelensky in Ukraine, Vow Bipartisan Support

A bipartisan group of senators met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, just over a week after the Senate acquitted President Donald Trump on charges that he abused his power by asking Ukraine to investigate a political rival.

The three lawmakers, Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), met with Zelensky on Feb. 14 in a bid to improve relations with Ukraine following the House-led impeachment inquiry into Trump.

We just finished a very difficult moment in American politics, Murphy told reporters after the meeting, adding that although the three senators voted differently in the impeachment trial, they are united in their goal of showing support for Ukraine.

We are here together because there is no difference between us or between Republicans and Democrats in Congress in our support for Ukraine, for our support for continued funding for Ukraine to defend itself, and our continued support for reform, he said.

Trump was acquitted by the U.S. Senate on Feb. 5, nearly along party lines, of the two charges against him: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The senators voted 5248 to defeat the first article of impeachment and 5347 to reject the second article.

During the Senate trial, Democratic impeachment managers accused Trump of abusing the power of his office by pressuring Zelensky. It was alleged that the president leveraged a hold on $400 million in aid to Ukraine to pressure Zelensky to do his bidding, and that once Congress began investigating the alleged scheme, Trump obstructed the inquiry.

Trumps attorneys, led by White House counsel Pat Cipollone, argued that the Democrats failed to prove their case, highlighting the lack of firsthand witnesses who could back up the claims.

White House counsel Pat Cipollone speaks during impeachment proceedings against U.S. President Donald Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 25, 2020. (Senate Television via Getty Images)

Throughout the impeachment inquiry and Senate trial, Trump denounced the proceedings as a partisan hoax. The president pointed to the transcript of his July 25, 2019, call with Zelensky as evidence of his innocence.

Murphy emphasized after the meeting with Zelensky that the two countries hope to put the impeachment question behind them and focus on strengthening U.S.Ukraine relations.

We want to be moving together, Republicans and Democrats, in supporting Ukraine, Murphy said. We all are confident that President Zelensky does not want to be involved in U.S. politics, and we hope that any pressure [that] existed in the past to do so is over.

The Democratic lawmaker told NPR that the impeachment inquiry left Zelensky nervous over the commitment the United States would extend to Ukraine.

He [Zelensky] wants to know that we have his back. His number one priority is ending hostilities with Russia in eastern Ukraine and in Crimea. And he cant do that if Russia perceives there to be weakness, Murphy said.

The key to convincing Russia that Ukraine is never going to give in is that the United States is going to continue to support them until the Russians give in and give Ukraine back to the Ukrainian people.

And so hes nervous. I think hes still nervous that that commitment isnt there because the things that were the subject of the impeachment inquiry, like the meeting in the White House, still hasnt happened.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets with U.S. Sens. Ron Johnson, John Barrasso, and Chris Murphy in Kyiv on Feb. 14, 2020. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)

Zelensky thanked the senators for their support and the United States for financial, military, and technical assistance, according to a news release.

I want to thank you for the bipartisan support. We know that representatives of both U.S. parties support Ukraineour sovereignty, territorial integrityand help us not just in words.

He added that he wanted to change the image of Ukraine in the world, from one associated with corruption, to an image of a wonderful country with good people and an attractive investment climate.

The meeting came a day before Zelensky disputed claims in an interview with CNN that Ukraine is a corrupt country, saying, From now, its not true, and that we want to change this image, while adding that hes ready for another phone call with Trump.
One frigid morning in January 2019, a New York University student woke up in her apartment near the schools Manhattan campus to find a masked man standing over her in bed. He told her not to scream, she told investigators, and then he held her down and raped her.

Two months later, the police matched fingerprints found on an unopened condom wrapper in her room to those of a 22-year-old man named Tyler Lockett, who happened to be in jail on charges of having committed three burglaries in Brooklyn.

What should have been a lucky break for law enforcement, however, soon turned disastrous. Instead of being charged with rape, Mr. Lockett was released from jail in July and the authorities said he attacked three more women over two weeks before he was caught.

Investigators in the New York Police Departments Special Victims Division made a series of errors leading up to Mr. Locketts release, including failing to inform prosecutors he was a rape suspect after his fingerprints were found, according to several law enforcement officials, the students mother and a police document.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Monday said that India has offered help, including evacuation and quarantine facilities, to the South East Asian countries for combating the deadly coronavirus that has claimed more than 1700 lives in mainland China.

"We have offered help to the South East Asian countries, including research and medicines. We also offered help to the Maldivians who have been shifted to the Chhawla camp. We are not averse to helping anybody," the minister said after meeting the people who will be discharged this week after their health reports pertaining to the virus test were found negative.

The Health Minister visited the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Quarantine Facility in Chhawla in southwest Delhi earlier today to meet the first batch of Indians, who came from Wuhan in the wake of the coronavirus, as they are about to leave for their homes after completing all health screening for the deadly virus outbreak.

When asked regarding the total suspected cases of the coronavirus reported so far in India, Harsh Vardhan stressed, "We are not counting for suspects instead we are undertaking extra precautions."

"I am very happy that all our Indians and Maldivian citizens who came from Wuhan on February 1-2 are leaving for their home. I am happy that you are healthy and fit and now all will move to their houses. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was from day one concerned about the people who were stuck in China," he said.

A total of 406 people who were airlifted returned from the Chinese city of Wuhan in Hubei province, the epicentre of coronavirus, earlier this month were being looked after at the quarantine facility of ITBP.

Appreciating the efforts undertaken by the Government of India in evacuating Indian citizens from Wuhan, Nausheen from Gurgaon, one among the airlifted ones who were quarantined in the ITBP health camp said, "This was a really very important step. For this, our country has been represented at various levels. We thank the Indian government. Our exams were about to begin in Chinese universities. But due to the virus outbreak, the exams have been postponed to April."

Another quarantined individual from the Maldives told ANI, "It was actually such a relief. Staying in Wuhan at such a point of time was very difficult both mentally and physically. I would like to thank the Indian government in every single place wherever they were involved in the total process. Even in the camps, the organisers provided us food for three times in a day, along with medicines and regular checkups."

Reiterating similar sentiments, Vishal Khatak, a 4th-year MBBS student from Hubei University in Xiangyang said, "Everything was under lockdown. We didn't expect that the Indian government would be undertaking such a relief effort within no time."

Harsh Vardhan further noted that other batches will also be arriving in India in the next few days from China, who will be quarantined at the same ITBP camp.

The Health Minister, meanwhile, appreciated the efforts undertaken by the Home Ministry, External Affairs Ministry, Civil Aviation and all other ministries and departments who were involved in the evacuation process of the Indian nationals from Wuhan.

A total of 650 people were brought back from Wuhan in China on February 1- 2 in two 747 Boeing Air India aircraft after the outbreak of the novel virus in China. While 406 of these are being looked after at the ITBP facility, rest is at an Army center at Manesar in Haryana.

The death toll from the COVID-19 epidemic outbreak has climbed to 1770 in mainland China and infected more than 70,000 others so far.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The hands-free law in Massachusetts begins Feb. 23 and police across the state are prepared to enforce it.

Motor vehicle drivers who are 18 years old and over can only use electronic devices and mobile phones in hands-free mode and can only touch the devices to activate the hands-free mode. Drivers are not allowed to hold the phone or touch the phone to text, email, use an app or search the internet.

Drivers under the age of 18 cannot use any electronic devices and all phone use while driving is illegal including hands-free mode.

People will be allowed to use a cell phone to call 911 to report an emergency and are asked to safely pull over first, if possible.

Drivers will be allowed to activate GPS when the device is installed or properly mounted. People will be allowed handheld use of a phone only if the vehicle is stopped and not in a travel lane or bicycle lane. People cannot use a device while stopped at red lights or stop signs.

The law also allows for voice to text and communication to a device only when it is properly mounted. Drivers may only use a headphone or an earpiece in one ear.

Fines are $100 for the first offense; $250 plus mandatory completion of a distracted driving educational program for the second offense; and a $500 for the third and subsequent offenses plus an insurance surcharge and mandatory completion of a distracted driving educational program.

Police will only issue warnings through March 31.

The state Executive Office of Public Safety partnered with the state Registry of Motor Vehicles and MassDOT on an awareness campaign. Social media alerts, flyers to local police departments, billboards and highway message boards have all been used to spread the word.

The Massachusetts State Police and other departments across the state have sent out training bulletins or emails reminding troopers and officers about the law. Worcester police added training on enforcement and will utilize motorcycle patrols as part of the efforts.

Springfield police said no additional enforcement is planned in the beginning, but a spokesman noted distracted driving month is typically April and departments across the state receive grants to conduct additional patrols.

The state police will have added patrols and will be watching for drivers physically holding a phone, a spokesman said. The added patrols will most likely involve two troopers in a cruiser, one driving, and the second acting as a spotter.

Massachusetts is one of more than 20 states that have a hands-free law. Public safety officials in other states have used a variety of methods to enforce the law including having officers disguised as panhandlers or construction workers during stings.

Retired Northborough Police Chief Mark Leahy, executive director of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, said his organization is currently working on spreading the word and educating the public.

His organization is looking for people to comply with the law and isnt a fan of clandestine stings.

Im not a fan of gotcha traffic enforcement, he said on stings conducted in other states. Everyone knows its a hazard.

There isnt much debate that holding and manipulating a phone while driving is a hazard, he added.

Here are some of the stings conducted in other states to cite people for violating a hands-free law or for distracted driving:

In New Hampshire, the hands-free law has been in place for a few years now. In September 2015, officers from the Somersworth Police Department conducted nearly weeklong sting enforcing the law, according to Seacoastonline.

Officers posed as panhandlers and carried signs. One sign said, Homeless. Need job. Need money and in smaller print, the sign noted the panhandler was an officer, Seacoastonline reported.

The sting, according to Seacoastonline, resulted in 96 tickets being issued to drivers.

Maines hands-free law began in September.

In December, the Biddeford Police Department had officers on foot in plainclothes and others in unmarked cruisers flagging people caught on their cell phones while driving to uniformed officers in patrol cars, the Portland Press Herald reports.

In a two-week sting, the officers wrote 83 tickets and noticed even more violations, but officers couldnt grab the drivers in time, the newspaper reports.

The hands-free law in George took effect in July 2018.

WSB-TV reports police in Cobb County last year conducted a sting involving enforcement of the hands-free law.

Law enforcement wore construction worker uniforms to catch people and 170 drivers were ticketed in a few hours, the television station reported.

Fox9 reports that in Minnesota, months before the states hands-free law went into effect, officers from the Eagan Police Department boarded a bus with no children inside and looked for distracted drivers.

The hands-free law went into effect in Minnesota in August. The department rolled out the Busted By the Bus sting again in September to catch distracted drivers and people who did not stop for school buses.
More than 50 Islamic organisations are set to launch legal action against an ALP powerbroker over claims he racially vilified Turkish and Lebanese Muslims, amid increasing internal pressure for the Victorian Labor party to act.

But the Socialist Left heavyweight, Jasvinder Sidhu, has lambasted the accusations of racism against him as a "shameful" and "co-ordinated attempt to stroke racial tensions and divisions" within the Labor Party.

Former Labor candidate Jasvinder Sidhu with Premier Daniel Andrews. Credit:VISPENN Photography

The Islamic organisations have said "enough is enough" as they prepare to mount a legal argument in coming days in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal claiming that Mr Sidhu, a Sikh, breached the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act.

At a private Labor party meeting, Mr Sidhu allegedly told a group of Indian-Australians that Turkish and Lebanese Muslims were "rewarded" with houses and medical help.
The resignation of Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex came as a shock to many people across the globe. However, the royal couple had expressed dissatisfaction amid the stress of their roles for quite some time. Prince Harry had grown up under the ruthless spotlight on the British press and he expressed the agony he felt over the tragic death of his mother, Princess Diana.

The Duchess of Sussexs experience was becoming quite harrowing as well. Though she tried everything in her arsenal to put her best foot forward, the British press and public refused to accept a mix-race American woman as one of the royals, and they showed their disapproval at every single turn.

As a result, the Sussexes decided it was best to step away from their royal duties. However, the British royal family is now fearful that Megxit will have a domino effect on other royals who are unhappy with their lives.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have no regrets about Megxit

Though theyve been taking meetings and attending events in the United States including a JP Morgan talk in Miami and a talk at Stanford University, the Sussexes have been living a low-key life on Vancouver Island in Canada.

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.

Apparently, the duo is happier than theyve ever been and they are making plans to launch their charitable entity  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 alleged 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 British royal family is concerned about the monarchy

Megxit has left the monarchy extremely vulnerable, especially since many people see the royal family as old fashioned and obsolete. Now, Prince Harrys father, Prince Charles and older brother, Prince William has been working overtime to give the royal family a new softer appeal.

It is interesting isnt it, because we are used to PDAs with Harry and Meghan, ITV Royal Editor Camilla Tominey reflected. Have they learnt something from this? This idea of relatable, touchable monarchy that is more like us than them and less cut off and cold. We saw this a bit with the Mary Berry Christmas special with William and Kate making souffles and looking very much at home I think theyre trying to project themselves as this family unit. I think the Cambridges want to project themselves and their branding as the future so people can have faith in this institution, which, lets face it, has been rocked.

Megxit may have created a domino effect for other royals

Traditionally, the royal family has adopted a stiff upper lip approach to dealing with conflict and hardship. This has changed a bit over the years especially after 1992 when several prominent members of the royal family separated from their spouses and eventually divorced.

Now, just a month after Megxit, Queen Elizabeth IIs eldest grandson Peter Phillips and his wife Autumn have announced their separation after 12 years of marriage.

Harry and Meghans decision was certainly a big one, and must have been very upsetting for some of their family membersbut it has also opened up the opportunity for others to assess their own lives and situations, and to take radical steps to change what is not working out for them, Psychologist Dr. Becky Spelman told Express. It may feel to Harrys relatives as though his decision has essentially given them permission to put the brakes on when the royal life is not working out for them.

It might be time for the royal family to adopt new strategies and approaches altogether.


file photo The first AGR payment came to government as Airtel on Monday paid Rs 10,000 crore dues to the Department of Telecom (DoT). In contrast, the Supreme Court turned down Vodafone's proposal to repay statutory arrears of Rs 2,500 crore on Monday and the rest Rs 1,000 crore by Friday. Airtel said it is paying Rs 10,000 crore in compliance with the Supreme Court order. It paid Rs 9500 crore on behalf of Bharti Airtel and Telenor which has merged with the parent company and Rs 500 crore for Bharti Hexacom, its subsidiary. Further, it said it is in the process of self assessment of accounts and and will duly make the balance payments before the next date of hearing (March 17). According to DoT, Bharti Airtel owes Rs 35,500 crore to DoT. On the other hand, Supreme Court declined to entertain the telco's plea seeking "no coercive action". According to counsels, Vodafone contended before the court that Rs 3,500 crore is 50 per cent of its estimated principle AGR dues of Rs 7,000 crores. Vodafone is estimated to pay Rs 53,000 crore to the government as part of its AGR dues. According to reports, it has informed the government that it is examining all avenues as to how much of AGR dues it could pay off.




The Aging & Adult Services Agency at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announces that $500,000 is available as grant funds to wellness programs in senior centers.

The agency received the funds in the fiscal year 2020 budget as approved by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Legislature to support these kinds of programs. Eligibility for the grant funds is based on the following criteria:

The center is located in Michigan and serves adults age 60 and older.

The senior center, or the organization under which it operates, has a 501(c)(3) status, another nonprofit status, or is a unit of general-purpose government or agency or educational system.

The center is not part of a senior housing complex or a residential housing facility.

The funded programs must support mental and physical health maintenance and improvement for the participants, addressing such issues as, but not limited to:

 Physical activity

 Chronic illness and self-management

 Social isolation

 Addictive behavior

 Fall prevention

 Caregiver education and burnout prevention

 Medication management

"Senior centers play a vital role in connecting older adults to services that can help them thrive in the community," said Dr. Alexis Travis, senior deputy director of the Aging & Adult Services Agency. "We look forward to reviewing grant proposals from senior centers throughout Michigan."

Funds will be awarded to selected senior centers in increments not to exceed $5,000 per senior center per award.

The application and required attachments should be completed and returned to MDHHS via email - which is preferred - or mail, postmarked or timestamped on or before Friday, Feb. 28. Applications postmarked or timestamped after Feb. 28 will not be considered.

Visit the newsroom section of the Aging & Adult Services Agency website - where the application and supporting materials may be found - or the agency's Facebook page for more information.
Britain told the EU tonight it was not possible to accept Brussels' rules as part of a free trade deal because it would undermine 'the whole project' of Brexit.

In a brutal assessment of the UK bargaining position, Boris Johnson's new Brexit negotiator David Frost said the UK would rather walk away from talks than accept anything that interfered with 'the fundamentals of what it means to be an independent country'.

The EU is insisting that there can be no 'divergence' from its rules and regulations in areas including financial services and agriculture.

But Mr Frost used a speech in the Belgian capital this evening to warn that the hardline position against this already espoused by the Prime Minister was not just posturing.

He also added that the UK is 'ready for an 'Australia-style' free trade agreement with the bloc if its member states continue to have doubts about the terms of a no-quotas, no-tariffs deal

And he pointed out that if the UK and EU roles were reversed and the EU was forced to follow Westminster laws 'democratic consent would snap  dramatically and finally'.

Mr Frost told students and academics at the Universite libre de Bruxelles: 'We bring to the negotiations not some clever tactical positioning but the fundamentals of what it means to be an independent country.

'It is central to our vision that we must have the ability to set laws that suit us  to claim the right that every other non-EU country in the world has.

David Frost said the UK would rather walk away from talks than accept anything that interfered with 'the fundamentals of what it means to be an independent country'

French foreign minister Jean-Yves le Drian predicted a bruising battle on a post-Brexit deal in a speech at the annual Munich Security Conference at the weekend

'So to think that we might accept EU supervision on so called level playing field issues simply fails to see the point of what we are doing.

'It isn't a simple negotiating position which might move under pressure  it is the point of the whole project.

'That's also why we will not extend the transition beyond the end of this year. At that point we recover our political and economic independence in full  why would we want to postpone it?

'In short, we only want what other independent countries have.'

Frost described how he started his early career in the EU hub Brussels as a euro-enthusiast but soon became disillusioned with the bloc's institutions.

He added that it was perfectly possible to be both an economic competitor and political partner with the EU in the future.

He said the UK was "not asking for anything special", just a normal trade agreement that the EU has with other countries around the world.

His defiant speech came after French foreign minister Jean-Yves le Drian predicted a bruising battle on a post-Brexit deal.

Speaking at the annual Munich Security Conference, he made clear that Brussels will defend its interests when negotiations begin next month.

'I think that on trade issues and the mechanism for future relations, which we are going to start on, we are going to rip each other apart,' he said.

'But that is part of negotiations, everyone will defend their own interests.'

Mr le Drian, a close ally of president Emmanuel Macron, is the latest senior EU figure to warn that the negotiations will be difficult.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and chief negotiator Michel Barnier have both cast doubt on Boris Johnson's aim to reach a comprehensive agreement by the end of the year when the Brexit transition period runs out.

The EU has repeatedly warned Britain cannot expect to enjoy continued 'high-quality' market access if it insists on diverging from EU social and environmental standards.

There is expected to be a particularly tough fight over fishing rights, with the EU insisting continued access to UK waters must form part of any agreement.

The bloc's chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said the EU's top priorities are fishing, security and maintaining fair trading conditions for European companies. A fishing boat is pictured above in the English channel

Mr Johnson, in turn, has said the UK will act as an 'independent coastal state' taking control of its own fisheries.

He used a speech in Greenwich at the start of the month to insist there is no need to tie the UK to Brussels regulations, or vice versa, as he condemned growing protectionism around the world.

Arguing that he wants to be a champion of free trade now Brexit has happened, Mr Johnson dismissed claims that Britain will undercut social and environmental standards - saying it was often ahead of the bloc.

The defiant stance - in a 30-minute speech in which the premier notably declined to use the word 'Brexit' - came minutes after the EU's negotiator Michel Barnier warned that Britain will only get a 'best in class' trade deal if it bows to demands on a 'level playing field' and access to fishing waters.

Mr Frost said tonight: 'Boris Johnson's speech in Greenwich two weeks ago set out a record of consistently high standards of regulation and behaviour in the UK, in many cases better than EU norms or practice.

'How would you feel if the UK demanded that, to protect ourselves, the EU dynamically harmonise with our national laws set in Westminster and the decisions of our own regulators and courts?

'The more thoughtful would say that such an approach would compromise the EU's sovereign legal order; that there would be no democratic legitimacy in the EU for the decisions taken in the UK to which the EU would be bound; and that such regulations and regulatory decisions are so fundamental to the way the population of a territory feels bound into the legitimacy of its government, that this structure would be simply unsustainable: at some point democratic consent would snap  dramatically and finally.

The Liberal Democrats accused the Government of pursuing a 'scorched earth policy with the EU.

Speaking ahead of the speech, acting leader Ed Davey said: 'Boris Johnson should listen to the views of British businesses who want to maintain the closest possible alignment with the European Union.

The UK is not South Korea or Canada and people do not want lower standards.'
Defense Minister of Ukraine Andriy Zahorodniuk and Defense Minister of Japan Taro Kono agreed to continue security cooperation and focus on cyber security challenges.

"Today, Ive met with the delegation of Japan. We have been actively expanding our cooperation lately. We had already met with the Head of Japans General Staff in Kyiv and today I discussed further cooperation with my colleague Taro Kono. We have many common tasks ahead  we continue to implement the memorandum on security cooperation and exchange between our defense ministries," Zahorodniuk posted on Facebook after the meeting with Kono at the Munich Security Conference.

He noted that the parties would focus on cyber security challenges, cooperation in high-tech projects and digitization, as well as share experience in countering hybrid threats.

"We are particularly glad that we will see the friendly Japanese naval forces in our Black Sea during the Sea Breeze 2020 military exercises for the first time," the minister added.

He thanked "the friends from the East for their principled support."

ol
Amid the ongoing protests in different parts of the country against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC), the Telangana government on Sunday (February 16) has decided to pass a resolution against the CAA.

The decision to pass a resolution against the CAA in the upcoming state assembly session was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. It may be recalled that in January, KCR had said that Telangana would soon pass a resolution against the CAA. Doing it would make Telangana the sixth state after Kerala, Punjab, Rajastha, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, and the Union Territory of Puducherry to pass anti-CAA resolution.

The Telangana cabinet has also urged the BJP-led government at the Centre to abrogate the CAA and not discriminate on the basis of religion for according citizenship. "It requested that all religions must be treated as equal before the law. The cabinet further requested the central government to take measures to abrogate the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, which will lead to discrimination on the basis of religion while granting citizenship and thereby jeopardising secularism envisaged in the Constitution. Cabinet decided to pass the resolution to this effect in the state assembly the way Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal states did," Telangana cabinet said in a statement.

Live TV

Notably, Telangana's cabinet to pass an anti-CAA resolution came on the day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that his government would not do any rethink on the new legislation, noting that his government will remain firm on the steps despite intense pressure from several quarters.

"Be it the scrapping of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir or the CAA, the country waited for decisions on these for years," PM Modi said in Varanasi.

The Citizenship Amendment Act grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who fled religious persecution in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan and took refuge in India on or before December 31, 2014.
Extinction of animals is a topic that continues to generate heated debate around the world. With the recent death of a Northern white Rhino in Kenya, it goes that animals-humans conflict is far from over. Increased poaching of elephants and rhinos is another issue that has put many people on the wrong side of the law. In particular, countries that trade in ivory have been on the receiving end, bringing about a debate that has since made governments rethink their policies on the conservation of wild animals.

And as wildlife continues to face the threat of human encroachment into national reserves, international organizations have been at the forefront advocating for better policies. If you are a student, you can always ace your homework on this issue with the help of top writers. There are many issues you can look into, including factors that threaten the existence of rare wildlife species. In this post, we explore ways of helping animals from extinction so read on to learn about how to be involved.

Learn about endangered animals

Endangered species such as white rhinos continue to face a threat of extinction due to poaching. Elephants are also at risk, especially because the ivory trade is still a threat to wildlife. However, with the right information about animals that face extinction, people can be more actively involved in conserving wildlife. Russians can learn how to protect their snow leopards, something that will help preserve the rare animal species. In the Southern parts of Africa, it is possible to protect the white rhinos, black leopard and elephants provided governments to educate citizens about endangered animals.

Visit wildlife parks and reservation centers

Another way of helping animals from extinction to visit wildlife conservation centers. Fees that people pay at entrances of game reserves go a long way in helping reservists create ample environment for endangered species.

Reduce carbon footprint

The world is still battling with the problem of carbon footprint many years after laws criminalizing the use of coal were passed. But here is the catch. What can you do at a personal level to reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere? First off, let's note that CFC emissions negatively impact the environment.

From shrinking wildlife habits to harsh weather conditions, rare species of animals risk extinction if no immediate action is taken to curb CFS emissions into the atmosphere. Thus, the focus should be reducing carbon footprint starting from individuals upwards to governments. People should walk and ride bicycles more, something that will curb the use of vehicles. Gaseous emissions from locomotives increase carbon footprints, making it difficult to conserve natural habitats of animals.

Protect habitats for wildlife

With a growing world population, natural habitats of wildlife face the risk of encroachment from humans. More people are clearing forest lands, and in the process, rendering animals homeless. It is this practice that contributes to more conflicts between animals and humans, thereby contravening UN habitat laws on both environmental conservation and wildlife protection.

When we begin to protect wildlife habitats, efforts geared towards protecting wildlife would become easy. From conservation centers, animal reserves, animal refuge centers to natural forests, protection of natural habits should involve everyone.

Pesticides and insecticides are a threat to endangered species

Another major concern we need to address towards protecting animals from extinction is the use of chemicals to clear bushes and forests. On many levels, insecticides and pesticides affect animals negatively. Beyondpesticide.org is an organization that advocates for an end to the use of chemicals. It is because when animals eat herbs sprayed with these chemicals, they not only risk death but also extinction.

Drive carefully within parks

As people encroach in natural habitats of animals, especially in developing counties, they also construct roads passing through wildlife reserves and parks. The catch here is that cases of people hitting animals because of reckless and high-speed driving are becoming common. In an attempt to protect animals from extinction, it is, therefore, imperative that drivers observe speed limits when driving through parks.

Final Thoughts

Animals play significance in the ecosystem. Their contribution to the food chain is particularly important. It should, therefore, be everyone's responsibility to protect them from extinction. The above ways of guarding wildlife and many others should fuel a reserve for having a better world.
After three straight years of remarkable academic growth at Billy Earl Dade Middle School, the long-struggling Dallas ISD campus tumbled back to the bottom of the district in 2018-19.

Dades fall came after its principal received a promotion, more than half of its teaching staff left and Dallas leaders pulled money spent on the campus through the districts school turnaround program, Accelerating Campus Excellence, ACE for short.

It was amazing, really storybook for me, Edward Turner, a longtime south Dallas education advocate, said of the initial results. But at the end of the day, its about how are we going to sustain these programs and provide equitable resources to these schools.

Dade and six other chronically low-rated Dallas schools mostly sparkled during their three years under ACE, with test scores rising and student discipline rates falling. In turn, state lawmakers and education leaders heralded Dallas model as evidence that all students from poverty can perform at high levels when taught by strong educators in well-funded schools.

An analysis of academic and staffing data, however, shows the first schools weaned off ACE investments posted mixed results in 2018-19, their first year without the added support. The outcomes suggest districts attempting to mimic Dallas much-lauded success  including Aldine ISD and eight others already implementing similar initiatives  could struggle to maintain high performance without consistent funding or tweaks to the model.

While three of Dallas initial ACE schools maintained relatively strong academic performance, three campuses received D or F grades under the states academic accountability system and grappled with significant staff turnover. Dallas invested nearly $1 million per year in some of its first ACE campuses, part of which paid for financial incentives given to high-performing educators.

We saw some great things happening from the first year out of ACE, and we saw some hard lessons for us, said Shatara Stokes, Dallas director of school leadership over the initiative. Fundamentally, the thought was we had made tons and tons of progress, so the expectation was that they were going to be able to sustain.

Dallas officials said they already are taking those lessons  such as establishing clear exit criteria for campuses and maintaining consistent school leadership  and applying them to other ACE schools. District leaders announced in January that they plan to roll the six original ACE campuses back into the program in 2020-21, relying on a projected $28 million in additional funding from last years landmark school finance reform package.

To better support programs like ACE, state lawmakers implemented a funding mechanism designed to reward districts that employ highly-rated educators  as measured by evaluation rubrics relying in part on student performance data  in their highest-poverty campuses. The model awards up to $32,000 for the highest-rated teachers working in the most impoverished campuses.

Houston ISD launched a school turnaround model known as Achieve 180 in 2017-18, but the district offered smaller teacher pay incentives than Dallas and did not mandate extensive staff overhauls. Houston allocated more money than Dallas for its initiative  about $15 million to $20 million per year  but spread the funds over roughly 40 to 50 schools annually.

Students in HISDs Achieve 180 schools have shown above-average gains on state standardized tests compared to their peers throughout the district and state. However, test scores and discipline rates have improved significantly more at Dallas ACE schools than HISDs Achieve 180 campuses.

The ACE story

Few initiatives have driven statewide education policy over the past five years as much as ACE.

First introduced by Dallas leaders in 2015, the model called for ousting nearly all employees at low-rated campuses and replacing them with staff rated highly on the districts educator evaluation tools.

To entice well-regarded employees to move to high-stress schools, Dallas officials offered $6,000 to $15,000 in additional salary per year. District leaders also extended the school day, offered additional non-academic supports and refurbished campus facilities, among other changes.

The results were immediate and remarkable for the first group of seven campuses. Six met state academic standards in 2016 after falling short the previous year, while rates of in- and out-of-school suspension plummeted by 66 percent. Praise rolled in from district leaders, community advocates and state policymakers.

On HoustonChronicle.com: State leaders point to Dallas ISD as model for turning around struggling schools

With the right support, all students can perform at high levels, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath, who served on Dallas school board from 2011 to 2015, said in an emailed statement last month in response to questions for this story. What happened in Dallas ISD when ACE schools first launched illustrates that this is true.

Dallas officials added four more campuses to the initiative in 2017, posting strong results in the following school year. Under the states new A-through-F academic accountability system, one campus received an A, five scored Bs, four earned Cs and a single school failed.

Dallas leaders targeted six more schools for ACE in 2018-19, but the district could only afford the addition by cutting funds from the initial group of seven campuses. One original ACE school, Thomas Edison Middle Learning Center, closed in 2018.

As a result, Dallas officials largely removed staff financial incentives from the first ACE campuses, eliminated the extra hour of class each day and pulled most non-academic supports headed into 2018-19. District leaders also promoted principals leading five of the six campuses, replacing most of them with assistant principals working at each school.

Some success, some failure

Three schools survived or thrived following the changes. Annie Webb Blanton Elementary narrowly missed out on an A rating from the state, despite losing its principal and nearly half of its teaching staff. Umphrey Lee Elementary scored a B and Sarah Zumwalt Middle maintained a C, both reporting relatively modest teacher turnover rates of just over 25 percent.

Stephanie McCloud, who was promoted from assistant principal to principal at Umphrey Lee in 2018, said she lobbied teachers to stay on campus despite the removal of salary incentives, emphasizing the strong campus culture built under ACE.

We wanted to make sure they felt valued, they were listened to, that they still had a say-so in the school, McCloud said.

Three other schools, however, rapidly regressed without ACE funding. Dade and Elisha M. Pease Elementary School received D ratings after losing half of their teachers from the prior year, while Roger Q. Mills Elementary School failed after its principal and two-thirds of its teachers departed.

New teachers came in, and you didnt have the same leadership and guidance and discipline that had been set for all those years, Turner said. As a community member, I didnt like it because I knew if (ACE) became inconsistent, the school had the opportunity to become unstable.

Stokes said Dallas leaders learned three key lessons for schools leaving ACE: install strong replacement principals familiar with their school communities, provide experienced supervisors to principals and extend supports beyond three years if needed.

In Aldine ISD, which installed an ACE-like system at two elementary schools this year, Superintendent LaTonya Goffney said district officials have benefited from Dallas experience.

Its important for us to demonstrate whats possible for students from poverty, Goffney said. I strongly believe zip code shouldnt control destiny.

Garrett Landry, who helps districts implement the ACE model as director of the Best In Class Coalition, a melding of two Dallas-area nonprofits, said results from Dallas first six campuses illustrate the promise and challenge of the initiative.

Its not some silver bullet program that you can just say, Were going to do ACE, and it will be successful, Landry said. Its hard, hard work. Its a lot of intentionality and fidelity in implementation. And I think, without question, schools need additional funding.

jacob.carpenter@chron.com
Theres a new Doug Ford in town. Hes keeping his head down, hoping his polling numbers will go up.

But its a different look when the premier skips town. He lets his hair down, giving us a glimpse of the old Ford, polls be damned.

Ever since people started booing him in public, the premier has projected a kinder, quieter face at home  flashing a smile and freezing his tongue. But its hard holding it in all the time, which is why Ford loosens up when he leaves Ontario.

In the rarefied air of Washington this month, Ford forgot himself. Or more precisely, he allowed himself to be himself.

How else to explain his passionate homage to Donald Trump?

I loved listening to the presidents State of the Union address the other night, Ford gushed to a hushed Canadian American Business Council. We hope the election is going to turn out the right way. Literally the right way.

Lest there be any doubt as to our right-leaning premiers political preferences, he offered an unsolicited public put down of the most powerful woman in U.S. politics. As Speaker of the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi just happens to be a linchpin of the legislative framework upon which our trade treaties depend for approval, but Ford vented his personal disapproval all the same.

I was disappointed when I saw Nancy Pelosi get up there and start tearing the speech up, Ford mused to his audience, unprompted. Thats uncalled for. I think its a shame, its a real, real, real shame.

Not content to diss Pelosi, Ford went on to badmouth Bernie Sanders, the current front-runner in the partys primaries, for daring to call himself a social democrat: Thats actually scary. It is. It really is.

Never mind that Sanders is merely an echo of the New Democratic Party that came second among Ontario voters in the election, and that now serves faithfully as Her Majestys Loyal Opposition in the legislature. Scary for Americans, which translates as shame on you Ontarians, in Fords book.

Its not often that a visiting politician meddles in the domestic politics of his host country, pining in public for a Republican president in an election year while demonizing a Democratic front-runner in primary season. All the more awkward when Democratic governors come to Toronto later this year for a bilateral conference hosted by Ontario.

In the past, people might have been scandalized. But there are so many scandals at play in Washington that no one paid heed to a provincial premier offering his play-by-play analysis of Trumps oration and Pelosis desecration.

While Fords public indiscretion went unremarked in America, any private fantasy he may harbour of a future bromance with Trump  akin to the chemistry between Justin Trudeau and Barack Obama  also remains unrequited. In Ontario, however, the premiers words are worth considering more closely.

Listen to what else he told his American audience:

Economics is very simple. You cut red tape, you cut regulations, you have lower business taxes and lower taxes with people and new revenues will come up to the coffers, as we say.

This is vintage trickle-down economics, embraced by Trump despite being discredited and disproven over time. But Ford is a true believer, a politician who understands the business of government because of his fidelity to business:

I always say Im a businessman first. Im an elected official second. And I take that business approach to the government.

So who is Doug Ford, exactly? Heir to his fathers printing business, understudy during his late brothers mayoralty, he is in many ways an accidental premier.

Notwithstanding the media hype about Ford Nation taking the province by storm in 2018, he won mostly by default  and despite himself  thanks to the unpopularity of Kathleen Wynnes Liberals. Yet in the aftermath, Ford borrowed liberally from Trumps populist playbook, rechristening himself leader of Ontarios First Government For the People.

Approaching the midpoint of his mandate, Ford has been trying hard to tamp down the hubris, ramp up the humility, and reinvent himself. But his enduring endorsements of Trump remind us of his true colours.

Before running to be premier, Ford said without hesitation that hed vote for Trump. Lying low during the last federal election, he hedged, claiming he couldnt give two hoots about Trump. But in front of an American audience, the premier wears his heart on his sleeve and then puts his hand on his heart.

That is his right  even if its wrong for a guest to say so on U.S. soil. His bigger mistake is to telegraph how utterly out of sync he is with most Ontarians by unequivocally and uncritically praising a president who remains anathema at home.

As the legislature resumes sitting next week, we may see more of Ford 2.0  more modest and modulated than ever before. But no amount of rebranding can conceal the underlying ideological affinity of Ontarios premier with the president who would Make America Great Again.

Read more about:
In their latest report, Dutch multinational banking and financial services company Rabobank maintains a generally negative stance on Brexit implication for the UK economy. The bank considers only a limited trade agreement will be achievable by the end of this year with the bulk of services excluded. Their central view is that GDP growth will be held to 0.8% in 2020 with a potential recession in 2021.

Brexit rhetoric remains tough  Frost will outline the UK position

The EU Parliament will complete formulating its negotiating strategy this month with talks due to start formally in March.

The EU wants to maintain as much control over regulation as possible and demand that the UK maintains a level playing field to secure an ambitious trade deal. In contrast, the UK government insists that it needs regulatory autonomy or else leaving the EU would be in name only. If, however, the UK diverges from the EU, the scope for any free trade deal diminishes.

This fundamental fault line will inevitably be a major element in talks.

According to Rabobank, an important implication of this is that the moment the UK is given the option to diverge from EU regulations, the EU will treat the UK as if it already has diverged. This limits the potential of the trade agreement: dont count on anything that is far-reaching.

Over the weekend, France warned Britain to expect a bruising battle with the EU in post-Brexit trade negotiations. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian predicted the two sides would "rip each other apart" as they strove for advantage in the negotiations.

He also said it would be tough for the UK to achieve its aim of agreeing a free trade deal by the end of the year.

UK chief Brexit negotiator David Frost will outline the UK government vision in a speech in Brussels later on Monday. Sources suggest that he will call for a deal similar to those already agreed with Canada, South Korea and Japan

Image: Key Brexit Dates in 2020

Is compromise realistic?

Inevitably, there will be tough rhetoric as talks get under way with both sides looking to define their red lines and protect positions. Both sides will have to make concessions if a deal is to be reached and Rabobank considers the likelihood of compromise;

Is it possible to reconcile these differences within the 11-month deadline and agree on a trading relationship that is loosely based on the EU-Canada agreement? We do think so, but the route to this deal will be difficult.

The immediate political heat surrounding Brexit has eased substantially since the General Election with the Conservatives holding a substantial majority in the House of Commons while the opposition Labour Party is focussed on selecting a new leader.

If the government can de-politicise negotiations, it may be possible to compromise without attracting major attention.

Labour will, however, become re-engaged under a new leader and public attention will increase again.

According to Rabobank; A relatively benign scenario would then be a repeat of what weve seen in the autumn of 2019. Prime Minister Johnson talked a good game to his domestic audience yet folded on several issues (e.g. the Northern Ireland protocol) the broader public doesnt really care enough about to fully grasp the implications. Its mostly technical stuff, after all, and it did get Brexit done.

Nevertheless, Rabobank does not see such a scenario as reducing uncertainty or providing a positive solution.

Trade between the EU and the UK wont be without frictions, even if a deal is reached. A number of checks and procedures will become necessary once the new EU-UK customs border is introduced. This creates costly delays, especially if there are bottlenecks and capacity constraints. Manufacturing firms which strongly rely on just-in-time supply chains are particularly vulnerable.

Services liable to be excluded

It remains the case that much of the Brexit-related discussion focuses on whether there will be an free trade agreement that facilitates the trade in goods and that limits the disruption in the EU-UK manufacturing supply chains. The UK economy, however, is predominantly a services-based economy with services accounting for around 80% of GDP.

Image: UK exported GDP

According to Rabobank; a bare bones FTA doesnt do a whole lot to facilitate the international trade in services.

The explicit wish to escape the EUs regulatory orbit implies that the UK will in turn have to accept that access to the EUs market for services will be limited.

Even if there is a willingness to accept a high level of equivalence, the negotiations will probably have to be extended beyond the end of 2020, especially given the complexity of dealing with financial regulation.

Rabobank summarises its position; In our view, market participants dont fully appreciate the risks to the UKs services-based economy, as the focus is mostly on whether a deal on goods is in the offing or not.

Fishing an early focus

The fishing industry will be an important short-term focus even though the sector accounts for only a tiny role in the overall economy.

Fishing remains a very important sector in political terms and punches well above the pure economic impact. There is no doubt that fishing will be a key media focus and is guaranteed to whip-up nationalistic sentiment on all sides.

The Withdrawal Agreement calls for a fishing deal to be reached by July 1st 2020.

According to Rabobank, the UK has made this a negotiating priority, and the treatment of this sector will be seen as an early litmus test of whether the UK or the EU is winning ground in the talks.

UK brexiteers will inevitably protest strongly if the UK makes serious concessions on fishing which would also risk undermining talks as a whole.

Time pressures are severe..

The consensus among trade experts is that it is not possible to reach comprehensive deal by the end of 2020.

Inevitably, there will be the threat of brinkmanship with both sides stalling in an attempt to force concessions from the other side.

According to Rabobank; This is why the EU and the UK are likely to prioritise on what is absolutely necessary to do in 2020, and try to make as much progress as possible by June when leaders will meet to take stock. The prioritised topics include a trade deal on goods, a security partnership, and access to UK fishing waters.

.. and ratification is also needed

The main focus of attention is the need to conclude a deal by the end of 2019. The overall time pressures are, however, more serious that this as the deal needs to be ratified before the end of 2020 and so negotiations will need to conclude earlier than this.

There is an important element of uncertainty whether the legislation can be approved by the European Parliament or whether it needs to be approved by individual national parliaments which would be more cumbersome and time consuming.

Another tactic could be to allow the new arrangement to come into force without prior ratification. Rabobank states that;

If the Council of the EU and the European Parliament provide consent, a new EU-UK agreement could then come into force pending ratification by the individual member states. But this is limited only to those parts of the deal which fall under EU competence, e.g. the trade in goods but not the trade in services.

Overall, it is likely that only a limited deal could be approved by the European Parliament, but this may well be the only realistic outcome.

Transition extension is a potential escape route

One possible escape route would be an extension of the transition arrangement. Within the Withdrawal Agreement, there is the provision for the transition arrangement to be extended once for a period of one or two years.

Prime Minister Johnson, however, has ruled out the potential for extending the deadline. In his view, the potential for an extension removes the incentive to get anything agreed and simply prolongs the process. Rabobank considers that a change of heart is possible;

Rabobank comments that: This could be something that will be considered in the second half of 2020, if it turns out that a no-trade-deal Brexit cant be avoided otherwise. The prime minister isnt inclined to do so, but may change tack if the expected supply chain issues start to surface and economic uncertainties intensify.

Economy overall likely to suffer

Rabobank has maintained a generally bearish view on the likely Brexit impact. Its November 2017 report forecast that the UK would end up in a recession right after the materialisation of Brexit due to a contraction in business investment and trade and it has not changed its underlying tone in the latest report.

In the January Monetary Policy Report, the Bank of England made reference to the Brexit risks. A key summary on business spending was that; even though recent survey evidence point to a pick-up in investment intentions after the decisive election, it remains to be seen whether this is the start of a new trend or short-lived post-election euphoria.

Rabobank considers the pessimistic view more likely;

We think its the latter and remain fairly confident in our forecast of just 0.8% GDP growth this year, whilst seeing an elevated risk of a recession next year as the UK has to adjust to its new trading relationships.

Economic data releases will be monitored closely in the short term with a particular focus on business confidence surveys even though there could also be an impact from the coronavirus outbreak which will complicate interpretation of the data. The latest flash reading for the IHS Markit PMI surveys will be released on Friday. Consensus forecasts are for confidence in manufacturing and services to retreat slightly from January levels.

A further boost in business confidence would push markets towards believing a more optimistic scenario is realistic, at least in the near term.
(Newser)  British TV presenter Caroline Flack was found dead of an apparent suicide Saturday afternoon. Hours prior, around 10:30pm on Valentine's Day, someone called emergency services from Flack's home and an ambulance responded, the Sun reports. Paramedics assessed Flack, but did not take her to the hospital, a London Ambulance spokesperson tells Sky News. No further details were given, citing confidentiality, but a source tells the Sun, "Caroline had been unwell on Friday but by the time crews got there she was feeling much better and was coherent and responsive to them. She refused to go to hospital." Sources say Flack, who had just learned the case against her for allegedly assaulting her boyfriend would not be dropped, was so upset that her best friend came to stay with her that night; she and other friends were there when the ambulance arrived.

story continues below

But it is believed that shortly after she told her best friend it was fine for her to leave the following morning, Flack took her own life. Flack's team has lambasted Crown Prosecution Service for proceeding with the "show trial" despite Flack's boyfriend Lewis Burton withdrawing his complaint, and critics are also denouncing the British tabloid media's unsavory coverage of Flack, which started long before the December incident. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is even calling on social media companies to do more to remove unacceptable content following Flack's death, the Guardian reports. Page Six, citing the Times of London, reports Flack warned police she would kill herself if charged in the alleged attack, and the Sun's sources say Flack, who had struggled with mental health issues, self-harmed during the incident. Critics are saying she should have received psychiatric care rather than criminal charges. Also making headlines Monday was Flack's brief 2009 romance with Prince Harry. (Burton says he is heartbroken.)
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Two men and a woman attacked a Cleveland man with a car jack and tried to shove him into the trunk of a car after they accused him of stealing a TV, court records say.

Arielle Davis, 28, and Corey Prude, 26, are each charged with aggravated robbery in the attack on Woodland Avenue near East 47th Street in Cleveland, according to court records. They are not in custody, but warrants were issued Thursday for their arrests.

Detectives are still trying to identify a second man involved in the Feb. 6 attack, court records say.

A Cleveland man suffered cuts on his face, eye and lip during the incident. The 27-year-old man needed 29 stitches at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center, police reports say.

The Cleveland man was walking just after 1 a.m. on Woodland Avenue when a gray Nissan pulled up beside him. Prude, Davis and another man got out of the car. Prude told the Cleveland man dont run or I will shoot you, according to a police report.

Prude punched the Cleveland man in the face and accused him of stealing a TV, according to a police report. The second man also joined in the attack and punched the Cleveland man in the face.

Davis then struck the man in the face with a car jack, according to court records.

The trio took the Cleveland mans wallet and backpack during the attack. They grabbed the Cleveland man and tried to shove him into the backseat and trunk of their car, but he fought them off and ran away, police reports say.

The Cleveland man ran to his sisters house, and she drove him to St. Vincent Charity Medical Center for treatment.

The sister told investigators the Cleveland man used to live with Davis and Prude, but theyd recently argued, the police report says.

Prude spent six years in prison after pleading guilty in 2013 to attempted rape, sexual battery and gross sexual imposition, according to Cuyahoga County court records. Details of that case were not immediately available Monday.

To comment on this story, visit Mondays crime and courts comments page.

Read more crime stories:

Strongsville priest accused in child pornography case may have participated in child prostitution, prosecutors say

Citizen app debuts in Cleveland, bringing crime alerts to users cellphones

One dead, one injured in shooting in Clevelands Central neighborhood

East Cleveland officer-involved shooting happened at apartment complex, BCI says
Ukraine demands fair compensation over the incident.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko at a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mohammed Javad Zarif has demanded to investigate and report the reasons for the downing of a Ukrainian plane near Tehran.

"We are actively working both as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as our government to restore justice, to bring to responsibility all those who are guilty," Prystaiko said at Boryspil Airport to relatives of the dead Ukrainians on board the PS752 flight.

"I understand we can in no way repay the lives of your relatives. The only thing we can do is to demand fair compensation for this," Prystaiko said.

He reiterated he met with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif on February 15.

"During this meeting, we demanded a fair and honest investigation. We will not agree to just blame some soldier who shot it down. We demand to know the whole truth about what happened with our flight, which led to the death of our people," Prystaiko said.

Read alsoPS752 downing: Ukraine releases intercepted tower communications proving Iran was aware of missile launch all along

As UNIAN reported earlier, a meeting of ministers of the countries of the International group for the coordination of assistance to the victims of the Ukrainian aircraft PS752 crash took place on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on February 15.

The meeting was attended by representatives of Ukraine, Canada, Sweden, Britain, and Afghanistan.

Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said the common goal of all five countries is to ensure responsibility, transparency and justice from Iran for the victims of the terrible tragedy. According to him, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif also joined the meeting for a short time.

In particular, the ministers of five countries called on Iran to hand over "black boxes" from a downed Ukrainian plane for examination.

In turn, Zarif confirmed his readiness to cooperate with Ukraine in the probe of the crash.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Kyiv-bound UIA flight PS752 crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport in the early hours of January 8. It was carrying 167 passengers and nine crew members on board. Two passengers and the crew members were Ukrainians. There were also 82 citizens of Iran, 63 citizens of Canada, 10 citizens of Sweden, four citizens of Afghanistan, three citizens of Germany and the United Kingdom each. There were no survivors.

Read alsoIran not to hand over black boxes from UIA's downed plane to outside governments

On January 11, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani officially admitted that the Ukrainian airliner had been shot down by accident as a result of a "human error" and that those responsible would be held accountable.

On February 2, intercepted communications between Tehran Airport's air traffic control tower and the second pilot of Iran's Aseman Airlines flight at the time of the crash of flight PS752 were released by TSN.Tyzhden. Tehran blamed the Ukrainian authorities for leaking what it described as confidential evidence, and said it would no longer share investigation materials with Ukraine.

Tehran has not yet handed over the PS752 black boxes to Kyiv, although the Iranian authorities do not have equipment to analyze them.
Some 500 degree holders in



agriculture courses on Monday protested bare-bodied in Indore demanding the filling of 5,000 vacant posts in the Madhya Pradesh government's agriculture and horticulture departments.

Protesters, who have been on a sit-in stir since February 11 in front of the Agriculture College here, said they were unemployed despite getting degrees in agriculture with good marks.

They lashed out at the Kamal Nath government for not sending a representative to hear out their demands.

Some 500 bare-bodied protesters marched from the college to the collectorate, a distance of around eight kilometres, eye witnesses said.

They submitted a memorandum, addressed to CM Nath, to local officials.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
FRANCE - The first ever recorded death due to COVID-19 outbreak outside of Asia happened in a French Hospital, Friday.

The victim, whose name was not publicized, was a Chinese tourist who arrived in France last January 16. After 9 days he was hospitalized and was placed under strict isolation. The man reportedly hailed from Hubei Province, the epicenter of the 2019 novel corona virus outbreak and currently where the most number of cases have been confirmed.

According to French Health Minister, Agnes Buzyn, the 80-year old was hospitalized at Bichat Hospital since January 25 and suffered from a coronavirus pulmonary infection. The man's daughter was also hospitalized but French health authorities said that she is already on her way to recovery.

Aside from the Chinese tourist, there are 10 patients in France that have been confirmed so far. Six of which are confined in hospitals and the rest have been released after fully recovering. The prognosis for those who are still in the hospitals is positive, thus Buzyn said that their condition should not cause any concern.

In Europe, there were only 46 confirmed cases combined from nine countries which have reported coronavirus cases. Amongst them, Germany has the most number which has a tally of 16 confirmed infections.

Read Also: Coronavirus Vaccine May Be Out in 18 Months, But California Lab Claims Making It in 3 Hours

On the other hand, last Sunday, Taiwan also confirmed the first death due to COVID-19, making it the fifth country to after, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Japan and France to have a recorded fatality outside mainland China.

The victim was a 61-year-old Taiwanese taxi driver. However, according to Taiwanese Health Minister Chen Shih-Chung the man was already living with hepatitis B and diabetes before he contacted the novel corona virus which ultimately caused his demise.

Taiwanese officials are still investigating how the man who have not travelled outside the country have contacted the dreaded diseases. The minister further added that there is a speculation that he got it from one of his clients since his clientele was largely from Macau, Hong Kong and Mainland China.

As of the moment Chen said that they were still unable to gather his contact history but are actively making efforts to find the man's source of contraction. Furthermore, he added that one of the relatives of the deceased also tested positive with the virus.

Overall, there have been 20 reported cases of COVID-19 in Taiwan, and they have already put a ban on Chinese visitors trying to get in their country.

There are currently more than 68,500 cases of COVID-19 confirmed worldwide, with China having the majority of those. In terms of fatality, there are approximately 1,666 that have died from the dreaded disease, from which the majority still came from China. However, there is still a spark of hope as more people recover which now counts to 8,500.

As the corona virus continues to spread like wild fire so is fear of a pandemic to happen. In response to this, The US State Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have issued a high level travel alerts for China prompting US officials to advise Americans to cancel or postpone their travel plans to China.

Related article: Coronavirus Updates: U.S. Evacuates Americans from Cruiseship, WHO Visits Wuhan

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Monday said that India has offered help, including evacuation and quarantine facilities, to the South East Asian countries for combating the deadly coronavirus that has claimed more than 1700 lives in mainland China.

"We have offered help to the South East Asian countries, including research and medicines. We also offered help to the Maldivians who have been shifted to the Chhawla camp. We are not averse to helping anybody," the minister said after meeting the people who will be discharged this week after their health reports pertaining to the virus test were found negative.

The Health Minister visited the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Quarantine Facility in Chhawla in southwest Delhi earlier today to meet the first batch of Indians, who came from Wuhan in the wake of the coronavirus, as they are about to leave for their homes after completing all health screening for the deadly virus outbreak.

When asked regarding the total suspected cases of the coronavirus reported so far in India, Harsh Vardhan stressed, "We are not counting for suspects instead we are undertaking extra precautions."

"I am very happy that all our Indians and Maldivian citizens who came from Wuhan on February 1-2 are leaving for their home. I am happy that you are healthy and fit and now all will move to their houses. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was from day one concerned about the people who were stuck in China," he said.

A total of 406 people who were airlifted returned from the Chinese city of Wuhan in Hubei province, the epicentre of coronavirus, earlier this month were being looked after at the quarantine facility of ITBP.

Appreciating the efforts undertaken by the Government of India in evacuating Indian citizens from Wuhan, Nausheen from Gurgaon, one among the airlifted ones who were quarantined in the ITBP health camp said, "This was a really very important step. For this, our country has been represented at various levels. We thank the Indian government. Our exams were about to begin in Chinese universities. But due to the virus outbreak, the exams have been postponed to April."

Another quarantined individual from the Maldives told ANI, "It was actually such a relief. Staying in Wuhan at such a point of time was very difficult both mentally and physically. I would like to thank the Indian government in every single place wherever they were involved in the total process. Even in the camps, the organisers provided us food for three times in a day, along with medicines and regular checkups."

Reiterating similar sentiments, Vishal Khatak, a 4th-year MBBS student from Hubei University in Xiangyang said, "Everything was under lockdown. We didn't expect that the Indian government would be undertaking such a relief effort within no time."

Harsh Vardhan further noted that other batches will also be arriving in India in the next few days from China, who will be quarantined at the same ITBP camp.

The Health Minister, meanwhile, appreciated the efforts undertaken by the Home Ministry, External Affairs Ministry, Civil Aviation and all other ministries and departments who were involved in the evacuation process of the Indian nationals from Wuhan.

A total of 650 people were brought back from Wuhan in China on February 1- 2 in two 747 Boeing Air India aircraft after the outbreak of the novel virus in China. While 406 of these are being looked after at the ITBP facility, rest is at an Army center at Manesar in Haryana.

The death toll from the COVID-19 epidemic outbreak has climbed to 1770 in mainland China and infected more than 70,000 others so far.

-ANI

Also Read: Hindu Mahasabha chief sees coronavirus as an 'avatar' to punish non-vegetarians

Also Read: Coronavirus: Indian crew under quarantine sends SOS video, appeals PM Modi for help
He says no one at the State Department was told to investigate whether there was a DNC server in Ukraine.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor has said that no officials at the State Department ever seriously considered conspiracy theories alleging that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 presidential elections to undermine President Donald Trump.

Taylor  who appeared as a witness during the House impeachment investigation into the president  told CBS News' 60 Minutes program he saw no merit in the conspiracy theory, which has been propagated by the president and his allies, Newsweek reported.

In the interview, broadcast Sunday, Taylor told correspondent Scott Pelley he was frustrated by Trump's parallel Ukraine policy, in which top advisers worked to bolster the president's political fortunes.

Read also"I wanted to be popular in U.S.": Zelensky jokes about Trump phone call

The president's attorney Rudy Giuliani was at the forefront of this effort, as he tried to dig up dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden and find evidence that the 2016 hack of the Democratic National Committee was directed from Ukraine and blamed on Russia. The theory alleges that the DNC then gave a key server that might contain evidence to Ukrainian company CrowdStrike.

The theory has been debunked, but this has not stopped the president peddling the allegations. Taylor told CBS News that no one at the State Department was told to investigate whether there was a DNC server in Ukraine because "no one took it seriously."

Taylor headed up the U.S. embassy in Ukraine while Trump froze hundreds of millions of military aid earmarked to the country. The president was allegedly trying to extort the new government led by President Volodymyr Zelensky into announcing an investigation into Biden.

Trump and his allies accuse Biden and his son Hunter of corruption, related to Hunter's position on the board of the Burisma natural gas company during President Barack Obama's tenure.

During his House testimony, Taylor warned that Trump's conduct damaged U.S. and Ukrainian national security, and undermined Kyiv's fight against Russian-backed armed formations in the east of the country.

Taylor told Pelley, "Ukraine's security is important to our security and the reason I believe that is that Ukraine is on the front line." He explained that Russia is waging "a hybrid war against Ukraine, but it's not just about Ukraine, they are fighting a hybrid war against Europe and against the United States."

Taylor said the U.S. has a stake in the fighting, which extends far beyond the battlefields of eastern Ukraine. "Hybrid war is more than tanks and soldiers," he told Pelley. "Hybrid war is information war, it's cyber war, it's economic war, it's attacks on elections and as we know they have attacked our elections."
Frank Olson died in the early hours of the morning on Nov. 28, 1953

The family of a CIA scientist who was privy to some of the agency's darkest secrets during the Cold War believes he did not kill himself, as they have been told for decades, and was instead murdered because he posed a risk to them.

Frank Olson died in the early hours of the morning on Nov. 28, 1953 outside The Statler Hotel in New York City, after having apparently fallen from his room on the 13th floor.

His family were not allowed to see his body, instead being told he had suffered significant facial injuries in the fall, and that he had killed himself by jumping.

But the man's nephew Paul Vidich is now claiming in his new book, The Coldest Warrior, that Olson was in fact killed by the CIA.

He says that after the family had Olson's body exhumed, they were told that he died as the result of blunt force trauma in the hotel room and that he was thrown to the street below.

Vicih lays out his evidence on an article for The Daily Beast on Monday. He told how in 1975, 18 years after Olson's death, the family learned about the LSD in his system because it emerged in The Rockefeller Commission, a report commissioned by President Gerald Ford to investigate the CIA

He had LSD in his system which Vidich thinks he was given at a clandestine, off-site meeting earlier in the day to test his trustworthiness.

At the time, he says his uncle had become privy to some of the agency's closely guarded secrets about strategies and techniques the US used in The Cold War.

Among them were interrogation techniques and the facts that the CIA had cooperated with Nazis and some Japanese war criminals following World War 2.

Vicih lays out his evidence on an article for The Daily Beast on Monday.

He told how in 1975, 18 years after Olson's death, the family learned about the LSD in his system because it emerged in The Rockefeller Commission, a report commissioned by President Gerald Ford to investigate the CIA.

President Ford invited the family to the White House where he apologized to them.

Olson's body was found in the street after falling from the 13th floor of The Statler Hotel

In 1975, the Olson family was invited to the Oval Office to meet with President Gerald Ford (shown). They took a settlement of $750,000

Paul Vidich, Olson's nephew, believes he was murdered because he knew too much

They were also given a $750,000 settlement but had to sign a release form in exchange which protected the CIA.

In 1994, still uneasy with the narrative he'd been given, Olson's oldest son had his body exhumed.

Vidich recently released his book The Coldest Warrior

The pathologist ruled that Olson did not suffer disfiguring facial injuries, as they had been told, and that he had an injury on his head which was consistent with him being murdered in his room and then thrown from the window.

'Olsons death remains officially classified as undetermined, but all the evidence that has emerged over several decades points toward murder and none of it points away. Like a black hole, existence is proven by evidence that points to existence and not by direct observation,' Vidich wrote.

Weeks before his uncle's death, he spent three weeks with Vidich's father re-roofing a house. He was not suicidal, he said, but was having a moral crisis and had started reading the Bible.

Another suspicious development, he said, was that the CIA signed a memorandum after Olson's death which allowed them to keep illegal operations secret if it was in the public interest or national security.

He also claims to know that Mossad, the Israeli spy agency, used his uncle's death as an example of the 'perfect murder' in its training programs.

Vidich said: 'I wrote The Coldest Warrior with the freedom that fiction enjoys to imagine the world beyond the precipice of knowledge.'




The central Pennsylvania couple who was quarantined on a cruise ship, where more than 200 passengers tested positive for novel coronavirus, is back in the United States.

But it may be up to two weeks before they are home in Dillsburg.

Bill and Colette Smedley arrived early this morning at an Air Force Base in Texas after having departed the Diamond Princess, docked in Japan since Feb. 3 when several passengers tested positive.

But 14 of the 300 passengers who departed from the cruise ship and were flown back to the United States on charter flights have since tested positive for the coronavirus, CNN is reporting.

Bill Smedley said through Facebook Messenger today that those 14 have been isolated in a tent.

The Smedleys had been on their 33rd anniversary cruise starting Jan. 6, visiting sites in Japan, Vietnam and Hong Kong. On the day they were supposed to head home, the Diamond Princess was quarantined at the Yokohama Port in Japan when some of the 3,700 passengers tested positive for the virus.

Here is a video of one of Smedleys previous conversations with PennLive:

Departures of more than 300 people from the cruise ship and back to the United States began late last night.

CNN reports one charter flight carrying evacuated Americans arrived at Travis Air Force Base near Fairfield, California, around 11:28 p.m. local time Sunday. A second, the one with the Smedleys, arrived at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in San Antonio, Texas, at 3:56 a.m. local time Monday.

The passengers who tested positive were isolated from the other passengers during the flights, the U.S. departments of State and Health and Human Services said in a statement, according to reports. And all passengers are being closely monitored.

Smedley said when they departed the Diamond Princess, they were stuck on a bus for six and a half hours before boarding the plane. But once on the plane  still wearing masks  they flew back in the first-class section.

Colette Smedley, of Dillsburg, sits aboard one of the planes bringing home the Americans who were quarantined aboard the Diamond Princess after cruise ship passengers tested positive for the coronavirus. (Photo by Bill Smedley).

Medics and doctors in protective suits came aboard to take their temperatures, testing and monitoring for the coronavirus.

One medic was in tears as he welcomed us on board, Smedley wrote. The enormity of this situation struck me pretty hard seeing his welcome.

Despite all the turmoil, Smedley said it feels good to be back in the United States.

People on the ground are clapping for us, he wrote through Facebook Messenger. It feels good.

For now, he expects a lot more waiting around. Reports indicated they could remain under quarantine in the United States for another 14 days.

But Smedley said they will likely be put up at an on-base hotel  likely an upgrade from a 10-foot-by-20-foot cabin on the cruise ship.

In the meantime, passengers will be monitored to see if they develop symptoms.

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.
[February 17, 2020] Rimkus Consulting Group, Inc. Acquires Metallurgical Technologies, Inc.

Rimkus Consulting Group, Inc. (Rimkus), a worldwide provider of forensic engineering and consulting services, today announced the strategic acquisition of North Carolina-based Metallurgical Technologies, Inc. (Met-Tech), a metallurgical analysis and testing laboratory that specializes in rapid response forensic materials engineering. "I'm incredibly proud of the Rimkus team for their hard work to propel our business forward this year, completing three acquisitions to deepen our expertise in construction consulting, mechanical and electrical engineering consulting and now forensic materials engineering," said Curtis Brown, Chairman of the Board of Rimkus Consulting Group, Inc. "In our 30 years, Rimkus is uniquely positioned to serve our customers like never before."



"We have great respect for Met-Tech, and their team represents the best in their field," said Robert Kocher, President and Chief Executive Officer of Rimkus Consulting Group, Inc. "Met-Tech will be a terrific complement to our network of consultants." "Rimkus is the ideal partner for our team with a shared commitment to deploying the most advanced technologies and methods to help our clients increase productivity with less down time," said Sam Pendergrass, Chief Executive Officer of Metallurgical Technologies, Inc.

Rimkus operates more than 60 offices across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom with a consulting network of more than 500 experts. Century Equity Partners acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Rimkus on this acquisition. The firm recently announced the acquisition of Amset Technical Consulting, Inc. and Brashear Construction Consulting, Inc. About Metallurgical Technologies, Inc. Metallurgical Technologies, Inc. is a metallurgical analysis and testing laboratory that specializes in rapid response forensic materials engineering. The company provides failure analysis, corrosion and defect investigations, reverse engineering, SEM/EDS (News - Alert) micro-analysis, mechanical and weldment testing, chemical analysis, metallography, consulting, non-destructive testing, and litigation support to a wide range of clients. www.met-tech.com About Rimkus Consulting Group, Inc. Rimkus Consulting Group, Inc. is a worldwide provider of forensic consulting services to insurance companies, law firms, corporations and government agencies. For more than 35 years, the company's team of engineers, architects, scientists, and technical specialists has been recognized for its commitment to service excellence by local, national and international business communities. www.rimkus.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200217005260/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Local News

By Ls Cohen Published: February 17 2020

It's original use in the 1940s was not to for commercial passenger service.

When you dont want to schlep into the city and fight the crowds at JFK or - gasp - LaGuardia, then your only other choice is Long Islands hometown airport, MacArthur. It might not get you everywhere but its a sure bet if you want to jet down to Florida to visit the folks or the mouse. Recently selected by USA Today readers as one of the best top ten small airports in the country, MacArthur is super convenient and its getting better all the time.

Photo: Long Island MacArthur Airport facebook page.

Think you know everything there is to know about Long Islands hometown airport? Test your knowledge against these facts below.
Native British dog breeds including Jack Russells and corgis saw a surge in popularity in the build-up to Brexit, the UK's Kennel Club has said.

New figures from the dog welfare charity showed half of the top 10 fastest breeds to gain popularity from 2018 to 2019 were native to Britain.

They include the Jack Russell terrier - a breed owned by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and partner Carrie Symonds - which increased by 30pc, and the royal favourite, the Pembroke Welsh corgi, which jumped up by 38pc.

The Norwich terrier saw the biggest surge in popularity, increasing by 58pc between 2018 and 2019, followed by the ancient Scottish breed, the Gordon Setter, which increased by 41pc.

Overall, the Labrador is Britain's most popular dog breed - a position previously held by the French bulldog, the charity said.

Of the top 10 breeds that decreased in popularity during the same period, eight originated from overseas.

They include the Siberian husky, which fell by 37pc, and the Chihuahua - believed to originate from Mexico - which dropped by 26pc. However, it was the Clumber spaniel - a breed developed in the UK - which saw the biggest decline in popularity, falling by 38pc.

Kennel Club spokesman Bill Lambert said: "High-profile owners and popular culture can have a huge impact on the popularity of certain breeds."
Chinese economy is in a slowdown which is likely to get much worse due to coronavirus outbreak.

The slowdown will drag down global economic growth, according to IMF. Global supply chain has been disrupted since many factories are shut in China. Inside China, the situation is much worse as the death toll rises everyday. The crisis has led to a shortage of medical supplies. It's so bad some units of car and tech companies are producing masks to help fight the epidemic.

ALSO READ:Tackling coronavirus-like outbreak needs sustained govt investment: Novartis CEO

ALSO READ:Coronavirus: India Inc stares at supply shortage amid outbreak in China

MUST WATCH:Coronavirus: Indian traders begin to bear the brunt
The quarantined ship Diamond Princess is pictured through barbed wire at Yokohama port in Yokohama, near Tokyo Monday, Feb. 17, 2020. Japanese officials have confirmed 99 more people infected by the new virus aboard the ship, the Health Ministry said Monday. Read more

BEIJING - Fourteen Americans evacuated from the coronavirus-stricken Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan tested positive for the illness but were allowed to board two chartered planes bound for quarantine on U.S. military bases.

Their return almost doubles the number of confirmed cases, which previously stood at 15, of the new coronavirus in the United States.

The 14 passengers tested positive for the virus after disembarking the cruise liner, which is moored off the Japanese port of Yokohama, but before boarding the planes. They were all asymptomatic so health authorities deemed them "fit to fly," the State Department and the Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement Monday.

They were cordoned off from the other passengers during the flight, it said.

"These individuals were moved in the most expeditious and safe manner to a specialized containment area on the evacuation aircraft to isolate them in accordance with standard protocols," the departments said.

A total of 328 Americans were evacuated on the two flights; all are due to go into quarantine for 14 days, the maximum incubation period for the virus, at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California, or Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.

Flight data showed that one flight had landed at Travis late Sunday night local time, and the other in San Antonio early Monday.

Another 44 Americans from the cruise ship had previously tested positive for coronavirus and had been taken to hospitals in Japan to recover.

Japan's Health Ministry on Monday reported 99 new cases of coronavirus among the passengers and crew of the Diamond Princess, taking the total number of infections from the ship to 454. Of those, 18 are in serious condition, the Yomiuri newspaper reported.

Yosuke Kita, a senior official in the Japanese health ministry, said the government will have finished testing everyone on board the Diamond Princess by the end of the day on Monday.

One of the new cases was a Russian woman, who would be taken to hospital for treatment, the Russian Embassy in Tokyo said on Twitter, and two were Australians, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The Australian government said it would evacuate more than 200 of its citizens stranded onboard the Diamond Princess on a charter flight that will depart from Japan on Wednesday. They will all have to spend two weeks in quarantine in the northern city of Darwin.

"I understand that those who were on board will feel very frustrated about this," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Monday. "But our first responsibility is that we have to protect the health and safety of Australians in Australia today."

The Australian plane would also carry out the 11 New Zealanders stranded on the cruise ship, said New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and they would have to go into quarantine once home.

With Monday's new cases, a total of 26 Australians and two New Zealanders have been confirmed as having the virus.

The evacuations were underway amid a continuing scramble to contain the virus, especially in China, where the outbreak began in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, in December.

The number of confirmed infections in China now exceeds 70,000, with the death toll rising to 1,770, the overwhelming majority of both occurring in Hubei province. But China's National Health Commission has stressed that the number of new cases outside Hubei province has been declining, as authorities impose draconian restrictions on people's movements in an attempt to stop transmission.

Another cruise liner, the Westerdam, owned by Holland America Line, is at the center of a coronavirus-related investigation.

Hundreds of passengers have flown home, mostly through Thailand or Malaysia, after the ship docked in the Cambodian port of Sihanoukville and Cambodian health authorities deemed it coronavirus-free.

But an American woman has since tested positive for the virus, setting off a scramble to trace the infection.

Holland America Line said Monday that it was working closely with government and health officials in Malaysia and Cambodia, as well as experts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization, to try to trace people who may have been exposed to the virus.

"We are in close coordination with some of the leading health experts from around the world," Grant Tarling, Holland America's chief medical officer, said in a statement. "These experts are working with the appropriate national health authorities to investigate and follow-up with individuals who may have come in contact with the guest."

An 83-year-old American woman who disembarked from the ship at Sihanoukville on Friday took a charter flight to Kuala Lumpur, along with 145 other passengers. They had all passed health checked by Cambodian authorities and cleared to disembark and travel onward.

When the woman arrived in Kuala Lumpur, she reported feeling unwell and tested positive for the virus. Malaysian authorities say she is in stable condition.

Her traveling companion tested negative and none of the other passengers or crew members reported symptoms, the company said in the statement.

The Westerdam on Monday remained in Sihanoukville, where it had docked last week after spending two weeks at sea. Authorities in Japan, Taiwan, Guam, the Philippines and Thailand had turned it away after seeing what had happened with the Diamond Princess, where the number of infections had grown rapidly even while the vessel and its passengers were supposed to be quarantined.

Cambodia's prime minister, Hun Sen, who has vowed not to do anything to anger China and even wanted to visit Wuhan, said his country would take the ship, which had been deemed virus-free.

The U.S. ambassador to Cambodia, W. Patrick Murphy, visited the cruise ship while it was in port and posted photos on Twitter of him and his family with American passengers.

President Donald Trump tweeted on Saturday: "Thank you to the beautiful country of Cambodia for accepting the @CarnivalCruise ship Westerdam into your port. The United States will remember your courtesy!"

Amid concerns over widening clusters of outbreaks outside of China, South Korea and Japan changed their approaches to confronting the virus on Monday. South Korea said it will start testing individuals for the coronavirus if they have been identified by doctors as having pneumonia-like symptoms linked to the virus, even if they have not recently traveled abroad.

The announcement came as South Korean health officials were still attempting to trace the origins of a new infection, first reported on Sunday. "South Korea is said to have effectively prevented local transmission of the coronavirus so far, but the latest situations should be handled with higher level of concern," vice health minister Kim Gang-lip told a briefing on Monday.

Similar concerns were voiced in Japan, which reported a sharp rise in the number of people with coronavirus, with 65 people now confirmed to have the virus, up from 33 on Thursday. The fact that many of the latest cases cannot be traced directly to China forced Health Minister Kato to admit that the virus has entered a "new phase" of local transmission.

In many of the recent cases "it is very, very difficult to trace the chain of transmission," said Dr. Shigeru Omi, Chief Director, Japan Community Health Care Organization, an organization that runs medical centers across Japan.

The country had initially employed a "quarantine-based" approach, for instance restricting entry to people who had recently been in Wuhan. But now it is shifting to an approach focued on community-based control and treatment, said Omi.

One aspect of this was a "highly sensitive surveillance system.. to allow prompt detection of cases." Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said Japan can now administer more than 3,000 tests a day.

Designated hospitals will be able to take 1,800 of the most severe cases, while other hospitals will be able to take milder cases "and citizens with very light symptoms will be requested to stay home," Omi said. People who develop symptoms will be encouraged to approach specially established call centers in each prefecture, rather than visit hospitals on their own. The government has allocated an additional $150 million to tackle the problem.

In Beijing, China's ruling Communist Party signaled that it would almost certainly postpone the annual meeting of its legislature, the National People's Congress, and the other National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Together, these meetings are known as the "Two Sessions" and have opened on March 5 every year since 1995, except for 1997 when the meetings convened on March 1.

Officials from the NPC standing committee will meet Feb. 24 to discuss postponing the meetings, the official Xinhua News Agency said Monday.

At the meetings, Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang take to the stage in the Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square and lay out their vision for the year ahead. Some 3,000 delegates from around the country attend.

The move to delay it "underscores the gravity of the coronavirus epidemic," according to the analysts at the NPC Observer blog. "Officially, the Council is reported to have been mainly concerned with pulling NPC delegates (over a third of whom are local officials) away from their epidemic control efforts," the analysts said in a blog post, linking to a state media article.

Other analysts point out that it would be bad optics for the party to hold a huge meeting at a time when all public gatherings are banned, and even worse to show thousands of cadres in masks. The party's leaders are already being criticized for their slow response to the outbreak and apparent efforts to silence those who warned about it.

Also Feb. 24, the NPC standing committee will vote on restricting the sale of, and banning the consumption of, wild animals. The coronavirus outbreak began in a food market in Wuhan where exotic animals, including snakes and hedgehogs, were on sale. The virus is thought to have mutated and jumped from the animals to humans.

Despite indications that Beijing is continuing to prepare for a prolonged crisis, the Chinese leadership has attempted to mitigate the economic impact in recent days. The semiautonomous Chinese territory of Macao is now set to reopen its casinos on Thursday, capping a 15-day closure that has been aimed at stemming the coronavirus outbreak from spreading further in the city of 670, 000 - even as the government continues to urge people not to congregate. Macao earns billions in tax revenue from its casinos, and tourism more broadly accounts for 80 per cent of its economic output.

The move was an unexpected one, however, as most analysts believed the shutdown in the world's largest gambling hub would be extended as cases continue to spike in mainland China. Analysts said the decision could have been prompted by Chinese president Xi Jinping's desire for the coronavirus not to hinder China's overall progress and its economy. Xi has warned against "overreactions" to the outbreak.

The Washington Posts Simon Denyer in Yokohama, Japan, Min Joo Kim in Seoul, Shibani Mahtani in Hong Kong and Rick Noack in Berlin contributed to this report.
A missing Milwaukee woman and her two daughters were found dead Sunday, the victims of an apparent homicide, authorities said.

Amarah J. Banks, 26, Zaniya R. Ivery, 5, and Camaria Banks, 4, were found in a Milwaukee garage Sunday afternoon, Milwaukee police Chief Alfonso Morales said at a news conference. Banks and her daughters were reported missing by her family on Feb. 9. An Amber Alert was issued Saturday for the two children and their mother. The police chief said the criteria to issue an alert had not been met prior to Saturday.

"You have to also understand that foul play was not an initial piece of this investigation, it was a missing investigation that escalated," Morales said.

They were discovered after the arrest of Banks' boyfriend, Arzel J. Ivery, 25, in Memphis, Tennessee, on a fugitive from justice warrant, Morales said. Ivery is the father of one of the children. He is being held in Memphis, according to Shelby County Jail records.

One count of felony aggravated battery was filed against Ivery on Saturday in Milwaukee County, according to online court records. He has not been charged in the homicides.

It is unclear if he has an attorney.

Autopsies are scheduled for Monday, the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office said.
Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Its true  time really does fly.

Eight years ago, I wrote an article entitled The Tragedy of the Dumb Church[1], which struck a nerve with a lot of people. It was circulated widely on the web and also resulted in invitations to speak on some nationally syndicated radio shows.

In the article, I talked about how a friend of mine, who has a real heart for grounding youth in the faith, contacted all our community churches about conducting free-of-charge apologetics training for their young people. His gracious offer was sadly met with a talk-to-the-hand response from every local church.

Now its my turn.

Because I continue to see data suggesting that many people leave the church or consider it irrelevant because it fails to answer the tough questions that are thrown at it, I contacted the mega-church I go to about starting up an apologetics ministry. Because Im formally trained in apologetics and theology, I offered to spearhead it and help train a volunteer staff who could serve as a group ready to answer people inside or outside the church who struggle with questions about Christianity.

I spoke with five(!) campus and connection pastors about it, and also offered to teach formal culturally relevant classes at the church where these issues could be openly discussed. This time, I was the one who got the shrug-of-the-shoulders response or simply ghosted on email.

That experience got me thinking  could it be that between the last time I wrote on this subject and now, things have gotten worse on this front for the church?

In This Corner

The fact is, its ugly out there and getting worse.

Data from the Barna group has identified a number of disturbing trends that should cause all Christians concern. Gen Z teens are much less likely to assert religious identity than generations before them with a rise in espoused atheism also being witnessed. Almost half of practicing Christian Millennials (47%) believe that evangelism is wrong, and my bet is that their lack of confidence in not being able to answer hard questions from their unbelieving friends plays a role in this.

Who can blame them? In the worldview ring, the opposing corner of Christianity has an impressive array of challengers that is certainly intimidating.

First up is the current post-truth culture. Postmodernism was one thing, but dealing with a secular mood that acknowledges something is true and yet rejects it because it goes against their personal preferences or interferes with their social/political activism is an entirely different beast.

Then we have scientism, which is the default fall back foundation for those who reject spirituality. Scientism is critical to and for the non-religious in order to, as Richard Lewontin puts it, not allow a divine foot in the door.

For some, scientism devolves into something more antagonistic  something I call hatetheism. Think of it as atheism with healthy doses of snideness, contempt, and a willingness to do anything needed to make religious faith appear idiotic and even dangerous. For example, Victor Stenger does just this when he says, Science flies you to the moon. Religion flies you into buildings.

Last but not the least is the relatively new voice of apatheism. On its opposition to Christianity, authors Paul Rowan Brian and Ben Sixsmith state: The greatest threat to Christianity is found not in the arguments of the atheist but in the assumptions of the apathetic. The danger is not a hostile reception of belief in God but an incurious indifference to the idea.

Against these seemingly-powerful opponents to Christianity, who can blame Gen Z and others for being bullied into silence and inaction?

Appallingly Superficial

But are these four enemies of Christianity really the big, bad wolves they seem to be? I don't think so and heres why.

If there are two words that perfectly define our day, they are: appallingly superficial. The whole world of digital Babylon exemplifies this perfectly in everyday life and they apply equally well to the religious landscape.

For example, in discussing his exit from Christianity, one blogger leaning into hatetheism provided a list of books that motivated him to leave the faith. He concluded by saying that he hoped to read them one day.

Seriously?

This shallow attitude is both sad and encouraging at the same time. Sad, in that it shows how flippant some people take matters of religion. But also encouraging because when such an attitude is directly and lovingly confronted by the robust intellectualism, logic, and meaningfulness that has defined Christianity since day one, it disintegrates into the vapor that it is.

These house-of-cards foundations are likely why apologist William Lane Craig says that he is oftentimes confronted by upset unbelievers at the end of his debates who assert that the only way their side did so poorly during the event was because it was a setup. However, they get really intellectually defrocked when they discover that Craigs opponents were not chosen by Craig but instead hand-picked by their own atheist group.

The fact is, Christianity is indeed a robust, personally meaningful and intellectually satisfying alternative to its rivals who truly arent as ferocious as they appear.

What You Crave

Sometimes I get the argument from church leaders that theyre only responding to the desires of their members in not offering apologetics and similar, deeper theological education. They say no one is asking for it so it must not be wanted.

Nothing concerns me more about the spiritual state of a church than when I hear such a thing, and heres why.

Years ago, I met a great couple who hadnt been going to my church very long. Although they were both busy executive professionals, they were doing 3-4 different Bible studies each week and loving every minute of it. I remember them telling me, We just cant get enough!

That kind of appetite is a telling sign that the person in question has truly been born again. It personifies Anselms motto for the Christian faith: faith seeking understanding, which means that a true faith in God and Christ prompts a hungering quest for deeper understanding of spiritual truths.

Jonathan Edwards said in his great work, A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections, that a persons cravings will unveil their spiritual condition. If a professing faith doesnt seek the kind of understanding and holy affections to which Anselm and Edwards refer, then maybe it isnt a Christian faith.

In other words, show me a church without a desire for learning about God and living it out, and Ill show you a church that is pregnant with unbelievers.

Advice for the Dumb Church

So what steps should the dumb church take? Here are a few suggestions I have for churches like mine:

Ask yourself the question put forward by Charles Spurgeon back in the 1,800s: are you feeding the sheep or amusing the goats? Is your teaching making unbelievers uncomfortable and convicted or is their conscious never poked in the side with a spiritual elbow that causes them to wake up from the unbelieving state theyre in?

Is there anyone on staff or are there members of the congregation that are capable of answering the tough questions that unbelievers and struggling Christians put forward? Are there ways of identifying and engaging these individuals over time until they are on solid footing?

How seriously have you taken the educating and equipping of your saints? Can members of your body be regularly fed in your church or must they go outside for continued education in the things of God?

Years ago, a man came up to Francis Schaeffer and asked him many deep questions about Christianity. After Schaeffer answered everything that was thrown at him, the man paused, then said: Thank you. Now I can worship God much better.

By contrast, todays dumb church would likely not be of much help. Instead, it has contributed to the sad state about which A. W. Tozer spoke of in his classic book, The Knowledge of the Holy: The message of this book . . . is called forth by a condition which has existed in the Church for some years and is steadily growing worse. I refer to the loss of the concept of majesty from the popular religious mind. The Church has surrendered her once lofty concept of God and has substituted for it one so low, so ignoble, as to be utterly unworthy of thinking and worshipping people. This she has not done deliberately, but little by little without her knowledge; and her unawareness only makes her situation all the more tragic (emphasis mine).

Let us all pray that todays dumb church takes the action needed to both overpower her enemies and equip her people so that our God is thought of and worshipped properly.

[1] My original post was lost when Christianpost removed their blogging site, but one of the reprints of the post was copied and posted here.
Protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the police action against the protestors were held by Muslim organisations in Chennai, Nagercoil, Madurai, Virudhunagar and other places on February 15, 2020. (Image: News18 Tamil)
KANSAS CITY, Mo., Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Burns & McDonnell has named its new chief administrative officer and promoted six employee-owners to vice president. These individuals contributed to another record year of growth for the 100% employee-owned engineering, construction and architecture firm that produced $4.3 billion in sales, resulted in the support of more than 15,000 projects and the addition of nearly 1,000 employees.

Burns & McDonnell has named its new chief administrative officer and promoted six employee-owners to vice president. These individuals contributed to another record year of growth for the 100% employee-owned engineering, construction and architecture firm that produced $4.3 billion in sales, resulted in the support of more than 15,000 projects and the addition of nearly 1,000 employees.

"In 2019, we experienced strong growth, expanding to more than 50 offices around the world to provide even greater support to our clients," says Ray Kowalik, chairman and CEO of Burns & McDonnell. "This would not have been possible without the dedication and hard work of all our employee-owners. Our new officers have been critical to leading our success and growth  they are game changers within our company and the industries we serve, exemplifying the values of our employee-owned firm."

After serving as general manager of the California offices for Burns & McDonnell for more than a decade, Renita Mollman has been selected to serve as chief administrative officer. Mollman began her career as a civil engineer at Burns & McDonnell in 1988, providing aviation design and construction services across the U.S. Throughout the next two decades, she supported more than a hundred projects for multiple aviation and military clients. In 2009, she was promoted to general manager for the California region and in 2011 was promoted to vice president. Under her leadership, this regional team grew from just a few employees to more than 250, the firm was named a best place to work seven times in southern California and revenue nearly quadrupled.

New vice presidents and members of the Burns & McDonnell officer group include the following employee-owners:

Jason Cabral is regional manager of the firm's Transmission & Distribution (T&D) Group in the Northeast. Cabral's team of more than 100 project managers, engineers and technical professionals support a wide range of transmission, distribution, substation and network design projects across the U.S. He joined Burns & McDonnell in 2006 as a project manager for high-profile transmission projects in the Northeast, helping major utilities provide safer, more reliable energy to millions of customers. Under his leadership throughout the last two years, the regional T&D Group has grown by nearly 100% and increased T&D revenue in the Northeast to more than $30 million. Additionally, Cabral serves as the firm's executive in charge for the rapidly expanding offshore wind market.

Mike DeBacker serves as general manager of the Transportation Group at Burns & McDonnell. An industry veteran with nearly 30 years' experience, DeBacker leads the charge in facilitating market development and delivering high-quality transportation infrastructure nationwide. He has managed and participated in major-capital transportation studies and projects across the nation, including multistate planning projects, complex bridge and highway projects and asset management planning and implementation. DeBacker is a co-champion of the Big 5 transportation initiative, an effort with the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce to develop future transportation strategies for the region. He is also past chairman of the American Council of Engineering Companies for Missouri, a member of the leadership academy of the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association and serves in several roles with chambers of commerce and nonprofit organizations.

Kelly Jeffcote serves as director of procurement for Burns & McDonnell. Since assuming her current role in 2016, Jeffcote has skillfully managed supplier relations and developed purchasing strategies, policies and programs for the firm. She currently oversees expenditures throughout the enterprise, leading more than 100 professionals who provide sourcing, contract negotiation, purchasing, expediting, supplier quality, transportation and business diversity services. Prior to serving as director of procurement at the firm's world headquarters in Kansas City, Jeffcote led procurement efforts for Burns & McDonnell in Houston  the firm's largest regional office  for eight years.

Chris Norquist serves Burns & McDonnell as director of engineering for the firm's T&D Group. In this role, Norquist oversees more than 600 design professionals providing substation, transmission and communication solutions for electrical utilities across the U.S. Under his leadership, the team has consistently grown by more than 10% annually. In his previous role, Norquist served as director of transmission projects, where he led a revenue growth of more than 50% in four years. Throughout Norquist's career, he's helped foster a culture of excellence and successfully delivered electrical transmission projects for clients nationwide.

Ray Schieferecke is regional manager of the firm's Construction/Design-Build (CDB) Group for the Rocky Mountain region. After serving as a project manager for six years in the Kansas City office, Schieferecke was promoted to lead the growing CDB team in Denver in 2009. He has played an invaluable role in strengthening the firm's construction and design-build capabilities across the U.S. and has grown the regional team from four to nearly 50 project controls and construction professionals. Schieferecke's commitment to excellent client service and project performance translates into the team's consistent successful execution of major capital projects throughout the U.S.

Scott Strawn serves Burns & McDonnell as the U.S. sales and marketing director for the Energy Group. Since joining the firm as a mechanical engineer in 2006, Strawn served as an account manager for more than 10 years before being promoted to his current role in 2018. Strawn's ability to develop efficient, comprehensive solutions to meet the demands of the quickly evolving energy market has been essential to his group's growth and continued success. His wealth of industry insight helps major utilities develop future major capital projects, new generation and renewable initiatives and prudent capital investment strategies that rise to the challenges presented by today's power industry.

For photos and support materials, please visit our MEDIA KIT.

About Burns & McDonnell

Founded by two entrepreneurs in 1898, Burns & McDonnell is a family of companies made up of more than 7,600 engineers, architects, construction professionals, scientists, consultants and innovators with offices across the country and throughout the world. We strive to create amazing success for our clients and amazing careers for our employee-owners. Burns & McDonnell is 100% employee-owned and is proud to be on Fortune's 2019 list of 100 Best Companies to Work For. For more information, visit burnsmcd.com.

Contact: Elle Martens, Burns & McDonnell

816-822-3147

[email protected]

SOURCE Burns & McDonnell

Related Links

http://www.burnsmcd.com


Queen Mathilde and King Philippe of Belgium put on a rare public display of affection this afternoon as they attended a memorial service for lost loved ones.

The Belgian royals, 47 and 59 respectively, held hands as they accompanied King Emeritus Albert II and his wife, Queen Paola, to the service, which was held at Notre Dame de Laeken, in Belgium.

The annual service commemorates the lives of deceased members of the royal clan, and is usually attended by the most senior members of the Belgian royal family.

For the occasion, Queen Mathilde opted for an understated grey dress which was fitted at the waist with a built-in belt and completed by an impressive built-in cape of the same colour and fabric.

Queen Mathilde and King Philippe of Belgium respectively 47 and 59, held hands as they accompanied King Albert II and Queen Paola to a church service at Notre Dame de Laeken, in Belgium

A playful gust of wind lifted the royal's cape as she and King Philippe (right) accepted flowers of the step of the church

The royal had opted for a stylish yet respectful monochrome outfit in grey with a built-in belt and cape

The mother-of-two paired the stylish outfit with grey heels, and a statement headband of the same shade of grey, which adorned her neat blond bun.

She kept her accessories discreet, with a tasteful pair of diamond drop earrings, a golden watch and a chain bracelet.

Mathilde, who is known for her love of monochromatic outfits, also carried a small grey clutch bag and gloves of the same exact colour.

Her make-up was minimal, with a dash of mascara and eye-shadow framing her blue eyes and some pink lipstick and blush adding to the beauty of her natural glow.

King Albert II and Queen Paola attended the service this morning, wrapped up in warm winter coats

Queen Mathilde and King Philippe looked as close as ever this morning as they made their way to the service

Queen Mathilde, known for her love of grey and of coordinated outfits, sported little jewellery and a tasteful pair of suede cloves and a leather clutch bag

Mathilde and King Philippe both received bouquets of flowers as they arrived at the church. As she extended her hand to receive hers, a playful gust of wind lifted the royal's cape.

She lit up as King Philippe took her hand in a delicate gesture of affection inside the church, before entering deep reflection during the service.

Among the people being remembered today was likely the Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg, who passed in April 2019, aged 2019.

He was very close to the royal family of Belgium, being the brother-in-law of King Albert.

The couple had accompanied King Albert II, 85, and Queen Paola, 82, Philippe's parents and Belgium's former monarchs.

King Philippe and Queen Mathilde stood close to the former monarch Albert II at today's service

The Belgium royal family looked deep in thought during the service, with Queen Mathilde, King Philippe, Kind Albert and Queen Paola at the front row (pictured)

Queen Mathilde sported little makeup and her beautiful blond locks were expertly styled in a bun that she accessorised with a headband
It's up to voters to judge which side is right in April 15 election



The National Election Commission (NEC) has approved the registration of the Future Korea Party, a satellite party of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) founded to win proportional representation seats in the April 15 general election.



The election watchdog appears to have considered the matter deeply before reaching its decision. The Future Korea Party filed an application for its registration with the NEC, Feb. 6, and the election commission approved the registration Feb. 13, the legal deadline. The NEC carefully weighed if it would be appropriate to approve the party launched by the LKP to beat the odds in the allocation of proportional representation seats under the revised Election Law.



Earlier, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) had urged the NEC not to accept the Future Korea Party's application, saying, "More fake parties will appear if its application is accepted." But with the LKP satellite party gaining official approval, the controversy over its legality is over.



Nevertheless, the main opposition party is not free from the criticism that it has resorted to an expedient  although the Future Korea Party met necessary requirements, it's an affiliated party solely intended to secure proportional representation seats. The DPK can't avoid criticism, either, for having joined forces with smaller parties to pass a contentious electoral reform bill instead of discussing the crucial election issue with the largest opposition party.



The launch of the Future Korea Party is likely to make our political landscape more chaotic. If LKP supporters shift to it in droves in proportional representation votes, the DPK's efforts to curb the LKP increasing its number of parliamentary seats will turn out to be futile. The ruling party, however, has no one to blame but itself for the fiasco. Now it's up to voters to judge which side is right. What's certain is that the problem-ridden Election Law should be revised by the next National Assembly.


Around 5.61 million students will appear in the high school and intermediate examinations of the UP Board beginning Tuesday.

While 2.586 million students will sit in the intermediate examination, 3.025 million will appear in high school examination.

The high school examination will get over in 12 working days (March 3) while intermediate exams will conclude in 15 days (March 6).

In 2019, the high school examinations concluded in 14 working days, while or intermediate examinations concluded in 16 working days.

In high school, a total of 1.66 million are boys and 1.39 million girls will take the exam.

In Intermediate, a total of 1.463 million boys and 1.121 million girls will appear in the examination.

The Board has announced to introduce many firsts in the examinations this year. Some of them are:

Coloured and stitched answer sheets

This year a number of new initiatives have been put into place to uphold the sanctity of the examination. The UP Board has decided to introduce four different sets of coloured and stitched answer sheets in about 18 districts where examinees are more likely to resort to unfair practices during examination.

Deputy chief minister and secondary education minister Dinesh Sharma said, We decided to use two sets of coloured answer sheets in high school and another two in intermediate examinations to prevent swapping of answer sheets during examination in sensitive districts.

Compartment system for intermediate exam

Sharma said from this year compartment system had been introduced for Class 12 (intermediate) examinees also. At present, the Board has this provision only for high school examinees. But now this facility will be introduced for Class 12 examinees. More than 25 lakh class 12 examinees who will write the examination will benefit from the compartment system, he told newsperson.

As the Board had introduced NCERT syllabus and examination pattern last year and had done away with the two-paper system, leaving only one paper for students to pass in each subject, it was observed that those who did not fare well in that paper of the subject could not clear the examination, an official explained.

Toll free helpline numbers

The UP board launched two toll free helpline numbers: 1800-180-5310 and 1800-180-5312 for students to get replies of their queries and help them to overcome stress. The helpline numbers to remain active from 8 am to 8 pm.

New Twitter handle

Sharma also launched a new twitter handle @upboardexam2020 for real-time speedy transmission of information. Keeping in mind the wide interests of candidates appearing in the High School and Intermediate examination, the Board launched the Twitter service for 2020 examination for speedy resolution of their problems.

Hi-tech control room, 1.90 lakh cameras

A hi-tech control room has also been set up in Lucknow which would be connected to each of the 7,784 examinations centres in 75 districts of state through a network of around 1.90 lakh CCTV cameras. The webcasting of examinations would be done every day which would be monitored by officials in state capital led by Sharma, who is also cabinet minister for secondary education.

Dos and Donts

As per directives of the Board, examinees will have to write their roll number on every page of the answer sheet besides they will not write anything pertaining to their religion like Om or 786. Also, the Board has made it clear that directives had been issued for examinees to refrain from inserting currency notes in answer sheets or action would be initiated against them.

It may be mentioned that following a series of measures initiated by the Board to check use of unfair means, the number of instances of copying has come down from 3233 in 2018 to 1182 in 2019 board exams. Likewise, while in 2018, 1.25 million examinees skipped the exam midway, in 2019 the number came down to 6.69 lakh examinees.
India is looking at setting up a separate theatre command for Jammu and Kashmir, General said on Monday.

The air defence command is to be rolled out by the beginning of next year and the Peninsula command by the end of 2021, Gen Rawat told a select group of journalists.

The Indian Air Force will helm the air defence command and all-long range missiles as well as air defence assets will come under it, he said.

"India is looking at setting up a separate theatre command for Jammu and Kashmir," Gen Rawat said.

Indian Navy's Eastern and Western commands will be integrated into the Peninsula command, he said.

India will also have a separate training and doctrinal command and logistics command, he said.

He also favoured a policy of staggered procurement of big ticket purchases, including acquisition of 114 fighter jets.

The Navy's demand for a third aircraft carrier will be considered after assessing performance of indigenously-built aircraft carrier, he said.

Gen Rawat also said that submarines are a priority over aircraft carrier for the Navy.

India is also looking at overseas bases for logistics, he added.
The newly-designated LREM candidate for Mayor of Paris, Agnes Buzyn, sobbed throughout her speech as she handed over the job of Health and Solidarity Minister to her successor Olivier Veran.

She described her departure as wrenching, as she thanked her staff for their hard work day and night.

Buzyn stated that she cared deeply about the future of Paris and that she would deliver on her commitment but her emotional farewell to the Health Ministry has already led to comments that her heart is not in the campaign to win the Paris City Hall.

She said herself on Friday that she could not leave the health ministry as she was handling so many important issues and it's clear that she succumbed to pressure in announcing on Sunday that she would stand for Mayor of Paris.

The race will be tough. The two frontrunners, incumbent Anne Hidalgo and Nicolas Sarkozy's former justice minister Rachida Dati are both formidable campaigners.

Former LREM candidate Benjamin Griveaux withdrew from the contest on Friday morning after a leaked sex video.

Government criticised

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe is now under fire for changing the health minister in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis.

Far left Trade Union leader Pierre Martinez and Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure both took to the airwaves suggesting that winning Paris City Hall for Macron's LREM party is being prioritized over the needs of the country.

The government rejects such criticism, pointing out that the new minister Olivier Veran is a neurologist with considerable experience in various roles in the health sector.

As well as the COVID-19 crisis, Veran faces continuing protests by medics and health workers over pay and conditions, a factor cited as the reason for numerous resignations among hospital staff over the last year.

Veran was a former Socialist Party MP before joining LREM, and is seen to be on the left of Macron's party.
New Normandy-format summit can be held only if Paris summit decisions implemented - Lavrov

A new Normandy-format summit can be convened only after the decisions made at the previous such summit held in Paris are implemented, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

"There can be reasons [to convene a new summit] only if the decisions made at the previous summit, which took place in Paris in December, are implemented," Lavrov said at a press conference on Monday.

"We haven't seen progress along any track so far," he said.
No casualties were reported among Ukrainian troops in the past day.

Russia's hybrid military forces on Sunday mounted nine attacks on Ukrainian positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine.

"The armed forces of the Russian Federation violated the ceasefire nine times on February 16," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation said in a Facebook update as of 07:00 Kyiv time on February 17, 2020.

The enemy opened fire, employing proscribed 120mm and 82mm mortars, grenade launchers of various types, heavy machine guns, and rifles.

Read also"We're all in this fight together": Pompeo tells of meeting with Ukrainian wounded soldier

Under attack came Ukrainian positions near the town of Maryinka, and the villages of Lebedynske, Novoluhanske, Krymske, Orikhove, Novozvanivka, and Khutir Vilny.

No casualties were reported among Ukrainian troops in the past day.

The enemy did not attack Ukrainian positions from 00:00 to 07:00 Kyiv time on February 17.
In 1968, the Vietnam War was not a catalyst for protests but a sort of nexus for all other injusticesthe part contained elements of the whole: racism, class war, capitalist profiteering, imperialism. It was symptom and cause, much like climate change feels today. In April of that year, one inflection point happened on New Yorks Columbia University campus.

The University wanted to build a military gym, not on campus, but in Morningside Park, a public space that bordered on Harlem. The student body immediately protested the construction. For one thing, it was planned to feature one entrance for students and faculty, and another entrance in the basement for Harlems mostly African-American residents. Protestors saw this, and the displacement of black residents from their neighborhood park, as racist. The Student Afro-American Society (SAS) of the University nicknamed it Gym Crow. At the same time, another activist group, the Students for a Democratic Society, discovered links between the University and the Department of Defense. The two events were separate, but stood for a bigger problem.

Students staged protests, sit-ins, and generally disrupted the University, vowing to continue until their demands were metspecifically divestment in the war machine and halting construction of the gym. Things got so bad, with some 148 injuries and 372 reports of police brutality from New Yorks Finest, that the University went into lockdown.

That was April. On May 3, enter the Grateful Dead. Still a young band, the Dead were comparatively unknown on the East Coast, but set out to support the students with a free concert. What you see above is one of the few reels of footage of the illegal gig, with music from earlier gigs used over the silent footage. No sound recording exists of this event, but the uploader seems to think The Eleven was part of the set.

Mickey Hart, who had only recently joined the band as a second drummer, recalled how they made their way onto the campus:

[Grateful Dead manager] Rock [Scully] reached out to the strike organizers and offered to do a free show for the students. Always up for an adventure, we of course, went right along. Since the police and guards were closing off access to the majority of the campus  we were smuggled on campus to Low Library Plaza in the back of a bread delivery truck. Equipment and all. We were already jamming away before the security and police could to stop us.

This other footage shows more contextshots of Morningside Park, the protests, the police response, the sit-ins, a chalk noticeboard featuring messages from the outside to the studentsall truly a time capsule. One YouTube commenter says he was there:

They set up on the porch of Ferris Booth Hall, which was the student union, in effect. A small crowd gathered; the Dead were not widely known yet in New York. I had a nice chat with Garcia [while] they were setting up. They started to play, but someone from the administration cut the power, which was not received favorably by the students. After some brief negotiating  someone pointed out that legally Ferris Booth Hall was owned by the students and does the university really need another riot  the power was turned back on and the show continued.

In the end, the student protests continued right through graduationstudents held their own ceremony off campusbut they worked. The gym was not built and the University broke off its work with the DoD.

Flash forward to 2019 and its all coming around again: students and faculty demanded the University divest from all fossil fuels, in support of the Extinction Rebellion hunger strikers. As of this writing (February 2020), the University is still mulling it over. (No free concerts have been announced eitheryet.)

Related Content:

Take a Long, Strange Trip and Stream a 346-Hour Chronological Playlist of Live Grateful Dead Performances (1966-1995)

The Longest of the Grateful Deads Epic Long Jams: Dark Star (1972), The Other One (1972) and Playing in The Band (1974)

How the Grateful Deads Wall of Sounda Monster, 600-Speaker Sound SystemChanged Rock Concerts & Live Music Forever

Ted Mills is a freelance writer on the arts who currently hosts the artist interview-based FunkZone Podcast and is the producer of KCRWs Curious Coast. You can also follow him on Twitter at @tedmills, read his other arts writing at tedmills.com and/or watch his films here.
The Patiala House Court will on Monday hear a plea seeking the issuance of a new death warrant against the four individuals convicted in the 2012 Delhi gang-rape and murder case (Nirbhaya case).

A Delhi court had adjourned for February 17 the hearing on the plea of the state and Nirbhaya's parents seeking issuance of death warrant as a petition challenging the rejection of mercy plea of convict Vinay Kumar Sharma is pending before the Supreme Court.

The Patiala House Court had observed that Article 21 of the Constitution protects the life and liberty of the convicts till the last breath of life.

The case pertains to the gang-rape and brutalising of a 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus on the night of December 16, 2012, by six people including a juvenile in Delhi. She died at a Singapore hospital a few days later.

One of the five adults accused, Ram Singh, had allegedly committed suicide in the Tihar Jail during the trial of the case.

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

MUMBAI: As many as 60 people have tested negative for the new Coronavirus (Covid-19) so far in Maharashtra out of 64 suspected cases of the viral infection, a state health official said on Monday.

Passengers arriving at the Mumbai International Airport are being screened as a preventive measure by state health officials after the outbreak of the Coronavirus in China in December-end.

"Out of the 60 who have tested negative, we have discharged 59 so far. The remaining five people have been admitted to state-run hospitals in Mumbai and Sangli for further observation," he said.

Swab samples sent to Pune based NIV have tested negative so far, the official said.

Test reports of four patients are awaited, he said.

"So far, no person has been found to be infected by the Coronavirus in Maharashtra," he said.

Health officials have screened 38,131 passengers as a precautionary measure at the airport since January 18, he added.
The freight traffic center in the Gruenheide region east of Berlin. Tesla plans to build its new European Gigafactory in a huge forest nearby.

Tesla has been ordered by a German court to temporarily halt preparations for its new European factory.

Environmental activists had raised concerns with the electric carmaker's plan to chop down trees to clear land for its new plant in the German state of Brandenburg.

The company does not yet have planning permission to build its new so-called Gigafactory, but the state environmental agency had given it a green light to clear 92 hectares of forest land.

But Tesla has now been dealt a blow after the higher administrative court of Berlin and Brandenburg said it would consider an appeal from local activist group Green League Brandenburg which is opposed to the forest clearance.

The court ordered Tesla to pause the felling, which has already commenced, as it would have been completed in just three days, according to a report from German state-owned broadcaster DW.

The court added that it would not discard the activist group's appeal against the cutting down of trees as "obviously hopeless from the outset," DW reported.

Tesla and the local government have until midday Tuesday to respond to the court ruling, Brandenburg Economy Minister Joerg Steinbach said on Twitter.

Tweet

Tesla didn't comment directly on the court order when contacted by CNBC, but highlighted a web page detailing its commitment to "replant an area three times the factory plot, with mixed trees native to their habitat and the potential to become an old growth forest."

The company has purchased 300 hectares of land in the municipality of Gruenheide. The plan is to begin construction this year and start production of Tesla's Model Y SUVs at a rate of 10,000 cars a week by 2021. It's looking to hire 12,000 people for the German operation.

Elon Musk, Tesla's billionaire CEO, has praised Germany's engineering prowess and said it's "part of the reason" it is locating its plant there. He also said that Germany was picked over the U.K. due to Brexit uncertainty.

The country is home to two of the world's largest car manufacturing groups, Volkswagen and Daimler. Tesla's German facility will be its fourth Gigafactory, with others located in the Nevada, New York, and more recently Shanghai, China.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:

The volume of salt production in Kazakhstan exceeded 260,000 tons in 2019, which is 14.8 percent more than in 2018, Trend reports with reference to the press office of Kazakhstans Ministry of Agriculture.

The local demand for salt was covered by 143 percent, which gave the opportunity for significant increase of export volume.

Thus, some 85,000 tons of salt worth $6.3 million were exported during 11 months of 2019 compared to 3,000 tons worth $102,000 during 11 months of 2018. The largest volume of export accounted for Russia and Kyrgyzstan.

The construction of sodium sulfate and of iodized salt was halted in Kazakhstans Jambyl region in 2019 due to the issues with funding.

As also announced in 2019, the launch of the another project on extraction, processing and enrichment of salt in Kazakhstans Kyzylorda region has been postponed until further notice.

Industrial manufacturing in the country increased by 4.1 percent in January 2020, compared to the same period of 2019.

Thus, manufacturing of copper ore amounted to 10.7 million tons, which is 26 percent more than in the reporting month of 2019. Production of petrol amounted to 400,000 tons (increase by 12.7 percent).

---

Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh
We heeded to people's plights during the pandemic: Stalin on 100 years of governance

DMK MP RS Bharathi insults journalists; compares media with 'commercial sex workers'

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Chennai, Feb 17: In a 4-minute video clip that has gone viral on social media shows Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam DMK MP RS Bharathi, MP and organising secretary of the DMK equating media persons to those in red light districts and called Brahmins as dogs.

The video shows Bharati saying,''making Dalits as judges was alms (pichai) given by Dravidian movement.'' He also compared media persons to those in red light districts and called Brahmins dogs. Bharati also said that the North Indians are brainless people.

Check out the tweet:

This didn't go well with netizens who have taken to social media to express their dissatisfaction.

Just saw a 4 minute video clip of speech by #DMK MP R.S.Bharathi. In it he says that making Dalits as judges was alms (pichai) given by Dravidian movement. He compares media persons to those in red light districts & calls Brahmins dogs. @mkstalin @KanimozhiDMK @TRBRajaa  Sumanth Raman (@sumanthraman) February 17, 2020

Oh shit. It's surprising to see #dmk guy is pissed off with media though having many media channels supporting them! So funny!  Hari (@itishariram) February 17, 2020

To see media talk with spine, one from DMK has to tease them. Otherwise they go under sand and hide themselves:)  Kasi  (@akaasi) February 17, 2020

To see media talk with spine, one from DMK has to tease them. Otherwise they go under sand and hide themselves:)  Kasi  (@akaasi) February 17, 2020

He says this when almost all channels r backed up by DMK n supported by the media! Well is this another drama brewing?  vasuke venkatesan (@vasukevenkatesa) February 17, 2020

I guess you are in mission to make Stalin again opposition leader... First you are creating bad name for Stalin among dalit supporters...then creating wedge between dmk and media...great work...@mkstalin has to identify u before it is late  suresh k (@kskme0107) February 17, 2020

However, the DMK has not responded yet on the incident. However, it should be noted that the DMK aslo owns Kalaignar TV.

Bharathi is a lawyer by profession.

In June 2016, he was announced as the party's candidate for the Rajya Sabha biennial polls. On 3 June 2016 he was elected unopposed along with T. K. S.Elangovan.
Whacking the BBC. Change is coming  whether the Corporation likes it or not.

We are having a consultation and we will whack it, a scarcely-disguised Downing Street source has said of the licence fee. One would think from the reaction that Boris Johnson was about to spring change on a static BBC.

But the choice facing the corporation isnt between change or no change, but between one kind of change or another. There is an eight week consultation into decriminalising the fee. The negotiations on its level which the source referred to begin later this year. The licence fee may not continue at all after 2027, when the current Charter period ends.

The background is straightforward. On the one hand, the BBC remains a dominant source of news, with 58 per cent of consumers using BBC one last year. On the other, that share is sliding over time. The year before last, it was 62 per cent.

This is mirrored by wider trends, including this arresting one: children in their early teens are more likely to recognise the YouTube and Netflix brands than the BBC.

I do worry that if we once again back away from reform, the licence fee will come to be seen by increasing numbers of voters as an unjust tax  a modern version of Charles Is Ship Money, Julian Knight wrote on this site recently.

But the question of the fees future is secondary. The primary one is: do we need public service broadcasting at all and, if we do, should the BBC be part of it?

In principle, our answer is an unhesitating Yes. We live amidst a babel of voices, and the BBC offers a common forum for them. It offers a means of drawing people of bewilderingly different views and backgrounds together.

The Queens Christmas Broadcast, the Armistice Anniversary, Gavin & Stacey, The Hollow Crown, Andrew Neil, Strictly Come Dancing, the F.A.Cup Final.

Not all of these come on the BBC alone, but they show the best of the corporation. However, a growing problem is whether the BBC at its best now outweighs in practice the BBC at its worst  or at its most common.

There is a twin problem. The first is bias. The second is duplication. Both challenge its Charters commitment to impartial, high-quality and distinctive output.

On news bias, the problem is not party political. It is, rather, political in a wider sense: the EU referendums aftermath has shown BBC news up as being too London-centric, too southern, too middle class, too Remainy, too University-educated  and, broadly speaking, too Woke.

To swoop from the general on the particular, this site identified one howler last week: the claim that Sinn Fein is not a populist party.

On wider bias, this worldview seeps, more pervasively, into comedy and drama. That said, the phenomenon reaches much wider than the corporation. Geoff Norcott is making a living out of being one of the very few identifiable right-of-centre comedians.

Interestingly, the BBC itself acknowledges the problem. Read Tony Halls New Year speech to its staff, and you will unearth what is almost a parody of the Governments own preoccupations  getting out of London; gaining a global reach.

The diversity section of his talk has all the usual cliches: gender representation, BAME, people with disabilities. What about white working class non-graduates?

But hang on a moment. Is Hall really saying and doing anything that the Government itself is not doing, with its 50 per cent target for women Ministers in lower ranks? This website, come to think of it, is by and large white, male, middle-class and London-based.

Which may be a reminder that a mass of the BBCs critics scarcely operate with Olympian detachment. They are commercial rivals  their own dog in the fight.

On duplication, that remarkly Dominic Cummings-style source has a point. Should the BBC really be providing services, at the point of a licence fee gun, that the commercial sector can provide  such as 61 radio stations?

At any rate, roll together declining audiences, the licence fee, duplication and what we read as bewilderment about what impartiality means in 2020and the corporation has a big problem.

Knight, who we quoted earlier, is now Chairman of the DCMS Select Committee, and that article critical of the BBC was part of his campaigning platform for the post. Oliver Dowden is a mobile techocrat who meets Johnsons ministerial selection criteria: loyal, competent, discreet.

John Whittingdale, who has come back to support the new Culture Secretary, has held the post himself and knows the subject backwards.

Ministers will be tempted to decriminalise the licence fee and watch a shortage of money bring the BBC to its senses. We read the corporations governance and management as being fearful, confused and struggling to keep up with the pace of technological and cultural change.

Watching them flounder and writhe is a bit like watching the scene in Spartacus where two fat patricians are forced to fight each other, gladiator-style.

So a strategy of less money alone is unlikely to work. The BBCs governing powers would simply cut the wrong stuff. What might work better is to stick to first principles. We have always hankered after a review of the Charter and funding via the tax system.

For after all, a Royal Charter of any kind and commerical funding of any sort dont sit easily together, since the link between what is paid for and whats provided wouldnt work.

And a poll tax-type system is a lot less fair than one based on ability to pay. Thats the principle we use to fund, say, schools and hospitals. Not everyone uses these, either. But the argument that tax funding would leave the BBC at the mercy of, say, a Corbyn-style government has force.

Through the mists that lead into the future, one can perhaps dimly perceive a big Charter overhaul, a lower but non-decriminalised licence fee, and much of what Number Ten wants.

Namely: fewer BBC TV stations, a reduced number of radio services, a scaled-back website, more spent on the World Service, a bigger presence for the Corporation outside London. In other words, less money plus the right reform  change that will leave a solid core of public service broadcasting with the BBC at its heart.

It could be that a revolt by Conservative backbenchers would stop Johnson, Cummings, or anyone else in Downing Street from whacking the BBC. But if the Corporation doesnt embrace radical change, a bigger beast than government will force it: techological development and consumer habits.
NEW YORK, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- TransPerfect, the world's largest provider of language and technology solutions for global business, today announced donations totaling more than $25,000 to two nonprofit organizations working on relief and recovery efforts for the Australian bushfires. The donation is a combination of employee contributions and a company match.

Funds will be directed to the New South Wales Rural Fire Service and Australian Red Cross. New South Wales Rural Fire Service is the world's largest volunteer crew, providing fire and emergency responseincluding real-time updates, care specialists, and recovery assistanceto approximately 95% of the state. Australian Red Cross is providing 24/7 support, including evacuation, relief centers, and emergency aid, as well as grants for people whose homes were destroyed or structurally damaged and for those hospitalized with injuries from the fires.

TransPerfect has a history of employee-driven disaster response programs. After the Asian tsunami of 2004, the company instituted a program to match 100% of individual donations to amplify the efforts of its employees who were eager to help. Since then, company match campaigns have doubled employee donations in response to Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas, Haiti Relief, Hurricane Katrina, Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar (Burma), the Sichuan Earthquake, and other disasters.

TransPerfect President and CEO Phil Shawe stated, "Part of TransPerfect's identity is a commitment to give back to the communities in which we live and work. With so many affected by these disasters, we're grateful to play a small role in support of the relief efforts. The generosity and compassion of TransPerfect employees who contribute to donation matching programs never ceases to amaze me."

More information about each of these groups can be found here:

New South Wales Rural Fire Service: https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/

Australian Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org.au/

About New South Wales Rural Fire Service

The NSW Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) is the world's largest volunteer fire service. Our members provide fire and emergency services to approximately 95 percent of NSW. NSW RFS members attend a range of incidents and activities: Bush and grass fires, House and structure fires, Storm damage, Search and rescue, Motor vehicle accidents, Community education, and Bush fire mitigation.

About Australian Red Cross

Australian Red Cross provides relief in times of crisis and care when it's needed most. Australian Red Cross is an active humanitarian movement focused on building resilient communities and supporting people during disasters.

About TransPerfect

TransPerfect is the world's largest provider of language and technology solutions for global business. From offices in over 100 cities on six continents, TransPerfect offers a full range of services in 170+ languages to clients worldwide. More than 5,000 global organizations employ TransPerfect's GlobalLink Product Suite to simplify management of multilingual content. With an unparalleled commitment to quality and client service, TransPerfect is fully ISO 9001 and ISO 17100 certified. TransPerfect has global headquarters in New York, with regional headquarters in London and Hong Kong. For more information, please visit our website at www.transperfect.com.





SOURCE TransPerfect

Related Links

http://www.transperfect.com


Saudi gov't urges Germany to end arms export ban

The German government decided in March 2018 to ban arms exports to parties involved in the Yemeni conflict, including Riyadh.

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud has called on Germany to rescind its ban on arms exports to the kingdom.

"THE BAN RUNS AGAINST THE GOOD RELATIONS"

"We hope Germany understands that we need the means to defend ourselves," he told German news agency DPA in an interview on Monday. He said the arms export ban runs against the "good relations" between Riyadh and Berlin.

The Saudi minister pointed out to drone attacks on oil installations in Saudi Arabia last year, accusing Iran of being behind the attacks.

The German government decided in March 2018 to ban arms exports to parties involved in the conflict in Yemen, including Saudi Arabia. The ban was effectively enforced following the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in late 2018.

Riyadh is leading a coalition of many Arab countries to fight Houthi rebels, who overran much of Yemen in 2014, including capital Sanaa.
An alert Indian-origin taxi driver in California has saved an elderly woman from being scammed out of USD 25,000, prompting police to declare that he deserved a 'great citizen award'.

Raj Singh, the owner of Roseville Cab, picked up a 92-year-old woman who mentioned that she was headed to a bank to withdraw a large sum of money to settle an Internal Revenue Service debt, CNN reported on Sunday.

Singh, who picked her up two weeks ago, said this sounded very suspicious to him so he suggested to the woman, this may be a scam. She didn't believe him. He pleaded with the woman to reconsider so they agreed to stop by the Roseville Police Station to ask an officer, the Roseville Police Station said in a Facebook post.

While the woman waited in the cab, Raj requested the officer to speak with the woman. And when the officer spoke with the woman, she believed that sure, it was a scam, the post said.

"I am an honest guy, and these are old people. They need help," Singh, was quoted as saying by the CNN on Thursday.

Singh also called on the number the woman gave him and asked the man, 'Do you know this lady?' He said no," Singh said. "I knew something was wrong."



When Singh pressed the man, saying the woman was 92 years old and she was nervous, the man hung up on him. After repeated calls back, Singh said the number blocked them, the report said.

For his quick thinking behaviour, the police department said that Singh deserved a "great citizen award".

"His quick thinking saved a senior citizen USD 25,000 and for that, we greatly appreciate his efforts," police said.

Officers also gave Singh a USD 50 gift card to thanked him for what he did.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(Natural News) You read it here first: The coronavirus pandemic will spark multiple outbreaks across the United States before the November election, and theres a good chance it will drastically alter the outcome of the election due to the demographics of America.

Consider the following:

 The coronavirus spreads more easily in high-density population centers. This means cities will be the hardest hit. And most cities are filled with left-leaning Democrats, while conservatives tend to live outside the cities, in more suburban or rural areas.

 The coronavirus survives up to 9 days on surfaces, and left-leaning cities rely on public transportation such as subways, trains and buses which are shared spaces where coronavirus infections can easily spread. In contrast, people who live outside cities tend to drive their own private vehicles.

 High-density cities rely on imports of food, fuel, water, electricity and supplies. Thus, they are extremely vulnerable to sudden, severe shortages or infrastructure disruptions. Any city that suffers an outbreak would quickly be placed under quarantine, immediately halting traditional deliveries of food, fuel and more. Expect to see sudden shortages of supplies in any city where the coronavirus is confirmed.

 On voting day, any city under quarantine will see voter participation plunge to near-zero. How are people supposed to get out and vote if every public place presents the risk of a death sentence from a deadly virus?

 The most likely cities to be impacted first are left-leaning cities which receive air traffic from Asia. These include Honolulu, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. By nature of the geography itself, we would expect to see outbreaks appearing first in these cities, then spreading eastward across other U.S. cities over time.

 The coronavirus impacts immunocompromised people more than others, and many left-leaning cities such as San Francisco are home to people whose lifestyles subject them to blood-borne pathogens that weaken immune function. For example, anal cancer is already exploding across the homosexual communities along the West Coast (but the media largely refuses to report on it). Homosexual lifestyles can often involve multiple sex partners and involve anal sex which causes the sharing of blood-borne diseases that suppress immune function, which is one of the contributing factors with AIDS. AIDS, of course, stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, which perfectly describes what were describing here.

 High density cities have the worst gang violence anywhere in the nation, and once the rule of law begins to collapse, the police will be very quickly overrun, leading to unrestrained gang violence and the collapse of anything resembling a social order. Gang activities will then further accelerate the spread of the virus for the simple reason that gang members dont wear N95 masks and dont care about germs.

 Human feces is already flooding the streets of San Francisco, and scientists have already confirmed the coronavirus is present in human feces. The complete collapse of public sanitation in liberal cities will obviously become a strong contributing factor to the rapid spread of this pandemic. Consider the homelessness, needle sharing and conditions of total filth in cities like Seattle.

 The sanctuary city status of left-wing cities will serve as a magnet for infected migrants fleeing nations like Mexico as the pandemic spreads there. This will illegally cross the U.S. border and head right to the sanctuary cities where they will spread the pandemic among the very people who are protecting those illegals out of a twisted desire to virtue signal 24/7.

On the other side of things, if the pandemic causes a large disruption of the U.S. stock market, any plunge in the markets could negatively impact President Trumps chances of re-election, given how he has foolishly tied his political success to an ever-rising bubble stock market (which will sooner or later have to correct back to reality, even without a pandemic).

In summary, the virus is most likely to impact Democrats in terms of physical infections, quarantined cities and deaths, but its also quite likely to impact the U.S. stock market this year, which could seriously harm Trumps chances of re-election.

Does that mean all this is a wash? Only the next 8 months will tell

Listen to this podcast to understand why the coronavirus quarantine achieves all the top goals of globalists, including depopulation:

Follow more breaking news podcasts at the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com:

www.brighteon.com/channel/hrreport
Remember this name: Carter W. Page.

And remember it well.

Your government is going to be paying him a boatload of your tax dollars one of these days soon.

For damages.

For having libeled him as a traitor to his country, knowing full well the insinuation was utterly, completely false.

Theres your government at work for you. At work through the Deep State.

Which is supposed to be a figment of fevered right-wing imaginations.

Without Carter W. Page, there would have been no Russia collusion hoo-ha; no Mueller probe; no New York Times hyperventilating; no MSNBC the-sky-is-falling hysteria; no CNN impersonating the boy who cried wolf; no over-excited Washington Post having heart palpitations, and no Adam Schiff with his popeyed freak-outs intimating an imminent death-penalty case against Trump for treason.

Page was the essential character who made the whole McCarthyite drama possible with its stage full of clamoring Democratic Party dramatis personae.

Page was a marginal foreign affairs adviser to the Trump campaign, a man who had never met with Trump, who had never even spoken to him on the phone or exchanged an email with him.

Yet the federal governments Deep State gumshoes, its upper-level KGB-style bureaucratic hacks, decided  in the midst of a heated political campaign  to use Page to give huffing Hillary Clintons candidacy a helping hand.

The Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee hired a British consultant to concoct campaign dirt on Trump, and the consultant, Christopher Steele, did so, assembling the dirt, the consultant himself said, from Kremlin sources. Yes, Kremlin. Dreaded Rooskies.

So the outcry over supposed Trump collusion with Russia in our countrys presidential election was based strictly on partisan hooey. To the extent there was any collusion with Russia, it involved not Trump but the Clinton campaign and DNC.

The consultants bought-and-paid-for political document was grandly dubbed a dossier by a partisan and easily gulled media. Though consisting mostly of hearsay  i.e., unverifiable gossip  the dossier fingered the supposedly traitorous Carter Page as the damning link tying the treacherous Trump to the diabolical Putin.

As a genre of campaign propaganda, the dossier lacked only villainous mustaches for the two to twirl.

All of this, by the way, is now confirmed, is undisputed fact. As is what follows below.

The dossiers contents found their way into the hands of Deep State partisans, thence into the courtroom of judges sitting on the super-secret FISA bench  a conclave of surreptitious jurists authorized by the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act.

The FISA court doles out warrants to eavesdrop and otherwise snoop on suspects in national security matters. And doles out is exactly the right term. The court virtually never says no when the Deep State gumshoes come before it seeking open-ended, wide-ranging surveillance warrants.

The FISA court remained true to its promiscuous form when the Justice Department approached it with the partisan dossier in hand, seeking approval, based largely on it alone, to snoop on the most intimate details of Carter Pages private life.

The Deep State gumshoes swore under oath that the dossiers information was verified. Indeed, the application asserted that as fact, right up at the top of the first page, in upper-case letters, precisely thus: V-E-R-I-F-I-C-A-T-I-O-N.

The libelous application asserted to the court that Carter Page had been identified as Trumps connecting link to Putin. Furthermore, the application declared, the Deep State had probable cause to believe that Page was an active agent of the Russian Federation.

There were, however, certain facts the Deep State gumshoes neglected to share with the FISA judges.

They neglected to stress, for example, that Page had graduated with distinction from the Naval Academy; had honorably served five years active duty in Navy intelligence with a high security clearance; had helped the FBI crack a major Russian spy case, and had been a valued and trusted consulting source on Russian affairs for the CIA.

Oh, and the Deep State gumshoes further neglected to fully inform the FISA court that the grandiloquently titled dossier was really just sleazy, partisan campaign dirt  opposition research, as its called. The document the Deep State bureaucrats put before the court was simply made-to-order political propaganda, fully bought and fully paid for by a political campaign and a political party.

The misfeasantly lazy or inept FISA judges  duty-bound to vet surveillance applications for unjustified encroachments on civil liberties  failed to make any meaningful inquiries into the provenance of the dossier.

Nor did the apathetic and passive jurists pose any other probing questions about the Deep State gumshoes credulity-challenging surveillance applications.

All of these matters are now verified fact established by Justice Department Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz.

And no, the Trump Resistance surely will be downhearted to hear, Horowitz is not a tentacle of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy. Hes in fact a holdover appointee of the saintly, nimbus-enshrined President Barack Obama, whose administration injected the tainted dossier into the bloodstream of the national security apparatus like a highly infectious bacillus.

If you are insistent on maintaining your fixed conclusion that the Deep State is a nutty conspiracy fiction, heres a warning: Dont read the damning Horowitz report. It will sorely challenge your comfortably smug, anti-Trump, clamped-shut mindset.

The media did a yeomans job attempting to minimize the alarming conclusions of the IG report by seizing upon and emphasizing Horowitz incidental, obiter-dictum observation that he had found no political bias behind the Deep States corner-cutting activities.

Horowitz is a fastidious practitioner of restrained language, however. In the manner of Talmudic explication, he later noted that he was not asserting definitively that there was no political bias, only that his investigation had not sought and had not come across specific evidence of it.

There is, however, emphatically nothing reassuring about the bulk of the Inspector Generals 476-page report. Despite Horowitz notorious caution with words, his report noted unsettling irregularities in the surveillance warrants the Justice Dept. sought and the FISA court-approved.

The courts nod of approval gave the Deep States federal gumshoes the go-ahead to snoop on Carter Page based on nothing more than the hope that the snooping would yield damning dirt on the reviled Trump.

We identified significant inaccuracies and omissions in each of four (Carter Page surveillance) applications  seven in the first FISA application, and a total of 17 by the final renewal application, said the IG report.

Nor were these inaccuracies and omissions the work of neophyte, lower-level FBI agents or rookie Justice Dept. lawyers.

The top-level big shots who signed off on the applications were, the report said: former FBI Director James Comey; Deputy Attorney Gen. Sally Yates; Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe and Deputy Attorney Gen. Rod Rosenstein. The cabal included in its expansive circle other lesser but upper-tier bureaucrats as well.

Far from being the verified information the Justice Department had pitched to the FISA court, the departments verification in fact failed to corroborate any of the specific allegations regarding Carter Page, said the IG report. Not any. Not a single one.

Most of the information the Deep State placed before the judges was hearsay, two or three times removed and therefore unverifiable. But the few key assertions in the application that could be checked out were checked out by the IG. And they were found to be inaccurate or false. For example: the assertion that a Russian embassy in Miami (actually nonexistent) handled the Trump-Putin collusion finances, and that a Trump lawyer traveled to Prague to attend to details of the collusion.

Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus, says the ancient legal principle. False in one thing, false in all. Yet the myth of collusion lingers with the persistence of an article of faith in some corners of the Democratic Party congregation.

The dossier inaccurately (or falsely) implied that the British author of the document, Christopher Steele, was a trusted and valuable FBI source. But the FBI, in fact, had severed its official relationship with him due to his violations of agency policy and rules.

All of the above information  by no means trivial or irrelevant  was withheld from the FISA court.

Also withheld was a finding by the FBIs own Evaluation Management Unit. Its assessment was that Steele  far from being the valuable source described to the FISA court in sworn statements  had in fact provided minimally corroborated information in his prior relationship with the FBI.

IG Horowitz reported that the Deep State violated its own rules in important respects, including an FBI rule that applications for surveillance warrants must include all material facts and another rule that all factual statements asserted in warrant applications must be scrupulously accurate.

The Deep State, the IG report said, violated these rules by withholding relevant details of Carter Pages background and by exaggerating Steeles value as a source  all part of a concerted effort to get a national security case rolling against Trump.

Democrats object indignantly to characterizations of these actions as amounting to an attempted coup. But is the term really that far off the mark?

Those truly concerned about civil liberties might want to put aside their Trump obsessions  not necessarily abandon them, but set them momentarily aside  long enough to ponder the question.

The inaccuracies and omissions made the Justice Departments probable cause rationale for surveillance warrants appear stronger than actually was the case, said the IG report. That was a colossal understatement given the mass of offending evidence assembled and cited in the IG report.

The IG investigators declared they found basic, fundamental and serious errors in the Justice Departments review of its own surveillance applications.

The department and FBI further failed to give appropriate attention to the facts that cut against the (governments) assertion of probable cause for the issuance of national security surveillance warrants, the IG report added.

It said that Justice Department lawyers and FBI agents did not follow, or even appear to know, certain basic requirements in (the review guidelines known as) the Woods Procedures.

We are deeply concerned that so many basic and fundamental errors were made by three separate investigative teams, on one of the most sensitive FBI investigations ever undertaken, the IG report concluded.

Liberals, however, seem not concerned in the slightest. This indifference gives their strident alarms about Trumps purportedly frightful abuses of power the empty, hollow ring of cheap, partisan politics.

Once the loyal sentinels on the ramparts of civil liberties, liberals now seem to have persuaded themselves that when it comes to thwarting their bogey man Trump, the ends justify any and all means.

Well-placed Republicans have always been willing to favor the powerful national security apparatus with restrained, nod-and-wink oversight, allowing it to attain its current Leviathan proportions. Now Democrats are willing to overlook the Leviathans transgressions on the ground that its heart  which is to say, its anti-Trump political bias  was in the right place.

Lets hope its not too late for liberals to pause and contemplate the ominous precedent theyre encouraging when they selectively shrug at the lawless activities of our most powerful government agencies.

It would be a bitter irony of history if one day many years hence the beginnings of an era of tyranny were traced back not so much to Trump himself as to an unrestrained overreaction to him.
GOTEBORG, Sweden, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --

Gothenburg, 17 February 2020: Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of Aktiebolaget SKF, reg. no. 556007-3495, will be held at SKF Kristinedal, Byfogdegatan 4, Gothenburg, Sweden, at 13.00 on Thursday, 26 March 2020. The doors are open from 11.00. Refreshments will be served prior to the Annual General Meeting between 11.00 and 12.30.

Annual General Meeting

For the right to participate at the Annual General Meeting, shareholders must be recorded in the shareholders' register kept by Euroclear Sweden AB by Friday, 20 March 2020 and must notify the company at the latest on the same day by letter to Computershare AB, "AGM 2020 of AB SKF", Box 5267, SE-102 46 Stockholm, Sweden, or via the company's website www.skf.com, or by phone +46 31 337 25 50 (weekdays between 09.00 and 16.00). When notifying the company, preferably in writing, this should include details of name, address, telephone number, registered shareholding and number of advisors, if any. Where representation is being made by proxy, the original of the proxy form shall be sent to the company to the above address before the Annual General Meeting. Shareholders whose shares are registered in the name of a trustee must have the shares registered temporarily in their own name in order to take part in the Annual General Meeting. Any such re-registration for the purpose of establishing voting rights shall take place so that the shareholder is recorded in the shareholders' register by Friday, 20 March 2020. This means that the shareholder should give notice of his/her wish to be included in the shareholders' register to the trustee well in advance before that date.

Agenda

Opening of the Annual General Meeting Election of a Chairman for the Annual General Meeting Drawing up and approval of the voting list Approval of agenda Election of persons to verify the minutes Consideration of whether the Annual General Meeting has been duly convened Presentation of annual report and audit report as well as consolidated accounts and audit report for the Group Address by the President Matter of adoption of the income statement and balance sheet and consolidated income statement and consolidated balance sheet for the Group Resolution regarding distribution of profits Matter of discharge of the Board members and the President from liability Determination of number of Board members and deputy members Determination of fee for the Board members Election of Board members and deputy Board members

14.1 Hans Straberg

14.2 Hock Goh

14.3 Alrik Danielson

14.4 Ronnie Leten

14.5 Barb Samardzich

14.6 Colleen Repplier

14.7 Geert Follens

14.8 Hakan Buskhe

14.9 Susanna Schneeberger Election of Chairman of the Board of Directors The Board of Directors' proposal for a resolution on principles of remuneration for Group Management The Board of Directors' proposal for a resolution on SKF's Performance Share Programme 2020 Resolution regarding Nomination Committee

Proposal under item 10

The Board of Directors proposes a dividend of SEK 6.25 per share. It is proposed that shareholders with holdings recorded on Monday, 30 March 2020 be entitled to receive the proposed dividend. Subject to resolution by the Annual General Meeting in accordance with this proposal, it is expected that Euroclear will distribute the dividend on Thursday, 2 April 2020.

Proposals under items 2, 12, 13, 14 and 15

The Nomination Committee formed according to a resolution of the Annual General Meeting 2019 to represent all shareholders of the company consists of, besides the Chairman of the Board of Directors, representatives of FAM, Alecta, AFA Forsakring and Skandia, shareholders who together represent close to 40% of the votes of the total number of company shares. The Nomination Committee has informed the company about the following proposal:

that Sven Unger is elected Chairman of the Annual General Meeting;

is elected Chairman of the Annual General Meeting; that the Board of Directors shall consist of nine members and no deputy members;

that the Board members elected by the Annual General Meeting and not employed by the company, for the period up to the end of the next Annual General Meeting, receive a fee according to the following:

a. a firm allotment of SEK 7,520 000 to be distributed with SEK 2,200,000 to the Chairman of the Board of Directors and SEK 760,000 to each of the other Board members; and

b. an allotment for committee work to be distributed with SEK 260,000 to the Chairman of the Audit Committee, with SEK 190,000 to each of the other members of the Audit Committee, with SEK 150,000 to the Chairman of the Remuneration Committee and with SEK 120,000 to each of the other members of the Remuneration Committee; and

re-election of the Board members Hans Straberg, Hock Goh, Alrik Danielson , Ronnie Leten, Barb Samardzich , Colleen Repplier and Geert Follens . It is proposed that Hakan Buskhe and Susanna Schneeberger are to be newly elected.

, Ronnie Leten, , and . It is proposed that Hakan Buskhe and are to be newly elected. Hans Straberg is proposed to be the Chairman of the Board of Directors.



Hakan Buskhe is the CEO of FAM AB. His previous senior positions include CEO of E.ON Nordic AB and, most recently, CEO of Saab AB.

Susanna Schneeberger is a Board member of Concentric AB and Hempel A/S. Her previous senior positions include CEO of Demag Cranes & Components, several positions in the Trelleborg Group and, most recently, Chief Digital Officer in the executive board of the KION Group.

A presentation of the proposed Board can be found at the company's website www.skf.com. Lars Wedenborn has declined re-election at the Annual General Meeting 2020.

Proposal under item 16

The Board of Directors has decided to submit the following principles of remuneration for SKF's Group Management to the Annual General Meeting. The main contents of the proposal are stated below. The Board of Directors' complete proposal is available at the company and at the company's website, www.skf.com.

Group Management is defined as the President and the other members of the management team.

The Board of Directors' proposal is that the remuneration of Group Management members shall be based on market competitive conditions and at the same time support the shareholders' best interests. The total remuneration package for a Group Management member shall consist of fixed salary, variable salary, pension benefits, conditions for notice of termination and severance pay, and other benefits such as a company car. The objective of the principles of remuneration is to ensure that the SKF Group can attract and retain the best people in order to promote the SKF Group's mission and business strategy, its long-term interests and sustainability.

The fixed salary shall be at a market competitive level. Competence, responsibility, experience and performance shall be taken into account when the fixed salary is established.

The variable salary shall run according to a performance-based programme. The programme shall have predetermined and measurable criteria, including both financial and non-financial targets. The criteria shall primarily be based on the annual financial performance of the SKF Group, such as TVA, cash flow and individual goals. TVA is the SKF financial performance management model called Total Value Added (TVA) which is a simplified, economic value-added model. This model promotes greater operating profit, capital efficiency and profitable growth. The TVA profit is the operating profit, less the pre-tax cost of capital. The TVA result development for the SKF Group correlates well with the trend of the share price over a longer period of time. The satisfaction of criteria for awarding variable salary shall be measured over a period of one year. To which extent the criteria for awarding variable salary has been satisfied shall be determined when the measurement period has ended and the maximum variable salary is capped at a certain percentage of the fixed annual salary varying between 50 and 70 %. The Board of Directors is responsible for the evaluation so far as it concerns variable salary to the President. For variable salary to other executives, the President is responsible for the evaluation. For financial targets, the evaluation shall be based on financial information made public by the SKF Group.

SKF shall strive to establish pension plans based on defined contribution models.

A Group Management member may terminate his/her employment by giving six months' notice. In the event of termination of employment at the request of the company, employment shall according to the agreement cease immediately. A severance payment related to the number of years' service shall, however, in this case be paid out, provided that it shall always be maximized to two years' fixed salary.

The principles of remuneration for Group Management shall be presented by the Remuneration Committee to the Board of Directors that, at least every fourth year, shall submit a proposal for such principles to the Annual General Meeting for approval. The principles of remuneration shall be valid until new principles have been adopted by the Annual General Meeting.

The Board of Directors also proposes that the Annual General Meeting resolves to authorize the Board of Directors to derogate from the principles of remuneration decided by the Annual General Meeting, in whole or in part, if in a specific case there is special cause for the derogation and a derogation is necessary to serve the company's long-term interests, including its sustainability, or to ensure the company's financial viability.

Proposal under item 17

The main contents of the Board of Directors' proposal are stated below. The complete proposal is available at the company and at the company's website, www.skf.com.

Background

At the Annual General Meeting in 2008 the SKF Group introduced a long-term performance share programme for senior managers and key employees (SKF's Performance Share Programme 2008). Since 2008 the Annual General Meeting has resolved each year upon a performance share programme. The terms and conditions of SKF's Performance Share Programme 2020 are the same as for SKF's Performance Share Programme 2019 that was resolved at the Annual General Meeting 2019.

SKF's Performance Share Programme 2020

The Board proposes, in order to continue to link the long-term interests of the participants and the shareholders, that a decision be taken at the Annual General Meeting 2020 on SKF's Performance Share Programme 2020.

The programme is proposed to cover not more than 225 senior managers and key employees in the SKF Group with an opportunity to be allotted, free of charge, SKF B shares in accordance with the following principal terms and guidelines.

Under the programme, not more than in total 1,000,000 SKF B shares may be allotted to not more than 225 senior managers and key employees in the Group. The number of shares that may be allotted must be related to the degree of achievement of the Total Value Added (TVA) target level, as defined by the Board, for the TVA development for the financial years 2020-2022 compared to the financial year 2019. TVA is a simplified, economic value-added model promoting greater operating profit, capital efficiency and profitable growth. TVA is the operating profit, less the pre-tax cost of capital. After the expiry of the financial year 2022 a comparison is made between the average TVA for the financial years 2020-2022 and TVA for the financial year 2019. The TVA change is expressed as a percentage.

The allocation of shares is based on the level of TVA increase. In order for allocation of shares to take place the TVA increase must exceed a certain minimum level (the threshold level). In addition to the threshold level a target level is set. Maximum allotment is awarded if the target level is reached or exceeded.

Provided that the TVA increase reaches the target level, the participants of the programme may be allotted the following maximum number of shares per person within the various key groups:

CEO and President - 30,000 shares

Other members of Group Management - 13,000 shares

Managers of large business units and similar - 4,500 shares

Other senior managers - 3,000 shares

Other key persons - 1,250 shares

If the TVA increase exceeds the threshold level for allotment of shares but the final allotment is below 5% of the target level, payment will be made in cash instead of shares, whereupon the amount of the cash payment shall correspond to the value of the shares calculated on the basis of the closing price for SKF's B share the day before settlement.

Allotment of shares requires that the persons covered by the programme are employed in the SKF Group during the entire calculation period. If all the conditions included in SKF's Performance Share Programme 2020 are met, allotment of shares shall be made free of charge following the expiry of the three year calculation period, i.e. during 2023.

Before the number of shares to be allotted is finally determined, the Board shall examine whether the allotment is reasonable considering SKF's financial results and position, the conditions on the stock market as well as other circumstances, and if not, as determined by the Board, reduce the number of shares to be awarded to the lower number of shares deemed appropriate by the Board.

The Board is furthermore entitled to introduce an alternative incentive solution for employees in countries where participation in SKF's Performance Share Programme 2020 is not appropriate. Such alternative incentive solution shall, as far as practicable, be formulated employing the same conditions as SKF's Performance Share Programme 2020.

The company has 455,351,068 shares in issue as per 4 February 2020. In order to comply with the obligations of SKF's Performance Share Programme 2020, a maximum number of 1,000,000 B shares are required, corresponding to approximately 0.2% of the total number of outstanding shares.

Assuming maximum allocation under the Performance Share Programme 2020 and a share price of SEK 190, the cost, including social security cost, is estimated at approximately MSEK 228. On the basis of a share price of SEK 220, the cost, including social security cost, is estimated at approximately MSEK 264. In addition, the administrative costs are estimated at approximately MSEK 2.

The Board does not propose for the time being to take any action to hedge SKF's obligations under the programme. Delivery of shares under the programme shall not take place until 2023.

Proposal under item 18

The Nomination Committee has informed the company that it proposes to the Annual General Meeting to resolve the following until a new resolution has been adopted by the Annual General Meeting:

1. that the company shall have a Nomination Committee formed by one representative of each one of the four major shareholders with regard to the number of votes held as well as the Chairman of the Board of Directors. When constituting the Nomination Committee, the shareholdings on the last banking day in August each year will determine which shareholders are the largest with regard to the number of votes held. These, with regard to the number of votes, largest shareholders shall each year be contacted by the company to nominate its representatives. The names of the four shareholder representatives will be published as soon as they have been elected, however not later than six months before the next Annual General Meeting. The Nomination Committee shall remain in office until a new Nomination Committee has been appointed;

2. in the event that the shareholder the member represents would no longer be one of the four major shareholders with regard to the number of votes held, during the term of office of the Nomination Committee, such member, if the Nomination Committee so deems appropriate, may resign and a representative of the shareholder next in turn size-wise with regard to the number of votes held be offered the opportunity of being elected in his/her place;

and in the event that a shareholder representative no longer represents the shareholder, the shareholder is asked to elect a new representative to become a member of the Nomination Committee;

3. that the Nomination Committee, if the Nomination Committee so deems appropriate, may offer the fifth largest shareholder to elect a member of the Nomination Committee and thereby increase the Nomination Committee by one additional shareholder representative during the term of office of the Nomination Committee;

4. that the Nomination Committee, during the term of office of the Nomination Committee, is to furnish proposals on the following matters to be presented to, and resolved by, the Annual General Meeting:

a. proposal for Chairman of the Annual General Meeting

b. proposal for Board of Directors

c. proposal for Chairman of the Board of Directors

d. proposal for fee to the Board of Directors

e. proposal for fee to the auditor (when applicable)

f. proposal for auditor (when applicable)

g. to the extent deemed necessary, proposal for new instructions for the Nomination Committee; and

5. that the Nomination Committee, when performing its duties, will fulfil the tasks that rest upon the Nomination Committee under the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance, among other things to supply the company with certain information in order to enable the company to fulfil its information obligation under the code.

_______________

Number of shares and votes, and documentation

When this notice is issued, the total number of shares in the company are 455,351,068, represented by 32,460,528 series A shares and 422,890,540 series B shares, with a total number of votes of 74,749,582. The company holds no own shares.

The Board of Directors' complete proposal according to item 16 and 17 of the agenda and the Nomination Committee's reasoned statement are available at the company and at the company's website, www.skf.com, and will be sent to shareholders who request this and state their address.

Information at the Annual General Meeting, etc.

The Board of Directors and the President shall, upon request by any shareholder and where the Board of Directors believes that it may take place without significant harm to the company, provide information in respect of any circumstances which may affect the assessment of a matter on the agenda, any circumstances which may affect the assessment of the company's or a subsidiary's financial position and the company's relationship to other group companies. Anyone who wishes to dispatch questions in advance may do so to AB SKF, Att. General Counsel, SE-415 50 Gothenburg, Sweden, or by e-mail: [email protected].

SKF's web-based financial report in English will be made public on 4 March 2020.

Proxy forms will be available at the company's website, www.skf.com, and may also be requested by letter to Computershare AB, "AGM 2020 of AB SKF", Box 5267, SE-102 46 Stockholm, Sweden or by phone +46 31 337 25 50.

Gothenburg in February 2020

Aktiebolaget SKF

(publ)

The Board of Directors

________________

Visit SKF's factory in Gamlestaden, Gothenburg

Shareholders are welcome to visit SKF's factory in Gamlestaden, Gothenburg, in connection with the Annual General Meeting, directly after the close of the Annual General Meeting, alternatively on 27 March 2020 at 09.00. Shareholders that wish to participate shall notify the requested visiting date, complete name and contact details (preferably email address alternatively a cell phone number) to: AB SKF, Besoksservice HK3/3, 415 50 Gothenburg alternatively via email to: [email protected]. Please note that the number of participants is limited.

Processing of Personal Data

Personal data related to a shareholder which is gathered from the shareholders' register, notification on participation in the Annual General Meeting and information about advisors that are to participate or any other information that is otherwise given as set out above, will be processed mainly to register the shareholder, form part of the voting list at the Annual General Meeting and if necessary, the minutes from the Annual General Meeting. The personal data is processed in accordance with the Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council. For complete information on the company's processing of your personal data in connection with the Annual General Meeting and your rights, see SKF's website www.skf.com under the heading "About AGM" (which is located under the section "Investors" and "Corporate Governance").

CONTACT:

For further information, please contact:

PRESS: Theo Kjellberg, Director, Press Relations

tel: 46 31 337 6576, mobile: 46 725-776576, e-mail: [email protected]

INVESTOR RELATIONS: Patrik Stenberg, Head of Investor Relations

Patrik Stenberg, 46 31-337 2104; 46 705-472 104; [email protected]

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/skf/r/notice-of-annual-general-meeting,c3036472

The following files are available for download:

SOURCE SKF
Paris, Feb 10, 2020 (AFP) -

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 program.

"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 program 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 program, 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 program.

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.
Digital insurer Singapore Life Private Ltd. (Singlife) has received its licence to operate in the Philippines from the countrys Insurance Commission, and is planning to begin offering products early this year.

According to a report by the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the issuance of the licence comes two months after the company submitted its application and other requirements to the regulator. Following a pre-licensing verification, the regulators licensing division recommended that the Singaporean tech-focused insurer be awarded a licence.
Sixty-five years ago, a RAAF fighter plane bringing photographs of the official opening of Federal Parliament was lost in dense bush after the pilot crash-landed.

A SE-5a plane, similar to the one that went missing in Victoria Credit:Australian War Memorial

A long line of youths in camouflage and jungle greens sweated up a steep slope in Victoria's high country yesterday, carrying the last evidence of an amazing escape from death.

Sergeant Pilot Orme Denny was flying Australia's first fighter air-craft, the SE-5a. His plane, A2-11, was the last of five of these aircraft that had left Point Cook for Canberra.

One crashed at Cootamundra after refueling; the other three collided when rehearsing for the opening ceremony.

Sergeant Denny flew with the photos, which were to be included in an album to be presented to the Duke of York, who performed the opening.

But while flying through a storm in the Mount Buffalo area, his engine seized. Sergeant Denny undid his seat belt and, failing to find a clearing, aimed his plane as near as possible at the treetops.

He was thrown clear and came to after about 31 minutes to see wings and bits of the tall up in the trees and the engine, cockpit and fuselage in one piece.
Armenian attorneys discussed the pressures and repressions from the society and state bodies in Yerevan today. During the discussion that lasted a couple of hours, they presented the approaches of international organizations and examples of the practice in Armenia. They shared the view that there are such negative phenomena and that it is necessary to eliminate them and introduce institutions for protection of attorneys and confidentiality of information.

Attorney Hayk Alumyan stated that attorneys can boycott trials or even declare a workers strike as a way of fighting against the pressure.

Attorney Ara Ghazaryan said there are nearly ten criminal cases with a political subtext in Armenia. They are formally criminal cases, but the subtext is political, he said.

Attorney Aram Orbelyan touched upon the threats made to attorneys and added that if a certain person himself cant pose a threat, taking into consideration the fact that the trial is broadcast live, there will be more viewers. As far as the independence of courts is concerned, Orbelyan emphasized the fact that their independence is extremely relative.
Season 6 of Vikings left fans utterly shocked and in disbelief at the loss of a main character. Read on to learn why a son of Ragnar cant be dead because of something the Seer said to him. There are spoilers ahead for Vikings.

Was a son of Ragnar really killed?

Travis Fimmel, Clive Standen, Katheryn Winnick, and Alexander Ludwig | Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for History Channel

In episode 10 of season 6, Bjorn Ironside (Alexander Ludwig) is stabbed by his brother, Ivar (Alex Hgh Andersen) during the Rus invasion of Scandinavia. Theres no way anyone could have survived a stab wound like that and people are really concerned for Bjorns well-being.

However, more than a few fans on Reddit believe it might have all been in Bjorns head the entire time. He may have been trying to imagine how things would play out before the battle actually went down.

The Best Laid Plans

The title The Best Laid Plans explains the entire episode, a Reddit user explained. The reason it seemed like everyone was astral projecting everywhere is because the battle hasnt even begun. What if most of the episode is Bjorn imagining different strategies and scenarios based on Ivars plans? Hes imagining different scenarios and needs to find the Best Laid Plan to defeat the Rus and protect his people and land.

The Seers comment to Bjorn that could prove hes still alive

*The official trailer * Will the Gods bring them together or tear them apart? Vikings returns Wednesday, December 4 at 9/8c on History. pic.twitter.com/rMXm8q0U7z  #Vikings (@HistoryVikings) October 7, 2019

After Bjorn took back his rightful place as the King of Kattegat, he speaks to the Seer (John Kavanagh) who tells him of his future and whats to come. No one will ever forget the name of Bjorn Ironside, greater than Ragnar, the Seer says.

What the Seer says usually comes to pass, so his advice to Bjorn about his future could very well be true. But as it stands, people are constantly comparing Bjorn to his father, Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel). Hes been having a tough time in season 6 finding his footing as king.

Hes passed up for the position of the King of Norway, and hes just constantly doubting himself at this rate. His people are even doubting his skills as a leader because he keeps making poor choices. He let the bandits go free which in turn helps lead to the death of his own son and his mother, Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick).

The Rus have come to invade their world and take over and Bjorn is in over his head. Hes not really someone worth remembering right now. Sure he sailed to distant lands and made a name for himself as a fierce warrior, but youd expect from what the Seer said that more is to come from Bjorn Ironside. As the first son of Ragnar Lothbrok, he still has more to accomplish in life before he goes off to join his father in Valhalla.

Bjorns hit a rut. It was clear before episode 10 and the people around him are questioning his every move. He must find a way to redeem himself because based on what the Seer said, no one will ever forget him. He must still be alive to fulfill his destiny.
Kazakhstan Paramount Engineering (KPE) Kazakh-South African joint venture has been developing a common range of remotely operated weapon stations (ROWSs) for ground and sea applications, according to the news agency Informburo.KZ.



KPE Barys (Picture source: Army Recognition)

According to a story published by Infromburo.KZ writer Grigory Bedenko, the new family is based on a single platform and integrates three unmanned combat stations, namely, the heavy Ansar (Strong Intention) for the Barys (Snow Leopard; a license-built copy of South African Paramount Groups Mbombe 8/Mbombe 6 combat vehicle) 8x8/6x6 armored fighting vehicle (AFV), the light Sunkar (Falcon) for the Arlan (Sea Eagle, a licensed copy of Paramount Groups Marauder 4x4 armored car) 4x4 mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicle, and the Turan (Pedestal) marinized weapon station for the Kazakh patrol ships deployed to the Caspian Sea. "All the combat modules are built upon the Shugyla common platform that integrates a unified combat-management system with common software," said the journalist.

CEO of KPE Erbol Salimov told Informburo.KZ that the new modules had been developed from scratch. "We thoroughly studied all Russian-made [remotely operated weapon] stations, the best Turkish-made modules, and the European-designed developments that could be integrated with our Barys 8x8 and Barys 6x6 AFVs. During the negotiations, we concluded that no country involved in them was willing to transfer technologies as the capacity of the Kazakh ROWS market is very small <> We, therefore, decided that Kazakhstan master such manufacturing and produce its own [unmanned weapon stations]," said Salimov.

To this end, KPE has established a new subsidiary, namely, the Weapon Systems Engineering company, which specializes in the development of indigenous software. "We have also founded a design bureau, which has begun developing the Ansar, Surkan, and Turan modules from the scratch," said Salimov.

According to KPE, the Ansar ROWS is armed with a Shipunov 2A72 30 mm automatic cannon in a sleeve, a Kalashnikov PKTM 7.62 mm general-purpose machinegun, and six Tucha-family smoke dischargers. Four ready-use anti-tank guided missiles (or Shmel (Bumblebee) rocket launchers) in two two-cell protected banks can be attached to the sides of the turret. "The new combat modules have been developed in accordance with the requirements released by the Kazakh Ministry of Defense [MoD]. This list includes manned below-the-turret-ring space, manual firing mode as a backup option, remote control, a sensor suite integrating a thermal imaging sighting system, laser rangefinder, optics, meteorological station, muzzle velocity radar, and ballistic calculator, and the capability of under-armor reloading. An automatic target tracker allows simultaneous tracking of up to five objects. Owing to high traverse speed, which is no less than 110 per second, the station can track and engage low-flying aerial targets," said Salimov.

The Sunkar ROWS is intended for the Arlan 4x4 MRAP vehicle. The station is armed with an NSVT Utyos 12.7 mm heavy machinegun and a Kalashnikov PKT 7.62 mm general-purpose machinegun and has a main gun elevation angle of up to +88 and a traverse speed of 110 per second.

Russia has also offered its option of a module for the Barys AFV. At the KADEX 2016 defense show held in Astana (now Nur-Sultan), Kazakhstan, KPE showcased a modification of the Barys 8x8 vehicle armed with the AU-220M ROWS, which had been developed by Russias design institute Burevestnik (a subsidiary of Rostecs concern Uralvagonzavod). However, the current status of the program is not known. It should be mentioned that KPE did not detail the Turan marinized ROWS.



KPE Kaplan (Picture source: Army Recognition)

 Copyright 2020 TASS / Army Recognition Group SPRL. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
As NASA leads the way for human exploration at the Moon and beyond, space radiation is one of the biggest hazards crews face.

In 2018, NASA signed an agreement with the Israel Space Agency (ISA) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) for an experiment to test the AstroRad radiation protection vest on Artemis I, the first flight test of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft. The investigation, called the Matroshka AstroRad Radiation Experiment (MARE), will provide valuable data on radiation levels during missions to the Moon while testing the effectiveness of the new vest. Artemis missions at the Moon will pave the way for human exploration of Mars.

Earth's atmosphere and magnetic shielding protect us from most of the radiation in the universe, including radiation from our Sun. When astronauts leave Earth, they're exposed to the full spectrum of radiation present in deep space. The Artemis I mission will not carry crew, but two identical mannequin torsos equipped with radiation detectors. They will fly aboard Orion during the three-week mission, traveling about 280,000 miles from Earth and thousands of miles beyond the Moon.

The mannequins, called phantoms, are manufactured from materials that mimic human bones, soft tissues, and organs of an adult female. Their names are Helga and Zohar and, despite sharing the trip, their missions will be different - Zohar will wear the AstroRad vest, while Helga will not. Female forms were chosen because women typically have greater sensitivity to the effects of space radiation, but the AstroRad vest is designed to protect both men and women.

The phantoms have a three-centimeter grid embedded throughout the torsos that will enable scientists to map internal radiation doses to areas of the body that contain critical organs. With two identical torsos, scientists will be able to determine how well the new vest might protect crew from solar radiation, while also collecting data on how much radiation astronauts might experience inside Orion on a lunar mission - conditions that cannot be recreated on Earth.

The ISA will provide the AstroRad vest for the mission, which was developed by an Israeli company called StemRad in collaboration with Orion lead contractor, Lockheed Martin. The DLR will provide the phantoms and the majority of the radiation detectors, with further contributions by universities from around the world.

In a related investigation currently underway on the International Space Station, the Comfort and Human Factors AstroRad Radiation Garment Evaluation (CHARGE) study will assess the ergonomics, range of motion, comfort and general user experience of the AstroRad vest in a microgravity environment. Insights from the study will help improve the fit and function of the vest.

MARE builds upon previous experiments performed on the space station using phantoms and other instruments to measure radiation exposure in low-Earth orbit. Astronauts on station are exposed to radiation levels about 50 times higher than that experienced by people on Earth. Farther from Earth's magnetic field and into interplanetary space, the level of radiation exposure during exploration missions could be much higher - up to 150 times more. Human beings exposed to large amounts of radiation can experience both acute and chronic health problems ranging from immediate radiation sickness to developing cancer in the future.

Orion was designed to protect both humans and hardware during radiation events on Artemis missions. For example, in the event of a solar flare, Orion's crew can take cover in the central part of the crew module, between the floor and the heat shield, using the stowage bags on board to improve shelter. However, the crew may have to stay in such a shelter for more than a day. With a protective vest to help block solar energetic particles, crew could continue working during critical mission activities in spite of a solar storm.

Orion will also have different types of radiation sensors on board to record both the peak level of radiation exposure during the flight, as well as radiation levels throughout the mission. Researchers can then compare the data with mission telemetry to reveal where and when the radiation was encountered. While the AstroRad vest is designed primarily to protect against solar energetic particles that are ejected from the sun during a solar eruption, researchers are also developing and evaluating ways to shield crew from galactic cosmic rays, another type of radiation that comes from all over the galaxy and is more challenging to protect against.

With the data from MARE and other sensors, NASA and its partners will improve their ability to prepare for, and limit the effects of, radiation exposure as human beings travel farther into space on longer missions. Reducing the risks due to radiation exposure is important for missions that could last as long as three months at the Gateway outpost in lunar orbit, and future missions to Mars, currently estimated to be a three year round-trip journey.

NASA is working to land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024 as part of the agency's Artemis program. Orion, the Space Launch System rocket and the Gateway are part of NASA's backbone for deep space exploration. Through the agency's broader Moon to Mars exploration approach, NASA will establish a sustainable presence at the Moon and prepare for humanity's next giant leap, sending astronauts to Mars.



Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.
At least eight people were killed, including two police officers, in what was being described as a suicide attack in Quetta, Pakistan, on February 17. According to local reports, many more were injured in the attack.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said that the blast targeted a rally by supporters of the Islamist Ahle Sunnat Wal Jammat party.

The Express Tribune said police tried to stop a suspect from reaching the rally near the Quetta Press Club before the blast. This video shows damage to cars and nearby buildings. Credit: RadioFreeEurope/Radio Liberty via Storyful
Any owners of the ghost ship the MV Alta have up to a year to reclaim it, with the abandoned vessel to undergo an initial assessment on Tuesday morning as mystery deepens over its recent past.

The 77metre-long ship came aground on rocks west of Ballycotton on Saturday due to the force of Storm Dennis, but its unconventional journey to Irish shores has grabbed international media attention.

First built in 1976, the cargo ship appears to have drifted around the Atlantic Ocean for the past 18 months.

Now snagged on rocks, Cork County Council has been coordinating efforts to ensure it poses no risk to the environment or marine traffic, even as questions mount over how it managed to sail for such a distance without a crew and without being tracked.

According to the local authority, Cork County Councils Oil Spill Assessment Team convened again shortly after noon today as part of its Oil Spill Contingency Plan in response to the grounding of the cargo ship, which most recently was flying under the flag of Tanzania.

According to a local authority spokesperson: "Cork County Councils Environmental Scientists have visited the area and are satisfied that there is currently no visible pollution within the Ballycotton Bay Special Protection Area or nearby proposed Natural Heritage Areas.

"Cork County Council has consulted with the Coast Guard in terms of pollution risk and the parties have agreed to have an initial assessment of pollution risk carried out. The council has requested its marine contractor to carry out this initial assessment of the wreck.

"Following an appropriate risk assessment, the contractor will board the vessel at the next suitable opportunity which is expected to be at low tide tomorrow morning, Tuesday, February 18 at approximately 7am.

"Any risk in relation to oil, other hazardous substances and pollution from the vessel will be evaluated."

The Council spokesperson said consultations are continuing between the Irish Coastguard, the local authority, the Receiver of Wrecks and other relevant bodies in relation to the future of the ship.

The Council spokesperson added that members of the public should stay away from the wreck location "as it is located on a dangerous and inaccessible stretch of coastline and is in an unstable condition".

The Receiver of Wrecks is likely to be entrusted with the task of identifying the owner of the MV Alta, although given its recent history that may prove difficult.

A spokesperson for the Revenue Commissioners, said: "Revenues role as Receiver of Wreck is a statutory function provided for in the Merchant Shipping (Salvage and Wreck) Act 1993 and is discharged on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport.

"The provisions of the Act outline the procedures the Receiver of Wreck must undertake to try to establish ownership of the salvage or wreck landed in Ireland.

"Additionally, the legislation states that a person may establish a claim to ownership within one year from the time the wreck came into the receiver's possession. As such, this process may take some time and there is no further update available at present.

"Revenues immediate priority is to allow the agencies responsible for pollution protection and maritime traffic to assess and manage any environmental risk or potential hazard to other maritime stakeholders."

Late last August the British Royal Navy's HMS Protector came across the Alta, which it described as an abandoned merchant vessel.

A message relayed by the Navy ship said: "We closed the vessel to make contact and offer our assistance, but no one replied! Whilst investigations continue we're unable to give you more detail on this strange event."

Two days ago @hmsprotector discovered this apparently abandoned Merchant Vessel whilst mid-Atlantic. We closed the vessel to make contact and offer our assistance, but no one replied! Whilst investigations continue were unable to give you more detail on this strange event. pic.twitter.com/x29sB5IF06  HMS Protector (@hmsprotector) September 2, 2019

Almost a year earlier, on September 30, 2018, the US Coast Guard was notified that the Alta had become disabled some weeks before on September 19, while transiting from Greece to Haiti.

According to a report at that time, the Coast Guard Cutter Confidence rescued 10 crew members from the ship, which was almost 1,400 miles southeast of Bermuda.

By then the crew had been stranded on the disabled vessel for almost three weeks and were down to a few day's supply of food and enough water to cover a few weeks.

The HC-130 Hercules airplane from Coast Guard Air station Elizabeth City dropped a week's worth of supplies, before the Confidence rescued the men in October 2018.

At the time the commanding officer of the Confidence, Cmdr Travis Emge, was reported by the USCG as saying: "We are all proud of our part in this coordinated Coast Guard response to rescue this crew."

It said that the Coast Guard's Fifth District command centre was working to coordinate with the ship owner for a commercial tug to tow the vessel to safety.

A spokesman for the US Coast Guard told the Irish Examiner: "On Oct. 8, 2018 the Fifth Coast Guard District coordinated the rescue of 10 crewmembers from the Tanzanian-flagged cargo ship Alta via the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Confidence in international waters approximately 1,380 miles southeast of Bermuda as the position of the vessel at the time of the distress was within the Norfolk Region Coordination Center's Search and Rescue Region. Weather conditions and equipment limitations made it unsafe to tow the vessel at the time of the rescue. Due to the location of the vessel and its flag, the U.S. Coast Guard did not have jurisdictional authority to conduct any salvage enforcement in the matter."

That does not appear to have happened. Another online report suggested that the vessel may then have been hijacked and brought to British Guiana, before again going missing.

According to the Vessel Finder website, the registered owner of the Alta is a company called Alta Sg LLC.

A Company called ALTA Shipping & Logistics, based in the UAE, said when contacted by the Irish Examiner that it was not the company that owned the vessel.

Aerial still taken from Irish Coast Guard video

Alta Shipping Brokers, based in Madrid, also said it did not own the vessel. "Definitively, no," a staff member said.

He then offered to check via the system used by all large cargo firms to see if he could track its recent history, but he said it did not show up at all, either under Alta or its previous names of Elias or Avantis.

In total, the ship appears to have had six different owners since it was built.

Environmental organisation Coastwatch said international help would now be needed to help deal with the Alta and said there should also be a review of how abandoned ships and containers and handled.

Karin Dubsky, Director of Coastwatch, said: "The Irish South coast is of immense biodiversity value and large tracks are designated as Natura 2000 sites, many of international importance for seabirds.

If this ship built in the 1970s was to start breaking apart or leaking it would be a serious problem in an inaccessible area adjacent to most valuable bays, saltmarshes and mudflats.

Coastwatch said it took little comfort from assurances by Cork County Council that the Alta did not appear to pose an environmental hazard, saying they were concerned about the possible presence of heavy diesel on board.

Cork Coastwatch surveyor Mary Looby, who observed the ship, said: "She is swaying in the waves among rocky outcrops."

The organisation also queried how the Alta could have landed onto the Irish shore without being tracked.

It posed a number of questions, including: "How can an abandoned ship be left drifting northwards in the Atlantic towards Europe, gas and oil platforms, wind turbines and land for over a year without being caught and made safe?"

It also questioned whether there was a gap in international law which allows a ship to drift with no active position recording to track it, and also asked which government Minister here is actually responsible for an uninsured ship, while at sea or on the shore.
SITEKI  A 10-year-old HIV positive boy is in danger of aggravating his already fragile health condition because he occasionally overdoses on antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, health officials have warned.

*Zama, who is said to have lost his mother when he was a toddler, stays with his cousin in a rural community located about 15 kilometres from Siteki town  on the eastern parts of this country. The exact location has been deliberately concealed to protect the minor from stigma. The young boy lacks proper parental care and support, as the cousin sometimes goes away for a number of days, leaving him alone to take care of other younger children, community members said.

Drugs

Zama is also left alone to take care of his own health, and as an ART patient, he is supposed to take ARV drugs daily. In the absence of proper supervision and guidance from an elder person, Zama sometimes overdoses on the ARV drugs or defaults on taking them, according to neighbours.

Worse

His health is seemingly getting worse. He doesnt look healthy at all. Sometimes neighbours give him breakfast so that he can take his pills (ARVs), said a neighbour. Neighbours are concerned about Zamas seemingly aggravating health and the lack of parental care and support. One of the neighbours told this publication that Zama was recently given the wrong type of ARVs at the clinic and there was no one to assist him return the drugs to the clinic and collect the right type. What concerns us is that our neighbour (Zamas cousin) goes away for days, leaving the children without food. Hence, the children are forced to ask for food from neighbours. The one who is on ART (Zama) is left alone to take the medication without supervision and he sometimes overdoses on the drugs, said a neighbour.

Community members told this publication that they had already informed social workers about the horrendous conditions Zama was living under. Meanwhile, another community member told this publication that Zamas father was contributing monthly towards his welfare but the money was allegedly misused by the cousin.
Burma Operator of Water Bus Service in Myanmars Biggest City Faces Lawsuit for Unpaid Fuel Bills

Yangon Water Bus vessels in operation in 2019. / The Irrawaddy

YANGONPetro & Trans Group of Companies said it would file a lawsuit against Tint Tint Myanmar Co., the operator of the Yangon Water Bus service, for failing to pay outstanding bills for more than 70 million kyats (about US$48,400) worth of fuel purchases.

When it was launched in 2017, Yangon Water Bus was billed as a more modern, comfortable alternative to the citys regular ferry service.

On Saturday, Petro & Trans announced in state-run newspapers that it would take legal action in response to the unpaid bills.

We sent the notice, but the [Tint Tint Myanmar] company office is no longer at its original address. When we called them, their phones were switched off. I dont want to accuse them, but it seems as if they are avoiding us, U Than Tun, a lawyer for Petro & Trans, told The Irrawaddy.

Between Sept. 4 and Dec. 9, 2018, Tint Tint Myanmar Co. reportedly bought over 77 million kyats worth of fuel for its water buses on credit. Company chairwoman Daw Tint Tint Lwin reportedly signed an agreement that her company would pay the amount in full by Aug. 15, 2019, but she did not, U Than Tun said.

Petro & Trans set a deadline of Feb. 28 for the payment, and warned that legal action would be taken against if the bill went unpaid.

The Irrawaddy attempted to contact Tint Tint Myanmar Co., but all of the phones for which numbers were available had been switched off. However, Yangon Water Bus said on its Facebook page on Saturday evening that its board of directors was unaware of the issue and would investigate whether any former staff or responsible persons had misused their power. It said the company had never granted anyone the right to purchase more than 70 million kyats worth of fuel on credit and that action would be taken against those responsible. The company also said it would take legal action in response to Petro & Trans announcement, which it said had damaged its image.

The Yangon Water Bus service was launched on Oct. 7, 2017 with the stated objective of easing traffic congestion in the commercial capital. It began operating between Botatung and Insein townships, and later added weekly river cruises and boat tours to its services.

In September last year, the operator announced a temporary suspension of its operations, reportedly in order to improve its services and introduce a card payment system. It has not made any further announcement since then.

U Hla Aung, joint secretary of the Yangon Region Transport Authority, which supervises all transportation services in the region, told The Irrawaddy, We dont know yet about the case of Tint Tint Myanmar.

Water transport is part of the Yangon regional governments plan to utilize the waterways surrounding the city as a major mode of transportation, complementing existing land transport. Tint Tint Myanmar Co. won a tender to provide the Yangon Water Bus service, which was intended to link with the Yangon Bus Service launched in 2017.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko

You may also like these stories:

Chairman Defends Anti-Graft Body After Dismissing Claims Against Ex-Minister

The Evolution of Yangons New Bus Service

Yangon Amends Municipal Law, Creates Vice Mayor Position
Longowal (Sangrur) Two days after four students, a boy and three girls, in the age group of 3-6 years were burnt alive when a ramshackle mini-van of Simran Public School, Longowal, caught fire in the village, the school remained closed on Monday.

Hard, difficult questions about the future stare at parents of 200 students. Their concern stems from the fact that the government, in all probability, will cancel the schools affiliation with the Punjab School Education Board.

This will mean they will have to find another school for their wards, where they would again have to pay the admission fee and other expenses already paid to this school; pertinent to this issue is the fact that only final exams are to be conducted with the academic session set to close in another month or so. Any refund from Simran Public School is unlikely as the owner-cum-principal Lakhwinder Singh is in police lock-up, having been sent to three-day police custody on Sunday.

The school is closed and we are expecting that the government will guide us. We have no idea on where we should enrol her now, said Gurjeet Kaur, mother of Amandeep Kaur, 14, who saved four students from the fire due to her presence of mind.

Gurpreet Kaur, two of whose kids sustained minor injuries but were rescued, demanded that the government should ensure education and safety of children during schools hours and during transport.

We paid 11,000 fee for my son, Manvir Singh. Now, we have to shift our children to another school and pay fee again, Kaur added.

Lakhvir Singh, another parent, said his daughter and nephew were in nursery and Class-1 in the school and the family had to pay 5,000 and 7,000 annual fee, respectively, exclusive of transport and other charges, respectively.

Government Primary School, Sunami Patti, which was functional near our residence was shifted, forcing us to enrol children in this school, Lakhvir added.

Deputy commissioner Ghanshyam Thori said, Further action against the school will be taken after magisterial probe report is submitted. Students will be admitted to government schools. If parents want to shift to private schools, it will be their choice.

CM ANNOUNCES BRAVERY AWARD, FREE EDUCATION FOR AMANDEEP

The Punjab government will honour Class-9 student Amandeep Kaur for showing exemplary courage by saving four children in the Longowal schoolvan tragedy by giving her a bravery award, chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh announced on Monday. He added the award would be conferred on the Independence Day and the government will sponsor her education. The girl, accompanied by father Satnam Singh and Congress leader Daman Thind Bajwa also met Amarinder on Monday evening. The CM also consoled Kuldeep Singh Bajwa, a member of the family that lost children in the tragedy.

4,500 SCHOOL VEHICLES CHECKED; 1,650 CHALLANED, 250 IMPOUNDED

Policemen checking schoolbuses in Jalandhar, where nine vehicles were impounded. (Pardeep Pandit/HT Photo)

The state transport department on Monday checked 4,504 school vehicles, of which 1,649 were challaned and 253 impounded for not complying with the requisite parameters of motor vehicle act. A spokesperson said the drive would continue.

A vehicle being used for school transport needs to be painted yellow; school bus should be prominently displayed on the front and the rear of the vehicle; the name of the school and its telephone number should be displayed.

Other requirements are a first-aid box, fire extinguisher, emergency door and the driver must possess heavy driving licence and five years of driving experience. The vehicle must not be older than 15 years and must have CCTVs and female attendants as well. Uniform is also must for driver and staff .

50% of vehicles checked in Sangrur impounded

In a sign that even two days after the horrific incident, rules for carrying schoolchildren were being flouted, 17 of 35 vehicles that authorities checked were impounded. Five buses were challaned. In Barnala, over 80 buses and vans were checked and challans were issued to 20 buses; 6 were impounded.

197 buses fined to date in Patiala, 133 on Monday alone

The administration took action (either fined or impounded) 133 vehicles involved in the ferrying of schoolchildren. The figure to date was 197. In Rupnagar, 30 vehicles were impounded.

73 vehicles challaned in Muktsar

The administration challaned 73 schoolvans in Muktsar in Monday, with five being seized; 11 challans were issued in Malout and 21 in Gidderbaha; 41 challans were issued in Muktsar.

In Gurdaspur, 210 buses were challaned and six were impounded. In Nabha, 37 challans were issued. Ludhiana saw 306 challans and 36 such vehicles being impounded. In Mohali, 50 vehicles were challaned and 18 impounded.

Absymal compliance in Jalandhar

In the district, 48 vehicles were challaned and nine impounded. As per information that the transport department and district child protection office provided, of 750 private schools, 250 officer transport facility but only 10-odd schools comply with guidelines. Only a few private schools are complying with safe school vahan scheme, said district child protection officer Ajay Bharti.

Sack minister Singla, set up regulatory body: AAP

Expressing deep shock over the loss of lives of four innocent children who were charred to death in an old and ramshackle schoolvan in Sangrur district, Aam Aadmi Partys (AAP) leader of opposition (LoP) in Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Harpal Singh Cheema has sought the dismissal of state education minister Vijay Inder Singla. He also demanded the setting up of a regulatory body to ensure safety of schoolchildren during transport.
A man who drove the gunman to and from the gangland murder of David Douglas, who was shot six times in front of his daughter, has been been given a 10-year sentence.

The Special Criminal Court heard that getaway driver Gareth Brophy, 25, later accidentally set fire to his trousers while attempting to burn out the stolen Mercedes used in the murder.

Brophy, with an address at Reuben Walk, Dublin 8, pleaded guilty before Christmas to helping facilitate the murder of Mr Douglas.

This morning at the Special Criminal Court, Mr Justice Paul Coffey jailed Brophy for 10 years with the final six months suspended.

The judge said Brophy had a "critical role" at a "critical phase" of the Mr Douglas' murder. He said it was "manifest from all the evidence, that David Douglas was the victim of a gangland execution-style murder".

After he was sentenced, Brophy, who was wearing a wine-coloured sweater, blue jeans and black and white runners, blew a kiss to three women in the body of the court while he was led away by prison guards.

Brophy was previously charged with the murder of Mr Douglas and his trial was scheduled to begin in the Special Criminal Court on January 13 last. However, just before Christmas, Brophy pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of helping to facilitate Mr Douglass murder.

Shot six times

Mr Douglas, 55, was shot six times as he took a meal break at the counter in his partners shop, Shoestown, on Bridgefoot Street, Dublin 8 on July 1, 2016.

Today, Mr Justice Paul Coffey said that, at the time of his intricately planned murder, Mr Douglas was working with his daughter in a shop owned by his partner. He said, shortly after 4pm on July 1, 2016, an unidentified male walked into the shop with a semi-automatic pistol and shot Mr Douglas six times.

The emergency services rushed him to St Jamess Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

He said the gunman was driven to and from the shooting by Brophy in a stolen Mercedes before the Mercedes was burned out and Brophy and the gunman decamped to a Suzuki Swift. The court previously heard that Brophy accidentally set fire to his trousers while attempting to burn out the Mercedes.

The judge said Brophy's DNA and palm print were later found in the Suzuki, while Brophy was caught on CCTV while he was a passenger in the Suzuki just after the shooting.

Mr Justice Coffey said that Brophys role was to get the gunman to the scene of the murder, to wait for him as he carried out the murder and then to drive him to another location.

The judge said in determining a sentence, the court must go through a two-stage process of deciding what the appropriate headline sentence is and then deciding whether to adjust this sentence.

Mr Justice Coffey said the offence under consideration has a maximum penalty of 15 years imprisonment.

He said it was manifest from all the evidence that David Douglas was the victim of a gangland execution style murder. He said it was clear the murder was intricately planned, with the use of a number of cars, drivers and spotters, and that it was carried out under the control of a criminal organisation.

'No evidence' of involvement in planning the murder

He said there was no evidence that Brophy was involved in the planning of the murder.

However, he said the court must have regard of the intentional commission of any serious crime and the proximity of harm done to the victim.

Mr Justice Coffey referred to the nature and menace of the criminal organisation and the callous and brutal way Mr Douglas was repeatedly shot at close proximity, in front of his daughter.

The activity of the defendant [Brophy] was such that he played a critical role at a critical phase, the judge said, adding that Brophy was culpable to a very high degree in what happened to Mr Douglas.

He said, in these circumstances, Brophy is at the higher end of the top end of the gravity of the offence and he said the court approved the headline sentence of 13.5 years.

The judge said the court was taking several mitigating factors into consideration, including his guilty plea. While the evidence against Brophy was overwhelming, the judge said his plea was of value as it saved considerable Garda and court time and expense.

Mr Justice Coffey said the court also took into consideration submissions made by Michael Bowman SC, for Brophy.

The judge said these included the submission that Brophy was 21 at the time of the offence, his disadvantaged background, his difficulties with drugs and his commitment to his son.

The court previously heard that Brophy had 20 previous convictions including robbery, assault causing harm, assault, public order matters, violent behaviour in a Garda station, threatening to assault a police officer and breaching the peace. Mr Justice Coffey this morning said that the offences were relatively minor and were not connected to criminal gangland activities.

The judge then sentenced Brophy to 10 years and backdated it to the date Brophy went into custody, November 18, 2018. He also suspended the final six months on the condition that Brophy enters a vocational course while in prison. He also ordered that Brophy enter a peace bond of 100 for a period of three years from the date of his release from prison.

After passing sentence, Mr Justice Coffey said, on behalf of the court, he wished to express its deepest sympathies to the family of David Douglas for their loss.

Frederick Freddie Thompson, of Loreto Road, Maryland, Dublin 8 was found guilty of Mr Douglass murder in August 2018 and sentenced to the mandatory term of life imprisonment.

In November 2018, Nathan Foley, 22, of Rosary Road, Maryland, Dublin 8, pleaded guilty to helping a criminal organisation carry out the murder of David Douglas.

He was subsequently jailed for six years.
A dozen Americans are now in quarantine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and being monitored for symptoms of the coronavirus after they were evacuated from a cruise ship in Japan over the weekend.

Another patient who landed at Eppley Airfield in Omaha on Monday morning was taken directly to the Biocontainment Patient Care Unit on UNMC's campus, medical center officials said during a news conference.

It's unclear how many of the patients  all adults  are positive for COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Each was tested last week in Japan and again by UNMC health workers upon arrival; the results of those tests were not known as of Monday afternoon.

While some of the 300 U.S. passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship were reported to have the virus last week, each of the individuals who landed in Omaha was asymptomatic and will be closely monitored for 14 days by infectious disease experts at UNMC.

Dr. Chris Kratochvil, an executive director for the Global Center for Health Security at UNMC, said the mission to bring Americans deemed a "high risk" for developing COVID-19 to Omaha for treatment had been in the works for several days.

"Over the last few days, we had been preparing for the potential opportunity to bring back citizens here in support of that mission," Kratochvil said.

UNMC and Nebraska Medicine were in communication with the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. State Department, as well as with Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert and Gov. Pete Ricketts and local law enforcement and public health departments.

Early Monday morning, UNMC was notified some of the patients returning to the U.S. from Japan were being flown to Omaha: "When we received the notification early this morning requesting we assist, we were ready and able to take that on," Kratochvil said.

A pair of Kalitta Air 747s landed at Eppley on Monday morning and were boarded by members of UNMC's infectious disease team wearing full hazardous materials suits, including Michael Wadman, co-director for the quarantine unit.

"Everyone appeared to arrive comfortably," Wadman said. The patients were tired, "but their spirits were high" and "glad to be here."

One man with a chronic health condition was taken directly to the Biocontainment Patient Care Unit at a different location on UNMC's campus for evaluation and observation as a precaution, Wadman said.

Officials said Monday the man was in stable condition but reported being lightheaded and short of breath.

As the other 12 people settle in at UNMC's 20-room quarantine unit, Shelly Schwedhelm, a nurse and director of emergency management at UNMC, said they will go through additional testing as recommended by the CDC.

The patients did not have any written records of what tests were performed in Japan before they disembarked the cruise ship and boarded a plane bound for the U.S., Schwedhelm said, so UNMC is starting the quarantine process from the beginning.

"We're starting from scratch. We want to know what's what," she said. "We're not going to make any assumptions. We're going to test everybody."

By Monday afternoon, UNMC staffers were working with the patients to get them settled and begin communicating with their families.

Like the 57 people in quarantine at the 85-bed Camp Ashland since Feb. 7, the patients now on UNMC's campus, mostly couples, have access to television and wireless internet, Schwedhelm said.

While they are confined to their individual rooms, each fitted with special filtration systems and other engineering controls that keep them isolated from each other and the outside world, Schwedhelm said they may be allowed to move within the quarantine unit once it's determined they do not carry the coronavirus.

Over the weekend, a female evacuee from the epicenter of the global coronavirus outbreak, who was quarantined at Camp Ashland, was taken to UNMC after developing a cough was determined to not have the virus.

The rest of the Americans who had been living in the Wuhan region of China and now are at Camp Ashland will remain in quarantine for another few days.

Kratochvil said while there have been no further announcements of patients coming to Omaha, the med center was not counting out the possibility.

"We certainly stand at the ready. We don't know if there will be more," he said. "As the individuals are assessed at the other air bases, it's certainly possible that some could test positive and we could be asked to take more.

"We'll have discussions at that point to decide if we have the capacity," he added.

There are 15 documented cases of COVID-19 in the U.S., but no reported deaths. UNMC said while the outbreak has spread more quickly than the 2003 SARS epidemic, it "has been far less lethal."

UNMC estimates the fatality rate for COVID-19 between 1% and 2%, with the majority of deaths occurring in patients with other medical conditions.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7120 or cdunker@journalstar.com. On Twitter @ChrisDunkerLJS
New York, Feb 17 : Extreme weather could bring next recession, say researchers, adding that despite obvious market risks brought by fires, floods and other events, asset managers are slow to react.

According to the study, published in the journal Nature Energy, current financial markets do not account for the risk posed by horrific natural disasters such as floods and droughts.

As a result, investors are at risk of a sudden correction and crash which devastates the global economy unless action is taken to mitigate its impact.

"If the market doesn't do a better job of accounting for climate, we could have a recession -- the likes of which we've never seen before," said study author Paul Griffin from University of California in the US.

The central message in his latest research is that there is too much "unpriced risk" in the energy market.

"Unpriced risk was the main cause of the Great Recession in 2007-2008," Griffin said "Right now, energy companies shoulder much of that risk. The market needs to better assess risk, and factor a risk of extreme weather into securities prices," he said.

For example, excessive high temperatures, like those experienced in the US and Europe last summer, can be deadly.

Not only do they disrupt agriculture, harm human health and stunt economic growth, they also can overwhelm and shut down vast parts of energy delivery.

Extreme weather can also threaten other services such as water delivery and transportation, which in turn affects businesses, families and entire cities and regions, sometimes permanently. All of this strains local and broader economies.

"Despite these obvious risks, investors and asset managers have been conspicuously slow to connect physical climate risk to company market valuations," Griffin said.

Climate-vulnerable locations also factor into risk for energy markets. In the US, US oil refining is located on the Gulf Coast, an area exposed to sea-level rise and intense storms.

Oil refining in Benicia and Richmond, in Northern California, can be exposed to coastal flooding.

Energy companies' transmission infrastructure is located in arid areas, increasing risk of damage, such as the destruction from recent wildfires in California.

"The climate litigation risk already priced into energy stocks (after, for example, a protracted ExxonMobil court case in the 1990s) would prove insufficient," Griffin said.

"While proprietary climate risk models my help some firms and organisations better understand future conditions attributable to climate change, extreme weather risk is still highly problematic from a risk estimation standpoint," he concluded
Lebanese Ambassador to Korea Antoine Azzam, eighth right in the front row, Korea Foundation (KF) Executive Vice-President Kim Seong-in, seventh from right in the front row, and other dignitaries pose during the opening ceremony of "Visual Synonyms" exhibition at the KF Gallery in Seoul, Feb. 12. / Korea Times photo by Yi Whan-woo





Lebanese Ambassador to Korea Antoine Azzam delivers a speech as other ambassadors and dignitaries listen on during the opening ceremony for the "Visual Synonyms" exhibition at the Korea Foundation (KF) Gallery in Seoul, Feb. 12. / Korea Times photo by Yi Whan-woo



By Yi Whan-woo



The Embassy of Lebanon in Korea, jointly with the Korea Foundation (KF), is hosting an exhibition of typographic designs inspired by Arabic calligraphy until March 13.



The exhibition, titled "Visual Synonyms," at the KF Gallery in Seoul showcases 103 works by 94 graphic design students at the Lebanese University in the capital of Beirut.



Seoul is the first East Asian city to run the exhibition, after it was held in Beirut, Tripoli and Saida  all in Lebanon  and Mumbai, India.



According to the KF, a non-profit organization, calligraphy in the Middle East is a "time-honored practice."



The KF said the exhibition is to promote Arabic calligraphy, its rich heritage and its benefits today, in accordance with its goal of public diplomacy under the wing of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.



All 94 students learned under Antoine Abi Aad, the head of the Department of Graphic Design and Visual Communication at the Lebanese University.



The students delved into the compositions, forms, rhythms, contrasts and harmony of the specific Arabic calligraphy, many from verses from the Koran. They then used what they found within to create their own modern lettering, to show off exquisite beauty and evoke the fresh taste of Lebanon.





Lebanese University students' typographic designs inspired by Arabic calligraphy are being showcased at the Korea Foundation (KF) Gallery until March 13. / KF
What are your expectations from Love Aaj Kal?

Fingers crossed. Im expecting a lot out of it. Its the first time Im playing a hardcore romantic character. In fact, Im playing two characters in a film. Im both excited and nervous. Love Aaj Kal has been a journey like no other. Be it Imtiaz sir (director Imtiaz Ali), Sara (Ali Khan) or the team  Ive learnt so much from them. Imtiaz sir has changed me as an actor. Through conversations, through workshops, through his direction, Ive learnt a lot from him. Hes a genius. Ive been a die-hard fan of his films. I hope I become a fan of Love Aaj Kal as well.

The day our poster released; I couldnt stop looking at his name beneath our faces. Hes always been my favourite director. So to get a film with him was huge for me. I hope people like me in both the avatars  Raghu and Veer. Raghu evokes the nostalgia of the 90s. Veer, on the other hand, is from 2020. Ironically, hes a difficult character to understand because of his simplicity. He speaks whatever comes to his mind. Theres no filter. The character of Veer is so real that he appears unreal. Imtiaz Sir visualised Raghu as being melodramatic. Hence some situations featuring him are downright OTT. As both characters are different it felt like two Imtiazs were directing me.



Is Imtiaz Ali a hard taskmaster?

He lets you do whatever you want but he talks you through it. He makes you understand and realise what the character is. I wouldnt call him a taskmaster. Hes a Sufi in his outlook. Hes a genius, someone who knows his characters in and out. Playing two characters in a film could have been difficult. But he made it easy. The body language, dialogue delivery and costumes were different for both. For both Veer and Raghu, we had separate body language classes. I had to lose 10 kilos for Raghu, whos still in school. I had to be lanky while shooting those portions.



Youre said to be the king of monologues. Will we see a monologue in Love Aaj Kal too?

Love Aaj Kal is a completely different film. There will be no monologues. Of course, I love the title King of monologues. The monologues in the Pyaar Ka Punchnama series worked big time and went viral. I won recognition because of the monologues. But now I want to be a romantic hero, especially since I started my journey as a bromantic hero. Its a litmus test for me to see how the audiences react to me as a romantic hero. I feel great when people say, Hes an Imtiaz Ali hero.



Are you romantic in real life?

Im both Raghu and Veer. At heart, Im a romantic. Hence, I could relate to both the characters. In a relationship, Id do anything to make the other person smile. Id keep gifting her things. It could be the biggest of things or the smallest of them. That doesnt matter. The thought is all that matters. Even if its gifting her a rose, a chocolate, toffees every day to make her feel happy and special. I love it when a loved one is happy and theres a smile on their face. Thats my idea of love.



Youve been romantically linked with all three of your co-stars  Sara Ali Khan, Ananya Panday and now Janhvi Kapoor. Whats the truth?

If theres a rumour linking me to a co-star, I dont know what to say about it. Its not in my hands.



A direct question. Whom are you seeing currently  Ananya or Janhvi?

Technically, Im single. I am a romantic person but currently only interested in work. (Laughs) I only talk about my work and professional life.



Okay tell us about Janhvi Kapoor

Shes a great co-star. Ive done just one schedule of Dostana 2 with her. Our next schedule is in London, the last one was in Patiala. Im looking forward to starting the second one. Janhvis a quiet person but once she opens up, you want to spend time with her. Thats a quality she has. We bonded well during our shoot. I hope people like Dostana 2. All of us had a great time shooting together.



How do you analyse the golden run that youre experiencing right now?

I guess Im in sync with the audience and people are loving the kind of films Im doing, the kind of characters Im playing. I want this golden run to just go on and on. Its unreal. When I read a script, I consider whether as an audience Id like to see such a film or not. That has worked for me.



As a struggler did you ever imagine this kind of success?

You do dream about such days. Then one day when it finally happens it feels unreal. As a child, Ive witnessed the difficult journeys of both my parents. That inspired me. Hence, I was never let down by failures. I learnt from them and tried to do better each time. Once youre content, your journey ends. Im happy about my journey and relish it. Im glad Im still not content. I dont know about others but I am someone whos constantly working. Every second for me counts. The smallest of things and the biggest of things matter to me.



Are you a natural or method actor?

Most of my films have been comedies. So they didnt require method. For Love Aaj Kal, I was living the characters Raghu and Veer. So there was a lot of method involved. I got so emotional when we shot the last scene of the film. Imtiaz sir hugged me and said, I understand its after all the journey of living those characters.



Youre an outsider whos made it. Whats your take on nepotism?

Of course, nepotism exists big time here and outside. Initially, you dont get the chances. You dont get to meet the right people as you dont know anyone in the industry. Its a task to crack it or be in the same room as the star kids. Its always difficult for an outsider in terms of getting his/her first break and then to get the second and the third. But at the end of the day, your hard work and talent sees you through. Im blessed that the industry welcomed me.

I am from Gwalior. I feared my parents would think Im crazy if I told them I wanted to act. They wouldnt allow me to leave Gwalior. So I told them Im going to Mumbai to study engineering. At that point they Im proud of my struggle because what it has taught me, no school would have been able to. You have to create your own path, your own niche. Its a different journey for each person. I value everything deeply because they havent come easy to me. Today, producers and directors are just a phone call away, while earlier getting their numbers was also a big deal. would have never understood my dreams.



Do you fear that success can go to your head?

No. Im a shy person but Ive always believed in myself. When I was struggler that confidence was rubbished by people saying, Arre paagal hai. Today it can be seen as overconfidence. Especially when people whom you trust begin to think like that about you its sad. I want these people to be at ease with me. At the end of the day were just humans, not stars.



You can take the boy out of a small-town but you cannot take the small town out of the boy. Does that hold true for you?

Yeah. Im a complete a small-town boy. I dont know whether thats good or derogatory. Ive seen so much of life because Im from Gwalior. I was not living in a pampered bubble. Being a small-town boy has been my strength. Making an identity for yourself is whats most important.







Are you looking at doing films beyond the rom-com genre?

I want to do action after this. I love thrillers. My favourite series is Breaking Bad. Im a diehard fan of Game of Thrones. Id love to do something like that. But I love comedies as well. I loved playing Sonu (Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety), Guddu Shukla from Luka Chuppi or Chintu Tyagi from Pati Patni Aur Woh and now Raghu and Veer from Love Aaj Kal. I also want to do negative characters as in films like Baazigar and Darr. I want to attempt all genres. Its important for me to enjoy what I do.



Youre going to start Bhool Bhulaiyaa now...

I cant wait to go on the sets of Bhool Bhulaiyaa. Anees (Bazmee) sir and I along with the team have had several meetings already. Theres great energy amongst us. Dostana 2 is something, which will push the envelope. Im excited about all three  Dostana 2, Bhool Bhulaiyaa and Love Aaj Kal. Each one has a strong commercial quotient and content.



Youve become the go-to-guy for filmmakers. How do you analyse that?

Im happy about it. For the first time in the last two years, Im facing date issues. For the last eight years, I had all the dates available and they were hardly needed. Im gathering momentum but I dont want to hamper the quality of my work. Box-office figures should be maintained along with your calibre as an actor.
"EnGen is the next step towards a completely online end-to-end mortgage experience, said Dan Mulberry, Envoy CIO.

National mortgage lender, Envoy Mortgage, announced the launch of its streamlined digital mortgage application, EnGen. The platform aims to provide flexibility, transparency, speed and automation to provide consumers with a seamless and user-friendly online application experience.

Envoy customers can now easily connect their bank statements, employment documents, tax information and track their loan progress all from their phone, tablet or computerin minutes! Simultaneously, EnGen provides Envoy loan originators with the tools to simplify daily workflows, structure more deals and provide exceptional customer service.

EnGen was designed to strengthen the loan originator to consumer relationship. The platform will allow our loan originators to provide exceptional customer service by receiving a notification when a customer starts an application and by having the ability to complete an application for the customer, said Dan Mulberry, Envoy CIO.

Some mortgage companies still force their consumers to endure multiple trips to the lending office, mountains of paperwork and multiple information inquiries. Envoy aims to reduce each of these issues with a time-saving digital mortgage application that allows customers more options and freedom to conveniently apply for a mortgage from the comfort of their own home or anywhere in the world.

EnGen is a great start to the digital transformation that will drive further mortgage automation and move more processes to completion earlier in the operations timeline. This trend will allow the mortgage industry to become more efficient, less costly, and help drive down turn-times, so consumers can close on their home faster than ever before, said Mulberry.

EnGen or ENvoy GENeration satisfies end-user expectations by first delivering a message of transparency and power, and the strength and speed similar to that of an engine, while simultaneously equipping Envoy loan originators and customers with the seamless and automated digital experience they expect from a modern mortgage lender.

The mortgage industry has a lot of work left in order to fully digitize the consumer and loan originator experience, but Envoy leads the charge with their forward-thinking mindset, prepared to leverage all new technology that slashes turn-times, provides convenience and delivers a mortgage experience that customers and loan originators will love.

In the future, the mortgage industry is going to see more sources of pre-validated data and the use of emerging technologies such as data enrichment, AI, machine learning, natural language processing and predictive analytics. As a result, the industry will move closer to custom mortgages and the ability to close on a home in days instead of weeks! EnGen is the next step towards a completely online end-to-end mortgage experience, said Mulberry.

About Envoy Mortgage:

Founded in 1997, Envoy Mortgage is an independently owned national mortgage lender headquartered in Houston, TX dedicated to serving retail originators exclusively to allow them to serve their customers and grow their businesses. As a Fannie, Freddie and Ginnie approved seller/servicer, Envoy offers a full menu of loan products with locations across the U.S. Licensed in 48 states, Envoy branches deliver outstanding customer service while offering a full menu of loan products with the tools, expertise and technology needed to support all functions of the mortgage process. More information is available at http://www.EnvoyMortgage.com. Envoy Mortgage, Ltd. NMLS #6666.

Press Contact:

Melody Warren

Envoy Mortgage

mwarren@envoymortgage.com

713-714-1338
Gold bars

Barrick Gold (TSX:ABX)(NYSE:GOLD) has enjoyed a nice rally since the middle of last year and investors are wondering if the bounce is the beginning of an extended recovery.

Lets take a look at the current situation in the gold market and try to decide whether this might a good time to add Barrick Gold to your portfolio.

Global uncertainty

Gold is widely viewed as a safe haven asset and cash often flows into the yellow metal when investors are concerned about geopolitical tensions or global financial risks.

Through most of 2019 the heated trade battle between China and the United States propped up gold demand. Punitive tariffs put heavy pressure on certain industries, disrupting supply chains and forcing businesses to shelve investment decisions amid the uncertain outcome of the negotiations.

The announcement of the phase one agreement and subsequent signing of the trade pact should have put pressure on gold prices, but the market remained strong through that time frame.

This suggests that gold traders arent convinced the battle is complete and might be anticipating more turbulence. Indeed, tariffs remain in place and the two sides are far from a broad-based agreement.

The killing of one Irans top military leaders by the United States in January increased tensions in an already unstable Middle East. This followed the September attacks on Saudi Arabias oil facilities.

The U.S. blamed Iran for that attack. Saudi Arabia didnt respond with military action, but global investors are concerned an escalation of tensions could trigger new military conflict.

Roughly 20% of global oil transport passes through a narrow waterway called the Strait of Hormuz that is located between Iran and Oman. Pundits have speculated that Iran might attempt to block the waterway. This would likely lead to a strong reaction from the United States and Irans oil-producing neighbours.

The coronavirus outbreak in China has added more uncertainty to the outlook for the global economy. Tourism, manufacturing, and retail sales are being impacted and Chinas significant role in the worlds intricate supply chains means a domino effect could be a risk.

Story continues

Stock markets are holding up well at this point, and gold also continues to maintain its gains.

Next leg up

Central banks around the globe could launch a new round of aggressive rate cuts in an effort to counter the impact of slowing economic activity. A race to devalue currencies is possible and the world is already seeing trillions of dollars in government bonds trading at negative yields.

This makes no-yield gold, which trades in U.S. dollars, more attractive for those seeking to protect wealth.

Is Barrick Gold headed to $35 per share?

Barrick Gold spent the better part of the past decade in the penalty box after the company loaded up on debt to make large expensive acquisitions at the top of the market.

The share price fell from $50 in 2011 to below $10 in 2015. Contrarian investors who had the courage to step in at that point have done well. Today the stock trades at $26 at writing.

Barrick recently reported solid results for 2019 and the outlook should be positive, even if gold simply maintains its recent gains. The company has reduced debt from US$13 billion a few years ago to net debt of US$2.2 billion at the end of 2019.

The CEO indicated the company could have zero net debt by the end of 2020 if the market remains positive. Barricks board just raised the dividend by 40%, so the company is obviously comfortable with the cash flow situation.

Gold is up US$300 per ounce since the end of May last year. Another US$300 increase through the remainder of 2020 is certainly possible.

Barrick gold is targeting average annual gold production of about five million ounces over the medium term. A sustained US$300 increase in the gold price adds an extra US$1.5 billion in cash. In this scenario, Barrick Gold has the potential to generate substantial free cash flow and the market might not be appreciating that opportunity.

Gold can be volatile, so I wouldnt back up the truck, but Barrick Gold appears attractive today and a move to $35 by the end of the year wouldnt be a surprise.

More reading

Fool contributor Andrew Walker owns shares of Barrick Gold.

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
Mumbai, Feb 17 : With the 100 per cent implementation of digital/online Haj process in India, the Indian Muslims' dream of 'Ease of Doing Haj' has been fulfilled, said Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi here on Monday.

In tune with the reforms taken by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi not only has the entire Haj pilgrimage process become digital and transparent but also more affordable, he said at a programme of 'training the trainers' for Haj 2020 at the Haj House.

"Making the Haj process digital/online has removed middlemen that the pilgrimage has become more affordable in comparison to last several decades. Even after removal of the Haj subsidy, no additional financial burden has been put on the pilgrims," Naqvi said.

This year, 200,000 Indian Muslims will go to perform the Haj this year -- scheduled in July -- without availing any subsidy.

Of these, 123,000 will go through the Haj Committee of India and the rest through Haj Group Organisers (HGOs). More than 2,100 Muslim women will go to perform Haj without a 'mehram' (male companion).

The minister said that India has become the first country in the world where the entire Haj 2020 process will be fully digital including online application, e-visa, Haj mobile app, "E-Masiha", health facilities, 'e-luggage pre-tagging', and all information in India about the accommodation/transportation in Mecca-Medina are provided right here.

This will give information about the building and room number allotted to the pilgrims, transportation details like bus to be taken by them after landing at the airport in Saudi Arabia, Naqvi said.

The pilgrims' SIM cards have been linked to the aE-Masiha' (E-Medical Assistance System for Indian Pilgrims Abroad) app for all latest Haj-related info in Mecca-Media on their phones.

The 'E-Masiha' is an online system to create and maintain the complete health database of Indian pilgrims along with doctors' prescription, medical treatment or disbursals and deal with any medical emergency during the pilgrimage, Naqvi explained.

A new portal for HGOs has been developed which contains all the details of HGOs, their packages etc to ensure transparency and better facilities for the pilgrims, he informed the 650 trainers who joined the programme today.

The Minister inaugurated new facilities at the Haj House Mumbai like a Civil Services Learning Centre, Guest Rooms, and Training Hall.
Jordan Barrett made his name storming the catwalk for the world's top designers.

And the 23-year-old model proved he was back to his best on Sunday, when he hit the runway for Tommy Hilfiger during London Fashion Week.

He looked every inch the fashionista at the Tommy Now showcase, which was held at the famed Tate Modern gallery.

Star appearance: Jordan Barrett made a triumphant return to the runway on Sunday when he walked for Tommy Hilfiger during London Fashion Week

Jordan was dressed in Tommy Hilfiger's signature preppy style, wearing a grey hooded jumper and loose-fitting white shorts.

He threw on an oversized beige jacket, which was lined with the designer's trademark stripes and nautical motifs.

Jordan completed the outfit with a pair of red socks and white lace-up sneakers.

The model look: The 23-year-old model was dressed in Tommy Hilfiger's signature preppy style, wearing a grey hooded jumper and loose-fitting white shorts

The catwalk king smoldered on the runway, before later posing with Tommy Hilfiger himself at the show.

Jordan has been doing the fashion rounds lately, and was even pictured with grunge rock icon Courtney Love at the Dior men's fashion show in Paris last month.

He also recently attended Vanity Fair's Oscars Party, where he was seen rubbing shoulders with Victoria's Secret model Winnie Harlow.

Fancy seeing you here! The catwalk king smoldered on the runway, before later posing with Tommy Hilfiger himself at the show

Jordan, who hails from Byron Bay, is one of Australia's most successful modelling exports.

He was scouted at the age of 14 and has since gone on to model for the likes of Balmain and Versace.

He is rumoured to be dating Caroline Vreeland, who is the great granddaughter of famed Vogue editor-in-chief Diana Vreeland.

Pals: Jordan has been doing the fashion rounds lately, and was even pictured with grunge rock icon Courtney Love at the Dior men's fashion show in Paris last month
Film Review: Those Who Remained: Platonic Love Against the Backdrop of Soviet Hungary

Recent films detailing the Jewish experience during the World War II era have avoided the depictions of extreme brutality, violence, and despair that usually are concomitant with this genre (that is, The Pianist, Schindlers List, and so on), and moved into new territory. From the hilariously surreal Jojo Rabbit to the serenely beautiful Waiting for Anya, audiences are being treated to fresh perspectives.

Hungarian director Barnabas Toths film Those Who Remained is another rich example. It begins in 1948; the Germans have already been defeated, and the iron-fisted totalitarianism of Soviet communism has been established in Hungary.

Karoly Hajduk and Abigel Szoke star in a film that demonstrates healing power of pure love. (Menemsha Films)

Sixteen-year-old Klara (Abigel Szoke) has an appointment for a gynecological exam. Her examiner, Doctor Korner Aladar (Karoly Hajduk), is a 40-something man whose face is a solemn mask of despair.

She is at first skittish and panicky, but sensing a kindred spirit in Aladar, she begins to open up to him. Klara is the lone survivor of a family of four, while Aladar lost his wife and children to the Holocaust. They share a common blight in that although they are going through the motions of normal daily life, their deep despair has made them hollow inside.

Desperately in need of a father figure and someone to end her extreme loneliness, Klara soon moves out of her great-aunt Olgis (Mari Nagy, Budapest Noir) place and in with the good doctor. Aladar becomes her doting mentor, helping her with her homework and listening to her confidences with delicate patience.

In an especially touching scene, he breaks out some old pictures of the family he lost. The two eventually form an indescribably intimate (although platonic) relationship that transcends their age gap. In fact, from the outset, Aladar sets some strict guidelines for physical contact between the two.

However, in the harsh Soviet rule that deems personal freedom and individuality as threats, their pairing raises the suspicions of some communist operatives. Aladar and Klara pick up on this and try their best to keep things on the down-low, but soon they are part of the cavalcade of gossip and distrust that go hand-in-hand in such a regime.

In one especially harrowing scene, Klara is hauled in to face a communist official after being seen with her head on Aladars lap during a visit to the local park. Meanwhile, Aladars friend and work colleague, Pista (Andor Lukats), warns him that locals have been vanishing in the night. He also tells Aladar that hes thrown his lot in with the Communist Party and has been ordered to keep tabs on Aladar.

Hajduk and Szoke turn in some solid, very nuanced performances that convey the loneliness and despair of two damaged souls. The film is carefully paced and doesnt move too fast; its just enough for the bonding of these two survivors to seem natural and authentic. There is also an almost palpable sense of tension as they try to remain as discreet as possible, even as their commitment to each other only deepens over time.

Those Who Remained is an endearing, heartfelt portrait of two people whose lives have been horribly shaken but, through mutual bonding and healing, have saved each others soul from being irreversibly shattered.

In these fractious modern times, its refreshing to see a male character whose frail appearance belies quiet strength and selfless heroism as he comes to the aid of a girl in need without taking advantage of her. In the end, its a beautiful melange of tragedy and eventual hope, loss and recovery, and ultimatelythe healing power of love.

Klara (Abigel Szoke) and Dr. Korner Aladar (Karoly Hajduk) form a special bond in Those Who Remained. (Menemsha Films)

Those Who Remained

Director: Barnabas Toth

Starring: Karoly Hajduk, Abigel Szoke, Mari Nagy

Rated: Not Rated

Running time: 1 hour, 23 minutes

Release Date: Feb. 14 (USA, limited)

Rated: 4 stars out of 5



Ian Kane is a filmmaker and author based out of Los Angeles. To see more, visit DreamFlightEnt.com or contact him at Twitter.com/ImIanKane
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 21:23:04|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

OUAGADOUGOU, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Gunmen killed at least 24 people in an attack on a village in northern Burkina Faso, a regional governor said.

The attack occurred on Sunday in Pansi, a village in Boundore department, Yagha province, in the northern Sahel region of Burkina Faso, regional governor Salfo Kabore said in a statement.

"Provisional death toll stood at 24, of which a pastor of a Protestant church who fell into the trap," the statement said.

"There were also 18 injured and abducted people," Kabore said.

According to the statement, the injured were evacuated to the provincial capital, Sebba, and the city of Dori for appropriate care.
Former Blue Peter presenter Valerie Singleton has won a battle to block plans to build new homes in her village after fears it would become a 'rat run'.

The ex-host is part of a group of residents who are objecting to proposals put forward to put more properties in their area.

Singleton, 82, joined other locals in condemning the move in Templecombe, Somerset.

Members of a council committee threw out plans to build the 49 new homes near West Street on February 12.

Templecombe sits between the A303 at Wincanton to the A30 leading to Yeovil and Salisbury, and the A357 runs through the heart of the village.

Valerie Singleton, seen here attending the 'Blue Peter Big Birthday' in October 2018 in Manchester, raised concerns about extra traffic and pollution if the development went ahead in Templecombe, Somerset

Many large vehicles already use the road as a cut-through and reports of damage to houses or cars are common.

Valerie, who lives near the proposed development, raised her concerns at a previous meeting.

She said: 'The increase in car pollution, at a time when we are meant to be cutting back on this, and extra traffic is one of the things you hear most from people.

Valerie also has spoken out about another development of 200 houses at Slades Hill, above, where an Outline Planning application has been approved

'We are used as a cut-through from the A303 to the A30 - and the lorries coming through are terrible.

'Of course new housing is important, and we all realise that - but it had to be done well and in a well thought-out way.'

People who spoke at last week's meeting in Wincanton, Somerset had their own reasons for fighting the West Street plans.

One disputed the notion put forward by the council's planning officers that the village had sufficient amenities to accommodate additional housing.

Another said they feared for the safety of their two young children if the development went ahead.

Valerie Singleton presented Blue Peter from 1962 to 1972 (pictured centre with Peter Purves and John Noakes)

South Somerset District Council's area east committee voted to refuse the West Street plans on the grounds of breached planning policy, lack of appropriate infrastructure and road safety - but the fight isn't over yet.

A separate body could reverse the decision as early as next month.

The council's regulation committee - which makes the final decision on all major planning applications - will discuss the plans in Yeovil on March 17.

Valerie presented Blue Peter from 1962 to 1972.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

By Huseyn Safarov - Trend:

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev showed his political and diplomatic experience at panel discussions on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict held on sidelines of Munich Security Conference, an expert on international governance, Director of the Caucasus Center for Political Analysis Ahmad Alili told Trend.

Ahmad Alili noted that he read opinions of a number of experts regarding the panel discussions, and it was clear to everyone that the Azerbaijan president showed a high level of political and diplomatic experience.

"During the debate, it was apparent that President Ilham Aliyev was more confident. It was obvious to everyone, and everyone wrote about it. Particularly, the attention of the expert community was attracted by non-verbal contacts of President Ilham Aliyev with the audience. At the time of the debates, President Ilham Aliyev was always in contact with the audience, and this for many became an indicative factor in the sense that he was supported by the audience. The world community has noticed that the gap between President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan was very large and obviously not in favor of the Armenian prime minister. No one questions the results of the meeting, neither European scientists, nor the expert community. President Ilham Aliyev won a clear victory," Ahmad Alili said.

According to the political analyst, the most important victory of Azerbaijan is that President Ilham Aliyev brought the Armenian leadership to a public dialogue on the international platform.

"For a very long time, the Armenian leadership avoided alternative platforms for dialogue. The political elite of Armenia all the time insisted that the dialogues on the settlement of Karabakh conflict be conducted only within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group. The former leadership of Armenia always refused such formats. However, Pashinyan agreed to a dialogue, thereby driving himself into a diplomatic trap. The fact that the Armenian prime minister took part in a dialogue on an international platform and met in public with President Ilham Aliyev can be considered a victory for Azerbaijan and the head of state. When such meetings are held in an open format, it is particularly gratifying, since in this case the difference between the Azerbaijani president and Armenian prime minister is clear, and not in favor of the latter," Ahmad Alili said.

Regarding the arguments that President Ilham Aliyev countered, the expert said that the Azerbaijani President always had weighty arguments, but because negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are often held behind closed doors, they are not always heard by a wide audience.

"Prior to the debate in Munich, Armenia was benefiting precisely from the fact that the negotiations were conducted behind closed doors. In this case, the Armenian leadership had room for manipulation, first of all, of its people. But yesterday's debates were open and allowed President Ilham Aliyev not only to demonstrate his mastery to the world community, but also to convey the truth. In other words, it was an education session for international political actors and a master class for Pashinyan. The Azerbaijani president showed the Armenian leadership how to conduct such negotiations. I think that meetings of this format should continue and other international organizations should contribute to this," the expert added.
Household appliances that feature sterilization functions have grown in number recently, as the public is now paying more attention to health amid the pneumonia outbreak, Guangzhou Daily reported.

(Photo/People's Daily Online)

Data from Chinese e-commerce giant Suning.com suggests that sales of several types of health-oriented appliances saw an increase of over 200 percent, including dishwashers, ventilation machines and sterilizers.

Sterilization products are also among the most frequently searched types of appliances on many e-commerce platforms.

Meanwhile, television sales, which had been through a rough patch recently, have seen a new wave of potential growth, as people are being encouraged to stay at home during the pneumonia outbreak.

The number of households using televisions increased by 11 percent over the past Spring Festival, and over 70 percent of household televisions were used for at least five consecutive days, according to the domestic home appliance market monitor All View Cloud (AVC).

It is estimated that about 70 percent of domestic appliances will be sold through online platforms in the first three months of this year.

Online appliance platforms now require their employees to deliver products without making contact with consumers and to wear masks while installing or repairing products in customers houses to ensure their safety.

Household appliance manufacturers have also started to provide after-sales services for consumers online and help them solve any issues by showing them online videos, photos, and so on.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Ardila Syakriah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 17, 2020

Amid competition concerns, local universities have urged the government to ensure a level playing field following a plan by Australia-based Monash University to establish a campus in Indonesia.

Private Universities Association (APTISI) chairman Budi Djatmiko said the presence of foreign universities in general would affect competition among top local universities, both private and state-run, that targeted students from middle to upper income families. This would consequently drive those universities to target lower-income students, further affecting smaller universities, he said.

"They [foreign universities] should only offer study programs that aren't commonly available in Indonesia, so that there won't be head-to-head competition [...] otherwise, there will be [market] shifts and consequently, smaller universities won't have students anymore. That's probably what the government wants; for small universities to close down," he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login
The flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, will on Tuesday February 18 begin a three-day tour to the Western North Region.

The visit dubbed "SpeakOut Session" will enable the flagbearer meet and interact with people from the Western North Region.

This is after President Akufo-Addo commenced his three-day tour of the Volta and Oti regions yesterday Sunday 16th February.

This means both camps of the political opponents will be running parallel campaign tour ahead of the 2020 general elections.

A statement issued by the party's National Communications Officer, Mr Sammy Gyamfi, noted that "the SpeakOut with John Mahama will take place in all 16 regions of the country and serve as an opportunity for the NDC leader to meet, interact and listen directly to the people of Ghana."

It added that "the SpeakOut initiative will enable him to better appreciate their personal desires and expectations, the needs of their communities and what they consider should be the priorities of government."

Below is the statement

PRESS RELEASE

Monday, 17th February, 2020.

JOHN MAHAMA HEADS OFF TO THE WESTERN NORTH REGION ON A SpeakOut TOUR

The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress, John Dramani Mahama, is set to begin a three-day working visit to the Western North Region, which will include an interaction with a wide section of people from across the region in what is dubbed a SpeakOut Session.

The SpeakOut with John Mahama will take place in all 16 regions of the country and serve as an opportunity for the NDC leader to meet, interact and listen directly to the people of Ghana. Among others, the SpeakOut initiative will enable him to better appreciate their personal desires and expectations, the needs of their communities and what they consider should be the priorities of government towards improving their standard of living and enhance social infrastructure.

Accompanying Mr. Mahama will be the Partys Manifesto Committee, who will also take advantage of the tour to listen to the grassroots views and incorporate them in the partys 2020 Manifesto.

The Western North tour begins on Tuesday, 18th February, 2020 and ends on Thursday, 20th February, 2020.

Signed,

SAMMY GYAMFI

National Communication Officer, NDC
Pune, Feb. 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global Military Drone Market size is set to gain traction from their increasing demand from the defense sector as they possess high surveillance capability. Besides, these drones are nowadays equipped with several state-of-the-art technologies, namely, cloud computing-based services, multi-sensor data fusion for UAV navigation, and artificial intelligence (AI). It would affect the market positively in the coming years.

Fortune Business Insights published the above information in a recent report, titled, Global Military Drone Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Type (Fixed-Wing, Rotary-Wing, and Hybrid/Transitional), By Range (VLOS, EVLOS, and BLOS), By Propulsion Type (Battery Powered, Fuel Cell, and Hybrid Cell), By Technology (Remotely Operated Drone, Semi-Autonomous Drone, and Autonomous drone), By Application (ISRT, Delivery and Transportation, Combat Operations, Battle Damage Management and Others) and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026. As per the report, the Military Drone Market size is projected to reach USD 21.76 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 12.4% during the forecast period. However, it stood at USD 7.93 billion in 2018.

What Does This Report Contain?

All the estimated parameters that may affect the market.

Identification and analysis of the military UAV market trends, growth drivers, barriers, opportunities, and challenges.

Elaborate information about the segments in terms of type, range, propulsion type, technology, application, and geography.

Industry developments to help our clients in gaining insights into the most used strategies.



Browse Complete Summary of a Premium Research Report on Military Drone Market: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/military-drone-market-102181





Increasing Border Disputes in Developing Nations to Propel Growth

Armed forces worldwide are mainly focusing on bolstering their defense domain owing to increasing transnational security threats, as well as border security issues. This, in turn, is upsurging the expenditure on defense in the developing economies. The countries in Asia Pacific, for instance, are at present going through several border disputes. China is focusing on enhancing its defense sector with the help of government support. The government of China spent USD 177.61 billion on improving combat capabilities and developing infrastructure for the armed forces. These factors are anticipated to propel the military UAV market growth in the coming years.

Fortune Business Insights profiles list of all the reputed organizations present in the Military Drone Market. They are as follows:

The Boeing Company

Aeronautics

Thales Group

Textron Inc.

Raytheon Comapny

Saab AB

BAE Systems

General Atomics

Leonardo S.P.A

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation

Northrop Grumman Corporation

Elbit Systems

Israel Aerospace Industries

Aerovironment

Lockheed Martin Corporation



Request a Sample PDF Brochure: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/military-drone-market-102181





North America to Dominate Backed by Rising Research & Development Activities

In terms of region, the market is segregated into Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific. Out of these, North America is considered to house the largest market and is expected to lead in terms of military drone/unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) market revenue during the forthcoming years. The region held USD 4.67 billion share in 2018. This growth is attributable to increasing research and development activities to develop new drones. Apart from that, joint ventures by industry giants, as well as rising investments in developing technologically advanced drones for supporting numerous military applications, would accelerate growth in this region. In addition to that, countries, such as Canada and the U.S. are adopting military drones for maritime and border surveillance.

Asia Pacific, on the other hand, is expected to showcase the highest CAGR owing to the upsurging demand for military drones in countries, namely, Japan, India, and China. AeroVironment, Inc., a defense contractor based in California, teamed up with the government of India to produce Raven, a unique hand-launched drone. The Middle East & Africa would experience considerable growth as Israel is one of the largest exporters of drones for military use. The deployment of UAVs and their sub-systems are also increasing in Turkey.

Key Players Focus on Gaining Contracts to Strengthen Position in Market

The market consists of numerous big, small, and medium enterprises that are striving persistently to gain the maximum military unmanned aerial vehicle market share during the forecast period. For that, they are signing new contracts and agreements with the other renowned military UAV companies. Below are a couple of the latest key industry developments:

December 2019 : Northrop Grumman, an aerospace and defense technology company headquartered in Virginia, received a contract worth USD 251.5 million from the U.S. Navy to deliver four MQ-4C Triton drones. This modification procures three low rate initial production lot 4 MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft, tooling, trade studies, ground stations, and other related support equipment. The MQ-4C Triton is a long-endurance, high altitude drone that is created under the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) program.

: Northrop Grumman, an aerospace and defense technology company headquartered in Virginia, received a contract worth USD 251.5 million from the U.S. Navy to deliver four MQ-4C Triton drones. This modification procures three low rate initial production lot 4 MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft, tooling, trade studies, ground stations, and other related support equipment. The MQ-4C Triton is a long-endurance, high altitude drone that is created under the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) program. August 2019: AeroVironment, Inc. bagged a contract worth USD 45 million from the U.S. Army for RQ-11B Raven small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). Raven is one of the most widely utilized small UAS in the U.S. Armys fleet. It is a fully hand-launched and man-portable small UAS specially designed for land-based operations.



Order a Single User License Copy: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/checkout-page/102181





Detailed Table of Content:

Introduction Research Scope Market Segmentation Research Methodology Definitions and Assumptions





Executive Summary

Market Dynamics Market Drivers Market Restraints Market Opportunities





Key Insights Key Industry Developments  Key Contracts & Agreements, Mergers, Acquisitions and Partnerships Latest technological Advancements Porters Five Forces Analysis Supply Chain Analysis





Global Military Drone Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast, 2015-2026 Key Findings / Summary Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Type Fixed-Wing Rotary-Wing Hybrid/Transitional



Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Range VLOS EVLOS BLOS



Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Propulsion Type Battery Powered Fuel Cell Hybrid Cell



Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Technology Remotely Operated Drone Semi-Autonomous Drone Autonomous Drone



Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Application ISRT Delivery and Transportation Combat Operations Battle Damage Management Others



Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Region North America Europe Asia Pacific Latin America Middle East & Africa



TOC Continued!



Get Your Customized Research Report on Military Drone Market: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/customization/military-drone-market-102181





Have a Look at Related Market Insights:

Commercial Drone Market Size , Share & Industry Analysis, By Product (Fixed Wing Drone, Rotary Blade Drone, and Hybrid Drone), By Technology (Remotely Operated, Semi-Autonomous, and Autonomous), By System (UAV Structure, UAV Payloads, UAV Avionics, UAV Propulsion, and UAV Software), By Industry (Infrastructure, Transport & Delivery, Insurance, Media, Telecommunication, Agriculture, Security, and Mining) and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026

UAV Market Share , Size & Industry Analysis, By Application (Military, Commercial & Civil, and Recreational), By System (Airframe, Payload, Avionics, Propulsion), By Technology (Remotely Operated, Semi-Autonomous, Fully-Autonomous), By Class (Small UAVs, Tactical UAVs, Strategic UAVs, Special Purpose UAVs), and Regional Forecast 2015-2026

Military Radar Market Share , Size & Industry Analysis, By Platform (Land Radar, Naval Radar, and Airborne Radar), By Range (Long, Medium, Short, and Very Short), By Application (Airspace Monitoring & Traffic Management, Weapon Guidance, Ground Surveillance & Intruder Detection, Airborne Mapping, Navigation, Others), By Frequency Band (UHF/VHF, L-Band, S-Band, C-Band, X-Band, and Ku/K/Ka-Band), By Components (Antenna, Transmitter, Duplexer, Receiver, Others), and Regional Forecast 2019-2026

Space Launch Services Industry Share, Size & Market Analysis, By Payload (Satellite, Stratollite, Cargo, Human Spacecraft, and Testing Probes) By Orbit (LEO, MEO, GEO, and Beyond GEO), By Launch Platform (Land, Air, and Sea), By Vehicle Type (Small Lift Launch Vehicle, Medium-to-Heavy Lift Launch Vehicles), By End User (Commercial, and Military & Government) and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026

Connected Aircraft Market Size , Share & Industry Analysis, By Type (Systems and Solutions), Connectivity (Inflight, Air to Air, and Air to Ground Connectivity), Application (Commercial and Military), Frequency Band (Ka-Band, Ku-Band, and L-Band) and Regional Forecasts, 2019-2026

Air Crane Helicopter Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Application (Power Line Construction, Aerial Firefighting, Logistics Operations, Oil & Gas, and Others), By Endurance (Up to 5,000 feet and Up to 10,000 feet), By External Load Capacity (Up to 3,000 pounds, Up to 6,000 pounds, and Up to 12,000 pounds, Up to 15,000 pounds), By End User (Civil & Commercial and Military), and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026

5G in Aviation Market Size , Share & Industry Analysis, By Platform (5G Airport and 5G Aircraft), Technology (FWA, URLLC/MMTC, and eMBB), Communication Infrastructure (Small Cell, Radio Access Network (RAN) and Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS)), 5G Services (Airport Operations, and Aircraft Operations), and Regional Forecast 2019-2026

Business Jet Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Aircraft Type (Light, Mid-sized, Large, and Airliner), Point of Sale (OEMs, and Aftermarket), Systems (Aerostructures, Avionics, Propulsion Systems, Aircraft Systems, Cabin Interiors, Landing Gears and others), By End User (Private and Operator), and Regional Forecast 2019-2026

Aerospace Fasteners Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Material (Aluminum, Steel, Superalloys, and Titanium), By Product (Rivets, Screws, Nuts & Bolts and others), By Platform (Fixed-wing aircraft (Commercial Aircraft, Business Aircraft, Military Aircraft, and General Aviation Aircraft) and Rotary-wing Aircraft (Civil Helicopter and Military Helicopter)), and Regional Forecast 2019-2026

About Us:

Fortune Business Insights offers expert corporate analysis and accurate data, helping organizations of all sizes make timely decisions. We tailor innovative solutions for our clients, assisting them to address challenges distinct to their businesses. Our goal is to empower our clients with holistic market intelligence, giving a granular overview of the market they are operating in.

Our reports contain a unique mix of tangible insights and qualitative analysis to help companies achieve sustainable growth. Our team of experienced analysts and consultants use industry-leading research tools and techniques to compile comprehensive market studies, interspersed with relevant data.

At Fortune Business Insights, we aim at highlighting the most lucrative growth opportunities for our clients. We, therefore, offer recommendations, making it easier for them to navigate through technological and market-related changes. Our consulting services are designed to help organizations identify hidden opportunities and understand prevailing competitive challenges.

Contact Us:

Fortune Business Insights Pvt. Ltd.

308, Supreme Headquarters,

Survey No. 36, Baner,

Pune-Bangalore Highway,

Pune - 411045, Maharashtra, India.

Phone:

US: +1 424 253 0390

UK: +44 2071 939123

APAC: +91 744 740 1245

Email: sales@fortunebusinessinsights.com

Fortune Business Insights

Linkedin | Twitter | Blogs


Most of the anti-Semitic incidents in New York have not been perpetrated by jihadists or far-right extremists, but by young African-American men, Mr. Greenblatt said. Local leaders said that phenomenon grows out of tension in areas where longstanding African-American and Jewish communities have been squeezed by gentrification.

You have this mixture of African-Americans and Hasidic people, and then you have gentrification, said Gil Monrose, an African-American pastor at Mt. Zion Church of God 7th Day who lives in Crown Heights. All of this is colliding in Crown Heights and it leads to young people committing crimes where they live.

Sometimes people want to blame different groups for the fact that they are being priced out of the neighborhood, but the Jewish community is not to blame for that because the Jewish community is being priced out too, he said. Thats why they went to Jersey City.

In November, the Anti-Defamation League expanded an anti-bias education program it started in Brooklyn in 2018 with a goal of bringing it to 40 schools. Eric L. Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, praised the program when the expansion was announced.

Since extremist, hate-filled rhetoric has become awakened and stoked across this country  particularly in Crown Heights right here in Brooklyn  this unacceptable behavior is increasingly becoming the norm for some, Mr. Adams said in a statement.

The rise in anti-Semitic attacks has been not limited to Brooklyn.

Jeff Katz, the treasurer of the Stanton Street Shul, a small Orthodox synagogue on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, said that he was riding the subway one day last fall when another passenger erupted at him.

He was saying, Why arent you looking at me? said Mr. Katz, who wears a yarmulke. And I thought, Were on the subway, I dont want any part of this. Then he started saying, What? Do you think youre superior, Jew boy?
Police investigate three bodies found in a garage in the 4700 block of West Burleigh Street in Milwaukee. Here they work in an alley near dumpsters behind a building.

MILWAUKEE  A mother and two daughters who were the subjects of an Amber Alert were found dead Sunday afternoon, the victims of an apparent homicide, police said.

Amarah J. Banks, 26; Zaniya R. Ivery, 5; and Camaria Banks, 4, were found in a garage, Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales said at a news conference.

They were discovered after the arrest of Banks' boyfriend Arzel J. Ivery, 25, in Memphis, Tennessee. One count of felony aggravated battery was filed against him Saturday in Milwaukee County, according to online court records.

Ivery is scheduled to be arraigned Monday morning in Tennessee on a fugitive from justice warrant.

The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office was called to the scene Sunday. Autopsies were scheduled for Monday.

Zaniya R. Ivery, 5, and Camaria Banks, 4, were found dead Sunday along with their mother, Amarah Banks.

Morales noted that last year roughly one in five non-fatal shootings and homicides involved domestic violence, though he did not specifically say Banks was a victim of domestic violence.

"This is a systemic problem that's been going on for generations. We all have to look back and see how we're going to curb domestic violence in our community," said Morales.

"As you see, people will blame the police department regarding these deaths. That's unfair, uncalled for and unwarranted."

Banks and her two daughters were last seen about 1 a.m. local time on Feb. 8. Banks buried her infant son on Feb. 7, who died from health complications, WISN 12 News reported.

The next day, Banks was reported missing by her family to the Milwaukee Police Department.

A week later, on Saturday around 2:30 a.m. local time, Memphis authorities contacted Milwaukee police to tell them they had made contact with Ivery and were directed to the garage where the bodies were found.

Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales, second from right, works with investigating officers on the scene where three bodies were found. The investigation seemed to center on an alley behind a building in the 4700 block of West Burleigh Street.

Police did not say who owned the property where the bodies were discovered nor reveal the cause of death.

Around noon on Saturday police issued an Amber Alert for the mom and her daughters. Morales defended the fact the alert wasn't issued until a week after they were first reported missing.

Story continues

"There is criteria that goes for an Amber Alert for us to issue that," Morales said. "You have to understand that foul play was not an initial part of this investigation."

Police close off the streets as they investigate three bodies found Sunday in the 4700 block of West Burleigh Street in Milwaukee.

The National Domestic Violence Hotline can be reached at (800) 799-7233.

Sophie Carson of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.

Related Video: CT Mother Found Dead, Amber Alert Issued for Girl

William Barr: More than 1,100 ex-DOJ employees call for Attorney General's resignation

A test for 'bubble boy disease' saved this boy's life: Then it launched an international movement

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee: Milwaukee Amber Alert: Amarah Banks, daughters found dead; arrest made
A 47-year-old Florida man with a history of domestic violence was arrested in an apparently unprovoked attack on two women along San Franciscos Embarcadero, officials said Sunday.

The suspect, George Kennedy, was booked in San Francisco Jail on suspicion of two counts of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, battery causing great bodily injury and resisting arrest in the early-morning rampage Saturday.

It began just before 7 a.m., when Kennedy allegedly stabbed a woman in the back as she was jogging near Pier 19, witnesses and police said.

Before being rushed to a hospital, the victim told police her assailant fled on a bicycle, officials said. Then 15 minutes later, Kennedy allegedly attacked another woman with some sort of tool a mile away at Pier 39.

Both women, who were not named, were treated at a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

Officers detained Kennedy, who matched the description of the attacker, a short distance from the scene. He was seen wearing an old-time striped train engineers cap and tan overalls while in custody next to an orange beach cruiser bicycle.

Records show that Kennedy has previous addresses near Tampa, Fla., and has had numerous brushes with the law, including arrests for domestic battery and criminal mischief.

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 have not said whether they have determined a motive for the attacks. Its unclear what brought Kennedy to San Francisco.

Anyone with information about the incidents was asked to call police at 415-553-0123.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky
The most famous built landmarks in Laois should be floodlit in green for St Patricks Day says a councillor.

Emo Court, the Rock of Dunamase and other Laois sites should be turned green for the national festival to attract tourists says Cllr Mary Sweeney.

She tabled a motion to the January council meeting to ask Laois County Council to follow in the path of the global greening of some 470 landmarks worldwide for St Patrick's Day, including the tallest building in the world in Dubai.

If they can manage to light up the Burj Khalifa surely we can light up our own historic sites, she said.

Cllr Sweeney had tabled a similar motion last year and was happy that some buildings were subsequently floodlit here.

I was delighted to see Laois County Council offices in Portlaoise and Abbeyleix library replicate the Tourism Ireland Global Greening Initiative, she said.

Timahoe round tower also was turned green last year, lit up by the community after a request by the Department of Heritage and it looked magnificent Cllr Sweeney said.

There is a strong push on to highlight tourism in the county and these are easy wins if we can seek some cooperation from the various state agencies, she said.

We need a coordinated approach to get more Laois sites onto the list, Cllr Sweened added.

Laois County Council replied to her motion to say that it is examining options within the county for the St Patricks Weekend and will pursue the matter further.
Given the gaps available to Iran in the current U.S. sanctions environment to continue to export its oil  principally via rebranding as Iraq oil and various shipping scams  Tehran is making a move to dramatically improve the recovery rate on its key oil sites. Last week, the Islamic Republics Petroleum Minister, Bijan Zanganeh, announced the awarding of a US$1.3 billion contract to improve oil recovery at two onshore oil fields in Khuzestan province to Irans main infrastructure and power construction company, MAPNA Group. In theory, as well, the awarding of this contract to MAPNA may be a sign of a partial shift in Iranian politics back to the more Western-friendly moderate view espoused by President Hassan Rouhani and his supporters.

The mean average rate of recovery across all of Irans oil fields was 5.5 per cent before U.S. sanctions were re-imposed in 2018, after which it dropped to the current 4.5 per cent. By contrast, Saudi Arabia has a mean average rate of recovery of 50 per cent  genuinely correct, not one of its self-serving fantasy figures  and it has plans in place to bring this up to 70 per cent within the next three years. The ease of recovery per barrel (pb) from each country is largely the same, as evidenced by the identical lifting cost of US$2-3 pb (the total operating cost excluding capital expenditure), so there is no substantive reason why the recovery rates between the two should be much different.

The plan now from Irans side is to reduce this recovery rate gap with its neighbour by increasing its own mean average recovery rate across its fields to 25 per cent within the next three years as well, a senior oil industry source who works closely with Irans Petroleum Ministry told OilPrice.com last week. As Irans key cluster of oil fields  in the West Karoun region - together contain at least 67 billion barrels of oil in place, for every one per cent increase in the rate of recovery, the recoverable reserves figure would increase by 670 million barrels. This equates to around US$34 billion in revenues with oil even at US$50 a barrel. Related: Can Digital Tech Solve Oils Talent Crisis?

Prior to the re-imposition of U.S. sanctions, Iran was in the process of choosing from an array of very good options on the optimal way to increase recovery rates in each of its major fields. It had signed, or was in the process of signing, deals with a swathe of international oil companies to take control of these activities, including top European and Asian firms, until the U.S. announced its unilateral withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal in May 2018. At that point, though, over and above the withdrawal of Frances Total from the South Pars Phase 11 gas field (and the in-principle-agreed South Azadegan oil field), various other northern European companies were still willing to deal with Iran, given that the European Union did not support the U.S. JCPOA withdrawal to such a degree that it introduced the Blocking Statute.

One of these companies with a considerable history of working with Iran, according to various sources, was absolutely confident that it could raise the mean average recovery rate to 12 per cent within a year, to 15 per cent within two years, and then to 20 per cent within three years. As it was, though, the U.S. was able to put pressure on the company and the deal never went through, which meant that various companies associated with the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] took over the responsibilities of boosting the recovery rate, at which point it went down at least one per cent, he told OilPrice.com. This is why the [Iranian] government has now turned to MAPNA, as it is a proper, commercially-run, independent company with a good track record of achievement in building out Irans power sector, he added. This contract shows commercial considerations finally winning out over the move further towards the IRGC that we have seen since 2018, and may be a significant sign of things to come, he underlined.

MAPNA not only works closely with all of Irans leading universities to develop the required technologies and engineering systems required for its major projects but can also draw upon the extra elements that it might need to optimise recovery rates from a range of other sources. For example, it has a longstanding good relationship with German engineering giant, Siemens, with which only a relatively short while ago it signed an agreement that would allow it to acquire the technological know-how to manufacture the German firms F class gas turbines in Iran, prior to which Siemens was to deliver two of these turbines to the flagship Bandar Abbas power plant.

This commercial relationship runs in tandem with Irans extremely close relationship with the German government. Germany has been the staunchest supporter of Iran against all of the recent U.S. moves against it, being an architect of the original JCPOA, and later invoking of the Blocking Statute and creating the INSTEX payment mechanism, the Iran source said. [Chancellor Angela] Merkel has held a personal animosity and distrust towards the U.S. ever since [2013] the revelations from Edward Snowden that the U.S. had been spying on its NATO allies for years, which went down especially badly with her, as she was brought up in East Germany being spied on by the Stasi, he added. Related: Real Energy Independence Is An Illusion

In addition to this, of course, Iran has access to all of the oil engineering technology and expertise of China and Russia, as part of the ongoing deals between the three countries, documented in depth in OilPrice.com. Russia faced exactly the same problem of declining recovery rates across all of its major fields towards the end of the U.S.S.R. [Union of Soviet Socialist Republics] but through the application of various technologies and IOR [Improved Oil Recovery] and EOR [Enhanced Oil Recovery] techniques completely turned the trend around to where it is now, being one of the top two oil producers, the Iran source said. And both Russia and China have pledged whatever financial support  of one sort or another  that Iran needs, he added.

The immediate focus for MAPNA, then, will be on the two fields covered in the contract in the southwest Khuzestan province: Parsi and Paranj. Currently producing a combined 52,000 bpd of crude oil, the objective of the 10-year contract is to raise this to 85,000 bpd. Although the core figure of the contract is US$876 million, the total investment is expected to reach around US$1.3 billion due to the scale of the work required to develop the relatively underdeveloped fields that are estimated to hold around 12 billion barrels of oil in place. This work will include broad-based desalination and the drilling of 29 new and submersible wells in addition to aggressive EOR techniques especially on Parsi, which used to pump around 450,000 bpd on its own in its heyday.

If MAPNA can sustainably raise the recovery rates from these two fields and from the other fields in which it is also now engaged [Aban, West Paydar, Sepehr, Jofeyr, East Paydar, Dalpari, and Cheshmeh Khosh] to even seven per cent within the next twelve months, then it will be a major step towards reducing the influence of the IRGC in Irans oil sector as a whole, which in turn will mean that reconciliation with the U.S. and the resuscitation of the JCPOA gets that much closer, the Iran source concluded.

By Simon Watkins for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The Green River Killer: Mind of a Monster (ID at 9) Special about murders in 1980s Washington state. Young womens dead bodies began appearing on the banks of the Green River and despite local authorities enlisting the help of the FBI, it took 20 years to finally find the man behind the crimes.
Jeanne and Joe Golato were looking forward to one last relaxing weekend at their familys Sea Isle City beach house last month before they welcomed their second daughter in a few weeks.

The trip was going so well that the couple from Media, Pennsylvania outside Philadelphia decided to extend their trip by a day to spend more time with their 3-year-old daughter Briella before her sister was born.

But on their last night there, Jeanne Golato started getting sick. Her symptoms got worse the next day, to the point that she told her husband she needed to go to the hospital.

They wouldnt make it in time.

Less than half an hour later  shortly before 4 p.m. on Jan. 27  Jeanne Golato began to deliver her baby on the second floor of her parents home.

Things began to take a turn for the worse when, while awaiting an ambulance, Briella looked down and said ew. Following her gaze, Joe Golato saw a pair of feet  a sign that the baby was in the breech position.

Right there I knew its not good, Joe Golato said.

The delivery came as a shock to his wife, whose doctor had told her there was plenty of time for the baby to adjust itself into the head-first position before she was born.

It was just scary. When I knew her legs were coming out, I was just pushing to get her out, Jeanne Golato said. "Then I lost too much blood and I blacked out.

Joe Golato credited the four Sea Isle responders  EMTs Kris Lynch and DJ Fancher, and police Sgt. Shawn Lesniewski and Patrolman Steve Jankowski  with safely delivering Luciana and taking care of his wife.

They were on top of everything. Im surprised this is the first one they ever did," Joe Golato said. I was just sitting there and trying to keep my 3-year-old from seeing all of this, and trying to not freak out."

I was terrified. I just kept praying."

Luciana emerged with her umbilical cord wrapped twice around her head, and at first had trouble breathing. After all that, shes expected to come home Monday after a full recovery during a month-long stay at a Shore hospital, her parents said.

Sea Isle Police Chief Thomas McQuillen said responders were on the scene within 10 minutes of Joe Golatos 911 call.

They jumped into action and did childbirth right on scene, the police chief said. Im really proud of the way these guys and girls handled themselves that day.

Because Sea Isle City doesnt have a hospital, Luciana was the first baby to be born in the island town since 1977, a Sea Isle spokeswoman confirmed.

The town honored the newborn during a Feb. 11 city council meeting. The family posed for pictures with the responders who assisted that day, and Briella accepted a key to the city on her sisters behalf.

The Golatos have stayed in touch with the EMTs and texted them pictures of the newborn. Theyve said they plan to stay in one anothers lives as Luciana grows up.

Obviously at the time it was terrifying, [but] its all been great since, Joe Golato said.

"Were more than happy.

Jenna Wise may be reached at jwise@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JennaRWise. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
System error

error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.

context: ... 21: </%method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: </%perl> 28: <table width="90%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 29: <tr> ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25

/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951

/var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17

/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149



Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f04824d1138)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f04824bacb8)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f04824d1138)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f04824bacb8)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f04824c0e48)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f04824bacb8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f04824bacb8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0481b67b90)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f0481f58290)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f0481f58290)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
Former Arsenal striker Nwankwo Kanu believes fellow Nigerian Odion Ighalo can fill the void left by the departure of Romelu Lukaku at Manchester United.

The Red Devils were left lacking in the striking department when Lukaku joined Inter Milan on the final day of the summer transfer window.

A long-term injury to Marcusd Rashford then left the club with no option but to enter the market in January, Ighalo joining on loan from Shanghai Shenhua.

Odion Ighalo is set to be included in the Manchester United squad for the first time on Monday

Nwankwo Kanu believes Ighalo can fill the void left by the departure of Romelu Lukaku

The former Watford forward is set to be included in the United squad for the first time on Monday as they face Chelsea, having completed an enforced 14-day spell away from his new side due to coronavirus fears.

And Kanu is confident that he can make impact.

'Yes he can replace him (Lukaku),' Kanu told Goal. 'If you watch him play, you'd find out that he is strong and can score goals.

'What he needs is the service. In this team, I am sure his game will improve because the team has great players.

Lukaku joined Italian club Inter Milan on the final day of the summer transfer window

'Despite playing in the Chinese league, Ighalo is not a player you would look down on and say he is not a good player.

'I believe in him and I know he can deliver if given the chance. Bringing him to Old Trafford means that those in the club believe in his ability, and we have to respect that.

'I don't think he will not disappoint because he will give them value for their money.'
Recent defaults will likely lower the credit rating of Chinese SOEs overseas bonds across the board, and make investors more cautious about buying these bonds. Photo: VCG

The Qinghai provincial government is facing opposition from enraged overseas investors for an attempt to use one of its companies to buy anothers defaulted bonds back at sharp discounts.

Earlier this month, Guozhen International Trade Consulting Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of a state-owned enterprise (SOE) in Northwest Chinas Qinghai province, proposed buying $850 million of offshore bonds issued by Qinghai Provincial Investment Group Co. Ltd. (QPIG) from investors at steep discounts. The state-owned metal producer failed to pay interest on $300 million of the bonds due Jan. 10 and triggered cross-default clauses on the rest.

Guozhen International proposed buying a batch of the bonds due this year at 41.2% of face value and the remainder of the bonds due in 2021 at just 36.8% of face value, but was met with staunch opposition from two bondholders on a Feb. 7 conference call, sources with knowledge of matter told Caixin. One week later, furious creditors published a letter to Chinese financial regulators and the Qinghai provincial government in the Hong Kong Economic Journal, calling them to step in and stop the acquisition proposal, on the grounds that Guozhen International is not a truly independent third party.

QPIG faces difficulties in its business operations and is seeing its liquidity dry up, and thus lacks the ability to pay off its offshore debt, a representative of the SOE that owns Guozhen said in the conference call. Investors could bear even larger losses if they choose not to accept the offer, the representative implied, according to the sources.

The offer amounts to a debt restructuring decision made by the Qinghai provincial government, people close to the government told Caixin. Founded in 2001, QPIG is one of the provincial governments main SOEs.

The pattern resembles that of Tianjin-based Tewoo Group Co. Ltd., another SOE which has defaulted on dollar bonds. Tewoo in November offered to buy back bond investors holdings at a discount or to swap their bonds for new debt with lower or even zero yields, with the majority of investors opting to take the loss and sell back their bonds at discounts.

The two defaults by Tewoo and QPIG will likely lower the credit rating of Chinese SOEs overseas bonds across the board, and make investors more cautious about buying these bonds, said Ivan Chung, an associate managing director at Moodys Investors Service.

Contact reporter Tang Ziyi (ziyitang@caixin.com) and editor Gavin Cross (gavincross@caixin.com)

Caixin Global has launched Caixin CEIC Mobile, the mobile-only version of its world-class macroeconomic data platform.

If youre using the Caixin app, please click here. If you havent downloaded the app, please click here.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 15:59:11|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Aerial photo taken on Feb. 17, 2020 shows a makeshift hospital of the municipal public health center in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. A makeshift hospital was delivered Monday in Xi'an amid the fight against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. The new hospital of the municipal public health center is designated to treat the COVID-19 patients, according to the municipal health commission. The municipal health commission has dispatched 666 medical workers to the makeshift hospital. (Xinhua/Shao Rui)

XI'AN, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- A makeshift hospital was delivered Monday in a major northwestern Chinese city amid the fight against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak.

The new hospital of the municipal public health center in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi Province, is designated to treat the COVID-19 patients, according to the municipal health commission.

The hospital in the district of Gaoling has a floor area of 27,542 square meters and offers 500 beds.

The municipal health commission has dispatched 666 medical workers to the makeshift hospital.

Construction of the hospital started on Feb. 1, and its main structure was finished on Feb. 10. At the peak construction time, over 7,000 workers were onsite.

By the end of Sunday, a total of 1,770 people had died of the disease and 70,548 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection had been reported in 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps in China.

A medical worker checks the ward and facilities at the ICU of a makeshift hospital of the municipal public health center in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Feb. 17, 2020. A makeshift hospital was delivered Monday in Xi'an amid the fight against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. The new hospital of the municipal public health center is designated to treat the COVID-19 patients, according to the municipal health commission. The municipal health commission has dispatched 666 medical workers to the makeshift hospital. (Xinhua/Shao Rui)
Reports all show the great potential of the Vietnamese drinks and snacks market.

In July 2015, Mondelez International wrapped up a deal to take over the sweets manufacturing division of Kinh Do Group.





At that time, some analysts commented that the race in the sweets and snacks market had reached an end as Mondelez Kinh Do Vietnam would dominate the market.



However, Hemant Rupani, managing director of Mondelez Kinh Do Vietnam, said it is not easy to make money in the market.



At a meeting with the local press recently, he said that in other countries such as India and Australia, famous brands may hold up to 50 percent of market share. But in Vietnam, famous brands can hold no more than 20-30 percent because of the competition.



At present, Mondelez Kinh Do Vietnam holds 23 percent of biscuit market share, according to Nielsen Vietnam. There are no official statistics for packed sandwiches, because there are many local brands. However, the company is leading the market in terms of revenue.

In the drinks market, according to URC Vietnam, about 1,000 new products have been launched over the last two years. However, only 2.2 percent of them could survive after six months.

The general director of another sweets company commented that some manufacturers seem to have very few activities in the market (rarely run advertisement campaigns, have few sale programs for consumers and dont market new products regularly), but their revenue is higher than people think.



According to Julius Flores, marketing director of URC Vietnam, drinks and food are the two growth motivators of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG). The growth rates of the two segments are always higher than that of the whole industry.



Consumers are also willing to try new products, which is why enterprises likethe two markets.



In the drinks market, according to URC Vietnam, about 1,000 new products have been launched over the last two years. However, only 2.2 percent of them could survive after six months.



The high competition of the market has forced enterprises to spend big money on marketing and advertisement campaigns. The managing director of a dairy production company admitted that the budget for advertisements has been increasing year after year.



Producers also have to compete with counterfeit goods.



Some days ago, appropriate agencies in Dong Nai discovered a shop which made counterfeit Number One energy drink, a well known brand of Tan Hiep Phat Group.



Phan Van Thien, deputy general director of Bibica, a sweets manufacturer, said that Bibicas Goody and Hura biscuits are the most counterfeited.

Mai Lan

Vietnamese bamboo straws adorn world drinks People are turning against plastic straws, and a 32-year-old man has come up with a reusable bamboo alternative for the once ubiquitous and popular item that has become a symbol of throw-away culture.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-18 03:48:43|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

CHICAGO, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese carmaker Great Wall Motors (GWM) will take over General Motor's (GM) manufacturing facilities in Thailand by the end of 2020, as the U.S. automaker prepares to withdraw from some non-profitable operations in Asian Pacific region.

"Under a signed binding term sheet, GM Thailand and GM Powertrain Thailand legal entities, which include the Rayong vehicle assembly and powertrain facilities, will transfer to GWM," the Chinese automaker said in a statement released on Monday.

GM and GWM are targeting the end of 2020 to close the deal and hand over the site.

The Thai deal will be the second recent plant purchase GWM from GM, following another agreement the two reached in January to transfer GM India's Talegaon manufacturing facility to GWM.

"The global strategy of Great Wall Motors has begun to take shape after more than 10 years of development," said Liu Xiangshang, GWM's global strategy vice president."In the past two years, through export model transformation and upgrades, Great Wall Motors has accelerated the pace of its strategic global roll-out."

In 2019, GWM started production at its Tula plant in Russia, and the company also reached an agreement with GM to buy the latter's Talegaon plant in India in January 2020.

GWM believes that the purchase of GM's Thai Rayong plant will not only boost its business in Thailand, but also speed up sales in other Southeast Asian countries.

"Great Wall Motors will expand through the entire ASEAN region with Thailand as the center, and export its products to other ASEAN countries as well as Australia," Liu added.

GM, the largest U.S. automaker in terms of vehicle sales, has also announced its decision "to wind down sales, design and engineering operations in Australia and New Zealand and retire the Holden brand by 2021."

GM said the "decisive action" was aimed at "building on the comprehensive strategy it laid out in 2015 to strengthen its core business, drive significant cost efficiencies and take action in markets that cannot earn an adequate return for its shareholders. "

"I've often said that we will do the right thing, even when it's hard, and this is one of those times," GM chairman and CEO Mary Barra said in a statement.

"We are restructuring our international operations, focusing on markets where we have the right strategies to drive robust returns, and prioritizing global investments that will drive growth in the future of mobility, especially in the areas of EVs and AVs," she added.

Australian icon car brand Holden merged in 1931 with GM to become General Motors-Holden's Limited.

GM had already stopped manufacturing Holden vehicles in Australia back in 2017, resulting in about 3,000 job losses, more of which are expected after Monday's announcement.

"After considering many possible options and putting aside our personal desires to accommodate the people and the market, we came to the conclusion that we could not prioritize further investment over all other considerations we have in a rapidly changing global industry." said GM president Mark Reuss, who once oversaw GM-Holden operations.

GM has recently invested heavily in electric vehicles, including a 2.2 billion U.S. dollar assembly plant near Detroit for electrical vehicles. It has also partnered with other companies to develop autonomous vehicles.

GWM, headquartered in Baoding, northern China's Hebei Province, is a manufacturer of SUV and pickup vehicles. With more than 1 million annual sales in the past four consecutive years, it has exported vehicles to more than 60 countries and regions at competitive prices.

With the transfer of Indian and Thai assembly plants by the end of 2020, if GWM can get final approvals from relevant governments and regulators, the Chinese SUV and pickup maker will be able to dramatically expand its overseas production.
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) has recently become a subject of frequent academic and policy discussions, after a slumber of almost 17-18 years since its formation in 1997.

This sudden spurt in interest seems to be driven by two factors  the need for an alternate institutional mechanism due to uncertainty in SAARC resulting from aggravation in India-Pakistan geopolitical relations and the China's ascendance through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Delayed awakening

BIMSTEC, the seven nation grouping which comprises Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand, is rife with challenges and opportunities, none of which have featured succinctly in academic and policy debates. The first challenge is reactive regionalism as against proactive regionalism. Regionalism provides a platform for countries to pool their strength and work towards tapping unexplored opportunities or combating challenges. I delineate proactive regionalism as tapping unused opportunities through cooperation or joint endeavours. However, member nations seem to have awakened to the idea of BIMSTEC only when they felt that the challenges posed by the uncertainties in SAARC, or the rise of BRI are too overwhelming (at least this seems to be the case with India). This is reactive regionalism!

The success of regionalism has largely depended on proactive steps driven by political will. What held BIMSTEC back for long was a lack of political will. In spite of the noise made around it lately BIMSTEC lacks adequate resources.

The second challenge is definitely posed by ascendance of China and BRI. China's designs of "market imperialism" loom large over south and south east Asian nations of the Bay. All BIMSTEC member nations, except Bhutan and India, have given their consent to BRI. China finds immense opportunities to exploit both the input and product markets in the region which presents it with cheap labour, a repository of natural resources, and a young population whose incomes are rising at one of the highest rates in the world!

India has been wary of BRI for geopolitical reasons, trade deficits and possible market invasion. So, one may notice a divergence in thinking among BIMSTEC members over how to treat China and BRI  construed as both an opportunity and a threat to the region.

Deducing from the above challenges, the third challenge before the grouping is bigger member nations' manouverability with domestic policies for broader regional goals. This is a bigger challenge for a federal democracy.

The challenges

The fourth challenge across the Bay is global warming and climate change, as witnessed by sea-level rise and increasing intensity of extreme events. Interestingly, BIMSTEC will not be able to apply for adaptation funds from platforms like the Green Climate Fund as only nations can apply for them individually. This will require amendments in the funds' mandate/constitution. The fifth challenge is with respect to the disappointing state of physical infrastructure or physical capital. The recent spurt in development of road and maritime connectivity by China, India and Japan is noticeable, but there is still a long way to go.

The opportunities are rife in BIMSTEC. With the exception of physical capital, the region is rich in human, natural and social capital. It provides a pool of cheap human capital in eastern and north-eastern India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and a product market with a large consumer base with increasing incomes in western India, Thailand and Sri Lanka. The massive mineral resources, forests and river basins provide a huge natural capital base. So, while the GDP of Bhutan is around $2.6 billion, the annual value of ecosystem services provided by its natural capital is $15.5 billion, as estimated by Robert Costanza and colleagues. The deeply entrenched social values in this part of the world form the foundation of social capital. The second opportunity is being created by the massive potential of intra-regional trade in the BIMSTEC region.

The opportunities

While India and Thailand have an external face beyond the region with respect to trade, the same is not true for the other nations. The trade intensity indices (the ratio of a trading partner's share to a country/region's total trade and the share of world trade with the same trading partner) within the regional bloc for Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal and Sri Lanka demonstrate their heavy dependence on intra-regional trade, pointing to the potential for a free trade area or a free economic zone. The third opportunity lies with a growing service sector that has developed organically and is slated to be the region's growth engine.

It provides the basis for comparative advantage for trade with the external world. The fourth opportunity is that of exploring the regional value-chain. A recent Centre for Policy Dialogue brief suggests that with the value-added trade dynamics of Thailand and India, other BIMSTEC nations can be integrated through backward linkage and also participate in global value chains. BIMSTEC economies are at various stages of socio-politico-economic transition. While this phase presents an opportunity, the renewed interest in the Bay is driven by opportunities of connectivity, trade and development. Only time will tell how the challenge can be weathered.

(Courtesy of Mail Today)

Also read: BIMSTEC: Sea of trade and connectivity opportunities waiting to be explored
New Delhi, Feb 17 : After the Supreme Court ordered the Indian Army to grant permanent commission to women officers within three months, a new chapter in the Indian Army will start with the women officers looking for a bigger role to play.

All women officers serving in the force from now on would be considered for permanent commission.

A communication dated February 25, 2019, for the grant of permanent commission to SSC women officers in eight arms or services of the Army, in addition to the Judge Advocate General (JAG) and Army Education Corps (AEC), which had been opened up earlier for permanent commission, will be fully applicable, sources in the Indian Army stated.

All women officers with over 14 years of service will be given options for permanent commission and pension at 20 years of service. All women officers with over 20 years of service and not qualifying for permanent commission will retire with pension.

"The command appointment will be open to women officers subject to meeting the suitability criteria as decided by the organisation," sources said.

They stated that all consequential benefits would be granted to the women officers who were before the court.

The sources further stated that the government on May 4, 2018 in an affidavit before the Supreme Court had also submitted that women officers with below 14 years of service would be considered for permanent commission in new streams. The government had also pointed that women officers with above 14 years of service will be permitted to serve till 20 years of service and be retired with a pension.

Earlier in the day, a bench comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud and Ajay Rastogi, said, "Short Service Commission (SSC) women officers, both within the period of fourteen years' service and beyond, should equally be entitled to consideration for the grant of PCs." The court insisted that typical arguments founded on the physical strengths and weaknesses of men and women and on assumptions about women in the social context of marriage and family do not constitute a constitutionally valid basis for denying equal opportunity to women officers.

"To cast aspersion on their abilities on the ground of gender is an affront not only to their dignity as women but to the dignity of the members of the Indian Army - men and women - who serve as equal citizens in a common mission," noted the top court.
A.E. Hotchner, a well-traveled author, playwright and gadabout whose street smarts and famous pals led to a loving, but litigated memoir of Ernest Hemingway, business adventures with Paul Newman and a book about his Depression-era childhood that became a Steven Soderbergh film, died Saturday at age 102.

He died at his home in Westport, Connecticut, according to his son, Timothy Hotchner, who did not immediately know the cause of death.

A. E. Hotchner, known to friends as Ed or Hotch, was an impish St. Louis native and ex-marbles champ who read, wrote and hustled himself out of poverty and went on to publish more than a dozen books, befriend countless celebrities and see his play, The White House, performed at the real White House for President Bill Clinton.

He was a natural fit for Elaines, the former Manhattan nightspot for the famous and the near-famous, and contributed the text for Everyone Comes to Elaines, an illustrated history. Hotchners other works included the novel The Man Who Lived at the Ritz, bestselling biographies of Doris Day and Sophia Loren, and a musical, Let Em Rot! co-written with Cy Coleman.

In his 90s, he completed an upbeat book of essays on aging, O.J. in the Morning, G&T at Night. When he was 100, he wrote the detective novel The Amazing Adventures of Aaron Broom. At 101, he adapted Hemingways The Old Man and the Sea for the stage.

He was a memorable storyteller  sometimes too memorable. Hotchner wrote an article about Elaines for Vanity Fair that included an anecdote about director Roman Polanski making advances on a woman on the way to the funeral of his wife, Sharon Tate, who was murdered in 1969 by Charles Mansons followers. Polanski sued the magazines publisher, Conde Nast, for libel and in 2005 was awarded some $87,000, plus court costs, by a jury in London.

The son of a furrier who went broke during the Depression, Aaron Edward Hotchner was born in 1917 in St. Louis, a city he would recall with deep affection despite times so dire he claimed to have eaten paper to fight hunger. Hotchner wrote about his youth in King of the Hill, published in 1972 and adapted 20 years later into a Soderbergh film of the same name.

Clever and determined, Hotchner managed a scholarship to Washington University, where he and Tennessee Williams both worked on the schools student magazine. Hotchner then joined the Air Force, a time he recalled good-naturedly in the memoir The Day I Fired Alan Ladd, and Other World War II Adventures. After the war, Hotchner settled in New York and became an editor at Cosmopolitan, and worked on literary fiction.

One submission was J.D. Salingers Needle On a Scratchy Phonograph Record, a World War II story the author gave to Hotchner under the condition that nothing  not a comma  be altered. Hotchner, who had been friendly with Salinger, came through  almost. The actual story was printed intact, but Cosmopolitan changed the title to Blue Melody.

Salinger never spoke to Hotchner again.

Around the same time, however, Hotchner lucked his way into literary history. Cosmopolitan wanted Hemingway to write an article about The Future of Literature and sent Hotchner to Cuba to track him down. So began a friendship that lasted until Hemingways suicide, in 1961. From Spain to Idaho, they hunted, drank and attended bullfights. They lived through Hemingways inspiring highs and fatal lows, chronicled by Hotchner in Papa Hemingway, which came out in 1966 and has been translated into more than 25 languages.

But the book has a troubled history. Hemingways widow, Mary Hemingway, sued unsuccessfully to stop publication, alleging that Hotchner had violated the privacy of her husband and herself. She was reportedly upset that he contradicted her contention that her husband had only accidentally shot himself. Critics, meanwhile, doubted the accuracy of the many long dialogues between Hotchner and Hemingway.

Once you learn the rhythms of speech of a person, the actual words resonate with you, Hotchner explained during a 2005 interview with The Associated Press. I can hear him right now: How do you like it now, gentlemen? Things he said. Youre sort of born with that I guess, a kind of tape that runs through your head.

Their relationship was also professional. Hotchner often served as his agent, helped edit his bullfighting book The Dangerous Summer and helped come up with the title for the posthumous release of Hemingways memoir about Paris, A Moveable Feast. In the 1950s and early 60s, he adapted several Hemingway stories for television, including The Battler, which led to his first meeting with Newman.

James Dean had agreed to star as the titular faded ex-boxer, but Newman took the role after Dean died in a car crash. Newman and Hotchner became friends, pranksters, fishing buddies, neighbors and business partners. When the actor wanted to sell his homemade salad dressing at some local shops, he called on Hotch to help out.

That was just a joke, Hotchner told the AP in 2005. It was something on the fly. Lets put up $40,000 and well be businessmen.'

Their caper turned into the multimillion-dollar Newmans Own nonprofit empire of salad dressing, popcorn, lemonade and assorted recipes; all proceeds went to charity, notably the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp for kids with life-threatening illnesses.

After Newmans death in 2008, Hotchner wrote about his friend in Paul and Me. Other projects in recent years included a collection of letters between himself and Hemingway and a reissue of his Hemingway memoir. In 2013, he was among the commentators seen in Shane Salernos documentary about Salinger.

Hotchner was married three times, most recently to actress Virginia Kiser, and was the father of three children. He had numerous animals over the years, including peacocks, pedigreed chickens, and an African parrot named Ernie.

___

This story has been corrected to show the title of A.E. Hotchners detective novel is The Amazing Adventures of Aaron Broom, not The Amazon Adventures of Aaron Broom, and the original name of J.D. Salingers short story was Needle On a Scratchy Phonograph Record, not Scratchy Needle On a Phonograph Record.
52.1k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Former President Barack Obama reminded everyone who is really responsible for the current economy with a single tweet marking the anniversary of the Recovery Act.

Obama tweeted:

Eleven years ago today, near the bottom of the worst recession in generations, I signed the Recovery Act, paving the way for more than a decade of economic growth and the longest streak of job creation in American history. pic.twitter.com/BmdXrxUAUf  Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 17, 2020

Trumps biggest contribution to economic policy was a massive tax cut for the wealthy and corporations that he promised would generate 6% growth, jobs, and pay for itself. None of these things have happened. Growth has slowed, the tax cut has blown a trillion-dollar hole in the deficit, and the wave of good-paying jobs never came. The Trump tax cut had no positive impact on jobs.

Trumps first three years of job growth are worse than Obamas, as the economy is slowing under the current president.

The credit for the growth that has been achieved belongs to Barack Obama. Trump hasnt created the greatest economy in history. He has ridden Obamas coattails and sabotaged growth with a massive tax cut for the wealthy and corporations that are so toxic that even Republicans wont campaign on it.

The economy was primed for takeoff when Obama left office, but under Trump, the middle class and poor are being left behind as prosperity is a gated community for the rich only.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook
The European Union (EU) has decided to renew its arms embargo and to maintain a targeted assets freeze against one company, Zimbabwe Defence Industries, for one year, taking into account the situation in Zimbabwe, including the yet to be investigated alleged role of the armed and security forces in human rights abuses.

In a statement, the EU indicated that Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, army commander Valarie Sibanda, former First Lady Grace Mugabe and her late husband Robert Mugabe, are still on suspended sanctions list.

The restrictive measures against four individuals are suspended. The arms embargo, as well as the asset freeze against Zimbabwe Defence Industries, do not affect the Zimbabwean economy, foreign direct investment, or trade. They are motivated by the EU's intention to encourage a demonstrable commitment by the Zimbabwean authorities to upholding the rule of law and human rights.

The EU says it is ready to review the whole range of its policies at any time, when justified, based on developments in the country.

The EU will seek increased collaboration with international partners, most importantly the African Union, SADC and its member countries, and international financial institutions, who can play a key role by supporting Zimbabwe in enabling an inclusive dialogue and in accelerating progress in reforms.

It further noted that Zimbabwe is going through a multifaceted, prolonged and deep crisis.

The transition in Zimbabwe nevertheless opened doors for economic and political reforms which the then newly elected Government committed to implement.

The EU says it remains ready to support these policies, as underlined in the Council Conclusions adopted on 22 January 2018.

Seizing opportunities for real transformation would facilitate steps towards deeper re-engagement of the EU, based on mutual commitments and shared values in line with the 2030 Agenda, and focused on human rights, democracy, governance and the rule of law.

The EU says it is engaged on the basis of the government's own agenda, in line with the 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe, as well as the recommendations of both the (Kgalema) Motlanthe Commission on post-electoral violence and the Final Report of the EU Electoral Observation Mission to Zimbabwe.

The EU has welcomed the resumption of a formal political dialogue in 2019, as a step towards a more constructive EU-Zimbabwe relationship.

The lack of substantial reforms, the further shrinking of democratic space and corruption, have however contributed to the current deteriorating humanitarian crisis and to the economic and social situation.

The EU is calling on the government to accelerate the political and economic reform process as a matter of urgency, for the benefit of its population.

Perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses should swiftly be brought to justice and the recommendations of the Motlanthe Commission of Inquiry should be implemented without further delay. In addition, an inclusive national dialogue is key to finding structural and durable solutions to the challenges faced by Zimbabwe.

Sound political and economic governance are paramount if the business and investment climate in Zimbabwe is to be improved, and inclusive and sustainable economic growth and development are to be achieved.

Reacting to the EUs move, Zimbabwes Foreign Affairs Minister Sibusiso Moyo commended the regional block for easing the restrictive measures.

In a statement, Moyo said, We view this development as an acknowledgement of progress made in terms of the broad reform agenda we have set ourselves, and to which are fully committed. That reform agenda is a process rather than an event and it will take time to complete.

We maintain that these and other sanctions imposed against Zimbabwe are unjustified and outdated; that they actually hinder our reform trajectory; and that all such measures should be removed  especially at a time when government is confronted by the daunting consequences of natural disaster and devastating drought.

He said Zimbabwe is looking for improved relations with the EU.

Our emphasis, as Zimbabwe, is to move on from what has been a troubled relationship with the European Union and, by way of the new political and economic course articulated by His Excellency the President, to forge an effective partnership free from all such historical impediments and baggage.

To the extent that this latest easing of EU sanctions signals a reciprocal willingness to move forward, it is, of course, a welcome gesture.

The West imposed targeted sanctions on ruling Zanu PF officials and some companies following allegations of election rigging and human rights abuses.
The commander will focus on the whole Indian Ocean Region.

New Delhi: India will have a peninsular command for maritime security, a separate J&K theatre command, and air defence command, said Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Bipin Rawat on Monday. He said that India will start rolling theatre command by 2022 but air defence command will be the first to be set up by the beginning of 2021 and a peninsular command by end of 2021.

Gen. Rawat said that by the end of 2020 directive will be issued to set up a study group for the theatreisation, under which personnel and assets from army, navy and air force in an area will come under single commander to effective strike at the enemy.

He said under the study J&K could be a single theatre command. Currently Kashmir Valley till Akhnoor is under Indian Armys Northern Command and the rest of the Jammu region comes under Western Command. Gen Rawat said that there could be 2-5 theatre commands along the western and northern borders. He said that there could be either one command for China or two separate commands one east of Nepal and another west of Nepal.

Gen. Rawat said that Navys eastern and western command could be combined under one commander, the Peninsular Command as India face threats like 26/11. The commander will focus on the whole Indian Ocean Region. The Commander will be free to transfer ships from western to eastern command as per the threat perception and will be in better position to manage the security of the region as he will be on ground, said Gen. Rawat. He said that a study will be set up on 31st March 2020 and the peninsular command is expected to take shape by end of 2021 and some of the assets of army and air force will also be transferred to it.

He said that study has been initiated for setting up a air defence command which will be under Air Force and will be responsible for the air defence of the country. The study will be submitted by 31st March this year and it will take at least one year to set up the command, said Gen Rawat. He said most of the air defence assets of army, navy will be transferred to the new command so that there is better co-ordination and quick reaction during an air attack on the country.

The Chief of Defence Staff also said that government plans to have a separate training and doctrinal command modelled on similar structure in the US, while a separate command will be set up to take care of logistical requirements of the three services.
HARTSVILLE, S.C., Feb. 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sonoco (NYSE: SON), one of the largest global diversified packaging companies, has again been listed on the third annual Barrons 100 Most Sustainable Companies in the United States list. This year marks the second time Sonoco has been included on the prestigious list.



We are honored to again be included as one of Americas most sustainable companies alongside some of the worlds best known brands, said Howard Coker, president and CEO. At Sonoco, we believe that better packaging leads to a better life, and sustainability plays a huge role in our efforts daily.

Calvert Research and Management completes a rigorous process of reviewing 230 indicators of 1,000 companies to arrive at the list. Those indicators involve economic, environmental, governance and social attributes.

About Sonoco

Founded in 1899, Sonoco (NYSE: SON) is a global provider of a variety of consumer packaging, industrial products, protective packaging, and displays and packaging supply chain services. With annualized net sales of approximately $5.4 billion, the Company has 23,000 employees working in approximately 300 operations in 36 countries, serving some of the worlds best known brands in some 85 nations. Sonoco is committed to creating sustainable products, services and programs for our customers, employees and communities that support our corporate purpose of Better Packaging. Better Life. The Company ranked first in the Packaging sector on Fortunes Worlds Most Admired Companies for 2020 as well as Barrons 100 Most Sustainable Companies. For more information, visit www.sonoco.com.
Ukraine's Naftogaz presents strategy to boost gas production

16:20, 17.02.20 1761

The company plans to increase production through ultra-deep drilling at the Shebelynka gas field.
Few operas have so scandalised audiences so delighted to be shocked as much as Salome, Richard Strauss provocative combination of religion and eroticism.

Its premiere in Dresden in 1905 had 38 curtain calls, and within a year it had been performed in 50 opera houses and banned in many countries. Its Austrian premiere the next year was attended by Mahler, Puccini and Schoenberg.

More than a century later, Salome has lost none of its power to shock, as Melbourne opera lovers can discover themselves when Victorian Opera opens a new production at the Palais on Saturday, February 22.

Vida Mikneviciute in costume for Salome by the Victorian Opera. Credit:Simon Schluter

According to artistic director and conductor Richard Mills, Salome challenges the very depth of human capacity for good and evil, particularly evil. And this great work explores the notions of desire, passion, possession, and the destructiveness of those impulses when unchecked.
The chairman of the Fine Gael party, Martin Heydon has said he does not rule out the possibility of his party going into government with Fianna Fail.

The people have spoken, the primary function of forming a government now falls to Sinn Fein, he told RTE Radios Morning Ireland.

During the election campaign Sinn Fein had sold change. There was now a question of how Sinn Fein would deliver their populist promises, he added.

We will be a strong opposition, he added.

Both Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail, having gained the highest percentage of the vote and most seats, have a responsibility to explore every option, he said.

Mr Heydon criticised Sinn Fein for spending only seven hours last week in discussions about forming a government. Fine Gael had spent 70 days in discussions with Fianna Fail over the Confidence and Supply agreement which underpinned the last Dail.

They havent tried properly.

He said that Fianna Fail has a responsibility too and should be talking to other parties.

Mr Heydon said that Fine Gael is happy to discuss the possibility of forming a government with other parties, including Fianna Fail.

Im not ruling out going into government with Fianna Fail.

It would be very challenging to do that, he said, acknowledging that many member of the Fine Gael party would be very uneasy at such a proposal.

The result of the election had been very fragmented, but Fine Gael were prepared to play their part. The public would not thank the political parties if there was a second election.

The other parties have to step up to the plate.
WONDER, Ore. -- Two people are in the hospital after a rollover crash on Hayes Hill along Redwood Highway, and firefighters say that puppies were missing from the wreck.

Both occupants managed to self-extricate before first responders arrived, according to Rural-Metro Fire.

Four dark Belgian Malinois puppies were also onboard, but one of them died. Another puppy was reunited with a family member, and two are missing.

Firefighters searched the area around the crash site using thermal-imaging equipment but were unable to locate them.

Rural Metro says if anyone sees or comes in contact with the puppies are asked to contact either Josephine County Animal Control or stop by the Rural Metro Fire Station in Wilderville.

Oregon State Police is investigating the cause of the crash.

Note: The puppy pictured is from a stock photo for reference, it is not one of the missing dogs.
Express News Service

Its been two months of resistance in the national capital against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and there are no visible signs of reconciliation or, even a temporary truce, anytime soon.

The coming of the law, which guarantees full citizenship rights to persecuted non-Muslim minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, touched off a fire, which, in a matter of weeks, took several parts of the country in its leaping embrace.

It wasnt long before the fire of resistance, which started outside the iconic campus of Jamia Millia Islamia, spread to the streets, public places and elsewhere.

However, if theres one place in the national capital which has now become synonymous with the anti-CAA protest, it is Shaheen Bagh, a residential colony on the fringes of south Delhi, bordering Uttar Pradesh.

Doughty and determined

Determined and undaunted, a motley crew of women sat in protest on a major highway, sending out a clear message to the powers that be that they wont budge till the vexed citizenship law is rolled back.

In a departure from the violent protests, which saw batons raining on agitators as they tried to breach police barricades and public and police vehicles torched, the Shaheen Bagh women, of all ages, sat out bitterly cold nights, holding up banners displaying a quiet resolve to see their struggle through to, what they hoped, would be a fulfilling end.

Over time, their numbers increased, to the extent that the Shaheen Bagh protesters are now the most-identifiable faces of the resistance.

Undeterred by the incident on January 28, when a lone-wolf attacker fired in the air and threatened the protesters and the label of being backed by vested elements in the Opposition, the Shaheen Bagh women continue to soldier on.

They have pledged not to go home till Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah take back the black law.

We are strong-willed and no one can shake our resolve. Our protest will continue till such time Modiji and Amit Shah meet our demand and take back the black citizenship law. They must stop lying to the people and address our concern. The day our objective is fulfilled, well head back home, Shakeela Begum (47), a homemaker from Shaheen Bagh, told this correspondent.

Tabassum Parveen, another homemaker, said that the first day of protest was mostly about their anger at their children being targeted at Jamia.

However, little did they know then that the protest would turn into a big movement and come to symbolise the resistance against the CAA, she said.

Exactly, two months ago, we came out on the street to protest against the barbaric attack on students at Jamia. We had no idea then that it would become such a big and strong movement. It took us a while to realise that our protest had become a symbol of resistance against the CAA. Across faiths, we all came together to take this movement forward. Were Indians first and foremost and will live and die for the country, Parveen said.

From fire to fireball

The fire in Delhi became a fireball on December 15, 2019, when city police personnel allegedly stormed the Jamia campus and rained blows on students, injuring around 200 and damaging property worth about Rs 2 crore.

Even as protests broke out across the country, in Delhi, the Jamia fire spilled onto the precincts of Shaheen Bagh first before spreading to Khureji, Inderlok, Seelampur, Nizammuddin, Beri Wala Bagh, Jama Masjid, Jaffrabad and Hauz Rani, among others.

And, women were largely at the forefront of these protests. Locals set up committees, the members of which were picked from among the crowd of protesters, to arrange shelters for those sitting in, put up barricades and distribute meals and refreshments, among other chores.

The volunteers also got activists and noted personalities to address the protesters and even organised shows by poets and musicians to ensure the spirits didnt flag.

Rainy days were especially challenging for us, as we didnt have a proper shelter and raindrops leaked from the makeshift roof. As some people came forward to help us with food, we urged them to arrange for a proper shelter instead. Soon, they surrounded the scene of protest with plastic sheets, Saima Chowdhury, a local from Khureji, said.

Drawing inspiration from their counterparts at Shaheen Bagh, six women sat in protest next to a fuel station at Khureji. While the protest has since grown in size, the women have been keeping a careful watch on outsiders to ensure security, as well as law and order.

Wary after YouTuber and saffron sympathiser Gunja Kapoor, in a burqa, was caught sneaking into the protest site with a camera, the women at Shaheen Bagh had a metal detector installed at the scene for a mandatory security check.

Security checkpoints have also been set up at the protest sites in the wake of firing incidents  two near Jamia and one at Shaheen Bagh.

Volunteer service

We are among the locals. While we carry out separate tasks that have been assigned to each one of us, a metal detector has been installed for a security check of women visiting the spot. It also helps us keep out potential troublemakers, said a volunteer on duty at Shaheen Bagh, who asked not to be named.

How it became political

While the protesters strove to keep politics out of the stir, the Shaheen Bagh movement became a big talking point for netas ahead of the elections for the Delhi Assembly.

It became the centre point, no less, of the BJPs campaign.Canvassing for a party candidate in the national capital, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath raised the Shaheen Bagh protest claiming Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was treating the protesters with biryani. He also alleged that the protest was sponsored.

However, the protesters were quick to debunk the claims when quizzed about it.

Why does the government have a problem with biryani? Is it because it is identified with Muslims? We live like a community and share what we eat.

Our Sikh brothers have also opened langars (community kitchens) at most protest sites. This is clearly a ploy to paint us as traitors.

However, all the lies have been called out. Were fighting for everyone. Anyone, irrespective of which community they belong to, can bring food for us and even join us for a meal, Anam Khannum (name changed), a protester from Sarai Kale Khan.

She has been a regular at the protests sites at Nizamuddin and Shaheen Bagh. Though I dont bring cooked food, I get oranges and grapes for the protesters, whenever possible, she said.

Balancing act

One of the challenges for women protesters is to manage their household chores and keep the activism going.

We dont come here to take in the sights and sounds around us. The government must understand that we send our children to school and cook for our family members before coming here to fight for our rights. Sometimes, I ask my elder daughter to watch her younger siblings at home while Im out protesting. At times, I send my elder daughter to to shuttle between protest sites while Im taking care of the younger ones at home, said Sakeena, another protester.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Monday visited the Police Memorial here and paid floral tribute to the policemen who laid down their lives on the line of duty.

Rawat said that the memorial reminds of the sacrifices made by the Police and Paramilitary force personnel for the nation.

"This monument reminds us of the sacrifices of the soldiers of Police and Paramilitary forces. This is a memorial which will always glorify the supreme sacrifice," Rawat said.

Mentioning the number of martyred policemen in Uttarakhand he said, "The number of martyred policemen in Uttarakhand from the year 2000 to 2019 is 182."

"Our soldiers maintain peace and order in the country, help in the rescue and relief during the natural calamities or accidents. They inspires all of us," he added.

Rawat wrote in the visitor's book, "I had the opportunity to pay homage to the Police Memorial. The martyrdom of our soldiers inspired to build a memorial. A memorial in the nation's capital gave this opportunity to 'salute' martyrdom."

Uttarakhand Cabinet Minister Madan Kaushik, MP Rajalakshmi Shah, MP Ajay Bhatt, MLA Deshraj Karnwal, Director General of Police, Ashok Kumar and other officials were also present on the occasion.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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
MBABANE  Patients deliberately run away from government hospitals without settling their bills.

As a result, government is owed about E410 650 by the patients, who deliberately abscond from the health facilities without settling their outstanding bills. This is according to the report of the Auditor General on the Consolidated Government Accounts for the financial year ended March 31, 2019. According to the report which was tabled by the Minister of Finance, Neal Rijkenberg, in the House of Assembly, the Ministry of Health reported that it had the irrecoverable outstanding revenue in the aforementioned amount. The AG reported that the debts were from the year ended March 31, 2016 and had been outstanding for a period of over four years without being recovered by the ministry. The AG, Timothy Matsebula, said he was concerned that the ministry was not prioritising the recovery of the outstanding revenue and was not aware of any action undertaken towards recovering the debts that had been outstanding.

Facilities

In response, the Controlling Officer in the Ministry of Health Dr Simon Zwane said the outstanding revenue was accumulated from admitted patients in hospitals and health facilities, who were discharged from health facilities without paying their debts due to various reasons. One of the reasons cited was that some patients on discharge literally did not have the money to settle their bills, but made promises that they would settle them at a later date to no avail. Some patients deliberately abscond from health facilities without settling their outstanding bills, said the controlling officer.

He said patients who were transferred on emergency from health centres or hospitals to referral hospitals also left without settling their bills. The controlling officer said the ministry did follow up on the patients urging them to settle their outstanding bills. Meanwhile, the AG observed that there was an abnormal increase of obsolete (outdated) stock recorded by the ministry. He said the audit of Drugs Trading Account revealed that there was unverified obsolete stock by the Board of survey amounting to E6 741 219. I also noted that the obsolete stock had an abnormal increase of E4 809 686.21 which was 249 per cent as compared with the previous financial years figure of E1 931 533.40, reads the report. In response the controlling officer stated that the obsolete stock was verified together with Treasury Stores Department and that the significant increase was due to several factors.
STOCKHOLM, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- RaySearch Laboratories AB (publ) has announced that Clinica El Rosario in Colombia has become the first RaySearch customer in South America to go live with treatment planning system RayStation for Accuray's Radixact System. The clinic has also ordered oncology information system RayCare.

Located in the Antioquia department of northwest Colombia, Clinica El Rosario opened its doors in 1959 and treated its first patient with radiation therapy in 2012. Since then, some 2,500 patients have been treated at the clinic with 500-600 new radiotherapy cases expected in 2020.

Dr. Aurelio Angulo Mosquera, MD, chief radiation oncologist and past president of the Colombian Association of Radiation Oncology, and medical physicist Dr. Gonzalo Cabal, PhD, lead the fight against cancer at the clinic and are widely regarded as pioneers in South America.

The clinic operates two advanced linear accelerators, the Artiste from Siemens, which uses IMRT and IGRT, in addition to the region's first installation of the Radixact System from Accuray. Missing until now was suitably advanced software to get the best results from the hardware installed.

The installation comprises clinical-class capabilities for 3D conformal planning, IMRT, physician review and contouring, multi-criteria optimization, auto breast planning, fallback and electron planning, and deformable registration. RayStation supports planning for Accuray's Radixact System; the treatment planning software was developed in partnership with Accuray.

The project was made possible with the support of Rocol S.A., a Colombian company with headquarters in Barranquilla, and strategic partner of RaySearch in the region. Clinica El Rosario went live with RayStation for Radixact planning in January 2020.

The clinic has also selected RayCare. The combination of RayStation and RayCare will offer significant efficiency gains and advanced features to the clinic.

Dr. Aurelio Angulo Mosquera, MD, Clinica El Rosario, says: "The installation of RaySearch technologies was a natural step on the path towards reaching our vision of becoming an internationally recognized health institution using the latest technologies to fight cancer. In the future, we plan to implement AI and Machine Learning* into our planning processes when they become available in Colombia."

Johan Lof, founder and CEO, RaySearch, says: "We are excited to announce the first installation of RayStation in South America. This is a milestone for the company and entering such a significant market presents us with a huge opportunity to deliver comprehensive cancer care to many more people."

For further information, please contact:



Johan Lof, founder and CEO, RaySearch Laboratories AB (publ)

Telephone: +46 (0)8-510 530 00

[email protected]





Peter Thysell, CFO, RaySearch Laboratories AB (publ)

Telephone: +46 (0)70 661 05 59

[email protected]



This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/raysearch-laboratories/r/first-clinic-in-south-america-goes-live-with-raystation-treatment-planning-for-accuray-s-radixact-sy,c3037216

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/1102/3037216/1195359.pdf Release https://news.cision.com/raysearch-laboratories/i/linkedin-colombiatomo-1200x620px,c2749237 LinkedIn ColombiaTOMO 1200x620px

SOURCE RaySearch Laboratories
A RATHKEALE dairy farmer, John Moran, told Newcastle West court that he was kicked in the backside and threatened with a shovel when he went to talk to his neighbour, Donie Murphy about moving a pier or pillar.

Mr Moran was giving evidence in a case in which Donie Murphy, Ardlaman, Rathkeale was charged with assaulting Mr Moran at Ardlaman on July 9, 2015.

The pier, Mr Moran said, was at the entrance to a right-of-way to his farm and he offered to pay the cost of moving it in order to widen the access for a bigger milk collecting truck.

The gate pier, he said, was in any case protruding about 18 inches on to the right-of-way.

Mr Murphy agreed at first, Mr Moran explained but then changed his mind after an engineer had come to mark up the pier.

Mr Murphy had the mark wiped off and said he couldnt give me that much, Mr Moran said.

Mr Moran went to talk to Mr Murphy at his workshop on July 19, 2015, and was leaving when he got a kick up the behind from Mr Murphy.

Mr Murphy then grabbed a shovel and began flashing it across Mr Morans face.

I could find my cap moving, Mr Moran said adding that he knew if he turned his face he would get hit. Mr Murphys wife then came on the scene, Mr Moran continued, and got between them, roaring at her husband not to do it.

Mr Murphy said Mr Moran abused his, Murphys, family.

He spit down the ground and said that is all ye are, dirt. He told me my family were nothing but tinkers.

Mr Murphy sent the guards to me the week after, Mr Moran said.

Cross-examined by Mr Murphys solicitor Rossa McMahon, Mr Moran said he had been told by the Land Commission years ago that he could remove the pier whenever I wanted.

But he denied he had been hounding Mr Murphy on the matter and he hadnt gone to a solicitor because he didnt want to cause ructions I didnt want solicitors. I didnt want law, Mr Moran said.

Isnt it true he asked you repeatedly to leave? Mr McMahon asked.

He told me to leave and I did.

Mr McMahon also put it to him that Mr Murphy couldnt have done what he, Moran, claimed, as he had poor health. He did run at me, Mr Moran declared.

Garda John Ryan, in his evidence, said he went to see Mr Moran who told him he had been assaulted by Mr Murphy. He then called to Mr Murphy. He said he may have pushed Mr Moran.

He said Mr Murphy was agitated over the pier and that guards had been called to his shop.

When Donie Murphy took the stand, he testified to the conversation that had taken place between himself and Mr Moran that day.

I said you are getting no pier the way you are carrying on. He said I own half the pier, Mr Murphy said, adding that he told Mr Moran: If you want to find out what you own and dont own, go to your solicitor. Dont mind coming in here fighting with me.

Mr Moran, he said, had been in and out to him on the matter for six or eight weeks.

But he denied he kicked Mr Moran in the backside.

I pushed him. I shoved him.

He also denied running after him, as he had trouble with his leg.

I couldnt run down there, he claimed, pointing down the floor of the courthouse.

And he explained the shovel was keeping the door open. He picked up the shovel as he was about to close for his dinner when Mr Moran, who was about 20 feet away, came back again and said: Hit me now if you like. Hit me.

Mr Murphy also denied insulting Mr Morans family.

His family and myself are the best of friends. I said nothing. It is complete lies. That is the truth, that I may not get up out of here.

Mr Murphy said Mr Moran owned the land all about and could have moved one of his gates to let the milk truck through. But Mr Moran, he added, wouldnt go inside his own land.

Making the case for his client, Mr Murphy, Rossa McMahon said the pier was on Murphys land and he was under no obligation to accommodate Mr Moran.

He can be as unreasonable as he likes. If Mr Moran has a problem, he can go to a solicitor.

Instead, Mr Moran had kept badgering his client.

Mr Morans evidence is not reliable, Mr McMahon added, pointing out that there was no mention of Mr Murphys wife in Mr Morans statement. Mr Morans claim that Mr Murphy ran at him was not credible, he also argued.

This is going on a long time, Mr Moran has never had a solicitor to make any proper proposal with the result when he came in to my clients business property he was unreasonably aggressive.

Mr Murphy had admitted shoving Mr Moran, Mr McMahon continued, but he argued that assault is not assault if there is lawful excuse.

This is an ongoing campaign against Mr Murphy. Mr Moran feels entitled to do what he wants. I am seeking a dismiss.

Inspector Alan Cullen said Mr Murphy had acknowledged both to Garda Ryan and in his testimony that he had pushed Mr Moran. He also acknowledged he picked up the shovel, the inspector pointed out.

There is nothing like rural Ireland and disputes about land, Judge Mary Larkin said and it was a pity John B Keane was not there to write out the minutiae of what was said here.

She was satisfied, she said, that Mr Murphy has a short fuse. Whatever way Mr Moran went about things, she continued, he did rub Mr Murphy up the wrong way.

But she found that Mr Murphy did assault Mr Moran.

I have two ways of dealing with this, the judge continued.

She could convict or she could adjourn to allow the men to resolve the matter like gentlemen.

Mr McMahon pointed out that Mr Murphy had been dealing with this a long time and had told Mr Moran to go to his solicitor.

Judge Larkin convicted Mr Murphy of assault and fined him 500. But she fixed recognisance in the event of appeal.
Container drivers at Tan Thanh Border Gate in Lang Son Province on February 4, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy.

756 fruit containers were waiting at Vietnams northern border gates with China Sunday as cross-border trade remained restricted by the Covid-19 outbreak.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade said that containers carrying dragon fruits, watermelon and jackfruits have kept proceeding to the border gates in the northern provinces of Lang Son and Lao Cai despite advice against doing so.

Although China had opened some border gates with Vietnam las week, trade was slower because there was a shortage of Chinese staff due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the ministry said.

Many of the fruits at these border gates are from southern provinces like Tien Giang and Dong Thap where farmers are harvesting their crops and seeking to sell their produce abroad.

The ministry had cautioned drivers about traffic congestion since several Chinese border gates remain closed and advised them to find other avenues to sell the produce.

Many traders have decided to sell their produce at lower prices in other northern localities instead of waiting for the border gates to reopen.

Fruit container trucks have been standing idle at Vietnam-China border since the Lunar New Year holidays last month due to the outbreak.

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.
Posted on Monday, February 17, 2020

To celebrate engineers everywhere, Texas A&M University-Kingsville will host a week of celebration during National Engineers Week, the week of Feb. 16.

Events will kick off on Monday, Feb. 17, with cake and punch from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in the Engineering Complex. On Tuesday, Feb. 18, student organizations will have a showcase from 9 a.m. to noon in the Engineering Complex.

The community is invited to an open house event on Wednesday, Feb. 19, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on the first floor of the Engineering Complex. The community will have an opportunity to learn about the College of Engineering. Thursday, Feb. 20, will be Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day with guest speaker and alumni Amanda Estrada from Kiewit Offshore Services. The event is set for 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Kleberg Room 149.

E-Week will end on Friday, Feb. 21, with the Engineers Week Competition from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Student Recreation Center. About 130 students from the Coastal Bend area will work to design a project that will be judged in the Student Recreation Center. Judging will be from 11:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and the award presentation will be from 1:30 p.m. to 2 p.m.

According the National Society of Professional Engineers, E-Week was founded in 1951 and is dedicated to ensuring a diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce by increasing understanding of engineering and technology careers.

FRANK H. DOTTERWEICH COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

ENGINEERS WEEK EVENTS:

Monday, Feb. 17

Engineering Week Kick-off - Enjoy cake & punch

Time: 1 2 p.m.

Location: ENG Complex 1st floor

Tuesday, Feb. 18

Showcase of Engineering Honor Societies and Organizations

Time: 9 a.m.  noon

Location: ENG Complex 1st floor

Wednesday, Feb. 19

College of Engineering Community Open House

Time: 5:30  7 p.m.

Location: ENG Complex 1st floor

Thursday, Feb. 20

Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day - Speaker: Amanda Estrada

Time: 1:30  3:30 p.m.

Location: Kleberg Engineering Bldg. Rm. 149

Friday, Feb. 21

Engineering Challenge for High School & Middle School Students

Time: 9 a.m.  3 p.m.

Location: Texas A&M UniversityKingsville Student Recreation Center
Edison, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/17/2020 -- Advance Market Analytics released a new market study on Global Forensic Accounting Services 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 Forensic Accounting Services Forecast till 2025*. Some are the key players taken under coverage for this study are Ernst & Young (United Kingdom), PwC (United Kingdom), Deloitte (United Kingdom), KPMG International (Netherlands), FTI Consulting (United States), Kroll (United States), AlixPartners (United States), Control Risks (United Kingdom), K2 Intelligence (United States) and Grant Thornton (United States).



Forensic accounting services, financial forensics or forensic accountancy is the specialty practice area of the accounting which describe engagements that result from anticipated or actual litigation or disputes. It utilizes auditing, accounting, and investigative skills for conducting an examination into the finances of a business or individual. Forensic accounting basically provides an accounting analysis that is suitable to be used in the legal proceedings. Forensic accountants are basically trained to look beyond the figures and deal with the situation of business reality. Forensic accounting is often used in fraud and embezzlement cases for explaining the nature of financial crime in a court.



Free Sample Report + All Related Graphs & Charts @ https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/sample-report/112809-global-forensic-accounting-services-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 report Ernst & Young (United Kingdom), PwC (United Kingdom), Deloitte (United Kingdom), KPMG International (Netherlands), FTI Consulting (United States), Kroll (United States), AlixPartners (United States), Control Risks (United Kingdom), K2 Intelligence (United States) and Grant Thornton (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/112809-global-forensic-accounting-services-market



To comprehend Global Forensic Accounting Services market dynamics in the world mainly, the worldwide Forensic Accounting Services 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/112809-global-forensic-accounting-services-market



Try a limited scope research document specific to Country or Regional matching your objective.

GET FULL COPY OF United States Global Forensic Accounting Services market study @ --------- USD 2000

And, Europe Global Forensic Accounting Services market study @ --------- USD 2500



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 Forensic Accounting Services, by Market Segmentation and Geography (value, volume**) (2013-2018) ------ USD1400



Global Forensic Accounting Services

By Type: Criminal and fraud investigation, Bankruptcy proceedings, Risk management

By Application: Large Businesses, Government, Insurance Professionals, Small Businesses, Legal Professionals, Individuals

Tools : Data acquisition and preservation, Forensic Accounting data analysis, Data recovery, Review and reporting, Forensic decryption, Others (file viewers)



Global Forensic Accounting Services 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 Forensic Accounting Services - 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 Forensic Accounting Services, 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.



About Author:

Advance Market Analytics is Global leaders of Market Research Industry provides the quantified B2B research to Fortune 500 companies on high growth emerging opportunities which will impact more than 80% of worldwide companies' revenues.

Our Analyst is tracking high growth study with detailed statistical and in-depth analysis of market trends & dynamics that provide a complete overview of the industry. We follow an extensive research methodology coupled with critical insights related industry factors and market forces to generate the best value for our clients. We Provides reliable primary and secondary data sources, our analysts and consultants derive informative and usable data suited for our clients business needs. The research study enable clients to meet varied market objectives a from global footprint expansion to supply chain optimization and from competitor profiling to M&As.



Contact Us:

Craig Francis (PR & Marketing Manager)

AMA Research & Media LLP

Unit No. 429, Parsonage Road Edison, NJ

New Jersey USA  08837

Phone: +1 (206) 317 1218

sales@advancemarketanalytics.com
By PTI

BEIJING: When a Chinese government mass detention campaign engulfed Memtimin Emer's native Xinjiang region three years ago, the elderly Uighur imam was swept up and locked away, along with three of his sons.

Now, a leaked database exposes in extraordinary detail the main reasons for the detentions of Emer, his three sons, and hundreds of others in their neighborhood: Their religion and their family ties.

The database profiles the internment of 311 individuals with relatives abroad in Karakax County, and lists information on more than 2,000 of their relatives, neighbors and friends.

Each entry includes the detainee's name, address, national identity number, detention date and location, along with a dossier on their family, religious and community background, the reason for detention, and a decision on whether to release them.

Taken as a whole, the database offers the fullest view yet into how Chinese officials decided who to put into and let out of detention camps, as part of a crackdown that has locked away more than a million ethnic minorities, most of them Muslims.

The database shows that the state focused on religion as a reason for detention  not just political extremism, as authorities claim, but ordinary activities such as praying or attending a mosque.

It shows that people with detained relatives are themselves more likely to end up in a camp, criminalizing entire families like Emer's in the process.

"It's very clear that religious practice is being targeted," said Darren Byler, a University of Colorado researcher studying Xinjiang.

"They want to fragment society, to pull the families apart and make them much more vulnerable to retraining and reeducation."

The Xinjiang regional government did not respond to faxes requesting comment.

Asked whether Xinjiang is targeting religious people and their families, foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said "this kind of nonsense is not worth commenting on."

ALSO READ: China threats Arsenal of 'implications' over Mesut Ozil's tweet on Xinjiang

The Chinese government has said in the past that the detention centers are for voluntary job training, and that it does not discriminate based on religion.

China has struggled for decades to control Xinjiang, where the native, predominantly Muslim Uighurs have long resented Beijing's rule.

After militants set off bombs at a train station in Xinjiang's capital in 2014, President Xi Jinping launched a so-called 'People's War on Terror', turning Xinjiang into a digital police state.

The leak of the database follows the release in November of a classified blueprint.

Obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which includes the AP, the blueprint shows the camps are in fact forced ideological and behavioural re-education centers run in secret.

This Monday, Feb. 17, 2020 photo shows prints of information from a database in Beijing, China. (Photo | AP)

The database comes from sources in the Uighur exile community and does not spell out which government department issued it or for whom.

The detainees listed come from Karakax County, a traditional settlement on the edge of Xinjiang's Taklamakan desert where more than 97 percent of its roughly 650,000 residents are Uighur.

The list was corroborated through interviews with former Karakax residents, identity verification tools, and other lists and documents.

The database shows that cadres compile dossiers on detainees called the 'three circles', encompassing their relatives, community, and religious background.

The detainees and their families are then classified by rigid categories.

Households are designated as 'trustworthy' or 'not trustworthy'.

Families have 'light' or 'heavy' religious atmospheres, and the database keeps count of how many relatives of each detainee are locked in prison or sent to a 'training center'.

Officials used these categories to determine how suspicious a person was even if they hadn't committed any crimes.

ALSO READ: China claims everyone in Xinjiang camps has 'graduated' even as future of Uighurs remain uncertain

Reasons listed for internment include 'minor religious infection,' 'disturbs other persons by visiting them without reasons,' 'relatives abroad,' or 'thinking is hard to grasp.'

Former student Abdullah Muhammad described Emer as one of the most respected imams in the region.

He fed the hungry, bought coal for the poor, and treated the sick with free medicine.

But though Emer gave Party-approved sermons, he refused to preach Communist propaganda, Muhammad said, eventually running into trouble with authorities.

He was stripped of his position as an imam in 1997.

Though he stopped attending religious gatherings, in 2017 authorities detained Emer, now in his eighties, and sentenced him to prison.

The database cites four charges in various entries: 'stirring up terrorism', acting as an unauthorized 'wild' imam, following the strict Saudi Wahhabi sect and conducting illegal religious teachings.

Muhammad called the charges false.

Emer stopped his preaching, practiced a moderate sect of Islam and never dreamed of hurting others, let alone stirring up 'terrorism,' Muhammad said.

Emer's three sons, too, were all thrown in camps for religious reasons, though they weren't charged with crimes.

It shows their relation to Emer and their religious background caused officials to believe they were too dangerous to let out.

"His family's religious atmosphere is thick. We recommend he (Emer) continue training," notes an entry for his youngest son, Emer Memtimin.
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Tax and Customs Administration Office of The Netherlands to build the capacity of personnel of the authority.

Under the agreement, which spans a period of 18 months, officials of the Domestic Tax Revenue Division of the GRA will receive training in risk-based audits, while staff at the Transfer Pricing Unit at the Large Taxpayer Office will have their capacities built to sharpen their skills and enable them to conduct transfer pricing audits more effectively.

The training programme is scheduled to start next month and end in August next year.

Transfer printing

Transfer pricing is the price that is paid for goods or services transferred between two companies of the same multinational group but situated in different countries.

Companies with subsidiaries in other jurisdictions take advantage of different tax regimes in different countries by booking more profits for goods and services produced in countries with lower tax rates.

In some cases, the companies lower their expenditure on related-party transactions to avoid tariffs on goods and services exchanged internationally.

Benefit

Before the signing of signatures, the acting Commissioner-General of the GRA, Mr Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, lauded the government of The Netherlands for supporting the authority to build its capacity in the area of transfer pricing, explaining that the GRA faced challenges with transfer pricing issues when auditing large and complex businesses.

"The authority will tap into the knowledge and experience of officials from The Netherlands to build the capacity of staff at the Audit Department to enable them to appreciate auditing techniques directed at helping them to reduce abuse and ultimately rake in the needed revenue," he said.

He said building the capacity of the GRA in transfer pricing was important, since it was a tax avoidance mechanism that multinational companies sometimes exploited to reduce their tax obligations, while denying the state revenue due it.

Mr Owusu-Amoah urged officials of the GRA selected to take part in the training programme to take advantage of the opportunity presented them to learn and become well equipped to handle complex audits easily and effectively.

The Deputy GRA Commissioner in charge of Policy and Programmes at the Domestic Tax Revenue Division, Mr Nathan Nettey, said officials from the Transfer Pricing Unit who would take part in the training programme would visit some multinational companies that had been profiled as audit risk.

Netherlands support

The Netherlands Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Ron Strikker, who signed the agreement on behalf of his government, explained that transfer pricing focused on transactions between a mother company and a daughter company, with the risk of not accurately pricing the services of one company under the multinational group to the other company, which ought to be avoided.

He said detecting transfer pricing techniques was important for all countries, including Ghana and The Netherlands, since all companies ought to pay their fair share of taxes.

The MoU, he said, was one of the many cooperation agreements that The Netherlands had with Ghana on taxation, adding: We have cooperated on compliance and risk management between the two countries over the years.

---graphic.com.gh
The big picture: 5G connectivity seems to be ready for prime time as the tech is widely expected to officially debut this fall on Apple's trendsetting iPhones. While the 2020 models will be using the industry-standard Snapdragon X55 chip to boast faster network speeds (along with a higher price tag), Apple is reportedly developing an in-house alternative to Qualcomm's antenna in its 5G modem on account of the latter's design being too big for Cupertino's sleek devices.

Apple and Qualcomm put their legal battles to rest in April last year as both companies looked forward to a 5G future for the iPhone, set to kick off this fall. A new report, however, suggests that Apple isn't satisfied with Qualcomm's existing 5G antenna design and will be coming up with its own solution for 2020 iPhones.

"Apple balked at the QTM 525 millimeter-wave antenna module offered to it by Qualcomm because it doesnt fit into the sleek industrial design Apple wants for the new phone," an anonymous source told Fast Company.

The publication further notes that Qualcomm would still be Apple's 5G modem supplier, with its Snapdragon X55, and that Cupertino's custom antenna is being worked on alongside another design that utilizes both the Qualcomm modem and antenna.

After its $1 billion acquisition of Intel's 5G modem business, Apple could potentially be looking to slowly rid itself of Qualcomm by starting with an in-house antenna design, which seemingly won't be without its challenges as the antenna will need to work with a third-party modem, for which Fast Company notes:

The 5G iPhone will use a phased array antenna with two parts that work together to form a beam of radio signal. The beam can be electronically steered in different directions without the antenna moving. The modem chip and the antenna module work closely together to make this work properly, our source said. Having the two parts made by different companies may introduce some uncertainty and bump up the difficulty level of the overall design.

Along with its attempt for minimal reliance on Qualcomm, it remains to be seen how thin and sleek Apple is willing to go with its 2020 iPhones. If the company's custom antenna design is unable to achieve its targets, it would then have to settle for a slightly thicker iPhone that uses Qualcomm's QTM 525 antenna module, which its maker supports for designs sleeker than "8 millimeters thick."
(Newser)  British former reality TV host Caroline Flack killed herself ahead of a trial for allegedly assaulting her boyfriendand now that boyfriend is revealing his devastation over her death, the AP reports. Lewis Burton, 27, posted a picture of himself and Flack, 40, to Instagram on Sunday along with a caption saying, "My heart is broken we had something so special." He continued, "I am so lost for words I am in so much pain I miss you so much I know you felt safe with me you always said I dont think about anything else when I am with you and I was not allowed to be there this time I kept asking and asking." The AP notes that one of Flack's bail restrictions banned her from having any contact with Burton, which Burton objected to. Burton also reportedly objected to Britain's Crown Prosecution Service pursuing the trial.

story continues below

"I will be your voice baby I promise I will ask all the questions you wanted and I will get all the answers," he posted. "nothing will bring you back but I will try make you proud everyday." Flack hosted the controversial Love Island until her December arrest for allegedly assaulting Burton; Page Six reports he initially accused her of hitting him in the head with a lamp, but later backtracked on that claim. Since her death, critics have questioned why CPS pursued the case without Burton's cooperation, and many have slammed the British tabloid media for negative reports on Flack. A petition calling for the government to investigate the press' treatment of Flack and other celebrities including Prince Harry and Meghan Markle racked up more than 200,000 signatures within its first day online, Variety reports. The Guardian notes Flack had been "catnip" for tabloids for years, but that negative coverage ramped up considerably after her arrest.

(Read more British tabloids stories.)
Rong Viet Securities (VDSC) and Mirae Asset believe that MSCI may upgrade Vietnams stock market to an emerging market in 2022-2023, while BSC thinks the upgrade would be prior to 2025 at the earliest.

In the latest review in mid-2019, Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) still had not added Vietnam to the watchlist for upgrading from frontier to emerging market, though Vietnam could satisfy all quantitative criteria, including market scale, capitalization value and number of listed companies with capitalization value of $1 billion.





FTSE also did not upgrade Vietnam into a secondary emerging market in the review some days later because of e'problems in offset payment and transaction registration procedures applied to foreign investors.



The latest move that observers believe would have a big impact on the market and remove th''barriers to the market upgrading is the enactment of the new Securities Law in late November 2019 which will take effect in early 2021.



The law had new provisions that aim to protect investors benefits by requiring high quality of finance reports and information exposure. The new law also gives more rights to the State Securities Commission (SSC) in examining, supervising and treatment violations related to securities trading activities.

MSCI may add Kuwait to the MSCI Emerging Markets Index in mid-2020. If so, the proportion of Vietnams stock in MSCI Frontier Markets Index and MSCI Frontier Markets 100 Index may rise to 25.8 percent and 30 percent, respectively.

We hope that the changes in the law will help improve the quality of stocks, increase transparency and better protect the benefits of investors, especially small investors, the report of VN Direct Securities (VNDS) reads.



VNDS analysts think that Vietnams stock market may get an upgrading in the next 2 or 3 years. In the best scenario, MSCI would add Vietnam to the watchlist for upgrading in the annual review in June 2021 and would give an official upgrading one year later.



VDSC, also citing the existing problems of the market and emphasizing that MSCI needs some more time to assess the enforcement of the new Securities Law, believes that Vietnam is not likely to get the upgrade before 2022.



Sharing the same view, Mirae Asset Vietnam (MAS) said Vietnam would have to wait until mid-2022. In the worst scenario, the upgrading would be given after 2023.



Meanwhile, BIDV Securities (BSC) is even more cautious when predicting the time for upgrading. It thinks that FTSE may announce the upgrading in 2020 at the soonest, while MSCI would do that prior to 2025.



Experts believe that even if Vietnam doesnt get the upgrade this year, it would still get benefits from the upgrading of other markets.



MSCI may add Kuwait to the MSCI Emerging Markets Index in mid-2020. If so, the proportion of Vietnams stock in MSCI Frontier Markets Index and MSCI Frontier Markets 100 Index may rise to 25.8 percent and 30 percent, respectively.

Mai Chi

Vietnams stock market turns 20 years old in 2020 Despite its young age, the Vietnamese stock market has made great contributions to economic development in the last 20 years.
Despite some success stories, the population of most migratory species protected under the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) is declining, according to a report.

The report was cited by CMS officials at the 13th Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP13) on Monday.

CMS Executive Secretary Amy Fraenkel, however, said it is an initial finding and called for policy support and funding to undertake a full assessment of the status of migratory species.

It was found that there is some decline in the population of majority of the migratory species protected under the CMS, Fraenkel told reporters at the conference being held at Mahatma Mandir here.

"What we need to figure out (is) what this means. We need to look at better data to find out individual species... We need to do more and pay some attention on the status of these species to focus our strategy, our funding and our efforts," she said.

"I have to caution that it is an initial study, and what we are calling for here at the COP is actually policy support and funding to go forward to the full-blown assessment of the status of migratory species," she said, adding that it will be like a flagship report from the CMS on every conference of parties (COP).

The CMS is a multilateral treaty dedicated to addressing the needs of migratory species and their habitats on a global scale.

Appendix I of the CMS comprises migratory species that have been assessed as facing the threat of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of their range. It includes 173 species from across the globe.

Appendix II covers migratory species that have an unfavourable conservation status and require international agreements for their conservation and management.

It also includes those species that have a conservation status which would significantly benefit from international cooperation that could be achieved through an international agreement.

Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Babul Supriyo told reporters that three species from India will also be included in Appendix I of the CMS -- Great Indian Bustard (GIB), Asiatic elephants and Bengal Florican.

Gangetic Dolphin has also been included in the CMS for concerted action, the officials said.

India is set to showcase the GIB conservation breeding programme and how the country has done that and activities related to the Central Asian Flyway to make routes for migratory birds eco-friendly.

Birds from 30 countries migrate to India every year, Supriyo said.

In all, 10 new species are expected to be added to the CMS, the officials said.

Besides the three species from India, Jaguar, Little Bustard, Antipodean Albatross and Oceanic Whitetip Shark will be added to Appendix I, they said.

Urial, Smooth Hammerhead Shark and Tope Shark are proposed to be added to Appendix II, they added.

The COP13 will also consider the need for guidance and implementation tools to mitigate the impact of linear infrastructure such as roads and railways on migratory species, among others, the officials said.

The conference began on February 15 and will conclude on February 22.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
On Wednesday, February 19, at 12.00, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency will host a press conference dedicated to the presentation of a scientific and practical manual for criminologists, philosophers, sociologists, law enforcement officials on the subject: "Philosophy of the South of Italy" on crime - the Sicilian mafia, Calabrian Ndrangheta and Neapolitan Camorra. Participants will include academician, PhD in Psychology, head of the Odesa regional branch of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences Oleh Maltsev; PhD in Psychology, Associate Professor, Academician of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences Vitaliy Luniov. Honoured journalist of Ukraine Kim Kanevsky will moderate the event (8/5a Reitarska Street). Registration of journalists with press cards on the spot. Additional information by phone: (063) (063) 794-80-18 (Kanykey).
DENVER  A ban prohibiting pit bulls in Denver is expected to remain in place after the mayor has announced plans to veto legislation that would have lifted the dog breed restriction.

Mayor Michael Hancock announced Friday that he expects to veto a repeal on the ban citing concerns that the ordinance does not fully address the risk of injury resulting from attacks from these particular dog breeds, the Denver Post reported.

The reality is that irresponsible pet owners continue to be a problem, and it is the irresponsible owners and their dogs I must consider in evaluating the overall impact of this ordinance, Hancock said.

City Council is scheduled to vote Tuesday and must acquire nine votes to override the veto, but the repeal measure only passed the council with seven votes when first introduced, city officials said.

Some council members expressed fear of the damage pit bulls can cause, opposing the appeal.

Im disappointed the mayor is choosing to disregard the science on the issue of breed-specific legislation, said Councilman Chris Herndon, who proposed the measure with support from the American Veterinary Medical Association and other animal organizations.

Aurora, Lone Tree, Louisville and Commerce City also ban pit bulls.
The chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Biodun Ogunyemi, has described as biased, the proposed anti-sexual harassment bill for higher institutions.

He said the bill will stigmatise lecturers in universities.

Mr Ogunyemi made the comment during the public hearing of the bill in Abuja on Monday.

The hearing was organised to enable individuals, civic and academic groups to air their views, raise concerns as well as suggest amendments to the bill.

The bill

The bill titled: A Bill for an Act to prevent, prohibit and redress Sexual Harassment of students in tertiary educational institutions and for matters concerned therewith, 2019, was reintroduced in the Senate on October 9 and scaled second reading on November 6.

It is sponsored by the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, and 106 other senators.

The bill seeks to promote and protect ethical standards in tertiary institutions. It also seeks to protect students against sexual harassment as well as prevent sexual harassment of students by educators in tertiary institutions.

The bill also proposes up to 14 years jail term for offenders.

PREMIUM TIMES reported in detail the provisions of the bill.

The bill was reintroduced to the Senate two days after a BBC documentary exposed two lecturers of the University of Lagos, and a lecturer of the University of Ghana for sexual harassment. The documentary sparked reactions from many Nigerians who described the issue as a norm in Nigerian universities.

The Concerns

At the hearing, several participants took turns to comment on the bill as they raised concerns about it.

For the ASUU chairman, the provisions of the bill is biased against lecturers. He said if it is allowed, teachers will be discredited.

By so doing, we shall also degrade the value and integrity of our certificate. Does ASUU supports sexual harassment? No. In 2016, we spoke along the same line.

Mr Ogunyemi said there are other problems in the universities that need immediate attention.

While he kicked against new laws to tackle sexual harassment, he asked that the autonomy of universities should be respected and that the institutions have laws to handle such issues.

We should reconcile this bill with that Act. What does it take to review that Act to cover our new area of concern? If we have a law that addresses issues related to sexual harassment, why are we wasting time talking about another law? Are we also going to formulate a law to address corruption in the universities?

Are we also going to formulate another law to address sexual harassment in the police, in the National Assembly? Did we need to wait for this long for Professor Akindele to be jailed? Did we?

We are saying laws should not be made ad-hoc. If we are not careful, we will have laws that address warders that harass prisoners, laws that address potential or prospective employees.

This bias is too much. Its like we are stigmatising those who should be the custodians of our innovations and progress. This bill has failed to take cognizance of extant legislation that currently deals with the issues of sexual offences.

We need to also understand the autonomy of the university. We are saying we should not discredit our custodians of knowledge and make them lose confidence in what they are doing. Because if we do so, we will pay dearly before we recover from it, he said.

In her speech, Jummai Audi, the Director-General, Nigerian Law Reform Commission, declared support for the bill.

She, however, expressed worry that it is restrictive to only tertiary institutions and suggested that the provisions be extended to primary and secondary schools.

She also demanded that a committee outside the institutions be set up to ensure implementation of the provisions of the bill.

Advertisements



Ms Audi said those in charge of disciplinary action in the universities are colleagues and in most cases, do not intervene. She further said penalties should not be restricted to lecturers but ad-hoc staff, visiting lecturers, among others. This is even as she called for penalties for students who harass lecturers.

Classification of offences into felony is unnecessary and should be deleted, she added.

Isa Chiroma, the Director-General, Nigerian Law School, Abuja, said the bill is long overdue.

He, however, complained that the bill targets a certain group of persons and should be extended to headmasters that harass students in secondary schools.

Victim yet to collect certificate

Monica Osagie, a lady who was harassed in Obafemi Awolowo University in 2018, said she is yet to collect her certificate. This is after she exposed a randy professor, Richard Akindele, which led to his dismissal from the university.

Ms Osagie leaked a phone recording, which showed Mr Akindele asking for sex five times from the post-graduate student for a pass in an examination.

OAU set up a committee and mandated it to submit its report. It also issued a query to Mr Akindele.

On June 20, the university announced the dismissal of Mr Akindele after he was found guilty of misconduct and in December 2018, he was sentenced to two years in prison.

In her remark, Ms Osagie stressed the need to provide a middle-man between lecturers and students.

Instead of students interacting with the lecturer, there should be a middleman, probably a graduate, a PhD holder where the lecturer doesnt have to interact with the students. It is not always true that students also harass lecturers.

It was said that students maliciously get lecturers involved. Thats not possible because it always goes through a panel. The panel would find out if truly the student maliciously incriminated the lecturer. Hope you know most lecturers are in cohort with each other, she said.

She further said she was denied her certificate for exposing Mr Akundele.

I was denied my certificate because Professor Akindele went to jail. They said if she could incriminate Akindele then she is not going to get her certificate. They kept saying, She failed; shes not going to get her certificate. She can either come back and resit all the courses again, and thats not possible.
During a discussion on the protection of advocatorial secret, from the perspective of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, atttorney Aramazd Kiviryan said there are different kinds and different manifestations of pressure on attorneys in Armenia.

According to the attorney, among the manifestations are the attacks of a certain sector of society on attorneys, depending on who those people represent.

Attorney Sargis Grigoryan stated that all international documents affirm the centuries-old principle of protection of advocatorial secret. An attorney cant perform his or her duties, if confidentiality of communication is not guaranteed in practice, he emphasized and added that it is also necessary to maintain confidentiality of phone talks.

Attorney Irina Danielyan presented the approaches of the European Court of Human Rights to the concept of confidentiality of correspondence. Communication needs to be confidential, regardless of the means of transfer of information, the advocate emphasized.
Australia will evacuate more than 200 of its citizens onboard a coronavirus-stricken cruise ship being held under quarantine in the Japanese port of Yokohama, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday.

Morrison said the passengers will depart on Wednesday and will be taken to Australia`s tropical north, where they will be required to be quarantined for another 14 days.

The Diamond Princess cruise ship, owned by Carnival Corp, has been quarantined since arriving in Yokohama on Feb. 3, after a man who disembarked in Hong Kong before it travelled to Japan was diagnosed with the virus.

More than 350 passengers onboard the Diamond Princess have tested positive for coronavirus, including 24 Australians.

"For those more than 200 Australians who will be returning to Australia, we are going to have to require a further 14-day quarantine period to be put in place on their return to Darwin," Morrison told reporters in Melbourne.

Morrison also said space on the Qantas Airways plane will be provided for an unspecified number of New Zealand citizens on the cruise ship.

Those passengers will be transferred to New Zealand when they arrive in Darwin, Morrison said.

Despite passengers` spending two weeks confined to their cabins, some of which were windowless, Australian health officials said a further quarantine period was necessary.

"Given there has been recent cases, we cannot be absolutely sure that any of the currently well people on the ship who are coming home on Wednesday are not carrying the virus," said Brendan Murphy, Australia`s chief medical officer.

On Sunday, the United States evacuated about 400 citizens from the Diamond Princess, while Canada, Italy, South Korea and Hong Kong have also announced plans to repatriate passengers.
Local councillor Erin McGreehan successfully passed a motion regarding the issue of Personal Assistant Service for disabled people at Louth County Councils Februarys meeting this morning.

The Motion stated: That Louth County Council supports the right to Personal Assistance Service (PAS) for disabled people to have freedom, choice and control over all aspects of their lives to enable them to fully participate in an inclusive society as equals. That this local authority would call on the Government to enact legislation to standardise and fund additional PA hours.

Speaking on the motion, Fianna Fail cllr. McGreehan stated that personal assistants are a necessary requirement for people with disabilities to become self-determining, to be full citizens in this society with access to supports that enable them to take charge of their life, to engage with the world as they see fit.

Cllr McGreehans motion was a follow-up on a motion that was passed in Dail Eireann on November 19, 2019.

The Councillor highlighted that currently there is no legal right to personal assistance in Ireland. There is no standardized procedure or application process and those in receipt of this support have no security regarding the continuation or extent of their service due to lack of legislative protection.

In 2017, 84 percent of those in receipt of a PA service received less than three hours a day and 42 percent of these people were in receipt of between one and five hours a week. This is only an average of 42 minutes a day. As far back as 1996, it was identified that an average need for 10 hours of PA service per person per week could only respond to essential personal care needs, not quality of life requirements and it would certainly not enable full participation in the community.

Cllr McGreehan said she believes that Independent Living is about disabled people having the freedom to have the same choices that everyone else and is about choosing what aspects of social, economic and political life disabled people want to participate in. It is about having control over your life, to have a family, to get a job, to participate socially and to realise your goals and dreams.
For a better experience on our website and avoid any trouble, we strongly recommand to activate Javascript ( click here ).

Hello and welcome to Journal des Palaces

You are a communication or the PR manager?

Click here

You are an applicant?

Check out our questions and answers here !
Senior VP Sam Jones to retire after 34 years at W&M

Sam Jones 75, M.B.A. 80: In his current role, Jones is responsible for all of the universitys financial and administrative operations, including capital projects and the development and implementation of the budget. He is a member of President Katherine A. Rowes Executive Leadership Team and cabinet. Jones also chairs the universitys emergency and risk management teams. Photo by Stephen Salpukas Photo - of - Hide Caption

Amy Sebring to take on expanded role as chief operating officer

When Sam Jones 75, M.B.A. 80, returned to his alma mater as a staff member, he had no idea hed end up shaping William & Marys finances for the next three decades.

But the evolving nature of his job and the universitys community have kept Jones engaged, and hes made protecting and advancing W&Ms priorities his lifes work. Now, Jones is preparing for the next chapter.

Jones, senior vice president for finance and administration, will step down from his current role at the end of June on his way to retirement.

I am humbled to have been able to work at William & Mary, said Jones. It is a rare opportunity that allowed me to spend my career at an institution for which I have such great affection and which gave me so much  my wife, my education, a wonderful community to raise a family, long-standing friendships, and the opportunity to work with students, faculty, staff, university leaders, donors and volunteers who share my passion and love for this university.

In his current role, Jones is responsible for all of the universitys financial and administrative operations, including capital projects and the development and implementation of the budget. He is a member of President Katherine A. Rowes Executive Leadership Team and cabinet. Jones also chairs the universitys emergency and risk management teams.

When Jones departs, Amy Sebring M.P.P. 95, W&Ms vice president for finance and technology, has agreed to take on a new role as the universitys chief operating officer, Rowe said in a message to faculty, staff and students Monday.

Sam Jones has been a staunch and inspiring partner to five William & Mary presidents, including me, Rowe said. From overseeing major construction to securing our budget priorities in Richmond to leading emergency management and many business operations and initiatives, Sam has played a critical role in advancing the prosperity of this university and community. We will miss him, even as we celebrate his contributions through the spring. Amy Sebring promises to capably step in; she has proved a trusted and effective leader and I have enormous confidence in her vision. I am delighted she has agreed to an expanded role.

As chief operating officer for W&M, Sebring will be responsible for the strategic management of the universitys finances. She will oversee a consolidated group of areas that she and Jones have been leading, including auxiliary services, emergency management and public safety, facilities, finance, human resources, information technology, risk management and compliance.

This restructuring allows us to streamline administrative operations in a single, cohesive leadership team, under one executive, Rowe said. The COOs leadership team will partner with and support academic leadership, advancing our educational mission. This partnership is especially important as we finish this years phase of strategic planning.

Sam Jones

Jones graduated from W&M in 1975 with a bachelors degree in government, and he received his Master of Business Administration degree from the university in 1980. His career began as a revenue forecaster for the Virginia Department of Taxation, and he worked for the Virginia Department of Planning and Budget before returning to W&M in 1986 as budget director.

Over his W&M career, Jones has worked for five university presidents and secured financing for multiple capital projects, including construction of Alan B. Miller Hall, the new School of Education and the various phases of the Integrated Science Center. He also was a lead architect of the W&M Promise, an innovative operating and tuition model adopted by the Board of Visitors in 2013.

William & Mary has continually advanced, through thick and thin, largely due to Sams remarkable ability to keep first things first, said John E. Littel, rector of W&Ms Board of Visitors. At William & Mary, that means centering students and academics squarely in all that we do. Amy shares this critical ability, as well as a great many others. William & Mary is fortunate to have enjoyed decades of their capable financial and strategic leadership. We wish Sam the best in retirement and thank Amy for supporting W&M in new ways.

Jones has also been involved in statewide initiatives, including serving as chair of the Virginia Higher Education Procurement Consortium, and passage of the Higher Education Restructuring Act, which gave Virginia universities more autonomy and flexibility over human resources, financial and other administrative matters.

If you mix strategic vision, hard work, humility, financial knowledge, dedication and management expertise in just the right proportions, you get Sam Jones, said Jim Golden, former vice president for strategic initiatives. No one has contributed more than Sam to William & Marys progress over the past several decades. It has been a privilege to work with him.

Jones has seen myriad changes during his time at the university: periodic reductions in state support, greater dependence on tuition and growing private support for the university from alumni and friends. At the same time, hes also worked with leaders in Richmond and friends of the university to secure hundreds of millions of dollars to support capital projects for nearly every corner of campus. Throughout it all, Jones has worked to protect the university and its mission.

Ive always said that whether you're cutting budgets, or whether youre investing new money, the priorities you have, things of strategic importance, really shouldn't change, said Jones. Weve always had a commitment to protect the academic side as much as possible. At the end of the day, its all about the students and their education.

When reflecting on his success, Jones credits the people hes worked with, both within the university and across the state.

It has been wonderful to work with such incredible individuals in so many different facets of the job, Jones said. Im very happy to see Amy take on these additional responsibilities. She is a true asset to William & Mary and a real leader.

After retirement, Jones and his wife, Julie Reynolds Jones 76, plan on spending more time on the Eastern Shore and finding options for volunteer work.

Amy Sebring

Sebring began as William & Marys first chief financial officer in 2016 after serving as senior associate dean for finance and administration at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and executive director and chief operating officer of MCV Physicians.

Before that, she held a number of financial and administrative roles in higher education. Prior to her work at VCU, she was a legislative analyst for the Virginia Senate Finance Committee from 2003 to 2006, finance policy director at the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia from 2000 to 2002, a budget analyst for the Virginia Department of Planning and Budget from 1997 to 2000 and a research associate for the Education Commission of the States from 1995 to 1997.

Sam has been such a tremendous leader for both the university and Virginia higher education for decades, Sebring said. I am so grateful for his mentorship and the confidence President Rowe has expressed in my ability to step into the COO role. Its an important time for William & Mary, particularly as we set the universitys strategic course for the coming decade. I am excited about the work ahead and look forward to working in partnership with faculty, staff and students as we imagine and realize our future potential.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

The trade turnover between Turkey and Belarus increased by $59.8 million in 2019 compared to 2018, and amounted to $692.4 million, Turkeys Ministry of Trade told Trend.

Turkey's export to Belarus amounted to $532.2 million, and import from Belarus to $160.1 million.

In December 2019, the trade turnover between Turkey and Belarus increased by $7.7 million compared to December 2018, amounting to $66.3 million.

In this month, Turkeys export to Belarus amounted to $54.6 million, and import from Belarus amounted to $11.6 million.

Turkeys foreign trade turnover in 2019 exceeded $374.2 billion.

Turkey's export increased by 2.1 percent in 2019 and amounted to $171.5 billion compared to 2018. In the meantime, Turkey's import dropped by 9.1 percent and amounted to $202.7 billion.

In December 2019, export from Turkey increased by 6.4 percent compared to December 2018, exceeding $14.6 billion.

In this month, Turkey's import increased by 14.9 percent compared and reached $19 billion.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
That big, beautiful wall President Donald Trump never tires of carrying on about is becoming one of the most expensive campaign stunts ever. It is a potentially unconstitutional one as well, as the Defense Department prepares to divert more billions of dollars authorized by Congress from a variety of weapons programs to generate bragging rights for Trumps reelection campaign.

On Thursday, the Pentagon formally notified Congress that it would divert $3.8 billion to the Department of Homeland Security to build about 177 miles of fencing along the Mexican border. That will bring to nearly $10 billion what the administration has taken from defense accounts for wall construction, after a skeptical Congress authorized only $1.375 billion.

Lawmakers from both parties have assailed the White Houses raids on military funds as violating Congress constitutionally mandated power of the purse.

This latest effort to steal congressionally appropriated military funding undermines our national security and the separation of powers enshrined in our Constitution, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leaders, said in a joint statement.

The Pentagon said the money it was ceding would have gone to fighter jets, combat aircraft, ships and National Guard equipment. Instead, it will be used to put up 30-foot-high barriers along six sections of the border so Trump can boast that he is fulfilling his campaign promise, despite Congress repeated refusal to give him all the money he wants and lower court rulings that barred his use of other funds for the wall. Trump managed this in part by declaring a state of emergency a year ago to divert military funds, and in part thanks to a Supreme Court ruling that set aside lower court injunctions that prevented Trump from commandeering Pentagon cash to pay for the wall.

It has become almost tedious to recite the reasons this wall is a waste of money, starting with the fact that it was initially conjured up by Trumps campaign advisers, back when he was exploring a run for the White House, not as a solution to illegal border crossing but as a talking point to make sure that their man, famously resistant to reading from a script, would remember to talk about getting tough on immigration.

Once Trump was elected, the talking point that became his signature campaign promise then became the signature obsession of his presidency. The battle over its funding with a skeptical Congress led at one point to a partial government shutdown and the declaration of a state of emergency. Build the Wall became a mantra at Trumps rowdy rallies, the motto of mean-spirited and often cruel efforts to close Americas doors to immigrants, especially Muslims or immigrants of color, legal or illegal.

That does not mean there should be no barriers along the 1,954-mile long border. There are already 650 miles of fencing of various kinds, and most of what the administration has been doing so far is replacing the older barriers with an elaborate border wall system. The cost has been somewhere between $20 million and $30 million per mile in southern Texas (Israels wall on the West Bank, by contrast, cost at most $5 million a mile), and the price will only rise as the administration moves to acquire privately owned land through eminent domain, a process that entails lengthy and costly legal action.

That is a ridiculous price to pay so that the president can revel in chants of Build the Wall from followers, most of whom would surely vote for him with or without a wall.

Congress, aware that the wall is costly nonsense, ought not allow itself to be sidestepped. It could vote down the state of emergency  and the White House veto that would follow. It could then finally embrace its duty to write a long-overdue comprehensive immigration bill, based on American traditions of tolerance and humanity, that would include a reasonable and functional border barrier.

 The New York Times
As the Socialist Equality Partys candidate for vice president in the 2020 elections, I denounce the dictatorial moves of the Trump administration to deploy militarized border patrol agents to carry out raids and terrorize immigrant neighborhoods throughout the country.

The SEP demands an immediate end to all deportations, along with the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.

Norissa Santa Cruz

Trump is deploying teams from the SWAT-like unit known as BORTAC to sanctuary cities, where local governments have ordered police not to fully comply with federal immigration agents. The cities targeted are Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, and Newark, New Jersey.

These squads, which have received Special Forces-type training, include members trained as snipers. They are directed to tear apart families with brute military force. They are also aimed at creating an atmosphere of intimidation and fear in working class immigrant neighborhoods and cities where Trump is unable to make an appearance due to his extreme unpopularity.

These actions are part of the Trump administrations fascistic measures aimed at stoking extreme nationalism and targeting immigrants and refugees.

The Democratic Party is fully complicit in the Trump administrations anti-immigrant policies. Under President Barack Obama, millions were deported, and a network of concentration camps was established, which Trump is using to imprison tens of thousands, including children.

The Democrats worked systematically to suppress and channel popular opposition to Trump that erupted after his election, including over his anti-immigrant policies. They have ensured the continued funding of the immigrant detention apparatus and have done nothing to oppose the illegal transfer of billions of dollars to build a border wall with Mexico.

Bernie Sanders, who has surged to the top of the polls in the Democratic Party, does not represent an alternative. Sanders is playing a critical role in channeling mass opposition among workers and youth behind the right-wing Democratic Party. Sanders, moreover, infamously called open borders a Koch brothers proposal and has praised Obama, the deporter-in-chief, as a model.

The attack on immigrants is an attack on the entire working class. The ruling class wants the population to get used to the sight of unmarked cars dragging people away in broad daylight to internment camps, never to be seen again. It wants to pit workers against one another along nationalist lines, so that they do not unite against the real enemycapitalism.

The Socialist Equality Party fights for the international unity of the working class against capitalism and an end to the nation-state system. We oppose the attacks on immigrants and the attempt by the far-right movements to blame them for the crisis of American society.

All workers in the United States must take a stand to oppose the bipartisan attacks on immigrants. The measures which are being used against immigrants today, including the deployment of the militarized federal force, will be used against all workers to suppress protests and strikes.

Against the militarization of borders and the persecution of immigrants, the SEP stands for open borders: the right of all workers to live in the country they choose, with full citizenship rights, including the right to work and travel without fear of deportation or repression.

The defense of immigrants must be connected to a socialist program to guarantee everyone has the right to a decent, good-paying job, free healthcare, free education, a clean environment, access to culture, and a world free from war and violence.

The resources exist to meet these social rights for all workers. The problem is the capitalist system and the monopolization of the vast majority of humanitys wealth by a tiny corporate and financial elite.

Capitalism has shown us the only future it can offer: walls, repression, war. Against this madness we call for socialism: a world economy run in the interests of human need, not private profit.

All those who want to defend immigrants and unite the working class in the struggle for socialism against capitalism should join and support our election campaign. Visit socialism2020.org to sign up today!
By Trend

Azerbaijan and Poland are planning a conference on transportation sector, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Marcin Przydacz told Trend.

"We constantly exchange invitations addressed to government officials and business representatives to attend economic events in both countries. One of the most important bilateral events will be a next session of the Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Cooperation to be organized this year in Baku. It can be a good occasion for the business to business meetings as well. Together with Azerbaijani partners we plan to organize a conference dedicated to perspectives of bilateral cooperation in the transportation sector," he said.

The deputy minister said Poland considers Azerbaijan as one of the most important economic partners in the region.

"Our relations are focused, among others, on improving market access conditions and solving possible problems highlighted by entrepreneurs from both countries. According to the Polish statistics results of our bilateral trade are still not high. Polish export to Azerbaijan amounted to $75 million in January-November 2019 and import from Azerbaijan to Poland only $5 million in the first 11 months of the previous year. Poland is the sixth supplier of goods to Azerbaijan among EU countries, but the share of trade with Azerbaijan is marginal in the Polish total external trade. The situation is unsatisfactory to Poland and Azerbaijan," said Przydacz.

The deputy minister said the two countries do their best, including through governmental, diplomatic and business channels, to intensify trade and investment agenda in the bilateral relations.

"We have to take into account the existing conditions in trade between our countries and hope for concluding the negotiating process between the EU and Azerbaijan on the new cooperation agreement with ambitious legal framework in its economic part. It could give a new impetus to our trade and investment relations," he said.

Przydacz went on to add that Poland sees a growing potential in the spheres of machinery, agriculture, transport, logistics, chemistry, IT, shipbuilding, tourism and electronics.

"There are possibilities in developing the cooperation in the agricultural sector in trade in food products and machinery. We are ready for cooperation in transportation including in development of multimodal corridors, tourism and industry. There are Polish companies representing pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry, IT, furniture producers, firms from agricultural and food sector and machinery manufacturers interested in Azerbaijani market," he said.

The deputy minister pointed out that the trade representations of both countries are operating in Warsaw and Baku.

"We would like to see more Azerbaijani companies visiting the trade office of the Polish Agency for Trade and Investment opened in Baku in order to learn more on the possible cooperation perspectives in various branches and get information on potential Polish business partners. The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and our Embassy in Baku are always ready as well to support and assist in developing of Polish  Azerbaijani relations, including in the economic sphere," he added.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
COPENHAGEN - A Norwegian man suspected of killing his stepsister and then storming an Oslo mosque with firearms with the intention to kill as many Muslims as possible was formally charged Monday with murder and terror.

Philip Manshaus was overpowered inside the Al-Noor Islamic Center mosque in suburban Oslo in August. He fired six shots but didnt hit anyone. One person was slightly injured when they jumped on Manshaus inside the mosque and held him until police arrived.

The prosecution says Manshaus, 22, is suspected of killing his 17-year-old stepsister, Johanne Zhangjia Ihle-Hansen, by shooting her four times  three in the head and one in the chest  with a hunting rifle at their home in the Oslo suburb of Baerum.

Shortly after that, Manshaus drove to a nearby mosque where three men were preparing for Eid al-Adha celebrations. He wore a helmet with a video camera attached and a bulletproof vest, according to the charge sheet obtained by The Associated Press.

Armed with a hunting rifle and a shotgun, Manshaus fired four shots with the rifle at a glass door before he was overpowered by one of the men in the mosque at the time, Muhammad Rafiq. During the scuffle, Manshaus fired two more shots but no one was hit.

A trial is scheduled to start May 7 in Oslo.

Norwegian media have reported that Manshaus was inspired by shootings in March 2019 in New Zealand, where a gunman targeted two mosques, killing 51 people, and in August 2019 in El Paso, Texas, where an assailant targeted Hispanics and left at least 22 dead.

Norways domestic security agency PST said it had a vague tip about Manshaus a year before the Aug. 19 shooting, but it was not enough to act on because they had no information about any concrete plans of attack.
While Bernie Sanders was speaking at a rally in Nevada, those watching the live feed saw a woman storm the stage and seize the microphone from his hands. She turned out to be an activist from Direct Action Everywhere, an animal liberation movement.

After castigating Bernie for daring to support those American farmers who raise animals for milk and meat, the live feed cut off. That's a shame, because it was when the video cameras were gone that the fun really started.

What you see watching the video is a young woman with long black hair and scarlet lipstick jumping up from the crowd and wresting the microphone from Bernie's unwilling hands as he repeatedly tries to tug it back. Eventually, a frail old man undone by her youthful animal strength, Bernie stalks off in high dudgeon. In the meantime, the woman has the stage.

"Bernie," she says, "I'm your biggest supporter and I'm here to ask you to stop propping up the dairy industry and to stop propping up animal agriculture. I believe in you..."

And then the mic is cut off. Strong men come on stage, and the woman vanishes. As they deal with the woman, though, the real fun begins. Suddenly, several women appear on the stage, including one who is nude from the waist up. The women unfurl banners, one of which reads, "Let dairy die." And then the video feed ends.

Bernie supporter pleads to #LetDairyDie in his rally live stream! Gets in a few sentences before audio is cut, & the banners from the rest of the group are visible for quite a while before the video feed is itself cut. Thank you for such a brave action @priyadxe27 @DxEverywhere!! pic.twitter.com/tyVFsFEUoJ  AJ Jivdaya (@bunnydad_aj) February 16, 2020

The Daily Mail describes what happened next:

[T]opless women mounted the stage and poured colored liquids over their bodies from containers marked 'milk.' They had the words 'dairy' and 'die' written across their nude torsos, with their bosoms fully displayed. Sanders and his wife, Jane, stepped off to the side of the stage as the women carried on. Jane laughed in amusement as Sanders looked on in peevish annoyance. Security guards intervened and dragged the topless women off the stage. Sanders quickly resumed his speech, shrugging off the bizarre protest.

If you want to see just how bizarre a spectacle it was, the Daily Mail has AP's still photos from the event.

It's obvious from the photos that these activists are exhibitionists who are excited by displaying themselves to the crowd in bizarre ways. That is, one doesn't sense this is as much about dairy cows as it is about women getting pleasure from displaying their own mammary glands to the public.

Alternatively, these people are simply nuts.

One of the realities of human life is that our bodies benefit from animal products. Thousands of years ago, humans began domesticating animals to have these protein and mineral sources available because they make human life better.

In colonial times, one of the things that always struck people from England and Europe when they went to the colonies was how much bigger and healthier the colonial citizens were than their British and continental forebears. The difference was an abundance of food, especially animal proteins and minerals that were available only to the rich in the Old World.

Another reality is that animals, while they have every living creature's will to live, lack existential awareness. The cow does not graze in the fields and worry about imminent death or being milked, nor does the chicken pecking at grubs have nightmares about Colonel Sanders. These animals also don't fret that their pleasure in day-to-day existence comes about only because humans bred them for human necessities.

As civilized creatures, we humans have an obligation to treat the animals in our care well. Agribusinesses that torture animals in life or use cruel methods to slaughter them should be subject to sanction and closure. That puts us one step ahead of Nature, red of tooth and claw. Nevertheless, our bodies are still tied to Nature, which means we do best with the proteins and minerals only animals can supply.
Governor Roy Cooper ordered all United States and North Carolina flags at state facilities to be lowered today to half-staff until sunset on Wednesday, Feb. 19 in honor of former state Lt. Gov. Robert "Bob" Jordan, who passed away Sunday, according to a news release from the governor's office.

In 1984, Jordan was elected lieutenant governor, serving from 1985 to 1988. He previously served as a state senator from 1976 to 1984. A service celebrating Jordan's life will be Wednesday, Feb. 19 at the West Montgomery High School Auditorium in Mt. Gilead, NC, the release stated.

"Today we lost a great North Carolinian with the passing of my friend and former Lt. Governor Bob Jordan," Cooper stated in the release. "He was passionate about education and made a real difference helping people from all walks of life. Our prayers are with his entire family, especially his wife Sarah and his granddaughter Cole."

As a show of respect, individuals, businesses, schools, municipalities, counties and other government subdivisions are encouraged to fly the flag at half-staff for the duration of time indicated, the release stated.
BERLIN (AP)  More than 100 Germans evacuated from the hard-hit Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of a new coronavirus outbreak, were set to end their prescribed 14-day quarantine period on Sunday.

They have been kept isolated at a military base in the southern town of Germersheim. None of them have tested positive for the disease, German news agency dpa reported.

The viral outbreak that emerged in China in December has infected more than 69,000 people globally, killing 1,665 people in mainland China and five others elsewhere. The World Health Organization has named the illness COVID-19.

Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, meanwhile, announced Sunday that Italy will send a plane to Japan to bring back the 35 Italians aboard the Diamond Princess, the cruise ship that has had 355 passengers and crew test positive for the new virus.

Twenty-five of those Italians are crew members on the ship, including the cruise ships captain. Italys ministries of defense, foreign affairs and health as well as civil protection officials were working out the logistics. No date for the flight has been announced yet.

British officials announced Sunday that more than 3,100 people in the U.K. had been tested for the virus but there have been no new positive results beyond the nine who were successfully treated and discharged.

European nations have reported 47 cases of the virus in nine countries. France on Saturday announced the first death of a virus patient in Europe and outside of Asia, an 80-year-old Chinese tourist in Paris.

Chinese authorities have placed some 60 million people under a strict lockdown, built emergency hospitals and instituted tight controls across the country to fight the spread of the virus.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has praised China's intensive measures and urged other governments to step up their own anti-virus efforts, saying "its impossible to predict which direction this epidemic will take.

Story continues

We must use the window of opportunity we have to intensify our preparedness, he told foreign policy and security leaders at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. "China has bought the world time. We dont know how much time.

___

Frank Jordans in Berlin and Frances D'Emilio in Rome contributed.

___

Read all the AP stories about the coronavirus outbreak that emerged from China at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak
The backpackers in Australia can have their visas extended if they contribute to the bushfire recovery. The foreigners who have work, live, or travel visa have to complete certain types of work along with Down Under in order to extend their permit for another year. However, according to international media reports, the Australian government is planning out new rules that would allow such people to get more time in Australia if they choose to help the communities most affected by the severe bushfires that have rocked the country for several months.

Read - China Calls Australias Ban On Huawei thorny Issue, Accuses Of Discrimination

Australia's media outlet has reported that the country's government will add the option of volunteering in communities to the list of available places that contribute to the extension of the visa. Furthermore, the construction work in disaster zones will also count. The Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge told an Australian newspaper that the hardworking Australians have been hit by recent bushfires, however, they now they can employ backpackers for six months longer, helping them at a critical time in the recovery effort.

Read - GM Says It's Pulling Out Of Australia, NZ, Thailand

Work to be led by locals

The recovery work will reportedly be led by local workers and communities. Tudge also mentioned how it will contribute to the massive recovery effort and urged the businesses and charitable organisations to have a number of boots on the ground for help. According to other media reports, the Acting Immigration Minister is expected to disclose more details of the proposal later in regional Victoria. With the new development, the Australian authorities are hoping to not only those who wish to stay in Australia but also the locals and businesses that have been affected with the wildfire season.

Just last week, the Rural Fire Service in New South Wales declared that the fire in the area has been contained. It was also the first time since the bushfire season began late last year that the NSW was in a position to make such an announcement. The department further credited the success in containing wildfires to the Bravehearts who were at the forefront of the relief work.

In what has been a very traumatic, exhausting and anxious bush fire season so far, for the first time this season all bush and grass fires in NSW are now contained.

It has taken a lot of work by firefighters, emergency services and communities to get to this point. #nswrfs pic.twitter.com/RhqmcYhJ1j  NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) February 13, 2020

Read - GM Plans To Pull Out Of Australia, New Zealand And Thailand

Read - India To Play A Day-night Test Against Australia Down Under Confirms Sourav Ganguly
Sri Anandpur Sahib MP Manish Tewari on Monday said the central government under the leadership of Narendra Modi was a threat to not only the secular structure of Indian society and polity but also to the essence of the constitution of India.

Tewari was delivering a presidential address at Government Mohindra College, Patiala, during a two-day international conference Challenges To Indian Polity And Governance: Present Scenario And Future Agenda.

We are living in the most sensitive times since the India gained independence, Tewari said: India, its foundation and the constitution, are under threat from non-secular forces. No one religion can be the foundation of Indian democracy and polity because the division of India and the Islamic state of Pakistan was made on the premise that India will remain a secular state.

On the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC), he said, Through the implementation of the CAA and NRC, the incumbent government is defying the idea of a secular nation that our forefathers had envisioned for us in the Constitution.

He alleged that the economy was performing poorly due to the mismanagement of the central government.

On AAPs chances in Punjab after its victory in Delhi, Tewari said, There is no greater dynamic leader in Punjab other than Captain Amarinder Singh. The chief minister is the undisputed leader and enjoys the confidence of every section of society. Its because of the CM that Congress won eight Lok Sabha seats in Punjab while the neighbouring states have no Congress member of parliament.
Those who remember Nickelodeon back in the 90s and early 2000s may recall Amanda Bynes and her childhood in the spotlight. Known for shows like All That and The Amanda Show, Bynes took an early leap into fame. And movies like Shes the Man solidified her legacy as a force to be reckoned with.

Unfortunately, Bynes had a serious fall from grace that involved legal trouble and mental health issues. By 2016, she picked up the pieces from her life and moved forward. But now, in 2020, its hard to say how shes doing. After she posted a photo to her Instagram showing her with a crooked face tattoo, she even more recently showed off her engagement ring and her alleged fiance. And her Instagram followers are confused by all of it, as they think shes been wearing that ring for quite some time.

Amanda Bynes resurfaced after years of absence

Amanda Bynes attends the Michael Costello and Style PR Capsule Collection launch party on July 23, 2015 | David Livingston/Getty Images

We know Bynes best for her work in Hollywood as a child and early teen. But now, her reputation has been totally tarnished. Back in 2012, Bynes was arrested for hitting a police officers car. And she was later caught driving without a license and getting involved with multiple hit-and-run accidents.

By 2013, Bynes was arrested for smoking marijuana, and it all came to a head when she was caught setting a fire in a driveway in California. This led to her psychiatric evaluation. And, of course, the media caught wind that things were amiss with Bynes, so negative coverage followed.

Bynes explained to Paper in 2018 that once she retired from acting, she started hanging out with a seedier crowd and I isolated a lot.  I got really into my drug usage and it became a really dark, sad world for me.

While many outlets reported on Bynes downward spiral, her access to social media didnt help, either. She frequently posted derogatory and embarrassing remarks on Twitter that didnt help her image.

And Im so sorry to whoever I hurt and whoever I lied about because it truly eats away at me. It makes me feel so horrible and sick to my stomach and sad, Bynes told Paper. Everything I worked my whole life to achieve, I kind of ruined it all through Twitter.

She recently posted photos of an engagement ring to Instagram

Bynes interview with Paper gave fans a ton of insight into what was going on during the time of her downfall. And many hoped that this meant the young star was getting the help she needed to carry on with her career. But more recent events are worrying many. Bynes debuted a heart tattoo on her face via Instagram on Dec. 30, 2019. And now, shes showing off her alleged engagement ring.

Engaged to tha love of my life, Bynes captioned her photo of her hand with the ring on Feb. 15. And her hand appears to be on top of her lovers hand in the photo.

Then, on the same day, Bynes added a photo of the man in question. Lover, she captioned the post showing her alleged fiance next to her.

Since those two posts, Bynes continued to add Instagram content. She added two selfies (one with friends), and another of her pants and shoes with the caption, Lookin like a hoodrat.

Bynes followers are confused and concerned

Since all of the negative press about Bynes came to light in the past, many are concerned about her post regarding her engagement. And others accused Bynes of lying, as they swear theyve seen her with that same ring in the past.

Press on nails and fake ring wtf, a follower wrote.

Yet another added, she wearing the same ring in her previous upload from like last week???

Another wrote, with her you never know! He/She could very well be married or not even exist.

And another added, Cause a week ago you had that same ring on so just curious.

Some of her followers defended her, though.

It doesnt say she just got engaged. It says shes engaged. Maybe shes been engaged for ten years now. Who knows, one of Bynes followers clapped back.

Were not sure what the real scoop is, as Bynes hasnt publicly spoken about the ring or engagement. But were hoping to get more details soon.

Check out Showbiz Cheat Sheet on Facebook!
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang's Daily Briefing Online on February 17, 2020

2020/02/17

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will be in Vientiane, the Laos from February 19 to 21 to co-chair the Special ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers' Meeting on Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) with Foreign Secretary Teodoro Lopez Locsin of current ASEAN-China country coordinator the Philippines. Other ASEAN foreign ministers will attend the meeting.

Invited by Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith of the Laos, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will co-chair the fifth Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Foreign Ministers' Meeting and pay a visit to the Laos.

I'd like to share some latest numbers with you. According to this morning's update from the National Health Commission (NHC), February 16 saw 1,425 patients cured and discharged from hospital in China's mainland, bringing the total number of cured cases to 10,844.

New confirmed cases in China excluding Hubei Province stood at 115 on February 16, marking a decline for the 13th consecutive day.

Q: Could you talk about the background and considerations for State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi's attendance at the ASEAN-China Special Foreign Ministers' Meeting on the novel coronavirus?

A: As close neighbors linked by mountains and rivers, China and ASEAN countries share the tradition of supporting each other through thick and thin. Back in 2003, the Special ASEAN-China Leaders Meeting on SARS was held in response to the outbreak. Since the COVID-19 epidemic broke out, China and ASEAN countries have been in close communication and collaboration. That the two sides have decided to hold a special foreign ministers' meeting within such a short period of time demonstrates our will and determination to overcome difficulties with concerted efforts.

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will talk about China's strong measures on countering the epidemic and exchange in-depth views on collaboration with ASEAN counterparts to advance joint prevention and control, maintain normal economic and social exchange, and explore launching a permanent mechanism on public health cooperation. By doing so, we will safeguard the health and safety of people in regional countries and contribute to global public health.

There will also be a China-ASEAN medical experts' meeting to be held in parallel with the foreign ministers' meeting.

Q: The Federal Register published a notice on February 14 that the US has decided to impose sanctions on six Chinese enterprises, three Russian ones, one in Iraq and one in Turkey pursuant to its Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Act. I was wondering if you have any comment?

A: China has lodged stern representations with the US side. We firmly oppose unilateral sanctions and "long-arm jurisdiction" imposed by the US citing domestic law. We urge it to correct its mistake at once and withdraw the sanctions.

China is committed to strengthening the international non-proliferation regime, strictly fulfilling its international obligation on non-proliferation and maintaining communication and cooperation with other countries on the basis of mutual respect.

By contrast, in non-proliferation and other areas, the US has been obsessed with unilateralism. It wantonly imposes unilateral sanctions and "long-arm jurisdiction" on others, which has been rejected by the international community as it severely undermines other countries' interests and international efforts to address non-proliferation issues and safeguard peace and stability. The Iranian nuclear issue is a case in point. We urge the US to face squarely the international community's concerns and earnestly respect other countries' legitimate rights and interests.

Q: I wonder if you could share China's expectations of the upcoming Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Foreign Ministers' Meeting?

A: The Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) is the first new-type sub-regional framework initiated by riparian countries with extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits. Since its establishment nearly four years ago, it has been developing rapidly with remarkable outcomes. China sets great store by this mechanism. Through this meeting, we look forward to in-depth discussions with LMC countries to review past experience, identify future priorities, advance the building of an LMC economic belt and foster an LMC community with a shared future.

Q: Reports have emerged that from the Cold War era to the early years of the 21st century, US intelligence controlled the Swiss company Crypto AG's encoding devices to spy on other countries while pocketing millions of dollars. The company sold the devices to foreign governments and companies. The machines were encrypted but US intelligence could crack the codes and intercept messages from more than 120 countries worldwide. What is your comment?

A: The new expose reminds us of last Monday when the US indicted four Chinese military personnel on charges of hacking into an American credit reporting agency. As I responded to a related question last week, the US government and relevant departments, in violation of international law and basic norms governing international relations, have conducted large-scale, organized and indiscriminate cyber theft, tapping and surveillance on foreign governments, businesses and individuals, a fact already well-known to all.

The US, on the one hand, has been collecting nearly five billion mobile phone call records across the globe on a daily basis, eavesdropping on German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cellphone conversations for more than a decade, controlling over 3 million Chinese computers and implanting Trojan Horse in more than 3,600 Chinese websites on an annual basis. It is a tawdry trick that while doing so, it keeps playing victim of cyber attack, like a thief crying "stop thief". Its hypocrisy on the issue of cyber security could not be clearer. It has no honor and credibility to speak of in front of other countries.

Facts have proven time and again that as the largest state actor of espionage in the cyber space, the US is worthy of the name of "empire of hackers". The sky's the limit with the US when it comes to spying.

The dust has yet to settle over WikiLeaks and Snowden revelations. Explanations are still owed. Now the Crypto AG incident adds another to the tally, one more thing for the US to clarify to the world.

Q: Pakistan's National Assembly has passed a resolution supporting China in its battle against the new coronavirus outbreak. It also appreciated China's effective measures under the leadership of President Xi Jinping to deal with the situation. What's your comment?

A: China highly commends Pakistan for passing the resolution. China and Pakistan are close neighbors with a fine tradition of mutual assistance. This resolution once again fully demonstrates how the Chinese and Pakistani people share weal and woe, and once again proves that China and Pakistan are a community with a shared future. We stand together in times of difficulty and render mutual assistance to each other. We are deeply grateful for Pakistan's trust and confidence in us.

We are ready to strengthen cooperation with the international community including Pakistan to jointly tackle the epidemic and promote global public health. We also stand ready to strengthen communication and coordination with Pakistan in a highly responsible manner to safeguard the health and safety of Pakistanis in China.

Q: ASEAN issued a chairman's statement on February 15 expressing support for China's efforts against the NCP (COVID-19). I wonder if you have any comment?

A: China noted that in the chairman's statement ASEAN countries expressed support for the Chinese government and people in their tremendous endeavors to counter the outbreak of COVID-19, and affirmed their consistent policies of maintaining their economies and borders open.

China and ASEAN countries have the tradition of mutual assistance in times of adversity. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the two sides have been in close communication and cooperation. On February 20, the two sides will hold the Special ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers' Meeting on Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) to exchange in-depth views on jointly fighting against the epidemic to safeguard regional health security.

Q: Since the epidemic broke out, overseas Chinese have been actively providing support to China. Some say this is the result of mobilization efforts of the Chinese government. What do you say to this?

A: It is a noble Chinese tradition to always extend a helping hand to those in need. For people with Chinese roots, even if they are living at the other end of the world, their hearts are with the motherland.

Many overseas Chinese, whether with Chinese or foreign citizenship, have been contacting our embassies and consulates to express care and support. With their efforts, assistance in various means have poured in from over 200 countries and regions to help fight the virus.

One day before passing away, a 98-year-old Chinese who lived a frugal life donated 100 US dollars to Wuhan. We saw another working up a sweat in a freezing temperature organizing a fund-raising event. Several newly-graduates, when told donors' names are needed to clear customs, wrote down the words: daughters and sons of the Chinese nation. At fundraisers on campus, one student after another donated their gift money to help the motherland.

So many have stated the same readiness to do their utmost to help. We are deeply moved by their genuine and heartfelt compassion, and commend and appreciate their selfless support and generous assistance.

Adversity reveals a nation's cohesion and fighting spirit like nothing else. We have every confidence that with the strong leadership of the Chinese government, the solidarity of the Chinese people, the joint efforts of all Chinese descendants, and the understanding and support of the international community, we will prevail over the epidemic at an early date.

Q: Do you think this epidemic will affect China's trade, cooperation projects and cultural exchange with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)? If so, what have you done to counter these impacts?

A: The outbreak has indeed posed a challenge to China's economy and foreign exchange. But it is only temporary. The Chinese economy has great resilience, potential and vitality. We have the confidence and capacity to defeat the virus.

We appreciate and laud the political and material assistance from BRI partners after the epidemic broke out. We will continue to work with them for high-quality BRI cooperation while jointly overcoming difficulties on the way ahead.

Q: There have been more confirmed cases of COVID-19 across Japan. An expert panel there believes that the country is in the early stage of an outbreak and it is becoming more difficult to control its spread. The Japanese government made it clear that the epidemic has reached a new stage and it will adjust approach and strengthen prevention and control measures. How do you comment on the spread of the disease in Japan? Will China step up cooperation with Japan? Are you prepared to offer support or assistance?

A: China is closely following the developments in Japan, and we completely relate to what they are going through.

Virus knows no border, but the worst of times reveals the best in people. Stronger international cooperation, especially between neighbors, is needed to jointly tackle this challenge. The Japanese government and people from all walks of life have offered sincere support and assistance to China. We will never forget this and is deeply grateful. The situation in China is still severe. While making strenuous efforts to counter the epidemic at home, we stand ready to share further information and experience with Japan and assist it to the best of our capabilities as the need arises. In fact, specific arrangements are already being made in this regard.

We will remain in close communication and coordination with Japan and strengthen cooperation in epidemic control to jointly protect lives and health of our peoples and uphold regional and global public health security.

Q: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in a meeting on February 14 that although China has achieved rapid development, NATO does not see China as an adversary and stands ready to strengthen relations with it. What is your comment?

A: We've already issued a press release on State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi's meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. You may refer to it.

I want to stress that China is committed to peaceful development and win-win cooperation and adheres to a national defense policy that is defensive in nature. There is no geopolitical conflict or competition between China and NATO members. We appreciate Secretary General Stoltenberg's remarks that NATO does not see China as an adversary, and note NATO's readiness to enhance ties with China.

We hope that NATO will continue to foster a correct view of China and regard it as a friend and partner. China stands ready to strengthen dialogue and cooperation with NATO on the basis of equality and mutual respect.

Q: Can you confirm that the rule requiring a 14-day quarantine for anyone returning to Beijing also applies to foreigners and people traveling from overseas? If so, can you share any details about how this will be enforced and the consequences of breaking it? Another question, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said after talks with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday that China should not label all Muslim ethnic Uighurs as terrorists. Does China have a response to his comments?

A: On your first question, the Leading Group of Beijing New Coronavirus Pneumonia Epidemic Prevention and Control Office has issued an announcement. I would refer you to the competent authorities of Beijing for details.

On you second question, China has issued a press release on State Councilor Wang Yi's meeting with Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on the sidelines of the MSC. You can look it up.

I want to stress that China follows a system of regional autonomy for ethnic minorities. All ethnic groups are equal and pursue prosperity and development together with their legal rights and interests guaranteed. Issues about Xinjiang are never about human rights or religion. They are about countering separatism and violent terrorism. The counter-terrorism and de-radicalization measures Xinjiang has taken have effectively protected the right to subsistence and development of all ethnic groups there and have won general approval from the international community including Islamic countries.

Q: Media say WHO experts arrived in Beijing yesterday and held the first meeting with Chinese experts. Can you confirm that and tell us who are on the foreign expert panel? Are there any American experts? Which three provinces will the joint mission visit?

A: As far as I know, the foreign experts in the China-WHO Joint Mission have arrived in Beijing and started their work. There are experts from the US in the mission. They will conduct field trips in Beijing, Guangdong and Sichuan.

As for the details, I would refer you to the NHC.

Q: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper lambasted China's social system and domestic and foreign policy at the 56th Munich Security Conference, leveling groundless accusations on issues including Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the South China Sea, and alleging Chinese infiltration in US federal and local governments. What's your comment?

A: Secretary Pompeo and Secretary Esper went all out to discredit the CPC, China's political system and domestic and foreign policy at the Munich Security Conference. These attempts to spread political falsehoods to the world reveal their shocking ignorance, prejudice and hypocrisy. But people are not to be fooled so easily. Just as State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi refuted then and there, all the US accusations against China are lies, not facts.

I want to stress that China follows the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics and has achieved enormous success. The leadership of the CPC, its defining feature, is a historical choice made by the Chinese people. We will stay true to it and forge ahead for greater progress. Anyone seeking to stand in our way should think twice.

China follows the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence when developing friendly state-to-state relations. At the same time, we resolutely defend our sovereignty and legitimate security and development interests. Taiwan and Hong Kong are purely domestic affairs that allow no foreign interference. Chinese sovereignty over Nansha Islands and relevant waters are supported by ample historical and legal basis. That being said, we stand for resolving differences through dialogue and consultation by parties directly concerned. Mr. Pompeo and others confused right and wrong and made up lies in an attempt to interfere in China's internal affairs, disrupt its stability and development, and poison its relations with other countries. Such tricks are bound to fail.

China always acts in accordance with international law and bilateral agreements with the US when interacting with US governments at all levels, the purpose of which is to promote mutual understanding, exchange and cooperation, thus legitimate, lawful, open, aboveboard, and beyond reproach.

This is the third time in a week that Mr. Pompeo has made negative comments on China. He would keep up the anti-China rattle wherever he goes. This is hardly what one expects in a secretary of state of a major country in the 21st century. Rather it would fit the behavior of a politician in the Cold War era better. We advise Mr. Pompeo and his likes to discard their zero-sum and Cold War mindset and ideological prejudice, stop attacking China's political system and domestic and foreign policies, stop undermining normal exchange and cooperation, and focus more on tasks befitting his role as secretary of state.
Iran will never hold talks with the United States under pressure, President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday, adding that Tehrans help was essential in establishing security in the Middle East.

Relations between Tehran and Washington reached crisis point in 2018 after U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned a 2015 pact between Iran and world powers under which Tehran accepted curbs to its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of sanctions.

Tensions spiked further following the killing of Irans most prominent military commander Qassem Soleimani on Jan. 3 by U.S. drone attacks at Baghdad airport. In retaliation, Iran attacked U.S. targets in Iraq in January.

Trump has adopted a policy of maximum pressure to force Tehran to negotiate a broader deal that further curbs Irans nuclear work, ends its missile programme and its involvement in regional proxy wars.

Iran will never negotiate under pressure ... We will never yield to Americas pressure and we will not negotiate from a position of weakness, Rouhani said in a televised news conference.

Although the reimposed U.S. sanctions have crippled Irans economy, slashing its oil exports, Tehran has repeatedly dismissed talks over any new deal, saying they are possible only if the United States returns to the pact and lifts trade curbs.

Americas maximum pressure towards Iran is doomed to failure ... our enemy (the United States) is very well aware that their pressure is inefficient, Rouhani said.

Iran has been involved in decades of regional proxy wars with its key regional rival Saudi Arabia, from Syria to Iraq. European and Arab states have since scrambled to avert a full-fledged conflict between the two sides.

Securing peace and stability in the sensitive region of Middle East and in the Persian Gulf is impossible without Irans help, Rouhani said.

Several countries have delivered messages to us (from Saudi Arabia) ... we dont have issues with Saudi Arabia that cannot be resolved, he said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Saturday Riyadh had contacted Iran after the killing of Soleimani, but when Iran had responded the contact had ended. He suggested the United States had pressured Riyadh.

Zarifs comments were dismissed by his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud who said there had been neither private messages nor direct contacts between the two countries.
Government-owned GAIL India Ltd said on Monday that Manoj Jain has assumed charge as its Chairman and Managing Director.

He was till now Director for Development. Earlier, he served as Chairman of GAIL Global (USA) Inc, GAIL Global (USA) LNG LLC and Konkan LNG Pvt Ltd.

A mechanical engineer with an MBA in operations management, Jain joined GAIL as a graduate engineer trainee in 1985 and rose through the ranks to his current position.

Jain also worked in the operation and maintenance of natural gas pipelines and played a significant role in establishing the National Gas Management Centre (NGMC).

He is an expert in systems and procedures for transmission and marketing of comingled gases, according to an official statement.

.

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



injured on Monday when a speeding school bus overturned in Shohratgarh area of Siddharthnagar district here, police said.

The incident took place in the morning when the bus carrying 25 children of Saraswati Shishu Mandir lost control and overturned, they said.

The injured students were rushed to the hospital where their condition is stated to be stable, police said.

"A case has been registered against the driver, Prem Sagar, under various sections of IPC, including Section 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way) and Section 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others)," Shohratgarh SHO Ramashish Yadav said.

Efforts are on to trace the absconding driver, he said.

Parents of the students admitted in the hospital told reporters that the bus driver was drunk at the time of the incident, and that they had made verbal complaints against him in the past.

District Magistrate Deepak Meena said the driver escaped from the scene after the incident.

If it is found after the medical test that Sagar was under the influence of alcohol, certainly requisite action will be taken against him, he said.

Meena said the parents never made any complaint against the driver with the district administration, adding if they had submitted a written complaint against the driver in the school, strict action will be taken.

Taking cognisance of the incident, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath asked the district administration to provide all help to the victims' families.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
MILAN  The cardinals response was not what Yolanda Martinez had expected  or could abide.

Her son had been sexually abused by a priest of the Legion of Christ, a disgraced religious order. And now she was calling Cardinal Valasio De Paolis  the Vatican official appointed by the pope to lead the Legion and to clean it up  to report the settlement the group was offering, and to express her outrage.

The terms: Martinezs family would receive 15,000 euros ($16,300) from the order. But in return, her son would have to recant the testimony he gave to Milan prosecutors that the priest had repeatedly assaulted him when he was a 12-year-old student at the orders youth seminary in northern Italy. He would have to lie.

The cardinal did not seem shocked. He did not share her indignation.

Instead, he chuckled. He said she shouldnt sign the deal, but should try to work out another agreement without attorneys: Lawyers complicate things. Even Scripture says that among Christians we should find agreement.

The conversation between the aggrieved mother and Pope Benedict XVIs personal envoy was wiretapped. The tape  as well as the six-page settlement proposal  are key pieces of evidence in a criminal trial opening next month in Milan. Prosecutors allege that Legion lawyers and priests tried to obstruct justice, and extort Martinezs family by offering them money to recant testimony to prosecutors in hopes of quashing a criminal investigation into the abusive priest, Vladimir Resendiz Gutierrez.

Lawyers for the five suspects declined to comment. The Legion says they have professed innocence. A spokesman said that at the time, the Legion didnt have in place the uniform child protection policies and guidelines that are now mandatory across the order.

De Paolis is beyond earthly justice  he died in 2017 and there is no evidence he knew of, or approved, the settlement offer before it was made. But the tape and documents seized when police raided the Legions headquarters in 2014 show that he had turned a blind eye to superiors who protected pedophiles.

In addition, the evidence shows that when De Paolis first learned about Resendizs crimes in 2011, he approved an in-house canonical investigation but didnt report the priest to police. And when he learned two years later that other Legion priests were apparently trying to impede the criminal investigation into his crimes, the popes delegate didnt report that either.

And a few hours after he spoke with Martinez, De Paolis opened the Legions 2014 assembly where he formally ended the mandate given to him by Benedict to reform and purify the religious order. The Legion had been cured and cleaned, he said.

In fact, his mission hadnt really been accomplished.

___

Benedict had entrusted De Paolis, one of the Vaticans most respected canon lawyers, to turn the Legion around in 2010, after revelations that its founder, the late Rev. Marcial Maciel, had raped his seminarians, fathered three children and built a cult-like order to hide his crimes.

There had been calls for the Vatican to suppress the Legion. But Benedict decided against it, apparently determining in part that the order was too big and too rich to fail. Instead, he opted for a process of reform, giving De Paolis the broadest possible powers to rebuild the Legion from the ground up and saying it must undergo a profound process of purification and renewal.

But De Paolis refused from the start to remove any of Maciels old guard, who remain in power today. He refused to investigate the cover-up of Maciels crimes. He refused to reopen old allegations of abuse by other priests, even when serial rapists remained in the Legions ranks, unpunished.

More generally, he did not come to grips with the orders deep-seated culture of sexual abuse, cover-up and secrecy  and its long record of avoiding law enforcement and dismissing, discrediting and silencing victims. As a result, even onetime Legion supporters now openly question his reform, which was dismissed as ineffective by the Legions longtime critics.

They always try to control victims, minimize them, defame them, accuse them of exaggerating things, said Alberto Athie, a former Mexican priest who has campaigned for more than 20 years on behalf of clergy sexual abuse victims, including victims of the Legion.

Then, if they dont achieve that level of control, they go to the next level, looking for their parents, trying to minimize them or buy them off, silence them. And if that doesnt work, they go to trial and try to do what they can to win the case, he said.

Now, victims of these other Legion priests are coming forward in droves with stories of sexual, psychological and spiritual abuse, and how the Legions culture of secrecy and cover-up has remained intact.

They say theyre close to the victims and help their families, Martinez told The Associated Press at her home in Milan. My testimony is this didnt happen.

___

Martinez, a 54-year-old mother of three, chokes up when she recalls the day she received the phone call from her sons psychologist. It was March of 2013, and her eldest son had been receiving therapy on the advice of his high school girlfriend. Martinez thought she was about to learn that she would be a grandmother; she thought her boy had gotten the girl pregnant.

Instead, Dr. Gian Piero Guidetti told Martinez and her husband that during therapy, their son had revealed that he had been repeatedly sexually molested by Resendiz starting in 2008, when he was a middle schooler at the Legions youth seminary in Gozzano, near Italys border with Switzerland. Guidetti, himself a priest, told them he was required by his medical profession to report the crime to prosecutors.

His complaint, and the testimony of Martinezs son, sparked a criminal investigation that resulted in Resendizs 2019 conviction, which was upheld on appeal in January. Resendiz, 43, who was convicted in absentia and is believed to be living in his native Mexico, has until the end of March to appeal the conviction and 6 1/2-year prison sentence to Italys highest court. His lawyer, Natalia Curro, said an appeal is being considered, and said her client denied having abused Martinezs son, though he admitted to abusing another boy.

The investigation, however, netted evidence that went far beyond Resendizs own wrongdoing. Documents seized by police and seen by AP in the court file showed a pattern of cover-up by the Legion and the popes envoy that stretched from Milan to Mexico, the Vatican to Venezuela and points in between.

Personnel files, for example, made clear Resendiz was known to the Legion as a risk even when he was a teenage seminarian in the 1990s, yet he was ordained a priest anyway in 2006 and immediately sent to oversee young boys at the Gozzano youth seminary.

Hes a boy with strong sexual impulses and low capacity to control them, Resendizs novice director, the Rev. Antonio Leon Santacruz, wrote in an internal assessment on Jan. 9, 1994. Given his psychological character, hes inclined to not respect rules without great difficulty and the psychologist thinks it will be difficult for him to undertake consecrated life given he has little respect for rules. He follows them as long as hes being watched, but as soon as he can, he breaks them and has no remorse.

A year later, on Resendizs 19th birthday, the seminarian wrote a letter to Maciel  addressing it as all Legionaries addressed the man they regarded as a living saint: Nuestro Padre, Our Father.

Im having various problems in the field of purity and the truth is Im having a hard time, because temptations are coming to me, he wrote. Im praying to the Holy Virgin every day for grace and asking her for strength to not offend again; I say again because I have had the disgrace of falling, but with the help of God I will fight to form that pure, priestly heart.

When Martinez saw such letters in the court file, her heart fell.

My son wasnt even born yet, she said. How can you put someone like that in charge of a seminary?

A Legion spokesman, the Rev. Aaron Smith, said the Legion has overhauled its training process for seminarians since Resendizs era, applying more scrutiny before ordination.

Things are different today, he said in emailed response to questions.

___

While Milan prosecutors first heard about Resendizs pedophilia in March 2013 when the therapist reported it, the crimes were old news to both the Vatican and the Legion.

The Legion has admitted it received a first report of abuse by Resendiz on March 6, 2011, from another boy who had been a student at Gozzano. The Legion says that boy, an Austrian, had first told a Legion priest of Resendizs abuse. That priest recommended he report it to a church ombudsmans office in Austria that receives abuse complaints, which he did, Smith said.

Separately, the Legion got wind of another possible victim in Venezuela, where Resendiz had been sent from Gozzano in 2008, after he abused Martinezs son.

Italian police were never informed by the Legion or the Vatican. Neither the Vatican nor Italy requires clergy to report suspected child sex abuse.

When police finally did get wind of the case in March 2013, they uncovered elaborate efforts to keep Resendizs crimes quiet. According to one email seized by Italian police  written March 16, 2011, or 10 days after the Austrian claim was first received by the order  a Legion lawyer recommended to one of the Legions senior behind-the-scenes bureaucrats, the Rev. Gabriel Sotres, that a Legion priest visit with the victim in Austria.

The aim of the visit, prosecutors wrote in summarizing the email exchanges, was to speak to the (victims) older brother and convince him to not tell their parents and not go to police because this could cause serious problems not only for the Legion but also Father Vladimir, all the other priests involved and the victim and his family.

Smith, the Legion spokesman, didnt deny the prosecutors account but said that encouraging a child to keep something from their parents or guardians is contrary to our code of conduct.

Later in 2011, the Legion arranged for Resendiz to be transferred from Venezuela to Colombia, and prepared a legal strategy to limit the possible damage if the Venezuelan case escalated. The emails were sent to several Legion leaders, including Sotres, who remain in top positions today. In fact, in the Legions current leadership assembly under way in Rome to choose new superiors and priorities, at least 13 of the 89 participating priests or their substitutes were involved in some way in dealing with the Resendiz scandal, fallout and cover-up, including two priests who are defendants in the upcoming Milan trial.

According to the seized emails, the plan proposed by a Legion lawyer involved reporting only Resendizs name to Venezuelan police to comply with local reporting laws, leaving out that he was a priest, that he was accused of a sex crime against a child, and the name of the Legion, prosecutors said in summarizing the emails. The report would also note that he no longer lived in Venezuela.

The Legion has said Resendiz was removed from priestly ministry and from his work with young people in Venezuela within days of receiving the initial Austrian report.

But the emails seized indicate that the restrictions werent necessarily enforced: One from Dec. 20, 2012, suggests that Resendiz was hearing confessions in schools and celebrating Mass in Colombia, news that prompted the leadership to ultimately recommend he be sent for psychological counseling in Mexico and later assigned to an administrative position where they dont know his situation.

Eventually, as part of the churchs in-house investigation, Resendiz confessed  but only to the Legion and Vatican authorities, and only about other boys he abused, not Martinezs son.

I sincerely recognize my terrible behavior as a priest, he wrote the Vatican official in charge of the sex crimes office in 2012, Cardinal Gerhard Mueller. Truly I lived in hell when these sad facts occurred. I recognize the gravity of the acts that I committed and I humbly ask the church for forgiveness for these sad and painful facts. I cant understand how it could have happened, and I recognize that I lacked the courage to admit to the problem and advise my superiors of the danger.

The Vatican defrocked him on April 5, 2013  just a few weeks after Italian prosecutors first heard about Martinezs son.

By October of that year, the Legion was nearing the end of De Paolis mandate and clearly wanted to avoid the possibility that the Resendiz case could explode publicly and jeopardize the plan to resume their independence from the Vatican.

Martinez and her family, for their part, were coping with the trauma of her sons abuse.

He would have nightmares. He wouldnt let me touch him , Martinez said. He couldnt stand anyone being close to him.

Once, he was even prevented from throwing himself in front of a subway train.

Martinez had been in regular touch with the Legion priest closest to the family, the Rev. Luca Gallizia, her husbands spiritual director. He was serving as the familys contact with the Legion, after all other priests and members of Martinezs Regnum Christi social circle severed contact  apparently on orders from the leadership.

Gallizia traveled to Milan to meet with Martinez on Oct. 18, 2013, bringing a proposed settlement to compensate the family. They met in a room off the parish playground of the SantEustorgio basilica where Martinez worked.

When Martinez read it later that night with her husband, she was shocked.

It was a second violation, because for all intents and purposes in that letter, they asked us to deny the facts. And for us it was a stab in the back because it was brought to us by our spiritual father.  He knew everything about us, because my husband confided in him. And that made it even more painful.

The Legion declined to comment on the proposed settlement, citing the upcoming trial.

The document the Legion wanted Martinezs family to sign states that her son ruled out having been sexually abused by Resendiz and regardless didnt remember. It said he denied having any phone or text message contact with him, and that his ensuing problems were due to the fact that he left the seminary and was having trouble integrating socially into his new public high school.

The document set out payments for the sons continuing education and therapy and required absolute secrecy. If the family were called to testify, they were to make the same declarations as contained in the settlement  denying the abuse.

A few months later, the Legion realized it had erred in leaving the proposal with Martinez and proposed a revised settlement acknowledging the abuse occurred. Now, though, it required the family to pay back double the 15,000 euro ($16,300) settlement offer if they violated the confidentiality agreement.

It was then that Martinez called De Paolis.

Both my lawyer and I, our jaws dropped, she told the Vatican cardinal.

The popes envoy said he was surprised as well.

Yes, but this, this is how its done in Italy, he said.

The mother would have none of it. Its not a very nice agreement, signing a lie, Martinez told the cardinal. Aside from the fact that I dont want any money, Im not signing the letter.

___

Maria Verza contributed to this story from Mexico City.
BRUSSELS - Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio on Monday said the ''integration of the Balkans is a strategic investment for Europe's stability. Italy is besides Albania for the prompt opening of adhesion negotiations'', the minister said, opening a business lunch with Albanian Premier Edi Rama in Brussels.

The gathering was also attended by the European Commissioner in charge of enlargement and neighborhood policies , Oliver Varhelyi, who on Twitter spoke about ''good talks with Di Maio and Rama on progress'' made by Albania in domestic reforms, stressing the ''strong solidarity'' of the EU and Italy towards Albania ''after an earthquake in November, ahead of the international donor conference today'' to support the country in reconstruction efforts.
Psychological assistance is offered to Chinese affected by the epidemic via Internet

Chinese people affected by the novel coronavirus can access to psychological counseling services via the Internet. The project initiators include China Association of Disaster prevention, the We Doctor Group as well as China.org.cn.

A doctor talks with his patient via Internet at Jiangsu People's Hospital. (Photo/Xinhua)

"I once participated in the psychological intervention of Xiaotangshan Hospital in the fight against SARS in 2003. I was well aware of COVID-19s psychological impact on patients and front-line health care staff, so I called for the establishment of a psychological intervention center in Huoshenshan Hospital a long time ago," said Professor Zhu Zhuohong.

Professor Zhu, from the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is one of the project sponsors. He talked about his original intentions surrounding organizing the project.

Professor Zhu said that as the epidemic is so severe this time, various provinces and cities across the country have launched a first-level response, especially in Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, where there is great pressure being placed on relevant groups in the process of allowing prevention and control of the epidemic.

Patients and front-line health care workers are all vulnerable to the emotional impacts. This point has become the basis for his campaign, stressed Professor Zhu.

Professor Zhu further introduced that his work mainly involves coordinating and organizing teams of experts as well as volunteer psychologists. Furthermore, he is responsible for carrying out one-to-one consultations and one-to-many lectures in conjunction with other relevant platforms.

At the same time, he also trained volunteers of psychological counselors, supervised difficult cases involving counselors, and received special psychological help cases in Wuhan.

The expert lecturers pertaining to these projects mainly stem from universities as well as psychological research institutes, including the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Department of Psychology of Southwest University, amongst others.
She's no stranger to putting on a stylish display at many a red carpet event.

And Cate Blanchett cut a glamorous figure as she attended the UK premiere of True History of the Kelly Gang at the Picturehouse in London on Monday.

The actress, 50, looked in good spirits at the screening where she donned a blue blazer with a grey embellishment.

Event: Cate Blanchett, 50, cut a glamorous figure as she attended the UK premiere of True History of the Kelly Gang at the Picturehouse in London on Monday

The film star also wore a black turtle-neck jumper which she wore with a pair of matching trousers.

Cate added height to her frame with a pair of black heels while her blonde locks were styled into a bob.

True History of the Kelly Gang tells the story of Australian bushranger Ned Kelly and his gang as they try to avoid capture in the 1870s and stars George MacKay and Russell Crowe.

Earlier in the day, Cate attended the star-studded Burberry fall/winter show for London Fashion Week.

Style: The actress looked in good spirits at the screening where she donned a blue blazer with a grey embellishment

Fashion: The film star also wore a black turtle-neck jumper which she wore with a pair of matching trousers

Dazzling: Cate added height to her frame with a pair of black heels while her blonde locks were styled into a bob

Meanwhile, Cate will next be seen in the drama series Mrs. America, with the show seeing the journey to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s.

The trailer (courtesy of FX YouTube) was showcased during FX's panel at the Television Critics Association winter tour on Thursday before arriving online.

The series centers on Phyllis Schlafly (Cate), a conservative woman known as 'the sweetheart of the silent majority' who vehemently opposed the ERA.

Show: Earlier in the day, Cate attended the star-studded Burberry fall/winter show for London Fashion Week

Plot: True History of the Kelly Gang tells the story of Australian bushranger Ned Kelly and his gang as they try to avoid capture in the 1870s

Glamour: Cate wore a flowing black cape for her appearance at the Burberry show

The TV series, which premieres on April 15, documents the impact Schafly had on America's political landscape as she took on feminists such as Betty Friedan, Shirley Chisholm and Gloria Steinem.

The trailer ends with a list of the impressive cast, with a final shot of Schlafly saying in confession, 'Why would God put this fire in me if he didn't want me to act on it?'

The series also stars Rose Byrne, Sarah Paulson, Uzo Aduba, Elizabeth Banks, Tracey Ullman and John Slattery.

Watch True History of the Kelly Gang on Stan in Australia. Mrs. America debuts April 15 on FX on Hulu.
OTTAWATelus Corp. is throwing down the gauntlet by using Huawei to build its 5G network as the federal government considers banning the Chinese telecom, according to a technology researcher.

The telecom giant announced Thursday it would use Huawei products to help build its next-generation wireless network, but only in nonsensitive parts of its networks.

That raises the stakes for the federal Liberals as they face continued pressure from the United States to ban the Chinese telecom from Canadas next-generation wireless networks.

I definitely think that it is throwing down the gauntlet to the government of Canada, saying weve invested in this, we want to go forward, said Christopher Parsons, a researcher at the Munk Schools Citizen Lab, in an interview with the Star.

And I would hazard a guess that should the Liberal government or any government that follows it decide to ban Huawei, that you will very quickly see Telus (and other telecommunications companies) go to the government and say  we made an investment in good faith, and you just pulled the rug out from under us.

Parsons said that argument would lay the foundation for telecoms to demand taxpayer money go to replacing their existing Huawei-supported infrastructure  which would be a massive cost for the federal government.

The eventual introduction of 5G to Canada promises faster download speeds, but also revolutions in digital services  the same way that 4G enabled services like Uber or Netflix.

The Trump administration has been pressuring allied governments to ban Huawei products from their future 5G networks, arguing the companys cosiness with the Chinese government means their products cant be trusted.

The administration took it a step further this week, with National Security Adviser Robert C. OBrien stating publicly the U.S. has evidence that Huawei has had the capability to covertly access data through its products for a decade. Huawei has consistently denied the American allegations.

The new accusations come as Canadas national security agencies continue to study the countrys 5G future, including whether Ottawa should ban Huawei from its networks.

While that review has been under external pressure from the Trump administration, Telus decision to use Huawei products in its 5G infrastructure highlights domestic concerns for the Trudeau government.

Huawei products are already widely used by Canadian telecoms for the non-core parts of their network, like the equipment used in cellphone towers. On Thursday Telus CFO Doug French hinted at that, noting that its natural for the company to build 5G from its existing 4G supplier ecosystem.

This approach is entirely compliant with current Canadian regulatory and cybersecurity requirements, which have been in place and approved by successive federal governments for more than a decade, French said, while promising to continue to collaborate with the federal government.

In a 2018 filing, Telus suggested banning Huawei from 5G networks without compensation or other accommodations from the federal government would have a material impact on the cost of Telus 5G networks, and potentially delay the services rollout.

The Liberal government has not set a deadline for its decision on Huawei or the broader questions around 5G cyber security.

Read more about:
Beijing

Mainland China on Monday reported a slight upturn in new virus cases and an increase by 105 in deaths caused by the illness for a total of 1,770 since the outbreak began.

The 2,048 new cases followed three days of declines but was up by just 39 cases from the previous day's figure. Another 10,844 people have recovered from COVID-19, a disease caused by the new coronavirus, and have been discharged from hospitals, according to Monday's figures.

The update followed the publication late Saturday in China's official media of a recent speech by President Xi Jinping in which he indicated for the first time that he had led the response to the outbreak from early in the crisis. While the reports were an apparent attempt to demonstrate the Communist Party leadership acted decisively from the start, it also opened Xi up to criticism over why the public was not alerted sooner.

In his speech, Xi said he gave instructions on fighting the virus on Jan. 7 and ordered the shutdown of the most-affected cities that began on Jan. 23.

The disclosure of his speech indicates top leaders knew about the outbreak's potential severity at least two weeks before such dangers were made known to the public. It was not until late January that officials said the virus can spread between humans and public alarm began to rise.

New cases in other countries are raising growing concerns about containment of the virus.

Taiwan on Sunday reported its first death from COVID-19, the fifth fatality outside of mainland China. Taiwan's Central News Agency, citing health minister Chen Shih-chung, said the man who died was in his 60s and had not traveled overseas recently and had no known contact with virus patients.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe convened an experts meeting to discuss containment measures in his country, where more than a dozen cases have emerged in the past few days without any obvious link to China.

"The situation surrounding this virus is changing by the minute," Abe said.

Japanese Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said the country is "entering into a phase that is different from before," requiring new steps to stop the spread of the virus.

Japan now has 413 confirmed cases, including 355 from a quarantined cruise ship, and one death from the virus.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Hundreds of Americans from the cruise ship took charter flights home, as Japan announced another 70 infections had been confirmed on the Diamond Princess. Canada, Hong Kong and Italy were planning similar flights.

The 300 or so Americans flying on U.S.-government chartered aircraft back to the U.S. will face another 14-day quarantine at Travis Air Force Base in California and Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. The U.S. Embassy said the departure was offered because people on the ship were at a high risk of exposure to the virus. People with symptoms were banned from the flights.

About 255 Canadians and 330 Hong Kong residents are on board the ship or undergoing treatment in Japanese hospitals. There are also 35 Italians, of which 25 are crew members, including the captain.

In China's Hubei province, where the outbreak began in December, all vehicle traffic will be banned in another containment measure. It expands a vehicle ban in the provincial capital, Wuhan, where public transportation, trains and planes have been halted for weeks.

Exceptions were being made for vehicles involved in epidemic prevention and transporting daily necessities.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday wrote a letter to Manu Joseph - Nursing Officer, Safdarjung Hospital and congratulated each and every member of the medical team who assisted in the evacuation of Indian citizens from coronavirus-hit Wuhan city.

Joseph is also a member of the medical team.

The letter reads, "The life-saving efforts (of the medical team from Safdarjung and Ram Manohar Lohia hospitals) in evacuating our citizens from Wuhan, the center of coronavirus outbreak, is commendable."

"Coronavirus outbreak has worried the entire world. In such a scenario, the evacuation of Indian citizens in distress has not only given relief to those rescued but also reassured the Indian diaspora settled across the world that in times of crisis, the entire nation stands firmly. May you continue to serve the nation with the same resolve and distinction," it further read.

The 10-member team also comprised Dr. Anand Vishal, Dr. Pulin Gupta, Dr. Sanjeet Panesar, Ajo Jose and Sarath Prem of Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Dr. Yogesh Chandra Porwal, Dr. Rupali Malik and Rajnish Kumar of Safdarjung Hospital and Sujata Arya of Airport Health Organisation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
High-profile Texas Senator Ted Cruz is responding to an Alabama lawmakers bill that would force men to get vasectomies at age 50.

The measure by Rep. Rolanda Hollis, D-Birmingham, would require Alabama men to get a vasectomy once they reach 50 or father three children. Men would have to pay for the vasectomies themselves, according to the bill.

The measure has drawn national attention, including from Cruz, a former presidential candidate.

Yikes. A government big enough to give you everything is big enough to take everything...literally! Alabama Democrat proposes bill mandating all men have vasectomy at age 50 or after third child, Cruz tweeted.

Hollis defended her measure, saying it was in response to last years passage of Alabamas strict anti-abortion law. The law would make it a crime for a physician to perform the procedure, limiting abortions to cases where the life of the mother is in danger.

The vasectomy bill is to help with the reproductive system, and yes, it is to neutralize the abortion ban bill ... it always takes two to tango," Hollis said. We cant put all the responsibility on women. Men need to be responsible also.
A 55-year-old guitar teacher from



Mumbai has been arrested for allegedly molesting a minor student, police said on Monday.

The accused, identified as Bharat Panchal alias Raju, sexually abused the victim for three years between 2007 and 2010 at her home in suburban Andheri when he used to give her music lessons, a police official said.

The victim was around nine years old when the accused began molesting her. She later went to the US for higher studies when she was 12, he said.

The victim, now studying in a college in the US, arrived here on Sunday and lodged an FIR against the accused.

After recording her statement, the Oshiwara police arrested Panchal, the official said.

The victim in her statement alleged that the accused used to molest her and speak in vulgar language during music lessons, he said.

"We have arrested the teacher under Indian Penal Code Sections 354 (molestation), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult modesty of a woman) and 506 (criminal intimidation). It is an old case of the offence that took place between 2007 and 2010, before the victim went to the US," Oshiwara police station's senior inspector Dayanand Bangar said.

The police were trying to find out if the accused molested other students also, another official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The US flew home its citizens from a coronavirus-infected cruise ship in Japan Monday, with other nations preparing to follow suit as global concerns grow over the spread of the disease and the death toll at its Chinese epicentre topped 1,700.

More than 70,500 have been infected across China by the COVID-19 virus as the world battles to contain the outbreak that has sparked panic buying and jitters over the global economic impact.

Outside China, the biggest cluster of infections is on the Diamond Princess cruise ship off Yokohama, where coronavirus cases have climbed quickly to 355 despite passengers being confined to their cabins during a 14-day quarantine.

And amid growing criticism of Japan's handling of the ship, governments are scrambling to repatriate their citizens, with Canada, Australia, Italy, Israel and Hong Kong poised to follow Washington's lead.

In the early hours of Monday morning, a convoy of buses driven by people in head-to-toe protective suits removed American passengers from the ship after a makeshift passport control.

There were no health checks at that point, said US passenger Sarah Arana, a 52-year-old medical social worker, who said the US government should have acted "much sooner, at the beginning."



"I am happy and ready to go," Arana told AFP before leaving the ship. "We need a proper quarantine. This was not it."



The US embassy in Japan confirmed two jets had left Japan en route to the US. Those on board were expected to undergo a further 14-day quarantine period on US soil.

Some Americans on the ship, however, declined the government's offer.

"My health is fine. And my two-week quarantine is almost over. Why would I want to be put on a bus and a plane with other people they think may be infected when I have spent nearly two weeks isolated from those people?" tweeted Matt Smith, an American lawyer on the ship with his wife.

He described a fellow American passenger standing on her balcony chanting "USA, USA" as buses arrived to collect them.

"Of course, in contravention of the rules of quarantine, she's not wearing a face mask, and she's talking with a passenger on the adjacent balcony... And you wanted me to get on a bus with her?" Forty of the US passengers tested positive for the virus and were rushed to hospitals in Japan, said Anthony Fauci, a senior official at the National Institutes for Health. It was not immediately clear if they were already counted among the 355 known cases on the ship.

In China, authorities have placed about 56 million people in Hubei and its capital Wuhan under quarantine, virtually sealing off the province from the rest of the country in an unprecedented effort to contain the virus.

New cases outside the epicentre have been declining for the last thirteen days. There were 115 fresh cases outside the central province -- sharply down from nearly 450 a week ago.

Chinese authorities have pointed to the slowing rise in cases as proof their measures are working to stem the spread, even as the death toll climbed to 1,770.

But World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned it is "impossible to predict which direction this epidemic will take".

And concerns remain about the global transmission, especially on cruise ships which appear to have become especially virulent breeding grounds.

Fears are growing for passengers on the Westerdam cruise ship, who all received a clean bill of health when they disembarked in Cambodia -- a staunch ally of Beijing.

One of the passengers was stopped by authorities in Malaysia over the weekend when she was detected with a fever and later diagnosed with the virus.

There were more than 2,200 passengers and crew on the ship when it docked in Sihanoukville, many of whom have now dispersed around the globe.

With tourism battered and global supply chains disrupted by the virus, experts are fretting about the toll it could take on a fragile global economy.

IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said there could be a cut of around 0.1-0.2 percentage points to global growth but stressed there was "still a great deal of uncertainty."



Japan, one of the hardest-hit countries outside China irrespective of the Diamond Princess, suffered its biggest economic slump in more than five years -- even before the coronavirus crisis.

Gross domestic product in the world's third-top economy shrank an eye-watering 1.6 percent in the three months to December -- a much bigger contraction than economists had feared.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Update: Amiru Richardson was arraigned Feb. 20 in the case, and sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $10,000 bail.

Initial post: A cook at Lafayette College is wanted for allegedly repeatedly threatening to shoot his co-workers.

A warrant was issued for 22-year-old Amiru Richardson, of the 1200 block of Washington Street in Easton, on two counts of making terroristic threats, in connection with a series of alleged threats made over two weeks.

Police became aware of the threats on Feb. 10, the same day Richardson was due to come to work on campus for a meeting, court records say.

Officers met Richardson when he arrived on campus, and searched him, his bag and his locker; they did not find a firearm, College police Chief Jim Meyer said.

"We wanted to make sure people were safe," he said.

Police were still investigating, so Richardson was released but prohibited from campus. After speaking with other witnesses, charges were filed Friday against Richardson, Meyer said.

Jeff Troxell, the colleges director of public safety, said in an email that an arraignment is scheduled for later this week, though online court records do not indicate that.

Troxell said the person -- he did not identify Richardson in the email-- was served with a no-trespass order prohibiting him from campus and was cooperative with the investigation.

Out of an abundance of caution, Public Safety has increased patrols across the campus, Troxell said in the email.

Richardson worked as a cook at Cafe Bon Appetit, in the Marquis Dining Hall. The first threats were made Jan. 30 and Feb. 1, when Richardson told two employees he was going to follow a chef to her car and shoot her, police said.

When one co-worker told Richardson not to talk that way, he reportedly said he was serious and had a gun in his locker.

On Feb. 8, Richardson told two co-workers he had a meeting scheduled for Feb. 10 and, if he was written up, he would shoot anybody, everybody, according to court papers.

If those (expletive) get me fired Im shooting them down, he allegedly said.

When a co-worker joked he wouldnt shoot them, Richardson allegedly said, I dont give a (expletive) whos in my way, theyre all going down.

A separate co-worker told police Richardson said he was waiting for Feb. 10 and that everyone would find out what was going to transpire, according to court records.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
India will carry out a third round of evacuation of its remaining nationals later this week from Wuhan, the central Chinese city at the epicentre of the escalating coronavirus (covid-19) outbreak which has claimed .

The Indian embassy on Monday reached out to the remaining Indians in Wuhan and in the province of Hubei, informing them about the evacuation plan.

They will be pulled out from the city when the special Indian air force (IAF) aircraft flies back after bringing medical supplies for the provincial government to fight the outbreak.

India has already evacuated 647 Indians (along with seven Maldivians) from Wuhan earlier this month in two Air India flights.

Also Watch l Air India captain describes evacuation of Indians from Coronavirus-hit Wuhan

Around 110 Indians remain in and around Wuhan; At least 10 among them were not able to make it among the initial two batches of the evacuated as they were either running temperatures or their body temperatures were fluctuating.

External affairs minister S Jaishankar had recently told Parliament that around 80 Indian students remain in Wuhan.

The government of India will be sending a consignment of medical supplies on board a relief flight to Wuhan later this week to aid and assist China its efforts against the covid-19 epidemic, the embassy said in a message circulated among the remaining Indians through social media.

On its return, the flight will have some limited capacity to take on board Indian nationals wishing to return to India from Wuhan/Hubei province, the message said.

Many Indian nationals currently in Wuhan/Hubei province and wishing to return to India have already been in touch with @EOI Beijing in the past two weeks, the message said.

We urge also Indian nationals from Wuhan/Hubei who intend to avail this flight for India and have not yet contacted @EOI Beijing to urgently call our hotlines or send email before 1900 hours today, the Indian embassy message added.

The evacuated Indians will have to go through a 14-day quarantine to screen them for the deadly pathogen.

Several countries have so far pulled out their nationals from Wuhan

Nepal on Sunday evacuated 175 of its nationals from the Chinese city of Wuhan.

Among the other countries to have evacuated citizens from the province and the city are the US, Japan, South Korea, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

Pakistan remains a notable exception despite the fact that hundreds of Pakistani students remain stranded in Wuhan.

An NPR report quoted Pakistani students as saying that they will not be evacuated because of political reasons  Beijing and Islamabad are very close allies and call themselves iron brothers.

Pakistani students feel that Islamabad doesnt want to embarrass China by evacuating its nationals from Wuhan.

India had offered to evacuate citizens from other South Asian countries in the first two flights. Only Maldives had taken up the offer.
The Supreme Court's decision to apply permanent commission to all women officers in the Indian Army received a mixed response on Monday.

While Lieutenant Colonel Seema Singh hailed the judgement as "progressive", retired Colonel Nishit Kumar Mathur said the apex court needs to "reconsider" its decision.

"This is a progressive and historical judgement. Women should be given equal opportunities. We were not leaving the Army. It was the Army who was trying to leave us," Singh told media reporters here.

"It's a proud and historic moment. We are grateful to judiciary for a decisive judgement," said Colonel Anjali Bisht.

Mathur, who was a member of the committee formed in 2007, told ANI that this case was not presented properly before the court.

"This needs to be reconsidered or the women Army officers should be given a posting in which they do not have to work physically," he said.

Mathur said that he went to Nagrota in Jammu and Kashmir when he was part of the committee where the majority of women told him that they are in the "wrong profession".

"In Nagrota, out of 28 women officers, 27 of them told me that they are in the wrong profession. However, in Goa, the women officers were satisfied with their work as they did not have to work hard," he said.

"For women, there are many personal problems in the family, which cannot be ignored," he added.

The apex court on Monday ordered that the permanent commission will apply to all women officers in the Indian Army in service, irrespective of their years of service.

The apex court also ordered that after the judgement of Delhi High Court, Centre should grant permanent commission to women officers.

Earlier, the sources had said that the Army is in favour of granting pension benefits to women officers, who have fulfilled the service conditions. They informed that the induction of women in the Army is progressing well and that these women officers will be given all suitable assignments as deemed fit by the organisation.

All decisions taken towards the smooth integration of women in various assigned roles in the army will be taken in the best interest of the individuals and the organisation, Army sources had added.

In April last year, the Army had kicked off the process of inducting women as jawans by starting their online registration for recruitment in the corps of military police.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Andrew Sabisky, who once suggested black people had lower IQs, quits amid backlash over his comments.

The United Kingdom government has refused to condemn an adviser to the prime minister who once said that black Americans have a lower average IQ than white Americans and who suggested enforcing contraception to stop unplanned pregnancies from creating a permanent underclass.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson was under mounting pressure on Monday to sack Andrew Sabisky, but a government spokesperson repeatedly failed to answer reporters who asked whether Johnson agreed with the advisers views, saying: The prime ministers views are well publicised and well documented.

Later on Monday, Sabisky announced he was quitting because he had become a distraction.

The main opposition Labour Party condemned the refusal to criticise the remarks, while Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the government must get a grip fast and demonstrate some basic but fundamental values.

Sabisky was believed to have been contracted by the government under Johnsons controversial chief adviser, Dominic Cummings.

Writing on Cummingss website in 2014, he said: One way to get around the problems of unplanned pregnancies creating a permanent underclass would be to legally enforce universal uptake of long-term contraception at the onset of puberty.

Vaccination laws give it a precedent, I would argue.

Downing Street has refused to say whether Johnson supported the views expressed by Sabisky on eugenics  the selective breeding of humans  or the IQs of black people.

But the prime minister has courted controversy with his views on IQ in the past.

In a speech in 2013, he said any discussion about equality had to take account of the fact that 16 percent of our species had an IQ below 85 while around two percent had an IQ above 130, adding: The harder you shake the pack, the easier it will be for some cornflakes to get to the top.

In 2000, while Johnson was editor of The Spectator, the magazine carried an article from columnist Taki Theodoracopulos that said: On average, Orientals are slower to mature, less randy, less fertile, and have larger brains and higher IQ scores. Blacks are at the other pole, and whites fall somewhere in the middle, although closer to the Orientals than the blacks.

The prime minister has also previously described black people as piccaninnies with watermelon smiles, and more recently referred to Muslim women who wear the burka, or full veil, as letterboxes.

Labour Party chairman Ian Lavery said: It is disgusting that not only has Number 10 failed to condemn Andrew Sabiskys appalling comments, but also seems to have endorsed the idea that white people are more intelligent than black people.

Boris Johnson should have the backbone to make a statement in his own words on why he has made this appointment, whether he stands by it and his own views on the subject of eugenics.

Labour MP Marsha de Cordova, a disability rights campaigner, tweeted: This what we have come to, and it is sickening.

Its one thing to deplore eugenics on ideological, political, moral grounds. Its quite another to conclude that it wouldnt work in practice. Of course it would. It works for cows, horses, pigs, dogs & roses. Why on earth wouldnt it work for humans? Facts ignore ideology.  Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) February 16, 2020

Geneticist and broadcaster Adam Rutherford also criticised the comments, writing on Twitter: Like Cummings, he appears to be bewitched by science, without having made the effort to understand the areas he is invoking, nor its history.

Rutherford said the moral repugnance of the remarks was overwhelming, adding: I am all for scientifically minded people advising government. In fact, I am all for scientists advising government. From this perspective, Sabisky, and indeed Cummings, look bewitched by science without doing the legwork.

Instead, this resembles the marshalling of misunderstood or specious science into a political ideology. The history here is important because this process is exactly what happened at the birth of scientific racism and the birth of eugenics.
By Trend

The Czech Republic ranks sixth for the volume of investments in Georgian economy (after Azerbaijan, the UK, Netherlands, the US, and Panama), Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic told Trend.

According to the ministry, the Czech investments are primarily made in tourism and energy sector.

"At the present, we do not register any significant direct investment in the Czech economy by Georgian entities", said the ministry.

In 2018, the mutual turnover between the countries increased by 12 percent to 100 million euro, the ministry noted.

"As we look at the 2018 final statistics, the main export commodities from Czechia to Georgia were machinery and transport equipment, chemicals and related products, and industrial consumer goods. The import from Georgia to the Czech Republic was composed of industrial consumer goods as well as food and live animals", said the ministry.

The Czech Republic is a traditional economic partner of Georgia, though not the key one, noted the ministry.

According to the ministry, priority areas of cooperation for both countries are industry, energy (including renewable energy sources), transport, transportation means and infrastructure, agriculture and food industry, health care, ecology, urban infrastructure and regional development.

Given that Czechia has a leading role in the innovative technologies, a number of projects to support innovative solutions with the participation of the Czech companies are implemented in Georgia, added the ministry.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
The U.S. faces a severe doctor shortage. In fact, by 2025, we will need more than 52,000 new primary care doctors to meet the growing demand for health care services across the country.

By 2025, Alabama will need almost 500 primary care physicians to meet the states health care needs, due both to aging and retiring physicians and population growth. Projections through 2030 raise that number to over 600 primary care physicians.

Despite this glaring need, one of the most effective pipelines for producing primary care physicians- the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Programcould end on May 22, 2020, unless Congress votes to extend the program. As described below, support from Senators Richard Shelby and Doug Jones and Representatives Gary Palmer and Terry Sewell is essential to ensure that we keep this program alive for the medical residents and patients who benefit.

The Cahaba-UAB Family Medicine Residency Teaching Health Center in Centreville (Rural Residency) and West End (Birmingham; Urban Underserved Residency), Alabama is one of only 56 teaching health centers in the nation, located in 27 states and the District of Columbia.

Our mission is to train the next generation of primary care providers to provide excellent comprehensive care in underserved rural and urban communities throughout Alabama and the United States. Since 2013, we have been producing primary care physicians that continue to work in underserved communities throughout their careers.

By moving primary care training into the community, we are on the leading edge of innovative educational programming dedicated to meeting not only patient needs but also future health care workforce needs. According to research, 8 out of 10 teaching health center graduates say they intend to work in primary care, and more than half want to work in underserved communities compared to only 23% of traditional Graduate Medical Education graduates.

Since Cahaba-UAB Family Medicine Residency began training residents in 2013, 47% have stayed in Alabama and 79% have graduated and accepted primary care positions in underserved communities throughout the country. Given that it takes approximately 3-4 years to recruit a medical student to this 3-year training, and that weve only had 4 graduating classes (2016-2019), this is a significant return on investment for the state of Alabama, from this bipartisan national program.

Residents in training  licensed MDs or DOs who are apprenticed to Board-certified physicians  see, themselves, over 1 million patients across the country annually. However, because these positions are training positions, residents cannot bill for the patient care services they provide, and thus, funding is needed to pay for residents salaries and benefits. These residency positions are also highly competitive and receive roughly 100 applications for every position; meaning thousands of prepared and engaged possible primary care physicians are turned away. With the looming primary care shortage on the horizon, investments in Teaching Health Centers Graduate Medical Education training will be critical to meet the needs of the evolving health care delivery system. There is legislation pending in Congress to extend the Teaching Health Centers Graduate Medical Education program for five years.

Please let Senators Richard Shelby and Doug Jones and Representatives Gary Palmer and Terry Sewell know that you support this legislation and that you want them to work with Congressional leadership to finish work on this bill in the next few weeks.

-Dr. John Waits currently serves as the co-founder and CEO of Cahaba Medical Care, a Community Health Center (Federally Qualified Health Center) that started in 2004 in rural Bibb County, Alabama
6.1k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Former President Barack Obama plans to stay out of the Democratic primary, but he will be working at the convention to unite the party.

New York Magazine reported:

The truth of Obamas silence on the 2020 primary is that its not just about his obvious wish to stay out of the spotlight, but it also reflects a choreographed strategy. With the race looking more and more likely to grow bitter and messy, and maybe even wind up in a contested convention, the former president and those around him are increasingly sure he will need to play a prominent role in bringing the party back together and calming its tensions later this summer, including perhaps in Milwaukee, where the partys meeting is scheduled to be held in July.

.

Anyway, Obamas team has made clear to Sanders inner circle that the former president has no intention of getting involved in the primary. And people from both camps who are familiar with the discussions say the pair has also spoken directly during this election cycle.

Anybody who claims that Obama will intervene to stop Bernie Sanders from being the nominee is lying.

While the candidates themselves have taken steps to make sure that 2020 isnt as divisive as 2016, there are certain to be hurt feelings and splits, especially since it looks more and more likely that no candidate is going to clinch the nomination before the convention.

Moderates are under increasing pressure to consolidate and pick their candidate, just as the Biden campaign is showing real signs of an upswing in Nevada. A Biden revival could scramble the process even more.

Obama isnt going to split the Democratic Party, and give Trump an opponent, by wading into the middle of the primary. Democratic voters will have to sort this out for themselves, but Barack Obama will be there to make sure that everyone is one the same page and ready for Trump in November.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: A member of the Telangana Bar Council has accused the chairman and secretary of the council of misappropriating money deposited by advocates who had enrolled themselves in the council.

B Shanker, an elected member of the Bar Council of Telangana, alleged on Sunday that the council did not account for the money collected from the advocates.

He further alleged that the accounts were not properly audited and presented before the High Court Bifurcation Committee. Shanker alleged that the chairman A Narsimha Reddy and secretary Renuka illegally misappropriated funds to the tune of Rs 2 to Rs 3 crore.

Speaking at a press conference along with fellow advocates, Shanker said, I noticed that there are discrepancies in the accounts.

"The details of the huge amounts collected through welfare tickets and gap fees are not available. They provided me with the accounts, but it doesnt have the columns of income and expenditure. I suspect in each head there is misappropriation from 2006, when Narasimha Reddy was first elected as Chairman.

Shanker said though library fees are being collected since a long time, there is no library for the Bar Council.

According to the Rule 168 of the Bar Council  a statutory body  the money received shall be credited into the bank account by the next working day. However, the bank statement of the Bar Council of Andhra Pradesh Certificate Verification Fees account provided by Shanker showed that Rs 87.34 lakh was deposited on December 9, 2019 with six cash deposit vouchers violating the rules.

On being contacted, Reddy refuted the allegations, stating that everything was done as per the constitution of the Bar Council.

I dont even avail allowances for which I am entitled for. One has to consider the fact that amongst all the 25 elected members, why is he alone making such comments? Its only to lower the prestige of the institution. Shanker is making false allegations as the council took investigated him over a complaint four years ago, said Reddy.
VOTE 411, an online voter's guide by the League of Women Voters, is available in time for the Michigan presidential primary, March 10.

VOTE 411 is a resource for voters to assess their candidates and make informed voting decisions online.
Nothing goes without saying, and I have said and written many times that my father, Harry Weinstein, was crucial to my cooking and eating life. If you have browsed this blog over... Read more
A two-member bench headed by Chairman Justice S J Mukhopadhaya, said that JSW Steel will be immuned from the acts done by the former promoters of Bhushan Power & Steel.

New Delhi: The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal on Monday allowed JSW Steel to acquire of Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd for Rs 19,700 crore by providing it immunity from prosecution by Enforcement Directorate.

NCLAT Grants JSW Steel Immunity From Bhushan Power litigations, directs investigative agencies to not seize Bhushan Powers assets pic.twitter.com/Tns22USpDW  CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) February 17, 2020

A two-member bench headed by Chairman Justice S J Mukhopadhaya, said that JSW Steel will get immunity from the acts done by the former promoters of Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd (BPSL).

However, it also said that prosecution against the former promoters under the money laundering act by the Enforcement Directorate can continue.

It has also rejected the petitions filed by operational creditors, seeking higher claims.

The bench said that the EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) earned by BPSL during its Corporate Insolvency resolution period will be given to JSW Steel.

On 10 October, the ED had attached assets worth over Rs 4,025 crore of debt-ridden BPSL in connection with its money laundering probe linked to an alleged bank loan fraud by its former promoters.

JSW Steel, which emerged as the successful resolution applicant with its Rs 19,700 crore bid for BPSL, filed an appeal against the ED's move before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).

The appellate tribunal had on October 14 directed the ED to immediately release the confiscated assets of BPSL in favour of the resolution professional of the debt-ridden firm.

While the ED was of the opinion that it can attach the property of BPSL under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the ministry of corporate affairs has been maintaining that the ED cannot do so as the proceedings under the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code was going on.
SANTA FE  New Mexico would raise a state health-insurance tax and dedicate the new revenue to programs intended to make health care more affordable under a proposal that passed the state House on Sunday.

Rep. Deborah Armstrong, D-Albuquerque, described the legislation as an unusual opportunity to generate more revenue for health care without increasing the total amount consumers now pay.

The increased state tax would partially replace a federal tax thats being repealed, she said, meaning health insurance carriers would actually be charged less in taxes than they are now, even after the state increase.

The legislation, House Bill 278, would raise about $125 million in annual revenue when fully phased in  the bulk of it dedicated to a new fund for health care affordability, according to legislative analysts.

Republican lawmakers slammed the bill, describing it as an unfair attempt to take advantage of federal tax relief. The savings of the repealed federal tax, they said, should be passed on to consumers.

Its something that would be much appreciated by the taxpayers, Rep. James Strickler, R-Farmington, said.

Armstrong argued the proposal would allow New Mexico to launch programs aimed at more broadly reducing the cost of health care  perhaps through lower deductibles or copays for some New Mexicans.

There could also be efforts to make health insurance affordable enough to attract people who are now uninsured  a move that would help keep families healthier and reduce health costs for everyone, Armstrong and other supporters said.

This bill is one of the most direct actions we can take to lower healthcare costs for New Mexican families, Armstrong said in a written statement. A maternity check-up or emergency room trip with a sick toddler should not throw families into debt.

House Bill 278 passed the House on a 41-25 vote and now heads to the Senate.
The ruling BJP in Karnataka is likely to push for a resolution in favour of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) during the ongoing Assembly session, top sources said on Monday.

The resolution is expected to be moved towards the end of the special discussion on the Constitution, scheduled for March 2 and 3, the sources said. The move is bound to face stiff resistance from opposition parties -- the Congress and JDS -- in the Assembly.

Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri has decided to hold a special discussion on the Constitution on the two days to commemorate 70 years of the adoption of the Constitution.

Though the Speaker has expressed hope that the discussion will focus on the Constitution and legislators would take part in it rising above party politics, there are apprehensions in some quarters that issues like CAA and NRC may figure in the debate.

BJP-ruled Gujarat in January passed a resolution, congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for securing the passage of the CAA, amid opposition from the Congress.

Several opposition-ruled states like Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal have passed anti-CAA resolutions in their state assemblies. Joining the ranks of anti-CAA states, the Telangana government has also decided to pass a resolution in the assembly against the act. Like in other parts of the county, Karnataka too has witnessed a series of pro and anti-CAA protests and demonstrations.

On December one, an anti-CAA protest turned violent in the coastal city of Mangaluru, resulting in the death of two in police firing. According to the CAA, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities, who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, and facing religious persecution there, would not be treated as illegal immigrants, but given Indian citizenship.

The Act says refugees of the six communities would be given Indian citizenship after residing in India for five years, instead of 11 earlier. Though there were expectations in some quarters that the Governor's address to the joint sitting of state legislature on Monday will have some references to implementation of CAA in the state, there was no such mention in his speech.

Seeking to downplay it, BJP sources said: "The issue (CAA) is anyway likely to be discussed during the session in the days to come."

The session that commenced with Governor Vajubhai Vala addressing the joint sitting of legislative Assembly and Council on Monday, will conclude on February 20. It will again meet for the budget session from March two, with the state budget being presented on March five. It will go on till March 31.
A total of 68 Air India crew members, who were part of the two special flights that evacuated 647 Indians and seven Maldivians from coronavirus-hit Chinese city of Wuhan, were handed over letters of appreciation signed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday. Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri handed over the letters of appreciation to each crew member in a ceremony held here.

Air India conducted its first special flight to Wuhan on January 31 using jumbo B747 plane, evacuating 324 Indians.

In its second special flight on February 1, the national carrier used another B747 plane, evacuating 323 Indians and seven Maldivians from Wuhan in China.

Todays gathering is unique in many respects. At the least, it represents a template and a new high in professionalism. It presents a very good standard for entities that are commercial in nature but are dedicated to the country.

Air India has always been a first class asset. Today, it is an airline which goes 42 international destinations and 82 domestic destinations...but more important than that, Air India represents quality and excellence, Puri said.

The Centre has initiated the process to sell-off Air India, which incurred a loss of over Rs 8,000 crore in 2018-19.

Why is it that the ones who run the airlines find it difficult to make money, he asked, adding that airlines all over the world have a greater propensity to run into financial problems.

Rajeev Bansal, Chairman and Managing Director, Air India, said,Air India is a national carrier and serving for the national cause is not something new for it. It is in its DNA. It was a commendable job. I would obviously commend Captain Amitabh Singh who is in charge of operations at Air India, he added. He said while 68 persons have received letters of appreciation from the prime minister, there were many others who contributed to the Wuhan evacuation.

Ashwani Lohani, who retired as Air India CMD last Friday, said when the names of crew members were shortlisted, not even one of them came forward and say that we would not go.

We are extremely proud that the team of Air India went for this mission in utter disregard for their own health....I can only say that it was a job well done, he added.
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that Short Service Commissioned (SSC) women officers in the Indian Army are entitled to permanent commission and they have to be considered irrespective of their service length.

The policy of the Centre in this regard to restrict permanent commission to SSC women officers with less than 14 years of service was held to be violative of right to equality.

Further, a bench of justices DY Chandrachud and Ajay Rastogi also held that there cannot be an absolute bar on women being considered for command appointments.

The judgement was delivered on a petition by the defence ministry challenging a 2010 judgment of the Delhi high court which had ruled that short service commissioned women officers (SSCWO) in Army and Air Force should be granted permanent commission at par with male short service commissioned officers.

The central government had issued notification in this regard in February 2019 granting permanent commission to short service commissioned women officers of the Army.

However, as per its proposal, only short service commissioned women with upto 14 years of service were to be considered for permanent commission. Women with more than 14 years of service would be permitted to serve upto 20 years without consideration for permanent commission and then released subject to pensionary benefits and women above 20 years of service would be released with pensionary benefits immediately upon the completion of the case in Supreme Court.

The court observed that Centres policy of 2019 in allowing SSC women officers permanent commission in 10 streams was in furtherance of the mandate of Constitution.

However, the court also noted that despite its own policy of 2019, the Centre had submitted a note to the court which perpetuates gender stereotypes.

Arguments by the Centre which were founded on difference in physical features of men and women and on motherhood and family obligations of women perpetuates stereotypes on womans role in the society and are disturbing, the court noted.

Listing out some achievements of women in Army, the court stated that casting aspersions on ability of women and their role and achievements in Army is an insult not only to women but also to Indian Army, the court held.

The respondent/women officers had pointed out that this notification did not grant permanent commission to women with over 14 years of service and was hence discriminatory. Moreover, the 2019 policy granted permanent commission only for staff appointments and not command appointments.

The Centre had justified the same stating that units in Army are composed entirely of male soldiers drawn predominantly from rural background. Such units, a note submitted by the Army said, are not mentally schooled to accept women officers in command of units.

Further, the Centre also submitted that lower physical capacity of women officers will be a challenge for them to command units wherein officers are expected to lead the men from the front and need to be in prime physical condition to undertake combat tasks.

As per the note, adverse conditions including two unsettled borders and internal security situation in the north-east and Jammu and Kashmir have a major bearing on employment of women officers in the light of their physiological limitations accentuated by challenges of confinement, motherhood and childcare.

The justification by the Centre had been subject to intense criticism.

In response to the note, the respondent women officers had filed their written submissions in which they had countered the stance of the defence ministry as regressive and contrary to records and statistics.

It is submitted that the justification/reasons stated in the Note handed over on behalf of the Union of India with regard to denying Women Officers command appointments is not highly regressive but also completely contrary to the demonstrated record and statistics, the women officers had argued.
A Delhi court on Monday began hearing on a plea seeking the issuance of fresh death warrants against all four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case.

Tihar Jail's law officer handed over a status report to the court.

Special Public Prosecutor Rajiv Mohan apprised the court about the current status of the case and also stated that three out of four convicts have already exhausted their legal remedies.

And as of date, there is no petition pending in any court, Mohan said.

He also mentioned that Delhi High Court had given seven-day time to the convicts and that period is over.

A Delhi court had adjourned the hearing for February 17 on the plea of the state and Nirbhaya's parents seeking issuance of death warrant as a petition challenging the rejection of mercy plea of convict Vinay Kumar Sharma was pending before the Supreme Court.

On Friday, the apex court had dismissed Sharma's petition.

President Ram Nath Kovind had also rejected the mercy petitions of convicts Akshay Thakur and Mukesh Singh.

The Delhi High Court on February 5 granted a week's time to the four convicts to avail of all legal remedies available to them and said that the convicts cannot be hanged separately since they were convicted for the same crime.

A Delhi Court had issued a death warrant against the four convicts -- Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta, and Mukesh Singh -- on January 7 and they were scheduled to be executed on January 22 at Tihar Jail. Later, the execution was suspended indefinitely by a Delhi court.

The case pertains to the gang-rape and brutalizing of a 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus on the night of December 16, 2012, by six people including a juvenile in Delhi. The woman had died at a Singapore hospital a few days later.

One of the five adults accused, Ram Singh, had allegedly committed suicide in the Tihar Jail during the trial of the case.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Berlin: Record high temperatures reportedly measured in Antarctica will take months to verify, the UN weather agency said.

A spokesman for the World Meteorological Organisation said the measurements made by researchers from Argentina and Brazil earlier this month have to undergo a formal process to ensure that they meet international standards.

An iceberg drifts past Argentina's Brown Station. Credit:Getty Images

"A formal decision on whether or not this is a record is likely to be several months away," said Jonathan Fowler, the WMO spokesman.

Scientists at an Argentinian research base measured a temperature of 18.3 degrees Celsius on February 6 on a peninsula that juts out from Antarctica toward the southern tip of South America. The previous record there was 17.5 degrees in March 2015.
PRESCOTT, Ariz.  Yavapai County authorities say a meteor streaking through the atmosphere may have caused a loud boom that residents reported hearing.

County sheriffs officials say the agency started receiving calls about a loud blast, boom or explosion around 7:20 a.m. Sunday from all corners of the north-central Arizona county.

Deputies were dispatched to patrol their areas for any signs or a possible source.

Sheriffs officials say the Federal Aviation Administration did not have any information and Luke Air Force Base had no jet traffic in the air at that time.

But some people say they saw something streaking across the sky about the same time the sound was reported in the Prescott area.

So far, sheriffs officials say some type of meteor event seems to be the best explanation for the loud boom.
A Delhi court on Monday issued fresh death warrants for March 3 at 6 am against the four death row convicts--Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Kumar Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar (31), in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case. This is the third time that a court has issued death warrants against the four convicts.

The first date of execution, January 22, was postponed to February 1 by a January 17 court order. Then the trial court, on January 31, stayed, "till further orders" the execution of the four convicts as they had not exhausted all their legal remedies. All the four convicts are currently lodged in Tihar Jail.

On February 17 (Monday), Pawan Gupta wanted to move a curative petition before the Supreme Court and mercy plea before the President, his lawyer told the Patiala Court.

The Delhi High Court on February 5 granted a week's time to the four convicts to avail of all legal remedies available to them and said that the convicts cannot be hanged separately since they were convicted for the same crime.

Mukesh told the court that he does not want to be represented by advocate Vrinda Grover, after which it appointed advocate Ravi Qazi to represent him.

Mukesh Kumar Singh: The Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government had on January 16 rejected the mercy plea of Mukesh which was then forwarded to Lieutenant Governor. The L-G had then forwarded the mercy petition to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) who in turn sent it to President Ram Nath Kovind, recommending its rejection. President Kovind had rejected the mercy petition on January 17.

Mukesh Singh had moved the mercy petition before the President after the Supreme Court had dismissed his curative petition against his conviction and death sentence. The apex court had dismissed Mukesh`s plea seeking judicial review of the rejection of his mercy petition by the President. With this decision by the top court, Mukesh exhausted the last legal remedy available to him against the death sentence.

Vinay Kumar Sharma: Vinay had filed a curative petition before the Supreme Court against the death sentence which was dismissed. On February 1, President Kovind had rejected the mercy plea of Vinay.

He had later moved the SC challenging the rejection of his mercy petition by the President claiming that the "hurried rejection" was "mala fide" and violated the letter and spirit of the Constitution. Vinay has also sought commutation of his death sentence to life imprisonment claiming that he has "developed mental illness" inside the prison due to the alleged "torture and ill-treatment".

Akshay Kumar: Akshay was the third convict in the case to file a mercy petition before the President. However, it was also rejected by the President in February. The apex court had also dismissed the curative petition of Akshay.

Pawan Gupta: Of the four convicts, Pawan has not yet availed the remedy of either curative petition or mercy plea.

The 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, who came to be known as 'Nirbhaya' (fearless), was gang-raped and savagely assaulted on the night of December 16, 2012, in a moving bus in South Delhi. She died of her injuries a fortnight later in a Singapore hospital.

Six people including the four convicts, Ram Singh and a juvenile -- were named as accused. The trial of the five adult men began in a special fast-track court in March 2013.

Ram Singh, the prime accused, allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in Tihar jail days after the trial began. The juvenile, who was said to be the most brutal of the attackers, was put in a correctional home for three years. The juvenile was released in 2015 and sent to an undisclosed location amid concerns over a threat to his life. He, when released, was 20 years old.

Mukesh, Vinay, Akshay and Pawan were sentenced to death in September 2013 by the trial court which was challenged by them in higher courts.
Irish security officials suspect that Russia might be considering their country as a regional base for intelligence operations.

Russia has sent intelligence agents to Ireland to map the precise location of the fiber-optic, ocean-bed cables that connect Europe to America, gardai suspect.

This has raised concerns that Russian agents are checking the cables for weak points, with a view to tapping or even damaging them in the future, The Times reports.

Ireland is the landing point for undersea cables which carry internet traffic between America, Britain, and Europe. The cables enable millions of people to communicate and allow financial transactions to take place seamlessly.

Garda and military sources believe the agents were sent by the GRU, the military intelligence branch of the Russian armed forces which was blamed for the nerve agent attack in Britain on Sergei Skripal, a former Russian intelligence officer.

Read alsoFacebook removes Russian accounts over Ukraine interference

Irish security officials also suspect that Russia might be considering their country as a regional base for intelligence operations.

Ireland's counterintelligence is not that developed, according to a British expert on Russia, Mark Galeotti, who suggests this is why Moscow could see the country as the weakest link.

Also, Russian spies could be interested in various tech giants that placed their offices in Dublin.
By Trend





President Ilham Aliyev put Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan in a difficult position during panel discussions on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict at the Munich Security Conference, Azerbaijani MP Elman Mammadov told Trend.

Elman Mammadov noted that Pashinyan tried to distort the history and causes of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict shamelessly, deceitfully at the meeting with the Azerbaijani president.

"This was not the first time that Pashinyan, without even expecting it, receives tangible answers from President Ilham Aliyev. However, he does not learn his lessons. As Ilham Aliyev noted, Armenian leaders always found certain excuses not to continue negotiations at the most decisive moment. I believe that not only Pashinyan, but also the Armenian politicians as a whole received a worthy response from President Ilham Aliyev. This response was also a message to the forces that defend Armenians and Armenia in European institutions at various levels," Elman Mammadov said.

The Azerbaijani MP noted that President Ilham Aliyev also gave a weighty answer to Pashinyan's false statement that the Khojaly tragedy was allegedly committed by Azerbaijanis.

"President Ilham Aliyev exposed Pashinyan's lies with facts and logic. This was a severe blow for Pashinyan. In this process, not only Pashinyan and the Armenian state, but also the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, who are mediators in the process of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and some other international organizations are responsible. These international organizations should not create conditions for such slanderous statements of Pashinyan. The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs should finally, clearly, explain to Armenia, as President Ilham Aliyev noted, that Nagorno Karabakh is not Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh is not an independent country," Elman Mammadov added.
Pak bound ship capable of missile launch detained in Gujarat

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Feb 17: The Indian authorities have detained a ship bearing a Hong Kong flag which was bound to Port Qasim in Karachi. The ship was detained for wrongly declaring an autoclave, which can be used in the launch process of ballistic missiles, as an industrial dryer.

The ship which was detained on February 3 is currently undergoing a detailed inspection at the Kandla Port in Gujarat. In order to check the large autoclave on board, a second team of the DRDO is being sent to Gujarat, sources tell OneIndia.

The ship which is named Da Cui Yan carries a Hong Kong flag. The ship left the port on the Yangtze River in China's Jiangsu province and was bound to Port Qasim in Pakistan. The vessel was intercepted on the basis of intelligence inputs. During examination it was found the autoclave has been certified as a dual use item, which can be used both for military and civilian purposes.

India successfully test-fires K-4 ballistic missile from INS Arihant

The second team of the DRDO will visit Kandla today to further examine the ship. If the second team upholds the findings of the first team then the ship would be seized for violation of the Special Chemical, Organisms, Materials, Equipment and Technologies export regulations.

NEWS AT NOON, FEBRUARY 17th, 2020

The matter has been brought to the notice of the highest security officials. Concerns have been raised about the presence of this ship and the matter is being further investigated, the officer cited above also said.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, February 17, 2020, 8:27 [IST]
MIDDLETOWN  Two nurses who opened a boutique just off Main Street last month are on a mission to change womens mindset about what looks good on them  and bolster their confidence in the process.

Shalli Francis and Tiffany Moorehead, both single mothers and owners of My Honeys Sweeter at 143 William St., say the shops name recalls their African-American upbringing.

One of the big things weve been raised on is were made of honey and sugar  like the melanin in our skin. Women like sweet treats; we like nice things, we like to feel comforted  even if its a nice pair of underwear. We like to make ourselves feel good, Francis said.

When she has the occasion to step away from all her duties and enjoy a little me time, Francis will pick up some new underwear and pajamas, return home, put on fresh sheets, and take a long shower. Thats one of the best feelings in the world, she explained.

Often, residents are frustrated at the lack of clothing stores in Middletown.

Moorehead has always followed clothing trends, and enjoys boosting womens confidence. My Honeys Sweeter carries a range of sizes, including plus, so more customers can find something they like.

A lot of people in the area were lacking fashion sense, because they didnt have access to the material. Theyll be more comfortable because we are in the neighborhood, she said.

She found the perfect location on William Street, across from the Middletown Housing Authority and near Wesleyan University. She had a vision where she wanted us to be, Francis said. We fell in love with it.

Customers are thrilled to frequent a local clothing store rather than go to a mall or out of town to shop. Not everyone is always fond of going to Marshalls and flipping through the racks, Francis added.

Moorehead was born and raised in Middletown, and wants to fill a niche for those who prefer shopping at a brick-and-mortar, locally owned businesses over buying things on the Internet.

As a rule, the woman limit their wholesale purchases to no more than six of one item. Its exclusive. You dont feel like everyone in town is going to have this on, Moorehead said.

Women are so busy with a multitude of responsibilities, so sometimes they put themselves last, both said.

We forget to do those things. We get so busy: Were the mother, were the social worker, sometimes were the father. Were also the breadwinner, drivers, cooker. There are 100 hats. Out of those 100 hats, we dont even take one off for ourselves sometimes, Francis said.

They insist on selling items at affordable price points, Francis explained. There is an array of items: dresses, shoes, hats, leggings, jeans, pocket books; accessories such as necklaces, sunglasses and earrings; and much more.

The women just purchased a heat press and soon will be selling T-shirts with their logo on it: a honey dipper held over a golden pool of the sweet treat. The drip look, Francis calls it.

Be sweet with a little dash of toughness is her tagline.

Trying something new  for example, a silky blouse with sleek, black pants and high heels  may seem in concept too businesslike or formal to women used to throwing on a well-worn pair of jeans, a solid-color top and sneakers.

Fashion is a way to express yourself. I dont care if youre boho chic or an edgy chick, it doesnt matter, Francis said. You could wear sweatshirts and jogging pants all day long. Its about you feeling confident in whatever youre wearing. Weve all got to try something new.

The two have always wanted to open their own business.

Both graduated from the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerces Side Street to Main Street Business Know-How program, where they were given the tools to get started. Its intended to help minorities make their business plan a success.

We always had the initiative to start, but we always talked ourselves out of it or made something else that was more of a priority, Francis explained. It let us know its all doable. Its really just about your mindset. It helped us be realistic, but also reach for our goals.

Social media is pervaded with tantalizing images that make everything seem possible for anyone looking to go into business, she said.

They make it look easy to be an entrepreneur. Youre going to go out there, youre going to have all these customers and youre going to make all this money, and youre going to be rich in a month. Thats not the case, Francis said.

Weve always had a type of hustle in us  were single moms  so we always had to figure out another way to make money. It seemed like the timing was never right. We were raising more than one kid, working another job, wanting to be there for our families, Francis said.

You can come in here and play dress-up and see yourself in other things you thought you couldnt wear, Francis said. Thats what fashion is all about, she added.

We get so caught up in our daily routines and lives. Sometimes we forget to take a moment for ourselves. I dont care if you put on a new necklace and new pocketbook, you can go to the bar, have a drink, and feel good about yourself, Francis said.

Francis gives the example of a sequined dress, which, she said, cant be found at a large department store, and it certainly wouldnt be as reasonably priced as $36.99. With the fit and quality of that dress, it gives you your online look for affordable prices that you can drive two minutes to come get.

And once customers get inside the store, Francis will be right there, ready to help in any way, providing the confidence some shoppers lack when it comes to outfitting themselves.

Ill go right with you to the clothes. I like to see people happy. I will definitely have you walking out of her buying something and feel good about what you bought, Francis said.

My Honeys Sweeter is open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Spring hours, which begin March 10, are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. For information, visit myhoneyssweeter.bigcartel.com or call 860-834-2072.
There is very little evidence that Ring reduces crime. Hundreds of police departments have signed agreements with Amazon-owned Ring to obtain access to the home surveillance camera footage. Interviews with many of them, in 8 different states, show little to no evidence that Ring actually deters criminal activity.

"We don't have any research data showing that Ring has a correlation to a reduction," Jodee Reyes, a spokeswoman for the Carlsbad Police Department near San Diego told NBC News.

"Our residential burglary rate began decreasing before Ring gave us access to their portal. There are more than likely many factors that have led to this decrease."

From reporting by Cyrus Farivar:

Since 2018, Ring has signed up more than 800 law enforcement agencies as "partners," offering them access to video footage recorded by its millions of customers' internet-connected cameras across the U.S. through an app called Neighbors. Ring promises to "make neighborhoods safer" by deterring and helping to solve crimes, citing its own research that says an installation of its doorbell cameras reduces burglaries by more than 50 percent. But an NBC News Investigation has found  after interviews with 40 law enforcement agencies in eight states that have partnered with Ring for at least three months  that there is little concrete evidence to support the claim. Three agencies said the ease with which the public can share Ring videos means officers spend time reviewing clips of non-criminal issues such as racoons and petty disagreements between neighbors. Others noted that the flood of footage generated by Ring cameras rarely led to positive identifications of suspects, let alone arrests. Thirteen of the 40 jurisdictions reached, including Winter Park, said they had made zero arrests as a result of Ring footage. Thirteen were able to confirm arrests made after reviewing Ring footage, while two offered estimates. The rest, including large cities like Phoenix, Miami, and Kansas City, Missouri, said that they don't know how many arrests had been made as a result of their relationship with Ring  and therefore could not evaluate its effectiveness  even though they had been working with the company for well over a year.

Read more:

Cute videos, but little evidence: Police say Amazon Ring isn't much of a crime fighter

(Cyrus Farivar, nbcnews.com, Feb. 15, 2020)

Ring, citing its own research, promises to reduce burglaries by more than 50%. But this @NBCNews investigation found "that there is little concrete evidence to support the claim"  @cfarivar https://t.co/d7trbCubu9  Fabio Chiusi (@fabiochiusi) February 16, 2020

Second verse same as the first. #SurveillanceCapitalism isn't about keeping people safe, it's about selling information. @amazon is preying on fear without making anyone safer. Ring itself says it does not know how effective its own cameras are. https://t.co/AYNkMbBhXu     (@WildPalmsLtd) February 17, 2020

Pretty much every scholar who has spent any serious amount of time thinking and working in this space has said that these technologies don't enhance safety; they merely scare people into buying the products and services of surveillance and tech companies looking for more revenue. https://t.co/AgfGUEYU2o  Ali Alkhatib (@_alialkhatib) February 16, 2020

This article conflates reducing crime & catching criminals throughout the article making it hard to draw conclusion. Law enforcement in US fundamentally about punishing crime not reducing it. Quality of the economy & community reduce crime not cops or techhttps://t.co/EhxSBkYFMa  Dare Obasanjo (@Carnage4Life) February 16, 2020

Definite contrast between Strib's story on Ring cameras as a crime-fighting tool:https://t.co/uNQb5LiODa

 and this NBC news piece from 24 hours earlier:https://t.co/GvcE2wQbD7  David Brauer (@dbrauer) February 16, 2020

So the main beneficiary of the 800+ deals with police departments appears to be Amazon https://t.co/SxrGblOxzF  Olivia Solon (@oliviasolon) February 15, 2020

Good thread on Ring and it's somewhat sinister deals with police. (What I want to know is whether Ring ever hired an 'editor-in-chief' they advertised for a while back ) https://t.co/QtJBQW9lgD  emily bell (@emilybell) February 15, 2020

Not a single police department @NBCNews spoke with "had data to link the overall drop in property crimes to their deal with Ring." https://t.co/6smg86N5Yw  Matt Cagle (@Matt_Cagle) February 15, 2020

Since 2018, Ring has signed up more than 800 law enforcement agencies as "partners," offering them access to video footage recorded by millions of customers' cameras. But police say there's no data that links the deal with Ring to a drop in crime. https://t.co/xaQavLj940 pic.twitter.com/rN5abWIrpq  NBC News (@NBCNews) February 15, 2020

It's not clear to me that if it DID solve crimes we'd know how to weigh that as a society against our values, but this is important reporting. https://t.co/4pCAVrge9o  Jacob Ward (@byjacobward) February 15, 2020

[HT/techmeme.com]
Welcome Guest! You Are Here:

Home Regional News East
China may postpone its annual parliament session, state media said Monday, as the country battles to control the outbreak of the new coronavirus.

China's ruling council will "deliberate a draft decision" over postponing the ten-day National People's Congress (NPC), said official news agency Xinhua, ahead of the meeting due to start on March 5.

The parliamentary meeting has been held annually in March for the past 35 years.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


DriveSafe Online, a global leader in online defensive driver safety training for new, experienced and fleet drivers, today announced the approval of its online MO Driver Improvement Program (DIP) course by the Missouri Division of Transportation Safety.

The MO DIP course is now available at https://www.drivesafeonline.org/missouri/driver-improvement-program/.

New Missouri Moving Violation Regulation

Due to recent revisions by Missouri lawmakers, the procedure to remove driver license points for moving violations now requires court approval. Drivers who receive traffic tickets in Missouri must appear before a judge and request permission to take an approved Driver Improvement Program (DIP) course.

Drivers may have points removed from their driving record by successfully completing the DriveSafe Online safe driver program.

Were excited that Missouri transportation authorities recognize the DriveSafe Online defensive driving course as one of the few state-approved DIP courses, said Dean Fouquet, DriveSafe Online vice president of vertical markets. The approval supports the DriveSafe Online commitment to provide quality training and education to drivers in every state.

Course Features

The DriveSafe Online Missouri Driver Improvement Program course offers a variety of user-friendly features including:



100% online and mobile friendly

Fully narrated video and animation

MO Form 4444 available immediately after course completion

Affordable pricing

Money-back guarantee

User Benefits

DriveSafe Online course benefits make the user experience enjoyable and productive. Every user gets access to:

full-screen videos examining various real-life traffic situations

narrated animations demonstrating how to perform driving maneuvers

drone footage to give new perspectives on traffic safety

interactive knowledge checks to gauge user understanding

a comprehensive assessment to satisfy court and DMV requirements

The new regulation in Missouri can be a bit confusing to drivers," said Fouquet. "We want to make it easy and convenient for people to maintain clean driving records, which, of course, can help save money on auto insurance."

No other online defensive driving course offers the same level of quality features and benefits for such an affordable price. Fouquet added that DriveSafe Online is truly revolutionizing online driver safety training in Missouri and every state.

About DriveSafe Online/NexLearn

DriveSafe Online is developed and offered by NexLearn, an award-winning industry leader in eLearning for more than two decades. NexLearn is the trusted learning course developer of choice for a number of organizations including Oracle, Cessna, Kelloggs, Georgia-Pacific, Hyatt, Harvard Business Publishing, the Department of Defense and PepsiCo. Visit http://www.drivesafeonline.org for more information about DriveSafe Online defensive driving courses. Additional information about NexLearn is available at http://www.nexlearn.com.
(Photo : Screenshot from: SiLive Official Website) (Photo : Screenshot from: CNN Official Website)

Fears now mount as the U.S. State Department just announced that 14 people who had tested positive for Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) were among over 300 Americans evacuated by plane from a quarantined Japan ship. Is U.S. Prepared for an outbreak?

With regards to the Coronavirus or COVID-19 domestic cases in the United States, it has reached a total number of 15 that was confirmed on Thursday, Feb.13, following another person who was tested positive, making cases all around the world reach a nearly whopping 60,000 to date.

On that note, the question everyone's asking is, will the U.S Health System be ready when the time comes that large numbers of people are getting infected in their country?

Read Also: Chinese Citizens Seek Comfort in Mobile Games While They Stay At Home To Avoid Coronavirus



What is the U.S currently doing?

Just like any other country that has been greatly affected by the coronavirus, when the time comes that they will be flooded with infected people, U.S Government officials can prevent citizens to travel, give out vaccinations, and require them to submit to medical exams.

At various U.S Airports, according to the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, all passengers are to be screened for symptoms such as a fever, cough, and difficulty in breathing. These airports include John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Los Angeles International Airport, San Francisco International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and Chicago O'Hare International Aiport. These screenings are not 100% accurate since not everyone infected can be caught and this is because the incubation period lasts a week. Meaning, it can possibly take a week after getting infected by the virus before showing some symptoms.

U.S citizens that are returning to the United States and have been in Hubei province in China, will be subject to up to 14 days of mandatory quarantine.

Read Also: China Authorities Requiring All Travelers to Report Where They Have Been Via Text Messaging Could Hurt Ailing Tech Companies More

How can the U.S Health System cope and handle a massive surge?

According to Jonathan Greene, director of emergency management and medical operations at the Department of Health and Human Services, "Surge capacity in the health care system is something that we think a lot about and prepare for in the U.S., and not specifically to coronavirus per se, but for a whole host of events that could occur in the United States," Greene also says that the federal agency is working to be able to treat thousands of patients if need be.

But not everyone believes in the United State's capacity to handle an epidemic as big as this with a sudden outpour of infections that reach thousands in number.

Hospitals alone would very much be under pressure and will have a hard time handling a lot of greatly infected patients who need to be in isolation. The health care system would be stressed for capacity, hospitals can become overcrowded, and will eventually be forced to discharge patients or try to transfer them to different locations due to not having enough beds. It had been made clear that hospitals do not plan for pandemics in the same manner as planning for new procedures and new drugs, the U.S do not have any kind of strategy nor the infrastructure which of course all comes back to funding which America does not have and has been cut over the decade.





Read Also: [WATCH] This is How Destructive The 'Potentially Dangerous' Asteroid That is Approaching Earth Over The Weekend Would

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Ava Graves (i)

Age: 63

Job title: Hospice chaplain

City of residence: Beaumont

Highest level of education pursued: Graduated Bellaire High School in 1974; Obtained certification in pastoral care at Krist Samaritan Center for Counseling in Education in 2004; Became Eucharist Minister with the United Methodist Church in 2000

Three examples of elected office or volunteer work

1. Volunteer with Inspire, Encourage, Achieve, Bens Kids

1. Member of Pioneering Women

3. Volunteer with Meals on wheels

Q: What would your priorities as party chair be?

A: My first priority would be to ensure that our campaign for the general election is successful: Making sure that our candidates have access to all the right tools and resources available. In addition, I would continue to reflect the principles of the Democratic Party, recruit and retain qualified candidates and fundraise. In just the two months Ive been in leadership, weve restarted the Texas Young Democrats. Weve had a debate watch party, a deputy voter registrar training, several U.S. Senate candidates speak and volunteer training. Its all about synergizing and providing access to resources to promote Democratic beliefs.

Q: Over the last several years, weve seen a number of prominent Southeast Texas Democrats change their party affiliation. Why do you think that is and how do you reinvigorate the base to keep membership?

A: We have to be visual out in the community and reach out to those who are currently active in the Democratic Party, those who are dormant and those who want to participate but dont know how to get involved. Our goal is to have more of a face in the community, engage more with our precinct chairs and help them to synergize their precincts.

Q: Nationally we see a sort-of reckoning between the moderate and progressive ambitions of the Democratic Party. At the same time, Texas has long been a red state that some say is turning purple and you see Jefferson County shifting the opposite way. Where do you see the ideology of the county party fitting into that landscape?

A: In my perspective, everything starts at the local level. It is our charge to make sure we are electing local candidates that will impact us on a state and national level.

Q: How do you see voter suppression or security playing a role in the upcoming election and what, if anything, are your concerns?

A: At the Southeast Texas Women Democrats monthly meeting our County Clerk shared the exorbitant number of voter registrations being kicked back. That concerns me. Our goal is to make sure that were being proactive and keeping track of those who have voted in previous elections, so they vote again.

Q: How do you counter misinformation and what is the partys role in that task?

A: You cant control other peoples narrative or perspective of how things are. Of course, I have been the victim of someones disingenuous information that maligned my character. If there are any in-house concerns that need to be addressed, they need to be addressed in-house. My job is not to chase down rumors and things people say about me. My work speaks for me. I continue to be a community enthusiast and an active servant in the community. I create my narrative for myself personally and also as it relates to the party by continually informing people about the strength and synergy of the Democratic Party.

Q: Why are you the best candidate?

A: My qualifications align with the responsibilities of the job: Being able to implement the procedures, rules and regulations that are already in place; follow the guidelines and collaborate with the County Clerk, Secretary of State, Ethics Committee and others; communicate effectively; help your candidates find resources to support the things they need to do; and also navigate relationships on a local, state and national level. It takes experience, wisdom and knowledge on how to execute group dynamics. Thats what were doing as a party chair. Youre executing group dynamics and helping us to obtain the bigger picture.

Joseph Trahan

Age: 23

Job title: Public relations manager for The Childrens Center, Inc.

City of residence: Beaumont

Education: Graduated from University of Texas in 2018 with a Bachelors degree in public relations and business

Three examples of elected office or volunteer work:

1. Former chair of Student Endowed Centennial Lectureship

2. Program chair of Freedom Fund Banquet for the NAACP in Beaumont

3. Board member with the Land Manor drug rehabilitation program

Q: What would your priorities as party chair be?

A: My priority would be to grow out base and ensure that were not continuing to experience elections that make you want to be at the edge of your seat wondering if were going to win or lose. I dont want to see us have close elections here in Jefferson County any longer.

Q: Over the last several years, weve seen a number of prominent Southeast Texas Democrats change their party affiliation. Why do you think that is and how do you reinvigorate the base to keep membership?

A: We need to be engaged with voters, not simply knock on their doors while campaigning. I want to establish permanently-standing committees, including a volunteer committee. It would involve engaging with voters and community affairs, from assisting them with trash pickup to advocating for issues they care about. I want to let people know that in addition to electing Democrats, we want to live the values we preach. We also have to grow the base and engage with people in their 20s and 30s who havent been voting. I want to invest in Lamar Democrats and ensure they have resources and prominent speakers for meetings. I experienced and helped lead a similar effort at the University of Texas. I also proposed providing office space for youth-focused Democratic groups so they can feel theyre part of the party and have our support. Voter engagement on campus can make or break an election. We have to start now

Q: Nationally we see a sort-of reconing between the moderate and progressive ambitions of the Democratic Party. At the same time, Texas has long been a red state that some say is turning purple and you see Jefferson County shifting the opposite way. Where do you see the ideology of the county party fitting into that landscape?

A: We have more moderate or conservative Democrats here. We have many independents who dont identify as Democrats because they feel the party is moving too far in one direction. As a leader I cant push too far right or left and instead allow primary candidates to disseminate their own message. I will support the Democratic nominee chosen by the people. One reason I think more people here are voting Republican is because the Democratic Party isnt doing a good job speaking to voters outside Beaumont. Theyre expected to come to us. They see the Republican Party has a presence in their area and is speaking to them, so they move that way. I happen to believe Democrats have a better message, so if we do a better job of engaging with people and meeting them on their terms, we can win them over. We just have to invest in people.

Q: How do you see voter suppression or security playing a role in the upcoming election and what, if anything, are your concerns?

A: There are thousands of people on the voter suspension list. I dont think it will decide the primary. But in the general election, its crucial that people who can vote do. We have to let people know theyre on the suspense list and ask how we can help get them off. The county courthouse can provide those names. Another concern I have for November is the elimination of straight-ticket voting. Many people are accustomed to hitting one option and being done. Now they have to take the time to go through every race and I think it will cause confusion.

Q: How do you counter misinformation and what is the partys role in that task?

A: We have to do a better job of addressing rumors, false information and fake news. If we dont address it, people are going to assume its true, which continues to permit misinformation. Beyond just addressing potential rumors, we have to push our platforms, messages and values. So its not only addressing a rumor, but following up with what were about to push beyond the messiness and motivate people, inspire them.

Q: Why are you the best candidate?

A: I have vast connections in Jefferson and Harris counties. We tend to go to the same people for support, which diminishes future money, instead of growing our funding base like I can do with my connections. I also am bridging the gap between members who have dedicated most of their lives to our cause and those just starting out. I went to Austin for college to expand my horizons and plan to bring the successful ideas I saw back to Jefferson County. Finally, I have support from most of our countys elected Democrats, so I wont have a honeymoon period.

Paul Martin

Age: 40

Job title: Candidate

City of residence: Beaumont

Highest level of education pursued or completed: Attended Community College of the Air Force in 2013

Three examples of elected office or volunteer work:

1. Southeast Texas regional chair and state steering committee member of Our Revolution

2. Former Triangle Caucus chair and campaign finance secretary

4. Former PFLAG board member, secretary and vice chair

Q: What would your priorities as party chair be?

A: We have to first make sure the candidates have what they need, the proper paperwork is filed and make sure were raising enough money -- all the stuff a normal party chair would do. In addition to that, we need to revitalize the party. It needs to be better organized and get out into the community more.

Q: Over the last several years, weve seen a number of prominent Southeast Texas Democrats change their party affiliation. Why do you think that is and how do you reinvigorate the base to keep membership?

A: I would say if these peoples ideology is already to a point where they want to leave the party, theres no reason to convince them to stay. We need to grow candidates. We have lots of great organizations in town and part of their mission is to encourage people to run for office. Without change, an organization will die. We need to step back look at whats working and not and determine how we improve the processes. When I was in the Air Force we were constantly encouraged to innovate, find better ways to do things.

Q: Nationally we see a sort-of reckoning between the moderate and progressive ambitions of the Democratic Party. At the same time, Texas has long been a red state that some say is turning purple and you see Jefferson County shifting the opposite way. Where do you see the ideology of the county party fitting into that landscape?

A: Jefferson County still has a strong Democratic presence. However, we need to be aware of the Republican Party and their efforts. I am aware of some of the steps theyve taken to organize their party and we need to keep pace with that if we want to be competitive against them.

Q: Nationally we see a sort-of reckoning between the moderate and progressive ambitions of the Democratic Party. At the same time, Texas has long been a red state that some say is turning purple and you see Jefferson County shifting the opposite way. Where do you see the ideology of the county party fitting into that landscape?

A: In my mind I see the state and national party evolving into a more progressive party while still being controlled by old-line Democrats. We can see that on the local level as well just by looking at the candidates and incumbents and seeing what they believe in and stand for.

Q: How do you see voter suppression or security playing a role in the upcoming election and what, if anything, are your concerns?

A: I have great faith in our voting system here in Jefferson County. Shes not a Democrat, but I think Allison Getz does a wonderful job in her position as tax assessor/collector. Saying that, if I were party chair, that doesnt mean I wouldnt encourage someone to run against her. Of course, Carolyn Guidry has done a wonderful job managing elections in Jefferson County. Theres the election judges and safeguards in place. When I go vote, I feel very secure when I go into my polling place and cast my vote. I have great confidence in our voting system.

Q: How do you counter misinformation and what is the partys role in that task?

A: If you cant win on your platform, why are you running? If you have to mudsling, why are you running? There are more honorable ways than mudslinging. Nationally, we have to keep pushing the facts. We have to yell the truth louder than the lies. We can bring out issues to the forefront through protests and other activism, such as the local Womens March we had when Trump was elected.

Q: Why are you the best candidate?

A: I have extensive experience volunteering and working in a group. Ive been involved with a lot of organizations since discharged from the Air Force and returned to Beaumont in 2013. Through that, I have a large number of contacts and ideas for the party. Im running to have a party for the people. We need better access. Ive heard from several people that its hard to get in touch with local people. We also need to push national issues, such as a fair minimum wage; affordable healthcare, union protections; and civil rights, among others, on a local level because all politics are local.

Some answers have been edited for length.
Emerging technologies and new strategies are opening a revitalized era in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). New discovery capabilities, along with the rapidly-expanding number of known planets orbiting stars other than the Sun, are spurring innovative approaches by both government and private organizations, according to a panel of experts speaking at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Seattle, Washington.

New approaches will not only expand upon but also go beyond the traditional SETI technique of searching for intelligently-generated radio signals, first pioneered by Frank Drake's Project Ozma in 1960. Scientists now are designing state-of-the-art techniques to detect a variety of signatures that can indicate the possibility of extraterrestrial technologies. Such "technosignatures" can range from the chemical composition of a planet's atmosphere, to laser emissions, to structures orbiting other stars, among others.

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and the privately-funded SETI Institute announced an agreement to collaborate on new systems to add SETI capabilities to radio telescopes operated by NRAO. The first project will develop a system to piggyback on the National Science Foundation's Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) that will provide data to a state-of-the-art technosignature search system.

"As the VLA conducts its usual scientific observations, this new system will allow for an additional and important use for the data we're already collecting," said NRAO Director Tony Beasley. "Determining whether we are alone in the Universe as technologically capable life is among the most compelling questions in science, and NRAO telescopes can play a major role in answering it," Beasley continued.

"The SETI Institute will develop and install an interface on the VLA permitting unprecedented access to the rich data stream continuously produced by the telescope as it scans the sky," said Andrew Siemion, Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETI at the SETI Institute and Principal Investigator for the Breakthrough Listen Initiative at the University of California, Berkeley. "This interface will allow us to conduct a powerful, wide-area SETI survey that will be vastly more complete than any previous such search," he added.

Siemion highlighted the singular role the $100-million Breakthrough Listen Initiative has played in reinvigorating the field of SETI in recent years. Siemion also announced the latest scientific results from Listen, a SETI survey in the direction of stars where a distant civilization could observe the Earth's passage across the sun, and the availability of nearly 2 PetaBytes of data from the Listen Initiative's international network of observatories.

advertisement

Other indicators of possible technologies include laser beams, structures built around stars to capture the star's power output, atmospheric chemicals produced by industries, and rings of satellites similar to the ring of geosynchronous communication satellites orbiting above Earth's equator.

"Such indicators are becoming detectable as our technology advances, and this has renewed interest in SETI searches at both government agencies and private foundations," Siemion said.

Life forms, whether intelligent or not, also can produce detectable indicators. These include the presence of large amounts of oxygen, smaller amounts of methane, and a variety of other chemicals. Victoria Meadows, Principal Investigator for NASA's Virtual Planetary Laboratory at the University of Washington, described how scientists are developing computer models to simulate exterrestrial environments and to help support future searches for habitable planets and life beyond the Solar System.

"Upcoming telescopes in space and on the ground will have the capability to observe the atmospheres of Earth-sized planets orbiting nearby cool stars, so it's important to understand how best to recognize signs of habitability and life on these planets," Meadows said, "These computer models will help us determine whether an observed planet is more or less likely to support life."

As new programs implement the expanding technical capabilities for detecting extraterrestrial life and intelligence, it's important to define what constitutes compelling, credible evidence, according to Jill Tarter, of the SETI Institute.

advertisement

"How strong does the evidence need to be to justify claiming a discovery? Can we expect to find smoking guns? If the evidence requires many caveats, how do we responsibly inform the public," Tarter asked.

Tarter pointed out that projects such as the University of California at San Diego's PANOSETI visible-light and infrared search, and the SETI Institute's Laser SETI search are being built with co-observing sites to reduce false positives. Such measures, she said, will boost confidence in reported detections, but also add to the expense of the project.

The news media also share responsibility for communicating accurately with the public, Tarter emphasized. She cited cases in recent years of "exuberant reporting" of bogus claims of SETI detections. "A real detection of extraterrestrial intelligence would be such an important milestone in our understanding of the Universe that journalists need to avoid uncritical reporting of obviously fake claims," she said.

"As continuing discoveries show us that planets are very common components of the Universe, and we are able to study the characteristics of those planets, it's exciting that at the same time, technological advances are giving us the tools to greatly expand our search for signs of life. We look forward to this new realm of discovery," said Beasley, who organized the AAAS panel.

"We also look forward to the coming decade, when we hope to build a next-generation Very Large Array, which will be able to search a volume of the Universe a thousand times larger than that accessible to current telescopes -- making it the most powerful radio technosignature search machine humanity has ever constructed," Beasley added.

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.
A Kerala Muslim couple conducted the wedding of their Hindu foster daughter at a Bhagavathi temple in Kerala, scripting another tale of communal harmony at Kasaragod.

The wedding ceremony was held on Sunday.

The woman Rajeshwari tied the knot with Vishnu Prasad in the presence of family and friends belonging to both Hindu and Muslim communities.

Abdulla and Khadeeja adopted Rajeshwari after her father who worked at Abdulla's farm died. Rajeshwari's mother also passed away when she was a child.

Rajeshwari grew up alongside Abdulla and Khadeeja's three sons- Shameem, Najeeb and Shereef.

Earlier in January this year, cutting across the lines of religion, a mosque in Kerala's Kayamkulam hosted a Hindu marriage ceremony.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A model on stage with Tony the dog during the Rixo presentation. Photo: Katie Collins/PA Wire

Throwback: Left: Newry-born Katie Ann McGuigan was inspired by Irish-born photographer Tom Woodss work on life in Liverpool in the 1970s and 1980s

Glamorous design: A model showcases one of Richard Quinns floral designs during the catwalk show for his Autumn/Winter 2020 collection at London Fashion Week. Photo: BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images

Irish designers delivered a splash of bold, saturated colour at London Fashion Week, proving that autumn-winter 20 can be something to look forward to.

Richard Quinn made the bi-annual fashion showcase an evening to remember and left no one in any doubt about why he is the red carpet favourite of celebrities worldwide.

Famous for his big, blown-out floral prints, the London-Irish designer took the rich gold of his favourite mimosa flower, put it on a black background and the new print joined his growing catalogue of glamorous oversized florals.

Guests stepped into Quinn's 'fashion dream house' and were greeted by a glorification of London working-class culture from his childhood. He sent out an impressive tally of 54 looks. There were girls in polka dots and roses, their legs encased in latex or floral tights to match their outfits. On their heads, the models wore marabou feathers and masks spiked or studded lavishly with crystals.

Silhouettes were glamorous and extravagant with lots of puffball skirts. There were modern-day pearly kings and queens, and boys came into the equation too with rose and glitter tartan sleeveless tops with super-flared wasp-waisted trousers. Quinn described it as a "subversive salute to Savile Row".

Cheering him on was his Donegal-born mum, Eileen, his dad, Patrick, from Athboy, and siblings Elaine, Louise, James and Grace.

Newest kid on the block, up-and-coming designer Katie Ann McGuigan, worked with a palette of mint greens, yellows and brick red for a 12-piece collection inspired by Irish-born photographer Tom Woods, whose work documented everyday life in Liverpool in the 1970s and 1980s. She created a sitting room scene for her installation and it was quite a family affair as the models sat on the 'Cabbie' couch and chair made by her family's furniture business, Orior.

The Newry-born designer delivered silk crepe de chine and digitally printed organza dresses, geometric patterned skirts and tops, which mimicked a modern chevron print.

Meanwhile, Rixo rolled out a highly colourful collaboration with historic French fashion house Christian Lacroix. The limited edition, 19 ready-to-wear looks make up a 'see now, buy now' haute couture-inspired collection.

Irish designer Orlagh McCloskey who, with Henrietta Rix, set up Rixo, said they had always been obsessed with Lacroix.

Video of the Day

"On our vintage hunting trips in Paris, the best pieces we'd find and love the most would always be Lacroix. Being let loose in the House of Christian Lacroix archive in Paris to delve into the true history and DNA of the brand was awe-inspiring," she said.
The US electric car manufacturer Tesla clearing the forest for its new plant in Grunheide, Brandenburg, 14 February 2020. Photo: Jorg Carstensen/picture alliance via Getty Images

Preparations for Teslas (TSLA) huge new plant in Germany hit a snag on Saturday evening when a court ordered a temporary halt to chopping down trees to clear the site.

The Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg issued the injunction after environmental organisation Green League filed an emergency appeal. Work had already begun on Thursday last week to clear over 90 hectares (222 acres) of forest for the Tesla Gigafactory site.

Brandenburg states economics minister Jorg Steinbach tweeted that they expect a prompt decision by the court in the next few days.

The Brandenburg government sold the 300 hectare site to Tesla for 41 million, and the largely forested area has been combed by bomb disposal teams for any explosives left over from the Second World War.

Elon Musks announcement that he would build his first manufacturing plant in Europe just outside Berlin has been met with a mostly positive response from local politicians, who welcome the around 12,000 jobs it will create when it is fully operational.

However, there have been protests by locals and environmentalists in the past weeks, some of whom are concerned about the sheer amount of water the plant will use, and worried it will pollute their ground water. There are also concerns about felling a forest that is home to all sorts of small wildlife.

READ MORE: Tesla CEO attempts to calm locals' water worries over German factory

Teslas plans to produce the Model Y and Model 3 at the new factory, and is targeting 500,000 units annually at full capacity.

Construction is slated to start in the middle of this year  the final construction permit has still not been issued  with the goal of being operational in July 2021. These plans could face delays however, depending on the courts decision on the forest, and the fact that complaints against the factory can still be legally registered until 5 March.
A massive broke out on the top floors of the ground plus eight-storied GST Bhavan here at Byculla on Monday morning, officials said.

At least five fire-tenders were deployed to battle the blaze even as thick clouds of smoke billowed out of the upper two floors.

There are no reports of any casualties in the incident so far, and further details are awaited, said the BMC Disaster Control.
WAKE FOREST, N.C., Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Integrated Dealer Systems (IDS), a leading RV, Marine and Trailer dealership software provider, is pleased to receive special recognition from the RVBusiness RISE (Recognizing Innovation & Supplier Excellence) Awards for the development of the RECT (Repair Event Cycle Time) Reporting tool.

Though the RISE Awards are meant for industry suppliers, the enormous impact of IDS RECT has prompted the judges to unexpectedly recognize a software provider for the first time ever.

IDS (Integrated Dealer Systems)

Available to IDS dealership management software users, RECT provides RV dealers with monthly reports on their unit repair speed, so that they can pinpoint and address their biggest service bottlenecks.

In addition, dealers can anonymously compare this data to that of other dealers in North America, as there are currently 180 dealers that share their repair data through RECT, with close to 20,000 work orders analyzed each month.

Top dealers across the industry have already praised RECT's applicability on multiple occasions.

"[RECT] put a spotlight on an issue that's been affecting our entire industry," said Mike Regan, the General Manager of Crestview RV. "Now that we know the exact effects of the key service bottlenecks, I'm excited to start working with manufacturers to fix them."

Brian Wilkins from Wilkins RV also had plenty to say about RECT. "I think the biggest thing the reports have provided for us is a conversation starter," he said. "They provide us with a basis for discussing RECT at our monthly admin meetings. It has gotten staff to begin thinking on this topic at a higher level, and hopefully, it will result in us providing our customers with a better experience."

This isn't the first time RECT has been recognized by the industry in a major way. Last year, the General Manager of IDS, Sean Raynor, was the recipient of the RVDA Chairman's Service Award for his work on RECT.

RVBusiness will highlight the RISE Award winners in the March/April edition of the magazine. In addition, the winners will be featured in a special episode of "Rollin' On TV" that will air alongside the RVBusiness issue.

This year, IDS is also adding brand comparison reports to RECT, which allow dealers to compare unit repair key performance indicators (KPIs), side by side, for top RV brands in North America.

Those curious about IDS RECT and its latest additions can learn more here: www.ids-astra.com/services/rect.

About IDS

IDS (Integrated Dealer Systems) is one of the leading providers of complete software solutions for marine, RV and trailer dealerships. With over 10,000 software users in dealerships across North America, IDS has set the standard for quality and customer satisfaction for 30 years.

Related Images

rvbusiness-rise-awards.jpg

RVBusiness RISE Awards

Related Links

RVBusiness RISE Awards Recognize IDS for Industry-Wide Impact of RECT

SOURCE IDS (Integrated Dealer Systems)

Related Links

https://www.ids-astra.com


The sanctity of neighborhoods

Asked to define his candidacy to represent Ward 2 of the Warrenton Town Council, William Semple said its all about the sanctity of neighborhoods. That tracks with the issue in town he is most often associated with. Semple was among the residents who filed a lawsuit challenging the Warrenton Town Councils 2017 approval of a development along Walker Drive.

The development was proposed three years ago, for 116 apartments and condos as well as a town-center-type development with shops, restaurants and office space that they hope will also feature an entertainment outlet such as a movie theater or bowling alley.

The council voted to rezone 15 parcels on a 31-acre site along Walker Drive from light industrial (a designation that allowed a wide variety of commercial development, including hotels and restaurants, but not residential) to mixed-use overlay development.

Semple, along with other neighbors, filed a lawsuit challenging the councils approval of the plan. (Judge Jeffrey Parker, reviewing the case at the circuit court level, removed Semple from the case because he lives near but not adjacent to Walker Drive, as the others do, and thereby lacked standing.) Parker ruled against the town residents and they say they are taking their case to the Virginia Supreme Court this spring.
The renowned Tribeca Film Festival is expanding into Hoboken this year, the festival announced Monday.

The festival, which is entering its 19th year, will bring its cinematic storytelling and experiences to the Mile Square City in April.

We are incredibly thrilled to bring the renowned Tribeca Film Festival to Hoboken, said Mayor Ravi Bhalla. Theres no better location to host the festival than our mile square, offering a wealth of culture with our local artists, galleries, and The Mile Square Theatre Company, and further cements our city as one of the major cultural destinations in the tri-state area.

Bhalla hinted at the news in his State of the City address last month. He said the major, well-known event would take place in Hobokens northern end, an area currently undergoing city revitalization efforts.

We found that a lot of our festival audience attending the Tribeca Film Festival in Manhattan live in Hoboken, so we forged our expansion path to increase attendees and enhance the already stellar cultural calendar in that community," said Pete Torres, the Tribeca Film Festival COO.

Its unclear what events and screenings will be held in Hoboken, but the Mile Square City knows a thing or two about film festivals. It was the first home to the Hoboken International Film Festival (HIFF) in 2006.

The HIFF, founded by Kenneth del Vecchio, was moved to Teaneck 2010 and also had short engagements in Orange County and Middletown, New York. For the past three years it has been held in Greenwood Lake, New York.

Its wonderful to embrace new audiences with our neighbor across the river, said Jane Rosenthal, a co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival.

Rosenthal, two-time Academy Award winner Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff debuted the first Tribeca Film Festival in 2002 in an effort to revitalize lower Manhattan after the Sept. 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center.

This years festival will open with the world premiere of Jimmy Carter Rock & Roll President, the festival announced Monday.

The documentary examines Carters affection for music and how it aided his presidential run. The opening night screening will be held at the Beacon Theatre on the Upper West Side and will include performances by Willie Nelson and Nile Rodgers.

The remainder of the festival lineup has not yet been announced.

Last years selections included films from 45 different countries and 88 feature film world premieres. Half of the feature films in last years competition were directed by women.

This year, weekend and evening screenings are $26 while matinees are $12. Live events with filmmakers are $45, and movie pass packages start at $55.

The festival runs April 15-26.
Over the years, the community of more than 4.5 million Vietnamese people living abroad have become deeply assimilated into local political, economic, cultural and social life.

Today more and more are returning to Vietnam to invest and do business as the country becomes more integrated into the world while recording significant socio-economic achievements.

General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong greets overseas Vietnamese at Ngoc Son Temple as part of the 2019 Homeland Spring programme.

General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong has affirmed that overseas Vietnamese, no matter where they are living, are always an inseparable part of the motherland, as President Ho Chi Minh once said The motherland and government are always pining for the overseas compatriots as fathers and mothers miss their sons and daughters who are away from home. That is a natural human feeling, the love between people under the same roof.

Despite the challenges both at home and abroad, under the sound leadership of the Party and State, Vietnam has continued to grow over recent years and recorded many positive results in almost every aspect.

The motherland and government are always pining for the overseas compatriots as fathers and mothers miss their sons and daughters who are away from home. President Ho Chi Minh

According to General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong, Vietnams macroeconomic stability has been maintained, creating a solid foundation for renewing the growth model and restructuring the economy. The size of the Vietnamese economy is being expanded and its quality enhanced.

In 2019 the economy grew by 7.02%, exceeding the National Assemblys target of 6.6-6.8%. The peoples living standards continue to improve while political stability and social order is sustained, national defence and security is strengthened, and sovereignty and territorial integrity are safeguarded.

The Party and State leader said that achievements in external relations have helped to enhance Vietnams status in the international arena, while Vietnams relations with neighbouring countries and major partners continue to be strengthened.

The fight against corruption, bureaucracy and wastefulness has been noticeably stepped up in the past year. Many serious corruption cases were brought to light, with many of the former and current officials who were involved having gone on trial to the applause of people from all walks of life, both at home and abroad.

According to General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong, such results were achieved thanks to the unison between the Partys intent and the peoples will, the strength of unity and the joint efforts of the entire political system and society, including the valuable contributions of the Vietnamese community abroad.

It is not by accident that the atmosphere of optimism and confidence in the Partys leadership, the victory of the reform and the national construction and defence cause continues to permeate throughout the country and is being recognised by international friends, emphasised General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong.

The Party and States active and comprehensive campaigning and support measures have mobilised the considerable resources and brainpower of more than 4.5 million Vietnamese people currently living, studying and working in over 110 countries and territories to serve Vietnams development.

In recent times, about 300-500 overseas Vietnamese intellectuals return home each year to take part in various scientific, technological and educational activities, contributing many substantive and profound ideas to the countrys development issues, building start-up ecosystems, enhancing the workforce and developing domestic technologies. As of the end of 2019, there were about 3,000 projects invested in by overseas Vietnamese from 52 countries and territories with total capital of US$4 billion.

Another trend is that more and more overseas Vietnamese intellectuals and technology experts, especially young people, are coming home and participating in conferences held by the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other ministries.

It is estimated that about 500,000 overseas Vietnamese people are working at research facilities and sci-tech centres around the world. About 300 of them return to Vietnam each year to collaborate with domestic organisations.

The second Global Young Vietnamese Intellectual Forum in 2019

In 2019 the activities of overseas Vietnamese intellectuals, experts and businesspeople as groups and individuals helped connect Vietnamese intellectuals, experts and businesspeople from around the world, boosting the contributions of overseas Vietnamese to the countrys scientific, technological and socio-economic development.

General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong emphasised that the Vietnamese Party and State highly treasures the advice of overseas Vietnamese scientists so that the country can quickly catch up with the worlds scientific and technological advances, especially amid the ongoing fourth industrial revolution.

Events held by overseas Vietnamese entrepreneurs, such as the first Overseas Vietnamese Economic Forum in the Republic of Korea in June 2019, the Vietnamese Business Forum in Europe in September 2019 and the Thailand-Vietnam Trade Promotion Conference in Udon Thani in September 2019, have made important contributions to promoting Vietnamese brands and enterprises to the world.

Along with investment projects of overseas Vietnamese, remittances are also an important resource for domestic economic development. According to the World Bank, Vietnam received US$16.7 billion worth of remittances in 2019, making the country one of the ten largest remittance recipients for the third consecutive year. Ho Chi Minh City received the largest share of remittances at an estimated US$5.6 billion last year.

The first Overseas Vietnamese Economic Forum in the Republic of Korea in June 2019

With a sense of national pride and patriotism, overseas Vietnamese have also taken actions to protect Vietnamese culture, including the teaching and studying of the Vietnamese language. Overseas Vietnamese not only make contributions to economic development but also help to preserve and promote fine Vietnamese traditions. This can be considered the soft power of a country as Luong Thanh Nghi, deputy head of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, has affirmed.

The overseas Vietnamese community also act as catalysts for the success of Vietnams people-to-people diplomacy. Through cultural exchange activities, overseas Vietnamese are playing a part in conserving and promoting national cultural values, building a positive image of Vietnam abroad, winning the love of international friends and helping to enhance Vietnams status in the international stage.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and overseas Vietnamese attending the 2020 Homeland Spring programme (Photo: VGP)

The praiseworthy contributions of overseas Vietnamese to the homeland come from the passionate patriotism of each and every Vietnamese, which is a cherished tradition of the Vietnamese people.

The Party and State always shares in the difficulties facing Vietnamese people living away from home, while also believing that no matter where they go and what they do, Vietnamese people will always uphold and pass down to their children the tradition of remembering their cultural roots.

It is the idea that great unity brings about great success espoused by President Ho Chi Minh as the never-ending stream of the Vietnamese nation. Nhan Dan

Overseas Vietnamese return with tech skills Vietnam is calling for all resources at home and from overseas Vietnamese people in order to fuel the countrys socio-economic development.
(Newser)  Shawn and Debra McKenna were high school sweethearts who were married for four decades before he died in 2017 after a long battle with cancer. Earlier this month, Debra McKenna received a sweet reminder of the man she'd loved, from the most unexpected place. The Bangor Daily News relays how this story started, in 1973, when the two were still students at Maine's Morse High School and newly dating. Before Shawn headed off to college that fall, he gave McKenna his class ringwhich she soon lost. She recalls that she'd gone to use the bathroom at a Portland department store, taken the ring off while washing her hands, and left the bathroom without remembering to put the ring back on. "I left my name and number [at the store] but never got contacted by anybody, and that was it," she says. "I never saw [the ring] again."

story continues below

Enter Marko Saarinen, who recently stumbled across the ring while using his metal detector in a forestin Kaarina, Finland, 47 years after McKenna had lost it. Saarinen contacted the Morse High School alumni group, and because Shawn was the only person in the class of 1973 with the initials "SM," which were engraved on the ring, it was easy to determine it was his. To add another layer of weird, Saarinen is a shipbuilder, and "Shipbuilders" is the Morse High School mascot. McKenna, who tells the Daily News she still feels "adrift" since her husband's death, wonders if this is a sign from him. "He's telling me to get my act together. To get going with the rest of my life," she says. She's still curious, though, on where the ring has been for nearly 50 years. "I want that story," she tells the Times Record. "How the heck did it get there? How can that be?" (Read more discoveries stories.)
BJP chief slams unnatural, unrealistic MVA govt.

BJP chief J.P. Nadda and leader of Opposition in the Vidhan Sabha Devendra Fadnavis at the BJP meeting in Nerul on Sunday. (Photo: Asian Age)

Mumbai: Forced to abandon power by the three-party alliance of Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress in the state, the BJP on Sunday vowed to come back to power on its own. The party workers should work as a competent Opposition party and bring the party back the power, said BJP national president J.P. Nadda.

Addressing the state BJP convention at Nerul in Navi Mumbai, Mr Nadda said the party needs to be ready to go solo in future elections. He said despite the BJP getting mandate after the state Assembly polls last year, some with selfish motives parted ways with it and joined hands with those in the Opposition to come to power.

The Maharashtra government is unnatural and unrealistic. Some people have parted ways with the BJP for their selfish gains, Mr Nadda said without naming any party or individual. The BJP chief also alleged the government led by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has put the brakes on the states development.

He, however, expressed confidence that his party will win the next Maharashtra Assembly polls on its own. The BJP should be prepared to contest all the forthcoming elections on its own. You should be ready for all versus one (BJP) kind of political battle in the future, Mr Nadda said addressing the party workers.

The BJP is going to win the next Maharashtra Assembly election single-handedly. The state, under the leadership of Devendra Fadnavis, was making progress but sadly, the development is now being halted, he said.

The BJP emerged as the single largest party in the state after the Assembly polls in October last year. But, it failed to form government after the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena snapped ties with it over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post.

The Shiv Sena later forged an alliance with the ideologically-at-odds Nationalist Congress Party and Congress to form the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government in the state.
There is no question that Bernie Sanders is a draw of sorts and a solid base. He has promised free college tuition, canceling of student loans and Medicare for all. His only answer when asked where the money will come from is: We will get it from the rich, the Wall Street people and the billionaires who have stolen from you.

It sounds good to some people. His rallies, just like Trump, attract hardcore supporters who revel in Bernies frothing at the mouth, his white hair waving and his blasting income inequality, the rich and, of course, Donald Trump.

Bernie has the fundraising apparatus to stay in the race to the end, so why cant Bernie beat Trump?

Here is why.

Bernie calls himself a socialist. That will become an attack word for the Republicans. They will shift being a socialist to saying he is a communist  a communist who wants to take your money and redistribute it so everyone is equal. Whether that is true or not wont matter  since when did Trump ever tell the truth?

Next, Sanders will be skewered because of his age. Hes nearing 80 years old and he looks every bit of it. Then there is his health. Having had a heart attack, literally several months ago, is not a plus. Trump easily will depict him as a doddering old man.

Lastly, Sanders is always talking about a political revolution. Put socialism and revolution together and you get the problem.

Americans do not want a revolution, but they want and need change. Even in our greatest depressions people were not running around with pitchforks attempting to scale the walls of the super-riches estates.

You can picture the advertising campaign against Bernie. Trumps people will make him look like a class dividing socialist-communist. Bernies wifes problem in running a college in Vermont into the ground will not help. Of course, there are tons of counterpoints against Trump and his family but the hard fact is, whether it is right or wrong, a lot of Democratic voters just wont go as far left as Bernie would like.

So what does the Democratic Party do? Well, I personally was for Joe Biden as he would make a really good President. However, he is short of money and primary voters.

Biden has performed on an okay basis but just doesnt seem to have the fire necessary to arouse the center of the party and it doesnt look like he is well organized, which is essential in primaries.

On the other hand, former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg has whatever money it takes and then some and he can handle Trump in debates. His massive advertising campaign appears to be working as he is moving up in the polls.

I have no doubt that Bloomberg can beat Trump and for a vast majority of Democrats, Independents and some Republicans, that is what it is all about.

Super Tuesday and the March primaries will soon be upon us. If Bloomberg does well he will be the Democrat Parties nominee.

Atty. Edward L. Marcus is former chairman of the Democratic State Central Committee in Connecticut and former State Senate majority leader. His office is in Branford.
She stole the Tommy Hilfiger show in a tracksuit as part of London Fashion Week.

And returning back to her hotel, Naomi Campbell stripped off the baggy set, posing topless for her 8.4 million fans.

The 49-year-old beauty relaxed in her bed and added a sticker over one nipple to adhere to the Instagram guidelines.

Baring all: After walking in the Tommy Hilfiger show, Naomi Campbell stripped off the baggy set and posed topless from her bed for her 8.4 million fans on Sunday

#SelfieSunday,' she merely captioned.

Naomi used one hand to take the photo and had her long brunette tresses covering up her other nipple.

She accessorised with a gold necklace and some bracelets on her wrist.

Strategic placement: Naomi used one hand to take the photo and had her long brunette tresses covering up her other nipple

Runway star: The UK beauty's topless selfie comes after she walked the runway at the TommyNow show in London on Sunday

Naomi sported a clear complexion with some eye-shadow on her eyelids.

The UK beauty's topless selfie comes after she walked the runway at the TommyNow show in London on Sunday.

She stunned in a very baggy tracksuit set with highlighter yellow accents throughout.

Naomi was joined on the runway with Alessandra Ambrosio, Winnie Harlow and Candice Swanepoel.

Can't miss her! She stunned in a very baggy tracksuit set with highlighter yellow accents throughout

It comes after she was recently presented with the Fashion Icon trophy during the star-studded British Fashion Awards.

The model was in tears as she accepted the prize from Sir Jony Ive, before thanking her mother for 'raising me single-handedly'.

Calling it 'an out-of-body experience', Naomi said of her mother: 'You raised me single-handedly, you were my mother and my father.'

Naomi also got teary as she told the crowd: 'I learned today that I'm the first woman of color to receive this award.

Naomi was recently presented with the Fashion Icon trophy during the star-studded British Fashion Awards (pictured)

Role model: Naomi used her speech to thank her mother Valerie Morris (pictured 2017) who raised her single handedly

'That leaves me to say who I consider my style icons: Grace Jones, Josephine Baker, Eartha Kitt, Donyale Luna, Bethann Hardison, Naomi Sims, Dorothy Dandridge, Diana Ross, Diahann Carroll, Janet Jackson, and Tina Turner.'

She continued: 'I could go on and on, but I want to thank you for paving the way for me and inspiring a generation.'

Naomi, who never met her biological father, was last in a relationship with Russian businessman, Vladislav Doronin.

The pair were together from 2008 to 2013.

Before him she was engaged in an on-and-off romance with Formula One racing star, Flavio Briatrore (1998 - 2003) and was also engaged to U2 bassist, Adam Clayton, in 1993.
Australia should lift its ban on foreign nationals entering its territory directly from Mainland China, Chinas ambassador to Australia reportedly said on Monday. Australia, which is Chinas largest trade partner has 15 confirmed cases of coronavirus, international media reported. Meanwhile, the deadly coronavirus has infected over 71,000 people globally and killed nearly 1,775 with 5 people outside mainland China.

'Number of cases in Australia has been steady

In an effort to curb the increasing spread of the deadly virus, the Australian government since February 1 has prevented everyone excepts its citizens and permanent resident to enter the country directly from mainland China, international media reported. However, Cheng Jingye, Chinas ambassadors to Australia said that the number of cases in Australia has been steady and that the restrictions should be eased after Canberra reviews its policy on February 22.

Read: Japan Distributes 2000 IPhones Among People Stranded On Coronavirus-hit Cruise

Read: Coronavirus Impact: Chinese Wrestlers Not To Compete In Asian Championships In Delhi

Jingye added that they have expressed their strong wish and hope that the Australian government will take a balanced approach and remove the restrictions. He added that at the very least they relax them. He also said that the policy is inconsistent with the WHO recommendation, international media reported. This comes as, Australian PM Scott Morrison, despite the rising economic pressure said that Canberra would be only guided by medical experts.

Meanwhile, Australia has reportedly announced that it will evacuate more than 200 citizens quarantined onboard the coronavirus-stricken cruise liner docked off in the port of Yokohama, South Tokyo. Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that Australian nationals will depart on chartered planes on February 19 and will be taken to Australia's tropical north, confirmed reports.

Morrison reportedly said, that evacuees that returned to Darwin, Australia, will be required to be quarantined by the Health Officials for another 14 days. He said that the decision has been taken in order to prevent further spread of the COVID-19 via human transmission within the country.

Read: Solar Projects At Risk Of Missing Deadlines, Facing Penalties Due To Coronavirus Outbreak:Crisil

Read: UK Mother Celebrates After 8-month-old Son Tests Negative For Coronavirus
The House Sparrow, which was thought to be disappearing from towns and cities, may not be as threatened as believed, a new analysis has found. That good news, though, is offset by the fact that around half of 261 Indian bird species studied have seen a decline in numbers since 2000, with a fifth seeing a sharp decline.

The report titled State of Indias Birds 2000 based on around 10 million observations contributed by over 15,500 birdwatchers to an e-Bird, an online bird registry thats widely used by birdwatchers suggests that the House Sparrows numbers have been fairly stable overall during the past 25 years.

However, data from six cities --Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai - indicates a gradual decline in their abundance in urban centres. Extremely large range of the species (House Sparrow) across the country, and the lack of evidence for either long-term or current countrywide decline results in it being classified as of low conservation concern, said the report, which was released on Monday at the thirteenth conference of parties of the Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species.

Feral Pigeons, which dominate the urban landscape in many cities have seen a rise in numbers in the past 25 years, as have Peafowls.

We did not have country level data so far to understand this. The data contributed by citizen scientists is of a quality which I as a biologist cannot collect across the geography and across years, said Suresh Kumar from Wildlife Institute of India, who also worked on the report.

The report, apart from capturing interesting trends in change in population of common species rings alarm bells on the large scale decline of important bird species.

It analysed the status of 867 bird species using data uploaded by bird watchers (by location, and, in some cases, with numbers) and made assessments based on three indices: long-term trend of observations over 25 years; current annual trends over the past five years; and distribution or range size.

Of the 261 species for which long-term trends are available 52% have seen a decline in numbers since 2000, with 22% declining strongly. In all, 43% of species showed stable numbers and 5% showed an increasing trend.

In India, the decline could be because of habitat loss, but there could also be several other reasons. Our understanding of it is very poor. There could also be some disease outbreak we do not know about. We came to know of the association in the declining population of vultures and veterinary diclofenac use after years. There could be some similar issues. What this data does is direct us that a particular species is on decline and analyse why it is happening, said Kumar.

Diclofenac, a drug used on cattle, was found to be toxic for vultures.

Current annual trends could be estimated only for 146 species for which data is available. Of those, nearly 80% are declining, 6% are stable and 14% are increasing.

The groups that show the greatest decline are raptors (birds of prey), migratory shorebirds, and habitat specialists (confined to some habitats), among others including White-rumped Vulture, Richards Pipit, Indian Vulture, Large-billed Leaf Warbler, Pacific Golden Plover and Curlew Sandpiper. The overall decline in species demands research into the causes, and action to protect the high concern species, the report said.

Species that show an increasing trend in the past 25 years include Rosy Starling, Feral Pigeon, Glossy Ibis, Plain Prinia, Ashy Prinia, and Indian Peafowl.

Interestingly, of the species in the high category of conservation concern for India, 26% (26 species) are classified as globally of "least concern by the IUCN Red List 2019. But 7 species considered globally near threatened or vulnerable are classified as being of low concern in India through this assessment. These are: Ferruginous Duck, Black-tailed Godwit, Woolly-necked Stork, Oriental Darter, Black-headed Ibis, Alexandrine Parakeet and Long-tailed Parakeet.

IUCN makes a global assessment, this is India specific. There are some species that are doing fine globally but are rapidly declining in India. Also, BirdLife international, which carries out the global assessments for birds, says that they depend on information coming from different parts of the world, and for some species data are quite sparse. The information contained in this report is likely to get into the global assessments soon. said Suhel Quader, scientist, Nature Conservation Foundation.

Among raptors, open country specialists show a particularly strong decline both in the long term and current trends as opposed to generalist and woodland raptors. Scavengers (mostly vultures) have been in severe decline over the past 25 years.

Around 12 species endemic to the Western Ghats are nearly 75% lower in abundance compared to 2000. Some threatened habitats like the grasslands of the Terai, which harbour the entire global population of the Hodgsons Bushchat, require immediate attention, the report flagged.

The report has described a pattern of change in population but not in distribution. Based on the broad patterns captured in the report we can now ask why a certain species has declined. We couldnt have asked these questions before, said MD Madhusudan, wildlife biologist and member of team that produced the report.

Nikhil Devasar, founder of Delhibird group said Ebird is not used so much in north India but is very popular of south India. I wonder if its able to capture the trends accurately.
Countrywide demonstrations in support of Wetsuweten hereditary chiefs included a large protest at Queens Park on Monday, with more events on the horizon.

Planned disruption has been mounting across Canada as part of a growing movement, rooted in opposition to a major pipeline project that would cross the traditional territory of the Wetsuweten Nation in northern British Columbia. It has resulted in the shutting down of rail lines and temporary impasses this weekend at two bridges on the U.S. border, leaving Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus government scrambling to find a resolution.

Torontos event began at Christie Pits Park at about 3 p.m. A throng of more than 1,000 demonstrators, some walking with the Families for Wetsuweten group, moved in a slow procession along Bloor Street to Bay Street, south to College Street and then to Queens Park.

The walk was led by a line of people singing and playing drums, and backed by a second group carrying a broad black banner with the words Families for Wetsuweten. At each intersection, the group paused, cheering and singing.

Demonstrators carried placards bearing statements such as No Consent, No Pipelines, and chanted, When justice fails block the rails. Shut Canada down, and How do you spell racist? R-C-M-P.

On arrival, at the south side of the legislative building, the crowd formed a circle as people spoke in opposition to the pipeline and in support of Indigenous rights. Between statements, music and song continued. Prayers were offered and some members joined hands and took part in a round dance. At other moments, a sense of palpable anger and frustration rose from the crowd, as they called on the federal government to respect hereditary land rights.

At Queens Park, one speaker read a statement from Eve Saint, one of four people arrested at the Gidimten checkpoint in B.C. on Feb. 7 after a dramatic encounter with officers pointing rifles and group members pleading with them not to shoot, according to reporting and a video posted by the CBC.

Daughter of the hereditary chief of that territory, Saint described a scene that included officers in tactical gear, dropping from helicopters and holding rifles.The thought of being shot replayed in my mind and I repeatedly yelled to RCMP, We are unarmed and peaceful. Dont shoot.

Saint thanked supporters and encouraged them to keep using your voice and power.

This is what it looks like for Indigenous land defenders on their own territories in 2020. We need to keep up this momentum. It is with unity with Wetsuweten, but it is also about Indigenous rights everywhere, Saint wrote. Keep using your voice, your power to shut down Canada.

Toronto police were assisting the safe movement of the demonstration, Const. Michelle Flannery told the Star.

Its a peaceful movement of people, Flannery said. Another event was expected to take place next week.

In Ottawa, Trudeau held an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss blockades.

I understand how worrisome this is for so many Canadians and difficult for many people and families across the country, Trudeau said. Were going to continue to focus on resolving the situation quickly and peacefully.

A similar protest was staged in Niagara Falls on Sunday. A smaller rally took place there, as protesters temporarily blocked traffic at the Rainbow International Bridge. The rally created long lineups of cars at the bridge.

On Saturday, protesters in Vaughan stopped rail traffic at MacMillan Yard for close to seven hours. The protesters left after being served with an injunction ordering them off the CN Rail line.

Other events planned across the country Monday included a rally on the McGill University campus in Montreal and a protest at Confederation Park in Ottawa.

Protesters also blocked access to the Thousand Islands Bridge near Kingston, Ont., a border crossing, for roughly three hours. Ontario Provincial Police urged those planning to cross to the U.S. to find other routes in order to avoid the group.

The nationwide protests and blockades have brought freight rail shipping to a halt in areas, and led to Via Rail stopping passenger trains, all with an economic impact of millions of dollars.

On Saturday, Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller met with representatives of the Mohawk First Nation, at the site of a blockade near Belleville, Ont., that has been in place for almost two weeks and has resulted in the shutdown of train travel across much of Eastern Canada.

With files from Paul Forsyth and The Canadian Press

Ted Fraser is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Stars radio room in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @ted_fraser

Read more about:
Mr. President, many believe that you cannot read and those that believe that you can claim that you cannot go beyond three lines. They say outside of that you can only comprehend cartoons.

I do not share either view. I know you well enough to concede that when you consider a literary submission of sufficient importance you have the prescence of mind, discipline, health, intelligence and ability to read through it very slowly and very carefully weighing up every word. And that is precisely as it should be.

The first open letter that I wrote to you was in December 2015 and the following serves as the second.

You will forgive me because this is a long letter and I am fully aware that your attention span or ability to retain too much information in one fell swoop may not be as good as it used to be.

Nevertheless, I urge you to do your best to muster the courage, energy and intellectual stamina to stay the course and to find the time out of your busy schedule to read it from beginning to end.

I have written it because our nation is entering into dangerous and precarious waters and I sense that something will give very soon. I am therefore constrained to use this medium to bring my observations to your attention.

Be rest assured that I speak out of nothing but love and concern for the welfare of the Nigerian people and it is not my intention to insult you or undermine and disrespect your office but rather to shine the light of truth on all your activities with a view to assisting and encouraging you to change your ways.

You will agree with me that, no matter how bitter it may be, that truth must be told. This is a sacred obligation on our part as leaders and a matter of duty and honor.

I owe you, the Nigerian people and posterity that much and I have little doubt that no matter how badly you may feel after reading it, history will vindicate me and prove me right and one day you will acknowledge and recognise the profundity, wisdom and foresight in my constant and consistent criticisms, admonitions and counsel.

Outside of that it is my earnest prayer that the God of Heaven, whose I am and whom I serve, will judge between you and I.

Your Excellency, kindly note and consider the following.

You released hundreds of Boko Haram fighters from prison claiming that they are reformed and a few days later 30 of your citizens are blown up by the same Boko Haram in Borno state.

Worse still on that same day 16 members of the same family and four others were herded into a room and burnt alive by Fulani militants in Kaduna state.

After these terrible events instead of rushing back home to stand with your people, you stayed in Addis Ababa, lamenting and crying about the security situation in Libya and you sent your Vice to a funeral in Nairobi. Such insensitivity, even by your own standards, is rarely seen.

It took you three long days to finally see fit to leave your foreign friends, leave Addis Ababa and fly directly to Maiduguri to express your condolences to the Governor and people of Borno.

Even then you could not muster the courage to go to the town of Auno where the bombing took place but only to Maiduguri, the capital of the state.

Understandably you were received with boos, jeers and shouts of "ba ma so" (meaning "we dont want") by the crowds that lined the streets and this was an eloquent testimony to the fact that the entire nation, including the north that you claim to represent and be a champion of, is fed up with you and can no longer bear your incompetence and inability to run the affairs of our nation.

Worst still hours after your condolence visit Boko Haram attacked Maiduguri itself hitting one of its suburbs called Jidari Polo.

Their leader, a cowardly creature that can best be described as a psychopathic, delusional, sociopathic, mentally-deranged, murderous, bloodthirsty, bloodlusting and unconciable monster by the name of Sheik Abubakar Shekau, even had the nerve to send you a public warning in a recorded message that was released to the public after you left in which he arrogantly and boastfully declared that you must never come back to Borno again or you would be attacked and that you "should fear and serve God and not cows". He added the following,

"Buhari thinks he is a general but God says he is nothing. He hasn't achieved anything in the sight of God. Buhari is deceiving the people and playing to the gallery".

Mr. President he has sent his message to you and to Nigeria and we have heard him loud and clear.

Yet most disturbing was not his sheer effontry but the fact that the only thing that you had to offer the leaders and people of Borno state when you got there was a lame and self-debasing question which was "I wonder how Boko Haram still survives?"

You went further by blaming them for "not taking care of local security" forgetting that that is meant to be your job and not theirs.

In your so-called condolence visit you refused to take responsibility for your own inaction and failure and instead you sought to pass the buck to the very victims of terror that you claim to have come to mourn!

You refused to inspire and encourage them and instead you accused them of, at best, rresponsible behaviour and, at worst, collusion with the enemy.

This is not just a case of rubbing salt in their wounds but it is more like blowing them up and killing them all over again. Worse still as you spoke your Minister of Defence, who sat just a few feet away from you, fell fast asleep!

Mr. President I really do wonder whether you have any feeling or any compassion at all? Has the milk of human kindness stopped flowing through your veins?

Do you know that young students, women, infants and babies were amongst those that were blown up in the Auno atrocity?

Yes you issued a statement immediately but you didn't show up till three days later and your Vice, who was in the country the day it happened, never showed up at all and instead jetted out to President Arap Moi's burial in Nairobi!

Kindly tell me what the Nigerian people have done to deserve this level of contempt? Or is there more to it than meets the eye?

Forgive me Mr. President but I am constrained to ask, why do you love terrorism, bloodshed and violence so much? Why do you find it so easy to forgive terrorists that are slaughtering your own people? Are you feeding your spiritual foundation and getting your power from the spilling of innocent blood?

Meanwhile your own Chief of Army Staff has told us today that

"we have defeated insurgency but we are facing the challenge of terrorism. There is no-where you will not find Boko Haram, even in Lagos here, there are Boko Haram. In Kaduna there are Boko Haram. There are more across the North East. Many have been arrested here in Lagos. We have been tracking them. We arrest them and take them into custody".

I commend the Chief of Army Staff for his admission of failure but what he didn't add was that after taking them "into custody" you ordered him to release them and even draft some of them into the Nigerian Army on the spurious grounds that they have repented and that they have been reformed.

Again the truth is that neither you or him ever "defeated insugency" or anything else. Instead you encouraged and supported it! Both of you have failed the Nigerian people just as I predicted that you would and if you had any decency or honor you would BOTH resign.

Aside that it takes a very mean, callous, wicked and cruel President and Commander-in-Chief to release 1,400 terrorists who have murdered, butchered, slaughtered, tortured and maimed his soldiers and terrorised his people over the last 5 years.

Mr. President I am constrained to tell you that some believe that you are a sadist! They believe that your heart is as hard as stone and your soul is as black as night.

Relevant and instructive are the words of Mr. Charles Ogbu, a brilliant writer and essayist who has consistently proved that he is not only insightful but also deeply profound. Three days after the Auno bombing he wrote the following:

"Those who are asking for the sack of the Service Chiefs as a solution to the upsurge in Boko Haram terrorism are missing the point.

Nigeria is not currently being overrun by terrorists because we have a set of incompetent service Chiefs or soldiers who cannot fight the terrorists. Not at all.

The only reason the Boko Haram terrorists are having a field day is because we have a President and a Commander in Chief who shares the same ideology as the terrorists and as a result prefers pandering to them as opposed to fighting them".

He went further by writing,

"In fact a betting man would bet that the only difference between the Boko Haram terrorists killing, maiming and beheading Nigerians in the Northeast and our President and Commander-In-Chief is in their name and location. One is named "Boko Haram" and operates from the bush while the other one is named "Muhammadu Buhari" and operates from Aso Rock. If we were to remove the cloak of fear of detention by state oppressive forces, we would all admit they are both pursuing the same goal and doing a very good job of it. You that is reading this, you know this is exactly what is happening even if you may not want to publicly say it for whatever reason".

He concluded by asking,

"Who 'rehabilitates' and releases captured terrorists back into the wild at a time the terrorists are still visiting death and destruction on his country? Even America with her sophisticated military doesn't release arrested terrorists in the heat of the war because the chances of these terrorists going back into the wild to continue killing are very high".

Mr. President, forgive me for saying so but the verdict is out and Mr. Ogbu has made a valid point. This calls for much soul-searching on your part.

I urge you to bear in mind that trading in the blood of your own people and indulging in all manner of barbarity, suppression of dissent, persecution of your perceived enemies and evil comes with a heavy price.

Every Pharaoh, Sennacherub, Herod, Jezebel and Nebuchadnezzar has a bad end.

Every tyrant, no matter how powerful and highly-placed, will eventually account to God and the people for his brutality and wickedness. Yours will be no different.

Anyone that doubts that should consider the plight of the Sudan's former President, General Al Bashir. As the great black American Nation of Islam leader and one of my favourite heroes, Malcom X, once said "the chickens have finally come home to roost". This has always been the case and it will always be the case. It is only a matter of time.

Over the last 5 years hundreds of thousands have died under your watch and virtually all have been killed by those from your core northern region. You turned a blind eye to it and even encouraged it.

Today belongs to you but let me assure you that tomorrow belongs to those of us that you have killed, persecuted, oppressed and treated with disdain and contempt.

On the 11th of February, at the burial ceremony of the 18 year old Christian martyr Nnandi Michael (the Seminarean that was abducted and later murdered by Fulani herdsmen) the respected Catholic cleric Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, a man of immense moral authority and intellectual vigour, courageously admonished you before the entire world, spoke the bitter truth and reflected the thoughts of millions from all over the country. Amongst many other things he said the following:

"This President has displayed the greatest degree of insensitivity in managing our countrys rich diversity.

He has subordinated the larger interests of the country to the hegemonic interests of his co-religionists and clansmen and women. The impression created now is that, to hold a key and strategic position in Nigeria today, it is more important to be a northern Muslim than a Nigerian.

He did not stop there but went on to say,

"We are being told that this situation has nothing to do with Religion. Really? It is what happens when politicians use religion to extend the frontiers of their ambition and power. Are we to believe that simply because Boko Haram kills Muslims too, they wear no religious garb? Are we to deny the evidence before us, of kidnappers separating Muslims from infidels or compelling Christians to convert or die? If your son steals from me, do you solve the problem by saying he also steals from you?"

He then said,

"The Fulani, his (President Muhammadu Buhari) innocent kinsmen, have become the subject of opprobrium, ridicule, defamation, calumny and obloquy. His north has become one large grave yard, a valley of dry bones, the nastiest and the most brutish part of our dear country".

He added,

"Today, our years of hypocrisy, duplicity, fabricated integrity, false piety, empty morality, fraud and Pharisaism have caught up with us. Nigeria is on the crossroads and its future hangs precariously in a balance. This is a wakeup call for us. As St. Paul reminds us; The night is far spent, and the day is at hand. Therefore, let us cast away the works of darkness and put on the armour of light. It is time to confront and dispel the clouds of evil that hover over us."

He concludes by saying,

"On our part, I believe that this is a defining moment for Christians and Christianity in Nigeria. We Christians must be honest enough to accept that we have taken so much for granted and made so much sacrifice in the name of nation building. We accepted President Buhari when he came with General Idiagbon, two Muslims and two northerners. We accepted Abiola and Kingibe, thinking that we had crossed the path of religion, but we were grossly mistaken. When Jonathan became President, and Senator David Mark remained Senate President while Patricia Ette was chosen by the South West became a Speaker. The Muslim members revolted and forced her resignation with lies and forgery. The same House would shamelessly say that they had no records of her indictment. Today, we are living with a Senate whose entire leadership is in the hands of Muslims. Christians have continued to support them. For how long shall we continue on this road with different ambitions? Christians must rise up and defend their faith with all the moral weapons they have".

I assure you that these were not the words of Bishop Kukah alone but rather the Holy Spirit speaking through him. He spoke the mind and the oracles of the Living God and you would do well to humble yourself, take heed and appreciate the Lord's admonition and counsel.

Let us hope that you disregard the advice of the hardliners around you, learn from these words and change your dastardly ways though I doubt that you will.

Whatever the case and whatever you choose to do or not to do, know this: the die is cast, Caesar has crossed the Rubicorn, the horse has bolted from the stable, the cat is out of the bag, our eyes have been opened, we have lost all sense of fear and Nigeria can NEVER be the same again.

Mr. President, here ends my counsel to you but permit me to conclude this contribution with a closer look at the north that you love so much and that you seek to empower and enthrone forever.

According to the World Bank "87% of poor people in Nigeria are in the North".

One wonders what 58 years of northern oppression, tyranny, aggression, manipulation and hegemony over Nigeria has actually done for the northern masses.

Since indendence mass poverty, terrorism, religious bigotry, ethnic hegemony, Islamic fundamentalism, arrogance, born to rule syndrome, the worship of cows, ignorance, disease, hate, racism, feudalism, pedophilia, child marriage, VVF, gender inequality, male chauvinism, the persecution of Christians, the suppression of women, corruption, deceit, greed, ingratitude, a sense of entitlement, tyranny, insensitivity, bloodshed, genocide, ethnic cleansing, mass murder and gratuitous violence have all been deeply embedded in and associated with the core north.

Worse still, according to UNICEF, if Nigeria were to ever break up the core north would be the poorest spot on planet Earth.

I guess this is why northerners keep screaming "one Nigeria" and threatening the lives and liberty of those that do not share their view. Without Nigeria they would be groping in the dark, wobbling on their feet and literally starve to death.

All this yet they insist that they were "born to rule" and that southerners and Middle Belters were "born to serve" them and be their slaves!

Professor Yusuf Dankofa of the Faculty of Law at Ahmadu Bello University who happens to be a northerner himself put it in very clear terms and spoke the bitter truth when he wrote the following:

"I think the north is only interested in power and nothing more.The sweetness of power and the allure it brings is what appeals to them and not work. If not, how can a region be so decimated by its own internal contradictions and trudge on as if the region is not regressing. In the face of calamity, what you see is eerie silence, since power is with their elites who are thoroughly dependent on public treasury to survive.The poor too draws happiness from the fact that power is in the hands of their elites even if they will die of poverty and insurgency. We are happy that power is with us even though we don't know what to do with it.This mindset will definitely lead others to seek to move out of the union. You can't slow down your own progress and those of others and expect them to clap for you".

Dankofa is absolutely right! What a people! What a country!

Yet I do not blame the core northeners: I blame southern and Middle Belt politicians and leaders who have refused to unite and who have failed to resist them and stand up to them over the last 58 years.

The history of our nation records that there were a few great men of remarkable courage, extraordinary fortitude and immense valour that not only did their best but were also gallant, fearless, selfless and outstanding in their quest to deliver our people.

Some of them were martyred and others were jailed whilst all suffered an unprecedented and unbearable level of humiliation and persecution. Yet despite it all they continued the struggle.

They identified and understood the problem and fought hard in their respective ways to fix it and deliver our people from northern hegemony, domination and bondage but sadly they all failed.

The new generation of southern and Middle Belt leaders must NOT fail because this is the final lap. For our generation failure is NOT an option.

We have no choice but to use all lawful and non-violent means to break the yoke of subjugation, servitude, slavery and bondage and to succeed in our quest for total liberation. If we fail to do so future generations of our people shall NEVER be free again.

We need the prayers of the saints and the fastings and supplications of the intercessors, the Prophets, the men and women of God and the Body of Christ!

We need the Holy Spirit of the Living God: the El Shaddai, the Elohim and the Adonai.

We need the Man of War, the Comforter, the Lord of Hosts and the Ancient of Days!

We need a great deliverer: a Moses, a Joshua, a Caleb, a David, a Cyrus, a Samson, a Gideon, a Jeptha, an Esther and a Jehu all rolled into one.

We need men and women of courage to pick up the gauntlet, take up the challenge and lead us in this great and cataclysmic battle and this monumental struggle.

We need to close ranks, build bridges amongst ourselves and forget past hurts, past disputes and past disagreements and agree to be totally and completely united.

Finally, we need to look within ourselves and firmly resolve that it would be better to live a short life and die as free men than live a long one and live as slaves.

We fight not for ourselves but for future generations of our family, our lineage, our loved ones and our compatriots.

God forbid that they should have to live through the hell that we had to suffer called Nigeria: a land where the accursed rule over the blessed and where slaves ride on horseback whilst Princes and Kings walk around in bare feet.
business Editor's Take | What India Inc expects from Donald Trump's visit Moneycontrol's Shraddha Sharma talks to Corporate Bureau Chief Prince Thomas to find out the expectations of the corporate sector from Trump.
A suspended police officer has been convicted and must be of good behaviour for 18 months after he was found guilty of grabbing his colleague's breast following a Christmas party in Sydney's CBD.

Ronald John Tarlington, 50, who has been a police officer for more than two decades, attended a party at The Rocks on December 5, 2018, then went to another pub afterwards with several colleagues.

Ronald John Tarlington leaves court in August. Credit:James Alcock

About 10pm, a female colleague was sitting on Tarlington's lap when he moved his right hand into her unbuttoned jacket and grabbed her breast, causing her to stand up and walk away. The interaction was captured on CCTV.

Last year, magistrate Paul Mulroney found Tarlington guilty of sexually touching another person without consent. He found the officer touched the woman "squarely on the breast area" and intentionally squeezed her nipple for a sexual purpose.
This is a growing community with growing health and wellness needs, and we want to be part of the solution of making high quality health care easily accessible to anyone in need of care," said Denyse Bales-Chubb, President and CEO of AdventHealth Tampa and AdventHealth Brandon ER.

AdventHealth opened a 24-hour, 16-bed emergency room in East Hillsborough County at 305 E. Brandon Boulevard, Brandon, FL on Monday, February 17. AdventHealth is working to close the gap on the lack of direct access, transportation and additional barriers that may prevent families in the community from receiving high quality emergency care. The offsite emergency room is the latest in the companys robust expansion plans to create a connected network of health care throughout Tampa Bay, and in the Eastern Hillsborough County neighborhoods. Last fall, the company acquired AdventHealth Medical Group Multispecialty at Bloomingdale to provide primary and cardiac care to families in Brandon, Lithia, Riverview and Valrico.

We are excited to expand our network of care to make a significant impact on improving the lives of all we serve," said Denyse Bales-Chubb, President and CEO of AdventHealth Tampa and AdventHealth Brandon ER. This is a growing community with growing health and wellness needs, and we want to be part of the solution of making high quality health care easily accessible to anyone in need of care.

The results of the latest community needs assessment survey show there is a need for additional health care services within the community. By adding this emergency room, families now have direct access to a health care system to assist in meeting their medical needs, close to home. Additionally, the ER will offer a dedicated AdventHealth ambulance to transport patients to the nearest AdventHealth hospital if they have extended health care needs. As part of AdventHealths commitment to provide connected care for the community and bring necessary services, the AdventHealth Brandon ER will offer a separate entrance for outpatient imaging which will include x-ray, ultrasound and CT scans, beginning May 2020  alleviating the need to travel anywhere else for extended imaging care.

The AdventHealth Brandon ER will be staffed with board certified emergency medicine physicians and nurses who specialize in emergency care for adults and children. The ER will offer onsite laboratory services so patients can receive real-time results, enabling better diagnosis and treatment.

About AdventHealth West Florida Division

The West Florida Division of AdventHealth has some of the nations brightest medical minds making lifesaving breakthroughs with surgical pioneers, scientists and researchers using leading edge technology and innovation to deliver our brand of whole-person care. Our network of care includes AdventHealth Carrollwood, AdventHealth Connerton, AdventHealth Dade City, AdventHealth Lake Placid, AdventHealth North Pinellas, AdventHealth Ocala, AdventHealth Sebring, AdventHealth Tampa, AdventHealth Wauchula, AdventHealth Wesley Chapel and AdventHealth Zephyrhills, as well as three freestanding offsite Emergency Rooms including AdventHealth Central Pasco ER, AdventHealth Palm Harbor ER and AdventHealth TimberRidge ER. We are more than hospitals, as we have a robust system of care including specialty acute care, over 200 primary care and specialty employed physicians, Express Care at Walgreens clinics, urgent care centers, wound care, physical therapy and home health care. AdventHealth is a faith-based not-for-profit health care system with a mission of Extending the Healing Ministry of Christ. AdventHealth has hundreds of care sites and nearly 50 hospitals across the United States. For more information about AdventHealth, visit AdventHealth.com, or Facebook.com/AdventHealth.


17.02.2020 LISTEN

Welcome to Ananse's kingdom (Anansekrom) where three things hold sway or reign supreme-- comedy, sarcasm and sappy songs. I never thought I'd find myself here.

But obviously, chasing two fugitives in a terrain deemed uncharted could take one to nowhere or anywhere.

So what brings you here?

Basically, I'm on a mission (not a suicide one though) to track down two political clowns (the year 2020 has produced) from unquestionably two most Ghana's rivalry political parties.

The clowns have done what the majority in my native Ghana view as most outrageous. They've been propagating lies, making conspiracy theories and disparaging remarks.

I'm grateful to your two sons-- Tirikenekene and Ntekumah Basayiadom, who gave me a hint that the two clowns have sought refuge here in your kingdom. By the way, are armed with biological weapons?

And who are they?

They're messrs Kwame Baffoe Abronye, NPP Bono East regional chairman and Stephen Atubiga Bio, a communication member of the opposition NDC.

These two individuals have painstakingly used certain traditional and social media platforms over the past few days to rant, lie, denigrate and even struggle to put asunder that which God has put together.

What triggered their outburst?

On the eve or two days before the Vals Day, two deputies from the NPP and NDC who'd long seen themselves as a destined couple or meant-to-be lovers, remained unhinged with their decision to do something more than beautiful and extraordinary, if you like.

They simply defied the usual political differences that exist between the two political parties. And certainly, nothing could hinder the duo's hearts' desire to realise, perhaps the biggest dream of their lives.

They tied the knot.

They exchanged the vows.

And they'd the marriage consummated at a colourful ceremony held in Accra.

Who's this lucky man?

His name is Chief Hamilton Nixon Biney, the deputy national organiser, National Democratic Congress (NDC) is now married to Maame Afia Akoto, deputy communications officer, New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Alas, the ZuZarian has found the bone of his bone and the flesh of his flesh, but not all of his kinsmen are enthused about the marriage.

And as this writer points out, he who finds a Woradorian woman for a wife must first do what's befitting.

What is it?

The groom must show love, be loyal, be honest, show respect and be understanding to his wife. The bride must reciprocate the gesture. Worado-Worado is an ancient town known for its political and romantic lifestyle.

It also has an unbridled tradition that requires all men from outside its political borders to immerse themselves in the Victory River-- that takes its source from the Jubilee Hills.

Perhaps, that's what is causing fear in the other side of the political divide.

So should politics dictate our marriage choices?

Why should it be, if indeed the saying: love transcends everything is true. But that symbolic and sacred act as I aforesaid didn't stop those two political clowns to showcase their naivety and averse towards unity or social cohesion. Their uncouth choice of words clearly defined who they're. Mr. Atubiga, for instance views this marriage as 'Haram' something abominable, that could bring defeat to his party NDC, suggesting that Mr. Biney must lose his position for choosing a wife from the ruling NPP. He also calls the 2020 General Election as a War.

"It's very very dangerous for our party.

We cannot afford all the 5 million registered NDC members to be in between Afia Akoto's...."said the clown.

He went on: " That won't happen Afia Akoto's buttocks are strategically positioned and can bring our party down?"

Is that true?

A professor at the Geography Department of University of Ghana thinks otherwise.

"If this is the mindset and thinking of some in the name of party politics then were doomed. Because in this country we can all draw direct relationship lines. JM shouldnt have appointed John Jinapor as minister because hes the brother of Abu Jinapor, a well known NPP figure and now Deputy Chief of Staff,"

Prof George Owusu.

Meanwhile, a former First National Vice-chairperson of the NDC Anita DeSoso is happy her partys deputy National Organiser, Chief Hamilton Biney has found a wife.

The traditional marriage ceremony between Deputy MASLOC boss, Maame Afia Akoto, and the Deputy National Organiser of the NDC, Chief Hamilton Biney came off in Accra on Wednesday.

The political affiliations of these love birds - NDC and NPP - did not stop them from making their relationship official.

NDCs Atubiga has been ranting on radio calling on the party to with immediate effect relieve Chief Biney of his post to ensure a victory for the party in the December 7 polls.

But Anita DeSoso said the brouhaha surrounding their marriage is unfortunate since the two political parties are not enemies.

Love goes where love likes, she said in an interview with NEAT FMs morning show Ghana Montie expressing her happiness for the two love-birds.

Anita, however, believes the timing of the marital union in an election year is likely to "worry the NDC. And I partially agtee with her., even though marriage as a sacred institution must not be viewed in political lenses.

By Gordon Offin-Amaniampong

zzzzzz
ISLAMABAD: A high-profile local Taliban figure who announced and justified the 2012 attack on teenage Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai has escaped detention, Pakistan`s interior minister confirmed a few days after the militant announced his breakout on social media.

Former Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan, who claimed responsibility on behalf of his group for scores of Taliban attacks, proclaimed his escape on Twitter and then in an audio message sent to Pakistani media earlier this month.

The Pakistani military, which had kept Ehsan in detention for three years, has declined to comment but, asked by reporters about the report, Interior Minister Ijaz Shah, said: "That is correct, that is correct."

Shah, a retired brigadier general, added that "you will hear good news" in response to questions about whether there had been progressing in hunting down Ehsan.

Ehsan later told a Reuters reporter by telephone that he had already left Pakistan and arrived in Turkey together with his wife and children. He said he had surrendered to the army under a deal, and escaped only after the agreement was not honoured.

He said he escaped on Jan. 11 but did not clarify how he had broken out of a maximum-security military prison and made his way to another country.

Pakistani analysts and experts on militant Islam have voiced doubt about Ehsan`s claim to have escaped. They have speculated that he may have been converted into an asset by the state and that reports he was on the run could be a ruse to plant him back in the Islamist militant scene for use as an informant.

After Ehsan`s surrender in 2017, local Geo News TV aired an interview he gave in custody in which he asserted that the intelligence services of Pakistan`s arch-rival, India, had been funding and arming Pakistani Taliban fighters.

The Pakistan army pledged to put Ehsan on trial but has not done so. Taliban attacks in Pakistan have declined in recent months since the army carried out several operations against sanctuaries used by the Islamist militant groups in lawless districts along the border with Afghanistan.
Beijing: India will carry out the third round of evacuation to pull out its remaining nationals from Wuhan, the central Chinese city at the epicentre of the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, later this week.

The Indian embassy in Beijing on Monday reached out to the remaining Indians in Wuhan and Hubei province, informing them about the evacuation plan and asking them to register for it.

The remaining stranded Indians will be evacuated when a special Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft, which will be carrying medical supplies for the Hubei government to fight the outbreak, flies them back towards the end of the week.

The Indian ambassador to China, Vikram Misri, has also expressed New Delhis willingness to evacuate nationals from other south Asian countries stranded in Wuhan subject to the availability of space in the special IAF aircraft.

Earlier in February, India evacuated 647 Indians, along with and seven Maldivians, from Wuhan in two Air India flights.

Over 100 Indians are still living in and around Wuhan and at least 10 among them could not leave Wuhan in the two initial evacuations after showing symptoms of fever.

As many as 89 Indians had registered for the evacuation until early Monday evening. Upon reaching New Delhi, they will be compulsorily quarantined for two weeks.

External affairs minister S Jaishankar recently told Parliament that around 80 Indian students still remain holed up in Wuhan.

The Indian government will be sending a consignment of medical supplies on board a relief flight to Wuhan later this week to aid and assist China in its efforts against the COVID-19 epidemic, the embassy said in a message, which was circulated among the remaining 110 Indians through social media.

On its return, the flight will have limited capacity to take on board Indian nationals wishing to return home from Wuhan/Hubei province and they are already in touch with the embassy for the past two weeks, the message said.

Indian nationals from Wuhan/Hubei, who intend to avail this flight for India and have not yet contacted the embassy, have been urged to call the missions hotlines or send e-mail before 19:00 hours on Monday, the message added.

The evacuated Indians will have to go through a mandatory 14-day quarantine to screen them for the deadly pathogen.

So far, several countries have pulled out their nationals from Wuhan. On Sunday, Nepal evacuated 175 of its nationals from the sprawling Chinese commercial centre. The US, Japan, South Korea, Canada, New Zealand and Australia are among the other countries that have evacuated their nationals from Wuhan and Hubei province.

Pakistan remains a notable exception, despite the fact that hundreds of its students are still stranded in Wuhan.

An NPR report quoted Pakistani students as saying that they will not be evacuated because of political reasons  Beijing and Islamabad are very close allies and call themselves iron brothers.

Pakistani students feel that Islamabad doesnt want to embarrass China by evacuating its nationals from Wuhan.

India had offered to evacuate citizens from other South Asian countries in the first two flights, but only Maldives had taken up the offer.

Indian ambassador Misri repeated the offer this time. Subject to capacity limitations and space availability on the incoming aircraft, India is also willing to facilitate nationals from all our neighbours boarding it on its return journey to New Delhi, Misri said in a social media post.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has launched a $500 million project to begin the implementation of special agro industrialised processing zones (SAPZ) to aid agricultural growth in Nigeria.

The special adviser to the AfDB President, Akinwunmi Adesina, on industrialisation, Banji Oyeyinka, said this at the kick-off ceremony of the SAPZ project in Abuja on Monday.

We are launching $500 million (project) for the SAPZ program on Nigeria and this will cut across four zones in Nigeria, he said.

He said the first phase of the project is expected to begin in August 2020 in four zones: North-east/west, North-central, South-west and South-east/south.

The zones are based on the crops that are located (there). The South-east and South-south zones have same cluster of crops so it will be easier to monitor, he said.

The funds will be released in two tranches for each phase. Before the second tranche will be released, the projects will be monitored to ensure that the projects are executed, he said.

He said AfDP will also work with farmers.

We cannot trash poverty without them, he said.

Also, the minister of agriculture and rural development, Mohammed Nanono, said the SAPZs aims at helping to develop competitive processing capacity through the promotion of private sector investment.

It is enabled by investment in public goods, policy interventions and the provision of desirable support services and skills development, he said.

The minister noted the SAPZs will boost value addition to agriculture, improve competitiveness and in effect, reduce food imports, assure food sufficiency, create jobs for teaming Nigerian youths and in turn grow the nations economy by generating revenue.

READ ALSO:

Mr Nanono said the plan is to develop the SAPZs within a period of three years across the country in areas where core economic value can be unleashed for the benefit of the rural population.

He said agricultural mechanisation will be the main vehicle for implementing the SAPZ programme on an intense scale.

Meanwhile, a farmer, Victor Iyama, said this project will will aid industrialisation.

Most times, one the major problems we have is lack of storage facilities. Farmers are hardworking on this part of the world but lack of certain equipment disorganises them, he said.

The whole process of SAPZ is well structured, soft loans will be given to farmers and is expected to be paid back in some years, he added.
New Delhi, Feb 17 : Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday expressed confidence that this time around, there will be no problem in Air India's divestment.

He was speaking here at an event held to distribute the "Letters of Appreciation" issued by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the staff of Air India who conducted evacuation operation of stranded Indians from China's Wuhan city, the epicentre of the Coronavirus outbreak.

The Minister's comments assume significance since the last attempt to divest stake in Air India had failed.

According to the minister, the divestment process has received a healthy response.

The government expects to complete sale of Air India in the first half of the next fiscal, according to the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM).

Last month, DIPAM had invited an Expression of Interest (EoI) from potential investors for selling 100 per cent of Air India and its stake in two subsidiaries with easy bidding norms of debt and eligibility, in its second attempt to privatise the debt-laden state-run airline.

The deadline for submission of the EoI for 100 per cent divestment in Air India and the airline's stake in low-cost unit Air India Express and airport services company AISATS is March 17, according to a preliminary information memorandum issued by DIPAM on Monday.

Since the huge debt had proved unattractive for potential bidders, now, the government has relaxed bidding norms to coax investors to buy the airline. The bidding party will have to bear with only Rs 23,286 crore of the total Rs 60,000 crore debt of Air India.

As for eligibility, the lead member of a consortium can have 26 per cent shareholding. The earlier criterion set a holding of 51 per cent in a consortium. The minimum shareholding in a consortium has also been eased to 10 per cent, potentially enabling more entities to bid as part of a consortium.

The net worth for eligible bidders has been relaxed to Rs 3,500 crore from Rs 5,000 crore.

Furthermore, the consolidated business in the past had a mix of real estate and aviation interests.

However, this time, the government is carving out real estate assets and other businesses which are not integral to the core airline business into a separate SPV along with part transfer of certain debt and liabilities (modalities have been worked out) thereby resizing the balance sheet.

The government had earlier struggled to privatise the loss-making airline due to a lack of interest from bidders.

One reason for the failure was that the government was unwilling to fully exit the airline, looking to sell only 76 per cent stake.
A birthday tribute was held in honor of President William Henry Harrison at his memorial site in North Bend, on Friday, February 7. Participants, including the Hamilton County Sheriff's Honor Guard and Sons of the American Revolution Cincinnati Chapter, marched together from North Bend's Council Hall building to the President William Henry Harrison Memorial Site.

NORTH BEND, Ohio  You might consider the parade here earlier this month the equivalent of a participation trophy.

Of the 45 presidents the nation will honor Monday, none served as short a term as William Henry Harrison. He died just 31 days into his presidency and is buried in a tomb overlooking the Ohio River in this town 15 miles west of Cincinnati.

Despite a term so short that he left no imprint on the presidency itself, Harrison is still honored every year with a parade sometime around his Feb. 9 birthday. This year's featured the usual honor guard, marching members of a local Sons of the American Revolution chapter, and wreath-laying at the former president's tomb.

Robert Ruehlman, a local judge and North Bend resident who helps organize the parade, said its important to remember Harrison beyond even his time as president.

He was an important figure in the war of 1812 and he was the first presidential candidate to use a slogan," Ruehlman said. That slogan: Tippecanoe and Tyler too. (Tippecanoe was a battle Harrison fought in; Tyler was John Tyler, his running mate.)

A birthday tribute was held in honor of President William Henry Harrison at his memorial site in North Bend, on Friday, February 7. Participants, including the Hamilton County Sheriff's Honor Guard and Sons of the American Revolution Cincinnati Chapter, marched together from North Bend's Council Hall building to the President William Henry Harrison Memorial Site where a short ceremony was held and wreaths were presented.

Harrison, a Whig, can claim to be the answer to variety of historical trivia: he was the first president from Ohio, the grandfather of a later president (Benjamin Harrison,) and a pioneer when it came to presidential campaigns  chiefly by exaggerating his record.

In her biography "William Henry Harrison," author Gail Collins, the New York Times columnist and Green Township native, said, "Politically, Harrison's greatest achievement was to star in what is still celebrated as one of the most ridiculous presidential campaigns in history,"

A birthday tribute was held in honor of President William Henry Harrison at his memorial site in North Bend, on Friday, February 7. Participants, including the Hamilton County Sheriff's Honor Guard and Sons of the American Revolution Cincinnati Chapter, marched together from North Bend's Council Hall building to the President William Henry Harrison Memorial Site.

Hes also a key figure in a new mystery.

A sword he carried at his inauguration that was used in the Revolutionary War by his father-in-law, John Cleves Symmes, disappeared for decades  until it turned up at a Connecticut auction last year. It was seized until authorities can answer the question: was it stolen, as local historians suggest, or was the seller the true owner. The FBI is investigating.

Story continues

On March 4, 1841, Harrison gave the longest inaugural address in history (8,445 words). To show how hardy he was, he wore no overcoat, hat or gloves in the freezing temperatures.

Harrison caught pneumonia and died on April 4, after just 31 days in office.

At this year's parade and wreath-laying, North Bend's mayor Douglas Sammons said Harrison would have a message for the nation if he were alive today.

"In our present day, the United States seems to have become a more polarized country," Sammons said. "Even when we disagree, it does not mean we should be disagreeable. If President Harrison was alive today, I do not think he would appreciate where our country's discourse is."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Presidents Day: William Henry Harrison gets a parade in this Ohio town
Romney had not known exactly what the fallout from his vote would be. But he understood it would probably be seismic. He talked about it privately with a tight brain trust  including former campaign manager and longtime confidant Beth Myers as well as Matt Waldrip, his Senate chief of staff.And he acknowledged the reality in his speech before casting his vote, predicting he would be vehemently denounced and receive abuse from the president and his supporters.
SINGAPORE, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Informa Markets is postponing the inaugural FHA-Food & Beverage event to a later date due to global travel concerns and the spill-over effects on the F&B industry in light of the latest developments regarding the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation. The event was originally scheduled to take place from 31 March - 3 April 2020 at Singapore Expo.

ProWine Asia (Singapore) 2020, held alongside FHA-Food & Beverage, co-organised by Messe Dusseldorf Asia and Informa Markets, will also be postponed.

Mr Martyn Cox, Event Director, Hospitality, Food & Beverage - Singapore, Informa Markets, said, "The situation is still evolving and we see this decision to postpone FHA-Food & Beverage and ProWine Asia (Singapore) 2020 as being in the best interests of our event attendees, partners and staff.

"Our focus now is to provide our exhibitors, event partners and registered visitors with the support they require as a result of this decision. We will continue to work in partnership with the relevant government authorities and agencies and take all further measures in accordance with the latest advisories published by the Singapore Ministry of Health (MOH), the Ministry of Manpower and the Singapore Tourism Board."

Ms Beattrice J. Ho, Project Director, ProWine Asia (Singapore), Messe Dusseldorf Asia, added, "We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all exhibitors and partners for supporting the exhibitions and are committed to working towards the best possible outcome. We are working actively with all partners to find a suitable alternative date."

Mr Alvin Lim, Executive Director, Brand and Customer Experience, SingEx Holdings, said, "Given the latest developments on COVID-19 in Singapore, and the health and safety risk concerns among the community thereof, Singapore EXPO & MAX Atria respects the decision made to postpone FHA-Food & Beverage and ProWine Asia (Singapore) 2020. Customer-centricity is at the heart of our business; we will continue to work together with Informa Markets, Messe Dusseldorf Asia, and our valued event partners to see through this predicament. We are part of a global meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) industry that has always stood together and shown great support for each other - and it is with this that we trust in the industry's resilience and ability to bounce back from whatever setbacks this outbreak may bring."

"We understand the decision by Informa Markets to postpone FHA-Food & Beverage and ProWine Asia (Singapore) 2020 in light of the COVID-19 situation. During this challenging period, the health and safety of locals, visitors and industry partners remain our priority. We are staying vigilant, strengthening our defences and monitoring the situation closely. STB stands firmly by our MICE industry, and we will work closely with organisers, industry stakeholders and relevant government agencies to support the continued success of both events," said Mr Andrew Phua, Director, Exhibitions and Conferences, Singapore Tourism Board.

The FHA and ProWine Asia (Singapore) team will announce the new dates shortly and will be in touch with all confirmed exhibitors to discuss further logistics and planning. Participants may also contact [email protected] and [email protected] for urgent assistance.

"We seek industry's understanding and support of this decision. Our priority is to create the best possible environment for our industry and partners to conduct business, which includes carefully timing the best revised arrangements. In working with Singapore Expo & MAX Atria and other event partners to confirm revised dates, we stay focused on our goal to deliver a great customer experience for both the rescheduled events," said Mr Cox.

SOURCE FHA-Food & Beverage

Related Links

https://www.fhafnb.com


Paris: The line in front of the Louis Vuitton store was barely a line by Paris standards: only 10 people. All were Asian, and many spoke in Chinese, with one couple dictating Mandarin into a smartphone and waiting for the answers in French.

"Sometimes, the line's been even shorter recently," said Yasmine Ben, who works at a kiosk directly opposite the store. "Usually, it's wider, much, much longer, and it snakes around the back.''

Louis Vuitton, in the Galeries Lafayette department store in central Paris, is a favourite stop for Chinese tourists to France. And the line there is prime evidence of the growing economic effect that the coronavirus is having on tourism in Paris and elsewhere across Europe.

Though it is too soon to quantify it precisely, the potential economic effect of the coronavirus is evident nearly everywhere. From the streets of Paris to the wineries of Burgundy, from the German town of Fussen near the fairytale castle of Neuschwanstein to a shopping outlet in Oxfordshire in England, Chinese tourist numbers have visibly dropped since Beijing banned overseas group tours on January 27.
Victoria Beckham partnered with skincare brand Weleda (Getty Images)

Yahoo Lifestyle 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. Pricing and availability are subject to change.

The fashion world might seem super glamorous - and it is - but its also a lot of hard work, and this rings most true in the run-up to, and during, London Fashion Week.

And one designer who definitely understands the pressure it can put on models and staff is Victoria Beckham.

Her much-coveted, self-named, brand is always a highlight of the high-profile fashion event and this year the ex-Spice Girl helped take care of the models who would be helping debut her latest collection by partnering with wellbeing and beauty brand, Weleda.

Weledas Wellbeing Zone backstage encouraged models to take time out to enjoy a therapeutic hand massage, which is known to help relieve tension and promote relaxation.

Victoria Beckham models enjoying Weleda treatments backstage (Weleda)

Weleda Skin Food was one of the main products used backstage at Victoria Beckham's AW20 show. (Weleda)

Weledas team used Skin Food Light Moisturising Cream for its nourishing formula which combines organic sunflower oil with skin-calming extracts of wild pansy, chamomile and calendula.

This lotion is inspired by the original Weleda Skin Food - already a cult product in the beauty industry - but is more suited to on-the-go moisturising, soaking in quickly to leave skin instantly nourished and smooth without any stickiness.

And though VBs clothes might set you back a small fortune, attaining her models glow costs under 8.

Sold? So are we.

Buy it: Weleda Skin Food Light | 7.52 from Amazon

And Victoria isnt the only fan of the affordable, multi-use, moisturiser if the Amazon reviews are anything to go by.

The Weleda Skin Food Light Moisturising Cream has over 400 reviews, with a whopping 82% of shoppers rating the product five-stars.

Love it! I really like the original skin food however for daily use it took ages to sink in and left me super shiny. This light version though is perfect! I also like the almond face cream but would choose this light skin food over it any day and its cheaper! one well-hydrated fan wrote.

Story continues

While another commented: I bought this because the original skin food was too heavy. This one has not disappointed, the gorgeous scent, the silky feel of the lotion and its very light you can definitely wear it as a day cream. Love it.

We might never have a pout like Mrs. Beckham, but we can certainly have her soft skin. Thats good enough, right?

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo Style UK:
7.The EU has decided to renew its arms embargo and to maintain a targeted assets freeze against one company, Zimbabwe Defence Industries, for one year, taking into account the situation in Zimbabwe, including the yet to be investigated alleged role of the armed and security forces in human rights abuses. The restrictive measures against four individuals are suspended. The arms embargo, as well as the asset freeze against Zimbabwe Defence Industries, do not affect the Zimbabwean economy, foreign direct investment, or trade. They are motivated by the EU's intention to encourage a demonstrable commitment by the Zimbabwean authorities to upholding the rule of law and human rights.
ANSAmed - Tomorrow's events in the Mediterranean

(ANSAmed) - ROME, FEBRUARY 17 - These are the main events scheduled in the Euro-Mediterranean for tomorrow: CAIRO - Conference entitled 'From Freedom of Worship to Freedom of Religion and Belief: Promoting Partnership between States, the International Community, and Religious Institutions' organised by the Italian embassy. BEIRUT - Amnesty International will be holding an international press conference on human rights in the Middle East.



MOSCOW - Talks on the crisis in Idlib, Syria, continue between Russian authorities and the Turkish delegation led by Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal. ZAGREB - Swearing in of new president Zoran Milanovic.



ROME - Informational conference organised by the Italian-Arab Chamber of Commerce to illustrate the multiple opportunities for Italian firms offered by the Ras al-Khaimah (UAE) emirate. BARI - Exhibition entitled 'By Sea: Landings and Shipwrecks' (until March 30). (ANSAmed).




Hundreds of Australians stranded on the coronavirus-stricken Diamond Princess cruise ship will be evacuated by the government this week.

208 Australians are among the more than 3,600 people trapped on the boat in quarantine in Yokohama, Japan.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed on Monday those evacuated would be flown back to Australia on Wednesday and placed in further quarantine near Darwin for 14 days.

Scroll down for video

Australians are set to be evacuated on Wednesday from the coronavirus-stricken Diamond Princess (pictured in quarantine in Yokohama on February 13)

Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed on Monday those evacuated would be placed in quarantine at an evacuee facility at Howard Springs in Darwin for 14 days (facility pictured)

It was earlier confirmed four more Australians have been diagnosed with the deadly coronavirus on the cruise ship.

There are now 355 reported cases of coronavirus on the boat including 15 Australians.

Mr Morrison said he could understand the frustration of Australian Diamond Princess passengers who will be quarantined beyond the one imposed on them by Japanese authorities.

'I understand those who were on board will feel very frustrated about this, as well as there family members,' he said.

'I am very frustrated about it. But, our first responsibility is that we have to protect the health and safety of Australians in Australia today.'

The Australian government's chief medical officer Brendan Murphy said the growing number of cases reported on the ship meant the extra quarantine period was vital to prevent the spread of the deadly virus.

'The Australians quarantined over the last 12 days, many of them have done everything they have been asked to do and they are probably wondering why we are imposing this extra requirement,' he said.

There are currently 174 cases of coronavirus on the boat including 15 Australians. Pictured: medical staff inside the ship

Pictured: The Ma Village in Howard Springs, Darwin being used as a quarantine facility for coronavirus evacuees

'We are not quite sure why there have been ongoing infections, but given there has been recent cases, we cannot be absolutely sure that any of the currently well people on the ship who are coming home on Wednesday are not carrying the virus.

The Diamond Princess has been called a 'floating prison' by those on board, with passengers stuck on the vessel until the quarantine period finishes on Wednesday.

Olivia Capodicasa is one of the Australian passengers in quarantine and revealed what conditions are like for those stranded on board.

'People with cabins that don't have light, or windows or a balcony, are a priority,' she told Sunrise.

Australian Olivia Capodicasa said she is confined to a windowless cabin and only allowed outside briefly for exercise and fresh air

Symptoms of the coronavirus include fever, cough, sore throat and shortness of breath

'When we're out there we have to wear our masks, our gloves, any protective gear. We can just walk around and breathe in the fresh air. I did a few sprints because I was just dying to get moving.'

She said she was optimistic despite her mundane environment.

'I think that's the only mindset you have to have when you're locked in a room,' she said.

Quarantined Australian passenger Claire Hedger posted an Instagram update on Wednesday afternoon thanking staff for their tireless help on the ship.
Clad in only loincloths, close to 10,000 men gather inside the Saidaiji Temple every year, in freezing temperatures, for a bizarre event which celebrates prosperity and fertility.



Reuters

The festival called Hadaka Matsuri, or more commonly known as 'Naked Festival', is a Japanese festival where participants wear only a minimum amount of clothing, usually just a loincloth or a happi.

On February 15, at 10:00 pm in Saidaiji Kannonin Temple in Okayama Prefacture, men scrambled in the dark for lucky wooden talismans tossed into the crowd, in a ritual that dates back five centuries.

Instagram

According to Reuters, the two sticks, seen as lucky talismans, are thrown among 100 bundles of twigs and if caught, are meant to bring the catcher good fortune.

This year, most men escaped with just a few cuts and bruises from the 30-minute tussle; in the past, some have even been crushed to death, reports Reuters.

Reuters

"Once a year, at the coldest time in February, we wrap ourselves in just a loincloth to be a man," said 55-year-old Yasuhiko Tokuyama, the president of a regional electronics firm.

Reuters

"That's the significance of this event and why I continue to participate."



The participants run around the temple grounds and purify themselves with the freezing cold water before heading towards the main temple.



The festival began nearly 500 years ago during the Muromachi Period. It evolved from a ritual, where villagers competed to grab paper talismans given out at the Saidaiji Temple.

Similar naked festivals are held throughout Japan as part of a tradition that is said to stretch back five centuries. Here's a video from 2017 which gives a peek into what happens inside the temple during the festival.







Inputs Reuters
Nearly 40 more women have come forward with accusations against gynaecologist Dr Robert Hadden, after former presidential candidate Andrew Yangs wife said he had sexually assaulted her.

Before her husband suspended his campaign last week, Evelyn Yang revealed along the campaign trail that she was a victim of sexual assault in an emotional interview with CNN.

Something about being on the trail and meeting people and seeing the difference that we've been making already has moved me to share my own story about it, about sexual assault, the 38-year-old said in January.

She said she was assaulted by her doctor, who worked in the prestigious medical facilities at New Yorks Columbia University, on multiple occasions.

In one instance, she said he performed an examination on her when she was seven months pregnant without wearing any gloves.

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

I was in the exam room, and I was dressed and ready to go. Then, at the last minute, he kind of made up an excuse, she said. He said something about, 'I think you might need a C-section,' and he proceeded to grab me over to him and undress me and examine me internally, ungloved.

Dozens of women had already come forward with accusations against the doctor prior to Ms Yangs interview with CNN. However, her stepping forward appeared to cause a wave of previously-unknown victims to also share their stories with the Manhattan District Attorneys office.

The latest victims included at least cases involving minors, according to attorney Anthony DiPietro, who told CNN he was adding the accusers to an ongoing civil lawsuit against the doctor and Columbia University. Ms Yang has also joined that lawsuit, which now included about 70 women.

Emilia Heckman, one of the woman who came forward following Ms Yangs interview, told CNN about her appointments with the doctor: At first it was gloves on, and all of that.

And then it transitioned to no gloves, a tongue and a beard, she said, adding: I recoiled.

Hadden pleaded guilty to two charges of criminal activity, including a sexual act in the third degree and forcible touching.

The plea deal allowed Hadden to register as the lowest-level sex offender possible. However, he can still be tried on new criminal charges depending on the individual circumstances of each case, according to CNN.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance has defended the plea deal, saying in a statement: Because a conviction is never a guaranteed outcome in a criminal trial, our primary concern was holding him accountable and making sure he could never do this again  which is why we insisted on a felony conviction and permanent surrender of his medical license.

He added: While we stand by our legal analysis and resulting disposition of this difficult case, we regret that this resolution has caused survivors pain.
The court in the annexed Crimea ruled out to arrest four citizens of Ukraine for 10 days for poaching. Earlier Russian FSB detained Ukrainian fishermen in the Sea of Azov with a flounder catch, as Interfax reports.

Ukrainians were found guilty of disobeying a lawful order of federal security service officer under article of the Administrative Offenses Code of the Russian Federation, according to a press release from the border department of the Russian FSB in the Republic of Crimea.

An administrative case was opened on the fact of illegal extraction of aquatic biological resources under article of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (violation of the rules for the extraction (catch) of aquatic biological resources).

On February 15, Russia's FSB detained the vessel, saying that the crew performed illegal fishing activity. Later, Russian law enforcers interrogated the sailors who admitted illegal fishing. They were arrested for 10 days.

The Prosecutors Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol launched criminal proceedings under articles 146 and 278 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine on the fact of an unlawful seizure by Russian FSB border guards of a Ukrainian ship with four people on board.

The investigation found that the occupant law enforcers on February 15 detained a small ship with four fishermen on board in the western part of the Sea of Azov. The vessel and fishermen were brought to the port of Kerch for trial. All four at the questioning allegedly admitted to the fact of poaching.
As activists shut down railways and intersections across Canada, a Winnipegger arrested at the epicentre of the Wet'suwet'en protest says Manitobans need to respect Indigenous rights, or brace for even more disruption.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/2/2020 (694 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As activists shut down railways and intersections across Canada, a Winnipegger arrested at the epicentre of the Wet'suwet'en protest says Manitobans need to respect Indigenous rights, or brace for even more disruption.

"It's not gonna stop anytime soon; the momentum's way too strong," Victoria Redsun told the Free Press from northern British Columbia.

"The reality that Canadians need to know is that change is coming."

The 20-year-old was among seven arrested a week ago for breaching a court injunction to allow construction of a natural-gas pipeline.

The areas elected bands have endorsed the Coastal GasLink project, but they only represent reserve lands under a political system imposed by the federal Indian Act. Five clans with hereditary leadership say they represent the wider area, and have rejected the project.

That's led activists to call for a wider discussion on Indigenous land title. Supporters across the country have disrupted railways, leading Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sunday to cancel a diplomatic trip to the Caribbean and deal with the blockades.

Redsun grew up at Northlands Denesuline First Nation, located in Manitobas far north. She moved to Winnipeg six years ago for high school but only felt at home among North End activists.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Victoria Redsun at a demonstration on steps of the CMHR in September 2019.

"In Winnipeg there's so much racism that I faced when I Iived there, and it brought me down everyday. The only thing that brought me up was the community," said Redsun, a spoken-word performer who aspires to one day be a traditional doctor.

She got involved in the Wet'suwet'en cause a year ago, when courts issued the projects first injunction. The community invited people from across Canada to help blockade the pipeline route.

This past July, she took part in a week-long youth art camp around the Unistoten healing centre, which B.C. locals established five years ago, in part to block pipeline projects.

"I saw how welcoming the Wet'suwet'en people are and how healing the land is and how you can drink directly from the water," she said.

The locals speak a dialect of Dene, as does her home community.

Their concerns about the pipeline resonated with Redsun. In her home community, elders believe hydroelectric dams helped erode ancient pictographs. Her community depends on caribou for food and clothing, and Wet'suwet'en activists worry pipeline construction will disrupt local herds.

Redsun went back to Wet'suwet'en territory in November. A typical day involved ceremony, art, community events and taking people coping with issues like drug addiction out on the land.

On New Year's Eve, a court renewed its injunction, and Wet'suwet'en activists reinforced their blockades.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES People from different Indigenous, environmental and social justice groups organizations gather at Portage and Main and other locations in downtown Winnipeg to shut down traffic in solidarity with Wetsuweten in B.C. on Feb. 10.

Redsuns arrest took place on Feb. 10 at a bridge over the Morice River, where demonstrators had put a wood blockade painted with the word "reconciliation." Supporters filmed the arrest and posted it online, including the moment when officials tore down that sign.

"I was heartbroken to see the assault rifles pointed at my friends," she said.

"Even after those traumatizing experiences, we're so empowered to see everybody standing up, and it's all young people."

In Winnipeg, activists ended an 11-day occupation of the lobby of MP Dan Vandal's constituency office Saturday, and there have been temporary blockades of CN Rail lines west and south of the city, as well as at Portage and Main.

Redsun says those protests show that Manitobans have a stake in the issues at Wet'suwet'en, as does Premier Brian Pallisters promise last week to seek injunctions to clear the rail disruptions.

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.

"It's not just a northern B.C. thing," she said. "The premiers need to educate themselves on the true title-holders; they need to educate themselves on the treaties.

To her, federal and provincial governments have ignored court rulings on Indigenous title for too long, while a looming climate crisis and environmental merit more attention than the jobs the pipeline would bring.

"The youth recognize that it doesn't matter what you look like; it doesn't matter where you come from. We all have to stand together," said Redsun.

She hopes her own protest at Wet'suwet'en will help spark a rethink of Canadas economy and how it respects Indigenous rights.

"I dont plan on leaving anytime soon," she said.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
An Indian food influencer has delighted fans with enthusiastic reviews of Toby Carvery and Greggs after moving to Birmingham from Delhi.

Shubhneet Jain, 23, who moved to the UK last year, runs blog V for Veggie and regularly posts pictures of the variety of food he tries, from home-made delicacies to fast-food burgers.

But his thoughts on a 2 coffee and pizza deal from Greggs, Toby Carvery's vegetarian menu and his 'amazing dinner' at Frankie & Bennys has wowed his 160,000 Instagram followers.

Indian food influencer Shubhneet Jain, 23, has delighted fans with enthusiastic reviews of Toby Carvery (left) and Greggs (right) after moving to Birmingham from Delhi

Mr Jain shared a picture of his Greggs meal earlier this month with the caption: 'Three Cheese Pizza with Mocha Coffee for just 2 at Greggs.

'How you can avail it? This deal is available post 4pm. Let me know in comments if you have tried this deal or not.'

Viewers took to social media to share their support.

Tom Riley wrote: 'Post more Greggs content everyone in the UK loves Greggs.'

The influencer also took to Instagram to share a grinning picture of himself in front of a variety of pasta dishes with the caption detailing his 'amazing dinner' at restaurant chain Frankie & Benny's

Kav Kaushik wrote on Twitter that his reviews are 'fully my favourite thing ever.'

In January he shared a beaming photograph of himself posing with his Toby Carvery dinner.

He captioned the series of pictures detailing his multi-course feast: 'All about yesterdays dinner at Toby Carvery.

'Me and my friends tried their vegan and vegetarian menu.'

Reviewing one of his main courses, he said: 'We tried their lentil and sage lasagna. If you want to have a protein dish with some cheese then this is the dish to try.

One supporter said his reviews are 'fully my favourite thing ever.' Mr Jain also shared this image with the caption: 'Cinnamon rolls have you tried them yet? Had this at Papa Johns'

'Lentils are a good source of protein. Made with red wine and spinach, I could never imagine this kind of dish. Very Innovative.

'To all my vegetarian friends, you must try their meat free carvery meal - thats too filling and yummy.'

He added: 'Once we were done with our starters and mains, we ordered four desserts. Had high hopes for this and yeah they nailed it with their yummy desserts.'

He captioned the series of pictures detailing his multi-course feast: 'All about yesterdays dinner at Toby Carvery'

The influencer also took to Instagram to share a grinning picture of himself in front of a variety of pasta dishes with the caption detailing his 'amazing dinner' at restaurant chain Frankie & Benny's.

One fan said: 'This is the happiest anyone has ever been at a Frankie & Bennys.'

Another added: 'Hes so wholesome about Frankie & Bennys!'

It comes after excited American tourist Mal discovered British pub chain Wetherspoons and is overwhelmed by how cheap it is.

Mr Jain calls himself a 'foodie' on Instagram and his blog page has almost 160,000 followers

Mr Jain even excitedly shared pictures of the restaurant he had his Toby Carvery meal in January

Mal filmed herself visiting The Benjamin Huntsman in Sheffield, South Yorkshire and posted it to her 8,600 followers.

Footage shows her walking towards the pub as she says: 'Okay so the place that I have found which interests me the most is this place called Wetherspoons, in England, and its so freaking good - let's see what they've got.'

The video shows Mal perusing the breakfast menu which she describes as 'really, really cheap' before opting for the vegetarian breakfast costing 3.65.

In the wholesome TikTok clip, which has gathered more than 38,000 likes, she describes the free coffee and tea refills as 'amazing' as she makes her way over to the Lavazza station and selects a latte.

'You can use this as many times as you want', as she zooms in on her coffee filling up.
When you or a lover likes it Rough. If youre a lover, not a fighter, but you or your lover like it a little rough, let sex and relationship educator (and double black belt, former fight choreographer for indie films), Reid Mihalko of ReidAboutSex.com, show you how you can safely be a badass in bed.

From wrestling to rough sex to advanced ergonomic techniques, join us for this humorous and informative workshop (with live demos!) on how to unleash your inner Bruce Lee of the bedroom. In this 2-hour, edutaining class for all genders, well cover:

Rough sex for nice guys, gals, and folks of all genders and orientations!

The difference between thuddy and stingy, and why you should care

The best sex positions, proper body positioning, and ergonomics for harder, stronger, longer sex

Why and how wrestling can be a turn-on

Hair-pulling 101

Spanking basics made easy

How to bite (and how not to!)

How to move your partners body around the bed with more ease And much more!

No matter your experience level, orientation, relationship status, this class is going to be educational, fun, and give you some delicious bedroom kung-fu. Sit and watch as Reid demonstrates how easy it is to be a black belt at sex! Well even have plenty of room for your questions! Join us! Bring friends! Bring a notebook!

ABOUT REID MIHALKO: Sex and relationship geek Reid Mihalko of ReidAboutSex.com helps adults and college students create more self-esteem, self-confidence, and greater health and accountability in their relationships and sex lives using an inspiring mixture of humor, personal stories, keen insight, and comprehensive sexual health information.

In early 2018, some very brave people came forward during #MeToo sharing harms that Reid had caused them. Reid stepped down from teaching and initiated a restorative justice-based accountability process to address his misconduct and make amends if and where possible. The formal, year-long process along with Reids apology and resources were shared publicly and can be found at TinyURL.com/reidaccountability.Going forward, Reids projects and appearances will include pointing people towards resources and experts on restorative and transformative justice-based accountability processes.

Reid teaches internationally, running workshops and speaking on communication skills, alternative relationship styles, and shame-free sexuality. Whether online, on stage, or at a college or university, Reid shares skills and concepts designed to help everyone be the change they want to see in the bedroom. Reids workshops and college lectures have been attended by over 50,000 people from all over the globe. He has appeared in media such as Netflix Chelsea Does... with Chelsea Handler, Oprah's Our America With Lisa Ling on OWN, the Emmy award-winning talk show Montel, Dr. Phil's The Doctors on CBS, Bravo's Miss Advised, Fox News, in Newsweek, Seventeen, GQ, The Washington Post, and in thirteen countries and at least seven languages Reid is also founder of Sex Geek Summer Camp, Sex Geek Conservatory, and Sex Geek School for Gifted Sex Geeks, which help sex educators learn valuable business skills that allow them to reach more people with greater ease, transform more lives, and make a better living as sexperts. Follow Reid on Twitter and Facebook and YouTube and Instagram.

Accessibility info: Self Serve's entrance & bathroom are accessible. Please refrain from wearing heavily scented products. Email info@selfservetoys.com if you would like an ASL interpreter and we can try to arrange it.
Judge Dharmender Rana on Monday issued the black warrant to execute the four men, who raped and killed a young woman on her way home in December 2012, on March 3 at 6 am. In a six-page order, the judge Rana said putting off the date of execution any further would be sacrilegious to the rights of the victim for expeditious justice.

This is the third death warrant to be issued by the court, ordering that the four condemned convicts - Mukesh Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Thakur (31) - be hanged by the next until they are dead on March 3.

The two previous death warrants for January 22 and February 1 had to be deferred by the court in light of mercy petitions and appeals by one or the other convict.

Also read: What Delhi Prison Rules say on executing death row convicts

But the third black warrant may not be the last one.

Lawyer Soutik Banerjee said the death warrant would have to be stayed if one of the four condemned convicts files a mercy petition to the President or exercises his option of a curative petition before the Supreme Court.

Justice Suresh Kait of the high court had earlier this month rejected the Centres contention that Tihar authorities should be ordered to execute convicts who do not have an appeal pending. This implies that unless the Supreme Court sets aside this provision, the convicts who were sentenced by a common verdict would have to be sentenced together.

Lawyer Ravi Qazi, the lawyer for Pawan Gupta - the only one of the four convicts who hasnt filed a curative petition in the Supreme Court or a mercy petition - told judge Dharmender Rana that Pawan intended to file the curative and the mercy petition. Qazi also added that Pawan Gupta told him that he wasnt aware of the seven days time frame granted to the convicts by the Delhi High Court.

Also read: December 16 gang rape convicts in Tihar Jail on suicide watch

Lawyer AP Singh, who is representing two convicts Vinay and Mukesh, said that he would be filing a second mercy plea for Akshay Thakur since the earlier one did not have the records of his financial status. The law allows convicts to file a mercy petition but it is not unusual for a death row convict to file more than one on grounds that the new one was based on new material which wasnt available earlier.

Judge Dharmender Rana did not comment on the merits of his proposed mercy petition but stressed that mere preparation of a fresh mercy petition cannot be a ground to defer the execution of the death warrants.

The judge also noted that there cannot be any quarrel with the proposition that protection under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution is available to the convicts till their last breath.

However, he added, Article 21 merely guarantees an opportunity to the condemned convicts to exercise their legal rights, whether to utilize or not, is a matter to be decided by the condemned convicts. The observation was in context of Pawan Gupta not filing a curative and mercy petition.

Convict Pawan Gupta cannot be permitted to defeat the ends of justice by simply opting to remain indolent, the judge underscored.
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP)  A bankruptcy filing by a leading hemp processor strikes a gut punch" to the fledgling industry as it tries to secure a foothold in Kentucky, the state's agriculture commissioner said Thursday.

GenCanna Global USA Inc. announced it has filed a bankruptcy petition to work out a reorganization plan that could lead to debt refinancing or a potential sale. The Chapter 11 filing would allow it to continue operations during a reorganization, the company said.

We are taking this action in order to position our business for success in a highly dynamic and rapidly evolving industry," GenCanna CEO Matty Mangone-Miranda said in a statement.

Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles said the bankruptcy filing was the latest sign that the national hemp industry is facing strong headwinds." Kentucky positioned itself at the forefront of hemp's comeback and Quarles is an enthusiastic advocate for the crop.

Today's announcement is a gut punch to Kentucky's hemp industry and to many Kentucky farmers who dared to hope and risk on this crop," Quarles said in a statement.

Quarles called it a priority to ensure that farmers and contractors get paid what GenCanna owes them. Hemp farmers contract with processors to supply the crop that can be turned into a myriad of products, including CBD oil.

GenCanna said Thursday it had obtained about $10 million in post-petition debtor-in-possession" financing from its senior lender. That cash infusion, subject to court approval, would provide the company with liquidity to maintain operations during the bankruptcy process, it said.

Hemp became a legal agricultural crop as the result of a provision inserted into the federal farm bill that removed the plant from the list of federally controlled substances. For decades, the leafy plant was banned due to its family ties to marijuana. But hemp, unlike its cousin, has a negligible amount of THC, the psychoactive compound that gives marijuana users a high.

Story continues

Hemp gained mainstream support in Kentucky several years ago and the states most prominent political leader  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell  led the legalization push in Congress.

The versatile crop was historically used for rope but has many other uses, including clothing and mulch from the fiber; hemp milk and cooking oil from the seeds; and soap and lotions. Other uses include building materials, animal bedding and biofuels. Hemp-derived cannabidiol, or CBD oil, as a health product has gained an increasingly large market.

In Kentucky, nearly 1,000 growers and more than 200 processors received state licenses to participate in the 2019 crop. The state doesn't have statistics yet for this year's crop in an industry facing growing pains.

Quarles said Thursday that some hemp processors overextended themselves."

He has been among hemp advocates urging federal regulators to develop a regulatory framework for the processing of hemp and manufacturing of CBD oil. The commissioner said inaction" on that issue has been a main contributor to paralysis in this industry."

Based on price and production estimates, Kentucky producers could have earned between $55 million and $65 million from last year's hemp crop, University of Kentucky agricultural economists said in December. That would amount would represent 1% of the state's total agriculture receipts, they said. That's up from the $17.7 million that Kentucky growers made in 2018.

In its release, GenCanna said Thursday its Chapter 11 filing allows it to continue to operate its business without interruption to customers, vendors, partners and employees while working through a reorganization plan that could include refinancing of the company's existing indebtedness, or an alternative restructuring transaction such as a sale."

The company, founded in 2014, pointed to the need to adjust its operating costs to better match the landscape" amid an uncertain regulatory situation.

While this is certainly not the outcome we desired, the bankruptcy process gives us the ability to move forward in a way that allows us to best continue operations and serve customers as we work through our reorganization," the company release said.
Senior Delhi Congress leader Ajay Maken on Sunday (February 16) slammed party colleague Milind Deora for praising Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Deora posted a video of the Delhi CM highlighting the achievements of the AAP government and wrote that under Kejriwal's leadership Delhi managed to double its revenues to Rs 60,000 crore and it is now one of the most fiscally prudent governments of India.

Sharing a lesser-known and welcome fact - the @ArvindKejriwal-led Delhi Government doubled its revenues to Rs 60,000 crore and maintained a revenue surplus over the last 5 years. Food for thought: Delhi is now one of Indias most fiscally prudent governments, Deora tweeted.

Sharing a lesser known & welcome fact  the @ArvindKejriwal-led Delhi Government doubled its revenues to 60,000 crore & maintained a revenue surplus over the last 5 years. Food for thought: Delhi is now one of Indias most fiscally prudent governments pic.twitter.com/bBFjbfYhoC  Milind Deora   (@milinddeora) February 16, 2020

Maken hit back at the former Congress MP asking him to leave the party and then propagate half-baked facts. Brother,you want to leave @INCIndia-Please do-Then propagate half baked facts! However,let me share even lesser know facts-1997-98-BE (Revenue) 4,073cr 2013-14-BE (Revenue) 37,459cr During Congress Govt Grew at 14.87% CAGR 2015-16 BE 41,129 2019-20 BE 60,000 AAP Gov 9.90% CAGR, Maken said.

Brother,you want to leave @INCIndia-Please do-Then propagate half baked facts! However,let me share even lesser know facts-

1997-98-BE (Revenue) 4,073cr

2013-14-BE (Revenue) 37,459cr

During Congress Govt Grew at 14.87% CAGR 2015-16 BE 41,129

2019-20 BE 60,000

AAP Gov 9.90% CAGR    (@ajaymaken) February 16, 2020

Notably, Deora chose to praise Kejriwal just days after publicly criticising Congress Delhi-in charge PC Chacko for blaming late Sheila Dikshit for the party's dismal performance in February 8 Assembly election in Delhi.

"Sheila Dikshit ji was a remarkable politician & administrator. During her tenure as Chief Minister, Delhi was transformed and Congress was stronger than ever. Unfortunate to see her being blamed after her death. She dedicated her life to INC India and the people of Delhi," Deora had tweeted.
Panaji, Feb 17 : Chief Minister Pramod Sawant last week downplayed a terror threat to Goa, because the Opposition demanded closure of casinos in the state, which are potentially vulnerable to such attack, state Congress president Girish Chodankar said on Monday.

Addressing a press conference in Panaji at the party's state headquarters, Chodankar also slammed Sawant for blaming the media for triggering panic, after the North Goa Distrct Administration last week imposed Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code citing a terror threat, before denying any threat to the security of the state days later.

"On the one hand, he (Sawant) says that intelligence of a terror attack is a routine matter. Then he says that the threat no longer exists. The government is denying a terror threat to Goa because we have demanded that casinos in Goa should be shut down until the threat blows over," Chodankar told a press conference in Panaji on Monday.

The six offshore and nine onshore casinos operating in Goa are frequented by hundreds of thousands of tourists every year.

Last week, the North Goa district administration had imposed the prohibitory order for a period of sixty days citing intel, which hinted at a terror alert in the Western Indian region.

After criticism of the order, which the Opposition as well as the tourism industry stakeholders described at indiscriminate and damaging to the state's tourism interests, especially the popular festival of Carnival, which begins on February 22, North Goa District Collector R. Menaka said that there was no terror threat and the imposition of Section 144 was a "routine matter".

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Saturday had also said, that "unprecedented media coverage" of the order promulgating Section 144 CrPC may have created panic among locals as well as tourists.

"How can he blame the media for creating a terror scare. I condemn this statement of the Chief Minister," Chodankar told reporters.
The Brexit trade battle kicked off for real today as Britain demanded to be treated as an 'equal' - and France warned that the two sides are set to 'rip each other apart'.

The UK is laying down the gauntlet in what is set to be a tough speech by envoy David Frost in Brussels this evening.

He is expected to hammer home the message that Boris Johnson would rather accept a looser trade pact than compromise control - stressing that the relationship must be between 'sovereign equals'.

The hard line comes after the French foreign minister teed up a bitter struggle over key issue such as fishing rights.

Jean-Yves le Drian said it would be hard to achieve Britain's aim of agreeing a free trade deal by the end of the year as the sides have starkly different positions.

Britains EU negotiator David Frost (left) will make a speech in Brussels tonight hammering home the message that Boris Johnson (right in Downing Street last week) would rather accept a looser trade pact than compromise control

Jean-Yves le Drian, speaking at a Munich security conference, said: I think that on trade issues and the mechanism for future relations, which we are going to start on, we are going to rip each other apart'

London and Brussels have already clashed over rules for British financial firms' access to the EU after Brexit.

Retailers have already warned that consumers will face higher costs and reduced availability of goods if a free trade deal is not reached by the end of the year.

Britain formally left the EU two weeks ago but will is still covered by the bloc's trade rule during a transition period, which lasts until the end of the year.

Speaking at a Munich security conference, Mr Le Drian said: 'I think that on trade issues and the mechanism for future relations, which we are going to start on, we are going to rip each other apart. But that is part of negotiations, everyone will defend their own interests.'

The remaining 27 member states are currently drawing up their mandate for the talks on the future relationship, with France in particular pushing for a strong stance  notably on fishing.

France and several other countries want to keep fishing in British waters, while London wants full autonomy and limited access for European fishermen. 'Let's hope the talks are done as quickly as possible, but there are a lot of issues and some difficult points to deal with,' said Mr Le Drian, who is from the fishing region of Brittany.

The bloc's chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said the EU's top priorities are fishing, security and maintaining fair trading conditions for European companies.

In his speech tonight, Mr Frost will call for the UK to get the same terms as Canada, South Korea and Japan.

He will say Britain does not want a special, bespoke or unique deal but one that includes the benefits offered to other countries.

A Government spokesman said: 'We want a relationship based on friendly co-operation between sovereign equals, one centred on free trade and inspired by our shared history and values.'

The British Retail Consortium last night pointed out that almost 80 per cent of all food imported by UK retailers comes from within the EU, making the negotiations particularly important for these essential goods.

The blocs chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said the EUs top priorities are fishing, security and maintaining fair trading conditions for European companies. A fishing boat is pictured above in the English channel

It said there was no possibility of a return to frictionless trade under the Government's present negotiating stance.

It also called for action to mitigate this, including a zero-tariff trade deal, co-ordination on VAT, customs and excise procedures, and advance information on new checks and paperwork.

Helen Dickinson, the consortium's chief executive, said the Government must 'set about to negotiate a zero-tariff agreement that minimises checks and red tape'.
US car giant General Motors is scaling back its operations from unprofitable markets, outside of the United States and the latest car brand to be axed is Australia's Holden brand.

GM International Senior Vice President, Julian Blissett made the announcement on Monday.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) GM INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, JULIAN BLISSETT, SAYING:

"And I can confirm to you that GM has taken the very difficult decision to wind down Holden operations in Australia and New Zealand by 2021. This was an agonising decision for us and one that we didn't make lightly or easily. The wind down will take place through this year and will impact all functions with the exception of aftersales."

The first Holden car rolled off the production line in 1948 and in its heyday the company employed thousands.

But it ceased production three years ago and cut jobs to around 600.

For many the news was an emotional moment and Australia's industry minister Karen Andrews captured the mood with her own story:

(SOUNDBITE) (English) MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, KAREN ANDREWS, SAYING:

"My first car was a Holden Torana that I bought from from grandfather, so like many Australians Holden has a place in my personal history and Holden is a manufacturer, it is a vehicle that is near and dear to many Australian hearts. So it's disappointing that this is the end of an era."

GM also announced that China's Great Wall Motors will buy its Thailand car manufacturing plant.

GM says the restructuring of its global business will produce profit margins and represent a "$2 billion" improvement from two years ago.

Back in Australia -the news was hard for the government to swallow.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, KAREN ANDREWS, SAYING:

"It was only a couple of hours ago that the government was advised that Holden was walking away from Australia and Australians. This is a very disappointing outcome, it's disappointing because there will be several hundred workers that are about to lose their jobs because of this decision."

GM said they would continue to support existing Holden customers with spare parts, servicing for at least the next 10 years.
A man who ordered a cup of tea in Minsk in Belarusian, rather than Russian, says he has faced death threats from social media users in Russia after a dispute with the server.

A Russian lawmaker claims the incident illustrates discrimination against the Russian language abroad and has urged Belarus to take action.

The university student at the center of the storm has expressed shock over the reaction, which he described as absurd.



Aramais Mirakian entered the Kommunarka eatery in the Belarusian capital on February 11 for a cup of tea. After he ordered in Belarusian, he says, the woman at the counter insisted on speaking to him in Russian. When Mirakian, a journalism student, noted that Belarus was an officially bilingual nation, the woman threatened to call security. The situation was calmed after the restaurant manager intervened, according to his account on Facebook.



"Someone who just wants to have a cup of tea in a cafe ends up feeling like he entered a world of absurdity," Mirakian told RFE/RL's Belarus Service on February 14.



Efforts to speak with the server were unsuccessful.

The incident comes amid strains in ties between Minsk and Moscow over energy prices and the prospect of deeper integration between the Slavic neighbors. Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has resisted a Russian push for closer ties under a 1997 union treaty, suggesting that Russia wants to take over Belarus, and Russia reduced energy supplies to its smaller neighbor at the beginning of the year.



Russian President Vladimir Putin routinely claims that Russian speakers abroad face threats and discrimination, and such claims were part of his justification for the seizure of Crimea in 2014 and support for separatists in eastern Ukraine, where a war between the Russia-backed militants and Kyiv has killed more than 13,000 people.

Lukashenka Changes His Tune



As the Kremlin has pushed harder for closer integration, Lukashenka has fought back, in part by voicing support for Belarus's heritage, culture, and language -- a change for a former state-farm chief who long expressed nostalgia for the Soviet era.

Lukashenka, who once said "nothing significant can be expressed" in Belarusian, has switched to it from his normal Russian from time to time, especially after Moscow's takeover of Crimea from neighboring Ukraine, which made concerns over his own country's territorial integrity more acute.

Suppressed and derided as a language for common people for decades by those in power, Belarusian has gained ground in recent years but is still spoken by a minority of the populace in the nation of 9.5 million, and many Belarusians routinely conduct everyday communication in Russian. Belarusian is favored, among others, by many government opponents, nationalists, and intellectuals.



Mirakian, who speaks six languages and translates into Belarusian, said he was dumbfounded that a member of the Russian Federation Council had commented on the incident.



"What, they don't have anything to do in Russia? They are carrying out constitutional reform and all they can think about is how people are ordering tea in Belarus," said Mirakian, who suffers from cerebral palsy, referring to Putin's plan to change the constitution.

'We Will Kill You'



Mirakian said he was flooded with threats soon after the story was first posted on the Russian news website Lenta.ru.



"There were very, very many of them at first. About 80 messages per minute. I probably deleted about 500 comments," Mirakian said, explaining the social media harassment he faced.



"They also wrote me private messages: 'We will find you; we will kill you; we know where you live,'" he said, adding none of the threatening messages appeared to have originated inside Belarus.



"So, I'm not afraid to walk the streets. I'm not worried about my safety," he said.

As word of the incident at the Minsk cafe spread on social media, Igor Morozov, a member of the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, the Federation Council, took notice.



"Negative attitudes toward the Russian language, even at the everyday level, [are] a new phenomenon that the Belarusian leadership should not ignore," Morozov, deputy chairman of the council's committee on science, education, and culture, told the pro-Kremlin news site Vzglyad.



"This must be severely dealt with by the authorities [in Belarus], including at the legislative level," Morozov said.



For his part, Mirakian said he had no intention of reporting the threats to the authorities, stating that it would probably be pointless and that they have largely stopped.

Written by Tony Wesolowsky based on reporting by Ales Piletski of RFE/RL's Belarus Service


Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday said that Air India has been the "fulcrum" around which the Indian civil aviation sector has been built.

"Air India has been the fulcrum around which the Indian civil aviation scene has been built. There is an interest in the civil aviation sector by some of our friends in the Gulf, Asia and Europe. They will want to participate in it," Puri said at an event here.

The government has initiated the process of divesting its share from Air India and is looking for suitable bidders. Earlier attempts by the government at AI divestment did not elicit any response from the potential buyers.

Puri also handed over the letters of appreciation issued by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the 68 Air India staff who participated in the evacuation operation of the Indians stranded in the Chinese city of Wuhan after the coronavirus outbreak.

A total of 647 Indians, as well 7 Maldivians, were evacuated from Wuhan, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus, Covid-19.

Appreciating the team's effort, Puri said, "We are proud of the intensive commitment shown by the Air India team to bring home their countrymen in spite of very trying conditions in the epidemic-hit Wuhan."

He further added, "I feel proud to confer the appreciation of our Prime Minister expressed through personal letters to all those who had been part of this historic mission. I heartily thank all of them once again for their service to the nation."

An emergency evacuation operation from the Wuhan city was executed by the crew of Air India, which sent two 423-seater B-747 aircraft for two consecutive days, on January 31 and February 1 this year.

The operation was led by Captain Amitabh Singh, Director Operations, Air India with 68 members of Air India. The Air India team consisted of 8 pilots, 30 cabin crew, 10 commercial staff and one senior officer. The heroic act received appreciation and acknowledgement from people all over the world.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A heartbroken wife has revealed how her husband died from salmonella after eating duck eggs bought at a country show.

Cheryl Tavakoli, 60, paid tribute to her husband Niptoon who died in hospital aged 65, two months after falling ill with sickness and diarrhoea.

He had eaten duck eggs he bought from the Messingham Show in North Lincolnshire five days before he became ill.

Mr Tavakoli, who worked in the catering industry, bought six ducks eggs at the village fair on June 2 last year and later cooked and ate four of the eggs.

Five days later an ambulance was called to his home in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, but decided not to take Mr Tavakoli to hospital.

Cheryl Tavakoli, 60, paid tribute to her husband Niptoon (pictured together) who died in hospital aged 65, two months after falling ill with sickness and diarrhoea

On June 10 he was taken to Doncaster Royal Infirmary after paramedics were called again to his home and doctors found evidence of salmonella.

Mr Tavakoli was admitted to intensive care but his condition continued to deteriorate and he tragically died on August 12.

His heartbroken wife said it was 'truly horrific' to see him so poorly in the last weeks of his life.

She said: 'Niptoon was the most wonderful, loving and caring husband and stepdad we could have wished for.

'He was never happier than when spending time with his family or visiting antique centres and fairs.

'Seeing him so poorly in the last few weeks of his life and being powerless to help him was truly horrific.

'Niptoon has left a massive hole in all our lives and we miss him so much.

'We had so many plans for the future still, but now he is no longer with us, these will only ever remain as plans.'

Mr Tavakoli, who worked in the catering industry, bought six ducks eggs at the village fair on June 2 last year and later cooked and ate four of the eggs. Five days later an ambulance was called to his home in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, but decided not to take Mr Tavakoli to hospital

Public Health England launched an investigation into Mr Tavakoli's death and confirmed a second case of salmonella in the West Midlands with the same strain.

The source of the infection had not been traced, it said, and its investigation is continuing.

A pre-inquest review hearing is due to take place at Doncaster Coroner's Court tomorrow which Mrs Tavakoli hopes will provide the family with 'vital' answers.

She added: 'Niptoon was a very good cook and had worked in the catering industry for years.

'It is difficult not to think that he was taken too soon.

'Knowing that another person contracted salmonella also after eating duck eggs just adds to the concerns we have about Niptoon's death.

'We know that nothing can ever make up for what has happened but we need to know if more could have been done to prevent his death.

'We know that the inquest process is going to be an emotional time but it is something we have to do to honour Niptoon's memory.'

Following the death of the stepfather to Andrew and Paul, Mrs Tavakoli instructed lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to help investigate.

Tim Annett, partner and specialist group actions lawyer at the firm, said: 'Niptoon was a much-loved husband and stepdad.

'His death has had a profound effect on Cheryl and the rest of the family who remain devastated by their loss.

'Salmonella can be extremely dangerous and can cause serious health problems. In the worst cases, such as this one, it can even lead to death.

'Understandably Niptoon's family has a number of concerns about the events that unfolded in the lead up to his death.

'We are determined to provide the family with the vital answers it deserves and the start of the inquest process is major milestone in being able to do this.

'We will continue to support the family throughout the process. If during the course of our investigations any issues are identified it is vital that lessons are learned.'
The team at Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick LTD are proud to sponsor and participate in an event to celebrate the leadership and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., later this month.

This concert event will take place at the nations oldest Baptist church, The First Baptist Church in America, at 3 p.m., on February 23, 2020. Admission is free, and all members of the community are invited to attend.

The concert will feature musicians from The First Baptist Church in America, Newman Congregational Church UCC, and Stages of Freedom, as well as other leaders and members of the Providence community.

Focusing on remembering Dr. Kings work and lifting up his legacy, the show will begin with a reading of Dr. Kings A Letter from a Birmingham Jail. It will also feature the original cantata, Let Justice Roll! This cantata was written by Mark Miller, a Juilliard graduate, and a Lecturer at Yale Institute of Sacred Music.

The cantata is the ultimate representation of Mark Millers hungerlike Dr. Kingsto break down the dividing walls of hostility and fear. Miller believes that music can change the world, according to a joint statement about the show from its directors, Stephen Martorella and Geoffrey Green.

The event will feature musicians and famed voices from across Rhode Island and beyond. This powerful cantata includes solo performances from guest artists such as:



Claudius Cooper, Rhode Islands own sacred jazz pianist

Frank Mathis, baritone from New York City

Becky Bass, soprano member of the Newman Congregational Church Choir

Lawrence E. Wilson, community leader, and leadership & diversity strategist

Wilson will not only serve as the narrator for the cantata, but he will also conduct two of his own original works as part of the program. These works also support the theme of celebrating and continuing Dr. Kings legacy and inspiring todays community to overcome fear and hate to live in peace and unity.

As a sponsor and participant in the Let Justice Roll Event, and as members of the community who live and work in Providence, the team from Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick LTD invite you to join us on February 23, 2020, at 3 p.m. for this community-wide celebration of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.s legacy.

Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick LTD, named in the U.S. News & World Reports list of Best Law Firms and recognized as a winner of Best Places to Work in Rhode Island since 2014, is a public interest law firm focused on Veterans Law, ERISA & Insurance Litigation, and Bequest Management nationwide.

Located less than half a mile just down Main Street from Americas First Baptist Church, the firm and its staff are honored to support this event and other efforts celebrating and continuing the legacy of Dr. King. You can reach a member of the Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick LTD team today by calling (401) 331-6300.
By Olivia Rose

A CONSULTANT conducting an assessment of the TCIs social protection programmes is set to make policy recommendations to enhance the system by late spring.





Tamsin Ayliffe, a social and economic policy specialist, began working for the United Nations Childrens Fund (Unicef) in October.





She is currently carrying out a consultation process set to last a further three months after which she will produce a report.





Premier Sharlene Cartwright Robinson and ministers met with the consultant and Unicef technical advisor Maya Faisa on Monday (February 10) at the Hilly Ewing building in Providenciales.





A statement from the Office of the Premier said: "With support from Unicef, the Government of Turks and Caicos Islands, and in particular the Minister Hon. Karen Malcolm who holds responsibility for social services, is seeking to strengthen the national social protection system to better respond to the needs of people, families and children in the TCI.





A job description for the consultant posted last year on Unicefs website outlined the purpose and scope of the work to be undertaken.





It said assessing social and economic vulnerabilities will require in-depth analysis as part of exploring sustainable solutions to break the cycle of intergenerational cycle of child poverty.





This includes enabling the system to adequately prepare for, withstand and respond to shocks in the face of increasing vulnerability to climate-related events, it read.





This process requires a comprehensive, step-by-step approach that aims to fill existing information gaps and provide guidance to complement national key policy reforms across sectors.





These are expected to inform the Government how to ensure an integrated, coherent and complete social protection system.





It will ensure the system effectively addresses multiple vulnerabilities through gender and age-responsive, equity-focused policies and programmes.





In addition to social vulnerabilities, equally important is economic vulnerability which is a key driver of child poverty.





Unicef said: "A chronic lack of income or temporary loss of income due to shocks such as illness and unemployment underpins monetary poverty and is strongly associated with multidimensional poverty.





"A child living in a monetary poor household is more likely to be out of school, lack access to health services and adequate nutrition.





As such social protection has significant positive impacts for poor and vulnerable children and their families, it continued.





The Turks and Caicos Islands Development Strategy has outlined development priorities, which includes delivering quality social services especially to low-income people and the most vulnerable.





The Government is also prioritising and investing in a child safeguarding national framework with the development and implementation of the Child Safeguarding National Action Plan (CSNAP) that is in its final stages of approval and adoption.





The CSNAP is a central contribution to the provision of quality and accessible social services for all children and their families and other vulnerable groups in the TCI.





The Government is also currently implementing the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, a first for the OTs in the region.





This survey will capture the socio-economic situation of children and their families in the TCI, while generating first time data on social transfers, water quality, domestic violence, child disability, parental involvement, and learning outcomes of children.





The provision of social protection is explicitly articulated in the Sustainable Development Goals.





Unicef said: "There is also widespread and convincing evidence that long-term, inclusive, social protection systems can address poverty, vulnerability and inequality, across a wide variety of dimensions.





"Social protection assessment will support not only the national development priorities but also complement the CSNAP.




Rather than increase the mayors budget to pay for auto break-ins, why not prosecute the offenders with stiffer penalties/fines? With the city having the highest break-in occurrences in the country it doesnt seem the current system is working very well.

Lawrence Hurley, Daly City

Vote on your values

Regarding Bloombergs the right choice (Letters, Feb. 12): The author reveals her bias in her letter supporting Michael Bloomberg when she says, Lets not put ideological purity above electability.

Thats code being used by the Democratic establishment to dismiss the progressive candidates. Anxiety about President Trump among Democratic voters is leading them to make choices for the wrong reasons. They are second-guessing themselves and trying to figure out what other voters will do instead of voting their values. They are acting like pundits discussing electability, which is a total red herring because no one really knows who is electable, as evidenced by the current occupant of the White House. The latest Quinnipiac poll shows all of the top six Democratic candidates beating Trump, who is weaker than he wants you to think. So my advice is vote for the candidate that excites you and reflects your values, and stop looking to be rescued by an oligarch (Bloomberg) who is trying to buy the White House.

Robert Leeds, Oakland

More for you McConnell, GOP Senate hold key to ERA sex bias ban after House revives fight

Change leadership

Since the news story ERAs future rests with GOP Senate after House revival (Page One, Feb. 14) indicates that Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will probably prevent the Democratic majority House of Representatives Equal Rights Amendment legislation from ever coming up for a vote in his chamber, heres some advice for the good people of McConnells home state of Kentucky.

If you believe that all American citizens deserve equal pay and freedom from sexual discrimination or harassment, regardless of their gender, then please vote for former Marine fighter pilot and current Democratic Senate candidate Amy McGrath on Nov. 3, instead of giving the all-too-powerful McConnell another term.

If we can achieve new leadership in both the Senate and the White House at the end of 2020, we will help move our country further along on the path to equality for every citizen.

Bennie Oosterhaus, San Francisco

Stand up to tyranny

After reading about our presidents actions against the people who testified against him, followed closely by his insertion of himself into the Roger Stone case, I am truly fearful that we are losing our democracy. President Trump is a danger. He is headstrong, ignorant and an embarrassment. Americans must stand up against this tyrant. If not now, when?

Karen Prosser, San Mateo

Democratic control

What a Bloomberg victory would mean for California (Page One, Feb. 14) reads more like an infomercial for a Mike Bloomberg candidacy than actual political analysis. Bloombergs background as a successful business tycoon makes him no more a panacea for our ills than any other candidate the Democrats might field. They all have great plans for a future beyond the current administration, but those plans will be meaningless unless we can maintain Democratic control of the House and flip the Senate, where nearly all legislation these days seems to disappear into oblivion. Keep the eye on the ball, folks!

Leslie Gold, Albany

Build high-speed rail

Californians and all Americans should be embarrassed by our lack of a true high-speed rail system. Ive lost track of how many other countries have fast, quiet, comfortable trains linking their major cities, and for how long they have enjoyed the benefits. Meanwhile, we must choose between overburdened highways and a sometimes equally overstretched air travel system, both of which contribute far too much carbon dioxide per mile traveled. There has been a great deal of grousing about the cost overruns that our first effort to build high-speed rail has encountered, but it seems that much of these have been due to overcoming delays and legal roadblocks placed by opponents of the project, as well as lack of support and lately overt hostility from the feds. With so many people wishing and hoping for high-speed rail to flop, it will be an amazing victory if it manages to succeed. Lets hope we can join the rest of the developed world in the 21st century.

Greg Tolman, Berkeley

Crowded political field

I love the crowded Democratic presidential field. After March 3, we march forth! This is exactly the political relevance Californians wanted and expected from an earlier primary date.
Aden, Yemen/Xinhua/UNI: Four civilians were killed on Sunday as a roadside bomb exploded in Yemen's Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, a military official told Xinhua.

"An explosion caused by adevice hit a civilian vehicle traveling along the main road in Al Khawkhah district, south of Hodeidah," the local military official said on condition of anonymity.

Four members of a family died immediately in the explosion that destroyed their vehicle, the source added.

A spokesman for a local field hospital confirmed receiving the bodies of four victims and two injured women.

"The dead civilians include a man, his wife and two of their children, one of whom was a 10-day-old baby," sources said.

Yemen's government forces have accused the Iran-backed Houthi rebels of being behind the bombing.

As the main Yemeni port city along the coast of the Red Sea, Hodeidah is the key lifeline entry of most Yemen's commercial imports and humanitarian aid.

The Iran-allied Houthi rebels control much of Hodeidah while the Saudi-backed government troops have advanced on the southeastern districts of the strategic port city.
Almost 200 birds allegedly being used for cockfighting have been seized by authorities from a property north of Melbourne.

Police and RSPCA inspectors raided a Malmsbury property on Wednesday and removed 75 roosters that were allegedly being groomed for cockfighting, as well as 119 chicks, mature hens and juvenile roosters.

An alleged cockfighting operation has been busted in Malmsbury. Credit:Louise Kennerly

The property owner was the subject of a 10-year order prohibiting him from being in charge of poultry, which was due to expire in November 2022.

Cockfighting implements were also found at the property and seized.
These are the grainy images of a male picking up bullet casings that cops believe will convict one of the New IRA killers of writer Lyra McKee.

The footage - taken seconds after she was shot in the head while observing a riot - show a hooded male in tracksuit bottoms picking up the spent shells.

Detectives allege that this individual is Paul 'Mackers' McIntyre, who was remanded in custody charged with the 29-year-old journalist's murder.

The case against him is built on footage recorded earlier that day by an MTV camera crew which was making a documentary about dissident republicans in Derry.

Expand Close Male alleged to be Paul McIntyre, picking up bullet casings. / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Male alleged to be Paul McIntyre, picking up bullet casings.

McIntyre was among those filmed in the offices of Saoradh - the political wing of the New IRA.

Cops claim that one of the masked men captured on mobile phones rioting in the Creggan estate later that evening was wearing identical clothing, consisting of Adidas trainers, tracksuit bottoms and a black cap.

They also maintain that this same individual was the person seen picking up the casing of the bullet which killed Lyra.

Expand Close Male alleged to be Paul McIntyre, picking up bullet casings. / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Male alleged to be Paul McIntyre, picking up bullet casings.

This forms the basis of McIntyre's murder charge and further accusations of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life, New IRA membership and rioting.

It was revealed in court Thursday that the 52-year-old denied involvement in the killing on more than 50 occasions during police interviews.

He told detectives: "I did not murder anyone. If police speak to witnesses it will show it was not me."

Outside court, more than a dozen of McIntyre's supporters clashed with cops and threatened reporters, leading to condemnation from the National Union of Journalists (NUJ).

Among the gang were 'lunch-box' bomber Christy O'Kane, who was jailed for 10 years in 2015 for a series of Provisional IRA attacks in Derry in the early 1990s.

Because the crimes took place before the 1998 Good Friday Agreement the 45-year-old served just two years in prison.

Standing next to him was lanky Barry Millar (35) who is appealing a conviction of wearing paramilitary clothing and taking part in an illegal parade in support of the New IRA.

Expand Close Paddy Gallagher/Mellon (far left in glasses), Christy O'Kane (centre) and Barry Millar (right). / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Paddy Gallagher/Mellon (far left in glasses), Christy O'Kane (centre) and Barry Millar (right).

Also in the crowd was Saoradh spokesman Paddy Gallagher (28), who changed his surname from Mellon following his conviction for a "politically motivated" 2016 attack on a Sinn Fein member's car.

He was sentenced to three months in prison, suspended for 18 months, for the middle-of-the-night vandalism.

Another among murder-accused Paul McIntyre's gang of supporters, but out of camera shot, was dissident bomber Jason Ceulemans. The 47-year-old served half of a 10-year prison sentence, having been caught with a mortar by police in Derry in 2012.

The group waved placards and chanted support for McIntyre while jostling with police and threatening journalists.

Saoradh has since condemned the dissident's arrest, with prominent members coming out to claim it is politically motivated. Among these are Jude Macrory, who was arrested in connection with the New IRA bombing of Derry's Bishop Street courthouse last year, but freed without charge.

Writing on social media, he said: "I stood with Mackers on many occasions highlighting various prisoner issues and miscarriages of justice, and I'll continue to stand with him and his family now."

The Saoradh protest came the day after its members put up anti-policing posters around Derry containing an image of seriously injured ex-PSNI officer Peadar Heffron.

The former cop lost his legs in a dissident under-car booby-trap bomb attack in 2010, forcing him to leave the force on medical grounds. The poster shows an image of Mr Heffron in a wheelchair next to the slogan 'Make it a career? Will you make it to work?'.

The sinister display, which has been widely condemned by politicians and the PSNI was, republican sources claim, the idea of New IRA Derry leader Thomas Mellon.

The 44-year-old, who is on a 10 year MI5 watch list, having been convicted of smuggling items to jailed dissident prisoners, did not attend the courthouse protest in support of Paul McIntrye.

Expand Close Lyra McKee AFP/Getty Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Lyra McKee

This is down to him wanting to maintain a low-profile, and concerns he had about being confronted by family and friends of Lyra in front of the media.

"Tommy thought it would be better if he didn't attend the protest in case there was a row," a republican source told Sunday life.

"He is being hassled non-stop by the cops, especially after those posters of Peadar Heffron went up, which were his idea."

Mellon has also told his New IRA pals that he expects the murder case against Paul McIntyre to collapse because of the low quality of the film footage central to the prosecution.

The grandfather is charged on the basis of joint enterprise, in that he facilitated a gun being fired that night, despite not pulling the trigger himself.

PSNI Detective Superintendent Jason Murphy, who is heading the murder inquiry, has effectively acknowledged that McIntyre was not the gunman.

Prior to the alleged New IRA member being charged, the top cop said: "I have always said a number of individuals were involved with the gunman on the night Lyra was killed... the quest for the evidence to bring the gunman to justice remains active and ongoing."

The name of the then teenage gunman who killed Lyra is well-known throughout Derry. He recently became a dad for the first time.
The Samajwadi Party (SP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Congress on Monday joined hands to assail the government in the Vidhan Parishad over the allegedly deteriorating law and order situation in the state.

They demanded a discussion on a privilege motion moved by them and staged a walkout after the discussion was not allowed.

The state government, however, cited figures claiming a sharp decline in incidents of crime, including rape and murder, after it came to power in March 2017.

Moving the privilege motion, SP members Ahmad Hasan (leader of opposition), Balram Yadav, Anand Bhadoriya, Sunil Singh Sajan Sanjay Pal Kashyap, Parvez Ali, Leelavati Kushwaha and others said the law and order situation had gone from bad to worse in the state since the BJP government came to power. They alleged that incidents of crime, especially rape, had increased manifold with the police having lost all control over criminals.

They even quoted recent rape incidents, including one in which a girl was allegedly abducted and raped in the Gorakhnath area of Gorakhpur on February 13. They said the police had taken no action against the two accused named in the FIR.

Bahujan Samaj Partys Dinesh Chandra, Atar Singh, Suresh Kumar Kashyap, Bheemrao Ambedkar and others raised the issue of atrocities on Dalits, citing the incident in which members of a Dalit family, including women, were allegedly beaten up and their house was set afire at Mangta village in Ramabainagar district on February 13.

Congresss Deepak Singh said that on the one had there was a flood of crimes in the state, on the other hand the government harassed media persons and booked them under fake cases for exposing crimes.

In his reply, leader of the house and deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma said the allegations were baseless.

He said the government had taken prompt action against the accused in all the cases cited in the House. He claimed that there had been a sharp decline in crimes.

Compared to 2017, the cases of dacoity have declined by 59%, loot by 47%, murder by 22%, road hold-ups by 100%, kidnapping by 37%, rape by 38% and SC-ST crimes by 25%, he said.
A Delhi Court on Monday gave March 3 as the fresh date for execution of all four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case.

Patiala House Court in its order said that the sentence would be executed at 6 am on March 3.

Special Public Prosecutor Rajiv Mohan apprised the court about the current status of the case and also stated that three out of four convicts have already exhausted their legal remedies.

And as of date, there is no petition pending in any court, Mohan said.

He also mentioned that Delhi High Court had given seven-day time to the convicts and that period is over.A Delhi court had adjourned the hearing for February 17 on the plea of the state and Nirbhaya's parents seeking issuance of death warrant as a petition challenging the rejection of mercy plea of convict Vinay Kumar Sharma was pending before the Supreme Court.

On Friday, the apex court had dismissed Sharma's petition.

President Ram Nath Kovind had also rejected the mercy petitions of convicts Akshay Thakur and Mukesh Singh.The Delhi High Court on February 5 granted a week's time to the four convicts to avail of all legal remedies available to them and said that the convicts cannot be hanged separately since they were convicted for the same crime.

A Delhi Court had issued a death warrant against the four convicts -- Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta, and Mukesh Singh -- on January 7 and they were scheduled to be executed on January 22 at Tihar Jail. Later, the execution was suspended indefinitely by a Delhi court.

The case pertains to the gang-rape and brutalizing of a 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus on the night of December 16, 2012, by six people including a juvenile in Delhi. The woman had died at a Singapore hospital a few days later.

One of the five adults accused, Ram Singh, had allegedly committed suicide in the Tihar Jail during the trial of the case.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Express News Service

KOCHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Special Crime Branch, Thiruvananthapuram has arrested a police Sub-Inspector in the Nedumkandam custodial torture case where a private financier died following custodial torture at Nedumkandam police station, Idukki, in June last year.

Sabu K A, 46, a native of Perumpilly near Njarakkal in Ernakulam, who has been identified as the first accused in the case, was arrested after being summoned for interrogation at the CBI office in Kochi.

Sabu who is currently in suspension served as Sub-Inspector of Nedumkandam police station when the deceased Rajkumar, 53, a native of Wagamon was taken into custody as part of a case registered under Kerala Money Lenders Act in June last year. As station house officer was on leave, Sabu was claimed to be the in-charge of the police station.

Earlier, the Crime Branch had arrested him in the case and he was released after granted bail by Kerala High Court. Apart from Sabu, six other police officials of Nedumgandam police station are accused in the case. "We summoned him to appear as part of the investigation on Sunday. At around 9.30 pm, his arrest was recorded. Later, he was produced before Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate Court on Monday. Following a petition, he was granted in CBI custody for six days from Monday 4 pm to Saturday 4 pm," an officer said.

The CBI arrest followed an order by Supreme Court. "The Kerala government had challenged Kerala High Court decision to allow him bail at Supreme Court. In December, before CBI took over the

probe, the Supreme Court cancelled his bail and ordered to arrest him. As per the Supreme Court order, he was arrested. We sought his custody as part of further investigation," the officer said.

On June 12, 2019, Rajkumar was taken into custody in a money lending case registered against him. He was kept in illegal custody till June 15 before his arrest was recorded. After remanded to Peerumade Sub Jail, he died at a hospital on June 21. The initial autopsy stated that death occurred due to Pneumonia. However, a re-autopsy carried out in August 2019 revealed 22 injuries. A commission led by Justice K Narayana Kurup is also conducting an inquiry into the incident.

"The custody of Sabu is necessary to recover articles used by the accused persons torture the deceased. We have to take him to Nedumgandgam as a part of the procedure," CBI submitted at Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate Court.

The counsel who appeared for Sabu did not oppose the CBI plea and his arrest. However, the counsel submitted that re-autopsy conducted in August 2019 was done without following the norms. The counsel claimed that re-autopsy was carried out only on the directive of a judicial commission.
A Wisconsin father made his initial court appearance in Memphis, Tennessee, on Monday morning, just hours after his girlfriend and their two young daughters were found dead in a Milwaukee garage.

Arzel Ivery, 25, is said to have led police to the bodies of Amarah 'Jerica' Banks, 26, and their daughters Zaniya, five, and Cameria, four, on Sunday.

Ivery is charged in Milwaukee County with felony aggravated battery, online court records show. He was arraigned in Tennessee on a fugitive warrant. He has not been charged in the homicides.

Scroll down for video

Arzel Ivery, 25, made appeared in a Memphis, Tennessee, court on Monday and was arraigned on a fugitive warrant, a day after he allegedly led police to the bodies of his girlfriend and two daughters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Ivery agreed to waive his right to an extradition hearing, clearing the way to his return to Wisconsin to face an aggravated battery charge

Initial appearance for Arzel Ivery in Memphis, TN Watch: Arzel Ivery makes his initial appearance in court, accused of killing a Milwaukee mother and her two daughters. http://via.fox6now.com/xezts Posted by FOX6 News Milwaukee on Monday, February 17, 2020

During the brief hearing, which was broadcast by Fox 6 Now, Ivery waived his right to an extradition hearing in Memphis, clearing the way for his return to Milwaukee.

Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales said at a news conference that Banks and her daughters are apparent homicide victims, but he didn't said how they died or on whose property they were found.

Ivery was arrested in Memphis on Saturday. On Sunday, he allegedly led police to the bodies of Amarah 'Jerica' Banks and their two daughters, Zaniya, five, and Cameria, four

Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office is scheduled to perform autopsies later today.

Banks' devastated aunt Shilloh Loper said: 'You have to be a heartless monster to do something like this to someone.'

She told FOX6 News: 'I don't know what to even say, but I know I'll never get over this. Not ever in my life will I get over this.

'I will never get over someone doing this to my niece.'

The three were last seen in Milwaukee early on February 8, the day after the funeral of Banks' son, 21-month-old son, Arzel Ivery Jr, who had died from asthma complications', according to WISN.

Banks had arranged to have brunch with her sisters, but she never showed up.

The bodies of the little girls Zaniya (right), five, and Cameria (left), four, were found in a Milwaukee garage along with their mother a week after they went missing

Amarah 'Jerica' Banks, 26, was found dead with her two daughters in a Milwaukee garage

Zaniya, five, and Cameria, four, were found dead alongside their mother in Milwaukee

Ivery was arrested a week later in Memphis, after he allegedly told his father about the deaths, prompting him to call the police.

Police said Ivery gave investigators information that led to the three bodies.

Banks's sister Tameka Smith said: 'I just hate the fact that I'll never see or talk to my sister again. And it hurts me so bad because me and my sister were so close.

'It's so heartbreaking. I don't even know what to do. She was a very private person, she wasn't an outspoken person. I'm just so hurt. I just wish she was here.

'She didn't deserve this, she really didn't, how can you be so evil?'

Her father Harry Smith added: 'She's always in my heart and prayers. They're not here anymore, I just have to live with it.'

Police said Banks and her daughters were initially considered missing under 'suspicious circumstances' and an Amber Alert was issued on Saturday afternoon.

Amarah 'Jerica' Banks, 26, and her two little girls who have all been found dead

Amarah 'Jerica' Banks, 26, and her daughters Zaniya, five, and Cameria, four, who were found in a garage Sunday

Family members had spent February 7 consoling Banks after the funeral of her infant son. Banks left her car outside her sister's house after they drank a few glasses of wine in the evening and she didn't want to drive

'She's like, "Meka, don't forget to come get me in the morning," her sister, Tameka Smith, told WISN.

'I said: "I'll come get you. I'll come get you." My sister, this not like her.

'She don't run off, she don't ignore people. No matter what she go through, she gonna reach out to me.'

Her family had earlier said they did not believe she would leave without telling them, the girls' school or her place of work.

Banks's brother David Fields said on Thursday that he was concerned for the safety of his sister and nieces.

'This isn't like her. She wouldn't do this. This makes no sense,' he said.

'She always calls (the girls' school) and the same thing about her job. If she's not going to be there, she always calls.'

Banks's mother Valeria Spinner Banks said. 'Everything she does routinely was not done. So that tells you that something's not right. Something is wrong.'
Gunmen Kill 24 in Attack Near Church in Burkina Faso

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina FasoGunmen killed 24 men, including a church pastor, and kidnapped three others on Sunday in Burkina Faso, an official said. It was the latest attack against a religious leader in the increasingly unstable West African nation.

The mayor of Boundore commune, Sihanri Osangola Brigadie, said the attack occurred in the town of Pansy in Yagha province. The roughly 20 attackers separated men from women close to a Protestant church. At least 10 other people were injured.

It hurt me when I saw the people, Brigadie said after visiting some of the victims in the hospital in Dori town, 110 miles from the attack.

The gunmen looted oil and rice from shops and forced the three youth they kidnapped to help transport it on their motorbikes, he said.

Both Christians and Muslims were killed before the church was set on fire, said a government security official in Dori who spoke on condition of anonymity because they werent authorized to speak to the media.

Attacks have targeted religious leaders in the area in the past. Last week, also in Yagha province, a retired pastor was killed and another pastor was abducted by gunmen, according to an internal security report for aid workers seen by The Associated Press.

Extremist violence has dramatically escalated in once-peaceful Burkina Faso. Analysts are concerned that attacks against civilians, including against Christians, are increasing at an alarming rate, said Corinne Dufka, West Africa director for Human Rights Watch.

Perpetrators use victims links to government or their faith to justify the killings, while others appear to be reprisal killings for killings by the government security forces, she said.

More than 1,300 civilians were killed in targeted attacks last year in Burkina Faso, more than seven times the previous year, according to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, which collects and analyzes conflict information.

The insecurity has created a humanitarian crisis. More than 760,000 people are internally displaced, according to the government.

By Sam Mednick
A 58-year-old woman and her nine-month-old granddaughter were attacked by a woman who allegedly tried to kidnap the infant from the elderly woman at knifepoint at their house in Arjun Nagar near Safdarjung Enclave on Saturday afternoon. The police have arrested the perpetrator for attempted kidnapping and for causing hurt. Senior police officers said the woman claimed she had planned to demand a ransom from the family to pay off a loan of 6 lakh.

According to Akshay Mittal, who owns a department store and lives in Arjun Nagar, the victim was his 58-year-old mother Anita Mittal and his infant daughter. Mittal said that the incident took place around noon when he, his father and his wife had gone to his grandmothers house nearby, leaving behind Anita and his daughter with the domestic help.

A woman, whom we could not identify, rang the doorbell of our house. When my mother answered the call, my daughter was in her arms. She told us that the woman took out a knife and snatched the baby. My mother tried to take her back and they got into a scuffle. My mother pushed the woman and she and my daughter both fell down the stairs, Mittal said.

He said that meanwhile, their domestic help ran out of the house and called the neighbours. When people came to help, the woman tried to escape but was caught. We were given a call and rushed home. I had to take my mother to the hospital for knife injuries on her face and arms, he said.

Mittal said they called the police and handed over the woman to them. We could not identify her but she told the police that she used to come to the gym in the basement of our building. Later when we checked CCTV camera footage of our house, we found that the woman had entered the building and was hiding on the first floor until my father and I had left, he said.

Deputy commissioner of police (southwest) Devender Arya said they had booked the woman for assault and kidnapping and she had been arrested.

A senior police officer, who did not wish to be named, said the woman has disclosed her name as Rashmi. She said she had taken a loan of 6 lakh and that she had planned the kidnapping to demand a ransom. We are checking with the bank to verify the details of her loan, the officer said.

She is married and used to run a playschool in Ghaziabad, he added.
Donald Stratton, a USS Arizona survivor, acknowledges a friend at Kilo Pier next to the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu, on Dec. 7, 2016. (AP Photo/Eugene Tanner, File)

Donald Stratton, Pearl Harbor Attack Survivor Aboard USS Arizona, Dies at 97

COLORADO SPRINGS, ColoradoOne of the three remaining USS Arizona crew members who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor has died.

Donald Stratton died at his Colorado Springs, Colorado, home in his sleep Feb. 15, with his family in attendance. The 97-year-old veteran had been in poor health since contracting pneumonia in October.

He was a very humble, very quiet hero, said his son, Randy Stratton. He didnt want or seek the attention he received.

Stratton was one of the survivors of the Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese attack on the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. More than 1,100 of the battleships crew members were killed.

Nearly 2,500 Americans died as a result of the attack, which prompted Americas entry into World War II.

One of Donalds final wishes was that people remember Pearl Harbor and the men aboard the USS Arizona. Share their story and never forget those who gave all for our great country, a post on Strattons Facebook page said.

Following Strattons death, Lou Conter and Ken Potts remain the last living members of the Arizonas crew.

Stratton attended many annual Pearl Harbor remembrance ceremonies and was the author of the bestselling book All the Gallant Men.
Her daughters Gigi and Bella Hadid are two of the most sought-after models for fashion week.

And proud mom Yolanda Hadid was out to support them on the Burberry runway for London Fashion Week on Monday.

The 56-year-old former cover girl flaunted her own model look as she donned a chic cream colored pantsuit for the show.

Proud mom: Yolanda Hadid was out in London to support daughters Bella and Gigi on the Burberry runway at London Fashion Week on Monday

The Dutch-American model worked a monochrome outfit in her fitted cream dress pants and blazer.

Hadid paired the look with a slightly warmer cream vest over a high beck button-up blouse.

Adding height to her 5ft7in frame, she wore shiny, white pointed-toe boots, with a light brown geometric heel.

Monochrome: The Dutch-American model worked a monochrome outfit in her fitted cream dress pants and blazer

She also carried a Thom Browne clutch in a matching muted color, designed with a gold pattern and gold TB signature feature.

For a put together look, her near platinum blonde locks were parted in the center and pulled back into a sleek ponytail.

Hadid seemed excited to see her girls take on the runway alongside Kendall Jenner and Irina Shayk.

Details: Hadid paired the look with a slightly warmer cream vest, over a high beck button-up blouse. Adding height to her 5'7 frame, she wore shiny, white pointed-toe boots, with a light brown geometric heel

Bella flashed a glimpse of her cleavage through the peekaboo neckline of her form-fitting tan coloured dress.

The pencil length frock boasted long sleeves, which the model ruched up to her elbows, and unusual cut-out shoulders.

She strolled along in a nude pair of pointed shoe boots and carried a coordinating handbag over her shoulder.

Bella's raven bob was styled sleek and straight and her make-up look finished off with a pop of pink lipstick.

Accessorize: She also carried a Thom Browne clutch in a matching muted color, designed with a gold pattern and gold TB signature feature

On the runway: Bella flashed a glimpse of her cleavage through the peekaboo neckline of her form-fitting tan coloured dress. Bella's model sister Gigi oozed confidence in a skin tight black jumpsuit with a slinky cowl neckline.

Bella's model sister Gigi oozed confidence in a skin tight black jumpsuit with a slinky cowl neckline.

She layered up with a colour block jacket with a flash of red across the bust, which coordinated well with her chunky choker necklace.

The eldest of the Hadid sisters on the catwalk, the blonde beauty looked fierce as she strutted down the runway in black ankle boots, with a black handbag over her shoulder.

Hadid prepared for London Fashion Week by getting a 24k-gold face treatment.

The 23-year-old model visited Mimi Luzon, a celebrity aesthetician, in order to undergo the unusual treatment, which other celebrities, such as Kaia Gerbe, Irina Shayk and Alessandra Ambrosio, are well-known advocates of.
India on Monday lodged a strong protest with Turkey over President Recep Tayyip Erdogans recent remarks on Kashmir, with people familiar with developments saying New Delhi is eyeing other measures to register its displeasure.

Ties between New Delhi and Ankara hit an all-time low after Erdogan raised the Kashmir issue at the UN General Assembly last September, saying the region was virtually under blockade. Turkish leaders have also continued to criticise the Indian governments decision to revoke Jammu & Kashmirs special status.

The latest provocation was Erdogans remarks on Kashmir during an address to a joint session of Pakistans Parliament on Thursday, when he said latest developments in the region highlighted the urgency of finding a solution. He added that Turkey was ready to assist efforts by India and Pakistan to find a solution.

On Monday, Turkish ambassador Sakir Ozkan Torunlar,was summoned to the external affairs ministry and served a demarche, or formal diplomatic representation, by secretary (West) Vikas Swarup.

India has made a strong demarche with the Turkish government on the remarks made by President Erdogan on the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir during his recent visit to Islamabad, external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said. These developments have strong implications for our bilateral relationship, Kumar added.

People familiar with developments said New Delhi is contemplating other measures, including the possible denial of a $2.3-billion deal to TAIS, a Turkish conglomerate, to help Hindustan Shipyard Limited build five fleet support vessels for the Indian Navy. TAIS was to provide the ship design and technical assistance and supply key equipment for the project.

TAIS emerged as the lowest bidder and India had first considered denying the deal last year, but no final decision was made.

The people cited above said that Turkeys top leaders apparently ignored Indias repeated protests about non-interference in the Kashmir issue because they were intent on going ahead with efforts to project their country as a leader of Muslims around the world.

Repeatedly raising issues such as Kashmir fits in with their plans to project Turkey as an alternative to other countries that are seen as leaders of the Muslim world. Its almost as if theyre trying to show they are being victimised for raising these issues, said a person who declined to be named.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
National Fishworkers Forum asks Kerala government to act against illegal fishing practices

February 17,2020 | Source: The New Indian Express

The National Fishworkers Forum (NFF) demanded the government to curb illegal methods of fishing in shallow sea using LED lights. According to them, unsustainable fishing practices followed by trawlers had affected the livelihood of traditional fishermen who depend on the shallow sea. The use of LED lights powered by generators has become rampant near the coast by boat operators. They have flouted all restrictions on night trawling, said general secretary of NFF T Peter. He said trawlers were involved in illegal practices such as pair trawling and bull trawling that resulted in the netting of juvenile fish.



The juvenile fishes are carried to the fish meal factories located in Kozhikode, Mangaluru and Muttam. But the practice resulted in depletion of fish wealth, said general secretary of Kerala Swatantra Matsyathozhilali Federation (KSMTF) Jackson Pollayil. He demanded the government to take stringent action by seizing boats involved in illegal fishing methods at the harbor and fish landing centres. The department has brought out a list of minimum legal size (MLS) for 58 species which can be netted based on the recommendation of Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI). The enforcement officers can seize the catch, destroy it and impose a fine of Rs 2.5 lakh on boats if they are carrying juvenile fishes that do not meet the MLS.
Gardai who investigated sexual assault claims against a former judge have been cleared of any wrongdoing in their handling of the inquiry, the Irish Independent has learned.

However, the handling of a second Garda probe into allegations by another woman against the same ex-judge is still being considered by the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc).

The second woman alleged the judge inappropriately and repeatedly contacted her after she appeared in his court.

The two criminal complaints were made separately, and the two women have no connection with each other.

The judge involved is no longer serving on the bench.

However, both Garda investigations failed to result in a prosecution, leading to claims the inquiries were deficient.

According to their complaints, each woman first came into contact with the judge when they appeared in court for family law matters.

The first woman alleged the judge began to frequent a hotel where she regularly went for lunch.

She claimed that he subsequently sexually assaulted her twice after meeting her at a book launch in a different hotel. She maintains one of the assaults was captured on CCTV, but admits the picture quality was poor. A file was sent to the DPP, who found there was insufficient evidence to bring a charge.

The woman subsequently complained to Gsoc that the Garda investigation was deficient in a number of respects.

She alleged gardai did not speak to the former judge for seven months and that her clothes, which were given to gardai as evidence, were not properly stored.

The woman alleged the former judge was "a very dangerous man who should not be walking the streets" as he was "a danger to the public".

However, the Irish Independent has learned that in a decision communicated to the woman last December, Gsoc did not uphold her complaints.

The second woman also claimed her complaint to gardai was not properly investigated. She said she believed the judge abused his power when he contacted her by text and phone after she appeared in court to seek a barring order against her husband.

According to the woman, the judge repeatedly expressed an interest in meeting her and told her in one phone call she looked very beautiful in court.

She claims she was not asked to provide a statement until three months after her initial complaint, and after a reporter submitted a query to the Garda press office.

The woman claims that a number of months later, she learned no further action was being taken.

Her subsequent complaint about the Garda investigation was examined by Gsoc and witnesses were identified and interviewed.

A report was completed by an investigating officer last October, but it is understood it has yet to be considered by the commission.
Investments in the Indian capital market through participatory notes (P-notes) continue to decline and hit a nearly 11-year low of Rs 64,537 crore till the end of December 2019

New Delhi: Investments in the Indian capital market through participatory notes (P-notes) continue to decline and hit a nearly 11-year low of Rs 64,537 crore till the end of December 2019.

P-notes are issued by registered foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to overseas investors who wish to be part of the Indian stock market without registering themselves directly. They, however, need to go through a due diligence process.

According to SEBI data, the total value of P-note investments in Indian markets -- equity, debt, and derivatives -- slumped to a fresh low of Rs 64,537 crore till December-end after hitting a 13-month low of Rs 69,670 crore at November-end.

The fund inflow through P-notes in December was the lowest since February 2009, when the cumulative value of such investments stood at Rs 60,948 crore, according to the data.

Of the total investments made till the end of November, Rs 52,486 crore was invested in equities, Rs 11,415 crore in debt and Rs 636 crore in the derivatives segment.

A total investment of Rs 76,773 crore was registered at the end of October. This was first gain after a continuous decline since June, the data showed.

Market experts believe that liberalised norm for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) by the regulator SEBI is impacting investment through P-notes route.

Earlier in September, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) simplified KYC requirements and registration process for FPIs. Besides, the regulator broad-based the classification of such investors.

Under the new rules, FPIs have been divided into two categories and around 80 percent falls under Category-I and investors planning to set up shop as Category-I is required a simple application form. Earlier, such investors were slotted into three categories -- I, II and III.
Pay attention to Amazon. The company has a proven track record of mainstreaming technologies.

Amazon single-handedly mainstreamed the smart speaker with its Echo appliance, first released in November 2014. Or consider their role in mainstreaming enterprise on-demand cloud services with Amazon Web Services (AWS). That's why a new Amazon service for AWS should be taken very seriously.

It's easy now to advocate for disclosure. But when none of your competitors are disclosing and you're getting clobbered on sales ... .

Amazon last week introduced a new service for AWS customers called Brand Voice, which is a fully managed service within Amazon's voice technology initiative, Polly. The text-to-speech service enables enterprise customers to work with Amazon engineers to create unique, AI-generated voices.

[ Inside AI ebook: Artificial intelligence in the enterprise ]

It's easy to predict that Brand Voice leads to a kind of mainstreaming of voice as a form of "sonic branding" for companies, which interacts with customers on a massive scale. ("Sonic branding" has been used in jingles, sounds products make, and very short snippets of music or noise that reminds consumers and customers about brand. Examples include the startup sounds for popular versions of the Mac OS or Windows, or the "You've got mail!" statement from AOL back in the day.)

In the era of voice assistants, the sound of the voice itself is the new sonic branding. Brand Voice exists to enable AWS customers to craft a sonic brand through the creation of a custom simulated human voice, that will interact conversationally via customer-service interacts online or on the phone.

The created voice could be an actual person, a fictional person with specific voice qualities that convey the brand -- or, as in the case of Amazon's first example customer, somewhere in between. Amazon worked with KFC in Canada to build a voice for Colonel Sanders. The idea is that chicken enthusiasts can chit-chat with the Colonel via Alexa. Technologically, they could have simulated the voice of KFC founder Harland David Sanders. Instead, they opted for a more generic Southern-accented voice. This is what it sounds like.

Amazon's voice generation process is revolutionary. It uses a generative neural network that converts individual sounds a person makes while speaking into a visual representation of those sounds. Then a voice synthesizer converts those visuals into an audio stream, which is the voice. The result of this training model is that a custom voice can be created in hours, rather than months or years. Once created, that custom voice can read text generated by the chatbot AI during a conversation.

Brand Voice enables Amazon to leap-frog over rivals Google and Microsoft, which each has created dozens of voices to choose from for cloud customers. The problem with Google's and Microsoft's offerings, however, is that they're not custom or unique to each customer, and therefore are useless for sonic branding.

But they'll come along. In fact, Google's Duplex technology already sounds notoriously human. And Google's Meena chatbot, which I told you about recently, will be able to engage in incredibly human-like conversations. When these are combined, with the added future benefit of custom voices as a service (CVaaS) for enterprises, they could leapfrog Amazon. And a huge number of startups and universities are also developing voice technologies that enable customized voices that sound totally human.

How will the world change when thousands of companies can quickly and easily create custom voices that sound like real people?

We'll be hearing voices

The best way to predict the future is to follow multiple current trends, then speculate about what the world looks like if all those trends continue until that future at their current pace. (Don't try this at home, folks. I'm a professional.)

Here's what's likely: AI-based voice interaction will replace almost everything.

Future AI versions of voice assistants like Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant and others will increasingly replace web search, and serve as intermediaries in our formerly written communications like chat and email.

Nearly all text-based chatbot scenarios -- customer service, tech support and so -- will be replaced by spoken-word interactions. The same backends that are servicing the chatbots will be given voice interfaces.

Most of our interaction with devices -- phones, laptops, tablets, desktop PCs -- will become voice interactions.

The smartphone will be largely supplanted by augmented reality glasses, which will be heavily biased toward voice interaction.

Even news will be decoupled from the news reader. News consumers will be able to choose any news source -- audio, video and written -- and also choose their favorite news "anchor." For example, Michigan State University got a grant recently to further develop their conversational agent, called DeepTalk. The technology uses deep learning to enable a text-to-speech engine to mimic a specific person's voice. The project is part of WKAR Public Media's NextGen Media Innovation Lab, the College of Communication Arts and Sciences, the I-Probe Lab, and the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at MSU. Their goal is to enable news consumers to pick any actual newscaster, and have all their news read in that anchor's voice and style of speaking.

In a nutshell, within five years we'll all be talking to everything, all the time. And everything will be talking to us. AI-based voice interaction represents a massively impactful trend, both technologically and culturally.

The AI disclosure dilemma

As an influencer, builder, seller and buyer of enterprise technologies, you're facing a future ethical dilemma within your organization that almost nobody is talking about. The dilemma: When chatbots that speak with customers reach the level of always passing the Turing Test, and can flawlessly pass for human with every interaction, do you disclose to users that it's AI?

That sounds like an easy question: Of course, you do. But there are and will increasingly be strong incentives to keep that a secret -- to fool customers into thinking they're speaking to a human being. It turns out that AI voices and chatbots work best when the human on the other side of the conversation doesn't know it's AI.

A study published recently in Marketing Science called "The Impact of Artificial Intelligence Chatbot Disclosure on Customer Purchases: found that chatbots used by financial services companies were as good at sales as experienced sales people. But here's the catch: When those same chatbots disclosed that they weren't human, sales fell by nearly 80 percent.

It's easy now to advocate for disclosure. But when none of your competitors are disclosing and you're getting clobbered on sales, that's going to be a tough argument to win.

Another related question is about the use of AI chatbots to impersonate celebrities and other specific people -- or executives and employees. This is already happening on Instagram, where chatbots trained to imitate the writing style of certain celebrities will engage with fans. As I detailed in this space recently, it's only a matter of time before this capability comes to everyone.

It gets more complicated. Between now and some far-off future when AI really can fully and autonomously pass as human, most such interactions will actually involve human help for the AI -- help with the actual communication, help with the processing of requests and forensic help analyzing interactions to improve future results.

What is the ethical approach to disclosing human involvement? Again, the answer sounds easy: Always disclose. But most advanced voice-based AI have elected to either not disclose the fact that people are participating in the AI-based interactions, or they mostly bury the disclosure in the legal mumbo jumbo that nobody reads. Nondisclosure or weak disclosure is already the industry standard.

When I ask professionals and nonprofessionals alike, almost everybody likes the idea of disclosure. But I wonder whether this impulse is based on the novelty of convincing AI voices. As we get used to and even expect the voices we interact with to be machines, rather than hominids, will it seem redundant at some point?

Of course, future blanket laws requiring disclosure could render the ethical dilemma moot. The State of California passed last summer the Bolstering Online Transparency (BOT) act, lovingly referred to as the Blade Runner bill, which legally requires any bot-based communication that tries to sell something or influence an election to identify itself as non-human.

Other legislation is in the works at the national level that would require social networks to enforce bot disclosure requirements and would ban political groups or people from using AI to impersonate real people.

Laws requiring disclosure reminds me of the GDPR cookie code. Everybody likes the idea of privacy and disclosure. But the European legal requirement to notify every user on every website that there are cookies involved turns web browsing into a farce. Those pop-ups feel like annoying spam. Nobody reads them. It's just constant harassment by the browser. After the 10,000th popup, your mind rebels: "I get it. Every website has cookies. Maybe I should immigrate to Canada to get away from these pop-ups."

At some point in the future, natural-sounding AI voices will be so ubiquitous that everyone will assume it's a robot voice, and in any event probably won't even care whether the customer service rep is biological or digital.

That's why I'm leery of laws that require disclosure. I much prefer self-policing on the disclosure of AI voices.

IBM published last month a policy paper on AI that advocates guidelines for ethical implementation. In the paper, they write: Transparency breeds trust; and the best way to promote transparency is through disclosure, making the purpose of an AI system clear to consumers and businesses. No one should be tricked into interacting with AI. That voluntary approach makes sense, because it will be easier to amend guidelines as culture changes than it will to amend laws.

It's time for a new policy

AI-based voice technology is about to change our world. Our ability to tell the difference between a human and machine voice is about to end. The tech change is certain. The culture change is less certain.

For now, I recommend that we technology influencers, builders and buyers oppose legal requirements for the disclosure of AI. voice technology, but also advocate for, develop and adhere to voluntary guidelines. The IBM guidelines are solid, and worth being influenced by.

Oh, and get on that sonic branding. Your robot voices now represent your company's brand.
Im tired of giving in all over Miami Beach to developers greed, said Marsha Gilbert, a lifelong North Beach resident, at the City Council meeting last August where the Ocean Terrace project was approved, according to a story in the Miami New Times.

Sandor Scher, who owns Ocean Terrace Holdings with his partner Alex Blavatnik (a brother of Len Blavatnik, the multibillionaire international entrepreneur), said its not surprising that residents would have concerns about a project that he said will be transformational.

He predicted that new business and visitors to Ocean Terrace will restore the neighborhoods dynamism  which is what attracted many of the characters portrayed in Motel Stories in the first place. The company did repairs and got permits so the show could use the abandoned hotel, and is hosting the production for free.

Arts and culture have been a big part of finding a way to activate our buildings, give back to the community, do something that creates interest in North Beach and Ocean Terrace, Scher said.

That is something the Motel Stories artists believe is worth doing.

I dont think any city has come up with a solution to gentrification, said June Raven Romero, who plays the temperance crusader. Every city is battling this monster. Maybe this is not an answer, but a conversation.

Not long after the show closes, all but the facade of the Ocean Terrace will be demolished. All the ghosts were evoking now wont have a realm, said Bruno. But we are at least giving it that last energy. Remember me, and Ill always remember you.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Monday visited the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Quarantine Facility in Chhawla in southwest Delhi to meet the first batch of Indians, who came from Wuhan in the wake of the coronavirus, as they leave for their homes after completing all health screening for the deadly virus outbreak.

"I am very happy that all our Indians and Maldivian citizens who came from Wuhan on February 1-2 are leaving for their home," the Health Minister told the people who are going to be discharged this week after their health reports pertaining to the virus test were found negative.

"I am happy that you are healthy and fit and now all will move to their houses. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was from day one concerned about the people who were stuck in China," he added.

A total of 406 people who were airlifted returned from the Chinese city of Wuhan in Hubei province, the epicentre of coronavirus, earlier this month were being looked after at the quarantine facility of ITBP.

The minister further said that other batches will also be arriving in India in the next few days from China, who will be quarantined at the same ITBP camp.

Harsh Vardhan, meanwhile, appreciated the efforts undertaken by the Home Ministry, External Affairs Ministry, Civil Aviation and all other ministries and departments who were involved in the evacuation process of the Indian nationals from Wuhan.

A total of 650 people were brought back from Wuhan in China on February 1- 2 in two 747 Boeing Air India aircraft after the outbreak of the novel virus in China. While 406 of these are being looked after at the ITBP facility, rest is at an Army center at Manesar in Haryana.

The death toll from the COVID-19 epidemic outbreak has climbed to 1770 in mainland China and infected more than 70,000 others so far.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A third of international students with private tertiary education providers have cancelled or postponed their enrolments in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, exposing the immediate financial impact of travel restrictions on the education sector.

Ten per cent of international students with independent providers have cancelled their enrolments and 24 per cent have postponed, according to a survey of providers by industry body the Independent Tertiary Education Council of Australia, which has members across the higher education and vocational education and training sectors.

"The sector is facing some real challenges right now as providers experience a significant decrease in student numbers. Should the travel restrictions on Chinese students endure, the impact on the mid-year intake will be catastrophic for many providers," ITECA chief executive Troy Williams said.

Mr Williams welcomed initiatives, supported by government regulators, to provide courses online but warned this wasn't feasible for all areas.
(Photo : Pixabay)

Google has eliminated the messaging app ToTok for the second time amid claims that it's used for spying by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government for mass surveillance.

The app was previously pulled from Apple's App Store and the Google Play Store in December before The New York Times wrote a report about it. Google silently reuploaded the app in January, but it did not explain why the application was let back in. But the app has remained unavailable on the App Store.

ALSO READ: [UPDATE] Is Uninstalling ToTok Safe or a Racist Idea? ToTok Team Says Spying Issues Are 'Deranged'

ToTok tracks everything?

ToTok no longer appears on the Play Store as of Friday when searching - though there are several clones - or visiting the listing directly. The Times, citing a classified intelligence assessment by American officials last year, investigated the close ties between ToTok's developers and the UAE's intelligence agency.

According to 9To5Google, ToTok was allegedly used by the country to track every conversation, movement, relationship, appointment, sound, and photographs of those who installed it on their phones.

ALSO READ: Uninstall This App Right Now Before Your Data Get Compromised

The app that works like Signal or Telegram, according to country officials familiar with the categorized intelligence assessment, has been downloaded millions of times on Android and iOS devices worldwide.

One digital security expert in the Middle East, speaking to 9To5Google on the condition of anonymity to discuss powerful hacking tools, noted senior Emirati officials remark that ToTok was indeed an app developed to track its users.

According to app records and studies company App Annie, ToTok grew to be one of the most downloaded social apps in the United States last week.

Research by NYT determined that the organization behind ToTok is referred to as Breej Holding that is a front organization affiliated with DarkMatter, an Abu Dhabi-based cyberintelligence and hacking company.

DarkMatter is already under FBI research for possible cybercrimes.

Earlier, the probe also connected ToTok to Pax AI, an Abu Dhabi-primarily based facts mining organization that looks to be tied to DarkMatter.

ALSO READ: How To Stop Your Phone From Spying On You: Privacy Tips From Edward Snowden

Google takes safety, security violations seriously

Google said it remains committed to flushing out thousands of malicious apps from the Play Store. "We take reviews of safety and security violations seriously," Google told The Verge. The tech giant added it would take action if it finds behavior that violates its policies.

ToTok's return to the Play Store shows it wasn't getting used as an undercover agent tool, or that the latest update removed the offending code - the newest model of the Android app was on Jan. 4, long after it was pulled on December 19, 2019.

ToTok denied the "vicious rumors" in a statement published in December, saying that "not only do we respect privacy and ensure security, our users also have the complete control over what data they want to share at their discretion."

ALSO READ: Spyware Apps On Google Play That Secretly Recorded Audio, Took Photos Without Permission Now Removed

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Rajesh Kumar Thakur By

Express News Service

PATNA: Bihar is set to become north India's first "bird ringing station" for observation, monitoring and research on migratory birds, fourth state in the country after Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Orissa.

The fourth would be in Bihar's Bhgalapur, which is one of three known breeding places apart from Cambodia and Assam.

Speaking to Express, Amit Kumar, director of Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park alias Patna zoo, said,"on the occasion of CMS-COP13(conservation of Migratory species-conference of parties) on Monday at Gandhinagar in Gujarat, principal secretary of Bihar government's department of environment, forest and climate changes, Deepak Kumar Singh has signed an MoU with the Bombay Natural History Society for establishing the 'birds- ringing station' in Bihar".

Kumar said that the proposed 'birds ringing station' in Bhagalpur would be the first ringing station to be set up by the support of any state government and fourth in the country and the first in entire north India.

"The MoU would be valid for five years in which the state government of Bihar will spend almost Rs 5 crore," Kumar said.

At the CMS-COP13, a total of 130 countries are participating now for wider discussion on the characteristics, conducts and other details of migratory species. Detailing about the first government-supported 'birds ringing station', he said that the station will be manned by trained scientists and other technical manpower from Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS).

"It will also be monitoring arrivals of migratory birds in areas including Nakti (Jamui), Kusheswarasthan in Darbhanga, Baraila wetland in Vaishali and the Kanwar wetland in Begusarai. In this process, the rings are used which used to be affixed with chips containing the details about origin, route, taken by the migratory birds and other subordinate activities," he said.
A plane has pulled off an extraordinary landing at Heathrow Airport, after contending with powerful headwinds brought by Storm Dennis.

Footage shows the pilots skilful manoeuvre, as the Etihad Airbus A380 aircraft hovered sideways over the runway before successfully landing on Saturday, a report in British media said on Sunday.

The incident came as hundreds of flights into and out of the UK were grounded on Saturday because of Storm Dennis, with easyJet cancelling more than 230 flights.

WATCH: Pilots land passenger plane weighing 5,73,794 kg almost sideways due to heavy winds in London! (VIDEO: Instagram/speedbirdtv via CNN) pic.twitter.com/87osZf9rEM  Priya Jaiswal (@priyajais) February 17, 2020

The storm, the second to hit the UK in as many weeks, has unleashed strong winds and heavy rain over the weekend.

In some parts of the UK, more than a months rain has fallen in just two days, causing the Environment Agency (EA) to issue a record number of flood warnings and alerts for England.

John Curtin, the EAs Flood and Coastal Risk Management Executive Director, said on Sunday that the 594 warnings and alerts in place were a record.

Parts of Wales saw more than a months rainfall in 48 hours from Friday to Sunday morning.

The Met Office said that 156.2 mm of rain had fallen over this period at Crai Reservoir in Powys, Wales, well above Wales average monthly rainfall of 111.1 mm in February.

The village of Nantgarw, Rhondda Cynon Taff, near Cardiff, is among the worst effected in the UK.

Mason said the weather was unprecedented, adding he had never experienced anything like this before.

Georgie Timmins, crisis response officer at the British Red Cross, said: The storms are expected to continue, and water is anticipated to be at peak levels on Monday and Tuesday. It is important people are ready should the worst happen.
The total production from the two oilfields that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait share would reach 550,000 bpd by the end of the year, Kuwaits Oil Minister Khaled al-Fadhel said on Sunday, announcing the start of trial production at the two fields.

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait share the two oilfields Khafji and Wafra that have not been pumping oil for five years due to disputes over concessions.

Trial production at the Khafji and Wafra began on Sunday, as previously anticipated. Oil production rates will be gradually increased until they reach the normal level, state Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) quoted minister al-Fadhel as saying. The regular levels of production of nearly 550,000 bpd will be restored by the end of the year, al-Fadhel noted.

At the end of 2019, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait reached an agreement to resume oil production from the two oilfields they share in the Neutral Zone.

The so-called Partitioned Neutral Zone (PNZ) was established between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in 1922 to settle a territorial dispute between the two neighboring countries. As of 2015, the oil production capacity in the neutral zone stood at a total of 600,000 bpd, equally divided between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Production from the zone averaged around 500,000 bpd just before the shutdown of the two oil fields, Khafji and Wafra, in 2014-2015.

Operational differences and a worsening in bilateral relations led to the suspension of production back in 2015. The worsening came as Saudi Arabia renewed Chevrons concession for Wafra. According to the Kuwaiti side, Riyadh did that without consulting it.

Last month, Kuwait said that it expects its share of the oil production from the Neutral Zone to be 250,000 bpd by the end of 2020.

Earlier this month, sources from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia told Oilprice that trial production of 10,000 bpd would begin at the Khafji field on or around February 25.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Fears about the economic fallout from the new coronavirus weighed on Asian markets Monday as the death toll in China from the epidemic rose and infections topped 70,500.

After Wall Street's muddled performance on Friday and US markets closed Monday for a holiday, traders turned their attention to grim economic in the region.

Japan's economy suffered its worst quarterly contraction in more than five years, while Singapore cut its growth forecast for this year as the virus batters the city-state's tourism and trade.

That comes after Europe's largest economy Germany on Friday reported zero growth in the last quarter of 2019.

While investors are comforted by a slowdown in new infections outside hardest-hit Hubei province in recent days, they might be less sanguine if China's economy takes a worse-than-expected hit, said Stephen Innes of AxiCorp.

"If it comes out bad enough for confidence to plummet, investors could quickly find themselves up the creek... without a paddle," Innes said in a commentary.

"Financial markets are not known for their rational thinking lately and given the 500 million or so mainlanders affected by the (COVID-19) quarantine... it's also not hard to come up with more downside risks than upside ones right now."



A spokesman for China's national health authority said the slowdown was a sign the outbreak was being controlled.

However, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned it is "impossible to predict which direction this epidemic will take".

Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.6 percent after the economy shrank 1.6 percent in the three months to December from the previous quarter, even before the novel coronavirus outbreak in China hit Japan, official data showed.

"Concern over the virus is only intensifying and the mood of self-restraint is going to spread more broadly. I'm becoming downbeat on Japan's economy," Takashi Shiono, an economist at Credit Suisse Group, told Bloomberg

After dipping at the open, Hong Kong was up 0.7 percent. Mainland China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was 1.1 percent higher.

Elsewhere, Sydney fell 0.1 percent, Taipei shed 0.51 percent and Seoul was flat.

China has been praised by the WHO for its transparent handling of the outbreak.

There is still scepticism among the global public, with suggestions that Beijing may be hiding the true extent of the virus the way it did during the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic.

But investors have been betting that central bank action -- particularly in China -- will counter the economic impact of the virus and have positive knock-on effects for emerging markets.

"If the Chinese economy does recover and you've added all this fiscal and monetary stimulus into it as well, the situation could be that you have much stronger emerging markets into the second half" of the year, Sunny Bangia, a fund manager at Antipodes Partners, told Bloomberg TV in Sydney.

"A lot depends on how this virus gets contained and if it can morph into something more minor." China is the world's biggest importer and consumer of oil, and crude prices have been particularly sensitive to the epidemic.

Global oil demand will suffer its first quarterly drop in a decade as the virus lashes China's economy and its impact ripples throughout the world, the International Energy Agency warned last week.

The main contracts have reacted mildly to the Brent Crude slipped 0.2 percent and West Texas Intermediate was flat.

Shanghai - Composite: UP 1.1 percent at 2,949.17 Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 0.7 percent at 28,009.93 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.6 percent at 23,537.03 Dollar/yen: UP at 109.83 from 109.74 at 2200 GMT Friday Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3047 from $1.3046



Euro/dollar: UP at $1.084 from $1.083Euro/pound: UP at 83.08 pence from 83.01 pence Brent Crude: DOWN 0.2 percent at $57.19 per barrel West Texas Intermediate: FLAT at $52.04 per barrel New York - Dow: DOWN 0.1 percent at 29,398.08 (close) London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.6 percent at 7,409.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
More than 2,000 cookbooks, with recipes from as far back as 1789, are housed at the University of Texas at San Antonio's Libraries Special Collections department and can be researched by chefs, researchers or any resident who wants a deeper look into their heritage.

Atlas Obscura, a website of "global community of explorers," recently featured the local collection in its online tour of the "world's most wondrous places and foods." UTSA's special collection of books, 100 of which are handwritten manuscripts, have been around since 2001, when San Antonio resident Laurie Gruenbeck donated 500 works.

UTSA Special Collections Librarian Stephanie Noell said the university is in the process of digitizing and transcribing the collection, starting with the oldest texts.

Noell said the books are important resources for tracing food pathways and anthropological and genealogical research. She believes UTSA's trove of Mexican cookbooks is the largest in North America.

"There isn't a collection as extensive as ours," she said.

Atlas Obscura highlighted the Dona Ignacitas 1789 cookbook, the earliest in the collection.

RELATED: The only black student: San Antonio resident and member of Norfolk 17 dies

Noell told mySA the handwritten collection of recipes was used in a home in Jalisco, Mexico, possibly by a wealthy family, since it appears Dona Ignacita was the head of kitchen staff. She said the book is "incredibly unique" and rare because it contains a table of contents.

In the notebook, Dona Ignacita shared how she made desserts like bunuelos, soups like gazpacho and what Noell said is the oldest recipe for mole in the collection.

"It's an incredible work. It's well-loved over two-plus centuries of life," Noell said.

UTSA's digitization team is working to transcribe the intricate cursive handwriting of people like Dona Ignacita and another woman named Dona Maria, who wrote the second-oldest cookbook in the collection in Guanajuato, Mexico. About half of the 100 manuscript cookbooks have been digitized and can be accessed online. Atlas Obscura called UTSA's efforts for global availability a "game-changer"

Visitors who want to see the books in person can do so from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Wednesday. Appointments to see the collection outside of the normal hours can be made via email at specialcollections@utsa.edu.

The books are not part of circulation, but guests can browse the texts in reading rooms. Noell said the staff ensures that each person who comes in is aware of how delicate the materials are and to respect them as historical documents.

Madalyn Mendoza is a breaking news reporter and general assignment writer. Read her on our breaking news site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @MaddySkye
A father left his two young daughters outside in the freezing cold while he doused their mother in gasoline and set her on fire on Valentine's Day, her family claims.

Savannah Bailey, 23, suffered burns to 60 per cent of her body after a fire at her home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the early hours of February 14.

Wanda Bailey, Savannah's mother, said the girls - Cerenity, aged four, and Cemaya, one - were found outside the house in temperatures of -18F (-22C) without shoes or proper clothing on.

Savannah Bailey, 23, has been left with 60 per cent burns after her family say her abusive partner set her alight on Valentine's Day

Daughters Cerenity, four, and Cemaya, one, were found outside the house in -19F after Savannah's partner ordered them out while he carried out the attack, relatives say

She claims that Bailey's partner, who has previously been abusive, forced the two girls outside while he doused her upper body in petrol and lit it.

While on fire, Savannah managed to run outside the house and extinguish the flames by throwing herself into a snowbank, according to a GoFundMe page set up by sister Sharrissa Johnson.

The flames also set fire to part of the house, destroying children's clothes, food, the TV and other items.

Savannah was able to call 911 herself, but has since been placed under sedation.

Her family say she will need multiple operations and may be in hospital for three months.

Wanda Bailey, Savannah's mother (right, with her daughter) said the girls were found without shoes or proper clothes on

Part of the home was also burned in the fire, Savannah's family say, including children's clothes, TVs and food

Mother Wanda told WISN that the police brought the two girls to her in the middle of the night after finding them in the snow.

She says that when she asked Cerenity who burned the house down, the girl replied: 'My daddy did it.'

Police arrested a 26-year-old man shortly after the blaze broke out, but have not named him because he has not been charged.

Sharissa added: 'I'm at a loss for words. She doesn't look like herself, but I know that's my sister.

'She had her hair done and I feel like this is why he did that, because she moved on and she found somebody new.'
The subpoena of two prosecutors from the Superior Council of Magistrates (CSM) for hearings at Justice Crime Investigation Section (SIIJ) represents an additional reason for the dismantling of the SIIJ, Prime Minister-designate Ludovic Orban affirmed on Monday.

"All the more reason to dismantle the Special Section. (...) If the current Parliament does not adopt the regulation, surely, after the early elections, there will be a majority that will approve this regulation to dissolve the Special Section, as it is otherwise necessary to adopt several regulations, because our objective is to have the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism lifted in the shortest time by putting into practice the recommendations contained in the annual report," Ludovic Orban maintained in a statement for the press.

Prosecutor Nicolae Solomon, a member of the CSM, was summoned on Monday at the SIIJ to be heard as a witness in a 2018 file for abuse of office.

Moreover, another member of the Superior Council of Magistrates, prosecutor Florin Deac, was summoned to appear at the SIIJ on Wednesday, to be heard in another file, which deals with the offenses of dereliction of duty, murder and bodily harm because of this, the CSM Prosecutors Section announced, in a press release.

"The section for prosecutors appreciates that the subpoena of two members of the Section in the shown manner, in cases pending with the SIIJ since 2018, as well as the leak in the media of the information regarding the two procedural activities, in the context of the ongoing partially negative opinion procedure of the Minister's proposals for the filling of high positions at the level of the Public Prosecution Service and of a media campaign directed against the members of the Section, represents a factor of pressure and institutional undermining. The Section for prosecutors informs the public opinion that it will notify the European Commission in order to bring these circumstances to its notice," the press release further mentions.
EDWARDSVILLE  The city is one step closer to releasing its demolition lien for costs and expenses of what had been deemed an unsafe structure.

This comes after Greg Erspamer, a member of the Edwardsville/Glen Carbon chapter of Habitat for Humanity, visited the finance committee two weeks ago to ask if city officials would be willing to dismiss half of the unpaid property lien at 624 Hill Lane while Erspamer would get his board of directors to pay for the other half.

The city originally added the lien to recoup its demolition costs. The home was taken down last summer.

During the finance committee meeting Tuesday, Erspamer said as part of its 2020 Build Project list, Habitat would like to build at least one and possibly two structures since the site was originally platted for two homes, each on 50-foot wide lots. Habitat built a nearby home about 15 years ago.

The owner of the property, Steven Vieth, has been in contact with Habitat for Humanity and he would like to donate the property but its still subject to the citys demolition lien, said City Attorney Jeff Berkbigler. Habitat has proposed to partially pay $8,000 toward satisfying that lien.

He said the city would be authorized to release the lien if Habitat could show proof that the property has been transferred to them and it holds the title. Habitat could then build at least a new, single-family home on the lot.

Alderman SJ Morrison asked if Vieth is still required to pay the balance.

We can try to sue him for nuisance abatement but I dont know how successful that would be, Berkbigler replied.

I think this is great, Morrison said. The people of that neighborhood are thrilled that this derelict home has been removed. I think we want to get this property back on the tax rolls.

Mayor Hal Patton asked Public Works Director Eric Williams if there is still a plan to put two homes on that lot, as it was originally.

There would be potential to do that there, Williams said. Erspamer said on Jan. 28, if approved, separating the property would make it even more desirable, allow Habitat to help two families instead of one and the city could theoretically recoup its funds sooner.

Erspamer noted that Habitat recently built two houses on other streets in town and both houses appraised at least $170,000 each for three-bedrooms with a basement.

Most people understand that Habitat does not give away houses; we sell them to the owners at a reduced rate so they can afford to live there, he said at that time.

This forgiveness sets a new, one-time precedent. Williams and Berkbigler said in the past, only certain property fees have been waived, such as building permits or sewer tap-on. The finance committee voted in favor of the measure, and it now heads to city council.

Reach reporter Charles Bolinger at (618) 659-5735
A journalist in Pakistan has been found dead in a canal just months after he reported he was receiving death threats for his coverage of alleged corruption in local politics.

Aziz Memons body was recovered from a waterway in Mehrabpur village in the south-western Sindh province, with clear signs that he died from strangulation, hours after he went missing while travelling to cover a story on Sunday.

Memon worked as a reporter for the local Sindhi-language Kawish Television Network (KTN) and the Kawish newspaper. Police chief Mohammad Farooq said no one had immediately claimed responsibility for the abduction and killing, and that an investigation was under way.
Digiworld set a revenue target of $443.5 million for 2020. Source: Digiworld

Digiworld JSC (Digiworld, code DGW) continues to set a double-digit growth target for 2020. Digiworld is gunning for revenue growth of 20 per cent, reaching VND10.2 trillion ($443.5 million). Meanwhile, with the expected profit margin improving (by 1 percentage point), the company aims to increase after-tax profit by 25 per cent, from VND161 billion ($7 million) to VND201 billion ($8.74 million).

This business plan will be submitted to the shareholders for approval at the annual meeting held on March 31. The list of shareholders attending the meeting will be closed on February 27.

In 2019, the company's revenue and after-tax profit both exceeded the plan by 20 per cent. Specifically, the sales of Digiworld reached VND8.6 trillion ($373.9 million), up 43 per cent from the previous year. The company's spending on sales activities and sales in 2019 increased by 83 per cent, from VND134 billion ($5.83 million) in 2018 to VND245 billion ($10.65 million) in 2019.

This is the third year the company has set foot in the two new categories of FMCG and healthcare, through the distribution of consumer goods and supply of functional foods, besides its traditional strength of ICT products, including laptops and tablets, mobile phones, and office equipment.

Starting with the distribution of Kingsmen healthcare products (in August 2017) and acquiring 50.3 per cent of CL Co., Ltd., a business specialising in distributing high-end fast-moving Japanese consumer products, such as Kodomo toothpaste, Zact Lion whitening toothpaste, Systema toothbrush, Essense laundry detergent, Bio Zip washing powder, or Bubbi King dishwashing liquid in the third quarter of 2017.

Subsequently, Digiworld had several co-operation programmes to develop consumer goods, with the most notable activity being the co-operation with Nestle Group in early 2019. Accordingly, Digiworld is the distributor of Nestle's medical nutrition product.
(Photo : Screenshot From Getlivenews Facebook Page) Covid-19

Feb. 12 has given us good news just two days before Valentines as the feared Covid-19 infections are seeing a great decline. The certain model used to monitor data partaining to the alarming count on the Covid-19 infections. The only problem that the general public is facing is if this report is actually accurate.

The infectious virus does have an end at all

What seemed like the doom of humanity was seen by scientists with hard research and innovations to find ways to combat this virus. From doctors all the way to AI operators like BlueDot have been working together to pull together brilliant strategies to combat this alarming virus as it has already spread around the world. Only, the reports given about the decline of infected cases have not been duly verified. It is still a bit too early to celebrate.

The number of infected are slowy declining while the number of cured cases are slowly increasing according to research

It is a numbers game with both the infected and the cured and although this virus has proven to be a deadly foe, drastic measures pulled by scientists and other brilliant minds around the world have slowly contributed to the battle against the Covid-19and we are finally seeing results. Di Yi Zuo who has played a vital part in the Department of Health and Environmental Sciences of Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University has confirmed that on Feb 16, we may start to see a decline with the number of infected cases. Despite this research and countless efforts given to provide this result, even the World Health Organization has claimed that they have underestimated the virus and still expecting an increasing rate of 1.4 to 2.5 as this virus continues to spread.

Read Also: Coronavirus Pathogens May Linger from Flushing Without Closing the Lid

The mathematical model which was used was set up by an ad-hoc group of brilliant scientists to immediately update and keep data regarding the number of cases that were infected. This has been vital to everyone as the availability of resources are now better allocated to the infected cases as well asgive updates on how much more resources should be deployed altogether. The only problem is, the data given has not been proven 100% reliable.

Zou admits that the RNA kits have not been used to full potential

There have been admitted cases where patients were seen as positive for the virus despite having no confirmation with an RNA kit. These are still precautionary matters that some would argue that it is better to be safe than sorry as justification forshorting the process. This may be due to the lack of supply as Japan is experiencing right now. Also, the RNA in itself is still seen as not 100% accurate and although they may present leads to possible infections, the read is still not as accurate.

The data is constantly captured making sure to give close to accurate findings

The data is captured every 30 seconds notifying scientists who are working on countering this virus nonstop. Doctors are also given this data for them to take precautionary measures against the Covid-19. As Covid-19 infections in China declines, doctors are dealing with this sufficiently due to the current situation of overworked doctors who are slowly battling this virus. WHO is still deploying full force on countering this virus since the read of the model is still not 100% accurate.

Read Also: Is Coronavirus Man-Made? Baseless Conspiracy Theories about Its Origin Including China Bioengineering Debunked

The data from the model is available in both English and Chinese

Transparency for the data is vital for it to be battled in both ends. Universally, the data has to be understood as fast as possible for scientists to move faster. As the Covid-19 infections in China are said to have declined, WHO is still making sure that this virus is not underestimated.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
As of January 31, a total of 83 XCMG products took part in the construction of Huoshenshan and Leishenshan hospitals where operators worked around the clock to construct the makeshift field hospital as quickly and safely as possible. The new facilities will provide 2,600 beds for treating patients in severe and critical condition.

"Building a hospital in 10 days is a great undertaking for construction machinery companies in terms of overall coordination ability and teamwork. The honor of this record achievement belongs to each individual who contributed so much during this difficult time," said Wang Min, Chairman of XCMG.

During the construction of Huoshenshan Hospital, XCMG monitored the equipment closely via its "Hanyun" software platform, accumulating more than 2,199 working hours as of February 3.

The "Hanyun" platform includes a thermal screening system for the prevention and control of the epidemic, which can monitor and upload the body temperature of passersby in transportation hubs, hospitals, schools and companies to reduce cross-infection and improve screening efficiency.

On January 27, as the president company of Assocacao Brasileira De Empresas Chinesas (ABEC, Brazilian Association of Chinese Companies), XCMG encouraged all member companies to participate in the fight against the epidemic. The same night, XCMG Brazil employees contributed actively to purchase 10,000 medical supply items including masks and protective suits that have been shipped to Wuhan.

Meanwhile, in Beijing, 24 XCMG products started work on the expansion and renovation of Xiaotangshan Hospital, formerly used to quarantine SARS patients.

In February, XCMG also joined the construction of emergency hospitals in Xuzhou, Zhengzhou, Xi'an, Tian Jin, Zhuhai etc.

To provide further support, XCMG announced a donation of 5.075 million yuan (USD726,338) to support the fight against the epidemic. The company also sourced more than 1,200,000 items of medical equipment, including surgical masks, N95 respirators, protective suits from 23 countries and regions worldwide.

SOURCE XCMG

Related Links

www.xcmg.com


Posco International gas production facility at A-30 in Myanmar is seen in this 2020 photo. / Courtesy of Posco International



By Kim Jae-heun



The country's largest trading company POSCO International said Monday it has discovered a new gas reservoir in Myanmar, where it is already operating a large-scale gas field.



The company said it hopes to develop another gas field there pending positive evaluation of the deposit's viability.



According to the POSCO affiliate, it confirmed approximately 38 million cubic feet of gas productivity per day on Mahar as a result of drill stem test. The company will begin drilling into the stratum to conduct complete evaluation of the natural resource starting next year and announce an updated plan to operate the new gas field.



POSCO International's gas business in Myanmar has long been the company's cash cow. It is currently operating two gas fields on Shwe in A-1 mine lot and Mya in A-3 mine lot. The gas it produces in three fields are sold to Myanmar and China. The company recorded its largest business profit of 650.3 billion won ($549.84 million) last year.



Mahar is only 30 kilometers away from the Shwe gas field, which makes it possible for POSCO International to share the production facilities already established there. This will reduce investment costs and shorten the construction period for the trading company.



In addition, POSCO International plans to explore another spot for its drilling exploration on the Yan Aung Myin stratum, some 24 kilometers from Mahar in search of further gas fields.



"The discovery of the new gas reservoir showed Posco International's competence in exploration for the natural resource. This will become a chance for the company to take a leap in the energy field and we will continue to explore for gas fields to complete the energy value chain of the POSCO Group," a POSCO International official said.



The trading company is currently developing phased models for stable production of gas in the two gas fields it is operating. Starting from 2021, it will open an additional gas field on Shwe and a new one on Shew Phyu in 2022 to produce natural resource there.


YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. The ruling My Step faction of the Armenian Parliament is holding a closed-format session.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is also participating in the session.

The session is being held at the headquarters of the Civil Contract party.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the government to consider women for command roles in the army, rejecting the Centres push for limiting the roles that women officers should be allowed to perform in the armed forces. In its 54-page verdict, the Supreme Court severely criticised the government for its stand that it ruled, perpetuated gender stereotypes, was disturbing and treated women as the weaker sex.

The top court also ordered the government to extend permanent service - which has only been applicable to men so far - to all women officers, signalling a move towards gender parity in the traditionally male bastion. This would allow women to get the same opportunities and benefits as their male colleagues, including ranks, promotions and pensions, and be allowed to serve longer tenures.

The court, which took a dim view of the Centres arguments in its appeal against the Delhi High Courts 2010 verdict, said the government lawyers had sought to dilute the role of women in the army by the nature of their biological composition and social milieu.

Such a line of submission is disturbing as it ignores the solemn constitutional values which every institution in the nation is bound to uphold and facilitate, the bench held and listed some of the distinctions which women officers have achieved. It listed 11 of them.

1. Lieutenant Colonel Sophia Qureshi (Army Signal Corps) is the first woman to lead an Indian Army contingent at a multinational military exercise named, Exercise Force 18. This is the largest ever foreign military exercise hosted by India. She has served in the United Nations Peacekeeping Operation in Congo in 2006 where she, along with others, was in charge of monitoring ceasefires in those countries and aiding in humanitarian activities. Her job included ensuring peace in conflict affected areas.

2. Lieutenant Colonel Anuvandana Jaggi served as the Womens Team Leader of the United Nations Military Observers Team in the UN mission in Burundi. She was awarded the United Nations Force Commanders Commendation and an Appreciation Epistle from the Chief of Army Staff for her commendable effort.

3. Major Madhumita (Army Education Corps) is the first woman officer in the country to receive the Gallantry Award (Sena Medal) for fighting Taliban terrorists in Afghanistan. Despite adversity, she continued and her speedy rescue and evacuation efforts saved many lives.

4. Lieutenant Bhavana Kasturi recently led a contingent of the Indian Army Service Corps, becoming the first woman to lead an all-men Army contingent in the history of India. Similarly, Captain Tania Shergill recently became first Indian woman Parade Adjutant to lead an all-men contingent in New Delhi on 15 January, 2020.

5. Lieutenant A Divya, who was awarded the Sword of Honour in the Officers Training Academy, Chennai in September 2010. Lt Divya was awarded the honour from 170 male officers and 57 women officers who trained with her at OTA, the only training center for Short Service Commission male and female officers.

6. Women officers have been made part of the Quick Reaction Teams, where women and male officers perform similar duties by virtue of a 8 September 2009 order.

7. The Indian Army entrusts women officers with complex tasks of transporting convoys of between thirty to fifty vehicles in militant-prone areas in Leh, Srinagar, Udhampur and the North East. An example was provided of the movement order from Leh to Pathankot dated 15 September 2010 issued to one of the respondents, Major Gopika Bhatti who, in the role of a convoy commander, handled junior commissioned officers, jawans (drivers and supporting staff), vehicles (filled with logistics, arms and ammunitions) and other military equipment.

8. Major Gopika Ajitsingh Pawar was awarded the United Nations Peacekeeping Medal by the Secretary General of the United Nations in recognition of her role as a military member of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.

9. Major Madhu Rana, Preeti Singh and Anuja Yadav were awarded the United Nation Medal completing the qualifying service as military members of the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

10. Captain Ashwini Pawar (Army Ordnance Corps) and Captain Shipra Majumdar (Army Engineer Corps) were awarded the Sewa Medal by the President of India in 2007.

11. Women officers from the Indian Army have been participating in the UN Peacekeeping Force since 2004 and have been deployed in active combat scenarios in Syria, Lebanon, Ethiopia and Israel.

The bench said to cast aspersion on the abilities of women on the ground of gender is an affront not only to their dignity as women but to the dignity of the members of the Indian Army  men and women  who serve as equal citizens in a common mission.

India began recruiting women to non-medical positions in the armed forces in 1992.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh welcomed the top court verdict and stressed how the induction of women in the army had gone up during the NDA governments tenure.

Before 2016, women made up just 2.5 percent of Indias armed forces, working in mainly non-combat roles. As of Jan 2019, 3.89 percent of the army personnel comprised women, while 6.7 percent of the navy and 13.28 percent of the air force personnel were women as of June 2019, he tweeted.
Brooks finds both liberals and conservatives unequal to the task of dealing candidly with family breakdown. Social conservatives insist that we can bring the nuclear family back. But the conditions that made for stable nuclear families in the 1950s are never returning. Conservatives have nothing to say to the kid whose dad has split, whose mom has had three other kids with different dads; go live in a nuclear family is really not relevant advice. . . . the majority [of households] are something else: single parents, never-married parents, blended families, grandparent-headed families. Hes just as tough on progressives. They still talk like self-expressive individualists of the 1970s: People should have the freedom to pick whatever family form works for them. . . . But many of the new family forms do not work well for most people.
JACKSON, Miss.  Days and days of heavy rain have created a dilemma for authorities managing dams along swollen rivers in Mississippi and Tennessee. The water has to be released eventually, worsening the flooding for people living downstream.

Dramatic video posted by a Tennessee fire department showed the impact: Two houses tumbled down a bluff over the Tennessee River, while many others have been swamped to their rooftops, as entire neighborhoods disappear in muddy water below the Tennessee Valley Authoritys Pickwick Reservoir.

It absolutely kills you, knowing that houses are getting destroyed downstream from the dam, TVA spokesman Jim Hopson told the Associated Press on Monday. We have engineers on duty 24-7 trying to figure out whats the most effective way to move this water downstream with the least impact. They feel it. I feel it.

Februarys rains have been 400 percent of normal, and we have more coming in this week. Its kind of a never-ending battle, Hopson added.

Mississippis Pearl River, meanwhile, crested on Monday at just under 37 feet, well short of its historic worst-case-scenario, and should begin draining soon, Gov. Tate Reeves said. He said there were no reports of flood-related injuries, and thanked the people of Mississippi for heeding evacuation orders. Only 16 search and rescue missions were necessary, he said, even though as many as 1,000 homes were flooded.

Reeves also cautioned that more rain is expected, so no one should return to a flooded home until authorities say its safe to do so. We as a state are not in the clear yet, Reeves said.

In one Jackson neighborhood, residents paddled canoes, kayaks and small fishing boats to check on their houses, giving lifts to other neighbors. Some were able to enter their homes, while others peeked into the windows to see what, if any damage, had been done. Floodwaters lapped at mailboxes, street signs and cars that had been left in driveways.

The heavy rains and flooding has affected a wide area. Mississippi emergency management officials said they had received damage reports from 11 counties.

The momentary break in the rain enabled water levels at the Barnett Reservoir upriver of Jackson to stabilize, but officials repeated their warnings to pay attention to evacuation orders.

In Savannah, Tenn., which sits just below the Pickwick Dam, the Hardin County Fire Department said people were safely evacuated from a two-story home overlooking the Tennessee River before a bluff gave way and the home broke apart, the wreckage sliding hundreds of feet down to the water. Dozens of other homes in more low-lying areas were swamped, the departments drone video showed.

Rogelio V. Solis and Michael Warren are Associated Press writers.
The Department of Buildings subsequently issued Pioneer General a violation for failing to notify the city about the accident that resulted in Mr. Huertas death, and the company was fined $25,000. A multi-agency investigation into the accident is continuing.

Pioneer General did not respond to several requests for comment.

On the morning of the fatal accident, Ms. Guazhco did not wake up early enough to make coffee and lunch for her husband, as was her routine. Mr. Huerta had planned to go to Queens after work to buy school supplies for three of their five children. The first day of school was days away.

He told me, See you in the afternoon, she said.

The two met in Ecuador through family members. Her sister had married one of Mr. Huertas cousins, and she had noticed him at a family event. It was love at first sight, she said.

Mr. Huerta crossed the border from Mexico into the United States in 2001. He had traveled there from his hometown, Cuenca, in southern Ecuador, where he also worked in construction. He made his way to New York, where relatives did construction work. Ms. Guazhco, who was pregnant at the time, followed him.

They had two children in Ecuador and three in the United States, including twins who were born in 2015.

On a regular day, Mr. Huerta would pick up the twins from day care after he left the construction site. Ms. Guazhco works at a Bronx nail salon.

At around noon on Aug. 27, she got a call from one of her husbands brothers, who told her that Mr. Huerta had been involved in a serious accident. She rushed to the site.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 17, 2020 17:56 694 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206501547 1 Lifestyle Star-Wars,Star-Wars-Virtual-Run-2020,virtual-run,running,running-competition Free

The first edition of Star Wars Virtual Run Southeast Asia 2020 will be held from May 4 to 31.

Organized by social fitness and market-place company LIV3LY, the event will also commemorate Star Wars Day (May 4) and the 40th anniversary of the film Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, according to geekculture.co.

The virtual run is available for participants in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Those who are interested in joining can register through the MOVE app available on Google App and the App Store. Runners are required to choose which side they prefer: The Light Side or the Dark Side. The registration period is open until May 30, while the clock-in period is from May 4 to 31.

Two types of distances are available, namely 5.4 and 40 kilometers. Participants can join the run individually or as members of groups.

The MOVE app will track the distance and time of runs, and runners can also use any integrated trackers such as MapMyRun, Apple HealthKit and Google Fit.

The admission fees start at Rp 255,150 (US$ 18.67) for the 5.4 km category and Rp 408,240 for the 40 km category.

Following the registration process, starting from May 4, participants will be allowed to run on a treadmill or in their neighborhoods for several days as long as they complete the selected distance by May 31.

Finisher trophies will be delivered to participants who complete their distances, while those who opt for the 40 km category will also receive the limited edition 40th Anniversary Gold Darth Vader trophy alongside their finisher trophy. (wir/wng)
The Congress is ready to take part in the by-elections to panchayats in Jammu and Kashmir if its leaders are released and their free movement is ensured, senior party leader G A Mir said on Monday. Bypolls to over 12,500 panchayats in the union territory will be held in eight phases from March 5 to March 20.

We challenge the BJP and the government to ensure the release of all Congress leaders and allow their free movement with adequate security, the party is willing to take part in the ongoing elections, despite strong reservations over the mode and manner of unilaterally conducting these elections on party basis, without taking all recognised mainstream parties on board, J&K Congress president Mir told reporters here. Taking strong exception to the government unilaterally announcing the by-elections to panchayats on party basis, he said the first elections to these bodies were held on non-party basis but still the Congress is not averse to the bypolls and would contest it, if all our leaders are released and allowed all sorts of genuine political activities in a secure atmosphere.

Mir said even today he was not allowed to go to Kashmir despite giving a written request last evening to the administration.

It is a reality that over 12,500 seats, which is over 60 per cent seats in the Kashmir valley, remained unfilled in the last elections but the government had made tall claims of smooth and successful elections in the Kashmir region, he said. How elections on non-party basis and now on party basis are being held to the same institution, Mir asked.

He also accused the BJP of weakening the panchayat raj institutions during their tenure by making retrograde amendments to the Panchayat Act.
Investors from the EU will have opportunities to own higher stakes in Vietnamese banks than those from other countries under Viet Nams commitments in the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

Among high-profile names, Techcombank is expected to be the target of European investors.(Photo: Techcombank)

Under the EVFTA signed this week by the European Parliament, Vietnam and the EU have committed to facilitate the investment environment for businesses of the two sides, in which the first will allow the latters investors to enjoy an exception  holding up to 49 percent charter capital at two Vietnamese banks.

According to Vietnams existing legal regulations, the maximum rate of foreign ownership in a commercial bank is capped at only 30 percent.

The offer will apply only to joint stock banks, excluding BIDV, Vietinbank, Vietcombank and Agribank in which the State still holds the controlling stakes.

The offer will be valid for five years after the pact takes effect. After the five-year deadline, the offer expires, and any proposals will be rejected.

The implementation must also comply with all of Vietnams current regulations on procedures for mergers and acquisitions as well as safe and competitive conditions, including limits on the shareholding ratio applicable to each individual and institutional investor on the basis of national treatment. Currently, the stake owned by an individual foreign investor in a Vietnamese bank is capped at 5 percent and the maximum rate for a foreign institutional investor is 15 percent.

Experts believed European investors would eye banks which have some good criteria, such as clearing bad debts, focusing on core credit activities and meeting the State Bank of Vietnams standards.

In the list of top ten joint stock banks released last year, Techcombank, VPBank, and ACB took the leading positions, followed by TPBank, SHB, HDBank, Sacombank, VIB, MSB and SCB.

Foreign investors have shown interest in the Vietnamese banking and financial market in recent years, given the countrys population of nearly 100 million with only 30 percent of them having access to banking services.

Banking expert Nguyen Tri Hieu said that while it was hard for investors to own wholly foreign owned banks in Vietnam, especially after the Government stopped issuing new licences for the establishment of wholly-owned foreign banks in the country, the best option for foreign investors to enter the Vietnamese market now was through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) with local banks and financial firms.

In the current context, the most common way for foreign investors to enter the Vietnamese financial market is to acquire stakes in local banks or buy financial companies instead of establishing new ones, Hieu said, adding M&A would also help reduce many legal and procedural difficulties for foreign investors.

Therefore, instead of paying a huge amount and spending a lot of time establishing a new company, M&A with local partners has more advantages, especially when local banks are also expecting to raise capital from foreign shareholders to meet the central banks stricter capital requirements due to the underdevelopment of the domestic capital market, Hieu explained./.

Vietnams banks to be very busy in 2020: analysts The banks will have to complete the transitional period to meet Basel II standards and begin the race for Basel III, and will also have to list shares and compete fiercely in the digital transformation process.
Veteran stuntwoman Cheryl Sanders has been killed in a shootout on the driveway of her ex-husbands family home.

Ohio police arrived at the scene to find Sanders, 59, and her husband Richard Reed Sanders, 56, had both been shot by Lindsey Duncan, who said he was ambushed by the pair after returning home with his wife, Molly, last week (12 February).

Police are seeking surveillance video for information, but Greene County Sheriff Gene Fischer said the investigation hints that Cheryl  who was also armed  arrived at the residence after Reed had been shot.

Adrian King, a man who says he was a close friend of Reed Sanders, told Dayton Daily News that the couple were planning on confronting Sanders ex-husband about college funds for their daughters.

Duncans wife, Molly, reportedly told media: They said nothing and they started shooting at us.

Culture stars we lost in 2020 Show all 93 1 /93 Culture stars we lost in 2020 Culture stars we lost in 2020 Derek Acorah TV medium presenter Derek Acorah died aged 69 on 3 January, 2020 after suffering "a very brief illness". He was best known for presenting Most Haunted. Getty Images Culture stars we lost in 2020 Christopher Beeny 'Upstairs Downstairs' actor Christopher Beeny died aged 78 on 3 January, 2020. He also starred in 'In Loving Memory' and 'Last of the Summer Wine' alongside Thora Hird. Rex Features Culture stars we lost in 2020 Elizabeth Wurtzel American writer and journalist Elizabeth Wurtzel died aged 52 on 7 January, 2020. The author of Prozac Nation, who sparked a boom in confessional writing, had been suffering from cancer. Rex Features Culture stars we lost in 2020 Buck Henry The acclaimed screenwriter behind The Graduate and Get Smart died of a heart attack on 8 January, aged 89. He received critical acclaim for co-writing the 1967 Oscar-nominated film The Graduate, and also received a Best Director Academy Award nomination for the comedy Heaven Can Wait, alongside Warren Beatty. Getty Culture stars we lost in 2020 Harry Hains Actor Harry Hains starred in shows including The OA and American Horror Story, as well as working as a model and musician. He died aged 27, his mother confirmed on Instagram, after struggles with mental health and addiction. The cause of his death was not disclosed. Harry Hains / Instagram Culture stars we lost in 2020 Alexis Eddy Alexis Eddy was a contestant on season six of MTV's 'Are You the One?' She died after suffering a cardiac arrest on 9 January, aged 23. Instagram Culture stars we lost in 2020 Edd Byrnes Edd Byrnes played smooth-talking dance contest host Vince Fontaine in 1978 musical 'Grease'. He died suddenly on 8 January. Culture stars we lost in 2020 Stan Kirsch Stan Kirsch, who starred in the Highlander TV series and in an episode of Friends, died on 11 January at his Los Angeles home. He played Richie Ryan in Highlander: The Series and Monica's underage love interest Ethan in the season one Friends episode 'The One With the Ick Factor'. YouTube Culture stars we lost in 2020 Derek Fowlds Derek Fowlds died on 17 January, aged 82. The British star was best known for playing Bernard Wooley in Yes Minister and its spin-off Yes Prime Minister, as well as Sgt Oscar Blaketon in Heartbeat. Rex Culture stars we lost in 2020 Jim Lehrer Jim Lehrer, the famed host of PBS NewsHour, died at the age of 85 "peacefully in his sleep", according to the network. Lehrer was also a frequent debate moderator during elections. David McNew/Getty Images Culture stars we lost in 2020 Tyler Gwozdz Tyler Gwozdz died of a suspected drug overdose aged 29 on 13 January 2020. He appeared on US reality series 'The Bachelorette' in 2019 ABC Culture stars we lost in 2020 Terry Jones Monty Python co-creator, writer, actor and director of 'Life of Brian' Terry Jones died aged 77 on 21 January 2020. Culture stars we lost in 2020 Nicholas Parsons Broadcaster Nicholas Parsons died aged of 96 on 28 January after a short illness. He presented BBC Radio 4's Just a Minute and popular ITV game show Sale of the Century. Getty Culture stars we lost in 2020 Kirk Douglas Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas died aged 103 on 5 February. United Artists Culture stars we lost in 2020 Raphael Coleman Raphael Coleman, who starred in Nanny McPhee, died at the age of 25 on 6 February. Getty Images Culture stars we lost in 2020 Orson Bean Veteran actor Orson Bean, who appeared in more than 100 TV shows and films over a career that spanned over six decades, died aged 91 after being struck by two cars in Venice, California. Rex Culture stars we lost in 2020 Joseph Shabalala Shabalala, the founder of the South African group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, died in February aged 78. He is known around the world for leading one of the most recognised acts from South Africa. AP Photo/Joseph Kaczmarek Culture stars we lost in 2020 Caroline Flack Caroline Flack died on 15 February, aged 40. The presenter was best known for presenting Love Island. Getty Culture stars we lost in 2020 Nikita Pearl Galigwa Child star Nikita Pearl Waligwa, who appeared in Disney film Queen of Katwe, died aged 15 on 16 February. Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Culture stars we lost in 2020 Jason Davis Former child star Jason Davis, who voiced Recess character Mikey Blumberg, died aged 35 on 16 February. Getty Images Culture stars we lost in 2020 Andrew Weatherall The DJ and musician Andrew Weatherall died 17 February at the age of 56. A pioneer in the genres of acid house and electronica, Weatherall produced albums, remixed musicians and worked as a DJ, artist and journalist. He died "swiftly and peacefully" in a London hospital, his management confirmed, after experiencing a pulmonary embolism. John Barrett Culture stars we lost in 2020 Esther Scott The actor Esther Scott died on 18 February aged 66 after suffering a heart attack. She's remembered for her roles in Boyz n the Hood, Hart of Dixie, and many other programmes including Beverly Hills, 90210, Full House, Melrose Place, The King of Queens, Sister, Sister, 7th Heaven, and ER. Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images for Sundance Film Festival Culture stars we lost in 2020 Pop Smoke Rapper Pop Smoke was "shot and killed" in a suspected armed burglary on 19 February when he was just 20. Getty Culture stars we lost in 2020 James Lipton James Lipton, host of Inside the Actors Studio, died on 2 March from bladder cancer. He was 93. Getty Images Culture stars we lost in 2020 Max von Sydow Oscar-nominated actor Max von Sydow, best known for roles in The Seventh Seal, The Exorcist, Flash Gordon and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, died on 8 March aged 90. He also played the Three-Eyed Raven in Game of Thrones. Getty Culture stars we lost in 2020 Roy Hudd Actor, comedian and entertainer Roy Hudd died 16 March at the age of 83. Hudds death was confirmed by his agent. We are sad to announce the passing of the much-loved and amazingly talented Roy Hudd OBE, his agents statement read. After a short illness, Roy passed away peacefully on Sunday 15 March, with his wife Debbie at his side. Hudd found fame as a comedian, before transitioning into radio and screen acting. He hosted the BBC Radio 2 satire The News Huddlines from 1975 until 2001, and voiced Max Quordlepleen in the original radio production of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. On television he starred in Dennis Potters acclaimed mini-series Lipstick on Your Collar, and made appearances on Coronation Street, Ashes to Ashes and Call the Midwife. Stuart C Wilson/Getty Images Culture stars we lost in 2020 Lyle Waggoner Lyle Waggoner died on 17 March after battling an illness at the age of 84. He was best known for his roles on The Carol Burnett Show and Wonder Woman. Getty Images Culture stars we lost in 2020 Mark Blum The actor, who starred in 'Desperately Seeking Susan' and recently appeared in 'YOU' as bookstore owner Mr Mooney, died of coronavirus complications in March. He was 69 years old. Alli Harvey/Getty Images Culture stars we lost in 2020 Andrew Jack A dialect coach for many actors who himself starred in two Star Wars films, Andrew Jack died in March of coronavirus complications. He worked on many high-profile films, leaving a mark on franchises such as Lord of the Rings and Avengers. Disney + / Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Culture stars we lost in 2020 Bill Withers US singer-songwriter Bill Withers, whose hits included Lean On Me, Lovely Day and Aint No Sunshine, died aged 81 on 30 March. Mike Coppola/Getty Images Culture stars we lost in 2020 Adam Schlesinger Adam Schlesinger, the Fountains of Wayne bass player and co-songwriter, died of coronavirus on 1 April aged 52. His song credits included "Stacy's Mom" and the Oscar-nominated title song from Tom Hanks film That Thing You Do (1996). Rex Features Culture stars we lost in 2020 Eddie Large Eddie Large died on 2 April aged 78 after contracting coronavirus in hospital, his agent confirmed. He had been suffering from heart failure. Rex Culture stars we lost in 2020 Honor Blackman Honor Blackman, best known for her iconic roles as Bond girl Pussy Galore in Goldfinger and Cathy Gale in The Avengers, died 6 April at the age of 94. In a statement, her family confirmed she died of natural causes in Lewes, Sussex. Outside of her two star-making roles, Blackmans credits included Jason and the Argonauts, Bridget Joness Diary and the Nineties sitcom The Upper Hand. Danjaq/Eon/Ua/Kobal/Shutterstock Culture stars we lost in 2020 Tim Brooke-Taylor Comedian and actor Tim Brooke-Taylor, best known as a member of the Goodies, died on 12 April at the age of 79 after contracting coronavirus. Getty Culture stars we lost in 2020 Shirley Knight The actor, whose work in 'The Dark at the Top of the Stairs' and 'Sweet Bird of Youth' earned her two Oscar nominations, died in April aged 83. In recent years, she starred as Bree Van de Kamp's mother-in-law Phyllis Van de Kamp in 'Desperate Housewives'. Larry Busacca/Getty Images Culture stars we lost in 2020 Fred the Godson The prominent New York rapper, who collaborated with the likes of Diddy, Pusha T and Jay Pharoah, died in April aged 35. He had previously said on social media he was being treated for Covid-19. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images Culture stars we lost in 2020 Lynn Faulds Wood Lynn Faulds Wood, best known for presenting Watchdog, died on 24 April after suffering a stroke. Wood helped to create the worlds first evidence-based guide to symptoms of bowel cancer, and the guide was officially adopted by the Department of Health in Britain in 2000. Getty Images Culture stars we lost in 2020 Irrfan Khan The actor and Bollywood icon Irrfan Khan died on 29 April at the age of 53. Khan was hospitalised in Mumbai after suffering a kidney infection. He had been fighting infeneuroendocrine cancer since 2018. In a statement, a spokesperson said: Its saddening that this day, we have to bring forward the news of him passing away. Irrfan was a strong soul, someone who fought till the very end and always inspired everyone who came close to him." Khan appeared in films including The Warrior (2001), Life of Pi (2012), Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and The Amazing Spider-Man (2012). Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for DIFF Culture stars we lost in 2020 Cady Groves The US singer/songwriter Cady Groves died on 2 April at the age of 30. Groves' death was confirmed by her brother as being a result of natural causes, following the spreading of "twisted misinformation" about her death. The medical examiner has completed [an] autopsy and there was no indication of foul play or self harm. Simply put, Cady Groves died of natural causes. She had some medical problems last fall and our best guess at this point until further testing is complete is that they had resurfaced. Please respect her name and family before sharing information that did not come directly from here. Groves was best known for her singles "This Little Girl" and "Oil and Water". Vel Records Culture stars we lost in 2020 John Mahon The actor, who played a language laboratory director in The Exorcist and also starred in LA Confidential, died aged 82 on 3 May. Amazon Prime / Warner Bros Pictures Culture stars we lost in 2020 Florian Schneider The death of Florian Schneider, the co-founder of Kraftwerk, was reported on 6 May. He formed the acclaimed German electronic band with Ralf Hutter in 1970 and, over four decades, released 10 studio albums, including the seminal five-track record Autobahn (1974). A friend of Schneider's said he had been diagnosed with cancer. Rex Culture stars we lost in 2020 Brian Howe Brian Howe, the lead singer of Bad Company, died on 6 May at the age of 66. The musician, who was the British supergroups main vocalist, is said by a family member to have died from cardiac arrest on his way to hospital. Culture stars we lost in 2020 Ty The rapper died in May aged 47 after contracting Covid-19. Born Ben Chijioke in London to Nigerian parents, Ty was a beloved member of the British hip hop scene. PA Culture stars we lost in 2020 Little Richard The legendary pioneer of rock'n'roll died aged 87 from bone cancer on Saturday 9 May. Born in Georgia, US, Little Richard enjoyed a string of hits in the Fifties including 'Tutti Frutti' and 'Long Tall Sally', and inspired a generation of artists including The Beatles, David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, and Prince. AFP/Getty Culture stars we lost in 2020 Corey La Barrie YouTube star Corey La Barrie was killed in a car crash in Los Angeles on his 25th birthday, on Sunday 10 May. Instagram/Corey La Barrie Culture stars we lost in 2020 Michel Piccoli The French actor, who made history in films such as Jean-Luc Godards 'Le Mepris', died on 12 May aged 94. VALERY HACHE/AFP via Getty Images Culture stars we lost in 2020 Ken Osmond The 'Leave It to Beaver' star, who portrayed the iconic Eddie Haskell, died on 18 May at the age of 76. Kevin Winter/Getty Images Culture stars we lost in 2020 Richard Herd The actor, who played Mr Wilhelm on 'Seinfeld', died on 26 May aged 87. Sony Pictures Television Culture stars we lost in 2020 Bonnie Pointer The singer, a founding member of the Pointer Sisters, died aged 69 on 8 June. Leon Bennett/Getty Images Culture stars we lost in 2020 Dame Vera Lynn Dame Vera Lynn, the British singer whose songs were hugely popular during the Second World War, died aged 103 on 18 June. Culture stars we lost in 2020 Ian Holm Veteran English actor Ian Holm died on 19 June at the age of 88. The theatre-trained actor, who appeared as Ash in Alien and Bilbo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings, was Oscar-nominated for his role in 1981 film Chariots of Fire. Getty Images Culture stars we lost in 2020 Carl Reiner The comedy pioneer, who created 'The Dick Van Dyke Show', died aged 98 on 29 June. Charley Gallay/Getty Images for TCM Culture stars we lost in 2020 Louis Mahoney The actor and anti-racism campaigner, who starred in 'Doctor Who' and 'Fawlty Towers', died in June aged 81. Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Culture stars we lost in 2020 Nick Cordero Broadway actor Nick Cordero died on 6 July from coronavirus at the age of 41, after battling the illness for 95 days. Corderos wife Amanda Kloots, who had been chronicling her husbands condition on social media, confirmed the news. God has another angel in heaven now, Kloots posted on her Instagram. My darling husband passed away this morning. He was surrounded in love by his family, singing and praying as he gently left this earth. Getty Images Culture stars we lost in 2020 Naya Rivera Glee star Naya Rivera drowned in Lake Piru by accident on 8 July, aged 33. (2020 Getty Images) Culture stars we lost in 2020 Ennio Morricone Italian film composer Ennio Morricone died on 6 July at the age of 91. His credits include Sergio Leone films A fistful of Dollars and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly as well as The Thing, The Untouchables and The Hateful Eight. AFP via Getty Images Culture stars we lost in 2020 Kelly Preston Kelly Preston, best known for her roles in Twins and Jerry Maguire, died after a two-year battle with breast cancer on 12 July, aged 57. She was the wife of John Travolta. Culture stars we lost in 2020 Grant Imahara Grant Imahara, the host of MythBusters and Netflix series White Rabbit Project, died on 13 July, aged 49. The electrical engineer and robotocist died suddenly from a brain aneurysm. Rex Features Culture stars we lost in 2020 Galyn Gorg Twin Peaks and Fresh Prince of Bel Air actor Galyn Gorg died on 14 July, aged 55 Instagram Culture stars we lost in 2020 Haruma Miura Haruma Mirua, the Japanese actor known for playing Eren Jaegar in the adventure film Attack on Titan, died on 18 July, aged 30. Rex Culture stars we lost in 2020 Michael Brooks Michael Brooks, the host of political web series The Michael Books Show and The Majority Report, died of "a sudden medical condition" on 20 July, aged 37. YouTube Culture stars we lost in 2020 Demitra Roche Bad Girls Club star Demitra Mimi Roche, nicknamed the Miami Maverick, died on 20 July, aged 34 Twitter Culture stars we lost in 2020 Tim Smith Cardiacs frontman Tim Smith died from a heart attack on 21 July, aged 58 Cardiacs Culture stars we lost in 2020 Olivia de Havilland Gone with the Wind star Olivia de Havilland died on. 26July, aged 104. Getty Culture stars we lost in 2020 Chris Needs BBC Radio Wales presenter Chris Needs died from a heart condition on 26 July, aged 66. BBC Culture stars we lost in 2020 Malik B Malik B, a longtime member of The Roots, died on 29 July, aged 47. @mpozitolbertphotography / Courtesy of The Roots Culture stars we lost in 2020 Sir Alan Parker Sir Alan Parker, the director films including Bugsy Malone and Evita, died on 31 July, aged 76. Stuart Wilson/Getty Culture stars we lost in 2020 Wilford Brimley Cocoon star Wilford Brimley died on 1 August, aged 85. He had been ill with a kidney condition for two months. Rex Culture stars we lost in 2020 Tony Morris Acclaimed broadcaster Tony Morris hosted the regional ITV news series for 17 years. He died on 1 August, aged 57. Culture stars we lost in 2020 Daisy Coleman Netflix star Daisy Coleman, the subject of documentary Audrie & Daisy, died by suicide on 4 August, aged 23. Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Sundance Film Festival Culture stars we lost in 2020 Linda Manz Linda Manz, who appeared in Terrence Malick's 1978 film Days of Heaven, died from lung cancer on 14 August, aged 58. Rex Features Culture stars we lost in 2020 Ben Cross Ben Cross at an event on 25 February 2011 in West Hollywood, California. David Livingston/Getty Images Culture stars we lost in 2020 Chi Chi DeVayne Chi Chi DeVayne onstage during the finale party for RuPaul's Drag Race season eight in 2016 Getty Images Culture stars we lost in 2020 Justin Townes Earle Justin Townes Earle performs onstage in Indio, California in 2013 Culture stars we lost in 2020 Joe Ruby Ruby launched the beloved cartoon with co-creator Ken Spears in 1969 Culture stars we lost in 2020 Chadwick Boseman Boseman died aged 43 in August 2020 Getty Culture stars we lost in 2020 Bruce Williamson AFP via Getty Images Culture stars we lost in 2020 Dame Diana Rigg La estrella de James Bond Diana Rigg, que murio a la edad de 82 anos, en el Festival de Cine de Cannes en 2019 AFP via Getty Images Culture stars we lost in 2020 Toots Hibbert Toots Hibbert has died just weeks after releasing his final album Getty Images Culture stars we lost in 2020 Helen Reddy Obit Helen Reddy Culture stars we lost in 2020 Frank Windsor Frank Windsor was best known for his role in the hit BBC series 'Z-Cars' Rex Features Culture stars we lost in 2020 presidency-numbers-4.jpg Thomas Jefferson is said to be the cleverest of all US presidents Public domain Culture stars we lost in 2020 Clark Middleton 'The Blacklist' actor Clark Middleton has died of West Nile Virus AFP via Getty Images Culture stars we lost in 2020 Margaret Nolan Sean Connery with Margaret Nolan in Goldfinger Rex Culture stars we lost in 2020 Johnny Nash Johnny Nash YouTube Culture stars we lost in 2020 Paul Matters Steve Cowley, Peter De Jong, Paul Matters Armageddon Culture stars we lost in 2020 Spencer Davis Britain Obit Spencer Davis 1966 AP Culture stars we lost in 2020 Frank Bough Frank Bough y Selina Scott, los presentadores de BBC Breakfast Time. PA Culture stars we lost in 2020 Sir Sean Connery Sean Connery in The Untouchables' Rex Features Culture stars we lost in 2020 Bobby Ball.jpg Bobby Ball as Frank in Not Going Out' BBC Culture stars we lost in 2020 Archie Lyndhurst Archie Lyndhurst, the son of 'Only Fools and Horses' actor Nicholas Lyndhurst, has died Instagram Culture stars we lost in 2020 Ben Watkins Fox Entertainment Group Culture stars we lost in 2020 Thomas Jefferson Byrd (left) Thomas Jefferson Byrd and Spike Lee Getty

According to Duncan, a man wearing a mask and hoodie held a gun near his wifes head.

Whatever happened after that was instinct, he is reported to have told media at a news conference following the incident, adding: The most difficult of this whole process  besides listening to my wife say, Im going to die, theyre going to kill me  is having to tell my two daughters that their mothers been shot,

While the case remains under investigation, the initial report from the sheriffs office has registered the case as a justifiable homicide.

Sanders credits as stuntwoman include Die Hard 2, Lethal Weapon, The Thomas Crown Affair and Charlies Angels.

New York Daily News reports that her career was cut short due to an injury sustained on the set of Back to the Future Part II in 1989.

Sanders is said to have stunt doubled for Nicole Kidman, Sandra Bullock, Cameron Diaz and Jessica Alba.
Lagos, Nigeria; 17thFebruary, 2020: Ikeja Electric Plc (IE), Nigerias leading electricity distribution company has donated an ultramodern phototherapy machine and clinical supplies to General Hospital, Ikorodu, as part of its CSR activities towards improvement of healthcare.

At the presentation held at the hospital, Ikeja Electric team comprising staff from the Headquarters in Ikeja and Ikorodu Business Unit presented the items to management of the Hospital in Ikorodu. The companys Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), Mrs. Enobong Ezekiel, expressed the Discos unwavering commitment to positively impact on lives and give back to the society.

Mrs. Ezekiel said: Ikeja Electric is a customer centric organization and it means that we are also committed to ensuring that we make impact on communities where we operate; that is why we are here. Today is significant to us too, as the entire world is celebrating love. For us at Ikeja Electric, our theme this year is Clean Love. So, we are celebrating pure love and saying no to drugs, as well.

Being here today is motivated by love. And to donate the phototherapy equipment and clinical items to the Paediatric Unit is something significant that will add value to what already exist in the hospital. Ikeja Electric has also come to appreciate the management and staff for providing healthcare services to the neighbourhood and residents of Ikorodu town. We love the fact that you are our customer. And we have come to do our community service.

While commending Ikeja Electric, Dr. Olufunmilayo Bankole, the Medical Director, General Hospital Ikorodu said: Ikeja Electric today gave us a donation of a phototherapy machine. As a hospital we are really elated to receive them, we are very happy that we have other organizations who like to partner with government to make healthcare service in Lagos State much better than it is currently.

That phototherapy machine given us today is going to serve a lot of children in treating Jaundice. And we believe that if we are able to treat more people, we will be able to have a better health in our population in Lagos State. This phototherapy machine is going to go a long way in making a difference in the lives of these children.

We want to say congratulations to Ikeja Electric. This is a noble cause. We know if they continue to do this as well as other agencies or individuals, who would like to partner with government to improve healthcare services in Lagos state, we will really welcome them to Ikorodu General Hospital., she added.

Speaking on the PCSR initiatives, Felix Ofulue, Head of Corporate Communications, Ikeja Electric, said: As a business, we are very passionate about giving back to the society in which we operate. A lot of people know us as power distribution company, but beyond that there are many other things we do.

One of them is CSR, which is predicated on three pillars  education, empowerment and health. This is one of the interventions for us to give back to the society. The selection of today is very deliberate because it is a day when love is expressed all over the world and we felt that this is another way of demonstrating love especially to children in Ikorodu, he explained.

The presentation of the medical equipment and clinical supplies was done at childrens ward of the hospital.
MONTREAL, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Datavalet Technologies Inc. ("Datavalet"), a leader in wireless network management, and its majority investor Alpine Growth Partners LP ("AGP"), a Canadian private investment firm, are pleased to announce the expansion of Datavalet's growth strategy with a focus on mergers and acquisitions of owner-operated managed network services companies. This shift will aid in the acceleration of both product and commercial strategies as the company continues to grow its influence in the global Wi-Fi and network management industry.

To support this acquisition strategy, AGP has brought on long-term ally Stephane Boisvert from Datavalet's Board of Directors as the new Chief Executive Officer of Datavalet. Stephane brings industry expertise, leadership in rapid growth contexts and expansive network to the C-suite. AGP Managing Partners and Datavalet Co-Presidents Daniel Forest and Toby Chang have also pivoted their operating roles to further support organic and M&A growth, moving into the positions of Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer within Datavalet, respectively.

"Stephane brings commercial acumen, demonstrated success in driving value through mergers and acquisitions, and an essential understanding of the business to the table," said Daniel Forest, CFO of Datavalet and Managing Partner of AGP. "We see incredible promise in merger and acquisition opportunities and with Stephane at the table leading our management team, we have the bench strength for enhanced coordination, execution, and successful integration of acquisitions."

As a private equity-backed, strategic acquirer in the network management sector, Datavalet is seeking to scale independent network managed services firms beyond typical growth constraints and hurdles. "In further building out the market leader in capabilities and effectiveness in the managed network services space, we're looking to work with highly experienced network engineers and founders that want to take their business and customers to the next level, while safeguarding their financial security," continued Daniel Forest. "Our channel partner distribution model, in-house development capabilities, exceptional team and financial backing allow us to arrange real win-wins with owner-operators."

"We are very excited to have Stephane Boisvert joining the Datavalet team as CEO and believe his repertoire as a proven leader will only benefit the accelerated organic growth strategy," said Toby Chang, COO of Datavalet and Managing Partner of AGP. "Cultivating a strong team in an acquisitive context is the natural next step forward in Datavalet's rapid evolution. As the company prepares to take on an additional level of strategic growth, its aim remains the same: to cement Datavalet's place as a global, independent leader in Wi-Fi and network managed solutions."

About Datavalet

Datavalet is a managed Wi-Fi and branch network services and SaaS provider for multi-location businesses seeking to drive customer engagement and loyalty, while containing costs and maximizing performance. As a responsive single point of contact, we provide end-to-end services that address managed branch network needs, allowing our customers to concentrate on their core business. By leveraging our team's consultative insights, we enable marketing, IT and operations teams alike to drive improved customer experience and harness analytics to increase sales and improve efficiency. Your Network, Your Branches, Your Customers. datavalet.com

About Alpine Growth Partners

AGP invests in and grows small- to medium-sized businesses in Canada and the United States. Partnering with highly experienced managers and investors, its approach is to fuel growth through hands-on involvement in the business. AGP assembled a team of world-class entrepreneurs, operating executives and investors that share a common passion for growing small to mid-sized companies in North America and beyond. Its investor group includes many accomplished business leaders, providing the vision, expertise, discipline, and experience necessary to enhance the long-term value of the companies AGP partners with.

For additional information, please visit or contact:

Datavalet Technologies Inc.

Donna Zamiska

Marketing Director

514 385-4448 #290

[email protected]

datavalet.com

Alpine Growth Partners LP

Daniel Forest

Managing Partner

514-385-4448 #273

[email protected]

alpinegp.ca

Photo(s):

https://www.prlog.org/12810474

Press release distributed by PRLog

SOURCE Datavalet

Related Links

https://datavalet.com


Workers most want employers to provide a reliable place to park their car and a convenient creche spot for their child, not other luxury bells and whistles, according to a nationwide survey.

The poll by Accuracy Market Research asked 1,001 adults to pick the most important facility they expect from their employer. Such issues matter in an Ireland where, amid record-high employment levels, firms and recruiters say finding and retaining staff has grown increasingly difficult.

The survey found that 41pc most want a dedicated parking space, while 25pc dream of an on-site creche service. Both reflect the daily struggle many commuting workers face when trying to drop or collect children and reach their workplace in time.

"The frivolous gimmicks that spring to mind when you think about an early 21st century workplace simply aren't what people want," said Colin MacDonald, chief executive of business parks specialist Fine Grain Property, which sponsored the survey.

"They want to be able to get to work easily and be able to park when they get there. They want facilities for their children, making it easier for parents to return to work," he said. "People also want gym facilities, allowing the pursuit of a healthy lifestyle during working hours."

The polling firm also asked workers to identify the best services that employers could offer to strengthen their office environment.

More than two-thirds picked a good kitchen, 64pc free parking, 55pc regular social events, 44pc communal recreation space, 39pc workspace "away from my desk", 37pc subsidised childcare and 33pc an on-site gym.
Two long-established Christian elementary schools announced this week that they are joining forces under one roof.

Light & Life Christian School will integrate its preschool through eighth grade student body with Grace Lutheran School. Both schools posted letters to families on Facebook, and Grace Lutheran posted additional information on its website. Calls to the schools were unsuccessful Friday afternoon.

According to Grace Lutherans announcement, Light & Life officials reached out to Grace a few weeks ago to weigh the possibility of joining its organization. Light & Life officials had decided not to renew its lease  which expires at the end of June  after more than a year of negotiations and looking at other sites.

Grace Leadership has agreed to work with Light and Life to make a home here for both the students and staff of Light and Life, Grace Lutheran School said it in its announcement.  Our vision is to partner to integrate the best aspects of both schools to enhance and extend Grace Lutheran School, making us stronger than either school could be alone.

Advertisement

Light & Life, established in 1955, separated from the Free Methodist Church in 2012 and operated independently on leased properties on Ash Street and Oak Hill Drive. Grace Lutheran School, on West 13th Avenue, opened in 1957. Grace Lutheran, with an enrollment of 60 in preschool and 150 in K-8, will be incorporating a larger school. Light & Life has 120 preschoolers and 230 K-8 students.

Light & Life said the partnership is economically and culturally the best move for both organizations, with Grace Lutheran planning to integrate all Light & Life students and administrators and most staff members. The hiring of additional teachers is likely, the schools said.

While Grace Lutheran has housed an enrollment of several hundred in the past, the school said some campus reconfiguration is needed to accommodate the influx of students.

The schools have established an Integration Management Team, with four Grace Lutheran and three Light & Life leaders. Grace Lutherans current principal, Ben Elliott, will remain in that role.

Open house forums for parents are planned for the week of Feb. 2.
At least 15 children were killed in a fire at an unlicensed Haiti orphanage run by a US-based religious nonprofit group. The fire swept overnight, beginning on Thursday evening, burning the Orphanage of the Church of Bible Understanding in Port Au Prince. Two children died in the fire, while 13 others died in the hospital due to smoke inhalation.

A child who lived in the orphanage said they were using candles because the generator was not working. Fire officials are now investigating whether it could have started the flames. According to Haiti's chief of child protection for UNICEF Jennifer Melton, about 60 children survived the fire.

Orphanage of the Church of Bible Understanding

The Orphanage of the Church of Bible Understanding has been operating without any license or authorization from the Haiti government since 1977. According to their website, the orphanage initially housed 6 children when it started 40 years ago with their primary goal "to spread the Gospel to any and all who will receive it." They now own 2 houses with 150 children. They also started supporting smaller houses in Haiti with food deliveries and aid.

Operating Without a License?

Authorization to operate was stripped from the facility after inspection said it did not meet basic standards. The living conditions were described as "truly neglected" with the children "living like animals." The building also lacked fire extinguishers.

In a tweet by Haiti's President Jovenel Moise, he said he was "deeply moved" by the death of the children. He also asked officials to "adopt urgent measures" to determine the cause of the blaze.

Je suis profondement emu par la mort d'une dizaine d'enfants, suite a l'incendie declare hier soir dans les locaux de l'orphelinat Comprehension de la Bible, situe a Fermathe. J'enjoins les autorites competentes a adopter des mesures urgentes pour etablir les causes de ce drame.  President Jovenel Moise (@moisejovenel) February 14, 2020

Survivors of the fire will be placed in a transit center while the Institute for Social Welfare will tries to reconnect the children with their parents.

Orphanages in Haiti

Orphanages in Haiti are called children's centers, often housing children who have a living parent who can't financially support them.

These orphanages grew in demand after the 2010 Haiti earthquake that killed thousands of people. Of the 754 institutions, only 35 are officially authorized to run. The government has barred more from opening and has closed roughly 160 over the last five years.

Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world, with nearly 60% of its inhabitants barely surviving on less than $2.40 a day.

Many Haitian parents send their children to orphanages or wealthy individuals due to poverty and lack of access to basic healthcare and other services. Those children are often taken in as servants and neglected proper education.

In a report written by Lumos, a charity founded by author JK Rowling, physical and sexual abuse is also rampant in the orphanages. Some are trafficked into orphanages to attract investors and wealthy individuals to donate. The charity was founded in an aim to remove children from neglected orphanages and reconnect them with their families.

According to Lumos, more than 760 orphanages in Haiti house 30,000 children. However, only 15% of these facilities are officially registered and authorized.

JK Rowling hopes to end the institutionalization of children. In an October 2019 conference, Rowling has called on young people to stop volunteering in overseas orphanages who might be cruel to children.

She also urged young people to stop "orphanage tourism", once a trend where tourists help in orphanages as part of their travel experience.
LONDON, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Since the last CoinGeek Conference (Seoul, October 2019) Bitcoin SV now has consistently more transactions than BTC and with the recent Genesis upgrade has almost limitless scalabilityBSV currently has the record for largest blocks mined on public.

BSV is the only blockchain project massively scaling to support high transaction volume, keep fees super low to enable micro-payments and micro-transactions, and provide bigger data capacity for enterprise uses.

The conference will highlight the stunning growth of the Bitcoin SV (BSV) ecosystem, the fastest growing blockchain ever, and its ability to enable enterprise applications for banking, gaming, social media, supply chain, healthcare, artificial intelligence and more.

As a result more than 800 delegates will be heading to Old Billingsgate in London to hear the likes of globally renowned economist and author George Gilder, Fundstrat's Tom Lee, Swiss National Bank's Thomas Moser and Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales all with differing opinions and visions for the future of blockchain technology.

There will also be presentations from BitCoin creator Dr Craig Wright, Cryptographer Ian Grigg and many others who are building solutions on the Bitcoin SV blockchain right now. Both days will be hosted by the irrepressible Jimmy Nguyen, Founding President of the Bitcoin Association.

If anyone can't make it to London they will miss Calvin Ayre's after party but they don't need to miss any of the speakers. The live stream will be open for business in both Chinese and English on the CoinGeek London homepage.

SOURCE CoinGeek
Vegemite lovers have been locked in heated debate over the perfect amount to spread on toast ever since a photo showing six options was shared on the social media forum Reddit.

Six slices of bread loaded with varying volumes of the iconic Australian spread are laid out in the picture, ranging from one - which leaves a tiny smattering across the centre - to six, which coats the entire slice in a thick black layer.

The photo was posted anonymously with the caption: 'Your answer to this should be mandatory on your Tinder profile'.

People have been choosing their favourite style, with the fifth version - which covers almost every inch of the bread except its outermost corners in a thin layer - proving most popular so far.

Vegemite lovers have been locked in heated debate over the perfect amount to spread on toast since this photo showing six options was shared on social media forum Reddit

Poll What do you think is the right amount? 1 2 3 4 5 6 What do you think is the right amount? 1 13 votes

2 25 votes

3 152 votes

4 168 votes

5 108 votes

6 38 votes Now share your opinion





While opinion remains divided about the perfect quantity, the vast majority feel Vegemite should always be eaten with butter and spread evenly across bread, rather than concentrated in a single spot in the middle.

Versions one to three proved the most controversial, with one woman going so far as to call the lightly covered options 'sacrilegious'.

'Not buttering to the edges is sacrilege. Also, don't trust anyone who prefers anything before number two,' she said.

One man joked that any Australian who answered lower than number five should have their citizenship revoked and be deported immediately.

Almost everyone took issue with the apparent absence of butter from any of the six options.

'Wouldn't eat any of these - where's the butter?' one man asked.

Fanatics suggested going further than the sixth option, shunning bread by eating Vegemite with a spoon straight from the jar.

Others said their perfect Vegemite sandwich requires smashed avocado and melted cheese, and must always be made with toast rather than plain soft bread.
The family of a 20-year-old Derry man shot dead by the British Army in 1973 is currently gathering witness testimonies in a renewed effort to clear his name.

Robert McGuinness was shot in heavily disputed circumstances close to his home at Brandywell Avenue around 1am on June 22, 1973.

The British Army contended that he had pointed a revolver at the open back doors of one of their vehicles before being shot by a soldier. No weapon was recovered by the Army, according to an RUC report at the time seen by the Derry News.

Local residents always maintained that Robert was unarmed and he was shot from the back door of a Saracen at close range. He died at Altnagelvin Hospital from his injuries four days later on June 26.

Its understood there was no trouble in the district at the time apart from some shouting at soldiers.

However, records show that on the previous night British Army bomb-disposal expert Barry Gritten (29) was killed by a booby trap bomb in an unoccupied building on Lecky Road.

As a result of the republican attack, tensions remained very high in the district the following day.

Virtually nothing of Robert McGuinness killing or death was recorded in the local press. There is a sense that the deceased man has become a forgotten victim of the conflict

Court documents revealed that the inquest into Robert McGuinness death recorded an Open Verdict. This means the verdict records that a death is suspicious but that it was not possible for a jury to reach any other verdict.

So, in the case of Robert McGuinness this left open the possibility that he was, as said by the man who fired the bullet that killed him, brandishing a revolver at the time he was shot.

His brother Tony, who is Roberts last remaining direct relative, and Tonys daughter, Kathleen McGuinness, have fought to clear his name over the years. Speaking to the Derry News this week, Kathleen said: We are trying to get witnesses who were there that night, there are three in particular who were trying to get hold of, and we have been in contact with a couple of them.

One of the witnesses sons got in touch me and he is trying to get his father to contact our solicitor. I believe he gave a statement at the time but it has to be done again now.

Were also trying to get a dossier that was written by John Hume, weve been trying to get it for months, and we have contacted the SDLP about it.

Kathleen launched a Facebook appeal calling on witnesses to come forward. A number of people have gotten in touch with her who believe they may be able to assist with enquiries.

An older woman who was a witness at the time is believed to have passed away.

The family would like a fresh inquest to clear Roberts name of any wrongdoing. Theyve maintained that Robert went out to shoot somebody that night, he wasnt, Robert was coming home from a disco that night.

Kathleen continued: He was unarmed and they shot him. Its believed it was in retaliation for something that happened the night before where a member of the British Army was blown up.

My daddy wants Roberts name cleared, and justice for his brother.

Family solicitor, Eugene Burns, of Quigley Grant & Kyle Solicitors commented: The Attorney General's decision whether to exercise his power to consider whether a new inquest into the death of Robert McGuinness is advisable and whether to direct a new inquest remains outstanding.

Time has been permitted by the Attorney General for further submissions on behalf of Mr. McGuinness' family to be made.

These submissions have been held in abeyance pending the availability of additional witness statements and whether an alleged dossier gathered by John Hume of witness testimonies in relation to the killing of Robert McGuinness has come to light.

It has previously been reported that Mr Hume handed that dossier to the NIO in the months following the killing of Robert McGuinness. We have written to both the Government and the SDLP and will be contacting both again this week for their reply.
by Nirmala Carvalho

The 32nd Plenary Assembly of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India-Latin Church is underway. The president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India condemns a new abortion bill. Bishop of Lucknow reiterates the importance of dialogue. A new English Lectionary and Querida Amazonia are presented.

Mumbai (AsiaNews)  Archbishop Oswald Gracias of Mumbai yesterday reiterated that Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. The Church has been unwavering in its protection of the sanctity of human life, from conception until natural death.

Card Gracias, who chairs the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), made the statement in his address to the 32nd plenary of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI)-Latin Church, currently underway in Bengaluru (Bangalore).

In his address, the prelate again condemned abortion as well as Indias new abortion bill, which extends the period to end a pregnancy to 24 weeks. Bishops have the responsibility to spread Christs message about the dignity of all human life, he said.

Giambattista Diquattro, Apostolic Nuncio to India and Nepal, opened the plenary assembly. He invited the faithful to live every aspect of their daily in accordance with Gospel values.

The followers of Christ, he noted, have the responsibility to promote the Gospel values of mercy and compassion. The Bishops in our country should encourage the faithful to deepen the values of the Gospel in their lives.

Bishop Gerald John Mathias of Lucknow told AsiaNews that dialogue is an inevitable imperative and an urgency particularly in situations where there is a climate of distrust, suspicion and intolerance. When there are adversaries and hostile people, there is a greater need for dialogue.

In his view, the Catholic Church must be in the forefront of dialogue and make situations conducive for dialogue; eventually, people will witness that dialogue is creating a new way of being, [and that] a new relationship is being created and fostered through dialogue

Ultimately, dialogue fosters a civilisation of harmony, understanding and good will among people. We may not always succeed, the journey may be long and also fraught with difficulties, but the Catholic Church must take the initiative to foster dialogue.

The Catholic Church in India, through its educational and health apostolate is already immersed in dialogue. The poor, the needy, the marginalised, the destitute, and even the rich are all beneficiaries of Catholic educational institutions as well as healthcare and social services.

Without discrimination of any caste and creed, our apostolate selflessly serves each one, and this is a concrete [form of] dialogue of Life. Even people hostile to us are welcomed into our institutions, and this too is way of dialogue.

The CCBI, which is structured in 132 dioceses with some 190 bishops, is the fourth largest bishops conference in the world.

Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao of Goa and Daman, who is CCBI president, urged all those present to pray continuously for the speedy recovery of all people affected by the deadly coronavirus.

At the end of the day, the new English Lectionary was presented to the public, together with the Book of Gospel, the Rite for the Administering Marriage, the Rite of Administering Sacrament of Confirmation and Querida Amazon, the post-synodal apostolic exhortation Pope Francis released last week.
Delhi: A Delhi court on Monday (February 17) sent Sharjeel Imam who was arrested on sedition charges, to one-day custody of Delhi Police in a case related to violent protests against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at New Friend's colony on December 15.

This is different from the sedition case against Imam.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gurmohina Kaur sent Imam to the custody after the police said that another accused in the case disclosed that he was allegedly provoked by Sharjeel's speeches.

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

Police had booked Imam, who came into limelight during the ongoing protest in Shaheen Bagh, on January 26 for allegedly delivering inflammatory speeches against the amended Citizenship Act and a possible National Register of Citizens.
The BJP's youth wing on Monday



submitted a complaint to the police claiming some speakers at an anti-CAA rally in Nagpur made "derogatory remarks" against former prime minister and Bharat Ratna late Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha Nagpur unit president Shivani Dani, in a statement issued here, alleged that former Bombay High Court judge BG Kolse Patil made derogatory remarks against Vajpayee.

The BJYM has also submitted a complaint to Nagpur police commissioner, the statement informed.

In another development, Nagpur BJP chief Pravin Datke, addressing a press conference, demanded action against infiltrators residing in the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
[February 17, 2020] Steves Files New Antitrust Lawsuit as JELD-WEN Continues Anticompetitive Practices; Judge Orders Expedited Review of TRO/Injunction at March 3 Hearing

Moving quickly in response to a new antitrust lawsuit filed February 14 by Steves and Sons, Inc. (www.StevesDoors.com) against JELD-WEN, Inc. (NYSE: JELD), a Federal Judge in Richmond, Virginia set a March 3 hearing date for an expedited review of Steves' request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction regarding JELD-WEN's continuing string of anticompetitive practices. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200217005047/en/ In his order granting the expedited review for the TRO and preliminary injunction as part of Steves' new lawsuit, Judge Payne stated, "Steves made a substantial showing of likelihood of success and irreparable injury by virtue of the facts shown on the record." "The new lawsuit seeks from JELD-WEN antitrust relief to return competition and choice to the marketplace, contract enforcement and substantial damages that would be trebled as an antitrust violation," Steves attorney Marvin G. Pipkin said. Steves CEO Edward Steves said, "JELD-WEN's predatory anticompetitive actions forced us to file our original antitrust lawsuit in 2016, which we won with a unanimous jury verdict and Judge Payne's divestiture decision. Because JELD-WEN's recent actions threaten our survival and reputation, the same is true today. Steves will keep fighting to restore competition to the market, so that we and other door manufacturers can continue to sell quality products to our valued customers." Sam Bell Steves II, Steves President, said, "JELD-WEN is trying an end run around the judicial process with these new and frankly transparent efforts to strangle our 154-year-old family-owned company in their continued campaign to 'kill off a few' and prevent Steves from fairly competing. Through this past week's proceedings, I believe the court has seen JELD-WEN's latest actions for what they are, just as the 2018 jury did." The new antitrust lawsuit was filed in Judge Payne's court, the same court in which two years ago a jury unanimously found that JELD-WEN violated the Clayton Antitrust Act in 2012 when it acquired its competitor Craftmaster International ("CMI"). That jury awarded Steves $175 million (after trebling) in past damages and future profits. Later in 2018, Judge Payne, who presided over he trial, ordered JELD-WEN to sell the Towanda, Pennsylvania manufacturing plant that it had acquired in the illegal merger with CMI. JELD-WEN has appealed those decisions to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.



Steves' primary business is the manufacture of molded interior residential doors. To make these doors, Steves must have access to "doorskins," which are the front and back panels of the doors. Steves, along with most other door manufacturers, has never made doorskins. JELD-WEN makes doorskins (at the Towanda plant and elsewhere), but it also makes and sells doors. Steves and JELD-WEN entered into a doorskin supply agreement in May 2012 under which JELD-WEN agreed to sell to Steves all of the doorskins that it needs. Accordingly, JELD-WEN is not only the primary supplier to Steves of doorskins, it also competes with Steves for the sale of finished doors. After JELD-WEN merged with CMI, JELD-WEN became the only source of doorskins for Steves and other door manufacturers. That prompted the 2018 jury to find that JELD-WEN violated the antitrust laws when it merged with CMI, according to Pipkin.

However, he said, since entry of the final judgment against JELD-WEN in March 2019, JELD-WEN continued to take advantage of its illicit market power by overcharging Steves for doorskins. As a result of JELD-WEN's overcharging, in November 2019 Judge Payne awarded Steves an additional $7 million in damages for overcharges that had accrued from the time of the jury verdict in February 2019 to May 2019. Additional damages on overcharges now exceed $4 million, Pipkin said "Judge Payne's order for expedited proceedings follows on the heels of yet another judicial loss for JELD-WEN last week when the judge denied their request for clarification of JELD-WEN's obligation to price its products according to the jury verdict and amended final judgement," he said. "Undeterred by its lengthening list of judicial losses, and in furtherance of its anticompetitive objectives, JELD-WEN has recently utilized a new tactic by substantially under-delivering on Steves' doorskins orders," Pipkin said. "Over the past three months, JELD-WEN failed to timely deliver hundreds of thousands of doorskins ordered by Steves." "Making matters worse," Pipkin said, "on December 19, 2019, JELD-WEN declared 'allocation,' claiming that demand for doorskins had exceeded its manufacturing capacity. In its notification to Steves about allocation, JELD-WEN had stated that it intended to restrict Steves 2020 doorskin purchases to what it had bought in 2018. However, in open court last week in Richmond, JELD-WEN acknowledged that it would, in fact, use Steves' 2019 volumes for allocation purposes, rather than the much smaller 2018 numbers. "Additionally," Pipkin said, "JELD-WEN now intends to limit Steves on what styles of doorskins it will be allowed to purchase, and in what quantities - something that the supply agreement does not allow and that would prevent Steves from responding to the specific needs of its customers." The new antitrust lawsuit filed February 14 states, "JELD-WEN continues in its efforts to 'kill off' Steves before the remedies already awarded to Steves can be implemented to restore competition in the marketplace . . . Most recently, JELD-WEN has begun to choke off Steves' timely access to interior molded doorskins, an essential input in Steves' business of making residential doors . . . As a result, Steves has been unable to meet its customers' demands for doorskins, and will not be able to meet those demands so long as JELD-WEN's actions continue . . . Indeed, by drastically limiting the number and style of doorskins available to Steves - yet apparently not similarly limiting itself - JELD-WEN has found its most effective method yet of damaging Steves' business." The suit further states, "The direct and foreseeable consequence of JELD-WEN's failure and refusal to deliver doorskins ordered by Steves within 30 days or at all is that Steves was required to turn away new customers for its doors and drop existing customers." "The loss of business for Steves caused by JELD-WEN pales in comparison to the damage to the reputation Steves has earned in the marketplace over the past 154 years," Sam Bell Steves II said. About Steves & Sons With interior and exterior door plants in San Antonio, and interior door plants in Richmond, Virginia and Lebanon, Tennessee, Steves & Sons employs more than 1,100 associates. The company continues to build its business and reputation among builders and homeowners across the country with continued emphasis on quality materials, new technology and efficient distribution. (www.StevesDoors.com) View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200217005047/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Six police officers have been hospitalized after their police cars crashed into each other while responding to a call.

The incident occurred around 7:30 p.m., on Saturday on Chicagos West Side. Initially the two carsone marked police vehicle carrying two police officers and one unmarked police vehicle carrying four officersboth responded to a call from an officer who required assistance, according to ABC News.

The two police vehicles took different routes but ended up crashing into each other at the intersection of Springfield Avenue and Jackson Boulevard.

The Chicago Fire Department responded to the crash and four of the officers were transported immediately to the hospital via ambulance, according to Fox News. The other two officers transported themselves to the hospital.

It was just a tragic accident. They just happened to be at the intersection at the exact same moment responding to a call of an officer needs assistance and it is just a tragic accident they were both there at the same exact time and they hit each other, said Sgt. Al Stinitis of the Chicago Police Department, ABC reported.

The police officer who called for help was not involved in the car crash.

The six injured officers were all in stable condition by Saturday night, however, though there is no indication as to how long the officers will be in hospital, or what the nature of their injuries are.

An investigation into the incident is being conducted by the Major Accidents Unit. Multiple reports indicated that no traffic lights were present at the intersection where the accident happened.

The investigation is still ongoing, no further information is available at the moment.

Police Officer Killed in Car Crash Off-Duty

An Illinois 0ff-duty police officer was killed in a multi-vehicle crash on Jan. 19, according to a statement issued by the Berwyn Police Department.

The accident happened around 6 a.m. on Jan. 19, north of U.S. Route 30.

Officer Charles Schauer, 33, was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Joliet off-duty police officer Erin Zilka, reported Fox 32 Chicago.

Zilka, 35, was allegedly driving under the influence when she crashed a 2019 Dodge Durango into a box truck that had been blocking two right lanes of traffic due to an earlier crash with a pickup truck.

Zilka was charged with misdemeanor DUI and driving too fast for the road conditions, according to ABC7 Chicago, and was released after posting bail. Zilkas attorney, Jeff Tomczak, said his clients blood was below the legal limit, citing Illinois State Police. He said that Zilka was unable to see the crash ahead of her because it was still dark out, adding that she is devastated.
- Manyora says handing over of Moi's club to his son has made Gideon the kingpin of the Kalenjin people

- The political analyst believes the lawmaker is now set to reignite his father's dead networks

- He notes that all people who gained political muscle courtesy of the fallen ex president will now submit to Gideon

- This is likely to make allies of the DP to dump Ruto for the Baringo senator who appears to be wielding a lot of political influence

- Manyora has urged Ruto to have his ears on the ground and not to dismiss handing over of the club as a family affair

- He has termed the ceremony as a well timed and perfectly executed coronation that may cost the DP his lieutenants

Political commentator Herman Manyora has warned Deputy President William Ruto against throwing cold water on the handing over of 'rungu ya nyayo' to Baringo Senator Gideon Moi.

According to Manyora, it was detrimental for the Ruto camp to dismiss the button handover ceremony held during burial of former president Daniel Moi as family matter since it symbolised reactivation of the ex president's dormant networks.

READ ALSO: All about powerful military choppers that flew to Kabarak for Daniel Moi's burial

Manyora says handing over of Moi's club to his son has made Gideon the kingpin of the Kalenjin people. Photo: The Standard.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: DCI wapekua afisi ya DP Ruto, wabeba kamera za CCTV

The analyst was emphatic that if the occasion would have been a family matter, then the elders would have had it convened privately and on a separate day.

That was a coronation because the manner in which the button was handed over to Gideon Moi was nothing but a coronation. I know there are those who have dismissed it as a family matter.

But why was it not done after the ceremony; somewhere under a tree when we have all left? The timing was right, the occasion was right and the message is symbolic. It is clear that the intention is to make Gideon inherit Moi's kingdom begining with the Kalenjin nation," possed Manyora.

READ ALSO: Detectives raid William Ruto's office, Rashid Echesa's home over military tender scam

He believes the lawmaker is now set to reignite his father's dead networks. Photo: Herman Manyora.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Jowie's father to sell land for suspect's release as friends raise KSh 80K

In a separate story, TUKO.co.ke reported that the club was handed to Moi's older son Raymond but he granted it to Gideon.

Raymond who doubles up as the Rongai MP said his younger brother Gideon was well placed to guide the family politically to reflect their father's footsteps.

READ ALSO: Homa Bay chief resorts to caning cheating men in bid to curb spread of HIV

The club was handed to Moi's older son Raymond (r) but he granted it to Gideon (l). Photo: Gideon Moi.

Source: Facebook

In a bid to prevent Gideon from suffocating the DP's 2022 state house bid, the University of Nairobi don has urged the second in command to keep his ears open especially during this time when KANU has dedicated about 40 days to mourn Moi.

The political party, Manyora said will take this time to strategise on how best to cut the DP to size and shift the political ground in their favour.

Raymond said his younger brother Gideon was well placed to guide the family politically. Photo: Gideon Moi.

Source: Facebook

One of the crafts KANU is likely to deploy, according to Manyora, is to lure some of Ruto's lieutenants in its camp.

"Gideon is likely going to activate his father's networks which have been lying idle. Your task, if you want to be president, is to ensure that Gideon does not attack your generals and bring them out one by one. Be careful," warned Manyora.

Manyora says ceremony to award Gideon his father's club was a well timed coronation. Photo: Gideon Moi.

Source: Facebook

If Ruto will not be keen on the influence of the KANU man, Manyora says some of his footsoldiers will dump him in 2021 after Gideon will have resuscitated his father's systems.

He said similar developments had already been witnessed in Mount Kenya region where some Ruto allies had joined his opponents.

"You will agree with me that handing over of the baton was not an empty exercise. The year 2021 2021 will be the year of reckoning, the year when Gideon will have most likely activated his father's networks

You will witness the unbelievable. The year when you will witness some people you never thought would desert you going to Gideon just as it is now beginning to emerge in the Mount Kenya region," the lecturer added.

Manyora has urged Ruto to have his ears on the ground and not to dismiss the handing over of the club as a family affair. Photo: TUKO.co.ke/ Ben Kerich.

Source: Original

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.

The man who was raped by University of Nairobi students | Tuko TV.

Source: TUKO.co.ke
A health worker checks the temperature of women entering the subway, screening for possible coronavirus cases, in Beijing, China, on Jan. 26, 2020. (Betsy Joles/Getty Images)

Black Swans and Stealth War Mark USChina Relations, Expert Says

WASHINGTONThe United States faces a stealth war in which a fascist regime turns the openness of the Wests institutions against it.

This was the diagnosis of the threat posed by China, from retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Robert S. Spalding, a former China strategist who spoke at the Global Taiwan Institute (GTI) on Feb. 12. Spalding is the author of the recently released Stealth War, How China Took Over While Americas Elite Slept.

Spalding framed his remarks by noting that at this particular moment, the Chinese regime faces grave danger, as it attempts to deal with three black swan events at the same time. A black swan event is a rare, unpredictable event that has potentially severe consequences.

The three black swans are the Trump administration, the Hong Kong protests, and the coronavirus. The combination of these crises is putting extreme pressure on the regime, Spalding said. He made his remarks in a discussion with GTI Executive Director Russell Hsiao.

Stealth War

The United States has provided the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) with the opportunity to exploit the strengths of Americas free and open society by turning those strengths into weaknesses, Spalding said.

That is stealth war, he added.

Americans, despite constitutional First Amendment freedom of speech rights, help the CCP by self-censoring in violation of our own freedoms, Spalding said.

To illustrate, he suggested that American discourse shies away from criticizing or questioning the motives and behavior of Chinese students in the United States. Americans will deny themselves that right rather than speak out against a potential risk.

Knowing the American unwillingness to say something that could be construed as racism, the CCP uses this as a tool to get what it wants.

Thus, the American strength of freedom of speech becomes a weakness in practice, making most Americans reluctant to point a finger at a Chinese student and suggest that he or she might be taking something sensitive back to China, Spalding said.

Fascism

The China model has been described as an authoritarian capitalistic model, but Spalding says, its far more apt to call it fascism.

The means of production are owned by the state, he said, with even private business in China co-opted by the CCP because the Communist Party is the sovereign of the people.

The retired B-2 pilot reminded his audience that China has not one but two constitutions.

Theres the constitution of the Chinese state. But then theres the constitution of the CCP.

The constitution of the state is for public consumption, and is similar in structure to the American and other constitutions around the world.

The CCP constitution, however, is the one that matters, Spalding said, describing it as a layer of power that sits over the state structure of the Peoples Republic of China.

Indeed, its the CCP constitution, not the state constitution, that declares that the people of China are led by the Chinese Communist Party, not by the state or its republic.

International Companies

Our companies have played a role in developing the risk that China is today, Spalding said.

We have given the CCP the means to control their population in a way that no authoritarian power has ever been able to do, he said.

Hsiao asked Spalding what advice he had for Taiwan.

As goes Taiwan, as goes the free world, Spalding said.

Elaborating on that idea, Spalding said, TSMC [Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company] is the most advanced chip company in the world. It also has a tight relationship with Huawei.

Thus, Spalding reasoned, companies such as TSMC are allowing the CCP to attain power.

If we dont break the cycle of Taiwanese and American companies being incentivized by the economy and by Beijing, then theres no hope for Taiwan or for the United States.

Indeed, TSMC is in a difficult position, according to Tim Culpan, writing in Bloomberg Opinion.

Culpan, who said hes been reporting on TSMC for 20 years, reports that TSMC is Taiwans largest company. Its publicly listed, [and] has  an impeccable reputation for corporate governance. As a chipmaker to the stars, theres no other company in the world that can do what TSMC does in terms of technological prowess or sheer capacity.

Sixty-one percent of TSMCs business is in the United States. It faces a stark choice, because its under pressure from the United States to stop selling to Huawei.

It can choose to upset its current large client base in the U.S., or risk losing a future client base in China, Culpan writes.

In terms of Taiwan, Spalding said, to be completely connected to Beijing is to lose what Taiwan is.

If we become one globe, then we begin to have the same characteristics, he said, but not with the characteristics we thought we would have.

Decoupling From China

In issuing the U.S. National Defense Strategy, the United States is saying no. We have to protect our society, Spalding said.

Asked whether the United States would consider decoupling from China, Spalding replied, We are already involved in a decoupling from China. Decoupling is happening.

We are in a bipolar world  and executing a decoupling because the Chinese refuse to play by the rules, Spalding said.

Its not only rule-breaking, he said. Domestic political involvement, influence, and interference in the United States is also part of the CCPs playbook.

Look at what Pompeo said at the Governors conference, he said, referencing comments made by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the recent National Governors Association Winter Meeting in Washington.

Pompeo told the governors:

Last year, a Chinese Government-backed think tank in Beijing produced a report that assessed all 50 of Americas governors on their attitudes towards China. They labeled each of you friendly, hardline, or ambiguous.

Ill let you decide where you think you belong. Someone in China already has. Many of you, indeed, in that report are referenced by name.

And, in fact, whether you are viewed by the CCP as friendly or hardline, know that its working you. Know that its working the team around you.

Pompeos entire speech to the assembled governors of the United States was devoted to Chinese interference at state and local levels inside the United States.

Similar to Spaldings theme of the stealth war China is visiting on the United States, Pompeo told the governors that China has decided to exploit our freedoms to gain advantage over us at the federal level, the state level, and the local level.

He cited a Chinese diplomats letter to a state legislator pressuring him to avoid any official contact with Taiwan; threats to a governor to cut off a Chinese investment if that governor visited Taiwan; and recruitment of professors through the Thousand Talent Plans to lure them with huge paychecks into transferring key technologies, to name but a few of the many often seemingly benign methods that the CCP is using to influence governance in the United States.

Spalding, who has seen active service in Iraq, chalks these measures up to fundamental differences between the United States and China in both philosophy and strategy.

Clausewitz, he said, referring to the Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz, said that war is politics by other means.

But theres a whole different way of looking at competition, Spalding said, referring to the Chinese stealth war. Politics is war by other means.
Mobile County Sheriffs Office has made an arrest for the murder of a Wilmer man found dead on January 13, 2020.

According to Mobile County deputies, Richard Phillips, 28 of Wilmer, was arrested Sunday in George County, Mississippi for the murder of Josh Manuel, 33. Manuel was found shot dead on the side of the road near Starlight Avenue in January.

Several witnesses have given statements to authorities that go along with evidence collected in the investigation that point towards Phillips being the man who killed Manuel.

Phillips will be extradited from Mississippi to Mobile County Metro for the murder charge.
17.02.2020 LISTEN

The Advocacy for Alleged Witches (AfAW) condemns the destruction of houses and property of alleged witches in remote areas in Malawi.

News from the countryside says that some witch-hunting villagers raided some communities today.

According to local sources, an irate mob has demolished at least six apartments and other belongings of persons who have been suspected of witchcraft. Photos from a tweet show images of houses that the rampaging mob had pulled down.

There has been no reported loss of lives. The fate of those who have been displaced by this mob violence is unknown. Some of them are likely to end up living and dying on the streets. In the past three months, there have been reported cases of witch persecution and killing in districts across Malawi. In a particular case, villagers stoned an alleged witch to death at a local funeral. The alleged witch was accused of killing the relative though occult means. Such mindless killings and destructions are demonstrations of failure and inability of the government of Malawi to protect citizens.

The authorities in Malawi must rise up to the challenge of guaranteeing the security of lives and property of alleged witches. Alleged witches are human beings, not criminals. Their rights are human rights. Perpetrators of arson, assault and violence against suspected witches should be brought to justice. The government of Malawi must put in place proactive measures to stop and contain witch persecution and killing including mechanisms that can enable the police to preempt, prevent and nip in the bud mob violence against suspected witches.

AfAW urges the authorities in Malawi to commence the process of educating and enlightenment the public. The government should get all Malawians to know that witchcraft is a form of superstition, that has no basis in reason, science or in reality. Witchcraft is a myth, an imaginary crime which no one commits.
If you have been affected by this story, you can call the Samaritans on 116 123 or visit www.samaritans.org

Stacey Solomon has shared a heartfelt tribute to boyfriend Joe Swash following his emotional breakdown on Dancing on Ice on Sunday evening.

The star was on the verge of tears following his performance when he remembered friend Caroline Flack, who tragically passed away on Saturday.

Caroline, 40, was found dead inside her home by her father Ian after taking her own life while the friend who was staying with her 'popped out to the shops'.

Family: Stacey Solomon has shared a heartfelt tribute to boyfriend Joe Swash following his emotional breakdown over Caroline Flack's death on Dancing on Ice on Sunday evening (pictured with sons Harry, 12 and Rex, eight months)

Stacey, 30, shared a photo to her Instagram of Joe alongside their son Rex, eight months, and Joe's son Harry, 12.

She captioned the black and white pic of Joe and his sons: 'Love is everything. We are so proud of you.

'There is nothing worse than seeing you in pain, but nothing that fills our hearts more than seeing the joy you get from being a daddy and a role model. An incredible one at that.'

Emotional: Following the performance Stacey was seen crying in the audience as she supported her boyfriend

She continued: 'In this moment in time, all we can do is be kind. And remember that there is a human in every picture, behind every story, every post, every headline, and every tv screen, a real person, taking it all in, the good and the bad. There is no such thing as the perfect human.

'Having Empathy and kindness is all we can truly strive towards. In a world where you can be anything, be kind - Caroline Flack. RIP We are so sorry, It should never have been this way.'

Joe, who shared a close friendship with the former Love Island presenter, was visibly distraught as he addressed hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, admitting it had been a 'tough day'.

Devastated: Joe offered condolences to the family of Caroline on Sunday evening after performing in the latest episode of Dancing On Ice

Moments earlier the star had skated to Robbie Williams' hit Candy, and professional skating partner Alex Murphy revealed their routine's uplifting tone made Joe's appearance on Sunday even more difficult as he struggled to process the news of Caroline's death.

'This was really hard to get through and do a happy number when he feels the way that he feels, so Im so proud of him,' she said.

Addressing Joe, Schofield added: Weve got to point out to everyone that you were very, very close to Caroline. Its been an amazingly tough day and shed be so proud of you.'

'I just want to send my love to her family and friends,' Joe said as the studio audience broke into applause.

Tragic: Caroline, 40, was found dead inside her London home by her father Ian on Saturday after taking her own life while the friend who was staying with her 'popped out to the shops'

Moving: Joe, who shared a close friendship with the former Love Island presenter, was visibly distraught as he addressed hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby

We did it: Professional skating partner Alex Murphy revealed their routine's uplifting tone made Joe's appearance on Sunday even more difficult

Taking to Instagram on Saturday evening Joe fought back tears as he revealed his sadness that she didn't reach out for help.

Speaking into the camera, a clearly devastated Joe said: 'I want to send a message to everyone and let everyone know that Caroline Flack was the most amazing person you could ever come across.

'She was funny, super talented, and she had the most infectious laugh.'

Struggling to contain his emotions, he continued: 'I wish that she could have asked for help because there's so many people that love her and I am going to miss her so much.

'We can't let this happen, we can't let this happen to anyone else.'

Supportive: 'This was really hard to get through and do a happy number when he feels the way that he feels, so Im so proud of him,' she said

It emerged earlier today that paramedics were scrambled to Flack's north London home the day before she killed herself - but didn't take her to hospital after a clinical assessment.

Sources told MailOnline that ambulance crews were sent to the former Love Island presenter's Stoke Newington flat over 'concerns for her welfare', but decided against taking her to hospital after checking her over.

Caroline took her own life after a worried friend who was staying with her went to the shops, leaving her alone at her London flat.

The producer friend couldn't get back into the flat when she returned.

She called Flack's father Ian who gained entry to the flat where he found the star's body.

Her management team have since described her as 'vulnerable' and criticised the CPS for pushing ahead with a pending court case despite her boyfriend Lewis Burton saying he did not want to press charges.

He had said she hit him with a lamp at her former home in Islington in December and as part of her bail conditions the pair were banned from contacting each other.

On Sunday Lewis shared a picture of the couple on holiday together on Instagram this morning, saying his 'heart is broken' and promising to 'be her voice'.

His post read today: 'My heart is broken, we had something so special. I am so lost for words I am in so much pain I miss you so much I know you felt safe with me you always said I don't think about anything else when I am with you and I was not allowed to be there this time I kept asking and asking.

'I will be your voice baby I promise I will ask all the questions you wanted and I will get all the answers nothing will bring you back but I will try make you proud everyday. I love you with all my heart.'

He then re-posted a picture Caroline uploaded to Instagram on December 5 that read: 'In a world where you can be anything, be kind', with the caption 'I will love you forever'.
After the dust settled from Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussexs exit drama, its hopeful that the couple can have a happier existence away from the spotlight. They may have sacrificed their HRH titles and public funding. But it was, according to Prince Harry, their only option for a peaceful life. One royal expert claims that Prince Harry has been very unhappy for some time. Will their new life turn things around?

Prince Harry | Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images

Prince Harry and Meghan announced they were stepping back

In January, the Sussexes announced their plan to step back, a decision that the queen supported. The couple moved with their son, Archie, to Canada to begin a life that hopefully escapes the constant media scrutiny and allows them as normal an existence as possible.

Prince Harry shared during a speech how they didnt make the decision lightly, explaining, We both do everything we can to fly the flag and carry out our roles for this country with pride.

Once Meghan and I were married, we were excited, we were hopeful and we were here to serve, Harry continued.  The decision that I have made for my wife and I to step back is not one I made lightly. It was so many months of talks after so many years of challenges. And I know I havent always gotten it right, but as far as this goes, there really was no other option.

Why Prince Harry has been very unhappy for so long

Following their move away from the royal family, the couple attended a JP Morgan event in Miami, where Prince Harry gave a speech about his mental health, reportedly remarking how he has been in therapy for the past few years to try to overcome the trauma of losing his mother, a source told Page Six.

Harry also touched on Megxit. Saying while it has been very difficult on him and Meghan, he does not regret their decision to step down as senior royals because he wants to protect his family, the source shared. He does not want Meghan and their son Archie to go through what he did as a child.

Tina Brown, who wrote The Diana Chronicles, believes that Prince Harry has been unhappy for some time. I think the deep wounds of his mothers death have never healed. And his sense of his role as the second son, the fact that he loved his military career but then left and didnt have that sense of purpose, she told the New York Times.

She added, All of that came together to make him a very unhappy man.

The Sussexes seem happier since their exit

Meghan has no regrets about their exit, with a source telling Daily Mail, She said [she and Harry] feel like a huge weight has been lifted.

Prince Harry is reportedly happy about the move as well, with a source telling Us Weekly, Harrys much happier in Canada and feels a lot more relaxed. So far he doesnt regret the move.

The insider added that he was determined to protect Meghan and Archie, sharing, That was his No. 1 priority and thats exactly what hes done.

Dont Miss: Kobe Bryants Most Lucrative Investment Set Up His Family for Life
Tata-SIA joint venture airline on Monday said its codeshare pact with the US carrier United Airlines has come into effect from last Friday.

The two airlines had signed the codeshare pact that allows United Airlines to book seats for its passengers on Vistara's flights in India last June.

Codesharing allows an airline to book its passengers on its partner carriers and provide seamless travel to destinations where it has no presence.

The agreement enables United Airlines to codeshare on Vistara-operated Indian domestic flights starting February 28, said adding that passengers on both airlines have been enjoying the ability to earn and redeem frequent flyer points/miles on either of the frequent flyer programmes since the beginning of February.

"The US continues to be one of the biggest source markets for foreign travellers into India and the region, and this partnership allows us to provide a seamless travel offering for customers to and from the United States," Chief Commercial Officer Vinod Kannan said in a release.

The codeshare agreement enables United Airlines to put its 'UA' designator code on 68 Vistara-operated flights to 26 destinations every day, including but not limited to Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Goa, Hyderabad, Jodhpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Pune, Raipur, Ranchi, Srinagar, Thiruvananthapuram, Udaipur and Varanasi.

"We are excited to offer our shared customers the option of building a seamless itinerary when planning travel to cities beyond New Delhi and Mumbai," said John Gebo, senior vice-president (alliances), United Airlines.

United Airlines operates daily flights between New York/Newark and Delhi and Mumbai and also San Francisco-New Delhi.

"Our relationship with Vistara opens up even more options for customers to travel between our East and West Coast hubs and multiple destinations throughout India," he added.

Since February 1, members of Vistara's and United Airlines' frequent flyer programmes, Club Vistara and United MileagePlus, have been able to earn and redeem their CV Points/United MileagePlus miles when flying on either of the airlines' network, which means Club Vistara members can now earn and redeem CV Points on flights operated by United Airlines, and vice versa.
Theres continued fallout from last weeks insistence by the Indian Supreme Court that telecommunications companies judged to owe adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues should not have delayed payment beyond the 23 January deadline while awaiting the hearing of a modification petition.

Vodafone Idea apparently told the Supreme Court on Monday that it can pay only about $350 million of the total owed to the government and will follow it up with another $140 million by 21 February. Its worth remembering that these payments are only a portion of Vodafone Ideas estimated principle AGR dues. The actual overall cost will be close to an eye-watering $7.5 billion.

Last weeks judgement offered no relief at all and castigated the company for the delayed payment and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for permitting that delay by holding back on coercive action. In response the DoT has decided to get tough, telling all the telecommunications companies involved to make AGR payments immediately. If they do not, it has said, "necessary action will be taken in terms of provisions of the License Agreements".

The Vodafone Idea part-payment proposal has, however, been rejected by the Supreme Court, which continues to insist that all involved clear their dues  or a substantial part of their dues  before the next date of hearing on 17 March.

The court had on 24 October last year ordered that non-telecom revenues should be included in the AGR for calculating statutory dues such as license fee and spectrum charges, leaving Vodafone Idea in particular with a massive bill.

What is not entirely clear is whether the modification petition, allowing more time to make the payments, is going to be of any use to Vodafone Idea. Even if it is eventually granted, Vodafone Idea is required to pay some or all of the moneys owed well before the petitions hearing date of 17 March.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Nedi Putra AW (The Jakarta Post) Malang, East Java  Mon, February 17, 2020 12:33 694 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2064eef13 1 Art & Culture mask-dance,Indonesia,Panji-Asmarabangun-Sekartaji,UNESCO,Memory-of-the-World,Valentines-Day,Javanese-dance Free

Many regard February as the month of love, as embodied by Valentines Day. The story behind the holiday varies, but the mainstream telling involves a saint who was sentenced to death in 278 AD by Emperor Claudius II Gothicus of Ancient Rome.

The saint married a couple secretly so that the husband could avoid the obligation to serve in the military. The Roman emperor forbade young soldiers to marry in order to keep their spirit on the battlefield.

In Indonesia, cultural expert Henri Nurcahhyo says the story of Prince Inu Kertapati of the Jenggala kingdom, known as Panji Asmarabangun, and Sekartaji, or Princess Galuh Chandrakirana of the Kediri kingdom, is a good representation of local wisdom in the celebration of Valentines Day.

The tale of Panji and Sekartaji explores the heroism and love of the two main characters.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has even named Panji a Memory of The World (MoW).

Its too bad that no one relates Valentines Day to the story of Panji, especially the romantic story between Prince Panji Asmarabangun and Princess Sekartaji," said Henri, who is the founder of the Panji Cultural Conservation Center.

He said their romance did not go smoothly. There were contentions and challenges. However, they eventually united. They even united two kingdoms in conflict, he said.

Henri emphasized that in the spirit of the Valentines Day, the Panji story was not exaggerating.

He went on to say that the Panji story was part of a saga, from the Ande-Ande Lumut (a pseudonym for Prince Panji Asmarabangun) sequel to the Panji Laras sequel, with a happy ending.

Compare it to Romeo and Juliet or the [story of] Valentines Day itself, which is related to the beheading of the saint, he said.

Henri said celebrating the Valentines Day in the Indonesian style was a perfect moment to reintroduce the countrys cultural heritage of Panji. Despite the fact that it was fictional, it had a strong connection with the celebration of love.

The story of Panji was part of a countercultural reaction against classic Indian epics like the Mahabarata and Ramayana during the Majapahit kingdom, he added.

The Panji story, according to Henri, will not be popular unless it comes with creative economic products.

One way of realizing this is by presenting Panji-themed performances to help people remember the meaning of love and the value of struggle as presented in the story.

As such, Valentines Day should not always be related to the execution of a saint, he said.

In the form of a masked dance performance, a Panji-themed show was staged at Tugu Hotel in Malang, East Java, on Saturday night.

We want to revive Indonesian arts and culture. February, as the month of love, deserves a celebration by presenting the spirit of Panjis romance, said the hotels public relations officer, Richard Wardhana.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 22:55:16|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

SOFIA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Bulgaria authorities arrested on Monday at the Danube Bridge checkpoint near Vidin at the border with Romania 15 illegal immigrants hidden in a refrigerator truck.

According to the Ministry of Interior, the truck with two Greek drivers was declared to be traveling empty from Greece to Hungary.

However, a detailed inspection revealed that a secret compartment was built in the front part of the trailer, and 15 illegal immigrants were hidden there.

According to preliminary information, the migrants were men, including six from Syria, five from Iraq, and four from Afghanistan, the ministry said.

Their passports were found in their luggage along with Greek asylum application documents, it said.

The drivers and the immigrants were arrested, the ministry said, adding that the investigation is ongoing.
Pennsylvania has been widely touted as a battleground state in the 2020 election, with political analysts examining the impact of men, women, blue-collar workers, college-educated voters and a host of other targeted groups.

A recent study suggests another group is worthy of attention: foreign-born voters.

Pennsylvania now has 465,395 immigrant voters who are eligible to vote, according to a study by the New American Economy, a bipartisan immigration advocacy group.

The number of eligible foreign-born voters rose 7.9 percent - about 34,000 voters - between 2017 and 2018, the study found.

The immigrant voting group could conceivably play a key role in determining which presidential candidate wins in Pennsylvania. President Donald Trump won the Keystone State by 44,000 votes - less than 1 percentage point - in 2016.

It shows immigrants electoral power could really tip the scales in the upcoming elections, said Nan Wu, deputy director of quantitative research at New American Economy.

The surge of foreign-born residents is helping Pennsylvania avoid a population decline, the study found. The number of Pennsylvanians born in the U.S. declined between 2017 and 2018, Wu noted.

The immigration population growth reversed the population decline in Pennsylvania, Wu said.

Pennsylvania was one of four states in the study where the influx of immigrants helped offset a loss in population (the others were Massachusetts, Mississippi and Iowa).

Foreign-born voters are represented in both the Republican and Democratic parties, but they tend to lean toward Democrats, said Lauren Copeland, a political analyst at Baldwin Wallace University.

We know the foreign born citizen population is increasingly non-white, Copeland said. They tend to be more Democratic and liberal than native born citizens.

Copeland said shes not sure the foreign-born voting population in Pennsylvania would swing the state one way or the other.

But she said the growth of immigrant voters could be significant in the Southwest and Florida.

I think they would play a really large role in the Sun Belt, Copeland said.

Immigrants of all ages (including those who arent old enough to vote) account for 7.3 percent of Pennsylvanias population, according to the study. There are about 35,000 foreign-born residents in the Harrisburg area, about 6 percent of the regions population.

Nationwide, immigrants account for about 14 percent of the U.S. population, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Across America, there are 21.4 million immigrants eligible to vote, according to the New American Economy study.

Kalpana Doppalapudi, a native of India, came to the United States 21 years ago. She founded Power-Women, a Harrisburg-based organization that helps immigrants make the transition to life in America. Shes organized networking events for women and public health clinics.

And shes helped other immigrants register to vote.

I try my best to motivate people to vote, she said. "Thats one way we can do good for the community.

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.

More from PennLive

After Pentagon raises injury count in Iranian missile attack, lawmakers are paying more attention

As Women for Trump event in central Pa. shows, Trumps base of conservative, white women remains loyal

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.
Islamabad: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday (February 17) warned that Pakistan may face another refugee crisis if the international community fails to take notice of the current situation in India.

Speaking at the two-day refugee summit in Islamabad on 40 years of hosting Afghan refugees in Pakistan, he said India's "ultranationalist ideology going unchecked could lead to destruction and the region could become a flashpoint," The Express Tribune quoted him as saying.

He said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement that India can destroy Pakistan in 11 days is not a responsible statement by a premier of a nuclear state with a huge population, the paper reported.

"This is not the India of Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi. The United Nations (UN) must play its role otherwise it will become a very big problem in the future," Duniya News quoted Khan as saying.

Khan made the statement in the presence of visiting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who was also attending the summit.

He said because of the "Hindutva" ideology, Kashmiris have been lockdown for over 200 days. He alleged under the same ideology, the BJP-led government passed two discriminatory nationalistic legislation, targeting 200 million Muslims in India.

Khan was referring to India's Citizenship Amendment Act and the revocation of the special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

The new citizenship law passed by the Indian Parliament in December 2019 offers citizenship to non-Muslim persecuted religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

The Indian government has maintained that the CAA is an internal matter of the country and stressed that the goal is to protect the oppressed minorities of neighbouring countries.

India revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special status on August 5. Reacting to India's move, Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties with New Delhi and expelled the Indian High Commissioner.

India has always maintained that Jammu and Kashmir is its integral part and ruled out any third party mediation, including either from the UN or the US, saying it is a bilateral issue with Pakistan.
Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vadym Prystaiko has said that the terms for taking decisions by Iran necessary for progress in the investigation of downing the Ukrainian International Airlines (UIA) plane near Tehran on January 8, in particular for decoding of the black boxes in another country, are running out.

"The international agreements require from the Iranian party in a short term, without a delay, as was said in the Chicago ConventionWe, all five countries [the citizens of which were killed in the crash] think that the term expires. After this the country, which does not have enough technical possibilities, has a status to address to the country, which has such opportunities," he told the journalists at a briefing in the Boryspil airport on Monday.

Prystaiko said that France itself had a sufficient technical and software capabilities to read extremely important information from flight recorders, especially since they are damaged, and there are only a few experts in such situations in such countries.

At the same time, the foreign minister noted a sufficient level of interaction with the Iranian side and hopes that the situation with the investigation of the tragedy will not reach the need to resort to more radical measures.

"We must not forget that the majority of passengers on this flight were Iranians, and this nation also mourns for every lost life. They suffered the greatest number of victims in this disaster," he added.

Prystaiko also recalled that on the issue of compensation, Ukraine will negotiate on behalf of five countries whose citizens died in the crash.

"And what Ukraine will agree on will be paid to citizens of all five countries, by the way including Iran. This was our principled position. We will protect the rights of our people, first of all, but also of those who were on the same flight," he stressed.

Prystaiko noted that the amount of compensation, which was mentioned earlier, was a standard figure recorded in the documents, which is not related to what is being agreed upon.

"Do not forget that we are talking about several payments. First of all, this is our Ukrainian government, which did not provide compensation, but assistance to families. Secondly, we spoke with the head of UIA, work is ongoing with the insurance company, which must pay, there are well-known standard schemes of how this happens. And the third stage is working with the Iranian authorities to pay compensation to both the families of the deceased and our company for the destroyed aircraft," he said.
Its among the best ways of keeping colds, the flu, and other nasty bugs at bay. It may even help protect against the coronavirus responsible for the current outbreak.

And not doing it, as one leading infectious diseases specialist puts it, is "gross".

Yet a new survey reveals that almost a third of Australians under 25 arent always washing their hands after using the toilet.

There are a lot of studies on this: males are worse than females for washing their hands, even after passing faeces  which is gross, said Professor Lindsay Grayson, director of infectious diseases at Austin Health.
President Assad met with Ali Larijani to discuss recent successes in the field and the future of the relationship between the two countries reports SANA.

On Sunday, President Bashar al-Assad received a delegation from the Iranian Shura Council headed by Speaker Ali Larijani.

During the meeting, the successes achieved by the Syrian Arab Army and its allies in the war against terrorist organizations in Idleb and Aleppo were reviewed, and congratulations were exchanged over the recent victories against terrorism, which led some Western countries, most prominently the United States, to escalate their hostile stances towards Syria and Iran.

Assad said that countries hostile to the Syrian people are still trying to protect the terrorists who take civilians as hostages and use as human shields, stressing that this cannot be allowed to continue at the expense of the life, security and the stability of the citizens.

He reaffirmed that the Syrian people are determined to liberate all Syrian territories from terrorism.

For his part, Larijani affirmed his countrys continued support for Syria in its efforts to eliminate terrorism on all its territories, stressing the importance of the recent victories against the terrorists.

He expressed his confidence in the ability of the Syrian people to complete the liberation of all their lands and restore Syrias position in the region.

The meeting also discussed developments in the region and in the international arena, in light of the policy of spreading chaos and destabilization pursued by some Western countries, led by the United States.

Both sides agreed on the need for joint action to expand the circle of countries that reject these policies and cooperate with them in order to not allow the world to be drawn into more wars.

The meeting also touched upon the strategic relations between the two countries, including the parliamentary ones, and the importance of strengthening these relations, which have been proven to be essential to protect the two countries and achieve the interests of their peoples.

This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
By Alexander Lehmann, a non-resident fellow at Breugel. He focuses on banking and capital markets policy in Europe. Currently, he is also engaged as adjunct professor at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, and a consultant to a number of central banks in eastern Europe and the Asian Development Bank. Originally published at Breugel.

Several European central banks have begun assessing the impact of adverse climate scenarios on banks capital. Comparable work at EU or euro area level has evolved more slowly. Supervisors need build up a distinct and more complex type of analysis, and should engage with banks now.

The release of a proposed methodology for assessing climate risks within UK banks and insurers by the Bank of England just before Christmas has fuelled calls for a similar climate stress test for European banks.

That climate risks should be a significant concern for financial supervisors is no longer in doubt. The central bank Network for Greening the Financial system (NGFS, consisting of now 54 institutions) last year already called for climate-related risks to be integrated into standard financial stability monitoring and supervision. The French and Dutch central banks have conducted quantitative top-down studies and found a substantial potential risk. In the case of the Dutch study, a disruptive climate scenario was shown to reduce insurance sector portfolio values by up to 11 per cent, and banks core equity ratio by about 4 percentage points.

Well-defined Shocks in the EU Stress Tests

Stress tests have become the main tool to assess the impact of external shocks on the EU banking system. They are still a relatively new instrument, first used across the EU in 2011, and most publicly in the comprehensive assessment ahead of the ECB taking on its new responsibilities in 2014.

Unlike the US, the EU adopted a bottom-up approach. From the start, banks were given much greater discretion in using their internal models in simulating the impact of the adverse scenario defined by supervisors. This was subject to some limited constraints, for instance in precluding unrealistic asset disposals.

In essence, a single EU exercise has been trying to meet two conflicting objectives: of banks which need to communicate resilience under their own business models to investors; and of supervisors which require a single consistent methodology to gauge the need for additional capital requirements under the so-called pillar 2 approach. This resulted in an increasingly costly and complex iteration between the EBA and the ECB on the one hand, and the banks and their advisors on the other.

Following the ongoing round, stress tests are now due for a significant revamp. In late January, the EBA proposed that future stress tests be split into a top-down exercise led by the supervisor, and a parallel bank-led process that relies on bank-specific internal models to a greater extent (see EBA website).

Climate Risks are Different

Stress tests simulate a single adverse macroeconomic shock that is defined by the EBA, ESRB and national authorities. Country-specific assumptions for key macro variables given banks a clear pathway over a three year horizon. As was again made clear by a comprehensive new report from the BIS and Banque de France, climate change defies such timelines.

Even though the timing is unclear, a combination of transition risks (from a re-pricing of carbon-based technologies), and physical risks (from increasingly frequent severe weather and climate patterns) is now certain to materialize. There are also more drastic scenarios of predominant physical risks (no policy action) or transition risks (too late, too sudden). Either way, there are likely to be sudden impacts (tipping points) and complex spill-overs between corporate, household and sovereign balance sheets. Outcomes are highly dependent on policy action in key polluting countries in the near term, though also on private sectors mitigation, and technological innovation.

The Agenda for EU Supervisors, Banks and Investors

The recent EBA work programme on sustainable finance committed the agency to develop a dedicated climate-related stress tests. This year a voluntary sensitivity analysis is planned, though by 2021 standards for disclosure are to be put in place. Plans for incorporating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks into supervision are more tentative, and maty not be taken up until 2024.

Climate risks will add an additional layer to risk management

The first priority for EU supervisors should be to develop plausible common scenarios and share these with banks. Scenario analysis is common in large multinational firms, but what is often a 30-year time-horizon is certain to exceed the planning range of most financial firms. The Bank of Englands proposed assessment, for instance, anticipates three scenarios: timely policy measures that will limit global temperature rise to below 20C; delayed action only in ten years time which ultimately succeeds in a similar limitation, though at that point proves highly destabilizing; and no significant policy action which results in substantial temperature increases, and sharp increase in physical risks (damaging weather events, such as storms or floods). Climate scenarios have already been simulated in the insurance sectors of several EU countries and the UK. But they would challenge banks in many ways.

Second, a realistic ambition needs to set in light of the uncertain and drawn-out nature of climate risks. A climate stress would not have the same degree of granularity as is the case currently. As in the BoE proposal initially, the focus should be only on credit losses, not on a comprehensive assessment of the health of a financial firm, its income and capital. Early on, such analysis (an exploratory scenario in the terminology of the Bank of England) should not be the basis for capital requirements at bank level. A so-called temperature alignment score could be a helpful and public measure of convergence by individual firms towards the commitment made by states under the Paris Climate Agreement: how much would the world warm based on that firms exposures?

Within EU banks climate risks will add an additional layer to risk management. The already complex workaround supervisory stress tests, of course, will need to continue and is essential for bank soundness. But the conventional credit risk analysis based on bank-internal models is not suited to climate risks. Historical correlations embedded in bank models simply cannot capture large and complex risks which have not materialized to date.

Banks should not expect that supervisors will accept assumptions of a rapid divestment from carbon-intensive sectors or an adapted business model. The Bank of England proposes to assess the impact on individual exposures in a constant (static) portfolio of assets in a first-round, and allowing a change in the firms business model only in a subsequent exercise. This approach would be in line with the supervisor-driven approach that limits bank-specific flexibility.

Investors, for their part, should not see future EU climate stress tests as offering the same degree of apparent precision that they have come to expect of stress tests. But disclosure and market discipline will be key incentives for changing portfolios and business models. ESG disclosure under the new EU guidelines on non-financial reporting will need to be quickly rolled out by governments (this has already happened with French state-owned companies, and ESG disclosure will be mandatory in the UK from 2022). Our understanding of climate risks in banks will depend on knowing those across the entire real sector.
There is an established cold war and ongoing battle for supremacy in the affairs of the nations security between the National Security Adviser (NSA), Maj-Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd) and the Chief of Staff (COS) to the President, Mr. Abba Kyari.

In what seems to indicate that Kyari has the upper hand, a circular from the Office of the NSA accused the President Muhammadu Buharis COS of hijacking the coordination of security leadership of the country, a role which was legally sanctioned for his office.

PRNigeria gathered that this has created confusion, lack of leadership and outright side-lining of Monguno in the scheme of things when it comes to the strategic decisions in the national security operations. It was revealed that Kyari, contrary to protocols and in a situation akin to acting in the capacity of the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, convenes and chairs meetings with heads of defence, security and intelligence agencies with their supervising Ministers in attendance. Things became so heated that the NSA in a circular dated December 9, 2019, entitled: Disruption of National Framework by Unwarranted Meddlesomeness, which was sighted by the website, directly accused Kyari of usurping his powers and those of President Buhari.

Monguno in the circular copied to all Service, Intelligence and Security Chiefs including the Ministers of Defence, Foreign Affairs, Interior and Police Affairs as well as the COS to the President, accused him of authoring two circulars on September 13 and November 26, 2019 respectively, with contents and directives which were at variance with Buharis orders. He also noted that what Kyari is doing is an aberration as he is not in any position to preside over national security meetings nor competent enough to determine and manage the nations security architecture and trajectory. To this end, he warned the COS to desist from continuing in these line of actions and also directed the complacent security and Intelligence Chiefs as well as the Ministers to follow the established line of authority in national security coordination by the President through the NSA.

Part of the letter read: References A and B were sent in response to the request for Presidential intervention to sustain Internal Security operations of the police within the shortest possible time. However, the contents of the 2 references were in variance with Mr Presidents verbal, directives. Consequently, ONSA scrutinized the documents further and sought clarification from Mr President who has directed that Reference B be disregarded by all parties as it was sent without his endorsement.

While it is expected that all Heads of Security agencies, having spent many years in service would understand the means of passing directives from the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, it may be necessary to remind all, in the face of glaring breaches to that procedure. For clarification, other than direct verbal directives from the President, written directives emanating from Mr President would be conveyed with a copy of his manuscript directive or at minimum, bear his signature. Additionally, Mr President may convey directives to the Heads of defence and security apparatus through the NSA who Intelligence Community Committee, Joint Intelligence Board and General Security Appraisal Committee on behalf of the President and supervising Ministers of defence and security agencies. It should be noted that the Chief of Staff to the President does not direct the security apparatus of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, his job as it relates to security stops at conveying Mr. Presidents written directives.

Similarly, you are reminded that the Chief of Staff to the President is not a presiding head of security, neither is he sworn in an oath of defending the country. As such, unprofessional practices such as presiding over meetings with Service Chiefs and Heads of security organisations as well as Ambassadors and High Commissioners to the exclusion of the NSA and/or supervising Ministers are a violation of the constitution and directly undermine the authority of Mr President. Such acts and continuous meddlesomeness by the Chief of Staff have not only ruptured our security and defence efforts, but have slowed down any meaningful gain that Mr President has sought to achieve.

As professionals, you are aware that the security of the Federal Republic of Nigeria requires concerted and centralized effort taking into account internal, external and diplomatic factors. It is therefore detrimental to our collective security that the Chief of Staff who is a on-supervising minister holds meetings with diplomats, security Chiefs and heads of agencies.

Pursuant to the foregoing, you are by this letter directed to desist from these illegal acts that serve nothing but the continuous undermining of our national security framework. Any breach-of this directive will attract the displeasure of Mr President.

But to the utmost disappointment of the NSA, it was revealed that President Buhari had in response to the circular, simply told Monguno to mind his business and focus on his job. Sources close to the Presidency accused the NSA of lacking in both competence and charisma as he is said to be an absentee security adviser, especially at the times of urgent security challenges. According to the sources, instead of facing his job, the NSA was accused of always travelling at the slightest excuse out of the country and sometimes with the President.

Furthermore, during crisis periods the NSA is usually not around because he is travelling therefore making the COS to hold such crisis meetings with the services.

It was against this back drop that PMB in his response told NSA stick to your job and dont give order to the Service Chiefs. The PMB reply was that NSA should stick to his job, the source noted.

PRNIGERIA.
HOUSTON  Hurricane Harveys historic flooding in 2017 overwhelmed power systems at Arkema Inc.s chemical plant in suburban Houston, eventually causing organic peroxides made at the facility to catch fire and explode, sending noxious black smoke into the air.

The blaze forced the evacuation of more than 200 residents from the area and sent 21 people, including first responders, to the hospital. Many who live in the town of Crosby near the plant said they were sickened by the toxic mix of chemicals that spewed into the air and have since sued the company.

Arkema said the fire was caused by an act of God, Harvey, which dumped nearly 50 inches (127 centimeters) of rain in parts of the Houston area and caused 36 deaths locally. But prosecutors say Arkema bears criminal responsibility for the toxic cloud released by the blaze because it failed to properly prepare for the storm.

The Pennsylvania-based company, which is a subsidiary of a French chemical manufacturer, and three of its executives are set to stand trial in Houston this week in a case that legal experts say will be a challenge for prosecutors to win.

Opening statements are expected to begin Wednesday or Thursday and the trial could last up to six weeks.

Prosecutors have brought two different charges against Arkema and its employees.

The company, CEO Richard Rowe and plant manager Leslie Comardelle are accused of recklessly releasing chemicals into the air due to the fire. The charge carries a fine of up to $1 million against the company and prison terms of up to five years for Rowe and Comardelle.

Arkema and its vice president of logistics, Michael Keough, each face a felony assault charge for allegedly misrepresenting the danger that the unstable chemicals at the plant posed to the community, leading to the injury of two deputies. If convicted, the company could be fined and Keough could face up to 10 years in prison.

Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg has said the indictments were a wake-up call to companies that would  ignore best practices in safety and put our communities at risk.

Rusty Hardin, an attorney for Arkema, said the charges were an an unprecedented and outrageous attempt to criminalize a natural disaster.

The U.S Chemical Safety Board in 2018 said Arkema crews worked to the best of their ability to keep equipment that stabilized its organic peroxides, which are used to make such things as plastic resins, from losing power. But Arkema didnt consider flooding of safety systems a credible risk, even though the plant was inside flood zones and its insurance company warned in 2016 that it was at risk.

Prosecutors could have a difficult time as they would have to show the actions by Arkema and its executives were willful and so reckless about what youre doing that its as if you intended it, said Jonathan Adler, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

David Kwok, an associate law professor at the University of Houston Law Center, said prosecutors could have one advantage with jurors.

Often times, the inference that juries draw is that if the harm is so great, how could it be that someone did not recognize the risk of that occurring? Kwok said.

___

Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70




Haiti - Education : D-Day, beginning of the Permanent Bac exams for 16,107 candidates (Schedule)





As announced by the Ministry of National Education, the exams for the first session of the permanent baccalaureate for the 2019-2020 academic year take place from February 17 to 21, 2020.



16,107 candidates are expected this Monday morning February 17 at these official exams including 11,261 for the traditional bac (Philo) and 4,846 for the Secondary Renovated (Secondary 4).



The West provides the largest number of students with 7,048 candidates, including 4,596 for traditional secondary and 2,452 for secondary 4.



Artibonite follows in second position with 1,633, followed by the North West with 1.548 candidates and from the North with 1.395 candidates.



The Southeast has the lowest enrollment in terms of registrants with 449 candidates.



On the first day of Monday, candidates in philosophy will compose in the morning in philosophical dissertation and in Biology in the afternoon. For Secondary 4, candidates will take the Philosophy in the morning and Chemistry in the afternoon. It should be noted that this is the first time, since the start of secondary school reform, that the candidates concerned in this process will take part in the permanent bac exams.



Please note that the failed candidates will compose only in the subjects for which they did not have the average.



Download the Schedules (PDF) : https://www.haitilibre.com/docs/horaire-bac-permanent-2020.pdf



HL/ HaitiLibre


















President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice- President M Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were among several leaders who greeted Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on his 66 birthday on Monday.

Among the others who greeted him were state Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and Chief Ministers of different states.

TRS leaders and cadres at various places in the state planted samplings and undertook charity programmes to mark the day.

Kovind, Naidu, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee greeted Rao over telephone and wished him a happy, healthy and long life, a press release said.

Rao thanked them for the wishes.

The Chief Minister also thanked Modi, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, and former AP CM and TDP Chief N Chandrababu Naidu, who took to twitter to wish him, for their wishes, the release said.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami, Chattisgarh Governor Anusuiya Uikey and other leaders have sent messages to Rao, it said.

State ministers, TRS MLAs, party leaders, senior officials and prominent persons from different walks of life met Rao and wished him.

The ministers, TRS leaders and party activists planted saplings on a massive scale as per an appeal made a few days ago by Raos son and TRS working president K T Rama Rao.

Blood donation camps, distribution of wheel-chairs, clothes and other charity programmes have been organised by some leaders.

State Finance Minister T Harish Rao, a nephew of the Chief Minister, said 1.10 lakh saplings are planned to be planted in Siddipet district.

A total of 56,872 saplings was planted in the state on Monday as part of the state governments green drive Haritha Haram.

Rama Rao, who is state minister for Municipal Administration, IT and Industries, planted saplings at different places in the events attended by him in Hyderabad.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 24-year-old man in a pick-



up truck was beaten to death allegedly by three youths on motorcycles after an altercation on a road in Seoni district of Madhya Pradesh, police said on Monday.

The pick-up truck in which Jamiruddin Khan was traveling overtook the motorcycles of Neetesh Uike (22), Ajay Markam (19) and Anshul Gajbhiye (19) on Sunday night after which an argument ensued, Dundaseoni police station in charge Vilas Dani said.

"When the pick-up truck driver Salman Khan overtook the two-wheelers, one of them fell after being thrown off balance. The youths followed the truck, stopped it near Selua Ghati and beat up Salman and Jamiruddin. Jamiruddin died en route to hospital," Dani said.

The motorcycle-borne youth were coming from Barghat while the truck was headed to Seoni from Gondia.

"Initial reports have said Jamiruddin died of internal injuries. The post mortem report is awaited. All three men have been arrested and charged with murder," Dani added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Jetstar has released a list of flights it says it has been forced to cancel due to strike action being taken by baggage handlers and ground staff.

The Transport Workers Union has announced that baggage handlers and ground staff who work for the Qantas-owned airline would strike on Wednesday, February 19.

Over 250 workers will hold a 24-hour strike on Wednesday at Sydney, Melbourne, Avalon, Brisbane, Cairns and Adelaide airports.

Jetstar has released list of flights they were forced to cancel due to strike action by baggage handlers and ground staff set for February 19 and have also contacted customers

'To minimise the disruption caused by the TWU action, it has been necessary to proactively cancel some of our domestic flights in Australia,' a Jetstar statement read.

'If you are travelling on the 19 February please see the full list of cancellations.'

Jetstar released a list on Monday of 48 services it had been forced to cancel and has been contacting customers booked on those flights to offer alternative travel arrangements.

'We have developed a contingency plan that protects our customers travel,' a Jetstar spokesman told Daily Mail Australia.

'Most customers on impacted flights (are) set to travel within a few hours of their original departure time and all customers getting to their destinations same day.

'To achieve this we have consolidated some services and moved other customers to Qantas flights where necessary.'

Any customers travelling on February 19 can also request a full refund or a no-cost change to their travel date prior to flying.

The union said the the strike was called as members felt the airline was trying 'to force workers to accept an agreement which is even worse than the current agreement they are on'.

In December, 94% of Jetstar workers voted to take protected industrial action but announced a moratorium to allow people to get home for Christmas and for the bushfire relief in January

A Jetstar spokesman told Daily Mail Australia they had contacted customers on the cancelled flights to organised alternative travel arrangements for them

TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine said Jetstar workers were united and determined to fight for their jobs and their families' futures.

'Jetstar workers do not take this decision lightly and we apologise to members of the public who will be unable to fly on Wednesday,' Mr Kaine said.

'But these workers are in the fight of their lives for a decent standard of living, to be able to put food on the table and to ensure they and their kids have a future.

'At the moment that future is bleak.'

The union claims Jetstar is trying to force underemployment on their staff.

'Jetstar workers are utterly baffled as to why they cant get a guarantee for 30 hours a week when they can see that the work is there,' Mr Kaine said.

Jetstar workers went on strike twice in December and then announced a moratorium over Christmas and New Year and during the bushfires in January.

In December, 94% of Jetstar workers voted to take protected industrial action.

'This is not a pay dispute. This is a battle against underemployment and a battle for decent jobs at the airport,' Mr Kaine said.

'Jetstar has broken off talks and is refusing to negotiate with its workforce.'

No international flights will be impacted by Wednesday's strike.
Advertisement

For safety reasons Stahelin doesn't work with Ebola virus itself, instead, he works with combinations of its seven genes so the virus can't fully replicate. His latest focus has been on Ebola's VP40 protein, encoded by one of the seven genes. "VP40 forms the virus's matrix layer, a layer of protein beneath the lipid envelope. So it's responsible for hijacking and taking the host lipid membrane to make the long viral envelope," Stahelin explained.Stahelin found that a part of the VP40 protein, which is made inside the host cell during infection, is important for binding to one human lipid in particular, known as phosphatidylserine or simply "PS." Disrupting that part of VP40 reduced interactions with PS, and diminished its ability to form the viral envelope.To see if targeting human PS might help against Ebola virus infection, Stahelin found two FDA-approved drugs that alter cellular lipid distributionone approved for blood pressure and the other for schizophrenia treatment. Testing these drugs with live Ebola virus, in collaboration with a high-biosafety lab, shows that these drugs "were pretty good at blocking virus replication and spread in the cell culture model for the actual virus," Stahelin said.Though an effective Ebola vaccine was approved in December 2019, Stahelin said it is challenging to disseminate vaccines in Africa, where most Ebola outbreaks occur. And in the rare instances that an Ebola patient travels abroad before showing symptoms, it would helpful to have a prophylactic treatment for anyone exposed to the patient. "These drugs alone or in combination might be effective at blocking the virus in humans. You would probably take them after symptoms, or if people are exposed and unvaccinated," Stahelin said.Source: Newswise
The Centre is planning to come up with a financial revival package for the ailing tea companies which have been hit hard owing to mounting costs and lenders expressing their unwillingness to lend to these firms. The package, which may involve a one-time grant of Rs 300 crore towards all tea companies is aimed to relieve the financial stress to some extent as well as improve the cash flow situation.

Subsidies, like the orthodox and replantation subsidies, which in some cases, have been pending for over five years can also be given to the tea firms. Besides, a relaxation of 1-1.5 ...
SEATTLE, Feb. 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Trupanion Australia is the first major overseas move for Trupanion outside of North America. With its one simple plan, with no payout limits or complex sub limits for eligible conditions, Trupanion has quickly become one of the top ranking pet insurance companies of pet insurance brands in Australia.

One benefit to existing Trupanion members is the ability to maintain their policy with the same coverage as they move between Australia and North America. Trupanion member and Australian native, Loren Taylor, has experienced first-hand the ease of transferring her coverage between countries.

Loren moved from Australia to Canada eight years ago, got married, and, she welcomed two new cats into her home. As a responsible pet owner, Loren insured her cats, Auri and Beans, through Trupanion.

For us, Trupanion meant that we could continue to pursue diagnosis and treatment for our pets in a way we could never have done without it, Loren said. We got to make decisions based on medical information and recommendations from the veterinarian, not because we couldn't afford to treat them.

As the only pet insurance company that can transfer policies between countries if members relocate between Australia and North America, Trupanion offers its members another major benefit when it comes to pre-existing conditions.

Wanting to get back to her roots, Loren moved back to Australia and was excited to find out that her Trupanion policy for Beans and Auri transferred between countries. If Loren had to switch pet insurance providers because of the move, current treatment for her cats covered under her Trupanion policy would likely be considered pre-existing by a new pet insurer, and therefore not covered.

Pets with existing Trupanion pet insurance and also existing conditions they are claiming for in North America will be honoured and covered here too, and vice versa, said Dr. Stephen Rose, general manager of Trupanion Australia. We are one big extended family, here to allow the treatment and care that pets deserve.

With coverage extending right through quarantine, Trupanion has transferred nearly a dozen policies for members pets since its recent launch in Australia.

Loren is grateful for the uninterrupted coverage Trupanion provides between countries. "I don't think we could have been able to get insured somewhere else given the history of our pets conditions," Loren said. Trupanion has paid tens of thousands in claims for our pets. We could never have afforded that type of treatment and care without that coverage.

About Trupanion

Trupanion is a leader in pet insurance for cats and dogs throughout the United States, Canada and Australia. For almost two decades, Trupanion has given pet owners peace of mind so they can focus on their pet's recovery, not financial stress. Trupanion is committed to providing pet owners with the highest value in pet insurance with unlimited payouts for eligible conditions for the life of their pets. Now, on a mission to bring better coverage and care to Australian pets, we brought Trupanion to Australia.

Trupanion Australia is an Australian business that has local expertise in the Australian Veterinary industry and is backed and underwritten by The Hollard Insurance Company. For more information, visit trupanion.com.au .

Trupanion Insurance is general insurance issued by the insurer The Hollard Insurance Company Pty Ltd ABN 78 090 584 473 AFSL No. 241436 (Hollard) and distributed, promoted and administered by Trupanion Australia Pty Ltd (ABN 33626393628, AR 1268213) as an authorised representative of Hollard. Any advice provided is general only and does not consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. Please consider the Product Disclosure Statement available from Trupanion.com.au/policy to decide if the product is right for you.
DETROIT -- Ford Motor Company is preparing to unveil the highly anticipated Bronco line of SUVs next month according to a report from Automotive News. The reintroduction of the line of SUVs was first announced in 2017 but little has been shared about the returning vehicles.

At a meeting with executives and select dealers, Ford allegedly told dealers it plans to unveil the Bronco next month, but where and when was not disclosed. The following month, the company will unveil the off-road crossover known as Bronco Sport at the New York Auto Show. Bronco Sport will go on sale later this year, while the Bronco wont hit dealerships until 2021.

The company believes it will sell 200,000 versions of the Bronco -- which will be available in two-door and four-door models -- in 2021. Dealers wont have to agree to certain facility requirements as the line of Broncos will be available to all Ford dealers at launch.

Bronco is designed to compete with the Jeep brand as it will features various features and accessories that are similar to what Jeep offers. The Bronco will have a removable hard top doors that can be stored in the Broncos cargo area. Other modifications and accessories will be available for Bronco that will give dealers an opportunity to earn additional revenue.
OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has cancelled his planned trip to the Caribbean this week amid criticism over his government's handling of a series of anti-pipeline protests that have disrupted rail service in parts of Canada.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 16/2/2020 (695 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau holds a closing press conference following the Munich Security Conference, in Munich, Germany, Friday, Feb. 14, 2020. Trudeau will fly to Barbados on Monday, where his effort to secure votes in the Caribbean for Canada's bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council is expected to receive a warm  if guarded  response.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has cancelled his planned trip to the Caribbean this week amid criticism over his government's handling of a series of anti-pipeline protests that have disrupted rail service in parts of Canada.

The Prime Minister's Office announced the cancellation Sunday evening, the night before Trudeau was scheduled to fly to Barbados where he was expected to pitch Caribbean leaders on why Canada should get a seat on the United Nations Security Council.

"Following the government's ongoing efforts to address infrastructure disruptions across the country, the prime minister will convene the Incident Response Group tomorrow to discuss steps forward," a statement from the PMO reads.

Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne will represent Canada in Trudeau's place, clearing the way for the prime minister to handle the protests.

"We will remain in close contact with other orders of government and partners," the statement reads. "Our priority remains the safety and security of all Canadians and the swift resolution of this issue to restore service across the rail system in accordance with the law."

The cancellation followed criticism from Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer last week for "running around" Africa and Europe as protesters opposed to the Coastal GasLink pipeline project in British Columbia blockaded rail lines in B.C., Ontario and other parts of the country.

Scheer as well as various industry groups have called on the federal government to intervene and end the blockades, which they say are causing major damage to the economy. Trudeau has preached the importance of dialogue in reaching a peaceful conclusion to the standoff.

The blockades, which have caused cancellations to passenger and freight service, have been erected to protest the Coastal GasLink project in northern B.C., which is part of a $40-billion LNG Canada export project in Kitimat aimed at getting liquefied-natural gas to foreign markets.

The prime minister's visit to Barbados was to coincide with a gathering of leaders from across what is known as the Caribbean Community, or Caricom, which includes 15 countries as full members and five others as associate members.

Trudeau used similar summits in Ethiopia and Germany last week to make his pitch for a seat on the Security Council to a large cross-section of leaders from across Africa and Europe.

The prime minister had actually left the door open to cancelling his trip to Barbados when he was asked on Friday whether it was still wise to leave Canada when the anti-pipeline blockades were causing havoc with the country's rail system and economy.

"We have been fully engaged, fully seized with this as a government. I myself have been on direct phone calls with premiers like (B.C.) Premier (John) Horgan and my team," Trudeau said. "As for next week's schedule, right now the schedule still stands. But we will, of course, see."

Exactly what the cancellation means for Trudeau's Security Council aspirations will remain to be seen.

Canada would appear on the surface to have an edge over its chief competitors for a spot at the Security Council table, Norway and Ireland. Not only is Canada in the same hemisphere as the Caribbean, it has longstanding historical ties with the region.

Those ties include shared British and French colonial pasts and, more recently, the provision of millions of dollars in Canadian foreign assistance as Caribbean nations began to gain their independence in the 1960s.

Yet with successive federal governments shifting foreign aid toward the lowest-income countries over the past decade, most of the aid Canada was delivering to the Caribbean has dried up. And while free-trade talks with Caricom were launched in 2007, they have largely gone nowhere.

The result is that while some have previously describe Canada's ties with the Caribbean as a "special relationship," University of Ottawa associate professor Stephen Baranyi said: "It's a bit of a stretch to still call it a special relationship."

Canada, Norway and Ireland are vying for two seats available to Western European countries as well as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Israel. Members of the UN will vote in June, with the winners sitting for two-year terms.

Canada last sat on the Security Council in 2000, with Stephen Harper's Conservative government having lost a bid for a seat in 2010.

Trudeau has said he is seeking a seat for Canada on the powerful UN Security Council because it is where the world's most pressing issues are debated.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2020.
Strike action at Allied Bakeries site in Castlereagh Road, Belfast, has been paused after the manufacturer improved its pay offer.

The strike began as planned on Sunday 16 February at 6am after workers rejected a pathetic 2.5% increase in pay  well below the 5% pay rise they sought.

Allied Bakeries has since improved its offer, which will be put to the workforce in a ballot to decide whether it is sufficient enough to end the strike action.

The action by Allied Bakeries workers was one of the most determined that we have witnessed anywhere in Northern Ireland in many years and brought production on the site to a grinding halt. Management were left in no doubt about the strength of workers resolution to win a fair pay increase, said Susan Fitzgerald, regional coordinating officer for Unite.

As a direct result of this powerful and effective strike action, which saw delivery vehicles forced to reverse after hours of unsuccessful attempts at passing pickets, an improved pay offer was made.

Unite had previously warned that the industrial action could affect the supply of pancakes in the run up to Shrove Tuesday.

Fitzgerald added that the action demonstrated the ability of workers to win improvements when they got organised and took action.

We can confirm that we have reached an agreement in principle with union officials over pay at our Belfast bakery, a spokesperson for Allied Bakeries said.

As we have said throughout, we want to find a settlement to this dispute and are hopeful that our latest offer will receive the support of our employees when it is put to the ballot next week.

The strike at Allied Bakeries came just weeks after workers at Hovis site in Boucher Road, Belfast voted to end industrial action after accepting a 4% pay increase.
Fernando Alonso can probably forget about returning to Formula 1 in 2021.

That is the view of his former contemporary David Coulthard, who told Spain's EFE news agency that he cannot see where the two-time world champion could slot back into the grid.

"I know he wants to come back, but he seems to have run out of options," Coulthard said.

"I don't think Mercedes loves or needs him; I don't think Ferrari loves or needs him. I think it's the same for Red Bull, so where would he go? McLaren? Would they want him there again?" the Scot added.

Alonso, 38, is also struggling to find a cockpit for May's Indy 500, with Honda having reportedly vetoed a deal with Andretti.

Coulthard said of the Spaniard: "I think sometimes you just have no choice other than to accept things.

"For me, Fernando is one of the most talented drivers in the history of Formula 1, with that strange sort of talent that is comparable to Hamilton, Schumacher and Senna.

"But everything has its time, and it may have come for him," he added.

(GMM)
The Western Command on Monday helda special Light and Sound show titled "Jang-e-Saragarhi" dedicated to 21 valiant soldiers of the 36th battalion of the Sikh Regiment.

The programme was held at Ranjit Singh Auditorium, Clement Town here in the presence of GOC, Western Command Lt Gen R P Singh.

"Jang-e-Saragarhi" is the commemoration of the valour and sacrifice of21 Sikh soldiers who fought against an army of 10,000 Pathans at the relay post of Saragarhi, in which all of them were awarded Indian Order of Merit posthumously.

An investiture ceremony will also be held at the same venue tomorrow during which15 officers and 26 soldiers of the Indian Army will be conferred with gallantry awards for their exemplary service to the nation.

The GOC Western Command will also interact with recipients of the gallantry award after the ceremony.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Monday, February 17, 2020

On Tuesday, February 12, I delivered a presentation to the Inland Empire chapter of Project Management Institute (PMI). The title of the presentation was, The forensic examiner is a project manager. The essence of the presentation was applying project management skills and techniques to a forensic examination. This essay is focused on forensic document examination as this is the discipline I practice.

A project is defined in the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge Fifth Edition as, A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.[1] Each case worked by a forensic document examiner is unique. The result is an opinion and/or a report describing the methodology used to culminate in the opinion.

A forensic examination follows the project management process groups. The examination project must be initiated, planned, executed, monitored and controlled, then finally closed.

A forensic examiner is essentially a detective. They apply project Management tools and techniques to examining the evidence to learn what the evidence says. It is often in an iterative process as an initial examination may uncover new evidence that needs to be explored.

Initiate the project

The examination is initiate by a clients request for services. Initiation is formalized by receiving a retainer agreement and payment of the retainer or for internal examinations, by receiving a service request from the requesting agency.

Typically at project initiation the initial evidence is received from the retaining party. The evidence is the questioned document and contemporaneous exemplars. Typically, contemporaneous exemplars are produced when handwriting or signatures are being compared. In the case of potentially altered documents, the original document is usually required for examination.

Once the evidence is received by the forensic examiner, the examiner determines whether the evidence is sufficient in quantity and quality to perform the work of the project. The evidence is both sufficient and the forensic examiner can perform the work, the planning process group is started. In the PMBoK Guide, the process groups do overlap. Therefore, planning the project may be started before completing the project initiation phase.

Plan the project

In planning the project, all stakeholders must be identified and understood. The primary stakeholders in a forensic examination are the requesting party, often an attorney or government agency. Other stakeholders are the requesting partys client, the opposing party and their attorney, and people and organizations associated with the primary stakeholders. For the forensic examiner, the real stakeholder is the evidence since the examiner is a neutral party in the case. Although the examiner is hired by one side in a legal matter, the examiners loyalty is to the evidence.

Each stakeholder may have a different stake in the outcome of the examination. My experience as a private examiner has been the retaining attorney has a desire to know the truth shown by the evidence. The attorneys client has a desire for the evidence to support their theory of the case. The forensic examiners communication is typically only to the retaining attorney or agency. If the case goes to deposition, trial, or arbitration the forensic examiner will communicate with other parties. If the question is about the authenticity of the document owned by the attorneys client, it may be necessary for the examiner to communicate directly with the attorneys client so the attorneys client can state directly their knowledge of the authenticity of the exemplars used for comparison with the questioned document.

Once the stakeholders are identified and interviewed and the evidence is received, the project scope must be defined. Both the in scope statement and out of scope statements are beneficial to focus the examination.

The next step is determining the requirements for the project. PMI defines requirement as, A condition or capability that is required to be present in a product, service, or result to satisfy a contract or other formally imposed specification. Some requirements may be knowing how the evidence will be collected, determining whether the evidence is sufficient to perform the examination, meeting mandatory milestone dates, etc. All participants for the examination team must be identified. This is especially true when specialists were required.

The plan also must identify necessary communication and how communications are to be managed and effected among stakeholders.

Execute the project

Once the requirements are defined, the schedule and budget are set, in the project team is in place, the project can be executed. The execution includes all activities to collect and examine the evidence. For a forensic document examiner, this means conducting a detailed analysis of the document in question, and if there is handwriting to be compared, learning the details of the known exemplars.

Execution of a forensic document examination project requires proper examination of both the questioned and known documents. Often this includes using a microscope to look for details of the document and writing. For printed document it may include observing details about the font used to print, the manner in which the toner is laid down on the document, the type of printer used to print the document, and other attributes. The forensic examiner must have access to all necessary tools to perform the work. Sometimes, this requires outsourcing to a laboratory that has specialized equipment, or a specialist such as an ink chemist or paper chemist.

Executing the project also includes creating demonstrative exhibits showing how the work was performed and the results of executing the project.

Proper project execution requires communication between the forensic examiner in the retaining party.

Monitoring and controlling the project

As the project is being executed, the results of each task in the execution are examined to determine whether there was sufficient data to perform the work. The examiner must determine whether the task was complete and close that task or whether the task must be marked as incomplete followed by a request for whatever materials or personnel are necessary to complete the task.

A method I use is putting the project aside for a few days and moving on to other projects. Upon return to the project, is important to determine whether the results of revisiting the work and the work product are the same or different. Viewing the project with a fresh set of eyes is important to discover whether evidence was misinterpreted or overlooked.

An aspect of executing and monitoring the project is often a requirement to revise the project plan as new knowledge is learned during project execution. This may cause refining the scope of the project as new details are uncovered.

Closing the project

The forensic examiner will report the results of the examination to whomever retained the examiner to perform the work. Depending upon the requirements, the report may be required if the results of the examination support the retaining partys theory.

If the case settles after a report is produced, the project is closed. Otherwise, a trial or other proceeding may result where the forensic examiner is required to deliver sworn testimony regarding the method of examination and the results of the examination. Once the case is fully adjudicated the project can be closed.

[1] Project Management Institute. (2013). A Guide to the project management body of knowledge. Project Management Institute: Newtown Square.
[February 17, 2020] Life Science Workforce Pipeline Sustainability Among Topics To Be Discussed at the MichBio BioTalent Summit

MichBio, the Michigan Bioscience Industry Association, will hold a BioTalent Summit on March 16th focused on bringing together bio-industry stakeholders to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the bio-industry workforce in Michigan. "Michigan's bio-industry contains more than 1,700 organizations employing more than 40,000 people," says Stephen Rapundalo, PhD and President and CEO of MichBio, "and yet, even with world-class educational and research institutions, state-wide economic development programs, and non-profits focused on STEM education, companies still report trouble finding and recruiting the talent they require to grow." He continued, "The goal of an event like this is to bring together 'supply' - educational institutions, non-profits, workforce development groups, etc - together with 'demand'- industry HR and third-party recruitment services - and identify the disconnects between industry, academic, and economic development organizations that act as barriers to talent preparation and acquisition, and develop collaborative partnerships and growth strategies that benefit both employers and the workforce." Representation from all bio-industry stakeholders is essential for the development of collaborative relationships that lead to real change inthe talent pipeline. Key attendees include:



Bio-industry Executive Leaders (CEO's, COO's, VP's etc)

Human Resource Professionals - both within industry organizations and recruitment or career service providers

Diversity and Inclusion representatives

Academic Faculty and Higher Ed Professionals who assist in curriculum design or industry partnerships

Clinical Research Organization Professionals

Regional or State-level workforce development professionals

Foundations or Non-profits with workforce and economic development, or education and STEM focuses The BioTalent Summit will take place Monday, March 16, 2020 at the Schoolcraft College VistaTech Center in Livonia, with programming from approximately 9:00 am to 5:00 pm and an evening reception. Visit michbio.org/talent20 for information or to register. For more information on MichBio visit michbio.org

MichBio is the trade association committed to driving growth in Michigan's biosciences industry and its many sectors, including agri-biotech, food and nutrition, bio-based technologies and renewable chemicals, industrial and environmental biotech, medical devices and technologies, pharmaceuticals and consumer healthcare, diagnostics and research products, testing and research services, and clinical research. MichBio members include bioscience companies, academic and research institutions, bioscience service providers, and related organizations. For more information, visit www.michbio.org or follow us on Twitter @MichBio. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200217005303/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday warned that Pakistan may face another refugee crisis if the international community failed to take notice of the current situation in India.

Speaking at the two-day refugee summit in Islamabad on 40 years of hosting Afghan refugees in Pakistan, he said India's "ultranationalist ideology going unchecked could lead to destruction and the region could become a flashpoint", The Express Tribune quoted him as saying.

He said said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement that India can destroy Pakistan in 11 days is not a responsible statement by a premier of a nuclear state with a huge population, the paper reported.

Khan made the statement in the presence of visiting UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who was also attending the summit.

He said because of the "Hindutva" ideology, Kashmiris have been lockdown for over 200 days. He alleged under the same ideology, the BJP-led government passed two discriminatory nationalistic legislations, targeting 200 million Muslims in India.

Khan was referring to India's Citizenship Amendment Act and the revocation of the special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

The new citizenship law passed by the Indian Parliament in December 2019 offers citizenship to non-Muslim persecuted religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

The Indian government has maintained that the CAA is an internal matter of the country and stressed that the goal is to protect the oppressed minorities of neighbouring countries.

India revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special status on August 5. Reacting to India's move, Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties with New Delhi and expelled the Indian High Commissioner.

India has always maintained that Jammu and Kashmir is its integral part and ruled out any third party mediation, including either from the UN or the US, saying it is a bilateral issue with Pakistan.

Khan said if the international community does not take notice of this situation, it will create another refugee crisis for Pakistan as Muslims of India will move to Pakistan.

"This is not the India of Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi. The United Nations (UN) must play its role otherwise it will become a very big problem in the future," Duniya quoted Khan as saying.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A fire broke out on the 18th floor of a residential building in Greater Noida on Monday, officials said.

The incident was reported at around 1.30 pm at Elegant Ville Society in Bisrakh area.

The blaze was controlled by 2 pm, a police spokesperson said.

"The fire got triggered by a short circuit in an electric board of the building. Local police and personnel from the Fire Department were immediately deployed at the site and the blaze was brought under control," the spokesperson said.

According to the official, no one was injured in the incident.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
It was last summer, apparently, that Peter Phillips and his wife, Autumn, told his grandmother Queen Elizabeth that they planned to separate. The monarch, it has been reported, counselled them not to rush into anything. Slow down, take your time, give it some consideration.

That was last summer. Before Andrew did Newsnight and had to be stripped of royal duties as a result and before Harry and Meghan decided they wanted out. Despite the fact that she didn't know that either of these royal-PR disasters were down the track, however, the monarch counselled caution.

Don't rock the boat. Don't draw undue attention.

Keep calm and carry on.

It must feel to the nonagenarian head of state that no one is paying any attention any more. Maybe it takes years of experience and maturity to see that even the most might of edifices can be tumbled if they are chipped away at enough, and there must be moments that Elizabeth feels alone in seeking to keep everything together.

Maybe, or maybe she only has to look to William and Kate for a bit of royal reassurance. The rest might seem to be going rogue at a rate of knots, but the more they rattle their jewellery, the more solid the second in line to the throne and his commoner wife seem to get.

What solace the British monarch must take in them, though it's quite the duty for one couple to carry.

Elsewhere, however, she must feel she is being let down, particularly as the unhitching of Harry and Meghan continues to unfold. Of course, part of their deal - and that which seemed reasonable and not grabby - was that they would, once they were no longer senior royals, earn their own money.

Yes, yes, Charles continues to support them out of his private income and their eye-wateringly expensive security bill is not their headache, but, otherwise, Harry and Meghan are now supporting themselves. Which sounds admirable, although their first major commercial outing last week didn't exactly earn them popularity points.

Their recent paid appearance at an event for JP Morgan bank, held in Miami and to which, it was reported, they flew on a private jet, is said to have earned them up to 1m.

Video of the Day

Harry spoke to the hundreds of assembled rich folk about mental health, and, specifically, the fact that he has been in therapy for almost a decade, attempting to heal the scars left by his mother's death and the manner in which it was handled for him as a 12-year-old boy.

Naturally, there were immediate mutterings about the hypocrisy of taking a private jet despite their environmental concerns, and, obviously, Piers Morgan slated them as shameless self-promoters, but criticism didn't just come from the usual quarters.

Surprisingly, there was American backlash too - in the same week that Harry and Meghan let go their 15 staff in the UK, a sure sign that they have no plans to spend significant time there soon. The US, however, was supposed to be their safe space, where their 'stepping down' as senior royals would be applauded rather than considered a shirking of duty.

And Harry was applauded by the crowd gathered by JP Morgan, but in the New York Post, he and Meghan were called freeloaders and what is becoming his propensity for bringing up his mother was called into question. In particular, attention was drawn to Harry's comments last year that he is brought back to Diana's death every time he hears the click of a camera.

"But for the right price, he'll dredge up all that deeply personal emotional chaos, held sacred for decades to a room full of global power brokers," the US journalist wrote, "despite zero chance any of it will elucidate or ameliorate a single real-world problem".

The US journalist also pointed out that Harry and Meghan had barely drawn breath after pleading desire for a simple and private life before they got into the spotlight for the big bucks. In a nutshell, the gloves were suddenly off - on both sides of the Atlantic.

Indeed, in Australia, Germaine Greer was on TV questioning whether Meghan's love for her husband is sincere at all. Admittedly, only Greer, now ensconced in her role as sayer of the unsayable and potentially offensive would dare suggest such a thing, but it's a further signal that it's fair game on one once you've left The Firm fold.

The announcement from Peter Phillips - only son of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips - came last week that he and his wife will divorce, after already having a period of separation, though we don't know if there was any heed taken of Queen Elizabeth's advice.

News of the split was rapidly followed by a catalogue of ways in which Phillips - who has never had a royal title or any of the financial props that come with one - has earned his crust. There were wedding photos in Hello!, speculation that they got a deal on their honeymoon in exchange for publicity, and, latterly, ads for Jersey milk on Chinese TV.

It's not very dignified, and was exactly the kind of attention that the monarch counsels her family to avoid. The wrong kind of attention, after all, could build into a very real questioning of just why this very wealthy family needs such generous propping up.

The right kind of attention, however, continues to be attracted by good old William and Kate - the latter increasingly referred to as the new Diana, by dint of her personable and warm way, as opposed to her glamour and tendency to drama. (The drama, it could be said, has been left as Meghan and Harry's department, though it's not necessarily doing them much good.)

The good being done by William and Kate is, ultimately, for the good of the family. It is duty, though they must get something out of their new role as the best little royals in the family.

When they come to Ireland next month, with Galway already announced as part of their tour, they will continue the work. It might not have the glitz of Harry and Meghan's visit in 2018, but it will be warm and they will be welcomed. Slow but steady wins the race, as Queen Elizabeth might also counsel.
Bharti Airtel said on Monday that it has paid Rs 10,000 crore to the telecom department as part amount of its adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues. The telecom operator's spokesperson confirmed to BusinessToday.In that, it will pay the balance amount after completing the exercise of calculating (AGR) dues across 22 circles which will take at least a week to ten days.

The company added that it shall make the payment before the next date of Supreme Court's (SC) hearing which is on March 17.

"The total amount of Rs 10,000 crore has been paid on behalf of Bharti Airtel, Bharti Hexacom, and Telenor. We are in the process of completing the self-assessment exercise expeditiously and will duly make the balance payment upon completion of the same, before the next date of hearing in the SC," Bharti Airtel said.

Also Read: AGR-hit telcos set for another jolt; must pay additional service tax, GST on unpaid dues

The company also stated that it will also provide supporting details at the time of paying the balance amount.

Bharti Airtel's overall AGR dues as assessed by the department of telecommunications (DoT) stand at Rs 35,586 crore including licence fee and spectrum usage charge.

The telecom department on February 14 began issuing orders asking firms such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea to clear past dues immediately.

The DoT, which faced the ire of the Supreme Court for putting on hold recovery of dues from telecom companies, had started issuing circle or zone-wise demand notices to the firms.

Also Read: What's next for Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel after Supreme Court's AGR blow?

Airtel had previously responded to DoT order by offering to pay Rs 10,000 crore by February 20 and the remaining before March 17.

So far, only Reliance Jio has fully paid its AGR dues of Rs 195 crore.

Bharti Airtel share price had hit an all-time high of Rs 568.60 in early trade on Monday. However, it fell 0.25% to Rs 563 in the afternoon session on profit-booking.
Prisma Analytics GmbH and Decisive Group agree to implement Prisma's C+8 AI based Big-Data high-end analytics tools in a fully functional Strategic Research Center, Situation Room and Media Briefing Center, aimed for client use of real-time Big Data research together with bespoke AI information analysis programs and most disruptive analytics visualizations technologies.

MUNICH, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Prisma Analytics and Decisive Group have entered into a long-term strategic partnership to build UAE's first Strategic Research Center and Situation Room, including a Media Briefing Center for next-generation AI-based Big Data research. Acquiring the UAE-exclusive license for Prisma's state of the art C+8 AI environment, Decisive Group will not only boost its own capabilities, but will also be able to provide significant value for its clients, via timeshare agreements for qualified Big Data analytics customers, being able to utilize the entire facility. Decisive will also act as agent for Prisma Analytics GmbH, to promote additional C+8 AI-based Big-Data analytics facilities throughout the GCC countries for use in all areas of commerce, the public sector and education institutes.

The Facility will be operational 24/7/365 by late summer 2020, providing over 120 m2 of latest technology high-resolution data monitor walls, full Prisma C+8 big-data tool access, fully trained staff to assist customers with effective analysis in real-time research, and provide analyst workspaces for up to 20 internal and up to 100 external information support analysts. Facility Customers will be able to analyze side-by-side, in a high-security environment, 100s of Petabytes of pre-analyzed open-source data, provided by Prisma Analytics, together with secure proprietary data, owned by analyzing clients.

The facility is aimed at instant knowledge generation to save clients millions, and in some cases billions of dollars in data research, by simply renting for only a few days the Prisma built Decisive Strategic Research Center and Situation Room to do the work, that otherwise would take many months or years to accomplish similar results, or worse, come up empty-handed.

Clients will also be able to use the media briefing facility to announce research findings and to arrange press conferences.

Decisive Group

Decisive Group is a multi-venture business facilitation company, established in London and Dubai to find the best solutions for the realization of new and progressive businesses. The company offers a broad range of business consulting services, beside global ventures in Real Estate, Company Incubation services, disruptive medical applications, and global trade in new and innovative C2M platform solutions.

Decisive is an innovator in its own right, and when asked about the Decision Room project, Mr. Charlie Patel, founder and CEO of Decisive Group said "We live in a time, where the right knowledge, the right information, the right context is everything to sustain business ventures successfully. Today, it's not so simple anymore! You need to know more! Not just a number, or a fact. You need to know full context, relevant trends, big and small, parallel dynamics, and disruptive counter trends! In short, you need a deep analytical understanding of your venture or project. With its C+8 AI environment, Prisma has developed a very powerful strategy, which decisively closes the gap to 'need to know - just in time' knowledge, to give clients very powerful advantages in understanding the dynamics of our world around us."

Hardy F. Schloer, Founder and CTO of Prisma Analytics GmbH in Germany added: "The time share aspect, which Decisive brings to the table is an ingenious idea. Most companies and institutions can't rationalize a 14-million-Euro budget to do much-needed business intelligence and high-end data research. However, they can now close the gap to big data analytics operators in the commercial world, and indeed get much more analysis done for much less cost. This will greatly improve the bottom line of all users of the Decisive Center in Dubai. It also gives Prisma a great forum to demonstrate the power of its C+8 AI, researching anything from social trends and geopolitics to risk identification, security threats, predictive modeling and finding the proverbial 'needle in the haystack' in any application."

Both Patel and Schloer joined to offer the position of Chairman of the Board to His Excellency Khalid Seddiq Mohamed Samena of Abu Dhabi, who has tirelessly worked for years, for a major AI and Big Data knowledge center to be installed in the UAE. His Excellency has happily accepted this position and shall bring major support and awareness to this landmark project.

His Excellency Khalid Seddiq Mohamed Samena said: "I feel most strongly about the success of this new information analysis facility in the UAE. We need this type of technology everywhere to support vital decisions which are being made every day. We must think big, respond to our opportunities big, and position ourselves big in our strategies and business ventures. The needed fuel for this is real-time analyzed high-quality knowledge. This project will bring about the kind of agile and disruptive knowledge we must seek and use on a day to day basis."

The Situation Room and Media Center by Prisma Analytics

With its Situation Room and Media Center, Prisma Analytics GmbH offers a fully secure C+8 operating environment for the processing of big data with high-end AI tools made bespoke for each client and application. Within this structure, the Situation Room also offers a massive open-source database of knowledge.

C+8's data analytics utilize the combination of Prisma's immense pipe of open-source data and customer's own proprietary data within the customer's IT environment, allowing the full advantage of C+8 capabilities across all data and information sources.

About Prisma Analytics

Prisma Analytics GmbH combines big data analysis and artificial intelligence to create products that are tailored to closely fit the growing demands of high-level decision-makers.

Prisma Analytics has developed the C+8 data model, which continually processes Big Data of all types, and from any source, into a fully generalized, unsupervised self-organizing data model, which maps a dynamic copy of the real world and its history into a multi-dimensional and causality-based knowledge network.

From a business model perspective, the technology acts as a platform that allows to derive a variety of applications upon it. The first application launched by Prisma Analytics is Decision Point, a unique predictive analytics solution that uses the C+8 data model's native forecasting capabilities (machine-generated intuition) for the analysis of stock price movements. The Decision Point application is available on Refinitiv's (formerly Thomson Reuters) EIKON platform.

For more information:

Prisma Analytics GmbH

Tal 34, 80331 Munich

Phone : +49 89 22802988

Website: www.prisma-analytics.com/product/situation-room

Hardy F. Schloer CTO

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +40 730 775 007

Decisive Group

Charlie Patel CEO

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +971 58 294 4445

Related Files

Hardy Schloer of Prisma Analytics and Mr. Charlie Patel, Ali Abbas and Hyder al'Lamee of Decisive Group.jpeg

Related Links

Prisma Analytics

Related Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyY2NsWmV5E

SOURCE Prisma Analytics GmbH

Related Links

http://www.prisma-analytics.com


To the editor:

I am hosting an Elizabeth Warren rally at Creative 360 on March 1 at 7 p.m. Elizabeth Warren will not be attending but her Midland supporters will be. We welcome all undecided voters as we make our case for President Warren. Come and spend an evening gathering together with those who want a new President in November. On March 10, the polling places will be open for Michigan voters to mark their choice in the presidential primary. There will be refreshments, a free drawing for Warren T-shirts, signs, and hats, and a letter to sign showing our support.

I find Warren's candidacy compelling because she can pull both wings of the Democratic party together. Her policies are progressive and pragmatic. She has a clear view of the problems facing our country. And a woman candidate can win the White House. Hillary Clinton proved that with her decisive victory in the popular vote in 2016. Only 10,704 votes in Michigan for Trump led to our electoral college votes going to the Republican candidate.

Elizabeth's personal story about how she was a single mother struggling to find child care resonates with me. She was drawn into politics because she saw how medical bills forced struggling families into bankruptcies. Despite many obstacles, Warren started the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This boon for consumers has been gutted under the Trump administration enabling credit-card companies and mortgage lenders to prey on consumers once more.

So please join me and other Warren supporters on March 1. If you're not a Warren supporter, come anyway. You might see someone you know.

LINDA SIEMSEN

Midland
The United States of America (USA) on Sunday (February 16, 2020) test-fired a Trident II (D5LE) nuclear ballistic missile to validate its life extension. The Trident II, which can hit targets above 12,000 kilometres away and is armed with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles carrying thermonuclear warheads, was launched from Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Maine (SSBN-741) off the coast of San Diego, California (USA) in the Western Test Range.

Trident II's test-firing was the second one conducted by USS Maine within a period of four days. On February 12, USS Maine had launched aunarmed life-extended Trident II missile as part of a Demonstration and Shakedown Operation (DASO-30) to evaluate and demonstrate the readiness of the SSBNs strategic weapon system and crew before operational deployment following the submarines engineered refueling overhaul.

According to the US Navy, the scheduled test validated performance expectations of the life-extended Trident II (D5LE) Strategic Weapon System (SWS) and gathered additional data on the SWS' reliability, accuracy, and performance factors. The test-firing of the Trident II nuclear missile was the 178 successful launch of the strategic weapon system.

"Test launches are conducted on a recurring basis to evaluate and ensure the continued reliability and accuracy of the strategic weapon system. Strategic Systems Programs is the Navy command that provides cradle-to-grave lifecycle support for the Navy's Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) Trident II (D5LE) strategic weapon system," said the US Navy in a press release.

The release also stated that submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) are the sea-based leg of the USA's strategic nuclear deterrent triad that also includes the US Air Force's intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) and nuclear-capable bombers. Each part of the Triad provides unique capabilities and advantages.

The sea-based leg makes up approximately 70 per cent of the USA's deployed strategic nuclear deterrent triad.

In service with the US Navy since 1990, the Trident II can fly at a speed of almost 29,020 kilometres per hour (Mach 24, 18,030 miles per hour). Weighing 59,000 kilogrammes, the missile is 13.579 metres, has a diametre os 2.11 m and can carry up to 14 thermonuclear warheads.
New Delhi: Even as the Union home minister suggested to the Delhi police that it should be ready to deal with miscreants with firm hands and at the same time remain calm despite provocation, the much-speculated possible meeting between Amit Shah and the representatives of the Shaheen Bagh protesters did not materialise till Sunday evening.

Shaheen Bagh protesters, however, said they would march to the residence of the Union home minister for a dialogue over the new Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) after getting due permission from authorities.

A large posse of security personnel was deployed at Shaheen Bagh where hundreds of women protesters gathered to march tow-ards the residence of Mr Shah for a dialogue over CAA. Barricades were placed at the site and the protesters were stopped after a little distance.

The protesters chose an eight-member delegation, including the elderly women called the dadis of Shaheen Bagh, to approach the police to allow them to meet Mr Shah and asserted that they will carry out the march peacefully.

Unable to get the requisite permission, the anti-CAA protesters returned to the venue where they have been holding agitation against the new law.

Senior police officials held talks with a group of protesters and assured that their application has been forwarded to the authorities concerned for further action.

Three days ago, Mr Shah had said anyone who wanted to discuss issues related to CAA with him could seek time from his office.

At the 73rd Raising Day ceremony of the Delhi police, Mr Shah called it one of the leading metropolitan police forces in the country and the world which has foiled the attempts to create disturbance without any fail.

He lauded the force saying it has helped the government on important occasions like celebrations of Independence Day and Republic Day, festivals, and visits by foreign dignitaries.

Mr Shah observed that while constructive criticism of the police is always welcome, it must also be kept in mind that more than 35,000

police personnel laid down their lives in the line of duty.

In his speech, he also paid homage to the five Delhi police personnel who lost their lives in the 2001 terror attack at the Parliament building, and to inspector M.C. Sharma who died in the Batla House encounter with terrorists.

The event was also attended by Delhi lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal and his Puducherry counterpart Kiran Bedi, Delhi police commissioner Amulya Patnaik, and top officials from other agencies.

On the occasion, the home minister presented medals to Delhi police officers for their meritorious service.

Mr Shah said that under the Delhi Safe City Project, the Centre has sanctioned Rs 857 crore for the safety and security of the capital city.

As many as 10,000 CCTV cameras have been set up in the area covered by 165 police stations and the home ministry has sanctioned 9,300 more to ensure safety of women in the city, he said.
(Photo : Pixabay) Andromeda Galaxy

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) released dramatic new photographs of Betelguese. The output resolves functions on the superstar's surface and surrounding location showing how it is dramatically modified over the direction of 2019.

You need to realize if Betelgeuse is going to detonate as a supernova, and the answer is still: astronomers have no idea. However, detonation can happen at any time in the next 100,000 years. The possibilities that it would happen in our lifetime is relatively remote. This is probably merely a common variation, and it'll go again to its ordinary brightness.

Something that's taking place at the surface of Betelgeuse actually happened millions of years ago, because the star is ready 650 light-years away. But astronomers speak approximately events based on when they may be discovered.

ALSO READ: Betelgeuse Supernova Explosion Happens on Feb. 21; Expect Darker Earth Skies For Months

Betelgeuse is behaving strangely

Telescopes from around the region turn their gaze on Betelgeuse, taking this possibility to peer the star at a time when it's behaving strangely.

Betelgeuse has been continuously clear to find. It's generally the 11th brightest megastar in the sky, taking its position as the own shoulder of Orion. In the previous months, the star is dimmed all the way down to 38% of its ordinary brightness. It is now the 24th brightest star in the sky.

Variations are normal for Betelgeuse. It's literally developing and shrinking as the internal temperatures upward thrust and fall pushing the megastar in and out like a beating heart.

It has excellent convective cells on its floor that boil growing brighter and dimmer regions, and it is continuously blowing out dust, which can be challenging to understand our view for a time.

ALSO READ: Red Giant Betelgeuse Overthrows All Scientific Theories As Dying Star Remains Cool

A team of European astronomers was lucky sufficient to have made very particular observations of the floor of Betelgeuse at the start of 2019, using one of the world's most effective observatories.

This allowed them to test again on the superstar at the end of the year. The astronomers saw substantial differences on its floor, and the encircling cloud of dust shed by the superstar over eons.

This newest image was captured by the European Southern Observatory's telescope called the Spectro-Polarmimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch instrument (SPHERE).

A brief side note, SPHERE is one of the most exciting instruments working from the surface of the Earth. It lets in astronomers to look the polarized infrared light that comes from newly forming planets orbiting a toddler star.

But seemingly it also permits a high-decision view of Betelgeuse. Betelgeuse is so near and so big that telescopes here on Earth are able to reveal the surface of the star as a disk, seeing individual features like massive convection cells.

Is Betelgeuse going through something?

ESO also found out how the star is reputedly changing shape. The observation suggests it is going through a transformation.

Miguel Montarges, an astronomer at KU Leuven in Belgium, said the transformation could take the shape of big quantities of fuel being shot toward Earth, which is obscuring the famous person's brightness.

Montarges said the scenarios they are working on are cooling of the surface due to top-notch stellar activity or dust expulsion towards the planet.

He added their expertise of red supergiants stays incomplete, and that is nonetheless a piece in progress; hence, so surprises could still happen.

Emily Cannon, a Ph.D. student at KU Leuven, added crimson supergiants like Betelgeuse create and eject enormous amounts of dust even earlier than they explode as supernovae over their lifetimes

"Modern era has enabled us to look at those objects, loads of light-years away, in unprecedented element, giving us the possibility to unravel the thriller of what triggers their mass loss."

Daniel Brown, a lecturer in astronomy at Nottingham Trent University, said Betelgeuse is expeced to be brighter than any other star implosion observed from Earth if it had been a supernova.

Kepler's star produced a visible supernova in 1604, producing a bright enough mild, which become seen for 3 weeks. However, Betelgeuse could outshine Kepler's Star.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Turkeys foreign minister on Sunday said China should not label all Muslim ethnic Uighurs as terrorists, following talks with his Chinese counterpart in Germany.

UN experts believe China is holding a million Muslims in camps in the western Xinjiang region, where most of the countrys Uighur population, the largest Muslim minority, reside.

The region has long suffered from violent unrest, which China claims is orchestrated by an organised terrorist movement seeking independence.

Whether Turk, Uighur Turk, Han Chinese, Buddhist or Christian... it is not right to call all Uighur Turks terrorists just because one or two terrorists came from a certain ethnic group, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters in Germany.

Cavusoglu held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday during the Munich Security Conference, during which he brought up the Uighur issue with Wang.

Uighur Turks are Chinese citizens so our wish is that Uighur Turks exercise all their rights as first class citizens. These are our expectations, he said.

Not political tool

But Cavusoglu said Ankara did not want to use the issue as a political tool against Beijing like other countries, which he did not name.

The Turkish ministers comments were cautious, especially compared with the foreign ministry spokesmans remarks last February which described Chinas treatment of Uighurs as a great embarrassment for humanity.

Last year Beijing invited Turkey to send a delegation to Xinjiang, a meeting which Cavusoglu said could take place depending on the programmes details.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at the annual Munich Security Conference in Germany on Feb. 15, 2020. (Andreas Gebert, Reuters)

The West Is Winning, US Tells Nations at Munich Security Conference

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo defended the strength and sustainability of the Western world despite misgivings in Europe when speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 15.

More than 500 high-level decision-makers from all over the world convene annually at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, to discuss international security policies and address current security challenges. Among the attendees are heads of states, ministers, members of parliament, business leaders, scientists, and high-ranking members of civil society.

The central theme of this years conference was fading of the West, and the Western project, a phenomenon called Westlessness by the Munich Security Report 2020, an official primer for this years conference. In todays world, what has been understood as the basis of the West: liberal democracy, human rights, market-based economy, and the rule of law, is increasingly contested, which in turn poses security challenges, according to the report.

The world is becoming less Western  the West itself may become less Western, too, the report says.

The main theme of Pompeos speech was The West Is Winning.

Free nations are simply more successful than any other model thats been tried in the history of civilization. Our governments respect basic human rights, they foster economic prosperity, and they keep us all secure, Pompeo said. The West is not just limited to geographical location, as any nation that adopts a model of respect for individual freedom, free enterprise, national sovereignty  [is] part of this idea of the West, he explained.

To illustrate his point, Pompeo talked about the many refugees who risk their lives to escape in droves across the sea to Greece or Italy, but not to Iran or Cuba. On the other hand, some Asian countries were able to get out of poverty and emerge as world-leading economies by embracing Western principles, like South Korea, which is in stark contrast with Communist-ruled North Korea.

Pompeo emphasized the strength of the U.S. economy, citing low unemployment rates, rising wages, as well as the resilience of the countrys political system.

Respect for sovereignty, freedom, and democracy are critical values of the West that allow it to win, Pompeo said.

South Koreas Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Japans Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi pose during a trilateral meeting during the 56th Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Munich, southern Germany on Feb. 15, 2020. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via Reuters)

US Commitment to Protection of Freedom and Sovereignty

There are, however, countries that do not respect sovereignty and can pose threats to the West, Pompeo said. He listed Russia, which seized Crimea and parts of Eastern Ukraine, Iran, which attacked Saudi oil facilities and has troops in several Middle East countries, and China, which encroaches on the exclusive economic zones of Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia, and uses unfair trade practices.

He strongly disagreed with remarks made in recent years by Western leaders, questioning Americas commitment to the transatlantic alliance and Americas leadership in the world. He also quoted a Western leader who said the day before that the United States rejects the international community.

In response, Pompeo provided examples of U.S. involvement in fighting and countering all kinds of attacks on sovereignty and freedom of Western countries. The United States has worked to confront and counter these threats through sanctions and military actions.

The United States also arms threatened or attacked nationse.g., Ukraine and provides them with financial aid, and training. The United States has led the global fight to defeat ISIS, Pompeo said.

The United States urged NATO Allies to increase their defense spending to $400 billion in new pledges, and actively participates in NATOs military exercises in Europe, he said.

We support independent nations.  Our signature military project together is a defensive alliance, Pompeo said.

Pompeo announced a new U.S. commitment to provide up to $1 billion in financing to Central and Eastern European countries of the Three Seas Initiative. The goal is to galvanize private sector investment in the energy sector to protect freedom and democracy around the world, said Pompeo.

U.S. President Donald Trump and other leaders attend the Three Seas Initiative Summit of Eastern European countries at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, Poland, on July 6, 2017. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

The Three Seas Initiative is a political platform at the presidential level that unites 12 Central and Eastern European countries, located between the Adriatic, the Baltic, and the Black seas, in an endeavor to build a North-South infrastructure corridor connecting countries of this region.

Most of the Three Seas participants used to be a part of the former Eastern Communist Bloc, dominated by the Soviet Union. Therefore their infrastructure was not only underdeveloped in comparison with Western Europe but also focused mainly on interconnections along the East-West axis. This was a major impediment to economic growth in the region. In terms of energy, the region remained dependent on a single supplier of gas and oilRussia.

Included in the Three Seas Initiatives are projects to create an energy market that will provide diversification of energy sources and suppliers, and one of the new energy suppliers to countries participating in the initiative is an American producer of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Reuters contributed to this report.
Representative image

live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

The governments flagship Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), or crop insurance scheme, is likely to see a crunch in insurance capacity as companies as well as re-insurers move away from offering covers.

While on one hand, re-insurers have increased rates for offering cover to insurers, on the other, claims continue to pile up. Firms like ICICI Lombard General Insurance as well as a slew of foreign re-insurers have taken a stand to not write crop insurance till there is an improvement in the rates.

Launched in 2016, PMFBY compensates farmers if any of the notified crops fail due to natural calamities, pests and diseases. The scheme seeks not just to insulate farmers from income shocks, but also encourage them to adopt modern agricultural practices.

Globally, rates for crop insurance have hardened (premium increased) because of the rise in crop losses affected by natural catastrophes. India, too, has seen a series of incidents related to floods and cyclones that have led to a rise in crop losses.

The rates have seen a spike and even with the higher premium reinsurers are going cautious on this business. Hence, several of us in the non-life space are slowing down crop, said the head of underwriting at a mid-size general insurer.

Take ICICI Lombard General Insurance for instance. In Q3FY20, crop insurance underwriting losses dropped to Rs 92 lakh compared to Rs 39.70 crore loss in the year-ago period. This is after the insurer took a conscious call to not write crop business.

Unlike previous schemes, PMFBY is open for both farmers who have taken loans (loanee) as well as those who have not (non-loanee). The scheme covers food crops (cereals, millets and pulses), oilseeds as well as horticultural crops.

Here, farmers pay 2 percent of sum insured as the premium for Kharif crops while it is 1.5 percent of the sum insured for Rabi crops.

While all other general insurance schemes have a policy of hike in premium on an annual basis depending on the past claim, PMFBY does not have this provision. This has made the business unviable.

State-owned General Insurance Corporation of India posted an underwriting loss of Rs 1,398.55 crore in the agriculture portfolio in Q3FY20 compared to Rs 233.93 crore underwriting profit in the year-ago period.

Even if there is no major natural catastrophic incident, an excess rainfall incident in one district alone can wreak havoc to our balance sheets. Though the idea was to use drone for weather predictions and crop yields, it has not yet been implemented on a larger-scale, said the chief financial officer of a large general insurance company.

In FY19, gross incurred claims under PMFBY was Rs 27,550 crore while the premium collected was Rs 20,293 crore.

On one hand insurance companies are choosing to stay from bidding for new tenders, on the other global reinsurers have refused to provide coverage unless premiums are revised. Insurance companies need a risk cover as a backing from reinsurers as a protection against large claims.


By Tom Plate





The creepy coronavirus out of Wuhan is obviously one tough enemy of the people, as those doctors of medicine with the tired microscope eyes will tell you. But there is another category of menace, arguably no less frightening when you think about it, as the doctors of etymology drill down through the centuries for original meaning.



Turns out, the word "epidemic" hails from the Greek  a link of "demos" (population or people) and "epi" (upon). My point: a moral or political plague "upon the population" can be quite virulent, too  a pestilence whose containment is no easy matter. All epidemics are not alike, even as they all have potent powers to menace the public's health, broadly defined.



China has been having a tough, tragic time with the coronavirus; local authorities were felony-slow in reporting it. But President Xi Jinping did not choose to duck into a cave: An epidemic-sized erosion of the body politic could wind up shaking the political foundations of China in a way that would be beyond the capabilities even of a rogue U.S. Seventh Fleet.



Xi's personal take-charge stance is a good thing  "better late than never," as we always say whenever some action is truly late. The cadres now know that this all-out war is of the highest priority  and though the Communist Party believes in no God, Beijing is practically religious if not evangelical in its belief in the restorative power of science.



The historically self-worshipping character of the Chinese themselves (they believe they or their ancestors have seen it all) can prove helpful survivalist medicine. Yes, there will always be a China, and while epidemics are not easily instantaneously spotted, on balance it is probably better for governments to assume the worst at the first sighting of a suspicious agent than cross its fingers and hope it's no more than a common-cold virus.



You cannot just follow them lamely, like a foreign espionage agent might be tailed for months: These miniscule monsters ooze out of an alien culture with pernicious panache and won't morph overnight into peaceniks.



Authorities in China should have learned not only from their own slow boating with SARS but also from America's unforgivably grudging and ideological foot-dragging over AIDS, another virus empowered in part by diligent delinquency at almost every official level.



Without living cells to host it, an infective virus is in effect lost in space and cannot multiply. So too with a political virus, such as fascism of any sort. Without roiling social malaise or moral decay or debilitating economic injustice, a political plague is properly stuck in a refrigerated test tube.



But careless handling of issues germane to the body politic  metaphorically as well as technically speaking  can poke holes in the containment policy. And it can all happen fast.



How alertly are Americans monitoring the overall health of our political culture? The U.S. has just endured a most emotionally draining week. The Feb. 5 bare-majority vote in the U.S. Senate to acquit rather than approve the House impeachment indictment of President Donald Trump was hardly unexpected; but what was even worse was that immediately afterwards political temperatures in Washington got more feverish by the hour.



Though Trump wisely avoided declaring the coronavirus a unique product of an evil one-party system, and in fact praised Chairman Xi's efforts, he sadly passed up the chance to rise above the mean streets of two-party politics. Plans to go the get-even brutal route between now and the November presidential election look to be laid like overnight railroad tracks by the Trump re-election team.



The opinionated U.S. populace is not so much divided as deliberately split asunder by crude men in the White House. Groundwork for a kind of political civil war seems all but set. What we face in America, then, is a psychological outbreak of rage and revenge that threatens to boil over into social plague.



"The whole town is running a temperature," claims the narrator of "The Plague," the transcendent novel by Albert Camus, the legendary French journalist turned Nobel Prize-winning writer.



His "town" was a fictional city in France, but in reading today, first published in 1947, it so clearly seems as if "Oran" could be Wuhan. In the Camus "plague" scenario: The sick die "in a stench of corruption"; there's always a shortage of supplies; and the "authorities" are slow beyond reason to respond.



Camus has one character say: "I was in China for a good part of my career, and I saw some cases in Paris twenty years ago. Only no one dared to call [the epidemics] by their name  The usual taboo, of course; the public mustn't be alarmed."



You can also see in Camus' "The Plague" an arresting allegory for the French resistance to the Nazi invasion and occupation. Similarly, with only a little imagination (but not to alarm you ) we can understand why many Americans are not just opposed but fearful of the prospect of the re-election of the current American president.



Of course, Camus himself knew he did not have all the answers to epidemics of the political or any kind. At some point he seemed almost fatigued: "But what does it mean, the plague? It's life, that's all." Then again, he never seemed to give up hope: "What's true of all the evils in the world is true of plague as well. It helps men to rise above themselves."



Well, we'll see about that soon enough, rise or fall. But Camus certainly knew a plague when he saw one. Let's hope Americans do too.





Professor Tom Plate, distinguished scholar of Asian and Pacific studies at Loyola Marymount University, is vice president of the Pacific Century Institute, also based In Los Angeles. The original version of this column appeared in the South China Morning Post.


DETROIT, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Kohn, Swift & Graf, P.C.; Preti, Flaherty, Beliveau & Pachios, LLP; Freed Kanner London & Millen LLC; Spector Roseman & Kodroff, P.C.; and Cera LLP ("Settlement Class Counsel") announce that the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan Southern Division ("Court") has approved the following announcement of proposed class action settlements with the NGK, DENSO, and Corning Defendants. The lawsuit claimed that Defendants conspired to raise, fix, maintain, and stabilize prices, rig bids, and allocate the supply of Ceramic Substrates sold in the United States, in violation of federal antitrust laws.

The settlements affect those who purchased Ceramic Substrates in the United States between July 1, 1999 and October 29, 2018 directly from any of the following entities (or depending on the specific settlement agreement, their parents, subsidiaries, affiliates and joint ventures): NGK Insulators Ltd., NGK Automotive Ceramics USA, Inc., Corning International Kabushiki Kaisha, Corning Incorporated, DENSO Corporation, and DENSO International America, Inc.

A hearing will be held on June 17, 2020, at 1:00 p.m., before the Honorable Marianne O. Battani, United States District Judge, at the Theodore Levin United States Courthouse, 231 West Lafayette Boulevard, Detroit, MI 48226, Courtroom 250 (or such other courtroom as may be assigned for the hearing), for the purpose of determining: (1) whether the proposed settlements with the NGK, DENSO, and Corning Defendants totaling $17,300,000 should be approved by the Court as fair, reasonable and adequate; (2) whether the Court should approve the proposed plan of distribution of the settlement proceeds to members of the settlement classes; and (3) whether the Court should approve Settlement Class Counsel's requests for an award of attorneys' fees, reimbursement of litigation costs and expenses, and an incentive payment to the Class Representative.

A Notice of Proposed Settlements (the "Notice") was mailed to potential Settlement Class members on or about February 7, 2020. The Notice describes the litigation and options available to Settlement Class members with respect to the NGK, DENSO, and Corning settlements in more detail. The Notice also explains what steps a Class Member must take to: (1) remain in the settlement classes and file a Claim Form to share in the settlement proceeds; (2) object to the settlements; or (3) request exclusion from the settlement classes. The Notice and other important documents related to the settlements can be accessed at www.AutoPartsAntitrustLitigation.com/CeramicSubstrates, or by calling 1-877-734-5508 or writing to Ceramic Substrates Direct Purchaser Antitrust Litigation, P.O. Box 4178, Portland, OR 97208-4178. Those who believe they may be a member of any of the NGK, DENSO, or Corning settlement classes, are urged to obtain a copy of the Notice.

URL: www.AutoPartsAntitrustLitigation.com/CeramicSubstrates

SOURCE United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan Southern Division
Yes, its beginning to look a lot like Christmaswhich, for many of us, feels like a rush into chaos. Celebrating Advent during this season slows us down and helps our hearts and minds be reoriented around the coming of Christ.Yes, its beginning to look a lot like Christmaswhich, for many of us, feels like a rush into chaos. Celebrating Advent during this season slows us down and helps our hearts and minds be reoriented around the coming of Christ.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 13:33:54|Editor: Liu

Video Player Close

SYDNEY, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Historic Australian car brand Holden has reached the end of the road, the owner General Motors (GM) revealed on Monday, having spent decades as the country's best selling vehicle and national icon.

The company said in a statement that it would "wind down sales, design and engineering operations in Australia and New Zealand" before retiring the brand completely by 2021.

GM had already stopped manufacturing Holden vehicles in Australia back in 2017, resulting in about 3,000 job losses, more of which are expected after Monday's announcement.

"At the highest levels of our company, we have the deepest respect for Holden's heritage and contribution to our company and to the countries of Australia and New Zealand," GM President Mark Reuss said.

"After considering many possible options and putting aside our personal desires to accommodate the people and the market, we came to the conclusion that we could not prioritize further investment over all other considerations we have in a rapidly changing global industry."

Tracing its roots back to 1856 as an Australian saddle maker, the company James Alexander Holdenevolved to manufacture vehicle parts by the early 1900s, and in 1931 merged with General Motors to become General Motors-Holden's Limited.

In 1948, the company manufactured the very first all-Australian made motor vehicle, which was unveiled by Prime Minister Ben Chifley at the time, and proved immensely popular with the driving public.

Dominating the domestic market throughout the second half of the 20th century, Holden cars were a common sight on Australian roads and became entwined with the Australian lifestyle.

Despite efforts by GM to maintain a manufacturing presence in Australia, overseas competition and more lucrative opportunities elsewhere forced the company to dramatically scale back the brand's operations within Australia and eventually discontinue the brand altogether.

The company said that it would support existing customers by continuing to honor all warranties and provide servicing and spare parts.
Freelance radio and TV journalist, Abduwali Ali Hassan (25), was shot to death by unknown gunmen on February 16. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) mourns his death and stands by its affiliate, the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) in condemning this crime and calling for justice to be delivered.

Journalist Abduwali Ali Hassan, also known as Abduwali Online, was shot to death late Sunday, in the Afgoye town of the Lower Shabelle Region, 30 kilometers south of Mogadishu. He was returning from an assignment when unknown gunmen opened fire on him. Ali Hassan was critically injured and later died due to the wounds when he being transported to Mogadishu hospital.

Abduwali Ali Hassan is the first Somali journalist to be murdered in 2020 and leaves behind a wife and two children.

He had been a freelance reporter with Mogadishu-based Kulmiye Radio and London-based Somali channel Universal TV. According to journalists' testimonies collected by the NUSOJ, Ali Hassan received threatening calls from a hidden telephone number. They also believe he was targeted because of his recent reporting about the local security situation and the recent mobility and manoeuvres of the Somali National Army in the lower Shabelle Region. No one has yet claimed responsibility for his murder.

The killing comes just days after Amnesty International said in a reportthat journalists in Somalia are "under siege and working under horrifying conditions, facing bombings, beatings,attacks and arrests.Last October, the IFJ alerted that Somalia is one of the most dangerous countries in Africa for journalists, with 55 media workers killed since 2010. Only four of these killings have been punished since then.

We express our anger and condemnation at the killing of Abdulwali Ali Hassan, the latest victim in this ongoing cycle of intimidation, violence, and murder against journalists in this country, said Omar Faruk Osman, NUSOJ General Secretary. The killers wanted to silence one of the few independent voices coming from Afgoye. They won by killing our colleague, he added.

The IFJ Secretary General, Anthony Bellanger said: It is a sad beginning of the year for Somali media. We mourn the tragic death of our colleague and we send out deepest sympathies to his family and friends. The ongoing impunity for the killings of journalists in Somalia is unacceptable. We urge for a quick and thorough investigation into this murder and all the journalists' killings that have not been yet resolved.
An armed gang in Hong Kong stole hundreds of toilet rolls in a robbery sparked by coronavirus fears.

A delivery man was threatened by three knife-wielding men who took toilet paper worth more than HK$1,000 (100), a police spokesman said.

Police arrested two men and are hunting for a third.

The robbery comes amid supply shortages in Hong Kong as the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread.

The virus, also known as Covid-19, has infected more than 71,000 people globally, with 57 confirmed cases in Hong Kong. One person has died of the virus in the city - one of only five deaths outside mainland China.

Panic buying of toilet paper is sweeping Hong Kong (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Earlier this month, in an attempt to limit the spread of the virus, the Hong Kong government announced it would close some borders with mainland China - sparking fears that supply chains from China would be cut off.

People rushed to supermarkets to load up on supposedly endangered goods such as toilet paper rolls, rice, hand sanitiser, and other cleaning products, according to CNN reports.

Online videos show crowds of people at supermarkets across the city battling to buy toilet rolls, despite government assurances that no shortage exists.

Read More From Yahoo News UK:

Man arrested for attempting to crowdfund a 'horrifying' campaign to assassinate Gina Miller

David Lloyd Leisure to be prosecuted after boy, three, drowns in pool

This is what Johnson once said about people with low IQs

Many supermarkets have sold out of toilet rolls, food staples, and other crucial goods.

The toilet roll crisis sparked controversy in Hong Kong. After photos circulated on social media of residents hoarding multiple packs, some accused the panic buyers of unnecessarily creating chaos and confusion.

The Hong Kong government condemned "rumour mongers with evil intentions" for sparking the panic. Government measures against the coronavirus outbreak, like travel restrictions and border closures, "will not affect the freight services between the mainland and Hong Kong," it said in a statement.

Story continues

It added: "There is no need for the public to worry.

Senior NHS figures warned on Sunday that millions of people in the UK could be ordered to self-isolate by staying at home for a fortnight if the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise.
No wonder, the sale of the stone crafts, marketed by the state handicraft department, has increased from Rs 14 crore to Rs 26 crore in one year.

The department has now set a target to increase the sale by ten times in the coming financial year, the bureaucrat added.

Bhopal: Stone craftsmen of Madhya Pradesh, who have switched over to other professions owing to lack of market for their artworks, have now been drawn back into their workshops, thanks to an innovative move by the MP government.

A project, christened as Speaking Stone, has been launched by the MP handicrafts department to woo the craftsmen who have migrated to other states in search of work, back to their traditional crafts in order to revive the dying arts of Central India.

Under the project, the artisans have been imparted training to hone their skills to make themselves relevant in the modern-day art market, besides finding markets for their products.

We have hired national award winner master craftsmen to expose them to the modern art market and upgrade their skills to ensure that their creations meet the tastes of art connoisseurs and collectors, MP handicraft and handloom commissioner Rajeev Sharma told this newspaper.

A fundamental change in outlook of the craftsmen, brought due to their skill upgradation training, coupled with our new marketing strategy has worked wonders. We have tapped different markets for their artworks to ensure that they get right prices of their products, Mr Sharma said.

No wonder, the sale of the stone crafts, marketed by the state handicraft department, has increased from Rs 14 crore to Rs 26 crore in one year. The department has now set a target to increase the sale by ten times in the coming financial year, the bureaucrat added.

A fresh look into the very concept of creation of arts has been given. Craftsmen are being trained to produce artworks from utility objects which they used to make earlier.

For example, a Durga idol has been redesigned to find its place in the living room as an art piece rather than a statue in the puja room.

The idol made of marble stone is designed in such a way that the face of statue dazzles when it is positioned in front of a light.

Art fetches money, Niraj Ahirwar, a stone craftsman here said while backing the new concept coined by the handicraft department to woo craftsmen back to their trade.

The department has established training centres particularly at places close to famed monuments such as Khajuraho, Bateswar and Sanchi Stupa where descendants of creators of such architectural marvels reside.

The state handicrafts department has opened showrooms in 29 states besides selling the products online.
Councils across NSW are pushing ahead with street counts of homeless people in hundreds of suburbs, under the state government's ambition to halve the number of "street sleepers" by 2025.

The Berejiklian government is working with local councils, homelessness services and community housing providers to tally the number of rough sleepers in nearly 300 locations from this month.

The tent city in front of the Reserve Bank of Australia in Martin Place pushed Sydney's rough sleepers into the spotlight in 2017. Credit:Michele Mossop

Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services Gareth Ward said on Monday the first phase of the street count throughout February would provide data for Sydney and the majority of the state.

A second phase in April will capture figures for the Illawarra, Shoalhaven and southern NSW regions.
Over 56 per cent of the 10.15



lakh students appearing this year for the class 10 state board examinations in West Bengal are girls, the highest in recent times, officials said on Monday.

The Madhyamik examinations, which will begin on Tuesday and continue till February 27, will be held in 2,839 centres, West Bengal Board of Secondary president Kalyanmoy Ganguly said at a press meet.

He said 10,15,888 candidates will appear for the Madhyamik examinations this year and of them, 5,76,009 are girls, which is 56.70 per cent.

"The number of female students taking the examination has been on the rise for the past few years. This year's 56.70 per cent is highest in recent times," Ganguly later told PTI.

To prevent malpractices, the authorities are planning to suspend internet services in areas around some schools during the examinations.

"There are plans of suspending internet in areas around some schools, but nothing has been finalised yet. The modalities will be decided by the local authorities," the board president said.

Last year, purported images of Bengali, English, Mathematics and Life Science question papers were making rounds on WhatsApp shortly after the start of exams, but the board and the government asserted that those questions did not tally with the original text.

"Teachers will not be allowed to take smartwatches inside the examination centres from this year. In fact, from smartwatches to mobile phones, no electronic gadget will be allowed inside the centres either by teachers or students," he said.

Ganguly said this was done to prevent any malpractices during the exams.

When asked what action will the board take in case question papers appear on social media again, he said, "This will be looked after by the administration."



Ganguly said, while question papers will be despatched to examination centres by 10.39 am this year, the packets will be opened only at 11.40 am and the examinations will start at 11.50 am.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
17.02.2020 LISTEN

I have listened with interest and surprise Dr Djabletey's interview on Certified Registered Anaesthetists. In fact he appeared confused during the interview and could not present the truth to the interviewer, whose questions were on spot. The doctor rather chose to lecture him on matters which had nothing to do with the questions and rather revealed his ignorance in Anaesthesia even as a consultant.

I want to put it to him that there is nothing like simple anaesthesia. Anaesthetic principles are the same no matter the case. The moment you distinguish between cases, you are bound to make the most grievous mistakes in anaesthesia. In anaesthesia we are taught that there is no simple case. He referred to Appendix, hernia, caesarean sections as examples of simple cases in anaesthesia. How can such a doctor be a Consultant in anaesthesia? He needs to be sanctioned by the MDC and suspended from anaesthesia practice because he is a danger to patients in Korle-bu hospital and in all other clinics he offers his services. Doesn't he know that the majority of cases that come in critical conditions and in emergencies are Hernias, appendicitis, caesarean sections and abortions? How can a consultant call these simple cases?

He said that complicated cases should be referred to doctor anaesthetists in higher hospitals. His example of complicated cases included Brain surgery, cardiac surgery and probably patients with endocrine problems. In the first place, these cases are not done in district hospitals. His problem is that he sits only in Korle-bu teaching hospital and does not know what is happening in the districts and rural areas. A missed abortion case is as serious as any other case when it comes to anaesthesia. Is Dr Djabletey a Consultant not aware of this? MDC should recheck his background. There are no cases in anaesthesia that are reserved for doctor anaesthetists. CRAs do about 99% of surgical cases in Ghana without the assistance of any doctor. We supervise each other in the theatre during surgery. Anaesthetists are expected to work in pairs so that at any point there will be one experienced person present. Two heads are always better than one. Unfortunately for Ghana more than 98% of CRAs work alone in the regions and districts without the comfort of a second opinion. Korle-bu hospital has all the luxuries with all the professors, senior consultants and consultants bunched together and competing among themselves as to who is who. Why don't they accept postings to the district hospitals? It is because of fear of failure. No Doctor anaesthetist wants to work alone. They always require assistants. They will never operate even an emergency case alone. Why? The theatre team comprises Surgeons, anaesthetists, Nurses, nurse assistants, cleaners, technicians, nursing students, medical students and at times patient relatives. Any failure or difficulties encountered will be broadcast immediately outside the theatre. The doctors are scared of this and always want a CRA around them so that if anything happens they could easily push it on the indiscretion or negligence of the CRA.

If an anaesthetist fails intubation or Spinal it will be the talking point in the theatre and beyond. 'Eii today in the theatre Dr..... Could not intubate the patient oo, come and see how he/she was sweating'.

Eiii have you heard, hmmm Dr...... Killed a patient in the theatre today ooo, somebody's mother/father, son/daughter. These informations will be the talking points around the hospital. Doctors always want to hide behind the CRAs to avoid these negative tags. They have the comfort in Korle-bu to have professors and consultants in the theater with them. As a result, most of them don't take the practical aspects seriously. The CRAs do almost all the practical aspects of anaesthesia whilst the doctor moves around claiming to be supervising. Anaesthesia is practice and experience and not supervision.

According to Dr. Djabletey, cases beyond CRAs should be referred to Doctor anaesthetist. A falacy. CRAs have taken over cases from Doctors and managed successfully. Most of the doctor anaesthetists can attest to this. Surgeons and theatre nurses are witnesses to reveal these facts.

According to Dr. Djabletey Consultant, he has been practicing anaesthesia for 15 years. I have been practicing for 27 years now. I have practiced from rural to districts and in Accra, anaesthetising thousands of patients with success. He must learn to be humble. Anaesthesia is humility, and experience.

CRAs are not competing with Doctor anaesthetists. We don't belong to the same association, we don't take equal salaries, so what is their concern?

Even in the most developed countries anaesthesia deaths occur. Death is a necessary end and no one can determine how one will die and under what circumstances. No medical test or examinations can reveal every morbidity in a patient. Reactions to anaesthetics are difficult to predict because many drugs are used at the same time. Although we anticipate all these and prepare for them the consequence at times could be disastrous. In such cases, you could be the professor doing the Anaesthesia yet it will happen. I have seen Professor Surgeons puncture big blood vessels in patients and they stood helplessly and watched patients die. In the theatre there are certain cases that you can do nothing about.

In Anaesthesia every patient is accessed according to the American Society of Anaesthetiologists (ASA) classification among others.

The ASA Physical Status Classification System has been in use for over 60 years. The purpose of the system is to assess and communicate a patients pre-anesthesia medical co-morbidities. The classification system alone does not predict the perioperative risks, but used with other factors (eg, type of surgery, frailty, level of deconditioning), it can be helpful in predicting perioperative risks.

The definitions and examples shown below are guidelines for the clinician. To improve communication and assessments at a specific institutions.

The examples in the table below address adult patients and are not necessarily applicable to pediatric or obstetric patients.

Assigning a Physical Status classification level is a clinical decision based on multiple factors. While the Physical Status classification may initially be determined at various times during the preoperative assessment of the patient, the final assignment of Physical Status classification is made on the day of anesthesia care by the anesthesiologist after evaluating the patient.

Current Definitions and ASA-Approved Examples are:

ASA I

A normal healthy patient. Healthy, non-smoking, no or minimal alcohol use.

ASA II

A patient with mild systemic disease.

Mild diseases only without substantive functional limitations. Examples include (but not limited to): current smoker, social alcohol drinker, pregnancy, obesity (30 < BMI < 40), well-controlled DM/HTN, mild lung disease.

ASA III

A patient with severe systemic disease

Substantive functional limitations; One or more moderate to severe diseases. Examples include (but not limited to): poorly controlled DM or HTN, COPD, morbid obesity (BMI 40), active hepatitis, alcohol dependence or abuse, implanted pacemaker, moderate reduction of ejection fraction, ESRD undergoing regularly scheduled dialysis, premature infant PCA < 60 weeks, history (>3 months) of MI, CVA, TIA, or CAD/stents.

ASA IV

A patient with severe systemic disease that is a constant threat to life.

Examples include (but not limited to): recent ( < 3 months) MI, CVA, TIA, or CAD/stents, ongoing cardiac ischemia or severe valve dysfunction, severe reduction of ejection fraction, sepsis, DIC, ARD or ESRD not undergoing regularly scheduled dialysis

ASA V

A moribund patient who is not expected to survive without the operation

Examples include (but not limited to): ruptured abdominal/thoracic aneurysm, massive trauma, intracranial bleed with mass effect, ischemic bowel in the face of significant cardiac pathology or multiple organ/system dysfunction

ASA VI

A declared brain-dead patient whose organs are being removed for donor purposes.

Every patient undergoing any kind of surgery must be assigned an ASA classification among other kinds of assessments and classifications before the surgery. All anaesthetists are taught and expected to religiously follow all these principles because if anything happens in the theatre and a legal action is taken, or investigations instituted, all your documents in the theatre will be presented for evidence of negligence or otherwise.

Because of the passion of Nurses to care for patients, Nurses have been at the forefront in all departments in the hospitals. Ghana has only about 4000 doctors with more than 2000 hospitals. Majority of the health facilities in the districts and rural areas are manned by PAs and Nurses. There are more than 4000 Community-based Health planning and Services (CHPS)Compounds that are at the forefront of the Primary Health care in the most deprived areas. They are headed by Community Health Officers who are Nurses. They diagnose and treat patients, deliver expectant mothers where there are no maternity homes nearby in emergency situations. Why are doctors not fighting to change their names to Comminity-based health assistants? Why are they concerned about the title of CRAs? If they feel belittled because CRAs practice the same profession with them, they are free to re-train as General Surgeons, Obstetrics and gynaecologists, Neuro Surgeons, Cardiac Surgeons, orthopedic Surgeons, plastic Surgeons, ENT etc. We assure them that they will receive the best of anaesthetic management from us.

Why are they scared to open a Master's and PhD programs in Ghana? Let the Doctor anaesthetists rise to the challenge and allow the authorities to open up the carrier progression path, after all, majority of their parents live in districts where CRAs are the anaesthetists who will administer to them if the need arises. Won't they be Happy that Master's and PhD holders are attending to Ghanaians in our communities? We are aware of their resistance to our carrier progression but the authorities must disregard people who are averse to national progress.

Israel Laryea, the journalist who interviewed Dr Djabletey was fantastic when Dr Djabletey stated that CRAs were stepping beyond their bounds.

He asked him "In medical practice, things can go wrong and even doctors have committed errors in their line of work."

Dr Djabletey will be the last person to cast aspersions and stones at CRAs. He must appreciate the difficult conditions CRAs work under in the districts without facilities just to help save our people in the deprived areas where doctor anaesthetists have refused to go. Even at Korle-bu where Dr Djabletey has all the modern facilities for anaesthesia, he still commits errors. Whilst pointing a finger at CRAs, he should watch the four fingers pointing at him.

The fantastic journalist asked him again "Why do the CRAs need a physician to guide them since you are all trained anaesthetists?"

Dr Djabletey was confused. We study the same books using the same syllabus. Why does he think he is more knowledgeable in anaesthesia than me? A medical doctor comes out of medical school with almost zero idea about anaesthesia.

The four weeks orientation in anaesthesia department is not for practice but just observation just as the nursing students also come into the theatre to observe and learn the types of anaesthesia and drugs that we use because some aspects of anaesthesia may come in their examinations. Majority of the doctors obtain their diploma without being able to intubate a patient or give anaesthesia alone safely. Apart from Korle-bu where there are several professors of Anaesthesia, almost all the Physician anaesthetists diploma students are taught by CRAs to intubate and do Spinal anaesthesia. How do you turn back to supervise a person who just supervised you to become an anaesthetist?

After 3 years of Nursing as state Registered Nurses, one had to practice Nursing for three years minimum to qualify to train as CRA for 18 months full time in residence, practicing anaesthesia for the entire 18 months. The student goes for lectures daily and to the theatre for practice daily for 18 months. Afterwards you go for 2 years full course also residential to obtain a Bsc degree in Anaesthesia.

Presently, Nurses go for 4 years full course and residential to obtain a Bsc in Anaesthesia. The same syllabus, books, equipment, drugs and techniques used by CRAs are the same used by Dr Djabletey and his colleagues. No one single group of health staff are a god to themselves. It is a team work. Anaesthetists cannot work alone, Surgeons cannot work alone. Each group needs another to achieve its goals and objectives in the hospital setting. Even during surgery, Surgeons become confused and Nurses offer their help to assist them out of difficulties. CRAs have assisted Surgeons as well out of difficult situations. Surgeons have also done same to help anaesthetists. These are facts that cannot be contested. All who work in the theaters know that no one is perfect. There is no case in anaesthesia that is beyond a CRA. If there is, then it is also beyond the physician anaesthetist as well. We have all studied the same principles and practice. There are no surgical cases meant for a physician anaesthetist and another for a CRA. Dr Djabletey is being economical with the truth.

Whether it is Neuro surgery, cardiac surgery or whatever, the principles of Anaesthesia are the same. All you need is a second or third anaesthetist to assist because two heads are always better than one. This saying is very apt in anaesthesia.

A physician anaesthetists diploma, membership and fellow are just carrier progression to increase their salaries and beautify their CVs. CRAs would have been holding PhDs and professorships if the Ministry had opened up the carrier progression for CRAs. I appeal to the ministry to do that to help lift the image of Ghana in the medical field.

Israel Laryea asked Dr Djabletey to give a typical example of a case that a CRA could not do. Dr Djabletey Consultant, started lectures on endocrinology. Is he saying that CRAs did not study the effects of the endocrine system on the body during anaesthesia?

For the avoidance of doubt and for the benefit of the general public, I post below the DETAILED CURRICULUM of the Anaesthesia program, Definition and Guidelines of the Clinical Rotations in Basic (Core) Anaesthesia Training.

During this rotation the resident will be assigned to theatre lists in the fields of General Surgery

Urology

Orthopaedics and Trauma

Obstetrics and Gynaecology

ENT

Paediatrics

Day care Anaesthesia and Resuscitation.

The level of involvement will be at all phases i.e. pre, intra and postoperative care, resuscitation and acute/chronic pain management wherever it may be required. The first 12 months for any trainee will be in basic anaesthesia and resuscitation.

OBSTETRIC ANAESTHESIA

This rotation is specially designed to cover management of labour pain, operative obstetric cases and resuscitation of the critically ill obstetric patient and neonate. Experience with regional analgesia and anaesthesia is to be obtained during this rotation.

PAEDIATRIC ANAESTHESIA

Paediatric anaesthesia cover congenital anomalies and major procedures in the neonatal and other paediatric

age groups.

An introduction to the following subspecialties will be done.

*CARDIOTHORACIC ANAESTHESIA

*NEUROSURGICAL ANAESTHESIA

*INTENSIVE CARE

*PAIN MANAGEMENT

SKILLS AND PROCEDURES:

During residency training all trainees are expected to become proficient in the following

skills and procedures:

*Administration of general and local anaesthesia

* Administration of inhalational anaesthesia

* Administration of intravenous anaesthesia including total intravenous

anaesthesia(TIVA)

* Simple infiltration and nerve blocks

* Airway management

* Oropharygeal and naso-pharyngeal airways

* Laryngeal mask airways

* Endotracheal intubation

* Fibre optic intubation

* Ventilation modes and techniques

* Vascular Access

* Peripheral intravenous cannulation

* Central venous cannulation

* Arterial cannulation

* Insertion of pulmonary arterial floatation catheter (Swan-Ganz)

* Measurement of cardiac output

* Insertion of chest drains

* Regional Anaesthesia and analgesia

* Subarachnoid anaesthesia

* Epidural analgesia and anaesthesia and analgesia

* Intravenous regional anaesthesia (Biers block)

* Brachial Plexus Block

* Stellate ganglion block

* Major nerve blocks and field blocks

* Monitoring

* Basic e.g. clinical evaluation

* Standard e.g. NIBP, ECG, Pulse oximetry,PNS, Temperature, ETCO2

* Advanced e.g. ICP, SSEP, BIS

* CPR including cardio-version

* Interpretation of arterial blood gas analysis.

* Reading 12 lead ECG for arrhythmias and ischaemia

* Reading and interpreting Chest-X-ray, and other imaging techniques.

* Reading and interpreting basic laboratory data on FBC, electrolytes, renal and liver

functions.

* Management of acute pain, PCA, PECA, NCA, and chronic pain e.g. cancer pain.

BASIC AND APPLIED ANATOMY

 Upper airway- nose, pharynx, larynx, trachea

 Lower airway- bronchus, alveoli, diaphragm

 Cardiovascular system

 CNS and vertebral column and canal

 Autonomic nervous system

 Foetal circulation

 Major nerves of the upper and lower extremities

 Major nerve plexuses (brachial, lumber, and sacral)

 Surface anatomy for the major nerves, veins, arteries (upper and lower limbs)

PHYSICS AND CLINICAL MEASUREMENT

 S.I. units

 Work and Energy

 Electricity

 Ultrasonic waves(Electromagnetic spectrum)

 Gas laws

 Fluid and gas dynamics

 Vaporization and vapour pressure

 Medical gases production, storage and delivery

 Recording of biological potentials

 Pressure

 Temperature

 PH

 Measurements from the catheter to display

 Gas analysis

 Monitoring of neuromuscular function

 Cardiac output

 Respiratory function tests

 Humidity, Nebulizers and humidifiers

 The anaesthetic machine and its safety features

 Anaesthetic circuits

 Mechanical ventilators

 The basic anaesthetic equipment: Laryngoscopes, Masks, laryngeal mask

airway, spinal and epidural needles

 Medical gases and gas cylinders.

BASIC APPLIED PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY

 Physiology of nerve and muscle

 Respiratory system and blood gases, oxygen transport and delivery

 Cardiovascular system (heart as a pump)

 Cardiac conduction (rhythm generation and conduction)

 CNS and Autonomic nervous system

 Renal system

 Acid base system

 Electrolyte and body fluids and homeostasis.

 Hepatic function

 Haematology, basic haematology functions

 Physiological changes during pregnancy

 Nutrition including TPN

 Immunology introduction

 GIT

 Fat, Protein and Carbohydrate metabolism

 Temperature

 Endocrinology

BASIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOLOGY

 Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics

 Inhalation anaesthesia, mechanisms and agents

 Local anaesthetics, mechanism and agents

 Intravenous anaesthesia drugs

 Analgesics, narcotics and their antagonists

 Muscle relaxants

 Anticholinergic and anticholinesterases

 Antiemetic and antihistamines

 Inotropic and pressor drugs

 Antihypertensive drugs

 Antiarrhrrythmics

 Antimicrobials and cytotoxics

 Bronchodilators

 Clinical trials

 Pharmacogenetics

 CNS drugs

 Renal drugs

STATISTICS AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

 Basic statistics

 How to read medical journals

 How to critique medical journals

 How to write articles

 Library studies

MEDICAL CONDITIONS INCLUDING PATHOLOGY

 Pain pathways, acute, chronic and cancer pain

 Head injury and conditions with increased intracranial pressure

 Ischaemic heart disease

 Valvular heart disease

 Hypertension, essential and other causes

 Cardiac arrhythmias

 Malignant hyperpyrexia

 Hypothermia

 Anaemia, sickle cell and other haemoglobinopathies

 Diabetes mellitus

 Acute and chronic renal failure

 Patients with liver disease

 Endocrine diseases and morbid obesity syndromes

 The patient with respiratory disease (obstructive and restrictive)

 Congenital diseases in neonatal and paediatric patients

 Arthritis and other orthopaedic problems

 Shock syndromes (hypovolemic, cardiogenic, septic, and anaphylactic)

 The psychiatric and mentally challenged

 Genetic and congenital diseases relevant to anaesthesia.

 Pregnancy related diseases

 Infections and infestations

 Connective tissue and degenerative diseases

 Neuromuscular diseases

Resuscitation and critical care management of all the above cases and their

perioperative management.

CLINICAL ANAESTHESIA

 Preoperative assessment, patient preparation for surgery

 Principles of obstetric anaesthesia

 Principles of paediatric anaesthesia

 Principles of geriatric anaesthesia

 Principles of neuro-anaesthesia

 Principles of cardiac anaesthesia

 Principles of thoracic anaesthesia

 Dental and day care anaesthesia

 Principles of mechanical ventilation (IPPV)

 The use of blood components and massive blood transfusion

 Anaesthesia for bronchoscopy and airway laser surgery

 General anaesthesia techniques and principles

 Regional anaesthesia techniques and principles

 Airway management (the normal and the difficult airway)

 Post-operative care (Recovery Room) including to control

 Anaesthetic complications and mishaps and their prevention.

CRAs undergo the same programs full time for 3 to 4yrs. Presently the BSc program is 4 yrs full-time.

The Certificate program which I underwent in 1993 followed the syllabus above. My Bsc Anaesthesia at KATH followed the same curriculum. Nothing has changed. Can Dr Djabletey tell the whole world, which part of this program is taught differently to CRAs.

If there are any differences then the Ministry of health must hold the MDC responsible for endangering the lives of patients in Ghana by hiding aspects of anaesthesia from CRAs who administrator 99% of all anaesthetics in Ghana.

When the journalist finally asked Dr Djabletey what his fears were if the issues of CRAs are not handled comprehensively, he answered, "they don't know it all." That is certainly true and applies to all persons and humanity. Nobody knows it all. I don't believe he was trying to mean that he and his colleagues physician anaesthetists know it all. Let him ask his conscience. Korle-bu can testify that Dr Djabletey and his colleagues don't know it all.

I appeal to the good people of Ghana to ignore the prophet of doom Dr Djabletey. Patients are in very good hands with CRAs. Despite the harsh conditions that we work in, in the districts and rural areas, we are able to save millions of ghanaians who would not have survived if CRAs were not in the hospitals and clinics.

Why is Dr Djabletey and some of his colleagues so bitter against CRAs? We have not asked to be called doctors. We have not asked to be given a doctors salary even though we do the same work. We have not asked to belong to your association.

Because of all these fears, we don't want the name 'physician' to appear in our name because we are not physicians. We prefer a neutral name ' Certified Registered Anaesthetists.

I was a State Registered Nurse (SRN). After Anaesthesia I want to be called a Certified Registered Anaesthetists. What is your problem?

We are responsible for all cases that we do legally. No Doctor carries the responsibilities of CRAs if anything went wrong. Each carries his/her own cross. We are not assistants to doctors. We work autonomously in a team of Surgeons, Doctors, Nurses, Technicians, Nurse assistants, cleaners among others for a successful surgery. None in the team know it all. We collaborate, we watch each other and draw attention to anyone going wrong or something going wrong in the theatre because by such team work will success crown all surgeries.

In conclusion, I want to appeal to physician Anaesthetists to be content with what they have and leave the CRAs to peacefully practice their chosen profession. The safety of patients under anaesthesia is the goal of all Anaesthetists. There is no anaesthesia for doctors and another for CRAs all over the world. They should disabuse their minds and allow peace to prevail in Ghana.

Sulleyman

CRA 1994
Women Army officers on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court order directing the Centre to grant them permanent commission, saying it will help uplift women across the country and not just in the armed forces.

Talking to reporters outside the court premises here after the SC order, a woman officer, who was accompanied by some other women colleagues from the Army, said whoever qualifies for the job should be given the opportunity to command.

The SC order, which has to be implemented within three months, will uplift women across the country and just those in the Army, she said.

"Commanding cannot be done rightaway. It needs training. So give them training and whoever fits the benchmark, should be given the opportunity. As per the Supreme Court ruling, the order will be applied on all serving women officers," the officer said.

Advocate Meenakshi Lekhi, who appeared for women officers, said the apex court judgment has given equal rights to the women officers as their male counterparts.

She said a long-pending right has been given to women officers through this order.

"The sky is virtually the limit," Lekhi said, adding the top court has also made some observations on how the army authorities have been "misleading" the court on the issue.

The top court termed "disturbing" the Centre's argument of physiological limitations and social norms for denying women officers command posts and said there will not be any absolute bar on giving them command postings.

It also said women officers in the past have brought laurels to the country and a change of mindset is required on the part of the government to put an end to gender bias in the armed forces.

The top court said despite there being no stay on a 2010 Delhi High Court verdict allowing grant of permanent commission to women officers, the Centre has over past one decade shown scant regard in implementing the directive.

It said engagement of women officers in the Army has been an evolutionary process and the Union of India should have acted in accordance with the Delhi High Court judgment when there was no stay on it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Gunmen have killed 24 people and wounded 18 in an attack on a Protestant church in a village in northern Burkina Faso, the regional governor said Monday.

A group of "armed terrorists" burst into the village of Pansi, in Yagha province "and attacked the peaceful local population after having identified them and separated them from non-residents", Colonel Salfo Kabore said in a statement sent to AFP.

The assault occurred on Sunday during a weekly service, security officials said.

"The provisional toll is 24 killed, including the pastor... 18 wounded and individuals who were kidnapped," Kabore said.

A resident of the nearby town of Sebba said Pansi villagers had fled there for safety.

One of the poorest countries in the world, Burkina Faso is on the front line of a jihadist insurgency advancing in the Sahel.

Since 2015, around 750 people have been killed in Burkina and around 600,000 people have fled their homes.

Christians and churches have become frequent targets in the north of the country.

On February 10, suspected jihadists in Sebba seized seven people at the home of a pastor. Five bodies were found three days later, including the pastor, according to the local governor.

According to UN figures, jihadist attacks in Burkina and neighbouring Mali and Niger left nearly 4,000 people dead last year.

Their armed forces are weak, struggling with poor equipment and lack of training and funding.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bachelor In Paradise alums Krystal Nielson and Chris Randone were planning on starting a family before they announced their split on Valentine's Day.

The couple told UsWeekly last August that they hoped to start trying for a baby in early 2020.

Krystal had stopped taking birth control, the outlet reported, and Chris has revealed that they'd had 'a full panel of bloodwork' done to make 'sure we create a beautiful, healthy baby.'

Bachelor In Paradise alums Krystal Nielson and Chris Randone were planning on starting a family before they announced their split on Valentine's Day after eight months of marriage

Then on Friday, the pair who met on the TV dating show announced their separation, telling Bachelor Nation in a statement: 'It hurts to announce that at this moment, we have mutually decided to separate. Never did we imagine this scenario, but we've come to a point where we both need to work on ourselves.'

Krystal and Chris, both 32, added: 'We are best friends that love and care for each other so deeply. We've appreciated everyone's love and support so far throughout our journey and we just ask that you please respect our privacy as we navigate through this.'

The breakup came after they'd been married for just eight months.

On camera nuptials: The reality TV stars tied the knot in a ceremony in Mexico that was broadcast on the fifth season of Bachelor In Paradise

Bachelor Nation watched Krystal and Chris fall in love and become engaged on the beaches of Sayulita, Mexico during the fifth season of Bachelor In Paradise.

One year later, the couple returned to Mexico to tie the knot.

Cameras rolled as Krystal and Chris exchanged vows at the Vidanta Hotel in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where Bachelor host Chris Harrison officiated the nuptials.

The wedding was a who's who of Bachelor stars, including Ashley Iaconetti, Jared Haibon, and Ben Higgins.

'We are so excited to start this new chapter of our lives together,' Krystal told People at the time.

The Missoula, Montana native said she and Chris 'will have each other's backs forever' after tying the knot where they had their first date.

Krystal's claim to fame came after appearing on Arie Luyendyk Jr.'s season of The Bachelor in 2018.

Chris competed for Becca Kufrin's heart on the following season of The Bachelorette that same year.
It was only through rapper, producer and The Clans founder The RZA (aka Robert Fitzgerald Diggs), who wanted a different life away from drugs, that they managed to find something more. It is this moment that becomes the epicentre of Wu-Tang: An American Saga, created by the man himself The RZA.

I always thought they were friends and were like, hey, lets do a rap group together, Wu-Tang: An American Saga co-creator Alex Tsu said at a panel discussion a at the series announcement last year.

It couldnt have been anything further from the truth (and) that was really shocking to me.

Told in a flashback to the early 1990s, Wu-Tang: An American Saga begins on New Yorks Staten Island where The RZA is still known as Bobby D, a young man with dreams of making music who is recruited into the family business, collecting drug money for his brother Divine.

Supplied by Stan. Credit:Stan

But when Divine is caught by the police and Bobby suddenly finds himself free to chase his dreams, what happens next is more than even he imagined.

Recruiting those around him - friend and foe  with a promise that he will take them to the top, the Wu-Tang Clan became a musical force that quickly took his neighbourhood, his country and eventually the world by storm.

I think that when I ask somebody to join me, Im very transparent on what I want to do, RZA said when his series launched in the US in 2019.

So, I asked for five years of their lives. That five years, I used the analogy, I want you to get on the bus and Im the driver and dont ask me where Im going. I promise you in five years, well be number one. I delivered on the promise.

What he also delivered was a platform for the Clan members to launch their own careers outside of the group, as well as the careers of emerging affiliated artists in the years to come, allowing them to continue to shape the face of music.

While An American Saga looks to the beginning, Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men shows what came next.

The docuseries looks at the Clan after that 1993 debut album, and how The RZA helped shaped some of the most important music acts of the past 30 years, writing soundtracks for multiple television series and films, and producing albums for artists as diverse as Cypress Hill, Bjork, Blink 182s Travis Barker and Kanye West.

Wu-Tang? Me and my friends talk about this all the time, West said in 2014. We think Wu-Tang had one of the biggest impacts as far as a movement.

From slang to style of dress, skits, the samples. Similar to the [production] style I use, RZA has been doing that.

Clan members Method Man, Ghostface Killah, GZA, Raekwon and Ol Dirty Bastard have also made appearances on dozens of artists recordings across the music spectrum, and Method Man is extending his influence into TV, starring in the upcoming Power spin-off series Power Book II: Ghost.

Supplied by Stan. Credit:Stan

Through both productions, the genesis of their world-shaking musical revolution is tracked, but its a revolution still in progress as they continue to help craft the language and style of hip hop, and with their influence instilled in the artists who learned at their footsteps.

Every episode of the brand new series Wu-Tang: An American Saga and docuseries Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men are now streaming, only on Stan.

Want to see more from inside the music world? Check out these documentaries.

The Last Waltz

From Oscar-winning director Martin Scorcese this is the story the musicians of The Band, reflecting on their decades-long ride to the top as they prepare for their final concert.

Watch The Last Waltz here.

20 Feet From Stardom

You may not know their names, but chances are youve heard the voices of the women and men in this fascinating look at those who sing back-up for the worlds biggest performers.

Watch 20 Feet From Stardom here.

Paul Kelly: Stories Of Me

Through more than 350 songs, Australian songwriter Paul Kelly has captured the spirit of Australian life and brought it to the world. And his story is every bit as beautiful as the songs he sings.

Watch Paul Kelly: Stories Of Me here.
A health official in protective gear closes the door of the emergency room of Korea University Medical Center in Anam-dong, Seoul, Sunday. Yonhap



South Korea on Monday identified another case of the novel coronavirus, bringing the number of infections to 30, with the latest two cases prodding health authorities to remain alert over community transmission.



According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), the country's latest patient is the 68-year-old wife of the patient in the 29th case who tested positive on Sunday.



The man, 82, is known not to have been in contact with the country's other virus-confirmed patients or to have recently traveled abroad. He had volunteered to transport lunch boxes to elderly people living alone and to senior centers through a regional welfare organization and was only diagnosed with the illness when he visited a hospital after visiting two clinics and a hospital.



The KCDC said focus should now be on stemming additional community transmission as the organization struggles to find out how the couple contracted the virus.



The authorities said they need to check the couple's movements in more detail before determining how they have been infected through unknown routes.



In a related move, the country is considering testing those who suffer from pneumonia due to unknown causes for the potential COVID-19 virus. This would be done at the discretion of medical personnel.



South Korea also plans to double the number of daily COVID-19 tests from 5,000 now to 10,000 by the end of the month.



As part of ongoing efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the government has called on all 1,470 convalescent hospitals to bar workers who have traveled to Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak, from working and to screen all caregivers who look after patients for travel abroad.



The country said earlier it would take extra steps to keep close tabs on Chinese students enrolled in South Korean schools, with all local educational institutions to take charge of such people and report any signs of illness.



South Koreans on a cruise ship in Japan who are allowed to return home after being screened by Japanese authorities will still be required to remain in mandatory quarantine for two weeks after arrival in Korea.



The number of people being checked for the virus and under quarantine was 408 as of early Monday. South Korea has screened 8,171 people for COVID-19 since Jan. 3, with 7,733 testing negative and nine people having been discharged from quarantine after making full recoveries. (Yonhap)




From driving to ordering a coffee, Americans often experience culture shock when they visit Australia for the first time.

While most Australians would consider ditching their shoes and going barefoot in public to be perfectly normal, the habit comes as a surprise to those from the US.

Daily Mail Australia takes a look at the things American expatriates found the most surprising after moving Down Under.

Many Americans were shocked to learn most Australian businesses don't have extended operating hours. Pictured: Shoppers outside Sydney's Westfield shopping centre

EVERYTHING CLOSING EARLY

Coming from a country that has a city that never sleeps and where 24-hour diners are commonplace, many Americans were shocked to learn most Australian businesses don't have extended operating hours.

Samantha Berger, 26, moved to Sydney six months ago from Saint Paul, Minnesota and admitted one thing she still struggles to deal with is 'how early places close [and] how few options you have for products.'

'It really made me aware of how much of a consumerist society America is. The shops here aren't open nearly as late as in the US and there are very few that are open 24 hours,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

'The product selection is so much more limited here, which is due to a smaller population and economy but I think it's also due to the lack of consumerism here.

'The types and amount of ads you see are different and they don't revolve every holiday around sales and shopping.'

Samantha Berger, 26, moved to Sydney six months ago from Saint Paul, Minnesota, and said she was shocked to see a lack of 24-hour shops

Rather than having the convenience of one-stop shops in the US where things are sold in bulk, Samantha pointed out she now has to make multiple trips to the chemist and the grocery store while shopping.

'It's much more about buying local frequently so you have fresh food. Shopping in the US involves large trips less frequently, so we have bigger fridges and cars to haul all the stuff we buy,' she added.

'Australia doesn't have the mega malls and gigantic super stores where you do all your shopping in one place.'

Kimmy, from Nashville, Tennesee, has been living in Sydney for over three years and said the limited shopping hours has been challenging for her as a mum.

'I get work-life balance is big here. Just would be helpful to have at least a 24-hour pharmacy,' she said.

'Mostly being a parent now, not having that security gets to me. The rest of it I have gotten use to but definitely a shock when first arriving.'

Aussie terms for espresso drinks such as 'long black', 'short black', piccolos are unheard of in the US

ORDERING COFFEE

Many Americans complained their coffee orders were lost in translation thanks to Australians' unique names for their caffeinated beverages.

In the US, filtered coffee is commonplace and is brewed by the pot, and terms for espresso drinks such as 'long black', 'short black' and 'piccolo' are unheard of.

Brooke Stamm from Indiana said she was baffled by Australian coffee names

'Seriously I have ordered coffee at least 12 times without them understanding a single word I said and my order is extremely simple,' Brooke Stamm, 24, from Mishawka, Indiana, told Daily Mail Australia.

'For some reason simple coffee lingo is foreign here. Back home I can say 'unsweetened iced black coffee' and it won't be a problem.

'But I've found that they don't use "simple" words to order coffee. You have to ask for an "iced long black" and even then, that means half an inch of coffee followed by half an inch of sweetened milk so you need to be super specific in your wording and try to figure out all the "fancy" coffee names.'

Sarah Florio said she tried ordering a 'regular coffee', which back home would mean a black filtered coffee with milk and sugar, but in Australia, would only indicate the size of the drink.

'I looked like an idiot when I first got here trying to get a cup of joe,' she said.

Some Americans pointed out how Australians 'work to live' whereas Americans 'live to work' (stock image)

WORK CULTURE/LIFESTYLE

Cassie Warner, who lived in Australia for two years before moving back to the US, said one thing she missed is Australians' 'lack of obsessive over-work culture'.

'In America, we live to work. In Australia, they work to live - not just in attitude, but also in the strict labor laws and strong wages they have there,' she said.

'It has been extremely difficult to adjust to coming back into the culture of over-working salaried employees to death in order to squeeze as much out of them as possible for free while pretending that's not happening.

'I had multiple employers tell me anytime an American or Canadian applies for a job, they're instantly hired because they're such hard workers. It's because we have to hustle over here to pay bills- multiple jobs with low pay and still barely making rent!

'Employers have said a lot that Australians are lazy in the work world compared to North Americans.'

'The US is basically, "earn a living so you can buy more things" whereas here and other parts of the world it's much more about just working to live and travel and have experiences,' Brooke added.

American Shelah Wilkins said said she noticed the 'prolific use of the "sickie" where everyone knows damn well you aren't sick but doesn't bat an eye.'

'I used to rock up at work half dead in America because "work",' she added.

A man is seen walking barefoot while shopping at a local Woolworths

BEING BAREFOOT IN PUBLIC

In Australia, walking around with no shoes is widely socially acceptable - even Chris Hemsworth has been spotted shopping barefoot near his home in Byron Bay.

But the true blue habit has managed to leave some Americans 'disgusted'.

'Last week I walked into Starbucks and three guys were sitting at a table barefoot... seriously guys?' Ashley Hoyoung Kim, from Los Angeles, said.

'People don't wear shoes in the grocery store and food establishments and f***ing anywhere, you should have goddamnn shoes on,' Studley Towers added.

'I'm not saying the barefoot movement is bad, I'm saying it is unsanitary when I'm getting groceries and at a restaurant. '

Olivia Morrow, 22, from Seattle, Washington told Daily Mail Australia she was 'disgusted' after witnessing a man shopping barefoot at a local Woolworths.

'It's gross, I don't get how people are so comfortable walking around in public without any shoes. It's not very hygienic.'

Australian White Ibises, also known as 'bin chickens' are commonly seen strolling the streets of Sydney

WILDLIFE

Ms Morrow said she was shocked to see the strange wildlife she came across on a day-to-day basis.

One of the first things I noticed in Sydney was all the "bin chickens" that are just casually walking around the streets and urban areas and no one bats an eye,' she said.

'They're just as common as pigeons here.'

Danielle McKenzie added: 'I was convinced there were monkeys in the trees when I woke up to the sounds of kookaburra and other birds.

'Had to clarify there are no monkeys running wild... embarrassing.'
Move towards tax payment digitalisation sees DBS and IRAS working towards Singapores target to be cheque-free by 2025

By: Phoenix Lee/

In line with Singapores Smart Nation agenda, DBS Bank announced in October 2019, that it is collaborating with the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) towards tax payment digitalisation and collections via PayNow to encourage more businesses to go cheque-free.

IRAS first introduced PayNow as an option for businesses to receive Wage Credit Scheme(WCS) payouts in March, resulting in a 20 per cent reduction in cheque volumes to-date. Before the implementation of PayNow, about half of WCS-eligible businesses, many of which are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), chose to receive their payouts via cheques.

tax payment digitalisation

Next phase in tax payment digitalisation will see stamp duty services being digitalised

Under the WCS introduced in Budget 2013 and extended in Budget 2015, the Government co-funded 40% of wage increases from 2013-2015 and 20% of wage increases from 2016-2017 given to Singapore Citizen employees who earned a gross monthly wage of up to $4,000. Only employers are eligible for the co-funding. In Budget 2018, it was announced that the WCS would be extended for three more years (2018, 2019 and 202) to support businesses embarking on transformation efforts and encourage sharing of productivity gains with workers. Government co-funding was maintained at 20% in 2018. Subsequently, the co-funding ratio stepped down to 15% in 2019 and 10% in 2020. All other qualifying conditions will be unchanged.

Ms Ang Sor Tjing, Director of IRAS Revenue and Payment Management Branch said, Implementing PayNow for the disbursement of the schemes payouts helps encourage businesses, many of which comprise SMEs, to go chequeless and transition towards digital payments. As part of IRAS digitalisation drive, we are also working with DBS to expand the use of PayNow to more services for the convenience of businesses and individuals.

Story continues

Mr Raof Latiff, Group Head of Digital, Institutional Banking Group, DBS Bank said, Acceptance of digital transactions among individuals in Singapore has been well established. To bring Singapores digital agenda to fruition, it is critical to encourage SMEs to get on board the digital payments train as they represent 99 per cent of businesses locally. Partnering with statutory boards like IRAS is one of the key ways to encourage this shift, with them leading the way by digitalising payments and collections channels across their suite of services.

For the next phase in tax payment digitalisation, both parties are working together to leverage DBS APIs (application programming interface) to digitalise IRAS stamp duty services.

Currently, most taxpayers tend to pay for conveyancing stamp duty via cheques and have to wait several days for the cheque to be cleared before a stamp duty certificate is issued. (Conveyancing stamp duty refers to taxes relating to the purchase of a property.) However, with DBS Direct Debit Authorisation (DDA) API, taxpayers can set up a GIRO account online, and make payment for their stamp duty and receive a stamp certificate through IRAS e-Stamping Portal instantly.

In addition, with a transfer limit of SGD200,000 per transaction, the DBS DDA solution also enables IRAS to digitalise payments for the majority of conveyancing stamp duty transactions. This new DDA e-payment option for conveyancing stamp duty will be launched in November, and more details can be found on the IRAS website closer to the launch date.

Besides stamp duty payments, with cashless payments gaining momentum in Singapore, taxpayers are encouraged to use cashless or electronic payment modes such as GIRO and online banking to fulfil their other tax obligations, said Ms Ang.

DBS continues to see traction from SMEs in the adoption of PayNow

DBS currently banks more than one in two SMEs in Singapore and continues to see healthy interest from the segment to digitalise their businesses.

Since PayNow was launched to corporates in August last year, DBS has seen a steady increase in SMEs adopting the digital payment collections solution, with the bank holding close to 40 per cent of the market share by registrations to date. From a transactions perspective, DBS corporate clients contribute to more than half of PayNow Corporate receipts in Singapore, with volumes from the banks SME customers growing threefold to date.

This was mainly driven by healthy take-up of the banks PayNow-integrated QR payment solution, DBS MAX, which led to a doubling in digital payment and collection transactions by SMEs since the solution was launched in November 2018.

Singapore has continued to show steady progress in the adoption of digital payments on the back of the governments continuous push to become a Smart Nation. However, in order to fulfil Singapores ambition to go chequeless by 2025, we need to continue to innovate and explore new ways to help ease businesses, especially SMEs, into the digital future, while providing them the support they need to face the challenges ahead, said Mr Latiff.

To this end, DBS has invested more than 100 hours this year in customer workshops to educate business owners on the benefits of digital payment solutions such as DBS MAX, and targets to ramp up the adoption of DBS MAX among its SME clients by five times by end 2020.

Mr Paul Ho, chief mortgage officer at iCompareLoan, said, the move towards tax payment digitalisation is a good one. The property and loans industries are being massively disrupted by technology and Singapore has to keep up or we will lose our relevance in a rapidly changing world.

The post Tax payment digitalisation sees 20 per cent reduction in cheque volumes appeared first on iCompareLoan Resources.
By Express News Service

KOZHIKODE: Ending a nine-month-long ordeal, Mohammed Azam, a 22-year-old Delhi native was finally returned home to his family on Sunday.

The youth, who was brought to the Government Mental Hospital, Kuthiravattam, was found roaming near the Kozhikode railway station by the railway police nine months ago. He was later handed over to the hospital by the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) after he showed symptoms of mental disorder. Though he had revealed he was from Delhi, he could not recollect details, including his name, or whereabouts of his family.

However, during a routine session with Azam 20 days ago, he suddenly recollected his school name and roll number. With the information we received, we began a search for his family. We got in touch with the Delhi police and Okhla Jama Masjid, following which we were able to contact Azams family, said Subhash Chandra Bose, a social worker who was involved in tracing the family and helping in their reunion.

According to Dr Sree Priya, psychiatric social worker, Government Mental Hospital, Kuthiravattam, Azam was in a state of shock after his mothers passing following which he left his home, even without realising it. Like Azam, there are several patients at the hospital whose whereabouts are still unknown.

We are trying our best to trace the families of the inmates and send them back to their homes. Last year, we were able to send 25 patients to their homes under the governments expenses. However, nearly 100 people are still yet to reunite with their family, she said.
Sunitha Natti By

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: In policymaking, the first step comes with a second, third and more. And Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has taken this tenet a bit more seriously extending it to the budget-making exercise.

Until now, the natural order was to seek inputs before the budget, and stakeholder interactions happened prior, not after. But for the first time, Indias federal budget-crew comprising Sitharaman and her battery of secretaries including Rajiv Kumar, Ajay Bhushan Pandey, TV Somanathan, and others, are taking a multi-city tour to explain and clarify the contents of the budget and seeking feedback from traders, industrialists, economists and academicians.

In one such pow-wows to decipher Sitharamans sums held at Hyderabad on Sunday, the FM and her team had one broad point to put across, measures announced in the budget were preceded by analysis and only reason will dictate policy, not a whim. Take for instance income taxes. Thanks to Sitharaman, for both corporates and individuals, the country now offers a tax salad with an assortment of tax structures, one with all exemptions and the other with fewer deductions.

Critics might argue that its a leap into administrative complexity, but when looked at from government perspective, our taxation laws are set for a radical overhaul. In other words, Budget 2020 has actually written the first lines of the age-old I-T Acts obituary and exemptions are tipped for the full chop sooner or later.

Though the government aims at a simple, clear and lower tax rate system, it isnt making a characteristically grand promise by when itd be a reality. The Ministrys internal simulations show 69 per cent income taxpayers moving to the new regime, with 11 per cent deciding to switch simply due to simplification of tax structure. Perhaps, the pace of adoption will fasten the overhaul.

Explaining the rationale behind the Tax Collection at Source (TCS) on remittance under the Liberalized Remittance Scheme, Pandey said, the idea was to widen the tax net and prevent the sleight of hand. The Ministrys internal assessments showed astonishing data with remittances shooting up to $14 billion in FY19 from $900 million a few years ago.

Those who paid TDS need not worry as TCS isnt an additional tax and taxpayers can claim full refund. We imposed TCS to get non-taxpayers into the tax net, Pandey said. Similarly, when one of the participants, an oncologist questioned the wisdom of imposing 5 per cent cess on imported medical devices, which would held generate some Rs 4,000 crore, even as the governments Ayushman Bharat scheme has unutilised funds worth Rs 3,500 crore, Sitharaman clarified that the funds raised via cess was for building medical infrastructure in Tier II and III cities, and that the unutilised funds cannot be tinkered with for purposes other than subsidizing healthcare services for the poor.

Another participant wanted the Ministry to continue with Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT), which is easy to administer (budget removed DDT for companies, but imposed it on retail investors), Pandey clarified that the move was to help foreign investors, who were unable to claim benefits at their home base. We need foreign capital, he said.

Meanwhile, amid the growing drumbeat of fiscal anxiety, Sitharaman was direct at reiterating that fiscal discipline will not be compromised. We have not really breached the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM). We have not gone outlandish on it. We have kept fiscal discipline, which is a USP for both the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and also for the Narendra Modi government, she said.
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, Feb. 17

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

Turkmenistan has generated over 2.4 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in January 2020, Trend reports referring to the country's Ministry of Energy.



The electricity production plan was implemented by 126.1 percent with the growth rate of 115.1 percent, the ministry said.

Turkmenistan plans to increase the total volume of electricity production up to 33 billion kilowatt hours by 2024, which exceeds the current indicators by almost 30 percent.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) recently allocated $500 million for an electricity project in Turkmenistan. Within its framework, a trunk power line will be created for the country. The power line will increase the reliability of energy supply to both domestic consumers and neighboring countries-importers of electricity, including Afghanistan.

Turkmenistan is selling electricity to Afghanistan and Iran. An agreement on supplies to Uzbekistan was signed. Ashgabat is also exploring other prospects for supplies to the markets of the Caucasus, Central and South Asia.

Twelve state power stations with a total capacity of 6,511.2 megawatts operate in Turkmenistan.
English French

MONTREAL, Feb. 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Laurentian Bank Financial Group (TSX: LB) will release its first quarter 2020 financial results on Friday, February 28. It will also hold a conference call for media representatives and the financial community at 9:00 a.m. (ET). The quarterly Report to Shareholders, Supplementary Financial Information and presentation slides will be posted on https://lbcfg.ca/investors-centre/, under the Financial Results section, prior to the conference call.



Conference call Date: Friday, February 28, 2020 Time: 9:00 a.m. (ET) Call-in number: 1 866-548-4713 Access code: 2736667 Live webcast: https://lbcfg.ca/investors-centre/, under the Financial Results section (listen only mode) Playback Availability: From 12:00 p.m. (ET) on February 28, 2020, until 12:00 p.m. (ET) on March 29, 2020 Playback link: Follow this link

About Laurentian Bank Financial Group

Founded in 1846, Laurentian Bank Financial Group is a diversified financial services provider whose mission is to help its customers improve their financial health. The Laurentian Bank of Canada and its entities are collectively referred to as Laurentian Bank Financial Group (the Group or the Bank).

With more than 3,200 employees guided by the values of proximity, simplicity and honesty, the Group provides a broad range of advice-based solutions and services to its personal, business and institutional customers. With pan-Canadian activities and a presence in the U.S., the Group is an important player in numerous market segments.

The Group has $44 billion in balance sheet assets and $29 billion in assets under administration.

Information:

Helene Soulard

Assistant Vice President, Communications

514 284-4500, extension 40015

helene.soulard@lbcfg.ca




The dismissal of Ukrainian prosecutors involved in the MH17 probe will not affect further investigation.

As for investigators, it is a well-known problem common to the change, rotation of investigators. I assure you that the Prosecutor General and the investigators involved in the case... the management is aware, the issue is being considered, but this happens simply in the context of usual rotation. Not all investigators will leave, there are accumulated materials, Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vadym Prystaiko said during a briefing, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

According to him, the prosecutors were dismissed within the framework of rotation under the reform of the Prosecutor Generals Office. He also stressed that the Ukrainian side would provide assistance to the Dutch side which conducted the investigation into the MH17 crash with the consent of Ukraine.

Earlier, the Dutch media outlet NRC.NL reported about the dismissal of the Ukrainian prosecutors involved in the MH17 probe, including two prosecutors who had represented Ukraine in the Joint Investigation Team (JIT).

As noted, such developments could play into the hands of suspects, who might use the dismissal of Ukrainian prosecutors during the trial, and could affect the further investigation into the identification of other possible suspects.

As reported, the trial of suspects in downing MH17 flight will start on March 9, 2020.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down over conflict-hit Donbas in July 2014. There were 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board. All of them died. The JIT reported that the plane had been shot down from a Buk missile system that belongs to the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces stationed in Kursk.

ol
She plays a 1950s housewife whose string of affairs pushes her on-screen husband into a murder spree in her latest project.

And Ana de Armas cut a casual figure as she enjoyed some downtime on the set of the new psychological thriller Deep Water alongside co-star Ben Affleck on Sunday.

The Bond girl, 31, donned a chic tan jumper and skinny jeans as she busied herself on her phone, while Batman star Ben, 47, later changed into a smart ensemble as he arrived on set.

Downtime: Ana de Armas cut a casual figure as she enjoyed some downtime on the set of the new psychological thriller Deep Water alongside co-star Ben Affleck on Sunday

Ana and Ben appeared relaxed as they stepped away from the camera amid filming for the new movie.

The Cuban-Spanish actress opted for a make-up free visage for the day, while she wore her brunette tresses in a centre-parting.

While Ben kept it low-key in a navy shirt and black trousers.

Deep Water is based on the 1957 novel by Patricia Highsmith.

On set: The Bond girl, 31, donned a chic tan jumper and skinny jeans as she busied herself on her phone, while Batman star Ben, 47, later changed into a smart ensemble as he arrived on set

Ben and Ana play Vic and Melinda, a married couple who adopt a look-the-other-way attitude to adultery so they can stay together.

In the novel, Melinda's string of affairs eventually eats away at Vic to the point he begins murdering his wife's lovers.

Patricia's novels have led to multiple acclaimed film adaptations - including Strangers On A Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley.

Her lesbian novel The Price Of Salt was adapted into the 2015 movie Carol, which starred Cate Blanchett opposite Rooney Mara.

Rising star: Ana, who grew up in Cuba, acted in Spain before segueing into Hollywood and her stateside career has been going from strength to strength

There have also been less celebrated movies like the 2016 movie A Kind Of Murder, an adaptation of her book The Blunderer starring Patrick Wilson and Jessica Biel.

Ana, who grew up in Cuba, acted in Spain before segueing into Hollywood and her stateside career has been going from strength to strength.

This year she led the critically acclaimed Knives Out, and so impressed her co-star Daniel Craig that he recommended her for his next James Bond film.

Ana will be starring in the 007 movie No Time To Die as Paloma, a role she revealed in the Los Angeles Times was written especially for her.

She is also starring as Marilyn Monroe in Blonde, an upcoming movie adaptation of the bestselling 2000 Joyce Carol Oates novel of the same name.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

The speakers at the inaugural session of seminar titled "Dukhtaraan-e-Pakistan envoy of peace" on Monday stressed the need of socio-economic independence of women to counter the prevalent challenges like hatred, extremism, violence and terrorism

RAWALPINDI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Feb, 2020 ) :The speakers at the inaugural session of seminar titled "Dukhtaraan-e-Pakistan envoy of peace" on Monday stressed the need of socio-economic independence of women to counter the prevalent challenges like hatred, extremism, violence and terrorism.

The three-day seminar organized at Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU) by the Punjab Government, is first of the series of programs to be held with the objective to highlight the role of women for establishing a peaceful and stable Pakistan.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Ali Muhammad Khan was the chief guest while Minister Women Development Punjab, Mrs. Ashifa Riaz Fatyana was the guest of honor.

Ali Muhammad Khan addressing the seminar said,"Women are natural leaders and they have the key to peace and development of a nation".

The time has come for young women to realize their potential and skills. Valuable role of women within family and the society to counter extremism and terrorism cannot be denied, he added.

Ashifa Riaz Fatyana talked about the importance of women as catalysts of change in the society. She said the women constitute half of population of the country and therefore have a significant role to play in the societal development. She also elaborated the article 23 and 24 of Constitution of Pakistan that states about elimination of all types of discrimination particularly gender discrimination.

Vice Chancellor (VC) FJWU, Dr. Saima Hamid said,"Both women and men are equal and respectable in term of human dignity and islam is the religion that elevates the status of women and draw attention towards the pivotal role,a women can play in strengthening the society and the state".

She said the commendable initiative taken by the government to build a fundamentally strong nation and empowering women could lead the society sustainable and prosperous pathway. She briefed the audience about core values of the university that leads towards women empowerment.She also underlined the need to revise the strategies to ensure women participation in decision making.

VC, Lahore College for Women University, Prof. Dr. Bushra Mirza on the occasion said,"The participation of women for the progress of any country is undeniable". "education is the basic requirement to empower women economically, socially and politically and for that the women universities are playing a vital role",she added.

She shed light on the 'Dukhtaraan-e-Pakistan vision 2020' to empower community. She also stressed the power of women to bring a revolution in the society in a smooth manner.

She further talked about leadership and soft skills and urged the women to believe in themselves and utilize their potentials to bring change.

A large number of faculty members, academics and students attended the event. At the end, the VC and chief guest awarded university souvenirs to the worthy guests as a token of appreciation for gracing the occasion.
If you want to become a billionaire, then maybe you should do what billionaires do  and that could start with getting a similar education.

Recruitment app Debut delved into the biographies of 851 billionaires and came up with a list of the universities that have produced the most self-made members of the exclusive super-wealthy club. Below is the Top 10, with the number of up-by-the-bootstraps billionaires each institution can claim.

10. Yale University: 11

10. University of Pennsylvania: 11

10. Peking University (Beijing): 11

10. Cornell University: 11

9. University of California at Los Angeles: 12

6. New York University: 13

6. Moscow State University: 13

6. Fudan University (Shanghai): 13

5. University of Southern California: 14

4. Columbia University: 16

3. Harvard Business School: 20

2. Stanford University: 34

1. Harvard University: 51

No, an Oregon university did not make the Top 10, even though UO alum Phil Knight and his family are reportedly worth $33.4 billion. And maybe you actually shouldnt put too much stock in where the worlds billionaires went to school. Debut, which used Forbes magazines 2019 billionaires list as its starting point, points out that 40 of the worlds richest entrepreneurs never went to college at all.

-- Douglas Perry

@douglasmperry

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
China's annual congress meeting in March will likely be delayed because of the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak, the committee for the National People's Congress said Monday.

Postponing the biggest political meeting of the year would be in the best interest of citizens' safety and health, Xinhua, China's state-run news agency, reported.

High-profile cancellations linked to the outbreak continue, with Beijing postponing its International Automotive Exhibition on Monday. The event, which was originally slated for April 21-30, will be rescheduled in order to "to ensure the health and safety of exhibitors and participants," the organization said in a statement.

The Tokyo Marathon will take place as scheduled on March 1 but race organizers dramatically reduced the number of runners who are eligible to participate. Only elite runners and wheelchair participants will be allowed to compete in what was previously expected to be a 38,000-person event. "We cannot continue to launch the event within the scale we originally anticipated," race organizers said in a statement Monday.

MORE: PHOTOS: Coronavirus outbreak sparks global health emergency

New data out of China is giving scientists a clearer picture of the outbreak, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general at the World Health Organization, said Monday at a news conference.

More than 44,000 patients have confirmed cases of novel coronavirus and the mortality rate of about 2% appears less deadly than SARS or MERS.

About 80% of people who contracted the virus had mild symptoms and recovered, while 14% of cases included severe symptoms, such as pneumonia and shortness of breath. Roughly 5% of patients had critical symptoms like organ and respiratory failure and septic shock. Risk of death increased with age, and relatively few children contracted the disease. Scientists need more research to understand why so few cases of the disease have been in children.

Story continues

While the data appear to show a decline in cases, Tedros cautioned that the trend should be "interpreted very cautiously."

"Its too early to tell if this reported decline will continue," he said. "Every scenario is still on the table."

Countries with Confirmed Coronavirus Cases (ABC Photo Illustration)

Meanwhile, more than 300 Americans who were passengers aboard a cruise ship quarantined at sea in Japan over coronavirus infections have evacuated the country on two flights chartered by the U.S. government, officials said.

Roughly 60 Americans, some who were hospitalized and others who opted to stay on the ship, remain in Japan.

After disembarking from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, 14 of the passengers were found to be infected with the novel coronavirus, known officially as COVID-19, prior to boarding the charter planes at Tokyo International Airport on Monday. The passengers, who had been tested a couple days earlier, "were moved in the most expeditious and safe manner to a specialized containment area on the evacuation aircraft to isolate them in accordance with standard protocols," according to a joint statement from the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

MORE: What scientists think about China changing how it counts coronavirus cases

"After consultation with HHS officials, including experts from the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, the State Department made the decision to allow the 14 individuals, who were in isolation, separated from other passengers, and continued to be asymptomatic, to remain on the aircraft to complete the evacuation process," according to the statement, noting that the individuals would continue to be isolated from the other passengers during the flights.

"All passengers are being closely monitored by medical professionals throughout the flight, and any who become symptomatic will be moved to the specialized containment area, where they will be treated."

PHOTO: American citizens look out from a bus as they arrive at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan, on Feb. 17, 2020. (Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images)

The first charter flight landed at Travis Air Force Base in California early Monday morning. The second landed at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.

Upon arrival at Travis Air Force Base, seven individuals, including four who'd tested positive for the virus, were hospitalized near Travis. Three other individuals who tested positive, along with their spouses -- six people in total -- were transferred to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. When the Lackland Air Force Base flight landed, seven individuals who had tested positive for novel coronavirus were additionally flown to Omaha.

MORE: Passengers stuck on cruise ship due to coronavirus struggle to pass the time

The 13 individuals who were sent to Omaha will be quarantined for the next 14 days and are being re-tested for COVID-19, UNMC health experts said at a Monday news conference. One individual, who was lightheaded and short of breath, and who had an underlying health condition, was transported to the hospital.

COVID-19 causes symptoms similar to pneumonia, ranging from mild, such as a slight cough, to more severe, including fever and difficulty breathing, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There is no vaccine yet for the virus, nor any known effective therapeutics.

PHOTO: Passengers of the Diamond Princess cruise ship, where a number of people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, board their charter flight at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan, Feb. 17, 2020. (Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)

Utah resident Mark Jorgensen was among the American passengers evacuated from the cruise ship on Monday. He confirmed to ABC News by telephone that he had arrived at Travis Air Force Base in California. His wife, Jerri, however, is still in Japan. She remains isolated in a hospital there after being diagnosed with COVID-19 but is staying positive, Jorgensen told ABC News.

MORE: What life is like under novel coronavirus quarantine

Jorgensen posted several photos and videos to his Facebook page on Monday, documenting the evacuation. He said it took a total of three hours for the hundreds of passengers to disembark the cruise ship and load into nine buses on the dock. On the charter flight, crew members were clad in full protective gear while passengers wore face masks.

"The logistics of putting this together have got to be enormous," Jorgensen wrote in one of his Facebook posts.

PHOTO: A bus arrives near the Diamond Princess cruise ship, where dozens of passengers were tested positive for the novel coronavirus, at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan, Feb. 16, 2020. (Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)

The Diamond Princess docked at the Japanese port of Yokohama on Feb. 3 and was placed under quarantine two days later, as passengers and crew tested positive for COVID-19. Since then, at least 454 people on board the cruise ship have been infected with the newly discovered virus. At least one quarantine officer has also been infected, according to Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, which is leading and coordinating the public health response on board.

All those infected with the disease on the Diamond Princess have been brought ashore for treatment, while thousands of other passengers have been confined to their rooms on board until the quarantine period ends. The United States is the first country to evacuate its citizens from the quarantined ship.

MORE: Coronavirus death reported in Taiwan, US cruise passengers released from quarantine

Princess Cruises, which operates the ship, announced in a statement Sunday that it will cancel all Diamond Princess voyages through April 20 due to the "prolonged quarantine period." The cruise line is offering a full refund to all 2,666 guests who were on board the ship. More than 400 passengers were from the United States.

The ship is the largest center of infection of anywhere outside China, where the first cases of the new coronavirus were detected last December. The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a global health emergency.

PHOTO: A medical worker in a protective suit takes a break at an isolated ward of Wuhan Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, Feb. 16, 2020. (China Daily/Reuters)

As of Monday, China's National Health Commission said it had received at least 70,635 reports of confirmed cases and 1,772 deaths on the Chinese mainland. More than 82 percent of the confirmed infections were reported in Hubei province, which includes the city of Wuhan, the outbreak's epicenter. An additional 87 confirmed infections had been reported in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions as well as Taiwan province. One death was reported in Hong Kong and another in Taiwan, according to China's National Health Commission.

Zeng Yixin, vice minister of China's National Health Commission, told reporters last Friday that 1,716 medical workers are among those infected and six of them have died. Most of the workers were in Hubei province, Zeng said.

MORE: China reveals massive toll of coronavirus on health workers

The Health Commission of Hubei Province announced last Thursday a change in how cases are diagnosed and counted, with the total number of confirmed cases now including "clinically diagnosed cases," or patients who showed symptoms of the disease and were diagnosed through CT scans of the lungs, for instance, but have not yet had laboratory testing. The expanded criteria is meant to ensure "that patients can receive standardized treatment according to confirmed cases as early as possible to further improve the success rate of treatment," the commission said in a statement.

Outside of China, there were 694 laboratory-confirmed cases in 25 countries and three reported deaths as of Monday, according to the WHO, which would bring the global death toll to 1,775.

Prior to the arrival of the Americans from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, there were 15 reported cases in the United States, according to the WHO. The patients are in Arizona, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. All but two of the U.S. cases are linked to travel to Wuhan, China.

ABC News' Alice Chambers, Joseph Simonetti and Connor Finnegan contributed to this report.

14 Americans evacuated from cruise ship in Japan test positive for novel coronavirus originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 12:05:47|Editor: mingmei

Video Player Close

CANBERRA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Backpackers will be granted special Australian visa benefits to help rebuild the areas hit hardest by the bushfire crisis.

Alan Tudge, the Acting Minister for Immigration, on Monday announced changes to working holiday visas that will encourage backpackers to move into 45 declared disaster zones in seven of Australia's eight states and territories.

Under the changes, backpackers working in bushfire-affected communities will be able to remain with the same employer for 12 months, up from the current limit of six months.

Tudge told The Australian that working holidaymakers will be able to help with "demolition (and) land clearing, and repairing dams, roads and railways."

"These hardworking Australians have been hit by the recent bushfires, but from today they can employ backpackers for six months longer, helping them at a critical time in the recovery effort," he said.

"This recovery will be driven locally, by local workers and communities. But this will be a massive recovery effort and we want businesses and charitable organizations to have as many boots on the ground as they need."

More than 3,000 homes have been destroyed and at least 33 people have died in bushfires that have burned across Australia since September 2019.

The visa changes were recommended by the National Bushfire Recovery Agency, which was established by Prime Minister Scott Morrison in January with a 2-billion-Australian-dollar (1.3 billion U.S. dollars) budget.

Any volunteering work undertaken by backpackers in bushfire-affected communities will now count as "specific work" towards securing second and third-year visas.

In order to be eligible for a second-year working holiday visa, backpackers must do 88 days of "specific work" in regional areas, most commonly in the agriculture industry.

"We need young people with young muscles to do the hard yards. The bushfires hit hardest in some very rugged areas and these backpackers have the energy to do it," Kevin Butler, president of volunteer recovery organization BlazeAid, said.

"A lot of the backpackers are going up and down the coast and being turned away from jobs because of the drought and bushfires. This is an opportunity for them, and the farmers.

"We have 2,500 farmers signed up to BlazeAid for the help these volunteers are providing. It's just common sense and we should have done this a long time ago."
Barricades cleared from the M5 highway, Turkey hits back at accusations of neglect of duties, rebels launch a counter-attack and Syria-Armenia flight to start this year. Catch up on everything that happened over the weekend.

1. Syrian regime troops began clearing barricades from the main highway between Damascus and Aleppo on Saturday after taking full control of the road during a Russian-backed offensive. A reporter with state-run the Al-Ikhbariya news channel, broadcasting from the highway on the outskirts of Aleppo, said clearing the barriers started in the early hours of Saturday. Restoring regime control over the M5 has been seen as a major objective of the Russian-backed offensive that has been underway since early December in the rebel-held northwest.

2. On Saturday, Turkeys vice-president hit back at Russian accusations of failing to honor a 2018 deal, by insisting it carried out its responsibilities in Syrias Idleb. Observation posts were set up and the regime had to stay outside of this area. Russia and Iran were to ensure the regime stayed outside, Turkey had responsibilities too, Turkey fulfilled these, Vice-President Fuat Oktay told NTV Channel. Undertaking an extremely risky and difficult duty, Turkey took real initiative to stop the bloodshed of civilians and prevent a new migration wave and to ensure it did not become a terror nest.

3. Rebels have launched a counter-offensive in the southwestern countryside of the Aleppo Governorate after losing several areas to the Syrian army over the past 72 hours, Al-Masdar reported. Led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the jihadist rebels began their attack on Sunday in typical fashion, as they sent a suicide bomber towards the Syrian Arab Armys defenses west of Kafr Halab.

4. Head of the Civil Aviation Committee of Armenia, Tatevik Revazian, announced that this year Syria and Armenia,intend to sign an agreement on establishing direct air communication between the two countries. Revazian said in a speech, quoted by SANA at the Armenian Parliament in Yerevan that direct air communication between Syria and Armenia will be established during this year.

This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
Thailands latest spectrum auction generated over $3.2 billion, far surpassing the governments original expectations.

Frequencies were available in the 700MHz, 2600MHz and 26GHz bands, with only one block  100MHz of 26GHz spectrum  going unsold. In January this year, Thailands government cleared state-owned operators TOT and CAT to bid in the auction, prompting regulator NBTC (National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission) to increase its projected earnings.

Five participants bid on the 5G-ready spectrum, with AIS proving itself the biggest spender by bagging 23 of the 49 licences.

The market leader shelled out THB42.1 billion to claim 5MHz of 700MHz spectrum, 100MHz in the 2600MHz band, and 1200MHz of 26GHz spectrum. It would likely have acquired more had it not been restricted by caps on bids in the 2600MHz and 26GHz bands (of 100MHz and 1200MHz respectively).

Second placed True Move spent THB21.45 billion to acquire 90MHz of spectrum in the 2600MHz band, along with 800MHz of 26GHz spectrum.

Meanwhile state-owned CAT Telecom spent THB34.3 billion for two of the three available 5MHz blocks in the 700MHz band. The operators president Sappachai Huwanan noted that this lower frequency would allow it to boost capacity and increase its 4G and 5G coverage. CATs concession for 850MHz spectrum is due to expire in 2025, so the win is of particular importance for the operator.

Fellow state-owned operator TOT spent THB1.8 billion on 400MHz of 26GHz spectrum, while dtac acquired 200MHz of spectrum in the same band for THB910 million. The private operators CEO Sharad Mehrotra noted that the bid granted dtac access to low-, mid- and high-band spectrum to provide our customers with the best data experience in the future.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

By Matanat Nasibova - Trend:

President Ilham Aliyev once again clearly and unequivocally stated at the Munich Security Conference that Nagorno Karabakh is an ancient Azerbaijani land, well-known Russian expert and TV presenter Yevgeny Mikhailov told Trend.

According to him, this was a reasoned message by the head of the Azerbaijani state to Armenia and the entire international community.

"In my opinion, at the Munich Security Conference, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan looked absolutely faded and his arguments on the Karabakh issue for those present were rather feeble, in contrast to President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, who clearly expressed the position of his people and state based on international law. Pashinyan had essentially nothing to say in response, which was noted in Armenia itself, where there were remarks from representatives of the Republican Party that accused him of weakness," Mikhailov said.

"It can easily be seen even in the official photos where they shake hands, where small-stature Pashinyan, instead of looking like the 'proud' Armenian eagle depicted on the coat of arms of his country, embarrassedly lowered his eyes and looked away from the President of Azerbaijan towering over him. I think that this is all that can be said about the politics of present-day Yerevan," the Russian expert said.

The analyst noted that the Azerbaijani president convincingly defeated Pashinyan with facts on Karabakh at the Munich Security Conference.

Panel discussions on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were held between President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 15.

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.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @MatanatNasibova
The Trump administration is scheduled to release its 2021 fiscal budget request on Monday, and its expected to propose about $740 billion for defense.

Thats an increase of just $2 billion over current funding levels, and Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Thursday that the Pentagon needs to accept the fact that its budget wont be growing very much. Speaking at an event in Washington sponsored by the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Esper said we have to brace ourselves that at best, defense spending will be level in the coming years.

In the meantime, Esper is pushing ahead with an effort to shift billions in defense funds from legacy weapons systems and offices to modernization programs that focus on new technologies. Pentagon officials have identified $5.7 billion in cuts they want to make in aging, outdated or redundant programs, and Esper will ask Congress to approve the use of that money for what he says are more pressing projects, including nuclear modernization, missile defense, artificial intelligence and hypersonic weapons.

Esper said the effort is driven in part by the need to stay ahead of China and Russia. The Chinese have used at least the last 18 years while we were in Iraq and Afghanistan to make enormous strides with regard to the professionalization of their force, modernizing their doctrine, building new capabilities, going after us asymmetrically, Esper said.

Like what you're reading? Sign up for our free newsletter.
In the final scene of the 1983 Hindi film Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron, the protagonists played by Naseeruddin Shah and Ravi Baswani are shown marching to the tune of "Hum honge kamyaab" after they land into deep trouble.

In contrast, when Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal sang the song recently, he was basking in the success of having become the Delhi chief minister for the third time.

When Kejriwal sang "Hum honge kamyab" after his swearing-in, he may have hinted at his national ambitions. Indeed, in his speech, he spoke about the "Delhi model", about the virtues of cheaper electricity and water, and free bus rides for women. He spoke about the AAP's victory as a new beginning  for the politics of development.

Although the AAP has returned to power with a thumping majority, Kejriwal's claims do need to be judged on merit. It is a matter of debate as to whether the party has in fact initiated a new form a politics, or whether it has merely packaged freebies as politics of development.

It is important to remember that the Delhi government has very limited powers. Several subjects are under the purview of the Union government, while many others are under the purview of the civic bodies  three municipal corporations, the New Delhi Municipal Council and the Delhi Cantonment Board.

Kejriwal, in his recently-concluded tenure, fulfilled some his promises of handing out freebies. He handed out free electricity up to 200 units per month, and free water up to 20,000 litres per month in the early part of his term. That helped build a narrative about Kejriwal as a person who keeps his word. When the AAP first came to power, the Delhi government was flush with funds, which is why he could afford to implement such policies. Towards the end of his term, he also made bus rides free for women, helping build a narrative that he cares for them.

Another factor that worked in Kejriwal's favour was the Congress' total capitulation, due to which Muslims voted en masse for the AAP.

It is true that people's aspirations have risen and they vote for parties which they think can fulfill them. The Congress' Sheila Dikshit could win three terms in Delhi due to politics of development. She was defeated by Kejriwal not because of the failure of politics of development, but because corruption and the anger against UPA-2 weighed heavy on her. Similarly, the BJP remained in power in Madhya Pradesh for 15 years on a bijli-sadak-pani plank. Even when the Congress defeated in 2018, the BJP had a higher vote share.

Further, Narendra Modi also won three successive elections in Gujarat, and then two Lok Sabha elections, through politics of development.

In name of "initiating" politics of development, Kejriwal is trying to seek a patent for something that has long been in existence.
Veterinarian & biologist, Nairobi, Kenya

By studying baboons in the wild, Mercy Akinyi looks for how diseases start, progress, and transmit to others. This keeps primate populations healthy and also informs disease prevention and care for human populations that share their habitat.

In her faith, she draws heavily on the virtue of patience. Most successful researchers spend decades to achieve groundbreaking results, said Akinyi, a veterinarian at the Institute of Primate Research in Nairobi.

While her classes and lecturers have always been mostly male, she found a female mentor in grad school who encouraged her to apply for a PhD. I still turn to her for advice as I continue with my science career.

When she arrived at Duke University, the hardest part was being away from my home country and adjusting to the new culture, she said. She completed her PhD in 2017.

Now, she worries about how she will balance work with the demands of a newborn baby as she pursues a postdoc position at the KEMRI Wellcome Trust. I believe that females career progression is slower when they start having children, and so many people shy off to have children until they have accomplished the major milestones, she said.

While she hopes to make novel contributions to global health, I would also like to be a role model to the many young African women in these fields, noting that there are more women in Kenya pursing PhDs today.

1

You have reached the end of this Article Preview You have reached the end of this Article Preview To continue reading, subscribe now. Subscribers have full digital access.

Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here.
A rape accused who had escaped from a police station in Jammu district, has been nabbed from Samba, officials said on Monday.

The 35-year old man was arrested for allegedly kidnapping and raping a girl on January 22. He managed to escape from Bari Brahamana police station on February 5, they said.

Four police personnel have been suspended for negligence in duty, officials said.

Police had received information that the accused has fled to Delhi, following which a team of officials was sent there. However, the accused escaped from Delhi and boarded a Jammu-bound bus, they said.

When the bus reached Saroor Toll Plaza, the accused was arrested, police said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 22:53:15|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

YAOUNDE, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- An accidental explosion had killed a woman and four children in Ngarbuh village of the troubled Anglophone region of Northwest when the military attacked separatist camps, according to the Cameroonian army on Monday.

Army spokesperson Cyrille Atonfack Nguemo said in a statement that the government forces carried out an attack on "fortified camps" of armed separatists in the village on Friday and separatists retaliated with "heavy fire".

"The fighting continued until the explosion of several fuel containers, followed by a violent fire that affected some neighbouring homes. This fire left five victims, including a woman and four children," Nguemo said in the statement.

A separatist leader under anonymity claimed some 40 civilians were killed during the military operation, and "there was never any confrontation between government soldiers and our fighters (armed separatists)".

Nguemo said, the allegations by separatists were false and stressed that "it is quite simply an unfortunate accident, a collateral consequence of the ongoing security operations in the region."

Villagers who survived the attack told Xinhua Monday that a pregnant woman and several children including two toddlers were among those killed in last Friday's incidents that also torched nine houses.

An "in-depth investigation" has been carried out on the "regrettable incident", the Cameroon army spokesperson said.

Cameroon has increased attacks on separatists in the two Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest since president Paul Biya vowed in December last year to combat separatists "who persist in going down the wrong road and continue to use violence".

According to the UN, there have been over 700,000 refugees and internally displaced persons since separatists began clashing with government forces in 2017 to establish an independent nation they call "Ambazonia" in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon.
Two weeks ago, Maria Jose Perez returned to Zamora, in Spains northwestern region of Castile and Leon, to talk about depopulation at a conference titled Reasons to Stay. The 29-year-old was born in a village in Zamora called Almaraz de Duero, but left at the age of 19 and has no plans to return because her job is in Madrid.

Perez is not the only one who has had to leave her village, which has just 400 registered residents, though fewer live there all year round. Since the end of 2019, she has been fighting so that young people from Spains provinces have the opportunity to work in their hometowns, and dont have to move to big cities such as Madrid and Barcelona.

Almost 90,000 people left Castile and Leon between 1999 and 2019

Last November, a group of 40 people living in Madrid from Castile and Leon decided to get together. They met at the headquarters of Casa de Zamora, a not-for-profit organization that supports people from Zamora province, where they drank beer and told each other how they came to be in the Spanish capital. A Humanities graduate, Perez organized the meeting with Juanjo Alvarez, an engineer. We are non-partisan but not apolitical, she said.

College graduates between the ages of 25 and 39 are flocking to Madrid and Barcelona, according to research from the Center of Demographic Studies at Barcelonas Autonomous University, as they cannot find work in line with their qualifications where they come from.

The author of the research, Miguel Gonzalez Leonardo, is himself an example of the provincial brain drain. The 29-year-old geography graduate was born in Valladolid in Castile and Leon, and completed his bachelors degree there. Now he is studying for a PhD in Barcelona.

When I finished my degree, I could see that many of us who had studied at university were moving mostly to Madrid, but also to Barcelona, he tells EL PAIS by phone.

College graduates are flocking to Madrid and Barcelona because they cannot find work where they come from

In regions such as Galicia, Asturias, Navarre, Castile-La Mancha, Cantabria and Valencia, between 45% and 55% of young people who leave have a university degree, compared to the 30% to 35% of those who stay. And in Castile and Leon, more than half of those seeking work elsewhere have a higher education. Evidence of the exodus can be seen every Sunday at the Valladolid bus station, where crowds of young people wait to make the two-hour journey back to Madrid.

Among them is Pablo Delgado, 26. He studied a double degree in Law and Business Administration and Management in Valladolid, completing his education in Brussels and Rome. Delgado has worked for the European Parliament and European Central Bank, and now works as an economist for the National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC) in Madrid. But really, he would like to be able to work in Valladolid.

The main obstacles, he says, are the limited number of job offers, the irregularity of work notices, the high demands [of prospective employers] and low salaries. He believes that institutions should keep talent and nurture it, and advocates working remotely to encourage decentralization, as well as to improve the public sectors image.

Six of the 10 Spanish provinces that saw the highest population loss between 1999 and 2019 are in Castile and Leon, with Zamora at the top of the list, according to the National Statistics Institute (INE). Almost 90,000 people left Castile and Leon in this period, which is more than the entire population of Palencia, one of the regions provincial capitals.

At the Reasons to Stay conference in Zamora, Maria Jose Perez had the chance to voice the demands of young people forced to leave their hometowns. For years, authorities have been indifferent toward taking care of the young people of Castile and Leon who are leaving the region, she said.

The conference was also attended by Spains fourth deputy prime minister, Teresa Ribera, who is also the minister for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge. Although Perez did not have the opportunity to talk to her personally, she did call on politicians to take action: Now that depopulation is being discussed, it cant be just talk, action has to be taken to fight it.

A Spanish phenomenon According to researcher Miguel Gonzalez Leonardo, all of Spains regions are losing their university graduates to Madrid and Catalonia.

Maria Beni, 30, for example, grew up in Logrono, in the northern La Rioja region, and has just opened an architectural office in Barcelona with a partner from Zaragoza, the capital of Aragon region in the northeast of Spain.

They met while studying at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and did not for a moment consider opening a business in their home towns. We could have set up our office anywhere, but its difficult to get work outside Madrid or Barcelona, says Beni.

The architect jokes that a lot would change if big companies such as Amazon and Google set up their Spanish offices in small cities like Logrono. For the moment, she has no plans to return to Logrono.

English version by Heather Galloway.
PR-Inside.com: 2020-02-17 16:01:04

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 450 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

CHICO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / February 17, 2020 / AmeraMex International, Inc. (OTCQB:AMMX), a provider of heavy equipment for logistics companies, infrastructure construction and forestry conservation, announced that it has received orders totaling approximately $58,000.The orders consisted of a refurbished ASV track skid steer being shipped to a California construction company and a refurbished Caterpillar forklift to a California nursery. The equipment will ship before the end of the week.AmeraMex CEO Lee Hamre commented, "We are working on a significant number of large opportunities and currently have $20.8 million of RFPs that will be awarded by the end of March. Based on the customers and equipment, we feel confident that we should close at least 50 percent of these opportunities. Of course, in sales it is not an order until the agreement is signed, and a substantial deposit received. We are looking forward to a great first quarter." About AmeraMex InternationalAmeraMex International sells, leases and rents heavy equipment to companies within multiple industries including construction, logistics, mining, and lumber. AmeraMex, with a US and international customer base, has over 30 years of experience in heavy equipment sales and service. Follow AmeraMex on Twitter @ammx_intl and visit the AmeraMex website, www.AMMX.net or www.hamreequipment.com for additional information and equipment videos.Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this press release are forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "plan," "potential," "continue" or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements include risks and uncertainties, and there are important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Investors are encouraged to review the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Investors should not place any undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Company's control which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Any forward-looking statement reflects the Company's current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.Investor and Media RelationsMcCloud Communications, LLCMarty Tullio, Managing MemberOffice: 949.632.1900 or Marty@ McCloudCommunications.com SOURCE: AmeraMex International, Inc.
Hon. Kennedy Agyapong, M P of Assin North Constituency, photo credit: Media Ghana

17.02.2020 LISTEN

In general, working in government, as a Member of Parliament is not an easy job, your role in the society, relationship with the several people in the community, dealing with government matters and contributing to debates on national issues, I can say are probably some of the difficult tasks in politics.

Since, your work in the political field is to serve people, Ken Agyapong, you should know that many may like you but thousands are those that are going to be your enemies. Over the past years, there are a number of criminal cases against Ghanaian politicians, including you.

However, since in the court of law, an accused shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty of an offense in the manner prescribed by the law, nobody can accuse of you of any crime, even though from the time I was born, I have never had confidence in Ghanas judiciary system.

I have watched a number of videos on 'Youtube,' explaining sensitive points in cases you have been implicated while trying to defend yourself, unfortunately, the manner you go about it trying to establish your innocence is totally unprofessional.

You see, Hon Ken Agyapong, I know that the most painful thing any human being could face is to accuse the person of something he hasn't done, however, you can be innocent but the dilettante way one may handle a case can make him either an amateur in solving problems or guilty.

Your utterances are sometimes disappointing, vile, insulting, full of venom and shocking that such words came from the mouth of a Member of Parliament. Sometimes when angry we do or say bad things we often don't think about them. You may know later if someone tells you.

Like other people, I see your honesty in some of those complicating issues but the way you go about it, Agyapong is completely wrong. You feel perpetually angry and have the impression that those around you never agree with you, and therefore, you have to fight to assert your point of view.

As a Member of Parliament, you are intelligent enough to know the power of the tongue. The biblical book of James Chapter 3, from verse 5-6, reads: The tongue is also a small part of the body, but it can speak big things."

"See how a very small fire can set many trees on fire. The tongue is a fire. It is full of wrong. It poisons the whole body. The tongue sets our whole lives on fire with a fire that comes from hell."

For example, it is likely that you have nothing to do with the assassinated journalist, Ahmed Hussein-Suale but because of your unprofessional conduct on social media, inciting violence against the journalist and also seen in a video clip exposing the victims photo with a threat that you will pay for him to be beaten up, you instantly became a suspect when he was brutally murdered.

You are a free man in Ghana today but this case would have placed you in a very tight corner unable to free yourself if it had happened in a developed country. Anger cant only put you in trouble; it can also be toxic for your health and aggravates a risk of cardiac attack.

Shame and reproach for anger seem natural, but it does not change the situation, therefore, if you are really serious, to work on your anger issues, you can actually be one of the best Ghanaian politicians, especially, in regard to your philanthropic activities.

Always remember that due to your position, you will be provoked or accidentally be on the path of hostility, please, be calm and restrain yourself from any public or social media embarrassment.
Burma Myanmar Tour Guides Object to Granting Entry to Chinese Tourists With Health Notes

Chinese tourists at the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon in 2019. / Htet Wai / The Irrawaddy

MANDALAYThe Mandalay Tourist Guide Society (MTGS) on Monday opposed any move to allow mainland Chinese tourists who have health clearance letters to enter the country, as the death toll from COVID19, also known as the novel coronavirus, reached 1,770 in China.

The idea of obtaining health assurance letters from Chinese tourists as a condition of entering the country emerged following a meeting earlier this month at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs between ministry officials and representatives of travel associations and hotels.

A letter circulated on Feb. 13 by the Union of Myanmar Travel Association (UMTA) included instructions issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to hotels and travel agencies it said was aimed at combating the spread of COVID19.

The UMTAs letter cited the ministrys orders to travel associations and hotel operators to distribute health information and prepare quarantine rooms and other healthcare facilities at hotels, along with an instruction to travel agencies to obtain health assurances from Chinese tourists before arranging tours.

There will be fees resulting from the cancellation of tours booked by Chinese tourists, so travel agencies must seek assurances of the health of Chinese tourists, said the letter.

In its statement issued on Monday, the Mandalay Tour Guide Society (MTGS) expressed concern over the spread of coronavirus and voiced disagreement with the idea of allowing Chinese tourists to enter on the basis of presenting health letters.

The MTGS said that rather than trying to limit the spread of the virus, the instruction to travel agencies to seek health certificates or health assurance documents could be aimed at finding a way to allow previously booked Chinese tours into the country, thereby avoiding the need to pay compensation or cancellation fees.

The authorities may be thinking about the impact of the travel ban on Chinese tourists on the countrys tourism [sector]. But we cannot accept this plan, which risks the health of the whole country and is only concerned about money. We strongly oppose this plan, Ko Zin Min Khaing, the vice chairman of MTGS, told The Irrawaddy.

The instruction said travel agencies need to obtain health assurance letters from tourists. But what assurances can we get from a piece of paper that they [the tourists] are really clear of the virus? he added.

The MTGS said the authorities should not allow Chinese tourists to visit Myanmar until the COVID19 outbreak is over.

We also urge the authorities to rethink this, and that tour guides not provide travel services to Chinese tourists until it is safe and until the World Health Organization announces the virus is under control and that it is safe to travel, he said.

The Ministry of Hotels and Tourism told The Irrawaddy that it is reviewing the situation and is taking steps to ensure there is no impact on the health of citizens and the tourism industry.

The ministry is reviewing the case. Since this is a health matter for the whole country, there will be impacts, but the ministry is reviewing it to make sure there will be no impact on health or the tourism industry, said an official from the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism.

According to the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, Myanmar received more than 300,000 Chinese tourists in 2018 and more than 750,000 in 2019.

Early this month the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism instructed travel agencies to suspend offering travel services to Chinese tourists, and suspended the issuance of visas on arrival for Chinese travelers.

Along with China Eastern Airlines, which operated direct flights from virus-hit Wuhan to Yangon and Mandalay, flights operated by other carriers that fly between Myanmar and China, including China Southern Airlines, Kunming Airlines, Air China, Myanma Airways International and Myanmar National Airlines, were also banned.

As of Feb. 17, the death toll in China from the coronavirus stood at 1,770, with more than 70,500 people infected in China, according to the Chinese National Health Commission. Five people have died outside of China due to COVID19, which has spread to 25 countries including Thailand, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Australia, France, Germany, the US and Canada.

You may also like these stories:

Yangon Pollution Hits Danger Levels Each Morning: Monitors

Myanmar Plans Emergency Coronavirus Funding, Lab Tests

Recruiters Face Ban as Myanmar Assesses Their Efforts to Aid Sailors Held in China
A person with testicular cancer may have a testicle that is three times its original size. The greatest risk factor is undescended testes. Testicular cancer has an amazing cure rate, if detected early.

Testicular cancer is a type of cancer that affects the testicles (or testes) which are the sperm-producing part of the male reproductive system.

The testes, in the human male, are two in number and are located just below the penis, in a pouchlike structure, called the scrotum. They are responsible for storing the male gametes - sperms, and also play an active role in the production of the male hormone, called testosterone.

The vast majority of testicular cancers are Germ Cell Tumors, which comprises of two subtypes-Seminomas and Teratomas. Younger patients have a greater chance of developing seminomas while the older men are inclined to develop teratomas.

Unlike other cancers, the chances of developing testicular cancer does not increase with age. It occurs mostly in men who are between 25-45 years of age. The occurrence pattern follows three peaks in a male's lifetime:

Infancy

25-40 years

After 60 years

In younger men, germ cell tumors of the testes are the most common.

Testicular cancer occurs more commonly in white males and is rare in men of Asian or African origin, although the frequency in the latter is on the increase. Scandinavia, Germany, and New Zealand report the highest incidence. They account for 1% of all malignant tumors.

No environmental agent has been conclusively implicated in the development of testicular cancer. Undescended testes (Cryptorchidism), a congenital defect, is the most common risk factor. It increases the risk by 14 to 48 times the normal expected incidence.

A pain-free testicular mass is the most common presenting symptom. A person with the cancer may have a testicle that is three times the original size. Concurrently this may lead to a shrinking in the size of the other testicle as the tumor feeds on the scrotal blood supply.

Not all the testicular lumps are tumors; many other conditions, such as a tense hydrocele, hematocele, epididymitis, and varicocele are capable of mimicking testicular cancer. In 25% of the patients the diagnosis of the tumor is missed leading to a delay in treatment.

Testicular cancer has an amazing cure rate, especially if detected early. This has been made possible by improvements in the adjuvant (preventive) therapy which comprises of a combination of chemotherapy, radiation and careful watching after a surgery. Doctors recommend regular self-examination for early detection.

A person who has testicular cancer is at risk of developing secondary cancers such as germ cell tumors in the contra lateral testis, leukemias, GI malignancies, melanoma, soft-tissue sarcoma, and genitourinary cancers.

Testicular Cancer Facts:
The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand  REINZ - and the New Zealand Property Investors Federation are joining forces to challenge some of the proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act.

Both organisations vehemently oppose the proposed end to the no-cause 90-day notice and the proposal for fixed term tenancies to automatically convert to periodic tenancies.

Given the significant impact the proposed RTA changes could have on the industry, we feel its essential the two organisations combine forces to represent the views of both landlords and property managers; and to really outline some of the consequences these proposed changes could have, says REINZ Chief Executive Bindi Norwell.

Both organisations are extremely concerned that the proposed changes to the no-cause 90-day notice will mean that owners effectively cant control who lives in their property and in some cases this could impact directly on neighbours, says NZ Property Investors Federation Executive Officer Andrew King.

We believe this change will cause investors to leave the market, pushing up rental prices even further for tenants who are already struggling to pay the rent.

Both organisations CEOs are imploring the Minister to listen to their members views as collectively the two organisations represent a significant portion of investors and property managers around the country.

We understand that the RTA needs to be reviewed, but its imperative we get the balance right between tenants rights and the rights of the owners of investment property, says Bindi.

The proposals outlined by the government, particularly in relation to the 90-day notice, feel as if theyre eroding the rights of the owner too much and we feel more balance is needed here.

Our preferred approach would be to see higher exemplary damages for landlords who abuse no-cause terminations in order to penalise them and act as a disincentive.

With so many changes aimed at putting people off investing, such as changes to negative gearing, the ban on letting fees and LVR restrictions, many people are not looking at providing rental property, says Andrew.

Feedback from many of our members is that the changes to the 90-day notice provisions could be the final straw that actually sees them exit the market.

Both organisations are happy to support the proposal to limit rental increases to once a year, to ban rental bidding and the proposals around making rental properties safer and more liveable.
Food regulator FSSAI on Monday said it has stepped up efforts to improve hygiene and sanitation in the country's meat and fish markets amid reports that coronavirus emerged from a wildlife market in China.

In India, hygiene in fish and meat markets is a "complicated issue" and "not good", FSSAI CEO Pawan Agarwal said even as he exuded confidence that the situation will improve in the coming years due to its efforts.

Expressing concern over poor hygiene in the meat and fish sector, Agarwal said the regulator has been auditing slaughter houses for the last six months.

The audit of government slaughter houses has been completed. The third party sample audit of 5,500 private slaughter houses is underway, of which around 60 have been audited so far, he added.

FSSAI said it will soon start hygiene rating of fish and meat shops in the country.

"There is no impact of coronavirus. However because of this incident, there is awareness about hygiene in the country. We are trying to improve hygiene and sanitation efficiency in meat and fish markets," Agarwal told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.

He said the coronavirus disease is believed to have originated from a wildlife market in Wuhan, China.

The death toll from China's coronavirus epidemic climbed to over 1,700, mostly in the worst-hit Hubei Province. The outbreak originated in the province in December and has spread to several countries, including India.

Earlier, FSSAI chairperson Rita Teaotia announced that the regulator has decided to set up six new branch offices, four new import offices and two new food laboratories as part of its effort to boost in-house capacity.

With this, FSSAI will have four regional offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, 12 branch offices and 6 import offices.

In addition, it will have four national food laboratories at Kolkata, Ghaziabad (Delhi NCR), Mumbai JNPT and Chennai and two food laboratories at Sanauli and Raxaul on Indo-Nepal border.

FSSAI's new branch offices will be in Bhopal, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad and the new import offices will be at Attari, Kandla, Raxaul and Krishnapatnam.

The FSSAI plans to set up two new food laboratories at Mumbai JNPT and Chennai. Built-up space for the purpose is being taken on long-term lease from Chennai and JNPT Mumbai port authorities.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Britains wild beaver populations are reducing the impacts of floods, cleaning river water, and boosting populations of fish, amphibians and water voles, a five-year study has concluded.

More than 400 years after the animals were hunted to extinction in the UK, the report sets out a convincing case for the government to consider widespread reintroductions of beavers.

The study, by a team of scientists overseen by Professor Richard Brazier from the University of Exeter, revealed measurable benefits to both people and wildlife at the River Otter, in East Devon, where a study of a wild population of beavers began in 2015.

The research team said that while the reintroduction of the beavers had created localised problems for a handful of farmers and property owners, these issues can be easily managed.

Meanwhile, local wildlife has greatly benefitted from the beavers presence, while their dam building activities have also helped reduce the risk of flooding to some flood threatened human settlements.

Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards highlights Show all 12 1 /12 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards highlights Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards highlights comedy-wildlife-2020-10-0.jpg Manoj and Shah/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards highlights comedy-wildlife-2020-6.jpg Dea Starling/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards highlights comedy-wildlife-2020-5.jpg David Fettes/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards highlights comedy-wildlife-2020-2.jpg Adwait Aphale/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards highlights comedy-wildlife-2020-9.jpg Kevin Sawford/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards highlights comedy-wildlife-2020-8.jpg Isobel Wayrick/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards highlights comedy-wildlife-2020-1.jpg Yee Cheung Cody Yim/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards highlights comedy-wildlife-2020-11.jpg Max Jackson/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards highlights comedy-wildlife-2020-4.jpg Dave Valvo/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards highlights comedy-wildlife-2020-3.jpg Annelie Henn/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards highlights comedy-wildlife-2020-7.jpg Goran Anastasovski/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards highlights comedy-wildlife-2020-12.jpg Minghui Yuan/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

At the beginning of the trial in 2015, there were two breeding pairs of beavers in the River Otter  they had escaped from a captive population two years earlier. After public outcry at plans to cull them, the scientific trial was agreed upon by the government.

The work was carried out by Devon Wildlife Trust, Clinton Devon Estates, the Derek Gow Consultancy and the University of Exeter.

They found by October 2019 there were at least eight pairs of beavers in the River Otter and that the population has now spread to the connected River Tale, as well as some smaller tributaries.

The impacts the beavers have had on the surrounding area including mitigating risks to the flood-prone community of East Budleigh. A family of beavers have constructed six dams upstream of the village, with the result that peak flood flows through the village have been measurably and significantly reduced.

The report highlights the ability of beavers to help clean water supplies, removing large quantities of soil, manure, slurry and fertilisers from rivers and streams. In one location where beavers had built 13 dams and ponds, researchers found the animals were playing a significant role in filtering these pollutants from water.

Perhaps even more impressive is the extent to which beaver populations create perfect conditions for so many other species to thrive.

The effect of beaver engineering and feeding has delivered significant ecological benefits, the authors said, with new areas of wetland habitat created and managed, with benefits for amphibians, wildfowl and water voles.

Fish numbers were found to have significantly increased where beavers built their dams. Surveys in the River Otter catchment area showed the pools created by beaver dams contained 37 per cent more fish than in comparable stretches of the river where there were no dams. Researchers also recorded trout leaping up and passing over beaver dams during high river flows.

Prof Brazier, who is chair of the Science and Evidence Forum that published the report, said: Following five years of detailed research work, the report concludes that the positive impacts of beavers outweighed the negatives.

A summary of the quantifiable cost and benefits of beaver reintroduction demonstrates that the ecosystem services and social benefits accrued are greater than the financial costs incurred.

However, it also makes clear that those who benefit from beaver reintroduction may not always be the same people as those who bear the costs, highlighting that the reduction of flood risk in communities downstream may come at a cost of water being stored on farmland upstream.

Devon Wildlife Trusts Mark Elliott, who has led the River Otter Beaver Trial for the past five years, said: I think weve all been surprised by these amazing animals ability to thrive, once again, in our wetland ecosystems.

It also shows their unrivalled capacity to breathe new life into our rivers and wetlands, very few of which are in good health.

We have seen over these five years how beavers really do have the ability to help to restore the natural processes that all our wetland wildlife depends on.

As a society, we get so much benefit from healthy rivers and streams that function naturally  we just need to give them greater space and appreciate them more  beavers play a crucial role in helping with that.

The key to success will be to provide support for all landowners to make space for wetlands on their land  ensuring those who enable these far-reaching benefits to be provided are also able to manage their thriving rural businesses.
Gandhinagar, Feb 17 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated the thirteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP13) with the presence of over 2,500 delegates from 111 countries in this Gujarat city.

Modi opened it through video conference, the first time the head of government hosting the CMS conference has opened a CMS COP, marking the importance of migratory species in India.

The conference kicks off 'the super year' for nature, which will include a UN Summit in September and culminate in the UN Biodiversity Conference at the end of 2020, when a new global biodiversity strategy for the next decade will be adopted -- the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.

It will be attended by several heads of UN treaties that deal with nature, as well as CMS Ambassadors and celebrities.

The concept of 'ecological connectivity' is the top CMS priority for the Post-2020 Framework, which calls for the protection and restoration of important geographical areas that together support migratory species during the different phases of their natural lifecycles, such as breeding and feeding.

Deliberations at the CMS COP13 will focus on how best to protect migratory species in a rapidly changing world.

The UN Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity released in May 2019 (IPBES Report) found that "we are in danger of losing one million species to extinction, including migratory species, if we do not step up our actions".

A new report to be released at CMS COP13 indicates that despite some success stories, the populations of most migratory species covered by CMS are declining.

International cooperation is required to protect migratory species and their habitats, which is reflected in the COP13 theme: "Migratory species connect the planet -- together we welcome them home".

Migratory species bring multiple benefits to humans.

For example, migratory species provide seed dispersal, pollination, pest control and other ecosystem services and functions. They also provide major economic benefits and jobs, for instance, through tourism.

CMS Executive Secretary Amy Fraenkel said in a statement: "COP13 comes at a critical time for wildlife conservation, with continued downward trends of habitat loss and species decline. The Convention on Migratory Species is the only multilateral treaty dedicated to addressing the needs of migratory species and their habitats on a global scale.' "The conference will set in motion actions needed to better protect migratory species that rely on multilateral cooperation for their survival." Minister of Environment Prakash Javadekar said: "CMS is very important to India. The Convention is at an exciting moment of development and the COP in India will mark the start of increased attention to migratory species and their habitats." "Migratory birds, mammals and aquatic species are increasingly in danger on their migration routes and countries need to work together to protect them. For India, caring about these species is part of our ethos to protect all animals and natural life on earth. India is very happy to host CMS COP13." Joyce Msuya, Deputy Executive Director at the UN Environment Programme said: "As we face the unprecedented crisis of species loss, 2020 is an important year to step up action to conserve species, protect ecosystems and make meaningful progress towards achieving the sustainable development goals." "We must seize every opportunity we have, and the CMS COP is critical milestone in enabling biodiversity to flourish on this planet." CMS COP13 will add new species for protection under CMS and also address emerging issues and threats.

They include: Ten new species are expected to be added to CMS, including the Asian elephant, the jaguar and the great Indian bustard -- which is the mascot of COP13.

These include proposed additions to Appendix I, which provides the strictest protections, for the Asian elephant, jaguar, great Indian bustard, Bengal florican, little bustard, antipodean Albatross and the oceanic white-tip shark.

And the urial, a wild sheep, smooth hammerhead shark and the tope shark have been proposed for Appendix II, which covers migratory species that have an unfavourable conservation status and that would benefit from enhanced international cooperation and conservation actions.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
LONDON  Prime Minister Boris Johnsons response to a storm that battered the country over the weekend, causing severe flooding in hundreds of towns and villages, prompted a backlash from critics inside and outside his party on Monday.

Mr. Johnson came under fire on Monday after his office said that he had no plans to visit any of the flooded areas after Storm Dennis. Flood warnings remained in place across the country, but Mr. Johnson had not called a meeting of the governments emergencies committee, known as Cobra, to discuss the situation.

The storm dumped more than half a months worth of rainfall in one day in some areas. Rivers overflowed their banks, sending water several feet deep through streets, houses and businesses, forcing many people to leave their homes and cutting some communities off from relief efforts.

Some areas were still recovering from heavy rains and strong winds brought by another storm just a week earlier.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced Monday hes committing $10 billion to combat climate change in an effort to amplify known ways and to explore new ways of fighting the devastating impact of climate change. The richest man on earth said he will be funneling his resources into the Bezos Earth Fund, which will be issuing grants to fund scientists, activists, NGOsany effort that offers a real possibility to help preserve and protect the natural world. Amazon is itself, of course, is a huge contributor to climate change, shipping some 10 billion items a year aboard planes and trucks that dont get to your doorstep on bicycles. That amounts to the carbon footprint of a small country, something which Amazon last year pledged to fix. The company has committed to using renewable energy exclusively by 2030.

The Verge reports the fund will not be a private investment vehicle for Bezos and instead will focus entirely on charitable giving.
Azerbaijan Tourism Board (ATB), the national promotion body designed to support the growth of Azerbaijans tourism industry, will be hosting a special tourism buyers event this April.



Taking place in the capital on April 29, Baku, the Travel Business Azerbaijan event will bring together local and international tourism professionals in hopes to forge partnerships and profitable business deals.



Organised by Azerbaijan Tourism Board and supported by the State Tourism Agency, the event is a first of its kind in the Caucasus country, welcoming over 400 industry professionals to establish direct communication while also serving as a platform to showcase the tourism potential of Azerbaijan.



As part of its strategy to enhance the destination value proposition and double inbound tourism by 2023, ATB launched its Take another look marketing campaign in late 2018. In just over a year, it celebrated setting a historical record for Azerbaijan with 3.2 million inbound travellers  an impressive 11.4 per cent increase over 2018.



Its a very exciting time for the tourism industry of Azerbaijan and were delighted to accelerate and enhance our proposition with Travel Business Azerbaijan. For the first time, representatives from key source markets will have the opportunity to connect with the local tourism and hospitality industry on this large scale, to build fruitful partnerships, said Florian Sengstschmid, chief executive of Azerbaijan Tourism Board.



In addition to B2B meetings, the event will host an award ceremony and gala dinner, as well as both pre- and post-event FAM trips offering guests a chance to explore the tourism, leisure and Mice potential in Baku and various regions.



As we continue to cater to incentives and provide unique and authentic experiences, we encourage industry professionals from around the world to join us at Travel Business Azerbaijan and discover the extraordinary amount we have to offer, said Sengstschmid. - TradeArabia News Service
Throughout history, mankind's desire to explore space resulted in catastrophes that still make us shiver. Since space travel is a task that requires multiple stages of preparation and equipment so complex that most of us would have a hard time understanding them, it is understandable that not everything can go according to plan. Still only several of the disasters happened in space, and the number of known casualties is not as large as one would expect.

A total of 18 people have died in space. A large number of disasters happen on Earth before the space flight even begins. In this article, we have found out more about some of the biggest catastrophes that happened as a result of mans desire to travel into the vast unknown of space.

10. The Challenger Disaster

wikipedia

73 seconds after launching on January 28th, 1986, the Challenger started to break apart. Seven crew members lost their lives during this unfortunate accident, and it left a huge mark on an entire generation since it was televised. The flaw that caused the disaster was found beforehand but was not properly fixed, which makes the tragedy seem even more unfortunate.

9. The Tragedy Of Apollo 1

This is a well known and documented tragedy that left a huge impact on the American space program. On January 27th, 1967, a fire broke out in the cabin of the Apollo 1, and it took the lives of its three-man crew. This accident had a large impact not only on the development of space exploration but also on American society as a whole.

8. The Soyuz 1 Spacecraft Tragedy

Wikipedia

The Soyuz 1 was the first crewed flight of this type of spacecraft commanded by Vladimir Komarov. Everything about this launch into space was plagued with numerous problems of a technical nature. During the return to Earth using a descent module, Komarov was killed when the parachute failed to open. This happened on April 23rd, 1967.

7. The Launch Pad Accident Of Plesetsk

After taking a break from the Soviet Union, we return there once again, this time to the year 1980. This launchpad disaster was responsible for the deaths of 48 people, while 87 more were injured. This is another accident that was kept under wraps until 1989 when the Soviet Union tried to blame the dead crew members for what happened.

6. The Accident Of The Brazilian Alcantara VLS Spacecraft

This accident happened in 2003 when Brazil was developing its space program. It was the third attempt for the Brazilian space program to launch its rocket into space. However, it exploded before launching and 21 people that were working on the site were killed.

5. The Disaster Of Intelsat 708

In 1996, a Chinese test spacecraft called Intelsat 708 had a malfunction and it landed in a village where it killed six people. The interesting thing to note here is that this was done in collaboration with American companies. After this incident, Congress passed laws that made it harder for technology to leave the borders of the United States.

4. The Accident During The Voskhod 2 Spacewalk

The Soviet Union was making big advancements in the exploration of space during the 1960s. In 1965, a Russian astronaut Alexey Leonov managed to walk through space for 12 minutes before trying to return to his spacecraft, Voskhod 2. However, his suit ballooned while he was out in space so he could not fit through the door.

They managed to rescue him somehow, but they had problems shutting the doors and the entire mission was in danger once again when they landed far from their course. Fortunately, it all ended well.

3. The Nedelin Catastrophe

In 1960 the Soviets were developing a prototype of a missile designed for space travel. While they were testing the prototype, an explosion occurred in one of the engines, and it killed many of the personnel working on the missile. It is assumed that hundreds of people were either killed or injured. The accident was kept secret for a long time despite it being quite large, and it wasnt until 1989 that the government of Russia admitted that it happened.

2. The Soyuz 11 Disaster

Soyuz 11 was a soviet crewed mission into outer space that managed to board a space station called Salyut 1. They arrived at the space station on June 7th, 1971, but a disaster happened 22 days later when they tried to return to Earth. The crew capsule of the ship depressurized and killed the crew, consisting of three people, while they were preparing to enter the atmosphere.

1. The Columbia Space Shuttle

This disaster happened in 2003 when the Columbia Space Shuttle exploded during re-entry into the atmosphere. This space shuttle was under the control of NASA for 22 years and completed 27 space missions, but it did not survive the return from the 28th mission.
SAN DIEGO, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- INSEEV INTERACTIVE has announced Shawn Blevins has joined as Chief Revenue Officer. In his new role, Shawn will be responsible for ensuring the company extends its leadership position in the fast-growing market for Digital Performance focused on SEO, Paid Media, and Content Marketing.

Stop Wasting Paid Search dollars

"Inseev has unlocked repeatable organic growth for leading online brands and private equity unlike anyone else in digital marketing. Brands are facing the tyranny of massive paid search budgets while their organic brand equity continues to shrink. The first moment the paid search 'faucet' is reduced sales and conversions take a massive hit, demanding ever growing spend. Inseev gives brands back control of organic revenue and frees them from the treadmill of endless paid search spend while consistently increasing orders.

As a result, the demand is immense from both top-tier brands and private equity companies for Inseev expertise to grow brand equity online with resulting impact to top line growth. They have 'cracked the code' on how to deliver these results repeatably across the world's largest e-commerce brands, with an open, accountable approach a light-year ahead of agencies who don't show their work. That's why I am so excited to be here."

Said Inseev Interactive CEO Jimmy Page, "Shawn is a seasoned senior executive with an unmatched track record in working with the world's largest brands as well as private equity portfolio companies. As we experience exponential demand for our services, we are delighted to welcome Shawn to the company, and know his extensive experience and extraordinary results as a sales and marketing executive with top technology vendors, startups, and online brands will be indispensable as we grow and scale our organization."

Mr. Blevins' career includes selling large, complex software and services to the world's biggest companies. Most recently, he worked as Executive Advisor at Booz Allen Hamilton for Artificial Intelligence Software. Previously, he was the EVP & GM at Opera Solutions, EVP and Senior Global Director, Worldwide Competitive Sales at SAP, a Senior Director of Solution Architecture for North America at Oracle and Solution Specialist Manager at Microsoft.

Blevins received his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from East Tennessee University and holds certifications for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning from Vanderbilt University, as well as SAP Advanced Analytics, Oracle Solution Architecture, and Microsoft Solutions Development. Blevins has four children and resides in Tennessee.

About Inseev Interactive

At Inseev Interactive, everything we do is aligned with the goal of generating scalable profit for our clients leveraging intelligent strategy and tight, accountable execution.

With our unique strategist-led methodology, we are an internationally recognized leader in SEO, Paid, and Content Services. Inseev Interactive combines scientific expertise with the deep industry knowledge of its professionals as a foundation to continually extract new revenues across the entire online experience of Digital Search Performance. We serve leading organizations in Financial Services, e-Commerce, Health & Wellness, Saas Software Vendors and other selected sectors.

To learn more and get a no-cost value assessment, visit www.inseev.com today.

Media contact:

Shawn Blevins

[email protected]

619.285.2168

SOURCE Inseev Interactive
Khalifa University of Science and Technology, organisers of the Mohamed Bin Zayed International Robotics Challenge, announced a total of 30 teams will be competing for honours at MBZIRC 2020, the second edition of $5-million biennial competition to be held from February 23 to 25 in Abu Dhabi, UAE, in parallel with the 4th edition of Unmanned System Exhibition (UMEX) and Simulation & Training Exhibition and Conference (SIMTEX) 2020.

Around 500 top robotics experts from 30 international teams representing Europe, North America, Asia, Australia and the UAE are preparing for the final leg of MBZIRC 2020. They will compete in four iconic categories that will test advanced embodied AI technical skills.

The competition, to be held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center (ADNEC), will include three challenges and a triathlon type Grand Challenge.

Dr Arif Sultan Al Hammadi, Executive Vice-President, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, said: Building on the success of the inaugural edition of MBZIRC 2017, the second edition will bring a total of 30 teams to the UAE to display their advanced innovations in some key robotics technologies. These finalists represent top internationally-renowned academic and research institutions with well-established robotics labs and we believe MBZIRC 2020 will showcase the creative best in robotics and stand testimony to its reputation as a leading global competition.

MBZIRC Challenge 1 will focus on drone safety, testing whether a team of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can autonomously track, capture and neutralise intruder UAVs.

Challenge 2 will test how a team of UAVs and an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) can collaborate to autonomously locate, pick, transport and assemble different types of brick-shaped objects to build pre-defined structures, in an outdoor environment.

Challenge 3 will assess how a team of UAVs and a UGV will collaborate to autonomously extinguish a series of simulated fires in an urban high-rise building. The Grand Challenge requires UAVs and UGVs to compete in a triathlon-type event, combining Challenges 1, 2 and 3. -- Tradearabia News Service
Elton John has said he was "deeply upset and sorry" for cutting short a concert in New Zealand after being diagnosed with walking pneumonia.

The music star (72) was performing at Auckland's Mount Smart Stadium yesterday when he lost his voice and broke down in tears on stage.

In footage shared by fans on social media, John is seen crying as he is escorted from the stage while thousands of concert-goers give him a standing ovation.

John posted on Instagram a short while later: "I want to thank everyone who attended tonight's gig in Auckland.

"I was diagnosed with walking pneumonia earlier today, but I was determined to give you the best show humanly possible. I played and sang my heart out, until my voice could sing no more."

According to one fan on social media, John had told the audience earlier in the show: "My voice has completely gone, I'm so sorry."

He was tended to by a medic for around five minutes earlier in the set and continued to play before he was forced to stop completely.

According to the American Lung Association, walking pneumonia is a "non-medical term for a mild case of pneumonia".

Generally called atypical pneumonia, it can be caused by bacteria or viruses and symptoms, including a cough, fever, chest pain, mild chills and a headache, are similar to that of a bad cold. Symptoms are usually mild enough for a sufferer to be able to continue their daily activities.
R ecently appointed Number 10 aide Andrew Sabisky has quit his role after a backlash against previous comments he had made.

Mr Sabisky was reportedly drafted in following Boris Johnson's chief adviser Dominic Cummings appealing for "misfits and weirdos" to work in Government.

Downing Street previously refused to condemn comments from Mr Sabisky, who once suggested enforcing the uptake of contraception to stop unplanned pregnancies creating a permanent underclass.

Writing on twitter this evening, Mr Sabisky wrote: "The media hysteria about my old stuff online is mad but I wanted to help HMG not be a distraction. Accordingly I've decided to resign as a contractor. I hope no.10 hires more ppl w/ good geopolitical forecasting track records & that media learn to stop selective quoting.

"I know this will disappoint a lot of ppl but I signed up to do real work, not be in the middle of a giant character assassination: if I can't do the work properly there's no point, & I have a lot of other things to do w/ my life."

The Standard has contacted Number 10 for comment.

Earlier in the day, Labour said Number 10s refusal to condemn the remarks was disgusting, while Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the Government must demonstrate some basic but fundamental values.

Mr Sabisky also reportedly once suggested that the benefits of a purported cognitive enhancer, which can prove fatal, are probably worth a dead kid once a year.

Boris Johnson's spokesman refused to condemn Andrew Sabisky's comments earlier / REUTERS

Writing on Mr Cummings website in 2014, he said: One way to get around the problems of unplanned pregnancies creating a permanent underclass would be to legally enforce universal uptake of long-term contraception at the onset of puberty.

Vaccination laws give it a precedent, I would argue.

He also suggested that black Americans have a lower average IQ than white Americans.

Dominic Cummings had called for 'misfits and weirdos' to work in Government / PA

Downing Street repeatedly refused to say whether Mr Johnson supported the views expressed by Mr Sabisky on eugenics  the selective breeding of humans  or the IQ of black people.

A Number 10 spokesman said: Im not going to be commenting on individual appointments.

Tory MP for Hazel Grove William Wragg earlier tweeted: Andrew Sabiskys presence in no.10 is a poor reflection on the Govt and there is no way to defend it.

He needs to go. Weirdos and misfits are all very well, but please can they not gratuitously cause offence.

I cannot be the only one uncomfortable with recent no.10 trends.
Are we condemned to relive a history that we ignore?

In 1937'38, Josef Stalin liquidated 40,000 Red Army officers. Four and a half million to 5.5 million other subjects of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics were also arrested in Stalins purges, and 800,000900,000 sentenced to death. Another million died in purges from 19291933 (Stalin: Triumph and Tragedy, D. Volkogonov).

The despot did not spare innocent relatives from death. For aiding an enemy of the people  her husband, Ya. B. Gamarnik  one wife received a 10-year sentence. Herself branded an enemy of the people, she received a further eight-year term in the Gulag, where she died.

A foul whiff of Stalinist despotism recently drifted from the Oval Office. Lt. Col. Alexander Vindmans twin brother Yevgeny, also a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, was ousted from his quarters in the National Security Council. Escorts led both men from the White House.

One brother testified to Donald Trumps abuse of power and obstruction of justice in the Ukraine affair. Uninvolved in Trumps impeachment the other, Yevgeny Vindman, did not testify against the president. His offense was his familial relationship with his brother, Alexander Vindman.

Richard Friary,

Florence

You must be logged in to react.

Click any reaction to login. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 2
The National Local Development Program (PNDL) must be rethought, not abolished, President Klaus Iohannis emphasized, on Monday, at the General Assembly of the Association of Communes in Romania.

Klaus Iohannis spoke to the mayors present at this event about the importance of efficient investments for the development of local communities.

"I am certain that the process of reformation and modernization will enter a straight line once we have a parliamentary majority to reflect the will of the citizens and I desire that this happen as soon as possible. In this modernization program, the Romanian village is an essential component, and one of the priorities is that the big national programs of investments in the rural environment be reconfigured, so that there is a transparency added to them and a correct management of public funds. Many of you implemented in the communes that you represent projects financed through the National Local Development Plan and there were a lot of money, sometimes even successful projects in many cases. The money invested efficiently always means development, but we must not ignore the shortcomings of this program. That is exactly why I say loudly: this project must be rethought, not at all abolished. I don't believe there is anyone in this hall who desires for us to continue to see money granted on political criteria or fictitious or bad work being reimbursed. Wasting public money must end definitively, and this can be done through a coherent and responsible approach," said the President.

He stated that another program which is absolutely necessary and which will bring certain benefits is the one regarding the extension of the gas network.

"The rural environment cannot be convicted, infinitely, to poverty and underdevelopment. Nearly half of the population of Romania is not connected to the sewer system and only one in three Romanians living in the rural environment is served by the public water supply system," he showed.

Moreover, the head of state emphasized that investments must be done also taking into account the needs in the field.

The President said that accessing the European funds must constitute a priority for each administration in Romania.

Furthermore, according to the head of state, the children in the rural environment should benefit from the same conditions as those learning in large cities.

"The depopulation of villages, school abandonment, access to early education, lack of learning spaces represent the big concerns. In order to find the adequate solutions to these grave issues, some even critical, it's necessary to find an integrated approach, for the long term, which would involve both the central and the local authorities. In other words, to not "patch up", but to create concrete programs, managed rigorously and, especially, predictably, through which the Romanian school in the village can reach the 21st century," he stated.

Klaus Iohannis also emphasized the need to modernize and streamline public administration and underlined that the Romanian village has a huge potential for development, but a long term plan does not exist.
With tens of millions of people the world over being affected by dementia, and almost 80% of them suffering from Alzheimer's disease (AD), the Early Detection of Neurodegenerative diseases (Edon) is looking into a novel device to test for AD early in the process, using wearable technology. This will play a crucial role in intervening and preventing the progression of this disease, the prevalence of which has increased by almost 90% since 2000.

ARUK EdoN End - Final Cut 090419 16x9 Texted Play

The need

Advanced AD is generally not reversible, making it essential to detect and treat the disease early before it is clinically apparent. Earlier research shows that AD changes in the cognitive, motor and sensory functions occur years before the earliest clinical manifestations can be picked up. Existing cognitive tests have several limitations, including the time required, their insensitivity at early stages of the disease, the ability to be 'learned' which makes the responses on repeat testing virtually useless, and the need for subjective analysis. Imaging techniques may be better but are costly and invasive at present.

Wearable sensing technology

Wearable devices could be the way out. Wearable devices can retrieve information about the gait, movements, heart rate, patterns of sleep, and similar parameters. For instance, a pilot study in the UK showed that using inexpensive sensors worn over the body could pick up changes in the way the individual walks and behavioral changes, which are essential sensitive indicators of early or impending dementia.

Alzheimer's disease on MRI. Image Credit: Atthapon Raksthaput / Shutterstock

Their advantages include:

The easy and wide availability

Excellent connectivity providing immediate information

Increasing sensitivity and the ability to use multiple sensors

The ability to pick up physical and cognitive symptoms and signs

No or little burden on the healthcare system

Flexible approach allowing passive or prompted measurements

Gait and movement sensors

One researcher from the gait sensor project at Newcastle University Human Movement Science, Lynn Rochester, says, "Free-living gait analysis at home is particularly useful as it allows objective observation of an individual's day-to-day activity. It also has the benefit of providing continuous data over a prolonged time that may be more sensitive than one-off assessments." Early changes include alterations in gait speed, stride, and symmetry.

Fine motor movements may become more clumsy or slow. The sensing of typing or stylus-based drawing itself may offer sensing opportunities.

Other capabilities

Speech and language metrics, eye movements, and pupillary movements are also useful in detecting degeneration in multiple networks. Autonomic nervous system function is reflected by measures like heart rate, heart rate variability, sleep patterns due to disruption of circadian rhythms, and even social and mood changes may all be potentially detected by wearable sensors.

The researchers will be using information from several studies that are ongoing, hoping that by applying artificial intelligence (AI) to the data to get a prototype up and running over the next three years.

Beyond the enormous amount of work involved in predicting AD in the preclinical stages, developing consumer devices capable of reliable sensing, and analyzing the data, extensive studies will be required to provide an accurate measure of variability between subjects and at various times in the same person. Data security is also crucial in this aspect.

The project

The project is partly funded by philanthropist Bill Gates, and partly owes some of its budget to the UK government which wants to use AI on data to prevent chronic diseases and understand how they work. The project will begin work with the UK's Alan Turing Institute, the premier national institute for data science and artificial intelligence.

This part of the project will see the collection of reams of data from studies into AD that are still going on at present. This is because, in the words of the Institute's Chris Holmes, "Artificial intelligence has the potential to transform the learning opportunities from large-scale data studies such as Edon by integrating information from multiple sources. We will use AI to deliver new insights into the early signals of disease by combining digital data measurements with traditional sources such as brain imaging and memory tests."

The idea is to come up with a "digital fingerprint" that can be read using a wearable technology or a smartphone app, thus ensuring that people who are at most risk for several chronic medical conditions, can be identified early for appropriate interventions. The aim is to detect the very first changes in the brain, which would help arrest many of these conditions before they lead to dementia, and the person becomes, in many cases, unable to live normally.

The study will draw volunteers from the 2019 project called Accelerating Detection of Disease Program. This is targeting 5 million volunteers to help change the way disease is diagnosed, using the data they provide on AD, cancer, and heart disease. AI will help detect patterns that will, in turn, help identify AD.

The researchers want to classify and analyze this to understand what signs of the disease occur earlier in its course so that in the future, there will be an early warning system. Previous studies have indicated the feasibility of this as an inexpensive, multicentre home-based approach to monitoring patients more efficiently while still reducing the burden on the healthcare network. It could also boost the efficiency of clinical trials.
Fears over the Covid variant meant that, from late November, all travellers arriving in the UK were required to take a lateral flow test before flying and self-isolate until they received a negative result from a post-arrival PCR test. This led to many people scrapping their travel plans over the festive period - which is typically one of the busiest times of the year outside summer for international travel from Britain. A total of 19.4 million people travelled through Heathrow across the whole of last year - less than a quarter of the pre-pandemic level in 2019, and 12.3% down on 2020. Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye said: 'There are currently travel restrictions, such as testing, on all Heathrow routes. The aviation industry will only fully recover when these are all lifted and there is no risk that they will be reimposed at short notice, a situation which is likely to be years away.' Several overseas destinations - including France and Germany - had brought in their own restrictions late last year, effectively rendering the possibility of a holiday within their territory impossible amid the outbreak of Omicron. Ms Streeter added: 'Mass vaccination programmes failed to have the desired effect in 2021, in bringing the rebound in travel there had been such high hopes for this time last year. The web of rules and regulations which was spun across different countries and regions and swept away, and then spun again as new variants emerged, clearly led to a drop in confidence in the travelling public.' Pictured: Heathrow in December.
By PTI

JAIPUR: An engineer was stabbed to death allegedly by a government employee after a spat over a pet dog in Rajasthan's Alwar district, police said on Monday.

The incident occurred on Sunday night when Santosh Sharma took his dog outside for a walk and it barked at the accused, Akash Dalal, they said.

Dalal objected to it and during the spat brought a knife from his flat and attacked Sharma.

He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead, SHO of Alwar Sadar Police Station Ramniwas said.

Both Sharma and Dalal lived in the same residential complex.

While Sharma was an engineer working with a private company, Dalal was a tax assistant.

"The accused has been detained and is being interrogated," he said, adding, that the body was handed over to family members after a postmortem on Monday.
Family & Parenting, School & Education, Local News, Local Steals & Deals, Business & Finance, Community, Charity & Cause

By Brooke Hein Published: February 17 2020

Through this program and partnership, six scholarships will be awarded from $6,275 to $12,550 each.

Suffolk Federal is offering local Suffolk County students a wonderful opportunity to win academic scholarships to Suffolk County Community College to ensure their hopes of attending college can come true. Through this program and partnership, six scholarships will be awarded from $6,275 to $12,550 each. Applications must be completed online and submitted by April 24, 2020. If selected as a recipient for any of the scholarships, the student must become a member of Suffolk Federal by the time of award ceremony. Students can apply at https://sunysuffolk.academicworks.com.

A fundamental commitment for Suffolk Federal is to empower our younger generation and help them obtain their full potential as they fulfill their dream of attending college, explains Ralph D. Spencer, Jr. President & CEO of Suffolk Federal. Each year, we provide financial support to outstanding, dedicated students who are passionate about their education and committed to becoming leaders in their respective industries. Our commitment is to off-set academic expenses and mobilize these students as they begin their journey to enhance their college experience and embark on future career goals. Once again we are excited to partner with Suffolk County Community College for this program in 2020, he continued.

We are grateful for the generous support and commitment of Suffolk Federal, their visionary President & CEO Ralph Spencer, their caring and engaged Board of Directors and the dozens of Suffolk County Community College alumni employed at this leading not-for-profit financial institution, said Louis J. Petrizzo, Esq, Interim President of Suffolk County Community College. These scholarships will provide enormous opportunities for Suffolk Countys promising students to follow their individual pathways to success. They celebrate the generosity of Suffolk Federal, the compassion of EMT Michael E. Reilly and the honor and sacrifice of Navy SEAL LT Michael P. Murphy.

These scholarships will transform the lives of Suffolks hard-working students, said Dr. Sylvia A. Diaz, Executive Director of the Suffolk Community College Foundation. We are excited about our partnership with Suffolk Federal, an institution which shares our mission to build our community, support our local workforce and advance our regional economy.

This year, academic scholarship opportunities will total $43,925, an increase from the $35,000 which were awarded by Suffolk Federal last year.

This years academic scholarships include:

Suffolk Federal Scholarship

Suffolk Federal will award four scholarships of $6,275 each ($3,275 will be awarded to recipients in the fall of 2020 and $3,000 will be awarded to the recipients in the spring 2021).

Eligibility: High-school seniors who are residents of Suffolk County with a minimum GPA of 77. The student must demonstrate involvement in an extracurricular activity and/or community service. The student must also submit an essay of no more than 250 words explaining their eligibility and how they will benefit from receiving this scholarship.

The Michael E. Reilly Memorial Scholarship

Suffolk Federal will award one scholarship of $6,275 to a new full-time student. ($3,275 will be awarded to the recipient in the fall of 2020 and $3,000 will be awarded to the recipient in the spring 2021).

Eligibility: High school senior becoming a new full-time student who is a resident of Suffolk County. Student must have a family member who is a volunteer with a local fire department or local EMS. The student must submit an essay of no more than 250 words explaining their eligibility and how they will benefit from receiving this scholarship along with details on their personal connection to having a family member of a local fire department or EMS.

Education and knowledge provide the power which a student can use to accomplish great things in the world. We are excited to offer The Michael E. Reilly Scholarship to a deserving student in memory of our son Michael, who lost his life when home on leave from the Coast Guard, explained Edward J. Reilly, father of the late Michael E. Reilly and Treasurer at Suffolk Federal. It is one way we can not only honor Michaels life, but support the leadership, accomplishments, passion and talents of our students, empowering them to achieve success, he continued.

LT Michael P. Murphy Memorial Scholarship

One high school senior becoming a new full-time student will be awarded $12,550. $6,275 will be provided by the LT Michael P. Murphy Memorial Scholarship Foundation and matched by Suffolk Federal for a total of $12,550. ($6,275 will be awarded to the recipient during the 2020-2021 academic year and $6,275 will be awarded to the same recipient during the 2021-2022 academic year).

Eligibility: High-school senior who is a resident of Suffolk County with a minimum GPA of 77. The student must demonstrate involvement in a school sport, extracurricular activity and/or involvement at a community-based organization. The student must also submit an essay of no more than 250 words explaining their eligibility and how they will benefit from receiving this scholarship.

The Navy SEAL LT Michael P. Murphy Memorial Scholarship Foundation is honored to partner with Suffolk Federal in awarding a scholarship to a deserving high school graduate who is a member of this wonderful banking institution, said Daniel J. Murphy, father of the late Navy SEAL LT Michael P. Murphy and Suffolk Federal Supervisory Committee Member. Michaels favorite saying was Education will set you free and this joint scholarship program with Suffolk Federal continues Michaels legacy of service and sacrifice. We feel that this scholarship is a perfect way to honor his passion.

Education provides endless opportunities for a students future and is a gift which will impact a student throughout his/her life. For more information about Suffolk Federal and the Scholarship Program, please visit www.suffolkfcu.org, call 631.924.8000 or visit any Suffolk Federal branch today.
The findings of the 'India CSR Reporting Survey 2019', compiled by KPMG in India, that covered 100 companies also revealed a 150% rise in the number of firms that have committed to carry forward 2% of the unspent amount.

New Delhi: More companies in India are complying with corporate social responsibility norms under the Companies Act, 2013, with 76 percent firms having spent 2 percent or more of their profits on such initiatives during 2019, according to a report.

The findings of the 'India CSR Reporting Survey 2019', compiled by KPMG in India, that covered 100 companies also revealed a 150 percent rise in the number of firms that have committed to carry forward 2 percent of the unspent amount.

The Companies Act which came into effect from 1 April 2014 stipulates that firms with a net worth of Rs 500 crore or more, or a turnover of Rs 100 crore or more, or a net profit of Rs 5 crore or more during the immediately preceding financial year are required to spend 2 percent of their profits on corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes.

Eligible companies need to form a CSR committee, formulate policy, and implement projects in alignment with Schedule VII of the Act.

CSR-related disclosures need to be made in the annual report in the format prescribed by the Act.

According to the report, there has been a 325 percent increase in the number of companies that have disclosed details of outreach in annual report. Besides, 30 percent of firms studied in the report have had more than three CSR committee meetings.

"While the overall CSR spending is increasing, it is also heartening to observe the increase in number of companies going beyond the 2 percent mandate and even companies who are not required to spend allocating budgets for CSR and spending," said Santhosh Jayaram, Partner and Head, Sustainability and CSR Advisory at KPMG in India.
When it comes to breakfast, everyone has their own go to - a full fry, porridge, toast, granola.

It can make choosing where to eat an absolute nightmare. No one wants to get into a big debate at that hour of the morning. Honestly, we haven't even had our coffee yet.

Enter the Irish Breakfast Awards to help you to choose where to enjoy the most important meal of the day.

The Georgina Campbell Irish Breakfast Awards celebrate the Irish businesses and producers that offer the best breakfasts in the country.

From the best bread to the best dairy, these awards have the cream of the crop.

For those of you who prefer a lazy brunch of a weekend, there's an award for that as well.

The Brunch Award was shortlisted to 30 venues and then the winner was chosen following a public vote.

Brunch is now part of the fabric of Irelands food culture," said awards founder, Georgina Campbell.

"People truly enjoy the quality and variety of dishes on brunch menus across Ireland. So much, in fact, that brunch is now considered one of the most popular meals for people to enjoy out.

"Its for this reason that we opened the Brunch Award to a public vote, and we were delighted by the hugely enthusiastic response from food lovers across the country."

Aran Bakery and Bistro in Co Kilkenny picked up the coveted award this year.

This year saw a new award introduced recognising ethical and sustainable practices.

Ashford Castle was selected as the inaugural winner of the Sustainability Award, recognised for its environmental credentials in relation to impressive sustainable practices including its food sourcing policy and commitment to sourcing the best seasonal ingredients from the west of Ireland.

It was the first five-star hotel in Ireland to be awarded GREENmark Plastic Smart recognition by GreenTravel.ie for its efforts in responsible tourism and commitment to removing all single-use plastics by 2022.

Campbell, who is one of Irelands foremost food and hospitality writers, said that serving up a good quality breakfast is important and can have a lasting impression on customers.

"Doing the simplest of things well is enough to encourage a return visit and build a strong reputation for your establishment, regardless of how many people you can seat."

The awards, in association with Failte Ireland, showed the importance of locally sourced food to tourists looking to enjoy a proper Irish experience.

"The Irish breakfast is a key part of the visitor experience and offers a unique opportunity to showcase Irish food and great visitor experiences we can be proud of," said Jenny De Saulles, Failte Irelands Sector Development Director.

Jack McCarthy  McCarthys of Kanturk, winner of the best rashers, sausages & pudding, Rachel Allen, Georgina Campbell , Tim McCarthy  McCarthys of Kanturk

Full list of winners

IRISH PRODUCER AWARDS

Meat: McCarthys of Kanturk, Kanturk, Co Cork

Eggs: Belview Eggs, Drogheda, Co Louth

Dairy: The Little Milk Company, Dungarvan, Co Waterford

Fruit: The Apple Farm, Cahir, Co Tipperary

Preserves: Filligans, Glenties, Co Donegal

IRISH BREAD AWARD

Rua Deli & Cafe, Castlebar, Co Mayo

IRISH BREAKFAST MENU

Hotel

Winner: Limerick Strand Hotel, Limerick

Highly Commended: The Twelve Hotel, Barna, Co Galway

Small Stay

Winner: Lough Bishop House, Collinstown, Co Westmeath

Highly Commended: Archways B&B, Rosslare, Co Wexford

5* HOTEL

Winner: Lough Erne Resort, Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh

Highly Commended: Trump International Golf Links & Hotel, Doonbeg, Co Clare

Highly Commended: Powerscourt Hotel Resort & Spa, Enniskerry, Co Wicklow

4* HOTEL

Winner: Avalon House Hotel, Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny

Highly Commended: Cliff at Lyons, Celbridge, Co Kildare

Highly Commended: Vaughan Lodge, Lahinch, Co Clare

3* HOTEL

Winner: Eccles Hotel, Glengarriff, Co Cork

Highly Commended: The Killeen House Hotel, Killarney, Co Kerry

Highly Commended: Stauntons on the Green, Dublin

COUNTRY HOUSE

Winner: Huntington Castle & Gardens, Clonegal, Co Carlow

Highly Commended: Ashley Park House, Nenagh, Co Tipperary

Highly Commended: Ardtara Country House, Upperlands, Co Derry

GUEST HOUSE

Winner: The Quay House, Clifden, Co Galway

Highly Commended: Heatons House, Dingle, Co Kerry

Highly Commended: Lancaster Lodge, Cork

B&B

Winner: Sheedys Doolin Boutique B&B, Doolin, Co Clare

Highly Commended: Danny Minnies, Annagry, Co. Donegal

Highly Commended: The Wilder Townhouse, Dublin

VISITOR ATTRACTION

Winner: Hillsborough Castle Cafe, Hillsborough, Co Down

Highly Commended: The Commons Cafe at MoLI, Dublin

Highly Commended: Good Day Deli, Nano Nagle Place, Cork

SUSTAINABILITY AWARD

Winner: Ashford Castle, Cong, Co Mayo

BRUNCH OF THE YEAR AWARD

Winner: Aran Artisan Bakery & Bistro, Kilkenny

Highly Commended: Seasalt Cafe & Deli, Cobh, Co Cork

Highly Commended: Kellys Kitchen, Newport, Co Mayo

Highly Commended: Sweet Geranium Cafe, Drumshanbo, Co Leitrim

Highly Commended: Osta Cafe & Wine Bar, Sligo
Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said on Monday that Iranian businessmen are willing to cooperate with Syrian counterparts in reconstruction of Syria, adding that some of the Iranian industrialists would make investment in Syria, Trend with reference to IRNA reports.

Speaking in a press conference in Damascus, Larijani said that Syrians have stood by Iranian government and people since the victory of the Islamic Revolution.

We will never forget such supports especially those of the late Hafez al-Assad during Iraqi imposed war 1980-1988.

He also described Syria as important pivot of Resistance.

He dismissed the so-called Deal of the Century by the US, saying that it is a disaster that some Arab states gave green-light to the US conspiracy. He commended the stance taken by the Syrian Government about the Deal of the Century.

Larijani said that Iran has always backed Syrian government and people in their fight against terrorism.

Despite the fact that US and some regional countries helped terrorism behind the scene, Iran considers fighting terrorism as an important issue.

Iran wants regional states to have friendly relations and to resolve their disputes through negotiations, Larijani said.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he urged Iranian and Syrian governments to pave the way for trade cooperation.
(Alliance News) - Aberdeen Frontier Markets Investment Co Ltd on Monday reported that it underperformed its benchmark and a fall in net assets during its firs half.

Aberdeen Frontier's net assets at December 31 stood at USD48.2 million, down 1.6% year-on-year from USD49.0 million.

Net asset value per share came in at 50.61 pence, down 5.3% from 53.44p in the year prior.

Aberdeen Frontier shares were untraded in London on Monday afternoon, last quoted at 44.02 pence each in London on Monday afternoon.

The trust's net asset value total return came in at 0.4%, beaten by the MSCI Frontier Markets Net Total Return Index benchmark of 5.5%.

"The company's under-performance against the index resulted from its exposure to the quite exceptional events in Argentina and, to a lesser extent, in Lebanon," the trust explained.

Aberdeen Frontier added: "It is pleasing to observe signs of recovery over the six months ended December 31, 2019 as both frontier markets and the company's portfolio delivered positive returns. Highlights included a turnaround for Pakistan, Egypt, and Vietnam, the company's three largest country exposures."

By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
LONDON - Kendall Jenner and fellow super models unveiled Burberry's new season designs at London Fashion Week on Monday, a collection that spanned everything from classic and ladylike to sexy, preppy and street-smart.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/2/2020 (694 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A model wears a creation by designer Burberry at the Autumn/Winter 2020 fashion week runway show in London, Monday, Feb. 17, 2020. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

LONDON - Kendall Jenner and fellow super models unveiled Burberry's new season designs at London Fashion Week on Monday, a collection that spanned everything from classic and ladylike to sexy, preppy and street-smart.

That approach  showcasing designs tailored to diverse tastes  may now be particularly important to the luxury heritage fashion brand, which has recently reported a significant dent in its business in China, a key market, due to the virus outbreak.

A model wears a creation by designer Burberry at the Autumn/Winter 2020 fashion week runway show in London, Monday, Feb. 17, 2020. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

The signature Burberry check was ubiquitous. A three-piece women's suit consisted of a cropped waistcoat, patchwork blazer, skin tight trousers and ankle boots, all in variations of the check. Elsewhere, there were nods to punk, such as deconstructed shirts in pink, red and lilac.

Design chief Riccardo Tisci also presented some sexier, sassy looks, from high-shine black vinyl to slinky dresses that hugged the body and featured strategic cut-outs. Jenner strutted in a checked bustier, layered under a semi-sheer white skirt and white boots.

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 beige trench coat  an item synonymous with the brand since founder Thomas Burberry first designed it in weather-proof gabardine fabric more than a century ago  featured, of course. Some came softly draped in a timeless feminine style; others were much more flamboyant, featuring furry arms and collars.

A model wears a creation by designer Burberry at the Autumn/Winter 2020 fashion week runway show in London, Monday, Feb. 17, 2020. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

One such head-turning outfit saw a shimmering bright lime catsuit paired with a matching coat with fluffy fur trim.

The catwalk show, which drew celebrities including Cate Blanchett to its front row, is one of the glitziest highlights of London Fashion Week.

Burberry will be hoping it goes some ways to boost business. The brand, which gets some 40% of its revenue from Chinese consumers shopping globally, has had to shut 24 of 64 stores in China as a result of the virus outbreak.

___

This version corrects that Burberry gets 40% of its revenue from Chinese consumers shopping globally, not from China.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is calling for Expression of Interest for its Indigenous Fellowship Program.





The program was launched in 2009. It is part of WIPOs series initiatives seeking to involve indigenous people in the work carried out by the organization with the goal, inter alia, of fostering legal expertise and skills within indigenous people on matters that are relevant to them.





Requirements





An applicant must be an active member of an indigenous community, hold a university degree or equivalent education, have experience in indigenous matters and organizations, and be able to work in English.





As well, relevant publications and a capability in Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish, are advantages.





The Program





The fellowship will take place at WIPOs Traditional Knowledge Division in Geneva. The program starts on 1 June 2020 and is for a one-year period that is renewable for an additional year. Travel expenses and a monthly stipend will be covered.





A fellow in the program will participate in relevant activities related to indigenous matters within WIPOs Division framework, such as:





Contributing and participating in the Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (the IGC) and related meetings.

Assisting in undertaking activities related to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Researching and drafting WIPO documents for raising public awareness.





Sunday 23 February 2020 , midnight (Geneva time). More information Expression of Interest along with a CV must be sent to grtkf@wipo.int , by post or fax, before, midnight (Geneva time). More information here








Welcome to a fresh week --

Beijing pumped more stimulus into the economy to combat the impact of the deadly coronavirus, which has claimed at least 1,770 lives.

Hong Kong and China stocks rallied, as traders expect Beijing will take even more steps to boost the slowing economy.

Catch up on the action below.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright  2020 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
New Chancellor Rishi Sunak may delay the date of next month's Budget in order to give himself more time to prepare, a senior minister has said.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said ministers had still not been told whether the Budget would go ahead on March 11 as planned after Sajid Javid's resignation.

"I know that the Budget plans are well advanced but I also know that Rishi Sunak, the new Chancellor, may want time," Mr Shapps told Sky News' Sophy Ridge On Sunday.

"I haven't heard whether the date of March is confirmed as yet. He is probably looking at it, I should think this week."

Mr Sunak, previously the Treasury chief secretary, was catapulted into the top job after Mr Javid dramatically resigned in last week's Cabinet reshuffle.

It followed a series of well-publicised clashes between Mr Javid and Boris Johnson's chief adviser Dominic Cummings, who was reportedly pressing for the Treasury to relax constraints on public spending.

Mr Shapps, however, denied that Mr Cummings was now "all-powerful" in Whitehall.

He pointed to last week's decision to give the go-ahead to the HS2 high speed rail link - a project Mr Cummings was known to oppose.

"It is not the case that things necessarily go Dominic Cummings' way or anyone else's," he said. "Take HS2, a big decision that Dominic had views about, I had views about.

"We discussed it, we discussed our various views, and we came to a conclusion. The idea that just because Dominic thinks something, that's what happen is clearly not the case."
With questions swirling around a bizarre double shooting in Ohio, the man who pulled the trigger on his ex-wife and her new husband has spoken out to insist he acted in self defense.

Robert 'Lindsey' Duncan and his wife Molly say that everything was quiet and normal at their home outside Yellow Springs, Ohio on Wednesday morning, until, Lindsey says, 'all of a sudden, hell began.'

Killed were former stunt woman Cheryl Sanders, who is Lindsey's ex-wife, and her new husband Reed Sanders, both of whom had apparently driven 440 miles from their home near Asheville, North Carolina to confront the Duncans in Ohio.

Friends of the Sanders couple say that Cheryl had planned to discuss issues with a children's trust fund with her ex-husband, and cast doubt on whether Cheryl or Reed would ever initiate violence.

Not so, said Lindsey and Molly at an emotional press conference on Friday, where they described fighting for their lives after the other couple attacked them in an armed ambush with no warning.

Molly and Lindsey Duncan issued a statement on Friday about being ambushed and killing Lindsay's ex-wife and her new husband outside of their home in Yellow Springs, Ohio

Reed and Cheryl Sanders had traveled from North Carolina to Ohio to attack her ex-husband and his new wife over a long-running dispute about their daughters' college trust fund

Lindsay Duncan describes shooting dead his ex-wife Cheryl Sanders and her husband Reed

Cheryl Sanders and her new husband Reed Sanders had apparently driven 440 miles from their home near Asheville, North Carolina to confront the Duncans in Ohio

'The word ambush is exactly what it was,' Molly said, according to the Dayton Daily News. 'We were caught off guard. They said nothing and they started shooting at us.'

Lindsey, a celebrity nutritionist who has appeared on 'The Dr. Oz Show' and 'The View', said that the ambush took place as he and Molly were returning from their routine visit to Yellow Springs for breakfast.

'We get our coffee. We went to the emporium to get our eggs and our kale and our toast. And then we went home, like we do every day,' he said.

Cheryl Sanders was shot dead by her ex-husband on Wednesday after she ambushed him

Robert said they stopped to get their gate to pick up a package and get their mail, when a large man in a camouflage mask and hoodie ran to his wife and held a gun 10 inches from her head.

'I thought it was a bad nightmare. I didn't know what to do,' Lindsey said. 'Whatever happened after that was instinct. It wasn't me. It was instinct.'

Lindsey says that a running gun battle ensued, and that bullets flew mere inches from his wife's head.

'Thank god he knew how to respond and what to do,' Molly said. 'God was on our side that day, no question.'

Lindsey is not facing any charges in their deaths as police say he acted in self-defense and the shootings were justified.

Police believe the surveillance footage recovered from the incident proves Lindsey was acting in self-defense and that Sanders had threatened him and his wife.

Authorities recovered three firearms from the scene. Cops say that Lindsey Duncan has a concealed carry permit.

Molly Duncan claims Reed Sanders pointed a gun to her head in the attack

The couple were not identified by police for safety issues but chose to release a statement

Lindsay was the person to make the call 911 after the attack in which he is heard saying: 'I shot them, they came up to our window and had a gun pointed at my wife's head.'

Surveillance footage of the attack seems to confirm Duncan's telling of the incident.

Reed Sanders was also found with several false forms of identity with him in addition to counterfeit car tags.

Officials said Reed Sanders had a previous criminal record but declined to release details.

'[Cheryl] was threatening to kill the guy's wife and he fired upon that person,' explained Sheriff Gene Fischer.

'About five years ago, the resident notified us that he had received information that the ex-wife was trying to hire somebody to murder him,' he continued, telling of a previous incident in which Duncan feared his ex-wife.

The Duncans had just pulled into their drive when an armed Reed Sanders approached them

Cheryl and Reed Sanders died from gunshot wounds in the shootout that followed

Police have said that Lindsay Duncan is not a suspect in their deaths as he acted in self defense

Police are still investigating what caused the couple to turn up armed to Duncan's home but it is believed to have been due to on ongoing feud about money.

According to Citizen Times, the dispute involved the trust fund established for Cheryl Sanders and Lindsay Duncan's two adult children, which was supposed to pay for the girls' college expenses.

'He has given them nothing but hell ever since she married him,' a friend of Reed Sanders said of Lindsey Duncan, adding that the ex-husband was 'domineering' toward Cheryl Sanders.

'He didn't like the fact that she had remarried and was happy,' he added.

'Part of the problem is he had to sign off on wherever they went to school, and they didn't go to the schools he wanted them to, so he refused on signing off on letting them have the money.'

Reed and Cheryl Sanders ran a nutrition and fitness company in North Carolina

The friend also confirmed that Sanders had a gun.

'They carried them all the time,' he said.

'She carried one in her purse, and he carried one in a little saddle in the back of his pants. They both carried guns because they were afraid of Lindsey...'

In court documents sourced by Dayton Daily News, Cheryl Sanders and Lindsay Duncan signed a 'prenuptial agreement in 1999, were married, then divorced in 2009'.

'Since the divorce, the records indicate their relationship remained sour,' the paper reported.

'It's a very complex set of facts,' said Suzanne Schmidt, Greene County First Assistant Prosecutor, of the shooting.

'What we plan to do in a case like this isonce the investigation is done have the matter presented to a Greene County grand jury for a review to see if any charges are warranted. That's typically what we do but it's going to be a long process.'

Cheryl Sanders, 59, began to work as a body double for Jessica Alba, left, and Brooke Shields, right, when she stopped doing work as a stunt woman because of a bad fall on set in 1989

Sanders previously worked as a Hollywood stunt double in the 1980s and appeared in the movie 'Back to the Future' and stood in for Rene Russo in The Thomas Crown Affair and the Lethal Weapon series.

Her stunts involved a 20-foot fall on the set of 'Back to the Future, which brought her career to a halt in 1989. She shattered bones in her face, right arm and hand when a cable was released in the fall and she hit the concrete.

She also did double work for Jessica Alba in 2016 and some work for Brooke Shields.

The couple were living in North Carolina for the past four years where they ran a nutrition and fitness company.
London, Feb 17 : Researchers have developed a smart jumpsuit, or a garment that accurately measures the spontaneous and voluntary movement of infants from the age of five months - data that can help in assessing abnormal neurological development, among other things.

The assessment of spontaneous and voluntary movements is part of the neurological examination of infants.

Previously, the quantitative tracking of children's spontaneous motility in the natural environment has not been possible.

Instead, children have been primarily qualitatively assessed at the physician's or physiotherapist's practice, which requires taking into account the fact that the infant's behaviour in the practice setting does not necessarily entirely match that seen at home.

"The smart jumpsuit provides us with the first opportunity to quantify infants' spontaneous and voluntary movements outside the laboratory," said Sampsa Vanhatalo, Professor of Clinical Neurophysiology at the University of Helsinki in Finland.

"The child can be sent back home with the suit for the rest of the day. The next day, it will be returned to the hospital where the results will then be processed," Vanhatalo added.

Vanhatalo said that the new analysis method, published in the journal Scientific Reports, quantifies infant motility as reliably as a human being would be able to do by viewing a video recording.

After the measurement, the infant's actual movements and physical positions will be known to the second, after which computational measures can be applied to the data.

"This is a revolutionary step forward. The measurements provide a tool to detect the precise variation in motility from the age of five months, something which medical smart clothes have not been able to do until now," Vanhatalo said.

The data gleaned by the smart jumpsuit is valuable, since the detection of abnormalities in the neurological development of infants at an early stage enables early support.

Brain plasticity is at its strongest in early childhood, and is benefited by measures supporting development, which are targeted at recurring everyday activities.

The pathogenic mechanisms underlying developmental disorders are complex, but preterm birth, perinatal brain damage and the lack of early care, as well as insufficient stimulation in the growth environment aggravate the risk of developmental problems.

Developmental disorders in today's pressure-dominated world pose a considerable risk that can lead to learning difficulties and obstacles in the competition for education and jobs, said Leena Haataja, Professor of Paediatric Neurology at the University of Helsinki.

Furthermore, they are a risk factor associated with exclusion from contemporary society.

"The early identification of developmental disorders and support for infants' everyday functional capacity in interaction with the family and the growth environment constitute a significant factor on the level of individuals, families and society," Haataja said.

In the future, the smart jumpsuit can be used for the objective measurement of how various therapies and treatments affect children's development.
16:29 | Cusco (Cusco region), Feb. 17.





"As an artist, I always wanted to create a different offer, so I decided to promote Peruvian culture and Cusco's Chuncho cacao through chocolate sculptures, thus generating a greater socio-economic impact," he said.

A native of San Blas neighborhood in Cusco , Mejia comes from a family of artisans. He began making stone sculptures and colonial imagery at the age of 8.









However, he founded Kontiti in 2017 as he sought a new business venture.

"Kontiti involves history, art, and chocolate . It has been well-received by the public since the launch of its first product. Tourists buy our chocolates to show their family and friends what Peru is like," the craftsman added.

The most popular flavors are the Maras salt chocolate fusion, the xylitol sweetened chocolate (for diabetics), and the chocolates with fruits like kiwi and passion fruit.









"The top selling products are the chocolate 3D Machu Picchu, llamas, and guinea pigs. Children love them," the Peruvian entrepreneur said.

Likewise, Ivan's work was recognized by the Ministry of Production (Produce), which provided him with technical support to implement its processing plant in San Sebastian district (Cusco region).





(END) NDP/MAO/MTS/RMB

Peruvian Ivan Mejia is a Cusco-born artist who turned his talent for craft and love for chocolate into a way to spread his country's culture through edible sculptures.Published: 2/17/2020
The drive to see the artist took me to Ses Salines, a traditional small village in the South East of Majorca. Many will know the route to the salt mines and the Puerto Colonia St Jordi. A different landscape without the dominance of a mountain range. As I arrived into the village an iron conch shell was the ornament on the roundabout with a series of little houses at the entrance to the shell. I found it delightful and at that time I did not know it was the work of the artist I had crossed the island to visit.

My destination was to the workshop and inspiration of Horacio Sapere. Hopefully a chat with him and his dynamic wife Pilar was the order of the day. A huge barn awaited with paintings and sculptures in various stages of creation all around. In one corner a roaring fire and a table laid with the serrano, sobrasada, grapes and bread. This was to be no short visit but a total artistic experience.

Horacio is hard to define except to call him an artist in every sense of the word. A Poet, A Playwright, A Sculptor, An Artist

His dynamic constructions of chairs, tables, rooms, and dwellings and their placement in larger communities, landscapes and private psychological spaces range from architectural to poetic.

The Horacio of today has served a life apprenticeship to be where he is now. His childhood in Argentina became a problem in his early twenties when he was working in the arts and theatre in particular. His views were not shared by the majority and he was under some scrutiny. He had family in Europe and left his life behind in Buenos Aires to join them.

The rest, they say is history and now he is defined by an international career. Horacio Saperes work has been sold throughout Europe and North and South America. He is the recipient of numerous public installations and commissions in Spain and abroad for the last thirty years. He is also an active poet and playwright currently living in Ses Salines on the island he has called home for the last thirty-five years.

He met his wife Pilar when she visited a gallery in Palma showing some of his work. Thirty-five years of marriage later, two sons and the delight of living in Majorca still continues. Central Palma living has given way to a huge rural space with plenty of space to work. The direction of each day is defined by whichever way the artist is inspired. Horacios prolific work is filed in trays ready for those who want to choose original art to view and buy.

Some lucky people are allowed in to see the process and the finished work. His cooperation with an agent in Soller means that many of his original pieces hang in the beautifully renovated homes of the Soller Valley.

Exhibitions take him and his work to many places. In 2020 it is Montreal which will enjoy a Horacio Sapere Exhibition. Much the work I viewed on my visit will soon be en route to his legions of admirers in Canada. Meanwhile back in Palma, Finis Africae has opened under the talent of Pilar Esteve Gamundi  Horatios wife. She is very happy to be situated near the graphic design studios and enjoys the interaction the space has with all forms of the collective experience of art and literature in Palma. Fleming Square, in the Es Capitol district of Palma, has a new cultural space. It has been promoted by Finis Africae, and wants to become a landmark in the neighborhood. In recent years, Palma has seen the closure of historic bookstores, and others have been relocated. But in Finis Africae they see the sector optimistically.

Finis Africae has opened its doors with the exhibition Stories of Outer Space by Pato Conde. At the same time, it presented the second visual book of the Sa Soll project. Finis Africae will continue to focus on culture. In March, Horacio Sapere and Maria Victoria Secall will be exhibiting, and in April the Ibizan photographer Pep Tur. A new space in Palma where literature and art become one.

Pilar is the light behind all this as well as running a publishing company and controlling the artistic world of her husband. Childrens book publishing is a particular passion but everything is fluid. The space she has created as Finis Africae will bend with the wind to include the reaches of all artistic endeavour. To be in the presence of such talent and talk of the past when Pilar left school in Majorca to go to University in Barcelona was enthralling. This was the era of uprising and challenges as the Franco era was ending. To be a student with freedom of expression was liberating for her and all her fellow students. Then to return to a Majorca also asking questions, developing and talking through art was a very exciting place for her to be. No wonder when she walked into that gallery where Horatio was exhibiting it was love at first sight. The artistic flows from Ses Salines and from Finis Africae, in fact wherever these two are the art in all its forms is there. Our discussion on my visit took us into the world of Visual Poetry and Mail Art. Concepts I had not really understood until it was explained by the roaring fire. In fact, I left thinking that absolutely everything is art in one form or another.

Horacio Saperes surname means dare to be wise and I think he and Pilar are just that and live up to their name. The pleasure in meeting them was all mine Finis Africae can be found at Alexander Fleming 17, 07004, Palma. Horacio Sapere can be contacted on Facebook.
Stephen Nolan says he worries for others being affected by online abuse

Stephen Nolan has appealed for social media trolling to end in light of the tragic death of TV presenter Caroline Flack.

The shock news has prompted questions about the pressures faced by TV celebrities from the press and social media.

The BBC Radio Ulster presenter told the Belfast Telegraph last night that the "vile and aggressive" pursuit of people needs to stop.

"I treasure and appreciate the close connection I have with the public on Twitter," he said.

"The vast majority of the time, people tweet me with support, love or banter.

"But there is a vile underbelly of people on social media who think it's OK to abuse public figures like myself.

"It sometimes turns to farce when, for example, I receive written complaints from some trolls because I have blocked them.

"I am immune to the abuse and it doesn't really affect me, but I do worry for others who are in the public eye who it might get to. They need to be protected as the personal venom is dangerous harassment by cowardly keyboard warriors."

The broadcaster also revealed that he has been subjected to co-ordinated political abuse attempting to influence the reporting of a story.

"There is another element of social media abuse the public in NI should be aware of," he said.

"There are also well-oiled 'twitter machines' in Northern Ireland, where there is sophisticated co-ordination of abuse towards single individuals.

"They isolate and target people in order to attempt to control the narrative of a political story.

"These are pre-meditated campaigns of harassment to intimidate and undermine journalists or members of the public - with the sole objective of influencing how a political story is unfolding. I have watched that grow with interest over recent years.

"I will never let that pathetic pressure affect my broadcasting or journalism.

"But I think the public should be aware that - especially with a political story - it is not always a group of random people tweeting," he said.

Politicians have also called for social media users to exercise restraint when judging someone's life on social media in the wake of the Love Island presenter's death.

A number of high-profile political figures, including Upper Bann DUP MP Carla Lockhart, have been targeted for abuse on social media in recent months.

At the weekend, her party colleague Christopher Stalford recalled his own experience of social media trolls.

Writing on Facebook, the South Belfast MLA said: "I've only ever been on the receiving end of a Twitter 'pile on' once. For sharing a cartoon. It was horrible.

"To turn on the phone and see 'Stalford is trending in Belfast'.

"My stomach turned over. Since then I have learned to use the mute button. I don't need my head filled with other people's hatred.

"To turn on your phone day after day and read abuse would sap the will out of anyone. Social media, and Twitter especially, can be an absolute cesspit."

Ulster Unionist MLA Robbie Butler said tragic events this year "must force us to face up to our growing societal pressures"

He added: "Suicide is NOT ok! So let's remember that Trolling is NOT ok! Bullying is NOT ok! Hate is NOT ok! Being a tube is NOT ok! We need to change."

Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill also wrote on Twitter: "It costs nothing to be kind. People who live in the public eye are people with feelings, people with families, people who hurt like everyone else.

"Social media can be a dark place... Imagine if it was you."

Education Minister Peter Weir added: "Tragic impact of suicide impacts on families, rich or poor, famous or unknown and our thoughts should be with her (Caroline's) loved ones.

"Those who hounded her either through mainstream or social media bear responsibility as well.

"Let's be kinder."

Last night an online petition calling for a Government inquiry into "the practices and policies of mainstream media organisations and social media platforms in their efforts to protect members of the public from harm" had over 200,000 signatures.
A powerful bomb blast near a district court in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province killed at least seven persons and injured 19 others on Monday, according to media reports.

The blast took place as a demonstration was going on at the Quetta Press Club near the Shahrah-i-Adalat. Several vehicles parked in the vicinity have also been damaged due to the impact of the blast, Dawn newspaper reported.

Security personnel have cordoned off the area and are conducting a search operation. Officials added that the nature of the blast has not yet been ascertained.

According to Quetta Civil Hospital spokesperson Waseem Baig, at least seven persons were killed and 19 others injured in the incident.

Minister of Interior Blaochistan Zia Langove said that the number of those injured by the blast may rise.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
When it comes to operating modern combat aircraft as warbirds on the air show circuit, few believed it would ever become a reality, especially not for an aircraft as complex as the British Aerospace Sea Harrier. But Art Nalls and his team at Nalls Aviation proved that it could be done  and in dramatic fashion. The team successfully restored Sea Harrier FA.2 XZ439 to flying condition back in November, 2007 and they have consistently flown the jump jet on the air show circuit ever since. XZ439 is the only privately owned and operated Harrier, of any variant, in the world today. Along the way, Nalls also purchased an older Harrier GR.3 for spares, and a two-seat Harrier T.8 (ZD993) for use as a flight trainer. Indeed the restoration team is very close to having the T.8 ready to fly again.

However, as with every warbird owner, there always comes a day when they decide to pass the torch on to the next generation. And this is now the case for Art Nalls and his Harrier fleet. He has listed the aircraft with Mark Clarks Courtesy Aircraft Sales, along with a massive spares cache to keep the aircraft operating. The following details were provided by Courtesy Aircraft describing what is included in this purchase. While we are sad to see Mr.Nalls ending his association with the mighty SHAR, his decision now presents an exciting and unique opportunity for another discerning collector  it is unlikely such an extraordinary chance will ever present itself again

Sea Harrier FA.2 XZ439:

The worlds first and only privately-owned and flown Harrier of any kind. The aircraft has been a star attraction at airshows across North America for 13 years flying almost 200 hours.

TOTAL TIME: 1324 Hours TTSNEW

ENGINE: Rolls Royce Pegasus MK 104 #9233 513 Hours Since Overhaul

AVIONICS: Garmin GNC-420W GPS/Comm

ARC-182 Military #2 Comm for both UHF and VHF communication

P.S. Engineering PM-1200 Intercom (for ground crew coordination)

Garmin GTX-320 Transponder

Ameri-king Encoder EQUIPMENT: Dual Concorde RG batteries

Gas Turbine Starter

Stencil ejection seat

MISCELLANOUS: The Aircraft operates under an FAA FSDO approved Master Maintenance program. The aircraft has an extensive set of manuals (both print and digital), military logs, mod sheets and component records

History: Built by Hawker-Siddley, build number 912002, as a Fighter/Reconnaissance/Strike (FRS.1) naval fighter aircraft. The second Sea Harrier built, XZ439 is the oldest surviving Sea Harrier in existence. The type rose to international prominence during the Falklands War of 1982.

First flight March 30, 1979

Delivered to the Royal Navy May 10, 1979

Used as a test aircraft and the first to takeoff from a Ski Jump at sea, October 30, 1980.

Converted from a FRS.1 to FRS.2 as a midlife trials aircraft September 19, 1988. Conversion included a new longer and larger nose to accommodate the BLUE VIXEN radar upgrade, lengthening the rear fuselage approximately 18 inches for additional avionics and weapons systems upgrades. The cockpit was modified to incorporate two, multi-function displays.

First flight as FRS.2 on March 8, 1989

Received BLUE VIXEN Radar modification May 24, 1990

First to fire Advanced, Medium Range, Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), AIM-120

Designator changed from FRS.2 to FA.2 (Fighter Attack) in May, 1994

Retired from the Royal Navy on December 11, 2004.

Sold as surplus and subsequently purchased by Art Nalls, September, 2005

Shipped to the United States early 2006 for its new home base in Georgetown, Delaware Shipped later in 2006 to St. Marys County, Maryland for maintenance and refit as civilian Harrier, and first flights.

Shipped later in 2006 to St. Marys County, Maryland for maintenance and refit as civilian Harrier, and first flights. Granted first US Civilian registration of a Harrier as N94422.

First flight November 10th, 2007

Harrier T.8 ZD993

SPECIFICATIONS T.MK.8 Two Seat, Dual-Control Harrier

This is probably the only opportunity in the world to have a civilian Harrier Trainer. It is a very rare aircraft  only 46 of the first-generation Harrier trainers were ever built. None are flying today. This is the only one in private hands that is anywhere near capable of flight and is undergoing inspection for completion.

The airplane was is virtually complete, with spares. The cockpits are pristine. The front cockpit is virtually identical to the single-seat Sea Harrier, as this was the Sea Harrier trainer. There are many possible uses for this aircraft including: airshows, training, flight experiences, military contract work, advertising and promotional work.

TOTAL TIME: 2534 Hours TTSNEW

8048 Landings

8048 Landings ENGINE: Rolls Royce Pegasus MK 103

566 Hours Since Overhaul

566 Hours Since Overhaul EQUIPMENT: Original stock condition

Excellent canopies

New Tires

Excellent records

Excellent canopies New Tires Excellent records FLIGHT STATUS: Last flight March 2006

Nearing completion of extensive assembly and return to service inspection per NALLS Aviation FAA approved Maintenance program.



Harrier GR.3

Included with this outstanding package is a third Harrier. This GR-3 Harrier is a very complete aircraft It is an excellent source for spare parts or to use for static display.

But wait theres more!

In addition to the three aircraft, the package also includes: Spares, Support Equipment, Engines, Manuals, Rotables, and a Travel Support Kit. The Owner will also provide his knowledge gained from more than a decade of successful airshow performances in the civilian airshow world!

SPARES & SUPPORT PACKAGE

The owner has operated Sea Harrier FA-2 for 13 years in air shows across North America. These spares and support items have been an integral part of a dependable air show team. The listings below are intended to an introduction to what is included in the package. The quantities, condition and completeness of the package not guaranteed.

SPARES- BASIC LIST

Wheels

Brake assemblies

Tires both- ready to go and cores for recapping

Ejection Seats and parts

Pumps

Hydraulic components, parts and seals

Landing gear- main and nose

Gun chutes

Several Gas Turbine Starters and parts

Engines- some useable and some for parts

Engine nozzles

SUPPORT EQUIPMENT

Tow bars

Static Ejection seat trainer

Engine sling

Universal Sling for lifting complete aircraft or parts thereof

Jacks and trestles

Manuals- both paper and electronic

Special hardware

Rigging tools

90 KVA power cart

Hydraulic mule

Jack pads

Gas turbine starter test stands

Seat Stand

Boarding ladders

Trim test box

Special shock equipped engine stands

Ready For a Once In a Lifetime Opportunity?

Contact Mark Clark, President

815-229-5112

mark@courtesyaircraft.com

Courtesy Aircraft Sales

5233 Falcon Road

Rockford, IL 61109

WWW.COURTESYAIRCRAFT.COM
live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

Telecom player Vodafone Idea has sought an adjustment of the Rs 7,000 crore owed to it by the tax department against the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues it owes to the government, sources told CNBC-TV18.

As per the report, the company has written to the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) and the Income Tax (I-T) Department in connection with the matter.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

The report noted that Vodafone Idea's tax refund is related to a change in the Income Tax Act in 2012. The Supreme Court had then ruled that the Vodafone-Hutchison deal was not taxable in India. The refund due to the company from the tax department is for multiple assessment years dating back to 2004-05.

Sources also told CNBC-TV18 that the company said it can furnish an additional Rs 2,500 crore via short-term loans and cash reserves.

The report noted that the telco is of the view that the total repayment of Rs 9,500 crore is possible after this proposed tax adjustment.

The report added that the Aditya Birla Group and Vodafone will not infuse further capital into the company. In the absence of a relaxation on the timeline for the repayment of dues, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) is the only option left with the telecom company.

Earlier on February 17, the apex court refused to accept Vodafone's proposal to pay Rs 2,500 crore in dues by February 17, and another Rs 1,000 crore by February 21 and that no coercive action be taken against it, news agency PTI reported.

Meanwhile, as per a report by The Economic Times, the telecom companies have questioned the amount of dues sought by the DoT. The companies, the report notes, have calculated their AGR dues to be almost half of what has been estimated by the telecom department.
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He (L) and U.S. President Donald Trump during the signing of phase one of a trade deal, surrounded by officials, in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Jan. 15, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

New Epidemic May Impair Chinas Ability to Meet Trade Commitments

WASHINGTONThe deepening fallout from the deadly coronavirus outbreak has raised questions as to whether China will be able to fulfill its commitments to make vast purchases of U.S. goods in the newly inked phase one trade deal.

Beijing has committed to buying $200 billion worth of additional U.S. goods and services over the next two years as part of the trade agreement, which went into effect on Feb. 14.

Chinas ability to follow through on this commitment, however, has become a major concern.

The Chinese economy is contracting now. And it doesnt need very much of anything, in a sense, author and China expert Gordon Chang told The Epoch Times.

Some Chinese companies that struggle with the epidemic began to invoke force majeure clauses to walk away from their supply contracts, he said.

A force majeure clause in a contract allows a party to suspend performing its obligations when certain circumstances beyond its control arise. For example, China National Offshore Oil Corp, the third-largest national oil company in China sent force majeure notices to suppliers including Shell and Total SA, according to media reports. The company declared that the virus is constraining its ability to import fuel.

Chang said that these force majeure notices show that the Chinese economy is really ailing right now.

However, China can still meet the commitments of the phase-one trade deal, he said. The reason is that China runs a semi command economy, so Beijing can just force companies to buy products and warehouse them.

According to the trade agreement, Beijing has committed to buying additional manufactured goods of more than $75 billion, energy products of over $50 billion, and services close to $38 billion from the United States over the next two years.

The agreement also includes purchases of U.S. agricultural goods worth $36.5 billion and $43.5 billion, in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

Whether China will fail to meet these pledges is as yet unknown, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told reporters on Feb. 5 at a cattle convention in Texas.

Asked whether the United States should grant Beijing some flexibility in the phase one trade deal, he said, It remains to be seen.

Im not aware of their request for flexibility, although Im not surprised, Perdue said, noting that if the United States were in a similar situation, it would be asking for some leeway.

However, given the size of the Chinese market, he said, Beijing has got a lot of room to meet those goals.

Will China Honor the Deal?

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Reuters on Feb. 14 that there was no need to revisit the provisions of the phase one trade deal, in response to questions about Chinas ability to honor purchase commitments.

However, he criticized Washington for taking drastic measures on the coronavirus outbreak, including restrictions on travelers from China.

Objectively, this will bring some difficulties to implementing this agreement, Wang Yi said.

Chang criticized the Chinese foreign ministers statement and accused the regime of creating excuses not to honor the deal.

China has quarantined tens of millions of people. How can it criticize other countries for restricting travel? he said.

They had no intention of honoring this deal. When they came to sign the deal on Jan. 15, they knew about the severity of the coronavirus outbreak.

They had the Jan. 7 Politburo Standing Committee meeting. They run the worlds most effective surveillance state. They cant see people dying in the streets?

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has created a new bilateral evaluation and dispute resolution office to monitor Chinas implementation of its commitments under the agreement. In case of a dispute, both sides will have to resolve differences in about 90 days, according to the agreement.

Farmers Face New Challenges

The China trade deal, which dramatically boosts farm exports, was welcome news for American farmers across the country. Chinas retaliatory tariffs since the beginning of the trade war in 2018 affected a number farm products, including soybeans.

Soybean farmers have been among those hit hardest, as they accounted for nearly 10 percent of total U.S. exports to China before the trade war.

With the new trade deal, China will be buying soybeans from the United States at the expense of other countries, particularly Brazil, the worlds largest soybean producer.

According to estimates of a Brazilian industry association, the countrys exports will fall by 2 percent compared with previous forecasts, as a result of the phase one trade deal.

Despite the promise of the trade deal, U.S. farmers face uncertainty because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Certainly all sectors of the world economy are already undergoing disruption as a result of the coronavirus, Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) told The Epoch Times. Now, whether thats going to be a long term problem for food remains to be seen.

Garamendi said there might be greater demand for American food if the coronavirus epidemic disrupts the production of food in China. So its really hard to say what the impact will be for American agriculture in the mid to long term.
A mobile data network under construction for Perth's public trains by Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei could be used to support body-worn cameras, CCTV and live tracking of personnel and assets, government documents have revealed.

The controversial company, which won the $206 million tender in a joint venture with construction firm UGL, will build 80 radio masts  similar to mobile phone towers  along Perth's passenger rail corridors.

Government responses to potential security threats posed by Chinese telco Huawei have been mixed globally. Credit:AP

Last year, Premier Mark McGowan told Parliament the Huawei network was "a closed system to provide communications between train drivers and their headquarters".

"That is all it is," he said.
UPDATE: 10:08 p.m., Friday, Feb. 21, 2020 - Police say that the suspect that they identified at the beginning of this week as armed and dangerous for the kidnapping has been arrested.

Maitland Carpenter was taken into custody following a five hour stand-off near Susanville, the Lassen County Sheriff's Office says.

Pictured: Maitland Carpenter

Pictured: Dorothie Janaybean Crosby Pictured: Dorothie Janaybean Crosby Pictured: Maitland Carpenter

The office received a report around 1 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 21 that Carpenter was holding a person at gunpoint in a home north of Susanville.

Eventually, officers and deputies used smoke bombs to get everyone safely out of the home after a multi-agency intervention.

---

UPDATE: 7:11 p.m., Monday, Feb. 17, 2020 - The Lassen County Sheriff's Office tells Action News Now the woman, Dorothie Janaybean Crosby, has been found alive in Susanville and is safe. The suspect, Maitland Carpenter, still remains at large.

Officials have released a photo of the suspect vehicle, you can find that photo above. The car is a gold Hyundai Santa Fe with a California license plate reading 5XIL173.

If you have any information, call the Lassen County Sheriffs Office at 530-257-6121.

Stay with Action News Now as we continue to follow this story.

---

UPDATE: 6:02 p.m. Monday, Feb. 17, 2020 - Action News Now has confirmed that Lassen County Secret Witness is offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to the capture of 41-year-old Maitland Carpenter. The Secret Witness phone number is (775) 322-4900.

---

SUSANVILLE, Calif.  The Lassen County Sheriffs Office is searching for a man they said is armed and dangerous and believed to have taken a woman against her will.

41-year-old Maitland Carpenter arrived at a house in Susanville on Monday morning. Deputies said he left the house with a woman identified as 25-year-old Dorothie Janaybean Crosby.

Carpenter was last seen leaving the Susanville area with Crosby. Deputies said Crosby is considered to be at-risk and that Carpenter took her against her will.

Carpenter is known to visit the Reno and Sacramento areas. He has been a resident of Susanville on and off for several years.

The Lassen County Sheriff's Office said there is a "very good possibility" that Carpenter could be coming through Chico and/or Redding.

Deputies said if youre contacted by Carpenter, do not approach him, he is considered to be armed and dangerous.

In 2018, the sheriff's office said Carpenter shared "he is not afraid to kill someone to avoid capture". Also in 2018, he had "a variety" of sexual assault and kidnapping charges, as well as a felony warrant for terrorist threats, for which he was never arrested for.

He is described as 6'1, 220 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes.

Contact the Lassen County Sheriffs Office at 530-257-6121 if you have information.
The chancellor of Rutgers University-Camden has announced plans to step down at the end of the academic year.

The university said Monday that Chancellor Phoebe Haddon will return to the faculty as a law professor as of July 1.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Haddon, named the school's first female African-American leader in 2014, cited accomplishments such as increasing enrollment and improving the schools status as a research institution and community resource.

The Camden campus is one of three comprising the state university. The others are the main campus in New Brunswick and a northern campus in Newark.

Haddon leaves as Rutgers welcomes its first black president, Northwestern University provost Jonathan Holloway. Haddon said his hiring didnt prompt her decision, but it does allow Holloway to look for new leadership and gives her more time for other projects, such as her new role as chair of the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank.

Holloway will replace current president Robert Barchi, who announced in July he will step down at the end of the academic year.

Rutgers-Camden has about 7,400 students, an increase from about 6,400 when she arrived.
At its conclusion, Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad's final placement process has seen a rise of 80 per cent in number of recruiters participating from the (PE), (VC) and (AM) cohort this year over 2019.

Part of the first cluster which included other cohorts like investment banking and markets, management consulting and advisory consulting, the PE/VC/AM cohort had earlier seen a 200 per cent rise in 2019 over 2018, according to a consolidated but unaudited placement report by Unlike many other B-schools, follows a cluster system of final placements process where sectors are invited in cohorts at regular intervals.

In all, 153 firms participate with 182 different roles for the 2020 batch with McKinsey & Co and BCG leading the pack with 27 and 23 offers including pre-placement offers (PPOs).

The final placement process was conducted in two stages, with the first being the laterals process where firms interviewed students with prior work experience and offered them mid-level managerial positions. Around 44 firms hired from diverse sectors such as technology, banking, consulting, general management and analytics. In the second stage of the final placement process, firms were grouped into cohorts based on the profile offered, and groups of cohorts were invited to campus across different clusters.

There were 38 new recruiters this year, including Blackstone Group, Colgate, DaytoDay Health, Diageo, FIITJEE, HCL Technologies and Strategy& (Middle East). Roles were also opened across geographies including Australia, Malaysia and Middle East.

While the B-school was apprehensive of the placement results amidst the current economic scenario, Chairperson of the Placement Committee at IIM Ahmedabad, Amit Karna stated that the outcome was not only more positive than expected but also better than previous years. "The double-digit growth in 'dream applications' made by our students led to 40 per cent of the batch exercising an option to sit for interviews after having an offer from one cluster. This clearly demonstrates the maturity and effectiveness of our unique placement process that follows a cluster-cohort system," Karna added.

Following McKinsey and BCG, Mastercard extended 11 offers in the niche consulting cohort. Among the investment banks, Avendus was the largest recruiter, making 10 offers, closely followed by JP Morgan with eight offers.

In the consumer goods and consumer services domain, AB InBev extended the most offers at eight, followed by Airtel with seven offers. With six offers, CK Birla was the largest recruiter in the general management cohort while in the IT consulting cohort, Tata Consultancy Services was the largest recruiter with 12 offers.

In the Laterals process, FinIQ made the highest number of offers including PPOs at 11, followed by Amazon with 10 offers, and Microsoft and RPG Group with seven offers each.

As in previous years, students were provided the flexibility of making 'dream' applications to firms of their choice in a subsequent cluster even with an offer in hand. There were 160 dream applications this year, thereby giving students the flexibility and choice to build careers in sectors of their preference.

This year, two students opted out of the placement process to work on their own venture, under the IIMAvericks Fellowship which includes mentorship from the institute's incubator CIIE.CO and financial support for a period of two years.

With the premier B-school following the Indian Placement Reporting Standards (IPRS), IIM Ahmedabad will later release a detailed audited report.
American citizens being evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, now in Japan and quarantined due to a novel coronavirus outbreak on board, will be given accommodations at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield.

No specific time for the arrival has been given, a base spokesperson said, adding it is expected to be "some time after 5 p.m." Sunday.

The base said via its Facebook page that it was acting at the direction of the U.S. Department of Defense to "provide additional support for the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers For Disease Control" by making lodging available.

"Americans returning by flight will travel via a Department of State-chartered aircraft and subject to the 14-day federal quarantine, in separate lodging from the current evacuees at Travis AFB," according to the statement posted Sunday morning. "The CDC and HHS teams will follow their standing protocols to screen and monitor all passengers before, during, and after the flight."

Anyone showing signs of illness will be taken to a facility off the grounds of the base, according to the statement, which noted that no base personnel would have contact with the passengers.

An earlier group of 201 evacuees from Wuhan, China arrived on Feb. 7 and is being housed at the Westwind Inn on the base.

Accommodations at Travis for non-passengers are closed until further notice, the base said.

A man who was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after being shot by BART police at the El Cerrito del Norte on Saturday afternoon is expected to survive, the transit district said Sunday morning.

The suspect's gun was also recovered, police said.

The shooting took place shortly after 2 p.m. Saturday when BART police officers responded to a rider report of a domestic violence incident aboard a train.

BART police chief Ed Alvarez said the young man and a young woman were having an argument, and the caller to police said she saw a handgun in the suspect's waistband.

BART officers boarded the train and confronted the suspect at gunpoint, Alvarez said; the suspect then ran out of the train, onto the station platform and then onto the tracks. Alvarez said the suspect "produced" a handgun while on the trackway, and police fired at him at that point, Alvarez said.

The Del Norte and Richmond stations were closed until after 10 p.m. Saturday in the aftermath of the incident.

One person was injured Saturday in a residential structure fire in Daly City.

Firefighters with the North County Fire Authority responded Saturday at 9:17 p.m. to 1137 Hanover Street on a report of a house fire.

Responding firefighters saw heavy smoke and flames coming from the second floor of a single-family home.

Crews were able to extinguish the blaze, but the second floor of the home sustained extensive fire and smoke damage due to the fire.

The first floor of the home sustained minor damage.

One adult resident was transported to the hospital with minor injuries suffered while escaping the fire.

There were no reports of injuries to firefighters.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is scheduled to bring his presidential campaign to the East Bay on Monday for an appearance at a "Bernie Get Out the Vote Rally" in Richmond.

Doors will open at 10 a.m. Monday at the Craneway Pavilion, 1414 Harbour Way South in Richmond, with the rally running from noon to 3 p.m.

Organizers are encouraging attendees to bring their vote-by-mail ballots with them to cast at the event.

A 33-year-old man was struck and killed early Sunday morning by a driver exiting eastbound state Highway 4 in Pittsburg at the Loveridge Road off-ramp, the California Highway Patrol said.

The victim, whose city of residence is unknown, was in the No. 2 lane of the off-ramp when he was struck by a 36-year-old Livermore man driving a 2013 Honda who exited the highway shortly after 1 a.m.

The pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver was not injured and cooperated with investigators.

The driver was not impaired at the time, according to the CHP, and it was not immediately known if the victim was under the influence.

The Contra Costa County Sheriff's Coroners Office will be in charge of releasing the identity of the victim.

This incident remains under investigation and anyone with information is asked to call the CHP in Martinez at (925) 646-4980.

The South Berkeley Post Office will be suspending retail service beginning Tuesday due to emergency building repairs needed in the retail lobby.

The United States Postal Service branch is located at 3175 Adeline St.

The closure will not impact post office box mail, and customers will still have access to their post office boxes in the building lobby during construction.

Other packages and accountable articles such as certified and registered mail will be available at the Berkeley Main Post Office at 2000 Allston Way.

There was no timetable given for a completion for the repairs.

The Fairfield Police Department will be conducting training for an active threat event at the Solano Town Center during the next few weeks.

The training will be conducted on predetermined days on Solano Town Center property, and the area will be clearly marked as a training venue.

There will be safety measures put in place, and access to the training area will be restricted.

Police said there is no information or indication an active threat event is likely to occur.

The training is to better prepare police officers, firefighters and medical personnel for an active threat event.

The police department did not release the exact dates and times of the training.

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.
BERLIN (Reuters) - A German court on Sunday ordered Tesla Inc to stop clearing forest land near the capital Berlin to build its first European car and battery factory, a victory for local environmental activists. The U.S. electric carmaker announced plans last November to build a Gigafactory in Gruenheide in the eastern state of Brandenburg

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German court on Sunday ordered Tesla Inc to stop clearing forest land near the capital Berlin to build its first European car and battery factory, a victory for local environmental activists.

The U.S. electric carmaker announced plans last November to build a Gigafactory in Gruenheide in the eastern state of Brandenburg.

The court ruling, by the higher administrative court of the states of Berlin and Brandenburg, comes after the state environmental office gave a green light to clear 92 hectares of forest for the plant.

Planning permission has not yet been granted to build the Gigafactory, however, meaning U.S. entrepreneur Elon Musk's company is preparing the ground at its own risk.

In a statement, the court said it had issued the order to stop the tree-felling because it would have only taken three more days to complete the work.

Otherwise the clearance would have been completed before judges made a final decision on the complaint brought by a local environmentalist group called the Gruene Liga Brandenburg (Green League of Brandenburg).

"It should not be assumed that the motion seeking legal protection brought by the Green League lacks any chance of succeeding," the court statement added.

Lawmakers from the pro-business Christian Democrat and Free Democrat parties have warned that the legal battle waged against the Gigafactory would inflict serious and long-lasting damage on Germany's image as a place to do business.

Local and national lawmakers have been caught out by the strength of opposition to the Gigafactory, with hundreds of demonstrators protesting over what they say is the threat it poses to local wildlife and water supplies.

Tesla currently has two Gigafactories in the United States and one in Shanghai, China.

Tesla shares have surged 340% since early June as more investors bet on Musk's vision.

(Reporting by Douglas Busvine; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Gujarat HC rejects Hardik Patel's anticipatory bail plea

India

oi-PTI

Ahmedabad, Feb 17: The Gujarat High Court on Monday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Congress leader Hardik Patel in an unlawful assembly case registered in connection with the 2015 Patidar stir for quota for the community in government jobs and educational institutions.

Justice V M Pancholi rejected Patel's bail application after considering the government's objection on the ground of his criminal antecedents. Opposing the plea, the government told HC there are more than ten criminal cases against Patel, and that he had gone underground fearing arrest.

The case dates back to August 2015 when the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti under Patel had organised a mega rally in Ahmedabad as part of the quota stir, and an FIR was lodged for "unlawful assembly" as the police claimed the event did not have requisite permissions.

Hardik Patel, face of 2015 Patidar quota movement, untraceable since arrest on Jan 18, claims wife

The police further contended that this unlawful gathering led to violence, in which over a dozen youths were killed and property was damaged. In his anticipatory bail plea, Patel claimed he was being "victimised by the ruling party of the state" which has slapped "several false, frivolous and concocted cases against him". He said police was acting under "political pressure" to arrest him.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, February 17, 2020, 20:24 [IST]
In March of last year, NASA canceled a would-be all-woman spacewalk because it didnt have enough suits to fit the female astronauts. (By October, it rectified the situation and completed the walk.) For many, the incident highlighted how women are often marginalized in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and are underrepresented in science careers.

National Institutes of Health director Francis Collinsan outspoken Christianhas also spoken out about sciences glaring need to be more inclusive, especially among leadership. He wrote an open letter stating, It is time to end the tradition in science of all-male speaking panels, sometimes wryly referred to as manels.  He now plans to turn down speaking engagements that do not seriously consider other scientists of various backgrounds for the same opportunities.

His concern is backed by data. We studied academic biologists and physicists in eight international contexts, conducted through Rice Universitys Religion and Public Life Program, and found that women accounted for only 17 percent of US physicists. Biology tends to have better gender parity, and yet only 39 percent of US biologists in our sample were women, with most of these concentrated in lower ranks rather than full professorships. Christian women were particularly underrepresented, accounting for only 7 percent of scientists participating in our study, a finding discussed more in our book, Secularity and Science: What Scientists Around the World Really Think about Religion.

And when we look at other social groups that are deeply marginalized in science, the picture becomes even starker. Only 12 percent of US biologists ...

1

You have reached the end of this Article Preview You have reached the end of this Article Preview To continue reading, subscribe now. Subscribers have full digital access.

Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here.
US Democrats secretly met Iranian top diplomat

According to a recent report, Democratic senators do exactly what they accused Trump of doing during impeachment proceedings.

A group of Democratic senators led by Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut secretly met Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in Germany during the Munich Security Conference over the weekend, according to US-based news outlet The Federalist.

A SECRET MEETING WAS HELD

Penned on Monday by senior editor Mollie Hemingway, whose tweets are occasionally retweeted by US President Donald Trump, the report cited a high-level source briefed by a French delegation to the event.

"Chris Murphy and other Democratic Senators held a secret meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif last week, a high-level source reports. FWIW [for what it's worth], his office is not responding to repeated requests for comment," tweeted Hemingway.

In her report, she said: "A State Department official who spoke on background said that the State Department was not aware of any side meetings with Iranian officials that Murphy was engaged in."





"Such a meeting would mean Murphy had done the type of secret coordination with foreign leaders to potentially undermine the US government that he accused Trump officials of doing as they prepared for Trumps administration," Hemingway said.

Senators Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, as well as former Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts also attended the event.

During the event on Saturday, both Murphy and Zarif publicly discussed and grilled US policies on Middle East at a two-hour-session.

Zarif accused the Trump administration of seeking a regime change in his country, lowering expectations for direct talks between Washington and Tehran.

Trump and the State Department has long denied Iran's allegations of regime change.
EU competition regulators widened their investigation into additional incentives granted by Spanish authorities to Ryanair and other airlines operating at two airports in Catalonia, concerned that they may have an unfair advantage.

The European Commission launched an investigation in 2013 into marketing schemes offered to airlines operating at Girona-Costa Brava and Reus airports, about 120km from Barcelona.
By Trend

Lithuania is looking to take part in One Belt One Road Initiative (OBOR) using countrys transport and logistical assets, a representative of Lithuanias Ministry of Transport and Communications told Trend.

Talking about the transport cooperation between Lithuania and Kazakhstan, the official said that it has been expanding lately but it still has great prospective.

"Increase of cargo transportation volume between two countries, especially cargo transit is the biggest priority in 2020. Lithuania is proposing that Kazakhstan uses Lithuanias logistical and transportation assets to export goods to Europe and also looks into Kazakhstans logistical assets to use them for exporting goods to Asia," the official said.

The representative also noted that Lithuania considers One Belt One Road Initiative (The New Silk Road), where Kazakhstan is actively taking part, to be of great interest.

"We examine options and possibilities to be a part of this route. Such logistical objects as Khorgos Gate or seaport Aktau have been under focus of Lithuanian logistic and transport companies for many years and stay the same in 2020," the official said.

Another priority for bilateral cooperation in 2020 is setting direct flights, which would help to increase bilateral cooperation in fields such as business, tourism and culture, the official said.

"The main and specific objective is to improve the existing level of cooperation, which, despite all its achievements, still has a lot of room for increase. We propose that Kazakh companies invest in Lithuanian free economic zones. Lithuania, in turn, is looking into possibilities of investing in Kazakh industrial zones," the official concluded.
Denise Anderson and her son, Isaiah, live in Fairhill. Part of Servant Partners, a Christian nonprofit, Anderson and her husband help residents in the neighborhood. Read more

A Philadelphia family of four must make more than $70,000 a year just to survive, a new report says  a stunning sum beyond the reach of most residents in a city beset by high poverty and meager chances.

According to the newly released study based on 2019 data, two adults with one preschooler and one school-age child have to take in $70,613 to meet their needs without receiving public assistance or help from relatives or friends.

In a city household consisting of one parent and two children trying to afford bare necessities  including food, shelter, health care, and child care  the adult has to make at least $65,122 to subsist without aid, according to the report, part of the so-called Self-Sufficiency Standard compiled for 41 states by the University of Washington-Seattle.

Meanwhile, in the Pennsylvania suburban counties, a family of four requires an annual income ranging from a low of about $80,000 to a high of almost $88,000, the study found.

In Philadelphia, it appears that the majority of households dont make enough money to cover basic costs. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 60% of city households  nearly 365,000 out of a total of 608,000  take in less than $60,000 a year. About 70% earn less than $75,000. The median household income in Philadelphia is just above $46,000 a year, compared with the national median of about $63,000.

People are losing ground despite their best efforts. According to the report, 79% of Pennsylvania households whose incomes fall below the Self-Sufficiency Standard have at least one person working. The data exclude the elderly and disabled.

Its very depressing to live this way, said Debra Colbert, 47, a married mother of three children aged 12, 15, and 16 who says her Hunting Park family struggles financially. She works part time as a grocery shopper; her husband is a truck driver. According to the report, the Colberts would need to make $87,226 a year to sustain themselves  which they dont.

You work so hard and youre never just content to know that the bills are paid, the gas tank is full, and the refrigerator is stocked, said Colbert, who declined to disclose her family income. Theres always something not getting paid. My 16-year-old is going to junior prom in May. How much will it be? I dont even know yet.

"It weighs on my mind. You never exhale.

Surviving the suburbs

To survive without help in the Pennsylvania suburbs, according to the Self-Sufficiency Standard, a household of two adults, a preschooler, and a school-age child would have to take in $82,792 annually in Bucks County, $87,897 in Chester County, $79,861 in Delaware County, and $86,047 in Montgomery County.

The $86,000 in Montgomery County sounds like a lot, said Britt Peterson, food resource director for Manna on Main Street, a food bank and family-assistance center in Lansdale. "But its expensive to live out here.

A lot of our clients work two jobs, but even that may not be enough because their pay isnt enough to sustain a family. And if one little thing, like a flat tire, goes wrong, it puts the family into distress.

So many workers are looking for help wherever they can get it just to survive, noted John Caskey, an economics professor at Swarthmore College. They use grandparents or extended family for child care, he said. They move to find cheaper rent. Somethings got to give. People are out there making compromises.

Struggling while not in poverty

At a time when the economy is said to be booming, the report makes clear that not everyone is sharing in the good fortune.

Across Pennsylvania, one in four households  more than 846,000  lacks enough income to afford necessities, according to an analysis of the Self-Sufficiency Standard report, Overlooked & Undercounted 2019: Struggling to Make Ends Meet in Pennsylvania. PathWays PA, a policy and advocacy group for families and children in Folsom, Delaware County, contracted with the University of Washington to create the report for Pennsylvania.

Of those 846,000 households, about 338,000 are officially designated as poor, according to the report. So the majority of struggling households are not below the poverty line.

About 140,000 Philadelphia households are below the federal poverty line, which is about $26,000 annually for a family of four.

The Self-Sufficiency Standard, last calculated in 2012, is considered more accurate and detailed than the federal poverty level, the traditional gauge of how much money a family needs to live. The federal poverty level has long been criticized for failing to take a full measure of the costs of living.

The Standard is a good reminder that, just because people arent on welfare, it doesnt mean theyre not struggling, said Laura Napolitano, a sociologist at Rutgers University-Camden. Were just not counting them as we count those in poverty.

Sociologist Judith Levine, director of the Public Policy Lab at Temple University, agreed: Theres a whole group of people above the poverty line we should be concerned about. Were not talking about folks having enough money to take European vacations. Its so they can have child care so they can go to work.

Close to catastrophe

In America, those in poverty are demonized as lazy, fat drunks who cant get a job, which has never been true, said St. Josephs University sociologist Maria Kefalas.

But, she added, the Standard shows that a lot more people than those officially classified as living in poverty are in trouble these days, however well the stock market is performing.

I dont think the middle class knows how close they are to catastrophe, said Kefalas, an expert on poverty. The biggest vulnerability Americans have is health care. The Standard shows that a family of four in Philadelphia would have to pay nearly $1,800 a month for minimal medical coverage.

In this economy, if youre a hedge-fund guy, youre doing OK," Kefalas added. "But the reality is that many people are suffering from wage stagnation. Overwhelmingly, young families with children are so close to the edge  to homelessness, to bankruptcy. It speaks to the despair we see in people taking opioids, and in the suicide epidemic.

And circumstances arent improving, despite low unemployment. The cost of the basic needs for a Philadelphia family shot up 31% between 2010 and 2019, while income increased only 17% during that period, according to Marianne Bellesorte, vice president of advocacy at PathWays PA.

People are working, but not making a self-sufficient wage, she said.

Despite the economic obstacles, its important to remember that theres a never-ending spirit among residents to keep trying for their families, said Denise Anderson, 33. She, her husband, Dan, and their 9-month-old son live in Fairhill as part of Servant Partners, an international Christian-based organization dedicated to helping those with less. Denise is a community organizer; Dan runs a welding job-training program.

Making $70,000 in a neighborhood where the median income is $15,000 is completely unrealistic, she said of the Self-Sufficiency Standard. "We make less than 70 but dont qualify for any benefits.

Still, people out here want to provide for their families. No one ever stops trying."
The entire issue of commissioning of officers into the armed forces is a complex one not easily understood outside the uniform. In the case of the army, it is rendered even more complex because of the presence of diverse departments, across Arms and Services. For ease of understanding the Supreme Courts (SC) judgment extending permanent commission (PC) to all Women Officers (WOs), including command opportunities, it is important to first understand what the armys Arms and Services are.

First are the so-called Combat Arms: Infantry, Mechanized Infantry, Armoured Corps and also Artillery (the last is classically not counted among these, but by virtue of the nature of its task involving battle fires is colloquially counted as such). WOs do not get commissioned into these.

We then have the Combat Support Arms: Signals, Engineers, Army Air Defence, Aviation and Intelligence. WOs are commissioned in all five as these roles involve limited direct combat with the enemy.

Then come the Services: Army Service Corps (ASC), Army Ordnance Corps (AOC) and the Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (EME) who in conventional war serve in administrative support roles. WOs are commissioned in all three.

There are also two other departments: Army Education Corps (AEC) and the Judge Advocate Generals Branch (JAG); WOs are commissioned in both; in fact these are only two departments that, from 1992 onwards, have given PC to WOs.

From 1991 onwards, WOs have received Short Service Commission (SSC) in eight of the above 10 Arms/Services and PC in the two departments. In September 2019, the government extended PC to the eight Arms/Services too but restricted this to only WOs who have been commissioned from 2014 onwards. The order is effective from April 2020. A large number of WOs with SSC from earlier years continued to serve in the Army beyond their contracted period pending final resolution of a legal case for PC. The SC in its judgment on Monday has granted PC to all WOs, irrespective of year of commission. It is, however, unclear whether they will also have to undergo a selection process for grant of such PC as is applicable in the case of male officers.

There is a second and very important functional issue which the SC has included in its judgment -- that of command opportunities. If WOs have to be placed in the same category as male officers with PC, with applicability of similar terms and conditions applicable to the latter, then their career management as PC officers has to be addressed. Thus far, under SSC, WOs were denied the requisite training and opportunity to assume command in the rank of Colonel which is the first selection grade rank. Male officers of this rank command units of respective Arms and Services but not all are given such opportunity; it is strictly through a stringent selection by a promotion board based upon confidential reports, record of service and qualifications. They are tested in command capability as Colonels and this makes them eligible for further selection for progression to higher ranks. The Indian Army, which is command oriented, tests its officers in command capability before any selection for promotion.

Now serving beyond the stipulated SSC terms, WOs too want command opportunity, which the army was reluctant to give them, citing acceptance problems by the men they will command as Colonels (by selection) and the physical challenges involved.

The SC has dismissed the armys arguments and extended equal command opportunities to WOs. Since there is a deep selection procedure every WO is not going to get such opportunities -- only 30% of male officers of the ASC, for instance are cleared by a promotion board. My personal experience with WOs serving under my command is that they are fully competent to command Services units; the Army may begin with affording them command of peacetime establishments such as supply depots and then graduate to operational units. As regards to Combat Support Arms, an experimental exercise must be done to ascertain command capability of selected WOs in both peace and field conditions under close supervision of senior male officers. These units have more manpower and bear operational risks of a higher order, which involves lives of soldiers. JAG and AEC departments where the criterion of testing is different have no such problems.

The SC is right in stating that soldiers must have the physical capability to do ones role ... women in the army is an evolutionary process. Some parts of the army can be expected to be unhappy about the judgment. However, it needs to be realised that the armys selection process for command has stood the test of time. The evolutionary process will ensure that WOs progressively improve with further motivation of a career in the army. Their induction into Combat Arms is likely to be the next big issue which will need a separate debate although its time too will come, albeit after a longer wait.

(The writer is former GOC of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps)
After Gujarat and Bihar not having the luxury to buy or sell alcohol, Chief Minister of the latter, Nitish Kumar, has proposed the idea of a nationwide liquor ban.

He said he wanted to fulfill 'Mahatma Gandhi's wish', who believed that alcohol is the end of mankind.

This statement was made by him came while addressing an event in Delhi which was basically a convention by the name of 'Liquor-free India'. He said,

"In the past, at times alcohol ban has been imposed in the country, but it was revoked later. It was also imposed in Bihar by former Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur but could not be implemented fully."



He also claimed that he had been planning Bihar's liquor ban since 2011, and finally succeeded in 2016 when the state legally banned the sale and purchase of alcohol. Further, the Janata Dal leader went on to discuss the process in keeping the ban in place.

Reuters

His statement has garnered a lot of reactions from the rest of the country. While some mocked him for introducing the idea...

No One:

Absolutely No One:

Absolutely No Fucking One:



Nitish Kumar: Let's ban alcohol  Nirmalya Dutta (@nirmalyadutta23) February 17, 2020

...Others pointed out loopholes in his ideology.

# @NitishKumar #AmitShah @PMOIndia Nitish Sir you propose a nation wide ban on alcohol only to get a parallel black economy flourish as is happening in Gujarat for donkeys years n now also Bihar. Why such encouragement to make #blackmarketeeringsoattractive?  Subho Bhattacharya (@Subho_connect) February 17, 2020

Liquor contributes so much to the taxes..



Did you know Karnataka got 20,000 cr in taxes from alcohol.. Don't ban it   gentleman quotes     (@gentleman_says6) February 16, 2020

# @NitishKumar #AmitShah @PMOIndia Nitish Sir you propose a nation wide ban on alcohol only to get a parallel black economy flourish as is happening in Gujarat for donkeys years n now also Bihar. Why such encouragement to make #blackmarketeeringsoattractive?  Subho Bhattacharya (@Subho_connect) February 17, 2020

However, there are people who are in full support of his idea and want a nationwide liquor-ban to take place in the country.

@NitishKumar Appreciate & support your views on alcohol ban . It not only harms the consumer but also impacts family and society . Most accidents & crimes r under influence of alcohol. Lot of people would say they drink in moderation , ask families who have gone through its blow  prashant shah (@prjshah) February 17, 2020

India need this step. Ban tobacco and alcohol in india.  ANIL KANOJIYA (@anil_kan1985) February 17, 2020





What do you think about his statement? Let us know in the comments!

Image credits: Reuters
A man has been charged with murder two months after he allegedly subjected a 28-year-old Warrnambool woman to a "horrific" assault from which she died 10 days later.

The woman was found in a unit on Ocean Grove, in Warrnambools east, on the morning of November 27 with head and spinal injuries.

She died at the Royal Melbourne Hospital on December 4.

Warrnambool man Paul McDonough, 37, was initially charged with intentionally causing serious injury and recklessly causing serious injury.
 Flash

Storm Dennis shut down roads and flooded railway lines on Sunday as it lashed large parts of Britain with heavy rainfall and strong winds.

The Met Office issued a red warning for rain -- the highest level of its kind -- for parts of south Wales on Sunday morning.

Red warnings are issued when it is highly likely the weather will cause a high level of impact, and this warning is the first red warning for rain the Met Office has issued since December 2015.

"Whilst the heaviest rain has cleared from Northern Ireland and Scotland, England and Wales will continue to see heavy rain on Sunday, with a risk of severe flooding in places. In particular, heavy rain has led to severe flooding across parts of south Wales triggering a red rain warning, where around 140 mm of rain in total could fall, before it gradually eases this afternoon," said Met Office Chief Meteorologist Andy Page.

Meanwhile, the storm has caused disruption at Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, Southend, Stansted, Heathrow and Gatwick airports over the weekend, as about 170 flights were cancelled as of Sunday morning, affecting at least 25,000 passengers.

Rail services have also been suspended in south Wales and parts of England and Scotland, according to the National Rail.

There are 594 alerts currently in place, including four severe warnings in England and widespread amber alerts from the Met Office. There are also two severe flooding alerts in Wales.

Across 24 hours in South Wales, 105 mm of rainfall and gales of up to 146 kph were recorded in the area.

British experts said that Storm Dennis can bring more damage to the country than Storm Ciara, which brought as much as 184 mm of rainfall and gusts reaching 156 kph to the country last weekend, resulting in hundreds of homes flooded and more than 500,000 being left without power.
At the same time, Putin must not be allowed to stabilize the political, economic, and social situation in Russia.

Ukrainian film director and former Kremlin political prisoner Oleh Sentsov believes that under Vladimir Putin's rule, Russia will never return Crimea to Ukraine, while the only strategy remaining for Ukraine and its allies is to keep exerting pressure on Moscow.

"Here you need to understand that Putin will not give up Crimea  this is impossible. It would be easier for him to give up the Kremlin than to give up Crimea. So, we can't continue to try to agree with him on Crimea. He will not return Donbas on our terms, either," Sentsov said in an interview Ukrayinska Pravda.

"So, we need to push on him  this is the only strategy for both Ukraine and the international community. We must put pressure on him, not let him stabilize the political, economic, and social situation in Russia," the film director added.

Read alsoSentsov tells U.S. Congress about confessions of Russian military who seized Crimea

Sentsov notes that in the future, Putin's regime is "doomed" anyway, since there are no independent institutions left in the Russian Federation that are not fixated on the figure of the incumbent president.

"So anyone who succeeds Putin will be forced to seek support abroad in order to rely on their political influence and support, because he will have none within the country. And in this situation, with the help of Western partners, we can take a tough stance on non-recognizing the new government without having our territories returned," Sentsov concluded.
A case of mistaken identity saw a Sydney woman told she had to pay back $45,000 to Centrelink for benefits she never received.

When Tracey Donaldson*, 43, received the bill last month telling her she owed the government the huge amount she had supposedly received in parental allowance she began to hyperventilate and panic.

She was told she had to pay up immediately or she would be banned from travelling overseas and the government would draw money out of her bank accounts to cover the debt.

The threats persisted despite the fact Ms Donaldson was not a Centrelink user and does not have any children, reports ABC news.

When she told them this, she was informed they could not give her details on the matter because she could not prove her identity.

Ms Donaldson describes the overwhelming despair which took over when she got the letter.

A case of mistaken identity has landed a Sydney woman with a $45,000 debt from Centrelink (stock image)

'I don't have panic attacks very often, but I actually started hyperventilating,' she said.

'I was so frustrated and no-one was giving me information.'

To make matters worse she was only ten days away from an overseas holiday and she was being told she could not leave the country.

The Centrelink debt was intended for a woman with the same name, who lived in the same suburb with almost exactly the same birthday.

Eventually the mistake was discovered, leading to an apology from Services Australia and her name being cleared.

Human Services Australia General Manager Hank Jongen assured it was an isolated incident and said there are no wider issues.

'We take our commitment to protecting customer privacy very seriously. We can assure the community this is an isolated incident and there are no wider issues,' he said in a statement.

The debacle followed a long list of blunders by Services Australia, formerly known as the Department of Human Services.

The Agency has been under increasing pressure from welfare groups and social rights organisations to overhaul the controversial robodebt recovery system.

The head of the Australian Council of Social Services Cassandra Goldie told Daily Mail Australia it was alarming the first notification of the debt was in letter form.

Welfare recipients across the country have been receiving debts for money they don't owe the Department of Human Services

'There should be greater checks and balances before debts are charged. Centrelink guidelines advise that it is appropriate to call the person if the debt is large before sending out a debt notice,' she said.

'We are concerned that staff cuts and privatisation of Centrelink services means that staff do not have the time or expertise to ensure that proper procedures are being followed.'

The Shadow Minister for Government Services Bill Shorten slammed the debacle as 'chaotic, unjust and a shambles' in a statement to Daily Mail Australia.

'The standard of proof the Government is using to scare Australians with allegations they owe a debt is disturbingly low,' he said.

'Now they are going around hitting innocent Australians for $45,500 simply because they have the same name as someone else in a different state? That is not good enough.'

He has vowed to continue putting pressure on the government to pay back others impacted by the robodebt scheme.

* - name has been changed
Belinda Gareys condescending response (2/1/20) to Virginia Dolajak (1/25/20) demonstrated how liberals attack character because they cannot support their position with facts. Roe v. Wade is not a U.S. law passed by the U.S. Congress; its a U.S. Supreme Court decision. Roe v. Wade is, according to many legal scholars, a deeply flawed decision not only because there is no right to privacy or abortion in the U.S. Constitution, but because Justice Blackmuns majority opinion wasnt based on factual or legal evidence. Blackmuns primary sources for his opinion were a series of articles written by Cyril Means, the general counsel for the National Abortion Rights Action League, and seven pro-abortion studies (not peer reviewed). An excellent book is Abuse of Discretion: The Inside Story of Roe V. Wade by Clarke Forsythe. Also watch the videos at abortionprocedures.com.

Belinda Garey disputed Virginia Dolajaks numbers but she ignored two words  a year. The Guttmacher Institute (supports abortion) has estimated there have been 61.6 million abortions since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. Virginia Dolajak did not provide North Dakota numbers  only national statistics. Only 21% of respondents to a recent Marist poll believe abortion should be available at any stage of pregnancy.

Belinda Garey accused Virginia Dolajak of being narrow minded and slammed North Dakota residents as undereducated. North Dakotans below age 45 with bachelor degrees or above exceed national averages (ND Census Office). Im a Bismarck native with degrees (accounting and a master of business administration) from a quality ND university, the University of Mary. Thank you, Monsignor Shea for your Pro-Life leadership.

Not much interest in nonagricultural topics  youve heard of the Bakken? Energy independence? Microsoft campus? The booming economy?

Belinda Garey  stop your liberal pontification; follow your own advice  Do some real research and read the truth!

Rod Kuhn, Bismarck

Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 4
Tunisia: PM designate announces cabinet team But gains time, in agreement with the president

(ANSAmed) - TUNIS, FEBRUARY 17 - Tunisia's premier designate, Elyes Fakhfakh, after meeting with President Kais Saied, has announced his government team: 29 ministers and an undersecretary, party members and independents, whose names will however be reviewed in the days ahead of the deadline on February 20 for the formation of the new government, in order to gain wider political consensus.



In agreement with president Saied, ''conscious of the responsibility and the choice it implies for the country, we have decided with the head of State to use the days that remain for the formation of the government to study the constitutional, judicial and political options'' to present the government, said Fakhfakh.



Three weeks of talks were not enough for the premier designate to gain the backing of the various parties necessary to have the minimum 109 votes required to gain a vote of confidence in parliament. The relative majority party, the Islamist Ennhadha, which can however count on a number of ministers in the announced formation, has said he will not vote for a government in this shape, asking for a more inclusive team that should include, in particular, the country's second largest party, Qalb Tounes. The outgoing Parliament in legislative elections last October is fragmented with no political force exceeding 25% of the vote. (ANSAmed).




Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 18:07:33|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

The Capitol is seen in Washington D.C., the United States, on Feb. 13, 2020. U.S. Senate on Thursday passed a resolution curbing the U.S. president's ability to use military forces against Iran without congressional approval. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

As The Washington Post noted, "its reach and duration help to explain how the United States developed an insatiable appetite for global surveillance that was exposed in 2013 by Edward Snowden."

The latest incident only makes Washington's smear campaign against Chinese tech companies like a thief crying "Stop thief."

by Xinhua writer Wang Zichen

BRUSSELS, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- While Washington continues to spin certain Chinese tech companies as data thieves with no solid evidence, new leaks detailing how U.S. intelligence, via rigged Swiss products, secretly intercepted classified government communications for decades have unmasked the real thief.

According to the classified documents obtained by U.S. and German media, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), along with former West German intelligence which later exited the partnership, fronted a Swiss firm in secret to sell encryption devices to more than 120 countries, and by rigging the machines, the spy agencies were able to easily break the codes that unwitting customers used to send encrypted messages.

A huge slogan board stands in front of the U.S. Capitol building during a protest against government surveillance in Washington D.C., capital of the United Sates, on Oct. 26, 2013. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

For decades, and well into the 21st century, Rubicon, as the CIA operation became known, ran so wide and deep that The Washington Post said it "ranks among the most audacious in CIA history." At some times, even the Germans "were taken aback by the Americans' willingness to spy on all but their closest allies," The Washington Post revealed. In a ruthless way, Washington harvested money and secrets, at the expense of credibility and trust.

A nation sets up covert vulnerabilities or lets them loose in communications equipment it makes or controls, enabling espionage into clandestine and sensitive messages it covets. Does this sound familiar? It has been the main point Washington holds to shut out telecoms devices made by some Chinese tech companies from as many places around the world as possible.

The leak caught Washington's global lobby off guard. While persuading even its closest allies in Europe to shut out Chinese tech companies from their 5G networks, Washington has seen the ruin of its own making.

Edward Snowden is seen on the screen during a live remote interview at CeBIT 2015, the world's top trade fair for information and communication technology, in Hanover, Germany, on March 18, 2015. (Xinhua/Zhang Fan)

Insidious as Operation Rubicon was, its revelation was not that surprising. As The Washington Post noted, "its reach and duration help to explain how the United States developed an insatiable appetite for global surveillance that was exposed in 2013 by Edward Snowden."

Though it is unknown whether the U.S. government is running other eavesdropping programs, suspicion is rising.

The latest incident only makes Washington's smear campaign against Chinese tech companies like a thief crying "Stop thief."

Next time Washington considers lecturing others on eavesdropping and being a threat to national security, it had better evaluate its own records first. 
The Pakistan Maritime Security



Agency apprehended 18 fishermen and seized three boats on Saturday off the Gujarat coast, a fishermen's association functionary said here.

The fishermen were held near the international maritime boundary line (IMBL) off Jakhau coast in the state's Kutch district, said Porbandar Fishermen Boat Association president Jivan Jungi on Monday.

"We have learned from other fishermen that 18 fishermen on three boats have been apprehended mid sea by PMSA on February 15. A day earlier, the Pak agency captured 23 fishermen and seized four boats. In all, 41 fishermen from Gujarat have been captured in two days near the IMBL," said Jungi.

Among the three boats captured on February 15, one had set sail from Porbandar port a few days ago while two boats were registered at Okha.

The PMSA often captures Indian fishermen off Gujarat coast after accusing them of having entered that country's waters.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a landmark order, the Supreme Court has upheld the right of short service commissioned (SSC) women officers to be entitled to permanent commission in the Indian Army. It also said that there could not be an absolute bar for considering women officers for command positions. This was in response to the governments petition challenging a Delhi High Court order of 2010 to grant permanent commission to women officers at par with their male counterparts.

The SCs verdict is welcome. For one, it upholds the right to equality in the Constitution  for the spirit of the order is the principle of non-discrimination. Gender cannot serve as the basis for inequitable and unequal treatment in any sphere, including in defence forces. Two, the SC has categorically rejected the arguments of the Centre  which was based on physiological limitations of women and prevailing social norms, including family obligations  and made it clear that casting aspersions on their ability was an insult to both women and the Indian Army. Three, it has very explicitly opened the doors for women in command positions, thus ensuring they will have a role in decision-making in due course of time.

It is now time for the government to implement the order both in letter and in spirit. This will involve changing mind sets internally, for male officers continue to see women as best suited for adjunct roles and not as equals. The decision will encourage more women to think of a career in the military. This may begin a process of correcting the gender imbalance in Indias forces.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 23:14:19|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

BANGKOK, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Thai Royal Army (RTA) and the Ministry of Finance's Treasury Department on Monday have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) noting that all state holdings under the Thai Army will now be administered and managed by the Treasury Department.

Thai Army Commander General Apirat Kongsompong and Treasury Department director-general Yuttana Yimgarund signed an MoU to ensure that the commercial use of state property and welfare system under the RTA, complies with proper regulations, RTA Chief of Staff General Teerawat Boonyawat said in a press briefing.

"What the Army has done today is to bring back legitimacy and transparency," Teerawat said.

The move to hand over state holdings from the Royal Thai Army to the Finance Ministry came after Army Commander Gen. Apirat decided to have the RTA wash its hands off all commercial businesses administered by the RTA, including welfare scheme.

Earlier in February, a junior non-commissioned soldier carried out a mass shooting, killing nearly 30 people and injuring over 50.

The frenzied soldier-turned-shooter owned five legally-registered guns, including three pistols, one shotgun and a rifle, which were all bought under the army's "welfare gun" program.

"Not only will the Army transfer its land holdings, commercial businesses and welfare program to the Finance Ministry, soldiers will now on be screened carefully by superiors before being allowed to buy guns," said the Army Commander.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 19:55:49|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

The first team of people from various agencies of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government are ready to fly to Japan's Tokyo to bring back its residents under quarantine aboard a cruise ship, at Hong Kong International Airport in Hong Kong, south China, Feb. 17, 2020. The HKSAR government will arrange two chartered flights to bring back hundreds of its residents under quarantine aboard a cruise ship in Japan, an official said Monday. (Xinhua/Wang Shen)

HONG KONG, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government will arrange two chartered flights to bring back hundreds of its residents under quarantine aboard a cruise ship in Japan, an official said Monday.

John Lee, secretary for security of the HKSAR government, told a press briefing that once all the Hong Kong residents on board are cleared of virus tests, the government will ask the Japanese authority to transport them to the Haneda Airport in Tokyo to get on the chartered flights.

The two flights will bring 350 Hong Kong residents, and possibly five from Macao, back to Hong Kong on Thursday, Lee said, adding that there will be a 14-day quarantine period upon their arrival.

Some 3,700 passengers and crew on board the cruise ship, known as Diamond Princess, have been kept in quarantine since early February after the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

Japanese authorities said the passengers will be allowed to disembark the ship if they test negative and show no health problems when the quarantine period ends on Wednesday.

Hong Kong on Monday sent the first team comprising about 30 people of various government agencies to handle the operation and another team will be dispatched on Tuesday, Lee said.

Lee said the operation has received support from the Chinese government and China's embassy in Japan.
A video in which the students allegedly raised pro-Pakistan slogans had gone viral, leading to protests from Hindutva outfits.

A video in which the students allegedly raised pro-Pakistan slogans had gone viral, leading to protests from Hindutva outfits. The video became public when the college held a function to pay homage to the martyrs of the Pulwama attack on Friday (February 14). (Photo: PTI)

Hubballi: Hubballi-Dharwad police commissioner R. Dilip has clarified that the three Kashmiri engineering students, who are facing sedition charges for allegedly raising Pro-Pakistan slogans on the anniversary of the Pulwama massacre, are being questioned but are yet to be formally arrested which will be done only if the cops are prima facie convinced about the offence.

A video in which the students allegedly raised pro-Pakistan slogans had gone viral, leading to protests from Hindutva outfits. The video became public when the college held a function to pay homage to the martyrs of the Pulwama attack on Friday (February 14).

The police chief rebutted media reports that the youth were arrested and released on a bond under Section 169 of the CrPC.

It is a very sensitive case and we have to conduct a thorough investigation from all angles. We will initiate appropriate action to detain them only if the charge of sedition is proved. We will not be influenced by any political pressure as an impartial and independent inquiry is going on. We rescued them from the mob on Friday as they would have been harmed, Mr Dilip told this newspaper.

The students, who were identified as Ameer, Basit and Talib from Shopian district of Kashmir, were booked under Section 124 of the IPC on a complaint filed by KLE Institute of Technology where they study, for attempting to disturb communal harmony by raising anti-national slogans. They had secured admission to the college this year under the Central government quota.
Tripoli, Libya (PANA)  The chairman of the Libyan presidential council of the Government of National Accord (GNA), Fayez al-Sarraj, on Sunday presided the launch of the 2020 United Nations humanitarian response in Libya, announcing a $10 million contribution to the plan this year
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said on February 16 that Tehran will never hold talks with the United States under pressure. According to international reports, he further added that Iran's contribution is essential for the establishment of peace in the Middle East region. This comes as the relations between both US and Iran have reached a crisis point in 2018 after Washington abandoned the nuclear deal of 2015 between Iran and the world powers under which Tehran had accepted to curb its nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions.

However, the existing tensions further hiked when on January 3, United States President Donald Trump-led air raid killed top Iranian general commander Wassem Soleimani in Baghdad along with six others. According to media reports, Trump has said that the US will adopt a policy of maximum pressure in order to force Iran into the negotiation of a broader deal that further decreases the nuclear activity of the country while ending Tehran's missile program along with its involvement in the regional proxy wars.

Read - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani Says US Cannot Accept Victory Of 'great Nation'

Iran resists US' 'maximum pressure'

Meanwhile, in a televised news conference, Rouhani said that Iran will never negotiate under pressure further adding that his country will not negotiate from a position of weakness. Even after American sanctions taking a toll on Iran's economy, the Iranian officials have declined talks with the United States over any new deal. Tehran has re-insisted that any future negotiations are only possible if Washington removes sanctions and returns to the existing pact.

According to Iran's President, the policy of Trump which is based on increasing pressure on Iran is doomed to fail. He also called the US as Iran's enemy and claimed that America is aware of the fact that pressure in inefficient. Furthermore, the Iranian President has also claimed that in order to acquire peace and stability in the sensitive region of the Middle East and the Persian Gulf is impossible without Iran's help.

Read - FMs Press Iran On Probe Into Plane Crash

Amid soaring US-Iran tensions, Tehran also refused the allegations by the US that Iran's satellite programme has a military dimension. The country's state news agency quoted Defence Minister Amir Hatami saying that the subject satellite launch is a 'civilian matter'. Hatami added that even though satellites can be used for defence purposes, the satellite launcher is a 'completely non-defensive subject'. According to him, 'there is no prohibition in the world' against the programme.

However, Washington accused Tehran that the country is using satellites in order to cover up its missile programme. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reportedly said that the technology involved to launch the satellites was'virtually identical' to the know-how for long-range ballistic missiles.

Read - US Senate Debates Restricting Trump's Iran War Powers

Read - Iran Denies US Allegations On Its Satellite Launch, Calls It 'civilian Matter'

(With agency inputs)
Dems 2020 vision

Only after the opposition is thoroughly and utterly destroyed and disarmed, then we can all get along.

You better have your mind open to comprehend the Democrats 2020 vision.

Gary Kahn

Time to wake up

Wake up, America. Wake up, Republicans. The federal deficit went to more than $1 trillion in 2019 for the first time since 2012.

The U.S.-Mexico border wall is a bad joke. Border agents found a tunnel equipped with railway, electricity, and a ventilation system running from Tijuana to San Diego, Calif.

The Justice Department is run by Trump yes man, Attorney General William Barr. Trump wants the Bidens investigated. How about Ivanka and Jared Kushner? Ivankas stake in the International Trump Hotel netted her $4 million in 2018.

When will the Republicans and their constituents come to their senses?

Maureen Wilson, New Braunfels

On ExpressNews.com: Authorities find longest Southwest border smuggling tunnel

Trump unchecked

I watch the way President Donald Trump acts and I think I must be having a nightmare, but then I ask myself, Could I be typing an opinion letter in my sleep?

He fired an American hero, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, and also fired his brother. If left unchecked, hell declare himself president for life and have Utah Sen. Mitt Romney dealt with.

Dale F. McCarty, Boerne
Colette Smedley (left) on the flight from Japan to Texas. Bill Smedley (right) on the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan. Read more

Bill and Colette Smedley are still in quarantine, but they are are back in the United States, on a second floor of an apartment at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas and not a windowless cabin deep inside the coronavirus-infected Diamond Princess cruise ship. It was quarantined with approximately 3,700 passengers and crew members for nearly two weeks at the Japanese port of Yokohama.

I can open up and see outside and see daylight from the balcony, said Bill Smedley, 66, of Dillsburg, just southwest of Harrisburg, by telephone on Monday night. He said there was grass in front of the building and he intended to walk on it in the morning. The couple cant go any farther because they are surrounded by a newly erected fence, with spotlights at each corner, and guards.

On Sunday, the Smedleys and more than 300 other Americans were evacuated from the ship. Testing showed 14 of the American passengers had the virus. Although the Smedleys have not tested positive, they joined the other evacuees on flights to another 14-day quarantine at U.S. military bases.

The massive cruise ship was reportedly placed under quarantine on Feb. 4, though Smedley recalled the official start as being Feb. 5, after people on board tested positive for COVID-19. The confirmed total topped 450 on Monday.

 READ MORE: The latest on coronavirus: A heavy toll on Chinese health workers at the front lines

There are more than 70,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection, most in China, where the virus emerged in Wuhan in late December, according to the World Health Organization. More than 1,300 people have died of the pneumonia-like illness.

The Smedleys vacation, for their 33rd wedding anniversary and her 65th birthday, began on Jan. 6. The retired couple  he was a salesman for a seed company and she was an IT project manager for the U.S. Department of Defense in Mechanicsburg, Pa.  love to travel on cruise ships and wanted to get away from the Pennsylvania winter. The cruise took them to Japan, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

With each passing day, they became more keenly aware of the coronavirus outbreak. The anxiety level grew and grew and grew, Smedley said.

On Jan. 31, they stopped in Hong Kong for Chinese New Year festivities. A lot of people didnt get off the ship, he said.

The cruise was to end on Feb. 3, and the Smedleys had packed the night before. We had our luggage out in our hall, he recalled.

The next day, he said, they were not allowed to disembark because someone from the ship had tested positive. At some point on Feb. 4 or 5, the ship was officially declared under quarantine by the Japanese government.

The Smedleys were stuck in their interior cabin, which he described as about 10 by 20 feet, not counting the bathroom and closet space, in an above-deck level. They got out each day in small groups for about an hour to get fresh air and exercise. They had to wear face masks for their brief excursions.

Smedley praised the cruise company. They did everything they could possibly do, he said.

Princess Cruises has said it will reimburse the cost of the cruise and pay for an additional one in the future. Smedley said that will pay for their cruise next winter through the Panama Canal. And they will make sure, he said, to get a room with a balcony.

A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the number of people who were on the Diamond Princess cruise ship.
An American Canyon woman was arrested in connection with a hit-and-run incident late Saturday night that injured a man, police reported.

At 11:55 p.m., a man was placing a child into the back seat of a parked car in the 600 block of Capra Drive in American Canyon when a passing car clipped him, leaving him with a minor leg injury, according to Sgt. Jeff Matlock.

Officers identified the driver as 38-year-old Lourdes Yveth Oseguera and contacted her at her home about 45 minutes after the incident, Matlock said. Oseguera was booked into the Napa County jail on suspicion of causing injury by driving under the influence, leaving the scene of an injury accident, and child endangerment.

You can reach Howard Yune at 707-256-2214 or hyune@napanews.com

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
The House has passed all eight of Northams bills, but a handful of Democrats in the less liberal Senate have quashed three of them amid fears that the newly empowered party might overplay its hand. The same tension has been playing out on other fronts, with the Senate taking a more cautious approach on issues such as the minimum wage, collective bargaining and state budgeting.
LAKEWOOD, Ohio -- Congratulations to Ian Andrews, executive director of LakewoodAlive, who was awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship from the Rotary Club of Lakewood and Rocky River in recognition of his leadership in the Lakewood community.

Called the engine behind LakewoodAlive, Andrews organizes many Lakewood community events throughout the year, including Light Up Lakewood, the Summer Meltdown and the Chocolate Walk. He also helps coordinate home improvement projects for elderly and/or low-income homeowners.

Paul Harris Fellowships are given to recognize exceptional contributions made by individuals who further Rotarys mission of encouraging the ideals of service as a basis of worthy enterprise, high ethical standards, community service and the advancement of international understanding and good will.

The award, named for Paul Harris, who founded Rotary in 1905, was established in his honor in 1957.

LakewoodAlive is a community development corporation with a mission to foster and sustain vibrant neighborhoods. The nonprofit believes that housing is the foundation of Lakewoods economy. As many as 500 volunteers contribute an estimated 8,500-plus hours to serving LakewoodAlive and the community, focusing on housing outreach, special events and committee participation.

The Lakewood/Rocky River Rotary Club was one of only 11 Northeast Ohio clubs that achieved 100 percent member giving to Rotary Internationals annual fund, earning the club the opportunity to award a Paul Harris Fellowship to an individual who has made a difference in the community.

Gifts to the annual fund help Rotary clubs take action to create positive change in communities at home and around the world. Contributions help strengthen peace efforts, provide clean water and sanitation, support education, grow local economies, save mothers and children, and fight disease.

Citizen of the Year nominees: Bill Wagner, Fairview Park superintendent of schools, and Denise Devine, the school districts human resources supervisor, are co-presidents of Fairview Park Community Council. They sent word that nominees are being sought for the 2020 Fairview Park Citizen of the Year.

Nomination forms are available at FairviewPark.org, as well as at City Hall, the Gemini Center, the Senior Center, the Fairview Park Branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library and PJs Day Spa.

Nomination forms must be postmarked by March 20. The winner will be chosen by a panel of the five most recent Fairview Park Citizens of the Year.

Fairview Park Community Council will honor the winner at its annual Citizen of the Year recognition dinner at 6:30 p.m. May 6 at Fairview Park Senior Center, 20769 Lorain Road, behind City Hall.

This dinner also is Community Councils only fundraiser. Anyone wishing to make a donation for the raffle at the event should call Devine at 440-343-5389 or Maryann VandeVelde at 440-655-8388 to make arrangements to pick up donations by April 24.

This years Citizen of the Year will be announced in April.

At the library: Here are a few of the programs and events taking place this week at the North Olmsted Branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library, 27403 Lorain Road, North Olmsted.

 A Red Cross Bloodmobile will be at the library from 10:30 am. to 3:30 p.m. Friday (Feb. 21). In just an hour of their time, donors can help save up to three lives. For more information or to make an appointment, visit redcrossblood.org or call the American Red Cross at 800-733-2767.

 North Olmsted Creative Writers will meet at 2 p.m. Feb. 22. Participants will meet other writers to discuss their work and other informative topics to help them with their works in progress. Writing time is included in the 90-minute session.

For more information on these and other library programs, visit cuyahogalibrary.org/Branches/North-Olmsted.

H2O offers Home Alone: Lakewoods Help to Others -- also known as H2O -- youth volunteer service program is launching its new Home Alone program, a peer-to-peer mentorship project and more.

Home Alone events are designed by H2O high school leaders and staff to share important safety information with 9- to 12-year-olds. Home Alone event attendees must live in Lakewood and be accompanied by at least one parent or guardian.

During each 2 1/2-hour training session, students will rotate through six interactive safety presentations led by H2O high school leaders. Topics include:

 Emergencies -- How and when to call 911

 Basic first aid -- What to do if accidents or injuries occur

 Tricky people and phone/door safety -- How to avoid potentially dangerous situations

 Routines and siblings -- Establishing house rules and role-playing conflict resolution

 Internet safety -- Advice for maintaining positive, healthy experiences online

 Street smarts -- Safety tips when going to and from school or around Lakewood

While students are attending sessions with the high school leaders, parents/guardians will receive safety information presented by local experts from Lakewood police, fire and emergency medical services, as well as a cybercrimes against children investigator from the Westlake Police Department.

There is a $15 family fee for Home Alone. It covers the adult attendee(s) and all family members ages 9-12. At the end of each event, families will receive a comprehensive safety manual published by H2Os program partner, SOS4Kids.

Child care and financial aid are available. Email h2olakewood@gmail.com to submit a request.

Space is limited to 75 students at each event and registration is on a first-come, first-served basis.

The Hooley at Kamms Corners draws huge crowds each year. The street festival features music -- including pipes and drums -- food, dancing, vendors and more. (Carol Kovach, special to cleveland.com)

The Hooley returns: Presented by West Park Kamms Neighborhood Development Corp., the 11th annual Hooley on Kamms Corners will be back on June 20. The popular street festival will take place on Lorain Avenue from West 165th Street west to Rocky River Drive in Clevelands West Park neighborhood.

Applications are being accepted for food, commercial sales, nonprofit groups, arts/gift and family area vendors. Volunteers also are needed, as well as musicians and others to assist with the event.

For more information, visit westparkkams.org/hooley or email hooley@westparjkamms.org.

Police awards banquet: Fairview Park Police Chief Erich Upperman said the Police Department will have its annual awards banquet at 7 p.m. Feb. 25 at the Senior Center. Officers will be recognized for extraordinary performance and for milestones in their career.

Upperman said the program started two years ago, replacing the Officer of the Year event, which last took place in 1983.

This years honoree will be former Fairview Park Police patrolman Phillip Schuld. He became ill while on duty on Feb. 19, 1970, and was taken to Fairview Hospital, where he remained until his death on Feb. 28, 1970. The cause of death was a heart attack.

Schuld was hired on Aug. 1, 1954, and served the city for more than 15 years. His death was not considered to be in the line of duty because officials were unable to pinpoint a particular on-duty incident that might have caused his heart attack.

Two of Schulds grandchildren followed in his footsteps and are police officers in Parma and Beachwood, respectively.

To honor Schulds service and recognize the 50th anniversary of his passing, the department had a plaque made, which will hang in the lobby of the police station. It will be unveiled at the award ceremony. More than a dozen of Schulds family members are expected to attend.

Seeking small business champions: Citizens Bank will have its third annual Small Business Community Champion Award contest this year, and Greater Cleveland was picked as one of only four areas in the country for the competition. The contest will award a total of $30,000 to two winning small businesses in the community.

The competition is an opportunity for local small business owners who want to make an impact in the community.

Other markets that are participating in the contest are Boston, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

To celebrate the extraordinary contributions small businesses make to their communities, the Citizens Bank Small Business Community Champion Award will honor two small businesses in each market with either $20,000 or $10,000 to engage with and strengthen their communities and their businesses. Nominations must be received by 5 p.m. March 2.

To enter, eligible businesses must upload an essay (150 words maximum) and a maximum of two photos to the contest website, citizensbank.businesschampion.dja.com. The essay must answer the question, What would your business do with the Small Business Community Champion Award to strengthen both your company and community?

Official rules, additional instructions and requirements regarding entry and submission are available on the contest website, open through March 2 at 5 p.m. ET.

50th reunion: Members of the St. Augustine Academy Class of 1970 reunion committee are seeking classmates for a 50th reunion celebration planned for October.

Classmates or those with contact information for members of the class are asked to contact Pam Ponick Morgan at 440-327-6390 or pammogan@windstream.net.

Lakewood Catholic Academy, which offers day care, preschool and grades K-8, moved into the buildings in fall 2005.

Nate King Cole tribute: Olmsted Unitarian Universalist Congregation will have a tribute to Nat King Cole at 11 a.m. Sunday (Feb. 23) at the church as part of its celebration of Black History Month. The church is at 5050 Porter Road, North Olmsted.

Cole was an American vocalist and jazz pianist who came from humble beginnings and grew into an immense success. In 1942, he was one of the early artists signed to Capitol Records. Soon after, he made it to the top of Billboards inaugural best-selling albums chart.

A reception will follow the program.

Community lunch: West Park United Church of Christ invites the community to a free hot lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sunday (Feb. 23) at the church, 3909 Rocky River Drive, West Park. Enter through the double doors at the back of the church.

Information, please: Readers are invited to share information about themselves, their families and friends, organizations, church events, etc. in Fairview Park, Lakewood, North Olmsted and West Park for the A Place in the Sun column, which I write on a freelance basis. Awards, honors, milestone birthdays or anniversaries and other items are welcome. Submit information at least 10 days before the requested publication date to carolkovach@hotmail.com.

Read more from the Sun Post Herald.
BELGRADE, Serbia - Russian military co-operation with Serbia has reached a fundamentally new level, Russias defence minister said Monday as he visited his Balkan ally amid rising tensions in the volatile region.

Sergei Shoigu said in Belgrade on Monday: For our part, we will make every effort to maintain the pace of our relations in the military sphere.

Serbia remains a key ally of Russia even though it wants to join the European Union. Belgrade has pledged to stay out of NATO and refused to join Western sanctions against Russia over the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Russia has been helping Serbia beef up its military with fighter jets, attack helicopters and battle tanks, raising concerns in the war-scarred Balkan region of possible new clashes after a bloody civil war in the 1990s.

Serbias flirting with Russia, as well as with China, is seen with unease in the West.

During his visit, Shoigu was expected to announce the delivery to Serbia of a sophisticated anti-aircraft missile system even though the U.S. has warned of possible sanctions against Serbia in the event of such delivery.

A strong army is the guarantor of the states sovereignty, said Shoigu according to the Russian TASS news agency. Serbian citizens can be rightfully proud of their armed forces.

Serbias pro-Russian Defence Minister Aleksandar Vulin greeted Shoigu as a true friend of Serbia and said the relations with Russia are on the highest historical level.

During the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, Serbia was at war with neighbours Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo. Currently, its nationalist leadership is believed to be behind the latest tensions in neighbouring Montenegro and Bosnia.

In Montenegro, the newest NATO member, minority Serbs have been demonstrating for months against a law that they say threatens the existence of their Serbian Orthodox Church. In Bosnia, a Serb pro-Russian leader is threatening to split from the joint state with Muslims and Croats and join about a third of the country with Serbia.
Like Norwood, True Grit was first serialized in The Saturday Evening Post. And like Norwood, it was turned into a movie, twice  in 1969, with John Wayne in the Cogburn role (for which he received an Academy Award), and in 2010, starring Jeff Bridges and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. (Norwood became a movie in 1970 starring Mr. Portiss fellow Arkansan Glen Campbell.)

Image Mr. Portiss tale of the West became a best-seller and the basis of two movies. It was reissued in paperback before the release of the second film adaptation.

The narrative voice of True Grit is that of a self-assured old woman, Mattie Ross, as she recalls an adventure she had in Indian Territory when she was 14, on a quest to track down her fathers killer with Cogburns help.

Mr. Portis wanted her to sound determined to get the story right, he said in an interview for this obituary in 2012. The book has virtually no contractions, and the language is insistently old-fashioned.

One of Matties first impressions of Cogburn, who patrols the territory out of Fort Smith, is harsh. She finds him in bed at 10 oclock in the morning, fully clothed and hung over.

The brindle cat Sterling Price was curled up on the foot of the bed, she says. Rooster coughed and spit on the floor and rolled a cigarette and lit it and coughed some more. He asked me to bring him some coffee and I got a cup and took the eureka pot from the stove and did this. As he drank, little brown drops of coffee clung to his mustache like dew. Men will live like billy goats if they are let alone.

The dialogue throughout has the same tone. In one scene Cogburn confronts four bandits across an open field:

Lucky Ned Pepper said, What is your intentions? Do you think one on four is a dogfall?

Rooster said, I mean to kill you in one minute, Ned, or see you hanged in Fort Smith at Judge Parkers convenience! Which will you have?

Lucky Ned Pepper laughed. He said, I call that bold talk for a one-eyed fat man!

Rooster said, Fill your hand, you son of a bitch! and he took the reins in his teeth and pulled the other saddle revolver and drove his spurs into the flanks of his strong horse Bo and charged directly at the bandits.
A total of 338 Americans were evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship off Japan's Yokohama, touching down at Travis Air Force Base in California, and later in Texas, to begin two weeks of quarantine in the US

Thirteen US citizens deemed "high risk" for the deadly new coronavirus are being treated at a federally designated facility in the University of Nebraska following their evacuation from a cruise ship in Japan, officials said Monday.

A total of 338 Americans were flown home from the Diamond Princess cruise ship off Japan's Yokohama, touching down first at Travis Air Force Base in California shortly before midnight Sunday.

The second flight arrived early Monday at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas.

"A select number of high risk patients were transported onward from both locations using those same aircraft to Omaha, Nebraska for care at the University of Nebraska," Health and Human Services official Robert Kadlec told reporters.

State Department official William Walters added these included six passengers from the base in California and seven from the base in Texas.

Some of these included spouses and it was not clear how many had tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.

Shortly before the flights left Japan, US officials were informed that 14 of the passengers, tested days earlier, had received positive results.

Some patients were also being treated at hospitals near the California base.

The medical staff in Nebraska are re-testing the cases for themselves, after those patients were placed in isolated areas of the two planes for the journey home.

"Until we're done with testing they'll be self-isolated to their room," Shelly Schwedhelm, an official at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, said in a separate briefing.

She added that 12 of the patients were in a quarantine unit while one was in a bio-containment facilityone of three selected in the country to care for US citizens evacuated from Africa with the Ebola virus.

Forty other US citizens who had been on the ship and had previously tested positive were being treated in Japanese hospitals and were not allowed to fly.

Beyond those brought out on the latest flights, Walters, the State Department official, added that the government was continuing to track the movements of 60 US nationals still in Japan.

The government is also following 92 US citizens who remain on the Westerdam cruise ship off Cambodia as well as 260 more in hotels in Phnom Penh.

"Roughly 300 American citizens have departed Cambodia but only after testing by the government of Cambodia's ministry of health," he added.

Impoverished Cambodia is a staunch Chinese ally with a threadbare medical system.

A US individual in a hospital in Kuala Lumpur is so far the only person to have tested positive for the virus from the Westerdam.

There have so far been 15 confirmed cases in the US, according to the latest tally by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Explore further 14 test positive among US plane evacuees from Japan virus ship

 2020 AFP
Monday Feb. 17, 2020

Job Title: Managing and Staff Attorneys City Utica, NY and other locations state-wide

Full time for a non-profit public interest law firm. Provide free legal information, advice and representation to people who are unable to afford a lawyer. Admission to New York State Bar is required. Law Graduates with strong writing backgrounds may be considered. The program area includes (13) counties.

Pay: Salary is negotiable, excellent benefits Job Order # NY1333585

____________________________________________________________________________________

Monday Feb. 17, 2020

Job Title: RNs, LPNs and CNAs City Utica, NY

A medical staffing agency will be at Utica Working Solutions, 207 Genesee Street, 2nd Floor, tomorrow from 9 am to 1 pm interviewing RNs, LPNs and CNAs for assignments with local hospitals, school districts, long term care facilities and correctional facilities. Must have valid certifications or licenses and one year of recent full-time work experience in your field.

Pay: Varies by position Job Order # NY1332910

____________________________________________________________________________________

Tuesday Feb. 18, 2020

Job Title: Madison County Career Fair City Wampsville, NY

Please join the New York State Department of Labor tomorrow- Wednesday, February 19th from 10 am to 12 pm for a Career Fair at the Madison County Career Center, 133 N. Court St. in Wampsville. Local businesses are now hiring Installers, Production Workers, Residential Counselors, Childcare Workers, Customer Service and more. Contact the Madison County Career Center at 315-363- 2400 for more information.

Pay: Varies by position Job Order # NY1334231

___________________________________________________________________________

Tuesday Feb. 18, 2020

Job Title: Developer City Rome, NY

Full time for a local manufacturer. The Developer will be assisting with application development, both within Visual Studio custom code and via Web Parts, SharePoint Designer Workflows, InfoPath forms, and some Client-Side programming JavaScript. A Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related technical equivalent experience is required. Must understand web development fundamentals and concepts. C# development experience preferred.

Pay: Not mentioned Job Order # NY1334117

Wednesday Feb. 19, 2020

Job Title: Cleaner City Dolgeville, NY

Part time, per diem for the local school district. Must have a High school diploma or the equivalent and be at least 21 years of age. Must be able to understand and follow safety procedures. Must pass all required training by the school district and NY State Department of Education. Reference check, background check, NYSED fingerprinting, physical exam, drug test and employment test required.

Pay: $11.80 per hour Job Order # NY1334179

____________________________________________________________________________________

Wednesday Feb. 19, 2020

Job Title: Residence Counselors City Utica, Rome, New Hartford, and New York Mills, NY

Full time for a local care and rehabilitation center. Assist residents with activities of daily living including shopping, wellness and aquatic programs, trips to the theatre, sporting events, dining, and more. A high school diploma and a clean valid NYS Driver's License are required. Reference/security check and drug test required. Previous experience with a developmentally disabled population preferred.

Pay: $13.26 - $14.28 per hour depending on shift Job Order # NY1333983

____________________________________________________________________________________

Thursday Feb. 20, 2020

Job Title: Welder/Fabricator City Yorkville, NY

Full time for a local manufacturer. Fabricate, weld and construct and assemble metal parts to make custom light fixtures. MiG welding skills required. Basic knowledge of TiG welding is a plus.

Must be able to grind and blend welds. Forging experience would be helpful.

Pay: $15 - $22 per hour based on experience Job Order # NY1334176

____________________________________________________________________________________

Thursday Feb. 20, 2020

Job Title: Body Shop Technician City Oneida, NY

Full time for a local repair shop. Must be able to meet the physical requirements of the job including lifting to 50 lbs., standing and walking for long periods of time. Candidate must have ten years of related experience. New York State Drivers License is preferred; applicants may be required to drive vehicles.

Pay: Negotiable depending on experience Job Order # NY1332847

Friday Feb. 21, 2020

Job Title: Crane Operator City Rome, NY

Full time for a local steel manufacturer. Duties include ladder climbing, handling steel plates, and operating an overhead crane. Must have a High school diploma or the equivalent. Reference check, background check and drug test required.

Pay: $13 - $14 hour plus excellent benefits Job Order # NY1332763

____________________________________________________________________________________

Friday Feb. 21, 2020

Job Title: Dental Technician Trainee City Utica, NY

Full time for a local Dental Lab. This position requires a great attitude, an aptitude to learn and a desire to come to work every day. You must love to work with your hands and ANY artistic skills are a plus. This is a long-term, solid position with opportunities to evolve into higher paying positions. High school diploma or the equivalent required.

Pay: $12 - $14 per hour plus benefits Job Order # NY1332360
Maharashtra Home Minister Anil



Deshmukh on Monday announced he will visit Andhra Pradesh to understand more about the Disha Act that stipulates stringent punishment in cases of atrocities against women.

Deshmukh made the announcement from his official twitter handle @AnilDeshmukhNCP.

He said, "I have decided to visit Andhra Pradesh on February 20 for seeking information on Disha Act of the state. It has helped the state in fast-tracking trial of cases of atrocities against women."



The Maharashtra home department is facing flak over recent incidents of violent attacks on women.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
F lood-hit areas across the UK are battling to recover in the wake of Storm Dennis as experts warn of more rain on the way.

The Met Office said it was "concerned" by further downpours, which are set to hit the south west tomorrow, and which will be "unwelcome" in towns and villages which remain under water.

Five "danger to life" warnings are in place today as authorities, including the British Army, attempt to stem the extreme flooding which caused chaos over the weekend.

Dramatic pictures show large swathes of the country under water, with residents forced to flee their homes after a month's worth of rain fell over Saturday and Sunday.

Drone images of Storm Dennis hitting Crickhowell in Wales 1 /10 Drone images of Storm Dennis hitting Crickhowell in Wales An aerial view of the Welsh village of Crickhowell which has been cut off as the river Usk bursts its banks at Crickhowell bridge near the Bridge End Inn, Wales Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images

One woman remains missing after being swept away by floodwater, while the bodies of two men were pulled from rough seas in Kent on Saturday.

"On a normal day we wouldn't be concerned about weather fronts bringing rain showers but, given the current condition of river systems, more rain will certainly be unwelcome," said a Met Office spokeswoman.

Storm Dennis - in pictures 1 /65 Storm Dennis - in pictures One-year-old Blake and his mum, Terri O'Donnel, join other residents of Nantgarw in a rescue boat as emergency services take people to safety after flooding in the village in Wales PA An aerial view of the Welsh village of Crickhowell which has been cut off as the river Usk bursts its banks at Crickhowell bridge near the Bridge End Inn Getty Images Flood water surrounds the bowling club after the River Taff burst its banks in Taffs Wells, north of Cardiff AFP via Getty Images Waves pound against the harbour wall at Portreath, Cornwall PA Work takes place to repair the internet after floodwaters caused disruption on Oxford Street on February 17, 2020 in Nantgarw, United Kingdom Getty Images Rachel Cox inspecting flood damage in her kitchen at 37 Oxford street, Nantgarw, in south Wales, where residents are returning to their homes to survey and repair the damage in the aftermath of Storm Dennis PA Members of the emergency services evacuate residents and their dogs from flooded houses by resucue boat after the River Taff burst its banks in Nantgarw AFP via Getty Images AFP via Getty Images A man and woman are rescued from a property in Nantgarw Getty Images A view of fields flooded near St Clears, Pembrokeshire, South Wales REUTERS A soldier from The Highlanders, 4th Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Scotland in Mytholmroyd PA A coach submerged in floodwater from the River Teme on the A443 near Lindridge, Worcestershire PA A man walks through a flooded convenience store in Tenbury Wells AFP via Getty Images A firefighter carries a dog to safety as part of ongoing rescue operations due to flooding in Nantgarw PA Rescue operations continue as emergency services take families to safety, after flooding in Nantgarw, Wales as Storm Dennis hit the UK PA A woman wades through flood water after Storm Dennis in Tenbury Wells, Reuters Huge waves crash against the sea wall at Porthcawl, south Wales as Storm Dennis hits the country AFP via Getty Images Flooding in York in the aftermath of Storm Dennis PA A firefighter carries a dog to safety as part of ongoing rescue operations due to flooding in Nantgarw PA Environment agency workers help a home-owner with flood defences after the River Severn burst it's banks in Bewdley, west of Birmingham AFP via Getty Images Environment agency workers put up flood defences beside the River Severn in Bewdley AFP via Getty Images Severe fllooding in Nantgarw PA Submerged vehicles after flooding in Nantgarw PA Powerful waves break on the shoreline around the small port of Porthleven, south west England AP A lorry driver sits trapped by flood water in the cab of his petrol tanker after the River Teme burst its banks near Lindridge, western England AFP via Getty Images Waves crash against the harbour wall in Port William Getty Images Cars sit submerged in flood water after the River Taff burst its banks in Nantgarw AFP via Getty Images A car drives through a flooded road in the village of Findern in Derbyshire PA A woman looks out of her window as geese swim past in floodwater after the River Severn bursts it's banks in Bewdley AFP via Getty Images Members of the Fire and Rescue Service conduct a search operation after the River Teme burst its banks in Lindridge AFP via Getty Images Waves crash against the harbour wall on the Isle of Whithorn, Getty Images Huge waves crash against the sea wall at Porthcawl, south Wales as Storm Dennis hits AFP via Getty Images People watch waves and rough seas pound against the harbour wall at Porthcawl PA People watch waves and rough seas pound against the harbour wall at Porthcawl PA People watch waves and rough seas pound against the harbour wall at Porthcawl PA The level of the River Ouse rises in York, North Yorkshire AFP via Getty Images The level of the River Ouse rises in York, North Yorkshire AFP via Getty Images The level of the River Ouse rises in York, North Yorkshire AFP via Getty Images Soldiers from The Highlanders, 4th Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Scotland in Mytholmroyd to assist with flood defences, in the Upper Calder Valley PA Soldiers from The Highlanders, 4th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland, help to shore up flood defences Getty Images Soldiers from The Highlanders, 4th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland , help to shore up flood defences Getty Images Soldiers from The Highlanders, 4th Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Scotland in Mytholmroyd to assist with flood defences, in the Upper Calder Valley PA Soldiers from The Highlanders, 4th Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Scotland help to shore up flood defences Getty Images The County Ground, Swindon, where Saturday's match was called off Action Images via Reuters A woman struggles with an umbrella in strong winds on the South Bank PA People are buffeted by strong winds as they cross the Millennium Bridge, in central London PA A woman struggles with an umbrella in strong winds on the Millennium Bridge PA People clear up following Storm Ciara in Mytholmroyd in the Upper Calder Valley in West Yorkshire PA Flood defences are prepared in Mytholmroyd, in the Upper Calder Valley in West Yorkshire PA

"Monday will be a bright and blustery day but then there is a potential for organised showers on Tuesday evening and on Wednesday, mainly in Wales and the south west."

On Monday morning, there was a record number of flood warnings in place, with five severe warnings.

Large parts of the UK have also been put on amber alert by the Met Office, with experts predicting that severe winds will last until at least 11am.

Winds across the weekend reached high speeds, the fastest recorded as 84mph in Mumbles head, Swansea.

Herefordshire, Worcestershire and South Wales were among the worst-hit areas on Monday morning, with shocking footage and images showing cars and other vehicles stranded underwater.

Residents in Hereford were evacuated from flood-affected properties after it became submerged in water, while a major incident was declared for the city and surrounding areas.

Major incidents were also declared due to flooding in South Wales and Worcestershire.

The five severe flood warnings cover parts of the River Teme in Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Shropshire, and the River Wye at Blackmarstone, Hereford, meaning more chaos is expected.

Thousands of homes in villages across areas in the north of England have also been devastated by the flooding.

Hundreds of flood warnings remain in place across the UK on Monday / Environment Agency

Meanwhile, as well as the weather-related incident in Kent, a man in his 60s died on Sunday after entering a river in the village of Ystradgynlais in South Wales. He was later found in the River Tawe near Trebanos Rugby Club.

Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service said workers had also pulled one man from the River Teme at Eastham Bridge on Sunday morning.

One woman is still missing in the floodwater.

(A woman looks out of her window as ducks swim past in floodwater after the River Severn bursts it's banks in Bewdley, west of Birmingham AFP via Getty Images) / AFP via Getty Images

The flood threat is very high in some areas and, as of 7.30am, the Environment Agency had in place a total of 632 flood warnings and alerts.

Over the weekend, army personnel were deployed to assist people in parts of West Yorkshire which had already been badly hit by flooding during Storm Ciara.

On Monday, the Government said it had activated the Bellwin scheme to provide financial assistance to storm-hit areas.

More than 300 flood warnings in place across the UK

Under the scheme, local authorities dealing with the storms impact can apply to have 100 per cent of eligible costs above a threshold reimbursed by the Government.

The situation in South Wales has been described as "life-threatening" as South Wales Police said they were working with partner organisations to keep safe people in communities cut off by the flooding.

Soldiers from The Highlanders, 4th Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Scotland in Mytholmroyd assisting with flood defences, in the Upper Calder Valley in West Yorkshire / PA

An emergency relief centre has been opened in Tenbury High Ormiston Academy for people affected by flooding.

The EA said river levels at Tenbury peaked at nearly 20ft (6m) on Sunday evening and warned that more rain is expected throughout Monday.

The Met has issued this weather warning

Meanwhile, the EA said water levels on the River Ouse in York are set to peak on Tuesday afternoon but at levels below those seen during the widespread flooding in the city in 2015 and 2000.

Further north, The Scottish Borders Council said the village of Newcastleton had experienced the worst flooding in recent times.

Flood water surrounds abandoned cars left in a flooded street in Tenbury Wells, after the River Teme burst its banks / AFP via Getty Images

Roads, railways and flights were disrupted with some train services and hundreds of flights cancelled and roads closed.

Flight delays and cancellations have continued into Monday caused by the impact of weather and a technical failure at Heathrow Airport.

People look at flood water in Market Street in Tenbury Wells / AFP via Getty Images

Flood duty manager for the Environment Agency Caroline Douglass added: "Storm Dennis will continue to bring disruptive weather into early next week, and there are flood warnings in place across much of England.

"We urge people to check the flood risk in their area and remain vigilant."

An Ambulance stands submerged in flood water after the River Taff burst its banks in Nantgarw in south Wales / AFP via Getty Images

Newly-appointed Environment Secretary George Eustice said the country had not been caught off guard by the floods caused by Storm Dennis.

He blamed the nature of climate change for the scale of the damage, and said: There is always more that can be done.
Kamau Brathwaite, whose lyrical poetry wove together the history and imagery of his native Barbados, the Caribbean and the African diaspora, as well as his personal experiences, died on Feb. 4 at his home in Barbados. He was 89.

Mia Amor Mottley, the prime minister of Barbados, in the eastern Caribbean, announced his death, calling him one of the titans of post-colonial literature and the arts.

Dr. Brathwaites many books of poetry included Born to Slow Horses (2005), which won the Griffin International Poetry Prize.

To read Kamau Brathwaite, the judges award citation said, is to enter into an entire world of human histories and natural histories, beautiful landscapes and their destruction, childrens street songs, high lyricism, court documents, personal letters, literary criticism, sacred rites, eroticism and violence, the dead and the undead, confession and reportage.
One person and a dog were found dead in the ruins of an Elizabethtown apartment following a morning fire Monday.

Lancasteronline cited borough Police Chief Edward Cunningham Jr. as confirming that a body was found inside the two-story building at East High and Spruce streets. He did not identify the person.

Other residents of the two-story building escaped the 6:30 a.m. blaze. The fire was declared under control about an hour later.

A state police fire marshal is investigating.

The fire is one of several that have occurred in central Pennsylvania in the past two days. It broke out just about 90 minutes before a fire was reported in a duplex in Carlisle. Two people were injured in that blaze, which displaced at least seven people.

Five firefighters were reported injured Sunday when battling a blaze in Red Lion. And a family was displaced Sunday afternoon when unattended cooking led to a fire that killed some family pets on South East Street in Carlisle.
As someone who has for years argued for an evangelicalism that reflects the fullness of the kingdom of God, it has been painful to see our every tribe and every tongue ideal narrowed into a tiny tribe that often conflates politics and faith. We are not that, and we never were. Yet we let others redefine us. Instead of people who seek justice and the propagation of a message of hope, we became an angry, judgmental, mainly white religious minority. Many have refused to accept that identity, speaking up out of the refusal to silence their moral outrage any longer.

As one who has been defined as a Hispanic evangelical, I (we) know all about the limitation of labels. We represent a broad spectrum of humanity and reject confining our identities as children of a God who is boundless. Among our ranks you will find those who revile President Donald Trump for what they view as his anti-Latino rhetoric and policies and see him as an emerging fascist in the mold of many Latin American leaders. You will also encounter Hispanic evangelicals who embrace Trump for what they perceive as his strong stance in protecting religious liberty, the rights of the unborn, and judicial appointees who reflect their values. Between those poles is the vast middle, whose views about the president are as diverse as the sprawling middle spectrum of evangelicals in America. The idea that there is a single, pan-ethnic Hispanic response to Trump is as wrongheaded as believing that CT editors and staff, their readers, white evangelicals, or any other group of human beings are perfectly unified in their view of the president.

Political labels are particularly problematic for Christians. Some of the defining features of the Republican and Democratic parties inherently clash with tenets of the Christian faith, but the pursuit of righteousness, purity of purpose, and desire for Gods will should always take precedence over concerns for the environment, distribution of wealth, limited government, gun rights, and a host of other issues. Our faith flourished at its founding because we refused to conform to Roman customs and became known as a people transformed by a resurrected God who demanded an allegiance that superseded statist requirements. In a world that continually pushes us to come out and identify with political and social labelsoften further restricted by the limitations of social mediaChristians must accept the challenge of being hidden with Christ in God so that his grace and love are projected through us despite our foibles.

Former CT editor in chief Mark Galli took up the mantle of some like-minded evangelicals and planted a flag for them in their own yet-to-be-labeled land. But label limitation immediately followed him as CT faced sharp criticism. Going beyond critique of the president to demand the action of removal crossed the bright historical line set by CTs founder, the late Billy Graham. Graham always transcended partisanship yet conveyed an uncompromised commitment to the power of the gospel. CT has carried this honorable above the fray label for years, reflected in past responses to presidents who were labeled by many with the morally unfit hashtag.

Faced with a similar impeachment dilemma in 1974, the publication asked for the process to play out without calling for Nixons resignation. In 1998, the magazine was critical of a morally disgraced Bill Clinton, but stopped short of Gallis cry for an ouster, focusing instead on Clintons hollow apology. Instead of a call for Clintons removal, the 1998 article referenced a pastoral letter titled An Appeal for Healing," which declared, It is now a time for forgiveness and healing. Governments err and presidents make mistakes; we are all sinners. But the God of love and justice does not judge us without the hand of grace and mercy. It is a time to reclaim the nation's finer character. These words seem to reflect the heart of evangelicals everywhere who understand the inherent limitations of labelsincluding evangelical.

We are best served when we shoulder the responsibility of leading in love, expanding our reach to reflect the fullness of the Christian faith in our great nation. Ours must be an ongoing determination to broaden the tent of evangelicalism through even greater intentionality in the future by communicating the breadth of the true, good, and beautiful gospel.

Carlos Campo is president of Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio.
New Delhi: The Delhi's Patiala House Court will on Monday (February 17) hear a plea seeking the issuance of a new death warrant against the four convicts in connection with the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape-murder case. In the last hearing, the Tihar Jail authorities had said that Pawan, one of the four convicts, had informed that he does not need a lawyer. Earlier, lawyers of the victim's parenrs had objected to adjourning the matter for February 17, and asked for hearing the matter on February 15.

The Patiala House Court observed that Article 21 of the Constitution protects the life and liberty of the convicts till the last breath of life.

Nirbhaya's parents and the Delhi government had moved the court on February 11 seeking fresh death warrants for the four convicts after the Supreme Court granted liberty to the authorities to approach the trial court for issuance of fresh date for the execution of these convicts.

During the last hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta was asked that when the chart reveals that three mercy petitions have been dismissed and that convict Pawan Gupta has not filed the mercy petition yet, why was a fresh death warrant being sought.

Earlier, a Delhi court adjourned the hearing as a petition challenging the rejection of the mercy plea of convict Vinay Kumar Sharma is pending before the Supreme Court.

On February 13, the Supreme Court reserved the order on the issue of rejection of mercy petition of convict Vinay Kumar Sharma.

The date of execution, first fixed for January 22 in Tihar jail, was postponed for 6 am on February 1 by a January 17 court order. The trial court later, on January 31 stayed, "till further orders" the execution of the four convicts in the case, who are lodged in Tihar Jail.

The four convicts on death row are Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta and Akshay Thakur.
David Baddiel struggled to contain his anger during a dramatic confrontation with a Holocaust denier, who accuses Jewish people of 'hating Europeans', 'sacrificing Christian babies' and 'controlling the BBC' in a new documentary.

The comedian, 55, from London, whose mother Sarah escaped to the UK from Nazi Germany as a newborn with her parents in 1939, explored the subject for Confronting Holocaust Denial, which aired on BBC2 on Monday night.



He met with with Irish Holocaust denier Dermot Mulqueen, a failed independent politician who describes himself as an 'artist', who charges for anti-Semitic songs on his website.

Mulqueen told David that Auschwitz 'didn't have gas chambers', and claimed that Jewish people buying cars from German companies is proof the genocide didn't happen.

Comedian David Baddiel, 55, has made a BBC2 documentary about Holocaust deniers where he examines those who claim that the horrific genocide did not happen

He met with Irish Holocaust denier Dermot Mulqueen (pictured), and insists that Auschwitz concentration camp 'didn't have gas chambers'. He is pictured with a copy of 'The Hoax of the Twentieth Century'

David confessed that while he felt uncomfortable meeting with a Holocaust denier, he felt it was necessary in order to understand the phenomenon, and so chose Dermot, who had been in contact with him prior to the documentary.

After admitting that he would find it difficult to remain objective in the interview, David began his talk with Dermot by listening to the Holocaust denier claim that 'the whole narrative' around the genocide is false.

'When you examine it like I have done, there were no homicidal gas chambers,' said Dermot.

'There were 15 ovens, you can fit one or two maximum in at a time and it takes an hour to burn a body. Okay? So it's just not possible.'

Who is Holocaust denier Dermot Mulqueen? Dermot Mulqueen is an online Holocaust denier from Ennis, in Country Clare, Ireland. He ran a now deleted Facebook page under the moniker 'President Mulqueen'. He regularly shared memes about the Holocaust and claimed the genocide did not happen. His page offered 'alternative tours of Auschwitz with alleged facts about the camp. In 2015 was arrested after putting an axe through a TV in the main square, in protest at Holocaust Memorial Day. He told Ennis Circuit Court court he wanted to launch 'International Holocaust Hoax Day'. He was found guilty of breaching section nine of the Firearms Act and section six of the Public Order Act. In December 2015 his five-month sentence was suspended. Dermot describes himself as 'an artist' and writes political songs that can be found on his YouTube channel or purchased on his website. In 2016 he ran in the General Election to represent Clare (Dail constituency) as an independent MP He claimed on his Facebook page at the time that he would be demanding the reinstatement of 'Direct Democracy' if elected. He told he would reinstate Article 48 from the Constitution of the Irish Free State, which was removed in 1928. This would enable a form of democracy in which people decide on policy initiatives directly. Advertisement

David confesses that while he feels uncomfortable meeting with a Holocaust denier, and admits he will find it difficult to be objective

David then told Dermot that he wasn't interested in listening to tired rhetoric about Holocaust denial, insisting that 'none of it is real'.

'The fact that I'm denying the Holocaust, there's this hatred, you hate Europeans', said Dermot.

'There's this hatred the Jews have for Europeans, because we never saved them from gas chambers that never existed'.

'Why would we hate Europeans for something that actually never happened?, questioned David.

David replied: 'Because it's profitable'.

The pair were then sucked into a heated debate, where Dermot claimed Auschwitz had 'swimming pools and bakeries' and told David 'you control the BBC, do you accept that now?'

David replied: 'If I controlled the BBC, I'd really be on it more.'

David, pictured at Chemno Concentration Camp in Poland, is the grandchild of Holocaust survivors who fled to London to survive the genocide

The Holocaust denier went on to explain that claiming these events didn't take place 'balances' his life and believing these atrocious events didn't take place gives him 'peace of mind'.

After being quizzed on what exactly was troubling him before, he went on: 'I always felt, I'd open a newspaper and open an article about the Holocaust. This victim of the Holocaust and this fear.

'There is this narrative about antisemitism in Europe. Most of the anti-antisemitism Jews have encountered is has been satanic child sacrifice of Christians of Jews. It's happened over the centuries.'

'Do you think Jews are still sacrificing babies?, asked David.

'I don't know, that's something you'd know,' Dermot replied.

Then, in an odd turn of events, Dermot performed a song he had written himself about how Jews buying cars made by German companies like Mercedes-Benz or Audi proves the Holocaust did not happen.

Dermot ran a now deleted Facebook page under the moniker 'President Mulqueen' where he regularly shared memes about the Holocaust and claimed the genocide did not happen

He claimed that after the Holocaust, Jewish people would not be inclined to buy German cars, because they would not want to be reminded of the horrors their people had been through.

The bizarre song had lyrics including: 'Outside the synagogue there are 50 Mercs, Auschwitz had its perks.

'Brainwashes man about yesterday, we're taught their version of history'.

When quizzed on the reference to cars in the song, Dermot said: 'Isn't it really bizarre that if you're a Jew that you'd buy a German car, that you'd get out of everyday.'

David bluntly replied. 'No, I have an Audi.'

He went on: 'That proves, does it, that the Holocaust doesn't happen does it? That I have an Audi.'

'Well it does raise questions', insisted Dermot.

Reflecting on his meeting with the Holocaust denier, David said that while he understands that Dermot may be using his beliefs as a form of escapism from the real world, the threat posed by people like Dermot must be taken seriously.

'The whole thing was f*** weird', said David, 'That was one of the weirdest moments of my life, especially the song.

'The room, the revelry, the kind of "Here I am in my own personal anti-Semitic Woodstock".

'He's using this stuff to try and make his world make sense. I think it's important to understand however mad Dermot seems, we're not shooting fish in a barrel here, people believe this s***.'

Confronting Holocaust Denial with David Baddiel airs at 9pm on Monday night on BBC2.
The fight between the U.S. and Europe over Chinese technology is threatening to split the transatlantic military alliance.

With the U.S. defence establishment identifying China as its No. 1 priority, a bi-partisan delegation headed by Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rammed home their concerns about the use of equipment from Huawei Technologies Co. at the Munich Security Conference over the weekend. The officials warned that installing Huawei kit could undermine co-operation with U.S. allies as Donald Trumps hardball trade tactics started to infect his administrations relationships on defence.

Republicans and Democrats agree on this, said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a close ally of President Donald Trump. If you go down the Huawei road you are going to burn a lot of bridges.

European leaders have been hunkering down amid the Huawei storm as they try to maintain their critical relations with both sides in the U.S.-China trade war. Pelosis intervention on Friday signalled that they shouldnt pin their hopes on the problem blowing over if the Democrats win back the White House in December.

The atmosphere at the high-level gathering of security officials was an improvement on last year, when Vice-President Mike Pence and German Chancellor Angela Merkel clashed. But the structural tensions between the U.S. and Europe were if anything greater: Europes exports to China have become a critical plank in its economic model and the Chinese have threatened retaliation on European companies if the bloc follows Trump in banning one of its flagship technology companies.

The U.S. was on the back foot throughout because their strong-arm tactics have conspicuously failed to bring the Europeans into line: The EU stopped short of an outright ban on Huawei in its guidelines for 5G communication technology. Even the U.K., which has been energetically courting the White House as it begins life outside the EU, opted to use Huawei kit.

We have a tech Cold War right now thats on display right here and Europe wants no part in it, said Ian Bremmer, president and founder of political risk consultancy Eurasia Group. Theres never been such a rift with how Americans and Europeans define the security threat as right now.

That rift may have sweeping consequences as the western powers struggle to come to terms with the technological prowess China has developed since Xi Jinping in 2015 unveiled a 10-year plan to take the lead in industries like communications, I.T. and artificial intelligence. Huawei has become a lightning rod for the U.S.s wider insecurities.

If you dont understand the threat and we dont do something about it, at the end of the day, it could compromise what is the most successful military alliance in history: NATO, Defence Secretary Mark Esper said in Munich.

Europeans are already feeling uneasy about the state of NATO.

Opening the conference in the Bavarian capital, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier accused the Trump administration of rejecting the very concept of an international community. Every country, it believes, should look after itself and put its own interests before all others, he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who has said that NATO is undergoing brain death, said Saturday that Europe needs to build up its own capacity as a strategic power.

Since Trump took office, hes tried to end the Iran nuclear deal, withdrawn from the Paris Climate Accord and repeatedly threatened the EU with tariffs. So Pompeos claim that talk of the demise of the transatlantic relationship is grossly over-exaggerated was met with skepticism.

Hours later Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette was crowing that U.S. sanctions have managed to scupper a $6-billion (U.S.) project to link Germany and Russia with a new Baltic gas pipeline, Nord Stream 2.

For Europe, caught between the U.S. and its global rivals, the situation may yet get worse.

While Trump often touts his relationship with Xi, competition between the countries has only deepened since they signed their phase-one trade deal last month. The U.S. a week ago charged members of Chinas military over one of the biggest data thefts in American history and on Thursday charged Huawei with racketeering to engage in intellectual property theft.

And the coronavirus outbreak adds an extra element of uncertainty to the global political outlook  a disease originating in China is threatening to weaken the global economy in the run-up to a U.S. election.

The potential for this to get much uglier in a short period of time is real, said Bremmer.

Read more about:
A Pakistani judge on Monday took a jibe at India while wrapping up a case against 23 people protesting against the arrest of a Pashtun activist known for criticising the countrys powerful military.

Chief Justice Athar Minallah of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) took up the bail petitions of 23 workers of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) and Awami Workers Party (AWP), who were arrested by the Islamabad police last month for staging protest.

Everyones constitutional rights will be protected. This is Pakistan, not India, Chief Justice Minallah said.

During the hearing the chief justice said that we dont expect that a democratic government will curb freedom of expression.An elected democratic government cannot place curbs on freedom of expression. (We) shouldnt fear criticism, he remarked, adding that the courts will protect the constitutional rights of the people.

He asked the people to come to the court if they were not allowed by the government to hold protests.

If you want to protest, get permission. If you dont get permission, the court is here, he said.

When Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat told the court that all charges against the protesters had been dropped, the chief justice concluded that case, allowing all 23 activists to go free.

Last month, protesters were holding protests in front of the National Press Club here against the arrest of Manzoor Pashteen, the chief of the rights-based alliance PTM, when he was detained.

Pashteen attended a gathering on January 18 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwas Dera Ismail Khan city where he had allegedly said that the 1973 Constitution violated basic human rights.

The 27-year-old activist was arrested along with nine other PTM workers from Peshawar, police said.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
NEW YORK, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cryocooler market worldwide is projected to grow by US$1.3 Billion, driven by a compounded growth of 6.7%. Gifford-McMahon cryocoolers, one of the segments analyzed and sized in this study, displays the potential to grow at over 7.6%. The shifting dynamics supporting this growth makes it critical for businesses in this space to keep abreast of the changing pulse of the market. Poised to reach over US$682.5 Million by the year 2025, Gifford-McMahon cryocoolers will bring in healthy gains adding significant momentum to global growth.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05798277/?utm_source=PRN

- Representing the developed world, the United States will maintain a 5.7% growth momentum. Within Europe, which continues to remain an important element in the world economy, Germany will add over US$44.7 Million to the region's size and clout in the next 5 to 6 years. Over US$38.4 Million worth of projected demand in the region will come from Rest of Europe markets. In Japan, Gifford-McMahon cryocoolers will reach a market size of US$18.2 Million by the close of the analysis period. As the world's second largest economy and the new game changer in global markets, China exhibits the potential to grow at 10% over the next couple of years and add approximately US$352.4 Million in terms of addressable opportunity for the picking by aspiring businesses and their astute leaders. Presented in visually rich graphics are these and many more need-to-know quantitative data important in ensuring quality of strategy decisions, be it entry into new markets or allocation of resources within a portfolio. Several macroeconomic factors and internal market forces will shape growth and development of demand patterns in emerging countries in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East. All research viewpoints presented are based on validated engagements from influencers in the market, whose opinions supersede all other research methodologies.

- Competitors identified in this market include, among others, Advanced Research Systems, Inc.; AIM Infrarot-Module GmbH; Air Liquide SA; Brooks Automation, Inc.; Chart Industries, Inc.; Creare LLC; Cryomech, Inc.; Fabrum Solutions Ltd.; Janis Research Company, LLC.; L3 Cincinnati Electronics; Le-tehnika, d.o.o. ; Lihan Technologies Co., Ltd.; Northrop Grumman Corporation; Oxford Cryosystems; Ricor - Cryogenic & Vacuum Systems; Sierra Lobo, Inc.; Stratox Limited; Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ltd.; Sunpower Inc.; Superconductor Technologies, Inc.; Thales Cryogenics B.V.; Tristan Technologies, Inc.; Vacree Technologies Co., Ltd.



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05798277/?utm_source=PRN



I. METHODOLOGY



II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



1. MARKET OVERVIEW

A Prelude into Cryocoolers

Cryocooler Market to Witness Steady Growth

Stirling Cryocoolers to Register Highest Growth

Military Application Segment Accounted for Largest Share

Global Competitor Market Shares

Cryocooler Competitor Market Share Scenario Worldwide (in %):

2019 & 2025

2. FOCUS ON SELECT PLAYERS

A Prelude into leading Players

Global Cryocooler Market by Leading Player: Market Share

Breakdown of Sales for 2018

Select Noteworthy Acquisition

3. MARKET TRENDS & DRIVERS

Shortage for Helium Gas to Drive Market Growth

Total Amount of Helium Produced (in Million Cubic Feet): 2016-2019

Growing Healthcare Services in Emerging Economies to Support

Growth

Worldwide Health Care Spending (in Billion USD): 2017-2022

Growing Demand for Liquefied Natural Gas to Spur Crycoolers Market

Worldwide Growth of LNG Demand: 2018-2030

Demand for LNG by Country: 2015-2030

Innovations to Bolster Market Growth

Widening of Application Base to Bolster Market Growth

Cryocoolers in Semiconductor Industry

Cryogenic Refrigerators for Space Applications

4. GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE

Table 1: Cryocooler Global Market Estimates and Forecasts in

US$ Million by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 2: Cryocooler Global Retrospective Market Scenario in US$

Million by Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 3: Cryocooler Market Share Shift across Key Geographies

Worldwide: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 4: Gifford-McMahon cryocoolers (Type) World Market by

Region/Country in US$ Million: 2018 to 2025

Table 5: Gifford-McMahon cryocoolers (Type) Historic Market

Analysis by Region/Country in US$ Million: 2009 to 2017

Table 6: Gifford-McMahon cryocoolers (Type) Market Share

Breakdown of Worldwide Sales by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS

2025

Table 7: Pulse-Tube cryocoolers (Type) Potential Growth Markets

Worldwide in US$ Million: 2018 to 2025

Table 8: Pulse-Tube cryocoolers (Type) Historic Market

Perspective by Region/Country in US$ Million: 2009 to 2017

Table 9: Pulse-Tube cryocoolers (Type) Market Sales Breakdown

by Region/Country in Percentage: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 10: Stirling cryocoolers (Type) Geographic Market Spread

Worldwide in US$ Million: 2018 to 2025

Table 11: Stirling cryocoolers (Type) Region Wise Breakdown of

Global Historic Demand in US$ Million: 2009 to 2017

Table 12: Stirling cryocoolers (Type) Market Share Distribution

in Percentage by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 13: Joule Thomson cryocoolers (Type) World Market

Estimates and Forecasts by Region/Country in US$ Million: 2018

to 2025

Table 14: Joule Thomson cryocoolers (Type) Market Historic

Review by Region/Country in US$ Million: 2009 to 2017

Table 15: Joule Thomson cryocoolers (Type) Market Share

Breakdown by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 16: Brayton cryocoolers (Type) World Market by

Region/Country in US$ Million: 2018 to 2025

Table 17: Brayton cryocoolers (Type) Historic Market Analysis

by Region/Country in US$ Million: 2009 to 2017

Table 18: Brayton cryocoolers (Type) Market Share Distribution

in Percentage by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 19: Military (Application) Sales Estimates and Forecasts

in US$ Million by Region/Country for the Years 2018 through

2025

Table 20: Military (Application) Analysis of Historic Sales in

US$ Million by Region/Country for the Years 2009 to 2017

Table 21: Military (Application) Global Market Share

Distribution by Region/Country for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 22: Medical (Application) Global Opportunity Assessment

in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 23: Medical (Application) Historic Sales Analysis in US$

Million by Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 24: Medical (Application) Percentage Share Breakdown of

Global Sales by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 25: Commercial (Application) Worldwide Sales in US$

Million by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 26: Commercial (Application) Historic Demand Patterns in

US$ Million by Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 27: Commercial (Application) Market Share Shift across

Key Geographies: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 28: Energy & Power (Application) Global Market Estimates &

Forecasts in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 29: Energy & Power (Application) Retrospective Demand

Analysis in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 30: Energy & Power (Application) Market Share Breakdown

by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 31: Research & Development (Application) Demand Potential

Worldwide in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 32: Research & Development (Application) Historic Sales

Analysis in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 33: Research & Development (Application) Share Breakdown

Review by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 34: Other Applications (Application) Worldwide Latent

Demand Forecasts in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 35: Other Applications (Application) Global Historic

Analysis in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 36: Other Applications (Application) Distribution of

Global Sales by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025



III. MARKET ANALYSIS



GEOGRAPHIC MARKET ANALYSIS

UNITED STATES

Market Facts & Figures

US Cryocooler Market Share (in %) by Company: 2019 & 2025

Table 37: United States Cryocooler Market Estimates and

Projections in US$ Million by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 38: Cryocooler Market in the United States by Type: A

Historic Review in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 39: United States Cryocooler Market Share Breakdown by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 40: United States Cryocooler Latent Demand Forecasts in

US$ Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 41: Cryocooler Historic Demand Patterns in the United

States by Application in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 42: Cryocooler Market Share Breakdown in the United

States by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

CANADA

Table 43: Canadian Cryocooler Market Estimates and Forecasts in

US$ Million by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 44: Canadian Cryocooler Historic Market Review by Type in

US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 45: Cryocooler Market in Canada: Percentage Share

Breakdown of Sales by Type for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 46: Canadian Cryocooler Market Quantitative Demand

Analysis in US$ Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 47: Cryocooler Market in Canada: Summarization of

Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Million by Application for

2009-2017

Table 48: Canadian Cryocooler Market Share Analysis by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

JAPAN

Table 49: Japanese Market for Cryocooler: Annual Sales

Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by Type for the Period

2018-2025

Table 50: Cryocooler Market in Japan: Historic Sales Analysis

in US$ Million by Type for the Period 2009-2017

Table 51: Japanese Cryocooler Market Share Analysis by Type:

2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 52: Japanese Demand Estimates and Forecasts for

Cryocooler in US$ Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 53: Japanese Cryocooler Market in US$ Million by

Application: 2009-2017

Table 54: Cryocooler Market Share Shift in Japan by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

CHINA

Table 55: Chinese Cryocooler Market Growth Prospects in US$

Million by Type for the Period 2018-2025

Table 56: Cryocooler Historic Market Analysis in China in US$

Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 57: Chinese Cryocooler Market by Type: Percentage

Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 58: Chinese Demand for Cryocooler in US$ Million by

Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 59: Cryocooler Market Review in China in US$ Million by

Application: 2009-2017

Table 60: Chinese Cryocooler Market Share Breakdown by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

EUROPE

Market Facts & Figures

European Cryocooler Market: Competitor Market Share Scenario

(in %) for 2019 & 2025

Table 61: European Cryocooler Market Demand Scenario in US$

Million by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 62: Cryocooler Market in Europe: A Historic Market

Perspective in US$ Million by Region/Country for the Period

2009-2017

Table 63: European Cryocooler Market Share Shift by

Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 64: European Cryocooler Market Estimates and Forecasts in

US$ Million by Type: 2018-2025

Table 65: Cryocooler Market in Europe in US$ Million by Type: A

Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 66: European Cryocooler Market Share Breakdown by Type:

2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 67: European Cryocooler Addressable Market Opportunity in

US$ Million by Application: 2018-2025

Table 68: Cryocooler Market in Europe: Summarization of

Historic Demand in US$ Million by Application for the Period

2009-2017

Table 69: European Cryocooler Market Share Analysis by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

FRANCE

Table 70: Cryocooler Market in France by Type: Estimates and

Projections in US$ Million for the Period 2018-2025

Table 71: French Cryocooler Historic Market Scenario in US$

Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 72: French Cryocooler Market Share Analysis by Type: 2009

VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 73: Cryocooler Quantitative Demand Analysis in France in

US$ Million by Application: 2018-2025

Table 74: French Cryocooler Historic Market Review in US$

Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 75: French Cryocooler Market Share Analysis: A 17-Year

Perspective by Application for 2009, 2019, and 2025

GERMANY

Table 76: Cryocooler Market in Germany: Recent Past, Current

and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Type for the Period

2018-2025

Table 77: German Cryocooler Historic Market Analysis in US$

Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 78: German Cryocooler Market Share Breakdown by Type:

2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 79: Cryocooler Market in Germany: Annual Sales Estimates

and Forecasts in US$ Million by Application for the Period

2018-2025

Table 80: German Cryocooler Market in Retrospect in US$ Million

by Application: 2009-2017

Table 81: Cryocooler Market Share Distribution in Germany by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ITALY

Table 82: Italian Cryocooler Market Growth Prospects in US$

Million by Type for the Period 2018-2025

Table 83: Cryocooler Historic Market Analysis in Italy in US$

Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 84: Italian Cryocooler Market by Type: Percentage

Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 85: Italian Demand for Cryocooler in US$ Million by

Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 86: Cryocooler Market Review in Italy in US$ Million by

Application: 2009-2017

Table 87: Italian Cryocooler Market Share Breakdown by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

UNITED KINGDOM

Table 88: United Kingdom Market for Cryocooler: Annual Sales

Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by Type for the Period

2018-2025

Table 89: Cryocooler Market in the United Kingdom: Historic

Sales Analysis in US$ Million by Type for the Period 2009-2017

Table 90: United Kingdom Cryocooler Market Share Analysis by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 91: United Kingdom Demand Estimates and Forecasts for

Cryocooler in US$ Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 92: United Kingdom Cryocooler Market in US$ Million by

Application: 2009-2017

Table 93: Cryocooler Market Share Shift in the United Kingdom

by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

SPAIN

Table 94: Spanish Cryocooler Market Estimates and Forecasts in

US$ Million by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 95: Spanish Cryocooler Historic Market Review by Type in

US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 96: Cryocooler Market in Spain: Percentage Share

Breakdown of Sales by Type for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 97: Spanish Cryocooler Market Quantitative Demand

Analysis in US$ Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 98: Cryocooler Market in Spain: Summarization of Historic

Demand Patterns in US$ Million by Application for 2009-2017

Table 99: Spanish Cryocooler Market Share Analysis by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

RUSSIA

Table 100: Russian Cryocooler Market Estimates and Projections

in US$ Million by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 101: Cryocooler Market in Russia by Type: A Historic

Review in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 102: Russian Cryocooler Market Share Breakdown by Type:

2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 103: Russian Cryocooler Latent Demand Forecasts in US$

Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 104: Cryocooler Historic Demand Patterns in Russia by

Application in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 105: Cryocooler Market Share Breakdown in Russia by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF EUROPE

Table 106: Rest of Europe Cryocooler Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Type: 2018-2025

Table 107: Cryocooler Market in Rest of Europe in US$ Million

by Type: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 108: Rest of Europe Cryocooler Market Share Breakdown by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 109: Rest of Europe Cryocooler Addressable Market

Opportunity in US$ Million by Application: 2018-2025

Table 110: Cryocooler Market in Rest of Europe: Summarization

of Historic Demand in US$ Million by Application for the Period

2009-2017

Table 111: Rest of Europe Cryocooler Market Share Analysis by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ASIA-PACIFIC

Table 112: Asia-Pacific Cryocooler Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 113: Cryocooler Market in Asia-Pacific: Historic Market

Analysis in US$ Million by Region/Country for the Period

2009-2017

Table 114: Asia-Pacific Cryocooler Market Share Analysis by

Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 115: Cryocooler Market in Asia-Pacific by Type: Estimates

and Projections in US$ Million for the Period 2018-2025

Table 116: Asia-Pacific Cryocooler Historic Market Scenario in

US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 117: Asia-Pacific Cryocooler Market Share Analysis by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 118: Cryocooler Quantitative Demand Analysis in

Asia-Pacific in US$ Million by Application: 2018-2025

Table 119: Asia-Pacific Cryocooler Historic Market Review in

US$ Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 120: Asia-Pacific Cryocooler Market Share Analysis: A

17-Year Perspective by Application for 2009, 2019, and 2025

AUSTRALIA

Table 121: Cryocooler Market in Australia: Recent Past, Current

and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Type for the Period

2018-2025

Table 122: Australian Cryocooler Historic Market Analysis in

US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 123: Australian Cryocooler Market Share Breakdown by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 124: Cryocooler Market in Australia: Annual Sales

Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Million by Application for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 125: Australian Cryocooler Market in Retrospect in US$

Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 126: Cryocooler Market Share Distribution in Australia by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

INDIA

Table 127: Indian Cryocooler Market Estimates and Forecasts in

US$ Million by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 128: Indian Cryocooler Historic Market Review by Type in

US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 129: Cryocooler Market in India: Percentage Share

Breakdown of Sales by Type for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 130: Indian Cryocooler Market Quantitative Demand

Analysis in US$ Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 131: Cryocooler Market in India: Summarization of

Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Million by Application for

2009-2017

Table 132: Indian Cryocooler Market Share Analysis by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

SOUTH KOREA

Table 133: Cryocooler Market in South Korea: Recent Past,

Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Type for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 134: South Korean Cryocooler Historic Market Analysis in

US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 135: Cryocooler Market Share Distribution in South Korea

by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 136: Cryocooler Market in South Korea: Recent Past,

Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Application for

the Period 2018-2025

Table 137: South Korean Cryocooler Historic Market Analysis in

US$ Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 138: Cryocooler Market Share Distribution in South Korea

by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF ASIA-PACIFIC

Table 139: Rest of Asia-Pacific Market for Cryocooler: Annual

Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by Type for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 140: Cryocooler Market in Rest of Asia-Pacific: Historic

Sales Analysis in US$ Million by Type for the Period 2009-2017

Table 141: Rest of Asia-Pacific Cryocooler Market Share

Analysis by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 142: Rest of Asia-Pacific Demand Estimates and Forecasts

for Cryocooler in US$ Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 143: Rest of Asia-Pacific Cryocooler Market in US$

Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 144: Cryocooler Market Share Shift in Rest of

Asia-Pacific by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

LATIN AMERICA

Table 145: Latin American Cryocooler Market Trends by

Region/Country in US$ Million: 2018-2025

Table 146: Cryocooler Market in Latin America in US$ Million by

Region/Country: A Historic Perspective for the Period 2009-2017

Table 147: Latin American Cryocooler Market Percentage

Breakdown of Sales by Region/Country: 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 148: Latin American Cryocooler Market Growth Prospects in

US$ Million by Type for the Period 2018-2025

Table 149: Cryocooler Historic Market Analysis in Latin America

in US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 150: Latin American Cryocooler Market by Type:

Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 151: Latin American Demand for Cryocooler in US$ Million

by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 152: Cryocooler Market Review in Latin America in US$

Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 153: Latin American Cryocooler Market Share Breakdown by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ARGENTINA

Table 154: Argentinean Cryocooler Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Type: 2018-2025

Table 155: Cryocooler Market in Argentina in US$ Million by

Type: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 156: Argentinean Cryocooler Market Share Breakdown by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 157: Argentinean Cryocooler Addressable Market

Opportunity in US$ Million by Application: 2018-2025

Table 158: Cryocooler Market in Argentina: Summarization of

Historic Demand in US$ Million by Application for the Period

2009-2017

Table 159: Argentinean Cryocooler Market Share Analysis by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

BRAZIL

Table 160: Cryocooler Market in Brazil by Type: Estimates and

Projections in US$ Million for the Period 2018-2025

Table 161: Brazilian Cryocooler Historic Market Scenario in US$

Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 162: Brazilian Cryocooler Market Share Analysis by Type:

2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 163: Cryocooler Quantitative Demand Analysis in Brazil in

US$ Million by Application: 2018-2025

Table 164: Brazilian Cryocooler Historic Market Review in US$

Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 165: Brazilian Cryocooler Market Share Analysis: A

17-Year Perspective by Application for 2009, 2019, and 2025

MEXICO

Table 166: Cryocooler Market in Mexico: Recent Past, Current

and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Type for the Period

2018-2025

Table 167: Mexican Cryocooler Historic Market Analysis in US$

Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 168: Mexican Cryocooler Market Share Breakdown by Type:

2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 169: Cryocooler Market in Mexico: Annual Sales Estimates

and Forecasts in US$ Million by Application for the Period

2018-2025

Table 170: Mexican Cryocooler Market in Retrospect in US$

Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 171: Cryocooler Market Share Distribution in Mexico by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF LATIN AMERICA

Table 172: Rest of Latin America Cryocooler Market Estimates

and Projections in US$ Million by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 173: Cryocooler Market in Rest of Latin America by Type:

A Historic Review in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 174: Rest of Latin America Cryocooler Market Share

Breakdown by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 175: Rest of Latin America Cryocooler Latent Demand

Forecasts in US$ Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 176: Cryocooler Historic Demand Patterns in Rest of Latin

America by Application in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 177: Cryocooler Market Share Breakdown in Rest of Latin

America by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

MIDDLE EAST

Table 178: The Middle East Cryocooler Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 179: Cryocooler Market in the Middle East by

Region/Country in US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 180: The Middle East Cryocooler Market Share Breakdown by

Region/Country: 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 181: The Middle East Cryocooler Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 182: The Middle East Cryocooler Historic Market by Type

in US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 183: Cryocooler Market in the Middle East: Percentage

Share Breakdown of Sales by Type for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 184: The Middle East Cryocooler Market Quantitative

Demand Analysis in US$ Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 185: Cryocooler Market in the Middle East: Summarization

of Historic Demand Patterns in US$ Million by Application for

2009-2017

Table 186: The Middle East Cryocooler Market Share Analysis by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

IRAN

Table 187: Iranian Market for Cryocooler: Annual Sales

Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by Type for the Period

2018-2025

Table 188: Cryocooler Market in Iran: Historic Sales Analysis

in US$ Million by Type for the Period 2009-2017

Table 189: Iranian Cryocooler Market Share Analysis by Type:

2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 190: Iranian Demand Estimates and Forecasts for

Cryocooler in US$ Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 191: Iranian Cryocooler Market in US$ Million by

Application: 2009-2017

Table 192: Cryocooler Market Share Shift in Iran by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ISRAEL

Table 193: Israeli Cryocooler Market Estimates and Forecasts in

US$ Million by Type: 2018-2025

Table 194: Cryocooler Market in Israel in US$ Million by Type:

A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 195: Israeli Cryocooler Market Share Breakdown by Type:

2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 196: Israeli Cryocooler Addressable Market Opportunity in

US$ Million by Application: 2018-2025

Table 197: Cryocooler Market in Israel: Summarization of

Historic Demand in US$ Million by Application for the Period

2009-2017

Table 198: Israeli Cryocooler Market Share Analysis by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

SAUDI ARABIA

Table 199: Saudi Arabian Cryocooler Market Growth Prospects in

US$ Million by Type for the Period 2018-2025

Table 200: Cryocooler Historic Market Analysis in Saudi Arabia

in US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 201: Saudi Arabian Cryocooler Market by Type: Percentage

Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 202: Saudi Arabian Demand for Cryocooler in US$ Million

by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 203: Cryocooler Market Review in Saudi Arabia in US$

Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 204: Saudi Arabian Cryocooler Market Share Breakdown by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Table 205: Cryocooler Market in the United Arab Emirates:

Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Type

for the Period 2018-2025

Table 206: United Arab Emirates Cryocooler Historic Market

Analysis in US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 207: Cryocooler Market Share Distribution in United Arab

Emirates by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 208: Cryocooler Market in the United Arab Emirates:

Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by

Application for the Period 2018-2025

Table 209: United Arab Emirates Cryocooler Historic Market

Analysis in US$ Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 210: Cryocooler Market Share Distribution in United Arab

Emirates by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF MIDDLE EAST

Table 211: Cryocooler Market in Rest of Middle East: Recent

Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Type for

the Period 2018-2025

Table 212: Rest of Middle East Cryocooler Historic Market

Analysis in US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 213: Rest of Middle East Cryocooler Market Share

Breakdown by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 214: Cryocooler Market in Rest of Middle East: Annual

Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Million by Application for

the Period 2018-2025

Table 215: Rest of Middle East Cryocooler Market in Retrospect

in US$ Million by Application: 2009-2017

Table 216: Cryocooler Market Share Distribution in Rest of

Middle East by Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

AFRICA

Table 217: African Cryocooler Market Estimates and Projections

in US$ Million by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 218: Cryocooler Market in Africa by Type: A Historic

Review in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 219: African Cryocooler Market Share Breakdown by Type:

2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 220: African Cryocooler Latent Demand Forecasts in US$

Million by Application: 2018 to 2025

Table 221: Cryocooler Historic Demand Patterns in Africa by

Application in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 222: Cryocooler Market Share Breakdown in Africa by

Application: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025



IV. COMPETITION



AIM INFRAROT-MODULE GMBH

ADVANCED RESEARCH SYSTEMS, INC.

AIR LIQUIDE SA

BROOKS AUTOMATION

CHART INDUSTRIES

CREARE

CRYOMECH, INC.

FABRUM SOLUTIONS

JANIS RESEARCH COMPANY

L3 CINCINNATI ELECTRONICS

LE-TEHNIKA, D.O.O.

LIHAN TECHNOLOGIES

NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORPORATION

OXFORD CRYOSYSTEMS

RICOR - CRYOGENIC & VACUUM SYSTEMS

SIERRA LOBO

STRATOX LIMITED

SUMITOMO HEAVY INDUSTRIES

SUNPOWER INC.

SUPERCONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES

THALES CRYOGENICS B.V.

TRISTAN TECHNOLOGIES

VACREE TECHNOLOGIES



V. CURATED RESEARCH

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05798277/?utm_source=PRN



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________

Contact Clare: [email protected]

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001

SOURCE Reportlinker

Related Links

www.reportlinker.com


ne estimate put the crowd at over a lakh, with thousands milling on the streets.

Delhi lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal greets AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal after he took oath as the chief minister of Delhi for the third consecutive time at a ceremony at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on Sunday. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Soon after he was sworn in as chief minister of Delhi for the third time, Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday sought the blessings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and expressed his desire to work together with the Centre for the development of the national capital. Mr Kejriwal said as the election was over, politics was also over and he has forgiven his opponents for the remarks made during the campaign.

At 12 noon, the moment Mr Kejriwal climbed onto the dais to take the oath, a cheer rang through the crowd, that spilled outside the iconic Ramlila Maidan. One estimate put the crowd at over a lakh, with thousands milling on the streets.

The sprawling Ramlila Maidan had also served as the battleground for the 51-year-old bureaucrat-politician during the Anna Hazare-led India Against Corruption movement. It is the same venue where socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan had addressed a massive gathering during the Total Revolution movement in the 1970s. Mr Kejriwal is the first and only Delhi CM who opted for Ramlila Maidan as the venue for his oath ceremonies. All his predecessors had taken the oath at Raj Niwas.

After being sworn in along with six Cabinet colleagues  Manish Sisodia, Satyendra Jain, Gopal Rai, Rajendra Gautam, Imran Hussain and Kailash Gahlot  Mr Kejriwal began his address with Bharat Mata ki Jai, Inquilab Zindabad and Vande Mataram, and ended it by singing Hum Honge Kamyaab (We shall overcome), in which he was joined by thousands, waving the tricolour, banners and wielding jhadus (brooms).

Striking a conciliatory note after his stupendous victory in the Assembly polls by bagging 62 out of 70 seats, Mr Kejriwal, whose earlier tenure was marred by many run-ins with the Centre, termed himself Delhis son and the chief of minister of all people irrespective of the party they voted for. He said: I had sent an invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for this event. He could not come, maybe he is busy at some other event. But through this platform, I want to take his blessings and say that I want to work with the Central government to develop Delhi and take it forward.

The BJP had mounted its one of the most aggressive campaigns in the Delhi Assembly polls. Several BJP leaders had made controversial and even incendiary remarks against their rivals, prompting the Election Commission to take serious action like barring Union minister Anurag Thakur and BJP MP Parvesh Verma from campaigning. Mr Verma in a public meeting had termed Mr Kejriwal a terrorist.

The chief minister sought cooperation from his political opponents, saying he had forgiven them for remarks against him during the high-octane campaign. He said: Some people had voted for AAP, BJP and Congress during the polls. But from now on, I am everyones chief minister  irrespective of their political affiliation.

Mr Kejriwal said Delhiites had given birth to a new kind of politics in the country  which involves schools, hospitals, electricity, water, good roads and womens security. He said: In the last five years, I have worked for everyone. I have never worked with bias. Today, the entire two-crore population is a part of my family. Never hesitate to approach me, I will work for everyone. We still have a lot to achieve here. I want to work with everyone together.

Mr Kejriwal also talked of the freebies his government had provided in the last five years and said it would be a shame if he charged people for basic amenities. He said: Some people say Kejriwal is giving everything for free. Nature has ensured every valuable thing in the world is free, be it mothers love, fathers blessings or Shravan Kumars dedication. So, Kejriwal loves his people and hence this love is free... I should be ashamed if I charge those who take treatment in government hospitals or study in government schools.

While lauding the people of Delhi for changing the politics of the country, Mr Kejriwal said the name of India will resonate in the world due to this new wave of politics. Delhis nirmatas (makers) are sitting here... Lakhs of nirmatas run Delhi... Politicians come and go but Delhis nirmatas run the city. About 50 people from different walks of life who are Delhi ke Nirmata and have contributed to the citys development in the last five years shared the stage with Mr Kejriwal during his swearing-in ceremony as special guests.

Mr Kejriwals parents, wife and two children were at the swearing-in. The others present at the ceremony included AAP leaders from Punjab, including many MLAs and MP Bhagwant Mann, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and BJPs recently re-elected legislators Vijender Gupta and O.P. Sharma.
Soros Fund Management, the firm founded by legendary guru George Soros (Trades, Portfolio), disclosed last week that its top five buys for the fourth quarter of 2019 were in Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI), Tiffany & Co. (NYSE:TIF), Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE:CPB), Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE:PXD) and WellCare Health Plans Inc. (NYSE:WCG).





Soros' theory of reflexivity is based on the premise that individual investor biases affect the economy and market transactions. The guru's firm seeks investing opportunities through the study of value and market prices of assets, stocks, bonds and other securities.

Soros converted his firm into a family office in 2011. As of December 2019, the $2.49 billion equity portfolio contains 140 stocks, with 32 new holdings and a turnover ratio of 15%. The top three sectors in terms of weight are communication services, financial services and real estate, with weights of 34%, 17.94% and 9.53%.

Activision Blizzard

Soros Fund Management purchased 758,500 shares of Activision Blizzard, giving the position 1.81% weight in the equity portfolio. Shares averaged $55.44 during the quarter.

The Santa Monica, California-based company publishes video games like "World of Warcraft" and "Call of Duty." GuruFocus ranks Activision Blizzard's profitability 9 out of 10 on several positive investing signs, which include profit margins that are outperforming over 85% of global competitors.

46cd8572517e46e47e51d661540e786d.png

Gurus with large holdings in Activision Blizzard include PRIMECAP Management (Trades, Portfolio) and Philippe Laffont (Trades, Portfolio).

01d8b9843e329bebda32daf4f9ce9825.png

Tiffany

Soros Fund Management purchased 236,750 shares of Tiffany, giving the holding 1.27% weight in the equity portfolio. Shares averaged $119.09 during the quarter.

b1b13683bbaaa97655397b770f0f6c87.png

Bound to a merger with LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE (MIL:LVMH), New York-based Tiffany produces luxury jewelry using polished diamonds. GuruFocus ranks Tiffany's profitability 8 out of 10: Even though the three-year revenue growth rate outperforms just 56.89% of global competitors, the company's profit margins and returns are outperforming over 85% of global companies producing luxury goods.

Story continues

9f3f07c0696d750b5cd8a4e907fa39fc.png

Jeremy Grantham (Trades, Portfolio)'s GMO also purchased shares of Tiffany during the quarter.

787a2e12c4d115f818ec64c73ad15f22.png

Campbell Soup

Soros Fund Management purchased 300,000 shares of Campbell Soup, giving the position 0.59% weight in the equity portfolio. Shares averaged $47.45 during the quarter.

cd1817d1f00f9b4bc3486f0ee900a9bb.png

The Camden, New Jersey-based company produces a wide range of convenience food products, with brands including Campbell's, Pace, Prego, Swanson, V8 and Pepperidge Farm. GuruFocus ranks the company's profitability 7 out of 10: The operating margin and return on equity outperform over 76% of global competitors despite gross profit margins contracting approximately 0.4% per year on average over the past five years.

f57f93f6b766a8d9ade7fce405242316.png

Third Point investor Daniel Loeb (Trades, Portfolio) owns 14.4 million shares of Campbell Soup as of fourth-quarter 2019, down 15.29% from his holding as of third-quarter 2019.

521dacad8b5502e025bd56b710f0f467.png

Pioneer Natural Resources

Soros Fund Management purchased 75,000 shares of Pioneer Natural Resources, giving the holding 0.46% weight in the equity portfolio. Shares averaged $133.56 during the quarter.

e9bd679137eabde1ae9c058eaecee0ca.png

The Irving, Texas-based company explores for and produces oil and natural gas primarily in the southern and central parts of the U.S., including the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Shale. GuruFocus ranks the company's profitability 7 out of 10 on several positive investing signs, which include an operating margin that outperforms 68.44% of global competitors and a three-year revenue growth rate that outperforms 90.87% of global energy exploration and production companies.

aebd57a582961ce62813c4a50ca794ea.png

WellCare Health Plans

Soros Fund Management purchased 33,624 shares of WellCare Health Plans, giving the position 0.45% weight in the equity portfolio. Shares averaged $301.65 during the quarter.

a1002f06d25bef2b2d2f49ef843fed82.png

The Tampa, Florida-based company provides government-sponsored managed care services like Medicare and Medicaid. GuruFocus ranks the company's financial strength 6 out of 10: Although it has a strong Altman Z-score of 3.72, WellCare's interest coverage of 7.8 underperforms 57.14% of global competitors.

a8793642b927d83b05c8f6473a9fb87f.png

Disclosure: No positions.

Read more here:

David Tepper's Top 5 Buys in the 4th Quarter

Top 5 4th-Quarter Buys of Chase Coleman's Tiger Global

Andreas Halvorsen's Top 5 Buys in the 4th Quarter







Not a Premium Member of GuruFocus? Sign up for a free 7-day trial here.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.






The Hamilton County Democratic Party will host its 2020 Democratic County Presidential Convention on Saturday, March 7, at the Chattanooga Convention Center, 1150 Carter Street in Chattanooga, to select representation from the county to attend the 3rd Congressional District Convention on March 21, to select the delegates to the 2020 DNC Convention in Milwaukee.

The deadline to submit one's declaration of candidacy to become a delegate is Feb. 20; forms can be found on the Tennessee Democratic Partys website.

The doors will open for convention registration at 12 p.m. The convention is open to all registered voters in the county who are supporters of the Democratic Party, have voted in the March 2020 Presidential Primary, and who agree to support the nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2020 Presidential election. The convention will begin at 1 p. when caucuses will be held for the top vote-getting presidential candidates in the 3rd Congressional District.

Officials said, "The party welcomes all who wish to participate in selecting Tennessee's delegates to the Democratic Presidential Convention in Milwaukee the week of July 13."

Information about becoming a DNC delegate and the rules governing the DNC Delegate Selection Process may be obtained from tndp.org, or from the Tennessee Democratic Party, 319 Plus Park Blvd, Ste 203, Nashville, Tn. 37217, 615 327-9779.

More information about the Hamilton County Convention can be found at hamcodems.com, or by emailing the Hamilton County Democratic Party at hcdp.us@gmail.com.
MARCY, N.Y.  A man was driving in Oneida County late last month when he said what appeared to be a police vehicle pulled him over.

The car that pulled him over in the town of Marcy on Jan. 28 had blue lights flashing behind its windshield, and two men in their 20s approached the car wearing black winter coats and black winter hats, the driver told troopers.

The driver told police he was taken to the rear of his vehicle and ordered to his knees. Then one of the men used a Q-tip to swab his mouth, the driver told police. While that happened, the second man searched his vehicle.

Then the men, described as six feet tall and possibly Hispanic, told the driver he was free to go.

State police are asking for more information about the impersonation case, troopers said in a news release. The mens coats and hats had no insignia for a law enforcement agency, troopers said of the drivers account.

Police did not identify the driver or say whether they had corroborated any of the drivers story.

Investigators are requesting to see if anyone traveling on state Route 49 between Rome and Utica between the hours of 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Jan. 28 may have witnessed this. They are asking anyone with information to call troopers at (315) 366-6000.

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.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 16:49:19|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- China has dispatched more than 30,000 medical staff, including elite medical groups, to assist in the fight against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in the epicenter Wuhan, Guo Yanhong, an official with the National Health Commission, said Monday.

China has sent about 11,000 intensive care specialists into the coronavirus-hit Wuhan, making up to approximately 10 percent of the country's total number of intensive care medics, Guo said at a press conference in Beijing.

Guo said three top-level medical groups led by Chinese academicians, namely Zhong Nanshan, Li Lanjuan and Wang Chen, have also joined the fight at the frontline.

The supportive medical groups were sent by 29 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, as well as the armed forces of China, according to Guo.
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

Mamata-led-TMC govt to provide Z-plus security cover to political strategist Prashant Kishor

India

oi-Mousumi Dash

Kolkata, Feb 17: The West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Monday has decided to provide Z-plus category security to Political strategist Prashant Kishor in the state.

Reportedly, the Z-plus security cover is one of the highest security in the country. And it is provided by one of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), preferably the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

According to reports, the West Bengal secretariat confirmed that official formalities from the WB Home Department have already procceeded in providing Z-plus category security to Kishor.

Last year, a month after the Lok Sabha result were declared, WB CM Mamata had picked Kishor to get her party ready for the 2021 West Bengal Assembly polls.

In the 2019, Lok Sabha polls, the BJP enoute in Bengal, winning 18 seats out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats from the state. In the later part of the year the TMC lost seven municipalities to the BJP.

However, after fifty four days of Kishor's appointment last year, TMC launched a programme called 'Didi Ke Bolo' (Tell Didi).

Prashant Kishor to come on board with AAP for Delhi Assembly polls

NEWS AT 3 PM, FEBRUARY 18th, 2020

Kishor's organisation, the I-PAC is presently working on the TMC's re-election campaign for the 2021 West Bengal Assembly polls to aid Mamata's bid for a third consecutive term.

I-PAC gained the attention in 2014 with his election strategy for Narendra Modi in the 2014 Lok Sabha election which proved to be the first big stage for him. The BJP won the 2014 Lok Sabha polls with his unique techniques, like- the 'chai pe charcha' (talks over tea) campaign, 3D rallies, conclaves and social media programmes.

JD(U) president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in 2018 appointed Prashant Kishor his deputy in the party after in 2015 Bihar Assembly polls Kishor's strategy ensured JD (U)-RJD-Congress' grand alliance victory.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, February 18, 2020, 0:04 [IST]
Citing a CBI letter giving a clean chit to some Puducherry government officials on alleged irregularities in medical admissions here in 2017, taken up by Lt Governor Kiran Bedi, Chief Minister V Narayanasamy on Monday accused her of causing 'mental agony" to them.

Speaking to reporters here, he said the government had received a letter from the CBI Director on February 10 that no prima facie case has been made out against the officials and no action has been contemplated against them.

The six member Central Admission Committee (CENTAC), including those from the health department, selected students for medical courses in four deemed to be universities and three medical colleges in 2017 on merit, he said.

However, the managements had failed to admit some students recommended by the Medical Council of India for the courses, he said.

The Chief Minister said CENTAC immediately drew the attention of the MCI to the matter.

In the meanwhile, Bedi 'intervened' and met higher ups in MCI with the charge that the officials had failed to admit students in keeping with rules and demanded a probe, he said.

MCI then referred the matter to CBI for investigation.

The CBI had booked two IAS officers and 11 government officials and private medical college administrators.

It had said that the public servants failed to implement proper admission procedures and helped the management of medical colleges by abusing their official position



The agency said 96 eligible students could not get admission because of the 'conspiracy' and the colleges admitted students not sponsored by CENTAC, by taking fees ranging from Rs 40-50 lakh.

The officials facing the CBI probe, including the CENTAC Chairman, later obtained anticipatory bail from the Madras High Court.

Narayanasamy alleged that Bedi had visited the CENTAC office here and threatened the officials, "causing agony and mental torture" to them.

He pointed out that the officials had only acted as per the rules relating to the admission of students.

The Chief Minister said he and the Health Minister had all along maintained that the officers of CENTAC and Health Department attached to the committee were not at faultand were functioning in consonance with the rules.

He charged Bedi with poking her nose in matters over which she has no authority.

The 'sufferings' caused to CENTAC officials was only the tip of the iceberg to focus how the Lt Governor was functioning right from the day she assumed office in 2016, he alleged.

The Chief Minister said the earlier Bedi left Puducherry the better and a new era would dawn when that happens.

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

Norwegian Film Institute selects NAGRA's DVnor Organizer Media Asset Management solution for worldwide distribution of content

Parties extend existing partnership with secure storage and one-click distribution of content to film festivals around the world

Secure storage and distribution are enabled by the DVnor Organizer solution integrated with NAGRA content protection technologies

Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Switzerland, and Phoenix (AZ), USA - February 17th, 2020 - NAGRA, a Kudelski Group (SIX:KUD.S) company and the world's leading independent provider of content protection and multiscreen television solutions, today announced that the Norwegian Film Institute (NFI) has selected NAGRA's media asset management platform, DVnor Organizer, for secure storage and one-click distribution of its films to more than 170 film festivals worldwide. The solution will enable the NFI to receive, store and distribute new cinema titles in high-quality from all the major Norwegian film producers and production companies, as well as store more than 300 catalogue titles. It will also provide subtitling packages in different languages.

"We're delighted to extend our collaboration with NAGRA and the DVnor team on the deployment of a media asset solution that will make it easy for us to store and distribute our film assets around the world in a highly secure environment with just one click," said Stine Helgeland, Head of Department Communications, Strategic Insight and International Relations, NFI. "The best part is that all of our needs are met with one solution, making the process extremely efficient and streamlined."

"Secure, efficient and smart content workflows are a must in today's film distribution environment and we're extremely proud that the NFI has entrusted us to store and distribute their film assets," said Morten Solbakken, EVP & COO DTV at NAGRA. "Our solutions are designed for film and content owners giving them with the peace of mind that their valuable content remains secure at every step of the process thanks to NAGRA's best-of-breed content protection technologies."

DVnor Organizer is an end-to-end media asset management solution that gives content owners full control of their master files, with automated ingestion, quality control and secure storage. Files are transcoded and distributed worldwide from the secure NAGRA cloud leveraging NAGRA content security and NexGuard forensic watermarking solutions. NAGRA currently provides a library solution to the NFI allowing all Norwegian citizens with a public library card to have access to their film catalogue.

Meet the DVnor team at the upcoming European Film Market Festival taking place in Berlin from February 20 to 27. To schedule a meeting, click here.

About NAGRA

NAGRA, the digital TV division of the Kudelski Group (SIX:KUD.S), provides security and multiscreen user experience solutions for the monetization of digital media. The company provides content providers and DTV operators worldwide with secure, open and integrated platforms and applications over broadcast, broadband and mobile platforms, enabling compelling and personalized viewing experiences. Please visit dtv.nagra.com for more information and follow us on Twitter at @nagrakudelski.

Contacts

Ivan Schnider

Marketing Communications

+41 21 732 09 40

ivan.schnider@nagra.com

Christine Oury

Marketing Communications

+1 415 962 5433

christine.oury@nagra.com
By Laman Ismayilova

Russian IP ORCHESTRA is back to amaze audience with unique live performance. Igor Ponomarenko and his orchestra have thrilled rock fans at Heydar Aliyev Palace.

The program titled "Legendary Rock Hits" featured songs by world-famous bands, including AC / DC, Metallica, Nirvana, Aerosmith, Green Day, Placebo, Blur, Corn, Rammstein, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Marlin Manson, Cranberries and others.

For the IP Orchestra, there are no boundaries in genres and styles. The Symphonic orchestra is conducted by an iconic figure of the music world Igor Ponomarenko, who performed in such famous concert halls of the world as LOlympia in Paris, Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, Turin Opera House etc.

The special guest of the evening was incredibly talented tar musician Ismayil Zulfugarov, who rocked the stage until the end of the show. The musician brilliantly performed the song Cambaz by Turkish "Mor ve Otesi" rock band as well as Led Zeppelin's epic song "Kashmir", Azernews reported.

Ismayil Zulfugarov is a multiple winner of international music competitions. Famous for his r&b/electro music, the tar musician has successfully represented Azerbaijan in Turkey, France, Russia, China and Lithuania. He also shared the same stage with well-known French musician Philippe Ganier (Filigan).

Rock music fans could truly feel the excitement and the thrill from the eternal music. Before the last note had died down the audience broke into a storm of applause.

---

Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
by Tanya Gazdik , February 16, 2020

American Honda is debuting two TV spots that tout new program benefits for certified pre-owned vehicles.

The spots, which both broke last week, are from RPA (Honda) and MullenLowe (Acura) and are running on network and cable TV, including Xandr, Ampersand and Dish. The campaign also will be promoted on Facebook through cut-down videos and GIFs.

Distinct from typical used cars, so-called CPO vehicles come with a warranty and other benefits formerly available only with the purchase of a new car.

An industry record of 2.8 million CPO vehicles were sold in 2019, the ninth straight year of best-ever certified sales. For American Honda, the CPO growth trend was evident with both the Honda and Acura brands, with Honda achieving an all-time high CPO sales record in 2019, up 8.60% from 2018.

advertisement advertisement

Hondas spot, At Peace, shows how searching for and purchasing a used Honda vehicle can be as stress-free as relaxing on the beach. Created by the director duo Terri Timely, the spot takes the viewer from an office setting to a tropical beach scene.

The Honda CPO program now offers a two-tier warranty: HondaTrue Certified and all-new HondaTrue Certified, which extends coverage to vehicles less than one years old.

Acuras spot, Wherever You Go, aims to challenge consumers' feelings of uncertainty when purchasing a used vehicle. The spot showcases various Acura vehicles driving on- and off-road, while highlighting new enhancements to the brands CPO program, including a comprehensive 182-point inspection, complimentary maintenance and powertrain warranty.
PLYMOUTH, Mass.  Why? Why? Why would someone do this? Gayle Manning asked as she looked down at vandalized Plymouth Rock on Monday morning.

She was one of many who traveled to the Plymouth waterfront to express disgust over the overnight damage to the landmark and other waterfront monuments by vandals wielding cans of spray paint.

Police Chief Michael Botieri said Plymouth Rock, the Pilgrim Maiden statue, a memorial granite bench and at least four of the Scallop Roll statues scattered about the waterfront by the Plymouth Area Chamber of Commerce were tagged with paint.

Vandals targeted Plymouth Rock and other waterfront monuments and statues in Plymouth, Massachusetts, overnight Sunday.

Similar graffiti, including an obscene message aimed at police, was found more than a mile away at the base of the state-owned National Monument to the Forefathers.

A Scallop Roll statue Plymouth, Massachusetts, was one of at least four of site vandalized overnight Sunday.

Much of the Plymouth Rock graffiti was indecipherable smears of paint, Botieri said, but several of the landmarks were tagged with the numbers and letters 508 MOF.

'Ice volcanoes' erupt on a Lake Michigan beach: Here's what they look like

Police detectives reviewed surveillance video from the area in hopes of identifying the vandals, Botieri said. Police searched along the rocky waterfront for discarded paint containers.

Vandals targeted the Pilgrim Maiden overnight Sunday.

Botieri said there does not appear to be any political connection to the graffiti, but some who gathered at Plymouth Rock on Monday morning wondered.

Manning noted that the graffiti occurred on Presidents Day and in 2020, which is the 400th anniversary of the pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock.

Maintenance crews from the town and the state set to work Monday cleaning up the graffiti with power washers and a solvent used to clean previous vandalism.

Plymouth Rock has been targeted occasionally over the years, sometimes by people with a political agenda.

Botieri acknowledged that this vandalism was beyond the scope of past tagging incidents.

Seeing this type of disrespect for the historic reminders of the Mayflower story is both sad and unsettling, Lea Filson, the executive director of local tourism agency See Plymouth, said in a statement. The outpouring of concern and anger over the incident has been a positive ending to a thoughtless gesture.

Story continues

As Plymouth commemorates the 400th anniversary of the landing of the Mayflower this year, we have already begun welcoming international and domestic visitors. The waterfront and the historic district are safe, well- lit, and will continue to welcome all who visit.

Follow reporter Rich Harbert on Twitter: @richharbertOCM

'Historic, unprecedented': Flooding swamps southern USA; Mississippi and Tennessee hardest hit

'Anything to save my kid': Mom plays hero as otter attacks dog, bites girl in Florida home

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Plymouth Rock vandalized in graffiti; Pilgrim Maiden statue damaged
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 15)  The Philippine government is looking into removing the travel restrictions imposed on visitors from Chinas special administrative regions as protective measure amid the novel coronavirus health threat, a tourism official said Saturday.

Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat told CNN Philippines Newsroom Weekend that the travel restrictions are based on how a country or a territory implements protocols on how to address the new viral infection, officially named as COVID-19, which started in Wuhan, China.

Romulo-Puyat made the statement following the consensus among infectious diseases task force members to scrap their order to bar the entry of tourists coming from Taiwan, citing the self-administered states implementation of very strict and excellent protocols in handing travelers.

Authorities have started imposing travel restrictions on tourists from China, including its special administrative regions Hong Kong and Macau, two weeks ago to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, officially named COVID-19.

Before, there was a question [on whether] people from China could go to Taiwan and come to the Philippines without detection. Now before they come here, we already know if they have been to China or not, Romulo-Puyat said.

In the case of Hong Kong and Macau, they have yet to meet the condition set by the Philippines Inter-agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, the official said.

Romulo-Puyat said early this week that the Philippines' tourism industry stands to lose 42.9 billion in revenue because of the restrictions imposed on travelers heading to or from China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. The secretary said the huge loss is assuming the travel ban will last for three months.

To cushion the blow, Puyat said they are working to boost domestic tourism. Some airlines, including Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific and AirAsia as well as hotels have agreed to come up with multiple promotions to help address the drop in their income.

Mainland China has more than 66,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with almost 1,500 deaths. Meanwhile, Hong Kong has reported 56 confirmed COVID-19 cases with one death; Taiwan recorded 18 cases and Macau, 10 cases.
AT-BASHI, Kyrgyzstan -- Hundreds of people gathered near the village of At-Bashi in Kyrgyzstan's central Naryn region on February 17 to protest against a Chinese project in the area.



The protest -- which included demonstrators riding on horseback -- is the latest in a series of public rallies against Beijing's growing presence in the Central Asian country.



The protesters, some of whom were on horses, demanded that Kyrgyzstan's central government cancel the planned construction of a $275-million logistics center that had been agreed on during Chinese President Xi Jinping's 2019 visit to Kyrgyzstan.



Protest organizers say more than 2,000 people took part in the rally. But the governments envoy to the region, Emilbek Alymkulov, downplayed the size of the crowd --- saying 700 to 800 people took part.



Alymkulov said Kyrgyzstan's government will issue a response to the demands of the demonstrators.



Protesters on February 17 held large banners, declaring: "We Are Against the Logistics Center," and "No Kyrgyz Land To China!"



Since January, there have been several protests against the Chinese investment project.



The logistics center is expected to house a network of small businesses and production facilities that will be given some trade benefits.



In August 2019, similar protests led to violent clashes between Kyrgyz villagers and Chinese employees at a Chinese-owned mine in Naryn. About 20 people were injured in those clashes, mostly Chinese workers.



Anti-Chinese sentiment in Kazakhstan has been rising in recent months amid reports about the plight of indigenous ethnic groups in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang including ethnic Kazakhs and ethnic Kyrgyz people.



The United Nations estimated in 2019 that 1 million ethnic Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim Turkic-speaking indigenous people in Xinjiang were being held in what Beijing describes as "counterextremism centers" in the province.



The UN also said millions more people have been forced into internment camps in China.



China describes the camps as "vocational education centers" aimed at helping people steer clear of terrorism and allowing them to be reintegrated into society.



In recent months, a series of demonstrations against reeducation camps for indigenous ethnic groups in Xinjiang were staged in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and the Russia's Republic of Tatarstan.
Museums can be found in almost any culture around the world and are mostly made to represent either unique or old, important or obscure artifacts created by humanity. Paintings, sculptures, lamps, chairs, or stools, everything deserves an opportunity to be remembered and put as an exhibition piece to be viewed by the general public. Across the world, people seem to tribute a lot of strange things.

8. Plastinarium, Germany

The use of various polymers was put to extreme use by a German chemist Gunther von Hagens.

If you do not know what plastination is, think of it as a process that preserves the human tissue after they die. The use of various polymers was put to extreme use by a German chemist Gunther von Hagens. In the city of Guben, you can visit the Plastinarium, a museum that displays human anatomy in the most direct way. You can see what happens to the muscle tissues of both animals and humans once they are in motion and performing various activities.

7. Underwater Museum, Mexico

This museum also serves another purpose, as its installations will be helpful in the coral growing process.

This museum in Cancun, Mexico, certainly offers a one of a kind trip to the museum. Museo Subacuatico de Arte, as the name suggests, is located underwater around Cancun, Isla Mujeres, and Punta Nizuc. If you dive below the surface, you can see over 500 real-sized sculptures attached firmly to the bottom of the sea. This museum also serves another purpose, as its installations will be helpful in the coral growing process.

6. Museum Of Sex, USA

Vintage pornography, costumes, and paintings all come together in this unique place that talks about the history and importance of sex.

Unsurprisingly, people decided to appreciate the act of sex, creating a sex museum in the state and city of New York. Ever since it opened in 2002, The Museum of Sex has provided an artistic input with its public display of the issues that arise with sexuality. With an underlying mission to create an open dialogue when it comes to sex, this New York museum offers you over 15,000 different erotic artifacts. Vintage pornography, costumes, and paintings all come together in this unique place that talks about the history and importance of sex.

5. International Museum Of Toilets, India

Found in the capital of India, this New Delhi attraction decided to put up an exhibition of nothing else than - toilets.

Found in the capital of India, this New Delhi attraction decided to put up an exhibition of nothing else than - toilets. In the Sulabh International Museum of Toilets, you have a unique opportunity to see what kind of toilets were used and developed in the previous 4,500 years. This unforgettable trip down the exciting roads of sanitation will dazzle you with gold toilets, the toilets that the Roman emperors used for doing number 1 and 2. If that is not enough - you can read poetry dedicated to toilets.

4. Mustard Museum, USA

If you thought you are going to leave without taking some with you, think again - the museum offers a vending machine where you can buy this fantastic condiment.

Who does not like a bit of that sweet and spicy yellow mustard when they have a grill in the backyard? Everyone! The people of Middleton, Wisconsin, are proud to have a whole museum dedicated to mustard in their town. In the museum, you can see close to 6,000 different mustard types that come from all corners of the United States. You can also see what kind of mustard do people from 70 countries around the world like to enjoy. If you thought you are going to leave without taking some with you, think again - the museum offers a vending machine where you can buy this fantastic condiment.

3. Torture Museum, Netherlands

The Museum of Torture also supports the Convention Against Torture, suggested by the United Nations.

The capital and the biggest city in the Netherlands, Amsterdam, is home to another odd place of culture. The Museum of Torture tells the story about times when torture and execution were almost an everyday occurrence. This bizarre museum showcases more than 40 different pieces, most of them being different torture devices, chairs covered in spikes, and various swords used for beheading. However, the educational purpose of this museum is also worth noting as the staff there educates students about modern ways of torture. The Museum of Torture also supports the Convention Against Torture, suggested by the United Nations.

2. Phallological Museum, Iceland

There are over 200 hundred penises, and parts of them, from different species found on Earth.

Found in the capital of Iceland, Reykjavik, this particular museum displays penises. A lot of them. There are over 200 hundred penises, and parts of them, from different species found on Earth. Phalluses of elephants, whales, and homo sapiens, all put on into a dazzling collection of wide-range phallic artistry. The founder, Sigurur Hjartarson, had a lifelong affection towards the phallic art, that started when he was just a child. After he got a pizzle, which is a bulls penis, he took the path of a penis art collector.

1. Museum Of Hangovers, Croatia

The Museum of Hangover is a trip down the drunken road, with pieces that talk stories about those wild nights out.

Yes, you read this one right. Dedicated to a feeling that comes after a rough night with the liquor, this museum is located in Croatias capital, Zagreb. The Museum of Hangover is a trip down the drunken road, with pieces that talk stories about those wild nights out. The walls of the museum are full of graffiti, and most of them share stories about what happened when they were under the influence of alcohol, finishing each other lines and creating funny and bizarre narratives.
A Caroline Flack biography is being prepared following the ex-Love Island presenter's death.

Flack took her own life at her London home on Saturday after she was told she would face trial for the alleged assault of her boyfriend Lewis Burton.

Caroline: The Short, Sweet And Tragic Life of Caroline Flack, written by Emily Herbert, is set to be released on April 30, with part of the profits being donated to cyber bullying charities, according to The Book Seller.

Publisher John Blake, who announced the new Ad Lib Publishing outfit last month to be run in partnership with Palazzo Editions, said Ms Herbert will 'reveal much that is unknown about this sad, sad story'.

'Emily is a wonderful writer who has serious and important things to say about this terrible tragedy,' he said.

Announcement of the new biography's publication was met with fierce criticism on social media, with Twitter users calling the work 'cynical' and 'ghoulish'.

Flack took her own life after a worried friend who was staying with her went to the shops, leaving her alone at her London flat

Caroline: The Short, Sweet And Tragic Life of Caroline Flack, written by Emily Herbert, is set to be released on April 30, with part of the profits being donated to cyber bullying charities

One user, Jenny, wrote: 'Ghoulish is the perfect description. That's partly why I questioned the speed, can it really be handled with any sensitivity so soon after her death?

'She promises new details, but who is going to speak to her? It just feels wrong on every level.'

Flack took her own life after a worried friend who was staying with her went to the shops, leaving her alone at her London flat.

Lou Teasdale, 36, couldn't get back into the flat when she returned. She called Flack's father Ian who gained entry to the flat where he found the star's body.

Her management team described her as 'vulnerable' and criticised the CPS for pushing ahead with the case despite her boyfriend Lewis Burton saying he did not want to press charges.

Announcement of the new biography's publication was met with fierce criticism on social media, with Twitter users calling the work 'cynical' and 'ghoulish'

He had said she hit him with a lamp at her former home in Islington in December and as part of her bail conditions the pair were banned from contacting each other.

Flack had already released a 2014 memoir called Storm in a C Cup where she revealed how she became 'Prince Harry's bit of rough' after spending an evening 'chatting and laughing' with the duke when they first met.

Harry, who was 25 at the time, was still serving in the Armed Forces while Caroline was making a name for herself as the co-host of Gladiators.

Her friend, Caroline Pinkham, set the pair up after she had previously dated the royal herself.

Contestants Mike Thalassitis and Sophie Gradon took their own lives following their appearances on the dating programme, throwing the show's future into question

In her memoir, Flack wrote: 'I knew (Caroline Pinkham) was friends with Prince Harry, and Id never met him, so I thought, ''Oh thats quite exciting'', and for a moment I perked up.

'So I was just sitting there and he arrived with a few others in tow and we all spent the evening chatting and laughing.'

However, the intense scrutiny from the media forced the pair to stop dating.

Caroline wrote: 'Once the story got out, that was it. We had to stop seeing each other.

'I was no longer Caroline Flack, TV presenter, I was Caroline Flack, Prince Harrys bit of rough.'
Prashant Kishor, the political strategist who was expelled from the Janata Dal(United) by party boss Nitish Kumar for his stand against the citizenship law, has said he will continue to be politically involved in his home state of Bihar.

Prashant Kishor and former Rajya Sabha member Pavan K Varma, once the closest aides of Kumar, have attacked the citizenship law that enables the government to fast-track citizenship for non-Muslims from three neighbouring Muslim-majority countries, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

Kishor had also pointed out that the citizenship law, if combined with the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), held the potential to harass people from the Muslim community.

I am not giving up my political journey in Bihar, said Kishor on Monday.

Kishor, however, did not elaborate on how he would go about it.

I will speak about that in Patna, he said.

He will reach Patna on Tuesday on his first visit to Bihar after being expelled from the JD(U) following his criticism of the partys stand on the Citizenship Amendment Act. The JD(U) had backed the legislation in Parliament.

However, people close to him say he may not like to take a direct plunge into politics after his bitter experience with the JD(U).

You never know how he will go from here in Bihar, but he will certainly have to use the existing situation and players to make a splash, a person, who worked with him in 2015, said on condition of anonymity.

The good thing about him is that he does not have a direct stake in politics, and yet politicians of all hues like to associate with, the person quoted above said.

Kishor played a key role the in brokering an alliance between Lalu Prasad Yadavs Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and JD(U) for the assembly polls and defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bihar in 2015, when the Modi wave was at its peak.

After the results, he had said he wanted to focus on Bihar and remain in the state for the next 10 to15 years.

The AAPs Bihar unit chief Shatrughan Sahu, who is also coming from Delhi on Tuesday, said Kishors association with the party in any capacity in Bihar would always be a strength due to his clean image, clarity of thought and intent for positive politics.

We will fight the 2020 Bihar assembly elections with greater intensity than ever before and we will welcome people with a clean image, who want to do something positive for Bihar, Sahu said.

Indian Political Action Committee, the election strategy firm set up by Prashant Kishor, was roped in by the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party for the campaign in the run-up to the Delhi assembly elections.

The AAP won a thumping majority by winning 62 of the 70 assembly seats in the February 8 Delhi elections.

Hitherto not a big player in Bihar, the AAP had failed to find space in the Grand Alliance (GA) in 2019 Lok Sabha elections and contested three seats of Kishanganj, Bhagalpur and Sitamarhi without any success in the sweep by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) sweep.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the AAP had contested 39 of the 40 seats in Bihar but could win none. In the 2015 assembly election in Bihar, it did not contest but backed the anti-BJP group.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
A photo of Autumn Phillips enjoying a rare night out on the town in November has resurfaced, and may have been the first sign of her split from Peter Phillips.

The Canadian former events assistant, 41, who married the Queen's grandson Peter, 42, in 2008, and shares daughters Savannah, 9, and Isla, 7, with the royal, is rarely spotted outside the royal circle.

Autumn was last spotted with Peter during the Braemar Royal Highland Gathering in September, before enjoying the solo outing to The Fall Ball charity bash for the Style For Stroke Foundation at Cafe de Paris in November.

The party is the first time Autumn has been spotted out on the party circuit in recent years, and Autumn notably opted for a more daring look - rocking a bold red lip and an asymetric off-the-shoulder black jumpsuit.

At the beginning of the month Autumn and Peter announced they had split at the end of last year, and confirmed they would continue to live in Gloucestershire and co-parent their children.

A photo of Autumn Phillips enjoying a rare night out on the town and rocking a daring new look in November has resurfaced, and may have been the first sign of her split from Peter Phillips

And pictures from the November charity bash show Autumn beaming as she posed alongside Denise van Outen and Alexandra Burke at the charity bash.

The Style For Stroke Foundation works with fashion brands to highlight the effects of stroke and raise funds for individuals and stroke charities worldwide.

Autumn is usually only seen at official engagements, and was last pictured with Peter in Scotland with Prince Charles and the Queen during the Braemar Royal Highland Gathering at the Fife Memorial Park, Braemar, in September.

Prior to that, the private mother-of-three was seen on a family outing with Peter and their daughters at Gatcombe Park, alongside Zara and Mike Tindall, and their children.

Autumn was seen enjoying a solo outing to The Fall Ball charity bash for the Style For Stroke Foundation at Cafe de Paris in November alongside Denise van Outen and Alexandra Burke

At the beginning of the month Autumn and Peter announced they had split at the end of last year, and confirmed they would continue to live in Gloucestershire and co-parent their children Savannah, 9, and Isla, 7 (seen last June)

It was reported earlier this month that Peter and Autumn informed their families of their 'amicable' decision to divorce 'at the end of last year' after deciding it was 'the best course of action for their two children and ongoing friendship'.

The statement, released by a spokesperson on behalf of the couple, revealed the former couple have both remained in Gloucestershire to co-parent daughters Savannah, nine, and Isla, seven.

The statement issued by Gerard Franklin, their official spokesperson, reads: 'After informing HM The Queen and members of both families last year, Peter and Autumn jointly agreed to separate.

'They had reached the conclusion that this was the best course of action for their two children and ongoing friendship. The decision to divorce and share custody came about after many months of discussions and although sad, is an amicable one.

'The couple's first priority will remain the continued well being and upbringing of their wonderful daughters Savannah and Isla.

'Both families were naturally sad at the announcement, but fully supportive of Peter and Autumn in the joint decision to co-parent their children.

'Both Peter and Autumn have remained in Gloucestershire to bring up their two children where they have been settled for a number of years. Peter and Autumn have requested privacy and compassion for their children while the family continues to adapt to these changes.'

Autumn is usually only seen at official engagements, and was last pictured with Peter in Scotland with Prince Charles and the Queen during the Braemar Royal Highland Gathering at the Fife Memorial Park, Braemar, in September

The Canadian former events assistant, 41, who married the Queen's grandson Peter, 42, in 2008, and shares daughters Savannah, 9, and Isla, 7, with the royal, is rarely spotted outside the royal circle

A source close to the family recently told Vanity Fair their break-up came after a long period of discussion and said the royal family feel 'sad but supportive of the situation'.

They added: 'At the moment they are still sharing the marital home in Gloucestershire and there are no plans for a quickie divorce, theres no rush and there is no suggestion of Autumn going to Canada.'

The source revealed the couple had 'very sadly grown apart', and said they'd been having discussions about their marriage for 'some time'.

Meanwhile they added that the royal family had been aware things 'hadn't been going well' since the autumn.

Prior to that, the private mother-of-three was seen on a family outing with Peter and their daughters at Gatcombe Park, alongside Zara and Mike Tindall, and their children
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 17, 2020 14:40 694 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2064f6ac8 1 National Indonesia-Halal-Watch,MUI,halal-certification,halal-certificate,omnibus-bill,omnibus-law Free

Amid the contentious public debate surrounding the recently submitted omnibus bill on job creation, nongovernmental organization Indonesia Halal Watch has raised concerns about several new stipulations in the bill, which it says will negatively impact the countrys halal certification regulations if they become law.

Halal Watch executive director Ikhsan Abdullah said in a statement that several stipulations in the omnibus bill, while necessary to streamline redundancies in prevailing laws, could act as a detriment to the existing halal certification procedure, which mainly relied on fatwas (edicts) issued by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI).

He said the new stipulations, including Articles 1 and 7 which would replace or add to Law No.33/2014 on halal product guarantees and Government Regulation No. 33/2018, would completely do away with the MUIs role in the certification procedure, as they would shift the authority to handle the issuance of halal certifications to the Halal Certification Agency (BPJPH).

What the government can do instead is implement alternative streamlining measures that do not contradict existing substantive regulations, such as the MUIs edicts on what passes as a halal product, Ikhsan said, adding that religion was at the core of halal certification, rendering MUIs role integral.

He went on to say that, to prevent any confusion regarding differing fatwas on halal products should the new provisions pass into law, the government must give the final word on the matter to the MUI in accordance with prevailing laws.

Read also: Omnibus bill allows President to scrap bylaws, weakens regional administrations

In our view, religious laws have been co-opted by the state. The government intends to grant power to the BPJPH [to issue halal certification]. It is something that will likely be met with resistance from Muslims, he said.

Ikhsan said the organization objected to Article 7 of the bill, which he said would make it possible for private parties to declare independently that their products were halal without prior certification under the MUIs supervision.

It will disrupt Muslims trust in the halal logo, which they have long regarded as the final word on the halal factor as they consume the products in question, he said.

Food and beverage producers have expressed difficulties complying with the mandatory halal certification regulation, specifically when it comes to fulfilling requirements related to product re-audits for adding new ingredients, halal storage, distribution and transportation.

Indonesian Food and Beverage Producers Association (GAPMMI) committee head for public policy and inter-institutional relations Doni Wibisono said it was difficult for food and beverage producers to meet the certification requirements as it required a re-audit every time new ingredients were added.

Even if we have a change of flavor in one product, we have to re-audit it, whereas before, we just had to verify whether the new ingredients were safe, Doni said last month. (rfa)
On Thursday, a federal judge granted Amazons request and imposed an injunction that stopped work on the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) project between the Department of Defense (DoD) and Microsoft. The sealed opinion by Judge Patricia E. Campbell of the Court of Federal Claims found that the $10 billion contract award to Microsoft could not proceed until a lawsuit filed against the agreement by Amazon was resolved.

The selection of Microsoft as the provider of the 21st-century JEDI cloud computing and massive 10-year military contract came as a surprise last October, with Amazon widely recognized as the front runner. Until the decision on JEDI, Amazon had been the preferred supplier of ultra-secure infrastructure as a service computing technology for the military-intelligence apparatus.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) protested the DoDs decision in a November 22, 2019 filing that stated egregious errors were committed during the process of selecting Microsoft. Amazons lawsuit also stated that the errors were the result of improper pressure from President Donald J. Trump, who launched repeated public and behind-the-scenes attacks to steer the JEDI Contract away from AWS to harm his perceived political enemy-Jeffrey P. Bezos, founder and CEO of AWSs parent company, Amazon.com, Inc. (Amazon), and owner of the Washington Post.

The AWS filing, which argues that its solution was superior to that of Microsoft, further stated, DoDs substantial and pervasive errors are hard to understand and impossible to assess separate and apart from the Presidents repeatedly expressed determination to, in the words of the President himself, screw Amazon.

In response to the court decision, Microsoft Vice President of Communications Frank Shaw said, While we are disappointed with the additional delay we believe that we will ultimately be able to move forward with the work to make sure those who serve our country can access the new technology they urgently require. Shaw added, We have confidence in the Department of Defense, and we believe the facts will show they ran a detailed, thorough and fair process in determining the needs of the warfighter were best met by Microsoft.

For its part, DoD spokesperson Lt. Col. Robert Carver told CNBC, We are disappointed in todays ruling and believe the actions taken in this litigation have unnecessarily delayed implementing DoDs modernization strategy and deprived our warfighters of a set of capabilities they urgently need. However, we are confident in our award of the JEDI cloud contract to Microsoft and remain focused on getting this critical capability into the hands of our warfighters as quickly and efficiently as possible.

In addition to the injunction, the AWS lawsuit demands that the October 25 contract award be invalidated and that the DoD reopen the bidding process. The fact that the judge halted Microsoft from initiating work on the JEDI project is legally significant. Had the program been started, it would have been very unlikely that Amazons lawsuit would prevail given the costs associated with rebidding a contract that was already in process.

In imposing the injunction, Judge Campbell also ordered Amazon to earmark $42 million for future court costs in the event that Thursdays ruling is determined to have been issued wrongfully. The company that ultimately wins out in this contract battle is expected to earn roughly $40 billion in federal government cloud computing contracts that will be awarded in the next several years.

As reported previously on the WSWS, the DoD JEDI program was conceptualized in 2017 as a secure global computing platform that will modernize the US militarys information infrastructure. Among the major concerns of the White House and Pentagon is that the US militarywith a technology infrastructure that is from the 1970s and 1980sis rapidly falling behind China in the development of artificial intelligence warfare technology that depends upon state-of-the-art and robust cloud computing capabilities.

It appears that Judge Campbells decision is in part an attempt to cut across Amazons court filings of February 10 that are seeking the deposition of seven individuals who were instrumental in selecting Microsoft for the JEDI project. Among those that Amazon wants to depose are President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and former Defense Secretary James Mattis along with the DoDs chief information officer, Dana Deasy.

The Amazon filing states, 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. 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.

At the time of these filings, CEO of AWS Andy Jassy told CNBC that when a sitting president is very vocal and specifically dislikes a company and its CEO, it makes it difficult for government agencies, including the DoD to make objective decisions without fear of reprisal. And I think thats dangerous and risky for our country.

The flare-up of a legal battle between Amazon CEO Jeff Bezosthe worlds richest individual with $130 billion in personal wealthand President Trump, over a strategic military sourcing decision, must be seen as part of the broader conflicts within the American ruling class that were behind the Mueller probe and the failed impeachment of the president by the Democrats over foreign policy issues.

The competition between Microsoft and AWS for a $10 billion military contract shows that these tech giantsamong the four trillion-dollar corporations on Wall Streetare willing and eager collaborators in the ongoing wars of US imperialism in the Middle East and Africa as well as the preparations for great power conflict with Russia and China, which include plans for the use of nuclear weapons, and pose the danger to the entire world.

There are many indications that tech workers at Google, Amazon and Microsoft are opposed to the cooperation of their employers with the US war machine. Speaking at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in California on December 9, Amazons Bezos said, One of the things thats happening inside technology companies is there are groups of employees who for example think that technology companies should not work with the Department of Defense. I think its a really important issue, and people are entitled to their opinions, but it is the job of a senior leadership team to say no.

Bezos concluded his remarks with, My view is if big tech is going to turn their backs on the Department of Defense, this country is in trouble. That just cant happen.
My husband, Pat, and I have been together forever. We met in middle school, dated on and off throughout high school, and committed solely to one another in October of our freshman year of college. We were married at 26 years old in June 2014. Ive known that this man was my everything, past and present, for as long as I can remember.

We were friends first, and on that base of friendship grew trust, respect, and vulnerability. I have told him my deepest, darkest fears and my boldest hopes and dreams. He has seen me, against my better judgement, stuff myself full of pizza and drink an entire bottle of Malibuand he still held my hair back when I vomited for hours on end. Weve weathered familial deaths, illness, and many of the other tribulations that are included in the package of matrimony. We werent, however, remotely prepared for the years that lay ahead.

Related: Why I Appreciate International Bereaved Mother's Day

There is a history of infertility in my family. Heading into family planning, we knew that it was a distinct possibility that I would suffer the same fate  polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Sure enough, after months of trying on our own, and months of trying under the direction of our OB GYN, we got nowhere. Each cycle was met with more disappointment than the last. I was slowly unraveling; other peoples pregnancy announcements on Facebook made me cry. I couldnt handle being around pregnant women, seeing babies in public filled me with rage, and hearing that our friends were trying to get pregnant made me feel wildly jealous. Throughout all of this, Pat was calm, rational, and optimistic. He would lay with me on the floor as I cried, red-faced from Femaras hot flashes, and tell me that we would get there. He would come home with little treats and find ways to make me feel beautiful, despite my growing feelings of inadequacy. During this time I felt as though I couldnt do much for him emotionally, mentally, or physically, but he was the rock that got us through. Finally, 12 cycles into our treatment, we saw our two lines and a few weeks later, our two embryos.

Story continues

Related: To the Friend Who Stopped Talking to Me After My Baby Died

We were told something was wrong at our 20 week anatomy scan. Our babies were measuring very small and were not receiving proper blood flow. At exactly 24 weeks, we went in for an umbilical scan  what had been our routine in weeks prior. I sat in the chair as our ultrasound tech quietly scanned the babies. Pat and I both knew what the silence meant. I can still close my eyes and immediately transport back to that darkened room, holding Pats hand as we stared, our hearts shattering into a million pieces. Our Baby A had died. I was admitted and hooked up to machines to monitor Baby B, who we named, Lily. Pat didnt leave my side for the four days between admission and the girls delivery. It was unlikely that Lily would survive birth, but we laid together crying and trying to remain hopeful as she stayed strong inside of me.

Related: What the Notre Dame Fire Reminded Me About Grief

Pat knew exactly what to say to bandage my aching heart throughout those days. Whatever happened, we would face it together. I was the vessel that carried our children, and he was their champion. If Lily died, we agreed to sell all of our belongings and move to a beach in Hawaii, disappearing until we felt strong enough to returnbut Pat knew that Lily was strong enough to survive. I had intense, terrifying thoughts racing through my head, but he did everything that he could to keep me intact. Our one remaining child was the center of our world  we fought so hard for her and her sister, but the love between us couldnt guarantee their survival. The night before the girls birth, we worked together with our team to create a birth plan and Pat was ready to make sure that they carried out our wishes.

Together we chose not to see our Baby A, and I chose to wear headphones from the minute I entered the theater because I did not want to hear what was going on. Pat stood by my head to keep me distracted and to filter what he chose to see. I adamantly did not want to see Lily because I was afraid that she would die. I couldnt live with the image of her lifeless body for the rest of my days. Throughout the entirety of the operation, I kept my eyes affixed on my husband as he watched the surgical team removal of our children from my failing body. I watched him as he saw our beautiful, living daughter enter this world. The years of work that we had put into our marriage culminated in that moment, and with all of the trust I had in the universe, I agreed as Pat encouraged me to remove my headphones and look at my one pound daughter lying in her isolette. He knew exactly what I needed, even when I didnt, in the most harrowing moment of my entire life.

Lily spent eight months in the NICU. The early days brought about periods of fear, uncertainty, and guilt. I was struggling greatly with anxiety, the beginnings of post-traumatic stress disorder, the grief of losing my child, as well as the physical recovery from a cesarean section and effects of days on a magnesium drip. I was extremely vocal about my emotional and physical pain, while Pat handled his grief in a very different manner. He spent quiet afternoons at his workbench, planning projects for the child who we were uncertain would come home. While we sought comfort in different ways, we made our evenings a priority. We would return home from the NICU and spend our time cooking, watching television, and just being together. There were nights that we chose not to process, nights that we argued about inconsequential nonsense, and nights that we spent researching and preparing for rounds the following day. Throughout our stay other parents would stare, horrified, at the medical interventions that our child required, but we faced each procedure, alarm, and emergency with the strength that she deserved. We did not ask for this, but we were going to do exactly what we agreed upon on the days leading up to Lilys birth  we would do it together.

Lily has been home for five months. We are by no means out of the woods, as complications stemming from her premature birth are ongoing. Our home has been transformed into a mini ICU and we are responsible for 100% of her care and emergency response. We have experienced several scary moments and handled each one with immediate response, stellar communication, and thorough debrief. Our processes are iron-clad and we move in sync throughout our daily routine. We have been able to face adversity  from managing Lilys sporadic illness to weathering the changing relationships with family and friends around us  together as a united front. There are days where we act as ships in the night as we dont have consistent nursing and Lily requires 24 hour care. We briefly high-five and exchange report at 3 a.m., when one goes to sleep and the other wakes for a shift. We are grieving the loss of our twin daughter in very different ways  I attend therapy and Pat takes quiet time for reflection to process on his own. We are respectful of our different ways to process, but find time to come together to celebrate her whenever were emotionally able.

Despite the immense curveball that has been thrown our way, I am extremely proud of our continued resilience. The foundation that we worked so hard to build before the unthinkable happened has served us well in our unpredictable life. This is not what we anticipated when we took our vows, but we have made the decision to face each day together. We have come so far from stupid teenagers breaking curfew for five more minutes together, but if they could look ahead I know theyd be pretty damn proud of us, too.

Follow this authors journey @LILYSLITTLELUNGS.

Read more stories like this on The Mighty:

The Moment I Handed My Stillborn Baby Over to the Nurse

Why Resurfaced Memories Feel Traumatizing

What It's Like to Experience Double Trauma and Delayed Grief as a Bereaved Mom
Bigg Boss 13: Paras Chhabra Gave Up Hope For A Future With Akanksha Puri After Learning She Spilled Personal Details To Media
CARSON CITY, Nev. - With the Nevada caucuses less than a week away, Democratic presidential candidates campaigning were fixated on a rival who wasnt contesting the state.

Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg all went after billionaire Mike Bloomberg and made clear they were eager to take him on in a debate.

He thinks he can buy this election, Sanders told a Carson City rally Sunday. Well, Ive got news for Mr. Bloomberg  the American people are sick and tired of billionaires buying elections!

Bloomberg hit back Monday with a video mashup posted to Twitter of aggressive and threatening comments made by people who appear to be Sanders supporters, juxtaposed with Sanders calling for civil discourse.

We need to unite to defeat Trump in November, the former New York mayor tweeted. This type of energy is not going to get us there.

Their attacks are a sign of how seriously the field is starting to take Bloomberg as he gains in the race and is on the cusp of qualifying for Wednesdays Democratic debate in Las Vegas. Bloomberg has bypassed the traditional early voting states including Nevada, focusing instead on the 14 states that vote in the Super Tuesday primary on March 3. He has spent more than $417 million of his own multibillion-dollar fortune on advertising nationwide, an unprecedented sum for any candidate in a primary.

The focus on Bloomberg comes with many establishment-aligned Democrats anxious about the early strength of Sanders, who won last weeks New Hampshire primary and essentially tied for first place in Iowa with Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana. Sanders is hoping to notch a victory in Nevada on Saturday as moderates struggle to unite behind a candidate who could serve as a counter to the Vermont senator, who has long identified as a democratic socialist.

The hundreds of millions of dollars that Bloomberg has pumped into the Super Tuesday states has only heightened the sense of uncertainty surrounding the Democratic race.

At Sanders rally, the crowded cheered as the Vermont senator joked that Bloomberg is struggling, hes down to his last $60 billion and derided him for skipping the early primary states.

It marked an escalation of the salvo Sanders launched Saturday against the former mayor, when he ticked off conservative positions Bloomberg has taken in the past, including opposing a minimum wage hike and a number of Barack Obamas policies while president. On Saturday, Sanders suggested the former mayors past conservatism and controversial comments make him a weak candidate against President Donald Trump, charging that Bloomberg, with all his money, will not create the kind of excitement and energy we need to beat Trump.

And on Sunday, he was joined by the current mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, who endorsed Sanders days ago. De Blasio introduced Sanders with an attack of his own on his predecessor, telling the crowd, Im sorry to report to you the chief proponent of stop and frisk is now running for president.

Klobuchar, speaking on CBS Face the Nation, accused Bloomberg of avoiding scrutiny by blanketing the airwaves and sidestepping debates or tough televised interviews.

I think he cannot hide behind the airwaves and the money, she said. I think he has to come on the shows. And I personally think he should be on the debate stage.

Klobuchar said shes raised $12 million since her better-than-expected finish in third place in New Hampshire. Shes maintained her campaign through a series of strong debate performances and argued that Bloomberg being on stage with his rivals would level the playing field.

Im never going to beat him on the airwaves, but I can beat him on the debate stage, she said.

Biden, speaking on NBCs Meet the Press, suggested that Bloomberg will face increased scrutiny as the race continues, pointing to his record on issues relating to race. He said: $60 billion can buy you a lot of advertising, but it cant erase your record.

Biden knocked Bloombergs past support of stop-and-frisk policing policies and his comments suggesting that cracking down on racist mortgage lending practices, known as redlining, contributed to the financial crisis. Biden also criticized him for failing to endorse Obama for president in 2008. Bloomberg has released ads that tie him closely to Obama on issues like gun control and climate change.

When asked on MSNBC whether Bloomberg shares the values of the Democratic Party, Warren also went after the former mayor over his comments on redlining, declaring that anyone who is out there trying to blame African Americans for the financial crash of 2008 ... is not someone who should be representing our party.

Even as the front-running candidates kept one eye on their Super Tuesday showdown with Bloomberg, they focused on the more immediate task of winning over minority voters, who are expected to be pivotal in Nevada and South Carolina.

Biden reminded older parishioners at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in North Las Vegas of 1960s television footage of black protesters in Birmingham, Alabama, being attacked by police dogs and sprayed with fire hoses on the orders of city official Bull Connor.

Biden said todays racists are not Bull Connors, not out in overalls. Theyre wearing fine suits, and theyre living in the White House.

The former vice-president is relying on his strength among black voters and an explicit appeal to Latinos and other minorities to deliver him a strong showing in the coming contests after posting disappointing finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire, which both feature electorates that are whiter on average than the national population.

Biden has been hammering home the need for any Democratic candidate to appeal to voters of colour. On Sunday, he told black lawmakers and other political figures at the Nevada Black Legislative Caucuss Black History Month observance that the black community has in its power to determine who the next president of the United States is going to be.

___

Jaffe reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jonathan Cooper and Bill Barrow in Las Vegas contributed to this report.
Your browser does not support the audio element.

The medical staff at a maternity hospital in Ho Chi Minh City are sewing their own face masks as the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic has triggered a shortage of surgical masks and driven prices up in the Southeast Asian country.

At Tu Du Maternity Hospital in District 1, doctors, nurses and employees have found a more productive way to while away their lunchtime and free time before and after work  making a variety of face masks to equip the hospitals staff amid the COVID-19 epidemic.

Since Vietnam confirmed its first COVID-19 patients in late January, demand for face masks, fueled by public fears for the new strain of coronavirus, has shot up as residents believe wearing them could protect themselves from the virus.

The World Health Organization (WHO) claims there is no evidence to support such a belief and recommends washing ones hands regularly with soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer to reduce the risk of infection instead.

Nevertheless, a medical mask shortage driven by the increased demand has put Vietnams health workers, for whom wearing masks is recommended given their being in regular close contact with patients, at risk.

To cope with the short supply, the medical staff at Tu Du Hospital have begun to put together DIY masks in their free time.

They have mastered the techniques for making a variety of masks, from regular single-use paper masks to reusable face masks and even activated carbon masks, in under one minute each using simple and easy-to-find materials such as paper napkins, woven fabric, and elastic bands, sawn together with a mini sewing machine.

Medical staff at Tu Du Maternity Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City sew face masks during their lunch break, February 13, 2020. Photo: Duyen Phan / Tuoi Tre

These amateur face mask makers told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper they are delighted to join the production process and consider it a relaxing activity to take up after stressful working hours.

The handmade face masks, though not completely aseptic, are still effective in restraining respiratory droplets from the wearer in a hospital setting, they said.

The small team of health workers at the hospital can sew about 50 face masks every noon on average, serving hospital staff, patients, and visitors of the sick.

A health worker sews face masks at Tu Du Maternity Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, February 13, 2020. Photo: Duyen Phan / Tuoi Tre

Everyone here is very excited. We not only see this as an activity to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic but also a stress-reliever, said Nguyen Tran Uyen Phuong, a subclinical staff member at Tu Du Hospital.

In just a little time with simple materials and sewing machines brought to the hospital by our female staff, many beautiful face masks can be created and used to protect our health.

Male health workers assist in the process of making face masks at Tu Du Maternity Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, February 13, 2020. Photo: Duyen Phan / Tuoi Tre

The novel coronavirus disease, officially named COVID-19 by the World Health Organization (WHO) last week, has killed 1,775 people and infected over 71,000 globally since it first surfaced in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, according to the South China Morning Post.

Vietnam has so far confirmed 16 cases of the viral infection, including 13 Vietnamese, one Vietnamese American, and two Chinese.

Among them, seven have fully recovered. They were all treated for free.

A health worker disinfects a table with alcohol before making face masks at Tu Du Maternity Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, February 13, 2020. Photo: Duyen Phan / Tuoi Tre

A health worker measures the length of elastic bands used in making face masks at Tu Du Maternity Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, February 13, 2020. Photo: Duyen Phan / Tuoi Tre

Nguyen Tran Uyen Phuong, a subclinical staff member at Tu Du Maternity Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, is photographed making face masks, February 13, 2020. Photo: Duyen Phan / Tuoi Tre

Quach Thi Hoang Anh (L), a doctor at Tu Du Maternity Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, assists her colleagues in making face masks after her shift, February 13, 2020. Photo: Duyen Phan / Tuoi Tre

Masks are carefully sewn and cut with meticulousness by the medical staff at Tu Du Maternity Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, February 13, 2020. Photo: Duyen Phan / Tuoi Tre

Doan Thi Thanh, deputy head of the rehabilitation ward at Tu Du Maternity Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, organizes stacks of face masks made by her colleagues, February 13, 2020. Photo: Duyen Phan / Tuoi Tre

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
After the Supreme Court on Monday pronounced its verdict on setting up of a permanent commission for women in the armed forces and called for a change in the mindset with regards to 'gender stereotypes', Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury hailed the Supreme Court's verdict and cited examples of women coming forward in various other fields and have surpassed the men in any domain.

"Supreme Court's judgement is a revolutionary verdict. Today women are no less than men in any field. Women pilots were sent by America when it fought against Afghanistan and also against Osama Bin Laden. Be it transparency, capability, intelligence, women are not behind in anything," said Chowdhury while praising the SC verdict.

READ | SC Says Women Can Get Command Positions In Army, Directs Permanent Commission For All Women Officers

'Sexual discrimination is inequality'

Speaking in favour of the SC judgement, Chowdhury also cited the union budget which stated that girl students were surpassing boys in education. Chowdhury called it sexual discrimination to call women inferior. "Today, the thought process of the whole nation has changed. Today, women have surpassed men. Sexual discrimination is inequality which needed to be fixed," said Chowdhury.

READ | BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi Hails 'historic' SC Ruling On Permanent Comm For Women In Army

The veteran leader has also called for a change in the mindset in the Indian Army. "Along with a change in the government's mindset, there is a need to change the army's mindset as well. Because our army is from a rural background and backward areas which still have a conservative thought process," said Chowdhury.

The Supreme Court in its order observed that there was a requirement for a change of mindset when it came to 'gender stereotypes' and setting up of a commission would help women hold the positions of command thereby slowly challenging these stereotypes.

READ | Permanent Commission For Women Will Put Army On 'different Scale': Lady Officers On SC Nod

The order of the SC comes on the recent plea by the Ministry of Defence in the Delhi High Court. A massive controversy had broken out when the Centre had stated that the women were not 'fit' to give orders since the men will be unwilling to take orders in the subordinate positions. It had stated that most men in the army are brought in from rural areas and such men would not be willing to take orders from women in dominant positions. It also stated that in times of war, women in command would be hard hit when they would be taken as prisoners of war and hence they needed to be kept away from positions of command.

READ | BIG: Supreme Court Directs Centre To Set Up Permanent Commission For Women In Armed Forces
Untapped water resources in Assam

February 17,2020 | Source: The Sentinel Assam

If China can turn the Hwang Ho, once known as the sorrow of China, to joy why cannot Assam script the same success story with the Brahmaputra and the Barak river systems? The successive governments and planners in the neighbouring country have successfully tamed the Hwang Ho. On the contrary, the picture is quite different in Assam. The state is ridden with successive waves of devastating floods every year. The situation makes one take the Brahmaputra, the Barak and their tributaries as the sorrow of the State. And this is a reality in the 21st century when science and technology have scaled the heights. Doesnt a genuine question hang in the air on the ability of the successive governments in the State on this particular front? Huge property in the forms of standing crops and livestock, besides human lives, is lost in the state in every wave of flood in the State every year.



Breaches of embankments, roads and bridges also continue to cost big amounts from the State exchequer. Thus the two river systems continue to cloud over the fate of the states people who have to incur huge loses every year. And this happens as the powers that be in the state have not been able to tame the rivers that flow through it. On its February 11, 2020, issue The Sentinel published a front-page report headlined Something fishy happening in Fishery Department. Being a flood-prone state the soil in Assam is ideal for rearing varieties of fish species which serve as major sources of protein. With such a bountiful gift the state should have been able to export fish to the rest of India after meeting its domestic demand. The ground reality, however, remains that Assam has to import on an average 12,000 million tonnes of fish annually from states like Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal etc, let alone exporting fish. What has gone seriously awry in this resourceful sector in the State? The Sentinel report throws enough light on reasons behind such a pathetic plight of this sector in the state. The report says that the state has many fish-rearing ponds only in office files, but not on the ground.



The otherwise pragmatic Ghore Ghore Pukhuri, Ghore Ghore Maas scheme announced by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal two years back has come a cropper in Morigaon district. The status of the scheme in rest of the districts in the State is now under the scanner. Why wont those at the helm of affairs in the State Fishery department be made accountable for showing fish-rearing ponds in office files even as they dont really exist on the ground? How can the department look the other way when a section of unscrupulous beneficiaries of the scheme showed old ponds as new ones just to get benefits under the scheme? If such corruption and inefficient officials arent dealt with an iron fist the power that be at Dispur can never iron out the problems afflicting the state.



The fertile ground for the rearing of fish is not the only gift from the two river systems to the people of the state. The two river systems that have been turned into sorrows of Assam were highly used as effective water highways by the British Colonialists. The industrious Colonial rulers successfully cut the cost of transportation of goods to and from landlocked Northeast India through the effective use of these water highways. However, now transportation bottlenecks are considered as one of the major problems hindering industrial development in Assam and other states in the Northeast. Couldnt the transportation cost be brought down to bare minimum through effective use of the existing waterways in the State? If the Ganga and other major rivers in the country can be used as effective waterways for transportation of goods, why cant be the rivers of Assam used to get the same purpose served, if not anything newer? The failure on the irrigation front even as the two river systems making water available has undoubtedly scripted a record of sorts.



This is despite the irrigation sector getting separated itself as an independent department from its parental Agriculture department. Even after bifurcation, neither the Agriculture department nor its offshoot Irrigation department can do justice to the farmers of the state. The Irrigation departments failure to run irrigation projects in the State and the Agriculture departments failure to ensure remunerative prices to vegetable growers of the State are something for which those at the helm of affairs should never be spared.
by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, February 17, 2020

An email-based extortion scheme targeting Web site owners serving banner ads through Googles AdSense program is demanding bitcoin in exchange for a promise not to flood the publishers ads with bot and junk traffic.

Googles automated anti-fraud systems suspend the users AdSense account for suspicious traffic, reports KrebsOnSecurity, but after the perpetrators demanded 5.000$ (ek$) in bitcoins to the btc address as follows  .

An automated email sent to publishers warned that a notice would appear in the dashboard of their AdSense account. The extortionists planned to flood the site with a huge amount of direct bot generated web traffic with 100% bounce ratio and thousands of IPs in rotation.

advertisement advertisement

The email also threatened to adjust sophisticated bots to open, in endless cycles with different time durations, in every AdSense banner which runs on the publishers site.

Google continually monitors invalid traffic, clicks or impressions generated by publishers clicking their own live ads, as well as automated fraudulent clicking tools or traffic sources. In August 2019 it announced the ability to improve on identifying potentially invalid traffic.

The KrebsOnSecurity reader who forwarded the email to Brian Krebs, the author of the blog and former reporter at the Washington Post, considered the message to be a baseless threat, but a review of his recent AdSense invalid traffic report account monitoring traffic statistics showed that detections from the past month substantially increased.

Google told KrebsOnSecurity the message appears to be a classic threat of sabotage, where a perpetrator attempts to trigger an enforcement action against a publisher by sending invalid traffic to their inventory.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier addresses the 56th Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Munich, Germany, on Feb. 14, 2020. (Xinhua/Lu Yang)

The so-called "Westlessness" is essentially a lack of collective action to address the most urgent threats to international security as nations dwell on narrowly-defined national interests and retreat from dialogue and cooperation.

The MSC discussions highlight the fact that multilateralism is not out-of-date and even more needed at a time when the international community face many common security challenges.

The majority of speakers at this year's conference sounded the alarm for the current global security environment.

MUNICH, Germany, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- More than 500 high-level international decision-makers gathered over the weekend in Munich to discuss the world's current crises and future security challenges at the annual Munich Security Conference (MSC).

This year's agenda was centered on the theme "Westlessness", referring to the loss of the common standing of what it means to be part of the West, according to a security report published ahead of the conference.

As many participants pointed out, the so-called "Westlessness" is essentially a lack of collective action to address the most urgent threats to international security as nations dwell on narrowly-defined national interests and retreat from dialogue and cooperation.

The MSC discussions highlight the fact that multilateralism is not out-of-date and even more needed at a time when the international community face many common security challenges.

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks at the 56th Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Munich, Germany, Feb. 15, 2020. (Xinhua/Lu Yang)

"SOUL-SEARCHING" OF THE WEST

The majority of speakers at this year's conference sounded the alarm for the current global security environment. In his opening remarks, MSC chairman Wolfgang Ischinger expressed his disappointment at the lack of collective action to address the most violent crises and most dangerous threats to international peace and security.

"It's not enough for the most powerful people in the world to shrug your shoulders and say that this is the way things are," Ischinger said, adding that "the present state of global insecurity is absolutely unacceptable."

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who delivered an opening speech this year, said that the withdrawal to concentrate on a narrowly-defined national interest prevents the nations from taking joint action and coming up with convincing answers to the issues and problems that no one can solve alone.

"The idea of international community is not outmoded," Steinmeier said, adding that "withdrawing into our national shells leads us into a dead end, into a dark age."

Like many European leaders, Steinmeier reflects on the lack of unified action on the European level to address common challenges. "Each of the major players is pursuing its own advantage even at the expense of Europe's unity."

Echoing Steinmeier, French President Emmanuel Macron, who attended the conference for the first time, called for "a European strategy", hoping to see "a Europe that can protect the basis of its sovereignty, a Europe that has more vitality, and a Europe that is enthusiastic about its future."

Macron said in a dialogue with Ischinger that Europe needs to develop their own European policy, instead of a transatlantic policy, when it comes to relations with neighbors such as the Middle East, Russia and Africa.

Gu Xuewu, professor of political science at the University of Bonn, said that discussions on "Westlessness" expose problems that currently plague the relations between the European Union and the United States.

"There is a sense of loss on the European and American influence in leading global affairs, a loss of trust, and a loss of solidarity between Europe and the United States," Gu said, noting that it is difficult for the West to formulate a unified strategy with the "America First" policy of the United States in place.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi makes a speech at the Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Munich, Germany, on Feb. 15, 2020. (Xinhua/Lu Yang)

CALL FOR UPHOLDING MULTILATERALISM

For some participants, talking about "Westlessness" may seem a little self-absorbed, as it is questionable that to which degree the West and Non-West divide is still relevant these days.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a panel discussion that the core of "Westness" is the "respect for diversity." The Western model is not the only one that matters in the world.

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said she found the theme of "Westlessness" a little insular. Multilateralism is also being practiced by Asian countries, according to Kang, who cited the example of ASEAN centrality.

At the conference, the Chinese delegation renewed their call for upholding multilateralism in the face of a complex and changing international environment.

"Strengthening global governance and international coordination is urgent right now," Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a speech on Saturday.

"We need to get rid of the division of the East and the West and go beyond the difference between the South and the North, in a bid to build a community with a shared future for mankind," Wang said.

He said that the novel coronavirus epidemic had made mankind realize that it is now an era with traditional and non-traditional security threats being interwoven. A regional issue can be transformed into a global one, and vice versa. No country can stay alone and be immune to the threats.

Wang further expounded the concept of multilateralism from the Chinese perspective. Multilateralism denies the priority of a single state and holds that all countries share the same right for development, he told the conference.

Meanwhile, the West should also discard its subconscious mentality of civilization supremacy, give up its bias and anxiety over China, and accept and welcome the development and revitalization of a country from the East with a system different from that of the West, said the Chinese top diplomat.

Success of multilateralism calls on major nations to play key roles and take major responsibilities. Therefore, big nations must shoulder responsibilities and safeguard the common interests of all countries, Wang also noted.

Major nations should strive to maintain the openness of the world, not to confront and counteract each other, and to join hands to safeguard world peace and stability, he added.

He said that China will further deepen the strategic partnership of coordination with Russia, continue to explore ways of peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation with the U.S., and will comprehensively deepen cooperation with Europe.

At this year's conference, discussions on new security challenges posed by technology, climate change and global health issues underline that need for more cooperation and coordination among nations, as well as among big companies, media and other concerned parties.
The welcomed the Supreme Court's order on Monday to grant permanent commission to all women officers in the Army, and attacked the by saying that the denial of the posts was its legacy.

"Mr please click the refresh memory button. It was govt that argued vociferously against permanent commissioning of women in the Army back in 2010 before the Delhi HC," MP Meenakshi Lekhi, who represented the women officers in the apex court, said.

"It was your govt who challenged the decision before the SC which ruled in favour of women," Lekhi said at a press conference at the party headquarters in New Delhi.

Calling for an end to gender bias in the armed forces, the Supreme Court has opened the way for women in command positions in the Army and directed the Centre to grant permanent commission to all women officers within three months.

leader alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party government disrespected Indian women by arguing in court that they did not deserve command posts as they were inferior to men.

Lekhi alleged that Gandhi had used derogatory language towards the government on the issue.

The leader added that only if Gandhi was aware of the facts that successive Congress governments filed affidavits before the courts arguing against granting the permanent commission, he would not have made those remarks.

Lekhi also congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi, judges and others.

She said Modi was never against the permanent commission and he exhibited his intent by making a public announcement in his address to the nation on August 15, 2018.

Lekhi said the women should be treated equally as they were also serving the nation like their male colleagues.

According to her, the women are not asking for any charity or favour, but simply seeking to be treated and dealt at par with their male colleagues.

It was also about justice and gender was being used to cause injustice, she added.
In this photo taken Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2019, Parmigiano Reggiano Parmesan cheese wheels are created in Noceto, near Parma, Italy. U.S. consumers were snapping up Italian Parmesan cheese ahead of an increase in tariffs to take effect Feb. 18, but now a leading Italian official says the U.S. tariffs have been called off. Read more

Following up on a Feb. 6 rally of Italian food importers at his Gran Caffe lAquila, Riccardo Longo says hes delighted by last weekends statement from Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio that the U.S. has decided not to expand import taxes to a broad range of Italian foods.

Since last year, those tariffs have added 25 percent to the price of genuine Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, Scotch whiskey, Spanish olives and French wine.

The United States had threatened to raise those taxes and also expand them to include Italian wine and prosciutto, as well as other Italian hams, crostini, and more. But the Italians say the Americans have now agreed to back off.

Great news, Longo told me in an e-mail. We were all holding our breath for the Feb. 18 deadline.

He sent articles in English and Italian confirming Di Maios statements, elaborated by other officials in Italys coalition government. For now they have decided not to raise tariffs, although the 25% tax on Parmigiano remains.

Italian officials visited Washington for high-level meetings last month. And Italian exporters and Italian American importers had packed President Donald Trumps National Prayer Breakfast on Feb. 6 and other recent events in a show of force to get the administration to back off, former U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, a Republican from Northeast Pennsylvania, and other industry advisers said at the meeting.

Barletta, chairman of the 450-company American Italian Food Coalition Chairman, said in a statement that President Trump and his team made the right decision" and sent "a positive message to Italian-American communities in states across America, like Pennsylvania, that the Trump Administration understands they are a critical part of the fabric of our nation.

Italy today emerges undamaged from the revision of the list of products subjected to tariffs imposed by the U.S." last fall, Foreign Minister Di Maio said in his statement Saturday.

Italy had appealed to the U.S. not to punish the nation, though the U.S. had permission from the World Trade Organization to do so. The tariffs would have hit as part of broad U.S. sanctions against European Union countries for their support of Airbus against Boeing. Airbus has major airplane building plants in France and Germany, as well as the U.K., China, and Alabama.

The Trump administration said Friday that it will raise the tariff rate on aircraft coming from the European Union to 15% from 10% on March 18.

Were doing everything possible to limit the impact on Italy, but the Americans have the upper hand, Di Maio aide Ivan Scalfarotto told Bloomberg News. Italy isnt part of the Airbus consortium, and tariffs will have a cost for American companies, restaurants, families.

The importers and their lobbyists depict the fight as a struggle between independent-minded family businesses and big governments using them as pawns in an unrelated fight.

But Italian American consumers have their own brand of independence. As reader Robert Capretto responded to my earlier story in an e-mail about the threat consumers will turn to fake prosciutto from Latin America or Asia if Italian costs too much: Dont believe it. We Italians know fake from real. If they tick us off, we can make our own.

Factory fortune backs bell

Seven years after it was trucked off to storage from the now-demolished Independence Park Visitors Centers bell tower, the Bicentennial Bell donated by Queen Elizabeth II to Philadelphia for Independence festivities in 1976 looks as if it may be getting a new home, in time for the Semiquincentennial in 2026.

The Landenberger Family Foundation, funded by heirs to an old Frankford Avenue hosiery-manufacturing company, has pledged $1 million for the planned Bicentennial Bell Garden. Total cost will be between $1.2 to $1.3 million." Other pledges totaling $30,000 have been collected, so the landscape architects can get to work as the final money is raised, says Maiti Gallen, outreach and program director for the Independence Historical Trust. The bell, she notes, is six times the size of the Liberty Bell.

The bell will testify to Philadelphias historical importance in the universal quest for freedom and democracy, said Joseph Glyn and Elie Glyn, directors of the Landenberger Family Foundation, in a statement. Independence National Historical Park Superintendent Cynthia MacLeod said she looks forward to the welcoming greenspace as a location to interpret the shared history of the two countries.
Former South African president FW de Klerk on Monday apologised and withdrew his statement that the country's former harsh system of racial separation known as apartheid was not a crime against humanity.

De Klerk, the last president under apartheid, caused an uproar with the comment during an interview last week with state broadcaster SABC.

De Klerk announced the release of Nelson Mandela from prison 30 years ago, paving the way for the end of apartheid and South Africa's first all-race elections in 1994 that saw Mandela voted into power.

De Klerk was later awarded a Nobel Peace Prize with Mandela for their role in the country's transition.

However, de Klerk's views on apartheid have remained divisive. His latest comments came as South Africa celebrated the 30th anniversary of Mandela's release.

Fellow Nobel Peace laureate and former South African archbishop Desmond Tutu urged de Klerk to withdraw his latest remarks.

De Klerk's foundation said it was withdrawing the statement and apologized for the "confusion, anger and hurt that it has caused." Apartheid was declared a crime against humanity by the United Nations in 1973. The UN was among the organizations criticizing de Klerk for his statement.

De Klerk said he aligned himself with the Rome Statute which created the International Criminal Court and includes the crime of apartheid as a crime against humanity.

"It can also be seen as the legislative expression of Nelson Mandela's statement during his inaugural address that 'never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another,'" de Klerk said.

An online petition led by prominent South African lawyer Dali Mpofu calling for de Klerk's Nobel Peace Prize to be withdrawn had received more than 10,000 signatures by Monday afternoon.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The costs of a united Ireland would be large for Irish finances, according to a new assessment.

Fiscal transfers from the rest of the UK to Northern Ireland were 9.4bn in 2018/19. It implies either big budget cuts for Belfast or a very rapid rise in Ireland's deficit.

But the Capital Economics said the burden might not be as high as these figures suggest.

It notes the Northern Ireland budget deficit fell by 2% of its gross domestic product, equivalent to 0.3% of Ireland's GDP.

Jack Allen-Reynolds, Senior Europe Economist at the firm, said: "The Republic is currently running a small budget surplus, so even if there were a sudden move into deficit, the implications for the public finances would not be disastrous.

"And it's also possible that the UK would continue to make payments to the North for a while even after reunification, in order to ease the transition."
Only a couple of weeks after officially leaving the European Union, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson renewed--for the third time in history--a wildly ambitious idea that is more than 100 years old: The construction of a 21.7-mile-long bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Despite the skepticism coming from both experts and citizens, it seems that ministers are actively looking into Johnsons idea of a road bridge, which he first brought up in a 2018 interview, ostensibly to help both countries feel more connected to the union that is no longer relevant for the UK.

Thats no matter, though. Johnson has instructed civil servants to look at how the project can be delivered and is awaiting an official assessment on whether it's feasible.

The PMs spokesman told reporters that this proved the prime minister is ambitious in terms of infrastructure projects.

Government officials are carrying out work in relation to the idea of a bridge linking GB mainland to NI. Theres a proper piece of work being carried out into the idea, the spokesman said.

In September last year, local media reported that Johnson had ordered government officials to explore the possibility of building the bridge. And then late last year, he put a price tag on his proposal for the first time during a visit with school children.

I was talking about building a bridge from Stranraer in Scotland to Larne in Northern Ireland  that would be very good. It would only cost about 15bn ($20), PM Johnson told kids.

Two potential routes for such a bridge have been suggestedfrom the Mull of Kintyre to the Antrim coast and, now considered more likely, from the fishing village of Portpatrick to Larne.

Officials reportedly think the bridge could be based on the 4.8-mile Oresund Bridge, which connects Sweden to Denmark. In length, the proposed bridge would still be outdone by the 34.1-mile-long Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge

Industry experts are hardly sold on the idea. One retired engineer compared the feasibility of the plan to building a bridge to the moon.

Experts have also raised concerns over the practicality of constructing a bridge across the stormy stretch of water that is more than 1,000 feet deep in places. Another concern is the presence of dumped munitions would cause problems for any project. In the years immediately following World War II, the Ministry of Defense dropped an estimated 1m tons of munitions in these waters.

And then, there is the political context.

The bridge proposal enjoys partial support in Northern Ireland but isnt very well received in Scotland. And ministers on both sides of the Irish sea have rejected the proposal as a waste of money.

I think to say there are some big questions around the feasibility and deliverability of the suggested bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland would be an understatement, Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), was quoted as saying.

Britains exit from the EU has relaunched the debate on Scotlands independence, which was rejected by 55% of voters in a 2014 referendum. However, during the Brexit vote in 2016, 62% of voters in Scotland supported remaining in the EU, compared to those across the UK as a whole, who voted to leave by 52%.

Sturgeon said earlier this month that she would do everything possible to obtain a referendum this year. She indicated that she did not rule out going to the courts to test her governments right to organize a consultative vote on Scottish independence.

Prime Minister Johnson is opposed to a new vote, and in mid-January, he formally rejected a request for a referendum. The last three polls in Scotland have shown slim majorities in favor of independence.

At a time when major questions remain about unity, a unifying bridge isnt likely to fly.

By Anes Alic for SafeHaven.com

More Top Reads From Safehaven.com:
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 00:24:59|Editor: Xiaoxia

Video Player Close

Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres makes a special talk on sustainable development and climate change in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Feb. 16, 2020. The climate change is the gravest and most urgent obstacle to the global stability and prosperity, and greater joint efforts made by every country and every community in the world are necessary to deal with the crisis, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said here on Sunday. (Xinhua/Liu Tian)

ISLAMABAD, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- The climate change is the gravest and most urgent obstacle to the global stability and prosperity, and greater joint efforts made by every country and every community in the world are necessary to deal with the crisis, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said here on Sunday.

Making a special talk on sustainable development and climate change, Guterres said the climate disruption presents a clear danger worldwide including the locust attack that Pakistan and other countries are suffering. "Global warming is leading to global swarming."

"The planet is burning, but too many decision-makers continue to fiddle," he said, adding that the global momentum for tackling the climate crisis has unfortunately stalled since the 2015 Paris Agreement.

"It is something I am convinced we can tackle if only we can generate the political will and the unity we need to make a difference," the UN chief said, adding that at the climate change conference to be held in Glasgow, governments must deliver the transformational change the world needs and people demand with much stronger ambition.

Besides environmental protection, Guterres also urged the world to step up action to achieve other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which cover the whole spectrum of human progress including healthcare, gender equality, poverty alleviation.

The SDGs are relevant to every nation and every community, and no country can say it has no inequality or problems related to pollution or climate change, he said.

"Today's challenges to sustainable development and human progress do not respect borders. They are not confined to individual nations."

The UN chief also lauded the measures Pakistan has taken in terms of healthcare, poverty alleviation and environmental protection, but said whether in Pakistan or elsewhere, the pace of change is not yet fast enough.

"In fact, by some estimates, we will only get halfway to our goals at the current pace," he said. Everyone can and must make a contribution to facilitate the process toward achieving the SDGs and collaborative actions across borders and sectors are required, he said.

"We are in the battle for our lives. Our sustainable future is at stake, but I firmly believe it is a battle that can be won," Guterres said.

The UN chief arrived in Pakistan early Sunday. During his visit in the country from Feb. 16-19, he will also attend an international conference on Afghan refugees and hold talks with Pakistani leaders.
The Naftogaz Group in the Permanent Court of Arbitration (the Hague) proceedings against the Russian Federation has submitted the updated assessment of compensation for its assets (Reply Memorial on Quantum) that the Russian Federation unlawfully expropriated in Crimea," the press service of Naftogaz reported on Monday.

"Naftogaz further substantiates its claim for compensation for its assets that the Russian Federation unlawfully expropriated in Crimea in March 2014  damages valued at approximately $8 billion, including interest," Naftogaz said.

The press service said that a hearing on the size of compensation is scheduled for May 2020 in The Hague. The final award on the quantum is expected by the middle of 2021.

The company recalled that despite Russia's appearance in the arbitration in January 2017, it refused to actively participate in the proceedings for nearly three years.

"Thereafter, Russia submitted its Counter-Memorial in December 2019, but did not put forward any alternative measure of damages. Instead, Russia argued that it owes Naftogaz nothing despite that Russia does not dispute that it unlawfully expropriated Naftogaz's assets," the Ukrainian company said.
Police are searching for a suspect in a shooting near the campus of Auburn University this afternoon.

According to an Auburn campus safety alert issued at 4:39 p.m., shots were fired off campus at Evergreen Apartments, on South College Street.

One person has reportedly been injured. Authorities say a suspect fled on foot.

The suspect is described as a black male in his twenties with dreadlocks wearing a black hoodie.

People are being asked to avoid the area. Anyone with information is asked to call 911.

This post will be updated.
Alan Ruel (pictured) was left in a cell for 18 hours when officers assumed he was drunk

Horrifying surveillance footage has emerged of cops mistaking a stroke victim for being drunk and dumping him in a concrete cell for more than 18 hours before finally calling an ambulance the following day.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) left Alan Ruel, 73, in a jail cell in Canada for 18 hours and 18 minutes, because they assumed he was drunk, according to lawyers.

Officers also failed to check on him at all for 12 hours as his health continued to decline - despite policies saying that officers must check on cells every 15 minutes.

Ruel is now suing police for more than C$6 million over the incident, which left him with lasting brain damage.

The ordeal began on July 16 2015 when Ruel, from Alberta, Canada, suffered a small 'disorienting event,' likely a stroke, the lawsuit states.

He entered a bar to visit his friend and due to the probable stroke, his speech was slurred, he was confused, his clothing was dishevelled, his pants undone and his vehicle was parked on the sidewalk.

Bar staff assumed Ruel was drunk and kicked him out and called the police, the suit states.

Ruel claims that when officers arrived on the scene he told them he wasn't drunk and asked for a breathalyzer test but they denied him one, saying they could smell alcohol on his breath.

The 73-year-old said he hadn't even had a drink.

The ordeal began on July 16 2015 when Ruel, from Alberta, Canada, suffered a small 'disorienting event,' likely a stroke, the lawsuit states. He was arrested when officers thought he was drunk and put in a cell

At the time of his arrest, the footage shows he was able to walk around the cell

Officers failed to check on him for another 12 hours, during which time Ruel had collapsed on the floor several times, the footage shows

Shocking surveillance footage obtained by CBC then shows Ruel being dumped in a jail cell just before 7 pm that night.

At the time of his arrest, the footage shows he was able to walk around the cell.

Officers failed to check on him for another 12 hours, during which time Ruel had collapsed on the floor several times, the footage shows.

A neurologist said he believes Ruel had a massive stroke at around 10 pm that evening - several hours before he received medical help.

A neurologist said he believes Ruel had a massive stroke at around 10 pm that evening - several hours before he received medical help

'I actually thought I was going to die at one point, and the thing that scared me is that I was going to die alone,' Ruel said

The footage then shows the man's condition deteriorating further

At one point, the 73-year-old is seen dragging himself to the door and banging on it. Ruel said he had been calling out to the guard begging for a glass of water

The footage then shows the man's condition deteriorating further, with Ruel seen lying half naked on the floor with one side of his body twitching.

At one point, the 73-year-old is seen dragging himself to the door and banging on it.

Ruel said he had been calling out to the guard begging for a glass of water.

He was never given any water the whole time he was incarcerated, judging by the footage.

Five hours after officers first checked on Ruel, an officer is then seen entering the cell to check on him at around noon the day after his arrest.

The shocking footage shows the man is by now lying motionless on the concrete floor.

Ruel is seen lying half-naked and motionless on the floor the next morning

Three hours later, he has not moved from the position

The officer attempts to lift Ruel's arm and drag him up off the floor but the man's condition had deteriorated to the extent that he couldn't stand.

Another hour later - and 18 hours and 18 minutes since Ruel was first thrown in the cell - he is finally taken to hospital for medical treatment.

Court documents state that guards were instructed to check on Ruel at least once every 15 minutes.

Ruel, a former offshore drilling consultant, told CBC it was 'probably one of the worst days of my life'.

'I actually thought I was going to die at one point, and the thing that scared me is that I was going to die alone,' he said.

Ruel's ordeal follows another incident at RMCP in 2008 where officers believed an inmate to be drunk before he died of acute pneumonia.

Footage emerged of Raymond Silverfox, 43, being mocked by officers as he vomited multiple times while being locked in a cell for 13 hours.

Its shows the man's condition declining as the hours went on but again officers assumed he was drunk and didn't seek medical help until it was too late.

Five hours after officers first checked on Ruel and 17 since he is first put in the cell, an officer enters the cell to check on him

The shocking footage shows the man is by now lying motionless on the concrete floor. The officer attempts to lift Ruel's arm and drag him up off the floor but the man's condition had deteriorated to the extent that he couldn't stand

An ambulance is finally called and another hour later - and 18 hours and 18 minutes since Ruel was first thrown in the cell - he is finally taken to hospital for medical treatment

Court documents state that guards were instructed to check on Ruel at least once every 15 minutes

Silverfox was finally rushed to hospital when he was found motionless 13 hours later but died in hospital.

Ruel is now suing the police after authorities mistook his symptoms as drunkenness and failed to get him medical help.

The lawsuit states that Ruel still suffer lasting damage four years on from the ordeal, suffering from decreased function in the left side of his body and walking with a limp.

Earlier medical help and access to water could have reduced the effects of the stroke, the neurologist's report added.

It claims Ruel cannot work and that he and his wife have been left struggling financially.

Ruel was never charged with a crime following his arrest.

RCMP has denied that officers refused the claimant water and denied that he suffered a medical episode before his arrest, according to court documents.

Officials said there were no 'obvious signs' he was in need of medical intervention.
Rubber will burn, fans will scream, and the Great American Race will begin, the president said, before taking a lap on the track in his limousine, called the Beast. He commanded drivers to start their engines, but the race was ultimately postponed to Monday because of rain.
Technology is shattering legacy financial systems that can't keep pace with market demand  and Brex is at the forefront. It's one of fintechs buzziest startups, aiming to rebuild B2B financial products starting with corporate cards for technology companies.

Brex co-founders Pedro Franceschi and Henrique Dubugras

Brex

The company was quietly launched in 2017 by Henrique Dubugras and Pedro Franceschi, two 22-year-old engineers who previously founded Pagar.me, one of Brazil's largest payment processors.

Brex already has more than 1,000 customers signed up with the help of backing from investors including PayPal co-founders Peter Thiel and Max Levchin, early Facebook investor Yuri Milner, former Visa CEO Carl Pascarella, and esteemed startup incubator Y Combinator.

And we caught a glimpse of the Series B pitch deck Dubugras and Franceschi used to win them over.

In it, they lay out a clear problem: Technology startups often had trouble securing corporate credit cards  even if they had millions in the bank  because legacy banks and card issuers wanted to see company credit histories, which young institutions simply couldn't produce.

They had a simple solution: Remove the restrictions of legacy technology by giving instant approval to startups based on their available cash balance, including money raised through venture, rather than credit history.

In the deck, the founders outlined their plans to help startups of all sizes instantly get cards with higher limits, as well as automatic expense management and seamless integration with existing accounting systems.

As part of our coverage of the genesis of today's successful companies, BI Prime received Brex's permission to offer a look into the startup's full 19-slide pitch deck, which includes considerations such as:

The startup's mission

Key team members and previous backers

The size of the market opportunity

A step-by-step plan of how to solve credit cards for startups

Some of the card's coolest features

Data points showing how to scale the business

Story continues

BI Prime is publishing dozens of stories like this each and every day. Want to get started by reading the full pitch deck?

Read the original article on Business Insider
Amid a sharp deterioration in US-European Union relations, Washington sent a bipartisan delegation of White House officials and members of Congress to the Munich Security Conference to pressure and threaten European countries not to do business with the Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei.

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo were joined by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, who had just concluded a failed impeachment of the president, in support of the White Houses anti-China campaign.

Nancy Pelosi attends a news conference with with members of the U.S. delegation during the Munich Security Conference, Sunday, February 16, 2020 [Credit: AP Photo/Jens Meyer]

The conference followed announcements by Germany, France and, most recently, the UK that they would not ban Huawei from their telecommunications networks.

While the US argues that infrastructure supplied by Huawei would allow China to spy on the communications of its allies, Beijing counters that Washington wants to keep control of global communications infrastructure to carry out its own wiretapping.

Just days before the Munich Security Conference, the Washington Post reported that US intelligence had been spying on the encrypted communications of governments all over the world for the past five decades, through the CIAs secret ownership of a global security firm based in Switzerland.

Huaweis 5G telecommunications infrastructure is far more advanced than that of its European rivals Nokia and Ericsson, and a decision by any country not to use Huaweis technology would put it at a significant disadvantage.

In this context, Pelosi framed the conflict as a moral question, arguing that the dispute is about choosing autocracy over democracy on the information highway.

But the American officials, with their combination of threats, demagogy and empty promises, got a chilly reception from the European representatives. This was summed up in an extraordinary exchange between Pelosi and Fu Ying, a Chinese diplomat, who asked the speaker of the House why, given that US companies had operated in China for decades without changing Chinas political system, a Chinese company would threaten Western democracy.

Do you really think the democratic system is so fragile that it could be threatened by this single hi-tech company, Huawei? she asked.

To Pelosis dismay, the diplomats remarks were met with loud applause. Let me just say to you that are applauding back there, that Huawei was created by reverse technology of American initiatives, she said.

In a separate speech Pelosi threatened, Theres a big price to pay.

On Sunday, Richard Grenell, the US ambassador to Germany, indicated that the White House is considering ending intelligence sharing with its European allies. He posted on Twitter, @realDonaldTrump just called me from AF1 and instructed me to make clear that any nation who chooses to use an untrustworthy 5G vendor will jeopardize our ability to share Intelligence and information at the highest level.

Such a move would mark a reversal from an earlier statement by a White House advisor that there will be no erosion in our overall intelligence sharing regardless of countries decisions over Huawei.

After the UK announced late last month that it would not ban Huawei from its telecommunications networks, Trump was reportedly apoplectic in a phone call with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who responded by canceling a planned trip to the United States.

The most explicit threat came from Defense Secretary Esper, who declared that we are now in an era of Great Power Competition, with our principal challengers being China, then Russia, and we must move away from low intensity conflict and prepare once again for high-intensity warfare.

Esper called on US allies to wake up to the nefarious strategy being carried out by China in seeking to sell 5G technology to Europe. He said, If we dont understand the threat and we dont do something about it, at the end of the day it could compromise what is the most successful military alliance in historyNATO.

He then reiterated the US position, stating, I want to focus on the Pentagons top concern: the Peoples Republic of China.

While China was at the center of the conflict, the summit was riven by a range of divisions between the United States and Europe. Last week, the White House announced it would raise tariffs on European aircraft, in an attack on Airbus, the rival of Boeing.

Meanwhile, US Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette gloated over the success of the United States in forcing Germany to abandon the Nord Stream II pipeline, raising doubts whether Russia would be able to finish construction of the pipeline after US sanctions forced the European company building it to back out. Its going to be a very long delay, because Russia doesnt have the technology, Brouillette said.

French President Emmanuel Macron, for his part, sharply criticized US policy toward Russia, which he said was too aggressive. It is not a policy, its a completely inefficient system, he said.

Macron added, There is a second choice, which is to be demanding and restarting a strategic dialogue, because today we talk less and less, conflicts multiply and we arent able to resolve them.

The theme of the conference, embodied in its official report, was the crisis of the West, with its introduction concluding that the West is indeed in serious trouble. The report added that there was no common understanding of what the West represents.

In his speech, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier declared, And our closest ally, the United States of America, under the present administration itself, rejects the idea of an international community.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeos speech was framed as an inane response to this reality, in which he declared, Those statements dont reflect reality Im happy to report that the death of the transatlantic alliance is grossly exaggerated. The West is winning.

Commenting on Pompeos speech, the New York Times published an article with the headline: The West Is Winning, Pompeo Said. The West Wasnt Buying It.
Capital city auctions saw a national success rate hovering around 78 per cent.

Canberra recorded the highest clearance rate this weekend with 90 per cent, while Sydney sat at 80 per cent.

Melbourne was the busiest auction market with just over 700 auctions, according to CoreLogic. Sydney was the second busiest capital with 578 offerings.

Of the 386 Sydney results captured, 304 homes sold.

In Melbourne, 586 results were captured and 464 homes sold.

Sydney had the most expensive sale among the capitals when 74 Cascade, St. Paddington sold through Phillips Pantzer Donnelley prior to auction for $4,675,000.

It was architecturally designed by Noekdesign and newly rebuilt by Huntsman Constructions.



The former three-bedroom, two-bathroom house had previously sold for $2.3 million.

The 183 sqm block has been transformed into a luxury home with aged brass finishes, and Venetian plaster walls.

There was also $4,510,000 pre-auction ocean-view sale at 10 Peronne Avenue, Clontarf through Stone Estate Agents.

The four-bedroom, two-bathroom house was previously sold for $3,120,000 in 2009.

A six-bedroom, three-bathroom house at 25 South Street, Strathfield sold at auction for $4,420,000 through Richard Matthews.

Sydney's most affordable auction was at 10/39 Bathurst, St. Liverpool which sold for $340,000 through RW Parramatta.

Domain reported the highest residential sale in Melbourne was a four-bedroom, two-bathroom house at 50 Chaucer Street, St Kilda.

The 399 sqm holding sold through Belle Property for $3,710,000.

There had been a $2.7 million to $2.9 million price guide, with an opening bid of $3 million from the first of three bidders

Melbourne's cheapest auction sale at 8/182 Coppin, St. Richmond sold through Biggin & Scott Richmond for $290,500.

The one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment price guide had been between $265,000 and $290,000.

Brisbane's priciest listing at 19 Rosebery Street, Highgate Hill did not sell.

Brisbane's highest sale was 12 Clay Street. New Farm which sold through Ray White at $1,895,000.

Built in 1890, it last sold for 1,030,000 in 2014.

The five-bedroom, three-bathroom house is situated on 298 sqm of land.

Brisbane's most affordable house sale at 45 Grice Crescent, Ningi sold for $370,000 through Raine & Horne.

The three-bedroom, two-bathroom house sold at a loss with its last sale in 2013 for $413,900.

The shock sale of the weekend was when the garage at 32 Little Graham Street, Albert Park, belonging to a retired plumber, Frank Davis, fetched $645,500.

It sold through Greg Hocking, whose price guide had been $365,000 to $400,000.

The 90-year-old paid $8000 for the property in 1984 for "storing my plumbing gear".

Some seven bidders battled for the 46 sqm real estate among a 100-plus crowd.

The buyers, Lola and Brenton Smith of Templestowe Lower, secured the property.

Canberra's auction volume was down.

However, Canberra recorded the strongest clearance rate of 90 per cent.

The most expensive sale was 6 Welsh Place, Chifley, a four-bedroom, two-bathroom house which fetched $1,135,000 through McGrath Woden.

It was last sold for $235,000 in 2002.

Canberra's most affordable auction sale was a three-bedroom, one-bedroom house at 16 Sellwood Street, Holt.

Built around 1975, the 104 sqm residence sold for $496,000 through Luton Properties.

There were 14 registered bidders at an auction in Canberra for a large home at 16 Bussell Crescent, Cook which sold for $1.3 million to a local family.

Ray White agent Troy Reddick noted the average number of bidders was rising "so were expecting to have a strong year.

Adelaide had the cheapest sale among the capitals with 12 Walpole Street, Davoren Park through Harcourts.

The 720 sqm land parcel sold at a loss for $117,000 at its mortgagee auction.

The three-bedroom, one-bathroom property last sold for $127,000 in 2005.
A Russian court ordered an undiagnosed local woman to return to coronavirus quarantine on Monday after she fled days earlier, from what she described as dismal conditions.

The 32-year-old woman had been quarantined in St Petersburgs Botkin Hospital upon returning home after a trip to China.

She fled the facility by short-circuiting an electronic lock.

A court in St Petersburg, Russias second largest city, ordered her to return to the quarantine for at least the next two days, the Russian news agency Interfax reported.

Russia has only had two reported cases of the new coronavirus on its territory, two Chinese nationals in Siberia who have recovered.

(dpa/NAN)
A patient left lying next to a person who was "unconscious or possibly deceased" was among the alarming complaints made about hospitals to the health watchdog.

Grubby wards, cold food and forcing elderly patients to wear nappies were also complaints made to the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa).

According to the unpublished complaints seen by the Irish Independent, hygiene and infection control are major concerns among patients and relatives who brought their grievances to Hiqa.

In one case, a patient who had surgery was placed in a recovery ward for two hours and felt unsafe and vulnerable.

Another patient next to them was completely alone, their "legs were visible" and no member of staff was checking on them.

The "patient appeared unconscious or possibly deceased", the report released under Freedom of Information revealed.

Another complaint related to treating all older patients with the one approach, and putting them in nappies when they were not needed.

"Family requested that this practice was not to be done. Every patient was given a plastic cup to drink from; the patient asked for a regular cup," it said.

Mobility and independence were not encouraged and the patient received just eight showers during a five-week stay.

Another complainant described water jugs as "filthy". They told how staff come in to clean the floor but "leave stale vomit and do not remove it".

A separate report related to a patient with double pneumonia, who was put in a ward with three others. When staff were asked to fill the soap dispenser, they were told the key was lost.

Hospital catering was criticised in another report with food served cold, while drinking water was always warm.

Hiqa said that 15 hospitals were inspected to discover how they are tackling the superbug carbapenemase-producing enterobacterales (CPE) and if they had made efforts to address the ongoing public health emergency.

Screening

Over the course of 2019, Hiqa observed an improvement in screening rates across public hospitals.

However, a number of factors were identified which had the potential to contribute to outbreaks of CPE. These included a lack of clarity among some staff of the requirements for routine assessment and screening for superbugs.

There was an absence of dedicated software to aid surveillance of infections in most hospitals and an inconsistent application of transmission-based precautions in some hospitals.

They found deficits in equipment hygiene and also in the physical environment of old buildings.

In response, the HSE said that in 2018-2019 the Departments of Health allocated around 7m to support enhanced infection control practice and control of antibiotic resistance.

Older infrastructure can also make cleaning and decontamination more difficult.
Jerusalem: Hamas and Israel still exchange fire with sporadic rocket attacks and airstrikes in their long-running military standoff along the Gaza border, but the two sides are also engaged in something of an arms race on social media.

The Israeli military said on Sunday it had foiled a "catfishing" attempt to gain access to soldiers' phones, at least the third instance since 2017 in which it said Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, had tried to dupe its troops by posing as Israeli women seeking romance.

A masked member of Hamas at a protest against the Mid East plan announced by US President Donald Trump, in Gaza City, last month. Credit:AP

Hamas, for its part, on Friday accused Israel of hacking one of its groups on the messaging app Telegram and posting doctored photos of Hamas intelligence officers in embarrassing poses.

The Israelis said Hamas tricked soldiers using women's photos that had been altered to defeat easy reverse-image searches with fake names like "Yael Azoulay" and "Noa Danon." The women had fleshed-out social media profiles, salted their texts with Hebrew slang and maintained accounts on several platforms at once.
A Dracut man who was fatally shot by police Sunday after stabbing a person at a New Hampshire car dealership and then stealing a BMW was linked to two other carjackings in Massachusetts over the weekend, according to prosecutors.

Investigators have connected Thomas Murray to three car thefts in total as well as a possible fourth carjacking in Boston, the Essex District Attorneys office said in a statement Monday.

The 31-year-old allegedly attacked an employee at the Tulley BMW dealership in Nashua on Sunday and then drove a stolen car on Interstate 95 to Byfield, a village in Newbury. He was tracked to a gas station on Central Street using the vehicles onboard location system, according to Massachusetts State Police.

Officers boxed in the stolen car and tried to approach Murray. Police then shot at the Dracut resident after he rammed a state police cruiser. He was taken to Anna Jaques Hospital in Newburyport, where he later died, authorities said.

When Murray arrived at the New Hampshire dealership earlier that afternoon, though, he was already driving a jacked vehicle. The 31-year-old had allegedly stolen a Subaru Legacy from a person in Lowell roughly two hours earlier, the Essex District Attorneys office said. The woman did not suffer any serious injuries.

Police in North Andover responded to a car theft on Saturday as well that Murray was responsible for, the district attorney said.

The owner of an Audi Q5 reported around 3:45 p.m. that his wife and 5-year-old child were waiting in the car while he was in the Starbucks off Route 114 when a man, later identified as Murray, entered the drivers side of the vehicle and yelled at them to get out, according to prosecutors.

The victim exited the vehicle, along with her child, and Murray drove off with the car heading westbound, the Essex District Attorneys office said. No weapon was shown. Items recovered at the scene, as well as witness statements, led to Thomas Murray being identified almost immediately.

Police pursued the car Sunday morning in Canton and later recovered the Audi in Lexington, prosecutors said.

Police are investigating whether the same suspect is potentially connected to a theft of a vehicle in Boston on Saturday, the district attorneys office said.
Relations between Tehran and Washington reached crisis point in 2018 after US President Donald Trump abandoned a 2015 pact

Iran will never hold talks with the United States under pressure, President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday, adding that Tehrans help was essential in establishing security in the Middle East.

Relations between Tehran and Washington reached crisis point in 2018 after U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned a 2015 pact between Iran and world powers under which Tehran accepted curbs to its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of sanctions.

Tensions spiked further following the killing of Irans most prominent military commander Qassem Soleimani on Jan. 3 by U.S. drone attacks at Baghdad airport. In retaliation, Iran attacked U.S. targets in Iraq in January.

Trump has adopted a policy of maximum pressure to force Tehran to negotiate a broader deal that further curbs Irans nuclear work, ends its missile programme and its involvement in regional proxy wars.

Iran will never negotiate under pressure ... We will never yield to Americas pressure and we will not negotiate from a position of weakness, Rouhani said in a televised news conference.

Although the reimposed U.S. sanctions have crippled Irans economy, slashing its oil exports, Tehran has repeatedly dismissed talks over any new deal, saying they are possible only if the United States returns to the pact and lifts trade curbs.

Americas maximum pressure towards Iran is doomed to failure ... our enemy (the United States) is very well aware that their pressure is inefficient, Rouhani said.

Iran has been involved in decades of regional proxy wars with its key regional rival Saudi Arabia, from Syria to Iraq. European and Arab states have since scrambled to avert a full-fledged conflict between the two sides.

Securing peace and stability in the sensitive region of Middle East and in the Persian Gulf is impossible without Irans help, Rouhani said.

Several countries have delivered messages to us (from Saudi Arabia) ... we dont have issues with Saudi Arabia that cannot be resolved, he said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Saturday Riyadh had contacted Iran after the killing of Soleimani, but when Iran had responded the contact had ended. He suggested the United States had pressured Riyadh.

Zarifs comments were dismissed by his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud who said there had been neither private messages nor direct contacts between the two countries.
Id like to see universal free school meals nationwide. Let the lunch lady feed all our kids.

Janet Poppendieck

Brooklyn

The writer is a senior fellow at the CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute and the author of Free for All: Fixing School Food in America.

To the Editor:

Increased investment in school lunches should be not just about the food, but also the process by which its served. Part of the reason my little boy, who goes to a great public school in Manhattan, doesnt like school lunch is that his lunch period is short, and the lunch line eats into it substantially. Hed rather pull out his bag and immediately sit down with his friends. If the line moved faster, we might be able to get him to eat whats offered more often. But meals are about more than just eating.

John Forrest Tomlinson

New York

To the Editor:

I would love to stop packing lunch and snacks for my children in kindergarten, but the reality of free breakfast and lunch at their public school in Manhattan is far from the well-balanced offerings cited in this article. Before I banned all school food for my kindergartners, they helped themselves to apple juice and a white bread bagel for breakfast, chocolate milk and a honey corn muffin for lunch, and more juice and honey graham crackers for afternoon snack. All offered on the same day. More sugary beverages and simple carbohydrates than theyd normally consume at a birthday party!

Children in poverty rely on the free offerings from the schools to support their daily nutritional needs. We do them and our neighbors a disservice by not offering the healthy school lunch options that Jennifer Gaddis reports are available elsewhere.

Marta Peimer

New York

To the Editor:

As a middle-class mother of four who would need to spend $61 a week ($3.05 a meal) if I allowed my children to get school lunch, I found Jennifer Gaddiss claim that my actions reduce the political will and financial resources necessary to make public school lunches better for everyone quite narrow-minded.
Beirut, Feb 17, 2020 (AFP) -

Iran is ready to help Lebanon's ailing economy, the speaker of its parliament was quoted as saying Monday during a visit to Beirut.

Lebanon is going through its worst crisis in decades as a debt burden combined with slowing capital flows bring the small country to the brink of collapse.

Iranian speaker Ali Larijani, on the first visit by an Iranian official since the new Lebanese government was approved last week, said Tehran was willing to help.

"We wish the new government much success. We are ready to provide our assistance to improve the economic situation," he said, according to the Lebanese state news agency.

The new Lebanese government was born after weeks of negotiations over its line-up, including with the Hezbollah group that is Tehran's main proxy outside of Iran.

Tehran has already expressed willingness to assist Lebanon's economy, including by supporting the moribund electricity sector.

The lack of electricity and other basic services was one of the reasons why thousands of people of all ages, sects and regions took the streets in mid-October to demand the wholesale removal of a political elite they see as corrupt and incompetent.

Offers of support from Iran -- itself in a difficult economic situation due to Western sanctions -- are met with suspicion among Lebanon's deeply divided ruling class.

"Iran's cash can help resolve the crisis of a party but not that of a country," Saad Hariri, who resigned as prime minister under pressure from the street last year, said on Friday.

Hezbollah, which has a powerful militia but also a dominant political wing, is blamed for the 2005 assassination of Hariri's father Rafik, a charismatic former premier.

To rescue the country's economy, the new government has requested the advice of the International Monetary Fund on what measures to take.

The next major date in Lebanon's economic calendar is March 9, when a $1.2 billion Eurobond is due to mature.

Lebanon can either try to restructure its debt, repay the Eurobond -- but the cash-strapped state can scarcely afford to -- or default on its debt.
Researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues elsewhere, contributed to the study, which published in the journal Biological Psychiatry.Pathologically, AD is primarily characterised by the accumulation of protein plaques called b-amyloid (Ab), which gradually accumulate in the brain, disrupting cell function and eventually killing affected neurons. The second type of protein, called tau, also accumulates abnormally inside neurons, damaging functions.In the progression of AD, Ab levels build in the brain, but the process leading to abnormally high levels is typically long. It is often years or decades before consequential symptoms of severe cognitive impairment appear. A new framework from the National Institute on Aging and Alzheimer's Association defines the first stage of AD to be individuals with abnormal levels of Ab who are still cognitively normal."Although AD pathology, and Ab in particular, appear long before severe cognitive deficits appear," said first author Jeremy A. Elman, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine, "recent evidence suggests more subtle cognitive changes may appear earlier in the disease than commonly appreciated."Elman and colleagues, including senior author William S. Kremen, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine, sought to determine whether poor cognitive performance, however subtle, might be a predictor that current Ab-negative levels (accumulations below the threshold for AD diagnosis) were likely to become Ab-positive."Once a person reaches the point of being Ab-positive, it means that there is already substantial underlying pathology," said Kremen. "It would be advantageous to identify at-risk individuals before they develop substantial amyloid burden to improve treatment efficacy and slow progression to AD dementia."The researchers conducted a pair of non-invasive cognitive tests on 292 participants in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, an ongoing study to assess whether the use of medical imaging, biological markers, and clinical assessments can be combined to measure the progression of cognitive decline and early AD.All of the participants were Ab-negative at baseline testing and displayed no dementia; 40 participants would progress to Ab-positivity during the study and follow-up period.The scientists found that participants who tested with lower baseline cognition were at significantly higher risk of progressing to Ab-positivity. That is, low test scores indicating poorer cognitive function suggested amyloid plaque levels that, while not yet considered to be problematic, were likely rising and would ultimately reach the threshold definition of AD."We found that subthreshold levels of baseline Ab were predictive of future accumulation, adding to evidence that even low levels of Ab are clinically relevant, but that cognitive performance was still significantly predictive even after controlling for this pathology," said Elman.The findings, wrote the researchers, suggest that low-cost, non-invasive cognitive testing is useful for identifying persons who may be at risk for developing AD, making them ideal candidates for therapeutic intervention and clinical trials. (ANI)
Incredible video footage shows a brave pilot soaring above the Dubai skyline at 150 miles per hour using a jet pack similar to the Marvel superhero Iron Man.

Like something out of a Hollywood blockbuster, French skydiver Vince Reffet is seen strapped to the device which takes off from a launchpad.

After a brief period to stabilise over the water, he rapidly flies off and reaches a top speed of 150 miles per hour before pulling his parachute at an altitude of 4,900ft.

The unconventional jet pack is controlled from the ground and capable of hovering, changing direction and performing loops.

French skydiver Vince Reffet wearing the Jet Wing jet pack as he flies towards Jumeriah Beach Residence, Dubai

The brave skydiver can be seen barely as a spot in the sky over the Dubai sunset. The Jetwing reaches a height of 655 feet in 12 seconds

The 'Jet Wing' jetpack is the project of Jetman Dubai, which aims to 'create a future for individuals flying with jet wings' and 'change the way we experience the world'.

The company aims to achieve 100 per cent autonomous human flight by 2020.

'There is a height range where humans cannot fly autonomously', the company says on its website.

'It is called the grey area. By flying at altitudes never attempted before, Jetman is narrowing the grey area. And in 2020, it will disappear.'

The video shows Reffet taking off from the launchpad at Skydive Dubai on the UAE coast.

After hovering above the surface of the water for a few minutes, he salutes the camera, closes his helmet and starts to build speed as he heads skywards.

In just eight seconds after taking off, he's already reached 100 metres in height.

In 12 seconds he reached 655 feet (200 metres) and in 19 seconds he had reached 1640 feet (500 metres).

After half a minute, Reffet had reached 1,000 metres, travelling at an average speed of 150 miles per hour (around 130 knots).

The Jet Wing is powered by jetpacks and is controlled by an operator on the ground. The device's creators want to achieve fully autonomous human flights this year

JET WING SPECS Max distance: 31 miles (50km) Max speed: 253 miles per hour (220 knots) Min speed: Hover Highest altitude: 20,000 feet (6,100 metres) Flight duration: 13 minutes Camera: 4k action camera + 360-degree action camera Advertisement

The video shows him climbing the skies as he heads towards Jumeriah Beach Residence on the coast of Dubai.

At the end of a three-minute flight punctuated by a roll and a loop at 5,905 feet (1,800 metres) altitude, Reffet opened his parachute at 4,900 feet in the air (1,500 metres) before landing back at Skydive Dubai.

The successful test flight marks the first time that a pilot at the company combined hovering near the ground and performing 'aerobatics'  sophisticated flying manoeuvres  at high altitude in the same flight.

This latest mission is also first time their pilots have taken off vertically  having previously had to jump out of a helicopter at high altitude.

Vince Reffet as he takes off from the Sky Dive Runway on the Duabi coast. The test flight on February 14 was a first for Jetman Dubai, with previous flights requiring the wearer to disembark from a helicopter to get in the air

The video was posted by Dubai Crown Prince Hamdan bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum on his Instagram account.

'A major milestone in the quest to achieve 100 per cent autonomous flight,' he said. 'Well done boys.'

Hamdan is a keen sky diver and head of the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Establishment for young entrepreneurs.

Reffet had previously filmed Swiss Air Force pilot Yves Rossy used the Jetwing to soar alongside a private jet in flight over the Dubai coast.

A video of the achievement was posted by Jetman Dubai's Twitter account with the caption: 'Approaching a private jet in flight no CGI needed.'
Egypt's prosecutor-general said in a statement that activist Patrick Zaki faces accusations of spreading incorrect and flawed statements that can disrupt Egypt's internal social peace and security

The Egyptian parliament's deputy speaker Soliman Wahdan slammed a statement issued by speaker of the European Parliament David Sassoli on Friday calling for detained activist Patrick George Zaki be released.

Wahdan said in a statement on Monday morning that Sassoli's statement reflects an aggressive position and represents an interference in the internal affairs of Egypt.

"This statement has exceeded all limits and represents an assault on the sovereignty of judicial, legislative and executive authorities in Egypt," said Wahdan.

Wahdan said that Zaki was detained in line with correct legal and constitutional procedures and that he faces accusations of spreading lies and inciting people to protest and overthrow the regime.

"As a result, the prosecution decided to place him in custody pending investigation and interrogation," said Wahdan, adding that the "speaker of the European Parliament should have contacted the Egyptian parliament first and asked to discuss the matter instead of rushing to issue an aggressive and flawed statement on the Zakis arrest."

Head of the Egyptian parliament's Human Rights Committee Alaa Abed also said in a statement on Sunday that Sassoli's statement contained distorted and flawed information on Zakis arrest.

"Sassoli should have sought correct information from reliable sources instead of basing his hasty statement on information issued by organisations hostile to Egypt," said Abed, adding that "the allegations that Zaki was tortured are completely incorrect and lack any evidence."

"Egypt is fully committed to observing human rights in dealing with detainees and stands against exploiting this issue for political reasons," said Abed.

Parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Aal said in a statement on Friday that Sassoli's remarks represent an unacceptable interference in Egypt's internal affairs as well as an assault on the sovereignty of the Egyptian judicial system.

"Such statements also discourage dialogue between the two parliamentary bodies because they were based on politicised organisations that lack credibility," said Abdel-Aal.

Egypt's Prosecutor-General Hamada El-Sawy said in a statement on Sunday night that "Patrick George Michel Zaki Soliman, a pharmacist from Mansoura city, faces accusations of spreading incorrect and flawed statements that can disrupt social peace.

"He also used his social media accounts to disrupt public order and endanger the safety and security of society," said the statement, adding that "as a result, the prosecution issued a warrant for the national security agency to search his house, and the latter submitted to the prosecution 10 pages printed from his Facebook account, all inciting citizens to protest against the authorities and symbols of the Egyptian state.

"He was arrested on 7 February when he arrived in Cairo airport and was questioned by the prosecution on 8 February," said the statement, adding that "Patrick George Zaki denied that he was subjected to any kind of torture, or that his body has suffered injuries due to torture."

"The defendant is currently in custody and is under investigation, and the charges against him are serious enough that he should remain in custody for the time being until interrogations are finished," said the statement.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Its been a memorable period for Burns Visiting Scholar in Irish Studies Guy Beinerwhich seems appropriate for a specialist in the historical study of remembering and forgetting.

A professor of history at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, Beiner is the 2019-20 Burns Scholar, the latest in a long line of distinguished academics, writers, artists, journalists, librarians, and notable public figures to have held the appointment. Burns Scholars teach courses, offer public lectures, and use the Universitys John J. Burns Library in their ongoing research, writing, and creative endeavors related to Irish history, art, and culture.

Since arriving at BC, Beiner has seen his 2018 book, Forgetful Remembrance: Social Forgetting and Vernacular Historiography of a Rebellion in Ulster, selected for three major awards in the field of history-related research: the American Historical Association George L. Mosse Prize for an outstanding major work of extraordinary scholarly distinction, creativity, and originality in the intellectual and cultural history of Europe since 1500; the Katharine Briggs Award for a distinguished contribution to folklore studies; and the National University of Ireland Irish Historical Research Prize, which recognizes the best new work of Irish historical research.

Forgetful Remembrance also was previously listed as a Times Literary Supplement book of the year and received an honorable mention for the American Conference for Irish Studies Donnelly Prize for Books in History and Social Sciences.

The acclaim for Forgetful Remembrance, along with the honor of holding the Burns Chair, represents the latest milestone for Beiner, an Israeli native who earned his doctorate from the National University of Ireland-University College Dublin and was a Government of Ireland Research Fellow at Trinity College Dublin. His academic and research experiences in Ireland, marked by his use of folklore and other less conventional sources, shaped Beiners interest in how popular conceptions of national and local history are shaped not only by collective memory but also what he calls social forgetting. Although rooted in the Irish experience, Beiner finds his body of work is relevant in other historical and contemporary contexts, such as the controversy over Confederate monuments.

When it comes to history, it can be argued that memory is the exception, and forgetting is the norm, explained Beiner, who is teaching a course this fall on history and memory related to Bloody Sunday, the 1972 killings of protestors in Northern Ireland by the British Army. Official history, that which is published or otherwise viewed as authoritative, is noteworthy not only for what it recalls but what it doesntevents and details that are considered inconvenient are often relegated to oblivion. Other kinds of vernacular history persist, howeverlike oral history or folklorein which such details can be shared and maintained informally.

The outcome is therefore a complex form of social forgetting, consisting of public silence alongside private remembrance.
A total of 18 out of 19 national banks and financial companies in the UAE have announced an increase in their total net profits to Dh46.47 billion ($12.65 billion) an increase of 11.6 percent compared to Dh41.63 billion in 2018.



The figures showed that the banking sector accounted for some 61 percent of net profits recorded by almost all companies listed in the countrys financial markets, reported Emirates news agency Wam.



The seven banks listed in the Dubai Financial Market recorded the largest growth percentage, in terms of profitability, as their profits increased to Dh24.136 billion, a rise of almost 25 percent compared to Dh19.312 billion in 2018.



Out of the 12 banks and financial companies listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, with an investment bank not disclosing its relevant figures, the profits of 10 banks amounted to some Dh22.34 billion in 2019, a slight increase compared to Dh22.32 billion in 2018.



The profits recorded by Abu Dhabi First Bank and Emirates NBD Bank accounted for 58.1 percent of the total, with Emirates NBD Bank recording a profit of Dh14.502 billion last year while Abu Dhabi First Bank saw profits of Dh12.52 billion.
There wasnt a lick of snow in the Nebraska Panhandle Monday morning, but westbound Interstate 80 and U.S. Highway 30 were closed nonetheless.

High winds blowing heavy weekend snows shut down I-80 in most of Wyoming until Monday afternoon, prompting the Nebraska Department of Transportation to close both I-80 and U.S. 30 near Big Springs.

The Nebraska closings followed the state DOTs rolling closure model, which aims to divert passenger and truck traffic and make efficient use of motels and roadside facilities well ahead of hazardous interstate conditions.

I-80s westbound lanes were closed at the junction with Interstate 76 (Exit 102), according to the state DOTs Nebraska 511 service (511.nebraska.gov). Westbound U.S. 30 traffic also was being diverted at the junction with U.S. 138 north of Big Springs.

Support Local Journalism Your subscription makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}}

Both I-76 and U.S. 138 remained open into Colorado, according to Nebraska 511.

I-80 in Wyoming was shut down in both directions Monday morning between Rawlins and Laramie due to whiteout conditions and excessive drifting around Arlington and Elk Mountain.
The need to travel far and beyond our place of origin can be viewed as something almost intrinsically featured in all human beings. Throughout history, people have pushed their boundaries to travel the roads untaken, no matter what kind of danger stood ahead.

In today's day and age, we can imagine that there are very few places that are left undiscovered. A lot of the expeditions that shaped the world we know today happened during the time of colonial expansion and many of these stories unveil the hard truth about what happened to the indigenous people that faced the newcomers. As people try to discover the mysteries of the universe and exoplanets of our solar system, we take a look at some of the most famous expeditions that hold an essential place in the history of mankind.

5. Mission: Top Of The World

After numerous failed attempts of hiking crews, on May 29, Hillary and Norgay stood 8,848 (29,029 feet) meters above sea level, as first humans on the top of Mount Everest.

This expedition will go down as the one that proved how anything is possible, and how far can we push ourselves as human beings. In 1953, an explorer from New Zealand, Edmund Hillary, and Tenzing Norgay, a sherpa from the country of Nepal, reached the highest peak of our planet - Mount Everest. After numerous failed attempts of hiking crews, on May 29, Hillary and Norgay stood 8,848 (29,029 feet) meters above sea level, as first humans on the top of Mount Everest.

4. Amerigo Finds America

American continent got its name after one Italian captain - Amerigo Vespucci.

Although Cristopher Columbus is the captain responsible for the discovery of the New World, the American continent got its name after one Italian captain. Amerigo Vespucci, who traveled under the Portuguese flag, touched land in 1502. Thinking he was in India, he named the natives "Indians," not knowing he was actually in South America, in the area of Brazil.

3. Marco Polo And The Discovery Of China

Another Italian on the list, Marco Polo, was the first person that traveled from Europe all the way to China.

Another Italian on the list, Marco Polo, was the first person that traveled from Europe all the way to China. His travels took two whole decades, as he moved across the trading routes of the Middle East and East territories from 1275 to 1295. However, most of that time, Polo spent living with Kublai Khan, who was the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. Polo's travels not only influenced Cristopher Columbus to set sail for the unknown but also altered the ways of map creation that led to faster and more efficient cartography that started mapping the world we live in.

2. Columbus' Epic Journey

Columbus, up until his death, insisted that it was Asia where they came, not America.

Christopher Columbus, a captain that survived the trip across the Atlantic Ocean even four times. A person who technically created a route for the people of Europe to start inhabiting and traveling into the new world, and with that start colonizing the Americas. However, Columbus did all of this by accident.

When he set sail on August 3, 1492, he thought he would make his way to China, or at least other parts of the East that were part of the trading routes. His pride and joy, the flagship Santa Maria saw land on December 25, 1492. Columbus, up until his death, insisted that it was Asia where they came, not America.

1. Around The Globe In 1,126 Days

A trip that started on August 10, 1519, could be one of the most important ones because it definitely proved how the Earth was round.

A trip that started on August 10, 1519, could be one of the most important ones because it definitely proved how the Earth was round. Ferdinand Magellan set sail from Portugal, traveling toward west only to reach the area of what is today Indonesia. Although the primary intent of the mission was to follow through the idea Magellan has presented to the Spanish king, this voyage undoubtedly proved that our planet was round, an idea that quickly revolutionized the fields of science like astronomy and geography, as well as some religious beliefs and dogmas.

Unfortunately, while he managed to travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, and then cross the Pacific Ocean altogether, Magellan did not make it to their final destination. Out of five ships that started the mission, only one made it until the end, but without Magellan. Captain Magellan died a whole year before that while standing in the middle of a local fight in the Philippines. The one surviving ship returned home on September 8, 1522.
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, Feb. 17

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

Minister of Industry and Construction Operations of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov arrived in Kazan, the capital of Russia's Republic of Tatarstan, with a working visit, Trend reports referring to the press service of the Tatarstans president.

According to information, the delegation of Turkmenistan will visit the Kazan Kremlin, where a meeting with the President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov is scheduled.

Turkmenistan is one of the largest and stable markets for the products of the Russian cargo leader, KAMAZ Engineering JSC. Over the past ten years, more than 9,000 units of trucks and special equipment of this plant have been delivered to the country.

In addition, Tatneft resumed work to increase oil recovery and repair wells at the Gotur Depe field in western Turkmenistan in 2019.

The foreign trade turnover of Turkmenistan and Tatarstan amounted to $65 million from January through September 2019.

Furthermore, the sides also discuss the prospects of cooperation in the fields of shipbuilding and civil aviation.
New Delhi/London: A British MP, critical of India's move to withdraw Jammu and Kashmir's special status, on Monday said she was denied entry despite a valid visa after she landed at Delhi airport and deported to Dubai from where she had flown into the Indian capital.

Labour Party MP Debbie Abrahams claim that she had a valid visa was rebutted by India's Home ministry which said she was informed about her e-visa being cancelled.

Abrahams, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Kashmir, said she was travelling on a valid e-visa to India to visit family and friends but her visa was revoked without explanation.

A Home Ministry spokesperson in New Delhi said the British parliamentarian had been duly informed that her visa was cancelled.

When contacted, Abrahams told PTI she "had not received any emails before February 13". After that, she had been travelling and was away from the office. Her office in the UK confirmed she was put on a plane to Dubai, which is where she flew into Delhi from earlier on Monday.

"We are in contact with the Indian authorities to understand why Deborah Abrahams MP was denied entry to India. We provided consular assistance to her whilst she was in New Delhi Airport," said a British High Commission spokesperson in New Delhi.

Abrahams' e-visa was reportedly issued last October, and was valid until October 2020. Recounting her experience at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, she said in a statement on Twitter that she arrived here on Monday morning and was informed that her e-visa been cancelled.

In her statement, Abrahams said she had presented herself at the immigration desk along with her documents and e-visa. "...The official looked at his screen and started shaking his head. Then he told me my visa was rejected took my passport and disappeared for about 10 minutes."

"When he came back he was very rude and aggressive shouting at me to 'come with me'. I told him not to speak to me like that and was then taken to a cordoned off area marked as a Deportee Cell. He then ordered me to sit down and I refused. I didn't know what they might do or where else they may take me, so I wanted people to see me," the British MP said.

The immigration officer disappeared again, she said, adding that she phoned her sister-in-law's cousin who she was going to be staying with. "Kai got in touch with the British High Commission and he tried to find out what was going on," she wrote on Twitter.

She said later several immigration officials came to her but none of them knew why her e-visa was cancelled. "Even the person who seemed to be in charge said he didn't know and was really sorry about what had happened."

Reacting to Abrahams' deportation, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor asked why the government was scared of critics if it claimed the situation in Kashmir was normal. "Reacting to the British MP Who Criticised Govt on J&K Stopped At Airport: conduct really unworthy of a democracy & guaranteed to give us a far worse press than if she had been admitted," he said on Twitter.

Abrahams was among a group of MPs who issued formal letters following the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 in August last year.

"We are gravely concerned at the announcement by Indian Home Minister, Amit Shah, that Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, which grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir, has been removed by Presidential Order," the Opposition MP had noted in her letter to the UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab at the time.
Migrants: boat with 40 on board in distress, Alarm Phone 'In Malta's SAR zone'

(ANSAmed) - ROME, FEBRUARY 17 - Alarm Phone has received a distress call from a boat with 40 on board who are fleeing Libya, the phone service said on Twitter, adding that ''they are in Malta's SAR zone'' and that they have informed ''authorities''.



In another tweet, Alarm added: ''The boat is still in danger at sea! Malta's authorities only say they are investigating the case. The boat is much closer to Lampedusa than Malta''. ''The fastest rescue'' operation needs to be organized, it said.



(ANSAmed).




Tory MPs warn against a vendetta against the BBC

The Conservative party risks losing voters if it continues its vendetta against the BBC, senior Tories have warned amid a mounting backlash. Last night backbench MPs threatened to oppose reported plans by the government to scrap the licence fee and replace it with a subscription model. Huw Merriman, chair of a Parliamentary group on the BBC, warns that picking such a potentially unpopular fight is unlikely to end well. Writing in the Telegraph, Mr Merriman says it is worrying that senior Government aides appear to be ramping up an unedifying vendetta against the broadcaster. Damian Green, the Former Cabinet minister, said: Destroying the BBC wasnt in our manifesto and would be cultural vandalism.  Daily Telegraph

Backbench revolt over threat to scrap BBC licence fee  The Sun

Downing Street sources raised doubts about TV and radio stations  Daily Express

Government appears to back away from the scale of cuts  The Times

Minister plays down reports BBC licence fee to be axed  FT

Funding crisis as 200,000 homes ditch licence fee  Daily Mail

Huw Merriman: The peoples government should not be attacking the Corporation

How the Government can project our nations values from behind the BBCs paywall remains to be seen. More worrying, it feels as if senior Government aides are now ramping up an unedifying vendetta against this much-admired corporation. This culminated in a bizarre promise this weekend to whack the BBC. Whilst some may see the BBC as in need of the type of trousers-down, six of the best treatment which may have been enjoyed, or endured, during boarding school, this is an institution which enjoys an 80 per cent approval rating from the same public which elects its Government.  Huw Merriman, Daily Telegraph

This government threatens the principle at the heart of the BBC  Jane Martinson, The Guardian

>Today: ToryDiary: Whacking the BBC. Change is coming  whether the Corporation likes it or not.

Environment Secretary talks of limits of what can be done after storm chaos

The Environment Secretary said the Government will never be able to protect every single household from flooding as Storm Dennis wreaked havoc across the UK. Three people lost their lives over the weekend and thousands were evacuated from their homes as the number of flood warnings reached an all-time record. Conservative and Labour MPs expressed anger at the governments response. Philip Davies, the Tory MP for Shipley, said precious little has been done since the 2015 floods and called on the government to pull its finger out George Eustice, the Environment Secretary, said the Government has not been caught off guard The Cabinet minister blamed the nature of climate change for the scale of the damage and said: Well never be able to protect every single household.  Daily Telegraph

Government criticised over storm preparations  The Times

Retailers say Brexit border friction will hit food supplies  FT

Hundreds of flood warnings remain  Daily Telegraph

Met Office to get 1.2bn forecasting supercomputer  The Times

>Today: Robert Ward and Alan Burns in Local Government: Councils that declare a climate emergency engage in scaremongering, not practical action

Pressure grows on Johnson over Sabisky hire

Pressure was growing on Downing Street yesterday to sack a new adviser over a string of controversial remarks he made on social media in the past. Andrew Sabisky, 27, was appointed to No 10 as part of Dominic Cummingss drive to draft in misfits and weirdos to advise Boris Johnsons administration. He has described himself as a superforecaster and once suggested that the benefits of giving children a mental performance-enhancing drug, which can occasionally prove fatal, are probably worth a dead kid once a year. An interview he gave to Schools Week in 2016 has also raised eyebrows: Eugenics are about selecting for good things, he said. Intelligence is largely inherited and correlates with better outcomes: physical health, income, lower mental illness.  The Times

He demanded children be given the drug modafinil  The Sun

Labour urges advisers sacking after eugenics support  FT

Ministers forced to deny Cummings is the real PM  The Sun

Comment:

Johnson is determined to break all the iron rules of politics  Larry Elliott, The Guardian

Global partners call out Britains absence from security conference

Britain has been criticised by international politicians and diplomats for failing to send senior ministers to a global security conference. Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Speaker of the US House of Representatives, said that she hoped the British governments low-key presence at the Munich Security Conference over the weekend was not an indication of their commitment to multilateralism. Her sentiments were echoed by other diplomats after Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, pulled out of attending at short notice. He was required to attend a post-reshuffle cabinet meeting in London on Friday morning, which clashed with the timing of the speech he had been due to give in Munich.  The Times

Global Britain goes missing at Munich security summit  FT

More:

Australian MPs cancel UK trip in dispute over Huawei  The Times

Cambridge caught in crossfire of US-China tech war  FT

Royal Navy to be smaller than Italys after ships delayed  The Sun

Comment:

How can the governing classes be so naive about the threats we face?  Nick Timothy, Daily Telegraph

Were quietly retreating from the world stage  Edward Lucas, The Times

Sunak urged to abandon radical tax shake-up

The new Chancellor has been urged to immediately suspend a huge tax shake-up for self-employed workers after being warned it will cause enormous damage to contractors and the wider economy. Businesses are planning to cut off contractors or delay work while a third of self-employed workers will stop freelancing amid widespread confusion over complying with the new IR35 rules, according to industry bodies. The Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) and the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE) warned the contractor market has already been severely affected ahead of changes in April to laws clamping down on tax avoidance. The REC and IPSE both urged Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, to pause the plans and engage with businesses to stop the changes severely damaging the contractor market.  Daily Telegraph

Johnson faces budget rebellion from furious Tories over brutal ousting of Javid  The Sun

UK Budget may be delayed, says cabinet minister  FT

Comment:

Javids axing shows Johnson has stopped bluffing  Trevor Kavanagh, The Sun

How the Chancellor can give his budget a boost  Clare Foges, The Times

Politicians should stop bashing the rich most of us just dont agree  Sonia Sodha, The Guardian

>Today: Richard Holden MPs column: Five ideas for the new Chancellors Budget

>Yesterday:

Shapps denies knowledge of Chinese offer to build HS2

The transport secretary has played down suggestions that the Chinese state railway company could be called in to rescue the HS2 high-speed rail line. The state railway company told HS2 Ltd it could build the line in five years and for less money, according to a letter seen by Building magazine. Grant Shapps said: This has not been a discussion with the Department [for Transport]. Boris Johnson approved the HS2 scheme last week in spite of an official review that warned that the cost could reach more than 100 billion, against a budget of 62 billion Building reported that the China Railway Construction Corporation had written to HS2 Ltds chief executive last month, saying it could build the line by the middle of the decade for a much lower cost.  The Times

HS2 must be made using British steel say unions  Daily Mail

>Yesterday: Video: WATCH: HS2 only takes about four per cent each year of the capital budget  Shapps

Soft Brexiteers still holding out hope that Johnson will strike high-alignment EU deal

Hard Brexit opponents are holding out desperate hope Boris Johnson will eventually sign up for a trade deal with close alignment with the European Union, one Remain-backing former cabinet minister has claimed But one former cabinet minister has claimed many in Parliament expect Mr Johnson to fold at the last minute as the reality of a no deal Brexit approaches at the end of this year. The MP claimed the Prime Minister may have to rely on opposition votes for a softer deal if he wants to go down in history if he doesnt want to be remembered as the leader who crashed the economy and broke up the union, with the issues Scottish independence and Irish reunification also continuing to persist.  Daily Express

Britain and EU will rip each other apart on trade, warns French minister  The Times

Long-Bailey says she would give Corbyn a high-level role

The two hard-Left candidates running to lead Labour say they want Jeremy Corbyn to stay in frontline politics  after he led the party to its worst election result since 1935. Rebecca Long-Bailey, who is standing to be leader, said she would give Mr Corbyn a top job because she loves him. And Richard Burgon, who wants to be her deputy, said he had a valuable role to play  perhaps even as Shadow Foreign Secretary. Miss Long-Bailey, who is trailing Sir Keir Starmer in Labours leadership race, has been labelled the Continuity Corbyn candidate after she gave him ten out of ten for his leadership. It emerged at the weekend that she had told supporters in London that she would hand the failed leader a high-level brief if she was to succeed him.  Daily Mail

Burgon suggests Corbyn could return as Foreign Secretary  Daily Telegraph

McDonnell and Starmer show split on Labours Brexit stance  The Guardian

Comment:

Starmers past is coming under scrutiny. What can we learn from it?  David Renton, The Guardian

>Yesterday:

as she and Nandy call for change in law on womens spaces

Lisa Nandy has said that trans prisoners, including those convicted of serious sexual offences, should be held in jails that match their chosen gender. The Labour leadership candidate told a hustings event yesterday that inmates who self-identify, such as Zoe Lynes, a convicted child rapist who now identifies as a woman, should have their crimes recorded as being committed by their preferred gender It comes after Rebecca Long Bailey, 40, one of her rivals for the Labour leadership, said that equality law should be changed to give trans people a legal right to enter women-only spaces. She claimed that the proposal did not threaten womens rights, as some feminist campaigners maintain. She insisted there doesnt need to be differentiation between womens rights and trans rights.  The Times

Next Labour leader faces chasm between public and party faithful  Daily Telegraph

Comment:

Before we hurl insults around about transphobes lets be clear about what we mean  Catherine Bennett, The Guardian

>Today: Rebecca Lowe in Comment: The Right cannot afford to duck the debate about trans, sex and gender

News in Brief:
Violence at an anti-CAA protest



here days ago was due to instigation by vested interests and the agitation spilled over to several parts of Tamil Nadu as people were swayed by rumours, Chief Minister K Palaniswami informed the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Monday.

As the protest entered the fourth day here, Palaniswami asserted in the House that 'Amma's (late Jayalalithaa) government,' will not allow any measure that may go against the minorities in the State.

"I would like to make it clear that Amma's government will always be a fortress in protecting the interests of minorities," he said.

The protest is on at Old Washermanpet in North Chennai from February 14, and it is dubbed "Chennai's Shaheen Bagh," in the social media.

A congested neighbourhood, Muslims form a sizable chunk of population here. Two streets serve as the protest venue and volunteers have put up a huge pandal to provide shade.

A young Muslim couple, meanwhile, got married at the protest venue and the groom held a placard against the Citizenship Amendment Act, National Population Register and National Register of Citizens as the marriage was solemnised.

Amid sloganeering, leaders including CPI(M) state secretary K Balakrishnan and Congress Sivaganga MP Karti Chidambaram addressed the protesters.

Palaniswami said several anti-CAA protests have already been held in the state and all of these were peaceful barring the stir on Friday here.

The government had information that the violence at North Chennai was due to "instigation by some vested interests," he informed.

The Chief Minister appealed to Muslims to shun false propaganda and mischief by vested interests and exhorted them to cooperate to safeguard social harmony.

Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar, who hails from North Chennai, said only after a DMK held event-in which a noted Tamil orator, also a DMK speaker, participated-violence followed.

While the government's announcement of protecting Cauvery delta region and state budget has been welcomed by the people, there was a bid to bring a bad name to the government, he alleged.

Narrating the sequence of violence, Palaniswami said though Muslim leaders of North Chennai had apprised police officials that they had no plans to stage a protest that day, they went on a flash protest.

The stir, which began on Friday noon, saw water bottles, slippers and stones being hurled at police personnel by evening and it led to injuries to four cops, including a woman IPS official, he said, adding they received treatment as inpatients at a hospital.

While those involved in violence were taken in two buses, one in the afternoon and the other in the evening, they indulged in ruckus and broke the windscreens.

When a 70-year-old man died of natural causes about six streets from the protest venue, it was rumoured that he died due to baton-charge by police.

"Believing the rumour, Muslims staged road roko in several places of Tamil Nadu," he pointed out.

After talks, though it was agreed that protesters would disperse, they did not even after those arrested were released.

Protesters raised slogans through Friday night and the agitation continued to be on till date at the same venue, the Chief Minister said.

"As of today, there are 150 protesters including 75 women and adequate measures are in place to see that untoward incidents do not happen," he said.

In the Assembly, Leader of Opposition, M K Stalin, who demanded a resolution seeking withdrawal of the Citizenship Amendment Act, led a walkout of his party MLAs after Speaker P Dhanapal said the opposition party could not press the demand since he already had negated it.

When DMK members argued he had only previously said a resolution plea was under his scrutiny, the Speaker replied that a communique to Stalin days ago made it clear that the matter cannot be taken up since it was sub-judice. Petitions against the CAA were pending in the Supreme Court.

Stalin, who also made a reference to violence at the anti-CAA stir here, said there were no problems between the peaceful protesters and police and demanded to know who was behind the "instigation."



He also sought withdrawal of cases against protesters.

Allies of the DMK, including the Congress and IUML, too trooped out while the ruling party's ally and Nagapattinam MLA M Thamimun Ansari (Manithaneya Jananayaga Katchi) also staged a walkout over the same issue.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi, Feb 17 : During his high-profile visit to the Silicon Valley in late 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the world that Google would provide free public Wi-Fi at hundreds of Indian railway stations in a couple of years.

Received by CEO Sundar Pichai with a handshake, Modi also met Google co-founder Larry Page and former CEO Eric Schmidt, who have now handed over the baton to Pichai to run both Alphabet and Google.

The company immediately began the daunting task, wiring stations after stations in partnership with the Indian Railways and Railtel Corporation.

It launched the first free Wi-Fi services at Mumbai Central station in January 2016.

The company went on to wire more than 400 stations in the country by June 2018, and listened to the demand coming from other countries to do the same and connect millions to free Internet.

Four years later, Google has decided to apply brakes on the free Wi-Fi at over 400 railway stations and the reason is cheap and affordable data on nearly 450 million smartphones.

According to RailTel, free Wi-Fi has reached 5,500 stations across the country.

After Google announcing to apply brakes on free Wi-Fi, RailTel said on Monday it will continue to service free Wi-Fi at all those railway stations.

"We sincerely value the support we received from Google in this journey," said a RailTel spokesperson.

According to Google, the decision has been taken keeping the cheaper, affordable mobile data plans and mobile connectivity in mind that is improving globally, especially in India.

With 451 million monthly active internet users at end of financial year 2019, India is now second only to China in terms of Internet users, according to a recent report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI).

Google said it would work with the Indian Railways and Railtel Corporation to help them with existing sites so they can remain useful resources for people.
New Delhi, Feb 17 : The now-defunct Planning Commission's former Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Monday said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi used "strong words" in 2013 while tearing up an ordinance on convicted lawmakers, but insisted then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did the right thing by not resigning.

In an exclusive interview to IANS, Ahluwalia said: "On hindsight, I think, Dr Singh took the right call." Giving his reasons, the former aide to Manmohan Singh said that had Rahul Gandhi been a member of the then Union Council of Ministers, things would have been different. "But he was the Vice President of a political party," he pointed out.

When pointed out that Gandhi kept Dr Singh in the dark about his sudden move on the ordinance, he quoted former Congress Vice President (Gandhi) to suggest that his choice of words could have been better.

"You must realise, in a democracy, there is nothing wrong to have dissent within the party. I don't think there's much merit in running a party in a way in which everyone in a party simply endorses what the party leadership thinks. This is an example of democratic dissent surfacing (within the party). In my view, nothing wrong with it. Mr Gandhi himself, I think, said that may be the words he used were not very appropriate... I think he said 'complete nonsense', okay? Strong words! But the bottom line is, had he simply gone there and said 'this has happened that I frankly have great doubts about'... I think there would not have been anything wrong with that. That's what democracy is all about. People should freely express their views, and if you disagree with them, you discuss that. And that's what they did," Ahluwalia said.

Ahluwalia has mentioned this incident in great detail in his latest book "Backstage: The Story behind India's High Growth Years".

He said that after his brother wrote an article to advocate Dr Singh's resignation, he showed the article to the then Prime Minister.

"The first thing I did was to take the text across to the PM's suite because I wanted him to hear about it from me first. He read it in silence, and initially made no comment. Then, he suddenly asked me whether I thought he should resign. I thought about it for a while and said 'I do not think a resignation on this issue is appropriate'." In 2013, after the Supreme Court ruled that sitting lawmakers convicted of crime would be immediately disqualified and not continue as MPs, MLAs or MLCs pending an appeal, the then United Progressive Alliance government sought to bring an ordinance to counter the verdict.

Rahul Gandhi appeared unannounced at an event to oppose his own party's line and tore a copy of the ordinance, an act seen as undermining the Prime Minister's authority while he was in the US.
PORTSMOUTH, Ohio - A judge dismissed a professors lawsuit against a small, public university in Ohio that rebuked him for not addressing a transgender student using the students preferred gender terms.

Nicholas Meriwethers federal lawsuit alleged that Shawnee State University officials violated his rights by compelling him to speak in a way that contradicts his Christian beliefs.

Schools officials contended that such language was part of his job responsibilities, not speech protected by the First Amendment, and that the case should be dismissed. U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott dismissed it last week, agreeing that the manner in which Meriwether addressed the student wasnt protected under the First Amendment.

Asked whether Meriwether would further pursue the matter, his attorney, Travis Barham of Alliance Defending Freedom, said Monday that they are evaluating their next steps.

This is wrong, Barham said in a statement. Public universities have no business compelling people to express ideological beliefs that they dont hold.

Meriwether had received a written warning for violating the schools nondiscrimination policy and unsuccessfully challenged his reprimand in a grievance process. Meriwether said he treated the student like other biologically male students.
More than 1,100 former U.S. prosecutors and Justice Department officials called Sunday for the resignation of Attorney General William Barr after he intervened to shorten the political corruption sentence for Roger Stone, a long-time confidant of President Donald Trump.

Four career federal prosecutors, part of the Justice Department headed by Barr, had recommended that Stone be sentenced this week to up to nine years in prison after his November conviction on seven charges, including lying to Congress and witness tampering, linked to the long investigation of the 2016 election won by Trump.

But Barr and top Justice Department officials expressed shock by the length of the suggested sentence and Trump called it a "miscarriage of justice." Barr intervened and the Justice Department then said the initial recommendation "could be considered excessive and unwarranted," but left it up to the judge hearing the case to decide what the appropriate sentence should be at Thursday's hearing.

The former prosecutors and Justice Department officials, who came from across the U.S. political spectrum, said in an open letter Sunday, "Each of us strongly condemns President Trump's and Attorney General Barr's interference in the fair administration of justice."

Barr told ABC News he did not talk to Trump about the Stone sentence, but the protesting former prosecutors said, Mr. Barrs actions in doing the presidents personal bidding unfortunately speak louder than his words. Those actions, and the damage they have done to the Department of Justices reputation for integrity and the rule of law, require Mr. Barr to resign.

Marc Short, the chief of staff for Vice President Mike Pence, defended Barr in a CNN interview Sunday, saying that Barr "said the president has not called him directly to do these things."

A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment about the former prosecutors' letter.

After Barr intervened in the case, Trump praised him on Twitter, saying, "Congratulations to Attorney General Bill Barr for taking charge of a case that was totally out of control and perhaps should not have even been brought." The four prosecutors who had made the sentencing recommendation quit the case after Barr stepped in.

In the ABC interview, Barr said that Trump's frequent tweets about politically charged criminal investigations make it impossible for him to do his job, although he said that the president has never directly intervened with him in any case.

"I cannot do my job here at the department with a constant background commentary that undercuts me," Barr said.

Trump, hours later, said he had never asked Barr to "do anything in a criminal case." Trump asserted that as president he had "the legal right to do so" but had "so far chosen not to!

Barr's intervention in the case of Stone, a longtime political trickster on behalf of Republican political figures, was one of three politically tinged cases he acted on last week in which Trump has taken a public interest with frequent tweets.

Barr ordered a federal prosecutor outside of the main Justice headquarters in Washington to review the origins and evidence in the case against Michael Flynn, who for a brief period served as Trump's first national security adviser at the outset of his presidency in 2017. Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation about his contacts with Russia's then ambassador to Washington in the weeks before Trump took office, but has never been sentenced and recently sought to withdraw his guilty plea.

Trump has called the case brought against Flynn "very unfair."

Meantime, Barr dropped a criminal investigation against Andrew McCabe, a former acting FBI director, whom Trump has often attacked, claiming he was part of a "deep state" of government officials determined to undermine his presidency. McCabe had been accused of lying to government officials about his role in a leak about a government investigation to the Wall Street Journal.

White House adviser Kellyanne Conway declined, in an interview on the Fox News Sunday show, to say what Trump's reaction was to ending the McCabe investigation.

"He'll still be a serial liar whether he's prosecuted or not," Conway said of McCabe.

"This is small potatoes," she said, declining to further discuss the outcome of the case.
Rosario Dawson has confirmed that she is bisexual after hinting at her orientation in 2018  but she admits she has never had ' a relationship in that space.'

The 40-year-old actress, who has been dating former presidential candidate Cory Booker since late 2018, opened up about her sexuality in an interview with Bustle, explaining that many people thought she had come out when she shared an Instagram post celebrating Pride Month nearly two years ago.

'People kept saying that I [came out]... I didnt do that. I mean, its not inaccurate, but I never did come out come out. I mean, I guess I am now,' she said.

Coming out: Rosario Dawson, 40, has confirmed that she is bisexual, but she noted that she has 'never had a relationship in that space'

Look of love: Rosario went public with her romance with Cory Booker, 50, in March 2019, about five months after she met the New Jersey senator at a friend's party

However, despite seeming to confirm that she is a bisexual, Rosario made clear that she has never had an LGBTQ relationship, saying: 'I've never had a relationship in that space, so its never felt like an authentic calling to me.'

In June 2018, Rosario reposted a video of rapper Chika singing her Pride anthem 'Proud,' which is set to the tune of Ed Sheerans Shape of You.

'Happy pride month! Sending love to my fellow lgbtq+ homies. Keep being strong in the face of adversity. Loud & proud. Heres a lil throwbyke to last year,' she wrote.

Her use of 'fellow' led many to believe it was a coming out post, but she has never confirmed or denied the speculation until now.

Rosario went public with her romance with Cory, 50, in March 2019, about five months after she met the New Jersey senator at a friend's party in October 2018.

Speculation: Many people thought Rosario had come out when she shared an Instagram post celebrating Pride Month in 2018, but she said that wasn't her intention

Right before they became a couple, she filmed the pilot for her new USA show Briarpatch in which her character has an illicit affair with her boss who is a senator.

'It was after [we started dating] that I was like, "Oh, thats gonna maybe be weird,"' she admitted, recalling how Cory's chief of staff recently asked her what to expect from the show.

'I was like, "Well, hes a senator, but we are having an illicit affair. And yeah, he does have aspirations for the presidency and he also speaks Spanish. But besides all of that, there are no similarities!"'

The activist, who has dated Joshua Jackson, Danny Boyle, Eli Roth, and Colin Farrell, told Bustle that she feels like she has finally found her match.

Candid: The actress (pictured with Cory) said 'it's not inaccurate' to say she is a member of the LGBTQ community, but she explained that 'it's never felt like an authentic calling' to her

Cautious: Rosario, who adopted her daughter Isabella (pictured) in 2014, considered what it would mean to put a 'microscope' on her family before going public with Cory

'Its the first time I felt like I had to be responsible about my choice of love, which is a challenging thing to do. If you fall in love, you fall in love. But theres another aspect I had to consider: what this meant in [putting] a microscope on my family and particularly on my daughter,' said Rosario, who adopted her daughter Isabella, 17, in 2014. 'But in each other I think we found our person.'

Rosario spoke with Bustle less than a month after Cory dropped out of the presidential race, and writer Kristen Yoonsoo Kim described her as seeming 'equal parts bummed and relieved.'

Though the politician wasn't present during Rosario's interview, he had spent the whole day with her before he headed off to pick up food for her and her team.

As for who Rosario is endorsing for president now that her boyfriend is no longer in the running, the actress  who supported Bernie Sanders in 2016  said she'd back whoever becomes the Democratic nominee.

Partners: 'In each other I think we found our person,' Rosario said of Cory. They're pictured after the Democratic presidential debate at Otterbein University in Ohio in October

Paying tribute: Rosario shared this photo in October in honor of her and Cory's one-year anniversary

Romantic gesture: Along with the picture, she penned a sweet tribute to Cory

Rosario and Cory are now planning a much-needed vacation, though she admitted she used to think self-care was 'bougie.'

'I've burnt out before and burning out is not pretty. And it ends up degrading everything else youre passionate about,' she said. 'You cant shoulder all of that burden all the time.'

The Zombieland: Double Tap star gushed about her love for Cory in a profile for the Washington Post in October, right around their one-year anniversary.

'I'm in love! I am absolutely in love, and it is so exciting,' she said. 'For my whole life, I've always felt like, even when I got into a relationship, I was trying to be the center of the storm and everything was just this maelstrom out there.

'But for the first time, I feel like I have someone in the center of the storm with me.'
Li Junbo, a 10-year-old pupil in Xi'an City, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, shows his morale-boosting picture to his mother Zhang Yi, who is critical care doctor of a medical team assisting Wuhan City, Central China's Hubei Province, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak. [For Women of China]

"On the morning of the (lunar) New Year's eve, you seemed to be grieved, and your smile disappeared after a phone call. After a while, you told dad and me that you have joined the second medical team to help Wuhan in the fight against the novel coronavirus. When I learned that, I was very worried: in past years, our family was sitting around happily for a reunion dinner at this moment. But now, you are packing your luggage for the mission... "

It is an excerpt of a letter written by Li Junbo, a 10-year-old pupil in Xi'an City, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, to his mother Zhang Yi, who has joined the medical team assisting Wuhan, capital city of Central China's Hubei Province and the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

After his mother departed Xi'an, the boy started giving his mother moral support by keeping a diary and making a calendar, looking forward to her safe return after the mission.

Li makes a specially-designed calendar to express his concern about the anti-virus fight in Wuhan and his best wishes for his mother. [For Women of China]

On the evening of January 30, Li's blessing to his mother was broadcast on a TV program and his words touched many viewers.

At that time, his mother, wearing clumsy protective gear, was busy working in the intensive care unit of Wuhan Ninth Hospital.

As the leader of the critical care team, Zhang worked from 4 pm to midnight that day with another doctor and eight nurses, treating 32 patients, including eight in critical condition.

Zhang Yi's team members give thumbs-ups to cheer for each other. [For Women of China]

Zhang said she was deeply touched by her fellows, who did not complain about the pain caused by the protective gear and their underwear being soaked in sweat.

She appreciated the close cooperation of all the medical workers in such a tough period, adding that they are working without any distraction but try their best to save patients.

After the eight-hour shift, Zhang took about one hour to take off all the protective gear according to strict procedures and then returned to her temporary residence in a hotel at 1:30 in early morning.

She said she received more than 100 messages that night, but did not read them.

Zhang went on to explain that the touching messages would make her emotional, which might affect her work the next day.

She said she had received a lot of praise, encouragement and support from her family and friends.

As a critical care doctor, it is her obligation to do so, Zhang said, adding that she herself was inspired by her team members and should inspire them in turn with full spirit and energy.

Zhang said she is looking forward to breathing freely without the protective equipment and once again staying with her family, friends and schoolmates when victory in the anti-virus fight is won.

(Women of China)
Regulator blocks two websites for selling personal data of Russian citizens

 RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov

14:41 17/02/2020

MOSCOW, February 17 (RAPSI)  Russia's communications regulator Roskomnadzor has blocked two Internet forums, phreaker.pro and dublikat.eu, where databases containing personal data of Russian citizens were accessible for sale and download.

These two web resources were put on the list of entities infringing on the privacy rights, according to a Roskomnadzor statement.

Internet providers were ordered by a court ruling to take measures aimed to restrict access to these forums from the territory of the Russian Federation.

Roskomnadzor reminds that according to the Russian legislation conscious permission of citizens is required for processing of their personal data with clearly defined aims, what the said two websites failed to obtain, the statement reads. It means, the agency says, that the forums have violated the rights and lawful interests of Russian citizens, as well as the law.
Olakunle Oladunni Churchill took to Instagram on his son's 4th birthday to write an open letter where he made a lot of revelations...





Olakunle Oladunni Churchill took to Instagram on his son's 4th birthday to write an open letter where he made a lot of revelations and accusations.





Sharing photos of King Andre, 4, Churchill wished him a happy birthday and said he wrote the note to "shed more light on the darkness created by bitterness."





Churchill added, "The same blood runs in us, nothing can change that. No one can change your name or turn your face away from me. You are my blood and for ever you will be mine."





This part of his statement is in reference to Tonto Dikeh giving her son her last name.





Churchill went on to claim that two days to King Andre's second birthday, he won the judgement in court to have access to his son whenever he wanted, but in the presence of a nanny. He claimed that since then, Tonto has kept him from seeing his son by claiming Andre doesn't have a nanny.





He vowed to take up the case in court to see that the court reviews the judgement again.





He wrote:

It is with the deepest and sincerest love, not just as a man, but as a father that I celebrate the one after my heart. Today marks the blessed day that my son King Andre breathe his first air in this world.

I therefore pray for the goodness of God upon your life to blossom, his protection, guidance and good health, continue to grow in the unprecedented grace of almighty God.





On this special day, there are some things Id like to share..... even though my heart feel so heavy to say this but it's basically to shed more light to the darkness created by bitterness... son its is very imperative to speak to you at this point.





It's important to know that no child came into this world by the means of one entity; its always through the coming together of a man and a woman (parents). In addition, I want you to know that you have a father and hes right here with you. I AM HERE FOR YOU IRRESPECTIVE OF CHALLENGES AND SITUATIONS between the union of my self and your mom.





The same blood runs in us, nothing can change that. No one can change your name or turn your face away from me, you are my blood and for ever you will be mine.





He added:

I remembered winning the judgement in court to have access to you two days before your 2nd birthday in 2018. The court insisted that your mother should grant me access to see you whenever I want through a Nanny, you can even visit me on holidays and other special events, also I was given your international passport and all your credentials after showing payment proves.





The condition was fine by me as a caring father, even though I have always wanted to have you by my side all day and all night, play together, tell tales and assist in your home works, instill the needed discipline but the situations at hand couldn't, because we need to respect the judgement to avoid contempt of the court.





Unfortunately my dear son, the agreement was breached by for flimsy excuses, I couldn't forget in a hurry the the fun we had together the last time we met; but today I must reiterate that all the excuses for the denial is basically unacceptable to me because I can't imaging the saying that you have no Nanny till this present moment simply because the court said we should always meet through the nanny.





Im taking my time to see that the courts judgement is handled without troubles, I hope the court will have to review those conditions again .

King, you are my son and the love that exits between us is immeasurable and inseparable.





This is my prayer for you:

- Nothing in this world will deprive you of your kingly entitlement, and nothing can change who you are.

- You shall not be used as a tool of envy or hate. You are a loved son of his father.

-You will grow and be nurtured in the way of God and nothing can dim your shining light.

- I pray that you shall live to be a king, and follow the Godly footsteps that Im laying for you today. I named you KING ANDREA for a purpose; because youre royalty.

-May the Almighty God continue to bless and keep you safe, my dearest son.





I love you with every fiber of my being.

I promise to continue the fight for you because it is a good fight and by the grace of God we wining.

All the best in your pursuits

Happy Birthday, Son.

Your Dad, Churchill.




3P Learning Limited (ASX:3PL), which is in the consumer services business, and is based in Australia, received a lot of attention from a substantial price movement on the ASX over the last few months, increasing to AU$0.91 at one point, and dropping to the lows of AU$0.80. 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 3P Learning's current trading price of AU$0.82 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 3P Learnings outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change.

View our latest analysis for 3P Learning

What's the opportunity in 3P Learning?

3P Learning appears to be overvalued according to my relative valuation model. Ive used the price-to-earnings ratio in this instance because theres not enough visibility to forecast its cash flows. The stocks ratio of 56.39x is currently well-above the industry average of 20.62x, meaning that it is trading at a more expensive price relative to its peers. If you like the stock, you may want to keep an eye out for a potential price decline in the future. Since 3P Learnings share price is quite volatile, this could mean it can sink lower (or rise even further) in the future, giving us another chance to invest. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for how much the stock moves relative to the rest of the market.

What does the future of 3P Learning look like?

ASX:3PL Past and Future Earnings, February 17th 2020

Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. 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 revenues expected to grow by a double-digit 11% over the next couple of years, the outlook is positive for 3P Learning. If the level of expenses is able to be maintained, 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? 3PLs optimistic future growth appears to have been factored into the current share price, with shares trading above its fair value. At this current price, shareholders may be asking a different question  should I sell? If you believe 3PL 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 3PL 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 3PL, 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 3P Learning. You can find everything you need to know about 3P Learning in the latest infographic research report. If you are no longer interested in 3P Learning, 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.
Indian Navy's Poseidon 8I anti-submarine warfare aircraft was deployed to carry out surveillance on the movement of Chinese troops during the 73-day-long standoff between India and China in mountainous Doklam.

Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen Bipin Rawat confirmed the use of the naval aircraft while talking about the need for bringing in tri-services synergy in dealing with national security challenges. "The P-8I aircraft of Indian Navy was deployed in Doklam (during the face-off)," Gen Rawat told a group of journalists.

Troops of India and China were locked in a standoff in Doklam from June 16, 2017, after the Indian side stopped the building of a road in the disputed area by the Chinese Army. The face-off triggered fears of a war between the two neighbours. The standoff ended on August 28, 2017, after over 10 rounds of talks between diplomats of the two sides.

The P-8Is were also deployed to keep an eye on the movement of Pakistani troops after the Pulwama terror attack in 2019.

"The P-8I aircraft were the most potent platform to carry out surveillance -- be it sea or mountains. The aircraft was live-streaming data to support decision making during the Doklam face-off," said defence expert Capt D K Sharma (retd). Sharma said the deployment of the P-8Is signified synergy among the Army and the Navy in dealing with the major crisis.

The P-8I, based on the Boeing next-generation 737 commercial airplane, is a variant of the P-8A Poseidon used by the US Navy.

India was Boeing's first international customer for this aircraft. The first P-8I aircraft was inducted into the Indian Navy in 2013 and, at present, it has a fleet of eight P 8Is.

In 2016, the defence ministry had placed a follow-on order for four additional P-8I, the delivery of which will begin by April 2020. In 2019, the government cleared procurement of another batch of six P-8Is.
AUSTIN, TexasEddiea utility patented, FDA-Registered Class II Medical Device for erectile dysfunction from manufacturer Giddyis the first release from Giddys innovative line of products and interactive educational platforms meant to change the sexual health and wellness sector.

Studies have shown that ED is the primary reason for breakups and divorce behind finance; and while the perception is that prescription drugs like Viagra and Cialis solve every mans problem, these kinds of drugs werent even originally created to treat ED, and in fact are consumed by less than 5 percent of ED sufferers. Data suggests these medications arent much more effective than constriction devices and vacuum pumps, which have gone largely unchanged for hundreds of years. As a result of limited options, 70 percent to 80 percent of men with ED dont utilize any treatment method.

After three years of research and development, Giddy has brought to market Eddie, a groundbreaking product designed by urologists, engineers, and mathematicians created specifically to promote penile rigidity in men with ED. The devices utility patented, dynamic tension system is the first of its kind; designed to help sustain blood flow into the penis without constricting the arteries or the urethra like traditional constriction rings.

Giddy is taking a different approach. Giddy is taking the lead and creating a meaningful and long term option for ED sufferers and their partners to improve their sex lives and performance. Without any requirement for a prescription, Giddy not only empowers men; it empowers the partners of those with ED to make a buying decision which can positively affect their partner's ED and take agency over their relationship and sexual health and wellness. All this for $99; less expensive than any other ED option on an annualized basis.

What is novel about Giddy is that it achieved profitability in its first month of official launch, and is rapidly approaching 100K units sold in its first 6 months of sales in the US alone. Giddy is in the process of scaling production and will begin international expansion by the end of 2020.

Currently, U.S. orders are being fulfilled within one business day, with customers receiving delivery within 7 to 10 days of purchase with expedited options also available for an additional fee. Customer reviews are flooding into Giddy with stories of not only the product working, but also about how its changing customers relationships with their loved ones. Some of Giddys several thousand reviews can be found here.

Every Eddie by Giddy includes access to an online, interactive educational platform called the ED Guide. All men with ED exist somewhere on the spectrum of completely psychological to completely physiological causes; Giddys ED Guide intends to address all the possible root causes. Giddy is the first company to take this multi-faceted approach incorporating a wearable medical device and online educational resource; providing millions of men and their partners an opportunity to improve their ED for the very first time.

The ED Guide features testimony and information from experts in health and wellness, designed to improve the mental and emotional aspects of ED. Users can select video topics relevant to them; topics like dating with ED, medications that cause ED, ED brought on by PTSD, re-establishing intimacy, improving communication, and many others. Or, users may take a Baseline Assessment about their lifestyle, medical history, ED symptoms and other factors which will identify 1 of 88 possible curriculums designed by Giddy to provide the education and exercises to address their ED directly.

To watch the trailer video for the ED Guide, click here.
AFLW star Tayla Harris says she 'doesn't care' about being labelled 'useless' by an opponent and has accepted her apology for the brutal post-match sledge.

Collingwood defender Stacey Livingstone made the swipe during an interview after her side defeated Harris' Carlton 39-24 at Ikon Park on Saturday.

When Livingstone was asked how she prepared to take on Harris, she replied: 'This is year four, so I'd like to think that I know how to play her already.

'You've just got to stop her in the air - that's her game. If you can that, she's useless.'

Livingstone has since said that she could have chosen her words better.

Harris said in an interview on Monday that she 'didn't care in the first place and doesn't care now' and that she accepted Livingstone's apology, which she said was made 'really quickly.'

'I'm not sure why we're talking about this when she has played the best game of her career and we're talking about something so minor,' she told Seven News.

Tayla Harris has insisted she 'does not care' accepts Stacey Livingstone's apology after she called her useless in a post-match sledge on Saturday

Carlton forward Tayla Harris, 22, rose to prominence in March last year when a photo of herself performing an airborne kick garnered a number of sexist comments after it was posted online

Livingstone had 15 disposals for the match, while Harris took two marks, had six disposals and managed one goal in the 15-point defeat.

Livingstone practiced what she preached, challenging Harris in the air at several points in the tense game.

Harris made headlines in March last year after a picture of her kicking for goal during an AFLW match was posted to the 7AFL site.

Livingstone (left) competes for the ball against Harris (right) during Saturday's match up

After the match, Livingstone and Harris embraced each other with a hug before parting ways. Minutes later, the Collingwood defender gave her brutally honest opinion about Harris' playing style in an interview

The post was as inundated with vile comments of sexual nature, before the image was taken down.

'Some of the comments were sexual abuse, what I would consider sexual abuse on social media,' Harris told RSN Radio's Breakfast Club at the time.

'These people need to be called out by the AFL, but something needs to go further. It's something maybe Victoria Police should have to look at.'

The Carlton forward's famous drop punt was immortalised in a bronze statue erected in Melbourne's Federation Square last September.
KIGALI  The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has asked authorities in Rwanda to take urgent measures to end the abuse of street children should be carried out immediately, Human Rights Watch said today.

In observations released on February 13, 2020, the Geneva-based treaty body called for a halt to the arbitrary detention of children in transit centers, for investigations into allegations of ill-treatment  including beatings , and for amendments of the legal framework that regularizes this abuse.

On January 27, Human Rights Watch released a 44-page report, As Long as We Live on the Streets, They Will Beat Us: Rwandas Abusive Detention of Children, documenting the arbitrary detention and ill-treatment of street children, who are held for up to six months at Gikondo Transit Center, in Kigali, the capital. Since 2017, new legislation and policies under the governments strategy to eradicate delinquency have sought to legitimize and regulate so-called transit centers. But Human Rights Watch found that the new legislation provides cover for the police to round up and detain street children at Gikondo in deplorable and degrading conditions, and without due process or judicial oversight.

The UN committees recommendations to the Rwandan government to take concrete steps to prevent the arbitrary detention and ill-treatment of children are important to stop further abuse against some of Rwandan societys most vulnerable children, said Lewis Mudge, Central Africa director at Human Rights Watch. Rwanda should not only take these recommendations seriously and take action immediately, but it should also close down the abusive transit centers.

Under legislation introduced since 2017, people exhibiting deviant acts or behaviors  such as prostitution, drug use, begging, vagrancy, [or] informal street vending, can be held for up to two months in one of the 28 transit centers across the country, without any further legal justification or oversight. The committee said it was concerned that the existence of deviant behaviors in the legislation was leading to the deprivation of liberty of children in need of protection.

The committee called for an end to this abusive detention and for the government to change the law.

During the committees review, on January 27 and 28, the Rwandan government denied that the detention of street children in transit centers is arbitrary. The government also claimed that children in transit centers are either placed with a family or transferred to a rehabilitation center within 72 hours. These claims contradict reports by the National Commission for Children and the National Commission for Human Rights, as well as Human Rights Watchs findings.

Between January and October 2019, Human Rights Watch conducted phone interviews with 30 formerly detained children aged 11 to 17. Only two said they had spent less than two weeks detained at the Kigali Transit Center, the centers official name. Twenty-eight of the children said they were beaten at Gikondo. An 11-year-old boy who spent five months at Gikondo, from December 2018 to May 2019, told Human Rights Watch: The only adult in the room was a counsellor [an adult detainee] and he beat me with a club when I disturbed him, played, or tried to take some drinking water without his permission.

In an article published by KT Press on January 27, 2020, Justice Minister Johnston Busingye was quoted saying: These children have been redeemed. We believe they can become useful citizens. HRW [Human Rights Watch] can come and interview them if they wish. During Rwandas review by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the gender and family promotion minister, Soline Nyirahabimana, also said independent observers should visit the center.

On February 6, Human Rights Watch wrote a letter to Minister Busingye following up on these statements and requesting access to Gikondo and other transit centers in Rwanda. He has not responded.

Children at Gikondo are detained in overcrowded rooms, sometimes with adults, in conditions well below standards required by Rwandan and international law. Children said they had to share mattresses and blankets, which were often infected with lice, sometimes with up to four or five other children. Some said they were only allowed to wash once or twice a week or had irregular access to toilets. Access to medical treatment is sporadic and there is no rehabilitation support.

According to the governments own figures, thousands of children may have been subjected to the kinds of abuses Human Rights Watch documented. In a statement on February 6, the government rejected the Human Rights Watch findings and said that 3,825 children had been screened at the Kigali Transit Center between 2017 and 2019.

The committee called for investigations into reported cases of ill-treatment and beatings of street children by police and transit center personnel, and for the prosecution of the alleged abusers.

The Committee on the Rights of the Child has made clear its worries over Rwandas most vulnerable children and the governments failure to put their wellbeing first, Mudge said. Instead of issuing blanket denials, the government should make much-needed reforms, end the abuse of street children, and hold those responsible for beatings and ill-treatment accountable.

jssebwami9@gmail.com

Related
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - A Russian-backed regime offensive in northwest Syria has displaced 900,000 people since the start of December, and babies are dying of cold because aid camps are full, the UN said Monday.

That figure is 100,000 more than the United Nations had previously recorded.

"The crisis in northwest Syria has reached a horrifying new level," said Mark Lowcock, the UN head of humanitarian affairs and emergency relief.

He said the displaced were overwhelmingly women and children who are "traumatized and forced to sleep outside in freezing temperatures because camps are full. Mothers burn plastic to keep children warm. Babies and small children are dying because of the cold."

The Idlib region, including parts of neighboring Aleppo province, is home to some three million people, half of them already displaced from other parts of the country.

The offensive that began late last year has caused the biggest single displacement of people since the conflict began in 2011. The war has killed more than 380,000 people since it erupted almost nine years ago, following the brutal repression of popular demonstrations demanding regime change.

Lowcock warned Monday that the violence in the northwest was "indiscriminate."

"Health facilities, schools, residential areas, mosques and markets have been hit. Schools are suspended, many health facilities have closed. There is a serious risk of disease outbreaks. Basic infrastructure is falling apart," he said in a statement.

"We are now receiving reports that settlements for displaced people are being hit, resulting in deaths, injuries and further displacement."

He said that a massive relief operation underway from the Turkish border is has been "overwhelmed. The equipment and facilities being used by aid workers are being damaged. Humanitarian workers themselves are being displaced and killed."

US President Donald Trump on Sunday called for Russia to end its support for the Syrian regime's "atrocities" in the Idlib region, the White House said.
Universities have asked the government to exempt thousands of Chinese students from its ban on foreign travellers from mainland China.

The government says the travel restriction aimed at stopping the spread of coronavirus (officially named Covid-19) has prevented 11,280 or 41 per cent of the Chinese students now due in New Zealand from travelling here.

Among those stuck in China were 6742 enrolled with universities (53 per cent of the total number of Chinese students enrolled with universities), 2225 school students (30 per cent of the school total) and 1128 polytechnic students (41 per cent of the polytechnic total).

The ban was introduced on February 2 for a period of 14 days. On Saturday Health Minister David Clark announced it would be extended for another eight days.

The director of Universities New Zealand, Chris Whelan, says the ban has disrupted the lives of the affected students and if it's not lifted the universities could lose about $170 million in fees.

"From our point of view it's extremely serious."

He says the universities have suggested the government waive the travel ban for students.

"We're currently discussing the idea of an exemption, so some students may be able to come to New Zealand even if there is a more general travel ban.

"We would be only doing that with the full support of the Ministry of Health and certainly observing any guidelines that they put around it. There are some challenges but we are hopeful we might be able to do something in that space."

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed the government is in discussions with the universities, but says nothing has been decided.

"The first thing we've done is say yes, their student visas will be still able to give them entry to the country later on - but universities have indicated to us that they have a particular window ... about April, that's the time by which they need their international students to start.

"We have had that request and - just for context - roughly 59 per cent of international students are already in the country so there are a portion that are here but a portion that are not.

"Public health is our number one priority here - there are a couple of things which make any exemptions tricky. Of course ... you'd basically have to be making these individualised decisions for what are thousands of visa holders, and that is quite a logistical exercise.

"Second is ... they have to be able to follow the quarantine ... universities have said that they believe they can follow the quarantine but there are other complicating factors as well."

Chris says the students could easily meet the Health Ministry's guidelines on self-isolation once they arrived.

He says the impact of losing first-year students could be felt for another four or five years.

"Typically students will be around three-and-a-half to four-and-a-half years, depending on what sort of programme they're in so absolutely, any student that we lose this year it has a knock-on effect for at least the next three or four years."

Chris says he's not aware of any students cancelling their enrolment and in the meantime the Chinese government had given universities permission to teach their students online.

Ban not in line with WHO - Chinese consulate

A spokesperson for the Chinese consulate general in Auckland, Xiao Yewen, says the government should lift the travel ban, and not just for students.

"The key to solving this problem is to cancel the travel ban as soon as possible.

"This ban is not in line with the professional advice of the WHO.

"Very, very few countries have taken this kind of measure. The Chinese students will watch this situation."

Xiao says the consulate general had been in close contact with New Zealand universities and they had made a lot of effort to help their students.

"I think the universities have done their jobs and we highly appreciate that."

Education Minister Chris Hipkins says the government is reviewing the travel restrictions every 48 hours and would lift them as soon as it could.

However, Chris says it's not considering making exemptions.

"That's not something that we've considered at this point, but we're going to be looking at all of the options to lessen the impact and to ensure that people aren't unduly disadvantaged by the travel restriction we've got in place at the moment."

Over-reliance on China

Universities have acknowledged the coronavirus crisis has highlighted their dependence on China as a source of foreign students.

In the last financial year, Chinese students provided about a third of New Zealand's 100,000 foreign students, one of the highest figures on record, and about half of the foreign students at universities.

Chris says universities have increasingly looked to foreign students to make up for a long-term real decline in per-student funding from the government.

"Eleven per cent of all the funding of universities now comes from international students and these are universities that generate generally [surpluses of] about three per cent a year so if we lost our international students tomorrow every university and in fact probably every tertiary provider would start generating losses as of tomorrow.

"Whether or not we want to be overly-reliant on China, we've had to accept that China is a huge and important market for us and take those students."

The president of the Tertiary Education Union, Michael Gilchrist, says it has warned for some time that tertiary institutions were relying too much on income from foreign students.

"There are real financial risks developing.

"We are lobbying strongly for the Tertiary Education Commission to provide some assurances of support for tertiary institutions."
Tokyo, Feb 17 : Two US government chartered planes carrying hundreds of US citizens who were aboard a quarantined cruise ship in Yokohama departed Japan on Monday.

The evacuees left on two charter flights that departed from Tokyo's Haneda Airport, the US embassy in Japan said in a statement, reported Efe news.

The US passengers from Diamond Princess were transported from Yokohama port in Self-Defence Forces buses.

In addition, more than 40 of around 400 US citizens, who were on the Diamond Princess tested positive for the new coronavirus and will be hospitalised in Japan, according to a US health official.

"They are not going to go anywhere. They're going to be in hospitals in Japan," Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CBS news.

"The reason for that is the degree of transmissibility on that cruise ship is essentially akin to being in a hot spot," he said.

The repatriated evacuees will be subjected to 14-day quarantine measures upon their arrival at military bases in the US to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus that has affected 355 people of the 3,700 aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Diamond Princess was quarantined on February 3 after it was discovered that a Hong Kong citizen, who disembarked in his city and had travelled on the ship, was infected with COVID-19.

Japanese authorities had decided to keep the ship isolated until this Wednesday as a preventive measure, although last week they allowed older passengers with health complications to leave, provided they tested negative for the virus.

All of them are in public facilities in Saitama prefecture, north of Tokyo, where they are in quarantine, while 355 people infected with the coronavirus on board have been transferred to medical centres.

Meanwhile, the Philippines announced Monday that it will repatriate 531 crew members and seven Filipino passengers from the ship.

Twenty-seven Filipino crew members on board have tested positive for COVID-19, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Other countries such as Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Italy, Israel and Taiwan are preparing for the evacuation of their citizens aboard the ship, where there are people of about 50 nationalities, according to the Japanese state broadcaster NHK.

A total of 138 Indians, including 132 crew and 6 passengers, are among the 3,711 people on board the ship, Diamond Princess. A total of five Indians on board have tested positive to the virus.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
The former high-flying boss of failed satellite company NewSat, Adrian Ballintine, faces up to five years in jail after pleading guilty to authorising false invoices to funnel company money to his private yacht business.

ASIC announced on Monday that he had pleaded guilty to one "rolled up charge" of authorising the making of a false or misleading document in the County Court of Victoria.

Former NewSat CEO Adrian Ballintine in a corporate jet with the then chief financial officer of his yacht company, Jason Cullen.

Three charges were brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in December 2017 alleging that he authorised three false invoices to funnel $357,000 to his private business on three separate occasions between January 18, 2012 and September 15, 2012.

ASIC said the charge carries a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment. The matter has been adjourned for sentencing at a later date.
Lisa Magill moved from Northern Ireland with her family when she was only eight years old. Settling into her new life in Australia was a challenge, but it was nothing compared to the fight that lay ahead.

When she was just 30 years old Lisa was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of cancer, and just a few years later doctors gave her the crushing news that the disease was incurable.

However, Lisa reacted to that with the same determination she displayed as a youngster finding her way in a strange country on the other side of the world.

One of the first things she did was start up a blog, Terminally Fabulous, where she could record her emotions as she grappled to come to terms with the prognosis.

However, it very quickly became a global sensation, with almost 65,000 followers on Facebook alone.

Old friends from Northern Ireland signed up to follow their pal's battle, as well as countless strangers from around the world, as Lisa posted no-holds barred updates on the reality of living with a terminal disease.

Now, nearly three years after her tragic passing, Lisa's mum Geraldine has turned her daughter's searingly honest cancer journey blog into a book.

"A few months before Lisa turned 34 we were told she was terminal," says Geraldine. "We all struggled so badly with this news, Lisa in particular. She was devastated.

"She decided to write her thoughts and worries down in the hope of helping her to get her head around it somehow.

Expand Close Lisa, Geraldines mum Ellen Loughran and Geraldine on a trip to Tasmania / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Lisa, Geraldines mum Ellen Loughran and Geraldine on a trip to Tasmania

"It wasn't long before her following of 'Rock Stars', as Lisa referred to her blog followers, grew by thousands, sharing their own tragic experiences with cancer and providing her with so much love and support. They were amazing. They always knew what to say when she was at her lowest.

"Lisa responded to hundreds of private messages from others crying out for help with a terminal illness or one of their family members going through it.

"She found this rewarding as she felt she was making someone else's journey a little less difficult."

Lisa was just a child when she and her family left their home in Antrim and moved to Australia. Geraldine continued: "She settled well, though she struggled at school initially as a result of her Irish accent.

"She hated standing out amongst the crowd and as a result of this, both Lisa and her brother Steven, who was five at the time, learned the Aussie twang extremely quickly."

The years passed and Lisa excelled at school - according to Geraldine she was the type of child who came home and did her homework without being told.

Geraldine continues: "Her school reports were always excellent although she could be a bit of a talker. She studied hard and got the results she needed to study criminology at university but opted to take a year out before starting her course."

During her gap year Lisa began working for a local politician and enjoyed the PR side of it and working for the community so much that she never took up her place at university.

She was living in Sydney and had just celebrated her 30th birthday when her life was changed forever.

"Lisa hadn't long turned 30 when she was visiting her dad and I in Brisbane," explains her mum. "We were out for a walk when Lisa asked me to feel a lump that had appeared to the left of her abdomen, which stretched up to her ribcage and looked the size of half of a large Easter egg.

Expand Close Geraldine with a copy of the new book about Lisa / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Geraldine with a copy of the new book about Lisa

"I was so shocked to see it but tried my best to remain calm for Lisa's sake. She was always quite mature, she wasn't the type to ignore medical issues and she told me she'd been to a local doctor in Sydney, not her normal GP, and he advised her she may have a kidney infection.

"I wasn't convinced as we all know kidney pain normally starts in your back, Lisa was doubtful herself and had made an appointment with her own GP for the day she arrived back in Sydney.

"Her GP knew immediately it was a large tumour and had her booked in for surgery within the next week or so. It was a nightmare of a time for us all.

"My dad flew over from Antrim to be with us when Lisa was having the tumour removed. Because gastrointestinal sarcoma is rare, the pathology was sent to multiple pathologists in Australia and the US before it was confirmed as an undifferentiated gastrointestinal sarcoma, in other words a cancer that hadn't been seen before.

"In total the diagnosis took two months, the longest two months of our lives."

Lisa began treatment, determined that she would beat the disease. In the early days she stayed in Sydney and her parents travelled to her to accompany her to her hospital appointments.

However, once Lisa was told her condition was terminal she made the decision to move to Brisbane to be closer to family.

It was during this time that she started her blog. No subject was off limits - she wrote about her fear of dying and even covered dating while terminally ill.

Her hugely popular blog culminated with a heartbreaking video message from Lisa, made just days before she passed away, in which she described her overwhelming pain.

Geraldine continues: "What truly made Lisa courageous in her fight with cancer was her love of life and fear of death. Lisa loved everything about life. I don't believe I could have fought like Lisa did, her suffering was immeasurable but she would go to any length to see another day.

"She enjoyed having real conversations and finding out new things about people, that's probably why she found connecting with others through her blog so easy, she genuinely cared for others and their lives whilst hers was slipping away.

"That's what makes us most proud. The most challenging times for us both was when Lisa's pain was at its worst and she was on the highest dose of multiple medications.

"As much as the meds were keeping her alive, they also had some nasty side-effects. They played havoc with her moods, she tried to control them but it was difficult and as with anyone in these situations she would take her frustration out on me.

"That was difficult for us both, but as soon as she would lash out she would regret it, as I always knew she would. Lisa never, ever meant to hurt. Sadly cancer takes away everything, it has full control."

In the months after losing Lisa, Geraldine fulfilled her promise to her only daughter that she would turn her blog into a book. And while Geraldine is extremely proud of the finished product, the writing process was extremely difficult.

"Each time I would revisit a chapter or have to edit something I felt like I was back living that horrific nightmare once again," she admits.

"Selecting photos was heartbreaking. At times I put the book down and couldn't touch it again for weeks on end. It was like reliving your worst nightmare time and time again.

"Now the book has been launched I feel a mixture of relief and pride - I know Lisa would have been so proud of the responses we received."

So, how does Geraldine remember her daughter?

"She loved socialising, shopping, family and making others happy," she says.

"She had a heart of gold. She often told her dad and I before she passed that one of her biggest regrets is that she wouldn't be here to look after us when we got older. That was Lisa.

"She had a strong belief about being honest, she called a spade a spade with no beating about the bush, you never had to second guess what Lisa was thinking as she always told you.

"But she was also loyal, as an employee, a friend, a girlfriend or a family member, she always had your back.

"She loved family get-togethers, a nice meal, a glass of wine and lots of laughs.

"And Christmas time was her absolute favourite time of the year, especially the lead-up.

"She'd make sure every gift she bought for someone was something they truly wanted and it would be wrapped to perfection.

"Seeing others happy made her truly happy."

Terminally Fabulous: A young woman's fight for dignity and fabulousness on her terminal cancer journey by Lisa and Geraldine Magill, 19, available on Amazon
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

Kirtland Air Force Base isnt much different from the world beyond its gates when it comes to dealing with mental illnesses, a base clinical psychologist says.

Maj. Benjamin Carter told the Journal the most frequent diagnosis on the base is an anxiety disorder.

Its not a surprise, but I anticipate about anytime in the population in America, about 20% of the population has some form of diagnosable anxiety disorder, and its no different in the military, he said.

Leading the way among the anxiety disorders, he said, were post-traumatic stress disorder or something like panic disorder or generalized anxiety disorder.

A close second to that are depressive disorders, Carter said.

What may differentiate Kirtland and other military bases from the outside world may be the resources and the approaches the Air Force and other military branches use to help active duty personnel cope with their anxiety.

Installation commander Col. David Miller said financial difficulties, marital troubles and the adjustment to being a new parent can often be a source of stress among airmen.

We offer a variety of financial management courses. Also, through the clinic or the chapel, we offer some marriage counseling, Miller said. Weve got classes for parenting. For newborn children, we have a Baby 101 that lets people know what to expect and what resources are available.

There are a lot of resources the military puts into trying to help the individual manage transitions.

Miller said Kirtland offers a robust program for airmen about to separate from military life.

It could be theyre medically retiring early with health issues or with some kind of injury, or they separate after 20-plus years in the service, he said.

The weeklong program Kirtland offers is called TAPS, or the Transition Assistance Program.

Its a mandatory program that they participate in to see all of the resources that are available to them as theyre transitioning and after transition, Miller said. The military recognizes that changing careers, whether its something you want to do or something you have to, is a significant stressor.

There are also mandatory programs for airmen who leave the service after a shorter period of time.

If they did their four-year, six-year stint and are going off to pursue a college degree with a 9/11 bill or something like that, there are still mandatory programs they go to on their transition to make sure the Air Force will do their part to put them on their best footing, he said.

Carter said the Department of Defense understands that continuing mental health services may be difficult after airmen enter civilian life.

We have a program that we enroll everyone into that we call the in-transition program, where they are assigned an individual counselor, he said. That counselor helps them to arrange all of their mental health care on the civilian side.

Miller said Kirtland offers services to airmen who are about to deploy and after they return similar to what he experienced when he deployed to Iraq in 2007-08. In many cases, airmen  especially those who recently entered the Air Force  will meet with their commanding officer and first sergeant to find out what services are available to them before they deploy.

Edith Wegner, the violence prevention integrator at Kirtland, said when large groups deploy, airmen are made aware of issues they need to take care of before they leave.

It may be finances, it may be power of attorney, she said. We kind of look at all of the components that are involved with deployment. And we will help you get all of these things done. That way, they are better prepared. When they do leave out the door, they can take care of everything. Their life is more settled.

And Carter said mental health services are offered during deployment.

There is a misconception that in a deployed environment, its just the wild, wild west and there are no resources, he said. Thats not the case.

After airmen return, Miller said, there is a cooling off period which often includes a stop at an interim base for debriefing, which includes addressing an airmans mental and physical needs.

For whatever reason, its too hard to mutter the words, I need help. We provide a lot of different mechanisms to do that with opportunities online, opportunities one-on-one with people from different agencies asking them a lot of different questions, Miller said.

PTSD is the mental condition people most often associate with military personnel returning from deployment, especially from combat zones. And Carter said there are signs to look for.

The first thing that comes to mind is isolation, he said. One of the more common symptoms that we see is avoidance of doing things you used to enjoy doing. And that can be the avoidance of crowds when they go to the grocery store, going out to dinner with your friends and loved ones. You find yourself spending more time at home than you are accustomed to; that can be a red flag. Second one is increased anger. Theres the sense that everything internally is just a little bit on edge. Its a little bit easier to be triggered for a more extreme emotionally response. Its the response to some of the things internally that we often respond with behaviors to tone that down.

He said increased alcohol use, especially to help with sleep, could be a red flag. The answer is not always a counselor. It doesnt have to be a psychologist to speak to. But a universal principle is to take whats inside and getting it outside. Its something that can help with just about every situation.

Miller said many of the mannerisms are also the same for other stressors, including if youre going through a divorce or a financial situation.
Fisheries New Zealand is seeking public feedback on proposals to allow rock lobster fishers to carry forward some or all of their uncaught Annual Catch Entitlement  ACE - into the following fishing year, which begins in April 2020.

The consultation is now open and closes on February 24, 2020.

These proposals are in response to market disruptions in China following the outbreak of coronavirus. Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash last week announced that the rock lobster industry could return some live fish back to the ocean under specific circumstances.

Annual Catch Entitlement is purchased by fishers from quota owners to enable them to catch fish each year. Its generally purchased at the beginning of the fishing year and fishers plan their fishing activity to ensure they catch what they have paid for, says Director of Fisheries Management, Stuart Anderson.

These proposals would allow fishers to transfer some or all of their uncaught ACE to the following fishing year to reduce the impact of trade disruptions.

Our preferred option is to allow up to 10 per cent of ACE held by individual fishers, to be transferred if uncaught at the end of the fishing year.

This change would bring rock lobster fisheries into line with many other fisheries, and we do not consider it would have any impact on the health or sustainability of rock lobster fisheries.

This will be a short consultation due to the extraordinary circumstances brought about by the coronavirus outbreak, and the pressing need to provide clarity to affected fishers and their communities.

We are reaching out directly to those affected in the rock lobster industry, iwi, and representatives of key stakeholder groups.

To find out more about the consultation and have your say, visit: https://www.fisheries.govt.nz/news-and-resources/consultations/should-the-annual-catch-entitlement-for-rock-lobster-be-able-to-be-carried-forward/
Joe McCann was shot dead by two paratroopers in Joy Street in Belfast on April 15, 1972.

Two former paratroopers charged with murdering an Official IRA man 48 years ago have ended their High Court bid to face trial by jury.

The pair, known only as Soldier A and Soldier C, were challenging a decision to have their case heard by a judge sitting alone.

Both men are accused of killing Joe McCann in Belfast back in April 1972.

McCann, one of the Official IRA's most prominent activists, was shot in disputed circumstances near his home in the Market area.

A police investigation conducted at the time resulted in no-one being prosecuted.

But in 2013 a report by the now-defunct Historical Enquiries Team concluded the killing was not justified.

Files were then passed to the Public Prosecution Service (PPS), which reviewed the case and decided in 2016 to bring murder charges.

The defendants, now aged in their 60s, have been given anonymity amid fears that identification could put their lives at risk.

Judicial review proceedings were issued by the ex-paratroopers after the Director of Public Prosecutions issued a certificate for a non-jury trial.

Their lawyers claimed the decision was based on a wrong interpretation of the 2007 Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act.

Trials by judges sitting alone were meant to deal with potential issues of jury tampering in cases involving paramilitary organisations, it was contended.

The case had been put on hold pending the outcome of a similar challenge by another ex-British soldier facing prosecution.

Dennis Hutchings, who served in the Life Guards, is charged with the attempted murder of John Patrick Cunningham in Co Armagh in 1974.

Mr Cunningham, 27, was shot in the back as he ran away from a British Army patrol near Benburb.

He has been described as an innocent, vulnerable and unarmed man who had a fear of people in uniform.

Mr Hutchings, 78, from Cawsand in Cornwall, denies the charges against him and has made the case it was never his intention to kill or injure Mr Cunningham.

He also mounted legal attempts to avoid having his case determined by a judge only, Diplock Court.

In June last year, however, the Supreme Court in London ruled that he will face trial without a jury.

With Soldier A and Soldier C raising similar arguments, that verdict effectively brought a halt to their challenge.

It was confirmed in the High Court that the judicial review is to be dismissed by consent.
The EU should allow vital concessions like zero tariffs in a spirit of generosity during trade talks, retailers in Northern Ireland said (Niall Carson/PA).

The EU should allow vital concessions like zero tariffs in a spirit of generosity during trade talks, retailers in Northern Ireland said.

Higher costs and less availability will hit the region hardest unless extra measures are taken mitigating the effects of Brexit, the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium (NIRC), which represents larger businesses, said.

It urged the UK Government to establish import and export processes and all necessary infrastructure now.

Director Aodhan Connolly said: We need the UK government to work with us to deliver key mitigations that could reduce the impact on consumers and retailers.

And we need a generosity of spirit from the EU to allow these mitigations to happen.

We already have half of the discretionary income of Great British households and so our households in Northern Ireland simply cant afford these costs risesAodhan Connolly

The lobby group called for pragmatic solutions on compliance and regulatory checks that will apply from January 2021 once the Brexit transition period ends.

Almost 80% of all the food that UK retailers import comes from the EU, making the negotiations particularly important for such essentials, traders said.

Mr Connolly added: Without the mitigations recommended within this report, there will be higher costs and less availability for Northern Ireland consumers and this will hit us hardest.

We already have half of the discretionary income of Great British households and so our households in Northern Ireland simply cant afford these costs rises.

We are talking about costs that have simply never been there before.

It is a simple equation that if the new costs are higher than the profit margin then either the product or that particular business model needs to change or becomes unviable.

We also already have between 12 and 18 hours less shelf life on some products than shops in Great Britain due to our geographical location. Any further delays affects availability.

Measures the lobby group is seeking include:

 A zero tariff trade deal

 Co-operation with the EU to minimise trade friction

 Coordination on VAT, customs and excise procedures

 Advance information on new checks and paperwork

 Timely construction of necessary infrastructure at UK ports.
A new strategic communication consultancy, Ventana Gulf, has recently started operating in Manama, with a mission to support corporations and other entities in Bahrain and the wider region to fulfil their growing communication requirements.

With an international team of professionals located in the UK, North America and Bahrain, Ventana offers various communication and public relations services at a strategic level, thus helping organisations institutionalise their communication efforts, facilitate the achievement of business objectives and build stronger relations with stakeholders.

The companys key services include strategic communication advice, media relations and training, crisis communication support, investor relations, and employee engagement.

Communication is a key management function that is taken very seriously by successful organisations. Business strategies can be at risk if not communicated effectively, especially with employees. Also, corporate brands and reputations that are built over many years can be negatively impacted if communication fails, especially when organisations face difficulties. Therefore, having clear communication strategies, internally and externally, and being prepared to deal fast with difficulties in the social media age becomes imperative, explains Abdulla Naneesh, Ventanas Managing Director.

He added, No doubt there is a huge corporate communication gap in Bahrain and the wider region. The PR discipline is relatively new in Mena as a whole and has been dominated by international agencies, many of whom either left or downsized their operations since the financial crisis in 2008. In addition, local expertise in this field is generally limited, and the need for professional strategic communication has been growing with the growth of the economies in the region over the past decade.

Ventana will help fill growing communication needs in Bahrain and other Mena countries. With its local insights, market knowledge and an international team of experts, it can help corporates formulate and execute communication strategies efficiently and cost effectively, explained Naneesh.

The companys communication consultants include Abdulla Naneesh, a seasoned professional who has worked with international public relations firms and leading financial institutions such as Bank ABC and Gulf International Bank, where he managed global communication activities and branding projects. Ventanas Head of Strategy is Aneesh Sharma, who has extensive experience in corporate and brand strategy. During his career at leading international branding agencies such as Brand Union and Future Brands, has helped organisations define powerful visions and core strategies to engage stakeholders.

Other senior consultants at Ventana include Pere Willoughby-Brown, an experienced communications specialist who has worked on public relations and marketing campaigns in Europe, North America, Australasia and the Middle East, specialising in creative approaches to new media and online communications. Financial copywriting is headed by George Stothard, who has 20 years experience as a radio host, PR practitioner and business communications writer. He has worked for consumer and corporate companies, governments and high-profile individuals across the Middle East, Europe and sub-Saharan Africa.

Unique offerings by Ventana include training for communication professionals in the region to help them gain more insight on how to communicate more effectively. Crisis

communication training for senior management executives is offered to corporations that may face certain risk at either in their workplace or in the marketplace. -- Tradearabia News Service
A ring that was lost in a department store bathroom in Maine in 1973 has been found 47 years later in a small town in Finland.

Debra McKenna, 63, was given the high school ring by her late husband Shawn when they first started dating when she was 16.

But she lost it when she took it off to wash her hands after using the bathroom in a store in their home city of Portland.

She assumed she'd never see it again, but incredibly it was found 3,750 miles away last month in Kaarina, a small town in southwest Finland. Mrs McKenna is at a loss to explain how it ended up in Europe.

Sheet metal worker Marko Saarinen found the silver, blue-stoned ring with his metal detector in a park under eight inches of soil.

Debra McKenna, 63, was given the high school ring by her late husband Shawn when they first started dating when she was 16

She assumed she'd never see it again, but incredibly it was found 3,750 miles away last month in Kaarina, a small town in southwest Finland

He managed to trace the owner because it has Shawn's initials on it, the name of Portland's Morse High School where he was a student and the year he left, 1973.

Saarinen contacted the school who put the word out that it had been found and then posted it to a delighted and astonished McKenna last week.

'There was a lot of weeping when I learned that someone found it and made the effort to reach out and find me,' said McKenna, a retired hairdresser whose husband died three years ago after battling cancer.

Speaking from her Brunswick home, she added: 'Its very touching in this world of negativity, to have decent people step forward and make an effort.

'There are good people in the world, and we need more of them.'

She said Shawn, who was president of the senior class, had given her the ring before he left to go to college in Orono. The couple married when she was 21 and had three children.

She said: 'He first asked me out on Valentine's Day 1973. He left a little note in my coat pocket at school.'

They had their first date three days later, on a Friday night, going to a party at the Phippsburg Grange Hall. She was 16. He was president of the senior class.

McKenna lost the ring soon after she got it when she went to the Porteous, Mitchell & Braun Co. department store.

She went to the restroom and took it off while she washed her hands and then left it there.

The couple married in 1977 when she was 21 and they went on to have three children

She said: 'I left my name and number [at the store] but never got contacted by anybody, and that was it, I never saw it again.'

Shawn didn't mind when he found out.

'He said, 'It's just a ring,'' McKenna said. 'He was cool with it.'

Mrs McKenna worked as a hairdresser while her husband, with whom she had three children, was an entrepreneur and adjunct college professor, reports the Bangor Daily News.

'I feel very lucky. I count my blessings every day. He was such a giving person, a deeply good person,' McKenna said.

McKenna says she would love to know how the ring ended up in Finland.

'I wish it could talk,' she said. 'I would love to hear the story of how it got from here to there, and if anyone ever knows what it is, I would love to hear what it is. No judgment, just interest.'

'Shawn used to say there's no such thing as coincidences,' McKenna said, but she's convinced that her late husband is trying to send her a message.

'He's telling me to get my act together. To get going with the rest of my life,' McKenna said.

McKenna hasn't spoken to Saarinen yet, but the alumni association sent him a Morse High School hoodie in thanks.




General Motors(DETROIT) -- General Motors is winding down operations in Australia and New Zealand and selling a vehicle manufacturing facility in Thailand as part of its strategy to take action in markets that cannot earn an adequate return for its shareholders, the automaker announced Sunday.



Along with ceasing sales, design and engineering operations in Australia and New Zealand, GM says it will retire the Holden brand of cars by next year.



Meanwhile, in Thailand, the automaker plans to withdraw Chevrolet from the domestic market by the end of this year.



Ive often said that we will do the right thing, even when its hard, and this is one of those times, GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra said in a statement. We are restructuring our international operations, focusing on markets where we have the right strategies to drive robust returns, and prioritizing global investments that will drive growth in the future of mobility, especially in the areas of EVs and AVs.



While these actions support our global strategy, we understand that they impact people who have contributed so much to our company. We will support our people, our customers and our partners, to ensure an orderly and respectful transition in the impacted markets, Barra added.



Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
About 216 million gallons of sewage has spilled into Fort Lauderdale's waterways over the past three months, said officials (Google Maps)

Florida Mayor Seeks Federal Aid After Sewage Leaks From Pipes Into Streets, Drinking Water

About 216 million gallons of sewage has spilled into Fort Lauderdales waterways over the past three months, said officials in the Florida city, as the mayor told reporters that hes seeking state and federal aid to fix the problem.

Considering the extent of this pollution, we should be more than eligible for state and federal assistance, Mayor Dean Trantalis told the Sun-Sentinel over the weekend. We cannot suffer this burden alone.

According to what officials told the state Department of Environmental Protection, 79.3 million gallons spilled into George English Lake over a 10-day period that began Jan. 30 and ended Feb. 8. Then an additional 5.4 million gallons flooded streets near a park across from a popular mall.

In recent weeks, crews also have rushed to fix another string of water main breaks, forcing the city to warn residents to boil their tap water before drinking, brushing their teeth or washing dishes.

Crews responding to water leak at Broward Blvd and SE 8 Ave. Southernmost EB lane of Broward Blvd closed from Federal Hwy to SE 8 Ave. No SB access to SE 8 Ave from Broward Blvd. NB traffic on SE 8 Ave being detoured to Federal Hwy via SE 1 St. https://t.co/I88DhAHOPS pic.twitter.com/9KWb8cKe0d  City of Fort Lauderdale (@FTLCityNews) February 17, 2020

In December, officials said sewer pipes broke and spilled 126.9 million gallons into the Tarpon River and Himmarshee Canal. Sewage also inundated streets in three neighborhoods.

Jeff Maggio, a local fisherman, told the Sun-Sentinel that he hasnt visited the citys George English Park in weeks due to the sewage.

All the fish are dead there, Maggio told the publication. Everythings just gone. Crabs, oysters, barnacles, and plankton. Crews have been out there picking up hundreds of fish out of the water so it doesnt look like holy hell. Manatees are swimming in that poison.

Local man Kevin Cochrane added that he wont be kayaking this year.

No way, he told the paper. Im going to wait a few years. What about Drano and detergents and other chemicals going in the water? Its not just fecal matter. Its everything that you flush.

Precautionary Boil Water Notice LIFTED for affected areas of Riverside Park and Tarpon River Neighborhoods. Details: https://t.co/duRrGnGegE. pic.twitter.com/uLYfOaRIva  City of Fort Lauderdale (@FTLCityNews) February 16, 2020

Fort Lauderdale Commissioner Heather Moraitis said that Florida has not issued fines to the cityyet.

Weve had seven sewer breaks so far, Moraitis told the Sun-Sentinel. We have not received the new price tag yet. That is coming.

On Valentines Day, meanwhile, the city emailed residents of the Riverside Park and Tarpon River neighborhoods that they should boil their water, according to the Sun-Sentinel. That order was lifted several days later.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 17)  Local officials have restricted public access to Butuanon River in Cebu City after its water tested positive for the poliovirus.

Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes said the ban includes tributaries such as the Tipolo and Mahiga creeks.

The order was made after a meeting with Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella and Department of Health-Central Visayas director Jaime Bernadas.

Cortes said barangay tanods will monitor the river surroundings.

He added an intensified vaccination against polio will be carried out in Mandaue communities.

Meanwhile, Bernadas reminded the public to avoid contact with the river water. He said anyone who gets in contact with the water can become a carrier of the virus though not necessarily infected with polio.

The disease first reemerged in the country in September last year, nearly two decades after it was eradicated. The DOH immediately declared a polio outbreak after reporting the first confirmed case which was a three-year-old girl in Lanao del Sur.

The World Health Organization said polio mainly affects children under 5 years of age. One in 200 infections leads to irreverisble paralysis, and in some cases, polio can be fatal.

There is no cure for polio, though it can only be prevented by multiple doses of vaccine.

The virus spreads mainly through the fecal-oral route but less frequently, through contaminated water or food.
QUEENSBURY  Warren County prosecutors are seeking a DNA sample from the Central New York man who faces a manslaughter charge for allegedly killing a Brant Lake man during a high-speed chase with police in September.

As trial in the case approaches, prosecutors are trying to figure out if DNA recovered from the cab of the truck belongs to Skyler B. Crouse, who is accused of crashing into a pickup driven by Joseph Turcotte last Sept. 26.

Turcotte died from the high-speed collision on the Exit 25 northbound off-ramp.

Crouse continued driving a few hundred feet afterward, then got out and ran off before state troopers were able to corral him in woods near the Northway.

A forensic analysis of the rental truck Crouse is accused of driving found DNA from an unidentified source, and the Warren County District Attorneys Office wants to compare it to Crouses. DNA evidence could be important to link him to the vehicle if he claims he was not the driver.

Court records show unidentified DNA was found on a can of Twisted Tea, a pill bottle, the rental agreement for the Chevrolet Silverado pickup, a vaping device, clothes and steering wheel. There was also blood found in the cab of the truck.

Warren County Judge John Hall will consider the request to compel Crouse to provide a DNA sample on Wednesday.

Crouse, who told police he is from Nedrow, near Syracuse, is accused of driving over 100 mph northbound from Queensbury toward Chester after troopers clocked him driving 90 mph in a work zone. He got off at Exit 25 moments after State Police used a tire deflation device to puncture at least one of his tires.

Turcotte, 38, had gotten off the highway seconds earlier, and was approaching Route 8 when his truck was hit, causing it to flip over.

Turcotte was a renowned boat builder whose family operates Gar Wood Boats. He also served on the Horicon Planning Board.

Police have not said if they know why Crouse, a native of the Mohawk Akwesasne reservation on the Canadian border, was in the region. He has a criminal history of being involved in smuggling activities at the border, having been arrested for bringing untaxed tobacco across the St. Lawrence River in 2012.

Crouse, 30, has pleaded not guilty to 12 charges, including second-degree manslaughter, first-degree assault, second-degree assault, leaving the scene of a fatal accident, two counts of unlawful fleeing of a police officer, reckless endangerment, reckless driving, aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and resisting arrest. He also was charged with public lewdness for allegedly exposing his genitalia and masturbating in front of police and hospital staff at Glens Falls Hospital.

Crouse later told police that he was an opioid addict and was mentally insane, records show.

There has been no indication a psychiatric defense was planned in the case, though.

Trial in the case has been set to start April 6.

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

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 2 Sad 0 Angry 11
A British MP, critical of India's move to withdraw Jammu and Kashmir's special status, on Monday said she was denied entry despite a valid visa after she landed at Delhi airport and deported to Dubai from where she had flown into the Indian capital.

Labour Party MP Debbie Abraham's charge of a valid visa was rebutted by India's Home ministry which said she was informed about her e-visa being cancelled.

Abrahams, who chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group for Kashmir, said she was travelling on a valid e-visa to India to visit family and friends but her visa was revoked without explanation.

A Home Ministry spokesperson in New Delhi said the British parliamentarian had been duly informed that her visa was cancelled and she arrived Delhi despite knowing this.

When contacted, Abrahams told PTI she "had not received any emails before February 13". After that, she had been travelling and was away from office.

Her office in the UK confirmed she was put on a plane to Dubai, which is where she flew into Delhi from earlier on Monday.

Her e-visa was reportedly issued last October, and was valid until October 2020.

Recounting her experience at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, she said in a statement on Twitter that she arrived here on Monday morning and was informed that her e-visa been cancelled.

In her statement, Abrahams said she had presented herself at the immigration desk along with her documents and e-visa.

"...the official looked at his screen and started shaking his head. Then he told me my visa was rejected took my passport and disappeared for about 10 minutes.

"When he came back he was very rude and aggressive shouting at me to 'come with me'. I told him not to speak to me like that and was then taken to a cordoned off area marked as a Deportee Cell. He then ordered me to sit down and I refused. I didn't know what they might do or where else they may take me, so I wanted people to see me," the British MP said.

The immigration officer disappeared again, she said, adding that she phoned her sister-in-law's cousin who she was going to be staying with.

"Kai got in touch with the British High Commission and he tried to find out what was going on," she wrote on Twitter.

She said later several immigration officials came to her but none of them knew why her e-visa was cancelled. "Even the person who seemed to be in charge said he didn't know and was really sorry about what had happened."



Abrahams was among a group of MPs who issued formal letters following the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 in August last year.

We are gravely concerned at the announcement by Indian Home Minister, Amit Shah, that Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, which grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir, has been removed by Presidential Order, the Opposition MP had noted in her letter to the UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab at the time.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
For decades, the type of the crimes pursued by the IRS have remained consistent: tax fraud, identity theft, money laundering and tax evasion. What has changed is the way those crimes are carried out, with officials emphasizing a wholesale shift in tax and financial criminal activity to the cyber domain.

In an annual report released this week, the IRS Criminal Investigations Unit details just how much the agency's investigative arm has evolved over the past decade as the Internet has become the primary stage for criminals and businesses to carry out financial crime or evade their tax obligations.

According to the report, the unit added 117 special agents to its workforce over the past year, but the agency loses about 130-150 agents every year, creating resource constraints. In addition to building up their own staff and capabilities, CIU has increasingly partnered with other law enforcement agencies in the federal government, foreign allies, private industry and even academia. These other stakeholders have "capabilities and data scientists and computer program software" that IRS lacks, and the way money moves quickly across borders online means the agency cannot rely solely on internal resources to do its job.

"This is the next wave of crime that is going on in front of our eyes," Don Fort, Chief of the Criminal Investigations Unit, said on a call with reporters. "The movement of money occurs in a split second and it requires us to really employ new ways of investigating and solving these crimes, and it really is all about collaboration and partnership."

Fort said that as the agency has undergone a decade of budget cuts and workforce shrinkage, those lean years have led to "wiser" investments, hiring agents with backgrounds in digital forensics, data analysis, encryption and navigating the dark web.

"I've talked about over the past couple of years about our investment in cyber and cyber investigations, both tax and non-tax, our work in data analyticsthose are all things that we've invested in wisely over the last couple of years and now that we're adding additional resources, we'll continue to invest in those areas because we're really starting to see the fruits of our labor in that regard," Fort said.

That fruit includes $1.8 billion in tax fraud identified, another $4.4 billion for other financial crimes and the seizure of 1.24 petabytes of data over the past year. The unit's mandate is primarily around tax crimes, but its agents are also involved in broader investigation efforts within the federal government and abroad through international partnerships like the J5.

"The fact of the matter is, if a case involves money and it's a crime that rises to the federal level, IRS-CI almost always has jurisdiction," Deputy Chief Jim Lee wrote in an introductory note for the report.

In particular, tracking and investigating the use of cryptocurrencies by companies or individuals to evade taxes or engage in criminal has become the division's "bread and butter" and given it a prominent seat at the table in broader law enforcement investigations.

IRS officials pointed to the arrest and prosecution this year of a 23-year-old South Korean man Jong Woo Son and hundreds of individuals inside the United States in connection with the "Welcome to Video" child pornography and exploitation site, calling it a prime example of how their cryptocurrency tracking techniques trickle out into larger criminal cases. The dark web site charged users fees in Bitcoin, so investigators sent funds to Welcome to Video and used services by contractor Chainalysis to track those payments to Son as well as users.

Looking ahead to 2020, Fort said that while many of the most notable cyber cases this year dealt with money laundering and non-tax crimes, he anticipates that a bulk of active investigations going into next year will largely show how cryptocurrencies and cyber means are being used to facilitate tax-related crimes. Additionally, he said the agency will continue to explore involvement in multi-agency task forces where their expertise in areas like tracking cryptocurrency provide unique value.
Send to Email Address

Your Name

Your Email Address

Post was not sent - check your email addresses!

Email check failed, please try again

Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
Police in Telanganas Karimnagar district on Monday retrieved three highly decomposed bodies of members of the same family from a car that plunged into a canal in Alugunuru nearly 20 days ago.

The dead were identified as Nareddy Sathyanarayana, 55, a businessman, his wife Radha, 50, and their 22-year-old daughter Vinayasri, a third-year student of dental medicine in Nizamabad.

Radha, a government teacher, was the younger sister of Telangana Rashtra Samithi MLA Dasari Manohar Reddy, who represents Peddapalli in the assembly.

Karimnagars commissioner of police VB Kamalasan Reddy said while speaking to reporters that the car had surfaced in the Kakatiya canal on the Godavari river near Yadavulapalli village after the water level receded due to stoppage of inflows for the last two days.

Preliminary inquiries revealed that the family had left Peddapalli for Hyderabad on January 27. As the car was crossing the bridge at Alugunuru, it might have fallen off the bridge into the canal, Reddy said in Karimnagar.

We suspect the accident might have occurred due to over-speeding. Since the water level was too high at that time and nobody had noticed the accident. It had not come to our notice, he added.

Reddy said no one from the victims family had lodged any complaint that they were missing since January 27.

We are investigating the case from all angles, he said.

The TRS leader said there was no dispute in his family or that of his sisters.

My sister and her family members regularly go on jolly trips. So, we thought this time, too, they might have gone on a long ride, he said.

I tried to speak to my sister a few days back, but it [the phone] was switched off. I thought maybe they were out of coverage area, he added.

Two more accidents took place on the same bridge within a span of a few hours on Sunday.

A couple travelling on a motorcycle fell off the bridge into the canal on Sunday night.

The husband, Parankusam Venkata Narayana Pradeep, 32, was rescued by the police who were passing by but his wife Keerthana, 27, was washed away in the waters.

The body of the 27-year-old woman was later found caught in a fishing net a couple of kilometres away at Munjampalli village in early on Monday.

The couple, who belonged to Ganneruvaram village, came from Hyderabad to attend a function and were going to a temple at Timmapur village, 10km away from Karimnagar city. Apparently, Pradeep lost control over his vehicle, when an insect had fallen into his eye, sub-inspector of police, S Naresh Reddy, said.

Earlier on Sunday, a 48-year-old teacher Gandi Srinivas died on the spot and his wife Swaroopa, 40, suffered serious injuries, when a speeding truck hit their car from behind on the Alugunuru bridge. Their car plunged into the Kakatiya canal due to the impact.

Even as the police were controlling the crowd on the bridge, a constable fell from the bridge into the canal. The 57-year-old B Chandrasekhar succumbed during treatment in the hospital.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Srinivasa Rao Apparasu Srinivasa Rao is Senior Assistant Editor based out of Hyderabad covering developments in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana . He has over three decades of reporting experience. ...view detail
A suspected suicide bombing at a religious rally in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province killed at least eight people, including policemen, and injured 23 others on Monday, according to media reports.

Karachi: A suspected suicide bombing at a religious rally in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province killed at least eight people, including policemen, and injured 23 others on Monday, according to media reports.

The bombing took place during the religious rally at the Quetta Press Club near the Shahrah-i-Adalat road. Several vehicles parked in the vicinity have also been damaged due to the impact of the blast, Dawn newspaper reported.

The attack came the same day UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who is in Pakistan, termed the improved security situation in Pakistan as "absolutely remarkable". Security personnel have cordoned off the area and are conducting a search operation. Officials added that the nature of the blast has not yet been ascertained.

At least eight people, including policemen, were killed, Duniya News reported. No group took responsibility of the attack but Baloch nationalists and the Taliban militants have been involved in such attacks in the past.

Provincial home minister Zia Ullah Langu said that investigations by bomb disposal officers indicated that a suicide bomber carried out the attack, according to Duniya News. Quetta is the capital of Balochistan province, the country's largest but most sparsely populated province, rich in mineral resources and the route of much of the $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.

Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan directed the authorities concerned to provide the best medical treatment to the injured. Balochistan governor Amanullah Khan Yasinzai condemned the blast and said: "Such a cowardly attack can't weaken the morale of the nation and the security forces."

On 10 January, a blast inside a mosque in Quetta's Satellite Town area during Friday evening prayers had claimed 15 lives and left 19 people injured.
Alstom, which makes the French TGV high-speed trains, said in a statement Monday it has signed an agreement with a view to the acquisition of 100% of Bombardier Transportation. The price will be 5.8 billion to 6.2 billion euros ($6.3 billion-6.7 billion), which will be paid via a mix of cash and new Alstom shares.
Two people have been rushed to a hospital after they were shot by a masked gunman outside Promenade Mall in Vaughan on Sunday evening.

Around 9:30 p.m., York Regional Police tweeted about a large police presence in the area of Bathurst and Centre Streets.

Police say two people were transported to a hospital with gunshot wounds. The extent of their injuries is unknown.

Police are seeking a man with a mask armed with a weapon.

There are multiple investigative units on scene, police said.

Jacob Lorinc is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star's radio room in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @jacoblorinc

Read more about:
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Sen. Charles Schumer (D-New York) said President Donald Trumps administration plans to cut funding for dog-sniffing bomb detection teams used in Penn Station, airports, ferry terminals and other transit hubs.

In a news release Sunday, Schumer announced a new fight to keep the dog-sniffing bomb detection teams, also called Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) teams. VIPR dog teams are a counterterrorism tool often used across New York City in transit hubs, specifically when threat levels rise.

The senator revealed that the proposed budget released by the president and his administration cuts the VIPR dog teams from 31 to 0.

We only have 31 VIPR teams across the country, and New York is often one of the destinations, Schumer said. To outright do away with these dog-sniffing bomb detection teams could be a giant mistake and put an even bigger target on New York.

He explained it is unthinkable that the White House would propose the plan to rid New York and the country of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) canine VIPR teams because those dogs do some of the most critical work, and often at a moments notice.

Im making it public that Ive got a bone to pick with the White House over the total slashing of the VIPR counterterrorism teams and the way in which this was handled  without any input from experts or Congress, Schumer said. So, we will fight this cut, make the case, and hopefully keep this critical tool that is used by NYPD and others readily available.

If the Trump administration cuts the VIPR teams, state and local governments would have to foot the bill to sustain them.

This is just pushing the cost from the feds to the city, any city, said Schumer. But the terror threats are of national concern, and New York, other big cities and transit hubs should not be shouldering the brunt of these security costs.

Schumer said he stopped a previous budget plan that proposed to slash canine teams by $43 million or 23 teams. This years plan proposes to slash the $59 million current VIPR initiative of 31 teams.

Dog teams include a highly trained detection dog and a handler. VIPR teams may approach people and ask questions, examine bags, search vehicles, conduct searches and patrol airports to detect suspicious activity. According to the TSA, the agency allocates VIPR teams to specific cities and airports utilizing risk-based criteria that takes into account multiple factors like threat score, number of people with secure access and passenger throughput.

FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER.
If you have seen Paa, you might know about progeria, a condition which causes a childs body to age quickly. The genetic disorder has recently claimed a life in Ukraine. An 8-year-old lost her battle to progeria, becoming the youngest person to die of old age.

Anna Saikdon suffered from Hutchinson-Gilford genetic progeria disease since birth. While her real age was just 8, her biological age was nearer to 80, as quoted by medics in the Daily Mail. She passed away on Sunday after suffering multiple failure of her inner organs linked to her premature ageing condition.

Her medical treatment was supported by the Foundation of Ukrainian Volunteers.

Anna was being treated at Volyn Regional Children Medical Complex since childhood. Her doctor, Dr Nadezhda Kataman said, For children with progeria diagnosis one year is equal to eight-to-ten years, so her real age was between 70 and 80.

According to the doctor, the young Anna suffered from early ageing of her inner organs and body system. Dr Kataman added that Annas bones grew slowly while her organs aged rapidly.

She added that Anna suffered strokes and limb paralysis, which affected the movement of her arms and legs.

The Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome is named after the efforts of Dr Jonathan Hutchinson, who first described the disease in 1886. In 1904, Dr Hastings Gilford read further about the genetic disease.
Tupolev files appeal against refusal to trademark its own name

 RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov

10:57 17/02/2020

MOSCOW, February 17 (RAPSI)  Tupolev aircraft manufacturer has lodged a cassation petition challenging a decision of Russias Intellectual Property Court, which upheld the dismissal of the companys application to recognize its name as a commonly known trademark in Russia, court records read.

The court is to examine the appeal on March 23.

In February of 2019, the Presidium of the Russian Intellectual Property Court (IP Court) ruled a new review of the Tupolev application, seeking to recognize the status of its trademark as it found unlawful Rospatents refusal to do so.

The IP Court quashed all previously made respective judgements and remanded the case to the first-instance court.

Earlier the company had challenged a move of Rospatent, Russias patent agency, which on January 29, 2018, refused to comply with Tupolevs demands. At that time, Rospatent stated that the documents provided by Tupolev did not contain information on intensive use of Tupolev name in the marking of aircraft.

Back then, Rospatent noted that from all photos provided by the company, only three planes had Tupolev marking and there was no way to tell how many planes with that marking were produced and utilized by the applicant.
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Intended to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Recardio's lead candidate dutogliptin to restore lost myocardial function in patients who experience a severe heart attack and receive percutaneous coronary intervention with stent placement, the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2 study will include a total of 120 patients. In agreement with the trial's Data Safety Monitoring Board, an interim analysis was carried out, which confirmed that continuation of the study is fully warranted. Therefore, the participating trial centers carry on their patient recruitment activities.

"The interim analysis was a critical milestone to completion of the study. We are encouraged by the efforts of the clinical investigators and look forward to the conclusion of the trial by this year," remarked Roman Schenk, Recardio's Executive Chairman.

Recardio's regenerative therapeutic approach to minimize and repair the heart muscle injury that follows an infarction consists of mobilizing, recruiting, and homing stem cells in-vivo by using cytokines and inhibitors. Specifically, engraftment and an improvement in cardiac output are possible by mobilizing bone marrow stem cells into circulating blood with G-CSF and then initiating stem cell migration and homing to cardiac sites of ischemia or injury with dutogliptin, a small molecule inhibitor of dipeptidylpeptidase-IV (DPP4), the key enzyme responsible for degradation of stromal derived factor-1 (SDF-1), which is the major chemokine responsible for mobilization and migration of stem cells to areas of ischemic injury.

More information about the clinical program is available by visiting the "clinicaltrials.gov" website at the following link: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03486080

About Recardio

Recardio Inc. is a clinical-stage life science company focusing on therapies for cardiovascular, oncology and infectious diseases. The company is located in San Francisco, California, and is having its operations in USA and Europe. The company's lead drug candidate, dutogliptin, is a DPP-IV inhibitor that has demonstrated significant effects in activating various chemokines like SDF-1, a protein that is critical for cardiac regeneration. In addition to its current Phase 2 cardiovascular clinical program, Recardio will fully develop the therapeutic platform as a regenerative medication for patients with various cardiovascular diseases including acute myocardial infarction and chronic heart failure, with the potential of improving heart function, quality of life and survival. In addition, other development programs are in the preclinical stage.

For more information, visit: http://www.recardio.eu

Related Files

2020.02.17. RECARDIO News Release Interim Analysis.pdf

SOURCE Recardio

Related Links

http://recardio.eu


Vandals flatten

tires on four cars

Someone flattened tires on at least four cars that were parked near West Morgan Street and Dunlap Court late Saturday or early Sunday.

According to police reports, all four tires were slashed on two of the vehicles. The others had two or three tires punctured.

The owners told police they had been parked since about 11 p.m. Saturday and discovered the vandalism between 1:24 a.m. and 1:34 a.m. when they returned to their cars.



Jacksonville Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Amanda M. Carroll, 31, of 745 Allen Ave. was arrested at 10:05 p.m. Saturday on a charge of possession of methamphetamine after a car in which she was a passenger was stopped at West Douglas Avenue and West Main Street.

She was also arrested on a Missouri warrant accusing her of child neglect, according to police reports.

ACCIDENTS

 Izayia T. Rutherford, 19, of Jacksonville was cited on a charge of operating an uninsured motor vehicle after the car he was driving backed into Hardees, 842 W. Morton Ave., at 7:44 p.m. Saturday.

Police said there was no damage to the building.

OTHER REPORTS

 A man was hit in the face by an unknown subject at 2:20 a.m. in the 200 block of East State Street. A woman who tried to intervene was struck on the hand and shoulder, according to a police report.

Compiled by David C.L. Bauer
Isa Pantami, minister of communications and digital economy, says he has no comment on the threat issued by Abubakar Shekau, leader of...





Isa Pantami, minister of communications and digital economy, says he has no comment on the threat issued by Abubakar Shekau, leader of the Boko Haram sect.









The insurgent leader said Pantami might be killed by his men the way a famous Kano cleric was killed in2007.





This video message is specifically released because of one man, who thinks he is knowledgeable. I want him to archive this message and continue referring to it till his death comes. From today onward, you will continue to live in sorrow, because I, Shekau, say so, Shekau had said in the video.

But after delivering a lecture on digital mentoring at the Government Secondary School, Garki, Abuja, on Monday, reporters sought his reaction to the threat and he responded: No comments for now.




What is the coronavirus?

A coronavirus is a type of virus which can cause illness in animals and people. Viruses break into cells inside their host and use them to reproduce itself and disrupt the body's normal functions. Coronaviruses are named after the Latin word 'corona', which means crown, because they are encased by a spiked shell which resembles a royal crown.

The coronavirus from Wuhan is one which has never been seen before this outbreak. It has been named SARS-CoV-2 by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. The name stands for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2.

Experts say the bug, which has killed around one in 50 patients since the outbreak began in December, is a 'sister' of the SARS illness which hit China in 2002, so has been named after it.

The disease that the virus causes has been named COVID-19, which stands for coronavirus disease 2019.

Dr Helena Maier, from the Pirbright Institute, said: 'Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that infect a wide range of different species including humans, cattle, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats and wild animals.

'Until this new coronavirus was identified, there were only six different coronaviruses known to infect humans. Four of these cause a mild common cold-type illness, but since 2002 there has been the emergence of two new coronaviruses that can infect humans and result in more severe disease (Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronaviruses).

'Coronaviruses are known to be able to occasionally jump from one species to another and that is what happened in the case of SARS, MERS and the new coronavirus. The animal origin of the new coronavirus is not yet known.'

The first human cases were publicly reported from the Chinese city of Wuhan, where approximately 11million people live, after medics first started publicly reporting infections on December 31.

By January 8, 59 suspected cases had been reported and seven people were in critical condition. Tests were developed for the new virus and recorded cases started to surge.

The first person died that week and, by January 16, two were dead and 41 cases were confirmed. The next day, scientists predicted that 1,700 people had become infected, possibly up to 7,000.

Where does the virus come from?

According to scientists, the virus almost certainly came from bats. Coronaviruses in general tend to originate in animals  the similar SARS and MERS viruses are believed to have originated in civet cats and camels, respectively.

The first cases of COVID-19 came from people visiting or working in a live animal market in Wuhan, which has since been closed down for investigation.

Although the market is officially a seafood market, other dead and living animals were being sold there, including wolf cubs, salamanders, snakes, peacocks, porcupines and camel meat.

A study by the Wuhan Institute of Virology, published in February 2020 in the scientific journal Nature, found that the genetic make-up virus samples found in patients in China is 96 per cent identical to a coronavirus they found in bats.

However, there were not many bats at the market so scientists say it was likely there was an animal which acted as a middle-man, contracting it from a bat before then transmitting it to a human. It has not yet been confirmed what type of animal this was.

Dr Michael Skinner, a virologist at Imperial College London, was not involved with the research but said: 'The discovery definitely places the origin of nCoV in bats in China.

'We still do not know whether another species served as an intermediate host to amplify the virus, and possibly even to bring it to the market, nor what species that host might have been.'

So far the fatalities are quite low. Why are health experts so worried about it?

Experts say the international community is concerned about the virus because so little is known about it and it appears to be spreading quickly.

It is similar to SARS, which infected 8,000 people and killed nearly 800 in an outbreak in Asia in 2003, in that it is a type of coronavirus which infects humans' lungs. It is less deadly than SARS, however, which killed around one in 10 people, compared to approximately one in 50 for COVID-19.

Another reason for concern is that nobody has any immunity to the virus because they've never encountered it before. This means it may be able to cause more damage than viruses we come across often, like the flu or common cold.

Speaking at a briefing in January, Oxford University professor, Dr Peter Horby, said: 'Novel viruses can spread much faster through the population than viruses which circulate all the time because we have no immunity to them.

'Most seasonal flu viruses have a case fatality rate of less than one in 1,000 people. Here we're talking about a virus where we don't understand fully the severity spectrum but it's possible the case fatality rate could be as high as two per cent.'

If the death rate is truly two per cent, that means two out of every 100 patients who get it will die.

'My feeling is it's lower,' Dr Horby added. 'We're probably missing this iceberg of milder cases. But that's the current circumstance we're in.

'Two per cent case fatality rate is comparable to the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918 so it is a significant concern globally.'

How does the virus spread?

The illness can spread between people just through coughs and sneezes, making it an extremely contagious infection. And it may also spread even before someone has symptoms.

It is believed to travel in the saliva and even through water in the eyes, therefore close contact, kissing, and sharing cutlery or utensils are all risky. It can also live on surfaces, such as plastic and steel, for up to 72 hours, meaning people can catch it by touching contaminated surfaces.

Originally, people were thought to be catching it from a live animal market in Wuhan city. But cases soon began to emerge in people who had never been there, which forced medics to realise it was spreading from person to person.

What does the virus do to you? What are the symptoms?

Once someone has caught the COVID-19 virus it may take between two and 14 days, or even longer, for them to show any symptoms  but they may still be contagious during this time.

If and when they do become ill, typical signs include a runny nose, a cough, sore throat and a fever (high temperature). The vast majority of patients will recover from these without any issues, and many will need no medical help at all.

In a small group of patients, who seem mainly to be the elderly or those with long-term illnesses, it can lead to pneumonia. Pneumonia is an infection in which the insides of the lungs swell up and fill with fluid. It makes it increasingly difficult to breathe and, if left untreated, can be fatal and suffocate people.

Figures are showing that young children do not seem to be particularly badly affected by the virus, which they say is peculiar considering their susceptibility to flu, but it is not clear why.

What have genetic tests revealed about the virus?

Scientists in China have recorded the genetic sequences of around 19 strains of the virus and released them to experts working around the world.

This allows others to study them, develop tests and potentially look into treating the illness they cause.

Examinations have revealed the coronavirus did not change much  changing is known as mutating  much during the early stages of its spread.

However, the director-general of China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Gao Fu, said the virus was mutating and adapting as it spread through people.

This means efforts to study the virus and to potentially control it may be made extra difficult because the virus might look different every time scientists analyse it.

More study may be able to reveal whether the virus first infected a small number of people then change and spread from them, or whether there were various versions of the virus coming from animals which have developed separately.

How dangerous is the virus?

The virus has a death rate of around two per cent. This is a similar death rate to the Spanish Flu outbreak which, in 1918, went on to kill around 50million people.

Experts have been conflicted since the beginning of the outbreak about whether the true number of people who are infected is significantly higher than the official numbers of recorded cases. Some people are expected to have such mild symptoms that they never even realise they are ill unless they're tested, so only the more serious cases get discovered, making the death toll seem higher than it really is.

However, an investigation into government surveillance in China said it had found no reason to believe this was true.

Dr Bruce Aylward, a World Health Organization official who went on a mission to China, said there was no evidence that figures were only showing the tip of the iceberg, and said recording appeared to be accurate, Stat News reported.

Can the virus be cured?

The COVID-19 virus cannot be cured and it is proving difficult to contain.

Antibiotics do not work against viruses, so they are out of the question. Antiviral drugs can work, but the process of understanding a virus then developing and producing drugs to treat it would take years and huge amounts of money.

No vaccine exists for the coronavirus yet and it's not likely one will be developed in time to be of any use in this outbreak, for similar reasons to the above.

The National Institutes of Health in the US, and Baylor University in Waco, Texas, say they are working on a vaccine based on what they know about coronaviruses in general, using information from the SARS outbreak. But this may take a year or more to develop, according to Pharmaceutical Technology.

Currently, governments and health authorities are working to contain the virus and to care for patients who are sick and stop them infecting other people.

People who catch the illness are being quarantined in hospitals, where their symptoms can be treated and they will be away from the uninfected public.

And airports around the world are putting in place screening measures such as having doctors on-site, taking people's temperatures to check for fevers and using thermal screening to spot those who might be ill (infection causes a raised temperature).

However, it can take weeks for symptoms to appear, so there is only a small likelihood that patients will be spotted up in an airport.

Is this outbreak an epidemic or a pandemic?

The outbreak was declared a pandemic on March 11. A pandemic is defined by the World Health Organization as the 'worldwide spread of a new disease'.

Previously, the UN agency said most cases outside of Hubei had been 'spillover' from the epicentre, so the disease wasn't actually spreading actively around the world.
Australia's Defence Minister charged taxpayers $5,500 so she could attend a weekend Medicare 'mid-life crisis' conference organised by her husband - and go to a ball.

As a new Liberal senator for Western Australia, Linda Reynolds claimed $1,268 on the public purse in May 2015 so she could fly to Brisbane return from Canberra for an Australian Medical Association cocktail party event.

Her husband Robert Reid was the AMA's director of communications, a role he has held since 2011.

Senator Reynolds, who had just turned 50, attended the AMA's national conference titled, 'Medicare: mid-life crisis?'.

Australia's Defence Minister Linda Reynolds (left) charged taxpayers $5,510 so she could attend a so-called weekend mid-life crisis conference with her husband Robert Reid (right), who is a spokesman for the Australian Medical Association

The forum featured a cocktail reception and gala dinner, and was held from May 29 to 31, between two sitting weeks of federal Parliament.

Minister's response in full from her spokeswoman Senator Reynolds was officially invited by the Australian Medical Association to attend and participate in the AMA National Conference in Brisbane on 29 May 2015 to 30 May 2015, both in her capacity as a Senator for Western Australia, and as a member of both Senate Community Affairs Committees. Senator Reynolds travelled from Perth to Broome on 3 July 2015 and returned to Perth on 5 July 2015. The Senator and her partner were officially invited to attend the NAIDOC ball. She also engaged in stakeholder community meetings and events. This travel was parliamentary and electorate business within the guidelines. Advertisement

'Participants had plenty of opportunity to socialise, including at the Presidents Cocktail Reception, the Leadership Development Dinner and the Gala Dinner,' an AMA summary of the event said.

Archived Department of Finance records obtained exclusively by Daily Mail Australia show she charged taxpayers $363.43 to fly from Canberra to Brisbane on the Friday and another $695.56 to return to Canberra on the Sunday.

On those days, Senator Reynolds also claimed the cost of Comcar transport to and from the airport in both those cities, adding up to $209.

The West Australian Liberal ran up a $1,268 bill, even though Brisbane isn't in her electorate.

Nonetheless, a spokeswoman for Senator Reynolds said the AMA 'officially invited' her to its May 2015 national conference 'both in her capacity as a Senator for Western Australia, and as a member of both Senate Community Affairs committees'.

Just two months later, in July 2015, Senator Reynolds charged taxpayers another $4,242 to travel 2,200km from her electorate office in Perth to Broome, a West Australian luxury resort town.

As a new Liberal senator for Western Australia, Linda Reynolds claimed $1,268 on the public purse in May 2015 so she could fly to Brisbane return from Canberra for an Australian Medical Association cocktail party event. She is pictured with Prime Minister Scott Morrison in January 2019

While their visit coincided with the town's weekend races, Senator Reynolds's spokeswoman said she was there to attend a NAIDOC week ball organised by the National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee.

'The Senator and her partner were officially invited to attend the NAIDOC ball,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

'She also engaged in stakeholder community meetings and events.

'This travel was parliamentary and electorate business within the guidelines.'

Being in Western Australia, Broome is considered to be part of Ms Reynolds's electorate, as a senator for that state.

The weekend package included $1,576 in return flights for her and another $1,576 for her husband.

Federal MPs' partners are entitled to nine business class flights or three family reunion trips a year.

In July 2015, Senator Reynolds charged taxpayers another $4,242 to travel 2,200km from her electorate office in Perth to Broome (Cable Beach pictured)

Taxpayers spent another $208 on car hire costs in Broome from July 3 to 5 and another $118.60 getting the senator to and from the Perth airport on those days.

The trip was classified as electorate business, with Senator Reynolds also claiming $764 in travel allowance to cover accommodation and food.

Senator Reynolds's weekend trips to Brisbane and Broome added up to $5,510.

The former Australian Army Reserves brigadier became Defence Minister in May last year after Prime Minister Scott Morrison's Coalition government won a third consecutive term in power.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 07:32:54|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

A staff member works in a factory of negative pressure ambulance of SAIC Motor Co., Ltd. in Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu Province, Feb. 16, 2020. The company rushes to make negative pressure ambulances to meet the needs of hospitals in the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic. (Xinhua/Ji Chunpeng)
China is considering a rare move to postpone its annual parliament session scheduled to be held in early March as the country grapples with the coronavirus outbreak that has claimed over 1,700 lives, official media reported on Monday.

The 13th National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislature, is due to hold its annual session in Beijing on March 5, according to an official announcement in December last year.

But amid the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), the NPC Standing Committee is to discuss postponing this year's NPC plenary session, the state-run China Daily said in a brief report.

If the NPC, which is held every year along with the advisory body Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), is postponed, it will be regarded as an unprecedented move.

The ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) considers two sessions as significant political event to adopt its national agenda, including the annual budgets.

Together the NPC and CPPCC have over 5,000 delegates. China is discouraging large gathering to prevent the spread of the virus.

The postponement is reportedly being contemplated as the coronavirus continued its virulent run, though officials say it is slowing down.

China reported 105 new deaths due to the coronavirus on Monday, increasing the overall death toll to 1,770.

The National Health Commission said 2,048 new cases of the virus have been confirmed, taking the total number of infected cases to 70,548, Xinhua agency reported.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
This week were particularly excited about a Dominican rum with a difference, its been finished in casks that formerly held a peated Speyside whisky giving the spirit a subtle smoky quality.

As the expectation and excitement around the rum category continue to swell, we can expect to see more and more innovative expressions. While some of this experimentation will inevitably make us cringe, theres also plenty of room for those who create the intriguing and delicious to shine and were always happy to help them share some of that spotlight.

Take Relicario Ron Dominicano Peated Finish, an aged Dominican rum from Relicario (owned by the Spanish-based Beveland Distillers) that was finished in American oak barrels which previously held peated whisky. Its simultaneously an interesting drink for seasoned rum lovers and exactly the kind of bottling that will convert whisky drinkers to the joys of rum. It shares a similar production process to the brands core expression, Relicario Ron Dominicano, that is until the end of the maturation process. The rums are made from 100% native Dominican sugar cane juice harvested by hand. The sugar cane juice is fermented for 30 hours with yeasts (the distillery reveals this is saccharomyces cerevisiae, which should delight yeast fans), before the spirit is distilled in two different stills. I told you this rum was interesting. It is distilled initially in a continuous column still and then again in a copper pot still, which Relicario says is to create a smoother delivery.

The rums are then matured in 225 litre American white oak barrels in the Dominican Republic, which means you can expect the humidity and temperatures typical of the Caribbean, as well as some sea breeze, to add to the character of the product. Where Relicario Ron Dominicano Peated Finish differs is that following ageing on the island for between five and ten years, the barrels were transported to Speyside to be matured for a further 6 months in those 250 litre American oak barrels that contained peated whisky.

Yes, thats right, Speyside. Some of you might have been expecting that maturation to take place at an Islay-based distillery, but Islay holds no monopoly on peated whiskies. Speyside has a few distilleries that embrace the smokier side of things such as Cragganmore, Glenfiddich, BenRiach, Tomintoul and Glen Moray . Relicario doesnt confirm which distillery housed the whisky and/or provided the casks, so you can have a fun game of guess the distillery yourself when you taste it.

Relicario Ron Dominicano Peated Finish is definitely the kind of bottling that you would consider to be a sipping rum and I would recommend trying it neat, at least initially, so you can pick out the peaty influence. Relicario went for a more subtle style of smoke, which was the right choice in my opinion. The character of the rum isnt overpowered by the peat, instead, it adds a really pleasant earthy and savoury quality to balance the sweetness of the molasses and vanilla. The nutty elements that come through in the palate predominately are also delightful.

And then its time to move on to cocktails. The brand recommends the Almond Fashion, which is essentially a rum Old Fashioned, which Im very partial too. Its made by combining 60ml of Relicario Ron Dominicano Peated Finish, 25ml amaretto and a dash of grapefruit bitters. Garnish with an orange twist and a maraschino cherry. The rum still takes centre stage with all those nutty, sweet and smoky notes which the grapefruit bitters complement beautifully.

So, if this sounds like youre kind of thing or youre after something a bit different, then youll perhaps youll plump for a bottle of Relicario Ron Dominicano Peated Finish. Its now available from Master of Malt and weve included our own tasting note below, but be sure to let us know what you think as well!

Relicario Ron Dominicano Peated Finish Tasting Note:

Nose: Thick treacle, earthy vanilla and gentle sweet peat smoke combine with chocolate digestives and oily toasted nuts.

Palate: Brown sugar, roasted nuts and juicy dried fruit take centre stage before notes of tropical fruit and a hint of salinity emerge in the backdrop.

Finish: Gentle smoke with lingering and creamy vanilla sweetness, a hint of citrus and some cinder toffee.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Monday said the Maharashtra government will form a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the Elgar Parishad case. The Centre had transferred the probe to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), triggering a row with the state government.

Last week, CM Uddhav Thackeray gave his nod to the handover of the investigation, a move criticised by the NCP, the second-largest constituent of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in state. The NCP holds the state home department.

Nawab Malik, Maharashtras minority affairs minister and NCP spokesperson, said the probe will be conducted under the provisions of section 10 of the NIA Act (see box). He was speaking after a meeting of NCP ministers and MPs called by party chief Sharad Pawar on Monday. The meeting was held amid reports of rising differences with ally Shiv Sena over the transfer of the case and after Pawar expressed his displeasure over Thackerays decision. There is nothing wrong in the CMs decision to hand over the case, because going by the NIA Act, it is binding on the state. But section 10 of the Act also empowers the state to hold a parallel investigation, Malik said.

Pawarsaheb has asked the home minister to act following the provisions. The home minister will now appoint an SIT to probe the case, he said.

Home minister Anil Deshmukh said he would seek legal opinion on the setting up of an SIT.

Although it has denied bail to the accused in the Elgar Parishad case, the Supreme Court (SC) had observed that the case needs to be thoroughly investigated, Malik said.

From the beginning, the NCP chief was of the view that activists were wrongly implicated in the case. He has also written letters to the CM and the home minister, demanding a SIT probe, which will happen now, Malik said.

Last week, Pawar said that while the Centres decision directing NIA to take over the case was inappropriate, the state governments approval was more inappropriate.

It was for the first time that Pawar had criticised any decision taken by the chief minister since the MVA government  made up of the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress  was formed on November 28, 2019.

The Elgar Parishad case was discussed in todays meeting. I will seek legal opinion over constituting a SIT in the matter. With legal opinion in place, I will also discuss the case with the chief minister, Deshmukh said.

The NCP chief pointed out about section 10 of the NIA act in the meeting, which says that nothing contained in this act shall affect the powers of the state government to investigate and prosecute offences under the law. He also read out the Supreme Courts observation in which it pointed out towards detailed investigation in the Elgar Parishad case. After this, the home minister agreed to form an SIT, said an NCP minister, requesting anonymity.

Deshmukh had said last Thursday that Thackeray used his discretionary powers to approve the handover. Deshmukh said they are still of the opinion that the Centre should have taken the state government into confidence before handing over the probe to NIA.

And on Saturday Deshmukh had said the states home department has sent a note to the advocate-general, seeking his legal opinion on whether an SIT can be constituted for probing Elgar Parishad case.

Advocate-general Ashutosh Kumbhkoni said that he needs to study all the relevant sections in details before reacting. I have yet to go through the NIA Act and the section you are referring to. I will be able to offer my comments only after studying it.

Section 10 of the NIA Act states, Save as otherwise provided in this Act, nothing contained in this Act shall affect the powers of the state government to investigate and prosecute any scheduled offence or other offences under any law for the time being in force.

Senior advocate and former advocate general of the state, Sheehari Aney said it would be difficult for him to give his opinion off-hand. Before making any statement, I would like to go through the section and other details of the act, Aney said.

As soon as the MVA government was formed, Pawar had written a letter to Thackeray demanding a probe by a SIT into the case. The NCP chief had said the erstwhile Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government abused its power to book activists and called their arrests a conspiracy.

After Pawars letter, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar held a meeting with officials of the home department to review the case. The home department had also been considering appointing a SIT to probe the Elgar Parishad case. However, before it could do so, the Centre directed NIA to take over the case. The central agency has the power to take over investigations over cases, which it feels have a bearing on national security.

Congress has supported the decision. Party spokesperson Sachin Sawant said, We are sure that the probe conducted by the Pune Police was prejudiced at the behest of the erstwhile BJP government. We believe BJPs involvement in the violence and this is the reason NIA was brought in. Section 10 allows the state to carry out a parallel probe. We support the decision so that justice can be given to the innocent and the real culprits shall be booked.

Maharashtra Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat, too, has said that the decision of allowing the transfer of the case to the NIA should have been taken by taking other ruling parties into confidence. Such decisions are taken by the home department.(held by the NCP). Though the CM has all rights to take such decisions, he should have discussed this with us too. However it would not affect our alliance.

Sena spokesperson Manisha Kayande said that the motive of all the three parties is to book the culprits. The target of the investigation agencies, be it NIA, SIT or Maharashtra police, will be working to book the culprits and punish them. The agencies should work in tandem. There may be difference of opinion, but there is definitely no rift in the government, a picture which BJP is trying to paint, and the issue will be resolved soon.

The case relates to the violence on New Years Day in 2018 on the banks of the Bhima river, where thousands of people, mostly Dalits, had gathered to mark the anniversary of an 1818 victory of the British Army, manned primarily by Dalit soldiers, over the Peshwa, the then rulers who instituted oppressive caste practises. A group of unidentified men on motorcycles attacked the visitors and pelted stones, killing one person and injuring 40.

The police investigation initially pointed at far-right Hindu groups, but then concentrated on the event called the Elgar Parishad on December 31, 2017. Police said the event was funded by Maoists, and that the provocative speeches made at the gathering triggered the clashes a day later.

In June and August of 2018, police arrested nine prominent activists and raided the homes of many others in Delhi, Mumbai and other cities.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Pelosi said that the Democratic Party is "a party of vitality, differences of opinion, which we will resolve. She added that she has "trust in the American people" and "it isn't up to me to decide, it's up to the people."

But she noted that she believes each one of the 2020 Democratic hopefuls "have made a very valuable contribution to the debate," and that that it is "easy" for her to say that "any one of them would be a better president than the current occupant of the White House."

"I think every one of our candidates, all 25 -- I don't know if Michael Bloomberg is counted in the 25, but Michael Bloomberg, too -- have made a very valuable contribution to the debate putting forth their vision, their knowledge, their judgment, their strategic thinking," she said.

Pelosi has not endorsed any candidate, but added that she isn't counting out former Vice President Joe Biden, who is now trailing in the count of pledged delegates.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert held a press conference Feb. 11 in New York City to oppose the US peace plan known as the "deal of the century" and to discuss reviving the Olmert plan to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The two sides had negotiated the Olmert plan in 2008 before Olmert was forced to resign in September 2008 amid corruption allegations. This put the negotiations on hold.

The press conference was held on the sidelines of the special session of the United Nations Security Council, which was held Feb. 11, to discuss the US peace plan. During the session, Abbas announced his rejection of the US plan and presented a document signed by 300 Israeli officers who reject the US peace plan.

At the press conference, Abbas said he is ready to pick up negotiations from where he left off with Olmert in 2008 under the umbrella of international legitimacy and not on the basis of the Israeli and US plan of annexation.

A Palestinian official close to the Palestinian presidency told Al-Monitor that the meeting between Abbas and Olmert was held upon the request of the latter in order to find an alternative to the US peace plan and revive the plan presented by Olmert to Abbas in 2008.

The official pointed out that during a meeting held between the two sides before the press conference, Olmert reiterated his call on Abbas to agree to the plan in order to thwart the US peace plan. However, the official added, Abbas refused this request and indicated that issues related to the border, Jerusalem and refugees still need to be discussed and negotiated in order for Palestinians to approve of the plan.

Asked about the Palestinian criticism Abbas received after his meeting with Olmert, the official said, We do not have the luxury to repel parties willing to stand by our side in rejecting the US peace plan.

Every individual that stands by our side strengthens our position before the world. President Abbas does not mind sitting with other Israeli figures who oppose the US plan, he added.

Olmert, in turn, received widespread Israeli criticism following his meeting with Abbas.

On Feb. 12, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Olmert's move as a low point in the history of Israel. The day before, Israel's permanent representative to the United Nations, Danny Danon, described the meeting as shameful. He added, On the same day that Abu Mazen [Abbas] failed to condemn the US and Israel in the Security Council, Olmert chose to support Abbas and give a tailwind to the Palestinians diplomatic terrorism.

Olmert's plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict included the establishment of Palestinian and Israeli states and land swaps between the two sides. Among other things, the plan proposed Israels annexation of 6.5% of the West Bank that would include a large number of Israeli settlements, with 5.8% of the annexed land to be compensated for through land swaps. The plan also called for Israel's evacuation of 10 settlements established in separate parts of the West Bank and the Jordan Valley. The plan also outlined a land corridor between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

The Palestinian presidency rejected the plan in August 2008 and dismissed it as a violation of international legitimacy resolutions. The presidency said it would only accept a Palestinian state along the borders of June 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital. Abbas also called for the complete evacuation of the West Bank settlements and for a land corridor between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Joint List Knesset member Jamal Zahalka told Al-Monitor that the Abbas-Olmert meeting aims at creating a state of opposition within Israel to the US peace plan by reviving the Olmert plan.

Zahalka said the attempt to revive this plan is not likely to succeed because of Olmert's weak political influence in Israel. In addition, he said, the large Israeli parties reject this plan.

He also warned Palestinians against accepting discussions related to the plan, which he said is no less dangerous than the US peace plan, especially in aspects related to Jerusalem, borders and the refugee issue.

The meeting between Abbas and Olmert hit the headlines of Israeli newspapers Feb. 12.

The same day, a member of Hamas international relations office, Basem Naim, launched an attack against the meeting and said it was based on illusions and delusions.

It is very unfortunate that President Abbas met at this specific time with a man who directly contributed to the killing of thousands of Palestinians, Naim added.

Alaa al-Rimawi, the director of Al-Quds Center for Israeli and Palestinian Studies in Ramallah, told Al-Monitor that the meeting between Abbas and Olmert is one of the worst meetings ever held between Palestinian and Israeli officials. He said Abbas advisers deceived him when they convinced him to meet with Olmert and hold a joint press conference to reject the deal of the century because the latter is accused of corruption and is politically doomed.

Rimawi said that attempts on the part of the two leaders to revive the Olmert plan will not be of any benefit in light of the Israeli and Palestinian opposition to the plan. He added that the meeting showed that the Palestinian Authority (PA) literally has no cards to confront the US peace plan with.

Abdel Sattar Qassem, a political science professor at An-Najah National University in Nablus in the West Bank, concurred. He told Al-Monitor that the meeting aims at reviving the Olmert plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and warned the PA against accepting to return to the negotiating table to discuss the plan in the absence of political options to confront the deal of the century.

Qassem said that confronting the US peace plan should not be done through such meetings. The PA should take serious steps toward ending internal division, rebuilding Palestinian institutions capable of playing an effective role and encouraging resistance in all its forms.

The attempts to revive the Olmert plan will likely not come to fruition in the absence of an international sponsor and in light of the major Israeli parties support for the US peace plan that Trump announced in late January.
If you're festivaled out, make this week about checking out new restaurants, art exhibits, and breweries.

On tap is the opening of a new, transit-themed taproom in Oakland; a 10-time Tony Awardnominated musical at Victoria Theater; a 67-piece quilt collection by Richmond-based artist Rosie Lee Tompkins at BAMPFA; macarons and tartines at new patisserie Maison Danel; and Oakland's Black Joy Parade, which "celebrates blackness in all its glory."

Have a great week.

Monday, February 17th See on Instagram Check out SFO's new observation deck 7am to 11:30pm daily SFO, International Terminal, Boarding Area G, flysfo.com Travelers and those just looking for an excuse to get to the airport alike can check out 180 degree views of SFO's airfield from the brand new 2,997 square foot outdoor terrace. Bring your own food, stake your claim of a chaise lounge or table, and watch aircrafts including the Boeing 747 take off for hoursjust don't miss your flight!! // Free to visit without boarding pass, security check required.

Monkey Monday 6pm to 9pm Wildhawk, 3464 19th St. (Mission), wildhawksf.com Go bananas and kick off your week with special Monkey 47 cocktails sipped inside stylish Wildhawk, plus craft your own sock monkey to donate to the children of local non-profit Hamilton House. // Reserve a spot and sock monkey kit on Facebook.

The Future of Staying Informed 6:30pm to 7:30pm Manny's, 3092 16th St. (Mission), welcometomannys.com If getting your news via headphones on BART is more your speed than sitting down with the paper every morning, then chance's are you've heard Vox's daily Today Explained podcast. Head to Manny's and chat with Today Explained podcast host, Sean Rameswaram, about the pros and cons of this new digital news model, the future of news, and podcasting in general. // Tickets ($12 and up) can be purchased on Eventbrite.

Annual Animation Show of Shows Shows today at 12pm and 5:30pm; shows at varying times February 14th through 20th The New Parkway Theater, 474 24th St. (Oakland), thenewparkway.com Catch 10 short animated flicks from students and professionals hailing from seven countries during the week long 21st Annual Animation Show of Shows, held at the hip New Parkway Theater. In just 83 minutes, expect to see three films that qualified for 2020 Academy Award consideration, a fable about a fox and bird, two mini-documentaries, and much more. // Tickets ($10) can be purchased on thenewparkway.com.

Tuesday, February 18th See on Instagram Maison Danel opens 7am to 7pm, Tuesday through Sunday Maison Danel, 1030 Polk St. (Tendernob), maisondanel.com It's part cafe, part patisserie and part brunch spot, and beyond Parisian in aesthetic. Get a haul of macarons, croissants, croques, open face tartine sandwiches, salads, wagyu burgers, and steak tartare. There are chandeliers, pastry cases galore, fancy chairs, and magnificent silver-white tile work all to channel the dreamiest of Paris vibes.

Hidden Histories of African Americans in the Bay Area 6pm California Historical Society, 678 Mission St. (SoMa), californiahistoricalsociety.org Stop by tonight only for a special exhibit displaying rare materials for CHS's collections and a discussion about California's complex, multicultural history with Susan Anderson. Expect to hear about Frederick Douglass's thoughts on the Gold Rush, a woman who stood up for her rights on streetcars 90 years before the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and more. // Tickets ($15 GA and $10 members) can be purchased on californiahistoricalsociety.org.

Get your Creole fix 5:30pm to 9:30pm Tuesday through Wednesday, until 10pm Thursday through Saturday CreoLa, 900 Stanyan St. (Cole Valley), creolabistro.com Over 20-year old San Carlos spot CreoLa's new Cole Valley outpost is open! Make a res for cheat day worthy Creole and Cajun eats ranging from cornmeal-crusted Louisiana catfish to crispy boudin ballsand beignets for desert of course.

Wednesday, February 19th See on Instagram Rosie Lee Tompkins exhibit 9am to 7pm, Wednesday to Friday, 11am to 7pm Saturday and Sunday; on view until July 19 Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, 2155 Center St. (Berkeley), bampfa.org Explore the largest-ever collection of historic African American quilts by Richmond-based artist Rosie Lee Tompkins, showing 67 of her works. // Tickets ($14) can be purchased at the museum or online.

Korean-American beers and bites 4pm to 12am Wednesday to Saturday, 4pm to 10pm Sunday Dokkaebier, 1735 Polk St. (Russian Hill), enjoydkb.com Check out a new pop-up taproom in soft-opening phase called Dokkaebier, with beers made by Youngwon Lee, emphasizing classic styles with interesting ingredientsthink a pilsner that uses bamboo leaves, a witbier with omija berry and gochugaru chili. Food is coming toothink small plates like raw fish with nori chips, oysters, and caviar on a menu from a former chef de cuisine at Saison.

Line 51 Brewery opens 4pm to 10pm Wednesday to Friday, 12pm to 10pm Saturday, 12pm to 6pm Sunday Line 51 Brewery, 303 Castro St. (Oakland), line51beer.com Check out a new East Bay brewery with a transit twistLine 51 is a new brewery on the scene with a new taproom that's centered around a giant transit bus, complete with taps set into its side to pour beer from.

Thursday, February 20th See on Instagram A pretty, new hotel bar 7am to 9am for breakfast bar, 9am to 3pm for all-day breakfast, 11am to 10pm for the all-day menu, 6pm to 10pm for dinner Fisher Loft inside of Palihotel, 417 Stockton St. (Union Square), palisociety.com The Mystic Hotel's dark, masculine bar, the Burritt Room, closed awhile back. In its place is a new hotel bar and restaurant, Fisher Loft. Design-wise, it's a complete 360bright pinks, teals and yellows create an antique-y, elegant vibe, the perfect spot for cocktails with your girls, or to bring family from out of town. Pop in for breakfast, lunch or dinner with options like mussels, salads, cheese boards, oysters, caviar, sandwiches, and burgers. There's also a daily tea service from 4pm to 6pm.

Jumanji VR 10am to 9pm, daily

Located on the Concourse level adjacent to the food court and Bloomingdales In Westfield San Francisco Centre, 865 Market St. (Union Square), westfield.com The Void is bringing back their virtual reality setup to the Westfield San Francisco Centre mall, complete with a round of new immersive experiences complete with smell and touch effects: Jumanji: Reverse The Curse and Avengers: Damage Control. // Tickets ($39.95) can be booked on thevoid.com.

Third Thursday 6pm to 7:30pm San Francisco Ferry Building, 1 Ferry Building (Embarcadero), ferrybuildingmarketplace.com Head to the Ferry Building for some post work noms and fun. For activities, there will be interactive art from ArtIsMobilUs, live music by Luminescent Grand, and dance performances by TurfInc. Snack through the various food and beverage merchants while you take it all in. // Find more info on Facebook.

The Full Monty7:30pm tonight, shows Thursday to Sunday through March 15th 7:30pm tonight, shows Thursday to Sunday through March 15th The Victoria Theatre, 2961 16th St. (Mission), victoriatheatre.org Catch the 10-time Tony Award nominated musical, The Full Monty, packed with hilarious scenes, catchy tunes, and great dancing. // Tickets ($35-$85) can be purchased online at bamsf.org.

Friday, February 21st See on Instagram Orchids in Focus 10am to 5pm, today, Saturday and Sunday San Francisco County Fair Building, 1199 9th Ave (Golden Gate Park), goldengatepark.com Love the beautiful buds that are orchids? Head to the 68th Annual Pacific Orchid Exposition to see an array of rare, stunning flowers and thousands of orchids to admire and purchase if you desire. // Tickets ($12) can be found on Eventbrite.

Kinetech Arts: AI Sensorium 8pm shows, today through Sunday ODC Theater, 3153 17th St. (Mission), odc.dance ODC Resident Artist Kinetech Arts explores the intersection of human bodies, minds, and machine learning, including the complexity and permanence of technology during this dance-meets-science-meets digital art performance, featuring five dancers. // Tickets ($30) can be purchased on odc.dance.

Sushi Class 7pm to 9pm The Village Food & Wine Center, 850 Bordeaux Way (Napa), villagenapavalley.com Master the art of sushi making at The Village's first ever sushi making workshop! Get the low down on how to select the proper fish and ingredients, prepare sushi rice, and handle a knife like a proplus enjoy rolls and sake of course. You'll leave with all you need to know (and a recipe guide) to make your own sushi feast at home. // Register ($175) on Eventbrite.

Cannabis Happy Hour 6pm Hotel Kabuki, 1625 Post St. (Japantown), jdvhotels.com Embrace the MJ on the outdoor garden of Hotel Kabuki for this bud-centric happy hour. There will be live DJs, 25 percent off cannabis products, a raffle and more. // Free, RSVP on dothebay.com.

Saturday, February 22nd See on Instagram National Margarita Day Tasting 4pm to 7pm The Brixton on Second, 701 2nd St. (SoMa), brixtonsf.com Like your tequila? Taste the best from brands like Patron, El Tesoro, El Silencio Mezcal, and more at this margarita party. Pair your agave with tacos, ceviche, and tostadas. // Tickets ($25) are available on Eventbrite.

Anderson Valley Winter White Wine Festival 9:15am to 11am riesling seminar; 11am to 3pm for the grand tasting Mendocino County Fairgrounds, 14400 Highway 128 (Boonville), mendocountyfair.com Grab your wine tasting glass and head north for this two-day festival. On Saturday, explore wines from 30+ wineries, shop artisan goods, listen to live music, and snack on bites during the grand tasting event. Head over early to enjoy a riesling seminar from five experts with pours and food pairings. // Tickets ($50-95) on Eventbrite.

Women-Owned Warehouse Sale 10am to 3pm The Assembly, 449 14th St. (Mission), theassembly.com Explore goods from 10 Bay Area female-owned retailers during this day market, with some nice discounts to boot. Expect wares from Ali Golden, Bells & Becks, Frances Austen, Gravel & Gold, Jenny Pennywood, Kin Label, Le Point, Micaela Greg, Modern Citizen, and Voyager Shop. // Tickets ($10) for early access from 10am to 12pm, or free general admission from 12pm to 3pm.



CatVideoFest 2pm, 4pm and 6pm screenings today; 7pm on Monday Roxie Theater, 3117 16th St. (Mission), roxie.com Lift yourself up with a few feline films at this cat video fest (yes, cat video fest). You'll see the best clips, animations, internet memes, and music videos. Proceeds support the Give Me Shelter Cat Rescue. // Tickets ($13) are on roxie.com.

Singled Out premiere 6:30pm Mersea, 699 Avenue of the Palms (Treasure Island), mersea.restaurant Watch a new documentary that shares what it's like to be a by-choice single woman, following the lives of five ladies around the world to share what it's like when you make this conscious decision, including local restaurant founder, MeeSun Boice. Indulge in food from Mersea's restaurant while you watch the film from their giant outdoor lawn space. // Tickets ($10) can be purchased on Eventbrite.
Senator Grace Poe

MANILA, Philippines  Senator Grace Poe called on her fellow legislators to ensure that broadcasting network ABS-CBN can still continue to operate beyond its franchise term while Congress deliberates on bills seeking to renew its franchise to protect more than 11,000 workers from displacement.

In a statement on Sunday, Poe said members of the House of Representatives should make their assurance to the ABS-CBN concrete by declaring it verbally or putting it into writing.

Kahit sabihin pa nila na pwede naman yan i-extend hanggang 2022, maganda siguro kung in writing o kaya at least verbally sabihin ng Kongreso, We commit to give ABS-CBN through the National Telecommunications Commission a temporary permit to operate kasi hindi naman yan nakasulat sa batas, she said.

Yan ay kortesiya lamang na ibinibigay ng Kongreso at NTC. Hindi biro kung matigil ang operasyon dahil alam naman natin 11,000 trabaho ang apektado rito, she added.

Poe made the remark after House leaders earlier said that the media giant could continue operating until 2022 or the end of the 18th Congress while its franchise is being discussed.

The senator last week filed Resolution No. 322 directing the Senate committee on public services, which she chairs, to conduct an inquiry to determine ABS-CBNs compliance to the terms of its franchise. Several senators are supporting the resolution.

Poe said the Senate inquiry would focus on the networks alleged violations, adding that all parties will be given an opportunity to air their side for the public to know the real issue.

Walang perpekto. Ako ang isip ko diyan ay bukas dahil maraming nag-a-apply ng prangkisa, wala namang perpekto, she said.

She added that the hearings would aid the senators in making a judgment when the franchise bill is transmitted to them for their deliberation.

The House of Representatives has yet to begin deliberations on the bills seeking to renew ABS-CBNs 25-year franchise which is set to expire on March 30, 2020. Congress goes on a break on March 11.

Story continues

House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano earlier said the bills relating to the media networks franchise are not that urgent since the National Telecommunications Commission will grant the company provisional authority to operate until 2022.

He also assured that the House of Representatives will conduct an impartial hearing on the issue.

The post Poe wants proof ABS-CBN can still operate beyond franchise term appeared first on UNTV News.
VANCOUVER, BC and PALM BEACH, FL / February 17, 2020 / As part of its U.S. growth strategy, Trez Capital announced today that the firm is uniting all U.S. and Canadian operations as Trez Capital. Florida-based Trez Forman Capital is rebranded as Trez Capital.

Trez Forman Capital's Brett Forman will continue to lead operations in the Eastern U.S., which has offices in Palm Beach, Fla. and Atlanta, Ga. Since Forman and Trez Capital joined forces in 2016, they have originated more than $1.2 billion in commercial real estate financings. Recent successes include a $115 million multifamily construction loan in Greenville, South Carolina, and a $45.5 million commercial redevelopment loan in Connecticut.

"This is a significant event for the company because operating as one under the Trez Capital brand allows the whole company to strategically focus on growth across the U.S. and Canada," said Forman, Executive Managing Director of Trez Capital. "We are strong, united and able to pursue more opportunities with existing partners and forge new relationships."

Following a record-breaking year, John Hutchinson will maintain his role leading the Central and Southwestern U.S. out of the Dallas office.

Trez Capital has an already sizable presence across the U.S. and Canada. Typical financings for Trez Capital range from six to 36 months in term and are between $15 million and $150 million.

With offices in Vancouver, Toronto, Dallas, Palm Beach and Atlanta, Trez Capital has over $3.8 billion in assets under management and has funded more than 1,450 mortgages totaling more than $11 billion since inception.

"All of Trez Capital will benefit from Brett Forman's experience and track record of success as we align under a single brand," said Dave Bloom, Chief Investment Officer. "We now have in place the people, the brand and the resources to build on our successful track record and to substantially grow our U.S. business and continue to provide strong returns to our investors."

About Trez Capital

Trez Capital is a Vancouver-based real estate fund manager providing customized debt and equity financing solutions. One of the largest non-bank commercial mortgage lenders in Canada, Trez is also a trusted source of financing for U.S. developers and owners. With prudent risk management and rigorous institutional-grade underwriting, Trez delivers solid, risk-adjusted returns to investors by financing opportunistic, fully secured financings for mortgages. Trez has over $3.8 billion in assets under management and has funded more than $11 billion in loans since its inception.

CONTACT:

Eric Kalis

954-370-8999

Ekalis@boardroompr.com

SOURCE: Trez Capital

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/576647/Trez-Capital-Rebrands-in-Southeast-US-Uniting-All-Operations-Under-Single-Name
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - The feel-good story of how Cambodia allowed a cruise ship to dock after it was turned away elsewhere in Asia for fear of spreading a new disease took an unfortunate turn after a passenger later tested positive for the virus.

News over the weekend that an 83-year-old American woman who was on the ship and flew from Cambodia to Malaysia was found to be carrying the virus froze further movement of the passengers and crew of the Westerdam. Some are in hotels in Cambodias capital, Phnom Penh, while others are still aboard the ship.

The American woman was among several hundred passengers who were flown out of Cambodia on Friday and Saturday. According to authorities in Malaysia, 143 continued their flights home from that country, while the woman and her 84-year-old husband, who was diagnosed with pneumonia, remained behind for treatment.

The dispersal around the world of passengers from the ship with possible exposure to the new coronavirus has sparked concern.

I think now given that there is a confirmed case that is suspected to have acquired infection on board the ship, the other passengers should be asked to quarantine themselves at home and alert health authorities if they develop fever or respiratory symptoms within the 14 days since disembarkation, said Professor Benjamin Cowling from the School of Public Health at Hong Kong University.

Dr. Gagandeep Kang, executive director of Indias Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, said it is unclear whether the womans infection would result in an outbreak in another part of the world. The virus that causes the disease named COVID-19 has been confirmed in about two dozen countries, with most cases concentrated in China, where it emerged in December.

We will have to wait and see, she said, adding that it would depend on where the woman got the infection, and at what stage of the infection she was in while in contact with other people.

The ships operator, Holland America Line, said in a statement Monday that Cambodian health officials were on the ship testing the 255 guests and 747 crew who were awaiting clearance, and that guests currently staying at a Phnom Penh hotel had all been tested.

At this time, no other guests or crew on board or at the hotel have reported any symptoms of the illness. Guests who have already returned home will be contacted by their local health department and provided further information, it said.

The statement added that the virus patient had not reported any illness to the Westerdams medical centre during the cruise. Twenty people who reported illness while on board have tested negative for the virus, it said.

The rest of the passengers and crew had health checks that included filling out a written health questionnaire and having their temperatures checked, which has become standard procedure for air and sea passengers considered at risk.

Several Westerdam passengers from the United States and elsewhere have already returned home and spoken to the media.

Two of the passengers, Joseph Schaeffer and his wife, Paulette, a retired nurse, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal from their home in Henderson, Nevada, that they felt the hue and cry over the released passengers was not totally merited.

It doesnt seem to me that the whole world should be jumping at this, Joseph Schaeffer said.

There are more deaths from the flu than there have been from this particular virus, his wife said.

The couple said they were screened on their way home at airports in Phnom Penh and Singapore by thermal scanners that remotely monitor arriving passengers.

On arrival in Los Angeles, they said, they were among a large crowd getting screened that included fellow cruise passengers. They said they answered questions gfrom the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that included whether they felt sick, had visited mainland China or knew anyone who had contracted the virus.

Two Canadians who returned via Vancouver International Airport were asked to put on protective face masks on arrival but were not otherwise isolated, Canadas CBC News reported.

We were asked a few questions and filled out an immigration form, and they very nicely helped us bypass the usual lineups and let us out the door, said Joseph Hansen, who took the cruise with his wife. Were feeling fine.

Hansen, from Surrey, British Columbia, told CBC that he did not hear about the American woman in Malaysia with the virus until he landed in Vancouver on Sunday.

I guess on the one hand its upsetting to know that there was one case, but were feeling fine, he said. Weve had health scans, temperature scans and we dont have any concerns for our own health.

Cambodias government had originally earned kudos from the head of the U.N.s World Health Organization and the U.S. ambassador there for allowing the ship to dock at Sihanoukville after it was turned away by Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Guam and Thailand.

The move was seen as a victory for the image of Cambodias authoritarian leader, who welcomed the ships passengers with handshakes and flowers. Prime Minister Hun Sen boasted that although Cambodia is a poor country, it has always joined the international community to solve the problems that the world and our region are facing.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had said he was pleased Cambodia had agreed to accept the Westerdam and described it as an example of the international solidarity advocated by the U.N. health agency.

The one thing I can say is were very, very grateful that Cambodia has opened literally its ports and its doors to people in need, U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia W. Patrick Murphy said Saturday when he took his family to the port to meet passengers. We think this sends a strong message. We all have to help each other.

In hindsight, however, Cambodias handling of the ships passengers has been criticized on social media, though it also has gotten some support.

According to Cowling, the Hong Kong University professor, its a good idea to let passengers leave and monitor them after disembarkation.

Since there were no known cases on board the Westerdam at the time passengers left the ship, it was reasonable to allow them to travel home, he said.

I think it would not be appropriate to keep passengers on the ship for 14 days, as it could be a high-risk environment, Cowling said.

We have seen the consequences of holding passengers on a cruise ship with the Diamond Princess outbreak, he said, referring to another cruise ship that is quarantined in Yokohama, Japan, with hundreds of cases among the passengers.

___

Ng reported from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Peck reported from Bangkok. Associated Press writer Aniruddha Ghosal in New Delhi contributed to this report.
The Royal Family's official website is unwittingly sending visitors to an X-rated Chinese porn page, instead of Welsh charity Dolen Cymru.

The website's charity page, which highlights a variety of the family's patronages, promotes the organisation, of which Prince Harry, 35, is the patron.

The page reads: 'The Wales-Lesotho link began in 1985 and has developed educational links, wider young people's links, health, churches, women's organisations'.

However the link to the website mistakenly follows through to a Chinese porn site, offering links to live sex shows.

The Royal Family's official website is unwittingly sending visitors to an X-rated Chinese porn page, instead of Welsh charity Dolen Cymru. The Queen is seen in London

Buckingham Palace has been contacted for comment.

The link is supposed to follow through to Welsh charity Dolen, which was founded in 1985, and aims to create 'lasting, positive change in the southern African Kingdom of Lesotho and in communities in Wales'.

The Cardiff based organisation works by introducing professionals from schools and hospitals to each other and sharing their methods.

Prince Harry was named royal patron of the organisation in 2007 after meeting members whilst undertaking a gap year placement in Lesotho in 2004.

The website's charity page, which highlights a variety of the family's patronages, promotes the organisation, of which Prince Harry, 35, seen during the UK-Africa Investment Summit in London last month, is the patron

The charity have praised his 'personal commitment', with Harry saying at the time: I am so very proud to be associated with Dolen Cymru.

'The work that it does in assisting and encouraging organisations and individuals in Wales to establish contact and foster friendships with their counterparts in Lesotho is quite invaluable.

'I know from my own work in Lesotho just how important such links are and fully support Dolen Cymru in its great endeavours to develop contacts with organisations with common interests, such as my own Sentebale and to build upon the great understanding and co-operation that exists between the two nations'.

The page reads: 'The Wales-Lesotho link begain in 1985 and has developed educational links, wider young people's links, health, churches, women's organisations'. However the link to the website mistakenly follows through to a Chinese porn site, offering links to live sex shows
Alliance for Corporate Transparency: EU Non-Financial Reporting Directive does not produce enough ESG risk information.

In the European Union  as in much of the world  companies are required by law to annually report their financials to a regulatory body.

But the EUs Non-Financial Reporting (NFR) Directive also mandates that corporations publicly disclose environmental, social and governance (ESG) information.

However, new research published on Monday by the Alliance for Corporate Transparency shows that companies are releasing woefully insufficient data on climate and human rights performance.

Implementation of the European law dating back to 2018 has struggled with a lack of specificity on what concrete statistics should be included in NFR disclosures.

Since investors, employees and government agencies all depend on the data, civil society organisations are pressing Brussels to create a better sustainability reporting framework.

This years research covers 1,000 companies from 11 sectors, up from the 105 companies in three sectors included in the initial research two years ago.

Frank Bold, the Czech Republic-based public-interest law firm whose non-profit wing focuses on corporate accountability, has backed the study with an eye towards enhancing EU legislation and forcing companies to use precise and relevant figures.

The EU is developing an agenda on sustainable finance. To tackle climate change and transition the economy fast enough, there needs to be a major shift in the way capital markets and banks handle lending, said Filip Gregor, head of the responsible companies section at Frank Bold.

[Brussels] is taking leading steps in getting this information into actual decision-making. Thats the political context, Gregor told Al Jazeera.

They want to build a standard, define the minimum information that should be disclosed, and pave the way for international development in other countries, he added.

Boilerplate risks

Gregor said that all companies regularly publish their key performance indicators about an organisations finances in a table because that is the clearest way to communicate to stakeholders.

But with ESG data, many companies often just provide qualitative descriptions in text narratives, and the type of information varies between corporations.

A press release accompanying Mondays report said that it was published at the same time that the EU Commission is initiating key reforms and after [European Commission] Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis announced plans to create EU standards for corporate sustainability reporting.

Hoping to maximise comparability, the goal of metrics is to highlight what risks companies face.

Companies mostly supply boilerplate risks, with no idea of the time horizon, Gregor said, suggesting that much of the material is created for public relations purposes.

These results show that mandatory business transparency is a necessary, but insufficient, condition for change, said Phil Bloomer, executive director at the Business & Human Rights Resource Center, which along with groups such as the World Wildlife Fund and Transparency International also participated in the research.

This assessment adds to the burgeoning evidence that the EUs leadership role in better business needs strengthened transparency regulation and a legal duty of care by companies for their workers, host communities, and the environment, he said in a statement provided to Al Jazeera.

There is growing support from enlightened companies, investors, parliamentarians and governments, alongside activists, Bloomer added.

This action would set a level playing field for responsible business and expand legal risk for irresponsible companies if they continue to trash our precious planet, or abuse workers and communities in their supply chains.

Underwhelming numbers

Of the companies in the survey, only 13.9 percent report on whether they are aligned with the 2015 Paris climate agreements targets for reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

In the energy and resource extraction sector, 23.5 percent of firms report on alignment with Paris goals.

While 53.8 percent of the companies surveyed across sectors recognise the existence of climate-related risks, only 23.4 percent give specific information to help stakeholders understand the specific dangers.

Moreover, only 6.6 percent of companies clearly consider the importance of keeping their emissions aligned with a scenario where global warming is limited to two degrees Celsius.

In addition, just 13.4 percent of financial companies provide details on how their portfolios are exposed to heavy-emitting sectors.

The European Commission is expected to produce a revised sustainable finance strategy later in 2020 that will improve upon the Sustainable Finance Action Plan. It aims to adjust capital flows and mitigate financial risks to the EUs economy from climate change.

Companies in Eastern Europe tend to lag behind in reporting, while Nordic firms often give more specific information.

Even though 88.1 percent of companies report about anti-corruption policies, just one-third say how they are implemented.

While 82.8 percent of companies say that they have a human rights policy, just 22.2 percent give information on due diligence conducted in this area.

More than half of companies acknowledge human rights risks, but only a quarter disclose specific risks of this type. Even smaller fractions report on actual impacts and explain the outcomes of managing those risks.

Just one out of seven companies in the apparel and textile sector disclose information about their ultimate suppliers in high-risk countries for human rights.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.15

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Turkey exported steel and cement worth $51.6 million to Kazakhstan in 2019, Turkish Ministry of Trade told Trend.

"The export of steel from Turkey to Kazakhstan increased by 30.2 percent in 2019 compared to 2018 and amounted to $44.9 million," the ministry said.

"The export of cement from Turkey to Kazakhstan increased by over 15 percent and reached $6.7 million," the ministry said.

The export of the Turkish steel to Kazakhstan decreased by over 41 percent in December 2019 compared to December 2018 and reached $1.5 million.

"The export of cement from Turkey to Kazakhstan increased by over 90 percent in December 2019 compared to December 2018 and amounted to $812 million," the ministry said.

The export of steel from Turkey decreased by 10.6 percent in 2019 compared 2018 and reached $13.8 billion.

The export of cement from Turkey increased by 17.8 percent in 2019 compared to 2018 and reached $3.5 billion.

----

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Poppy Jennings quit Married At First Sight during Monday's episode, after asking a producer on the show to break up with her groom Luke Eglin for her.

And many fans online were more than happy to see the back of the 38-year-old mum, taking to Twitter to slam her.

One person Tweeted: 'Let's just be blunt. Poppy is the worst contestant in MAFS history'.

'Worst contestant in the show's history!' Fans rejoiced as Poppy Jennings (pictured) left Married At First Sight on Monday night

Someone else wrote: 'Can someone tell Poppy that Australia has never been happier now that she's left MAFS'.

Another fan watching at home chimed in: 'Thank f**k Poppy is gone. What a Debbie downer.'

Yet another wrote: 'Thank goodness Poppy left - she needs to sort herself out - unfortunately Luke had to leave too.'

Ouch! Many fans online were more than happy to see the back of the 38-year-old mum, taking to Twitter to slam her

Someone else said bluntly: 'You know what, you can just go now Poppy and please stop talking immediately'.

One fan added: 'OMG Poppy is leaving??!! Well thank f**k for that - there is a God. However, Luke got ripped off and needs another chance'.

Others were critical of her behaviour while she was on the show.

A fan Tweeted: 'We all now know why poppy's ex husband tripped and fell into his co workers vagina'.

Another added: 'Can't even with Poppy's passive-aggressive snarking and sulking. Luke had a lucky escape'.

Ouch: In the devastating episode, the mother-of-two couldn't even face her 'husband' Luke Eglin and forced producers to break the news to him

In the devastating episode, the mother-of-two couldn't even face her 'husband' and forced producers to break the news to him.

The single father-of-two was blindsided by Poppy's sudden exit, fighting back tears as he tried to compose himself.

'I had hoped for me and Poppy, and I wanted a happy ending more than anything else. It's s**t, but what else can you do? It's all over now,' he said.

Married At First Sight continues Tuesday at 7.30pm on Nine
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex are closing the chapter on their royal lives, firing their UK staff as they embark on their new lives in Canada. One royal expert believes that cutting ties with Britain may prove to be challenging for the Sussexes in a surprising way.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry | CHRIS JACKSON/AFP via Getty Images

Prince Harry and Meghan exited the royal family

In January, Prince Harry and Meghan announced their plans to step back from their royal duties, a decision that Harry later explained they felt was their only option given the constant media scrutiny they faced.

During a speech delivered at a dinner for supporters of Sentebale in London, Prince Harry shared the reason behind their surprising decision. I must say that I can only imagine what you may have heard, or perhaps read, over the past few weeks. So, I want you to hear the truth from me. As much as I can share, not as a prince or a duke, but as Harry, the same person that many of you have watched grow up over the past 35 years, but now with a clearer perspective, he explained.

Prince Harry continued: The decision that I have made for my wife and I to step back is not one I made lightly. It was so many months of talks after so many years of challenges. And I know I havent always gotten it right, but as far as this goes, there really was no other option.

Prince Harry and Meghan axed their UK team

It wasnt too shocking that the Sussexes decided to let their team of Buckingham Palace staff go after they made their move with son Archie to Canada. As they no longer are fulfilling any royal duties, there was no need for a dedicated staff,

A source explained to the Daily Mail: Given their decision to step back, an office at Buckingham Palace is no longer needed. While the details are still being finalized and efforts are being made to redeploy people within the royal household, unfortunately there will be some redundancies.

The lack of staff may be a challenge

One royal expert, however, believes that the Sussexes may have some challenges moving forward because, although they hired US-based PR firm Sunshine Sachs, the absence of a British team to help them with projects could be problematic.

When Meghan and Harry step down as senior and as working members of the royal family and cease to use their royal titles, they will still be keeping their patronages and they will need assistance to manage this if they are to give them the attention they deserve, royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told Express.

It is unclear how this will be handled, he continued, adding, Harry will reportedly keep Travelyst, a global initiative for sustainable tourism, in London.

Fitzwilliams pointed to their use of a PR firm, but notes that it was an extraordinary decision to ax their existing staff. They have, of course, the use of the top US PR firm Sunshine Sachs. The closing of their office in Buckingham Palace, however, is quite extraordinary, considering it will be less than two years after their marriage that their royal life, which once had unique promise, has effectively ended.

Fitzwilliams added: Harry and Meghan sacking their staff and closing their Buckingham Palace office is a cutting of ties with Britain. The move also symbolically emphasizes their independence in finding a new life abroad.
Caroline Flack. Photo: John Phillips/Getty Images

Caroline Flack, a British television presenter, was reportedly found dead in her East London apartment on Saturday. The BBC reports that the cause of death was suicide.

We can confirm that our Caroline passed away today, 15 February, reads a statement from her family, according to the Guardian. We would ask that the press respect the privacy of the family at this difficult time and we would ask they make no attempt to contact us and/or photograph us.

Flack, 40, was perhaps most famous for her role hosting the reality-TV juggernaut Love Island, although she appeared on The X Factor and Im a Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here Now! and won Strictly Come Dancing in 2014. She stepped down from Love Island in December, following her arrest for the alleged assault of her boyfriend, 27-year-old Lewis Burton. Authorities say she hit him over the head with a lamp while he slept, and although a judge forbid Flack from contacting Burton before their trial began on March 4, he apparently attempted to get in touch with her on Friday. In his Instagram stories that day, he reportedly wrote that he was tired of the lies and abuse aimed at Flack, insisting that she doesnt deserve any of this. Burton, the Guardian reports, has not been supporting the prosecution.

When she left the program last year, Flack described Love Island as her world and the best show on telly.

Everyone at Love Island and ITV are shocked and saddened by this desperately sad news, the channel said in a statement. Caroline was a much-loved member of the Love Island team and our sincere thoughts and condolences are with her family and friends.

Responding to Flacks death on Instagram, Burton wrote that his heart is broken.

We had something so special, he continued. I am so lost for words I am in so much pain I miss you so much I know you felt safe with me you always said I dont think about anything else when I am with you and I was not allowed to be there this time I kept asking and asking.

Meanwhile, a petition to the British government has circulated online, calling for an investigation into the tabloid press and its alleged maltreatment of those in the public eye. Flack faced intense scrutiny, particularly from the Sun, which reportedly published pictures of her bloody bedroom after the alleged assault, and which has now removed an unflattering article about a Valentines Day card skewering the presenter. The petition, which garnered over 60,000 signatures overnight, cites Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as an additional example of tabloid harassment, and asks for the creation of Carolines Law to block overly intrusive tactics by the media.

This article has been updated.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

By Samir Ali  Trend:

The Azerbaijani side emerged victorious following the Munich meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani MP Aydin Mirzazade told Trend.

Mirzazade emphasized that this was an extremely important meeting.

"Pashinyans answers were nothing more than empty rhetoric and an attempt to mislead the world community, Azerbaijani MP added. Despite the Armenian prime minister was not from the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and did not participate in this war, after the regime was changed in Armenia, nothing has changed concerning the issue of territorial claims of the aggressor country towards Azerbaijan.

The prime minister of the aggressor country is trying hard to impose the idea of creating an independent state by a national minority that lives in one of the Azerbaijani regions on the world community, Azerbaijani MP said. However, this turns out to be extremely unsuccessful for him. If one follows his methodology, then there must be tens of thousands of states in the world. Pashinyan himself realized that the international audience does not believe him. Pashinyans words do not correspond to either international law or common sense."

Mirzazade stressed that President Aliyevs response to Pashinyan is the answer of a leader who is attached to his Fatherland and who realizes his responsibility.

"President Aliyev cited important facts about Armenias violations of the norms of the international law, the damage caused by the aggressor country to Azerbaijans history and culture, the MP added. The president informed the public that Armenia will not have a right to the Azerbaijani lands under any circumstances. At the same time, President Aliyev emphasized that the so-called 'regime' created by Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh region by force is not recognized by any state in the world, including Armenia."

Mirzazade said that thanks to President Aliyevs speech at this meeting, Azerbaijan gained another victory in the political arena.

"The president once again brought to the international community the voice of the truth of Azerbaijan, the MP added. Thus, Pashinyan was forced to admit a bitter defeat. Azerbaijani president destroyed Armenian PMs points by facts and arguments. I think that ordinary Armenian citizens heard the Azerbaijani president, because its extremely important for them to know about the dire consequences of the occupation of Azerbaijani lands for Armenia. I consider the speech [by Azerbaijani president] as the success of the Azerbaijani diplomacy and personally President Aliyev."

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.
Earlier, China fumbled SARS. And at the beginning of the 2000s, it covered up an AIDS outbreak spread by government-backed blood collection efforts. Vast numbers of impoverished farmers and workers died, for the government response was not to help those infected but to punish doctor whistleblowers. I will never forget a woman then who tried to give me her 4-year-old son because she was dying of AIDS and her husband had already died.
In December, Rochester Public Schools officials heard public input on two proposals for later start times for high school students.

On Tuesday, school board members are being asked to approve a third option for school start times for the 2020-21 school year.

The first option presented to the public last year proposed changing the current start time from 7:40 a.m. to 8 a.m. The second option pushed the start time to about 8:45 a.m.

On the school board meeting agenda Tuesday is an agenda item approving an 8:20 a.m. start for high school students.

Middle schools would start at 8:05 a.m., and elementary school students would begin their day at 9:35 a.m.

ADVERTISEMENT

The high schools would dismiss at 3:30 p.m., middle schools at 3 p.m., and elementary school students would be in school until 4 p.m.

The proposal could require up to five additional bus routes in the mornings and potentially an increase in van routes. However, the cost to the district would be below $300,000, according to school board documents.

The measure will be taken up at the regular board meeting Tuesday at the Edison Building. The meeting starts at 5:30 p.m.

Dr. R. Robert Auger, a sleep medicine specialist at Mayo Clinic, said at a Dec. 11 public meeting about start times that he would recommend later start times for adolescents.

"From a professional standpoint, I dont think (high school) should start any earlier than 8:30," Auger said.

He began the forum with a presentation showing studies that indicate that the natural sleep cycle of adolescents generally means they dont get sleepy until later in the evening but still need more than nine hours of sleep.

A 2014 policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics identified insufficient sleep for adolescents as a "public health issue."

A 2017 study published by the University of Minnesota based on a survey of 9,000 students from five school districts with varying start times found that those who started school later slept more overall.

ADVERTISEMENT

Students who slept more also had improved attendance and enrollment rates, reported better mental health status and were less likely to have substance abuse issues.
Some 400 people from the US were among those confined on the Diamond Princess near Tokyo.

Two planes carrying Americans from the quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess have left Japan.

The aircraft chartered by the US government departed Tokyo's Haneda Airport in the early hours of Monday, Kyodo news agency reported.

There were some 400 Americans on board the ship, which has been held since 3 February due to infections from the new coronavirus which has hit China.

At least 40 US citizens are infected and will be treated in Japan.

The Diamond Princess has been quarantined in Japan's port of Yokohama with some 3,700 passengers and crew on board.

The ship was held after a man who disembarked in Hong Kong was found to have the virus.

It has the largest cluster of coronavirus cases outside China. The Japanese authorities on Sunday said the number of new cases on board the ship had risen by 70 to 355.

The Americans who are infected will receive medical treatment in Japan, Dr Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told Face the Nation on CBS.

It is not clear exactly how many are on board the evacuation flights which are expected to take them to Air Force bases.

"If people on the plane start to develop symptoms, they'll be segregated within the plane," Dr Fauci said.

Those entering the US will undergo a 14-day quarantine, on top of the time they have already spent confined on the ship.

"And the reason for that," Dr Fauci added, "is that the degree of transmissibility, on that cruise ship, is essentially akin to being in a hotspot."

Some of the Americans have declined to be evacuated, preferring to wait until the ship quarantine comes to an end on 19 February.

Passenger Matt Smith, a lawyer, said he would not want to travel on a bus to the plane with possibly infected people.

Other evacuation flights will repatriate residents of Israel, Hong Kong and Canada.

In the meantime, to assist with relief efforts, Japan's government has given away 2,000 iPhones to passengers on the ship - one for each cabin.

The smartphones were distributed so people could use an app, created by Japan's health ministry, which links users with doctors, pharmacists and mental health counsellors. Phones registered outside of Japan are unable to access the app.

What is happening in China?

According to official figures for 16 February, 100 people died from the virus in Hubei, the province at the centre of the epidemic. This was down from 139 on Saturday.

A total of 2048 new cases were reported across the country on Monday - 1,933 of which were from Hubei.

More than 70,500 people nationwide have already been infected by the virus. In Hubei alone, the official number of cases currently stands at 58,182, with 1,692 deaths.

Most new cases and deaths have been reported in Wuhan, Hubei's largest city.

Authorities are tightening curbs on movement to combat the outbreak. People in the province of 60 million have been ordered to stay at home, though they will be allowed to leave in an emergency. In addition, a single person from each household will be allowed to leave the building every three days to buy food and essential items.

On housing estates, one entrance will be kept open. It will be guarded to ensure that only residents can enter or leave.

There will be a ban on the use of private cars, but vehicles used for the delivery of essential goods are exempt.

Meanwhile, authorities in the capital, Beijing, have ordered everyone returning to the city to go into quarantine for 14 days or risk punishment.

China's central bank will also disinfect and store used banknotes before recirculating them in a bid to stop the virus spreading.

What is the latest on cases?

New cases spiked earlier in the week after a change in the way they were counted but have been falling ever since. In total, more than 68,500 people have so far been infected in China.

National Health Commission spokesman Mi Feng said the figures showed China was managing to curb the outbreak.

"The effects of epidemic prevention and control in various parts of the country can already be seen."

The commission's daily bulletin also reported 142 more deaths nationwide, the vast majority in Hubei.

However Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that along with a drop in infections within Hubei there had been a rapid increase in the number of people who had recovered.

The proportion of infected patients considered to be in a "serious condition" has dropped nationwide from more than 15% to just over 7%, according to China's State Council.

Taiwan has reported a death from the illness - a taxi driver, 61, who had not travelled abroad recently but had diabetes and hepatitis B, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said.

The minister said many of his passengers had come from China.

Outside China, there have been more than 500 cases in nearly 30 countries. Four others have died outside China - in France, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Japan.

Meanwhile, a plane carrying 175 evacuated Nepalis, mostly students, has arrived in Kathmandu from Wuhan. It is the latest country to fly its citizens out of Hubei province.

The virus is a new strain of coronavirus and causes an acute respiratory disease which has been named Covid-19. BBC
Paleontologist & molecular biologist, Raleigh, North Carolina

Mary Schweitzers career has faced scrutiny since the beginning, and the whole thing was accidental, she said. After working other jobs, she pursued an interest in medicine while balancing the responsibilities of motherhood. But on a whim, she audited the class of Jack Horner, the paleontologist who advised the Jurassic Park movies. Fascinated, she switched paths and began her PhD, helping with a Tyrannosaurus rex that Horner found in 1992.

Her old medical interests immediately affected the trajectory of her newfound career.

I kept smelling something very odd in the dinosaur bones, she recalled. It reminded her of smells in the campus cadaver labs. Most paleontologists came from a geology background, so it didnt dawn on them that it smelled, she said. Nothing has an odor unless it has organics associated with it.

She analyzed the bone and found blood vessels, cells, and collagen insideevidence of living tissue inside dinosaur bones millions of years old. To put it mildly, my thesis was not well accepted in the grander community, she said.

In 2000, another T. rex was discovered and she attempted to repeat the analysis, the results of which were published in Science in 2005.

Since then, weve tried really hard to replicate it and provide chemical data, said Schweitzer, who is now at North Carolina State University. Her lab has expanded to other specimen and tissue types, and a lab in Sweden has replicated her findings in a sample from another dig.

Im not doing what I do for attention, she said. Im utterly fascinated by the world God made, ...

1

You have reached the end of this Article Preview You have reached the end of this Article Preview To continue reading, subscribe now. Subscribers have full digital access.

Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here.
Aam Aadmi Party ((AAP) supremo on Monday took charge as the chief minister of Delhi for the third time.

Members of his Cabinet Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain, Rajendra Pal Gautam, Imran Hussain, and Kailash Gahlot also took charge as ministers at the Delhi Secretariat.

Jain has been allocated the crucial water department, held by Kejriwal in the partys previous government, sources said.

Partys Delhi unit convenor Rai has been given the environment department, while Gautam will handle the women and child development department, sources told PTI.

There will be no major changes in other portfolios, they indicated.

Jain will now take care of the Delhi Jal Board, apart from handling the crucial Public Works Department, Health, Power and Urban Development, which he was in-charge of in the last government.

The environment department was being earlier handled by transport minister Gahlot, while the WCD was under senior leader Sisodia.

The new ministers said the roadmap of Delhi government's future work will be priority after portfolios are notified.
Delhi High Court will on Monday hear the plea seeking court-monitored Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged molestation of students during a cultural festival at the all-women Gargi College on February 6.

The Delhi High Court had on Friday said that it will hear on February 17 advocate ML Sharma's petition seeking a CBI probe in the Gargi college incident.

Sharma mentioned his plea before a division bench of Justices GS Sistani and Justice C Hari Shankar seeking an urgent hearing in the matter.

The bench enquired Sharma about the urgency with regard to his plea. He responded by stating that there are chances of destroying evidence related to the case.

The advocate told the court that nothing major has been done so far and an FIR was registered on February 9 following the arrest of 10 people.

Sharma has also sought direction for the CBI investigation into the matter and to seize all video and CCTV records surrounding Gargi campus. The bench asked him to approach the High Court as the Telangana High Court earlier had issued a similar direction to preserve CCTV footage while hearing a gang-rape case in the state.

The petition filed by Sharma claimed that the state government took no action and its clear criminal conspiracy hatched by the political party to deploy mass accused persons to provoke the people of Delhi for effecting voting in their favour.

"Despite being present on spot as well as complaints by the girl students, the college administration under the office of the Principal, took no action on the incident with alleged sexist, homophobic and moral policing comments," the plea read.

The petitioner also said that despite the presence of Delhi Police and reserve Delhi force on the spot on February 6, neither the Principal nor state authorities tried to stop the accused.

In a recent development, one more person was on Sunday arrested in connection with the case.

The total number of arrests made by the police in this incident has reached 15. A Delhi court had on Friday granted bail to 10 people, who were arrested in connection to this case.

The Delhi Police had earlier received a complaint from Gargi College against the alleged sexual harassment of female students by a number of unidentified men during their annual cultural fest on February 6.

A case was registered at Hauz Khas Police Station and several teams were constituted to investigate the matter. The police have been looking into available evidence and visited various sites in NCR for the identification of suspects.

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

As part of the Justice for Khojaly campaign carried out on the occasion of the next anniversary of the Khojaly tragedy, an expedition has been organized to Agri Mountain in Turkey.

During the expedition, Azerbaijani military alpinists will climb the 5,157-meter peak of Agri Mountain, wave the flags of Azerbaijan and Turkey, and also post photographs of the victims of the Khojaly tragedy on the highest peak of the mountain.

Before the visit, the expedition participants laid flowers at the Ana haray (Mother's Cry) Memorial dedicated to the Khojaly massacre, paid tribute to the memory of the victims of the tragedy.

Officers of the Air Force of Azerbaijan, Lieutenant Colonel Zal Nabiyev, First Lieutenant Ulvi Mammadli, as well as experienced alpinists of the Azerbaijan Mountaineering Federation Rufat Gojaev and Nemat Agayev are participating in the expedition.

The expedition will last until March 1.

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the longest unresolved conflict between the two states of the South Caucasus region in the post-Soviet space and Turkey has always supported the peaceful resolution of the conflict.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied nearly 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign state with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.

Until now, Armenia has failed to implement the four UN Security Council resolutions on the immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.

---

Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
As the death toll in the novel coronavirus outbreak increases, Swami Chakrapani of the All India Hindu Mahasabha on February 17 said that Chinese President Xi Jinping should "create an idol of corona and seek forgiveness" to overcome the health epidemic.

Chakrapani also said that the virus is an "avatar" to punish non-vegetarians.

"Coronavirus is not a virus, but an avatar for the protection of poor creatures. They have come to give the message of death and punishment to the one who eats them," Chakrapani, who is the national president of Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha said, Times Now has reported.

Stating that non-vegetarians should turn vegetarian, Chakrapani said that the people from China are being "taught a lesson" for "torturing animals".

"Non-vegetarian Chinese populace should take this pledge that they will not harm any innocent creatures in future, then the anger of Corona will come down," Chakrapani said, according to the report. He added that only after doing this would the "avatar" return "to its world". Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

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

Chakrapani also said that the "God-worshipping and Gau Raksha believer Indians" are immune to the virus.

China reported 105 new deaths due to the coronavirus on February 17, increasing the overall death toll to 1,770.

The National Health Commission in China said that the total number of infected cases were around 70,548.
>>> Vietnam successfully isolates new coronavirus

Before transferring the technology to conduct these tests, the NIHE would set up training courses and assess infrastructure, especially biological safety in laboratories, he said.

Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen noted that the transfer would be conducted only when hospitals had assessed their infrastructure.

Last week, the NIHE successfully cultivated and isolated the virus, which causes the acute respiratory disease (COVID-19) first reported in Wuhan City in China.

The NIHE was now in a position to master coronavirus testing, said Anh. The work would support epidemic prevention and control.

With the isolated virus, the NIHE has started to develop test kits for quick diagnosis.

At present, 22 hospitals are capable of conducting tests for coronavirus.

The Ministry of Health (MoH) highly appreciated the cultivation and isolation of the virus, and said it was a big success.

On February 12, Deputy Minister Tuyen presented certificates of merits to the NIHE and its six researchers for their dedicated work.

Vietnam can now conduct thousands of tests per day if necessary, said Tuyen.

At present, Vietnam was one of four countries which had successfully cultivated and isolated the coronavirus, besides Japan, China and Australia, according to the MoH.
In China, the virus has amplified tensions between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership and the people.





by Greg McCarthy





The coronavirus (COVID-19) has served to magnify political, economic and cultural tensions within and between Australia and China. This is a consequence of fear. But beyond the anxiety, the new virus is a challenge for humanity rather than a catalyst to race-based politics.





Chinese Couple Holds No-Guest Wedding. Zhang Long and Chen Xiao in eastern Chinas Shandong Province held a special wedding last week in the bridegrooms courtyard, with the brides father as the host and her mother as the photographer.

In China, the virus has amplified tensions between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership and the people. Chinese social media has exposed official attempts to cover up the early outbreak of the virus and uncovered punishment of doctors, notably Li Wenliang, who courageously spoke out about the growing emergency.





The dispatch of Premier Li Keqiang to Wuhan can be read as an attempt by the CCP leadership to rebuild trust and show that the Party is in control. The CCP leadership sought to reassert authority by invoking a state of emergency based on biotechnical and medical advice. This extraordinary measure signifies an endeavour to show concern for the health of the entire Chinese population.





As trust in the authorities waivers, Chinas netizens have questioned the official coronavirus infection and death reports  unofficial statistics released by TenCent record numbers far greater than official data. Widespread fear across China has also led to a return to forms of Cultural Revolution divisions turning neighbour against neighbour.





In Australia, the Morrison government took some time to act but when it did, its actions were decisive and blunt. The government enacted a state of exception based on medical grounds on 1 February 2020. This action raised the Department of Foreign Affair and Trades travel advice for mainland China to level 4  do not travel. On the recommendation of the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee and the Communicable Diseases Network Australia, Prime Minister Morrison applied further travel restrictions to people entering Australia, prohibiting foreign nationals  excluding permanent residents of Australia  from entering Australia for 14 days after leaving mainland China and then extended to 22 February and reviewed weekly.





Australian citizens, permanent residents and their immediate family can enter Australia, as well as airline crews who have been using appropriate personal protective equipment. The application came into effect overnight meaning that Chinese students arriving on 2 February became unfortunate victims of the blanket ban.





The governments use of the medical emergency to send Australian citizens and permanent residents to the Christmas Island detention centre and then to the outskirts of Darwin for 14 days has been criticised as inhumane and out of line with the World Health Organizations recommendations against blanket travel bans.





The adverse effects of the coronavirus on the Chinese economy are not yet clear. It is likely to be severe as many manufacturers remained closed and 14 major economic regions extended the Lunar holidays and there are now instructions to work from home. The central bank is pumping hundreds of billions of yuan into the economy to stabilise the financial situation  an indication of a sharp slowdown. There are at least 60 million workers under lockdown conditions and both Beijing and Shanghai are under closed management.





The economic impact of the slowdown will flow through to Australias resources sector, especially the $60 billion iron ore trade, and in turn see reductions in Commonwealth and state government coffers. The most obvious adverse economic impact of the travel ban will be felt in the education and tourism sectors.





The higher education industry and a range of universities highly dependent on Chinese students will suffer the most should the ban extend through a semester or more. It is estimated that the immediate loss could be up to AU$8 billion (US$5.4 billion). The tourism industry is already reeling from the bushfires and is in for further hard times should the travel ban remain in place for a prolonged period.





Fear of the coronavirus has provoked anti-Chinese racist attacks globally. This xenophobia is also evident in Australia. While most of the media have attempted to report on the virus in a balanced manner, some havent. A French newspaper ran a headline declaring the virus a New Yellow Peril, Germanys Der Spiegel ran with a title Made in China, while Australias Herald Sun referred to the pandemic as Chinese virus pandamonium [sic].





Of deeper concern are the mounting first-hand reports that Chinese Australians are facing increased hostility both online and in-person since the coronavirus outbreak began. The existing racial tension experienced by Chinese Australia has been magnified by fears of the virus. There is a genuine concern that the government  which did not respond to the Chinese communitys requests to address anti-China sentiment in 2019  will not tackle xenophobia as a whole of society issue but rather regards it as concerning only Chinese-Australians. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in contrast, publicly warned against the rise of discrimination of this kind in Canada.





The coronavirus could be a catalyst to bring forth the best in Australians. Medical researchers, doctors dealing with suspected virus patients, aircrew from Wuhan and university leaders have been seeking to overcome the fear that pinpoints Chinese people rather than the virus as scapegoats. To develop empathy for the victims of the virus in China and elsewhere political differences need to be put aside. The disease is a challenge for humanity, not a clash of civilisations.





Greg McCarthy is an Honorary Research Fellow at the School of Social Sciences, University of Western Australia, and previously BHP Billiton Chair Professor of Australian Studies at Peking University.




At 750-MWNhon Trach 2 thermal power plant invested by PetroVietnam Power Corporation (PV Power). (Photo: VNA)

Equipped with the mixed-flow gas turbine technology, the two thermal power plants will be the first in Vietnam using imported liquefied natural gas (LNG).

They have a combined capacity of 1,500 megawatts and are being built at Ong Ke Industrial Park, Dong Nais Nhon Trach district. The plants are projected to help tackle power shortage in the southern region.

PV Power is making every effort to start the work on the power plant chain in early 2021.

PetroVietnams Nhon Trach 2 plant began commercial operation in 2011 with the capacity of 750 MW and productivity of 5.5 billion kWh per year. The 450KW Nhon Trach 1 plant, which began operation in 2008, generates 2.5 billion kWh per year.
F rance has warned that the UK faces a bruising battle with the EU over their post-Brexit relationship.

French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian warned that both sides would rip each other up as they strove for advantage in the talks.

Other senior EU figures have also previously spoken out about negotiations, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and chief negotiator Michel Barnier both casting doubt on Boris Johnson's aim to reach a comprehensive agreement by the end of the year.

The UK formally left the EU on January 31 but has a transition period to work out terms till December 31.

French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said everyone will defend their own interests in trade talks / AFP via Getty Images

Speaking at the Munich security conference Sunday, Mr Le Drian said: I think that on trade issues and the mechanism for future relations, which we are going to start on, we are going to rip each other apart.

But that is part of negotiations: everyone will defend their own interests.

His warning comes ahead of a speech on Monday by the UKs chief Brexit adviser, David Frost.

Mr Frost, who is tasked with leading on trade talks, is expected to say that chances of a deal are being undermined by Brussels insistence that it sticks to rules created by the EU.

The EU headquarters in Brussels / POOL/AFP via Getty Images

He will call for the EU to give the UK a deal similar to terms found in Canada and Japan.

One of the toughest negotiations is thought to be over fishing rights after the EU insisted on access to UK waters.

In turn, Mr Johnson said the UK will take control of its fisheries and act as an independent coastal state.

Our approach is clear - we are not asking for anything special, bespoke or unique, but are looking for a deal like those the EU has struck previously with other friendly countries like Canada, a Downing Street spokesman told the BBC.
City Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson attends his first Council meeting following his indictment on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020. Johnson is being charged by the feds with using his office to enrich himself and his wife. Read more

The phrase councilmanic prerogative does not appear anywhere in Philadelphias City Charter. It is not found in the more voluminous City Code, either.

But councilmanic prerogative is an important concept in city government: an informal preference held by the 10 district council members over all land use decisions in their districts. This unchecked power determines whether multi-million-dollar developments will succeed or fail, and represents a temptation for even the most honest council members.

Since Center City began to revitalize in the 1990s, there has been non-stop construction Thirty years on, that boom has spilled out into surrounding neighborhoods, like Fishtown and Grays Ferry, and rippled out to Philadelphias borders. Investors are willing to earmark millions of dollars for these projects, which often require zoning variances. That creates a powerful lever, and prerogative places this lever in the hands of Philadelphias district council members.

The federal indictment of Second nd District Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson reveals the temptation that this system causes.

In January, prosecutors charged the three-term Democrat and his wife with accepting tens of thousands of dollars in bribes from executives at Universal Companies, a land development company that owned Southwest Center City property in Johnsons district. The executives, who were also accused of stealing from their own company, were indicted as well. It is not the first time councilmanic prerogative got a councilman in hot waterthree went to jail in the early 1980s in the ABSCAM affair, when they were caught promising undercover FBI agents they would exercise their councilmanic prerogative to push through a zoning change  in exchange for cash.

And with two current Councilmembers now under federal indictment  the other is Sixth Districts Bobby Henon Philadelphia politics has not gotten cleaner.

The Johnson indictment centers around the former Royal Theater at 15th and South, which had grown increasingly blighted since it was closed in 1970. For more than a decade, despite grants that according to The Philadelphia Inquirer totalled nearly a half-million dollars from various governmental organizations, no progress was made in rehabilitating the building, and zoning restrictions blocked more profitable development on the site. In 2014, Johnson pushed zoning changes through City Council that opened the door to denser development. As he was the councilmember for the district, no one opposed the changes: the prerogative at work.

The planned development from Universal Companies never came about, but the zoning change made the land suddenly much more valuable. The company sold it a year later for a profit of nearly $3.5 million. That kind of money presents a powerful temptation, and when one council member can bring it about without accountability or oversight, events like this will happen time after time. As long as politicians control peoples ability to make money with their own property, those with the money will seek to influence politicians.

In fact, as long as City Council controls the zoning code, no reform can prevent a corrupt member from proposing a bill. And when they do, their fellow members almost never object. A study by the Pew Charitable Trusts examined 730 votes on zoning changes between 2008 and 2014 and found that 726 of them passed unanimously. Putting control of zoning completely in the mayors hands might solve that problem, but it would only work if the mayor is a paragon of virtue himself. That is not unheard of in the citys history, but it is not reliable enough to base a policy on.

What can be done? The authors of the 1951 City Charter thought the solution to local corruption was to weaken the City Council and give more power to the mayor. It worked for a while, especially when the office was occupied by reform-minded mayors like Joseph S. Clark (1952-1956) and Richardson Dilworth (1956-1962).

It is evident that the power itself is the problem, not the hands that wield it. Zoning laws create a pressure point, a place where those with the power to change the law can exert unfair pressure on property-owners. If City Council cannot be trusted to use their power over zoning ethically, why not do away with it all together?

The City of Houston, which is larger than Philadelphia, famously has no zoning code. It has a building code, some height restrictions, and other regulations that do some of the work of the zoning system, but there is no mechanism for politicians there to shake down property owners for bribes  or property owners to exert undue influence on elected officials.

And it works: Houston looks much like other Texas cities that have zoning codes. Land use there remains unencumbered by crooked politicians and bureaucratic minutiae, meaning more freedom for individual land owners  and in turn, property buyers and renters.

Cynical Philadelphians may shrug and say that all of our politicians are crooks. But it doesnt have to be this way. Perhaps when enough of our city politicians are behind bars for abusing their power , Philadelphia will turn to a truly revolutionary idea: take the power away from them and give it back to the people.

Kyle Sammin is a senior contributor to The Federalist, co-host of the Conservative Minds podcast, and resident of Montgomery County. A version of this piece previously appeared on Broad + Liberty. @KyleSammin
Leader of Opposition Ram Govind Chaudhary on Monday said the BJP government had promised Ram Rajya to the people but it was promoting hatred, enmity, discrimination on caste and religion lines among them.

It was also creating a divide among the Hindu and Muslim communities, he alleged, while speaking in the state assembly on the motion of thanks moved by BJP MLA Manju Shivach to governor Anandiben Patels joint address to the legislative assembly and legislative council.

With the Citizenship Amendment Act, the BJP was indulging in politics of religion and creating animosity in the society, he said.

The crime data of various government agencies clearly showed that there had been a spurt in crime in the state, he said.

Hitting out at the chief minister, Chaudhary said instead of blessing the people, the leader of the house had stated that he will teach them (violent protesters) a lesson.

People organising protests might have committed mistakes but it did not mean that they should be given harsh punishment, the leader of Opposition said.

The state government should have forgiven them, he suggested.

Organising dharna and demonstration on public issues was the Constitutional right of the people, he said.

Although the BJP government had launched beti bachao- beti padhao programme, women, including anganbari workers, Asha (accredited social health activists) and shiksha mitras were being suppressed. The women were organising dharnas against the CAA in various cities but no government representative had met them yet. Rather the police were harassing them, he said.

Alleging that development projects were running on paper, the funds sanctioned in the earlier budget had lapsed. While farmers and traders were harassed, no new industrial unit had been established in the state, he said, adding that unemployment had increased.

Congress Legislature Party leader Aradhana Mishra said crime had increased in the state and people were feeling unsafe despite the CMs announcement that state government had adopted zero tolerance policy toward crime.

Alleging that the state government was harassing common people and anti-CAA protesters, she said a recovery notice had been issued against well-known poet Imran Pratapgarhi.

The state womens commission chairperson recently said the policemen were not listening to government agencies, she said.

Atrocities were committed on the weaker sections in Umbha and Mangta villages, but the state government had failed to provide relief to people, she said.

Mishra also said the BJP should know that people followed the ideals of Gandhi and not Godse.

Bahujan Samaj Party legislature party leader Lalji Verma said the state government had failed to control crime, provide employment to youths and relief to farmers.

Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party leader Om Prakash Rajbhar said the BJP won power riding on the support of the Dalits and OBCs, but both the communities were cold-shouldered after formation of the government.

There was heated exchange between BJP members and Rajbhar when he alleged that MLAs had to give money to become ministers. The BJP MLAs hit back, asking him how much money he had given.

Rajbhar, who was sacked from the Yogi Adityanath cabinet after the Lok Sabha election last year, said, I am ready to take on the BJP in the assembly election (due in early 2022).
There will be more than 7,000 candidates contesting Irans parliamentary elections -- less than half of those who applied to stand in the nationwide vote on February 21.



The candidates are mostly conservatives and hard-liners who exhibit absolute loyalty to the country's supreme leader, but there will also be a smattering of lesser-known reformists and moderates who support engagement with the West.



The Guardians Council, which vets all candidates, has provoked controversy by disqualifying some 9,000 of the 16,000 people who registered to run, including 90 current lawmakers, according to the Interior Ministry.



The mass disqualifications  targeting reformist and moderate candidates  is the most since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ushered in a theocratic system.



Many people frustrated by the poor economic situation in the country and the lack of choice in the elections have said they will boycott the elections in a show of displeasure toward the government.



Below are some of the most prominent figures running, the ones who are not, and the ones who were disqualified.



RUNNING



Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf



The conservative former mayor of Tehran unsuccessfully ran for the presidency three times. If he wins, the former police chief and air force commander within the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) is seen as a prime candidate to become the next parliament speaker. As mayor, he was accused of incompetence and corruption.

Mostafa Mirsalim



Mirsalim, a conservative, is a former culture minister whose 1994-97 tenure was marked with increased restrictions and censorship. He has criticized President Hassan Rohanis outreach to the West as ineffectual, saying the result has been new restrictions on Iran and continued sanctions against the country. The French-educated Mirsalim has taught mechanical engineering at Tehrans Amir Kabir University.



Masud Pezeshkian



He is among the few reformist lawmakers permitted to run for reelection. Pezeshkian, a former health minister, is a reformist lawmaker from the mainly ethnic Azeri-populated city of Tabriz. The deputy parliament speaker, he is expected to battle with Qalibaf for the leadership of the legislature.



NOT CONTESTING



Ali Larijani



Irans powerful parliamentary speaker, Ali Larijani, decided not to contest the elections. The conservative Larijani has been speaker since 2008. Larijani's brothers also hold key posts in the country. Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani is the head of the countrys judiciary and Mohammad Javad Larijani heads the judiciary's Human Rights Council. There has been speculation that Larijani intends to run for president in 2021.



Mohammad Reza Aref



Aref served as vice president under reformist President Mohammad Khatami. In the 2013 presidential election he withdrew from the race to increase Rohani's chances of winning. In the 2016 parliamentary elections, Aref won his seat in Tehran. He has headed the reformist faction in parliament.



Saeed Jalili
Forensic experts at the site of the murder of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in a park in Berlin's Moabit district on 23 August 2019. (Christoph Soeder/DPA/AFP via Gett)

Russias Federal Security Service (FSB)  a successor of the former Soviet Unions famed intelligence agency the KGB  allegedly played a central role in the shooting of a Georgian exile in a Berlin park last August, according to an investigation published on Monday in Germanys Der Spiegel, Bellingcat, and The Insider.

Spiegel and Bellingcat research shows that in the months before he killed Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a former Chechen rebel commander with Georgian nationality, the suspected assassin Vadim Krasikov was in close contact with representatives of the "Vympel team," made of former FSB spetsnaz (special) forces.

The suspected assassin also stayed in FSB properties several times, including in a secret training centre for special forces, according to Spiegel and Bellingcat.

Bellingcat writes that essential support for the operation was provided directly by the FSB and on the grounds of the FSBs so-called Centre of Special Operations.

Earlier research by Bellingcat and Der Spiegel in December said that the alleged murderer entered Germany under the passport name Vadim Sokolov, but that his real name is Vadim Krasikov and he is a suspect in the 2013 contract killing of a Russian businessman in Moscow.

Read more: Russia expels German diplomats as tensions rise over Berlin murder

The Kremlin has denied any involvement in the murder, but the incident has soured relations between Moscow and Berlin.

The German prosecutors office said in December that there was "sufficient factual evidence" that the man had been shot dead "on behalf of state agencies of the Russian Federation. Germany then expelled two Russian diplomats, and Moscow retaliated by kicking out two German diplomats.

German investigators are reportedly looking to indict Krasikov in the coming weeks.
Nissans new CEO Makoto Uchida doesnt have time to work his way into the job. He is effectively on probation and has a matter of months to show he can revive the ailing automaker, according to three people familiar with the thinking of some on the companys board, Trend reports citing Reuters.

The mission: the new boss must prove to the board he can accelerate cost-cutting and rebuild profits at the 86-year-old Japanese giant, and that he has the right strategy to repair its partnership with Frances Renault REN.PA, the sources told Reuters.

The pressure intensified on Thursday when Nissan, which has had a year of turmoil since the arrest and sacking of long-time leader Carlos Ghosn, posted its first quarterly net loss in nearly a decade and slashed its annual profit forecast.

One of the people familiar with the intentions of some on Nissans 10-member board said an assessment of Uchidas efforts and a decision on his future would likely be made toward the middle of the year.

Probation is more or less the right way to describe the situation Uchida is faced with, if not more serious, the source said this week.

In the worst-case scenario he could be shown the door.

Uchida referred Reuters queries to Nissan about whether he had just months to demonstrate he could turn the carmaker around, whether board members were satisfied with his work, and his relationship with other senior executives.

The company rejected suggestions of Uchidas uncertain circumstances as having no factual basis. Effectively or otherwise, Uchida is absolutely not on probation, a Yokohama-based spokesman added. There does not exist such a concept or system within Nissan to put a CEO on probation. He is CEO.

Some supporters also stressed that Uchida has only been in the top job for little more than two months, while Nissans business has been in decline since 2017. Executives and analysts have previously said the companys current woes are not of Uchidas making, but are the fallout from an aggressive and poorly executed global expansion under Ghosn and Uchidas predecessor Hiroto Saikawa.

Nissan is on the right path for recovery ... although it might be a gradual process, Uchida, formerly Nissans China chief, said in a video message to employees in October, shortly after being named CEO.
Recognition wanted: CEO of LGBT Ireland Paula Fagan and her partner Denise have two sons. Photo: El Keegan

"We're facing my eldest son becoming a stranger to me in the eyes of the law when he turns 18," says Paula Fagan.

A mother in a same-sex relationship, she and her partner Denise "planned our family together and were lucky enough to have our gorgeous boys, who are the centre of our world".

But Ms Fagan, CEO of LGBT Ireland, said that Article 41.3.1 of the Constitution, which protects the rights of the family and marriage "against attack", did not recognise hers.

Thousands of other Irish families' rights remain unprotected in a changing Ireland, she warned the Citizens' Assembly.

"Only one of us is legally recognised as a parent," said Ms Fagan, from Drogheda.

Each time the couple renews passports for their sons aged 10 and 13 they must sign a legal affidavit, stating "we're a lone parent, when we've been living together 15 years, raising our boys since they were born".

The couple can both avail of guardianship rights for the children's medical care but this entitlement "runs out at 18". Ms Fagan said the Constitution "needs to recognise, protect and uphold what matters in a family". But currently it's "a barrier to recognising our family. Marriage equality didn't fix this".

The assembly is debating gender equality, exploring the status of family and women within the Constitution.

Single mother Adele O'Connor and separated father Dave Saunders, from Tallaght, Dublin, also gave their personal testimonies on how the Constitution affected their lives.

Ms O'Connor said she was "disappointed in the status of the Constitution" which details family as being based upon marriage.

Mr Saunders, CEO of the From Lads to Dads focus group, said he had moved out of his family home 15 years ago after a relationship breakdown. While he had maintained an understanding co-parenting arrangement, he felt the Constitution had not recognised his or any other separated fathers' rights.

Leaving a home filled with the sight and sound of children playing had been "like a death" to him personally.

"You have no one to advise you to look after your mental health," he added. "As a man it's not being able to put your hands up" to describe mental strain due to separation.

The shaping of the nuclear family by the Constitution had only helped perpetuate stereotypes of "deadbeat dads", he said. But for most fathers "nothing could be further from the truth... we need advice on how fathers support children. Men want to be good dads, we just need help sometimes".

The assembly heard that last year about 38pc of births (6,046) occurred outside marriage. The assembly will again discuss gender equality at the Grand Hotel, Malahide, Dublin, on March 21-22.
An computerized image showing a satellite orbiting the Earth. Getty Images

Space companies, from Elon Musk's SpaceX to start-up OneWeb, are racing to launch satellites into space with the aim of creating global internet coverage on Earth. But there's one big problem, experts say  the creation and threat from so-called "space junk." This debris floating in space could interfere with future space missions and satellite launches  and even send objects hurtling back to Earth. The latest episode of CNBC's "Beyond the Valley" podcast looks at London-based start-up OneWeb's mission to launch satellites into space and the issues surrounding space junk and regulation.

What is space junk?

There have been over 5,000 launches into space since the late 1950s, according to the European Space Agency (ESA) with nearly 9,000 satellites put up there. About 5,000 are still in space but under 2,000 are actually functioning. These human-made objects, which can be an entire satellite or even bits of rockets, are dubbed as space junk. The ESA said there are 22,300 pieces of debris that are traceable but there could be hundreds of thousands more than can't be tracked. Space junk has gotten worse for a number of reasons. When rockets are launched, certain "stages" of rockets detach from the main body of the vessel. These explode, splintering into lots of pieces. That's one cause of the growing amount of junk. One particular major event happened in 2009, when two satellites collided with each other, resulting in 2,300 trackable fragments being generated, the ESA said. The other big problem is countries launching anti-satellite missiles. For example, in 2007, China blew up one of its own missiles, increasing the amount of trackable debris size by 25% in that one incident. And in 2009, India carried out a similar missile launch on one of its own satellites. As space junk increases, there could be a snowball effect. If more debris is travelling at thousands of miles per hour in space and it hits another object, that can result in more splintering and more junk. "Imagine how dangerous sailing the high seas would be if all the ships ever lost in history were still drifting on top of the water," ESA Director General Jan Worner said in a statement last year.

What's the issue?

The biggest concern right now is the plans for thousands of satellites from various companies being launched into space. SpaceX and OneWeb are among the companies in this race. The aim is to create so-called mega-constellations that are able to provide internet access to anywhere in the world, even the remotest parts of Earth. Both SpaceX and OneWeb have already begun launching satellites. There are a number of risks associated with space junk. The first is that this debris could hit spacecraft carrying humans or even the International Space Station. Another risk is satellites hitting each other. And finally, the ESA warns that large space debris that "reenter into the atmosphere in an uncontrolled way can reach the ground and create risk to the population on ground." "The space environment is a very delicate one," Christopher Newman, professor of space law and policy at Northumbria University in the U.K., told CNBC's "Beyond the Valley" podcast. "And for many, many years there was the prevalence of what we call 'big sky theory'  space is big, we don't need to worry about it. But actually the amount of operational space we are using is really quite small and especially now, with the constellations looking to occupy large areas of low Earth orbit, it's becoming even more crowded."

What is being done?
Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Bipin Rawat on Monday said that he came to know about the capabilities of Indian Navy's P-8I aircraft after they were deployed in Doklam for surveillance during the 73-day-long stand-off with China in 2017.

General Bipin Rawat, who was Army Chief at that time, said: "I came to know about the capabilities of the P-8I anti-submarine warfare planes after they were deployed in Doklam for surveillance."

The P-8I aircraft is a variant of the P-8A Poseidon aircraft that Boeing developed as a replacement for the US Navy's ageing P-3 fleet. Indian Navy became the first international customer for the P-8 aircraft with the conclusion of the nearly US $ 2.1 billion contract on Jan 1, 2009, for eight aircraft.

The P-8I aircraft is equipped for long-range anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in support of the broad area, maritime and littoral operations. Its communication and sensor suite includes indigenous equipment developed by defence PSUs and private manufacturers.

With its high speed and high endurance of about 10 hours, the aircraft is capable of thrusting a punitive response and maintaining a watch over India's immediate and extended areas of interest.

The P-8I aircraft are based at INS Rajali and are operated by Indian Naval Air Squadron 312A.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Trump's words harm Kyiv's investment image.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the Munich Security Conference spoke out about the infamous phone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump. The latter called this episode "perfect." In turn, the Ukrainian president during an interview with CNN said he was ready for a new call.

At the same time, he firmly rejected Trump's allegations that Ukraine was a corrupt country.

"When I had a meeting with Mr. President Trump, and he said that in previous years, it was so corrupt, that country, Ukraine. I told him very honestly and I was very open with him. I told him that we fight with corruption, we fight with this, fight each day, but please, please, stop saying that Ukraine is a corrupt country. Because from now on, it's not true," CNN cited Zelensky as saying.

According to CNN national security analyst Samantha Vinograd, the Ukrainian president rejected Trump's statement to improve the image of his country in the eyes of investors.

Read alsoWhy President Trump asked Ukraine to look into a DNC "server" and CrowdStrike  CBS News

"I think President Zelensky was really trying to address a PR problem. Being labeled as a corrupt country can discourage foreign investment and foreign assistance. And that's why Zelensky used part of his interview to try to rehabilitate Ukraine's image," she said.

Vinograd added Ukraine does suffer from corruption.

"But he is right that Ukraine is making progress on anti-corruption measures. The IMF and actual U.S. experts, leave President Trump aside, agree on that point. In addition to trying to rehabilitate Ukraine's image as a safe place to do business, Zelensky was also publicly grappling with the peace problem. Later in his interview, he spoke with Christian about Ukraine's ongoing armed conflict with Russia. Zelensky campaigned on ending that conflict with Russia. He has not been successful. And the wavering in U.S. support, namely the withholding of U.S. security assistance will make it harder for Ukraine to defend itself and decrease Zelensky's leverage in negotiations with Vladimir Putin," she said.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI)Purdue University's tuition freeze is the latest effort to keep the price of a quality college education as low as possible.

"That benefit from an out of state perspective is incredibly appealing," said student Julian Haresco

Haresco is an out of state student from California. He said when looking at colleges his senior year of high school, Purdue was at the top of his list, for obvious reasons.

"The cost benefit from comparing a lot of schools with the same price point to Purdue," said Haresco. "It's still by large one of the best schools I possibly could have chosen."

According to the university, 59% of Purdue students in West Lafayette graduated debt free in 2018 and 2019. That's 16% higher than the national graduating debt-free rate.

"I do think it does open up the doors for a lot of people who want that higher level education without having to go somewhere that could break the bank," said Haresco.

Purdue student Mark Menciano said the tuition freeze is combating student loan debt.

"Looking towards the future I am able to kind of predict what I am looking at in terms of loans and debts," said Menciano.

Enrollment for Purdue University reached more than 44,000 in 2020, its highest ever. Students say with another tuition freeze, this trend will continue.

"It's also very attractive to prospective students that are coming in. It's definitely a benefit for high school seniors that are looking at that cost factor," said Menciano.

In addition to no tuition raises, room and board rates at Purdue University have seen no increase over the past eight years.
Further complicating the problem for the tribes, Goggles and Washakie explained, is a confusing patchwork of land ownership status within the reservation's boundaries and voluminous and cumbersome application requirements for federal dollars.

But one recent success for the Northern Arapaho was a nearly $5 million award from the federal government, Goggles said. That money will be used to build 20 affordable housing units in the Great Plains area of Arapahoe called Chief Black Coal Housing.

Encouraging ownership

For Washakie, pushing home ownership is one way to address the housing crisis among the Eastern Shoshone. He said the tribe would start a program to work with renters  even those with no or poor credit  to convert them to homeowners eventually.

"I believe our people should have their own homes (to) have something to pass to their grandkids," he said.

While the tribe hasn't built any new housing units since 1996, Washakie said it has been busy updating its units, with new metal roofs, for example. But what doesn't help is when tenants trash or don't maintain their homes, leaving the tribe to pay for restoration, which has strained Washakie's budget.
The Kerala High Court on Monday said that Allen Shuhaib, who was arrested in November 2019 under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), has the right to attend the examination for the course he has been pursuing.

The court directed Kannur University to reply within 48 hours on the completion of the procedure.

The court said Allen be allowed to write the second semester LLB exam on February 18 and added that if the University informs them that he can attend the examination, the NIA should be prepared to arrange for it.

Allen was arrested along with another accused Thaha Fasal under the UAPA in Kozhikode last November. The NIA, which took over the case, has filed a custody appeal in the special NIA court in Kochi seeking further interrogation of the accused.

"We are not Maoists. We are CPI-M activists. The Chief Minister, who says we are Maoists, should bring proof as to who we killed and where did we place bombs. In the last election, we have served as CPI-M booth agents. We are the ones who went out to vote and pasted posters for CPI-M,'' they had earlier said in court.

They were charged under Sections 20 (punishment for being a member of terrorist gang or organisation), 38 (offence relating to membership of a terrorist organisation) and 39 (offence relating to support given to a terrorist organisation) of the UAPA.

Shuhaib and Fasal, students of law and journalism respectively at Kannur University, were taken into custody by police from Pantheerankavu in Kozhikode on November 1.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Struggling German steel-to-submarines industrial conglomerate Thyssenkrupp said Monday it had narrowed a list of potential buyers for its profitable elevator business down to two, not including competitor Kone.

"The company has decided to prioritize further negotiations with two consortia of financial investors," Thyssenkrupp said in a statement, adding it was "on the home stretch".

On the Essen-based group's list are one consortium bringing together American private equity firms Blackstone and Carlyle and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board, while the other is made up of US-based Advent and British-headquartered Cinven.

"The objective is to reach an agreement quickly on a majority or full sale," Thyssenkrupp said, although "if no agreement can be reached with a bidder, an IPO (stock listing) remains an option." Bosses hope that selling off the elevators division will supply the cash needed to rebuild other areas of Thyssenkrupp's business, which range from raw steel to submarines and construction materials.

The group as a whole lost 304 million euros in its 2018-19 financial year, prompting chief executive Martina Merz to declare the elevators sale her "priority" in January.

Shares in Thyssenkrupp fell on the news, losing 2.1 per cent to trade at 10.96 euros (USD 11.88) around 3:45 pm in Frankfurt (1445 GMT).

Monday's decision comes as a surprise as Finnish elevator competitor Kone had long been seen by observers as a strong contender to take over the German group's lifts arm.

Kone previously confirmed press reports it had bid around 17 billion euros for the unit.

But a tie-up could have raised competition concerns by bringing together two of the industry's biggest players.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
[February 16, 2020] NIPPON Platform and Global Loyalty Network (GLN) Led by Hana Bank Announce Strategic Business Partnership

NIPPON Platform Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Tokyo, Japan, Founder and CEO of Overseas Business: Jun Takagi (News - Alert)) and Hana Bank (Head Office: Seoul, Republic of Korea, President & CEO: Ji Sung-Kyu) have entered into a strategic partnership to expand Hana Financial Group's global alternative payment hub, Global Loyalty Network (GLN), in Japan. About GLN Services GLN is a Global Alternative Payment Hub that involves a total of 58 companies from 14 countries around the world.

It provides an integrated platform to connect financial institutions, retail companies and loyalty point operators around the world to a single network, allowing them to freely transfer digital assets and e-money globally.

GLN provides services to enable online and in-store mobile payments, remittances, and ATM cash withdrawals via mobile without border restrictions.

In particular, GLN applies real-time exchange rates in each country for transactions, allowing convenient prepaid and debit payments around the world. Background and Next Steps Besides its banking app, 1Q and loyalty program/e-wallet app, HanaMembers, GLN has strategically partnered with key players in the payment industry in Korea.

For instance, the retail giant Shinsegae Group (SSG Pay), the largest P2P money transfer company (TOSS), and SK Telecom's (News - Alert) e-wallet (SK Pay). Also, in collaboration with Taiwan and Thai financial institutions, GLN has over 85 million users.

Japan will host the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games this upcoming July, and the number of foreign tourists will inevitably increase during this period. NIPPON Platform and GLN would like to give to the upcoming tourists "a seamless, inexpensive cross-border payment experience".

We estimate that usage of e-wallet, a form of electronic stored value which is used for transactions made online or in-store through a computer or a smartphone, is increasing, and it is expected to become one of the most preferred payment methods alongside credit and debit cards.

GLN will serve as an integrated hub platform enabling cross-border payments and providing services to the users and companies globally.

GLN Coupon Mall offers global coupon services, and provides discount coupons and incentives not only for South Korean visitors to Japan, but also tourists from all over the world.

Nippon Platform integrates various GLN services with its own services and introduces the GLN system to its approximately 100,000 merchants (a total number of terminals) in Japan. It will promote alternative payments services to foreign visitors in Japan which will increase the mobile payments volume in its affiliated shops. About GLN With an initiative to build a network of digital assets, GLN born from the idea of Kim Jung-Tai, Chairman & CEO of Hana Financial Group, was launched in 2017. In November 2017, the First GLN Consortium was held in Seoul, Korea.

Over 100 members from 36 participant companies of 11 countries participated in this meeting. They belong to global banks and retail companies from Japan, Taiwan, China, Thailand, Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom.

GLN Consortium member countries include representative banks, major retail companies, and point business companies from Japan, Taiwan, China, Thailand, Russia and Turkey. It is also pushing to expand GLN membership to India, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Canada. Hana Bank Hana Financial Group is a leading South Korean financial group providing integrated services through its subsidiaries, including Hana Bank. Company Profile of Hana Bank







Head office: Euljiro 35, Jung-gu, Seoul, KOREA History: Seoul Bank was established in 1959, Korea Exchange Bank was established in 1967, Hana Bank was established in 1991 Amount of sales: 26,003,753,000,000 won (as of 2018) Net income: 2,092,800,000,000won (as of 2018) Total assets: 421,115,600,000,000 won (as of September 2019) URL: http://www.kebhana.com

About NIPPON Platform NIPPON Platform provides "Payment platform services," "Services related to business for visitors to Japan" and "Services for small and middle-sized retailers." Payment brands which are available at NIPPON Platform Payment service (as of 14 February 2020) Amazon Pay, d payment (d Pay), pring, atone, PAY ID, WeChat Pay, NETSPay, DBS PayLah!, OCBC Pay Anyone, UOB Mighty, Global Loyalty Network (GLN) NIPPON Platform Co., Ltd. Head office: 2-14-5-3F Kamiosaki, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, Japan URL: https://nippon-platform.co.jp/en/ Directors: Jun Takagi, Founder and CEO of Overseas Business Shinsuke Hishiki, President and CEO of Domestic Business Established: September 2016 Capital: 502,487,400 JPY (Including capital reserves) Business: Payment platform services, Services for small and middle-sized retailers Adviser: Koiti Hashida (Professor at the University of Tokyo) He is a PLR technical adviser. PLR (Personal Life Repository) is one of PDS (Personal Data Store). View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200216005008/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
A dark mood permeated the agenda at this year's World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland  a gulf apart from the techno-optimism of the previous years  noting the sharp rise in nationalism, instability, and inequality.

But over at Microsoft's cafe, attendees from the Redmond, Washington firm were offering a vision of a brave new world, helped along by the advances that working quantum computing promises to introduce: an end to climate catastrophe, incredible health discoveries, even completing billions of years of research in a matter of months, weeks, or days.

Dr Julie Love cut her teeth with a PhD in quantum physics from Yale and is now senior director of quantum at Microsoft. Speaking in Davos last month, she said that the new mode of computing was proving to be a beacon to the CEOs, academics, economists, and journalists in attendance.

"The potential for exponential speed-up is really profound, says Dr Love, speaking with Computerworld. With this explosion of data and AI systems and the end of Moore's Law, we're not seeing the advancements in compute speed and capability [...] you have this need for compute."

Quantum computing promises to solve problems that are constrained by existing standards of compute power, such as mapping the known universe, mitigating the effects of climate change, or completely breaking existing cryptography.

While at first glance it might feel counterintuitive trying to square the company that introduced the world to Clippy with civilisation-transforming hardware, you have to admit, the problems quantum computing is pitched to solve are an appealing sell.

To be able to some day achieve this requires significant resources, something Microsoft has committed to  having created a worldwide network of quantum computing centres where physicists along with every type of engineer you can imagine busy themselves solving the hardware and software problems that they think will lead to what the company called quantum 'impact'.

"This is on par with other major hardware developments we've had as a company," says Love. "We don't release specific numbers, but it's significantly resourced. As I walk through the breakthroughs we're requiring, we're staffing a really broad global team against this  we have Microsoft quantum labs around the world, because we knew from the start we wouldn't find all this diverse talent here in Redmond.

This staff includes mathematicians, theoretical physicists, chip designers, software developers, mechanical engineers and material scientists. Although all of the contributors to Microsoft's efforts in quantum are too numerous to mention, other key figures at the firm include Stanford alumni Todd Holmdahl, the former CVP of quantum who also spearheaded Microsoft's initial forays into videogame hardware with the Xbox and the Kinect; Michael Freedman, distinguished scientist and founding director of Microsoft Quantum Station Q in the mid-noughties; and Matthias Troyer, fellow at the American Physical Society and recent winner of the Hamburg Prize for Theoretical Physics. Krysta M. Svore is general manager for quantum systems, while Chetan Nayak is GM for quantum hardware.

Leo Kouwenhoven, meanwhile, is the TU Delft applied physics professor who unearthed a string of quantum discoveries such as evidence of the Majorana particle on nanowires, and is principal researcher at Microsoft.

What is Microsoft actually up to in the quantum computing space, how did it get to where it is today, and what's next for the firm?

Making a quantum impact

Quantum 'supremacy', quantum 'advantage', quantum 'impact'  a small sample of the phraseology some of the major vendors working in the field have chosen as their own.

As well as heft, these terms are intended to signify the moment when quantum computers, still in their infancy, overtake the abilities of classical computers to start solving the unsolvable  reducing problems that could take thousands of years with traditional methods to months, weeks, or days.

Microsoft's preferred term is 'quantum impact'  which, as well as suggesting sci-fi schlock (as do all quantum couplings), is supposed to really hammer home the weightiness of the change the quantum world is set to usher in.

At the Redmond corporation's annual Ignite conference in late 2019, chief executive Satya Nadella  who underscored the importance of quantum as a strategic priority for Microsoft in his book Hit Refresh  outlined the firm's plans to bring quantum capabilities to the cloud with Azure Quantum.

Azure Quantum would be an accumulation of much of the company's more-than-a-decade long research so far, bringing together the cloud computing interface of Azure and combining it with a developer-first approach to making sense of the new landscape with the Quantum Development Kit (Q#) framework.

Access via the cloud should eventually allow users to tap into vast amounts of computing power without the need for physical access, something that will be in short supply. Although its computational methods differ from Microsoft's, IBM toyed with this idea when it provided access to its prototype quantum processors via the cloud with its IBM Q Experience platform .

Microsoft has taken a collaborative approach to its hardware and software offerings, working with partners including startups 1QBit, QCI, and IonQ, a Maryland-based general purpose specialist in trapped ion quantum computing and quantum circuit creation. Aerospace, engineering, and defence giant Honeywell is also collaborating on hardware with the Redmond firm, and specialises in trapped ion hardware and other control systems for creating quantum computers.

Also announced last year was a cryogenic CMOS semiconductor design, which, according to the company, can control up to 50,000 qubits through three wires and a 1cm2 chip for operating at near absolute zero, the required temperature for quantum computing.

The face of these partnerships is the Microsoft Quantum Network, a broad coalition launched early 2019 to advance quantum computing  including Cambridge Quantum Computing, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Qulab, and QCI, among others. Customers include Natwest, Dow, Ford, and Case Western Reserve University (more on them later).

Quantum Network's list of academic partners includes TU Delft, UC Santa Barbara, Purdue University, Washington State, Eindhoven University of Technology, the University of Copenhagen, and the University of Sydney, among others.

Adjacent to Microsoft Quantum Network is the Quantum Labs initiative, which all share the firm's vision for advancing topological quantum computing, which we'll expand on later.

Additionally, Microsoft is aiming to advance an open source framework to point the wisdom of crowds at quantum software development. Why would research institutions pick Microsoft's over, say, a rival vendor's attempts to spearhead an open source quantum development language?

"I think people will definitely want something that's useful," Love responds, perhaps pointedly.

"People around the world also share this aspiration to deliver impact from this technology," she adds. "Open source software is one component of it, but also having choice in the execution environment.

"So, you want to write some code, you want it to be durable  hardware is evolving very quickly, so we've taken a very high-level approach so that you can write quantum algorithms and then you can run that across a range of execution environments. We think that will be useful."

Finding fermions

Microsoft's investment in quantum goes way back  long before some of the other major players in the landscape such as Google. Its first centre for investigating quantum computing was launched in 2004, before Windows Vista was released, with the Station Q lab at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Its founding director was mathematician Michael Freedman, who has been at the firm since 1997, and whose scientific achievements include those relating to topology in quantum mechanics.

One of the many riddles in quantum computing is the instability of the qubit itself; the basic two-state unit of quantum information.

They tend to disappear without much warning, and are prone to disruption by the tiniest changes in their environment. Quantum computing will only be possible when these easily disrupted 'physical qubits' are stable enough to form 'logical qubits' that are protected against this interference and can be used to hold quantum information.

Microsoft believes one solution to this precision problem could be found in topological systems. These are devices that, as Gizmodo lucidly explains , can be engineered to retain inherent qualities despite changes to them.

And the key to a topological qubit is in something called the Majorana fermion.

Shortly before his still-unexplained disappearance at sea, Italian theoretical physicist Ettore Majorana posited a particle that was also its own antiparticle. If two of the particles ever met, explains MIT Technology Review , they would "annihilate each other in a flash of energy".

Physicists have quixotically pursued proof of this 'Majorana fermion' until the beginning of the last decade, when a team in the Netherlands conducting research underwritten by Microsoft declared a breakthrough.

In 2012, Physics World reported that researchers led by Leo Kouwenhoven at Delft and Eindhoven had unearthed evidence for the existence of these Majorana fermions. By studying topological superconductors  materials that are "superconducting in the bulk but are normal metals on their surface"  they had found the elusive matter sitting at one end of a nanowire.

One side of the nanowire sits near the superconductor, and the other end is attached to a gold electrode. This is all cooled to tens of millikelvin  temperatures near to, or colder than outer space  and a magnetic field is then applied along the nanowire. The team claimed a lack of response to magnetic and electric fields on the device was only explainable by the existence of Majorana fermions contained at one side of the nanowire.

A more recent discovery led by TU Delft and Microsoft made progress with split, fractionalised particles in these topological devices. Gizmodo explains:

"The quantum information would be stored in this system not in any single particle, but in the collective behaviour of the entire wire. Manipulating the wire in the magnetic field could make it appear that half of an electron, or more accurately, a particle thats halfway between an electron and not an electron, sits on either end.

"These so-called Majorana fermions, or Majorana zero-modes, are protected by the collective topological behaviour of the system  you can move one around the wire without affecting the other. These Majorana zero-modes also form the two qubit states. If you bring them together, they either turn into zero particles or one full particle."

Of this discovery, Leo Kouwenhoven told Computerworld: "The truth is we didnt really believe at first that the small zero-bias peak that we measured had anything to do with Majoranas. It took us a month or so to convince ourselves that we could be on the right track. It took another three months that we felt certain enough to throw a party."

Dr Love adds that these qubits are built "just a hair above absolute zero".

"We're developing qubits based on nanowires that allow us to encode the information into the material itself," she says.

That requires different types of control systems, such as the cryogenic chip developed by Microsoft, Love adds, which can "control up to 10,000 qubits with only three wires".

"What's unique about this particle is that if you think about these nanowires, we can, with the right electric and magnetic fields, actually fractionalise the electron and have it be sitting in half on both ends of the nanowire."

Microsoft hopes to create sturdier qubits that are not so noisy. The noisy qubits, Love says, are made "all the time" in its labs, but to deliver that "impact", the firm really needs higher performing, robust qubits, and topological systems appear to be the answer.

Putting quantum into action

Until then it's unlikely that Redmond staffers will totally remould the world as we know it. However, there are other ways that Microsoft has been able to direct its knowledge, to work on optimisation problems today.

Love explains that the company's work in the field has provided Microsoft with a deep algorithmic understanding of quantum computing, and that while it is currently preparing algorithms that can be used by the working quantum computers of the future, 'quantum-inspired' algorithms can be performed on classical computers already. These are especially useful for hard optimisation problems where there are an enormous range of variables.

"It turns out we can have significant advancements just using this quantum way of problem solving," says Love. "That has led to breakthroughs."

One such organisation Microsoft worked with to test out these 'quantum-inspired' methods is Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. In 2018, Microsoft set about assisting the institution in cancer discovery through MRIs.

Researchers at the university had already been working on honing a technique called magnetic resonance fingerprinting, a powerful but expensive and slow update to the traditional MRI scan. Rather than drawing a fixed series of data points, the method uses a varying  but constant  sequence of pulses.

However, the method also presents an optimisation problem, and that lies in identifying the ideal sequence of pulses and readouts to build a more efficient and effective image.

Microsoft's "quantum way of understanding," says Love, has led to the teams collaborating on algorithms that help to perform scans three times faster with no loss of picture quality, as well as boosting precision by up to 30 percent. Ultimately the idea is that this leads to a clearer understanding of the scanned tissue, and thus earlier diagnoses.

This work, adds Love, is symbolic of the potential for casting doubt on scientific riddles thought to be unimaginably complex or just plain impossible.

"When I first met Mark Griswold, the professor we are working with, he had just had a grant proposal denied to optimise this pulse sequence because it was known to be unsolvable," she says.

"In the course of months of collaboration with our team, so many new ideas came out of that work where we said: what if it's not?"
(Bloomberg) -- Terms of Trade is a daily newsletter that untangles a world threatened by trade wars. Sign up here.

David Frost, the U.K.s chief Brexit negotiator, will set out Britains goals for talks over its future relationship with the European Union in a speech in Brussels on Monday as the two sides prepare to thrash out an agreement before the end of the year.

Amid warnings from French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian of a fierce clash over future trade terms, Prime Minister Boris Johnsons office said the U.K. isnt seeking special treatment, but wants a deal similar to those agreed by the EU with other countries.

After an analysis of the demands in the blocs draft negotiation mandate, Johnsons team said its unreasonable the U.K. is currently being offered more stringent terms on state aid, tax and standards than the EU has agreed in deals with Korea, Japan and Canada.

In those three cases, the EU lifted almost all tariffs, but didnt force any of them to abide by its state-aid regulations or to follow any future changes to its rule-book. France is pushing strongly for the EU to make the latter demand, known as dynamic alignment, part of any deal with its neighbor.

We are going to rip each other apart, Le Drian said at the Munich Security Conference on Sunday. But that is part of negotiations, everyone will defend their own interests.

Le Drian said that while he wants the talks completed as soon as possible, there are some serious issues, including fishing, where the two sides are at odds.

Environment Secretary George Eustice, whose remit covers fishing, said on Monday that while Le Drian had used colorful language, hes confident the U.K. can strike a deal with the EU.

Were very clear that we will choose autonomy over regulatory alignment, that we wont be in the single market, that we wont be in the customs union, Eustice told Sky News. Theres clarity about our objectives now, clarity about the type of relationship we want and theres no reason at all why we cant put together a sensible agreement with the EU.

Story continues

Eustice also said that the U.K. is striving to get a partnership agreement on fishing in place by July, But if its not in place, we will be an independent coastal state negotiating in the normal way, just like Norway does at the end of the year.

The U.K.s negotiating Task Force, led by Frost, held meetings last week to finalize its position and is preparing to argue that Britain already has higher standards than the EU on workers rights, environmental protection and subsidies, so the alignment demanded by the bloc doesnt make sense, the prime ministers office said.

Frosts lecture will be the first of a series of public interventions on the U.K.s position because he sees secrecy as a key factor in Theresa Mays failure to reach an acceptable agreement with Brussels, the Sunday Times reported, without saying where it got the information.

After leaving the EU on Jan. 31, Britain entered an 11-month transition period, during which time the country will still be subject to the blocs rules, even if it has no say in setting them. Johnson has until the end of this year to reach a comprehensive trade agreement with the bloc. If he fails, Britain will crash out and default to trading on World Trade Organization rules.

(Updates with dynamic alignment in fourth paragraph.)

--With assistance from Iain Rogers and Alex Morales.

To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Penny in London at tpenny@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Steve Geimann

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
A 39-year-old man was found fatally shot Sunday after police were called to a Trenton apartment building for a reported fight involving a group of people in a hallway, authorities said.

Maurice London, of Trenton, had a gunshot wound to the chest when officers arrived at the Delaware View Terrace apartments on West State Street, Mercer County Prosecutors Office spokeswoman Casey DeBlasio said.

London was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later, DeBlasio said.

The incident is under investigation by the Mercer County Homicide Task Force.

No arrests have been made.

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.
Former Bellaire Mayor Cindy Siegel knew she was in for a fight even before President Donald Trump tweeted his endorsement of a rival in the 7th Congressional District Republican primary.

Its going to be tough, she said. But primaries can be won at the grassroots, and none of the other candidates has the breadth and depth of my experience and understanding of the district.

Siegel, 65, spent six years on the Bellaire City Council before serving as mayor from 2004 to 2012. She followed that with seven years on the Metropolitan Transit Authority board. At the same time, she continued operating her accounting firm with a clientele drawn from the area and serving in local GOP organizations.

I think that puts me more in tune with the concerns of the average residents in the district, she said.

As mayor, she helped Bellaire upgrade streets and drainage while improving or adding parks.

She also led the city through hurricanes Rita and Ike and said she decided to stay on for a fourth term to deal with the issues surrounding the police shooting of unarmed Robbie Tolan.

Siegel and five other GOP candidates are vying for the chance to recapture the House seat that unexpectedly flipped to Democrats in 2018 when Lizzie Fletcher upset nine-term Republican incumbent John Culberson, 52.5 percent to 47.5 percent.

The 2020 Republican field includes Wesley Hunt, a West Point graduate who retired after more than 20 years in the Army and is making his first run for elected office.

Hunt launched his campaign with the backing of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and picked up Trump's endorsement less than a week before early voting began.

Wesley is strong on Crime, the Border, our 2nd Amendment, Trade, Military and Vets. Wesley has my Complete and Total Endorsement! Trump wrote Feb. 12 on Twitter

Siegel and Hunt both support the president's agenda, including border security and lower taxes. And both criticize Congress for failing to limit spending and reduce the deficit.

They each list flood control and supporting the energy industry as priorities.

Both are strong candidates, but Siegel's experience gives her the edge.
IOWA FALLS  A Mason City man and his girlfriend have been arrested in a home robbery after their victim grabbed their gun.

The victim then fired off two shots in self defense, missing the assailants.

Iowa Falls police arrested Matthew Shawn Victor Bridges, 28, of Mason City, formerly of Eldora, and NyJaya Ryan Foster, 19, of Charles City, for first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary and going armed, intimidation.

Court records allege that the two forced their way into a home at 1210 Ellis Ave. on Saturday in an effort to collect on a debt. Once inside, Bridges struck a resident with an Asp collapsible baton and asked Foster to hand him a .38-caliber revolver she was carrying.

The victim snatched the gun from Foster and shot at Bridges, who fled the house.

Court records show Bridges has a prior conviction for conspiracy and using juveniles to commit an offense in connection with an armed robbery at a Caseys General Store in Newton in November 2015. He was released from prison in July 2019 and is currently on parole, according to the Iowa Department of Corrections.

Crime photos for 2016

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Researchers have developed a simple blood test that measures the body's own immune response to improve diagnosis of ovarian cancer.

Professor Magdalena Plebanski

Ovarian cancer is one of the most common gynecologic cancers, with the highest mortality rate. About 300,000 new cases are diagnosed globally each year, with an estimated 60% of women dying within five years after diagnosis.

The new study found that testing for a specific immune biomarker allows clinicians to identify whether growths on the ovaries are cancerous or not, without the need for tests like MRI scans or ultrasounds.

The clinical trial was conducted in two hospitals in Melbourne, Australia, with the results published in Scientific Reports.

Senior Author and Chief Investigator, RMIT University's Professor Magdalena Plebanski, said the test could be an important diagnostic tool for assessing suspicious ovarian growths before operations.

Our new test is as accurate as the combined results of a standard blood test and ultrasound. This is especially important for women in remote or disadvantaged communities, where under-resourced hospitals may not have access to complex and expensive equipment like ultrasound machines or MRI scanners. It also means patients with benign cysts identified through imaging could potentially be spared unnecessary surgeries. This study looked at women with advanced ovarian cancer, but we hope further research could explore the potential for adding this biomarker to routine diagnostic tests at earlier stages of the disease." Magdalena Plebanski, Senior National Health and Medical Research Council Fellow at RMIT

The study used an immune marker for inflammation (IL-6) together with cancer markers to detect epithelial ovarian cancer in blood. Results were validated across two separate human trial cohorts.

"Ovarian cancer is the deadliest women's cancer, a statistic that has not changed in 30 years," Plebanski said.

"Every day in Australia, four women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer and three will die from the disease.

"Developing tests that are simpler and more practical may help get more women to hospital for treatment more effectively, with the hope that survival rates will improve."

The research was a collaboration with Monash University, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, University of Melbourne and Hudson Institute of Medical Research, with clinical trials held at the Royal Women's Hospital and Epworth Healthcare in Melbourne.

The study was generously supported by the Women's Cancer Fund, the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation Inc., Australia, and the John Brunner estate.

Plebanski is the Director of the RMIT Biomedical and Health Innovation ECP, a cross-disciplinary research platform that works with industry to address areas of medical need and deliver interventions for health living.

She also leads the Translational Immunology and Nanotechnology (TIN) Research Program in the School of Health and Biomedical Sciences at RMIT, focusing on the development of practical and affordable vaccines and treatments for complex diseases like malaria and cancer.
We boast having the safest food in the world, and I hope I did my part to make sure thats true.

Those words are from 70-year-old William Ridlen of Jacksonville, who retired in January following more than 50 years of service to the United States government, including 48 with the Food Safety Inspection Service. He and his colleagues are responsible for the Inspected and Passed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture seal to be found on many of the food items purchased by consumers.

If you see that seal its pretty good proof that its fit to eat, Ridlen said.

Ridlens 50 years of federal government service began when the Macon native enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1969 and served his two-year tour of duty off the coast of Vietnam. While that government service was intentional, his 48-year food inspection career started almost by accident.

I was home on leave from the Navy and I went to the house of a high school friend, and he happened to have a person there who was interviewing him for the job that I wound up with, Ridlen said. My friend didnt get the job, but I did. And it was just coincidence that I happened to stop by there at the right time.

Ridlen moved around a lot with the FSIS after starting in 1971. He worked at beef and pork processing facilities in Illinois, Ohio and Indiana and at a spent hen slaughter facility in Olney, where hens that had quit laying eggs were processed. Ridlen worked at what is now known as JBS in Beardstown, at a cooked chicken facility in Quincy, then transferred to the former A.C. Humko plant in Jacksonville, where he decided to call Jacksonville home.

Later in his career, following several promotions, Ridlen landed a patrol assignment that included tallow and pork fat, egg roll and pot sticker, and canned chili processing facilities. He was then promoted to his last position where he filled vacant assignments in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.

Ive done almost all animal species, there arent very many that Ive missed, Ridlen said. But my only poultry time was when I was down in the southern part of Illinois, which was plenty.

Ridlen and his colleagues visited various food processing facilities and if they found violations, they would write them up and have the facilities correct the violations.

There was a good rapport at most places, but in the early days there were some hostile places, but those are about all gone now, Ridlen said. Everybody appears to want to provide a safe product.

The big thing is sanitation, making sure the place is clean and sanitized, making sure products are handled in a sanitary way, Ridlen said. We made sure the raw products were in an environment that didnt promote pathogen growth like salmonella and e. coli, and as far as the finished product was concerned, we made sure the labeling was correct.

Ridlen said he least liked to inspect raw or cooked poultry facilities, but he found inspecting another poultry-related product, eggs, to be very interesting. And once, Ridlen was at ground zero of a food-borne illness discovery.

I was actually on site one time when listeria was discovered in some product. Unfortunately I didnt get to stay around and watch the final outcome, Ridlen said. I know what happened, they had to throw away that product. Thats probably the closest thing I ever came to as far as being really involved in something.

If you think its hard for the retired Ridlen to turn off his food inspector mindset after 48 years on the job, youd be right.

I walk into a restaurant and I kind of look around for sanitation and stuff, and the same way with the grocery store, Ill look around, peek in their meat department and see whats going on, Ridlen said. Theres one restaurant where I saw them drop some stuff on the floor and it was kind of headed toward my table, and I had to tell them no, we dont need that, well just go somewhere else.

Ridlen and his wife are avid deer hunters and like to eat venison, but who inspects that meat to make sure its safe to consume?

I do, when I process it, Ridlen said. It has my personal seal of approval.

Ridlen has two adult children, two grandsons and five granddaughters. Hes already taken a short trip since retirement and plans on watching more of his granddaughters ball games in the summer.

Williams wife, Claudene, said her husbands decades-long battle for sanitary conditions is nothing new to her, and she shares his outlook in that regard.

I used to be a CNA so Ive had to do a lot of that myself, Claudene Ridlen said. So well go to a restaurant and Ill see things and think that shouldnt be happening.

Claudene is proud of Williams five decades of federal service and noted a signed and framed congratulatory certificate signed by USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue displayed in their Jacksonville home. His lifes work gives her confidence that the United States food supply can be trusted.

You bet, Claudene Ridlen said. I feel safer.

.

If you have a suggestion about someone who should be profiled, send their name and any contact information available to communitynews@myjournalcourier.com.
What Amazon Empire lacks (besides an interview with and direct responses from Bezos himself) is a wider reflection on the consumers complicity in all this. Are we really so tech-besotted that anything goes? No one forced us to hand over all our personal data and install Amazons listening devices or surveillance cameras in our homes  we just did, because we, too, want the future to be cool. We rationalize our immediate need for its delivered products against environmental impact or any other effect, be it physical or psychological.
Newsroom reports:

The SFOs wording for the joint deception charges says: By deception or without claim of right directly or indirectly obtained for the National Party possession of, or control over, any property, namely a $100,050 [for the 2018 charge] donation made to the National Party between June 1, 2018 and June 8, 2018 (the 2018 donation) in circumstances where the identity of the donor was not disclosed in the National Partys Annual Return of Party Donations. The SFO describes the offending over the donations in these words: The defendants adopted a fraudulent device, trick or stratagem whereby the  donation was split into sums of money less than $15,000 and transferred into bank accounts of eight different people before being paid to, and retained by, the National Party.

I have said previously that I suspected this may have happened once charges were laid. It is clearly illegal. We actually have a comprehensive law which specifically forbids doing this to avoid disclosure. It is good those involved have been charged.

The political party generally has no way of knowing the ultimate source of a donation, hence the law requires the person making (or transmitting) the donation to identify anyone who has contributed to it. The SFO alleges this did not happen in this case.

For the fourth persons charge of misleading the SFO, the charging document says: In the course of complying with a requirement  of the Serious Fraud Act 1990 supplied information knowing it was false or misleading in a material particular. The SFO says of that charge that this defendant told investigators a $100,000 sum transferred to their account was a deposit for a building on another persons property  when the money had been intended as a donation to the National Party. Further, in 2019 the defendant created, signed and back-dated a contract to that end, when no real contract for that work existed. The office alleges the made-up contract copied wording from an unrelated contract.

That sounds very interesting. The offence has a maximum penalty of $15,000 and/or one year imprisonment. Lying to the SFO is a very bad idea.

The SFO appears to have charged the four defendants for deception under the Crimes Act, rather than just the Electoral Act. That has a maximum imprisonment of three years jail as opposed to merely a $40,000 fine under the Electoral Act.

So the SFO is really throwing the book at this, which is great. For far too many years electoral law breaches have not been prosecuted. These prosecutions may serve as a valuable deterrent.

This suggests the investigation into NZ First and its Foundation will be very robust also. Good.

Share this: Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Reddit

WhatsApp

More

Pinterest

Print



Tumblr


Whether Roger Stone, the loopy, self-aggrandizing political operative, deserves nine years in Supermax for obstructing an investigation into RussiaDonald Trump collusion is debatable. Whether the powerful men who helped create the investigation that ensnared Stone have been allowed to lie with impunity is not. They have.

Only a few days after prosecutors melodramatically left the DOJ after Trump tweeted a defense of Stone and the DOJ subsequently revised its sentencing recommendation to be more lenient, former deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe was informed that he wouldnt face charges. McCabe faced an inquiry into whether he broke the law when he denied to investigators that he had leaked information concerning a Clinton Foundation probe to the press.

McCabe went on CNN, where he is now paid to lecture citizens about the decaying state of American democracy, and claimed that being branded a liar was one of the most sickening and demeaning experiences of my life.

Its a confusing statement  not merely because the IG report found that McCabe, once entrusted with immense power, had repeatedly lied under oath, but because McCabe himself had admitted to lying and apologized for it.

Was he lying about lying? Maybe hell tell us more in his next book.

As McCabe cozies up with his new colleagues, think of Michael Flynn, a decorated general and former national-security adviser, still mired in a four-year legal battle for allegedly misleading the FBI  not under oath  in the Russia-scare investigation that went absolutely nowhere.

No, the two cases arent connected. But they will surely will be in minds of millions of Americans. Because, as Andrew C. McCarthy notes, theres a pattern:

George Papadopoulos was convicted of making a trivial false statement about the date of a meeting. Roger Stone was convicted of obstruction long after the special counsel knew there was no TrumpRussia conspiracy, even though his meanderings did not impede the investigation in any meaningful way. And in the case of Michael Flynns false-statements conviction, as McCabe himself acknowledged to the House Intelligence Committee, even the agents who interviewed him did not believe he intentionally misled them.

Story continues

Now, if your contention is that misleading the authorities is wrong regardless of the outcome, I concur. The question then becomes: Why didnt McCabe, James Clapper, John Brennan, and James Comey, or others who pushed Russia-criminal conspiracy theories, ever face any consequences for their own lying?

Former director of national intelligence James Clapper was likely the first Obama official to pass on the fabulist Steele dossier to the media. He had famously lied under oath to the Senate about warrantless surveillance.

Clapper was asked, Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions, or hundreds of millions of Americans? There is no ambiguity in that question. Clapper could have answered, Thats not something I can discuss or Thats not something I should discuss. Instead, he declared, No, sir. . . . Not wittingly.

That was a lie, under oath, about an issue far more relevant than anything Stone or Flynn or Papadopoulos could ever have even spoken to. It did nothing to slow Clappers career. In fact, Clapper was able to parlay his position into a media gig, where he helped fuel destructive paranoia about our elections.

The same goes for former director of the Central Intelligence Agency John Brennan, who first lied to Americans about there not being a single collateral death in covert U.S. drone strikes in 2011, and then wrapped up his term by trying to cover up an illegal CIA spying operation against an office in the legislative branch of the United States government in 2016.

The CIA was spying on the Senate, viewing drafts and emails of a report on torture that the administration didnt want published. It was a truly dangerous attack on democracy (though I cant recall many columnists lamenting the rise of authoritarianism).

Brennan first blamed the Senate and tried to get Senate staffers fired. Only after the inspector general definitively established that the CIA had indeed spied did he begin negotiating with senators about privately owning up to the scandal. In public, though, he kept saying such things as, I mean we wouldnt do that. I mean, thats just beyond the  you know, the scope of reason in terms of what we would do.

Brennan relied on the same false earnestness, and the gravitas afforded to him because of his former title, to feed wild speculation over the 2016 election. When no evidence emerged from the Mueller report to justify his rants  as he almost surely knew it would not  Brennan explained that he had probably been given some bad information.

Whoops.

Then, of course, there is Comey, whose machinations have put him at the center of so many of our political disturbances over the past five years. Comey, we recently learned, oversaw an FBI investigation that relied on fabricated evidence and altered emails used in a warrant application that would form the basis of a sworn statement in court and allow the government to spy on Trump-campaign adviser Carter Page. We still dont know what Comey knew. We still dont know who was involved.

Perhaps prosecuting the former heads of intelligence agencies would be needlessly corrosive. But equally corrosive is transforming these liars into paragons of patriotism. That only feeds the perception that there are two types of justice in Washington. And if your goal is to destroy trust in our institutions, you couldnt have hatched a better plan.

More from National Review
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 19:35:46|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

MANILA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Three suspected New People's Army (NPA) rebels have been killed in a clash with Philippine government security forces in Luzon island's Isabela province in the north of Manila, an army spokesperson said on Monday.

Maj. Noriel Tayaban, the spokesperson for the Philippine Army's 5th Infantry Division, said troops on patrol clashed with the rebels on Sunday afternoon in Ilagan City for 15 minutes, resulting in the killing of three rebels.

The rebels fled and left behind the killed, said Tayaban, adding that an M-16 Armalite assault rifle and three .45-caliber handguns were recovered at the site.

The NPA rebels have been fighting the government since the 1960s, especially in rural areas and small-scale skirmishes with the military, making the rebel group one of Asia's longest-running insurgencies.

The NPA strength is estimated at 3,500, a number significantly lower than its peak time of around 25,000 in the 1980s.

Over the past five decades, the NPA rebels have continued to carry out killings, raids, kidnappings, acts of extortion, and other forms of violence primarily directed against the Philippine security forces.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  We've been reeling in the fish-fry emails. If you are an organizer of a non-profit fish fry, we want to include details on your event for our 2020 Northeast Ohio Fish Fry Guide.

The guide launches Wednesday, Feb. 26. We will post updates every Friday during Lent from March 6 to April 10.

Note: The guide does not include restaurants and taverns. It's just fish-fry events hosted by non-profit groups like churches, schools and civic groups.

Dates to know

 Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 26.

 Good Friday is April 10.

 Easter is Sunday, April 12.

How to submit a fish-fry listing

1. Email fishfry@cleveland.com with the subject line Fish Fry Guide 2020

2. Include the following in the email:

 Title: Name of presenting group or organization.

 Location: Address of the fish fry.

 Dates and times the fish fry will take place. Example: Fridays from Feb. 28 to April 10, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. For just one date (say, a single nights event), omit the weekday.

 Description of meals provided at the fish fry. Example: Two deep-fried or baked pieces of cod or 10 shrimp; slaw or applesauce; one side; bread; coffee or tea.

 Price of each meal option (note whether there are dinners, half-orders or kids' meals).

 Brief description of other details. Example: Live music. Raffle with prizes."

 Phone number, including area code and extension, that people can call should they have questions. Add website address if you use one.

 Important: Do NOT send pdfs or attach fliers. Write the info in the email.

Once you send the email, your event will be forwarded to cleveland.com reporters for review and consideration for the 2020 Fish Fry Guide. (We reserve the right to edit or omit items.)

Deadline is coming up!

Submissions must be received by 5 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19. If you need to make a correction later, email fishfry@cleveland.com.

Happy frying!

Subscribe to our free To Do Cleveland newsletter

Cut through the noise with our expert picks and recommendations for restaurants, bars, concerts, nightlife, movies, festivals, family fun, theatrical performances, art exhibitions and more with To Do Cleveland, delivered every Thursday to your inbox. SIGN UP NOW

For photos and videos on the extraordinary food and drinking scenes in Northeast Ohio, follow @DineDrinkCLE on Instagram.
Jonah Goldberg's 'terrible week'?

By Mark Alexander



For three years, I've been pulling my punches regarding the shifting political views of one of the most amusing and engaging opinion writers I know  Jonah Goldberg. But his cynical commentary recently elevated him to the top of my column queue. I take no pleasure in that.

So, what happened?

First, some Goldberg background that irrevocably shapes his views. He grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, the son of the wealthy and well-connected Lucianne and Sidney Goldberg. After graduating high school in 1987, he attended Goucher College in Baltimore  a small, expensive liberal arts college that had been women-only until the year before Goldberg's arrival. It's a mystery as to why somebody of his considerable talent didn't land in the Ivy League ... until one considers that Goucher had a highly favorable female-to-male ratio  which is to say, good choice, Jonah!

In 1992, Goldberg moved to Washington, DC, where his exceptional conservative writing earned him a post at the American Enterprise Institute at the dawn of Bill Clinton's era of mischief. He went from AEI to National Review in 1998, but his career in political punditry really began after his mother played a central role in the Clinton-Lewinsky affair. At the time, Goldberg wrote: "My mother was the one who advised Linda Tripp to record her conversations with Monica Lewinsky and to save the dress. ... I have zero desire to have those arguments again. I did my bit in the trenches of Clinton's trousers."

And that was classic Goldberg humor.

My favorite of his books is the signed copy he gave me on a Tennessee visit, Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left. While his writing was outstanding, the claim on his second book jacket that he was a "two-time Pulitzer prize nominee" falls into the category of the overstated bluster that another Manhattanite, Donald Trump, has made famous. In fact, Goldberg has never been a Pulitzer finalist  not that he hasn't earned the right to be. His writing is certainly better than that of Pulitzer darling Jon Meacham, whom I have known since his childhood.

Unfortunately, Goldberg, like Meacham, has become a Beltway establishment Never-Trumper, ingratiating himself within the DC Beltway cadres of the like-minded wealthy elitists. And Goldberg, like Meacham, turned 50 last year, so maybe both are experiencing a midlife identity crisis.

For his part, a few months after Goldberg reached the half-century mark, he left the hallowed conservative halls of National Review to launch a newsletter, "The Dispatch," which, in addition to his syndicated columns, has become his primary platform to relentlessly, and often petulantly, criticize Donald Trump. He asserts that his expensive newsletter is "informed by conservative principles," and indeed, some of his crew have resisted having their conservative perspective adulterated by the Beltway Leftmedia echo chamber. I hope Jonah will recover some of that perspective.

His newsletter reads like an editorial product of The Washington Post, which has devolved into nothing more than a Leftmedia political tabloid under the ownership of Jeff Bezos, a charter member of the billionaire "Archenemies of Liberty" club. The other socialist billionaires in that club are George Soros and Democrat Party megalomaniac manipulators Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer.

And they seem to have an undue influence on Goldberg's views, as he often mirrors their anti-Trump rhetoric.

It's easy to trace Goldberg's slide from the cogent conservative commentary he produced a few years back to his current caustic criticism of Trump. This, in my estimation, is a classic case of CPF  Chronic Potomac Fever. Goldberg resides in the fashionable Beltway neighborhood of Palisades, just a stone's throw from Barack Obama's Kalorama house, George Will's Chevy Chase home, and most of the other elitist DC glitterati.

While I appreciate critical conservative analysis, Goldberg has been infected with some strain of Trump Derangement Syndrome and, like Will, now makes his reflexive attacks on Trump the centerpiece of his commentary.

Goldberg didn't have Will's academic pedigree, but he was nonetheless Will's heir apparent, poised to assume his position among the most articulate of conservative commentators. But Will devolved into a pretentious and arrogant Beltway howler, and Goldberg has, sadly, joined Will's off-key chorus. They just can't get Trump out of their heads and, consequently, are in the throes of a great malaise, if not an outright depression.

As I've noted since Trump's election, while he is an agitator, he didn't create the fear, anger, and division expressed and fomented by his adversaries, including Will and Goldberg; he revealed it. But it's important to note as well that Trump also exposed their contempt for his blue-collar supporters  those unwashed masses whose names are nowhere to be found on his wealthy liberal friends' posh party guest lists.

Like the Socialist Democrats, these "conservative" elitists don't like Trump's brash, combative style or his grassroots American supporters, those of us who fall into what Hillary Clinton labeled a "basket of deplorables."

These include the same working Americans who provided Ronald Reagan his landslide reelection back in 1984, and Trump may be on track to repeat that victory. But Goldberg and his cadres don't get it. He insists that Trump's personality is his biggest reelection obstacle.

So, what did Goldberg opine to his readership to earn his billing in this column?

It was this assertion: "I didn't want to write about the week that was, because the week was so terrible."

"Terrible"? Here is what happened that week:

On Monday, we reported about a comprehensive survey from Gallup indicating that, despite the impending impeachment vote, Americans are very optimistic about our country. An astounding 84% said they're satisfied with "the overall quality of life," and "Americans' overall satisfaction with the country's direction is at its highest point since 2005." Gallup also noted, "Average satisfaction across 27 issues is higher than when Trump took office." Issues with wide satisfaction include the economy (68%), "the opportunity for a person to get ahead by working hard" (72%), and military strength (81%). All three areas have gained tremendously since Trump was elected.

On Tuesday, President Trump delivered a stirring and patriotic State of the Union Address to Congress. It was arguably the best speech of his presidency, and it was applauded by the overwhelming majority of those Americans who saw it, with the notable exception of the one sitting behind him. Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripped up the president's official signed SOTU transcript, and consequently The Patriot Post has filed a legal complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice.

On Wednesday, as expected, President Trump was acquitted on both articles of impeachment  "for life!" After three years of their relentless effort to undermine him and his administration with their fake Russia-collusion claims and their fabricated impeachment charade, Democrats and their Never-Trump friends were apoplectic.

On Thursday, three days after having badly botched the Iowa caucuses, Democrats were in full panic mode about Bernie Sanders. They're now trying to sandbag his candidacy just like they did in 2016. Even seasoned Democrat strategist James Carville was issuing dire warnings.

And finally, on Friday, the week ended with a stellar jobs report  more good news for those "deplorables."

All in all, this was a great week for the Trump administration and the United States of America.

But for Goldberg and company, "the week was so terrible" he didn't want to write about it. Of course, he did anyway.

Goldberg declared, "The State of the Union was a gaudy and disgusting display."

On the recognition of distinguished guests in the gallery, Goldberg disgracefully opined, "It all felt more reminiscent of Caesarian bread and circuses to me. No one wore togas ... but it felt only a few clicks shy on the demagoguery meter of having the head of a conquered Gaul brought in."

He blamed Pelosi's disgraceful speech-shredding on Trump: "As a political matter when people stoop to Trump's tactics like this they end up coming off bad because they're held to a different standard." That's right  from the vantage point of Goldberg's Beltway media collective, Pelosi got a bad rap because she "stooped to Trump's tactics" and was criticized only because she's "held to a different standard."

As for the impeachment acquittal, Goldberg insisted, "There was one hero and it wasn't Donald Trump." Naturally, Goldberg's hero of the week was the sanctimonious Mitt Romney, who claimed his "faith" caused him to side with Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Adam Schiff, Maxine Waters and ... Jonah Goldberg. (Was that same "faith" the impetus for Romney's creation of a fake social-media handle, "Pierre Delecto," which he used to anonymously trash Trump and defend himself?)

There's an old adage: "When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging." Unfortunately for Goldberg, and those of us who have for so many years admired his eloquent writing, he has dug his own hole so deep that he can no longer see the light of day. He has stooped pretty low, and his now-signature anti-Trump schtick is tiresome.

For the record, I don't universally disagree with Goldberg's criticism of Trump the man  particularly with respect to some of his social-media missives regarding former administration officials who have been loyal to their oaths "to support and defend" our Constitution. (Marine Gen. James Mattis and Lt. Gen. John Kelley comet to mind, among others.) Trump (and his social-media team) make unforced errors that result in unfortunate caricatures of him and, by extension, his supporters. Those inexcusable errors are less frequent now, but when they occur, the MSM trumpets them.

And every time he attends the National Prayer Breakfast, as he did last week, I just squint and cringe. If only he could demonstrate a modicum of humility in deference to his support from faithful Christians, who are often ridiculed for backing Trump.

But from far outside Goldberg's Beltway group-think media culture, we realize something Jonah doesn't.

It is those same brash New York personality "qualities" that form the mosaic of who Trump is, and they inspire his genuine determination to Make America Great Again. As I wrote shortly after President Trump took office in 2017: "The day he arrived in DC, he dropped a bomb on the status quo in Congress and its special interests. He dropped a bomb on the regulatory behemoths and their bureaucratic bottlenecks. He dropped a bomb on the trade and national security institutions and alliances that failed miserably over the previous eight years. And he dropped a bomb on all the pundits and mainstream media outlets."

That's just what was needed at this juncture in history to begin draining the Beltway cesspool where Goldberg and his "smarter than thou" elite unite, and to launch a reformation of our nation's capital institutions to once again be responsible to "We the People." That will take more than another Trump term, but it's a good start.

Mark Alexander is the executive editor of the Patriot Post.
At least 10 people were killed in a suicide blast that targeted a police vehicle in southwestern Pakistan on Monday, officials said.

Two police personnel were among those killed in the blast in the city of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran.

We have received 10 bodies so far and 35 injured in Civil Hospital, a hospital official told Reuters.

Two police personnel were among the dead, a senior police official confirmed.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
One campaign aide, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid souring relations between the campaign and the state party, likened the calls to phoning into a call center where the customer service person only had three prompts that they use. The Nevada Democrats staff, joined on the call by their attorney, offered vague answers that seemed to have been scripted by a legal team to offer as little substance as possible, the aide said.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Adrian Wail Akhlas (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 17, 2020 15:03 694 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2064f799b 1 Business Doing-Business,ease-of-doing-business,BKPM,investment-coordinating-board,Bahlil-Lahadalia,omnibus-bill,omnibus-law,job-creation,Jokowi Free

The government hopes to boost the countrys doing business ranking to 53rd place on the World Banks list this year in a bid to attract more investment into the country.

The country expects to reach 60th place at the lowest this year and achieve 40th place within the next three to four years, Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) head Bahlil Lahadalia said on Monday.

Investors and businesspeople need only certainty, efficiency and an easier licensing process. The rest is bonus, and we are ready to provide them, Bahlil told European business leaders during a discussion in Jakarta.

Indonesia ranked 73rd on the World Banks Doing Business index released in October of last year. Businesspeople and investors have complained about the countrys bureaucratic red tape and rigid labor regulations. The countrys rank has stagnated since 2018, while neighbors Malaysia and Thailand have fared better, at 12th and 21st place respectively last year.

Read also: BKPM sets Rp 886 trillion investment realization target for 2020

The government is hoping to attract more investment into the country to give a jolt to sluggish economic growth. It submitted a sweeping omnibus bill on job creation to the House of Representatives last week and expects the bill to overhaul the countrys laws and cut red tape.

The government also plans to streamline the issuance of all business licenses, channeling them through the BKPM alone. Licensing authority is currently scattered among many government institutions and regional administrations, Bahlil said on Monday.

The former Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association (Hipmi) chairman had pledged in late January to step down from his position as the investment boards chief if he failed to raise Indonesias doing business ranking to the top 50 in the next four years.

If I cant meet that target, Im ready to step down. That is my moral commitment, Bahlil said during a press conference on Jan. 29.
The gymnasium shown here during a media tour at Benjamin Franklin HS and the Science Leadership Academy where crews spent months spent remediating asbestos and completing construction and renovations. The building has been closed to students and staff since October, and will re-open Tuesday. Read more

Five months after students last attended classes in the sprawling building at Broad and Green Streets, Benjamin Franklin High and Science Leadership Academy students are going back in on Tuesday.

The two schools had to vacate their building for temporary locations in October amid damaged asbestos and problems with a $37 million renovation job to upgrade the Ben Franklin building as SLA, the elite magnet school, moved in. The delay and environmental clean-up will put the final project cost at as much as $50 million, Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. said.

Construction was largely finished in January, said Hite, who led a press tour Monday, but officials used the extra time to take hundreds of air samples and thoroughly clean the building  which Hite said is now completely asbestos safe. The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers environmental director has also signed off on re-occupancy.

At this point, theres no indication that anyone should have any problems, said Jim Creedon, interim operations director. Creedon was a district consultant who was brought on after the work at Ben Franklin and other jobs developed problems.

Almost 1,000 students were supposed to return to the building at the beginning of the school year, but construction delays pushed the two schools start dates back. Once pupils reported back, it became clear that the environmental conditions in the still-under-construction building were not suitable for occupancy, with students and teachers reporting health issues. (Students and staff from Ben Franklin, a neighborhood high school with no admissions criteria, said the conditions had been much worse for them during the 2018-19 school year, when renovations began.)

Students will return to a vastly different space Tuesday.

When they last attended classes in the building, the entire sixth floor was closed to them and the kitchens were nonfunctional. Now, the sixth floor shines, and Bens Den and the Launch Pad Cafe, full-service cafeterias for Ben Franklin and SLA respectively, will be open for business. The gym has new flooring, seating, and paint. Every window in the building has new glass that lets more light shine through.

Unpacking and setting up the engineering lab on the SLA side, teacher John Kamal predicted wide-eyed students on Tuesday. SLA was temporarily located at Philadelphia School District headquarters just a block down North Broad Street, and Ben Franklin moved further north, to the old Khepera Charter School building near Temple University Hospital.

We got through it, Kamal said of the relocation. His engineering students were hampered by the lack of a proper lab space and equipment. They mostly studied theory, with a few tools brought in when feasible.

The kids are so excited to get in and start making things, Kamal said.

Its a transformed building, said Creedon.

Past the sixth-floor SLA digital video and engineering labs and art room is a courtyard with tables, plenty of open space, and gorgeous views of the city.

This is how city education should be, Hite said, looking south to City Hall.

Students will still have separate entrances, classrooms, gyms, and eating spaces, with Ben Franklin occupying the Broad Street side of the building and SLA the 15th Street side. Students will have some opportunities to work together in extracurricular activities.

The Ben Franklin construction project and subsequent asbestos discovery laid bare problems not just with asbestos and other environmental issues, but also with district processes and communications. The districts inspector general is investigating what went wrong.

 READ MORE: Read more: Missed asbestos, dangerous dust: what went wrong on the Ben Franklin-SLA project

We learned a lot over the past several months, Hite said on Monday.

For starters, the district will no longer green-light major construction projects before handling asbestos jobs, Hite said, adding that the school system would take a more holistic approach to asbestos abatement." Going forward, he said, if were going to do a renovation or modernization, were going to go in and remove all of the environmental hazards.

More than 75% of district buildings contain asbestos. To date, 10 schools have had to close because of damaged asbestos, with work underway or planned at many more. The superintendent has said that the district needs $125 million in new funding over five years to make all buildings lead- and asbestos-safe.

 READ MORE: Read more: Asbestos delays students' return to Feltonville school

The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers and some state and federal politicians have called for the district to be declared in a state of emergency over the asbestos crisis. Hite stopped short of that.

We need an emergency funding source that we can rely on year after year, the superintendent said.

Teachers, tradespeople, and other workers were on site Monday, unpacking boxes, placing equipment, and readying classrooms and other areas for students. Steve Cohen, father of an SLA junior, showed up to tackle boxes on the second floor as a way of saying thanks to the staff who made a difficult several months bearable.

"These kids have been without a school for a long time, and the educators have been amazing, Cohen said.

A few construction projects remain to be finished at the school  including renovating some bathrooms and locker rooms  but those jobs will not be undertaken until the summer.
Harrison Ford has revealed he was as surprised as anyone about his unexpected cameo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

In the divisive ninth entry in the hugely popular sci-fi film saga, Fords character, Han Solo, returned for a conversation with his son, Kylo Ren, played by Adam Driver.

Fans have been split over whether the scene was meant to have taken place inside Kylos imagination, or whether Han had returned as a Force ghost.

A Force ghost? I dont know what a Force ghost is, Ford told USA Today. I have no f***ing idea what a Force ghost is. And I dont care.

In Star Wars lore, a Force ghost is when a character returns in a ghost-like form through the power of the Force.

Every cameo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Show all 14 1 /14 Every cameo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Every cameo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Jodie Comer The Emmy Award-winning star of Killing Eve shows up very briefly in flashback as Reys mother. Getty Images Every cameo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker John Williams JJ Abrams rewards the composers hard work on the franchise with a cameo. Williams plays the composer on the planet Kijimi, seen shaking his head at the group of main characters as they storm into the droid shop. Getty Images for Turner Every cameo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker JJ Abrams Remember the shaky droid who keeps uttering No, thank you whenever anyone goes to touch him? Thats the voice of the films director himself. Every cameo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Lin-Manuel Miranda Chances are you didnt spot the Hamilton superstar, but we did  towards the end of the film, hes one of the Resistance Fighters in the background as Rey reunites with a tearful Finn and Poe. Getty Images Every cameo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Harrison Ford Yes, you read that correctly. Harrison Ford returns as a spiritual adviser-of-sorts to his son, Ben (Driver), whose days as Kylo Ren come to an end after a nice little pep talk from the father he killed. Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP Every cameo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Mark Hamill Mark Hamill's appearance may not be a surprise considering everybody and their aunt assumed Luke Skywalker would return as Force Ghost, but its still great to see him for one last time on the big screen. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images) Every cameo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Hayden Christensen In the climactic showdown between Rey and Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), a host of Jedi voices will her to defeat the Sith once and for all. Among those that can be heard include Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker. Getty Images Every cameo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Samuel L Jackson In the climactic showdown between Rey and Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), a host of Jedi voices will her to defeat the Sith once and for all. Among those that can be heard include Samuel L Jackson's Mace Windu. Frazer Harrison/Getty Images Every cameo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Liam Neeson In the climactic showdown between Rey and Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), a host of Jedi voices will her to defeat the Sith once and for all. Among those that can be heard include Liam Neeson's Qui-Gon Jin. Getty Every cameo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Frank Oz In the climactic showdown between Rey and Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), a host of Jedi voices will her to defeat the Sith once and for all. Among those that can be heard include Yoda himself, Frank Oz. Getty Images Every cameo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Freddie Prinze Jr In the climactic showdown between Rey and Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), a host of Jedi voices will her to defeat the Sith once and for all. Among those that can be heard include Star Wars: Rebels character, Kanan, who is voiced by Freddie Prinze Jr. Getty Images for NBC Every cameo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Billy Dee Williams Billy Dee Williams  the original Lando Calrissian (sorry, Donald Glover)  shows up a few times, much to the happiness of Chewbacca. Getty Images Every cameo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Wedges Antilles It might have previously been announced by Lawsons family, but the original Star Wars actor shows up extremely briefly as fighter pilot Wedge Antilles. His appearance elicited huge cheers from the crowd we saw it with. Lucasfilm Every cameo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Dominic Monaghan Not so much a cameo, considering he has a decent amount of lines, but the Lord of the Rings and Lost star shows up as Resistance mechanic Beaumont Kin. He shares the majority of his scenes with Kelly Marie Tran, who returns as Rose Tico. Getty Images

When [director JJ Abrams] asked me to do it, Ford revealed, I said, Are you kidding? Im dead!

But he was eventually convinced: If JJ asked you do something, youd probably do it too. Hes a very persuasive guy.

Fords comments should come as no surprise to Star Wars fans. The actor has long been known for his unenthusiastic attitude to the Star Wars films, and he had argued for his character to be killed back in the original trilogy.

Ford can currently be seen in The Call of the Wild, which is out in cinemas on 19 February.
Harriet Tubman was to be commemorated by appearing on the $20 bill in a design that would have been unveiled this year, but the treasury secretary said in May that plans for the bill would be delayed until after President Trump left office.

Enter OneUnited Bank, which this month revealed it was honoring the abolitionist in its own way  by featuring her on a debit card.

The backlash was almost instant, and it was difficult to pinpoint what offended people more: Was it her crossed arms that resembled the Wakanda Forever salute from the movie Black Panther? Was it the combination of a gold chip above her right shoulder and the Visa logo on the left? Maybe it was the whole thing.

Regardless, OneUnited, the nations largest black-owned bank, soon found itself the target of jokes and jabs after announcing the card design on Thursday.
A Delhi court Monday dismissed the bail plea of former Fortis Healthcare promoter Malvinder Singh, arrested for alleged misappropriation of funds at Religare Finvest Ltd.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gurmohina Kaur rejected the bail application on the ground that Malvinder was required to be kept in judicial custody for proper investigation in the case.

Malvinder (46); his brother Shivinder, also a former Fortis Healthcare promoter; former CMD of Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL) Sunil Godhwani (58); former CEO of REL Kavi Arora (48) and former CFO of RFL Anil Saxena were arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police for allegedly diverting RFL's money and investing in other

The EOW registered an FIR in March last year after it received a complaint from RFL's Manpreet Suri against Shivinder, Godhwani and others, alleging that loans were taken by them while managing the firm but the money was invested in other

"They put RFL in a poor financial condition by disbursing loans to with no financial standing and controlled by them. The companies to which the loans were disbursed willfully defaulted in repayments and caused a loss to RFL to the tune of Rs 2,397 crore," the police had alleged.
A freight train left China's central city of Zhengzhou on Sunday, marking the resumption of Henan Province's exports to Belt and Road countries following the conclusion of the Spring Festival holiday amid the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

The train's 41 containers weighing 615.8 tons contain goods such as mechanical and electrical equipment, metal products, precision parts and daily necessities.

On Friday, the first China-Europe freight that resumed operations after the Chinese New Year holiday made its departure from the city of Dongguan, south China's Guangdong Province.

The cargo includes communication devices, ATMs, circuit boards and vacuum cleaners produced in the Pearl River Delta.

The operation of freight trains in Guangdong was suspended due to the holiday and coronavirus epidemic outbreak. The train is expected to arrive in Kaluga, Russia in a fortnight, the China Railway Guangzhou Group said.

"With enterprises in the Pearl River Delta resuming operations, there will be more China-Europe freight trains with more containers," said Peng Tang of the Guangdong branch of China Railway Container Transport Corporation.

Earlier this week, the freight train service from Zhejiang Province to Central Asia also resumed. A train loaded with 82 standard containers left a railway station in the city of Jinhua, eastern China's Zhejiang Province.

The cargo including hardware tools, textiles and auto parts is heading to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries through the Horgos Port in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Efforts help enterprises resume work and clearance

China has been working hard to fight the outbreak, while seeking to maintain the smooth resumption of work for enterprises.

In order to ensure the smooth export of goods, the customs and some other relevant departments made contact with local export enterprises via phone, massaging apps and other means to learn about the impact on their operations of the epidemic, solve any difficulties regarding customs clearance and help enterprises resume production, according to Jinhua customs.

Additionally, the department said that it had started conducting a 24/7 clearance mechanism to guarantee effective customs clearance to maintain on-schedule departure of freight trains.

The China Europe freight train, also known as China Railway Express, was first launched in March 2011 with just 17 trips all year. Since then, freight volumes have seen a substantial increase with 8,225 trips made in 2019.

The first service, then known as the YU-XIN-OU or the Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe International Railway, began in Chongqing in southwest China before heading to Duisburg in Germany via Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus and Poland.

As a crucial part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the network today is composed of 65 domestic lines and links with rail abroad through Alashankou Pass, a major rail port in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Erenhot, as well as Manzhouli in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

There are also freight trains between China and Central Asian countries, departing from Tianjin, Xi'an, Zhengzhou, Chengdu and other Chinese cities.
Washington Coast: Tentative Spring Razor Clam Dig Schedule Announced

Published 02/15/2020 at 6:08 PM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff





(Washington Coast)  Springtime brings many more visitors to the Washington coast and the possibilities of razor clam digging. State shellfish managers are looking ahead and have tentatively scheduled razor clam digs on ocean beaches for dates through April. What gets finalized depends on the results of marine toxin tests, which must be clear and show the shellfish are safe to eat.

We have lots of razor clams on area beaches this year, and we're releasing a tentative schedule to give people plenty of time to make plans to get out and enjoy them, said Dan Ayres, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) coastal shellfish manager.

WDFW typically announces whether a dig will go forward about a week before the opening, said Ayres.

The tentative razor clam digs, along with low tides and beaches, are listed below.

March 6, Friday, 4:11 pm, -0.2 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks

March 7, Saturday, 4:59 pm, -0.7 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis

March 8, Sunday, 6:43 pm, -1.0 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks

March 9, Monday, 7:25 pm, -1.0 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis

March 10, Tuesday, 8:06 pm, -0.8 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks

March 11, Wednesday, 8:46 pm, -0.2 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis

March 20, Friday 5:27 pm, 0.4 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks

March 21, Saturday, 6:07 pm, 0.4 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis (Ocean Shores Razor Clam Festival)

March 22, Sunday, 6:41 pm, 0.4 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks

March 23, Monday, 7:12 pm, 0.5 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis



April 3, Friday, 3:41 pm, 0.3 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis

April 4, Saturday, 4:37 pm, -0.1 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks

April 5, Sunday, 5:27 pm, -0.4 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis

April 6, Monday, 6:12 pm, 0.4 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks

April 7, Tuesday, 6:55 pm, -0.2 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis

No digging is allowed after noon for April digs -- listed below -- where low tide occurs in the morning.

April 8, Wednesday, 7:26 am, -0.7 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks

April 9, Thursday, 8:14 am, -1.1 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis

April 10, Friday, 9:01 am, -1.3 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks

April 11, Saturday, 9:50 am, -1.1 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis (Long Beach Razor Clam Festival)

April 12, Sunday, 10:42 am, -0.7 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks

April 13, Monday, 11:39 am, -0.2 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis

April 22, Wednesday, 7:08 am, 0.3 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis

April 23, Thursday, 7:41 am, 0.0 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks

April 24, Friday, 8:15 am, -0.3 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis

April 25, Saturday, 8:49 am, -0.1 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks

April 26, Sunday, 9:26 am, -0.3 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis

April 27, Monday, 10:07 am, -0.2 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks

April 28, Tuesday, 10:54 am, -0.1 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis

April 29, Wednesday, 11:48 am, 0.1 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks

Digging is not allowed before noon for the March and early April digs where low tide occurs in the evening.

Conservation of clams for future generations plays a large part in these schedules as well, as WDFW looks carefully at the stock assessment along the entire Washington coast to determine what numbers should be allowed. How many clams have been harvested already is another factor going into these decisions, and then WDFW authorizes individual digs based on results of marine toxin tests.

Two razor clam digging weekends, in particular, should not be missed, said Ayres.

The Ocean Shores Razor Clam and Seafood Festival on March 21 and 22, and the Long Beach Razor Clam Festival on April 11 are long-running events that celebrate the unique contribution of razor clams to Washingtons culture and coastal communities, he said.

All diggers age 15 or older must have an applicable fishing license to harvest razor clams on any beach.

Licenses, ranging from a three-day razor clam license (starting at $9.70) to an annual combination fishing license, are available on WDFW's website at https://fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov and from some 600 license vendors around the state.

Ayres reminds razor clam diggers, that anyone gathering clams in April will need a new 2020 license to participate. Under state law, diggers at open beaches can take 15 razor clams per day and are required to keep the first 15 they dig. Each digger's clams must be kept in a separate container.

Abundant razor clam populations on beaches are allowing for more digging opportunity this year, said Ayres. But, it is important that razor clam diggers be sure to only dig where it is allowed. Razor clam diggers can find detailed beach maps that indicate locations and local names for beaches on WDFWs website.

WDFW is the primary state agency tasked with preserving, protecting and perpetuating fish and wildlife and ecosystems, while providing sustainable fishing and hunting opportunities. WDFW razor clam digs support outdoor lifestyles and coastal economies. More on the Washington Coast.









More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging.....

More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining.....

Coastal Spotlight



LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles

Back to Oregon Coast

Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net

All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted
The spectre of nuclear proliferation between China and its all-weather ally Pakistan was revived this month when Indian Customs officials detained a ship -- bearing a Hong Kong flag and bound for Port Qasim in Karachi -- for wrongly declaring an autoclave, which can be used in the launch process of ballistic missiles, as an industrial dryer.

According to people familiar with the matter, the ship, intercepted on February 3, is undergoing a detailed inspection at Kandla Port in Gujarat. They added that the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which has been examining the ship, is sending a second team of nuclear scientists this week to check the large autoclave on board.

The ship, which left Jiangyin port on the Yangtze river in Chinas Jiangsu province, dropped anchor at Kandla, and was bound for Port Qasim. The detention of the vessel has been brought to the notice of the highest levels of national security establishment and the intelligence agencies.

Though national security officials and the external affairs ministry declined to share details of the ship, HT has learnt that it is named Da Cui Yun and carries a Hong Kong flag. The vessel was intercepted on the basis of intelligence tip-off, and one DRDO team has already inspected the 18x4-metre autoclave on board. The autoclave  a pressure chamber to carry out various industrial and scientific processes -- has been prima facie certified as a dual-use item, which means it can be used for civilian and military purposes.

A second high-level DRDO team of missile scientists will go to Kandla port on Monday to further examine the cargo, according to an official who asked not to be named. If this team upholds the findings of the first team, Customs will seize the cargo, and charge the vessel and its owners for violations of Special Chemicals, Organisms, Materials, Equipment and Technologies (Scomet) export regulations.

According to marinetraffic.com, which maps the movement of all listed ships, the Port Mohammed Bin Qasim-bound Da Cui Yun left Jiangyin Port on January 17, 2020, and has been moored at Kandla since February 3, 2020. The 28,341-tonne dead weight vessel measures 166.5x27.4 metres and was built in 2011 in the home port of Hong Kong. Port Qasim is in Karachi, Sindh, where the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco), responsible for Pakistan ballistic missile programme, is based.

Indian security officials are concerned because the nuclear nexus between Pakistan and China dates back to 1989, when Islamabad signed a deal with Beijing to purchase 34 solid-fuel M-11 ballistic missiles. The M-11s, which can deliver a 500kg payload over 300km, are at the core of Pakistans ballistic missile capability with all its other delivery platforms a derivative of the Chinese weapon. Around the same period, Pakistan purchased 12 to 25 liquid-fuel No-Dong ballistic missiles from North Korea despite not being a signatory to any proliferation regime. The No-Dong system can deliver a 700-1,000kg payload over 1,000-1,300km.

Experts said the autoclave episode revives memory of North Korean ship Ku Wol San, which was seized at Kandla at the height of the 1999 Kargil war. The Pakistan-bound ship had wrongly declared missile components, metal casings and Scud missile manuals as water-purification equipment. The story was first reported by HT at that time.

In the case of Da Cui Yun, DRDO investigators have so far found that the industrial autoclave is used for manufacturing composite lining for the solid-fuel ballistic missiles. The ballistic missile is propelled by a solid-fuel-based booster in its critical Phase I. For this, the solid fuel is placed in a steel alloy casing, which needs a composite material liner to withstand the high pressure and high temperatures during the launch process. An autoclave is used to manufacture sheets of silica under controlled temperature and pressure, so that they can be used as liners.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Its a fairly extreme move, said Jane Duckett, the director of the Scottish Center for China Research at the University of Glasgow. They certainly seem to be very, very worried.

The committee that oversees the congress said it would vote next Monday on whether to delay the gathering. Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency, quoted a committee spokesman as saying that to ensure that attention is entirely focused on preventing and controlling the epidemic, it is considered necessary to appropriately postpone the congress.

Yet Ms. Duckett said it would be hard for Mr. Xi to win back trust. When youre in charge of everything and when things go wrong, youre responsible, she said.

On Monday, the government sought to reassure the public that it was making progress in containing the outbreak. Officials reported that the daily count of new coronavirus cases was 2,048  a three-week low. Over all, the virus has sickened more than 70,000 people in China and several hundred in other countries.

Public health experts said the dip in new infections was probably a result of the governments decision to impose travel restrictions in many cities, including Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.

The measures taken have been extraordinary, and we are seeing the effects, said Raina MacIntyre, a senior biosecurity researcher at the University of New South Wales in Australia.
The world's most coveted fake tan brand, Bondi Sands, has enjoyed record breaking sales since the launch of its ultra dark Aero formula - and it might have something to do with its ingenious marketing tactic.

The Australian-made bottle has appeared on multiple social media grids since January 20, with the likes of personal trainer Steph Claire Smith, beauty YouTuber Shani Grimmond and Lose Island star Tayla Damir donning their bikinis to showcase their newly bronzed skin.

Aero Aerated Self-Tanning Foam Ultra Dark has the power to take your complexion from winter snow to Caribbean sunset in the space of just six hours, and for $26.99.

Steph Claire Smith (pictured) debuted the tan on YouTube, showing exactly how it works in a matter of hours

'The reaction to Tayla's post and the rest of the Bondi ambassadors has been incredible,' Bondi Sands' co-founder Blair James told the Daily Examiner.

'We were anticipating that Aero Ultra Dark would be very popular but we were blown away by sales on day one eclipsing our biggest launch for Aero Express back in 2018.'

The Aero range is known for being a weightless foam and therefore a quick-drying formula, so those who don't like feeling 'sticky' for long periods of time don't have to suffer.

Pia Muehlenbeck put the Aero Aerated Self-Tanning Foam Ultra Dark on in her bathroom, showing off her svelte figure and tan to fans

Scottish influencer Emily Shak was similar impressed by the non-stickiness of the product

Instead, users will get a streak-free shine in six hours - although it can be left on overnight if you're looking to reach your deepest colour yet.

In less than a month the tan has gone from a newbie on the market to a cult classic.

'Obsessed with the colour this tan provides - it's INSANE! A light layer gave me a super sun-kissed bronze glow and with a second layer I looked like I'd been on a tropical holiday,' one woman wrote on the Bondi Sands website.

Shani Grimmond (pictured) posed with the bottle of fake tan as she showcased her transformation

How do you get a perfect fake tan? 1. Exfoliate everywhere 2. Hydrate the dry areas that tend to soak up a lot of colour, such as the palms, knuckles, elbows and feet 3. Use a mitt to apply self-tanner 4. Enlist the help of your hair dryer to dry the formula faster 5. Wipe away excess formula 6. Rinse with warm water and pat dry Advertisement

'Other tans I have tried are super tacky... This was definitely not a let down. I will for sure buy it again,' said another.

A third added: 'The coconut scent is a welcome change from the usual tangy faux tan smell.'

Activewear designer Pia Muehlenbeck and Scottish influencer Emily Shak both uploaded videos of themselves applying the tan with a mitt, making it look seemingly effortless.

Both ladies turned a Mediterranean-tinted brown in less than a day after soaking in the new formula.
Sindu Choodan By

Express News Service

KOLLAM: He was seen wandering on the streets and near the landfill in Munnar until three days ago, but four-month-old dog Nandis life has changed for the better in quick time. His cute looks caught the eyes of a Swiss tourists' pair, who have decided to take him to their country after completing all formalities.

Johny and Alan took the dog along, with the only intention of giving him a bath and feeding him. He became attached to them so closely that they called him Nandi and thought why dont they take to their home country. They soon started enquiring about the procedure.

Johny and Alan took Nandi in company as they left Munnar for Varkala, another tourist spot, and on their way took the dog to the District Veterinary Hospital.

We first implanted a microchip behind his neck for identification. Then we gave him anti-rabies vaccine and a multicomponent vaccine against nine diseases, said Dr. D Shine Kumar of the district hospital.



It is not enough. Nandi needs to pass the blood test. While the hospital will take 14 days to issue the report that he is immune, Nandis blood samples can be collected only after four days to conduct such a mandatory test in Switzerland. Johny and Alan had planned to return home by next week, but the love for Nandi has grown so much so that they have decided to stay back and fly with him.
Nirbhayas mother Asha Devi expressed the hope that the four convicts would finally be hanged on March 3.

A Delhi court on Monday ordered that the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape-murder case be hanged at 6 am on March 3 after it issued fresh death warrants, saying deferring the execution further would be sacrilegious to the rights of the victim for expeditious justice. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Monday ordered that the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape-murder case be hanged at 6 am on March 3 after it issued fresh death warrants, saying deferring the execution further would be sacrilegious to the rights of the victim for expeditious justice.

The court directed that the four convicts  Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Kumar Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar (31)  be hanged by the neck at 6 am on March 3 until they are dead. It is for the third time that the death warrants were issued by the court against them. It is hereby directed that the death warrants, as issued by this court vide order dated January 7, 2020 in respect of the condemned convicts namely Mukesh, Pawan, Akshay and Vinay shall now be carried into effect by causing the said convicts to be hanged by the neck until they are dead on March 3 at 6 am, said additional sessions judge Dharmender Rana.

The judge noted the death warrants were earlier issued on January 7 and the execution was later deferred twice  on January 17 and January 31. Now deferring it any further would be sacrilegious to the rights of the victim for expeditious justice, he said.

Nirbhayas mother Asha Devi expressed the hope that the four convicts would finally be hanged on March 3. She said: We have struggled so much. But we have complete faith in the judiciary. Our real victory would be when the convicts are actually hanged.

Nirbhayas father said the family has been receiving congratulatory messages stating their seven-year-old struggle for justice will finally come to an end. He said the court order goes to show that sooner or later criminals are brought to justice.

Nirbhayas family lawyer Seema Kushwaha, however, claimed that defence lawyer A.P. Singh was misleading people and the convicts families into thinking he will be able to save the convicts.

The two death warrants issued earlier could not be executed as the convicts took it in turns to use every legal option available to them. The first date of execution, January 22, was postponed to February 1 by a January 17 court order. Then the trial court, on January 31, stayed till further orders the execution of the four as they had not exhausted all their legal remedies.

The fresh death warrant was issued after Delhis Tihar jail authorities informed the trial court that three of the four convicts had exhausted all legal options and none of them have any correspondence pending at the moment. Pawan is the only convict who has not filed a curative petition  the last legal remedy available to a person which is decided in-chamber  or mercy plea before the President.

The trial court said: There is only two possible inferences for such indolence: 1) either convict Pawan is satisfied with the verdict of the Supreme Court; or 2) he is simply interested in delaying court proceedings. In either case, he cannot claim that the execution of the sentence needs to be delayed further.

The trial court noted that the Delhi high court had given one more opportunity to Pawan, unambiguously clarifying to exercise his rights within a week, failing which requisite action shall be initiated without any further delay. The court said Pawan cannot be allowed to defeat the ends of justice by simply opting to remain indolent.

All four convicts have already exhausted the one week allowed by the high court to exercise all their legal options and will need to go to the Supreme Court to get an extension. Akshays counsel has now informed the court that he has prepared a fresh mercy petition to be moved before the President.

One of the four convicts, Vinay, has started hungerstrike at Tihar Jail after his petition challenging President Ram Nath Kovinds rejection of his mercy plea was turned down by the Supreme Court last week. The convict had claimed the President had not factored in his mental illness after torture in jail. The Centre had produced a medical report dated February 12, which showed he was mentally sound. The trial court directed the Tihar jail superintendent to take appropriate care of Vinay.

The four convicts will be facing the noose for raping and savagely assaulting the physiotherapy intern on the night of December 16, 2012 in a moving bus in South Delhi. She died of her injuries a fortnight later in a Singapore hospital. Six people  including the four convicts, Ram Singh and a juvenile  were named as accused. The trial of the five adults began in a special fast-track court in March 2013. Ram Singh, the prime accused, allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in Tihar Jail days after the trial began. The juvenile, who was said to be the most brutal of the attackers, was put in a correctional home for three years. He was released in 2015 and sent to an undisclosed location amid concerns over a threat to his life. When released, he was 20 years old.
By Trend

Azerbaijans Central Election Commission (CEC) has considered an appeal regarding the 34th Khatai Constituency No. 2 as part of the recent parliamentary elections in the country, at the CEC meeting on Feb. 17, Trend reports.

At the meeting, it was noted that violations were observed during the elections in the constituency and that during the investigation the complaint was partially confirmed.

CEC member Ilkin Shahbazov proposed invalidating the results of voting at precincts No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 18, 30 and 35 of this constituency. After the vote, the proposal was accepted.

Mikhail Zabelin is the leading candidate for this constituency.

Parliamentary elections were held in Azerbaijan Feb. 9.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Peekskill police officer Michael Agovino, 33, has been charged with sexual abuse, stalking and burglary

A suburban New York police officer has been charged with repeatedly stalking and sexually assaulting a woman with a learning disability while supposedly investigating a theft.

Peekskill police officer Michael Agovino, 33, was being held on Monday on $50,000 bond after being arraigned over the weekend on counts of sexual abuse, stalking and burglary. He is due back in court on Tuesday.

According to a criminal complaint cited by The Journal News, Agovino first contacted the unnamed victim in July 2019 to say he was investigating whether she had stolen money, which she denied.

Westchester County District Attorney Anthony Scarpino said there is no evidence she committed the crime.

After initially meeting the woman in a public place, Agovino told her to take him to her home so he could look for stolen money, then instructed her to strip once they were in her apartment, according to the complaint.

Scroll down for video

A woman (pictured on the right during an interview with News 12 Westchester) claims Agovino has visited her house and groped her on at least four occasions since last summer

On January 22, the woman, who had her face blurred to protect her identity, secretly recorded Agovino because she wanted to put an end to the alleged abuse

'Fearful of his authority, the fact that he was armed and that he might hurt her,' she removed her clothes, and he groped her breasts,' the complaint said.

The officer returned to her apartment in the following weeks, threatening to arrest her, and sexually abused her again, according to the complaint.

During one of the incidents, Agovino allegedly threatened to withhold the woman's diabetes and high blood pressure medication, unless she removed her clothes.

'He said, "You can either take off your clothes or suck my ****,' the woman said in an interview with New 12 Westchester.

The victim stripped in front of Agovino, who allegedly groped her while touching himself over his uniform, according to the complaint.

When he showed up on January 22 and again subjected her to unwanted sexual contact, she secretly recorded the encounter, according to authorities.

A man's voice could be heard on the recording complementing the woman's body and pestering her to remove her clothes

On the audio, which the victim shared with News 12 Westchester, a man believed to be Agovino comments on the woman's body and pesters her to remove her clothes.

'You've got some nice curves,' he is heard saying. 'I love looking at them. Let me see.'

The woman is heard telling the suspect 'no' several times on the recording.

'No! Don't pull down my pants,' she exclaims.

According to the complaint, Agovino proceeded to grope the woman over her clothing.

In an interview with the station, the victim, who had her face blurred and her voice altered to protect her identity, said she decided to surreptitiously record Agovino last month because she was tired of his repeated visits to her apartment.

'He wanted to touch me,' she recounted.

The woman added that Agovino's alleged actions while on duty and in uniform have shaken her trust in law enforcement.

The woman tells the cop several times on the recording 'no' in response to his advances

Peekskill Mayor Andre Rainey called the case 'an embarrassment to our police department and our entire city'

'Now, I do not trust police officers at all,' she told News 12.

The police department put Agovino on leave, while Mayor Andre Rainey called the case 'an embarrassment to our police department and our entire city.'

Rainey's Facebook post went on to say: 'This behavior makes me sick and is intolerable. It was completely inappropriate and clearly unprofessional. There is no situation where this type of behavior is acceptable.'

The mayor, who is currently out of the country, plans to organize a meeting between police officials and members of the community to discuss this case.

'This is a severe blow that will be resolved, justice will be given, and we will overcome,' he concluded.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 20:44:57|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

JUBA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- After seeing the garbage mess in South Sudan's capital Juba, 18-year-old Francis Jada thought it was time to act and do something to rid his environment of plastics and other pollutants.

Eager to acquire new skills to help him tackle the garbage crisis, Jada joined a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) center based at the University of Juba where he learned how to build robots.

Barely a year later, Jada and a team of teenagers built a prototype robot that can pick plastics and other pollutants from water bodies.

"When you move around Juba, you see a lot of rubbish especially plastics dumped around the city and they easily get to water bodies," Jada told Xinhua.

"This robot seeks to clean oceans and also save aquatic life in the world," he added.

Last year, Jada and six members of the South Sudan Robotic Association represented their country in the First Global Challenge in Dubai, United Arabs Emirates where the team emerged 52 out of 189 countries.

Jada said the experience he got from the competition encouraged him to study mechanical engineering at university in order to enable him contribute to the development of his conflict-torn country.

Team mentor Richard Ring said the young tech enthusiasts have exhibited exceptional skills in the technology sector.

Ring called on South Sudan's youth to embrace technology in order to address some of the problems facing the world's youngest country, such as food insecurity, health care and water shortages.

"We need to work hard and show the world that South Sudanese can contribute to solving the real-world problems," Ring said.

The South Sudan Robotic Team was founded in 2017, aiming at encouraging youth to embrace and venture into science and technology to solve global issues in the areas of energy, agriculture, climate change, among others.

Team manager Kuc Mayur Kuc said apart from the ocean cleaning robot, his group has also built a power generating robot and another one that can pick garbage from the environment.

"It is hard for a country to develop without science. It is time for our young South Sudanese to get the skills and innovations to help their country and lives. We are urging the young people to join the STEM center," Kuc said.

"We have many challenges as a new country, but we are determined to make the start and use the skills that we have to help our country develop," he added.
By Gwenaelle Barzic and Allison Lampert

PARIS/MONTREAL (Reuters) - France's Alstom SA has agreed to buy the rail division of Canada's Bombardier Inc for up to 6.2 billion euros ($6.7 billion) to create the world's No. 2 train manufacturer and better take on Chinese leader CRRC Corp.

The cash and shares deal, announced on Monday, is the latest attempt by Western rail firms to try to build scale.

Alstom, the maker of TGV bullet trains that speed between French cities such as Paris and Nice, was blocked last year from merging with Germany's Siemens AG by European regulators, who argued the deal could penalize consumers.

The agreement between Alstom and Bombardier would unite companies with an estimated $17 billion in combined revenue.

The French firm said the two were complementary geographically, adding Bombardier's European footprint was stronger in northern countries and the Canadian firm would add expertise in monorail trains as well as rail services.

"We don't see it as a huge issue," Alstom Chief Executive Henri Poupart-Lafarge said of regulatory hurdles on a conference call. "If there are some issues, they will be much easier to solve than the one we had with Siemens."

A combination with Bombardier would give Alstom a share of between 40% and 60% of the European regional train market, according to estimates cited by union sources in France, well above Siemens at 10% to 20%.

But some analysts have said there could be less opposition to a deal this time as Alstom and Bombardier have a lower combined European market share in high-speed rail and signaling.

The companies have informally briefed EU antitrust regulators on the deal, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The French government, which had criticized the EU's veto on the Siemens merger, welcomed the transaction.

"This deal will allow Alstom to prepare for the future, against the backdrop of increasingly intense international competition," Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said, adding he was due to discuss it with the EU's antitrust boss, Margrethe Vestager, on Tuesday.

Story continues

Bombardier and Alstom said they expected the deal to close in the first half of 2021. Their agreement includes a 75 million-euro break fee.

DEBT-LADEN BOMBARDIER

Train makers are eyeing consolidation to reduce costs and improve thin rolling stock margins, and Alstom said it also wanted to make the most of a boom in rail travel as consumers switch from planes for environmental reasons.

The merged group would be able to reach annual cost savings of 400 million euros from the fourth year, the company added.

Under the deal, one of the Bombardier rail division's shareholders, Canadian pension fund Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, would become the lead investor in Alstom with an 18% stake.

French telecoms-to-construction conglomerate Bouygues would retain around 10% of Alstom, which said it would finance the transaction by raising equity and with debt. The final price will be between 5.8 billion and 6.2 billion euros, it said.

The deal gives Bombardier's rail unit an enterprise value - equity plus debt - of $8.2 billion, which would allow the Canadian firm to pay down some of its $9.3 billion in debt.

After closing, Montreal-based Bombardier would emerge as the only large pure business jet maker, with a focus on expanding aftermarket sales and margin expansion.

Aerospace analysts cautioned that the loss of rail's stable contracts would create greater risk for Bombardier in the event of a market downturn.

General Dynamics Corp, parent company of Bombardier's U.S. rival Gulfstream, generates revenue from military sales in addition to business jets, as does France's Dassault Aviation.

Bombardier has shed businesses after facing a cash crunch in 2015 while bringing a new plane to market. The Alstom deal comes days after it sold its stake in the A220 passenger jet program to Airbus.

It has also been struggling to contain higher rail costs generated by problematic contracts in its nearly $36 billion order backlog, which Alstom said it would look to fix.

"Clearly I would have preferred for things to have turned out differently for Bombardier," Quebec's premier, Francois Legault, said, adding Caisse's presence in Alstom's capital was a comfort for Canadian interests.

Bombardier Transportation is headquartered in Berlin and has plants worldwide including at Derby in central England, Mannheim in Germany and Crespin in northern France.

Alstom's Poupart-Lafarge said the acquisition would not affect jobs.

SIEMENS ON ITS OWN

A previous flirtation between Siemens and Bombardier to combine some train businesses fell apart in 2017.

A source close to Siemens said there was no sign the firm was planning any type of counterbid, given EU regulators' tough stance on its previous attempts.

Germany's IG Metall union called on the German government to look at the matter and raised concerns about an Alstom-Bombardier deal, saying it "would not accept any consolidation at the expense of Germany" should EU regulators allow this combination. State-owned Deutsche Bahn is a big customer of both firms.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Matthieu Protard, Michel Rose, Laetitia Volga and Maya Nikolaeva in Paris, Alexander Huebner in Munich, Allison Lampert in Montreal and Foo Yun Chee in Brussels; Writing by Sarah White; Editing by David Holmes, Mark Potter and Matthew Lewis)
New Delhi: The government on Monday (February 17) signed a $450 million loan agreement with the World Bank to support the national programme to arrest the countrys depleting groundwater levels and strengthen groundwater institutions, according to Ministry of Finance statement.

The programme will, among others, enhance the recharge of aquifers and introduce water conservation practices; promote activities related to water harvesting, water management, and crop alignment; create an institutional structure for sustainable groundwater management; and equip communities and stakeholders to sustainably manage groundwater, the statement said.

The programme will introduce a bottom-up planning process for community-driven development of water budgets and Water Security Plans (WSPs). Water budgets will assess surface and groundwater conditions (both quantity and quality) and identify current and future needs.

The WSP will focus on improving groundwater quantity and incentivize selected states to implement the actions proposed, it said, adding "Such community-led management measures will make users aware of consumption patterns and pave the way for economic measures that reduce groundwater consumption."

The $450 million loan, from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), has a 6-year grace period, and a maturity of 18 years, the FinMin added.

The World Bank-supported Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABHY)  National Groundwater Management Improvement Programme will be implemented in the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh and cover 78 districts, it said.

"These states span both the hard rock aquifers of peninsular India and the alluvial aquifers of the Indo-Gangetic plains. They were selected based on several criteria, including degree of groundwater exploitation and degradation, established legal and regulatory instruments, institutional readiness, and experience in implementing initiatives related to groundwater management," the statement said.

The Atal Bhujal Yojana intends to strengthen the institutional framework for participatory groundwater management and encourage behavioral changes at the community level for sustainable groundwater resource management. The use of cutting-edge technology, involving Artificial Intelligence and space technology will further help in better implementation of the programme.

The loan agreement was signed by Sameer Kumar Khare, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, on behalf of the government and Junaid Ahmad, Country Director, India on behalf of the World Bank.

"This programme will contribute to rural livelihoods and in the context of climatic shifts, build resilience of the rural economy. But its impact will also be felt globally as it stands as one of the important programmes of groundwater management worldwide," said Junaid Ahmad.

The last few decades saw an exponential growth in the exploitation of groundwater through the construction of millions of private wells. Between 1950 and 2010, the number of drilled tube wells increased from 1 million to nearly 30 million. This allowed the area irrigated by groundwater to increase from approximately 3 million ha to more than 35 million ha. Groundwater currently provides approximately 60 percent of irrigation water. Over 80 percent of the rural and urban domestic water supplies in India are served by groundwater making India the worlds largest user of groundwater.

If the current trends persist, 60 percent of districts are likely to reach critical level of groundwater depletion within two decades, which in turn will render at least 25 percent of the agriculture production at risk. Climate change will likely exacerbate current pressures on groundwater resources.
The four men convicted of rape and murder of the 23-year-old paramedic will be hanged on March 3 at 6 am, a Delhi court said on Monday. This is the third black warrant issued by the court in this case.

The death warrant would be now executed on March 3 at 6 am, judge Dharmender Rana said in a one-line order pronounced on Monday afternoon. The judge had earlier in the day reserved his order after arguments by both sides.

As soon as the judge announced the new death warrant, there were claps in the court.

Also read: What Delhi Prison Rules say on executing death row convicts

The court was hearing the petition filed by the parents of the victim for issuance of fresh death warrant. The parents of the 23-year-old had moved court after the seven-day period given by the Delhi high court to the convicts to exhaust their legal remedies expired on February 12.

I am not very happy as this is the third time that death warrant has been issued. We have struggled so much, so I am satisfied that death warrant has been issued finally. I hope they (convicts) will be executed on March 3, said the victims mother Asha Devi.

At the hearing today, Tihar Jails law officer had handed over a status report to the court.

Also read: Hope they will be executed on March 3: Delhi gang rape case victims mother

Special Public Prosecutor Rajiv Mohan apprised the court about the current status of the case and also stated that three out of four convicts have already exhausted their legal remedies.

And as of date, there is no petition pending in any court, Mohan said, arguing that death warrant can be issued.

Also read: December 16 gang rape convicts in Tihar Jail on suicide watch

He also mentioned that Delhi High Court had given seven-day time to the convicts and that period is over.

The mother of one of the convicts, Mukesh Kumar, started crying and pleaded that his sons death sentence should be commuted to life sentence.

Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana was also informed by AP Singh, the lawyer of the convicts, that one of them, Vinay Sharma, is on hunger strike in Tihar jail since February 11.

The parents of the 2012 Delhi gangrape case victim, through their lawyer, had told the court during the hearing on Thursday that patience of the society is being tested by this case.

The date of execution for the four convicts - Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Kumar Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar (31) - was first fixed for January 22 in Tihar jail, was later postponed for 6 am on February 1 by a January 17 court order.

The physiotherapy intern was gang-raped and savagely assaulted on the night of December 16, 2012, in a moving bus in South Delhi. She died of her injuries a fortnight later in a Singapore hospital.

Six people - the four convicts, Ram Singh and a juvenile - were named as accused.

The trial of the five adult men began in a special fast-track court in March 2013.

Ram Singh, the prime accused, committed suicide by hanging himself in Tihar jail days after the trial began. The juvenile, who was said to be the most brutal of the attackers, was put in a correctional home for three years.

He was released in 2015 and sent to an undisclosed location amid concerns over a threat to his life. He, when released, was 20 years old.

Mukesh, Vinay, Akshay and Pawan were sentenced to death in September 2013 by the trial court.
You have studied the ASEAN economy for years. What in Vietnam has impressed you the most in its contribution to the blocs development?

Kavi Chongkittavorn, senior advisor of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia

Vietnam has been a member of the ASEAN since 1995 and has performed as a proactive member in the regions activities, particularly in the economy. Vietnam has been a non-permanent member of the United Nations in 2008-2009, and the chair of the ASEAN in 1998 and 2010. Through its initiatives, Vietnam has made great contributions to the peace and development of the world as well as the region.

This year, the country once again assumed the roles of ASEAN chair and non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC), this time simultaneously. Vietnam will be able to use its unique experiences for the benefit of the region and the broader community. Vietnams economic growth reached 7.02 per cent last year. The country has become a model of economic development as it has one of the most open trading systems and boasts many free trade agreements with partners.

The next step is to make sure that economic growth and the dividend is filtered down to the community level to the people, because the ASEANs target is benefiting its citizens. Vietnam is in a very good position to do so, because it has in three decades transformed into one of the leading economies in the ASEAN.

The ASEAN Year 2020 is themed Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN. How significant is it to strengthening solidarity and co-operation?

The theme has a bigger focus than the one advanced last year. It will be good for the ASEAN because with a focused and narrowed theme, it will be easier for the region to classify and make better and faster decisions. In being cohesive, Vietnam would like enhance the blocs centrality and solidarity, promote the regions internal capacities of all members and sustainable development of the ASEAN Community. Meanwhile, in being responsive, Vietnam would like to promote ASEAN capacities in all areas to better cope with rapid and complicated developments in the Asia-Pacific region and the wider world, such as strategic competition among major powers, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and non- traditional security threats. With the theme Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN, Vietnam would like to promote closer links in politics, security, economics, trade, and social and cultural pillars, putting ASEAN citizens at the centre of the development process.

You have mentioned Vietnams targets in the role of being ASEAN chair, but 2020 has so far got off to a complex start. What should Vietnam do to bring the ASEAN more benefits?

In 2020, there are several key issues that Vietnam in the role of ASEAN chair needs to solve, including the second special ASEAN-US Summit, in which Vietnam and Laos will be co-ordinators. The parties involved have to work out what would be some creative ideas. So far, the points in the Sunnylands Declaration, signed during the Barack Obama presidency, have been the best document involving the ASEAN and the US.

Also of importance are the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, and the 15th East Asia Summit in Hanoi in November. These are key events for the development of the ASEAN and Vietnam. People expect Vietnam to be disciplined as a chair, as well as being neutral and proactive. It will focus on assets, centrality, and most importantly putting the ASEAN interest ahead of anything else.

Vietnam can do this successfully. As Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has said, Let us think on a community scale, act in a community scale, and share community values. There are no ties more enduring than those connecting our hearts. Let our efforts take the ASEAN far and wide, and at the same time, keep the ASEAN close to our hearts.

In terms of carrying out the role of non-permanent member of the UNSC, it is most important to serve as a bridge between the ASEAN and the UN on common issues. At the UNSC, Vietnam can highlight what the ASEAN has done, and could increase more support.

The other issues are on peace and security. Without them, economic development and continuity of sustainable development will be unfulfilled. So, Vietnam, as an objective part of this, should promote the role of peacekeeping in the UN.

Finally, regarding the media, although Vietnamese media has been more active compared to 10 years ago, I think people need more articles in English about ASEAN activities especially. Lets see the country write its own stories based on trusted sources of news.
Les Ouchida was born an American just outside California's capital city, but his citizenship mattered little after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and the United States declared war. Based solely on their Japanese ancestry, the 5-year-old and his family were taken from their home in 1942 and imprisoned far away in Arkansas.

They were among 120,000 Japanese Americans held at 10 internment camps during World War II, their only fault being we had the wrong last names and wrong faces, said Ouchida, now 82 and living a short drive from where he grew up and was taken as a boy due to fear that Japanese Americans would side with Japan in the war.

On Thursday, California's Legislature is expected to approve a resolution offering an apology to Ouchida and other internment victims for the state's role in aiding the U.S. government's policy and condemning actions that helped fan anti-Japanese discrimination.

President Franklin D. Roosevelts executive order No. 9066 establishing the camps was signed Feb. 19, 1942, and 2/19 now is marked by Japanese Americans as a Day of Remembrance.

Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi was born in Japan and is one the roughly 430,000 people of Japanese descent living in California, the largest population of any state. The Democrat who represents Manhattan Beach and other beach communities near Los Angeles introduced the resolution.

We like to talk a lot about how we lead the nation by example, he said. Unfortunately, in this case, California led the racist anti-Japanese American movement.

A congressional commission in 1983 concluded that the detentions were a result of racial prejudice, war hysteria and failure of political leadership. Five years later, the U.S. government formally apologized and paid $20,000 in reparations to each victim.

The money didn't come close to replacing what was lost. Ouchida says his father owned a profitable delivery business with 20 trucks. He never fully recovered from losing his business and died early.

Related video: Victims recalls experience nearly 80 years after internment policy



The California resolution doesnt come with any compensation. It targets the actions of the California Legislature at the time for supporting the internments. Two camps were located in the state  Manzanar on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada in central California and Tule Lake near the Oregon state line, the largest of all the camps.

I want the California Legislature to officially acknowledge and apologize while these camp survivors are still alive, Muratsuchi said.

He said anti-Japanese sentiment began in California as early as 1913, when the state passed the California Alien Land Law, targeting Japanese farmers who some in California's massive agricultural industry perceived as a threat. Seven years later, the state barred anyone with Japanese ancestry from buying farmland.

The internment of Ouchida, his older brother and parents began in Fresno, California. Three months later, they were sent to Jerome, Arkansas, where they stayed for most of the war.

Given their young ages at the time, many living victims such as Ouchida dont remember much of life in the camps. But he does recall straw-filled mattresses and little privacy.

Communal bathrooms had rows of toilets with no barriers between users. "They put a bag over their heads when they went to the bathroom for privacy, said Ouchida, who teaches about the internments at the California Museum in Sacramento.

Before the last camp was closed in 1946, Ouchida's family was shipped to a facility in Arizona. When the family was freed, they took a Greyhound bus back to California. When it reached a stop sign near their community outside Sacramento, I still remember the ladies on the bus started crying, Ouchida said. Because they were home.

The resolution, co-introduced by California Assembly Republican Leader Marie Waldron of Escondido, makes a passing reference to recent national events and says they serve as a reminder to learn from the mistakes of the past.

Muratsuchi said the inspiration for that passage was the migrant children held in U.S. government custody over the past year.

Ouchida said Japanese families like his always considered themselves loyal citizens before and after the internments. He holds no animosity toward the U.S. or California governments, choosing to focus on positives outgrowths like the permanent exhibit at the California Museum that provides an unvarnished view of the internments.

"Even if it took time, we have the goodness to still apologize," he said.
Mississauga, Ontario and Sacramento, California--(Newsfile Corp. - February 17, 2020) - Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc. (TSXV: BEE) (OTCQB: BEVVF) (the "Company" or "BVT") today announced the opening of its new European office in Switzerland's Agri & Co Innovation Center, where the Company joins other innovative organizations in the country's flourishing ag-tech community. The move is part of BVT's award in the Agri & Co Challenge.

"We are honored to have been awarded this space as part of the Agri & Co Challenge and we would like to thank them for their support. The award recognizes BVT as a sustainable alternative to chemical pesticides, something that the European market is eager to adopt," says Ashish Malik, CEO of Bee Vectoring Technologies. "The new office and the accompanying expert resources will help BVT expand into the European market."





Image 1: The BVT team visiting Switzerland's Agri & Co Innovation Center

To view an enhanced version of Image 1, please visit:

https://media.zenfs.com/en-us/newsfile_64/9f8d9d7eff0ac3bcbe79e37b9c4da8ad





Image 2: Interior photos of lab and research spaces.

To view an enhanced version of Image 2, please visit:

https://media.zenfs.com/en-us/newsfile_64/e3aa1835495c9521f2b05beaee8abb91

The new location is designed to help BVT continue its innovation in biological crop protection delivery systems. It includes a fully-equipped laboratory, growth chambers, greenhouse space for trialing (starting in spring 2020), and 95 hectares of land leased to a local grower who will host trials in his fields, as well as office space. In addition, BVT will receive the full support of Agri & Co staff and the Swiss canton of Fribourg's state government, access to experts in various fields, as well as facilitated R&D collaborations with other ag-tech innovators.

"This is now our regional base for piloting and commercializing our natural precision agriculture technology in Europe. The goal of the BVT Europe office is to coordinate registration efforts across Europe, Africa and the Middle East (EAME), enable partnership conversations and develop our go-to-market strategy with our North American head office," says Christoph Lehnen, BVT's Business Manager for EAME. "As soon as we have Swiss regulatory approval, which we anticipate this year, we will start establishing commercial deals with Swiss growers and gain valuable experience for an eventual launch across Europe."

Story continues





Image 3: A field for future BVT trials of its natural precision agriculture system.

To view an enhanced version of Image 3, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3903/52489_9662d690843e794c_004full.jpg





Image 4: Exterior photos of Switzerland's Agri & Co Innovation Center.

To view an enhanced version of Image 4, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3903/52489_9662d690843e794c_005full.jpg

Strategically, it's beneficial for BVT to have a presence in the Agri & Co Innovation Center. The vision for the Center is to become the Swiss - and potentially even a European - hub for the Agri, Food and Nutrition industry, with a number of startups already in place and more companies in talks to occupy a portion of the newly refurbished space.

"Consumer pressure against pesticides is significant in the European market," continued Mr. Lehnen. "The European Union (EU) and Switzerland recently banned Chlorothalonil1, one of the world's most common pesticides, which means another one of very few available contact fungicides is off the market. Growers have access to fewer and fewer tools to manage their crops, while resistance to fungicides is increasing. It's a perfect entry point for crop protection alternatives, like BVT, that are effective and meet strict environmental requirements."

Switzerland, like the rest of Europe, has targeted to reduce the risks of pesticide use by 50%.2 In the Swiss action plan on pesticides, this involves less pesticide applications, more training and education, the substitution of pesticides posing particular risks, and other target actions. At the same time, new pests (e.g. Drosophila suzukii) and diseases (e.g. Marssonina coronata) have established a foothold in Europe, and in many cases, cannot be managed with chemical pesticides. Alternatives are needed and this presents the market opportunity for BVT.

Today, growers in Switzerland and broader within the EU are increasingly seeking non-chemical alternatives. The overall EU pesticides market is worth approximately US$13 billion.3 BVT is targeting $1 billion of that for its bee delivery system, a huge opportunity that opens up a new market, helps maintain yields, and offers Europe a healthier, less chemically-dependent future.

1 Source: Official Journal of the European Union, April 29, 2019

2 Source: Switzerland Action Plan Pesticides, January 28, 2020

3 Source: Eurostat, March 28, 2018

About Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc.

BVT, an agriculture technology company, is a market disruptor with a significant global market opportunity in the $240 billion crop protection and fertilizer market. BVT has pioneered a natural precision agriculture system that replaces chemical pesticides and wasteful plant protection product spray applications by delivering biological pesticide alternatives to crops using commercially grown bees. BVT's award-winning technology, precision vectoring, is completely harmless to bees and allows minute amounts of naturally-derived pesticides (called biologicals) to be delivered directly to blooms, providing improved crop protection and yield results than traditional chemical pesticides - and improving the health of the soil, the microbiome and the environment. Currently, BVT has over 65 granted patents, over 35 patents pending in all major agricultural countries worldwide, and has US EPA registration of its VECTORITE with CR-7 (EPA Registration No. 90641-2) for sale as a registered biological fungicide for use on the labeled crops.

Additional information can be viewed at the Company's website www.beevt.com. To receive regular news updates from the Company, subscribe at www.beevt.com/newsletter.

Contact:

Ashish Malik, President & CEO

info@beevt.com

Babak Pedram, Investor Relations

Virtus Advisory Group

Tel: 416-995-8651

bpedram@virtusadvisory.com

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.

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking information" as such term is defined in applicable Canadian securities legislation. The words "may", "would", "could", "should", "potential", "will", "seek", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions as they relate to the Company, "annual revenue potential", are intended to identify forward-looking information. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking information. Such statements reflect the Company's current views and intentions with respect to future events, and current information available to the Company, and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including: planted acres of strawberries in Florida, selling price of competitive chemical pesticides and the US to Canadian dollar exchange rate. Material factors or assumptions were applied in providing forward-looking information. Many factors could cause the actual results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking information to vary from those described herein should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize. These factors include changes in law, competition, litigation, the ability to implement business strategies and pursue business opportunities, state of the capital markets, the availability of funds and resources to pursue operations, new technologies, the ability to protect intellectual property rights, the ability to obtain patent protection for products, third-party intellectual property infringement claims, regulatory changes affecting products, failing research and development activities, the ability to reach and sustain profitability, dependence on business and technical experts, the ability to effectively manage business operations and growth, issuance of debt, dilution of existing securities, volatility of publicly traded securities, potential conflicts of interest, unlikelihood of dividend payments, the potential costs stemming from defending third-party intellectual property infringement claims, the ability to secure relationships with manufacturers and purchasers, as well as general economic, market and business conditions, as well as those risk factors discussed or referred to in the Company's Filing Statement dated May 29, 2015, filed with the securities regulatory authorities in certain provinces of Canada and available at www.sedar.com. Should any factor affect the Company in an unexpected manner, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect, the actual results or events may differ materially from the results or events predicted. Any such forward-looking information is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. Moreover, the Company does not assume responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such forward-looking information. The forward-looking information included in this press release is made as of the date of this press release and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable law. All figures are in Canadian dollars.

###

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52489
DGAP-News: Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc. / Key word(s): Miscellaneous



The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Mississauga, Ontario and Sacramento, California--(Newsfile Corp. - February 17, 2020) - Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc. (TSXV: BEE) (OTCQB: BEVVF) (the "Company" or "BVT") today announced the opening of its new European office in Switzerland's Agri & Co Innovation Center, where the Company joins other innovative organizations in the country's flourishing ag-tech community. The move is part of BVT's award in the Agri & Co Challenge. "We are honored to have been awarded this space as part of the Agri & Co Challenge and we would like to thank them for their support. The award recognizes BVT as a sustainable alternative to chemical pesticides, something that the European market is eager to adopt," says Ashish Malik, CEO of Bee Vectoring Technologies. "The new office and the accompanying expert resources will help BVT expand into the European market." Cannot view this image? Visit: https://media.zenfs.com/en-us/eqs_uk_988/9f8d9d7eff0ac3bcbe79e37b9c4da8ad



Image 1: The BVT team visiting Switzerland's Agri & Co Innovation Center To view an enhanced version of Image 1, please visit:

https://media.zenfs.com/en-us/eqs_uk_988/9f8d9d7eff0ac3bcbe79e37b9c4da8ad Cannot view this image? Visit: https://media.zenfs.com/en-us/eqs_uk_988/e3aa1835495c9521f2b05beaee8abb91



Image 2: Interior photos of lab and research spaces. To view an enhanced version of Image 2, please visit:

https://media.zenfs.com/en-us/eqs_uk_988/e3aa1835495c9521f2b05beaee8abb91 The new location is designed to help BVT continue its innovation in biological crop protection delivery systems. It includes a fully-equipped laboratory, growth chambers, greenhouse space for trialing (starting in spring 2020), and 95 hectares of land leased to a local grower who will host trials in his fields, as well as office space. In addition, BVT will receive the full support of Agri & Co staff and the Swiss canton of Fribourg's state government, access to experts in various fields, as well as facilitated R&D collaborations with other ag-tech innovators. "This is now our regional base for piloting and commercializing our natural precision agriculture technology in Europe. The goal of the BVT Europe office is to coordinate registration efforts across Europe, Africa and the Middle East (EAME), enable partnership conversations and develop our go-to-market strategy with our North American head office," says Christoph Lehnen, BVT's Business Manager for EAME. "As soon as we have Swiss regulatory approval, which we anticipate this year, we will start establishing commercial deals with Swiss growers and gain valuable experience for an eventual launch across Europe." Cannot view this image? Visit: https://media.zenfs.com/en-us/eqs_uk_988/ea5014cf66d45c262e8a4d4834e472a7



Image 3: A field for future BVT trials of its natural precision agriculture system. To view an enhanced version of Image 3, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3903/52489_9662d690843e794c_004full.jpg Cannot view this image? Visit: https://media.zenfs.com/en-us/eqs_uk_988/2e598748b254ffe3476ab32c86017aa5



Image 4: Exterior photos of Switzerland's Agri & Co Innovation Center. To view an enhanced version of Image 4, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3903/52489_9662d690843e794c_005full.jpg Strategically, it's beneficial for BVT to have a presence in the Agri & Co Innovation Center. The vision for the Center is to become the Swiss - and potentially even a European - hub for the Agri, Food and Nutrition industry, with a number of startups already in place and more companies in talks to occupy a portion of the newly refurbished space. "Consumer pressure against pesticides is significant in the European market," continued Mr. Lehnen. "The European Union (EU) and Switzerland recently banned Chlorothalonil1, one of the world's most common pesticides, which means another one of very few available contact fungicides is off the market. Growers have access to fewer and fewer tools to manage their crops, while resistance to fungicides is increasing. It's a perfect entry point for crop protection alternatives, like BVT, that are effective and meet strict environmental requirements." Switzerland, like the rest of Europe, has targeted to reduce the risks of pesticide use by 50%.2 In the Swiss action plan on pesticides, this involves less pesticide applications, more training and education, the substitution of pesticides posing particular risks, and other target actions. At the same time, new pests (e.g. Drosophila suzukii) and diseases (e.g. Marssonina coronata) have established a foothold in Europe, and in many cases, cannot be managed with chemical pesticides. Alternatives are needed and this presents the market opportunity for BVT. Today, growers in Switzerland and broader within the EU are increasingly seeking non-chemical alternatives. The overall EU pesticides market is worth approximately US$13 billion.3 BVT is targeting $1 billion of that for its bee delivery system, a huge opportunity that opens up a new market, helps maintain yields, and offers Europe a healthier, less chemically-dependent future. 1 Source: Official Journal of the European Union, April 29, 2019

2 Source: Switzerland Action Plan Pesticides, January 28, 2020

3 Source: Eurostat, March 28, 2018 About Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc. BVT, an agriculture technology company, is a market disruptor with a significant global market opportunity in the $240 billion crop protection and fertilizer market. BVT has pioneered a natural precision agriculture system that replaces chemical pesticides and wasteful plant protection product spray applications by delivering biological pesticide alternatives to crops using commercially grown bees. BVT's award-winning technology, precision vectoring, is completely harmless to bees and allows minute amounts of naturally-derived pesticides (called biologicals) to be delivered directly to blooms, providing improved crop protection and yield results than traditional chemical pesticides - and improving the health of the soil, the microbiome and the environment. Currently, BVT has over 65 granted patents, over 35 patents pending in all major agricultural countries worldwide, and has US EPA registration of its VECTORITE with CR-7 (EPA Registration No. 90641-2) for sale as a registered biological fungicide for use on the labeled crops. Additional information can be viewed at the Company's website www.beevt.com. To receive regular news updates from the Company, subscribe at www.beevt.com/newsletter. Contact:

Ashish Malik, President & CEO

info@beevt.com Babak Pedram, Investor Relations

Virtus Advisory Group

Tel: 416-995-8651

bpedram@virtusadvisory.com 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. Certain statements contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking information" as such term is defined in applicable Canadian securities legislation. The words "may", "would", "could", "should", "potential", "will", "seek", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions as they relate to the Company, "annual revenue potential", are intended to identify forward-looking information. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking information. Such statements reflect the Company's current views and intentions with respect to future events, and current information available to the Company, and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including: planted acres of strawberries in Florida, selling price of competitive chemical pesticides and the US to Canadian dollar exchange rate. Material factors or assumptions were applied in providing forward-looking information. Many factors could cause the actual results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking information to vary from those described herein should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize. These factors include changes in law, competition, litigation, the ability to implement business strategies and pursue business opportunities, state of the capital markets, the availability of funds and resources to pursue operations, new technologies, the ability to protect intellectual property rights, the ability to obtain patent protection for products, third-party intellectual property infringement claims, regulatory changes affecting products, failing research and development activities, the ability to reach and sustain profitability, dependence on business and technical experts, the ability to effectively manage business operations and growth, issuance of debt, dilution of existing securities, volatility of publicly traded securities, potential conflicts of interest, unlikelihood of dividend payments, the potential costs stemming from defending third-party intellectual property infringement claims, the ability to secure relationships with manufacturers and purchasers, as well as general economic, market and business conditions, as well as those risk factors discussed or referred to in the Company's Filing Statement dated May 29, 2015, filed with the securities regulatory authorities in certain provinces of Canada and available at www.sedar.com. Should any factor affect the Company in an unexpected manner, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect, the actual results or events may differ materially from the results or events predicted. Any such forward-looking information is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. Moreover, the Company does not assume responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such forward-looking information. The forward-looking information included in this press release is made as of the date of this press release and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable law. All figures are in Canadian dollars. ### To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52489 Click on, or paste the following link into your web browser,to view the associated documents http://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52489

News Source: Newsfile



17.02.2020 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.

Archive at www.dgap.de


Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 17, 2020 06:30 695 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2064e146d 1 Politics Prabowo-Subianto,Prabowo,Minister,defense-ministry,Indo-Barometer,survey Free

A recent survey conducted by Jakarta-based pollster Indo Barometer has found Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto to be among the most well-known members of President Joko Jokowi Widodos current Cabinet.

In the poll, conducted from Jan. 9 to 15, 1,200 respondents were asked to name the first Cabinet member who came to mind, with 18.4 percent naming Prabowo. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani came in second, being named by 10.4 percent of respondents.

I think its only logical given that [Prabowo] was a two-time presidential candidate, Indo Barometer executive director Muhammad Qodari said in a press conference in Jakarta on Sunday.

Other ministers found to have high name recognition among respondents included State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Erick Thohir at 8.2 percent; Coordinating Legal, Political, and Human Rights Minister Mahfud MD at 7.9 percent; Education and Culture Minister Nadiem Makariem at 5.3 percent; and Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan at 5.2 percent.

The least well-known ministers according to the survey are Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Edhy Prabowo (2.5 percent) and Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung (2.2 percent).

Prabowo also had the best job approval among Jokowi's Cabinet members at 26.8 percent, followed by Sri Mulyani and Erick, at 13.9 percent and 12.6 percent, respectively.

Qodari noted that Prabowo had maintained his political standing and relevance since taking office as a minister under Jokowi. (rfa/mfp)
Ten people were arrested and a total of 14 people are due to be removed from the country on foot of two separate operations by gardai and other state agencies.

Two companies  a food supplier and a meat processor  were searched on suspicion of employing people in breach of immigration and employment law.

The multi-agency operations were conducted by the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB), the Workplace Relations Commission and the Department of Social Protection.

The first operation, conducted on January 30, took place at the warehouse of an Asian food products supplier and a number of attached offices, in a business park in west Dublin.

The company was suspected of employing persons, including people subject to deportation, in contravention of the Immigration and Employment Permits Legislation.

During the course of the search and inspection, a total of six people were arrested, said a Garda statement. Three people were arrested on foot of live deportation orders.

The remaining three people were arrested for having no legal status to be in the State and subsequently appeared before Blanchardstown District Court on January 31, 2020.

Department of Social Protection officers suspended payments, including disability allowance, rent supplement and child benefit, as a result of the operation with estimated potential savings of 100,000.

The second operation, conducted on February 11, involved a search of offices and a warehouse of a meat processing company in Co Meath.

A total of 19 individuals were discovered in contravention of either immigration or permit legislation, it said.

Four people were arrested and charged under immigration legislation and bailed to appear in court. A fifth person claimed asylum.

The statement added: An additional 11 people were encountered with not having any current immigration status in the State; they will be subsequently removed in accordance with legislation.

The Workplace Relations Commission is investigating both cases under employment law.
Negotiations are going on between India and the US to iron out differences for a proposed trade package but chances of signing a deal during US President Donald Trump's visit here next week are thin, sources said on Monday.

Officials of both the countries are yet to resolve issues pertaining to sectors, including politically sensitive agriculture and dairy, even as less than a week is left for the visit of the US President, according to sources.

They said the deal between the two countries should be mutually beneficial and should not compromise India's interest.

"The US is adding more to its list of demands as trade talks are progressing," they added.

It is also not yet clear whether the US-India CEOs Forum will be convened during Trump's two-day visit, beginning from February 24.

The forum is a panel of CEOs that gives feedback to the US and Indian governments on commercial relationship between the two countries.

As the US is seeking greater market access for its dairy products, India has conveyed to them that dairy and milk products should not be derived from animals that are fed internal organs, blood meal, or tissues of ruminant origin as it would hurt sentiments of the society at large.

On the other hand, India is seeking resumption of export incentives by the US, under its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programme.

Under this programme, India had earlier exported goods worth USD 6.5 billion. So if the US would resume these incentives, it would seek greater market access equivalent to this amount at least.

Under GSP, India was exporting 1,900 items from sectors like chemicals and engineering. It was rolled back by the US last year.

India is demanding exemption from high duties imposed by the US on certain steel and aluminium products, and greater market access for its products from sectors such as agriculture, automobile, automobile components and engineering.

On the other hand, the US wants greater market access for its farm and manufacturing products, dairy items, medical devices, and data localisation, apart from cut on import duties on some information and communication technology products. The US has also raised concerns over high trade deficit with India.

In 2018-19, India's exports to the US stood at USD 52.4 billion while imports were USD 35.5 billion. Trade deficit dipped from USD 21.3 billion in 2017-18 to USD 16.9 billion in 2018-19.

India received FDI worth USD 3.13 billion from the US in 2018-19, higher than USD 2 billion in 2017-18.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nine people died and 51 sustained injuries in a ghastly accident at Monkra, a town on the Dambai - Kete Krachi, road in the Oti Region last Saturday when a cargo truck in which they were travelling hit an embankment and overturned.



The injured were rushed to the Krachi District Hospital for medical care.



The Kete Krachi District Police Commander, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mr Kwabena Nkrumah, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, said the victims including some students were returning from a funeral at Osramani.



The police commander said the cargo truck with registration number AS -1016 N, was carrying many passengers with some hanging on the sides of the vehicle.



He said the driver did not sustain any injuries so he was assisting the police in investigations.



Vehicle overturn



The accident involved a Rhino cargo truck conveying mourners from a funeral grounds to their hometown. When they got to the Monkra junction, the driver realised that there was a speed hump that he did not notice earlier, so he veered off the road and hit the gutter and the vehicle overturned,"he said.



DSP Nkrumah said three people died on the spot while 57 were sent to the hospital.



He said "as we speak, six have also died bringing the death toll to nine.



The district commander added: Some of the people have been admitted and are receiving treatment. Currently, there are 16 in critical condition and a female amputated, so in all 24 are in the hospital now.



He said all the nine who died were males and cautioned drivers to abide by road regulations to prevent accidents.



Spate of accidents



This year has already seen a number of accidents with many casualties.



On Sunday January 2, this year six people were reported dead after two vehicles crashed on the Accra-Tema motorway.



In one of the accidents, on January 4, one person died and many injured when a cargo truck crashed a private car on the Nkawkaw-Abepotia stretch of the Accra  Kumasi Highway.



On January 13, an accident involving two buses, one traveling from Takoradi to Accra  and the other in the opposite direction claimed 34 lives.



In another accident, on February 14, seven people were injured after being involved in a terrible accident at the Trede-Kentinkiren road in the Atwima Kwanwoma District of the Ashanti Region.

Source: Daily Graphic









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said if the government changes its mindset then women officers could be given command posts in the Army and that its high time it should be implemented.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing on behalf of the Centre told the bench that women do not have to try and be equal to men as they were far ahead of them.

The submissions were made while it was hearing a petition by women officers demanding permanent commission for women in the Army.

Agreeing with Centres submission, Justice D Y Chandrachud said that its time the central government implements induction of women in the Army and gave them command posts.

Senior advocate R Balasubramaniam, appearing on behalf of Ministry of Defence, said there are no rules in the appointments, which contribute towards gender-based discrimination for promotion and appointments and emphasised that all provisions and rules apply equally to both men and women, and any proposition of gender discrimination is misplaced.

Justice Chandrachud pointed out that combat roles and battlefield combats were the only roles in the military where women are not being inducted even if it is assumed that women are less fit for combat roles.

However, Mehta argued that in a combat situation, different physical standards was a reality.

He further said it is also keeping in mind the greater family demands and danger of them being taken as prisoners of war.

The court has reserved its order on the issue of the permanent commission for women in the Army. It stated that similar petitions pertaining to the Air Force and the Navy will be taken up next week.

Counsel for the women petitioners argued that they have not received the dues, an issue originating from discrimination. The counsel also added that Short Service Commission was introduced in 2006.

Change mindset

The bench stated that if the government wants and changes its mindset then women officers could be given command posts in the Army as there are other services in addition to combat operations where women

could be accommodated.
Mumbai: When artist Rachita Taneja heads out to protest in New Delhi, she covers her face with a pollution mask, a hoodie or a scarf to reduce the risk of police facial recognition software identifying her.

Protesters in India are increasingly concerned about the use of facial recognition technology during protests against a controversial new citizenship law. Credit:AP

Police in the Indian capital and the northern state of Uttar Pradesh  both hotbeds of dissent  have been using the technology during protests that have raged since mid-December against a new citizenship law that critics say marginalises Muslims.

Activists are worried about insufficient regulation of the new technology amid what they say is a crackdown on dissent under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose Hindu nationalist agenda has gathered pace since his re-election in May.

"I do not know what they are going to do with my data," said Taneja, 28, who created a popular online cartoon about cheap ways for protesters to hide their faces. "We need to protect ourselves, given how this government cracks down."
Naftogaz group seeks nearly US$8 bln over assets Russia seized in Crimea

14:40, 17.02.20 1743

Russia argues that it owes Naftogaz nothing despite it does not dispute that it unlawfully expropriated Naftogaz's assets.
Updated March 26 to correct link in table

Interactive Investor's determination to take the DIY investing fight to the UK's leading platform Hargreaves Lansdown was signalled again today.

An announcement confirmed Interactive Investor is buying rival The Share Centre for 62million.

The attraction for Interactive Investor is adding yet more customers to its burgeoning investment platform, which in recent years has added Alliance Trust and TD Direct customers to its stable.

But what does the Share Centre deal mean for that platform's investors and will consolidation bring better services and keener prices for all? We take a look.

Investing platform Interactive Investor has confirmed it is buying rival platform The Share Centre for 62million

The Interactive Investor and Share Centre deal

Under the 62million deal, The Share Centre investors will receive 41p in a combination of cash and shares, which is a 41 per cent premium to its closing price of 29p last Friday.

Their shares will be in the unlisted Interactive Investor (II) company, which it said was unlikely to list on any stock exchange within the next 12 months. The combined business would be worth 675million.

Interactive Investor said the merger was needed to 'sustain the level of profitability' needed to keep investing in the platform's technology amid rising competition and that there is a 'strong strategic rationale for consolidation among compatible groups'.

Interactive Investor is adding yet more customers to its burgeoning investment platform

Will this increase competition for customers?

One less competitor in the marketplace would not normally indicate competition will increase, but the new combined Interactive Investor and Share Centre business will have more muscle and that could be good news.

Commenting on the news, Bella Caridade-Ferreira, of research house Fundscape and comparetheplatform.com, said: 'Consolidation is inevitable because the cost of acquiring clients through advertising and the cost of providing a rich seam of resources and guidelines as well as access to to a wide array of investment wrappers and funds, are significant.

'This is good news for The Share Centre customers who will get an overall better, more cost effective service. It also gives customers real choice to have several large players like AJBell Youinvest, interactive Investor and HL competing for their business.'

The news comes amid increasing scrutiny over investing platforms lately, particularly around costs and transparency for customers.

It is also less than a year since II acquired Alliance Trust Savings, which saw 9billion of assets migrate from ATS to II in October 2019.

II Group now boasts over 30billion of assets under administration, over 300,000 customers and more than one million users, while The Share Centre has 5.3billion assets under administration and over 300,000 accounts.

How will the merger impact customers?

For II customers, there is likely to be very little impact, if any, and for The Share Centre customers, it should be business as usual in the short term.

Investments are still protected and safe, and customers will be able to invest and trade as per normal while the transition takes place.

Over time, the ownership will change to II, meaning from a technical point of view, The Share Centre customers will eventually move to a different system.

Holly Mackay, founder and chief executive of Boring Money, said the main challenge will be about service, though II's flat fee model should help retain customers.

Boring Money's Mackay said ii's main challenge post merger could be on service

She said: 'The Share Centre still has a "smaller feeling" about it and the staff who take the calls seem to have a lovely way with their customers (who are still more reliant on phones than other competitors with younger audiences.)

'I think there will be a number of customers resistant to the different online environment and a slightly bigger corporate feel from the call centre and service teams.

'When the Alliance Trust Savings customers were migrated into the II service last year we heard some grumbles about the service and website from these customers.

'Nobody likes change  and so the challenge is for II to convince people to stay and not to shop around. Given that those customers who choose a fixed fee model tend to do so very purposefully, I should think most people will stay with them for that reason.'

What about fees?

Though II have yet to confirm this, it is likely that The Share Centre customers will see a change to their fees. This was the case for former ATS customers, who were moved onto II's flat fee of 9.99 per month following its acquisition.

Mike Barrett, consulting director at The Lang Cat, said as there is a precedent, he expects this merger to follow the same path.

The Share Centre currently offers investors a full DIY choice in its Self Select Stocks and Shares Isa. It allows investors to hold funds, investment trusts, shares, ETFs and corporate bonds, for a flat monthly fee of 5 - so 60 per year.

Interactive Investor also follows a flat fee model, which was introduced early last year and includes three subscription plans involving a monthly fee, which replaced its quarterly charging structure from June.

The first option, dubbed the 'Investor' plan, levies a monthly subscription charge of 9.99 on top of 7.99 per trade for UK shares, ETF, investment funds and trusts, with one free trade per month.

The second option, the 'Funds Fan' plan, costs 13.99 per month but boasts a reduced trading fee of 3.99 plus two free fund or investment trust trades a month.

The third and final option, the 'Super Investor' plan, costs 19.99 per month and also charges 3.99 for UK share, ETF, fund and trust trades. Its bumper subscription price is down to the discounted cost to trade US shares of 4.99 in contrast to 7.99 for the other platforms.

Meanwhile, other international shares also cost 9.99 - 10 less than the price levied in the other two plans.

Barrett added: 'The fixed pricing element that II offers does make them very price competitive for larger investors, and I would expect this is something they will continue to highlight.'

Will other platforms and their customers be affected?

Following the acquisition of The Share Centre, the combined assets will give II approximately 36billion assets under administration, which according to Mackay, is a market share of about 14 per cent.

She added though this means II will jump ahead of other rivals in terms of size, it is still relatively small compared to the dominant Hargreaves Lansdown.

Barrett added: 'II have historically attracted a slightly different customer to Hargreaves Lansdown.

'Their focus on trading functionality, wide investment range (ETFs, equities) and keen pricing makes them attractive to more experienced investors, whereas Hargreaves Lansdown's typical customers tend to invest and hold funds.'

'The Share Centre are a relatively small provider, so I dont think the medium to large providers such as AJ Bell and Fidelity will be too concerned with this acquisition. It does, however, serve to show just how hard it is to grow your business within the direct-to-consumer investing market.'

Meanwhile, Caridade-Ferreira said a customer's decision on which platform to use should not just be about who offers the cheapest fees.

She said while certain names will always come up as the cheapest option when comparing platforms, they are not necessarily right for the novice investor.

'Somewhere like iWeb might be good for the sophisticated investor but not for someone who wants to learn and make use of research,' she said.

'Likewise, Hargreaves Lansdown or St. James's Place may be more expensive than others, but they're brands that offer a great personalised service which gives people the reassurance they need.

'Ultimately it is about which service is right for you.'

> Read our round-up of the best DIY investing platforms and investing Isas
Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg on Sunday responded to conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, who recently said on his show that Americans aren't ready for a gay president. Buttigieg, the first openly gay presidential candidate, said on CNN he would not take "lectures on family values from the likes of Rush Limbaugh."

Limbaugh, who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom during President Trump's State of the Union address, said voters would be turned off by seeing a "37-year-old gay guy kissing his husband on stage next to 'Mr. Man' Donald Trump." Buttigieg said: "Well, I love my husband [Chasten]. I'm faithful to my husband. On stage we usually just go for a hug. But I love him very much, and I'm not going take lectures on family values from the likes of Rush Limbaugh."

CNN points out that a recent Gallup poll found that 78 percent of Americans would vote for a gay candidate if they were "well-qualified" to be president.

More stories from theweek.com

Mike Bloomberg is not the lesser of two evils

The Democratic Party is weak. Mike Bloomberg could break it.

Bloomberg campaign says he'll sell his company if elected president


Bengaluru Three Kashmiri students, who were arrested by the police on Saturday in Hubballi on sedition charges for allegedly shouting pro-Pakistan slogans and released on a bond on Sunday, were again arrested and produced for a hearing at the court of the judicial magistrate first class on Monday. The court remanded the three students to judicial custody till March 2 pending further investigation.

They (Kashmiri students) have been arrested, produced before the court and remanded in judicial custody, the Hubballi-Dharwad police Commissioner R Dileep told news agency PTI.

Earlier in the day, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, Bharatiya Janata Partys students wing, protested against the release of students.

After the hearing, when the students were being taken away from the court premises, a number of people shouted slogans and threw footwear at them. Police intervened quickly to take away the three students, an ABVP protester said on condition of anonymity.

The district lawyers association in Hubballi has passed a resolution saying that none of its members would represent the accused. Guru Hiremath, president of the association said,  All the 1600 odd members have unanimously decided to not represent those accused of anti-national activities.

Karnataka home minister Basvraj Bommai defended the police action. Any anti-national will have to face the law,  Bommai said responding to question about the students being first arrested and released on a bond only to be rearrested. The police commissioner had asked for a report on the same and the matter was being investigated, he added.

The three civil engineering students at the KLE Institute of Technology  Talib Majeed, Basit Asif Sofi and Amir Mohiuddin Wahi from Shopian in Kashmir were arrested on Saturday for allegedly raising pro-Pakistan slogans and posting it on social media on the first anniversary of the terrorist attack that left 40 CRPF soldiers dead in Kashmirs Pulwama on February 14 last year. They were let off on Sunday after execution of a bond under Section 169 of CrPC.

A video of their alleged celebration was widely shared on social media on Sunday prompting college prinicipal Basvraj Anami to suspend them pending investigation.

(With inputs from PTI)
GILLETTE  After the first round of major Powder River Basin coal layoffs and bankruptcies in 2015 and 2016, the buzzworthy response was Wyoming and Campbell County would have to adjust to a new normal for the commodity.

The times of posting nearly 450 million-ton annual PRB production are long gone, and after a 2019 that was disastrous on many levels for U.S. and Wyoming coal, whats more clear now than ever is that new normal isnt a lower baseline for thermal coal, its an accelerating decline.

Its like falling down a cliff in slow motion is how University of Wyoming energy economist Rob Godby describes the downfall of Powder River Basin coal. You reach the next ledge and roll over moaning a little bit before you start falling again.

Its that painful. Just when you think you can adjust to this painful new reality, the bottom falls out from underneath you again.

Production totals for Wyomings PRB mines released this past week show 2019 came in at 266.8 million tons for the year, the first time in more than two decades the basin has been below 280 million tons. Its a 9.1 percent drop from 2018 and 30 percent less than the 381.8 million tons mined five years prior in 2014.

If the past is a reliable predictor of the future, then its not looking good for the PRB, said Bob Nelson, lead coal analyst for Moodys Investors Service.

Once the king of cheap power, Powder River Basin coal accounted for about 50 percent of United States electricity generation in 2008. By 2018, that had dropped to less than 28 percent, Moodys reports.

By 2030, PRB coal is expected to account for only 10 percent to 12 percent, Nelson said.

We have been pretty negative on the Powder River Basin for awhile, he said of Moodys analysis of the PRB and thermal coal.

Adding to the uncertainty is the ongoing bankruptcy cases of Cloud Peak Energy Corp. and Blackjewel LLC, which together sold the nations third-, fourth- and sixth-best producing U.S. mines last year. Whether those new owners have the wherewithal to go the distance and be long-term players in the basin is a big question, Nelson said.

Eagle Specialty Materials bought the Eagle Butte and Belle Ayr mines from Blackjewel and Navajo Transitional Energy Co. bought the Antelope mine from Cloud Peak, along with the Spring Creek mine in Montana.

I dont know where these new entrants are going to sell coal to in the coming years. We have a lot of questions about their abilities to run a coal business for a sustained period, Nelson said. It doesnt look like a tenable situation to me.

One of the largest problems for the PRB is that it hasnt yet adjusted to its lower production with contraction, Godby said. With the same number of producers competing to supply a continually shrinking demand, something eventually has to give in the form of mine closures.

Both Godby and Nelson said they thought that may happen this past summer when Blackjewels Wyoming mines were shut down from July 1 into October (although a tough blow for the local workforce and the nearly 600 people employed at the mines).

Unfortunately, there are more shoes to drop, Godby said. We potentially have not seen all the adjustments to the existing production changes, much less the future effects. Theres still a lot of uncertainty hanging over the Powder River Basin.

That uncertainty prolongs a perfect storm that continues to pummel coal and fossil fuel power generation, Godby said. Along with low natural gas prices pushing coal out as an option to produce electricity, the impetus to bring more alternative forms of generation online means the basins future will look nothing like its past.

When gas is coming out of the ground, in effect, for free when youre drilling for oil, you just cant compete with that, Godby said. Were getting hit from two sides on that.

As more coal-fired plants are retired and taken out of the nations power grid, wind and solar are going to continue to cut off greater slices of the power pie, he said.

Thats the direction were going, Godby said. Its expected rewnewables long-term could be the largest source of generation by mid-century, which would make that our mainstream generation.

The nations overall energy outlook has gone through a seismic shift in the last decade, said Travis Deti, executive director of the Wyoming Mining Association. Natural gas prices are stubbornly low and you see renewables add to the grid at a remarkable pace. Also, utilities are moving ahead with fuel transition, and its just the way it is now.

He said Wyomings push over the past five years to accelerate and promote more research into carbon dioxide capture and diversifying the nations carbon economy into other areas than power generation is critical for the state. But until that pays off, the Cowboy State will have to expect less from its cash cow industry.

We have some great things (in the works), Deti said. Ramaco is going and its goal is coal to products. We have the Carbon Valley (initiative), the Integrated Test Center. As utilities look to transition away from coal, we have to realize the significant impact of that to our state.

At times, Deti said he feels like hes fighting against the current as an entity that represents mining interests.

It is what it is, and from the state of Wyomings standpoint, you are going to have to get used to a lower revenue point coming in from coal, he said.

While it may seem startling, the soft market for PRB coal isnt surprising, Godby said.

What were looking at now is what everybody feared would happen a few years ago is happening, he said. Were seeing the declines that are as deep as anywhere right now.

Projections for 2020 are that the Powder River Basin will drop another 30 million tons to the 230 million range, he said.

Along with market forces, energy consumption in general isnt growing, and as technologies improve and all our devices, appliances, televisions and light bulbs become more efficient, were developing technology as fast as the economy is growing, Godby said. What were expecting for the next 20-30 years is that electricity demand is going to be almost flat.

One way the PRB may halt its slow fall down the cliff is if a proposed joint venture between Peabody Energy Corp. and Arch Coal Inc. is approved by the Federal Trade Commission, both Godby and Nelson said.

The coal giants independently account for more than 60 percent of the PRBs coal production and operate the worlds Nos. 1 and 2 most prolific mines. Peabodys North Antelope Rochelle mine near Wright has regularly been over 100 million tons annually (that dropped to about 85 million tons last year) and Archs adjacent Black Thunder mine has at times been a close second at more than 70 million tons each of the last three years.

They also own several smaller mines, along with a couple of smaller operations in Colorado.

Under their proposed joint venture, Peabody and Arch would combine their Western mines into a single operation. The merger would unlock about $820 million in savings for the companies, along with another $120 million a year for the first 10 years.

The efficiencies and savings associated are expected to allow the joint venture to run lean and mean enough to compete with cheap natural gas.

That may be the future for the PRB, which eventually also may see smaller mines close because they wont be able to compete, Nelson said.

If the Arch and Peabody joint venture is approved, it will become the dominant player in the basin, and not in a competitive way, he said.

And while that may mean job losses in the short term, whats left will be more stable, he said.

One way or another, some of those smaller mines are going to have to close, Nelson said. The big question for the political folks in the region is, do you want a bunch of under-capitalized companies killing each other, or do you want one durable entity to continue to operate and produce into the 2020s?

Even if the joint venture is denied  Peabody reported this past week an FTC decision may come in the first quarter of this year  those companies are still the big dogs in the kennel.

I dont see a viable strategy for a small PRB mine, Nelson said. I see a somewhat viable strategy for a big mine to be able to compete.

He also said theres a tangible human cost to the evolution of the nations power production, especially in cities like Gillette that rely on coal for good-paying jobs.

This is a real challenge for someplace like Wyoming, Nelson said. Without those jobs, what replaces them? Theres just nothing there. Its a tough position to be in.

The question of if coal would ever have a finite shelf life for the Cowboy States economy has changed to when, Godby said.

In the mean time, that slow cliff fall will continue.

Whats the future hold? The coming year will be another really tough year, then we land on that ledge again, he said.

The real trick for Campbell County and Wyoming is to make those landings as soft as possible.

Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Love 4 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un made his first public appearance in three weeks on Sunday to take part in a ceremony marking what would have been the 78th birthday of his late father Kim Jong-il.

Kim paid tribute to his predecessor at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in the capital Pyongyang. After his death, Kim Jong-il was made "Eternal General Secretary" of the secretive communist nation.

Kim Jong-un laid flowers before the embalmed bodies of his father and grandfather, Kim Il-sung, who founded the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in 1948, Efe news reported.

Kim paid the "highest tributes" to his father. He was accompanied by several senior North Korean officials but the news agency did not reveal the date of the event.

It did, however, publish images of the ceremony, which showed that Kim's entourage was smaller than in previous years.

On several occasions, the birthdays of North Korea's former leaders have been celebrated with huge public events and fireworks.

It was Kim's first public appearance since January 25, an absence that has given rise to rumours that his withdrawal was linked to the outbreak of COVID-19 in neighbouring China.

North Korea has already closed its borders to tourism and requires any citizen returning from China to enter into quarantine.

As of yet, the so-called hermit kingdom has not reported any cases of the new coronavirus, which has killed over 1,600 people in China. The outbreak is concentrated around the city of Wuhan in Hubei province.

More than 70,000 people have now been infected with the virus, the vast majority of them in China.

Kim Jong-un, officially the Marshal of the Republic, inherited his role after his father's death in 2011.

Little is known of the leader, who is thought to be around 36 or 37.

North Korea has been a communist family dynasty since its founding and its border with South Korea, known as the Demilitarized Zone, is one of the most heavily guarded in the world.
This is an opinion column.

Neither woman, truth be told, knew a doula from, well, anything. Even though both had actually long done what doulas doprovide non-medical guidance to expectant parents through the rigors and risks of childbirth and often postpartum and advocating for them with sometimes-skeptical doctors and hospitals.

Nadia Gramby was in Human Resources at Faulkner Universityfrustratingly so, franklywhen she recalled the vivid childhood memory of helping deliver babies while growing up in Daphne. I had suppressed it, she says now.

This was after her pastor, in a conversation about her future career path, offered a prophetic word. He said God would reveal to me some gifts I did not know I possessed, Gramby recalls. She initially thought the gift would be her own HR firm. That wasnt happening, she says.

Mariah Alyce was on hiatus from the University of Alabama after informing dad she wanted to change majorsfrom kinesiology to something to do with women and African American studies. Dad wasnt feeling it. His not-so-subtle suggestion? Maybe you need to sit out a bit.

She did so, which freed her to join her pregnant aunt who was stationed in Washington, D.C. (the aunts husband, also in the military, remained stationed in Georgia) to help her through the delivery and postpartum.

God works in mysterious ways, Alyce says. If I was still in school, I would not have been accessible to her. Thankfully I was in a place where I could be that village she needed.

Now, Gramby, who lives in Shelby County, and Alyce, from Tuscaloosa, are among the swelling number of doulas in Alabama. ICan of Huntsville boasts nearly 1,400 members of its private doula Facebook group.

The number of African American doulas descendants, as it were, of the midwives who, as far back as four centuries ago, guided enslaved women through painful, natural birthsis growing, too.

The need for them now is as paramount as ever.

Particularly in Alabama, where we go to costly, holier-than-thou lengths to save babiesstripping from women here the right to make choices about their own bodies, their own lives. Yet we do little, so little, to birth healthy babies or keep them alive for at least a year.

The March of Dimes gave us an F last year for our preterm birth rate of 12 percent, third highest in the U.S. behind Mississippi and Louisiana.

Then theres our infant mortality rate: 7.4 deaths per 1,000 in 2017. Lower, thankfully, than it was the previous year (9.1) when it was, yep, worst in the nation. But the drop is nothing to celebrate because the rate is still dramatically higher than the national average (5.8).

And this: black babies in Alabama (who represent 30 percent of the children born in the state) die at twice the rate (11.3 per 1,000) of white babies. That should surprise absolutely no one.

Complicated, multi-layered answers to the disparity usually begin with poverty, defined as a household income of $26,000 or less for a family of four. Less access to healthy foods and limited-to-no proximity to high-quality healthcare are paramount, too. In Alabama, one in four children lives in such conditions.

Add the clear and calculated stress of simply being black and the impact of stress on the already-stressful act of childbirth, its easy to see why black doulas are in demand.

Especially here.

[Black mothers] want someone who identifies with them, who trusts and understands their culture and what theyve dealt with in life, says Gramby, who launched her practice, Crown of Glory, last year.

A 2016 study of medical students and residents at the University of Virginia revealed some racial discrepancies in pain management on the part of medical professionals can be attributed to bias. Many white medical students and residents, research showed, believed myths such as black peoples skin being thicker than white peoples skin and thus less subject to pain.

A lot of [black] women experience discrimination in the healthcare field, especially when theyre pregnant," says Gramby. "Their pain is minimized. Some are told theyre being dramatic when theyve definitely had a medical complication. Clearly, there is a disconnect between medical providers and black women; our concerns are not taken as seriously [as white women].

Not long after returning from Washington, D.C., Alyce took a job at a Tuscaloosa hospital. She also helped friends with their pregnancies. I tried to be the village they needed, she says. The village our grandparents used to talk about.

Last November, seven months after completing a doula training course and four months after her first clients due date, she left the hospital to be a doula full time. It became a conflict for me, Alyce says. I asked myself, Am I willing to sell my sisters out and watch them have complications to protect a job? Or fight for women? It was time for me to step away. Not saying anything bad about the hospital, but certain things can be done differently.

Grambys recollection of delivering babies when she was young was the aha moment leading her down a path of discovery and recovery, a journey grounded in her own deep Christian faith. God allowed me to go down some dark things in my life that I didnt understand before, she says.

An only child, Gramby was raised by her mother, who, just prior to the start of her daughters senior year in high school, said she was moving to Atlanta. Out of the sky, Gramby says. As would almost any senior-to-be, Gramby stayed behind, living under the love and care of both sets of grandparents. After graduation, she enrolled at Alabama A&M to study psychology.

My aunt took me to college and set up my dorm room, all those things parents should do, Gramby recalls. Because I was so loved I didnt feel the void I should have. It should have been a huge red flag that your mom leaves you at such a pivotal time.

The void soon became manifest and Grambys relationship with her mother grew toxic. Her mother stole money from her, Gramby says, during her freshman year and began showing signs something was wrong.

Gramby met her future husband at A&M; they later had a son and were married. Neither of her parents was present for her sons birth or the wedding. I wasnt able to have my dad give me away, she says. Things about growing up I dreamed about didnt quite happen for me.

In time, the something Gramby detected in her mothers behavior was diagnosed as mental illness. To this day, though, only her grandmother knows the specific diagnosis.

[My mother] still hasnt told me, Gramby says. She swore my grandmother to secrecy because of the shame in black culture. The shame we put on each other over, say, a chemical imbalance or financial situation. It creates too much toxicity and makes you feel like youre not good enough. Like you never measure up.

I try to break those barriers down for a lot of women and families who may not have a perfect situation but want to make their situation better for their child, starting with birth.

Gramby believes many of her clients are drawn to her because of her life experiences.

They need someone whos been through things and come out on the other side, who can relate to them, she says. They dont need anyone who had a perfect life and whose faith was not tested. God really gave me a crown of glory out of my storms. He allowed my faith to be tested so I could be a walking testimony to womeneven though it would not have been my choice.

Gramby and Alyce discovered doulas while searching the Internet for their next career move. Alyce found a People magazine story about Grammy-winning entertainer Erykah Badu, who revealed being a doula since 2001. I was like, People do this? This is a job?, she says now with a laugh.

Alyce now serves clients throughout the state, including Huntsville and Birmingham

Its crazy, she says. I always wanted to be in healthcare and the things being a doula encompass I was already doing. I was doing it before I knew there was a space for it.

Some spaces in the traditional medical community embrace doulas as an integral part of the birth team, some not so much. Alyce says shes not experienced any negative encounters with doctors. I try to go in and let them know Im not coming to take over their job, she says. I want to make it easier for you and not traumatizing for my client. Because I show respect, I receive mutual respect.

[Last summer, not long after a Huntsville OBGYN announced she would no longer work with doulas, my AL.com colleague, Kyle Whitmire, shared the wonderful doula experience he and his wife had for the birth of their two children.]

Gramby prefers home births, using a midwife (They actually catch the baby, she says) and an assistant, as do most of her clients. Easier to control the environment, she says; if a clients own doctor is not on call when its time to give birth, You get whos there, she says.

If that doctors not on board with the type of birth you want you run the risk of them forcing interventions, like medications and C sections. Some hospitals are very aggressive towards doulas, theyre demeaning and go against anything we try to do. Some clients want to be mobile at birth. They dont want to lie on a bed. Some doctors use scare tactics to say its not safe.

Gramby describes Princeton Baptist Medical Center as awesome and doula friendly.

They get it, she says.

Both women provide prenatal and labor services, as well as postpartum. Alyce is also a certified lactation counselor. Gramby also offers placenta encapsulation, which, she says, helps mothers recover with the loss of blood that comes with childbirth and avoid baby blues and postpartum depression, which can occur up to a year after birth.

Fathers are sometimes skeptical, mainly because of the cost (both women offer various packages of services ranging up to close to $2,000). Dads typically ask, Do we really need that?, Alyce says. They want to know where their money is going. I do my best not just teach them but actively involve them.

It is particularly vital that postpartum doula care includes the father, Gramby says. The entire family unit, she says. So, it remains whole. No one talks about the babys impact on the marriage. We forget about the dad. Or even mom. Everybody wants to see the baby. No one is checking on mom and they certainly arent checking on dad. The goal is to ensure they are empowered to carry on with this new life. Hes now carrying a family when his job may not provide paternity leave.

I have more dads contact me postpartum than moms, says Alyce. Theyre like, Help! Why is she still crying? A lot who were skeptical at first now call me sis. They are as important to me as the mom and the baby.

Studies show doulas to have a positive effect on healthy births and infant mortality, especially for African American women. Yet only two states, Oregon and Minnesota, require Medicaid coverage for doula services. New York, New Jersey, and Vermont are trying to birth legislation to improve access to doula care.

Alabama? Not sure our legislators know doula from, well, anything.

Perhaps theyll surprise me. Perhaps lawmakers on both sides of the aisle will see elevating Medicaid doula coverage is a sound, easy demonstration that we actually do care for the women of our state. All women, particularly poor women. Women for whom low infant mortality is too often an unwelcome guest at the family reunion.

The enemy definitely tries to come in when you are trying to bring life forth, Gramby says. The work we are here to do on earth he wants to stop. When you are someone helping to usher in life, things come against you to try to stop that.

Ive had clients hemorrhage and come close to death. I dont want to ever be in a room He has not called me to be. Part of this work is knowing who you are and making sure youre healed before you step foot in someone elses life to help them bring life. Its not just pretty pics on Instagram.

If you dont know who you are and who you are in this role, its hard, adds Alyce. Ive been in situations where if I didnt have a God to call on, I dont know what I would have done. When youre bringing life in this world, anything can happen. There have been times when Ive held my breath and prayed.

Both women offer sliding, income-based scales for services. Clients who may not be able to afford a doula are also encouraged to add the service to their gift registry. Tell your friends and family youd rather them pay for doula than buy pretty clothes, shoes or hair bows.

Gramby says that while Medicaid in Alabama currently pays for doula services, reimbursement amounts are spotty. I dont know what Ill get paid, I may get a hundred dollars, she says.

And yet shes hopeful, largely due to the faith that guided her to this path.

I believe we can turn it around, she says. If I didnt, I wouldnt be doing the work. Part of what God has assigned me is to make sure His crown of glory is displayed through the whole state. Weve been last in so many things, its time for us to become first in something.

In healthy, thriving infants and their parents.

A voice for whats right and wrong in Birmingham, Alabama (and beyond), Roys column appears in The Birmingham News and AL.com, as well as in the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Register. Reach him at rjohnson@al.com and follow him at twitter.com/roysj
Billionaire Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg took direct am at 'Bernie bros' who have lashed out online at rivals to Sen. Bernie Sanders Monday, after Sanders accused him of trying to 'buy' the election.

Bloomberg launched the attack with a new web video he launched Monday, even as he once again is ignoring a state on the election calendar, having skipped the Nevada caucuses.

'We need to unite to defeat Trump in November. This type of 'energy' is not going to get us there,' Bloomberg wrote.

The ad featured a series of screeds from Sanders supporters. ''We know where you live. Where you work. Where you eat,' said one.

'We need to unite to defeat Trump in November. This type of 'energy' is not going to get us there,' former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg wrote

One called Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren a 'snake,' and another warned cryptically: 'Libs who are flirting with Bloomberg now should be aware that they are going on lists.'

'We know where you work. Where you eat. Where you live' said another.

The ad specifically featured commentary on the 'Bernie bros,' who are purported to harbor sexist views and tear into anyone who gets in the way of Sanders, who had the most people caucus for him in Iowa and won the New Hampshire primary, but for the moment has decamped from Nevada.

Sanders tweeted at Bloomberg Sunday: 'The simple truth is that Mayor Bloomberg, with all his money, will not create the kind of excitement and energy we need to defeat Donald Trump.'

He also tagged the mayor for 'racist policies like stop and frisk,' a policing tactic that Bloomberg has apologized for but which reemerged after video of him defending it surfaced.

Sanders has slapped Bloomberg for lacking energetic support, and accused him of buying his way onto the debate stage

Bloomberg's ad features attacks by Sanders supporters on other candidates, including Pete Buttigieg

The ad takes on 'Bernie Bros' who have defended Sanders and attacked rivals

The ad comes as Democrats compete in Nevada

So-called Bernie Bros also went after Hillary Clinton in 2016

Even as the billionaire sits out the early contests, Democratic strategists have begun to contemplate an outcome where conventional candidates split the vote and tear each other in the primaries  only to have Bloomberg swoop in on Super Tuesday, where he has been outspending Sanders and all candidates combined.

With the Nevada caucuses less than a week away, Democratic presidential candidates campaigning were fixated on a rival who wasn't contesting the state.

Sanders, Joe Biden, Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg all went after Bloomberg and made clear they were eager to take him on in a debate.

'He thinks he can buy this election,' Sanders told a Carson City rally Sunday. 'Well, Ive got news for Mr. Bloomberg - the American people are sick and tired of billionaires buying elections!'

Bloomberg hit back Monday with a video mashup posted to Twitter of aggressive and threatening comments made by people who appear to be Sanders supporters, juxtaposed with Sanders calling for 'civil discourse.'

'We need to unite to defeat Trump in November,' the former New York mayor tweeted. 'This type of `energy is not going to get us there.'

Their attacks are a sign of how seriously the field is starting to take Bloomberg as he gains in the race and is on the cusp of qualifying for Wednesday's Democratic debate in Las Vegas. Bloomberg has bypassed the traditional early voting states including Nevada, focusing instead on the 14 states that vote in the Super Tuesday primary on March 3. He has spent more than $417 million of his own multibillion-dollar fortune on advertising nationwide, an unprecedented sum for any candidate in a primary.

Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg gives his thumbs-up after speaking during a campaign event at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery in Richmond, Va., Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020. (James H. Wallace/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)

The focus on Bloomberg comes with many establishment-aligned Democrats anxious about the early strength of Sanders, who won last week's New Hampshire primary and essentially tied for first place in Iowa with Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana. Sanders is hoping to notch a victory in Nevada on Saturday as moderates struggle to unite behind a candidate who could serve as a counter to the Vermont senator, who has long identified as a democratic socialist.

The hundreds of millions of dollars that Bloomberg has pumped into the Super Tuesday states has only heightened the sense of uncertainty surrounding the Democratic race.

At Sanders rally, the crowded cheered as the Vermont senator joked that Bloomberg is 'struggling, he's down to his last $60 billion' and derided him for skipping the early primary states.

It marked an escalation of the salvo Sanders launched Saturday against the former mayor, when he ticked off conservative positions Bloomberg has taken in the past, including opposing a minimum wage hike and a number of Barack Obama's policies while president. On Saturday, Sanders suggested the former mayor's past conservatism and controversial comments make him a weak candidate against President Donald Trump, charging that Bloomberg, 'with all his money, will not create the kind of excitement and energy we need' to beat Trump.

And on Sunday, he was joined by the current mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, who endorsed Sanders days ago. De Blasio introduced Sanders with an attack of his own on his predecessor, telling the crowd, 'Im sorry to report to you the chief proponent of stop and frisk is now running for president.'

Klobuchar, speaking on CBS 'Face the Nation,' accused Bloomberg of avoiding scrutiny by blanketing the airwaves and sidestepping debates or tough televised interviews.

'I think he cannot hide behind the airwaves and the money,' she said. 'I think he has to come on the shows. And I personally think he should be on the debate stage.'

Klobuchar said she's raised $12 million since her better-than-expected finish in third place in New Hampshire. She's maintained her campaign through a series of strong debate performances and argued that Bloomberg being on stage with his rivals would level the playing field.

'Im never going to beat him on the airwaves, but I can beat him on the debate stage,' she said.

Biden, speaking on NBC's 'Meet the Press,' suggested that Bloomberg will face increased scrutiny as the race continues, pointing to his record on issues relating to race. He said: '$60 billion can buy you a lot of advertising, but it can't erase your record.'

Biden knocked Bloombergs past support of stop-and-frisk policing policies and his comments suggesting that cracking down on racist mortgage lending practices, known as 'redlining,' contributed to the financial crisis. Biden also criticized him for failing to endorse Obama for president in 2008. Bloomberg has released ads that tie him closely to Obama on issues like gun control and climate change.

When asked on MSNBC whether Bloomberg shares the values of the Democratic Party, Warren also went after the former mayor over his comments on redlining, declaring that 'anyone who is out there trying to blame African Americans for the financial crash of 2008 ... is not someone who should be representing our party.'

Even as the front-running candidates kept one eye on their Super Tuesday showdown with Bloomberg, they focused on the more immediate task of winning over minority voters, who are expected to be pivotal in Nevada and South Carolina.

Biden reminded older parishioners at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in North Las Vegas of 1960s television footage of black protesters in Birmingham, Alabama, being attacked by police dogs and sprayed with fire hoses on the orders of city official Bull Connor.

Biden said today's racists are not 'Bull Connors, not out in overalls. They're wearing fine suits, and they're living in the White House.'

The former vice president is relying on his strength among black voters and an explicit appeal to Latinos and other minorities to deliver him a strong showing in the coming contests after posting disappointing finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire, which both feature electorates that are whiter on average than the national population.

Biden has been hammering home the need for any Democratic candidate to appeal to voters of color. On Sunday, he told black lawmakers and other political figures at the Nevada Black Legislative Caucus's Black History Month observance that 'the black community has in its power to determine who the next president of the United States is going to be.'

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., speaks at the Clark County Democratic Party 'Kick-Off to Caucus 2020' event, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Democratic presidential candidate former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg speaks during a rally Sunday, Feb. 16, 2020, in Las Vegas
On Thursday, Feb. 27, Southern Adventist University will hold its biannual Meet the Firms and Graduate Schools career fair in Iles P.E. Center on campus.

More than 40 local and national firms will be on hand to help students network with potential employers and consider post-graduation options.

This career fair connects students with internships, full-time jobs, graduate school information and other workplace opportunities. The organizations hosting booths represent a wide range of fields, including healthcare, communication, finance, nonprofit and more.



In addition, graduate school representatives from Seventh-day Adventist universities across the country will join the event to present possibilities for students interested in continuing their education.
AUSTIN -- Its time for Texas to weigh in on the Democrats running for president and the slew of candidates from both parties running for Congress, legislative posts and judicial positions across the state. More than 16 million people are registered to vote in Texas. Heres everything you need to know before hitting the polls:

Q: Can I vote?

A: To vote in Texas, you must be a registered voter. Click here to find out if you are already registered. You can also check by calling your countys voter registrars office. If you are not registered, you cannot vote in the March 3 primary elections.

If you arent registered, nows a good time to do that ahead of the November general election. If you need to register, click here to fill out an online application, which you must print and mail to your county registrar. You can also request a postage-paid application be mailed to you. Anyone who has registered after Feb. 3 will be ineligible to vote in the primary elections.

Q: Who can I vote for?

More Information Voter Guide Everything you need to know about this year's election, only on HoustonChronicle.com and ExpressNews.com. See More Collapse

A: You can either vote in the Democratic primary or the Republican primary, but not both. That means if you want to vote for one of the remaining Democratic contenders for president, you will have to ask to vote in the Democratic primary. In that case, for instance, you will not be able to vote for Republicans running in contested primaries.

If you are undecided on who to vote for in your respective primary, read about the candidates and their policy positions in our voter guides. Click here if you live in the Houston area and here if you live in the San Antonio area.

Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

Q: When can I vote?

A: Early voting begins on Tuesday, Feb. 18 and ends on Friday, Feb. 28. March 3 is election day  also known as Super Tuesday when voters from 15 states and territories cast ballots in the presidential primary elections.

Q: Where can I vote?

A: If you are registered to vote in Harris or Bexar County, you can vote at any early voting location. To find out where you can vote  or if you live in other counties and need to find your polling location  log into the Texas Secretary of States Am I Registered? website. Click either the March 3 Republican or Democratic primary to find a list of polling places you can vote at. Election day polling places are listed first; scroll down for polling places you can visit to vote early.

Q: What do I need to vote:

A: Texas has one of the most stringent voter ID laws in the nation. When you go to the polls, take one of the following acceptable forms of photo identification with you:

- Texas driver license

- Texas election ID certificate

- Texas personal identification card

- Texas handgun license

- U.S. Citizenship certificate with photo

- U.S. Military ID card with photo

- U.S. passport book or card

Expired photo IDs are acceptable under certain conditions. The above-listed acceptable form of ID must have expired no more than 4 years ago if the voter is between 18 and 69 years old. Voters who are at least 70 years old can use such a photo ID that may be expired for any length of time if the identification is otherwise valid and displays the correct address. Texas driver licenses compliant with the Real ID Act (which have a gold circle with a star in the center) and older driver licenses without the symbol are accepted.

Voters who do not possess or cannot reasonably obtain such a photo ID card must fill out a reasonable impediment declaration form at the poll, stating that the information is true. Voters will also need to bring one of the following supporting documents:

- Certified domestic birth certificate or court admissible birth document

- Current utility bill

- Bank statement

- Government check

- Paycheck

- Government document with your address including a voter registration certificate

For subscribers: Houston-area congressional races are most expensive in Texas

Q: What else should I bring with me?

A: While not always necessary, its a good idea to bring your voter registration certificate with you just in case. You should have received that in the mail within the last year. If you cant find yours, contact your county voter registrar's office to request a replacement certificate.

You can bring printed materials, including a sample ballot, into the voting booth with you. However, when voting you cannot use a cell phone or other devices that can be used to take photographs.

Q: What happens if I forget my photo ID?

A: If you have access to one of the seven forms of acceptable ID but forgot to take it, you still must use it to vote. You can either cast a provisional ballot instead of a regular ballot or return to the polling place before the polls close on Election Day with your acceptable photo ID and vote with a regular ballot. If you vote using a provisional ballot, it wont count unless you visit the county voter registrar's office with your photo ID by the sixth calendar day after the election.

Q: Im going to be out of town on Election Day. Can I vote by mail?

A: You can only request a ballot by mail under certain circumstances: 1) you will be outside your county during Election Day and the duration of the hours of early voting; 2) you are sick or disabled; 3) you are 65 years old or older on Election Day; or 4) you are confined in jail.

Q: I think my situation might be complicated. Where do I go if I have more questions?

A: If you have additional questions about what you need, visit the Secretary of States website or call the Texas Secretary of State elections division at 1-800-252-8683.
P rince Charles quipped that it is a "never-ending battle" to stay trim as he visited a shirt maker today.

The Prince of Wales joked as he toured the workshop of Emma Willis, who has been making shirts for him for the last five years, in Gloucester.

As he was presented with a shirt as his visit to the factory, based in an 18th-century property in the city, he said: "Very kind of you - you've got my measurements.

"I struggle to keep them the same, a never-ending battle."

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales receives a present from Emma Willis during his visit / PA

Ms Willis described producing items for the prince as an honour, as the Prince unveiled a plaque to mark his visit during the trip.

She said: "I was approached by one of his dressers about six years ago, and the dresser said His Royal Highness would like to try my shirts.

"So I went to Clarence House and measured His Royal Highness for the first time and we've been making his shirts ever since.

"And one of the things we specialise in is very fine Swiss cottons and he loves lovely soft fabrics."

Ms Willis has a shop in Jermyn Street, a central London area famed for its high-end men's clothing and accessories.

She has been producing handmade shirts for 30 years and, through her charity Style for Soldiers, supporting wounded servicemen for more than a decade.

The prince gave an impromptu speech during the visit, saying to the company's founder: "I just wanted to come really to thank you, more than anything, for the wonderful things you do, apart from making fantastic shirts and boxer shorts and everything else.

"But everything you do for our armed forces and all those who had the horror of being wounded in one way or another, it is a wonderful thing you do."

Charles met staff in the cutting room including two Syrian refugees Nareen Hussain and Ibrahim Khalil, employed by the company after they fled their homeland.

The prince was told Mr Khalil had run a clothing factory in Aleppo and said: "My great ambition has always been to go to Syria, now I can't bear the horror and the destruction."








Web Toolbar by Wibiya

TORONTO, Feb. 11, 2020 /CNW/ - There are many tasks involved in running a smooth business operation. Among them is the efficient and cost-effective management of accounts receivables which is critical to maintaining a healthy cash flow. For many Canadian businesses, the manual task of notifying and reminding hundreds or thousands of customers to fulfill outstanding payments via mail, personalized emails and phone calls can be a massively time-consuming and costly ordeal. To streamline and automate the process, RBC is the first bank in Canada to offer the Interac e-Transfer: Bulk Request Money feature to its business banking clients.

Interac e-Transfer: Bulk Request Moneyis a digital, subscription-based service that enables businesses to send multiple payment requests at once with automated reminders to streamline the process and save time. The new feature delivers three key benefits:



A simplified initiation process: Payment reminders can be facilitated with the payors' email address or phone number. No need for customer bank account details or void cheques!





Payment reminders can be facilitated with the payors' email address or phone number. No need for customer bank account details or void cheques! Get paid faster: All payors will automatically receive email or SMS reminder notifications to fulfill payment requests. If they choose to pay via Interac e-Transfer, they can quickly and securely transfer funds using their online banking channel and recipients can have certainty that the payment will not be held back by Non-Sufficient Funds (NSF).





All payors will automatically receive email or SMS reminder notifications to fulfill payment requests. If they choose to pay via Interac e-Transfer, they can quickly and securely transfer funds using their online banking channel and recipients can have certainty that the payment will not be held back by Non-Sufficient Funds (NSF). Streamlined & efficient reconciliation: Tracking outstanding accounts receivables is streamlined and payment reconciliation reports are produced for business clients on a daily basis.

"This capability introduces a new level of efficiency and control in managing a business' receivables and cash flow. We've digitized the manual reconciliation process and eliminated the need for expensive, paper-based cheques. In doing so, we've simplified the transaction experience and alleviated a huge pain point for both our business clients and their customers," said Lisa Lansdowne-Higgins, Vice-President, Business Deposits & Treasury Solutions, RBC. "This is one of the many ways RBC is offering the latest in digital payments solutions to deliver enhanced banking experiences for our clients."

Subscribed RBC business banking customers can facilitate the Interac e-Transfer: Bulk Request Money via RBC Express or RBC's Network Gateway. Businesses can also customize reminder notifications to payors by adding the company's logo and message, and control the number and frequency of automatic reminder notifications issued on outstanding payment requests.

"As part of our ongoing commitment to payment innovation, we're pleased to expand our product capabilities with the Interac e-Transfer: Bulk Request Money feature," said Peter Maoloni, Vice-President, Product & Platform Delivery, Interac Corp. "This new feature leverages our deep knowledge and proven capabilities in fraud detection and prevention, data analytics, direct messaging and reporting to help Canadian businesses manage their payment process with greater ease and confidence."

For more information, please speak with an RBC Advisor.

About RBC

Royal Bank of Canada is a global financial institution with a purpose-driven, principles-led approach to delivering leading performance. Our success comes from the 85,000+ employees who bring our vision, values and strategy to life so we can help our clients thrive and communities prosper. As Canada's biggest bank, and one of the largest in the world based on market capitalization, we have a diversified business model with a focus on innovation and providing exceptional experiences to 17 million clients in Canada, the U.S. and 34 other countries. Learn more at rbc.com.

We are proud to support a broad range of community initiatives through donations, community investments and employee volunteer activities. See how at rbc.com/community-social-impact.

About Interac Corp.

Interac Corp. operates an economical, world-class debit payments system with broad-based acceptance, reliability, security, and efficiency. The organization is one of Canada's leading payments brands and is chosen an average of 16 million times daily to pay and exchange money. For more than 30 years, Interac Corp. and its predecessors, Interac Association and Acxsys Corporation, have facilitated secure financial transactions through the development of innovative and convenient debit and money transfer solutions. A leader in the prevention and detection of fraud, the organization has one of the lowest rates of fraud globally. Visit newsroom.interac.ca or follow @INTERAC on Twitter. Interac Corp. has a diverse group of shareholders that includes banks, credit unions, caisses populaires, payment processors and merchants.
MANCHESTER, N.H. - A new exhibition at The Currier Museum of Art focuses on the watercolour and oil paintings of its first director.

Maud Briggs Knowlton was a lifelong Manchester, New Hampshire, resident, with deep ties to Monhegan Island off the coast of Maine. A Life Made in Art: Maud Briggs Knowlton, is on view through May 10. She was director from 1929-1946.

Knowlton was one of the few female artists to regularly work on Monhegan. The isolated island attracted a community of important artists, whom Knowlton befriended and included in exhibitions. Works from the collection of the Monhegan Museum of Art and History by prominent artists who painted on Monhegan, such as Rockwell Kent, Robert Henri, and Andrew and Jamie Wyeth will be featured in the exhibition to provide a fuller picture of the island as an artist colony.

The Currier will hold an ArtTalk on March 8 featuring lectures by the exhibition catalogue co-authors. Susan Strickler, former director of the Currier Museum of Art, will speak on Knowltons art and her career from young artist to first director of the Currier Museum. Robert Stahl, co-director of the Monhegan Museum of Art and History, will discuss life on Monhegan Island.
Hyderabad: For years, Sri Chaitanya and Narayana educational institutes (together popularly referred to as ChaiNa) have been coming together to advertise to showcase shared toppers.

For a change, about 100 former students from both these institutes have joined to give back to the two institutions a taste of their own medicine. They have come together to seek a ban on these institutes, after starting an online petition against them, calling them breeding ground for student deaths.

The online petition is jointly addressed to President of India Ram Nath Kovind, Governors of the two Telugu states, Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, education minister Sabitha Indra Reddy, Chief Justice of the High Court, and secretaries of intermediate boa-rds of both states, among others. In their representation, the former ChaiNa students said, students have to go through mental trauma and psychological unrest that pushes them towards suicides.

The online petition all-eges that recommendations made by the M. Neer-ada Committee in the integrated Andhra Pradesh over student deaths still remains unimplemented even after nearly two decades.

The committee, in describing conditions of such corporate institutes, had said, ...(they) hijacked students and clustered them into concentration camps.

K. Ashok Reddy, one of the petitioners and former student, who studied at the Boduppal branch of Sri Chaitanya campus till 2018, recalled that he was not even sent home when he was suffering from stomach pain caused due to bad breakfast served in the hostel.

He said, We had very long schedules of study without getting any proper breaks. Our classes would start at around 5 am and would end only by 7 or 8 pm, with very short breaks in between. Most students used to feel suffocated with such schedules and started developing suicidal tendencies. Students were not believed even when they had real health issues. We were just asked to read and write, no matter what.

Students of Sri Chaitanya and Narayana educational institutes slammed the rot learning methods still in vogue at the colleges.

The rot learning methods that we had to practice back then are still affecting us. We are unable to understand concepts after we entered engineering, said K. Ashok Reddy, one of the petitioners and former student, who studied at the Boduppal branch of Sri Chaitanya campus.

The situation has not changed for current batch students as well. A present day-scholar from Narayana institute from Adibatla branch said that students are still given corporal punishments if work does not get completed.

Being a day scholar, I have to go to college at around 6 am. We have study hours till 9 or 10 pm. How can anyone expect us to study for so long? We are even given work to finish after these study hours  how is this humanly possible? If we cannot finish work, we are given corporal punishment, he said on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisal if his identity is revealed.

He admitted that all they most of the time do is to memorise information for tests.

Students and parents are reminded about fee through frequent messages and calls. When students are unable to pay, they are not allowed to take examinations, further stressing them, the online petitioning former students said.

Are not the parents at fault? For parents, these institutes have become an inevitable phase of an inescapable rat race for their childrens betterment.

One parent, on condition of anonymity, said, It is a competitive world. There is a rat race for such institutes. We tend to enrol our children thinking they would achieve good marks, and consequently, have a good future. We invest in high amounts of fee at these institutes because we love our children and have high aspirations and expectations for our kids. We have become helpless.

An educational analyst said, it has become an easy and lazy intellectual exercise to blame corporate institutions. Just because of the name  corporate. If they are so bad let the parents not send their children. Let the children seek action against their parents who sent them to concentration camps in the name of love? What about the government? All this training is eventually to get through Eamcet and such other government-conducted exams only, right? Why cant they seek a ban on Eamcet and such other exams?

Explaining that competition was a consequence of high population, the analyst said, we have lakhs of children who wish to get one of the few thousands of seats each year. The pipe has to have a filter and it will hurt not only those who cant make it but also those make it through after such mindless struggle. But what should we ban  population, exams, government, or parents from having dreams for a better tomorrow for their kids?

The parents, expectedly, try to shift all responsibility to the government, saying it should come up with quality institutes, with affordable fee structures, and a stress-free environment.

When contacted for their comments, Narayana Institute said that they have a helpline number that students can call to avail counselling anytime. The institute said that they have counselors, who frequently interact with students to learn about their problems.

But representatives of Sri Chaitanya were not available for a comment today.
PARIS  The line in front of the Louis Vuitton store was barely a line by Paris standards: only 10 people. All were Asian and many spoke in Chinese, with one couple dictating Mandarin into a smartphone and waiting for the answers in French.

Sometimes, the lines been even shorter recently, Yasmine Ben, who works at a kiosk directly facing the store, said on a recent morning. Usually, its wider, much, much longer, and it snakes around the back.

Louis Vuitton, in the Galeries Lafayette department store in central Paris, is a favorite stop inside one of the favorite shopping destinations of Chinese tourists to France. And the line there is prime evidence of the growing economic impact that the coronavirus, which broke out in Wuhan, China, late last year, has had on tourism in Paris and elsewhere across Europe.

Though it is too soon to quantify it precisely, the potential economic impact of the coronavirus is evident nearly everywhere. From the streets of Paris to the wineries of Burgundy, from the German town of Fussen near the fairy tale castle of Neuschwanstein to a shopping outlet in Oxfordshire, England, the numbers of Chinese tourists have visibly dropped since Beijing banned overseas group tours on Jan. 27.
A branch of British shoe retailer Clarks closed its doors to customers over the weekend after a member of its staff was suspected to have contracted the Coronavirus.

The store in Nantwich, Cheshire, was closed on Friday afternoon amid fears an employee had the super virus.

Shoppers were seen walking up to the entrance of the store on Saturday morning after it was closed following advice from Public Health England.

On Saturday a sign on the front door read: 'This store is closed due to unforeseen circumstances'.

A branch of Clarks shoe shop in Nantwich, Cheshire, was closed over the weekend due to a Coronavirus scare

A sign outside the shop read: 'This store is closed due to unforeseen circumstances. You can still shop online at www.clarks.co.uk. Sorry for the inconvenience'

The shop was left in the darkness over the weekend, a sign was left on the door informing customers of the closure

The store is not open on Sundays.

On Saturday a spokesman for Clarks said: 'We can confirm that Clarks is currently taking advice from Public Health England regarding an individual at our Nantwich store.

'The employee in question has been tested for Coronavirus, and is now in self-quarantine following advice from Public Health England as we await their test results.

'We are currently being guided by Public Health England on the actions to take and our priority remains to protect the welfare of all Clarks staff, our customers and the public.

Shoppers were seen walking up to the door of the store before realising that it was actually closed on Saturday afternoon

'As a business we have introduced many measures to protect both public and staff safety both in line with and in addition to current government advice.

'Our Nantwich store is currently closed. We are unable to share any further details at this time.'

Public Health England said it did not comment on suspected cases.

The store in Nantwich is situated on the high street and is next to a Timpson and an opticians

On Saturday NHS England said all but one of the nine UK patients who tested positive for the Covid-19 coronavirus had been discharged from hospital.

Some of the first Britons to catch the deadly disease, which has so far killed 1,527 people and infected 67,091, caught the killer infection in a French ski chalet from a Brighton man who stayed at the same resort.

In York, a university student and his mother were tested positive for the virus.

The latest victim, who was diagnosed in London on February 12, is thought to have flown into the UK from China a few days ago, with officials confirming she caught the virus in China.

It is unclear which of the nine patients remains in hospital.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said earlier this week that the coronavirus outbreak is a 'serious and imminent' threat to the British public.
Desperate flooding victims today lashed out at Boris Johnson after Downing Street said the Prime Minister had no plans to visit areas worst affected by Storm Dennis.

Flood-hit families said the government was not doing enough to help them and took specific aim at Mr Johnson's response to the crisis with the premier currently staying at a country residence in Kent.

Number 10 insisted this morning that the PM is receiving 'updates' at the Chevening estate near Sevenoaks but no Cobra emergency committee meeting has been scheduled.

Anger has been growing over the way the government has reacted despite new Environment Secretary George Eustice claiming ministers have a 'firm grip' on the situation.

He also risked fury as he argued ministers will 'never be able to protect every single property' from flooding.

Families in south Wales - an area particularly badly affected by the huge amounts of rain fall - said politicians needed to up their efforts.

Museum worker Robin Williams, 62, from Pontypridd said: 'Where's Boris? Where's the help?'

Tracey Waites, 49, also of Pontypridd, added: 'We haven't seen anyone. There are no politicians down here helping. Where are they?

'We haven't seen anyone from the government or anyone from the council. We've heard nothing from anyone.'

Boris Johnson, pictured meeting with his new Cabinet on Friday last week, is under pressure to call a Cobra meeting in response to the flooding crisis

Storm Dennis saw more than a month's rain fall in 48 hours in some places in the UK at the weekend. Pictured is the scene in Hereford today

St Ives in Cambridgeshire was surrounded by flood water this morning after the Great Ouse burst its banks overnight

No10 said that Mr Johnson would be staying at Chevening in Kent today rather than visiting flood-hit sites

George Eustice, the Environment Secretary, said the government does have a 'firm grip' on the response to the deluge

Downing Street said this morning that flood defences were a devolved matter and as a result any problems in Wales should be directed at the Welsh government.

However, flood victims in England have also been urging Mr Johnson to do more.

Roy James, a cafe owner in Tenbury Wells in Worcestershire, told Sky News: 'We are a little frustrated because we think surely the government have had 13 years to talk about this which you would imagine would be plenty but seemingly not.

So we are hoping that this time Mr Johnson and his crew will come and do something, do something for us, help us.

A Number 10 spokesman said Defra and other relevant agencies are 'continuing to work on this' and 'the PM will receive regular updates'.

The government's response to the deluge over the weekend has prompted fury from Labour with shadow culture secretary Tracy Brabin claiming ministers would have moved quicker if the flooding was in the south east of England.

Ms Brabin told the BBC's Westminster Hour programme: 'It seems this government is all promises and no action. If this was in Surrey or the south, we would have had swifter action.

North Yorkshire was another area battered by Storm Dennis at the weekend, leaving rivers swollen with rainwater

Families in south Wales (pictured) - an area particularly badly affected by the huge amounts of rain fall - said politicians needed to up their efforts

Major incidents were declared due to flooding in South Wales as well as in Worcestershire and Herefordshire (pictured)

'Why hasn't the government called Cobra? This is an absolute emergency. We need to see people round the table.'

Chris Bryant, the Labour MP for the Rhondda constituency in south Wales, said it was 'patently obvious' that the government had not been doing enough.

Hundreds of flood alerts remain in place after Storm Dennis battered the country as severe weather conditions saw winds of more than 90mph lash parts of the UK, while more than a month's worth of rain fell in 48 hours in places.

Major incidents were declared due to flooding in South Wales as well as in Worcestershire and Herefordshire, while a record number of flood warnings and alerts were issued by the Environment Agency (EA).

Mr Johnson spent the weekend at Chevening. The estate is formally the residence of the Foreign Secretary, but the PM's residence Chequers is understood to be undergoing building work.

Mr Eustice today defended the government's response as he also dismissed questions about why Mr Johnson had not responded personally to the flooding.

Asked why Mr Johnson had not followed the example of David Cameron who visited flooding victims when he was PM, Mr Eustice said: 'I was there yesterday, I have been in Yorkshire, in fact the floods in Yorkshire are not as serious as had been expected because this water actually went further south than we originally expected.

Tracy Brabin, Labour's shadow culture secretary, suggested the government would have responded quicker to the flooding if it had affected the south east of England

'We do have some concerns over the River Ouse and we are not out of the woods yet on that, we will have another couple of days to watch that.

'The biggest problems at the moment are in the west country, in that catchment around the Severn.'

Told by Sky News that the question had been about Mr Johnson's leadership and response to the flooding, Mr Eustice said: 'When I was appointed by the Prime Minister one of the first things he mentioned was the floods. We discussed Storm Dennis as it was coming through.

'I am leading on this. I am in the Cabinet. I was up there yesterday in Yorkshire, I have been in regular contact with officials on this and we had a conference call with all of the flood resilience forums on Friday and I am in regular contact with all ministerial colleagues.

'The government has a firm grip on this and it is a very difficult situation. Widespread flood alerts but our flood defences are working as intended.'

Mr Eustice was told he was not answering the question and was asked why Mr Johnson had not moved to reassure flooding victims.

He replied: 'I am out there reassuring people. I went up there yesterday on his behalf. He has been to these areas before, I am sure he will again.'

Asked if Mr Johnson had a visit planned, Mr Eustice said 'I don't manage the Prime Minister's diary'.

He also said the government could not protect every home in the UK from flooding.

'It is the case when you have these events you will never be able to protect every single property but the investments we have made mean that we are able to protect a significant number,' he said.

The PM made flood-related visits to Matlock in Derbyshire and Fishlake, near Doncaster, during the general election campaign last November.

Britain has been battered by two storms over the last two weekends - with Storm Ciara bringing flooding to the North of England, and Storm Dennis causing severe flooding in South Wales.

Dennis lashed the country with 90mph winds over the weekend and drenched some places with more than a month's worth of rain in 48 hours.

David Cameron meets soldiers working on flood relief in York city centre after the river Ouse burst its banks, on December 28, 2015

The infrastructure watchdog said the government needs to go further than its commitment to invest 4 billion over the next five years.

Dame Kate Barker, of the National Infrastructure Commission, said: 'This weekend's flooding highlights the challenge the UK faces from severe weather, which will only get worse with climate change.

'We must plan ahead to reduce the devastating effects of flooding on households, communities and our economy, but too often our approach feels like we're playing catch-up with the weather.

'Government has committed to invest 4 billion over the next five years, but needs to go further.

'In our National Infrastructure Assessment in 2018, we recommended a national standard of resilience to flooding, to focus attention on delivering the long-term solutions required, including traditional flood defences, green infrastructure and better spatial planning.

'We expect Government to take decisive action in its forthcoming National Infrastructure Strategy to mitigate the risks we face.'

The UK has now faced storms two weekends in a row. Army personnel were deployed over the weekend to assist people in parts of West Yorkshire which had already been badly hit by flooding during Storm Ciara.

Roads and railways were flooded on Sunday after the torrential downpours and high winds.

The government has activated the Bellwin scheme to provide financial assistance to storm-hit areas.




The Sri Lankan social system rests on three pillars: the caste system, the joint family system, and the village community. Among these, the caste system appears to be the most significant feature, due to its interdependence upon the social, economic and political systems.





by Zulkifli Nazim





Let him admonish, let him teach, let him forbid what is improper!-

he will be beloved of the good, by the bad, he will be hated. Dhammapada 77.





Populism: denies the pluralism of contemporary societies. It promotes hostility to Enemies and flirts with violence. It is generally gripped by a territorial mentality that prioritises borders and nation states against foreigners and foreign influences, including multilateral institutions and so-called globalization. Jan Werner Muller, Historian, Princeton University.









Every society is stratified. It has rightly been said that an unstratified society, with a real equality of its members is a myth, which has never been realised in the history of mankind. No matter how egalitarian in principle, they are riddled with multiple social hierarchies. Those of higher status often look down on people lower on the status ladder  look down with disdain, contempt and resentment. Being denigrated, even if only with a gesture or a glance, always stings. Being ignored, is even worse. Inequalities of status are even more emotionally volatile.





The Sri Lankan social system rests on three pillars: the caste system, the joint family system, and the village community. Among these, the caste system appears to be the most significant feature, due to its interdependence upon the social, economic and political systems.





Our key contention is that populist politics reflects problems of social integration.





Populism is an intriguing phenomenon because it is, or at least resembles, a form of democratic politics. In fact, populism is a pseudo-democratic style of politics, whose inner logic or spirit destroys power-sharing democracy committed to the principle of equality.





The archetypical populist leader seeks the legitimacy granted by the people through rallies with large crowds, the mandate of election victories and the mechanisms of democratic campaigning and consciousness raising.





A new populist platform often begins with the grievance that the people have gone unrepresented, until now. They have not been given due credit or adequate voice. Such claims should be taken seriously, and indeed some research on populism treats it as form of democratic politics that generates activism of and gives voice to previously alienated people.





Populists are not pluralist. Populists are dividers, not uniters. They split society into two homogenous and antagonistic groups: the pure people on the one end and the corrupt elite on the other, and say they are guided by the will of the people.





They the populists can ask indignantly, should the people not take possession of their state through their only rightful representatives?





If populism is about simply winning 51 percent of the vote and imposing rules for the other 49 percent to live by, it is an invitation to tyranny of the majority. That's a curse that rejects our ideals and that will follow the path of destruction. Unfortunately, there are plenty of extremists on both the political right and left embracing this view. They may not win 100 percent of the votes, but use a pseudo pretense, deceitfully feigning claim to 100 percent of the support of good, hardworking folks who have been exploited by the establishment.





Populists are certainly not alone in seeking to consolidate political power. But unlike other power-hungry politicians, they can do so openly. Because it is majoritarian in nature and calls for majority rule at the expense of minorities.





Populists can endanger democracy. You cant compromise in a moral struggle. If the pure compromises with the corrupt, the pure essentially get corrupted. Here youre not dealing with an opponent. An opponent has legitimacy, and quite often in the populist mind and rhetoric, it is an enemy, and you dont make deals with enemies and you dont bend to illegitimate pressure. That is their ideology.





Its not that populists have some special mind meld with the masses. The mark of a populist isnt which specific groups of people he or she are included. Its the fact that he or she is separating the world into those warring camps. But what does often happen is that populists, when they come to power and actually and practically, have to deal with things on a daily basis, they often change their stance and become more moderate as they gradually learn that senseless violence doesnt work when theyre trying to get things done, and then they often lose their popularity over time as a result, because they no longer have that appeal.





Then what happens is that Populists in power tend to undermine countervailing powers, which are courts, which are media, which are other parties, and they tend to do that through a variety of mostly legal means, but not classic repression. That is the subtlety of their moves.





Governance breeds many kinds of public frustration. Citizens elect representatives who do not and indeed, cannot do what each voter wants, because voters support candidates for different, often opposing reasons. Citizens desire to govern themselves collides with the obligations of daily life and also with most peoples distaste for the practice of politics.





Most citizens want government that is of the people and for the people, but they are ambivalent, uncertain and unable to decide about what is meant by government by the people.





The recent surge in support for parties of the radical right and left in the developed democracies is one of the most important political phenomena of our time. The electoral successes in recent times changed the course of history in Sri Lanka. But, even where they do not win elections, radical parties are taking a much larger share of the vote than they did two decades ago. Their rising support for radical parties is a puzzling phenomenon. Theories that expect citizens to vote based on their material interest have difficulty explaining why so many working-class voters support parties of the radical right when there are grounds for thinking that left parties are more likely to advance their material interests; and why so many voters have moved beyond the mainstream to the fringes of the political spectrum.





Radical right parties and movements are appealing mainly to fringe groups operating on a virulent caste and racism agenda generally accompanied by ethno-nationalist which calls to action against those posed by people of other races or religions.





Looking at the country as a whole, we see that the cultural cleavage between cities and the countryside is as old as human history, but recent events have exacerbated, aggravated and made it worse. While people in small towns and rural areas prefer homogeneity and stability, cities lean toward social liberalism and non-urban areas toward tradition. Most importantly, religion, especially conservative religion, tends to be stronger in the countryside, generating a backlash against minority fellow citizens. Broader political trends have contributed to democratic erosion.





Religion and democracy are a potent mix. Studying populism movements should give us pause to reflect on our understandings of the sacred and how these can, in some cases, bring social harm. We should also consider the implications of populist majoritarianism, Christianism or Hinduism or Islamism for the freedom of religion and protection of religious minorities.





The multifaceted roles of religion in populism should prompt us to abandon any naive assumptions that religion is merely an empowering force, or that when it does empower it will work for the social good.





However, at this moment of time, a more important task is figuring out how the nation can move forward to more fully live out its founding ideals.




Munich: A senior United Nations official called the arms embargo on Libya a "joke" as governments struggled to hold together efforts to end a civil war in the North African country.

Officials gathered in Munich on Sunday expressed concern about "the deplorable recent violations" of the weapons embargo, while also reaffirming the conclusions of a summit in Berlin last month, which sought to move toward ending the civil war between Fayez al-Sarraj, Libya's UN-backed Prime Minister, and his rival General Khalifa Haftar.

This drawing by a migrant artist nicknamed Aser depicts refugees in Libya. The refugees are trapped in the fighting between forces of military commander Khalifa Hifter and militias allied with the UN-supported government in Tripoli. Credit:Aser/AP

But prospects for progress are bleak, a circumstance illustrated by those who didn't attend. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who was in the city for the Munich Security Conference, sent a more junior official. US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, who left the conference a day earlier, dispatched the deputy assistant secretary of state for the Maghreb and Egypt.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas acknowledged that the Berlin summit had failed to achieve much progress and success won't be a "simple task." Stephanie Williams, a UN deputy special envoy who attended the meeting, was more blunt.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Turkey's export of steel to Azerbaijan dropped in January 2020, Turkeys Ministry of Trade told Trend on Feb. 17

In January 2020, Turkeys export of steel to Azerbaijan amounted to $6.9 million, which is 17.84 percent less compared to the same month of 2019.

Export of steel from Turkey to world markets dropped by 4 percent, amounting to $1.1 billion.

Turkeys steel export amounted to 7.8 percent of countrys total export in January 2020.

From January 2019 through January 2020, Turkeys export of steel amounted to $13.7 billion or 7.6 percent of countrys total export for this period.

In 2019, steel export from Turkey to Azerbaijan increased by 16.39 percent compared to 2018 and exceeded $118.4 million.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
SPRINGFIELD  Beth Matthews of Illinois American Water is one of three new members of the Illinois Manufacturers Association Board of Directors.

Matthews is Vice President of Operations of Illinois American Water. She leads safety, water quality, field operations, production and maintenance teams across Illinois. She previously was the Senior Director of Operations for Missouri American Waters St. Louis County operations.
Plus, Bill's Message of the Day, we are living in the United States of Propaganda.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
NEW YORK, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Dairy Testing market worldwide is projected to grow by US$2.6 Billion, driven by a compounded growth of 7.1%. Safety Testing, one of the segments analyzed and sized in this study, displays the potential to grow at over 6.6%. The shifting dynamics supporting this growth makes it critical for businesses in this space to keep abreast of the changing pulse of the market. Poised to reach over US$4.4 Billion by the year 2025, Safety Testing will bring in healthy gains adding significant momentum to global growth.



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05798286/?utm_source=PRN



- Representing the developed world, the United States will maintain a 6% growth momentum. Within Europe, which continues to remain an important element in the world economy, Germany will add over US$92 Million to the region's size and clout in the next 5 to 6 years. Over US$79.9 Million worth of projected demand in the region will come from Rest of Europe markets. In Japan, Safety Testing will reach a market size of US$234.2 Million by the close of the analysis period. As the world's second largest economy and the new game changer in global markets, China exhibits the potential to grow at 10.4% over the next couple of years and add approximately US$719.4 Million in terms of addressable opportunity for the picking by aspiring businesses and their astute leaders. Presented in visually rich graphics are these and many more need-to-know quantitative data important in ensuring quality of strategy decisions, be it entry into new markets or allocation of resources within a portfolio. Several macroeconomic factors and internal market forces will shape growth and development of demand patterns in emerging countries in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East. All research viewpoints presented are based on validated engagements from influencers in the market, whose opinions supersede all other research methodologies.



- Competitors identified in this market include, among others, ALS Ltd.; AsureQuality; Bureau Veritas Group; Eurofins Scientific; Intertek Group PLC; Merieux NutriSciences Corporation; Microbac Laboratories, Inc.; Neogen Corporation; Romer Labs, Inc.; SGS SA; Tuv Nord Group; Tuv Sud AG







Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05798286/?utm_source=PRN



I. METHODOLOGY



II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



1. MARKET OVERVIEW

Dairy Testing Market to Register Moderate Growth

Safety Testing is anticipated to Register Fastest Growth

Global Competitor Market Shares

Dairy Testing Competitor Market Share Scenario Worldwide

(in %): 2019 & 2025

2. FOCUS ON SELECT PLAYERS

A Prelude into Leading Players

Market Share of Dairy Testing Worldwide Market by Leading

Players-2018

3. MARKET TRENDS & DRIVERS

Increase in Foodborne Illness Outbreaks to Drive Market Growth

Number of Foodborne Illness Outbreaks in the US: 1998-2017

Impact of Globalization on Dairy Trade to Drive Market Growth

Stringent Quality and Safety Regulations for Food to Bolster

Demand for Dairy Testing Market

A Prelude into Milk Quality Testing

With Various Benefits Associated with Milk Testing, the Demand

for Dairy Testing Market is expected to Grow

Milk Testing to Enhance Dairy Herd

Milk Bacteria Test Avoids Wastage in Dairy Production

Milk Quality Testing: To Enhance Dairy Products Shelf Life

Select List of Qualitative Tests for Milk and Milk Products

New Introductions/ Innovations to Bode-Well for Market Growth

Adoption of Advanced Technologies for Dairy Testing to Provide

Opportunities

4. GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE

Table 1: Dairy Testing Global Market Estimates and Forecasts in

US$ Million by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 2: Dairy Testing Global Retrospective Market Scenario in

US$ Million by Region/Country: 2009-2017

Table 3: Dairy Testing Market Share Shift across Key

Geographies Worldwide: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 4: Safety Testing (Type) World Market by Region/Country

in US$ Million: 2018 to 2025

Table 5: Safety Testing (Type) Historic Market Analysis by

Region/Country in US$ Million: 2009 to 2017

Table 6: Safety Testing (Type) Market Share Breakdown of

Worldwide Sales by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 7: Quality Analysis (Type) Potential Growth Markets

Worldwide in US$ Million: 2018 to 2025

Table 8: Quality Analysis (Type) Historic Market Perspective by

Region/Country in US$ Million: 2009 to 2017

Table 9: Quality Analysis (Type) Market Sales Breakdown by

Region/Country in Percentage: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 10: Traditional (Technology) Geographic Market Spread

Worldwide in US$ Million: 2018 to 2025

Table 11: Traditional (Technology) Region Wise Breakdown of

Global Historic Demand in US$ Million: 2009 to 2017

Table 12: Traditional (Technology) Market Share Distribution in

Percentage by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 13: Rapid (Technology) World Market Estimates and

Forecasts by Region/Country in US$ Million: 2018 to 2025

Table 14: Rapid (Technology) Market Historic Review by

Region/Country in US$ Million: 2009 to 2017

Table 15: Rapid (Technology) Market Share Breakdown by

Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 16: Milk & Milk Powder (Product) World Market by

Region/Country in US$ Million: 2018 to 2025

Table 17: Milk & Milk Powder (Product) Historic Market Analysis

by Region/Country in US$ Million: 2009 to 2017

Table 18: Milk & Milk Powder (Product) Market Share

Distribution in Percentage by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS

2025

Table 19: Cheese, Butter & Spreads (Product) World Market

Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2018

to 2025

Table 20: Cheese, Butter & Spreads (Product) Market Worldwide

Historic Review by Region/Country in US$ Million: 2009 to 2017

Table 21: Cheese, Butter & Spreads (Product) Market Percentage

Share Distribution by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 22: Infant Foods (Product) Market Opportunity Analysis

Worldwide in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2018 to 2025

Table 23: Infant Foods (Product) Global Historic Demand in US$

Million by Region/Country: 2009 to 2017

Table 24: Infant Foods (Product) Market Share Distribution in

Percentage by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 25: Ice Cream & Desserts (Product) World Market by

Region/Country in US$ Million: 2018 to 2025

Table 26: Ice Cream & Desserts (Product) Historic Market

Analysis by Region/Country in US$ Million: 2009 to 2017

Table 27: Ice Cream & Desserts (Product) Market Share Breakdown

of Worldwide Sales by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 28: Yogurt (Product) Potential Growth Markets Worldwide

in US$ Million: 2018 to 2025

Table 29: Yogurt (Product) Historic Market Perspective by

Region/Country in US$ Million: 2009 to 2017

Table 30: Yogurt (Product) Market Sales Breakdown by

Region/Country in Percentage: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 31: Other Products (Product) Geographic Market Spread

Worldwide in US$ Million: 2018 to 2025

Table 32: Other Products (Product) Region Wise Breakdown of

Global Historic Demand in US$ Million: 2009 to 2017

Table 33: Other Products (Product) Market Share Distribution in

Percentage by Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025



III. MARKET ANALYSIS



GEOGRAPHIC MARKET ANALYSIS

UNITED STATES

Market Facts & Figures

US Dairy Testing Market Share (in %) by Company: 2019 & 2025

Table 34: United States Dairy Testing Market Estimates and

Projections in US$ Million by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 35: Dairy Testing Market in the United States by Type: A

Historic Review in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 36: United States Dairy Testing Market Share Breakdown by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 37: Dairy Testing Market in US$ Million in the United

States by Technology: 2018-2025

Table 38: United States Dairy Testing Market Retrospective

Analysis in US$ Million by Technology: 2009-2017

Table 39: United States Dairy Testing Market Share Breakdown by

Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 40: United States Dairy Testing Market Estimates and

Projections in US$ Million by Product: 2018 to 2025

Table 41: Dairy Testing Market in the United States by Product:

A Historic Review in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 42: United States Dairy Testing Market Share Breakdown by

Product: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

CANADA

Table 43: Canadian Dairy Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts

in US$ Million by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 44: Canadian Dairy Testing Historic Market Review by Type

in US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 45: Dairy Testing Market in Canada: Percentage Share

Breakdown of Sales by Type for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 46: Dairy Testing Market Analysis in Canada in US$

Million by Technology: 2018-2025

Table 47: Dairy Testing Market in Canada: Historic Review in

US$ Million by Technology for the Period 2009-2017

Table 48: Canadian Dairy Testing Market Share Breakdown by

Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 49: Canadian Dairy Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts

in US$ Million by Product: 2018 to 2025

Table 50: Canadian Dairy Testing Historic Market Review by

Product in US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 51: Dairy Testing Market in Canada: Percentage Share

Breakdown of Sales by Product for 2009, 2019, and 2025

JAPAN

Table 52: Japanese Market for Dairy Testing: Annual Sales

Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by Type for the Period

2018-2025

Table 53: Dairy Testing Market in Japan: Historic Sales

Analysis in US$ Million by Type for the Period 2009-2017

Table 54: Japanese Dairy Testing Market Share Analysis by Type:

2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 55: Japanese Medium & Long-Term Outlook for Dairy Testing

Market in US$ Million by Technology: 2018-2025

Table 56: Dairy Testing Market in Japan in US$ Million by

Technology: 2009-2017

Table 57: Japanese Dairy Testing Market Percentage Share

Distribution by Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 58: Japanese Market for Dairy Testing: Annual Sales

Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by Product for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 59: Dairy Testing Market in Japan: Historic Sales

Analysis in US$ Million by Product for the Period 2009-2017

Table 60: Japanese Dairy Testing Market Share Analysis by

Product: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

CHINA

Table 61: Chinese Dairy Testing Market Growth Prospects in US$

Million by Type for the Period 2018-2025

Table 62: Dairy Testing Historic Market Analysis in China in

US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 63: Chinese Dairy Testing Market by Type: Percentage

Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 64: Dairy Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts in China

in US$ Million by Technology: 2018-2025

Table 65: Chinese Dairy Testing Retrospective Market Scenario

in US$ Million by Technology: 2009-2017

Table 66: Dairy Testing Market in China: Percentage Share

Analysis by Technology for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 67: Chinese Dairy Testing Market Growth Prospects in US$

Million by Product for the Period 2018-2025

Table 68: Dairy Testing Historic Market Analysis in China in

US$ Million by Product: 2009-2017

Table 69: Chinese Dairy Testing Market by Product: Percentage

Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025

EUROPE

Market Facts & Figures

European Dairy Testing Market: Competitor Market Share Scenario

(in %) for 2019 & 2025

Table 70: European Dairy Testing Market Demand Scenario in US$

Million by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 71: Dairy Testing Market in Europe: A Historic Market

Perspective in US$ Million by Region/Country for the Period

2009-2017

Table 72: European Dairy Testing Market Share Shift by

Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 73: European Dairy Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts

in US$ Million by Type: 2018-2025

Table 74: Dairy Testing Market in Europe in US$ Million by

Type: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 75: European Dairy Testing Market Share Breakdown by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 76: European Dairy Testing Market Assessment in US$

Million by Technology: 2018-2025

Table 77: European Dairy Testing Historic Market Review in US$

Million by Technology: 2009-2017

Table 78: Dairy Testing Market in Europe: Percentage Breakdown

of Sales by Technology for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 79: European Dairy Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts

in US$ Million by Product: 2018-2025

Table 80: Dairy Testing Market in Europe in US$ Million by

Product: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 81: European Dairy Testing Market Share Breakdown by

Product: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

FRANCE

Table 82: Dairy Testing Market in France by Type: Estimates and

Projections in US$ Million for the Period 2018-2025

Table 83: French Dairy Testing Historic Market Scenario in US$

Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 84: French Dairy Testing Market Share Analysis by Type:

2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 85: French Dairy Testing Market Estimates and Projections

in US$ Million by Technology: 2018-2025

Table 86: French Dairy Testing Historic Market Analysis in US$

Million by Technology: 2009-2017

Table 87: French Dairy Testing Market Share Breakdown by

Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 88: Dairy Testing Market in France by Product: Estimates

and Projections in US$ Million for the Period 2018-2025

Table 89: French Dairy Testing Historic Market Scenario in US$

Million by Product: 2009-2017

Table 90: French Dairy Testing Market Share Analysis by

Product: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

GERMANY

Table 91: Dairy Testing Market in Germany: Recent Past, Current and

Future Analysis in US$ Million by Type for the Period

2018-2025

Table 92: German Dairy Testing Historic Market Analysis in US$

Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 93: German Dairy Testing Market Share Breakdown by Type:

2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 94: German Dairy Testing Latent Demand Forecasts in US$

Million by Technology: 2018-2025

Table 95: Dairy Testing Market in Germany: A Historic

Perspective by Technology in US$ Million for the Period

2009-2017

Table 96: German Dairy Testing Market Share Breakdown by

Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 97: Dairy Testing Market in Germany: Recent Past, Current

and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Product for the Period

2018-2025

Table 98: German Dairy Testing Historic Market Analysis in US$

Million by Product: 2009-2017

Table 99: German Dairy Testing Market Share Breakdown by

Product: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ITALY

Table 100: Italian Dairy Testing Market Growth Prospects in US$

Million by Type for the Period 2018-2025

Table 101: Dairy Testing Historic Market Analysis in Italy in

US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 102: Italian Dairy Testing Market by Type: Percentage

Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 103: Dairy Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts in

Italy in US$ Million by Technology: 2018-2025

Table 104: Italian Dairy Testing Retrospective Market Scenario

in US$ Million by Technology: 2009-2017

Table 105: Dairy Testing Market in Italy: Percentage Share

Analysis by Technology for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 106: Italian Dairy Testing Market Growth Prospects in US$

Million by Product for the Period 2018-2025

Table 107: Dairy Testing Historic Market Analysis in Italy in

US$ Million by Product: 2009-2017

Table 108: Italian Dairy Testing Market by Product: Percentage

Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025

UNITED KINGDOM

Table 109: United Kingdom Market for Dairy Testing: Annual

Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by Type for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 110: Dairy Testing Market in the United Kingdom: Historic

Sales Analysis in US$ Million by Type for the Period 2009-2017

Table 111: United Kingdom Dairy Testing Market Share Analysis

by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 112: United Kingdom Medium & Long-Term Outlook for Dairy

Testing Market in US$ Million by Technology: 2018-2025

Table 113: Dairy Testing Market in the United Kingdom in US$

Million by Technology: 2009-2017

Table 114: United Kingdom Dairy Testing Market Percentage Share

Distribution by Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 115: United Kingdom Market for Dairy Testing: Annual

Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by Product for

the Period 2018-2025

Table 116: Dairy Testing Market in the United Kingdom: Historic

Sales Analysis in US$ Million by Product for the Period

2009-2017

Table 117: United Kingdom Dairy Testing Market Share Analysis

by Product: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

SPAIN

Table 118: Spanish Dairy Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts

in US$ Million by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 119: Spanish Dairy Testing Historic Market Review by Type

in US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 120: Dairy Testing Market in Spain: Percentage Share

Breakdown of Sales by Type for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 121: Dairy Testing Market Analysis in Spain in US$

Million by Technology: 2018-2025

Table 122: Dairy Testing Market in Spain: Historic Review in

US$ Million by Technology for the Period 2009-2017

Table 123: Spanish Dairy Testing Market Share Breakdown by

Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 124: Spanish Dairy Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts

in US$ Million by Product: 2018 to 2025

Table 125: Spanish Dairy Testing Historic Market Review by

Product in US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 126: Dairy Testing Market in Spain: Percentage Share

Breakdown of Sales by Product for 2009, 2019, and 2025

RUSSIA

Table 127: Russian Dairy Testing Market Estimates and

Projections in US$ Million by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 128: Dairy Testing Market in Russia by Type: A Historic

Review in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 129: Russian Dairy Testing Market Share Breakdown by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 130: Dairy Testing Market in US$ Million in Russia by

Technology: 2018-2025

Table 131: Russian Dairy Testing Market Retrospective Analysis

in US$ Million by Technology: 2009-2017

Table 132: Russian Dairy Testing Market Share Breakdown by

Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 133: Russian Dairy Testing Market Estimates and

Projections in US$ Million by Product: 2018 to 2025

Table 134: Dairy Testing Market in Russia by Product: A

Historic Review in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 135: Russian Dairy Testing Market Share Breakdown by

Product: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF EUROPE

Table 136: Rest of Europe Dairy Testing Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Type: 2018-2025

Table 137: Dairy Testing Market in Rest of Europe in US$

Million by Type: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 138: Rest of Europe Dairy Testing Market Share Breakdown

by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 139: Rest of Europe Dairy Testing Market Assessment in

US$ Million by Technology: 2018-2025

Table 140: Rest of Europe Dairy Testing Historic Market Review

in US$ Million by Technology: 2009-2017

Table 141: Dairy Testing Market in Rest of Europe: Percentage

Breakdown of Sales by Technology for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 142: Rest of Europe Dairy Testing Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Product: 2018-2025

Table 143: Dairy Testing Market in Rest of Europe in US$

Million by Product: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 144: Rest of Europe Dairy Testing Market Share Breakdown

by Product: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ASIA-PACIFIC

Table 145: Asia-Pacific Dairy Testing Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 146: Dairy Testing Market in Asia-Pacific: Historic

Market Analysis in US$ Million by Region/Country for the Period

2009-2017

Table 147: Asia-Pacific Dairy Testing Market Share Analysis by

Region/Country: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 148: Dairy Testing Market in Asia-Pacific by Type:

Estimates and Projections in US$ Million for the Period

2018-2025

Table 149: Asia-Pacific Dairy Testing Historic Market Scenario

in US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 150: Asia-Pacific Dairy Testing Market Share Analysis by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 151: Asia-Pacific Dairy Testing Market Estimates and

Projections in US$ Million by Technology: 2018-2025

Table 152: Asia-Pacific Dairy Testing Historic Market Analysis

in US$ Million by Technology: 2009-2017

Table 153: Asia-Pacific Dairy Testing Historic Market Analysis

in US$ Million by Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 154: Dairy Testing Market in Asia-Pacific by Product:

Estimates and Projections in US$ Million for the Period

2018-2025

Table 155: Asia-Pacific Dairy Testing Historic Market Scenario

in US$ Million by Product: 2009-2017

Table 156: Asia-Pacific Dairy Testing Market Share Analysis by

Product: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

AUSTRALIA

Table 157: Dairy Testing Market in Australia: Recent Past,

Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Type for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 158: Australian Dairy Testing Historic Market Analysis in

US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 159: Australian Dairy Testing Market Share Breakdown by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 160: Australian Dairy Testing Latent Demand Forecasts in

US$ Million by Technology: 2018-2025

Table 161: Dairy Testing Market in Australia: A Historic

Perspective by Technology in US$ Million for the Period

2009-2017

Table 162: Australian Dairy Testing Market Share Breakdown by

Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 163: Dairy Testing Market in Australia: Recent Past,

Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Product for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 164: Australian Dairy Testing Historic Market Analysis in

US$ Million by Product: 2009-2017

Table 165: Australian Dairy Testing Market Share Breakdown by

Product: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

INDIA

Table 166: Indian Dairy Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts

in US$ Million by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 167: Indian Dairy Testing Historic Market Review by Type

in US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 168: Dairy Testing Market in India: Percentage Share

Breakdown of Sales by Type for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 169: Dairy Testing Market Analysis in India in US$

Million by Technology: 2018-2025

Table 170: Dairy Testing Market in India: Historic Review in

US$ Million by Technology for the Period 2009-2017

Table 171: Indian Dairy Testing Market Share Breakdown by

Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 172: Indian Dairy Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts

in US$ Million by Product: 2018 to 2025

Table 173: Indian Dairy Testing Historic Market Review by

Product in US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 174: Dairy Testing Market in India: Percentage Share

Breakdown of Sales by Product for 2009, 2019, and 2025

SOUTH KOREA

Table 175: Dairy Testing Market in South Korea: Recent Past,

Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Type for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 176: South Korean Dairy Testing Historic Market Analysis

in US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 177: Dairy Testing Market Share Distribution in South

Korea by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 178: Dairy Testing Market in South Korea: Recent Past,

Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Technology for

the Period 2018-2025

Table 179: South Korean Dairy Testing Historic Market Analysis

in US$ Million by Technology: 2009-2017

Table 180: Dairy Testing Market Share Distribution in South

Korea by Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 181: Dairy Testing Market in South Korea: Recent Past,

Current and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Product for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 182: South Korean Dairy Testing Historic Market Analysis

in US$ Million by Product: 2009-2017

Table 183: Dairy Testing Market Share Distribution in South

Korea by Product: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF ASIA-PACIFIC

Table 184: Rest of Asia-Pacific Market for Dairy Testing:

Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by Type

for the Period 2018-2025

Table 185: Dairy Testing Market in Rest of Asia-Pacific:

Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Million by Type for the Period

2009-2017

Table 186: Rest of Asia-Pacific Dairy Testing Market Share

Analysis by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 187: Rest of Asia-Pacific Medium & Long-Term Outlook for

Dairy Testing Market in US$ Million by Technology: 2018-2025

Table 188: Dairy Testing Market in Rest of Asia-Pacific in US$

Million by Technology: 2009-2017

Table 189: Rest of Asia-Pacific Dairy Testing Market Percentage

Share Distribution by Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 190: Rest of Asia-Pacific Market for Dairy Testing:

Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by

Product for the Period 2018-2025

Table 191: Dairy Testing Market in Rest of Asia-Pacific:

Historic Sales Analysis in US$ Million by Product for the

Period 2009-2017

Table 192: Rest of Asia-Pacific Dairy Testing Market Share

Analysis by Product: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

LATIN AMERICA

Table 193: Latin American Dairy Testing Market Trends by

Region/Country in US$ Million: 2018-2025

Table 194: Dairy Testing Market in Latin America in US$ Million

by Region/Country: A Historic Perspective for the Period

2009-2017

Table 195: Latin American Dairy Testing Market Percentage

Breakdown of Sales by Region/Country: 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 196: Latin American Dairy Testing Market Growth Prospects

in US$ Million by Type for the Period 2018-2025

Table 197: Dairy Testing Historic Market Analysis in Latin

America in US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 198: Latin American Dairy Testing Market by Type:

Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 199: Dairy Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts in

Latin America in US$ Million by Technology: 2018-2025

Table 200: Latin American Dairy Testing Retrospective Market

Scenario in US$ Million by Technology: 2009-2017

Table 201: Dairy Testing Market in Latin America : Percentage

Analysis by Technology for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 202: Latin American Dairy Testing Market Growth Prospects

in US$ Million by Product for the Period 2018-2025

Table 203: Dairy Testing Historic Market Analysis in Latin

America in US$ Million by Product: 2009-2017

Table 204: Latin American Dairy Testing Market by Product:

Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025

ARGENTINA

Table 205: Argentinean Dairy Testing Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Type: 2018-2025

Table 206: Dairy Testing Market in Argentina in US$ Million by

Type: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 207: Argentinean Dairy Testing Market Share Breakdown by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 208: Argentinean Dairy Testing Market Assessment in US$

Million by Technology: 2018-2025

Table 209: Argentinean Dairy Testing Historic Market Review in

US$ Million by Technology: 2009-2017

Table 210: Dairy Testing Market in Argentina: Percentage

Breakdown of Sales by Technology for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 211: Argentinean Dairy Testing Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Product: 2018-2025

Table 212: Dairy Testing Market in Argentina in US$ Million by

Product: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 213: Argentinean Dairy Testing Market Share Breakdown by

Product: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

BRAZIL

Table 214: Dairy Testing Market in Brazil by Type: Estimates

and Projections in US$ Million for the Period 2018-2025

Table 215: Brazilian Dairy Testing Historic Market Scenario in

US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 216: Brazilian Dairy Testing Market Share Analysis by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 217: Brazilian Dairy Testing Market Estimates and

Projections in US$ Million by Technology: 2018-2025

Table 218: Brazilian Dairy Testing Historic Market Analysis in

US$ Million by Technology: 2009-2017

Table 219: Brazilian Dairy Testing Market Share Breakdown by

Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 220: Dairy Testing Market in Brazil by Product: Estimates

and Projections in US$ Million for the Period 2018-2025

Table 221: Brazilian Dairy Testing Historic Market Scenario in

US$ Million by Product: 2009-2017

Table 222: Brazilian Dairy Testing Market Share Analysis by

Product: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

MEXICO

Table 223: Dairy Testing Market in Mexico: Recent Past, Current

and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Type for the Period

2018-2025

Table 224: Mexican Dairy Testing Historic Market Analysis in

US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 225: Mexican Dairy Testing Market Share Breakdown by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 226: Mexican Dairy Testing Latent Demand Forecasts in US$

Million by Technology: 2018-2025

Table 227: Dairy Testing Market in Mexico: A Historic

Perspective by Technology in US$ Million for the Period

2009-2017

Table 228: Mexican Dairy Testing Market Share Breakdown by

Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 229: Dairy Testing Market in Mexico: Recent Past, Current

and Future Analysis in US$ Million by Product for the Period

2018-2025

Table 230: Mexican Dairy Testing Historic Market Analysis in

US$ Million by Product: 2009-2017

Table 231: Mexican Dairy Testing Market Share Breakdown by

Product: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

REST OF LATIN AMERICA

Table 232: Rest of Latin America Dairy Testing Market Estimates

and Projections in US$ Million by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 233: Dairy Testing Market in Rest of Latin America by

Type: A Historic Review in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 234: Rest of Latin America Dairy Testing Market Share

Breakdown by Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 235: Dairy Testing Market in US$ Million in Rest of Latin

America by Technology: 2018-2025

Table 236: Rest of Latin America Dairy Testing Market

Retrospective Analysis in US$ Million by Technology: 2009-2017

Table 237: Rest of Latin America Dairy Testing Market Share

Breakdown by Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 238: Rest of Latin America Dairy Testing Market Estimates

and Projections in US$ Million by Product: 2018 to 2025

Table 239: Dairy Testing Market in Rest of Latin America by

Product: A Historic Review in US$ Million for 2009-2017

Table 240: Rest of Latin America Dairy Testing Market Share

Breakdown by Product: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

MIDDLE EAST

Table 241: The Middle East Dairy Testing Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Region/Country: 2018-2025

Table 242: Dairy Testing Market in the Middle East by

Region/Country in US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 243: The Middle East Dairy Testing Market Share Breakdown

by Region/Country: 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 244: The Middle East Dairy Testing Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Type: 2018 to 2025

Table 245: The Middle East Dairy Testing Historic Market by

Type in US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 246: Dairy Testing Market in the Middle East: Percentage

Share Breakdown of Sales by Type for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 247: The Middle East Dairy Testing Market Analysis in US$

Million by Technology: 2018-2025

Table 248: Dairy Testing Market in the Middle East: Historic

Review in US$ Million by Technology for the Period 2009-2017

Table 249: The Middle East Dairy Testing Market Share Breakdown

by Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 250: The Middle East Dairy Testing Market Estimates and

Forecasts in US$ Million by Product: 2018 to 2025

Table 251: The Middle East Dairy Testing Historic Market by

Product in US$ Million: 2009-2017

Table 252: Dairy Testing Market in the Middle East: Percentage

Share Breakdown of Sales by Product for 2009, 2019, and 2025

IRAN

Table 253: Iranian Market for Dairy Testing: Annual Sales

Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by Type for the Period

2018-2025

Table 254: Dairy Testing Market in Iran: Historic Sales

Analysis in US$ Million by Type for the Period 2009-2017

Table 255: Iranian Dairy Testing Market Share Analysis by Type:

2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 256: Iranian Medium & Long-Term Outlook for Dairy Testing

Market in US$ Million by Technology: 2018-2025

Table 257: Dairy Testing Market in Iran in US$ Million by

Technology: 2009-2017

Table 258: Iranian Dairy Testing Market Percentage Share

Distribution by Technology: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 259: Iranian Market for Dairy Testing: Annual Sales

Estimates and Projections in US$ Million by Product for the

Period 2018-2025

Table 260: Dairy Testing Market in Iran: Historic Sales

Analysis in US$ Million by Product for the Period 2009-2017

Table 261: Iranian Dairy Testing Market Share Analysis by

Product: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

ISRAEL

Table 262: Israeli Dairy Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts

in US$ Million by Type: 2018-2025

Table 263: Dairy Testing Market in Israel in US$ Million by

Type: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 264: Israeli Dairy Testing Market Share Breakdown by

Type: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

Table 265: Israeli Dairy Testing Market Assessment in US$

Million by Technology: 2018-2025

Table 266: Israeli Dairy Testing Historic Market Review in US$

Million by Technology: 2009-2017

Table 267: Dairy Testing Market in Israel: Percentage Breakdown

of Sales by Technology for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 268: Israeli Dairy Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts

in US$ Million by Product: 2018-2025

Table 269: Dairy Testing Market in Israel in US$ Million by

Product: A Historic Review for the Period 2009-2017

Table 270: Israeli Dairy Testing Market Share Breakdown by

Product: 2009 VS 2019 VS 2025

SAUDI ARABIA

Table 271: Saudi Arabian Dairy Testing Market Growth Prospects

in US$ Million by Type for the Period 2018-2025

Table 272: Dairy Testing Historic Market Analysis in Saudi

Arabia in US$ Million by Type: 2009-2017

Table 273: Saudi Arabian Dairy Testing Market by Type:

Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 274: Dairy Testing Market Estimates and Forecasts in

Saudi Arabia in US$ Million by Technology: 2018-2025

Table 275: Saudi Arabian Dairy Testing Retrospective Market

Scenario in US$ Million by Technology: 2009-2017

Table 276: Dairy Testing Market in Saudi Arabia: Percentage

Share Analysis by Technology for 2009, 2019, and 2025

Table 277: Saudi Arabian Dairy Testing Market Growth Prospects

in US$ Million by Product for the Period 2018-2025

Table 278: Dairy Testing Historic Market Analysis in Saudi

Arabia in US$ Million by Product: 2009-2017

Table 279: Saudi Arabian Dairy Testing Market by Product:

Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2009, 2019, and 2025

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Table 280: Dairy Testing Market in the United Arab Emirates:



Please contact our Customer Support Center to get the complete Table of Contents

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05798286/?utm_source=PRN



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________

Contact Clare: [email protected]

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001

SOURCE Reportlinker

Related Links

www.reportlinker.com


A musician has told how he went from sleeping rough to touring with Liam Gallagher in just six months.

Jonny Brown, 33, first found fame with Manchester indie band Twisted Wheel in the late 2000s, securing a deal with Columbia Records and supporting the likes of Paul Weller and Oasis on stage.

But Brown soon became consumed with the excess of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, developing a drug addiction that led him to homelessness.

'It was just part of the business really, you know late nights and drink and drugs but eventually it did get hold of me,' he said in an interview with Radio 1's Newsbeat.

Musician Jonny Brown, 33, has told how he went from sleeping rough to touring with Liam Gallagher in just six months. Pictured, the pair in a recent Instagram snap shared by Brown

Jonny Brown first found fame with Manchester indie band Twisted Wheel in the late 2000s but later battled a drug addiction. Pictured, Brown (centre) with Liam Gallagher (right) last year

'I went from being on tour with Oasis, selling out shows and recording in LA to literally being on the street, begging for money, stealing, just really bad things really.'

Now Brown has kicked his addiction, reformed the band and is supporting Gallagher, 47, on the European leg of his tour.

'For Liam to give me this chance again it just shows what a great guy he is and how he cares about the music and the real stuff in life,' Brown said. 'He's a true guy and it's a reflection of his great character.'

Twisted Wheel enjoyed early success after forming in 2007, winning critical praise and signing a deal with Columbia Records in Los Angeles in January 2008.

Their first single, She's A Weapon, was released in April 2008 and counted Radio 1's influential DJ Zane Lowe among its supporters.

Twisted Wheel enjoyed success in the late 2000s, winning critical praise and a deal with Columbia Records in Los Angeles. Pictured, Brown (front) with the original line-up in 2008

Their first single, She's A Weapon, was released in April 2008 and counted Radio 1's influential DJ Zane Lowe among its supporters. Their first album (pictured) was released in 2009

Rocker Paul Weller was an early fan and invited the band on his summer forest tour in 2009. That same year Twisted Wheel supported Oasis at their Heaton Park gigs.

Liam Gallagher's support continued, with Twisted Wheel invited to support the rocker at Old Trafford in 2018.

However Brown found himself growing increasingly dependent on drugs. He told how his lowest point came last year, when he woke to find someone urinating on him on the street.

Now, just six months later, Brown is in recovery and is focused on making amends for the hurt and destruction he caused while in the throes of his addiction.

Now Brown has kicked his addiction, reformed the band and is supporting Gallagher, 47, on the European leg of his tour. Pictured, a poster for Gallagher's Amsterdam tour date

He has also refocused on his music career, reforming Twisted Wheel with a fresh line-up of musicians. Their new album, Satisfying the Ritual, will be released next month.

Brown is open in his praise of Gallagher on Instagram.

In a post announcing the tour, Brown wrote: 'We are more than honoured to have been personally invited to support legend and all round top geeza Liam Gallagher around Europe after a handful of supports over the UK and Ireland we earned the chance to tour abroad for the first time in ten years.

'We are more than honoured to be leaving English soil and joining his band on his on going mission to world wide success yet again.'

Speaking to the BBC, Brown added: 'I'm very proud of myself but I feel I've got a lot more to do yet, there's a long way to go but I'm well equipped for it and I'm up for it.'
Long before people were able to whip out their phones and swipe their way towards lurve (or something resembling it, anyway), coupling was a fiercely diplomatic business, something Jane Austen had great fun with in Emma.

It breathes contemporary guile into this latest in a long line of screen adaptations of the "handsome, clever, and rich" but under-stimulated society heiress and self-appointed matchmaker for her peers. Following Alicia Silverstone (Clueless, 1995) and Gwyneth Paltrow (Emma, 1996), Anya Taylor-Joy takes up the mantle.

While she is physically very modern looking for a person of that era, she brings a rather befitting swirl of sass into the character.

And besides, you quickly come to see that Autumn de Wilde's film is less concerned with such things. While Emma is indeed a thing of period beauty, with sensational work by Oscar-winning costume designer Alexandra Byrne and set decorator Stella Fox, there is very much a modern beat under the surface.

Bill Nighy smuggles his tongue into his cheek as Emma's hypochondriac father Mr Woodhouse. Miranda Hart is all awkward tumbles of words and scatty pauses as Miss Bates, and hopeless Harriet is wide-eyed and forlorn under Mia Goth.

We last saw Johnny Flynn in lupine mode in 2017's Beast. He is spot-on here as George Knightley, managing that character's complex relationship with Emma with unassuming delicacy. Callum Turner dashes in on horseback as Frank Churchill, his rival. Providing an arch counterpoint is Josh O'Connor, camping it up as Vicar Elton.

These are all splendid ingredients for the story to be going about its business with.

De Wilde makes great use of the clash between the knowing glances and rakish good looks and the pomp and decorum of the era. Every room they walk into is an event in itself, but Eleanor Catton's screenplay has fun with the world. Characters struggle with dainty teacups, fire screens, and dining etiquette. Clueless shook up the literary staple by setting it in a US highschool. De Wilde's film does it within Austen's original backdrop.

Choppy scene cutting, intimate framing and a score by David Schweitzer and Isobel Waller-Bridge create a playful feel to everything, like a more restrained version of what Armando Iannucci recently did with David Copperfield.

That said, what is perhaps most lovely about this is the film's affection towards the source material and Emma herself.

Video of the Day

The humour is dotty and comes at you at a slight angle, but it never feels like a send-up because there is a lot of heart at work here too. Emma is slowly dismantled as she makes an unholy mess of things, but her turn-around chimes with yearning and harmony. When George rebukes her for being so mean to Miss Bates, the sense of a nadir is felt.

The unquestionably modern embellishments coating everything mightn't be to everyone's taste but overall it feels like a perfect Emma for our times.

 Hilary A White

Sonic the Hedgehog

Cert: PG; Now showing

Expand Close Jim Carrey as Dr Robotnik / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Jim Carrey as Dr Robotnik

A turbo-boosted alien hedgehog called Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz) is hiding out in a small Montana town to escape enemies back home. He causes a power outage that alerts government agents (led by Jim Carreys crackpot professor) to his presence. Helping Sonic remain hidden from their clutches is an under-stimulated local sheriff (James Marsden).

The crossover from video game to cinema franchise is rarely untroubled, and Jeff Fowlers adaptation of the classic Sega platform game is no exception. So heated was the opprobrium that greeted the films unveiling and accompanying trailer that the drawing board had to be revisited along with a redesign of the blue sprinter himself.

The problems dont end there. Central is the screenplay of Pat Casey and Josh Miller which asks us to treat Sonic as both a fast-talking daredevil who yaps away like a US teen, and a vulnerable lost alien in the ET mould. You quickly begin to crave those moments when the CGI creature is off-screen.

Its good to see Carrey having fun as the unhinged nemesis, and it allows him to flex his unique brand of physical comedy.

But as talking points go, thats really all there is on offer here.

 Hilary A White

Jihad Jane

Cert: 15A; Selected cinemas

Expand Close Jamie Paulin Ramirez / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Jamie Paulin Ramirez

For every benefit the internet brings, there seems to be a curse. In terms of international terrorism, it has opened up channels for sad, marginalised individuals to gather at the feet of dangerous zealots who promise their sorry lives purpose and meaning.

On these shores, the news in March 2010 that an Islamist cell was caught in Waterford was met with as much bemusement as worry - but it was the faces at the centre of the swoop that were the real story. Two blonde and blue-eyed US women, Colleen LaRose and Jamie Paulin Ramirez, had answered the call to be jihadi brides of an Algerian man planning the murder of Swedish artist Lars Vilks.

Radio documentarian Ciaran Cassidy makes his feature debut with this unnerving and often absurd tale of online radicalisation. He gets access to the convicted pair themselves and gives them plenty of rope, but a slight structural issue makes the chronology unclear at times. A fine start all the same.  Hilary A White
Analyst assesses idea of raising retirement age in Ukraine

13:20, 17.02.20 9156

The expert believes it is necessary to further develop social policies.
In what seems to be a sign of



reconciliation between the West Bengal government and the Raj Bhavan, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday called on Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar at his official residence to hold a meeting with him, officials said.

Banerjee is holding a one-on-one meeting with Dhankhar for the first time since he assumed charge in July last year.

The agenda of the meeting is yet to be known.

"The chief minister reached Raj Bhavan at noon. The meeting has now begun," sources in the governor's official residence said.

Dhankhar has been at loggerheads with the state government over a host of issues.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Regarding The mayors lapse of judgment (Editorial, Feb. 15): Why should a big-city mayor with an annual salary in excess of $300,000 (in this case, San Franciscos London Breed), accept a gift of $5,600 for car-related expenses from a department head and former boyfriend (in this case, San Franciscos just-resigned Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru)?

Theres something fishy about the timing of this story. It was put out by Breed just after Nuru resigned from his post following his arrest on federal fraud charges. And it seems absurd that Breed would accept any amount of money from an old friend to repair an old car, given her considerable salary. In addition to being under intensified scrutiny for violating the publics trust of a duly elected official, Breed might soon, like the man she once dated, be facing federal corruption charges.

Donna Delvecchio, Santa Clara

One word: plastic

Let me get this straight: Mayor Breed makes $300,000-plus  and she cant afford to have her car fixed? Heres a financial tip mayor, next time whip out your credit card like everyone else does.

Jack OBrien, San Francisco

Do tell, Mayor Breed

When youre mayor, everyone in the city is overseen, regulated and taxed by you. By looking to someone else to pay some of her personal expenses, the mayor raises the questions of what other gifts or loans has she received, from whom, when, how much and whether theyve been repaid. The questions need to be fully answered, now.

Shanin Specter, San Francisco

Liberal translation

In support of Editorial Page Editor John Diazs argument (Our democracy depends on news literacy, Insight, Jan. 26) I want to point out to Chronicle readers that, in The Chronicle, if a liberal (e.g., Mayor London Breed) is accused of a transgression, it is a lapse of judgment. If a conservative (e.g., President Trump) is accused of a transgression, it is corruption. And if BART Board President Lateefah Simon shows up in a story, we are bound to see a totally off-the-wall claim of racism added to the mix.

But I do agree with The Chronicles editorial statement that it is ridiculous to equate Trumps actions regarding Ukraine to Breeds acceptance of thousands of dollars in gifts from an underling. After all, Trump was acquitted. The jury is still out on Breeds shenanigans.

Bill McGregor, Berkeley

Just do your jobs

I already have Trump fatigue, now Im starting to get (Matt) Haney and (Hillary) Ronen exhaustion as they chase after the cameras and spotlight. Id like to suggest to both of them to just try legislating for a while.

Linas Rukas, San Francisco

Wheres the outrage?

With all the intrigue going on in the Bay Area today, I am forced to wonder where are those impeach-a-holics? The latest London Breed scandal, when tacked on to her other scandals, should amount to enough proof that she is not fit for office and needs to find greener pastures elsewhere.

Why does the voter not have a say-so in all these serious matters?

Vernon Packer, Redding

Cultlike figures

Most people would agree that Sen. Bernie Sanders and President Trump are polar opposites. And thats what makes them similar  their positions at the poles (also polls).

Here are some other similarities: Both have cultlike followings. Neither plays well with others who are not on the same page. Both make promises they cant keep  unless Mexico agrees to pay for Bernies health care plan and other expensive giveaways. Both are angry old guys with no sense of humor. Neither is a true representative of the party he affiliates with: Bernie is not a Democrat, and Trump used to be one. Now he has redefined Republican to mean the Party of Me.

Kristin Anundsen, San Francisco
Two hundred Australian citizens and residents leaving quarantine on Christmas Island have pleaded with Scott Morrison to "exhaust all means" to send a final evacuation flight to China to rescue those still trapped in the centre of the coronavirus outbreak.

In an open letter to the Prime Minister, the evacuees expressed their "most sincere gratitude" to the government for pulling them out of Hubei, where more than 1690 people have been killed and 58,182 cases have been confirmed.

"You helped us at a very difficult time, overcame all kinds of difficulties during our return to Australia, and gave us greatest possible care and help," the letter said.

Australians quarantined at the Christmas Island quarantine facility. Credit:AAP

"However, there is still a flaw in this wonderful story, that is, there are still [more than 100] Australian nationals and PRs who failed to return to Australia.
Google Maps

A boy is expected to survive after he was shot in the head or face Sunday morning by another child, who found a gun inside the home.

Houston Police Sgt. Himes told news media that the victim had a non-life-threatening injury to the face or head. Himes didnt know the precise location of the bullet wound.
Democracy works on expressing views but there are lines and boundaries for it, the Supreme Court observed on the Shaheen Bagh protests.

The Supreme Court on Monday appointed senior lawyers Sanjay Hegde, Sadhna Ramachandran and former chief information commissioner Wajahat Habibullah as interlocutors, and asked them to talk to protesters at Shaheen Bagh to convince them to hold the agitation at an alternative site. A bench of Justices SK Kaul and KM Joseph observed that people have a fundamental right to protest, but added that "the thing that is troubling us is blocking of public roads".

Democracy works on expressing views but there are lines and boundaries for it, the court observed. "If nothing works, we will leave it to the authorities to deal with the situation," the bench further said.

During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said a message should not go out that every institution is on its knees trying to persuade Shaheen Bagh protesters on this issue.

The Supreme Court has fixed the date for the next hearing of the case on 24 February.

Restrictions have been imposed on the Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch and the Okhla underpass, which have been closed since 15 December last year due to the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens.

News18 reported that the demonstrators at Shaheen Bagh have said, "We are ready to speak to the Supreme Court-appointed mediators."

Profiles of the interlocutors

Sanjay Hegde is a senior advocate at the Supreme Court of India, and has been working in the legal profession since 1989. According to News18, he has worked on several high profile cases and appeared for the Union government before an international arbitral tribunal. From 1996 to 2004, he was on the Union of Indias arguing panel before the Supreme Court. In recent months, Hegde has represented people excluded from the NRC and petitioners in the Aarey metro car shed dispute in Mumbai.

Hegde has also been in the news due to the suspension of his Twitter account twice  once for posting an anti-Nazi picture and then for sharing a poem by Hindi poet Gorakh Pandey.

Sadhna Ramachandran is also a senior advocate, and has been practicing in the Supreme Court since 1978. As noted in a report in Hindustan Times, she has worked as the organising secretary of the Delhi High Court's mediation and conciliation centre and has been involved in training several lawyers in different high courts.

Wajahat Habibullah is a retired IAS officer and has served as the first Chief Information Commissioner of India. He was also a former chairperson of the National Commission for Minorities. In January, he was among several people who moved the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Background of the case

A public interest litigation, filed by Nand Kishore Garg and Amit Sahni through their lawyer Shashank Deo Sudhi last week, sought appropriate directions to the Centre and others for removal of protesters from Shaheen Bagh near Kalindi Kunj.

It stated that people in Shaheen Bagh are illegally protesting against the CAA by blocking the common and public road connecting Delhi to Noida.

The petition seeks appropriate direction to the respondents, including the Union of India (UOI) for laying down detailed, comprehensive and exhaustive guidelines relating to outright restrictions for holding protest/agitation leading to obstruction of public places.

On Sunday, the protesters had tried to march to Home Minister Amit Shah's residence for a dialogue over the amended citizenship law, but were stopped by police after a little distance from the sit-in site as they did not have permission from authorities to take out the rally.

With inputs from agencies
Continuous Cloud Compliance for FedRAMP CoreStacks launch of continuous cloud compliance for FedRAMP is targeted at helping companies appreciably overcome the challenges associated with FedRAMP authorization program and in ensuring that all the necessary controls are being implemented effectively

Product empowers Enterprises to rapidly achieve Continuous Cloud Compliance and Autonomous Cloud Governance at Scale

CoreStack, a rapidly growing venture-backed startup that empowers enterprises to achieve continuous cloud compliance and autonomous cloud governance at scale, today announced the launch of continuous compliance for FedRAMP as well as recognition in Gartners 2020 Cloud Management Platforms Magic Quadrant research.

FedRAMP is a government initiative that simplifies security for the digital age by providing a standardized approach to security for the cloud. Getting authorized by FedRAMP enables enterprises to potentially win lucrative federal business as well as showcase the strong focus on compliance and security. However, achieving FedRAMP authorization can get complex, resource intensive, time consuming and expensive.

Specifically, enterprises face the following challenges:



Difficulty in assuring on-going cloud compliance by way of continuous monitoring

Lack of visibility of accurate cloud inventory within the enterprise infrastructure and loss of time in consolidating FedRAMP audit data from internal teams across the enterprise

Surging on-going costs in engaging consultants to assess compliance posture, build policies and craft reports

Expanded complexity and inefficiencies with use of multiple clouds, point solutions and disparate tools and increased risk of FedRAMP program suspension due to operational delays in fixing vulnerabilities

CoreStacks Continuous Cloud Compliance for FedRAMP is architected to address these specific challenges. With this, enterprises getting ready for FedRAMP, in-progress, or those already authorized with FedRAMP, can benefit in any of Li-SaaS, Low, Moderate or High stages of the program. These benefits include:

Always-on, autonomous and continuous monitoring of various controls, thereby assuring continuous compliance

Adequate visibility of cloud inventory and out-of-the-box on-demand access to necessary reports

Continuous compliance and autonomous governance of FedRAMP controls mapped via configurable policies

Readily available dashboard view easily accessible to teams across audit, operations and security

Automated prediction, detection and correction of policy violations in real-time

Seamless integration with industry leading ITSM and operational tools

FedRAMP is one of the most rigorous security compliance frameworks devised by US Government to protect data in the cloud. However, achieving FedRAMP authorization can be an arduous task involving extensive resources, time and costs. CoreStacks launch of continuous cloud compliance for FedRAMP is targeted at helping companies appreciably overcome these challenges and in ensuring that all the FedRAMP controls are being implemented effectively, said Ezhilarasan Natarajan, CEO of CoreStack. Our recognition by Gartner in their 2020 Cloud Management Platforms Magic Quadrant research is strong testament to the superiority of our continued innovation, technology and commitment to customer success. Were thrilled that Gartner provided CoreStack an honorable mention, Natarajan added.

CoreStacks Continuous Cloud Compliance for FedRAMP: https://www.corestack.io/fedramp

Gartners 2020 Magic Quadrant for Cloud Management Platforms: https://www.gartner.com/document/3980925

About CoreStack

CoreStack is a rapidly growing venture-backed startup that empowers enterprises to achieve continuous cloud compliance and autonomous cloud governance at scale. CoreStack is used today by many leading global enterprises and is backed by industry-leading advisors, a stellar leadership team and creative investors. Gartner called CoreStack a Cool Vendor 2019 in Cloud Computing and recognized CoreStack in the Cloud Management Platforms Magic Quadrant research in 2019 and 2020.

To learn more about CoreStacks Continuous Cloud Compliance for FedRAMP as well as to get a no-obligation demo, visit http://www.corestack.io/fedramp

Contacts

Bala Vishwanath

Chief Marketing Officer

bala@corestack.io
Acting Prime Minister Ludovic Orban of the National Liberal Party (PNL) said on Monday that Parliament could amend the government emergency ordinance regarding early elections and explained that the provision by which the voter can exercise his or her right to vote in another electoral district than the one allowed by domicile was introduced to increase the voter turnout.

"In the electoral legislation regarding the parliamentary elections the instance of early elections was not provided for. (...) Along with the ordinance, we have done some things which, in my opinion, are normal and natural and I doubt that any political party can have another opinion than the opinion we have expressed, namely to extend to the general election the voting conditions that existed for the overseas Romanian voters at the presidential election. (...) We have increased the representation of the overseas Romanians in the Romanian Parliament, doubling the number of MPs who are elected abroad," said Orban after a meeting of the PNL Executive Bureau.The PNL national leader mentioned that there is a discussion regarding the provision that allowed the exercise of the right to vote and in a constituency other than the one where the voter has a domicile."We did this to increase voter turnout, to provide an additional guarantee that the right to vote is exercised. There are very clear situations - students who are not in the county, are at a faculty in another county and may have classes and their right to vote is restricted if they are allowed to vote only in the county where their domicile is," said Orban.He added that Parliament can amend this piece of legislation.According to him, the votes will be gathered at a national level and the representation of the parties is not affected.He indicated that under the emergency ordinance, the political parties that have at least 10 MP or seven senators' seats have the right to representation at the polling stations.
LANSING, MI -- Michigan released its latest monthly marijuana industry statistical report for the month of January.

As expected, recreational marijuana sales continued to grow at a brisk pace in January, the latest monthly sales figures show.

Recreational sales hit $9.8 million, compared to nearly $7 million in December, the first full month of recreational sales, which began Dec. 1.

The state for January will collect about $1.63 million in recreational marijuana tax revenue, $980,000 from the 10% excise tax and $646,800 in sales tax.

The first $20 million for the first two years after recreational marijuana sales begin is slated to be spent on research for marijuana use in health care. The breakdown of the remainder is: 15% to cities, townships or villages that allow recreational business, proportioned based on the number of micro-businesses and retailers; 15% to counties, proportioned based on the number of micro-businesses and retailers; 35% to the School Aid Fund for K-12 education and 35% to the Michigan Transportation Fund for road and bridge repair.

Medical marijuana sales increased slightly, from $24.9 million in December to $25.2 million in January.

The average cost for an ounce of retail recreational marijuana dipped a bit to $512 per ounce in January from $516 per ounce in December. The average cost for an ounce of medical marijuana increased from $267 per ounce to $276 per ounce.

The Marijuana Regulatory Agency approved 24 new recreational marijuana business licenses, fewer than the 32 approved in December, and approved 53 new medical marijuana business licenses compared to 29 medical marijuana business licensed in December.

Three medical and 19 recreational applications were denied last month.

While recreational marijuana sales experienced a nearly 30% increase in January, the cost to administer the licensing and registration programs increased nearly 20 percent.

The state spent $766,910 on medical marijuana licensing, up from $655,109 in December; $556,892 on recreational marijuana licensing, up from $444,720 in December; and $412,419 on the patient-caregiver registry program, up from $280,389 in December.

The total cost for Marijuana Regulatory Agency programs increased $356,000 to $1.74 million. Nearly $1.16 paid salaries and benefits for the agencys nearly 130 employees.

The below map, which MLive is updating as new licenses are issued, includes all known licensed retail marijuana stores in the state:

-- Gus Burns is the marijuana beat reporter for MLive. Contact him with questions, tips or comments at fburns@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter, @GusBurns. Read more from MLive about medical and recreational marijuana.

More on MLive:

Marijuana industry is hiring

Recreational marijuana sales approach $18 million

Michigan marijuana prices spike

Michigan marijuana, what it means for you

Marijuana organizations scold state for expediting recreational sales

Help wanted in Michigans marijuana industry
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 17, 2020 18:32 694 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20650559f 1 National protest,labor-union,KASBI,omnibus-bill Free

Congress Alliance of Indonesian Labor Unions (KASBI) chairwoman Nining Elitos called an unscheduled protest, which was held at the unions secretariat, an act of terror against them. The unions firmly reject the controversial omnibus bill on job creation.

An unknown group of people staged the protest without any prior notice at the KASBI secretariat in Pulo Gadung district, East Jakarta, on Monday.

The protesters, who arrived by public minivan at about 9 a.m., briefly spoke about the omnibus bill before they started burning tires and demanding KASBI be dissolved, according to Nining.

This is an act of terror against our unions. We believe that this [protest] occurred because of our stance on the omnibus bill, she told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

She alleged that the unknown protesters are supporters of the omnibus bill and were there to intimidate the unions.

If they were talking about the omnibus bill, it indicates that they could be supporters of the bill. However, were not completely sure either, she said.

She added that there were no police officers at the scene during the protest and the Pulo Gadung district police did not receive any information regarding the demonstration.

Read also: Key points of labor reform in omnibus bill on job creation: What we know so far

Weve called the Pulo Gadung district police and they said the police did not receive any plans for a protest at our secretariat, she said, adding that the police should investigate the incident and uncover the perpetrators.

Neither the chief of the spokesperson for the East Jakarta Police responded immediately to a request for comment when contacted by the Post.

The government considers the bill on job creation to be essential as it has been struggling to attract foreign investment to help improve economic growth. If passed, the omnibus bill would amend about 1,200 articles in more than 80 prevailing laws, including the Labor Law, which have been blamed for hampering investment in the country.

Labor unions, however, rejected the bill after rumors surfaced that it would reduce severance payments, enforce an hourly pay system to replace the minimum wage and eliminate sanctions against companies that fail to provide health insurance.

The government has set up a team comprising government officials, businesspeople and labor representatives and tasked it with coordinating deliberations and public consultations over the omnibus bill following the rejection by the unions.

According to Coordinating Economic Ministerial Regulation No. 121/2020, the ministry set up on Feb. 7 a team of 14 labor representatives, 12 business representatives and 19 government officials.

Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions president Said Iqbal, however, told the Post that the newly formed team did not involve the labor groups much and instead had a tendency to divide them. (mpr)
The Trump Administration is changing a key exemption to Americas trade laws to make it easier to penalise about two dozen developing countries including China, India and South Africa.

The announcement means that South Africa has effectively been removed from a list of nations that can receive preferential trade benefits and is now likely to attract higher import duties and levies to the US market. It may also see the manufacturing sector losing billions of Rand in revenue.Speaking to IOL, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) said the move was a tragedy for the industry and economy as all preferential treatment was crucial. The US has been one of South Africas top export destinations and trading partners for the past three decades, said Naamsa Executive Manager Norman Lamprecht.

Exported

In 2019, a total of 12 437 vehicles were exported to the US along with automotive components to the value of R4.8 billion. Another blow incoming? South Africa is also facing another US blow due to the draft Copyright Amendment and Performers Protection Bills. The proposed legislation is a point of significant controversy because it could damage South Africas trade relations with the US as it is seen to violate terms of the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) under the US Trade Act. The Office of the United States Trade Representative is now holding public hearings in Washington DC on South Africas eligibility for the GSP programme.

Question

The countrys eligibility for the GSP programme has been called into question as a result of the passing of the Copyright Amendment Bill in Parliament last year. If South Africa loses its GSP eligibility, the country will potentially lose up to R34 billion in export revenue, the Copyright Coalition of South Africa (CCSA) has warned. The office of the United States Trade Representative said in October 2019 that it would review South Africas eligibility to participate in its GSP based on a petition it had received. The GSP is the largest and oldest US trade preference programme.

It is designed to promote economic development by allowing duty-free entry into the United States for 3 500 products from the 119 designated beneficiary countries and territories. To remain eligible for these advantages, beneficiary countries must comply with 15 statutory eligibility criteria that are important to US interests, including taking steps to afford internationally recognised labour rights, providing adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights, and assuring equitable and reasonable access to its markets.

Coupled with the threat of losing our Generalised System of Preference (GSP) over the Copyright Amendment Bill and the distinct possibility that the US Congress will not renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), South Africa is heading towards a perfect trade storm with the United States which will cost us billions of rands and thousands of jobs, said the DAs Dean Macpherson.
[February 17, 2020] Elanco's East Africa Growth Accelerator Delivers $8+ Million in Socio-Economic Value for Smallholder Farmers in East Africa, Progress Against Sustainable Development Goals

Elanco Animal Health Inc. (NYSE: ELAN) today announced that its shared value East Africa Growth Accelerator (EAGA) initiative has delivered a Social Return on Investment (SROI) of almost 250% for dairy and poultry smallholder farmers, their families and other stakeholders in the region. For every US$1 invested by Elanco and its partners in the EAGA initiative during its initial phase from June 2017 to December 2018, $2.48 of socio-economic value has been created for society in East Africa. According to the FAO's 2018 Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition, 20% of the population in Africa is undernourished1. In Eastern Africa, the prevalence is higher than the continental average at 31%, or more than 130 million undernourished people. Animal proteins like meat, milk, eggs and fish provide critical nutrients for physical and cognitive development, but 25% of protein2 from farm animals is lost due to animal illness in the East African region. The EAGA initiative launched in 2017 with a $3.1 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to provide sustainable development solutions to address potential food shortage in the region due to livestock disease and mortality. By providing farming families with access to high-quality, reliable veterinary medicines and knowledge to support healthier food animals, the EAGA initiative has made strides in addressing three of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals - zero hunger, ending poverty and ensuring good health and well-being of people. "We believe that healthier animals are the x-factor for solving some of society's greatest problems," said Maria Zampaglione, senior advisor, Corporate Social Responsibility at Elanco. "The impact and social return on investment we are seeing with the EAGA initiative so far reiterates that belief. Healthier animals are making a real difference for East African families and communities through the livelihoods and well-being they support." The initiative has enabled the registration, manufacturing and distribution of affordable, high-quality veterinary products to address, prevent and treat livestock disease, along with intensive training for dairy and poultry smallholder farmers and channel partners in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. "I have reduced deaths of my chickens and can produce more eggs," said one poultry smallholder farmer who has been involved in the initiative. "My income has increased." EAGA achievements3 for the period of June 2017 to December 2018 include: Overall, $8,184,000 socio-economic value was generated for the farmers in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda.

3,753 dairy and poultry smallholder farmers were trained on animal diseases and the correct use of relevant animal health products so they could ensure the right care for their animals.

It is estimated that 220,000 livestock farmers were trained on animal health via interactive radio, in a 13-week series aired in Northern Tanzania in partnership with the NGO Farm Radio International. The initiative used radio to reach a widespread, rural population which has little access to agricultural services.

According to farmers surveyed, their incomehas increased by at least 20% after applying the knowledge gained and using animal health products related to this initiative. Farmers reported an increase in milk and egg sales from their products, which improves their income and well-being.

Farmers learned how to effectively manage vectors for animal and human diseases like flies, ticks and rats, to keep their own families and their animals healthy.



By the end of 2020, Elanco's EAGA aims to achieve the following targets: 12K dairy and poultry smallholder farmers trained on animal health

1.1M cows reached

16M chickens reached

240K dairy and poultry famers can access affordable small-sized veterinary products Elanco commissioned the Center for Sustainability and Excellence (CSE) to use SROI guidelines and CSE's methodology to understand the impact of EAGA, including the value created and how to best manage it.

''We are proud to have worked with Elanco to help quantify the social impact of the EAGA initiative, which aims at improving livestock production and farmers' income in Africa," said Nikos Avlonas, CSE President. To view the full report, click here. Methodology The Center for Sustainability and Excellence (CSE) used the SROI guidelines to evaluate the EAGA initiative during its initial period (June 2017 - December 2018) based on stakeholder testimonies. As part of the evaluation, a questionnaire was created in order to capture stakeholders' point of view in different areas of the project. The main stakeholders that participated are distributors of the Elanco products, wholesalers, dairy and poultry smallholder farmers, agrovet shop owners and one NGO that uses interactive radio to help African farming communities help themselves. The impact, the total value of each change by stakeholder category, was calculated. For the EAGA, this means that for every $1 invested by Elanco and stakeholders in the initiative, a social value of $2.48 was created for local communities in East Africa. 1: FAO and ECA. Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition. Addressing the threat from climate variability and extremes for food security and nutrition. Accra.116 pp. http://www.fao.org/3/CA2710EN/ca2710en.pdf. Accessed on 7 February 2020 2: African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal resources (AU-IBAR). Impact of livestock diseases in Africa. Published on 25 January 2013.

Accessed on 1 June 2018 on http://www.au-ibar.org/vacnada-livestock-diseases?showall=1&limitstart= 3: Elanco Animal Health and Center for Sustainability and Excellence. 2019.An Overview of the Social Return on Investment (SROI). East Africa Growth Accelerator (EAGA Initiative). To view the full report, click here. About Elanco Animal Health Elanco (NYSE: ELAN) is a global animal health company that develops products and knowledge services to prevent and treat disease in food animals and pets in more than 90 countries. With a 64-year heritage, we rigorously innovate to improve the health of animals and benefit our customers, while fostering an inclusive, cause-driven culture for more than 5,800 employees. At Elanco, we're driven by our vision of food and companionship enriching life - all to advance the health of animals, people and the planet. Learn more at www.elanco.com. About Center for Sustainabiliy and Excellence (CSE) Center for Sustainability and Excellence is a leading boutique firm operating globally that specializes in maximizing your social, economic and environmental impact. For more than a decade, we have been helping professionals advance their careers through our certified on-site, online and group training services globally and supporting FORTUNE 500 companies and other organizations to grow and excel through our specialized consulting services. Learn more at https://cse-net.org/. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200217005223/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Sarah Brett and Chris Buckler will take over as presenters of BBC Radio Ulsters flagship breakfast news programme Good Morning Ulster later this year.

Most recently Chris Buckler has been BBC News Washington Correspondent while Sarah Brett has hosted her own late night discussion programme on BBC Radio 5 live.

It was announced in November 2019 that broadcasters Noel Thompson and Karen Patterson were stepping away from presenting Good Morning Ulster.

They will join regular host Joel Taggart for the 6.30am to 9am show.

Born in Northampton, Brett moved to Donegal when she was four years old.

She studied journalism at the North West Regional College in Londonderry before writing for newspapers including the Belfast Telegraph, Sunday Tribune and The Irish News.

She joined BBC Radio Foyle in the 2004 as a reporter. Five years later in April 2009, she began hosting her own programme on the station - The Sarah Brett Show.

For the following five years she was familiar voice on Radio Ulster and Foyle and went on to present Radio Foyles award-winning breakfast programme with Enda McClafferty.

Since 2014, Brett has been presenting on Radio 5 live, having presented a wide range of programmes including Afternoon Edition, 5 live Drive and the Sarah Brett show.

Were at the epicentre of huge political and social change. Sarah Brett

The 46-year-old says she's looking forward to returning to Northern Ireland after five "extraordinary" years at 5 live in Manchester.

Im delighted about coming home for so many reasons, but to come back into a programme thats the soundtrack to so many peoples mornings is a real honour."

She added: "Were at the epicentre of huge political and social change in Europe, the UK and the island of Ireland, but theres so much happening on a local level too thats just as important.

Chris and I and the superb team at BBC Radio Ulster are totally committed to bringing you the best of that every day. And brighten your morning with a few smiles if we can.

The opportunity to come home and be a part of BBC Northern Irelands flagship news programme was too much to turn down. Chris Buckler

Buckler, who grew up in Helen's Bay, joined the BBC in 1999 as a news trainee and went on to present and report for Radio Ulster and BBC Newsline. In 2008 he joined BBC network news as North of England Correspondent and later UK Affairs Correspondent.

He returned to Belfast as Ireland Correspondent in 2013 before heading to Washington two years ago to report on the Trump administration and stories across north America.

Expand Close Noel Thompson, Wendy Austin, Seamus McKee and Karen Patterson stepped down as regular presenters. / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Noel Thompson, Wendy Austin, Seamus McKee and Karen Patterson stepped down as regular presenters.

As a law student at Queens University Belfast, he reported for Belfast Community Radio before going on to produce Stephen Nolans evening programme when the station became Belfast Citybeat.

Buckler also worked for the Belfast Telegraph before joining the BBC.

He says it was a difficult decision to leave the US ahead of this year's election, but "the opportunity to come home and be a part of BBC Northern Irelands flagship news programme was too much to turn down".

"I worked with all of the legendary presenters who are stepping down and it is a genuine honour to follow them on Radio Ulsters airwaves," said Buckler.

Ive spoken to Sarah many times from Washington on BBC Radio 5 live and I cant wait to sit alongside her in the studio in Belfast. We intend to make the programme a must-listen in the mornings and with ministers back in Stormont it is a great time to be relaunching the show.

"There may be some changes but you can rest assured that well continue to investigate the big stories and ensure people are held to account.

The presenters will join the station in April.

The BBC, meanwhile, has still to announce a permanent presenter for the weekday Evening Extra programme after host Seamus McKee stepped down.
The former deputy chairman of the now-defunct Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, on Sunday (February 17) said that after the Rahul Gandhi ordinance-trashing episode of 2013, the then prime minister Manmohan Singh had asked him whether he should step down as prime minister of India.

Ahluwalia said that he told PM Singh that it was not appropriate for him to resign on this issue. It is to be noted that Singh was on a visit to the US when former Congress president Rahul Gandhi had rejected the ordinance brought by then Congress-led UPA government at the Centre to negate a Supreme Court verdict on convicted lawmakers. Terming the ordinance as "complete nonsense", Rahul had publicly said that it should be "torn up and thrown away".

"I was part of the PM's delegation in New York and my brother Sanjeev, who had retired from the IAS, telephoned to say he had written a piece that was very critical of the PM. He had emailed it to me and said he hoped I didn't find it embarrassing," Ahluwalia was quoted as saying by PTI.

"The first thing I did was to take the text across to the PM's suite because I wanted him to hear about it first from me. He read it in silence and, at first, made no comment. Then, he suddenly asked me whether I thought he should resign," Ahluwalia wrote in his new book "Backstage: The Story behind India's High Growth Years".

Live TV

"I thought about it for a while and said I did not think a resignation on this issue was appropriate. I wondered then whether I was simply saying what I thought he would like to hear but on reflection I am convinced I gave him honest advice," he added.

The ordinance-thrashing episode was debated on TV channels and other platforms even after Singh returned to New Delhi. "Most of my friends agreed with Sanjeev. They felt the PM had for too long accepted the constraints under which he had to operate and this had tarnished his reputation. The rubbishing of the ordinance was seen as demeaning the office of the PM and justified resigning on principle. I did not agree," Ahluwalia wrote, adding that the incident exposed an important fault line in the UPA.

"The Congress saw Rahul as the natural leader of the party and wanted him to take a larger role. In this situation, as soon as Rahul expressed his opposition to the ordinance, senior Congress politicians, who had earlier supported the proposed ordinance in the Cabinet and even defended it publicly, promptly changed their position," he said.
President Kennedy's portrait hangs in the Cross Hall on the State Floor of the White House today. The artist was selected by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, and it is a symbolic portrait of an unfinished presidency. Shikler wanted to paint the president differently than in other portraits. "I painted him with his head bowed, not because I think of him as a martyr," Shikler said, "but because I wanted to show him as a president who was a thinker All presidential portraits have eyes that look right at you. I wanted to do something with more meaning. I hoped to show a courage that made him humble."

During her time in The White House, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy restored the furnishings and decor of the State Rooms to the era of early presidents and invited the public to view them in a television special. The First Lady also founded the White House Historical Association in 1961.

Every year since 1981, the Official White House Christmas Ornament has commemorated a President's time in the White House (sequentially) or significant White House anniversary.

The Official 2020 White House Christmas Ornament is available online at whitehousehistory.org/2020 and at these retail locations:

The White House History Shop at 1610 H Street NW, Washington D.C. 20006.

20006. The White House Visitor Center at 1450 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, D.C. 20006.

For more information, visit whitehousehistory.org/2020

The Official 2020 White House Christmas Ornament retails for $24.95.

About The White House Historical Association

First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy envisioned a restored White House that conveyed a sense of history through its decorative and fine arts. In 1961, the White House Historical Association was established to support her vision to preserve and share the Executive Mansion's legacy for generations to come. Supported entirely by private resources, the Association's mission is to assist in the preservation of the state and public rooms, fund acquisitions for the White House permanent collection, and educate the public on the history of the White House. Since its founding, the White House Historical Association has contributed more than $50 million in fulfillment of its mission. To learn more about the White House Historical Association, please visit www.whitehousehistory.org.

SOURCE The White House Historical Association

Related Links

http://www.whitehousehistory.org


When Portlands Unity Center for Behavioral Health opened three years ago this month, it was hailed as a potential game changer for mental health care in the city.

Instead, the psychiatric hospital designed to offer both emergency room and short-term care is overcrowded and mired in financial woes  and proposed solutions have fallen short.

On the latest episode of Beat Check with The Oregonian, Molly Harbarger and Brad Schmidt describe the financial, structural and systemic woes plaguing the Northeast Portland facility.

Unity was supposed to be an alternative place to treat severely mentally ill people who would otherwise end up in emergency rooms or jails. The facility now serves as the primary backstop for police, hospitals and other players in the Portland metro area. Its often unable to accommodate people seeking treatment.

Harbarger and Schmidt talked about their recent investigations into Unity, its financial troubles and the scandal-plagued California facility it was supposed to emulate.

They also talked about how mental health and psychiatric health issues are exacerbated in Oregon due to a lack of access to specialized facilities and how the state stifled a potential competitor years ago that aimed to offer more bed space for patients who were also experiencing mental illness.

Heres the full episode:

-- Andrew Theen; atheen@oregonian.com; 503-294-4026; @andrewtheen

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Google misdirected a number of private videos that users of its Google Photos app intended to back up to Google Takeout, sending them instead to strangers archives, 9to5 Google reported Monday.

The company emailed affected users to inform them that a technical issue caused the error, which incorrectly transferred videos for several days before it was fixed.

Whoa, what? @googlephotos? pic.twitter.com/2cZsABz1xb

 Jon Oberheide (@jonoberheide) February 4, 2020

Google recommended that affected users back up their content again and delete their previous backup. They were advised to contact Google Support for further assistance.

Google Photos passed the 1 billion user mark last summer.

Although it said just 0.01 percent of users were affected, Google did not indicate whether that percentage applied to Google Photos or Google Takeout users.

Google did fix the issue quickly, acknowledged Erich Kron, security awareness advocate at KnowBe4.

However, the notification process to those impacted was less than satisfactory and left out a lot of details, leaving those possibly impacted unsure of what the exposure risks were for them, he told TechNewsWorld. When dealing with an issue that impacts privacy in the way that improperly sending files as sensitive as photos and videos is, the communication needs to be very clear and informative.

Googles notification reads like they really dont care about what happened to the users, and that could backfire badly with organizations like the European Commission, noted Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

The issue highlights the challenge with protecting and managing personal photos and videos, said Josh Bohls, founder of Inkscreen.

People use their mobile devices to scan business documents, and they use a broad range of photos, video and audio for everyday tasks that drive business processes, he told TechNewsWorld.

If you work for a law firm, healthcare provider, insurance company, or in another regulated industry and take photos or record videos as part of your job, your company should strongly consider a solution to protect and manage this content  especially if you use Google Photos, Bohls said.

Fear and Anger

The problem shouldnt happen at all, and it once again points to Google as a firm that cant be trusted with your data, Enderle told TechNewsWorld.

If the video content was sensitive and private, then you could have a violation of the GDPR or Californias CCPA, remarked Mike Jude, research director at IDC. That sort of thing could trigger fines and remedial action.

Googles failure to disclose who wrongly received videos could lead to more trouble for the company, Enderle pointed out. Users should have a right to that information, and they likely could sue Google to get it. Then, depending on whats in the video, sue them for damages.

Any indemnification clause in the user agreement might not protect Google because the issue was due to negligence, he said. I wouldnt be surprised if we saw a class action suit come out of this.

While the victims can file suit, or file a complaint under applicable privacy laws, it could backfire on them, IDCs Jude told TechNewsWorld.

In the case of provocative material, the temptation would be to pay the ransom rather than face public disclosure, he said.

By the Numbers

It is possible that thousands were impacted, Jude remarked. It wouldnt pay for Google to announce something like this unless it had a pretty wide reach.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

The issue could be quite serious for those affected, said Paul Bischoff, privacy advocate at Comparitech.

However, the scale of the problem depends on who really was affected, he told TechNewsWorld.

Google pinned that number at 0.01 percent, but do they mean 0.01 percent of Takeout users or of Photo users? Bischoff asked. The former would be a much smaller number.

Further, the leaked videos went to other users, not malicious actors, he noted, and it was not intentional on Googles part. For me, those two facts make this less of a big deal.

If Google had let an attacker hack its systems or had been hiding a nefarious practice, its privacy or security standards would be called into question, Bischoff said, but bugs happen, and I think people are more forgiving for that sort of thing.

What Google Can or Should Do

Google should do whatever it takes to secure the mis-sent videos, Enderle recommended.

It probably wont be enough, but if they wait for regulatory action, the result could be very expensive, he warned.

Ethically, Google should help them, said IDCs Jude. Would they? Probably not, unless theres some explicit guarantee that the data stored with Google is secure.

Google could offer identity theft protection for the victims, but theres not much it can do until the damage is done, Comparitechs Bischoff noted.

If it can find out exactly which videos and photos were sent incorrectly, Google should absolutely inform the owners of what was compromised, Bischoff recommended. It might step in as a mediator to protect both parties privacy in case any victims wanted to communicate with those who received their videos by mistake.

Google is a free service, more or less, that provides access in exchange for looking over your shoulder as you use the service, Jude remarked. It is not a public commons, and there really should be no expectation of privacy.

Users should opt for a paid storage service, suggested Enderle, while Jude said storing videos and photos locally might be a better option.

I saw a 2-TB SSD the other day for (US)$69, he said. Back when I was in college, I saw an article in the magazine Datamation that said the total computer storage of the planet was about 1 TB.
Adelaide, Australia, Feb 17, 2020 - (ABN Newswire) - Resolution Minerals Ltd (ASX:RML.AX - News) is pleased to announce that it has selected Ruen Drilling via our project partner Millrock Resources (VAN:MRO.V - News), to commence drilling in early March on the compelling Aurora targets (Alaska) via a road based program. The maiden program will test the eastern Aurora Targets close to the claim boundary with Northern Star (ASX:NST.AX - News) - Figure 1*. These drill targets have significant geophysical characteristics in both the magnetic and CSAMT signatures to NST's Goodpaster Discovery and the Pogo Gold Mine itself.

Operations Update

- Drilling is planned to commence in early March and continue for one month

- Ruen Drilling will drill the initial 2,000 metre, 4-5 hole, drilling program on the high priority eastern Aurora Targets along Northern Star's Pogo Gold Mine Lease boundary, located in the Tintina Gold Province, Alaska

- Ruen Drilling is the surface drill contractor for neighbours Northern Star Resources Limited (ASX:NST.AX - News) Pogo Gold Mine, and has an excellent reputation for safety, production and local knowledge

- Assays will be sent to a laboratory in batches and require approximately 4 weeks to process

- Resolution is continuing to assess the regional prospectivity and build a pipeline of drill ready prospects across a large 660km2 land package, in parallel with its aggressive drilling program at West Pogo

- Resolution recently completed a capital raise of $4.5 million with extremely strong demand from institutional and sophisticated investors, by way of placement at a price of 5c per share

- The Company is fully funded for multiple drilling programs with last week's successful capital raise

The 64North Project is adjacent to Northern Star's (ASX:NST.AX - News) Pogo Gold Mine, 120km from Fairbanks, Alaska in the Tintina Gold Province. NST's world class high grade Pogo Gold Mine has an endowment of 10M oz of gold and started production in 2006, producing approximately ~300,000 oz / year at over 13g/t Au through this time. Recent discovery success announced by NST within 450m of our tenement boundary and open in all directions at the Goodpaster discovery demonstrates the highly prospective nature of the district and the immediate Aurora drill targets on RML's tenements.

Story continues

Managing Director Duncan Chessell commented,

"Our immediate aim is to drill test for Pogo Style mineralisation on a series of look-a-like size and geophysical features to NST's Goodpaster Discovery and Pogo Gold Mine.

"We are pleased to have secured Ruen Drilling for our maiden drilling program given their local experience of drilling conditions from neighbours Northern Star's Goodpaster Discovery."

*To view tables and figures, please visit:

https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/7B5834W3



About Resolution Minerals Ltd:

Resolution Minerals Ltd (ASX:RML.AX - News) is a mining company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of precious and battery metals - such as gold, copper, cobalt, and vanadium.

The company is led by Managing Director Duncan Chessell and an experienced team with proven success in corporate finance, marketing, metallurgy and geoscience. This equips Resolution Minerals with the tools to meet the changing demands of the mining markets.

Resolution Minerals Ltd Listed on the ASX in 2017 with a focus on the exploration of the Wollogorang Copper Cobalt Project. It has since aquired the Snettisham Vanadium Project and more entered into a binding agreement witth Millrock Resources to earn up to 80% of the highly prospective 64North Gold Project.

Contact:

Resolution Minerals Ltd

Duncan Chessell

T: +61-8-8120-0456

E: info@northerncobalt.com.au

WWW: www.resolutionminerals.com



Source:

Resolution Minerals Ltd

Copyright (C) 2020 ABN Newswire. All rights reserved.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 17)  Days after the lifting of the Taiwan travel ban due to the new coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, Filipino workers have also appealed for the government to lift the temporary travel ban on Hong Kong and Macau.

Overseas Filipino workers have been wishing to return to their jobs in Hong Kong and Macau. The travel ban to China was implemented on February 2, which has affected at least 25,000 Filipino workers.

The Hong Kong government has placed at least seven Filipinos in mandatory 14-day quarantine. Three of them have been released and have returned to their places of employment.

Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian said that the travel ban imposed by the Philippines will inevitably have a negative impact on the economy of the country.

China is now the Philippines' top trading partner, the largest source of imports as well as the third export market. In this sense, the epidemic, especially the travel ban imposed by the Philippine government would inevitably have negative impact on the Philippine economy, he said.

Last Friday, the Philippines decided to lift the travel restrictions on Taiwan because of the strict measures being undertaken by the self-governed island to contain the spread of COVID-19.

READ: Philippines lifts Taiwan travel ban

Taiwan was included in the travel ban ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte, as the Philippines follows a One-China policy that recognizes Beijing and limits dealings with Taiwan to economic and cultural ties.

CNN Philippines David Santos contributed to this report.
High street bank Santander has given a boost to the Great British Spring Clean by pledging that more than 20,000 staff will take part.

It pushes the number involved in the Keep Britain Tidy campaign, backed by the Daily Mail, to 265,725.

In all, more than 6,252 litter-picking events have been organised between March 20 and April 13 this year.

The support from Santander, which has more than 800 branches in the UK, means this years campaign is on course to exceed the 563,000 who took part last year in Britains biggest ever environmental clean-up.

It pushes the number involved in the Keep Britain Tidy campaign, backed by the Daily Mail, to 265,725

Allison Ogden-Newton, chief executive of Keep Britain Tidy, said: We have been overwhelmed by the response. We hope that many more employers will join us. The Great British Spring Clean is about getting people to start to notice and understand the impact littering behaviour has.

On Saturday, more than 100,000 members of Girlguiding pledged to support the Spring Clean, joining companies like Lloyds, HSBC and Nationwide. Groups such as the National Trust, the Womens Institute and the RSPCA have also offered support  along with the Prime Minister and more than 180 MPs of all parties.

Nathan Bostock, chief executive of Santander UK, said: As a high street bank we sadly see every day the problem of litter blighting our high streets.

The Great British Spring Clean campaign is a great initiative and we are delighted to join forces with organisations across the country to tackle this important issue.

Mr Bostock said Santander will ask all of its staff to get involved through the Great British Spring Clean website.

Other celebrities backing the campaign include Lord Sugar and Kirsty Allsopp.

Yesterday, the Campaign for Protection of Rural England also added its support. Its chief executive, Crispin Truman, said: Its great to see people getting outdoors and making the countryside a better place for everyone. The next step is to drastically reduce the amount of litter that needs to be picked up with lasting solutions like an all-in deposit return system.

Apart from being ugly, litter is also potentially harmful to wildlife. Yesterday, the RSPCA revealed how it rescued a seal  nicknamed Colossus  which was caught up in discarded fishing netting. Alison Charles, of the RSPCAs East Winch Wildlife Centre in Norfolk, said: It was touch and go.

For the first three days he was worryingly quiet and almost motionless. But when he started hoovering up fish, we knew he was on the mend.

We hope to release him back into the sea before long. Every year, the number of seals admitted with injuries caused by entanglement in litter rises.
The new chairman of the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs is promising a 'year of change' as the organisation develops a new strategy to meet the needs of rural young people today.

Dewi Parry, a member of Betws-yn-Rhos Young Farmers Club for 12 years, was elected the national chairman of the NFYFC on Sunday 16 February.

Supporting the 29-year-old in his role will be two newly elected Vice Chairmen Rachel Goldie from Yorkshire and Edward Dungait from Northumberland.

Dewi, an assistant manager at builders merchant CL Jones in Llanrwst, will focus on developing a new strategy for the organisation.

In January, key figures from across the group joined together to help progress NFYFCs strategic plan.

This event, coupled with the feedback from clubs and counties, has helped to form a 'more focused plan of action' for the 88-year-old federation.

Digitalisation features high on the agenda for change as well as clearer guidance on the role of the national body, county federations and clubs.

Chairman Dewi Parry said: YFC is an amazing organisation, and its 598 clubs make such a positive impact on the lives of so many rural young people across England and Wales.

Im excited about the changes we have been discussing for the federations future and delighted to be at the helm during a year when they will start to be introduced.

British agriculture is facing unprecedented change, as we are too, as a nation, following our departure from the EU.

It feels only right that NFYFC is also making a transformation.

Dewi and the vice chairmen will be responsible for leading the Federations Council and ensuring its members continue to develop their local clubs and enhance the image of YFC.

More than 100 members gathered in Coventry over the weekend to pass motions that affect the running of the organisation and to elect the new officers of NFYFCs Council.

The National Council is made up of 63 members, associate members and co-options from across England and Wales and is elected by YFC members to represent their views.
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has called for the removal of President Akufo Addo as Co-chair of UN SDGs advocates over his failed  fight on illegal mining.



Communications officer of the party Sammy Gyamfi Sammy challenged the Akufo-Addo-led government to account for all the excavators that have been seized in fight against illegal mining also known as galamsey.



According to him, government in its own 2020 budget stated that about 900 excavators have been confiscated so far and not 500 as is being claimed by government.



Speaking at a press conference at the banks of the Twifo Praso River in the Central region, Mr. Gyamfi said the NDC will petition the UN over President Akufo-Addos appointment as co-chair of the SDG Advocates following his failed fight on illegal mining.



The NDC further demands, that the Akufo-Addo Government as a matter of urgency, should fully account for all items seized as listed at paragraph 801 of the 2020 Budget Statement presented to Parliament. We insist that a public exhibition of all 900 excavators, 2,779 weapons and ammunition and the 4,045 other mining equipment confiscated must be held in the spirit of transparency and to the benefit of all Ghanaians. We are terrified at the prospect of all these weapons finding their way into the hands of hoodlums belonging to NPP vigilante groups in an election year.



More importantly, we hereby serve notice, that the NDC shall in the coming days, petition the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, to revoke the appointment of President Akufo-Addo as Co-Chair of the SDG Advocates, the party said.



The party reiterated their position the fight against galamsey was a ploy to enrich members of the ruling party.



Full statement below;



Governments Fraudulent Fight Against Galamsey NDC Calls For Removal Of President Akufo-Addo As Co-Chair Of Un SDGs Advocates



Good afternoon distinguished friends from the media;



We have invited you to this press conference at a rather unusual venue which symbolizes our concerns about the effects that unbridled illegal mining is having on our water bodies, the ecology and general environment.



The current state of affairs reflects the failure of President Akufo-Addo's so called fight against galamsey. In fact, that so called fight turned out to be a ruse to kick out legal small scale miners and artisanal galamseyers and replace them with a new breed of marauding illegal miners belonging to the ruling New Patriotic Party and government.



Ladies and gentlemen, it does appear that the public discourse about Presidents Akufo-Addos failed fight against Galamsey has more often than not become a mere media banter between government on one hand, and the opposition cum Civil Society on the other. Let me emphasize however that this issue of Galamsey( and I use that word advisedly) ,goes beyond the usual binary NPP/NDC debates in Accra. It is about our people, their health, water, forest resources and our survival as a nation.



The destructive manifestation of Galamsey being supervised by President Akufo-Addo in Ghana defeats the UNs Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which Ghana subscribes to. It is an afront to notably, SDG 6, 13, 14 and 15 which all talk about clean water, sanitation, climate action, conservation and sustainability of land, water and marine resources.



Friends from the media, it was an honour to all Ghanaians when our President, alongside Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway were in April 2017 made Co-Chairs of the UN's Eminent Group of SDG Advocates, a position President John Mahama had previously held with distinction and to the admiration of the international community.



Subsequent to that appointment, in a speech delivered at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) specifically on July 10, 2017, our President boldly proclaimed that he was willing to put his Presidency on the line to fight Galamsey. He further appealed to Traditional rulers, the media and all stakeholders to support this fight.



Sadly, President Akufo-Addo, who coincidentally is a Co-Chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Advocates, has failed to make do his solemn promise to the nation to fight the galamsey menace and protect our environment from further degradation.



Distinguished friends, the fight against Galamsey in the last three (3) years, that is if it can even be called a fight, has exposed the duplicity of President Akufo-Addo and the hollowness of his words.



This is an evidenced-based presentation, and as such, we intend to give you both historical and empirical data to support our claim that President Akufo-Addos failed fight against galamsey was nothing but a ruse calculated to monopolize the galamsey trade for top NPP officials and their foreign collaborators.



Ladies and gentlemen, you may recall, that at a speech delivered at the 2019 Edition of the Investing in Africa Mining Ndaba, the Worlds largest Mining Investment Conference in South Africa, President Akufo-Addo claimed that River Pra has cleared up and was beginning to host aquatic life again due to his fight against galamsey. Today, we have brought you to the banks of the Pra River, so that you can judge first-hand whether President Akufo-Addo spoke the truth to the world when he claimed the Galamsey fight had been won.



As you are all witnesses today, Galamsey has intensified to unprecedented levels in the last three (3) years, while the Akufo-Addo government continues to spend millions of taxpayers monies ostensibly fighting the canker.



Anyone who thought President Akufo-Addo slept on this task is mistaken. Recent revelations of the missing 500 Excavators, and the illegal mining activities of government officials such as Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, Charles Bissue, Horace Ekow Ewusi, and NPP officials, notably John Boadu and Chairman Wontumi, shows that, Akufo-Addos so-called fight against Galamsey was a sham from day one.



These latest revelations of thievery and massive corruption confirms our long held position, that President Akufo-Addos so-called fight against galamsey was a well-thought-out masterplan, designed to take over the illicit trade and inturn use its proceeds to fund the New Patriotic Party (NPP).



Ladies and gentlemen, the effects of this Akufo-Addos deceptive fight against galamsey, are clear and evidently devastating. On 20th January, 2020, Myjoyonline.com reported that the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has warned that the galamsey menace in the Western Region is leading to a cut in treated water to the Region. The GWCL further indicated in that report, that they lose about 40% of water abstracted before and during treatment, which meant that instead of 11 million gallons, they are only able to treat averagely 3 million gallons of water.



Also, on 27th May, 2019, ghanaweb.com reported that water crisis in Cape-Coast had worsened due to intensified Galamsey in the central region. Recently, ghanaiantimes.com.gh reported that the Daboase Water treatment Plant was in danger as galamsey activities in the area was polluting the River Pra, leading to water rationing to residents of the Amenfi East area.



Only two (2) days ago, citinewsroom.com published a heart-wrenching story under the headline: Galamsey-polluted Pra River doubles skin diseases, diarrhoea cases in Shama District. The story reported the Shama District Director of Health, Alfred Osei-Assibey, as saying that skin infections and water-borne diseases, such as diarrhoea, are on the rise in communities in the galamsey-polluted Pra River area. The District Director of Health further explained that, in the last three years, skin diseases have increased dramatically. From the 5,000 cases we recorded in 2017, now we are recording over 10,000 cases of skin infections. The diarrhoea cases have also risen from 6th in 2017 and now its number 3.

Ladies and gentlemen of the press, the ever-worsening ramifications of Governments failed galamsey fight is ever so lucid and conspicuous today. The countless number of polluted water bodies in several parts of our country such as river Pra, river Ankobra, river Offin, river Birem among others, is enough testament to the fact that Ghanaians have been taken for a ride by President Akufo-Addo, who continues to supervise and promote the escalation of the illegal mining menace.



Quite characteristic of this government, even in the face of worsening turbidity of our water bodies by the day, functionaries of government still claim this government has achieved results relative to the galamsey fight. Where are the results?



The sad reality is that, water bodies which used to look white under President Mahama are today looking brownish under President Akufo-Addo.



Needless to say, that a huge financial loss has been occasioned to Ghana through this fraudulent fight.



In the last three years, relics such as seized gold, excavators and weapons which would have served as substantial evidence cannot be accounted for by the Inter-Ministerial Committee against Illegal Mining, yet government claims to have achieved results.



To think that some of the so-called missing 500 excavators are being secretly returned to Accra, whilst some have returned to the forests to continue the illegal activity, speaks volumes of the tragedy we have in our hands.



Distinguished friends from the media, President Akufo-Addos inexplicable inaction and reticence over this flagrant abuse of our environment and water bodies speaks to his complicity in this matter.



In any serious country, the galamsey queen Aisha Huang, and other galamsey kingpins like Charles Bissue and Andy Owusu who were indicted in Anas Aremeyaw Anas galamsey fraud documentary would have been standing prosecution by now. Yet, President Akufo-Addo has shockingly refused to crack the whip on these miscreants thereby emboldening other NPP government officials and their foreign collaborators to engage in galamsey with impunity. It is therefore least surprising that things have gotten this worse.



Ladies and gentlemen, posterity will hold Akufo-Addo accountable for supervising the unprecedented destruction of our water bodies and environment.



We are aware that the Special Prosecutor will soon be petitioned to investigate the latest revelations of thievery and corruption that have characterized the Akufo-Addos fraudulent Galamsey Fight. We wholeheartedly support that petition, and wish to call on the Special Prosecutor to act swiftly this time around. His lackadaisical attitude on the Anas Galamsey fraud documentary has not helped.



The NDC further demands, that the Akufo-Addo Government as a matter of urgency, should fully account for all items seized as listed at paragraph 801 of the 2020 Budget Statement presented to Parliament. We insist that a public exhibition of all 900 excavators, 2,779 weapons and ammunitions and the 4,045 other mining equipment confiscated must be held in the spirit of transparency and to the benefit of all Ghanaians. We are terrified at the prospect of all these weapons finding their way into the hands of hoodlums belonging to NPP vigilante groups in an election year.



More importantly, we hereby serve notice, that the NDC shall in the coming days, petition the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, to revoke the appointment of President Akufo-Addo as Co-Chair of the SDG Advocates.



Clearly, President Akufo-Addo has failed to show genuine commitment to the fight against illegal mining and the protection of the environment in his own backyard. His corrupt government has become an active enabler and promoter of the galamsey menace and the destruction of the environment in a way that affronts the SDGs of the United Nations. He has proven to be unfit for the prestigious position of Co-Chair of the UN SDGs Advocates, for which reason he must be removed without delay. And, we are absolutely convinced beyond doubt, that the United Nations will act in the interest of the Ghanaian people, the international community and the environment.



Signed,



Sammy Gyamfi



National Communication Officer, NDC

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.

Featured Video
Smart speakers, like Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri, have come under fire over the past few years for 'listening' to its owner's conversations.

Now, a team of scientists believe they have developed the ultimate weapon to block the devices' spying abilities - a wearable that jams the microphone.

Dubbed the 'bracelet of silence', the chunky bracelet is fitted with 23 speakers around it that emit ultrasonic signals that drown out any speech of the wearer.

While these ultrasonic signals are undetectable to human ears, they leak into the audible spectrum after being captured by the microphones, producing a jamming signal inside the microphone circuit disrupts voice recordings.

Scroll down for videos

Scientists developed the ultimate weapon to block the devices' spying abilities - a wearable that jams the microphone. Dubbed the 'bracelet of silence', the chunky bracelet is fitted with 23 speakers around it that emit ultrasonic signals that drown out any speech of the wearer

The team chose to design the technology into a bracelet, because it uses the wearer's natural gestures that occur while speaking, gesturing or moving around to blur out the blind spots.

The bracelet was designed by a team at the University of Chicago, which can also jam the microphones on a smart assistant.

Pedro Lopes, assistant professor at the University of Chicago, who worked on the project, told the New York Times: 'It's so easy to record these days.'

'This is a useful defense.

Inside the cuff is a wave generator that crates the ultrasound jamming signal, which produces a wave up to 12.5MHz. There is also a microprocessor inside, LED status indicator and a LiPo battery

'When you have something private to say, you can activate it in real time.

'When they play back the recording, the sound is going to be gone.'

The wearable is easily activated when a person starts talking, because it uses their natural hand movements to power on.

Inside the cuff is a wave generator that crates the ultrasound jamming signal, which produces a wave up to 12.5MHz.

There is also a microprocessor inside, LED status indicator and a LiPo battery.

Researchers found that the wearable device is 96 percent effective in jamming devices in the surrounding area.

For now, the bracelet remains to be a prototype.

But according to the researchers, they could be manufactured for only $20.

'The future is to have all these devices around you, but you will have to assume they are potentially compromised,' Ben Zhao, computer science professor at the University of Chicago who worked on the project, told The Times.

Researchers found that the wearable device is 96 percent effective in jamming devices in the surrounding area. For now, the bracelet remains to be a prototype. But according to the researchers, they could be manufactured for only $20

'Your circle of trust will have to be much smaller, sometimes down to your actual body.'

Last year, Amazon had admitted to its customers that thousands of recordings are being analysedby staff and transcribed before feeding them back into the software.

As many as 1,000 clips are reviewed by workers in buildings all over the world, many of which do not bear any obvious indication that they are run by Amazon.

The team chose to design the technology into a bracelet, because it uses the wearer's natural gestures that occur while speaking, gesturing or moving around to blur out the blind spots

Among more sinister content the workers have heard, have been a child screaming for help and two instances where they believed they heard a sexual assault taking place.

Smart assistants and the use of the recordings taken in the privacy of a customer's home has been a long-standing ethical issue for tech firms.

Amazon also never explicitly mentions in its lengthy terms and conditions anything about humans presiding over the recordings.

Instead, it says all Alexa does it 'answer your questions, fulfil your requests, and improve your experience and our services'.
Cambodian authorities are now testing all remaining passengers and crew aboard the docked MS Westerdam cruise ship in Sihanoukville, days after an American woman tested positive for COVID-19 despite being cleared by local officials in Cambodia.

But, even as officials in Preah Sihanouk seemed to be taking additional steps to confirm if passengers were infected with the virus, Phnom Penh Governor Khuong Sreng said passengers in the capital would attend an event at the Sokha Phnom Penh Hotel Monday evening.

Khuong Sreng, however, refused to comment on local media reports about City Hall planning a tour of the citys tourist landmarks for the Westerdam passengers.

Met Measpheakdey, Phnom Penh Municipality spokesperson, told VOD Khmer that buses were being prepared to take around 200 Westerdam passengers to tourist spots across the city, to highlight Cambodias development.

However, photos posted on the governor's Facebook page showed passengers boarding buses at the Sokha Hotel, most not wearing masks, some of them being welcomed by Khoung Sreng himself, and images of the buses parked outside the Royal Palace at Phnom Penh's popular Sisowath Quay.

Or Vandine and Ly Sovann, both spokespersons for the Ministry of Health, could not be reached for comment on the conflicting actions taken with the remaining Westerdam passengers.

Back in Preah Sihanouk, provincial officials said around 1,000 samples  233 tourists and 747 crew members  were being collected and sent to Phnom Penhs Pasteur Institute to be tested for the COVID-19.

The decision comes two days after Malaysian officials announced that an 83-year-old American woman, who had been aboard the Westerdam, had tested positive for the virus two times, with her husband testing negative.

The American woman was one of the more than 140 people who transited through Malaysia on their way home, raising serious concerns over the quality of health checkups conducted in Cambodia, prior to passengers leaving the cruise ship.

Kheang Phearum, a spokesman for the provincial government, said it was unclear how long the tests would take but that the decision was taken to ensure the safety of tourists and Cambodians.

We have no choice. We need to do this to protect the tourists safety and our own peoples [safety] as well, he said.

It was not immediately clear if passengers cleared to leave the ship and awaiting their flights in Phnom Penh had also been tested.

On its Facebook page, Holland America released a statement, saying officials from the Cambodian Health Ministry are on board on Monday to complete testing for COVID-19 on the 255 guests and 747 crew that are awaiting clearance.

We anticipate this will take several days and greatly appreciate the thoroughness of all authorities involved in resolving this situation, the statement reads.

Guests at a hotel in Phnom Penh have all completed the COVID-19 screening. Results are being returned when completed, with the first batch of 406 all being negative. Cleared guests may travel home, and arrangements are being made for those guests, it adds.

However, Christina Kerby, an American tourist aboard the ship and who has tweeted frequently about the ordeal, posted to the microblogging website that she had been tested for the virus in Phnom Penh.

Still awaiting results of my #covid-19 test and will not travel until I know I can do so safely without risking the health of others - however long it takes, she tweeted Monday afternoon.

Prior to the docking of the MS Westerdam last Thursday, Cambodian officials tested only 20 people aboard the cruise ship, who had complained of various symptoms. None of the twenty were positive for COVID-19, with other passengers getting more general health checks prior to disembarking the cruise ship.

The government of Cambodia, which has strong ties to Beijing, had allowed the stranded cruise liner to anchor off its coast Thursday morning prior to docking. The vessel, with 1,455 passengers and 802 crew on board, had been turned away by Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Thailand and the U.S. territory of Guam. The ship, which is owned by U.S.-based Holland America Line, left Hong Kong on February 1.

Despite Prime Minister Hun Sens attempts to downplay the viral outbreak, there is growing concern over containment of the disease after news of the American woman testing positive.

While, Hun Sen and an entourage of officials greeted the passengers with roses, to mark Valentines Day on February 14, journalists and the public were asked to stay away from the cruise ship on Monday.

A bus driver, who asked to give only his first name for fear of reprisal, said he has been asked by officials to wait near the docked ship on Monday to ferry passengers to the airport.

But his concern over the American woman testing positive was exacerbated on Sunday after officials canceled charter flights meant to transport passengers to Phnom Penh.

Now I am very concerned, because there is a confirmed case of [the virus], said Ly.

Additional reporting by Khan Sokummono
Deputies charge South Carolina man with attempted murder

Garren

Henderson County sheriff's deputies charged a Traveler's Rest, South Carolina, man with attempted first degree murder after the alleged victim sought treatment for a gunshot wound at an urgent care clinic.

Hendersonville police officers responded to FastMed on the Spartanburg Highway regarding a person seeking medical attention for a gunshot wound on Friday morning.

Once investigators determined that the incident involving the gunshot occurred in the Saluda area of Henderson County, deputies responded to that location and secured the crime scene while detectives interviewed witnesses. After the interviews and investigation, detectives charged Joshua Charles Garren, 30, with attempted first-degree murder. On Monday Garren was in the Henderson County jail under a $500,000 secured bond. The victim was transported to Mission Hospital.
The three Kashmiri engineering college students here, facing sedition charges, were re-arrested on Monday after protests broke out against police for releasing them on executing a bond.

"They (Kashmiri students) have been arrested again, produced before the court and remanded to judicial custody," the Hubballi-Dharwad police Commissioner R Dileep told PTI.

The trio, students of a private engineering college, were arrested on Saturday for raising pro-Pakistan slogans and posting it on social media on the first anniversary of the Pulwama terrorist attack that killed 40 CRPF soldiers.

They were released on Sunday on executing a bond under Section 169 of the Criminal Procedure Code (release of accused when evidence deficient).

Police had come under flak for releasing the youth.

They said the trio were apprehended this morning and taken to court, which remanded them to judicial custody till March 2.

The action came after members of right wing outfits staged demonstrations outside the police station on Sunday.

Sri Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik was among those who flayed police for releasing the youth who, he alleged, demonstrated their "anti-India vitriol" on the first anniversary of the Pulwama attack.

Police said Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai too spoke to higher police officials about the case.

The three students were reportedly manhandled by a mob at the court.

Meanwhile, Ashok Anvekar, a member of the Hubli Bar Association, said they had decided none from the bar would appear as counsel for the three Kashmiri students.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has pledged its full support to combatting Coronavirus (COVID-19) with six joint contracts to provide medical assistance in China. The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) has been tasked with providing this assistance in a spirit of humanitarian cooperation with China.

The contracts were initiated by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief). The initiative has been coordinated with the Embassy of People's Republic of China in the Kingdom.

The project envisages that 1,159 medical devices will be provided, including ultrasound machines, non-invasive ventilators, defibrillators, patient monitors, infusion pumps, injection pumps and continuous renal replacement therapy. Medical protective masks and isolation suits will also be provided.

"This initiative reflects the strong deep historical relations between Saudi Arabia and China," said His Excellency, Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah. "The Kingdom strives to fight crises facing countries and communities. It is always aiming to support stability and sustainable development around the world."

Welcoming the initiative, the Chinese Ambassador to the Kingdom, His Excellency Chen Weiqing said: "This shipment will be of huge support to doctors and to the population of Wuhan city and other areas. It reflects the kind sentiments of the people and government of Saudi Arabia towards China and its people."

The Ambassador went on to say that solidarity is the best way to face the challenges of diseases.

On February 10, 2020, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, His Royal Highness King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud directed KSrelief to do all it could to assist the Chinese authorities and provide urgent support. This initiative further demonstrates the commitment of Saudi Arabia to providing urgent humanitarian and medical assistance when most needed.

For media inquiries and more information, please contact

The International Communication and Media Centre

[email protected]; Tel/WhatsApp: +966 59 127 1130

https://ksrelief.org

SOURCE King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre
Married At First Sight brides Tash Herz and Amanda Micallef vowed to stay together during Sunday night's commitment ceremony.

But a new report has claimed the pair are only staying together to raise their social media profiles.

A source reportedly told NW Magazine that Tash, 31, and Amanda, 34, 'know they're not right for each other, but their plan is to at least try and make some money from the ordeal'.

On Monday, NW claimed that Married At First Sight brides Tash Herz (left) and Amanda Micallef (right) are only sticking together on the show 'for Instagram followers'

The source reportedly went on to say the mismatched brides are in a race to build some online clout.

'The longer they stay on the show, the more famous they'll become. They see that last year's brides are making thousands as Instagram influencers'.

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Tash Herz and Amanda Micallef for comment.

A source reportedly told NW Magazine that Tash, 31, and Amanda, 34, 'know they're not right for each other, but their plan is to at least try and make some money from the ordeal'

Career: The source reportedly went on to say the mismatched brides are in a race to build some online clout

The source reportedly added: 'The longer they stay on the show, the more famous they'll become. They see that last year's brides are making thousands as Instagram influencers'

Tash and Amanda first appeared to be a perfect match when they tied the knot.

But while on their honeymoon, Amanda complained about their lack of intimacy and Tash confessed that she wasn't attracted to the personal trainer.

While she voted to stay with Amanda during the first commitment ceremony, Tash has already moved on.

Not working? Tash and Amanda at first appeared to be a perfect match when they tied the knot. But while on their honeymoon, Amanda complained about their lack of intimacy and Tash confessed that she wasn't attracted to the personal trainer

New love: While she voted to stay with Amanda during the first commitment ceremony, Tash has already moved on. The bartender made her first official public appearance with her new girlfriend, Madison Hewitt (pictured) at an event in Melbourne on Sunday night

The bartender made her first official public appearance with her new girlfriend, Madison Hewitt, at an event in Melbourne on Sunday night.

Tash has not been shy about her new romance in recent weeks, and was first spotted with Madison on a Gold Coast beach in January.

She appears to have moved on several months ago, after filming her MAFS wedding with Amanda back in September.
A US man is being praised for his quick thinking after he was caught on video using his grocery cart to help the police nab a thief.



A video of the incident has now been shared on social media. The individual was in the parking lot when the suspected thief was being chased by cops.

YouTube

He calculated the exact moment the man would run past him and pushed the shopping cart in his path.

Peachtree City Police Department shared the footage of the incident on their official Facebook page and thanked the unnamed man for his help and 'impeccable timing'.





'Again, while we are eternally grateful for this citizen's quick thinking and impeccable timing, we never encourage anybody to intervene in a police situation. If the decision is made to do so, please consider the safety of yourself and all those around you as a priority', the department wrote on Facebook.



According to Fox News, the incident happened last month at a home depot in Peachtree City, located about 30 miles south of Atlanta. The suspect had taken items from the store and run into the neighbouring Walmart parking lot.

Police later identified the shoplifting suspect as 41-year-old Marcus Smith, and he was charged with felony, shoplifting and obstruction.
Rishi Sunak replaces Sajid Javid as UK finance minister

Indian-origin politician Rishi Sunak was on Friday appointed as the UKs new finance minister following a cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Sunak, the son-in-law of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy, will replace Sajid Javid, who resigned as Chancellor in a shock move in one of the biggest shakeups since Johnson won a thumping majority in the December 2019 general election.

Sunak will join Home Secretary Priti Patel, another Indian origin law maker, on the top government bench as the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Sunak, who was until now Javids junior as the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, was seen as a rising star within the cabinet.

The 39-year-old is set to move into No 11 Downing Street, next door to the Prime Ministers Office as he takes charge of the second most important government position as the finance minister.

Pakistani-origin Sajid Javid had to unexpectedly quit as Britains finance minister amid a reshuffle of Prime Minister Boris Johnsons cabinet, becoming the shortest-serving chancellor of the exchequer since 1970.

The Queen has been graciously pleased to approve the appointment of Rt Hon Rishi Sunak as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Downing Street said in the official announcement. The MP for Richmond in Yorkshire, married to Murthys daughter Akshata, first entered the UK Parliament in 2015 and has fast risen up the Conservative Party ranks as a staunch Brexiteer who had backed Johnsons strategy to leave the European Union (EU). The UK-born son of a pharmacist mother and a National Health Service (NHS) general practitioner (GP) father is an Oxford University and Stanford graduate.

From working in my mums tiny chemist shop to my experience building large businesses, I have seen how we should support free enterprise and innovation to ensure Britain has a stronger future, Sunak had said during the Brexit referendum. He co-founded a 1-billion pound global investment firm and specialised in investing in small British businesses before his entry into politics. He strongly believes that small businesses in the UK would flourish as a result of Brexit as the vast majority of British businesses (94 per cent) dont have anything to do with the EU; but they are still subject to all EU law.

Prime Minister Johnson also appointed Alok Sharma as his new business minister, the government said. Sharma, 52, was also appointed as the minister in charge of the UK's COP26 climate change summit. He was previously secretary of state for international development.
Those waiting for the Service Chiefs to be fired by President Muhammadu Buhari will have to tarry a while. The President is not read...

Those waiting for the Service Chiefs to be fired by President Muhammadu Buhari will have to tarry a while.





The President is not ready to dispense with their services, the Presidency said on Sunday night.





It was learnt that security reports before the President, indicate that Nigeria is in a war situation, as a result of which the President is weighing the options before him.





A cross section of ethnic-based groups and others have been mounting pressure on the President to replace the service chiefs to give new impetus to the battle against insurgency.





The renewed spate of killings by bandits in the North and the resurgence of Boko haram attacks have also fueled the agitation for the removal of the service chiefs.





There is a plan to organise a protest on Monday against the service chiefs which the government said is sponsored.





Many people have argued that the service chiefs continued stay in office beyond four years, has led to low morale in the military.

But presidential spokesman Garba Shehu said on Sunday that: Removal or sack of service chiefs does not stop all of what we are experiencing. Whether we like it or not, we are in a war situation. The President and the Commander-In-Chief is seeing things that others cannot see. This is why he deserves the benefit of the doubt.





How can they say the President does not care? His heart is there on how to secure and protect this nation. He is being briefed adequately by the service chiefs and others and he gives directives as the C-In-C.





It is people who dont know what the government is doing that are saying the President does not care. They think security is like a market place where everybody is an expert.





Regarding the clamour for new ideas and strategy, Shehu added: The strategy is always constantly being reviewed. Nothing is fixed.





The President is a military man; he has been working very hard with others on multiple solutions to the challenges at hand.





It was learnt that more military hardware and personnel will be deployed in the frontline.





About 3,000 soldiers will be commissioned in March or April for the battle against insurgents.





The Air Force has already inaugurated over 2,000 new air men.





For new equipment, Shehu said: About 1,000 military hardware bought with military budget and special funds from the Presidency are on the high seas to strengthen the war against insurgency and banditry.





The Federal Government is hopeful of taking delivery of 12 A-29 Super Tucano fighter jets from the United States.





The contract was awarded to Sierra Nevada Corporation, an American aerospace contractor.





Shehu said: While the military arsenal is not something you pay for and get, requiring mostly long-time orders, weapons will come in accordance with the terms of contracts.





This country is expecting the commencement of the delivery of Super Tucano fighter jets, very effective in this kind of warfare, beginning next year from the United States.





Shehu explained the security problems are not peculiar to Nigeria as many African countries are under threat.





He said the security challenges were given serious attention at last weeks African Union (AU) meeting in Addis Ababa.





So much is happening but there is a regional nature of the challenges. At the last AU meeting, there were fears being expressed that terrorists might take over some African states.





Some people can say that some of these countries are far from us, the truth is that the Sahel Region has a problem.





The insurgents are carrying out attacks and raids in some countries like Nigeria which they consider lucrative because they abduct or kidnap and collect ransom and they raid to loot.





The new AU chairman, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has promised two Special Summits of the organization this year bordering on security and African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 10:06:36|Editor: Xiaoxia

Video Player Close

CANBERRA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- A bushfire that burned in January and February has been declared the worst-ever environmental disaster in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

The Orroral Valley bushfire burned more than 80,000 hectares of land and destroyed 80 percent of the Namadgi National Park southwest of Canberra, Australia's capital city.

It triggered a state of emergency in the ACT for the first time since the 2003 bushfires that killed four people and destroyed hundreds of buildings.

Brett McNamara, an ACT Parks manager for three decades, said that the impact of the fire on the national park was heart-breaking.

"While Canberra has been saved - we haven't had the dramatic loss of houses or property or life - what we have lost to some extent is the ecological integrity of an area that all of us love," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Sunday.

"It has been confronting."

The Orroral Valley fire was sparked by the landing light of an Australian Defence Force (ADF) helicopter in January.

It was the most significant bushfire threat to Canberra since 2003 but was brought under control before it reached the capital.

Despite the devastation wreaked by the fire, the ACT government remains optimistic that the national park will recover.

"That's the wonderful thing about nature - it does respond very well," the ACT's environment directorate head Ian Walker, said.

"It certainly looks like a dead landscape but there are still animals in the landscape, kangaroos, echidnas, they're still persisting, and that gives me immense hope."
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- SoftBank Group Corp. became vulnerable to activist attack by Elliott Management Corp. because of the harmful noise generated by the Japanese technology investors giant Vision Fund. That noise just wont die down.

Sunday brought a report in the Financial Times that Vision Fund head Rajeev Misra is looking to raise a multi-billion dollar fund to buy listed stocks. The blueprint was established last year with SoftBanks investment in controversial German payments company Wirecard AG via a convertible bond. The new plan looks like a bid to do more unconventional equity investments in the same vein.

The development marks a strategic departure. After all, the $100 billion Vision Fund was established to take stakes in private, tech-focused startups. SoftBank has already had to deny that theres a misalignment between Misra and the groups founder and Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son over the idea of investing more in public companies. But its not hard to see why Son, and other SoftBank shareholders, might need persuading.

Setting up a listed-equity vehicle would bring in new revenues from management and performance fees. It could also create capital gains (or losses) from any investments in the fund that are made using SoftBanks own capital. Whether it would make such commitments  and the decision-making around any such moves  is unclear. The FT said funding of about $4 billion is being lined up from sovereign funds in Abu Dhabi and Kazakhstan.

There is some logic to Misras idea. It would, theoretically, marry SoftBanks nous in emerging technology with the experience in trading and structured products possessed by a bunch of former bankers working for the Vision Fund. The result could bring a new dimension to SoftBank, similar to how the American buyout giants have become purveyors of real-estate, private-equity and credit strategies.

The numbers being spoken of may be small relatively. But SoftBanks core competence is in a specific sector, technology, and a specific category, late-stage venture capital. It needs to be crystal clear about why it would have an edge in the listed markets. The new offshoot would engage in financial engineering by wrapping listed investments in leveraged structures. But would it be looking to hire people or engage advisers with that expertise in a public-equity strategy if it didnt already have it on the payroll? Or is the tail wagging the dog?

Story continues

SoftBank shares trade at a near 60% discount to net asset value, hence Elliotts interest. Thats due largely to high-profile mishaps in the Vision Fund, such as WeWork, even though the fund still accounts for only a 10% slice of SoftBanks overall managed assets. The risk is that, as with the Vision Fund, this venture has an outsized impact on sentiment toward SoftBank overall.

Ironically, SoftBank has a huge opportunity already to dabble in the stock market and do financial engineering. The discount at which its shares trade means it could buy nearly $50 billion of underlying investments by spending $20 billion on its own stock. Son could fund such a buyback either by raising debt or selling some of SoftBanks shares in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Sprint Corp., telecoms subsidiary SoftBank Corp. or even chipmaker Arm Holdings via a public offering. Maybe the brains in the Vision Fund could start by identifying which of these levers to pull.

To contact the author of this story: Chris Hughes at chughes89@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.

Chris Hughes is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering deals. He previously worked for Reuters Breakingviews, as well as the Financial Times and the Independent newspaper.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion

Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
British MP, outspoken of govts J&K move, denied entry into India

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Feb 17: A British MP heading a parliamentary group on Kashmir on Monday claimed she was denied entry into India despite a valid visa after she landed at the airport here, a charge denied by the government which said she had been informed that her e-visa was cancelled.

Debbie Abrahams, a Labour Party member and chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Kashmir, said in a statement that she arrived in Delhi on Monday morning and was informed that her e-visa, which was valid till October 2020, had been cancelled.

A Home Ministry spokesperson said the British parliamentarian had been duly informed that her visa was cancelled and she arrived in Delhi despite knowing this fact.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, February 17, 2020, 16:33 [IST]
(Natural News) All is well, Americans. According to President Donald Trump, the Wuhan coronavirus, or Covid-19, will die out by April because of warmer spring weather, so theres nothing to worry about.

Most Americans seem to be accepting of this nothing to see here, folks messaging from the White House, especially since the United States hasnt seen nearly the level of carnage taking place over in China. But wealthy elitists arent taking any chances, which is why theyre choosing to fly private rather than commercial.

Reports indicate that the worlds most financially well-to-do are avoiding commercial airlines like the plague, and instead choosing charter flights that they believe are a safer option. Rather than potentially encounter an infected traveler returning from China, the global top dogs are steering clear of the herds and flying in luxury.

One such elitist is presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren, who was spotted stepping off of a private jet during a campaign stop in Iowa. Reports indicate that Warren was trying to hide behind her staffers for fear of being spotted, and thus outed, as a hypocrite.

Global Warming lectures for us, private jet rides for her  THATs the Elizabeth Warren way! tweeted Breitbart News alongside a link to an article containing pictures of Warren getting off of her private jet.

According to Ascend by Cirium, a consultant group based out of the United Kingdom, the number of flights scheduled to operate to, from, and within China plummeted 34 percent from January 23 to February 11. At the same time, theres been a significant increase in the number of private flight charter requests, according to Jackie Wu, president of the Hong Kong-based JetSolution Aviation Group.

While Warren is among those traveling privately here in the U.S., most of the requests for private charter are coming out of Hong Kong and China, and going to places like Auckland, New Zealand; Taipei, Taiwan; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Phnom Penh, Cambodia; and cities throughout Singapore.

Listen below to The Health Ranger Report as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, talks about how the coronavirus pandemic achieves all the top goals of the globalists, including global depopulation:

After China changed how it counts coronavirus infections, the numbers skyrocketed

To make matters worse, communist China changed the way it counts coronavirus infections, which has caused a spike in the number of new cases. This is not only increasing demand for more private flights, but also fueling speculation that the Chinese regime has been lying all along about the severity of the outbreak.

In just one day after the counting method was changed, the Hubei province of China where Wuhan is located reported its biggest one-day infection tally, with 14,840 new cases and 242 deaths. This increase raised the overall death toll to nearly 1,500, and the overall infection rate to 60,000-plus.

Bernie Sanders is another private jet-using hypocrite like Warren who rattles on and on about climate change while living in the lap of luxury. Sanders, as you may recall from recent news, even had the gall to call out President Trump for not addressing global warming during his State of the Union address.

Wondering what the rest of us can do to avoid the Greta-2019 virus? joked one Breitbart News commenter. It seems to only infect the gullible and the political elites but the symptoms threaten to make life unbearable for the rest of us.

Be sure to check out The Health Ranger Report at Brighteon.com for more news and commentary about the coronavirus.

You can also keep up with the latest coronavirus news as it breaks at Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

USAToday.com

Breitbart.com

NaturalNews.com

Brighteon.com
Crises, particularly unexpected ones, can make or break a government as much as an individual.

In 2019, China celebrated 70 years of Communist Party rule. Chinas economic growth was at the lowest its been in three decades. And it faced the added political challenge of the Hong Kong protests, as well as the economic strain of an escalating trade war with the United States. Nevertheless, 2020 brought a more urgent challenge.

The Chinese governments recent quarantine of 60 million people  roughly the size of Italy  is unprecedented. At the last count, Chinas death toll from COVID-19  also known as the coronavirus  had reached 1,367, and the number of confirmed cases was 59,804. Since no cure has yet been found, the most effective means of preventing further spread is isolation.

But reports from Wuhan and Hubei (the province of which Wuhan is the capital city) are bleak.

One district in Shiyan (another city in Hubei province) has implemented wartime measures, meaning that residents are prohibited from leaving their apartments. The infected are rounded up to face further isolation; the deceased are taken away and burned like dead animals. According to one official, any person who fails to come forward with his symptoms will be forever nailed to historys pillar of shame. The Associated Press reports:

Authorities initially assured people that there was little to no risk of human-to-human transmission, a statement that was later retracted. Wuhan residents said hospitals were overcrowded and lacked sufficient medical supplies. Doctors who tried to share information early on were reprimanded by police for spreading rumors.

Possibly responding to public anger, the Communist Party of China has replaced its top officials in Hubei and Wuhan. President Xi Jinping has more or less absolved himself of guilt, publishing a speech by state media in which he claims to have given instructions to fight the virus as early as January 7. He says that he asked Hubei province on January 22 to implement comprehensive and stringent controls over the outflow of people.

Story continues

Of course, the U.S. has its own version of quarantines, which  when implemented appropriately  are a legitimate government response to a public-health emergency. The 600 Americans evacuated from the Hubei province remain in a military quarantine. And after the Diamond Princess cruise ship was quarantined in Japan, the 380 Americans on board were given the option of taking American government-chartered aircraft back to the U.S., where theyd face another 14-day quarantine. But unlike in China, American civilians and government officials are approaching the challenge in a spirit of cooperation and willingness.

In the 1980s, few predicted the twilight of the Soviet Union. But with hindsight, Mikhail Gorbachev, its former leader, noted an important turning point: the disaster at Chernobyl, when a nuclear reactor exploded at a power plant in northern Ukraine in 1986. In 2006, Gorbachev wrote:

The Chernobyl disaster, more than anything else, opened the possibility of much greater freedom of expression, to the point that the system as we knew it could no longer continue. It made absolutely clear how important it was to continue the policy of glasnost.

The official death toll from Chernobyl is 31. But we now know that, in the weeks and months that followed the accident, the USSR recruited between 600,000 and 800,000 of its citizens as part of the deadly clean-up project. These human liquidators, as they were known, came into direct contact with radioactive substances. Within 20 years, 120,000 were dead, and, of the survivors, the vast majority have suffered health complications, ranging from respiratory problems to cancer.

The USSRs response was an effective exercise in damage control. Practically, the mass evacuations, animal slaughters, and human liquidators undisputedly averted further disaster. But at what cost? When faced with a crisis, the Communists resorted to pride and denial, deception and confusion. This strategy was a devastating political miscalculation  enshrining a legacy of weakness and inspiring years of public resentment.

As unpleasant as it may be for the Chinese, their governments approach may well have bought the rest of the world more time. Though the virus has spread to nearly two dozen countries, 99 percent of cases are in mainland China. The exact nature and scope of the coronavirus remains unknown. But the political cost of an authoritarian approach to public crises is high.

More from National Review
Former North Korean diplomat Thae Yong-ho speaks during a press conference at the National Assembly, Sunday, to announce his election strategies. Earlier last week, Thae declared his bid for the April 15 general election as a member of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP). Yonhap



By Jung Da-min



The phone of former North Korean diplomat Thae Yong-ho, who defected to the South in 2016, has been hacked into by an unknown group that is suspected of being North Korean, according to a Seoul-based security group ESTsecurity, Monday.



An official of the company said they found the name of Thae Gu-min, the new name used by Thae to evade tracking by Pyeongyang after his defection, in the second half of last year while investigating other related hacking incidents. They confirmed that he had been hacked.



The company suspects his text conversations, photos and other information on the phone were stolen through a hacking attack called "spear phishing" which targets a certain individual or business.



"There are other cases of personal information leaks as well, but we cannot specifically say that they were of other diplomats or high-level officials other than ambassador Thae Yong-ho's case," the official said.



"The attack patterns used for these cases were similar to those formerly used by North Korean hacking groups like 'Kimsuky' or 'Geumseong121' but there is a possibility that another hacking group used such attack patterns to give the impression of being a North Korean group."



Geumseong121 is known to have attacked the websites of government departments, North Korea-related organizations and media officials while Kimsuky is known to have targeted servers of a famous resort and a large portal site.



Concerns have been raised that the personal information leak of Thae could threaten the safety of him and his family members in the South. Thae, who recently announced his bid for the April 15 general election under the main opposition Liberty Korea Party's ticket, revealed his new name during his press conference on Sunday, saying he would run in the election as Thae Gu-min.



Regarding the hacking allegation, Thae said he believes the North regularly hacks into phones or computers of major figures and organizations in the South.



"I've been well aware of such hacking threats, so I've been exceptionally vigilant with an extraordinary sense of security, not leaving any valuable information on the phone and having phone conversations carefully," he said in a message to reporters.


The National Communications Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi has claimed that Ghanaian voters have regretted voting for Akufo Addos black and white TV instead of Former President John Dramani Mahamas Colored TV.



According to him, the abysmal performance of the ruling government has left Ghanaians clamoring for the return of the NDC to power.



Speaking on Neat FMs Me Man Nti afternoon Show; Sammy Gyamfi described the current administration as an insensitive, deceptive, corrupt and nepotistic government who only parade itself as righteous.



To him, the Akufo-Addo-led government through its deceptive ways is stealing from Ghanaians and perpetuating lies and deceiving many with 419 promises.



Ghanaians have regretted selling their colour TV for Black and White we are retrogressing as a country, nothing seems to be working under this administration because all the promises of Nana Akufo Addos administration were nothing but 419, he fumed.



Sammy Gyamfi therefore warned the ruling Government to put an end to their constant lies and deceit because Ghanaians are fed up with it.





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.

Featured Video
Section 230 also says the person who creates content is the one responsible for it. So if President Trump libels an innocent person on Twitter, he can be sued. Without 230, social media couldnt exist. Sites such as Yelp would be sued to death. Start-ups such as Portlands AllGo, which collects user reviews about how restaurants serve plus-size customers, would never get off the ground. Movements such as Black Lives Matter or #MeToo, whose advocates post controversial accusations against powerful figures on social media, would have remained whispers, not megaphones for oppressed communities.
Regulatory News:

Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies (Paris:ALHGR) (ISIN: FR0013451044, Ticker: ALHGR) ("Hoffmann Green" or the "Company"), a pioneer in low-carbon cement, today announces the appointment of Olivier Lefelle as Head of New Construction. He will oversee the construction of the two new production sites, H2 and H3, in Vendee and the Paris region respectively, each of which will have an annual production capacity of 250,000 tons of low-carbon cement.

Olivier Lefelle, 49, has substantial industrial experience. He began his career abroad at Sotralem, a subcontractor of Sidel, which is a supplier of solutions for packaging liquid foodstuffs, and then in 2001 joined Ovociel, a specialist in dairy processes. From 2004 to 2009, he was Maintenance Manager for the Lactalis group where he worked on modernizing packaging lines, notably for the President brand. From 2009 to 2013, at the Terrena group, he continued to acquire industrial expertise as Technical Manager and then Head of Industrial Projects within the New Construction team. He subsequently joined a high-growth company, Europe Snacks, which has a number of industrial sites in France and abroad. During this period, Olivier Lefelle managed up to 20 million of investments each year, on complex process projects, from drawing up the specifications through to delivery. International experience acquired throughout his career has further enhanced his profile.

Julien Blanchard and David Hoffmann, co-founders of Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies, state: "Olivier's mission will be to oversee the construction of our H2 and H3 sites in France. This work will represent a decisive milestone in increasing the Company's production capacity. It was important to recruit somebody who enjoys tackling industrial challenges to strengthen our teams. Olivier is passionate about project management, his previous experience has demonstrated his ability to use his cross-business skills in the designing of production sites and the continuous improvement of processes and maintenance. We are delighted that Olivier is joining Hoffmann Green to help us meet these crucial milestones

Olivier Lefelle, Head of New Construction, adds: "I am very pleased to be joining Hoffmann Green to carry out the ambitious industrial development projects the Company has set. The Company has a very exciting roadmap, and the innovative and disruptive sector on which the Company is positioned provides further motivation to rapidly deliver efficient sites capable of producing an additional 500,000 tons of cement a year by 2024

Upcoming investor event:

7th Portzamparc Mid Small Cap annual Conference: April 1st, 2020 in Paris

Upcoming financial press release:

2019 revenue and results, on April 27, 2020 (after market)

About Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies

Founded in 2014, Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies designs, produces and distributes innovative low-carbon cements with a substantially lower carbon footprint than traditional cement.

Fully aware of the environmental emergency and the need to reconcile the construction sector, cement manufacturing and the environment, the Group believes it is at the heart of a genuine technological breakthrough based on altering cement's composition and the creation of a heating-free and clean manufacturing process, without clinker.

Hoffmann Green's cements, currently manufactured on a first 4.0 industrial site with no kiln nor chimney in western France, address all construction sector markets and present, at equivalent dosage and with no alteration in the concrete manufacturing process, higher performances than traditional cement.

For further information, please go to www.ciments-hoffmann.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200217005145/en/

Contacts:

Hoffmann Green

Jerome Caron

Chief Financial Officer

finances@ciments-hoffmann.fr

+33 (0)2 51 46 06 00

NewCap

Sandrine Boussard-Gallien

Theodora Xu

Investor Relations

ciments-hoffmann@newcap.eu

+33 (0)1 44 71 94 94

NewCap

Nicolas Merigeau

Media Relations

ciments-hoffmann@newcap.eu

+33 (0)1 44 71 94 98
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 20:37:56|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

Ekrem Imamoglu, mayor of Istanbul, speaks at the inauguration ceremony of an agency in Istanbul, Turkey, Feb. 17, 2020. An investment agency was launched on Monday to make Istanbul, Turkey's economic hub that accounts for one-third of the whole gross domestic product, an attraction spot for foreign investors. (Xinhua)

ISTANBUL, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- An investment agency was launched on Monday to make Istanbul, Turkey's economic hub that accounts for one-third of the whole gross domestic product, an attraction spot for foreign investors.

"Istanbul is stepping up to the global stage," Ekrem Imamoglu, mayor of Istanbul, said at the inauguration ceremony of the agency in Istanbul.

"The agency's founding goal is to turn Istanbul into a city that attracts more international investments and entrepreneurs, as well as foreign talents," he noted.

According to the mayor, the new platform will determine and promote Istanbul's local dynamics to appeal to foreign investors in a wide range of sectors, including finance, technology, and tourism, with a "win-win spirit."

The mayor also pledged to make the city a center of high technology, by significantly supporting software companies and coding firms.

"We will also focus on mass transportation investments, particularly increasing metro lines," Imamoglu said, highlighting the importance of new urban planning investments.

Nihat Narin, head of the agency, for his part, invited international funds, entrepreneurs, private capital groups, and "anyone who wants to invest in Istanbul" to contribute to the development of the city with a population of 16 million.

Narin said that the transformation process in Istanbul, which has begun after the local elections held last year, created a positive atmosphere for the investors.

"With its 712 hotels, 238 hospitals, and 61 universities, hosting over one million students, Istanbul is waiting for new investments," he added.

Istanbul lures around 15 million tourists each year, and it is one of the top 10 tourist destinations in the world and the third most traveled destination in Europe, Narin noted.
: India is looking at creating a distinct theatre command for Jammu & Kashmir, and integrating the western and eastern naval commands to create a Peninsular Command, chief of defence staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat said on Monday, disclosing the broad contours of the countrys theaterisation plan to optimally utilise the resources of the armed forces.

Rawat said that India could have up to five theatres to address the countrys security requirements, and the new structures would begin rolling out in two years.

The government expects Rawat, the countrys first CDS, to bring about jointness among the three services within three years. One of the key objectives behind jointness, or jointmanship, is the setting up of theatre commands for the best use of military resources to fight future battles.

The CDS said a raft of studies would be ordered by the year-end to evaluate how many theatre commands are needed and theaterisation would start in 2021-22.

Theaterisation refers to placing specific units of the army, the navy and the air force under a theatre commander. Such commands come under the operational control of an officer from any of the three services, depending on the function assigned to that command.

Rawat, who took over as CDS on December 31, said that J&K, including the international border with Pakistan, would come under a separate theatre. He said the number of theatres required would be decided after the study groups submit their reports.

He said the military would also have separate joint commands for logistics and training.

Rawat said a study to create the Peninsular Command, responsible for securing India from seaborne threats, will be ordered by March 31, with a report to be submitted three to four months thereafter. He said the Peninsular Command was likely to be functional by 2021-end with army and air force elements under it. The Port Blair-based Andaman & Nicobar Command, Indias first tri-services command, would remain as it is, the CDS added.

The IAF has in the past opposed the setting up of theatre commands as many in the service believed the air force had the speed and reach to project military power across geographies without being confined to theatres.

However, all the three service chiefs have extended their full support to the CDS in creating new military structures.

In his first official directive after stepping into the new role, Rawat last month directed top officials of HQ Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) to prepare a proposal to create an Air Defence Command to enhance military synergy.

Rawat said the proposal will be submitted to him by March 31, after which implementation orders will be issued. The setting up of the Air Defence Command could take a year. To be headed by an Indian Air Force officer, the it will include air defence resources of all the three services.

Rawat said he would focus on creating avenues that allow the officers of the army, navy and air force to interact more with each other at different stages of their careers to have a better understanding of the three services. If you have better knowledge of each others service, then there are no issues regarding integration and jointness, he said.

As CDS, Rawat is the permanent chairman of the chiefs of staff committee (COSC), heads the newly formed department of military affairs, and is the single point military adviser to the defence minister.

The prioritisation of military purchases to be made by the three services also comes under Rawats purview. He indicated that he prefers a procurement model that involves buying weapons and systems in a staggered way so that the requirement of the three services can be met within the available budget.

I believe we should not go in for a large number of procurements at one time. If you have a requirement for, say, 10 submarines, 100 fighter jets and 1,000 tanks, you can either buy the submarines or the jets or the tanks. You cant buy all three together. But you can spread out the purchases over 10 years and buy that equipment in four or five tranches, said Rawat.

He said buying equipment in one go would also result in all of it becoming due for repairs and overhaul at the same time. He added that he would prefer the Indian Air Forces requirement for 110 new fighter jets to be met in phases. Asked if the big priority for the Indian Navy was a third aircraft carrier was or next-generation submarines, Rawat said that submarines would be more important if Indias underwater force levels were dwindling.

Lieutenant General Satish Dua (retd), a leading expert on tri-services issues, said, As far as theaterisation is concerned, we are moving in the right direction at good speed. The CDS has been given three years time to set up the new structures. The experience of setting up the Air Defence Command will help in creating the other structures too.

Dua added that with active borders with China and Pakistan, it was critical for India to ensure it was not caught off balance during the military transformation.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 20:56:59|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

ISLAMABAD, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- A blast hit a busy road in Pakistan's southwest provincial capital Quetta on Monday evening, leaving three people dead and 15 others injured, local media and rescue officials said.

Rescue personnel told media that they have shifted three bodies and 15 injured to the civil hospital after the blast took place at the Shahra-e-Iqbal Road in the city.

Local media, quoting hospital officials, said that the death toll might further rise as four of the injured are in critical condition.

Several vehicles were also damaged in the blast.

Police and security forces have cordoned off the area while the bomb disposal squad is trying to know the nature of the blast.

However, a police officer told media that he feared that it was a bomb blast because he found some marks of ball bearings on the spot.
The final samples of all the people quarantined at the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) facility were collected by a team of doctors on Friday.

Indian nationals who were airlifted from coronavirus-hit Hubei province of Chinas Wuhan at the ITBPs quarantine facility at Chhawla in New Delhi, Sunday. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: India has decided to send medical supplies to China in solidarity in the wake of Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak there, saying New Delhi will do everything within its means to support the people of China in this hour of crisis.

Noting that the people of city of Wuhan and the province of Hubei are the worst affected by the epidemic and that they have a very special place in the hearts of the Indian people, the Indian Embassy in Beijing tweeted that with courage, persistence and effective measures we will be able to overcome the crisis.

Meanwhile, the Union health ministry has constituted central teams of experts for examination of villages bordering Nepal for novel coronavirus infection.

In other developments, all 406 people, who are housed at an ITBP quarantine facility after being brought back from Wuhan, have tested negative for novel Coronavirus in the latest sample examination and will be discharged in a phased manner beginning Monday, officials said.

The Indian Embassy tweeted, Ambassador @VikramMisri (Ambassador in Beijing Vikram Misri) expresses his solidarity with the Chinese people and the government in the fight against #NovelCorona-virus epidemic. As a concrete step to tackle the outbreak, India will soon send a consignment of medical supplies to China. The people of city of Wuhan and the province of Hubei are the worst affected by the epidemic. They have a very special place in the hearts of the Indian people. With coura-ge, persistence and effective measures we will be able to overcome the crisis. India will do everythi-ng within its means to su-pport the people of China in this hour of crisis.

News agency reports citing officials meanwhile stated that all 406 people, who are housed at an ITBP quarantine facility here after being brought back from Wuhan, have tested negative for novel Coronavirus in the latest sample examination and will be discharged in a phased manner beginning Monday.

The final samples of all the people quarantined at the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) facility were collected by a team of doctors on Friday. The final coronavirus test reports of all 406 people have been found negative, an ITBP spokesperson was cited as saying on Sunday.
France's leading aerospace manufacturer Airbus has reported a net loss of 1.36 billion euros ($1.47 billions) for year-ending 2019.

The company's loss comes on the heels of a bribery scandal and charges of corruption involving the state-owned Sri Lankan Airlines Ltd. as well as AirAsia.

Airbus admitted two weeks ago to illegally trying to bribe executives of Sri Lankan Airlines in sales of its planes. A 3.6 billion euro ($4 billion) settlement was reached on the corruption probes.

According to the U.K.'s Serious Fraud Office, the bribery involved a payment of $2 million (1.84 million euro) to Priyanka Niyomali Wijenayake, the wife of ex-Sri Lankan Airlines CEO Kapila Chandrasena, made through a shell company based in Brunei.

Sri Lankan Airlines is restructuring and reviewing methods to recoup losses.

Last week it was also announced that Tony Fernandes, CEO of Malaysia-based AirAsia, will step down from his post for two months during which the government will look into corruption claims.

Airbus manufactures commercial aircraft as well as those for the space and defense industries.

The aviation industry giant reported 2019 operating profits of 6.9 billion euros ($7.5 million). Last year, they delivered 863 aircraft, their most productive year to date. The airlines' A320 aircraft is currently in production, with an estimated 880 to be delivered by the year's end.

Airbus holds 70% of the market share at present in light of rival Boeing's ongoing problems after two recent crashes of its 737 MAX that killed 346 passengers and crew.

In a statement, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury stated: "The reported earnings also reflect the final agreements with the authorities resolving the compliance investigations and a charge related to revised export assumptions for the A400M [transport aircraft]."

Image & Text:  AA
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 18:01:32|Editor: zh

Video Player Close

ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- China's tech giant Huawei has planned to enhance its contribution to capacity building for Ethiopians in the information and communication technologies (ICT) sector this year, targeting increased number of beneficiaries.

The Huawei Ethiopia CEO, Zhou Tianbing, told Xinhua on Monday that Huawei will continue its activities helping the East African country improve education development with most advanced technologies, with committed efforts to bridge the digital divide for Ethiopians.

Huawei has launched and been implementing different initiatives to improve the ICT capacity of young people in Ethiopia, in particular, and Africa in general.

"With a view of building ICT capacity and further improve ICT development, Huawei has launched three major initiatives dubbed Seeds for the Future, ICT competition, and ICT Talent Ecosystem, and these projects have benefited tens of thousands of students at the levels of elementary, secondary and higher education."Zhou said.

Recalling that Huawei commenced its Seeds for Future project in Ethiopia in 2016, whereby 10 most talented students are sent to China every year for short-term training, the CEO said Huawei, in cooperation with the Ethiopian Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MoSHE), would continue to select 10 students from top universities across the country.

Huawei, since 2018, has been undertaking its project of ICT Competition, in which 2,357 students from 22 universities of Ethiopia participated in the year 2019, with increased number of participants, which was a little more than 500 in 2018. And one teacher and three students have been qualified for the final competition to be held in China.

In 2020, Huawei has targeted to engage more than 3,000 students from 28 universities to show their talents in the ICT competition.

On the ICT Talent Ecosystem of Ethiopia, Huawei signed an agreement with MoSHE in January 2017 for joint construction of ICT Academies in 37 public higher education institutions.

The two sides also signed agreement in January 2019 to jointly construct ICT Academies in technical and vocational education and training (TVET), the first time in Ethiopia to extend Huawei Academy to TVET.

Huawei has launched courses in more than 20 universities and TVETs, and has trained more than 1,500 ICT students.

With the initiative of ICT Academy, Huawei has a plan to open courses this year in nine more universities and three more TVETs in Ethiopia.

Reiterating that Huawei Ethiopia attaches great importance to helping the country improve education development with more advanced ICT, Zhou said his company would further strengthen its support in the year 2020.

In 2015, Huawei worked with 65 schools in Ethiopia for the implementation of SchoolNet by deploying 5,200 cloud desktops in the schools. In 2017, Huawei SchoolNet Education Cloud has deployed 25,000 cloud desktops for a total of 310 schools in 9 regions and 2 cities of the country.

By now, Huawei's Education Cloud Solution has covered 365 secondary schools, 10 universities, with more than 30,000 cloud desktops, which have benefited more than 27,000 teachers and students, according to the CEO.

Huawei has also worked together with more than 10 top universities in Ethiopia, where it has constructed the most advanced datacenters, fixed & wireless school networks and Education Cloud for them.

So far, more than 300,000 college students have become beneficiaries of digital research and development, digital education and distant education empowered by Huawei, he said.
KYODO NEWS - Feb 17, 2020 - 21:01 | World, All, Coronavirus

The Hong Kong government is arranging two chartered flights to bring home some 350 Hong Kong people stranded aboard a coronavirus-stricken cruise ship docked in Japan, the territory's security chief John Lee said Monday.

The move came amid requests by numerous foreign countries to evacuate their nationals from the vessel, where 454 infections have been confirmed, including 21 Hong Kong people. Around 3,000 passengers and crew remain on the ship.

"We have made our demands to Japan...and further requests for these Hong Kong people to, once they are allowed to disembark, that they should be transported immediately to the (Haneda) airport, so that (they) can get on board the chartered flights," Lee told reporters at Hong Kong International Airport.

Lee said a 30-strong team, comprising officials and medical staff, will go to Japan to coordinate the evacuation, which should take place on Wednesday, with flights expected to arrive in Hong Kong by Thursday at the earliest.

About 260 Hong Kong residents, 90 foreign passport holders, and five Macau residents are expected to be evacuated.

Upon their arrival in Hong Kong, the evacuees will have to undergo a 14-day quarantine, in isolation, as a precautionary measure. Those who opt not to take the chartered flights back will "very likely" have to go through the same quarantine procedures once they eventually return.

"This is done in accordance with the advice of the (medical) experts and according to the analysis about public health requirements," Lee said.

The outbreak in China, as of Sunday, has infected a total of 70,548 people and caused 1,770 deaths. In Hong Kong, total infections rose to 58 by Monday, with a 69-year-old man who had no recent travel history testing positive for the virus.

Meantime, Hong Kong police foiled a toilet paper heist, arresting two suspects who allegedly stole more than 60 packs of toilet paper that were being delivered to a supermarket early Monday. The case comes as the virus has created scarcity with goods and commodities, including facemasks, sterilizing detergent and rice.

In Macau, casinos ordered closed two weeks ago amid the outbreak are slated to reopen on Thursday, according to the government, as the total confirmed coronavirus cases in the gambling hub stayed at 10, including five who have made a full recovery.

Related coverage:

Japan pop group Arashi cancels concert in Beijing over coronavirus

Japan automakers resume some operations in coronavirus-hit China

China to discuss delaying annual parliament meeting: Xinhua
R ory Stewart makes an important point about the use of public land [Rory builds... Stewarts masterplan for 250,000 new homes, February 12]. The Bishopsgate Goodsyard, for example, is a 10-acre site which sits on the border of Hackney and Tower Hamlets, just outside the City.

The land is owned by Network Rail and so is public land, and in our view should be used for public good. It is the last sizeable brownfield site in inner London and we want to see it used for an exemplary project to address the housing crisis and related local needs  not to expand the City.

In the same way that the neighbouring Boundary Estate exemplified a revolution in housing provision 100 years ago, wed like to see the public authorities rise to that challenge. City-scale office blocks, a hotel and a paltry 60 to 90 low-rent homes is not acceptable here.

Rorys argument is closely aligned with our view, and we hope that the other candidates for London Mayor can also see the logic behind this.

Andrew Rixon, Weavers Community Action Group

Editor's reply

Dear Andrew

File photo of terraced residential houses in London / PA

It seems remarkable, given the shortage of land for development in central London, that the Bishopsgate Goodsyard has sat largely unused and derelict for well over half a century since the 1964 fire. One reason is the sheer complexity of the site, which has five railway lines and tunnels passing through it.

Many other Network Rail and Transport for London plots present similar technical challenges. Mayoral candidate Rory Stewart claims that there is enough public land available in London for 250,000 homes to be built in five years in what would be the biggest affordable housing programme in the capital since the Sixties. The reality is the engineering, safety and construction constraints will make this a very tough nut to crack. However, Rory Stewart has, at the very least, thrown down the gauntlet to the other mayoral candidates to come up with equally imaginative suggestions.

Jonathan Prynn, Consumer Affairs Editor

Fresh energy for social care reform

We welcome Chris Pincher as the new housing minister, Helen Whately as the new health and social care minister and Matt Hancocks continuation as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

Our research shows that since the last election, trust in government to deliver on social care reform has increased by seven per cent.

With an upswing in public confidence, the Government must follow through on its commitment to reform social care to reassure our nation that their trust is not misplaced, and to give clarity and peace of mind to todays and tomorrows older people.

Jane Ashcroft, CBE, CEO Anchor Hanover, Englands largest not-for-profit provider of care and housing for older people

Aussie rules for home ownership

Gday Mr OLeary. Saw your letter First-time buyers need a leg-up on the property ladder, [Feb 13]. There was a similar scheme in Australia. It only applied to new houses, but I suppose it could be adapted.

Worked like this: you came up with $5,000 and the government would match that and  bingo  you had your deposit. It worked well until a change in federal government, then it was scrapped. God knows why? I hope the UK scheme takes off.

Ooroo. (Cheerio in Oz slang).

Frank McGrath

In defence of the Labour vote

Keir Starmer / Getty Images

I do not recognise the nomination meeting for leader and deputy leader held by Hampstead and Kilburn Labour Party as described in your article [Labour skirmish in Hampstead, The Londoner February 13]. There was no skirmish and just 262 members attended, not 400. There was no whooping and cheering; rather, many excellent speeches (not crazy ones) were applauded.

When I called for speakers in favour of Sir Keir Starmer, several hands went up at the same time. They all got to speak, including Tulip Siddiq our MP, whom I saw perfectly well (there was no pretence).

Happily, everyone heeded my call to keep speeches short so that everyone who wanted to got to speak in the time available. Momentum were not out in full force and leafleting for any and all of the candidates outside the meeting was perfectly permissible.
A worker at the photolithography section of a semiconductor plant of the Mikron Group in Zelenograd, Moscow.

The Trump administration is weighing trade restrictions on China that would limit the use of American chip-making equipment, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

People familiar with the matter told the Journal that the Commerce Department is drafting changes to the foreign direct product rule that would require chip factories globally to obtain licenses if they want to use American equipment to create chips for Huawei.

The proposed rule comes as the Trump administration looks to cut off China's access to the U.S. semiconductors, one of China's largest imports from America. Many U.S. officials have argued that Huawei's equipment could be used for espionage by the Chinese government, although the company denies those claims and says its equipment is secure. A separate rule would limit the ability of U.S. companies to supply Huawei from overseas facilities.

The proposed changes could also harm U.S. manufacturers of semiconductor equipment, like Applied Materials and Lam Research.

The changes have not been reviewed by President Donald Trump and not everyone supports the proposed rule, the newspaper reported.

The Commerce Department declined to comment on the proposed rule to CNBC.

Read more about the impact of the possible trade restrictions here.
Ivanka Trump, adviser to the president of the United States, commended, Sunday in Dubai, Moroccos efforts in the field of womens empowerment.

Speaking at the opening session of the Global Womens Forum 2020, Ivanka Trump said Morocco has succeeded in recent years in introducing important legislative reforms that serve the interests of women and increase their level of empowerment.

She also praised the efforts of five other Arab countries to empower women, namely the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan and Tunisia.

The two-day Global Womens Forum 2020 will discuss the establishment of international partnerships capable of strengthening womens positive contribution to the global development process and ways to increase womens social and economic participation, particularly in the area of entrepreneurship.
Absentee voting allows you to vote by mail

Absentee voting allows you to vote by mail

All registered voters in Michigan have the right to vote by mail. It's a safe way to vote and protect your health, and the process is secure and accurate.

All registered voters are eligible to vote by mail

Due to the passage of the statewide ballot proposal 18-3, all eligible and registered voters in Michigan may now request an absent voter ballot without providing a reason.

Check your voter registration at Michigan Voter Information Center Michigan.gov/Vote

Requesting an absent voter ballot

Voters may request an absent voter ballot or accessible voter ballot in a variety of ways. Voters can complete an online application at Michigan.gov/Vote or submit an application, large print application, letter, or postcard to your local clerk. Find your local clerk at Michigan.gov/Vote. Requests for absent voter ballots may be returned may be returned by hand, via postal mail, fax or email, as long as a signature is visible.

Requests to have an absent voter ballot mailed to you must be received by your clerk no later than 5 p.m. the Friday before the election. If you're already registered at your current address, you can request an absent voter ballot in person at your clerk's office anytime up to 4 p.m. on the day prior to the election, this ballot must be completed at the clerk's office. If you're registering to vote or updating your address by appearing at your clerk's office on Election Day, you can request an absent voter ballot at the same time you register. If you request your AV ballot the day before the election or on Election Day, you must vote the ballot in the clerk's office.

Once your request is received by the local clerk, your signature on the request will be checked against your voter registration record before a ballot is issued. You must be a registered voter to receive an absent voter ballot, but you can register and apply for an absent voter ballot at the same time. Requests for absent voter ballots are processed immediately. Absent voter ballots may be issued to you at your home address or any address outside of your city or township of residence.

After receiving your absent voter ballot, you have until 8 p.m. on Election Day to complete the ballot and return it to the clerk's office. Your ballot will not be counted unless your signature is on the return envelope and matches your signature on file. If you received assistance voting the ballot, then the signature of the person who helped you must also be on the return envelope. Only you, a family member or person residing in your household, a mail carrier, or election official is authorized to deliver your signed absent voter ballot to your clerk's office.

If an emergency, such as a sudden illness or family death prevents you from reaching the polls on Election Day, you may request an emergency absent voter ballot. Requests for an emergency ballot must be submitted after the deadline for regular absent voter ballots has passed but before 4 p.m. on Election Day. The emergency must have occurred at a time which made it impossible for you to apply for a regular absent voter ballot. Please contact your local clerk for more information about emergency absent voter ballots.

Spoiling an absent voter ballot

If a voter has already voted absentee and wishes to change their vote (because the candidate has dropped out of the race, or for any other reason), a voter can spoil their ballot by submitting a written request to their city or township clerk.

The voter must sign the request and state if they would like a new absentee ballot mailed to them or if they will pick it up in person at the clerk's office.

This request must be received by 5 p.m. the Friday before the election if received by mail. An absentee ballot that has been returned to the clerk may be spoiled in person at the clerk's office until 10 a.m. the Monday prior to the election. An absentee ballot that has not been returned to the clerk may be spoiled in person at the clerk's office until 4 p.m. the Monday prior to the election.

If a voter has not returned his or her ballot, the voter can surrender the ballot or sign a statement stating that the ballot was lost or destroyed and vote at the polls. There is no option on Election Day to spoil an absentee ballot that has been received by the clerk.

Contact information about your clerk can be found in the voter information section of the Michigan Voter Information Center website.
The politics of hate does not pay. The people are too sensible to fall for such a ruse, says Amulya Ganguli.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

There are a number of lessons for the political class from the outcome of the Delhi elections.

For the BJP, the message is that the politics of hate does not pay.

The people are too sensible to fall for such a ruse.

No matter how popular is the prime minister or how formidable is the home minister, the people will not be fooled by their pretence that they are the only saviours of the nation against 'traitors' who should be shot, as the Union minister of state for finance said at an election rally.

The home minister, Amit Anilchandra Shah, has distanced the party from this remark as also from the one which compared the Delhi contest to an India-Pakistan battle.

Two days after the results were announced, Shah has said the party may have suffered because of these remarks.

As is obvious, it is an afterthought because the BJP had asked one of its MPs to open the debate in Parliament on the President's address although he had said that that the Muslims of Shaheen Bagh would rape and kill Hindus.

Shaheen Bagh is a Delhi locality where Muslim women have been staging a sit-in demonstration in protest against the citizenship laws which, they believe, are detrimental to the interests of Muslims.

It remains to be seen whether the BJP will listen to Shah and rein in others like a Union minister who said that Shaheen Bagh was the breeding ground for suicide bombers.

Or whether the increase in the BJP's vote share from 32.3 per cent in 2015 to 38.4 in 2020 will convince some in the party that it is not electorally harmful to spew hate, as a few have said.

The Bihar election later this year will show which of the two paths the BJP will follow.

As for the Aam Aadmi Party, its routing of a powerful adversary will convey to the political class the message that nothing succeeds like quiet work at the ground level in providing bijli-sadak-pani (electricity, roads and drinking water) to the people.

Even more than these three facilities, which were not free of defects in Delhi, what helped the AAP are the mohalla clinics in a large number of localities, providing basic medical care, and the improvement in the condition of government schools.

That West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has already drawn a lesson from the Delhi outcome can be seen from her decision to provide free electricity to those with the quarterly consumption of 75 units.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has for some time been flooding television screens with pictures of what he has been doing for the farmers and other poorer sections.

The country will heave a sigh of relief if all this signal a change from the exploitation of what is called identity politics relating to castes and communities to a new kind of politics, as Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said, concerning mainly the economic field.

Narendra Damodardas Modi has been engaged in such populism for some time, building houses and toilets, and providing electricity and cooking gas, among other things.

That these measures have helped him is evident from the results of last year's parliamentary polls.

But what are also believed to have boosted the BJP's prospects are its hyper nationalism and demonisation of Muslims and Left-Liberals.

However, by overdoing this second factor, the BJP may have come a cropper in terms of seats in the Delhi assembly election.

Interestingly, AAP can be said to have appropriated some of the BJP's pro-Hindu agenda as slogans like Bharat Mata ki Jai and Vande Mataram by AAP supporters show.

The AAP is also projecting itself as a devotee of Hanuman just as the BJP extols Ram.

Kejriwal has been visiting temples dedicated to Hanuman in a gesture recalling Rahul Gandhi's temple hopping before the parliamentary polls.

While these overt acts of religiosity can be described as instances of 'soft' Hindutva, these examples of obeisance are different from the BJP's 'hard' version in the sense that AAP's and the Congress's recourse to what can be called the Hindu card is not accompanied by anti-Muslim diatribes which are associated with the BJP, such as an MP's warning that Shaheen Bagh is a precursor of the Mughal raj.

Kejriwal's Hinduism is similar to the creed followed by millions of his co-religionists whose worship of Hindu deities is not accompanied by the kind of visceral hatred of Muslims which is the hallmark of bigots.

It is perhaps for this reason that Hindus have turned in increasing numbers to AAP, having been offended by the BJP's venom, as Shah has suspected.

The new kind of politics, therefore, which Kejriwal is espousing is marked, first, by a focus on welfare measures even if his critics deride them as freebees.

And, secondly, by a reassertion of a sane version of religiosity where a Hindu or a Muslim or a person of any other persuasion will follow his or her faith in the privacy of homes or in places of worship without accusing others of being disloyal to the nation or engaged in a sinister jihadi conspiracy to undermine 'rival' faiths.

Needless to say, such harmonious, live-and-let-live, co-existence has been a longstanding feature of Indian pluralism.

AAP's victory is a popular affirmation of this age-old aspect of the Indian scene.

Amulya Ganguli is a writer on current affairs.
John McGrath. Illustration: John Shakespeare Credit:

Celebrity realtor John McGrath, as former chairman of the eponymous property outfit, has caused considerable pain to long-suffering investors. But at least he's good with the gavel?

Err, not quite. The McGrath Estate Agents founder  best known for flogging some of the country's most expensive houses  rolled up unannounced at an auction over the weekend, taking control of proceedings and delivering a bonanza for the happy sellers.

Except, as it happens, he was no longer fit to conduct such an auction. Or perform the duties of a real estate agent. And don't take our word for it  that's according to the Office of Fair Trading, which shows his license to perform either job lapsed last Monday.

And where does that leave Karen James and Bruce Lawson, whose three-bedroom Stanmore home sold on Saturday for $1.83 million? "The law prohibits a real estate or stock and station agent from conducting property auctions unless their licence is accredited to authorise them to act as an auctioneer," the Office of Fair Trading rules read.
(@FahadShabbir)

Five-day long Anti-Polio campaign aimed at to eradicate the polio on Monday kicked off in all districts of Hazara

ABBOTTABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Feb, 2020 ) :Five-day long Anti-Polio campaign aimed at to eradicate the polio on Monday kicked off in all districts of Hazara.

Special security measures have been taken, police and elite force have been deployed with the immunization teams of the anti-polio drive.

Deputy Commissioner Haripur Cap. (R) Nadeem Nasir inaugurated the drive in Haripur at District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) Haripur.

Speaking on the occasion, he said that "We have taken strict security measures for the drive".

In district, Haripur 181474 children would be vaccinated during the first five days long 2020 Anti polio drive where 682 teams would work in 46 Union Councils to immunize the children. The drive would be concluded on February 21.

Deputy Commissioner Haripur Capt. (R) Nadeem Nasir directed police force for the provision of foolproof security for anti-polio teams. He also underlines the need for vaccination for all under 5 years of age children and said that immunize maximum children in the drive and convince the parents those would refuse vaccination to their children and must vaccinate them.

The DC further said that we have started a massive campaign in all over the district where our teams are visiting every street and house of the villages and cities.

In district, Abbottabad anti-polio drive has also been kicked off where 214000 children would be immunized during the anti-polio drive where 889 teams would immunize the children while the health department has also established 34 centers.

Anti-Polio drive teams through a door to door campaign would vaccinate under 5 years of age children in every nook and corner of the district to achieve the target.

A team of 18 officers including district administration, health, and WHO representatives would monitor the campaign on daily biases.
The LUH will be one of the two helicopters that will meet the army's urgent need for 394 light helicopters.

Ajai Shukla reports.

IMAGE: The three LUH prototypes have completed over 550 test flights, including under the most demanding terrain and climatic conditions. Photograph: Kind courtesy Wikimedia Commons

In a major breakthrough for its indigenous helicopter programme, Hindustan Aeronautics was awarded initial operational clearance for its newest helicopter -- the eponymous light utility helicopter.

The LUH is a helicopter that HAL developed to replace the army's and air force's obsolescent fleet of Cheetah and Chetak helicopters.

HAL was handed over the initial operational clearance in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

This certification, issued by the Centre for Military Airworthiness, brings the LUH much closer to being manufactured in large numbers.

In December 2018, the LUH passed an important landmark, flying to a height of 20,000 feet in the Ladakh sector.

The three LUH prototypes have completed over 550 test flights, including under the most demanding terrain and climatic conditions.

This extreme performance is deemed essential for the LUH, which will be required to supply provisions to, and evacuate casualties from, posts like the 20,997 feet-high Sonam Post above the Siachen Glacier -- the highest inhabited spot on the planet.

The LUH will be one of the two helicopters that will meet the army's urgent need for 394 light helicopters.

A joint venture between HAL and Russian Helicopters will build 197 Kamov-226Ts to meet the military's urgent requirements.

Separately, HAL will manufacture 187 LUHs which includes 126 for the army and 61 for the IAF.

For building the Kamov-226T in India, the central government signed an inter-governmental agreement with Russia. This did away with the need for competitive tendering.

For building the LUH in larger numbers, HAL is looking beyond purely military orders, that is, at the civil and export markets as well.

After the prototype's rigorous flight-test programme, the visitors at Defexpo 2020 got a chance to view the LUH, which is participating in flying display as well as static display.

Now, with the IOC recognising performance of the LUH in all terrains and under all weather conditions, HAL will now start integrating and flight testing the LUH's mission and specialised role equipment, says Arup Chatterjee, HAL's design chief.

The LUH is powered by a single Shakti engine, which HAL designed in partnership with French engine-maker Safran.

Now built in India, the Shakti engine also powers three other HAL-built helicopters: The Dhruv, an armed Dhruv variant called Rudra, and the light combat helicopter, which is close to being accepted into service.

HAL states that the LUH will have a top speed of 220 kilometres per hour, a service ceiling of 6,500 metres and a range of 350 kilometres with a 400 kilogramme payload.

The helicopter will perform the roles of reconnaissance and surveillance, high-altitude casualty evacuation and as a light transport helicopter.
At a recent event, the chairperson of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) cautioned against the creation of large digital platforms and the agglomeration of data in the hands of a few entities. However, the extent to which this is a policy concern merits careful evaluation, keeping in mind the fact that political considerations have long dictated the governments response to e-commerce players and other digital platforms. Any attempt to reform competition law for the digital age must instead focus on the actual cause for harm and then tailor remedies that address this cause.

Amazons brick-and-mortar competitors, politically relevant and well-organised through associations such as the Confederation of All India Traders, have for long complained about deep discounting practices. The technology behemoth has also been accused of using its vast data insights to directly compete with sellers while distributing their products on its platform. This erosion of platform neutrality had earlier influenced key choices in Indias Foreign Direct Investment policy, including a clear preference for marketplace models over inventory-based models. Subsequently, in February 2019, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade published a draft national e-commerce policy advocating drastic measures such as restrictions on cross-border data flows and mandating big tech companies to open their data for the benefit of Indian startups.

These responses have invited criticism on the basis that they are more about knee-jerk politics than well-informed policy. The recent call for reform of antitrust law and competition policy must be appreciated with these developments and criticisms in the background.

The Indian Competition Act 2002 has broadly operated along the lines of antitrust law in the United States, which is to say that its foundations have been rooted in arguments of economic efficiency. These arguments that trace their origins to Robert Borks The Antitrust Paradox (1978) did not factor in the evolution of data as an economic asset. For Bork, anti-competitive behaviour meant practices that resulted in price distortion.

Data-driven innovation, on the other hand, is centred on identifying efficiency gaps in traditional business models and fixing them using an assortment of data mining and predictive analytics. In the course of advancing efficiency, digital platforms also gain from network effects. In simple terms, the more the number of consumers and sellers transacting over a platform, the more essential and indispensable the platform becomes to both sides. Apparently, consumers benefit from this phenomenon as platforms vie to get them on board. However, existing sellers would stand to be in an unequal bargaining position with the digital platform. Moreover, startups would find it difficult to compete with dominant technology platforms because the latter already control vast amounts of data. Competition law has been struggling for a while to capture this.

Before the present competition law came to be, the practice was to clamp down on businesses that expanded in size and scale. This was motivated by the philosophy that big is evil. The Competition Law Review Committee, chaired by Injeti Srinivas, submitted a report to the ministry of corporate affairs in July 2019, which echoes this philosophy. In order to tackle big ticket digital platform acquisitions, the report advocates scrutiny of mergers above a certain deal value over the existing practice of scrutinising mergers based on asset value. This is on account of many digital platforms falling short on assets and being valued instead for their network and data wealth.

It is true that many of the bigger digital platforms have wiped out competition by simply acquiring smaller platforms. Yet, experience suggests that many of these acquisitions eventually fail, leading to heavy losses for the acquirer. For example, Flipkart recently shut down the online retail platform Jabong that it had earlier acquired for $70 million.

Decisions on firm acquisitions should be left to the acquirer and any ex ante competition scrutiny based on deal value must be avoided. Instead, real reform should address the truly worrisome cause  the data dominance that any acquisition in the tech industry could potentially result in. Even this idea of data dominance is too broad, with room for further refinement and granularity in competition oversight through merger control. Big data analytics is usually thought of as deriving value from four Vs; veracity, velocity, volume and variety of data. Of these, the enhancement of data variety on account of an acquisition is probably most harmful, as it permits technology platforms to extend their dominance to other sectors.

CCI must, therefore, benchmark the variety of data in the hands of the acquirer, compare that with the variety of data in the possession of the acquired, and then evaluate whether post-acquisition, the variety of data in the control of the merged entity or acquirer firm would be such that it can result in long-term undesirable consequences on data-driven innovation, including excessive centralisation of power. This is just one instance of fitting the remedy to the cause, and similar mindfulness to the actual harm must dictate any future reform of competition law to suit the digital age.

Ananth Padmanabhan is dean, Academic Affairs, Sai University and visiting fellow, Centre for Policy Research

The views expressed are personal
The bodies of two missing girls and their mother have been found after an Amber Alert was issued Saturday and canceled Sunday.

The victims, Amarah "Jerica" Banks, 26, Zaniya Ivery, 5, and Camaria Banks, 4, were found in a garage.

The three were last seen early Feb. 8.

The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office said it was called to the scene of a triple homicide.

Autopsies were scheduled for Monday.

Police Chief Alfonso Morales identified the victims as the mother and her daughters.

The three were all last believed to be in the company of Arzel J. Ivery, 25, of Milwaukee, who was arrested Saturday in Memphis, Tennessee.

Police said Ivery gave investigators information that led to the three bodies.

According to court records, Ivery was charged in Milwaukee County on Saturday with aggravated battery.

Morales said homicide charges would be coming.

He did not say how the victims were killed or when.

Ivery was being held in the Shelby County Jail in Tennessee on a fugitive from justice warrant.

Ivery was scheduled to be arraigned Monday morning.

Police said Banks and her daughters were initially considered missing under "suspicious circumstances."

The Amber Alert was not issued until Saturday afternoon.



Family members spent Feb. 7 consoling Banks, who buried her infant son that day.

He died from health complications, they said.



They all had plans to go to brunch on the afternoon of Feb. 8.

Banks' car was outside her sister's house, where she left it.

Her sisters said Banks had a few glasses of wine Friday night and didn't want to drive.

"She's like, 'Meka, don't forget to come get me in the morning.' I said: 'I'll come get you. I'll come get you,'" said Tameka Smith, one of Banks' sisters. "My sister, this not like her. She don't run off, she don't ignore people. No matter what she go through, she gonna reach out to me."

Banks' family told WISN-TV they do not believe she would leave without telling them, the girls' school or her place of work.

Banks' brother called WISN-TV on Thursday afternoon saying he was concerned for the safety of his sister and nieces.

"This isnt like her. She wouldnt do this. This makes no sense," David Fields said.

"She always calls (the girls' school) and the same thing about her job. If she's not going to be there, she always calls," Banks' mother, Valeria Spinner Banks, said. "Everything she does routinely was not done. So that tells you that something's not right. Something is wrong."

The family told the TV station that police did not find any sign of forced entry into Banks' home or a sign of a struggle.

No other details have yet been released.


More than half of politicians from minority backgrounds say they have faced racist abuse from their fellow MPs, a damning poll reveals today.

Black and minority ethnic (Bame) MPs highlighted a catalogue of mistreatment while working in Westminster and out on the campaign trail.

Some 51 per cent said they had faced prejudice at the hands of fellow MPs, while more than six in 10 said they had been discriminated against by staff in the Houses of Parliament.

It comes after new Bame MPs entering the Commons for the first time after December's election spoke of their fury at politicians and some parts of the media struggling to tell them apart.

Among the shocking revelations in a survey by ITV News, part of an investigation to be broadcast this evening:

Labour's Tulip Siddiq, who is of Bangladeshi heritage, said a colleague voiced surprised that she had been told by medics she was expected a baby girl because Asian people were more likely to abort children if they were female.

The same MP was advised to campaign under her husband's Western surname because 'people wouldn't vote for ''Tulip Siddiq'''.

Labour deputy leadership candidate Dawn Butler said she was once escorted out of the MPs' tea room in the Houses of Parliament by security who did not believe she was an MP.

Lib Dem leadership candidate Layla Moran, who was born in London to an English father and Palestinian mother, was told to 'go home' while campaigning.

Labour's Afzal Khan was told to 'go back to Pakistan', the country of his birth which he hasn't lived in for more than 50 years.

Bradford West Naz Shah told ITV: 'You battled your way [to Parliament] here, broken the glass ceiling, you're actually here where there's going to be equality, where we can advocate equality for the whole of the country and that's what we're supposed to be doing but actually we're landing somewhere we don't have that equality.

Labour's Tulip Siddiq, (pictured with her son last year), said a colleague voiced surprised when she was pregnant with her daughter Azalea in 2017 that she had been told she was expected a girl because Asian people were more likely to abort children if they were female

Bradford West Naz Shah told ITV that Bame MPs had battled to get to Parliament but found they had landed 'somewhere we don't have that equality'

'Even if you look at the last few weeks with the Select Committees, 20 select committees not one Bame MP was made chair.'

Speaking about her experience, Ms Siddiq told ITV: 'Speaking to a colleague of a mine, she looked at me in astonishment and said you know you're having a girl because normally they don't tell people of Asian origin they're having a girl because you know, then Asian people decide, .... and I looked at her and I couldn't believe what she was saying.'

Mr Khan added: 'You get loads of tweets saying you're drumming on about Muslims. There is a simple solution, go back to Pakistan.

'There is a license now to challenge people's right to be here. For over 50 plus years I've been here, this is my country, everything I have, everything I want to give back is to this country.'

Lib Dem leadership candidate Layla Moran, who was born in London to an English father and Palestinian mother, said she was told to 'go home' while campaigning

Last month two black Labour MPs hit out at racism in Parliament after being mistaken for each other and even being asked to carry bags by fellow MPs who assumed they were lowly staff.

Florence Eshelomi and Abena Oppong-Asare both took their London seats for the first time at December's general election.

But they were less than impressed by their experiences in their first few weeks in Parliament.

Erith and Thamesmead MP Ms Oppong-Asare hit out on Twitter, saying: 'The other day I was outside the chamber talking to (Rosena Allin Khan) and one of the Tory MPs walked straight to me to put his bag in my hands asking me to look after it.

'In my first week someone came up to me confusing me with another black MP.

Florence Eshelomi (right) and Abena Oppong-Asare (left) both took their London seats for the first time at December's general election.

'I said no I'm the other black sista from (Erith). He raised he eyebrows and said wow there's more of you.

Her revelations prompted new Vauxhall MP Florence Eshalomi, 39, to share her own experience.

The new parliamentarian, who took the seat after the retirement of veteran Labour MP Kate Hoey, said: 'Girl I also got confused for another black sista MP as we were coming out of the voting lobby...... but I have to admit it was by a fellow Labour MP.

'Guess we all need to wear massive name tags right.'

A House of Commons spokesman said: 'It is unacceptable that some MPs have experienced racism, and we are particularly concerned to hear of instances occurring on the Parliamentary Estate.

'We are committed to taking any necessary steps to ensure this does not happen in future.'
Kerch City Court has arrested for ten days four Ukrainian citizens detained by Russian border guards in the Azov Sea for illegal fishing, Russian news agency TASS reported on February 16.

According to the report, the Ukrainians detained in the Sea of Azov by officers of the Border Service of Russia's Federal Security Service in the Republic of Crimea were found guilty of committing an administrative offense under Part 4 of Article 19.3 of the Russian Federation Code of Administrative Offenses.

Ukrainian fishermen, who were seized by Russian border guards in the Sea of Azov together with their vessel on February 15 are residents of the village of Rainivka, the Prymorsk district of the Zaporizhia region. According to MP Pavlo Melnyk, the detainees might be Serhiy Hoha, Oleksiy Ivanov, Vasyl Tiurkedzhy, and Maksym Terekhov.

The Main Directorate of the National Police of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea launched criminal proceedings under Articles 146 and 278 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine over the seizure of a Ukrainian vessel.

op
Google Maps is one of the most-used Google services out there. Literally billions of users across the globe use the maps on a daily basis in one way or the other. Google's navigation service uses Google Maps and even the maps used by third-party apps like Uber use Google's version of the maps.

When you're talking about a service that is as big as Google Maps, generating billions of dollars in revenue annually, it goes without saying that even subtle changes will affect our lives. It's more obvious in the case of navigation because it's happening in real-time. This incident where a man created a virtual traffic jam on Google Maps is a great example of that.

But when you're talking about something big like international borders, who don't really notice the difference until you go looking for them. That's exactly what a Washington Post report has uncovered.

If I was to explain what's happening in simple terms, I'd say that Google is showing a different version of its map depending on who's looking. For instance, if you look at the Kashmir region on Google Maps from India, you'll see different borderlines from what Google will show to someone who is looking at the maps from Pakistan.

Here, check out the difference yourself -

 Washington Post

Notice how the borders have been altered? In the Pakistan version of the map, the dotted lines suggest the disputed borders the two nations have fought over for decades. In the Indian version, however, there's just a single solid border to denote that the region is under Indian control. It's like showing a different reality to people in different areas of the world.



It's not limited to the Kashmir region. There are a ton of other regions across the globe where the differences are subtle yet mind-blowing. The "Sea Of Japan" between Japan and Korea is shown as the "East Sea" when you look at it on the maps from South Korea. And there are numerous other examples like the border differences in Morocco, the water body between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and more.

It's not just Google who's doing it, by the way. Even Apple and Microsoft are following the same practice. And why are they doing it?

Ethan Russell, director of product management for Google Maps, said in a statement to Washington Post, Our goal is always to provide the most comprehensive and accurate map possible based on ground truth. We remain neutral on issues of disputed regions and borders, and make every effort to objectively display the dispute in our maps using a dashed gray border line. In countries where we have local versions of Google Maps, we follow local legislation when displaying names and borders.

 Reuters

This is, honestly, quite a common phenomenon and there's nothing to be surprised about. I am sure Google will keep doing this as long as there's a disputed view to suit the diplomats and policymakers. It's also really hard to get an accurate representation of the ground reality, so I think Google is just trying to stick to the data that's being given to it by the local talent working on the ground.



That being said, there's no denying that it's indeed quite alarming. It's like showing a different version of the maps to people who are living in a disputed border and showing something else to the rest of the world. It's an alternate reality which the people living in that particular area are completely unaware of.

Source: Washington Post
Democrats in Western Pennsylvania have endorsed a state House candidate who has blasted Obamacare, denounced lazy no good idiots who receive public benefits, and expressed support for President Donald Trump on Facebook.

The endorsement Sunday by the Allegheny County Democratic Committee generated backlash among progressives and a rebuke from an influential labor group, which said it was appalled by the development. On Monday night, the state Democratic Party vowed it would not support the candidate were she to win the nomination.

At issue is the Democratic primary in the 36th state House district in Pittsburgh. Two candidates  Heather Kass, a certified nursing assistant and local Democratic committee member, and Jessica Benham, an advocate for people with disabilities  are running for a seat being vacated by retiring State Rep. Harry Readshaw.

Last month, the Pittsburgh Current reported that Kass had made controversial remarks on social media.

AS I HAVE SAID BEFORE I HATE OBAMACARE, she wrote in a December 2015 Facebook post about the cost of her health-care plan, according to screenshots captured by the Pittsburgh Current.

THESE LAZY NO GOOD IDIOTS SUCKING THE SYSTEM DRY AND I STILL HAVE TO PAY FOR THEM, Kass wrote. GET A FREAKING JOB.... (NOT APPLY TO ALL) IT IS PEOPLE WHO KNOW HOW TO WORK THE SYSTEM I AM SICK OF. PLUS GENERATION FAMILY ON WELFARE THAT IS PROBLEM...

She added: SO DONE!!!!! GO TRUMP!!!!!!!!!! IF YOU DONT LIKE MY POST TOO BAD IT IS MY OPINION.

In a 2016 post, she lamented that junkies get everything we should just make the drugs legal let them OD and less s in the world

After the article was published, Kass said she regretted the post about President Barack Obamas health-care law, adding she had been frustrated because she had to pay $5,500 for a medical bill.

I regret that I did that and pledge that if elected I will support the Democratic Party ideals, Labor, and will support the United States Constitution and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, she wrote on Facebook.

On Sunday, Kass won the Allegheny County committees endorsement by a vote of 49-19, according to NPR affiliate WESA.

Only committee members who live in the district, which includes Pittsburghs South Side and some neighboring towns, were eligible to vote on the endorsement. Readshaw favored Kass as his successor, while Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, a progressive, backed Benham.

Nancy Patton Mills, chair of the state Democratic Party, said Monday evening that Kass statements were antithetical to Democratic Party values.

Earlier Monday, the Allegheny-Fayette Central Labor Council lashed out at the Allegheny Democrats. The county party also faced criticism among some progressives for its endorsement of a primary challenger to incumbent State Rep. Summer Lee, who in 2018 became the first black woman elected to the state House from Southwestern Pennsylvania.

There is no room  in the labor movement or in the Democratic party  for someone who trashes the Affordable Care Act and pushes propaganda from right-wing think tanks that exist to attack unions, hurt workers, and help corporate interests, president Darrin Kelly wrote on Twitter.

There is no room for someone who shows so much contempt for working families and people struggling to get by, and so little compassion for people suffering from addiction in the midst of a regional opioid epidemic that has affected so many of us in western Pennsylvania, including union workers, he said.

Local Democratic elected officials echoed that sentiment. Anyone who is supporting or whipped votes for Heather Kass should be ashamed of themselves, State Sen. Lindsey Williams, an Allegheny County Democrat, wrote on Twitter.

Neither Kass nor the chair of the Allegheny County Democrats responded Monday to messages seeking comment.

The primary is April 28.
By Matthew Green

LONDON, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Investors managing $37 trillion in assets urged Japan to slash the country's carbon emissions, saying on Monday that a strong signal from Tokyo could help galvanise international climate action ahead of a U.N. summit in Glasgow in November.

Institutional investors, traditionally wary of singling out governments for criticism, are starting to subject policymakers to greater public pressure amid mounting fears over the risks that climate change poses to global markets.

While Britain and much of the European Union aim to cut carbon emissions to net zero by 2050, Japan is the only G7 nation still building new coal-fired power plants, drawing criticism from climate campaigners.

"Japan's approach to reducing emissions is being watched closely throughout Asia," said Rebecca Mikula-Wright, director of the Asia Investor Group on Climate Change, one of various investor coalitions to sign an open later https://www.iigcc.org/download/international-investor-group-letter-on-japans-ndc/?wpdmdl=3118&refresh=5e4aa0298be701581948969 to Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.

"If investors see strong and positive policy signals that encourage deeper emissions reductions by 2030, and a clear path to net-zero emissions by mid-century, they will respond with greater investment in clean technology and climate-resilient infrastructure," Mikula-Wright said in a statement.

The letter calls on Japan's government to submit a more ambitious target for cutting emissions ahead of the two-week Glasgow summit, seen as a decisive test of international commitment to the 2015 Paris Agreement to combat climate change.

The groups signing the letter said they included more than 630 investors representing about half of the world's assets under management. Members of the various groupings include BlackRock, insurer Allianz, BNP Paribas Asset Management and CalPERS.

The Japanese government's image as a climate laggard is increasingly setting it at odds with the country's companies as well as global investors and climate activists.

Story continues

Last month, a Reuters poll found that Japanese companies overwhelmingly feel that the country should shift away from its dependence on coal-fired power, even though a third of firms say such a shift would harm their business.

The government faces a dilemma as it wants both to be recognised as a leader on climate change but also to keep open its options on coal, particularly in the light of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

With climate change increasingly topping lists of investor concerns, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda told the World Economic Forum in Davos in January that Japan should do more to cut emissions and mitigate the risks climate change poses. (Reporting by Matthew Green; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
Pakistan government on Monday for the first time admitted that former Pakistan Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan, who was responsible for the shooting of Malala Yousafzai in 2012 and carrying out the deadly Peshawar Army school carnage in 2014, has escaped from prison.

Ehsan, in an audio clip released on social media on February 6, said that he escaped the confinement of Pakistani security agencies on January 11, claiming Pakistani forces failed to keep their promises made to him during his surrender in 2017.

Without revealing his current location, Ehsan said that he would make a detail statement about the days of his confinement in the coming days as well as about his future plans.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Ijaz Shah responding to a question during an informal chat with media in Islamabad said that he had read reports about Ehsan's escape.

When pressed to confirm or deny the report, he said: The is true, it's true. He added that the authorities were aware of the escape and working on it.

A lot is being done. You will hear good news, he said when asked what was being done to arrest him.

Ehsan took responsibility of several attacks, including the 2014 attack at Army Public School (APS) that killed about 150 people, mostly students as well as the botched attempt to kill Nobel Peace Prize winner and Pakistani education rights activist Malala who.

After the escape, a petitioned was filed in the Peshawar High Court by the families of the children killed in the school attack against military and civil officials.

Shuhada APS Forum President Fazal Khan said that army chief, ISI chief as well as the federal and provincial secretaries were made respondents.

The petitioner sought contempt of court action against respondents for failing to follow an order by the Peshawar High Court of April 2018 in which it barred officials from releasing Ehsan.

The petitioner claimed that the respondents had filed to steps to bring Ehsan to justice for his crimes and follow clear orders by the court. So far there was no progress on the petition as still mystery shrouds the escape of the dreaded militant as authorities did not provide complete details about it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CCTV footage of Alan Ruel, from Alberta, Canada, lying on the floor of a police cell after allegedly suffering a massive stroke following his arrest for being drunk in public in July 2015: CBC News

A stroke victim was allegedly left in a cell for 18 hours because police thought he was drunk.

Alan Ruel, from Alberta, Canada, was arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in July 2015 for being drunk in public.

The 73-year-old claims he was refused a breathalyser test before he was held in a prison cell for more than 18 hours, where his condition slowly deteriorated, according to a lawsuit.

CCTV footage documenting Mr Ruels time in the cell shows him entering shortly before 7pm, at which point he was still able to walk around.

However he can be seen repeatedly collapsing on the floor a number of hours later  after he is believed to have suffered a massive stroke, according to a neurologists report submitted to court.

He can then be seen lying motionless half naked on the concrete floor 12 hours after he was first put inside the tiny room.

Mr Ruel, a former offshore drilling consultant, told CBC it was probably one of the worst days of my life.

He added: I actually thought I was going to die at one point, and the thing that scared me is that I was going to die alone.

In footage obtained by CBC, a police officer appears to finally enter the cell to check on Mr Ruel at noon the day after his arrest.

He attempts to drag Mr Ruel up off the floor by his right arm, but he is unable to stand.

An hour later, another police officer and a paramedic arrive with a stretcher and Mr Ruel is taken to hospital.

According to a lawsuit filed against the RCMP, an initial stroke is believed to have caused Mr Ruel to slur his speech and appear confused on the day of his arrest.

Before he was detained, he reportedly entered a bar to see his friend, the owner, but was kicked out by an employee who believed he had arrived drunk since he only ordered a glass of water.

The worker called the police and the arresting officers reported smelling alcohol on Mr Ruels breath, CBC said, citing police reports.

RCMP has denied Mr Ruel was refused access to water while in custody, and also denies he suffered a medical episode before his arrest, according to court documents.

Story continues

Mr Ruel, who was never charged with a crime, still struggles to use the left side of his body and walks with a limp more than four years after his arrest.

The Independent has contacted RCMP for comment.

Read more

New reaper of death Tyrannosaur species discovered in Canada
Political circles in West Bengal were abuzz on Monday with speculations that poll strategist Prashant Kishor is likely to be accorded 'Z' category security by the state police.

However, both the state secretariat and top leadership of the TMC remained tightlipped. Repeated calls to Kishor also went unanswered.

The development comes amid hearsay that the architect of several successful political campaigns might join Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress ahead of the 2021 assembly polls.

Hitting out, CPI(M) Legislative Party leader Sujan Chakraborty asked why was Kishor being provided 'Z' category security at the expense of the state government despite having no relation with public life in West Bengal.

"Is @PrashantKishor being provided Z Category security? At the #GoWB expenses? Why? No relation with public life in #Bengal. Is it planted by @AmitShah ? Seems the closeness with @MamataOfficial is causing one insecure! Highly deplorable & conspicuous!" he tweeted.

The JD(U) last month expelled Kishor, who was its vice-president, saying his conduct in the recent past had made it clear that he did not want to abide by the party's discipline.

Kishor, like the West Bengal chief minister, has been a strong critic of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Population Register (NPR).

According to TMC sources, Kishor shares a very good rapport and working relation with Banerjee.

After its dismal performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the TMC hired Kishor to strategise and fix the lacunae before next year's assembly elections. Kishor's strategy worked for the party in the November bypolls as it won all three assembly seats.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
TORONTO, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has canceled his planned trip to Barbados to help resolve widespread rail disruptions caused by indigenous rights activists opposing the construction of a natural gas pipeline, his office said on Sunday.

Indigenous communities across Canada have been blocking some key railway lines for nearly two weeks in protest against the Coastal GasLink pipeline in British Columbia, which has forced Canada's biggest railroad, Canadian National Railway Co , to shut operations in eastern Canada.

Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller, who held talks with some indigenous communities on Saturday, told a talk show on Sunday the unrest and its impact on the economy amounted to a national crisis.

"Following the government's ongoing efforts to address infrastructure disruptions across the country, the Prime Minister will convene the Incident Response Group tomorrow to discuss steps forward," Trudeau's office said in a statement.

The C$6.6 billion ($4.97 billion) pipeline at the heart of the dispute would move natural gas from northeastern British Columbia to the Pacific Coast, where the liquefied natural gas Canada export facility led by Royal Dutch Shell Plc is under construction. The pipeline will be operated by TC Energy Corp.

In December, private equity firm KKR & Co Inc and Alberta Investment Management Corp agreed to buy a majority stake in Coastal GasLink.

The protests were sparked by the arrests of people opposing the pipeline's construction on traditional land of the Wet'suwet'en community. Some 28% of the 670-km (420-mile) route passes through Wet'suwet'en lands.

The most damaging protest is near Belleville in Ontario, the most-populous Canadian province. Canadian National has won court injunctions to end the action but the Ontario Provincial Police, responsible for enforcing the measures, has so far not acted.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corp reported on Saturday that at least 66 shipping vessels were stalled in British Columbia's waters because of rail blockades.

Trudeau was set to attend the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in Barbados this week. Instead, Canada will be represented by Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, the statement added. (Reporting by Denny Thomas; Editing by Peter Cooney)
BUTTE COUNTY, Calif. - Cal Fire responded to a report of a fully submerged vehicle in Butte Creek at Afton Road on Sunday, Feb 16.

Cal Fire Butte County says their swift water rescue team responded to a report of a vehicle in the water and it was unknown if there was anybody inside at the time of the call.

Officials say emergency personnel arrived and determined the vehicle was unoccupied and the vehicle was pulled from the water.

It is unclear how the vehicle got there and who it belongs to.
Two CubeSats, part of a constellation built and operated by Planet Labs Inc. to take images of Earth, were launched from the International Space Station on May 17, 2016.

Last month, SpaceX became the operator of the world's largest active satellite constellation . As of the end of January, the company had 242 satellites orbiting the planet with plans to launch 42,000 over the next decade. This is part of its ambitious project to provide internet access across the globe. The race to put satellites in space is on, with Amazon, U.K.-based OneWeb and other companies chomping at the bit to place thousands of satellites in orbit in the coming months.

These new satellites have the potential to revolutionize many aspects of everyday life  from bringing internet access to remote corners of the globe to monitoring the environment and improving global navigation systems. Amid all the fanfare, a critical danger has flown under the radar: the lack of cybersecurity standards and regulations for commercial satellites, in the U.S. and internationally. As a scholar who studies cyber conflict , I'm keenly aware that this, coupled with satellites' complex supply chains and layers of stakeholders, leaves them highly vulnerable to cyberattacks.

If hackers were to take control of these satellites, the consequences could be dire. On the mundane end of scale, hackers could simply shut satellites down, denying access to their services. Hackers could also jam or spoof the signals from satellites, creating havoc for critical infrastructure. This includes electric grids, water networks and transportation systems.

Related: Why SpaceX's Starlink satellites caught astronomers off guard

Some of these new satellites have thrusters that allow them to speed up, slow down and change direction in space. If hackers took control of these steerable satellites, the consequences could be catastrophic. Hackers could alter the satellites' orbits and crash them into other satellites or even the International Space Station.

Makers of these satellites, particularly small CubeSats, use off-the-shelf technology to keep costs low. The wide availability of these components means hackers can analyze them for vulnerabilities. In addition, many of the components draw on open-source technology. The danger here is that hackers could insert back doors and other vulnerabilities into satellites' software.

The highly technical nature of these satellites also means multiple manufacturers are involved in building the various components. The process of getting these satellites into space is also complicated, involving multiple companies. Even once they are in space, the organizations that own the satellites often outsource their day-to-day management to other companies. With each additional vendor, the vulnerabilities increase as hackers have multiple opportunities to infiltrate the system.

Hacking some of these CubeSats may be as simple as waiting for one of them to pass overhead and then sending malicious commands using specialized ground antennas. Hacking more sophisticated satellites might not be that hard either.

Satellites are typically controlled from ground stations. These stations run computers with software vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers. If hackers were to infiltrate these computers, they could send malicious commands to the satellites.

A history of hacks

This scenario played out in 1998 when hackers took control of the U.S.-German ROSAT X-Ray satellite. They did it by hacking into computers at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. The hackers then instructed the satellite to aim its solar panels directly at the sun. This effectively fried its batteries and rendered the satellite useless. The defunct satellite eventually crashed back to Earth in 2011. Hackers could also hold satellites for ransom, as happened in 1999 when hackers took control of the U.K.'s SkyNet satellites.

Over the years, the threat of cyberattacks on satellites has gotten more dire. In 2008, hackers, possibly from China, reportedly took full control of two NASA satellites, one for about two minutes and the other for about nine minutes. In 2018, another group of Chinese state-backed hackers reportedly launched a sophisticated hacking campaign aimed at satellite operators and defense contractors. Iranian hacking groups have also attempted similar attacks .

Although the U.S. Department of Defense and National Security Agency have made some efforts to address space cybersecurity , the pace has been slow. There are currently no cybersecurity standards for satellites and no governing body to regulate and ensure their cybersecurity. Even if common standards could be developed, there are no mechanisms in place to enforce them. This means responsibility for satellite cybersecurity falls to the individual companies that build and operate them.

Market forces work against space cybersecurity

As they compete to be the dominant satellite operator, SpaceX and rival companies are under increasing pressure to cut costs . There is also pressure to speed up development and production. This makes it tempting for the companies to cut corners in areas like cybersecurity that are secondary to actually getting these satellites in space.

Even for companies that make a high priority of cybersecurity, the costs associated with guaranteeing the security of each component could be prohibitive. This problem is even more acute for low-cost space missions, where the cost of ensuring cybersecurity could exceed the cost of the satellite itself.

To compound matters, the complex supply chain of these satellites and the multiple parties involved in their management means it's often not clear who bears responsibility and liability for cyber breaches . This lack of clarity has bred complacency and hindered efforts to secure these important systems.

Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory had to get creative to squeeze an antenna into a CubeSat called RainCube, scheduled to fly in 2017. (Image credit: Tyvak/Jonathan Sauder/NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Regulation is required

Some analysts have begun to advocate for strong government involvement in the development and regulation of cybersecurity standards for satellites and other space assets. Congress could work to adopt a comprehensive regulatory framework for the commercial space sector. For instance, they could pass legislation that requires satellites manufacturers to develop a common cybersecurity architecture.

They could also mandate the reporting of all cyber breaches involving satellites. There also needs to be clarity on which space-based assets are deemed critical in order to prioritize cybersecurity efforts. Clear legal guidance on who bears responsibility for cyberattacks on satellites will also go a long way to ensuring that the responsible parties take the necessary measures to secure these systems.

Given the traditionally slow pace of congressional action, a multi-stakeholder approach involving public-private cooperation may be warranted to ensure cybersecurity standards. Whatever steps government and industry take, it is imperative to act now. It would be a profound mistake to wait for hackers to gain control of a commercial satellite and use it to threaten life, limb and property  here on Earth or in space  before addressing this issue.

[You're smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation's authors and editors. You can get our highlights each weekend .]

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights .
(Newser)  Montana police say a 14-year-old boy was behind the wheel of a car that struck and seriously injured a Billings officer early Saturday morning. The Billings Police Department said in a press release that five females between the ages of 13 and 16 were also in the car, which had finally been stopped around 1am after previously fleeing from officers earlier that night. But as officers were giving instructions to the occupants of the stopped vehicle, they say the driver then hit the gas and headed straight toward them, hitting a 35-year-old cop who required surgery. His injuries are said to not be life-threatening. The car subsequently crashed and the teens fled; all were apprehended, reports the Billings Gazette. The male has been charged with attempted deliberate homicide. (Read more Montana stories.)
Amid rising concerns over shortages of generic drugs in India due to coronavirus outbreak in China, pharma industry has assured government that there are enough drugs and medicines to deal with any contingency arising out of impact of deadly virus. Indian drug manufacturers are to a large extent dependent on China for sourcing their drug ingredients or the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).

In the fifth Task Force meeting on API, Indian pharmaceutical industry ensured that there will be no shortage of drugs, APIs and medicines in the coming days, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers said in a statement on Monday.

As per reports, Indian pharma companies procure nearly 70 per cent of the active pharmaceutical ingredients for their medicines from China. This is largely for drugs like antibiotics - crucial among them being penicillin G (and other products based on it such as amoxicillin and ampicillin), tetracycline - and for vitamins such as vitamin C and D. All of these are based on drug ingredients made using the fermentation-based process, an area where China has achieved global dominance.

Keeping in view the country's over dependence on import of APIs, the central government has constituted a Task Force on APIs under the chairmanship of Minister of State for Shipping and Chemicals and Fertilisers, Mansukh Mandaviya to formulate a road map for the enhanced production of generic drugs in India.

Also Read: Coronavirus outbreak: China shutdown to hit Indian drug manufacturers

The fifth meeting of the Task Force was held on Monday. Some key issues that were discussed in the meeting included policy relaxations to small, medium and large API units, and simplification of the process for environment clearance for production and availability of medicines, the ministry said.

During the meeting, the challenges faced by the pharmaceutical industry in obtaining environment clearance were also discussed. The representative of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) stated that steps are being taken to expedite environment clearances. The ministry also mentioned that it has recently modified the guidelines so that there is no need to obtain separate environment clearance, if the production of the pharma unit is increased by 50 per cent.

Also Read: Coronavirus: Govt plans ban on 12 essential medicines to prevent shortage

In the meeting, Mansukh Mandaviya took stock of the situation of availability of drugs and medicines.

Earlier today, Business Today reported that the government could soon ban around 12 essential medicines - mainly antibiotics, vitamins and hormones - to ensure that there is no shortage of essential drugs in wake of the coronavirus outbreak in Hubei province in China. The government is mulling the ban as the Chinese government continues to impose a lockdown in Hubei as it is the epicentre of the coronavirus epidemic.

Currently, the Chinese government has extended the New Year holidays. They were to be from January 25 till February 3, but will now be till around mid-February. However, if these get further extended then, Indian drug manufacturers, mostly formulation plants, which use the drug ingredients and make the tablets and capsules that we consume, might get impacted.

By Chitranjan Kumar
Advertisement

This is the dramatic moment two riverside homes were uprooted and swept down the steep bank in a devastating landslide in Tennessee.

Both houses were positioned precariously close to the cliff-edge overlooking Tennessee River in Hardin County when the ground beneath them caved in on Saturday.

Sparks crackled and lit up the night sky as one of the homes tore free from its wiring and toppled over the edge of the precipice in harrowing video footage of the slide.

When dawn broke, daylight laid bare the extent of the destruction, with drone pictures showing the razed homes scattered in hundreds of parts down the steep bank.

Firefighters were called to Glendale Road around 5.15pm following reports of the landslide.

Luckily, nobody was hurt in the landslip in Savannah. When firefighters arrived to the scene two homes were in danger of collapse. Only one house was occupied and those homeowners were safely evacuated. About an hour later the vacant house collapsed down the bank.

On Saturday two homes located on a cliff in Hardin County, Tennessee were swept into water in a dangerous landslide. No one was harmed in the slide as homeowners managed to evacuate when the imminent risk became clear

This image released by the Hardin County Fire Department in Savannah, Tennessee shows a devastating landslide that swept a home into the river on Saturday. The vacant home on the left is a home that collapsed about an hour later after this photo was taken around 5.30pm. The home on the right has been evacuated and is in extreme danger of collapse

An aerial view of a parts of a home destroyed in the catastrophic landslide pictured above Sunday

The cascade was caused by the dangerously high level of water in the river after rain had bucketed down on Tennessee for days.

Nighttime footage of the landslide shows anxious observers shining torches on the large house, waiting for the inevitable moment it is washed down towards the river.

Slowly, it begins to creak and the sound of snapping grows louder before the side of the house closest to the river dips downwards after the ground gave way,

This rips the other side of the property from its base and sends sparks shooting into the air.

The entire building then plummets down the house with a crash, before a silence which is only broken by a woman yelling 'oh my God!'

Sparks crackled and lit up the night sky as one of the homes tore from its wiring and toppled over the edge of the precipice

Dramatic aerial video footage shows severe flooding in the Tennessee River in Hardin County, Tennessee on Saturday

Video footage shows how flooding in Hardin County, Tennessee over the weekend

Drone photos reveal the landslide laid waste to the homes on the spread of riverfront known as Chalk Bluff.

The houses have completely collapsed and the remaining debris this morning showered the bank.

The fire department shared the video on Facebook Saturday and posted: 'Today at 5.15 pm firefighters were called to 4870 Glendale road on a reported land slide along the Tennessee river in the area known as chalk bluff.

'Two houses were in danger of collapse , only one house was occupied and the homeowners were safely evacuated.'

'About an hour later the vacant house collapsed down the steep bank. The highway department has closed that area of Glendale road. This is a short video of the collapse.'

The collapse took place as the river was reported at flood stage. The heavy rain had triggered multiple landslides over the past week in North Carolina, West Virginia and Tennessee.

There are currently flood warnings for Decatur and Hardin Counties in Tennessee for the Tennessee River. On Monday as of 1am the river's stage was at 388.3 feet. The Flood stage is 370.0ft.

While the river is steadily falling, it will remain at flood stage through the week.

In Tennessee, Februarys rains have been '400% of normal, and we have more coming in this week,' Tennessee Valley Authority spokesman Jim Hopson said. 'Its kind of a never-ending battle.'

'Mother Nature is really the one in charge  we simply try to manage what Mother Nature gives us, to minimize the impacts along the 652-mile Tennessee River and its thousands of miles of tributaries and stream,' he added.

This week the South, already reeling from abnormally wet weather and flooding, will be inundated with even more rain as a series of storms will sweep through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, through Thursday, hammering the Pearl River basin the hardest

In some areas floods have reached the rooftops of homes, causing entire neighborhoods to disappear in muddy water below the Tennessee Valley Authority's Pickwick Reservoir.

'We have engineers on duty 24-7 trying to figure out what's the most effective way to move this water downstream with the least impact. They feel it. I feel it,' Hopson added.

The South has suffered a week of devastating storms that has triggered massive flooding, led to the evacuation of 3,000 residents in Jackson, Mississippi, and has destroyed dozens of communities.

This week the South will be inundated with even more rain as a series of storms will sweep through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia through Thursday, hammering the Pearl River basin the hardest.

In Mississippi the Pearl River reached its third-highest crest on record on Monday just before noon at 36.7 feet. The river passed major flood stage on Sunday morning after exceeding 36 feet, causing the Ross Barnett Reservoir to breach capacity.

The area has not seen the river this high in 37 years since 1983, prompting the evacuation of more than 3,000 people in Jackson.

Days of relentless rain have caused devastating flooding in the South and led rivers and dams in both Mississippi and Tennessee to swell, as evacuations are ordered for thousands of people. The flooded Pearl River pictured above in Mississippi

First responders in Jackson, Mississippi pictured above assisting residents trapped by the massive muddy floods

Chris Sharp studies the water damage from the Pearl River that floods his neighborhood in Jackson, Mississippi on Sunday

Pounding rain and flooding turned streets in to waterways, forcing locals to evacuate via boats

This map shows the current river flood status showing major flooding along the Pearl River in Jackson and the Tennessee River in Savannah

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves declared a statement of emergency on Saturday as the capital city braces for more rain this week. He warned Sunday that the state faces a 'precarious situation that can turn at any moment'.

In a tweet, Reeves said the state should prepare for 'the third worst flood' in its history. 'This is a historic, unprecedented flood,' Reeves added.

'In the last 24 hours, there have been new developments as floodwaters have continued to rise. It will be days before we are out of the woods and waters start to recede, and the state and first responders are prepared and ready to act,' he tweeted Sunday.

As of Monday morning minor, moderate and major flooding was reported on nearly every gauge on the Mississippi River south of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, according to Accuweather.com.

To tackle the deluge and floodwaters 146,000 sandbags were distributed in Jackson, Mississippi. The National Guard, the Highway Patrol and other high-water rescue teams are also on standby.
Bob and Joyce Myers have been married for more than 60 years and since theyve been living at Buckner Parkway Place, theyve been able to see each other every day, despite Joyce being in the Alzheimers unit.

Sometimes, married seniors find themselves with a spouse requiring different levels of specialized care, causing them to spend less time than they ideally want with each other. It can cause a strain on the relationship not knowing exactly how their spouse is being taken care of.

At a senior living community like Buckner Parkway Place, couples like Bob and Joyce can see each other whenever they want.

Senior living communities are ideal for married couples, says Abraham Matthew, executive director of Buckner. They have more time to focus on their relationship and enjoy their time together. Especially when a loved one requires additional care.

15% of Buckners residents are married at around 19 married couples. Three of them reside in different levels of care.

According to a Caring.com survey, 80 percent of respondents admit that caregiving puts a strain on their relationships with 25 percent saying it even caused a divorce.

In a report from the Mayo Clinic, the impact of caregiving can include a financial burden, reduced time together as a couple, frustration and fatigue, resentment and more.

There is a lot of impact on a marriage when our senior adults go through something related to their health, Matthew said. At Buckner Parkway Place, they can visit each other twenty-four hours, seven days a week at their preferred area of the community.

The couples can decide to eat together in private or in one of their dining rooms. We also have dedicated activities professionals that take care of the lifestyle and the daily activities of the residents to keep them busy and meet their needs, said Matthew.

Buckner is a faith-based nonprofit starting back in 1955 which offers a complete continuum of living and care insight so residents can have a piece of knowing their address remains the same no matter what level of care they need.

For Bob, Buckner is a godsend.

Bob loves that he can visit Joyce every day and go out to eat with their daughter whenever they want. Being married to Joyce since he was 20, Bob said, We love each other as much now or more than we ever did.

ryan.nickerson@hcnonline.com
When Notre Dame Cathedral burned in 2019, it was symbolic of a greater Europe-wide collapse of religious faith that had already taken place. That great cathedral, like most of the others in Europe, had long since passed from being a vibrant community of active worshipers to an architectural showpiece attracting millions of tourists, taking millions of photographs.

The process, which has brought about the death of Judeo-Christian culture in Europe, is now being replicated in America. If America wants to know its grim future, it only has to consult the facts of present-day European society.

From the earliest days of American history, religion played an outsized role. Even during the 1700s, when it was intellectually fashionable for some of our leaders like Thomas Jefferson to scoff at supernaturalism and prefer deism to theism, they still held tightly to the moral and spiritual truths expressed in the Holy Bible. They could do without belief in miracles in general but not the necessary miracle of a creator God who established an unchanging moral order. French philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville, who visited America in the 1800s, took particular note of America's highly religious national character as compared to European society. He knew the horrors into which French society was plunged as a result of extreme anti-religious sentiment.

The history of the world is littered with failed revolutions that promised to remake their societies in a better image. The American Revolution is among the few which have actually succeeded.

The bad news is that we are now no longer on the same path. We have opted for the European model.

The last sixty years of American history reveal that we have been on a new path. It is a path that leads away from freedom and individual responsibility. It is a path that mistakes vice for freedom and socialism for progress. Because Europe began this journey before us, we can now see our future in their present

If we begin with a comparison of religious practice, the surveys of American society show a number between 37% and 22% for Americans who attend weekly services.

The average of these numbers, below 30%, is the lowest in modern American history, but if you are a person of faith in Europe, you would be celebrating this as the sign of a great religious revival. The average church attendance for the countries of Northern Europe is 4%. There are only three countries in Europe where more than 10% of young people attend religious services on a weekly basis.

What must be understood are the characteristics of this new post-Judeo-Christian Europe. What do the sociological data tell us is happening there? Sociologists, psychologists, and historians all agree on one point: the family unit is the basis of all societies. The present European family is in a state of crisis. As much as we lament America's high divorce rate of 53%, Europe's is higher, in some countries reaching 60%. Worse than the high divorce rates are the high out-of-wedlock birth rates and the huge increase in single-parent families. The "Max Planck Society" published the following in 2016:

The significance of marriage slowly started to decline as early as 1970, a process linked to the advance of secularization in many countries[.] ... By 1990, the share of unmarried births had already increased fourfold[.] ... In many parts of Northern and Western Europe, there are already more births out of wedlock than births within marriage.

The same process is taking place in America. The difference is that America's religious attendance was much higher than Europe's when the process started. We are moving in the same direction as Europe but at a slower pace.

The fact that European societies are still relatively prosperous and orderly in spite of these demographic changes is only a testament to what historian Will Durant called "living in the after- glow of one's faith." No society will collapse immediately, but already these changes are showing themselves in a variety of dark statistics.

The crisis in the European family is rapidly becoming a mental health crisis.

The most recent large-scale study of Europe, covering 514 million people, found that mental illness had increased to 38%.

Based upon World Health Organization statistics, Europeans commit suicide more than the people of any other region of the world. Russia has the highest rate, followed by other Eastern European nations, all of which were until recent years ruled by communist governments, which viewed religion as taboo. Following these Eastern European nations, the most secular parts of Western and Northern Europe have the next highest rates of suicide. The more traditional culturally conservative parts of Europe have the lowest rates of suicide. Lagging behind Europe, America is making great strides to catch up. The CDC reported in 2018 that America now has the highest rate of suicide in 50 years.

In Europe, this is not just a problem of highly depressed people wanting to end their lives. There is a concerted effort on the part of medical professionals to assist others in doing so. Belgium now carries the label of the "world's euthanasia capital" and even allows suicide by lethal injection for children.

Following the same guiding principle of utility, Europe is now number four on the list of continents that carry out the most abortions. The fact that the primary victim of an abortion is an unborn child without a voice makes the problem easier to ignore. Much harder to ignore is the explosion in human-trafficking taking place in Europe.

The Department of Homeland Security has described the problem of human-trafficking, as a "modern day form of slavery ... among the world's fastest growing criminal industries." BusinessLine reported in 2019 that "children now account for 30 per cent of those being trafficked[.] ... Trafficking for sexual exploitation is the most prevalent form in European countries[.]"

Three of the top ten areas for sex tourism are located in Europe, and all the others are located in poor, less developed regions of the world. In America, the same thing is happening. Feminists, prohomosexual rights advocates and cultural celebrities are using terms like "pansexual," "gender fluidity," and "One Love" to begin the major re-education of American society. Harvard professor Sarah Richardson, a supporter of this task, has described the necessary change in this way:

Young people will lead us in directions that we have never imagined[.] ... [M]ore and more young people are transcending gender norms[.] ... [A] more sophisticated view of gender seems to be everywhere we look ... [i]s expanding our ideas of identify and love.

Well, the Europeans have both imagined and are realizing that this "Brave New World" and the "New Morality" look a lot like the "Old Immorality." The imagined utopian welfare state of Europe is now being realized for what it is: a dystopian society where the soul of mankind dies, and selfish appetites reign. In America, we are faithfully retracing the European steps, which include the death of faith, the death of the family, and the de-humanization of mankind.

William D. Howard is a freelance writer who had a long career as an educator. He holds degrees in philosophy and history and has traveled widely in over 40 countries.
2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #7

Posted on 16 February 2020 by John Hartz

Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review...

Story of the Week...

Iceberg twice the size of Washington, D.C., breaks off Pine Island glacier in Antarctica

Story Highlights:

The Pine Island glacier "is one the fastest-retreating glaciers in Antarctica."

Over the past 8 years, the Pine Island glacier is losing about 58 billion tons of ice per year.

This "reveals the dramatic pace at which climate is redefining the face of Antarctica."

Global Warming: Pine Island loses 58 billion tons of ice every year by Doyle Rice, World, USA Today, Feb 13, 2020

Toon of the Week...

Coming Soon on SkS...

Australia's wildfires: Is this the 'new normal'? (Peter Sinclair)

(Peter Sinclair) How deniers maintain the consensus gap (John Cook)

(John Cook) SkS New Research for Week #7 (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 #8 (John Hartz)

(John Hartz) 2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #8 (John Hartz)

Climate Feedback Clam Review...

CO2 emissions from human activities have imbalanced the atmospheric carbon budget, significantly contributing to climate change, contrary to online claim

CLAIM: "Less than 5% of carbon dioxide emissions are produced by man [... they] cant cause 30% of todays atmospheric carbon dioxide"

SOURCE: A Short List Of Facts Global Warming Alarmists Dont Want To Face, Opinion by Editorial Board, Issues & Insights, Aug 26, 2019

VERDICT:

KEY TAKE AWAY: Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas released by natural processes as well as by human activities. The rapid rise in carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels beginning during the Industrial Revolution upset the natural balance in the global carbon cycle. Human-caused carbon emissions outpaced the ability of natural carbon sinks to absorb excess carbon dioxide, resulting in a rise in atmospheric concentrations from 280 to about 415 parts per million in 2020.

CO2 emissions from human activities have imbalanced the atmospheric carbon budget, significantly contributing to climate change, contrary to online claim, Edited by Katrin Kleemann, Climate Feedback, Feb 11, 2020

Poster of the Week...

SkS Week in Review...
Ewe better brace yourselves was the message on Friday. Storm Dennis hit Ireland this weekend bringing with it rain, wind and hail in many parts of the country.

Winds began to pick up on Friday as the storm neared, with weather warnings issued in advance.

Heavy rain and high winds

Read More:

Shamrock Rovers

Read More:

Players on the pitch in Dalymont Park. Picture: Sportsfile

The status orange level wind brought with it some high seas.

High seas at Garrettstown in Cork during Storm Dennis on Saturday. Picture: Denis Minihane.

Fenit Pier, Co Kerry. Picture: Domnick Walsh  Eye Focus LTD

Some surfers took advantage of the waves in Cork and Galway.

A surfer hitting the beach at Fountainstown in Cork. Picture: Larry Cummins

Windsurfers show off their skills in Galway Bay during Storm Dennis on Sunday. Picture: Ray Ryan

In Cork, Dennis was joined by heavy hail storms on Sunday.

Picture: Denis Minihane.

Meanwhile, a "one in a million" ghost ship first spotted floating off the African coast six months ago,

Read More:

Boat on the rocks in Ballyandreen, Ballycotton during Storm Dennis. Picture: Gemma Kelleher

End of the storm?

Met Eireann has forecasted some "fresh to strong and gusty westerly winds" for Monday but there are no weather warnings in place.

They say Monday will be cold and blustery "with sunny spells and scattered squally showers, with an ongoing risk of hail and thunder."

Tonight will see more scattered showers with temperatures dropping as low as 0 degrees.

Met Eireann is predicting that Tuesday will again be cold and blustery with more "fresh to strong westerly wind".

They say the afternoon will see "drier brighter weather" but like Monday, there may be "scattered showers" and a "risk of hail and thunder."

Video

The effects of Storm Dennis at Garrettstown and Garrylucas

Heavy rain and hail in Cork
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Asip Hasani (The Jakarta Post) Tulungagung, East Java  Mon, February 17, 2020 14:08 694 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2064f51ad 1 National coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus-Indonesia-zero-case,Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia,Kediri,East-Java,Tulungagung,hospital,outbreak Free

A 52-year-old woman from Kediri, East Java, who had been under observation at the isolation ward of Iskak Public Hospital in Tulungagung for showing symptoms consistent with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has tested negative for the virus.

Hospital director Supriyanto said that tests on samples of the patients mucus at the Health Ministry laboratory in Jakarta found her to be free of the coronavirus.

"We have received the results of the laboratory tests, which show that she is COVID-19 negative, he told reporters at the hospital on Monday.

Supriyanto said that the patient, Yatim Muhaimi, was in good condition and was ready to go home after receiving medical care in an isolation ward for 14 days.

He said the hospital had treated her as a suspected COVID-19 case because she exhibited flu-like symptoms including a high fever, coughing and a sore throat after returning from South Korea, a country that has 30 confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Yatim had traveled to South Korea early last month to visit her newborn grandchild and returned to Kediri on Feb. 6. She was treated for broncopneumonia at a hospital in Kediri but was later transferred to Iskak Hospital, which was designated by the government to handle patients exhibiting symptoms of coronavirus infection in the western part of East Java.

Yatim expressed her gratitude for being allowed to leave the hospital.

She said that she had been aware of being treated as a suspected coronavirus patient but had always been confident of testing negative.

"I was very sure I wasnt infected, she said. I was sure that it was only the flu and gastritis.

Indonesia has no confirmed COVID-19 cases to date.
Man found guilty of murder, torture and unlawful imprisonment in Northern Michigan

A man was found guilty of first-degree murder, torture and unlawful imprisonment in a Crawford County trial.

A jury ruled that Matthew Smith committed those crimes, according to 9&10 News.

Smith along with Dylan Zielger were earlier charged with the murder of Dennis Everson, which occurred in July 2018.

Ziegler took a plea deal in exchange for his testimony.

The family of Ziegler and Everson say this brings a form of closure.
Political strategist Prashant Kishor is likely to get the Z category security in West Bengal, sources told Zee News on Monday. All the formalities have been done with the details of the personal security officers (PSOs) and an official order is likely to be issued soon, added the sources.

On June 7, 2019, the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) had signed on Kishor to chart out their poll strategy and counter the rise of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of 2021 West Bengal Assembly election. A deal between TMC and Kishor's team was finalised on June 6, 2019. However, unlike the previous elections, Kishor will not be the face of the campaign and will only bring in his domain expertise and his team on board.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, along with her nephew and TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee, had a meeting with Kishor at state secretariat Nabanna in Howrah. The meeting lasted for 1 hour 40 minutes.

Kishor is credited for charting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's election campaign in 2014 Lok Sabha election and more recently, Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress' spectaculor victory in Andhra Pradesh. The YSRC won 22 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats and 151 out of 175 Assembly seats May 2019. Kishore had also played a critical role in bringing Rashtriya Janata Dal and JD (U) together under the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) in the 2015 Bihar Assembly election.

In Lok Sabha 2019, the BJP had made stunning inroads in Trinamool-ruled West Bengal, winning 18 out the 42 Lok Sabha seats, up from just two seats in 2014. Trinamool, on the other hand, nosedived to 22 seats.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday proposed to discontinue export incentives under a scheme to the services sector as it has not helped India "increase shipments positively".

The foreign trade policy provides tax incentives under the Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) to several services industries.

Depending on the nature of services, the government gives duty credit scrips or certificates. The scheme offers reward at 5 per cent or 7 per cent of net foreign exchange earned and covers service providers located in India.

"So, I am proposing that from the earliest opportunity, (we should) discontinue this SEIS in its current form. It has not helped us to increase our exports positively," he said here at a function.

He said that industry has to get out of the mind set of subsidies as they are detrimental to India's long-term interests.

"For example, we now give subsidies on services exports. I have gone through the list in great details, barely 2,200 companies take that subsidy. Some of them are such large names, making 1000s of crores of rupees of profit, that there is no business of giving them a subsidy," he said.

The minister wondered that if those big companies do not get this subsidy, will they stop providing those services.

He suggested that the subsidy can be used to promote sectors like tourism.

"...tourism...has huge untapped potential... which are the areas where we need targeted support for a defined time frame to get better value addition," he added.

Further, Goyal said countries that do not provide reciprocal opportunities to Indian companies in their procurement programme, India would also not allow them.

"I would urge all to use this reciprocity clause and if you do not use, you are actually hurting India's interest," he said.

On the liquidity issue, the minister said there is a little bit of liquidity crisis because banks have become discerning in giving loans nowadays.

"Borrowers have become conscious that they have to repay.... Now, big people have to repay their money. You may be anybody, you may have any surname in this country, everybody is required to repay his loans," he said.

He also appealed to all large companies such as L&T and Maruti to start a programme to pay their suppliers in time.

"Can I appeal to all large companies to start paying your suppliers within a week or 10 days," he said.

He asked his ministry to identify 100 public sector undertakings and 250 top Indian companies to monitor how many companies are taking this appeal forward.

Goyal also pitched for expanding India's exports basket and ship value-added goods.

"Today, we are not world leader in anything... can we identify certain manufacturing and services sectors, where we can take leadership roles," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The extreme logistical challenge of containing coronavirus is perhaps best seen in the experience of two cruise ships, the Diamond Princess and the Westerdam, carrying thousands of tourists from around the world. How each ship was treated in response to the possible outbreak of coronavirus onboard is quite different, but each shows the fallibility of current testing for the virus and the challenges of trying to humanely but effectively corral citizens from around the world and quarantine them to prevent the virus spread.

Advertisement

The plight of the Diamond Princess has gotten more attention, as the 17-deck luxury ship sat moored in a harbor in Yokohama, Japan, with 3,700 passengers and crew quarantined inside. The quarantine was imposed after one of the cruises passengers from Hong Kong tested positive for coronavirus after disembarking. Over the last 10 days of quarantine, slowly the infection rate ticked upward as the passengers, more than 300 of which were Americans, waited for the two-week quarantine period to expire. Many worried that being held in the ship made it more likely that they would contract the virus. As of Monday, there were 454 confirmed cases on the Diamond Princess.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

The experience of the Westerdam has been far different. The ship set sail from Hong Kong on Feb. 1 on a scheduled 14-day cruise with more than 2,250 people onboard. The Westerdam arrived in Cambodia on Thursday after being turned away from a number of scheduled ports in countries unwilling to introduce the potential risk of the virus coming ashore. Cambodia, whose leader is closely aligned with Beijing, which has been downplaying the virus impact, agreed to allow the ship dock.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Amid assurances that the ship was disease free, hundreds of elated passengers disembarked, the New York Times reports. Some went sightseeing, visiting beaches and restaurants and getting massages. Others traveled on to destinations around the world. One, however, did not make it much farther than the thermal scanners at the Kuala Lumpur airport in Malaysia. The passenger, an American, was stopped on Saturday, and later tested positive for the coronavirus. The positive test was a worrisome sign, and cast doubt on the thousands of other passengers that were now filing out into the world, catching flights home.

We anticipated glitches, but I have to tell you I didnt anticipate one of this magnitude, Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told the Times. This could be a turning point. And not the one everyone was hoping for. The Cambodian government insisted it had screened disembarking passengers using protocols from the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Whether there was, in fact, a glitch in the screening process remains to be seen, but the Diamond Princess shows how the screening process can fail.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Over the weekend, the U.S. began the evacuating American passengers on board the Diamond Princess in order to bring them back to the U.S. Of the several hundred passengers that left the ship, 14 who were tested and deemed asymptomatic by American health officials and thus fit to fly, later tested positive for the virus. The negative tests were conducted 2-3 days before the passengers boarded a charter flight back to the U.S. The State Department says all of the American passengers from the Diamond Princess are being taken to Travis Air Force Base or Joint Base San Antonio for quarantine.
MAPLEWOOD, Minn.  Two former owners of a Maplewood funeral home are accused of misappropriating money paid to them by customers attempting to prepay funeral expenses and using the funds to pay for business expenses.

David John Thorsell, 70, and Edward Peter Vasey, 69, were charged Friday, Feb. 14, with two counts of insurance fraud and a third count of theft by swindle, according to criminal complaints filed in Ramsey County District Court.

The men, who were licensed morticians, previously owned Maple Oaks Funeral Home in Maplewood.

They sold the business in 2017 after a period of financial distress. Some of their real estate was in foreclosure at the time, for example, according to the criminal charges, and the business was subject to a tax lien.

In September of that year, the Minnesota Department of Health received a complaint that Thorsell misappropriated prepaid burial funds.

ADVERTISEMENT

State law protects such funds by requiring funeral homes to place the money in a trust or use it to buy an insurance policy for the buyer.

Investigators determined Thorsell and Vasey didnt follow through, according to the criminal charges.

Seven times between 1997 and February of 2017, the owners took customers prepaid burial service funds and issued them applications for insurance, but never took the next step of actually purchasing insurance policies for the customers, according to the criminal charges.

In total, the misappropriated funds totaled about $44,000.

Among the people impacted was a woman who prepaid $10,000 to Maple Oaks Funeral Home for her funeral services and died Sept. 21, 2017, the complaint said. Since no insurance policy was obtained with her money, no funds were available to pay for her funeral when she died. Instead, the new owner had to pay for the services, along with the womans estate, according to the criminal complaint.

Vasey was interviewed about the matter last May and reportedly blamed Thorsell for any misappropriated funds. Thorsell reportedly acknowledged the misconduct, saying both he and Vasey were responsible, according to the criminal charges. He said they used the money to pay for the struggling funeral homes operating expenses.

The men lost their license to practice mortuary science following the investigations.

No attorney was listed for Vasey nor Thorsell in court records. They are scheduled to make their next court appearance in March.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 17, 2020 13:32 694 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2064f2ccf 1 Business property-developer,stock-market,debut,listing,IPO,Indonesia-Stock-Exchange,business,expansion Free

Shares of property developer PT Andalan Sakti Primaindo (stock symbol ASPI) soared 70 percent at its stock exchange debut on Monday as the company sought funds from the market to develop green properties in Greater Jakarta.

Andalan Saktis share price skyrocketed from Rp 105 to Rp 178 within three minutes after trading opened, indicating investors strong interest in the companys prospects.

The company will use most of the Rp 34.6 billion (US$2.5 million) proceeds from its initial public offering (IPO) earlier this month to develop green residential properties in the middle-to-lower income bracket around the capital.

Business potential in the real estate sector [is good] considering that the growth of housing demand continuously increases, driven by population growth, which increases significantly every year, Andalan Sakti president director Suwandi Notopradono said in a written statement.

Suwandi added that buying a house was seen as a form of investment as prices for houses always increased over the years.

Through its subsidiary company, PT Andalan Sakti Nusa (Ansa Land), Andalan Sakti plans to build the Casa Serpong housing project in Parung Panjang, Bogor. About 85 percent of the funds raised from the IPO will be allocated for Ansa Lands working capital, while 15 percent will go to paying debts to the companys shareholders.

Ansa Land, a residential property development company predominantly developing properties in the Greater Jakarta area, was acquired by Andalan Sakti in 2013 and has since developed numerous property complexes, including the Royal Matoa Residence in Depok and the Arkamaya Residence in Tangerang.

We are developing the Casa Serpong complex [in Bogor] with a green concept, a modern concept for millennials, Andalan Sakti director Jansen Kustianto said on Monday.

Jansen added that the company focused on attracting the middle-to-lower income market segment and would offer its housing units for Rp 350 million to Rp 400 million per unit.

Ansa Land would offer lower down payments and cooperate with banks who would provide the mortgage loans (KPR) for its buyers, Jansen noted.

Of the 500 units that are planned to be built within the 15 hectares land set aside for the Casa Serpong complex, some 100 units will be developed this year and the rest will be completed in the next three to five years, according to Jansen.

Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) assessment director I Gede Nyoman Yetna said in his opening remarks on Monday that Andalan Sakti was the 14th company to be publicly listed in 2020 and the 680th company overall.

We will not stop encouraging companies to list themselves on the stock market. We have a saying: dont wait until [the company is] big to enter the stock market, but grow big on the Indonesian stock market, the assessment director said while encouraging the company to realize its strategic action plan with the proceeds it had gathered.

Andalan Sakti offered 48 percent of its total listed shares during its IPO or a sum of 330 million shares. Trading of the companys shares was temporarily suspended on Monday as the prices exceeded the allowable increase limit for a single-day transaction as regulated in the exchanges auto-rejection regulation. (ydp)
15 projects receive awards at the 33rd Khwarizmi International Festival

02/17/20

Source: Tehran Times

TEHRAN - President Hassan Rouhani conferred awards on 15 selected projects at the 33rd Khwarizmi International Festival in Tehran on Monday. The annual festival is an opportunity for both Iranian and foreign participants to put their scientific achievements on display. Khwarizmi International Award is dedicated to recognizing outstanding scientific achievements made by researchers, inventors, and innovators from all over the world.



See more photos by IRNA

Development of thermal solar energy technology, synthesis of peptide radioactive raw materials, research and development of pharmaceuticals from Marine species, research, design and implementation of renewable technologies in micro-networks, Bitban malware analysis platform were among the selected projects, IRNA reported.

Ten laureates from Iran and five from other countries received the awards during the ending ceremony which held with Vice President for Science and Technology Sourena Sattari in attendance.



Selected submissions to the 33rd Khwarizmi International Award

Selected foreign projects are from Australia, China, South Korea, and the United States and in the fields of electricity, chemical technology, materials and metallurgy, electricity and computers and biotech and medical base, he explained.

According to Khwarizmi official website, in 1987, the leading Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology (IROST), affiliated to the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, decided to institute an award, which acknowledges the Iranian outstanding achievements in the field of science and technology.

IROST proposed the creation of the Khwarizmi Award in memory of Abu Jafar Mohammad Ibn Mousa Khwarizmi, the great Iranian mathematician, and astronomer (770-840 C.E).
Speaking at the opening ceremony for the class, Vietnamese Ambassador to Austria Le Dung said that the class will help overseas Vietnamese young people, teenagers and children of the second and third generations in the country to learn the Vietnamese language.

He also noted that class will create conditions for students to learn more about traditional cultural identities as well as inspire their sentiment and love for the homeland.

President of Vietnamese Women Association in Austria, Bui Thanh Hai, expressed her sincere thanks to the Embassy in opening the Vietnamese language class, while affirming that the overseas Vietnamese community in Vienna will mobilise their children to proactively learn.

In preparations, the Embassy has coordinated with the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs to organise the training courses to standardise Vietnamese language teaching for members of the Vietnamese Women Association and several Vietnamese students who will teach the language.

The Embassy also mobilised several sponsors to establish a Study Encouragement Fund to maintain the class on every Sunday.
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia  The feel-good story of how Cambodia allowed a cruise ship to dock after it was turned away elsewhere in Asia for fear of spreading a new disease took an unfortunate turn after a passenger later tested positive for the virus.

News over the weekend that an 83-year-old American woman who was on the ship and flew from Cambodia to Malaysia was found to be carrying the virus froze further movement of the passengers and crew of the Westerdam. Some are in hotels in Cambodias capital, Phnom Penh, while others are still aboard the ship.

The American woman was among several hundred passengers who were flown out of Cambodia on Friday and Saturday. According to authorities in Malaysia, 143 continued their flights home from that country, while the woman and her 84-year-old husband, who was diagnosed with pneumonia, remained behind for treatment.

The dispersal around the world of passengers from the ship with possible exposure to the new coronavirus has sparked concern.

I think now given that there is a confirmed case that is suspected to have acquired infection on board the ship, the other passengers should be asked to quarantine themselves at home and alert health authorities if they develop fever or respiratory symptoms within the 14 days since disembarkation, said Professor Benjamin Cowling from the School of Public Health at Hong Kong University.

Dr. Gagandeep Kang, executive director of Indias Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, said it is unclear whether the womans infection would result in an outbreak in another part of the world. The virus that causes the disease named COVID-19 has been confirmed in about two dozen countries, with most cases concentrated in China, where it emerged in December.

We will have to wait and see, she said, adding that it would depend on where the woman got the infection, and at what stage of the infection she was in while in contact with other people.

The ships operator, Holland America Line, said in a statement Monday that Cambodian health officials were on the ship testing the 255 guests and 747 crew who were awaiting clearance, and that guests currently staying at a Phnom Penh hotel had all been tested.

At this time, no other guests or crew on board or at the hotel have reported any symptoms of the illness. Guests who have already returned home will be contacted by their local health department and provided further information, it said.

The statement added that the virus patient had not reported any illness to the Westerdams medical center during the cruise. Twenty people who reported illness while on board have tested negative for the virus, it said.

The rest of the passengers and crew had health checks that included filling out a written health questionnaire and having their temperatures checked, which has become standard procedure for air and sea passengers considered at risk.

Several Westerdam passengers from the United States and elsewhere have already returned home and spoken to the media.

Two of the passengers, Joseph Schaeffer and his wife, Paulette, a retired nurse, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal from their home in Henderson, Nevada, that they felt the hue and cry over the released passengers was not totally merited.

It doesnt seem to me that the whole world should be jumping at this, Joseph Schaeffer said.

There are more deaths from the flu than there have been from this particular virus, his wife said.

The couple said they were screened on their way home at airports in Phnom Penh and Singapore by thermal scanners that remotely monitor arriving passengers.

On arrival in Los Angeles, they said, they were among a large crowd getting screened that included fellow cruise passengers. They said they answered questions gfrom the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that included whether they felt sick, had visited mainland China or knew anyone who had contracted the virus.

Two Canadians who returned via Vancouver International Airport were asked to put on protective face masks on arrival but were not otherwise isolated, Canadas CBC News reported.

We were asked a few questions and filled out an immigration form, and they very nicely helped us bypass the usual lineups and let us out the door, said Joseph Hansen, who took the cruise with his wife. Were feeling fine.

Hansen, from Surrey, British Columbia, told CBC that he did not hear about the American woman in Malaysia with the virus until he landed in Vancouver on Sunday.

I guess on the one hand its upsetting to know that there was one case, but were feeling fine, he said. Weve had health scans, temperature scans and we dont have any concerns for our own health.

Cambodias government had originally earned kudos from the head of the U.N.s World Health Organization and the U.S. ambassador there for allowing the ship to dock at Sihanoukville after it was turned away by Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Guam and Thailand.

The move was seen as a victory for the image of Cambodias authoritarian leader, who welcomed the ships passengers with handshakes and flowers. Prime Minister Hun Sen boasted that although Cambodia is a poor country, it has always joined the international community to solve the problems that the world and our region are facing.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had said he was pleased Cambodia had agreed to accept the Westerdam and described it as an example of the international solidarity advocated by the U.N. health agency.

The one thing I can say is were very, very grateful that Cambodia has opened literally its ports and its doors to people in need, U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia W. Patrick Murphy said Saturday when he took his family to the port to meet passengers. We think this sends a strong message. We all have to help each other.

In hindsight, however, Cambodias handling of the ships passengers has been criticized on social media, though it also has gotten some support.

According to Cowling, the Hong Kong University professor, its a good idea to let passengers leave and monitor them after disembarkation.

Since there were no known cases on board the Westerdam at the time passengers left the ship, it was reasonable to allow them to travel home, he said.

I think it would not be appropriate to keep passengers on the ship for 14 days, as it could be a high-risk environment, Cowling said.

We have seen the consequences of holding passengers on a cruise ship with the Diamond Princess outbreak, he said, referring to another cruise ship that is quarantined in Yokohama, Japan, with hundreds of cases among the passengers.

___

Ng reported from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Peck reported from Bangkok. Associated Press writer Aniruddha Ghosal in New Delhi contributed to this report.
The vehicles may suffer a sudden loss of drive power

American Honda Motor Co. is recalling 279 model year 2021 Acura RDXs and model year 2022 CR-V Hybrids.

A component in the right or left front driveshaft may have been improperly heat-treated, which could result in driveshaft failure.

Driveshaft failure can cause a sudden loss of drive power or cause the vehicle to roll away when parked if the parking brake is not applied. Either condition can increase the risk of a crash or injury.

Dealers will replace the right or left fr...
BOSTON, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Creatio (formerly bpm'online), a leading low-code, process automation and CRM company, is announcing ACCELERATE, a free premier gathering for IT and digital leaders, will be held in Chicago on May 7th-8th, 2020.

Premier ACCELERATE Event in Chicago

The ACCELERATE event series gathers thousands of participants yearly in various destinations around the world. This year, Creatio starts off in one of the most popular business cities in the USA. Over 700 leaders will gather to explore how Creatio builds a world where everyone becomes a software creator using low-code technologies, learn from renowned thought leaders and industry experts how to build winning business strategies, network, and share ideas with peers.

Throughout the two-day ACCELERATE Chicago 2020 event, attendees will discover new ways to accelerate business transformation, participate in thought-provoking discussions spurred by interactive sessions, round tables, product workshops, and customer success sessions on how leading organizations leverage technologies to drive business growth.

The event will be held in the Renaissance Chicago Downtown Hotel by Marriot. The hotel is situated in the Theater District near many famous attractions and has striking panoramic views of the Chicago River as well as the surrounding downtown cityscape.

Seats are limited! Click here to save your free seat!

About Creatio

Creatio (formerly bpm'online) is a leading low-code, process automation and CRM company. It has been highly recognized as a market leader by key industry analysts. Creatio's intelligent platform accelerates sales, marketing, service and operations for thousands of customers and hundreds of partners worldwide. The mission of Creatio is to help companies ACCELERATE!

For more information, please visit www.creatio.com

Media contact:

Vera Mayuk

[email protected]

617 765 7997

SOURCE Creatio

Related Links

http://www.creatio.com


District judge questionnaire

Mary Wahne Baker

Age. 37 for a few short weeks; 38 in April.

Please describe your family, including number of times you have been married. I am married to the love of my life, Joe Baker, whom I met in law school at Texas Tech University. Joe is a partner in civil litigation at the Cotton Bledsoe law firm. Weve been married 13 years. We have two beautiful children, a girl and a boy, in first and fourth grade, respectively. I grew up in Jourdanton, Texas, in the Eagle Ford Shale. My mother, Pat, who works in enrollment services at Midland College, moved to Midland to be closer to her grandkids and help us juggle busy schedules. My dad, Bob, a life-long farmer, hunter and rancher in South Texas, passed away from aggressive liver cancer last June. One of my dads last conversations with me was encouraging me to run for the bench someday, because he knew Id be a good, fair judge.

State educational degrees which you have obtained and from where?

Jourdanton High School  high school diploma (Valedictorian)

St. Marys University  Bachelor of Arts (Summa Cum Laude and Presidents Honors Graduate), double-major in Philosophy (emphasis on Anglo-American Analytical logic) and English Communications.

Texas Tech School of Law  Juris Doctorate (Cum Laude), Law Review, Beckmann Dunlap Woody Award Winner, certification in alternative dispute resolution.

State when you were licensed as an attorney? I was licensed in Texas to practice law in May 2008. I began the July 2007 bar exam, but I could not complete it due to medical issues that arose during the exam. I completed the exam in February 2008 and was licensed the following May.

Years lived in Midland County after becoming a licensed attorney. Ive lived in Midland since graduating Texas Tech School of Law and starting my work at the federal court in 2007, thirteen years ago.

What areas of law is the concentration of your law practice typically? After working federal criminal cases as the briefing attorney for almost four years, I focused my practice area in oil and gas and business law, with an emphasis on complex disputes and title. I have represented energy operators, service companies, landowners and employees, in bet-the-company cases that matter to peoples economic bottom line. I have authored complex surface and drilling title opinions, resolved mineral title litigation involving 90-plus individual defendants, handled insurance coverage interpretation and disputes related to wellsite incidents, arbitrated multiple oil and gas pipeline payment disputes, advised on labor and employment issues for Permian Basin businesses, and assisted in numerous areas of contract interpretation and drafting. I also have had the privilege of assisting in personal injury litigation for dram shop cases and multiple wrongful death lawsuits, which occurred after drunk driving or other accidents cost someone their life on our Permian Basin roads. A smaller portion of my practice is devoted to assisting families in their dreams of adoption, which I perform at reduced or no cost. Additionally, I serve on several non-profit boards, and I have been called upon to assist with the legal needs specific to our charity community from time to time in that capacity.

Have you ever been subjected to discipline by the State Bar of Texas? If so, what was the discipline and why? I have never been subjected to discipline by the State Bar. I am proud to be a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, whose membership is composed of the most elite Texas attorneys, nominated because of their dedication to the administration of justice and high professional standing among their peers.

Have you ever been accused of, indicted for or convicted of a felony or a crime of moral turpitude? If so, what was the offense and how was it disposed of? No. Both my work in the federal courts and my time as a National Parks Service Ranger in Alaska (Katmai National Park) required a federal security clearance.

Have you ever had a lien filed against you and why? If so, has it been fully paid? I have never had a lien filed against me.

State how many criminal jury trials and how many civil jury trials you have tried to a verdict.

During my almost four years in the federal courts, I participated in more than 150 criminal jury trials as the briefing attorney, making sure probable cause existed for searches or arrests, the evidence was correctly presented, all rulings were properly issued, and the jury charge (which I drafted) properly stated the law of the case. Although I was not the prosecutor or defense attorney and did not present the evidence or witnesses for those cases, I was critical in the judges rulings on the evidence. Judicial experience matters. Our federal district court handles the Pecos Division, which stretches along the Big Bend almost from El Paso to Del Rio. This has been one of the highest-volume federal trial courts in America, handling up to three criminal trials per week on matters ranging from illegal immigration to drug activity. I am not able to obtain exact statistics, having separated from federal service. On the civil side, our business owners, who pay out-of-pocket for litigation services, often find it expedient to utilize alternative dispute resolution, bench trials (i.e., trial to just the judge, not a jury), and summary judgment (i.e., determination by the judge of a judgment on a matter of law, not fact) instead of jury trial. I have handled hundreds of these alternative means of obtaining case finality on the civil side, especially summary judgments, and I am certified in alternative dispute resolution. As for civil jury trials, including private trial in arbitration, I have handled less than 10 complex trials (some lasting up to two weeks) that obtained a verdict. Many times, for business reasons, the parties find financial reasons to resolve the case after presentation of all evidence (i.e., the trial is complete, but verdict is not rendered). Those complex oil and gas cases, whether or not they obtain verdict at trial, often take months, if not years, to work up and develop experts and evidence, including days or weeks of hotly-contested depositions (including evidentiary objections) and major pretrial motions that are outcome-determinative, which I handle first-chair. Of note, I do not handle divorce cases and do not consider them relevant experience for the 142nd Court because a specialty court (Judge Lindemood) handles those cases for Midland County.

What do regard to be your duties as a district judge? The district judge presides over civil and criminal cases to ensure that all cases follow state laws and makes sure that the Constitutional rights of the parties involved are respected at all times. On the civil side, the judge often is both factfinder and legal interpreter in a bench trial (i.e., a case tried only to the judge). Or, the judge is the key communicator of evolving concepts in the law, in a summary judgment proceeding (i.e., when the court finds no fact issues and determines that judgment is proper as a matter of law). For those cases that proceed to civil jury trial, the judge is the intermediary for proper presentation of evidence to the jury and determines the legal standards for argument. I believe that the district judge has an obligation to the taxpayers to be efficient in both administration of the court and use of juror and attorney time. On the criminal side, the judge determines probable cause for issuance of search or arrest warrants, including those issued in the dead of night. he judge is the arbiter of legal standards and monitor of sufficiency of evidence submitted for the jurys consideration as factfinder in a criminal trial. The court also protects the rights of indigent or minor defendants by appointing counsel and/or attorneys ad litem. The court issues sentences in criminal matters. Before and after trial, the court works closely with community supervision and corrections (probation) officers, to ensure defendants complete their sentence. A district judge may also have obligations for service on committees or boards related to the judiciary. Also, on the lighter side, our district judges are able to perform wedding ceremonies for licensed individuals.

What do think the temperament of a judge should be? What in your personality, if anything, do think you would have to aware of?

A good judge is not only intelligent, impartial and held to the highest ethical standards by choice, but she also strives to give proper meaning and significance to the law, for the betterment of society as it moves toward justice. The ideal judicial temperament is difficult to achieve because it requires large amounts of patience, restraint and courtesy to those appearing in the court (counsel, witnesses, and parties), punctuated by humility and common sense. A judge should not seem unapproachable, condescending or aloof, since the very human matters in the courts are vital to the parties awaiting judgment. At the same time, the judge necessarily must be the best and most firm communicator in the courtroom, handling problems with sensitivity to both the process and the stress of the individuals involved. The judge should be the best-prepared person in the courtroom, having the courtesy to read all possible filings and discern the law in advance of any proceeding. A good judge ensures that taxpayer money and time is not wasted, yet also ensures important individual and business rights are not trampled in the name of efficiency.

I am younger than my opponents, and Im female. As my role model Sandra Day OConnor said, The power I exert on the court depends on the power of my arguments, not on my gender. I think the personality issue I, like most trial lawyers, will need to be mindful of on the bench is ensuring as the judge that I listen thoroughly and carefully to the arguments of counsel. As a lawyer, we are trained to think ahead while listening to argument, to create a counter-point. Turning that off and accurately listening to the argument presented, instead of creating rebuttal or advocating for one side or the other, can be difficult, but the judge owes that to the parties presenting the case. I will endeavor to provide the objectivity that our trial counsel deserve from their judge.

What is the most important aspect of handling a docket of criminal and civil cases for a judge?

As the only candidate with prior experience working in a court, behind the bench, I know that the most important aspects of balancing criminal and civil cases are (a) on a practical note, carving out time to pay attention to the civil docket in light of the demands of speedy criminal trials, and (b) being an effective oral and written communicator of new legal concepts, should they arise. This requires a district judge to have skill in written communication as much as oral communication. Also, the judge should ensure all counsel have the ability and aptitude to present their best case and make timely rulings in order to keep the public trust in the judicial process.

What is your philosophy regarding interpretation of the law?

As a trial court, the district judge is the first impression of the facts and law applied to the case at hand. I have no intention to be an activist or legislate from the bench. The rule of law hinges upon neutral, impartial judges. I will provide justice for all, while calling balls and strikes and moving the case forward. I intend to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the state of Texas, as I swore to do when I took the oath for the Texas Bar.

Is there ever a situation when a judge should create new law to address a social injustice or inequity?

A judge is not a member of the legislature and, as such, should not create new law. The judiciary is charged with interpreting the law. While those interpretations may involve questions of justice, there are precedents that must be considered when reaching that decision. In business situations, sometimes the courts powers in equity require existing legal concepts to be extended, especially as oil and gas technology changes how our operators conduct their business. Nevertheless, any ruling should rely upon sound logic and case precedent.

How many civil cases have you handled that required more than five pretrial hearings before the potential trial court?

In complex oil and gas litigation, several of my cases have required multiple pretrial hearings, from status conferences to evidentiary issues. As an estimate, Id say around 25 cases in the last nine years have that level of complexity. However, we try to limit the number of pretrial hearings, to avoid wasting taxpayer dollars and court time on things the parties have an ethical obligation to try to resolve on their own first.

Has a Court of Appeals ever found you to be ineffective during trial? Have you ever had a malpractice claim filed against you that was either settled or taken to trial? No, Ive never been found ineffective, and Ive never had a malpractice claim filed against me.

Please describe in detail what experience you have in managing dockets? I have extensive experience managing trial dockets. As the federal briefing attorney, I was primarily responsible for maintaining the courts efficiency for both civil and criminal cases for almost four years. This included reviewing the docket periodically to issue dismissal rulings for want of prosecution or prod the parties with status conferences. I would like to bring some of that attention to the docket to the state court, especially in civil cases, to avoid a backlog of cases.

When is the last time you voted and in which partys primaries have you voted in since 2010? I last voted in the mayoral and school bond election in November 2019, and I have voted Republican since 2010 (and before).

Are your taxes paid in full currently both on any property you own and your income taxes? Yes, all taxes (personal income and property) are currently paid in full.

What community service, including professional associations, have you been involved in? Professionally, I am a member of the American Bar Association, the Midland Bar Association, a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, and a member of the Pro Bono College of the State Bar of Texas. I have also been heavily involved in our community for over a decade. I am currently the president-elect of both the Midland Community Theatre board of governors and the Museum of the Southwest board of trustees. I chaired SeptemberFest for the Museum in 2018 and 2019, and I chaired the United Ways Power of the Purse fundraiser in 2017 and 2018, helping to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for our community. I serve on the St. Anns School Board, and I am also a lector at our church. I am a Sustaining Member of the Junior League of Midland and past Recording Vice President and Advisory Planning Chair. In 2018, I was the board president of the United Way of Midland. I have served in various capacities with the League of Women Voters, Midland Teen Court, Midland Young Lawyers Association, Legal Aid of Northwest Texas, MARC, American Cancer Society Round Up and other worthy causes.
ROCHESTER, N.Y., Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Although unaware of any actual or attempted misuse, East House is providing notice of a data privacy event impacting the security of information relating to certain current and former residents and current, former, and prospective East House employees.

What happened? On July 25, 2019, East House became aware of suspicious activity relating to an employee email account. East House immediately launched an investigation to determine what may have happened. Working together with a leading computer forensics firm, East House determined that an unauthorized individual or individuals accessed one (1) employee email account between July 8, 2019 and July 25, 2019, and sensitive information contained therein was accessible to unknown individuals. On November 13, 2019, East House identified the individuals potentially impacted by this incident after a thorough programmatic and manual review of the email account. East House has worked since this time to locate valid mailing addresses for the potentially impacted individuals in order to provide notice of this event.

What information may have been affected by this incident? The accessed email account contained information related to certain current and former East House residents, as well as current, former, and prospective employees. The type of information affected varies per impacted individual, and includes one or more of the following types of information: name, date of birth, Social Security number, driver's license number or state identification card number, treatment, and/or health-related information. For a very small number of individuals, financial account numbers were also affected.

Although they cannot confirm that any individual's personal information was actually accessed, or viewed without permission, East House is providing this notice out of an abundance of caution. They do not have any evidence of actual or attempted misuse of any individual's information as a result of this incident.

How will individuals know if they are affected by this incident? East House is mailing notice letters to the individuals for whom they have valid mailing addresses whose protected information was contained within the affected email account and may have been accessed or acquired by an unauthorized actor. If an individual did not receive a letter but would like to know if they are affected, they may call the hotline listed below.

What is East House doing? Information privacy and security are among East House's highest priorities. East House has strict security measures to protect the information in its possession. Upon learning of this incident, East House quickly changed all employee email account passwords and took steps to secure the accounts. East House is currently implementing additional technical safeguards as well as training and education for employees to prevent similar future incidents. They are also offering the impacted individuals access to complimentary credit monitoring services as an added precaution. Because East House has insufficient contact information for some of the individuals whose information may be contained in the impacted email account, they are providing notice to those potentially impacted individuals by way of a notification published to certain state media outlets.

Whom should individuals contact for more information? If individuals have questions or would like additional information, they may call East House's dedicated assistance line at 833-947-1417 (toll free), Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Eastern Time.

What can individuals do to protect their information? While East House is unaware of any actual or attempted misuse of any information involved in this incident, they encourage those potentially impacted by the event to take steps to better protect against identity theft and fraud if they feel it is appropriate to do so.

Monitor Your Accounts . To protect against the possibility of identity theft or other financial loss, East House encourages you to remain vigilant, to review your account statements, and to monitor your credit reports for suspicious activity.

Credit Reports. Under U.S. law, you are entitled to one free credit report annually from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus. To order your free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call, toll-free, 1-877-322-8228. You may also contact the three major credit bureaus directly to request a free copy of your credit report.

Security Freeze. You have the right to place a "security freeze" on your credit report, which will prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing information in your credit report without your express authorization. The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. However, you should be aware that using a security freeze to take control over who gets access to the personal and financial information in your credit report may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding a new loan, credit, mortgage, or any other account involving the extension of credit. Pursuant to federal law, you cannot be charged to place or lift a security freeze on your credit report. In order to request a security freeze, you will need to supply your full name, address, date of birth, Social Security number, current address, all addresses for up to five previous years, email address, a copy of your state identification card or driver's license, and a copy of a utility bill, bank or insurance statement, or other statement proving residence.

Should you wish to place a security freeze, please contact the major consumer reporting agencies listed below:

Experian PO Box 9554 Allen, TX 75013 1-888-397-3742 www.experian.com/freeze/center.html TransUnion P.O. Box 2000 Chester, PA 19016 1-888-909-8872 www.transunion.com/credit-freeze Equifax PO Box 105788 Atlanta, GA 30348-5788 1-800-685-1111 www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services

To remove the security freeze, you must send a written request to each of the three credit bureaus by mail and include proper identification (name, address, and social security number) and the PIN number or password provided to you when you placed the security freeze. The credit bureaus have three (3) business days after receiving your request to remove the security freeze.

As an alternative to a security freeze, you have the right to place an initial or extended "fraud alert" on your file at no cost. An initial fraud alert is a 1-year alert that is placed on a consumer's credit file. Upon seeing a fraud alert display on a consumer's credit file, a business is required to take steps to verify the consumer's identity before extending new credit. If you are a victim of identity theft, you are entitled to an extended fraud alert, which is a fraud alert lasting seven years. Should you wish to place a fraud alert, please contact any one of the agencies listed below:

Experian P.O. Box 2002 Allen, TX 75013 1-888-397-3742 www.experian.com/fraud/center.html TransUnion P.O. Box 2000 Chester, PA 19016 1-800-680-7289 www.transunion.com/fraud-victim-resource/place-fraud-alert Equifax P.O. Box 105069 Atlanta, GA 30348 1-888-766-0008 www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services

Additional Information. You can further educate yourself regarding identity theft, and the steps you can take to protect yourself, by contacting your state Attorney General or the Federal Trade Commission. The Federal Trade Commission also encourages those who discover that their information has been misused to file a complaint with them. The Federal Trade Commission can be reached at: 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580; www.ftc.gov/idtheft ; 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338); and TTY: 1-866-653-4261. Instances of known or suspected identity theft should be reported to law enforcement, your Attorney General, and the FTC. You can also further educate yourself about placing a fraud alert or security freeze on your credit file by contacting the FTC or your state's Attorney General. This notice was not delayed by a law enforcement investigation.

For Maryland residents, the Attorney General can be contacted by mail at 200 St. Paul Place, Baltimore, MD, 21202; toll-free at 1-888-743-0023; by phone at (410) 576-6300; consumer hotline (410) 528-8662; and online at www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov. For New Mexico residents, you have rights pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, such as the right to be told if information in your credit file has been used against you, the right to know what is in your credit file, the right to ask for your credit score, and the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information. Further, pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the consumer reporting agencies must correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information; consumer reporting agencies may not report outdated negative information; access to your file is limited; you must give your consent for credit reports to be provided to employers; you may limit "prescreened" offers of credit and insurance you get based on information in your credit report; and you may seek damages from violator. You may have additional rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act not summarized here. Identity theft victims and active duty military personnel have specific additional rights pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act. We encourage you to review your rights pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act by visiting www.consumerfinance.gov/f/201504_cfpb_summary_your-rights-under-fcra.pdf, or by writing Consumer Response Center, Room 130-A, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. For New York Residents: The New York Attorney General provides resources regarding identity theft protection and security breach response at www.ag.ny.gov/internet/privacy-and-identity-theft. The New York Attorney General can be contacted by phone at 1-800-771-7755; toll-free at 1-800-788-9898; and online at www.ag.ny.gov. For North Carolina Residents: The North Carolina Attorney General can be contacted by mail at 9001 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-9001; toll-free at 1-877-566-7226; by phone at 1-919-716-6400, and online at www.ncdoj.gov.

SOURCE East House
HOLYOKE  Work to convert a Yale Street home into a residential treatment center for recovering drug addicts has suffered a setback, with the state halting the renovation after finding the contractor is not certified to safely remove asbestos and lead.

Officials with the state Department of Labor Standards on Friday issued a cease-work order for the property at 11 Yale St.

It cites the contractor, Michael Pietras of Engineering & Land Solutions Inc., with not having the proper licenses with the state for the safe removal of lead and asbestos, and with failing to remove hazardous materials in accordance with state law.

Pietras, contacted Monday by The Republican, declined to comment until he had a chance to speak with officials with the Mental Health Association, his employers on the renovation job.

Kim Lee, vice president of resource development and branding for MHA, said the agency learned of the shutdown order on Friday afternoon but has been unable to contact anyone with the state agency due to the holiday weekend. She said she hoped to learn more about the order by Tuesday.

Officials with the state agency could not be reached on Monday because state offices were closed for Presidents Day.

Copies of the shutdown order posted on the Yale Street building say work is not to resume until a supervisor certified in asbestos and lead removal is hired. The supervisor must be present at the site at all times while work is performed.

The 11 Yale St. property, a 1919 Tudor-style single-family home in the citys Highlands neighborhood, is being developed into a group home by MHA. The nonprofit agency purchased the property in April with plans to convert it into a 16-bed treatment facility for recovering drug addicts by this fall.

MHA operates similar facilities in 25 other locations as part of its GRIT recovery program. GRIT is an acronym for Growing, Re-imaging, Inspired, and Transformed.

MHA and the city of Holyoke entered into a 10-year agreement in July where the agency would pay the city $8,000 per year in lieu of taxes.

The building and land have a total valuation of $563,600, according to Holyoke records.

The project, and the placement of it within a residential neighborhood, has been met with some opposition since it was announced.

Four abutters to the project in January filed suit in Massachusetts Land Court seeking to overturn the Holyoke Zoning Board of Appeals vote that allowed use of 11 Yale St. as a group home.

A group calling itself Citizens for Holyoke has also been vocal in its opposition to the project. In light of the shutdown order, the group is calling on the Holyoke Building Department to revoke the building permit for the project.

One member, Scott Defelice, said last weeks inspection by the state came after group members reported seeing unusual activity at the site. He said neighbors had witnessed over the last few weeks workers tossing demolition materials from the house into an open dumpster.

The neighborhood reported improper disposal going on, and the state came in  and made a determination, he said.

Another opponent, David Healey, said a dumpster has been parked outside 11 Yale St. since at least January. One that became loaded with demolition materials from inside the house was hauled away and replaced by a second one, he said.

Now that the question has been raised about the presence of lead and asbestos on the property, he said he wonders where potentially contaminated materials in the dumpster ended up.

Where did that dumpster go? he said.

Asbestos, which was commonly used as insulation through the 1970s, is a known carcinogen that has been linked to as many as 15,000 deaths per year. If it is not handled properly, microscopic fibers can get released into the air and then inhaled. Exposure can lead to lung cancer, asbestosis and mesothelioma.

Healey and Defelice each said a treatment facility should not be placed in the middle of a residential neighborhood.

The more people learn about what the location is being used for they say it doesnt make sense, Healey said. There are better sites in the city to place that facility in.

Defelice said the Highlands, with its late 19th- and early 20th-century housing stock, is one of the most desirable places in the city for people to live. He said some studies have shown that placement of a treatment center in the neighborhood could cause property values in the immediate vicinity to decline by up to 17%, and by 8% within a quarter-mile.
A 38-year-old security guard,



accused of murdering three persons since 2000 - two in Uttar Pradesh and one in Mumbai - and carrying a Rs 10,000 reward on his head, was arrested by the city police from New Delhi, an official said on Monday.

According to the official, the accused, Avinash Kumar Laxmikant Pandey, was nabbed from New Delhi's Kamala Market locality on Sunday in connection with the murder of a fellow security guard in suburban Powai last year.

Pandey has allegedly killed two persons, including his cousin, in Prayagraj (earlier Allahabad) in his native state of Uttar Pradesh, where the police has announced a reward of Rs 10,000 for information leading to this arrest, he said.

The 38-year-old also faces a case under the Arms Act in Uttar Pradesh, the official said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone X) Ankit Goyal said On October 27, 2019, he brutally killed one Ankit Deviprasad Singh (22) and left his body at the parking lot in Lodha Supreme Apartment at Tunga Village in Powai.

"After killing Singh, the accused fled to Pune, then went to Gujarat and finally reached Delhi after spending sometime in Odisha."



"In 2000, he killed one of his friends and in 2002 he murdered his cousin (in Uttar Pradesh). We nabbed him from New Delhi after receiving a tip-off about his presence in the national capital," the DCP said.

He has been booked in the murder case registered by the Powai police, Goyal said, adding further investigation was underway.

The accused had been working as a security guard in Mumbai for the last 12 years, he said.

Pandey allegedly stabbed to death Singh, a fellow security guard, following a tiff over a game of ludo, the DCP said.

He was produced before a local court, which remanded him in police custody till February 21, Goyal added.

The motive behind the two murders in Uttar Pradesh was not yet known, police said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Sam Armytage has blasted Australians for complaining about the collapse of Holden but doing nothing to support the iconic car brand.

The Sunrise host accused everyday Australians of directly contributing to Holden's demise after General Motors revealed it would 'retire' the brand forever this year.

'For everybody out there saying "We love Holdens", why didn't they buy Holdens? Then we wouldn't be in this problem,' Armytage said on Tuesday morning.

'It is sad... but they've got no one to blame but themselves,' agreed co-host David Koch.

Sam Armytage (left) and David Koch (right) have blasted Australians for complaining about the collapse of Holden but doing nothing to support the iconic car brand

Despite receiving billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies over many decades to keep its manufacturing afloat, GM showed little loyalty to the Australian government.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison slammed the American car giant on Monday after being given just three minutes' notice of the decision to axe the Holden brand.

'I am angry  they let the brand wither away on their watch,' he told reporters.

Ms Armytage jumped to the defence of Mr Morrison after he was criticised for using taxpayers' money to support the failing company.

'I saw today that everyone was blaming ScoMo,' she said.

'But how is it his fault? It is an American company that has been given more chances than Phar Lap.

'And for all the people grimacing about Holden, they are not driving them now.'

Armytage, who owns a Range Rover (above), said it was unfair of Australians to blame Scott Morrison for Holden's decision to retire in Australia and New Zealand

General Motors has revealed what customers can expect after the vehicle manufacturer announced they are shutting its doors on Holden (stock)

After closing the company's local manufacturing operations in 2017, GM announced on Monday it would retire the brand in both Australia and New Zealand.

GM will not just axe the Holden name but also stop selling cars in Australia.

Holden has suffered recent crumbling domestic sales, while GM also announced plans to shut a car plant in Thailand and withdraw the Chevrolet brand from the market there.

Together the two shutdowns will cost the US multinational more than $1billion.

GM has pledged to provide 'fair' redundancy packages for its 600 staff members left in limbo, with most to be gone by the end of June.

Ms Aquilina described the shutdown decision as 'agonising' but said the company had chased down 'every conceivable option' to keep the brand afloat.

'Every strategy, every plan, we looked under every rock,' he said on Monday.

'We've tried to find a way to defy gravity.

'But the hard truth was there was just no way to come up with a plan that would support a competitive and growing and flourishing Holden and also provide a sufficient return to our investors.

'I'm personally convinced GM tried everything to keep Holden going.'

The closure was announced on Monday - two years after the stopping of production in Australia and the brand began to solely sell imported vehicles (stock)

Holden's parent company told the ABC drivers will still have access to warranty, spare parts, servicing and recalls 'for at least the next 10 years'.

GM Holden's interim managing director Kristian Aquilina told the public broadcaster those services will 'work in exactly the same way as they do today' and Holden owners won't be affected in any way.

Daniel Gardner, from WhichCar magazine, said GM has a legal obligation on after-sales promises.

'If the words of the executive team are to be trusted - and they must be, because Holden is legally obliged to support existing owners for a number of years - Holden's saying 10 years [ongoing support],' he said.

'If you own a Holden and have only just bought one, you'll be able to service it, buy parts, and there'll be after-sales care there for 10 years at least. Not a lot will change.'

Around 200 people will be kept in a job in order to transition to this new system solely for after-sales.

Holden's closure will see 600 jobs cut in areas such as management, marketing and engineering.

Production on the cars ends in June - however avid fans can buy cars still in showrooms or recently coming out of the factory.

It is expected no Holden cars will be available for purchase by 2021.

TIMELINE OF HOLDEN IN AUSTRALIA 1856 - Holden begins as a South Australian saddlery business. 1917 - Holden manufactures vehicle bodies. 1931 - General Motors buys Holden Motor Body Builders. 1948 - The FX, the first Australian-designed car, is released. 1951 - Holden's first ute goes on sale. 1958 - South Australian manufacturing plant opens at Elizabeth, though it does not assemble its first full car until 1965. 1968 - Kingswood and Monaro enter the market. 1969 - Holden makes its first V8 engine. 1971 - Holden launches the HQ model. Considered by some to be the best Holden ever. 1978 - Commodore replaces Kingswood. 1990 - Holden's last Australian boss, John Bagshaw, quits. 2003 - Holden opens $400 million V6 engine plant at Port Melbourne, exports to Korea, China and Mexico begin. Toyota takes Holden's position as top-selling car brand. 2009 - Parent company, General Motors, files for bankruptcy in the US but survives. 2013 - Prime minister Tony Abbott says the government will reduce support for automotive manufacturers despite appeals for help. 2013 - Holden decides to end manufacturing in Australia by 2017. The Holden Commodore is to become a fully-imported car. 2017 - The company rolls its last car off the assembly line on October 20, ending more than 50 years of car production on the Elizabeth site. 2019 - GM announces it will discontinue its Commodore and Astra models in 2020. 2020 - General Motors announces the retirement of the Holden brand in Australia and New Zealand. Source: AAP Advertisement

Holden's parent company, GM, told the ABC production on the cars ends in June - however avid fans can buy cars still in showrooms or recently coming out of the factory (stock)

GM said drivers will still have access to 'warranty, spare parts, servicing and recalls for at least the next 10 years' (stock)
Rome, Feb 17 : Italy is working to fly home dozens of its citizens quarantined aboard a coronavirus-hit cruise ship off Japan, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Monday.

"We are organising to send an Italian Air Force Boeing plane to Japan to collect the (35) Italians currently on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship anchored in Yokohama's port," Di Maio told reporters on the sidelines of a European Union ministerial summit in Brussels.

There were 99 new cases of coronavirus infections aboard the Diamond Princess, bringing the total to 454 confirmed cases, Japanese officials said on Monday.

One of the cases is an Italian man - the first Italian to be infected on the ship, Foreign Ministry Crisis Unit head Stefano Verrecchia told Italy's state broadcaster Rai.

Some of the Italians on the Diamond Princess are "essential" crew members who may remain in post when their compatriots are evacuated, he said.

"Naturally, not all our citizens will be repatriated at the that time because some of the crew are understood to be crucial to the ship's functioning and at least a few may chose to stay on board," Verrecchia added.

He praised Japan's authorities, who he said were "doing a noteworthy job, considering there are over 3,000 people (aboard the ship)".

"The period of quarantine should end on February 19 and passengers should be able to be brought off the ship by February 21," Verrecchia said.

The ship's passengers have been largely confined to their cabins since February 5 with only brief, occasional breaks to take air on deck wearing face-masks.

The Diamond Princess is the largest cluster of cases outside China amid an outbreak that has killed 1,770 people in China and five elsewhere since mid-December.
A British lawmaker, who chairs an all-party group on Kashmir, has been denied entry to India after she criticised the governments decision to strip the disputed region region of its constitutional autonomy. Debbie Abrahams, a member of parliament for the opposition Labour party, landed at New Delhis international airport on Monday but claims she was unable to clear customs after her Indian visa was rejected. Abrahams said she had no plans to visit Kashmir during what she called a private visit to India to see relatives, although she had been planning to ...
Around 6,500 people in Cork have been told to boil their water following problems with water quality.

The notice was issued last night to homes and businesses supplied by the Whitegate Regional Public Water Supply.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 15:00:04|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, will convene its 16th bi-monthly session on Feb. 24 in Beijing, according to a statement issued after a chairpersons' meeting Monday.

Li Zhanshu, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, presided over the chairpersons' meeting of the 13th NPC Standing Committee.

The chairpersons' meeting suggested that the 16th session of the 13th NPC Standing Committee review a draft decision on banning illegal wildlife trade and eliminating the bad habits of eating wild animals to guarantee people's lives, health and safety.

The upcoming session is also expected to deliberate a draft decision on postponing the third annual session of the 13th NPC.
Half a dozen bankruptcies have rocked Wyoming coal country since 2015, the latest of which ground two of the nations largest coal mines to a temporary halt last summer. State lawmakers on Monday advanced a pair of bills drafted in direct response to the bankruptcy of coal operator Blackjewel and others in the Powder River Basin.

The proposed legislation aims to address the legal predicaments faced by workers and county governments in the harrowing months following Blackjewels collapse.

When Blackjewel filed for bankruptcy on July 1, it owed over 500 miners hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid wages and benefits. But only a few dozen workers ultimately filed wage claims for the compensation the insolvent company owed them. Several workers chose not to pursue a claim out of concern the company would retaliate against them, according to the Labor Standards Office in the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services. Many workers feared for their job.

Under current law, Wyoming labor statutes do not protect workers who file wage claims from employer retaliation. House Bill 132  approved by the committee Monday  would add an anti-retaliation requirement to protect employees who choose to file a claim.

But thats not all. The bill will move to the floor with the inclusion of some additional worker protections from another draft labor bill: House Bill 131.

Lawmakers initially introduced House Bill 131 to allow the Labor Standards Office to pursue an investigation into a companys wage or employee records in the event of a bankruptcy. Thats because when Blackjewel slid into bankruptcy, the Labor Standards Office had difficulty collecting the company records needed to fight on behalf of workers.

Though House Bill 131 was ultimately laid back Monday by the committee, some elements of the legislation will be combined with House Bill 132, the anti-retaliation legislation. Together, the bills could create a mechanism for the Department of Workforce Services to investigate and resolve more unpaid wage claims if additional bankruptcies occur.

While lawmakers noted the hybrid bill still needed work, the legislation passed introduction by a near-unanimous vote Monday in the House Committee on Minerals, Business and Economic Development. When it moves to the floor later this week, the bill will likely be subject to a number of amendments to clean up the language and merge both bills together.

But Michael Duff, a University of Wyoming law professor specializing in bankruptcy, remains skeptical.

I dont think any of these bills are likely to be effective in assisting workers in recovering wages during the bankruptcy process, he stated. Instead, he encouraged the state to set up a performance bond requirement for new coal companies. The state could draw on the fund to compensate workers for lost wages in the event a company suddenly goes bankrupt.

I think the most effective thing the state could do would be to establish a performance bond requirement like Kentucky, Duff explained. This is your rainy day fund for workers who may be left high and dry if the company files for bankruptcy.

Counties recourse

Located in the heart of the Powder River Basin, Campbell County also contended with its own suite of hurdles during the heat of last summers wave of coal bankruptcies.

Another piece of legislation discussed Monday would provide counties with expert representation when entering into bankruptcy litigation against an out-of-state operator.

Counties could face millions of dollars in legal costs if they continue fighting bankrupt companies in court down the road, according to Johnson County Commissioner Bill Novotny. And counties typically recover only about 18 percent of what theyre owed in the average bankruptcy proceeding.

House Bill 181, which cleared committee by unanimous vote, would permit the state attorney generals office to step in and offer its support to legal efforts against bankrupt companies. Its a common sense partnership that could allow the state to represent both local governments and itself in securing unpaid tax revenues shirked by bankrupt companies, lawmakers said.

Its kind of soft, but at least it opens an avenue for a discussion, said House Majority Leader Eric Barlow, R-Gillette. With the previous attorney general, there wasnt even an interest in having that discussion, and thats something my county commissioners have dealt with.

Attorney General Bridget Hills office helped develop the legislation and supported the measure Monday. She explained that there have been a number of cases where counties have requested assistance from the state attorney generals office but lacked the statutory ability to help.

While Hill noted there may be some inherent conflicts created when counties and the state battle over the same pool of money, Novotny  speaking on behalf of the Wyoming County Commissioners Association  said it was critical to stand with municipalities in-need of legal aid in their battles against large, multi-million dollar companies.

We think its critical that the A.G.s office is willing to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the counties who are dealing with this, Novotny said.

Wyoming lawmakers launched a committee last year to ensure the state is better prepared if more bankruptcies rock the Powder River Basin. One of the committees goals included improving protections for workers in the event a mining company falls into Chapter 11. The bills discussed Monday emerged from the Select Committee on Coal and Mineral Bankruptcies during the interim session.

Follow the latest on Wyomings energy industry at @camillereports

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1

The business news you need Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.

Camille Erickson Energy and Natural Resources Reporter Camille Erickson covers the state's energy industries. She received her master's degree at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Before moving to Casper in 2019, she reported on business and labor in Minneapolis, Chicago and Washington. Follow Camille Erickson Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today
25 years ago: Algerian regime massacres prisoners after uprising

On February 21, 1995, an uprising by Islamic political prisoners at the Serkadji prison in the Kasbah neighborhood of Algeria began, resulting in the death of four guards. This was followed by a brutal crackdown in which dozens of inmates were slaughtered. Official reports counted the prisoner death toll at 96, while other sources maintained that up to 110 prisoners were killed in the suppression of the rebellion.

On the morning of February 21, an initial group of prisoners, having received help from a guard, killed four security personnel and began breaking cells open to free others. Prisoners attempted to negotiate amnesty for those who had not participated in the rebellion, but the government refused and stormed the facility. Shootouts and grenade fighting continued through February 23.

Algeria

Some human rights groups insisted that after resistance was crushed, the governments security forces executed inmates, including the wounded, without due process. Later inquiries resulted in eight more executions among the prisoners.

The New York Times reported that in the weeks leading up to the Serkadji Prison rebellion, 500 politicians, security officers and cultural figures had been killed by Islamist rebels seeking to topple the military government that had been installed in 1992 to forestall the election victory of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) and maintain the grip on power of the National Liberation Front (NLF). The death toll between 1992 and 1995 was estimated at over 30,000.

Human rights groups estimated that in 1995 anywhere from 15,000 to 30,000 militants were being held in detention centers by the Algerian Army. The Kasbah neighborhood, where the Serkadji Prison is located, was a major working-class stronghold in the 1960s during Algerias war for independence. Approximately a dozen leaders of various Islamist rebel groups were imprisoned at Serkadji by the time of the uprising.

50 years ago: Thousands of workers march to support striking Newark teachers

On February 23, 1970, thousands of workers from various sections of industry gathered at the Military Park Hotel and staged a march through downtown Newark. The demonstration was one of the largest of its kind ever seen in Newark. The 3,800 teachers had been striking since February 2nd against low pay and budget cuts. Teachers in Jersey City were also on strike. having begun their picket the week after their peers in Newark.

Workers from 27 unions joined the march, including electrical workers, hospital workers, the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, the Seafarers International Union, steel and rubber workers, among many others. Hundreds of teachers also joined the march coming from Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New York.

A section of the march

The march was called in response to reactionary measures leveled against the striking teachers. A court injunction had been imposed on the teachers ordering them back to work and the strike illegal. Teachers defied the order, and by the time of the march about 200 were arrested and faced charges of up to three years in prison.

The workers who attended expressed immense support for the teachers. One worker interviewed by The Bulletin , newspaper of the Workers League, a forerunner of the WSWS , said, The rank and file are determined to see this thing through. Its a question of survival  its also a question of civil rights. A teacher participating in the march remarked, Conditions in the schools have been so bad, there comes a point when you have to stand up and fight for whats right. How can we have a good school system when they keep slicing the budget?

The teachers had put forward demands for a $10,000 starting salary and a $2,000 raise for all teachers. In addition, teachers called for an increase in funding to create better teaching conditions and more effective schools. Central to these demands was a call for smaller class sizes and funding for classroom materials that teachers had to pay for out of their own pocket.

The strike would continue until February 25 when Newark teachers voted to ratify a one-year contract agreement that provided a $2,200 raise and an $8,000 minimum salary for teachers. The new contract stipulated that class sizes would max out at 30 students, but it included a caveat, where and when space is available. This meant that school administration officials could still force teachers into larger classes if proper resources hadnt been made available. A few weeks later Jersey City teachers would end their strike under a nearly identical contract.

75 years ago: US and Japan fight in Battle of Iwo Jima

On February 16, 1945, the US Navy and Marine Corps launched a massive assault on Iwo Jima, a volcanic island about 1,300 kilometers due south of mainland Japan, in preparation for a landing on February 19. The ensuing five-week conflict, known as the Battle of Iwo Jima, would be one of the fiercest in the Pacific theatre of World War II.

Plans for the US offensive were hatched amid a crisis of Japanese imperial forces throughout Asia. US troops had made substantial headway in securing control of the Philippines, after an invasion was launched in late 1944. This imperiled Japans conquests in South East Asia, and diverted substantial naval and military forces.

US soldiers disembarking at Iwo Jima

The US military began bombing Iwo Jima, a heavily fortified outpost garrisoned by some 21,000 Japanese troops, in June 1944. Aerial raids and naval bombardment would continue for some nine months. They were intensified dramatically in the lead-up to the landing. On February 16, a flotilla of heavy warships, numbering, along with support ships, some 450 vessels, conducted a six-hour bombing campaign which covered the entire island. While poor visibility hampered the onslaught, it succeeded in destroying a number of bunkers and underground hideouts.

The first landing party of Marines disembarked onto the islands beaches on the morning of February 19. They were confronted with difficult conditions, stemming in part from the unstable character of Iwo Jimas volcanic ash, which created problems in establishing any redoubts to protect against Japanese fire. Military vehicles were unable to ascend the terrain, forcing troops to march up the hills of the beaches on foot.

The heaviest Japanese resistance to the landing was at a beach near the islands quarry. Of the 900 US Marines who had landed, only 150 were still able to fight on the evening of February 19. Over the following weeks, the Japanese would mount a series of desperate banzai charges, during which hundreds of troops would charge towards American positions at night in a series of waves.

In a brutal five-week campaign, concluding with an American victory on March 26, the 110,000 US marines, soldiers and naval forces involved in the operation would suffer over 26,000 casualties, with 6,821 killed and 19,217 wounded. Japanese losses were catastrophic. Up to 18,000 were listed as killed or missing at the conclusion of the conflict.

The heavy casualties would trigger a heated debate within US ruling circles and the media as to whether the operation had been worthwhile. Critics disputed the strategic importance of the island, which had been presented by military command as a potentially decisive staging ground for offensive operations against the Japanese mainland.

100 years ago: Imperialist powers claim Turkish territory

On February 17, 1920, representatives of Britain, France and Italyconvening at the Conference of London, an outgrowth of the Paris Peace Conference, which founded the League of Nationsdeclared that the Dardanelles and the Bosporus in Turkey, key strategic straits to the Aegean and Black seas respectively, would become international territories. They would be controlled by the League of Nations and no longer under the authority of the Ottoman Turkish government, which had surrendered to the Allies in 1918. The capital of Constantinople (modern Istanbul) had been occupied by French and Italian troops in 1918.

The Sykes-Picot agreement of 1916 plotted the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire

The Conference also restricted the residence of the Turkish Sultan to Constantinople, drew up plans for an Armenian state and considered Greek claims to areas with large ethnic Greek populations, such as the city of Smyrna. The conference decided not to deprive Turkey of Constantinople but empowered the Royal Navys Admiral John de Robeck to warn the Turks that attacks on the Armenian population might result in revisions to the conferences decisions. These and other actions laid the basis for the Treaty of Sevres in August.

The Conference of London, followed by the San Remo conference in April, and the Treaty of Sevres, were the final phases in the imperialist carve up of the Ottoman Empire. The secret Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1917 between the British and the Frenchrevealed to the world by Trotsky and the Bolshevikshad given Syria to the French and Mesopotamia and Palestine to the British. Both these acquisitions were rubber-stamped by mandates of the League of Nations. The British ruled much of Mesopotamia as the state of Iraq, and supported Zionist settlement in Palestine after the Balfour Declaration of 1917.

The imperialist decisions of 1920, however, sparked the Turkish War of Liberation, led by the bourgeois-nationalist leader Kemal Ataturk, and to the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne, which revised the peace terms with the Allies, and the declaration of the Republic of Turkey in 1923.
UP assembly polls will be about '80 per cent vs 20 per cent'; BJP will win: Yogi Adityanath

Accusing BJP of insensitive towards dalits; SP, BSP, Congress stage walkout in UP Assembly

India

oi-PTI

Lucknow, Feb 17: Opposition Samajwadi Party, the BSP and the Congress staged a walkout in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on Monday as they accused the BJP-led state government of being "insensitive" towards Dalits following the recent caste clashes in Mangta village where 25 people were injured.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, however, dismissed the allegation and said every incident should not be seen through a "political prism" and local disputes should be resolved "locally".

The matter was raised during Zero Hour by BSP leader Lalji Verma, who alleged that the state government was insensitive towards Dalits and demanded compensation to the victims.

Amit Shah attacks Congress, terms those against CAA 'anti-dalits'

Congress leader Aradhana Mishra Mona also joined him and termed the incident as serious. Twenty-five people were injured in clashes that broke out between two groups in Mangta village here in Kanpur Dehat district on February 13.

According to media reports, the two groups allegedly clashed during the 'Bhim Shobha Yatra', which was being taken out after the culmination of 'Bhim Katha', organised by members of the Scheduled Caste community. The police said they have arrested 11 people in connection with the incident.

Rubbishing the opposition charges, Adityanath said, "The incident arose from a local dispute among villagers". He advised the opposition members not to "add fuel to fire" and allow peace to prevail.

"Every incident should not be seen through a political prism. The administration officials are camping in the village and the government is committed to provide security to the people. Timely action was taken by the police and arrests were also made," the chief minister said.

He also said compensation was promptly paid to those affected as per the provisions under the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and there was no need for opposition members to recommend doles for the victims. Dissatisfied with the reply, opposition SP, BSP and Congress staged a walkout from the House.

Superintendent of Police (Kanpur Dehat), Anurag Vats had said children belonging to the upper caste tore a poster of Dr B R Ambedkar that led to clashes between the two groups. Reacting to the incident, Congress general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh East, Priyanka Gandhi had tweeted in Hindi, "In Mangta village of Kanpur Dehat, Dalits reciting Bhim Katha were attacked by bullies. Several people are hospitalised".

"Be it Shabbirpur or Mangta incident, the BJP government did not listen to the victims' families. The BJP has attacked the Constitution and now the attacks are even happening on recitation of Babasaheb story," she said.

Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party members also tried to stall the proceedings over alleged threat call to party chief Akhilesh Yadav.

As soon as the House met for the day, Leader of the Opposition Ram Govind Chaudhary of Samajwadi Party demanded immediate discussion on the matter, but the Chair did not allow the same.

Responding to Chaudhary, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna, however, said Akhilesh Yadav had been provided 'Z-Plus' category security which comprises 182 security personnel led by an Additional SP rank officer, circle officer, six inspectors, 14 sub-inspectors besides CoBRA commando jawans.

The SP chief had recently claimed that he received a threat message from a BJP leader after a youth shouted "Jai Shri Ram" at one of the gatherings addressed by him.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, February 17, 2020, 17:14 [IST]
India on Monday issued a strong demarche to over its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's comments expressing concern over the prevailing situation in Kashmir and comparing the "struggle" of Kashmiri people with that of the fight by the Turkish during the World War I.

In a strongly worded statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Erdogan's remarks reflected neither an understanding of history nor of the conduct of diplomacy and that they will have strong implications on India's ties with

MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said India rejected the repeated attempts by to justify the cross-border terrorism "practised so blatantly" by Pakistan.

In an address to a joint session of Pakistan's Parliament on Friday, Erdogan compared the "struggle" of Kashmiri people with that of the fight by Turkish people against foreign domination during the World War I, and threw his weight behind Islamabad on the Kashmir issue.

"India has made a strong demarche with the Turkish government on the remarks made by President Erdogan on the Indian Union Territory of during his recent visit to Islamabad. These remarks reflect neither an understanding of history nor of the conduct of diplomacy," Kumar said in a statement.

He said the Turkish President's remarks "distorted" events of the past to advance a "narrow minded" view of the present.

"This recent episode is but one more example of a pattern of Turkey interfering in the internal affairs of other countries. India finds that completely unacceptable," Kumar said.

The demarche was made by Secretary (West) Vikash Swarup to the Ambassador of Turkey.

(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.)
Sydney children's hospitals will struggle to keep and attract the best cardiac surgeons following the protracted feud over cardiac services between Randwick and Westmead hospitals.

One of Westmead's top paediatric cardiac surgeons, David Winlaw, has resigned for a position in the US following the state government's controversial decision to run heart services in both Westmead and Randwick.

The government has decided to maintain cardiac services across the Randwick and Westmead children's hospitals, a decision that Westmead does not support. Credit:Isabella Porras

"His loss will be a big loss to the children of NSW," the Sydney Children's Hospital Network's head of cardiology Phil Roberts said. "Cardiac surgeons are hard to find, good cardiac surgeons are harder to find."

Professor Winlaw's departure meant the ability to treat children needing heart transplants in Sydney would be set back by years, Dr Roberts said.
In the two years after the Legislature created incentives for Texas school districts to let outside agencies handle campus operations, dozens of San Antonio schools have shifted their management to nonprofits.

Several more such agreements are being drafted by officials who now must heed proposed new rules that would give the outside partner final authority over matters, such as hiring, that up to now have been left open to more collaborative language.

Some of the proposed changes floated by the state education commissioner, Mike Morath, are causing concern, confusion and calls for clarity by school officials here.

If the new rules trip up potential agreements in Texas A&M University-San Antonios ambitious plan to create so-called lab schools in seven high-poverty school districts, for example, extra state funding under the incentive system created by the Legislature in 2017 wont be available.

When you enter into a partnership, you dont leave one anothers culture and values and beliefs and support systems and all those things at the door. You take the best of both and create something new, even better, said one superintendent negotiating with the university, Roland Toscano of East Central Independent School District.

Contracts between schools and outside partners that are worded Moraths way would be like going to the altar and saying, One of you has to give up your religion and culture and values and adopt ours. Its set up for failure when you do it like that, Toscano added.

The law involving the incentives, Senate Bill 1882, awards more per-student funding and autonomy to schools that give management authority to a nonprofit group, charter school organization, higher education institution or government agency.

The proposed changes would require the management agreements approved by the Texas Education Agency to grant operating partners sole authority over campus staffing, curriculum decisions, student testing not required by the state and the campus budget.

The TEAs observation of the partnerships, which have popped up across the state over the past two years, spurred the proposal, said Jacob Kobersky, a TEA spokesman. They are intended to dispel confusion so the agency can send fewer applications back to school districts for clarification and to make sure districts thoroughly vet their prospective partners, he said.

Required Reading: Get San Antonio education news sent directly to your inbox

During a monthlong public comment period on the proposed rules, the TEA received almost 80 submissions, Kobersky said. The final rules will go into effect March 30 with some changes, and the agency will clarify how they will apply to existing contracts, he said.

A&M-San Antonio announced its ASPIRE initiative to tackle multiple problems shared by seven high-poverty districts. The ASPIRE partnerships can function without SB 1882, but the extra money available under the law is a big piece of the proposal, said Carl Sheperis, dean of A&M-San Antonios College of Education.

We cant do the full model were proposing without the funding, he said.

One immediate problem is that any ASPIRE partnership aimed at turning around failing schools would need to be fast-tracked.

Under the proposed rules, partners can still apply to run failing campuses in the 2020-21 school year if they are led by people whove managed academically successful campuses for at least three years. The next year, the outside agencies themselves would need to be at least 3 years old, with a track record of success or significant school improvement. That would leave out the nonprofit that A&M-San Antonio set up to run the ASPIRE schools.

On ExpressNews.com: A&M San Antonio announces partnerships with seven school districts

Toscano and Sheperis have been working with consultants who are in contact with TEA officials to reach a compromise on contract language, but if they cant, Toscano said, he and his board will have to do without an SB 1882 arrangement.

Some South Side school districts said the proposed rules have not affected their partnership negotiations with A&M-San Antonio.

Almost 80 schools statewide operate under the SB 1882 partnerships. Some of the schools had failed repeatedly under the states accountability system but were granted a reprieve from closure by switching to outside management.

The contracts vary, subject to negotiation by superintendents who must explain them to sometimes skeptical school boards or members of the public. Even before the proposed rule changes, many school districts around the state balked at the partnerships, citing concerns about giving up control of their schools.

Some have produced full-blown controversies.

In 2018, San Antonio ISD contracted with Democracy Prep Public Schools, a New York-based charter network, to form a spinoff nonprofit to run Stewart Elementary. The school was on the brink of closure after failing state standards four years in a row. Instead of using teachers with SAISD contracts, the charter network insisted that Stewart teachers be at-will Democracy Prep employees, sparking a furious local backlash and a lawsuit.

In the summer of 2018, the CEO of the city-funded early childhood education program, Pre-K 4 SA, emailed all of Bexar Countys traditional public school districts to gauge their interest in partnering under SB 1882 to create early childhood schools. All but Edgewood ISD rejected the offer.

SAISD, one of the earliest to jump on the SB 1882 bandwagon, has 22 schools run by eight nonprofits and is negotiating with the Alamo Colleges District for partnerships to manage three of its high schools.

On ExpressNews.com: Partnerships are changing San Antonio ISD

Mohammed Choudhury, SAISDs chief innovation officer, said the new rules wouldnt compromise the most important aspects of these partnerships, though he helped draft a letter sent by Superintendent Pedro Martinez and SAISD board President Patti Radle to Morath asking for changes to the proposal.

Were not fazed by this overall, Choudhury said. We just want them to be more nuanced, and we have experience doing this, relatively speaking.

SAISD has insisted on retaining control over some areas of its partnerships, such as the enrollment process and, in most of them, employee contracts. But its management agreements say the outside partners will operate schools in collaboration with the district, give partners authority over strategic planning and full autonomy with regard to the academic program. Some provisions, such as one granting SAISD the authority to review programs for special populations, refer to a mutually agreed-upon process.

The SAISD letter asked Morath to delete or change the proposed rule that school districts must grant their partners requests to dismiss employees.

Most of the staff at our partnership schools are district employees with legally protected contracts with due process protections, it stated.

It also took issue with granting partners sole authority over the entire school budget, saying partners must collaborate with school districts to predict enrollment numbers and calculate state and federal funding.

SB 1882 requires that school districts grant their partners internal charters to operate campuses. In SAISD, teachers and principals work with partner organizations to develop the charter documents, which outline the curriculum, educational model and other school rules but stipulate that the partners operate the schools. The school board must approve the charters, which cant be changed without the vote of school staff, while the management agreements approved by the TEA can be revoked if the charter isnt being followed.

Moraths proposed rules dont give away too much control to the outside agencies because of the safeguards in the school charters, Choudhury said. So the letter from Martinez and Radle also asked for changes to the proposed rule that partners complete charter applications without help from school districts.

You dont do the dance with us and develop a partnership if youre not down for our values, Choudhury said. So yeah, you can get the autonomy, but if youre going to be authorized by San Antonio ISD, you need to agree to those things.

Choudhury said he welcomed the additional rules for nonprofit partnerships.

I do think TEA is going to be tougher on them because theyre going to want to make sure these organizations are not faux organizations where the district is playing games with 1882 dollars and things like that, and the principals and schools dont have real autonomy to do what they do best, Choudhury said. They should scrutinize that.

amalik@express-news.net
At least seven people have been killed and 20 got injured in a blast in Quetta in Pakistans restive province of Balochistan on February 17. According to a local daily, the blast occurred, damaging several vehicles, when people were protesting near the Quetta Press Club.

Balochistan has been vulnerable to attacks in the recent past and, last month, a similar incident took place 15 people died and over 20 got injured in a blast occurred at a mosque in Quetta. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had demanded an immediate report on the blast while terming the incident as a condemnable "cowardly terrorist attack".

"I have demanded an immediate report on the condemnable cowardly terrorist attack in Quetta targeting a mosque & people at prayers. Have asked province government to ensure all medical facilities are provided to the injured, Khan tweeted after the blast.

Read: Pak PM Imran Terms Quetta Mosque Blast 'cowardly Terrorist Attack', Demands Report

US travel advisory on Balochistan

The United States had also advised its citizens to reconsider any visit to Pakistan and raised the travel alert to the highest level for provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. A local history of terrorism and ongoing ideological aspirations of violence by extremist elements have led to indiscriminate attacks on civilian as well as local military and police targets, the US State Department had said in a statement.

Read: US Tells Citizens To Reconsider Travel To Pakistan, No Visit To Balochistan

The department said that terrorists may attack with little or no warning targeting markets, shopping malls, military installations, airports, universities, tourist locations, schools, hospitals, places of worship, and government facilities. It added that the US government has limited ability to provide emergency services to its citizens in Pakistan due to the security environment.

Do not travel to Balochistan province. Active terrorist groups, an active separatist movement, sectarian conflicts, and deadly terrorist attacks against civilians, government offices, and security forces destabilize the province, including all major cities, the department advised.

Read: Houston Blast Prompts Safety Debate In City With No Zoning

Read: Afghanistan: 3 Military Personnel Among 5 Dead In Kabul Suicide Blast, Several Injured

(With ANI inputs)
Her trip comes ahead of Prince Andrew's 60th birthday celebrations this week

Travelled with a red handbag as well as a washbag covered in a playful dog-print

The royal wrapped up warm with a colourful silk scarf and a pair of sunglasses

The Queen was seen with a playful dog-printed wash bag as she was driven from Windsor Castle to Buckingham Palace today.

Her Majesty, 93, who was chauffeur-driven to her desired destination, wrapped up warm in a khaki coloured jacket, and added a blue and white floral patterned silk scarf and sun glasses to complete the look.

While the Queen relaxed in the back seats of the car, she travelled alongside two pieces of luggage, including a red handbag, and a small black wash-bag covered with a playful dog print.

The royal is set to celebrate Prince Andrew's 60th birthday with the rest of the family later on Wednesday this week.

The Queen, 93, appeared relaxed as she was driven from Windsor heading towards Buckingham Palace earlier today

The royal appeared to be travelling alongside a small red suitcase, as well as a playful dog printed wash bag

Having spent the weekend in Windsor, the Queen could be seen gesturing as she spoke with staff while driving back to Buckingham Palace.

She brightened up an otherwise miserable day by adding a pop of bright pink lipstick to her otherwise natural makeup.

The Queen's washbag appeared to have been tucked between the back seats of the car, and featured a playful dog print, with various different species on show.

She is known for her love of both dogs and horses, and has owned more than 30 corgis, many of them direct descendants of her first one, Susan - given to her as an 18th birthday present by her parents in 1944.

The royal could be seen gesturing as she spoke with staff while driving from Windsor earlier today

Her journey to Buckingham Palace comes ahead of Prince Andrew's 60th birthday on Wednesday, when it is expected the family will come together, although it is not yet clear where they will meet.

In November it was reported the monarch has scrapped plans to host a party for Prince Andrew to mark his 60th birthday in the wake of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

Instead, the Queen is believed to be holding a 'small family dinner' to mark the milestone.

The Duke of York was sacked from his royal duties following a now-infamous Newsnight interview, after which he was accused of showing a lack of empathy with Epstein's victims.

The Queen's washbag appeared to have been tucked onto the back seats of the car, and featured a playful dog print, with various different species on show

The Queen is said to be 'privately supportive' of her second son but also 'deeply frustrated' that the scandal is overshadowing the rest of the family's work.

Prince Harry, 35, and Meghan Markle, 38, will not return to the UK to celebrate with the rest of the family, but will send a gift and a video message to be played at his party, a source has claimed.

British media correspondent Neil Sean told Fox News it is an 'open secret' that the couple declined the invite to celebrate Harry's uncle's birthday.

'It's not very nice for the Queen as, whatever people say and think, [Andrew] is [still] her son and she wanted her close family around her,' he said.
A transgender woman who once shoved a policeman onto Tube tracks has been jailed for 12 weeks for spitting at another officer in her latest rampage.

Paris Valeta Bregazzi, 32, stormed into a department store in Kensington and smashed a china display before fleeing the shop and attacking a driver on the main road.

Picking up objects from the street she threw them at a car waiting at the traffic lights, causing two dents. The owner got out of the vehicle and confronted her but she said she did not care.

She then entered a pharmacy and picked up two shopping baskets and threw them at a shopper while screaming they should get their hair braided.

In 2018 she was handed a suspended sentence for pushing PC Sam Chegwin onto a Tube line the previous July and jailed weeks later for kneeing PC Florina Russ in the chest.

Paris Valeta Bregazzi (pictured) who pushed an off duty policeman on to the tracks just inches from the live rail at a London Underground station has been jailed for 12 weeks for spitting at another officer in her latest rampage

She has previous convictions including assault, harassment and shoplifting designer frocks and handbags dating back to 2007.

Jailing Bregazzi for a total of 12 weeks District Judge Michael Snow said: 'You have 90 sets of criminal convictions.

'You are a woman of significant violence. You regularly hit and hurt other people.

'At the time you committed this offence you were subject to supervision.

'Whilst under the influence of drugs - which makes things worse, not better - you damaged property, used baskets as a weapon to throw at the first lady and pushed her against the wall.

'Even more frighteningly, you pushed a woman into the middle of the road. You could have caused her significant danger.

'Finally, you assaulted a sergeant by spitting at him.

'These crimes are so serious only custody can be justified.

Paris Valeta Bregazzi (pictured) who pushed an off duty policeman on to the tracks just inches from the live rail at a London Underground station has been jailed for 12 weeks for spitting at another officer in her latest rampage

Bregazzi, appearing by video link, grinned as the sentence was passed and interrupted the judge to ask: 'So when is my release date, then?'

Judge Snow replied: 'About six weeks.

'Comply with the courts or you'll be back in more trouble.'

Matt Barrowcliffe, prosecuting, said: 'The defendant entered a store on Brompton Road.

'She threw over a table causing china to smash on the floor. The defendant left the store and walked towards the entrance.

'The defendant picked up something from the seats outside and threw them at a car. This caused two dents.

'The driver got out but she responded that she doesn't care. She then went inside a pharmacy, picked up two shopping baskets and threw them at members of the public, shouting at them to get their hair braided.'

'The defendant followed her outside and pushed her to a wall by her shoulders.

Jailing Bregazzi for a total of 12 weeks District Judge Michael Snow said: 'You have 90 sets of criminal convictions'

'The defendant then shoved another victim, pushing her using her hips and shoulder. She knocked the victim on the floor and into the road.

'When the defendant was taken to the police station she spat at the custody sergeant and was subsequently arrested for assaulting an emergency worker.'

Lesley Hayes, defending, said: 'There is evidence of remorse in this case.

'And what's particularly telling is what you heard from the mental health team, that Miss Bregazzi was suffering from withdrawal symptoms.

'She appears to have made efforts, positive efforts, to come off the crystal meth. What could have been the beginning of a turning point has catapulted her back to court.

'She asks you to take into account that she is remorseful, has made efforts and is suffering with borderline personality disorder.'

In 2017 Bregazzi was heard angrily shouting at another passenger at Hanger Lane: 'You are just a black African slave, you are a n*****.'

When PC Sam Chegwin told her to 'calm down' and pushed her in the chest to keep her away from him, Bregazzi, who had recently had breast implants, dumped the officer down into the tracks.

PC Chegwin's head landed two inches from the live rail line but he scrambled back onto the platform and arrested Bregazzi, who told officers she had downed four bottles of Italian bubbly and taken drugs during a wild night out.

A train passed through minutes later and the officer was 'extremely fortunate' to not have been killed.

Weeks later Bregazzi was arrested for kneeing PC Russ in the chest while being arrested for throwing a brick at a parked car.

In an interview she explained she was 'not in a good mood'.

Five days after that incident, while on bail, she sprayed Paco Rabanne perfume in the face of security officer Rashpal Mudahar at Waterloo station.

Asked why she did it, Bregazzi said: 'She shouldn't have said I smelled, the stupid b***h.'

In 2016 she tried on thousands of pounds worth of designer dresses before making off with a 895 Peter Pilotto Kia Print dress.

Bregazzi, of Haringey, north London, admitted two counts of criminal damage, one of common assault and one of assaulting a police officer.
WFH for Private offices in Delhi, restaurants & bars to be shut as Omicron-led to sudden rise in Covid cases

All 406 Wuhan evacuees housed at ITBP Quarantine, to be discharged today

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Feb 17: All 406 people, who are housed at an ITBP quarantine facility after being brought back from Wuhan, have tested negative for novel Coronavirus in the latest sample examination and will be discharged in a phased manner beginning Monday, officials said.

The final samples of all the people quarantined at the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) facility here were collected by a team of doctors on Friday. The final coronavirus test reports of all 406 people have been found negative, an ITBP spokesperson said on Sunday.

All 406 persons are going to be discharged in a phased manner from Monday onwards based on the advisory issued by the Ministry of Health with due medical procedures and protocols, he said. The group includes seven Maldives citizens.

406 Indians back from China test negative for coronavirus

There are seven children including an infant in the group. A total of 650 people were brought back from Wuhan in China on February 1 and 2 in two 747 Boeing Air India aircraft after the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus in China. While 406 of these are being looked after at the ITBP facility, rest are at an Army centre at Manesar in Haryana.

The death toll from COVID-19 outbreak in China has climbed to 1,665 after 142 more people died, mostly in the worst-hit Hubei province, Chinese officials said on Sunday.

NEWS AT NOON, FEBRUARY 17th, 2020

There have been 68,500 cases so far in the neighbouring country. India has so far reported three confirmed cases of the virus, all in Kerala.

Not concealing coronavirus info: China refutes US charge

One of the three medical students, who had tested positive for novel coronavirus infection and were treated at a hospital in Kerala, has been discharged after recovery.

Passengers arriving in flights from China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Japan and South Korea were being screened for possible exposure to the respiratory virus at 21 identified airports in India.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, February 17, 2020, 9:01 [IST]
Japan invented the zombie company: a once proud and innovative name that has lost its way and staggers from one crisis to another. But has Asia's second biggest economy now created the zombie privatization?

It is worthwhile to ask as Japan Post Holdings, the mail-to-banking conglomerate, lurches into scandal -- this time involving its insurance unit overcharging for premiums. As investigations spring to life, Tokyo is extending the timeline for divesting further from this 145-year-old creature -- and reminding us why Japan's economy is losing energy yet again.

That Japan Post is still a problem might surprise overseas investors who thought it had been tamed. Getting the nation's biggest employer -- more than 400,000 staffers and about 24,700 branches at its peak -- out of government hands was Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's crowning achievement and Tokyo's most epochal reform in decades.

Until meddling bureaucrats hobbled the process, that is.

Though current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe talks a great game of disruption, it was Koizumi who took action during his 2001-06 premiership. At the time, Japan Post boasted more than $2.4 trillion of private savings, which gave rise to concerns that it stymied competition not just for Citibank and HSBC but domestic giants Nomura and Tokyo-Mitsubishi.

The bigger worry was how politicians used postal savings to fund pet projects, a dynamic that fueled white elephants around the nation. Most of the savings and life insurance cash Japan Post took in was channeled to the Ministry of Finance. It helped finance wasteful infrastructure projects, small businesses loans and low-interest mortgages for homeowners.

Naturally, politicians schemed for access to those funds to finance public works projects in home districts. All the largesse being doled out, and the multiple layers of leverage they fed, became hard to track and manage. Once the 1980s asset bubble burst, untold numbers of projects went sour, putting Japan Post cash in harm's way. Mountains of debt piled up to cause Tokyo's lost decade.

Junichiro Koizumi speaks at a special parliamentary committee on postal privatisation at the upper house in Tokyo in October 2005.  Reuters

Koizumi was right to get postal savings money as far away from politicians and bureaucrats as possible. Once in the premiership, he got to work. The bill passed through parliament in 2005, followed by a 2007 split into separate companies -- postal services, a bank, a life insurance outfit -- all later intended to be privatized.

And then Japan Inc. moved in to hinder change. First, bureaucrats limited the banking unit's latitude to move hundreds of billions of dollars out of government bonds. The fear was a surge in debt yields. But the implication was that Japan Post was beginning to look like privatization in name only.

Even after two tranches of privatization, the Japanese government still holds 57% and -- with the five-year postponement just announced -- we are now looking at a March 2028 deadline for Tokyo to trim its stake to just over one-third. Meanwhile, here we are with a scandal demonstrating how the big events of 2005 are still going awry.
Photograph: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

More than 1,000 former US justice department officials, including some of the top government lawyers in the country, have called on attorney general William Barr to resign in the wake of the Roger Stone scandal.

Related: William Barr: how the attorney general became Trump's enabler-in-chief

Some 1,143 alumni of the Department of Justice posted to Medium on Sunday a group letter that tore into Barr for doing the presidents personal bidding in imposing on prosecutors the recommendation of a reduced sentence for Stone, a longtime friend of Donald Trump who was convicted of lying to and obstructing Congress and threatening a witness in the Russia investigation.

Barr, the officials said, had damaged the reputation of the department for integrity and the rule of law.

The searing letter is the latest twist in a rapidly spiraling constitutional crisis that began earlier this week when Barr imposed his new sentencing memo, slashing a seven- to nine-year proposed prison term suggested by career prosecutors. In the fallout, the four prosecutors who had handled the case resigned in disgust.

The letter carries weight because its signatories are exclusively drawn from past DoJ public servants. Among them are several former US attorneys appointed by both Republican and Democratic presidents and section chiefs of key elements of the justice department including its antiterrorism unit.

They write that it is unheard of for top leaders of the justice department to overrule line prosecutors in order to give preferential treatment to close associates of the president. They say that amounts to political interference that is anathema to the departments core mission and to its sacred obligation to ensure equal justice under the law.

Barrs action amounted to an existential threat to the republic, the former officials say: Governments that use the enormous power of law enforcement to punish their enemies and reward their allies are not constitutional republics; they are autocracies.

Story continues

Barr tried to squash the perception he had been leaned on by Trump by calling on the president to stop tweeting about criminal prosecutions. He told ABC News such unrestrained comments were making it impossible for me to do my job.

But speculation continued to swirl that Barr had kowtowed to the president. Demoralisation spread rapidly through the DoJ, intensifying when it emerged that Barr has ordered outside prosecutors to re-examine criminal cases against Trump associates including former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

The president thinks Andy McCabe should have been punished because he lied and lied several times to the investigators Kellyanne Conway

Despite palpable distress among both serving and former officials, and multiple warnings that Trump and Barr are threatening the very rule of law, the White House has continued to inflame the situation. Trump counsellor Kellyanne Conway on Sunday claimed the president was a victim of a two-tier criminal justice system that was actively undermining him and his associates.

Conway used Fox News Sunday to pour fuel on the fire. The truth, she claimed, was that far from making a dangerous intervention in criminal cases involving his friends and perceived enemies, Trump himself is the victim of the politicisation of the justice system.

If youre President Trump or people associated with him theres prosecutions that have gone one way, Conway said, alluding to the original sentence recommended for Stone which she contrasted with the decision announced by the justice department on Friday to drop charges against former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe.

Directly contradicting her own claim that Trump, despite his vast powers, was not engaging in political interference in criminal cases, Conway proceeded to interfere in a criminal case. She called McCabe a serial liar and leaker and went on: The president thinks that Andy McCabe should have been punished because he lied and lied several times to the investigators.

McCabe, a deputy to fired FBI director James Comey and a key figure in the Russia investigation, was fired by Trump in March 2018, two days shy of retirement.

Trump and Barr seen in the White House in November. Photograph: Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images

The furore over Trump ignoring protocols that have kept a distance between the White House and federal prosecutors since Watergate began when the president slammed the proposed sentence for Stone as horrible and very unfair. Hours later, Barr announced that he was imposing a reduced recommended sentence.

Trump then made the constitutionally dubious claim that as president he has the legal right to stick his finger into any criminal case.

On Saturday he duly re-entered the fray over McCabe, claiming falsely that DoJ inspector general Michael Horowitz recommended the former FBI mans firing. Horowitz referred criticisms of McCabe to prosecutors but did not recommend dismissal.

On Sunday Marc Short, chief of staff to vice-president Mike Pence, made further contentious comments on CNNs State of the Union. Like Conway, he claimed without evidence that criminal justice was skewed against the president.

Related: Dark Towers review: Deutsche Bank, Donald Trump and a must-read mystery

The scales of justice arent balanced any more, he said, when someone like Roger Stone gets a prosecution that suggests a nine-year jail sentence and candidly someone like Andy McCabe who also lied to federal investigators gets a lucrative contract here at CNN. People say, How is this fair? and thats the source of the presidents frustration.

The row has also become a major talking point among Democrats vying to take on Trump in November. Former vice-president Joe Biden told NBCs Meet the Press: No one, no one, including Richard Nixon, has weaponised the Department of Justice as much as Trump.

The crisis is personal for Biden, given the efforts to coerce Ukraine into investigating him and his son Hunter which led to Trumps impeachment. Last week it was revealed that Barr has set up a channel to review information gathered in Ukraine by Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani relating to the Bidens.

To have a thug like Rudy Giuliani reporting to the attorney general  I mean this is, this is almost like a really bad sitcom, Biden said.

Any self-respecting Republican or Democratic top-flight lawyer would have just resigned by now, in my view. Its just the things that are being done are so beyond the pale.
News18 Wrap brings you some of the biggest stories on News18.com today to help you stay updated at all times.

In case you missed it

New Date: A Delhi court on Monday issued fresh death warrants for the four convicts in the 2012 Delhi gang-rape and murder case and set a new date for their hanging: March 3 at 6a.m. This is the third time that death warrants have been issued, after the previous two were stayed because of pending legal options for the convicts. Read more.

Coronavirus Outbreak: A total of 406 people, including 192 women, 204 men and seven children were evacuated from China and kept at the ITBP Chhawla camp for 17 days. Doctors say they took precaution beyond the usually required quarantine of 14 days. All inmates were screened three times and were given discharge certificates only after they tested negative in all of them. Read more.

Shaheen Bagh: The Supreme Court on Monday said that that democracy works on expression of views but there are lines and boundaries. The apex court, while hearing a plea against Shaheen Bagh road blockade, added that SC isn't saying that the residents can't protest but the "question is where can they demonstrate". Read more.

Kashmir Row: India on Monday issued a strong demarche to Turkey over its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's comments expressing concern over the prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir and comparing the "struggle" of Kashmiri people with that of the fight by Turkey during the World War I. Read more.

Gargi College: The Delhi High Court on Monday sought the response of the Centre and CBI on a plea seeking a court-monitored probe by the agency into the alleged molestation of students during a cultural festival at Delhi University's all-women Gargi College last week. Read more.

Agree or disagree

He has been receiving brickbats, quite literally, from opponents. Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Kanhaiya Kumar has faced nine attacks on his cavalcade in the past fortnight during the course of his Jan Gan Man Yatra in Bihar. The former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) president is on a statewide campaign to oppose the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Population Register (NPR) and National Register of Citizens (NRC). But despite attacks, Kanhaiya has been unrelentingly moving ahead and holding rallies from one district to another. He began his journey from Chanpatia in West Champaran district on January 30 and is scheduled to conclude it on February 27 with a rally in the state capital. Read the piece by Ashok Mishra, who argues that Kanhaiya may be the secular symbol to unite splintered opposition against BJP-led NDA in Bihar.
Friends of slain mother Karen Ristevski said they were shocked by her daughter siding with her father Borce despite him pleading guilty to killing his wife.

Sarah Ristevski's told 60 Minutes - in an interview she was reportedly paid as much as $250,000 - she was not 'emotionally ready' to accept her father killed her mother.

Sarah was speaking publicly about her mother's death for the first time nearly four years after her father killed her at their Melbourne home and dumped her body in bushland.

One childhood friend of Mrs Ristevski, known only as Sam, said the broadcast of the interview had left her with negative emotions.

Borce Ristevski, 55, killed his wife Karen (left) at their home Avondale Heights, Melbourne, in June 2016, before dumping her body in a regional park. Pictured with their daughter Sarah, who was 21 at the time

'It makes me angry but it also makes me very, very sad because I had hoped to find closure last night - I feel for Stephen, Karen's brother, and the rest of the family,' the friend told A Current Affair.

The slain mother's brother Stephen Williams had called for Borce Ristevski, who had his nine-year prison term increased to 13 years in December, to face capital punishment, which has long been abolished in Australia.

Another close friend of Karen's, Sharryn, said Sarah's unwavering support for her father came as a shock given the relationship the mother and daughter had.

'From what Karen used to say, they spoke on the phone at least six to eight times a day,' Sharryn said.

Pictured: Sarah with her father, Borce, as a young girl. She said she has always loved her father and always will. Sarah said in a controversial segment on Sunday night she found it difficult to comprehend her father was guilty

One childhood friend of Mrs Ristevski, known only as Sam, (pictured) said the broadcast of the high-priced interview had left her angered and sad

'They were very, very close, so it very much surprised me it was one-sided.'

The body of Mrs Ristevski was found in bushland in Mount Macedon, north of Melbourne, in January 2017  eight months after she went missing.

Borce Ristevski has never disclosed how or why he killed his wife of 27 years.

'I don't like to talk about what happened. We don't talk about it. We don't think about it,' Sarah Ristevski told 60 Minutes.

Borce Ristevski (pictured) was a pallbearer at the funeral of his wife Karen in March 2017

An emotional Sarah Ristevski told 60 Minutes reporter Liz Hayes (pictured) she still struggles to comprehend her father's role in her mother's death

'Even though he's pleaded guilty I find it hard to comprehend that he is guilty. I think if he were in my position he would support me.'

Channel 9 spokesman Terry Stuart said the network would not comment on whether 'interview talent' on any of its programs had or had not been paid for their appearance.

As reporters rushed to interview Ms Ristevski following her father's last-minute decision to plead guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter last year, speculation was rife that she had been 'snapped-up' by a high paying news program.

Industry insiders told Daily Mail Australia the figure being discussed for the interview was between $150,000 and $250,000.

Karen Ristevski was likely killed inside the couple's Avondale Heights home where detectives converged outside on February 21, 2017 (pictured)

Borce Ristevski and his daughter Sarah in 2016 before he was convicted of killing his wife.

'It would have got them some viewers, but most of them would have thought it was garbage and won't come back next time when they do one of those promos,' a well-heeled insider said.

'They ran it over the full hour, even though she said nothing ... they wasted their money.'

High-priced payments to 'worthwhile talent' by flagship current affairs programs are nothing new.

Lindy Chamberlain, the Beaconsfield miners Todd Russell and Brant Webb, and survivors and families of the Lindt Cafe Siege in Sydney all reportedly received large payments for interviews.

Television reporter Cameron Baud (right) boldly asked Borce Ristevski (centre) if he had killed Karen, bringing a media conference to a tearful end. His interview informed viewers more about Borce than a rumoured high-priced 'tell all' with his daughter

In chains: Borce Ristevski is led into court in March last year. He remains in isolation in jail for fear he will be bashed again

In 2018, Barnaby Joyce and his partner Vikki Campion's tell-all interview with 60 Minutes reportedly netted them $150,000.

The family of Colombian drug mule Cassie Sainsbury was rumoured to have scored about $200,000 for their 60 Minutes interview in 2017.

But while viewers may feel none-the-wiser after watching the Ristevski interview, television bosses at Nine are likely to be declaring the money well spent, another insider said.

'Nationally, 60 Minutes' ratings are up about 100,000 viewers week on week - 688,000 versus 772,000 last night - so they will consider it money well spent,' a source said.

Sarah Ristevski led the procession at the funeral, holding a framed picture of her shop owner and fashion designer mum

Mystery remains about why Karen Ristevski (pictured) was killed by her husband Borce, who pleaded guilty to her manslaughter

Dress shop owner Karen disappeared from the family home in Avondale Heights, north-west Melbourne, on June 29, 2016. Pictured with Borce and Sarah

Borce, meanwhile, feigned innocence, lied to the police, the public and his daughter, and even carried his wife's coffin at her funeral, until admitting to manslaughter on the eve of his murder trial in 2019.

In the 60 Minutes interview, Ms Ristevski said she 'wouldn't go there' when further pressed on her father's guilt.

Channel 7 reporter Cameron Baud had put the very same question to Borce himself the day after his wife vanished.

Known as the 'Harvester of Sorrow' among news reporters, Baud's questioning remains the most compelling insight into the killer's mind even though he didn't answer the question.

'He got more out of it with no answers than an hour of bulls**t last night,' an insider said.
The toll in forest fire in Keralas Thrissur district rose to three with the death of one more forest guard, police said on Monday. Two guards were burnt to death on Sunday while trying to douse the fire in Desmangalam range. One more succumbed to burns late on Sunday and two others were admitted to a hospital, they said.

The guards got into flames while they were trying to control a wildfire which began on Sunday afternoon. They were trying to douse the fire manually but the accompanying wind trapped them, a senior forest official said. State Forest Minister K Raju condoled the death of guards and promised all help to the families of the deceased. The deceased have been identified as P Divakaran, Velayudhan and K Shankaran.

The fire has been put under control now, according to latest reports.

Forest officials said the sudden hike in temperature might have triggered the massive fire. For the last few days, mercury rose steadily in the state with temperature going up from 2 degree Celsius to four degree Celsius. On Sunday, Palakkad recorded 38 degree C, unusual for the month of February. Some areas have already been witnessing water shortage due to spike in temperature. Metrological department said climatic change and changing wind pattern were reasons for the unusual swing in temperatures.

The state had witnessed two consecutive floods in last two years.

As the temperature rose sharply the state has put restrictions on trekking and other activities in forests. In 2018, 23 people, mostly trekkers, were burnt to death in a forest fire in Kurangani hills along Tamil Nadu-Kerala borders.
Kathmandu, Feb 17 : Nepal has officially proposed a review of the 1947 agreement among Nepal, India and Britain over the recruitment and deployment of Gurkha soldiers and their perks and facilities.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on February 12 sent a letter to London, seeking a review of the tripartite agreement, reported The Kathmandu Post.

Nepal's official request for a review comes months after Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli first raised the issue during his meeting in June last year with the then British Prime Minister Theresa May in London.

After the meeting between Oli and May, Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali had said that Nepal had proposed a review of the agreement, to which May had responded "positively". A joint statement issued after the meeting, however, stopped short of mentioning that Oli had raised the issue. Upon his arrival at Tribhuvan International Airport, Oli himself revealed that the UK did not accept the proposal.

The recent letter to the British government is a result of continued pressure on the Nepal government by Gurkha veterans, who have served a March 15 deadline to form a joint talks team between the two nations as per the recommendations made by a joint technical team in 2018 on resolving the long-pending issue.

A senior official at the Prime Minister's Office said that the letter was sent to the UK for their consideration as per the policy of the present government to scrap or review all discriminatory treaties and pacts signed with other countries and make them applicable to the changed context.

"We are following up on the matter in line with discussions held between the prime ministers of Nepal and Britain last year," the official told the Post on condition of anonymity. "We are equally concerned about the grievances of Gurkha veterans." The tripartite pact among Nepal, India and Britain assures that all perks, remuneration, facilities and pension schemes for Nepalis serving in the British and Indian armies will be equal to those of British and Indian nationals. However, Gurkha veterans have long alleged that Britain has put in place discriminatory policies in remuneration.

After the independence of India, the recruitment of Gurkha soldiers was organised by way of the 1947 tripartite agreement among Nepal, India and Britain. The agreement also paved the way for the distribution between India and Britain of the then Gurkha brigades serving in British India. Thus, the 2nd, 6th, 7th and 10th Gurkha Rifles became part of the British Army after India gained Independence while the rest were retained by Independent India.
Montreal (AFP) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau canceled an official visit to the Caribbean at the last minute due to indigenous protests that have paralyzed railways in eastern Canada for more than a week, his office said Sunday.

Following a tour of Africa and Europe, which wrapped up on Friday, Trudeau was scheduled to visit Barbados on Monday and Tuesday as part of Canada's bid for a seat on the UN Security Council.

"The Prime Minister will no longer attend the CARICOM Intersessional Heads of Government Meeting this week," his office said in a statement. Foreign minister Francois-Philippe Champagne will go in his place.

Trudeau called for a crisis meeting Monday morning with the ministers of finance, public safety, transport and indigenous services, among others, to try and find a peaceful solution.

The prime minister has been criticized by the opposition for his repeated absences while protesters have blocked roads, rails and ports across the country and occupied government offices in a bid to "shut down Canada."

Canadian National Railway (CN), the third largest railroad in North America, moves an estimated Can$250 billion (US$190 billion) worth of goods across Canada each year.

The demonstrators support certain leaders of the indigenous Wet'suwet'en First Nations people, who are fighting construction of the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline through their traditional lands in westernmost Canada.

The pipeline is part of a Can$40 billion natural gas export project that also includes a new Pacific coast terminal.

Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller visited one of the roadblocks in Ontario on Saturday. He spent all day talking with protesters and Mohawk First Nation officials.

He said the discussions had produced modest progress, but no blockades were lifted.

Several authority figures, including Conservative opposition leader Andrew Scheer, have called for law enforcement to intervene and lift the blockades, but Trudeau's administration has rejected this option.

The ongoing protests are an important test for Trudeau's efforts for reconciliation with First Nations people, which he has said is a priority.
Cnwjob.com scored 40 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2/5.0 Stars by Social Team

This CoolSocial report was updated on 2 Mar 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

The total number of people who shared the cnwjob homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the cnwjob homepage on Twitter + the total number of cnwjob followers (if cnwjob has a Twitter account). The total number of people who shared the cnwjob homepage on StumbleUpon. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the cnwjob homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if cnwjob has a Facebook fan page). The total number of people who shared the cnwjob homepage on Delicious.

Basic Information

PAGE TITLE  DESCRIPTION , KEYWORDS OTHER KEYWORDS more, adobe flash player , adobe flash player, adobe flash, adobe flash player, adobe, adobe flash



CoolSocial advanced keyword analysis tool is able to detect and analyze every keyword on each page of a site. The keywords meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The title found in the head section of the homepage. The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. The description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage.

Domain and Server

DOCTYPE XHTML 1.0 Transitional CHARSET AND LANGUAGE UTF-8 DETECTED LANGUAGE SERVER Microsoft-IIS/6.0 (ASP.NET) OPERATIVE SYSTEM Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2003

The language of cnwjob.com as detected by CoolSocial algorithms. Operative System running on the server. Character set and language of the site. Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) 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 cnwjob.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

Facebook Timeline is the new layout of Facebook pages. The type of Facebook page. The description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users. A Facebook page link can be found in the homepage or in the robots.txt file. The URL of the found Facebook page. The total number of people who tagged or talked about website Facebook page in the last 7-10 days. The total number of people who like website Facebook page.

Twitter account link

TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND
The eroding shorelines of Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

February 17,2020 | Source: The Hindu Business Line

Thiruvananthapurams Shanghumugham Beach is shrinking by the day, as the sea is continually pressed inland by a combination of climate-related and man-made causes. On weekends, there is hardly any elbow room on Shanghumugham Beach in Keralas capital, Thiruvananthapuram. The smell of roasted corn hangs in the air, vendors mill around the walkway that leads to the beach, families lounge around a 35m-long sculpture of a reclining naked woman  Jalakanyaka by Kanaayi Kunhiraman  that seems to strain against Keralas conservative ethos yet has come to be one of the most recognised landmarks in the city. It is a familiar beach scene. The only problem is  there isnt much beach left. Every year, I feel the sea is drawing closer, says Indu, a 44-year-old Thiruvananthapuram resident who has been coming to Shanghumugham since her childhood. The beach is so much smaller than it used to be. We would come here to get away from the congestion in the city, and now look how congested the beach has become.



She points to a row of fishing boats lined up along a part of the shore usually reserved for people. The boats were moved after vast tracts of the Shangumugham shoreline were eroded following Cyclone Ockhi, which hit the Kerala coast in December 2017. A nearby road, which runs parallel to the beach, bears testimony to Ockhis fury  rope and traffic cones cordon off the traffic from long sections of the road that were washed away by the waves. Even now, the waves are visibly rough  but they do not deter visitors. Beach-goers play a game of racing back to the shore before the water reaches their ankles, laughing aloud when the wave beats them to it. Others try to venture into the water, holding hands with their friends but lose balance when the wave pulls back into the sea. The whistles of coastguards pierce the air, instructing the crowds to move away from the water. Families with toddlers are turned away from the water.



Standing under a wide umbrella, Shishupal, a coast guard, watches his colleague admonish youngsters taking selfies with their backs to the waves. Earlier, we would merely look on as people played and swam since the sea is quieter at this time of the year, but now we must strictly prevent them from going into the water, he says. We cant trust the waves anymore. After the [2004] tsunami and Ockhi, we rarely see the sea calm. Shishupal has been working as a coast guard since the early 90s and remembers how he would have to walk for about a kilometre to reach the sea in Shanghumugham. Since then, he notes that both the height and force of the waves have increased, not just during the monsoon months of June to September, when the sea is usually rough, but all through the year. Its getting harder to predict how the sea will behave, he says.



Part of the notion of Kerala being gods own country is drawn from the abundance of its water resources. Bordered by the Arabian Sea on the west, Kerala has 44 rivers, 34 lakes, scenic lagoons, mangroves and estuarine wetlands, and also receives heavy rain during the monsoons. But having been battered by severe floods in 2018 and 2019, the states relationship with water is fast changing. An article titled Impact of sea level rise and coastal slope on shoreline change along the Indian coast, published in 2017 in the international journal Natural Hazards, noted that the highest level of coastal erosion was observed in West Bengal. Kerala was a close second. Other studies have observed that the western coast of India was mostly stable, except for Keralas coastline. Of Keralas 590-km coastline, 63 per cent faces sea erosion.



The enforcement of the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification is lax. Among nine districts observed to be affected by sea erosion in Kerala, the maximum (23 per cent) has been reported in Thiruvananthapuram. The state capital has a 35-km coastline, and is one of the densest districts in terms of population  factors that exacerbate the vulnerability of its people at the time of a natural disaster. Cyclone Ockhi, for instance, threw into sharp relief the dangers faced by populous settlements along the coast. Houses and other buildings were washed away in areas such as Valiyathura and Shanghumugham, and families identified as vulnerable were offered ?10 lakh by the state to relocate to safer areas. But many are loath to leave the coast.



What kind of land will you get these days with ?10 lakh in this city? Will it cover the cost of building a house? Who will pay for my transport back and forth from the shore? asks Gilbert (59), a grizzled fisherman who lives further up the coast in Shanghumugham. His house faces the sea, separated from the beach by a narrow road. Why are you coming now, when the sea is safe? Come in June and see what we have to live with. His neighbour comes out of her house on hearing Gilberts raised voice. She squints and points to a boat in the distance. Thats where the sea would begin, she says. Youd have to walk that far to get to the sea.



Gilbert also remembers the beach being a vaster expanse. During the 80s, there would be swathes of anchovies, sardines and other small fish drying under the sun. We would have dinner and lie down to sleep on the shore, he recalls. Now there are hardly any fish to catch, let alone to dry. And the sea is knocking at our doors. He attributes the recent disturbances in the sea to the Vizhinjam International Seaport, which is currently under construction. The port is located about 18km further south from Shanghumugham beach. Ever since the harbour came up, the waves have become rougher. Because of the breakwater in the harbour, the waves have nowhere to go and are hitting us harder. A nearly 310km stretch (close to 60 per cent) of Keralas coastline has been protected by seawalls, groynes and offshore breakwaters. Experts have long maintained that fortifications of this kind affect the flow of the currents around the shore, resulting in the intensification of waves to the north of the breakwater and subsequent erosion of that shoreline.



But the residents insist that fortifications are the only way they can save their homes. Gilbert points to a mark on the wall of his house, about a metre from the ground. Last monsoon, the waters rose and came into my house till here. We told the government to put in seawalls but they said they didnt have money. Sacks of absorbent clay are lined up along the road in front of his house. We have to make do with this instead of a seawall, but the only thing protecting us are our prayers. On the Observatory Hills opposite the Kanakakunnu Palace, where the office of the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority is located, Sekhar L Kuriakose, member secretary, clarifies that what is happening in Shanghumugham is not representative of what is occurring elsewhere along Keralas coastline which is beset by issues of rampant coastal regulation violations, destruction of adjoining wetlands and sea surges. The erosion and accretion process is a cyclical one. Shanghumughams shore will erode as well as build up eventually. I wouldnt call it a classic example of climatic variation, he says. Shanghumugham is an interplay between whatever is happening in terms of changes in the Arabian Sea, in terms of temperature regimes, wind patterns and the different anthropogenic factors  such as the Vizhinjam harbour, increased built-up area along the coastline, and so on, he notes.



The average temperature in the Arabian Sea seems to be rising, he adds. Recent studies have attributed the rise in temperature to the rapid warming of the Indian Ocean, among other climate change signals, but the root cause of the rapid warming remains unclear. If the temperature is increasing, it means the air will have more moisture and the sea will have more wind, and this manifests as rough waves, he says. Recent studies also note an increase in wind velocity and wind-related disasters across the coast. Our construction practices are not wind-resilient, so weve been getting a lot of cases of rooftops being blown away and electric poles and trees falling on houses, he says. He also adds that fish stocks have been dropping because of overfishing, degradation of marine environment, ocean warming and so on. As a result, fishermen are forced to go into deeper seas, adding another layer of vulnerability to a population at risk. Even during Cyclone Ockhi, what began as a depression in the Arabian Sea quickly changed course and became a cyclonic storm, hitting the Kerala coast without warning. Fishermen who had already set out for the sea couldnt be notified in advance. Even now, families in Valiyathura wait for news from their kin who went missing at sea back then.



Other experts have pointed out that seawalls and breakwaters interrupt the accretion of sediments along the coast, thereby preventing the coast from being replenished. Moreover, the intensive quarrying for rocks needed for such structures contributed to the denudation of hillsides in the Western Ghats, leading to an unprecedented number of landslides in Keralas hilly districts such as Wayanad and Idukki during the floods of 2018. Furthermore, the dams in Keralas rivers that drain into the Arabian Sea have been faulted with preventing the flow of sediments to the coast. The picture that emerges of Keralas many-layered vulnerabilities is dire. Studies suggest that the sea level may rise by 15-38cm in Kerala by mid-21st century. From a disaster managers perspective, its more like a cautionary note on a cigarette packet, Kuriakose reflects. Were aware of the dangers. And we now know yet another cause for the danger. Back on the shore, Gilbert leans against a sack of clay and shrugs. This beach is my home. The sea is my livelihood, he says. Im not going anywhere.
American passengers were taken off a cruise liner on Feb. 16 to fly home after being quarantined for two weeks off Japan.

An announcement aboard the Diamond Princess, where 3,700 passengers and crew have been held since Feb. 3, told Americans to get ready to disembark on Sunday evening for charter flights home. Passengers wearing masks could later be seen waving through the windows of buses parked near the ship.

Of the roughly 400 Americans on the cruise, more than 40 are infected with the virus and will stay in Japan for treatment, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute on Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

They are not going to go anywhere. Theyre going to be in hospitals in Japan, Fauci told the CBS News program Face the Nation. People who have symptoms will not be able to get on the evacuation plane. Others are going to be evacuated starting imminently to air force bases in the United States.

Kyodo News Agency said the flights carrying U.S. passengers left Haneda Airport at around 1700 ET.

Canadian, Italian, South Korean and Hong Kong passengers were expected to follow soon after their governments also announced plans to repatriate passengers.

Leaving in a few hours. No details. Might be going to Texas or Nebraska, U.S. passenger Gay Courter told Reuters.

Seventy new coronavirus cases were confirmed on board, bringing the total on the ship to 355, by far the largest cluster of cases outside China.

Hazmat Suits

Onboard the Diamond Princess, American passenger Matthew Smith posted a photo on Twitter showing buses parked on the shore to take U.S. nationals to the airport. American officials in hazmat suits and masks had visited his room to check if he would disembark. He said he wanted to stay.

The ship, owned by Carnival Corp., has been held in the port of Yokohama and those with the disease have been taken to a hospital on shore. No one from the ship has died.

Countries that have announced plans to fly their citizens home from the ship say they will take them only if they are symptom-free, and quarantine them on arrival.

The U.S. Department of Defense is preparing to receive two flights with passengersone to land at Travis Air Force Base, California and the other at Kelly Field/Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.

The evacuees will be subject to a 14day quarantine.

Another cruise ship, Holland Americas MS Westerdam, docked in Cambodia on Thursday after being rejected by ports elsewhere. An 83-year-old American passenger tested positive upon arriving in Malaysia, authorities there said. A second test requested by the cruise operator confirmed the finding.

Taiwan reported its first fatality on Sunday. The first fatality in Europe was reported on Saturday, an 80-year-old Chinese man who died at a Paris hospital.

By Engen Tham and Stella Qiu
The driver of a stolen truck hit a police officer who was on patrol overnight in Southeast Portland, authorities said.

Portland police said the driver T-boned the passenger side of the officers car about midnight in the Buckman neighborhood of the inner east side.

The truck driver ran away, police said, and paramedics treated the officer at the scene. Another officer later drove him to a hospital for treatment of injuries that didnt threaten his life.

Police unsuccessfully searched for the driver. The truck, a Ford F-350 stolen in Vancouver on Feb. 1, was seized as evidence, according to police.

Police have not released a description of the truck driver. They also havent publicly identified the officer who was hurt.

Police urge anyone who has information about the crash or truck driver to call 503-823-3333. Callers should reference case No. 20-54823.

-- Jim Ryan; jryan@oregonian.com; 503-221-8005; @Jimryan015

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
A school voucher system is an efficient way for the government to make the most of the billions it spends on education, and to eradicate poor schools and teachers.

This is the view of Hermann Pretorius, campaign coordinator at the South Africa Institute of Race Relations (IRR).

According to the IRR, school vouchers can be distributed to parents in the form of smart cards and the money can only be spent on education.

The system, which is tantamount to a universal bursary system, will empower parents to buy schooling wherever they chose instead of the current system where the state decides.

The idea will introduce competition throughout the education system, as schools will have to compete for voucher-bearing customers in the form of pupils.

Schools unable to attract or retain pupils will have to close. This will ensure that schools are run in the interests of pupils, rather than in the interests of teachers.

System will improve the current schooling system

Speaking to CNBC Africa, Pretorius said the quality of education in many South African schools is lacking  and is hurting learners chances of receiving a good education.

He added that the ANC governments ideological approach of gaining more and more power with regards to education is also hurting the system.

Parents whose children are not doing well at school have a very difficult route to find accountability, because of how the schooling system works, he added.

The problem is that schools are ensured of funding whether they perform well or not. In most cases teachers are also ensured of jobs whether they perform or not, he said.

He said parents must therefore be given more power to hold schools and teachers accountable.

The current amount of R250 billion that the state spends each year on paying teachers and running schools should be redirected to parents in the form of vouchers worth some R12,000 each.

Hermann Pretorius interview
HADDINGTON, Scotland  In August 2017, Ben Nimmo was declared dead by 13,000 Russian bots on Twitter.

Our beloved friend and colleague Ben Nimmo passed away this morning, read the epitaph, which was manipulated to look as if it were from a co-workers Twitter account. Ben, we will never forget you.

The message was immediately shared thousands of times by the network of automated accounts. Notes began pouring in from worried friends and colleagues  even though Nimmo was very much alive.

It didnt take long for Nimmo, who helped pioneer investigations into online disinformation, to figure out what was going on: He had been targeted by a shadowy group after reporting, along with others, that American far-right groups had adopted pro-Kremlin messages on social media about Ukraine. His fake death notice was a sinister attempt at disinformation, which is the spreading of falsehoods with the deliberate intent to mislead.

That made it personal, said Nimmo, 47, whose home address in a town near Edinburgh and other personal data, like bank details, have also been posted online.

For the last five years, Nimmo, a founder of the Atlantic Councils Digital Forensic Research Lab, has been a leader of a small but growing community of online sleuths. These researchers serve as an informal internet police force that combats malicious attempts to use false information to sway public opinion, sow political discord and foment distrust in traditional institutions like the news media and the government.

Nimmos work came to the fore after the 2016 U.S. presidential election, when intelligence agencies concluded that Russia had used Facebook and other internet platforms to influence voters. His research has since caused Facebook and other companies to ban thousands of disinformation-related accounts; he has also been tapped as an expert by governments studying foreign interference.

Now his skills are needed more than ever, as the 2020 presidential election approaches and the tactics of internet trickery have been adopted by governments, activist groups and clickbait farms in at least 70 countries. In tandem, a disinformation-for-hire industry has emerged. And domestic disinformation efforts in the U.S. are also on the rise.

It doesnt matter how much money you throw at the problem, or how many technological advances you have, said Jenni Sargent, managing director of First Draft, a London group that tracks disinformation and trains journalists. Without the human layer of someone like Ben dissecting the way that people use the internet, then we wouldnt be as far ahead as we are in terms of understanding the problem and the scale.

Nimmos goal is to spot disinformation early  essentially, to stamp out the fire before it spreads.

His techniques have changed as his adversaries have become more cunning. Because Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are now policing their platforms more aggressively, he is less able to rely on obvious clues like masses of automated Twitter posts and fake Facebook accounts.

Nimmos path to disinformation research was not an obvious one. An Englishman who studied literature at Cambridge University, he worked as a scuba diving instructor in Egypt, as well as a travel writer and journalist in Europe. In 2007, while reporting on violent demonstrations in Estonia for Deutsche Presse-Agentur, he was head-butted by a protester, breaking his nose and leaving it off center still today.

In 2011, he began working at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as a press officer. While there in 2014, he saw how Russia had worked to muddy perceptions of its invasion of Crimea that year, including misrepresenting Russian soldiers as local self-defense forces.

There was this constant drumbeat of Russian disinformation, he said.

Inspired to dig deeper, he became an independent researcher that same year. He moved to Scotland to be closer to family and began doing contract work on Russia for pro-democracy think tanks like the Institute for Statecraft.

During the 2016 U.S. election campaign, Nimmo helped found the Atlantic Councils Digital Forensic Research Lab, a Washington-based group that studies online disinformation. Facebook made him and the lab among the first outsiders allowed to study disinformation networks on its site before the company shut the networks down.

Last year, Nimmo became the head of investigations for the social media monitoring company Graphika.

He was there well before this was a trendy thing to do, said Alex Stamos, who is conducting similar disinformation research work at Stanford University and was previously Facebooks chief security officer. Both Graphika and the Digital Forensic Research Lab have received funding from Facebook.

Nimmo speaks fluent Russian, French, German and Latvian  and is conversant in several other languages  teaching himself by buying books in the Lord of the Rings trilogy in languages he is trying to learn. That makes it easier for him to spot clues like mistakes a native Russian speaker makes when writing in English in disinformation posts.

The amount of disinformation has increased recently. In October, Nimmos team at Graphika explained how pro-China propaganda accounts targeted Hong Kong demonstrators. In November, he helped expose an operation that used fringe platforms to leak a sensitive British trade document before Britains general election. And in December, he analyzed Facebooks first big takedown of fake accounts with profile pictures generated by artificial intelligence.

Most recently, he has investigated Iranian disinformation after the U.S. killed the head of Irans security machinery, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, last month.

Nimmo is also tracing Russia-linked campaigns, including an effort to blame the U.S. for the downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, which Iran said it mistakenly shot down last month, killing 176 people.

This past week, after technical problems delayed reporting of results from the Iowa caucuses, Nimmo was on alert for disinformation. There was little, he said, and he mainly found gleeful trolling from Republican supporters and right-wing groups.

Nimmo has sometimes made mistakes in identifying culprits. In 2018, he pinpointed a number of Twitter accounts as Russian trolls, when one of them was a British citizen sympathetic to Russia.

One recent evening, he started work at 7, chasing leads on Iranian disinformation related to the killing of Soleimani. One suspicious Twitter account provided clues that led to various YouTube videos. From there, Nimmo found links to Facebook and Instagram pages.

After a few hours, he had traced how memes from a suspicious pro-government Iranian website had traveled elsewhere on the web.

By the time Nimmo went to bed after 2 a.m., he had more than 50 tabs open on his browser, but no definitive evidence of an Iranian government campaign.

Hes very careful, said Camille Francois, the chief innovation officer at Graphika, who hired Nimmo. Its important to detect them, and to study them, but its also important not to overreact to the threat.

Adam Satariano is a New York Times writer.
On the first anniversary of climate change protests in the UK, young people again took to the streets in towns and cities across the country last Friday, joining similar protests around the globe.

Thousands participated in over 100 UK demonstrations. Some 3,000 protests were held worldwide in 150 countries.

A section of the protest in Mancheters St Peters Square

In Londons Parliament Square, school and university students protested against the lack of government action to reverse the climate disaster. Some carried banners declaring: Roses are red, violets are blue, our Earth is burning and soon we will too and Planet over Profits.

The protests stretched the length and breadth of the country, including Scotlands largest city, Glasgow. In Aberdeen, students staged a die-in outside the university library.

In the South-West, there were demonstrations in Plymouth and Bristol, as well as in smaller towns such as Bideford and Barnstaple. In Stroud, the protest led to delays on the busy A419 motorway.

In Cambridge, those protesting wore red and orange to symbolise the Australian fires as they listened to music and speeches outside Kings College. Hundreds demonstrated in Oxford.

In Yorkshire, the climate change protest in Leeds shut down several roads as over 300, including many school students, marched through the city centre. A similar number gathered in Sheffield.

Environmental organisations such as Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion, as well as the Green party, were present at many of the demonstrations. A handful of trade union banners could be seen.

Some of the placards at the protest

These organisations, whose presence at the demonstrations has grown, aim to divert the genuine concerns of the young participants into the dead end of single-issue protest and putting pressure on the powers-that-be in Britain. This pro-capitalist and nationalist perspective is aimed at heading off the developing understanding of young people that climate change stems from the activities of the corporate elite and requires a global response.

At Fridays protests, Socialist Equality Party campaigners explained that these sentiments can only be taken forward through a turn to the working class, which is entering into major social and political struggles on a world scale. A socialist and international programme, aimed at reorganising world society to meet human need, not private profit, was the only way to resolve the mounting ecological catastrophe.

In Sheffield, World Socialist Web Site reporters spoke to Harris, a year-nine student, who said the reason governments had not listened to previous rallies was pure greed, putting profits before people, as is the nature of capitalism. They dont give a f**k about our voices, just money and big business. So they can live well, while the working people suffer.

Harris

Harris said the massive growth of social inequality was absolutely awful, and that is another reason I have come to the protest. After climate change, with mass migration, there will be more class divisions, as people migrate in search of what they call first world countries. Immigrants are already being attacked. Thats disgusting. And the attacks are just going to get worse as more come as a result of mass migration.

Capitalism makes people in Africa work for less than one pence a day. There are children in China drinking water that is 2,400 above the WHO recommended level of lead pollution because of e-waste generated by capitalist factories. Im sure people dont want this. If the people had control over business, Im sure we could make it more ethical and meet our demands.

Harris said he definitely prefers socialism to capitalism, because the companies wouldnt be owned by private owners, and would be controlled by the people, through citizens assemblies. Thats much more democratic. If the companies were owned by the people, it would give everyone a much more equal chance to earn money and have their voices heard.

WSWS reporters asked Harris about imprisoned WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, who is the subject of British court hearings beginning on February 24, for his extradition to the US. Harris, like many young people, was initially unaware of Assanges plight. When our correspondents explained that he was being persecuted for exposing US war crimes and global diplomatic intrigues, however, the student stated that it was absolutely disgusting. We have the right to freedom of information. Just being put in jail for having your own opinion is like what Hitler did to the communists under the Nazis, he killed them or he locked them up. Are we going back to those times? I thought we had learnt from that.

Jess (left) and another protester

Jess, who recently graduated university in ecology and conservation biology, said urgent action on climate change was needed. The government is not doing enough. We are trying to make our voices heard, because at the end of the day it is our futures that are being affected. We might not have a future.

Her degree had a big focus on climate change and examined the politics of it. She had drawn the conclusion that Its not a country issue, its a global issue. The oil industry is very lucrative. They dont want to give that up.

High school student Sienna said climate change affected everyones future: We are young, and there are only a few more years to deal with it. Nothing much has been done by large organisations. Its mainly money issues why governments havent really done anything. They represent big business, definitely.

Im not a big fan of any of the parties. There are very few politicians who would act against it because the money is really important to them.

Second-year medical student Jamie said climate change was creating a lot of health problems, which is why med students should also take notice of the climate crisis.

Jamie

At the moment, it might not seem like much, but it will soon become completely irreversible. Its probably the biggest issues we have confronted since the world wars.

There are a lot more deaths due to heat exhaustion, diarrheal diseases in Africa and Asia, places that already have quite high death rates from these things. But they are increasing as the temperature is rising and making better conditions for all the microorganisms that cause these things. All those diseases we thought we might just be getting a cap on, they are all soaring up again. Malaria is definitely on the rise.

Jamie agreed that the system of rival nations stood in the way of a global response to threats such as climate change and the present coronavirus crisis. Speaking of the epidemic, he said: It started out just in China but the rest of the world did not pay attention until it started spreading all around the globe. That is just ridiculous. When something starts being that big in one country, everyone needs to pay attention immediately to stop the further spread.

Its not the Chinese governments fault. If they dont have the infrastructure in place to control the spread of diseases like that, then other countries which do should help them. The US and UK should have sent aid to prevent an epidemic turning into a pandemic.

It hasnt happened because the governments of the world all want power for themselves, so they are not happy sharing and helping others, especially the big powers like the US and UK.

Governments should be for the people, not for big business. Instead of helping the people they are just helping themselves.

In Manchester, WSWS reporters spoke to Emmanuel, a 21-year-old music student, who said, We need change and its not going to come from the government.

Emmanuel

The interests of the corporations dont lie with the environment but, if you put it in simple terms, money. My sister told me China is investing billions in alternatives to fossil fuels, but the oil companies cancel it out. As individuals we can do our best. Solidarity is good. We can become a vegan, we can stop flying, but its got to be a top down thing.

Mark, an artist from nearby Liverpool, told the WSWS: Theres real anxiety with the youngsters and the adults about the future. You can sit in your house and get upset and just think about doom, but this protest shows the positive of everyone coming together. It needs the people who make the decisions to listen.

When it comes to politics and elections, you vote for one side and you vote for the other side but theres the same puppet master pulling the strings. I one hundred percent agree that the wealth needs to be taken out of the hands of the minority, by the people on the ground. The trade unions are the ones taking the back handers. We need to look in a different direction.

My answer to climate change would be an outright revolution, not through parliament.
When you consider the dearth of physicians in our large and rural state, and the fact we have a world-class medical school smack dab in the middle of it, it makes perfect sense to address the former with the latter.

Thats what Dr. Paul Roth, dean of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, is proposing via HB 246, sponsored by Rep. Javier Martinez, D-Albuquerque. The bill provides for an annual $6 million appropriation from the Legislature to set up the New Mexico Health Equity Scholarship.

In an op-ed published in the Journal Feb. 9, Roth, who is also chancellor of Health Sciences, writes We are short on doctors, long on waitlists to see one.  By requiring medical students to sign on for post-residency practice in return for free medical tuition, we will infuse our states physician workforce with the new blood we so desperately need.

Roth says in 15 years the scholarship will deliver 230 additional M.D.s in clinics and hospitals in rural and urban areas, at trauma centers  and in specialty centers statewide.

Free medical school with appropriate clawbacks  if a student cant/wont honor the determined number of years of practicing in New Mexico, their bill needs to be reinstated  promises to be a remedy to our states doctor shortage and to the insurmountable cost of medical school to low-income students. Lawmakers should give it serious consideration.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
Two Army Jawans rescued a woman from drowning in a river here on Sunday.

Subedar Ram and Havildar Ashok Bhakar of the Jat Regiment rushed to the spot and immediately jumped into the river for rescuing her no sooner the locals informed them about it.

"A woman had jumped from the bridge and we immediately alerted the army camp," an eyewitness told ANI.

"The soldiers came and rescued the woman.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Delivery units operating under the franchise mode have been expanding thanks to the strong development of e-commerce.

Obtaining a franchise license from a domestic logistics firm in Ninh Binh in early 2019, Nguyen Thai has developed a network of delivery units covering all districts in the province.





Thais business has more than 900 clients, mostly shops. One COD (cash on delivery) order, for example, can be implemented within a day, with the distance between districts of 120 kilometers.



The delivery service is growing at a dizzy pace, Thai said.



The latest survey by the Vietnam Logistics Association (VLA) found that there are 30,000 logistics firms in Vietnam, including 4,000 international freight & forwarding firms. The industry is witnessing a growth rate of 12-14 percent, while the market is valued at $40-42 billion.



What is noteworthy is the shift from traditional business into e-commerce logistics.

To develop well, businesses not only need to have good technology, but also large networks which cover all provinces/cities.

However, the business field requires huge initial investment capital. To develop well, businesses not only need to have good technology, but also large networks which cover all provinces/cities.



Therefore, becoming franchisees instead of developing brands of their own is a good idea. The solution brings benefits to both franchisers and franchisees. The former can expand their networks rapidly, while the latter have existing networks and brands, and they dont need to look for customers.



Analysts said the market began to be bustling in 2019, when foreign firms such as ZTO Express and BEST Express entered Vietnam.



After one year of development, BEST Express now has seven operation centers, more than 100 service points and has 3-20 such points in one province. In Hanoi, it has 20 service points and in HCM City 26.



VnExpress quoted a source as reporting that at BEST Express, every franchisee has to invest about VND500 million in facilities, a deposit of VND200 million and franchise fee of VND175 million.



As for ZTO Express, it now has 12 service points. Each franchisee has to pay 50,000 yuan, or VND165 million, in deposit for every service point and 10,000 yuan, or VND33 million, in system maintenance fee. However, each service point can only exploit one district.



Meanwhile, SuperShip, a Vietnamese startup, is offering more reasonable franchise fee than foreign rivals. In order to run a service point in charge of delivery orders within one district, franchisee has to pay VND50 million in fee and deposit for a 3-year contract. They also o have to spend VND50 million on facilities.



According to Le Sy Van, a franchisee in Thanh Hoa province, the explosion of e-commerce has led to the strong development of many business fields, especially e-commerce logistics.

Kim Chi

Delivery services to grow 30-40 percent in 2020 The logistics sector is forecast to continue growing strongly this year, with expansion in both retail and e-commerce channels.
Sherri Brennan and David Goldemberg View Photo

Update at 5:40pm: Candidate for supervisor David Goldemberg has responded to the allegations of making defamatory and incorrect statements about Tuolumne County Supervisor Sherri Brennan on social media, and has apologized for the misunderstanding.

He says, Regarding the letter sent to me, it is nice to know that Sherri did not need any additional campaign funds in 2016 and returned the money to PG&E. The public records from PG&E reported a $750 donation for the Sherri Brennan 2016 campaign. Somehow the money was returned as noted in a later filing by PG&E. When I made my post, I was unaware Sherri Brennan had subsequently returned those funds to PG&E. As such, I apologize for my misunderstanding of not knowing the full circumstances of this donation.

I believe strongly every candidate for Supervisor should pledge to the voters of Tuolumne County that they will not accept any contributions from corporations and will put the interests of our people first.

Click below to read the earlier story.

Original story posted at 9:39am: Sonora, CA  The campaign of District One Tuolumne County Supervisor Sherri Brennan is calling out a political Facebook post by challenger David Goldemberg as defamatory and incorrect.

On Friday Brennans Campaign Manager Stacey Dodge sent a letter via email to Goldembergs campaign criticizing a Thursday post on the David Goldemberg for Supervisor Facebook page.

Goldembergs post reads, In the 2016 Election, Supervisor Brennan accepted a $750 campaign donation from PG&E. Supervisor Brennan never reported the PG&E campaign contribution on her Form 460 Campaign Statement filed with the Tuolumne County Elections Office as required by law by the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC).

The post goes on to state, What else has Supervisor Brennan not reported as required? He also includes a link to a PG&E website that lists candidates the company donated to in 2016, and Brennans name was listed.

The response letter from Brennans campaign counters, You sir (Goldemberg) did not do your homework. Your libelous nature led you to make false, defamatory and incorrect statements. If you had checked ALL the facts, you would have seen that the check was never actually sent from PG&E, but was corrected and reversed. Sherri won the primary and had no need for further campaign funds. She did not accept the check; therefore, there was NOTHING to disclose.

The letter from the Brennan campaign goes on to argue, You need to make a public admission of this attempt to smear a seated County Supervisor. Defaming your opponent is not going to win the election. Your actions could be construed as more than a mistake on your part, but instead an attempt to slander another candidate to gain public favor. If, as you claim in your ads, you are honest, ethical and possess a high degree of integrity, you will make it clear that Supervisor Brennan has not withheld or failed to report anything at any time. You need to retract your posts from Facebook, and you should make a public apology for your incorrect and libelous attempt to mislead the public.

Clarke Broadcasting reached out to Goldembergs campaign for a statement in response on Friday evening but has not heard back. The post remains up as of this morning on Goldembergs campaign Facebook page.

The two campaigns have also sparred this election season about Brennan receiving the union endorsement of CAL Fire Local 2881.

Brennan is seeking a third term on the Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors. She is being challenged in District One by Goldemberg, a retired firefighter, and Jim Garaventa, the Mayor of Sonora. The primary election is March 3.
DETROIT, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Airspace Experience Technologies (ASX), an aviation technology start-up, and Spirit AeroSystems, a global aircraft design and manufacturing company, have signed a memorandum of understanding and a definitive agreement to cooperate on creation of affordable, certified all-electric, vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.

"Spirit not only brings its design and manufacturing expertise to the partnership, but most importantly, its deep knowledge in FAA Certification of the aircraft," said Jon Rimanelli, CEO and co-founder of ASX. "Our partnership with Spirit aims to deliver simple, safe and robust electric VTOL aircraft that are accessible to the mass traveling public."

The program aims to converge automotive mass production techniques with the reliability of commercial-grade aerospace. The path to delivering low-cost aircraft systems starts with engineering services, then parts fabrication, and finally system integration supporting the launch of ASX's all-electric eVTOL aircraft, the MOBi-One. ASX is enlisting the proven expertise of Spirit, a top supplier of structures, such as fuselages and wing components, to the world's premier commercial and defense aircraft manufacturers.

"We look forward to working with ASX, an early pioneer in the emerging urban air mobility market," said Keith Hamilton, Executive Director, Programs and Business Development for Spirit. "Spirit is actively developing new concepts, designs and solutions that will help build next-generation aircraft and solve challenges in the future. This collaboration gives Spirit the opportunity to bring our world-class capabilities to this important future market for logistics and personal transportation."

About Spirit AeroSystems Inc.

Spirit AeroSystems designs and builds aerostructures for both commercial and defense customers. With headquarters in Wichita, Kansas, Spirit operates sites in the U.S., U.K., France and Malaysia. Spirit AeroSystems focuses on affordable, innovative composite and aluminum manufacturing solutions to support customers around the globe. More information is available at www.SpiritAero.com.

About ASX Airspace Experience Technologies (ASX) is an aviation start-up re-imagining personal air transportation for everyone by offering eco-friendly, quiet, and connected eVTOL aircraft that leverage the fusion of automotive mass production technologies and electric vehicle architectures and commercial aerospace standards. ASX is launching a Series A Funding round in March 2020, and ASX welcomes new investors to join this transformative opportunity in urban air mobility.

For more information, visit ASX at www.iflyasx.com

Contact: [email protected] Twitter: @AirspaceXP

SOURCE Airspace Experience Technologies (ASX)
The court also ruled that women officers can get command positions in the Army on par with male officers.

Editor's note: This article was originally published in June, 2017, and is being updated in view of Supreme Court's verdict on women officers in Indian Army, upholding the Delhi High Court's ruling in 2010 for granting permanent commission (PC) to all women officers irrespective of their years of service.

As per the Supreme Court judgment, they will be entitled to all consequential benefits as their male counterparts, including those who have even retired. The court also ruled that women officers can get command positions in the Army on par with male officers. Dissing Centre's argument of physiological limitations, social norms for denying permanent commission to women officers, the apex court termed its view "disturbing, irrational and against equality." The verdict came in response to a plea, filed by some women officers, concerning the denial of permanent commission to women officers in the armed forces.

General Bipin Rawat, on 5 June, 2017, had said the Indian Army will soon open its doors to women in combat roles.

He said, "I am looking at women coming as jawans. I am going to start it soon. Firstly, we will start with women as military police jawans." Earlier in 2017, President Pranab Mukherjee had said that women will take up combat roles in all sections of India's armed forces  Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Air Force.

Most countries employ women in various roles in their armed forces but only a handful, including Australia, Germany, Israel and the United States, have allowed them to take on fighting, or combat, roles. India, which has one of the largest armies in the world, has resisted such a move, citing concern over women's vulnerability if captured and over their physical and mental ability to cope with the stress of front line deployments. "My government has approved the induction of women as short service commission officers and as fighter pilots in the Indian Air Force. In the future, my government will induct women in all the fighter streams of our armed forces," Mukherjee had said.

India began recruiting women to non-medical positions in the armed forces in 1992, yet only 2.5 percent of its more than one million personnel are women  most of them as administrators, intelligence officers, doctors, nurses or dentists. In October, the government took the first steps towards bringing women into fighting roles and approved plans by the Indian Air Force for women pilots to fly warplanes from June 2017 on a three-year experimental basis.

Women's rights activists welcomed the president's remarks but said that bringing real gender parity into the armed forces would be a slow process.

While this is good news women in the army, especially combat roles were/are not the norm. This gender barrier has been broken only by a few countries.

Here's a list of the countries that allow women in frontline combat positions:

Scandinavia

In 1985, Norway became the first country to take in women in submarines. And along with Israel, Norway became the first country to take in women in all combat roles in the military in 1988.

In that same year, Denmark created a 'total inclusion' policy. They also had a combat trial study which concluded that men and women are the same on the field. Women are taken in all combat roles except the Special Operations Forces because of physical requirements. However, the Danish Army rolled out the policy to include women in the forces in 1962. According to a diversity report of the Danish Army, women were admitted to military academies in 1974. These changes gradually increased the positions available to women, except those where there was a risk of combat.

After a decade of study, women were permitted to fill combat positions in 1988, except piloting fighter aircraft, although this restriction was lifted in 1992. Since then, there have been no formal barriers to the inclusion of women in the DAF.

In Finland, enlisting in the army is voluntary for women and not mandatory, but if they enlist, training for combat positions is open to them as well.

In Sweden, women can serve in all parts of the military.

Canada and US

In 1989, a tribunal appointed under Canadian Human Rights Act ordered full integration of women in Canada's armed forces. Women were permitted to serve on board Canadian submarines in 2002. Now, roughly 15 percent of the Canada Army is now women and two percent of its combat troops  99 troops  are women.

In the US, while women had been serving in various ranks in the armed forces, it was not until 2013 till the ban on women serving in combat was lifted. And three women completed the US Marine Corps' Infantry Training Battalion course but they wouldn't be allowed to serve till 'further studies' prove that they are physically capable. Ash Carter approved final plans for opening combat positions for women in the US Army in 2016.

Europe

Germany opened combat units to women in 2001. By 2009, at least 800 women were serving in combat roles in the German Army.

In the United Kingdom, all exclusions on women serving in Ground Close Combat (GCC) roles were lifted in July 2016.

In France, women make up 1.7 percent of the military and they can serve in all combat positions.

Israel

According to a report, 88 percent to 92 percent roles in the Israeli Army are open to female candidates and approximately 69 percent women can be found in all the positions.

Women serve as pilots and navigators in the air force, and they stand guard at flashpoint locations as officers in the Border Police. The army had also initiated a pilot program to test the possibility of integrating certain tank units.

Australia and New Zealand

Australia army opened combat roles to women in 2011 and frontline combat positions were opened for women in January 2013. New Zealand has no restrictions on roles for women in its defence force.

With inputs from agencies
Ace investigative reporter and frequent AT contributor Jack Cashill and co-author Mike McMullen have published a novel, The Hunt. Although it's billed as "a political thriller," it's really more about just plain good guys versus bad guys, although these bad guys are Chechen jihadis, Mexican drug cartel henchmen, and homegrown America-hating radical anarchists. The good guys are true-blue Americans (the term "true-blue" coming from the days before the media, in their little practical joke, turned the traditional designations of "red" and "blue" upside-down).

I don't read much fiction these days (that doesn't include what The New York Times, The Kansas City Star, and just about any Democrat campaign materials present as "facts"). But because this particular work of fiction was written by two friends of mine, I made the exception.

In the spirit of full disclosure, be advised that I'm well acquainted with both authors. Jack Cashill's name should be familiar to most American Thinker; Mike McMullen, on the other hand, is a first-time author. Although I know him as an avid outdoorsman, I had no idea of his knowledge of weaponry and combat, nor of his abilities as a wordsmith.

I think the last "adventure thriller" I read was another book that I clearly felt, while reading it, should be made into a movie. That book was The Monkey Handlers by G. Gordon Liddy. From the beginning of The Hunt, I saw similarities in the two books, not just in the way the rhythm engaged me, but in the way that both seemed to have been written by guys who know what they're talking about.

I might have actually enjoyed The Hunt even more if its premise had been left to be discovered, rather than being laid bare on the book's back cover. But giving potential readers an idea of what to expect is hardly a spoiler. There's plenty of suspense  and action!  left.

A father takes his two teenage sons elk hunting in Colorado, only to discover they are the ones being hunted.

Tony Acero, a Mexican-American veteran of four combat tours, has a problem on his hands. His undersized thirteen-year-old son Luke is floundering at his new Kansas prep school. To save the young teen from his downward spiral, and to cheer up older brother Matt, Tony proposes to take both sons on a confidence-building elk hunt in Colorado.

Meanwhile in Boston, rootless young brothers, Pel and Moom Adams, are plotting a Colorado expedition of their own. Radical anarchists, the brothers have contracted with a trio of hardened Chechen terrorists to carry out a plot that will shake America to the core. They plan to shoot the plane carrying the president out of the sky as it descends into Aspen for a G-8 Summit.

The two parties collide in a remote Colorado valley. The terrorists are determined that Tony and his sons will not leave the valley alive.

If you're like me, you'll reach a point in reading The Hunt (somewhere around three quarters of the way through) where it might be wise to cancel your appointments and hold your calls and just go ahead and finish the book. Because, if you put it down, you're likely to find yourself distracted from whatever you're trying to get done instead, wondering what's going to happen to Tony and his sons. And I don't think it's a spoiler to let you know now that the good guys prevail!

The Hunt by Jack Cashill and Mike McMullen is a trade (large format) paperback published by Permuted Press and is available from all the usual sources.

Stu Tarlowe has contributed over 150 pieces to American Thinker. His personal pantheon of heroes and role models includes Barry Farber, Jean Shepherd, Long John Nebel, Aristide Bruant, Col. Jeff Cooper, Rabbi Meir Kahane, and G. Gordon Liddy.
The Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry has sought to know from the Delhi government's Social Welfare Department who does a plot of land in Karkardooma, where a 24-year-old worker died of asphyxia early this month while cleaning a sewer, belong to.

The incident occurred on February 2 in CBD ground in East Delhi when Ravi, engaged by a private contractor, went inside a sewer to clean it.

While he died of asphyxia inside the sewer, another 35-year-old worker Sanjay, who went inside the sewer to rescue Ravi, suffered suffocation and had to be hospitalised.

While the DDA said the land, where the incident occurred, belonged to the East Delhi Municipal Corporation, the civic body told the Union ministry that the area had been outsourced to the DDA for as a parking lot to the local bar association.

"As we have received conflicting reports from the two agencies, I have again asked the principal secretary of the Delhi government's social welfare department to look into the issue and revert back to me on the factual position on the land's ownership" SJEM's Economic Advisor Yogita Swaroop told PTI.

Swaroop, who is monitoring the scheme to rehabilitate and provide vocational training to manual scavengers, said the victim's family had been given compensation and the police are investigating the case.

Sources said it is a gross violation of the Supreme Court guidelines if the sewer was cleaned manually instead of using machines.

The apex court had made it clear that the onus of providing compensation to the family of such deceased persons while cleaning sewers lies with the state government.

They have to pay either on their own or make the contractor, who engaged the worker, to pay it.

The Delhi police had earlier said the workers did not have safety gears while cleaning the sewer.

Officials said under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Rules, 2013, manual cleaning of sewers or septic tanks is totally banned even if the person has protective gear and safety devices.

Even if a written permission is granted in exceptional cases for manual cleaning, the rules specify that the worker should wear safety gears, carry protective equipment including Oxygen supply.

Additionally, the rule stipulate that an ambulance must be kept ready to handle emergencies while the manhole or septic tank covers should be opened at lest three hours before the actual commencement of the cleaning job so that poisonous gases escape out of it.

At least three persons should also be ready to assist the worker who enters the manhole for cleaning, the rules say.

In case of death of such a worker, it is mandatory for the state government concerned to provide a minimum ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh to his family.

Besides the police have to file a FIR and prosecute those responsible for his death, the rules states.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Asha Devi, the mother of the 2012 Delhi gang-rape victim, on Monday voiced hope that fresh death warrants would be issued against all four convicts by a Delhi court today.

Delhi's Patiala House Court will today hear a plea seeking the issuance of a fresh death warrant against the convicts in the Nirbhaya case.

Speaking to ANI, Asha Devi said, "Several dates (of court hearing) have come and gone but fresh death warrants have not been issued yet. But we go with new hope in every hearing. Their (convicts') lawyers use new tactics every day, I cannot say what will happen today but I am hopeful."

A Delhi court had on February 17 adjourned the hearing on the plea of the state and Nirbhaya's parents seeking issuance of death warrant as a petition challenging the rejection of mercy plea of convict Vinay Kumar Sharma is pending before the Supreme Court.

The Patiala House Court had observed that Article 21 of the Constitution protects the life and liberty of the convicts till the last breath of life.

The case pertains to the gang-rape and brutalising of a 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus on the night of December 16, 2012, by six people including a juvenile in Delhi. She died at a Singapore hospital a few days later.

One of the five adults accused, Ram Singh, had allegedly committed suicide in the Tihar Jail during the trial of the case.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CLEVELAND, Ohio  A popular smartphone app that sends users real-time public safety alerts and lets them upload video from crime scenes has debuted in Cleveland.

The free app, Citizen, culls info from police scanners and sends notifications to users smartphones. Its designed as a public safety tool, said Ben Jealous, a former National President of the NAACP and an investor in the company.

When you give people that information in real time, they can make better decisions to keep themselves safer, and keep their loved ones safer, Jealous said.

Anyone at or near a crime scene can upload video to share with other Citizen users. Employees monitor those videos and remove any graphic content that may include violence, salacious imagery or profanity, Jealous said.

Youre not going to get more followers based on your video. So theres no incentive to misbehave, or be shocking, Jealous said. This is literally a public safety utility where folks are simply able to share what theyre seeing.

Citizen employs a team of former first responder and journalists, who monitor police scanner traffic from an office in New York City. They send location-based notifications to smartphones; Cleveland users are notified of crimes within a two-mile radius.

The app also lets users link their accounts, so they can get alerts near someone else. That function lets parents monitor crime near their children, for example, Jealous said.

Several media outlets, including the New York Times and Buzzfeed, have argued that apps like Citizen may foster a sense of paranoia among users. Frequent cellphone alerts could create a sense of data overload, said Andrew Geronino, a fellow and director of the IP Venture Clinic at Case Western Reserve Universitys law school.

I fear that were living in fear of crime happening all around us, and [thats] making us increasingly insulated and paranoid about things, Geronimo said.

The criticism is not unique to Citizen. Other technology, such as doorbell cameras and live-streamed video, have created concern that people are constantly being filmed, Geronimo said. He also believes it may be better to let trusted sources, such as police or media, gather information about a crime and report facts to the public.

Geronimo does see benefit to apps like Citizen, though, because they could alert someone to a legitimate threat.

If there is a real threat, and Im walking right into it, it could be valuable to know," he said.

Citizen garnered controversy upon its launch under its former name, Vigilante, in 2016. Apples App Store banned the app amid concerns it encouraged users to actively participate in crimefighting. It rebranded as a public safety tool and changed its name to Citizen before it re-launched in 2017. Its grown since then, reaching more than 1 million users in New York City, Jealous said.

The app moved to coastal cities including Baltimore, San Francisco and Los Angeles before coming to Cleveland. It also debuted recently in other Midwest cities such as Detroit and Indianapolis.

The app is location-based, but Jealous said the company has no plans to sell any user data to third parties.

Theres no selling of your data, Jealous said. Lots of other apps do that, but we will never do that.

Similar apps and social networks have been criticized for promoting racial profiling through suspicious person reports, which may include a description of a person even though no crime has occurred. Jealous said Citizen has taken steps to prevent racial profiling; the app does not send out suspicious person reports.

Were concerned about the proliferation of suspicion on other apps, and the way that can reinforce patterns of discrimination. So we have very tight standards, Jealous said.

The Cleveland police department did not respond to a request for comment on the app, but Jealous said police in other cities have been welcoming.

There are many police chiefs around the country who have welcomed us into their cities, because they realize it takes all of us to help keep our communities safer, Jealous said.

A Baltimore Police Department spokesman said the app has not led to any issues. People typically vacate an area when they receive a crime alert from the app, said Baltimore police Detective Donny Moses.
A man was rushed to hospital in a critical condition after he was hit by a bus in Ipswich.

Paramedics treated the patient aged in his 20s after the serious bus and pedestrian incident just after 3.30pm on Augusta Parkway and Santa Monica Drive in Brookwater.

The man was taken to Princess Alexandra Hospital, with critical care and high-acuity response units on board.

He suffered head, chest and pelvic injuries.

Police closed off the roads and urged drivers to avoid the area if possible shortly.
Democrats in Washington State target well-known conservative legislator By Rachel Alexander

Washington state isnt known for conservative politicians. But there is one state legislator who stands out amidst a sea of Democrats and moderate Republicans. Matt Shea represents the conservative side of the state, the Spokane area. Because of his views and activism, Democrats made him a target. Democrats in the legislature spent $120,000 of taxpayers money to commission an investigation and report about Shea. They hired former FBI agent Kathy Leodler and her husband Paul Leodler. Mrs. Leodler has contributed money to Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, a far left Democrat. The report charged that Shea planned, engaged in, and promoted a total of three armed conflicts of political violence against the United States government between 2014 and 2016. It referenced the two standoffs involving the Bundy family over land rights in Nevada and Oregon. They described Shea as a domestic terrorist. The media dutifully reported it. Terrorist Matt Shea must be expelled from the Washington State House of Representatives ran the headline of a December 20 column in the Cascadia Advocate. But if Shea is a domestic terrorist, why has he not been charged, arrested, and prosecuted by federal, state, or local authorities? The report relies on Wikipedia, which has a left-wing slant and often gets facts wrong. It cites anonymous witnesses. The report contains no evidence that Shea planned or led covert strategic pre-planning in the Nevada and Oregon confrontations involving the Bundys. Shea and the Bundys both deny he did this. He went there merely to observe on a fact-finding mission. Regardless, the case against Cliven Bundy and three others was dismissed with prejudice. The Hammonds were pardoned by President Trump. And the Malheur 7 from the Oregon standoff were unanimously acquitted of conspiracy and firearms charges. So if those orchestrating the protest were exonerated, why is Shea still being accused of being a domestic terrorist? The report produces as more evidence a meeting Shea had with the leadership of Oath Keepers at a restaurant in Spokane. But nothing bad happened, they merely discussed land rights and some other issues. The report cites a 2015 Priest River Armed Conflict in Idaho. But it wasnt an armed conflict. Shea, the Bonner County Sheriff, and over 100 citizens demonstrated outside the home of a disabled Vietnam War veteran to protest a decision by the VA to disarm him. Some of the protesters legally carried firearms. It was a peaceful protest. The report says Shea is associated with Marble Community Fellowship, a Christian Identity ideology church that holds a racist, anti-Semitic, and white supremacist interpretation of Christianity. This is not true. Two of the pastors are black, but the media wont report that nor interview them. The pastors are rightfully upset at being called white supremacists. The report says Shea trained young people to fight a "holy war by creating a pamphlet called Biblical Basis for War. The report called it a Biblical manifesto to make it sound more ominous. It claimed that Shea [a]dvocated replacing the U.S. democracy with a theocracy and killing all males who do not agree. But the pamphlet merely analyzed the just war theory, which is studied at universities today. It goes over the moral basis for wars. Its a study on what the Old Testament said about warfare, mainly from Deuteronomy 20. It analyzes the history of warfare. A soldier contacted Shea recently and asked him if he was justified in a situation where he had to put a gun to someones head. Another accusation says Shea condoned violence and intimidation during an online chat. Shea happened to be in an online chat with others when someone made a comment about firearms, but Shea didnt respond. The person who leaked the message string said he thought the guy who wrote the message was just venting, not calling for violence. Regardless, Shea has been very public about the right to keep and bear arms. Another allegation said Shea [e]ngaged in and promoted Patriot movement militia training and readiness exercises in preparation for armed conflict against the government and law enforcement. This was nothing more than an annual paintball war with teens. The report concludes, Shea is likely to plan, direct, and engage in additional future conflicts that could carry with them significant risk of bloodshed and loss of life. It went on, Although this investigation found no evidence that Representative Shea presents an imminent direct threat to any individual or group...(nevertheless) Representative Shea has since 2014, presented a significant threat of political violence against employees of the Federal Government and state and local law enforcement officers, carried out through intermediaries. Democrats think if they call Shea enough scary sounding names, maybe one will stick. Besides a terrorist, hes been called a racist, a homophobe, an Islamophobe, a white supremacist, an anti-Semite and a neo-Nazi. Democrats in the legislature want to remove him from the legislature or at least censure him, but they dont have the votes. They need a few Republicans on board in order to achieve the two-thirds required to expunge him. House Republicans, who have a reputation as moderates afraid of the left, suspended Shea from their caucus after the reports release and removed him from his committee assignments. Members of both parties called on him to resign. Shea intends to run for reelection this year. This report was a sham. Shea is nothing more than a regular Christian conservative. In a more conservative state, no one would blink an eye. But because hes in a very liberal state hes a target. The left has decided by labeling him a domestic terrorist they can destroy him. But unfortunately for them, they dont have a shred of evidence and look ridiculous.



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
Reuters

Scientists examining the genomes of West Africans have detected signs that a mysterious extinct human species interbred with our own species tens of thousands of years ago in Africa, the latest evidence of humankinds complicated genetic ancestry.

The study indicated that present-day West Africans trace a substantial proportion, some two percent to 19 percent, of their genetic ancestry to an extinct human species  what the researchers called a ghost population.

We estimate interbreeding occurred approximately 43,000 years ago, with large intervals of uncertainty, said the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) human genetics and computer science professor Sriram Sankararaman, who led the study published this week in the journal Science Advances.

Homo sapiens first appeared a bit more than 300,000 years ago in Africa and later spread worldwide, encountering other human species in Eurasia that have since gone extinct including the Neanderthals and the lesser-known Denisovans.

Previous genetic research showed that our species interbred with both the Neanderthals and Denisovans, with modern human populations outside of Africa still carrying DNA from both. But while there is an ample fossil record of the Neanderthals and a few fossils of Denisovans, the newly identified ghost population is more enigmatic.

Asked what details are known about this population, Sankararaman said, Not much at this stage.

We dont know where this population might have lived, whether it corresponds to known fossils, and what its ultimate fate was, Sankararaman added.

Sankararaman said this extinct species seems to have diverged roughly 650,000 years ago from the evolutionary line that led to Homo sapiens, before the evolutionary split between the lineages that led to our species and to the Neanderthals.

The researchers examined genomic data from hundreds of West Africans including the Yoruba people of Nigeria and Benin and the Mende people of Sierra Leone, and then compared that with Neanderthal and Denisovan genomes. They found DNA segments in the West Africans that could best be explained by ancestral interbreeding with an unknown member of the human family tree that led to what is called genetic introgression.

It is unclear if West Africans derived any genetic benefits from this long-ago gene flow.

We are beginning to learn more about the impact of DNA from archaic hominins on human biology, Sankararaman said, using a term referring to extinct human species. We now know that both Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA was deleterious in general but there were some genes where this DNA had an adaptive impact. For example, altitude adaptation in Tibetans was likely facilitated by a Denisovan introgressed gene.
Feb 17 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

The Times

- Royal Dutch Shell has thrown its weight behind an energy storage venture bankrolled by CNIC, the Chinese investment fund, and China Huaneng Group, a state utility company, building what is claimed to be Europe's largest battery in Wiltshire. http://bit.ly/39Iqb6O

The Guardian

- The U.S. defence secretary, Mark Esper, warned that U.S. alliances including the future of NATO were in jeopardy if European countries went ahead with using Chinese Huawei technology in their 5G networks. http://bit.ly/2SvOajK

- Bank of England governor Mark Carney faces being hauled before parliament to answer questions about a security breach that allowed hedge funds early access to an audio feed of market-moving press conferences. http://bit.ly/321coWa

The Telegraph

- Investors have called on government to ensure the private sector is able to participate in its planned 100 billion pounds infrastructure spending splurge. http://bit.ly/2vCu8uY

- The United Arab Emirates is keen to strike a post-Brexit free-trade deal between the United Kingdom and Gulf states as soon as possible, its foreign minister Anwar Gargash has said. http://bit.ly/2HrBJyT

Sky News

- Accountancy regulators have begun sounding alarm bells over the impact of the coronavirus crisis on auditors' ability to scrutinise corporate balance sheets, as the Financial Reporting Council opened talks with major audit firms about possible delays to signing off clients' accounts. http://bit.ly/2Hqs3oz

The Independent

- Britain and the European Union will "rip each other apart" during Brexit trade negotiations, French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian warned, and said it would be tough to conclude the talks by the end of the year because of the differences between the two sides. http://bit.ly/2SA7zA1

(Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)
JACKSON, MI  Jackson City Manager Patrick Burtch's last day with the city is Friday, Feb. 21, although his final check will be a little sweeter than normal.

Burtch, 56, will receive nearly $73,000 for his unused sick time and vacation time, which is derived from his $81.90 hourly rate. A controversial contract change approved by the City Council in December didnt increase the payout, however.

Burtch took a job as the city administrator in Maumee, Ohio, near where he grew up and where much of his family lives now. Hes worked for the city of Jackson since 2011 and has been city manager since 2012.

His annual salary in Jackson was a little more than $170,000. Burtch said in May 2019 he wouldnt be getting a $6,000 step increase, but documents received by MLive/Jackson Citizen Patriot through a Freedom of Information Act request show he actually did move up a step on the scale, resulting in the higher salary.

"I thought, 'I'm not going to take (the step increase),' and then I thought, 'I don't have a choice,'" Burtch said in January. "It had to happen."

Burtch did, however, decline to take the additional 3-percent increase all other nonunion employees received last summer.

In total, Burtch has accrued 21 vacation days and 90 sick days. The city's personnel policy allows employees hired between June 2010 and June 2015 to accrue only 10 sick days, but has a provision allowing people with at-will contracts at the department head level and above to accrue 90 days  the same level as employees who've been around since 1990.

December's contract tweak allowed Burtch to accrue 16 weeks of vacation instead of 10. He gets five weeks each year. The change doesn't allow Burtch to cash out any extra money, since he only has about four weeks of time saved up.

This is not a "golden parachute" by any means, Burtch said. Burtch would have only benefited by that change, if he stuck around longer to accrue the time.

Burtch called council's vote on the change a "vote of confidence."

"That was more of a psychological, 'Do you want me here or don't you?'" Burtch said. "I simply said, 'Hey, if I stay here a long time, these are the things I think I would feel more warm and fuzzy about.'"

A handful of residents at recent City Council meetings have criticized Burtch for negotiating his own contract changes while he was a finalist for the job in Maumee.

The contract tweak also added a couple weeks to his severance pay  if fired  to nine months. Burtch will receive no other additional payout in his final check, other than sick time and vacation time, per a FOIA requst.

"Severance you don't get, unless you're fired," Burtch said. "The severance is there to make somebody think twice about firing somebody because you didn't comb your hair right or you upset me because you didn't fix the sidewalk by my relative."

The last city manager, Larry Shaffer, received a $64,000 severance to leave.

Lastly, the December contract change gives Burtch retiree health and prescription benefits from the city until hes Medicare eligible, at which point the city will provide and pay for Medicare to Burtch. His original contract only allowed him six months of medical benefits after leaving, although Burtch said the December change only reflects what the personnel policy mandates.

Related Jackson news:

I think its about time that I take my leave, Jackson city manager says in accepting Ohio job

City of Jackson paid $100,000 to former attorney in settlement agreement

City manager contract changes include benefit and termination pay tweaks

City balks at Consumers Energy water deal that would save utility $65 million
Hwang Kyo-ahn, center, former chairman of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party that has been merged with other conservative minor parties to form the United Future Party, applauds with other members of the new party in the inauguration ceremony at the National Assembly in Seoul, Monday. He will lead the new party as well. / Yonhap



Ex-main oppoosition chief Hwang to lead 'big tent' against Moon government



By Kang Seung-woo



The United Future Party, a bloc of three conservative parties, was launched, Monday, less than two months ahead of the upcoming general election.



The new political body with 113 parliamentary seats held an inauguration ceremony at the National Assembly in Seoul under the banner of "Judgment on the Moon Jae-in administration."



The party is comprised of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) and two minor parties  the New Conservative Party and the Forward for Future 4.0 that were formed by lawmakers who left the Bareunmirae Party, another minor opposition party. The new party was also joined by conservative civic groups.



It was the first time in three years that conservatives have formed a "big tent" since they were split in 2017 following the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye, once the darling of right-wing politicians.



"Strong public calls for us to judge the Moon administration and realize democracy have resulted in the launch of the United Future Party," said its Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn, who was head of the LKP.



On Nov. 6, 2019, Hwang announced an ambitious bid for conservative parties to join forces to seek a win in the April 15 election.



"It has been 104 days since I proposed the idea of creating a united conservative party. Although there were concerns over the merger, each and every member prioritized consolidation over others in the process," Hwang said.



"While punishing the Moon government's oppressive rule, the party should become a political party to put together conservatives and centrists, and I strongly believe it will."



The new party's supreme council mainly consists of the LKP's leadership, and two non-parliamentary members  Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong and Lee Jun-seok, a young member of the New Conservative Party. Won and Lee were formerly members of the Saenuri Party, the LKP's predecessor from which other minor conservative parties have also split away.



Given that the party was hurriedly created for the general election, the leadership is expected to go through a reorganization after the poll.



The main color representing the party is pink and its slogan is "Power of a unified democratic Republic of Korea."

The party plans to form a committee that will be in charge of its election campaign as early as the end of this month.

In response to the new party launch, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) questioned its sincerity.



"Despite its status as the main opposition, the party has neither a fresh form nor fresh political vision. It has finally become a rehashed version of the Saenuri Party," DPK floor leader Lee In-young said during a party meeting.
Channel's Executive Quit Job As Makers Fixed Sid As Winner!

A viral tweet of a lady (Feriha), who has claimed that the she quit the job as the channel was keen on making Sidharth a winner despite less votes. Feriha tweeted, " I have decided to quit my job at @ColorsTV. I had a tremendous time working with the creative department but I can't demean myself being part of a fixed show. The channel is keen on making Siddharth Shukla the Winner despite less votes. Sorry, I can't be part of it. #BiggBoss."

She Tweeted...

She further tweeted, "Just informed by a colleague Creatives & programming heads are under great pressure after seeing global support for Asim Riaz. Meeting underway. Continue showing your support.. Maybe this forces them to change decision. @ColorsTV #BiggBoss."

Sad Times Says The Lady!

Feriha also said, "Throughout the show, Siddharth Shukla abused & disrespected women, maligned their character, used violence, physically assaulted a female cont and the channel wants to crown him as the Winner. What kind of example are we setting to the public here? Sad times! @ColorsTV #BiggBoss."

'Damage Has Been Done'

Her latest tweet said, "Damage has been done. World has seen how the public was fooled. The least @ColorsTV & @BiggBoss Producers can do is to issue an "unconditional apology" to the Public and give amount equal to winning cash to Asim Riaz !!"

Meera Chopra Reacts

Meanwhile, Priyanka Chopra's sister Meera Chopra retweeted Feriha's tweet and wrote, "We knew this since long from a very inside source.. but proud of u fr taking this stand. Its unfair on others who r inside since so long! #BiggBoss."

Did Sid & Asim Get Equal Votes?

Not just this, it is also being said that both Asim and Sid received equal votes. A viral video is doing the rounds on social media in which a woman is heard saying that the result is going to be predictable as Sidharth and Asim got equal votes. She further added that the decision was in her hands.

The Khabri Tweets...

The Khabri shared the video and captioned it, "Its was very much Visible from day 1 that #SidharthShukla was fixed Winner. He Physically attacked Asim 10 times still he was not thrown out His GF was creative head. All His PRs were sent iside to Promote him#PublicKaWinnerAsim #FixedWinnerSid."
Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Carlos Kingsley Ahenkorah, has said Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation is too clever to be associated with issues of missing excavators under his watch.



According to him, the first gentleman of the land knew his credibility and exactly what he is capable of doing before appointing him to the position.



He said it cannot be possible that he will not be in the known where the missing excavators are being kept.



Prof. Frimpong-Boateng is very intelligent and smart with experience to be unaware of the current location of the excavators reserved by government in his care. He will soon account to the nation on the exact locations of the missing seized excavators, he said.



The Member of Parliament for Tema West constituency in a heated argument on UTVs Adekye Nsroma discussion political show cautioned members of the largest opposition party to desist from attacking government for not fulfilling its illegal mining campaign promise, but report to the police any information they have relating to the missing excavators.



If you have any information about the missing excavators, just report to the police and stop reading meanings into the matter when you have no evidence. What did you do during your turn in office in 2010, a year declared as galamsey peak year? At least we have been able to seize the excavators from the various mining sites, a means of preventing the illegal miners from action, he stated.



The Ghana Police Serice has announced the arrest of six persons over missing excavators and other equipment seized by operatives of Operation Vanguard.



The six persons arrested so far are; Horace Ekow Ewusi, Frederick Ewusi, Joel Asamoah, Adnan Haruna, Frank Gyan and John Arhin.



Horace Ekow Ewusi's arrest was triggered by a request from the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology & Innovation, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, to the Director-General, CID Headquarters, Accra, to commence investigations into the missing excavators and some other equipment.

























Source: Elizabeth Semiheva Bedi/ peacefmonline.com / [email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Afghan officials say at least five Afghan soldiers were killed when Taliban militants stormed a base in northern Afghanistan, despite expectations for a "reduction in violence" before a U.S.-Taliban deal.



The attack occurred in the Shora Khak district of Kunduz Province on February 16, days after U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said an agreement with the Taliban was in place for a "conditions-based" weeklong reduction in violence.



"Unfortunately, five army soldiers were martyred and three wounded," the Afghan Defense Ministry said on February 17. There were also casualties among the Taliban, the ministry said.



Enhamuddin Rahmani, a spokesman for Kunduz police, said the fighting lasted several hours and both sides suffered casualties.



Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed on Twitter that the militants killed 19 security forces in the attack and destroyed four armored personnel carriers, seizing a large amount of weapons and other military equipment.



Separately, Afghanistan's Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah told a meeting of ministers on February 17 that the Taliban has agreed to a seven-day reduction of violence ahead of a peace deal with the United States that was "finalized" and may be signed as soon as February 29.



It was not immediately clear when the reduction in violence was scheduled to begin.



A Taliban spokesman based in Doha, the capital of Qatar, said an agreement between the the militants and the United States will be signed by the end of the month.



"According to the agreement, all foreign troops will leave Afghanistan," Suhail Shaheen, told the DPA German news via the WhatsApp messaging service. "We will not allow anyone to use Afghanistan's land [to launch attacks] against another country."



Some 5,000 Taliban prisoners are to be released following the signing of the agreement and before the beginning of intra-Afghan negotiations, Shaheen added.



There was no immediate confirmation from the United States.

With reporting by AFP, dpa, and Tolonews
(SOUNDBITE) DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NIH, SAYING:

"Well, 40 of them have gotten infected. They are not going to anywhere.."

Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Health on Sunday said that more than 40 Americans aboard the quarantined cruise liner in Japan tested positive for the coronavirus and would be undergoing health screenings before returning to the U.S.

(SOUNDBITE) DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NIH, SAYING:

"They're going to be in hospitals in Japan. People who have symptoms will not be able to get on the evacuation plane. Others are going to be evacuated starting imminently to Air Force bases in the United States. If people on the plane start to develop symptoms, they'll be segregated within the plane./ When you come back to the United States, importantly, they're still subjected to a 14 day quarantine."

His comments came on CBS'S "Face the Nation" just as passengers on board the Diamond Princess, including Americans, finally disembarked the ship at the Japanese port of Yokohama after being quarantined for two weeks.

The Department of Defense said American evacuees who did not test positive for the virus would be flown to either Travis Air Force Base in California or Kelly Field/Lackland Air Force Base in Texas where they will be quarantined for another two weeks.

Seventy new coronavirus cases were confirmed on board the Diamond Princess, bringing the total on the ship to 355, by far the largest cluster of cases outside China.

(SOUNDBITE) DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NIH, SAYING:

"...the degree of transmissibility on that cruise ship is essentially akin to being in a hot spot."

Within China, authorities reported 2,009 new cases on Sunday, noting that this was down from more than 2,600 the previous day.

Chinese officials called this proof that its steps to fight the outbreak were working.

In mainland China, more than 1600 deaths have been reported from the virus. Outside China there have been at least five.

Last week, an 83-year-old American woman who had been on board another cruise ship, Holland America's MS Westerdam, which docked in Cambodia, tested positive after she flew to Malaysia, alarming health experts who feared she may have exposed others to the flu-like virus.
A California cab driver rewarded after saving an elderly woman from a $25,000 scam. (Photo: Facebook)

A cab driver in California was awarded by local police after saving a woman from a $25,000 scam.

Rajbir Singh is the owner of Roseville Cab who was called to drive a 92-year-old woman from her house to a nearby bank. But when he started to learn more about the womans errand, Singh became suspicious.

The woman revealed that someone had called her and asked for $25,000, according to CNN. But when Singh pressed for more information about the caller, the rider became quiet. She eventually told Singh that it was the IRS looking to settle her outstanding debt. When the driver convinced the woman to let him call the number back, he realized that the caller was likely someone posing as an IRS employee.

Despite Singhs warnings, the woman was still convinced that she owed the money and wouldnt allow Singh to drive her home. So he came up with a better idea.

Raj pleaded with the woman to reconsider so they agreed to stop by the Roseville Police Station to ask an officer, a Facebook post by the Roseville Police Department reads. While the woman waited in the cab, Raj came into the station and requested to speak with an officer. He waited for a while but finally was able to speak with an officer who then spoke with the woman waiting in the cab. Sure enough, it was a scam.

Police helped to convince the rider that she shouldnt be paying the scammers, after which she agreed to let Singh take her home. Singh was recognized for his response to the potential danger in the form of the great citizen award.

We love this story because several times throughout, Raj could have just taken his customer to her stop and not worried about her wellbeing. He took time from his day and had the great forethought to bring the almost-victim to the police station for an official response, the departments post continues. His quick thinking saved a senior citizen $25,000 and for that, we greatly appreciate his efforts.

Singh additionally received a $50 gift card, and lots of praise from people on social media.

Story continues

You are a man of the utmost integrity & we need more people like you, one person wrote. Another commented, Being a Sr. Citizen myself I thank you Raj for looking out for us older citizens and thank you Roseville Police for taking such good care of us too.

Singh didnt immediately reply to Yahoo Lifestyles request for comment. However, he told CNN, I am an honest guy, and these are old people. They need help...it just made sense.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Want daily pop culture news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here for Yahoo Entertainment & Lifestyle's newsletter.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. Ambassador of Armenia to Nepal Armen Martirosyan on February 13 presented his credentials to President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, the Armenian foreign ministry told Armenpress.

After the ceremony of presenting credentials the Ambassador had a private meeting with the President of Nepal during which they discussed the more effective directions of the bilateral cooperation.

The sides highlighted the mutual cooperation of the two countries within the UN.

The Armenian Ambassador and the President of Nepal also exchanged views on a number of other issues of bilateral interest.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
The bearded owner of a store selling Nazi memorabilia has been forced out after vandals targeted his shop.

Vigilantes took part in a covert operation in the dead of night to send a message to the owner of E.K Militaria in the Melbourne suburb of Pascoe Vale.

The words 'Nazi Scum Out' were painted in bright red letters across the glass of the store's front window, with anti-fascist slogans accompanying the message.

The store was widely condemned after it was revealed last month owner Garry McDonald was selling swastika arm-bands, Hitler youth badges and daggers.

Anarchists have vandalised a store selling Nazi memorabilia, forcing the owner to flee and shut up shop

The action was conducted by two men and a woman acting under the international vigilante group 'Anarchists worldwide'.

The group detailed their antics online, revealing they 'paid a visit to the premises' on January 20 before outlining the steps they took to drive away the business owner.

The three disabled a nearby surveillance camera, sabotaged the entrance locks to the store, spray-painted graffiti and smashed a store-front window displaying a Confederate flag.

The group said their hand was forced after inaction from local authorities.

E K Militaria was widely condemned after it was revealed last month owner Garry McDonald was selling Nazi Memorabilia including swastika arm-bands, Hitler youth badges and daggers

'Jewish community groups and local residents have lodged official complaints about the store to no avail so 'EK Militaria' has continued to operate freely, trading in grisly artifacts that glorify Nazism and operating as a hub for Melbourne's network of Hitler-loving far-right scum,' the group said.

'With this action we are sending a clear message to Garry McDonald  if the authorities are not prepared to do something about your fascist business, we are' the vandals wrote.

A spokesperson for Victoria Police told Daily Mail Australia they are investigating the act of vandalism.

'Every Victorian has the right to feel safe and secure in the community and Victoria Police will not tolerate any attempts to incite hatred or violence based on someones religion or ethnicity,' the spokesperson said.

Among the military memorabilia' there were items from the Third Reich including Nazi daggers and uniforms

Store owner Garry Mcdonald previously told the Herald Sun he didn't care people were upset by the items he was selling.

'If I've upset one person, what do they want me to do about it? They've upset me by whingeing about it,' he said.

'I couldn't care what people think. I could not care less.'

Since the store was vandalised on January 20 it has been vacated by the business owner and put up for rent online.

The store's closure has been welcomed within the community, but some were wary the business may continue operating online or open a shop elsewhere.

One commenter said they avoided driving down the street because the place 'made them feel sick every time they had to pass it.'

One commenter said they had avoided the street because they felt uncomfortable passing by the store

The store's closure has been welcomed within the community, but some were wary the business may continue operating online or open a shop elsewhere

Since the store was vandalised on January 20 it has been vacated by the business owner and put up for rent online

Leading civil rights organisation, the Anti-Defamation Commission believes the action reflects the alarm within the community about the blatant display of hate symbols.

Chairman Dr Dvir Abramovich told Daily Mail Australia the shop's closure is a win for the community.

'The closure of the shop is a victory for decency, and for every person who was disgusted by the fact that in our tolerant city, blood-soaked instruments of death, the face of pure evil, were proudly displayed and sold,' he said.

'The presence of this shop in the heart of our suburbs was not just an insult to the memory of the victims and the diggers who sacrificed their lives to defeat the Third Reich, but was a spit in the face of Holocaust survivors.'
Todays actions are intended to provide Pier 1 with additional time and financial flexibility as we now work to unlock additional value for our stakeholders through a sale of the company, Pier 1 CEO and Chief Financial Officer Robert Riesbeck said in a statement. Riesbeck, an executive with previous corporate turnarounds, joined Pier 1 last summer.
A former project manager at multinational company Flextronics, who was jailed for the fraudulent payment of overtime that was not carried out, has dropped an appeal against the severity of his prison sentence at the last minute.

Brendan Sheehan (55), of Skoolhill, Fedamore, Co Limerick, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of theft in relation to the fraudulent payment of more than 300,000 overtime between 2010 and 2014.

Limerick Circuit Criminal Court heard that the company launched an internal investigation in April 2014 when rumours began circulating within the companys Raheen facility.

Detective Garda Fiona OConnell told prosecuting lawyers that Sheehan and three other men were employed by Irish Express Cargo  a subsidiary of Flextronics  to support the activities of one its biggest clients  medical devices manufacturer Stryker. Sheehan, who was in charge of Project Stryker, was responsible for approving all overtime payments, the court heard.

Det Gda ODonnell said Sheehan had orchestrated the payment of overtime to ten employees who then handed him a cut of the monies.

Payments averaged in the region of 400 to 600. While some overtime work was carried out, it was not possible to establish exactly how much, the court heard.

Following his garda interviews, Sheehan was said to have acted like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

He told gardai that he suffered from a chronic gambling addiction and that things had spiralled out of control and that he was living in a fantasy world.

The court heard that the father-of-four was heavily involved in the GAA and had been a well-respected employee.

Judge Tom ODonnell sentenced Sheehan to four years' imprisonment with the final two years suspended on March 29, 2019.

Sheehan was due to appeal against the severity of his sentence today. However, before the case came on for hearing, his lawyers indicated that their client had been released from custody on a community service scheme.

President of the Court of Appeal Mr Justice George Birmingham commented that it might be better to leave well enough alone, at which point Sheehans lawyers applied to have the appeal withdrawn.

Mr Justice Brimingham, who sat with Mr Justice John Edwards and Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy, permitted the appeal to be withdrawn.

In Limerick Circuit Court, Judge ODonnell had said the case was one of the most bizarre he had come across, given the period of time involved and the enormity of the payments.
Australian drinkers will be warned "alcohol can cause lifelong harm to your baby" under a new mandatory labelling scheme approved by the regulator, unless state and federal ministers veto the plan.

The alcohol lobby hit back at the "short-sighted" decision by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), while public health advocates said it was a "hugely significant step".

The food regulator has approved a new alcohol warning label for pregnant women. Credit:Tribune

The newly approved label for bottles larger than 200ml also includes the words "health warning" in red, bold capital letters and a pictogram of a silhouette of pregnant woman drinking with a red strike-through. Alcohol bottles up to 200ml would display the pictogram only.

"This decision is a bitter disappointment," Alcohol Beverages Australia chief executive Andrew Wilsmore said after the 129-page ruling was published on Monday.
Two Cambodian military helicopters are parked at the port where the MS Westerdam is docked in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. (PHOTO: AP)

*UPDATE at 5.35pm on 19 February 2020 to reflect the Ministry of National Developments clarification that the two Singaporean passengers are on home quarantine, and are not in a government quarantine facility

SINGAPORE  Two Singaporean passengers who were aboard the MS Westerdam cruise ship are on home quarantine, said Lawrence Wong, co-chair of the multi-ministry taskforce on the COVID-19 coronavirus on Monday (17 February).

The National Development Minister was responding to a reporters question about the passengers on the Westerdam at a media conference held by the taskforce on the outbreak in Singapore.

"We are not allowing any other passenger from the Westerdam to come into Singapore or to transit through Singapore, Wong said.

His comments came after a passenger released from the ship later tested positive for the virus. The 83-year-old American woman had flown to Malaysia from Cambodia, which allowed the ship to dock after it was turned away elsewhere in Asia.

Five other Singaporeans are on board a separate quarantined cruise ship docked off Yokohama, Japan. The Diamond Princess accounted for 454 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Monday, the second largest number outside of mainland China. It is reported to have around 3,700 passengers and crew members with about half of the passengers from Japan, according to Reuters.

The Singaporeans on Diamond Princess had reported that they are physically well, said a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson last Wednesday, in response to Yahoo News Singapores queries.

The Ministry of Health on Monday confirmed two new cases of the novel coronavirus in Singapore, bringing the total to 77.

As of Monday, more than 1,700 people have died of the virus in China, which has sickened over 71,000 people.

COVID-19 has spread to 28 territories beyond mainland China. Five territories  Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines, and France  have each reported the death of a patient infected with the virus.

Story continues

Related stories

COVID-19: Singapore confirms 2 new cases; 5 more patients discharged

COVID-19: Travellers returning to Singapore from China outside Hubei not allowed to leave house for 14 days  Lawrence Wong

Housewife who was Singapore's 15th COVID-19 case discharged; thanks NCID medical staff

Coronavirus: How it's spreading in Singapore and the world
Canterbury high street, Kent, England. (Gareth Fuller/PA Wire)

The number of landlords in Britain has dropped to its lowest in seven years, after a clampdown on the buy-to-let market under former chancellor George Osborne.

New figures lay bare the impact of a series of tax reforms designed to curb the runaway growth of the sector in recent years.

Landlord numbers have dwindled by about 223,000 from its 2017 peak, falling to 2.66 million last year, according to estate agents Hamptons International.

The number of privately rented homes has also fallen from 5.29 million in 2017 to 5.13 million last year, the figures suggest.

The decline in supply appears to have pushed up rents amid continued high demand. Hamptons said average rents had risen 3.6% in the past year. It found rents had risen fastest in the south, where a decline in landlords buying new properties has been particularly acute.

Read more: UK house prices near record high as buyer numbers boom

Around a third of members of the Residential Landlord Association (RLA) said in a recent survey they planned to reduce their investment in the sector.

Some 45% of respondents said a stamp duty levy introduced in April 2016 had deterred them from further investments. The stamp duty reforms mean buy-to-let and second home-owners pay 3% more stamp duty than other buyers at every house price band.

Former chancellor George Osborne, who cracked down on buy-to-lets. (PA)

The reform was one of several moves under previous Conservative administrations to cool UK house price growth, amid concerns about financial stability and first-time buyers struggle to get on the ladder.

Osborne, chancellor under former prime minister David Cameron, also began lowering the mortgage interest tax relief currently enjoyed by landlords.

Read more: UK wont fix housing crisis after 10th housing minister in 10 years

The changes were designed to create a more level playing field between landlords and those looking for their own homes. Osborne said it was unfair that only the former could offset mortgage interest payments against their income to reduce their tax bills, giving landlords a huge advantage in the market as buyers.

Story continues

The tax relief has been cut gradually, and is set to fall to 20% of interest payments from April.

Subsequent administrations have also sought to improve tenants experiences in the private rental market. Letting fees were banned under subsequent prime minister Theresa Mays government.

Boris Johnsons administration has consulted on banning no-fault evictions, and will end capital gains tax relief for landlords renting out their former homes from April.

The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) has warned the changes are incentivising landlords to favour short-term holiday lets over long-term rental tenancies. Tax relief on furnished holiday lets remains unchanged.

The difficult environment for residential landlords means the upcoming budget will be closely watched by many in the sector. The RLA warned in December of a growing supply crisis without more support to keep landlords in the business.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo Finance UK
CHENNAI: With nearly 59 projects commencing the commercial operations in a year after the second Global Investors Meet held by the state government here in January this year, and another 213 are in various stages of development, Tamil Nadu which has been a mere spectator to the development around in the past, suddenly turned into a cynosure of all eyes, thanks to the efforts of Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami who chased foreign investors to fetch hefty investments to the State.

His maiden trip abroad, the first overseas visit by a CM to attract global investors, cast the die to transform Tamil Nadu. After the GIM, the State had signed 63 agreements to attract investments around Rs. 19,136 crore. After setting up a high-level committee headed by Mr. Palaniswami, 36 industrial projects worth Rs. 14,728 crore have been awarded various approvals to start the operations. This would create 22,763 jobs.

Apart from the electric vehicle manufacturer BYD and major mobile phone designing and manufacturing firm Wintech, many firms have started taking steps to set up their manufacturing facilities in Tamil Nadu, according to the CM. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flow into Tamil Nadu saw an increase of around Rs. 47,000 crore in the last three years, pegging it at around Rs. 1,80,000 crore now, Mr. Palaniswami said recently.

The State has been constantly attracting new investments across sectors including Information Technology. The recent investments by TCS and Infosys alone, are expected to create 31,000 direct IT sector jobs in the State, he added.

Perhaps, the belief among a section of the people that the southern districts languish while the northern districts prosper will change for the better ensuring

equitable development, once the petroleum refinery and petrochemical products facility comes about in the southern coastal town of Thoothukudi. The Kuwait-based Al-Kharafi is likely to invest around Rs. 49,000 crore to set up a petroleum refinery and petrochemical products facility at Thoothukudi. Mr. Palaniswami said Al-Kharafi is expected to set up a petroleum refinery in compliance with BS-VI emission norms adhering to the environmental standard to manufacture petrochemical products.

"This will bring in economic growth in the southern part of the State similar to that which took place in Jurong Island in Singapore and Dahej and Jamnagar in Gujarat," the Chief Minister said after laying the foundation stone for DLF Down Town Chennai.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Riska Rahman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 17, 2020 17:56 694 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206500e03 1 Business Indosat-Ooredoo,lay-off,efficiency,Indonesia-Stock-Exchange,jakarta-composite-index,telecommunication-tower Free

Telecommunication service provider PT Indosat has taken a further step to improve its financial state through the layoff of almost 700 employees in recent days.

In a statement obtained by The Jakarta Post over the weekend, Indosat director and human resources chief Irsyad Sahroni said the company was laying off 677 employees as part of changes to its organizational structure to be more agile and focus on customers and market demand.

We have thoroughly reviewed all possible options and have reached the conclusion that we must take this tough but necessary action to be sustainable and grow, he said.

He went on to say that the privately-owned company was taking a fair approach in line with the prevailing laws and regulations and offered a better compensation package than required by law.

Read also: XL Axiata sales towers to improve efficiency, reduce costs

As of Friday, around 80 percent of the impacted employees had accepted the package, he said.

The publicly listed company booked a loss of Rp 284.6 billion (US$20.8 million) in last years first nine months, a stark improvement compared to the Rp 1.5 trillion loss recorded in the same period in 2018.

The companys total revenue rose by 12.4 percent year-on-year (yoy) during the same period to Rp 18.9 trillion, while total costs dropped 4.2 percent to Rp 17.3 trillion.

The companys stocks, traded at Indonesia Stock Exchange with code ISAT, plunged 2.38 percent on Monday, while the bourses main gauge, the Jakarta Composite Index, was stable, closing up 0.01 percent.

Irsyad said the job cuts, albeit tough, would improve the companys performance. They would also help Indosat remain competitive amid serious disruption and optimize its services to provide a better customer experience.

Throughout the first nine months of 2019, the company recorded Rp 1.29 trillion in employee cost, down 23.35 percent yoy. The employee cost accounted for 7.42 percent of the companys total expenditure during that period.

Securities firm Jasa Utama Capital equity analyst Chris Apriliony said the reorganization could have a positive impact on the companys finances and help the company achieve a profit.

However, the company would need [more time] before seeing a positive impact [of the layoffs] in its financial performance, he told the Post by text message.

In the meantime, he believed the company could book a profit in the short term, albeit temporary, thanks to last years tower sales.

In October, Indosat had sold 3,100 telecommunication towers to two local communication tower operators, PT Dayamitra Telekomunikasi (Mitratel) and PT Profesional Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Protelindo), for Rp 6.39 trillion. Indosat then leased back the towers for 20 years from the two buyers.

Meanwhile, Indosat workers union head of public relations and media Ismu Hasyim told the Post on Monday that most of the laid-off employees were from the network operations division.

Read also: Indosat sells 3,100 telecom towers for Rp 6.39 trillion

About 200 people who were laid off came from that division, because the company said it would outsource [the employees tasks] to other companies, he said, adding that he suspected such a strategy was taken following the sales of its telecommunication towers last year.

Ismu also said some of the laid-off employees had opted not to take the package for personal reasons. However, others refused the package completely as they rejected the companys decision on the job cuts.

More than 102 of them have come to us, and we [the workers union] are helping them communicate with the management, he said.

Aside from providing a severance package, Irsyad said, the company was also working to provide opportunities for the laid-off employees to continue working for its partner companies.

However, it seems not all of the affected employees knew about the offer, and Ismu said all of them had yet to receive a written agreement on the offer.

Some of them did receive a verbal offer, but I told them theres no formal offer if theres no written agreement, he said.
Susan Prindle Cooper, left, Susan Anthony Holland, Lucy Anthony Czaja and Eric and Patricia Anthony.

Annual Gathering Celebrates Susan B. Anthony's 200th Birthday



Deb Burns leads the crowd in several singalongs of music from Susan B. Anthony's era. ADAMS, Mass.  Upwards of 200 people serenaded Susan B. Anthony on the occasion of her 200th birthday on Sunday.

The anniversary event at the Adams Free Library, sponsored by the Susan B. Anthony Birthplace Museum and the Adams Historical Society, annually recognizes the famed civil rights and suffrage pioneer who was born on East Road on Feb. 15, 1820.

The celebration falls in a year that will be marked by several events commemorating not only Anthony's bicentennial but also the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote in the United States. Anthony long advocated for women's right to vote but died 14 years before the passage of the 19th Amendment that made it a constitutional right.

One of the goals is to increase voter turnout for the upcoming local election through the Vote for Susan Project, an initiative of the Adams Suffrage Centennial Celebration Committee.

The Vote for Susan Project has lined up some new ways to motivate, support, and recognize voters. There will be a hop-on, hop-off van to take voters to the polls. Voters will be given a special sticker proclaiming 'I voted for Susan,' which will also entitle them to rewards offered by Adams merchants.

The students of St. Stanislaus Kostka School put together a video of several of them wishing Anthony a happy birthday and offering her her favorite flower, a yellow rose.

The museum's executive director, Cassandra Peltier, along with St. Stan's kindergarten teacher and the museum's high school volunteer program head Kristen Demeo, announced the formation and first recipient of the newly created "Organize, Agitate, Educate Scholarship." The scholarship's name comes from one of Anthony's most familiar refrains. It will go to a high school student who shows a commitment to community service and volunteerism.

Demeo explained the program's roots and what it hopes to accomplish.

"For the past two years, we've begun a partnership with Hoosac Valley High School and the Honor Society. Once you're inducted into that as a junior you must put in 10 hours of community service. This year we had nine students from Hoosac Valley and one of them was Malina Ziaja (the inaugural recipient)," she said. "This year all nine of them accumulated 135 hours of service.

Demeo said Ziaja actually began her volunteering four years ago and worked faithfully in the Anthony museum gift shop every Sunday.

"She was also a docent at the museum. Between those four years she accumulated 200 hours of service," she said. "We thank her for that. We are very grateful to have students like Malina who are the next generation for instilling the powers that women can carry."

Ziaja was on a school trip to the state of Florida and unable to attend but she sent a video message of thanks that is posted on the museum's website.

A big part of the program was dedicated to music and singalongs of 19th-century music from Anthony's era. Local musician Deb Burns not only led the singalongs but explained how music played a vital role in the suffrage movement.

"Singing was a big part of the suffragist movement. It was a way of bringing people together and sometimes a way of just making noise and getting noticed," she explained. "But the songs had to be easy to remember. Anthony liked to use 'safe' words in them so they wouldn't scare people off. Words like home and mother and baby."

Burns said this was done to make the men feel more comfortable with the idea of women being able to vote. She said the suffragists did not want to come off as radicals even though that is indeed what they were. All this in aid of convincing the only eligible voters, men, to vote to give women the same right.

The Anthony Duo, made up of Eric Anthony, an Anthony family descendant, and his wife, Patricia, provided music in the form of guitar and flute for the afternoon and also a little history lesson. Patricia's anecdote about an incident in Anthony's home shined a light on her work on behalf of minorities as well as women.

"There was someone who was supposed to be helping one of the black women, and this woman would not type for her, she said, 'I'm not in the habit of doing so!' So Susan firmly, but I'm sure in a very nice way, escorted her out of the home," Anthony told the crowd.

The Birthplace Museum was made possible through the efforts of Rochester, N.Y., resident Carol Crossed. After being born in Adams, Anthony spent the bulk of her life in the Upstate New York city on Lake Ontario, where her home is also a museum. Although Crossed purchased the property on East Road herself, she went on to organize a group of dedicated Rochesterians who raised money to renovate it into the showplace and education center it is today and also maintain a healthy endowment for future projects.

Museum board members Kathy Peters and Lynn Lewandowski said none of this would have happened if not for Crossed's efforts.



A miniature of the bronze statue of Anthony to be installed at the Town Common was on display. "She bought the house. She has been a longtime supporter of feminism and Susan B. so when she heard the house was up for sale, she jumped on it. After she bought it she grabbed a bunch of people from the Rochester area and said, 'What do you think of this?'" Peters said. "We were all on board and also from Susan's stomping ground so it made perfect sense for us."

"I always wondered what would've happened if Carol didn't buy that house. Somebody could have bought it and done who knows what to it. We're so grateful for Carol for the vision she had," Lewandowski said.

Peltier was thrilled with the turnout in the library's historic Memorial Hall and looks forward to what is to come in a year full of celebrations.

"I'm amazed at the turnout even though I shouldn't be given how important her work was. It was very heartening to see the room full and feel the energy. The scholarship is so exciting as well. A couple of board members from Rochester suggested it at a meeting and we all just immediately said yes," she said. "Since I took this job, I've thought it's been really important for the museum to become a participant in the community. Since I grew up in the Berkshires I want to figure out where the museum can help out."

The event ended with the entire hall full of people singing, "Happy Birthday."

For more information on upcoming events for the Susan B, Anthony celebration, visit www.celebratesuffrage.org

Editor's note: Edited to remove a quote by museum director Cassandra Peltier's on voting that was actually read from the Vote for Susan Project and to add that students from the birthday video included last-minute additions from St. Agnes' School of Dalton and Boy Scout Troop 8 of Pittsfield.
The Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI), which brings together the bishops of the countrys Latin-rite dioceses, held its annual plenary assembly, in Bangalore, on February 16.

By Robin Gomes

The followers of Christ have the responsibility to promote the Gospel values of mercy and compassion. The Bishops in our country should encourage the faithful to deepen the values of the Gospel in their lives.

The Apostolic Nuncio to India and Nepal, Archbishop Giambattista Diquattro, made the call on Sunday in his inaugural address to the Plenary Assembly of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI), which brings together the bishops of the countrys Latin-rite dioceses.

The daylong plenary assembly, in Bangalore, took place during the February 13-19 Plenary Assembly of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), that brings together all the bishops of the country.

Archbishop Diquattro presided over the concelebrated Mass in the morning to inaugurate the CCBIs 32nd Plenary Assembly.

CCBI president, Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao of Goa and Daman, who presided over the meeting, spoke about the need to promote brotherhood, peace and nation-building even amidst the difficulties that the Church and the people are facing. He called for the creation of a society without any discrimination of caste, creed, language or ethnicity.

CBCI president, Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Bombay, requested the bishops to promote the culture of life and brotherhood in our country. He expressed serious concern over the new Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of the Central Government, which allows abortion at any time during the pregnancy till the 24-week gestation period.

Reiterating the teaching of the Catholic Church and Pope Francis, he said, Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. The Church has been unwavering in its protection of the sanctity of human life, from conception until natural death. Bishops have the responsibility to spread Christs message about the dignity of all human life, the cardinal stressed.

During the inaugural Mass, special prayers were offered for people affected by COVID-19 (coronavirus) in China and in various parts of the world. Archbishop Ferrao requested all to pray continuously for the speedy recovery of those infected by the virus.

The CCBI chose 26 bishops to participate in the three-week Golden Jubilee Conference of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences (FABC) scheduled for November in Bangkok, Thailand.

Indias Catholic Church is made up of 3 ritual Churches. The Latin rite (CCBI) and the two eastern rites - the Syro-Malabar and the Syro-Malankara churches - together make up the CBCI, the apex body of the Catholic Church in India.

With 132 dioceses and 189 bishops, the CCBI is the largest bishops conference in Asia.

The CBCI, which was instituted in 1944, turned 75 this year. With 170 dioceses and over 200 active bishops, it the 4th largest bishops conferences in the world, after Brazil, Italy and the United States. (Source. CCBI)
Appointment

17 February 2020

CWT, the B2B4E travel management platform, announces the appointment of Erica Antony as Chief Product Officer. In this newly created role, Erica will provide dedicated leadership and focus to drive CWT's product strategy and offerings in the market. She will report to Patrick Andersen, US EVP & Chief Strategy and Commerce Officer at CWT.

Erica's primary focus will be to evolve CWT's customer-centric product approach, optimizing organizational design and spearheading the company's go-to-market strategy. Working closely alongside both Patrick Andersen, and CWT's Chief Technology Officer, John Pelant, she will also be responsible for further augmenting CWT's voice of the customer.

Erica brings exceptional product management and leadership experience garnered over more than 15 years in customer-focused roles, most recently as Vice President of product management at Workfront, a leader in online work management software. Prior to that, she held senior development roles driving product strategy and major transformation initiatives at various global technology companies, including Symantec, Veritas and Arcserve.

She holds a Bachelor of Science in both Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin La Crosse and is an alumna of Harvard Business School's Program for Leadership Development.
A boat in the East Sea circa 1930s. Robert Neff Collection



By Robert Neff





Rocky islets in the East Sea, circa 1910s. Robert Neff Collection
SOME of Limericks most well-known women have come out in support of a campaign to bring Pope Francis to the Treaty City during his trip to Ireland next year.

A visit from the pontiff could uplift the city in more ways than one, they argue. According to the campaign spearheaded by local woman Emily Clarke, an economic boost to the entire region, as well as the chance to promote Limerick on a global scale are some of the benefits we can look forward to.

Not to mention the spiritual impact a papal visit would have on Limericks faithful denizens.

Since starting this campaign back in 2014, when I sent my song Papa Francis to the Vatican with an invitation to come to Limerick, I have been blown away with the build-up of excitement and enthusiasm and support for the prospect of a papal visit to Limerick, said Ms Clarke, from Crecora.

Celia Holman Lee and Senator Maria Byrne are the latest Limerick people to back the bid, along with prominent businesswoman Mary Fitzgerald of Adares Woodlands Hotel, former councillor Mary Jackman and Helen ODonnell, chair of both the Limerick City Business Association and the board of management at Crescent College Comprehensive.

Senator Byrne said she had many fond memories of the last papal visit to Limerick.

My father Bobby, as Mayor of Limerick, welcomed Pope John Paul II to Limerick Racecourse, South Circular Road to present his holiness with the Freedom of the City of Limerick, said the politician.

I understand Pope Francis is expected to visit Dublin and an area in the North of Ireland, she said.

 I believe Limerick is an ideal place to encompass the rest of the Ireland and has the facilities to enable such a visit by His Holiness, she added.

Hotelier Mrs Fitzgerald also recalled the last papal visit, saying that another one would be a huge boost to those in her industry.

Im old enough to remember the impact of the visit of Pope John Paul to Limerick in 1979. I had only recently started my bed and breakfast business, and it was full with visitors, from south Kerry and beyond, she said.

Talks of getting the leader of the Roman Catholic church to come to this side of the country have also reached the council chamber.

Members of Limerick City and County Council supported a motion to invite the pope to Limerick, and a council spokesperson confirmed that a letter will be sent in the near future.

Last November, following a similar request from councillors, Limerick City and County Council wrote to the Office of the Apolostic Nuncio in Ireland, said the spokesperson.

Ms Clarke, Mayor Stephen Keary and a number of other local representatives are due to meet the bishop to discuss coming together to issue a formal invitation.
Shipping containers are seen at a port in Tokyo, Japan, in this file photo, Monday. Reuters-Yonhap



By Kim Yoo-chul



Following Japan unexpectedly and unilaterally tightened controls on high-technology exports to Korea last year, the government has decided to invest up to 11.2 trillion won ($9.3 billion) this year alone to help South Korean companies gain the upper hand against their Japanese counterparts in the industrial materials and components sector.



"South Korea will invest up to 11.2 trillion won to keep core industries  automotive, shipbuilding and industrial materials  running this year. The government-wide financial support is to give assistance to these related industries," the trade ministry said in a statement Monday.



Specifically, the plan provides up to 4.5 trillion won to help local small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) invest in facilities to produce industrial materials and components crucial to manufacturing. The government agency has allocated 3 trillion won to operate programs helping SMEs develop technological advancements.






Strong winds and heavy rains battered parts of Britain as Storm Dennis swept through the country that picked up Saturday and lasted through Sunday. A man died after falling into a river on Sunday in South Wales, the worst-hit region in the United Kingdom. According to reports, the man fell into the River Tawe following which the police launched a search operation. The police later informed in a tweet that the man was found dead further along the river in the Trebanos area.

Read: Storm Dennis Disrupts Flights Across UK, Military Deployed To Manage Risk

Storm Dennis

Storm Dennis also affected the northwest region of France as approximately 60,000 people suffered power cuts and rails and traffic were also disrupted, media reports suggested. According to Britain's government weather agency, a rare red warning was issued for south Wales saying that there is significant risk from the flooding as fast-flowing water poses danger to life and extensive flooding could lead to property damage and road closures. As per reports, a record 594 flood warnings were issued on Saturday and Sunday, extending from north of England to further South.

Read: Storm Dennis Forces Plane To Land Sideways On Runway As Hundreds Of Flights Grounded

According to reports, winds up to 90mph were recorded in Aberdaron in south Wales and the defence ministry in the country deployed the army to handle the situation. Storm Dennis is the second storm to hit England in a week and has caused hundreds of flights across Europe to be cancelled. British Airways and easyJet confirmed they had grounded flights in the United Kingdom due to the storm. Earlier, footage surfaced online showed a massive A380 struggling to land on the runway at London's Heathrow airport due to strong winds.

Read: Flights Cancelled Across Britain As Storm Dennis Triggers Flood Alerts

According to reports, last weekend Storm Ciara caused a similar situation as two of the busiest airports in Europe, Frankfurt in Germany and Amsterdam in Netherlands, grounded more than 100 flights due to the storm.

Read: Storm Dennis Approaches UK, 'danger To Life' Warning Issued By Met Office
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Several former federal prosecutors from Ohio are among more than 2,000 ex-Justice Department employees who signed an open letter calling for Attorney General William Barr to step down.

Among those who signed the letter are former U.S. Attorney Steven Dettelbach, who ran the northern Ohio office from 2009 to 2016 and is now a partner at the BakerHostetler law firm. His successor Carole Rendon, also a partner at BakerHostetler, also signed the letter.

Retired Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann Rowland also signed the letter. She worked in the northern Ohio office for 37 years, prosecuting worked on corruption cases for decades. Most notably, she was a lead prosecutor in the county corruption probe that led to convictions against former Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora, Auditor Frank Russo and dozens of other government employees and contractors.

The reason the Justice Department has been successful in the past in prosecuting public corruption is because they remained politically independent, Rowland said Monday.

The letter published Sunday on Medium addresses actions Barr took to change the recommendation his department made for the sentencing of Roger Stone, a longtime confidant of President Donald Trump. A jury convicted Stone in November of obstructing a congressional inquiry into Russian interference into the 2016 presidential election.

Prosecutors in the U.S. Attorneys Office in Washington, D.C. asked a federal judge to sentence Stone to between seven and nine years in federal prison. Barr and other senior Justice Department officials overrode the recommendation the following day and asked the judge for a more lenient sentence.

Barr intervened after Trump harshly criticized the first sentencing recommendation on Twitter, leading many to question how insulated the Justice Department can be from the presidents whims.

The letter notes that Barr did an interview with ABC News where he said the presidents tweets can be disruptive, but says that Mr. Barrs actions in doing the Presidents personal bidding unfortunately speak louder than his words.

Those actions, and the damage they have done to the Department of Justices reputation for integrity and the rule of law, require Mr. Barr to resign, the letter states.

Absent that, the former prosecutors calls on current Justice Department employees to report abuses to the Inspector General, the Office of Professional Responsibility and Congress, and to refuse to carry out directives that are inconsistent with their oaths of office. If prosecutors resign, they should report publicly why they did so, the letter states.

Others who signed it from Ohio include:

- Linda Barr, a federal prosecutor in Northeast Ohio who retired in 2018.

- Kathleen Brinkman, who worked as a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of Ohio for 24 years. She is now of counsel at the Porter Wright Morris & Arthur law firm in Cincinnati.

- Ellen Canfil, a former Justice Department law clerk.

- Steve Canfil, an attorney in Cleveland who did two stints in the Justice Department, one of which was for a Strike Force to wipe out organized crime. He is married to Ellen Canfil.

- Subodh Chandra, who worked as a federal prosecutor from 1999 to 2002. He now runs The Chandra Law Firm in Cleveland.

- James Moroney, who was in the U.S. Attorneys Office in Cleveland for 30 years and did a stint as section chief of the national security unit. He now does some defense work.

- Maureen Murphy, a former attorney in the civil division for the U.S. Attorneys Office in Cleveland.

- Michael Rendon, a criminal defense attorney in Cleveland who previously worked as a special assistant U.S. attorney in Ohio. He is married to Carole Rendon.

- Alan Ross, a former chief of the civil division for the U.S. Attorneys Office in northern Ohio.

- Sharon Zealey, who was the U.S. attorney in southern Ohio from 1997 to 2001.

Many of the former prosecutors, along with others, signed another open letter published in May said Trump would face criminal charges based on a report issued by Special Counsel Robert Mueller regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election if the president wasnt in office.
The Question Hour was washed out in the Uttar Pradesh legislature on Monday as agitated Samajwadi Party members stalled proceedings in both Houses over the issue of alleged threat call to their party chief Akhilesh Yadav.

Lucknow: The Question Hour was washed out in the Uttar Pradesh legislature on Monday as agitated Samajwadi Party members stalled proceedings in both Houses over the issue of alleged threat call to their party chief Akhilesh Yadav.

The SP members raised slogans leading to adjournment of proceedings in the state Assembly for 30 minutes, which was extended for the entire Question Hour by Speaker Hriday Narain Dixit.

Similar scenes were witnessed in the legislative council over the threat which Yadav had earlier said he received over the phone.

As soon as the state Assembly met for the day, Leader of the Opposition Ram Govind Chaudhary of the Samajwadi Party raised the issue demanding immediate discussion on the matter, but the Chair did not allow it.

At this, the SP members started protesting and the Speaker adjourned the House proceedings till Zero Hour. When the House reassembled, Chaudhary again raised the issue and said it was a serious matter.

Responding to his concerns, Parliamentary Affairs minister Suresh Kumar Khanna said Yadav had been provided 'Z-Plus' category security which comprises 182 security personnel led by an Additional SP rank officer, circle officer, six inspectors, 14 sub-inspectors besides CoBRA commando jawans.

Usually 56 security personnel guard an 'Z-Plus' protectee, but in his (Yadav's) case, 182 personnel are posted, the minister said, adding that it was not a security breach but a "trivial" incident.

Akhilesh Yadav had recently claimed at a meeting that he had received a threat call and a message on his phone from a BJP leader. He made the allegation after a youth disrupted his meeting, shouting 'Jai Shri Ram'.

Opposition parties have been raising the issue of law and order in the state in the Budget session of the state legislature.

The matter had its echo in the Upper House as well, with the Question Hour becoming a casualty amidst the din created by the SP members over alleged threat to their national president.

As soon as the legislative council met in the morning, SP leader Ahmad Hasan raised the issue and alleged that security of Akhilesh Yadav was reduced and the BJP was trying to threaten the opposition.

When leader of the House and Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma sought to know on which rule they were trying to raise the matter, SP members rushed to the Well of the House, raising anti-government slogans.

Council Chairman Ramesh Yadav adjourned the House for half-an-hour. The session was later extended due to which the Question Hour could not take place.

Opposition Samajwadi Party, the BSP and the Congress also staged a walkout in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly as they accused the BJP-led state government of being "insensitive" towards Dalits following the recent caste clashes in Mangta village where 25 people were injured.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, however, dismissed the allegation and said every incident should not be seen through a "political prism" and local disputes should be resolved "locally".

The matter was raised during Zero Hour by BSP leader Lalji Verma, who alleged that the state government was insensitive towards Dalits and demanded compensation to the victims.

Congress leader Aradhana Mishra Mona also joined him and termed the incident as serious.

Twenty-five people were injured in clashes that broke out between two groups in Mangta village here in Kanpur Dehat district on 13 February.

Rubbishing the opposition charges, Adityanath said, "The incident arose from a local dispute among villagers" and advised the opposition members not to "add fuel to fire" and allow peace to prevail.

"Every incident should not be seen through a political prism. The administration officials are camping in the village and the government is committed to provide security to the people. Timely action was taken by the police and arrests were also made," the chief minister said.

He also said compensation was promptly paid to those affected as per the provisions under the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and there was no need for opposition members to recommend doles for the victims.

Dissatisfied with the reply, the opposition parties staged a walkout from the House.
Mike Bloomberg has reportedly recruited top Clinton ally, Capricia Marshall, for his 2020 presidential campaign amid rumors that he is considering making Hillary Clinton his running mate.

A source told PageSix that Marshall, who has worked under Bill and Hillary Clinton as well as former president Barack Obama, could help Bloomberg become more credible in numerous ways.

'Capricia is very connected to the Democratic political orbit and will give Bloomberg a stronger link to the Dem establishment, and therefore more credibility,' the source told the news site.

'She will help convince them Mike is not a quasi-Republican after he heavily backed GOP candidates in the past.'

According to the source, Marshall will also be able to help Bloomberg reach women and the African American community, 'which remains unsatisfied with his apology over his stop-and-frisk policy as New York City mayor'.

Scroll down for video

Mike Bloomberg (left on Thursday) has reportedly recruited top Clinton ally, Capricia Marshall (right in 2015), for his 2020 presidential campaign amid rumors that he is considering making Hillary Clinton his running mate.

A source claims that Marshall, who has worked under Bill and Hillary Clinton (Marshall pictured with Hillary) as well as former president Barack Obama, could help Bloomberg become more credible in numerous wayy

It is unclear what position Marshall would be taking under the Bloomberg campaign.

'Hiring Capricia is a very smart move. Shes a big deal,' the source said. Marshall has previously served both Clintons and the Obama administration.

From 1997 to 2001, she worked as Bill Clinton's White House social secretary. In 2006, she served on then-Senator Hillary Clinton's re-election campaign. From 2009 to 2013, Marshall worked as the chief of protocol of the United States under Obama.

News of Marshall possibly joining the Bloomberg campaign comes just a day after it was reported that the former mayor may be considering making Hillary Clinton his running mate.

Polling found the Bloomberg-Clinton combination would be a formidable force to take on Trump in the race for the White House, the source said.

Bloomberg is said to be considering even changing his official residence from New York to Colorado or Florida - where he also has homes - because the electoral college makes it difficult for the president and vice-president to reside in the same state.

Under the Twelfth Amendment to the US Constitution, which provides the procedure for electing the president and vice-president, it states that the two people could not both inhabit the same state as the elector.

Bloomberg's campaign would not confirm or deny the reports when DailyMail.com reached out for comments.

From 1997 to 2001, Marshall (right, in 2010) worked as Bill Clinton's White House social secretary. In 2006, she served on then-Senator Hillary Clinton's re-election campaign

From 2009 to 2013, Marshall worked as the chief of protocol of the United States under Obama (pictured walking with Marshall, second from left)

'We are focused on the primary and the debate, not VP speculation,' communications director Jason Schechter said in a statement.

Clinton's primary home is in Chappaqua, New York.

Two new Democratic primary polls have also recently shown Bloomberg in the lead in Florida, while Sen Bernie Sanders tops the field in Texas.

Both Bloomberg and Sanders have teeny tiny leads over former Vice President Joe Biden, who took a beating in both Iowa and New Hampshire.

The Florida poll shows Bloomberg with just a one-point lead over Biden, with the ex-mayor receiving 27 per cent support from Florida Democrats compared to Biden's 26 per cent support.

Bloomberg's edge comes from having about a 10-point lead over Biden among white survey respondents.

The former mayor gets the support of 28 per cent of white Floridians, versus the 18.5 per cent who selected Biden as their first choice for Democratic nominee.

Former first lady Clinton previously said she faced calls to run for president in 2020 after she lost out to Trump in the 2016 election, but she has repeatedly said she won't join the race.

However, she stopped short of denying she was considering running for vice-president alongside one of the Democratic candidates earlier this month.

'I never say never because I do believe in serving my country, but it's not going to happen,' she told Ellen DeGeneres.

Both Bloomberg and Bernie Sanders (right) have small leads over former Vice President Joe Biden (left), who took a beating in Iowa and New Hampshire. The Florida poll shows Bloomberg with just a one-point lead over Biden

In January, President Donald Trump made the strange claim that Clinton had promised Bloomberg the job of secretary of state should she be elected president in 2016, to keep him from running four years ago.

'He had a deal with Hillary Clinton that he was going to become secretary of State. It was very simple. People knew that,' Trump said during an interview on CNBC filmed on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The president then suggested Bloomberg would have been double-crossed.

'Wasn't going to happen. It was going to go to Terry McAuliffe,' Trump said, name-dropping the former governor of Virginia who's been a close Clinton friend.

'I mean, so they were playing with Michael,' Trump alleged. 'And - it's too bad, but he's spending a fortune.'

Bloomberg had endorsed Clinton over Trump in 2016, saying at the Democratic National Convention in July 2016 that though 'there are times when I disagree with Hillary,' the country must unite to 'defeat a dangerous demagogue'.

'Let's elect a sane, competent person with international experience,' Bloomberg said at the time.

Last week was a busy one for Bloomberg after he was forced to apologize for a recording that was leaked online of him talking bluntly about his stop-and-frisk policies.

'Ninety-five percent of your murders - murderers and murder victims - fit one M.O. You can just take the description, Xerox it and pass it out to all the cops,' Bloomberg is heard saying in the recording.

'They are male minorities, 16 to 25. That's true in New York. That's true in virtually every city.'

'And that's where the real crime is. You've got to get the guns out of the hands of the people that are getting killed.'

Trump tweeted: 'WOW, BLOOMBERG IS A TOTAL RACIST!'

On Thursday, Bloomberg apologized for endorsing the stop-and-frisk policy.

'There is one aspect of approach that I deeply regret, the abuse of police practice called stop and frisk,' Bloomberg said.

'I defended it, looking back, for too long because I didn't understand then the unintended pain it was causing to young black and brown families and their kids.'

'I should have acted sooner and faster to stop it,' he continued. 'I didn't, and for that, I apologize.'
Glider service routes to Colin Connect in west Belfast have been withdrawn after attacks

Glider service routes to Colin Connect in west Belfast have been withdrawn after two separate attacks, union Unite has said.

The vehicles were left with smashed windows after coming under attack from youths.

The Glider will now turn at the Michael Ferguson roundabout and not travel to the Colin Connect terminus, where the attacks occurred.

An urgent meeting is set to take place on Tuesday between Translink, Unite, the PSNI and community representatives.

Chair of the Metro and Gliders drivers Unite union branch, Michael Dornan said that the two incidents occurred at Lagmore on Monday and involved "a large number of youths".

"In the first incident, a window was broken but thankfully did not give way - saving a young female passenger from what would have been a very serious injury. Nonetheless the girl was left in a state of shock," Mr Dornan explained.

In a second attack a group of approximately seventy youths had to be put off for not paying  they then viciously attacked the Glider and broke windows."

He said that the attacks were only the latest "in a series of attacks on Glider services".

"Members of our union, who inspect tickets have been subjected to routine abuse for months now  many report being consistently spat at and attacked verbally by youths in anti-social behaviour incidents throughout the West Belfast route.

Now the drivers are feeling the same pressure. The workers are getting no protection from the company  there are no support cars."

Mr Dornan said if the situation did not improve the service could be withdrawn from the entire west Belfast route.

Our union fought hard to secure the Glider service and then we had to fight to protect the routes. We believe passionately in public transport and we are rightfully proud of the Glider service but we have to put first the safety and security of drivers, Custom Revenue Protection Officers (CPROs) and the travelling public," he said.

"We know that the people of the area  our customers  will suffer but we have been left with no choice."

Unite Regional Coordinating Officer for workers in Translink, Davy Thompson said the attacks threatened the lives of staff and the general public.

We recognise that, unfortunately, this decision will result in huge disruption and suffering for the local community who use the Glider service but these attacks threaten life and limb, the responsibility for this outcome lies entirely at the feet of those who attacked the vehicles," he said.

Unite will be seeking urgent meetings tomorrow with local community representatives, the PSNI and management to seek assurances that these attacks will stop. If they do not, the withdrawal is likely to become a suspension  with the same approach taken as with attacks on Metro services."
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 17:36:29|Editor: zh

Video Player Close

WINDHOEK, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Namibia Breast Milk Bank (NBMB) is in dire need of milk and more nursing mothers are needed to register as supplying donors for the growing number of registered babies, an official said.

The bank simply does not have enough breast milk donors, an issue that remains its greatest challenge at this point, said NBMB coordinator, Birgit Mayer in a statement on Sunday.

"Although we have a few regular donors, we are in need of more mothers to contribute to the success of the bank. We need more breast milk and are truly grateful for those mothers that have supported us since the inception of the bank.

Established in April 2018 and inaugurated in August 2019, the bank has been able to cater for more than 100 babies, Mayer added.

One of the main supporters of the NBMB, the Ohlthaver & List (O&L) Group said that they assist the milk bank with operational/administrative costs and are calling on other corporations to reach out to the bank and contribute to its success.

Mayer meanwhile said despite the current progress there is still room for improvement.

"We need more working space. Public response has improved since the official inauguration, more mothers came forward to donate their extra supply of milk and more people are now aware of the bank and its purpose," Mayer concluded.

The human milk bank is a service that screens, collects, processes and distributes human breast milk to feed premature babies in cases when parent mothers cannot produce enough of their own breast milk.
MANILA, Philippines  The Bureau of Customs (BOC), together with the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), said it has completed the disposal of a shipment of food items that were tainted with African Swine Fever (ASF).

The BOC said the shipment, which included food products such as pork-chicken balls, dumplings, and roast chicken wings were disposed of using a heat-assisted method called thermolysis or thermal decomposition at the facility of Integrated Waste Management at Trece Martirez in Cavite on February 7.

The bureau said the food shipment, consigned to Dynamic M Intl Trading Inc., arrived at the Manila International Container Port (MCIP) on December 11, 2019, from China.

An alert order was issued on the container on December 17.

The shipment was initially inspected by the Customs at the Designated Examination Area in MICP and was transferred to the consignees warehouse at Goldkey Bldg, Toklong, Kawit, Cavite for the conduct of 100% physical examination by the interagency team.

It was seized last January 24, 2020, after the Veterinary Quarantine Services of BAI found a sample of the pork-celery dumpling to be ASF-positive, the BOC added.

The bureau assured that the food items were first disinfected by the BAI before these were transported to the Integrated Waste Management Facility for disposal.

The post PH Bureau of Customs, Animal Industry dispose of ASF-tainted food products appeared first on UNTV News.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the six other ministers in the newly-formed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government took charge of their offices on Monday. To start with, Kejriwal, in his third stint as chief minister, is aiming to roll out the free bus ride for students and doorstep delivery of ration schemes within the first three-four months.

Hindustan Times takes a look at the top five projects which the Delhi government is kicking-off its term with:

Deshbhakti curriculum: The first priority of the AAP government in education sector will be to introduce the patriotism curriculum in all government schools. Announcing the move on the eve of Independence Day in 2019, Kejriwal said that the curriculum would help build a class of patriotic citizens. It was also included in the AAPs manifesto for the assembly elections. Speaking to HT, Manish Sisodia, who is going to be the deputy chief minister of Delhi and is likely to retain the education portfolio, said that the government is aiming to introduce this curriculum in its schools from the session which starts from April 1.

Watch l AAP 3.0s top priorities: Patriotic curriculum to free bus rides

Ration delivery: Kejriwals flagship project, the doorstep delivery of ration, which aims to offer free home delivery of essential supplies to ration-card holders, is going to be the other project which the government is planning to roll out in its first few months. Officials associated with the project said that the file, which once was the cause of a major flashpoint between the Lieutenant Governor, the bureaucracy and the Delhi government, has now received all the necessary clearances.

Source apportionment of air pollution: The Delhi government in collaboration with Washington University will start giving out real-time data identifying area-wise sources of air pollution in the city from April. We have base level data for almost a year now. The comparison with the previous years pollution source data will begin from April. The machines have been set up at our air quality monitoring centre near India Gate. Once it starts, details of air pollution and its sources will be provided in an interval of every four hours which will help agencies to take area-specific pollution control initiatives, said an official on condition of anonymity.

Free bus rides for students: The AAPs promise to extend its free bus ride scheme to students, mentioned in Kejriwals 10-point guarantee card ahead of the assembly elections, is likely to be executed within three months of the government assuming office. The AAP government offers free rides to women in all state-run buses since October. The scheme will have to be tabled in the Cabinet and then will have to be approved in the Board of the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC). Officials said this procedure should not take more than three months.

Decongesting Delhi: As Kejriwal in his swearing-in ceremony on Sunday talked about greater cooperation with the Central government, the AAP government is looking to collaborate with the Delhi police smoothening major traffic bottlenecks in the city. The government is likely to revise speed limits of all roads across Delhi and it will also kick-start a project to re-design roads with location-specific solutions with the held of experts.

While in most projects and schemes, the Kejriwal government will require little intervention from the Lieutenant Governor or the central government, a few others such as developing a riverfront along the Yamuna and increasing the number of mohalla clinics and reducing vehicular traffic in the city will need the cooperation of the Centre.

Against its target of setting up 1000 mohalla clinics, the AAP government in its last tenure was able to build only over 400 of them because of unavailability of land, most of which is under the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) that is controlled by the Central government.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
NEWPORT NEWS, Va., Feb. 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) announced today that 11 employees from its Ingalls Shipbuilding, Newport News Shipbuilding and Technical Solutions divisions were recognized for achievements in STEM-based fields during the 34th annual Black Engineer of the Year Award STEM Global Competitiveness Conference. The conference was held last week in Washington, D.C.



Dorian Newton, an engineering director at Technical Solutions, received the Educational Leadership  Corporate Promotion of Education Award. The award recognizes individuals from the private sector who demonstrate an exemplary commitment to enhancing the opportunities for minorities in technology-based careers through the promotion of scientific and technical education programs.

A photo accompanying this release is available at: https://newsroom.huntingtoningalls.com/file/beya2020

Eight employees received the Modern Day Technology Leader Award, which recognizes efforts in shaping the future of engineering, science and technology. They are:



Denise Bovastro , design engineering manager, Ingalls Shipbuilding

, design engineering manager, Ingalls Shipbuilding Tracey Cryer , electrical engineer, Ingalls Shipbuilding

, electrical engineer, Ingalls Shipbuilding Michael Dabney Jr. , designer, Newport News Shipbuilding

, designer, Newport News Shipbuilding Devon Stanley , IT systems administrator, Newport News Shipbuilding

, IT systems administrator, Newport News Shipbuilding Benford Stellmacher , IT systems engineer, Newport News Shipbuilding

, IT systems engineer, Newport News Shipbuilding Cliftoria Stokes , electrical engineer, Technical Solutions

, electrical engineer, Technical Solutions Towanda Tyler , nuclear engineer, Newport News Shipbuilding

, nuclear engineer, Newport News Shipbuilding James Young, engineering manager, Newport News Shipbuilding

Two employees received the Science Spectrum Trailblazer Award. The award recognizes efforts in creating new paths for others in science, research, technology and development. They are:



Brett Perkins , mechanical engineer, Technical Solutions

, mechanical engineer, Technical Solutions James Simmons III, nuclear engineer, Technical Solutions

Huntington Ingalls Industries is Americas largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of professional services to partners in government and industry. For more than a century, HIIs Newport News and Ingalls shipbuilding divisions in Virginia and Mississippi have built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder. HIIs Technical Solutions division supports national security missions around the globe with unmanned systems, defense and federal solutions, nuclear and environmental services, and fleet sustainment. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII employs more than 42,000 people operating both domestically and internationally. For more information, visit:

HII on the web: www.huntingtoningalls.com

HII on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HuntingtonIngallsIndustries

HII on Twitter: twitter.com/hiindustries

Contact:

Duane Bourne

Duane.A.Bourne@HII-co.com

(757) 380-3581
A Delhi court on Monday remanded to one-day custody a yoga instructor arrested for allegedly raping and cheating an Italian woman.

Metropolitan Magistrate Ankita Lal said that considering facts and circumstances of the case, the court deemed it fit to grant one-day police custody remand of accused Abhishek Singh, in order to facilitate the investigation.

Delhi Police submitted that the place of incident needs to be identified at the instance of the accused and he is also required for sustained interrogation. It is also submitted that the offence alleged is also serious in nature.

The counsel for the accused has strongly opposed the custody remand.

The magistrate also took note of Delhi High Court's February 14 order where the court directed Delhi Police to conduct custodial interrogation of the accused as per law.

Moreover, offence under Section 354A and 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has now been additionally added in the FIR, which entitles the investigating officer to conduct fresh arrest and custodial interrogation of the accused, the court noted.

The woman's lawyer, Alakh Alok Srivastava, told the court that the foreign national, who is also a yoga instructor and has been practising for the last 20 years, alleged that the accused "fraudulently took Rs 5 lakh" from the petitioner for "jointly setting up a yoga centre" promising "good returns".

She had lodged a cheating and forgery case against Singh at South Avenue police station here in 2018. The woman had become friend with the accused through social media.

"Singh had introduced himself as a great yoga guru from India and told the petitioner that he is teaching yoga to all big celebrities of India, including the Prime Minister and the President of India," the woman said adding that the accused manipulated the petitioner and started claiming that he was "madly in love with her and that he wanted to marry her".

"The accused further told the woman that she can set up her yoga training centres in India, in collaboration with him," the woman said adding that "on the insistence of the accused, she finally came to Goa in July 2018 and thereafter they visited various other places".

"On the assurances of good return by the accused, the woman invested her money for a yoga centre. The accused kept on taking money from the petitioner on one pretext or other. In total, he fraudulently took away about Rs 5 lakh from the petitioner between July 2018 and September 2018," the advocate said claiming that the accused, despite being married, repeatedly raped the petitioner on the pretext of marriage.

The Delhi High Court had on January 31 asked the city police to provide round-the-clock security to the Italian woman to avoid any untoward incidents, observing that the foreign is getting threats from the accused.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
FREDRICTON, N.B. - New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs has announced his government is backing down on a decision to close emergency rooms overnight in six community hospitals in the province, in order to allow for community consultations.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 16/2/2020 (694 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FREDRICTON, N.B. - New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs has announced his government is backing down on a decision to close emergency rooms overnight in six community hospitals in the province, in order to allow for community consultations.

In a statement released late Sunday, Higgs says residents of rural New Brunswick face unique challenges, and that he can't in good conscience move forward with the March 11 implementation date without addressing those concerns.

He says he will visit the communities with the affected departments  Sussex, Sackville, Sainte-Anne-de-Kent, Caraquet, Grand Falls and Perth-Andover  in April and May to get the views of leaders, health-care providers and citizens.

The announcement follows Deputy Premier Robert Gauvin's decision last week to quit in protest over the reforms and opt to sit as an independent.

It left the minority government in the precarious position of facing a confidence vote or possibly calling an early election.

Higgs had said as late as Friday that his resolve had not changed, but that he would meet with his caucus to decide how to proceed.

"I have said time and time again that we are on a mission to save New Brunswick, and that includes tackling the crisis in health care," Higgs said in his announcement to cancel the closures Sunday.

"But we need people in this province to be part of the solution and that must start with hearing from the people most impacted."

Gauvin's departure left the Tories and Liberals tied with 20 seats in the legislature. The Green party and the People's Alliance have three each, Gauvin is the lone Independent and two seats are vacant.

He was the second Tory MLA to denounce the ER closures, after Bruce Northrup said Thursday he couldn't support the move but intended to continue supporting the government in other areas.

Both the Greens and Liberals said they were prepared to defeat the government on a confidence motion.

The government had said resources diverted from the overnight shift would shore up daytime services, enhance mental health services and allow for more long-term chronic care beds.

Higgs said Sunday that the government will hold a health-care summit in June to develop a strategy for ensuring a sustainable and reliable public health-care system for the future.

The findings from the community meetings and summit will be released in the fall, Higgs pledged.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2020.
LAS VEGAS - With the Nevada caucuses days away, campaign officials and Democratic activists are increasingly alarmed that they might prove a debacle as damaging as the vote in Iowa, further setting the party back in its urgent effort to coalesce around a nominee to take on President Donald Trump.

Campaigns said they still have not gotten the party to offer even a basic explanation of how key parts of the process will work. Volunteers are reporting problems with the technology that's been deployed at the last minute to make the vote count smoother. And experts are raising serious questions about an app the party has been feverishly assembling to replace the one scrapped after the meltdown in Iowa.

"It feels like the [state party is] making it up as they go along," said one Democratic presidential aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the process. "That's not how we need to be running an election."

Adding to the challenge is the complexity of Nevada's caucuses. Unlike in Iowa, where caucuses are conducted in one evening, Nevadans have the option of voting early. At sites across the state, Democrats can rank their top presidential choices on a paper ballot.

On Saturday, caucus day, Democrats can gather at one of about 2,000 sites to vote for their preferred candidate. If their first choice doesn't get enough backing, voters can throw their support behind someone else, a second round of voting known as "final alignment." Early voting preferences will be treated the same way, as though the voter were attending in person.

The party had planned to use two specially designed apps for reporting results, developed by political technology firm Shadow, the same company that designed the vote-recording app blamed for the chaos in Iowa. A coding error in the Iowa app made it impossible to tally results, prompting confusion and delays. Shortly afterward, Nevada Democrats announced that they were scrapping the Shadow products.

Since then, state party officials have issued a series of memos trying to explain how things will work. But the party has left crucial questions unanswered, 2020 campaign aides say.

"If the party had this process well-defined and had confidence in it, I think that we'd know a lot more about it," one of the Democratic aides said.

State party officials have strenuously denied a lack of communication, pointing to group conference calls and briefings they've held with 2020 officials as they quickly retooled their caucus process.

"We are in constant contact with the campaigns," said a state Democratic Party official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak more candidly about the process. "We communicate at a very high level with the campaigns . . . and we have kept them informed every step of the way."

But several campaigns complained that those interactions seemed designed to avoid questions. On Monday, aides from different campaigns said they were given just minutes notice for an evening conference call announcing a key decision about early voting. The call was so sudden that one top campaign aide, in the middle of a caucus training for volunteers, was unable to join.

On Thursday, when the party released an update on early voting, several campaigns said they learned of the memo from reporters before they received it from the party. "We have been learning more about this process from the media than the state party or the DNC," said a Democratic aide, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, several campaigns complained that the conference calls they had held with party officials had only increased their sense of alarm that something could go wrong.

One 2020 aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity so as not to sour relations between the aide's campaign and the state party, likened the calls to phoning into a "call center where the customer service person only had three prompts that they use." The Nevada Democrats' staff, joined on the call by their attorney, offered vague answers that seemed to have been scripted by a legal team to offer as little substance as possible, the aide said.

Aides for several campaigns said this left them in a tough position, torn between trying to be publicly optimistic about a potentially flawed caucus vote in a politically important state and raising concerns.

"All of us, every campaign, regardless of policy position or strength in the race, we all want that process to work. And there's a disincentive to . . . screaming from the rooftops about how this all might not work," said a Democratic aide, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity so as not to anger Nevada Democrats.

Several campaigns said they contacted the Democratic National Committee with their concerns. All said they had received no response back - with one campaign likening the DNC to a "brick wall."

"They are the ones who also can demand answers," one of the Democratic aides said. "They are supposed to be the ones who are the adults in the room who can trust and verify. And that hasn't happened, to our knowledge."

A DNC official pushed back on that claim. "The Nevada State Democratic Party and the DNC are in regular communication with campaigns and will continue to answer questions about the process in the state and the nominating process," DNC spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa said in a statement. "We are confident that they are doing everything they can to implement lessons learned in Iowa, and we have deployed staff to help across the board, including tech support and volunteer recruitment."

A state party official also said the party had invited campaigns to observe early caucusing and plans to allow representatives to observe the ballot processing as the party prepares the data for Saturday's in-person voting.

Experts also have raised serious concerns about the state party's plan for tallying votes on caucus night.

Nevada officials have said they plan to use a Google-based form, pre-installed on party-purchased iPads, to register voters when they arrive during early voting. Those voters will then be given a paper ballot to rank their candidate choices.

Those ballots would be verified and scanned at processing centers before they are somehow transmitted to precincts for the in-person caucuses. On caucus night, caucus administrators will access the early vote data through a Google Forms-based web application the party has referred to as a "Caucus Calculator" on party-issued iPads.

Some technical aspects of how the iPad software will work are unclear. According to the party, the iPads will be connected to the Internet using cellular and WiFi connections. Party volunteers, who have been training to run the caucuses, have been told that the Google Form will work, even if an Internet connection is not available.

But Google Forms does not offer offline support, raising more questions.

"Browser-based forms don't work well," said Joe Verschueren, founder of Formutus, a company that makes customized forms that can interact with Google Forms. Verschueren said that to make its software work offline, the Nevada Democrats will have to have a mobile app downloaded directly onto the iPad.

The party has not said whether that is the case.

The other problem, Verschueren said, is that Google Forms is limited in how it can be customized, which could present challenges for the party if it is trying to make the software perform the complicated work of folding the early vote tallies into the caucus night results. "Google Forms is very simple," he said.

Nevada Democrats said their new process reflected input from independent security experts, the DNC, the Department of Homeland Security and Google, which was consulted "to ensure the process would remain secure."

"We understand just how important it is that we get this right and protect the integrity of Nevadans' votes," Nevada State Democratic Party Executive Director Alana Mounce wrote Thursday in a memo to presidential campaigns. "We are confident in our backup plans and redundancies."

But it's not clear exactly how the party has been working to vet security issues. DHS did not respond to a request for comment on its involvement.

Volunteers also have begun sounding the alarm, saying party officials have left them unprepared. Seth Morrison, a volunteer site leader, had publicly raised concerns about the party's mixed messages to volunteers and the lack of hands-on training on the Caucus Calculator.

He said several people have raised questions about different scenarios they might encounter, such as whether an early vote with no viable candidates should be thrown out. Nobody seems to know, he said.

The first day of early voting did little to ease worries. On Saturday, there were long lines all over the state for early caucusing. More than 18,538 people turned out, according to the state Democratic Party.

Volunteers in some precincts reported technical issues, including problems with the Google Form-based registration that led some sites to switch to paper. State party officials blamed those issues on high turnout, not technical problems.

That day, state and party officials spread out across the state, appearing at early voting sites to insist Nevada's process would be a lot smoother than Iowa's.

"The [early vote] is going to make Nevada look good," former Senate majority leader Harry Reid said outside a voting site at a public library in East Las Vegas, calling out the "debacle that happened in Iowa."

Outside an early vote site in Las Vegas's Chinatown, Rep. Dina Titus, a Democrat who has endorsed former vice president Joe Biden in the race, said she was concerned but optimistic.

"We've learned from Iowa. We're not using that same app," Titus said. "We don't want anybody to kind of question the legitimacy of the result. So, we've had a little more time."

"Might have been nicer to have a little bit more time," she added.

- - -

The Washington Post's Reed Albergotti, David Weigel and Elise Viebeck contributed to this report.
Morrison threatens sick leave for shift workers and job security for permanent workers

Today the Morrison governments industrial relations minister, Christian Porter, confirmed that he would seek to legislate away personal leave entitlements for shift workers and job security for permanent workers if the High Court finds against the Government.

Industrial relations minister Christian Porter.

In 2019 the owners of Cadbury, multinational food conglomerate Mondelez, took a case against two 12-hour Cadbury shift workers to cut their personal leave entitlements from ten 10-hour days to ten 7.6-hour days. Effectively, workers will be out of pocket every time they take a sick day.

In a separate matter, a big labour-hire company WorkPac is trying to claim someone who had been working regular shifts for years was not a permanent worker but a casual. WorkPac is doing this with the full support of Christian Porter and the Morrison government.

In both cases the Morrison Government has indicated if the workers win, they will legislate to over-ride these court decisions. This would have far-reaching implications for many shift workers who would have their sick leave cut and for all permanently employed workers where employers would be legally permitted to deem them as casuals with the rights of casual workers, regardless of whether the job is permanent and on-going.

A decision to intervene and change the law in response to decisions such as this is the opposite response taken by the Government when workers had their penalty rates cut.

ACTU Secretary Sally McManus said:

The Morrison Government wants to cut sick leave for shift workers and allow employers to convert permanent workers into casuals.

They have decided they only like the umpires decision when it favours employers. When workers had their penalty rates cut, the Liberal Coalition Government absolutely and steadfastly refused to intervene to protect low paid workers who were having their take-home pay cut. In fact, they voted against changing the law to reverse the pay cuts twelve times

But when employers have a decision against them its another matter. They use our money to back in multinationals in court and threaten to over-rule the court by changing the law if they dont get the decision the employers want

Scott Morrison and his Government are never on the side of Australian workers. When their pay is cut, they cheer and the few time workers have a win, they rush to overturn it.

Imagine prioritising increasing casualisation and cutting sick leave for factory workers. This announcement is disgraceful
Marches were planned across the country over the long weekend in support of Wetsuweten First Nation hereditary chiefs.

Wetsuweten members and their allies have been locked in a dispute with Coastal GasLink, which has plans for a 640-kilometre LNG pipeline from the northeast of British Columbia to the coast.

Support for the hereditary chiefs has grown since January 2019, when the RCMP entered Wetsuweten territory to enforce an injunction against protesters camped at a blockade of the LNG line. Since then, rail blockades and protests in solidatary of the hereditary chiefs  who reject the pipeline being built on their unceded ancestral lands  have cropped up across the country.

Here are some key things to know.

The dispute

The key issue in the dispute is Coastal Gas Links plan to build a natural gas pipeline that would cross Wetsuweten traditional territory.

How it works

The Wetsuweten nation is divided into five independent First Nations governed by band councils, spread over more than 20 small reserves. Each Wetsuweten house is headed by a hereditary chief, chosen based on their nature, their comportment and their knowledge and skills.

What will Ottawa do?

Ottawa argues the Coastal GasLink pipeline projects standoff with certain Wetsuweten activists is an issue for the company and the B.C. government to resolve. Over the weekend, Trudeau conferred with cabinet ministers and a meeting has been proposed with the Wetsuweten hereditary chiefs, provincial and federal governments. Today, Trudeau is meeting with an emergency group to discuss the solidarity rail blockades that have shut down swaths of the countrys train system.

With files from The Canadian Press.

Read more about:
Boris Johnson (Keith Mayhew/SOPA Images/Sipa USA)

Boris Johnson was once widely criticised for comments about people with low IQs.

Johnsons remarks, while mayor of London, resurfaced on Monday as Downing Street came under pressure for refusing to condemn past comments from a new adviser that black Americans have lower IQs than white Americans.

In 2013, Johnson was accused by then-deputy PM Nick Clegg of talking about people as if they were dogs after referring to members of our species with low IQs.

He had told an audience at the Centre for Policy Studies: Whatever you may think of the value of IQ tests, it is surely relevant to a conversation about equality that as many as 16% of our species have an IQ below 85 while about 2%"

The Guardian reported he then broke off his speech to ask if anyone in the room had a low IQ: Over 16% anyone? Put up your hands.

He added: The harder you shake the pack, the easier it will be for some cornflakes to get to the top.

His successor Sadiq Khan was among those who criticised Johnson at the time, saying: He is abandoning and exploiting poor Londoners to appeal to the far right of the Tory party and Ukip as he forgets London in his desperate scrabble to become leader of his party."

The revival of Johnsons comments comes amid a row over Downing Street aide Andrew Sabisky, one of the people who answered the call of Dominic Cummings  Johnsons senior adviser  for misfits and weirdos to apply for jobs in the government.

It emerged Sabisky wrote on a blog in 2014: If the mean black American IQ is (best estimate based on a centurys worth of data) around 85, as compared to a mean white American IQ of 100, then if IQ is normally distributed (which it is), you will see a far greater percentage of blacks than whites in the range of IQs below 75 or below, at which point we are close to the typical boundary for mild mental retardation.

Typically criminals with IQs below 70 cannot be executed in then USA, I believe.

Story continues

Boris Johnson holding a Cabinet meeting last week. (AP/Matt Dunham, pool)

That parsimoniously explains the greater diagnostic rates for blacks when it comes to Intellectual disability. It simply [sic] a consequence of the normal distribution of cognitive ability, because there are significant difference in the group means.

On Monday, a Downing Street spokesperson repeatedly refused to say whether Johnson supported the views expressed by Sabisky.

Asked whether Johnson agreed with Sabiskys comments on the IQ of black people, a spokesman said: The prime ministers views on a range of subjects are well publicised and documented.

Labour Party chairman Ian Lavery responded by saying: It is disgusting that not only has Number 10 failed to condemn Andrew Sabiskys appalling comments, but also seems to have endorsed the idea that white people are more intelligent than black people.

Boris Johnson should have the backbone to make a statement in his own words on why he has made this appointment, whether he stands by it, and his own views on the subject of eugenics.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: These are really not acceptable headlines for any government to be generating (or allowing to be generated). They need to get a grip fast and demonstrate some basic but fundamental values in the terms of our public debate.

Johnson has previously referred to black people as piccaninnies with watermelon smiles.

He also wrote in The Guardian in 2000: When I shamble round the park in my running gear late at night, and I come across that bunch of black kids, shrieking in the spooky corner by the disused gents, I would love to pretend that I dont turn a hair.

Somehow or other a little beeper goes off in my brain. Im not sure what triggers it... but I put on a pathetic turn of speed.

Brexit briefing: 318 days until the end of the transition period
Australian passengers trapped on the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship could face a long period in quarantine upon their return to the country to ensure they are free of the deadly coronavirus.

After more than two weeks stuck in their cabins on board the ship, which is docked off the Japanese port city of Yokohama, American passengers had been told in an email that they could face another 14 days in lockdown upon return home.

Australia was considered likely to enforce quarantine for its citizens who are evacuated from the ship, with a decision to be made later Monday.

The number of infected passengers continues to grow, with an additional 70 cases reported on Monday, taking the total to 356.

Frustration was growing among passengers as their bills began to mount while their ability to get back to normal life faced further delay.

Olivia Capodicasa (pictured) is one of the Australian passengers in quarantine

American passengers trapped on the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship (pictured) which was struck down with the deadly coronavirus have been left fuming after receiving an email detailing their evacuation plan

After more than two weeks stuck in their cabins on board the ship, which is docked off the Japanese port city of Yokohama, American passengers (pictured being escorted off the ship) were told they could face another 14 days in lock down

Medical staff wearing protective suits are seen at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal on Sunday, where the number of coronavirus cases continues to grow

'It's like a prison sentence for something I did not do,' Karey Mansicalco, who owns a real estate company in Utah told CNN.

'They are holding us hostage for absolutely no reason.'

She called the additional quarantine period 'financially devastating' and believes it will cost her more than $50,000.

Others have raised their concerns over the evacuation process, fearing they will be sharing flights with those who are infected.

'The US government instead wants to take us off without testing, fly us back to the US with a bunch of other untested people, and then stick us in 2 more weeks of quarantine? How does that make any sense at all?' American passenger Matthew Smith tweeted.

Bianca D'Silva, from Melbourne, (pictured with her parents) will spend her 21st birthday in quarantine in a Japanese hospital after testing positive to the virus on February 5 onboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship

US passenger wave to reporters as they leave the Daikaku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama port, next to the Diamond Princess cruise ship

An ambulance is seen at the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal as thousands remain trapped in the Diamond Princess cruise ship

Symptoms of the virus include fever, cough, sore throat and shortness of breath

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF THE CORONAVIRUS? Once someone has caught the virus it may take between two and 14 days for them to show any symptoms. If and when they do, typical signs include: a runny nose

a cough

sore throat

fever (high temperature) The vast majority of patients  at least 97 per cent, based on available data  will recover from these without any issues or medical help. In a small group of patients, who seem mainly to be the elderly or those with long-term illnesses, it can lead to pneumonia. Pneumonia is an infection in which the insides of the lungs swell up and fill with fluid. It makes it increasingly difficult to breathe and, if left untreated, can be fatal and suffocate people. Advertisement

Those who choose not to board the chartered flight will have to stay in Japan for two weeks before heading home.

Australians on board the 'nightmare ship' are still waiting for the Morrison government to decide on a plan.

The government is awaiting a report from an Australian infectious disease expert who is in Japan assessing the situation on board the ship.

Federal cabinet minister Dan Tehan said the expert's report would be finalised on Monday.

Mr Tehan said the government would consider placing the evacuees in quarantine on Australian soil despite the cruise ship passengers having long been in lockdown.

'If they did have to go to quarantine there would be a facility available where they could go for two weeks,' he said.

'We will take the guidance from the chief medical officer as to what's the best available action to take to keep Australians safe.'

The Australians on board must pass a coronavirus test before they can be brought home, and elderly people will be given priority in the evacuation.

An additional 70 people on board the quarantined ship have been infected with the deadly coronavirus, Japan's Health Minister announced on Monday morning, taking the total of confirmed cases on board the ship to 356.

Those who tested positive for the virus are being treated in Japan.

Australians on board the 'nightmare ship' are still waiting for the Morrison government to decide on a plan

Meanwhile, more than 200 Australians who were also evacuated from Hubei province in China and who have been quarantined on Christmas Island for two weeks were due to head home on Monday.

Of the 15 coronavirus cases in Australia, six have been cleared and the remaining nine are all stable.

In China, the total number of people infected by the virus has risen to more than 68,500, with the number of deaths now at 1665.
A ghost ship which has floated for thousands of miles without a soul on board was washed up by Storm Dennis on the coast of Ireland yesterday.

The Alta, a Tanzanian-flagged cargo vessel, has been adrift since the US Coast Guard rescued its crew of ten men 1,300 miles southeast of Bermuda in October 2018.

The ship, which was last spotted off West Africa, is believed to have made its way north past Spain and the west coast of England before landing at Ballycotton, County Cork on Sunday.

Ballycotton RNLI Lifeboat chief John Tattan told The Irish Examiner: 'This is one in a million.

The crew of the Tanzanian-flagged Alta were rescued 1,300 miles southeast of Bermuda in October 2018, the vessel was then spotted in the mid-Atlantic by the Royal Navy in September last year and most recently it is believed to have made its way from West Africa before being driven landward to Ireland by Storm Dennis

It is believed to have made its way from the west of Africa, north past Spain and then the west coast of England before landing at Ballycotton, County Cork on Sunday

Ballycotton RNLI Lifeboat chief John Tattan said the ship's washing up was 'one in a million'

A spokesman for the Waterford Coast Guard said the boat was not polluting the environment, however, he is expressed concerns that high tide could soon take the ship back out to sea, presenting dangers to vessels in the area

'It has come all the way up from the African coast, west of the Spanish coast, west of the English coast and up to the Irish coast.

'I have never, ever seen anything abandoned like that before.'

Mr Tattan said that efforts were being made to contact the ship's owner. However, the US Coast Guard found their own efforts in this regard fruitless when it was first discovered.

A spokesman for the Waterford Coast Guard said the boat was not polluting the environment, however, he is expressed concerns that high tide could soon take the ship back out to sea, presenting dangers to vessels in the area.

The Royal Navy also came across the 250ft unmanned boat while sailing in the mid-Atlantic last September.

HMS Protector tweeted at the time: 'We closed the vessel to make contact and offer our assistance, but no one replied! Whilst investigations continue we're unable to give you more detail on this strange event.'

In October 2018, the vessel, which had been without power for 20 days, was airdropped supplies by the US Coast Guard while drifting 1,380 miles southeast of Bermuda.

The 44-year-old ship had become disabled when journeying from Greece to Haiti, the Coast Guard said.

A week later the Coast Guard's Cutter Confidence sped out to the vessel to rescue the crew ahead of Hurricane Leslie's arrival.

At the time the US officials said they had been working to establish who the ship's owner was so they could organise for a commercial tug to take it ashore.

However, marine sources have said that it is possible that the vessel has been hijacked at some point in its history, perhaps more than once, making its owner difficult to trace.

The Minister for the Marine, Michael Creed, is now responsible for the vessel as per Ireland's Merchant Shipping (Salvage and Wreck) Act, 1993.

The 250ft boat was spotted in September last year by the Royal Navy in the mid-Atlantic

Ballycotton RNLI Lifeboat chief John Tattan said efforts were being made to contact the ship's owner

Barrister Darren Lehane told The Journal: 'The person who finds a wreck can't just do whatever they want with it ... In this case, the responsibility falls with the minister. A receiver of wreck will be appointed by the minister with the consent of the Revenue Commissioners.'

If the owner comes forward they will have to prove their claim on the vessel and otherwise the state has control of it.

'If it was a smaller boat, and you took it away, you'd be guilty of a criminal offence.' The lawyer told the paper. 'If you board or attempt to board it, you'd be guilty of a criminal offence.'

He added that the Irish state would be able to claim the costs of recovering the vessel from the owner's at a later date if they can be traced.

In British waters, if a wreckage goes unclaimed for more than a year it becomes the property of the Crown.
Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has cautioned the youth in Muslim communities to reject politicians who would want to recruit them for violence before, during and after the upcoming general elections.

This concern was re-echoed by former President John Dramani Mahama who also spoke at the same event he attended with the Vice President in Kumasi over the weekend.

According to them, Islam was a religion that promoted peace and condemns violence.

The two renowned politicians who took turns to address a gathering during the 52nd Maulid Celebrations of Sheik Abdul-Wadud Cissey in Kumasi called on the youth to eschew violence.

The Vice President said, As Ghana prepares for other general elections, it is important for all Muslims to play a role towards maintaining the peace Allah has bestowed on this country.

We have to be forever grateful for this peace. Due to the misbehaviour of a few misguided ones amongst us, extremism and political violence are often associated with our youth in the Zongos. Fellow Muslims, violence has no place in Islam and under no circumstance should a Muslim perpetrate violence by them or be recruited to perpetuate political violence or any form of attacks by political miscreants.

Senator for Kaduna State in Nigeria, Aliu Bello also said the Hausa Kingdom in Europe will work closely with Chiefs in Ghana to address such a trend.

We want to conduct ourselves freely to avoid any kind of situation whereby if anyone commits violence or crime especially during elections; it won't be said, it's the Muslim youth.

---citinewsroom
While hearing a sedition case in Pakistan, Islamabad High Court Chief Justice, Athar Minallah made a remark that appears to be a direct insult to India.

The IHC on Monday was hearing bail petitions filed by 23 people, belonging to Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) and Awami Workers Party (AWP), who were arrested for protesting against the arrest of PTM chief, Manzoor Pashteen.

The IHC wrapped up all bail petitions of the protestors after Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat told the court that all charges against them have been dropped.

The HC was unhappy about the fact that sedition charges were levied on the protestors, who were raising voice against the government. The IHC on Tuesday had also sought an explanation from a magistrate for putting sedition charges on the protestors.

Expressing his discontent during Monday hearing, the Chief Justice suggested that India is a country that curbs freedom of expression, and Pakistan should not follow this route.

"We don't expect that a democratic government will curb freedom of expression. An elected democratic government cannot place curbs on freedom of expression. We shouldn't fear criticism. The constitutional courts will protect the constitutional rights of the people. Everyone's constitutional rights will be protected. This is Pakistan, not India," Dawn quoted Justice Minallah as saying.

In the wake of ongoing protests against CAA in various parts of India, a number of students and activists have been charged with sedition in recent time. Three Kashmiri engineering students were recently arrested in Karnataka for allegedly chanting "Pakistan zindabad" on the first anniversary of the Pulwama attack, in which, scores of CRPF soldiers were killed.

Earlier, one JNU student, was charged with sedition for allegedly advocating separation of Assam from India during Shaheen Bagh protests.
Over Rs 3 crore worth



methaqualone, a narcotics substance which was being smuggled to Australia, has been seized here, the Customs department said on Monday.

Methaqualone, a Customs release said, is a central nervous depressant that acts as a sedative and hypnotic.

The seizure was made on Sunday on the basis of information that a parcel containing drugs was likely to be smuggled out of the country through courier in the guise of apparel accessories, it said.

The Air Customs' courier intelligence unit examined a parcel at a courier warehouse in the city that was declared as ribbon rolls and apparel accessories.

Within the rolls, 57 plastic pouches containing a "white crystalline" powder were found concealed and tests revealed 'prima facie' it was methaqualone, and weighed 6.8 kg, the release said.

The contraband was valued at Rs 3.4 crore.

"The parcel was found booked by a city-based person and was consigned to Australia," it said,



Efforts were on to apprehend the consignor, whose address was found to be fake, and find the source of the drug.

"The drug takes 30 minutes to kick in and its effects can last up to eight hours," the release said, adding the drug was made 'famous' in the 1970s by a popular rock band and a Hollywood movie.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ViacomCBS Networks Australia and Foxtel Media will end of their advertising representation partnership from mid-April.

This follows the merger of Viacom and CBS Corporation to form ViacomCBS Inc.

Rod Prosser (pictured left) will become chief sales officer, Network 10 and ViacomCBS with oversight for Network 10, and ViacomCBS subscription brands MTV, MTV Dance, MTV Music, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., and their related digital and event properties.

Foxtel Media has represented MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., MTV Music and MTV Dance since 2014 (initially as MCN).

ViacomCBS executive vice president Australia and New Zealand Paul Anderson said: Todays announcement is a great step in realising the benefits of merging the ViacomCBS businesses in Australia and New Zealand,

By aligning the sales strategy across our free-to-air and subscription TV brands, we are in the best possible position to monetise the power of our great assets.

Rod Prosser said: The ViacomCBS subscription brands including MTV, Nickelodeon and Nick Jr., have incredibly strong, young and loyal audiences. When you combine these brands with the strengths of Network 10s brands and platforms, the collective offering will engage every age and every stage under 50.

Together, we have brands, shows and events that share a sense of irreverence, a passion to immerse, inspire and engage through moments that define popular culture.

Foxtel Media have been great advocates of the ViacomCBS subscription channels over the past five years and Id like to thank them for their partnership and commitment over this time, said Ben Richardson, General Manager and SVP of ViacomCBS Pay Networks.

Foxtel Media CEO Mark Frain said, We have enjoyed a successful sales partnership with ViacomCBS over the years and wish them only the very best in their future efforts.
Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

As part of his misbegotten campaign to be considered for a Nobel Peace Prize, President Trump is moving forward with a plan developed by his son-in-law to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. On Thursday, the administration took a major step toward delivering Jared Kushners long-delayed proposal, when Vice-President Mike Pence announced an invitation to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to meet in Washington next week. The opposition was invited, too  just not the obvious choice for the summit. Rather than include Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in a talk to determine an agreement between Israel and Palestine, Pence extended the invitation to Netanyahus challenger in the March election, Benny Gantz.

At a larger scale, the Trump administration has not welcomed Palestinian leaders to the table as Kushner has drawn up his peace plan  which the president said would be released prior to the Tuesday meeting. They want to be able to say that they have our input, Mahmoud al-Aloul, the vice-chairman of Palestines ruling Fatah Party, told the Washington Post. But [Trump] is not doing this to help us, but to help his friend Netanyahu. Palestinian leadership has refused all Trump administration outreach since the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as the Israeli capital in 2018  including ten invitations in recent weeks to discuss the plan.

The Trump administration previously delayed rolling out the plan as to not interfere with Israeli elections; but with a third vote in under a year coming in March, U.S. officials told the Post that avoiding favorites is no longer a concern. (The Netanyahu bias has also been quite apparent in other moves, such as the relocation of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.)

There is another reason for delaying a proposal first developed in the early months of Trumps presidency: Its notoriously bad. According to a description of the draft in Vicki Wards 2019 book Kushner, Inc., it involves at least five countries, not including Palestine, coordinating to provide aid or redraw boundaries, with no concessions provided by Israel. In recent public statements, the White House has also dropped its references to a two-state solution.

The plan was so flawed that upon its proposed rollout in June, Trump allies lobbied for a delay. Pro-Israel voices close to the administration reportedly worried that it could trigger violence or forever kill efforts to craft a two-state solution, while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that one might argue that it is unexecutable and might not gain traction.

Though the president is still confident in his son-in-laws designs for the region, in a speech in December, he may have unintentionally presented a more likely outcome for the conflict thats dragged on for 72 years: If Jared Kushner cant do it, it cant be done.
As per the recent reports from Pakistan, six people have died and dozens have been hospitalised after being exposed to poisonous gas in the southern city of Karachi. As the probe is underway, various Pakistani news outlets have claimed that the gas was leaked while offloading material from a cargo ship. Some agencies claim that it was a vegetable container that emanated the poisonous gas while others state that chemicals were being offloaded the ship.

Sindh CM takes notice

The Chief Minister of Sindh in Pakistan, Murad Ali Shah took notice of the incident and summoned a report from the authorities. As per The News International, several victims who were hospitalised have complained of respiratory problems. The materials were being unloaded from the cargo ship in the Kemari port area on Sunday night.

Read: Fly invasion in Pakistan's Karachi while Imran Khan attacks India

Police probe continues

Reports from the Pakistani daily suggest that police suspect the leakage of the gas to have "occurred during offloading chemicals from a cargo ship anchored at Keamari Jetty."

As per the DIG Sharjeel Kharal, "The initial investigation showed that as soon as people from Jackson market opened the container fumes emanated from it and people had difficulty in breathing and lost consciousness.

Read: Karachi Bar Association exposes hypocrisy of Pak Army & govt over Musharraf death sentence

Karachis massive fire

In the last month, on January 22 a massive fire burnt over 100 burlap-and-plastic shelters in Karachi, reportedly forcing hundreds of poor nomads to spend the night in the open amid winter temperatures but there were no casualties. The TV footage showed a massive fire sweeping through the shelters as dwellers cried for help. It was unclear what caused the fire in the city's Teenhatti neighbourhood where hundreds of nomad families live in makeshift homes.

Read: CONFIRMED | Dawood in Karachi, Pakistan's ISI harbouring Chota Shakeel: arrested Lakdawala

As per police reports, firefighters quickly doused the flames, but they could not save the 100 or so makeshift homes. Hours after the fire, inhabitants were seen retrieving utensils and other items from the ashes. "We have lost each and everything," said one survivor, Lakshmi Bai, sitting outdoors with her children.

(With Agency Inputs)

Read: After AICWA, Mika Singh banned by FWICE for Karachi performance terming it 'unpatriotic, ghastly'
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has now started capturing district-wise data or origin of export goods in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's objective of turning districts into export hubs.

"Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has now started capturing district-wise data or origin of export goods. The idea was also recently echoed by the Hon'ble Finance Minister in her Budget speech," an official release from the finance ministry said.

"This additional information from the export declarations will provide key statistical input to policymakers on the importance of each district for exports and will help in aligning the policies to enhance local capacity," it said.

The ministry said that the export declarations would now also capture declarations by exporters intending to avail India's Free and Preferential Trade Agreements (FTAs/PTAs) being exported to partner countries.

"This would provide critical data on the gains being made by Indian exporters under FTAs/PTAs and help the Government align India's foreign trade policy in the nation's best interests. Further, CBIC has now made it mandatory that every GST registered importer and exporter must declare their GSTIN on the import and export declarations. Not only will this help the taxpayers to claim the ITC Credit and IGST Refunds, it would also help in combatting frauds," read the release.

The above initiatives of the CBIC will help policymakers take data-driven decisions, it said.

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

The head of the Federal Trade Commission has called for tougher penalties on businesses that seek to disguise advertising as authentic reviews on online platforms, including Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.

In a statement released this week, the FTC claimed that American families and small businesses are rightfully skeptical of traditional advertising, which is clearly designed to persuade or manipulate us ... Facebooks Instagram and Googles YouTube are major vehicles for influencer marketing campaigns, with Chinas TikTok also growing rapidly.

The FTCs targeting of current social media giants TikTok, Instagram and Facebook comes just after the Commission voted 5-0 to open Endorsement Guides for advertising to public comments. The existing Endorsement Guides havent been updated since 2009.

In the meantime, the growth of the influencer marketing industry has exploded, with brands set to spend up to $15 billion on influencer marketing by 2022. This growth hasnt been driven only by fashion and beauty brands putting money behind the Kardashians, either; brands from a range of industries are coming to realize the value of partnering with influencers from all kinds of niches and sub-sectors. From micro- and nano-influencers, kidfluencers, computer-generated and gaming influencers, products and services are enjoying a whole new marketing platform in the world of social media. While some influencers use the online world to post about their interests and earn extra cash on the side, other companies are using this channel to pretend endorsements are untainted by financial ties.

When companies launder advertising by paying an influencer to pretend that their endorsement [is not paid for], said Commissioner Rohit Chopra, this is illegal payola.

The FTC has long required influencers to disclose sponsored posts, but the existing guidelines appear to have had little effect: in a recent campaign cited by the FTC, U.S. retail brand Lord & Taylor paid 50 social media influencers to post about a product on Instagram, without explicitly requiring influencers to disclose the facts of the paid partnership. As a result, the FTC charged Lord & Taylor with leading the public astray, ultimately settling the case after prohibiting the company from misrepresenting that paid ads are from an independent source.

Moreover, the FTC is cracking down on companies accused of pressuring influencers to hide the reality of any paid endorsements. Video network Machinima has already settled a deceptive advertising complaint with the FTC after failing to disclose that it paid YouTubers to endorse the Xbox One while requiring them to frame their opinions as independent reviews.

The implications of this crackdown for brands planning to work with influencers cant be understated: the statement released this week explicitly refers to the rise of influencer marketing on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok, and cites the difficulty of ensuring authentic marketing at a time when fake accounts, fake likes, fake followers, and fake reviews are now polluting the digital economy.

While the FTC has yet to impose a monetary penalty on offenders in this new market, the message is clear: companies that violate its policies online are now well and truly in the FTCs crosshairs.

***

Ronn Torossian is the founder and CEO of 5W Public Relations.
N MC Health was thrust into fresh turmoil today after the hospitals operators founder and billionaire joint chairman BR Shetty suddenly quit.

Shettys departure came after NMC said last week that he and two other major Emirati shareholders, Khalifa Al Muhairi and Saeed Al Qubaisi, had incorrectly reported their holdings in the company.

Shettys departure leaves Mark Tompkins as the sole chairman.

It is the second major exit after vice-chairman Al Muhairi resigned on Friday. His resignation came days after he and Shetty were banned from board meetings over the matter.

Shetty, Al Muhairi and Al Qubaisi remain subject to a Financial Conduct Authority investigation into their shareholdings. Shetty is also carrying out his own legal review to verify his stake in a bid to unravel the mystery of who owns what at the Middle Easts largest private healthcare group.

It is believed that 9.6% of Shettys 15.5% stake could actually be owned by the other two Emirati partners and that the shares could have been pledged as security on loans.

The company also said two other board members had stepped aside today, Hani Buttikhi, chief investment officer, and non-executive director Abdulrahman Basaddiq. Both had been appointees of Shetty and Al Muhairi, making their positions untenable.

Tompkins said: We would like to thank Hani for his contribution to the board and as part of the management team over the last three years.

We appreciate the situation that he feels that he has been placed in as a result of recent notifications from our principal shareholders and the board accept the reasons why he felt he needed to step down.

NMCs shares, down 70% since hedge fund Muddy Waters attack in December, slumped to the bottom of the FTSE 100 today, off 11p to 764p.

Indian billionaire Shetty founded NMC in 1974. It quickly grew into the United Arab Emirates largest private healthcare company and was floated in London in 2012. Shetty has a second London firm, Finablr, the financial services group that owns troubled currency provider Travelex.
JVM(P) of former Jharkhand chief



minister Babulal Marandi merged with the BJP on Monday.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah welcomed Marandi, the first chief minister of Jharkhand, and his supporters into the saffron party at a rally here.

Shah also assured the tribal leader that he will get due respect and responsibility in the BJP.

"I am delighted that Babulal Marandi has returned to BJP. I was working for his return since 2014 when I became the party president," Shah told the well attended rally.

He also raised the Ayodhya issue and withdrawal of special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ensured Kashmir becomes an integral part of India forever by scrapping articles 370 and 35(A) of the Constitution," he said.

Marandi was the chief minister of Jharkhand from November 2000 to March 2003.

A four-time former MP, he gradually drifted away from the BJP and launched his own outfit-- Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) in 2006.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CHICAGO, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "Precision Source Measure Unit Market by Current Range (1A1mA,1mA1A,Above 1A) Application (Aerospace, Defense& Government Services; Automotive; Energy; Wireless Communication& Infrastructure) Form Factor(Benchtop, Modular) Region  Global Forecast to 2024", published by MarketsandMarkets, the global Precision Source Measure Unit Market size is expected to grow from an estimate of USD 394 million in 2019 to USD 637 million by 2024, at a CAGR of 10.1%, during the forecast period. The growth of the precision source measure unit industry can be attributed to the high level of integration & flexibility of the precision source measure unit, and growing demand from the automotive and medical industries.

Download PDF Brochure:

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=50700775

The modular precision source measure unit segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2019 to 2024.

The modular precision source measure unit segment is estimated to be the fastest-growing segment of the Precision Source Measure Unit Market, by form factor, from 2019 to 2024. A modular source measure unit is an essential instrument for design and test engineers. With the development of modular source measure units, designing a multichannel system has become possible. The North American and Asia Pacific regions have shown the highest demand for such source measure units, and are expected to dominate this segment during the forecast period. The increasing demand for modular source measure units in the Asia Pacific region is primarily due to the growing investments in the test and measurement industry in China, Japan, South Korea, and India.

The automotive application segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR in the global Precision Source Measure Unit Market during the forecast period.

The automotive application segment is expected to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period, owing to a rise in demand for electric vehicles and increasing demand for integrated circuits and multi-point tests & measurements in the automotive industry. The automotive industry has adopted automation on a massive scale for manufacturing vehicles. The automation of manufacturing facilities, and the development of autonomous cars, has led to an increase in demand for sensors as a precision source measure unit provides a reliable solution for current/voltage testing of sensors. The increasing number of electronic parts in vehicles is expected to increase the demand for precision source measure units during the forecast period.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Precision Source Measure Unit Market"

105  Tables

35  Figures

148  Pages

North America is expected to be the largest and fastest-growing region of the Precision Source Measure Unit Market during the forecast period

In this report, the precision source measure unit industry has been analyzed for five regions, namely, North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America, and the Middle East & Africa. The North American market is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR of 10.9% in the Precision Source Measure Unit Market during the forecast period. This growth is driven majorly by the high emergence of aerospace & defense equipment manufacturing industries in the US. Along with increasing demand for test and measurement solutions in the aerospace & defense industry as well as the automotive industry in the North American region is expected to drive the market for precision source measure unit during the forecast period.

Speak to Analyst:

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/speaktoanalystNew.asp?id=50700775

To enable an in-depth understanding of the competitive landscape, the report includes the profiles of some of the top players in the Precision Source Measure Unit Market including Tektronix (US), Keysight Technologies (US), National Instruments (US), Chroma ATE (Taiwan), Yokogawa Electric (Japan), VX Instruments (Germany), Rohde & Schwarz (Germany), Ossila (UK), and Marvin Test Solutions (US). The leading players are trying to enter the market of developing economies and are adopting new product launches as a major strategy to increase their market shares.

Please Explore Relevant Reports:

Test and Measurement Equipment Market by Product (General Purpose Test Equipment, Mechanical Test Equipment), Service Type (Calibration Services, Repair Services/After Sales Services), EndUse Sector, and Geography  Global Forecast to 2024

by Product (General Purpose Test Equipment, Mechanical Test Equipment), Service Type (Calibration Services, Repair Services/After Sales Services), EndUse Sector, and Geography  Global Forecast to 2024 Data Acquisition System (DAQ) Market by Component Type (Hardware, Software), Application (Research and Analysis, Manufacturing and Quality, Asset Condition Monitoring, Design Validation and Repair), End-user, and Region - Global Forecast to 2024

About MarketsandMarkets

MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions.

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.

MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets.

Contact:

Mr. Sanjay Gupta

MarketsandMarkets INC.

630 Dundee Road

Suite 430

Northbrook, IL 60062

USA: +1-888-600-6441

Email: [email protected]

Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/source-measure-unit-market.asp

Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com

Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/source-measure-unit.asp

SOURCE MarketsandMarkets
The antitrust authority says it might have a strong case against the deal, which has become a major sticking point in the global military and political rivalry between China and the U.S.

Withholding U.S. defense aid to Ukraine became the talk of town in Washington D.C. during the impeachment hearings. Meanwhile, a different drama has been unfolding in Ukraine around a key strategic aerospace company, Motor Sich, which the USA is trying to stop China from buying.

Ukraine's antitrust authority is preparing a case to potentially block a deal that would give Beijing access to unique defense technology, and the U.S. diplomacy and technical assistance has played a key role in the process, according to the agency's chairman, Forbes reports.

The final decision on the deal is expected by the end of March.

Created in 1907, Motor Sich is a leading manufacturer of helicopter and aircraft engines, including engines for the world's largest cargo plane An-225, also known as Mriya. A major chunk of its business is also built around servicing and upgrading Soviet-made defense technology.

Motor Sich has clients in some 120 countries, especially those that historically built their military capacity using Soviet-made technology.

Read alsoU.S. hopes Ukraine's Motor Sich not be sold to China

In June, Chinese aerospace company Skyrizon announced they were buying a controlling stake in the enterprise for an undisclosed amount, pending approval of Ukraine's Antimonopoly Committee.

But now the antitrust authority says it might have a strong case against the deal, which has become a major sticking point in the global military and political rivalry between China and the U.S.

The latter has worked hard to halt the deal, and will most likely succeed in its effort.

"Currently we are effectively investigating two issues: the market consequences of this transaction, and the second  we are investigating the fact that the Chinese side may have illegally acquired control over Motor Sich as of the beginning of 2017," says Yuriy Terentyev, chairman of the Antimonopoly Committee.

Terentyev says there is a trove of independent evidence that Skyrizon already controls Motor Sich through offshore companies.

If found in violation of antitrust laws, any changes of ownership over the Ukrainian company would be reversed, and Motor Sich could be fined up to 5% of its turnover, which would deal a massive blow to its already dire finances.

The company declared a turnover of $256 million and a loss of $21 million in nine months of 2019, the latest data available. Motor Sich lost a major part of its business in Russia when the war between the two countries broke out and traditional defense ties were severed.

There are other indications that official Kyiv is not expecting the deal to go through.

Last year, the finance ministry budgeted for an income of $100 million from the new Chinese owners as payment into a special fund dedicated to the development of the aerospace industry in Ukraine.

Read alsoMedia: Chinese buyer of Ukraine's Motor Sich declares bankruptcy

But the 2020 budget contains no such line, Finance Minister Oksana Markarova said. The economy ministry, which oversees developments at Motor Sich, does not expect to receive an income from its sale.

The Ukrainian authorities fear that if a Chinese buyer takes control over Motor Sich, the company will once again open up for Russian business and strengthen its military capacity, thus undermining domestic security.

Ukraine's Security Service is already investigating alleged illegal supplies of technology to Russia by Motor Sich, an act that could be classified as treason, the agency said in September.

But there is an even bigger geopolitical game at play around Motor Sich, as the United States has maneuvered to block its sale to China.

In August, U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton discussed the case with top officials in Ukraine, including President Volodymyr Zelensky. In November, the Wall Street Journal reported that President Donald Trump's Administration approached Erik Prince, a private security contractor and informal adviser to President Trump to buy the company.

To complement its diplomatic effort, the U.S. has been working behind the scenes in Ukraine to thwart the deal. Representatives of the United States met with Ukraine's Antimonopoly Committee at least four times about this case in recent months.

Terentyev said that the U.S. "gave us part of the information" about Beijing Xinwei Technology, the Chinese group behind the deal that controls Skyrizon. In particular, his agency was interested in details about final beneficiaries of offshore companies that currently own Motor Sich, as well as other projects by Xinwei, their ties with Russia, and any outstanding investigations in other jurisdictions against the group and its executives.

Read alsoChinese Embassy in Ukraine considers Bolton's statements about China-Ukraine cooperation "unfriendly"

The information his agency received from the U.S. and from other channels is currently being analyzed, Terentyev said.

Because of the pending Motor Sich deal, the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine also initiated a letter to the presidents office to create a new investment control procedure for sensitive acquisitions, says Terentyev of the Antimonopoly Committee. His agency supported the process, which would set transparent rules for blocking transfer of strategic technology to third parties.
CONTACT: Pamela D. Wilson 303-810-1816

Email: Inquiry_For_Pamela@pameladwilson.com

Golden, Colorado  February 17, 2020

The Caring Generation Radio Warning Signs for Helping Elderly Parents

Golden CO- Caregiving expert Pamela D. Wilson hosts The Caring Generation radio program for caregivers and aging adults this coming Wednesday, February 19th, 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 Warnings Signs for Helping Elderly Parents. Difficulty with activities of daily living and poor nutrition are warning signs that elderly parents may need more help. Elderly parents want to stay at home instead of moving to a care community.

Increasing difficulty in managing activities of daily living like bathing, dressing, eating, continence, and mobility are early signs that more attention is needed to help elderly parents remain independent and stay at home. The show offers solutions to be proactive in addressing concerns with activities of daily living instead of watching declines and believing increased frailty and weakness to be normal for aging parents.

The guest for this program is Dr. Nicolaas Deutz, Director of the Center for Translational Research in Aging and Longevity at Texas A&M. For more than 30 years, Dr. Deutz has researched nutrition, metabolism, and body function associated with chronic disease.

Dr. Deutz will talk about the importance of nutrition and health and the risks of malnutrition for older adults. The Center for Translational Research in Aging and Longevity focuses on how nutrition, exercise, and metabolism supports healthy aging and disease management.

Going to a nursing home is a great fear of the elderly. As elderly parents experience difficulty with activities of daily living, also called ADLs, parents become less able to care for themselves and more dependent on caregivers. Greater dependency results in more caregiving fears.

Some doctors contribute to caregiving worries by saying, "this happens with aging, or your parent is 85, what do you expect?" This belief is faulty but can be common in a healthcare system that treats disease but does not teach consumers how to prevent disease. As consumers, we have a great impact on the way that we age so that at 85 we can be healthy and active participants in life.

Pamela's advice to caregivers and aging adults:

"Never let a doctor or anyone put negative thoughts in your mind about aging. Patients become brainwashed with fears. Instead of being proactive, greater hesitance, fear, and worry results. My term for the opposite of healthcare bias is "care-forward" thinking. Care-forward thinking applies to all of us -- no matter our age. Age is a number that should not define our abilities or the care or treatment that we receive."

When we become proactive in all aspects of health and well-being beginning in youth, it is possible to avoid fears about aging and avoid health declines. Aging adults can learn to take action to modify health risks and diseases. The gap is that proactive communication about health and well-being is rare in a healthcare system focused on treating disease after diagnosis.

The February 19th edition of The Caring Generation helps caregivers identify early warning signs for helping elderly parents to avoid advancing situations and crises. Pamela shares information about care-forward thinking to reduce the fear and confidence gaps that come with being a caregiver and an aging adult. The Caring Generation radio shows offer tips and solutions to help caregivers and aging adults manage and feel more in control of caregiving relationships and situations.

Make plans to join Pamela D. Wilson, caregiving expert and the host of The Caring Generation radio 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.

Corporations interested in digital support programs for working caregivers can contact Pamela for more information about workplace caregiver programs. More information is available on Pamela's website.

#
South Africa: South Sudan lauded for resolving states issue

In his capacity as South Africas Special Envoy to South Sudan, Deputy President Mabuza has lauded the decision by South Sudan President Salva Kiir to return the country to 10 states, plus three administrative areas.

Mabuza lauded the decision as progressive and being in the best interest of peace and unity in South Sudan.

This revolutionary decision by President Kiir sets the tone for the formation of the Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity before or at the end of the current extended period, ending in a weeks time. This will ensure that the guns are silenced in South Sudan, as they move towards forming the transitional government.

We further congratulate the people of South Sudan for the patience and resilience they have shown during this difficult period. Finally, we encourage all the parties to work together to build South Sudan towards her sustainable development and prosperity, Mabuza said.

The matter of states and their boundaries has been a matter of contention as one of the outstanding issues leading to the formation of the Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity.

The disagreement between the warring parties prompted the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to invite the Deputy President to facilitate a Consultative Meeting of the Parties to the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan, seeking to bring the parties together and agree on the number of states during the pre-transitional period.

Mabuza has recommitted to continue to support the process towards lasting peace and development in South Sudan.

He also called upon the Special Envoys to South Sudan, who have been working with him in facilitating the peace process, to continue their support to the government and people of South Sudan.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-02-17. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The Rural Fire Service has denied the South Coast volunteer firefighter who criticised Prime Minister Scott Morrison in a clip that went viral was fired for bad language.

Speaking on Channel Ten's The Project on Sunday night, Paul Parker said he was asked to leave the Rural Fire Service "because of [his] allegations and foul language against the Prime Minister".

"Didnt know you could get sacked from a volunteer organisation," he said.

Mr Parker, from the tiny South Coast town of Nelligen, achieved notoriety last month after a video of him leaning out of his truck after returning from fighting the Clyde River fire was shared widely on social media.
Eco-friendly 'compost burials' where human bodies reach 131 degrees Fahrenheit and rot away in just 30 days, are due to launch next year in America after a successful pilot.

A trial of the process, which saw six dead bodies decompose among wood chips and other material, found that the remains made 'great worm food'.

It will be the first 'human composting service' in the world when it officially launches in Washington state, USA in February 2021.

The process involves placing the body in a 'vessel' with wood chips and plant material then rotating it over a month while microbes break down the remains.

Funeral company Recompose developed the process and say it is better for the environment than a traditional funeral and releases a tonne less carbon.

Bodies are placed in a special vessel along with wood chips and plant material, it is then slowly turned to allow microbes to break down the remains over about a month

The pilot experiment involved six volunteers who agreed to be decomposed after death, and was carried out by researchers from Washington State University.

The research team, led by soil scientist Lynne Carpenter Boggs, found that the process breaks down the soft tissue safely and completely over about 30 days.

They found that the process also destroyed the vast majority of disease causing organisms and any pharmaceuticals in the body due to the high temperatures.

They found that it stops more than a tonne of carbon being released into the atmosphere compared to both burials and cremations.

Recompose CEO, Katrina Spade, told the BBC that climate change was a big factor in more than 15,000 people signing up to find out more about the process.

'The project has moved forward so quickly because of the urgency of climate change and the awareness we have to put it right,' she said.

The process of 'recomposing' involves the body being integrated into the soil by placing it in a closed box with woodchips, alfalfa and grass.

The body, now inside the box, is slowly rotated to allow microbes to break it down over the course of about a month.

At the end the bodies left behind about 2 cubic yards of soil-like material containing bones and a final commercial process would likely reduce the bones to soil as well.

The company says it saves about a tonne of Carbon Dioxide emissions from going into the atmosphere compared to a traditional funeral

When the process is completed and the remains have become soil they are then available to relatives to scatter on plants or a tree.

Professor Carpenter-Boggs perfected the technique over about four years with funding from Ms Spade and Recompose.

She adapted a process long used for composting livestock to work with human bodies and ensure the resulting soil is environmentally safe.

The six human subjects in her trial were volunteers who had given 'enthusiastic consent' before they died but the process still took its toll on the research team.

'We all kept checking in on each other. My physiology felt different, I wasn't sleeping well for a few nights, I wasn't hungry - it was a distress response,' she told the BBC.

Katrina Spade, the founder and CEO of Recompose, says they hope to start commercial operations in February 2021 in Washington state

Jennifer DeBruyn, an environmental microbiologist at the University of Tennessee, who wasnt involved in the study, told Science News it was a 'fabulous option'.

'The idea of applying it to humans, to me, as an ecologist and someone who has worked in composting, it just makes perfect sense, honestly,' she said.

Recompose says anyone can sign up for a decomposition burial but it can only happen in Washington state as it's the only place with legislation allowing natural organic reduction - although Colorado is also considering allowing it.

Ms Spade told the BBC she thinks it is only a matter of time before it is made available more widely - including the UK.
A couple who have been married for 17 years have dished out the very simple secrets to their long-lasting romance.

Entrepreneurs Lisa and Tom Bilyeu, from California, revealed the life lessons they learned over their marriage, including having 'sex often' and 'forgive mistakes fast'.

The pair, who are the co-founders of billion dollar health brand Quest Nutrition known for its protein bars, shared a picture of themselves holding a whiteboard with their nine pieces of advice for a successful relationship.

With intimacy taking the lead, the other rules included 'communicate obsessively', 'lift each other up', 'be honest', 'be a good leader and follower', 'hold each other to a high-a** standard', and 'make your marriage the highest priority'.

Entrepreneurs Lisa, 40, and Tom Bilyeu, 43, have dished out the life lessons they have learned over their 17-year marriage

The California couple are the co-founders of billion dollar health brand Quest Nutrition

'There are so many lessons we have learnt in our 17 years of marriage. And one Instagram post just ain't gonna cover it all so I wanted to choose one to go deep on - number four,' Lisa said.

'When you love someone so damn much all you want to do is see them happy. Seeing Tom smile and laugh is literally one of my most favorite things on earth.

'And so knowing that what you are about to say is going to do the exact opposite? Well my instincts are always to just keep it to myself. But in not saying it, for Tom and I, is as bad as lying.'

She shared a story about one of their date nights when she discovered just how important honesty is in their relationship.

Lisa said she was expecting to get compliments from Tom in the new top she had purchased to surprise him at dinner - but she received 'nothing' from him.

'So half way through dinner I finally ask him... "Babe what do you think of my new top". He looks me up and down... then shrugs, "Eh it's ok" - EH?

'My heartbroken self went quiet and somewhat offended. And of course he noticed. He proceeded to tell me that he never ever wants to lie to me even if it will make me feel good in the moment.'

'We plan to be married forever and so it needs to be built on 100 per cent honesty and transparency. And so when I'm 90 years old and a bag of wrinkles, and I wake up with no make up on and he looks at me and tells me I'm beautiful, he needs those moments to carry weight.

'To not just be BS. He wanted me to know he is telling the truth. Ok the man knows how to phrase things right? But the more I thought about it the more I realized just how right he was.'

The couple, pictured in 2000, dished out the very simple secrets to their long-lasting romance

Earlier this year, Lisa shared the worst advice she'd ever received, including 'don't marry Tom', 'don't risk your house for a protein bar' and 'have kids, otherwise you won't be fulfilled'

From that day on, Lisa said she 'never ever wants to doubt or question his words'.

'From the big stuff to the tiny stuff like this! As long as we are always respectful, kind and doing it in service of the other person, we agreed we would always be honest with each other,' she said.

'No. Matter. What. And, to be honest, I'm glad he told me because next time if I want to impress him... you better believe I'm not wearing that top.'

Her husband also praised his wife in a gushing post, alongside their nine rules, on Instagram, saying: 'My marriage to Lisa is my highest priority.

'Why? Because nothing has given me more joy, ever. All the money in the world can't come close to having someone who lifts you up and pushes you to be better. My wife is my all-time favorite human,' he said.

'She is absolutely ride or die. And together, we have come up with a lot of rules, lessons, tips, and tricks for making your marriage the best thing in your life.'

The couple's post has since gone viral, with thousands of people praising the pair for giving them hope for their own relationship.
The Supreme Court said on Monday that people have a fundamental right to protest against a law but the blocking of public roads is a matter of concern and there has to be a balancing factor.

IMAGE: The protesters at Shaheen Bagh have been sitting-in since December 15, blocking traffic flow on the Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

Blockade of public road at Shaheen Bagh is "troubling us", the Supreme Court said on Monday and suggested that the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protesters go to another site where no public place would be blocked.

The apex court asked senior advocate Sanjay Hegde to "play a constructive role as an interlocutor" to persuade the protesters to move to an alternative site.

People have a fundamental right to protest "peacefully and lawfully" but blocking public roads and places is a matter of concern as it might lead to "chaotic situation", the apex court said, stressing that there has to be a "balancing factor".

"Democracy works on expression of views but there are lines and boundaries for it," a bench of Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph said, adding, "The question which is arising is where to protest."

"Our concern is if everybody starts blocking public areas then where will it end," the bench asked, while hearing pleas seeking removal of protesters from Shaheen Bagh and ensuring smooth traffic flow in the area.

"There must be a balancing factor," the bench said, adding, "Blocking of public road is troubling us".

It said Hegde can take assistance of advocate Sadhana Ramachandran and former Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah for talking to the protesters.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Delhi government and Delhi Police, told the court that the solution is to remove these protesters from the site.

"We will not go that far but the problem is that they (protesters) are keeping children and women as shield. We have held a series of meetings with the local resident welfare associations, priests of mosques there and we are trying to persuade them that this is not the way to keep entire city to hostage under the garb of protest," Mehta said.

When the bench asked Hegde to talk to protestors, Mehta said, "Let a message not go that every institution is kneeling on its knees in trying to persuade them... I do not want a message to go that we are praying to them to remove".

The bench, however, observed, "We want to solve the problem and we have expressed our opinion. If nothing works, we will leave it to the authorities to deal with the situation".

The bench also asked Mehta whether an alternative site can be given to the protesters to hold their agitation.

"It is unfortunate that we have to make designated area for protests like Jantar Mantar. We have so many professional protesters," Mehta said.

"It is important to allow people to protest," the bench said, adding, "The right to protest is recognised world over, more particularly in India. There is a fundamental right to assemble peacefully to protest".

At the outset, the bench said people or any section of the society have a right to protest against a law and they also have the right to express their grievance against it.

"Whether traffic flow can be managed from here or there is not the issue. Today, it is protest against a legislation. Tomorrow, there may be protest against different legislation. The issue is if people start blocking roads and public places, what will happen then," the bench said and posted the matter for hearing on February 24.

The bench also dealt with an intervention application filed by Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Azad and two others, including Habibullah.

The counsel appearing for the intervenors told the court that protest has been going on and it is not that people of only one faith are agitating there.

The bench said a "lot of heat" has been generated on the issue and protesters have made their point as the agitation is going on for quite some time.

When the bench was informed that children were not able to go to schools due to the protest, the bench said, "There must be a balancing factor. You may protest, may be, somewhere else. If this (blockade of public place during protests) applies to other places, this may lead to chaos".

"Somebody who may not be on the same page as you may get an idea to start a protest somewhere else? Then where do we end?" the bench said adding, the people may "emulate" Shaheen Bagh also.

"It is not a pleasant task which we have taken upon ourself," the bench said, adding, "It should have been done by the executive".

The top court also said in an age of social media, there is a tendency for anyone to go overboard.

When the bench asked Hegde to talk to protesters, the senior advocate said he would be glad to assist retired apex court judge Justice Kurian Joseph on this.

At this, Mehta said a former judge of the top court should not be asked to persuade protesters.

The counsel for one of the petitioners said interim directions should be passed so that school vans and ambulances could be allowed to ply on the road which has been blocked by the protesters since December 15 last year.

Restrictions have been imposed on the Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch and the Okhla underpass, which were closed on December 15 last year due to protests against CAA and National Register of Citizens.

The apex court was hearing an appeal filed by advocate Amit Sahni, who had approached the Delhi high court seeking directions to Delhi Police to ensure smooth traffic flow on the Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch, which was blocked by anti-CAA protesters on December 15 last year.

Separately, former Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Nand Kishore Garg has filed a plea in the apex court seeking directions to authorities to remove protesters from Shaheen Bagh.
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates  The independent nuclear regulator for the United Arab Emirates on Monday issued the operating license for Unit 1 of the country's Barakah Nuclear Power Plant, giving the go-ahead on operations for the first nuclear power plant in the Arab world.

The project, which national officials describe as a strategic and economic imperative for the UAE, is more than a decade in the making and involved collaboration with external bodies including the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the government of South Korea.

"Today's announcement is another milestone for the UAE, culminating efforts of 12 years towards the development of the UAE Nuclear Energy Programme to which the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) played a significant role to turn this vision into a reality," Hamad al Kaabi, the UAE's permanent representative to the IAEA, told media at a briefing in Abu Dhabi.

"The nuclear energy plan includes the laws and regulations and conforms to standards of the IAEA and international best practices," said al Kaabi, who also serves as FANR's deputy chairman.

Once operation of the plant begins  the exact date of which has not been announced, but is expected in the coming weeks  the UAE will become the newest member of an exclusive club of currently just 30 countries running nuclear power operations. It's also the first new country to launch a nuclear power plant in three decades, the last being China in 1990.

Tweet1

FANR, the country's regulator, granted the license after years of extensive reviews and inspections, its officials said. This included more than 185 inspections, reviewing 14,000 pages of the plant's operating license application, and requesting more than 2,000 additional pieces of information concerning reactor design, safety, geography and other areas to ensure the plant's compliance with regulatory requirements.

The operating license is expected to last 60 years, and allows the UAE's Nawah Energy Company, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Company's (ENEC) subsidiary operating the plant, to start loading fuel and eventually move into partial and full operation of the first unit, al Kaabi told CNBC in an interview. Partial operation could take a few weeks while full operation may take a few months, he said.
CARY, N.C., Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Gartner has recognized SAS as a Leader in its 2020 Magic Quadrant for Data Science and Machine Learning Platforms. The report evaluated SAS for its completeness of vision and ability to execute. This is the seventh consecutive year for SAS to be recognized as a Leader in this Magic Quadrant.

"Machine learning, and more broadly artificial intelligence, is the new standard for businesses to make profitable decisions or avoid unknown risks," said Susan Kahler, AI Strategist at SAS. "SAS machine learning and artificial intelligence solutions address the end-to-end process of turning raw data into actionable insights. We're empowering organizations to quickly and easily solve complex analytical problems to drive real results." From reducing patient risk of hospital-acquired infections to making roadways safer, SAS is helping to transform lives in big and small ways.

SAS Visual Data Mining and Machine Learning, running on the SAS Viya engine, supports the full data mining and machine learning processes for team members of all skill levels to handle all tasks in the analytics life cycle.

Want to see more about what SAS can do? Watch the SAS Visual Data Mining and Machine Learning demo on YouTube.

Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Data Science and Machine Learning Platforms, Peter Krensky, Pieter den Hamer, Erick Brethenoux, Jim Hare, Carlie Idoine, Alexander Linden, Svetlana Sicular, Farhan Choudhary, 11 February 2019. The report was previously titled Magic Quadrant for Data Science Platforms and Magic Quadrant for Advanced Analytics Platforms.

Gartner disclaimer

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About SAS

SAS is the leader in analytics. Through innovative software and services, SAS empowers and inspires customers around the world to transform data into intelligence. SAS gives you THE POWER TO KNOW.

SAS and all other SAS Institute Inc. product or service names are registered trademarks or trademarks of SAS Institute Inc. in the USA and other countries.  indicates USA registration. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies. Copyright  2020 SAS Institute Inc. All rights reserved.

Editorial Contact:

Ashley Binder

[email protected]

919-531-3575

sas.com/news

SOURCE SAS

Related Links

http://www.sas.com


An Irish woman,who says she was forbidden to speak and forced to sleep in a prison-like bolted cell during her time at a Magdalene Laundry in Cork, has taken her case to the United Nations Committee Against Torture (UNCAT).

Elizabeth Coppin, who says she was forced to work without pay six days a week at three different Magdalene Laundries she was held at between 1964 and 1968, is to have her complaint that the State has failed to investigate and ensure accountability for the girls and women in Magdalene Laundries between 1922 and 1996 considered by the committee.

I feel grateful UNCAT are taking my complaint seriously and it gives me hope I may one day see light from this darkness emerging," Ms Coppin said.

In her submission to the UN, Ms Coppin, who was born in 1949 in a mother and baby home as her mother was unmarried, argues that the State was complicit in her arbitrary detention and mistreatment. She was detained by court order in an industrial school at the age of two. When she reached the age of 14, the nuns in charge of the school transferred her to St Vincents Magdalene Laundry in Peacock Lane, Cork. She was subsequently detained in two further Magdalene Laundries before she was released prior to her nineteenth birthday, in April 1968.

Her complaint states that she slept in a room bolted from the outside with bars on the windows, was denied an education and was forced to work without pay. She went to the police in 1997 and 1998, but her grievances were never followed up. She attempted to sue the religious congregations involved between 1999 and 2002, but her case was dismissed on grounds of delay.

The State is refusing to allow her to access any of the evidence gathered by the McAleese Committee, the Governmental body that produced a report on State involvement with the Magdalene Laundries in 2013, her submission also states.

Ms Coppin argues that that is continuing to degrade her by stating publicly that there is "no factual evidence" to support allegations of systematic torture in these institutions.

She also also argues that she has not received the full healthcare promised by the Irish Government under the 'ex gratia' Magdalene Laundries scheme, or that she has received the full healthcare promised by the State.

The State argued that the UNCAT should not entertain her case as she was detained prior to Ireland becoming a party to the UN Convention Against Torture in 2002. The State also argued that she should be barred from bringing her complaint because she had not first complained to the Irish courts about the States failure to investigate and ensure redress.

However, UNCAT found that reparation programmes do not render an individual's right to a remedy ineffective. The State now has four months to make further submissions on the merits of her complaint.

Ms Coppin will then have the opportunity to reply, following which the Committee will issue a final judgement.
The plane for Ukrainian citizens would set out on Tuesday; its return is expected on Thursday

People with symptoms of coronavirus will not be allowed to enter the board of the plane, which evacuates the citizens of Ukraine from Wuhan as Interfax-Ukraine reported citing Deputy Healthcare Minister Viktor Lyashko.

There is no need for panic; we bring healthy people to Ukraine, he said.

He noted that the plane for Ukrainian citizens would set out on Tuesday; its return is expected on Thursday.

Besides, Lyashko stated that the 25 foreign citizens from five different countries evacuated along with 49 Ukrainians will stay in Ukraine during 14 days.

I cannot tell yet, where they will stay. The location is defined but I cannot tell it yet, Lyashko added.

To day, no confirmed case of coronavirus was spotted in Ukraine

Earlier, Obukhiv district council asked President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky not to allow the accommodation of 280 Ukrainians from Chinese Wuhan (Hubei province) to quarantine in private sanatorium in Obukhiv area, Kyiv region.

As we reported, the Chinese coronavirus claimed another 100 lives in Hubei province; this made the worldwide number of fatalities as big as 1,770.
Boris Johnson was today facing fresh calls to sack Dominic Cumming's controversial new aide who previously claimed that black people are mentally inferior.

Andrew Sabisky, a self-described 'super-forecaster', answered Number 10's call for 'weirdos and misfits' but has prompted fury with his extreme views.

In 2014, he wrote on Mr Cummings's website that to stop unplanned pregnancies there should be legal enforcement of contraception.

He wrote: 'One way to get around the problems of unplanned pregnancies creating a permanent underclass would be to legally enforce universal uptake of long-term contraception at the onset of puberty. Vaccination laws give it a precedent, I would argue.'

On another blog post discussing female genital mutilation, he claimed: 'It is still unclear to what extent FGM represents a serious risk to young girls, raised in the UK, of certain minority group origins. Much of the hue and cry looks more like a moral panic.'

Andrew Sabisky answered Dominic Cummings's call for 'weirdos and misfits' to take jobs in Number 10

And in another post being circulated on social media, Mr Sabisky claimed black people had lower IQs than white people.

In the article, entitled 'Disabilities by race' he said: 'If the mean black American IQ is (best estimate based on a century's worth of data) around 85, as compared to a mean white American IQ of 100, then if IQ is normally distributed, you will see a far greater percentage of blacks than whites in the range of IQs 75 or below, at which point we are close to the typical boundary for mild mental retardation.'

He added that this was the reason there was a higher rate of black students with an 'intellectual disability'.

His position at the heart of government has sparked such fury in Westminster that ministers are prepared to boycott meetings with Mr Sabisky and stonewall all communication.

They will also demand the Prime Minister overrules his top aide and sacks Mr Sabisky - setting the stage Mr Cummings's first major slap down since he began ruling the roost in Downing Street.

Ministers will demand the Prime Minister overrules his top aide and sacks Mr Sabisky - setting the stage Mr Cummings's first major slap down since he began ruling the roost in Downing Street

The self-described likened women's sport to the Paralympics as well as found to have advocated extreme positions to enforce teenage contraception

'How f***ing dumb is this 'super-forecaster,' a source hitting out at the new hiring told Buzzfeed.

Another asked why officials had not trawled through Mr Sabisky's background to check for anything which could cause the government embarrassment.

The Cambridge graduate, who is a government contractor rather than a fully-fledged SpAd, has deleted several tweets, including one dismissing female Labour politicians Yvette Cooper, Angela Rayner and Rebecca Long Bailey as 'dim'.

In another tweet, Mr Sabisky said: 'I am always straight up in saying that women's sport is more comparable to the Paralympics than it is to men's.'

Boris Johnson's first cabinet meeting following his reshuffle on Thursday which saw the resignation of Sajid Javid

Since his appointment, Cambridge graduate Mr Sabisky has deleted several tweets, including one dismissing female Labour politicians Yvette Cooper, Angela Rayner and Rebecca Long Bailey as 'dim'

Downing Street tonight declined to comment on the reports of a Cabinet revolt.

Mr Cummings, the architect of the Vote Leave campaign in 2016, has imprinted his style as a political maverick on Whitehall since becoming Mr Johnson's right-hand man in July.

But special advisers are becoming increasingly disgruntled at how he treats them - before Thursday's reshuffle he joked that not all of them would be in the next day's meeting.

Mr Cummings is also believed to have masterminded the resignation of Sajid Javid as chancellor by making his political survival conditional on sacking his entire team of advisers - which had been locked in a briefing war with Number 10.

Downing Street's chief strategist has also caused concern in Labour's ranks.

Leadership frontrunner Sir Keir Starmer today warned against the growing reach of the unelected political appointee.

He told Sky's Sophy Ridge: We see the same old divisions in the Tory party and Dominic Cummings is just getting more and more power.

'I know Boris Johnson doesn't much like coming to Parliament, he does at least come for PMQs, I think we're going to have to have DCQs for Dominic Cummings before too long because he is actually holding all the power and how do we hold him accountable?'
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Geauga County prosecutors say they have uncovered evidence that a Strongsville priest accused of possessing child pornography "engaged in activities involving child prostitution, according to court filings.

Geauga County Prosecutor James Flaiz wrote in the Friday filing that his office discovered the evidence after searching computers and other electronic devices seized from the Rev. Robert McWilliams in December, and through in-state and out-of-state interviews.

Flaiz has been in talks with U.S. Attorney Justin Herdmans office about whether the case against the Rev. Robert McWilliams  which includes charges that span two Ohio counties  should move to federal court, the filing says.

McWilliams has pleaded not guilty to charges in two counties that accuse him of possessing child pornography. A grand jury in Cuyahoga County charged him last month in a 21-count indictment, and he faces a single charge in Chardon Municipal Court.

Flaiz wrote in the filing that McWilliams is expected to face additional charges once the case is presented to a grand jury there. He is currently being held in the Geauga County Jail on a $150,000 bond.

The revelation came in response to a motion filed by Geauga County Public Defender Robert Umholtz asking a judge to reduce McWilliams bond. Umholtz, who was appointed to represent McWilliams because he does not have the money to hire his own attorney, called the bond excessive and unnecessary to ensure that he shows up for court.

Umholtz could not be reached for comment Monday.

Flaiz disclosed the new evidence and argued in the filing that McWilliams poses a danger to public safety.

McWilliams has been in jail since his Dec. 5 arrest at St. Joseph Church. Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task raided McWilliams living space at the churchs rectory on a search warrant that originated in Geauga County.

Authorities in Geauga County believe McWilliams was using a second cellphone number to contact children he knew so he could pretend to be someone else, and was using extortion to get the children to send him nude photographs, prosecutors said.

Officers during the search seized electronic devices including a cellphone, iPad and laptop associated with McWilliams. Investigators discovered additional images of child pornography that were not related to the Geauga County investigation, and charged McWilliams in Cuyahoga County, Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Carl Sullivan said.

Read recent stories

Strongsville priest facing child pornography charges in two counties pleads not guilty

Strongsville Catholic priest hit with 21-count child pornography indictment in Cuyahoga County

Chardon court judge gives Strongsville Catholic priest $150,000 bond on child pornography charge

Strongsville Catholic priest facing child porn charges moved to Geauga County after five days in limbo in Cuyahoga County Jail

Strongsville Catholic priest accused in child pornography case hit with additional charge in Geauga County
By Louis P. Masur

The New Jersey Senate recently voted to replace the statue of General Philip Kearny in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol. Based on legislation passed in 1864, each state is allotted two statues. The first was dedicated in 1870 and, by the 1930s, overcrowding led to various rearranging and dispersal of statues. Thus, Statuary Hall has never been unchanging and, since 2000, states have been permitted of provide replacements.

There has been much talk in recent years of replacing Confederate monuments, but this is something different. There is little objectionable about Phil Kearney. He lost his left arm during the Mexican War and with the start of the Civil War returned from France to lead the First New Jersey Brigade. While he admired the Southern gentry, he despised slavery as inhuman and barbarous. He was heard to rally his men by screaming Im a one-armed Jersey son-of-a gun, follow me. At the Battle of Chantilly on Sept. 1, 1862, the Confederate bullet that he once declared could never find its mark struck him square and killed him.

The New Jersey legislature wants to replace Kearny with Alice Paul, one of the leaders of the suffrage movement. She played a central role in the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, led the National Womens Party, and co-wrote the first Equal Rights Amendment. She lived long enough (she died in 1977 at age 92) to support the Civil Rights Act of 1964. She raised the status of women and it is certainly a worthy objective to raise a statue in her honor.

While I would prefer to see odious statues taken down (both Jefferson Davis and Alexander Stephens, president and vice-president of the Confederacy are in Statuary Hall), rather than notable ones replaced, I think it is beneficial to rotate those whom we honor for their accomplishments. There are only nine statues to women in the collection. State Senator Linda Greenstein, who sponsored the bill, acknowledged that both Kearny and Paul were both great Americans, but expressed a desire for diversity.

Something else is at play as well. We are in the 21st century and the lesser-known heroes of the 19th must inevitably yield to the leading figures of the 20th century. It is worth noting that two other Civil War figures the public probably never heard of, Zachariah Chandler and Thomas Starr King, had their statues replaced by ones of Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan, respectively. At least the legislature is not considering Woodrow Wilson as the replacement.

The process of thinking about who should have a statue to represent New Jersey can be a constructive one. What do we value? Whose accomplishments are worth memorializing so that future generations can be educated about past actions? I only wish the Senate bill had been more widely publicized and allowed for a more robust discussion. If Kearny is to be replaced, then by whom? Alice Paul is a good choice, but she is only one of many possibilities. Other notable New Jerseyans who had a profound impact on society and culture include Dorothea Lange, Paul Robeson, and William Carlos Williams. I personally wouldnt mind if in the next round of replacements at the close of this century some consideration went to Bruce Springsteen.

As for Kearny, his memory is assured. If replaced, his statue should be given to his namesake town where it can be proudly displayed. We can also take comfort that the equestrian statue to him in Arlington National Cemetery, where he was reinterred in 1912, will remain inviolate. I think Kearny would have preferred that one anyhow.

Louis P. Masur is Distinguished Professor of American Studies and History at Rutgers University and author of many books including The Civil War: A Concise History.

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.
UMROI, MEGHALAYA (PTI): A joint military exercise between the armies of India and Bangladesh concluded in Meghalaya's Umroi on Sunday, defence officials said.



A total of 150 personnel each from the two armies had taken part in the ninth edition of the two-week-long 'SAMPRITI' military exercise conducted at the Joint Training Node here, Defence spokesperson Ratnakar Singh said.



"The exercise allowed the two armies to understand each other's tactical drills and operating techniques. It provided a platform for them to share their experiences on counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations and providing aid to civil authorities in disaster management," he said.



Singh said that besides promoting understanding and interoperability between the two armies, the exercise helped strengthen the ties between India and Bangladesh.



Personnel of the two contingents also participated in friendly volleyball and basketball matches, he said.



Earlier, similar exercises were conducted with the armies of Malaysia and China at the Joint Training Node, Singh added.


It was anything but a routine traffic stop when a Houston police officer recently pulled over a car filled with severed untagged animal heads.

The two people inside the car told the officer and a Texas Game Warden that the heads, which were those of an elk, a buck and a gemsbok, were all legally obtained during a hunting trip to El Paso. However, game wardens in El Paso quickly connected the heads to recent cases of two suspects trespassing and hunting on private land.
The plan to revamp New Delhis Central Vista, including a new triangular Parliament, came in for criticism from an unlikely quarter on Monday. At the launch of a book on Mahatma Gandhi, where Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat delivered the keynote address on the relevance of the Mahatma, former Lok Sabha secretary general Subhash Kashyap questioned the plan.

According to some estimates, the new plan will entail an investment of Rs 20,000 crore. Kashyap said the new buildings would further widen the gulf between the rich and the poor. He said there was no need for a ...
Democratic leaders find themselves bogged down in a struggle between the progressive and moderate wings of the party.

US presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders should be taking a victory lap or two following back-to-back wins in the 2020 elections first votes. Instead, both Sanders and the party he wants to lead find themselves bogged down in a struggle between the progressive and moderate wings of the Democratic party.

Establishment Democrats are terrified of Sanders momentum after his popular-vote victories in both Iowa and New Hampshire. They see the independent Vermont senator, a self-avowed democratic socialist, as potentially off-putting to the moderates and independents they need to corral to defeat President Donald Trump in the general election in November.

Sanders sweeping policy proposals, including nationalisation of the healthcare system and free university tuition, enjoy wide support among his base of mainly younger voters. And national polls suggest that support for him and his policies may be broadening, with Sanders opening up a double-digit lead over former Vice President Joe Biden, his closest competitor, in national polls taken after the New Hampshire vote.

In many ways, the Democratic party in 2020 faces the same issue that the Republicans faced in 2016. A charismatic outlier popular with the fringes of the party but disliked by its traditional base has, for the moment at least, a better chance of securing the nomination than any of his establishment challengers.

James Carville, an architect of former President Bill Clintons victories three decades ago, echoed the sentiments of many in the party when he described himself in an interview on MSNBC as not very impressed with the Democratic field and singled out Sanders for particular scorn.

Im scared to death. I really am, Carville said. If we go the way of the British Labour party, if we nominate Jeremy Corbyn, its going to be the end of days.

Most voters, he added, are looking for somebody who can come in and not just excite them, but talk about things that really matter and everyday life. They are not interested in socialism and revolution.

Moderate Democrats in Congress, especially those elected in 2018 in districts carried by the president two years earlier, are said to be worried that the presence of Sanders at the top of the ticket could be costly to the party come November.

There is a growing concern among especially those of us on the front lines that we will not only lose the White House but the House of Representatives, one of them told the New York Times anonymously.

The Sanders campaign, however, says it is expanding the electorate and motivating new groups of voters to come to the polls.

President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address in the chamber of the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC [File: Drew Angerer/Getty Images/AFP]

The intraparty struggle is being played out both on the national stage and in the states where the next round of crucial early votes will be held over the next two weeks: Nevada and South Carolina.

In Nevada, the powerful Culinary Workers Union, which represents 60,000 workers in the hotel and restaurant industry and is predominantly Latino, attacked Sanders signature issue of eliminating private healthcare plans in favour of a government-run Medicare for All option and declined to endorse any candidate in the Democratic primary.

We respect every single political candidate right now. We know they are great people, Geoconda Arguello-Kline, the unions secretary and treasurer, said when the decision was announced. Were going to endorse our goals.

Sanders and his allies on the left, meanwhile, are not letting the establishment sniping go unchallenged. A political action committee, or PAC, with close ties to Democratic US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, who has endorsed Sanders and campaigned for him in Iowa, ran Facebook ads in New Hampshire attacking Pete Buttigieg and is now running anti-Biden ads in South Carolina.

The ads, paid for by a group called Organize for Justice, called out Buttigieg for being more concerned with protecting the status quo for his wealthy donors than fighting for universal healthcare and called Biden a liability to the party. Every time he steps out in public he says something embarrassing, one advertisement states.

Organize for Justice, a so-called dark money PAC that is not required to disclose its donors, describes itself as a sister organisation of Justice Democrats, a PAC founded in 2017 by Saikat Chakrabarti, Ocasio-Cortezs former chief of staff, and Zack Exley, a leader of Sanders 2016 presidential campaign. The group has spent nearly $50,000 on the ads during the first weeks of February.

Screenshot of anti-Biden advertisement on Facebook

The efforts of surrogates notwithstanding, most Democratic party leaders are, in public at least, doing their best to downplay the family squabbling, insisting that Democrats on the whole remain calm, cool and collected, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi put it, in the face of a potentially long and protracted nomination process.

I can hear you all say, oh, were all in a panic, the established Democrats. Im like, is there some establishment that I dont know about around here? Pelosi told reporters at a news conference on Thursday. We respect the process. The people will winnow the field.
Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos speaks at the new Amazon Spheres opening event at Amazon's Seattle headquarters in Seattle, Washington, U.S., January 29, 2018.

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos on Monday announced the launch of a new Earth Fund that the e-commerce chief plans to use to combat the effects of climate change.

He said in an Instagram post that he's pledging $10 billion to start the fund, which will be called the Bezos Earth Fund, and will issue grants to scientists, activists and other organizations in their efforts to "preserve and protect the natural world."

"We can save Earth," Bezos wrote in his post. "It's going to take collective action from big companies, small companies, nation states, global organizations, and individuals."

"Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet," he added. "I want to work alongside others both to amplify known ways and to explore new ways of fighting the devastating impact of climate change on this planet we all share."

Bezos added in his post that he expects the Earth Fund to begin issuing grants to climate-oriented causes as soon as this summer. News of the new fund, though unexpected, comes as Amazon seeks to address criticisms that its e-commerce and shipping business fuel global carbon emissions.

More than 340 Amazon employees risked termination earlier this year after signing a Medium post published by advocacy group Amazon Employees for Climate Justice. The post criticized the company's external communications policy, which bars employees from speaking about the company's business without approval from management.

Amazon Employees for Climate Justice said Monday that while they support Bezos's move, it's still concerned about the company's support of the oil and gas industry.

"We applaud Jeff Bezos' philanthropy, but one hand cannot give what the other is taking away," the group said in a statement. "The people of Earth need to know: When is Amazon going to stop helping oil & gas companies ravage Earth with still more oil and gas wells?"

The company, hoping to address similar criticisms, has in recent months launched initiatives designed to help curb its environmental impact.

Last year, Bezos unveiled an ambitious plan to tackle climate change and committed the seller to honoring the goals of the Paris Agreement 10 years early despite President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the landmark climate accord earlier in his term.

As part of those plans, Amazon said in September it would buy a fleet of electric vans to start delivering packages to customers in 2021, with 10,000 of the new vehicles operating by 2022 and all 100,000 operating by 2030.

Bezos added at the time that the seller of everything from textbooks to lawnmowers will report its emissions metrics on a regular basis and introduce decarbonization strategies. Amazon expects 80% of its energy use to come from renewable energy sources by 2024, up from a current rate of 40%.
More than 300 Americans rescued from a cruise ship quarantined off Japan because of the new coronavirus arrived back in the United States Monday for two more weeks of medical seclusion, as concern rose over passengers who dispersed around the globe after leaving another ship in Cambodia. The COVID-19 virus death toll exceeds 1,800 in China, where it has infected more than 72,000. Elsewhere, hundreds more have been infected and the virus has sparked panic buying, economic jitters as well as the cancellation of high-profile sporting and cultural events. With fresh cases emerging daily in Japan, the government has advised citizens to avoid mass gatherings, and has canceled public events -- including celebrations in central Tokyo for the Emperor's birthday and the amateur portion of the city marathon, affecting around 38,000 runners. In the Chinese capital Beijing, municipal authorities have ordered citizens arriving in the city to self-quarantine for 14 days, the presumed incubation period of the virus. State media said China may postpone its annual parliamentary session, which has been held in March for the last 35 years. Outside China, the biggest cluster of infections is from the Diamond Princess cruise ship off Japan's Yokohama, 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. As criticism grew of Japan's handling of the ship crisis, governments are scrambling to repatriate their citizens. Canada, Italy, Hong Kong -- and the latest country, Australia -- were poised to follow the United States in removing nationals from the vessel. The first US flight touched down at Travis Air Force Base in California shortly before midnight Sunday, followed by the second early Monday at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas. Before they boarded the flights, US officials were informed that 14 of the passengers tested days earlier had received positive results. Authorities allowed them to fly but isolated them from other passengers in a "special containment area". US officials deemed 13 of the cases "high risk" for COVID-19 and sent them to the University of Nebraska Medical Center for treatment and re-testing. All repatriated passengers must undergo a two-week quarantine period on US soil. One American traveler, Sarah Arana, told AFP before leaving the ship that she was ready to go because a proper quarantine was needed. "This was not it," she said. - 'My health is fine' - Some Americans on the Diamond Princess declined their government's offer. "My health is fine. And my two-week quarantine is almost over," tweeted Matt Smith, questioning why he should want to leave. Forty other US passengers tested positive for the virus and were taken to hospitals in Japan, said Anthony Fauci, a senior official at the National Institutes for Health. In China, authorities have placed about 56 million people in Hubei under quarantine, virtually sealing off the province from the rest of the country in an unprecedented effort to contain the virus. Chinese health officials on Monday urged patients who have recovered from COVID-19 to donate blood plasma which, they said, can be used to treat others. New cases outside the epicenter region have been declining for the last 13 days. There were 115 fresh cases outside Hubei announced Monday -- sharply down from nearly 450 a week ago. Chinese authorities have pointed to the slowing rise in cases as proof their measures are working. The apparent drop in new cases "must be interpreted very cautiously," World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday. Concerns remain about global transmission, but WHO officials cautioned against "blanket measures", when the virus is affecting "a very, very tiny" proportion of people outside Hubei. Fears are mounting over passengers on one vessel, the Westerdam, who all received a clean bill of health when they disembarked in Cambodia -- a staunch Beijing ally with a threadbare medical system. An 83-year-old American woman who disembarked was stopped by authorities in Malaysia over the weekend when she was detected with a fever and later diagnosed as having the virus. There were more than 2,200 passengers and crew on the ship when it docked in Sihanoukville, many of whom have now dispersed around the globe. Almost 1,000 were still aboard. - Battering tourism - With the virus battering tourism and disrupting global supply chains, experts are fretting about the toll it could take on a fragile global economy. IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said there could be a cut of around 0.1-0.2 percentage points to global growth but stressed there was "still a great deal of uncertainty." On Monday US tech giant Apple, citing disruption from the virus, said it did not expect to meet its revenue guidance for the March quarter. The company said worldwide iPhone supply would be "temporarily constrained" and that demand in China had been affected. Apple had forecast revenue of $63 billion to $67 billion for the second quarter to March. burs-rbu/je/dw/it/bgs/to/mdl
NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Joe Biden was running late. Two hundred voters had gathered in the Culinary Training Academy to see him, and they waited patiently, a live band vamping for time, until an army of local endorsers - none of them white - introduced the former vice president.

"I got raised in the black church," Biden said. "You think I'm joking? Not a joke. That's where I got started in the civil rights movement. I used to go to 7 o'clock Mass and then I'd head down to Reverend [Moses] Herring's church on the east side, and that's where we'd get ready to go out and desegregate movie theaters."

For the next 12 minutes, every line landed and every joke killed. Rhetoric that had left Biden's Iowa audiences drifting - "this is literally about restoring the soul of this country" - earned shouts of "yes!" and "that's right!" After placing fourth and fifth in the first two Democratic contests, Biden was asking Nevada to start the real primary, one dominated by nonwhite voters, one in which most other Democrats could not get a crowd that looked like his.

"There can be no Democratic nominee, none, without the voice of Latinos and African Americans being heard," Biden told Clark County Democrats at a Saturday evening reception.

The needle-scratch shift in the Democrats' primary map, from two of the country's whitest states to one of its most diverse, has tested candidates who arrived with different expectations for Nevada. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who ran strong with Latino voters in 2016 and never stopped campaigning for their support, has turned that into a narrow lead here in the latest poll. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who focused early on Nevada, has steady Asian American support here and drew diverse crowds at her first post-New Hampshire stops.

Former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., the white Midwesterners who demolished Biden in the first two contests, do not have the same broad appeal. Their first stops in Nevada have been dominated by white voters, who represent about 60% of the expected caucus turnout. Echoing Biden, Democratic leaders have minimized the results from Iowa and New Hampshire, predicting no clarity in the primary until nonwhite voters weigh in.

"I think it's way too early to count Joe Biden out," former Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid told reporters after he cast an early vote on Saturday. (Reid voted "uncommitted" on all three lines of his ranked-choice ballot.) "Iowa and New Hampshire are not representative of the country. He's gonna do well in Nevada. He's going to do extremely well in South Carolina. So, people should not be counting Joe Biden out of the race."

Klobuchar and Buttigieg face two problems, difficult to erase in just six days: They are less well known outside the party's white liberal electorate, and nonwhite voters have been hearing the worst about them before they hear the best. Klobuchar, the senator from Minnesota, has had the rockiest introduction, starting with a widely watched interview with Telemundo in which she repeatedly failed to name the current president of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a leftist elected on his third try for the office.

"I guess what it says is that there is more to being prepared than how many years you've spent in Washington," Buttigieg said Sunday, when a town hall questioner asked about Klobuchar's stumble.

More questions, the kind Democrats were not getting in Iowa or New Hampshire, led to more trouble. Asked about her vote for a conservative amendment to the 2007 immigration bill that would have required English as the national language, she said that it was "not a position I take" but that she "did vote that way." In a Sunday interview with CBS News' "Face the Nation," Klobuchar argued that she had not gotten credit for renouncing that vote last year, and that "actually nearly all Democrats eventually voted for it" because it had been added to the bill they supported.

But Klobuchar is competing here against Democrats who were not around to vote on the legislation (Warren, Buttigieg and investor Tom Steyer), and a Democrat who opposed it (Sanders). At a Saturday morning town hall in the Las Vegas suburbs, Klobuchar spoke for 45 minutes and talked about immigration in the context of her family's European roots and how much immigrants add to the economy.

"Something like 37% of your small businesses are owned by Hispanics," she said, referring to Nevada. "That's an amazing figure. It shows what we're seeing in terms of immigrants contributing so greatly to our economy, while 70 of our Fortune 500 companies are headed by people from other countries, and 25% of our U.S. Nobel laureates are born in other countries."

Buttigieg, who took heat earlier than Klobuchar on his mostly white support, has not broken through either. As in other states, he has raced to catch up, squeezing in appearances and interviews at events organized for nonwhite voters and inviting them to join the coalition, though sometimes in clinical terms.

"I think Nevada's unique since it's a state that's looking to the future demographically," Buttigieg said at a Saturday night forum organized by the Latino Chamber of Commerce. "It is what the future of America looks like. And I think this is a fantastic opportunity for our message about moving the country forward and doing it in a way that can actually unify a dangerously divided American people."

Warren and Sanders have faced fewer questions here about nonwhite support, but on the ground, the Sanders advantage is impossible to miss. The senator from Vermont led a march to an early-voting site Saturday, the same one where Reid had been refusing to count out Biden, that was dominated by young Latino voters.

"Half of my family is undocumented, and Bernie has consistently talked about that issue," said Roxana Lopez, 19, as she wheeled a baby carriage to the polling site. "After Trump won, I got pulled over a lot, because of my skin. I never got asked for proof that I was a citizen before Trump. Bernie's going to end that."
An Indonesian student (L) hugs her relative after being quarantined following the coronavirus outbreak, at the Juanda International Airport in Sidoarjo, East Java. (Photo: AFP)

Beijing: The death toll from China's coronavirus epidemic has climbed to 1,665 after 142 more people died, mostly in the worst-hit Hubei Province, and the confirmed cases jumped to 68,500, officials said on Sunday, as top WHO experts scramble to assist Beijing contain the virus spread.

China'sNational Health Commission confirmed 2,009 new cases across the country.

Hubei and its provincial capital Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in December, reported 1,843 of the new cases. The latest report brought the total confirmed cases in Hubei to 56,249 cases.

Of the new deaths, 139 were in Hubei, two in Sichuan, and one in Hunan, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The number of new cases, however, appears to have started dropping and a top Chinese health official has said efforts to control the outbreak have reached the most crucial stage".

The report said 9,419 infected patients had been discharged from hospital after recovery so far.

The coronavirus has posed a severe threat to the medical staff as more than 1,700 Chinese health officials have been infected by the virus while treating the patients and six of them have died.

Experts from the World Health Organisation are expected in Beijing on Sunday to join Chinese health authorities in containing the virus, which has spread to several other countries forcing them to temporarily stop tourist arrivals from China.

The health commission said a joint mission with WHO experts will pay field visits to China's three provincial-level regions to learn the effectiveness of the epidemic control measures.

One task of the mission will be to come up with standard medicine to cure the disease, according to the health commission.

Several antiviral drugs are under clinical trials and Chinese researchers have narrowed down their focus to a few existing drugs, including Chloroquine Phosphate, Favipiravir and Remdesivir, said Zhang Xinmin, director of the China National Centre for Biotechnology Devel-opment. Experts have asked people to frequently wash hands and face, and wear masks.

Authorities have begun quarantining large quantity of bank notes and coins in the affected areas and sanitising them with UV light before releasing them back into circulation to stop the virus from spreading. On Saturday, Chinese officials said that more than half of the coronavirus patients are being treated.
Online retail giant Amazon has withdrawn several lines of child car seat from its website after an investigation into unsafe products.

An investigation by BBC Panorama found products for sale which were similar to ones removed in 2014 following inquiries made by Trading Standards in Surrey.

Surrey Trading Standards had first contacted Amazon in 2013 after an investigation it carried out into some child seats available for purchase in the UK.

It found one of the seats caused bodily harm to a crash test dummy when subjected to testing.

Online retail giant Amazon has withdrawn several lines of child car seat from its website after an investigation into unsafe products (stock image)

The allegations were part of an hour-long Panorama investigation into Amazon's dominance of the online marketplace, due to air on BBC One tonight.

Rachel Greer, a manager for product safety for Amazon in North America and Canada at the time, told Panorama she had called for a review of all car seats for sale on Amazon's UK platform.

Seats which were non-compliant were removed, she said.

But she added when she requested the seats to be removed from sale in other countries, bosses at Amazon refused.

'I was told that there was no proof that they were non-compliant in those countries and that would not be happening,' she said.

In response to the allegations Doug Gurr, country manager for Amazon UK, told the programme the seats were removed as they were 'not authorised for sale'.

Mr Gurr said: 'It's not that the products were unsafe, if they were unsafe we would have removed them everywhere.

'It was simply that they were not authorised for sale in the UK. Given that those products were authorised for sale in the US of course we allowed those products to continue to be sold in the US.'

When Amazon was later contacted about products similar to those identified as unsafe by Surrey Trading Standards, the online retailer said it had withdrawn the seats from sale worldwide.

In response to the allegations Doug Gurr, country manager for Amazon UK, told the programme the seats were removed as they were 'not authorised for sale'

Customers in the UK who have purchased one of the car seats received an email stating: 'The product you received from a third-party seller may not be compliant with applicable child restraint standards.

'If you still have this product, please stop using it immediately, cut the straps to ensure it cannot be used, and dispose of the item.'

In a statement Amazon said: 'Safety is extremely important to us and we regret that these products were available from third party sellers using our stores.

'After a thorough investigation, we identified the issue and are removing these products, and we're also contacting each customer who purchased one of these products to explain the situation and issue a refund.

'We will continue to leverage and improve our tools and technology to ensure only safe and compliant car seats are available worldwide.'

Amazon: What They Know About Us airs tonight on BBC One 20:30-21:30.
Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) has appealed to all original equipment manufacturer (OEMs) to shift completely to BS-6 vehicles for all wholesale despatches to dealers and stop further billing of BS-4 vehicles with immediate effect to dealers thereby helping liquidation of current BS-4 inventory for a smoother transition to BS-6.

FADA noted that the Supreme Court heard its application with respect to granting extension for sale and registration of BS-IV vehicles beyond March'20 but did not consider appeal for extension of sale deadline for stock vehicles. FADA President also advised dealers to plan liquidation of BS4 inventory as per 31st March'20 deadline for sale and registration of BS-IV vehicles

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
This story has been updated to reflect that Paul Miyamoto is the first metro-area sheriff of Asian American sin California history.

SAN FRANCISCO  The first Asian American sheriff of a large California county walks over to a closet inside his City Hall office to stow some equipment, then takes a seat behind a large desk. He extends his arms, fingers interlaced.

So, Sheriff Paul Miyamoto says casually as if to imply that he isnt sure what all the fuss is about. What would you like to know?

On the one hand, as the son of a Japanese American father and a Chinese American mother and the husband of a Filipino American wife, Miyamoto is well aware his election represents is likely to prove inspirational to a new generation of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, a broad group often referred to by the acronym AAPI.

On the other, as a 23-year department veteran who was sworn in last month as San Francisco Countys 37th sheriff in 150 years, Miyamoto sees his rise through the ranks simply as a result of hard work in his beloved profession.

Being the first sheriff of my heritage (in San Francisco County) is humbling, and it gives me a sense of responsibility to be a role model, he says. But what Id really like is for us to never have any more firsts. Id like us to be on an equal footing. Hopefully, Im a step on that path.

San Francisco Sheriff Paul Miyamoto, the first metro-area Asian American sheriff in the history of California, was sworn into his new position on Jan. 8, 2020.

The election of a new sheriff with a familiar immigrant backstory has particular resonance these days.

President Donald Trump and his administration have not only taken a hard stance toward immigration broadly but also have clashed with so-called sanctuary cities such as San Francisco, where lawmakers and advocates have pledged to resist the sweeps of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers on the grounds that they are unconstitutional.

Miyamoto says he is foremost a law enforcement officer duty-bound to deliver on the civic promise of public safety. But he says he is also a proud product of a city that has a long history of helping immigrants and people of color and is eager to balance both.

Story continues

"San Francisco is very forward-thinking in terms of social justice issues, including the clashes with the federal government these days," he says. "My predecessors have set the foundation in this office, which means reflecting the values we have here supporting sanctuary cities and the like, and ensuring people are equal in terms of how they're treated."

Miyamoto says when considering "who we hand over to the federal government," he won't hesitate to take a hard look at anyone with a violent history. But he refuses to let his deputies act in a manner that demonizes people because of their ethnicity.

I dont want to see anything happen in line with what happened to my own family and my cultural group, he says, referring to the internment during World War II of 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry largely out west. I dont want to see citizens of our community behind barbed wire simply because of who they are.

That attitude is bound to be a boon to San Francisco's immigrant community, says Bill Ong Hing, professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law and director of the Immigration and Deportation Defense Clinic, which represents unaccompanied immigrant children as well as families who are in removal proceedings.

Paul Miyamoto stands for a portrait. Hes the first Asian American sheriff of a metro-area county in California history.

"Visibility is everything," Hing says of Miyamoto's position. "When immigrants see someone who looks like them or is at least a person of color, that sends a very positive message."

"Without the trust of the immigrant community, law enforcement officials cannot do their work and provide security for all parts of the city," Hing says. "Respecting the immigrant community is good public policy and good policing."

The San Francisco sheriff's department is 78% male and 22% female and very ethnically diverse, including whites (25%), Asian Americans (23%), Hispanic Americans (21%), Filipino Americans (14%), African Americans (13%) and Native Americans (0.5%).

The California State Sheriffs' Association says it does not keep track of the ethnic breakdowns of its members statewide.

All California, all the time: A newsletter that wraps up all things on the Golden State

After USA TODAY first posted this profile, friends of Timothy Saxon  who in 2018 was elected sheriff in rural Trinity County (population 13,500) near the Oregon border  alerted media to the fact that Saxon, who was born in Japan to a Japanese mother, was likely the first Asian American sheriff elected in the history of the state. USA TODAY contacted Saxon, who told his own story about being an American with roots in another land.

A family interned during World War II

For Miyamoto, being sensitive to the plight of newcomers is deeply ingrained. In the early part of the 20th century, Miyamoto's father's family had achieved "a small measure of the American Dream," owning a San Francisco home and a thriving dry-cleaning business.

But after Japan attacked Hawaii's Pearl Harbor in 1941, destroying a large part of the U.S. naval fleet, Americans of Japanese ancestry were rounded up because federal officials were concerned, despite a lack of evidence, that the group consisted of potential traitors and saboteurs. Eventually, President Ronald Reagan would sign the 1988 Civil Liberties Act, which included an apology and a $20,000 check for each surviving victim.

This photo dates back to the time during World War 2 when the family of current San Francisco County Sheriff Paul Miyamoto  the first Asian American sheriff in California history  were interned along with thousands of other Japanese Americans, in their case at the Heart Mountain detention center in Wyoming. From left to right, back row: Sheriff Miyamoto's grandfather, Joe Miyamoto; Miyamoto's father, Phil; and his mother, Asaye Mae Miyamoto. Front row (left to right): Miyamoto's uncles, Keith Miyamoto and Donald Miyamoto. Phil Miyamoto became a California appellate court judge.

Those Japanese American detainees included Miyamoto's grandfather, grandmother, father and two uncles. Stripped of their home and business, the family spent years at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center east of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, along with 10,000 other detainees.

Despite being interned, several of Miyamotos uncles joined other detainees in becoming part of the highly decorated, all-Japanese American 442nd Infantry Regiment. One uncle even designed the regiments Go for broke Statue of Liberty-themed logo, which as a child Miyamoto was stunned to see in a war museum during a visit to Washington, D.C.

"It meant so much to me to see that," he says.

While some Japanese Americans likely saw service as a way out of their imprisonment, Miyamoto says such actions were also "part of the fiber of Japanese culture, which is being a part of the whole and of putting yourself in front of everyone else in times of adversity."

When the Miyamotos finally were let out of the camp, starting over again was a hardship. But the family eventually thrived, with the future sheriffs father, Phil, studying law and becoming a California state appellate judge.

That accomplishment greatly influenced his son's eventual career choice. "I'm part of that legacy of service, I guess," he says.

Asian Americans flex political muscle

Miyamotos success is reflective of the proliferation of public servants of Asian and Pacific Islander descent not just in San Francisco  which has had a Chinese American mayor and chief of police  but across California and the nation.

With its proximity to the Pacific Rim, California has long been a magnet for immigration from the Far East. Of the Golden States 40 million people, some 15% are of Asian or Pacific Islander heritage, according to the recent U.S. Census, with a similar percentage of lawmakers in the states legislature in Sacramento.

Statewide, U.S. citizens of Asian and Pacific Islander descent account for 3 million registered voters, representing 13% of the total vote. Reports indicate a majority of those voters remain undecided and could be a powerful factor in the states upcoming March 3 Democratic primary.

Nationally, Asian American and Pacific Islander citizens represent 6% of the population and about 4% of the electorate. But some political pundits say that if there are upticks in what is traditionally a low voter turnout rate  because of factors such as language barriers and poor outreach from political campaigns  this growing minority could soon have an outsized effect on state and national elections.

Thai American Iraq war veteran Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois) is one of 17 members of Congress who have Asian or Pacific Islander roots.

Were very happy for Sheriff Miyamoto and the Bay Area to have even more Asian American leadership, especially in a position that involves votes from the public, says Cyndy Yu-Robinson, executive director of the National Association of Asian American Professionals in Raleigh, North Carolina, a non-profit networking group. Miyamoto has served as a board member of the group's San Francisco chapter.

We need more Asian Americans who are willing to put themselves out there for public service," says Yu-Robinson.

In Washington, D.C., 14 members of the House of Representatives and three members of the Senate are of Asian or Pacific Islander heritage, including high-profile leaders such as Thai American Iraq war veteran Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., Indian American Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Samoan American presidential hopeful Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii.

San Francisco celebrates diversity

Miyamoto's own path to public service was direct. He grew up attending Bay Area and California public schools, earning a law degree that found him interning with the San Francisco district attorneys office.

But he quickly changed tack from coveting a desk to hitting the pavement. "I thought I could do more being on the front lines," he says. "Maybe by being a member of a public safety organization, I figured I could be there at the beginning of when things happened to people and be more helpful to them."

He applied to the police, fire and sheriff's departments for any job in San Francisco. The sheriff's department welcomed him. On Miyamoto's first day on the job, he was late replacing another deputy. She was ticked off  and later became his wife.

Paul Miyamoto, the new San Francisco County sheriff and the first Asian American sheriff in California history, takes part in a recent new year's celebration in San Francisco's Chinatown. Miyamoto is Japanese on his father's side and Chinese on his mother's side.

Miyamoto lives in San Francisco along with his Filipino American wife, LeeAnn, who retired from the police department to focus on raising the couples five children. They reside in the same house Miyamoto grew up in on the western end of the city.

With prices here these days, thats about the only way to afford to stay, he says with a laugh.

The family celebrates various Asian holidays, he says. Most recently, Miyamoto saluted his Chinese ancestry by hoisting a dragon in a new year's parade in town.

Representing so many different Asian cultures is great for the kids and also reflective of the fabric of San Francisco, he says of a city that is 45% white and 34% Asian.

Being on the streets of the city often as both a citizen and peace officer, Miyamoto knows firsthand how much homelessness is affecting life here. Many of Californias 140,000 homeless people call San Francisco home, and often Miyamotos county-wide deputies  his force of 850 serve as a policing supplement to the much larger city police department  are called upon to send street residents to appropriate agencies.

The vexing problem, Miyamoto says, has room for improvement; I wont sugar coat it.

But that said, he says he is pleased to not only hail from but also serve a city where many citizens are more inclined to help out than criticize and where what you look like often is secondary to who you are.

"Sure, even here there certainly are people who use your background and ethnicity as a way to insult you in order to feel better about themselves, and I experienced a bit of that growing up," says Miyamoto.

"But in terms of treatment by society as a whole," he adds, "I was and am fortunate that here in San Francisco we are mostly embracing of diversity, so there's less of that backlash overall by individuals or the government."

Miyamoto smiles and leans back in his office chair: "And that is something to be proud of."

Follow USA TODAY national correspondent Marco della Cava: @marcodellacava

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: San Francisco County's first Asian American sheriff backs immigrants
A pageant queen who was crowned Miss Global England 2019 has spoken out against the unrealistic body image ideals portrayed on social media a week after completing treatment for severe acne.

Ashleigh Wild, 22, from Poulton, Lancashire, who last year shared a powerful picture of her acne-covered skin after being trolled online, decided to seek Roaccutane treatment for her acne just under six months ago.

The medication, which is also known as Isotretinoin, can only be prescribed and supervised by a specialist doctor and is said to work well on four out of five people, but has been linked to suicide.

Before starting treatment, Ashleigh admitted: From not being able to touch my face without it hurting, to not wanting to leave the house in fear Im ugly, my acne has taken over my life'.

But now that she's completed her treatment, Ashleigh - who recently returned home after two weeks in Mexico where she competed for Miss Global and placed in the top ten of 57 contestants - said it was the 'best thing' she's done.

Ashleigh Wild, 21, from Poulton, Lancashire, who was previously trolled online for her severe acne, has revealed that she's completed a six-month course of the drug Roaccutane

The pageant queen took to Instagram this week to share a picture of her skin after nearly 6 months of Roaccutane treatment

Ashleigh (left and right while at the start of her acne treatment), who was previously taunted by trolls for her skin condition, decided to seek roaccutane treatment just under six months ago

Ashleigh has always been a fan of natural and organic remedies, and thought long and hard before trying the drug.

'It's something I had considered in the past, but I just kept putting if off because of all the horror stories that you do hear and because everyone responds differently,' she told FEMAIL.

'But I just got to a point where I thought, "Try it and see what happens", and it's been the best thing I've done'.

The pageant queen, who first developed acne at the age of 12, said she decided to embark on the treatment after years of trying alternative high street creams and natural remedies.

She continued: 'It is a last resort. You have to go to your GP and try numerous other medications that they have, such as creams and other forms of medication, which I did.

'I went to the doctors and I tried all these other treatments and none of them worked. I got to about 14-15 and I thought, "You know what, I'm just going to try and find some of my own remedies".

The 22-year-old, who first started developing acne at the age of 12, was prescribed the treatment by her doctor and has noticed a change in her skin (left during treatment and right after treatment)

Ashleigh (in Mexico wearing her national poppy costume in tribute to the armed forces), who earlier this year represented England for the international Miss Global competition in Mexico has continued to question the mainstream beauty standards presented online

'I got natural products off the high street that I'd looked into buying that were really really good.

'It worked for a while, but it got to a point last year where it was just got too much.

'And I thought, "I need to do something about it", because it was getting worse as I was getting older, which is something that shouldn't normally be happening'.

After starting the drug, Ashleigh, was met with a range of side-effects including dry lips, nose bleeds, and sore joints and muscles but now believes it was 'all worth it'.

She continued: 'Now I've finished Roaccutane my acne could come back. There is a very slim chance it could come back. But if it does come back you get put on the medication again, but only for a short period of time.

'You can relapse. But it's like any medication, everyone responds to it differently. which is why there is no guarantee. So, fingers crossed I'll be OK.'

Ashleigh said she was initially put off the idea because she's always preferred natural remedies.

'I put it off for years because of how severe it was, but I wish I'd gone on it sooner. I'm not one to take medication,' she explained.

Ashleigh (at the Sheraton Mexico City Santa Fe hotel) said she got to a stage where her acne became 'too much' and she needed to do something about it

The 22-year-old (pictured at Manchester Airport before flying to Mexico in January) realised she was able to help others by documenting her acne journey online

'When I have a headache or a stomach ache I don't take a pain killer. I'd rather just ride it out until I feel better. It's not that I'm against medication, I'd rather just not take it. I've always just be the same.

'I think its because my mum's someone who is into all her organic remedies, her natural foods and things like that, so taking Roaccutane was a big thing for me.

'Not just because of the side effects but because I don't normally take medication. But I wish I'd done it sooner and the side effects were all worth it.'

WHAT IS ACNE TREATMENT ROACCUTANE? Roaccutane is an inflammatory drug that attacks the sebaceous glands - the active ingredient isotretinoin is a very effective treatment for severe acne. It has a high success rate of treating acne but it can cause different side effects in certain people. The side effects can range from dry skin, dry throat, nose bleeds and can make you extremely sensitive to the sun. Serious and more rare side effects include pancreatitis, kidney failure, depression and there has been links to suicide. Anyone who is pregnant, has impaired liver function or already suffers from a mental illness cannot take the drug. Source: NHS Advertisement

It comes months after Ashleigh took to Instagram to speak out against the comments sent to her by online bullies after she shared images of her severe acne in September.

The post, which went viral in less than five hours and which has now received more than 13,000 likes on Instagram, gathered the attention of Love Island's Amy Hart, Amber Turner and Georgia Kousoulou from TOWIE, who shared her post on their Instagram Stories.

It also showed Ashleigh the impact she could have on others battling with the same skin condition.

Ashleigh said: 'When I put that original post on so many people reached out to me that I was so shocked about saying I had helped them speak about their acne.

'Throughout the whole treatment I spoke about it on my Instagram I was really open about the side effects and how I was feeling. I did weekly reviews on how my skin had improved but also the down side of it as in the side effects I was experiencing.'

'Social media isn't life. We all have our flaws and our imperfections and things we're really conscious about and I wanted to use my platform to say that because it's not spoken about enough and that's what motivated me in the first place.

'The response showed me how much I'd helped people and I thought why would I stop there? I wanted to carry on and I will carry on doing that.'

Last year, Ashleigh hit back at the trolls who insulted her severe acne by defiantly sharing an image of herself without make-up on social media

Ashleigh was crowned Miss Grand England in June last year, however, due to the international competition being held in crisis-ridden Venezuela, Team UK (which includes Scotland, Wales and England) decided to withdraw from the competition

Following talks with pageant officials, Ashleigh was then put forward to represent England at the international competition of Miss Global and flew to Mexico in January for the international pageant where she placed in the top ten.

Now back in the UK, Ashleigh, who graduated with a degree in Law from Lancaster University last year, will continue documenting her acne journey and hopes to inspire others.

She added: 'Don't let it define you at all. Now my skin is clear I barely wear make up.

'Throughout my whole treatment I barely wore make up because it was me embracing me.

'Those suffering with acne, don't let it knock your confidence because everyone suffers with something and whether it's acne or mental health or other things I always say some people have allergies some people have acne it's just part of you.

'If I can give a message to them and let it be passed on that's my goal.'
The Mauritius Institute of Directors is delighted to announce the appointment of three new Independent Non- Executive Directors. Our newest board members will bring critical knowledge, experience and perspectives that will enrich our organization and help us advance our mission in providing a professional forum for directors and improving corporate governance practices in Mauritius.

The new board members bring decades of leadership in key areas, such as corporate finance and strategic consultancy, financial services and management which are vital to our future operations and strategy while ensuring that we deliver maximum impact for our valuable members and stakeholders.

Joining the Board of the MIoD are Mohamed Baboo, Kevin Teeroovengadum and Kevin Ramkaloan. All three of our newest Board members embody the spirit of Institute and bring talent, expertise and energy to the table. With the addition of these highly respected new members of our Board, we are committed to continuing the rewarding work of promoting corporate governance across boards in Mauritius. We are delighted to welcome them and look forward to working with them, Christine Sauzier, Chairperson of the Board of Directors.

Mahomed Baboo is the owner and Director of Mabco Consulting Ltd, a professional firm of business development consultants providing Corporate and Business Consulting Services to companies in various sectors of the economy. He is a Fellow of The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (UK), Member of The Mauritius Institute of Professional Accountants and a Licensed Auditor with nearly 40 years of experience in Accounting, Finance and Management Consultancy. Adding value and development of human capital are his guiding principles in his professional life. Mamed is a Past District Governor of Rotary International who also served as Regional Coordinator for Africa and is now a Member of Leadership Development and Training Committee of Rotary International.

Kevin Teeroovengadum has a BSc in Economics, MBA and MSc in Finance from Leicester University, UK. He worked for KPMG, Deloitte, Ernst & Young in corporate finance and strategic consultancy before moving to Loita Capital Partners Group based in South Africa. He joined Actis in 2007, the leading Emerging Market Private Equity Firm, as a Director as part of their Africa real estate team where he led a number of transactions and exits. He was the co-founder and CEO of AttAfrica in 2013 which became the premier investor of shopping malls in Africa. He is a frequent writer and speaker at conferences globally and currently serves on numerous boards of companies in Mauritius and also advises a number of companies in Africa leveraging his 20 years of experience in Africa in financial services, real estate/hospitality sector. He is also the co-founder of ProptechAfrica.

Kevin Ramkaloan is the CEO of Business Mauritius, the apex organization of the business community on publicprivate sector dialogue and industrial relations. He was the former Director of the MTPA, the national tourism promotion agency of Mauritius and Director of New Business Development at the Board of Investment, the national investment promotion agency. Kevin has over 20 years of executive experience in Mauritius and internationally, spanning diverse sectors including public policy, business consulting, hospitality,financial services and the ocean economy among others. Awarded both the State Scholarship of Mauritius and a US Fulbright, he holds post-graduate degrees in economics and policy from Cambridge University, UK and University of Maine, US respectively.

Furthermore, Roshan Ramoly, Jozef Tournel and Sanjiv Bhasin have resigned from the board to focus on other professional commitments. They have been on the board of the MIoD for several years and have contributed significantly to the advancement of the Institute. The board would like to thank them for their valuable contribution,  Christine Sauzier, Chairperson of the Board of Directors.

Partager et informez vous aussi......

0 shares Share

Tweet

LinkedIn

Articles similaires
Apple will reportedly use Qualcomm's 5G chips on iPhones for the next four years. This revelation comes from a document published by the United States International Trade Commission. It also states that Apple is slated to release a 5G-ready iPhone in 2020, which will be powered by a Snapdragon X55 5G modem.

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

Not too long ago, Apple and Qualcomm were involved in a very public spat due to the latter accusing the former of patent infringement. The resulting lawsuit allegedly cost Apple billions of dollars in settlement money. It appears that both companies have decided to move on and do business with each other. A newly-published document by the United States International Trade Commission shows that Apple will use Qualcomm's 5G chips on at least four generations of iPhones.

The document in question is publicly available and can be read in its entirety here. It is long, full of legal jargon, and peppered with redactions, so it might not make an enjoyable read. Essentially, it states that Apple's 2020 iPhone will ship with a Snapdragon X55 5G chip. Furthermore, subsequent iPhone models will also feature corresponding Qualcomm 5G hardware. The document doesn't shed any light on what Apple's strategy will be after the four year period ends, but it is far too early to speculate about that now.

This news is a tad surprising, considering that Apple acquired Intel's 5G division not too long ago. It is clear Apple didn't want to rely on Qualcomm for 5G technology but has to now. Furthermore, it is implausible that the company will leave its 5G chips sitting around. Perhaps Apple will manufacture two iPhone variants, one that comes with an Intel 5G modem and another with Qualcomm's offering. After all, Samsung has been doing this for a long time with its flagships, so it shouldn't be difficult for Apple to pull it off.








Web Toolbar by Wibiya

The federal government is ramping up its efforts to convince Indigenous communities to peacefully end a series of rail blockades, as Canadian National Railway Co. announced 1,000 temporary layoffs on Sunday, reflecting the growing economic impact of the protests.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sunday cancelled a trip to the Caribbean to focus on the blockades and Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller said that Ottawa doesnt believe police intervention is the solution to anti-pipeline protests that have shut down much of the countrys rail system. Some premiers and the federal Conservative opposition had called on the government in recent days to take a hard line, enforce injunctions and remove protesters.

Businesses have warned of economic damage as trains typically carrying tens of thousands of commuters and billions of dollars worth of freight have been idled in railyards and sidings across the country since the blockades began on Feb. 6. CN sent out 450 of an estimated 1,000 temporary layoff notices on Sunday, spokesman Alexandre Boule confirmed, as protests have shuttered much of the railways eastern Canadian network.

Late Sunday, federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau relaxed a ministerial order that had limited the speed of trains transporting combustible cargo such as crude oil. The order followed a fiery derailment in Saskatchewan in early February. CN said the change would allow it to increase the speed of its shipments in Western Canada, which would help compensate for the blockades in the east.

The protests have been spearheaded by groups opposed to the Coastal GasLink pipeline in northern British Columbia and the RCMPs enforcement of injunctions to dislodge protesters who had been blocking construction of the $6.6-billion pipeline. All 20 elected First Nation councils along the natural gas pipelines route support the project, but a group of eight Wetsuweten hereditary house chiefs have led a vocal campaign to oppose the pipelines construction.

Crown Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett is expected to meet with Indigenous leaders in British Columbia on Monday. The Gitxsan First Nation temporarily took down a rail blockade near Hazelton, B.C., last week pending a proposed meeting with the minister, provincial officials and Wetsuweten hereditary chiefs.

Chantal Gagnon, a spokeswoman for the Prime Minister, said Mr. Trudeau has been in communication on the weekend with Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair, Mr. Garneau and Ms. Bennett.

Our priority remains the safety and security of all Canadians and the swift resolution of this issue to restore service across the rail system in accordance with the law, she said in a statement.
From an emissions-reducing model jet that looks like something from a sci-fi movie to electric aircraft and sustainable fuel, the aviation industry is ramping up efforts to go green as consumer pressure grows.

In an era when teen climate activist Greta Thunberg opts to travel on an eco-friendly boat and flight-shaming is all the rage in her native Sweden, air travels reputation has never looked as dire.

Aviation accounts for three percent of climate-damaging carbon emissions globally, according to the European Environment Agency, and the world is experiencing record heatwaves, wildfires and storm surges made worse by rising seas. Sustainability was the buzzword last week in Singapore at Asias biggest air show - which was powered by solar panels - with manufacturers and airlines trying to outdo one another on vows to become more sustainable.

Some environmentalists however have criticised such pledges as greenwash, PR stunts that will do little to mitigate the damage caused by the vast quantities of jet fuel burnt every year.

Aviation is under significant pressure to improve its sustainability image, Paul Stein, chief technology officer for engine maker Rolls-Royce, told AFP.

Airlines are working with us to find pathways to increase the availability of sustainable fuels, look at how electrification can impact them... and also looking to more and more efficient engines and airframes.

Cutting emissions

The aviation industry has pledged to reduce its net carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2050 compared with 2005 levels, and the British sector went further this month with a vow to achieve net zero emissions by the same date.

At the Singapore Airshow, European plane maker Airbus unveiled a model of a futuristic new jet that blends wings with body and has two rear-mounted engines. The demonstrator models sleek design is meant to reduce aerodynamic drag, and the manufacturer says it has the potential to cut fuel consumption by up to 20 percent compared to current single-aisle aircraft.

Dubbed Maveric, the 2.2-metre-long (7.2-foot) model had its first test flight in June last year.

Franco-Italian manufacturer ATR was meanwhile keen to highlight that its turboprop aircraft -- popular for short hops, particularly in parts of Asia with poor infrastructure -- burns 40 percent less fuel compared with a jet of the same size.

It is a trade-off between fuel consumption and speed, ATR chief executive Stefano Bortoli told AFP.

You can gain five, 10 minutes with a faster jet but in terms of pollution, it is more damaging.

Slow-moving solutions

There have also been steps towards producing electric planes. The worlds first fully electric aircraft -- designed by engineering firm magniX -- made its inaugural test flight in December in Canada.

Swiss company Smartflyer is developing a hybrid-electric aircraft for four people and is aiming for a maiden flight in 2022. As well as reducing emissions, the aircraft is less noisy and cheaper to operate due in part to lower fuel costs.But Aldo Montanari, the companys head of avionics and user interface, cautioned such projects would not be quick.

The pressure is quite big... and I think the industry has understood but they need time to react, they cannot do it in one year, he said. It has to be safe.

Biofuels are touted as a major route for the aviation industry to cut carbon emissions, and several airlines have in recent years operated commercial flights using them.

But prices remain higher than regular fuel, and they represent just a tiny proportion of jet fuel used globally.

Despite the efforts, environmentalists accuse the aviation industry of moving too slowly as more evidence emerges of the devastating impacts of climate change.

It will take a long time for airlines to become sustainable, Dewi Zloch, climate and energy campaigner with Greenpeace, told AFP.

Technological solutions will take decades.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.)

Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter
Five-time Olympic gold medallist Missy Franklin has urged governments worldwide to invest in the sport of swimming to yield better results at the Olympics.

"I think all governments should invest in swimming. Swimming is the only sport that will save your life and it is the only sport you can do for the rest of your life. All governments should recognise the importance of this sport," Franklin told ANI.

"I think, the younger you start, the better it is. The earlier you get the youngsters in the pool, it will help in yielding better results. I think it's your passion that differentiates you from everyone else. If you want it that much, the results will come. If I am neck-to-neck with someone, in the end, it is just about who wants it more. If I have the needed passion at that time, I will come out triumphant," she added.

The 25-year-old enjoyed a stellar run at the 2012 London Olympics as she managed to win the gold medal in the 100-meter backstroke event.

Franklin also revealed as to what is important to her when it comes to swimming and added that everybody's body is different so there is no set pattern to become successful in swimming.

"I think for me, swimming is a lot of technical, but it's also about knowing your body. It's very easy for us to generalise, saying that this works for someone else, why don't you try it? I don't believe that as everybody is different, you need to find what works best for you. For me, its more about fun and exploration," Franklin said.

"It's not just about finding a routine, it's about getting better every day. It takes time and energy if you want to get better each day. I am still learning," she added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 00:35:00|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

MUNICH, Germany, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- More than 500 high-level international decision-makers gathered over the weekend in Munich to discuss the world's current crises and future security challenges at the annual Munich Security Conference (MSC).

This year's agenda was centered on the theme "Westlessness", referring to the loss of the common standing of what it means to be part of the West, according to a security report published ahead of the conference.

As many participants pointed out, the so-called "Westlessness" is essentially a lack of collective action to address the most urgent threats to international security as nations dwell on narrowly-defined national interests and retreat from dialogue and cooperation.

The MSC discussions highlight the fact that multilateralism is not out-of-date and even more needed at a time when the international community face many common security challenges.

"SOUL-SEARCHING" OF THE WEST

The majority of speakers at this year's conference sounded the alarm for the current global security environment. In his opening remarks, MSC chairman Wolfgang Ischinger expressed his disappointment at the lack of collective action to address the most violent crises and most dangerous threats to international peace and security.

"It's not enough for the most powerful people in the world to shrug your shoulders and say that this is the way things are," Ischinger said, adding that "the present state of global insecurity is absolutely unacceptable."

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who delivered an opening speech this year, said that the withdrawal to concentrate on a narrowly-defined national interest prevents the nations from taking joint action and coming up with convincing answers to the issues and problems that no one can solve alone.

"The idea of international community is not outmoded," Steinmeier said, adding that "withdrawing into our national shells leads us into a dead end, into a dark age."

Like many European leaders, Steinmeier reflects on the lack of unified action on the European level to address common challenges. "Each of the major players is pursuing its own advantage even at the expense of Europe's unity."

Echoing Steinmeier, French President Emmanuel Macron, who attended the conference for the first time, called for "a European strategy", hoping to see "a Europe that can protect the basis of its sovereignty, a Europe that has more vitality, and a Europe that is enthusiastic about its future."

Macron said in a dialogue with Ischinger that Europe needs to develop their own European policy, instead of a transatlantic policy, when it comes to relations with neighbors such as the Middle East, Russia and Africa.

Gu Xuewu, professor of political science at the University of Bonn, said that discussions on "Westlessness" expose problems that currently plague the relations between the European Union and the United States.

"There is a sense of loss on the European and American influence in leading global affairs, a loss of trust, and a loss of solidarity between Europe and the United States," Gu said, noting that it is difficult for the West to formulate a unified strategy with the "America First" policy of the United States in place.

CALL FOR UPHOLDING MULTILATERALISM

For some participants, talking about "Westlessness" may seem a little self-absorbed, as it is questionable that to which degree the West and Non-West divide is still relevant these days.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a panel discussion that the core of "Westness" is the "respect for diversity." The Western model is not the only one that matters in the world.

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said she found the theme of "Westlessness" a little insular. Multilateralism is also being practiced by Asian countries, according to Kang, who cited the example of ASEAN centrality.

At the conference, the Chinese delegation renewed their call for upholding multilateralism in the face of a complex and changing international environment.

"Strengthening global governance and international coordination is urgent right now," Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a speech on Saturday.

"We need to get rid of the division of the East and the West and go beyond the difference between the South and the North, in a bid to build a community with a shared future for mankind," Wang said.

He said that the novel coronavirus epidemic had made mankind realize that it is now an era with traditional and non-traditional security threats being interwoven. A regional issue can be transformed into a global one, and vice versa. No country can stay alone and be immune to the threats.

Wang further expounded the concept of multilateralism from the Chinese perspective. Multilateralism denies the priority of a single state and holds that all countries share the same right for development, he told the conference.

Meanwhile, the West should also discard its subconscious mentality of civilization supremacy, give up its bias and anxiety over China, and accept and welcome the development and revitalization of a country from the East with a system different from that of the West, said the Chinese top diplomat.

Success of multilateralism calls on major nations to play key roles and take major responsibilities. Therefore, big nations must shoulder responsibilities and safeguard the common interests of all countries, Wang also noted.

Major nations should strive to maintain the openness of the world, not to confront and counteract each other, and to join hands to safeguard world peace and stability, he added.

He said that China will further deepen the strategic partnership of coordination with Russia, continue to explore ways of peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation with the U.S., and will comprehensively deepen cooperation with Europe.

At this year's conference, discussions on new security challenges posed by technology, climate change and global health issues underline that need for more cooperation and coordination among nations, as well as among big companies, media and other concerned parties.
Ten complaints were received against police personnel in connection with alleged atrocities during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in Uttar Pradesh and these were being examined, the Uttar Pradesh government informed the Allahabad High Court on Monday.

Additional Advocate General Manish Goyal, appearing for the state government, told a bench comprising Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Siddhartha Verma that during protests against CAA on December 20-21 in the state, 22 people has died. As many as 83 people and 45 police personal were injured.

For committing riot and destroying public properties, FIRs have been lodged against 883 people out of which 561 have been granted bail, he submitted.

From the remaining, bail applications filed by 111 people are pending in different courts, he said.

Goyal said that 10 complaints were received against police personnel and these were being examined.

Earlier, the court had directed the state government to apprise it of FIRs/complaints filed by any group or organisation alleging police atrocities on protestors during the anti-CAA protests in the state.

The court has now fixed March 18 for hearing the public interest litigations that alleged police atrocities during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in Uttar Pradesh.

The bench asked the petitioners and the state government to file their affidavits and documents.

In the petitions, it was alleged that excessive force was used by the police on protestors resulting in several deaths and injuries. They alleged that police action was unjustified and in violation of fundamental rights of protestors.

It was also alleged that the injured were not given proper medical aid and authorities were not providing post-mortem reports of those who died during the agitation to their family members.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
THE PERCENTAGE of sloops intercepted in TCI waters has significantly increased over the last few months, according to the National Security Council (NSC).





On February 4, Governor Nigel Dakin and Premier Sharlene Cartwright Robinson co-chaired the latest NSC meeting at the Hilly Ewing Building in Providenciales.





According to a February 7 statement summarising the meeting, the "overall numbers of sloops heading towards the TCI had reduced.





However, the territory has seen an increase in the number of people arriving on each sloop, statement added.





"There wasan increase in the numbers of people each sloop was now carrying, thereby amplifying the danger to those being trafficked through risk of capsize.





During the meeting Commissioner of Police Trevor Botting provided an overview of the investigations of illegal migrants who sought to transit through the TCI onto other countries.





"The police described the excellent engagement received from international partners who have been cooperating closely with the RTCIPF.





Members of the NSC were also updated on recent sloop interceptions, processing arrivals, current detainees, repatriation and pending court cases.





Issues relating to the Detention Centre were also discussed.





Last week, Botting disclosed that some 530 illegal migrants were captured so far for the year.





He credited the successful operations to the collaborative efforts of the forces Marine Branch and the Coastal Radar Station.





He said: "The successful detection and arrest of 530 subjects is testament to RTCIPFs resolve to safeguard our territorial waters, despite many challenges.





The commissioners comments came after a staggering 453 Illegal Haitian Migrants were captured in TCIs waters during one week. (By Olivia Rose)








Congress leader Ajay Maken attacked party colleague Milind Deora for praising Arvind Kejriwal, who took oath as Delhi Chief Minister for the third time on Sunday.

Sharing a lesser known and welcome fact - the @ArvindKejriwal-led Delhi Government doubled its revenues to Rs 60,000 crore and maintained a revenue surplus over the last 5 years. Food for thought: Delhi is now one of Indias most fiscally prudent governments, Deora said on Twitter on Sunday.

Maken hit back, asking Deora to leave the party and then propagate half-baked facts.

Brother,you want to leave @INCIndia-Please do-Then propagate half baked facts! However,let me share even lesser know facts-1997-98-BE (Revenue) 4,073cr 2013-14-BE (Revenue) 37,459cr During Congress Govt Grew at 14.87% CAGR 2015-16 BE 41,129 2019-20 BE 60,000 AAP Gov 9.90% CAGR, Maken said in response to Deoras tweet.

Brother,you want to leave @INCIndia-Please do-Then propagate half baked facts!



However,let me share even lesser know facts-

1997-98-BE (Revenue) 4,073cr

2013-14-BE (Revenue) 37,459cr

During Congress Govt Grew at 14.87% CAGR



2015-16 BE 41,129

2019-20 BE 60,000

AAP Gov 9.90% CAGR    (@ajaymaken) February 16, 2020

Before the Assembly elections on February 8, Arvind Kejriwal had released his governments report card where he listed the work done and funds utilised for it. Kejriwal had referred to the report released by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India which had said that Delhi is the only state government with surplus funds.

Responding to the criticism by other parties, Kejriwal had said at Hindustan Times Leadership Summit (HTLS) in December last year, I gave back the money to you (people of Delhi) by cutting down on certain expenses and building better infrastructure in Delhi. Whats wrong in that?

Kejriwals Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had made development as its poll plank and countered all the other narratives going into the polls with it. The partys campaign was focussed on development and it helped the party win Assembly elections in Delhi.

The Congress drew blank in the February 8 polls - its second consecutive duck in Delhi polls. Voices stated surfacing after the partys rout, with many Congress leader suggesting taking some action instead of intospection. Others blamed the delay in decision making.

Though the Congress acknowledged the defeat and vowed to make a comeback, leaders like PC Chacko said that the downfall started with Sheila Dikshit, the partys stalwart in Delhi who passed away in July last year.

Deora had recently refuted that statement. Sheila Dikshit ji was a remarkable politician & administrator. During her tenure as Chief Minister, Delhi was transformed and Congress was stronger than ever. Unfortunate to see her being blamed after her death. She dedicated her life to INC India and the people of Delhi, Deora had tweeted, with a snippet of Chackos statement embedded.
Description

GIS  17 February, 2020: Grant applicants from Mauritiuss creative sector, under the ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific) group configuration, have till 20 March 2020, to submit their applications following the launch of a call for proposals entitled Supporting the cultural and creative sectors in ACP countries. The call was launched by the ACP-EU Culture Programme last week.

The aim is to foster the economic and social development of the ACP countries by stimulating the cultural and creative sectors. The other objectives are to: promote the growth of the creative sectors economic revenue; enable the creation of jobs linked to the cultural sector; and improve accessibility and recognition and commercial exploitation of artists.

Support for four strands will be extended so as to achieve these objectives, namely:

 creating/producing high-quality goods and services, at competitive prices, and in increased quantities

 access to national, regional and international markets, circulation/dissemination/promotion of ACP goods and services

 visual literacy

 improving access to financing through innovative mechanisms that allow co-financing and aim to reduce ACP cultural operators dependency on international financing.

It is recalled that the Partnership Agreement between the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States, and the European Union (EU), signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000 and revised in 2005 (the Cotonou Agreement), identifies culture as an integral part of the cooperation strategy in the partnership between the ACP countries and the EU.

The 2014-2020 Strategy Paper and Indicative Programme for intra ACP cooperation, 11th EDF, provides for the implementation of a programme designed to increase the revenue of creative industries in ACP countries by fostering recognition of their work, encouraging its commercial exploitation and improving its accessibility both locally and internationally.

In addition, at the 4th meeting of Ministers held in Brussels in November 2017, the ACP States adopted a new Declaration on Culture. The Ministers of the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries recognised the key role of culture as a driver for economic growth and sustainable human development and reaffirmed their commitment to making culture a priority sector in their countries by implementing concrete actions and programmes.
Politicians urging compromise often argue the perfect should not be the enemy of the good, and that is a good argument for the parental leave policy President Donald Trump endorsed in his State of the Union address.

Parents know the challenge of caring for a newborn or a newly adopted child. Scientists advise that children need intensive attention from both parents early in life to grow up physically and emotionally healthy.

Raising a family, though, also requires money. More than 72 percent of mothers and 93 percent of fathers work full time, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Most will have to take vacation days, sick leave or leave without pay to stay at home with their child.

The United States is the only wealthy country that does not have national rules to guarantee a workers right to paid time off. Most governments respect that strong families underpin successful economies, and so do most Americans.

More: Middle-class Texans are facing a housing crisis. Here's what's standing in their way

About two-thirds of voters believe workers should have access to paid leave to care for a new child or a family medical crisis, according to polling by Pew Research Center. The debate is over how to pay for it.

Trump has talked about a federal paid family leave law since his election, and his daughter Ivanka Trump carries the flag for his administration. In December, Trump guaranteed up to 12 weeks of paid leave for 2.1 million civilian federal workers if they have a new child.

Expanding that benefit to all Americans has proven more challenging. Democratic proposals range from requiring employers to cover the cost to spending federal tax dollars to cover the workers wages. But Republicans oppose any additional burden on employers or expansion of government programs.

Two weeks ago, Trump endorsed a bipartisan bill that would give Americans a chance to collect a portion of their future child tax credits early so that they can take time from work. Sens. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., and Bill Cassidy, R-La., introduced the bill.

The bill places no burden on employers or the federal budget; it only allows workers to take a $5,000 credit in the first year they have a child and then collect $500 less in child tax credits over the next decade.

Critics complain that allowing parents to borrow against their future tax credits only shifts money around. The bill still allows employers to fire a worker if they want to take unpaid time off to spend with their child.

What Sinema and Cassidy propose, therefore, is not really a paid parental leave law; it guarantees neither pay nor leave. But the authors say its the best they can do right now.

This policy must be fiscally sustainable and not bury taxpayers in even more red ink, Cassidy said.

Sinema insisted the bill is only a beginning.

Our bipartisan bill does not raise taxes or harm Social Security, and represents an important first step, offering parents a new option to finance time off of work or help pay for childcare, she said.

Despite these essential facts, Sinema was the only Democrat to stand and applaud when Trump called for a paid parental leave law. Her Democratic colleagues have bigger politics on their minds.

More: Want more resilient homes, convince government to enforce tougher codes

Because Trump and his daughter promised action on paid family leave three years ago, Democrats want to deny him a campaign talking point. Speaker Nancy Pelosi will not allow the bill through the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives.

Such political posturing is disappointing, even if entirely predictable. But voters will have a chance this November to voice their opinion about whether Americans deserve a robust paid parental and family leave law. The consequences are potentially staggering.

A paid leave law would help address the fact that Texas women earn 81 cents on each dollar a man makes. Experts often point to women leaving the workforce for their children or spending more time with them as reasons for unequal pay.

Leave would also allow men to form stronger bonds with their children. A happier home life always boosts productivity at work, which is why many large employers already grant generous family leave programs.

Eight states are already mandating paid family leave with innovative financing mechanisms. According to a study published last year by Denver University researchers, the new Colorado program will only cost workers and employers 0.34 percent of current wages.

The debate, then, is not really about the money. The problem is convincing politicians that paid leave is a good idea. The Cassidy-Sinema Parental Leave Plan should be an excellent first step.

Tomlinson writes commentary about business, economics and policy.

twitter.com/cltomlinson

chris.tomlinson@chron.com
Danger zone: A child at a refugee camp in Idlib, which was expected to be abandoned. Photo: Getty

Syrian government forces made significant advances yesterday in the country's north-western Aleppo province, seizing most of the rebel-held region.

The claim was made before today's new round of talks between Turkey and Russia on the escalation in the area.

Recent advances by President Bashar al-Assad's forces have upset a fragile co-operation between Ankara and Moscow, which back opposing factions in the conflict but have collaborated toward a political solution to the nearly nine-year war.

Turkey, which supports rebels looking to oust Mr Assad, has been outraged since Syrian attacks in the Idlib region killed 13 Turkish troops in two weeks.

It has urged Russia to stop the attacks, warning it would use military power to drive back the Syrian forces unless they withdraw by the end of the month.

Yesterday, Russian warplanes mounted heavy air strikes in the Aleppo province, bombing towns including Anadan, which was later seized by Syrian forces supported by Iranian-backed militias.

Rebel military sources said opposition fighters had pulled back from the area, including Anadan and the town of Haritan.

"In day one, they took an area where for eight years they could not take a single village," Rami Abdulrahman, director of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) monitor said.

"There is very rapid advance by the [Syrian] regime in this area. The factions have withdrawn from most of [it]."

The SOHR said Syrian forces had seized 13 towns and villages in the area.

The advances come after Assad forces drove insurgents from the key M5 road linking Aleppo to Damascus, and reopened the fastest route between Syria's two biggest cities for the first time in years, in a major strategic accomplishment.

Turkey-backed rebels have meanwhile launched an operation in Idlib to retake areas lost to Syrian government forces.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency said a 100-vehicle convoy of reinforcements, including troops, tanks and military vehicles and equipment, had been deployed.

Turkey has so far sent thousands of troops and hundreds of convoys of military equipment to reinforce its observation posts in Idlib, established under a 2018 agreement with Russia. Images from the region showed many houses draped in Turkish flags, while footage showed residents chanting slogans as convoys passed by.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he told his Russian counterpart that attacks in Idlib must stop immediately and that a lasting ceasefire has to be achieved.
The lens is located in a capsule just behind the iris and is suspended by fibers attached to the ciliary body. The ciliary muscles adjust the curvature of the lens to enable the eye to focus on objects at different distances. Clouding of the lens due to cataract prevents light from focusing on the retina and therefore affects vision.

When light enters the eye, it passes through the outer transparent dome called the cornea , then through the fluid behind the cornea in the anterior chamber called the aqueous humor , then the opening of the iris called the pupil , and then through a transparent lens and a thick gel-like fluid called the vitreous humor . These media help to focus the light onto the most sensitive part of the retina, which ensures clear vision.

Cataracts are examples of curable blindness. They cannot be reversed, meaning that the crystalline lens cannot become transparent again, but the visual impairment due to a cataract can be rectified by surgical removal of the lens and replacement with a synthetic intraocular lens.

About 20 million people in the world are blind due to cataract, which accounts for about 51 % of cases of blindness due to various causes. According to the latest statistics, blindness in one out of every three people and visual impairment in one in six people in the world is due to cataract. In India, cataract accounts for 62.6 % of cases of blindness.

Age-related cataract, which appears at an older age, is the most common form of cataract. However, there are other causes as well. Broadly, cataract can be divided into congenital and acquired varieties.

Congenital cataract is cataract that is present from birth. Developmental cataract can develop shortly after birth. Some of the causes are  genetic, galactosemia, (presence of excessive galactose in the blood), Lowe syndrome (an inborn error of amino acid metabolism), congenital rubella (baby born to a mother who had German measles during pregnancy), congenital toxoplasmosis, cytomegalovirus or varicella (chicken pox) infection, Downs syndrome, hypoparathyroidism, hyper- and hypoglycemia (increased or decreased sugar in the blood).

Acquired cataract is most commonly age related. Some of the other causes include  diabetes mellitus, myotonic dystrophy, malnutrition, atopic dermatitis, eye injuries, following eye inflammation, high myopia or short sightedness, and intake of drugs like corticosteroids. Some of the risk factors for age related cataract are genetic factors, smoking, diabetes mellitus, exposure to ultraviolet B rays, deficiency of antioxidants like vitamins A,C and E, and severe dehydrating conditions at a young age.

Age-related cataract is mainly of 3 types  cortical, nuclear and posterior subcapsular. Most patients have more than one of these types at the same time.

A posterior subcapsular cataract is cloudiness just in front of the posterior capsule of the lens. Because of its location (at the center of the visual axis), this type of cataract causes significant disturbances of vision even in its early stages, such as difficulty with near work, and impairment of vision in bright sunlight and during exposure to oncoming headlights during night driving.

Nuclear cataract

Here, there is a hardening of the center part (nucleus) of the lens. This results in short-sightedness referred as index myopia. Persons with an early nuclear cataract are often able to read without glasses (this temporary improvement in vision is referred to as second sight). Differential refractive indices in different portions of the lens can result in double vision or multiple images of the same object (often discernible as seeing multiple moons). In more advanced cases, difficult hue discrimination and impaired vision in the dark are experienced. Gradually, the vision is diminished enough to impair daily activities.

Cortical cataract

In a cortical cataract, the cloudiness or opacification is in the part of the lens lying superficial to the nucleus, and which is referred to as the cortex of the lens. Cortical cataracts occur due to coagulation of lens proteins. The symptoms depend on the location and density of the opacification. Patients frequently experience glare from oncoming headlights, double vision and a general impairment of distance vision that gets progressively worse with time.

A posterior subcapsular cataract gradually spreads from the center of the posterior part of the lens to extend more peripherally; it simultaneously also becomes denser, resulting in a significant impairment of distant vision. Nuclear cataracts become denser, more opaque and change in color from light yellow in the early stages to dark brown in advanced stages. However, though both these types of cataracts give rise to significant visual disability in the advanced stages, neither of them become mature. A cortical cataract, on the other hand, tends to progress in the degree of cloudiness, and eventually the entire lens becomes completely opaque. This is called a mature cataract. If surgical removal is not undertaken, further changes lead to hypermaturity.

Certain complications can occur in association with cataracts.

1. Phacomorphic glaucoma

Here, excess water accumulation in the lens either in the immature or mature phase results in the swelling of the lens to such an extent, that it pushes the iris forward, which then blocks the drainage of aqueous humor from the anterior chamber of the eye, resulting in a sudden rise in intraocular pressure. (The anterior chamber is the part between the cornea on the outside and the iris and the lens on the inside. It contains aqueous humor that is drained at the angle). The eye becomes red and painful, and needs to be treated by an eye doctor immediately.

2. Phacolytic glaucoma

Sometimes, in hypermature cataracts, the cortex of the lens becomes liquefied and leaks out through micro-perforations in the lens capsule. It is taken up by cells called macrophages, which then interfere with the drainage of aqueous humor from the eye. The sudden rise of intraocular pressure results in a red and painful eye and requires emergency treatment.

3. Lens induced uveitis

The leaked out lens material in hypermature cataracts can result in the formation of proteins called antibodies that result in a red, painful, inflamed eye. The eye doctor should be consulted immediately.

4. Hypermature cataracts can sometimes shrink, lose their support and then get either partially or completely displaced either forward or backward from their natural position. If they get caught in the pupil, there can be a dangerous rise of intraocular pressure, necessitating urgent treatment.

Cortical cataracts can usually be diagnosed with a simple torchlight examination. However, appropriate assessment of cortical and nuclear cataracts and the diagnosis of posterior subcapsular cataracts requires examination with the slit lamp. The examination is a painless procedure where the patient is asked to sit in front of the instrument and place the chin on a chin rest.

To date, there is no known medical treatment of cataract. There have been some clinical trials in the past few years which have studied the use of N-acetyl carnosine used as eye drops to halt the progression or reverse cataract. Some of these have shown positive results while others have not. Thus, there is no conclusive data at present to recommend this treatment for clinical use.

The definitive treatment of cataract today is the surgical removal of the crystalline lens with implantation of a synthetic IOL (intraocular lens  to replace the refractive function of the natural lens). Failure to place an intraocular lens results in a very high hypermetropia (long sightedness) which needs to be corrected either with spectacles or contact lenses for any useful vision to be present. Spectacles and contact lenses have many disadvantages; thus intraocular lenses are the gold standard for correction of vision after removal of cataracts.

Phacoemulsfication is the standard of care, and is the most commonly used surgical technique today to treat cataracts. An ultrasound driven probe is used to fragment the nucleus of the lens (which is hard) which is then sucked out of a very small (approximately 3mm) incision. A foldable intraocular lens is then introduced into the eye, usually by loading it into an injector. The lens unfolds in the eye. Since the incision is small and self sealing, sutures are not necessary. Thus, compared to older surgeries that required a larger incision and resulted in scarring, the chances of astigmatism (refractive error due to irregularities in the shape of the cornea) are largely reduced with the newer surgeries. . In MICS (micro-incision cataract surgery), the incision is less than 2.2 mm. Thus, the advantages of phacoemulsification are a sutureless surgery, very less chances of astigmatism, and a very quick post-operative recovery.

Sometimes phacoemulsification may be difficult or not preferred because of the nature of the cataract. In such cases, a small incision cataract surgery (SICS) is carried out. Here, the incision is about 5.5 to 7 mm in length, but still does not require suturing if the incision is made as a self-sealing one. Also, a foldable lens is not required for an SICS.

The third type of surgery is what is described as an ECCE (extracapsular cataract surgery), wherein the surgical incision is much larger, and requires sutures to close it. This is very rarely performed these days as incidence of astigmatism is much higher in this type of surgery.

Cataract surgery is performed under local anesthesia, either by the instillation of local anesthetic eye drops, or by injection of the anesthetic into the tissue around the eyeballs. General anesthesia is only indicated in poorly cooperative adults and in children.

Femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery (FLACS) is gaining popularity in recent times. It uses intraoperative image guidance combined with short pulse delivery of a near infrared laser to achieve precise tissue dissection. In this, a femtosecond laser is used to replace manual performance of any or all of the following steps of cataract surgery  the corneal incision, capsulorrhexis (removal of the capsule of the lens), and lens fragmentation. This is what is commonly denoted by laser cataract surgery.

Recent Advances in Intraocular Lens Technology

Intraocular lenses are also available in newer designs. In contrast to the traditional monofocal lenses that correct vision only for distance (thus necessitating wearing of glasses for reading purposes), trifocals and multifocals allow intermediate vision and near correction in addition to that of distance. Another type of IOL is toric IOL, which can correct pre-existing astigmatism (these are akin to cylindrical spectacle lenses for astigmatism). Toric multifocals are also available. Various types of accommodating lenses attempt to respond to the accommodation effort of the patient in order to help in near vision. Various types of lenses that can correct residual post-operative refractive error with magnets, ultraviolet light (light adjustable lens or LAL) or laser are in clinical trials. Some of these are available in select countries, while others are in the trial stage.

Robot-assisted simulated cataract surgery is also being currently evaluated and shows some promising results. Lin and co-workers have attempted a slight modification of technique to aid in the regeneration of a clear lens in pediatric cataracts.

There is no proven method today for preventing cataracts. Smoking and exposure to ultraviolet rays are avoidable risk factors in age related cataract. Cessation of smoking and the use of sunglasses may help in delaying the onset or progression of cataract. There is some suggestive evidence that intake of vitamins A,C, E, niacin, riboflavin, beta carotene and protein is protective. Lutein and zeaxanthin are carotenoids present in the human lens, and some studies have shown a decreased risk with foods rich in lutein such as spinach and broccoli.
From the moment his reelection was confirmed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello was ready to take on governance head-on as he has always done in all areas of his endeavours.

He had identified the pitfalls in leadership of the Confluence State through painstaking research, analysed available date and proffered short, medium and long term solutions and ready to consolidate with his reelection mantra; Lets Do More!. He left no one in doubt about the preparedness of his government to strengthen the gains of his first tenure and avoid all the downsides of the inception of his administration.

One of the seemingly intractable problems of Kogi in the past and Nigeria till this moment, is that of inter  ethnic mistrust and religious disharmony. It is no longer the same as the people of the Confluence State now see themselves first as citizens of the state before their ethnic divisions and religious dissimilarity. Little wonder he was bold to admit in his inauguration address that uniting the rich human and natural diversities of Kogi State into a progressive and cohesive force for good was the main achievement of his first term and that it would remain a priority of his government going forward. We shall not relent in weaving equity and equality into the fabric of our society and strengthening the bases for our coexistence.

Despite high praises from those who knew what was obtainable before and what is being witnessed in Kogi State currently, the Governor was not oblivious of the fact rebuilding a people into a unified cohesive unit requires time and arduous work. He noted therefore that the battle for a united and egalitarian Kogi society was one which his government must not only win, but sustain, and at the appropriate time, pass on to posterity. He went further afield to urge citizens of the country to understand that what hurts one, hurts all, hence the need to begin to pool together for mutual protection and profit.

Truly, if we do not urgently make greater effort to live together as brothers and compatriots, we will continue to perish together as fools.

One small but significant achievement of our first term, and one that I am particularly elated over because of its uniting force, is the building of a beautiful Chapel inside the Kogi State Government House premises for the first time in 28 years. It is not so much the cost of the building, but the balance which we were finally able to bring in the seat of power between the two major religions in our state after such a long time which excites me. It may be a token, but it is a significant token.

Of course, the rent-seekers who were beneficiaries of the old ways as well as their proteges came at us with Vengeance, like a Tsunami.

They twisted and turned our every word and action into all sorts of negative shapes before the world, especially through their captive media, and for a while the news only reported bad things about us, nearly all of which were false.

You talk about the peace building after the elections and his inauguration that witnessed Kogites from different political backgrounds. Immediate past Governor, Capt Wada was represented by his former Chief of Staff. Former acting governor Clarence Olafemi, former attorney general of the federation and minister of justice, Bayo Ojo and other stalwarts of the PDP graced the occasion. Hon Elder Leke Abejide of the SDP was also at the occasion.

As a positive history maker, the Governor did something that has never been witnessed in the history of the countrys democratic practice on the very day of his inauguration to show he was ready to get to work for the people of the state. He announced his list of commissioners on the very stage where he delivered his speech. In accordance with the charge he gave, the commissioners were swiftly screened by the State House of Assembly to show the level of harmonious working relationship between the executive and the legislative arm of government, working together to develop the state.

The new cabinet members, first among which were the commissioners and hardly were they able to settle down before Governor Bello charged them on the need to imbibe the philosophies upon which his administration is built. He mentioned transparency, fiscal responsibility, zero sectionalism, understanding and implementation of the New Direction Blueprint and open door policy. He described tribalism, nepotism, clan, class or religious sentiments as actuators of reasons to get them fired. We have spent the last four years dismantling the division and distrust long engendered amongst our people by these evils and those who practiced them and we will never countenance the same in our appointees, neither will we retain anyone practicing them in our midst.

Governor Bello had also informed the commissioners that the New Direction Blueprint is his roadmap for accelerated development of Kogi State in all her constituencies and charged them to study it, understand it and implement it. The five thematic areas will remain but we are pulling out 4 former sub-thematic areas and making them full-fledged in this second term. These are Human Capital Development, Cooperation and Integration in Kogi State (EBIGO Agenda), Security and Agriculture. Bring your suggestions to the table and they will be given fair consideration, but run my Blueprint and not your agenda if you want things to remain fine with you.

To further impose his readiness and in demonstration of commitment to reigning in accelerated improvement in all facets of lives of Kogi State citizens as fast as he can, the Governor had highlighted some of the achievements of his administration in the first four years and described it as the platform he hoped to build on future successes of his government. He noted during his inauguration that the overall mission in his second term is to develop Kogi State into Nigerias foremost and most secured emerging commercial hub through optimization of the states geographical location, natural endowments and human resources for a sustainable future.

To achieve the lofty goal, he said, his administration would embark on large scale Urban Renewal projects to further transform Lokoja into a resilient capital city with modern utilities attractive to residents and tourists alike. Even though upgrading the sights and sounds of Lokoja will be paramount, he stressed that the beautification project would extend to at least one major town in each Senatorial District.

We will sustain focus on Agriculture for improved food security, mass employment and increase in Internally Generated Revenue. We will take the Agricultural Revolution which we started in the first term to the Next Level.

One area the administration received a lot of kudos is in agriculture and it was refreshing to hear the Governor mention that rice, cassava, cashew, aquaculture and livestock would remain the bedrock of his government. He maintained that the state owned rice mill at Ejiba would work to see more rice mills built by private investors in the state, increase land under cultivation with rice and facilitate off-taker agreements for local growers. The target is to make Confluence Rice the dominant brand, at least in the home market. In addition, he promised to add 5000 new cassava farmers into initiatives of his government as Nigerias largest grower of the crop. His government also plans to build the nations largest ethanol plant in the State for the production of ethanol fuel from cassava to further expand the use of green fuels in Nigeria given that Climate Change has become such a dramatic concern globally. The administration also plans to fully utilize the advantage it has in other agricultural spheres and among cash and industrial crops.

Outside of Agriculture, we are also going to pay greater attention to human capital development by investing more in training our people for enhanced relevance in a technologically evolving future. With Information and Communications Technology becoming such a big earner for individuals and societies, we will do our best to facilitate some youth with the relevant cognates and competencies to acquire further education in this area at leading institutions abroad.

Overall, Governor had defined good governance as the ability to unite the people, things, events and places within a leadership space in a wholesome, symbiotic relationship. When approached with the above mindset, governance ceases to be a popularity contest and becomes a life-saving vocation requiring the leaders best efforts always. Our governance objective in Kogi State since January 27, 2016 when we first took Office is to do the right thing for the present generation and for posterity without fear or favour. This objective will remain unchanged throughout my second tenure.

A lot of key policy decisions have been taken under the three-week reign of Governor Yahaya Bellos second term in office attracting support from even opposition party members.

Creation of Chiefdoms without following proper procedure has claimed many lives in the state before the recent one being the destruction of Akwu Community in Ankpa local government area of the state.

The Governor has banned creation of chiefdom by traditional rulers subject to proper constitutional procedure.

States owned tertiary institutions became safe haven for cultism and other criminal activities. The Governor summoned all heads of tertiary institutions and gave one month ultimatum to end the menace or resign their appointments. Within 10 days after the ultimatum, over 28 cultists have been arrested across institutions in the state.

He has also embarked on projects inspections with a sound warning to contractors to complete their projects within the contractual agreement periods.

Advertisements



Contractors handling ongoing projects in the state have been mobilised to sites today.

With such vigour and determination, the people of Kogi State will have more to benefit from Governor Yahaya Bellos second term in office.

Onogwu Muhammed is Chief Press Secretary to Governor Yahaya Bello.
Over 200,000 medical articles have recently been sent from Porto, Portugal by plane to Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, which will then be transported to Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, as requested by Energias de Portugal (EDP), a Portuguese electric utilities company and the donator of the supplies.

Medical supplies are packed before transportation (Photo via the CTG)

Specifically, the batch of medical supplies includes 45,000 masks, 420 items of protective clothing, 15,000 surgical gowns, 40,000 medical caps and 100,000 pairs of disposable shoe covers.

Weve decided to donate medical supplies as weve learnt that Wuhan is severely lacking medical items, said Antonio Mexia, CEO of EDP.

In order to gather as many as medical supplies as possible, Mexia got in touch with over 20 suppliers around the world and managed to procure over 200,000 medical items in about one week.

The batch of medical supplies will be transported to Wuhan by China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG), a strategic partner of EDP.

According to Mexia, the pneumonia outbreak will not affect the cooperation between EDP and CTG. In fact, we hope to deepen the bilateral cooperation and explore third-party markets together, said Mexia.

The CTG now holds 23.3 percent of the shares in the EDP and has maintained friendly cooperation with EDP for over eight years.

Mexia is optimistic about Chinas final victory over the coronavirus. The Chinese people are strong and efficient, and are able to overcome the adversity, he said.
The State Department announced later that 14 of the evacuees received confirmation they had the virus but were allowed to board the flight because they had no symptoms. They were being kept isolated from other passengers on the flight, the U.S. State and Health and Human Services said in a joint statement.
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, Feb. 17

By Huseyn Hasanov - Trend:

The Turkmen Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (UIET) hosted a meeting with Charge daffaires of Ukraine in Turkmenistan Zinoviy Goshovskiy, Trend reports referring to UIET.

The diplomat spoke in favor of intensifying trade and economic cooperation between business representatives of the two countries, stressing that for his part he intends to fully contribute to this, the report said.

The meeting participants identified priority areas of cooperation of mutual interest including organization of joint high-tech enterprises, in particular in the field of agriculture, as well as building up the exchange of goods.

Goshovskiy was informed about the export potential of Turkmen companies and the growing prospects of the domestic tourism industry.

Turkmenistan is an important trade and economic partner of Ukraine in Central Asia, the website of the Ukrainian Embassy in Ashgabat said.

The main articles of Ukrainian exports to Turkmenistan are the railway cars, agricultural products, electric cars, as well as products of chemical, pharmaceutical and timber industries.

Turkmenistan mainly exports to Ukraine refined products, wool, cotton and textiles.

Ukrainian economic entities are involved in the construction of complex engineering communications, oil and gas, transport and other industries in Turkmenistan.

Furthermore, students from Turkmenistan currently take one of the leading positions in the number of foreign citizens studying at Ukrainian universities.
A target to recruit over 600 new nurses from overseas is on track to be achieved in the coming months, Stormont's Health Minister has claimed.

Robin Swann sought to provide assurances that international nursing recruitment goals will be fulfilled after concerns were raised that just over half of the planned 622 new recruits are currently in post in hospitals across Northern Ireland.

The adult nursing vacancies within the five Health and Social Care Trusts are supposed to be filled by the end of March 2020.

Responding to an Assembly question from his party colleague Alan Chambers, Mr Swann appeared optimistic that the target will be achieved.

"Recent numbers have been increasing, and current trends indicate that the target of 622 will be reached - and perhaps exceeded - within the coming months," he stated.

Some 420 new registered adult nurses have been recruited from EU and non-EU countries since the scheme began in January 2016.

Of these, 374 remain in post, with 33 resignations and 13 terminations recorded.

Mr Chambers expressed concern over the figures and said it appears unrealistic that the target will be met in the next six weeks.

"They've been recruiting for the last four years and the target was to reach 622 by March 2020. That would be a tall order," he told the Belfast Telegraph.

The Assembly Member for North Down said he plans to press the minister on the matter further over the coming weeks, as he believes Mr Swann's response has created further ambiguity over whether nursing vacancies will be filled.

"It hasn't answered all my questions, in fact it has posed a few more. I hope to be able to follow it up in the coming weeks to put more meat on the bones of these figures," he said. Mr Chambers said nursing staff levels are a contributing factor to current waiting lists and the general concern felt about our health service as a whole.

"The whole NHS is a worry in terms of waiting lists and GPs, it's a major worry," he added.

The MLA believes tough decisions lie ahead for the Assembly and Executive as ministers move to implement the recommendations of the 2016 Bengoa Report.

The overseas recruitment figures come off the back of unprecedented strike action among nurses over their frustration at the lack of pay parity with the rest of the UK, and the need to meet safe staffing levels.

The Royal College of Nursing union is currently consulting members over whether they agree with the proposed framework offered by the department.

Mr Swann last week said he would require a further 661m to maintain health service provisions next year, 170m of which would be to meet commitments on safe staffing levels and pay parity with Britain.

Department of Health officials are pursuing options for future international recruitment exercises to complement the increase in pre-registration nursing and midwifery places outlined in the deal to restore power-sharing at Stormont, the New Decade, New Approach agreement.

Mr Swann also expressed a commitment to promote the health sector as an employer of choice, and said a number of actions are being progressed under the health and social care Workforce Strategy.
The sparring underlines the battle ahead for the worlds most popular internet search engine.

Googles challenge came on the final day of a three-day hearing at the General Court, Europes second-highest,.

Google on Friday attacked what it called an eye-catching 2.4 billion euro (USD 2.6 billion) EU antitrust fine, prompting a judge to ask how a rich company can miss a relatively paltry amount.

The sparring underlines the battle ahead for the worlds most popular internet search engine, with two other challenges against EU antitrust enforcers to be heard in the coming months.

The Alphabet unit argued that additional amounts tacked on to the fine imposed by the European Commission in 2017 to deter anti-competitive behavior known as a deterrent multiplier and another multiplier factor was excessive and unwarranted.

Googles challenge came on the final day of a three-day hearing at the General Court, Europes second-highest, as it attempts to overturn the first of a trio of EU antitrust penalties totaling 8.25 billion euros.

2.4 billion euros is an eye-catching amount, it might attract the headlines but it is not justified by the actual facts of this case, Christopher Thomas, Googles lawyer, told judges.

He said there should not have been a fine in the first place as existing case law showed that Googles behavior was not anti-competitive while its market shares and the 13 countries where the infringement was committed did not justify the size of the multiplier.

The Commission used a gravity multiplier between 5% and 20% to Googles 2016 turnover in the 13 EU countries, higher than the 5% levied on Intel in 2009. EU laws allow for regulators to apply a multiplier of up to 30%.

EU antitrust regulators should also have taken into account the companys efforts to settle the case with concessions before they changed tack in 2015 and sanctioned Google, Thomas said.

Credit should be given for Googles good faith attempts to find a solution to the Commissions concerns with its three commitments offers and the almost 9 months engineering effort spent building that solution provisionally agreed with the Commission, he said.

Irish judge Colm Mac Eochaidh, one of the panel of five judges hearing the case and who had a day earlier said the company clearly committed an infraction, asked whether the size of the fine was as eye-catching as Google claimed.

You are one of the richest companies in the world, he said, citing the example of someone with 120 euros and fined 2.4 euros for littering.

Would you miss the 2.4 euros?

Mac Eochaidh also wondered about the power of the court to increase or revise fines, a thought which Google tried to squash by saying the Commission had not asked judges to do so.

The court in 2007 broke new ground by jacking up a cartel fine imposed by the Commission for the first time, leaving Germanys BASF AG with a higher penalty.

EU enforcers merely stuck to the rules when calculating the fine, Commission lawyer Anthony Dawes said.

The Commission scrupulously followed the methodology set out in the guidelines. Googles conduct constituted a well established form of abuse, he said.

A ruling is expected next year and can be appealed to the Court of Justice, Europes highest.

The case is T-612/17 Google and Alphabet v Commission.
Bihar is set to have a bird ringing station, devoted to observation, monitoring and research on migratory birds the fourth such facility in the country and the first to be set up with the support of a state government a top official said on Monday.

Principal Secretary, Environment and Forests, Dipak Kumar Singh, said a Memorandum of Understanding was exchanged by representatives of the Bihar government and the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) at Gandhinagar in the presence of C K Mishra, secretary to the Union Ministry for Environment, Forests and Climate Change.

"The MoU was exchanged on the sidelines of CMS-COP 13, or the 13th Conservation of Migratory Species-Conference of= Parties, held at the Gujarat capital where delegates from 130 countries are participating in discussions on preservation of migratory species," Singh told PTI over phone.

READ: Bhopal Railway Station Foot-over-bridge Collapse Injures 6; CM Kamal Nath Issues Statement

"So far, there were three bird ringing stations - at Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Orissa. The Bihar government will spend Rs 5 crore for the new project. As per the MoU, which is for a period of five years, the new bird ringing station will be manned by trained scientists and other skilled manpower from BNHS," the principal secretary stated.

He said the MoU was signed by Pradeep Apte, Director BNHS, and Bihar's Chief Wildlife Warden Prabhat Kumar Gupta. "This will be the first bird-ringing station in the country to be set up with support of a state government. Its main center will be at Bhagalpur, located close to the Ganges, and is known to be a favorite destination of migratory birds.

"In fact, it happens to be among the only three breeding places of Greater Adjutant across the world, the other two being in Assam and Cambodia," Singh added. At these stations, rings are placed on legs of birds. The rings come with chips which help in tracking the origin of the birds and the route taken by these during migration. In Bihar, migratory birds are also spotted in large numbers in Jamui, Begusarai, Darbhanga and Vaishali, he added.

"At the CMS-COP 13, we had put up a Bihar stall at the India pavilion, which was inspected by Babul Supriyo, Union Minister of State for Environment and Forest and Climate Change. He was appreciative of the efforts made by Bihar in preserving wildlife. He was presented with a report on breeding of Greater Adjutant in Bhagalpur," Singh said.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 17, 2020 17:11 694 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2064fd231 1 Entertainment Flavs-2020,Azealia-Banks,music,music-festival,hip-hop Free

American rapper Azealia Banks is the latest addition to the artists who are to perform at the FLAVS 2020, a hip-hop, soul and R&B festival to be held at Istora Senayan in Jakarta on April 4 and 5.

Her ability for spitting lyrics is undoubtable. Shes fierce! said Yacko, an Indonesian rapper and FLAVS' program director, in a statement.

Banks rose to fame with hit single 212 in 2011, and has since released two mixtapes, one studio album and one EP.

She is known to have a strong social media presence with outspoken views on American politics and race issues.

Organized by Visicita Network and Dyandra Promosindo, the festival will be the first in Indonesia to recognize the fast growth of hip-hop communities in the country.

Read also: FLAVS, a new home for hip-hop communities

International and Indonesian artists who will perform at the festival include Lil Pump, Tyga, Adrian Khalif, Dekat, D.P.M.B, Gamaliel, Imaniar, Iwa K, Jamie Aditya, Laze, Ramengvrl, Ras Muhamad, Rinni Wulandari, Sade Susanto, Saykoji, Teza Sumendra and Yura Yunita.

On Thursday, British rapper Stormzy canceled his performance at the festival over fears about the coronavirus outbreak.

With a heavy heart, we [have to] inform you that Stormzy will not be performing at this year's FLAVS Festival," the festivals organizer said.

Presale tickets are available at the festival's official website for Rp 1.3 million (US$109.79) for a two-day pass. (gis/wng)
AFTER six hours of talking, Fine Gael TDs have decided they want to spent the next five years on the opposition benches.

However, they have mandated Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to discuss the current political impasse with other parties  provided he doesnt take part negotiations on a programme for government.

The parliamentary party has left open the possibility that Mr Vardakar will engage in such negotiations at a later date if Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail fail to work together.

Fine Gaels 37 TDs were all allotted time at todays meeting which dragged on much longer than expected.

In a statement afterwards, a spokesperson said: We are preparing to go into Opposition.

Read More

Mr Varadkar told representatives that after nine years in government he relishes the challenge to lead a strong and effective Opposition for the benefit of the country.

In particular, Fine Gael will represent the interests and the aspirations of the 450,000 people who voted for the Party in the election and hold the new government to account, the spokesperson said.

The Taoiseach said he also plans to consult with public representatives and members about the future direction of Fine Gael, and looks forward to rebuilding the Party in the years ahead.

The Parliamentary Party agreed that the onus is on Sinn Fein to form a Government of the left with the support of independents.

Sinn Fein has an obligation to the people who voted for it to show whether or not it can honour the extraordinary promises they made.

If Sinn Fein fails in that challenge then the onus passes to Fianna Fail to form a government with them, and or with the Greens, Labour and Social Democrat parties and independent, the Fine Gael statement added.

Mr Varadkar was mandated to engage with other parties to share our analysis and perspectives on the outcome of the General Election.

There will be no negotiations on a Programme for Government without a further mandate from the Parliamentary Party.

Another meeting has been scheduled for next week.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Varadkar said he didn't seek or get a mandate to engage with other political parties to negotiate a program for government.

Mr Varadkar said he doesn't foresee a grand coalition between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail happening.

He pointed to what he said during the campaign of it being a "last resort" and said "it shouldn't come to that... it shouldn't come to the fact that Fine Gael may be needed.

"Other parties sought a mandate, made a lot of extraordinary impossible promises to the Irish people and they have a duty now to fulfill those promises or come out here on the plinth and say that they failed," he said.

Mr Varadkar said he wasn't surprised by the majority of Fine Gael TDs and Senators who spoke in favour of going into Opposition.

He said this is because: "They were my feelings too".

"I felt reassured if anything - while there was a diversity of views - that the majority of our parliamentary party had come to the same conclusion that I did that its now our job to be the Opposition."

Mr Varadkar said he will be putting his name forward in a Dail vote on selecting a Taoiseach on Thursday but he doesn't expect to be elected.

"Whether I put my name forward to subsequent meetings is yet to be decided."

He said that under the Constitution he is required to resign on Thursday.

"I will do that I stay in office as Taoiseach with full executive authority until such time as a new Taoiseach is elected.

"So the first thing I will do, having left this place to go to the Aras to resign, is go to Brussels to represent the country in the talks on the EU Budget."

He said: "I'll be very strongly defending the position of Irish farmers and opposing any cut to the budget of the Common Agriculture Policy."

Asked if he expects to be in office as Taoiseach during the annual St Patrick's Day trip to the White House he said: "I have no idea."

Mr Varadkar said he "absolutely" accepts responsibility for Fine Gael's election campaign where the party lost seats.

He said people in the party felt his TV debate performance "helped pull things back in the last week".

But he added: "That's all history now. The future is about leading the party into Opposition."

He said he wants to rebuild Fine Gael and "turn it into a fighting force again".

Mr Varadkar said that under party rules if Fine Gael is not in the next government he has to put his name forward to the Parliamentary Party for a vot of confidence within two months.

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald insisted it's still possible to form a government without Fianna Fail or Fine Gael but admitted the numbers make this "tricky".

Ms McDonald's party was accused of giving up on government formation talks after Sinn Fein TD Eoin O Broin said he didn't think it was possible to form a government without the support of the other two large parties.

Ms McDonald earlier today said that talks with smaller parties and independents will continue this week with a view to delivering a government of "change".

She said: "There is undoubtedly a solid block of TDs for change for a new government. I remain very determined that we deliver that government."

She said they need to "knuckle down" on policy issues like housing and reducing the State pension age to 65.

"We are still very determined that an alternative and a new government of change can be created. And we will intensify our efforts this week when we have conversations with other parties and with Independents to make that so."

Asked if she was saying a Sinn Fein government without either Fianna Fail or Fine Gael is still possible, she said: "All options are still on the table".

She added: "but we're all able to count, we're able to add, and we're able to subtract, so I think we have recognised that the mathematics are tricky.

"And that's okay. That's one consideration. But the bigger consideration is policy and ideas and delivery.

More to follow
A disgraced Catholic order offered the family of an abused boy 12,500 to retract allegations that he was assaulted by one of their priests when he was 12 years old.

In 2010, it was revealed that the founder of the Legion of Christ, the late Reverend Marcial Marciel, had raped his seminarians, fathered three children and built a cult-like order to hide his crimes.

Yolanda Martinez, 54, called Cardinal Valasio De Paolis, the Vatican official appointed by Pope Benedict to clean up the abusive practices in the Legion, to complain of an 'offer' given to her by the order after she reported that her son was abused.

She was shocked when De Paolis chuckled after she explained the terms.

In this 2011 photo, Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, papal delegate for the Legionaries of Christ, speaks during an interview in Vatican City. Benedict XVI had entrusted De Paolis to turn the Legion around in 2010, after revelations that its founder, the late Rev. Marcial Maciel, had raped his seminarians, fathered three children and built a cult-like order to hide his crimes

In this picture taken on Friday, 31 January, 2020 Yolanda Martinez Garcia cries during an interview at her home, in Milan, Italy. Her son was sexually abused by one of the priests of the Legion of Christ, a disgraced religious order

Yolanda's son had been sexually abused by a priest of the Legion. He revealed that he had been repeatedly molested by Vladimir Resendiz Gutierrez, starting in 2008, when he was a middle schooler at the Legion's youth seminary in Gozzano, near Italy's border with Switzerland.

'He would have nightmares. He wouldn't let me touch him ...,' Martinez said. 'He couldn't stand anyone being close to him.'

Once, he was even prevented from throwing himself in front of a subway train.

Martinez had been in regular touch with the Legion priest closest to the family, the Rev. Luca Gallizia, her husband's spiritual director. He was serving as the family's contact with the Legion, after all other priests and members of Martinez's Regnum Christi social circle severed contact - apparently on orders from the leadership.

Gallizia traveled to Milan to meet with Martinez on 18 October, 2013, bringing a proposed settlement to compensate the family. They met in a room off the parish playground of the Sant'Eustorgio basilica where Martinez worked.

When Martinez read it later that night with her husband, she was shocked.

This picture taken on 31 January this year shows Martinez standing in front of a Holy Madonna statue, at the Sant'Eustorgio's oratory church, in Milan, Italy

'It was a second violation, because for all intents and purposes in that letter, they asked us to deny the facts. And for us it was a stab in the back because it was brought to us by our spiritual father. ... He knew everything about us, because my husband confided in him. And that made it even more painful.'

The document the Legion wanted Martinez's family to sign states that her son ruled out having been sexually abused by Resendiz and regardless didn't remember. It said he denied having any phone or text message contact with him, and that his ensuing problems were due to the fact that he left the seminary and was having trouble integrating socially into his new public high school.

The document set out payments for the son's continuing education and therapy and required 'absolute' secrecy. If the family were called to testify, they were to make the same declarations as contained in the settlement - denying the abuse.

A few months later, the Legion realized it had erred in leaving the proposal with Martinez and proposed a revised settlement acknowledging the abuse occurred. Now, though, it required the family to pay back double the 15,000 euro ($16,300) settlement offer if they violated the confidentiality agreement.

It was then that Martinez called De Paolis.

'Both my lawyer and I, our jaws dropped,' she told the Vatican cardinal.

The pope's envoy said he was surprised as well.

'Yes, but this, this is how it's done in Italy,' he said.

The mother would have none of it. 'It's not a very nice agreement, signing a lie,' Martinez told the cardinal. 'Aside from the fact that I don't want any money, I'm not signing the letter.

'It was then that Martinez contacted De Paolis.

'Lawyers complicate things. Even Scripture says that among Christians we should find agreement,' Martinez reported De Paolis having told her.

She recalled that he said she shouldn't sign the deal, but should try to work out another agreement without attorneys.

The conversation between Martinez and Pope Benedict XVI's personal envoy was wiretapped. The tape - as well as the six-page settlement proposal - are key pieces of evidence in a criminal trial opening next month in Milan.

Prosecutors allege that Legion lawyers and priests tried to obstruct justice, and extort Martinez's family by offering them money to recant testimony to prosecutors in hopes of quashing a criminal investigation into the abusive priest, Gutierrez.

Martinez first discovered the extent of the abuse after receiving a phone call from her son's psychologist in 2013.

In this 2004 file photo, then Pope John Paul II gives his blessing to late Reverend Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legion of Christ, during a special audience the pontiff granted to about four thousand participants of the Regnum Christi movement, at the Vatican

She said that she thought the counsellor was contacting her to announce her son had made his girlfriend pregnant.

Instead, Dr. Gian Piero Guidetti told Martinez and her husband that during therapy, their son had revealed that he had been repeatedly sexually molested by Resendiz starting in 2008, when he was a middle schooler at the Legion's youth seminary in Gozzano, near Italy's border with Switzerland. Guidetti, citing his duty as a medical professional, reported the matter to the police.

His complaint, and the testimony of Martinez's son, sparked a criminal investigation that resulted in Resendiz's 2019 conviction, which was upheld on appeal in January.

Resendiz, 43, who was convicted in absentia and is believed to be living in his native Mexico, has until the end of March to appeal the conviction and a six and a half year prison sentence to Italy's highest court.

The investigation, however, netted evidence that went far beyond Resendiz's own wrongdoing. Documents seized by police in the court file showed a pattern of cover-up by the Legion and the pope's envoy that stretched from Milan to Mexico, the Vatican to Venezuela and points in between.

Personnel files, for example, made clear Resendiz was known to the Legion as a risk even when he was a teenage seminarian in the 1990s, yet he was ordained a priest anyway in 2006 and immediately sent to oversee young boys at the Gozzano youth seminary.

'He's a boy with strong sexual impulses and low capacity to control them,' Resendiz's novice director, the Rev. Antonio Leon Santacruz, wrote in an internal assessment in 1994.

Pope Benedict XVI finishes his last general audience in St Peter's Square at the Vatican February 27, 2013. Benedict ordered De Paolis to undertake a clean-up operation on the order, after it was discovered its founder was a paedophile

'Given his psychological character, he's inclined to not respect rules without great difficulty and the psychologist thinks it will be difficult for him to undertake consecrated life given he has little respect for rules. He follows them as long as he's being watched, but as soon as he can, he breaks them and has no remorse.'

A year later, on Resendiz's 19th birthday, the seminarian wrote a letter to Maciel - addressing it as all Legionaries addressed the man they regarded as a living saint: 'Nuestro Padre,' 'Our Father.'

'I'm having various problems in the field of purity and the truth is I'm having a hard time, because temptations are coming to me,' he wrote. 'I'm praying to the Holy Virgin every day for grace and asking her for strength to not offend again; I say again because I have had the disgrace of falling, but with the help of God I will fight to form that pure, priestly heart.'

Martinez said her heart fell when she saw the documents in a court file.

'My son wasn't even born yet,' she said. 'How can you put someone like that in charge of a seminary?'

Lawyers for the five suspects in the upcoming case declined to comment. The Legion says they have professed innocence. A spokesman said that at the time, the Legion didn't have in place the uniform child protection policies and guidelines that are now mandatory across the order.

De Paolis died in 2017 and there is no evidence he knew of, or approved, the settlement offer before it was made. But the tape and documents seized when police raided the Legion's headquarters in 2014 show that he had turned a blind eye to superiors who protected paedophiles.

Evidence shows that when De Paolis first learned about Resendiz's crimes in 2011, he approved an in-house canonical investigation but didn't report the priest to police.

And when he learned two years later that other Legion priests were trying to impede the criminal investigation into his crimes, the pope's delegate didn't report that either.

And a few hours after he spoke with Martinez, De Paolis opened the Legion's 2014 assembly where he formally ended the mandate given to him by Benedict to reform and purify the religious order. The Legion had been 'cured and cleaned,' he said.

Benedict had entrusted De Paolis, one of the Vatican's most respected canon lawyers, to turn the Legion around in 2010, after revelations that its founder, the late Rev. Marcial Maciel, had raped his seminarians, fathered three children and built a cult-like order to hide his crimes.

There had been calls for the Vatican to suppress the Legion. But Benedict decided against it. He opted for a process of reform, giving De Paolis the broadest possible powers to rebuild the Legion from the ground up and saying it must undergo a profound process of 'purification' and 'renewal.'

But De Paolis refused from the start to remove any of Maciel's old guard, who remain in power today. He refused to investigate the cover-up of Maciel's crimes. He refused to reopen old allegations of abuse by other priests, even when serial rapists remained in the Legion's ranks.

More generally, he did not come to grips with the order's deep-seated culture of sexual abuse, cover-up and secrecy - and its long record of avoiding law enforcement and dismissing, discrediting and silencing victims. As a result, even onetime Legion supporters now openly question his reform, which was dismissed as ineffective by the Legion's longtime critics.

A February 2014 file photo shows a priest praying at a service led by De Paolis at the Legion of Christ's headquarters in Rome

'They always try to control victims, minimize them, defame them, accuse them of exaggerating things,' said Alberto Athie, a former Mexican priest who has campaigned for more than 20 years on behalf of clergy sexual abuse victims, including victims of the Legion.

'Then, if they don't achieve that level of control, they go to the next level, looking for their parents, trying to minimize them or buy them off, silence them. And if that doesn't work, they go to trial and try to do what they can to win the case,' he said.

Now, victims of these other Legion priests are coming forward in droves with stories of sexual, psychological and spiritual abuse, and how the Legion's culture of secrecy and cover-up has remained intact.

'They say they're close to the victims and help their families,' Martinez said. 'My testimony is this didn't happen.'

A Legion spokesman, the Rev. Aaron Smith, said the Legion has overhauled its training process for seminarians since Resendiz's era, applying more scrutiny before ordination.

'Things are different today,' he said in emailed response to questions.

While Milan prosecutors first heard about Resendiz's paedophilia in March 2013 when the therapist reported it, the crimes were old news to both the Vatican and the Legion.

The Legion has admitted it received a first report of abuse by Resendiz on March 6, 2011, from another boy who had been a student at Gozzano. The Legion says that boy, an Austrian, had first told a Legion priest of Resendiz's abuse. That priest recommended he report it to a church ombudsman's office in Austria that receives abuse complaints, which he did, Smith said.

Separately, the Legion got wind of another possible victim in Venezuela, where Resendiz had been sent from Gozzano in 2008, after he abused Martinez's son.

Italian police were never informed by the Legion or the Vatican. Neither the Vatican nor Italy requires clergy to report suspected child sex abuse.

When police finally did get wind of the case in March 2013, they uncovered elaborate efforts to keep Resendiz's crimes quiet. According to one email seized by Italian police - written March 16, 2011, or 10 days after the Austrian claim was first received by the order - a Legion lawyer recommended to one of the Legion's senior behind-the-scenes bureaucrats, the Rev. Gabriel Sotres, that a Legion priest visit with the victim in Austria.

The aim of the visit, prosecutors wrote in summarizing the email exchanges, 'was to speak to the (victim's) older brother and convince him to not tell their parents and not go to police because this could cause serious problems not only for the Legion but also Father Vladimir, all the other priests involved and the victim and his family.'

In this January 2020 file photo, Ana Lucia Salazar holds the letters that Legion of Christ's new director general Rev Eduardo Robles Gil, and her abuser sent to her asking for forgiveness, during an interview in Mexico City

In this 14 January, 2020 photo, Rogelio Cabrera, president of the Mexican bishops conference, takes his hand to his forehead after speaking during a news conference in Mexico City. The Mexican bishops conference ended its silence about the Legion of Christ to denounce the new revelations and the Legion's failure to provide 'a specific act of justice or reparation for the victims' even after it acknowledged the crimes

Smith, the Legion spokesman, didn't deny the prosecutors' account but said that 'encouraging a child to keep something from their parents or guardians is contrary to our code of conduct.'

Later in 2011, the Legion arranged for Resendiz to be transferred from Venezuela to Colombia, and prepared a legal strategy to limit the possible damage if the Venezuelan case escalated. The emails were sent to several Legion leaders, including Sotres, who remain in top positions today. In fact, in the Legion's current leadership assembly under way in Rome to choose new superiors and priorities, at least 13 of the 89 participating priests or their substitutes were involved in some way in dealing with the Resendiz scandal, fallout and cover-up, including two priests who are defendants in the upcoming Milan trial.

According to the seized emails, the plan proposed by a Legion lawyer involved reporting only Resendiz's name to Venezuelan police to comply with local reporting laws, leaving out that he was a priest, that he was accused of a sex crime against a child, and the name of the Legion, prosecutors said in summarizing the emails. The report would also note that he no longer lived in Venezuela.

A January 2020 photo shows Biani Lopez-Antunez, holding a copy of the letter she wrote describing the sexual abuse she and others suffered when they were children at the hands of a Legion of Christ priest, at park in Mexico City

In this January 2020 photo, Ana Lucia Salazar shows a photo of herself when she was eight-years-old, on her smart phone during an interview in Mexico City. She was eight at the time of the alleged abuse

The Legion has said Resendiz was removed from priestly ministry and from his work with young people in Venezuela within days of receiving the initial Austrian report.

But the emails seized indicate that the restrictions weren't necessarily enforced: One from Dec. 20, 2012, suggests that Resendiz was hearing confessions in schools and celebrating Mass in Colombia, news that prompted the leadership to ultimately recommend he be sent for psychological counseling in Mexico and later assigned to an administrative position 'where they don't know his situation.'

Eventually, as part of the church's in-house investigation, Resendiz confessed - but only to the Legion and Vatican authorities, and only about other boys he abused, not Martinez's son.

'I sincerely recognize my terrible behavior as a priest,' he wrote the Vatican official in charge of the sex crimes office in 2012, Cardinal Gerhard Mueller. 'Truly I lived in hell when these sad facts occurred. I recognize the gravity of the acts that I committed and I humbly ask the church for forgiveness for these sad and painful facts. I can't understand how it could have happened, and I recognize that I lacked the courage to admit to the problem and advise my superiors of the danger.'

The Vatican defrocked him on April 5, 2013 - just a few weeks after Italian prosecutors first heard about Martinez's son.

By October of that year, the Legion was nearing the end of De Paolis' mandate and clearly wanted to avoid the possibility that the Resendiz case could explode publicly and jeopardize the plan to resume their independence from the Vatican.
Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan met the first batch of Indians who came back from Wuhan that is the epicentre of the coronavirus epidemic. The minister met the batch of Indians at the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) quarantine facility in Chhawla before they left for their respective homes after completing the screening.

"Other batches of Indians will be coming to India from China in the next few days. They will be sent to the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Quarantine Facility for screening," said the minister, as mentioned by news agency ANI.

Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan: Other batches of Indians will be coming to India from China in the next few days. They will be sent to the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Quarantine Facility for screening. https://t.co/HEzku7FDmR - ANI (@ANI) February 17, 2020

Dr Harsh Vardhan has been at the forefront of India's battle with the deadly virus. Earlier the minister had said the India is taking several measures to tackle the epidemic. He had said that the ministry is screening airports to prevent the spread of coronavirus in India and that the government had stocked up on medical supplies.

In a media brief last week, the minister had said that the screening facilities at the airports were constantly being updated and that flights arriving from Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong were being screened as well. He had also spoken about the Indians stranded aboard the cruise ship quarantined near Yokohama, Japan.

The minister had also said that the health ministry is in contact with the health authorities in the US and are looking to help China with medical supplies to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

Also read: Coronavirus outbreak: Shutdown in China may hit India's toy business

Also read: Coronavirus: India Inc stares at supply shortage amid outbreak in China
By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Azerbaijan and Hungary intend to build cooperation between Small and Medium-sized Businesses (SMEs) in the two countries in the field of agriculture, industry, ICT and health.

During the meeting held on February 14 between Chairman of the Board of the Agency for the Development of SMEs Orkhan Mammadov and CEO of Hungarian Export Promotion Agency (HEPA) Balazs Hendrich, the sides discussed holding joint events, mechanisms of methodology and financing of market research for SMEs involved in export.

The meeting was held as part of the 7th meeting of Azerbaijan- Hungary Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation in Budapest.

The agenda of the meeting included issues on expanding cooperation between SMEs and the relevant structures of Azerbaijan and Hungary. The preparation of a Joint Action Plan and the visit of the HEPA delegation to Baku were also on the agenda of the meeting.

Note that Azerbaijans Agency for SMEs Development and HEPA signed a memorandum of cooperation during the business forum organized within the framework of the 7th Summit of Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States in Baku on 15 October 2019.

At a meeting between Agency representatives and Attila Galambos who is a President of the West-Balkan Committee of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, information was provided on the Agencys activities.

In addition, an exchange of views was held on the organization of joint events and missions, the creation of a single platform for the development of cooperation between SMEs of the two countries; on the establishment of joint ventures with Hungarian companies in agriculture and the food industry.

Furthermore, Hungarian companies were invited to Azerbaijan to actively use the favorable investment environment of the biggest country in the South Caucasus.

The mission of the Agency for SMEs Development is to increase the efficiency of small and medium enterprise system regulation, ensure a variety of support mechanisms and entrepreneurs smooth access thereto, achieve sustainable SMEs sector development and its increased contribution to the national economy. The Agencys main target is to fulfill an important mission of being a friend of entrepreneur.

---

Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
CARLISLE - GlaxoSmithKline, one of the worlds largest pharmaceutical companies, confirmed Monday that it will close a manufacturing facility in Carlisle next year.

Production in Carlisle will end by mid-2021, the Britain-based corporation said in a statement, when operations at the plant site off Allen Road are expected to be transferred to Puerto Rico.

Heres what GlaxoSmithKline had to say in response to PennLives queries Monday afternoon:

After careful review, GSK has decided to close the Carlisle, PA site to consolidate volumes and generate efficiencies by moving the sites production to our Guayama, Puerto Rico facility. Based on this decision, which impacts approximately 260 employees, production will be phased out of Carlisle by mid-2021, with a full exit by the end of 2021.

GlaxoSmithKline uses the site to make Emergen-C, a powdered drink mix vitamin C supplement.

The production line originally landed here in 2011, when the product was made by Alacer Corp.

But that was two corporate generations ago. Alacer was acquired by Pfizer in 2012, which placed the company into its consumer healthcare portfolio. Then, in late 2018, Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline announced plans to merge their consumer health divisions into a new joint venture. That merger was completed last year, with GlaxoSmithKline owning 68 percent of the new entity, and Pfizer the remainder.

By all accounts, the Emergen-C plant has flourished in Carlisle. When Alacer arrived, firm leaders at the time had promised the creation of 70 jobs within three years. the closure announcement, meanwhile, references 260 employees.

Neither Alacer or Pfizer ever owned the Allen Road site here, and Mondays announcement appears to run concurrent with the expiration of a 10-year lease on the Carlisle site.

PennLive has calls into GlaxoSmithKline for more information, but the firm had made no one available for question by publication of this report.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 16:57:20|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

YANGON, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar authorities seized large amount of narcotic drugs including 3.3 kilograms of heroin, 8 kilograms of opium and 580,000 stimulant tablets in Shan State, a release from the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) said on Monday.

Acting on a tip-off, an anti-drug squad stopped and searched a car that was travelling from Mongmit to Mabein Township on Sunday.

Heroin worth 627 million kyats (418,000 U.S. dollars), soap boxes filled with opium worth 64 million kyats (42,666 U.S. dollars) and stimulants worth 1.16 billion kyats (7.7 million U.S. dollars) were seized from the car.

The township police had filed a case against the suspects under the country's Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law, the release said.
JACKSON, Miss.  Weeks of heavy rain have inundated a large portion of the southern U.S., bringing near-record flooding to portions of Mississippi and Tennessee.

In Jackson, Mississippi, hundreds of residents either watched their homes flood over the weekend or worried their residence would soon be drenched as the Pearl River crested Monday at 36.8 feet, its third-highest level ever recorded  behind only 1979 and 1983.

Calling the Jackson floods "historic" and "unprecedented," Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said in a Sunday press conference that "we do not anticipate this situation to end anytime soon. It will be days before we are out of the woods and the waters recede."

Reeves said at a news conference Monday that there were no reports of flood-related injuries and thanked the people of Mississippi for heeding evacuation orders. Only 16 search and rescue missions were necessary, he said, even though as many as 1,000 homes were flooded.

The governor also warned the hundreds of evacuees in the Jackson area not to rush back home until they got the all clear.

Reeves had declared a state of emergency Saturday because of the floods.

The flooding is the result of a stubbornly damp weather pattern: February has seen "a constant stream of wet storms rolling across the Deep South," said AccuWeather meteorologist Paul Walker, who called it a "crazy month" for the amount of rain that's fallen across the region.

More wet weather is on the way: Rain showers were forecast to develop Monday night over the Mississippi River Valley, further saturating an already soggy South, the Weather Channel said.

Kathy Covington, center, watches the powerful floodwaters of the Pearl River rush through her Florence, Miss., yard on Feb. 16, 2020.

The National Weather Service said that this entire area is quite soaked and any additional rainfall may lead to more runoff issues and additional flooding.

Residents began filling sandbags and preparing their homes, businesses and churches for the flooding last week after multiple days of heavy rain, AccuWeather said.

Story continues

Jackson resident Mark Wakefield knows what it takes to rebuild after flooding: His in-laws home in Jackson has flooded four times before. The worst was 1979 when the house was 8 feet underwater. The home has flooded again, he said, and this time they might not come back.

Its no fun, Wakefield said. Once the waters in the house were looking at months of cleanup and reconstruction. Its nothing life-threatening to us, were careful enough ... but its just extremely frustrating and disgusting to have to go through this.

Nearly 2,400 structures across the three Mississippi counties closest to the Pearl River and its Barnett Reservoir  Hinds, Rankin and Madison  could get water indoors or be surrounded by floods, said Malary White of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

SOURCE ESRI; NOAA, as of Feb. 17.

While the focus now is on the Jackson area, the heavy rains and flooding have affected a much larger swath of the state. State emergency management officials said they had received preliminary damage reports from 11 counties connected with the severe weather that hit the state starting Feb. 10.

In Tennessee, Februarys rains have been 400% of normal, and we have more coming in this week," Tennessee Valley Authority spokesman Jim Hopson said. "Its kind of a never-ending battle.

Mother Nature is really the one in charge  we simply try to manage what Mother Nature gives us to minimize the impacts along the 652-mile Tennessee River and its thousands of miles of tributaries and streams, he said.

The southern flooding could be a precursor to another disastrous year for flooding, especially in the central U.S.

In fact, there are troubling signs spring 2020 could bring a repeat of widespread flooding in the nation's midsection somewhat reminiscent of last year's massive event, the Weather Channel warned.

Long-range flood forecasts issued last week by the National Weather Service said there is an above-average chance of widespread flooding this spring along stretches of the Mississippi River, Missouri River, Red River and other tributaries in the northern and central U.S.

Flooding last year in the Missouri, Mississippi and Arkansas River basins were responsible for 12 deaths and an estimated $20 billion in damage, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mississippi flooding: 'Historic' flooding swamps southern USA
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar arrived in Belgium on Monday for talks with leaders of the European Union on the bilateral issues and prepare the ground for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's planned visit for the India-EU summit here next month.

Jaishankar, who was in Germany during the weekend for the Munich Security Conference, arrived here and met his Belgian counterpart Philippe Goffin.

"Happy to meet FM @PhGoffin of Belgium. Confident that we can build further on our bilateral, EU and global partnerships," he said in a tweet.

Jaishankar's visit comes weeks after the European Parliament postponed until March a vote on a joint motion, combining five different resolutions tabled by its members against India's Citizenship Amendment Act, which was debated at its Plenary session in Brussels.

During the debate, Helena Dalli, the Vice-President of the European Commission and High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, had said the Commission was looking forward to Prime Minister Modi's visit to Brussels in March for the 15th India-EU Summit.

Before meeting Goffin, Jaishankar visited a Jain temple in Antwerp and offered prayers.

"An auspicious start to my EU-Belgium trip by a visit to the Jain Mandir at Antwerp," he tweeted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hyderabad, Feb 17 : The bodies of three relatives of a Telangana legislator were found in car retrieved from a canal in the state's Karimnagar district on Monday when the police was searching for a couple who fell into the canal on Sunday night.

While looking for the bodies of the couple, who were riding a motorbike, police found three bodies in a car.

They were identified as of Radha (50), her husband Satyanarayana Reddy (55) and their daughter Vinayshree (19).

Radha is the sister of Manohar Reddy, a member of the Telangana Assembly from Peddapalli constituency.

The family was not seen for last 20 days but no one had lodged a complaint with the police. Manohar Reddy said they had thought that they had gone on a long tour.

Radha was teacher in a government-run school in Telangana while her husband was a businessman. Their daughter was a medical student.

Police suspect that the car along with the three accidentally fell into the canal.

Karimnagar Police Commissioner Kamalasan Reddy visited the scene. He told the media persons that the car was spotted during the search for the bodies of a couple. Police found three bodies in the car. They were identified on the basis of car's registration number.

The police official said they were investigating as to how the incident happened.
In Kyiv, explosives were planted under the doors of a medical center that treats HIV-infected people. The organizations page "100% life" on Facebook reports this information.

The organization associates the explosives under the door with the bill of authorship of the MP from the "Servant of the People" Lada Bulakh.

For the first time in Ukraine, on a proposal to improve human rights, a public organization received a threat that can be assessed as a terrorist act. Tonight, unidentified people attempted to undermine the office of the largest patient organization 100% of life - the PLHIV Network. An inscription was also left that, according to our estimates, addressed to the MP of Ukraine, a member of our organization," - the statement said.

We are talking about bill No. 2684, which allows children from the age of 14 to access their medical information and, accordingly, be treated without parents.

As we reported, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky visited the presentation of preliminary results of the investigation of the murder of journalist Pavlo Sheremet. He also stated that he is pleased about the progression of the investigation
The House Sparrow, which was thought to be disappearing, may not be as threatened as was believed, a new analysis has found.

State of Indias Birds 2000, a report published on Monday, is based on 10 million observations contributed by over 15,500 birdwatchers since 2000, to an online portal called eBird. It suggests that the population of House Sparrow has been fairly stable during the past 25 years. Data from the six metro cities of India --Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai, indicates a gradual decline in their abundance in urban centres.

Extremely large range of the species across the country and lack of evidence for either long-term or current countrywide decline results in it (House Sparrows) being classified as of low conservation concern, the report states. The Feral Pigeon and Peafowls, which dominate the urban landscape in many cities, have also increased in numbers in the past 25 years.

However, the state of environment and bird habitats is worrisome as the analysis reveals a large scale decline in a majority of species. The report made assessments of 867 bird species based on three indicators, which include long-term trend of observations over 25 years, current annual trend over the past five years and distribution or range size.

Of the 261 species for which long-term trends are available, 52% have declined since 2000, with 22% declining strongly. In all, 43% of species showed a long-term trend that was stable and 5% showed an increasing trend.

The groups that show the greatest decline are raptors, migratory shorebirds, and habitat specialists. Other groups include White-rumped Vulture, Richards Pipit, Indian Vulture, Large-billed Leaf Warbler, Pacific Golden Plover and Curlew Sandpiper. The overall decline in species calls for a need of research into its cause, and action to protect them, the report said.

The report highlights common species that are declining sharply; these need to be conserved before their numbers reduce further, said R Jayapal of Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History.

Species that show an increasing trend in the past 25 years include Rosy Starling, Feral Pigeon, Glossy Ibis, Plain Prinia, Ashy Prinia, Indian Peafowl.

The report has been compiled by ten research and conservation organisations, which include Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), Foundation for Ecological Security (FES), National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) and National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS).
This Morning fans were left in tears when a soldier proposed to his girlfriend live on the show, after he was stuck in the Falklands over Valentine's Day .

Greg Westwood, a Grenadier guard an infantry regiment of the British Army, surprised his partner Mercedes Witchals, from London, today on the show after not seeing her for six months, while stationed nearly 8,000 miles away in the Falklands.

The soldier appeared while his partner was on what she believed was a tour of the This Morning set when Greg unexpectedly walked through the studio doors.

Viewers were moved by 'beautiful' moment Gregg proposed to his partner, and quickly took to Twitter to gush that Mercedes is 'lucky girl'.

This Morning viewers were left in tears after Grenadier guard Greg (pictured) surprised his partner Mercedes (pictured) with a proposal live today on the show, after he was stuck in the Falklands over Valentines Day

Overcome with emotion, the mother began covering her face in shock before tearing up and hugging her new fiance

Arriving in the studio, Mercedes was played a video message from Greg, who had been due to return on Friday but was unable to see her due to stormy weather conditions.

He said: 'Hello Mercedes, sorry I wasn't there for Valentine's Day or Christmas. I can't wait to see you and Ava. I hope you're enjoying your surprise, I have another surprise for you.'

Host Eamonn Holmes then revealed: 'You can say a message back to him, if you just look at those two doors over there.'

Greg then appeared, wearing his full uniform, and hugged Mercedes before getting down on one knee and asking her to marry him.

Viewers quickly took to Twitter with one insisting: 'She's a lucky girl.'

Overcome with emotion, the mother began covering her face in shock before tearing up and hugging her new fiance.

Explaining why he missed Valentines Day, he said: 'I was in the Falkland Islands and I was meant to come back, but due to weather it delayed everything'.

An overwhelmed Mercedes said: 'We weren't expecting him back until next week. I would have got dressed up'.

Eamonn then teased: 'Is there any chance she could have said no?'.

Greg then appeared, wearing his full uniform, and hugged Mercedes before getting down on one knee and asking her to marry him

The mother was thrilled and immediately put on the ring as her daughter Ava and host Ruth Langsford watched on

Gregg replied: 'I was thinking please, please say yes!'.

And viewers quickly took to Twitter with one insisting: 'She's a lucky girl.'

Another commented: 'This Morning are really setting me again today with this proposal..... congratulations to the couple. I can't stop crying.

'I'm so happy for them', wrote another.

'Omg Im bawling my eyes out at #ThisMorning- how beautiful!!! X', said a third.

The soldier appeared while his partner was on what she believed was a tour of the This Morning set

Gregg went on to speak about his new fiance, describing her as a strong woman' who always 'keeps him going' while he's away.

He said: 'She's just really strong, a strong individual, she keeps me going and she helps me through what i'm going through.

'And she goes through it a as well. We all miss our family, so coming back it just makes everything whole.'

Mercedes added: 'When we first met it was so hard trying to get that first date, we were always busy, he was always in the army. So I don't think we've had our first date yet'.

The pair were then gifted a holiday in the Dominican Republic.
Patfenati.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 21 Feb 2014, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

The total number of people who shared the patfenati homepage on StumbleUpon. The total number of people who shared the patfenati homepage on Delicious. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the patfenati homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if patfenati has a Facebook fan page). This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the patfenati homepage on Twitter + the total number of patfenati followers (if patfenati has a Twitter account). The total number of people who shared the patfenati homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button.

Basic Information

PAGE TITLE Pat Fenati For Delegate District 14 - Home DESCRIPTION KEYWORDS OTHER KEYWORDS about, care about, pat fenati, fenati, the bay, because, state



The title found in the head section of the homepage. The description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. The keywords meta-tag 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.

Domain and Server

DOCTYPE HTML 5.0 CHARSET AND LANGUAGE UTF-8 DETECTED LANGUAGE English English SERVER Apache OPERATIVE SYSTEM Linux Linux

Character set and language of the site. Type of server and offered services. Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) Operative System running on the server. The language of patfenati.com as detected by CoolSocial algorithms.

Site Traffic trend during the last year. Only available for sites ranked <= 100000 in the world.

Referring domains for patfenati.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 description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users. The total number of people who like website Facebook page. A Facebook page link can be found in the homepage or in the robots.txt file. The total number of people who tagged or talked about website Facebook page in the last 7-10 days. The URL of the found Facebook page. The type of Facebook page. Facebook Timeline is the new layout of Facebook pages.

Twitter account link

TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND
Queensland's newest university campus is open for O-Week at Petrie, north of Brisbane, and its 1200 inaugural students will attend their first classes from Monday.

There is such pent-up education demand in the fast-growing Moreton Bay region, the University of the Sunshine Coast expects the number of students to triple within three years.

Schools communication officer Kirsty Jerrett at the new Petrie university campus run by University of the Sunshine Coast. Credit:Tony Moore

The university's chief operating officer, Scott Snyder said he expected enrolments to reach 10,000 before too long.

Dr Snyder said regional unversities needed catchment areas of about 1 million residents to be viable.
THOUSAND ISLANDS, ONT.Protesters blocked access to a border crossing in eastern Ontario on Monday afternoon, closing down the Thousand Islands Bridge for several hours amid a national movement opposing a natural-gas pipeline in northern British Columbia.

The border point near Kingston, Ont., was shut down for roughly three hours, during which provincial police urged those planning to cross to the U.S. to find other routes in order to avoid the group of ralliers carrying a sign that read, Shut Down Canada.

The protesters were acting in support of Wetsuweten hereditary chiefs, who oppose a major pipeline project that crosses their traditional territory in northern British Columbia.

Another group of protesters shut down a border crossing between Niagara Falls, Ont., and Niagara Falls, N.Y., on Sunday, but left of their own accord in the late afternoon.

Other solidarity protests, including a rail blockade in Tyendinaga territory near Belleville, Ont., have shut down train service across vast swaths of the country.

While CN Rail has obtained a court injunction asking police to remove the blockade, OPP have so far stayed out of it.

The force struck a similar tone in addressing the protest at the border.

The OPP has no role to play in the underlying issues of the event and is not in a position to resolve them, spokeswoman Sgt. Carolle Dionne said in a written statement.

She said the force respects the right of everyone to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

Protests and demonstrations are often complex in nature and qualitatively different from single-issue labour or political disputes, Dionne said. Maintaining open and transparent relationships with all stakeholders is vital to maximize public safety.

Meanwhile, Mounties in Manitoba said about eight to 10 demonstrators are at a CN crossing on Highway 75 in the southern part of the province. The highway and rail line both run south to the U.S. border crossing at Emerson, Man.

RCMP spokesman Robert Cyrenne says police are stopping traffic for safety, but that vehicles are still able to pass in both directions.

Were just monitoring, along with CN Railway Police, the protest along Highway 75, just south of Morris, Manitoba, Cyrenne said. There are some delays, just because its down to one lane.

The RCMP said it was sending a specialized team to the site to establish a dialogue with the protesters.

CN said train movements in the area are stopped.

We are monitoring the situation and evaluating our legal options very closely, the railway said in an email.

Other events planned across the country Monday included a march to Ontarios legislature in Toronto, which shut down a stretch of Bloor Street in the citys downtown area, along with a rally on the McGill University campus in Montreal and a protest at Confederation Park in Ottawa.
Fans of Lifetimes Married at First Sight were worried about the relationship between 25-year-old Katie Conrad and her 26-year-old husband, Derek Sherman, right away.

While Katie and Derek got along on their honeymoon in Panama and seemed to have a romantic spark, Katies relationship history seemed to cast a bit of a dark cloud over the new marriage. She admitted to having cold feet just before she married her husband after an ex, whod once ghosted her, reached out to try to reconnect.

Although Katie ultimately decided to go through with the wedding, she had second thoughts that concerned Married at First Sight viewers. And on the Feb. 12 episode, New Wife, New Life, Katies past once again came back to haunt her new marriage during a stressful counseling session with Pastor Cal Roberson.

Katie Conrad | Katie Conrad via MAFS Lifetime

Derek told Katie he wasnt ready to fall in love

During Katie and Dereks marital counseling session, Derek admitted he felt like theyd plateaued in terms of romance, at least for the time being.

After their honeymoon in Panama, he explained, they felt a bit of a letdown. For me, I realize that the main thing thats missing here is time, the Married at First Sight star told Pastor Cal. Like, I want this to work out. Im gonna do everything I can to see what happens here. But I dont think I could actually feel love for at least six months to a year.

Katie looked heartbroken as Derek shared his potential timeline for falling in love. It scares me that Derek doesnt know if hes willing to fall in love with me, she told Lifetime producers. I got married at first sight to fall in love and be in love. She admitted that hearing Dereks confession hurt and that she hoped things would change as they moved forward together.

Katie came clean about her lingering feelings for her ex

Pastor Cal continued the session by asking Derek about his perspective on love. Derek explained that he didnt think hed truly been in love before at all.

Thats when Katie dropped a bombshell about her remaining feelings for her ex, who ghosted her before coming back into her life just before her wedding to Derek.

There was somebody I was dating casually. I actually mentioned it to you, the Married at First Sight star told the pastor. And you asked me, If you were to go through with this, would you have any problem shutting that door? And I said no.

But Katie admitted it hadnt been a clean break. Things kind of progressed, she revealed, and he told me that he loves me. And that made it harder for me to make that decision.

If that person came back into your life now, do you think that would be a problem? Pastor Cal asked Katie.

After an excruciating pause, she answered noncommittally, Its hard to say.

Are you still attracted to that person? the pastor replied.

Yeah, Katie confessed, adding that cutting emotional ties with him was a conscious decision that she had to make every day in her marriage.

The Married at First Sight star admitted the breakup still hurt

Katie began to cry as she described the impact her breakup still had on her, even as she had decided to commit to Derek.

It hurt when that happened, she revealed. It hurt to be told by somebody I had been waiting for, you know, months and months to feel what I felt to tell me they did feel that, and even though Im glad I made that decision, because I dont want to be with someone who did that to me. But that the same time, yeah, it still hurts. I didnt have a whole lot of time to process the healing, so I still kind of am.

Derek tried to be understanding of Katies feelings, but he admitted her admission made her feel like he had competition in his marriage.

Its concerning that there are still lingering feelings, because I am going into this as kind of a blank slate, he told Lifetime producers. I dont think I should feel like I have a competitor in a marriage.

While Derek was obviously concerned about Katies revelation, the Married at First Sight couple had a heart-to-heart about it later on that seemed to assuage some of Dereks worst fears. Theres no communication, Katie told him of her ex. Zero.

Derek looked relieved to know that Katie wasnt still in contact with the ex in question. Although the problem wasnt yet resolved, Katie assured Derek she was willing to put in any amount of effort to make their marriage work.

You are a better man [than him], and Im happy Im with you, Katie gushed before they kissed.
LONDON, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese down jacket fashion brand BOSIDENG made its debut at London Fashion Week here on Sunday.

A spokesman of the company said it is not easy for the Chinese fashion brand to enter the official schedule of London Fashion Week, especially when China is engaged in a vigorous effort to combat the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

"The brand BOSIDENG represents China at this international fashion show. Now it is a hard time for China, but Chinese people are really strong. I am proud to work with Chinese people. I am learning a lot from them," BOSIDENG designer Pietro Ferragina, who has been working in China for 10 years, told Xinhua at the backstage.

At the end of the show, the designer and models walked down the stage, wearing classic Chinese red down jackets and holding the national flag of China to show their support for the country.

The brand's spokesman said that BOSIDENG has aided the fight against the epidemic by donating 150,000 high-quality down jackets worth 300 million yuan (about 43 million U.S. dollars) to provide warmth and protection for frontline public health workers.

Founded in 1976, BOSIDENG has been improving the design and manufacturing of its products, gaining reputation in China and beyond.
President Donald Trump went from the Daytona 500 on Sunday to attending the wedding of two top members of his administration, senior adviser Stephen Miller and Katie Waldman, press secretary for Vice President Mike Pence.

Shortly after landing at Andrews Air Force Base after a busy day in Florida, the president made a quick stop at the White House.

The presidential motorcade then made a five-block jaunt to the Trump International Hotel where the White House announced after press queries that the president was attending 'the wedding of Mr and Mrs Stephen Miller'.

The combative Miller, 34, is one of the White House's most conservative and influential voices in pushing moves that Trump has taken to curb immigration.

Scroll down for video

Trump attended the wedding of Stephen Miller (second from left) and Katie Waldman (second from right), the press secretary for Vice President Mike Pence. Others in attendance included former White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, (left) and his wife, Sally (right)

Shortly after landing at Andrews Air Force Base after a busy day in Florida, the president made a quick stop at the White House

According to Real Clear News' Philip Wegmann, Trump spoke during the celebration. 'He is the only one who could have a damn wedding in the middle of Presidents' Day weekend. Im sure it didnt affect anybody here,' Trump reportedly said

Trump campaigned in 2016 on a promise to build a wall on the US border with Mexico and reduce the number of people crossing the border illegally.

Miller has largely taken the lead in advocating for those and other efforts to tighten US immigration policies.

He is widely viewed as the driving force behind the administration's hardest-line immigration policies. Miller is also a frequent speech writer for the president.

Waldman, 28, served as a spokesperson for the US Department of Homeland Security before moving to the vice president's office.

She previously defended the administration's controversial child-separation policy for the Homeland Security Department while serving as the department's deputy press secretary under Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

During heated debates in 2019, Waldman said the administration 'never had a blanket policy of separating families in custody,' but also acknowledged: 'We are saying of course separations occurred  but not at the rate of "thousands" they are claiming.'

According to Real Clear News' Philip Wegmann, Trump spoke during the celebration.

'He is the only one who could have a damn wedding in the middle of Presidents' Day weekend. Im sure it didnt affect anybody here,' Trump reportedly said.

According to The New York Times, Rabbi Aryeh Lightstone, a senior adviser to David Friedman, the US ambassador to Israel, officiated the ceremony.

The couple announced their engagement in November 2019, about a year and a half after they were introduced by mutual friends in 2018.

The presidential motorcade then made a five-block jaunt to the Trump International Hotel (pictured) where the White House announced that he was attending the wedding

The press pool was held outside of the hotel during Sunday's festivities. The president spent more than two hours at the event. Just before 10pm, Trump's motorcade (pictured) arrived at the White House to end the day

Others in attendance included former White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, who shared a picture of the Millers on Twitter.

'Spectacular and very special wedding tonight with new bride and groom Stephen and Katie Miller!' Priebus wrote.

'So much fun and still going with @realDonaldTrump having fun and the band is going strong!' he added.

Priebus attended the wedding with his wife, Sally.

It's unclear if First Lady Melania Trump was in attendance Sunday evening.

The press pool was held outside of the hotel during Sunday's festivities. The president spent more than two hours at the event.

Just before 10pm, Trump's motorcade arrived at the White House to end the day.

Earlier on Sunday, Trump served as the grand marshal for the Daytona 500.

He stood next to First Lady Melania Trump as he told the drivers to 'start your engines'.

Earlier on Sunday, Trump served as the grand marshal for the Daytona 500

He stood next to First Lady Melania Trump as he told the drivers to 'start your engines'
Multiple video clips appearing to show what happened inside Jamia Millia Islamia in the aftermath of a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act on December 15 surfaced on Monday, further contradicting the Delhi Polices claim that they did not enter the library area or beat up students in the premier university.

The videos, however, appeared to carry forward two contrasting narratives  one of police excesses targeting students, and the second of suspected rioters taking shelter inside the university.

One clip, over five minutes long, showed security personnel breaking open the door of the reading room of the library, masked men in police and paramilitary uniforms barging in, baton-charging students, and then trying to damage the closed circuit television (CCTV) camera on which the clip is recorded.

Another clip appeared to show a group of people inside the campus, purportedly students, throwing stones at someone outside the frame.

HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos or the chronology of events shown in these clips.

The videos prompted the police to admit on Monday that their personnel were on the campus in pursuit of suspected rioters. The police also said the special investigation team probing the violence will analyse the footage, which appear to be from CCTV.

Once the sequence of events is established, we will identify all those who were involved in the violence and action will be taken as per law. By just seeing the videos... it will not be appropriate to declare at this point that those present inside the Jamia university campus or its library are innocent, Praveer Ranjan, special commissioner of police (crime branch), said.

Ranjan, who is the head of the unit probing the clashes, also said the investigation will look into the circumstances of the police action inside the campus.

On December 16, a day after the clashes, the police said their personnel did not enter the library or thrash students, and that tear gas shells may have damaged the library.

The first such video, which emerged on Sunday, appeared to show masked men in uniforms storming into the reading room and hitting students with batons on December 15, the day a protest against CAA turned violent near Jamia after participants were denied permission to take out a rally.

Later on Sunday, two more videos surfaced on social media claiming to show suspected rioters carrying stones  some of them wearing masks  inside the reading room and in a corridor.

Some students covered their faces with handkerchiefs to avoid the smoke [from tear gas shells]. They were not trying to hide their identity. Even police personnel can be seen covering their faces in the video footage, said Mohammad Mustafa, a Masters degree student of social exclusion and inclusive policy who claims to have suffered fractures in both hands in the December violence. He could be seen in one of the clips.

It was not clear as to who leaked the videos exactly two months after incident. On Sunday, the Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC), which comprises a section of students and alumni, tweeted the first video, which, it said, was forwarded on WhatsApp. JCC, formed after the alleged police brutality on the campus, said on Monday it did not posses any more clips. It, however, tweeted two of the fresh videos that alleged police excesses.

The university administration, too, reiterated that it did not leak the videos. We are not aware of the source of these footages. The police should investigate the matter, proctor Waseem Khan said.

At least two of Mondays videos  both running a little over two minutes  appeared to focus on the narrative of police action against students in the central university.

The longer, five-minute video shows someone breaking open a door of the reading room and removing tables stacked in front of the entrance. A group of men in uniform  most of them with their faces covered  are seen barging in and beating up the people inside (apparently students), who are pleading with them and trying to scurry towards the entrance. Most of the students are stopped by someone from outside the door, but a few woman students are allowed to exit.

The video then shows a large group caught in a melee near the entrance, trapped between the personnel outside the room and those inside, who are hitting the people with lathis as they try to get out.

The video then shows men in uniform, who apparently stood outside, finally barging in. As batons rain down from both sides, some people rush out of the door while others run to the opposite side. After the students disperse and disappear from the frame, one of the men in uniform is seen hitting a CCTV inside the room, but instead of breaking it he merely manages to turn it to one side.

We started blocking the [library] door thinking we would be safe. But they barged in and beat up everyone. While one group of personnel entered, others were stationed outside the broken door as well, a former student, who was also seen in one of the clips, said on the condition of anonymity.

The other videos  at least two more  claimed to show what happened before. One shows a large group of men entering the reading room and some of them blocking the entrance with tables. One person is seen carrying a stone and talking to other people on the campus. The other video shows people hurling stones, targeting people outside the frame.

At least 100 students, local residents and police personnel were injured in the December 15 clashes, which began after officials refused permission to anti-CAA protesters for a march. According to the police, protesters turned violent, and damaged at least 30 vehicles. The police resorted to firing tear gas shells to quell the demonstrators. While the police have arrested at least 17 people for the clashes, they are yet to take action for the alleged excesses.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan insisted Monday that his country is no longer a militant safe haven, and said his administration fully supports the Afghan peace process.

Khan's assertion was however challenged hours later, when a suicide bomber targeted a religious rally in the southwestern province of Balochistan.

The premier's comments come as the US and the Taliban appear on the brink of a deal that would see US forces begin to pull out of Afghanistan. In return, the Taliban would enter talks with the Afghan government, stick to various security guarantees and work toward an eventual, comprehensive ceasefire.

Pakistan, which has long been accused of supporting the Taliban and other extremist groups along its border with Afghanistan, is seen as key to helping secure and implement any deal.

"I can tell you that there are no safe havens here," Khan said at a conference in Islamabad.

"Whatever the situation might have been in the past, right now, I can tell you... there is one thing we want: peace in Afghanistan."

His comments came after Sarwar Danish, Afghanistan's second vice president, accused Pakistan of allowing the Taliban to recruit new fighters from Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan.

On Monday evening, police said a suicide bomber had targeted a rally in the southwestern city of Quetta in Balochistan province. At least eight people -- including two police officers -- were killed.

Balochistan, Pakistan's largest and poorest province -- bordering Afghanistan and Iran -- remains home to Islamist, separatist and sectarian insurgents, even as violent incidents have dropped elsewhere in Pakistan.

Khan was addressing a conference marking 40 years of hosting Afghan refugees in his country.

While Pakistan cannot "completely guarantee" that no Taliban are hiding among the estimated 2.7 million Afghans living in the country, Khan said his government had done all it can to prevent attacks in Afghanistan, including by building a border fence.

US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who has for more than a year led talks between the Taliban and Washington, also attended the conference. He said he was "cautiously optimistic" about progress toward an eventual deal.

The US has "commitments from the Talibs on security issues," he said.

The Taliban, Afghanistan's security forces and the US are supposed to be launching a seven-day "reduction in violence", officials announced last week.

The move is part of a confidence-building measure ahead of the announcement of a fuller deal.

But bloodshed continued over the weekend, including a Taliban attack in Kunduz province.

Refugees began flowing into Pakistan after the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and continued to come during the Taliban regime.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who is on a three-day visit to Pakistan, credited the nation for supporting Afghan refugees.

He also praised the "remarkable transformation" of Pakistan's security situation.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


The Institute of Energy Security has corroborated the Minority's claims that the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) does not have strategic reserves of petroleum.

The Minority made this claim at a press conference in Accra last Wednesday.

The Minority had argued that Ghana's energy sector is in crisis, a position the Energy Ministry had disputed.

In a Citi News interview, Executive Director of IES, Paa Kwesi Anamuah Sakyi reiterated the Minoritys claim, adding that measures are underway to salvage the situation.

For the last three years, BOST has not been able to keep any strategic reserve to cushion the country against supply and price shocks and I think that's clear and its true. But I also know very well from last month that, they are making an attempt to make sure they have that mechanism in place.

In June 2019, there was a report by the Finance Committee of Parliament which indicated that the debt in the energy sector has risen to more than $4billion. But beyond that, we have not come across any document that we can agree on and speak to but I am certain that, some of these debts have been cleared so we can speak to the debt of region of $3 billion and not $15 billion. Ghana's energy sector struggling over GH15bn debt  John Jinapor

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) alleged that Ghana's energy sector is struggling due to a GH15 billion debt.

A former Deputy Power Minister, John Jinapor, blamed the prevailing situation on the mismanagement of the sector by the current administration.

John Jinapor made these assertions at the NDC's Policy Dialogue Series on the Energy Sector on Wednesday, February 12, 2020.

There are two kinds of leaders today; a visionary one, a quiet one who thinks of Ghana's tomorrow, and a very loud, robust one who makes a lot of noise but does very little for us. That is what we face as a country. And like I said, the investments we [the NDC] made, if the current administration had sustained that path and continued on those programs and projects, Ghana would have been moving forward than we are today, he said.

The Ghana Gas Company built at a cost of over US$1 billion despite all these savings, today is indebted to the tune of about US$1billion. If you add what ECG is adding to it and you do the analysis within three years in the energy sector alone, you're talking of a debt of about GH15 billion and that is not part of the national debt. There's been a deliberate, consistent approach to take all these figures off the national accounting system and so they present to you a certain figure as our national debt but when you look at the contingent liabilities, they are very serious. NDC responsible for increased energy sector debt  Government

The government has attributed the increased debt in the energy sector to some policy decisions approved by the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.

According to the government, although their innovative idea has helped to improve the debt situation, the level of debt left by the NDC government leaves the government with a lot more work to do.

Mohammed Amin Adam, the Deputy Energy Minister while addressing a press conference on Friday, 14th February 2019 said the debt in the sector was mainly because the erstwhile government allowed the Volta River Authority (VRA) to take gas from Ghana Gas consistently on credit.

The [Energy Sector] debt has increased as a result of inter-utility debt which again was caused by the NDC. VRA according to them [NDC] owes Ghana Gas about $700million. This means that they take gas and produce power but they don't pay. The gas price has been so high, above the current levels that we have and how do you expect VRA to pay for something they don't take taxes from consumers to do? That is how the debts have accumulated, he said.

citinewsroom
The Delhi High Court on Monday issued notice to Centre, Delhi Police, and Delhi government on petition by a student Shayyan Mujeeb seeking compensation of Rs 2 crore for injuries which he sustained during the December 15 incident in Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) University.

Mujeeb said that he was sitting in the library, was severely injured and spent Rs 2.5 Lakhs as his both legs were fractured.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar asked Centre, Delhi police, Delhi government to file a response on the petition. The bench said that some proof is required to make a claim and nothing can be done on the basis of an affidavit. Mujeeb's lawyer Nabila Hasan told the court that the student was studying in the library and there is CCTV footage of the library.

Meanwhile, after a CCTV footage showing police personnel assaulting students inside Jamia Millia Islamia library on December 15 last year surfaced on social media, the varsity administration on Sunday said that it did not release the video.

In the CCTV footage, policemen in riot gear are seen barging into the library and beating students with batons.

On December 15 last year, Delhi Police had thrown teargas shells inside the campus. The action followed a day of protests where some protesters -- Jamia has maintained these were outsiders and not students -- set buses and vehicles ablaze in some parts of South Delhi.

Delhi Police Special Commissioner (Crime) Praveer Ranjan said the police have taken cognizance of the video and will investigate it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Microsoft has been forced to pull a troublesome Windows 10 patch that saw computers freeze, fail to update and malfunction when resetting the system.

The security update  named KB4524244  was first made available for download by the Redmond, Washington-based tech firm on February 11, 2020.

Users experiencing issues after installing the patch are encouraged to uninstall the update and wait for the release of a revised version in the near future.



Scroll down for video

Microsoft has been forced to pull a troublesome Windows 10 patch that saw computers freeze, fail to update and malfunction when resetting the system

HOW TO ADDRESS KB4524244 ISSUES For Windows 10 users experiencing issues after installing the KB4524244 security patch, Microsoft had the following advice: Select the start button or Windows Desktop Search and type update history and select View your Update history . On the Settings/View update history dialog window, Select Uninstall Updates . On the Installed Updates dialog window, find and select KB4524244 and select the Uninstall button. Restart your device. Source: Windows Support Advertisement

According to Microsoft, the KB4524244 security patch was designed to 'address an issue in which a third-party Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) boot manager might expose UEFI-enabled computers to a security vulnerability.'

Instead, many users reported that the update either failed to install, caused their PC to freeze, or caused issues when trying to boot up the operating system.

In addition, the patch appears in some cases to break Windows 10's 'Reset This PC' feature, which is supposed to re-install the operating system while retaining personal files.

After installing KB4524244, however, Microsoft warned that 'you might restart into recovery with Choose an option at the top of the screen with various options.

'Or you might restart to desktop and receive the error There was a problem resetting your PC.'

In response to the bugs experienced with the update, Microsoft have now pulled the security patch from Windows Update, Windows Server Update Services and the Microsoft Update Catalogue  meaning that users can no longer download or install the troubled upgrade.

Windows software engineers are now working on a revised version of the update  however, it is not yet known when this will be ready for release.

'Removal of this standalone security update does not affect successful installation or any changes within any other February 11, 2020 security updates, including Latest Cumulative Update (LCU), Monthly Rollup or Security Only update,' Microsoft said.

'Were working on an improved version of this update in coordination with our partners,' a Microsoft spokesperson told the MailOnline.

'Please see here for more details including a workaround.'

The security update  named KB4524244  was first made available for download by the Redmond, Washington-based tech firm on February 11, 2020

The bug with the KB4524244 update comes in the wake of a previous faulty patch  KB4532693  which saw some users lose access to their user profile, apps, data and start menu configurations.

The issues also emerged as Microsoft unveiled its new Windows 10X operating system, which has been designed to power both dual- and folding-screen devices.

The new operating system has reportedly been designed to tackle a number of common complaints with its predecessor  including cutting the time it takes to download and install updates down to around 90 seconds.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 02:44:07|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

TORONTO, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- A man in his 20s was seriously injured in a shooting in downtown Toronto Sunday morning, according to Toronto Police.

Toronto paramedics said they transported the victim to a trauma center. He remains in hospital undergoing surgery.

No information on suspects has been disclosed.

Police are in the process of speaking to witnesses and obtaining video surveillance in the area.
Egyptian police cadets take part in a training session at a police academy in the capital Cairo on Dec. 30, 2019. (Mohamed el-Shahed/AFP/Getty Images)

Egypt Building New 1.2 Mile Wall on Border With Gaza

Egyptian armed forces are building a new 1.2-mile-long wall on the border with the Gaza Strip, according to a report by Al Monitor.

The construction of the border, which began on Jan. 27 but reportedly wasnt announced by armed forces, forms part of a plan to boost border security and prevent extremists from entering the Sinai Peninsula from the Gaza Strip. It is also aimed at shutting down any remaining Palestinian cross-border tunnels.

Upon completion, the new border, made of reinforced concrete, will stretch from the Kerem Shalom crossing to the Rafah border crossing. It will be around 20 feet high and extend 16.4 feet underground.

The border will also consist of a second barrier running parallel to the old rock barrier built in 2008 on the border with the Gaza Strip, separated by a distance of no more than 10 meters.

According to the outlet, the barrier is set to be completed by mid-2020.

News of the new wall comes after the Egyptian military announced on Feb. 3 that it had found south of the Rafah security camps yard a nearly 3-kilometer-long [1.86-mile-long] tunnel coming from the Gaza Strip to the heart of [the Egyptian border city of] Rafah.

Egyptian security sources reportedly said the tunnel was an underground conduit for the infiltration of terrorists from the Gaza Strip, planting roadside bombs on the Egyptian side, pushing supporters of the ISIS terrorist group to Sinai, and for transferring weapons and explosives. Ammunition and explosives were seized in the tunnel, they said.

Hours earlier on the same day, five Egyptian soldiers were killed and others left wounded by a roadside bomb south of the town of Sheikh Zuweid, which borders the Gaza Strip.

Egypt has struggled to combat an ISIS-led insurgency in the northern Sinai since 2014, and subsequently began constructing a 8.7-mile-long, 1,640-foot-deep buffer zone in October of the same year to prevent terrorists from using underground tunnels.

The same buffer zone was expanded to almost a mile deep into the Egyptian side in October 2017, reportedly resulting in thousands of residents in the city of Rafahwhich in 2014 had a population of 152,950 peopleevacuating their homes.

The construction of the latest border comes after U.S. President Donald Trump on Jan. 28 announced the details of his long-awaited Middle East peace plan aimed to resolve the decades-long IsraeliPalestinian conflict.

According to the plan released by the White House, Israel has agreed to a four-year land freeze to secure the possibility of a two-state solution.

Jerusalem will stay united and remain the capital of Israel, while the capital of the State of Palestine will be Al-Quds (the Arabic name for Jerusalem) and include areas of East Jerusalem, the plan states.

This map will more than double the Palestinian territory and provide a Palestinian capital in eastern Jerusalem, where America will proudly open an embassy, Trump said.

The president added that the 80-page plan represented his vision for peace, prosperity, and a brighter future for Israelis and Palestinians, and is fundamentally different from past proposals.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has revolutionized medicine, but MRI scanners are so demanding that access to them is still a challenge. MRI machines typically require specially built rooms with magnet quench vent pipes, entry systems that check people for metals attracted to magnets, and specific protocols to ensure safety. Patients, therefore, have to be brought to the MRI scanners rather than the other way around.

This is about to change in many cases, as Hyperfine, a company with offices in New York City and St Guilford, Connecticut, won FDA clearance for the first MRI scanner that can be wheeled to the patient bedside.

Hyperfines Lucy point-of-care MRI is intended for scanning the head, neck, as well as the extremities, in just about any clinical setting. This can be of particular use in emergency rooms, intensive care units, and in facilities that currently dont have access to a conventional clinical MRI.

Its not exactly light, weighing in at 1,400 lbs (635 Kg), but its an order of magnitude lighter than a conventional MRI. A motorized wheel array on the bottom makes it quite manageable to drive the scanner from room to room without actually having to push it manually.

The Lucy uses low-field magnets that are safe around other equipment and it runs from a standard wall power outlet, making it easy to use in almost any hospital room.

The results of a clinical study using the new MRI will be presented this week at the American Stroke Associations International Stroke Conference 2020, but the American Heart Association already provides some details.

Eighty-five stroke patients (46% women, age 18-96, 46% ischemic stroke, 34% intracerebral hemorrhage, 20% subarachnoid hemorrhage) received bedside, low-field MRI within seven days of symptom onset. The exam time averaged about 30 minutes, and most patients were able to complete the entire exam. However, five patients could not fit into the 30-centimeter opening of the MRI machine, and six patients experienced claustrophobia, factors which halted their test. In addition, the low-field, bedside MRI scanner did not interfere with other equipment, and metals did not need to be removed from the room. No significant adverse events were reported.

Heres a Hyperfine promo video for the companys new MRI system:

Product page: Hyperfine MRI

More from American Heart Association

Link: FDA 510(k) Premarket Notification
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his cabinet colleagues took charge of their respective offices on Monday and asserted that they would work to fulfil the promises made in the "guarantee card", released during the poll campaign, including reduction in pollution and expansion of metro network.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia held meetings with the officials of finance and education departments soon after taking charge at the Delhi Secretariat here.

He continues to hold key portfolios including finance and education.

After taking charge, cabinet ministers said that the priority of the government will be fulfilling the promises made in the "guarantee card" and manifesto of the Aam Aadmi Party.

During the poll campaign in the run up to the recent assembly elections, Kejriwal had released a 'guarantee card' that promised free bus services for students, 24 hours drinking water supply, and deployment of "mohalla marshals" for women's safety.

The "guarantee card" also promised more than 11,000 buses and increasing the length of the Delhi Metro network to over 500 kilometres.

Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said," The CM's Guarantee Card will be his priority and at the same time the government will work on further strengthening Delhi's transport system."



After taking the charge of his office, Satyendar Jain said fulfilling the targets of the AAP's manifesto and those made in the "guarantee card" will be his priority.

"I will also work hard to bring 'mohalla clinics' within a radius of one kilometer for every citizen across Delhi. I will also work to provide clean water to every citizen round-the-clock," said Jain, who holds the charge of Water, PWD, Health, Urban Development and Irrigation and Flood Control Department.

Another minister Gopal Rai said the new government will reach every level of the society and work will be done keeping in mind the needs of the most disadvantaged section of the society.

"The people of Delhi have new expectations from the new government and people are looking forward to delivery of the Delhi's development model. People are discussing this model across the country and we will ensure expansion of this model," Rai told reporters after taking the charge of his office.

Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam said that he will work for the development of people hailing from every class and background.

"People have supported the AAP wholeheartedly and it is our time to return this faith. We will work hard to make Delhi a better city for everyone," Gautam said.

Cabinet minister Imran Hussain said the Delhi government wants to make Delhi a world class city.

Keeping this in mind, the manifesto and the chief minister's "guarantee card" were prepared and now the emphasis will be on fast implementation, Hussain said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content.

When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to.

After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code.

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS!

OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK

The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those.
IOCL maintained that in such circumstances and considering the conduct of Bank of Baroda, an appropriate order ought to have been passed to revoke its licence since it had acted in a manner unbecoming of a bank, a nationalised bank at that.

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court has directed the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to consider appropriate steps against Bank of Baroda (BoB), including revoking its licence or authority to carry on with banking business, if necessary, for failing to honour a bank guarantee given by a

third party to Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL).

In a matter relating to an appeal by BoB against IOCL, a division bench comprising justices Sanjib Banerjee and Kaushik Chanda took up a cross-objection by respondent IOCL on 10 February, immediately after dismissing the appeal by BoB for default, since the appellants could not proceed with the matter.

The oil company told the court that it had entered into an agreement with Simplex Projects Limited in 2017 for undertaking certain work at the Bongaigaon facility of IOCL in Assam.

In terms of such agreement, IOCL was obliged to make a mobilisation advance against a bank guarantee, while Simplex was also required to furnish a bank guarantee on account of security deposit, the court noted.

IOCL submitted that the agreement between it and Simplex envisaged the furnishing of a bank guarantee equivalent to 110 percent of the security deposit if a combined bank guarantee on account of security deposit and mobilisation advance were to be furnished.

An unconditional bank guarantee was furnished by the appellants herein on behalf of Simplex for about Rs 6.97 crore, the court noted.

According to IOCL, despite Simplex being given 50 percent of the mobilisation advance, no work was forthcoming. After IOCL issued several notices to Simplex which went unheeded, the oil PSU invoked the bank guarantee, the oil PSU told the court.

It was submitted on behalf of IOCL that notwithstanding the bank having no right to stall immediate payment upon the invocation of an unconditional bank guarantee, the bank in this case sought some time.

Simplex had then instituted proceedings under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 before the Delhi High Court by virtue of an arbitration agreement contained in the matrix contract between IOCL and Simplex.

IOCL further submitted that despite Simplex failing to obtain any order in such proceedings and the Delhi High Court observing that the bank guarantee was unconditional and payment thereunder could not be avoided once the guarantee was invoked, an appeal was preferred which was withdrawn by or about 1 June 2018.

The bank, however, refused to release the payment in terms of the unconditional guarantee on the ground that the money may not have been made available by Simplex to the bank, IOCL told the division bench of justices Banerjee and Chanda. IOCL said that it was in such circumstances that IOCL was constrained to invoke the writ jurisdiction of this court for a direction on the BoB to release the payment under the unconditional bank guarantee.

IOCL maintained that in such circumstances and considering the conduct of BoB, an appropriate order ought to have been passed to revoke its licence since it had acted in a manner unbecoming of a bank, a nationalised bank at that.

The division bench, in its order, said that "considering the conduct of the appellants, the RBI should consider what appropriate steps may be taken against the Bank of Baroda, including revoking its licence or the authority to carry on banking business, if necessary."
The Childrens Nutrition Program of Haiti will host their annual awards ceremony and benefit dinner at Stratton Hall on March 20. This years theme is Building a Firm Foundation  One Child at a Time. The Legacy Reception will begin at 5:30 p.m. followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m.



"Jan. 12 marked the 10th anniversary of the catastrophic earthquake that took the lives of over 200,000 people in Haiti," officials said. "The epicenter of that quake was in Leogane, just miles from the Children's Nutrition Program headquarters. To commemorate this event, the evening will invite attendees to remember the lives lost in the earthquake and celebrate the everyday heroes who continue to help Haiti to build a firm foundation. Proceeds from the night will further their work to prevent and treat malnutrition in Haiti."



The keynote speaker will be Len Gengel, co-founder of Be Like Brit.

"Len's work in Haiti began in 2010, only months after his 19-year-old daughter, Britney, lost her life in Haiti's devastating earthquake," officials said. "Len's work reflects his inspiring commitment to honor her legacy by investing in Haiti's children."



The Deb Watlington Heart for Haiti award recognizes individuals who have given their heart, soul and time to fight against childhood malnutrition in Leogane. This years award will be presented to Dr. and Mrs. Chuck and Martha Sternbergh and Reverend and Mrs. John and Mary Talbird.



For more information or to register or donate online, visit www.cnphaiti.org.






Can't allow every person who thinks of some solution to COVID-19 to file petition: SC

Centres view on women officers in Army disturbing: Permanent service commission to apply says SC

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Feb 17: The Supreme Court said that the permanent service commission will apply to all women officers in the Army. This would be irrespective of their years of service, the court said while upholding the Delhi high court judgement of 2012.

The court said that the centre's submission that women are physiologically weak are based on a deeply entrenched stereotype that men are dominant and women are basically caretakers. The submission that taking care of family is a woman's job is deeply disturbing, the court also said.

The Bench also said that the Centre by not granting permanent commission to women officers has prejudiced the case.

'Regressive: Women officers counter Centre on denial of command posts in Army

It may be recalled that the court had been told that women may not be suitable for command posts in the Army. This is because the male troops are not yet prepared to accept women, the Centre had told the Supreme Court.

Further, the dangers of women being taken prisoner of war was cited by the Centre. The composition of rank and file being made, and predominantly drawn from rural background, with prevailing societal norms, the troops are not yet mentally schooled to accept women officers in command, the government said.

Further, male and female officers cannot be treated on par in the matter of postings because of their different physical standards and exposures, and reservations over exposing women officers to combat situations.

NEWS AT NOON, FEBRUARY 17th, 2020

Opposing the plea, the lawyers representing the women officers told the court that many of them displayed exceptional bravery in adverse situations. They said that it was Minty Agarwal as the flight controller who had guided Wing Commander Abhinandan when he shot down a Pakistani F-16. She was awarded the Yudh Seva Medal for this, the lawyers also contended.

The Centre said that it is agreeable to the permanent commission to women officers who have served up to 14 years in the Army, but not above that. Those above 14 years of service will be permitted to serve till 20 years without PC and those past 20 years of services would be released with pensionary benefits.

The Centre also said that the armed forces require sacrifices and commitment beyond the call of duty by the entire family of service personnel involving separation and frequent transfers, affecting the education of children and career prospects of the spouse. It is a challenge for women to meet these hazards of service owing to prolonged absence during pregnancy, motherhood and domestic obligations towards their children and families especially when both husband and wife happen to be service officers the centre also contended in the Supreme Court.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, February 17, 2020, 10:57 [IST]
For a moment, it appeared that the Palestinians were on a roll in confronting the US-Israeli deal announced in Washington on Jan. 28. At a Feb. 1 emergency meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo, they had succeeded in obtaining unanimous rejection of the plan and procured similar resolutions from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Feb. 3 and the African Union on Feb. 11. Their strategy was for the counter-offensive to culminate in New York with a tough speech by President Mahmoud Abbas on Feb. 11 and a near-unanimous vote by the Security Council on a resolution opposing the plan at the council's mandated quarterly session.

The Palestinians realized that their motion would be met with a US veto, but they wanted to isolate the Americans with a 14-1 vote. The plan fell apart largely because of a self-imposed time constraint of syncing a vote with Abbas' speech as well as pressure from a US counter-campaign.

The idea of a UN Security Council resolution opposed to [President Donald] Trump was and is the right idea, said a senior PLO official in Ramallah who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue. The US plan clearly violates international law and everything that the UN represents. If done right and with the time needed, the plan would have gotten enough votes to be read and discussed and voted on.

The PLO source noted, however, that a fatal mistake had been made in tying the resolution to Abbas speech, which he delivered two weeks after the unveiling of the US plan. When you push yourself with a time constraint, you put everyone under tremendous pressure, and you are bound to come up short, he explained.

The first problem arose when the Tunisian President Kais Saied abruptly recalled his countrys UN representative, Moncef Baati, after the diplomat made a strong public statement against the US plan, calling it a breach of international law. Baati, a veteran diplomat appointed to the UN post after Tunisia rotated onto the Security Council in September, was recalled Feb. 7 for reasons that remain unclear. Although Baati's statement was the prevailing Arab point of view, it appears he may have spoken without getting a green light from Tunis. Some attribute his recall to pressure from Washington.

With the help of the Palestinian mission in New York, Tunisia and fellow Security Council member Indonesia had been preparing a strongly worded resolution to be presented to the council during Abbas visit to New York. Khalil Jahshan, executive director of the Arab Center Washington DC, dismissed the idea that the failure had only been one of a time constraint.

Palestinians clearly underestimated the response of [White House senior adviser Jared] Kushner and company, Jahshan told Al-Monitor. The Americans mobilized all their resources to pressure all the relevant parties. At the same time, the Palestinians overestimated the commitment of their friends and allies to withstand this pressure. According to media reports, the White House has issued threats to aid as a means to coerce acceptance of the plan.

Jahshan further remarked, The Palestinians needed an official forum to explain their position, and they should not have mixed the resolution issue with the speech of Abbas.

A veteran Arab reporter in New York who spoke to Al-Monitor on the condition of anonymity said the problem with the resolution was not just an issue of timing, but also resulted from a lack of coordination.

The Palestinians began their efforts immediately after the White House announcement Jan. 28, but the Arab position was not clear at the beginning, he stated. It was not until the meeting at the Arab League that it became clear that the Arabs were unified against the US deal. By the time the Arab League decision was made, the Tunisian envoy [to the UN] was already in trouble. In such circumstances, countries usually delink the speech of their head of state from the issuance of a UN Security Council resolution.

The Tunisian representative Baati had begun coordinating before the Arab League publicly announced its decision, but had he waited until after the foreign ministers' unanimous vote, he would have been in a politically safe position. The absence of the Tunisian envoy, with a seat on the Security Council to his advantage, was followed by a full-court blitz on all members of the council led by Kushner, who went to New York to ensure the failure of the Palestinian effort to encourage the international community to declare its opposition to Trump's plan.

Other sources in New York told Al-Monitor that the Palestinian delegation at the United Nations made sure that the drafts of any resolution by friendly countries didn't overshadow Abbas speech. While many in the media said the Palestinians had withdrawn their resolution, the fact is that no resolution could have been withdrawn because they never officially submitted a blue version, UN nomenclature signifying the final version of a text. The absence of the Tunisians appeared to have left the issue in disarray, so the Palestinians decided not to push their allies for a resolution certain to be vetoed  and thus subjecting their allies to injury given the pressure from the United States. Instead they settled for making the public claim of having majority support for their position.

The senior PLO source said that 90% of the draft resolution has been agreed upon. What is needed now is for time and for diplomacy to work out the rest and to present it, he asserted. There is still time to put the issue to a vote and garner a strong majority for it even with a US veto.

Jahshan has a different view of events. He remarked, I am saddened because an opportunity was lost. Not only was he unhappy with the failed resolution process, but he also found fault in what Abbas actually said at the Security Council. Abbas speech should have outlined specifically the problems of the US plan and then presented a sane Palestinian alternative. Instead the speech was high on emotion and low on specifics.
On Thursday, Michael Kazin, a historian at Georgetown University, published a comment in the New York Times titled Bernie Sanders Has Already Won. The article argues that even in defeat, Sanders will be achieving a different kind of victory, one few actual presidents ever have: transforming the ideology and program of a major party.

Kazin is the son of renowned essayist and literary critic Alfred Kazin (19151998) and the author of numerous books on the labor movement in the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as a gushing biography of three-time Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan titled A Godly Hero. He is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and is presently authoring a history of the Democratic Party.

Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders arrives to speak to supporters at a primary night election rally in Manchester, N.H. [Credit: AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais]

Kazins article appears after a week in which the Times published numerous worried commentaries bemoaning the growing popular interest in socialism. Whether Kazin is aware of it or not, the Times is using him to accomplish a distinctly political aim: convincing an increasingly radical population that they must not break from the Democratic Party.

To accomplish this goal, Kazin presents a false, hagiographic version of the history of the Democratic Party. He puts forward three historical examples of politicians who he alleges have transformed the Democratic Party into a left-wing party, even after having failed to win the presidency. In reality, these examples show exactly the opposite of what Kazin attempts to prove and expose the bankruptcy of all efforts to push this capitalist party to the left.

Kazins first example is the worst. He writes, In 1896, William Jennings Bryan, running as a Democrat against William McKinley, traveled the nation denouncing the money power and defending the rights of labor. Despite his loss that year, and in two subsequent races, his party embraced the pro-regulation, antimonopoly, pro-union stand of this eloquent politician called the Great Commoner. The resulting policies did much to elect Woodrow Wilson to the White House twice (with Bryan as his secretary of state from 1913 to 1915) and Franklin Roosevelt four times.

As a preliminary matter, this argument explodes the whole premise of Kazins main claim. Even if his presentation of Bryan were true (and it isnt), how can Bryans impact on the Democratic Party be considered progressive if it resulted in the election of Woodrow Wilson, the archetype progressive imperialist who drove the US into World War One, passed the Espionage Act, and arrested hundreds of revolutionaries and immigrants in the infamous Palmer Raids?

After winning re-election in 1916 on the basis of the slogan he kept us out of war, Wilson deployed hundreds of thousands of US troops in what he called the war to save democracy. He censored the left-wing press and jailed Socialist Party leader Eugene Debs for opposing the war after the latter proclaimed the war was the fault of the two old capitalist partiesthe Republican Party and the Democratic Partythe political twins of the master class. This is Kazin and the Times nightmarish vision of a Democratic Party that has been ideologically transformed.

As for William Jennings Bryan, the former Nebraska congressman was a self-proclaimed enemy of socialism who emerged in the 1890s as a representative of the right wing of a rural movement of small and middle farmers who were organizing into the powerful Farmers Alliance.

William Jennings Bryan at the Democratic Party Convention of 1908 (Photo: Library of Congress)

There is some truth to the comparison between Bryan and Sanders, but it is not a flattering link, as Kazin asserts.

While the more radical sections of this movement advocated an independent party in alliance with the urban working class, Bryan, like Sanders today, advocated fusionism, i.e., opposing the independence of the radical movement by tethering it to the Democratic Party. Fusionism culminated in Bryans acceptance of the Democratic Partys nomination for president in 1896. In the general election, in which urban workers and radical farmers largely abstained, Bryan was crushed by William McKinley, the embodiment of the Gilded Age, who ruthlessly suppressed the class struggle and opposed any restrictions on big business.

Bryan, like Sanders, was not responsible for the growing radicalismhe attained national prominence because he was a demagogue capable of responding to the growth of radicalism among workers and farmers and urging this movement to pressure the Democratic Party to adopt progressive policies.

Bryan, also like Sanders, was part of an effort to revitalize the Democratic Party, which was utterly discredited in the eyes of the laboring masses of the 1890s by the second Grover Cleveland administration (18931897). Indifferent to the massive suffering in the Great Depression of the 1890s, Cleveland not only disregarded the peaceful march of Coxeys Army for relief of the poor, but had its leader, Jacob Coxey, arrested. His administrations most notable achievement was deploying the United States Army against the American Railway Union in the Pullman Strike of 1894, and jailing its leader, Eugene Debs.

In many ways, Sanders plays the same role of revitalizing a modern Democratic Party that is hated for the policies of the Obama administration--hated by millions of workers for bailing out the banks, waging permanent war and launching attacks on democratic rights and living standards.

Kazin dishonestly claims Bryan moved American politics to the left. In fact, the Democrats destruction of Populism in the South was a disaster that gave Republicans control of the White House for 20 years and led to a wave of reaction across the country.

As C. Vann Woodward long ago established, the collapse of the agrarian movement led to the deaths of thousands of blacks and the imposition of Jim Crow segregation. Fusion at the Democratic and Peoples Party conventions in1896 was followed within weeks by the Supreme Courts approval of the separate but equal doctrine in the Plessy vs. Ferguson decision. The separation of workers by race, and the ghastly racist violence deployed to achieve this end, were the central features of Democratic Party rule in the South until the 1960s.

Far from advancing the cause of left-wing politics, William Jennings Bryan was the mechanism through which the ruling class disarmed the radical agrarian movement and fanned religious backwardness and nationalism. Bryan was a revivalist who served as lead counsel defending anti-evolutionist laws in the 1925 Tennessee Scopes Monkey Trial, during which he famously argued that human beings are not mammals. His chief role was to block the growth of socialism.

Bryan did not transform the Democratic Party, he preserved it, and thereby inaugurated decades of political reaction. In Kazins presentation, there is a strong undercurrent of Stalinist apologetics for nationalism and popular front politics. It should be remembered that Stalinist William Z. Foster titled his 1937 memoir about his time in the Communist Party USA From Bryan to Stalin.

The second and third examples from Kazins article1972 Democratic nominee George McGovern and 1984 and 1988 primary candidate Jesse Jacksonare also revealing.

Kazin refers to the McGovern campaign as an attempt to persuade voters who detested the war in Vietnam to unseat Richard Nixon and Jackson as vigorously preaching the same gospel of national health insurance, jobs for all and higher taxes on the rich.

In reality, McGoverns campaign was an attempt by the Democratic Party to dissolve mass anti-war sentiment and urban rebellion by turning it into the Democratic Party. This was a conscious response to the disaster of the 1968 Chicago convention, at which the Democratic National Committee sent police to brutally suppress anti-war demonstrators.

The McGovern campaign did not represent a transformation of the Democratic Party to the left, but rather marked the initiation of an effort to eliminate the influence of the labor movement on the nomination process through the McGovern-Fraser Commission, which strengthened the role of the affluent middle class through the elevation of racial and gender politics. The elimination of any influence of the working class on the nomination process, even through the conservative labor bureaucracy, paved the way for the nomination of right-wing Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter in 1976.

While Jesse Jacksons campaign acquired more of a popular base in the working class, this only served to contain anger over the Democratic Partys acquiescence to the Reagan administrations ruthless cuts to social programs, corporate regulations and taxes for the rich. Jackson loyally endorsed Democratic nominees Walter Mondale in 1984 and Michael Dukakis in 1988. Both candidates proceeded to lose the general election, Mondale to Reagan and Dukakis to Reagan's vice president, George H. W. Bush, without adopting any of the reformist elements of Jacksons campaign. For the next 30 years, the Democratic Party would nominate candidates, each more right-wing than the last: Bill Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

The Democratic Party is one of the oldest capitalist political parties in the world. Its crimes include the defense of slavery, the exclusion of Japanese and Chinese immigrants, Jim Crow segregation, the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the launching of the Korean and Vietnam wars, support for tough on crime legislation and welfare "reform," support for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and the Wall Street bailouts.

Kazin and the New York Times are desperate to avoid a situation where the growing interest in socialism results in the development of a movement in the working class that is independent of the Democratic Party. Sanders and his backers in the Democratic Socialists of America serve this critical role of suppressing the growth of opposition and maintaining the two-party system. For this reason, Sanders and fellow democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have called for supporting whichever Democrat wins the nomination, as though a Bloomberg or Biden presidency would advance the cause of socialism!

The lessons of history show that the stranglehold of the Democratic Party on popular opposition is the death knell of social movements. Those genuinely interested in socialism must fight for revolutionary politics independent from and in opposition to the Democratic Party and unleash the tremendous strength of the working class on a world scale.
By Trend

The trade turnover between Turkey and Belarus increased by $59.8 million in 2019 compared to 2018, and amounted to $692.4 million, Turkeys Ministry of Trade told Trend.

Turkey's export to Belarus amounted to $532.2 million, and import from Belarus to $160.1 million.

In December 2019, the trade turnover between Turkey and Belarus increased by $7.7 million compared to December 2018, amounting to $66.3 million.

In this month, Turkeys export to Belarus amounted to $54.6 million, and import from Belarus amounted to $11.6 million.

Turkeys foreign trade turnover in 2019 exceeded $374.2 billion.

Turkey's export increased by 2.1 percent in 2019 and amounted to $171.5 billion compared to 2018. In the meantime, Turkey's import dropped by 9.1 percent and amounted to $202.7 billion.

In December 2019, export from Turkey increased by 6.4 percent compared to December 2018, exceeding $14.6 billion.

In this month, Turkey's import increased by 14.9 percent compared and reached $19 billion.
Poppy Jennings dumped Luke Eglin and quit Married At First Sight during Monday's episode, with a producer on the show breaking the news to the tearful groom.

And fans online were less than impressed, with some slamming the 38-year-old mum for asking a show staffer to do the dirty work for her.

One person watching at home Tweeted: 'Did Poppy just get a producer to break up with Luke!?'

'She had a producer break up with him!' Married At First Sight fans were outraged after Poppy Jennings left the experiment dumping Luke Eglin (pictured) on Monday night

Someone else wrote: 'Luke got done dirty. Very very dirty. Probably worse than Elizabeth last season.'

Others were upset by how the 39-year-old FIFO worker was treated.

One chimed in: 'Aww I'm so sad for Luke she poppy was bloody awful and he deserved better'.

Not cool: Fans online were less than impressed, with some slamming the 38-year-old mum for asking a producer to do the dirty work for her

A sympathetic viewer tuning in at home Tweeted: 'I just want to give Luke a big hug!'

Several fans wondered if Elizabeth Sobinoff, who was a bride on last year's season, might be brought in as a replacement wife for Luke.

One fan writing on Twitter wondered: 'Are they now going to bring Elizabeth in for Luke?!'

Incoming? Several fans wondered if Elizabeth Sobinoff (pictured) who was a bride on last year's season of the show, might be brought in as a replacement wife for Luke

One fan wring on Twitter wondered: 'Are they now going to bring Elizabeth in for Luke?!'

Someone else had the same idea, writing: 'Mad Elizabeth for Luke?' while another asked: 'Can we get Luke a new wife please!'

Yet another eager fan of the show Tweeted: 'So I'm guessing this is where Lizzie comes in?'

In the devastating episode, the mother-of-two couldn't even face her 'husband' and forced producers to break the news to him.

Ouch: In the devastating episode, the mother-of-two couldn't even face her 'husband' and forced producers to break the news to him

Gone: Poppy left after Luke had moved out of their apartment to give her space

The Melbourne-based groom had already moved out of their apartment to give her space.

The single father-of-two was blindsided by Poppy's sudden exit, fighting back tears as he tried to compose himself.

'I had hoped for me and Poppy, and I wanted a happy ending more than anything else. It's s**t, but what else can you do? It's all over now,' he said.

Married At First Sight continues Tuesday at 7.30pm on Nine
New York, Feb. 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Teeth Whitening Market by Product and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2020-2024" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p05862958/?utm_source=GNW

Our reports on global teeth whitening market provides a holistic analysis, market size and forecast, trends, growth drivers, and challenges, as well as vendor analysis covering around 25 vendors.



The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current global market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. The market is driven by rising demand for cosmetic dentistry.

In addition, emerging consumerism through digital and social media is anticipated to boost the growth of the global teeth whitening market as well.



Market Segmentation

The global teeth whitening market is segmented as below:

ProductWhitening toothpaste Whitening strips Others



Geographic segmentation

North America APAC Europe South America MEA



Key Trends for global teeth whitening market growth

This study identifies emerging consumerism through digital and social media as the prime reasons driving the global teeth whitening market growth during the next few years.



Prominent vendors in global teeth whitening market

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the global teeth whitening market, including some of the vendors such as Brodie & Stone International Plc, Church & Dwight Co. Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Co., GlaxoSmithKline Plc, GoSmile LLC., Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, Johnson & Johnson, The Procter & Gamble Co., Ultradent Products Inc. and Unilever Group .



The study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to an analysis of the key vendors.





Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05862958/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________
A man has been charged after a stolen car was rammed into Brisbane CBD's Louis Vuitton store before taking off with what is likely to be thousands of dollars' worth of luxury bags last week.

Police said the white BMW wagon was driven into the Queen Street shopfront causing damage to the doors about 4am on Thursday.

Police say two men, with their faces covered, repeatedly reversed a hatchback car into the store before one jumped out and loaded items into the car. Credit:Nine News Queensland

While inside the store, it will be alleged one of two men stole several luxury items.

The burnt-out vehicle was later found in Tiffany Street, Browns Plains, about 22 kilometres south of the Brisbane CBD.
The Calcutta High Court has reportedly asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to consider "appropriate steps" against Bank of Baroda (BoB), including cancelling its banking license, for delaying to honour a bank guarantee.

The court was hearing a case between Bank of Baroda and Indian Oil Corp (IOCL) on a bank guarantee issued to Simplex Projects and later invoked by the oil marketing company (OMC), reports suggested.

The order said that IOCL had entered into an agreement with Simplex Projects in 2017 for undertaking work at the Bongaigaon facility of IOCL. For this, Simplex was required to provide a bank guarantee on account of security deposit. An unconditional bank guarantee was furnished by the lender on behalf of Simplex for about Rs 6.97 crore.

According to the order, when no work was forthcoming from Simplex, IOCL issued several notices and finally invoked the bank guarantee.

BoB still refused to release the payment in terms of the unconditional guarantee on the ground that the "money may not have been made available by Simplex to the bank". According to the order, IOCL then invoked the writ jurisdiction of the Calcutta high court for a direction on the BoB to release the payment under the unconditional bank guarantee.

BoB is a public sector bank. The Government of India held 71.60% in the bank as on 31 December 2019.

Shares of BoB fell 4.75% to end at Rs 82.25. The scrip fell 5.04% to hit the day's low at Rs 82, which is also a 52-week low for the scrip.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 18:19:36|Editor: zh

Video Player Close

BANGKOK, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- A forest fire suspected to have been caused by nearby burning activities broke out on Sunday inside a major national park in northeastern Thailand, a senior government official said on Monday.

It took 18 hours from mid-morning on Sunday to extinguish the fire at Phu Kradueng national park, a major tourist attraction in Loei province, according to Sombat Phimprasit, chief of the national park.

He said the fire had engulfed some 1,360 acres of forest land in the park, and the authorities are investigating whether the fire had been caused by local villagers' torching of some of their farmland.

All tourists, vendors and villagers were evacuated from the park. The national park chief said it was considered the most calamitous fire inside the national park in 17 years.

Authorities have earlier issued a stern warning against burning activity in open space which could probably cause forest fires, haze and airborne dust, particularly in the dry season. Those found to have burned forest land or farmland will be penalized by law with a fine, a jail term or both.
The 5G technology is playing an increasingly significant role in Chinas recent battle against the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) epidemic.

Beijing-based Chinese Peoples Liberation Army General Hospital has started to carry out its first 5G teleconsultation services with Huoshenshan Hospital, one of the two recently built makeshift hospitals in Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak in central Chinas Hubei province on Feb. 9, 2020.(Photo/Xinhua)

A 5G network is now covering the whole area of Leishenshan Hospital and Huoshenshan Hospital, two recently built makeshift hospitals in Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus outbreak in central Chinas Hubei province.

Supported by the network, the Beijing-based Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital launched a 5G teleconsultation system with Huoshenshan Hospital to support the epidemic battle. The system enables doctors in Beijing to establish real-time communications with those in Wuhan.

Similarly, Leishenshan Hospital also deploys the 5G network for telemedicine, telesurgery and data transmission to better diagnose and treat patients infected with the novel coronavirus.

On Feb. 8, Wuhan Union Hospital West Campus and Beijing Chaoyang Hospital started to carry out 5G teleconsultation services, by which two experts analyzed the conditions of two patients.

Tong Chaohui, vice president of Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, said 5G teleconsultation shows our emphasis on critical patients and will improve the diagnoses and treatment procedures.

The application of 5G technology can pool doctors across the whole country together to combat the virus, said Gao Yong, vice president of Wuhan Union Hospital West Campus. Reports confirm that other hospitals in Wuhan have also launched 5G teleconsultation services.

Meanwhile, 5G-powered robots have been put into use in hospitals and health service centers in Hubei, Shanghai and east Chinas Shandong province with the expectation that they will perform tasks including disinfection and drug delivery, reducing cross-infection risks.

The 5G body temperature screening system is also being put into use at public places such as hospitals, railway stations and subways to help fight the epidemic. The system has the capacity to check peoples body temperature and issue warnings automatically.
LIMERICK-based trio Rusangano Family have won the RTE Choice Music Prize for Irish album of the year.

The rap/hip-hop/electro outfit won the award - seen by many as Ireland's answer to the Mercury Prize - at an event in Dublin's Vicar Street this Thursday night.

We have a winner! Massive congrats to @RusanganoFamily, winners of the #RTEChoiceMusic Album of the Year with Let The Dead Bury The Dead! pic.twitter.com/u8jLleTqa4  RTE Choice Music (@choiceprize) March 9, 2017

Rusangano, made up of MynameisjOhn  alter ego of Clare man John Lillis, who plies his trade in Limerick  Zimbabwean born, Shannon raised, Limerick identifying rapper God Knows Jonas and vocalist MuRLI  based in Limerick, but of Togolese descent - beat off competition from the choice of Irish music for the award, which carries a 10,000 prize.

They scooped All Tvvins, Bantum, Wallis Bird, The Divine Comedy, Lisa Hannigan, Katie Kim, Overhead, The Albatross and We Cut Corners - all of whom performed at the event, along with a blistering performance by the Limerick based trio.

James Vincent McMorrow was also nominated.

In an emotional acceptance speech, the trio spoke about battling adversity making the album, while God Knows shouted out to the "teachers in Limerick and Clare", noting that they had to work in the morning, regardless of attaining Choice glory.

All are associated with Music Generation in Limerick.

Emotional scenes as @RusanganoFamily win #RTEChoicemusic Prize for album of the year. So deserved! Support independent music! @RTE2fm pic.twitter.com/JHq0JYeqEi  Eoghan McDermott (@eoghanmcdermo) March 9, 2017

Speaking to the Limerick Leader after the award was presented, MuRli said: "I feel legitimate for once as a musician."

God Knows said it "feels amazing that we have made Limerick and Clare proud, but most importantly, I think we made our families proud. My little brother was saying, if we don't win today, he was going to cry. Now he doesn't have to cry! I think he might cry happy tears".

Asked about the reaction to their blistering performance, MuRli said: "We knew it had nothing to do with the performance and what was happening in the room.

"We are very happy with the performance and relieved now, and let's see what happens," he added.

John explained: "It is also quite daunting that, some of the acts - when you are in waiting beside them, you are like 'I have been listening to you for so long, I have so much admiration for what you do'.

"Now we feel like we are musicians. This has legitimised it for us. We know what we are doing - it has been received on a national scale and for us, it is a big moment, definitely," he added.

The electric and powerful album was bursting with samples from the inner reaches of producer MynameisjOhns mind and driven by the insightful, socially engaged lyrics of vocalists God Knows Jonas and MuRLI and was perhaps the most vital album of the last twelve months, drawing heavily on themes of immigration and the places and sounds that have influenced each of them in turn.

The 12th annual Choice - backed for the first time by RTE this year - "celebrates and acknowledge the best in Irish recorded music".

It has become one of the highlights of the calendar since its inception in 2005 and is awarded to the Irish Album of the Year, as chosen from a shortlist of ten releases by a panel of twelve Irish music media professionals and industry experts.

The prize fund for the winning act was provided by IMRO and IRMA.
BJD issues three-line whip to its Rajya Sabha MPs to be present in House on September 14

BJD not to hold rallies, campaign meets for May 13 Pipili by- polls: Patnaik

Odisha Cong hit out at Naveen Patnaik-led-BJD over Amit Shah's proposed pro-CAA rally

India

oi-PTI

Bhubaneswar, Feb 17: The opposition Congress in Odisha hit out at the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) over Home Minister Amit Shah's proposed pro-Citizenship (Amendment) Act rally in the state capital and asked Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to make his government and party's stand on event clear.

Shah will be on a two-day visit to Odisha from February 28 during which he is slated to address a pro-CAA public meeting.

Raising the issue in the Legislative Assembly during Zero Hour, Congress MLA S S Saluja said, "Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MPs supported CAA in both Houses of Parliament. But the chief minister after meeting a delegation of the minority community in Bhubaneswar, had said the state will not support the National Register of Citizens (NRC)."

This "change of stance" was creating confusion among the people, he said and sought to know whether the BJD leaders would also join Shah in the proposed pro-CAA rally or keep distance from it.

Saluja said the state government should have taken the people, who voted the BJD to power in the state five times in a row, into confidence before supporting the bill to amend the Citizenship Act.

Amid criticism over the BJD's support to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Parliament, Patnaik had in December assured Muslim and Christian community members that he was not in favour of a nationwide NRC implementation. Saluja, who belongs to the Sikh community, said the people of Odisha live peacefully and believe in brotherhood.

"We live in Lord Jagannath's land where all communities are equal. We do not want a Delhi-like atmosphere in Bhubaneswar or Odisha. The state's communal harmony should not be disturbed at any cost," he said.

Shaheen Bagh protesters accept Amit Shah's proposal, Home Ministry says no such meeting on Sunday

Delhi has been witnessing frequent protest on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act issue.

Alleging that the "bonhomie" between the BJD and the BJP was no more a secret, the

Congress legislator said, "They (BJP) had only 23 MLAs, still they got elected one member to Rajya Sabha with the help of the BJD."

Last year, Patnaik had announced BJD's support to the BJP's Rajya Sabha candidate and former bureaucrat Ashwini Vaishnav.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, February 17, 2020, 19:39 [IST]
There are an ever-greater number of industrial chemicals on the world market, but many lack publicly available information on aspects such as their chemical identities and hazard potential.

An international team of researchers has conducted a global review of all registered industrial chemicals: some 350,000 different substances are produced and traded around the world  well in excess of the 100,000 reached in previous estimates. For about a third of these substances, there is a lack of publicly accessible information.

The last time a list was compiled of all the chemicals available on the market and in circulation worldwide, it ran to 100,000 entries. Drawn up shortly after the turn of the millennium, the list focused on markets in the US, Canada and western Europe, which made sense because 20 years ago, these countries accounted for more than two thirds of worldwide chemical sales.

Global market

Things have changed dramatically since then. First, turnover has more than doubled, reaching EUR 3.4 billion in 2017; second, the global west now participates in just a third of the worldwide chemical trade, whereas China alone accounts for 37 percent of turnover. We broadened our scope to take in the global market  and were now presenting a first comprehensive overview of all chemicals available worldwide, says Zhanyun Wang, Senior Scientist at the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering at ETH Zurich.

Working with a team of international experts, Wang brought together data from 22 registers covering 19 countries and regions (including the EU). The new list contains 350,000 entries. The chemical diversity we know now is three times greater than 20 years ago, says Wang. This, he says, is primarily because a larger number of registers are now taken into account: As a result, our new list includes many chemicals that are registered in developing and transition countries, which are often with limited oversight.

Confidential business information

On its own, this comprehensive list cannot provide information about which chemicals are hazardous to health or the environment, for example. Our inventory is only the first step in the substances characterisation, says Wang, adding that previous work suggested that some 3 percent of all chemicals may give cause for concern. If you apply this figure to the new multitude of chemicals, 6,000 new potentially problematic substances could be expected, he says.

Far more astonishing for Wang was the fact that a good third of all chemicals have inadequate descriptions in the various registers. About 70,000 entries are for mixtures and polymers (such as petroleum resin), with no details provided about the individual components. Another 50,000 entries relate to chemicals where the identities are considered confidential business information and are therefore not publicly accessible. Only the manufacturers know what they are and how dangerous or toxic they are, says Wang. That leaves you with an uneasy feeling  like a meal where youre told that its well cooked, but not what it contains.

An urgent call for international collaboration

Globalisation and worldwide trade ensure that  unlike national registers  chemicals do not stop at national borders. As Wang and his colleagues note in their article in the journal Environmental Science & Technology the various registers need therefore to be merged if we want to keep track of all the chemicals that are produced and traded anywhere in the world. Only by joining forces, across different countries and disciplines, will we be able to cope with this ever-expanding chemical diversity, says Wang.
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Studio MFP (https://studiomfp.com/) recently announced a social media marketing contest to highlight a spectrum of successful packaged services that it offers to help small businesses succeed. The contest features Studio MFP's suite of popular bundled monthly management skills like social media marketing, daily social media posting, digital advertising, reporting, analytics and more. Six total winners will receive one free month of Studio MFP social media services, valued at $3,096 each. Contestants are asked to fill out a simple, free online registration form to enter, accessed HERE. After registering, contestants can enter multiple times to increase their chance of winning.

"Our team is already very excited to meet the winners of this contest," said Studio MFP CEO, Mike Faga. "A few years ago, we started like most new businesses do: as a small company with great big ideas. We wanted to help nurture and launch other small businesses into the heights of success. And as we've grown, we have evolved with our clients in an organic way that allows us to meet their unique needs. That's always been one of our strengths: affordable, tailor-made services that help professionals expand in healthy and exciting ways. Ultimately, that's why we've decided to give away nearly $20K in free marketing services  because we already know how valuable our talents are. Six lucky winners are about to find out as well."

Studio MFP Marketing-Package Contest

Six small businesses will win a free month of Studio MFP's social media marketing services. These skills are crafted to help jump-start the digital marketing presence for a small business, and cover one-month's adspend as well. Winners can construct their own subscription package to fit their marketing needs, valued up to $3,096 towards their first month and packages start at only $299. All setup fees will also be waived for winners. Services for the free month and their subscription include:

Fresh content posted daily to major social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest.

Professional, unique content on Instagram with hashtag research.

Advertising on Facebook and LinkedIn with adspend up to $1,000 included.

included. Custom, professionally written weekly blog posts.

Detailed reporting and expert analytics.

Full control and customization: clients can preview all posts created for major platforms from their account.

Businesses are encouraged to sign up for the contest immediately. Winners will be announced in mid to late March. Small businesses and contestants can enter HERE.



About Studio MFP

Founded in 2016, Studio MFP offers a wide range of solutions that help professionals, freelancers and small businesses succeed at what they do. With technology, customizations, and managed services, Studio MFP is a trusted problem solver that offers software, hosting, development, design, marketing, social media tools and so much more. To learn what Studio MFP can do to help your business thrive, visit: www.StudioMFP.com.

Media Contact:

Mike Faga, CEO

1-855-557-7637 ext 101

[email protected]

SOURCE Studio MFP

Related Links

https://studiomfp.com/


Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Amelinda Bonita Leonard (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, February 18 2020

Long way from home: A guard talks to a woman accompanying children at the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp where families of Islamic State (IS) foreign fighters are held, in the al-Hasakeh governorate in northeastern Syria, on Oct. 17, 2019. Some 600 former fighters and their families are identified as originating from Indonesia. (AFP/Deilil Souleiman)

The government has decided against the homecoming of some 600 former foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) from Syria as they could become a new terrorist virus that will threaten Indonesias entire population.

Coordinating Legal, Political and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD announced the decision, a few days after President Joko Jokowi Widodo expressed his refusal to welcome back the returnees. The countrys largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, supports the governments policy.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login
The Maharashtra Congress on



Monday said the BJP government's decision to build a wall to keep a slum out of sight during US President Donald Trump's visit to that state on February 24 was 'inhumane'.

The 500 metre long and four feet tall wall is being built in Ahmedabad's Sardarnagar, which has several slum structures, and is situated along a road that leads to the Indira bridge on the outskirts of the city from the airport, a route likely to be taken by Trump's motorcade.

"It is an inhumane act of construction of the wall to hide slums on Trump's route to the stadium from the airport (in Ahmedabad). The Congress condemns such acts," said Sachin Sawant, general secretary of Maharashtra Congress.

He said the wall also showed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's claims of progress made by Gujarat during his chief ministership were false.

"If he had done any vikas in the state, the slum would not have been there. There are poor people in the US as well. If the US president sees some poverty here, will the skies fall," he asked.

Modi, in order to get sympathy, himself never shied away from claiming that he came from a deprived background, then "why is he now ashamed of the poor and slum dwellers".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A proposal for mayoral term limits wont be on the May 2 ballot this year after City Council recently rejected the idea in a 6-1 vote.

The council instead discussed giving the issue to the next city charter review committee to study for possible consideration by voters in May 2022.

City Councilman Luke Orlando had proposed a last-minute motion at the councils Feb. 11 meeting to to put a term-limit proposition before voters on the May 2 ballot.

Orlando cast the only vote in favor of his proposal. The council did approve placing eight proposed charter amendments on the May ballot, such as one related to standardizing city charter requirements to fit state law.

Also on the ballot are the mayors position, sought by Gary Moore, Kevin Cole and Quentin Wiltz; Position 3, sought by Orlando Bruzual, Alex Kamkar, Lewis Barnes and Jai Daggett; and Position 7, where the candidates are incumbent Woody Owens, Mashundra Ivery and Jeff Hunkele.

Orlando had suggested the Pearland mayor be limited to three full consecutive elected terms of office and shall not be eligible to run for mayor or council until the third regular city election following the expiration of the mayors third consecutive elected term.

He said he was making the move this year because the citys charter review process and subsequent amendment vote coincided with longtime Mayor Tom Reids decision not to run for re-election.

We dont have to do this now

We have a unique opportunity, Orlando said. For the first time in a generation, we have an open mayoral seat (without Reid running), and voters have the opportunity to fairly assess mayoral term limits outside of considering the individual personalities involved.

Councilman Trent Perez agreed with Orlandos reasoning but not with the timing.

Now that we know (Reid has) chosen to move on, that does invite the conversation, Perez said. Its at least worth discussion.

However, he said hed rather a charter review committee consider the issue for a possible future recommendation.

We dont have to do this now, Perez said.

Councilman Gary Moore said he favored considering the mayoral term limit question only after more residents had time to weigh in.

Im not in favor of doing this right now. I feel were pushing policy too quickly, he said at the Feb. 11 meeting. I would be more than willing to have the committee come in to look at this again, but we havent had enough time to make a decision tonight.

Front man for the community

Reid has served as mayor for a total of 39 years, first from 1978 until 1990 and then again from 1993 until now. Before he stepped into the mayors spot, he served on City Council from 1973 until 1978. During the term limit discussion, he offered his opinion on how potential term limits should be handled.

Reid talked about the mayors role in city government, particularly in comparison to council members right to vote in open meetings. The mayor does not vote on action items unless to break a tie vote.

The mayor is the front man for the community, Reid said. Its not a political job, its an administrative type of job. We get the flak, but were not able to take action on issues. I can talk about it, but I cant vote in it.

He said, should the issue ever be put before the voters, it should come via a recommendation from a convened charter review committee.

Let them take the action, he said. They are a quality bunch of people, and they have the best interests of the city in mind.

Other council members did not favor mayoral term limits at all.

Councilman Woody Owens said he considered all the council positions, including mayor, as being term-limited via elections.

Every time we run (for office) we have term limits, he said. Its up to the voters.

Mayor Pro Tem J. David Little added. If the mayor isnt doing a good job, let the citizens decide and vote him out.

However, Orlando pushed back against the idea that stated term limits are unnecessary or that it was inappropriate for him to offer an amendment to the recommendations from the charter review committee, especially as he was not on council when the committee was formed.

Its completely kosher, he said.

He also said he didnt agree that elections are always an effective way of putting limits on incumbents.

Let us not be under the delusion that there is no advantage to an incumbency, he said. Its easy to say Just run (for office), but in the real world its tough to run against incumbents. Thats why people are so in favor of term limits.
Phuket virus death fake news poster acknowledges Computer Crimes Act charge

PHUKET: The woman who posted a photo of a foreigner being removed from Phuket International Airport by ambulance staff and claiming that the person had died of the Wuhan coronavirus has presented herself to police to acknowledge the charge against her under the Computer Crimes Act.

technologycrimehealthChinesedeathtourismCoronavirusCOVID-19

By The Phuket News

Monday 17 February 2020, 11:19AM

The woman presented herself at Sakoo Police Station on Saturday (Feb 15). Photo: PR Dept

The woman presented herself at Sakoo Police Station on Saturday (Feb 15) to acknowledge the charge and for questioning, confirmed Phuket Vice Governor Supoj Rotreuang Na Nongkhai, who was present at the police station on Saturday.

Also present for the questioning were Sakoo Police Chief Col Kaken Nikrahatchai, Capt Sira Lertthaisong and Nirut Krabuanrat, the Legal and Human Resources Department Director for Airports of Thailands management team at Phuket International Airport (AoT Phuket).

Vice Governor Supoj explained that Sakoo Police had issued a summons for the woman to present herself for questioning and to formally inform her of the charge.

The womans actual name was not identified in the report confirming the woman had presented herself, though the post in question was uploaded onto Facebook by Konnika Jampaburee on Monday (Jan 27).

The post showed a photo of a person covered with a white sheet being wheeled out of the airport and loaded into an ambulance along with the words in Thai, One death at Phuket International Airport #Chinese.

Dr Sutsinee Sakswut, the airport doctor on duty that day confirmed to The Phuket News that nobody had died from the Wuhan flu at the airport. The post is wrong, she said.

A female tourist had suffered a mini stroke in the Arrival Hall at the International Terminal and had been taken to Bangkok Hospital Phuket, Dr Sutsinee explained, adding that the tourist was discharged from the hospital care the next day. (See story here.)

Vice Governor Supoj confirmed on (Jan 31) that AoT Phuket had filed a formal complaint with police to press charges under the Computer Crimes Act for the post.

Vice Governor Supoj pointed out that under Section 14 (1) of the Computer Crimes Act it is illegal to for any person to commit an act that involves import to a computer system of forged computer data, either in whole or in part, or false computer data, in a manner that is likely to cause damage to that third party or the public.

If found guilty, perpetrators may face up to five years in prison or a fine of up to B100,000, or both, he added. (See story here.)

Before posting any information on social media, please check and prove that the information is correct and think about the following impact. In this case, it damaged the image of Phuket a lot, so we will take serious action against those who post fake news and violate the laws, Vice Governor Supoj said yesterday.

The woman told the Vice Governor yesterday that she was sorry for what she did without checking if her post was true or not.

She had already deleted the post, the woman confirmed.

The woman also said, Before posting or sharing anything online, please check if it is true or not. I wont do this again, and I will take this as a lesson.
Gandhinagar, Feb 17 : Almost 80 per cent of the 867 species of birds population in India has been on decline in the past five years, according to a report to which over 15,500 birdwatchers from across the country contributed.

It also expressed high concern for conservation of 101 species.

More than one crore observations were made by the birdwatchers. They were uploaded to the eBird platform to evaluate the distribution range of these 867 Indian birds, over long-term (25 plus years) and present (past 5 years).

According to the report, 58 species on the long-term trend are in strong decline and 77 species in moderate decline. According to the current trend, 72 species are in the strong decline.

Those in high decline included raptors, migratory shorebirds and habitat specialists, which included Small Minivet, Common Woodshrike, Short Toed Snake, Cotton Teal Little Stint, Large Cuckooshrike, Common Greenshank, Rufous Tailed Lark, Oriental Skylark, Yellow fronted pied woodpecker, Indian Thick-knee Eagle, Little Pratinkole, Sirkeer Malkoha, Blue Rock Thrush, Crested TreeSwift and Redneck Falcon.

It was found birds that fed on invertebrate had declined as a whole. While 101 species required immediate concern, 319 species moderate concern, 442 species low concern for conservation.

"The assessment is based on three indices. Two are indices of change in abundance: long-term trend and current annual trend (over 5 years), and the third is a measure of distribution range size," the report says.

"Using these three indices together with the IUCN Red List (Red List of Threatened Species), each specie was classified into categories of conservation concern for India.

Overall decline in species demands research into their causes. To protect the high concern species, attention from conservation policy, management and funding are required. "Many earlier bird conservation decisions were not based on much evidence. This report helps bring much-needed data on these issues," said Dhananjai Mohan of the Wildlife Institute of India.

Painting a rosy picture, the report says the number of Indian national bird peafowl had increased significantly over the past decades. The number of sparrow was found to be roughly stable across the country, despite declining in in major cities.
Press Release

February 17, 2020 Senate approves bill making GMRC mandatory to elementary, senior high school studes Elementary and high school students in public and private schools will soon be required to take a mandatory Good Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC) subject under the K to 12 curriculum. The Senate today approved a bill seeking to institutionalize values education, including GMRC, as a core subject in the K to 12 curriculum. Under Senate Bill No. 1224 or the Comprehensive Values Education Act, values education, including GMRC, will be taught to elementary and senior high school students for an hour daily. In the case of kindergarten students, values education shall be integrated in their daily learning activities. GMRC was removed as a regular subject and was integrated with other subjects, including Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao and Araling Panlipunan under the K to 12 curriculum. In the said curriculum, values education is taught for 30 minutes daily in primary education and an hour twice a week in secondary education. Educators deplore the neglect of the subject in the teaching practice. A position paper by Ma. Antoinette Montealegre of the Philippine Normal University noted that currently, values education has not "reversed the rapid moral deterioration and fading Filipino values." Since values education was not given priority unlike academic subjects such as mathematics, english and science, studies showed unfavorable attitude towards the subject, according to Montealegre. She said the limited time accorded to values education, 30 minutes, is not enough for "both cognitive and action-oriented learning in character formation." Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, sponsor of the bill, said the amount of time allotted to values education has been found to be inadequate. He said the current 30 minutes does not provide enough time for teachers to engage students in meaningful discussions and exercises on values formation. He said SBN 1224 mandates values education curriculum to include clear, distinct, specific and concrete character building activities such as role playing in the classroom, community immersion activities, teacher-parent collaborative learning activities, school initiated values formation activities, simulated activities and other forms of experiential learning activities. "This will allow students to gain real-life experiences in applying their values to difficult situations, but in a controlled environment where experienced educators will help them process the lessons they learned in a constructive and nurturing way," Gatchalian explained. To make the subject more accessible and user-friendly to students, the bill calls for a mother tongue-based multilingual education approach to be adopted in teaching values education. The bill mandates the Department of Education (DepEd), in coordination with the Commission on Filipino Language and in collaboration with education academic and research institutions to formulate a mother tongue-based multilingual framework for teaching and learning. Teachers with certification, diploma and training in the field of values education and other allied disciplines shall be given preference in the teaching of the subject. At present, educators noted that 70 to 90 percent of those who teach values education are not certified values education teachers. "DepEd shall conduct an annual review of the institutionalization of comprehensive values education in the K to 12 program curriculum to ensure its proper implementation and assess student learning outcomes for the purpose of determining its efficacy," the bill said. "The DepEd shall also establish linkages and provide the necessary support to strengthen parent-teacher partnerships to enable parents to perform their vital role in the effective institutionalization of the values formation education," it added. Aside from Gatchalian, the bill was introduced by Majority Leader Migz Zubiri, Senators Joel Villanueva, Cynthia Villanueva, Nancy Binay, Panfilo Lacson, Sonny Angara, Ronald dela Rosa, Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, Christoper Lawrence Go, Risa Hontiveros, Manuel Lapid, Imee Marcos, Manny Pacquiao, Francis Pangilinan, Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III, Bong Revilla, Francis Tolentino and Senate President Vicente Sotto III.
Dion Zanetti collided with a power pole just after midnight on Monday in Ayr

The girlfriend of a man who was tragically killed in a horror car accident has shared a moving tribute to the 23-year-old.

Dion Zanetti collided with a power pole just after midnight on Monday on Beach Road, Ayr, in Far North Queensland.

The tragedy has left his girlfriend Bree White devastated, but she said she will be 'forever grateful' for the times they shared.

Dion Zanetti collided with a powerpole just after midnight on Monday on Beach Road, Ayr, in far north Queensland

His girlfriend Bree White paid tribute to the IT worker and 'superhero' on social media

'I will forever be grateful for the time we spent together, how much you taught me and how amazing you were with [my daughter] Mackenzie,' she said, according to the Courier Mail.

She said she would cherish their random getaways together and his passion for life.

'Words can't express the heartache I'm feeling right now, losing you is something I never thought would happen but within a blink of an eye, our entire lives changed,' she said.

She said she hoped he was looking down on everyone he cared about - including young Mackenzie.

'You'll always be my superhero and I will always love you forever and a day. I love you more than you'll ever know,' she said.

The forensic crash unit is investigating circumstances surrounding the crash.
Representative Image

live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

Following a reassessment, telecom companies have pegged their adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues at about half the amount estimated by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), according to a report in The Economic Times.

This may result in a protracted dispute between the government and telcos, further exacerbating the state of affairs.

While the DoT has put Bharti Airtel's dues at Rs 35,500 crore and that of Vodafone Idea at Rs 53,000 crore, initial estimates by the respective companies differ. Airtel has reassessed its dues at around Rs 15,000 crore to Rs 18,000 crore, while Vodafone's calculations have put the same between Rs 18,000 crore to Rs 23,000 crore, the report said.

A source quoted in the report aid that the difference in estimates by the companies and the DoT arises out of certain errors like duplication of items.

An internal assessment by Tata Teleservices also pegged their AGR dues at an amount much lower than the Rs 14,000 crore estimate of the DoT, another source told the publication.

Vodafone Idea had in another statement warned that in the absence of any form of judicial relief, the company's viability would be affected.

Last week, the Supreme Court slammed telecom companies for the non-payment of AGR dues, summoning their top brass and warning of contempt proceedings if the telcos fail to repay their dues by the next court hearing which has been set for March 17.

Meanwhile, Vodafone Idea has reportedly written to the DoT and the I-T department, seeking an adjustment of the tax refund owed to it, against its AGR dues.
BEIJING - China said Monday it may postpone its annual congress in March, its biggest political meeting of the year, as the military dispatched hundreds more medical workers and extra supplies to the city hit hardest by a 2-month-old virus outbreak.

Japanese officials, meanwhile, confirmed 99 more people were infected by the new virus aboard the quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess, bringing the total to 454.

The standing committee for the National Peoples Congress said it believes it is necessary to postpone the gathering to give top priority to peoples lives, safety and health, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

It noted that one-third of the 3,000 delegates are provincial and municipal-level cadres with important leadership roles working on the front line of the battle against the epidemic.

The standing committee said it would meet on Feb. 24 to further deliberate on a postponement. The meeting is due to start on March 5.

Health authorities reported 2,048 new cases of the virus and 105 more deaths. Another 10,844 people have recovered from COVID-19, a disease caused by the new coronavirus, and have been discharged from hospitals, according to Mondays figures. The death toll is 1,770.

With fears of the virus spreading further, Chinese and residents of nearby countries and territories have begun hoarding supplies of everything from masks and other personal protective gear to instant noodles, cooking oil and toilet paper.

In Hong Kong, local media reported that police had arrested two men and were seeking three others who allegedly stole a load of 60 packs of toilet paper at knifepoint early early Monday morning. Supplies of the commodity have become extremely scarce, with often only low-quality imports still available. Police were expected to discuss the matter later.

Another 1,200 doctors and nurses from Chinas military began arriving in Wuhan on Monday, the latest contingent sent to help shore up the citys overwhelmed health care system with more than 32,000 additional personnel. The city has rapidly built two prefabricated hospitals and converted gymnasiums and other spaces into wards for those showing milder symptoms, but residents still say they are being wait-listed for beds and even ambulance rides.

Wuhan has accounted for the vast majority of mainland Chinas 70,548 cases. Some 60 million people in that area and other parts of China are under lockdown in a bid to prevent the virus from spreading further.

At a daily news briefing, National Health Commission official Guo Yanhong said attempts to contain the virus appeared to be bearing fruit, with the number of new cases reported daily outside of Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, falling for 13 days straight, and growing numbers of recovered people.

These are all extremely good signs that show our prevention work is very effective, Guo said, citing early detection and treatment alongside quarantines and travel restrictions as largely responsible for the result.

Japans Health Ministry has been carrying out tests on passengers and crew on the Diamond Princess, which is docked in Yokohama, a port city near Tokyo. Officials said they Monday they had confirmed 99 more cases on the ship, bringing the total to 454. The 14-day quarantine for those on the ship was due to end Wednesday.

Outside China, the ship has the largest number of cases of COVID-19.

The Health Ministry said it has now tested 1,723 people on the ship, which had about 3,700 passengers and crew aboard.

Two chartered planes flew 340 Americans who were aboard the Diamond Princess out of Japan late Sunday. About 380 Americans had been on the ship.

The State Department announced later that 14 of the evacuees were confirmed to have the virus in tests given before they boarded their planes. They were taken to the U.S. because they did not have symptoms, and were being isolated from other passengers, it said.

Australia, Canada, Hong Kong and Italy were planning similar flights for their citizens.

New cases in other countries are raising more concern about containment of the virus. Though only a few hundred cases have been confirmed outside mainland China, some recent cases lacked obvious connections to China.

Taiwan on Sunday reported its first death from COVID-19, the fifth fatality outside of mainland China. Taiwans Central News Agency, citing health minister Chen Shih-chung, said the man who died was in his 60s and had not travelled overseas recently and had no known contact with virus patients.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe convened an experts meeting to discuss containment measures in his country, where more than a dozen cases have emerged in the past few days without any obvious link to China.

The situation surrounding this virus is changing by the minute, Abe said.

Japanese Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said the country was entering into a phase that is different from before, requiring new steps to stop the spread of the virus.

Japan has 518 confirmed cases, including the 454 from the cruise ship, and one death from the virus.
New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday (February 17) said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has supported the idea of permanent commission for women and announced the change in policy in his Independence Day speech in 2018, and welcomed the Supreme Court's landmark verdict that directed the Centre to grant permanent commission to all women officers in the Army within three months.

In a series of tweets, Rajnath Singh said, "I wholeheartedly welcome Honble Supreme Courts judgement on giving the Women officers permanent commission in the Armed Forces. PM Shri

@narendramodi has supported the idea of permanent commission for women & announced the change in policy in his Independence Day speech in 2018."

I wholeheartedly welcome Honble Supreme Courts judgement on giving the Women officers permanent commission in the Armed Forces. PM Shri @narendramodi has supported the idea of permanent commission for women & announced the change in policy in his Independence Day speech in 2018.  Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) February 17, 2020

He also added, "As of June 2019, women were inducted in all branches of the Indian Air Force, with terms and conditions for women officers being issued from time to time. GoI is working to strengthen the Stree Shakti in our Armed Forces and we stand committed to move forward in this direction."

The apex court bench, headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud, said that women officers in the past have brought laurels to the country and change of mindset is required on the part of the government to put an end to gender bias in armed forces.

In another tweet, the defence minister said, "A historic decision to allow women in field operations cam earlier when the then defence minister Ms Nirmala Sitharaman announced that women will be inducted into the Military Police. The recruitment process has started in 2019."

"The plan was to recruit women in roles ranging from probing crime cases to assisting the army in field operations wherever required. There have been instances where certain women officers have been in the job for nearly twenty years, while SSC term terminates in fourteen years," Rajnath Singh said.

Talking about the government initiative, he said, "In 2019, the defence ministry granted a permanent commission to women in all 10 branches of the Indian Amry, including Signal Corps, intelligence, aviation, engineering, service corps and ordinance corps."

"Before 2016, women made up just 2.5 percent of India's armed forces, working in mainly non-combat roles. As of Jan 2019, 3.89 percent of the army personnel comprised women, while 6.7 percent of the navy & 13.28 percent of the air force personnel were women as of June 2019," Rajnath Singh added.

Before 2016, women made up just 2.5 percent of India's armed forces, working in mainly non-combat roles.

As of Jan 2019, 3.89 percent of the army personnel comprised women, while 6.7 percent of the navy & 13.28 percent of the air force personnel were women as of June 2019.  Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) February 17, 2020

The top court said despite there being no stay on the 2010 Delhi High Court verdict allowing grant of permanent commission to women officers, the Centre showed scant regard in implementing the directive in the past one decade.

The SC also said that engagement of women officers in the Army has been an evolutionary process and the Union of India should have acted in accordance with the Delhi High Court judgment when there was no stay on it.
The emergence of the novel coronavirus currently known as COVID-19 begun in December 2019 before its details were known in January 2020. Since then, drastic measures from the national to the local levels have been effectively implemented by the Chinese government to control and contain the spread of the virus.

When the incident began escalating, different countries including USA, France, Australia, Japan, Morocco, Mauritania, East Timor, Papua New Guinea, Jordan, Iraq and Iran among others came to evacuate their citizens from Wuhan.

All efforts by Ghanaian students in Wuhan to be evacuated landed on deaf ears. Recently, the minority caucus in parliament also added their voices and blew the trumpet for the evacuation. The Africa centre for disease control and prevention (Africa CDC) also called for an evacuation of African students including Ghana but no positive response.

Moreover, Wuhan-chapter NUGS President and other Ghanaian students in China suggested that about 300 students in the lockdown city of Wuhan be evacuated as early as possible when the epidemic began to intensify, which supposes that 'there is fire on the mountain'.

However, many Ghanaians including the public health director of Ghana Health Service (GHS)Mr. Badu Sarkodie advised against plight and grievances stating, we should remain in China and shouldn't come to Ghana to infest the nation with the virus. This shows how insensitive and unconcern some Ghanaians home feel for brothers and sisters in the epicentre, china and the diaspora at large. They prefer their colleague citizens to 'die' and become national statistics rather than to sacrifice and evacuate them. Forgetting the real purpose is 'people's lives first'.

Current statistics keep increasing with a death toll of 1369, and 60,311confirmed 16067 suspected cases as at February 13, 2020 at 10:04 am.

Despite the money being given to our executives, on behalf of the Ghana Embassy in Beijing which made headlines,no one is willing to volunteer to go out and face Mr. Corona to buy masks, health logistics including water, and food for the students. Shortage of water, food supplies and other necessities in our rooms is making life difficult and unbearable. Most shops have run out of stock in the city so, with the money, you can't even get anything to buy coupled with the risk involved. My question is why don't they rather use the money to buy these items and rather ship them to us?

Meanwhile, as students complain about inadequate masks and health logistics, A minister or mayor donated boxes of masks to the government of China without thinking about the wellbeing of his futureChildren. Not even one box was labelled to be given to Ghanaians in Hubei-Wuhan since it was coming to the same location, but will rather strengthen the bilateral stance.

The government of Ghana has promised to give extra donations. Given this scenario, how long can the government of Ghana continue to give financial support which could also not be used to buy the necessary logistics due to inaccessibility? Given the current status of the COVID-19, WHO'sstatistical updates and vaccine development news, all suggest that, it will take about18 months before a permanent cure will be found.

All schools have been shut down indefinitely and some including mine, China University of Geosciences, has begun running online tuitions. So, for how long must student continue to live in anxiety and uncertainties because a head full of fear has no space for dreams.

A study found that during SARs outbreak in 2003, in Hong Kong where the crisis was severe, shared some characteristics with COVID-19. The virus was contracted by people who were staying indoors and obeying the epidemic control measures given by authorities. The study traced the extra source of the infection to be from the buildings domestic sewage system. This infected 321 people

Therefore, always staying indoors does not guarantee 100% rate of been unexposed.

The transmission routes ofcoronavirusCOVID-19, through human to human contact, contaminant surfaces and aerosol transmission. A similar mode was found in SARs, which is a mixture of the virus with droplet in the air causing infection after inhalation. Wuhan as at now, is disinfecting its immediate environs, atmosphere and public places but not considering the sewage systems. This alone is very scary.

Path of its molecules through current Wuhan weather patterns such as turbulent winds, temperature changes and unstable buoyancies will cause more contaminants to circulate in the environment.

Recent update on some local residence in Wuhan indicates that, people disinfect their rooms with ethanol and other types of disinfectants which resulted in fire outbreak due to warm temperature in those rooms. This presupposes that always staying indoors could also be a risk of being a victim of a fire outbreak. In the midst of the crises, no matter how careful one can be, someone, somewhere will carelessly do something to affect you, just like viral videos of people spitting in public place like the ATM, elevators, and even on money.etc

Schools are implementing strict measures to control the disease. These include restrictions from going out, main entrances being locked, restricted to room only, a movement to just designated places, avoiding crowded places, and washing hands often among others. In some parts of Wuhan, due to the rapid rate of confirmed and infected persons, schools and gymnasiums are being converted into hospitals to treat suspected or confirmed cases of the virus besides the newly built hospital with a capacity of 1000 beds.

Should this not be a good reason for us to be scared of the unknown as a foreigner and a reason to be evacuated? We staying indoors in Wuhan do not guarantee 100% safety for our lives.

Also as announced, after 15th February, Chinese workers will resume work meaning there will be an increase in movement of people which will lead to less sanitation and hygiene issues thereby causing more spread of fetal disease. Depicting the assertion made by WHO stating that the virus will accelerate from epidemic to pandemic.

Again, staying in Wuhan, epic centeris not a 100% guarantee to our lives and safety.

For the past few days, I have been running out of stocks of different necessities and beginning to starve. To make things worse, the Minister of Foreign affairs and the ambassador keeps on playing games with our minds. They have deceived us about evacuation and we have lost hope in Mother Ghana-increasing our anxiety and depression levels.

In addition to other national news, on 1st February, China Hunan hit by H5N1 bird flu, the recent5.0 magnitude earthquake that hit Xiaogan/Tiandian in Hubei Province on 26th December 2019and another one in Chengduin January 2020 all contributed the trauma students are facing.

For all those saying we should stay in China and not bring the virus home, mind you, till date there has not been any confirm or suspected case of COVID-19 among the Ghanaian students in China yet. Also, Many Ghanaians in different cities of China are going back to Ghana without them being quarantined and are allowed to enter the country and mingle with the populace freely. Is this not more dangerous than evacuating students from Wuhan and putting them under required quarantine for specific number of days plus they have already stay isolated for more than the incubation period of the virus which is 14 to 21days.

We all know that, Ghana has a robust health sector capable with experienced epidemiologist, security services and personnel's who can assertively analyses and detain people for health observations. Just as a national preparedness and response plan for prevention and control of the outbreak of Ebola.

Why won't mother Ghana listen to the cry of her Children in Wuhan and come to their aid?

We really acknowledge the help from both Ghana and Chinese Governments.

However, given the current situation and future risk, we call on government and other stake holders to help evacuate us from Wuhan and put us under proper quarantine at appropriate place.

I'm very disheartened, psychologically and emotionally unstable and can't focus on studies or do anything productive indoors coupled with scarce food and health logistics.

Coronavirus doesn't discriminate, so neither should you. Let humanity lead!

Evacuate Ghanaians in Hubei-Wuhan now!!!!

Thank you.



By: Sakinatu Issaka,

[email protected]
TSI Symposiums bring together travel companies for the licensing of APIs, Microservices and Data, through curated 1:1 meetings.



(TRAVPR.COM) UNITED STATES - February 17th, 2020 - TSI (Travel Startups Incubator) announced the 3rd Emerging Travel Tech Symposium on June 9, 2020 in Miami, FL at the Amadeus Executive Center. TSI Symposiums bring the leading TMC's, GDS's, OTA's, Air, Hotels, Corporates, Enterprises, Marketplaces, Platforms, Aggregators for the licensing of APIs, Microservices, Data and new technologies through curated 1:1 Meetings.

Previous companies attending have included; BCD Travel, American Express Global Business Travel, Amadeus, ARC, Balboa Travel, Acendas Travel, Traxo, Thomalex, 30SecondsToFly, Pilota, OccasionGenius, Award Wallet, Hotel Planner, Meetings.com, Radius Travel, CWT, dlocal, EY, 3Victors, Travel and Transport, nXus Software, Yappes, Airlines Technology, Sherpa, RiskLine, Cover Genius, Trip Ninja, W2M, Flight Centre Group.

One-on-one, pre-scheduled meetings. The symposium curates, quality engagements between larger travel companies and emerging travel tech startups through one-on-one appointments. Startups demo their technology, gather feedback and work towards acquiring pilots and licensing deals. There are (10) 15-minute one-on-one meetings for the larger travel companies to meet with the startups to evaluate the technology. We hold 150-175 meetings in total throughout the day.

Relationship building for pilots & licensing. The intent of the private, invite only 1-day symposium is to bring key decision makers in the TSI network in a room with startups that have technology "ready" to pilot/license". We are seeking quality vs. quantity. Larger conferences are great for learning and networking but rarely adequate for long-term relationship building.

Meaningful discussions and feedback. In addition to the one-on-one meetings there will be up to (6) startup presentations and a panel session on best practices to pilot and license technology with corporates. The goal is to facilitate product feedback on new API and microservice technology and to expedite piloting and licensing deals between parties.

Stats from the April 30, 2019 TSI Emerging Travel Tech Symposium (150) 1:1 Meetings were held. 32 companies attended, 49 attendees. The average company had 2-3 relationships being developed post the Symposium, Signed NDAs, Pilots, Licensing Deals. 1 larger travel company acquired an emerging travel tech startup due to a 1:1 meeting. 2 emerging travel tech companies were invited by larger travel companies to attend their customer appreciation day events and got their technology introduced to 100s of potential customers. Many of the travel tech startups are not only working on deals with the larger companies but are working with one another as there is alignment between everyone that attends due to our curation process.

"The TSI Travel Tech Symposium was a great success for 3Victors, a travel data service startup. The one day networking event generated multiple partnership opportunities for the near term, and many new relationships for the future. We'll definitely be back!" said Ken Cannon, 3Victors.

Dan Reagan, Atlas Travel said, "The Symposium was a great event. Being able to meet so many interesting startups in an efficient and informative way is an unusual and very beneficial opportunity."

"One of the most well organized and useful events in the travel industry. The meetings were scheduled according to interests and coupled with breaks, allowed ample opportunity to network with prospects in understanding their needs. The presentations were also very insightful" said Trideep Aggarwal, TWAI.

###
Criminal proceedings were initiated under Part 2 of Article 208 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Russia's FSB Security Service has detained a resident of occupied Crimea on suspicion of "participating in an illegal armed formation," namely the Chelebidzhikhan Battalion.

The nab has been taken into custody, Russian news agency TASS reports citing the FSB's press service.

Criminal proceedings were initiated under Part 2 of Article 208 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an illegal armed group operating on the territory of a foreign state for purposes contrary to the interests of the Russian Federation).

Read alsoZelensky: Over 200 Ukrainians held in occupied Donbas, more than 100  in Crimea and Russia

The FSB claims a man left for mainland Ukraine in 2016, where he allegedly joined the ranks of the "Crimean Tatar Volunteer Battalion named after N. Chelebidzhikhan" led by Lenur Islyamov. After returning to the peninsula, he allegedly "continued his criminal activities to participate in the battalion."
Researchers from University College London have devised a new way by which they could decipher the language cancer cells use to communicate among themselves. They found this unique method of communication between the cancer cells in organoids or collections of cells mimicking a mini organism in the lab. The study titled, "Cell-Type Specific Signaling Networks in Heterocellular Organoids," was published in the latest issue of the journal Nature Methods.

Intestinal organoid showing signaling networks within the cells

Organoids are mini-collections of cells that are created from stem cells and coaxed into growing into tiny organisms. These organoids can mimic a living system and thus are useful in studying drugs and chemicals and their actions on the cells. The organoids are also valuable 3-dimensional structures grown in the Petri dishes of the labs that can be used to study various pathological conditions, including cancers. These collection of cells are unlike a regular clump of cells but contain immune cells as well as connective tissues in addition to the cancer cells or tumor cells. The behavior of the tumor cells mimics its actual behavior in the body around other healthy cells, and immune cells explained the researchers.

The team of researchers from UCL for the first time have shown that cancer cells could be using a unique signaling system to communicate with each other. They noted that there were some signaling molecules that individuals cells had and these were also found in the miniature replicas of the tumors. They wrote that these molecules and these communications are helping the cancer cells to escape being killed by the body's immune system or the chemotherapy and other cancer treatments.

According to the team, this finding could help them develop new drugs that could help prevent the tumors from communicating with each other and thus help kill them. Response to the existing therapies could be improved, the team explained. Doctors could also help select the best possible treatment that the tumors could respond best to treatment.

The authors add that they could use these organoids to understand the tumors in the labs before selecting the best course of treatment for the cancer patient. Using this new technique of individual cell communication with others in the organoids, they could find communication or signaling molecules and tweak the molecules so that the target cells do not receive the message and escape treatment.

According to the lead researcher of the study, Dr. Chris Tape, "Organoids are already revolutionizing cancer research by allowing us to test whether experimental new drugs are effective on lifelike models of tumors. But crucially, this new technique helps scientists to understand why a treatment works or not, by revealing in unprecedented detail how cells are talking to each other."

After creating the organoids, the team used mass cytometry. Mass cytometry is a technique that can help detect and analyze proteins in a sample. These proteins were essentially the signaling molecules, wrote the researchers. They explained that immune cells release antibodies  or special proteins, to fight off the cancer cells and other foreign cells in the body. The researchers added then that they broke up the organoids into individual cells and combined the antibodies with heavy metal ions. The antibodies then bound to the cancer signaling molecules they explained. These bound molecules could now be detected easily. The team nebulized the individual cells of the organoids to convert them into a mist. The heavy metal ions were now electrically charged, and a magnetic field could be now used to separate the molecules that were bound to antibodies containing the heavy metal atoms. This helped the team identify the signaling molecules distinctly.

For this study, the team looked at bowel cancer cells and found that there were 28 different signaling molecules that were found in 6 different types of cancer cells from the samples. The team was working with over 1 million cells. The authors explained that these signaling molecules worked on the immune system and altered the regular signaling networks in such a manner than tumors could escape the immune system and grow in an uncontrolled manner.

As of now, the findings are in the experimental stage, and their specific clinical applications remain to be seen. The team is working on perfecting their technique so that the communications between the cells could be blocked, and the cancer cells become responsive to treatment once again.

Dr. Emily Armstrong, research information manager at Cancer Research UK, in her statement, said, "Having a better understanding of this complex communication between cancer cells and other types of cell that make up a tumor could reveal secrets of how cancer comes back after treatment and spreads around the body. While this technique is in the early stages of development right now, in the future we may be able to grow replicas of individual patients' tumors, to identify early signs that a drug won't work for them so we can personalize their treatment plan. We hope this could one day help more people to survive cancer."
By Sun Chenghao

The 56th Munich Security Conference (MSC) was held in Munich, Germany, from February 14 to16, during which senior defense officials and experts from various countries discussed the topic of westlessness. As an important forum on international strategy and security, the MSC is aimed at analyzing the complex challenges facing the western world, with the one this year no exception.

As the organizer says, westlessness conveys a widely perceived anxiety that stems from the uncertainty of the Wests long-term goals and the absence of a common Western stance. Its fair to say that westlessness points straight to the heart of the wests current problems. The West was a concept of frequent occurrence in the Cold War period, which then referred to the alliance mainly comprising North America and West Europe. It remained a collective concept based on those two blocs after the Cold War, and the post-WWII international order led by them laid the institutional foundation on which the west relied.

However, the profound adjustment in the US-Europe relation since Trump came into office has led to seismic changes in the western world and the international order established under its lead, and to the gradual collapse of a collective western identity. The wide-ranging divergences between the two sides have affected their relationship so deeply and extensively that the US and Europe are experiencing an identity crisis more unsettling than the one triggered by the Iraqi war in 2003. Just as the Munich Security Report 2020 pointed out, the western world itself is seriously divided regarding what is generally described as the West.

The America First strategy upheld by Trump has lent a heavy blow to the West for it discords with the wests inherent, mainstream values. In economy and trade, the Trump administration, regardless of its allies interests, has constantly tried to bend Europe through hardball diplomacy and tariff imposition. Regarding security, although Trump hasnt put his backlash against NATO into anything concrete yet, his ambiguous attitude toward Russia and aggressiveness on NATOs military expenses is anything but reassuring for the European allies. In terms of global governance and multilateral diplomacy, Americas unilateralism goes tit-for-tat against Europes multilateralism. Washington has pulled back from a number of international organizations, including UNESCO, and it goes in the opposite direction with Europe on climate change and the Iranian nuclear issue too.

The post-war international order was jointly established by the US and Europe. The former responsible for leadership and supervision, while the latter execution and maintenance. Such an order in a way forges the common interests of the two parties and endows the word West with substances. Nevertheless, now the western world, still dominated by the US and Europe, is deeply divided over how or even whether to defend the existing international order. Maintaining the post-WWII order was once the common goal of the US and Europe, but now they have fundamental conflicts and divergences on how to maintain it, exposing it to bigger challenges.

Therefore, the re-emergence of the western identity crisis has sent the current international order a much stronger shock than before. Americas unilateral launch of the Iraqi war in 2003 caused some European countries to have a collective identity crisis about the western world as they felt uneasy about the rampant Washingtons hegemony. This round of oscillation in the US-Europe relation is much different because what Europe is now concerned about is America completely negating the post-war international order and relevant mechanisms. In the eyes of Americas western allies, Trumps breach of strategic commitments has sabotaged the foundation for their strategic collaboration. Perhaps the answer to the reasons for westlessness can be found in the America First policy.

(The author is an assistant researcher at the Institute of American Studies, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations)
Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer

A man and a woman whose allegations have led to a criminal indictment against a former Montgomery County priest are behind a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston for its handling of their accused abuser.

The suit, filed Monday in federal court, also takes aim at the Vatican for allowing Manuel La Rosa-Lopez to be ordained to the priesthood in 1996, even though church leaders  including former Bishop Joseph Fiorenza  were aware as early as 1992 that he had been accused of molesting a young parishioner at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Houston.
ROME - Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said Operation Sophia "wasn't enough to block the entrance of weapons" and therefore "can no longer exist and no longer exists", speaking at the EU Foreign Affairs Council on Monday in Brussels.

"This new mission with a new mandate, brought forward here today, will make an important naval contribution that will be deployed on the eastern side of the Libyan coast, where the flow of arms arrives," Di Maio said.

"Another excellent proposal is that of blocking the mission in the event that it sets off a pull factor (encouraging migration, ed.), although this won't happen with the ships only on the east. Clearly this is why there needs to be a new mandate for this mission," Di Maio said.

Di Maio said this new mission "will one of surveillance and blocking arms".

"Being there with a mission such as this means paving the way for a ceasefire. Blocking the entrance of arms will be essential for the ceasefire. That way we will be able to set a political process in motion," Di Maio said.
The Dalton Police Department is asking for the publics help to identify a man who stole cash and financial information from a couples car while they were inside a local convenience store. When confronted by the owners of the car, the suspect gave back the money but got away with information about the couples bank accounts and other financial information. The suspect was recorded by surveillance at the store.

The incident happened on Jan. 5, at the RaceTrac gas station on West Walnut Avenue. A couple traveling to Florida from Wisconsin stopped at the gas station to refuel and visit the convenience store. When they came back out to their car, they found the suspect in the drivers seat. According to a police report, when one of the victims confronted the suspect and asked why he was in their vehicle, the suspect first said, "this is my car."

The victim told police that he saw that his wifes purse was in the suspects lap. He grabbed the purse back from the suspect and saw that that $400 that was supposed to be inside was in the suspects hand. When he confronted the suspect, he gave back the money but folded up a piece of paper and walked away toward another car parked in front of the store.

The suspect left the scene and the victim realized that a piece of paper that contained financial info about the couples bank accounts and investments was missing from inside their vehicle. They contacted all of their financial institutions and continued on their trip, reporting the incident to police by phone the next day.



The suspect was recorded by the stores surveillance system inside the store just before he entered the victims vehicle. He is a white male described by witnesses as being in his late 30s or early 40s, standing approximately 59 tall with reddish brown hair and wearing a long sleeved black or navy blue T-shirt, tan pants, glasses and a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga ballcap. After the confrontation with the victims, the suspect left in a gold colored Ford Fusion.



Anyone who recognizes this suspect is asked to contact Detective Matthew Kumnick at 706 278-9085, dial 9 and enter ext. 224.


Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Vadym Prystaiko notes that the change of Ukrainian investigators in the case of the crash of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 in 2014 is planned and will not affect the upcoming lawsuit in The Hague.

"As for the investigators, this is a well-known problem that exists with the shift, rotation of investigators. I assure you that the Prosecutor General, investigators of the SBU and the Prosecutor General's Office, who are involved in this case, ... the authorities know: the issue is being considered, but it happens in the context of regular rotation. Not all investigators leave, there are investigators who were involved, accumulated materials (...)," he told reporters a briefing at the Boryspil Airport on Monday.

Prystaiko assured that the Ukrainian side would provide all necessary assistance to the Dutch side, which is investigating the case of MH17.

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 traveling from Amsterdam (the Netherlands) to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) was downed over Donbas on July 17, 2014. None of the 298 people on board survived the crash. Later it became known that the plane was downed by a surface-to-air missile fired by a Buk air defense system from the territory uncontrolled by the Ukrainian government.
Two Nigerian gay men who celebrated their third Valentine together last week, took to social media to pen down a post on how difficu...





Two Nigerian gay men who celebrated their third Valentine together last week, took to social media to pen down a post on how difficult it was for them to come out as gay men.





According to @danyomi, he and his boyfriend almost gave in to societal pressure of marrying women even though they were based in a country where homosexuality was legalized. They also expressed happiness of being able to explore their love together.





Read their post below;








In addition, Collins Aerospace announced it is committing $100,000 to DiscoverE, the founding organization for 'Introduce a Girl to Engineering' for the continued support of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education. The donation is part of the company's 'Redefining Futures' Corporate Social Responsibility program rolled out in 2019.

"Building diversity is central to the mission of DiscoverE," said Leslie Collins, executive director for DiscoverE. "The commitment being made by Collins Aerospace will have a direct and lasting impact on the lives of countless girls seeking opportunities STEM and engineering. We are deeply grateful for this support as it will enable us to significantly expand our vision now and in the future."

"We know that diverse organizations perform better as a result of everyone contributing different perspectives," said Dr. Mauro Atalla, senior vice president, Engineering and Technology for Collins Aerospace. "Women are underrepresented in STEM-related fields, but by encouraging girls to explore STEM fields at a young age, we can move the needle. We hope to spark their curiosity by sharing our knowledge and experience through engaging activities, which is why events like these are so important."

In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, students will learn from engineering mentors, participate in hands-on activities from flying a drone to flying a plane in a flight simulator. In Winston Salem, North Carolina, participants will get to experience super first class aircraft suites through a virtual and augmented reality demonstration, participate in a tour of an engineering design lab and work together in teams to design a structure that teaches them about lightweight structural design for safe impact absorption. And in Wilsonville, Oregon, students will get to see and experience the F-35 helmet, learn about the technology behind a Head-up Display (HUD) for aircraft and participate in an engineering activity constructing circuits and LEGO machines. These are just some of the activities that will give young female students a first-hand look at the importance and impact engineering careers can have in our lives.

"Young girls need strong role models and to see individuals who look like them working in STEM fields," said Stacey MacNeil, chief communications officer for Collins Aerospace. "With over 70,000 employees around the world, 16,000 of which are engineers, we are uniquely positioned to offer these opportunities. By hosting events like Introduce a Girl to Engineering, we can engage and inspire the next generation of innovators while also working to achieve greater diversity in the engineering workforce."

To learn more about the Collins Aerospace locations participating download the fact sheet.

About Collins Aerospace

Collins Aerospace, a unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX), is a leader in technologically advanced and intelligent solutions for the global aerospace and defense industry. Created in 2018 by bringing together UTC Aerospace Systems and Rockwell Collins, Collins Aerospace has the capabilities, comprehensive portfolio and expertise to solve customers' toughest challenges and to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving global market. For more information, visit CollinsAerospace.com.

About United Technologies Corporation

United Technologies Corp., based in Farmington, Connecticut, provides high-technology systems and services to the building and aerospace industries. By combining a passion for science with precision engineering, the company is creating smart, sustainable solutions the world needs. For more information about the company, visit our website at www.utc.com or follow us on Twitter: @UTC.

SOURCE Collins Aerospace
The fresh grocer is closing its store at 4100 Walnut in University City after a protracted legal battle with the University of Pennsylvania, it was announced on February 17, 2020. . . Read more

Fresh Grocer will close its University City location next month after losing a nearly four-year-legal battle with the University of Pennsylvania.

The fight began in April 2016, when Penn  the stores landlord  said the neighborhood staple did not renew its lease in a timely fashion, and terminated the lease. Penn asked Fresh Grocer to leave by the time the lease was set to expire, in March 2017.

But in December 2016, Fresh Grocer sued the university, saying it wrongfully terminated the lease. The suit was ultimately unsuccessful.

The store said it would place employees of its West Philadelphia location, which has been open since 2001, at other local outposts, and no workers will lose jobs.

With the forthcoming closing of the Fresh Grocers 40th and Walnut Streets location, we remain committed to the community and look forward to providing a first-class supermarket experience and source of local employment via our other nearby Fresh Grocer locations, Karen OShea, Fresh Grocer spokesperson, said in a news release.

Penn did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The university has not confirmed a new tenant after Fresh Grocer closes.

After Fresh Grocer closes, the closest full-service supermarket to the store site will be Supremo Food Market at 43rd and Walnut Streets. An Aldi is at 46th and Market.

The distance between grocery stores highlights the problem of food deserts in Philadelphia. The Department of Agriculture says neighborhoods where many residents live a half-mile or more from a supermarket are areas of concern.

While Center City has less of a problem, with access to larger supermarkets, many of the communities that border the Schuylkill and the Delaware River are areas of concern, according to the Department of Agriculture.

Although the Fresh Grocer site does not fall into one of these food deserts, it sits three blocks from the edge of one that encompasses a large section of the city west of the Schuylkill.

Though full-service supermarkets are at a premium in Philadelphia, small-scale grocery stores are on the rise. Giant has three relatively new mini stores in the city, including one in University City, called Giant Heirloom Markets. These smaller storefronts are designed to fit in compact urban environments.

Southwest Center City and Northern Liberties also have Heirlooms, and the company plans to add one in Queen Village.

Fresh Grocer has six other stores in the city. OShea said that the company is partnering with Lyft to offer free rides home to customers who shop at the stores other locations.

The University of Pennsylvania has acknowledged our willingness to open a supermarket in University City in 2001 at a time when many other operators were unwilling to take that risk, OShea said.
A Virginia state senate committee voted on Monday to delay a bill that would have banned the sale of certain semi-automatic weapons, in a significant setback for gun-control measures pushed by Governor Ralph Northam.

Four moderate Democrats joined Republicans on the State Judiciary Committee to delay the bill for one year, while the states crime commission will study the issue. Gun-rights advocates who had packed the spectators area of the committee room cheered the vote.

The bill in question, known as HB961, would have banned the sale of semi-automatic rifles it considered assault weapons, including the popular AR-15 rifle, as well as the possession of magazines with a capacity over 12 rounds. Previous attempts to enact an assault weapons ban have also failed to clear the State Judiciary Committee.

Virginias House of Delegates passed HB961 by a vote of 51-48 on Tuesday. The legislation formed a central part of Governor Northams agenda, which includes stricter gun control and easing access to abortion in the state.

Northams legislative push comes after Democrats took control of both chambers of the Virginia legislature for the first time since 1994. Democratic lawmakers have introduced so many bills that congressional sessions have often extended late into the night to process the backlog, while some lawmakers have struggled with procedural issues after being shut out of power for decades.

The gun-control push has galvanized gun rights advocates, who have turned out en masse at the Virginia Capitol to protest Northams legislation.

More from National Review
[February 17, 2020] ABS, the Royal Canadian Navy, and Defence Research & Development Canada Launch Digital Asset Framework Pilot

ABS today announced it is engaged in a pilot program with the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN (News - Alert)) and Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) to deliver the ABS Digital Asset Framework for the RCN's Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200217005014/en/ The HCMS Saskatoon (Photo: Business Wire) The ABS (News - Alert) Digital Asset Framework forms the foundation of a broader Conditioned-Based Class program that transforms ship classification from a calendar-based schedule to a condition-based model. The project, which will start with HMCS Saskatoon, will support the RCN's larger Digital Navy Initiative. "ABS is a leader in delivering condition-based maintenance data services in maritime nd offshore applications, and we are proud that the RCN have chosen to work with us on this landmark project," said Christopher J. Wiernicki, ABS Chairman, President and CEO. "Through our digital programs for commercial and government clients, we are seeing first-hand the power of these technologies to drive improved asset performance and operational safety."



In the pilot program, a network of data models will be generated from a suite of ABS digital solutions which include advanced condition analysis tools. This network of data models will support the execution of an integrity management program developed specifically for the RCN. The multi-year pilot program will enable the RCN to monitor the condition of the vessel throughout its remaining service life using digital twin technology and advanced ABS analytics to identify anomalies, guiding inspection and maintenance planning.

ABS digital solutions that will be applied during this pilot program include:  A vessel-specific structural sensor plan designed for measurement of global hull response  Hull sensor pre-processing and data quality checks  Hull and operational data dashboard visualizations  Full structural digital twin creation and analytics  RAM (News - Alert) Analysis Together, the digital solutions offer greater access to vessel-wide intelligence providing a more holistic view of structural health and the condition of on-board equipment. This allows the RCN to plan future maintenance actions based on the actual condition of the vessel. About ABS ABS, a leading global provider of classification and technical advisory services to the marine and offshore industries, is committed to setting standards for safety and excellence in design and construction. Focused on safe and practical application of advanced technologies and digital solutions, ABS works with industry and clients to develop accurate and cost-effective compliance, optimized performance and operational efficiency for marine and offshore assets. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200217005014/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Surjewala said Gandhi's move of tearing the ordinance brought by the Congress-led government to allow those convicted in criminal cases to contest elections was a courageous step.

New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi or the Congress can never think of disrespecting former prime minister Manmohan Singh, the party said on Monday defending Gandhi's act of tearing a copy of an ordinance in 2013.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said Gandhi's move of tearing the ordinance brought by the UPA government to allow those convicted in criminal cases to contest elections was a courageous step.

His reaction came after former Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said after the Rahul Gandhi ordinance-trashing episode of 2013, Singh had asked him whether he thought he should resign as prime minister.

"I do not know what was discussed between the two people. But, Rahul Gandhi has considered Dr Manmohan Singh as his guru and guide, neither Rahul Gandhi nor the Congress party can even think of disrespecting him," Surjewala told reporters.

He said when all parties in Parliament were with a majority trying to pass a legislation to grant pardon to all those who had cases against them, at that time one political leader displayed the strength to rise above party level in a bid to clean politics.

"The issue is not tearing the paper but the issue is of clean politics and criminals should remain in politics," he said.

The Supreme Court had a day before the ordinance-trashing episode had issued directions to all parties to make public the cases against a candidate, Surjewala said.

The former deputy chairman of the now-defunct Planning Commission, Ahluwalia had said he told Singh, who was then on a visit to the US, that he did not think a resignation on this issue was appropriate.

In a major embarrassment to his own government, Gandhi had denounced the controversial ordinance brought by the UPA dispensation to negate a Supreme Court verdict on convicted lawmakers. He had termed it as "complete nonsense" that should be "torn up and thrown away".

Singh, while returning home from the US, had ruled out his resignation though he appeared piqued over the entire episode.

"I was part of the prime minister's delegation in New York and my brother Sanjeev, who had retired from the IAS, telephoned to say he had written a piece that was very critical of the PM. He had emailed it to me and said he hoped I didn't find it embarrassing," recalled Ahluwalia.
Homegrown hotel chain operator Oyo Rooms, also known as Oyo Homes & Hotels, reported over six-fold jump in its consolidated loss at $335 million during financial year 2018-19, weighed down by higher operating expenses and rise in costs due to expansion in multiple geographies. The SoftBank-backed company had posted consolidated net loss of $52 million in FY18.

The figures were in line with the company's "provisional financials" filed by it with the Registrar of Companies in November last year.

The Gurgaon-headquartered company, however, reported an over four-fold jump in its revenue at $951 million for FY19, as against $211 million in the previous year.

"The inherent costs of establishing new markets, including those related to talent, market-entry, operational expenses among others, resulted in an increase in OYO's net loss percentage in the near-term, which grew from 25 per cent in FY18 to 35 per cent of revenue in FY19 to $335 million," news agency IANS quoted the company as saying.

Founded by Ritesh Agarwal, the six-year-old start-up said that China and other international markets contributed about 75 per cent, or $252 million, to total loss posted in FY19. In India, the company's loss declined to $83 million, or 14 per cent of revenue in FY19. In FY18, the net losses stood at 24 per cent of its revenue.

Oyo's revenue from India stood at $604 million in fiscal 2018-19. Outside India, primarily China, the company's revenue stood at $348 million, which was 36.5 per cent of the total revenue.

Also Read: Oyo cuts staff strength by about 2,000, exits 200 cities as part of restructuring

"In mature markets like India, the focus of the company is to maintain strong brand preference while ensuring we have a clear path to profitability, enabled by accretive growth, operational excellence and strong gross margin. In this context, this FY19, business operations in India contributed to nearly 63.5 per cent or $604 million of this consolidated figure as the business clocked a 2.9x (y-o-y) growth," it said.

The company, which currently operates over 43,000 hotels with over a million rooms in 800 cities in 80 nations, said its expansion in China and other international markets contributed to net loss percentage in the near-term, which grew from 25 per cent in FY18 to 35 per cent of revenue in FY19.

Also Read: When Oyo's founder Ritesh Agarwal refused to talk about the dinosaur in the room

As per reports, Oyo has cut its workforce by 15-20 per cent in India and about 5 per cent in China - its two main markets out of the 80-odd countries where it operates. Last month, Rohit Kapoor, CEO (India and South Asia) at Oyo Hotels & Homes, told Business Today that about 2,000 people have been laid off in the Indian operations. In addition, the hotel chain has exited from nearly 200 cities in India, and is currently focussing on 400 cities.

Currently, Oyo largely operates under three models - franchisee, leased and owned assets. The rooms under the franchisee model accounts for the largest number of its inventory of nearly 3 lakh rooms in India. In this model, Oyo takes full inventory of rooms from the hotel owners, and generates demand for them. In some instances, partners have accused Oyo of following unfair business practices.

By Chitranjan Kumar
The on Monday said several terrorist groups continue to benefit from funds raised through illegal activities and from supporters worldwide despite the terror financing watchdog tightening the standards on flow of money.

India has maintained that extends regular support to terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Hizbul Mujahideen, whose prime target is India, and has urged to take action against Islamabad.

The week-long Financial Action Task Force plenary, currently on in Paris, will decide Pakistan's fate -- whether it will continue in the FATF's 'Grey List', or will be put in the 'Black List' or escape from listing.

Without naming Pakistan, the said in a statement that use various methods to gain financing, including using social media to identify new followers and to solicit financial or other forms of material support.

Individuals sympathetic to humanitarian causes or vulnerable to violent messaging are often targeted, it said.

"The FATF has tightened its standards on terrorist financing which has helped disrupt access to funds for groups such as ISIL and Al-Qaida. However, various groups still benefit from funds raised through illegal activity and from supporters worldwide," the Paris headquartered FATF said.

The FATF said it is monitoring terrorist financing risks and works to help authorities trace funding to strengthen prosecutions.

"The FATF is also monitoring illicit financing via new payment methods, such as cryptocurrencies," it said.

The plenary is examining the money laundering and terrorist financing risks that countries face to set and promote global standards to tackle these risks.

Last week, an anti-terrorism court in sentenced Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attack and founder of LeT, to 11 years in two terror financing cases.

The move came just four days ahead of the FATF Paris plenary.

Saeed, a UN designated terrorist on whom the US has placed a USD 10 million bounty, was arrested on July 17, 2019 in the terror financing cases. The 70-year-old fiery cleric is lodged at the high-security Kot Lakhpat jail in

Pakistan has also recently informed FATF that JeM founder Masood Azhar and his family are "missing".

Pakistan has claimed that there were only 16 U.N. designated in Pakistan, of which "seven are dead".

Out of the nine who are alive, seven had applied to the UN for exemption from financial and travel restrictions.

Pakistan needs 12 votes out of 39 to exit the 'Grey List' and move to 'White List'. To avoid 'Black List', it needs support of three countries.

In the last month's FATF meeting in Beijing, Pakistan has got support of Malaysia and Turkey besides FATF current chair China.

The FATF plenary held in October 2019 had noted that Pakistan addressed only five out of the 27 tasks given to it in controlling funding to terror groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen, responsible for a series of attacks in India.

The FATF had said it strongly urges Pakistan to swiftly complete its full action plan by February, 2020.

In the Beijing meeting, Pakistan provided a list of its action taken to comply with FATF directions.

Pakistan was placed on the 'Grey List' by the FATF in June, 2018 and was given a plan of action to complete it by October, 2019 or face the risk of being placed on the 'Black List' along with Iran and North Korea.

The FATF is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the financial system.

The FATF currently has 39 members including two regional organisations -- the European Commission and Gulf Cooperation Council. India is a member of the FATF consultations and its Asia Pacific Group.

If Pakistan continues with the 'Grey List', it will be difficult for the country to get financial aid from the IMF, World Bank, ADB and the European Union, thus further enhancing problems for the nation which is in a precarious financial situation.
Line Of Duty stars Adrian Dunbar and Martin Compston have been pictured on set as filming starts on the new series of the police drama.

The sixth instalment of Jed Mercurios hit thriller is due to air later this year.

A tweet from the BBC press office said: Mother. Of. God. First look images released as filming begins on series six of #LineOfDuty.

Mother. Of. God. First look images released as filming begins on series six of #LineOfDuty: https://t.co/v3rV72Oseh pic.twitter.com/9BpcLHPm39  BBC Press Office (@bbcpress) February 17, 2020

The new series is set a year and a half on from the events of series five and will feature a brand new case for AC-12, focused on an enigmatic detective chief inspector.

It has already been announced Kelly Macdonald will star as the DCI in question  Joanne Davidson  a senior investigating officer on an unsolved murder case.

Series leads Dunbar, Compston and Vicky McClure will all return. for the cop drama, which is filmed in and around Belfast.

Kelly Macdonald is joining the Line Of Duty cast (Ian West/PA)

Other newcomers will include Shalom Brune-Franklin, Perry Fitzpatrick, Andi Osho and Prasanna Puwanarajah.

The fifth series of the popular police procedural aired last year, with Stephen Graham in the guest lead role as Detective Sergeant John Corbett.

Its final episode drew more than nine million viewers in May, making it the most-watched drama since Mercurios Bodyguard, which aired in 2018.

The new series of Line Of Duty will premiere on BBC One later this year.

All previous series are available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
AUSTIN, Texas and BROOKLYN, N.Y., Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, PullRequest, Inc., the world's first code review as a service company, announced that they had acquired the Brooklyn-based remote developer hiring platform Moonlight ( www.moonlightwork.com ). Founded in 2017, Moonlight created a platform for remote developers to integrate into companies looking for expertise on software development projects. In the summer of 2019, Moonlight raised a pre-seed round of financing from investors, including Goldcrest Capital, Haystack Ventures, and Fathom Capital.

Moonlight's Brooklyn Office PullRequest Logo In Office

As the PullRequest AI product has matured from identifying issues within codebases to proactively fixing them, it was a natural fit to acquire a platform targeting end-to-end development. As a milestone, this brings the total number of AI-assisted developers in the PullRequest network to over 10,000. Moonlight co-founders Emma Lawler and Philip Thomas will be joining PullRequest as Head of Design and Head of Growth, respectively.

"Partnering will make it easier for PullRequest subscribers to write new code faster, and for Moonlight clients to trust the contributions of contractors," says Emma Lawler. The network has paid over $1m to developers for short-term contract work at companies ranging from startups to Cloudflare.

Added Anna Patterson, Managing Director of Gradient Ventures and PullRequest board member: "We're excited about the growing opportunity of on-demand code review. Integrating the Moonlight product and team with _pullrequest will help shape the future direction of the platform."

About PullRequest, Inc: PullRequest is a code review as a service company based in Austin, TX. Founded in 2017, PullRequest has reviewed code for thousands of developers. After participating in Y Combinator's Summer 2017 cohort, PullRequest raised seed and Series A funding from a group of investors led by Gradient, Google's artificial intelligence fund. As a startup, they have won numerous awards, including the Austin Chamber of Commerce A-List Growth category.

Media Contact:

Lyal Avery

833-785-5737

[email protected]

SOURCE PullRequest

Related Links

http://www.moonlightwork.com


Debbie Abrahams hoped to visit family, but was rejected and said she was treated with hostility at the airport.

Indian officials have denied entry to a British legislator who chairs a parliamentary group focused on the disputed region of Kashmir, after she landed at New Delhis Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Debbie Abrahams, a Labour MP who was visiting family, was unable to clear customs on Monday after her valid Indian visa was rejected.

Abrahams and Harpreet Upal, her aide, arrived at the airport in India on an Emirates flight from Dubai in the morning.

After presenting her documents, an official looked at his screen and started shaking his head, Abrahams said in a statement.

The official then informed her the visa was rejected and left the desk for 10 minutes, she said.

When he came back, he was very rude and aggressive.

She then called a relative, who contacted the British High Comission seeking support.

Just to be clear, I have Indian relatives who I was meant to be visiting with and have Indian members of staff accompanying me, Abhrahams later tweeted. The reason I got into politics is advance social justice and human rights for all. I will continue to challenge my own government and others on these issues.

A spokesman for Indias foreign ministry did not immediately comment.

Kashmir crackdown

Abrahams has been an MP since 2011 and is an outspoken critic of the Indian governments move last August, stripping Kashmir of its semi-autonomy and demoting it from a state to a federal territory.

Shortly after the changes to Kashmirs status were passed by Indias Parliament, Abrahams wrote a letter to Indias High Commissioner to the UK, saying the action betrays the trust of the people of Kashmir.

Access to the region remains tight, with no foreign journalists allowed.

The Muslim-majority Himalayan region is claimed by India and archrival Pakistan and has been in turmoil since the crackdown.

India said it has since eased those restrictions, and restored limited internet connectivity last month, ending one of the worlds longest such shutdowns in a democracy.

191102184856242

Kashmir is heralding the restoration of limited, slow-speed internet as a step towards normalcy, but for the regions 7 million people, the reality is far different. They are only allowed to access government-approved websites.

More than two dozen diplomats visited Indian-administered Kashmir last week, as India to reassure foreign allies following several months of unrest.

The group included European diplomats, some of whom declined a previous invitation from New Delhi to visit the region.

If things are fine in #Kashmir, shouldn't the Govt encourage critics to witness the situation themselves to put their fears to rest? Instead of conducting tours for pliant MEPs &polite Ambassadors alone, surely the head of a ParliamentaryGroup on the subject is worth cultivating? https://t.co/vMtcAXCDb9  Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) February 17, 2020

Representatives from several countries, including Germanys ambassador Walter Lindner, were pictured on a traditional wooden shikara boat on Dal Lake, in Kashmirs main city of Srinagar.

Last month fifteen foreign envoys visited Kashmir  a trip participants characterised as tightly-choreographed with no room for independent meetings.

A proposed vote in the European Union Parliament next month, which was delayed, could chastise India for its actions in Kashmir.
Three tourists from West Bengal were rescued from the Ganga in Uttarakhand's Rishikesh after they were stranded on a dry patch in the river, police said on Monday.

The tourists were stuck there due to a sudden rise in the water level, they said.

Police sprang into action immediately and rescued them with the help of ropes and rafts, Muni ki Reti police station in-charge R K Saklani said.

When the police team reached the spot near the Poornanand ghat, three men were seen stranded on a thin patch of dry land slightly above the surface of the river, he said.

Police personnel wearing life jackets reached the spot on rafts and brought them back with the help of ropes, Saklani said.

When the tourist waded into the river, the water level was low but when they walked downstream for a while, it rose all of a sudden, causing panic.

They somehow reached the dry patch of the land and raised an alarm, catching the attention of passersby who informed police, the official said.

The tourists have been identified as Gautam Majumdar and Sushil Haldar from 26 Parganas of Kolkata and Konand Chakraborty from Jalpaiguri.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
General Motors (NYSE:GM) said that it will shut down its operations in Australia and New Zealand and sell a factory in Thailand as it continues to rework its allocation of capital to opportunities around the world.

The moves should benefit GM's return on invested capital over time. But by retreating from key Asia Pacific markets, GM is also giving up an important component of its long-standing global diversification strategy -- and it's spending some real money to do so.

What GM said about its Asia Pacific restructuring

Here are the key points of GM's latest restructuring announcement:

GM will shut down its sales, design, and engineering operations in Australia and New Zealand, and will retire Holden, its longtime Australian brand, by the end of 2021.

GM has signed an agreement to sell its factory in Rayong, Thailand, to Chinese automaker Great Wall Motors OTC:GWLLF)

These moves will result in one-time charges totaling $1.1 billion, including about $300 million in net cash charges. (The remainder will be write-offs and other noncash accounting charges.)

GM said that the majority of these charges will be taken against its first-quarter earnings, with the remainder coming later in 2020.

The end of Holden is a big deal in Australia

It may not resonate with Americans, but for auto investors and enthusiasts Down Under, the imminent demise of Holden is a big deal. To Australians, Holden is GM, and has been since GM acquired the local automaker in 1921. As with Chevrolet in the United States, there's a long list of classic Holdens beloved by enthusiasts, and the brand has a lot of local goodwill.

Even after GM shut down Holden's local Australian factory in 2014, local fans retained hope that GM would continue to create special models for the brand. But the financial reality is stark: While nobody wanted to retire a brand beloved by enthusiasts, Holden isn't profitable enough to justify continued investment, GM president Mark Reuss said.

"At the highest levels of our company we have the deepest respect for Holden's heritage and contribution to our company and to the countries of Australia and New Zealand," said Reuss. "After considering many possible options -- and putting aside our personal desires to accommodate the people and the market -- we came to the conclusion that we could not prioritize further investment over all other considerations we have in a rapidly changing global industry."

GM's moves in Thailand are part of a larger international rethink

The story in Thailand is simpler. GM's factory in Rayong is operating well below capacity, meaning that it isn't profitable, and without local manufacturing, the Chevrolet brand can't profitably compete in Thailand's domestic market.

Steve Kiefer, the president of GM's international unit, said that the decision to sell the Rayong factory and withdraw from Thailand builds on earlier moves in Asia, including GM's decision to sell a factory in India and restructure its extensive operations in South Korea.

GM International, which includes the company's Asia Pacific operations as well as its South American business, lost $202 million in 2019, versus a profit of $423 million in 2018. Kiefer said that efforts to improve profitability in South America are continuing.

The upshot: A more profitable GM, but a smaller one, too

Not long ago, GM was proud of the fact that it sold vehicles in almost every country in the world. But under CEO Mary Barra, GM has largely retreated from Europe, Russia, Japan, and India, as it seeks to generate the best possible return on its invested capital.

Now, GM is adding Australia, New Zealand, and Thailand to the list of places where it doesn't see a profitable opportunity to participate in the local market. As it does in Europe and Japan, GM will continue to offer a small number of high-margin imported vehicles in Australia and New Zealand after Holden shuts down next year -- but those vehicles won't wear Holden nameplates, and they won't sell in anything like the volumes that Holden generated in its heyday.

Put another way, Barra is betting that GM can generate the best returns by focusing most of its efforts (and capital) on North America, China, South Korea, and Latin America. As of right now, that looks like a good bet -- but only time will tell.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 17:10:23|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

by Xinhua writer Wang Zichen

BRUSSELS, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- While Washington continues to spin certain Chinese tech companies as data thieves with no solid evidence, new leaks detailing how U.S. intelligence, via rigged Swiss products, secretly intercepted classified government communications for decades have unmasked the real thief.

According to the classified documents obtained by U.S. and German media, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), along with former West German intelligence which later exited the partnership, fronted a Swiss firm in secret to sell encryption devices to more than 120 countries, and by rigging the machines, the spy agencies were able to easily break the codes that unwitting customers used to send encrypted messages.

For decades, and well into the 21st century, Rubicon, as the CIA operation became known, ran so wide and deep that The Washington Post said it "ranks among the most audacious in CIA history." At some times, even the Germans "were taken aback by the Americans' willingness to spy on all but their closest allies," The Washington Post revealed. In a ruthless way, Washington harvested money and secrets, at the expense of credibility and trust.

A nation sets up covert vulnerabilities or lets them loose in communications equipment it makes or controls, enabling espionage into clandestine and sensitive messages it covets. Does this sound familiar? It has been the main point Washington holds to shut out telecoms devices made by some Chinese tech companies from as many places around the world as possible.

The leak caught Washington's global lobby off guard. While persuading even its closest allies in Europe to shut out Chinese tech companies from their 5G networks, Washington has seen the ruin of its own making.

Insidious as Operation Rubicon was, its revelation was not that surprising. As The Washington Post noted, "its reach and duration help to explain how the United States developed an insatiable appetite for global surveillance that was exposed in 2013 by Edward Snowden."

Though it is unknown whether the U.S. government is running other eavesdropping programs, suspicion is rising.

The latest incident only makes Washington's smear campaign against Chinese tech companies like a thief crying "Stop thief."

Next time Washington considers lecturing others on eavesdropping and being a threat to national security, it had better evaluate its own records first.
Virginia lawmakers blocked a ban on sales of assault weapons as part of a package of gun control measures that Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam had promised and gun owners have fought fiercely to defeat.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Monday to hit pause on the House bill that would ban the sales of some semiautomatic firearms and ban the possession of magazines with more than 12 rounds and some firearm accessories.

With four moderate Democrats joining Republicans, the committee voted to defer a vote until 2021 and asked the state crime commission to study the issue.

The bill's temporary defeat is a blow to Northam's and Democrats' policy agenda, which has featured a slew of liberal measures passing both legislative houses, including other gun control regulations.

"While the governor is disappointed in todays vote, he fully expects the Crime Commission to give this measure the detailed review that senators called for. We will be back next year," Northam's spokeswoman Alena Yarmosky said.

Sen. Scott Surovell, one of the Democrats who sided with Republicans in the vote, said he supported the idea of increasing regulations of assault rifles but that the bill had "numerous issues that needed to be refined."

Surovell also cited limited time in the General Assembly's legislative session and wanting to focus on "legislation that can pass this session."

"We will focus on assault rifles next session when we have more time after the Crime Commission has come up with a more workable product," Surovell said in a statement.

The national gun debate has centered on Virginia after Democrats won control of both houses in November and Northam, embroiled in scandal a year ago over a yearbook photo showing blackface, remained in office.

Gun rights advocates and militia members gather in Virginia's capitol to protest potential gun control bills.

Democrats argued that the ban and other gun control measures would make Virginians safer. They also worked to dispel myths that Northam would call on state authorities to confiscate firearms.

Story continues

However, the assault weapon sales ban drew the strongest pushback from Republicans and groups of gun owners who saw it as an affront to the Second Amendment.

Just weeks after the newly-elected General Assembly took office, a rally of thousands of gun supporters gathered in Richmond to show their opposition to the bills. Many openly carried assault-style weapons as alleged threats of violence prompted Northam to declare a state of emergency and ban weapons on the state Capitol's grounds. The rally was peaceful and went on without incident.

In an email to supporters, the Virginia Citizens Defense League, which organized the Richmond rally, declared the Judiciary Committee's decision a "victory" and vowed to continue to fight against the bill.

"Next year, the battle will continue, but if we fight like we did this year, vote in every election and support pro-gun candidates, we will continue to be a force to be reckoned with. We dare not get complacent again," the email said.

Supporters of the bill also promised not to back down.

"This was not the outcome we wanted, but (the Senate Judiciary Committee) can rest assured that they will hear from us, from advocates and from everyday Virginians in the intervening months about why we need to ban assault weapons in Virginia," said Kris Brown, president of gun-control group the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

Earlier proposals included stricter regulations, including banning the possession of assault weapons or requiring owners to register them with state police.

Several gun control measures are still being considered in Virginia's legislature for passage this year. The House and Senate have both passed their own versions of five bills, which include a universal background check on gun purchases, a limit on handgun purchases to once a month and a so-called "red flag" rule, allowing authorities to temporarily take away firearms from anyone deemed a danger to themselves or others.

The two bills that passed in the House, but the Senate did not approve its own versions of, involve rules around reporting of lost or stolen firearms and storage of firearms around children.

Contributing: The Associated Press

Follow USA TODAY's Ryan Miller on Twitter @RyanW_Miller

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Virginia Senate blocks assault weapons sale ban Northam had promised
Three men are currently in custody after they allegedly targeted and robbed several gay men in the Northern Division.

The suspects, who are all between the ages of 18 and 22, would join chatrooms and websites for homosexual men, and contact their intended victims.
Novel coronavirus: India Inc has found itself in the soup as supplies from China are gradually drying up due to the outbreak of coronavirus. Mobile phones, pharmaceuticals, auto parts and insecticides are some of sectors that could suffer due to the shortage in supplies.

The government is reworking the supply chain, as mentioned in a report in Business Standard. However, it is still unclear on how the shortfall can be met in the near future. While officials have pointed out that this is the time for India to scale up its manufacturing capabilities, they have also acknowledged that the process would take some time.

Not only the shortage in supplies, the government is also tackling the issue of bureaucratic procedures related to imports. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday that the government is undertaking certain measures to ensure that import of certain items are exempted from documentation so that consignments from China are cleared fast, as mentioned in the daily. The report stated that Chinese officials are unable to provide the necessary paperwork for cross-border trade in the wake of the coronavirus epidemic.

Also read: Coronavirus outbreak: Shutdown in China may hit India's toy business

The minister said that the government is studying the sectors and ports to provide relief from paperwork.

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs also said that they feared that huge consignments are stuck in ports because of a delay in clearances. The importers are also paying demurrage charges, which has hiked up the cost for them. Demurrage charges are paid by importers when they do not take delivery of the entire consignment and move it out of the port within permissible number of free days.

Also read: Coronavirus scare in India: Shortage of China-made sprinklers may dampen Holi celebrations

According to Confederation of Indian Industry, China supplies 43 per cent of India's imports of the top 20 goods including mobile handsets, computers, fertilisers, pharma ingredient API, and antibiotics.

The Finance Ministry is scheduled to hold a meeting on Tuesday to assess the impact of coronavirus to the country's trade of Make in India initiative. "On the impact of Coronavirus Outbreak and any disruptions to Make in India or to Indian export/import FinMinIndia is scheduled to hold a meeting on Tuesday 18 Feb. Stakeholders welcome. If unable to attend please email your inputs at fmo@nic.in," tweeted FM Sitharaman on Sunday.

Also read: Coronavirus outbreak: China shutdown to hit Indian drug manufacturers

Also read: Why coronavirus outbreak can cause smartphone, TV prices to go up
Former Haryana minister and Congress leader Chaudhary Khurshid Ahmed passed away on Monday at the age of 84, party sources said.

Ahmed was elected to the Haryana Vidhan Sabha on five occasions and served as a minister in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

He was also elected to the Lok Sabha from Faridabad.

His son Aftab Ahmed represents Nuh in the state Assembly.

Senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda rushed to Nuh after learning about Ahmed's demise, a party release said.

It also said Congress MLAs from Haryana, who were meeting at Hooda's residence here ahead of the pre-budget meeting organised by the state government in Panchkula, observed a two-minute silence for the departed leader.

Hooda recalled the contributions made by Ahmed to the party and society, and said in his demise, the Congress has lost a "leader of the masses".

He also described Ahmed as one of the tallest leaders from Mewat.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar also expressed grief over Ahmed's demise.

In a condolence message issued here, Khattar said Khurshid Ahmed was the senior leader and as a minister, he held important portfolios.

The chief minister conveyed his heartfelt condolences to the members of the bereaved family.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Premier-designate Ludovic Orban said on Monday that, according to estimates, capping the pay of public office holders has saved the budget over 1.2 billion lei.

"As regards the capping of wages, we didn't cap just the pays for mayors and deputy mayors, but for all those who collect benefits for public dignity office: MPs, ministers, the President of Romania, me as Prime Minister. And the result are over 1,200,000,000 lei in budget savings, according to the estimates we made. Which is not a trifle," Orban told the meeting of the General Assembly of the Association of Communes of Romania.

He added that expenses such as "subsidies, wage increases in the public sector, increases of budget allocations without a very serious substantiation" need to be cut to allow the allocation of financial resources for investments.

"The budget is in an extremely serious situation. Expenses have been piling up for years, in absence of the necessary revenues to support them. Even now, after having a budget deficit of 4.6 percent in cash terms and 4 percent in ESA terms, Parliament - which has entered election campaign mode and imagines they'll get the people's vote only if they pass such laws - has bills appearing every week, which generate additional expenses and reduce revenues. The latest is the income tax break for journalists," Orban said.

He pointed out that there are currently no guarantees that child allowances are used in the children's interest and gave the example of Germany, where parents benefit from tax exemptions.

"I've said it right from the beginning: one cannot double the allowances twice in just one year. That's not possible. Once in March, at the budget debate, and then in December. If Parliament rejects the ordinance that moves back the term for the increase coming into force, my budgetary provisions are incapable of supporting these rises. (...) Because you asked me about child allowances, Germany, for instance, has a tax exemption depending on the number of children, so that there is a tax incentive for families with children. We on the other hand have no guarantee that all the money that goes into child allowances will be used for the benefit of the children," said Orban.
Jordanians are fuming over a massive hike in electricity prices for January compared to the previous month  an increase of 30% to 80% for most and double for some. Hundreds of thousands of customers have been affected, and the issue has become a public relations disaster for the government that had previously promised not to introduce new taxes or raise the price for electricity and water.

On Feb. 12, Minister of Energy Hala Zawati denied that electricity tariffs were raised, saying that the only reason for the sharp increase in prices was the unprecedented electricity consumption in January due to the cold weather. People are unaware that higher consumption means that the price of kilowatt-hour [kWh] is calculated at a higher tariff, she said during a meeting with a parliamentary committee. She admitted that the number of complaints by the public over the January bill was overwhelming.

But the governments explanation was rejected by lawmakers who called on the Lower Houses Energy and Mineral Resources Committee to investigate the issue that has overshadowed protests against the US "deal of the century." Head of the committee Hussein al-Qaisi told Al-Monitor that he has asked the governments Energy and Minerals Regulatory Commission (EMRC) for a full report explaining the reason for the sharp increase in electricity bills.

He warned that the committee will not allow the disconnection of power for failing to pay until a resolution of the issue is reached. He said that the committee has found that 74% of the increase was on bills below 300 kWh per month.

Qaisi noted that the National Electric Power Company (NEPCO) estimates annual losses due to illegal consumption  by accessing the grid directly and without the use of a company meter  at 200 million Jordanian dinars ($282 million), which are added to the bills of paying customers.

Qaisi said that the governments decision to ask a private company to audit Januarys bills confirms that it does not trust the EMRC, which sets the tariffs. He added that the committee is considering handing over the review of the controversial bills to the Audit Bureau, which is a credible and independent party.

The EMRC announced Jan. 31 that it was reviewing more than 2 million bills for December, since customers also complained of higher than usual bills that month. It said that as of the end of January it had found no discrepancies.

NEPCO, a public shareholding company, delivers electricity it buys from power generators through three main distributors covering the kingdom. Its director, Amjad al-Rawashdeh, announced Feb. 10 that due to subzero temperatures power load registered an unprecedented 3,570 megawatts on Feb. 9. He added that the increase in prices is due to higher consumption and the tariff is calculated incrementally. The rate for consumption up to 300 kWh is 720 fils/kWh ($0.10), but it doubles once it exceeds that load up to 500 kWh and doubles again when it passes that load.

At a time when the majority of Jordanians are suffering under a sluggish economy, the increase in electricity bills during an exceptionally harsh winter is a cause for public agitation. Heating oil is expensive, standing at 600 Jordanian dinars per 1,000 liters ($846) and many Jordanians rely on electric heaters during winter.

Activists have called for a campaign to force the government to review electricity tariffs. They launched a hashtag on Twitter calling on consumers not to pay their electricity bills.

The timing of this crisis could not be worse for the government. Earlier this year, Israel began pumping natural gas to Jordan under a controversial agreement that Jordanians reject overwhelmingly. The government is under pressure to revoke the agreement, but it says it can do nothing since the contract is between two companies. The Israeli gas will be used to power electricity stations and Jordanians claim that the latest increase in their bills is somehow linked.

Writing in the daily Addustour on Feb. 9, columnist Hussein al-Rawashdeh warned that Jordanians can take no more and that this latest episode will only increase the threat to social peace. He called for a neutral body that not only should look into the recent increase in electricity bills, but also review the entire structure of calculating tariffs.

Columnist Maher Abu Tair wrote in Al-Ghad daily on Feb. 8 that the public does not believe the governments claims anymore. Trust is lost between the people and the state and that is the real problem facing us today, he said. How can we believe it when the increase in bills included customers who are expatriates living abroad?

Abu Tair added that the only explanation is that the government wants to subsidize NEPCO, which owes billions and continues to lose money, by taking money from peoples pockets.

Energy expert Amer al-Shobaki, who runs his own consultancy firm, told Al-Monitor that customers pay for the huge loss in electricity distribution, which is due to illegal use in addition to waste because of a bad infrastructure. He said that the loss is calculated by subtracting what NEPCO buys from the electricity generators and what it sells to the distributors and that includes what is lost during generation, transportation and distribution, estimated at 200 million dinars annually. Shobaki said this issue alone  if dealt with  would decrease the rates for consumers.
Photo: CTV News Scott Fehrenbacher is eagerly awaiting the return of his son, Spencer, who is being evacuated off the quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess.

A Fort Langley father says he is counting down the minutes until his son is evacuated off the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Im not going to take a deep breath until that plane is wheels up and out of Japanese airspace, Scott Fehrenbacher told CTV News on Saturday.

His son, Spencer Fehrenbacher, is one of hundreds of people who have quarantined for over a week due to an outbreak of the new corona virus, now known as COVID-19.

Spencer is a U.S. citizen and a Canadian permanent resident. The U.S. plans to fly citizens home on a chartered flight late Sunday. From there, they'll be taken to an Air Force Base in either California or Texas.

Spencer plans to come back to Vancouver after he completes the 14-day quarantine in the States.

Theyve given him instructions on how many bags he can take, what the total weight of the bags are, what to expect. And they do have to pass one final temperature screening before theyre allowed to leave," said Fehrenbacher.

"Hes been taking his temperature multiple times a day. Thank the lord, so far he is very stable at the right temperature."

Fehrenbacher is doing anything he can to pass the time until that happens.

My other son, my son-in-law and I are all growing beards until Spencer arrives at YVR," Fehrenbacher said, "and then were going to shave and have a big party, whenever that is.

Mainland China has recorded 1,523 deaths and one death recorded in Japan, Hong Kong, France and Philippines respectively. More than 67,000 cases have been reported globally, eight of those in Canada.

B.C. announced another presumed case Friday, bringing the provincial total to 5.

- With files from CTV News Vancouver
Almost 200 birds involved in a suspected cockfighting ring have been rescued in an RSPCA and police raid.

A warrant was executed to seize the birds from a property near Malmsbury, north-west of Melbourne, last week.

Around 75 roosters allegedly groomed for cockfighting were among those removed, along with chicks, mature hens, and juvenile roosters.

Roosters, hens and chicks involved in a suspected cockfighting ring were among almost 200 birds rescued from a property last week (stock image)

The RSPCA alleges cockfighting implements were also found on the property and said the owner was already serving a ten year ban for managing poultry arising from a prior prosecution.

The ban was due to expire in late 2022.

The RSPCA described the raid in conjunction with Victoria Police and Macedon Ranges Shire and Brimbank City councils.

'While all those involved in this investigation were pleased with the outcome, it is a shocking reality that cockfighting, a barbaric activity, continues to operate in Victoria,' RSPCA inspector team leader Karen Collier said.

Macedon Ranges Council's investigations into the conditions and structures at the property are continuing.

RSPCA officers removed almost 200 birds from a Victorian property last week. Pictured is a seized rooster from a previous RSPCA raid

'Cockfighting is an abhorrent and cruel activity leading to severe suffering of the roosters involved,' assets and operation director Shane Walden said.

The seized birds were transported to various RSPCA shelters across Victoria in unknown conditions.

A RSPCA spokeswoman said the prosecutions team was assessing whether further action will be taken.

The birds seized were taken to RSCPA shelters in unknown conditions. Pictured is a rooster involved in a previous prosecution case by the RSPCA

She declined to comment on whether property owner's current ban was in relation to cockfighting activities.

Cockfighting is illegal in Australia, as is the possession of any equipment for those purposes.

Allowing or encouraging an animal to fight with another animal carries a jail term of up to two years or fines of up to $82,610.

Attendees to an event where animals are encouraged to fight can also be fined up to $20,000.

Anyone with information about suspicious cock-fighting activities should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Moody's Investors Service has slashed India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth forecast for 2020 to 5.4 per cent. The government seems to have estimated the valuation of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) at around Rs 13-15 lakh crore. The tax department has begun sending out notices to telcos to pay service tax and GST on the outstanding adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues. Read for more top stories from the world of business and economy:

1. AGR issue: Vodafone Idea tells SC it can only pay Rs 2,500 crore; gets no relief

The Supreme Court did not grant Vodafone Idea any relief, dealing a blow to the telco which has to pay Rs 53,000 crore to the DoT as part of its AGR dues.

2. Moody's cuts India's GDP growth forecast for 2020 to 5.4% from earlier 6.6%

Moody's said that the weakness in global economy due to the impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak could hurt India's recovery.

3. Govt estimates LIC's market valuation at Rs 13-15 lakh crore

Chief economic advisor K V Subramanian has indicated that the government may easily mobilise Rs 90,000 crore by divesting 6-7 per cent stake in Life Insurance Corporation.

4. India's GST collections below potential, says IMF

IMF said that multiple factors added up to the difference between the actual collections and the potential revenue.

5. AGR-hit telcos set for another jolt; must pay additional service tax, GST on unpaid dues

The tax authorities are demanding a 15% service tax for the duration before GST came into force and 18% GST since July 1, 2017, when it was rolled out all over India.
In her latest book, We Love You, But Youre Going to Hell: Christians and Homosexuality, OReilly talks about some of her experiences on being a lesbian in a Christian family, with the title of her book being representative of what many LGBT people often hear from Christian family and friends when they come out to them.

I think (Dr. OReilly) does a really great job of helping us to explain why it is that our faith compels us to be open and affirming of everyone while at the same time not in a heavy handed way, Downing said, But in a way that is open to peoples real experiences and questions.

As for their public talk, the main focus of it will be trying to build bridges and find common ground with the LGBT community. Pastor Downing and Dr. OReilly will also be taking look at the current debate between Christians on the issues of inclusion in a safe and respectful environment.

Im of the firm belief that when a church or any community takes the time to really think about what it means to respect the dignity of other people, that actually has some very real world effects in terms of letting people know that they are somebody and are loved, and that there is a home for anyone who is searching, said Downing.
Customs and Border Patrol agents have arrested a 32-year-old man from Mexico who was caught smuggling 26 illegal immigrants into the country via a tractor-trailer.

The driver was caught sneaking the people - reportedly aged between 16 and 56 years old - into the United States when he stopped at California's Highway 86 immigration checkpoint around 9.40pm Wednesday.

El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents were looking over his ID, which was presented as his own from the state of California and later turned out to be fake, police dogs were alerted to the rear cargo area of the trailer.

Customs and Border Patrol agents have arrested a 32-year-old man from Mexico who was caught smuggling 26 illegal immigrants (pictured) into the country via a tractor-trailer. The people are reportedly aged between 16 and 56 years old and include a male and a female juvenile

Chief Patrol Agent Gloria I. Chavez said in a statement: 'This smuggling organization had no regard for the safety of the people they were smuggling'

That's when two dozen adults, plus one male and one female juvenile, were discovered in the bed area of the vehicle.

An image shared by CBP shows the people with their hands in the air, behind their heads or where agents could see them as they busted the smuggling operation.

They are pictured sitting on the side walls of the truck, with one man standing, and many are dressed lightly in hooded sweaters, jeans and casual caps.

'The undocumented immigrants were locked and trapped inside this tracker-trailer in below 45 degree weather with no safety restraints,' Chief Patrol Agent Gloria I. Chavez said in a statement.

'This smuggling organization had no regard for the safety of the people they were smuggling.

'Fortunately, our agents were able to remove them from that potentially life threatening situation.'

Each undocumented person - including the juveniles - was placed under arrest.

'The driver will face criminal proceedings, and the smuggled immigrants will be processed in a case-by-case basis,' Border Patrol agent Carlos Pitones told the Los Angeles Times.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 17:07:23|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close





In Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak and a megacity with over 11 million people, medics were already stretched to the limit even before the outbreak. Tens of thousands cases in over 40 days! What would China do?



More than 20,000 doctors and nurses across the country came to Wuhan and joined the epidemic fight.

Prioritizing challenges, and reaching out across the country. This is how China combats the coronavirus.



BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, has reported more than 40,000 confirmed cases and 1000 deaths.

In this megacity with over 11 million residents, 95 percent of hospital beds were occupied, and medics were stretched to the limit even before the outbreak. Tens of thousands cases in over 40 days! What would China do?

To contain the epidemic, the central government has dispatched medical personnel from across the country to Wuhan. Over 180 medical teams, totaling 20,000 doctors and nurses, are in the city.

To help the critically ill, ICU staff must work around the clock, physically and mentally exhausted. That's why more than 7,000 medics from other places are ICU staff.

More than 4,000 medics are from the military. 1400 of them are based at the newly-built Huoshenshan Hospital, the first dedicated hospital built to treat patients infected with the virus.

Infections were also found in many provinces, but everyone knows Wuhan is center of prevention and control.

The Chinese idiom -- all should offer a hand when someone is in need - is relevant now more than ever, and the central government is following the principle to mobilize all the resources to address the epidemic.

Liaoning Province has reported more than 100 confirmed cases. The provincial capital, Shenyang, is about 2,000 kilometers away from Wuhan, but it took just two days for 46 specialists and seven vehicles to answer the call and arrive in Wuhan.

At least 22 national emergency medical rescue teams have been sent to Wuhan from all over the country.

On Feb. 9, more than 5,000 medics from across the country flew into Wuhan on board over 40 flights. They will also help other cities in Hubei.

19 provinces or municipalities are asked to partner with cities in Hubei to support them during this time. Each city will be supported by one or two provinces or municipalities.

This has proved effective in the past, for example, the economic and human resources support offered after an earthquake hit Sichuan Province in 2008, and technological, talents and economic support for development in both Xinjiang and Tibet.

Prioritizing challenges, and reaching out across the country. This is how China combats the coronavirus.

Executive Producer: Cheng Ying, Zhang Zhengfu, Zheng Xiaoyi

Director: Shan Xu

Executive Director: Zhang Xiaoxue, Feng Chun, Wang Ting, Guan Hongfei

Coordination: Yang Guang, Liu Pei

Production: Li Dongze, Jiang Yudong, Shang Junwei

Visual Design: Guo Chao, Wang Jiadong

Script Translation: Helen Bentley, Luo Zhen

Voiceover: Bluiri

Liaowang Institute Data Media Lab;

Department of China News for Overseas Service

Xinhua News Agency




A doctor who worked at the same private healthcare firm as the rogue breast cancer surgeon Ian Paterson has been accused of a string of botched operations.

Michael Walsh, a shoulder surgeon, was employed at a hospital run by Spire Healthcare, and has been accused of leaving scores of patients traumatised and in pain after performing unnecessary operations on them.

Disgraced doctor Paterson, who was jailed for 20 years in 2017 after mutilating hundreds of women on the operating table, also worked for Spire.

The firm, which runs 39 private hospitals in the UK and employs 7,000 doctors and surgeons, reported Mr Walsh to the General Medical Council (GMC) after multiple patients and some colleagues raised concerns about his work.

Disgraced doctor Paterson, who was jailed for 20 years in 2017 after mutilating hundreds of women on the operating table, also worked for Spire

An investigation undertaken by Spire uncovered examples of Walsh harming patients by performing surgery on them unnecessarily or badly, the Guardian reported.

The company said it had reviewed the notes of almost 200 patients treated by Mr Walsh that it had concerns about, and invited almost 50 people back for a follow up appointment.

Mr Walsh is facing dozens of lawsuits from patients who claim that he performed surgery on them between 2012 and 2018 without any medical justification. The cases involved both private and NHS patients.

Many of the procedures were performed at the Spire hospital in Leeds, but others were done at another independent hospital in the city run by private healthcare group Nuffield Health, according to the Guardian.

Michael Walsh, a shoulder surgeon, was employed at a hospital run by Spire Healthcare, and has been accused of leaving scores of patients traumatised and in pain after performing unnecessary operations on them

A spokesperson for Nuffield Health said: 'We are aware of the GMC investigation into Mr Walsh and can confirm this does not involve any Nuffield Health patients or his practice at Nuffield Health Leeds Hospital.

'The safety and welfare of our patients is our number one priority. We remain in close contact with the GMC on the outcome of this investigation.'

Mr Walsh has since retired and is no longer licensed to practise as a doctor.

A number of Spire surgeons have been in embroiled in allegations about unnecessary or inadequate operations in recent years.

Linda Millband, national practice lead for medical negligence at Thompsons solicitors, told the Guardian: 'Yet again it is Spire and yet again there is an unsupervised surgeon providing treatment that a patient didn't need.

'First Paterson, then [Habib] Rahman [another shoulder surgeon accused of performing unnecessary operations at a Spire hospital], and now Walsh. It's an issue that clearly extends beyond Spire's operation in the Midlands that they need to get a grip on.'

Paterson practised at both private and NHS hospitals in the West Midlands and exaggerated or invented cancer risks among his patients, claiming payments for performing more expensive procedures in some cases.

In the aftermath of Paterson's convictions, details emerged about his lavish property portfolio and love of expensive paintings and fine wine.

Dr Habib Rahman allegedly carried out 'unnecessary or inappropriate shoulder surgeries' on 217 private patients at the same hospital where breast cancer butcher Ian Paterson maimed dozens of women

A two-year investigation concluded that a culture of 'denial' enabled Paterson to perform more than 1,000 botched or unnecessary operations over a 14-year period.

In the wake of the Paterson scandal, there have been calls for an inquiry into the private health sector, and the financial incentive private surgeons may have to recommend and perform operations.

A spokesperson for Spire Healthcare said: 'As part of our commitment to robust clinical oversight and governance, we continuously review the practice of our 7,000 consultants' across 39 hospitals and contact individual patients about their care if there is a concern.

'After concerns were raised about Mr Walsh, an investigation was started in April 2018, and he was suspended immediately.

'We asked the Royal College of Surgeons to assist with this investigation and have shared the findings with the CQC and the GMC.

'Where we have identified concerns about the care a patient received, we have invited the patient to an appointment with an independent surgeon to review their treatment. This is a complex case and the review is ongoing...

'Spire reiterates its sincere apologies to those patients who have been affected by the treatment they received from Mr Walsh.'
LONDON, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Forecasts & Analysis by Component (Communication Equipment, Navigation Equipment, Surveillance & Monitoring Equipment, Solution, and Service), by System (Port Management Information Systems, Global Maritime Distress Safety Systems, River Information Systems, and AtoN Management & Health Monitoring Systems), by End User (Commercial (Port & Harbour, Inland Port, Offshore, Fishing Port), and Defence) & by Regional and National Plus Profiles of Top Companies Developing Vessel Traffic Management Systems

Why is the global Vessel Traffic Management market important right now?

As part of the broader $3,654.6 Vessel Traffic Management market space, there are massive revenue streams within electric segment to tap into. This report shows you where these business opportunities are.

Due to growing international trade through sea route, governmental body and OEMs are majorly focusing towards use of vessel traffic management systems in ports for smooth operations. The potential SOLAS and ISPS regulations are going to be mandatory and your company will not want to skip this opportunity

What are the global Vessel Traffic Management market prospects?

Visiongain's definitive new report assesses that the Vessel Traffic Management market will reach $3,654.6 Mn in 2019. The performance of the industry is forecast to accelerate, with an anticipated CAGR of 6.4% for the five-year period 2020-2025, which is expected to drive the industry to a value of $5,299.6 Mn by the end of 2025.

Visiongain's timely 143-page report reveals how best to compete in this lucrative market space and maximize your company's potential.

To request sample pages from this report please contact Sara Peerun at [email protected] or refer to our website: https://www.visiongain.com/report/vessel-traffic-management-market-report-2020-2030/#download_sampe_div

This report addresses the pertinent issues:

 Where are the most lucrative market prospects?

 Who are the leadings companies and what does the competitive landscape look like?

 What are the regional, technical and regulatory barriers to market entry?

 What are the technological issues and roadmap driving the market?

 Why is the market prospering and how can you fully exploit this?

 When will the market fully mature and why?

Research and analysis highlights

 Independent, impartial and objective analysis

 131 tables, charts and graphs illustrating the global Vessel Traffic Management market prospects

 Global Vessel Traffic Management market forecast and analysis 2020-2030

 5 Vessel Traffic Management submarket forecasts by component covering the period 2020-2030

 4 Vessel Traffic Management submarket forecasts by system from 2020-2030

 2 Vessel Traffic Management submarket forecasts by end user from 2020-2030

 22 leading national Vessel Traffic Management market forecasts from 2020-2030

 Analysis of the Vessel Traffic Management set to become mandatory in North America

 Profiles of 10 leading companies, involved with Vessel Traffic Management with key financial metrics

 Porter's Five Forces analysis

And there's more.

How this report will benefit you

 You have almost certainly an excess of conflicting and yet unclear information  you want one definitive report to base your business decisions upon  this visiongain report provides that clarity

 Our insightful report speaks to your needs for definitive market data, objective impartial analysis and immediate clear conclusions  to allow you to formulate clear decisive business strategies

 You need the information now in an easily digestible form  this is where this visiongain reports excels

 Forecasts give you a crucial advantage. That knowledge of the future is central to your strategic decision making.

 Knowledge is vital to you and your business. You need every piece of evidence to inform your crucial investment decisions  let visiongain give you that clear advantage

 Without this vital report, you will fall behind your competitors

To request a report overview of this report please contact Sara Peerun at [email protected] or refer to our website: https://www.visiongain.com/report/vessel-traffic-management-market-report-2020-2030/

Did you know that we also offer a report add-on service? Email [email protected] to discuss any customized research needs you may have.

Companies covered in the report include:

Frequentis

Indra Sistemas

Japan Radio Co. Ltd.

Kelvin Hughes

Kongsberg Gruppen

L3 Technologies

Leonardo Finmeccanica

Rolta India

Saab AB

Signalis

TERMA A/S

Thales Group

Tokyo Keiki Inc.

Vissim AS

Wartsila (Transas)

XANATOS MARINE



Organisations

European Union

Government of India

International Maritime Organization

Pacific Maritime Association

The Maritime Association of South Carolina

UK Government

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

To see a report overview please e-mail Sara Peerun on [email protected]

Related reports:

Autonomous Commercial Vessel Market Report 2019-2029

Global Floating LNG Power Vessel Market Report 2020-2030

Fuel Cells for Marine Vessels Market Report 2020-2030

Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) Market Forecast 2017-2027

SOURCE Visiongain
JOHNSON CITY, NY -- Americas first and only winery producing hemp-infused wines is closing, citing issues with federal regulators.

Sovereign Vines, based in Johnson City near Binghamton, may reopen if and when federal regulations make selling across state lines possible, owner Kaelan Castetter said.

Sad to say that our journey with Sovereign Vines is coming to end, Castetter posted today on Facebook. The federal government has made it impossible to carry on and because of this, we have made the difficult decision to close the business. We will be back when we can engage in interstate commerce and truly succeed in bringing hemp-infused wine to the world!

Sovereign Vines still has a state license and some inventory to sell, but will not produce more. Last year, the company announced plans to open its first tasting room on land overlooking Skaneateles Lake, but that never got off the ground.

Castetter and his father, Jim, started Sovereign Vines in 2017. It followed a previous hemp-wine business Jim Castetter had opened in 1997, but which was shut down by federal regulators in 1999. The 2017 re-start came as the federal government was de-regulating hemp, a member of the cannabis family (like marijuana).

Billing itself today as Americas only hemp-infused wine producer, Sovereign Vines blends wines produced in the Finger Lakes and elsewhere with terpene, an aromatic and flavorful extract found in the buds of the hemp plant. Terpene does not contain the psychoactive compounds found in marijuana. It is also different from CBD.

It (the terpene) creates earthy, woodsy tones and a smooth finish, Kaelan Castetter said in an interview last year. It makes the wines pop.

Sovereign Vines wine lineup included a Cayuga White wine sourced from Glenora Vineyards on Seneca Lake, a Harvest Red Blend using California wine and both a sweet and a dry rose.

The Castetters started by sourcing their hemp from Colorado, but later used their separate business, CSG Hemp, which grows and processes hemp products.

The closing of Sovereign Vines does not affect CSG Hemp, which remains open.

CSG is doing well and we have some exciting things to announce in the coming months, Castetter said. Well revisit hemp wine when the time is right and regs are open more.

The issue with the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) involved questions over the approval of the formula.

Sovereign Vines was producing about 2,500 gallons of wine per year.

New York state, meanwhile, has been wrestling with the regulation of CBD, or cannabidiol, which is a popular additive to oils, salves and creams touted for their health benefits. The state approved a law establishing some CBD guidelines last year.

But the state, citing TTB guidelines, has not yet approved CBD for use in food or beverages.

Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.

Thanks for visiting Syracuse.com. Quality local journalism has never been more important, and your subscription matters. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
A scramble intensified on Monday to trace around 1,200 passengers from US cruise liner Westerdam, allowed to disembark in Cambodia, after one traveller was later diagnosed with the deadly coronavirus  the American woman only made it as far as the Kuala Lumpur Airport in Malaysia where she was stopped at the thermal scanner; she later tested positive.

Meanwhile, 14 passengers, all American, who were evacuated from another cruise ship, Diamond Princess, this one in Japan, and initially believed to be free of the virus, tested positive shortly before their chartered flight was to take off for the US. They were flown out  after a section of the aircraft was made into a contained space for them  along with the other evacuees.

Outside China, the Diamond Princess has had the largest number of cases of the COVID-19 illness caused by the virus that emerged in China late last year.

Both incidents raised fresh concerns about the quality of screening ahead of evacuation or release of people who have had the chance of being exposed to the highly contagious virus, which originated in China and has killed around 1800 people, almost all in China, and infected tens of thousands across 26 countries (but, again, mostly in China).

On Monday, about 70 Wuhan evacuees were discharged from the Indo-Tibetan Border Polices quarantine facility on the outskirts of Delhi, and by Tuesday evening all 406 people under quarantine at the ITBP facility are expected to leave for their respective homes. None of them were infected, the health ministry said.

However, the Westerdam issue has raised fears that potentially tens of infected passengers may now be scattered across the world without full health checks  as Cambodia on Monday afternoon treated a few dozen of the passengers to bus tours around the capital Phnom Penh.

Passenger Christina Kerby, whose droll tweets as the Westerdam was bounced across ports drew widespread attention, admitted she was surprised to be allowed on a tour of the Cambodian capital before being given the complete all-clear from the virus. I have young kids back home (in the US) and wouldnt want to risk infecting them or anyone around me if I am carrying the virus, she told AFP.

The Westerdam was at sea for two weeks during which it was barred from Japan, Guam, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand over fears it could be carrying the virus. On Thursday Cambodia, a staunch ally of Beijing, allowed the ship to dock at Sihanoukville. It was met by the kingdoms bombastic premier, Hun Sen, who hugged disembarking passengers as he swiftly latched on to the Westerdams PR potential for a nation more often in the spotlight for human rights abuses. His stance won applause from US President Donald Trump. But three days later one Westerdam passenger, an 83-year-old American, was stopped on arrival in Malaysia and later diagnosed with the coronavirus. On Monday, Malaysia said over 130 other passengers who also took the flight with the sick American women left for the US, Europe and Australia and Hong Kong.

Thailand, a flight hub already used by scores of the Westerdam passengers, on Monday mulled a ban on transit by cruise goers, as the region played catch up to the risks posed by the boat. Passengers on ship are at risk and travel by airplane will cause risk to other passengers, health minister Anutin Charnvirakul said Monday. Cruise operator Holland America is working with national health authorities to investigate and follow up with individuals who may have come in contact with the guest, chief medical officer Dr Grant Tarling said late Sunday.

Another 233 passengers and 747 crew remain on the Westerdam, which is still docked at Sihanoukville.

Authorities have been allowing them to leave the vessel in groups based on their flight bookings but those on board told AFP they are now not permitted to disembark.A Sihanoukville spokesman said Monday health samples are being collected from all onboard the Westerdam in order to be clear, adding that passengers will not go off-ship until the tests are completed.

Chinas foreign minister Wang Yi will meet South-east Asian counterparts in late Laos this week to discuss the unprecedented health crisis, which has battered manufacturing and tourism across the region and led to an array of travel restrictions.

In Tokyo, Japanese health ministry officials confirmed on Monday that 99 more people were infected by the new virus aboard the quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess, bringing the total to 454. The 14 Americans are part of the 99.

The ministry has been carrying out tests on passengers and crew on the ship, docked in Yokohama, a port city near Tokyo.

The 14-day quarantine for those on the ship was due to end Wednesday. The ministry said it now has tested 1,723 people on the Diamond Princess. The ship had about 3,700 passengers and crew.

Two chartered planes flew 340 Americans who were aboard the vessel out of Japan. About 380 Americans had been on the ship. The State Department announced later that 14 of the evacuees were confirmed to have the virus in tests given before they boarded the planes.

They were taken to the US because they did not have symptoms and were being isolated from other passengers on the planes, it said.

Australia, Canada, Hong Kong and Italy were planning similar flights for their citizens.
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday said the government needs to work with the industry for the overall development of the country.

He was addressing a gathering at a function organised by Tata Steel to mark 100 years of the city.

Naidu said Jamshedpur was India's first planned industrial city that had earned the distinction of becoming the country's role model for sustainable urban and industrial development.

"Government spending alone cannot push economic growth to the levels that we wish to achieve. We need to work together with industries for the overall development of the country," he said.

Naidu applauded the Tata group for its "ethical approach to business".

The vice-president along with Jharkhand Governor Droupadi Murmu released a commemorative postal stamp and a coffee table book on the centenary of the steel city.

Murmu said over the last 100 years, Jamshedpur has transformed itself to become the most populous and economically-prosperous city of Jharkhand.

She stressed upon the imperatives to preserve and protect the state's rich tribal culture and heritage.

"Tribal folk and dance forms such as Jhumar, Chhau, Mundari and Santhali must not just be preserved but also nurtured. The focus should also be laid on the preservation of tribal languages, practices and social ethos," she said.

Tata Steel CEO and Managing Director T V Narendran recalled that in 1919, the then Governor-General of India Lord Chelmsford had rechristened Sakchi as Jamshedpur in the honour of its founder, Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata.

Earlier in the day, Naidu and Murmu planted banyan tree saplings.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Drew Carey has broken his silence on the murder of his ex-fiancee, Dr Amie Harwick, whose ex-boyfriend allegedly threw her from the third floor balcony of her California home over the weekend.

Harwick, 38, was found unconscious on the ground at around 1.15am on Saturday after officers responded to a report of a 'woman screaming' in a Hollywood Hills neighborhood, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement.

She had been thrown from her third floor apartment's balcony, according to police.

In a statement that was emailed to US Weekly, Carey said he's 'overcome with grief'.

'Amie and I had a love that people are lucky to have once in a lifetime. She was a positive force in the world, a tireless and unapologetic champion for women, and passionate about her work as a therapist.'

The Price Is Right host said: 'I would like to thank you in advance for giving myself and everyone who loved Amie privacy while we try to work through this tragic situation.'

His statement came after it was announced that the show has cancelled this week's tapings.

Scroll down for video

In a statement Drew Carey (left and right with Amie) said: 'Amie and I had a love that people are lucky to have once in a lifetime. She was a positive force in the world, a tireless and unapologetic champion for women, and passionate about her work as a therapist'

His statement came after it was announced that the show has cancelled this week's tapings. Carey is pictured on the show during an October 2019 episode

According to TMZ, the show had plans to film on Tuesday and Wednesday, but audience members received an email notifying them of the cancellations on Monday.

Carey and Harwick first made their relationship public in June 2017. They were engaged in January 2018.

Harwick, the author of The New Sex Bible for Women, and Carey split in November 2018 after dating for more than a year.

Authorities said they arrested Gareth Pursehouse, 41, at around 4.30pm on Saturday in Playa Del Rey on suspicion of murder.

Harwick had previously told friends she feared he would hurt her. She had filed a restraining order against him but it had expired two weeks ago.

The doctor's roommate told police that after Pursehouse broke in, they ran out of the apartment to get help for her.

By the time officers arrived at the property, she had been thrown from the balcony.

Video courtesy of KTLA

Gareth Pursehouse, Harwick's ex-boyfriend, has been arrested and charged with murder, according to the Los Angeles Police Department

Harwick was found unconscious after falling from a third-floor balcony in her home (seen above) at around 1.15am on Saturday

Hours after Harwick died and before his arrest, Pursehouse, who is active on Twitter, posted messages on the site. You cant get fit without that new gym clothing, he wrote at 9:07am on Saturday. But they wont give you that gear until youre fit. Soo  Tough t***ies bucko'

Before the alleged murder, Pursehouse tweeted about politics. 'I cant figure out why gerrymandering isnt a federal crime,' he wrote on Friday evening

Los Angeles Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Pursehouse has worked as a photographer as well as a software engineer and developer.

His most recent job was as lead architect at Internet Brands.

Hours after Harwick died and before his arrest, Pursehouse, who is active on Twitter, posted messages on the site.

'You cant get fit without that new gym clothing,' he wrote at 9.07am on Saturday.

'But they wont give you that gear until youre fit. Soo  Tough t***ies bucko.'

Hours before the alleged murder, Pursehouse tweeted about politics.

The New Sex Bible for Women is described as 'an all-encompassing and fully comprehensive guide for women covering everything from masturbation, oral sex, self-esteem and self-care, sex positions, safety and concerns, and sex aides'

Harwick is pictured at the University of Southern California in October 2019

In 2016, Harwick made an appearance on the WE tv reality series Braxton Family Values

'I cant figure out why gerrymandering isnt a federal crime,' he wrote.

His Twitter page is full of tweets critical of President Donald Trump.

'Reminder... Once Trump is not president, the FBI can prosecute him for all the Mueller report findings,' he wrote on Wednesday.

In 2014, Harwick published The New Sex Bible for Women: The Complete Guide to Sexual Self-Awareness and Intimacy

Harwick is a well known sex and family therapist in the Hollywood area.

She received her degree in psychology from California Polytechnic University in Pomona, California.

Harwick also earned her masters of arts in clinical psychology from Pepperdine University.

In 2015, Harwick appeared in the popular online documentary titled Addicted to Sexting.

A year later, she made an appearance on the reality television show Braxton Family Values.

The show, which airs on WE tv, follows the lives of the Braxton sisters - Toni, Tamar, Traci, Towanda, and Trina - as well as their mother, Evelyn.

Harwick also published articles in various online news and advice sites. According to her web site, she worked out of an office on Santa Monica Boulevard.

She offered weekly therapy sessions at $200 per session, according to her site.


Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading.
The feel-good story of how Cambodia allowed a cruise ship to dock after it was turned away elsewhere in Asia for fear of spreading the deadly virus that began in China has taken an unfortunate turn after a passenger released from the ship tested positive for the virus.

News over the weekend that an 83-year-old American woman who was on the ship and flew from Cambodia to Malaysia was found to be carrying the virus froze further movement of the passengers and crew of the MS Westerdam. Some are now in hotels in Cambodias capital, Phnom Penh, while others are still aboard the ship.

The American woman was among several hundred passengers who were flown out of Cambodia on Friday and Saturday. According to authorities in Malaysia, 143 continued their flights home from that country, while the woman and her 84-year-old husband, who was diagnosed with pneumonia, remained behind for treatment.

The virus has infected more than 71,000 people globally and killed more than 1,770, with the vast majority of the cases in China, where the outbreak began two months ago.-

The dispersal around the world of passengers from the ship with possible exposure to the virus has sparked concern.

I think now given that there is a confirmed case that is suspected to have acquired infection on board the ship, the other passengers should be asked to quarantine themselves at home and alert health authorities if they develop fever or respiratory symptoms within the 14 days since disembarkation, said Professor Benjamin Cowling from the School of Public Health at Hong Kong University.

Dr. Gagandeep Kang, executive director of Indias Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, said it is unclear whether the womans infection would result in an outbreak in another part of the world.

We will have to wait and see, she said, adding that it would depend on where the woman got the infection, and at what stage of the infection she was in while in contact with other people.

The ships operator, Holland America Line, said in a statement Monday that Cambodian health officials were on board the ship testing the 255 guests and 747 crew who were awaiting clearance, and that guests currently staying at a Phnom Penh hotel had all been tested.

At this time, no other guests or crew on board or at the hotel have reported any symptoms of the illness. Guests who have already returned home will be contacted by their local health department and provided further information, it said.

The statement pointed out that the American woman who tested positive in Malaysia was not one of the 20 people on board the Westerdam who had reported to the ships medical center during the cruise. All of those 20 have tested negative for the virus, it said.

The rest of the passengers and crew had health checks that included filling out a written health questionnaire and having their temperatures checked, which has become standard procedure for air and sea passengers considered at risk.

Several Westerdam passengers from the United States and elsewhere have already returned home and spoken to the media.

Two of the passengers, Joseph Schaeffer and his wife, Paulette, a retired nurse, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal from their home in Henderson, Nevada, that they felt the hue and cry over the released passengers was not totally merited.

It doesnt seem to me that the whole world should be jumping at this, Joseph Schaeffer said.

There are more deaths from the flu than there have been from this particular virus, his wife said.

The couple said they were screened on their way home at airports in Phnom Penh and Singapore by thermal scanners that remotely monitor arriving passengers.

On arrival in Los Angeles, they said, they were among a large crowd getting screened that included fellow cruise passengers. They said they answered questions given by someone from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that included whether they felt sick, had visited mainland China or knew anyone who had contracted the virus.

Two Canadians who returned via Vancouver International Airport were asked to put on protective face masks on arrival but were not otherwise isolated, Canadas CBC News reported.

We were asked a few questions and filled out an immigration form, and they very nicely helped us bypass the usual lineups and let us out the door, said Joseph Hansen, who took the cruise with his wife. Were feeling fine.

Hansen, from Surrey, British Columbia, told CBC that he did not hear about the American woman in Malaysia with the virus until he landed in Vancouver on Sunday.

I guess on the one hand its upsetting to know that there was one case, but were feeling fine, he said. Weve had health scans, temperature scans and we dont have any concerns for our own health.

Cambodias government had originally earned kudos from the head of the U.N.s World Health Organization and the U.S. ambassador there for allowing the ship to dock at the port at Sihanoukville on the Gulf of Thailand after being turned away by Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Guam and Thailand.

The move was seen as a victory for the image of Cambodias authoritarian prime minister, Hun Sen, who welcomed the ships passengers with handshakes and flowers. He boasted that although Cambodia is a poor country, it has always joined the international community to solve the problems that the world and our region are facing.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had said he was pleased Cambodia had agreed to accept the Westerdam and described it as an example of the international solidarity advocated by the U.N. health agency.

The one thing I can say is were very, very grateful that Cambodia has opened literally its ports and its doors to people in need, U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia W. Patrick Murphy said Saturday when he took his family to the port to meet passengers. We think this sends a strong message. We all have to help each other.

In hindsight, however, Cambodias handling of the ships passengers has been criticized on social media, though it also has gotten some support.

According to Cowling, the Hong Kong University professor, its a good idea to let passengers leave and monitor them after disembarkation.

Since there were no known cases on board the Westerdam at the time passengers left the ship, it was reasonable to allow them to travel home, he said.

I think it would not be appropriate to keep passengers on the ship for 14 days, as it could be a high-risk environment, Cowling said.

We have seen the consequences of holding passengers on a cruise ship with the Diamond Princess outbreak, he said, referring to another cruise ship that is quarantined in Yokohama, Japan, with hundreds of cases among the passengers.

A scramble intensified Monday to trace passengers from a US cruise liner allowed to disembark in Cambodia despite at least one traveller later being diagnosed with the deadly coronavirus.

There are fears scores of cruise goers have been scattered across the world without full health checks  as Cambodia on Monday afternoon treated a few dozen of the passengers to bus tours around the capital Phnom Penh.

Passenger Christina Kerby, whose drole tweets as the Westerdam was bounced across ports drew widespread attention, admitted she was surprised to be allowed on a tour of the Cambodian capital before being given the complete all-clear from the virus.

I have young kids back home (in the US) and wouldnt want to risk infecting them or anyone around me if I am carrying the virus, she told AFP.-

The Westerdam was at sea for two weeks during which it was barred from Japan, Guam, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand over fears it could be carrying the virus, which originated in China and has killed nearly 1,800 people.

On Thursday Cambodia, a staunch ally of Beijing, allowed the ship to dock at Sihanoukville.

It was met by the kingdoms bombastic premier, who hugged disembarking passengers as he swiftly latched on to the Westerdams PR potential for a nation more often in the spotlight for human rights abuses.

His stance won applause from US President Donald Trump.

But three days later one Westerdam passenger, an 83-year-old American, was stopped on arrival in Malaysia and later diagnosed with the coronavirus.

On Monday Malaysia said over 130 other passengers who also took the flight with the sick American women left for the US, Europe and Australia and Hong Kong.

Thailand, a flight hub already used by scores of the Westerdam passengers, on Monday mulled a ban on transit by cruise goers, as the region played catch up to the risks posed by the boat.

Passengers on ship are at risk and travel by airplane will cause risk to other passengers, health minister Anutin Charnvirakul said Monday.

Cruise operator Holland America is working with national health authorities to investigate and follow up with individuals who may have come in contact with the guest, chief medical officier Dr Grant Tarling said late Sunday.

 Harsh reality 

Yet health risks appeared secondary to authorities in Cambodia, a poor country with a threadbare medical system.

On Monday afternoon, passengers waiting for onward flights were gifted the bus tour of Phnom Penh.

Photos in government-aligned media showed them smiling, giving thumbs ups and none with a mask on.

There were tons of media lining the street Kerby said, adding she was not expecting such a showing.

Another 233 passengers and 747 crew remain on the Westerdam, which is still docked at Sihanoukville.

Authorities have been allowing them to leave the vessel in groups based on their flight bookings but those on board told AFP they are now not permitted to disembark.

A Sihanoukville spokesman said Monday health samples are being collected from all onboard the Westerdam in order to be clear, adding that passengers will not go off-ship until the tests are completed.

Chinas foreign minister Wang Yi will meet Southeast Asian counterparts in late Laos this week to discuss the unprecedented health crisis, which has battered manufacturing and tourism across the region and led to an array of travel restrictions

In China more than 70,000 people have been infected with the coronavirus while about 900 infections have been reported in other countries.

We have seen the consequences of holding passengers on a cruise ship with the Diamond Princess outbreak, he said, referring to another cruise ship that is quarantined in Yokohama, Japan, with hundreds of cases among the passengers.

SOURCE: AFP | PHOTO: AFP
The United States' ambassador to Germany said Sunday that President Donald Trump had threatened to cut off intelligence-sharing with countries that dealt with Chinese tech firm Huawei. Washington has been pressing allies to ban Huawei, one of the world's largest tech firms, from next-generation 5G mobile data networks, saying it is a security risk. Ambassador Richard Grenell said Trump "instructed me to make clear that any nation who chooses to use an untrustworthy 5G vendor will jeopardize our ability to share intelligence and information at the highest level." Grenell said on Twitter that the president had called him on Sunday from Air Force One, the presidential plane, to convey the message. Key US allies in Europe, notably Britain and France, have said they will not ban Huawei from building 5G networks but will impose restrictions. Publicly, the US has been restrained in its response, but Trump was reportedly furious with London. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the Munich Security Conference on Saturday that Huawei was a "Trojan horse for Chinese intelligence." The tech company vehemently denies the US allegations, and Beijing has characterized its treatment as "economic bullying." A US indictment on Friday laid more criminal charges against Huawei related to theft of intellectual property, adding to earlier allegations that the company stole trade secrets from American carrier T-Mobile. US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell (C, pictured February 14, 2020) said President Donald Trump told him that allies who use Huawei "will jeopardize our ability to share intelligence and information"
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., Ltd (Changan) announced it sold 134,578 new vehicles in January, a year-on-year downward movement of 4.6%, versus the estimated 18% decrease for overall auto industry.

Among the vehicles sold last month, 103,899 units belong to Changan's indigenous brands, the group reported via its WeChat account. Of those, the sales of Changan-branded PVs amounted to 79,708 units.

(Photo source: Changan)



There were three SUV models whose Jan. sales exceeded 10,000 units. The CS75 boasted a year-on-year surge of 56% with 25,773 units sold, only 641 units less than that of the best-seller Haval H6. The remarkable growth owes much to the blooming sales of the CS75 Plus, which accounted for 69% of total CS75 sales. The well-received Plus model just hit the market in last September.

Besides, the sales of the CS55 and the CS35 reached 10,952 units and 10,253 units respectively. Notably, the volume of the CS55 Plus amounted to 10,615 units.

The automaker plans to put its fourth Plus model, the EADO Plus, on sale this year. The sales volume of the EADO sedans totaled 6,560 units in Jan.

Changan also sold 13,007 Oushang X7 SUVs, a double-digit growth of 17.4% from the previous month.



As for the performance of subsidiaries, Heifei Changan gained a splendid increase of 312.2%. It is noteworthy that the joint venture Changan Ford saw its sales climb 4.2% over a year ago, maintaining the upward trend from Dec. 2019.

In overseas markets, Changan sold a total of 5,007 new vehicles, 11.4% more than that of the prior-year period.
Aussie Home Loans heiress Deborah Symond O'Neil has given birth to her first child Beau in Sydney's leading private hospital, Mater.

The 31-year-old daughter of Australian financier John Symond announced her pregnancy on August 14, 2019, almost 18 months after her extravagant wedding on Hamilton Island to property developer Ned O'Neil.

The pair looked radiant in professional photos Deborah released just days after the birth on February 13, cradling the newborn in matching navy blue designer ensembles.

Scroll down for video

Aussie Home Loans heiress Deborah Symond O'Neil has given birth to her first child Beau in Sydney's leading private hospital, Mater

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

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.

'Beau Symond O'Neil. Our darling boy, we dreamed of you and now you're here, our hearts have never been so full,' Deborah wrote on Instagram.

The owner of high-end leisurewear label Mode Sportif thanked her 'birth team' for their help before leaving Mater Hospital in North Sydney on February 17, her bundle of joy wrapped up in French luxury brand Tartine et Chocolat.

The owner of high-end leisurewear label Mode Sportif thanked her 'birth team' for their help before leaving Mater Hospital in North Sydney

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)

Less than two weeks ago, still 38 weeks pregnant, Deborah 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 to her baby shower.

The 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.
Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court in Abuja, on Monday, ordered the arrest of a former Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Abdullahi Dikko.

The judge issued the bench warrant against Mr Dikko for his continued failure to appear in court in respect of corruption charges instituted against him and two others by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC).

At the resumed hearing of the matter on Monday, Mr Dikkos lawyer, Solomon Akuma, presented a medical report to the court.

The lawyer said his client was critically ill and on admission at a London hospital.

But the judge said Mr Akuma had on the last adjourned date, promised to produce his client in court.

Ms Ojukwu said the address on the medical report (No: N6 Ahmed Musa Crescent Jabi, Abuja) does not support his claim that Mr Dikko is in a hospital in London

She asked the prosecution to set aside the arrest warrant if they discover that the ex-custom chief is indeed in a London hospital. If not, he should be arrested and brought to court on March 16.

Mr Dikko is being prosecuted by the ICPC alongside a former Assistant Comptroller-General of the agency in charge of Finance, Administration and Technical Services, Garba Makarfi, and Umar Hussaini, a lawyer and owner of Capital Law Office.

They are accused of inducing the Managing Director of Cambial Limited, Yemi Obadeyi, to pay N1.1 billion (N1,100, 952,380.96) into the account of Capital Law Office as a refundable completion security deposit for the purchase of 120 units of duplexes as residential accommodation for officers of the Nigeria Customs Service.

The ICPC accuses Messrs Dikko and Makarfi of using the bank account of Mr Hussainis firms to illegally receive the money. The anti-graft agency further alleged that Mr Hussaini, between April 6 and December 2010, shared the money into various accounts.

Mr Makarfi was accused of receiving $3 million between April and December 2010, apparently as part of the proceeds of corruption.

Dikkos Previous Corruption Allegation

Mr Dikko, who was the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service between August 2009 and August 2015, has faced several allegations of fraudulently enriching himself and certificate forgery.

In 2017, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) seized 17 exotic vehicles from Mr Dikko, after Justice S. M. Shuaibu of the Federal High Court in Kaduna gave an interim order for their forfeiture to the federal government.

Less than a week after the forfeiture order, EFCC recovered dozens of brand new tricycles and motorcycles from a warehouse allegedly belonging to Mr Dikko.

Operatives of the commissions Kaduna Zonal office acting on intelligence stormed the facility on February 28 and executed a search warrant which led to the recovery of the following items, the EFCC said at that time.

The commission listed the recovered items to include: 42 brand new customised yellow-coloured tricycles; 16 brand new cargo motorcycles; one brand new white 32-seater Nissan civilian bus; one MAN diesel truck; 515 brand new imported rugs of different colours and sizes; two metal bulletproof safe with N1.565 billion and documents of transactions in different currencies within and outside the country.

In a similar development, the Nigeria Customs Service under Mr Dikko was accused of paying N12 million into the account of a company belonging to an embattled Federal High Court judge, Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia.

The fifth prosecution witness for the EFCC in a matter filed against Mrs Ofili-Ajumogobia, Omale Ujah, had narrated to a Lagos State High Court in Ikeja how he was instructed in 2014 to pay N12 million into the account of a company, Nigel and Colive Limited, belonging to the judge.

Mr Ujah, an Assistant Controller of Customs, told the court that the N12 million payment was at the instruction of one Musa Tahir, who was the Deputy Controller-General of Customs.

In the course of my duty in 2014, the Deputy Controller-General that I was working with, Musa Tahir, came down from the office of the Comptroller-General of Customs and gave me the account number of Nigel and Colive limited, saying that the CGC said we should liaise with 12 commands and they should pay N1m each to my account, and I should transfer the whole sum to Nigel and Colive Limited. And that instruction was carried out, Mr Ujah said.

He said he paid the money in three tranches of N4 million, N3 million and N5 million. He said he was not aware of any services rendered by the beneficiary company to the Nigeria Customs Service.
According to Timofiy Mylovanov, Ukraine needs to attract about 50 billion dollars in investments over the next five years in order to catch up with its neighbors

IT and agricultural sectors remain to be the only successful ones of Ukraines economy. Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture Timofiy Mylovanov said this during a briefing.

"We have several successful sectors of the economy. I want to focus on IT and agriculture. They are able to integrate into global economic chains. They work with global clients, suppliers and procurements. That is where competition, skills and technology come from. So these are the areas that we consider successful because they integrate into global markets and attract investments," he said.

Mylovanov also noted that the agricultural sector was the only one where the level of investing, the level of updating and modernization of the production means corresponds to the level of our neighbors.

"Ukraine's agriculture has enough investments on its own, but we need even more to reach the level of Poland, where, for example, the added value is twice as much," the minister said.

He added that, overall, the Ukrainian economy was "decommissioned" and the country needed to attract about 50 billion dollars in investments over the following five years in order to catch up with its neighbors.

As we reported earlier, the growth of the gross domestic product of Ukraine in the 4th quarter of 2019 amounted to 1.5%, compared to the same period in 2018. The State Statistics Service informed about it.

In comparison with the previous quarter, the real GDP grew by 0.1% (seasonally adjusted).
Advertisement

A new exhibit at the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn showcases an incredible collection of photos from the early 1900s that document the city's underground rail road system under construction.

The images were captured by brothers Pierre and Graville Pullis who were hired by the construction company to document the colossal undertaking which began in 1900.

In addition to capturing the back-breaking work performed under the city's torn up streets, the extensive cache of pictures highlight the unique architectural and historical changes that were happening simultaneously above ground between 1900 and 1940.

'You can see that they are waiting for just the right moment to click the shutter so that they capture the pedestrians crossing the street in a way that is visually interesting, or for the woman to lean out of the window to shake the dust off her rug,' explained curator Jodi Shapiro to Gothamist.

Workers in 1929 are seen using the 'hydraulic shield' while constructing the Greenpoint Tube. The 'hydraulic shield' was an early, rudimentary device, before Tunnel Boring Machines were invented. The hydraulic shield was 23 feet wide and weighed 200 tons, it had nine compartments with doors where men stood extracting earth and rock with pickaxes

Hurricane Sandy in 2010 damaged many of New York City's underwater transit tunnels. Above shows MTA workers in 2014 working in the Greenpoint Tube that connects Brooklyn and Queens with the G train

7th Avenue and 42nd Street in Manhattan, 1914. The Manhattan Main Line was first completed in 1904 and ran from City Hall downtown, along 42nd Street before finishing at 145th Street in Harlem uptown

Today the corner of 7th Avenue and 42nd Street is the heart of the theater district. It's massive subway station is a hub for 11 different underground lines

A surveyor analyzes the subway construction on Bowery Street in 1901. Originally, all mass transit trains in New York City were elevated (seen in the background) and operated by the same company that built the first subterranean line in 1904. The Elevated lines that ran up Second, Third, Sixth and Ninth became known as 'the El' and were discontinued completely in 1955

Looking north on Bowery Street toward Cooper Union (hidden behind trees). To this day, Bowery Street is wider than most because it had to accommodate for 'the El' which was torn down in 1955

Men stand in the East River Tunnel construction in 1907. Tunnels under the river were created using compressed air in the chamber at a pressure of 13 pounds per inch. This highly pressurized air kept the tunnel from collapsing under the weight of the riverbed silt and water. 'Blowouts' were all too common of an accident - they occurred when a leak in the compressed tube caused escaping air to flood through it, soon creating a massive hole that would suck workers through it. One man named Marshall Mabey was torpedoed through 27 feet of the East River's muddy riverbed and water, then launched 200 yards into the air before landing back in the river unscathed

The first subway line was finished in 1904. It featured 28 stations along the 9.1 mile track that ran from City Hall in downtown Manhattan all the way north to 145th Street in Harlem with a detour along 42nd Street. Completed in just four years, 100,000 eager passengers paid a nickel to take a ride on the train's maiden voyage that took place October 27 at 7pm.

The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) won the construction contract with a $35 million bid (over one billion dollars in today's money). The contract also awarded the IRT with the right to all tracks they built and a lucrative 50-year operating lease.

The construction was overseen by an Irish immigrant builder named John McDonald. He utilized a process called 'cut and cover': workers would drill and filet the streets open with dynamite blasts at night. A daytime crew armed with shovels and pickaxes would then remove the debris by mule cart. Once the earth had been removed, teams would build the tunnel with its related infrastructure and then cover it back up with dirt and pavement.

McDonald faced a variety of obstacles throughout the process. Water, gas, electrical and sewer lines had to be rerouted. They took special care to ensure that the foundations of tall buildings were not weakened or damaged in the process. Underground rooms like basements and bank vaults had to be carefully avoided and shoring up the foundation at the Columbus Circle monument proved to be exceptionally difficult. In all, the hurried construction ended in 16 deaths and 125 injuries.

8,000 day laborers 'given to gambling, fighting and swearing' were hired to complete the unprecedented feat. Dynamite blasts 'smashed windows and terrorized carriage houses. Tunnels collapsed killing workers and swallowing storefronts,' wrote the New York Times.

Nevertheless, the Manhattan Main Line was a resounding success and the IRT quickly added to the track, covering a total of 23.5 miles by 1908. As the IRT expanded throughout Manhattan, the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) had a monopoly on all mass transit across the East River.

Both of these competing companies wanted the opportunity to extend into one anothers territory which led to an agreement with the city that promised to divide expansion contracts between the BRT and the IRT. This allowed for the New York City subway system to expand rapidly throughout the five main boroughs.

Men are seen working on Lexington Avenue, between 105th and 106th Streets, in Manhattan, 1913. The earliest subways were installed using the 'cut and cover' process - a method that tore up streets with dynamite and cleared the debris with shovels and mule carts. Once the the earth had been removed, teams would then build the tunnel with its related infrastructure and cover it back up with dirt and pavement

The building on the right, can be seen in the earlier photo that was taken in 1913. Today the building serves as the Julia De Burgos Latino Cultural Center in East Harlem. The current 6 train services all of Lexington Avenue was built by the IRT

The collaboration of city contracts between the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) and Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) led to the rapid expansion of subway lines to all five boroughs of New York City between 1904 and 1940. The above photo shows the very early progress made on the IRT elevated Flushing Line that opened three new stations in 1927 - 111th Street, Mets- Willets Point and Flushing -Main Street and

An image of the IRT's Flushing Line (currently the 7 Train) shows Mets Stadium in the background. The elevated tracks were completed in 1928

Workers in a water pump chamber in The Bronx, 1916

9th Street subway entrance in Brooklyn, 1910. While the Interborough Rapid Transit Company expanded throughout Manhattan, the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company owned a monopoly on all the mass transit tracks in Brooklyn

The St Thomas Aquinas Church (built in 1884) can be seen in the original photo taken in 1910 as well as the brick building (which now serves as the Maurice Sendak School) in the distance. The original subway station is now part of the 9th Street/ 4th Avenue hub that serves three different train lines

Tunneling underneath the East River proved to be exceptionally difficult and dangerous. Men were given to suffering from 'the bends' (or decompression sickness) - an incurable illness found commonly in scuba divers that occurs when nitrogen gas is released too rapidly from bubbles created in the blood stream. This happens when one ascends to the surface too rapidly and can cause death by stroke, heart attack or lifelong joint pain.

Another common occurrence were 'blowouts.' Long before tunnel boring machines (TBM's) existed - workers dug under riverbeds with pick axes and shovels using a 'hydraulic shield' that was 23-feet wide to push through the mush. Highly compressed air pumped through the tunnel to keep it from collapsing under the weight of the riverbed and river.

In February 1905, while working on the new R Train subway line that extends into Brooklyn Heights; Marshall Mabey noticed a leak in the compressed air which spelled trouble. As highly pressurized air rushed through it, the crack quickly grew into an 18-inch hole. Mabey, along with Frank Driver and Michael McCarthy tried to plug up the gap with a plank before it turned catastrophic but in doing so, all three men were sucked through the hole, resulting in what is known as a 'blowout.'

Mabey, Driver and McCarthy were instantly torpedoed through 27 feet of the East River's muddy silt riverbed and water, then shot 200 yards into the air before being spit back into the New York City Harbor. Mabey lived to tell the tale but his colleagues were less fortunate.

Ashland Place & Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, 1911. Jodi Shapiro, curator of the New York Transit Museum told Gothamist: 'You can see that they are waiting for just the right moment to click the shutter so that they capture the pedestrians crossing the street in a way that is visually interesting, or for the woman to lean out of the window to shake the dust off her rug'

Ashland Place and Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn is now a popular destination stop for the arts with the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) and the Mark Morris Dance Center on opposite corners as well as the Barclays Center nearby

A still of Union Square, taken in 1901 reveals how disruptive the 'cut and cover' construction method was to everyday life

17th Street and 4th Avenue in Manhattan, 1902. John McDonald, the contractor responsible for overseeing the construction of the first subway line faced a variety of obstacles throughout the process. Water, gas, electrical and sewer lines had to be rerouted in addition to the special taken to avoid underground rooms like basements and bank vaults. Notably, the Columbus Circle monument proved to be exceptionally difficult

17th Street runs along the top of Union Square Park. A crosstown trolley seen in the above photo was discontinued in 1913

In a New York Times headline titled, 'Man Tells How It Feels To Go Up In A Geyser,' Mabey explained that he 'was never squeezed so tightly before' in his life and lost consciousness momentarily. 'I am a good swimmer and I kept my mouth shut and came up to the surface,' he said. 'I had my big rubber boots and they bothered me but I managed somehow to keep my head above the surface...Finally men on a pier threw me a rope and I held on until I was taken out of the water.'

Fellow sandhog, Richard Creedon of Jersey City, New Jersey spoke to the New York Times of his experience in a blowout far more lightheartedly. He said that he was in the process of plugging up hole with sandbags when 'I was drawed into the flow and shot out at the other end. Then all of a sudden I strikes water and opens my eyes. I was flying through the air, and before I comes down I had a fine view of the city.'

In 1940, the City of New York consolidated the two private companies (the BRT and the IRT) and began operating the under a state incorporated agency known to the public as MTA New York City Transit.

Today the tangle of tunnels underneath the city includes over 850 miles of track with 472 stations that serve 5.6 million riders per day. The remarkable achievement and feat of engineering has become the heart and pulse of the Big Apple.

The major intersection on Broadway and 38th Street, New York City show the street filleted open for the construction of the subway tunnels

Just south of Times Square, the N,R,Q, W trains run underneath the street that was torn apart in 1908

4th Avenue and 10th Street in Manhattan, 1900. A daytime crew would shovel the debris and sand into mule carts after an evening crew blasted open the streets with dynamite. In all, the hurried construction finished in just four years, ended in 16 deaths and 125 injuries

An excavated boat was discovered while digging for the Third Avenue Line in 1916

City Hall Station (now closed) was part of The Manhattan Main Line that was opened in 1904. The station re-opened for one day only on its 100th Anniversary on October 27, 2004
In the past five years, Denver Heights has undergone a radical transformation from a simple historic neighborhood to one of the trendiest residential areas in San Antonio.

Historic neighborhoods all over the east side are enjoying a resurgence of interest, and Denver Heights is no exception, according to Tamala Hamilton, a local real estate broker with Core Values Realty.

The Denver Heights area is a prime location, five minutes from downtown and less than 10 minutes from the Pearl, Hamilton said.

For many years, the east side of San Antonio was underserved, noted Hamilton. But when the city began encouraging and incentivizing new small businesses to move in, the east side began its evolution.

Investors began purchasing older historic homes, renovating them, and selling them. And locals were attracted to the area because the commute from Denver Heights to anywhere else downtown was so convenient.

Not only are neighborhoods being beautified, but now the very people who work in those communities are living in those communities, Hamilton said.

Keith Jones, investor and owner of JT Renovations and Properties, said that renovations of Dignowity Hill homes about seven years ago began a surge of interest in other historic east side homes. Soon other neighborhoods like Jefferson Heights, Government Hill and Denver Heights would follow suit.

Some of the homes hes restored in Denver Heights were originally run-down and vacant, passed down from family member to family member.

But  with a little attention and TLC  those same homes have been refurbished and beautified for new families to make new memories.

Most of these homes were built in the 1910s and 1920s, Jones said. We go in and redo all the leveling, update the electrical, plumbing, HVAC, make it all up to code, install new roofing, new sheetrock, new framing  and then you have really nice, fresh new houses.

RELATED: SPOTLIGHT ON DOWNTOWN: Real Estate Broker Tamala Hamilton

Hamilton added that one of the biggest draws to the area is the convenience of retail and restaurants at the Pearl and other downtown amenities.

The Pearl has so many boutiques and restaurants and daily activities where vendors congregate, she said. I get excited about it, and so do my clients.

But there are also tax incentives to living in a historic area, as some banks will offer grants and down payment assistance  regardless of income level  to those buying homes in historic neighborhoods like Denver Heights.

Growing up, Hamilton felt that certain areas of San Antonio lacked diversity. But now, all that is changing.

Now the diversity of people buying homes on the east side in Denver Heights? Its beautiful, she said. The east side looks like America. Its a melting pot  you see people of all nationalities and religious backgrounds all over Denver Heights. Its a wonderful array.

And a breathtaking view greets those purchasing these newly renovated homes in Denver Heights.

Locals can sit on their front porch and have an unobstructed view of the skyline  the Tower of America, Hemisfair, the Alamodome, Hamilton said.

For more information on homes available in Denver Heights, visit www.keithjonesrealestate.com or contact Hamilton at tamhamilton2014@gmail.com or 210-392-8116.
UN chief Antonio Guterres on Monday called on the global community to step up efforts to help bring peace in war-torn Afghanistan, saying the Afghan people need and deserve peace, prosperity and full respect of their human rights.

The UN Secretary-General said this while addressing an international conference titled '40 years of Afghan Refugees Presence in Pakistan: A New Partnership for Solidarity' held here.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, ministers and senior officials from around 20 countries are participating in the conference.

Noting that the Afghan refugee crisis is the world's largest protracted refugee situation in recorded history, Guterres said there is deep impact on the Afghani people due to the protracted nature of conflict, poverty and forced displacement, a report in the Dawn newspaper said.

Guterres emphasised that the Afghan people need and deserve peace and prosperity and full respect of their human rights.

"As we look to the challenges ahead, the global community should step up. As we have marked 40 unbroken years of solidarity, but we also despair at the 40 broken years of hostility," he said.

According to a report in The Express Tribune, Guterres said that a renewed commitment to peace is required in Afghanistan for the successful repatriation of Afghan refugees.

We must be realistic and know big challenges lie ahead. But the message of this conference and the presence of so many senior government officials from all over the world is a testament of hope and commitment for a new partnership with solidarity and a better future for Afghanistan, Pakistan and the world, he said.

"Our ability to succeed would be a litmus test on the global impact on the refugees. It's promise of greater responsibility sharing with countries that have shouldered the burden until now, Guterres said.

Guterres' comments came amidst renewed Afghan peace talks between US negotiator on Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad and the Taliban.

US President President Donald Trump abruptly called off the talks with the insurgents in September last year after a US soldier was killed in a suicide attack in Afghanistan's capital, Kabul.

Pakistan, which had facilitated the nine-month-long painstaking peace process in Doha, had pushed for the resumption of talks.

In October, Pakistan hosted the Afghan Taliban delegation led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

"For 40 years, the people of Afghanistan have faced many crises, for 40 years the people of Pakistan have responded with solidarity. This generosity now spans across decades and generations," Guterres said.

"We must recognise that international support for Pakistan has been minimal compared to your own national efforts," Guterres said.

Earlier, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Afghan refugees were seeking greater global commitment to the peace process, noting that Pakistan hosts three million registered and unregistered Afghan refugees.

"We know the solution lies in Afghanistan and I hope the signals of a possible passageway of peace will lead to a better future for the people of Afghanistan," Guterres said.

"I see with US Ambassador Khalilzad and I want to strongly encourage to pursue the way for peace. The Afghan people can count on the United Nations to support the efforts for peace. We don't seek protagonism, we are here only to serve," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(Newser)  The start of the Daytona 500 was delayed by an unexpected rain shower that began moments after President Trump and his motorcade finished a ceremonial parade lap Sunday. Trump's limousine nicknamed the beast exited Daytona International Speedway, and the 40 drivers were expected to begin the race moments later. Instead, the sky opened for a brief shower and drivers returned to pit road. The start already had been pushed back 13 minutes to accommodate Trump's trip, just the second time a sitting president has attended the Daytona 500, the AP reports. Trump made a dramatic entrance hours earlier, setting off a raucous celebration at the famed track. Thousands cheered as Air Force One performed a flyover and landed at Daytona International Airport a few hundred yards behind the track. Trump's motorcade arrived a few minutes later, prompting another loud ovation.

story continues below

At least a dozen drivers were escorted from the pre-race meeting to a private introduction with Trump. The president served as the grand marshal for the Daytona 500 and gave drivers the traditional command, "Gentlemen, start your engines," after which the United States Air Force Thunderbirds performed a second flyover. Trump then got in the limousine and turned a lap. The president's visit was widely welcomed by NASCAR fans. Trump 2020 flags flooded the infield, and some fans wore them as capes in the garage area. Trump's presence also created huge lines at entrances, with many fans complaining while waiting hours to get through security. Former NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France, who was replaced following his August 2018 arrest on DUI charges, was on Air Force One with the president and first lady; France recruited several drivers to attend a Georgia rally for Trump when he was a candidate.

(Read more Daytona 500 stories.)
WASHINGTONMore than 1,100 former federal prosecutors and Justice Department officials called on Attorney General William Barr on Sunday to step down after he intervened last week to lower the Justice Departments sentencing recommendation for U.S. President Donald Trumps longtime friend Roger Stone.

They also urged current government employees to report any signs of unethical behaviour at the Justice Department to the agencys inspector general and to Congress.

Each of us strongly condemns President Trumps and Attorney General Barrs interference in the fair administration of justice, the former Justice Department lawyers, who came from across the political spectrum, wrote in an open letter Sunday. Those actions, they said require Mr. Barr to resign.

A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment.

After prosecutors on Monday recommended a prison sentence of up to nine years for Stone, who was convicted of obstructing a congressional inquiry, Trump lashed out at federal law enforcement. Senior officials at the department, including Barr, overrode the recommendation the next day with a more lenient one, immediately prompting accusations of political interference, and the four lawyers on the Stone case abruptly withdrew in protest.

The Justice Department said the case had not been discussed with anyone at the White House, but that Trump congratulating Barr on his decision did little to dispel the perception of political influence. And as the president widened his attacks on law enforcement, Barr publicly reproached the president, saying that Trumps statements undermined him as well the department.

I cannot do my job here at the department with a constant background commentary that undercuts me, Barr said during a televised interview Thursday with ABC News.

But lawyers across the Justice Department continue to worry about political interference from the president despite public pushback by Barr, long considered a close ally of Trumps.

Even as the lawyers condemned Barr on Sunday, they said they welcomed his rebuke of Trump and his assertions that law enforcement must be independent of politics.

But Barrs actions in doing the presidents personal bidding unfortunately speak louder than his words, they said.

The letter comes days after some Democratic senators pressed for Barr to resign, and after the New York City Bar Association said that it had formally reported the attorney generals behaviour to the Justice Departments inspector general.

Read more about:
Photo credit: Courtesy of Box Hill Films

From Town & Country

Jane Austens Emmathe novel about nothing, but also about everything. While we may not have thought we needed another film adaptation, after Amy Heckerlings triumphant Clueless and the 1996 period piece that catapulted Gwyneth Paltrow to fame, we are nonetheless receiving one, in the form of director Autumn de Wildes Emma., in theaters February 21.

In preparation for the new Emmas release, T&C spoke to one of the nations foremost Jane Austen experts, Professor Deidre Lynch. Lynch is the Ernest Bernbaum Professor of Literature at Harvard University, and has published widely on the literature and culture of late-18th century and early-19th century Britain. She edited Janeites: Austens Disciples and Devotees, the Oxford Worlds Classics edition of Austens Persuasion, the Romantic Period volume of The Norton Anthology of English Literature, and a 2016 edition of Austens Mansfield Park. She also teaches a popular course entitled "Jane Austens Fiction and Fans."

We spoke with her on Austen film adaptations, gendered audiences, the strength of Emma, and why Austen endures all these years later.

What do you think have been the biggest mistakes in Austen film and television adaptions?

Thats such an interesting question, and I did watch the first episode of Sanditon last night so its very much on my mind. I wasnt very happy with it. I think the ones that I have found the least successful are the ones that almost imprison her in her moment. Youre getting so distracted by the historical accuracy of the costumes and the settings and all of the money theyve spent on horses that you dont actually get to pay that much attention to the story or to the characters. Those I find pretty deadly. I love things like Clueless and I love things like The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, in part because I think updating [the stories] actually gives you more opportunity to concentrate on character and story and not try to create this mythical place called "Jane Austens World."

Story continues

Photo credit: Archive Photos - Getty Images

What do you think have been some of the better adaptations?

Clueless, I think, is a brilliant adaptation of Emma. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Of the ones that are more historical, I really liked the 1995 Persuasion with Ciaran Hinds as Captain Wentworth, partly because it wasnt so pretty all the time. I think that the people looked like people in ways that often thats not an opportunity afforded to the actors in all of these adaptationstheyre a little too beautiful. The absolutely worst one of all time is the Billie Piper Mansfield Park. Oh my god, thats a terrible, terrible adaptation.

If you were to consult for an Austen film adaptation, what advice would you give?

I think Austens great theme, in some ways, is inequality. One of the things that Sanditon did right is it does have a black character in it, and Austen wrote that in the six chapters that she managed to write of Sanditon before she got too ill. I think that if youre going to set something in "Jane Austens World," quote unquote, its good to remember that not everybody in that world had the means to live comfortably. I think Austen does make us see sometimes the briefest glimpse [of inequality], that theres a war going on, that there are people who are poor. I think I would kind of insist on that if I were asked to consult on an adaptation.



Photo credit: Simon Ridgway

What do you think are the pros and cons between creating the more rigid, period adaptations versus the modernized retellings?

I think the consand I already said I really like the modernizationsthe cons might be that those are never taken very seriously, right? That they seem like films for teenage girls alone or, at best, date movies or something like that. Austen was a very serious novelist, and I do think that there is a way in which claiming her for the genre of the rom-com has some real downsides. For one thing, it means that men dont watch these adaptations, or only do so under duress. Ive written about this before; there was no sense until the middle of the twentieth century that Austen was addressing a female audience exclusively. Lots of men read Austen, wrote about Austen, the first people that called themselves Janeites were men, not women.

Is that just the case for the modern rom-coms or could it be a problem with the period adaptations, too?

No, the period adaptations are just as bad in that way. Somehow, I just think that our world has become more rigidly genderedand thats especially true in film and televisionand then that gets projected back onto Austen, because there have been so many television and film adaptations of her work.

About Emma specifically, why do you think that this novel resonates with people? It seems to keep getting brought back.

I would go back to what I said about inequality, because [the novel] really is Austen exploring how in this very claustrophobic world, people can get along when there is this sense that some people are superior to other peopleEmma has a sense that she is positioned at the top of the Highbury hierarchy. So, I think thats part of it, but also its just such a masterful exploration of how little we can know about other people, even when we have known them all our lives, and live in such close quarters. I think its appeal has a lot to do with the limits of our knowledge of each other, but also the really wonderful message that people can still surprise us. Its such a habit-bound, routine-bound society and yet its also this novel where you go, "Oh my god," the first time you read it, "that was going on under our noses all along!" Its also just so funny. Its so much about how we find ways to get along with others, even in conditions in which we feel stuck with them. Theres an art of living that is taught in a novel of manners like Emma.

Photo credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock - Shutterstock





Are there any common perceptions about Emma that you feel are incorrect?

Emma, from its publication on, has posed this question, which is the difference between a book that is boring and a book that is about boredom. And its a fine line, right? It seems as though very little is happening, in part because youre confined to Emmas point of view. When the novel was first published, her publisher wrote a letter [and said], "It really is lacking in incident, isnt it?" And that kind of misses the point. I think even at that moment, people were really interested in how a book about people who were boredMrs. Bates is a bore, Mr. Woodhouse is a bore, Mrs. Elton is a borehow can such a book not be boring? Its kind of plotless, at least on your first reading. And what is the interest of a plotless fiction?

How would you answer that question?

Well I would say that maybe its the distinction between reading about Mrs. Bates, which is a very different thing from living with Mrs. Bates. The novel is teaching us that difference.

Do you think were in an Austen renaissance right now?

Im not sure. When I first started my career, it seemed like there was an adaptation every year. Things have slowed down a little bit. I do think theres a lot more need for content as media expands and we have so many more channels and studios and the whole world of online media. It does seem as though theres a desperate need to find stuff thats out of copyright and claim it for yourself, because people are desperate for material. So, Im less sure that were in an Austen renaissance than I was. God, though, the questions about civility that Austen writes certainly seem topical in the United States of 2020, dont they? But, whether thats going to create any sort of continued return to Austen, Im not sure.

Photo credit: Courtesy of Box Hill Films

Why do you think Austen endures?

So many reasons. One is that we can still learn an incredible amount about what novels can do from reading her novels. The ways in which novels can give us the illusion of thinking as another person thinks and feeling as another person feels; her perfection of things like free indirect discourse have a lot to do with our sense that novels can give us another persons psychology from the inside. Think about in Persuasion, the scene in which Captain Wentworth touches Anne Elliots back, as he lifts the child off her back. We feel that at the very moment Anne does. Thats something novels can do that no other art form can do as well. I think we can learn so much about what the novel as a form is capable of from reading Austen.

I also think shes so funny and shes so trickythe irony in figuring out the lines between what a character is saying and what a narrator is saying. The sharp witVirginia Woolf has a line that, in the Austen canon, a single sentence can take a characters head off. The put-downs and the edginess to the wit, thats a reason to keep reading her as well.

And these are the things, of course, that the Hollywoodification of Austen has made harder to see. You dont read the novelsor at least you dont re-read the novelsjust to get the hero and heroine to the wedding altar together. You read them because of that incredible linguistic dexterity.

Its very hard to portray free indirect discourse on screen.

Absolutely. This was the problem with the episode of Sanditon that I watched. It keeps having to put in characters mouths things that the narrator imparts to us, and that doesnt work out very well at all.

How would you advise someone to convey that successfully?

The Gwyneth Paltrow film of Emma does have a voiceover narrator once in a while and it doesnt work out that well either. Clueless and then Emma, Approved, which is by the people that did The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, both have the Emma character serving as narrator and then use the contrast between what were seeing and what shes seeing to create some of the same ironic effects. That works a little better, I think.

You have the audience hearing Emmas internal narration.

Yes, exactly.

Photo credit: Courtesy of Box Hill Films

Whats your favorite Austen novel?

Oh god, it depends which one Im teaching at the moment! Or, if Im not teaching, which one Im writing on at the moment. I am extremely fond of Emma. Im blown away by the new things shes doing in Persuasion and that syntax of agitation that shes experimenting with there. Mansfield Park, because I am so interested in what Austen tells us about how someone internalizes their oppressors account of her. I just think the Mrs. Norris/Fanny dynamic in Mansfield Park is so psychologically acute and so interesting, and I do think that Austens effort to connect that in incredibly oblique ways to questions about imperial politics is really intriguing and exciting. So, those are my three.

And how are you feeling about this new version of Emma?

I hope the movie will be good. I like the person who is writing the screenplayEleanor CattonI really liked her first novel a lot. So, Im a little hopeful? But, it also looks like its going to be incredibly pretty [laughs] and, as you learned, Im a little mistrustful of that prettiness.

You Might Also Like
Disease is harmless to humans but has wiped out 60 percent of Chinas swine industry and a quarter of global supply.

Bali, Indonesia  As fears over the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, continue to dominate the headlines, a second virus affecting Chinas swine industry is also spreading throughout the Asia Pacific region, threatening not only the lives of the affected animals but also the livelihood of farmers who raise them.

African swine fever (ASF) is a contagious disease that affects domestic and wild pigs, causing high fever, respiratory problems, internal bleeding and skin haemorrhages. While it rarely infects humans, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), it kills 80 percent of the pigs it infects.

The disease is resistant to freezing, thawing and most commercial disinfectants, and there is no vaccine for it. It can spread through non-biological objects like shoes and clothing.

Last year, ASF wiped out 60 percent of domestic pigs in China and a quarter of all domestic pigs in the world, according to estimates by contagious disease experts, running into billions of dollars worldwide.

In Taiwan, dead pigs carrying ASF have washed up on its beaches, while in the Philippines, tens of thousands of infected pigs have been killed or culled since September 2019.





In South Korea, photos have emerged of a river turned red by blood from mass culls at pig farms and in Indonesias province of North Sumatra, authorities confirmed some 5,000 pigs died from the virus last year.

Now ASF, which originated in Kenya, has likely reached the Indonesian island of Bali, where the impact could be severe, experts said.

A staple in Bali

Unlike the rest of Indonesia, where pork is not a staple, pigs play a vital role in the economy, community and religion of the Hindu-majority island, which is already reeling from the overnight loss of a quarter of its foreign tourists after flights from China were banned earlier this month to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Last week, the head of Balis agriculture and food security agency, Ida Bagus Wisnuardhana, told the Jakarta Post that close to 1,000 pigs had died from ASF, citing tests conducted on blood samples taken from dead pigs.

However, a day later he backtracked, saying the dead pigs were only exhibiting ASF-like symptoms, adding that further analysis was required. Balis provincial government corroborated the retraction, saying similar diseases with the same symptoms often attack pigs.





But the owner of one of the largest meat processing factories in Bali told Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity that ASF was obviously the cause.

I am absolutely sure its swine fever because its spreading in the region so its the most obvious cause. But its not a big issue because the only way for it to infect humans is to be working in a piggery and even then its extremely rare, the owner said.

The biggest impact of swine fever is economic, and pig farmers could lose all the money theyve spent on feeds.

Impact on community

Nyoman, a pig farmer in Munggu Village, told Al Jazeera all but three of his 64 pigs have died from a mysterious illness.

The government came here and advised me not to sell the dead pigs, to bury them, and to disinfect everything, said Nyoman who, like many Indonesians, goes by one name only.

They said theyre still examining the cause but I think its ASF because farmers in other villages are saying their pigs had similar symptoms.

Nyomans last remaining adult pig is now showing some of the same symptoms: the animal has not eaten in days, is lethargic and breathing heavily.

The pork dish Babi guling is one of Balis most iconic food [Ian Neubauer/Al Jazeera]

I tried treating my pigs with antibiotics and vitamins like B-complex and zinc but it didnt work. This pig will die sooner or later and then her piglets will die too, he said.

How will I survive? I havent thought about it yet. Ive only been in this business for a year and I borrowed lots of money to set it up.

Suci Ernawati, another Muggu Village pig farmer whose animals are dying, also suspects ASF is the cause.

Two of my 10 pigs suddenly got sick with high fevers and died. The symptoms are a little different so we dont know for sure what it is. But people are saying its ASF.

Now, ASF is also threatening Australia.

Australia next?

Last last year, ASF was detected in East Timor, which lies only 650km (404 miles) northwest of the Australian city of Darwin.

Pork Chop, left, leads the field through the first corner in the racing and diving pig show at the Royal Melbourne Show, on September 23, 2008 [William WEST/AFP]

Victoria states agricultural department Victoria described the outbreak in East Timor as significant because it represents the closest outbreak of this exotic disease to Australia since the first Asian diagnosis in China.

Director of the Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Trevor Drew, said the virus is now perfectly positioned to penetrate Australia, where it could have devastating effects on the countrys meat export business.

We are very concerned, so our border controls and our surveillance has really been ramped up, to do our very best to keep the disease out of the country, he said.

The professor added that nearly 50 percent of meat products tourists had tried to sneak past customs at Australian airports had tested positive for ASF and that many of those individuals were refused entry as a result.

Warning not heeded

Drew said he has been warning authorities in China about ASF since 2009 but his words fell on deaf ears.

Knowing about the way pigs are raised in Asia by subsistence farmers in backyard sites, where theres very little in the way of biosecurity measures, it was inevitable ASF was going to spread.

To contain the virus, he adds, its absolutely critical that any country that has it confirms and declares it promptly.

But in Bali, authorities appear more focused on containing the public relations fallout, with an Its safe to eat pork campaign being unrolled throughout the island.





The OIE said the risk of humans being infected with ASF through the consumption of pork products is negligible.

Still, many in Bali are not prepared to take the risk.

I think pork that has been approved by the government is fine but, for now, my family wont eat it, Nyoman, the pig farmer from Munggu village, said. His neighbour Suci Ernawati is also abstaining.

Business is also reportedly slow among restaurants selling babi guling, Balis iconic suckling pig, which is prepared for Hindu ceremonies, weddings and the like.

According to the staff at Babi Guling Selingsing Bu Suci, a shop near Munggu, customers have been scarce since the swine fever scare began.

While they insist that their supply is safe, they are worried that the situation could become worse in the weeks and months to come if the problem is not addressed.
Rocco Wright (centre), who drowned in a leisure centre swimming pool. (PA Images)

Leeds City Council has said it will prosecute David Lloyd Leisure after a three-year-old boy drowned in one of the companys swimming pools.

The death of Rocco Wright at a David Lloyd centre in Moortown, Leeds, in April 2018 was an accident, a jury concluded at an inquest on Monday.

His parents have raised fears about health and safety there while the company has denied it had skimped on its lifeguard staff.

On Monday, Leeds City Council said in a statement it believes the firm has committed offences under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Rocco Wright drowned at a David Lloyd pool despite attempts to save him. (SWNS)

A Leeds City Council spokesman said it had carried out an investigation and added it intend(s) to prosecute in the near future.

We will keep in regular contact with the family and ensure they are informed and supported throughout this next stage, the spokesman said.

Speaking outside Wakefield Coroners Court, Natalie Marrison, who represents Roccos parents, said the family back the planned prosecution.

Marrison said: The inquest has heard evidence which raises serious concerns surrounding health and safety at the swimming pool at the David Lloyd club in Leeds in April 2018.

This includes the visibility available to lifeguards at the pool and the number on duty.

A spokeswoman for David Lloyd said health and safety was the companys first priority and that it was unaware on what basis Leeds City Council intends to prosecute it.

Read more: Death of boy in David Lloyd pool 'could have been prevented', says father

David Lloyd Leisure never places profit above safety, she said, adding that lifeguarding had been invested in before the accident.

David Lloyd Leisure would like to express our deepest sympathies to Roccos family. Our thoughts remain with them and also with those at the club who were closely involved at the time of this tragic accident.

Last week, Roccos father Steven Wright told the jury his sons death could and should have been prevented.

David Lloyd in Tongue Lane, Leeds, where Rocco Wright drowned. (SWNS)

He said he took Rocco and his daughter at the pool, and had just been told his daughters lesson was cancelled when he noticed Rocco was not with him.

Story continues

Wright began to search for his son but didnt think he would be in the pool because he had a natural fear of water and would not get in by himself.

I just saw an outline at the bottom of the pool. It was Rocco, he said.

He dived in to pull his son to the side and other people came over to help him. The inquests coroner, Jonathan Leach, told the jury that Rocco is thought to have been in the water for at least two minutes before being pulled out.

Rocco was put on a ventilator in hospital but pronounced dead the next day. His organs have been used to save a number of other lives.

His mother Catharine Wright said Rocco was the most amazing, happy, joyful boy you could ever wish to meet.

The only lifeguard on duty at the time was 17 when the incident happened, and worked part-time. Billy Jayne, now 19, said he first became aware of what had happened when he saw someone jump into the pool and heard shouting.

He said he ran from his chair to help Rocco at the poolside.

Speaking last week, David Lloyd director Stephen Brown denied the lifeguard budget had been cut at the Leeds centre  a claim made earlier in the hearing  insisting the budget had gone significantly up.

Brown denied David Lloyd had a policy of employing young lifeguards because they were cheaper.

He told jurors that the company policy is to allow a single lifeguard to watch over a maximum of 50 people, a figure set up to 20 years earlier and not reviewed since.

Brown said: Its never been the source of any challenge by any external authorities. We have not had any complaints around that number of 50 before, and so it remains.
There are no "safe havens" for terror groups in Pakistan "right now", Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Monday while acknowledging publicly that it was possibly not the case earlier.

Addressing an international conference marking 40 years of hosting Afghan refugees in the country, he said Pakistan seeks peace in Afghanistan and instability in the war-torn neighbouring country was not in its interest.

Khan's assertion on terror safe havens came as the Financial Action Task Force, the global anti-money laundering watchdog, began a crucial meeting in Paris where Pakistan is trying to wriggle out of being blacklisted for not doing enough to combat terror financing.

The United States, India and Afghanistan have long accused Pakistan of providing safe havens to terror groups like the Taliban, the Haqqani network, the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed.

"I can tell you that there are no safe havens here," Khan said at a conference here, also attended by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

"Whatever the situation might have been in the past, right now, I can tell you... there is one thing we want: peace in Afghanistan." Khan said.

He admitted that it was possible that such safe heavens were operating in the country after 9/11 in the Afghan refugee camps, The reported.

"How is the government capable of checking how militants operate from the camps," Khan said, adding that it was not possible because the Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan have had a population of over 100,000.

Prime Minister Khan's assertion came after Afghanistan's second vice president, Sarwar Danish accused Pakistan of allowing the Taliban to recruit new fighters from Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan to launch attacks in his country.

While Pakistan cannot fully guarantee that no Taliban militants are hiding among the huge number of Afghans living in Pakistan, Khan said his government had done all it can to prevent attacks in Afghanistan, including by building a border fence.

The whole country is on the same page on Afghanistan, he said, adding that previously it was said that the government and the country's security forces were not on the same page. However, this was not the case now, he said.

He highlighted that Pakistan was not seeking peace in Afghanistan because it has been hosting 1.4 million Afghan refugees, but because the people of Afghanistan deserve peace.

Earlier, Earlier, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres in his address stated that the people of Pakistan for 40 years have responded with generosity in hosting the Afghan refugees.

"Even though major conflict has erupted in some other part of the world; Pakistan is still the second largest refugee host. I am struck by the extraordinary solidarity and compassion," he said.

At the same time, he urged the international community to step up support for Pakistan in tackling the problem of Afghan refugees.

"The global community must step up," Guterres said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 17, 2020 15:47 694 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2064fa256 1 News destination,traveloka,bank-mandiri,credit-card,tourism,travel,10-new-bali Free

State-owned lender PT Bank Mandiri has partnered with online travel and lifestyle booking company Traveloka to launch a new co-branded credit card for millennials on Friday.

The Traveloka Mandiri Card comes with various benefits, including more opportunities to get Traveloka Points for Traveloka products, double points for Traveloka transactions, free travel insurance and more.

Traveloka Group Operations president Henry Hendrawan said in a statement that in addition to getting more Traveloka points, the credit card holders could also enjoy exclusive promotions and a variety of products that could be exchanged with Traveloka Points.

Read also: Beyond 10 new Balis: New tourism strategy involves nature conservation

He added that because of the variety of offers that the new card provided, the Traveloka Mandiri Card could be considered as a card specifically aimed at Indonesian millennials.

Meanwhile, Bank Mandiri's retail bank and consumer director Hery Gunardi said that tourism was among the main sectors that could enhance Indonesias economic growth.

Our collaboration with Traveloka is in line with Bank Mandiris commitment to provide the best experiences for customers and support the tourism and creative economy sectors in Indonesia, particularly in encouraging customers to explore Indonesia, such as the 10 new Bali destinations, added Hery.

Those who are interested in getting the Traveloka Mandiri Card can submit an application via the Traveloka app. (jes/wng)
Richard Ayoade returns with his UK travel series Travel Man tonight, showing us how to have the most efficient holiday possible.

This will be his final season, which screens in double episodes over two weeks.

Season Nine, Episode One: 48 Hours In Dubrovnik

Back for his final outing as the Travel Man, Richard Ayoade dashes to Dubrovnik with comedy colossus Stephen Merchant. Having checked in to a 6 suite, 16th century townhouse in one of the worlds best-preserved medieval cities, they embark on a fantasy foray.

Episode Two: 48 Hours In Bergen

Richard Ayoade is joined by comedian Lou Sanders for a two-day blast around Bergen. They explore the mountains and fjords that surround it, as well as sampling the best that this Norwegian city has to offer.

Tuesday, 18 February at 9.25pm on SBS VICELAND
By Azernews





By Rasana Gasimova

Azerbaijans State Oil Company (SOCAR) considers the end of 2020 to be the deadline for the launch of the Trans-Adriatic Gas Pipeline (TAP) that will take gas from Azerbaijans Shah Denis field to European markets.

The problems which had arisen in the past have been solved and that the entire project is nearing completion. TAP, the last element of the Southern Gas corridor is 91percent complete. The conservative timing to make TAP operational was the end of 2020  possibly earlier than that. The entire TAP system will be made operational in one go, SOCAR Deputy Vice President for Investment & Marketing Vitaly Baylarbayov said.

He noted that a 25-year supply contract has been signed with Italy to supply Azerbaijani gas from Stage 2 of the Shah Deniz field and the volume of supplies is 8 billion cubic meters per year. Greece and Bulgaria will receive billion cubic meters of gas per year once TAP and Greece-Bulgaria interconnector are completed.

All the buyers are lined up, waiting for the supplies. Hopefully there will be no further obstacles, SOCAR official said.

TAP will be able to meet Italy's growing demand for natural gas. We understand that Italy will need more gas in the next 10 years, much more than they have now. From that point of view, the capacity of the Southern gas corridor and its TAP leg is sufficient to cover most of this potential deficit, Baylarbayov said.

Furthermore, he stressed that Southern Gas Corridor is not in competition with the Turkish stream.

Our volumes, contracted to Greece, Bulgaria and Italy for 25 years, will start arriving in Italy as soon as TAP is ready. This cannot be changed. Whether there will be Russian, Libyan, Algerian or any other gas, it doesnt matter, because we secured our own place, he said.

He noted that sixteen wells have been drilled in the Shah Deniz gas field and are now fully ready for operations.

Eight of the wells are producing already and their gas is flowing to Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. The rest will be gradually put onstream with full capacity once works on the final stretch in Italy are fully completed, he said.

Baylarbayov added that Azerbaijani gas from Stage 2 of the Shah Deniz field has already been supplied to Turkey from July 1, 2018, through the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP), one of the SGC components.

It [Turkey] received about 2bcm in 2018, about 4bcm in 2019, and in 2020 the supplies should be about 6 bcm. This is in addition to the 6 bcma which Shah Deniz supplies from the Stage 1 of its development, he noted.

Baylarbayov noted that he strongly believes in the potential of Shah Deniz which will justify its 3d and even 4th Stages of further development. He added that huge potential of other Azerbaijani fields which are already under exploration and development.

TAP along with South Caucasus Pipeline and Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TAP) is part of the Southern Gas Corridor.

Note that the Southern Gas Corridor envisages the creation of a pipeline infrastructure for the transportation of Azerbaijani gas extracted from the Stage 2 development of the Shah Deniz field to Europe through Turkey.

SGC comprises the following four projects: (i) operation of Shah Deniz natural gas-condensate field ("SD1" project) and its full-field development ("SD2'" project), (ii) the operation of the South Caucasus Pipeline ("SCP" project) and its expansion ("SCPX" project), (iii) the construction of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline ("TANAP" project) and (iv) the construction of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline ("TAP" project) (SD2, SCPX, TANAP and TAP collectively, the "Projects").
"Shipping wine is a time-sensitive, logistical nightmare due to the considerations involved in sending it across hot and cold climates throughout the year," said Brian Jacoby, senior vice president of global business development for Liviri. "Liviri Vino takes seasonality out of the wine business, allowing wineries to ship at any time of the year and eliminate weather holds. And Vino is more than a delivery box. It's enabling a shift in thinking for an entire industry."

Liviri Vino is a premium, reusable and protective shipping solution for fine wine and alcohol in four- and six-bottle configurations. Precision padding keeps bottles secure and separated while reusable coolant inserts and industry-leading insulation provide a safe, temperature-stable environment inside the box. Vino is easy to use and return  simply open the lid, remove the bottles, close the lid and add the included return label.

Liviri worked with the FedEx Packaging Lab to help ensure the design exceeded durability standards and flowed seamlessly across their network time and time again. In addition, to help streamline the shipping and return process and simplify the cost structure, FedEx is offering a flat rate for return shipping of Liviri Vino containers via FedEx Ground. FedEx also offers solutions that provide visibility into all inbound and outbound shipments, enhancing asset management of customer inventory.

Vino can be reused for up to two years and is 95% recyclable at the end of its life. The reusable insulation and ice packs also eliminate the need for single-use packaging, a huge priority for businesses and consumers alike. A critically reviewed lifecycle assessment has determined that Vino is environmentally preferable to the leading single-use wine shipping solution in seven out of nine factors and comparable in the other two. For industry titan Boisset Collection, an eye on sustainability is vitally important. They trust Liviri Vino to not only present their premium vintages in a manner worthy of the wine inside, but also help lower the impact of their shipments out of Napa Valley, Calif.

"We are excited to partner with Liviri to launch this amazing innovation that reflects our values of environmental sustainability," said Jean-Charles Boisset, proprietor of Boisset Collection. Boisset Collection has over a dozen properties in Northern California and is one of the leading certified organic and biodynamic growers in France and California.

"We are thrilled to have a new, responsible way to deliver our delicious elixirs in perfect condition to wine lovers around the country," said Boisset. "We adore it for both the sustainable and reusable design and the luxurious and unique delivery experience it provides our guests."

Liviri is also partnering with Eagle Rock Fulfillment, a wine aggregator that delivers some of America's finest wine collections all over the U.S. In a 2019 pilot program, Eagle Rock's customers raved that Liviri Vino not only made for a seamless pickup experience, but also protected its precious cargo during difficult times to ship.

"Any kind of entrepreneurial business is full of risks and hurdles," said Bill Myers, owner and president of Eagle Rock Fulfillment. "You have to be willing and able to deal with them, and to be agile. It's a constant education. With Liviri Vino we can drastically minimize weather holds, if not completely eliminate them. This would allow us to maintain a similar shipping volume year-round."

In the craft beer industry, no one melds sustainability with creativity like New Belgium Brewing, a fellow Fort Collins, Colo.-based company known for its high-demand, limited-edition beer releases and relentless pursuit of sustainability. New Belgium recently launched a direct-to-consumer shipping program that utilizes Liviri Vino to keep its "cork and cage" craft beers safe and minimize the environmental impact of shipping out of state.

Liviri launched in April 2019 with Liviri Fresh, a durable, insulated, reusable shipping container sized perfectly for meal kits and perishables like meat, seafood, produce, juices and more. Liviri Shuttle followed in September, designed for in-store "click and collect" pickup and to handle the rigors of last-mile home delivery.

For more information on Liviri or to find out more about how Vino6 and Vino4 are changing the wine shipping and delivery game, visit liviri.com.

About Liviri:

Liviri provides e-delivery industry leaders adaptable, protective containers for safely shipping goods, including temperature-sensitive perishables such as groceries and wine. It paves the way for a more efficient, sustainable service model that carefully weighs our impacts on the planet, and it prioritizes consumer satisfaction thanks to its waste-reducing convenience and easy return shipping process.

Together we champion growth and prosperity, with equal servings of integrity and compassion. We give back to our communities. We implore others to do likewise. And ultimately, we make future-forward products that make a difference. Better containers for a better tomorrow.

LIVIRI  Reimagine the Box

Notes:

2020 Otter Products, LLC. All rights reserved. The Liviri name and Liviri trademarks are the property of Otter Products, LLC, registered in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Liviri

Related Links

https://liviri.com


Members of the JinGuo Committee in the United States have raised funds and purchased protective equipments to support China's fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak. [For Women of China]

Members of the JinGuo Committee in the United States, led by its President Zhang Sujiu, the youngest daughter of Zhang Zhizhong (1890-1969), a famous general, have raised funds and purchased protective equipment worth nearly 30,000 yuan (US $4,306.69), to support China's fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak, originated in Wuhan City, Central China's Hubei Province.

The committee has donated the first batch of protective equipment, including 1,000 medical masks and 4,000 pairs of medical gloves, to the All-China Women's Federation. The committee members are trying to seek for more urgently needed materials, which will be sent to China in batches.

The evolving situation of the outbreak pulls at the heartstrings of Chinese and overseas Chinese worldwide, who have been active in helping in the battle against the epidemic.

Zhang, nearly 90, is an influential overseas Chinese leader in the Western United States. She has guided the committee members to rush around to purchase and transport medical supplies since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. Zhang even helped carry the materials herself.

The JinGuo Committee is a Chinese women's organization in the Los Angeles area in the US.

Members of the JinGuo Committee in the United States pack medical supplies in a warehouse. [For Women of China]

Members of the JinGuo Committee in the United States pose for a photo with packed medical supplies that will be sent to China. [For Women of China]

(Women of China)
Asia Pacific markets traded mixed on Monday as investors continued to assess the potential economic fallout from the pneumonia-like coronavirus that's infected more than 70,000 people and killed over 1,700.

Chinese shares on the mainland rose: The Shanghai composite rose 2.28% to 2,983.62, the Shenzhen composite was up 3.18% to 1,835.96 and the Shenzhen component added 2.98% to 11,241.50.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.58% in late afternoon trade.

In an effort to alleviate the shock of the virus outbreak on businesses, China is planning targeted tax cuts while increasing government spending, Finance Minister Liu Kun wrote Sunday in China's Communist Party magazine Qiushi.

The Ministry of Finance said Saturday it would provide 8 billion yuan in a second round of support for virus prevention and control efforts. As of Friday, all levels of finance ministries in China had allocated 90.15 billion yuan in support, according to the central government.

Economists expect the People's Bank of China to step up its liquidity measures to ease funding conditions in Chinese money markets to combat downside risks posed by the infection. "Admittedly, while lots of fluids is a recommendation for flu, money market liquidity infusions alone will not address China's woes from the coronavirus," Vishnu Varathan, head of economics and strategy for Asia at Mizuho Bank, wrote in a note.

"Nonetheless, ensuring ease of cash flow is a necessary condition to ensure otherwise viable businesses do not go belly up due to a seizure in liquidity," Varathan said, adding that he thought the PBOC would "more than offset upcoming liquidity drainage."

Read: Coronavirus live updates  China reports 105 additional deaths, 2,048 new cases

Elsewhere, Japanese shares fell, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 down 0.69% to 23,523.24 and the Topix index off by 0.89% to 1,687.77. Cabinet office data revealed the Japanese economy shrank at an annualized pace of 6.3% in the three months that ended in December. Analysts in a Reuters poll were predicting an annual decline of 3.7%. On-quarter, GDP fell 1.6%.

In Australia, the ASX 200 closed fractionally lower at 7,125.10, as the heavily weighted financial subindex declined 0.44%. South Korea's Kospi index declined 0.06% to 2,242.17. Singapore's Straits Times index was down 0.23% as of 3:48 p.m. HK/SIN, after the city-state downgraded its 2020 economic forecast. Singapore is grappling with one of the highest numbers of coronavirus cases outside China.

"The worrying human and economic toll of the COVID-19 outbreak is creating much uncertainty, especially as changes to the case tracking methods are making news difficult to interpret," John Bromhead from ANZ Research wrote in a morning note.

"Markets appear to be expecting a short-lived economic impact, but they are in "wait-and-see" mode," Bromhead said, explaining that although Chinese factories are slowly re-opening after being shut over an extended period of time after the Lunar New Year break, it will take time to clear the backlog of cargo at ports. Significant disruption is also ongoing, he added.

The virus, which was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan, is expected to have a significant economic impact on China as well as the global economy. Officials disclosed on Saturday that travel during the latest Lunar New Year period was a fraction of previous years amid increased travel restrictions aimed at containing the virus' spread.

People stayed home and took advantage of refund policies that authorities enacted  China's aviation authority said since it first announced a ticket refund policy in late January, domestic and foreign airlines have processed 20 million in tickets worth more than 20 billion yuan ($2.9 billion). The number of flights has been about a quarter of what it was last year, a representative said.

China's railway authority said rail trips during the holiday travel period so far has been one-seventh of the 280 million it had anticipated, and that it has processed 11.5 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) in ticket refunds.
The High Court has appointed a provisional liquidator to a Dublin-based mechanical engineering subcontractor that employs more than 160 people.

Mr Justice Leonie Reynolds appointed Mr Nicholas O'Dwyer as provisional liquidator to Haughton and Young Ltd, which provides mechanical engineering services to construction industry.

The firm had carried out works at dozens of well known projects including Croke Park Stadium, Google's Irish Headquarters and Twitter's HQ in Dublin.

The company which was founded in the late 1990s and is based at The Business Centre, Stadium Business Park, Ballycoolin Road, Dublin 11, had been profitable for many years.

However it started to sustain losses from 2018 onwards, and is now insolvent.

The losses came about to factors including increased competition in the sector, and because it was not paid the full amount of monies it was due on certain projects on which it had carried out works.

Moving the petition to wind up the company Brian Conroy Bl, who represented the firm's main shareholders, said the appointment of a provisional liquidator was urgent.

Counsel told the court that representatives of the company's creditors had attended at its premises this morning and were refusing to leave unless their demands were met.

Counsel said there were concerns that the company's assets, which includes a large number of vehicles, may be taken by creditors.

The appointment of a provisional liquidator would ensure that the company's assets are preserved and then distributed for the benefit of all the creditors in an orderly manner, counsel said.

Counsel said the company had been successful for much of its existence. It had up until recently employed more than 200 people.

In 2018 and 2019 the company's losses began to mount, and it started to experience cash flow difficulties.

The board had made attempts to take steps to address its financial problems, had sought fresh investment in the business and last year it had to let some of its staff go.

However it was not possible to secure the company's future and the vast majority of the firm's shareholders were supporting an application for the appointment of a provisional liquidator, counsel.

Ms Justice Reynolds said she was satisfied to appoint Mr O'Dwyer of the accountancy firm Grant Thornton as the company's provisional liquidator, and granted him certain powers.

The judge adjourned the matter to a date in early March.
LONDON, Feb. 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A first show at London Fashion Week for Chinese down jacket brand BOSIDENG turned into a dramatic statement of support for China. "GO CHINA!" was the message supported by friends of China from all over the world attending the event, prompting huge interest from global media and coverage on the internet and social media. BOSIDENG was making its debut on the official schedule of London Fashion Week this season - an historic moment for a major Chinese fashion brand. Following concern about the coronavirus in China, many Chinese designers and media had pulled out of the fashion circuit this season, with foreign media reporting that "the Chinese are absent from the 2020 international fashion weeks". However, in a positive demonstration of confidence in the strength and Chinese fashion and the resilience of the Chinese people, BOSIDENG led its foreign friends in cheering for China during this time of hardship. As one of the four major international fashion weeks, London Fashion Week is best known for its innovative and avant-garde spirit. It attracts international brands and designers, making it an indispensable platform for creative energy. The appearance of a Chinese brand was one of the biggest talking points of this season's London Fashion Week. The BOSIDENG show was full of references to China. Models in the new season's down jackets had Chinese flag stickers on their faces. High-impact colours such as fruit green, neon yellow and Van Gogh blue were boldly usedA as well as fashion touches such as reflective digital camouflage and dazzle colours. This spectacular fusion of fashion creativity and technical craftsmanship has set the pace for modern Chinese fashion. The show closed in an upbeat defiant mood, with 54 models in red down jackets joining the designer for the finale. An international mix of guests chanted "Go China!" in Chinese and English, expressing their support both for China and for Chinese brands. After the show, guests from home and abroad queued up to offer their support and best wishes to China. One member of the audience, from the UK, said, "This is the most special fashion week I've ever attended. Go China!" Another overseas Chinese visitor said, "I'm so proud to see our national flag at London Fashion Week. Go China!". Multiple leading media reported how BOSIDENG's London Fashion Week statement has inspired global support for China at this challenging time. A name with a 43-year focus on down jackets, BOSIDENG made an important statement at London Fashion Week, bringing the qualities of its brand to a global audience. Besides its excellent product quality and design, BOSIDENG has underlined its self-confidence on the international stage. In recent years, under an overall strategy of "focusing on the main channel and focusing on the main brand", BOSIDENG has received a warm welcome from young people, achieving impressive growth for two consecutive years. BOSIDENG represents the potential of Chinese fashion to thrive in the face of global competition. In China, as the whole country - in particular Wuhan - was facing significant challenges in the cold-weather season, BOSIDENG has donated 150,000 down jackets worth 300 million yuan to support front-line workers and those in need. On the international stage, this great down jacket brand has once again inspired a globa! l message of positive energy for China. And, thanks to BOSIDENG, China has not been absent from London Fashion Week. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1091054/WechatIMG2827_London_Fashion_week.jpg
(Reuters) - The U.S. government on Friday raised tariffs on aircraft imported from the European Union, ratcheting up pressure on the EU to resolve an epic 16-year-old dispute over support for airplane makers, and raising the stakes in broader talks to reach a U.S.-EU trade deal

(Reuters) - The U.S. government on Friday raised tariffs on aircraft imported from the European Union, ratcheting up pressure on the EU to resolve an epic 16-year-old dispute over support for airplane makers, and raising the stakes in broader talks to reach a U.S.-EU trade deal.

The World Trade Organization has found the world's two largest planemakers received billions of dollars of unfair subsidies in a pair of cases dating back to 2004 and is expected to allow both sides to impose tariffs, starting with the United States.

Here are highlights of the feud that has spawned thousands of pages of rulings, triggered threats of tit-for-tat tariffs on goods from plane parts to whisky and left both sides claiming victory while racking up an estimated $100 million in costs.

2004

The U.S. seeks talks with the EU and Airbus host nations Britain, France, Germany and Spain over alleged unfair subsidies via government loans. Washington terminates a 1992 U.S.-EU agreement covering support for Airbus and Boeing . The EU files a complaint on U.S. aid for Boeing.

2005

The WTO launches twin probes into public support for Boeing and Airbus after bilateral negotiations fail.

2006

Airbus announces a new A350 jetliner for which it will seek further government loans from host nations.

2009

The WTO issues an interim ruling that some European aid provided to Airbus violated a ban on export subsidies - a type of aid deemed most harmful and therefore automatically banned.

2010

The WTO demands a halt to unfair aid for jets including the Airbus A380 superjumbo. It says some government loans for the jet amount to "prohibited" export subsidies. But it rejects a U.S. request to include aid for the newer A350 in the case.

2011

The EU loses an appeal and is given until December to comply. However the WTO drops its finding that the A380 loans are in the "prohibited" category, softening its earlier ruling.

A separate WTO panel partially backs the EU in its counter-case alleging $19 billion of support for Boeing from the U.S. government, NASA and various states and municipalities, and rules against aid for Boeing worth at least $5.3 billion.

2012

WTO appeal judges broadly uphold the ruling against U.S. support for Boeing.

Both sides say they have complied with the WTO's rulings, while accusing the other side of failing to do so.

2013

Boeing announces the twin-engined 777X and agrees to build it in Washington state shortly after the local legislature agrees $8.7 billion in new tax breaks.

2014

The EU opens a second front in the trade battle by launching a separate complaint against the 777X tax breaks granted by Washington state and this time chooses a faster, all-or-nothing approach by targeting them purely as "prohibited" subsidies - without the usual fallback of a second, softer claim.

2016

After a year-long lull in the main dispute, the WTO says the EU failed to comply with its earlier rulings on Airbus. It also agrees for the first time to target aid for the new A350 but rejects U.S. calls to put this in the "prohibited" category.

In November, the WTO rules tax breaks surrounding the development of the Boeing 777X - the subject of the EU's second case - did fall into the more severe "prohibited" category.

2017

WTO appeal judges reverse the ruling that the 777X tax breaks are in the "prohibited" column, bringing an abrupt halt to the EU's second case.

In the EU's main case, the WTO largely clears the United States of maintaining unfair support for Boeing but says it has failed to withdraw the earlier Washington state tax breaks.

The EU appeals this decision, but the WTO does not change its stance in a follow-on ruling, published the same year.

2018

In May, the WTO again rules that the EU has failed to halt all subsidies to Airbus and that these continue to harm Boeing. The United States threatens sanctions on billions of dollars of European products. Both sides enter arbitration to determine the scope of tariffs.

2019

In March, the WTO says the United States has again failed to halt subsidized tax breaks to Boeing in Washington state. The two sides disagree widely in public over the amount of subsidy faulted by the WTO.

Both sides accuse the other of refusing to negotiate any settlement and unveil lists of billions of dollars of proposed tariffs on each others' goods.

WTO arbitrators award the United States the right to impose tariffs on $7.5 billion of annual EU imports in its case. In October, Washington imposes 10% tariffs on most European-made Airbus jets and 25% duties on products ranging from cheese to olives and single-malt whisky.

In December, the WTO rejects EU claims that it no longer provides subsidies to Airbus, prompting Washington to say it could increase tariffs on a wider range of European goods to increase pressure on Brussels to comply.

2020

The United States announced it would raise tariffs on aircraft imported from the EU to 15% from 10%.

Though the U.S. Trade Representative's Office said it was open to reaching a settlement with the EU on the issue, Washington said it could revise its actions if Brussels imposed additional tariffs on U.S. imports in connection with the aircraft subsidy disputes.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Tim Hepher; Editing by David Evans, Keith Weir and Daniel Wallis)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Australia's biggest energy supplier, AGL, says the development of terminals for importing liquefied natural gas along the east coast is needed if the nation is to avoid a looming supply shortage in the southern states.

In a warning on Monday, the competition regulator found that although there was a slight improvement in the east coast gas supply outlook for 2020, concerns remained about a gas shortage within a few years unless more supply was made available in southern states.

A jetty at Crib Point, where the floating gas import terminal would be placed. Credit:AGL

Gas supply could be increased by the easing of the Victorian government's moratorium on gas exploration, which is due to be reviewed this year, as well as by the construction of LNG import terminals, such as AGL's proposed $250 million terminal in Western Port bay.

"If we did start exploring today, I would say ambitiously seven to 10 years to deliver that supply to the market," said Phaedra Deckart, AGL's general manager of energy supply.
Two And A Half Men star Conchata Ferrell has been released from the hospital.

She fell ill with a life-threatening kidney infection in December. Conchata was feeling 'weak and frail' - which turned out to be a kidney infection that spread throughout her body and 'began contaminating her blood,' according to TMZ.

The 76-year-old, best known for playing housekeeper Berta on the sitcom, was hospitalized in Charleston, West Virginia, with an extended stay in ICU.

Emergency stay: Two And A Half Men's Conchata Ferrell spent much of the holiday season in ICU in West Virginia with a kidney infection (pictured in April 2019)

The actress spent all of December and part of January in ICU while doctors tried to treat her.

She has since been moved into transitional care and recovering at home, following her stay in West Virginia for a family trip over Thanksgiving.

The publication reported that Conchata is now back in Los Angeles and has just started walking again.

Her role: Conchata is best known for her role as housekeeper Berta in Two And A Half Men (pictured with co-star, Jon Cryer 2015)

On the mend: Conchata is now back in Los Angeles and has only recently began walking again with multiple sessions of physical therapy daily (pictured 2012)

She was bedridden and has been going through physical therapy with nurses several times per day.

There is still no news about how she contracted the infection, but her family was there by her side with many relatives even traveling interstate to see her multiple times.

Conchata told TMZ that her husband, Arnie Anderson, 'hasn't taken care of anything a day in his life,' but was there when she needed him.

The star married Arnie in 1986. Together, they are parents to a daughter, Samantha, 38, who was born in 1982.

Through sickness and health: Conchata told TMZ that her husband, Arnie Anderson, 'hasn't taken care of anything a day in his life,' but was there when she needed him (pictured 2007)

Mom and daughter: Conchata and Arnie are parents to a daughter, Samantha, 38, who was born in 1982 (pictured 2000)

Conchata is best known for playing Berta the housekeeper in the CBS sitcom, Two And A Half Men.

She starred in the show between 2003 to 2015 and received two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supportive Actress in a Comedy Series in 2005 and 2007.

Unfortunately, she lost both the nominations to Doris Roberts (Everybody Loves Raymond) and to Jaime Pressly (My Name is Earl).

Season one saw her in a recurring role before being cast as a main character between season two and 12.

Conchata last starred in The Ranch in five episodes as Shirley in 2017.

Before that she starred alongside lead, Ashton Kutcher, when he took over Charlie Sheen's main role in Two and a Half Men.
A killer has been jailed after a brutal pub attack was filmed by a witness wearing futuristic glasses with an integrated camera.

In what is thought to be a legal first, footage from the pair of 7 spectacles was used by prosecutors to build a case against James Collinson after an attack in a pub in Scarborough, North Yorkshire.

Collinson, 38, knocked 59-year-old John Glenn to the floor with a single punch from which he never regained consciousness. Mr Glenn died nearly a month later.

Collinson was jailed for six years at Leeds Crown Court on Friday after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The attack, on September 1 last year in the Golden Last pub, was seen by a witness wearing camera-glasses, similar to those pioneered by Google. He later spoke to police, who downloaded the footage.

Footage shown in court of the moment James Collinson (right in the white T-shirt ) knocked John Glenn (centre in the green shirt) to the floor with a single punch from which he never regained consciousness

James Collinson was convicted of manslaughter after footage from a camera integrated in glasses was used to convict him

It is thought to be the first time images from such a device have been used to successfully prosecute a case.

The witness, who asked not to be named, said: 'I was wearing my glasses with a video camera, microphone and SD cards. Next thing, it kicked off, so I clicked 'record' and just filmed it. I can film anything I like in a public place just like anyone can on their mobile phone.

'I bought them for 7 off eBay. I typed in 'spy cam glasses' and got them from China.'

The devices can record up to five hours of footage. The maker uses the slogan 'never let memorable moments sneak away from life' on the box.

Prosecutor David Gordon told the court Mr Glenn, from Scarborough, had been in a row with another man before he was attacked by Collinson.

As Mr Glenn was being restrained, Collinson punched him in the face. As he got up Collinson hit him again, leaving him unconscious.

The 7 glasses used by prosecutors to build a case against James Collinson after the attack in a pub in Scarborough, North Yorkshire

Collinson seen (above) in footage downloaded by investigators after the attack in the Golden Last pub on September 1 last year

Neurosurgeons told his family Mr Glenn suffered 'irreparable' brain damage and would not wake from an induced coma. He died on September 27 with his daughter at his bedside.

Collinson, a married father-of-two, had a track record of drink-related violence and a string of previous convictions.

Defence barrister Peter Makepiece QC described the incident as 'one-punch' manslaughter.

Judge Tom Bayliss QC said the attack was 'wholly unprovoked'. Jailing him for six years he said Collinson was a danger to the public because of his 'entrenched willingness to use violence' when drunk.
A: For the first week or so they had me doing spreadsheet work and finding the company logos of their clients. Just recently, I was doing portfolio tiles. On the AmericanEagle.com website theres a spot where they have their clients picture and description. When you click on it, you can see what AmericanEagle did for them. I made the thumbnails for all the portfolio tiles on their new website that has yet to be released. And now Im designing plaques for employees celebrating work anniversaries.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 02:46:07|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

RAMALLAH, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Palestine said on Sunday that the Israeli plan to build a new electricity grid in the West Bank aims at "consolidation of illegal occupation."

"The plan will consolidate Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank and support illegal settlements on our lands," said the Palestinian Energy Authority in a press statement.

"We will do everything possible to foil this plan and establish an independent electricity system for Palestinians," it added.

Israeli media reported that Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz had approved a plan to boost the electricity network in the occupied West Bank to reach settlements and Palestinian towns.

Palestinians pay about 72 million U.S. dollars monthly to the Israeli electricity company for approximately 1,100 megawatts of electricity provided for the West Bank and some 250 megawatts for the Gaza Strip.
MAS Welcomes Measures by Financial Institutions to Support Customers Facing the Impact of COVID-19

financial institutions

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said in a press release on Feb 14 that it welcomes the recent announcements from banks and insurers in Singapore to support their customers who may be facing financial difficulties brought about by the impact of the ongoing 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

The support announced by financial institutions thus far include moratoriums on repayments for affected corporate and individual customers, extension of payment terms for trade finance facilities, and additional financing for working capital.

MAS noted that the measures are in line with guidelines on corporate debt restructuring by the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS). Insurers in Singapore have clarified that Integrated Shield Plans (IP), IP riders and most other personal and group health insurance policies will cover hospitalisation expenses related to COVID-19.

Some insurers have extended additional benefits to life insurance policyholders diagnosed with COVID-19, such as complimentary lump sum payments upon diagnosis, as well as daily cash payment for the duration of hospitalisation.

MAS said it supports these efforts by financial institutions to work constructively with customers affected by COVID-19 while adhering to prudent risk assessments. The various measures by financial institutions will help corporates and individuals facing short-term cash flow constraints and provide timely insurance coverage for policyholders affected by COVID-19. Taken together, these measures by financial institutions should help to buffer some of the impact on corporates and individuals from the COVID-19 outbreak, said MAS.

UOB one of the financial institutions, announced a $3billion relief assistance especially for SMEs affected by Covid-19. It said in a press release on Feb 12 that it has allocated S$3 billion to provide companies, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in Singapore with relief assistance to tide over the negative impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on their business.

Story continues

UOB announces package to help corporate clients

In the face of the likely economic fallout and its impact on industries and businesses, UOB sees the need to help its corporate clients, in particular the SMEs, in addressing their near-term liquidity needs. The Banks relief measures aim to enable those affected companies, who have good track records and who have been servicing their repayments promptly, to have more flexibility in their cash flow management.

UOB announces relief assistance to cushion impact of Covid-19. Assistance especially targeted at small and medium sized enterprises.

These measures include:

allowing affected businesses to rework their principal repayments and to service only their loan

interest for up to one year;

extending up to one year working capital financing of up to S$5 million; and

offering financing liquidity against mortgage security.

Mr Wee Ee Cheong, Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, UOB, said, In these particularly trying times, the government, businesses and communities are doing their very best to overcome this immediate challenge. We at UOB want to play our part in our commitment to caring for our clients businesses. For most companies, especially the SMEs, cash flow and financing are key to them sustaining their business. As their long-term banking partner, we believe our added support can help alleviate the business disruption and pressure from the ripple effect of the epidemic.

UOB announces plan also for retail customers

For its retail customers who are affected by the current circumstances, UOB will assess on a case-by-case basis how it can help them. The Bank is monitoring the situation and will take appropriate steps accordingly in support of its customers.

UOB announces assistance as reports suggests impact from Covid-19 is expected to be short-lived

The economic impact of the Coronavirus issue is expected to be short-lived based on the current situation, said a recent note from Cushman & Wakefield (C&W). The report said that the Singapore government has tried to put in place multiple lines of defence to minimize the chances of the virus spreading further.

Any disruption to market activity is expected to be short-lived and so the real estate impact will be minimal said Ms Christine Li, C&Ws Head of Research for South East Asia.

Singapore, Singapore; held up by the countrys sound economic fundamentals. The impact will be mostly felt by the hospitality, retail and F&B sectors, with limited impact on both the office and industrial sectors as these are non-tourism related sectors. Corporates may delay decision making in the first quarter of 2020 as they focus on tactical issues around operations in China for the moment. This is expected to impact activity in the first quarter of 2020 against an office leasing market that has already been grappling with a slowdown arising from the US-China trade war.

Although the real estate impact will be minimal, the impact on the hospitality sector is more immediate said the report.

With millions in China under an effective lockdown and a ban on Chinese tour groups and travellers who have recently travelled to China, tourist arrivals especially from China are expected to slow in 1H 2020. Given that Chinese tourists make up about 20 per cent of Singapores international visitors with about 3.6 million visitors to Singapore in 2019, overall hotel RevPar is expected to see some downward pressure in the first half.

The slow down in tourist arrivals will result in a decline in shopping spend by Chinese tourists, particularly retail trades and tourist destinations which cater to Chinese tourists. Chinese tourists were the top spenders in the first half of 2019, spending close to S$2 billion on shopping, accommodation, F&B, etc, with 51 per cent on shopping alone. As such, some of the more touristy shopping destinations mainly in Marina Bay Sands and Orchard locations could be affected if the travel ban and outbreak persists.

As the real estate impact is expected to be minimal, landlords of major shopping centres are not under pressure to lower rents, especially if the overall situation improves in the next couple of weeks, said C&W.

Typically, the well-managed shopping centres also have enough tenants in waiting to take up any vacancy that becomes available. So long as the virus remains at bay with no community spread, the temporary decline in footfalls at malls should recover over a short period of time.

In the residential sector, there could be a slight impact on project launches as developers are likely to hold back new launches in view of the weaker sentiment, said C&W.

Ms Li said, high-end luxury properties with more Chinese buyers could face slower take-up rates as viewings are expected to slow down in the midst of the outbreak. Again, the impact should still be contained as Singapore continues to be seen as a safe haven location amid heightened global uncertainties.

She added, liquidity is still aplenty and investors continue to search for yield in the real estate sector. Well-managed and well-located office and industrial assets will remain sought after by investors and occupiers who typically take a medium to long term view when they purchase or lease these properties.

The post Financial Institutions relief efforts for Covid-19 impact, MAS welcomes appeared first on iCompareLoan Resources.
BENTON  Extreme Exigency LLC, home of The Armed Barbers, has created a buzz turning its customers into some of the sharpest-looking sharpshooters around.

Located several miles off the beaten path in rural Franklin County, the business represents an unusual marriage between a shooting park and a barber shop. Ray and Stacy Minor, co-owners and husband and wife, opened the business at 9911 River Bend Road in late 2016. Its been growing every year since.

Its probably the best barber shop in the free world, said Jamie Shotts, of Benton, a regular customer in the barber chair, and a shooting range member.

Ray Minor retired from the Illinois State Police as a master sergeant in 2014, and started dreaming about what to do next. He and a business partner, another state trooper, had opened Extreme Exigency the year prior in Hurst to offer concealed carry classes.

The classes were heavily sought after once Illinois concealed carry ban was ruled unconstitutional, and lawmakers outlined requirements for licensure in 2013. But his partner, who was retiring around the same time as Minor, wanted to exit the business so that he could snowbird to Florida.

Minor, on the other hand, was looking to expand. He said that a lot of their customers in Hurst wanted a place for target practice, but they didnt offer that option. He decided to build a shooting park on land that has been in his family for four generations. That part of the business came naturally given his years-long experience in law enforcement. But he envisioned something more.

We wanted to create a place where a guy could go between work and home that wasnt a bar," he said.

The way to do that, he decided, was the addition of a barber shop. Barbering was in his blood, after all. For many years, his grandfather operated a barber shop on the northeast corner of the Benton square.

There was only one problem with this plan: Minor wasnt a barber.

He researched his options and enrolled in Rend Lake Colleges yearlong barber program in 2015. Thats where he met John David Sweet  or just Sweet to almost everyone who knows him. They hit it off, and Minor asked if he wanted to take a chance and go to work for his new business. Sweet said yes, and they opened the doors to customers in August 2016, just days after receiving word that they had both passed their state barber exams. That was the easy part, relatively speaking.

The business is located several miles from town, down a curvy blacktop road that isnt heavily trafficked. They prayed customers would arrive.

In the first few weeks, business was slow. They had one customer each of the first two days, and none on the third. But word spread quickly.

After about three weeks, it got to the point where we were full time, all the time, Minor said. We were covered up.

Customers like Shotts and Jim Duncan, also of Benton, are frequent visitors to the establishment. Sometimes they come for a haircut, or to use the shooting range. Both said the hot towel around their neck after a shave is the best part. You feel like a new man, Shotts said. But people are just as apt to frequent the business for no reason at all. "Sometimes, Ill just stop in to see what Rays up to, said Duncan, a retired correctional officer and fellow motorcyclist.

Thats exactly what Minor hoped would happen. His vision, he said, was to create a "manly kind of place, where you could come in, hang out, get a haircut."

The walls of the barber shop are decorated with law enforcement patches from various departments  some where Minor has worked over the years, others gifted to him by customers.

The selections in the magazine rack include The Family Handyman Guns & Ammo Game & Fish and Shooting Illustrated. Theres also The Little Book of Beards for customers looking for a creative spin for their facial embellishments. Two posters on the wall advertise various styling options to pick from, such as the Executive Contour, Flattop Boogie and Razor Fade. A host of mens products  shampoos, soaps, beard oils, hard cologne, manly scented candles, and even cologne for dogs, a popular product for former military people with service canines  are available for sale.

The barber shop serves customers of all ages. For kids, there are stacks of classic Marvel comic books, and a fenced outdoor play area with a camera that broadcasts onto the TV inside so that parents can keep an eye on them.

We have had guys come in here just for the coffee, and to let their kids play. One of them, hell sit right here, Minor said pointing to one of the waiting chairs, and hell say, I just need 20 minutes. Little boys first haircuts earn them a certificate with their name on it, and a place to keep a lock of their hair.

Adults can earn recognition, too. Those who receive a face or neck shave get a Man Card stating that they have been recognized as a fully-pledged manly man.

If we find out theyve been to Great Clips, we take it away, Minor said with a laugh.

To keep up with growing business, in July 2017, the Minors hired a third barber, Zach Arnold, of Herrin. That October, they also added a new wing onto their facility to accommodate more barber chairs, all of which date back to the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, and were previously used in shops in Okawville, Shelbyville, West Frankfort and Benton.

Arnold said its a fun place to work because its unique. The thing thats different about this place is that people of all ages can come together and talk, he said. Theres quite a few guys that come in just to hang out a lot. Its really nice to see that happen, especially when were kind of in an age where we dont talk to people that much.

While the barber shop side of the business borrows from the past, the shooting side is modern. The indoor facilities include a classroom setting and a partially covered shooting range that is used for concealed carry and officer recertification classes. A portion of the building is set up to replicate the interior of a home. He uses it to teach people how to respond to an armed intruder. Class offerings at the facility include the The Predators Playbook and The Predator's Playbook for Places of Worship. They aim to offer insight into the mind of armed intruders and mass shooters, and to teach people how to respond to minimize harm to themselves and others. He also offers individualized handgun instruction.

The shooting park outside includes seven covered shooting bays, three with retractable paper targets, and four with metal reactionary targets. There are another two uncovered bays with metal plate targets.

In the near future, he plans to add a 300-yard rifle range and three archery ranges. I have 40 acres and were still a baby, he said of his business. Were growing. A membership is required to use the shooting park. The lowest-cost membership is $25, with a $15-per-day use fee if a punch card is purchased in advance, or $20-per-day if not. A $200 membership buys unlimited access. (Active and retired police officers receive a significant discount.)

Don Watson, the business grounds supervisor, said the beauty of the place is that its out in the country, away from society. And he likes that it's an alternative option for socializing to a bar. Instead of going out and getting drunk, you can come out here, get a haircut, shave and shoot your frustration off," eh said. "Thats what I like about it.

Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Ukraine's exports of goods, services to EU in 2019 estimated at US$25 bln

12:40, 17.02.20 14715

The exports to other countries stood at US$63.7 billion.
The battle to become Labour leader was embroiled in a sexism row today after Rebecca Long-Bailey's team as accused of misrepresenting rival Lisa Nandy over a vote she missed while on maternity leave.

An internal document used by the Corbynite candidate's team instructed volunteers to claim she was the only one of the three remaining candidates 'who opposed the 2015 welfare bill'.

Supporters of the Wigan MP were quick to point out that she missed a minor vote as the legislation made its way through the Commons because she had recently given birth - before voting against it on her return.

It is believed to have been created by the grassroots Momentum group, which was last month accused of smearing Ms Nandy in an online video which made the same claim about the vote.

The group, led by Corbyn ally Jon Lansman, is backing Ms Long-Bailey's campaign.

Nandy campaign chairwoman Louise Haigh said: 'It is really disappointing to see Momentum continue to attack a leadership candidate for having been on maternity leave.

'What message does this send to young women worried about balancing politics with having a family?'

An internal document used by Ms Long-Bailey's (centre) team instructed volunteers to claim she was the only one of the three remaining candidates 'who opposed the 2015 welfare bill'

Supporters of the Wigan MP were quick to point out that she missed a minor vote as the legislation made its way through the Commons because she had recently given birth - before voting against it on her return

The document, uncovered by website Red Roar, sets out ways for campaign activists to boost Ms Long-Bailey's message to party members who will vote for the next leader.

In a section headed 'Trust', it says: '(She is) the only candidate who provided consistent support to Jeremy Corbyn, nominating him in 2015 and 2016, serving in the Shadow Cabinet 2016-2019, and regularly defending his policies and vision on the national media.

'Backed by nearly all Socialist Campaign Group MPs, and two of the UKs biggest unions. The only leadership candidate who opposed the 2015 welfare bill.'

A spokesman for the Long-Bailey campaign said it did not comment on leaks of internal documents.

Ms Nandy has repeatedly clashed with Ms Long-Bailey during the leadership campaign, disagreeing with her stance on mandatory re-selection of MPs and continuing Mr Corbyn's disastrous hard Left policies.

At the end of January, Momentum pulled a video from social media after it was accused of making the same claim against the Wigan MP.

She confronted the claim directly at the time, tweeting: 'Just seen a really disingenuous & ugly video accusing me of abstaining on Tory welfare cuts, which I opposed.

'I didn't abstain. I was on maternity leave.

'This sort of attack hurts all women in politics. Let's keep it sisterly.'

Document believed to have been created by the grassroots Momentum group, led by Corbyn ally Jon Lansman, which is backing Ms Long-Bailey's campaign

She is expected to finish third in the leadership vote when Mr Corbyn's successor is announced on April 4.

Yesterday Ms Long-Bailey said she would give Mr Corbyn a top job if she wins the leadership, because she 'loves' him.

She is trailing Sir Keir Starmer and has been labelled the 'Continuity Corbyn' candidate after she gave him ten out of ten for his leadership.

It emerged at the weekend that she had told supporters in London that she would hand the failed leader a high-level brief if she was to succeed him.

Asked if she would give him a job if she got into No 10, the Labour business spokeswoman said: 'I'd like to but I don't know whether he wants to do it... It's up to him. I love him so.'
SNS and Smer are ready to spend a lot of money to save their numbers ahead of the election.

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled

Last Week in Slovakia is a commentary and overview of news in Slovakia that The Slovak Spectator subscribers receive in their inboxes every week as part of The Slovak Spectator online subscription. Subscribers also receive a pdf with an overview of news and have access to all of our online content. By subscribing you are helping us provide news about Slovakia you can trust. Thank you.

Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement

The last polls before the moratorium confirm OLaNO as the momentary opposition leader, SNS and Smer campaign from the parliament and Kocner faces 20 years in prison in a case that will most likely be wrapped up before elections.

Last two polls before elections

As of Saturday, the Slovak public is only left guessing how support for political parties among voters will develop in the run up to election day in less than two weeks.

The two polls of the Focus and AKO polling agencies published just before the moratorium on polls kicked in confirmed some trends that had been visible before: most notably the decline of Smer and SNS support and the rise of Igor Matovics OLaNO as the strongest opposition party.

Observers do not rule out that Matovic and his movement might even win the election, which leaves the opposition in quite a pickle about whos going to be the prime minister if they really get a chance to exchange the current ruling forces in government. Matovic did not say an explicit no, nor did Eduard Heger, a not-so-well-known OLaNO MP who has been mentioned in connection with the prime ministerial post.

Presidential candidate Robert Mistrik, who stepped down in favour of Zuzana Caputova in the 2019 presidential race, and who has also been mentioned as the possible prime minister for a potential centre-right government, also avoided giving a definite no. In fact, in an interview with Dennik N, he said that if there was a possibility to join the opposition, he would take off his jeans, put on his suit and go for it.

SNS and Smer take their campaign to parliament
President Donald Trump wanted his intelligence officials to focus on killing Osama bin Laden's son over other terrorist targets because he was the only one Trump was familiar with, NBC News reported Sunday.

Two military and intelligence officials said Trump did not recognize many other names on the CIA's list of potential targets.

"He would say: 'I've never heard of any of these people. What about Hamza bin Laden?'" a former official said.

Trump has also approved successful strikes on other top terrorist targets, including the Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Yemen's Al Qaeda chief Qasim al-Rimi.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

President Donald Trump urged his intelligence officials to go after the son of Osama bin Laden even over more urgent terrorist threats, NBC News reported Sunday.

The network cited two military and intelligence officials who said Trump did not recognize many of the names on the CIA's list of potential targets.

"That was the only name he knew," a Pentagon official said, according to NBC News.

"He would say: 'I've never heard of any of these people. What about Hamza bin Laden?'" a former official said.

Bin Laden's death was announced July 31, but it was unclear exactly when he was killed, according to media reports.

Hamza bin Laden on his wedding day in footage released by the CIA in November.

AP

Trump has also approved successful strikes on other top terrorist targets, including the Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Yemen's Al Qaeda chief Qasim al-Rimi.

The State Department had for several years considered bin Laden a top priority, and he was considered a future leader of Al Qaeda.

Nevertheless, NBC reported that intelligence officials had several more pressing threats they brought to Trump, including Al Qaeda's current leader, Ayman al-Zawahri.

A senior Trump administration official told the network Trump's highest priority was "keeping Americans safe."

Story continues

"He and his administration have successfully targeted the most dangerous and deadly terrorists in the world in order to protect the American people, including Hamza bin Laden, al-Baghdadi, Qassem Soleimani, and Qasim al-Rimi," the official said. "These and countless other measures that have removed dozens of high-value targets exemplify this administration's resolve to defeat terrorism."

Read the original article on Business Insider
On Feb. 10, a Russian military court sentenced seven leftist activists allegedly involved in a terrorist organization called Set (Network) to prison terms ranging from six to 18 years. The defendants were accused in 2017 of planning multiple terrorist attacks, including bombings, with the aim of overthrowing the Russian government.

The Russian state news agency TASS said the judge in the case sided with the prosecution, who argued that the group was a trans-regional terrorist organization with branches in Penza, Moscow and St. Petersburg.

TASS reported that defense lawyers plan to appeal the verdict and quoted Igor Kabanov, who represents defendant Mikhail Kulkov, as saying: "We believe that the verdict on those charges was unlawful and unfounded and pronounced in violation of the innocent-until-proven-guilty principle. Kulkovs participation in a terrorist group was not proven in court.

Nonetheless, TASS left out key information about the case, which has been roundly condemned by human rights organizations inside and outside of Russia. Amnesty International, among others, said the Network terrorist group is a fabrication and that the suspects confessed under torture.

Two days prior to the sentencing, the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported on problematic aspects of the case in an article headlined: Coup d'etat with one Makarov pistol for seven: Seven reasons why we don't believe the investigation into the case."

According to Novaya Gazeta, Yegor Zorin, a student in the town of Penza, was arrested by the FSB (the Federal Security Service, Russias main security agency and successor to the Soviet KGB). The newspaper reported that Zorin signed a confession in which he admitted to involvement in a terror group and implicated the seven defendants.

Another defendant, Vasily Kuksov, told Novaya Gazeta that Zorin said his interrogators had tortured him using electricity. The charges against Zorin were dropped in September 2018. The other defendants interviewed by Novaya Gazeta claimed the organization Network was fabricated by their FSB captors.

A third defendant, Dmitry Pchelintsev, told Novaya Gazeta that officials accused the suspects of planning to plan to do something, but that the officials had no idea what.

Pchelintsev said the FSB initially tried to coerce them to admit involvement in a right-wing group, but changed their approach when they discovered the suspects politics were left-leaning. They accused the defendants of being members of Islamic State, the YPG (leftist Kurdish self-defense units in Syria) and the FBK, Alexey Navalnys Anti-Corruption Foundation.

Then they came up with H-Hour, which allegedly referred to the overthrow of Putin, Pchelintsev told the newspaper. They were unable to add any specifics to the case.

Next, the Novaya Gazeta article pointed out that most of the subjects were not acquainted with each other and only met for the first time in court. Just two of them had a prior relationship, and they had not spoken to each other since 2015. The only thing the suspects shared was an interest in left-wing politics and airsoft (a sport similar to paintball using weapons that fire small plastic pellets). While airsoft is very popular in Russia, the FSB claimed the defendants involvement in it constituted paramilitary training to overthrow the state.

Although the defendants claimed their confessions were coerced with torture, the court refused to launch an investigation into their complaints. Prison authorities did not conduct medical examinations of the defendants to determine if they had been subjected to torture or mistreatment. The prison authorities dismissed marks on some of the defendants bodies allegedly caused by a stun gun as insect bites or bruises incurred during exercise.

While the defendants were accused of planning terrorist attacks, no information describing what sort of attacks were being planned  targets, time, place, etc.  was provided during the trial. The weapons and explosives allegedly found in the suspects possession did not have their fingerprints or other biological traces on them.

Novaya Gazeta reported that the FSB also presented as evidence of a terrorist conspiracy two document files allegedly found on the computers of two suspects. Ilya Shakursky, whose laptop was seized as evidence, was already in custody when the files were created on the laptops hard drive. A linguist told Novaya Gazeta the style of writing in the two files changes mid-document, creating suspicion that the files were altered.

In addition, many of the FSBs witnesses were anonymous.

Asked about the sentencing, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: "We noticed a lot of publications, we noticed a certain resonance, but I repeat once again - this is a court decision, and we will not comment on it.

The implication of Peskovs comment  that the Kremlin does not intervene in such legal proceedings  is contradicted by past episodes, including a recent one.

On Jan. 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced he would pardon Israeli-American citizen Naama Issachar, who had spent 10 months in jail after being convicted of drug trafficking during a stopover in Moscow on her India-Israel flight.

Putin, who announced the decision during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, justified the pardon by saying that Ischaar hadnt actually crossed the Russian customs border, while the drugs had been discovered in her checked baggage as it was being transferred at Moscows Sheremetevo airport.

Polygraph.info found that Putins justification was essentially the same as Issachars defense, and that Russia had offered to release her on two previous occasions.

Likewise, the arrest of Russian journalist Ivan Golunov in June 2019 for drug possession sparked allegations that police had planted the evidence used against him. The Interior Ministry admitted that photos of drug-manufacturing equipment supposedly found in Golunovs apartment had actually been taken elsewhere.

Asked about this, Peskov said: Errors can never be ruled out. Mistakes are made, including by journalists, when they write certain materials, especially in large quantities.

In a comment similar to the one he just made about the Network case, Peskov added: The Kremlin has no right to comment on criminal cases, but we are very closely observing all the details. Because this case is resonating so much, it requires special attention.

The police officers involved in the Golunov case were fired, and he was released to house arrest. All the charges against him were subsequently dropped. Last month, the five ex-police officers who had been involved in Golunovs arrest were charged with exceeding authority and fabricating evidence.




BRECKSVILLE, Ohio -- U.S. Bank will permanently close its branch at the southwest corner of Brecksville Road and Ohio 82 on March 3.

Thats according to U.S. Bank spokesman Rick Rothacker. He said U.S. Bank will continue to serve customers at its office inside Heinens, 8383 Chippewa Road in Brecksville.

This decision (to close the Brecksville Road-Ohio 82 branch) was not taken lightly, Rothacker told cleveland.com in an email. We understand that the closure of any branch is a disruption for our customers and our employees, and we are working to make the transition as smooth as possible for all involved.

In April 2019, U.S. Bank, based in Minneapolis, announced that it was planning to close 10 to 15 percent of its branches -- which equates to about 300 to 450 locations -- over the next two years. The company said it would also open branches in new markets, such as those in Texas and Florida; remodel several branches; and add ATMs throughout the country.

Rothacker said U.S. Bank is responding to evolving customer preferences, which include online and mobile-phone banking.

As we evolve along with our customers, we are re-evaluating our physical footprint and, in some instances, consolidating a limited number of branch locations in select markets, Rothacker said.

Rothacker said that in addition to the Brecksville Heinens branch, U.S. Bank will keep open its branch in the Acme Fresh Market on Pleasant Valley Road in Parma. Also, the company opened a new branch in September on Snow Road in Parma, Rothacker said.

Rothacker said there are no plans to close U.S. Bank branches on State Road in North Royalton or on Pearl Road in Strongsville. However, a branch in Heinens on Royalton Road in Strongsville will close March 3.

As for Brecksville, the closing of the Brecksville Road-Ohio 82 branch will leave a vacancy at a prominent corner in the citys downtown.

This (site) has been a location of a bank since it first was Broadview Savings and Loan in the 1940s, Mayor Jerry Hruby told cleveland.com in an email. The clock and temperature atop the building have always been a service and point of interest.

We will miss U.S. Bank, Hruby said. They have been good to the city and friends to their customers.

U.S. Bank will close its Brecksville Road-Ohio 82 branch just a few months after Chase Bank built and opened a new branch at the opposite corner of the same intersection. In 2018, Chase announced plans to open 400 new branches and fill up to 3,000 new positions over the next five years.

The U.S. Bank property, which according to the Cuyahoga County Fiscal Office website measures about 2,500 square feet, is close to but not contiguous with the former Central Elementary School parcel, which the city recently purchased from the Brecksville-Broadview Heights School District.

The city is considering redeveloping the Central school site, which is on Ohio 82 just west of U.S. Bank, into a mixed-use district that might include homes and stores. The idea is to expand and improve the citys downtown.

Hruby indicated that its too early to say what might fill the U.S. Bank building once it becomes vacant, or if the property might somehow tie into the redevelopment of the Central school property.

This story has been updated with new information regarding U.S. Bank branches in North Royalton and Strongsville.

Read more from the Sun Star Courier.
This is the moment UDA thug Dee Coleman was arrested by cops during a major crackdown on drug dealing by the terror gang.

The 34-year-old extortionist screamed obscenities at a press photographer while covering his face as he was led away from his Hopewell Crescent home by officers from the elite police unit.

Seven other houses were targeted by the Paramilitary Crime Taskforce (PCT) during early morning raids in the Lower Shankill area of west Belfast on Thursday.

Officers' brief was to disrupt the West Belfast UDA's major drug dealing network which has spread into north Belfast, Antrim, Bangor and Newtownards.

Expand Close The angry loyalist rants at our photographer NO BYLINE / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp The angry loyalist rants at our photographer

The terror gang makes in excess of 2.5m per year selling cocaine, cannabis, ecstasy, prescription-only pills, legal highs, and now heroin.

At the centre of the operation is career criminal Dee Coleman, who was expelled from the UDA last year but was allowed back in after agreeing to pay a 10,000 fine.

His younger brother Gary 'Goof' Coleman (26), a convicted cocaine pusher, also handed over the same sum of cash to the terror gang to be given permission to deal drugs from the Lower Shankill.

Expand Close Dee Coleman Photopress Belfast / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Dee Coleman

Another key player in the UDA's mammoth drugs racket is David 'Dee' Jenkins who was jailed for 16 months in 2017 for running a "sophisticated" cannabis factory in his home. A property linked to the 39-year-old was among the eight searched by PCT officers.

While the raids were taking place, UDA boss 'Dopey' Denis Cunningham and leading loyalist Roy Douglas were seen touring the Shankill estate in cars watching intently.

The pair were arrested by cops last year as part of a financial probe into UDA money laundering. A substantial amount of cash was seized from their homes before they were freed on bail.



Expand Close Leadling loyalist Roy Douglas / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Leadling loyalist Roy Douglas

Both Cunningham and Douglas have strong ties to the government-funded Lower Shankill Community Association (LSCA), and their roles in the group are now being investigated by the Charity Commission.

Despite being on police bail, Cunningham continues to be employed by the organisation, while Douglas sits on its board of trustees.

UDA sources, who tipped off Sunday Life about the PCT raids, said the loyalists looked "shocked" by the intensity of the police operation.

"Denis and Roy didn't know which way to look, they were shocked because the raids caught everyone by surprise," said one witness.



Expand Close Convicted UDA drug dealer David 'Dee' Jenkins / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Convicted UDA drug dealer David 'Dee' Jenkins

"Dee Coleman's friends and a couple of UDA supporters were on the street ranting and raving at the cops and shouting at the Sunday Life photographer.

"They made fools of themselves. You would think they would be applauding the police for trying to take UDA drugs off the Shankill seeing how many people they have killed."

Tellingly, UDA 'C Company' Lower Shankill boss and convicted killer Mo Courtney was nowhere to be seen during last Thursday's PCT anti-drugs operation.

He too is on police bail after being arrested alongside Cunningham and Douglas as part of a money laundering investigation.

Sources say that since then, Courtney has tried not to get his hands dirty. He prefers to leave the day-to-day running of C Company in the hands of Cunningham, who served a prison sentence for reading a UDA terror statement while wearing his distinctive glasses over a balaclava.

Expand Close Mo Courtney kept his head down last week / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Mo Courtney kept his head down last week

Among the other UDA members being investigated by cops for drug dealing are its Oldpark commander who once escaped conviction despite a loaded assault rifle being found in his home.

A 43-year-old who was one of the first on the scene of the Shankill bomb, and who now sells cocaine openly in the hallway of a Belfast pub, is another being probed by the PCT. So too is a dog breeder, also aged in his 40s, who locals describe as a "coward" who joined the UDA for protection.

Dee Coleman, who cops believe oversees the UDA's multi-million pound drug dealing rackets, was freed on bail last Friday after being questioned on suspicion of breaching a terrorism notification and drugs offences.

He recently served an 18-month prison sentence for UDA membership, and is currently on licence until the summer meaning he can be returned to jail at any time. Coleman's criminal record also includes convictions for extortion, drugs offences, disorderly behaviour, possessing an imitation firearm, trading in counterfeit products and involvement in a gun attack on a pub packed with UVF supporters. Prior to being jailed for UDA membership, he was C Company's second-in-command - a position he forfeited after being freed.

Expand Close Police attend a property at Hopewell Cresent in the Lower Shankill, Belfast. NO BYLINE / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Police attend a property at Hopewell Cresent in the Lower Shankill, Belfast.

Confirming that eight houses had been searched as part of the PCT's investigation into UDA drug dealing, Inspector O'Neill said: "The Paramilitary Crime Task Force continues to disrupt the activity of organised criminals who badge themselves as paramilitaries. This operation was part of our ongoing proactive investigation into the criminality of West Belfast UDA.

"Various items were seized from a number of properties, including suspected class A and class B controlled drugs and a quantity of cash."

Inspector O'Neill added: "The seizure is another step in our ongoing commitment to preventing dangerous drugs from ending up in local communities and also frustrating the criminal activities of paramilitaries living within them.

"I would encourage anyone with information about the supply of illegal drugs or information about paramilitary organised crime to get in touch with police on 101."
Officials said that during that encounter, the deputy fired his gun. Authorities said they do not believe the suspect was hit but that the person fled in the vehicle. The incident remains under investigation.
France: Parliamentary battle over pension reform begins Government under pressure also for exit of health minister

(ANSAmed) - PARIS, FEBRUARY 17 - The French government majority supporting President Emmanuel Macron is preparing for battle on Monday in the French Parliament over approval of the controversial pension reform, which provoked a difficult social conflict in the country and strikes for over two months.



The government is also under pressure over the exit of Health Minister Agnes Buzyn in the middle of the campaign against the coronavirus.



Buzyn is running for Paris mayor and Olivier Veran has taken over the post of health minister.



The majority's difficulties come after internal discontent forced Macron to launch an appeal for unity among the MPs to "win the pension battle".



The technical situation is complicated by the avalanche of amendments presented by the radical left party La France Insoumise, which prevented a full review in committee last week, after 75 hours of failed attempts at dialogue between the parties.



For now, 15 days of debate are planned, and a third week isn't out of the question.(ANSAmed).




As third in line to the throne, all signs point towards Prince George becoming King at some point in the distant future. George is Prince Williams eldest son and will take over as the head of the monarchy once Williams reign is over. Although George is expected to inherit the crown, there is one royal expert who firmly believes that Prince George will never be King  and it all has something to do with the modernization of the monarchy.

Prince George | RICHARD POHLE/AFP via Getty Images

Will the monarchy last beyond Queen Elizabeth?

Queen Elizabeth has sat on the throne of the United Kingdom for the past 68 years. She inherited the crown in 1952 following the death of her father, King George VI.

Her Majestys oldest son, Prince Charles, is first in line to the throne, though, at the age of 71, he has waited longer than anyone else to take the throne. Depending on how long Charles is on the throne, it could be decades before William takes his place at the head of the monarchy, and even longer for Prince George.

As it currently stands, most people in the UK are very supportive of the monarchy. But royal expert Christopher Lee believes this is largely due to Queen Elizabeth and her longevity.

Voting for a monarchy is supporting an institution. Voting for the sovereign is quite a different X-factor, Lee shared. The sovereign is a celebrity and celebrity is everything. The Queen is probably among the top ten brand images in the world.

Lee believes that once Queen Elizabeth has passed on, people will start to look at the monarchy in a different light. This is especially true given how the rest of the family has not been able to avoid scandalous behavior.

Between Charles disastrous first marriage to Prince Andrews sex scandal, one doesnt have to look hard to find dirt on the royals.

Prince Charless reign could be the beginning of the end

According to Express, Lee went on to stay that the monarchy will undergo a massive shift once Charles takes over. Charles has come a long way in repairing his own public image following his divorce from Princess Diana, but he is still nowhere near as popular as Queen Elizabeth.

To make things worse, Lee contends that reforms will change the relationship between the monarchy and the British parliament. Lee believes that the House of Lords reform will end the My Government Will speech, which is given by the monarch.

He also says that various Commonwealth nations, such as Australia and Canada, will vote for Republicanism once Queen Elizabeth is gone. This would greatly reduce the role of the monarchy and could set it up for dissolution.

If that happened, then it is possible that Prince George never ascends to the throne and that William becomes the last King of the United Kingdom.

Will Prince George never be King?

One argument against Lees theory about the future of the monarchy is the fact that William and his wife, Kate Middleton, are very popular, especially with younger generations.

There is no arguing that most people are not looking forward to Charles becoming King, but there has been a lot of excitement about William taking over. In fact, there has even been some talk about Charles abdicating and letting William take the throne once Queen Elizabeth is gone.

In response, Lee says that Williams popularity will also fall by the time he wears the crown. Lee believes that Prince Williams age will play a factor in his decline.

At the end of the day, there is no way to tell if Prince George will actually inherit the crown or not. He is only six years old right now and probably wont sit on the throne until he is in his 50s or 60s.

A lot can change over the course of six decades, but it is interesting to think about a future without the royal family.

Prince William and Kate Middleton prepare Prince George to become King

Although Prince George is only six years old, Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, have reportedly started preparing him for the day he sits on the throne.

Sources say that the Duke and Duchess are teaching George about the monarchy via stories, which has proved to be a fun way to ease him into the royal spotlight.

William and Kate have already talked to George and Charlotte about their future roles, but in a child-like way so that they understand without feeling overwhelmed, a source revealed. George knows theres something special about him and that one day hell be the future King of England.

Prince William and Kate Middleton have not commented on the reports surrounding Prince Georges future in the monarchy.
One of the remaining USS Arizona crew members who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor has died.

Donald Stratton, 97, died at his Colorado Springs home in his sleep Saturday with his family in attendance. He was one of only three survivors who are still alive.

Now, only Ken Potts, 98 and Lou Conter, who are both 98.

The 97-year-old veteran had been in poor health since contracting pneumonia in October.

'He was a very humble, very quiet hero,' said his son, Randy Stratton. 'He didn't want or seek the attention he received.'

Donald Stratton, 97, died at his Colorado Springs home in his sleep Saturday with his family in attendance. He is shown in a recent photograph

Stratton was one of the survivors of the Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese aerial attack on the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Hawaii.

Stratton was badly burned in the bombing, and has told in the past how he survived by huddling with six other men.

Stratton 19 when the attack on the Arizona happened. He'd enlisted just a year earlier, in 1940

'Men stumbled around on the deck like human torches, each collapsing into a flaming pile of flesh.

'Others jumped into the water.

'When they did, you could hear them sizzle.

'My T-shirt had caught fire, burning my arms and my back. My legs were burned from my ankles to my thighs. My face was seared.

'The hair on my head had been singed off, and part of my ear was gone,' he wrote in All The Gallant Men, a memoir about the attack.

He had been on an outdoor deck when the bombs began, turning the ship into an inferno.

Stratton was trapped on the ship in a water tower and only escaped when another sailor on the nearby Vesta tossed the a rope so they could free themselves from the flames.

He was severely burned but managed to get out alive.

'We had to go hand over hand on that line, and that was probably 70 or 80 feet.

Stratton was one of 1,177 crew on-board the USS Arizona when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He had been on an outdoor deck when the bombs began, turning the ship into an inferno

Stratton with Lou Conter, John Anderson and Lauren Bruner in 2014. Anderson (second from right) died in 2015 and Bruner (far right) died in September 2019. Now, only Conter (second from left) and Ken Potts remain alive

Ken Potts, 98, is one of only two remaining survivors

'You know, you get to the middle of the line and it starts uphill again.

'That was really tough, with my hands and everything burned,' he wrote.

The man who saved him was Joe George.

Of the more than 1,100 people on-board the Arizona, only 335 survived the attack.

Stratton had enlisted just a year earlier. He was 19 at the time of the attack.

After spending 10 months being treated for his burns, Stratton returned to war and fought out the remainder of WWII.

He then devoted his life to telling the story of what happened on-board the Arizona.

Every year since, he has attended memorial services for the men who died. In 2017, he met with President Donald Trump in a meeting at the Oval Office.

In this July 21, 2017, file photo, President Donald Trump listens to USS Arizona survivor Donald Stratton, right, during a meeting with survivors of the attack on USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington

Stratton in a recent photograph with his wife, Velma. They had four children and 13 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Velma is 70

On an appreciation page run for him on Facebook, a post on Saturday read: 'We are profoundly sad to say that last night, February 15, Donald passed away peacefully in his sleep surrounded by his wife of nearly 70 years, Velma, and his son Randy.

'One of Donald's final wishes was that people remember Pearl Harbor and the men aboard the USS Arizona.

'Share their story and never forget those who gave all for our great country.

'Donald Stratton, 97 years old.

'USS Arizona Survivor. Husband of 69 years to Velma Stratton.

'Father to Robert, Randy, Gypsy and Roxanne Jo. Grandfather and great-grandfather to 13 amazing grandchildren.

'Author of New York Times Best Seller - All the Gallant Men.'
(UPDATE: All northbound and southbound lanes of M-13 have reopened, per MDOT)

(UPDATE: Northbound and southbound M-13 is closed at Whitefeather Road, per MDOT)

BAY COUNTY, MI -- A crash Sunday afternoon has shut down a portion of M-13 in Bay Countys Pinconning Township.

The Michigan Department of Transportation is reporting northbound M-13 (Huron Road) is closed at Whitefeather Road due to a crash.

No additional information was immediately available on the number of vehicles involved or potential injuries.
Thanks to a cab driver's quick thinking, a 92-year-old California woman stopped herself from sending Rs 17 lakh to scammers.

According to reports, the Indian-origin cabbie named, Raj Singh, sensed something amiss when the woman said she wanted a ride to the bank and told him that she owed the IRS thousands.

The woman told him that someone called her and asked for the money. Singh said the woman even gave him the phone number of the so-called IRS employee.

Singh then attempted to call the number shared by the elderly woman - a man who answered abruptly hung up when Singh pressed him for more information and blocked his number.



In a Facebook post shared by Roseville Police Station, Singh then pleaded with the woman to go to police and she eventually agreed.





'We love this story because several times throughout, Raj could have just taken his customer to her stop and not worried about her well being', police wrote on Facebook. 'He took time from his day and had the great forethought to bring the almost-victim to the police station for an official response'.



Roseville police said Singh deserved a 'great citizen award' in a statement. 'His quick thinking saved a senior citizen $25,000 and for that, we greatly appreciate his efforts', police said.

The woman waited in the cab while Singh went to talk to an officer, who confirmed it was a scam, police said. Singh later took the woman home.



Every once in a while, such a story reminds us to be kind and helpful, no matter how busy we are. You never know when you might be at the receiving end of it.
SORSOGON, Philippines  A 23-year-old student from Solis Institute of Technology died from an alleged hazing incident, police said Monday (February 17).

The victim has been identified as Omer Despabiladeras, a freshman criminology student.

According to Police MSgt. Edgar Calupit who is investigating the case, the victim passed out during the initiation rites.

He was rushed to Pantaleon Gotladera Memorial Hospital but was declared dead on arrival by the attending physician.

The Bulan Municipal Police Station is still investigating to determine those responsible for Despabiladeras  death.  MNP (with reports from Allan Manansala)

The post Criminology student dies after alleged frat hazing in Sorsogon appeared first on UNTV News.
Coronavirus is spreading through China, so far killing 1,380 people and sickening more than 64,000  eight times the number sickened by SARS

File photo provided the file photo provided by the Anti-Poaching Special Squad, police look at items seized from store suspected of trafficking wildlife in Guangde city in central China's Anhui Province. AP photo

China cracked down on the sale of exotic species after an outbreak of a new virus in 2002 was linked to markets selling live animals. The germ turned out to be a coronavirus that caused SARS.

The ban was later lifted, and the animals reappeared. Now another coronavirus is spreading through China, so far killing 1,380 people and sickening more than 64,000  eight times the number sickened by SARS.

The suspected origin? The same type of market.

With more than 60 million people under lockdown in more than a dozen Chinese cities, the new outbreak is prompting calls to permanently ban the sale of wildlife, which many say is being fueled by a limited group of wealthy people who consider the animals delicacies. The spreading illness also serves as a grim reminder that how animals are handled anywhere can endanger people everywhere.

Theres a vast number of viruses in the animal world that have not spread to humans, and have the potential to do so, said Robert Webster, an expert on influenza viruses at St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.

SARS and the current outbreak of COVID-19 are not the only diseases in people traced back to animals. The killing and sale of what is known as bushmeat in Africa is thought to be a source for Ebola. Bird flu likely came from chickens at a market in Hong Kong in 1997. Measles is believed to have evolved from a virus that infected cattle.

Scientists have not yet determined exactly how the new coronavirus first infected people. Evidence suggests it originated in bats, which infected another animal that spread it to people at a market in the southeastern city of Wuhan. The now-shuttered Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market advertised dozens of species such as giant salamanders, baby crocodiles and raccoon dogs that were often referred to as wildlife, even when they were farmed.

Of the 33 samples from the Wuhan market that tested positive for the coronavirus, officials say 31 were from the area where wildlife booths were concentrated. Compared with long domesticated livestock like chickens and pigs, researchers say less is known about the viruses that circulate in wild animals.

The Wuhan market was also like many other wet markets in Asia and elsewhere, where animals are tied up or stacked in cages. Activists say its difficult to distinguish between those that were legally farmed and those that may have been illegally hunted. The animals are often killed on site to ensure freshness. The messy mix raises the tiny odds that a new virus will jump to people handling the animals and start to spread, experts say.

Theres a vast number of viruses in the animal world that have not spread to humans, and have the potential to do so, said Robert Webster, an expert on influenza viruses at St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.

SARS and the current outbreak of COVID-19 are not the only diseases in people traced back to animals. The killing and sale of what is known as bushmeat in Africa is thought to be a source for Ebola. Bird flu likely came from chickens at a market in Hong Kong in 1997. Measles is believed to have evolved from a virus that infected cattle.

Scientists have not yet determined exactly how the new coronavirus first infected people. Evidence suggests it originated in bats, which infected another animal that spread it to people at a market in the southeastern city of Wuhan. The now-shuttered Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market advertised dozens of species such as giant salamanders, baby crocodiles and raccoon dogs that were often referred to as wildlife, even when they were farmed.

Of the 33 samples from the Wuhan market that tested positive for the coronavirus, officials say 31 were from the area where wildlife booths were concentrated. Compared with long domesticated livestock like chickens and pigs, researchers say less is known about the viruses that circulate in wild animals.

The Wuhan market was also like many other wet markets in Asia and elsewhere, where animals are tied up or stacked in cages. Activists say its difficult to distinguish between those that were legally farmed and those that may have been illegally hunted. The animals are often killed on site to ensure freshness. The messy mix raises the tiny odds that a new virus will jump to people handling the animals and start to spread, experts say.

This is the second time  the first is SARS, this time is Wuhan. We dont want a third time, Lai Xinping, a project cost assessor, said by phone from her home in Sichuan.

We hate them too, and we are blamed, said Tao Yiwei, a 36-year-old homemaker. She is among those who want the temporary ban on wildlife, enacted to contain the current outbreak, to be permanent.

There are signs the Chinese government may make more lasting changes to how exotic species are raised and sold. This month, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said the country should resolutely outlaw and harshly crack down on the illegal wildlife trade because of the public health risks it poses.

In the eastern province of Anhui, officials sealed farms breeding species like badgers and bamboo rats. In the port city of Tianjin, authorities say their crackdown on the sale of wildlife caught six traders, including three who were selling pythons and parrots.

All told, officials say about 1.5 million markets and online operators nationwide have been inspected since the outbreak began. About 3,700 have been shut down, and around 16,000 breeding sites have been cordoned off.

Its not clear how the measures will play out over time. Before the outbreak began, it was legal in China to sell 54 species like pangolins and civets  as long as they were raised on farms . That made it difficult to distinguish between legal and illegal wildlife in wet markets, and enforcement was lax, said Jinfeng Zhou of China Biodiversity, Conservation and Green Development Foundation, an environmental group based in Beijing.

He pointed to a widely shared image of a Wuhan market advertisement listing 72 species, including peacocks and bullfrogs, as proof that the trade is too lucrative to be stopped by anything less than a total ban on all wildlife. The profit is huge ... like drugs, Jinfeng said.

Others disagree, arguing that banning the wildlife trade is not a realistic way to reduce risk, especially in poorer regions of the world where it can be an important food source. They say improved monitoring, regulation or public education may better control the problem. When wildlife is farmed, for example, it allows for greater surveillance and testing for viruses, said Daszak of EcoHealth Alliance.

Even if China successfully regulates or bans it, the wildlife trade is likely to continue elsewhere. Recent visits to wet markets in the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia and in the coastal city of Doula in Cameroon revealed similar conditions to wet markets in China. Vendors were slaughtering and grilling bats, dogs, rats, crocodiles and snakes, and sanitary measures were scant.

Ongoing destruction of species habitats will likely bring people into closer contact with animals and their viruses, said Raina Plowright, a Montana State University researcher who studies how diseases spread from wildlife to people.

We are inevitably going to be exposed, she said.
At last Mondays Carrick-on-Shannon Municipal District meeting Cllr Sean McGowan gave an update in relation to the car park at Dromod railway station but expressed his frustration at the pricing discrepancy between paying at the machine and paying online.

Cllr McGowan informed the meeting a machine has been installed in the car park stating: it is disappointing they are charging 4.50 when you can do it online for 3.50 but at least you can do it.

Read Also: Cllr Des Guckian in angry exchange over Council housing

It is unfortunate but that is what they are charging at every Irish Rail car park.

Cllr Des Guckian hit out at the prices being charged saying: we have to oppose that. Its a rip-off.

Cllr Guckian queried why it is possible to park at Longford train station for just 2.

Explaining the situation with regardto the car park in Longford, Cllr McGowan said the car park in Longford is owned by Longford County Council and that is the reason for the cheaper price.

Read Also: Extras wanted as Matt Damon and Ben Affleck film in Ireland

Cllr McGowan added: I agree, 4.50 is very high. What they want is all people to do it online but cash shouldnt be higher than the machine.

Cllr Guckian asked if Leitrim County Council could look into the possibility of renting the car park facility and offering patrons a lower rate.

In reply Leitrim County Council Director of Services Joseph Gilhooly said: It might be unaffordable for us to do it at 2.
After scooping several titles, Wycliffe Mageto was among the top 10 finalists in the coveted Mr World Kenya.

The model and entrepreneur talks about his journey in pageantry.

You have been modelling for four years now. How did you get into pageantry?

I always say it was almost accidental. I had a big crush on a classmate who liked models and fashionable guys.

It was around the time Mr and Miss University of Nairobi was about to happen. My friends persuaded me to contest for the show as a golden chance to impress her if I won the title.

I scooped second runners-up for Mr University of Nairobi 2016. Thats where it all started.

Oh, the things we do for love. That motivation worked in your favour though, careerwise. Did you win the girls heart?

No. I didnt and I was actually laughing about it the other day. But I met better ones after that.

What you are simply saying is that modelling wasnt initially an aspiration of yours.

Correct. Its not something I aimed for but during the first training I went through, I interacted with more experienced models and fellow contestants and it grew on me.

In fact, the guy who dressed me for the first show, former Mr World Kenya Bungoma County, continued to mentor me and totally changed my closet from a basic campus guy to a dapper fashion icon.

A few months later, my hunger to advance in modeling became insatiable when I began taking on the runway at bigger shows at the county and national level.

It sounds like its been a game-changer for you. Hasnt it?

Indeed. Prior to that, I had been very shy with low self-esteem. Thanks to modelling, I have become bold and very confident in every aspect of life.

It has been my source of income for the last few years. Through modelling I also got a passion to do community service especially in environment conservation and mentorship for upcoming models who look up to me as a role model. I also extended this programme to primary school pupils.

Has it been paying your bills or must you supplement it with other sources of revenue?

I have to do other jobs for sustenance. Im very good at networking and maintaining existing work relationships.

Thus with time, I have been able to get some permanent clients who I can rely on as well as referrals for new gigs.

My motto is to show up and always be the hardest worker in the room, and opportunities do come.

I also have a startup company called Wyckmer Agencies Limited that supplies stationery, computers and accessories and merchandise for corporates.

Are you signed to a modelling agency or are you independent?

Im not signed to any agency. Im a freelancer. Getting gigs as a freelance model is tough but its worth it.

You become more knowledgeable on how to close a deal and it makes you hungrier in chasing opportunities and being versatile without being bound to any contract with agencies.

You have to do a lot of networking and stay alert for opportunities. I also work closely with casting agents who introduce me to clients and I pay them their due commission. I would like to work with more designers with premium brands.

Given your experience, what remains a nagging impediment to success for local models?

Sometimes, we get poor remuneration compared to the services we provide. We put in so much behind the scenes in terms of grooming, dressing, keeping fit and delivery of services but some clients want to get cheap models.

There are currently very minimal jobs in modelling, so, if you are selective in terms of pay, you miss a lot of jobs since there is always someone willing to take the meagre pay. But clients who go for quality will always value your services.

While exploring this avenue, how do you keep your brand reputation intact?

I dont restrict myself to certain roles. I always want to have fun and create memories. But at the end of the day there are boundaries I wouldnt break, such as extreme nudity.

I want to make something people can enjoy and that my family would be proud of.

Its obvious that you take fitness seriously. Whats your gym routine?

Being a model, you have to be competent in as far as fitness is concerned all year.

Thus I have to work out at least four times a week in the gym and twice morning runs when I dont go to the gym just to ensure my body fat doesnt go up.

Are you always dressed up when stepping out?

Most of the time. Cliff Mageto is now a brand and public figure. I have to dress up to maintain my public image.

No one would want to associate with you as a model if you cant match up to class and standards. As a model, you are already a walking billboard.

What is your go-to look?

I love suits. Most of the time I do bespoke suits, which is my signature look. If not, I can break the suit and do smart casual but there is always an element of suit in my look.

Which local designers are your best pick and in your wardrobe?

I wear Ashock Sunny, Genteel and Le Smith Wear for suits. They are very good in terms of quality, delivery, and reliability.

For the African look, I go for African Fabrics and Designs Kenya; I would say they are the best in Kenya.
WASHINGTON  Reports one day suggest the respiratory outbreak in China might be slowing, the next brings word of thousands more cases. Even the experts have whiplash in trying to determine if the epidemic is getting worse, or if a backlog of the sick is finally getting counted.

Continuing questions about the new virus are complicating health authorities efforts to curtail its spread around the world. And the United States is taking the first steps to check that cases masquerading as the flu wont be missed, another safeguard on top of travel restrictions and quarantines.

Heres what you should know about the illness:

WHAT IS THE NEW VIRUS?

Its a never-before-seen type of coronavirus, a large family of viruses that affect both animals and people. Some types cause the common cold. But two other types have caused severe disease outbreaks before: SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, in late 2002, and MERS, or Middle East respiratory syndrome, which first appeared in 2012.

The World Health Organization officially named the new illness COVID-19, reflecting that its a new coronavirus that emerged late last year. Common symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath. While serious cases can turn into pneumonia, most patients appear to have a fairly mild illness.

HOW FAST IS THE OUTBREAK GROWING?

Theres some confusion about that. Chinas tally reached more than 66,000 cases Saturday, a huge increase from earlier in the week. Why? Chinese health authorities say they changed how they are counting. Instead of waiting for a virus test to confirm someones diagnosis  theres a huge testing backlog  theyre now counting patients on the basis of their symptoms and lung X-rays.

The WHO isnt sure thats a good idea, and wants to make sure people with flu or some other respiratory infection arent getting caught in the mix.

Elsewhere, fewer than 600 cases have been reported outside of China  in other parts of Asia, Europe, the U.S. and Canada. The first case in Africa was reported Friday, in Egypt. Most involved travelers from China and people who came into close contact with them.

IS QUARANTINE WORKING?

China has put 60 million people in its hardest-hit cities under lockdown, an unprecedented response. Without a good count of how many people are sick, and when they got sick, its hard to tell if its working.

Thats different from typical quarantine measures, which try to target people who may be at risk  those who were in Chinas hot zone or who came into contact with another patient anywhere else in the world. Thats a way to buy time for health authorities to prepare if the virus starts to spread more widely.

But how to quarantine large numbers of people is a difficult question. The Diamond Princess cruise ship, which has the largest cluster of infections outside China, was quarantined in Japan with more than 3,500 passengers and crew. Experts have questioned if the close quarters have contributed to the spread. U.S. officials said Saturday it would evacuate its citizens on board and bring them to quarantine stations on Air Force bases in California and Texas.

In the U.S., about 600 people evacuated from hard-hit Hubei province in central China are still in quarantine at several military bases, apart from other people on the base but with some room to roam. For 14 days  what scientists believe to be the incubation period  they are checked for symptoms and tested if they show any.

As of Saturday, there were 15 cases in the U.S., including three of the evacuees.

COULD THE VIRUS BE SPREADING SILENTLY IN OTHER PLACES?

In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is starting a new effort to spot if that happens  by adding coronavirus testing to the network that normally tracks influenza. When a patient sample tests negative for flu, lab workers next will check it for the new virus.

The extra tests will start in public health laboratories in five cities: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago and New York. But the surveillance will be expanded around the country in the coming weeks, said CDCs Dr. Nancy Messonnier.

HOW DOES INFECTION SPREAD?

Like typical respiratory viruses, it spreads mostly through droplets from coughs and sneezes. What about surfaces like doorknobs touched by that person blowing his nose? If the next person touches their own mouth, nose or eyes, infection is possible, like with the flu, but specialists dont think the virus can survive on surfaces for very long. Regular hand washing is a good way to avoid getting sick from any virus.

WHAT ABOUT TREATMENTS AND VACCINES?

The hunt is on for both. Currently, people who are seriously ill get standard pneumonia care including fluids and oxygen. In China, scientists are testing some medicines developed for other viruses to see if they might tamp down this one.

Several research groups are on the trail of possible vaccines, and one being developed by the U.S. National Institutes of Health might begin first-step safety tests in people as early as spring. But specialists stress it would take far longer  best case scenario a year  to ready a vaccine for widespread use.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Cladding is the housing subject no-one wants to resolve, due to the potentially eye-watering costs involved.

But it's slowly suffocating those affected, namely flat owners living in blocks covered in cladding, who want to sell and move on with their lives.

The issue is that the owners are unable to sell the properties until the buildings are proved to be safe, leaving them stuck in their homes and also seeing monthly bills rise as they are potentially unable to remortgage.

We speak to experts to ask what action these residents can take, and who should be picking up the bill.

Since the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, concerns about cladding have become a national issue

So who exactly is affected?

The problem of non-fire retardant cladding on buildings has seen lenders refusing to give potential buyers a mortgage to purchase the properties.

Understandably, no lender wants to provide finance on homes made of combustible material, like that which turned Grenfell into an inferno.

And some flat owners may be unable to sell even if the material isn't combustible as the freeholder hasn't paid for it to be tested.

The issue can also affect those flat owners who are simply looking to remortgage.

Since the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, concerns about cladding have become a national issue.

Official figures from the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government claim that 450 buildings are covered in the most combustible material, with the vast majority of these - 356 - being residential homes.

It means thousands of flat owners could be affected, with many only becoming fully aware of the issue when they try to move home or remortgage onto a cheaper deal.

The exact number affected is unknown, but some figures being circulated suggest it could be impacting as many as 700,000 flat owners.

Official figures claim that 450 buildings are still covered in the most combustible material

The harsh reality is that if a block is covered in a non-fire retardant form of cladding, the flat owner will see their home become unmortgageable until the problem is fixed.

This means it is effectively valued at 0, putting an end to any hope of remortgaging, or getting a lender to offer finance on it to a buyer.

The cost of removing the cladding and replacing it with attractive-looking fire retardant cladding could easily running into millions of pounds.

As such, it is perhaps unsurprising that some developers or freeholders are procrastinating about picking up the bill.

Buying agent Henry Sherwood, said: 'It is a big issue and there is a lot of talk with people saying they will address it. But there is no detail and so people have been left hanging.

'There needs to be more information about the cost as this is at the root of all the problems'

Mr Sherwood suggested that the cost is not just about removing the cladding but what will replace it, saying: 'What will happen to the building afterwards as the most efficient fire retardant cladding is not the most attractive.

'If freeholders do accept the cost, they may just take the cheapest cladding that there is, which may devalue the property.'

'There needs to be more information about the cost. One of the biggest components is scaffolding and the labour to take it down and put the new fire-retardant cladding up.

'It shouldn't be hard to find out how much this costs, but no one wants to stick their head above the parapet and say what they are doing.

'No-one knows what your portion is, it could be 50,000 or 100,000. It's the fear of the unknown. There is no responsibility and no-one wants to take control of it.'

What can residents do? Residents need to get together and lobby their management company

Ask the management company for the building to be tested for combustible material by someone who is accredited by lenders

Ask to see a schedule of works, with a time frame for removing the non-fire retardant cladding

Most lenders will require a fire safety report which will only be issued once the building is safe Advertisement

So what can those trying to sell or remortgage do?

The first step is for residents to ask their management company for the building to be tested for combustible material by someone who is accredited. There is a list of accreditations, which most lenders can provide.

North London estate agent Jeremy Leaf said: 'The first thing to check is whether your home is affected or not.

'It could be that you have cladding but it's not of the type which is attracting attention.

'Sometimes you only find these things out when you try to remortgage or sell, and a buyer's surveyor comes along. But because of the furore that has brewed since Grenfell, it would be as well to find out for yourself what the position is before you leave it to someone else to do it for you.

Sometimes you only find these things out when you try to remortgage or sell Jeremy Leaf, estate agent

'Approach your managing agent or freeholder and find out what type of cladding you have and what steps are being taken to identify and deal with it.'

If the cladding tests positive, you'll then need to find out exactly what work needs to be done.

A schedule of works, with a timeframe, can then be established. Flat owners can ask to see a copy of this schedule. And working on a case by case basis, this may be sufficient for a lender to provide finance.

Campaigners protest outside the Grenfell Tower public inquiry in London in January

Nick Morrey, of mortgage brokers John Charcol, said: 'Residents need to get together and decide what they want to do as they are potentially living in a property that is not safe and could pose a risk to life.

'They need to take action and lobby their management company for a resolution. It may also mean speaking to the developer if they are still around.'

Mr Morrey added: 'Find out when they could remove the cladding and the substances behind. It may not look very pleasing but if it is safer than before, I would say that this must be preferable.

'They then need to look at when they will replace the cladding.'

'There is a strong argument just to get the cladding removed to make it safe for you, your family and family. Even if this means waiting a couple of years to put up new cladding.'

'The schedule of works can be sufficient for lenders. There have been instances where it shows the cladding is due to be removed, with the lender saying that the evidence provided means they can help out. But they don't have to do that.'

Most lenders will require a fire safety report which will only be issued once the building is safe.

Mr Morrey went on to say: 'Lenders would like professionally qualified people to certify that a building is safe. That way, they can proceed safe in the knowledge that people are sleeping well at night.'

Indeed, Nationwide Building Socity explained that it needs to see documents from a qualified person that confirms the building is safe and secure.

It said: 'This is purely to ensure the mortgage application does not progress until the necessary documentation has been received and we can ensure that the property is safe for that person/those people to reside in.'

Manchester Cladiators is campaigning for more financial support from the Government

Residents picking up bill for safety Residents are already picking up costs for interim fire safety measures, it has been revealed. Leaseholders in Leeds are paying 670 a month on top of their mortgage and service charges to pay for a 'waking watch' scheme. Conservative MP for Hendon, Matthew Offord, said that in Colindale, within his constituency, 1,087 properties in the Pulse in development now deemed to be unsafe had been signed off as meeting fire safety standards by the local authority as recently as 2017. He said: 'Assurances from building regulations simply were not worth the paper they were written on.' Advertisement

Who is responsible?

As for who is responsible for paying for the cost of removing and installing the new cladding, Mr Morrey suggested: 'Whoever signs off on what substances are put in behind the cladding, they need to take some accountability and responsibility.'

'However, not all developers are still in business if the building was put up 20 years ago. Then it's the freeholder and management company. The flat owners need to get together to make sure they take action.'

One campaign group in Manchester, which has named itself the Manchester Cladiators, is calling for the Government to release a building safety fund - not a loan scheme - for all fires safety issues and not just ACM cladding.

So far, the Government has only confirmed that it will pay for the removal of ACM cladding which was the type fitted to Grenfell Tower.

The Manchester Cladiators also want the cost of any interim measures, such as waking watch - 24/7 fire wardens - to be funded by the building owner and not by residents, and for any costs incurred to date to be refunded.

It says the Government also needs to set up a high-rise task force to speed up remediation.

Manchester Cladiators say flat owners are trapped with their lives on hold

The Government has said that 'building owners are responsible' although it has added that 'we are considering options'.

A spokesman for MHCLG told MailOnline Property: 'It is unacceptable that some residents of high-rise buildings find themselves stuck in limbo, unable to sell their home.

'The Government has taken action to support an industry-led solution for valuations of high-rise residential buildings.

'Building owners are responsible for ensuring any building safety risks are identified and fixed as a matter of urgency.'

It follows the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Robert Jenrick saying in Parliament last month: 'The expert advice that we received said that ACM should be the priority of Government.

'That is why my predecessors announced the 600 million remediation fund for ACM on high-rise buildings. The testing results, which I will publish next month, confirm that decision and make it clear that ACM is significantly more dangerous than any other substance.

'That has rightly been the focus of taxpayers' money in terms of grant, but there may be other ways forward to assist those leaseholders trapped in other types of buildings.'

Mr Morrey concluded: 'This is not a problem that is going to go away. It is your home and probably the single most valuable asset you have. If it is a flat with cladding on the outside, you need to investigate it as a matter of urgency with your management company.

'You need to resolve it as fast as possible, if for no other reason than to live in a safe property.'
BRUSSELS  The European Union agreed on Monday to launch a new naval and air mission to stop more arms reaching the warring factions in Libya, overcoming initial objections from Austria and Hungary, which feared the ships might attract migrants and enable more of them to reach Europe.

The decision by foreign ministers was a victory for the new European foreign-policy chief, Josep Borrell Fontelles, who has criticized the need for unanimity among all member states to make decisions on foreign and security policy.

The new mission will be limited to the eastern Mediterranean, where most arms smuggling to Libya takes place, away from the routes most migrants take to try to reach Europe from chaotic Libya. The agreement satisfies the objections of fiercely anti-immigrant nations like Austria and Hungary, which have moved sharply to the right in recent years.

Mr. Borrell had warned that the European Union could not stand idly by while nearby Libya was embroiled in civil war aided most recently by Russia and Turkey, which support opposite sides.
FREDERICTON - New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs says criticism of his government's decision to close emergency rooms overnight in six community hospitals exposed serious gaps in the plan and led him to reverse course.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/2/2020 (694 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs speaks with the media in Fredericton, New Brunswick on Monday February 17, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Stephen MacGillivray

FREDERICTON - New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs says criticism of his government's decision to close emergency rooms overnight in six community hospitals exposed serious gaps in the plan and led him to reverse course.

"I can't in good conscience move forward without addressing the concerns and fears that have been brought to light," Higgs told a news conference Monday.

Higgs issued a statement Sunday night saying he was cancelling the closures, scheduled to take effect next month, in order to allow for community consultations.

Since it was announced Feb. 11, the plan has drawn criticism from the affected communities, health professionals, opposition parties and members of his own minority Tory government.

The reforms were intended to address a shortage in human resources and an aging population. They would have seen an increase in mental health services in the communities and the conversion of acute care beds to long-term care for patients awaiting nursing homes.

Higgs said the changes raised many questions that could not be answered.

"I didn't expect that there would be so many gaps in the rollout plan, and gaps that people legitimately identified that could not be legitimately answered," he said. Higgs said he was even told that the provincial ambulance service had not been consulted.

As a result, he met Sunday with representatives of the two regional health authorities. "Their recommendation was not to proceed at this time," Higgs said.

He said he will visit the communities with the affected departments  Sussex, Sackville, Ste-Anne-de-Kent, Caraquet, Grand Falls and Perth-Andover  in April and May to get the views of leaders, health-care providers and citizens.

The government is also planning a summit in June aimed at ensuring the province's health-care system is sustainable and reliable. "This must also address the challenges faced in the rural communities," Higgs said. The recommendations from the summit are to be released in the fall.

The decision to halt the changes follows deputy premier Robert Gauvin's announcement Friday that he was quitting in protest over the reforms to sit as an Independent. It left the minority government in the precarious position of facing a confidence vote or possibly calling an early election.

Higgs said his reversal had "turned down the temperature" on the prospect of an early election, but he would be discussing the situation with his caucus later this week.

Gauvin's departure left the Tories and Liberals tied with 20 seats in the legislature. The Green party and the People's Alliance each have three, Gauvin is the lone Independent and two seats are vacant.

Green Leader David Coon said Higgs had done the right thing by cancelling the changes, adding that he looked forward to making recommendations for health reform.

Last week, both the Greens and Liberals said they were prepared to defeat the government on a confidence motion, but on Monday Coon toned down his position. "These changes are on the shelf right now," he said, "so until we see how that works out, it changes the water on the beans."

But Liberal Leader Kevin Vickers expressed his continued opposition to the government.

"Premier Higgs has lost credibility and the trust of New Brunswickers over the health-care cuts fiasco. These cuts and further cuts to health care are still very much part of the Blaine Higgs agenda," Vickers wrote on Twitter. "His surprise from the controversy over the last week shows just how out of touch he is with New Brunswickers."

Kris Austin, leader of the People's Alliance, which had also opposed the closures, welcomed the government's reversal. He said the necessary support systems, including advance care paramedics, were not in place to provide for care in the overnight hours.

Dr. Chris Goodyear, president of the New Brunswick Medical Society, said there were too many unanswered questions for the closures to go ahead.

"We observed since the announcement that many physicians and citizens expressed passionate and thoughtful views about the implications of these changes," he said in a statement. "Many agreed that our health system must be modernized to reflect the population needs of our province and that stakeholders must have a voice prior to decisions being made."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2020.
BRUSSELS - Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Monday at the conclusion of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels that he is "very happy" that "all EU States are in agreement for creating a mission that blocks the entrance of arms into Libya".



"Now the EU will engage with an air and naval mission with ground availability as well, to block the entrance of arms into Libya," he said.



"Operation Sophia doesn't exist any longer. Now there's a mission that blocks arms," he said.

Di Maio said Operation Sophia "wasn't enough to block the entrance of weapons" and therefore "can no longer exist and no longer exists".

"This new mission with a new mandate, brought forward here today, will make an important naval contribution that will be deployed on the eastern side of the Libyan coast, where the flow of arms arrives," Di Maio explained.

"Another excellent proposal is that of blocking the mission in the event that it sets off a pull factor (encouraging migration, ed.), although this won't happen with the ships only on the east. Clearly this is why there needs to be a new mandate for this mission," Di Maio said.
Caroline Nokes, who Boris Johnson sacked when he moved into Number 10 last summer, hit out at the appointment publicly on Monday.

The chairwoman of the Commons Women and Equalities Committee and former Immigration Secretary wrote on Twitter: Cannot believe No 10 has refused to comment on Andrew Sabisky.

I dont know him from a bar of soap, but dont think wed get on ....... must be no place in Government for the views hes expressed.

There are growing calls for Mr Sabisky, 27, to be removed from the government set up after comments he made surfaced - including suggesting enforced contraception to stop unplanned pregnancies creating a permanent underclass.

Tory MP William Wragg wrote on Twitter: "Andrew Sabiskys presence in no.10 is a poor reflection on the Govt and there is no way to defend it. He needs to go. Weirdos and misfits are all very well, but please can they not gratuitously cause offence.

"I cannot be the only one uncomfortable with recent no.10 trends."

Mr Sabisky was brought in to Number 10 after Mr Johnsons chief adviser Dominic Cummings called for misfits and weirdos to apply

Other comments reportedly made by Mr Sabisky include suggesting that black Americans have a lower average IQ than white Americans.

There are calls for Mr Sabisky to be removed from the government operation / BBC Daily Politics

And writing on Mr Cummings website in 2014, he said: One way to get around the problems of unplanned pregnancies creating a permanent underclass would be to legally enforce universal uptake of long-term contraception at the onset of puberty.

Vaccination laws give it a precedent, I would argue.

Many saw the comments as championing eugenics - or the selective breeding of people.

In a briefing to journalists on Monday morning, a spokesman for Mr Johnson refused to condemn Mr Sabiskys views and refused to say if the Prime Minister supported the advisers opinion on eugenics.

The hirings came after Dominic Cummings advertised for "misfits and weirdos" / PA

A Number 10 spokesman said: Im not going to be commenting on individual appointments.

The spokesman added: The Prime Ministers views on a range of subjects are well publicised and documented.

Number 10 insiders insisted that Mr Johnson did not support eugenics.

Representatives for the Labour Party and the SNP have criticised Mr Johnson for the move.

Labour Party chairman Ian Lavery said: It is disgusting that not only has Number 10 failed to condemn Andrew Sabiskys appalling comments, but also seems to have endorsed the idea that white people are more intelligent than black people.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the Government must demonstrate some basic but fundamental values.

Geneticist and broadcaster Dr Adam Rutherford also criticised the comments, writing on Twitter: Like Cummings, he appears to be bewitched by science, without having made the effort to understand the areas he is invoking, nor its history.
Simon Cowell attends America's Got Talent Season 14 Live Show Red Carpet in September 2019. (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Simon Cowell has praised Phillip Schofield for coming out as gay while also revealing how he was frequently questioned about his sexuality earlier in his career.

Sharing his support for Schofield, the music mogul recalled interviews in the past where he would be asked if he was gay, to which he would tell them there was nothing wrong with being gay and he would not hide it.

It makes me laugh, because 20 years ago I would be doing interviews and the first question would be, Are you gay? and I would say, No, he said on talkRadio on Sunday.

They would say, Yes you are! and Id go, Do you honestly think it would be a problem if I was? And that I would hide it like there is something wrong? I told them, If I was, I would tell you.

Simon Cowell arrives at the America's Got Talent Season 14 kickoff in March 2019. (Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP)

He added: But it used to crack me up that it was seen as something bad you would have to hide.

To that point, I think it is a very positive thing [with Schofield]. Youve seen the support he has got, because nobody cares.

Simon Cowell and Lauren Silverman at the press night opening for & Juliet at the Shaftesbury Theatre, London, in November 2019. (zz/KGC-254/STAR MAX/IPx)

Schofield came out as gay earlier this month in an Instagram post shortly before appearing on This Morning to discuss his announcement with friend and co-star Holly Willoughby.

Cowell added: Ive worked on films, TV, in music and probably 50% of the people I have worked with are gay, have been gay, whatever.

"Its not even a conscious thought any more."

Schofield has been married to wife Stephanie Lowe for 27 years and the pair share two adult daughters, Ruby and Molly, together.

She has vowed to stand by her husband, having shared that she loves him and "always will".

Phillip Schofield and his wife Stephanie Lowe. (Jon Furniss/Invision/AP)

Skating professional Matt Evers later told Heart.co.uk that Schofield stopped rehearsals to address the elephant in the room.

"It was a really nice atmosphere in the studio, he said.

I think at one point in production he stopped rehearsals and said I just need to say this, I dont want to be the elephant in the room any more, if you want to give me a hug, give me a hug.
The ruling BJD and Opposition BJP



on Monday entered into a verbal duel in the Odisha Assembly over use of logo of the state's rural housing scheme named after former chief minister Biju Patnaik in the dwellings built under Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awas Yojana (PMGAY).

Leader of Opposition Pradipta Kumar Naik of the BJP raised the issue of BJD government using the logo of Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana (BPGY) containing picture of Biju Patnaik in the houses constructed under PMGAY.

The ruling party defended the action and argued that the state government is making significant contribution in the programme.

BJD named after Biju Patnaik is in power in Odisha continously since last 20 years.

Naik alleged that this was an attempt by the Naveen Patnaik headed party to mislead people and give masses an impression that the houses in rural Odisha were being built by the state government alone.

He said the rural housing scheme is being implemented in the state with assistance from the Centre under PMGAY.

Naik cited a letter written by the Project Director, District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), Jajpur to all the Block Development Officers (BDOs) to use BPGY logo in the houses built in the rural areas.

"I seek a ruling from the Speaker on the matter," Naik said.

BJP member Mukesh Mahaling supported Naik and denounced the use of BPGY logo in the houses built under the PMGAY.

Government Chief Whip Pramilla Mallick shot back arguing there was nothing wrong in using the BPGY logo.

"As the state government has been spending 40 per cent of the project cost of houses built under the PMGAY, there is nothing wrong in using the BPGY logo," Mallick said.

Senior BJD member and former minister Debi Prasad Mishra said: "There are certain schemes which are totally funded by the central government. But, in the case of PMGAY, the houses are being constructed under 60:40 share basis. Therefore, there is nothing wrong in using the state logo. The BJP should not be intolerant towards this."



Mishra said out of Rs 12,000 crore spent under the rural housing schemes in the state in last two year, Odisha government has spent Rs 6,000 crore, which is 50 per cent of the total amount.

Leader of the Opposition, however, said: "When the state government puts Biju Babu logo, it should also place the PMGAY logo. There is no harm in displaying two logos.

"The state government should also mention that the houses are being built with 60 per cent contribution from the Centre," he said.

Congress whip Taraprasad Bahinipati slammed both the BJD and the BJP for tweaking nomenclature of the scheme originally named after former prime minister Indira Gandhi.

"Initially, it was Indira Awas Yojana. The Modi government changed it to PMGAY. The NDA government hijacked the Congress schemes.

"Similarly, the BJD government in the state also uses Biju logo. In fact, it was Congress which had started all welfare schemes. Now both the BJD and BJP are fighting to get credit for them," Bahinipati said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pelvic exams necessitate physical inspection of the most sensitive areas of a womans body. The exams are typically conducted while the patient is awake and consenting at a gynecologist visit, to screen for certain cancers, infections and other reproductive health issues.

But across many U.S. states and medical institutions, physicians are not required to obtain explicit consent for the procedure. Sometimes the exams are conducted  by doctors or doctors-in-training  while women are under anesthesia for gynecological and other operations. Often the exams are deemed medically necessary, but in some cases they are done solely for the educational benefit of medical trainees. At some hospitals, physicians discuss the procedure with patients beforehand or detail its specifics in consent forms, but at others the women are left unaware.

There are no numbers to indicate how many pelvic exams have been performed nationwide without consent, but regional surveys suggest that the practice is not uncommon. A 2005 survey at the University of Oklahoma found that a majority of medical students had performed pelvic exams on unconscious patients, and in nearly 3 of 4 instances they thought informed consent had not been obtained.

Phoebe Friesen, a biomedical ethicist at McGill University, drew attention to the issue in 2018 with articles in Bioethics and Slate, which elicited stories from other women with the hashtag #MeTooPelvic. Dr. Friesen learned about the subject while leading a bioethics seminar at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, where she heard a narrative from some students that amounted to, I can put my hand in this womans vagina because it helps with my training.

Sarah Wright, a science teacher in Madison, Wis., said she was given a diagnosis of extreme vulvar sensitivity after a surgery in 2009. She wondered how an operation performed through incisions in her abdomen could have affected her sexual organs, and concluded that either a uterine manipulator was used or a pelvic exam was conducted without her knowledge. So when scheduling another operation with University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Healths hospital system in 2018, she asked to draft her own consent contract.
A report dug around the inner workings of Google Maps. It found that Google Maps and other competing services altered world borders. Kashmir is apparently shown as a disputed territory for Pakistanis.

Google Maps is the biggest maps and navigation service with over 1 billion users worldwide. However, a new report by the Washington Post unearths the fact that the search giant changes how world borders are portrayed, depending on the country where you access the app from. Not only Google but Apple and Microsoft apparently do the same, as per the report. One example of such changes would be viewing Kashmir on Google Maps. For India-based Google Maps users, Kashmir is shown as a part of India. However, for users elsewhere, it is marked with a dotted line, denoting that it is a disputed territory.

Such alterations, depending on where you are using the app from, are said to be quite common. Another example the report presents is how the northern border dividing Western Sahara and Morocco is missing when Moroccans view it on Google Maps. You can see, in the image below, how the border is portrayed when viewing maps in Morocco view and in Western Sahara View. Similarly, the left portion in this articles cover image represents how the Kashmir region is shown to people of Pakistan, which is a dotted line denoting disputed territory. On the right is the Indian version of the same map, which shows Kashmir as a part of India, with a solid line.

The Washington Post report focuses primarily on how Google Maps modifies its maps to suit the shifting whims of diplomats, policymakers and its own executives. Ethan Russell, director of product management for Google Maps, said in a statement to the WP, Our goal is always to provide the most comprehensive and accurate map possible based on ground truth. We remain neutral on issues of disputed regions and borders, and make every effort to objectively display the dispute in our maps using a dashed gray border line. In countries where we have local versions of Google Maps, we follow local legislation when displaying names and borders.

Apple, however, is said to be responsive to local laws when it comes to displaying borders and labelling a place. Jacqueline Roy, a spokeswoman told WP, We are taking a deeper look at how we handle disputed borders in our services and may make changes in the future as a result. Microsoft is said to reach out to the International Court of Justice, the United Nations or academics, among others, regarding borders, or it otherwise indicates a border is disputed, as per its cartographic policy.
MOSCOW -- On Valentines Day, School No. 375 in St. Petersburg hosted a battle of tribute bands. For the competition, titled Odin v Odin (which roughly translates as perfect likeness), students dressed in gold chains, saris, and flamboyant costumes made famous by Western rock acts of the 1970s and '80s.



Zara Larssons Lush Life got a new spin, Justin Bieber was honored, and Kiss was embodied by a spirited effort complete with face paint and tinfoil. Last up was a rendition of Queens I Want To Break Free. After sitting through 10 performances, the audience was presumably primed for a grand finale.

'Our School Will Not Promote...Homosexuality'

But the culminating act was apparently one step too far for the organizers. Just as they prepared to take the stage dressed in attire evoking the video clip that cemented the cult status of the British bands 1984 track, the troupe was allegedly approached by teachers and instructed to remain backstage.



When we had already changed and were ready to perform, [they] came up to us and told us: What is this look? You should go to a strip club, one of the students told local media on condition of anonymity.



Our school will not promote homophobia and homosexuality, he recalled one teacher saying, adding ironically: Clearly our respected teachers dont understand the meaning of the words homophobia and homosexuality, which cancel each other out.



The four and a half-minute Queen clip includes scenes featuring front man Freddie Mercury eating grapes in the embrace of half-naked dancers and sliding in a leotard over a row of reclining bodies.



Photographs the 11th-grade students provided to Russian media -- in which one of them poses in a bouffant wig, a tight pink T-shirt, and what appears to be a skirt  suggested that the performance was meant to be based on the opening scene in which Mercury cleans a living room dressed like that, but with a mustache, while other band members prance around the house in attire also traditionally associated with women.



The student said teachers initially approved the performance, but ultimately prohibited the troupe from going on stage once they saw their costumes.



An English teacher watched the Queen video on her phone and approved of it. But on the day of the performance we heard all kinds of comments about us, the student told the mass-circulation tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda. The glued-on mustache annoyed them. And the imitation breasts were also denounced.



State institutions like schools and universities are wary of falling afoul of legislation that limits some forms of expression in Russia, where social conservatives and the Russian Orthodox Church have gained prominence as President Vladimir Putin has touted what he calls traditional Russian values. Since Putin signed a law in 2013 banning the spread of gay propaganda to minors, any act seen as promoting homosexuality in the presence of people under 18 can potentially be prosecuted as a criminal offense.

'A Little Fun'



However, censorship aimed at staying in line with such policies has backfired at times in the past.

In January 2018, disciplinary action by the Russian Armed Forces against a group of cadets who filmed themselves dancing in their underwear to Benny Benassis version of the Rolling Stones song Satisfaction prompted imitation acts across Russia to record clips in solidarity with the young men, racking up millions of views online and embarrassing the authorities for their heavy-handed initial reaction.



In comments to Fontanka on February 14, authorities in the St. Petersburg district where School No. 375 is located denied that the performance had been banned because of homosexual propaganda. That afternoon was set aside for the first stage of the Odin v Odin competition, and the group in question was asked to polish up their choreography and perform in the next round.



The student who spoke to Russian media denied this, insisting the group had lost its chance to perform at a one-time event.



Its a shame they didnt let us have a little fun, he said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held a one-on-one meeting with Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday, in what is being seen as a sign of thaw in their frosty relationship.

Though what exactly transpired at the hour-long meeting at Raj Bhavan was not immediately known, sources said the two discussed "various issues".

It was for the first time since Dhankhar assumed office in July last year that the two had a person to person talk.

"Had an extremely satisfying an hour long interaction with Honble Chief Minister Mamata Bannerjee at Raj Bhawan," Dhankhar later tweeted. There was no immediate reaction from Banerjee.

He had been seeking a meeting with Banerjee since December last but it did not come about as the government invariably cited the chief minister's preoccupation with other engagements.

Dhankhar's ties with the government have been filled with rancour ever since he rushed to the rescue of Union minister Babul Supriyo, who was heckled and manhandled at Jadavpur University where he had gone to address a function of the RSS-linked ABVP.

He was not invited to convocations of several universities despite being their chancellor, something for which he openly criticised the government.

The TMC government also clipped his powers as the Chancellor of Universities by amending the relevant rules and ensured that all communication between the vice-chancellors and him were routed through the education department.

The governor also berated the government over alleged deterioration in law and order and, in December last year, withheld approval to some bills, citing lack of adequate information. In a rare instance, the state assembly had to be adjourned for two days for want of the governor's assent.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former chancellor Sajid Javid today weighed into a pre-Budget tax row as he suggested the government should be looking to cut levies on hard-working families next month.

The Budget is supposed to be taking place on March 11 but last week's cabinet reshuffle has cast doubt on whether it will go ahead.

Rishi Sunak, the new Chancellor, is now working on the big fiscal address but Downing Street is still unable to say whether it will be pushed back.

Mr Sunak's predecessor today piled the pressure on Mr Sunak to announce a wave of tax cuts when he gets to his feet to set out his financial vision for the country.

Mr Javid made clear his thoughts on what direction the government should be heading in as he liked a tweet posted by the Guido Fawkes website which pointed out that the UK's tax burden is the 'highest it has been for a generation'.

The tweet concluded by stating that 'Britain is overtaxed'.

Mr Javid made clear his thoughts on what direction the government should be heading in as he liked a tweet posted by the Guido Fawkes website which pointed out that the UK's tax burden is the 'highest it has been for a generation'

Rishi Sunak (second from the right), the new Chancellor, is now working on the big fiscal address but Downing Street is still unable to say whether it will be pushed back

Tory MPs calling for tax cuts is a familiar sight ahead of every budget deloivered by a Conservative government.

But the fact that Mr Javid has broken cover so quickly after leaving the government is likely to raise eyebrows as he looks to reposition himself as a backbencher.

Mr Javid resigned as chancellor last Thursday he refused demands from the PM's top aide Dominic Cummings to sack all of his staff.

His decision to walk then prompted his Treasury deputy Mr Sunak to be swiftly elevated to the second most powerful job in the government.

Mr Sunak reportedly faced immediate pressure from Number 10 to tear up his predecessor's tight spending rules while Downing Street also started to create a new 'joint' economic team which will help make key decisions, taking control away from the Treasury.

However, any decision to splash the cash at the next Budget will likely make tax cuts impossible.

The shake-up at the Treasury has cast doubt on whether the Budget will still go ahead on March 11.

The Prime Minister's deputy spokesman today refused to say whether Boris Johnson believes the UK's tax burden is too high or too low.

He said: 'I will refer you to the upcoming budget and anything of that nature will be part of that.'

Pushed on the issue again, the spokesman said: 'Any changes to tax would be a fiscal matter which would be as part of a Budget.'
DMK MP RS Bharathi has waded into a controversy by comparing TV media houses and journalists to those in "Mumbai red light area" alleging money was their primary concern.

The Chennai Press Club strongly criticised the senior DMK leader's remarks and demanded an apology from him.

In a video that went viral on Monday, the DMK Rajya MP is heard questioning why the media had made a matter of debate, the DMK employing political stragetist Prashant Kishor and purportedly questions the rationale behind it discussing party chief M K Stalin and his family's visits to religious places.

The DMK had earlier announced roping Kishor's Indian Political Action Committee to help shape its campaign for the Tamil Nadu assembly elections next year.

In the video, Bharathi is heard saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had also used Kishor's services, but questioned why that had not been debated in the media.

The TV channels were making an issue out of Kishor joining hands with DMK due to "frustration," he purportedly says in the video.

Hitting out at TV media houses, he said "they are running their company like Mumbai red light area," alleging money was their primary concern.

"There is (also) a debate whether Thalapathy (Stalin) went to temple or not, whether those from his house did or not.Is that important for the country," he asked.

Responding strongly to Bharathi's comments, Chennai Press Club Joint Secretary Bharathy Tamizhan said instances of targeting journalists and media were on the rise.

"The Chennai Press Club strongly condemns the lowly remarks made by senior politician Bharathi, who also holds the DMK Organising Secretary post," he said in a statement and urged DMK chief M K Stalin to reprimand such acts.

He welcomed constructive criticism against the media.

Bharathi was not immediately available for comment.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi, Feb 17 : Montek Singh Ahluwalia, a former Deputy Chairman of the now-defunct Planning Commission, on Monday hit out at those who criticised the new quantifiables determined by the then top policy-making body in 2011 to bring down the number of families below the poverty line (BPL).

In a freewheeling interview to IANS, Ahluwalia asserted: "So, what I am saying about the drop in poverty relates to the new poverty line. You know, at that time, somehow there was unwillingness on part of the political class, not just within the Congress, but across the board... didn't want to accept the fact that poverty had fallen." Back in 2011, the panel had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court, stating that any person earning more than Rs 26 a day in rural areas and Rs 32 in urban areas must not be eligible for various anti-poverty schemes run by the Centre.

It created a political earthquake with not just the opposition parties, but even the Congress and UPA allies up in arms against Ahluwalia and the Planning Commission.

The all-powerful National Advisory Council (NAC), headed by Sonia Gandhi, went ballistic. Then NAC member NC Saxena had said: "On Rs 32 a day, you know only dogs and animals can live." Another NAC member Aruna Roy wrote an open letter to Ahluwalia: "If it cannot be explained then the affidavit should be withdrawn or else you should resign." All of this was happening under the watch of a furious Gandhi who, rumours have it, wanted to back Roy's demands to make a public scapegoat of Ahluwalia and hence undo the political damage.

Under intense pressure, Ahluwalia had to go back on his stand. In a somersault, Ahluwalia said: "It needs to be emphasised that the Tendulkar poverty line is not meant to be an acceptable level of living for the aam aadmi. It is actually the standard of living of those at the poverty line in 1973-74." It was widely seen as an effort by Ahluwalia to save his job and face for the government.

Nearly a decade later, Ahluwalia told IANS: "Maybe, some of them thought that it looks as if we are understating the importance of poverty. That is not true. Because I had told myself that 'look, all we are saying is that poverty has fallen. We are not saying that poverty has disappeared'." "I mean there was still a quite high percentage of the population below the poverty line -- over 20 per cent -- and that's a very large number. But there's no doubt that given a fixed poverty line, the percentage and absolute numbers below that line had fallen," he added.

He recounted that probably the perception that going above the poverty line would disqualify people from getting benefits meant for the poor, like subsidised foodgrains, made it all the more controversial.

Asked if he was pressured by the NAC, the former top policy-maker answered in the negative.

"I don't think they were running the government. But I think they were an active voice on some of the things that civil society is most concerned about," he said of the NAC, which was considered as powerful as the PMO, if not more.
Senior bureaucrat Rajiv Bansal has assumed the office of Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Air India. In his second stint at the helm of the national flag carrier, Bansal has taken charge from Ashwani Lohani. His appointment assumes importance as the government is once again pushing for selling off the debt-laden Air India.

Bansal, a 1988-batch IAS officer of Nagaland cadre was serving as the additional secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet had approved his appointment as the Air India Chairman, in the rank and pay of additional secretary, on Thursday last week.

ALSO READ: Rajiv Bansal appointed Air India chairman and managing director

Back in August 2017, Bansal was named Air India's interim CMD for a period of three months. Back then too, he had replaced Lohani, who went on to head the Railway Board after completing his two-year stint at Air India. Under Bansal's short term, Air India had launched flight operations to Copenhagen and other destinations. He also took steps to reduce expenses and improve on-time performance of Air India flights.

Bansal, who hails from Haryana, has served in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, where he had looked after digital payments, Aadhaar and internet governance among others. In his three-decade-long career, he has worked as Secretary, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC); Joint Secretary, Department of Heavy Industries; and also as Director, Ministry of Civil Aviation. Moreover, he has also held important assignments in the state government of Nagaland.

ALSO READ: How JetPrivilege transitioned from loyalty programme to consumer tech business InterMiles

He is a civil engineer by profession having graduated from IIT Delhi in 1986. He has a diploma in finance from ICFAI, Hyderabad, and an executive masters in international business from IIFT, New Delhi.

Bansal's appointment comes at a very crucial time, as the government is trying to sell its entire stake in the loss-making national carrier. As part of the ambitious strategic disinvestment, the government had on January 27 issued the preliminary bid document for 100 per cent stake in Air India, which has a debt pile of over Rs 60,000 crore.

ALSO READ: Modi govt working on proposal to allow 100% FDI in Air India

(With PTI inputs)
CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuelan authorities suspended a Portuguese airline on Monday days after it carried opposition leader Juan Guaido and his uncle home from an international tour aimed at ousting President Nicolas Maduro.

Guaidos flight to Caracas on TAP Air Portugal ended his three-week tour through Europe and into the Trump White House. Venezuelan authorities arrested Guaidos uncle upon landing, accusing him of trying to bring a small amount of explosives into the nation.

Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez said the carriers flights into and out of the country had been suspended for 90 days, hours of the transportation minister said they had opened an investigation into serious violation of local regulations.

Guaido, 36, rose to prominence a year ago, claiming presidential powers and vowing to end Maduros rule amid a historic economic crisis. Guaido says Maduros government has targeted his uncle, Juan Jose Marquez, as a means to attack him.

Venezuela also issued a letter of protest to the French government on Monday, saying its ambassador in Caracas, Romain Nadal, interfered in the nations internal affairs when he went to greet Guaido upon his arrival at the airport.

France and the European Union recognize Guaido as Venezuelas interim president until fresh elections can be held.

A small delegation of foreign diplomats went to greet Guaido, who violated a travel ban by Maduros government, risking the possibility of arrest upon his return.

Venezuelan authorities said in their letter that the French ambassador employed a provocative strategy by going to greet Guaido, abusing his privileges and violated international conventions and customs.

Guaido visited the French President Emmanuel Macron on his trip, which also included a White House meeting with President Donald Trump.

Backers of Guaido consider Maduros 2018 election fraudulent because the most popular opposition leaders were banned.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cancelled a trip to Barbados scheduled for Monday as Indigenous demonstrators and their supporters continue to halt train service across parts of the country.

Trudeau planned to bring his pitch for a UN Security Council seat to a two-day gathering of leaders from across what is known as the Caribbean Community, or Caricom, but will send Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne instead.

"Following the government's ongoing efforts to address infrastructure disruptions across the country, the prime minister will convene the Incident Response Group tomorrow to discuss steps forward," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement. The IRG is a group of cabinet members and high-level officials the prime minister leans on in times of crisis.

"Our priority remains the safety and security of all Canadians and the swift resolution of this issue to restore service across the rail system in accordance with the law," the statement said.

Trudeau returned to Canada late Friday after spending a week in Ethiopia, Kuwait, Senegal and Germany and spent the weekend in private meetings, according to his public schedule.

The decision comes amid mounting pressure from business leaders and politicians who want the government to take more of an active role in resolving the crisis, which some say is damaging the economy and could lead to shortages of propane and other consumer goods.

Lars Hagberg/The Canadian Press

Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller met for over nine hours with members of the Mohawk First Nation Saturday, saying only "modest progress" had been made in talks to end the main blockade near Belleville, Ont., which caused VIA Rail and CN Rail to cancel rail services.

Trudeau's spokesperson Chantal Gagnon said earlier Sunday that the prime minister was in talks with federal cabinet ministers over the weekend. Gagnon said Trudeau spoke to Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, Transport Minister Marc Garneau, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair and Carolyn Bennett, the minister for Crown-Indigenous Relations.

Story continues

Gagnon also said Miller briefed Trudeau about his meeting Saturday with the Tyendinaga Mohawk, although she did not reveal what Miller told the prime minister.

Government chooses dialogue over police intervention

Miller said during an appearance on Radio-Canada's political talk show Les coulisses du pouvoir on Sunday that the unrest and its impact on the economy amounted to a "national crisis."

He said he believes a peaceful resolution could be reached, and pointed to the Oka and Ipperwash crises as reasons why dialogue is preferable to police intervention.

"We lived through it 30 years ago, when people went in, when police went in, there was a death," said Miller.

A police officer died during a police raid in 1990 when Mohawks at the Kahnawake reserve south of Montreal blocked the Mercier Bridge, which became the Oka crisis. Five years later at Ipperwash, Ont., one man was killed during a standoff over a land claim by Chippewa protesters outside a provincial park.

"The question we should all be asking ourselves as Canadians is: What do we do as a nation? Do we favour the peaceful path, openness, dialogue, or do we do things the old way, which got us here in the first place and which won't end anything?" said Miller. "I choose the peaceful approach, the open approach, co-operation."

The Trudeau government has been criticized for not doing more to end the blockades, which have been erected in support of the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs who oppose the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline that crosses their territory in northern B.C. The pipeline is part of a $40-billion LNG Canada export project in Kitimat.

CN obtained a court injunction to end the demonstration near Belleville on Feb. 7, but the Ontario Provincial Police have not enforced it.

The company obtained fresh injunctions to stop three new blockades established on its network on Saturday  two in Vaughan, Ont., and one in Vancouver.

Sean Finn, an executive with CN, said while the company supports dialogue between cabinet members and the demonstrators, he wants to see them come to an end.

"We're clearly in a position where we want to make sure we can get back to our main line in a safe fashion as quickly as possible, so we can serve both our Canadian customers and the Canadian economy," said Finn.

Watch: Indigenous Services minister says 'modest progress' made in talks on rail blockade

Meeting planned between hereditary chiefs, B.C., and Canada

Members of the Gitxsan First Nation temporarily took down a rail blockade near Hazelton, B.C., Thursday pending a proposed meeting with the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs, provincial and federal governments.

On Sunday, the Prime Minister's Office said Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett has had several conversations with Wet'sewet'en hereditary chiefs over the last few days and is committed to meeting at their convenience. B.C. Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser has said he will represent the provincial government.

But while the talks have been represented as a joint meeting with the Gitxsan and Wet'suwet'en chiefs to engage in dialogue on how the impasse over the pipeline development arose, a Wet'suwet'en hereditary clan chief says leaders of his First Nation will only participate as witnesses.

Na'moks, who also goes by John Ridsdale, said the meeting was proposed by the neighbouring Gitxsan and the Wet'suwet'en chiefs planned to honour the invitation.

"We have a willingness to move forward positively, we still have that in our hearts," he said Sunday, while adding the Wet'suwet'en chiefs won't budge on the pipeline.

"Our answer isn't going to change. The pipeline won't happen on our territory."

Fraser said the meeting is scheduled to take place Monday in Victoria.

An injunction in B.C. was enforced earlier this month by the RCMP to give Coastal GasLink access to a work site for the pipeline. More than two dozen protesters were arrested for refusing to obey it.

Coastal GasLink has signed agreements with all 20 elected band councils along the pipeline route. However, Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs assert title to a vast 22,000-square-kilometre area and say band councils only have authority over reserve lands.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Dian Septiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 17, 2020

Top diplomats from Southeast Asia are to meet their Chinese counterparts on Thursday in search of a collective response to the novel coronavirus outbreak, a senior foreign policy official from Indonesia confirmed, as the region starts to reel from the effects of the epidemic.

ASEAN foreign ministers are to convene in an upcoming emergency ministerial meeting in Vientiane to explore possible cooperation with China to mitigate the impact of the virus, which has infected upward of 50,000 people and killed nearly 2,000  predominantly in Chinas Hubei province and mostly in the central city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.

[The meeting] will discuss further cooperation on the coronavirus [response] and also [to prepare for when] similar diseases occur in the future, Indonesias top ASEAN official, Jose Tavares, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
Its been a good time for those of Indian origin at the Boris Johnson Cabinet reshuffle. At the top, including Priti Patel and Alok Sharma, is now Rishi Sunak, 39, appointed as the chancellor of the exchequer with four weeks to go for the Budget. (Rishis appointment, by the way, had been predicted by Lord Meghnad Desai a while ago, so we cannot say it came as a surprise). Rishi is not your typical Indian representative  and has not risen on the back of the desi community. He represents a very white constituency, Richmond, which was William Hagues former hunting ground  and as such considered a very safe conservative stronghold. However, this has also meant that he and his lovely wife Akshata Murthy have had to work very hard at maintaining the good relations they inherited.

Rishis forte has been his brilliance  which had earlier taken him to Stanford and then with jobs with the financial sector, and companies like Goldman Sachs. His parents (his father is a doctor and mother a pharmacist and a Punjabi) were uprooted from Africa and settled down in Southampton. Even though Rishi is often referred to as the son-in-law of another brilliant man, Infosys N.R. Narayana Murthy, it is apparent to any who know Rishi and Akshata that they are both very hardworking and humble.

Rishi had also represented Boris at many of the pre-election debates, demonstrating confidence and competence  with a sense of humour as well. His addiction, he declared along the way, is drinking Coca Cola and he has six cavities to prove it!

As Britain grapples with Brexit, this is a challenging time for the Prime Minister. And now with Rishis induction, he will definitely bring fresh thinking into the Cabinet. And, lets not forget as this young family moves into Number 11, Downing Street, there is going to be a big cheer going up for Rishi, not just in the UK but in India as well. So does that mean better trade relations in the offing?

But not only is Boris Johnson gaining more support from the Indian community, with this move, he is also likely to find favour with women voters, as he wants to push the number of women ministers in the Cabinet. He is thinking long term, of increasing the number of women parliamentary private secretaries  an unpaid post, but this might bring more women into the Tory Party. Many women would be tempted to go conservative as Boris tries to give them (though not quite literally) a leg up. We always knew he had a deep affection for women  but if he does demonstrate it through creating a better work environment, more respect and more high profile jobs for them, we are all for it.

While the coronavirus has arrived in the UK, the good news (if we can call it that) is that the cases have been mostly very mild. There had been nine cases so far and in all but one the patients recovered and went home. Thus, it could be that those who died in China were elderly or suffering from poor health. It seems that if you are in fairly good health, then the impact of the virus is not so severe. However, that does not mean that precautions can be lifted  as the virus spreads very fast. And even if the number of cases in China are now dropping daily, the fact is that people are still getting infected.

Rory Stewart has always been maverick character, even among the Tories. He has travelled and worked widely in the Middle East, and had earned the sobriquet of a latter day Lawrence of Arabia, about whom he had presented a BBC documentary. An award-winning author, he joined the Conservative Party and won a parliamentary seat in 2010. He served in several ministries  but he is now an Independent and has set his heart on unseating Sadiq Khan, the present mayor of London. The elections are coming up on May 7, and Rory has found a novel way of campaigning (though this system did not work for Rahul Gandhi when he went to spend a night with the dalit community). Rory has put out a call that he wants to spend the night with the people of London  and he has received around 1,500 invitations so far. He has meandered through some homes to understand how people live  so that he can resolve their issues. In his earnest appeal to please have me to stay  he thinks that a mayor could only get to know his or her community by literally walking through every one of the 32 boroughs, being in other peoples shoes, seeing through their eyes, staying in their houses For many this might come as an intrusion, but Rory reassures them that he will continue to visit people even after he is elected mayor. And oh, yes, he will bring a sleeping bag and a box of chocolates

Now perhaps if only Rahul Gandhi had brought along some chocolates.
A court here in Maharashtra has



rejected the bail application of a 35-year-old man arrested for cheating a businessman to the tune of Rs 26 lakh.

Additional Sessions Judge R V Tamhanekar on Saturday said the accused, Jayakumar Gopal Immanuel, took the money from the businessman while promising to sell him flood-damaged cars, but he neither delivered the vehicles nor returned the money. Hence, he does not deserve bail at this stage.

According to the prosecution, the accused was arrested by Thane Police last month under Indian Penal Code Sections 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention). His two associates, Shaquib Shaikh and Rashid, who are also accused in the case, are yet to be arrested.

Immanuel promised to sell cars damaged in the 2018 Kerala floods to a glass merchant in Thane city. The accused and his aides allegedly took Rs 26 lakh from the businessman, but did not deliver the cars to him, the prosecution said.

Additional Public Prosecutor Ujjwala Moholkar opposed Immanuel's plea, saying he did not cooperate during probe due to which the amount and vehicles could not be recovered.

She also contended that before arrest, the accused allegedly tried to commit suicide by consuming sleeping pills.

She submitted that the accused may threaten the prosecution witnesses and informants in the case, and if released on bail, he may cheat other persons also.

Moholkar further said that since the accused is a resident of another state, there are chances he may not come back to face trial.

However, the accused cited several reasons for seeking bail, including his ailments and that of his father.

The defence counsel said the present case is related to business transaction of civil nature. Hence, the police machinery cannot be used for the recovery of money.

After hearing both the sides, the judge said, "It is true that when there is transaction of civil nature, police machinery cannot be used for recovery. But, this is a clear case of cheating."



"The ground regarding the accused being resident of another state cannot be entertained for rejecting bail, but in the present case active investigation is going on. Till today, nothing has been recovered out of the cheating amount and the co-accused are yet not arrested. So, the accused cannot be released on bail at this preliminary stage," the judge said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A nationally known sex therapist who hails from Lansdale, Pa., is dead under suspicious circumstances and her ex-boyfriend is under arrest.

All this, after Dr. Amie Harwick was found on the ground beneath a third-story balcony at her home in the Hollywood Hills with injuries consistent with a fall just after 1 a.m. Saturday, 6ABC in Philly reports.

Los Angeles police said later Saturday they have arrested Harwicks former boyfriend on suspicion of her murder.

Gareth Pursehouse, 41, was arrested around 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. He is being held on $2 million bail.

Detectives said Harwick, who once was engaged to actor and comedian Drew Carey and was popular on social media where she discussed her work as a therapist, had previously filed a restraining order against Pursehouse, but it had expired. She also voiced fears about Pursehouse after encountering him just two weeks before, police told ABC.

Background from 6ABC:

Police said they were initially called to the Hollywood Hills residence to investigate reports of a woman screaming. Officers were met in the street by Harwicks roommate, who said she was being assaulted inside her home.

The roommate reportedly jumped a wall and went to neighboring residences to call for help. After police entered the property, Harwick was found unconscious and suffering grave injuries. She later died at a hospital.

The ongoing police investigation revealed possible evidence of a struggle upstairs and forced entry to the residence. Surveillance video led police to the suspect.

Charges in the case are expected this week.

READ MORE:

Woman set on fire during hibachi dinner for her 26th birthday: 'Im on fire

DUI trucker crashes cattle carrier into Italian restaurant: Pa. cops

Pa. high school in mourning after girl dies in mysterious crash

Someone is shooting and killing cows in Pa.: state police

Pa. woman faces aggravated DUI charges after hitting girl, 12, getting on school bus

Pa. district attorney under investigation by children and youth refuses drug tests, home inspections

Pa. man out to beat drug test is foiled when young sons bottled pee drops from his pants

Hunt on for 3 women caught on video brutally robbing 4th woman on Pa. street

Pair of $3,000 puppies dog-napped from Pa. kennel
EastEnders will erupt into chaos as a discovery about the Branning brothers' relative will leave their relationship hanging by a thread.

In scenes set to air this week, Jack (Scott Maslen) throws a punch at his brother Max (Jake Wood) after revealing he's secretly been in contact with his niece Lauren (Jacqueline Jossa), in a bid to help her with her split from Peter Beale (Dayle Hudson).

Max - who has been estranged from his daughter since she left the cobbles in 2018 - appears furious by his sibling's confession and later touches a nerve, leading the former detective inspector to lash out at him.

Uh oh: EastEnders will erupt into chaos as a discovery about the Branning brothers' relative will leave their relationship hanging by a thread

During a local party, the pair are separated by their Walford neighbours, with a shocked Max left rubbing his face after receiving a wack from his brother.

When Lauren departed Albert Square following the death of her sister Abi (Lorna Fitzgerald), she is believed to have reunited with Peter, but the on-off couple have since parted ways.

Meanwhile, Peter will return to Walford, with the troubled young man coming back to 'exorcise some demons' following a four-year absence.

Violent: In scenes set to air this week, Jack (Scott Maslen, right) throws a punch at his brother Max (Jake Wood, left) after revealing he's secretly been in contact with his niece Lauren

On-off: Lauren (Jacqueline Jossa) left the cobbles in 2018 after her sister Abi died. She reunited with ex-boyfriend Peter Beale (Ben Hardy), but they've since split (pictured in 2015)

The drug-addled character who returns from New Zealand is far more grittier than the one viewers know and love - formerly portrayed by Bohemian Rhapsody's Ben Hardy.

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.'

New face: Peter (now played by Dayle Hudson) will make an epic comeback to the series to 'exorcise some demons'



Late last year, Jack was kidnapped after wrongly being suspected of being the father of Sharon Mitchell's baby.

Businesswoman Sharon's furious husband Phil Mitchell figured out he wasn't the unborn tot's dad and soon put two and two together and ended up with Jack.

After vowing revenge on the former police officer, Phil (Steve McFadden) attempted to take extreme steps to ensure Jack was out of the picture for good, but failed.

The EastEnders 35th Anniversary continues on Tuesday on BBC One at 7:30pm.
A few years ago, the International Film Festival Rotterdam re-instated its genre segment, the Rotterdammerung, as part of the general program. And ever since it's back, it is always literally the first part of the programming where I will look. That is where anime can be found, and Miike Takashi violence... and this year, the fest programmed a very special film indeed: Mattie Do'sRegular readers of the site may have read here about Mattie Do before. She is Laos' first female director, and to make her films she almost single-handedly had to create an industry there. Born and raised in the United States from Lao immigrants, she became a ballet teacher. When she moved to Laos, her husband Christopher Larsen started looking for a job there, and as a professional scriptwriter he wanted to write an Asian ghost story based on local legends. The local producers suggested that Mattie should direct the film, because as a ballet teacher she knew acting, staging, lighting, make-up, choreography... and film history was made. The first film by Mattie and Christopher was the virtually no-budget, and it turned some heads already. Their next film was, a local drama with genre touches, and it became the first Lao film to be forwarded for an Academy Award.Her most recent film is her most ambitious yet:. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival to critical acclaim (our Shelagh loves the film as you can read in her review ), and it was also selected for the International Film Festival Rotterdam.And she kindly agreed to talk with us about the film.: It totally is!You know, the reality is... I don't know what is considered to be an appropriate combination of genres. As you know I do not come from a film background, so my approach is just that I like to do something that hasn't been done before, something unique. I want to bring something new to the table and I like to have fun. And because I do not know all the classics I did not know that mixing these genres wasn't common.So why wouldn't I do that, right? It sounded pretty awesome, and it worked, thank God. (We both laugh)There's a lot going on, and I'm super excited about that. It evolved a lot over time, like... It started a bit as a joke, but then... with anything my husband and I do, there needs to be emotional input or deep thought in it, because as I said, we want to do stuff that hasn't been done before and that resonates with us.One of the things which had happened during the writing of this film was... my dog Mango died. We had to euthanize him, which was a very difficult decision for us. And that made it into the film. It brought memories back for me about my mother, who passed away when I was 25 years old from cancer. She refused treatment herself, and to me it showed death from two different perspectives. On the one hand my dog, who couldn't make a decision for himself, on the other hand my mother, who called the family together and said: "We're not going to do this, and suffer through it longer. I'm in stage four, my quality of life is horrible already, why extend it and hope against hope?" And she went home, and we were all with her, even relatives like uncles from farther away, were all with her when she passed away. So a lot of this made it into. But if you'd read the earlier drafts, they weren't at all similar, we were still just having fun!It is now quite a heavy, dark film. There isn't much redemption in it, as a filmmaker I can be blunt and cynical sometimes.But the lighter part is of course the whole time-travelling serial killer part. That happened because I love genre, but also to make a joke about what people expect from films coming from this region, from South-East Asia. When you think about films from Thailand, or Laos, you think of these poverty-porn, artsy-fartsy, nobody-knows-what's-going-on... but-you-HAVE-to-love-it-or-you're-considered-unintelligent kind of films. And I HATE those movies, they're boring! I mean, if you like them, more power to you, but I don't think they're made for me. Especially as an Asian person, I definitely do not think those films are made for me. I sometimes wonder if these are made especially for occidental festival programmers?I mean my films are definitely "arthouse", so you do get that slow deliberate pacing, but I did put in some commentary about that whole artsy-for-the-sake-of-artsy in it. One journalist at a festival whereplayed remarked off-handedly: "Why did you makea film that is so vulgar? Why not make an authentic Lao film about village life?"Right? It blew my mind! I'm Lao, I've lived in Laos now for over ten years, sure there are people living in the jungle here but come on, not the majority!So my husband and I, when we sat down to write, we thought screw it, let's give them what they want. Lao people, poor, living in the jungle in hut houses... but I'll never make something which is not genre. So this guy in the jungle? I said: "He's a serial killer, living in a hut house!" And my husband goes: "And he's a time traveler!" And we both went HELL YES! (We both laugh)The funny thing about authenticity... I'm Lao and live in Laos, the film is about Lao people, in Laos, played by Lao actors in the Lao language, doing Lao things, and the story is built around Lao religion, culture and Lao society... I mean, how much more authentic can I make this Lao film? And if people want to punch holes in that authenticity, because you always have these authenticity-seekers, I'd say: "Well, how many time travelling serial killers do YOU know?" (We both laugh)That is so surprising. I never expect to win anything, and I always fail at getting any grants when I pitch my movies. ForI got my first grant ever, and it was from Visions Sud Est fund from Switzerland. I was very lucky because at the Swiss Film Board there are actually people who have worked in genre films. Maybe that helped! That's how these film boards should always be, with a genre person, a drama person, an arthouse person... oh, and a documentary person! (We both laugh)But because I never got any grants or win awards or such, I was not expecting anything. I always tried to temper Annick and Todd's (note: the producers, ed.) expectations, and honestly? I thought this film was going to be a career suicide. Because the more emotional and intimate the film became, the stranger the story became. But then, as the production became quite challenging as well, difficult, and I thought fuck it, I'm going to make whatever I want.As you can see in the film, we were really in the jungle all the time, and as things became more difficult I thought: I'll be so super-happy if this can play at even just one of my favorite genre festivals. So you can imagine my surprise when the Giornate ticket came in for the sidebar selection of the Venice Film Festival. I thought: "This can't be happening!" And then Toronto, Busan, Tokyo, and Goteburg and Rotterdam... and Rotterdam is like huuuge for me! This is impossible! Like, these are the people who never select me for the Hubert Bals Fund, how can this be happening?!With my films I multiplied up, but maybe sometime I'll go back to something a bit mid-range, something without a giant budget... well, giant to me (chuckles). I first want to grow experienced to working with a western crew, and a larger budget, before doing blockbustery. It may be a strange thing to say as a director, but I'm not interested in doing a blockbuster right now.I have a couple of projects going on though. I'm developing a commercial thriller that's not arthouse at all, about some American girls who don't realize they've interrupted the work of an Asian human trafficking deal, and shit goes really wrong. It's going to be straightforward and fast-paced.. AfterI wanted something that's fun to do, even though there will always be a dark subject matter. I mean less personal, less intimate.I now have time to focus on non-arthouse stuff. Like, I'm also part of the "Mad Scientists", which is a creative group in the Netherlands. I'm always looking for what project I could do with them. I'm also working on a ballet film...Yes, finally! Back to my roots! My husband jokes that I will finally be meeting some of my REAL celebrities. It was so funny at film festivals, I used to not know any film celebrities, I didn't recognize them or know who they were, and when they told me who they were I was like "Okay...". I wasn't a film person before, I don't know these people! At a festival I was talking with Keanu Reeves when we were both in line for the bathrooms and I was like "Oh yeah,, right, I saw that...". He is supernice though.But if I get to meet the ballet stars I will be all like "Oh my God!"(whimpers, we both laugh)(smiles) You can ask anyone in my crew onand they will tell you how hardcore I am. I really believe that's from my ballet background. You cannot crumble, you cannot succumb in ballet, because then you're just unable to, you're done. And we had so many issues during the shoot. At one point we nearly failed the entire shoot because we had to replace the DoP. The new DoP was excellent, but he had only two days to prep with me, but we made it work. That's how hardcore the crew was. I'm a very exuberant and bubbly, joyful person, but on set I'm quiet, thinking about everything, intensely trying to keep everything together. That focus and concentration comes from ballet, you have to master your body into precise movements which aren't natural for a human. And at least with filmmaking, I don't have to do that while still handling what's happening around me on set (laughs).In Laos, we cannot predict the weather, and rain happens even when it's not seasonal. Luckily, my husband Chris is not just a writer but also happened to be an excellent AD, so he managed to keep a schedule that if we hit a rain day, we were able to exchange scenes instantly.And it was a big set, we were with twenty people. The largest group was art direction, six people constantly building and changing the house according to the different timelines. We pulled very long workdays, thirteen, fifteen hours, but when you set the example, everybody works hard and there's not much bitching and moaning. I have a very low tolerance for shitty people and shitty behavior, so the crew got on very well together. Luckily. Thank God! At the end of the day we'd crack open some cold beers and hang out with each other, having fun like family.But really, the hardest part was the weather, it was so hot in the jungle even though it wasn't even the worst part of summer. Humidity was so high it damaged the equipment. We had a Ronin break down, and the film relied so heavily on gimbal Ronin shots, so we had to figure out how to achieve those shots WITHOUT a Ronin until we got a smaller one to replace it. Which took DAYS, by the way. We had many malfunctions like a generator breaking down, and we were in the middle of the jungle so we needed that generator, we couldn't get anything plugged in anywhere else.You'd be surprised, as the location was only a 45-minute drive from downtown Vientiane, but it was already deep in the forest, and most of the drive was on dirt roads. So fighting the elements was the most difficult thing. The single biggest crisis was losing that DoP though.Well... actually, you bring up an interesting point, because I thought that too. We had been grooming our DoP for a year but in the end, he just couldn't get on board creatively with our differences. When Annick ended the relationship we had two-and-a-half weeks where we needed to restart the production, as we had foreign crew in Laos and more foreign crew were coming, like the special effects team from France. The actors were scheduled, we couldn't delay any longer, because then people needed to start flying home. There were moments where I was lying in bed crying, thinking WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME? But immediately Annick and Todd, producers that they are, had an entire roster of DoPs available to me, people who were willing to work with me. People from all over the place, several of whom I really admired, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia... Even my art director had recommendations. Scheduling was the big problem though, cause we needed someone NOW. Then Annick was at Fantastic Fest and Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (ofandfame, ed.) mentioned a few names, and we ended up going with one of their recommendation, Matthew Macar. For days I was watching films and reels of all these DoPs to see which ones I liked. And he was like "Sure, I'll fly in tomorrow" and we said "Okay!" And he was fantastic.So our DoP crisis happened while Annick was at Fantastic Fest, she put her feelers out and friends came through! It's nuts. And this is what I love about genre. Genre people look out for each other, they're a community. Benson and Moorhead, Timo from Indonesia, Erik Matti, Todd... all these people instantly jumped to the rescue. Genre people are family. And that's why I always want to keep doing genre.is currently playing festivals worldwide. Audiences at the International Film Festival Rotterdam awarded the film a 7.4 out of 10.(Photo on top by Julien Chavaillaz -  FIFF/Julien Chavaillaz)
Konnie Huq put on an affectionate display with husband Charlie Brooker as the pair made an appearance at the Upstart Crow play press night in London on Monday evening.

Former Blue Peter Konnie presenter looked stylish in a cropped white shearling jacket as they attended the show, an adaptation of the much loved historical sitcom of the same name.

The 44-year-old paired this with black wide leg trousers and carried a large black tote bag.

Date night: Konnie Huq put on an affectionate display with her husband, Charlie Brooker, when the pair stepped out on Monday at the Upstart Crow play press night in London

Konnie wore her raven tresses loose and complemented her pretty complexion with a pared back makeup look.

Meanwhile Black Mirror creator Charlie looked equally trendy in a green t-shirt and black over coat.

He appeared in high spirits as he made his latest public appearance alongside his wife of ten years.

Keeping cool: The former Blue Peter presenter looked stylish in a cropped white shearling jacket paired with black wide leg trousers and carried a large black tote bag

Production: Upstart Crow is written by Ben Elton (centre) and is based on the 2016 BBC sitcom of the same name and which also stars David Mitchell (L-R: Helen Monks, David, Ben, Steve Spears, Jocelyn Jee Esien and Gemma Whelan)

Treading the boards: The play sees David take on the role of William Shakespeare

They are now parents to sons Covey and Huxley - and Charlie recently paid tribute to the TV star and their children, revealing how his whirlwind romance and becoming a parent changed him for the better.

The writer told BBC4's Desert Island Discs that marrying Konnie in a Las Vegas ceremony and deciding to become a father were 'the best decisions' he ever made.

Of the loved-up pair's marriage he said: 'That was absolutely the right time. It was weird because, for years, I'd not known if I'd wanted kids or a family...

Leading lady: Alison Steadman, 73, looked gorgeous in a black polka dot dress and camel over coat

'That seemed like something that other people did, I couldn't perceive of that as a future.

'And then Konnie came along and quite early on she said "I want kids and a family" and this sort of thing, and I heard myself going "OK", and sort of thought, "oh, right, why have I said that?"

'It was the best decision I ever made.'
[February 17, 2020] Ping An Good Doctor Issues 2019 Sustainable Development Report Platform Visits Hit 1.11 Billion During Epidemic

SHANGHAI, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently, Ping An Healthcare and Technology Company Limited ("Ping An Good Doctor"; stock code:01833.HK), the world's leading healthcare ecosystem platform, released its 2019 Environmental, Social and Governance Report (also known as the "Sustainable Development Report"). The report points out that Ping An Good Doctor has been vigorously exploring ways to fulfil its social responsibilities, as well as promoting healthy poverty alleviation and tackling the COVID-19 outbreak, during which the company's platform visits hit 1.11 billion, newly registered users grew 10 times, with their average daily consultations reaching nine times as many as normal users', and anti-epidemic videos went virtual, attracting over 98 million views. Prior to that, Ping An Good Doctor was awarded its first ESG rating by MSCI (Environmental, Social and Governance), a world-renowned company in index preparation. The rating result was BBB, which was at the same level as Tencent and Alibaba, placing Ping An Good Doctor at an industry-leading position. It's integrated corporate governance level and capability of continuous value creation have obtained important recognition of the capital market. Online medical treatment launched to fight against the "epidemic" to protect the health of all citizen After the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, the national war of prevention and control of the epidemic was officially launched. Ping An Good Doctor has responded swiftly and mobilize all members to provide assistance. Within 24 hours, an anti-epidemic task force against novel coronavirus has been established, an anti-epidemic online consultation platform was opened, and an online consultation prevention mechanism has been set up. A thousand of doctors from Ping An Good Doctor even took the initiative to give up the Lunar New Year holiday to work day and night on the frontline of online consultation to provide protection advice to the public. While medical resources were scarce in Wuhan and other places, Ping An Good Doctor donated a total of 450,000 masks to Wuhan and various local medical institutions, and launched a plan for the distribution of 10 million masks. Ping An Good Doctor has secured an adequate supply of relevant products such as pharmaceuticals and health supplements for its online shopping mall. At the same time, the company has collaborated with well-known doctors and specialists to interpret key points of epidemic prevention, and has also carried out medical science education programmes in cooperation with Beijing Medical Doctor Association. To maximize the effectiveness against the epidemic, Ping An Good Doctor has joined hands with 56 provinces, municipalities and local governments including Wuhan, Fujian, Beijing and Chongqing to set up special free anti-epidemic consultation hotlines and provide consultation for novel coronavirus-infected pneumonia, as well as guidance on prevention of epidemic diseases spread. Ping An Good Doctor has also cooperated with over 30 leading enterprises including Baidu, WeChat Work, Pinduoduo, Meituan Dianping, Kuaishou, Weibo, Moji Weather, Zhihu, Ximalaya, Gaotie Guanjia, etc. to form extensive service network to provide aid and guidance to the public. During the epidemic, the company's platform visits hit 1.11 billion, newly registered users grew 10 times, with their average daily consultations reaching nine times as many as normal users'.Ping An Good Doctor has received wide media coverage for its anti-epidemic efforts, with media reports totalling 1,957, media exposure 490 million, and related videos over 98 million views.



As an important force in the medical field, Ping An Good Doctor has proactively leveraged the advantages of Internet healthcare in a timely, efficient and effective way to help the public to avoid contact with infection when major epidemics have not occurred for many years, and has vividly demonstrated the great role played by Internet technology in terms of the improvement on the living standards of the public and the enhancement of social governance level, and has fully reflected the high degree of unification between corporate value and social value of Internet medical enterprises. Introducing inclusive healthcare, balancing healthcare resources throughout the society

The report reveals that Ping An Good Doctor first created the service model of "Internet + AI + Own medical team of 1,000 professionals" in the industry, which has significantly reduced the threshold for medical treatment, breaking the geographical barrier of uneven distribution of medical resources to achieve the mission of promoting healthy living empowered by technology. The report shows that as of the end of 2019, there was 315 million registered users with Ping An Good Doctor and 0.729 million of daily average number of consultations for medical services throughout the year. The satisfactory rate for medical enquiry services was 98%. AI-based medical system developed by its in-house research has covered over 3,000 disease diagnosis data and contained over 670 million of aggregate number of enquiries. Taking advantage of the medical advantages on the Internet, Ping An Good Doctor proactively innovated the model for medical services and promoted equal, general preferential and accessible medical services. In 2019, Ping An Good Doctor launched a new strategic product "Private Doctor Membership". Through exclusively engaging one-to-one private doctors who can interact with users in an all-round manner, the product has created trust-based mutual relations between doctors and patients through long-term interactions, and served as a substitute to share the pressure from offline medical service supply. Users' feedback about this service far exceeds average in the sense that the user satisfaction rate has reached as high as 99.85% and its average monthly consultation numbers have reached 2.7 times as many as normal users'. In order to accelerate the inclusive development of national medical healthcare services, Ping An Good Doctor has also cooperated with Fuzhou, Quzhou and other local government, building an Internet hospital service platform with local offline medical resources so as to "alleviate the difficulty of seeing a doctor" for citizens. Moreover, Ping An Good Doctor has also exported cutting-edge technologies and Internet healthcare experience to overseas countries, launching online healthcare service platform in Indonesia and Japan to provide efficient and high-quality long-range online medical services to local users. "Village Doctor Program" initiates poverty alleviation through medical support to fulfill social responsibility The report shows that in 2019, Ping An Good Doctor actively respond to the "Healthy China 2030" Initiative. Starting from rural health and giving full play to its own medical advantages, Ping An Good Doctor launched the "Village Doctor Program" oriented to the poor areas nationwide for the implementation of a three-dimensional project on poverty alleviation through medical support featuring medical service upgrading at the three levels of rural clinics, village doctors and villagers, effectively improving the standard of basic medical services in poor regions and providing positive strength to national poverty alleviation through medical support. As of the end of 2019, Ping An Good Doctor upgraded rural clinics with techonological empowerment, achieving over 900 rural clinics upgrade and training more than 11,000 village doctors. Its independent development of the Ping An Good Doctor Village Doctor App has a cumulative number of auxiliary diagnosis and treatment cases exceeding over 160,000, helping over 10,000 village doctors form a paired relationship with volunteer doctors and fully demonstrating their efforts to improving the standard of medical services and service capabilities among village doctors, in order to archive poverty alleviation at the primary level. In addition, Ping An Good Doctor also organized the provision of free expert consultation and physical examinations to protect the health of villagers. In 2019, Ping An Good Doctor carried out a total of 570 on-site testing activities, providing free medical consultation to more than 63,000 people. The "Village Doctor Program" has received recognition and appreciation from many parties for its innovative solutions to help the poor through medical support, and was selected into the Special Edition of the National Human Development Report, taking practical actions to show its support towards high quality and sustainable human development. About Ping An Healthcare and Technology Company Limited As the world's leading healthcare ecosystem platform, Ping An Healthcare and Technology Company Limited ("Ping An Good Doctor"; stock code: 1833.HK) strives to provide every family with a family doctor, every person with an e-profile and everyone with a healthcare management plan through our "mobile medical + AI technology". At present, Ping An Good Doctor has established key business segments including online medical services, consumer healthcare, healthcare mall, and health management and wellness interaction. As of 31 December 2019, our number of registered users reached 315 million and the number of monthly active users reached 66.9 million, it has become the largest mobile medical application in China in terms of coverage. Being powered by self-developed AI-assisted diagnosis system, our in-house medical team strives to provide users with one-stop medical services covering 7/24 online consultation, referral, registration, online drug purchase and one-hour medicine delivery. On 4 May 2018, Ping An Good Doctor became the No.1 listed internet healthcare company in the world when it joined the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, stock code 1833.HK. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ping-an-good-doctor-issues-2019-sustainable-development-report-platform-visits-hit-1-11-billion-during-epidemic-301005828.html SOURCE Ping An Good Doctor

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
At the age of 30, Dr Tran Van Hung turned down a job opportunity in Japan and returned to Vietnam to work. He is the author of 16 SCI/SCIE articles published in Ranking Q1 international journals.

Hung, lecturer at the HCM City Food Industry University, was one of the young faces at the second Vietnam Global Young Intellectual Forum in November 2019. He also attended the forum a year before, when it was organized for the first time.

Dr Tran Van Hung





He was one of more than 100 outstanding scientists and experts in science and technology working in Vietnam and overseas who joined the 2018 Vietnam Innovation Network  VIN100 Program organized by the Ministries of Science and Technology, Education and Training, and Vingroup.



In 2017, at 30, Hung obtained a doctorate in food technology at Hiroshima University. He studied the application of food in treatment of bowel cancer and Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD).

Hung, lecturer at the HCM City Food Industry University, was one of the young faces at the second Vietnam Global Young Intellectual Forum in November 2019. He also attended the forum a year before, when it was organized for the first time.

In our research, we focus on researching the effects of food fiber on bowel cancer and diseases. Of many fibre types, we found 3 types, Guargum (400 KDa), Partially Hydrolyzed guargum (Hydrolyzed Guargum-18KDa) and Exopolysacharide (EPS), a type of polysaccharide with many good properties, he said.



After experiments on mice and intestinal cancer cells, we discovered the mechanism and the ability to curb inflammation, intestinal cancer and CKD, he said.



The research was published in leading journals such as Journal of Nutrition, Nutrition Research, Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, Journal of Functional Foods, and Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.



As for research on EPS, the Japanese company Nitto Pharmaceutical Industries, has applied the results of the research by adding EPS to drugs and producing some kinds of supplemental food products.



After returning to Vietnam in 2017, Hung and his co-workers continued this research in Vietnam. The young PhD also pursued research on processing biologically active food products and creating commercial food products.



In 2019, with the support of Truc Anh Production and Trade Company, Hung and co-workers made herbal drinks from cordyceps roberti.



With research on the production of this drink, Hung was invited to take on the role of keynote speaker at the international workshop on UN issues held in Japan.



Asked about his decision to return to Vietnam, Hung admitted that the decision was not applauded by his family.



However, I still decided to return because I want to do something for my country, he said.

Kim Chi

Vietnamese scientists actively share information about nCoV The measures Vietnam is taking to cope with the nCoV epidemic are based on the experience and scientific research results that have been accumulated for many years, since the time it faced SARS epidemic in 2002-2003.
The market for light satellites is continuously growing and one Luxembourgish firm has positioned itself to offer materials for the growing spatial resources market.

Gradel, a firm based in Mondorf-les-Bains, has been working with a German business for a year and a half now. The two firms are collaborating in developing ultralight materials for the spatial resources market.

But why exactly is manufacturing ultra-lightweight material so important in the space sector? Weight is crucial to the sector, because it can cost developers an enormous amount of money. Currently, costs per kilogram sent out into space lie at 5,000. Manufacturing ultralight material helps optimise the use of rockets, which has an impact in allowing more satellites to be brought out to space. Not to mention, the savings on fuel.

Gradel's biggest challenge is convincing clients, like satellite operators, to employ new ultralight technologies. But the firm believes there is currently a demand for affordable ultralight material. Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov has been to the International Space Station (ISS) three times, most recently in 2017. He believes it is important to use lightweight material in space in the future, above all due to costs incurred.

US President Donald Trump recently made the call to fund a new American mission to the moon - and to Mars. This would make the USA the first nation to reach the planet, but Russia is also interested in the challenge. Highlighting the existing expenses of such a mission, Shkaplerov pointed out the benefits of having multiple countries collaborate in that domain.
Shamima Begum has said her whole world fell apart the day she found out she had lost her British citizenship.

The former east London schoolgirl, now 20, was one of three friends who boarded a plane five years ago to join Isis in Syria.

She was stripped of her British citizenship by former home secretary Sajid Javid after she was found, nine months pregnant, in a Syrian refugee camp last year.

Ms Begum is now living in al-Roj camp, in northeastern Syria, where she shares a tent with US-Canadian Kimberly Polman, who also travelled to Syria to join Isis.

She was pictured wearing a maroon head scarf and blue jeans at the weekend instead of her usual black burqa  which is banned from the camp as part of deradicalisation efforts.

Timeline of the Isis caliphate Show all 19 1 /19 Timeline of the Isis caliphate Timeline of the Isis caliphate ISIS began as a group by the merging of extremist organisations ISI and al-Nusra in 2013. Following clashes, Syrian rebels captured the ISIS headquarters in Aleppo in January 2014 (pictured) AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi declared the creation of a caliphate in Mosul on 27 June 2014 Timeline of the Isis caliphate Isis conquered the Kurdish towns of Sinjar and Zumar in August 2014, forcing thousands of civilians to flee their homes. Pictured are a group of Yazidi Kurds who have fled Rex Timeline of the Isis caliphate On September 2 2014 Isis released a video depicting the beheading of US journalist Steven Sotloff. On September 13 they released another video showing the execution of British aid worker David Haines Timeline of the Isis caliphate The US launched its first airstrikes against Isis in Syria on 23 September 2014. Here Lt Gen William C Mayville Jnr speaks about the bombing campaign in the wake of the first strikes Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Isis militants sit atop a hill planted with their flag in the Syrian town of Kobani on 6 October 2014. They had been advancing on Kobani since mid-September and by now was in control of the citys entrance and exit points AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Residents of the border village of Alizar keep guard day and night as they wait in fear of mortar fire from Isis who have occupied the nearby city of Kobani Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Smoke rises following a US airstrike on Kobani, 28 October 2014 AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate YPG fighters raise a flag as they reclaim Kobani on 26 January 2015 VOA Timeline of the Isis caliphate Isis seized the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra on 20 May 2015. This image show the city from above days after its capture by Isis Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Kurdish forces are stationed on a hill above the town of Sinjar as smoke rises following US airstrikes on 12 November 2015 AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Kurdish forces enter Sinjar after seizing it from Isis control on 13 November 2015 AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Iraqi government forces make the victory sign as they retake the city of Fallujah from ISIS on 26 June 2016 Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Iraqi forces battle with Isis for the city of Mosul on 30 June 2017 AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Members of the Iraqi federal police raise flags in Mosul on 8 July 2017. On the following day, Iraqi prime minister Haider Al Abadi declares victory over Isis in Mosul Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Members of Syrian Democratic Forces celebrate in Al-Naim square after taking back the city of Raqqa from Isis. US-backed Syrian forces declare victory over Isis in Raqqa on 20 October 2017 after a four-month long campaign Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Female fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces celebrate in Al-Naim Square after taking back the city of Raqqa from Isis. US-backed Syrian forces declare victory over Isis in Raqqa on 20 October 2017 after a four-month long campaign AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Trucks full of women and children arrive from the last Isis-held areas in Deir ez-Zor, Syria in January 2019 They were among the last civilians to be living in the ISIS caliphate, by this time reduced to just two small villages in Syrias Deir ez-Zor Richard Hall/The Independent Timeline of the Isis caliphate Zikia Ibrahim, 28, with her two-year-old son and 8-month-old daughter, after fleeing the Isis caliphate, on Saturday 26 January 2019 Richard Hall/The Independent

Her tent, which has heating and a television, was decorated with hearts and fairy lights for Valentines Day and adorned with a bible verse about love and inspirational quotes.

Speaking for the first time since she lost her appeal against Mr Javids decision earlier this month, she told ABC News reporter James Longman: When my citizenship got rejected, I felt like my whole world fell apart right in front of me.

You know, especially the way I was told. I wasnt even told by a government official. I had to be told by journalists.

I thought I would be a bit different because I had not done anything wrong before I came to Isis.

When asked about previous comments she has made about not regretting her decision to join Isis, Ms Begum said she was afraid for my life.

She added: I had just come into the camp. I had just given birth.

I was hearing all these stories about women threatening other women, you know, folk uncovering their faces or speaking to men or doing interviews or anything like that.

Ms Begum, who was born in the UK and is of British-Bangladeshi heritage, took legal action against the Home Office at the High Court and the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) last year.

But on 7 February the tribunal, led by SIAC president Ms Justice Elisabeth Laing, ruled Ms Begum was a citizen of Bangladesh by descent and was therefore not rendered stateless.

Ms Begum was 15 when she boarded a flight from Gatwick airport to Istanbul, Turkey, with fellow Bethnal Green Academy students Kadiza Sultana, 16, and Amira Abase, 15, on 17 February 2015.

Another schoolfriend, Sharmeena Begum, had previously travelled to Syria in December 2014.

Ms Begum claims she married Dutch convert Yago Riedijk 10 days after arriving in Raqqa, Syria.

All three of her schoolfriends also reportedly married foreign Isis fighters.

Ms Begum's three children she had with Mr Riedijk all died.
Theres no better evidence that Mike Bloombergs chances of getting the Democratic nomination are on the rise than the fact that the opportunistic Hillary Clinton is already trying to grab a piece of the action.

The Drudge Report startled the political world on Saturday by noting that sources close to Bloomberg campaign are considering Hillary as running mate, after their polling found the Bloomberg-Clinton combination would be a formidable force.

I have no doubt that Hillary wants back in, and her minions are pushing such rumors. I have no doubt that some of Bloombergs hundreds of staffers used to work on Hillarys campaign and are pushing the idea internally. I also have no doubt that Mike Bloomberg is smart enough to never go for such a crazy and risky idea.

First, Mike Bloomberg needs woke progressives behind him and enthused enough to actually voted if he is to win a general election campaign. The last thing he should do is infuriate Bernie Sanders voters by sharing his ticket with the woman they blame for rigging the 2016 primaries against him. Recall that 12 percent of Sanderss primary supporters voted for President Trump in the 2016 general election. That is according to the Cooperative Congressional Election Study  a massive election survey of around 50,000 people.

Second, the Democratic ticket would be on the old side with a Bloomberg-Clinton ticket. The former New York mayor will be 78 years old at the time of the election this year, and he looks it. Hillary will be 73 years old, and she has a record of not being candid with her health issues. Should something happen to both of them, the next person in line for the presidency, should she remain House speaker, would be 80-year-old Nancy Pelosi.

While they would be running against a 74-year-old incumbent president, few would question that Trump projects a vigorous persona. The Democratic Party needs an injection of youth and vitality, not a ticket with two people who barely brush the Baby Boom generation.

Story continues

Third, Hillary Clintons last job in government was an ethical disaster. Her email scandal, which clearly involved a coverup of just how much she compromised classified information, would have led to her indictment absent an extraordinary amount of political pull in her favor.

Then there is the Clinton Foundation. There is extensive evidence that special-interest donors to the foundation sought favors from a responsive State Department. We know from Peter Schweitzers book Clinton Cash that the State Department helped move along an infamous deal that granted the Russians control of more than 20 percent of the uranium production here in the United States. The company involved in acquiring the American uranium was a very large donor to  you guessed it  the Clinton Foundation.

President Obama had actually taken steps to ensure that none of this would happen. Hillary Clinton pledged that she would avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest in her work as secretary.

How did she do? The Associated Press reported that more than half of the nongovernmental figures who met with Secretary Clinton were Clinton Foundation donors. Huma Abedin, Clintons closest aide, agreed to help a Clinton Foundation aide get a diplomatic passport. Several key donations went unreported. Many of the emails stored on a private server that could have revealed more errant behavior were permanently destroyed using a program called bleach bit.

In December 2008, the Clinton Foundation and the office of President-elect Obama signed an agreement. In it, the Foundation promised to disclose all of its donors and that foreign governments would not be allowed to contribute to it; Bill Clinton also agreed that he would not personally solicit funds for the Foundation.

Many ethics experts scoff at the suggestion that Hillary followed either the letter or spirit of that agreement. Even the New York Times editorial board concluded in 2016 that the emails and previous reporting suggest Mr. Trump has reason to say that while Mrs. Clinton was secretary, it was hard to tell where the foundation ended and the State Department began.

Forget jokes that Mike Bloomberg, if president, would need a food taster if Hillary were his vice president. But could a President Bloomberg be confident that Hillary wouldnt be scarf-deep in scandal and intrigue every day she was his vice president? Could he rely on her word that she would avoid conflicts of interest and other ethical wrongs?

Lets not forget that Clintons shifty record led to a general perception that she was dishonest. A New York Times poll in August 2016, found that 67 percent of registered voters had doubts about her trustworthiness. It wasnt just emails and the Clinton Foundation, Michael Barone, co-author of the Almanac of American Politics, told me. When she was First Lady, there was Health-Care Gate, FBI File-Gate, Travel Gate, and Billing Records Gate.

Mike Bloomberg has been pressing the notion that scandals have plagued Donald Trumps administration. Why would he want to surrender his claim to the moral high ground by making Hillary his running mate and exposing himself to accurate counterattacks over that by Trump?

Michael Bloomberg built his business career and reputation as New Yorks mayor by sizing up situations dispassionately and coldly. There is no way he is going to look at the prospect of Hillary Clinton joining his ticket as anything other than risky business.

More from National Review
Timelines evolved externally in achieving stated objectives would only seek to hinder the process of reconciliation since they would be bereft of ground realities emphasized Sri Lankas Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Kshenuka Senewiratne during a one day debate at the UN Security Council titled Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace: Transitional Justice in conflict and post-conflict situations, held on 13th February 2020. She added that when seeking mechanisms of transitional justice, related simple theories would need to also take cognizance of the various historical, cultural and religious sensitivities.



Ambassador Senewiratne stated that the basic tenet of a transitional justice process is the application of its theoretical principles on State obligations and it is the State that needs to pursue truth, justice, reparations and guarantees of non-recurrence. She further explained that the post conflict milieu of each country is unique and those traversing the path of post-conflict transition and reconciliation have often made deliberate efforts to maintain a balance between the speed of the transitional justice process and desired standard which includes inclusiveness and the sustainability.



The Permanent Representative referred to the newly elected President, His Excellency Gotabaya Rajapaksa having pledged to work towards guaranteeing human rights and political and economic freedom for his people in a truly democratic Sri Lanka. She added that the President had also espoused that every citizen of Sri Lanka has the right to live freely and securely, holding independent opinions, following the religion of choice and freedom of association and assembly, being rights that no one can challenge.



The Permanent Representative sought to reiterate that the action by the Sri Lankan security forces during the conflict was against a group designated as a terrorist organization by many countries, and even described as ruthless by some, and not aimed at any community in the country. She elaborated that the modus operandi of suicide attacks adopted by this terrorist group, which for the first time in history deliberately targeted civilians, is now being emulated expansively by similar groups globally.



She observed that promoting a peaceful, just and reconciled society is not only an objective in itself, but also a pre-requisite for a sustainable and inclusive approach to development that leaves no one behind. The Permanent Representative upheld that as a sovereign State, Sri Lanka will continue to establish its own priorities towards this end, adding that the countrys experience has taught that certain lessons can be learnt from others, but that it is imperative to chart its own path to reconciliation in order for it to be sustainable. She outlined that Sri Lanka was committed to find innovative and pragmatic solutions, driven by the domestic context to protect the countrys national interest, guided by the provisions of the Constitution, and the will of the citizens, expressed through democratic means.



Ambassador Senewiratne informed the Security Council that Sri Lankas engagement at the debate was in keeping with the Governments vision for a country that embodies the universal values of human rights, justice, rule of law and good governance, while ensuring economic dividends to its people. She concluded, that Sri Lanka looks forward to continuing its cooperation with the international community through capacity building and technical assistance in mutually agreed areas, in keeping with domestic priorities and policies.



The debate was the initiative of Belgium, which is holding the Presidency of the Security Council for the month of February 2020 and was chaired by the Belgian Foreign Minister. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, Father Francisco de Roux, President Commission for the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence and non-repetition of Colombia and Ms. Yasmin Sooka, Executive Director of the Foundation for Human Rights in South Africa, Trustee of the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre and Chair of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan provided briefings at the commencement of the debate.



Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations

New York

13 February 2020
While the gig economy was once advertised as conveniently earning a bit of party money on the side, it has not-so-slowly turned into the 21st equivalent of standing around at the shipyard hoping they'll pay you a ha'penny to unload the steamer from Antwerp so you can afford to feed your children. Except that now, that toothy blowjob you're giving the foreman for preferential treatment better come with a free smile, as companies like Target demand utter and unwavering gratitude from their gig workers.

In 2017, Target acquired Shipt, the app that lets the rich and busy pay folks to help get their groceries. But the supermarket corporation didn't spend over half of a billion dollars acquiring the concept of a bagboy to get any kind of talkback from its new serfs. Speaking to Vice, several ex and current Shipt contractors claim that workers talking Shipt in any negative way will get them put on a Shipt list and can easily get them Shipt-canned. The company tightly monitors all social media activity, having corporate moderators make sure Shipt shoppers don't post anything "except for the super syrupy stuff." Target also won't hesitate to "deactivate" its corporate drones for generating any kind of negative buzz, which includes complaining about the poor pay, helping each other out (clearly the first step to inciting unionization) or even making fun of Shipt's expensive new logo because it looks like someone got shoulder-checked while trying to draw the copyright symbol.

Target Corporation Truly the kind of Shipt logo a Shipt company deserves.

In fact, bootlicking seem to be at the core of Shipt's business model. Target also replaced its clear and fair commission-based payment system with the capricious and terrible god of gig work, the Algorithm, which has cut some cities' workers' earnings


Students from Snells Beach school check out Piper before she starts her slow trek to Martins Bay. From left, Laticia Level, Zoey Blackie, Autumn Howson, Max Mendez Baines and Milly Chase.

A massive 1.2 metre boring machine named Piper got to work in Algies Bay this week and may well break the world record for the longest section of tunnel created from a single forward drive.

Piper will tunnel a hole from private farmland on Miller Way through to Martins Bay, a distance of 2.2km, as part of a Snells Algies wastewater pipe upgrade.

Piper tunnels at the rate of about 35mm a minute and is expected to reach Martins Bay in about three and a half months.

McConnell Dowell stakeholder manager Celeste Rauner says Piper is operated via remote control, meaning there are few health and safety risks to human operators.

Pipers cutter face chews up everything in its path. As it moves forward, steel pipes are inserted into the freshly-cut tunnel to create the pipeline.

Dirt and water travels back through the pipes. The water is then recycled and the dirt separated into different grades.

McConnell Dowell already holds the record for constructing the longest tunnel from a single drive at Army Bay on the Whangaparaoa peninsula. The 1.9km tunnel there beat the previous record held by a tunnel in Texas.

McConnell Dowell has set up an operating base next to Snells Beach school and thought it would be a nice idea to let students name the tunnel boring machine.

Children ran a competition to come up with suitable names, then voted on their favourite. Piper proved the most popular choice.

Children also provided handprints on paper, which were transposed on to stickers then placed on the machine. The idea was to lend Piper a hand on her journey.

Ms Rauner says tunnel boring machines are traditionally given female names because they do all the work..

In addition to tunnelling, McConnell Dowell is also employing open trenching to construct the new wastewater pipe. The entire length of the pipe will be about 6.5km and run from Dawson Road in Snells Beach to Martins Bay.

The new pipe is designed to cope with population growth and replace an existing wastewater pipe along Mahurangi East Road and an ageing outfall pipe at the end of the Mahurangi Peninsula.

Construction is due to be completed in July.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-18 03:10:39|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

RAMALLAH, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinians are calling on the international community to help resolve their conflict with Israel, while rejecting the U.S. peace plan, known as "The Deal of the Century".

A senior Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official on Monday called for the establishment of an international assembly based on rights and justice, so as to end the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.

According to a press statement, Hanan Ashrawi, member of the PLO Executive Committee, said that "an international assembly can be able to present alternatives and confront the dangers that threaten peace."

"This assembly can also end the illegal Israeli occupation," she said while meeting with a British parliamentary delegation in Ramallah.

Political ties between the Palestinian Authority and the United States have been severed after U.S. President Donald Trump declared Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in 2017.

On Jan. 28, Trump announced the U.S. Mideast peace plan at the presence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which was strongly rejected by the Palestinians.

The PLO published on its official website that the U.S. plan envolves 300 violations of international law and international resolutions.

Salleh Ra'fat, a PLO Executive Committee member, said in a press statement that "the state of Palestine will never surrender and will keep working with the United Nations Security Council to issue a resolution that rejects the deal."

He called on the EU countries to recognize the state of Palestine and also called on the international community to hold an international conference "to implement the international resolutions and oblige Israel to fully withdraw from the Palestinian territories it occupied in 1967."

Sabri Seidam, a member of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party's Central Committee, called for a strict international intervention to rescue the principle of the two-state solution, as the U.S. plan "flares the conflict but doesn't end it."

"The European Union is asked to find an initiative to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and present this initiative to President Trump to be an alternative to his plan," Seidam told Palestinian Radio.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a press statement that the international community has to move against the U.S. peace plan.

"There has been no much time left to salvage the two-state solution," said the statement, adding that "neutral or reluctant positions towards this dangerous U.S.-Israeli plan are not feasible in preventing a U.S. coup against international law."

The Foreign Ministry's statement also said that "large parts of the U.S. deal has been already implemented, mainly in issues related to Jerusalem and the Palestinian refugees."

Foreign ministers of 27 EU countries on Monday held a monthly meeting in Brussels to discuss the major developments in the Middle East, particularly, the U.S. peace plan.

Shadi Othman, EU Communication officer in Jerusalem, told journalists in Ramallah that the peace process in the Middle East "topped the issues that were discussed during Brussels meeting."

"The European side seeks a stable, unified and clear position that is based on the international legitimacy criteria and reiterates that the only way for solving the conflict is through direct negotiations based on international peace references," he said.

Othman said, "The EU will keep backing the principle of the two-state solution on 1967 borders."
Dani Dyer has paid tribute to Caroline Flack following her shock death over the weekend.

The actress, who met Caroline when she appeared on Love Island in 2018, shared a series of snaps of the ladies together alongside some touching words.

She wrote: 'Still doesnt feel real. Waking up having this cloud over everyones heads its just so so heartbreaking. 

'You were so loved': Love Island star Dani Dyer paid tribute to Caroline Flack on Instagram on Monday and said 'you will be missed every day and be in our hearts forever'

Poignant: Dani shared some emotive words on social media as she remembered her friend

'Caroline you was such a talented beautiful person inside and out. Gonna be horrible knowing Im never going to see you in the office again with your cuddles and your gossips.

'You was so loved. You will be missed every single day and be in our hearts forever.'

Caroline was found dead inside her London home by her father Ian on Saturday after taking her own life while the friend who was staying with her 'popped out to the shops'.

Special memories: Caroline was overjoyed for Dani when she won the series back in 2018

Tragedy: Caroline was found dead inside her London home by her father Ian on Saturday after taking her own life while the friend who was staying with her 'popped out to the shops'

Words: ITV released the above statement which said that Love Island would return tomorrow night [Monday] and will include a tribute to the former presenter

Flack's management team brand the CPS case a 'show trial' that was 'not in the public interest' Caroline Flack's management said everyone was devastated at the news and criticised the Crown Prosecution Service for pressing ahead with her 'show trial' even after her boyfriend said he did not support it. In a statement, Francis Ridley of Money Talent Management, said: 'We are devastated at the loss of our client and friend Caroline Flack. 'An immensely talented young woman who was at the top of her game professionally and loved by television viewers across the country. In recent months Caroline had been under huge pressure because of an ongoing case and potential trial which has been well reported. 'The Crown Prosecution Service pursued this when they knew not only how very vulnerable Caroline was but also that the alleged victim did not support the prosecution and had disputed the CPS version of events. 'The CPS should look at themselves today and how they pursued a show trial that was not only without merit but not in the public interest. And ultimately resulted in significant distress to Caroline. Our thoughts are with Caroline's family at this time.' Advertisement

Her close friend Laura Whitmore paid an emotional tribute to her friend during her BBC Radio Five Live show on Sunday Morning.

The presenter, 34, who replaced Caroline on the latest Love Island series, appeared on her show just hours after the news that Caroline took her own life emerged.

And it was clear that Laura was struggling through her grief as her voice cracked while praising her friend, with the star also defending Love Island amid calls for it to be axed.

Fighting back tears, she said: 'I wish we were talking under better circumstances and Id been debating whether I should, would or could come on air today. But this isnt about me, yesterday we lost someone before their time.

'At age 40 Caroline Flack made the decision to take her own life and I want to talk about it. I want to talk about it, I want to talk about her and give her the respect that she deserves and that she didnt always get. Anyone who knew Caroline knew she was vivacious, loving and had a passion for life, which is why none of this makes sense.

'Caroline loved dancing. Angels by Robbie Williams always reminds me of her because she danced so beautifully to it on Strictly and Im going to play that song after Ive said what I want to say. Caroline loved music, she loved to dance. We shared many a dance floor at gigs, festivals.

'I met her just shy of 10 years ago at V Festival and then we became friends. She was bubbly and for such a small stature, commanded a room. She loved to laugh and had the most infectious chuckle. She also had many struggles. Im not going to pretend that she was perfect, but is anyone?'

Tribute: Her good friend Laura Whitmore struggled to contain her tears as she paid an emotional tribute to her friend Caroline Flack during her BBC Radio Five Live show on Sunday

An ITV spokesperson also said: 'Many people at ITV knew Caroline well and held her in great affection. All of us are absolutely devastated at this tragic news.

'After careful consultation between Caroline's representatives and the Love Island production team and given how close we still are to the news of Caroline's tragic death we have decided not to broadcast tonight's Love Island out of respect for Caroline's family. Love Island will return tomorrow night which will include a tribute to Caroline who will be forever in our hearts.'

ITV and Love Island producers had previously come under scrutiny for the aftercare given to contestants of the Love Island show.

Reality shows have been warned by Ofcom that they have a duty of care towards their stars.
If were to believe recent reports, Kate Middleton hasnt taken Prince Harry and Meghan Markles decision to step back from the royal family lightly.

According to various outlets, the Duchess of Cambridge has been worried about staying close with Harry and concerned that her children wont get to see enough of their cousin, Archie. But if theres one silver lining to all of this, its that Kate is reportedly so happy to have a more prominent voice in royal charity work and the goals of the Royal Foundation, an organization she can play a bigger role in now that Harry and Meghan have moved to Canada.

Insiders spoke to The Sunso take it with a grain of saltand said that the Duchess of Cambridge is jumping into her duties with tons of enthusiasm. Shes been on a tour of the U.K., promoting early childhood development, and even opened up about her experiences as a parent, which give insight into how she might steer other initiatives the Royal Foundation tackles.

Kate is extremely passionate about the work the foundation does, and she has ideas and plans for how she believes it can be used to help some of the causes which she is particularly passionate about, a source told *The Sun.* In recent weeks Kate has visited a lot of organizations and spoke to lots of experts and has soaked a lot of information. She wants to use that to go out and bring about change to many of those who need support.

Previously, the Royal Foundation was a joint effort between William and Harry, and it represented causes they both felt strongly about. Kate joined when she married William, and Meghan became a part of the organization a few years later, which meant there were a lot of interests to balance.

For years the foundations work was a bit of a tug-of-war between what William and Harry wanted, the source said. Harry was very much focused on the military and his work with the Invictus Games. Now it is purely in the shape of how William and Kate want it to be.

Story continues

Kates expanding work at the Royal Foundation is reflective of how shes come into her own in recent yearssomething even Queen Elizabeth is said to be proud of. It all shows how she is preparing to take the lead in the monarchy one day.

She is an adoring mother, and she is contributing publicly in the way we would want her to, a source told *People* last September. You see it more and more. The young student has turned into our future queen.

Originally Appeared on Glamour
Agartala, Feb 17 : Former Tripura Chief Secretary Yash Pal Singh was arrested on Monday in connection with a multi-crore PWD scam from Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad district in a joint operation by the police of the two states, said Acting Tripura Director General of Police, Rajiv Singh.

"Singh would be produced in a court in Uttar Pradesh for getting his transit remand and with the permission of the court he would be brought to Agartala for further legal formalities," the officiating Tripura Police Chief told IANS.

Singh was the state Principal Secretary (PWD) during 2008-09. The Tripura Police Crime Branch has been looking for him in connection with a corruption case regarding the implementation of projects worth Rs 638 crore.

A police team led by the investigating officer Ajay Das went to Delhi and several other places in northern Tripura before Singh was finally arrested from Ghaziabad.

The Vigilance Wing of Tripura government had on October 13 last year, filed an FIR against veteran CPI-M leader and former PWD and Finance Minister Badal Choudhury, former Chief Secretary Yash Pal Singh and former PWD Chief Engineer Sunil Bhowmik.

Both Choudhury and Bhowmik were granted bail by the Tripura High Court a few weeks ago after their arrest on October 14 and October 21 respectively last year.

The case has rocked the state politics in the past four months. According to Law and Education Minister Ratan Lal Nath, the Public Works Department (PWD) under the previous Left Front government in 2008-09 had clubbed together 13 projects -- five bridges, five buildings and three road projects -- being implemented at a cost of Rs 638 crore on a cost-plus norms.

Terming it the "biggest scam in the history of Tripura", Nath said Rs 164 crore had been siphoned off.

Opposition Communist Party of India-Marxist and Congress leaders, including former Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government had hatched a conspiracy against CPI-M central committee member Choudhury to malign the previous Left government.

"No corruption had taken place during the 35-year rule (1978-1988 and 1993-2018) of the Left parties in Tripura. Instead, state infrastructure and all other sectors improved in the state," Sarkar told the media.
A group of hunters have set a world record for the largest bow-harvested black bear in North America, with a bear killed in New Jersey, according to a hunting organization.

The Pope and Young Club, a bow hunting and conservation organization, announced that Jeff Melillo set the record with a bear they hunted on Oct. 14 in Morris County.

The bears skull measured over 23 inches and the animal weighed 700 pounds overall, according to Pope and Young Club records director Eli Randall. This record beats the previous record which was set in 1993.

It has been an inspiring journey, to say the least, said Melillo in a statement. New Jersey, my home state, has its First-Ever World Record Animal. Many years ago, I read an article in Outdoor Life Magazine stating that the New World Record Black Bear will most likely come from New Jersey. They were spot on, and I never doubted it for one second. I'm very grateful that I get to be a part of all this. Pursuing bears with bow and arrow is a passion of mine.

Melillo thanked New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, and United Bow Hunters of New Jersey for their support and the effort they put into managing the black bear population in New Jersey.

I was not prepared for the amount of mass the skull possessed, not only was the skull huge, but the bone structure was the heaviest I had ever seen, Randal said in a statement. Congratulations to Jeff Melillo on harvesting this outstanding black bear. This is a true testament to the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation and a shining beacon of what can be accomplished with efforts and funds being dedicated to wildlife."

A mount of the display will be on display at the Pope and Young Annual Convention in Virginia, March 26-28.

New Jerseys black bear hunt has become controversial in the past few years since Gov. Phil Murphy promised to end it. Murphy, ended up not totally banning the hunt, but prohibited it on state lands in 2018. When hunting on private land hunters must get the permission of the landowners.

Environmental groups have been of the biggest forces pushing for a hunting ban. The New Jersey Sierra Club is still pushing for a ban.

Olivia Rizzo may be reached at orizzo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @LivRizz. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
Doctors wear protective clothes before going into the Covid-19 quarantine room in Cho Ray Hospital in HCMC. Photo by VnExpress/Huu Khoa.

Following treatment, a three-month-old girl in Vinh Phuc Province, confirmed Vietnams youngest Covid-19 patient, tested negative for the first time on Monday.

Associate Professor Luong Ngoc Khue, head of the medical examination and management department under the Ministry of Health, said the baby's health is currently stable.

The little girl is conscious, has no fever and coughs only a little. She has no runny nose and no difficulty breathing. Her health seems to be back to normal, Khue said.

"If the next test result also returns negative, the baby could be considered for discharge," Khue said.

The girl was sent to Vietnam National Childrens Hospital on February 12 after testing positive for the Covid-19. She contracted the disease from her grandmother who got infected from her 23-year-old cousin Nguyen Thi Du, one of eight workers who visited Wuhan for work training last November and returned on January 17.

On January 28, the infant was taken to her grandmothers house in Vinh Phucs Binh Xuyen District.

After the grandmother tested positive, the provincial center for disease control quarantined the baby and her mother since they had had close contact with the patient.

On February 6, the child developed a cough, but no fever. A blood test subsequently showed she had caught the virus, though her mother tested negative.

Among 16 cases of infection across Vietnam, seven were released from hospital after doctors declared them free of the virus.

Vinh Phuc Province, around 40 kilometers from Hanoi, was hit hardest with 11 cases reported.

Medical experts have confirmed there is no specific medicine or vaccine to treat the novel coronavirus, though Vietnam has enough capacity, experience and confidence to treat patients.

The WHO said Saturday Vietnam has responded well to the epidemic from the very outset, preventing its spread.

As of Monday, the global Covid-19 death toll reached 1,776 and confirmed infections topped 71,330, of whom over 11,000 have recovered.
Seen is construction site of SK Innovation's battery plant in Georgia, which is scheduled to begin mass production in 2022. / Courtesy of SK Innovation



By Baek Byung-yeul



After the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) gave a preliminary ruling in favor of LG Chem over its battery rival SK Innovation (SKI) on Feb. 14, the two South Korean battery makers are expected to seek a settlement to end their prolonged legal dispute, industry officials and analysts said Monday.



Chances are increasing that the two battery firms will attempt to settle their electric vehicle (EV) battery trade secret litigation as the USITC officially ruled in favor of LG's claim that SKI attempted to conceal evidence of infringement on its battery-making patents, according to the analysts.



They added the two companies will try to seek out a settlement in the end because neither of them want to lose business generated from Volkswagen's plan to launch EVs in the U.S. market starting in 2022.



What matters most will be the terms and conditions they agree to. Clearly, LG Chem has the upper hand in the possible settlement process.



"There will be no change in that LG Chem will be sincere in the remaining litigation process. However, we won't nail down our decision. We are also open to talking with SK Innovation for a possible settlement" an LG Chem official said.



LG and SKI have been in legal battle since April 2019 after the former filed a pair of lawsuits with the USITC and a U.S. court, respectively, against the latter for allegedly stealing battery technology through employee poaching.



LG also asked the USITC in November for an early ruling against SK after it found over 34,000 files and emails that show SK tried to tamper with evidence that it stole confidential battery-making trade secrets from LG.



The default judgment is an interim ruling  the USITC is scheduled to make a final ruling by October 5.



If the final determination is in favor of LG, SK will be unable to sell its battery cells, modules and all related components and materials in the U.S.  a hard blow to the latter, which is building a plant in Georgia to supply batteries for Volkswagen's electric vehicles to be sold in the U.S.



Though there will be no change in its stance that it will keep focusing on the lawsuit, LG Chem said it is open to talking about making progress towards repairing its relationship with the SK Group affiliate.



SKI was hoping to see quick action to initiating an exit strategy to settle the legal tussle with the company hinting that it is also opening its door for dialogue.



Stating that the company will do its utmost to enhance its customer value and develop the battery industry, SKI added there will be no change in its business base and that LG Chem is still its "business partner to develop the battery industry's ecosystem together."



"Both LG Chem and SKI want to reach a settlement ending their long legal tussle because neither of them want to lose their customers, which are EV makers," an analyst in the local battery industry said.



Given Volkswagen is scheduled to source EV batteries from SK Innovation in the U.S. and Ford also wants to source batteries for its electric trucks from SK's new plant in Georgia, carmakers don't want this situation to go bad," he added.



Roh Woo-ho, an analyst at Meritz Securities, said the ITC's ruling in favor of LG will be a hard blow to SK in the short term but a chance exists that SK could win a reversal because the U.S. Trade Representative can exercise veto authority.


Anyone with information on this case is asked to call the Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Unit at 301-731-4422. Callers wishing to remain anonymous may call Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477), or go online at www.pgcrimesolvers.com.
On Thursday, McClatchythe publicly-traded owner of 30 local newspapers, including the Miami Herald, the Charlotte Observer, and the Kansas City Starfiled for bankruptcy. The company will continue to operate, but is seeking relief from debt and pension obligations; if that goes to plan, itll pass into the control of Chatham Asset Management, a hedge fund which is already McClatchys top creditor, and which also owns the Canadian publishing giant Postmedia and the parent company of the National Enquirer. On Friday, McClatchys DC bureau reported that a federal pensions agency has concerns about a 2018 transaction between McClatchy and Chatham that could put the brakes on the bankruptcy process. Still, McClatchywhich has been family-controlled since the aftermath of the California Gold Rushlooks likely to end up in the hands of the 21st-century prospectors who increasingly own the local-news business.

Local-news-watchers have traced McClatchys present plight to its decision, in 2006, to buy Knight Ridder, then Americas second-biggest newspaper company, in a deal worth $4.5 billion. (Yes, with a b.) The deal burdened McClatchy with debt, and since it was struck, ad revenue and print-circulation figures have cratered. A recent hike in digital subscriptions has offered some respite; still, between the Knight Ridder acquisition and the middle of last year, McClatchy cut nearly 60 percent of its operating expenses and more than 80 percent of its full-time staff, according to Jonathan OConnell of the Washington Post. (A year ago, CJRs Amanda Darrach reported that Craig Forman, McClatchys CEO, had signed a lucrative new contract, including a monthly stipend of $35,000up from $5,000for housing and other expenses. The following week, his company offered buyouts to 450 staffers. Forman told Darrach that his pay was set by his board of directors with input from public consultants, and was comparable.)

ICYMI: Why did Matt Drudge turn on Donald Trump?

What will the bankruptcyand the prospect of hedge fund controlmean for McClatchy going forward? Ken Doctor, an industry analyst who writes regularly for Nieman Lab, reckons the company could be entering a brief moment of relief. McClatchy, Doctor notes, still brings in a fair whack of cash; it recently announced a quarterly earnings increase for the first time in eight years, despite its other travails. Private ownership, Doctor writes, could give its leadership more latitude to execute a digital transformation away from shareholders impatient gaze, and Chatham has said publicly that it is committed to preserving independent journalism and newsroom jobs. But actions, of course, speak much louder than words. And private ownership can be a double-edged sword; Being shielded from the markets can let you do important but difficult things, Doctor writes. Or it can let you get away with stripping civic assets to the bare wiring. In an industry thats seen far too much of the latter, its hard not to be skeptical.

Last year was tumultuous for local newsa product, as Doctor has written previously, of dual processes of financialization and consolidation. McClatchys bankruptcy raises both specters again; Doctor reckons that Chatham might find merging McClatchy with another big publisher to be an attractive proposition. One possible partner, Tribune, has itself seen plenty of turmoil since Alden Global Capitala hedge fund notorious for taking a slash-and-burn approach to its news assetsbecame its biggest shareholder in November. Since the turn of the year, Tribune has overhauled its executive ranks and bought experienced journalists out of their contracts. As has been the case at other Alden-owned papers, reporters have started speaking out against management. Gary Marx and David Jackson, investigative journalists at the Chicago Tribune, which Tribune owns, penned an op-ed for the New York Times in which they called Alden an urgent threat, and have literally gone door-to-door in Chicago to try and woo a wealthy savior for their paper. Theres been upheaval, too, at newspapersincluding the Omaha World-Herald, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and the Buffalo Newsowned by Warren Buffett, which recently were offloaded to Lee Enterprises; as part of the deal, Buffett agreed to refinance Lees debts, and lend it nearly $600 million. In the past, Buffett has called the newspaper business toast. Last week, Charlie Munger, his longtime business partner, said the industry is dying.

In the wake of all this bad news, Emily Bell, director of Columbias Tow Center for Digital Journalism (and regular CJR contributor), went on Brian Stelters CNN podcast to talk it through. For all but a handful of national media giants, she said, the advertising model has completely collapsed, and Buffett was our last roll of the dice on finding a benefactor willing to save local news at scale. Increasingly, it seems, that task will require thinking outside of those traditional boxes. Some publishers have found success with a nonprofit model; late last year, the Salt Lake Tribune became the first legacy daily to transition into nonprofit status, after the Internal Revenue Service greenlit its application with a surprising minimum of fuss. Bell and others see potential, too, in a civic ownership model, whereby the state would support local journalism via tax dollars, regulatory perks, or other mechanisms. Over the weekend, Margaret Sullivan, media columnist at the Washington Post, agreed that its time to take such ideas seriously. Still, as Sullivan notes, the notion of increased government involvement in mediaeven if hands-offhas traditionally been radioactive in the US. Other countries lack such hang-ups, but in America, its a fair bet that theyll prove hard to shake.

Sign up for CJR 's daily email

Weve seen no shortage of ideas and initiatives aimed at a sustainable, scalable future for local news, but as Doctor told Stelter yesterday, all of this has not added up to replacements for whats been lost. Time is against us, and the bankers are only tightening their grip on major local-news chains. Stelter also spoke yesterday with Julie K. Brown, a journalist at the McClatchy-owned Miami Herald whose stellar recent reporting on Jeffrey Epstein is as clear an example as any of the vital work local outlets do. When Stelter asked Brown what might be done to preserve such work, Brown called on viewers to subscribe to their local paper. Most people pay, I would think, $100-200 a month on their cable subscriptions. Newspapers are a fraction of that, she said. It really isnt a whole lot of money considering youre investing in your community.

Below, more on the news business:



Other notable stories:

ICYMI: How one Kashmiri magazine survived a press crackdown

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.
Powerful thunderstorms, large hail stones, destructive winds and heavy rain will hit Sydney and Melbourne this week as a cyclone threatens to hit Australia's north.

The intense and fast-moving storms will reach the southern and eastern parts of the nation on Tuesday, as an upper-level trough moves over the region.

Melbourne will see the cool change at about 11am which could bring wind and hail to large swaths of Victoria.

'The storms are very fast-moving and will bring damaging winds to most of Victoria on Tuesday morning,' Weatherzone meteorologist Joel Pippard told Daily Mail Australia.

Powerful thunderstorms, large hail stones, destructive winds and heavy rain will hit Sydney (dark clouds pictured on Monday afternoon) and Melbourne this week

The intense and fast-moving storms (pictured) will reach the southern and eastern parts of the nation on Tuesday

The wild weather is expected to spread to New South Wales on Wednesday afternoon.

'There will be widespread thunder along the whole eastern half of the state, including Sydney and Canberra,' Mr Pippard said.

'The storms will be quite powerful and the region could see giant hailstones, destructive winds and heavy rains.'

Despite the severe conditions, Sydney will remain warm and humid on Tuesday with temperatures of around 30C.

Melbourne will see cooler temperatures of around 20-23C throughout the week.

Meanwhile, the cyclone in the Gulf of Caprentaria near the Northern Territory is gathering speed.

While Mr Pippard said it's too early to know how strong the wind storm will be, it could reach Australian soil in the coming days.

'We're in a more active phase of the monsoon which does bring a higher likelihood of tropical cycles ' Mr Pippard said.

'The cyclone near the Gulf may strengthen and hit land in the Northern Territory over the weekend.'

The wild weather is expected to spread to New South Wales on Wednesday afternoon (flooded streets pictured on Sunday)

The eastern half of Australia could see giant hailstones, destructive winds and heavy rains

The wet forecasts come after northern NSW experienced the 'wettest week in decades', according to meteorologists.

NSW received a record-setting rainfall earlier on in the week, with up to 550mm falling across parts of the northern rivers, mid-north coast, Central Coast, Sydney, Blue Mountains and the Illawarra.

Thunderstorm warnings were also in place for Melbourne's outer east last week, along with parts of the inner east and the city's north.

The highest rainfall hit Cardinia, south-east of Melbourne, with the area receiving 63mm since 9am on Friday.

Water engulfed the underground carpark of Eastlands Shopping Centre in Ringwood and thousands of homes were left without power.
US President Donald Trump is looking forward to his first official visit to India, when the optics will be very high indeed. Its likely that Mr Trump will be pleased as punch as there will be huge crowds waiting for him during a roadshow with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two leaders share a particular chemistry that was apparent ever since they first met and bear-hugged. The theatrics of their friendship will be high as it was during Mr Modis visit to Texas, when Mr Trump joined him at the Howdy, Modi! event. The question is: how useful will this visit by a fourth consecutive US President be in advancing US-India ties, that are already strong and may have grown during Mr Trumps four years at the White House.

A Trump promise on a trade deal with India has been in the air for some time. But it seems unlikely that an agreement will be signed during the February 24-25 visit as negotiations have run aground. Any deal to lessen Indias surplus, that shrank to about $16 billion from an earlier $30 billion, wont be favourable. Losing more of the trade surplus with a big partner will only affect the smaller economy. The strategic part of their talks might prove more substantive, but once again it will be the US that will benefit more as it sells India more helicopters, and grants allow the acquisition of an integrated air defence weapon system. The missile shield will be more than a symbolic furtherance of ties as it means India would get even closer to being in the global American axis. As one of the worlds biggest arms importers, India should be in an advantageous position to negotiate terms. Realistically, it doesnt work that way as quality comes in anything at a price.

Its a quirk of history that Indias ties with the US have been warmer in the Republican years of the two George Bushes and now Mr Trump than it was during the Clinton and Obama years, particularly the latter, when the loss of US jobs was attributed to Bangalored, or outsourcing to India. The Trump administration makes no bones about employing more restrictive visa practices for immigrants as well as IT workers. It must be a disappointment to a large part of Indias highly qualified workforce that ties arent warm enough to permit exceptions. This is one area in which Mr Modi can lean on chemistry to make it better for aspiring Indians.

Given the circumstances in which the visit will take place, its clear that, having been absolved of charges in the Senate impeachment trial, Mr Trump will be the dominant personality at the summit. Its no secret that the abrogation of Article 370 and the passing of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act are big pinpricks, that will come up in the discussions. Reiterating the usual Indian line about these being internal matters may not cut much ice. India must do more to convince the US in order to ensure that bilateral relations remain cordial.
In 2019, animal control issued six citations  four for one horse and two for the dog  for failure to have a license or proof of up-to-date vaccines, as well as failure to set up a screen frame to help address issues with fly bites during the summer. The issues had since been corrected, the agency said.
16.02.2020 LISTEN

International trophy hunting is a multinational, multimillion-dollar industry practised throughout the world. Trophy hunting is broadly defined as the killing of animals for recreation with the purpose of collecting trophies such as horns, antlers, skulls, skins, tusks, or teeth for display. The United States imports the most trophies of any country in the world. Read the 26-page report by the Congressional Research Service (March 20, 2019). www.crsreports.congress.gov.

American trophy hunters pay big money to kill animals overseas and import 126,000 wildlife trophies per year. They also do their sport-killing domestically: Bears, bobcats, mountain lions, wolves and other domestic wildlife fall victim to trophy hunting, damaging natural ecosystems. www.humanesociety.org.

The United States, international trophy hunting is addressed by several laws, including the Endangered Species Act. ESA does not regulate trophy-hunting activities within range countries directly; rather, the law governs what can be imported into the United States. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) regulates trophy hunting, in part, by issuing permits to import trophies of species that are listed as threatened or endangered under ESA. www.crsreports.congress.gov.

Excuses. Excuses. Excuses. Trophy hunters rationalize reasons out the wazoo to justify killing of animals in the wild. Hunters pump money into the economy. Hunters help with conservationism. Really? Hunters kill for the thrill. And hang their prize on walls to brag. Decorate your walls with something else. Is destroying wildlife for pleasure unethical? Yes.

Trophy huntingthe killing of big game for a set of horns or tusks, a skin, or a taxidermied bodyhas burgeoned into a billion-dollar, profit-driven industry, overseen in some cases by corrupt governments. Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa allow trophy hunting, with varying degrees of transparency and control, establishing yearly quotas meant to reflect the status of species and creating exclusions for highly vulnerable populations. South Africa, for instance, no longer allows hunting of leopards. Kenya has banned trophy hunting outright since 1977, and in Botswana, a comparatively wildlife-rich country, a temporary ban in government-controlled hunting areas went into effect in 2014, according to an article in National Geographic.

Cecil, a famed black-maned lion in Zimbabwe, was lured with bait, shot with an arrow and suffered for more than 10 hours before his hunters tracked and finished killing him in 2015. Cecil's death sparked international outrage in 2015; his son, Xanda, met a similar fate two years later. www.humanesociety.org.

Cecil, the lion, was stalked and killed by a Minnesota dentist under the guise of conservation. How much did that cost him for bragging and boasting rights?

Trophy hunting in places where animals are bred and held captive for the purpose of being killed (canned hunting) results in cutting off the head of a creature to decorate a wall. Ah, have a beer and boast. Oh, have a bratwurst and brag.

Why do people thrill kill animals? Why we may never understand the reasons people hunt animals as trophies' is an explanation by criminologist Dr. Xanthe Mallett. Perhaps hunting large animals is an example of some peoples need to show dominance over others. Research shows increased levels of hostility and a need for power and control are associated with poor attitudes towards animals, among men in particular. www. theconversation.com.

Of all the animals, man is the only one that is cruel. He is the only one that inflicts pain for the pleasure of doing it.Mark Twain

Writing this column, I searched around my house to make sure I was not being a hypocrite. Any items made of ivory? No. Any bearskin rugs on my floor? No. Any boots or bags made of crocodile skin? No. Any coats made of animal fur? No. Any pillows made of duck feathers? No. I do own a purse and a pair of boots that are partly made of cow hide (leather). Im assuming the leather is a byproduct of the meat from the cow which feeds humans. While growing up, I ate venison. Chicken, turkey, and seafood have a place on my table. And on occasion, I eat bacon. But Ive never committed an animal thrill kill.

Melissa Martin, Ph.D., is an author, columnist, educator, and therapist. She lives in US.
Hundreds of students from the Universidad Alas Peruanas (UAP) protested on February 7 in the southern Peruvian city of Arequipa against a state education agencys revocation of the universitys license which threatens to curtail their educational careers.

The demonstrators stabbed their arms with syringes until they bled and bound themselves with chains outside Arequipas Municipal Theater, where Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra was scheduled to speak. When the students tried to move towards the theater, they were pushed back by a phalanx of police equipped with riot shields.

The protest was the latest in a series of demonstrations by students from private, for-profit universities which have had their licenses revoked by the National Superintendency of Higher University Education (in Spanish, Sunedu) for failure to meet basic educational standards. Some 39 private universities and 116,000 students are affected. The institutions have been ordered to stop admitting new students and close down within one year.

Universidad Alas Peruanas main center in Jesus Maria, Lima

The students main demand is that the private institutions be treated the same as public universities denied their licenses, which are given a two-year grace period to remedy their deficiencies.

While the government has stated that the students can go to national public universities or transfer to other private universities, there is not enough space in the public institutions and more expensive private schools are out of reach for many who come from families with low incomes.

This is a moment of uncertainty, Gianpol, an administration student from UAP, the largest of the affected schools, with 65,000 students, told the World Socialist Web Site. We were not told anything about the process of how universities were denied [licenses]. Many young people still dont know what to do, what college to go to or what colleges they can afford. He added that students were concerned over whether other colleges would accept their credits from a school shut down by the government and over likely increased tuition costs.

There are certainly businessmen linked to the education sector who are taking advantage of youth with less resources, profiting from young people, Gianpol said. There is inequality, since we all have the right to study. Whether youre poor or rich, the state should take care of it. Education is very important not only for your professional life but serves to develop you as a person, as a human being and grow as citizens, to do things better, to change society.

Beginning in 2016, the Ministry of Education, through its subsidiary Sunedu, initiated an evaluation of Peruvian universities. What it found were gross violations of Basic Quality Conditions (in Spanish, CBC) established under the national university law, as well as fraud and corruption by businessmen seeking to exploit the striving for an education by some of the countrys more oppressed social layers.

A total of 37 universities (90 per cent of those denied licenses) were founded based upon the free market policies imposed by the IMF in the early 1990s under the dictatorship of President Alberto Fujimori as a condition for having access to international financial markets.

Ginapol a student of management at Universidad Alas Peruanas that has been ordered by the government to close down within one year

Thirty-five of the private for-profit universities threatened with shutdown have been established since 2000, their emergence coinciding with the investment of tens of billions of dollars by transnational mining companies in the exploitation of Perus natural resources.

The mining boom from 2002 to 2014, which saw GDP growth of 6.1 percent per year, produced a reduction in poverty and extreme poverty, creating a demand for higher education among lower-income families.

With the decline in the demand for mineral resources and economic growth beginning in 2015, however, unemployment rose and consumption shrank, with the private education sector one of the first to be affected.

Two overlapping phenomena are present in Peru university crisis. The first has to do with most universities being denied for not meeting the eight CBC requirements. The other is one of corruption involving two of the three largest universities threatened with shutdown.

In 2018, the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega University, with16,000 students, paid dean Luis Cervantes and his small clique of teachers an amount of 43.5 million nuevos soles (US$13.2 million) in golden salaries, the Peruvian daily La Republica reported.

Alas Peruanas, with 65,000 students, was founded in 1996 by Fidel Ramirez together with an Air Force officers association. It was linked by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to drug trafficking and money laundering, with UAP planes allegedly used to transport drugs to Miami. Ramirezs nephew, Joaquin Ramirez, was a congressman and secretary general of the right-wing fujimorista Fuerza Popular party, charged with laundering bribe money for the partys now imprisoned leader Keiko Fujimori.

The remaining 36 universities had a combined student body of just 16,000 students, an average of 445 students per school. San Francisco Xavier Graduate School, in the city of Arequipa, had just 17 students, four classrooms and 12 teachers (mostly part-time), yet offered four masters degrees and a doctorate.

In the face of the mounting crisis and protests, President Vizcarra made 18 million nuevos solesUS$ 5.5 millionavailable for national universities to admit low-income students from the private schools who, otherwise, would be on the streets.

The fear within the government and the Peruvian ruling class is that anger among youth at the exploitation and inequality that pervades Perus society and its educational system can be the spark that ignites the kind of social upheavals that have gripped Chile, Ecuador and Colombia in recent months.
Virginia Lawmakers to Expand In-State College Tuition to Illegal-Immigrant Students

Bills that would make illegal immigrants eligible for in-state college tuition have passed both chambers of Virginias state legislation.

House Bill 1547, which has been pushed by its Democratic sponsor Del. Alfonso Lopez for nine consecutive years, passed the House on Feb. 12 in a vote of 5644. The Senate version of the bill passed in a party-line vote of 2119.

The bill, also known as the Virginia Dream Act, would make in-state college tuition available for all students, regardless of their immigration or citizenship status. They must have attended high school in Virginia for at least two years, or graduated since July 1, 2008, or passed a high school equivalency exam since that year.

The bill would not expand the in-state tuition eligibility to non-citizens who move to the United States for school or work temporarily. It means international students who hold certain educational or training visas would not be affected by the change. The Senate version of the bill, however, would allow students and parents to use Virginia income tax returns as a proof of their in-state residency. Illegal immigrant students or their legal guardians would need to submit at least two years of tax returns before their college enrollment to qualify for in-state tuition.

Expanding eligibility for in-state tuition fulfills our promises and investments made in these students, many of whom have known no other home than the United States, Del. Lopez wrote in a statement posted on Facebook.

This is also an emotional victory for me and my family, wrote Lopez, adding that his father came to the country via illegal entry, and his mother dedicated her education career to helping undocumented students find ways to pay for college.

Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam voiced his support in a written statement, saying that he was pleased that the bill passed the state legislature. Shortly after Northam took office in 2018, Virginias attorney general allowed those covered under the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) to qualify for in-state tuition.

If Gov. Northam signed the bill into law, Virginia would join the other eighteen states that have laws extending in-state tuition rates to illegal immigrants meeting specific requirements. Seven of those states, namely California, Colorado, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, and Washington, currently allow illegal immigrants to apply for state financial aid as well.

By contrast, three statesArizona, Georgia, and Indianaexpressly prohibit in-state tuition rates for illegal immigrants. In Alabama and South Carolina, illegal immigrants are prohibited from enrolling at any public college or university at all.
PUNE:Pimpri-Chinchwad police arrested a man for killing his alcoholic, abusive father on Sunday night in Vitthalwadi area of Dehugaon, near Pune. The deceased was identified as Santosh Vitthal Yelwandi, 47, while his son is identified as Viraj Santosh Yelwande, 20, both residents of Dehugaon.

Santosh Yelvande was beating up his wife Kavita after consuming alcohol at 10:30pm (on Sunday) when their son Viraj hit his father with a piece of wood, said senior inspector Manish Kalyankar of Dehuroad police station.

The father, according to police officials, sustained grievous injuries. He was rushed to Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial, Pimpri, but was declared dead on arrival, according to Kalyankar.

The 47-year-old used to regularly beat up his wife after getting drunk, according to her statement to the police. The police registered a case against her son based on Kavitas statement.

Assistant inspector (API) Shahid Pathan of Dehuroad police station is investigating the case. A case under Section 302 (murder) of Indian Penal Code was registered at Dehuroad police station against the arrested boy.
More than two dozen demonstrators with flags and signs are gathered at the P.E.I. side of the Confederation Bridge in support of the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs.

The demonstrators set up on a median at the road leading to the bridge on Sunday afternoon. Traffic was slowed in the area, but vehicles were able to proceed.

P.E.I. RCMP are on scene. However, they said Sunday afternoon the demonstration was peaceful and their presence was to help direct traffic.

Kyler Peters, from Lennox Island First Nation, is one of the demonstrators. He said he wanted to take part in the growing movement.

What Islanders and Canadians need to understand is that these protests happening across the country, and now in P.E.I., are about more than just the Wet'suwet'en situation. - Epekwitk Assembly of Councils

He said the initial goal was to stop transport trucks, not passenger vehicles, but it wasn't doable given the number of demonstrators.

"We are not here to have the people against us, just the Canadian government and companies," he said.

Peters said some people planned to spend Sunday night at the bridge and remain until Monday afternoon.

Rosanna Kressin, also at the event, and is with the group Masses Against Capitalist Oppression.

"It's really needed that the local Mi'kmaq people here are supported," Kressin said.

"What's happening with the Wet'suwet'en nation right now is symbolic, I guess, of systematic colonial violence that's been perpetuated to Indigenous people."

Sarah MacMillan/CBC

Statement from Epekwitk Assembly of Councils

In a statement on behalf of the Epekwitk Assembly of Councils, Chief Darlene Bernard and Chief Junior Gould said they support the peaceful protest, but that the issue is complex.

"We respect the environmental concerns raised by the Wet'suwet'en hereditary Chiefs and we also acknowledge and respect the decisions made by over 20 First Nations, including most Wet'suwet'en First Nations, that have signed impact benefits agreements with [Coastal GasLink] and currently support the pipeline."

Story continues

The statement addressed the importance of the matter being resolved peacefully and "within the law."

"What Islanders and Canadians need to understand is that these protests happening across the country, and now in P.E.I., are about more than just the Wet'suwet'en situation.

"They are about centuries of Canada's Indigenous people being denied access to the land and resources, they are about centuries of economic and social marginalization."

Submitted by Patricia Bourque

Opposition to Coastal GasLink

Sunday's event follows a gathering of about a hundred demonstrators at Province House in Charlottetown on Saturday afternoon.

Demonstrations have cropped up across the country in support of the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs, who oppose the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline on their territory in northern British Columbia.

RCMP enforced a B.C. Supreme Court injunction and made a number of arrests last week, sparking demonstrations across the country.

Sarah MacMillan/CBC

Representatives from 20 First Nations along the pipeline route  including the elected chiefs of the Wet'suwet'en  signed agreements with Coastal GasLink consenting to the project. However, the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs say those councils were established by the Indian Act and only have authority over reserve lands.

Members of the Mohawk First Nation in eastern Ontario were into their 10th day of protest Saturday in support of the hereditary chiefs. The blockade, near Belleville, prompted CN Rail to close its Eastern Canadian freight train network, and Via Rail has cancelled passenger trains nationwide because of demonstrations taking place along or on railway tracks.

More from CBC P.E.I.
NEW HAVEN  The city Police Commission has decided to hold meetings outside the Union Avenue station after Mayor Justin Elicker and activist Barbara Fair urged the change, suggesting it would allow residents uncomfortable visiting the police station to participate.

Elicker attended his first Police Commission meeting last week since becoming mayor Jan. 1. He took the opportunity to suggest the change, noting it had been raised at a number of his transition meetings.

Theres been a lot of interest for quite some time from some community members about having the Police Commission meetings outside of the police department to make it feel more accessible to people that may be concerned about coming to the police department, said Elicker.

The commission unanimously approved the idea. Commission Chairman Anthony Dawson and Commissioner Evelise Ribeiro noted the body already had agreed to hold meetings elsewhere if need be.

This board has been transparent since weve been in existence, said Dawson. We have not been one that has been slowing down progress, so I immediately said that I would bring it to the body, let the body vote it up and down, and do whatever the body wishes. And I support it.

Commissioner Donald Walker shared concerns about accessing and keeping records secure if meeting beyond the police department, noting the board regularly deals with personnel matters.

Elicker noted that the move would be made on a trial basis, and that the commission ultimately decides where it meets; Police Chief Otoniel Reyes said issues with dealing with personnel matters could be addressed in the future.

Fair suggested in November that the commissions meetings be held outside the Union Avenue police station.

For me, coming up here is very anxiety provoking ... but I refuse to stop coming, because Im really looking to see some change in culture and policy within the Police Department, said Fair at the time, arguing the change would better fit the departments claimed belief in community policing.

The next Police Commission meeting is expected to be held at City Hall, officials said Tuesday.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
Miami: The largest Democratic super PAC in the US is launching a new series of attack ads starring a group of Florida Latinos who've fled oppressive governments in their home countries, featuring footage of President Donald Trump alongside images of Fidel Castro, Nicolas Maduro and Augusto Pinochet.

Donald Trump: compared to Latin America's most notorious dictators. Credit:AP

Priorities USA, which teased this recent slate of ads last November, is using anti-Trump testimonials from one Cuban and three Venezuelan immigrants to compare Trump's rhetoric to that of a Latin American "caudillo," or an authoritarian dictator.

The digital commercials will begin to publish on social media platforms on Monday in the US (Tuesday Australia-time) with the hashtag "#CaudilloDay," a nod to the Presidents Day holiday.

"What is a caudillo? An authoritarian. A demagogue. A dictator," the campaign's introduction ad says in bold white letters on a black backdrop while suspenseful music plays in the background. "Donald Trump does not act like a president. He acts like a caudillo. (It's not a compliment)."
OTTAWAErin OToole stood on a snowy Ottawa street corner last week, saying perfectly reasonable things about needing to broaden the Conservatives appeal.

The party needs to modernize, he told a CBC reporter outside the public broadcasters Ottawa studio, but without compromising its conservative principles. It needs ideas for the future.

Later that week, the OToole campaign released a video from the same street corner with one of those ideas: defund the CBC.

The idea will have traction with a segment of the Conservative base, no doubt. But it also gives some insight into the strategy that OToole, one of the races two frontrunners, looks set on pursuing.

While the other frontrunner, Peter MacKay, appears intent on juggernauting his way through the opposition, relying on name recognition and a long resume, OToole is running a campaign with policies and promises hand-crafted to appeal to  and provoke reactions from  subsets of the Conservative base.

The question for the party is whether this dynamic is likely to produce the kind of modernized Conservative movement OToole and so many others have said is necessary to win back power.

Many conservatives had hoped that this race would be about competing visions for the partys future. But with Rona Ambrose, Jean Charest, Pierre Poilievre and John Baird all out, its not shaping up that way.

Instead, with the leadership field now likely set, a very different kind of race has emerged: MacKay largely avoiding questions of vision and OToole offering a micro-targeted grab-bag of policy from which a vision can be hard to discern.

For Campus Conservatives and the always-online set? OToole will take the fight to the extreme left and wont stand for their cancel culture. For the moderately socially conservative? OToole will march in Torontos Pride parade  but only if organizers allow uniformed police to once again participate.

If elected, OToole would end the Trudeau governments support for the struggling news industry (which benefits the Toronto Star, among others). OToole says he wont pander for the fake approval of the Ottawa press corps.

OToole (like MacKay) will follow Conservative party orthodoxies by vowing to get rid of carbon pricing and to get tough on crime.

From all this a strategy, if not a vision, can be gleaned: OToole is trying to cobble together enough disparate Conservative factions to spoil the frontrunner.

That could happen. If the 2017 leadership race is any indication, pundits should not mistake the frontrunner for a sure thing.

Andrew Scheer was largely seen as an afterthought by the press  and most Conservative insiders  until he upset frontrunner Maxime Bernier. In an interesting twist of fate, many who worked on Berniers bid are now working for MacKay.

But Scheers 2017 victory has another lesson. He ran as everybodys second choice, micro-targeting specific segments of the big blue tent, much as OToole seems to be doing. He turned away no supporters, and offered enough small-beer promises to attract sufficient support to best Bernier on the last ballot.

Between that victory and the 2019 election, Scheer couldnt  or at least didnt  articulate a vision that broadened the Conservatives appeal. In the roughly two years he was leader, which included a policy convention that failed to produce meaningful policy, Scheer didnt provide enough voters with a reason to vote Conservative.

Both MacKay and OToole would be wise to consider not only what tactics are required to win the leadership, but where those tactics will leave the party when the next leader goes up against Justin Trudeau. Whoever wins will likely have less time than Scheer did to win over voters to his or her vision, if he or she has one, of the Conservative cause.

Read more about:
GREENBELT, Md. - Federal prosecutors in Maryland are recommending a prison sentence of more than five years for a man who pleaded guilty to conspiring to obtain hundreds of stolen televisions worth more than $1 million.

Prosecutors explained in a court filing on Saturday why they are recommending a 65-month sentence for Saul Eady. A defence attorney is seeking a three-year prison sentence for Eady, who pleaded guilty in November 2019 to conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud.

The governments calculation of sentencing guidelines in Eadys case calls for a prison term ranging of 57 to 71 months. U.S. District Judge George Hazel isnt bound by those guidelines when he sentences Eady at a Feb. 24 hearing scheduled in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Eady was one of eight defendants charged in a September 2018 indictment. He is set to be the first defendant sentenced in the case. His sister, Saulina Eady, also was charged in the indictment.

In Saturdays court filing, prosecutors said Saul Eady was a member of the West Coast operation of an international fraud scheme that posed as U.S. Navy contracting agents to convince three U.S. companies to ship them electronics equipment without payments upfront.

Eady and others received more than 300 stolen televisions in California, stored them in rental units in Los Angeles and were paid in cash after the merchandise was resold, according to a court filing that accompanied his guilty plea.

The filing doesnt name the victims of the scheme, but it describes them as a Maryland-based defence contractor that made communications equipment, a wholesale audio-video distributor in Virginia and a Washington state-based company that provided wireless voice and data services.
Fourteen Americans aboard two chartered evacuation flights back to the U.S. have tested positive for the coronavirus, the State Department said Monday.

The infected individuals were among hundreds released after two weeks in quarantine aboard a Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Yokohama, Japan, which was carrying about 380 Americans and their family members. Before boarding the flights, they were screened for the virus and found to be without symptoms and fit to fly, but officials afterwards learned they had tested positive.

The two evacuation flights left from Tokyo, and one landed at Travis Air Force Base near Sacramento, Calif., while the other landed at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.

These individuals were moved in the most expeditious and safe manner to a specialized containment area on the evacuation aircraft to isolate them in accordance with standard protocols, the State Department said in a statement.

During the flights, these individuals will continue to be isolated from the other passengers, the statement said.

Once in the U.S., those who tested positive will be quarantined for two weeks in an appropriate location for continued isolation and care.

So far, the U.S. has 15 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, not including the 14 new cases.

The virus, a respiratory illness, originated in Wuhan, China, and has killed at least 1,770 people, most of whom were elderly or otherwise suffered from compromised immune systems, and infected over 70,000 in China.

More from National Review
10 people have been arrested as part of an operation targeting illegal immigration and work permits.

It follows a number of searches over the past two months.

The searches were carried out by gardai attached to the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) in conjunction with the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) and the Department of Social Protection.

One search was carried out on January 30 at the warehouse of an Asian food products supplier and a number of offices at a business park in west Dublin.

It was established this company was suspected of employing people in contravention of the Immigration and Employment Permits Legislation. It was also discovered a number of people were subject to deportation orders.

Six people were arrested as part of that operation, three of them appeared before Blanchardstown District Court.

During the search, Department of Social Protection officers suspended a number of payments, estimated to save the state 100,000.

On February 11, offices and a warehouse of a Meat Processing Company in Co Meath were searched.

A total of 19 individuals were discovered in contravention of either immigration or permit legislation.

Four people were arrested and charged under immigration legislation, a fifth person claimed asylum. And an additional 11 people will be deported.

A further three non-EU Nationals were interviewed due to possible work permit discrepancies.
Mumbai, Feb 17 : Last year's National Bravery Award winner Mumbai girl Zen Sadavarte has demanded action against what she terms a bizarre and unconstitutional Valentine Day oath where the girls of an Amravati college were made to take a pledge not to "indulge in a love-affairs or love-marriage".

The 12-year-old, who raised the issue of the death of an infant in Shaheen Bagh protests, of which the Supreme Court took cognizance -- has now written to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Union Minister Smriti Irani and Director-General of Police Maharashtra, seeking their urgent intervention.

Among other things, Zen has demanded that a first information report be lodged against the management and teachers of Mahila Arts & Commerce College in Amravati, near Nagpur.

She referred to a baffling oath which the girls of the college were allegedly compelled to take on Valentines Day (February 14), videos of which went viral and said it was "unconstitutional and deserves the girls of their right to make decisions/choices regarding their life".

In the oath taken by the college-girls -- organized by the National Student Scheme coordinator, allegedly at the behest of some local political activists -- the students raised their hands and solemnly vowed not to fall in love-affairs, not indulge in a love-marriage, reject boys who demand dowry, adhere to the advice of the family and have faith in the boy they selected, etc - all as a asocial duty'! "This is clearly inspired by 'Manusmriti' and clearly amounts to gender discrimination under IPC Sec. 294 and IT Act Sec. 67-A, and an appropriate complaint must be filed the concerned college teacher/s," Zen told IANS.

Maharashtra's Women & Child Welfare Minister Yashomati Thakur's response was equally surprising when she commented that the oath was not binding on anyone and felt it must have been in the context of the recent burning of a woman lecturer in adjoining Wardha by a jilted suitor (February 3).

Despite repeated attempts by IANS, the college authorities were not available for their comments in the matter.

Run by the Vidarbha Youth Welfare Society, the college is affiliated to Amravati University and was founded 30 years ago by the former Education Minister Professor Ram Meghe.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
BELLEVUE, Wash., Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Coding Dojo, a leading coding education company, today announces a partnership with Jewish Family Service and Community Credit Lab to provide free computer programming education for local refugees. The program's first five participants start the Coding Dojo 14-week bootcamp today, where they will learn web fundamentals including HTML and CSS, as well as three full computer programming stacks. Tuition is covered by scholarships provided by Coding Dojo.

While the participants progress through the curriculum, Jewish Family Service will provide comprehensive employment case management support, access to professional mentors, and a living stipend throughout the duration of the program.

"We are excited to work with Coding Dojo and Community Credit Lab to help our clients get the job training they need for new employment opportunities," said Jewish Family Service CEO Rabbi Will Berkovitz. "The program aligns with our goal of helping refugees gain greater self-sufficiency as they make a new home in this country."

To help the students build credit, Community Credit Lab is providing 0% interest loans to support a portion of the living expenses incurred during the bootcamp program. These loans were designed in partnership with Jewish Family Service with final approval on all loan terms by the program participants.

"We're focused on removing barriers that force people with fewer resources to pay more to access capital and economic prosperity," said Community Credit Lab Chief Investment Officer Sandhya Nakhasi. "Supporting underserved communities to access the skills needed to succeed in our current economy is an essential component of reducing the economic disparities we see locally and nationally."

The new program aims to be a model for communities to create economic mobility opportunities and pivotal social safety nets for refugees and immigrants. This launch is the first phase of the program and the three organizations will continue to gather stakeholders and funding for additional cohorts based on learnings and programmatic results.

"Many refugees already have high levels of knowledge and experience but are hampered in their home countries by inefficient or broken systems," said Coding Dojo CEO Richard Wang. "We are committed to empowering refugees and other underserved communities so they can participate in the digital economy."

Companies or individuals who are interested in getting involved can contact the three organizations via their websites.

About Jewish Family Service

Jewish Family helps vulnerable individuals and families in the Puget Sound region achieve well-being, health and stability. Core services include financial assistance for people with critical food, housing, and medical needs; refugee resettlement and integration; trauma-informed counseling; case management; and a food bank. To learn more or get involved, please visit www.jfsseattle.org.

About Community Credit Lab

Community Credit Lab exists to fill gaps and support the removal of barriers to economic equity in King County and the Pacific Northwest. The organization provides capital to underserved communities on their terms by collaborating to design and implement affordable loan products. For more information, please visit www.communitycreditlab.org.

About Coding Dojo

Coding Dojo is a leading technology education company that offers a three-full-stack computer programming bootcamp, as well as courses on Data Science and other emerging technologies. The innovative curriculum and Learning Management System are designed to train students to become self-sufficient developers, regardless of their technical background. Coding Dojo has campuses in ten US cities, as well as a part-time online program. Learn more at www.codingdojo.com.

SOURCE Coding Dojo

Related Links

https://www.codingdojo.com


As many as 883 people were arrested for the violence during anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests in Uttar Pradesh on December 20 and 21 that left 22 people dead and 83 injured, the state government told the Allahabad high court on Monday.

Out of those arrested, 561 are now out on bail and 322 are still in jail, said Uttar Pradesh governments counsel, Manish Goel. He told the court that proper medical aid was given to all the injured and that 45 police and government officials were also injured during the protests.

The state government provided the figures to a high court bench comprising chief justice Govind Mathur and justice Siddhartha Varma hearing a bunch of petitions against police action during the anti-CAA protests.

The high court had on January 29 directed the state to file an affidavit and apprise it about the FIRs/complaints filed about police atrocities against protestors during the anti-CAA protests. It asked the government to bring on record details of all those injured during the protests and medical aid, if any, provided to them. The state was also asked whether it verified media reports regarding police atrocities.

In the petitions filed against the alleged excessive use of force by police against the protestors, it has been alleged that it caused deaths and injuries. They called the police action unjustified and said it was in violation of fundamental rights. The petitioners alleged the injured were not given proper medical aid and post-mortem reports of those who died during the violence were not provided to their family members.

The state government maintained excessive force was not used and even police personnel were injured while trying to maintain the law and order. The bench has fixed March 18 as the next date of hearing in the case.

The CAA, which aims to fast-track the citizenship process for non-Muslims who have entered India from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh before 2015, has triggered protests across the country. Opponents of the law insist it is discriminatory and unconstitutional as it leaves out the Muslims and links faith to citizenship in a secular country.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das (PTI)

With massive Rs 1.47 lakh crore of AGR dues pushing telecom firms to the brink, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday said the central bank is "very closely monitoring" the fallout of the crisis on lenders by way of a default, if any, by telecom players.

In an interview with PTI, Das said so far no red flags have been raised but the central bank continues to monitor the situation closely.

The Supreme Court last week rejected a plea by mobile carriers such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea Ltd for extension in the payment schedule and asked them to deposit an estimated Rs 1.47 lakh crore in past dues for spectrum and licences by March 17.

Some telecom firms are already struggling with mounting losses and debt and the additional liability has raised concerns of them defaulting on existing loans.

Das said he cannot comment on the Supreme Court ruling.

"With regard to the impact on the banking sector, we are very closely monitoring it. It all depends on how the companies concerned are able to make the payments and when they are able to make the payments. We are monitoring it," he said.

Of the estimated dues that include interest and penalty for late payments, Airtel and Vodafone Idea owe about 60 per cent.

While Airtel on Monday paid Rs 10,000 crore out of the Rs 35,586 crore dues that Department of Telecommunications (DoT) thinks the company owes to the government, Vodafone Idea's plea for being allowed to pay Rs 2,500 crore immediately and another Rs 1,000 crore by Friday to clear a part of the DoT estimated dues of Rs 53,000 crore was rejected by the apex court on Monday.

Airtel has said it will clear the remaining dues before the next date of hearing on March 17 but Vodafone Idea has so far not provided a clear deadline for making payments.

Das said no red flags on default by any telecom company has so far been raised with the central bank. "We are monitoring the situation. We are monitoring it very closely."

The telecom sector, he said, has been one of the pillars of the economic growth of India in the last two decades.

It created demand as well as jobs just like other pillars of massive infrastructure push given by the construction of the Golden Quadrilateral highway project and information technology or IT sector.

"In the telecom sector, there was a huge expansion. India was able to capitalize on that," he said.

The telecom boom not just lowered the cost of making phone calls and internet usage charges but also created massive employment.

In recent times, few companies in the telecom sector have folded up under mounting debt pile and intense competition, leading to job losses. Even in the current crisis, there are apprehensions being expressed about the continuation of at least one company.

Vodafone Idea Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla had in December stated that the company may have to shut if there is no relief on the statutory dues. "If we are not getting anything, then I think it is the end of the story for Vodafone Idea," he had said. "It does not make sense to put good money after bad We will shut shop.
In the end, 61 Americans remain on board, officials said.

Asked why American officials began evacuating passengers without knowing their test results, Dr. William Walters, managing director of operational medicine at the State Department, told reporters on Monday that it was unpredictable when the results would come back.

The Americans were put on about 15 buses to the airport. Once it became clear that some had the coronavirus, the State Department said, the infected passengers were moved in the most expeditious and safe manner to a specialized containment area in the rear of the planes.

In the isolation area, they posed no additional risk, Dr. Walters said.

After landing, the 14 infected evacuees went to hospitals for monitoring and treatment. Most ended up being flown to Omaha for medical treatment by experts at the University of Nebraska. Another five returning passengers were also put into isolation because they had developed fevers.

The remaining American passengers stayed at Travis Air Force Base in California or Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, where they had landed and where they will remain under quarantine for an additional 14 days.

When one of the planes landed in California, a line of officials from the military, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Department of Homeland Security greeted passengers with banners that read Welcome home.

After being ushered through an isolation tent, they were assigned to apartments on the base.

They have flown in specialists from across the country, said one evacuee, Sarah Arana, 52, a medical social worker from Paso Robles, Calif. Its a phenomenal amount of resources. Im kind of blown away.

Epidemiologists said American officials had made a difficult decision in allowing infected passengers onboard the charter flights.
By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Trade Representative's office said on Friday it has established a dispute resolution office and complaint hotline to enforce President Donald Trump's 'Phase 1' trade deal with China, which takes effect on Saturday. Deputy USTR Jeffrey Gerrish will head the new office, which will field complaints about China's implementation of the agreement from companies and other interested parties, the agency said in a statement.

By David Lawder

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Trade Representative's office said on Friday it has established a dispute resolution office and complaint hotline to enforce President Donald Trump's "Phase 1" trade deal with China, which takes effect on Saturday.

Deputy USTR Jeffrey Gerrish will head the new office, which will field complaints about China's implementation of the agreement from companies and other interested parties, the agency said in a statement.

"Interested parties may raise their concerns about implementation matters under the Phase One agreement by calling 202-395-3900," USTR said.

Both the United States and China are opening such dispute resolution offices under the deal's enforcement provisions. The Trump administration has claimed that this mechanism is what differentiates the agreement from past pledges by China to change its trade and intellectual property practices.

The Phase 1 deal includes wide-ranging provisions https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/files/agreements/phase%20one%20agreement/Economic_And_Trade_Agreement_Between_The_United_States_And_China_Text.pdf that will be subject to bilateral consultations if one side believes the other is not in compliance.

China has pledged to increase purchases of U.S. goods by $200 billion over the next two years, although its ability to meet those targets has been called into question by the coronavirus outbreak that has shut factories and transport.

Beijing also has agreed in the Phase 1 deal to improve protection of American intellectual property, curb the forced and coerced transfer of U.S. technology to Chinese firms, open its financial services to U.S. competition, remove some agriculture trade barriers and refrain from currency manipulation.

Washington has agreed to halve the tariff rate on a $120 billion list of U.S. goods, including Bluetooth headphones, smart speakers, flat-panel televisions and footwear, to 7.5% after suspending a new round of tariffs on cell phones and other consumer goods in December.

Under the dispute settlement process, the two sides will hold a series of escalating consultations over a 90-day period. If disagreements cannot be resolved by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, the complaining party will be able to impose new tariffs in an amount equal to the estimated damage from the complaint.

The other party can accept the punitive tariffs or quit the agreement.

Some trade experts have said that U.S. companies doing business in China may be reluctant to lodge complaints with the new office, fearing that the Chinese government will put new pressures on them.

A new U.S.-China Business Council survey https://www.uschina.org/sites/default/files/phase_one_trade_agreement_member_survey.pdf showed this week that just 22% of member companies said they were likely or very likely to use the new mechanism, with 20% unlikely and 48% unsure.

(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Richard Chang)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
The ex-premier told a women's conference in the Gulf she had been forced to get changed into evening clothes behind a make-shift screen, ahead of an official dinner

Theresa May once had to undress in the cockpit of an RAF jet in the middle of a flight, the former prime minister revealed today.

The ex-premier told a women's conference in the Gulf she had been forced to get changed into evening clothes behind a make-shift screen en-route to an official dinner.

The eye-watering admission from the normally straight-laced ex-PM came at the Global Women's Forum Dubai, where the audience included Ivanka Trump.

Asked if she had faced any tricky moments as a female PM, she spoke of a trip on an RAF flight with no changing facilities - but with staff prepared for any eventuality.

'They took up me into the cockpit, there with two pilots, and I'm thinking ''really?'',' she said to applause and laughter.

'A chap comes along with sticky tape and a sheet, and he stuck it up behind the pilots and says: ''There you go, you can change behind that'',' she said.

She was speaking on stage with the United Arab Emirates' ambassador to the United Nations, Lana Nusseibeh (left)

The eye-watering admission from t he normally straight-laced ex-PM came at the Global Women's Forum Dubai, where the audience included Ivanka Trump (pictured with Mrs May)

She was speaking on stage with the United Arab Emirates' ambassador to the United Nations, Lana Nusseibeh.

Ms Nusseibeh shared her own 'embarrassing' anecdote, saying that once while trying to keep up with the UAE's foreign minister on the streets of New York, she got her heel stuck in a gutter and it broke off. She did her best to keep up.

'Men, frankly, don't run in heels,' Nusseibeh said.

Mrs May also spoke about a type of boys-club culture that existed when she first entered the House of Commons as a member of parliament in the late 1990s, with 'a huge emphasis on the men sort-of drinking together and getting together into groups.'

'Some of the women felt they had to join that, and I didn't,' she said.

'I wanted to do it the way I wanted to do it. So, I did it my way. I was myself and, hey, I was prime minister.'
There are almost 600 people are being treated on trolleys at hospitals across the country.

This Monday morning, there are 583 people waiting for beds, according to figures released by the INMO - the second highest number released so far this year.
Vivo Energy Ghana, Shell licensee, has reopened its second solar powered Shell service station in Community 2 at Tema.

The station is the second after Airport City Shell to be powered by solar energy to reduce the companys carbon footprint and ensure energy efficiency in its operations.

In an interview, the Managing Director of Vivo Energy Ghana, Mr. Ben Hassan Ouattara said the initiative is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals 7 and 13 and the company is committed to developing a number of solutions to reduce energy usage and impact on the environment.

We work hard, in partnership with Shell, to develop more efficient products that reduce our impact on the environment. Our Shell FuelSave improves combustion, boosts efficiency and saves fuel. Shell lubricants, 5W30 and 5W40 are also made from base oil created from natural gas with virtually none of the impurities found in crude oil, he said.

Reopening the station, Mr. Ouattara said the new Community 2 Shell service station, which models the companys growth and modernisation plan, has a two-pump island canopy with a modern lube bay, a semi-automatic car wash and a tyre centre.

Additionally, the station has the new shop format welcome to provide a warm, delightful and modern shopping experience to its customers. It also has the welcome bakery under the management of Bakeshop Classics, to provide customers with quick breakfast, snack and other exciting products.

Mr. Ouattara reaffirmed Vivo Energys commitment to constantly providing an exceptional retail experience at Shell service stations, reaching more people with better products and services.

The Chief Inspector, Director, IM and HSSE at the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Mrs. Esther Anku commended Vivo Energy Ghana for setting and maintaining high standards in the industry, which is evident in its operations.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi delivers opening remarks to the International Conference on 40 Years of Hosting Afghan Refugees in Pakistan, held in Islamabad.  UNHCR/Ivor Prickett

Honourable Prime Minister,

Mr. Vice-President,

Secretary-General,

Ministers, and

Ladies and gentlemen,

For the last 40 years, as we have heard, the people of Pakistan have stood with their Afghan neighbours.

Through the early days of upheaval and displacement, when a third of the countrys population fled across its borders in just a few years.

Through moments of hope, when millions returned, seeking stability and a future back home.

As the UNHCR representative in Afghanistan, almost 20 years ago, I was personally privileged to be part of a collective, extraordinary effort to support 3 million Afghans return home after years of exile. It was a historic repatriation and  allow me to add  the highlight of my professional experience.

But Pakistan, and of course also Iran, have been with Afghan refugees through bitter times of hardship and loss, renewed conflict and uncertainty.

And through years of efforts to rebuild a fractured nation and secure the peaceful future that the people of Afghanistan deserve.

This is what we are here to mark today: the compassion, the hospitality, the solidarity of the people of the host countries; and the courage and resilience of the Afghan people.

For Afghans, the story of their exile has been a long and painful one  marked by moments of hope and despair; a story that will not be complete until solutions can be found back in their own country.

From the refugee perspective, that path remains uncertain.

Inside Afghanistan, fighting continues to kill and maim civilians, shut down schools and clinics and limit economic activity. More than 400,000 people were displaced within the country last year alone, by conflict, drought and other natural hazards; and just 8,000 refugees were able to return home through the voluntary repatriation programme.

For some refugees, nonetheless, solutions can be possible, even in these difficult circumstances. And I commend the commitment of the Government of Afghanistan to the return and reintegration of its nationals, and to addressing internal displacement.

Improved institutional arrangements have been put in place to drive these efforts; and national Afghan peace and development programmes now include land allocation schemes, and targeted reintegration support. This is valuable work that must be continued and supported in order to create conditions for larger and sustainable returns.

I also welcome the constructive dialogue between the Governments of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan, in the framework of the Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees launched together with UNHCR in 2012, when the Secretary-General was the High Commissioner for Refugees. Working on solutions is all the more important as efforts to revitalize the peace process in Afghanistan continue and hopefully gain momentum. Afghan displacement can only be solved by peace, and peace will be strengthened by solving forced displacement.

Over the years, the Governments and people of the host countries have not only welcomed Afghans, but have to a large extent absorbed them into the fabric of their societies  as we have seen from the video  always looking ahead to the day when the refugees will be able to return, but recognizing that in the meantime, they deserve the chance to establish a home, to move freely, educate their children, build productive and dignified lives.

Even today, Pakistan and Iran together continue to host 90 per cent of registered Afghan refugees globally  some 2.4 million people. In addition, temporary labour migration and other forms of cross-border movement in the sub-region mean that both countries also host large non-refugee Afghan populations. In recent years, there have been commendable efforts towards identification and documentation of these populations, and enhancing access to passports and work permits. I encourage these efforts to continue and to be accelerated.

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan, which was for 22 years the worlds largest refugee-hosting country, has been a long-standing global leader in the field of refugee protection. Last December, I was honoured to welcome the Honourable Prime Minister as a co-convenor of the first ever Global Refugee Forum in Geneva.

This generosity has been reflected in inclusive policies to enable access by Afghan refugees to public education and health care  efforts accompanied by pioneering work in the field of biometric registration, and multi-year investments in building social cohesion through the Refugee Affected and Hosting Areas initiative.

And we should not forget that the Governments recent decision to allow Afghan refugees to open bank accounts will help pave the way to greater economic inclusion.

And we should not forget that the Islamic Republic of Iran has also been a global example. Progressive education policies have driven up literacy rates and transformed the prospects of generations of Afghan refugees.

Refugees in Iran can access free primary health care, and the national health insurance scheme. Work rights have been progressively expanded over the years. Most of these commendable initiatives are funded from Irans own resources, despite escalating economic pressures impacting both the refugees and their hosts.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The history of Pakistans solidarity with Afghan refugees, which we honour today, shows that generosity has not come without cost. Hosting millions of refugees presents enormous challenges. It has an impact on local economies, on infrastructure, on services, on security and on the environment.

Hosting refugees is a responsibility, exercised on behalf of the international community  a responsibility that, we must recognize, has not been equitably shared. A substantial number of young and mobile Afghans do indeed embark increasingly on dangerous journeys beyond the sub-region, principally towards Europe and the Gulf countries. But the vast majority of refugees remain in the two neighbouring countries  and there, international support, while welcome, remains woefully insufficient.

The Global Compact on Refugees was shaped by the need for more equitable burden-sharing, including in large protracted refugee situations. Now is the time to make that commitment real  here.

To this end, at the Global Refugee Forum in December, we activated a dedicated Support Platform for the Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees. I appeal to donors in particular to join the Platform and lend strong support, including through the mobilization of development partners and resources.

The past 40 years have equipped us with a wealth of experience and important lessons.

It is now up to us to use them wisely. Giving up is not an option.

My greatest hope is that this conference for which I thank the Honourable Prime Minsiter and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, will call attention to the human consequences of this protracted crisis, and galvanize progress towards a resolution.

Meanwhile, we cannot abandon Afghan refugees  and Afghans inside the country  to another year, let alone to another decade, of carving out a precarious existence while waiting for peace to come.

Thank you.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court judgement granting permanent commission and command positions to women officers in the Army on par with male officers.

Around 1,500 women Army personnel are likely to benefit from the Supreme Court order, according to officials.

"I wholeheartedly welcome the Supreme Court's judgement on giving the women officers permanent commission in the armed forces. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has supported the idea of permanent commission for women and announced the change in policy in his Independence Day speech in 2018," Singh tweeted.

In the judgement, the apex court directed that all serving women officers recruited under the short service commission (SSC) scheme will have to be considered for Permanent Commissions (PCs). The judgment has to be implemented within three months.

A group of 332 women Army officers, recruited under the Short Service Commission (SSC) since 1993, had approached the top court seeking permanent commission.

At present, the Army offers permanent commission to women officers in two branches -- judge advocate general (JAG) and education.

Under SSC, women officers are initially taken for a period of five years, which is extendable up to 14 years. Permanent commissioning will allow them to serve till the age of retirement.

The Army recruits women officers under SSC for streams like air defence, engineering, signals and services and they can serve up to a maximum of 14 years.

However, a sizeable number of women officers recruited under SSC scheme were allowed to serve beyond 14 years due to court cases as well as on the basis of their overall service records.

Last year, the defence ministry had taken an in-principle decision to allow permanent commissioning of women in streams like signals, engineering, army aviation, army air defence and electronics and mechanical.

The Army planned to start opening permanent commission for women in all its branches from April, but it was strongly opposed to granting the benefit with retrospective effect.

It was decided that the SSC women officers will be considered for grant of permanent commission based on the availability of vacancies and subject to willingness, suitability, performance, medical fitness and competitive merit of the aspirants.

A senior military official said career progression of women officers in select ranks will be within the existing authorised strength of officers in Indian Army.

At present, 30 per cent of Army officials get command positions.

If we have to accommodate women in command positions, then their representation will be within the 30 per cent threshold, said a senior Army official.

"In 2019, the defence ministry granted permanent commission to women in all 10 branches of the Indian Army, including signal corps, intelligence, aviation, engineering, service corps and ordinance corps," added Singh.

He said before 2016, women made up just 2.5 per cent of India's armed forces, working in mainly non-combat roles.

"As of January 2019, 3.89 per cent of the army officers comprised women, while 6.7 per cent of the navy and 13.28 per cent of the air force personnel respectively were women as of June 2019," Singh said.

The three services have allowed permanent recruitment of women in select streams including medical, education, legal, signals, logistics and engineering.

The women officers recruited through the SSC in the IAF have the option of seeking permanent commission in all streams except the flying branch.

The Navy has allowed permanent commission of women in a host of departments such as logistics, naval designing, air traffic control, engineering and legal.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dublin could see more of its road space allocated to walking, cycling and public transport as part of its pledge to improve air quality in the city.

On Monday, Dublin became the first Irish city to sign a commitment to meet World Health Organisation (WHO) air quality guideline values by 2030.

In a joint pledge, the Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin and the mayors/cathaoirligh of the other three Dublin local authorities signed up to the BreatheLife campaign.

By signing up to the campaign, Dublin will be joining 76 cities, regions and countries around the globe in demonstrating a commitment to bring air quality to safe levels by 2030 and collaborating on clean air solutions.

Those backing the pledge want to allocate more road space to walking, cycling and public transport, move away from burning solid and fossil fuels to heat homes and make choosing the right choices simple and economically viable.

Dr Maria Neira, from WHO, said that Dublin will be looking at how it can reduce its pollution.

Speaking at an event in the Mansion House, Dr Neira said the results will have a positive impact on the publics health.

In the beginning, there might be some difficulties and it might not be very popular in certain aspects, but when the city sees the benefits and see they can breathe air that doesnt affect their health in a negative way, when they see they have good mobility and sustainable transport, they are appreciated.

We are talking about our own health and the protection of our lungs.

When you tackle the causes of air pollution, you start to see the benefits for your health. We know the pollution is very much associated with cardiovascular diseases and stroke so we need to do more.

According to the WHO, 92% of people around the world breathe air quality which falls short of the recommended guidelines.

The Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin, Tom Brabazon, called for people living in Dublin to be climate brave.

He said: Hitting the target in the BreatheLife campaign will involve difficult and potentially unpopular decisions.

So well all need to be brave if were to make the right decisions for our city.

Earlier: Dublin local authorities come together for 'Breathe Life' campaign to improve air quality

Dublin is to become the first Irish city to sign a commitment to bring air quality to safe levels by 2030.

All four local authorities in the county are joining the 'Breathe Life' campaign.

Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin, Tom Brabazon, says hitting the targets will involve difficult and potentially unpopular decisions.

He's calling on Dubliners to be 'Climate Brave' in order to make the changes happen.

Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Eoghan O Brien added: We are seeing more of the impacts of climate change on our environment and the actions that are needed to tackle this crisis require the support of the entire community.

"We have already acted in Fingal to improve air quality with programs like the School Streets initiative which has already reduced carbon emissions outside of a primary school in Malahide."

According to the World Health Organisation 92% of people around the world breathe air quality which falls short of the recommended guidelines.
Canadas cities are competing to attract more immigrants. In 2019, Charlottetown, Regina and Toronto welcomed the highest number of immigrants per capita. Ottawa was the latest city to join the exclusive one per cent club.

Which cities in Canada attract the most immigrants? Canadas cities are competing to attract more immigrants. In 2019, Charlottetown, Regina and Toronto welcomed the highest number of immigrants per capita. Ottawa was the latest city to join the exclusive one per cent club.

Which cities in Canada attract the most immigrants? Canadas cities are competing to attract more immigrants. In 2019, Charlottetown, Regina and Toronto welcomed the highest number of immigrants per capita. Ottawa was the latest city to join the exclusive one per cent club.

Which cities in Canada attract the most immigrants? Canadas cities are competing to attract more immigrants. In 2019, Charlottetown, Regina and Toronto welcomed the highest number of immigrants per capita. Ottawa was the latest city to join the exclusive one per cent club. Kareem El-Assal Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

Sans Font Size A

A

Cities across Canada are engaged in a heated competition to attract more immigrants. Due to their aging populations and low birth rates, cities need more immigrants to keep their economies strong.

At the national level, Canada welcomed more than 341,000 immigrants in 2019 or about 0.9 per cent of its population. Canada is welcoming more immigrants through Express Entry, the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), as well as newer initiatives such as the Atlantic Immigration Pilot (AIP).

Toronto welcomed 118,000 immigrants

Toronto continues to welcome the most immigrants among Canadian cities by a very wide margin. It attracted nearly 118,000 immigrants last year or 35 per cent of Canadas newcomer total. Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, and Edmonton rounded out the top five Canadian cities.

Newcomers as percentage of the population, 2019

Find out if you are eligible for any Canadian immigration programs

Charlottetown is #1 on a per capita basis

On a per-capita basis, however, the story is much different. Using this metric, Charlottetown led the way as it welcomed 2.4 per cent of its population in newcomers. This is due to the province of Prince Edward Islands success in attracting large numbers of economic class immigrants through the PNP and AIP.

Regina was second, with a share of newcomers also close to 2.4 per cent of its population.

Torontos massive intake landed it in third on a national per capita basis, as it welcomed 1.8 per cent of its population in newcomers.

Saskatoon came in fourth with almost 1.8 per cent of its population, followed by Winnipeg, also with almost 1.8 per cent. Both Saskatchewan and Manitoba have been able to welcome large numbers of economic class immigrants through the PNP over the last twenty years.

Growth in Atlantic Canada

Several cities in Atlantic Canada have been able to welcome larger numbers of immigrants in recent years to help promote their economic development. Fredericton, Halifax, and Moncton each welcomed at least 1.2 per cent of their populations in newcomers last year. Both the PNP and AIP have been instrumental in strengthening immigration to the region.

Ottawa-Gatineau joins an exclusive club

Canadas national capital region has become the latest addition to an exclusive club of Canadian cities. In 2019, Ottawa-Gatineau welcomed one per cent of its population as newcomers.

Ottawa-Gatineaus immigration levels have grown significantly in recent years which is likely due to several factors. In addition to welcoming more refugees, it is admitting more economic class immigrants. While its economic class data are not yet available at the time of writing, it is possible that Ottawa-Gatineau is seeing more international students making the transition to permanent residence through Express Entry and the Ontario PNP. Moreover, given Quebecs recent decision to reduce immigration by 20 per cent, there is the possibility that some immigrants interested in settling in Quebec may have chosen to settle in the neighbouring Ottawa-Gatineau region rather than in the province.

Because of Quebecs decision, immigration to Montreal fell by about 10,000 last year which has resulted in the citys newcomer per capita intake falling to under one per cent of its population (0.8 per cent).

Why a per capita intake of one per cent is important

Welcoming one per cent of a jurisdictions population, whether it is at the national, provincial, or municipal level is a major milestone in Canada.

Welcoming this level of immigration is a significant means of promoting economic growth.

The two ways to grow an economy are by welcoming more people and using those people more productively in the labour market.

Canadas population has grown by one per cent or more over the last two decades, which has contributed to economic growth of about the same amount.

An increasing share of Canadas population growth is through immigration, and immigration is expected to comprise 100 per cent of Canadas population growth within the next decade or so.

This means that immigration will play a larger role in supporting Canadas economic growth. By welcoming at least one per cent of their populations in immigrants, cities across Canada will put themselves in healthier economic situations.

Over 80 streams to promote immigration across Canada

Fortunately, Canadian cities have great tools at their disposal to increase their immigrant populations. Likewise, potential immigrants to Canada are spoiled for choice. There are over 80 economic class streams available through Express Entry, additional federal programs such as the PNP, as well as the AIP.

These streams provide more cities across Canada with the opportunity to achieve the important one per cent newcomer milestone.

Find out if you are eligible for any Canadian immigration programs

Kareem El-Assal is the Director of Policy & Digital Strategy at CanadaVisa.

 2020 CIC News All Rights Reserved
DANIA BEACH, Fla., Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --  Price Mattress is South Florida's number one source for brand name mattresses at affordable prices. Through the end of February, their Presidents Day mattress sale makes their brand name bed sets more affordable than usual. Customers should expect a stress free shopping experience with over 1000 name brand mattresses to choose from in stock. Each of those mattresses is discounted up to 70% off during the Presidents Day sale.

 Price Mattress pride themselves on their outstanding customer service and their affordable prices. Shoppers visiting their showroom do not have to worry about pushy sales people and buying the wrong mattress for their lifestyle. The knowledgeable team at  Price Mattress is not paid on commission, so they don't feel pressure to make a sale and move on to the next customer. During the Presidents Day mattress sale, customers will receive high quality customer service while they shop for a mattress set.

Buy a brand name mattress for up to 70% off at  Price Mattress in Dania Beach or Cooper City. Call (954) 842-4745 at Dania Beach store or the Cooper City location at (954) 680-2077.

The showroom at  Price mattress boasts the best in brand name mattresses. Names like Serta, Sealy and Tempur-pedic are up to 70% during the Presidents Day Sale at  Price Mattress. Each of the brands has carefully crafted their mattresses to work for particular lifestyles and types of sleepers. The sales team at  Price Mattress is there to help its customers choose the right mattress for a fraction of the cost.

In addition to up to 70% off during the Presidents Day sale,  Price Mattress also offers easy financing without a credit check and same day delivery across Florida. Their payment plans and delivery make it more accessible for everyone to take home a mattress that works for them. Most mattresses at  Price Mattress are nearly quarter of their retail cost.

Purchase brand name mattresses for a fraction of the cost at  Price Mattress.

 Price Mattress has locally owned mattress stores in Dania Beach and Cooper City. They offer luxury brand name mattresses at discount prices to South Florida shoppers. During their Presidents Day mattress sale, regularly discounted prices have been slashed up to 70% off. Visit their showroom in Dania Beach or showroom in Cooper City to get an affordable brand name mattress. Call (954) 842-4745 for Dania Beach or (954) 680-2077 for more information.

Related Images

during-1-2-price-mattress.jpg

During 1/2 Price Mattress Presidents Day mattress sale, regularly discounted prices have been slashed up to 70% off.

Call (954) 842-4745 for Dania Beach showroom or (954) 680-2077 at the Cooper City showroom for more information.

SOURCE 1/2 Price Mattress of Dania Beach and Cooper City

Related Links

https://954beds.com


Combo photo shows Chinese musician Tan Dun showing a gong (a traditional Chinese musical instrument) of Wuhan at the rehearsal of "Sound Pagoda  The 12 Sounds of Wuhan" in Antwerp, Belgium, February 14, 2020. The premiere of renowned Chinese musician Tan Dun's new composition, "Sound Pagoda  The 12 Sounds of Wuhan," was performed by the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra in the Queen Elizabeth Hall here on Saturday. The concert, conducted by Tan, was the first held by the international music community to extend love, care and support to the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak. [Xinhua/Zhang Cheng]

The premiere of renowned Chinese musician Tan Dun's new composition, Sound Pagoda  The 12 Sounds of Wuhan, was performed by the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra in the Queen Elizabeth Hall here on Saturday.

The concert, conducted by Tan, was the first held by the international music community to extend love, care and support to the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, which has so far caused over 1,600 deaths and infected more than 68,000 people in China.

Around two pools of clean water in the center of the stage were placed 12 gongs, one of the many kinds of Chinese musical instruments which first made its way into Western orchestras.

Dedicated to supporting Wuhan's battle against the epidemic, Tan, who has won Academy and Grammy Awards for his original piece for the Oscar-winning blockbuster Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, created the new composition during his flight from New York to Brussels earlier this week.

The composition was written to honor Wuhan's percussion instruments as the city is known for its cymbals and gongs throughout the world. The Antwerp Symphony Orchestra has three Wuhan gongs which were played in the performance.

"The Wuhan gongs, which have left a deep impression around the world, are a must for symphony orchestras," said Tan. "Without the Wuhan gongs, there would be no such wonderful classical music like Beethoven's Ode to Joy or Mozart's Requiem."

"This is why Wuhan and the people of Wuhan hold a special meaning for musicians," Tan said in front of a large gong.

It was no coincidence for Tan to choose 12 large gongs to perform his new composition. "The 12 Sounds of Wuhan symbolizes not only the 12-hour life cycle, 12 Chinese zodiacs and 12 months, but also spiritual culture and harmonious coexistence between man and nature, calling on the world to fight COVID-19 (abbreviation for the novel coronavirus disease)."

"I hope that we can commemorate our friends of Wuhan and let the world remember the fabulous music brought by Wuhan through the sound pagoda built by 12 Sounds of Wuhan," Tan said. "These 12 gongs are no longer physical instruments, but a sound bridge connecting Wuhan to the world."

Filip Stuer, director of communications and marketing of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, said that "I believe that the fight against COVID-19 is a global fight, and not only China's to win. I firmly believe that we are capable of winning through concerted efforts and cooperation."

"I feel honored to be able to organize this concert. We would like to offer our sympathy to all those involved, as well as our support to the doctors and scientists, and to all those who are helping to contain this epidemic," said Stuer.

Zhang Ming, head of Chinese Mission to the European Union, told Xinhua after the concert that "Tonight's performance is the artist's support for the people of Wuhan and their fight against the epidemic."

Tan conveyed a heartwarming message for Wuhan at the end of the piece. "Dear Wuhan, I promise to perform The 12 Sounds of Wuhan and Beethoven's Ode to Joy for you at home once the epidemic is over."

=

Chinese musician Tan Dun (front L) speaks on his composition "Sound Pagoda  The 12 Sounds of Wuhan" in Antwerp, Belgium, February 15, 2020. The premiere of renowned Chinese musician Tan Dun's new composition, "Sound Pagoda  The 12 Sounds of Wuhan," was performed by the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra in the Queen Elizabeth Hall here on Saturday. The concert, conducted by Tan, was the first held by the international music community to extend love, care and support to the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak. [Xinhua/Zhang Cheng]



Chinese musician Tan Dun demonstrates with a gong (a traditional Chinese musical instrument) of Wuhan at the rehearsal of "Sound Pagoda  The 12 Sounds of Wuhan" in Antwerp, Belgium, February 14, 2020. The premiere of renowned Chinese musician Tan Dun's new composition, "Sound Pagoda  The 12 Sounds of Wuhan," was performed by the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra in the Queen Elizabeth Hall here on Saturday. The concert, conducted by Tan, was the first held by the international music community to extend love, care and support to the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak. [Xinhua/Zhang Cheng]

Photo taken on February 15, 2020 shows a view of a concert in Antwerp, Belgium. The premiere of renowned Chinese musician Tan Dun's new composition, "Sound Pagoda  The 12 Sounds of Wuhan," was performed by the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra in the Queen Elizabeth Hall here on Saturday. The concert, conducted by Tan, was the first held by the international music community to extend love, care and support to the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak. [Xinhua/Zhang Cheng]

Chinese musician Tan Dun conducts a concert in Antwerp, Belgium, February 15, 2020. The premiere of renowned Chinese musician Tan Dun's new composition, "Sound Pagoda  The 12 Sounds of Wuhan," was performed by the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra in the Queen Elizabeth Hall here on Saturday. The concert, conducted by Tan, was the first held by the international music community to extend love, care and support to the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak. [Xinhua/Zhang Cheng]

(Source: Xinhua)
Since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle cut ties with the royal family, painful and predictable conversations on whether racism exists in Britain have resurfaced.

Newspapers, primetime television shows and politicians have been acting as though the concept is brand new. But people of colour have been talking about their lived experiences for years.

Among the endless cycle of hate-bait is thoughtful, nuanced writing about how racism manifests itself in British society.
The father of AFL star Dustin Martin - former Rebels bikie boss Shane Martin - has failed in his latest bid to return to Australia despite flying back into Sydney and claiming he had Aboriginal heritage.

Shane Martin flew into Sydney International Airport from Noumea, capital of New Caledonia, with a barrister on Sunday afternoon, having been deported to New Zealand in 2016 on the grounds of bad character.

Shane Martin (centre) watching his son play in the 2019 AFL grand final. Credit:AAP

His attempt to return to Australia came six days after the High Court ruled that Aboriginal people could not be deported from Australia and are exempt from the Commonwealth's constitutional "alien powers".

Martin, who was a senior member of the Rebels bikie gang in NSW, claimed in his latest attempt that he was Indigenous. He had previously flagged he intended to pursue this avenue in a bid to return to Australia.
Sector 2, Operation Lafiya Dole says it has foiled attempt by marauding Boko Haram terrorists to attack Damaturu, Yobe state capital, ...





Sector 2, Operation Lafiya Dole says it has foiled attempt by marauding Boko Haram terrorists to attack Damaturu, Yobe state capital, yesterday.





The Sectors spokesperson, Lieutenant Chinonso Oteh, who confirmed the incident, said the insurgents came through Babban Gida, the headquarters of Tarmuwa local government along Gashua-Damaturu road, but were overpowered by the superior fire of ground troops and Air Force support.





He explained that the swift arrival of the Air force fighter jet foiled the plans of the terror group as they could also not withstand the superior ground firepower of troops.





Oteh called on residents of Damaturu to be calm as according to him, there is no cause for alarm.

Everything is under control and the general area is free from threat. People are advised to go about their usual business and report any suspicious movement to security agencies, he said.





It was gathered that the insurgents had earlier made a stopover at Babban Gida, the headquarters of Tarmuwa local government where they fired gunshots sporadically, thereby sending fears into the hearts of residents before proceeding to Damaturu.





The convoy of the insurgents were believed to have moved from around Damasak, the headquarters of Mobbar local government area in Borno state and transited through Mafa, which shares border with Babban Gida on the eastern axis.





Sources said the people of Babban Gida on sighting the terrorists ran into the bushes for safety.





Babban Gida, a distance of about 40 kilometres from the state capital Damaturu, came under many attacks by the insurgents last year.




As a nation, we down an estimated 300,000 pints every single day  and 200,000 bottles of wine.

And to help us unwind, we spend in the region of 22m eating out, trips to the cinema, attending events, socialising and pampering ourselves daily.

The pub is also popular with people trying to let off a little steam, with a new documentary, How Ireland Unwinds, showing more than 140,000 people will unwind in one of the countrys 7,000 pubs, where theyll drink an estimated 300,000 pints and 65,000 shorts.

Kerry publican Sean OMahony revealed how he dreamed up a unique taxi service called Social Spin where volunteers take turns to drive a community car to ferry their neighbours to and from the pub.

People socialise and go for a pint so I came up with the name Social Spin. I called a meeting and I was amazed to get 30 drivers so I bought a car, said the owner and publican at Faha Court Pub.

The pilot taxi service has been a huge success.

These people were isolated, they would get up in the morning and they only contact they would have is with their animals, he said.

They were prisoners in their home really and this is why I introduced social spin.

We need pubs in rural Ireland. If we havent had pubs for people to come out for a chat Ireland is finished.

Irish people have the distinction of being the top moviegoers in Europe with 43,000 people going to the cinema in a single day.

We are also at the top of the table in the EU when it comes to eating out with 2m will be spent dining out in restaurants every day.

Another soaring catering business is the takeaway industry with the population forking out 1.4m on such food in a single day.

Dublin Deliveroo cyclist Christoph  who is one of more than 600 bike couriers currently in the capital  cycles 100km every night making up to 22 food deliveries.

I try and do one every 20 minutes. he said. Sometimes you get 6.50 and 7 for a job. Short ones are 2.90.

You have got to keep an eye on the bike, literally in Dublin city if you leave your bike outside for too long it will be gone like that.

Irelands love affair with movie-going is well-known but the series reveals we splash out 300,000 on cinema tickets daily  and fork out 3.8m on snacks and drinks at the cinema a day.

It also found:

We get an average of seven hours and 38 minutes sleep every night

1,000 people a day will buy a new mattress

8,000 of us head out to a live event every evening

Burlesque dancer Sinead Gould whose stage name is Bonnie Boo, said she originally thought she would become an accountant but opted for life on stage.

For me to see smiling faces and see people enjoying the act is important.

One Day: How Ireland Unwinds will be shown tonight at 9:35pm on RTE One.
Offended by personal attacks

To the editor,

I have already voted yes for the proposed $190 million school bond, despite the arguments and objections raised by my friend and neighbor, Tonchi Weaver. But I am offended by Sean Bradleys smug and self-satisfied dismissals of Tonchi and her group. Tonchi is a citizen-activist who cares deeply about our community and its well-being. She does a lot of homework before taking a position, and then she puts herself on the line by speaking up and asking tough questions.

I often disagree with her, as I do on the bond issue, but I respect her enormously. Rapid City is a better place because Tonchi holds public officials accountable and insists that they make their case with facts, not mere rhetoric. She deserves Mr. Bradleys thanks, not his ridicule.

Don Frankenfeld, Rapid City

Now that it is over

To the editor,

Now that Moscow Mitch's farce of a "trial" is over and Trump an his Russian allies have been given the green light to sabotage another American election, Republican pundits will be focusing more on smearing Democratic candidates. No sense wasting time and energy on losers so they'll wait till the nominees are chosen before intensifying their unfounded attacks on the winners. Time is not a problem because they don't have to rely on lengthy investigations or evidence.

They'll just make it all up and their followers will eat it up like they do all the rest of the lies they spew out constantly. I don't know who coined the phrase, "Never underestimate the stupidity of the American people." But it should be the Republican party motto. It has worked so well for them.

Terry Painter, Rapid City

You must be logged in to react.

Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
In his early years as a lawyer, he helped write legal briefs in the landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education. After he was named to the bench in 1967 by President Lyndon B. Johnson, he presided over groundbreaking mass tort cases involving the use of asbestos and the Vietnam-era defoliant Agent Orange.

At the height of his career, Judge Weinstein, who is known for his impressive eyebrows and his iconoclastic temperament, handled several high-profile Mafia cases, including the prosecution of Vincent Gigante, known as the Chin, the former boss of the Genovese crime family. A stickler for propriety, Judge Weinstein once ordered the mob don, famous for dressing in his bathrobe, to shower and spruce up when he came to court.

In the past decade, Judge Weinstein turned his attention even further toward legal changes, publicly calling for more female lawyers to have speaking roles in court and decrying the lack of sentencing alternatives for violent young criminals who, he said, are often written off as societys unredeemables. He has also tackled the endemic problem of police officers lying on the witness stand.

Why retire now?

Ive decided Ive exhausted my extra store of energy, and I really cant undertake any cases with the promise that Ill have enough energy, physical energy, to hear them appropriately. The last thing I would want to do was take new cases and not be able to give them adequate attention.

How would you like to see your legacy described?

I would like to be remembered for trying to work with individuals to help them avoid the life-killing environment of prisons and to save them for a life with relatives and friends, with a job, and with the opportunity to lead a lawful life. Partly by reducing sentences to the extent possible, partly by reducing supervised release and partly by getting them out into the real world. Its on a one-to-one basis that I see myself operating  the judge to the individual defendant.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Negotiations are going on between India and the US to iron out differences for a proposed trade package but chances of signing a deal during US President Donald Trump's visit here next week are thin, sources said on Monday.

Officials of both the countries are yet to resolve issues pertaining to sectors, including politically sensitive agriculture and dairy, even as less than a week is left for the visit of the US President, according to sources.

They said the deal between the two countries should be mutually beneficial and should not compromise India's interest.

"The US is adding more to its list of demands as trade talks are progressing," they added.

It is also not yet clear whether the US-India CEOs Forum will be convened during Trump's two-day visit, beginning from February 24.

The forum is a panel of CEOs that gives feedback to the US and Indian governments on the commercial relationship between the two countries.

As the US is seeking greater market access for its dairy products, India has conveyed to them that dairy and milk products should not be derived from animals that are fed internal organs, blood meal, or tissues of ruminant origin as it would hurt sentiments of the society at large.

ALSO READ | File review plea or else..: Congress warns of protest at stadium during Trump visit over SC's quota verdict

On the other hand, India is seeking resumption of export incentives by the US, under its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programme.

Under this programme, India had earlier exported goods worth USD 6.5 billion.

So if the US would resume these incentives, it would seek greater market access equivalent to this amount at least.

Under GSP, India was exporting 1,900 items from sectors like chemicals and engineering.

It was rolled back by the US last year.

ALSO READ | Taj Mahal all set to welcome US President Donald Trump

India is demanding exemption from high duties imposed by the US on certain steel and aluminium products, and greater market access for its products from sectors such as agriculture, automobile, automobile components and engineering.

On the other hand, the US wants greater market access for its farm and manufacturing products, dairy items, medical devices, and data localisation, apart from cut on import duties on some information and communication technology products.

The US has also raised concerns over high trade deficit with India.

In 2018-19, India's exports to the US stood at USD 52.4 billion while imports were USD 35.5 billion.

Trade deficit dipped from USD 21.3 billion in 2017-18 to USD 16.9 billion in 2018-19.

India received FDI worth USD 3.13 billion from the US in 2018-19, higher than USD 2 billion in 2017-18.
One of the two foresters, who



have been battling for life at a medical college hospital here after getting injured while dousing a wildfire near here, died on Monday.

With this, the death toll has risen to three.

The Kerala government announced an interim compensation of Rs 7.5 lakh to each of the families of the deceased.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan expressed his condolence over the deaths.

"Deeply saddened to learn that two foresters have lost their lives in line of duty. Foresters Velayudhun, Divakaran and Sankaran lost their lives while battling the dangerous wildfire in Thrissur range. Our thoughts are with the bereaved families," Vijayan tweeted.

Two forest department officials - Velayudhun and Divakaran - were on Sunday charred to death in a wildfire at Wadakkancherry near here while the third watcher Sankaran died on Monday.

Forest department said out of the Rs 7.5-lakh compensation, Rs 5 lakh would be allotted by the state government and the remaining Rs 2.5 lakh would be given from the Periyar Tiger Foundation.

"We will discuss the matter of providing a job to the dependents of the deceased at the government-level and take a decision accordingly," the Minister said in a press release.

The Minister further said the government would bear the funeral expenses of the deceased and the medical expenses of the injured.

"We will inquire into the lapses, if any, on behalf of HNL plantation (to where the wildfire had spread) in taking necessary precautions against the fire. A probe would be conducted into the incident and necessary steps would be taken to avoid such incidents in future," a release issued by the forest department said.

The release claimed that the fire was under control.

The same area had witnessed a similar wildfire last year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two men have been arrested in connection with a fatal shooting in Dublin last year.

Wayne Whelan was found inside a burning car in the Mount Andrew area of Lucan on November 18, having been shot a number of times before the car was set on fire.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th February, 2020) Russia will carry out an observation flight over Greece this week under the Treaty on Open Skies, while US, Estonian and Lithuanian experts will fly over Russia, the head of Russia's National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center, Sergei Ryzhkov, says.

"The observation flight over Greece will be carried out on February 17-21, from the Nea Anchialos Open Skies Airport. The maximum flight range will be 1,010 kilometers [627 miles]," Ryzhkov told Krasnaya Zvezda, the official newspaper of the Russian Defense Ministry.

According to the official, the observation flight over Greece will be carried out using the Russian Antonov An-30B aircraft. Foreign specialists on board the plane will be monitoring the use of observation equipment.

"Meanwhile, on the same dates a joint mission of the US, Estonia and Lithuania will carry out an observation flight from the Kubinka air base over the territory of a group of participating states - Belarus and Russia," Ryzhkov said.

He added that the observation flight will be carried out using the Saab 340 aircraft, which is not intended for the use of any weaponry.

The Treaty on Open Skies allows its participants to carry out aerial surveillance as part of a program of scheduled observation flights, with the aim of gathering information about military forces.

More than 30 countries are participating in the program created to boost transparency of military activities.
17 February 2020

PHSC PLC

(the "Company")

Director's Dealing

PHSC plc, a leading provider of health, safety, hygiene and environmental consultancy services and security solutions to the public and private sectors, announces that Stephen King, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, today sold 270,000 ordinary shares of 10p each in the Company ("Ordinary Shares"). The transaction was effected at a price of 11.50p per Ordinary Share. Simultaneously Mr King repurchased 270,000 ordinary shares at a price of 11.51p each into his SIPP account.

Following this transaction, Mr King's interest in the Company remains at 3,190,000 Ordinary Shares, representing 21.73% of the issued share capital of the Company.

The notification below, made in accordance with the requirements of the EU Market Abuse Regulation, provides further detail in respect of the transaction as described above.

1. Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely associated a) Name: Stephen King 2. Reason for the notification a) Position/status: PDMR, CEO b) Initial notification/Amendment: Initial notification 3. Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor a) Name: PHSC plc b) LEI: 213800H1B3AR1XRE2674 4. Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted a) Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument:

Identification code: Ordinary shares of 10p each



GB0 33113456 b) Nature of the transaction: Sale and Repurchase c) Price(s) and volume(s): Price(s) Volume(s) 11.50p

11.51p 270,000

270,000 d) Aggregated information:

n/a (single transaction in each case) e) Date of the transaction: 2020-02-17 f) Place of the transaction: London Stock Exchange, AIM Market (XLON)

For further information please contact:



PHSC plc

Stephen King 01622 717 700

Stephen.king@phsc.co.uk

www.phsc.plc.uk



Strand Hanson Limited(Nominated Adviser) 020 7409 3494

Richard Tulloch/James Bellman/Georgia Langoulant



Novum Securities Limited (Broker) 020 7399 9427

Colin Rowbury



About PHSC

PHSC plc, through its trading subsidiaries Personnel Health & Safety Consultants Ltd, RSA Environmental Health Ltd, QCS International Ltd, Inspection Services (UK) Ltd and Quality Leisure Management Ltd, provides a range of health, safety, hygiene, environmental and quality systems consultancy and training services to organisations across the UK. B2BSG Systems Ltd offer innovative security solutions including tagging, labelling and CCTV.

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR").
NPR begins on April 1: President, PM to be enrolled first

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Feb 17: The NPR update would commence from April 1 and President Ram Nath Kovind would be the first one to be enrolled.

On April 1, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Vice President Venkaiah Naidu too are likely to be enrolled. The Register General and Census Commissioner is likely to visit the residences of the PM and VP. Precedent demands that the first person to be enrolled is the President of India.

NPR through mobile app only to begin in Tripura from May

The enrolment of the PM, VP and come cabinet ministers would be done on April 1 and the authorities hope that this exercise would add to the publicity. This would also sent out an assurance to the general public, who have been raising doubts about this exercise.

The President and the PM are likely to give out a message to the nation, following their enrolment.

NEWS AT NOON, FEBRUARY 17th, 2020

Several Congress governed states have said that they will not go ahead with this exercise. Kerala has said that the NPR would not be carried out in the state, while West Bengal has put the process on hold.

The NPR manual and the draft form have been finalised and the 2020 forms would be printed in March. The form will have 23 fields of information and an undertaking, which states that the information declared is true to the best of the knowledge of the respondent. Further it would also have a disclaimer that nationality as declared will not confer any right to Indian citizenship.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, February 17, 2020, 8:47 [IST]
The ex-bikie father of AFL superstar Dustin Martin has been deported from Australia for a second time after trying to re-enter the country by claiming he has Aboriginal heritage.

Shane Martin, was first sent packing in 2016 with officials citing his criminal record, which included drug trafficking and assault charges.

He returned to his home country of New Zealand, where he had remained until Sunday night when he quietly tried to slip back into Australia with a lawyer in tow.

The 52-year-old reportedly claimed he has a grandmother in Tasmania with indigenous heritage.

Shane Martin arrived at an Australian airport overnight but was sent back to New Zealand

Father and son pictured together. Dustin reportedly often travels to New Zealand to visit him

Just last week, the Australian government passed a law which forbids any Aboriginal person from being deported.

The former Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang president was turned back at the border.

Border Force officials sent him back to New Zealand on the first Qantas flight on Monday morning.

At no stage has he provided any evidence of his indigenous heritage, officials said.

He joined the notorious Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang, eventually rising to the role of club president and had three children in Australia, including superstar Dustin

Martin is pictured with his three sons including Dustin (left) who stars for Richmond

The High Court accepts biological descent, self-identification, and whether or not a person has been accepted by an indigenous community in Australia as proof of indigenous status.

Martin Snr was born in New Zealand but considered Australia home after moving to New South Wales at age 20.

He joined the notorious Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang, eventually rising to the role of club president and had three children in Australia, including superstar Dustin.

In 2016, he was kicked out by then Immigration Minister Peter Dutton and was forced to build a new life for himself in Auckland.
The West Bengal government is rationalising posting of teachers in schools keeping in mind the teacher-student ratio, Minister Partha Chatterjee informed the state Assembly on Monday.

Owing to lack of proper planning by the erstwhile Left Front government in the state, there are schools where the number of teachers is low compared to students, while the case is just the opposite in some others, he said.

Now, the Trinamool Congress government is rationalising placement of the teaching staff to ensure a proper teacher-student ratio, Chatterjee said during the Question-Answer session.

To a question by TMC MLA Nargis Begum, the minister said 111 government and government-aided schools have been turned into English medium schools in the state.

Whether more schools would be converted to English medium will be decided on the basis of the success of this move, he said.

Chatterjee added that Bengali medium schools will continue to provide quality besides English medium ones.

Replying to a supplementary question by the TMC MLA on lack of dining area for students in some schools for mid- day meals, the minister said there was no such report with the government.

Chatterjee asked Nargis Begum to bring to the notice of the authorities if she finds any lack of infrastructure in educational institutes.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The 92-year-old woman who called a cab in late January in Sun City, Calif. had a simple mission  she needed to go to the bank.

But while en route, the woman informed her cab driver, Rajbir Singh, that she owed the IRS $25,000. She detailed how she was supposed to settle the debt.

This set off alarm bells for Singh.

I am an honest guy, and these are old people. They need help, Singh told CNN.

IRS scams are common. It is the most likely scam to fool senior citizens. As of April 2019, more than 2.4 million Americans have been targeted by scammers convincing them that they owe the government. More than $72.8 million has been lost by more than 14,700 as a result of this scam.

Singh was determined not to let his passenger be the latest victim. He told CNN that he tried to warn the woman, who at first did not believe him but gave him the number of the scammers. He called and confronted them, and they blocked his number.

Still not convinced it was a scam, the passenger allowed Singh to drive her to nearby Roseville, Calif.'s police station. An officer came out to the cab and confirmed Singhs hunch after listening to her story. The woman agreed not to send the money, and Singh drove her home.

We love this story because several times throughout, Raj could have just taken his customer to her stop and not worried about her wellbeing," Roseville police officials posted on Facebook. He took time from his day and had the great forethought to bring the almost-victim to the police station for an official response.

Singh was awarded with a $50 gift card by the police department as a thank you for going the extra mile to help a vulnerable passenger.
UPDATE: HONOR will stick to its original plans to announce its products on February 24, despite the fact MWC got canceled. The company will host a livestream event on said date, at 6:30PM CET. Youll be able to watch it from the companys official YouTube channel. The company will also host a livestreaming venue in Barcelona, and an experience zone for newly-launched products.

ORIGINAL POST: HONOR sent us an invite for its MWC 2020 press conference, which is set to take place on February 24. The company also sent out an image, that is provided above.

As you can see, HONOR is using the all-scenario intelligence caption for this event. Now, the company also shared some additional information regarding products it will announce.

Advertisement

HONOR did not specify an embargo for this information, so were free to share the info with you. Do note that we only have some information regarding what products are coming, not specific info on each of them.

HONOR will announce a bunch of new devices at MWC 2020

During its MWC 2020 press conference, HONOR plans to announce several new products. One of those products will be its new flagship, the HONOR View30 PRO. That device will probably take the spotlight during the event.

In addition to the HONOR View30 PRO, the company also plans to introduce the HONOR 9X PRO smartphone. In addition to that, the HONOR MagicBook 14 & 15 laptops will make an appearance at this event.

Advertisement

Thats not all, though. HONOR is also planning to show off some wearables during the event. The HONOR TWS (True Wireless) earphones will also be announced, but we do not know what theyll be called just yet.

The last product that HONOR will announce is the special edition of the HONOR MagicWatch 2. A regular HONOR MagicWatch 2 already launched, and were not sure what this special edition will be about.

So, as you can see, the company is planning to announce quite a few products at MWC 2020. HONOR was rather quiet at CES 2020, so it plans to make up for that in Barcelona.

Advertisement

The HONOR View30 PRO will probably take the spotlight

The HONOR View30 PRO will be the companys first smartphone to ship with the Kirin 990. That is the same chip that is fueling the Huawei Mate 30 series, and that will fuel the Huawei P40 series.

The HONOR View30 PRO will probably be made out of metal and glass. The device will include really thin bezels, and quite probably a display camera hole. That hole will probably be centered, but were not sure yet.

Were also expecting the View30 PRO to include quite a few cameras on the back. It will include somewhere between 3 and 5 cameras, and those cameras are expected to be quite good.

Advertisement

Android 10 will come pre-installed on the device, but chances are that Googles services will not be available. HONOR is Huaweis company, so it has the same ban as Huawei. Things may get resolved by then, though, so well see.
Dhaka, Feb 16 (UNI) Newly appointed Ambassador of Algeria to Bangladesh Rabah Larbi called on Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Sunday, following his recent presentation of credentials to President of Bangladesh Md Abul Hamid.

The Foreign Minister welcomed the new Ambassador and assured him of all-out cooperation in discharging his duties, particularly in facilitating the re-opening process of the new Algerian Mission in Dhaka. He appreciated the Algerian governments decision in re-opening their resident diplomatic Mission in Dhaka in reciprocity of re-opening Bangladesh Mission in Algeria in 2016.

The Foreign Minister recalled with happiness the historic visit of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to Algeria to attend the Fourth NAM Summit in September 1973 and appreciated the Algerian governments gesture in preserving the honoured memory of Bangabandhus historic visit through dedicating a corner in the Palace of Nations in Algiers for displaying his pictures and sayings.
The Americans had already been trapped for days in a nightmare, quarantined on a cruise ship in Japan that had become a hotbed for transmission of the novel coronavirus. Their evacuation to the U.S. on Monday brought relief, but also weariness: They were finally on solid ground, but now they faced two more weeks of quarantine in San Antonio.

With the 144 new evacuees, the federal quarantine at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland grew to 234 people. The new group was among 328 Americans who were evacuated on two planes Sunday from the Diamond Princess, which had become host to the largest cluster of coronavirus cases outside China.

So far, none of the new evacuees at the on-base hotel at Lackland has tested positive for the coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19. They are separated from the evacuees who arrived earlier this month, according to a statement from city officials.

Before they left the ship, all the passengers were asymptomatic. But as the evacuees were preparing to get on the planes, test results came back positive for 14 of them, blindsiding U.S. officials.

Four of those infected ended up on the federally chartered flight that landed at 3:50 a.m. at Lackland.

But those sick passengers, who were isolated from the other passengers and crew in a containment area on the plane, were subsequently taken to Omaha, Neb., to be treated at University of Nebraska Medical Center, said Dr. William Walters, managing director for operational medicine at the State Departments Bureau of Medical Services, during a call with reporters.

On ExpressNews.com: Cruise ship evacuees sent to San Antonio might include some who tested positive for coronavirus

Other Diamond Princess evacuees were brought to Travis AFB in California. That plane carried several other people infected with coronavirus. Some of them were transported to area hospitals, while others were flown with their spouses to Nebraska to receive treatment there.

The arrival of new evacuees in San Antonio reflects the rapidly shifting conditions created by the outbreak, for Americans stranded abroad in areas vulnerable to the coronavirus and for the federal employees tasked with caring for them upon their return. Previously, representatives with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who are overseeing the Lackland quarantine, had said they had not been told to expect additional evacuees at a high risk of carrying the disease.

During the flight to Lackland, two people were isolated with a fever, Walters said. Three others on the flight to Travis also showed symptoms prior to landing in California. It remains unclear whether they have the virus or something like the flu.

A statement released by JBSA-Lackland indicated that the two symptomatic passengers who landed in San Antonio reboarded the plane, which departed for Nebraska at 7 a.m.

Passengers that developed symptoms in flight and those with positive test results were isolated on the flight and did not remain in San Antonio, the statement said. They were transported to an appropriate location out of state for continued isolation and care.

On ExpressNews.com: Coronavirus is confirmed in patient under quarantine at Lackland

Federal officials continue to monitor the 90 earlier evacuees at Lackland, who have been held there since Feb. 7 after being evacuated from the outbreaks epicenter in Wuhan, China. Last week, one of those evacuees was diagnosed with coronavirus and is now being treated in isolation at Methodist Hospital | Texsan.

The quarantine period for the first group of evacuees is scheduled to end Thursday.

Lacklands quarantine space is now almost full. Federal officials have said the lodging being used to house the evacuees can accommodate up to 250 people.

The new group of evacuees from the cruise ship had been stuck aboard the Diamond Princess since earlier this month when a person onboard was diagnosed with the virus. In the ensuing days, the number of cases has risen to more than 450, including nearly 100 confirmed diagnoses announced by the Japanese Health Ministry on Monday alone.

The situation grew so dire that the State Department arranged evacuation flights for the Americans onboard. Officials with the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo previously said infected people would not be allowed on the flights. In accordance with that rule, the passengers were medically evaluated by American infectious disease physicians before they were allowed to disembark from the ship.

We felt like we had very experienced hands in evaluating and caring for these patients, said Dr. Bob Kadlec, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response with the Health and Human Services Department.

But the evacuation plan was thrown into question after it had already begun. By the time officials were notified that some passengers had positive test results, the evacuated group had been loaded onto around 15 buses for the 40-minute drive to the airport.

There, the infected people were ushered into the back of each modified cargo plane, where isolation areas were draped in plastic, while federal officials discussed how to proceed.

Ultimately, Walters said, keeping the infected passengers on the planes was the safest place for them. There, they posed no additional risk to passengers or crew, he said.

This is the meat and potatoes of consular affairs, he said. This is the State Departments primary responsibility  the well-being of American citizens overseas.

On ExpressNews.com: Dozens of coronavirus evacuees from China arrive in San Antonio

As federal employees grapple with the new batch of evacuees, state health officials have been preparing for the prospect of more coronavirus diagnoses in San Antonio.

Chris Van Deusen, a spokesman for the Texas Department of State Health Services, said the Texas Center for Infectious Disease, a 75-bed state-run hospital for tuberculosis patients located near Brooks City Base, is ready to receive patients there if necessary. Because TB is also highly contagious, the facility is already equipped with plenty of negative pressure rooms, which have been used to isolate coronavirus patients at other hospitals.

It also has a separate wing of about 20 beds where coronavirus patients could be housed apart from TCID patients and staff, Van Deusen added.

This is a resource we have, and its mission is to treat tuberculosis. This is a bit of a change from that, he said. It seemed like something that TCID would be able to accommodate, that kind of patient.

While the facility does not have all the resources of an acute care hospital, he said it would be appropriate for isolating individuals suspected of having coronavirus and those who may have received a diagnosis but do not have severe symptoms.

The need for ventilator support or other forms of intensive care would necessitate a transfer to another hospital, Van Deusen said.

This story has been updated with new counts of the people transported to Lackland and Nebraska that were released by the CDC on Tuesday.

Lauren Caruba covers health care and medicine in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | lcaruba@express-news.net | Twitter: @LaurenCaruba
An FIR has been registered



against a leader of Ittehad-e-Millat Council for allegedly making inflammatory speech during anti-CAA protests here, police said on Monday.

Tauqeer Raza Khan, founder of the political party



Ittehad-e-Millat Council, called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a "terrorist" during his speech on Sunday. He also made certain defamatory comments against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, they said.

A case was registered against Khan at Nakhasa police station under IPC section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language) and other relevant sections, SHO, Nakhasa, Devendra Kumar Dhama said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
SANTA FE  A proposal heading to the governor would clear the way for New Mexico to begin importing prescription drugs from Canada as part of an effort to reduce the cost of medicine.

The legislation, Senate Bill 1, won House approval on a 68-0 vote late Sunday. It passed the Senate 35-0 earlier this month.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham made the proposal a priority for the legislative session.

This measure received unanimous support through every step of the legislative process because getting New Mexicans the medicine they need at a cost they can afford is a bipartisan, common-sense issue, she said in a written statement. I applaud the Legislature for making sure New Mexico is at the front of the line for this program, and I promise to sign Senate Bill 1 quickly so we can begin the process of significantly reducing drug costs.

The proposal was sponsored by Senate President Pro Tem Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, and Rep. Deborah Armstrong, D-Albuquerque.
The novel coronavirus has so far infected more than 70,500 people in China wherein the death toll is rising to nearly 1,800 deaths. The World Bank says the global economy will be hit by the virus because of the impact on supply chains that rely on free movement of air transport to carry spare parts.

In China and worldwide, the deadly coronavirus has taken its toll. All sectors, including carmakers, bankers, airliners, importers-exporters of garments, insurers, commodity & luxury good tradersare affected as demand slumps and production is disrupted in the worlds second largest economy and beyond.

In Morocco, tea imports risk a disruption in supply as the North African Kingdom imports annually nearly 70,000 tons of tea from China.

According to the Moroccan Association of Tea & Coffee Industrialists, Morocco is Chinas major partner in this sector. Its annual purchases account for over 25 pc of Chinas overall tea exports.

In 2019, Moroccan importers purchased more than 62,000 tons of Chinese tea for over $175,000. The supply chain is now under tension and the specter of a disruption is looming, warn Moroccan professionals, noting that the Chinese tea plants are still closed due to coronavirus.

Chinese tea exporters say the factories are scheduled to reopen next week, but no official decision has so far been announced.

However, some Moroccan tea traders affirm that the local market remains resilient thanks to its stockpile that can last up to three months.
Jonathan Ananda By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Union government may have won the AGR case but it is likely to gain very little from the episode if Vodafone Idea (VIL) hangs up its boots.

In fact, a VIL default may add significantly to Indias fiscal deficit since the government will lose out on nearly Rs 90,000 crore in deferred spectrum asset debt owed by the company, analysts warn.

While a superficial perusal of the numbers may indicate significant gains for the government, experts note that such a scenario is very unlikely.

According to SBI Research economists, if the Department of Telecom (DoT) manages to collect Rs 1.2 lakh crore in adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues by March 16, it will have narrowed its fiscal deficit for the current fiscal year to 3.5 per cent of GDP from the estimated 3.8 per cent.

Clarity will only emerge after the date of the next SC hearing on the matter on March 17, the added.

But, other analysts and industry executives say this is an extremely unlikely scenario. First, many of those companies who owe significant dues are already undergoing insolvency (like Reliance Communications and Aircel), noted a senior telecom executive requesting anonymity.

Secondly, those who are still operational are likely to estimate dues at significantly lower levels than the DoT, he added.

ALSO READ: Central bank 'closely monitoring' fallout of telecom AGR crisis on lenders

The greatest danger for the Union exchequer, however, lies in the very real possibility of a Vodafone Idea default and bankruptcy. The company paid Rs 2,500 crore to the DoT on Monday, promising another Rs 1,000 crore by the end of the week.

"The Board will take further stock of the situation to see how further additional payments can be made," the company said in a statement.

But these amounts are a far cry from the Rs 53,038 crore dues estimated by the DoT and analysts say the company is likely to have trouble coughing up even half of that corpus since its cash balance stands at just Rs 12,530 crore.

VIL has gross debt of Rs 1.2 lakh crore, of which around Rs 90,000 crore is the governments deferred spectrum debt, while around Rs 25,000 crore is bank debt. A default of such a large scale could increase Indias fiscal deficit by around 40 basis points (0.4%), having the deepest impact on government receipts... while creating ripples in the banking sector, noted analysts at Motilal Oswal.

The brokerage also warned that apart from the direct impact on 13,500 employees and its 300 million customers, the indirect impact on multiple vendors and other stakeholders could be even worse.
As City College of San Francisco slashes hundreds of classes and sheds instructors to try and balance its books, college leaders are asking the citys taxpayers for help shoring up the schools aged and decaying buildings  and even its newer ones.

On March 3, San Francisco voters will consider Proposition A, a bond measure that would let City College borrow up to $845 million to repair its buildings, make earthquake safety upgrades, install solar panels, buy equipment and add communications systems, among other improvements.

Students say it cant happen soon enough.

The facilities at CCSF are pretty awful, said Jess Nguyen, who studies floristry. Theres been lots of problems with leaky roofs, large holes in ceilings in the Creative Arts buildings  where bathrooms had to be closed for over a year, and rat problems. The heating doesnt work, and students sometimes are left freezing in classrooms and cant even concentrate on their classwork.

Nguyen, who majored in metal arts until November when classes she needed for spring were eliminated, visited the facilities department in 2018 to ask someone to fix an air compressor the arts students needed. Other students sent emails.

The person who worked there told us there were over 40,000 maintenance-related tickets across all CCSF campuses, she said, adding that it took weeks to get the item fixed.

Jessica Christian / The Chronicle

About 70% of buildings on City Colleges main campus at Ocean Avenue and Frida Kahlo Way are in poor condition, college trustees wrote in their ballot argument in favor of Prop. A, which requires 55% voter approval to pass.

The college of 65,000 full- and part-time students has nine other sites around the city, new and old, also in need of maintenance, improvements and equipment, they wrote.

Prop. A is a tremendous opportunity to repair and retrofit decaying City College facilities, trustees President Shanell Williams told The Chronicle.

Over three decades, taxpayers will pay off the $845 million bond, plus another 89% in interest, for a total of $1.6 billion.

To achieve that, the citys property tax could grow by $11 per $100,000 of assessed property value through mid 2053, the city controller estimated.

Through City College, city taxpayers still owe nearly $248 million on two prior facilities bonds  in 2001 and 2005  for which the college paid more than $19 million in debt service last year.

College leaders appeal for voters help to shore up the crumbling campuses comes at a striking time in the long relationship between City College and San Francisco residents.

Jessica Christian / The Chronicle

Since fall 2017, no San Franciscan has had to pay for classes. Under a program called Free City, a voter-approved transfer tax on San Francisco properties that sell for at least $5 million has paid for residents $46-a-credit fee.

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.

At the same time, the number of available classes has shrunk by 20% since 2017, as college officials have eliminated 634 classes, including 345 this spring alone.

Last month, an auditor hired by City College determined that school finances were in such bad shape that he had substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern. The auditor said the college has been deficit spending for three years, has lost 58% of its unrestricted general fund, and has dipped into its reserves so often that it is below the state-required 5%.

Williams, the trustee president and a former student at City College, said that despite the money woes, investing in the colleges facilities is a good deal for San Franciscans.

Without adequate funds to build new buildings and upgrade our learning spaces, we will not be a competitive college, Williams said. We have an action plan to take care of our budget and get our financial house in order  and with Prop. A, we will get the funds needed to get our facilities in order as well.

The San Francisco Republican Party disagrees, and is listed as the sole opponent of Prop. A in the citys ballot book. The party argued against the proposition on grounds of fairness.

It is not fair to make only property owners responsible for paying for the deferred repairs and renovations necessitated by not performing the maintenance and renovations in a timely manner, the party wrote in its unsigned opposition statement in the ballot book.

All residents and businesses should pay their fair share of the needed improvements, the statement said.

Nanette Asimov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nasimov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @NanetteAsimov
DECATUR  Cardinals, orioles, blue jays and hawks arent just the mascots for favorite sports teams. The animals are followed closely by another group of fans, the Second Saturday Regular Birders.

Just as the name implies, the Birders meet early in the morning on the second Saturday of the month ready to roam through local state parks studying and watching for various species of flying friends.

Karen Penn, 71, lives near Lake Decatur. She and her family have watched the pelican migration for several years near her home. I thought I better get with the program and start knowing what Im looking at, she said. This group is very educational.

Susan Shaw and Beth Buske organized the bird watchers gathering a year ago. Weather cancelled the event only once. Just because it was pouring down rain, Shaw said.

Were like mailmen I guess: rain, sleet, snow.

The group began through the motivation of a book. Red-Tails in Love by Marie Winn is about hawks living in New York Citys Central Park. We liked the idea of these people that would meet up everyday to watch for birds, Shaw said.

The birders will watch for every type of bird. Its kind of addicting, Buske said.

Shaw is the self-appointed secretary, keeping a log of the weather conditions, attendance and species (79 so far).

We are especially looking for warblers, because they are very hard to see, Buske said.

According to Buske and Shaw, birders enjoy watching for birds in the spring and the fall during the migration. It helps when the trees are bare, then you can really focus in, Buske said.

The members suggest those wanting to attend a gathering dress according to the conditions. They should also bring water and binoculars. But Ive got a couple of extra pairs, Shaw said.

Members come from all over Central Illinois, including Monticello and Bement.

Thats one reason we tried to pick some outlying areas, Shaw said. So travel is divided up.

Jane White, 72, and her husband David, 74, from Bement, heard about the Second Saturday Birders through the Master Naturalist Program. Its a way to learn the different birds, Jane White said about the monthly bird watchers. The common ones we know, but then there are different birds.

Its amazing how many different ones there are, David White said.

A few of the birders are able to recognize the species of birds by the sounds. Sometimes theres disagreements, David White said.

Neither Buske and Shaw consider themselves experienced birders. However, they will take the advice of those in the group who are. We just talk about birds, Shaw said.

A few of the birders are educated in the species, or ornithology. President of the Decatur Audubon Society Melody Arnold is one of the experts who tag along each month. I know as much as a few of the others here, she said.

Arnold encourages anyone interested in nature to attend other Audubon events as well. The conservation organization is for people who are concerned about nature and habitat. About things that would affect birds, because those things also affect everything, she said. Its not just for the birds.

Arnold said she is pleased with the number of people attending the monthly event, especially since the group meets early on a Saturday morning. And Im not an early person, she said.

Kristen Regusa, 32, from Decatur, hopes the experience will help with future endeavors. Im interested in working with birds in the future, she said about the experience. I slowly found my people.

Hummingbird Festival at Rock Springs Nature Center

Contact Donnette Beckett at (217) 421-6983. Follow her on Twitter: @donnettebHR

Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Make your house a home For the holidays: Get inspiring home and gift ideas  sign up now! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
DENVER, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Trelora, the real estate company revolutionizing how people buy and sell homes, announced their expansion to Arizona and North Carolina, with new offices now open and fully operational in both Phoenix and Raleigh. With this expansion, Trelora now has the potential to serve over 30 million people across four states: Arizona, North Carolina, Colorado, and Washington.

Trelora sees an incredible opportunity to serve the Phoenix and Raleigh communities as an alternative to the traditional real estate model. Phoenix and Raleigh are 2 of the fastest growing real estate markets in the country, with home values increasing over 45% in the last 5 years for Phoenix and over 35% in the last 5 years for Raleigh. This boom means buyers and sellers are paying more and more in real estate commissions  a trend that Trelora plans to reverse with its low-fee, full service approach, which puts money back in the pockets of consumers.

"We're excited about opening in both Phoenix and Raleigh. Our spectacular service and savings can have a huge impact on these growing communities," says Brady Miller, CEO of Trelora. "We look forward to saving our Phoenix and Raleigh customers millions of dollars in the years ahead."

Headquartered in Denver, Trelora has saved its customers over $65 million in agent commissions since 2011. Through the use of its proprietary technology and a top-rated team of specialized agents, Trelora offers sellers an exceptional, full-service experience for a low flat fee. Buyers pay nothing out of pocket and receive an average refund of $12,500 at closing.

How does Trelora do it? During most home buying and selling experiences, real estate agents typically charge up to 6 percent commission on the home's sale price, regardless of the work they do to earn it. Trelora combines efficient and innovative technology with premium customer service, providing consumers with the freedom to buy and sell real estate without the constraints of traditional commissions in order to maximize their savings and home equity.

As Trelora customer Heather G from Denver puts it: "The Trelora team managed the sales process the same as any agent or broker. They provided comps, advice and responsive service. Everyone on the team has an incredibly friendly and personable customer service attitude. Why spend more?"

About Trelora

Since 2011, Trelora has been committed to elevating the home buying and selling experience. Trelora provides the expertise of top agents in the country, world class customer service, and state-of-the-art technology to offer an unparalleled home residential real estate experience. Trelora's unwavering dedication to maximizing their customers' equity has produced tens of millions in savings for buyers and sellers. For more information visit trelora.com. Follow Trelora on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Contact

Joe Stupp

[email protected]

720.323.9276

SOURCE Trelora

Related Links

https://www.trelora.com/


A female FIFO worker has lifted the lid on what it's like to be a woman in the industry, revealing how the lucrative field is not always what it's cracked up to be.

Robyn McKinney, 27, doesn't seem like your ordinary female mine worker, often sharing glam photos of herself dolled up on social media.

On Instagram, where she has more than 1,200 followers, she identifies as a 'mining chick' and 'truckie driver' from Perth with Irish heritage.

But the tradeswoman has warned friends not to be fooled by appearances - saying that while she may appear as someone who lives 'a great life with money in the bank', the reality is much grimmer.

Robyn McKinney, 27, shared an honest account about what it's really like to be a woman in the FIFO industry

Off duty: The 27-year-old self-described 'mining chick' and 'truckie driver' from Perth, said people should not be fooled by appearances on social media

'Before you go thinking I live a well-maintained lifestyle, take a closer look!' she said sharing a photo of herself in uniform on Facebook.

Ms McKinney revealed much of her job is actually spending weeks in isolation in the Australian Outback 'constantly covered in red dirt' and sleeping on broken spring mattresses.

She admitted to experiencing 'loneliness like you wouldn't believe', being unable to commit to relationships, and always missing out on social events.

'People soon forget about you and you stop getting invited eventually, and when you're home, they're working,' she said.

'[You're] unable to sustain a relationship because really, how can you know someone you see 12 weeks a year, right? Relationship failed because we ain't at home resulting in serious family issues.'

She admitted to experiencing 'loneliness like you wouldn't believe', being unable to commit to relationships, and always missing out on social events

Ms McKinney went on to list a slew of drawbacks: 'Constantly covered in red dirt (blonde hair is a killer), you can only imagine landing at work and forgetting something.. you're screwed mate!'

'Same dirty, orange uniform every day, cause well, fighting over a washing machine that's had 100s of uniforms in before is a thing!

'Same routine everyday, 4am wake-ups and returning 6.30pm, too tired to get dinner (not like you're missing much), carrying the backpack that contains your life to every truck you get into!'

While most tradies are given seven days off in return for working long nights and hard hours, Ms McKinney says most of that time is spent sleeping in and trying to regulate her body clock, before having to fly out again.

'I am by no means saying our job as a FIFO worker is worse than others but when you have men and women committing suicide and mental health issues through the roof.. it obviously isn't the best!' she added.

'Me? I absolutely love what I do and proud of it but some days like everyone else, I cant be a**ed and wish I was at home in my own bed, snuggled in with a proper feed but.. [tomorrow] is a new day.'
Press Release

February 17, 2020 Transcript of Interview of Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III On ABS CBN SP Sotto: Ihehear yung committee niya, pwede yun. The issue that Sen. Lacson is apprehensive about, the issue on sub judice, because of the quo-warranto, might not be a problem as long as it's in aid of legislation. Ngayon, kung si Grace, gustong maghearing, yung resolution niya to look into the allegations against ABS CBN, it's part of the mandate of her committee, okay lang yun. It does not have anything to do with the franchise, approval or disapproval. Q: (Unclear) about the franchise? SP Sotto: Hindi ko alam yan. Q: Franchise na mismo. SP Sotto: Franchise na mismo? Eh kung wala pang bill sa amin eh. Q: (Unclear) there are instances na nauuna ang Senate, mga tax measures, franchise... SP Sotto: Tax measures always emanate from the House. Q: Like the CTRP daw? SP Sotto: To be honest about it, I have to look into that. I cannot agree or disagree, but alam ko basta't a bill of local application must emanate from the House. Pwedeng maghearing yun pero hearing lang yan, pero it's... Q: Walang committee report pero (unclear). SP Sotto: mas mabuti pa, ako ang suggestion ko, pag ako ang tatanungin, yung resolution niya ang ihearing. What is the franchise that she will be hearing, if there is no franchise bill to us? Merong nagfile, pero it does not have any legal stand at the moment until it comes from the House. Q: Yung binabanggit po ni Senator Grace na pwedeng simultaneous like in other... SP Sotto: If you will recall, di ba yung akin, nagfile ako ng bill for the franchise of ABS-CBN and then I withdrew? Winithdraw ko yun. Hintayin na lang dapat yung ano... Q: Yung joint resolution ni Sen. Drilon? Giving a special permit extending until 2022? SP Sotto: NTC yun. Q: Pero joint resolution yun, is that necessary? SP Sotto: Pwede, that is possible. Q: Sa VFA po, may (unclear) na po yung filing? SP Sotto: Oo, inaayos na yung wording because I would (unclear) a simple petition asking the Supreme Court to interpret the Constitution on whether it should pass the Senate or not, when an agreement or a treaty is abrogated. Q: How many senators will you have? SP Sotto: Petitioner pa lang kami. The petitioners will be myself, Sen. Lacson, Sen. Drilon, Sen. Tatad and Sen. Biazon. Sen. Tatad and Sen. Biazon were the sponsors of the VFA in the 11th Congress and we have discussed it already. Q: Are there other senators who will join you? SP Sotto: Siguro. I hope so. Q: Macocover yung VFA kung ganoon ka-general yung petition? SP Sotto: Oo. Particularly, yung VFA nga ang tinatanong namin, (unclear) kasi Executive agreement. Q: (Unclear) sa Executive branch? SP Sotto: Hindi naman. Pagka finile namin petition for (unclear), yun ang sinasabi mong head-to-head. Hindi naman yun ang finafile namin. Ang finafile namin is for the Senate to assert its right. Q: This will not lead to a Constitutional crisis? SP Sotto: I don't think so. Q: It will not result to a shaky leadership of yours? SP Sotto: I don't think so, but whatever it is, leadership ang paguusapan, okay lang yun, walang problema sa akin yun. Q: Sa principle? SP Sotto: Oo.
A mother-of-two who drank her placenta after birth has quit her job to kick start her new placenta smoothie business.

Nikki Welling, 34, from Thetford, Norwich, quit her job as an actress to help new mothers feel 'energised' by collecting their placenta and blending it into a smoothie or capsule.

Nikki suffered with post-natal depression with her first-born Jensen, six, and was desperate to feel good when she discovered she was pregnant for a second time with Hudson, four, in 2014.

She was willing to give anything a go to avoid 'baby blues' even if it meant drinking her own placenta.

Nikki Welling, 34, from Thetford, Norwich, quit her job as a commercial actress to help new mothers feel 'energised' by collecting their placenta and blending it into a smoothie or capsule. Pictured: Nikki drinking her placenta after the birth of her second son

Nikki, pictured with her second son Hudson after his birth four years ago, said that drinking her placenta helped her feel energised and on 'cloud nine'

One of the smoothies made from a placenta. Nikki explained that a walnut-sized portion of the placenta is blended with mixed berries, organic banana and spring water to create a delicious smoothie

Nikki loved the concoction of mixed berries and placenta so much she decided to make a living out of it.

She said: 'I can honestly say with my hand on my heart that my birth recovery was unbelievable thanks to consuming my placenta. I had opted for placenta smoothies and capsules.

'After my first smoothie my milk came in within 30-60 minutes and I felt energised.

'A placenta is jam packed with hormones, including the corticotropin-releasing hormone which is linked to stress reduction.

'I felt like it was putting life back into me and it gave me a much-needed boost following a C-section.

'I felt exactly how you should feel after a baby - on cloud nine.

'When you are pregnant, you visualise a happy you with your new born and nobody prepares you or educates you on how you might feel.

Nikki said drinking her placenta helped her feeling more energised and helped with her milk production after the birth of her son Hudson

The placenta can also be put in a grinder and made into capsules (pictured) that mothers will ingest in the days after birth

'After Jensen, I had post-natal depression and I was desperate to feel good the second time around.

'Placenta encapsulation made complete sense to me and I wasn't grossed out at all by it.

'I felt on top of the world even though I had a Caesarean and a 14-month-old baby to care for, I knew I had to spread the word and offer other mothers the opportunity to feel good after a baby.'

Nikki carrying the bag she uses to collect the placenta. She said she absolutely loves her job, after starting her own business in 2018

Nikki launched 'Cherished Placentas' in 2018 and spends her days travelling between East Anglia and London to collect placentas and returning it in a smoothie or capsule form.

She said: 'I absolutely love my job, if you had told me ten years ago I would be doing this I would have never believed you.

'I am on call 24/7 as the mothers ring me as soon as they have given birth and I head over to collect - I've had to get up at 2am before.

The mother feeding her first born Jensen six years ago. Nikki explained she suffered from post-natal depression with Jensen and did everything to avoid it after her second pregnancy

'But I don't mind because I know it will help the mother recover.

'Once I have collected it in a chiller container, I go back to the unit to rinse and prepare it before cutting it into slides and leaving it to dehydrate.

'After a few hours, the placenta is either put into a grinder and then made into capsules or a walnut portion is blended with mixed berries, organic banana and spring water to create a delicious smoothie.

'NO BENEFIT' TO EATING PLACENTA, SAY EXPERTS The placenta is an organ attached to the lining of your womb during pregnancy. It connects the mother and the baby in the uterus and delivers oxygen, nutrients, and hormones to it. It also takes away the waste that the baby makes. After the baby is born, the placenta is also delivered through a few more contractions. The consumption of placenta, called placentophagy, is an old practice that has been observed in several cultures. More recently, celebrities like Kim Kardashian-West and January Jones made headlines for consuming their placenta after giving birth. It is claimed that ingesting the placenta reduces chances of postpartum depression and increases the quality of breast milk. It's been observed that dogs who eat their placentas had reduced labour pain and bonded with their puppies, however, such effect were not tested in women. However, scientists say there are no benefits to new mothers eating their placentas, and it could actually do harm. Consuming the placenta has become increasingly popular among new mothers because of claimed benefits such as a lower risk of getting postpartum depression, and increased mood and energy levels. Health experts led by an obstetrician from New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City said the risks of eating a placenta could outweigh any potential benefits. They analysed dozens of studies about placenta consumption and now advise obstetricians to discourage their patients from eating the placenta in any form, according to the study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 'As obstetricians, it's important to tell the truth,' said Dr Amos Grunebaum, lead author and obstetrician. 'And the truth is it's potentially harmful and no evidence it's beneficial, so therefore, don't do it.' 'Over the last few years, we've had an increasing demand from patients who wanted to take their placenta home after delivery in order to eat it.' The experts feared eating the organ could spread bacterial or viral infections. Advertisement

'Many women opt for both and their feedback is always incredible.

'The reviews keep me focused and it is so rewarding to know I have helped prevent baby blues, PND and sped up the recovery for mothers.

'When I return with the product, most mothers invite me in for a snuggle with their baby which is a massive perk of the job.

'I have found my calling and I can't stress enough about the benefits of placenta encapsulation.'

Proud Nikki with her two sons Jensen, six, (left) and Hudson, four, right. The mother-of-two said her clients' feedback is 'always incredible'

The entrepreneur claims that there are incredible benefits to consuming your placenta after birth, but there's no conclusive evidence from medical experts
As China struggles to get the coronavirus epidemic under control, the country is essentially closed for business to the global arts economy. And the ripples are being felt around the world.

A single Chinese billionaire, an investor and former taxi driver named Liu Yiqian, has spent at least US$200 million ($300 million) on art in recent years.

Jojo Rabbit is one of the films whose international bottom line will be hit by China's coronavirus. Credit:Kimberley French

China is the second-biggest market for the global movie industry, and orchestras from around the world plan tours of China years in advance, hoping to sell tickets and cultivate China's growing wealthy class as donors.

But now, movie releases have been cancelled in China and symphony tours suspended.


Holden to Cease in Australia and New Zealand

Melbourne, Feb 17, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - The Holden brand will be retired from sales in Australia and New Zealand and local design and engineering operations will wind down by 2021, General Motors ( NYSE:GM ) announced today. Maven and Holden Financial Services operations will also wind down in Australia.GM International Operations Senior Vice President Julian Blissett said GM had taken the difficult decision after implementing and considering numerous options to maintain and turn around Holden operations."Through its proud 160-year history, Holden has not only made cars, it has been a powerful driver of the industrialization and advancement of Australia and New Zealand," said Blissett."Over recent years, as the industry underwent significant change globally and locally, we implemented a number of alternative strategies to try to sustain and improve the business, together with the local team."GM undertook a detailed analysis of the investment required for Holden to be competitive beyond the current generation of products. Factors impacting the business case for further investment included the highly fragmented right-hand-drive markets, the economics to support growing the brand, and delivering an appropriate return on investment."After comprehensive assessment, we regret that we could not prioritize the investment required for Holden to be successful for the long term in Australia and New Zealand, over all other considerations we have globally," said Blissett."This decision is based on global priorities and does not reflect the hard work, talent and professionalism of the Holden team."GM intends to focus its growth strategy in Australia and New Zealand on the specialty vehicles business and plans to immediately work with its partner on developing these plans.GM Holden Interim Chairman and Managing Director Kristian Aquilina said that given the significance of Holden through its history, it was critical the company worked with all stakeholders to deliver a dignified and respectful wind-down."Holden will always have a special place in the development of our countries. As Australia and New Zealand grew, Holden was a part of the engine room fuelling that development," said Aquilina."Today's announcement will be felt deeply by the many people who love Holdens, drive Holdens and feel connected to our company which has been with us for 160 years and is almost ubiquitous in our lives."Unfortunately, all the hard work and talent of the Holden family, the support of our parent company GM and the passion of our loyal supporters have not been enough to overcome our challenges."We understand the impact of this decision on our people, our customers, our dealers and our partners - and will work closely with all stakeholders to deliver a dignified and respectful transition."Holden customers can be assured that the company will honour all warranties and servicing offers made at time of sale. Holden will provide servicing and spare parts for at least 10 years, through national aftersales networks in Australia and New Zealand. As required, Holden and its aftersales network will also continue to handle any recalls or safety-related issues if they arise, working with the appropriate governmental agencies.Impacted Holden employees will be provided separation packages and employment transition support.Holden will work with its dealer network on appropriate transition arrangements, including offering dealers the opportunity to continue as authorized service outlets to support Holden customers.Holden Customer Care is available to answer customer inquiries and all warranties and service agreements. Holden customers in Australia can call 1800 46 465 336 or visit www.holden.com.au; Holden customers in New Zealand can call 0800 465 336 or visit www.holden.co.nz.MEDIA ALERTMedia are invited to a press conference at 1.45pm today, Monday, February 17, 2020, in Room 204 at the Melbourne Convention Centre.The best way to access the room is via the main Melbourne Convention Centre entrance which is located at 1 Convention Centre Place, South Wharf, Melbourne.Attendees will then need to turn left as they enter and take the lift or Stair 1 to Level 2. Room 204 is at the very top of the stairs/ lift.Media who are not able to attend can dial-in via:Participant International Dial-In NumberAustralia: 1800 005 989New Zealand: 0800 445 971Australia, Sydney: 02 8223 9773Conference ID: 4525638Please dial-in from 1.30pm for a prompt 1.45pm start.About General Motors CorporationGeneral Motors Corporation (NYSE:GM). The Group's principal activities are divided into two business segments: Automotive, Communications Services and other operations and Financing and Insurance operations. Automotive, communications services and other segment designs, manufactures and markets cars, trucks, locomotives and heavy-duty transmissions and related parts and accessories. Financing and Insurance operations are conducted through General Motors Acceptance Corporation and other financing entities which provides a range of financial services. The services includes consumer vehicle financing, full-service leasing and fleet leasing, dealer financing, car and truck extended service contracts, residential and commercial mortgage services, commercial, vehicle, and homeowners' insurance and asset-based lending.
MAPLE HEIGHTS, Ohio  Two males in a stolen car led Maple Heights police officers on an hour-long chase before they drove into a yard and ran from the vehicle, police said.

No one was harmed and no property was damaged in the 54-minute chase that ended Sunday night on Grassmere Avenue near Jackson Boulevard, police said.

Investigators are still trying to identify the two males who ran from the stolen 2014 Chevrolet sedan, Maple Heights police Lt. Donald Grossmyer said.

Maple Heights police could specify how fast the stolen car was traveling during the chase. The pursuit did not reach high speeds, police said.

Officers started following the stolen car after spotting it at 7:53 p.m. on Warrensville Center Road, according to police reports. The chase passed through several cities before returning to Maple Heights, police said.

Officers tried to use stop sticks to halt the stolen car, but were unsuccessful, police said.

The stolen car drove off the road and through several yards before coming to a stop at 8:47 p.m. on Grassmere Avenue, according to police reports.

The car had been reported stolen out of Cleveland. Grossmyer said it was not stolen in a carjacking, but he could not immediately provide other details.

Maple Heights police could not provide video of the chase because the citys police cruisers are not equipped with dashboard cameras.

Police chases have long been a hot-button issue in Northeast Ohio and across the U.S. In December, a 13-year-old died after being struck by a car during a Cleveland police chase that entered East Cleveland.

Last year, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine asked a law enforcement advisory board to develop statewide standards for police chases in order to create consistency across jurisdictions. A cleveland.com review of pursuit policies found most area police departments implement best practices for chases, but policies differ from city to city.

To comment on this story, visit Mondays crime and courts comments page.

Read more crime stories:

Trio attacked Cleveland man with car jack, tried to shove him into trunk of car, records say

Strongsville priest accused in child pornography case may have participated in child prostitution, prosecutors say

Citizen app debuts in Cleveland, bringing crime alerts to users cellphones

One dead, one injured in shooting in Clevelands Central neighborhood

East Cleveland officer-involved shooting happened at apartment complex, BCI says
The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has introduced a cutting-edge 3D printing technology for jaw joint replacements to acquire accuracy in such procedures.

At a three-day workshop the 2nd AIIMS Total TMJ Replacements Workshop, 2020, being is held at the Centre for Dental Education and Research (CDER) since Sunday, dental surgeons from across the country are being trained through live surgery demonstrations and practice on cadavers for this complex procedure.

"The objective of this workshop is to train these surgeons in diagnosing the cases requiring jaw joint replacements, also called total temporomandibular joint (TMJ) replacements, on time, so that future disfigurement of face is limited," Dr Ajoy Roychoudhury, the head of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at CDER, AIIMS, said.

He stated that the artificial joint replacements which are currently available in India are of international make and none of the Indian companies are making it on par with global standards.

"This is the reason why these joint replacement procedures are expensive. AIIMS is in touch with the 3D printing industry to get medical-grade 3D-printed joints which will bring down the price substantially. Also, it will be patient-specific for best fit, longevity and reduced operating time," Roychoudhury said.

Presently, only stock joints are available which are difficult to fit in Indian patients.

According to Dr Ongkila Bhutia, a professor in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery since these jaw joints are expensive, poor patients are not able to afford it.

"The government through its Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN) scheme is helping tremendously in sponsoring these joints thereby improving the quality of life of Indian poor patients," Bhutia said.

Jaw joint is the most complex and maximally used joint in human body. It helps in opening and closing the mouth, chewing food, speaking and even aids in breathing.

"Sometimes, it may be absent congenitally or destroyed by trauma, infection, pathology, tumour or by some systemic autoimmune diseases. To establish normal jaw function, it should be repaired or replaced by autogenous or artificial means," Dr Rahul Yadav, associate professor in the department of oral and maxillofacial Surgery at AIIMS said.

There are two options for artificial replacement of jaw joint -- one is stock jaw joint and other is patient specific jaw joint. Due to limited size and shape of available stock joint and every patient's native bone anatomy variability, makes its use very limited. Patient-specific jaw joint is the only alternative or the best option.

"Patient specific jaw joint fabrication is very costly, time-consuming, challenging and require long-term clinical experience. Fortunately, immersive 3D technology makes it more feasible and less turn around time for fabrication," Yadav said.

The upper part of the joint is made up of special type high strength biocompatible plastic material fixed to skull bone with titanium screws while the lowe part is made up of 3D printed titanium material attached loer jaw with multiple titanium screw.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
PORTLAND, OregonThe Bureau of Land Management has announced plans to fund 11,000 miles of strategic fuel breaks in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada and Utah in an effort to help control wildfires.

The fuel breaks are intended to prop up fire mitigation efforts and help protect firefighters, communities and natural resources, The Oregonian reported Saturday.

According to the BLM, wildfires are becoming bigger and more frequent across the Great Basin states. Between 2009 and 2018, more than 13.5 million acres of BLM land burned in the project area.

Recovering from the devastating effects of wildfires can take decades in the rugged, high-desert climate of the Great Basin. These tools will help firefighters contain fires when they break out, said acting Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Land and Minerals Management Casey Hammond in a news release. Thats why creating fuel breaks is incredibly important to the entire basin, the people who live in these communities, and our wildland firefighters.

Fuel breaks are intended to break up fire fuels by creating breaks in vegetation that slow a blazes progress. By implementing them strategically, they help firefighters control the spread of fire, and can protect homes and resources.

Some scientists debate the effectiveness of fuel breaks, raising questions about whether these efforts are worth funding.

But the BLM reports that assessments of more than 1,200 fuel breaks found that 78 percent of them helped control wildfire and 84 percent helped change fire behavior. According to the news release, the BLM has extensively documented that fuel breaks, and other types of fuel treatments, are effective.

Jennifer Jones, a spokeswoman for the BLM, said the program will help streamline the implementation process by reducing or eliminating the need for environmental analysis.

The timeline for implementation and the location of fuel breaks will depend on what offices develop plans and apply for funding.

Because BLM offices have not requested funds, said Jones, the BLM cant provide a figure for what the plan will cost.

Costs will depend on how many fuel breaks are actually constructed, what types of fuel breaks are constructed, where they are constructed, whether they are constructed by employees or contractors, Jones said.

The public can comment on the plan for the next 30 days, after which the BLM will make final decisions.
Every year my sister gives me the same birthday present. Sorry, thats not fair: Nigella gives me a jumper, but each year it is one of a different colour.

Actually, I find this rather exciting, because after so many birthdays I am increasingly intrigued as to what shade I will get, marvelling at my sisters ability never to repeat one shed chosen during decades of jumper-giving.

On my latest birthday, however, no jumper  of any colour  arrived.

Instead, and over the preceding few days, I received text messages from a company called Hermes, telling me it would be delivering the parcel from the clothing retailer Uniqlo (which I knew was from my sister). For several days in a row I would be told the thing was arriving that very morning or afternoon. But it never did.

No reason was ever given. When it finally did show up, my birthday had long passed.

Parcels are seen scattered across the floor in the Hermes depot in Bradford, West Yorkshire, in December

Well, this is no disaster, and I like the latest jumper (honey brown) in my now vast collection as much as if it had actually got to me in time for my birthday. My wife, however, has been less fortunate.

Over recent weeks she has had a series of non-deliveries from the same firm, of goods she has ordered via Amazon or directly from companies such as Clarks (boots for our younger daughter, also a present).

Bizarre

My wife, having received a text message saying, Your parcel is now with your local Hermes courier would some hours later get another one announcing that it had been delivered and posted through your letter box.

Whenever this happened, it was puzzling, on two counts. First, the parcel had not been delivered to us. Second, we do not have a letter box. But Hermes had a response (in its texts and emails) to our doubts.

Its messages included a space where, it claimed, would be a photo taken by its courier of our front door, the package safely delivered. So my wife would click on this  to see only a square of perfect blackness. No evidence of a delivery, in other words, or, indeed, of a photo.

In the latest independent survey Ive seen (of 9,000 users), out of all the nationwide delivery firms in the UK, Hermes came 14th out of the 17 best and worst listed. Pictured: Packages piled up at the Bradford Hermes depot

This bizarre process has occurred several times with this firm, most recently with some specialised automatic cameras my wife had ordered. They were designed to capture the images of any creatures roaming outside our house at night, though, as I pointed out later, they would also be useful in capturing the image of a lost Hermes courier.

But, like the Clarks boots, the cameras didnt come, even though yet another text and email from Hermes assured us that the delivery had been completed (with the usual unsubstantiated claim to have attached a picture of the job done, as proof of fulfilment).

Now, you will  if naive in such matters  be asking: why not just reply to the text and email, telling Hermes that its claims to have successfully delivered were false?

The answer, of course, is that these messages do not accept direct replies. And do not imagine that there is a telephone number that you can ring, to speak to any human working for Hermes. No such interaction is possible.

Instead, all you get is an automatic message telling you to contact the original supplier of the goods  as if it were entirely their fault that the objects of your desire have not arrived.

In fact, the suppliers in all cases have refunded my wife, with apologies. So, again, hardly a disaster.

A TV box and parcels are stacked in a corner at the Bradford Hermes depot. It turns out that Hermes is a German company headquartered in Hamburg

Except that my wife, who is always frantically busy with her charity Team Domenica, and also as a director of a retail business herself, has spent hours in useless dialogue with what seems to be a primitive form of artificial intelligence, only without either intelligence or knowledge. Or indeed anything at all.

Dumped

So I have tried to acquire a little knowledge of this mysterious business myself. It turns out that Hermes is a German company headquartered in Hamburg, which, by its own account, in 2017 won several awards including the Operational and Compliance Excellence Award at the Motor Transport Awards, the Courier Team of the Year Award from the Institute of Couriers, the award for the Operations (Large) category at the Logistics Awards, and the award for the Customer Experience Champion at the UK Contact Centre Awards.

That last one in particular made me laugh. And possibly not only me. For in the latest independent survey Ive seen (of 9,000 users), out of all the nationwide delivery firms in the UK, Hermes came 14th out of the 17 best and worst listed.

A stack of parcels waiting to be delivered are left on the floor in the Bradford Hermes depot

As the compiler of that survey, Steve Nowottny of MoneySavingExpert.com, points out: Having goods delivered to your door should be convenient, but we hear countless horror stories, whether its deliveries not showing up, missed delivery cards being left when you were in, or even packages being dumped in the bin.

And as he also observes: In practice you have little choice over which firm delivers your goods. Generally you have no direct relationship with the delivery firm. Aint that the truth.

So I cant sack Hermes (the name of the ancient Greek god of trade, wealth and, er, thieves). But please, Amazon, Uniqlo, Clarks: will you?

Is this the ultimate humiliation for a proud Scottish bank?

The Scottish National Party wont like this one little bit: the new chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, Alison Rose, has decided to change its name to . . . NatWest. West, as in Westminster  the patch of London the SNP holds responsible for all of Scotlands ills.

What a reversal this is: it was under Fred Goodwin that, in 2000, RBS launched a hostile takeover of the much larger NatWest, buying it for 22 billion. Goodwin  later knighted for services to Scottish banking  let it be known how inferior the management of the London-based bank was, and shareholders went along with it.

The success of that deal led directly to the arrogance that saw Goodwin make possibly the worst acquisition in business history, buying the hopelessly over-extended Dutch bank ABN Amro in 2007: when the credit crunch hit almost immediately afterwards, RBS had to be bailed out by British taxpayers to the tune of 45 billion. We still havent got our money back.

The new chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, Alison Rose (pictured at the London headquarters this month) , has decided to change its name to . . . NatWest

It was a shattering blow to then SNP leader Alex Salmond, a former employee of RBS, who had cheered on all of Goodwins increasingly megalomaniac acquisitions. Salmond referred to this as Scotlands arc of prosperity.

As the former Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling devastatingly pointed out about Salmond during the Scottish independence referendum of 2014: He endorsed the deal by RBS that led to disaster. The disaster that overtook the bank was made in Edinburgh, not London.

Nowadays Salmond has more personal concerns on his mind: he is soon to face trial on an attempted rape charge (which he strenuously denies). But RBS is also in the doghouse for what can be described as a ruthlessly exploitative assault on small businesses, many of which it drove to the wall with unscrupulous lending policies.

In other words, the very name RBS has become terminally tainted. No wonder its new boss has decided to rebrand (the customary euphemism).

In fact, the RBS name will remain on all its buildings and offices in Scotland. This hasnt stopped a former SNP MP, Paul Monaghan, protesting that renaming the company NatWest will cost the Royal Bank of Scotland thousands of customers.

Somehow I dont think many Scots will close their accounts in protest: they, more than anyone, already know what disgrace and dishonour had befallen the once great name of Royal Bank of Scotland  and who was to blame.
The state government says it is against the CAA/NRC but it is not allowing protests and demonstrations against it, Prof Haragopal pointed out. Even when such events are permitted, they are allowed for barely 30 to 45 minutes. At the same time, the RSS is allowed to conduct meetings and march with sticks.

Hyderabad: The Forum Against Repression has questioned the detention by police of nearly 300 people protesting against the Citizens Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Registration of Citizens (NRC) on Sunday. Despite obtaining permission from the High Court for holding the protest at Dharna Chowk, why is the state government not allowing democratic methods of registering dissent, asked Prof P.L. Visweshwar Rao, the Forums co-convener.

He, along with the Forums convener Prof S. Haragopal were addressing a press meet here on Monday.

They said the Forum will organise another protest at Dharna Chowk on February 25 to condemn the repressive measures of the state and Central governments on intellectuals, writers and activities of civil society organisations by implicating individuals in false cases.

The state government says it is against the CAA/NRC but it is not allowing protests and demonstrations against it, Prof Haragopal pointed out. Even when such events are permitted, they are allowed for barely 30 to 45 minutes. At the same time, the RSS is allowed to conduct meetings and march with sticks. Is this not a paradox? If the state government really opposes CAA/NRC, then it should allow as many meetings as people want to hold. The current attitude of the state government is nothing but subversion of democracy, Prof. Haragopal said.

The central government, he said, is promoting a fascist culture, and the Telangana government is a part of it. The present Telangana government is a result of a peoples movement. While many democratic organisations made the formation of Telangana possible, the state formed through this process is now adopting repressive methods. There is no respect for Constitutional values, no rule of law, or democratic values, he said.

The Forum leaders also pointed out that the government has arrested 17 people including Prof Chinthakindi Kashim under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. There have been umpteen attacks on people who are raising their voice against the government's wrong policies. The state is partial and not protecting the rights of the people, they said.
Ghaziabad: One worker was killed and two others injured after a huge mound of soil caved in and fell on four workers near Columbia Asia Hospital adjacent to NH-9. The police said the workers were under the contractor engaged for laying of Ganga water pipeline as part of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway (DME) project.

According to police, the deceased worker was identified as Anshu, 22, while the two injured were identified as Pankaj Kumar and Amit, both aged about 25 years. The two were rushed to the hospital and are undergoing treatment.

One person died of suffocation. The other two are now recovering from minor injuries. One of the injured has also suffered a fracture. However, both are stable at present, an official from Columbia Asia Hospital said.

According to police, the incident took place Monday afternoon when the workers were busy laying the Ganga water pipeline.

The work was taken up under the Delhi-Meerut Expressway project. Four workers got buried under the huge mound of soil. One of the four was recused but the others remained buried. Later, they were rescued with the help of teams from the National Disaster Response Force and rushed to the hospital, where one died during treatment. We have not received any police complaint so far, Atish Kumar Singh, circle officer (city 2), said.

The officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said they will soon initiate an inquiry into the incident.

The workers were brought to the site by the contractor. All precautions were in place but some workers removed the shuttering from the cemented portion and this caused the soil mound to collapse. An inquiry will be initiated and all necessary financial support and compensation will be given to the victims family, Mudit Garg, deputy general manager (NHAI), said.

The pipeline project involves laying of new pipelines and the shifting of existing lines from the right of way of the 14 laned DME. The pipelines carry Ganga water from Upper Ganga Canal to the water treatment plants in Pratap Vihar. After treatment, the Ganga water is supplied to Ghaziabad and Noida.
Sudans former President Omar al-Bashir is standing trial for war crimes in the Darfur region.

More than 17 years of war have left hundreds of thousands of people dead and more than two million displaced.

The transitional government is now pushing for peace with rebel groups and that is important for the families who are still struggling to survive.

Al Jazeeras Hiba Morgan reports from North Darfur.
M ississippi was facing historic floods today as thousands of residents were evacuated after days of torrential rain.

Waters in the fast-rising Pearl river were expected to peak today, prompting a warning from the governor that the state faced a precarious situation that can turn at any moment.

Tate Reeves said Mississippi should prepare for the third worst flood in its history.

This is a historic, unprecedented flood, he warned.

Abandoned vehicles are semi submerged in floodwater from the Pearl River / AP

In Jackson, the capital, residents used canoes, kayaks and small fishing boats to check on their houses and give lifts to neighbours.

Some were able to get inside, while others peeked into windows to see what damage had been done inside.

A house address sign floats as water from the Pearl River floods / AP

Outside their homes, floodwaters lapped at mailboxes, street signs and cars left in driveways.

Severe weather started hitting the state on February 10.

Floodwaters lapped at mailboxes, street signs and cars / AP

More rain is forecast for tomorrow and Wednesday.
Priya Rama's paintings are bright, often arresting with brilliant colors. But the source of those intense colors is intense pain. "The first thing I feel is pressure in my temples, almost like my head is getting squeezed in," she said.

Rama has suffered chronic migraine attacks most of her life. Five years ago, the Cincinnati artist began trying to paint them.

How does she paint a migraine? "When I close my eyes, I feel this imagery," she said. "It starts somewhere on the top, and it sort of floats down. And it's a symphony of colors."

priya-rama-paintings-inspired-by-her-migraine-620.jpg

Priya Rama looks to her migraines for inspiration for her art. CBS News

But don't be fooled by that peaceful description.

"So, are you painting in the middle of the migraine?" asked correspondent Susan Spencer.

"Depends how functional I am and how painful it is," Rama said. Sometimes she paints during a migraine, but if it is overwhelming, she will later paint what she remembers.

At its most overwhelming, Rama has endured 25 attacks in a single month. "The headache is the dominant symptom," she said. "It is so debilitating that it crushes you. And you're unable to process or think or do anything at all. And then it affects my vision also. Sometimes it gets blurry, my vision. It affects your stomach."

"How does anybody live with this?" Spencer asked.

"What choice do you have, you know?" Rama replied.

She never leaves home without a purse full of medication: Zomig nasal spray, or Imitrex injections. It doesn't stop the pain, but can reduce the severity and duration of the attack.

Though the cause is unclear, migraine is a serious neurological disease that often runs in families, said Dr. William Young, a neurologist and headache specialist at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia.

Spencer asked, "I think when people hear the word 'migraine,' they think a really, really bad headache. How accurate is that?"

Story continues

"It's pretty inaccurate," Dr. Young replied. "It's a headache and it's usually really bad. But it also has light sensitivity, nausea, sound sensitivity, smell sensitivity, brain fog, dizziness, and a host of other symptoms that are often attached to it."

"And this can last for how long?"

"Well, I have patients who never get rid of their migraine," Dr. Young said. "Every single day, in every moment of every day."

Fortunately, that's rare. The disease, unfortunately, is not. According to Dr. Young, about 40 million Americans have migraine  and in the world, a billion people suffer. That's about one in seven living with what's ranked as the second-most-debilitating disease on the planet (right after back pain.)

Just how debilitating? Watch what happened to TV reporter Serene Branson, of CBS station KCBS, in 2011, during a live broadcast:

serene branson reporting live HD QUALITY after the grammys 2011 CBS2 LA by dogdvdcom on YouTube

Dr. Young said, "Everybody was sure that she had had a major stroke."

"It almost seems like she's speaking in tongues," said Spencer. "And that's migraine?"

"The most common place is in the vision part of the brain, but in her case, it was in the language part of the brain," he said.

A new class of drugs can reduce the number of attacks, and handheld electrical devices to block pain can help some patients. But there is no cure, and often no real diagnosis.

Typically, you can't see a migraine on a brain scan.

"Migraine is still a radically-undertreated disorder," said medical historian Katherine Foxhall, author of "Migraine: A History" (Johns Hopkins University Press).

migraine-a-history-jup-cover.jpg

Johns Hopkins University Press

The disease, she said, can be traced back for thousands of years, and over the centuries it has been treated with everything from wrapping the patient's head with ground-up earthworms, to bloodletting.

As for why we're not much better at treating it today, Foxhall said, "One of the problems we have at the moment with migraine is really that it's not taken that seriously."

She thinks that's largely because migraine affects three times as many women as men. "It's often seen as an excuse," Foxhall said. "It's seen as a disorder of women  you know, women who can't really cope with modern life, or, you know, who are too stressed."

Spencer asked Dr. Young, "If this were men, we wouldn't be in the same situation?"

"There is no way that the second-most-disabling disease in the world would get this little attention if it was happening to men principally," he replied.

Dr. Young heads up Miles for Migraine, which hosts running events aimed at raising awareness. "Don't let anybody ever say that it's just a headache," he told participants.

He told Spencer, "If society tells you it's not valid to have migraine headache, that you shouldn't be disabled, that it's there because you're weak, you are not gonna be a good advocate for yourself when it comes to getting treatment."

"Even though it's that common, people are uncomfortable admitting it?" Spencer asked.

"Right. So, they hide it. They don't seek help. They don't talk about it, because they know how little sympathy they're gonna get if they say, you know, they need to miss work."

treatment-for-symptons-of-migraine-promo.jpg

A new class of drugs can reduce the number of migraine attacks, and handheld electrical devices to block pain can help some patients. But there is no cure, and often no real diagnosis. CBS News

That stigma, he said, has a dramatic effect on research. The National Institutes of Health budget for arthritis, for example, is about ten times that for migraine, though the two have a comparable impact on society.

Dr. Young said, "If migraine was treated fairly by NIH, it would get $240 million worth of research. It gets about $20 [million]."

"We obviously have limited funds, and so we have to be really careful how we spread them across the different diseases that we're responsible for," said Linda Porter, an NIH director in the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. She said funding for migraine research is on the rise.

"It's a slow process. So, we've gone, in 2015, from about $22 million a year commitment, and now, we're getting up into the high 30s over a small number of years."

Spencer asked Dr. Young, "Is that satisfactory, as far as you're concerned?"

He replied, "You know, if minimum wage goes from $6 to six and a half dollars, no, it's not satisfactory. You know, it's shamefully poor."

Spencer asked Porter, "Do you feel like this is getting enough attention?"

"I feel like it's getting enough attention," she replied. "I think there is a need for more funding in the area because there are some critical gaps."

Gaps she blames in part on a shortage of migraine researchers, and the difficulty of treating people whose symptoms vary so widely.

"Headaches don't affect people all the same way," Porter said. "It's not an easy equation of, how do I treat this patient to make them feel better, because it's not a one-size-fits-all."

Small comfort to people like Priya Rama. She said the impact of migraine on her life is so great, she'd even give up painting if it also meant giving up pain.

Spencer asked her, "If I told you that tomorrow there's a cure  you know, you take this little pill once a month and you'll never have another migraine "

"I would do it," Rama replied. "Am I gonna stop seeing these visions and not have anything to paint? Maybe. But if I cannot deal with the pain at all, I would certainly take that."

priya-rama-painting-a-migraine-620.jpg

Priya Rama painting a migraine-inspired artwork. CBS News

BOOK EXCERPT: "Migraine: A History"

For more info:

Migraine artist Priya Rama: Transforming pain into beautyDr. William Young, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, PhiladelphiaMiles for Migraine"Migraine: A History" by Katherine Foxhall (Johns Hopkins University Press), in Trade Paperback and eBook formats, available via AmazonNational Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NIH)Thanks to Shakespeare & Co. Booksellers, New York City

Story produced by Amiel Weisfogel.

Hundreds of thousands displaced in Syria's raging war

Are Democrats prepared to take on Bloomberg?

Tom Steyer hoping for top-2 finish in Nevada caucuses
New Delhi, Feb 17 : As the spread of coronavirus and resultant fatalities continue to make headlines, Indian businesses have started to feel the heat with disruption in the supply-demand scenario, according to a LocalCircles report on Monday.

According to a survey by the community-based social media platform, 19 per cent Indian entities said they were facing supply disruption, while 26 per cent said to be noticing weak demand following the COVID-19 outbreak in China.

Top Indian imports from China include electronic equipment, machinery, organic chemicals, fertilisers, vehicle components, telecom equipment and mobile phones. The COVID-19 outbreak has also restricted trade movement to and from China, which might impact India manufacturing units that are dependent on these Chinese imports, the report said.

"The pharmaceutical industry for instance has 8-10 weeks' inventories. But it believes if the China supply shutdowns extended to April, there will shortage of generic drugs in India," it said.

China is India's biggest trade partner after the US and supplies some critical input items to our industries.
17 Feb 2020, 11:45 AM

Amazon, Flipkart seek rollback of new Indian tax on online sellers

Amazon and Walmart's Flipkart are among online retailers demanding that India scale back a proposed tax on third-party sellers on their platforms, saying the burden of compliance will hurt the fledgling industry, according to documents seen by Reuters. The online retail industry is braced for a possible 1% tax on each sale made by sellers on their platforms from April if the proposal is approved by parliament next month.

FM Sitharaman reaffirms India's fiscal deficit won't be compromised

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday asserted that there will not be any compromise with respect to the country's fiscal deficit. Sitharaman said the FRBM (Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management) Act has been kept in view and has been abided by while preparing the Budget 2021.

PM Narendra Modi inaugurates Rs 1,200 crore development projects in Varanasi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday inaugurated development projects worth over Rs 1,200 crore at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. PM Modi, who reached Varanasi on Sunday morning, also flagged off IRCTC's Maha Kaal Express via video conferencing and dedicated Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Memorial Centre to the nation.

Unemployment: Number of jobless in UP rises by 58% to 34 lakh in two years

The number of unemployed educated youth in India's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, has grown by over 12.5 lakh in last two years to 34 lakh, Yogi Adityanath government said at the state assembly on February 14. According to Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) data, unemployment almost doubled in UP during 2019 compared to 2018.

About 92% of rich taxpayers filed annual returns for FY18: GSTN

The GST Network on Sunday said around 92 per cent of large taxpayers with turnover of over Rs 2 crore have filed annual returns for 2017-18 fiscal. With Goods and services tax launches on July 1, 2017, this is the first time when businesses registered under GST have to file annual return GSTR-9 and reconciliation statement GSTR-9C.

Arvind Kejriwal sworn-in as chief minister of Delhi for 3rd time

Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday, was sworn-in as chief minister of Delhi for the third time. Kejriwal took oath as Delhi CM at Ramlila Maidan today. He is the first and the only chief minister of Delhi who has preferred Ramlila Maidan for his oath ceremonies, while his predecessors took oath in the Raj Niwas. The 51-year-old leader, became the youngest chief minister of Delhi when he was sworn for the first time on 28 December 2013.
Supreme Court's order on Rs 1.47 lakh crore worth of AGR dues has triggered rumours about the alleged impending shutdown of two of India's largest telecom companies Vodafone Idea and Airtel. In fact, WhatsApp forwards saying subscribers of these two telcos should change their service provider have been doing the rounds.

So should subscribers port out?

Yes, both Airtel and Vodafone Idea face huge monetary burden due to AGR. But, both have said they will pay the dues. Moreover, Airtel paid Rs 10,000 crore on Monday.

Airtel

Airtel is definitely not shutting down. The telecom operator's spokesperson confirmed to BusinessToday.In that, it will pay the balance amount after completing the exercise of calculating (AGR) dues across 22 circles which will take at least a week to ten days. The company added that it shall make the payment before the next date of Supreme Court's (SC) hearing which is on March 17.

Bharti Airtel's overall AGR dues as assessed by the department of telecommunications (DoT) stand at Rs 35,586 crore including licence fee and spectrum usage charge.

Vodafone Idea

Vodafone Idea dues to Idea stand at a whopping Rs 53,000 crore.

Vodafone Idea's chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla had said in December last year that the company would not put good money after bad and shut shop if the government did not give relief to the company. He echoed Vodafone Global CEO Nick Read who had said Vodafone Idea would head for liquidation if the government did not offer relief to the telcos.

However, now Vodafone Idea has said it will clear its AGR dues. The telco said on Monday that it can immediately shell out Rs 2,500 crore and pay another Rs 1,000 crore by February 21.

The telco appealed to the apex court that the department of telecommunication (DoT) should not take any forcible action and call forth any bank guarantees as it would further hinder its operations. However, the SC did not grant Vodafone Idea any relief.

Also Read: Vodafone Idea share price rises over 18% after telco proposes to pay AGR dues in next few days

Also Read: AGR issue: Vodafone Idea tells SC it can only pay Rs 2,500 crore; gets no relief
British consumers will face higher prices and limited ranges of goods in the event of a return to customs controls after the Brexit transition period, an industry body warned Monday.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) issued the gloomy warning in a report entitled A Fair Deal for Consumers: EU Trade Roadmap -- which outlined its priorities for London's trade talks with Brussels.

Britain left the European Union on January 31 but remains bound by its rules in a transition period that expires at the end of this year, to allow both sides to negotiate a new trading relationship.

"The roadmap calls for pragmatic solutions on future compliance and regulatory checks that will apply from January 2021," the BRC said Monday.

"Without these, consumers will face higher costs and reduced availability of goods." The BRC highlighted that almost 80 percent of all food imported by British retailers comes from the European Union.

And the lion's share of those imports pass through Dover and Folkestone -- Britain's biggest ports -- on around 7,000 lorries every day.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to negotiate a free trade deal with the EU by the end of this year.

However, his Conservative government has warned businesses to prepare for stricter controls on goods coming from the European Union, saying that was an inevitable result of Brexit.

London says it will be leaving the EU's single market and customs union, which currently facilitate seamless cross-border trade.

BRC Chief Executive Helen Dickinson on Monday urged Johnson to seek a "zero tariff" deal with Brussels in order to avert any economic damage.

"The issue is simple -- higher tariffs and extensive checks will harm consumers, retailers, and the UK economy," Dickinson said.

"The government must set about to negotiate a zero tariff agreement that minimises checks and red tape otherwise it will be consumers who suffer as a result. "The introduction of excessive or avoidable checks would mean businesses face a mountain of paperwork to be filled out by an army of newly trained staff, coupled with exhaustive checks on thousands of lorries every day.

"And the result for consumers would be higher costs and reduced availability on the shelves," Dickinson added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Pakistani judge on Monday took a jibe at India while wrapping up a case against 23 people protesting against the arrest of a Pashtun activist known for criticising the country's powerful military.

Chief Justice Athar Minallah of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) took up the bail petitions of 23 workers of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) and Awami Workers Party (AWP), who were arrested by the Islamabad police last month for staging protest.

"Everyone's constitutional rights will be protected. This is Pakistan, not India," Chief Justice Minallah said.

During the hearing the chief justice said that "we don't expect that a democratic government will curb freedom of expression."



"An elected democratic government cannot place curbs on freedom of expression. (We) shouldn't fear criticism," he remarked, adding that the courts will protect the constitutional rights of the people.

He asked the people to come to the court if they were not allowed by the government to hold protests.

"If you want to protest, get permission. If you don't get permission, the court is here," he said.

When Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat told the court that all charges against the protesters had been dropped, the chief justice concluded that case, allowing all 23 activists to go free.

Last month, protesters were holding protests in front of the National Press Club here against the arrest of Manzoor Pashteen, the chief of the rights-based alliance PTM, when he was detained.

Pashteen attended a gathering on January 18 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Dera Ismail Khan city where he had allegedly said that the 1973 Constitution violated basic human rights.

The 27-year-old activist was arrested along with nine other PTM workers from Peshawar, police said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
PR-Inside.com: 2020-02-17 12:21:00

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 402 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

Austin Blockchain Collective, organizer of Blockchain and Digital Transformation in Health 2020, announced their educational event will be held in Austin, Texas on February 26, 2020AUSTIN, TX / ACCESSWIRE / February 17, 2020 / Technologists looking for the latest information on Blockchain, Web 3.0 and related digital transformation technologies can register to attend Blockchain and Digital Transformation in Health 2020 scheduled for February 26, 2020.This educational program has been designed to benefit key participants involved in the delivery of healthcare and health services, including: Clinicians, providers and researchers with an interest in digital health and technology Digital health specialists looking to keep abreast of technology trends Data scientists and medical statisticians that want to leverage these new tools Payers and administrators seeking to take advantage of these technologies Blockchain, IT, AI and medical device innovators that wish to engage with medical practitioners and healthcare professionalsAustin Blockchain Collective is sponsoring this year's event, which will cover key issues such as: AI Impact on Healthcare and Wellness - Discover how artificial intelligence will influence technology trends and health outcomes Next Generation Web and Healthcare - Web 3.0 and token approaches to delivering healthcare applications and services Blockchain, IT, AI and Medical Device Innovation - Using blockchain to underpin and protect patient identity, along with governance for blockchain consortia in healthcare and HIPAA complianceFull details on the event can be found on the conference website at http://austinblockchaindigitalhealth.com When asked about the reasons behind joining this event, panelist Andy Morris said:The Blockchain and Digital Transformation in Health 2020 symposium features an educational program curated jointly by the Austin Blockchain Collective and Dell Medical School. Uniquely, it will provide a blend of academic and industry insights into the application of blockchain, Web 3.0 and related digital transformation technologies to achieve better health and healthcare outcomes.This confluence of health professionals, data scientists and technologists makes it the ideal forum for discussing how artificial intelligence and machine learning can revolutionize wellness. I am looking forward to joining CognitiveScale and Valkyrie Intelligence experts to discuss #ArtificialIntelligence's Impact on #Healthcare and Wellness - Blockchain and Digital Transformation in Health 2020.The Austin Blockchain Collective website has full details about the sessions at this year's event. Interested parties can learn more about the AI in Healthcare and Wellness panel at: https://bit.ly/3bxtuz8 Contact Info:Name: Andy MorrisEmail: Send EmailOrganization: Lone Star Tech NewsAddress: 5647 Wagon Train Road, Austin, TX 78749, United StatesSOURCE: Lone Star Tech News
The Democratic presidential candidates raced on Sunday to make the most of their final weekend day before the Nevada caucuses, selling their messages and tearing into their opponents

Las Vegas: The Democratic presidential candidates raced on Sunday to make the most of their final weekend day before the Nevada caucuses, selling their messages and tearing into their opponents.

But the rival they focused on most intently was one who isnt even competing in the state.

I got news for [Michael] Bloomberg, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont said at an event in Carson City, Nevada, taking aim at the former New York City mayor, within five minutes of opening his remarks. The American people are sick and tired of billionaires buying elections.

In a rarity, former vice-president Joe Biden echoed his progressive counterpart. Sixty billion dollars can buy you a lot of advertising, but it cant erase your record, he said of Bloomberg in an interview on NBCs Meet the Press that aired on Sunday.

Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, another moderate, had similar thoughts. Im here getting votes, Klobuchar said in an interview Sunday. Its not something where I can just  what would be the word  transport in a bunch of ads. She called on Bloomberg to go on the shows that every other candidate goes on, on the Sunday shows and the like.

She added: I dont think Im going to beat him on the airwaves, but I can beat him on the debate stage. At a forum on Sunday focussed on infrastructure, Klobuchar, who won the endorsement of The Las Vegas Sun last week, mentioned Bloomberg early on, referring to President Donald Trumps comments about his height as she stood to speak. I am the only candidate that is 5-foot-4, she joked. I want that out there now.

The fixation on Bloomberg, the free-spending multibillionaire, reflected his rising prominence in the Democratic race, even though he is skipping the first four nominating contests and focusssing on the 14 Super Tuesday states that will vote on 3 March.

As early voting continued in Nevada on Sunday, some of the criticism seemed to be sticking.

Bloomberg just has bad connotations that come along with him, Leah Garwood said as she waited in line with her husband Sunday in Las Vegas for roughly 45 minutes to vote for a different billionaire, Tom Steyer of California. Its just at the back of my mind. It makes me uncomfortable, uneasy.

Kelly Mays, an English professor who said she favored Klobuchar and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, called it a little frightening that you can buy your way in at this late date. Standing in line to vote on Sunday afternoon, she said she thought Warrens chances in Nevada were probably not great, but I also think people are counting her out way too early.

Nevada, which will hold its caucuses on Saturday, is more diverse than either of the two states that have held presidential nominating contests so far. The state is determined to shrug off the conventional wisdom that any momentum gained  or hopes cruelly dashed  in the wintry, rural expanses of Iowa and New Hampshire will decide what comes after.

I dont think either Iowa or New Hampshire reflect America, said Jonathan Quitt, who works for a casino on the Las Vegas Strip and volunteers for Biden. I think theyre small, white-bread communities without diversity.

The presidential races shift into states with more diverse electorates brings with it the potential for an increased focus on racial issues, and opportunities for candidates like Biden as well as challenges for Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who have shown little traction with nonwhite voters.

At a Clark County Democratic Party dinner gala at the Tropicana Las Vegas on Saturday night  filled by an establishment crowd willing to pay $150 for dinner and dress up in suits and cocktail dresses  six top presidential candidates spoke, and Biden seemed to own the room. He gave a raise-the-roof speech about the accomplishments of the Barack Obama administration while criticising Sanders health care plan for ending the private insurance that unions have fought hard for.

On Meet the Press, Biden more explicitly went after Sanders, the winner of the popular votes in Iowa and New Hampshire, citing the cost of his Medicare for All proposal.

Hes never gotten anything done, Biden said of his rival.

I mean, hes been talking about healthcare, Medicare for All, universal healthcare, for 35 years, Biden said. Nothings happened. I helped get passed Obamacare. I helped move it forward. I got the votes.

Sanders devoted a sizeable portion of his dinner remarks in Clark County, home to 75 percent of the states population, to attacking Bloomberg for his positions on minimum wage laws, taxes, the financial crisis and racist policies like stop-and-frisk, the policing tactic that has been criticized for disproportionately affecting people of color and for which Bloomberg has apologised.

At an event Sunday in Carson City, Nevada, Sanders denounced the power of big money interests and the greed and corruption of the corporate elite, and singled out Bloomberg.

Now, Mike Bloomberg is struggling  hes down to his last $60 billion, Sanders said mockingly. Hey, life is hard, you know  food prices going up, housing going up. How are you going to make it on $60 billion? Mike is trying.

Later Sunday, speaking to thousands of supporters at a rally at the Colorado Convention Centre in Denver, Sanders renewed his jabs at Bloomberg.

Democracy, to me, means one person, one vote,  said Sanders, who dominated the Democratic caucuses four years ago in Colorado, which has switched to a primary and will vote on Super Tuesday. Not Bloomberg or anybody else spending hundreds of millions of dollars trying to buy an election.

As Sanders supporters waited for him to speak, head-bopping to the band DeVotchKa, Bloombergs name rankled several. They said they disliked Bloombergs record on policing in New York and the fortune he was spending on his campaign, and said they might not support him if he won the Democratic nomination.

I could justify Biden; Bloomberg, no, said Will Mulligan, 20, a student at Colorado State University. Hes Trump, but just more competent.

His friend Kylie VonEiff, 19, a community college student, agreed. I cant get behind anyone who is using his own wealth to fund an election, she said.

Bloombergs rising presence as a wild-card candidate around whom center-left voters might coalesce reflects Bidens diminished stature, after he finished fifth in New Hampshire and fourth in Iowa.

But the former vice-president and his supporters remain hopeful. Quitt, when asked if he was discouraged, was adamant: Not. At. All.

Public polling has been scarce in Nevada. But there are some signs that Biden could find at least the partial firewall he needs here for his campaign in Saturdays caucuses. There can be no Democratic nominee, none, without the voice of Latinos and African Americans being heard, and heard loudly, he said on Saturday night. The state is nearly 30 percent Latino and 10 percent black and has a fast-growing Asian American population.

In addition to Nevadas greater diversity, its residents have witnessed fewer candidate visits, and they have not been the focus of national news for a year in the way that those in Iowa and New Hampshire were.

The states more transient population, with many residents disconnected from neighbours and focussed on jobs, makes for less obsessive following of political news.

Thirty minutes into waiting in line to vote Sunday, Bob Ahern still had not decided whom he liked best. I like Buttigieg. I like Klobuchar. And, actually, I like Tom Steyer, Ahern said. He paused with an afterthought, adding: And I do like Biden, too. Biden is good, too.

Just as Bidens name recognition kept him aloft in national polls for months, he still seems to enjoy that edge in the state.

At the same time, the base of support that Sanders established with a close-fought second-place finish in the states 2016 caucuses is much intact.

Jessica Slovak, a nurse who caucused for Sanders four years ago, was still with him as she waited in a long line over the weekend at a site for early caucusgoers in Las Vegas, where other Sanders supporters strummed an electric guitar and sang along to The Bernie Necessities.

Her husband, Chase Slovak, who also supports Sanders, said he was not as extreme as rivals and the news media portrayed him. But Jessica Slovak disagreed.

I personally think hes as far left as you can go, she said. Its for the greater good.

The Nevada Democratic Party reported that 18,538 people had voted Saturday alone, nearly a quarter of the total number of votes cast in 2016.

Darla Mayfield, 67, waited in line with her sister to vote for the first time in her life on Sunday. I like Amy, and then Elizabeth, Mayfield said. I finally did my research. Im not going to vote just because.

Trip Gabriel c.2020 The New York Times Company
U.S. officials learned cruise ship evacuees were infected at the last minute.

A day before 328 Americans were to be whisked away from a contaminated cruise ship in Japan, the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo told passengers that no one infected with the new coronavirus would be allowed to board charter flights to the United States.

But those plans were hastily changed after the test results for 14 passengers came back positive  just as they were being loaded onto buses and dispatched to the airport, where two reconfigured cargo jets were waiting to fly them to military bases in California and Texas.

After consultations with health experts, the U.S. government decided to let the infected evacuees, who were not yet exhibiting symptoms, board the flights.
"I woke up this morning and found out that I am a prostitute," a Moscow-based Twitter user who goes by the handle A Lady Who Has Had Too Much posted on February 16.



She was referencing controversial remarks the previous day by Russian Orthodox Archpriest Dmitry Smirnov, who declared bluntly that women living together with their partners are comparable to "unpaid prostitutes."



"Our women do not understand themselves what marriage is," Smirnov, who is a member of the Russian Orthodox patriarchs Commission on the Family, told a gathering of a society called Orthodox BRO. "No one wants to say, 'I am an unpaid prostitute,' so they say, 'I am in a common-law marriage.' Really? You are just providing free services  that's all. And no one considers you a wife.



"Is it really so hard to get registered?" he added. "No, it isn't hard at all."



The comments quickly ignited a firestorm on social media.

Metropolitan Ilarion, head of the external affairs office of the Moscow Patriarchate, the churchs leadership body, issued an apology on February 17  but also defended Smirnov by suggesting that he meant no harm.



"I apologize to the numerous women who felt personally offended by the latest shocking statements by this priest," the metropolitan said. He added that although Smirnov frequently makes such statements, he does so "from good intentions" in order to "attract public attention to the topic of defending marriage and the family."



Nonetheless, even some socially conservative and pro-Kremlin commentators said Smirnov had offended millions of Russian women.



"The decision not to register one's marriage does not rule out mutually respectful relations or the love of two adults for one another," said Irina Kirkora, deputy head of the Kremlins advisory council on human rights and civil society, according to Interfax. "It does not alter their arrangement regarding property arrangements with one another and it does not deprive their children of the right to support from both of their parents."

Smirnov's comments were "crude and insulting, unworthy of the great traditions of the Christian church," said pro-Kremlin political scientist Sergei Markov -- a former deputy from the ruling United Russia party in the State Duma, the lower parliament house.



"Common-law marriage is the norm for tens of millions of people," he added. "Quit sticking your nose into the beds of people who love each other and are not offending anyone."



Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova pointedly asked the church what men who live in such unions should be called.

And Margarita Simonyan, editor in chief of the state-funded RT television network, said every time she considers getting married, someone from the church comes out with such a statement.



"Again, I am not going to get married," she wrote on Facebook. "Simply out of principle."



Other social-media users wondered whether Smirnov considered retired rhythmic gymnast and former United Russia Duma Deputy Alina Kabayeva, who has been widely rumored to be romantically involved with President Vladimir Putin, a "prostitute" as well.

'We Only Exist Now Thanks To Our Missiles'

Smirnov has a long history of provocative statements. In 2012, he declared that Islamist terrorists blow themselves up "because they don't want to live in states ruled by pederasts." Earlier this month he justified the blessing of nuclear warheads by priests by saying such weapons were "the defense of our people, our churches, our culture."



"We only exist now thanks to our missiles," he added. "Otherwise we would have been destroyed long ago."



And on February 9, Smirnov said that the idea that "the [ethnic] Russian people are the foundational people" of Russia should be included in the constitution.



"Various peoples have lived in our country for many centuries," he said. "But not one of these nations participated in the creation and strengthening of our state. All these peoples served selflessly and heroically, but only the Russians had the instinct for creating a state. This must be written down."



In a statement on February 16, the Russian Orthodox Church said that Smirnov's remarks were not aimed at women but at "those who debase and use them," Kipshidze said.



Smirnov was "in his own colorful mannerdrawing attention to the problems of women who are forced to live with men without a registered marriage," the statement by church spokesman Vakhtang Kipshidze said.



"It can be supposed," Kipshidze said, "that his pastoral experience has shown him that men in such situations refuse their family obligations and often abandon their common-law wives without justification, causing them psychological trauma.



"The church once again attests that happiness in relations between men and women is attainable only on the foundation of love and mutual responsibility, which is bolstered by a marriage registered by the government," he said.

'Offending Honest Citizens'

The Russian Orthodox Church is by far the biggest religious denomination in Russia, with polls indicating that more than two-thirds of its citizens consider themselves Orthodox Christians but that far fewer regularly attend services.



The church has undergone a major resurgence since the collapse of communism and the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, and some Russians have voiced concern about the extent of its ties with the state under Putin.



The Twitter user who goes by the handle A Lady Who Has Had Too Much noted that Russia already has a law against "offending the feelings of religious believers" and wondered why there is no protection against "offending honest citizens."



"We Russian women should write a mass complaint against the political prostitute Smirnov for offending us," she wrote.

With reporting by RFE/RL Russian Service correspondent Ostap Karmodi
Hong Kong: Flights chartered for HK people

Secretary for Security John Lee today said two chartered flights are ready to bring home Hong Kong residents quarantined for the novel coronavirus on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan.

Speaking during a press briefing at the airport, Mr Lee noted the two flights will leave Japan on February 19 and arrive in Hong Kong the following day. The Hong Kong residents can board the flights once Japan authorities clear their blood tests, but they will be placed under quarantine again when they return home.

After their arrival in Hong Kong, they will be sent to quarantine camps for 14 days quarantine.

He urged all the Hong Kong residents to accept a seat on the flights, so they could go through the proper procedures together, adding that they could encounter difficulties if they tried to return home by themselves.

I advise all Hong Kong residents to take this chartered flight so that they will all come back together to go through the procedure for their own health reason and for the protection of other people.

Mr Lee revealed that each chartered flight has more than 400 seats which are enough to cater for the some 350 Hong Kong people on the cruise, including 260 Hong Kong permanent residents, and 90 foreign passport holders.

The security chief also said there are five Macau citizens onboard the cruise who can join the chartered flights and will receive help in getting back to Macau once they land in Hong Kong.

This story has been published on: 2020-02-17. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
As alarms proliferate, hospitals are working to sort through the cacophony that can overwhelm staff

When Kea Turners 74-year-old grandmother checked into Virginias Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital with advanced lung cancer, she landed in the oncology unit where every patient was monitored by a bed alarm.

Even if she would slightly rollover, it would go off, Turner said. Small movementssuch as reaching for a tissuewould set off the alarm, as well. The beeping would go on for up to 10 minutes, Turner said, until a nurse arrived to shut it off.

Tens of thousands of alarms shriek, beep, and buzz every day in every U.S. hospital. All sound urgent, but few require immediate attention or get it.

Intended to keep patients safe alerting nurses to potential problems, they also create a riot of disturbances for patients trying to heal and get some rest.

Nearly every machine in a hospital is now outfitted with an alarminfusion pumps, ventilators, bedside monitors tracking blood pressure, heart activity, and a drop in oxygen in the blood. Even beds are alarmed to detect movement that might portend a fall. The glut of noise means that the medical staff is less likely to respond.

Alarms have ranked as one of the top 10 health technological hazards every year since 2007, according to the research firm ECRI Institute. That could mean staff were too swamped with alarms to notice a patient in distress, or that the alarms were misconfigured. The Joint Commission, which accredits hospitals, warned the nation about the frequent and persistent problem of alarm safety in 2013. It now requires hospitals to create formal processes to tackle alarm system safety, but there is no national data on whether progress has been made in reducing the prevalence of false and unnecessary alarms.

The commission has estimated that of the thousands of alarms going off throughout a hospital every day, an estimated 85 percent to 99 percent do not require clinical intervention. Staff, facing widespread alarm fatigue, can miss critical alerts, leading to patient deaths. Patients may get anxious about fluctuations in heart rate or blood pressure that are perfectly normal, the commission said.

And bed alarms, a recent arrival, can lead to immobility and dangerous loss of muscle mass when patients are terrified that any movement will set off the bleeps.

An Epidemic Of Immobility

In the past 30 years, the number of medical devices that generate alarms has risen from about 10 to nearly 40, said Priyanka Shah, a senior project engineer at ECRI Institute. A breathing ventilator alone can emit 30 to 40 different noises, she said.

In addition to triggering bed alarms, patients who move in bed may set off false alarms from pulse oximeters, which measure the oxygen in a patients blood, or carbon dioxide monitors, which measure the level of the gas in someones breath, she said.

Shah said she has seen hospitals reduce unneeded alarms, but doing so is a constant work in progress.

Cry Wolf Phenomenon

Maria Cvach, an alarm expert and director of policy management and integration for Johns Hopkins Health System, found that on one step-down unit (a level below intensive care) in the hospital in 2006, an average of 350 alarms went off per patient per day, from the cardiac monitor alone.

She said no international standard exists for what these alarms sound like, so they vary by manufacturer and device. Its really impossible for the staff to identify by sound everything that they hear, she said.

The flood of alarms creates a cry wolf phenomenon, Cvach said. The alarms are constantly calling for help. The staff look at them. They say thats just a false alarmthey may ignore the real alarm.

Bed alarms, for example, are meant to summon nurses so they can supervise patients to walk safely. But research has shown that the use of alarms doesnt prevent falls. Nursing staff are often stretched thin and dont reach the bedside before a patient hits the ground.

Meanwhile, patients may feel immobilized at a time when even a few hundred steps per day could significantly improve their recovery. Immobility in the hospital can create other problems for patients, leaving them with often irreversible functional decline, research has shown.

Bed alarms have proliferated since 2008 when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services declared hospital falls should never happen and stopped paying for injuries related to those falls. After that policy change, the odds of nurses using a bed alarm increased 2.3 times, according to a study led by Dr. Ronald Shorr, director of the Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center at the Malcolm Randall Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Gainesville, Florida. The alarms have become a standard feature in new hospital beds.

But Shorr noted that, in contrast, bed alarms are being removed from other settings: In 2017, CMS began discouraging their widespread use in nursing homes, arguing that audible bed or chair alarms may be considered a restraint if the resident is afraid to move to avoid setting off the alarm.

Barbara King, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison School of Nursing, who has interviewed patients about their experience with bed alarms, said patients find them very restrictive.

Theyre loud. For some patients, its frightening. They dont know where its coming from. Its a source of irritation, she said. For some patients, they wont move.

Seeking Solutions

Hospitals have turned to clinical alarm management, bringing in consultants to figure out how many devices have alarms, which go off most frequently and which are the most important for nurses to respond to. Hospitals are also installing sophisticated software to analyze and prioritize the constant stream of alerts before relaying the information to staff members.

The U.S. market size for the management of clinical bed alarms, in hospitals and other settings, has grown from $21.4 million in 2016 to $37.4 million in 2018, according to an analysis by MarketsandMarkets. The firm projects the market size will quadruple to $155.5 million by 2023.

For ventilators, it estimates the U.S. market for clinical alarm management will quadruple from $19.9 million in 2018 to $80.2 million by 2023.

In Virginia, Kea Turners grandmother grew so frustrated with her bed alarm that she gave up on sleeping and stayed up late watching television during her hospital stay, said Turner, a researcher at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Florida who studies, among other things, patient safety.

Many hospitals, she said, dont seem to have evidence-based strategies to reduce falls and, in the absence of those, theyre using things like bed alarms, she said, which is not necessarily reducing falls risk and might actually be causing more harm.

Dr. Joel Bundy, chief quality and safety officer at Sentara Healthcare, a not-for-profit health system that includes the Virginia Beach hospital, said nurses in that oncology unit decided to use bed alarms for all patients at night because of a high number of falls. But he said Sentara typically employs bed alarms only for patients who are deemed at a high risk of falling, based on a questionnaire developed at Johns Hopkins.

Meanwhile, some hospitals are trying to quiet the noise.

By customizing alarm settings and converting some audible alerts to visual displays at nurses stations, Cvachs team at Johns Hopkins reduced the average number of alarms from each patients cardiac monitor from 350 to about 40 per day, she said.

But thats just one device in one unit; other devices and types of care require different customized settings.

Still, Cvach said, a lot more can be done.

Dr. Fred Buckhold, an internist at SSM Health St. Louis University Hospital in Missouri, said one patients experience spurred his hospital to reduce reliance on bed alarms.

A 67-year-old woman was placed on a bed alarm while being treated for a collapsed lung, said Buckhold, who wrote about the case in JAMA.

I feel like Im in jail, she protested, Buckhold said. I cant sit up or go to the bathroom without them coming after me.

Did the bed alarm help her at all? Buckhold reflected in a recent interview. It just made her want to kill us.

Melissa Bailey is a Boston-based correspondent on the KHN enterprise team, focusing on aging and dying. This article is republished from Kaiser Health News.
Pune, Maharashtra -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/17/2020 -- WiseGuyRerports.com Presents "Global Shipbuilding Market 2019 by Manufacturers, Regions, Type and Application, Forecast to 2024" New Document to its Studies Database



The shipbuilding industry is in charge of the design, construction, and modification of oceangoing ships all around the world, and these operations are conducted in specialized facilities called shipyards. The shipbuilding method starts with interrogations from customers, served by the completion of various processes until the vessel is completed. It takes a minimum of 2 years to complete the manufacturing of a ship. The shipbuilding market is described as an extremely cyclical industry.



The global market for Shipbuilding is estimated to grow at a CAGR of approximately 5.4% over the next five years, which will reach 145170 million US$ in the year in 2024, from 117560 million US$ in 2019, according to an analyzed report study. The global shipbuilding market is predicted to grow in the future due to the rapid increase in seaborne trade and economic growth, rise in energy consumption, the demand for eco-friendly ships, and shipping services. The prevailing trends of the Shipbuilding market in combination with the geographic landscape, demand scale, reward scale, and growth graph of this market is also included in this report.



Request Free Sample Report @ https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/4548652-global-shipbuilding-market-2019-by-manufacturers-regions-type



Key Players



Samsung

Fincantieri

Imabari Shipbuilding

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering

Hyundai

CSIC

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding

CSSC

Japan Marine United

Oshima Shipbuilding

COSCO



Several Shipbuilding manufacturers and businesses are analyzed in the report in terms of their business and manufacture methods. The report includes the basic details of their origins of raw material, industrial progress, distribution channels, manufacture techniques, methodologies, factory locations, production capacities, evaluating the structure, value chain, industry supply chain, and product specifications. The study generally contains all necessary details about Shipbuilding production and development through investigations.



Segmentation



This report segments the market based on manufacturers, regions, types, and applications. Market Segmentation based on Type, includes Bulkers, Tankers, Containers, Cruise and Ferry, and Others. In 2019, Bulkers estimated for the highest share of 34% in the global Shipbuilding market. And this product segment is expected to reach 61628 M USD by 2025 from 43371 M USD in the year 2019. Market Segmentation based on Applications is Passenger Transportation and Goods Transportation.



Regional overview



Market Segment by Regions includes Asia-Pacific (India, China, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia). The Middle East and Africa (UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa). Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia, and Italy). South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, etc.). North America (Mexico, Canada, and the United States). South Korea is a vital contributor to the global shipbuilding market regarding new shipbuilding orders, whereas China ranks the highest share in the worldwide shipbuilding conclusions. Europe is also adopting growth in its shipbuilding order book. One possible reason for the increase in new building demand could arise from Chinese leasing finance, which allows the construction of vessels both in China and in foreign shipyards.



Industry overview



Global Shipbuilding Market Report gives an in-depth outline of the market, considering the key drivers that influence the revenue graph of this business area of the Automotive Manufacturing sector. Governments and international organizations have introduced several regulations related to environmental protection. Demand for new eco-friendly ships could increase if rules are applied to modify the existing vessels might be impossible or costly, which will lead to an increase in the scrapping of old ships.



Make Enquiry Details @ https://www.wiseguyreports.com/enquiry/4548652-global-shipbuilding-market-2019-by-manufacturers-regions-type



Table Of Content:



1 Market Overview

2 Company Profiles

3 Market Competition, by Players

4 Market Size by Regions

5 North America Revenue by Countries

6 Europe Revenue by Countries

7 Asia-Pacific Revenue by Countries

8 South America Revenue by Countries

9 Middle East & Africa Revenue by Countries

10 Market Size Segment by Type

11 Global Market Segment by Application

12 Global Market Size Forecast (2021-2025)

13 Research Findings and Conclusion



CONTACT US:



NORAH TRENT



Partner Relations & Marketing Manager



sales@wiseguyreports.com



www.wiseguyreports.com



Ph: +1-646-845-9349 (US)



Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)
Irish passengers on board the quarantined cruise ship docked in Yokohama, Japan, because of coronavirus are expected to be evacuated from the vessel this week.

The Department of Foreign Affairs says it is looking at the needs of Irish citizens on board the Diamond Princess.

Among the 3,700 passengers and crew is an Irish couple who were supposed to leave the vessel earlier this month.

The ship now has the biggest cluster of coronavirus outside China with 454 cases confirmed.

A further 99 tested positive on Monday and all of the ill passengers have been brought ashore to hospitals.

Passengers already evacuated from the ship face further uncertainty too, with the US and Australian citizens set for a further two weeks of quarantine after arriving home.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affair was asked for an update on the Irish passengers on the ship.

We are aware of the developing situation and are liaising closely with other like-minded countries regarding the consular needs of our citizens, she said.

Consular assistance is being provided to Irish passengers but the spokesperson said the department would not be commenting on individual cases and the people or families involved.

The spokesperson also stressed that the department would not be commenting further on the situation.

Passengers remaining on the ship have access to wi-fi and can make and receive calls from their rooms. They all have thermometers to check their temperatures.

The Irish couple who have spoken to the media but want to remain anonymous spend most of the day letting members of their family know how they are.

The couple, who have no symptoms of the virus, expect to get a negative test result in the coming days so they can leave the ship and fly home as soon as possible.

A bus leaves the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship at a port Sunday, Feb. 16, 2020, in Yokohama, near Tokyo. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

The US was the first country to evacuate its passengers from the ship, flying them out of the country at the weekend on two chartered planes to military bases in Texas and California, where they will be held in quarantine for two weeks.

The state department said that after passengers were sent to the airport officials discovered that 14 had tested positive. They were isolated on the flight and allowed to fly home.

The outbreak of novel coronavirus, now called Covid-19, has evolved rapidly with 71,329 confirmed cases and 1,775 deaths from the disease worldwide.

Of the 1,775 deaths, all but four have been reported in China with one death reported in the Philippines, one in Hong Kong, one in Japan and one in France. Most cases (70,634) have occurred in China.

According to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, about one in every 50 people (2%) with confirmed Covid-19 have died. During the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003, one in every ten (10%) infected people died.

There has been no laboratory-confirmed case of coronavirus in Ireland to date and the response is currently focussed on preventing or limiting the spread of the virus.
President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian has issued a statement on the recent cases of death in the Armed Forces of Armenia. The statement particularly reads as follows:

Dear compatriots,

In regard to the troubling events that recently took place in the armed forces, first, I would sincerely like to express my condolences to the families and relatives of all the servicemen who died during military service and share their grief.

The death of every soldier or officer or every citizen of Armenia is a great pain and irreversible loss.

Dear soldiers, commanders,

Your families, relatives, girlfriends and wives saw you off to the army with the certainty that you will be the reliable defenders of the homeland and were rest assured that you would not only share the hardships of military service, but also have the sense of being powerful along with your friends-in-combat.

Boys and men gain experience and learn lessons of life and patriotism in the army. The new recruits and experienced servicemen are trusted with the defense of our homeland and families, as well as our peace and security. Treat your mission and your relations with a sense of responsibility and remember that tolerance serves as evidence of power.

Remember that you are serving in a triumphant army and must continue the best traditions of the Armenian army with honor and dignity.

We trust and believe in each of you and are waiting for each of you. Remember that we dont have lives to lose and that each of you deserves to and must see the bright future of a united and peaceful homeland and the future that you shaped with your dedicated service.

Dear compatriots,

Lets support our soldiers and officers and maintain peace in our homes and in society.

May God protect us all.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) in Vietnam has highly praised the countrys capacity in dealing with public health emergencies, including the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Vinh Phuc Provinces workers have their body temperature measured in the prevention and control of COVID-19 epidemic. Vietnams efforts to prevent the coronavirus spread have been praised by WHO.





The latest information from the WHO in Vietnams note COVID-19: Here is what we know so far acknowledged that Vietnam has so far been managing the COVID-19 outbreak very well.

It praised the government for activating its response system at the early stage of the outbreak  intensifying surveillance, ensuring infection prevention and control and case management are in place in healthcare facilities, and enhancing laboratory testing, along with ongoing multi-sectoral communication and collaboration.

WHO also said that Vietnams capacity to manage public health emergencies, including outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases, has significantly increased.

This is a result of many years of the countrys investment in strengthening core capacities  including surveillance and risk assessment, laboratories, infection prevention and control and clinical management, risk communication, etc  as required by the International Health Regulations (2005), or IHR (2005), requirements.

We call this country preparedness, and such preparedness has been tried and tested by real-time events in Viet Nam, and now by COVID-19, WHO said.

It also suggested for Vietnam to continue to be alert and prepared to control outbreaks. This include early detection, isolation and case management with appropriate infection prevention and control measures, enhanced surveillance, and transparent and timely information sharing with WHO in compliance with the IHR (2005).

Regarding vaccines for the deadly virus, WHO said that there are no available vaccines against COVID-19, but vaccine manufacturing is underway so that clinical trials can start in 3-4 months' time.

WHO will publish an initial prioritisation of the current investigational vaccines that could be part of trials, the note affirmed.

Vietnam has recorded 16 COVID-19 infections so far, with 11 of them in Vinh Phuc Province. Seven patients among the 16 cases have already recovered and were discharged from hospital.

According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Healths infectious disease surveillance system, up until 3 pm on February 15, the world has recorded 67,185 cases of COVID-19 infection, of which 66,496 cases and 1,523 deaths have been recorded in mainland China. Nhan Dan

COVID-19: 30 medical equipment manufacturers fined As many as 30 medical equipment manufacturers were fined nearly 65 million VND (2,800 USD) for violations in trading medical supplies serving the fight against the novel coronoavirus disease (COVID-19) on February 15.
A picture from the plane after it returned to Belfast International Airport.

An EasyJet flight returned to Belfast International Airport after passengers reported smelling gas shortly after its take-off.

The 9.15am flight from Belfast to Venice returned to the airport following reports of an unusual strong smell at the rear of the cabin.

EasyJet cancelled the Monday flight with the next available plane leaving on Tuesday.

A passenger - who asked not to be named - told the Belfast Telegraph 15 minutes into the flight and over the Isle of Man the pilot announced they were to return to Belfast "for safety checks of a strong smell".

"We were later told it was gas a passenger smelt in row 23," he said

Passengers were taken back to the terminal and told to await further information.

"Staff on board were good though during the events," the passenger added.

An EasyJet spokesman said the flight returned as a precautionary measure due to a "technical issue".

"The captain performed a routine landing in accordance with standard operating procedures," he said.

Unfortunately due to aircraft availability, we have been required to delay the flight until tomorrow and so we are doing everything possible to minimise the impact of the disruption for our customers including providing hotel rooms and meals for passengers who require them.

The safety of our passengers and crew is our highest priority and we would like to thank passengers for their patience and understanding and apologise for any inconvenience caused.
BEIJING - Automakers are reopening factories in China that were idled by anti-virus controls as they try to reverse a sales slump in their biggest market.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/2/2020 (694 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In this Feb. 13, 2020, photo, masked workers assemble wiring for automobile at a factory in Qingdao in east China's Shandong province. Automakers are gradually reopening factories in China that were idled by anti-virus controls as they try to reverse a sales slump in their biggest market. (Chinatopix via AP)

BEIJING - Automakers are reopening factories in China that were idled by anti-virus controls as they try to reverse a sales slump in their biggest market.

Local officials have orders from the ruling Communist Party to get businesses functioning again while still enforcing anti-disease curbs that shut down much of the worlds second-largest economy.

Local governments are putting their full weight behind helping businesses open, the president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, Ker Gibbs, said in a statement.

Toyota Motor Co. said two factories reopened Monday with one of the usual two daily shifts working. Volkswagen AG, Ford Motor Co., Mercedes Benz and Chinese brand Geely resumed some operations last week. General Motors Co. said a staggered start across its factories began Saturday. Nissan Motor Co. plans to restart this week.

Automakers say they are checking employees for the virus's telltale fever, barring visitors and telling employees to stay home if they have been in Wuhan, the city at the centre of the outbreak, or other areas that have imposed travel curbs.

The outbreak prompted the government to extend the Lunar New Year holiday to keep factories and offices closed and workers at home.

The government has told employees who can work from home to stay there, but Chinas vast manufacturing industries that supply the world with smartphones, toys and other goods need workers in factories.

Obstacles include a requirement for workers who return from other areas  as millions are doing after the holiday  to make sure they are virus-free by staying at home for its 14-day incubation period.

Most factories have a severe shortage of workers, even after they are allowed to open, said Gibbs. This is going to have a severe impact on global supply chains that is only beginning to show up.

Automakers are under pressure to reverse a 2-year-old sales decline in a Chinese market they hope will propel global revenue.

Sales of SUVs, minivans and sedans hit an annual peak of 24.7 million in 2017 and have declined since then. Last years sales tumbled 9.6% to 21.4 million.

The virus adds to the challenges that the sector is already facing, said Fitch Ratings in a report.

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.

Groupe Renault said one of its factories in the southern city of Guangzhou, near Hong Kong, reopened Monday but the French automaker gave no indication of the status of another factory in Wuhan.

Sales of vehicles are likely to be depressed through April, Fitch said. It said production might fall by the high single digits in the first half of 2020 compared with a year earlier.

GM, Toyota and others said the pace of production depends on how fast they can restart the flow of components from thousands of Chinese suppliers that also shut down.

That disruption could have global repercussions: UBS estimates China supplies 8% of auto parts exports worldwide.

___

AP Business Writer Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo contributed.
Members and advisers of a precedent-setting slate of insurgent candidates challenging the management-backed incumbent board for control of Sekisui House, the Japan-based homebuilder, meet in Japan on Feb. 14. From left: board candidate Jiro Iwasaki, an electronics executive; lawyers Shikun Gao and William Uchimoto, who are advising the insurgents; and board candidate Fumiyasi Seguro, head of Sekisui's International Division. Read more

In a trans-Pacific rebellion backed by aid from Philadelphia, two Americans are joining nine Japanese executives and investors in what corporate-governance activists call an unprecedented effort to overthrow top managers at a big Japanese company.

They plan to unveil their rival board candidates, including a Main Line woman, on Monday.

The insurgents seek to persuade shareholders to vote for them to replace chairman Toshinori Abe and his allies in April 23 elections for the board of Sekisui House, a $22 billion (yearly sales, triple of Toll Bros.) builder of homes, apartments, and hotels in Japan, Australia, and the western United States, and the new Fannie Mae headquarters in Washington.

The slate includes ousted former Sekisui chairman Isami Wada, who blames his 2018 departure on Abes control of internal directors who owed Abe their jobs. After an internal investigation blamed Abe for a $51 million fraud loss from a bogus land sale and recommended his dismissal, the Abe bloc outvoted outside directors. They kept Abe and sent Wada packing.

Frustrated by what he told me is Japans culture of hiding things and seeking to save the company he ran for 20 years, Wada has visited Philadelphia and New York with an international advisers team. That included Shanghai- and New York-based lawyer Shikun Gao, who says victory will encourage corporate reform elsewhere in Asia; Philadelphia lawyer William Uchimoto, a Japanese American former lawyer with the Securities and Exchange Commission and Philadelphia Stock Exchange; plus U.S. investors, in consultation with corporate-governance experts at the University of Delaware, Drexel University, and the University of Pennsylvania.

The insurgent board candidates include Wada; two foreign-based Sekisui executives, who allies say are risking their jobs; sitting directors Fumiyasu Suguru and Koji Yamada; and two Americans, Pamela Fennell Jacobs, chief sustainability officer at Spouting Rock Asset Management in Bryn Mawr, and Chart Group chairman Christopher Douglas Brady, who once ran President George H.W. Bushs New Jersey campaign.

Other insurgents include a Japanese economics professor, a director of Fujitec, and the general counsel at Nikko Chemicals.

An internal investigation, made before Wadas ouster and posted by the insurgents in English translation on their website, SaveSekisuiHouse.com, found that managers reporting to Abe, then the CEO, accepted a cashiers check  instead of the usual monitored electronic bank payments  in payment for a Tokyo property the supposed seller didnt own. They then failed to report the fraud and forced out officials who complained.

The investigation report had called on the company to dismiss Abe. But instead, Wada and his supporters say, Abe rallied inside directors to outvote independent directors and force Wada to retire.

In formal statements to the Japanese media and investors, Abe has denied wrongdoing. Sekisui did not respond to requests for comment.

Wada and Uchimoto say Sekisuis inability to clean house, and Japanese regulators failure to intervene, fueled their call for investors to vote against Abe in last years board election. With no opposition candidate at that time, Abe was reelected, but with just 69% of the vote, vs. more than 95% for outside directors.

This time, they hope to oust Abe and his supporters.

On his visit to Philadelphia last summer, Wada, 78, stayed and dined at the Union League, ate half a cheesesteak, and visited the Rocky Steps between meetings with Michelle Lowry, director of Drexels corporate governance program, and local Sekisui shareholders.

He recounted his story over breakfast at the league. Its very shameful, what happened, and there were a lot of irregularities, in terms of how the land was purchased and the payment made, he said through a translator. This could happen because the CEO of the company, Mr. Abe at the time, signed off on it.

Wada said the independent investigation he commissioned found that the true owner of the property sent Abes administration four warning letters, which they ignored before giving the fraudsters the sale money. Company leaders even accelerated payments to the fraudsters, as if to give them additional time to escape, he added, emphasizing with head nods and movements of his right fist and his open left hand. Even with the money lost, they did not even file a lawsuit.

I noted Sekisui House revenues and earnings have held almost steady since his departure, and the share price has risen with the rest of the market. But Wada says a string of asset sales that boost revenues on a one-time basis shows the company is having a tough time landing new deals.

It is very rare for a Japanese company to vote out a sitting director, says Ken Hokugo, an institutional investment manager and senior director of the 2,000-member Japan Pension Fund Association.

Meeting with Wada supporters at University of Delaware professor Charles Elsons corporate governance program last month, Hokugo cited last years resignation of building supplies company Lixils chairman, Yoichiro Ushioda, under foreign investor pressure after he fired two top executives popular with shareholders, as a rare sign of change.

In a report distributed to fund managers, Hokugo wrote that half of Japanese companies book (asset) values are higher than their stock-market prices  meaning they would be worth more sold off in pieces, a sign they arent being run for their owners benefit.

Uchimoto says big U.S. investors such as BlackRock and Vanguard made up the bulk of the no votes in last years uncontested election. Elson gives that the Sekisui House insurgents are within striking distance of winning  if they can convince Japanese investors they now have a better choice.
An unknown number of evacuees landed at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland early Monday, possibly including some who tested positive for the novel coronavirus, officials said.

Two flights of passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship departed Japan, and they included more than two dozen who had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, but without showing symptoms.

Some of the cruise ship passengers were flown directly to Lackland while others were flown to Travis Air Force Base in California. All were to be quarantined and monitored for two weeks.

The Kalitta Airlines flight bound for San Antonio left Tokyo International Airport around 7:05 a.m. Monday, Japan standard time, according to a statement from the U.S. Embassy in Japan and FlightAware, a flight tracking website. FlightAware estimated the flight would take about 11 hours, which put it arriving in San Antonio around 3 a.m. CST Monday.

After initially stating that no infected passengers would be allowed to board, officials reversed course when 14 Americans were diagnosed with coronavirus after they had disembarked the ship and before boarding the plane. Those passengers, who were not showing symptoms, were allowed onto the flight and were kept in a separate area of the plane, according to a statement from the U.S. state and health and human services departments.

Authorities did not say Sunday how many evacuees, either diagnosed or undiagnosed, were on the flight to San Antonio.

On ExpressNews.com: Coronavirus is confirmed in patient under quarantine at Lackland

Passengers were also monitored throughout the flight. Once they land at Lackland, the passengers will be screened again.

(The Department of Health and Human Services) will ensure that no evacuated personnel are transferred to any (Department of Defense) installation if they test positive for the COVID-19 virus. Any evacuees who test positive or become symptomatic will be transferred to a suitable off-base facility at the direction of CDC, said a statement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

If people on the plane start to develop symptoms, theyll be segregated within the plane, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, said Sunday on CBS Face the Nation.

Fauci said the additional 14-day quarantine is because of the degree of transmissibility on that cruise ship is essentially akin to being in a hot spot.

The ships 3,700 passengers, including about 400 Americans, had been quarantined since Feb. 5 aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Yokohama, Japan. Passengers that chose not to take the charter flights will not be able to return to the U.S. until March 4, another two weeks after the initial quarantine period ends Wednesday.

As the passengers prepared to leave the country, Japanese health officials said the number of confirmed coronavirus cases found on the ship had grown by 70, to 355.

Cant get off here fast enough, said Sarah Arana, 52, a medical social worker from Paso Robles, Calif.

About 40 U.S. citizens who had been diagnosed with the illness remained behind in Japanese hospitals.

The State Department decided to bring the Americans home to reduce the burden on the Japanese health care system and to reduce the risk of exposure for uninfected passengers and crew members, according to a news release from the CDC.

On Feb. 7, 91 American evacuees from China arrived at Lackland to begin their 14-day isolation period, which ends Feb. 21. One person under quarantine was diagnosed with novel coronavirus Wednesday and was taken to Methodist Hospital | Texsan for treatment.

The evacuees from the Diamond Princess will be housed separately from the first group.

Our team is prepared to provide the same lodging support for the quarantine in the same facilities we provided DHHS and the CDC earlier this month, JBSA officials said Sunday. The health and safety of the men, women and families living and working on JBSA-Lackland and in the San Antonio community is our number one priority.

Symptoms of the respiratory illness include fever, cough and shortness of breath and appear two to 14 days after exposure, according to the CDC. Health officials maintain that the risk to the U.S. remains low.

Fifteen people in seven states have been diagnosed in the United States, according to the CDC. More than 51,000 cases have been confirmed worldwide, with the vast majority concentrated in China. More than 1,600 people have died from the illness, according to the World Health Organization.

Ashley McBride covers several school districts and the Alamo Colleges District in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | Ashley.McBride@express-news.net | Twitter: @Ashleynmcb
Author John Durbin Husher has released his latest book, Life and Death, a thorough account of the worst fatal diseases and deadly phenomena to afflict human life and how these epidemics led to major medical breakthroughs that ultimately changed the course of human history.

Husher examines five consequential catastrophes that resulted in extensive loss of human life and how, through research and innovation, humankind was able to triumph over them. From vaccines and cancer screenings to penicillin and prescription drugs, he highlights the medical innovations that have increased the length and quality of human life and commemorates the physicians and scientists whose hard work and determination made such advancements possible.

Husher also addresses current problems in medicine and public health, including the resurgence of several formerly eradicated diseases. He asserts that while measles and similar preventable ailments may be on the rise, large-scale casualties are unlikely to occur again, citing the advancements in science and technology as well as the expanded knowledge of contemporary medical professionals to support his argument.

A fascinating, educational read that breaks down medical history in comprehensible and accessible terms, Life and Death underlines the tools and treatments that have been created to improve human life and stresses the importance of utilizing these healthcare innovations.

Life and Death: The History of Overcoming Disease and What It Tells Us About Our Present Increasing Life Expectancy as a Result of Present-Day Actions

By John Durbin Husher

ISBN: 9781491777800 (softcover); 9781491786789 (hardcover); 9781491777794 (electronic)

Available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iUniverse

About the author

John Durbin Husher is an author and retired engineer and executive. He received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh in 1958 and served as the Vice President and General Manager of Micrel Semiconductor for 20 years. Since retirement, he has published 11 books.

Review Copies & Interview Requests:

LAVIDGE  Phoenix

480-998-2600 x 586

lstandridge(at)lavidge(dot)com
Chinese students wear masks as they wait to take a train after Chinese New Year break in Beijing, China, on Jan. 31, 2020. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

University Tells Professors to Stop Sending Students for Coronavirus Tests Over Coughing

After receiving complaints, the University of Florida (UF) has told its faculty members that they should not exclude students who may be visibly sick from class due to fears of the new coronavirus.

There has been no confirmed case of the coronavirus, called COVID-19, on the UF campus that hosts some 6,000 international students, but at least one professor reportedly asked coughing and sniffing students to leave class and be tested for the virus, reflecting anxieties about the diseases spread amid Floridas flu season.

We are aware that some instructors have asked students who are showing visible cold- or flu-like symptoms to leave class and return with a letter from the Student Health Care Center confirming that they do not have coronavirus, the schools provost, Joseph Glover, wrote to deans and department chairs in a notice obtained by Inside Higher Ed. Please remind your instructors that no cases of coronavirus have been reported at UF or elsewhere in Alachua County and that this area has not been identified as an area of public health concern by the CDC.

While instructors are encouraged to care for their students and their health, please inform your instructors that they are not to excuse a student from class to confirm they are free of the coronavirus, read the notice.

The UF school administration updated its disease-prevention policy on Feb. 11, requiring school employees and students who had recently returned from China, and those who would be subject to a 14-day self-quarantine mandated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to be cleared by the university health services before they could return to work or class. Students who are self-quarantined are encouraged to reach out to faculty members to ensure no penalty for missing classes because of illness.

In late January, the UFs student newspaper, Independent Florida Alligator, reported a rumor that a students family member traveled from Wuhan, China, just before the mega-city came under coronavirus lockdown. The rumor reportedly spread among Chinese students via WeChat, a popular Chinese social media app.

A UF health official debunked the rumor, saying that although the university had identified four people who traveled from China to Gainesville, where the UF campus is located, none of them traveled from Wuhan.

By the time of this publication, 15 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed by the CDC in seven states: eight in California; two in Illinois; and one each in Arizona, Massachusetts, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. No one in the United States has died from the virus.
Nearly seven years after she exited New Jersey politics, the states first female Democratic Party nominee for governor is speaking out about incidents of sexual harassment she says she kept secret for decades.

In an op-ed published Monday on HuffPost, former state Sen. Barbara Buono said she was not prepared to deal with predatory behavior ranging from overt assault to casual verbal misogyny during her 20 years in state politics.

I put my head down and charged ahead, bobbing and weaving as I went. I became an expert at deflecting and pretending outrageous behavior had not just occurred, Buono, 66, wrote.

She said she was inspired to speak out now by an NJ Advance Media report published Dec. 29 detailing other womens experiences with sexual harassment, sexual assault and misogyny while working in New Jersey politics. The report prompted widespread calls for change from lawmakers and advocates in Trenton.

While fear and embarrassment kept me from speaking out in real time, after reading the most recent accounts by New Jersey women  many of whom I know and deeply respect  exposing the ongoing toxic workplace culture of sexual harassment and assault in the body politic, I feel compelled to raise my voice now. I regret remaining silent this long, Buono wrote.

Buono mentions three examples of sexual misconduct she says she experienced, including a male colleague telling her to bend further over a desk in a caucus room when she was a newly-elected state assemblywoman in 1994.

His lewd comments haunt me to this day, she wrote.

Buono also describes a Democratic Party county chairman repeatedly inviting her to one-on-one meetings to sexually proposition her until she asked another powerful Democrat to ask him to stop.

Another politician, her running mate at the time, also smacked her behind in public when they were both attending a county fair in their official capacities, she said.

When I turned around looking shocked and upset, he met my gaze with an arrogant glare, daring me to say something. I felt angry but utterly powerless, Buono wrote.

She did not name any of the men she says sexually harassed her.

Once one of the highest-ranking female politicians in New Jersey, Buono left the state in 2015, two years after losing to Chris Christie in the race for governor. That ended her two decades in New Jersey politics, where the mother of four rose from Metuchen borough councilwoman to the majority leader of the state Senate.

Buono moved to Portland, Oregon, with her husband, where she worked as an adviser to the mayor. Last year, she and her husband left the West Coast and moved to New York City, where she is working as a freelance writer, according to her LinkedIn page.

Tell us your experiences with allegations of sexual harassment in New Jersey: Heres how to share your story.

Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KellyHeyboer. Find her at KellyHeyboerReporter on Facebook.
Addressing a post-Budget press conference on 1 February, Sitharaman had said the government intended to remove all I-T exemptions in the long-run.

Hyderabad: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said the idea behind introducing second alternative tax slabs sans exemptions is to take the country towards "a simplified, exemption-free and reduced rate of tax regime."

However, there was no timeframe set by the government to remove all exemptions, she told reporters here after an interactive session with trade representatives and intellectuals on the Union budget.

"At the moment we only started a second alternative with some exemptions removed or some exemptions included, although the original intention was to remove all exemptions and give a clear simplified reduced rate of income tax," the finance minister said.

The Budget 2020-21 has introduced more tax slabs and offers higher limits provided the taxpayer is ready to forego all the existing exemptions and deductions including home loan interest, other tax savings investments.

"We have not made up our minds as yet (on the removal of all exemptions)... We are trying step by step, move forward and no particular timeline given," she said when asked if there is any timeframe for removing all income tax exemptions.

Addressing a post-Budget press conference on 1 February, Sitharaman had said the government intended to remove all I-T exemptions in the long-run.

On Sunday, she said that based on a simulation and assumption, 69 percent of taxpayers would have benefitted and probably 11 percent would have been "attracted" had the new tax regime been introduced last year.

When asked about the Supreme Court order on telcos' payment of dues and the concerns expressed by some bankers, Sitharaman said it may not be proper for her to comment on the matter as there is a ministry concerned looking into it.

"The ministry concerned is looking into it. So, it may not be proper for me to comment on it," she added.

To a query on allegations by the Telangana government that there was a decline in devolution of funds to states from the Centre, she said the allocation is followed as per the recommendations of the finance commissions and it is not true that the centre is not cooperating with states.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday extended greetings to Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) on his 66th birthday.

"Greetings to Telangana Chief Minister KCR Garu on his birthday. Praying for his long and healthy life," tweeted Prime Minister.

Various leaders of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) wished him on the occasion. Greetings and wishes flooded his social media accounts.

On the occasion, the party leaders have been asked to plant saplings, donate blood and distribute books and clothes.

"Wishing our idealistic and innovative leader Chief Minister KCR Garu a very Happy Birthday!! May God bless you with good health and long life," TRS leader Jupally Krishna Rao tweeted.

Last year, KCR's birthday was celebrated in a grand manner in Hyderabad's Jala Vihar. It was the first time that his birthday was celebrated on this scale ever since he assumed the office in 2014.

Rao played a key role in the creation of the Telangana state after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro attended the Christian event "The Send," which drew 140,000 young people, according to the U.S. Christian media Charisma News on 11.

Fox News reported that President Bolsonaro was not invited directly, but said it was because he wanted to go there for historical events.

Thousands of people applauded when President Bowosonaru stood on stage and asked for prayers. He also declared that he believed in Jesus and that Brazil belonged to God, and that he was moved to tears after prayer.

The event took place at three stadiums: Sao Paulo's Brasilia Nacional Stadium, Morumbi Stadium and Allianz Parque Stadium. Other than this, 1.7 million people watched the event through the live stream.

The event was organized by collaboration among several international missionary groups, including YWAM (Youth with a Mission), Lifestyle Christianity (Lifestyle Christianity) and Lou Engle Ministries (Lou Engel Ministries).

Andy Byrd, one of the organizers of the event, said, "God's ability was full of healing, miracles and signs in all three stadiums." All these events were to raise Jesus' name and prepare the next generation to change the world."

Last year, The Send event drew about 60,000 attendees in Orlando, Florida, with 250,000 watching online. The purpose of the event was to declare a "war on inaction" and encourage Christians to share the gospel, according to the organization's website.

The Send event began with intercessor Lou Engle. Lu Engle and his team, who have been hosting the annual "The Call" event for 18 years, said they felt the Lord was fulfilling the mission of The Call.
The three Kashmiri engineering students a college here facing sedition charges were arrested again on Monday after protests broke out against the police for releasing them on execution of a bond under Section 169 of CrPC.

The trio, students of a private engineering college, were arrested on Saturday for raising pro-Pakistan slogans and posting it on social media on the first anniversary of the terrorist attack that left scores of CRPF soldiers dead at Pulwama in Kashmir.

They were let off on Sunday execution of a bond under Section 169 of CrPC.

"They (Kashmiri students) have been arrested, produced before the court and remanded in judicial custody," the Hubballi-Dharwad police Commissioner R Dileep told PTI.

The police had come under severe criticism for releasing the youths on Sunday.

According to police sources, they were apprehended in this morning and taken to court.

The action came after members of right wing organisations staged demonstrations outside the police station on Sunday.

Sri Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik was among those who criticised the police for releasing the youth who allegedly "demonstrated their anti-India vitriol on the first anniversary of Pulwama attack."



Police sources said Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai too spoke to the police officials about the case.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Islamabad: A Pakistani judge on Monday took a jibe at India while wrapping up a case against 23 people protesting against the arrest of a Pashtun activist known for criticising the country's powerful military.

Chief Justice Athar Minallah of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) took up the bail petitions of 23 workers of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) and Awami Workers Party (AWP), who were arrested by the Islamabad police last month for staging protest.

"Everyone's constitutional rights will be protected. This is Pakistan, not India," Chief Justice Minallah said.

During the hearing the chief justice said that "we don't expect that a democratic government will curb freedom of expression."

"An elected democratic government cannot place curbs on freedom of expression. (We) shouldn't fear criticism," he remarked, adding that the courts will protect the constitutional rights of the people.

He asked the people to come to the court if they were not allowed by the government to hold protests.

"If you want to protest, get permission. If you don't get permission, the court is here," he said.

When Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat told the court that all charges against the protesters had been dropped, the chief justice concluded that case, allowing all 23 activists to go free.

Last month, protesters were holding protests in front of the National Press Club here against the arrest of Manzoor Pashteen, the chief of the rights-based alliance PTM, when he was detained.

Pashteen attended a gathering on January 18 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Dera Ismail Khan city where he had allegedly said that the 1973 Constitution violated basic human rights.

The 27-year-old activist was arrested along with nine other PTM workers from Peshawar, police said.
Feb 17, 2020 KRR

The first look poster of actor Sivakarthikeyans Ayalaan was launched on Monday. It is being jointly bankrolled by RD Rajas 24 AM Studios and Kotapadi J Rajeshs KJR Studios. This sci-fi is helmed by ace director KS Ravikumar.

Sharing the first look, Sivakarthikeyan tweeted: "Happy to introduce my new friend from another world. Here is the #Ayalaan first look ."

Actress Isha Koppikar is making a comeback to Tamil cinema through this film after two decades. She will portray the character Eliza, an assassin, in the flick.

It has music by A.R. Rahman. Actress Rakul Preet Singh will be the leading lady in the project, which is a bilingual.

The film reportedly has Hollywood technicians and is being made on a big budget with high-end equipment. An Alexa LF camera, which is particularly used in Hollywood, has been used for filming the project.

Click the Movie button below for more info:

Ayalaan

Sivakarthikeyan Pictures
The ABC has lost a legal challenge to the AFP Raid of last June.

The broadcaster had challenged the validity of the warrant, which was issued two days before the June 5 raid on its offices in Ultimo. As part of the court action it sought the return of all material seized by police.

The Federal Court this morning dismissed the ABCs legal bid to overturn the warrant and ordered the broadcaster to pay costs.

The court heard the AFP advised the ABC months before the raid that it would seek a search warrant to obtain a variety of documents.

Justice Abraham said the AFP asked the ABC to provide the documents that met the search conditions of the warrant but they declined. She said the ABC had failed to prove the police search warrant was invalid.

The AFP tried not to be too intrusive in the execution of the warrant and allowed the ABCs lawyers to be present throughout the search.

No other search of the premises was conducted, she said.

Abraham said the federal police agreed to keep all the seized documents on sealed USB sticks, and not to access them pending a challenge to the validity of the warrant.

In a statement ABC Managing Director David Anderson said, Todays ruling is further evidence of the urgent need for explicit protections for public interest journalism and for whistleblowers.

When the AFP executed its search warrant here at the ABC last June 5th, its raid was seen  internationally  for exactly what it was: an attempt to intimidate journalists for doing their jobs.

Not just the journalists named on the search warrant, but all journalists.

The ABC challenged the validity of the AFPs search warrant and were disappointed by todays ruling. Its a blow for public interest journalism and a blow for the Australian publics right to know. Its a win for further secrecy and lack of accountability.

This ruling highlights the serious problem with Australias secrecy laws. Australia has by far the most onerous secrecy laws of any comparable western democracy  the UK, US, Canada, New Zealand.

This is at odds with our expectation that we live in an open and transparent society.

We are not saying journalists should be above the law, were saying the publics right to know should be a factor that is taken into account  and legitimate journalism should not be criminalised.

The stories that prompted this raid, the Afghan Files, reported allegations of unlawful killings and misconduct by Australian special forces in Afghanistan.

The accuracy of this reporting has never been challenged. No one has been able to demonstrate a direct threat to national security as a result of those stories.

Yet almost three years after those stories were published investigative journalists Sam Clarke and Dan Oakes remain in limbo. They could be charged and prosecuted at any time for doing their jobs.

The ABC calls on the AFP to resolve this issue as a matter of urgency and drop its threat against our journalists.

The ABC is considering appealing the judgment.

Source: WA Today, The Guardian
(Sharecast News) - Stocks have started the morning higher in reaction to fresh Chinese economic stimulus to ward off the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

"A surge in Chinese stocks has helped spark a risk-on move in European markets this morning, with the prospect of fresh stimulus overshadowing the ongoing coronavirus fears," said IG's Chris Beauchamp.



Overnight, the Shanghai Stock Exchange's benchmark index jumped 2.28% to 2983.62 after the People's Bank of China announced a cut to the country's medium term interest rates and a new injection of liquidity into the country's financial system.



Against that backdrop, as of 1030 GMT the German Dax was adding 0.20% to 13,771.67, alongside a rise of 0.23% for the French Cac-40, while the FTSE Mibtel was up by 0.25% to 25,014.28.



In parallel, front month Brent crude oil futures were off by 0.15% to $57.21 a barrel and euro/dollar was little changed at 1.0839.



To take note of, trading volumes were expected to be lighter than usual on the back of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday in the States.



Nonetheless, reports indicated that Chinese authorities were mulling postponing two weeks of parliamentary meetings which had been scheduled to begin on 5 March, for the first time in decades.



Meanwhile in Germany, the country's central bank conceded that the outbreak and slower growth in China posed a cyclical downside risk to its economy and exports.



In the background, at the weekend the death toll from the virus hit 1,770 and the number of cases on the Chinese mainland climbed to 70,458.



There were also reports that the majority of US firms operating around Shanghai would not be able to restart operations at full capacity due to a lack of workers.
Reduction of Karnataka's share in central taxes, appointment of Anand Singh as Forest Minister with pending cases against him under Karnataka Forest Act, shooting incident at Mangaluru during anti-CAA protests are expected to turn the legislature session, beginning Monday, into a stormy affair.

The session will begin with Governor Vajubhai Valas address to both the Houses of the legislature, and will conclude on Thursday, February 20. The State budget will be presented on March 5, after the session resumes on March 2. The session concludes on March 31. The Houses had last met from October 16 to 24 in Bengaluru as the winter session scheduled in Belagavi was called off, citing damages caused by floods in the region.

It is also the first session after the December by-poll results ensured a clear majority to the Yediyurappa-led BJP government, formed after the defection of 17 MLAs from the previous Congress-JD(S) coalition.

While the governors speech will highlight the achievements of the government, the opposition parties are planning to corner the government with a large number of issues that has rocked the state in the past few months.

Questions on the decrease in tax share to Karnataka effected by the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission, the Mangaluru shooting incident and sedition cases against those criticising the Citizenship Amendment Act - especially against children in Bidar - and irregularities in flood relief are likely to be raised by

the Opposition.

The controversy over the conflict of interest appointment of Anand Singh as Forest Minister, when several cases for violation of the provisions of the Karnataka Forest Act are pending against him might also force the government on the back-foot.

Moreover, the alleged involvement of Revenue Minister R Ashokas son in an accident that claimed two lives in Ballari district has provided ammunition for opposition parties.

Complaints of irregularities in providing relief to victims of one of the worst floods in almost a century are also expected to embarrass the government, which had promised all help to victims.

Concerns over reduction in funds allocated to several schemes of the government along with allegations of disparities in funds sanctioned to various constituencies might also be raised by the Opposition MLAs.
By Eric M. Johnson and David Shepardson SEATTLE/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boeing Co told the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration it does not believe it needs to separate wiring bundles on its grounded 737 MAX jetliner that regulators have warned could short circuit and cause catastrophic consequences, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.

By Eric M. Johnson and David Shepardson

SEATTLE/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boeing Co told the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration it does not believe it needs to separate wiring bundles on its grounded 737 MAX jetliner that regulators have warned could short circuit and cause catastrophic consequences, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.

The FAA confirmed Friday it had received a proposal from the planemaker regarding the wiring issue.

The FAA will "rigorously evaluate Boeings proposal to address a recently discovered wiring issue with the 737 MAX. The manufacturer must demonstrate compliance with all certification standards," the agency said in a statement.

The U.S. planemaker and FAA first said in early January they were reviewing a wiring issue that could potentially cause a short circuit on the 737 MAX.

A Boeing spokesman referred all questions to the FAA, saying the agency would make the final decision and that the company is answering questions from the FAA.

Boeing's 737 MAX was grounded worldwide last March after two crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed 346 people within five months.

Boeing has spent months updating software linked to both crashes, but fresh issues have surfaced, complicating regulators' efforts to re-approve the plane.

There are more than a dozen different locations on the 737 MAX where wiring bundles may be too close together, potentially posing a hazard of a short circuit that could cause catastrophic impacts, one of the people with knowledge of the matter said.

If the bundles pose a potential hazard, regulations would typically require separating the bundles or adding a physical barrier. Most of the locations are under the cockpit in an electrical bay.

Boeing has noted in talks with the FAA that the same wiring bundles are in the 737 NG, which has been in service since 1997 and logged 205 million flight hours without any wiring issues.

New safety rules on wiring were adopted in the aftermath of the 1998 Swiss Air 111 crash.

A company official told Reuters last month Boeing had been working on a design that would separate the wiring bundles, if necessary. Moving the bundles could pose further delays to the return of the MAX, however, and Reuters reported Thursday that a key certification test flight was not expected until April or later.

Three U.S. airlines this week pushed back the resumption of MAX flights from June until August or later.

It is unclear whether the European Union Aviation Safety Agency will demand that the 737 MAX wiring bundles be separated. A spokeswoman for the agency on Thursday said regulators were "waiting for additional information from Boeing."

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle and David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Chris Reese and Tom Brown)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
If you have been affected by this story, you can call the Samaritans on 116 123 or visit www.samaritans.org

Ruth Langsford spoke out on her sister's suicide during an emotional segment on Monday's episode of This Morning.

The ITV presenter broke down in tears as the show discussed Caroline Flack's death over the weekend.

Telling viewers that 'this happened in my family,' Ruth tearfully explained what it was like for a family member left behind after suicide.

Loss: Ruth Langsford spoke out on her sister's suicide during an emotional segment on Monday's episode of This Morning focusing on Caroline Flack's death

Ruth's sister Julia Johnson, 62, who had battled depression for years, was found dead by her husband Paul at their home in Lingfield, Surrey in June 2019.

At the time, the ITV host, 59, told viewers her sister had died 'after a long illness', with an inquest later ruling she had died by suicide.

Devastated, Ruth was unable to go to work that week and two months later she left the This Morning studio in tears unable to continue with a phone-in on anxiety and depression.

Speaking to psychologist Emma Kenny on Monday's This Morning, Ruth spoke in public about her sister's suicide for the first time, explaining: 'This happened in my family. I remember my shock at that. It's the questions it leaves the families'.

She continued with a list of a list of questions family members may have: 'I should have gone round. I should have phoned. I was going to go round. I was going to phone. Maybe I should have stayed longer,' she said.

Telling viewers that 'this happened in my family,' Ruth tearfully told viewers what it was like for a family member left behind after suicide during a discussion with her husband Eamonn Holmes (left), Nicola Thorp and Matthew Wright

Grief: Ruth's sister Julia Johnson, 62, who had battled depression for years, was found dead by her husband Paul at their home in Lingfield, Surrey in June 2019

Tears: Ruth spoke in public about her sister's suicide for the first time, explaining: 'This happened in my family. I remember my shock at that'

She added: 'You are left with the 'what ifs'. It's her family now that I think will need so much help.'

Later Ruth broke down in tears during a discussion about Caroline with actress Nicola Thorp and Mathew Wright.

'You believe you don't have a choice, that's the sad thing and that's the sad thing for people left behind who say, "So many people loved you, you did have a choice, you could have called me, you could have called mum"' Ruth said before she was unable to continue.

Emotional: 'You believe you don't have a choice, that's the sad thing and that's the sad thing for people left behind' she continued

Ruth's husband and co-presenter Eamonn Holmes stepped in, reminding audiences that the show's phone in would focus on depression and anxiety.

Sharing a photo alongside Julia last year, Ruth told her Instagram followers: 'My lovely Sis Julia has sadly died after a very long illness. My heart is completely broken.'

'She was the kindest and most gentle soul and I will miss her forever. As I am sure you will appreciate I need to take time to grieve with my family. 'Thank you for your understanding.'

Support: Ruth's husband and co-presenter Eamonn Holmes stepped in, reminding audiences that the show's phone in would focus on depression and anxiety

Loss: Love Island presenter Caroline died on Saturday at her new flat in Stoke Newington, London

Love Island presenter Caroline died on Saturday at her new flat in Stoke Newington, London, hours after she was told she would face trial over the alleged assault of boyfriend Lewis Burton last year - while the producer friend who was staying with her went to the shops.

ITV cancelled scheduled Love Island episodes over the weekend but said the show would return tonight with a tribute to Caroline, who presented five series before stepping back following her arrest.

Ruth's husband Eamonn Holmes paid tribute to Caroline on Saturday, while insisting there needs to be 'repercussions.'

Hitting out: Ruth's husband Eamonn Holmes paid tribute to Caroline on Saturday, while insisting there needs to be 'repercussions'

He wrote on Twitter: 'Caroline Flack .... Dear God. Shocked beyond belief. May she have found peace. #Rip Has to be repercussions for Love Island now surely?' which garnered more than 27K likes.

Eamonn later added: 'Meaning out of respect, can the series continue?' (sic)

Caroline is the third Love Island star to have died in the last two years after former contestants Mike Thalassitis and Sophie Gradon, took their own lives in March 2019 and June 2018.

Heartbreaking: Caroline is the third Love Island star to have died in the last two years after former contestants Mike Thalassitis and Sophie Gradon, took their own lives in March 2019 and June 2018 (L-R pictured during their time on Love Island)

It emerged on Sunday that paramedics were scrambled to Flack's north London home the day before she killed herself - but didn't take her to hospital after a clinical assessment.

Sources told MailOnline that ambulance crews were sent to the former Love Island presenter's Stoke Newington flat over 'concerns for her welfare', but decided against taking her to hospital after checking her over.

Caroline took her own life after a worried friend who was staying with her went to the shops, leaving her alone at her London flat.

The producer friend couldn't get back into the flat when she returned. She called Flack's father Ian who gained entry to the flat where he found the star's body.

Her management team have since described her as 'vulnerable' and criticised the CPS for pushing ahead with a pending court case despite her boyfriend Lewis Burton saying he did not want to press charges.

He had said she hit him with a lamp at her former home in Islington in December and as part of her bail conditions the pair were banned from contacting each other.

On Sunday Lewis shared a picture of the couple on holiday together on Instagram this morning, saying his 'heart is broken' and promising to 'be her voice'.

If you have been affected by this story, you can call the Samaritans on 116 123 or visit www.samaritans.org
Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC) operatives at Badagry have arrested two fishermen for alleged attempt to smuggle 120 jerricans of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to Benin Republic.

It was gathered that they had loaded the products into a wooden boat which was also impounded by the operatives and its outboard engine seized.

Parading the suspects, NSCDC Lagos Lagos Commandant Fasiu Adeyinka said that criminals along riverine communities were devising new ways following the closure of land border including the use of fishing boats.



Adeyinka said smugglers who were short of supply following government directives to stop sale of petrol to filling stations along border communities; resorted to buying from areas of supply and shipping them to fishing settlements for onward movement to the french country.

Based on this discovery, the Commandant said operatives were detailed to be on lookout for smugglers using these tactics and surveillance paid off within days of intensive monitoring.

On Friday, February 14, operatives of the command attached to Badagry Division who were on patrol along Gberefun Beach intercepted a boat with two persons in it.

On the spot search of the boat revealed that the suspects who identified themselves as Jebleh Taiwo, 20, and Jebleh Abiodun, 30, carried 120 Jerry cans of 25 litre each filled with petrol that was carefully concealed under fishing net.

During interrogation, the suspects confessed that they were contracted to ferry the product to Seme Border by one Chief, from where the products will be moved into Benin Republic.

They also confessed that the owner of the product bought the fuel from a petrol station in the area. They claimed that they borrowed the boat from a neighbour at Ajido beach, he said.

Follow Us on Facebook  @LadunLiadi; Instagram  @LadunLiadi; Twitter  @LadunLiadi; Youtube  @LadunLiadiTV for updates
The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster was an incident in the United States space program that ended fatally. It happened on January 28th, 1986, when the Challenger, the space shuttle that was being launched into space, exploded. It exploded 73 seconds after taking off, and it killed all seven of its crew members. Among the crew members, five were NASA astronauts, one was a payload specialist, and one was a civilian schoolteacher.

The explosion happened over the Atlantic Ocean, right off the coast of Cape Canaveral in Florida. The reason it happened was because of a joint in the rocket booster of the shuttle. The joint failed during liftoff, and it caused a breach in the shuttle, which allowed the burning gas from the engines to reach the outside of the shuttle.

Eventually, the majority of the shuttle, including the crew compartment, was recovered from the ocean. It is unknown when precisely, the crew members died. Since the shuttle had no escape system, it was impossible for anyone that may have survived the blast to jump out, and the impact with the ocean surface could not be survived. After the disaster, the U.S. space program was put on a hiatus, and a special commission was formed to investigate the accident. Because it was broadcast on live television and witnessed by a large number of American citizens, this disaster is considered to be one of the most critical moments in recent American history. Here are some of the reasons why it is so historical.

10. The Debris Of the Crash

Visitors can see the debris of the explosion of the Kennedy Space Center. It is an exhibit called Forever Remembered that was first opened in 2015. Despite all the time that passed since the accident, this serves as an essential reminder of the dangers of space travel, while also showing us how brave people that embark on this journey can be. It is a famous monument to the invincibility of the human spirit and the desire to learn and know more.

9. The Challenger Center for Space Science Education

The members of the victims families founded this program as a way to educate future astronauts on the dangers but also the beauties of their travels. It is an educational program that is designed to bring students on simulated space missions. It is a wonderful legacy, that may influence more young people to embark on the journey of becoming astronauts, while also reminding them of how dangerous it can be. It is surely a way to improve how space exploration functions.

8. NASA Day Of Remembrance

Every January, NASA pays its respects to the crew of the Challenger as well as other crews that were lost in space during various space programs. On that day, NASA pauses to remember all the victims lost during mans desire to explore outer space.

7. The Future Of Civilians In Space

After the accident, plans to fly civilians into space were also shelved indefinitely. This hiatus lasted for quite some time, 22 years, to be exact. The next civilian that flew into outer space was Barbara Morgan in 2007. Interestingly, she was McAuliffes backup during the launch of the Challenger, and she boarded the space shuttle Endeavour in 2007 during its successful launch.

6. The Problems In NASA

This accident served as a way to pinpoint problems that were prevalent in NASAs space program. It brought to light problems such as the failure to report all of the issues to the team that was tasked with the launching decision. Another problem found out by the Rogers Commission was that the flight rate of the shuttle could not have been sustained, due to the size of its workforce.

5. The Hiatus Of the Space Program

After the accident, the space program was put on an indefinite hiatus. NASA did not send astronauts into space for a little over the next two years. Its scientists and experts also redesigned the space shuttle and the majority of its features. The next big launch was the Discovery shuttle in 1988, and it was successful. The Challenger accident made NASA more careful in its future endeavors, thats for sure!

4. The Rogers Commission

The President of the United States at the time was Ronald Reagan, and he appointed a special task force right after the accident to determine exactly what happened. The task force was called the Rogers Commission, and it included former astronaut Neil Armstrong and test pilot Chuck Yeager. The investigation quickly determined the reason for the disaster.

3. The Space Shuttle Program

Challenger was NASAs second space shuttle, after Columbia. Columbia successfully returned to Earth, so the expectations of the Challenger were large. Challenger made a total of nine voyages into space prior to the accident, so there was little reason to expect something to go wrong. The crew, including the civilian teacher, underwent extensive training, and nothing seemed like it could end up badly for them.

2. The Media Coverage

While it is to be expected that media outlets would cover an event of this magnitude, it happened extremely fast with the Challenger explosion. Perhaps it was because of a combination of factors that included the live broadcast and the presence of a high school teacher that made the accident even more tragic. It is estimated that 85 percent of Americans have heard about the accident within the first hour of it happening.

1. The Presence Of A Civilian

Christa Mcauliffe was a high school teacher, and she was supposed to be the first teacher ever to reach space. Because of this, many people tuned in to watch the live broadcast of the launch, which made the accident itself much more impactful. People witnessed this horrifying incident almost first hand, which was forever engraved in their memories. It was undoubtedly a moment most would not forget easily.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 19:27:44|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

TEHRAN, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Survived from the locust plague in 2019, Iran is gearing up efforts to deal with the new threats of the pests.

Iran is prepared to control the impending swarms of locust to the south of the country, an agricultural expert said in an interview.

Mohammad Reza Mir, the agricultural expert in the Plant Protection Organization of Iran said that the desert locusts, which are expected to invade the parts of the country, are the same ones that swarmed Iran in January 2019 but this time only 20-30 percent of the population of this marauding pest will enter the country.

"As we speak, the southern Hormozgan and southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan Provinces are dealing with the pest on more than 2,000 hectares of land," Mir said.

He noted that the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has predicted that swarms could also invade Iran's central Kerman Province and Jazmourian Lake region, an inland basin in southeast Iran in their new wave of migration.

"We are well equipped and prepared to fight these pest," Mir said, adding that pesticides have been adequately supplied.

Given Iran's previous experiences in fighting locusts, the imminent invasion of the locusts is expected to cause the least damage to farms and orchards, he said.

The first generation of desert locusts attacked Iran in April 2019. During the previous locust attack, Plant Protection Organization of Iran battled the pest across 750,000 hectares, according to Financial Tribune daily.

At that time, Iran's provinces of Hormozgan, Sistan and Baluchestan, Khuzestan, Bushehr, Fars, Kerman, Kohgilouyeh-Boyerahmad, South Khorasan and Ilam were swarmed by desert locusts.

Former Iranian Agriculture Minister Mahmoud Hojjati has said that locust attack can threaten Iran's food security, if proper measures are not taken promptly.

According to official IRNA news agency, Mohammad Reza Dargahi, the head of Plant Protection Organization of Iran, has also warned that failure in controlling the locusts will jeopardize billions of U.S. dollars of Iranian agricultural products.

The desert locust is among the most dangerous pests. They can destroy all greenery, including grains, fodder, vegetables, tree barks and even weeds on their path.

Iran has also an experience of the pest attacks on the farms of the country in 1963-64 and 1993-94. The former caused heavy damage to the country's farms and agricultural production.

The pest is indigenous to Saudi Arabia, Morocco and African countries, and enters Iran by crossing the Gulf.

The new wave of hopper bands and locust migration have begun their seasonal migration westwards with a few crossing the Arabian Sea to northern Oman, and is likely to continue to southwest Pakistan, southern Iran and northern Oman, and decline thereafter, according to the recent FAO report.

Countries should remain alert and be prepared, it said, adding that breeding could be delayed in some areas by winter temperatures.

FAO has for now placed Iran in the group of countries that have to take caution regarding the pest, meaning there is a potential threat to its crops.

Locusts attacking southern provinces of Iran in April last year forced FAO to place Iran from "yellow" in the "orange" category. FAO's decision means Iran should remain vigilant, and seriously conduct field surveys and controlled operations.

Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan have been placed by the FAO in the group of countries where crops face the threat of desert locusts. According to Financial Tribune daily, some 80-billion-U.S.-dollar worth of agricultural products are produced in Iran annually, 75 billion U.S. dollars of which are consumed domestically.

Iran currently meets 85 percent of its agricultural needs domestically and the rest is procured through imports.
A court in New Delhi on Monday directed the to file a status report on whether it was investigating the officers who had allegedly barged into Jamia Millia Islamia and lathi-charged students during an anti-CAA protest on December 15 last year.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gurmohina Kaur issued notice to the investigation officer and directed that the report be filed by February 25.

The case is being investigated by the Delhi Police's Crime Branch.

The court has also sought an overall status report from the on the ongoing investigation in a case related to the violence near Jamia Millia Islamia during the protest.

On December 15 last year, protests in the area against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) turned violent. Four DTC buses, 100 private vehicles and 10 police bikes were damaged. Police had even entered the university campus and allegedly attacked students.





It was hearing a plea filed by All India Students' Association (AISA) secretary Chandan Kumar. It was hearing a plea filed by All India Students' Association (AISA) secretary Chandan Kumar.

The petitioner has sought a court-monitored probe alleging that the investigating agency was shielding police personnel who had "wreaked havoc" on the varsity's premises.

The left-leaning student outfit's leader has been named as an accused in the case.

During the hearing, the police's counsel said Kumar's mobile phone has been sent to the forensic lab to ascertain his role in the violence and it will be returned once the report comes in.

The lawyer claimed that there were messages in Kumar's phone asking people to gather at the spot of the incident.

The court was informed that deputy commissioner of police (Crime Branch) was investigating the matter.

Advocate Adit S Pujari, representing Kumar, told the court that the AISA member was peacefully protesting on December 15 against the amended citizenship law and it is not an offence under the law.

"Kumar was telling people that he does not want anyone to make any communal statements. He was named as an accused in the case but till today the police does not know whether he was involved in the violence or not.

"Students were hit on their heads by the police. Why are the police not investigating their own officials? Kumar is a student and has multiple things on his mobile phone. Who is responsible to maintain confidentiality of the data in his phone," the lawyer said.

Kumar's plea, filed through advocates Pujari and Kriti Awasthi, sought monitoring of the probe "as the investigating agency, while shielding its own policemen who wreaked havoc in the premises of Jamia Millia Islamia University, has proceeded to name the applicant (Kumar), who is a peace-loving citizen/student leader".

It also sought directions to the police to return Kumar's mobile phone, which was seized by the agency during his questioning.

The plea claimed that Kumar had to unlock his mobile phone due to pressure from members of the investigating agency.

It also sought directions to the police to ensure that a fair investigation be conducted, and appropriate material be made available before any decision to take coercive action is undertaken.
When a cast member leaves the Broadway production of Mean Girls, they call it "Graduation Day." Erika Henningsen has watched several of her costars move on from North Shore High School, but on February 22, after two years of playing leading lady Cady Heron, Henningsen will experience her own commencement.

Henningsen is leaving the production to costar in James Lapine, Tom Kitt, and Michael Korie's brand-new musical Flying Over Sunset at Lincoln Center Theater. The show will be a stark shift from Tina Fey's laugh-a-minute creation, featuring Henningsen as Ann Brokaw, the late 19-year-old daughter of Congresswoman Clare Booth Luce, whom Luce hallucinates back to life during an LSD trip.

While she's understandably emotional at the thought of graduating from Mean Girls, Henningsen is excited to take all she's learned and apply it to her latest project. Even if that means letting the perfectionist side of her brain relax for a little while.

Erika Henningsen stars in Mean Girls on Broadway.

( David Gordon)

How many performances of Mean Girls have you done, and what is it like to do that show by night and rehearse Flying Over Sunset by day?

As of two weeks ago, I was upwards of 780 performances, not including our out-of-town tryout in Washington, DC. The two shows are of such different worlds, so it's very interesting to go from this period piece to playing a high schooler every night. The thing I was worried about, and I don't think it'll be a problemI've done so many performances of Mean Girls and I want to go out as strong as I started. I'm just trying to pace myself, save my energy, and get through the shows I have left with everything I've got.

Were you ready to go, or would you have stuck around a little longer if Flying Over Sunset hadn't come along?

I was ready to go. I still really enjoy doing it, but I think if I had stayed even six months longer, that would change. Grey Henson and I have moments onstage where we can talk to each other in character, and one night we broke a little bit and said it's time for somebody else to play these parts. It's not that we're not giving our all or are unhappy to be there, it's just that we've excavated everything we can. It's time for fresh eyes on the roles, on the show, on the story.

How has your performance as Cady changed over time, and what have you learned about yourself as an actor along the way?

I went through a bunch of different phases with the show. We get tagged in little videos that people have taken, bootlegs if you will. I see versions of the performance I gave at the beginning of the run, and I know what I do now, eight times a week, and it's just so different. There was such a beautiful pressure on the show in the sense that people love the source material and we had such a hunger to do it justice. I started this show so eager to please and so chomping at the bit that everything was at a 10. The whole first year was learning that that type of energy is not sustainable.

A big thing Casey Nicholaw and I dealt with was that he trusted me when I didn't always trust myself. When I started working on the show, I was on the balls of my feet at all times. There is definitely space for that, and it's definitely necessary as the engine of the show, but I had to learn to trust that what I had to offer just as Erika Henningsen, the human being onstage playing Cady, would be interesting  to trust the instincts I was too nervous to have when we first opened because I just wanted to present a finished, perfect product.

I got to work with Jen Simard and Kerry Butler, two of my comedic idols, in very different ways [both as Mrs. Norbury]. Seeing how differently both of those women played those characters, and how it worked for each of them, was such a lesson in "Trust what you bring to the table." Because there's no right or wrong. It's what's intrinsically you that is good.

Erika Henningsen as Cady in Mean Girls.

( Joan Marcus)

How are you applying what you learned on Mean Girls to building your character in Flying Over Sunset?

I'm trusting in the process, especially because this show is so new and so different and I'm a much more supporting character. I am such a perfectionist. During Mean Girls, I was like "I have to be perfect on day one." That is so not the way to create, especially with a piece that's not based on anything. None of us really know what Flying Over Sunset is going to be yet. Two years ago, that would have been terrifying to me, but now it's exciting to be privy to that kind of creative process. I was saying to Jen Simard, I'm so lucky that I got to do a complete 180 from this very commercial, very polished piece of source-material theater to almost like a cubist, Salvador Daliesque James Lapine piece.

Do you have any regrets about your time in Mean Girls?

I wish I had factored more bathroom breaks or actually, just a single bathroom break, into my track. [laughs]
Anil Kumar

On February 14, 2020, the Supreme Court set the ball rolling for the recovery of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues worth over Rs 1.75 lakh crore from the incumbent telecom operators. Coming down heavily on the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for issuing a letter dated January 23, 2020, to its field units not to take any coercive action against the telcos, the court directed it to withdraw the letter within 30 minutes, failing which the officer who issued the letter will be in jail by the evening for contempt.

The apex court in its judgment on October 24, 2019, had directed the telcos to pay AGR dues in three months. However, hours before the deadline, the DoT, after fighting the telcos for 14 years and finally winning the case, took a U-turn and issued the no coercive action letter. What prompted the DoT to issue such a letter is a matter of public interest, which must be unravelled.

The courts February 14 order reads as follows:

This case projects a very disturbing scenario. The companies have violated the order passed by this Court in pith and substance. In spite of the dismissal of the Review application, they have not deposited any amount so far. It appears the way in which things are happening that they have scant respect to the directions issued by this court. A Desk Officer of the Department of Telecommunications has the temerity to pass the order to the effect of issuing a direction to the Accountant General, another Constitutional Authority, not to insist for any payment pursuant to the order passed by this Court and not to take any coercive steps till further orders.

This is nothing but a device to scuttle order of this Court. This kind of order should not have been passed by the Desk Officer at all.

In the circumstances, we draw contempt proceedings against the Desk Officer for passing the order and violating the order passed by this Court. The Managing Directors/Directors of the companies also to show cause why we should not initiate contempt proceedings against them for violating the order passed by this Court by not depositing the amount, on the next date of hearing. Let the concerned officer, sitting over the order passed by this Court, also file reply.

It is made clear that in case the order passed by this Court is not complied with, the above persons shall remain personally present in Court on the next date of hearing. List on March 17, 2020.

The case dates back to 1999 when all the private telcos started pleading with the government that the licence fee (LF), they committed to pay to obtain licenses during bidding, is high and unsustainable. The government then gave them the option to move to the revenue-share regime under which it was proposed that operators would provisionally pay LF at 15 per cent of the gross revenue (GR). It was also clearly stated that the GR would be the total revenue of the licensee company excluding the interconnection-related call charges paid to BSNL / MTNL and the service tax collected by the licensee on behalf of the government from their subscribers. After these two exclusions, it is called as adjusted GR (AGR).

Finally, in 2001, the telcos signed fresh licence agreements agreeing to the definition of AGR. However, in 2003, most of the telcos filed petitions before the Telecom Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) challenging the definition of AGR. The TDSAT pronounced its interim order on July 7, 2006, and said the government should have consulted the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for defining AGR. The DoT challenged the TDSATs order before the Supreme Court.

On September 13, 2006, the TRAI gave its recommendations to TDSAT. The TRAI while redefining AGR also said such definitions should be applicable from a prospective date. Since the TDSATs order was an interim one and the TRAI had in the meantime given its recommendations, the Supreme Court on January 19, 2007 dismissed the DoTs appeal and gave them liberty to approach the TDSAT.

On August 30, 2007, the TDSAT passed the final order accepting most of the recommendations of the TRAI. In addition, the TDSAT gave the telcos some additional relief. It said the revised definition of AGR will be applicable from the date of filing of petition by telcos, instead of a prospective date.

The DoT filed appeal against the TDSAT judgment, cross appeals were filed by almost all the operators. Finally, on October 11, 2011, the Supreme Court held that the TRAI and the TDSAT cannot define AGR and ruled out any relaxations after the TSPs (telecom service providers) have signed the licences. The court said the tribunal can only look at the computation of demands raised by the DoT, whether it is in accordance with the licence agreement or not.

With this judgment, the writing on the wall was crystal clear. The telcos knew that they will have to pay based on the agreed AGR. Around this time, as per CAG audit report for 2006-07 to 2009-10, the total unpaid dues of six private telcos on account of LF and spectrum usage charges (SUC) was Rs 5,213 crore.

But even if they wanted to contest legally, they could have paid LF and SUC under protest to save on interest, and penalties, which is almost now 70 per cent of the total demand of about Rs 1.75 lakh crore. They chose to delay the payment in the hope that they will be able to manage the system. They preferred to dip into the governments money to expand their businesses - in India and abroad.

For computation purposes, the matter came back to the TDSAT. But once again, the TDSAT, in its order of April 23, 2015, exceeded its jurisdiction and went on to redefine AGR. The DoT filed an appeal before the apex court and cross-appeals were also filed by various telcos. Finally, on October 24, 2019, a three-judge bench, in its unanimous order, allowed the appeal in its entirety in favour of the DoT. The apex court also criticised the TDSAT for getting into the definition of AGR even after its 2011 judgment.

Even after the above order, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea instead of paying dues, filed a review petition which the court dismissed on January 16, 2020. Even after this, both the operators filed curative petition, and the latest order of the apex court issuing the contempt notices came on this. This is the fourth order against the telcos  2011, October 2019, January 2020 and February 2020.

Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd which publishes Moneycontrol.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 20:01:50|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

MOSCOW, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is calling for Iran and the United States to overcome their differences through dialogue.

"We condemn any action contrary to the principles of the UN Charter and leading to increased tension in the region," Lavrov said in an interview with Italian newspaper La Stampa, which was published by the Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday.

In contrast to the confrontational approach promoted by a number of states, Russia offers a constructive and unifying agenda and calls for joint response to challenges and threats, he said.

The Russian concept of collective security in the Persian Gulf region, which was presented by Moscow last summer, is oriented precisely towards this, Lavrov said.

Implementing the concept would mark an important step towards improving the situation in the entire Middle East and would lay the foundation for creating an architecture of mutual trust there, he added.
The Steve Miller Band is headed out on a summer tour.

The classic rock outfit will stop in Connecticut with a show scheduled for the Amphitheatre at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, CT on Aug. 15 at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are available beginning Feb. 18 at 10 a.m. through all Ticketmaster outlets and locations including ticketmaster.com and by phone at (800) 745-3000.

Steve Millers 2020 Americana tour will feature Marty Stuart and the Fabulous Superlatives.

Shop for concert tickets here: StubHub, SeatGeek, Ticketmaster.
All are due to go into quarantine for 14 days, the maximum incubation period for the virus. Ten of the passengers who tested positive were moved to a hospital in Omaha upon arrival, where they are being quarantined, retested and monitored in rooms with separate filtration systems at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Four others with the virus are in a hospital outside Travis Air Force Base and will be moved to Omaha later this week, the official said.
A primary school has brought a High Court challenge to planning permission for Ireland's first supervised heroin injection facility.

St Audoen's National School, Cook Street, is immediately adjacent to the Merchant's Quay Ireland (MQI) homeless and drug service centre on the city centre quays in Dublin.

Last December, An Bord Pleanala granted MQI permission to convert a 387 square metre basement into a pilot scheme for a medically supervised injection facility for heroin addicts operating for more than nine hours each day seven days a week.

MQI claims international evidence points to the need to locate such facilities where potential clients are based. It says 42% of the homeless are in the surrounding Dublin 1, 7 and 8 areas.

The school board of management says, among other things, no account was taken of expert psychological evidence that the presence of the injecting facility would harm the school children.

It is also claimed the decision is void because permission cannot be granted for a criminal activity - the injection of heroin.

Merchants Quay and the surrounding area suffer from ongoing anti-social behaviour when addicts and drug dealers congregate, it is claimed. An existing "Night Cafe" in the MQI building is also a source of behaviour problems, it is claimed.

Mr Justice Charles Meenan granted the board leave to judicially review the board's decision following a one side only application by Aillil O'Reilly BL or the school, which has nearly 200 pupils and 40 staff. .

The judge also granted a stay on the permission being implemented for 21 days during which time the board could apply to vary or discharge the order. The case comes back in April.

In its challenge, the school says the decision is outside the powers of the board as the issue of whether the development will harm the children is not a relevant planning matter. This is something the board has no expertise on competence in, it says.

It seeks a declaration the decision is outside its powers because the tendencies of drug addicts and their dealers are not relevant to planning. The board has no competence to adjudicate on whether the injection facility will increase anti-social behaviour, it says.

The permission proposes MQI would provide supervision of areas adjacent to its own building and this, the school says, is not a known tenet of planning law. No evidence of a policing plan was presented as part of the application, it says.

Under legislation introduced in 2017 (the Supervised Injecting Facilities Act), the Minister for Health issued a licence for such a facility and MQI won the tender put out by the HSE to operate the licence.

The school says however that while the law says criteria may be set out as to suitability of certain premises for the facility, no regulations have been made.

The planning decision was unlawful because the Minister's licence is only for 18 months while the board has granted permission for three years and for an unlawful activity, it says.

Dublin City Council refused permission for the facility on grounds including overconcentration of social support services in the Dublin 8 area, lack of a robust policing plan and because it would have an injurious affect on local residents and the tourism economy.

An Bord Pleanala upheld the appeal, its own inspector also having recommended permission. The inspector said refusal of permission would not reduce existing the daily public drug use and criminal behaviour or the existing harm to the children. The inspector suggests there is a possibility the facility will "improve the area in terms of public injecting and drug related litter."

The school argues the existence of illegal acts cannot be a justification for granting permission.

Such matters were also outside the competency of the board, in contravention of the school children's constitutional right to bodily integrity and education "as well as abhorrent", the school says.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 16:06:13|Editor: yhy

Video Player Close

MANILA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- A total of 1.74 million Chinese tourists visited the Philippines in 2019, a 38.58 percent increase from 2018, data from the Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT) showed on Monday.

Philippine Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said in a statement that a total of 8.26 million foreign tourists vacationed in this tropical country famous for pristine beaches and century-old churches.

Puyat said the total tourist arrival in 2019 is a 15.24 percent growth over 2018's year-end figure of 7.16 million.

According to the DOT data, China remains the second-largest tourism market with 1.74 million arrivals.

South Korea is the top source market with a total of 1.98 million arrivals, for a 22.48 percent increase. And the United States is the third, yielded 1.06 million visitors for a 2.90 percent increase.

Puyat described the year 2019 as "a new milestone in the country's tourism history" because the foreign tourists' arrivals reached the 8 million mark.

Tourism industries contributed 12.7 percent to the Philippine economy in 2018, according to the Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA).
President Moon Jae-in instructed his economy team Monday to take "strong" measures to minimize the effects of the coronavirus outbreak and create "tangible changes" in the overall economy and people's livelihoods this year.



He warned of the possibility that the slump in South Korea's economy will be prolonged, saying economic damage from the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic is worse than that resulting from MERS in 2015.



If that is the case, it would wreak havoc not just on the economy of Asia's fourth-biggest economy but also on people's lives, Moon stressed, speaking at the outset of a Cheong Wa Dae session to receive briefings on key policy plans for this year from four economy-related ministries.



"Literally, it's an emergency and a grave situation," he said in remarks that were broadcast live.



South Korea's economy has suffered, he pointed out, as domestic consumption and people's leisure activities have diminished due to "overblown fear and anxiety" over the novel coronavirus, which originated in China.



"It is time to focus all-out efforts on revitalizing the economy, while maintaining the people's safety," the president stressed. "The government will remain vigilant and do its best in terms of quarantine steps until the end."



He asked the public to trust the government's quarantine measures and resume their routine daily activities.













His call apparently reflects the government's confidence that it can contain the virus in the near future. A total of 30 confirmed cases have been reported, with no deaths. Several patients have been declared fully cured, while the remainder are hospitalized and in a relatively stable condition.



"This year, the economy ministries have a vital task to show tangible changes in the people's livelihoods and the economy," Moon emphasized. "Their shoulders have become heavier due to the recent COVID-19 incident."



The four economy-related governmental bodies are the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Financial Services Commission.



He said they have done well so far.



In 2019, in particular, South Korea made a foothold for its economic recovery through expansionary fiscal policy and preemptive policy steps in the face of such external challenges as a global economic slump and Tokyo's export curbs against Seoul, according to Moon.



"On the other hand, (we) have run without halting on the path of innovation, inclusiveness and fairness for the fundamental transformation of economic structure and strengthening of fundamentals," he added.



Among the economy team's achievements last year, Moon said, the most significant was the response to Japan's export control.



South Korea has overcome the difficulty on the basis of a unity of government, business and the people, he said.



"We have reduced dependence on Japan for the supply of three major industrial items (affected by the export control) and gained confidence over homegrown production of materials, parts and equipment. It was a good example of turning a crisis into an opportunity."



He called on the economy team to maintain its close teamwork to minimize the effects of the virus and take "strong measures" to put vigor back into the economy. (Yonhap)
Huawei Rift Between U.S. and Europe Becoming an Issue for NATO

(Bloomberg) -- Terms of Trade is a daily newsletter that untangles a world threatened by trade wars. Sign up here.

The fight between the U.S. and Europe over Chinese technology is threatening to split the transatlantic military alliance, and tensions were ratcheted up another notch on Sunday by the U.S. ambassador to Germany.

Ambassador Richard Grenell tweeted that President Donald Trump had instructed him to make clear that any nation who chooses to use an untrustworthy 5G vendor risks jeopardizing intelligence and sharing with the U.S. at the highest level.

The comment on Twitter seemed specifically aimed at Huawei Technologies Co., although Grenell didnt mention the Chinese company by name. Grenell said Trump had delivered the order while aboard Air Force One, the presidential jet.

With the U.S. defense establishment identifying China as its No. 1 priority, a bi-partisan delegation headed by Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rammed home their concerns about the use of equipment from Huawei at the Munich Security Conference over the weekend.

The officials warned that installing Huawei kit could undermine cooperation with U.S. allies as Trumps hardball trade tactics started to infect his administrations relationships on defense.

Republicans and Democrats agree on this, said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a close ally of Trump. If you go down the Huawei road you are going to burn a lot of bridges.

European leaders have been hunkering down amid the Huawei storm as they try to maintain their critical relations with both sides in the U.S.-China trade war. Pelosis intervention on Friday signaled that they shouldnt pin their hopes on the problem blowing over if the Democrats win back the White House in December.

Structural Tensions

The atmosphere at the high-level gathering of security officials was an improvement on last year, when Vice President Mike Pence and German Chancellor Angela Merkel clashed. But the structural tensions between the U.S. and Europe were if anything greater: Europes exports to China have become a critical plank in its economic model and the Chinese have threatened retaliation on European companies if the bloc follows Trump in banning one of its flagship technology companies.

Story continues

The U.S. was on the defensive throughout, because their strong-arm tactics have conspicuously failed to bring the Europeans into line: the EU stopped short of an outright ban on Huawei in its guidelines for 5G communication technology. Even the U.K., which has been energetically courting the White House as it begins life outside the EU, opted to use Huawei kit.

We have a tech Cold War right now thats on display right here and Europe wants no part in it, said Ian Bremmer, president and founder of political risk consultancy Eurasia Group. Theres never been such a rift with how Americans and Europeans define the security threat as right now.

That rift may have sweeping consequences as the western powers struggle to come to terms with the technological prowess China has developed since Xi Jinping in 2015 unveiled a 10-year plan to take the lead in industries like communications, I.T. and artificial intelligence. Huawei has become a lightning rod for the U.S.s wider insecurities.

If you dont understand the threat and we dont do something about it, at the end of the day, it could compromise what is the most successful military alliance in history: NATO, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in Munich.

Europeans are already feeling uneasy about the state of NATO.

Opening the conference in the Bavarian capital, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier accused the Trump administration of rejecting the very concept of an international community. Every country, it believes, should look after itself and put its own interests before all others, he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who has said that NATO is undergoing brain death, said Saturday that Europe needs to build up its own capacity as a strategic power.

Since Trump took office, hes tried to end the Iran nuclear deal, withdrawn from the Paris Climate Accord, and repeatedly threatened the EU with tariffs. So Pompeos claim that talk of the demise of the transatlantic relationship is grossly over-exaggerated was met with skepticism.

Hours later, U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette was crowing that U.S. sanctions have managed to scupper a $6 billion project to link Germany and Russia with a new Baltic gas pipeline, Nord Stream 2.

For Europe, caught between the U.S. and its global rivals, the situation may yet get worse.

While Trump often touts his relationship with Xi, competition between the countries has only deepened since they signed their phase-one trade deal last month. The U.S. a week ago charged members of Chinas military over one of the biggest data thefts in American history and on Thursday charged Huawei with racketeering to engage in intellectual property theft.

And the coronavirus outbreak adds an extra element of uncertainty to the global political outlook -- a disease originating in China is threatening to weaken the global economy in the run-up to a U.S. election.

The potential for this to get much uglier in a short period of time is real, said Bremmer.

(Updates with Grenell comments)

--With assistance from Patrick Donahue.

To contact the reporters on this story: Glen Carey in Washington at gcarey8@bloomberg.net;Nick Wadhams in Washington at nwadhams@bloomberg.net;Henry Meyer in Munich at hmeyer4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Iain Rogers

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
WASHINGTON - Amy Klobuchar said her campaign has raised more than $12 million online since the New Hampshire Democratic debate on Feb. 7, helping to scale up her 2020 presidential effort heading into Super Tuesday.

With the nomination contest moving to Nevada and then South Carolina in the next two weeks, the Minnesota senator is trying to build on her newfound momentum, including making appearances on four Sunday television interviews.

"I will get the money from people as this goes on, as I emerge as a stronger candidate," Klobuchar said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Most of her donors this month have been "new people, who have discovered me for the first time and get what I'm focused on, which is bringing people with me instead of shutting them out," she said on ABC's "This Week." "We see ourselves on an upward path."

A strong debate performance days before the New Hampshire primary helped Klobuchar exceed expectations by winning 20% of the vote in the state. She finished behind Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg but ahead of one-time heavyweights Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden.

ADVERTISEMENT

On "Meet the Press" Klobuchar didn't answer directly a question on which nominating contests she could win, but mentioned Colorado and Virginia as states she could do well in.

Centrist coalition

The senator said she can pull together a centrist coalition, including moderate Republicans who want a change in the White House. She's competing in that space with candidates including Buttigieg and Biden.

Klobuchar, 59, also said that ultimately she'd support whoever wins the Democratic nomination, including former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

"I have been very clear that I'm going to support whoever comes out of that convention, who is our Democratic nominee. If he is the one that emerges from that convention, I would support him," Klobuchar said.

(Disclaimer: Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)

Klobuchar's jump in support in New Hampshire followed after a fifth-place finish in Iowa. She'd campaigned heavily in the Midwestern state, which borders her own, hoping to break into the top tier of candidates.

Blizzard of Support?

ADVERTISEMENT

"You know, when I announced in the blizzard (in February 2019), they didn't even think we're going to finish that speech, much less get through the summer and the debate, and we are clearly surging," she said on ABC.

While New Hampshire is overwhelmingly white, Nevada has a large Latino population, and Klobuchar is polling in sixth place ahead of the state's Feb. 22 caucuses. In South Carolina, where the majority of Democratic primary voters are black, she's also in sixth place for the Feb. 29 primary.

Klobuchar attributed her dismal support among minority voters - the latest national poll from Quinnipiac University showed her at zero% among black voters - to a lack of name recognition that she's trying to change, helped by her fresh haul of cash.

"I can finally be competitive on the airwaves and get teams in every single Super Tuesday state," she said on CNN's "State of the Union."

The Klobuchar campaign announced it raised more than $2.5 million within a few hours after the polls closed in New Hampshire on top of another $4 million that came in following the Feb. 7 debate. Based on Sunday's comments, the money has continued to flow in.

'Hard, hard work'

That's a change for Klobuchar, who raised $25.4 million for her campaign through the end of 2019, according to Federal Election Commission filings, putting her sixth among candidates relying on donations to fund their campaigns. Political novice Andrew Yang, who dropped out of the race this month, outraised her with $30 million.

"I never thought I was going to be able to compete with some of my opponents' bank accounts, but what I don't have in that I have made up in hard, hard work," she said on ABC.

ADVERTISEMENT

This month's influx of cash fueled a seven-figure advertising buy in Nevada and a hiring spree in the state, where she's adding 50 campaign staffers. She's also airing an ad in South Carolina.

But she's still outmatched financially by other campaigns. Billionaire Tom Steyer has spent an estimated $15.5 million, according to Advertising Analytics. Sanders has spent $2.3 million and Buttigieg has spent $1.3 million. Klobuchar's booked ads worth less than $800,000 so far.

Klobuchar is fourth in the delegate count with 7. She trails Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., who has 22, Sanders with 21 and Warren with 8. Biden, once the race's front-runner, has won six delegates.

---

(c)2020 Bloomberg News

Visit Bloomberg News at www.bloomberg.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Bird formations have inspired researchers conducting tests to see if flying aircraft close together could make use of "wingtip vortex" effect to make them more economical.
Increase in geriatric population, rise in the prevalence of gastrointestinal disorders, and surge in the number of pipeline drugs have boosted the growth of the global irritable bowel syndrome treatment market

PORTLAND, Oregon, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research recently published a report, titled, "Irritable Bowel Syndrome Treatment Market by Type (IBS with Diarrhea (IBS-D), IBS with Constipation (IBS-C), and Mixed IBS (IBS-M), Product (Rifaximin, Eluxadoline, Lubiprostone, Linaclotide, and Others), and End User (Hospitals Pharmacies, Drug Stores & Retail Pharmacies, and Online Pharmacies): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019-2026". According to the report, the global irritable bowel syndrome treatment industry was pegged at $1.07 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach $2.01 billion by 2026, registering a CAGR of 8.2% from 2019 to 2026.

Incentives for market growth

Increase in geriatric population, rise in the prevalence of gastrointestinal disorders, and surge in the number of pipeline drugs have boosted the growth of the global irritable bowel syndrome treatment market. However, poor demand from under-developed countries hampers the market growth. On the contrary, untapped potential in the developing economies is expected to create lucrative opportunities in the near future.

Request Sample Report at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/6313

The rifaximin segment dominated the market

By product, the Rifaximin segment held the largest share in 2018, accounted for more than one-third of the global irritable bowel syndrome treatment market. Moreover, the segment is expected to register the largest CAGR of 9.4% during the forecast period, due to increased demand to treat IBS with Diarrhea (IBS-D) caused by Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria in adults and children. The report includes an analysis of other segments such as Eluxadoline, Lubiprostone, Linaclotide, and others.

The online pharmacies segment to manifest the fastest CAGR through 2026

The online pharmacies segment is anticipated to register the fastest CAGR of 9.9% from 2019 to 2026, owing to rise in preference for online purchasing of drugs over the traditional methods, surge in awareness regarding online pharmacies, and increase in the number of Internet users. However, the drug stores and retail pharmacies segment held the largest share in 2018, accounting for more than half of the global irritable bowel syndrome treatment market, due to strong presence of retail pharmacies around the globe and the convenience offered by them.

North America held the lion's share

The global irritable bowel syndrome treatment market across North America held the largest share in 2018, accounting for nearly half of the market, owing to rise in gastrointestinal diseases such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, and constipation and presence of advanced healthcare facilities with trained medical professionals. However, the market across the Asia-Pacific region is projected to register the fastest CAGR of 9.9% during the forecast period. This is due to improvement in healthcare infrastructure, rise in the number of hospitals equipped with advanced medical facilities, presence of the developing R&D sector, and increase in healthcare reforms.

For Purchase Enquiry at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/6313

Major market players

Abbott Laboratories

Ardelyx Inc.

Allergan plc

AstraZeneca plc

Astellas Pharma Inc.

Johnson & Johnson (McNeil Consumer Healthcare)

GlaxoSmithKline Plc

Sebela Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Novartis AG

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd.

Avenue Basic Plan | Library Access | 1 Year Subscription |

Sign up for Avenue subscription to access more than 12,000+ company profiles and 2,000+ niche industry market research reports at $699 per month, per seat. For a year, the client needs to purchase minimum 2 seat plan.

Avenue Library Subscription | Request for 14 days free trial of before buying: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/avenue/trial/starter

Get more information:https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/library-access

Similar Reports:

Prostate Cancer Treatment Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019-2026

Alopecia Treatment Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019-2026

Pharmaceutical Packaging Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019-2026

Immunoglobulin Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019-2026

Enteric Softgel Capsules Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019-2026

About Us

Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.

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.

Contact:

David Correa

5933 NE Win Sivers Drive

#205, Portland, OR 97220

United States

USA/Canada (Toll Free): 1-800-792-5285, 1-503-894-6022, 1-503-446-1141

UK: +44-845-528-1300

Hong Kong: +852-301-84916

India (Pune): +91-20-66346060

Fax: +1(855)550-5975

help@alliedmarketresearch.com

Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com

Life Science Market:https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/reports-store/life-sciences

Follow Us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/allied-market-research

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/636519/Allied_Market_Research_Logo.jpg
An engineer was stabbed to death allegedly by a government employee after a spat over a pet dog in Rajasthan's Alwar district, police said on Monday.

The incident occurred on Sunday night when Santosh Sharma took his dog outside for a walk and it barked at the accused, Akash Dalal, they said.

Dalal objected to it and during the spat brought a knife from his flat and attacked Sharma. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead, SHO of Alwar Sadar Police Station Ramniwas said.

Both Sharma and Dalal lived in the same residential complex. While Sharma was an engineer working with a private company, Dalal was a tax assistant.

"The accused has been detained and is being interrogated," he said, adding, that the body was handed over to family members after postmortem on Monday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
JACKSON, Miss.  Dawn came Sunday with a steady drizzle as Jackson, Mississippi, braced for the the most severe flooding the area has seen in nearly four decades.

By 7:15 a.m. local time, the Pearl River, which flanks the east side of Jackson and runs near downtown, rose to its third-highest level in recorded history  bypassing the record 36.3 feet set by floods in 1902 and 1880. As of Sunday afternoon, the river was at 36.44 feet, according to the National Weather Service.

Murky brown water began creeping into yards and swallowing streets late last week and is expected to flood about 2,500 structures, including 1,000 homes, said Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves.

On Saturday, Reeves declared a state of emergency for the "historic" disaster, urging people to "get out while you can."

'We are not out of the woods yet'

With water rising slower than initially projected, the worst is yet to come. The river was expected to crest Monday morning at 37.5 to 38 feet, according to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

"We are not out of the woods yet. We are seeing some positive news and positive results from last 24 hours, but there is more water coming into the river and into downtown Jackson," Reeves said.

More rain is on its way this week, which could increase the duration of the flood, officials said.

The critical component is the amount of rainfall this week, said Mike Word, Rankin County emergency management director. We have rain coming in between Sunday and Wednesday. The water is coming. Its just slower than they said. We dont want the general public to lower their concern, because this thing isnt over yet.

Reeves estimates thousands of people are impacted by flooding.

Previously: Threat of historic flooding forces evacuations in Jackson, Mississippi

By Sunday afternoon, about 30 people were sheltering at the Jackson Police Training Academy, which has been opened to house and feed flood victims. Emergency responders conducted four water rescues Saturday, extracting people who were unable or unwilling to leave their homes after evacuation orders. An unknown number of houses have been flooded. Authorities say the total number will not be available until after floodwaters recede.

Story continues

The state's emergency management agency reported details of flooding damage across 11 counties. The preliminary report includes more than 200 homes damaged, four injuries from vehicles hydroplaning in Grenada County and a levee breach in Leake County.

Ross Barnett Reservoir officials began letting more water out at 6 p.m. Saturday. Reservoir operators pulled back on discharge slightly on 10 a.m. Sunday, to 75,000 cubic feet per second, agency director Greg Michel said.

"The problem is, you've still got the water that's already out there (below the reservoir) that's kind of flowed out of the banks, coming back in (to the river)," Michel said. "So the water levels are still going to rise. We hope that it's going to be less than 38 feet, but we're still planning for 38 feet."

Jackson resident Iietta Sanders was anxiously monitoring water levels on her street Sunday afternoon. She said shes most concerned about property damage.

I have a lot of money tied up in this house. You cant probably sell it  because who wants to move in (after this)? Sanders said. Im hoping and praying the water dont come this far." I hope it stops where its at.

Mark Wakefield knows what it takes to rebuild after flooding. His in-laws home in Jackson has flooded four times before, he said. The worst was in 1979, when the house was 8 feet underwater.

Its no fun, Wakefield said. Once the waters in the house, were looking at months of cleanup and reconstruction. Its nothing life-threatening to us ... but its just extremely frustrating and disgusting to have to go through this.

Nate Green, his two children and Clarion Ledger reporter Wilton Jackson canoe through Jackson streets during severe flooding on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2020.

Nate Green and his two kids, ages 6 and 8, couldnt get through Jackson streets by car, so they went by canoe.

One of the reasons people come and live down here is because they want to be close to the woods, close to the river, so they can ride four-wheelers, hike, do that kind of stuff, and this is part of what you pay, Green said.

Its going to be financially crushing to a lot of people.

Nate Green and his children Owen, 8, and Anna Kate, 6, canoed through the streets of Jackson amid historic flooding.

While paddling through the streets, he and his children came across floating debris  clumps of leaves and someones door mat.

Who wants a stool? Green asked. Is that looting?

In a news conference Sunday, Hinds County Emergency Management Director Ricky Moore strongly warned parents against letting their children play in the water.

"It's a lot of contamination. ... It's not safe, its a lot to swift water, a lot of unknowns. We dont need a tragedy out of this," Moore said. "This is not a time for sightseeing and picture-taking."

Jackson Police Chief James Davis, answering media questions, said the agency has not received any reports of looting. Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba added that officers have been patrolling flooded areas.

"I want people to be encouraged that you have a team that is here, not only to help protect your life, but also your property," Lumumba said.

David Archie, who serves on the Hinds County Board of Supervisors, asked business owners to not "price-gouge" flood victims who are staying in hotels.

"Those of you ... who want to take advantage of citizens already at a disadvantage, do not participate in anything that will cause you to go to jail. This is a serious matter," Archie said. "This is a humanitarian crisis."

Contact Alissa Zhu at azhu@gannett.com. Follow @AlissaZhu on Twitter.

Boyfriend arrested: Wisconsin mother, two daughters found dead after Amber Alert issued

FBI could hold the key to a notorious Texas cold case: But the info isn't being released.

This article originally appeared on The Clarion-Ledger: Mississippi river flooding: Pearl River still rising, damage expected
Russia claims that President Volodymyr Zelensky's idea to patrol the Ukraine-Russia border may not be considered without reckoning with the point of view of DNR and LNR, the so-called people's republics of Donbas. RIA Novosti reported that on February 17.

Peskov insists that the Ukrainian side is "still not showing any readiness to start the dialogue with DNR and LNR".

"It's a new initiative. In order to consider this initiative, one has to take into account the opinion of leaders of the non-recognized republics, understand their positions, that is, one has to communicate [with them]", he said.

Previously, the President of Ukraine said Kyiv would accept a joint control over the border with representatives of the self-styled republics, which is a condition to hold the local elections in occupied Donbas. Zelensky also claimed that he was ready for negotiations with the population residing in the occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, but not the "authorities" of the non-recognized republics.
KG takes over from Kanchana TK, who moves to an OPPI member company in a senior leadership role

The Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI), which represents the research-based pharmaceutical companies, has appointed KG Ananthakrishnan (KG) as its new Director General (DG).

KG takes over from Kanchana TK, who moves to an OPPI member company in a senior leadership role.

He brings rich and diverse experience in the pharmaceutical industry in India. Former Vice President and Managing Director, South Asia Region, MSD India, KG continues to mentor healthcare startups and is on the Advisory Panel of several institutions along with being a Board Member of other organisations.

A.Vaidheesh, President, OPPI said, I thank Kanchana for her leadership over the last four years at OPPI. Under her leadership, OPPI has led several critical patient-centred initiatives and has transformed into an agile, dynamic and responsive organisation that is committed to positively impact patients with improving access to innovative medicines.

I welcome KG to OPPI and am confident that his leadership experience and collaborative approach will assist in strengthening OPPIs patient-focused approach towards Health meeting Hope! 

Speaking on his appointment, KG said, As Director General of OPPI, I look forward to the opportunity to continue to serve our patients and also contribute towards the growth of our industry. I believe that the new treatments and cures from OPPI members can make a positive impact in ensuring that millions of Indians lead a healthier and more productive life. In my role, I will continue to drive collaborations and partnerships among diverse stakeholders in expanding access to healthcare, fostering ethics and business integrity and delivering a meaningful contribution towards a patient-centric healthcare ecosystem where Health meets Hope.
File picture

President Ram Nath Kovind, the first citizen of India, will be the first person to be enrolled in the National Population Register (NPR) on April 1 when the updation exercise starts across the country, The Times of India has reported.

Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are also likely to get registered on the same day, said the report. The NPR exercise will kick start from the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) area, which resides all the three premiers, it added.

According to the report, the Office of the Registrar General of India (ORGI) has sent a letter seeking a convenient time for NPR enrolment of the top three functionaries of the government.

The enumeration process of the president, vice-president and prime minister is likely to be done in the presence of the home minister, the RGI and census commissioner and the director of census operations, Delhi, said the report quoting an officer.

The enrolment process of the president, V-P, PM, as well as cabinet ministers, will be done with due publicity, the report suggested.

This will be done with the intention to send out a positive and reassuring message to the public at a time when many states have voiced concerns about the NPR, added the report.

NPR is a list of the usual residents of the country. The Home Ministry defines a usual citizen as one who has been residing in a local area at least for the last six months or intends to stay in that area for the next six months.

The data for NPR was collected in 2010 along with the house listing phase of the Census of India 2011. This data was updated during 2015 by conducting a door to door survey.
Presidents' Day and VPNs may not be a natural fit at first glance. But think about it for a minute. George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were both American presidents whose legacies are forever tied with liberty and freedom. And what is a VPN service if not absolute web liberty and freedom for all your digital travels?

Therefore, this rundown of 10 great VPN offers happening right now is a perfect President's Day tie-in. And just to sweeten the pot, add the code PRESIDENT15 at checkout and you'll get an extra 15 percent off your total. We're sure George and Abe would approve.

Hola VPN Plus: Lifetime Subscription  $33.15 after discount; Originally $717

Hola VPN is one of the most popular VPN services in the world, with over 200 million users in over 190 countries worldwide. Right now, it's at a rock-bottom $33.15 for complete web anonymity for life.

KeepSolid VPN Unlimited: Lifetime Subscription  $33.15 after discount; Originally $499.99

With no speed or bandwidth limits, KeepSolid is one of the top-rated VPN services anywhere. It's trusted globally  and at $33.15, you'll seldom find a better collision of pedigree and massive savings.

Ivacy Lifetime Subscription (10 Devices)  $50.99 after discount; Originally $2,338

Connect up to 10 devices at once with full bandwidth, complete malware protection, over 1,000 servers to choose from, and military-grade encryption. And at almost 98 percent off, it's the biggest price cut target on this list.

NordVPN: 2-Yr Subscription  $81.59 after discount; Originally $286.80

NordVPN is an absolute industry heavyweight, and while its price is higher than others in this collection, you get what you pay for. Holder of a PC Mag's rare Outstanding rating, NordVPN data is double-encrypted with rock-solid reliability and there are no traffic logs kept anywhere.

FastestVPN: Lifetime Subscription (5 Devices)  $16.99 after discount; Originally $600

It's right there in their name  FastestVPN claims to be the fastest VPN provider on the web. That's a bold claim, but charging only $16.99 for a lifetime subscription makes it cheap enough to find out with almost no risk.

SlickVPN: Lifetime Subscription  $16.99 after discount; Originally $1,200

SlickVPN touts its privacy, assuring every user is completely protected from monitoring and the throttling of their internet activity. This one's also in prime range for the budget-conscious, offering complete security for life for less than the price of a large pizza.

VPN by VeePN: Lifetime Subscription  $25.49 after discount; Originally $659.40

VPN by VeePN has one of those sneaky helpful features that isn't always part of every VPN service: an automatic kill switch. If your internet connection is becoming unstable, VeePN will automatically cut downloads and other outside links and protect your data rather than leave you vulnerable. It's an appreciated extra for torrent and other heavy data users.

TigerVPN: 3-Yr Subscription  $59.49 after discount; Originally $429

TigerVPN is proud of their IP-Mashing technology, which cloaks your IP to make it appear like every other user on your particular node. Your online activity stays virtually invisible because even if someone is looking, the safety in numbers approach is a shield that keeps you protected.

Surfshark VPN Subscriptions  $58.65 after discount; Originally $430

While most VPN providers limit the number of devices you can protect at 5 or 10, Surfshark offers coverage for unlimited simultaneous connections. So no matter how many laptops, tablets and smartphones you've got under your roof, Surfshark will make sure each and every one of them is secure.

VPNSecure: Lifetime Subscription  $29.74 after discount; Originally $450

VPNSecure is one of those providers that supports torrenting, so you'll always have strong, clear connection speeds without throttling and complete anonymity. They also feature Smart DNS, which helps you get around geo-blocking restrictions that prevent you from watching certain streams and streaming services in different regions of the globe.
A telefeature made last year about a Rotorua couple who went on the run with $10million is a finalist in an international film festival.

Independent NZ screen production company Fearless Productions debut television project Runaway Millionaires has been nominated as a finalist across five categories at the 2020 New York Festivals Film & TV Awards.

Helmed by veteran producers Carmen J. Leonard and Deborah Cope, Runaway Millionaires has been named as a finalist status across five awards categories - for TV Movie, best screenplay for writer Pip Hall, best performance by an actress for lead actress Jess Sayer who played Kara Hurring, best direction for director Danny Mulheron, and best camerawork for director of photography Rewa Harre.

Runaway Millionaires is the gripping true story of Kara Hurring and Leo Gao, an ordinary New Zealand couple who went on the run after $10 million was mistakenly deposited into their account.

We are delighted to have our companys debut production honoured amongst the best of the best internationally, says Carmen. These nominations are a testament to the hard work and talent of our fantastic cast and crew.

Film Bay of Plenty assisted the production locally with helping find locations and crew, and linking them to local service providers in the region.

We are thrilled that Runaway Millionaires has been nominated for so many international awards and we look forward to servicing more projects like this in the near future, says Film Bay of Plenty CEO Anton Steel.

Runaway Millionaires screened on TVNZ in 2019. Photos: supplied

Runaway Millionaires tells the story of how Leo had applied for a $100,000 overdraft for his Rotorua petrol station. On seeing that the bank had added extra zeroes, resulting in a $10 million deposit, he seized the opportunity to flee with Kara and her six-year-old daughter and start a new life in China.

Unlike Leo, who was arrested by police in Hong Kong after a two-year operation, Kara voluntarily returned to New Zealand and handed herself into police. Leo was sentenced to four years and seven months in prison while Kara served nine months' home detention.

Leo and Karas life on the run was far from glamorous. Their time in five-star hotels quickly gave way to fighting to survive after police drained their offshore accounts leaving them virtually penniless. Abandoned by Leo, Kara was left to fend for herself and her daughter in a country where she barely spoke the language.

This was such a big news story at the time, we couldnt believe it hadnt been told before, says Deborah Cope. Bringing Kara Hurrings story to life was an amazing opportunity and we are grateful to Kara for trusting us to tell her story.

Film Bay of Plenty, which is the Regional Film Office for the Bay of Plenty, is handling an increasing number of queries from both local, national and international productions.

The Screen Industry is thriving right now and this will only increase, which is fantastic for revenue coming into the regions, says Anton. Its exciting to see Amazon making its entrance to NZ and shows like a recent Netflix TV Series that came to the Bay of Plenty recently providing work for local crew and using local businesses to facilitate their productions.

Based in Tauranga Film Bay of Plenty covers the whole of the Bay of Plenty region including Western Bay, Whakatane, Kawerau, Opotiki, Rotorua and Taupo.

Jess Sayer as Kara Hurring has been nominated for best performance by an actress in the 2020 New York Festivals Film & TV Awards. Photos: supplied

We are here to help facilitate film in the Bay, which includes sourcing locations, local crew and helping with the permitting process for International and National film projects, says Anton.

About 40 people made up the base crew and there are 30 members of the cast.

Runaway Millionaires was made with the support of NZ On Air and aired on TVNZ 1 and Channel Seven in Australia in 2019.

For a full list of all finalists, click here
Photo: The Canadian Press A charter flight transporting passengers from the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship arrives at Travis Air Force Base.

Two charter flights carrying cruise ship passengers from Japan landed at military bases in California and Texas overnight, starting the clock on a quarantine period to ensure passengers don't have the new virus that's been spreading in Asia.

A plane carrying American passengers touched down at Travis Air Force Base in Northern California just before 11:30 p.m. Sunday, local time. A second flight arrived at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas around 2 1/2 hours later, early Monday.

Japan's Defence Minister Taro Kono had tweeted earlier that Japanese troops helped transport 340 U.S. passengers on 14 buses from Yokohama port to Tokyo's Haneda airport. About 380 Americans were on the cruise ship.

The U.S. said it arranged the evacuation because people on the Diamond Princess were at a high risk of exposure to the virus. For the departing Americans, the evacuation cuts short a 14-day quarantine that began aboard the cruise ship Feb. 5.

The State Department announced later that 14 of the evacuees received confirmation they had the virus but were allowed to board the flight because they did not have symptoms. They were being isolated separately from other passengers on the flight, the U.S. State and Health and Human Services said in a joint statement.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, said Sunday that an infected person who shows minimal symptoms could still pass the virus to someone else.

After arriving in the U.S., all of the passengers must go through another 14 days of quarantine at the military facilities  meaning they will have been under quarantine for a total of nearly four weeks.

Australia, Canada, Hong Kong and Italy were planning similar flights of passengers. Other governments, including Canada and Hong Kong, also will require the passengers to undergo a second 14-day quarantine.

Japan on Monday announced another 99 infections on the Diamond Princess, raising the ship's total number of cases to 454. Overall, Japan has 419 confirmed cases of the virus, including one death. The United States has confirmed 15 cases within the country. Separately, one U.S. citizen died in China.

Americans Cheryl and Paul Molesky, a couple from Syracuse, New York, opted to trade one coronavirus quarantine for another, leaving the cruise ship to fly back to the U.S. Cheryl Molesky said the rising number of patients on the ship factored into the decision.

"We are glad to be going home, Cheryl Molesky earlier told NHK TV in Japan. Its just a little bit disappointing that well have to go through quarantine again, and we will probably not be as comfortable as the Diamond Princess, possibly.
Welcome to the Star-Tribunes Energy Journal, a play-by-play of the past week in Wyomings wild world of energy. Im your energy and natural resources reporter, Camille Erickson. Sign up for the newsletter here.

In March, I will be publishing the 2020 Energy Journal, a special section all about technology and innovations in Wyoming's energy industry. Have ideas on who or what should be featured? Please reach out at camille.erickson@trib.com or 307-266-0592. Thank you for your support!

Leveling the playing field for mineral owners

One bill up for debate during this year's legislative session could change the game for those in Wyoming's oil and gas business.

House Bill 14 proposes to revise the terms under which permitted oil operators negotiate with non-leasing mineral owners within a drilling spacing unit, or an area designated for development.

Proponents of the draft bill hope it provides more protection for unleased mineral owners, without stunting oil and gas leasing. Mineral owners often make a deal and lease their minerals to operators who then help extract the oil from the ground.

Multiple operators, landowners, mineral owners or the federal government often have a stake in a single drilling spacing unit. The myriad interests circling around one drilling unit can make things complicated, fast.

The Legislatures Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee advanced legislation in November in an effort to expand the options unleased mineral owners have when negotiating with permitted operators.

The bill was heard again in committee on Friday. Members voted unanimously to advance the bill.

How does it work?

At its core, the bill amends the state's approach to forced pooling, a statute that helps propel drilling activity even if a mineral owner within a shared drilling spacing unit doesn't consent to drilling under an operator's proposed terms. It enables multiple working interests in a single drilling unit to pool their funds to cover costs associated with drilling.

Under current law, if an unleased mineral owner in a drilling unit does not consent to a lease offered by a permitted operator, drilling can still commence. But the non-consenting mineral owner must absorb a penalty  300 percent of the costs and expenses incurred during drilling and completing a well. Meanwhile, the primary operator will take on the mineral owners share of production costs.

But if the new bill becomes law, a mineral owner will have more choices.

If an owner elects not to participate in drilling under an operator's suggested terms, he or she would be penalized at a reduced amount  200 percent of production costs on the first well, and 150 percent on subsequent wells. Whats more, the mineral owner will reap 16 percent of the mineral royalty interest during the time the owner is paying the risk penalty.

If wells happen to be productive, formally non-consenting mineral owners can change their minds and start participating in drilling activity, too. At that point, they effectively become working interest owners and chip in their share of the costs, but also enjoy all the revenue generated from their designated tract in a drilling spacing unit.

Conversely, a non-consenting mineral owner could also simply continue accepting that 16 percent royalty interest.

Ultimately, the new bill offers the unleased mineral owner more options.

"Under current law, its up to that unleased mineral owner to work out a system themselves to get paid for their minerals," explained Pete Obermueller, president of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming. "This bill just adds some statutory protection for those people."

The proposed bill comes on the heels of a new rule, instituted by Wyomings Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to curb the record influx of oil and gas drilling applications.

"The whole goal here is to get Wyoming as many wells drilled in Wyoming and to generate as much revenue for the state," said Howard Cooper, president of Three Crown Petroleum LLC.

In other news...

COAL

Coal firm Navajo Transitional Energy Company reached an agreement with Wyoming to waive its sovereign immunity last week. The waiver allows state regulators to enforce environmental and mining laws at two coal mines and brings the company one step closer to becoming the official owner and operator of the pair of mines.

About one-fifth of coal shipped during during three quarters last year went to coal-fired power plants set to retire by 2025 or sooner (via S&P Global Market Intelligence).

OIL & GAS

According to a statewide poll conducted in January, 86 percent of Wyoming residents approve of oil and gas development, with 77 percent strongly approving of it, the Petroleum Association of Wyoming announced Friday.

Oil production from federally managed lands and waters topped a record 1 billion barrels last year, U.S. officials told The Associated Press, as shorter permitting times and technological advances helped drive new development.

A Canadian companys request to conduct exploratory drilling at 35 sites along the Beartooth Front near Nye, Montana, for the next seven summers has been conditionally approved pending acquisition of a reclamation bond, Brett French at the Billings Gazette reports.

WIND & SOLAR

A bill that would have penalized utility companies for using renewable energy sources to supply electricity to ratepayers failed to advance in Wyoming's Legislature.

As utility companies look to replace aging wind turbines, the machines' blades are being buried in stacks at a handful of landfills around the country, including in Casper. The blades have swept Casper into a national discussion around renewable energy, waste and environmental responsibility.

When it comes to the energy preferences of Americans, theres significant consensus, even across political parties, a new study led by a University of Wyoming professor concluded.

URANIUM

The U.S. Department of Energy asked for $150 million in its fiscal year 2021 budget request to build a uranium reserve fund and boost domestic demand for the mineral.

In last years third quarter, only about 32,211 pounds of uranium concentrate was produced at four mines in Wyoming. Thats a 94 percent decline since the same quarter in 2016, according to the Energy Information Administration.

WILDLIFE

Gov. Mark Gordon released an executive order to conserve the states extensive migration corridors Thursday afternoon during a signing ceremony at the Wyoming State Capitol. The new order aims to preserve the critical routes used by Wyomings migrating big game herds while also protecting the states energy economy.

Last week in numbers

Friday oil prices:

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) $51.42, Brent (ICE) $56.34

Friday natural gas:

Henry Hub $1.89, Wyoming Pool $1.66, Opal $1.73

Baker Hughes rig count:

U.S 790 (-0), Wyoming 22 (-1)

Quote of the week

We dont want to jump the gun and designate hundreds and hundreds of areas. Thats why I said a handful of (migration) routes. We dont want a land grab  this is absolutely not a spaghetti map. Part of this process was to say that spaghetti map was spooking a lot of landowners, members of industry.  We needed a place to start, based on the science, that would identify these routes.

 Gov. Mark Gordon, in a comment on his new migration corridor executive order

Follow the latest on Wyomings energy industry at @camillereports

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
OTTAWA - An upcoming meeting in British Columbia is emerging as the focal point for hopes of a speedy and peaceful end to the blockades that have disrupted rail and road traffic across large swaths of the country for more than a week.

The meeting, which would involve the federal and B.C. ministers responsible for Indigenous relations sitting down with First Nations opposed to the Coastal GasLink pipeline project, has yet to be scheduled.

That has raised questions about how long Ottawa, in particular, is willing to wait as pressure mounts on the federal Liberal government to end the protests due to the economic damage they are causing. The pipeline has support from the Wetsuweten First Nations elected band council but is opposed by the nations hereditary chiefs, who claim authority on traditional territory off the First Nations formal reserve.

Carolyn Bennett, the federal minister of Crown-Indigenous relations, reiterated her desire to meet with those opposed to the $6.6-billion natural-gas pipeline as she sat down Monday with B.C. Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser.

We have reached out through a joint letter to the Wetsuweten hereditary chiefs about meeting with us at the earliest opportunity and are hopeful we can all work together to establish a process for ongoing and constructive dialogue and action to address the issues at hand, the ministers said in a joint statement late Monday.

Our primary focus is everyones safety and ultimately, a peaceful resolution to the situation.

The two were invited last week to meet by Gitxsan chief Norm Stephens after members of the First Nation erected a blockade near New Hazelton in support of neighbouring Wetsuweten chiefs.

Bennetts sitdown with Fraser in Victoria came as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held an emergency, closed-door meeting with cabinet ministers in Ottawa to discuss the blockades.

Trudeau emerged from the meeting emphasizing his desire to find an end to the crisis, adding he had reached out to a number of premiers and Indigenous leaders to discuss the standoff. But the prime minister was tightlipped about his plan to reach that conclusion.

I understand how worrisome this is for so many Canadians and difficult for many people and families across the country, Trudeau said. Were going to continue to focus on resolving the situation quickly and peacefully, and thats what were going to do.

The prime minister, who cancelled a two-day trip to Barbados this week to deal with the crisis at home, did not take any questions before being driven away by his RCMP security detail.

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair, Justice Minister David Lametti and others who attended the meeting with Trudeau were similarly mum on how they planned to address the crisis.

The ministerial meetings in Ottawa and Victoria came as protesters continued to block rail lines as well as highways and bridges in different parts of the country. Those included shutting down for the first time the Thousand Islands Bridge border crossing near Kingston, Ont.

The Ontario Provincial Police indicated they didnt plan on breaking up that protest, saying the OPP has no role to play in the underlying issues of the event and is not in a position to resolve them. Protesters lifted their blockade of the bridge in the afternoon.

Mounties in Manitoba also reported about eight to ten demonstrators at a CN Rail crossing on Highway 75 in southern Manitoba. The highway and rail line both run south to the U.S. border crossing at Emerson, Man.

RCMP spokesman Robert Cyrenne said police were stopping traffic for safety, but that vehicles were still able to pass in both directions. CN said train movement in the area had been stopped and that the company was evaluating our legal options very closely.

The RCMP said it had deployed a liaison team to the site to establish a dialogue and maintain open and ongoing communication.

Police have largely refrained from direct action against the blockades since the RCMP enforced an injunction outside Houston, B.C. earlier this month, where opponents of the Coastal GasLink project were preventing access to a work site for the pipeline.

While more than 20 people were arrested and the company is preparing to resume work, the RCMP raid sparked more protests and blockades across the country.

Coastal GasLink signed agreements with all 20 elected band councils along the pipeline route, including the Wetsuweten First Nations council. But Wetsuwetens hereditary chiefs are opposed to the project and say the council does not have authority over the relevant land.

Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller, who met Saturday with representatives of the Mohawk First Nation near Belleville, Ont., where a rail blockade has shut down train service across much of Eastern Canada, has invoked the Oka and Ipperwash crises in pressing for a peaceful solution.

A Quebec police officer died during a raid in 1990 after Mohawks south of Montreal blocked the Mercier Bridge, which became the Oka crisis.

Five years later, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shot and killed protester Dudley George during a standoff over a land claim by Chippewa protesters outside a Ipperwash Provincial Park.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2020.

 with reporting by Nicole Thompson in Toronto, Rob Drinkwater in Edmonton and Amy Smart in Vancouver.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version incorrectly stated that Ministers Bennett and Fraser had also sent their letter to Gitxsan chief Norm Stephens.
Waves crash over Roonagh Pier in Co Mayo yesterday

The country was battered by "bomb cyclone" Storm Dennis as torrential rain and winds gusting to more than 120kph caused power cuts, flooding and travel disruption.

The storm also forced the cancellation of major sporting events across Ireland, although the country avoided the severe flood chaos that blighted the UK.

Ireland was lucky to avoid loss of life with a group of kayakers miraculously escaping serious injury or death in Clare when they attempted to descend a river raging in full torrent.

Minutes after the group began their descent of the River Aille outside Doolin they got into difficulty - and one kayaker spent two hours trapped at the bottom of a 17-metre gorge.

Clare Fire Brigade, the Coast Guard's Doolin unit, the National Ambulance Service and gardai had to mount a rescue operation - with one kayaker clinging for his life to a ledge above the raging torrent, while another had to climb a sheer cliff to reach safety.

One rescue official described the incident on Saturday evening as: "Crazy. It was lucky no one was taken out of here in a box."

Expand Close Members of the public shelter from windy weather in Temple Bar / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Members of the public shelter from windy weather in Temple Bar

Torrential rainfall transformed streams and rivers into raging torrents - and left thousands of acres of farmland under flood waters.

Lightning

Rivers, including the Shannon, Blackwater, Suir, Nore and Lee, are now close to breaking their banks.

Such was the scale of flooding in the UK that the Environment Agency had to be supported by British army deployments.

Expand Close A car drives through a flooded road in the Co Galway village of Barnaderg after Storm Dennis battered the country / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp A car drives through a flooded road in the Co Galway village of Barnaderg after Storm Dennis battered the country

Ireland avoided damage on that scale, although thousands were left without power as the storm brought down trees.

At its peak, almost 10,000 homes and businesses were left without power over the weekend due to fallen trees and lightning strikes.

Galway was worst hit with 2,000 homes losing power due to the storm.

Met Eireann's Gerry Murphy warned that while Ireland had avoided a direct hit from Storm Dennis, which tracked from Iceland north toward Scotland and Scandinavia, conditions were quite treacherous, particularly along coastal areas.

While winds will ease from today, the weather will remain blustery and quite unsettled, with the likelihood of exceptionally cold conditions from tomorrow.

Today will be cold and blustery with some sunshine and widespread heavy showers of rain or hail. Temperatures will reach a lunchtime high of 7C.

"It will become very cold on Monday night and into Tuesday so showers will turn more wintry," Mr Murphy added.

Tomorrow will see more wintry conditions with Tuesday night particularly cold.

The rest of the week will remain unsettled though temperatures will climb to 10C or 11C.
The hottest day of summer is interrupted when a community leader is rushed to the hospital. As Red fights for his life, the neighborhood bands together to hunt down his wannabe executioner.

Linnell Festival of New Plays Presents:

summertime | an interlude

Written By aniello fontano

Directed By Erik Ehn

The University of New Mexicos Department of Theatre and Dance is pleased to kick off its spring production season with a fully staged production of summertime | an interlude (National Partners of the American Theatre Playwriting Award Nominee) by aniello fontano (3rd year MFA candidate in UNMs award winning MFA in Dramatic Writing Program).

The sounds of the city at play. All at once - Laughter. Gossip. The cshhh of a beer can opening. Dice hitting cement. Somebody yells down to the street from an upper floor. A bus stops and opens its door. Some kids sprint down the sidewalk. A car passes blaring music out its broken windows. A fist fight breaks out. Laughter and hugs follow. The bus pulls away. The city is alive. Suddenly - a GUNSHOT echoes through the space...

The hottest day of summer is interrupted when a community leader is rushed to the hospital. As Red fights for his life, the neighborhood bands together to hunt down his wannabe executioner. Through belly laughs, cold beer, and blunt smoke, the truth about the shooting at "Red's Deli" bleeds out. Relationships are tested, lies are told, questions are answered, confessions are made  and before sundown, the neighborhood loses a piece of its heart forever.

*Discretion advised due to content and language.

Featuring:

Taylor Rodriguez as Vince

Kenneth McGlothin as David

Danielle Mcphaul as Windy

Andy Gustke as Syd

Isaiah Espinosa as Kyri

Alexia Monet Taylor as Trigg



When: February 12th, 14th, and 15th at 7:30pm

Where: The Experimental Theater

Cost: $15 General, $12 Faculty & Seniors, $10 Staff & Students

Buy tickets before we sell out: UNM Ticket Offices | Call 925-5858 / 1-877-664-8661 | Online at https://tinyurl.com/summertime-interlude
South Africa: R143m for drought relief in Moutse

An amount of R143 million has been allocated by the Department of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation for drought relief in Moutse, near Groblersdal, in Limpopo.

The funds will be administered by Lepelle Northern Water, as the implementing agent, to address the long-standing challenges of water within the Sekhukhune District Municipality.

The funds will be used to drill new boreholes and refurbish existing ones in the area, among other interventions.

Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu visited the area on Friday, where five water tankers and 20 water tanks were donated. The water tankers will be administered by the Sekhukhune District Municipality.

Sisulu was accompanied by Limpopo Premier Stanley Mathabatha; Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs MEC Basikopo Makamu; Sekhukhune District Municipality Mayor Stanley Ramaila, and representatives from Lepelle Northern Water Board.

During her visit, the Minister interacted with the Moutse community and assured them that there will be additional water tanks to ensure that all residents have water, prioritising the elderly, schools, the police station, and Philadelphia Hospital.

She emphasised that this will be an interim measure, while the municipality works with the Lepelle Northern Water board, the province and the provincial Water and Sanitation Departments office to initiate sustainable water reticulation projects in the area.

Sisulu and Mathabatha assured the community and stakeholders that the process to address water challenges in the area has started.

I first have to apologise to the community on behalf of government for the challenges that you have had for a long time. I would like to assure you that we have heard your cries...

I have tasked the municipality and Lepelle Northern Water to work together to ensure that the community of Sekhukhune has access to water, Sisulu said.

While the national department is intervening because of the dire situation, the Minister said local government remains responsible for ensuring optimally operational reticulation infrastructure to service communities.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-02-17. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 02/17/2020



ADVERTISEMENT

ROBERT AND ANNY

ADVERTISEMENT

MICHAEL AND JULIANA

ADVERTISEMENT

EMILY AND SASHA

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ANNA AND MURSEL

ADVERTISEMENT

MIKE AND NATALIE

ADVERTISEMENT

ANGELA AND MICHAEL

TANIA AND SYNGIN

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

's Part 1 of the Tell All special featured the seventh season's couples reuniting and providing updates on their relationships -- including Anna Campisi revealing she and Mursel Mistanoglu want to welcome a child via surrogate and Natalie Mordovtseva insists Mike Youngquist is not her soul mate during Sunday night's episode on TLC.The Tell-All special featured Anna, a 38-year-old from Bellevue, Nebraska, and Mursel, a 38-year-old from Antalya, Turkey; Mike, a 34-year-old from Sequim, Washington, and Natalie, a 35-year-old from Kyiv, Ukraine; Michael Jessen , a 41-year-old from Greenwich, Connecticut, and Juliana Custodio de Sousa , a 23-year-old from Goiania, Brazil; and Robert Springs, a 41-year-old from Winter Park, Florida, and Anny, a 30-year-old from Santiago, Dominican Republic.The following couples were also featured in the episode: Blake Abelard, a 29-year-old from Los Angeles, California, and Jasmin Lahtinen, a 27-year-old from Helsinki, Finland; Tania Maduro , a 29-year-old from Colchester, Connecticut, and Syngin Colchester , a 29-year-old from Cape Town, South Africa; Angela Deem , a 54-year-old from Hazlehurst, GA, and Michael Ilesanmi , a 30-year-old from Lagos, Nigeria; and Emily Larina , a 28-year-old from Portland, Oregon, and Sasha Larin , a 31-year-old from Moscow, Russia.The couples gathered in New York City for a show filled with surprises and drama hosted by mediator Shaun Robinson Below is the latest on each Season 7 couple:Robert said Anny had been making their relationship difficult and they had encountered a lot of ups and down since getting married.Anny agreed they had problems and she was waiting for all the promises Robert had made her.Robert revealed on the reunion show he and Anny had a shower and a couch to make love since they still shared a room with Robert's son Bryson.Shaun asked why Robert had renewed the lease on his two-bedroom apart when he knew Anny would be arriving in America soon and they needed more space. Robert said he didn't want to take Bryson out of the school he had been going to for two years.Robert also said he took Anny to a secondhand clothing store as "a test" to see if she was all about money. Anny, however, said Robert had promised to buy her clothes, a phone and more.Anny said a man showering her with material items showed her love but she'd never be with Robert if she wanted a man with money. Robert said he was paying for rent, his car, his son's school and more, and so he had money, but he just wasn't throwing it around.On the topic of Robert's photos with ex-girlfriends on his phone, Robert assured everyone the photos were on his Facebook. Anny didn't like he had saved a photo of him kissing another girl.Robert said he was fine with deleting pictures of his exes but he wanted to keep photos that included his children. Robert, who has five children with different women, said he wanted his kids to grow up and be able to see those pictures.But Anny called that "an excuse" and accused him of lying. Robert, in turn, told his wife to "stop snooping."Anny shared she would like to have children with Robert in the future, and Robert said whether or not he has more kids is no one else's business but their own.Bryson's grandparents Ben and Stephanie Woodcock joined the conversation, and Robert told Stephanie that she's not his mother and had no right to ask Anny if she was on birth control.Ben and Stephanie claimed they hadn't seen Bryson in a while, but Robert said it was because the pair had been sending him "nasty" messages and threats."The only way to hurt me is through my son, and that's not happening. You've threatened me!" Robert yelled, as Ben and Stephanie appeared to end their side of the conversation and walk away."There's a lot of sh-t behind [this story] that people don't know... I'm a good dude!"Robert revealed he was once homeless and stayed with friends, adding that all of his issues were with Stephanie and he had no problem with Ben. Robert said he wasn't going to give Bryson's grandparents an opportunity to break him and his spirit.Michael said it was unbelievable how much he and Juliana had been through together and their relationship was doing great.Juliana revealed her family was expecting her to send money back home to Brazil and she did just that once a month. Juliana was paying for the home her parents lived in, but she said that since she left Brazil, her parents no longer call or text her.Juliana cried about how her family and friends became mean to her because as she traveled around the world and didn't take them with her. Robert called that "hate," and Juliana was so upset her loved ones viewed her as a "horrible" person.Juliana said her family didn't appreciate what she did for them, like buying a month's worth of groceries, because it was never enough and they'd always expect more.Juliana said that unless she always said "yes" to their requests, they would hate her for saying "no."Michael's ex-wife, Sarah Jessen, joined the couple on the reunion show. Sarah and Michael were married for 12 years, and so Shaun asked why they had divorced."I'll let Michael answer that," Sarah noted with a laugh.Michael called the answer "complicated," saying he was getting a little crazy with traveling and partying. He didn't feel free and admitted he was "in a very bad downward spiral."Sarah didn't understand why Michael didn't feel free in their marriage because she said she was supportive of his traveling and independence and gave him a lot of leeway.Michael insisted he never cheated on Sarah until their divorce was final, but Sarah argued Michael had relationships that went beyond friendship -- and so it depends on one's definition of infidelity.Sarah therefore suggested Michael had emotionally cheated on her, and Michael openly admitted he did. Michael explained in the course of partying with friends, he'd flirt. However, he said he never pretended to be single guy without children.Juliana didn't know much about Michael's past, but Michael said he had informed his wife of everything he just shared at the reunion special.Sarah said she was initially surprised and concerned about Michael and Juliana's 19-year age difference. She feared Juliana wanted to get her modeling career off the ground, receive a Green Card in the United States and then take off.But Sarah said over time, she learned more about Juliana and discovered she has great family values. Sarah was convinced Juliana would never intentionally hurt Michael or her children, Max and Cece.Juliana shared Sarah is her best friend in the United States and they became like sisters, and Angela pointed out that was "the most beautiful story." Angela said she could never be friends with Michael's exes, so she was clearly impressed.Max and Cece made an appearance on the show, and Max advised the couples on the stage to learn more about each other's cultures and work to learn each other's languages.Max said his favorite couple were Syngin and Tania because they seemed to "work for each other," and Cece shared she liked Mike and Natalie because they "appreciate each other a lot."Emily admitted Sasha had trouble making friends and gaining independence but he was able to go to the gym in her neighborhood.After a clip played of Emily meeting Sasha's first ex-wife Masha, Emily called Masha "a very negative person" and said she took no responsibility for the downfall of her relationship with Sasha.Sasha insisted he met his second ex-wife after he and Masha broke up, and then he confirmed he had met Emily while he was still married to the second ex-wife.Emily, however, said she and Sasha didn't progress their relationship at the gym into a romantic one until he and his second ex-wife were separated. Emily noted she thought Sasha was cute upon their first meeting but he shot her down because he was married.Sasha said he had made mistakes in the past in that he wasn't "a perfect" father to his eldest son.Emily's sister Betsy joined the pair on the reunion special, and Betsy called Sasha out for telling Emily what to eat. Sasha said he knew a lot about nutrition and therefore helped his wife, but Betsy called out Sasha for earning his degree from Google.Emily said she didn't like what she saw when she looked in the mirror and wanted to go back to her pre-pregnancy weight. Emily said her body was affecting her self-esteem and relationship, and so it was good Sasha was persuading her to be more active and fit.Emily was looking to get more motivated, especially since she's exhausted from taking care of David when he doesn't sleep or is cranky.Sasha said if a person eats whatever he or she wants, he or she will get what she deserve.Tania, however, said it's important for Sasha to make Emily feel comfortable and beautiful in her own skin.In addition to criticizing Sasha for allegedly forcing Emily to lose weight, Betsy accused Sasha of not respecting the institution of marriage as a legal commitment."I think we'll see Sasha's true behavior once he actually gets the Green Card," Betsy said. "Right now, he's dependent on [Emily] and our family for everything."Emily said she was tired of hearing about the Green Card, because at that point, Sasha would be more independent and be able to make his own money. Emily said Sasha was there for her and her son, even when he spent time in Moscow, where there were many beautiful women around him.Sasha insisted he could see being together with Emily forever, but Betsy hoped Emily would be able to be herself in the relationship.Emily revealed she and Sasha were no longer living with Betsy, who is a bit of a nosey person.Sasha wished Emily had a good relationship with his ex-wives after seeing Sarah and Juliana's relationship, but Michael told Sasha it's a two-way street -- and Emily expressed how she wasn't against the idea of becoming friends with them but it wasn't that simple.Anna said her wedding day was a blur because it went by so fast and was really emotional. Anna said one of her brothers didn't talk to her for several weeks after the wedding and her son Joey never showed up to her big day.Mursel didn't like all the sex discussion on the Tell-All, saying it's a "sacred thing," but then Anna blurted out she and Mursel slept together once a day.Because of Anna and Mursel's language barrier, Anna admitted she wasn't always entirely certain her relationship was going to work out. While love was always there, the couple had a lot of issues to work through.When asked why her son Joey took so long to warm up to Mursel, Anna said her kids didn't appreciate Mursel initially keeping them a secret from his family. Joey also didn't like one of his brothers, Leo, calling Mursel "father."Joey had been used to being the man in the house, and Robert pointed out Joey was probably being overprotective of his mother. On that note, Anna said Mursel was just going to have to prove himself to her children.Shaun then suggested she had put Mursel before her own children by continuing to date a man who kept them a secret from his family, but Anna said she took care of her children and would never leave them. Anna hoped all along Mursel would crack and just come clean to his parents.Anna ended up giving Mursel an ultimatum -- to tell his family Anna had children or they wouldn't get married -- and Mursel explained he was in a very bad place and couldn't speak English in America.Syngin asked Mursel if he would tell his parents about Anna's kids before coming to the United States, if he could do things all over again, and he replied, "Yes, I would tell them."All the couples were shocked Mursel was able to get his K-1 visa reissued and called him very "lucky," and Anna said it was fate they're together.Anna later shared Mursel wants a baby but she can't carry one herself and so they'd have to find a surrogate. Mursel said he'd be open with his parents about the surrogate, but the cast said what Mursel's family didn't know wouldn't hurt them."They don't have to know I wouldn't carry it," Anna said.Mursel no longer cared about what his family would say or how they'd react to things, and Shaun seemed very impressed with that comment. Mursel appeared very focused on Anna and their life together.Mike was trying to hold things together after he and Natalie had a falling out in which she had returned her engagement ring.Mike revealed he and Natalie were working on their "major differences" as they went along and things had been very stressful. Natalie didn't have much to add to the conversation, admitting she didn't know what to add to the discussion.Mike shared he and Natalie had sex three times a day when he visited her in Ukraine.Shaun asked Natalie whether she viewed Mike as her soul mate, and she said soul mates are very comfortable around each other and naturally understand each other. Natalie said soul mates don't need to push each other or explain."If I say right now that he is my soul mate, it would be a lit. I'm sorry," Natalie confessed.Mike said that was something he had been struggling with ever since returning from Ukraine. Mike was questioning himself and his relationship and had "a whole lot" on his mind.Angela advised Mike to push through their issues and take them head on.Natalie said it didn't seem like Mike wanted to take the lead.Mike then watched back a clip of Natalie's friend telling Natalie that he wasn't wealthy enough for her, but Mike said he wanted to prove the woman wrong and the scene was "brutal" to watch."Mike, can you take care of me? Be honest and please answer this question," Natalie asked on the topic of Mike not being well off financially."Obviously it's a main concern if I can take care of Natalie and myself and raise a family, but I feel very comfortable that can be attained from where I am at in my life," Mike said.Mike explained he wanted to have a baby once he and Natalie could actually physically be together. Mike said he wanted to take Natalie to doctor appointments and not have to Skype with her to see her.Natalie shared she wants a child more than anything and it's very important for her to have a baby. Mike said they just needed to wait a little bit longer to start a family.When asked to reveal the status of her relationship with Mike, Natalie tried to pass off the question to Mike and didn't answer. (The episode, however, ended on a cliffhanger at this point).Angela said her relationship was Michael was "legit" and she was tired of people questioning their relationship and love for each other. She was trying to find a way to get Michael over to the United States.Angela revealed she and Michael had sex four times a day -- a total of 38 times -- during her latest visit to Nigeria.Tania was tired of working so much and supporting the both of them. Syngin said he was well aware he needed to work and make money, but he didn't want to take a job he wasn't going to love.Tania apparently got into a car accident and needed surgery on her foot, with screws and plates placed in it.During the reunion, Tania strangely revealed she loves Syngin's "soft" armpit hair.Shaun asked Tania why not postpone her trip to Costa Rica since Syngin only had 90 days in the United States on his K-1 visa, and Tania explained she had already put it off for two years at that point. Tania said putting it off for a third year would've been really hard for her to do.Tania said people viewed her as this cold-hearted "b-tch" with no feelings but that's not really the case and couldn't be further from the truth. Michael agreed she received a lot of flack for her character and personality while the show was airing.Tania insisted she and Syngin agreed she could go to Costa Rica and she had not made a selfish decision. But fans wondered whether her trip was for work or play since footage captured her partying a lot, so Tania explained she had classes from Monday through Friday and had the weekends off.Syngin admitted it was hard for his fiancee to leave for 30 days, but Tania said her husband is a grown adult who can take care of himself. Syngin said Tania was his comfort, security and best friend.In terms of what he'd like to do for a career, Syngin said he'd "like to try everything," including sing opera. Tania said she looked into singing classes and woodworking classes for Syngin but he wasn't taking any steps to explore his options.Syngin acknowledged he battles with procrastination and so he liked how Tania pushed him a little bit.Tania said she wanted the best for both of them and hoped Syngin would begin working soon to make money. Syngin, however, began working in the mines at age 17 and previously contemplated suicide, so he didn't want to be stupid and irrational.Syngin suggested he had a little post traumatic stress from his job in the mines, but Tania just wanted her husband to follow through on his promises so she didn't have to remain the main breadwinner for much longer.On the topic of children, Syngin said he was "very indecisive" and didn't know when he'd be ready to settle down and start a family. He and Tania still butted heads when it comes to their ideal timelines for kids.Shaun asked Tania if she and Syngin would get divorced if five years passed and Syngin still didn't want a child, and she remained silent and through up her arms in defeat. Tania seemed to give away she'd leave Syngin in that case."I think it's definitely something we would probably break up over," Syngin shared.Anna asked why Syngin and Tania would get married as a result, and Syngin said they only had 90 days so they figured they'd wed and try to figure things out. Otherwise, Syngin would have had to return to South Africa.Tania said their timeline kept bouncing around and they are just hoping they come to an agreement at some point.When Shaun broached a conversation about soul mates, Tania discussed how she had met her first love when she was only 11 years old. She seemed to think her first relationship was a soul mate type of situation, but at the same time, she said a best friend could be a soul mate and she wasn't quite sure of the definition.Robert argued soul mates have a spiritual connection for eternity, so he wasn't sure why Tania and Syngin got married if that wasn't the case.Tania said she loved Syngin to death and saw a future with him, even though Syngin may not technically be her soul mate.Tania said she was in a place of exploring and learning, and she was so happy because Syngin understood and supported her. Tania said the one word "soul mate" shouldn't define her relationship and what she had with Syngin, and so the conversation made her cry."I don't need the world and I don't need anyone else to understand me. I just need him to, and he does," Tania cried.Sasha told Tania just not to bring up past relationships because it hurts, and Syngin agreed the soul-mate talk had dropped a bomb on him.Want spoilers? Click here to visit our Spoilers webpage!
General Motors just announced that they will wind down operations in its Southeast Asian hub in Thailand by the end of the year. This includes the selling of its Rayong plant, as well as the eventual end of Chevrolet vehicle sales in The Land of Smiles.

Dwindling sales volume brought about by aging models and poor customer retention have led to the eventual failure of the brand in the market. A last-ditch effort to prime sales with the Wuling Almaz-based Captiva crossover resulted in dismal sales of only 530 units for Q4 of 2019; not even half of the 2,642 units imported from its Indonesian factory. It ended 2019 with only 15,161 vehicles sold in the market.

In a statement, the automaker said that they are taking decisive action to transform its international operations, building on the comprehensive strategy laid out in 2015 to strengthen its core business, drive significant efficiencies, and take action in markets it cannot earn an adequate return.

Ive often said that we will do the right thing, even when its hard, and this is one of those times. We are restructuring our international operations, focusing on markets where we have the right strategies to drive robust returns, and prioritizing global investments that will drive growth in the future of mobility, especially in the areas of EVs and AVs, said Mary Barra, Chairman and CEO of GM.

As mentioned earlier, Chevrolet will not immediately end operations in the country as they will continue sales until the end of the year. However, GM and Chinese automaker Great Wall Motors will soon sign a binding term sheet for sale of the Rayong plant. With low plant utilization and low forecast volumes, GM stated that continued production at the site is now unsustainable.

Without domestic manufacturing, Chevrolet is unable to compete in Thailand's new-car market, said GM. Despite the eventual selling of the plant and the closing down of local operations, GM assured its customers that all warranties will still be honored. In addition, all recall and any safety-related issues will still be addressed by the company.

This recent development is expected to affect sales operations here in the Philippines. The Covenant Car Company Inc. (TCCCI), the official distributor of Chevrolet in the country, sources the Colorado pickup and Trailblazer SUV from GM's Rayong plant in Thailand. With the planned closure set by the end of 2020, this may be the last year that Chevrolet will be able to sell the Thai-made pick-up truck and SUV models in the country.
The DMK on Monday warned the AIADMK government that it may be constrained to lead a massive non-cooperation movement on the Gandhian model against the National Population Register if it allowed the NPR exercise in Tamil Nadu.

Upping the ante against the Citizenship Amendment Act, NPR and National Register of Citizens, the main opposition party's district secretaries meet here deliberated the matter vis-a-vis ongoing protests and passed a resolution.

It said: "If the AIADMK government unilaterally allows the NPR which paves the way for NRC, by not honouring the unanimous feeling of the Tamil Nadu people, this meet would like to warn that the DMK will be forced to lead a massive non-cooperation movement following Anna's (DMK founder and Dravidian icon Annadurai) vision of Gandhian way of peaceful protest."



The resolution said it will consult its allies and rally the people against the NPR if the exercise was carried out in Tamil Nadu.

The meet lauded party chief M K Stalin for the successful completion of two crore signature drive against the CAA, NPR and NRC in the State.

Protests against the CAA, NPR and NRC in Tamil Nadu has "scared," the Centre, and the AIADMK and PMK which voted in its favour in Parliament, the party said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Class 12 students of City Montessori School, Kanpur road branch who appeared in their ISC Economics paper in Lucknow on Monday found the paper to be of mediocre difficulty level.

The examinees said the paper was of good standard and had questions for every category of student.

Commerce students Anushka and Tarangini said, The paper was average and we managed to finish on time. Swati Sharma, another student said, The paper was good and I felt satisfied writing my paper. The numerical were direct.

Another student Aditi srivastava said, The paper was good for scoring marks and Im sure to pass with flying colours. Suhani Shukla said, Im sure that I will get good marks. We did thorough preparation.

Utkarsha was content with her performance and approached the subject teacher to discuss the answers. Swarlata, the subject expert said the paper effectively covered all the aspects of the syllabus and could be categorised as one which tested well the future potentialities of students in the subject also.

Principal of CMS Kanpur road branch, Vineeta Kamran said, We have high hopes from our students and expect a good result.

For students of Hoerner College, the ISC economics paper was a mixed bag! The paper was tricky with some derivative questions that were tough. Shruti Mayur and Aietre felt it took some time to figure certain questions, but once there, it was a breeze. The economics teacher, Meenakshi Bajaj said it was easy as long as examinees put their mind to it. Overall it was in parts tricky, making some questions a bit of a bother, otherwise a good paper.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
By Trend

President Ilham Aliyev taught a political and historic lesson to Armenian prime minister during the panel discussions on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in Munich, Azerbaijani political analyst Arzu Naghiyev told Trend.

It was also another diplomatic lesson for Armenia, he added.

During the meeting, which lasted for about 50 minutes, President Aliyev once again demonstrated to the international community the truth about Armenia with concrete facts, he said. Pashinyan tried to conceal some historical facts about Armenia, attempting to misinterpret them. However, the concrete facts given by President Ilham Aliyev drove him into the corner and he became unable to debate.

During his speech, Pashinyan several times had to admit that Nagorno Karabakh is Azerbaijani land and after that tried to back down by using various tricks, said Naghiyev.

The political analyst noted that one of the interesting moments during the meeting was about the Khojaly tragedy.

Pashinyan tried to use Azerbaijani former presidents remarks, which were distorted by Armenian journalists, as a credible argument. However, President Aliyevs weighty rebuke cornered Pashinyan.

President Aliyev also sent a message to OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, saying that the organizations involved in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should explain to Armenia that these territories are originally and forever Azerbaijani. Referring to the historical facts of the 18th century, President Aliyev spoke about how Armenians were resettled in Azerbaijani territories. He explained to the whole world that there is only one way of resolving the problem: withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from Azerbaijans occupied lands, return of internally displaced persons to their homes. After that statements on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh will be relevant, said the political analyst.

The message of this debate to the whole world is that it is Armenia and certain forces supporting it that want to preserve the status quo in the process of settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, noted Naghiyev.

President Aliyevs remarks in these debates showed to the world that Armenia plays for time, trying to maintain the status quo. They hope for recognition of the puppet regime by any state. I believe that President Aliyevs speech became Azerbaijans most important message to the whole world. This is the foreign policy victory of President Aliyev and Azerbaijani diplomacy in general, Nagiyev concluded.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Microsoft Windows 10 Update KB4532693 is reportedly leading users to a new user profile and making them believe their data is missing.

Its no secret that Windows updates occasionally go awry and wreak havoc on hundreds of PCs. In the most recent development of this kind, Windows 10 users are reporting serious problems on their PCs after installing Update KB4532693, including loss of user-profiles and data. According to ZDNets recent report, this is the second bug-ridden Windows 10 update from Microsoft this month after Update KB4524244 was pulled out of Microsofts distribution servers. The American software giant has yet to acknowledge the issues reported by its users from the most recent update.

The report says that many users are being presented with a new Windows 10 user profile after the installation of Update KB4532693 on their PCs instead of their existing one, making them believe that all their previously-stored files are lost when, in reality, they are merely hidden on the disk with a .000 or .bak extension. This issue is reportedly caused by a faulty Windows Update service, which creates a temporary user profile during the installation procedure but fails to unload it afterwards.

If you believe youre one among the many who are affected by Windows new buggy update, theres no need to panic. You can uninstall Update KB4532693 by heading to Settings (Win + I) > Update & Security > Windows Update > View update history > Uninstall updates. Double-click the update item named Update for Microsoft Windows (KB4532693) in the windows that pops up to begin the uninstallation. After the restart, you should be able to log in to your existing user-profiles and see your files.

Microsoft currently appears to be experiencing a season of buggy Windows updates. It recently promised to fix an issue identified in the final software update for Windows 7 even though the popular operating system is no longer supported officially. The issue reportedly causes the desktop wallpaper to go completely black when the style is set to Stretch. Microsoft has since provided a workaround for the issue, which basically involves changing the style to a different option, such as Fill, Fit, Tile, or Center. You can read more about it here.
India has flatly rejected United Nation chief Antonio Guterres's offer of mediation on Kashmir and said the real issue needed to be addressed is to vacate territories "illegally and forcibly" occupied by Pakistan.

The assertion by the ministry of external affairs came after Guterres said in Islamabad that he was concerned over the situation in Kashmir, and that he was ready to mediate between India and Pakistan to resolve the long pending issue.

MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said Jammu and Kashmir is and will continue to be an integral part of India and hoped that the UN secretary general would press Pakistan to take credible and irreversible action to stop cross-border terrorism against India.

"India's position has not changed. Jammu and Kashmir has been, is, and will continue to be an integral part of India. The issue that needs to be addressed is that of vacation of the territories illegally and forcibly occupied by Pakistan," Kumar said.

"Further issues, if any, would be discussed bilaterally. There is no role or scope for third-party mediation," he said.

Guterres is currently undertaking a four-day visit to Pakistan.

"We hope the UN secretary general would emphasise on the imperative for Pakistan to take credible, sustained and irreversible action to put an end to cross-border terrorism against India, which threatens the most fundamental human right -- the right to life -- of the people of India, including in J&K," the MEA spokesperson said.

Addressing a press conference after his meeting with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Islamabad, the UN secretary general said he was "deeply concerned" over the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and tensions along the Line of Control.

Guterres said it was important for India and Pakistan to de-escalate "militarily and verbally" and exercise "maximum restraint" on the Kashmir issue.

He said he was ready to help if both countries agreed for mediation.

"Diplomacy and dialogue remain the only tools that guarantee peace and stability with solutions in accordance with the Charter of United Nations and resolutions of the Security Council," Guterres said.

The UN chief said he had "repeatedly stressed on the importance of exercising maximum restraint".

"I offered my good offices from the beginning. I am ready to help if both countries agree for mediation," he said.

In August last year, India announced its decision to withdraw special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state into two union territories.

Pakistan reacted angrily to the move and even downgraded its diplomatic ties with India by expelling the Indian high commissioner.

Islamabad also unsuccessfully tried to rally international support against India on the issue.
TP OMahony questions whether Pope Francis apparent U-turn over female deacons and the ordination of married men is his final word or merely an interim statement.

WAS it a U-turn, a concession to his predecessor, or a failure of nerve?

Not since Humanae Vitae (the anti-contraception encyclical from Pope Paul VI) in 1968 has a Vatican document caused such widespread disappointment as the apostolic exhortation issued by Pope Francis last week.

In a 32-page document entitled Querida Amazonia (Beloved Amazon), he declined to approve the ordination of married men to the priesthood, and women deacons. This failure, given the expectations that had been building up since the end of a special Synod of Bishops in Rome last October, is now seen as a U-turn, and one that raises new questions about the Popes commitment to reform.

At the October Synod, the bishops (all from Latin America) voted by 128 to 41 in support of the ordination of suitably qualified married men as priests, in a region where there is a chronic shortage of clergy.

The bishops also recommended the establishment of criteria for women deacons. Yet the apostolic exhortation did not even mention the possibility of married men, and has only a very brief section on the role of women.

Here the Pope warns that the clericalisation of women must be rejected. Instead, he ask for the acceptance of a feminine contribution that allows the tender strength of Mary to be present.

Just what this might mean in terms of womens functions in the Church is left undefined. Little wonder that the initial reaction of women to the papal document was one of dismay and anger.

The outcome of the Synod meant the apostolic exhortation was one of the most eagerly-awaited publications of recent times. It has become customary after a meeting of the Synod of Bishops (the first took place in 1967) for the Pope to reflect on and summarise its deliberations and use them to point the way forward.

Given that the bishops, at the Synod on the Amazon, had very clearly stated their preferences for the admission of some married men to the priesthood and a role for women deacons, theexpectation was  especially with Francis growing reputation as a reformer  that the apostolic exhortation (a very fancy name for a letter, albeit a long one, to Catholics worldwide) would reflect and endorse these preferences.

Instead, Francis urged bishops to pray for an increase in priestly vocations and suggested that more missionaries be sent to remote communities where the scarcity of priests means that Catholics can go for long periods without Mass or access to the Eucharist.

This urgent need leads me to urge all bishops, especially those in Latin America... to be more generous in encouraging those who display a missionary vocation to opt for the Amazon region, the Pope wrote.

The Amazon Synod brought together bishops, indigenous people, and activists from nine countries. Its final document called for the ordination of viri probati  married men of good standing  and for an increased role for women in the Church.

These hopes have now been dashed, though the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, told the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 that while the ordination of married men would not happen now, it hasnt gone away.

As one American commentator said, the Pope has just kicked the can down the road.

French Catholic daily newspaper La Croix said the fact that the Pope pretty much ignored these two issues altogether provoked predictable responses throughout the Catholic world.

Traditionalists and doctrinal conservatives, for the most part, are breathing a sigh of relief. Some are even jumping for joy, it wrote.

They are satisfied, it said, that the Pope did not open the door to what, in their minds, would be a slippery slope towards the total unravelling of the Church as we know it.

Most progressives, reformers and Vatican II types, on the other hand, are deeply disappointed. Some, especially women, are extremely hurt and angry.

Those anxious for reform now believe Francis missed what La Croix called a golden opportunity to take a decisive step towards eradicating the misogynist and clericalist attitudes and practices that have conditioned the Churchs internal life and structures for centuries.

According to the US-based National Catholic Reporter, many women were especially outraged over the documents language of complementarity.

The Womens Ordination Conference said: The Pope is wilfully turning his back on the calls of women for recognition of the sacramental ministries they offer the people of the Amazon and the global Church.

But it is the failure to act on the admission of married men to the priesthood that is most puzzling. In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI himself took the initiative  set out in an apostolic constitution  in allowing married Anglican clergy, disaffected over the Church of Englands decision to ordain women to the priesthood, to convert to Catholicism while also allowing them to be re-ordained as Catholic priests, waiving the requirement of celibacy. In other words, they could continue priestly duties while remaining married.

The reality is the Catholic Church already has married clergy  particularly English priests who have transferred from the Church of England, but also in Greek Catholic Churches. Against this background, it was shocking, therefore, that Benedict XVI  Pope Emeritus since his resignation in 2013  should allow himself to be associated with a book published in January in which he publicly urged Pope Francis not to open the Catholic priesthood up to married men.

The book, From the Depths of Our Hearts, co-authored with arch-conservative Cardinal Robert Sarah, contained this statement from the former pope: I cannot keep silent in an essay that was a vigorous defence of clerical celibacy.

The book appeared while Pope Francis was preparing his apostolic exhortation. Since its publication, stories have circulated that Benedict asked the publishers to remove his name from it, amid speculation that the retired pope, 92, may have been manipulated.

Some substance was lent to this by the recent news from Rome that Pope Francis has removed Archbishop Georg Ganswein, private secretary to Benedict, from important Vatican duties.

Much more than his predecessors John Paul II and Benedict XVI, Francis has enhanced the status of the Synod of Bishops. Both John Paul II and Benedict XVI had effectively emasculated it, since neither had much time for allowing bishops to be agenda-setters.

Francis, on the other hand, saw the institution as a model for how the Church should evolve. He wanted the Synod to have a real share in the government of the Church.

In November 2019, just after the Synod on the Amazon finished, English Catholic weekly The Tablet said the Synod had revealed how powerful the radical theology of Pope Francis can be, highlighting his commitment to a synodal form of governance for the Church.

The summons to synodality is becoming irresistible. The Amazon synod is a striking fulfilment of the Second Vatican Councils vision for a new way of being Church.

Prior to that, in 2018, one of Irelands leading theologians, Fr Gerry OHanlon of Milltown Park, published a book, The Quiet Revolution of Pope Francis, subtitled A Synodal Church inIreland?.

He highlighted the importance of the emergence of collegiality as a key concept during the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), and how Pope Francis had drawn on this to promote a synodal form of governance.

It is precisely this path of synodality which God expects of the Church in the third millennium, Pope Francis said in an address in 2015 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the institution of the Synod of Bishops.

The difficulty now  especially for progressives who continued to see Francis as the great reformer  is that the latest apostolic exhortation revives uncomfortable echoes of an early profile of the Argentine Pope as Francis the Enigma.

The hope must be, with Francis having set his face (for now) against the reforms recommended by the Synod on the Amazon, that he has not spoken the final word  that his 32-page letter is just an interim statement.There is a hint of this at the beginning of the Popes letter where he explained that his exhortation was a brief framework for reflection . . . that can guide us to a harmonious, creative and fruitful reception of the entire synodal process.

More to follow? Well see.
More than $300 million in campaign spending has bought former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg a lot of advantages in the Democratic Party presidential primary. Television ads are running in dozens of states across the country. Hundreds of staff are devoted to causes as varied as meme creation and the crafting of a political strategy targeting states that vote in March and April rather than the early voting states like Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina that other candidates have focused on.

Money has also allowed the Bloomberg campaign to stump for support in places his rivals dont even know about. This includes the opening of a campaign office across the street from the Renaissance Hotel in Albany. It is no accident that a Mike Bloomberg 2020 sign is framed within the windows of the hotel bar, where elected officials, activists and other members of the states political elite gathered for drinks on Saturday after a day of workshops at the annual legislative conference organized by the New York State Association of Black and Puerto Rican Legislators.

We have a lot of people who have done work in the city and state before, Jennifer Blatus, a spokeswoman for the Bloomberg campaign, said of the conference, known as Caucus Weekend. So it just seemed like a logical event to reach out to potential voters.

The campaign identified the conference weeks ago as an opportunity to further its efforts to appeal to a black community alienated by Bloombergs past support of controversial NYPD policies like stop-and-frisk. The Albany office was opened just in time for the conference. Campaign staffers gave away t-shirts, bumper stickers and buttons to as many attendees as they could. Elected officials who have already endorsed Bloomberg sought to persuade colleagues who have not. With other presidential campaigns focused on upcoming contests like Nevada and South Carolina, the Bloomberg campaign was seemingly alone in its efforts to appeal to some of the most powerful elected officials in the state more than two months before the April 28 New York presidential primary.

He knew where the lion's share of the politicos in the black and brown community and activists were going to be on one weekend, said Democratic political consultant Lupe Todd-Medina. Everybody loves a piece of tchotchke. Everybody likes t-shirts. So I didn't see anybody turning them away.

In recent weeks, the Bloomberg campaign has touted endorsements from black elected officials like Rep. Gregory Meeks of Queens, the boroughs party chairman who has taken a leading role in efforts to appeal to black voters, as well as Assemblyman Clyde Vanel and Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren. As far as endorsements and elite-level support, he's doing incredibly well, said Christina Greer, associate professor of political science at Fordham University. Whether or not those elite leaders can convince their constituents remains to be seen. The case they are aiming to make is simple  whatever their qualms with Bloombergs record as mayor, his wealth and politically moderate record make him the most electable candidate in the Democratic field.

Elected officials like Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan also sought to whip up support for Bloomberg at the conference, including at a Saturday reception hosted by state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins I am always talking to people at these events, Bellone told City & State in an interview. State legislators and local officials were among the people at the conference who Bellone said were his top targets to win over to the Bloomberg campaign.

Support from Bellone and state Sen. Todd Kaminsky of Long Island  who have both called for the state Legislature to amend newly-implemented limits on cash bail  highlight how supporting Bloomberg could help moderate Democrats own political interests. Mike Bloomberg puts us in the best position to win a whole, particularly in the suburbs, Bellone said. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont has emerged as the Democratic frontrunner following the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary. His call to eliminate cash bail and his outspoken support for far-left ideas like single-payer health care have made some Democrats nervous that their own chances could be undermined if he becomes the Democratic nominee. By endorsing Bloomberg, moderates would be better able to distance themselves from the left wing of the party as they seek to win over swing voters who might otherwise vote for a Republican candidate.

While black voters would disproportionately benefit from the elimination of cash bail, a desire to defeat Trump may determine who some vote for in the Democratic primaries. Black voters are strategic voters for sure, Greer said. The single issue seems to be to get Trump out of office for the vast majority.

Recent polling shows Bloomberg making progress among black voters. A national Quinnipiac poll on Feb. 10 showed Bloomberg in second place among black voters, with Biden in first place. The poll also showed Bloomberg as having a 9-point edge over Trump  the largest margin of the Democratic field.

The upcoming primary in South Carolina will be the first contest in which black voters are a significant part of the electorate. While Bloomberg has not actively campaigned in the state because of his late entrance into the race, there is the potential that he could increase his standing among voters even if he only wins a percentage point or two of the vote total as a write-in candidate. If that happens, it would be a warning sign for the rest of the Democratic field, according to Greer. My hypothesis is that Biden will underperform in South Carolina, she said. (Tom) Steyer, who's been putting a lot of money just in South Carolina, will overperform temporarily and then possibly go away. And that will open up a pathway for Bloomberg.

Bloombergs campaign strategy hinges on doing well on Super Tuesday, March 3, when 14 states vote, including delegate-rich states like California and Texas. If he performs well that day, then Bloomberg could conceivably emerge as the Democratic frontrunner. That is when all the attention that he has given to states like New York can be used to their greatest effect. Unlike other candidates, Bloombergs wealth guarantees that his campaign can grow no matter what happens.

By the end of the month, his campaign hopes to open its 15th campaign office in New York state. Additional endorsements from elected officials are also likely to be announced, and the campaign has continued efforts at the national level to publicize its outreach efforts to the black community. With a vast national network of contacts and good will built up through decades of giving through Bloomberg Philanthropies, his wealth also gives him political leverage and name recognition that few candidates can ever match.

It remains to be seen whether or not these advantages will translate into enough votes for Bloomberg to win the Democratic nomination. But supporters at Caucus Weekend in Albany are feeling that the political winds are blowing in his direction. Over the course of three days and nights in Albany, they made sure to say that to anyone who would listen. The case I made was basically that there's nobody in a stronger position to actually win this election who has the resources to beat Donald Trump, Bellone said.
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

Natalie Williamson did not fear the worst when two U.S. Army officers appeared at her door with her father on a summers day in 2012.

Her brother, Miguel Gonzales Jr. of Albuquerque, was a staff sergeant in the Army, and his unit was involved in fighting wildfires that were raging in Colorado.

I thought he was injured, she said as she described what seemed like a scene from a movie.

The officers told her that her brother was dead, that he had taken his own life.

She was cradling her 6-week-old daughter, Sarah, in her arms when she heard the devastating news.

I almost dropped my daughter, Williamson said. I couldnt believe it. They told me they had found him. He had shot himself and that he had committed suicide.

Gonzales, who was preparing to be deployed for the third time in his military career, was considered a model soldier, a motivator to his peers, his sister said. He served seven years in the Army.

His death reflects a startling trend: The suicide rate among active duty military personnel has been steadily climbing since the Department of Defense started keeping statistics in 2001  rising an average of 6% annually for the past five years, the Pentagon announced last fall.

The number of suicides jumped from 285 to 325 nationwide between 2017 and 2018, according to the 2019 Annual Suicide Report. That is an increase from about 22 suicides per 100,000 service members to about 25. The overall suicide rate in the U.S., which has also been steadily climbing, is 14 per 100,000. The Pentagon said the military suicide rate reflects the fact that men are four times as likely to commit suicide as women. Men make up 85% of military branches and more than 49% of the general population.

And the numbers for active duty service members could be higher for 2019 if the numbers for all the service branches rise as much as in the Air Force.

What were tracking across the Air Force, which includes the Guard and the Reserve, we had 136 suicides last year, Kirtland Air Force Base installation commander Col. David Miller said. That was about a 33% increase over the previous year. Thats a fairly substantial increase.

Included in that number are two deaths of airmen at Kirtland in 2019, the most recent a female senior airman in her mid-20s who was found dead off base in October. There have been nine suicides among active-duty personnel at the base over the past five years.

There are more than 3,300 airmen and more than 1,000 National Guardsmen and reservists stationed on the base.

Kirtland officials said a civilian employee on the base also committed suicide within the past year, the second in the past two years.

Trends are changing

Like Gonzales, Miller said, the airman who took her life last fall did not fit the old pattern of suicides among active duty personnel.

She was in every regard, to anybody who interacted with her, a high-spirited, high-performing, extremely successful airman, said Miller, who did not wish to identify the airman. She won major awards amongst her peers. She won major awards within her organization. To be honest, she was an advocate for trying to help people who were having problems that had been identified as being suicidal. She was actually out there trying to champion, help them. It was a surprise to everyone that she took her own life.

Williamson said that was the case with her brother.

He was full of energy, full of life, Williamson said. When we talked to military people he worked with throughout the years, they were just stunned. Nobody could believe it.

Miller said suicides by active-duty personnel have often been linked to post-traumatic stress disorder or a high deployment operation schedule. But he said that is not the case with the majority of deaths in recent years.

Even the methods are changing, he said.

Males, it used to be more violent. It was gunshots or hangings. Females, it would be more along the lines of a drug overdose or asphyxiation via car. Were not seeing those indications anymore. What we see with current suicides is that those dont continue to be trends, he said. Miller said the military isnt seeing a set pattern these days. The Pentagon reported last fall that between 60% and 70% of suicides were carried out with a firearm, and 90% of those were with personally owned weapons. And hanging and asphyxiation accounted for almost 30% of the methods used. Drug and alcohol overdoses accounted for less than 1% of suicides.

Different warning signs

We used to see a spike in people who had some marriage issues, or some legal issues would be indicators that may have put them over the edge. We still see them as symptoms in some cases, but its not nearly the proportion they used to be. Its actually a minority of people who have those issues, Miller said.

Williamson said she and her father suspected her brother may have been in a problematic relationship in the months before he died, but they were never able to confirm it. She also said her brother had been seeing a therapist in the months before he died, but the Army would not release any information to the family because of privacy restrictions.

Williamson  a psychologist with Albuquerque Public Schools  had not seen any signs of PTSD in her brother before he took his life. But she said her brother showed signs that something might be wrong when he came home on leave just weeks before he killed himself.

Gonzales, who grew up in the South Valley, was close to his sister and her 8-year-old son, Matthew. He had previously deployed to Iraq and Qatar and requested two weeks leave before deploying again.

I noticed that something was bothering him, Williamson said. He was agitated. But he was also laughing and having fun. But still, I knew there was just something that was not right.

I asked him, Why dont you stay, why dont you ask for another week? Just dont go back. He wanted to leave early, he said, No I got to go back. Ive got to get my stuff together. I might be going out again. And I said, Talk to me, but he didnt. I knew something was up. So did my dad. He said, Something is off with your brother. 

Williamson had a birthday celebration for her brother, who turned 34 on June 26, during his stay. She said she was thrown off guard by the words her brother used when he was saying goodbye.

He looked at me and grabbed my face and said, Promise me that youll always let my nephew and niece know that I love them,' Williamson said. I said, Of course Im going to do that. He kissed me on the forehead. He told Matthew, Take care of your mother. We just didnt get it.

She texted her brother on the Fourth of July but got no response. Her father tried to call his son, but Gonzales never called back.

We thought that was pretty odd, Williamson said.

Gonzales killed himself July 10, 2012, while stationed at Fort Carson, near Colorado Springs, Colorado.

I wish now I would have told somebody, his sister said.

But Miller said often there are no visible signs at all.

We used to train in the Air Force, if we found someone who was withdrawing from the group they are usually with, stop participating in the events they would go to, or started giving away their possessions or start talking about how their life wasnt worth it or they would be better off without them in their life, those were the tell-tale signs of the past, he said. Were finding that with those taking their lives today, those arent the indicators anymore. The challenge, he said, was finding out what those new indicators were.

The need to speak out

Williamson believes many soldiers are reluctant to seek help because they fear they will be demoted or that it will affect their service in some way.

Maj. Benjamin Carter, a clinical psychologist at Kirtland, acknowledges that may be a reason some dont come forward.

If somebody has concerns, they ask, If I speak up, what impact will it have on my career? My unit? My co-workers? Those are very common concerns, he said. Thats always a concern that were working on.  Almost every time, we find that their concerns are greater than the reality.  The promise to them is that well address any of those concerns.

Miller believes the concern about making someone else do their work is even more of a factor.

Sometimes its not about the individual coming forward and admitting they need help, its acknowledging that when they seek help, their workload is shifting to someone else, Miller said. Theyll think, I dont want to take myself out to rest for a while.  If I need to take a knee  which is a military term  its probably not going to be short-term  When I take a knee, I just shifted my workload responsibilities over to them.  Its almost out of love to people they serve with  they push themselves longer than they should.

Edith Wegner, the violence prevention integrator at Kirtland, said the Air Force is working to remove the perceived stigma around airmen reporting they have a problem.

And Carter wants airmen to speak up if they believe they need help.

There is a strength in asking for help, Miller said. It is a sign of strength to be able to ask for help.
Highlights The MWC had to be cancelled for this year over Coronavirus concerns.

The decision put multiple smartphone launches into jeopardy.

Despite that, a few brands are moving ahead with smartphone launches but there are change of plans.

The crucial decision to call off the world's biggest tech convention, the Mobile World Congress this year has thrown the future of several upcoming smartphones into uncertainty. GSM Association had last week announced it is not holding the MWC 2020 in the wake of Coronavirus fears. But while this seems like a prudent move, it has shattered the ambitions of many smartphone brands that were looking to capitalise on the event's global popularity but had to cancel the launches instead. A few of them, however, have changed their plans.

The influx of a plethora of smartphones that we witness every year at the end of February will not happen. Now, the companies that have changed plans will hold separate events to showcase their new smartphones but in a sporadic manner. These launches will take place at different points in time over the course of this year. Here is what you can expect from major smartphone brands after the MWC cancellation:

Realme

This year's MWC was important for Realme as it was its first entry to the show. But the Coronavirus threw the plans into chaos, leading to change in plans. After the MWC was officially cancelled, Realme announced that it is still moving ahead with the launch of its first flagship 5G phone, the Realme X50 Pro 5G, however, with an online-only event. The Realme X50 Pro 5G will be launched on February 24 at an online event in Madrid, Spain. The Realme X50 Pro 5G will come with a 90Hz display, 65W SuperDart Charge technology, Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor, and a dual punch-hole display.

Nokia

MWC has been important for Nokia. HMD Global, the caretaker of Nokia's smartphone portfolio, has pushed its smartphones majorly at the tech exhibit so as to grab more eyeballs. At the MWC 2020, the Finnish company was likely to launch the Nokia 8.2, Nokia 5.2, Nokia 1.3, Nokia 400 4G, the first phone from the brand new Original series. But ahead of the cancellation of MWC 2020, HMD Global, in a statement, announced its withdrawal from the event as a preventive measure.

For now, the new timeline for the launch of Nokia phones is still being finalised, HMD Global said in its statement. We do not know if all of the smartphones, which have not been officially confirmed so far, will be launched simultaneously or HMD Global will hold separate events. Anyhow, the company's flagship for this year, the Nokia 9.2 is a mile off until HMD Global gets done with the development of features, including the under-display camera.

Sony

Sony may have quit India's smartphone market but it is optimistic about its footprint elsewhere. The Japanese colossus did also cancel its presence at the MWC 2020 in a statement over Coronavirus fears, much ahead of GSMA's announcement on the cancellation of the event. But, Sony is also one of the brands that are moving ahead with their launches, however, at their own events. Sony had announced that it will hold online events where the new Xperia 1.1 and Xperia 5 Plus are likely to debut. While the Xperia 1.1 will be the flagship device, expected to come with a 64-megapixel camera, Snapdragon 865 SoC, and 5G support, the latter is rumoured to pack bumped-up specifications such as a 6.6-inch OLED display, quad cameras at the back, and a Snapdragon 865 processor.

Oppo

Oppo has been headlining the rumour mill for its breakthrough in what could be termed as the next generation of camera-display engagement. The company will launch the world's first smartphone with an under-display camera in June but its MWC event was centred around this year's flagship, the Find X2. Oppo's Find X2 is rumoured to come with a Snapdragon 865 processor, 65W fast charging technology, wireless charging, and a 120Hz display. The smartphone, originally scheduled to be launched at the MWC 2020, will now see the light of day sometime in March. We do not concrete timelines as such as of now.

Vivo

Vivo has been showing off its outlandish technology on smartphones at MWC for a past few years. This year, the Chinese brand was supposed to unveil the Apex 2020 concept phone that found its place in the rumour mill without many details. Since the MWC is cancelled this year, Vivo has pushed back the unveiling for later, the specifics of which are not clear at this point.

Xiaomi

Xiaomi was supposed to unveil the Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro smartphones at the MWC 2020. Post the cancellation of MWC, Xiaomi put out a statement saying it is pulling out of the tech exhibit, outlining the safety of employees. While the Mi 10 series was launched last week in China, its global launch remains pending until the company finalises a date.
The Republicans have their flaws, but a lack of unity is not one of them. The one thing that distinguishes Republicans from Democrats is a national vision. The Democratic Party, since its inception, has never had a national vision, but rather has been a coalition of often hostile constituencies.

TODAY

The Democratic Party today embraces sharia-compliant females  a la Brooklyn's Linda Sarsour and Minnesota's Ihlan Omar  along with hyper-feminists and LBGT constituencies.

The Democrats also embrace expansive abortion rights and seem to be moving to the point of legalizing abortion up to the minute of birth. New York State has legalized such a broad definition.

Ironically, Islamic countries and culture are notoriously restrictive with abortion and lethal to any LBGTs who fall into their hands. So why would practicing Muslims, such as Mmes. Sarsour and Omar, attach themselves to the Democratic Party?

How do the two of them reconcile Islamic culture's honor killing, repression of sexuality, and mutilation of women with the Democratic Party's acceptance of sexual deviance? Likewise, how does the Democratic Party reconcile these ladies' embrace of a retrograde creed?

This article has a list of 13 countries where homosexual activity is punishable by death. All but one of them are Muslim nations, and the thirteenth nation (Nigeria) is roughly split, with the death penalty being applied only in the Muslim north of the country.

So why in the world would a party that supports abortion, homosexuality, transgender rights, etc. embrace Islamic sharia-observant women in politics?

There are other issues. How does one reconcile extreme green politics (which crushes business) with promises of good-paying jobs for union workers?

This is the weakness of the Democratic Party. It is a jumbled mess of constituencies that are objectively hostile to one another.

This is not a recent development. This has been the Democratic Party's modus operandi throughout history.

FDR

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was ostensibly a liberal, yet he and the Democratic Party, at that time, were willing to cut broad deals with Boll Weevil Democrats who enforced Jim Crow legislation. What in the world would a liberalizing Northern Democrat have in common with Southern politicians who were upset that the South lost the Civil War, with slavery being abolished?

Northern Democrats were drawn from industrial working constituencies, often Catholic or Jewish, and of ethic extraction. Southern Boll Weevils were WASP, and sometimes intolerant of non-

The irony of the Democrats' oppositional constituencies could be seen in the matter of Prohibition. Catholics, Jews, and the liberal urban North hated Prohibition, while Prohibition maintained a good deal of support in the conservative fundamentalist Protestant South. Eventually, the North won, with the repeal of Prohibition, during the FDR administration, but only because Southern support for teetotaling was more vocal than practiced.

What is clear is that the Democratic Party had no core values on major issues. If progress was made for industrial workers in the North, it was purchased at the expense of blacks in the South.

WOODROW WILSON

When I was in school, Wilson was portrayed as a lion of democratic progress, not only for the United States, but for the whole world. He entered World War I to make the world safe for democracy. Hadn't he issued the fourteen points?

What the books didn't tell us was that, before Wilson, the federal government had become one bright area where the official policy was to treat blacks equally. Wilson  whose father was a Confederate army chaplain  did away with that. Wilson was a virulent racist, even by the standards of his day.

Washington was a rigidly segregated town  except for federal government agencies. They had been integrated during the post-war Reconstruction period, enabling African Americans to obtain federal jobs and work side by side with whites in government agencies. Wilson promptly authorized members of his cabinet to reverse this long-standing policy of racial integration in the federal civil service. William Keylor as quoted in Government Executive

Wilson resegregated the federal government and set back race relations 40 years. That never got mentioned when I was in school.

In the history books that we were given, the Republican Party was condemned for opposing the internationalism and globalization of the League of Nations  one of Wilson's pet projects. A century later, it is obvious that the Republicans were right.

So how did Wilson win? Again, by appealing to oppositional constituencies. The Democratic Party had no values, so it could be flexible to potential voters on an as-needed basis.

CIVIL WAR DEMOCRATS

Here again, the Northern and Southern Democrats could not agree on the major issues of their day. They split over the issues concerning the expansion of slavery and the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act. What in the world were they doing in the same party, if they were opposed over such fundamental issues?

During the war, there was a Northern Democratic Party, with War Democrats supporting Lincoln.

After the war, the party reunited and embraced white supremacy  at least in the South. Why? Democrats undid the gains of the Civil War. The South became a virtual one-party region after Reconstruction. All the while, the Democrats were preaching progress and more freedom in the North while agreeing to repress it in the South.

ANTEBELLUM DEMOCRATS

Southern Democrats tried to suppress free speech in Congress by instituting a gag rule that prohibited discussions of slavery. One man who opposed this rule was John Quincy Adams. The Adams family were very opposed to slavery from day one. Adams would later affiliate with the Whig Party, which morphed into the Republicans.

One can trace these inconsistencies all the way back to the first Democratic president, Andrew Jackson, who was supposedly a man of the people yet an avowed racist, treating both blacks and Indians atrociously.

CONCLUSION

One does not really see such major divides in the Republican Party. They tend to be pro-business in the belief that prosperity for the country, as a whole, arises from a good economy. And, in theory, they oppose big government.

During the Civil Rights era of the 1950s and '60s, Republicans opposed Jim Crow, which Southern Democrats preferred, yet Republicans would also oppose enforced integration, which Northern Democrats sought. The Republican position was basically that the government should not be in the business of race relations at all. The government should not be mandating segregation or school busing. Let individuals find their own level of comfort, and things will work out in due time.

This was logically more consistent than the Democratic Party, which was bipolar on the issue. Eventually, conservative Southern Democrats would switch to the Republican Party, with the implied understanding that Republicans would not support a re-introduction of Jim Crow.

For a while, after FDR and before Reagan, there was a brief attempt at a liberal expression of Republicanism under John Rockefeller. But that section of the party was dumped as inconsistent with central principles. Again, the Republicans have a consistent vision: pro-business as a means to generate prosperity, along with limitations on government.

On other issues, it is amazing to see how inconsistent the Democrats are.

This is because Democrats have no vision for the country. Rather, they seek only to get elected and are willing to cobble hostile elements together to do it.
Salvage Hunters Classic Cars Range Rover

If, like us, you spent the weekend sheltering from Storm Dennis and binge-watching the latest series of Salvage Hunters: Classic Cars, youll recognise this Range Rover.

The 1982 two-door Range Rover was imported from Spain before being recommissioned by Twenty-Ten Engineering. Although the episode ended without the car finding a buyer, it could be yours, because the Range Rover is going under the hammer this weekend.

Its one of the lots at the Coys at Olympia auction, which is part of The London Classic Car Show. The pre-auction estimate of 22,000 to 26,000 is unlikely to please co-presenter Drew Pritchard.

He was adamant that the car should fetch at least 30,000, describing it as potentially the best left-hand-drive one out there. Fellow presenter Paul Cowland hoped to achieve 30,000 on the nose.

This car owes us a lot of money

Salvage Hunters Classic Cars Range Rover interior

Ive seen the invoices for this car and theyre just massive. This car owes us a lot of money, said Cowland.

Pritchard travelled to Barcelona to buy the Range Rover and spent 13,500 on what he thought was a totally original example. Having entrusted Twenty-Ten with the job of recommissioning the car, he discovered that just the drivers door was the original paint.

Undeterred, the team pressed on with a sympathetic restoration, maintaining some of the cars originality, including the letters on the bonnet and tailgate. A pair of travel stickers were also retained, although the hosts failed to agree on whether or not this was a good thing.

Cowland described the Range Rover as a 26,000 piece of stock, so anything less than the higher estimate would be a disappointing result.

Its a manual from Barcelona

Salvage Hunters Range Rover for sale

Previously, it was for sale on the Car & Classic website for 29,995, with the description stating that the producers would be keen for the new owner to potentially appear on camera purchasing the car from our presenters.

You wont get an opportunity to appear on TV if you buy this at auction, but you will own a Range Rover that has spent almost its entire life in the classic-friendly conditions of Spain.

Story continues

If you havent caught up with the latest series of Salvage Hunters: Classic Cars, youre missing a treat. The presenters are excellent, the cars are fantastic, and you get to see the wonderful array of engineers and specialists helping to keep our classic cars alive.

Heres a link to the show. Enjoy the binge-watching.

The post Salvage Hunters Range Rover heads to auction appeared first on Motoring Research.
Multiple rockets hit an Iraqi base hosting American troops near the US embassy early Sunday, the latest in a flurry of attacks against US assets in the country. "The Coalition confirms small rockets impacted the Iraqi base hosting (coalition) troops in the International Zone... No casualties," said coalition spokesman Myles Caggins. That base, known as Union III, is the headquarters for the US-led coalition, deployed in Iraq since 2014 to help local troops fight the Islamic State jihadist group. Iraq's military said three Katyusha rockets hit inside the Green Zone, the high-security enclave where the US mission and Union III are located, as well as Iraqi government buildings, United Nations offices and other embassies. A fourth rocket hit a logistics base in a different neighbourhood operated by the Hashed al-Shaabi, a military network officially incorporated into the Iraqi state, the Iraqi military said. There was no immediate statement from the Hashed. Strikes on assets of both the US and Hashed at the same time are unusual, as Washington has blamed hardline elements within the military network for repeated rocket attacks on American installations across Iraq. Sunday's was the 19th attack since October to target either the embassy or the roughly 5,200 US troops stationed alongside local forces across Iraq. No group has claimed responsibility for any of the incidents. In late December, a rocket attack on the northern Iraqi base of K1 left one US contractor dead and unleashed a dramatic series of events. Washington responded with retaliatory strikes against Kataeb Hezbollah, a hardline Hashed faction in western Iraq. Days later, an American drone strike in Baghdad killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and his right-hand man, Hashed deputy chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. Hashed factions have vowed revenge for the pair's death but said they would prioritise a political objective first: the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. But the network includes a broad range of groups and some have appeared more willing to harass US troops militarily. Sunday's attack came just hours after one of the Hashed's Iran-backed factions, Harakat al-Nujaba, announced a "countdown" to ousting American forces from the country. A top leader within Nujaba, Nasr al-Shammary, tweeted a photograph of what he claimed was an American military vehicle, adding: "We are closer than you think." Sunday's assault sent warning sirens blaring across the diplomatic compound, a US military source and a Western diplomat based nearby told AFP. AFP's correspondents heard multiple strong explosions followed by aircraft circling near the Green Zone.
I have been thinking a lot about my dad this past week. Hes a Wiradjuri man, he lives on Wiradjuri country, he speaks Wiradjuri language. He is a man who lives his sovereignty.

White Australia pushed him to the margins, locked him out of education, at times locked him up and physically beat him down. White Australia tried to take everything from him but it could not take who he is.

I have been thinking about him after last weeks High Court decision that said simply: Indigenous connection to our land is bigger than citizenship.

High Court of Australia. Inset, Indigenous man Brendan Thoms, whose case was at the centre of last week's ruling. Credit:Karleen Minney/Supplied

I have been thinking of him listening to the white backlash. The scared, timid or just plain bigoted voices who somehow feel like the judges have stolen their country.
Ahead of US President Donald Trump's visit to India next week, preparations are underway in Agra where the administration is beautifying the entire route from Kheria Airport to Taj Mahal.

"It has been decided that the US President will be visiting Agra on February 24. So, we are clearing and beautifying the entire route from Kheria Airport to Taj Mahal," said Arun Kumar, City Magistrate.

Trump will pay a two-day state visit to India from February 24 at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Trump is expected to attend an event at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad on the lines of the 'Howdy Modi' function that was addressed by the US President and Modi in Houston in September last year.

During the visit, Trump, who will be accompanied by First Lady Melania, will attend official engagements in New Delhi and Ahmedabad, and interact with a wide cross-section of the Indian society, the MEA said in a statement.

The announcement of Trump's first official visit to India was earlier made by the White House, which, in its statement, said that the US President and Modi had agreed during a recent phone conversation that the trip will "further strengthen the United States-India strategic partnership and highlight the strong and enduring bonds between the American and Indian people".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Brad Pitt and his oldest son, Maddox, have been on the outs for years now. After having an alleged heated confrontation in 2016, they reportedly fell out and stopped speaking to each other. But it looks like their relationship could be on the mend.

Recent reports claim that Pitt and Maddox have been in communication and even met up earlier in February.

(L-R) Brad Pitt and Maddox Jolie-Pitt |Steve Granitz/WireImage; J. Merritt/WireImage

A quick recap of Brad Pitts alleged fight with Maddox

The rumored incident went down on a private plane in September 2016. The two had been flying from France to Los Angeles with their family when Pitt allegedly started arguing with Angelina Jolie.

When Maddox reportedly stepped in to verbally defend his mother, a drunken Pitt allegedly lunged at him and made some sort of contact with his son, per TMZ.

The incident led to a child abuse investigation (from which Pitt was eventually cleared) and to Pitt and Jolies divorce. Pitts relationship with Maddox also deteriorated and grew strained.

Angelina Jolie and two of her and Pitts six children: Zahara and Maddox Jolie-Pitt | Christopher Jue/Getty Images for Disney

Brad Pitt started working on himself

The family drama served as a sort of wake up call for Pitt, as he told GQ in May 2017 that he gave up alcohol and tried therapy.

Speaking about his past and present mindset, Pitt said:

I cant remember a day since I got out of college when I wasnt boozing or had a spliff, or something. Something, he said. And you realize that a lot of it is, um  cigarettes, you know, pacifiers. And Im running from feelings. Im really, really happy to be done with all of that.

I mean, I stopped everything except boozing when I started my family. But even this last year, you know  things I wasnt dealing with. I was boozing too much, Pitt continued. Its just become a problem. And Im really happy its been half a year now, which is bittersweet, but Ive got my feelings in my fingertips again.

Brad Pitt at an award show | Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Maddox would later move to South Korea to attend college at the prestigious Yonsei University. He talked to reporters about his relationship with his father shortly after he moved in 2019 and suggested that it hadnt improved. But he didnt seem opposed to a possible reconciliation, saying, Well, whatever happens, happens.

Reports say Brad Pitt recently reconnected with Maddox

Sources told The Sun that Pitt allegedly met with Maddox over the weekend of Jan. 31 when the 18-year-old returned to California from college. This is said to be the reason Pitt did not attend the BAFTAs on Sunday, Feb. 2, where he won an award for his performance in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. (It was previously reported that he skipped the event due to unknown family obligations.)

Maddox gave Brad the chance to talk and he dropped everything, an insider told The Sun. The source added: Being a father is the most important thing in [Brads] life and he would do anything to repair their relationship.

The details of the rumored meeting are limited, at the time of this writing. But we hope something good came out of it.
Politico, Sunday, February 16, 2020 8:08 PM

Michael Avenatti, a lawyer who gained fame by representing Stormy Daniels in lawsuits against President Donald Trump, was convicted Friday of trying to extort sportswear giant Nike. Avenatti was charged with attempted extortion and honest services fraud in what prosecutors say was an attempt to extort up to $25 million from Nike with threats to otherwise harm it. Avenatti also faces an April trial in New York on charges that he defrauded Daniels of book proceeds.

Read the whole story at Politico 
Bengaluru-based artist Appupen talks to Firstpost on the social responsibility of artists, practising dissent online while also trying to elevate art, hoping to change people's minds, and the importance of anti-CAA-NRC protests.

In 2003, as the Bhopal Gas Tragedy completed 20 years, artist Appupen volunteered to draw visuals for them. Thats the first time I really thought my art was being used in a good way, says Appupen in an interview with Firstpost. Straight out of college, having previously worked in advertising, he "ran away from it, as far as possible.

After Bhopal, he went on to work for several non-governmental organisations, including Greenpeace, and later founding the artists' collective, Brainded India  a movement focused on independent thought, amidst a deeply agenda-driven, propagandist mainstream, through humour and visuals. He also publishes his own art, and has created four graphic novels, all situated in the mythical dimension of Halahala, a world that mirrors our own, presenting biting satirical commentary about it.

For some time now, Ive been thinking that all sorts of art, whatever we do, needs to have an objective, have something that were addressing. While art should still be celebrated in notebooks, whatever were putting out should have some message or the other, something we believe in.

Through art or poetry, through the visual or the verbal, an artist with greater communication prowess better explains the abstract, and gives voice to the feelings with which a community identifies. While nationwide anti-CAA-NRC protests have gained momentum over the past few months, the importance of artists like Appupen has fountained, and the subculture they exist within has broadened, as they vocalise an anti-establishment sentiment. Over the last five-to-six years, the country has also woken up to that mood, Appupen says about the political dialogue among masses. In making it their lifes work to raise questions, speak truth to power, and voice a peoples anguish, thought, and passion, artists like Appupen posture themselves as the conscience of a society.

As an artist then, Appupens challenge is to balance two concerns. First, educating people. Humour and art, or beauty, are ways we can put a foot in the door. Because the people were trying to talk to are coming from the other side. So, if I get them to laugh or appreciate the art, then I have a way in.

And secondly, elevating art. We have to see that with what we say we bring in the quality, the thinking, and the bar is raised a little more. Appupens art doesn't aim to change the world  instead, it intends to change peoples minds. What I look at is how to elevate society in some ways, or your art-understanding in some ways. Were not looking at changing the world  that would be stupid.

The space for art, according to Appupen, exists in the area of influencing peoples moods and perspectives. We hope people will look at it and think and then take their call. I like this because it sort of presupposes that our audience is intelligent and capable of taking a decision on their own, which I dont know if we should go with now, but as a human, I would like to speak to that idea. In posting his art online, while he often receives encouragement and support, vile hate and trolls are also abundant. Suddenly youll see a lot of people who havent seen such a post in their life, so theyre just reacting and venting under that post. Then you know its reached outside your usual reach of people.

In practising dissent online, besides trying to reach new audiences, theres also the challenge of then communicating an important matter to people within a small available space. All these social media things  theyre very shallow. If you say more than two lines, I lose my audience. While the ones who read more deeply are essentially the same circle of interested people, his goal is to reach beyond that leftist echo chamber. To bring it to a newer audience, [Im] always wondering how. Because these topics are not fun. And somehow, we have to tell people that its not going to be all fun. If you think that news is fun, then youre probably wrong and you have to get out of the comfort zone.

Satire can perhaps inherently be entirely defeating sometimes as well, like his illustration depicting Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a Robocop dictator figure, which started receiving praise from his audience. It fits the idea. What we put out as a hideous representation fits the idea of somebody else. I dont know, some people think thats cool.

Even though negative response to one's art always exists, the Bengaluru-based artist appreciates the changing narrative the protests are bringing. What I hope for is to get these corporate people out of their offices and thinking about this, going for protests. While earlier the narrative in offices revolved around how development happens only when you push out one or a few communities, theyre not saying that now. Theyve been waiting for profits to come, and that didnt happen. So then theyre like something is wrong, explains Appupen.

Along with an increased consciousness, he also hopes itll bring more powerful people to talk. CEOs should talk. Bollywood should talk. They are the people who control the masses. Not some tiny artists who are putting things up for free. We can hope. Thats generally the thing of art. But when something like this happens, we need a lot more push, the artist says, as hes about to head off to an anti-CAA-NRC protest after the interview. I hope the momentum lasts.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-18 04:13:44|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

PARIS, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- French lawmakers on Monday began debating the government's draft bill on pension reform, which had brought crowds into the streets and disruptions to transport services in December and January.

Defending a reform "whose ambition is great, even immense," the newly-appointed Solidarity and Health Minister Olivier Veran argued that an universal system "is the pillar of social protection."

"Today is the time for responsibility towards the French through a discussion that will take the time it needs," he addressed the National Assembly.

Challenging a taboo, the government has proposed a point-based pension system with same rules applying to all, regardless of profession or sector, to replace the current system of 42 regimes.

It also plans to end a specific regime for workers of public transport companies RATP and SNCF, which allows train drivers and other staff who work underground to retire at 52 -- a decade earlier than the legal retirement age for a full public pension.

Under the new system, every hour worked will earn pension rights, which will benefit gig economy workers who often do not earn enough to lock in pension rights under the current system.

"Our predecessors have carried out courageous reforms but always for budgetary reason ... Our reading is broader, our ambition exceeds the balanced budget. It is a social overhaul that the government is proposing," Laurent Pietraszewski, secretary of state for pension reform, told lawmakers.

Willing to compromise on the disputed reform, the government has offered some concessions including a temporarily removal of "pivotal age" of 64, the most contested measure of the reform. It invited unionists to dig for another way to balance the pension deficit during a financing conference. Otherwise, the measure will be added back in before the bill is slated to be voted into law this summer.

However, the sweeteners fell short to abate fierce opposition to President Emmanuel Macron's plan to overhaul pension regime.

Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of "France Unbowed" party, pledged "tough, relentless and long-lasting" two-week debate at the National Assembly.

"We will do everything we can to prevent this law from being passed," he told local media.

As the debate in the lower house of the parliament seemed to be heated, trade unions are still a long way from a deal with the government over the planned reform.

Unions have planned countrywide protests on Feb. 20. During last two months, large crowds including teachers, civil servants, medical staff, drivers, police and even students had participated in seven separate days of nationwide demonstrations to pressure Macron to reconsider his reform.

They say the reform would effectively force people to work longer, in particular public sector workers that have been allowed to retire earlier often because of hard working conditions. The government argued that the costly pension system, which is almost entirely borne by the state, needs to be brought into balance.
Law enforcement agencies across the United States and Canada are using Clearview AI  a secretive facial recognition startup with a database of 3 billion images  to identify children who are victims of sexual abuse. Its a powerful use case for the companys technology, but raises new questions about the tools accuracy and how the company handles data.

Investigators say Clearviews tools allow them to learn the names or locations of minors in exploitative videos and photos who otherwise might not have been identified. In one case in Indiana, detectives ran images of 21 victims of the same offender through Clearviews app and received 14 IDs, according to Charles Cohen, a former chief of the state police, who is now retired. The youngest was 13.

These were kids or young women, and we wanted to be able to find them to tell them we had arrested this guy and see if they wanted to make victim statements, Cohen said.

Another official, a victim identification officer in Canada, who was not authorized to discuss investigations publicly, described Clearviews technology as the biggest breakthrough in the last decade in the field of child sexual abuse crimes.

But privacy advocates say the companys database is untested and unregulated, and could cause new kinds of harm. Clearview stores pictures uploaded by investigators  known as probe images  on its servers, meaning it could amass an extraordinarily sensitive data set of child victims of sexual abuse and exploitation.

We understand the extreme sensitivity involved with identifying children, Clearviews founder, Hoan Ton-That, wrote in an email. Our mission is to protect children.

According to a company document distributed to clients, searches are retained forever by default, but administrators can change their settings such that search images are purged after 30 days.

Clearview operated largely in the shadows until a New York Times report last month revealed its use by local and federal law enforcement agencies across the country. The company has harvested billions of photos of individuals from across the public internet, including sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Venmo and YouTube. When a user uploads a persons photo to Clearview, the app returns other images of the person and the web addresses where they appeared.

In numerous publicity documents, Clearview promotes the use of its technology by law enforcement to solve child sexual abuse cases. But until recently, the company focused on its role in identifying perpetrators, not victims.

Critics of Clearview said the benefits of such a database did not outweigh its harms.

Its tough. Everybody wants safety and to save kids, said Liz OSullivan, technology director at the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project. There is always some way to normalize surveillance, but it would be dangerous for us to focus on the potential upsides. Facial recognition makes a lot of mistakes.

OSullivan said she was concerned that Clearviews software had not been tested for accuracy by an independent agency. Facial recognition algorithms can work poorly on young people, partly because their faces change as they age, and partly because children are often not included in the data sets used to train the algorithms.

OSullivan noted that if the tool made an incorrect match, there could be devastating effects for wrongly identified children and their families. The exchange of freedom and privacy for some early anecdotal evidence that it might help some people is wholly insufficient to trade away our civil liberties, she said.

Law enforcement is required to verify each identity when it uses the Clearview app, Ton-That said in his email. But he could not say how many children were in its database.

We do not track the age, gender or racial breakdown of our image database, he said. We are a search engine for public images, not a surveillance system.

The app is being used by task forces in Florida, Indiana and South Dakota dedicated to investigating child abuse, as well as by the Department of Homeland Security and law enforcement in Canada.

Like several officers who spoke with the Times, the Canadian investigator was reluctant to discuss Clearview, fearing offenders would shift their tactics. Our concern is that when bad guys hear this is available, they will cover up the victims faces more, the officer said. We dont want bad guys to know this is possible.

There are legal risks associated with handling this type of imagery. It would be against the law for the company to receive images of abuse without immediately informing the authorities and deleting the material from its servers. Ton-That said that Clearviews app only transmits faces, not entire images.

The Times verified this behavior by analyzing a version of Clearviews Android app, but was not able to examine the companys iOS offering or a web version.

None of the law enforcement agencies the Times spoke with would say whether they performed a technical audit of Clearview before using the software. Nor would any respond to questions regarding the specific use of the application, saying they did not comment on investigative techniques.

Britney Walker, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Securitys Child Exploitation Investigations Unit, said that it collaborates with external agencies to assist in investigations, but that the units victim-centered approach forbids any sharing of illegal imagery.

Under no circumstances would the agency share child sexual abuse materials to private companies, Walker said.

Other companies already work closely with law enforcement officials investigating child sexual abuse. Johann Hofmann, the chief executive of Griffeye, said the companys imagery analysis software was installed inside law enforcement networks and was designed to avoid sending images to third parties, including Griffeye itself.

Another company providing analysis tools to investigators of child sexual abuse, CameraForensics, also said its systems were designed to never receive any imagery, including faces, from law enforcement. The companys founder, Matt Burns, said his company had considered incorporating facial recognition technology into its software, but had decided not to for ethical reasons.

Since Clearviews practices have come to light, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Venmo and YouTube have sent the company cease-and-desist letters, asking it to stop scraping photos from their sites and delete existing images in its database. The attorney general of New Jersey banned the use of Clearview by officers in the state and called for an investigation into how it and similar technologies were being used by law enforcement. A class-action lawsuit seeking certification was filed in Illinois, where a strong biometric privacy law prohibits the use of residents faceprints without their consent, and another was filed on Feb. 3 in Virginia.

Bills banning the use of facial recognition by police have recently been introduced in New York and Washington. And Clearview received a letter from Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., asking for a list of law enforcement agencies that have used the app and whether biometric information has been collected for children under 13 years old.

Kashmir Hill and Gabriel J.X. Dance are New York Times writers.
All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Patna has released the admit card for nursing officer exams 2020. The nursing officer examination will be held on February 23, 2020.

Heres the direct link to download the admit card.

Steps to download AIIMS Patna nursing officer exam 2020 admit card:

Visit the official website of AIIMS Patna at aiimspatna.org

Click on the link DOWNLOAD ADMIT CARD FOR NURSING RECRUITMENT VIDE ADVT NO 13562/Nursing Officer/2019

Click on the link to download admit card on the new page that opens

Key in your User ID, password and login

Your admit card will be displayed on screen

Download and take its print out

The admit cards will not be sent to candidates by post. The examination wil
Jacy Lewis/Reporter-Telegram

As expected, Bush Elementary School Principal Aaron Fong has resigned from his position at one of the most-improved academically performing campuses inside the district.

Fong will leave Midland ISD to take a position with IDEA Public Schools in Midland.
In a statement, Deloitte said this voluntary action is in the spirit of self-regulation and extends beyond non-audit services permissible under prevailing rules and regulations in India.

New Delhi: Auditing major Deloitte Haskins & Sells and its network firms in India will no longer offer non-audit services to public interest entities that they audit in the country, the company said on Sunday.

The announcement by Deloitte comes days after another audit firm Price Waterhouse Network of Firms in India said they will no longer provide non-audit services to their audit clients that are governed by the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA).

In a statement, Deloitte said this voluntary action is in the spirit of self-regulation and extends beyond non-audit services permissible under prevailing rules and regulations in India.

"We believe this would increase the public's confidence in auditor independence and quality and will remove ambiguity in a public and business environment that demands greater clarity about our services," a spokesperson from Deloitte said.

The jurisdiction of the NFRA  which would be an oversight body for auditorsextends to all listed companies as well as large unlisted public companies.

On 7 February, the corporate affairs ministry proposed significant amendments to existing regulations to enhance independence and accountability of auditors.

Against the backdrop of instances of many auditors and auditing entities coming under the regulatory lens for alleged misdoings, the ministry came out with a consultation paper on proposed legal changes regarding audit.

The paper is to 'examine the existing provisions of law and make suitable amendments therein to enhance audit independence and accountability'.
Ten thousand men stripped off to take part in Hadaka Matsuri, an annual naked festival in Japans Honshu Island.

The loincloth-clad competitors gathered at the Saidaiji Temple in Okayama Prefecture for the event to celebrate prosperity and fertility.

Their aim was to snatch one of two 20cm-long shingi wooden sticks thrown by a priest into the crowd.

The sticks, thrown among 100 bundles of twigs, are meant to bring a year of good fortune to whoever is lucky enough to catch them.

Men dressed in loincloths react as a priest splashes water on them before they prepare to snatch a wooden stick called shingi (REUTERS)

Similar naked festivals are held throughout Japan every year, as part of a tradition that is said to stretch back 500 years.

The event also includes bathing in cold water for an hour or two to purify the soul.
DETROIT  After 41 years in the priesthood, Father Eduard Perrone wasn't prepared for the hellfire that tore through his parish last summer: He was accused of molesting an altar boy decades earlier, and ousted from his church.

The sex abuse claim blindsided the pastor's loyal flock, though they believe he is innocent  and have launched an unorthodox crusade to clear his name.

In an unprecedented lawsuit in Michigan, and possibly the country, 20 parishioners from Assumption Grotto are suing the Detroit archdiocese for $20 million, claiming it caused them emotional distress by taking away their priest.

The lawsuit alleges church officials "fabricated" a rape charge against Perrone because they didn't like his conservative views and wanted him out, and because they wanted to avoid bad press. Perrone was removed from the clergy one month after reporters started asking questions about a fondling claim against him.

According to police reports, the claim involved a 54-year-old man who alleged that Perrone started grooming him when he was 13 while he was an altar boy at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mount Clemens.

Father Eduard Perrone does his morning prayer on Friday, February 7, 2020. Perrone, a popular Catholic priest who was suspended last summer for alleged child sex abuse, maintains he is innocent and that he was framed by church officials who wanted to get rid of him.

The man alleged that Perrone groped him during swim parties at the Perrone family lake house, that he served minors wine, had boys stay overnight in the rectory and took him and another boy on a private camping trip, police and church records reviewed by the Free Press say. The church learned of these allegations in 2018, after the man's wife called an archdiocese hotline and said that her husband had been abused by his priest 40 years earlier. An investigation followed.

Perrone has denied the allegations.

"It seems like it's all a nightmare," Perrone said in a recent interview with the Free Press. "I can't believe this is happening to me. Forty-one years of priesthood ... and this has happened? It seems not possible ... I know this didn't happen."

The parishioners' lawsuit raises questions about the credibility of the accuser, who, according to police reports, suffers from mental health issues and has changed his story multiple times: He started out saying he was raped, but for reasons unknown, he took back that claim and has said there was groping and fondling only.

Story continues

The lawsuit alleges that the accuser eventually denied to church officials that he was ever sexually abused by Perrone, though police reports tell a different story  one of a traumatized and devout Catholic who struggled with guilt and shame, feared his disclosures would lead to retaliation, so he shut down at times, then opened back up with the help of therapy.

In the eyes of the Catholic Church, the man's inconsistencies didn't matter as it concluded that there was a "semblance of truth" to what the accuser was saying, and it couldn't afford to look the other way. So on July 5, the archdiocese stripped Perrone of his collar pending further review from the Vatican.

Then came accuser No. 2.

Two weeks after Perrone's ouster from Assumption Grotto, another former altar boy from St. Peter's came forward with an allegation that Perrone "rubbed his genitalia" in 1981. According to a police report, the two were riding around the city of Detroit in a Volkswagen Rabbit, looking at the architecture of various Catholic churches, when Perrone reached his hand over and rubbed the accuser's private parts. He said he pushed Perrone's hand away, and that Perrone acted like nothing happened and drove him back to the church in silence. The boy said he then took a bus home, and after that day, he quit being an altar boy.

'Devastating': Woman sues Mormon church for $10M for revealing husband's child sex abuse

Perrone has denied the allegation, saying he doesn't know the second accuser and doesn't recall him ever being an altar server at St. Peter's. The lawsuit also challenges the credibility of the second accuser: a recovering drug addict who did time in prison for theft, according to police records.

Both accusers, through their attorney, have declined to speak to the Free Press. Both are now 54 and said they first disclosed the sex abuse allegations in therapy sessions long before contacting the authorities, according to police and church records.

They are not seeking money or pursuing lawsuits against the archdiocese, church officials have said. They have received therapy from the church since coming forward.

Perrone's supporters, meanwhile, believe the 71-year-old pastor, who has passed two polygraph tests, has been caught up in mass hysteria because of scores of clergy sex abuse reports in recent years. The first allegation against Perrone surfaced just months before the explosive Pennsylvania grand jury report, which detailed child sexual abuse and cover-ups by more than 300 clergy members.

Multiple states launched clergy abuse investigations of their own, including Michigan, whose attorney general charged five Catholic priests with criminal sexual conduct last year.

The Detroit archdiocese also weighed in with letters from Archbishop Allen Vigneron, who offered prayers for the Pennsylvania victims and affirmed the need for accountability among clergy.

Against that backdrop, Perrone's supporters say, falsely accused priests don't stand a chance.

Christopher A. Kolomjec is a lawyer and also served as second in command in the Marine Reserves during the battle in Fallujah in 2006 and 2007. Kolomjec says his unit lost 42 marines and thinks the United States needs to send troops back in to stabilize Iraq.

"Nobody cares about a wrongfully accused priest. So if the parishioners don't stand up, who will?" said Christopher Kolomjec, a Grotto parishioner and Perrone's lawyer who has spent months trying to exonerate his priest.

At issue for Perrone's supporters is the official church document that was used to remove Perrone. It contains the rape allegation, stating that the alleged victim reported that Father Perrone "penetrated him anally," even though the accuser has said that didn't happen.

The lawsuit claims that church officials fabricated the rape claim to justify Perrone's removal and "browbeat" and "manipulated" the accuser into saying something salacious to satisfy the church review board overseeing the case.

(R)ight now its time to tell us exactly what happened," a detective told the accuser in an interview four days before Perrone's removal. "Not fondling, not sodomized.  You have to describe the act.  It has to be penis. It has to be hand. It has to be body parts, and you have to tell us that Eduard Perrone did this. Thats it.  And were going to be on our way to peace.

This was according to interview transcripts obtained by the Free Press.

"There's been a dark cloud over our parish since it happened. I have yet to meet a single person who wonders if it could be true," Kolomjec said. "He really is like a member of everyone's family. The parish has been crushed, devastated."

'We're not overzealous'

The parishioners' lawsuit names two defendants: the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit, and Monsignor G. Michael Bugarin, who oversees sex abuse allegations for the archdiocese. Bugarin declined comment and referred questions to the archdiocese.

Ned McGrath, spokesperson for the Detroit archdiocese, declined comment on the parishioners' lawsuit, saying only that it takes all sex abuse allegations seriously, no matter what nature, degree or how old, and that Perrone's fate will be decided in Rome.

Monsignor G. Michael Bugarin of St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in St. Clair Shores holds letters written to him detailing the help parishes have received from the $17 million Angel Fund for the Archdiocese of Detroit that he oversees to help poor people in the city. The fund that has been around since 2005 was donated from one man and his family. Ryan Garza / Detroit Free Press

"Were not doing anything different here. We're not being overzealous. Were doing what we have to do, McGrath said. "It does not matter if the alleged abuse occurred five, 15 or more than 50 years ago. ... We treat serious all complaints that are brought forward  in this case from two individuals  and have the utmost concern to protect their privacy and personal safety.

McGrath explained the rationale behind removing a priest for alleged sex abuse:

"If the allegations are deemed to have 'a semblance of truth,' that is, the allegation is neither manifestly false or frivolous, and there is sufficient evidence to establish reasonable grounds, to believe that the alleged abuse could have occurred, the priest or deacon is restricted in his ministry until the issue is resolved by the Vatican."

McGrath added: "Throughout the Church law process, the accused enjoys the presumption of innocence."

Under church law, clergy sex abuse investigations must begin with church officials contacting local law enforcement, which happened in Perrone's case. The Michigan State Police and Macomb County Sheriff's Office investigated the sex abuse allegations against Perrone and found them credible, though no charges were filed because too much time had passed.

The Michigan Attorney General's Office declined to comment on the merits of the case.

McGrath said the church's goal is to help all those who come forward to heal and become whole.

"We're trying to help those folks," McGrath said. "The majority of the people who come forward just want to get it off their chest. Theyve read about another case and they finally get the guts up to do something about it."

But when they do finally open up, psychology experts say, the memories that have been blocked out for years may come out haphazardly.

"When someone has severe history of trauma, it doesn't come out in a linear fashion because the brain isn't processed that way," said Dr. Bob Geffner, president of the Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma in San Diego. His institute has evaluated more than 100 clergy sex abuse cases, he said, noting it's common for victims to struggle with painful memories and give confusing accounts.

"They're not remembering distinct events at this point. They're just getting flashes or flashbacks," he said, adding when the flashbacks are too painful, they block them out. This may be why a rape victim says they don't remember divulging a rape allegation, he said.

And with clergy sex abuse, Geffner said, there's the added sense of guilt and shame, particularly for those who are deeply religious and fear they did something to deserve this, or that "this is what God wants."

For David Clohessy, the former longtime director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, the lawsuit carries a troubling message.

"These well-intentioned but horribly misguided churchgoers are inadvertently scaring and depressing other victims into keeping quiet, and that helps other predators, Clohessy said. "No matter how charming this priest is, remember: He faces two accusers. Law enforcement apparently finds the allegation 'credible,' as do his own Catholic supervisors."

A wife calls for help

On May 24, 2018, church records show, a woman called an archdiocese hotline "crying, angry, furious," alleging that her husband had been abused by his priest 40 years prior. The husband was experiencing significant mental distress at the time, records show, and he broke down and told his wife about the alleged abuse.

According to police and church records reviewed by the Free Press, initially, the man was uncooperative. He refused to give his name or disclose details to the hotline intake worker. He said he was afraid.

"He wasn't emotionally capable of handling what was coming," a police report states, "and had only recently started to come to terms with the disclosure of abuse to his therapist."

The man said that he had disclosed his abuse to his therapist almost three years before he confided in his wife.

After that phone call, another 14 months would go by before any action was taken against Perrone. By then, the accuser had been subjected to multiple interviews by a church investigator, a State Police detective and a Macomb County Sheriff's detective.

Investigators also interviewed four other altar boys who were the accuser's age and served Mass for Perrone. None disclosed any knowledge of Perrone abusing children, though two described the accuser as being the "vulnerable type."

The accuser talked about this vulnerability in his interviews, telling investigators that his father was seriously ill and incapacitated during this time of his life, and that Father Perrone was aware of this. He also discussed why he said he hid the abuse.

"He never told his parents because his own father was very ill and his mother would not have believed him. His parents were very active in the church and never questioned Father Perrone," states one police report.

In his police interviews, the accuser sometimes broke down and had to compose himself. He answered questions by nodding his head. He had panic attacks and his accounts varied. For example, one detective stated in her report that the man said he was sexually abused by Perrone during a camping trip, while another detective said the man made no such statements to him. Rather, he "only" stated that he, Perrone and another altar boy "slept in a very small tent, causing them to touch."

That other altar boy is James Fortenberry, a nurse who now lives in Huntsville, Alabama, and believes his childhood priest has been done wrong.

The camping trip

"I was on the camping trip. There was no abuse there," Fortenberry said in a recent telephone interview with the Free Press, alleging a church investigator tracked him down and tried to suggest that he, too, was abused by Perrone.

"I'd definitely know if I was abused. There was nothing remotely abusive about our relationship," said Fortenberry, who remembers Perrone teaching him how to drive a stick shift on the camping trip.

According to police records, Perrone took the two altar boys on a camping trip to the Upper Peninsula in the summer of their 11th-grade year. They shared a three-man pup tent and Perrone, who was then 29, slept in between the two boys. One of the boys alleged he was fondled by Perrone.

Fortenberry believes investigators have manipulated his friend into making such allegations, claiming they also tried to coerce him into saying negative things about Perrone.

"I made it really clear to them that nothing ever happened," said Fortenberry, who has not lived in Michigan for 30 years. "(Perrone) was a great influence and a great priest in my life."

After investigators called him about Perrone, Fortenberry said he called his old classmate, the accuser, to tell him about the inquiry.

"He tried to get me to say that it was weird for Father Perrone to take the two of us camping," said Fortenberry, who recalled telling him, " 'Nothing happened.'

" 'Are you sure? People are telling me that things could have happened, ' " Fortenberry recalled the man answering back.

Fortenberry believes Perrone was set up.

"I'm not saying our church hasn't had problems with pedophiles," Fortenberry said. "But I think the church needs to stand up for our good priests. And Father Perrone is a good priest."

'I want it to stop'

It was last June when Perrone got a knock on his condo door.

It was some reporters with the Associated Press. They had stopped by, he recalled them saying, to talk about Opus Bono Sacerdotii  a nonprofit that Perrone co-founded in 2002 that supports Catholic priests facing sexual abuse allegations and other problems.

Father Eduard Perrone does his morning prayer on Friday, February 7, 2020. Perrone, a popular Catholic priest who was suspended last summer for alleged child sex abuse, maintains he is innocent and that he was framed by church officials who wanted to get rid of him. His parishioners have filed a lawsuit to get him back, saying a rape claim was fabricated against him and that he deserves to be back in church.

Perrone invited the reporters to sit on his deck. A conversation started when out of nowhere came a bombshell question: "What about the allegations that have been made against you?"

"I said, 'What? What allegations?' " he recalled telling the reporters.

He had been accused of groping boys, the reporters told him. A former altar boy had come forward with allegations that decades ago he invited altar boys to his family lake house, wrestled with them for hours in the water, at times inappropriately grabbing and groping them.

"I had no idea this was coming," said Perrone, stressing the allegations are "absolutely not true."

"This is such a terrible insult to me. Why would I damn a soul, and my own, by committing a crime like that? It's incomprehensible to me," said Perrone, who agrees with his parishioners: That he was set up for being too conservative.

For 25 years, Perrone has made a name for himself as a straitlaced, old-school pastor who preaches and practices strict Catholic doctrine: Assumption Grotto parishioners kneel to receive Holy Communion  the wafer never touching their hand, but placed directly in their mouth. There's a dress code for brides  nothing too short or revealing. He will not give Communion to divorced parishioners who have remarried unless they have had the first marriage annulled. And no one can get Communion if they are in a "state of sin," which, in Perrone's eyes, includes practicing homosexuals.

"This is an attempt to get me out," said Perrone, who believes there's an ideological strife in the Catholic Church, with liberals aiming to get rid of conservatives like himself.

"Isn't it outrageous that neither the accusers nor law enforcement have been my problem?" Perrone said. "The one causing my problem is the Archdiocese of Detroit.

"That is pathetic."

Fr. Eduard P. Perrone in 1978.

Perrone denies harming his accusers or any child. He says he's "never" touched anyone inappropriately and believes "there's been a terrible mistake." He remembers his accuser as a good kid and good altar server who wanted to become a priest when he was in high school. He said he was close with the boy's family, visited their home and took an interest in their son because of his interest in the priesthood, and he wanted to help him "in any way I could."

Perrone said his relationship with the boy was pure, and that he often imagines what he'd tell him if he could talk to him.

"I would forgive him," Perrone said. "This was a terrible mistake. Nothing happened. Nothing criminal at all."

Perrone defended the camping trip, saying it was part of pastoral life back then, when priests were encouraged to connect with young people so that they could bring them into the faith.

"I just wanted to be good and close and friendly with our kids, in those days the understanding of that was much different from what it is today," he said.

Perrone explained why he took two boys camping: "I love to be outdoors. I had never been camping. I thought this would be a great experience ... and where are you going to find adults who want to rough it. To sleep on the ground. To light their own fires, cook their owns meals, go on hikes ... but kids, kids love that kind of thing," Perrone said.

But times have changed, he conceded.

"By todays standards, this would not be the thing to do," Perrone said of camping with boys with no supervision. "Not because of any fear of what I would do. But because sensitivities have been so raised by all the scandal that has been caused by priests who have done criminal things. Sad to say, we have to be very careful."
General Motors has revealed what Holden owners can expect after the vehicle manufacturer announced the end of the iconic brand in Australia.

After closing the company's local manufacturing operations in 2017, GM will 'retire' Holden in both Australia and New Zealand, axing about 600 jobs.

Holden's parent company told the ABC drivers will still have access to warranty, spare parts, servicing and recalls 'for at least the next 10 years'.

General Motors has revealed what customers can expect after the vehicle manufacturer announced they are shutting its doors on Holden (stock)

GM Holden's interim managing director Kristian Aquilina told the public broadcaster those services will 'work in exactly the same way as they do today' and Holden owners won't be affected in any way.

Daniel Gardner, from WhichCar magazine, said GM has a legal obligation on after-sales promises.

'If the words of the executive team are to be trusted - and they must be, because Holden is legally obliged to support existing owners for a number of years - Holden's saying 10 years [ongoing support],' he said.

'If you own a Holden and have only just bought one, you'll be able to service it, buy parts, and there'll be after-sales care there for 10 years at least. Not a lot will change.'

Around 200 people will be kept in a job in order to transition to this new system solely for after-sales.

Holden's closure will see 600 jobs cut in areas such as management, marketing and engineering.

Production on the cars ends in June - however avid fans can buy cars still in showrooms or recently coming out of the factory.

It is expected no Holden cars will be available for purchase by 2021.

The closure was announced on Monday - two years after the stopping of production in Australia and the brand began to solely sell imported vehicles (stock)

Holden has suffered recent crumbling domestic sales, while GM also announced plans to shut a car plant in Thailand and withdraw the Chevrolet brand from the market there.

Together the two shutdowns will cost the US multinational more than $1billion.

GM has pledged to provide 'fair' redundancy packages for its staff, with most to be gone by the end of June.

Ms Aquilina described the shutdown decision as 'agonising' but said the company had chased down 'every conceivable option' to keep the brand afloat.

TIMELINE OF HOLDEN IN AUSTRALIA 1856 - Holden begins as a South Australian saddlery business. 1917 - Holden manufactures vehicle bodies. 1931 - General Motors buys Holden Motor Body Builders. 1948 - The FX, the first Australian-designed car, is released. 1951 - Holden's first ute goes on sale. 1958 - South Australian manufacturing plant opens at Elizabeth, though it does not assemble its first full car until 1965. 1968 - Kingswood and Monaro enter the market. 1969 - Holden makes its first V8 engine. 1971 - Holden launches the HQ model. Considered by some to be the best Holden ever. 1978 - Commodore replaces Kingswood. 1990 - Holden's last Australian boss, John Bagshaw, quits. 2003 - Holden opens $400 million V6 engine plant at Port Melbourne, exports to Korea, China and Mexico begin. Toyota takes Holden's position as top-selling car brand. 2009 - Parent company, General Motors, files for bankruptcy in the US but survives. 2013 - Prime minister Tony Abbott says the government will reduce support for automotive manufacturers despite appeals for help. 2013 - Holden decides to end manufacturing in Australia by 2017. The Holden Commodore is to become a fully-imported car. 2017 - The company rolls its last car off the assembly line on October 20, ending more than 50 years of car production on the Elizabeth site. 2019 - GM announces it will discontinue its Commodore and Astra models in 2020. 2020 - General Motors announces the retirement of the Holden brand in Australia and New Zealand. Source: AAP Advertisement

Holden's parent company, GM, told the ABC production on the cars ends in June - however avid fans can buy cars still in showrooms or recently coming out of the factory (stock)

GM said drivers will still have access to 'warranty, spare parts, servicing and recalls for at least the next 10 years' (stock)

'Every strategy, every plan, we looked under every rock,' he said on Monday.

'We've tried to find a way to defy gravity.

'But the hard truth was there was just no way to come up with a plan that would support a competitive and growing and flourishing Holden and also provide a sufficient return to our investors.

'I'm personally convinced GM tried everything to keep Holden going.'
Despite being among the richest people in the world, Bezos only recently became active in donating money to causes as other billionaires like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have done. In 2018, Bezos started another fund, committing $2 billion of his own money to open preschools in low-income neighborhoods and give money to nonprofits that help homeless families.




By Dong Sun-hwa







Rom-com "Crash Landing on You" has become the most sought-after drama on cable channel tvN.







The last episode on Sunday garnered 21.7 percent viewership rating, according to Nielson Korea's data  a record for tvN dramas since the channel's launch in 2006.







The soap opera, starring Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin, dethroned 2016 hit series "Guardian: The Lonely and Great God," which rated 20.5 percent.







"Crash Landing on You" is a 16-episode love story of South Korean chaebol scion Yoon Se-ri (played by Son) and high-ranking North Korean officer Ri Jong-hyok (Hyun Bin). The two bump into each other in North Korea after a paraglider carrying Yoon makes an emergency landing.







Although producer Lee Jung-hyo explained that the most settings in his North Korea-themed work were closer to a fantasy than reality, many still blasted its depiction of the reclusive state. In January, the conservative Christian Liberty Party even filed a complaint with police against tvN, claiming that "Crash Landing on You" portrayed North Korean soldiers only in a "peaceful" way.







"Crash Landing on You" will be replaced by the fantasy series "Hi Bye, Mama!" featuring actress Kim Tae-hee. The soap opera will premiere on Feb. 22.


3 1 of 3 Bob Child/ST Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Jessica Hill / Associated Press Show More Show Less 3 of 3





MASHANTUCKET  A Massachusetts man was arrested in connection with a stabbing at Foxwoods Resort Casino, according to tribal police.

Police say 40-year-old Robert J. Haines of Chicopee, MA, was brought in after a Rhode Island man was stabbed multiple times.
Q I am a man in my mid-40s and I have been getting regular pains in my bottom for a couple of years. I have had a prostate exam and a colonoscopy and everything was fine. It comes on particularly when I am stressed. It feels as if I need to do a poo but I don't. It often wakes me in the middle of the night. I am worried that the tests might have missed something but my GP has assured me that all is well. What do you think it could be, if all the tests show nothing?

A It sounds like you are suffering from a benign condition known as functional anorectal pain. The two major types, proctalgia fugax (PF) and levator ani syndrome (LAS) may co-exist or be different manifestations of the same underlying dysfunction of the two affected muscle groups. In PF, it is the anal sphincter muscles that are affected, while in LAS, it is the pelvic floor muscles that are affected. Both types result in very painful, often very distressing, intermittent muscular spasms. The symptoms you describe are classic of PF.

The pain in PF is 'sudden severe and cramping' pain in the anus or lower rectum, often occurring at night and may even wake you from sleep. The pain lasts from seconds to minutes, up to 30 minutes maximum and on average about five minutes. Another key to the diagnosis is that PF is self-limited or resolves spontaneously. The majority of patients suffer five or less attacks per year and remain completely symptom-free in between attacks. Other patients may experience a cluster of attacks that eventually settle down and the patient may remain symptom-free for prolonged periods. There is no association with defaecation (the passing of stool). Lastly, PF usually affects patients between 30 to 60 years of age.

Apart from anal muscle spasm, the pudendal nerve that lies in the rectum has been implicated in the pathogenesis of PF. It is postulated that this nerve becomes compressed or somewhat damaged, resulting in the functional anorectal pain. Reports suggest that up to 18pc of the developed world suffer with PF.

In terms of triggers, some patients report stress, sexual intercourse, prolonged sitting or menstruation but in many patients, there is no obvious trigger. As there is no treatment that is proven to work in mild to moderate cases, generally information about the disorder and reassurance is given. In some cases, inhaling a few puffs of a salbutamol inhaler or application of a topical nitroglycerin during a prolonged attack can be helpful in reducing symptoms. Occasionally Botox injections into the anal sphincter or pudendal nerve block may be attempted.

Functional anorectal pain can be associated with other, more serious pathologies, therefore it is important to see a doctor. Luckily, you had a recent normal colonoscopy and this has ruled out most of the potentially more serious pathologies such as colorectal cancer, diverticular disease, thrombosed haemorrhoid, anal fissure, anal warts, rectal ulcers or cysts, perirectal abscess or fistula, proctitis, chronic prostatitis, rectal prolapse and inflammatory bowel disease.

If you feel your symptoms are not settling down, I suggest you attend a consultant gastroenterologist or colorectal surgeon. There are some other potential underlying pathologies such as coccygodynia (nerve type pain around the tail bone), bilateral internal iliac artery occlusion, pelvic inflammatory disease (in females) or hereditary anal sphincter myopathy. A consultant will be able to arrange more detailed investigations (if deemed necessary) such as pelvic/abdominal MRI scans, manometry tests or endo-anal ultrasound.

 Dr Jennifer Grant is a GP at the Beacon Hospital HealthCheck
100 Shares Share

In my very first job as a doctor  working in a London hospital in the 1980s. I always took a ridiculously detailed past medical history for every patient I saw. I started to notice how many elderly women had had septicemia, a life-threatening infection in which enormous amounts of bacteria enter the bloodstream.

The neighborhood surrounding the hospital had once been the worst slum in London. And it didnt take me long to guess that these infections were probably caused by illegal self-induced abortions during the hungry years of the Depression.

When I asked  slowly, carefully, subtly I was told some intensely personal and secret stories.

One woman, Maggie, spoke to me woman to woman. She wanted to tell me what she clearly thought I needed to know.

I always asked around about which local woman had the neighborhood enema kit, and borrowed it, she told me.

I didnt understand at first. Then she continued:

You have to cut up a bar of carbolic soap. Boil it up. Squat over an enamel basin. Reach up inside yourself until you feel something like a walnut.

Surely the cervix, I realized.

She kept on talking:

Put the nozzle into the groove you will feel there. Pump the carbolic fluid up through the groove until you feel an explosive pain in both sides of your belly. It needs to be in both sides. If its not the very worst pain youve ever felt  much worse than labor  you need to pump again. And again.

After that, she said, you might, hopefully, have done it.

No wonder there was so much septicemia, I thought.

I knew why Maggie was so insistent about the necessity of feeling pain on both sides. She was trying to squirt sort-of-sterile fluid right up through both fallopian tubes, into her abdominal cavity.

A woman named Bet didnt want to talk about the three episodes of septicemia shed suffered in between the births of her eight children. But she immediately knew what I was hinting at.

My husband didnt approve of that sort of thing, she said, lips pursed as though she didnt approve of it either. She paused as her gaze went far away. Then she visibly pulled herself together. Needs must, though, eh. You do what you have to.

She did want to tell me about something else that had happened all those years ago.

Her large family was living in two rooms. Another equally large family lived upstairs.

The sister of the upstairs neighbor had been put out on the street immediately after a procedure, but hadnt made it home before shed started torrential vaginal bleeding. Shed knocked at the upstairs neighbors door for help, but no one was home.

When she knocked at Bets door, Bets husband refused to let her in. He didnt want her, he said, to abort on his premises. Bet begged and begged until he eventually allowed the woman to sit on a bucket in the backyard.

I tried not to show how appalled I felt.

Imagine being desperate enough to go for that illegal procedure. Now youre standing outside a hostile strangers door  bleeding, in pain, humiliated. Youre lucky to be allowed to sit on a bucket in the strangers backyard. Then, when the bleeding lessens, youre lucky to be able to walk home, in your soiled clothes, past your own neighbors.

Better than nothing, Bet said. Needs must, she said again, grimly.

I spent a while trying to get my head around these stories of desperate women  desperately strong women  managing by themselves.

When I told a senior ambulance man what Id been hearing, he wasnt the slightest bit shocked. He said that before 1967, when abortions became legal in the U.K., the local ambulance crews had known that the hospital where I worked was relatively good at saving womens lives. The nearby teaching hospital, by contrast, was more interested in calling the police. So unless a woman with septicemia or vaginal bleeding seemed likely to die in the ambulance, the crews would bring her to my hospitaleven when it meant breaking the rules on taking patients to the nearest hospital.

Ancient history? Maybe not.

In the 1990s, I worked in another hospital, outside of London, as the U.K. equivalent of an OB/GYN intern.

My job included scheduling the operating-room lists. If we werent full up with emergencies, I was told to pull notes out of the filing cabinets, which held a waiting list of women in need of surgery. Among these notes, I found the names of tens of women who had been left to wait for an abortion until they were past the legal time limit.

Since I was in charge of the scheduling, I could, and did, correct that  at least for the women who werent already out of time.

To me, it seemed clear that the doctors (all male) whod previously done the scheduling had decided, in effect, that each of these women must have a baby she didnt believe she could look after.

I dont believe that the doctors filed those womens names on the waiting list by mistake; I think they made a choice. Nearly 30 years after abortion had been legalized, the doctors had decided that these women would have no choice. The women were being forced to live for a very long time with someone elses choice.

Fast forward to five years ago. I was back in London, working in the emergency department of the aforementioned teaching hospital. A woman named Farhana came in with profuse vaginal bleeding. She didnt speak English, but as I recorded her vital signs and put in an intravenous line, her husband anxiously told me that they had tried many types of contraception.

Theyve told me Im too young to be sterilized, Muhammad said, almost crying. Were got five children aged under six, and were living in two rooms. So when she missed her period, we were desperate.

I knew straight away what he was not quite telling me. When I asked  carefully, sensitively  he slowly took some empty boxes out of his pocket.

You can buy this in Bangladesh, he told me. Its for menstrual regulation. My cousin sent three packs.

Out of desperation and ignorance, Farhana had taken a medication overdose.

I remembered the elderly ladies saying that, when theyd used the neighborhood enema kit, they were always alone. At least Muhammad had tried to help and was supporting his wife now.

Needs must, I said quietly.

He didnt understand that. But he did understand what I said next.

Well help your wife nowno problem, I told him. And please let me tell you about the free local service. Its at another hospital near here. There are specialists for contraception there, and if that fails, they can organize an abortion for your wife. Its part of the National Health Service. Its free, I repeated.

As I handed him a leaflet, I realized that I was referring Muhammad and Farhana to the very first hospital Id worked inthe one the ambulance crews knew would look after women.

Its a circle, I thought.

Not quite a full circle, of course.

There are safer methods now. And some men, like Muhammad, support and help their partners. But even in the U.K., where weve had safe, legal abortion for more than 50 years, not all women get access to it.

And in the U.S., where abortion services have been demonized and driven from many communities, abortions are virtually inaccessible in many locales.

Because I now know what happens when abortions are not readily available, I want to share what Ive seen and heard  what takes place when women are pregnant and desperate when the medical care they require is out of reach  and needs must.

The author is an anonymous physician. This piece was originally published in Pulse  voices from the heart of medicine.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Laura Whitmore, who had been friends with Caroline for about 10 years, took aim at keyboard warriors

Laura Whitmore has paid tribute to her friend Caroline Flack, saying "none of this makes sense" following the sudden death of the former Love Island host.

The Bray TV host, who has known Flack for around 10 years and replaced her as host on the current series of Love Island, broke down as she remembered her "vivacious and loving" friend in an emotional tribute on her Sunday morning radio show.

Flack was found dead at her east London home on Saturday after taking her own life.

Respect

Opening her show on BBC Radio 5 Live yesterday, Whitmore said: "Yesterday we lost someone before their time.

"We're going to talk about her and give her the respect that she deserves and that she didn't always get."

Whitmore (34) said that "anyone who knew Caroline knew she was vivacious, loving, and had a passion for life, which is why none of this makes sense".

She said that Flack "loved music, she loved to dance, we shared many a dancefloor at gigs, festivals" as she recalled the start of their friendship 10 years ago at V Festival.

"She was bubbly, and for such a small stature commanded a room," Whitmore said.

"She loved to laugh and had the most infectious chuckle. She also had many struggles.

"I'm not going to pretend she's perfect, but she lived every mistake publicly under the scrutiny of the media."

Whitmore said that Flack "loved to love" and "that's all she wanted, which is why a show like Love Island was important to her because the show is about finding love, friendship, having a laugh".

She also defended the ITV2 programme and said the show was not the problem, but the outside world of keyboard warriors and trolls.

She said that people who are nasty to others on social media "need to look at themselves", and added "to the newspapers who create click-bait, who demonise and tear down success. We've had enough".

"So to listeners, be kind, only you are responsible for how you treat others and what you put out in the world."

Whitmore said she herself has "been harassed for just doing my job and this is where the problem is, and I want to use my platform to call people out because it's gone too far".

"Your words affect people. To paparazzi and tabloids looking for a cheap sell, to trolls hiding behind a keyboard, enough," the presenter said.

"Caroline, I'm so sad for you, for your family. I'm angry that you saw this as your only option as I know how much love and support you had. I'm sorry you didn't know that."

Whitmore's boyfriend - comedian and Love Island voice-over Iain Stirling - paid tribute to Flack on Saturday, sharing a video of her dancing on Strictly along with the message: "Today my friend slow motion walked into heaven.

"I will miss her always. Thank you for everything x."

Other Irish Love Island stars were among those from the world of showbiz and TV who paid tribute.

Maura Higgins, who rose to fame on last summer's series described Flack on her Instagram account as "an incredibly kind and beautiful woman".

"RIP angel...thoughts and prayers to all her family," she added.

ITV cancelled last night's scheduled episode of the winter series of Love Island but confirmed that the show will return tonight.

Devastated

Saturday night's highlights edition of the dating show was pulled, and there had been speculation about whether the rest of the series would air.

A statement from the broadcaster said: "All of us are absolutely devastated.

"After careful consultation between Caroline's representatives and the Love Island production team, and given how close we still are to the news of Caroline's tragic death, we have decided not to broadcast tonight's Love Island out of respect for Caroline's family."

They added that Love Island will return tonight and will include a tribute to Caroline who "will be forever in our hearts".

Meanwhile, former Dancing With The Stars presenter Amanda Byram appealed for people to be kinder on social media and said that she "can't shake the pain that she must have felt and the dark void she faced".

RTE's Eoghan McDermott, who did the voice-over work on Australia's Love Island, said that he was "absolutely shook" .

He said that he was "feeling pretty grim" and appealed for more compassion online.

Virgin Media's Alan Hughes said that he had met Caroline many times and described what happened as "very sad".

"I met her lots of times and she was always fun and bubbly. It's terrible that she felt there was no other outcome," he said.

"The courts and the media in the UK have a lot to think about."
Two criminals were killed in an encounter with the Special Cell of Delhi Police in Pul Prahladpur area on Monday.

The encounter took place at around 5 am. The criminals have been identified as Raja Qureshi and Ramesh Bahadur.

Thirty rounds of bullets were fired from both sides.

According to police, a trap was laid following a tip-off. In the ensuing encounter, the accused sustained gunshot injuries and were moved to a hospital where they were declared brought dead.

The two criminals were wanted in multiple cases of crime, the most recent being a murder case in Karawal Nagar.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi: India on Monday denied entry to British MP Debbie Abrahams after she landed at New Delhis Indira Gandhi International Airport on the grounds that she didnt have a valid visa.

The Labour MP has been a bitter critic of Delhis move last year to revoke Article 370 that granted a special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Speaking on the developments, sources told this newspaper: Ms Abrahams was not in possession of a valid Indian visa. It was conveyed to her before she boarded a flight to India that her visa was revoked. Despite that, she boarded the flight. It was also a mistake of the airline. She was later deported to Dubai.

UK MP claims she was treated rudely

Ms Abrahams, who claimed she was treated like a criminal and spoken to rudely, arrived at the airport on a Emirates flight from Dubai at 9 am, reports said.

Ms Abrahams has been a member of Parliament since 2011 and was said to have come on what was to have been a two-day personal trip to India.

When contacted, a British high commission spokesperson said: We are in contact with the Indian authorities to understand why Deborah (Debbie) Abrahams, MP, was denied entry to India. We provided consular assistance to her whilst she was in New Delhi Airport.

The British MP was, meanwhile, quoted as saying: Along with everyone else, I presented myself at the immigration desk with my documents, including my e-visa, had my photograph taken and then the official looked at his screen and started shaking his head. Then he told me my visa was rejected, took my passport and disappeared for about 10 minutes. When he came back, he was very rude and aggressive, shouting at me to come with me.

I told him not to speak to me like that and was then taken to a cordoned-off area marked as a Deportee Cell. He then ordered me to sit down, and I refused. I didnt know what they might do or where else they may take me, so I wanted people to see me, she said.

Ms Abrahams was also quoted as saying: I tried to establish why the visa had been revoked and if I could get a visa on arrival but no one seemed to know.

Even the person who seemed to be in charge said he didnt know and was really sorry about what had happened. So now I am just waiting to be deported... unless the Indian government has a change of heart. Im prepared to let the fact that Ive been treated like a criminal go, and I hope they will let me visit my family and friends. The British MP had last year apparently written a letter to Indias high commissioner to the UK, saying the action (of revoking Article 370) betrays the trust of the people of Kashmir.

Ms Abrahams later tweeted: Just to be clear, I have Indian relatives who I was meant to be visiting with, and have Indian members of staff accompanying me.

The reason I got into politics is to advance social justice and human rights for all. I will continue to challenge my own government and others on these issues.

Ms Abrahams chairs a British parliamentary group that focuses on Kashmir.
Amid national protests opposing the construction of a pipeline on unceded Wetsuweten territory in B.C., federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was in Winnipeg Monday on a day honouring one of the most famous defenders of Metis land rights in Canadian history.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/2/2020 (694 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Amid national protests opposing the construction of a pipeline on unceded Wetsuweten territory in B.C., federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was in Winnipeg Monday on a day honouring one of the most famous defenders of Metis land rights in Canadian history.

Singhs visit came on Louis Riel Day, a provincial holiday commemorating the Metis leader executed in 1885 due in part to his opposition to Canadian encroachment on Metis lands.

"Theres a lot we need to learn from (Riel)," said Singh, donning a ceinture flechee and flanked by Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinew, who has put forth a bill calling for Riels recognition as the provinces first premier.

"People are really frustrated, and rightly so," he continued. "If you look across Canada, First Nations, Metis and Inuit (people) are frustrated with inaction at the federal level of government and the provincial level of government."

The most recent frustration has stemmed from the situation in northern B.C., where the impending construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline through Wetsuweten territory and the RCMPs policing of opposition blockades has sparked a national discussion on land rights.

A media scrum with Singh and Kinew quickly pointed to parallels between the land defence taking place in B.C., and the one mounted by Riel and the Metis National Committee 150 years earlier.

After the Hudsons Bay Company agreed to sell off land including Ruperts Land to the newly formed Dominion of Canada in 1869, the committee was spurred into existence, and that year, Riel and other members blocked federal land surveyors from accessing the land.

Later, a road blockade prevented the Dominion-appointed lieutenant-governor from entering the Red River settlement, the committee seized Upper Fort Garry, and soon established itself as the provisional government of the Red River Settlement.

That series of events has led to Riels consideration as a father of Manitoba, and to some, the provinces first premier.

Singh called the situation in Wetsuweten territory complex, given the split opinion on the pipeline.

Daniel Crump / Winnipeg Free Press NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh (right) and Paulette Dugauy (left) lead the Metis parade at Festival du Voyageur to celebrate Louis Riel Day.

"There are a lot of Indigenous communities... that are really in favour of this (pipeline), and there are communities that are divided," he said. "And its not for me as a settler to determine what is the right or wrong thing to do, but it is for me to acknowledge there is a complexity."

Just outside Morris, Man., Monday, organizers with the Urban Warriors Alliance set up a temporary blockade on Highway 75, arriving at 11:30 a.m. Black Turtle, a member of the alliance, said the land defenders funneled traffic and stopped semi-trucks so drivers could acknowledge the demonstration.

Black Turtle said there was tension throughout the day, as some drivers refused to stop. One driver got out and pushed an organizer, they said. About three hours after the blockade started, they said organizers were served an injunction. "We were wondering how that could happen on a holiday Monday," they said. By 5 p.m., organizers left as theyd planned too, Black Turtle added.

Regarding the presence of RCMP at the site of a blockade preventing access to the construction site, Singh said it must be recognized that racialized people, specifically Indigenous people, have long been treated with "heavy-handed" tactics by police at all levels.

"I think absolutely police presence when its based on the use of force is heavy-handed, and its not going to solve anything," he said. "In fact its only going to escalate problems. Weve seen that in the past, and we cant allow it to happen again."

The B.C. provincial government, led by NDP Premier John Horgan, and the federal government have been at odds over who can intervene with the RCMP, with both at times saying its the others jurisdiction.

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.

Singh said that at the end of the day, what needs to happen is nation-to-nation discussion and negotiation if the situation in Wetsuweten is ever going to be resolved.

"At the end of the day, what needs to happen is we need to get to the table, negotiate the disagreements and conflicts that need to be negotiated," he said. "The way we solve any issue is by getting together and discussing and solving the problems," he added.

Singh had been critical of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for not meeting directly with hereditary chiefs in Wetsuweten, who, in addition to calling for title over the land, have called for discussions with him.

"That to me is an absence of leadership," he said Monday.

On Sunday, Trudeau announced hed end early an international trip to return to address effects on infrastructure of the national actions.

ben.waldman@freepress.mb.ca
MORE DETAILS ON TEDDY HART ARREST, HART COMMENTS ON CIRCUMSTANCES LEADING TO HIS INCARCERATION

Teddy Hart (Edward Ellsworth Annis, 40 years old) and ex-girlfiend Maria Manic released a video today (embedded above) with Hart commenting publicly for the first time on his arrest last week in Richmond, Virginia and his current incarceration in Richmond City Jail.

Hart noted that after last week's Ring of Honor Free Enterprise event (which he was visiting at), he left Manic at their hotel in Maryland \and drove to Virginia to get marijuana. He stated he was alone as Manic had "hit her head hard" during an angle where she was put through a table on the ROH event.

Hart stated he was pulled over due to an ongoing issue with his license plate not matching the registration for his car, something he claimed had been "taken care of." Authorities searched his car and found marijuana and steroids. In the video embedded above, Hart states he has a "prescription" but does not clarify which he has a prescription for. According to court records, Annis has charged with possession of a schedule III narcotic, possession (first offense) and possession with intent to sell or distribute. Steroids would fall under a schedule III description under Virginia law. In a previous video released by Manic several days ago, she referred to steroids in Hart's car as being the reason for his arrest. Hart claimed that authorities have already discovered all is OK with his car and that it will be released back to "his company."

Hart is slated for a 4/23 hearing at 9 AM in Richmond County court. While Hart did not address why he has not been able to bond out, we are told that under Virginia law, he cannot be bounded out at this point due to Hart being considered a foreign national (as he is Canadian) and not having an American address, making him a flight risk.

We have received a lot of emails concerned about Hart's cats. In the video released this morning, it was made clear that Hart's five cats are in Manic's possession and the video later features footage of the cats in Manic's car.

Hart stated that he hoped to get the situation cleared up and get back to performing for fans as soon as possible, saying he was born to perform and make others happy.

If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Last Thursday, Micheal Martin rejected a Fianna Fail deal with Sinn Fein and got down to building a broad coalition.

Anyone alert to media opinion could sense the rage in RTE at Martin's refusal to follow the Montrose ran-tan to give Sinn Fein what it wanted most; not housing or health, but State power.

Anyone alert to public opinion could also sense the palpable relief of the 75.5pc of the Irish people who did not vote Sinn Fein.

Because contrary to what you were conned into believing, a massive majority did not vote for a party which wriggles on political murders.

So why, last weekend, were most of you under the impression that Sinn Fein was sweeping the country?

The answer is the lack of moral compass in most of the Irish media which promptly signed up as Sinn Fein sanitisers. Faced with a surge by a party directed by a private army, they failed to act like first responders in defence of democracy and became a faithless fifth column.

RTE encouraged over-excited panels of pundits and academics to hyper-ventilate about "seismic shifts" and "tectonic plates moving", amid gleeful cries that the "duopoly" was dead - the duopoly that alone in Europe gave us 100 years of peace!

RTE picked the panels. Critics of Sinn Fein seemed to be an almost extinct species. The few who demurred did so as timidly as they do on Twitter.

Conversely, lots and lots of time was given to Conor Lenihan who almost levitated at the prospect of Sinn Fein in power with Fianna Fail - a prospect that would have appalled his late brother Brian.

But even the most independent-minded panellist would have been intimidated by the euphoria around them in RTE. So they sang for their supper.

They prematurely agreed the Sinn Fein surge marked the end of the old order - but the exit poll reveals the end is not nigh or even near it.

The SF share of first preferences was 24.5pc. The exit poll showed this fell roughly into two categories.

First, 12pc of voters only made up their minds during the election campaign - and 4pc only made it up on voting day. Let's mildly call that the Volatile Vote.

Second, that meant the remaining 12pc had made up their minds long before in reaction to problems in health and housing. Let's call that the Solid Vote.

The Solid Vote can be satisfied by a credible Micheal Martin-led, centre-left government which will build the houses and fix the health service.

But the Volatile Vote poses a different challenge to any coalition because it is made up of two sub-groups.

The larger of these is what I call the TikTok constituency of young voters who do not remember the Troubles, and whose smartphone apps wrongly depict Sinn Fein as a socialist party.

But the Volatile Vote also includes a contemptible group of ABC1 professionals, whom I call the Posh Provos.

A pre-election Irish Times poll showed that 17pc of the ABC1 class, our professional and educated elite, meant to vote for Sinn Fein. Why?

These Posh Provos have property portfolios and private health insurance. So they are hardly enthused by Sinn Fein's policies on housing and health.

We can only conclude they voted for Sinn Fein for the same reasons European elites supported fascist parties in the past - naked tribal nationalism.

These smug Shinners should have been shamed by our media gatekeepers who have a duty of care to their flakier Twitter followers.

David McWilliams, with 267,000 followers on Twitter, is perfectly positioned to give good guidance to a new generation about the shadows behind Sinn Fein.

Instead he bigged up his breezy piece in the Financial Times, assuring us that a vote for Sinn Fein was not a vote for the IRA.

That is wriggly nonsense. A vote for Sinn Fein is a vote for the IRA's agenda - pressurising unionists and undermining the Good Friday Agreement. Fintan O'Toole, with 165,000 followers on Twitter, is also positioned to educate our flaccid political elites on the egregiousness of voting for Sinn Fein.

Last Tuesday, however, his convoluted piece, "Voters have taken a bold gamble on normality", left me completely confused.

He admits Sinn Fein isn't a normal party, but argues it should be accepted because, due to the Troubles, "Ireland isn't a normal Western European democracy".

This sells the Irish Republic short. We have remained a relatively decent democracy, not by accepting Sinn Fein's tribal politics, but by rejecting them. But even if Fintan O'Toole does not feel like doing the State some service, he could do our society some service by clearing up some myths.

As a writer of the left, he should point out that Sinn Fein is not a socialist party but a populist nationalist party, whose manifesto - apart from attacking Fianna Fail - says its first aim is not a united working class but a united Ireland.

Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney must shoulder some of the blame for the Sinn Fein surge, both by neglecting health and housing and feeding the green frenzy by waving green flags during the past two Brexit-bashing years.

In contrast, Micheal Martin, while loyally backing Fine Gael on Brexit, reached out repeatedly to our British and unionist neighbours. Since 2014, he has attacked the morality of the Provisional IRA campaign in the same terms as Seamus Mallon.

During the election, Martin continued to attack Sinn Fein on the grounds the party and its media friends fear most - moral grounds.

But Leo Varadkar only made voting for Sinn Fein a moral question at the last leaders' debate.

Simon Coveney, who had stoked the Sinn Fein fire with wild talk of a united Ireland "in my political lifetime", would not even go as far as his leader.

Although willing to make personal attacks on Martin, during the campaign, Coveney only managed the mild criticism that Sinn Fein was socially "divisive".

Last Thursday, he came on to Sean O'Rourke's show, exuding negativity about forming a government.

Asked if he would reciprocate Martin's confidence and supply arrangement, he ran into O'Rourke's fast reflexes.

Coveney: "I think another confidence and supply arrangement would be a recipe for weak government and weak opposition."

O'Rourke: "Is that what we had for the last four years? Weak government?"

Surely Simon Coveney's sense of social entitlement is not being irked by the idea of Micheal Martin, the son of a CIE bus driver, serving as Taoiseach?

If so, he will get short shrift from the majority of Irish people who were shocked by the prospect of Sinn Fein in power and trust Martin to see off the Pied Piper of the Provos.

Last week, RTE and most of the media did their best to bully Martin into doing a deal with Sinn Fein.

Stupidly, they took his silence as a sure sign he would soften. In fact he was counting his spears. Fianna Fail, from rank and file to front bench, backed him to the hilt.

RTE still clings to the comfort-blanket hope of some change. But a shattered Sinn Fein knows better. They will never see State power until they banish the IRA shadows.
The URL has been copied to your clipboard

The code has been copied to your clipboard.

A band singing Lovemore Majaivana's song, Isono Sami, at Zimbabawbe's State House in Bulawayo where President Emmerson Mnangagwa held a meeting with representatives of civic society groups who expressed dismay over the manner in which he was handling the Gukurahundi atrocities.
Turkey wants to stop the advance of the regime forces but it cannot risk a confrontation with their main backer, Russia.

In recent weeks, the battle for Idlib in northwest Syria has entered a new phase. Syrian regime forces, backed by Russia and Iran, have pushed to capture the strategic M4 and M5 highways, which link respectively the city of Latakia and the capital, Damascus, to Aleppo.

The advance of the Syrian forces accompanied by an intensive aerial bombardment campaign over the last remaining stronghold of the Syrian opposition has killed dozens of civilians and opposition fighters, as well as 13 Turkish soldiers, and sent hundreds of thousands of civilians fleeing towards the Turkish border. This has pushed Ankara to take action.

The Turkish military has sent several convoys into Syrian territory, reinforcing its observation posts in the northwest, which have been overrun by Syrian regime forces, and setting up new ones in opposition-controlled areas.

Turkey fears that Russias ultimate objective is to besiege the armed opposition and cut its main supply routes from Turkish territory  a development which it desperately wants to avoid.

With its back to the wall, Ankara is now weighing its options to prevent a complete defeat of its Syrian allies and with them its Syria venture.

Last de-escalation zone

Idlib is the last of the four so-called de-escalation zones agreed by Russia, Iran and Turkey in 2017 which has still not been taken over by the regime. The other three  Eastern Ghouta, near Damascus, Deraa and Quneitra provinces in the south, and the Rastan and Talbiseh enclave in Homs province  were attacked and captured by regime forces one after the other in the span of a year.

After every takeover, tens of thousands of civilians and fighters who did not want to stay under regime rule were allowed to leave for Idlib, adding to the growing population of IDPs.

In 2018, Turkey managed to save Idlib from the fate of the other three by concluding an agreement with Russia in Sochi to establish a demilitarised zone in Idlib. In return, Turkey pledged to disarm and remove Hayet Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)  an armed group previously linked to al-Qaeda  from the de-militarised area. The two sides also agreed to reopen the M4 and M5 for trade and movement.

The agreement was never implemented in its entirety, however. Turkey could not force HTC to honour it, while Moscow did not stop the Syrian regime forces from attacking the safe zone, having always thought of the demilitarised zone as a temporary solution and ultimately aiming for all Syrian territories to come back under regime control.

In this sense, the escalation in Idlib was inevitable. But unlike the takeovers of the other de-escalation zones, the fall of Idlib would be disastrous for Turkey. It would mean a total defeat of the Syrian opposition and its exclusion from negotiations of a final solution for post-war Syria. By extension, Turkey, the main backer of the opposition, would also be sidelined and have no say in future negotiations, which would be a major diplomatic loss given years of Turkish engagement in the conflict.

Furthermore, a regime takeover of Idlib would result in the expulsion of some three million civilians towards Turkeys borders or the small border areas it controls in northern Aleppo province. Given growing domestic hostility towards Syrian refugees, Turkey cannot afford to accommodate more Syrians on its territory.

The Turkish government is also under huge domestic pressure to retaliate after the killing of 13 Turkish soldiers by Syrian regime forces. Turkey will be criticised at home if its forces are forced to withdraw from the observation posts currently under siege by the Syrian regime.

Turkish-Russian relations

Although Turkey rejects a military solution in northwest Syria, it also cannot risk a confrontation with Russia. It paid a heavy price last time it clashed with Russia in 2015 when the Turkish military downed a Russian fighter jet near the Syrian-Turkish border. In response, the Kremlin banned imports of Turkish goods and discouraged its citizens from vacationing in Turkey, which took a heavy toll on the Turkish economy.

At the same time, neither the EU, nor the US backed Turkey in its escalation against Russia. What is more, both were slow to condemn the coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in July 2016.

Feeling isolated by its traditional allies, Ankara had to put massive efforts, including a public apology by Erdogan, into repairing relations with Moscow.

Today, Turkeys ties with Russia have grown stronger and are now more important to the Turkish government than they were in 2015. Russia is a major trading partner (bilateral trade exceeds $25bn annually) and, more importantly, Turkeys top oil and gas supplier  its share of the Turkish market having increased after the US imposed sanctions on Iranian energy exports.

Turkey is also becoming a transit hub for the export of Russian gas to Europe. Last month, Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin inaugurated the Turk Stream, a gas pipeline crossing the Black Sea from Russia to Turkey, which is meant to deliver gas to southeast Europe. Turkey also hopes to enlist Russian support in the growing tensions over gas drilling in the East Mediterranean, especially after the US signalled its support for Greece.

Diplomatic cooperation between Turkey and Russia has also intensified in Libya, where the two countries are supporting opposing sides. Ankara and Moscow have been actively engaged in trying to negotiate a ceasefire between the UN-recognised Government of National Accord and renegade General Khalifa Haftar.

Turkish-Russian cooperation has also intensified in the field of defence. Turkey bought an S-400 missile defence system from Russia, despite the opposition of its NATO allies, and has also discussed the possibility of purchasing Russian Su-35 and Su-57 fighter jets.

Three scenarios

Under pressure to stop the advance of the regime in Idlib and at the same time to preserve its relations with Russia, Turkey has very little room for manoeuvre. At this point, there appear to be three possible scenarios.

The first and the most favourable scenario for Turkey is Russia agreeing to uphold the de-escalation zone agreement in Idlib and ordering the regime forces to return to the positions they held before its latest offensive. This could be combined with a revival of the political process and resumption of the meetings of the constitutional committee, tasked with drafting amendments to the Syrian constitution agreed upon by the regime, the opposition and the international community.

Although Turkey has tried to push for such a settlement by threatening military action if the Syrian regime did not pull back, the likelihood of it happening is very slim.

The second scenario is Turkey accepting the new realities on the ground and allowing the Syrian regime to control the M4 and M5 highways, but using force to forestall any further advance. It could seek to establish a safe zone in Idlib by setting up reinforced defence positions along the frontline and supplying the Syrian opposition with heavy weapons, especially anti-aircraft missiles. It seems Ankara has already adopted this policy given that two regime helicopters were downed in Idlib with anti-aircraft weapons.

The third scenario  and one which Turkey wants to avoid  is an escalation with Russia. The presence of anti-aircraft weapons on the ground raises the risk of a Russian aircraft being shot down. The Turkish military is likely taking precautions to avoid such a dangerous development, but given massive deployments on the ground, it is the closest it has been since 2015 to a confrontation with Russian forces.

While Turkey will continue to tread carefully on the Idlib issue, what happens next depends a lot on what the US decides to do. So far Washington has been sending mixed signals to Ankara. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed his support for Turkey, and so did Special Representative for Syria Engagement James Jeffrey. The Pentagon, however, responded by saying that no agreement was made on the US taking more concrete steps in Idlib.

But just as Russia has been trying to push Turkey and its NATO allies further apart, the US may decide to take the opportunity to do the same with the Turkish-Russian rapprochement by backing a Turkish operation in Idlib.

Either way, major decisions will have to be made in Ankara, Moscow and Washington in the coming weeks  decisions which may determine the next phase of the Syrian conflict.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
Ukraine will negotiate the size of compensation to families of the victims of the UIA plane crash in Iran on behalf of all five countries whose citizens were killed in the accident.

"As for the size of compensation, we have agreed that Ukraine will negotiate on behalf of all five countries. And the sum Ukraine will agree on will be paid to citizens of all countries, including, by the way, Iran. This was our principled stance and we managed to maintain it," Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vadym Prystaiko told reporters after installing a memorial stone to the PS752 flight victims at the Boryspil International Airport, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

According to him, the talks are currently underway with the Iranian authorities to pay compensations to the families of the victims and the UIA company for the destroyed plane.

In addition, he noted that the UIA was negotiating the relevant payments with the insurance company.

At the same time, Prystaiko reminded that the Government of Ukraine had provided assistance to the families of the Ukrainians killed in the accident, but stressed that it was "assistance" not "compensation."

A Ukraine International Airlines plane (Flight PS752) heading from Tehran to Kyiv crashed shortly after taking off from the Imam Khomeini International Airport at about 06:00 Tehran time (04:30 Kyiv time) on Wednesday, January 8. There were 176 people on board  nine crew members (all Ukrainians) and 167 passengers (citizens of Ukraine, Iran, Canada, Sweden, Afghanistan, Germany, and the UK).

On January 11, Iran admitted that its military had accidentally shot down the Ukrainian passenger jet. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) accepted full responsibility for the downing of the Ukrainian airliner.

ol
China reported 105 new deaths due to the new on Monday, pushing the overall to 1,770, as officials announced stringent measures such as closing non-essential public venues and traffic restrictions to control the epidemic in the worst-hit Hubei province.

The National Health Commission said 2,048 new cases of the virus have been confirmed, taking the total number of COVID-19 infected cases to 70,548, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Of the new deaths, 100 were from Hubei Province, three in Henan, and two in Guangdong.

Though 10,844 people had been discharged from hospitals after recovery, the commission said in its daily report said that 7,264 people were still suspected to be infected by the deadly virus.

By Sunday, 57 confirmed cases including one death had been reported from Hong Kong, 10 in Macao, and 20 in Taiwan including one death.

Hubei, where 18 cities with over 50 million people are under lockdown since January 23, announced a slew of more stringent measures to control the epidemic, including enforcing province-wide traffic restrictions on all non-emergency vehicles and closing all non-essential public venues.

A circular by the provincial government said the health screening campaign should be strengthened and no one should be missed. Also, companies should not resume production unless allowed by local authorities. Those that have resumed work including public institutions should follow strict prevention measures.

The measures came as the situation remains "grave", the circular added.

However on Sunday, the commission announced a significant drop in new cases, suggesting that epidemic control measures were taking effect.

"In Wuhan, the epicentre of the epidemic, the proportion of severe cases among the confirmed cases fell from a peak of 32.4 per cent on January 28 to 21.6 per cent on February 15," Mi Feng, a spokesperson with the NHC, said during a media briefing.

Meanwhile, a 12-member team of World Health Organisation experts began assisting their Chinese counterparts to control the virus.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said experts were now on the ground in China to understand the outbreak and inform the next steps in the global response.

Ghebreyesus also met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Munich Security Conference.

He said "given the misinformation about the novel epidemic, WHO has communicated with some companies including Google to ensure that the public will get the authoritative information from the WHO".

He said one of the goals of the joint mission is to rapidly inform the public of the next steps and preparedness activities in China and globally. "Particular attention will be paid to understanding the transmission of the virus, the severity of disease and the impact of ongoing response measures."



In Beijing, the NHC said the joint mission will pay field visits in China's three provincial-level regions to learn the implementation and effectiveness of the epidemic control measures.
A 15-year-old Santa Clara boy was struck by a car and killed Sunday night while walking in Santa Clara.

The victim, whose name has not been released, was hit at 9:21 p.m. at the intersection of Lafayette Street and Agnew Road in Santa Clara.

The boy was crossing the street against a do not walk sign when he was struck by a black Honda Accord driving southbound on Lafayette Street through the intersection, according to a statement from the city of Santa Clara.

The driver remained at the scene and was cooperative with the police investigation.

The intersection was closed for several hours while traffic investigators worked. It is unknown whether drugs or alcohol were involved.

J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen
Brisbane's first-home buyers have moved fast to join two schemes designed to help get them into the property market earlier.

In the first six weeks of the federal government's first-home-owners' loan deposit scheme, allowing residents to have home deposits as small as 5 per cent guaranteed by the federal government, more than 450 applications have been made by Brisbane residents.

First-home owners across Brisbane have claimed two schemes designed to help them enter the property market. Credit:Tammy Law

Across regional Queensland there were 265 applications, as well as more than 100 on the Gold Coast and 62 on the Sunshine Coast.

Federal data released on Monday shows 37 per cent of applicants in Brisbane were aged 25-29.
A Wisconsin mother and her two young daughters have been found dead after being the subject of an AMBER Alert.

On Sunday, the bodies of Amarah Jerica Banks, 26, and her daughters Zaniya R. Ivery, 5, and Camaria Banks, 4, were found in a Milwaukee garage belonging to Banks boyfriend, who has been arrested.

Banks and her daughters had been the subject of an AMBER Alert after they were last seen at the funeral for her 1-year-old son, Arzel, on Feb. 7, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Fox6 and KMOV report.

Their bodies were found following the arrest of Banks boyfriend Arzel J. Ivery, 25, in Memphis, Tennessee, on a felony charge of aggravated battery in Wisconsin.

Banks aunt told Fox6 that Ivery was the father of Zaniya and Arzel.

RELATED: Milwaukee Mom, 2 Daughters Missing After Attending Funeral For Her Infant Son

No cause of death has been released for Banks or any of her children. Authorities say charges may be upgraded pending autopsy results.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLEs free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales said the tragedy was a case of domestic violence.

This is a systemic problem thats been going on for generations. We all have to look back and see how were going to curb domestic violence in our community, Morales said.

Banks aunt Shilloh Loper told Fox6, You have to be a heartless monster to do something like this to someone.

Loper added, I dont know what to even say, but I know Ill never get over this. Not ever in my life will I get over this. I will never get over someone doing this to my niece.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
Monday, Feb. 17, is Presidents Day. The holiday was originally designed to honor our first president, George Washington, and was celebrated on his birthday, Feb. 12. In an effort to give the public more leisure time, in 1971, President Richard Nixon officially designated certain federal holidays to be celebrated on Mondays. This included President Washingtons.

Since it no longer occurs on President Washingtons birthday, the holiday has come to be referred to as Presidents Day. Some also see it as celebrating President Abraham Lincolns birthday, Feb.22.

However we celebrate the holiday, we should all see it as a reminder of how the framers of our Constitution, to protect our personal liberty, designed a government where the three branches of government would be separate and coequal, but also interdependent. This is especially pertinent in todays environment when many of our fellow citizens have only a superficial understanding of how our federal judiciary functions and its role in our democratic republic.

The powers and responsibilities of the president are set out in Article II of the Constitution. Among those powers are the Power,by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, [to] appoint  Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States Under this delegated power, the president appoints federal judges. But this appointment power is subject to the advice and consent of the Senate.

Only the president has this power of appointment. Without presidents exercising the power to make appointments to the federal judiciary, there would be no federal judges. It is impossible to imagine our free society existing without a functioning federal judiciary.

Even after the appointment process, and even though independent in its decision making, the judiciary must still rely upon action by the executive branch to fulfill its own role in our democratic republic. When the judiciary issues an order, it lacks the authority to enforce the order. It must rely upon the executive branch to do so. And for the judiciary to carry out its responsibility to enforce federal criminal laws, it must depend upon federal prosecutors acting under the authority of the executive branch to bring and prosecute cases. It must depend upon the U.S. Marshal Service, an agency of the executive branch, for bringing criminal defendants to court and for protection of the public and the judiciary. The judiciary must also depend upon the executive branch to provide and maintain the very courthouses from which the judiciary operates. These are just a few examples of the way in which the federal judiciary relies on the executive branch.

So, as we celebrate Presidents Day, let us also celebrate the profound wisdom of the framers of the Constitution that bequeathed to us the government of divided, but interdependent, branches as one means of keeping us free.

Curtis L. Collier

United States District Judge

Chair, Eastern District of Tennessee

Civics and Outreach Committee

Travis R. McDonough

United States District Judge

Chattanooga Subcommittee Chair

Civics and Outreach Committee

* * *

I applaud the timely opinion piece by Federal Justices Collier and McDonough celebrating Presidents' Day and especially the wisdom of our founding fathers. However, these honorable gentlemen may want to apologize to all the hardworking teachers of American History out there who have been diligently teaching their students that Washington's birthday is Feb. 22 and Lincoln's is Feb. 12.

Speight Overman
Burma Rakhine Delegation Meets with Myanmar Military Chief, Draws Criticism

Myanmar military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing meets Rakhine community elders in Naypyitaw on Feb. 13, 2020. / Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services

SITTWE, Rakhine StateA meeting between Myanmars military chief and an ethnic Rakhine delegation in Naypyitaw last Thursday has drawn criticism and attention from the Rakhine community though both parties said their talks focused on the peace and development of Rakhine State.

Military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing met with a delegation led by Yangon regional ethnic affairs minister U Zaw Aye Maung, who is ethnic Rakhine, that included community elders and business leaders from the Rakhine capital of Sittwe, according to the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services.

Mainly we discussed how to stop clashes in order to achieve peace in Rakhine State. We all raised our concerns, said U Zaw Aye Maung, who is also a member of the Arakan National Party (ANP), which dominates the Rakhine State Parliament.

The meeting between the military chief and the senior ANP official drew criticisms and questions from members of the Rakhine community as violence continues between the Tatmadaw, as the Myanmar military is known, and the Arakan Army (AA) in northern Rakhine.

The meeting led to questions within Rakhine society about their representation, said U Maung Saw Win, chairman of the Mayu Region Development Association based in Rathedaung Township in northern Rakhine. Our view is that the meeting would not contribute to peace. It might have been only a casual chat.

ANP General Secretary U Khaing Pyi Soe said that U Zaw Aye Maung was not representing the party in his meeting with the military chief and that the party has no knowledge about what they discussed.

We only saw it online. We dont know how [U Zaw Aye Maung] met [the Tatmadaw chief] or who brought him there. But it is sure that the meeting does not represent the party, U Khaing Pyi Soe told The Irrawaddy.

U Zaw Aye Maung told The Irrawaddy to refer to the statement from the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services regarding the topics of the meeting.

However, he said that the meeting was not planned in advance and was only a courtesy call after the military officials and the Rakhine community elders both attended a religious ceremony organized by an influential ethnic Rakhine monk in Naypyitaw.

We met military officers at the pagoda consecration ceremony, so we thought it would be good to pay [Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing] a visit while we are there, U Zaw Aye Maung told The Irrawaddy.

According to the statement from the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services, the two sides discussed contributions by military personnel and their families to a religious building and Buddhist monks in Sittwe, and progress towards erecting a bronze statue of an influential missionary monk on land donated by the military.

The two sides also exchanged views on the development of Sittwe as well as the need for regional security for the development of education, health, economy and social standards in Rakhine State.

The Myanmar military and the AA have been fighting for more than a year in northern Rakhine, with the conflict zone expanding over time and casualties rising.

At least 8 people have been killed and 51 injured by artillery shells in villages in Buthidaung, Rathedaung and Kyauktaw townships between Feb. 1 and 13, according to The Irrawaddys count.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

You may also like these stories:

Rakhine Political Leader Faces High Treason, Defamation Charges
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A 47-year-old man faces multiple charges after a crash on the West Shore Expressway left his female passenger dead Sunday morning.

Aureliano Garcia Juarez, who is listed by police as residing on Adler Road in Annapolis, faces charges including second-degree vehicular manslaughter, second-degree aggravated manslaughter, second-degree assault, first-degree reckless endangerment, driving while intoxicated and reckless driving, according to an NYPD spokesman.

The crash occurred at approximately 5:40 a.m. in the southbound lanes of the West Shore Expressway, near the South Avenue exit, the Advance previously reported.

Police said a preliminary investigation revealed Garcia Juarez was allegedly operating a Honda SUV headed northbound before crossing into the opposite direction of traffic and crashing into a Toyota minivan and a Ford pickup truck.

A female passenger in the Honda SUV, identified as 37-year-old Carmelia Martinez, was transported to Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton where she was pronounced dead, according to police.

Garcia Juarez was transported to Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze in stable condition.

Martinez is a resident of Beverly Avenue in New Brunswick  the same location police previously said Garcia Juarez resided.

Police said the 63-year-old male operator of the Toyota minivan suffered neck and back pain, and is in stable condition Sunday at Staten Island University Medical Center, Ocean Breeze.

The 46-year-old male driving the pickup truck refused medical attention at the scene, authorities said.

A section of the expressway was temporarily shut down Sunday morning. The NYPD investigation remains ongoing.

It was not immediately clear if Garcia Juarez retained an attorney Sunday evening.
Two men, involved in multiple cases of murder and robbery, were killed in an exchange of fire with the Special Cell of Delhi Police here on Monday morning, officials said.

The encounter took place around 5 am at Pul Pehlad Pur area here, they said.

Raja Qureshi and Ramesh Bahadur, who were injured during the encounter, were rushed to the AIIMS Trauma Centre, where they were declared brought dead by the doctors, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) P S Kushwah said.

The two men were involved in multiple cases of murder and robbery, he said.

On February 12, Qureshi and Bahadur fired indiscriminately on a property dealer in Karawal Nagar. They also fired at the two police personnel present at the spot and injured them, he added.

In another incident on the same day, at around 9.20 pm, both the accused dragged a person named Salman from his house to a nearby area in Loni, Uttar Pradesh and shot him dead.

Acting on a tip off, a team intercepted the two men while they were going towards Okhla Mandi. When asked to surrender, they tried to escape and fired at the police team, he said.

The police also fired back in self-defence. During the exchange of fire, the rounds fired by the accused also hit the police gypsy and bullet-proof jacket of four police personnel, Kushwah said.

Three pistols along with live cartridges, two helmets and motorcycle used by the accused were recovered, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The right to protest is recognised the world over in democracies, especially in India.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said people have a right to protest but not block public places causing inconvenience to others, as it asked senior lawyers Sanjay Hagde and Sadhana Ramachandran to talk to the anti-CAA and anti-NRC protesters at Shaheen Bagh and persuade them to shift to an alternate place.

Telling the protesters at Shaheen Bagh not to block public roads, a bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and K.M. Joseph asked solicitor-general Tushar Mehta to suggest alternate places where the protesters could shift to.

Finding the suggestion by the court soft sounding, Mr Mehta said it should not be seen as if the government was kneeling before them, and said the government doesnt wish to escalate the situation  a hint of forcible eviction of the protestors who are on the 65th day of their sit-in protest.

At the outset, the court made it clear it was not against the protest, which it said was a matter of right, but it shouldnt lead to blocking of public places and roads.

The right to protest is recognised the world over in democracies, especially in India. Its a fundamental right subject only to public order and security of the State, said Justice Joseph.

Noting that the Shaheen Bagh sit-in protest was going on though a large number of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 was pending before the court, Justice Kaul said: We are not saying because it is pending in SC... people dont have the right to protest. The question is  where to protest? It should not be in a public place or on a road.

The court said it feared that the city would be in utter chaos if others too with genuine grievances take a leaf from the Shaheen Bagh protest and start blocking roads and other public places. Telling the protesters that reasoning must prevail, Justice Kaul made it clear that if the efforts being made by them does not succeed, then it would be over to the administration.

Asking senior counsel Sanjay Hegde and Sadhana Ramachandran, a well-known mediator, to try to talk to the leadership of the Shaheen Bagh protests and make them see reason , the court fixed February 24 as the next date of hearing.

The court embarked on speaking to the protesters and urging them to see reason on a suggestion by a lawyer  who it later emerged was appearing for Chandrashekhar Azad, the Bhim Army chief. The solicitor-general, Mr Mehta, said Mr Azad, who was himself a cause of the problem, could not be counted on as a mediator. Then the lawyer appearing for Mr Azad suggested the name of well-known bureaucrat and first central information commissioner Wajahat Habibullah.

The court said this during the hearing of two petitions  one by Amit Sahni and another by BJPs Nand Kishore Garg  seeking directions for the removal of protesters sitting on dharna since December 15, 2019.
Rising value of vehicles may lead to property tax increase
After the record-breaking Oscars win of "Parasite," Bong Joon-ho outshined other famous directors in Hollywood. Now that he got your attention and interest, we compiled five of his other masterpieces that you can binge-watch online.

To recap, "Parasite" took home four Oscars awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Foreign Language Film. The aforementioned acknowledgments are just some of the honors they received ever since the movie stormed the theateres.

If you automatically became a fan of Joon Ho after watching "Parasite" and are still craving for more, you are in luck since we made the search easier for you!

Out of the several hit films the acclaimed director created throughout his career, we listed the five best Joon-ho movies you can watch on different streaming services.

Okja (Netflix)







Before Joon-ho's picture-winning film won the hearts of moviegoers, he made waves with 2017 South Korean-American action-adventure film "Okja" Now, the said film is available on Netflix.

The story is about Mija and her massive animal friend (a super pig) Okja, who spend their lives in the mountains before they embark on a cross-country adventure.

The two had to transfer from one place to another to protect the oversized animal, but their lives get even more complicated when they meet groups of capitalists and consumers.

In the end, the movie will let you realize that there is an animal inside all of us, and you will be surprised how "Okja" will unveil all the ways to promote animal and environmental preservation.

The film starred award-winning actors and actresses from the U.S. and South Korea, including Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Ahn Seo-hyun, Byun Hee-bong, and Lily Collins.

The Host



If you are a fan of giant monsters and nerve-racking scenes, "The Host" should be on the top of your list.

The 2006 film unveils the story of a young girl who gets caught by a giant monster living in the middle of the Han River. The appearance of the colossal being brings the capital city into a state of emergency and the young girl to an unknown place.

Starring brilliant artists (Song Kang-ho, Byun Hee-bong, Park Hae-il, Bae Doona, and Go Ah-sung), the movie became the highest-grossing film in South Korea that year (though it did not win Americans' hearts).

However, it won a roll of awards locally and abroad and even got nominated countless times in different awards shows like the Asia Pacific Film Festival and Chunsa Film Art Awards.

Memories of Murder



This 2003 South Korean film focuses on the classic life under the Korean military dictatorship way back in 1986. The story orbits around two rural cops and a special detective as they get involved in a series of brutal rape murders and crimes.

Based on the true story of Korea's first serial murders in history, the film was the second film ever directed by Joon-ho since his debut in 2000 with "Barking Dogs Never Bite."

With "Memories of Murder," he earned praises for his cinematography. The film is considered one of the best South Korean films of all time.

Snowpiercer



Based on the French graphic novel Le Transperceneige by Jacques Lob, Benjamin Legrand and Jean-Marc Rochette, Joon-ho created this science fiction/action film in 2013.

This became the director's first English-language film. Interestingly, it also appeared on film critics' top 10 films lists in 2014 after its record-breaking international release.

The story is about humanity's attempt to stop global warming through climate engineering. However, they end up creating a Snowball Earth instead, starting a modern ice age in 2014. Things get more complicated as the surviving humans stay inside the Snowpiercer train where a series of killings is done to sustain life inside.

Produced with a budget of $40 million, "Snowpiercer" earned $86 million wordlwide. It is also worth noting that a TNT adaptation is coming after its movie success.

Mother



Can a director combine thriller and drama in one film? Well, everything is possible for Joon-ho.

The 2009 film "Mother" is about an unnamed widow who conducts unlicensed acupuncture and eventually struggles because of the debt of her son, Yoon Do Joon.

After its U.S. premiere in February 2010 as part of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, "Mother" immediately received its Best East Meets West Cinema Award from the ceremony.

It garnered a total of $16 million in sales in South Korea alone, becoming the sixth most-watched domestic film of 2009.
Union Minister of Food Processing Industries, Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Monday met UAE's Minister for Food Security, Mariam Al-Muhairi, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the sidelines of Gulfood 2020 and expressed satisfaction at the existing bilateral cooperation.

The two ministers expressed satisfaction at the existing bilateral cooperation in the field of food security, with India being one of the largest food exporters to UAE.

At the same time, they also deliberated upon ways and means to further increase cooperation and collaboration in the sector between the two countries.

In this context, they discussed UAE investments in food corridors in India in accordance with the vision given by the top leadership of the two countries.

Both ministers mentioned that the two sides could also exchange information in new areas such as saline water agriculture.

Harsimrat Kaur Badal highlighted the enormous potential for investments in the food processing sector in India. The UAE side stays positive on opportunities for investing in various areas of food processing such as cold chains, food parks, contract farming, and logistics.

Earlier in the day, Badal addressed a business roundtable on opportunities in the food processing sector in India.

She highlighted the Operation Green scheme of the Government of India for the integrated development of tomato, onion, and potato. She also emphasized that India can become a major player in organic food, especially the states in the North East.

She had inaugurated the India pavilion put together with the assistance of APEDA at Gulfood 2020 on Feb 16.

India is the largest participant in Gulfood with almost 300 companies and India's food exports to UAE stand at almost 1.8 billion dollars.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

Go to form
The Uttar Pradesh Police is getting a lot of calls from across India and abroad to adopt the one-year-old girl whose parents died during an operation to rescue 23 children taken hostage by her father in Farrukhabad.

"We have made a fixed deposit (FD) of Rs 1 lakh (in the name of the girl) that we got as a reward for Farrukhabad operation. We are also getting calls from across India and abroad to adopt the girl," IG Kanpur range Mohit Agarwal told PTI.

Agarwal, who is also bearing daily expenses of the girl, said they are getting calls not only from Indian cities like Bengaluru and New Delhi but also from London and the US.

"Whosoever adopts the girl, will have to complete all the legal formalities. We will hand over the girl after due verification," he said.

The girl's father Subhash Batham was shot dead after police rescued 23 children he had taken hostage at his home in Farrukhabad's Kasaria village on January 30.

Her mother Ruby Katheriya was lynched by angry parents as she tried to escape from the house, police said.

"At present, the child is in Farrukhabad with a woman employee in the police department and she is taking great care of her," Agarwal said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Three-year-old Australian girl Amirah could lose her fingers to frostbite in a Syrian refugee camp for the family of ISIS fighters, doctors have warned

A three-year-old Australian girl could lose her fingers to frostbite as she battles through a freezing cold winter in a refugee camp for the families of ISIS fighters.

The child, Amirah, is the daughter of Kirsty Rosse-Emile - a Melbourne woman who travelled with her husband Nabil Kadmiry to Syria in 2014.

Kadmiry, an ex-ISIS fighter, was stripped of his Australian citizenship in October after being captured by Kurdish forces - while his family are being held at the al-Hawl camp in Syria's north east.

Amirah's fingers on her left hand have turned black as she battles the harsh winter conditions, with doctors fearing they may need to be amputated.

She has pain in her kneecaps and like her brother Yahya, who is only five months old, she is believed to be malnourished, The Guardian reported.

With temperatures plummeting, there have also been reported cases of rickets, developmental disorders and a shortage of wearable clothing within the camp.

The tents the marooned families stay in are also reportedly soaked under the heavy snowfall which has fallen on the camp.

As many as 70,000 women and children are being held inside the Syrian camp, including 66 Australians - although none of the Australians have been charged in relation to a family member's involvement with ISIS.

The young child called Amirah is the daughter of Kirsty Rosse-Emile (pictured) - a Melbourne woman who travelled with her husband Nabil Kadmiry, an ex-ISIS fighter, to Syria in 2014

With temperatures plummeting, there have also been reported cases of rickets, developmental disorders and a shortage of wearable clothing within the Al-Hawl camp (pictured)

A woman is pictured with a child in the al-Hawl camp in north-eastern Syria in March 2019

One row of tents in the camp has been dubbed 'Australia Street', whose residents have been pining for Vegemite and are pleading with Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton to bring them home.

Last year it emerged the women had left their homes in Sydney and Melbourne to travel to the middle east and marry ISIS fighters - but then found themselves stranded and desperate to return.

Save the Children director of international programs and policy Mat Tinkler said there 'is no practical barrier' to repatriating the families held at al-Hawl.

Save the Children director of international programs and policy Mat Tinkler has said there 'is no practical barrier' to repatriating the families held at al-Hawl (pictured)

'It is really drastic there are the moment, its down to -3C in that part of Syria,' he said.

'We have seen a little girl who will likely lose her fingers because of frostbite, we see shrapnel wounds, we see mental health issues

'Its our very real concern an Australian child will die in that camp.'
Clashes between Uzbek police and residents of a village some 650 kilometers southwest of the capital, Tashkent, erupted and left three people injured on February 14, including two police officers, after local inhabitants were told their homes would be demolished.



Eyewitnesses told RFE/RL that the incident started on February 14 when a group consisting of members of the district administration, prosecutors, and Interior Ministry officials came to the village of Xalqobod in the Altynsai district of the Surkhondaryo region.



Certain residents were told their homes were built illegally on territory designated as farmland after which an angry crowd began to gather at a local farming homestead.



When the police tried to calm and reason with the local residents after telling them their homes would be torn down, some angry villagers attacked the officers with sticks, axes, and shovels, according to the news service of the regional police.



Video of the incident posted on social media showed what appeared to be police hitting unarmed residents and dragging them on the ground with one person bleeding from the face.



The conflict subsided at around 4 p.m. local time after a special police unit arrived on the scene and told the residents to disperse and retreat to their homes.



Six residents were arrested and one villager was slightly injured, as well as two police officers.



No homes were demolished.



In a February 16 statement, the Prosecutor-Generals Office blamed the incident on families who opposed the demolition of the "illegally-built homes."



Six local residents have allegedly occupied 0.39 hectares of irrigated, agricultural land and built brick homes encompassing an area of 235.5 square meters, the statement said.



They were given notice to demolish their homes within two days from February 8.



Police didnt provide an update on the fate of the six arrested individuals.
Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat on Monday (February 17) announced that India is looking to set up two to five theatre commands and the first one will be rolled out by 2022. General Rawat said that it is likely that there will be a separate Jammu and Kashmir theatre but the shape would be finalised later. He noted that the plan is to set up separate joint commands for logistics and training.

"The Military theatre commands are planned to be rolled out by the year 2022. The shape of different theatre commands would be clear after the studies to be ordered in this regard are completed," said General Rawat.

CDS General Rawat said that a study has been ordered under the Air Force Vice Chief on the Air Defence Command and first joint air command will be ready by 2021. According to General Rawat, the Air Defence Command will be helpful in avoiding fratricides and timely implementation of orders in case of aerial attacks. He confirmed that the Indian Air Force will the air defence command and all long-range missiles and air defence assets will come under it.

CDS General Rawat said that he is in favour of the policy of staggered procurement of big-ticket purchases including the acquisition of 114 fighter jets. He also said that all the fighter jets of IAF will have only one training base at Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh.

Live TV

CDS Rawat also informed that the Eastern and Western commands of Indian Navy will be integrated into Peninsular command in the future. "Our plan is to create a Peninsula Command with Navys Eastern and Western Command under it. The area of the Command is planned to start from Sir Creek area in west and Sunderbans in east and downwards," he said.

Replying to a question on his priority between submarines and 3rd aircraft carrier for the Navy, CDS Rawat said, "When we know that there would be 2 aircraft carriers there and if the submarine force is dwindling, then our priority should be for submarines."
Recognition Acknowledges Databricks' Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision for Third Year in a Row

Databricks, the leader in unified data analytics, has been named by Gartner as a Leader in the 2020 Magic Quadrant for Data Science and Machine Learning Platforms.

The complete report was published on February 11, 2020, and is available at: http://databricks.com/p/whitepaper/gartner-magic-quadrant-2020-data-science-machine-learning

Databricks' Unified Data Analytics Platform allows organizations access to all of their big data and traditional data for business intelligence and machine learning on one platform. On its journey to help data teams solve the world's toughest problems, Databricks has lasered in on being customer obsessed, building a strong partner ecosystem and continuing to innovate and contribute to the open source community, including the development of new open source projects, Delta Lake and MLflow.

"Data science and machine learning is top of mind within every organization. Even traditional, hundred-years old companies are trying to become high-tech companies to keep a competitive advantage over data-driven startups. In order to be successful, organizations require one cohesive platform for data teams to collaborate on business intelligence and machine learning," said Ali Ghodsi, cofounder and CEO at Databricks. "We see this placement as a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant, along with our other recognition this year, as a clear sign of the growing massive demand for unified data analytics."

Databricks has contributed significant innovations to the open source community. In addition to being the original creators of Apache SparkTM, Databricks leads the development of Delta Lake, MLflow and Koalas, which has earned the company a reputation as an innovator within the open source community.

Databricks continued its momentum by closing its Series F funding, which raised the company's total funding amount to $900 million. The capital is intended to accelerate innovation and scale across the globe, and values Databricks at $6.2 billion. Thousands of global organizations such as Nielsen, Hotels.com, Overstock, Bechtel, Shell and HP are leveraging Databricks to unify data science and data engineering teams across the end-to-end data and machine learning lifecycle.

Gartner's report evaluated 16 vendors based on their ability to execute and the completeness of their vision for its Magic Quadrant for Data Science and Machine Learning Platforms. Gartner's completeness of vision axis comprised eight evaluation criteria: market understanding, marketing strategy, sales strategy, offering (product) strategy, business model, vertical/industry strategy, innovation, and geographic strategy. The ability to execute axis comprised seven criteria: product or service, overall viability, sales execution/pricing, market responsiveness/record, marketing execution, customer experience, and operations.

Databricks will showcase its Unified Data Analytics Platform as an exhibitor at upcoming Gartner Data Analytics Summits taking place in Sydney Australia (February 17 18), London, England (March 9 11) and Dallas, Texas (March 23 26).

For more information about Databricks, visit www.databricks.com.

(1) Gartner "Magic Quadrant for Data Science and Machine Learning," written by Peter Krensky, Pieter den Hamer, Erick Brethenoux, Jim Hare, Carlie Idoine, Alexander Linden, Svetlana Sicular, Farhan Choudhary, February 11, 2020.

Gartner Disclaimer

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About the Gartner Data Analytics Summit 2020

The Gartner Data and Analytics Summit is the premier gathering for chief data/analytics officers and senior data and analytics leaders. Gartner analysts will provide analysis on data and analytics trends, along with the tools to build on the fundamentals of data management, business intelligence (BI), and analytics to accelerate the shift toward a data-driven culture. Follow news and updates from the Summit on social media by using GartnerDA.

About Databricks

Databricks helps data teams solve the world's toughest problems. As the leader in Unified Data Analytics, Databricks helps organizations make all their data ready for analytics, empower data-driven decisions across the organization, and rapidly adopt machine learning to outpace the competition. The company's global customer base has thousands of organizations including Comcast, Shell, Expedia, and Regeneron. Databricks is venture-backed and founded by the original creators of popular open source projects, including Apache Spark, Delta Lake and MLflow. To learn more, follow Databricks on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Apache, Apache Spark and Spark are trademarks of the Apache Software Foundation.

Copyright 2019 Delta Lake, a Series of LF Projects, LLC. For website terms of use, trademark policy and other project policies please see https://lfprojects.org.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200217005397/en/

Contacts:

Kristalle Cooks

Head of Communications

415-462-4907

Kristalle.Cooks@databricks.com
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

By Ilkin Seyfaddini  Trend:

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev will visit Turkey on February 19-20 at the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Trend reports via Uzbek media.

In accordance with the program of Mirziyoyev's stay in Ankara, the highest level negotiations and the first meeting of bilateral Strategic Cooperation Council chaired by the leaders of Uzbekistan and Turkey will be held.

The current state and prospects of cooperation in political, trade and economic, investment, financial, transport and communications, education, cultural and humanitarian spheres and other priority areas will be considered.

An exchange of views on regional and international agenda issues will also take place.

President of Uzbekistan will also meet with the heads of leading companies of Turkey, will take part in the opening ceremony of the Presidential Library complex of the Republic of Turkey.

The last meeting of the presidents was held in October 2019, on the seventh summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States (Turkic Council).

The Turkic Council was established in October 2009. It includes Azerbaijan, Turkey, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The secretariat of the organization is located in Istanbul.

The Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States is an international organization that brings together modern Turkic States. The main goal of council is to develop comprehensive cooperation among them.

---

Follow author on Twitter: @seyfaddini
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, are closing their Buckingham Palace office after stepping back from their roles as senior royals.

Staffers who currently work for the Sussexes are expected to leave in the spring, as they're being made redundant, per ITV. "Given their decision to step back, an office at Buckingham Palace is no longer needed," a palace aide told ITV. "While the details are still being finalized and efforts are being made to redeploy people within the royal household, unfortunately there will be some redundancies."
This finding can help people take preventive measures or plan for their future care. The study indicates that young adult height might be one potential risk factor to consider. The study was published in the journal eLife.Previous studies have suggested that height may be a risk factor for dementia, but much of this research was not able to take into account genetic, environmental, or other early-life factors that may be linked to both height and dementia."We wanted to see if body height in young men is associated with diagnosis of dementia while exploring whether intelligence test scores, educational level, and underlying environmental and genetic factors shared by brothers explain the relationship," says lead author Terese Sara Hoj Jorgensen, Assistant Professor at the Section of Social Medicine, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, in Denmark.To do this, Jorgensen and her colleagues analysed data on 666,333 Danish men born between 1939 and 1959, including 70,608 brothers and 7,388 twins, from Danish national registries. They found a total of 10,599 men who developed dementia later in life.Their adjusted analysis of this group showed that there was about a 10 per cent reduction in the risk of developing dementia for about every 6cm of height in individuals above the average height. When the team took into account the potential role of intelligence or education, the unadjusted relationship between height and dementia risk was only slightly reduced.They found that the relationship between height and dementia also existed when they looked at brothers with different heights, suggesting that genetics and family characteristics alone do not explain why shorter men had a greater dementia risk.This was also true when they studied data concerning twins, although the results for this group were less certain."A key strength of our study is that it adjusted for the potential role of education and intelligence in young men's dementia risk, both of which may build up cognitive reserve and make this group less vulnerable to developing dementia," explains senior author Merete Osler, Professor at the Center for Clinical Research and Prevention, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital, and at the University of Copenhagen.'Cognitive reserve' refers to the brain's ability to improvise and solve problems that come up in everyday life. Osler says that adjusting for education and intelligence reduces the likelihood that the relationship between height and dementia is really explained by the cognitive reserve."Together, our results point to an association between taller body height in young men and a lower risk of dementia diagnosis later in life, which persists even when adjusted for educational level and intelligence test scores," Osler says. "Our analysis of the data concerning brothers confirms these findings, and suggests the association may have common roots in early-life environmental exposures that are not related to family factors shared by brothers." (ANI)
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 13:17:53|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Global experts have argued against imposing travel restrictions on China during the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), saying such measures are groundless, ineffective and against humanity.

The argument has been seconded by the World Health Organization (WHO) and institutions in dozens of countries, which have simultaneously called for international cooperation to support China and fight the COVID-19.

CALLS FOR EVIDENCE-BASED DECISIONS

In a paper published last week on British medical journal The Lancet, scholars argued that imposing travel bans on China is a flagrant violation of the International Health Regulations (IHR).

The IHR governs how 196 countries and WHO collectively address the global spread of disease and avoid unnecessary interference with international traffic and trade, stipulating that the measures countries implement when addressing public health risks need to be supported by science, commensurate with the risks involved and anchored in human rights.

Citing Article 43 of the regulations, the paper, written by 16 scholars and supported by research institutions in Canada, Britain, the United States, Norway, Switzerland, Italy and so on, argued that the travel restrictions against China are not supported by science, ineffective, and, most importantly, disregarding the dignity, human rights and fundamental freedoms of persons.

The WHO has said there is no reason for measures that unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade. Addressing the 146th session of the WHO Executive Board meeting earlier this month, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on all countries to implement decisions that are evidence-based and consistent.

Tedros's advise has been echoed by his predecessor Margaret Chan. "WHO has declared that all countries shall not impose travel or trade restrictions on China. And this is also the spirit of international health regulations valued by the WHO," the former director-general has said.

COOPERATION RATHER THAN RESTRICTION

At a time when many countries have put travel restrictions on China, world experts have voiced support for China and stressed that global cooperation rather than restriction is essential to overcoming the COVID-19 outbreak.

"Such outbreaks can happen in any parts of the world. Rather than giving pressure to China or suspending the flights and imposing travel bans, the international community should help and cooperate with it in this crisis period," said Sundarnath Bhattarai, acting chairman of China Study Center-Nepal.

Jennifer Nuzzo, associate professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said the United States should re-examine its approach to the virus crisis, including travel restrictions and suspension of flights.

These measures are inconsistent with the advice of the WHO, and unlikely to be effective in stopping the virus from entering the country; instead they will take a toll on the economy and trade, said Nuzzo.

Following a special meeting in Brussels on Thursday, European Union Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said the EU is not considering banning Chinese travelers from entering its visa-free Schengen area at the moment, and people should have faith in the measures being taken by member states and China to contain the virus.

In Africa, director for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) John Nkengasong said the African CDC is currently coordinating with China to address the novel coronavirus outbreak and warned against baseless fearmongering.

"WHO has made it clear there should be no restriction on flights to, in and out of China, and we adhere to the WHO advisory," he said.

The International Civil Aviation Organization has repeatedly called on its members to follow the travel and health recommendations issued by the WHO and not to impose restrictions inconsistent with the IHR.

Other aviation organizations including the International Air Transport Association and Association of Asia Pacific Airlines have also spoken against travel restrictions that disrupt international air transport.
Livestock worrying cost farmers 1.2m last year as irresponsible owners continue to allow dogs to roam free in the countryside.

Despite sharp falls in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, rises in England contribute to the continued high cost of attacks.

The new statistics, released today (17 February) by rural insurer NFU Mutual, show that a 15% rise in the cost of attacks in England led to the overall figure of 1.2m.

A survey of over 1,300 dog owners reveals that more owners now put their dog on a lead if they see a sign warning them livestock are nearby (95% compared to 90% in 2018).

However, 63% of dog owners let their pets roam free in the countryside, despite half admitting their dog doesnt always come back when called.

The research found a steady increase over the past two years of dogs allowed to go outside unaccompanied when their owners are out (56% in 2020, rising from 52% in 2019 and 43% in 2018).

Fifteen per cent admitted their dog had escaped from home in the past.

This confirms farmers fears that a significant number of dog owners are letting their dogs roam free unsupervised, said Rebecca Davidson, Rural Affairs Specialist at NFU Mutual.

Whether they dont know or dont care about the carnage their pets are causing, these dog owners are giving a bad name to the responsible majority who do keep their pets under control.

There is some encouraging news from the survey, with evidence that campaigns are having some effect.

Ms Davidson added: Ninety-five per cent of dog owners would now put their pet on a lead if a sign warns livestock are nearby - an increase of 5% in two years and a testament to the campaigns run by the farming media, police and farmers unions.

The sharpest cost rises in 2019 were in the South East  up 87% and the North West of England  up 79%. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all saw falls of 30%, 15% and 61% respectively.

With many families expected to visit the countryside during school half-term holidays, NFU Mutual is launching a new campaign urging dog owners to keep their pets under control at all times when livestock could be nearby.

Estimated cost of livestock attacks to UK agriculture in 2019 based on claims reported to the insurer.
February 17 : Kunal Kemmu turned the showstopper for designer Kunal Anil Tanna at the Lakme Fashion Week Summer/Resort 2020 on the last day of the fashion gala. The designer is known for his minimalistic vision towards his collection.

Kunal, who stole the show in the film Malang for his brilliant performance as an evil character and was highly appreciated by the critics, showcased a minimalistic yet classic and elegant outfit. The Kalank actor looked dapped in an offbeat piece from Kunal Anil Tannas new collection. The designer is known for his stylishly constructed silhouettes with detailed texturing and colour mixing like cream, brown, white and blue.

Image Source: Cine Photos Kunal Kemmu looks uber cool in Kunal Anil Tanna outfit at Lakme Fashion Week 2020

The Malang actor looked uber cool as he flaunted a few steps with the pop background music, strutting down the ramp and shelling out major athleisure vibe. Kunal wore a plain ink blue button down shirt teamed with a pair of black trousers. He stylishly hung a blue and black textured jacket with abstract prints over his shoulders. For his new collection called Elemantary, designer Kunal Anil Tanna used layering keeping the summer heat in mind. His collection displayed unconventional blend of the elementary with the abstract.

Latest updates on Lakme Fashion Week Summer/Resort 2020
The new trade agreement between Viet Nam and the European Union opens many doors for agriculture, according to experts.

Rice is loaded at Saigon Port in HCM City. With the ratification of the EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement, Viet Nam can export 80,000 tonnes of rice a year with a zero tax rate to the EU.



The new trade agreement between Viet Nam and the European Union opens many doors for agriculture, according to experts.

Nguyen Do Anh Tuan, director of the Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said the newly-ratified EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) offers plenty of opportunities.

He said as the EU imports about US$150 billion agricultural products each year so the EVFTA would open up a potential market for the local export agricultural products.

Tuan told a discussion hosted by the Government Electronic Portal on the EVFTA in Ha Noi yesterday that: There is room for Vietnamese agricultural products.

Agreeing with Tuan, chairman of Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Vu Tien Loc said: The EU is a large market with the world's leading purchasing powers and the EVFTA Agreement marks a new phase for Viet Nam with favourable conditions for the local enterprises, including the agriculture firms, to increase exports.

However, Luong Hoang Thai, director general of the Multilateral Trade Policy Department, under the Ministry of Trade and Industry raised a number of challenges for the industry as the strict conditions from the EU market such as the regulation of origin, quality and labour relating to the agriculture production.

Thai added: Local livestock industry would face increasing competitive pressure from imported products from the EU.

He thought the small scale of the husbandry would make farmers and local livestock cooperatives fall behind imported products from EU.

As frozen pork meat would be duty-free after seven years, dairy products after five years, and processed food after seven years, and chicken after 10 years, Thai said: Viet Nam should take time to improve the local livestock.

Currently the EUs livestock products exported to Vietnam are subject to tariffs of 10-40 per cent. The reduction of import tariff on livestock products from the EU will improve their penetration of the Vietnamese market and pose significant competition to domestic products.

Thai added the country should apply further modern technology to ensure clean production as well as avoid child labour in the production to improve agriculture production to better grasp the chance from the EVFTA.

Govt to issue lists of preferential tariffs under EVFTA

The Ministry of Finance said on February 13 that it will build and submit the draft decree to the Government.

When the agreement takes effect, Viet Nam will immediately remove 48.5 per cent of import tariff lines, equivalent to 64.5 per cent of its imports from the EU. The respective rates will reach about 99 per cent and 99.8 per cent after 10 years.

Regarding the remaining tariffs, the elimination roadmap will last for more than 10 years, or Viet Nam will give preferential treatment to the EU on the basis of the World Trade Organisation (WTO)s tariff quota.

Meanwhile, the country pledged to erase tariffs on exports to the EU according to a 15-year roadmap, except for some products such as crude oil and coal.

On February 12, the European Parliament ratified the EVFTA with 401 votes in favour, 192 against and 40 abstentions. The EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement was also passed the same day.

Both agreements were officially signed in Ha Noi on June 30, 2019.

The European Parliament will later issue an announcement on the completion of the EVFTA ratification process and transfer the ratification dossier back to the European Council to complete final procedures.

Vietnamese agencies are also working on procedures to submit the EVFTA to the National Assembly at the session in May. If the parliament adopts the deal in May and the two sides inform each other about procedure completion in June, the EVFTA will become effective on July 1 this year.  VNS

Vietnam says to ratify EVFTA in May The EVFTA will be ratified in May and take effect in July this year if everything fares well, said Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh.
Franklin Graham defends pastor who attacked abortion, gay marriage during Va. House of Delegates prayer

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

The Rev. Franklin Graham expressed his support for a pastor who garnered controversy when he criticized abortion and same-sex marriage during a prayer that opened a Virginia House of Delegates meeting.

Earlier this week, the Rev. Robert M. Grant Jr., senior pastor of The Father's Way Church of Warrenton, gave the provocative invocation before the Democrat-controlled chamber and was heckled and eventually cut off by House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn of Fairfax.

In a post on Facebook Friday, Graham said that he believed Grant was a guy whos got guts for Jesus.

Democrats in the Virginia House of Delegates treated this African American pastor with contempt. Rev. Dr. Robert M. Grant, Jr., was invited to pray and he took a stand for life, marriage, and biblical principles, stated Graham.

They didnt want to hear the truth. But what Pastor Grant said was truth. Hes rightthese are crucial times. He urged lawmakers to honor Gods laws and be aware of His judgment.

The head of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritans Purse concluded his post by stating I just love this guy.

On Tuesday, Grant gave the invocation prayer before the House of Delegates. During his remarks, he covered multiple topics, including racial inequality and prison reform.

However, he garnered the most attention when he expressed opposition to abortion and support for traditional marriage, asking in his prayer that the legislature not pass laws that provoke Gods anger.

The unborn has rights and those rights need to be protected. They should never be denied the right to exist, the right to develop or the right to have a family. The word of God has given us a warning: woe to anyone who harms an innocent child, stated Grant.

We should never re-write what God has declared  Its not yours to change or alter its wording. The Bible is the copyright of Gods word. Marriage is to join a biological male and a biological female in holy matrimony, not to provoke the almighty God.

Eventually, Speaker Filler-Corn gaveled him down and began reciting the Pledge of Allegiance along with other legislators, effectively cutting off the pastor.

Democratic Delegate Luke Torian, the pastor of First Mount Zion Baptist Church of Dumfries, was among Grants critics.

In comments made before the chamber that received a loud ovation, Torian denounced Grants invocation as totally wrong and disrespectful to every member in this House.

[We clergy] are to respect this House, we are to invoke Gods presence, we are to ask for His blessings, we are to ask for His protection, we are to ask for His guidance, said Torian.

We are not to give political speeches and to make people feel bad. That is not what a prayer is supposed to do. And over the years that Ive been here, on both sides of the aisles, there have been clergy who have not honored the integrity of the request.
RESEARCH analysts and broadband price comparison experts from Cable.co.uk have placed the TCI as the 15th most expensive nation in the world for fixed-line broadband.





It recently released its 2020 Global Broadband Pricing Study detailing the cost of broadband in 206 countries.





On publication of the report, the TCI ranked fourth in the study, listed only below Eritrea, Yemen and Mauritania as the worlds most expensive.





However, the TCI Telecommunications Commission realised there was a mistake in the ranking and quickly contacted the analysts to rectify the error.





Despite the subsequent correction, the territory still remains as one of the globes most expensive for internet.





Kenva Williams, director of technology at TCI Telecommunications Commission, agreed that the broadband rate for the TCI is "excessive for such a small market.





"However, this is due to many factors, primarily because of convergence of telecommunications and broadcasting and voice over internet protocol services, which have changed the telecommunications business model and how regulations should be applied.





He said that despite this the commission will continue to encourage the services providers to lower their broadband rate and examine ways to implement an efficient price cap regime to that achieved for voice services.





"The commission remains committed to its mission statement to ensure all consumers and businesses in the Turks and Caicos Islands have access to quality telecommunications services, at reasonable rates, in a fully competitive marketplace, he concluded.





The average cost of a fixed line broadband package per month in US$ is listed at $134.99 in the TCI. It ranges from $93.99 for 10Mbps to $295 for 72Mbps.





The most expensive is Eritrea at $2,666.24 while the cheapest is Syria at only $6.60 per month.





Premier Sharlene Cartwright Robinson did not respond to requests for comment, however Opposition Leader Washington Misick said it was due to "corporate exploitation.





"There might be legitimate reasons for this and someone from the industry should weigh in on it.





"However, without explanation this may be symptomatic of a pervasive culture of corporate exploitation in the TCI that must be addressed through social economic policy, starting with the enforcement of the Consumer Protection Legislation since voluntary corporate social responsibility seem to be generally lacking.





Cable.co.uk also released a report detailing the worlds fastest download speeds in which the TCI ranked 74th at 8.78 Mbps.





Digicel TCI did not respond to requests for comment on the report by press time.




ORLANDO, FLA.SpaceX was shooting for an ambitious, milestone-packed launch Monday morning that would have further flexed its reusability muscle as the company works to make rocket launches as routine as air travel.

And it did succeed on some fronts: The launch was the companys 80th successful takeoff, using a rocket booster that flew only 63 days ago. Thats the quickest turnaround time yet for a reused booster.

The Falcon 9 booster that launched Monday at 10:05 a.m. local time from Cape Canaveral Air Force Stations launch complex 40 previously flew on Dec. 16. This was the boosters fourth mission. The previous record to turnaround a booster was 72 days.

But SpaceX was also hoping to land the booster back on its droneship, Of Course I Still Love You, stationed in the Atlantic Ocean shortly after launch  what would have marked its 50th successful landing. The booster missed the mark, apparently crashing in the ocean instead.

The reason, cautioned SpaceX lead manufacturing engineer Jessica Anderson, was the complexity of the mission. SpaceX launched a set of 60 of the companys own satellites, called Starlink, Monday morning. But, unlike prior missions of the satellites, these satellites were directly injected into an elliptical, or oval, orbit, instead of a circular orbit.

The stack for 60 Starlinks combined is one of the heaviest payloads we fly so putting them directly into this orbit requires more vehicle performance and makes recovery more challenging, Anderson said. Each Starlink weighs about 258 kilograms, for a combined weight upwards of 15,400 kg.

Reusing major components is a central part of SpaceXs business model. The company is working to extend the working life of its boosters, which it attempts to land back to Earth about eight minutes after most launches, and its fairings, the clamlike portion at the top of the rocket that carries the payload.

So far, SpaceX as been able to catch one half of its fairings after launch and has gotten closer to recovering both halves on its Ms. Chief and Ms. Tree recovery vessels.

Recovery is key to bringing down the high price tag typically associated with rocket launches. The company says a standard Falcon 9 flight costs $62 million (U.S.), compared to legacy providers that charge closer to $100 million, according to past estimates.

Long term, we are hoping to drive that turnaround time down even further with rocket launches looking more similar to commercial air travel where the planes get basic check outs, they get refuelled and then they head right back out, said Lauren Lyons, a SpaceX Starlink engineer.

Starlink is the other part of SpaceXs evolving business model. In May of last year, SpaceX officially entered the telecommunications industry by launching its own line of satellites called Starlink to offer high-speed broadband internet connectivity to the entire globe.

Mondays launch was the fifth overall for Starlink. It has been delayed twice, from Saturday due to bad weather and Sunday due a component in the rockets second stage that the SpaceX team chose to further evaluate.

SpaceX has been sending Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit in batches of 60 satellites per launch at a rapid clip to try to have as many as 1,500 spacecraft in orbit by the end of the year. Theres already been two Starlink launches this year.

But, previously, the satellites went into a circular orbit to about 290 kilometres above Earth. From now on, theyll go straight into an elliptical orbit, SpaceX said. The satellites are then raised to their operational altitude, about 547 km from the globe.

The satellites orbit significantly closer than traditional geostationary satellites that orbit more than 32,000 km from the planet. That proximity means high speeds for internet connectivity but it also means thousands need to be in space to be able to offer coverage to the entire planet.

If SpaceX meets its goal of more than 1,500 Starlinks in space by the end of 2020  thats 20 more launches  the company says it will be able to offer coverage to North America and Canada.

And while the business motivation is clear, the astronomical community is less than thrilled at the prospect of hundreds of satellites orbiting the Earth at close range, creating steaks of light across the night sky that impede their ability to collect accurate data. SpaceX has been working with the American Astronomical Society since last year to try to find a solution.

The company and the astronomical society are awaiting the result of a test launched in January that included a coated satellite, to see if a darkened spacecraft could both function well and dim the affect of Starlinks in the night sky. The results of the test wont be available until March.

Read more about:
Almost 6 years later, and yet I believe Im right in saying this was the last time where people from such varying worlds said: Stop, this is not the way authorities should treat the media!. From Monika Olejnik to Cezary Gmyz, from Wojciech Czuchnowski to Samuel Pereira, from Bertold Kittel to Micha Rachon, from Katarzyna Kolenda-Zaleska to Rafa Ziemkiewicz. Dozens of journalists, full range of editors from Gazeta Wyborcza, Siec, through Rzeczpospolita, Dziennik, RMF, Radio Zet, to Newsweek, TVN and Wyborcza.

This was the first case since 1989 of a blatant power play against the media where the secret service openly interfered with the freedom of speech in its most sensitive aspect  the protection of sources that requested to stay anonymous. (...) We cannot remain indifferent to this brutal act where journalistic autonomy was compromised, wrote journalists in an open letter in that time. In the times of Poles fighting against Poles, it was uplifting to see there were still basic values people could stand for together: protection of sources, journalistic confidentiality and attitude towards acts of violence by the secret service towards reporters.

Two days ago, the case reached its little finale. When resolving accusations brought by Jozef Gacek, the prosecutor who led the operation at Wprost, judge Monika Tkaczyk-Turek at the District Court in Warsaw found me guilty and fined me with PLN 18,000 under Article 224(2) of the Polish Penal Code. Let me just add that in the reign of prosecutor Andrzej Seremet and the coalition between the Civic Platform (PO) and the Polish Peoples Party (PSL), the investigators conducted relevant proceedings and discontinued them as they had failed to establish any elements of an offense in our actions.

Article 224(2), justifying my sentence on Monday, says that he who uses violence or an illegal threat with the intention of forcing a public official to undertake or abstain from a lawful official duty shall be liable to a penalty. This pertains exactly to the infamous situation where ABW agents intended to take the computer away from Latkowski. In any case, I did not use violence or threats. My alleged behavior did not occur. If there is any doubt, you can see the popular video on YouTube. And to make it clear, the process did not indicate even the slightest sign of me being violent or threatening someone. Not one word was offensive!

Judge Tkaczyk-Turek also assigned similar behavior to the publisher (who also happened to be in Latkowskis office), fining him with an amount 2,000 higher than mine. No written reasoning has been drafted yet, but the lawyers present at the trial provided me with the orally pronounced ratio decidendi of Monika Tkaczyk-Turek. I find the judgment routine, run-of-the-mill, to some extent sadly puerile, as such key things like wider context and circumstances have not been taken into account.

Firstly, the judge pointed out there was no conflict of interests that evening, as the prosecutors decision did not involve disclosure of sources, but only the conversations. And if the person summoned (i.e. Latkowski) had handed over the laptop, it would have not constituted disclosure of journalistic confidentiality. This was definitely not the case, and there was obviously a fundamental conflict of interests! Under the command of prosecutor Gacek, the agents tried to deprive Latkowski of the laptop where he stored records of many journalistic investigations, including such based on contacts he had had with sources that requested to stay anonymous. By blowing the whistle on their sources, a journalist ends their career. They can tear up their license and move on to another profession. And this was exactly the most significant conflict of interests.

Secondly, Monika Tkaczyk-Turek indicated that if it takes hours for prosecutors and ABW agents to explain something to a citizen who still refuses to undertake an action, it means abuse of authority. You could roughly agree, but the situation of June 18, 2014 was much more complex than the judge would like to see it.

To begin with, the prosecutors and ABW agents urged us to surrender the carriers with recordings (which, by the way, at that time were in the public domain). I remember how surprised the ABW commander Grzegorz Czechowicz was when we were telling him we dont physically dispose of the carriers (CDs, floppy disks, tapes on reels), but only of a Google cloud link where the source had saved the recordings. It felt like they didnt understand what we are trying to explain nice and easy.

Another thing is, the operation was taking hours from an early afternoon until late night not because of us, but because of the ABW team and the prosecutors office. They did not secure the place. Yet, they wanted to search through an open space where at least 200 people had gathered. Interestingly and mysteriously enough, the police remained unconcerned. Apparently they had been instructed by a sane superior not to be in the front line of this grotesque operation carried out by the service and prosecutor at the editorial office.

Last but not least, the investigators did not have an IT specialist who would have easily created a binary copy of Latkowskis MacBook. The judge also said that no one asked me in to Latkowkis office where the great commotion took place that afternoon and evening. This is not true. I had been designated for this purpose and my presence had been accepted by the prosecutors. There are more statements in the judgment and its oral reasoning that give rise to even more doubts. Like the one that the crowd in front of Latkowskis office was aggressive. A lot can be said about this crowd of reporters from various editorial offices, but not that it was aggressive! Chanting Free media! and aggression have pretty much nothing in common.

One final remark. I understand there is a heated dispute between certain politicians and judges. But please remember one thing. That behavior, that objection to violence towards a journalist, that basic aspect of protecting sources had nothing to do with politics. Nothing at all. To put it short, I would act the same way if this laptop was being ripped by agents supervised by any other government. Judgments calling ethical, moral behaviors aimed at protecting the rules of free press an offense build neither trust nor faith in justice. I refuse to think that this case can actually end like this. I am hoping for the prudence, reason and imagination of the appeals court.
Australia's wildfires: Is this the 'new normal'?

Posted on 17 February 2020 by greenman3610

This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Peter Sinclair

Hotter across the board is how University of Melbourne climate scientist Linden Ashcroft describes the overheated and dried-out climate that has given rise to Australias ravaging bush fires over the past several months.

The prolonged lack of rainfall that has characterized both Australia and the American Southwest over recent years isnt like a drought of yore, University of Michigan scientist Jonathan Overpeck says in a brief new video produced for Yale Climate Connections. Its actually an aridification, Overpeck says, as the warming atmosphere is leading to atmospheric circulation patterns that are drying up in a way that is changing some of these drier regions.

Texas Tech climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe explains that with increasing temperatures, evaporation speeds up: So you need more water to provide the same amount of irrigation.

One troubling manifestation of the stressful heat and drought patterns is that rampant bush fires are occurring in unexpected places. What were seeing is places burning that arent supposed to burn, Ashcroft says. She points to fires in high-country places that had burned just two years earlier. Overpeck and meteorologist Jeff Masters agree, Masters pointing to a 2018 fire in an Australia World Heritage rainforest.

The new video was produced as part of a monthly YCC This Is Not Cool video series by independent videographer Peter Sinclair of Midland, Michigan.
A Delhi government hospital has suspended biometric attendance for its employees as a "precautionary measure" after many of them complained of "psychological unease" over the coronavirus scare, a senior official said on Monday.

The order to suspend biometric attendance at Maharishi Valmiki Hospital was issued recently, after many employees "expressed concern" over its usage, he said.

The attendance is now being marked manually till further order, the official said, adding, the measure has been taken to offer "psychological ease" to employees as they are aware about coronavirus and how it spreads.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 18:51:39|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been proven effective in curing patients of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), a Chinese health official said Monday.

For example, a TCM decoction named "Qingfei Paidutang" has been used in treating 701 confirmed cases in 10 provinces, of which 130 have been cured and discharged, said Li Yu, an official with the National Administration of TCM.

Symptoms have disappeared in 51 cases and improved in 268, with another 212 remaining in stable condition, said Li, adding that the decoction was recommended to medical institutions nationwide on Feb. 6 after data analysis on 214 cases.

Li also shared the analysis and statistics cases with detailed clinical records, as 94.6 percent of the 112 patients restored to normal body temperature, and 80.6 percent of 214 patients stopped coughing after using the decoction for six days.

The data showed the decoction's good clinical effect and treatment prospect on COVID-19, said Li.

The central government's joint prevention and control mechanism on the situation has called for stronger cooperation between TCM and Western medicine in the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases such as COVID-19, requiring local authorities to promote the use of TCM in the whole process of diagnosis and treatment.

As of Monday, more than 3,100 medical personnel from over 630 TCM hospitals across the country have been sent to aid Hubei Province in the fight against the epidemic, said Jiang Jian, another official of the national administration.

TCM has been used in treating 60,107 confirmed cases in China, or 85.2 percent of the total, according to Jiang.
JOHANNESBURG - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in his latest Africa stop on Monday praised Angolas president for his actions against corruption, saying it would help attract investment.

This country has been held hostage to that corruption for far too long, Pompeo told reporters. This reform agenda that the president put in place has to stick and more investment will follow, he said.

President Joao Lourenco since taking office in 2017 has acted even against family members of former longtime leader Eduardo dos Santos, including his daughter Isabel, reputedly Africas richest woman. A recent investigation by a global consortium of journalists led to allegations of widespread mismanagement of state funds, which she has denied.

The United States also sees oil-rich but largely impoverished Angola as a prime country in which to counter the influence of China. Angola borrowed $40 billion from China between 2005 and 2019, representing about half of its external debt, according to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies.

In a joint press conference with Pompeo, Angolan Foreign Minister Manuel Augusto said the secretary of states visit is a sign that the Trump administration supports the government of Lourenco, a former defence minister, and his reforms.

Asked when President Donald Trump might visit Africa, Pompeo told reporters he would be taking back an invitation from Lourenco but warned that this election year is very busy. Pompeos visit to Africa is the first by a Cabinet official in 18 months.

The secretary of state was expected to arrive late Monday in Ethiopia, Africas second most populous country and a key U.S. security ally in the Horn of Africa region. Its Nobel Peace Prize-winning Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is under pressure to uphold his dramatic political reforms amid rising ethnic tensions ahead of a major election in August.

Abiys government is also under pressure from the U.S. to reach an agreement with Egypt on the massive Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam project that Ethiopia says is crucial to pull its people out of poverty. Egypt, however, worries that the dam will limit its access to the Nile River waters.

The countries, along with Sudan, are expected to come to a final agreement late this month in Washington.
A snowfall in northern Ohio inspired a cancer patient's daughter to write a message to her mom in the fresh snow outside her hospital room.

Michele Schambach, 65, arrived at the Cleveland Clinic from Guatemala on Wednesday hoping for more advanced treatment for her aggressive brain cancer. This was her second time in the United States for treatment, after coming to the non-profit hospital for care in October.

Her daughter, Marie Schambach, a physician in Guatemala, told CNN she had never seen snow before, but decided that she could use it to lift her mom's spirits.

"I looked out the window and saw a big blank slate, and thought I could write something on it," she said.

Schambach walked by the space on her way back to her hotel on Thursday night and tried to dig out the words, but because it was still snowing, it wasn't working out.

On Friday, she tried again. This time, her message  "MOM BE BRAVE"  clearly stood out in the white powder. Her mom could see it from her room window.

"I told my dad, "Wake my mom! Tell her to go to the window," Marie said. "She was happy, so, so happy."

Schambach was hoping other patients would see the message and feel like "somebody else cares."

The Cleveland Clinic tweeted a photograph of the message with the caption, "A beautiful message was left at our main campus today. To the person who wrote it, you've touched our hearts. #MomBeBrave."

Schambach said messages for her mother began pouring in after the clinic posted the photo. Her mother is a former teacher and students that she taught 30 years ago in Latin America reached out to tell her they were thinking of her.

"So happy to have so many people praying for my mom. It makes her smile," Schambach said.

As a physician, Schambach said she believes that others bringing joy can help her mom's body heal faster.

In fact, on Saturday, they got the good news that her mother's white blood cells were up. The doctor said the medicine being used to treat the cancer was kicking in, but Schambach had another theory.

"The medicine helps, but it's from a lot of support and a lot of prayer."
PORTLAND, Oregon, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research recently published a report, titled, "Utility Poles Market by Type (Transmission Poles and Distribution Poles), By Material (Wood, Steel, Composites, Concrete), Pole Size (Below 40ft, Between 40 & 70ft, and Above 70ft), and Application (Electricity Transmission & Distribution, Telecommunication, Street Lighting, Heavy Power Lines, Sub Transmission Lines, and Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20192026". According to the report, the global utility poles industry was pegged at $45.6 billion in 2018 and is projected to reach $58.8 billion by 2026, registering a CAGR of 3.2% from 2019 to 2026.

Chief reasons for market fluctuations

Growth in the global energy consumption, rise in adoption in the telecommunication industry, and approval of steel's material profile as a green material have boosted the growth of the global utility poles market. However, increase in trend for underground wire or cables network and regulations against deforestation hamper the market growth. On the contrary, advent of composites in the utility sector is expected to create lucrative opportunities in the near future.

Download Report Sample: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/5939

The distribution pole segment dominated the market

By product, the distribution pole segment held the largest share in 2018, contributing to more than three-fifths of the global utility poles market, owing to rise in energy demand across the globe. However, the transmission pole segment is expected to register the fastest CAGR of 3.6% from 2019 to 2026, owing to increase in demand for power supply and the necessity for safe electricity transmission. Moreover, changes in climatic conditions & global weather patterns are expected to increase the production of transmission poles with upgraded designs.

The concrete pole segment to manifest the fastest CAGR through 2026

The concrete pole segment is expected to manifest the fastest CAGR of 3.7% from 2019 to 2026, due to the advent of composite material in the utility sector that promotes longer lifespan over other types. However, the wooden pole segment dominated the global utility poles market in 2018, accounting for nearly half of the market, owing to increase in energy consumption and rise in broadband users.

Make Purchase Enquiry: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/5939

Asia-Pacific region, followed by North America, to become lucrative segment

The global utility poles market across Asia-Pacific, followed by North America, held the largest share in 2018, contributing to nearly two-fifths of the market. Moreover, the region is expected to register the fastest CAGR of 3.6% through 2026, due to increase in demand for telecom service and rise in focus on technological advancements coupled with presence of several new players in the region. The report includes analysis of the market across other regions such as LAMEA and Europe.

Major market players

Skipper Ltd.

Valmont Industries Inc.

El Sewedy Electric Company

Nippon Concrete Industries Co. Ltd.

Stella-Jones

Hill & Smith Holdings PLC

Pelco products Inc.

Omega Factory

RS Technologies Inc.

Access Avenue (Premium on-demand, subscription-based pricing model) at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/Avenue-Membership-details

Avenue, a user-based library of global market report database, provides comprehensive reports pertaining to the world's largest emerging markets. It further offers e-access to all the available industry reports just in a jiffy. Avenue is a premium subscription-based model that serves as an informative solution on which the world-leading companies can rely on.

Similar Reports:

Global High Voltage Capacitor Market Expected to Reach $3,307.10 Million by 2025

Medium Voltage Cables Market to Reach $54.2 Billion, Globally, by 2022

Power Transformer Market to Reach $35,353 Million, Globally, by 2022

Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Panels Market to reach $307,204 Million, Globally by 2023

Energy Storage Systems Market to Reach $264,953 Million, Globally, by 2022

High Voltage Cable Market to Reach $47.1 Billion, Globally, by 2022

Pre-book Offer 12% Discount:

Wind Tower Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019-2026

Wind Turbine Foundation Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019-2026

About us:

Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.

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.

Contact us:

David Correa

5933 NE Win Sivers Drive

#205, Portland, OR 97220

United States

Toll Free (USA/Canada): 1-800-792-5285, 1-503-894-6022, 1-503-446-1141

UK: +44-845-528-1300

Hong Kong: +852-301-84916

India (Pune): +91-20-66346060

Fax: +1-855-550-5975

[email protected]

Web: www.alliedmarketresearch.com

Follow us on: https://www.linkedin.com/company/allied-market-research

SOURCE Allied Market Research
President Donald Trumps well-known disdain for the arcana of policy has one advantage. On topics where neither he nor his authoritarian buddies or Washington ideologues who colour his Middle East policies have much of an interest, there is space for real change.

Last week came news of an apparent breakthrough in talks with the Taliban over a possible peace agreement for Afghanistan.

In a rare moment, even jaded members of Afghanistans political class are sounding hopeful.

Our optimism concerning the protracted and controversial peace process these days is growing, former Afghan lawmaker Gul Pacha Majidi, who narrowly escaped a suicide bombing in 2015, said during a television interview. After the lengthy negotiations, both the US and the Taliban will get closer to a peace deal.

US officials say theyre eager to cut some kind of deal with the Taliban as soon as possible. As with everything in Trump-world, theres a domestic political calculation. Peace in Afghanistan would hand Trump a trophy that has eluded his two predecessors, and just ahead of the November elections.

US Bombardier wreckage in Afghanistan Show all 10 1 /10 US Bombardier wreckage in Afghanistan US Bombardier wreckage in Afghanistan AP US Bombardier wreckage in Afghanistan Reuters US Bombardier wreckage in Afghanistan Reuters US Bombardier wreckage in Afghanistan Reuters US Bombardier wreckage in Afghanistan AP US Bombardier wreckage in Afghanistan AFP via Getty US Bombardier wreckage in Afghanistan AP US Bombardier wreckage in Afghanistan AP US Bombardier wreckage in Afghanistan AFP via Getty US Bombardier wreckage in Afghanistan AP

But that appears to be where the political considerations end. The emerging details of the plan, more than a year in the works, suggest it has been hammered out in the Qatari capital of Doha by professional policy hands.

US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, an American of Afghan origin who served as US ambassador to the country after the 2001 US invasion, likely sees bringing peace to his birth country as the fulfilment of a lifelong quest.

Trump may consider such foreign entanglements expensive and politically unpopular. But if his selfishness and myopia bring a measure of peace to a wounded country that has known little but war for more than four decades, then so be it.

There are a number of reasons for cautious optimism. First off, the Kabul government is being kept in the loop, not getting surprises sprung on it that would raise fears the US-led forces in Afghanistan were about to abandon another ally. Natos senior civilian envoy to Afghanistan, Sir Nicolas Key, has asked Afghan officials to come up with an inclusive panel of delegates who could meet directly with the Taliban.

Officials have said the peace mechanism would start with a seven-day period of reduced violence from 14 February, ending with signing a peace deal on 21 February, and the beginning of intra-Afghan negotiations.

The best, if not only, solution forward is a political agreement, US defence secretary Mark Esper said in Brussels last week. We have the basis for one on the table, and we are taking a hard look at it. We are consulting with our allies. We are consulting with congress and others. And I think peace deserves a chance.

A political deal and the reduction in violence would lead to fewer international troops as demanded by the Taliban. But each step of the way would be contingent on whether the Taliban refrains from attacks on Afghan or US troops.

Military decisions are going to be taken on the basis of where we are, and I think everybody is restrained in their expectations, a senior State Department official told reporters on Saturday from the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. We bring the violence down  this hope  and see what comes next.

Ideally, this conditions-based approach, as Esper calls it, could box the Taliban in and encourage it to avoid giving in to its extremist tendencies.

The Taliban still may have not changed its ways. It is an extremist organisation that could wipe away gains for minorities and women that have come about over the last 18 years in Afghanistan. According to Janes Terrorism and Insurgency Centre, it was responsible for a 60 per cent spike in fatal attacks throughout Afghanistan last year.

No one is going towards a ceasefire and peace blindly, Afghan defence minister Asadullah Khalid was quoted as saying by local media.

Despite its extremist tendencies, the Taliban has an incentive to seek peace. The violence is taking a terrible toll on Afghan civilians. But it is also hurting the Taliban. Last week Taliban leader Maulawi Sardar Mohammad and eight fighters were killed in an airstrike in Balkh province while another commander, Mullah Abdul Rahim Tofan, and five others were killed in a separate airstrike in Herat province.

Many of the attacks on the Taliban are coming from the Afghan governments flawed but now formidable armed forces under the command of President Ashraf Ghani. It would be foolish to discount the raw bargaining power that the sheer size of the Afghan National Army gives Ghani and the Afghan government, Candace Rondeaux, an Afghanistan expert, wrote last week.

In addition to the Taliban, one of the biggest stumbling blocks to achieving peace are the divisions on the government side. The national unity government has failed to come up with a delegation to meet the Taliban and appears unprepared for the possibility of a ceasefire.

Even if a deal with the Taliban holds, breakaway factions or the Isis Afghanistan branch could sabotage it with more violence.

Still, the drive towards peace continues. The Taliban is not going away. It is not going to be defeated. It is a part and parcel of Afghan society and politics, and if Afghanistan is to have any future it must be dealt with. The alternative is yet another decade or more of war.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  A 60-day law license suspension is being recommended for Indianas attorney general after allegations that he grabbed the buttocks of a female state legislator and inappropriately touched three other women during a party.

The recommendation filed Friday with the state Supreme Court puts the Republican Hill's ability to remain as state governments top lawyer in jeopardy as he must have a law license to hold the position. It wasn't immediately clear how a temporary suspension would affect his status.

Former state Supreme Court Justice Myra Selby proposed the punishment in a report to the court, which will make the final decision in the professional misconduct case. Selby said his law license should not be automatically reinstated following the suspension.

In her 36-page report, Selby wrote that Hill committed battery and she "finds and concludes by clear and convincing evidence" he violated rules of professional conduct.

(Hill's) conduct was offensive, invasive, damaging and embarrassing" to the four women who accused him, Selby wrote. As Attorney General, he used his state ofce staff and others to engage in a public campaign to defend himself and intimidate the complainants.

A message seeking comment was left with one of Hill's attorneys.

Selby heard four days of testimony in October about Hills conduct during the March 2018 party at an Indianapolis bar marking the end of that years legislative session.

Hill has denied any wrongdoing, testifying that he briefly touched Democratic Rep. Mara Candelaria Reardon's back while leaning in to hear what she was saying during the party and was startled to realize she was wearing a backless dress. Hill said "absolutely not" when asked whether he grabbed Reardon's buttocks.

Reardon testified that Hill, smelling of alcohol and with glassy eyes, was holding a drink in his right hand and put his left hand on her shoulder, then slid his hand down her dress to clench her buttocks. "A squeeze, a firm grasp," she said.

Hill, 58, also refuted testimony from three female legislative staffers that he inappropriately touched them and made unwelcomed sexual comments during the party.

"I didn't touch any woman in a sensual or intimate manner," Hill said.

The Indiana Supreme Court's Disciplinary Commission, which investigates misconduct by lawyers, s ought a two-year suspension of Hills law license, arguing he must be held to a high standard because of his elected position and that hes not taken any responsibility for his actions. Commission attorneys maintain the testimony against Hill cannot be brushed off as simply boorish behavior or overlooked as a misunderstanding of intent.

Sexual assault causes serious, life-long harm, yet victims are loath to report it because of the fear they will be discounted and blamed instead of the perpetrator, the commissions attorneys wrote in filings to Selby.

Hill, who had been viewed as a rising African American star in the Republican Party, has rebuffed calls from Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb and other state GOP leaders for his resignation since the groping allegations became public in July 2018.

Hill announced in November his campaign to seek a second term in the 2020 election. The former prosecutor in northern Indianas Elkhart County would have to win nomination in Junes state Republican convention. He's being opposed by Adam Krupp, who stepped down in January as the Holcomb-appointed head of the state revenue department to run for attorney general.

Hill will be counting on the support of social conservatives among the state convention delegates in order to win the GOP nomination. Hes fueled that support with news conferences about the discovery of more than 2,400 sets of fetal remains at Chicago-area properties linked to a deceased Indiana abortion doctor and appearances on Fox News to discuss various topics.

The four women have also filed a federal lawsuit against Hill and the state, alleging sexual harassment and defamation by Hill. His attorneys have downplayed the allegations, arguing the claims against him represent common behavior in a bar even if they are true.

He acknowledged in legal filings that he drank three glasses of wine, a vodka martini and a shot of whiskey over several hours the night of the party.

In such environments, there tends to be some degree of physical contact between individuals," Hill's lawyers said of the crowded party. The amount of physical contact a particular person is comfortable with is highly variable from person to person."

Hills lawyers also maintain the disciplinary case is improper because a special prosecutor declined to file criminal charges and any conduct at the party shouldn't be subject to law license sanctions.

The state Supreme Court doesnt face a deadline to make its decision. The courts options range from dismissing the complaint, a reprimand, and temporary suspension or permanent removal of Hills law license.
Two cattle grazers were killed and two others injured after they were attacked by a bear in Odgi forest range of Surajpur district in Chhattisgarh on Saturday, police said on Sunday.

Four persons from Dharseri village had gone to graze cattle in a jungle patch nearby when the incident took place, Ram Sai Paikra, a police official said.

Paikra said the bear, who was hiding in bushes nearby, attacked the four men late on Saturday. Villagers rushed to their rescue after they heard their screams but could not save them.

The forest department has provided immediate financial assistance of Rs 25,000 to the family members of dead men.

In 2016, two villagers were killed and five others, including three policemen, sustained injuries when a bear attacked them in Baikunthpur forest range in tribal-dominated Koriya district of the state.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ritesh Mishra State Correspondent for Chhattisgarh. Reports Maoism, Politics, Mining and important developments from the state. Covered all sorts of extremism in Central India. Reported from Madhya Pradesh for eight years. ...view detail
Artist Heide Presse paints mid-19th-century American life as authentically as she can. Farmers, homesteaders, and pioneers are a few of the folk who are captured on canvas, taken from firsthand historical accounts. In her paintings, women read Bibles, sew quilts, or tend children; and men work the land, herd cattle, and drive wagons.

Keturah Belknap in Not an Idle Minute, 2019, by Heide Presse. Oil on linen panel; 30 inches by 22 inches. (Courtesy of Heide Presse)

Presses paintings are full of color, playful light, and sometimes dust, as Americas past comes to life through her canvas.

She starts painting only after an often lengthy process of research that enables her to depict a real-life event or scene as true to the past as possible, Presse explained by phone. Through years of research, she has built up not only a fine knowledge of the time but also a collection of period needlework that she makes and uses as props in her paintings.

In her 20s, while studying fine art and graphic design at college, Presse visited colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, where her eyes were opened to the world of historical reenactments. Little did she know then that 20 years on, she herself would reference historical reenactments so strongly in her art.

Artist Heide Presse paints mid-19th-century Americans as true to life as she can, from her studio in Tampa, Fla. (Courtesy of Heide Presse)

Today, Presse is an acclaimed artist nationally, with a busy schedule of gallery and museum exhibitions including Quest for the West at the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis and Buffalo Bill Art Show and Sale at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming, among others. Between these commitments, shes been working on a personal projectto paint the lives of the people who opened up the West in the early years of the westward trail movement, the late 1840s and early 1850s. She believes these trailblazers were the ones who took the most risk.

Here, she shares that project and how she paints living history while staying true to Americas past.

The Epoch Times: How did you begin to paint history paintings?

Heide Presse: I always had an interest in history. If you look back at my older work, you can see a thread of it. But I didnt get really serious about it until the early 2000s, when I was asked to contribute paintings for a corporate commission, which had to feature historic situations in Virginia. I had to create paintings dating from George Washingtons time all the way through to the Civil War.

I would go to historical reenactments and living history museums, and I would just paint subjects that interested me. At the time, I didnt have a thorough understanding of the details of period clothing.

I started to really dive into this historical world and learned how to conduct research for the corporate commission; I realized that I had to learn this all myself. I couldnt trust other people to be accurate with their period clothing. I learned that if I wanted my paintings to be right, then I needed to understand what was right. So I started what was to be about a 10-year journey, finding my own historical reenactor sources.

I had some wonderful people who took me under their wing because they liked what I was trying to do with my art: people who have degrees in historic costuming, museum curators, and really good historical reenactors, for example. They helped me learn a great deal. I learned how to do period sewing and how to study original clothing like bonnets from them, for example.

I like sewing, so it was not a hardship for me; it was actually quite enjoyable. I have made my own bonnet patterns after studying original bonnets, but I mostly use patterns drafted by historic costumers. Ive sewn a variety of garments, and I also purchase accurate reproductions, so that I have enough clothing to dress people at my home studio when I need to.

I am not an expert in any of this by any means, but I learned enough.

When I was first starting to learn the history, I actually had clothing made for myself and went to a very good living history event on a historic farm in the Shenandoah Valley. Because I wanted to understand how to dress women, I needed to do it myself. And that was a good thing because I understand what it feels like to wear the clothes, and it just gave me a good understanding and grounding.

Heide Presses paintings, needlework, and props on show in her 2019 exhibition, We Set Our Faces WestwardOne Womans Journey 18391848, at the Steamboat Art Museum in Steamboat Springs, Colo. The exhibition introduced her creative process on the project, which will be completed around 2022. (Courtesy of Heide Presse)

Heide Presses 2019 exhibition, We Set Our Faces WestwardOne Womans Journey 18391848, at the Steamboat Art Museum in Steamboat Springs, Colo. The exhibition introduced her creative process on the project, which will be completed around 2022. (Courtesy of Heide Presse)

Heide Presses mid-19th-century props in her exhibition at the Steamboat Art Museum, in Colorado, in 2019. Presse sewed the bonnet by hand. (Courtesy of Heide Presse)

But my best-case scenario and what I seek out first when Im planning a painting is to photograph historic interpreters who know what theyre doing. And they have the period clothing, and its lived in, and they look like history.

The Epoch Times: Part of researching your paintings involves reading 19th-century journals. How do these influence your paintings?

Mrs. Presse: When I was working on the corporate commission pieces, I was always going to historic sites or doing research and visiting museums to get references for those paintings. Every time I would go to those places, I would always explore the bookstore, and I started picking up books that contained journals.

I love reading journals because if I am trying to get into the heads of people I want to depict in my painting, I feel the best way to do it is to read their own words. Its the best way for me to put myself into their shoes, so to speak. And also, when I went through this process of learning how to research, of course, one of the first things I learned is to find primary documentation first, so I was always looking for that sort of thing.

Pioneers on the 1850s westward trail. Night Falls on the Prairie, 2015, by Heide Presse. Oil on linen panel; 29 inches by 24 inches. Private collection. (Courtesy of Heide Presse)

One time, I picked up this book that contained journals written mostly by women as they traveled the trails west, and I was just hooked. I started reading all these journals. And for the first time, it gave me an understanding of getting into the wagon and spending several months relocating. Before, I had this kind of romanticized image in my mind, and I didnt really think that much about it. But the situation was far more complex, as you can imagine. So that led me to where I am today.

The Epoch Times: Please tell us about your current project We Set Our Faces WestwardOne Womans Journey 18391848.

Mrs. Presse: Since that first book that I picked up that contained several journals, Ive read a lot of journals and, of course, I get ideas for paintings.

But there was this one particular journal (its not a very long journal, really), but the woman who wrote it, Keturah Belknap, was just incredibly descriptive. Most journals from the Oregon Trail or California Trail, talk about how many miles they traveled, if they had good water, good grass, and they talked about landmarks along the way. They all traveled the same routes, so if you read many of these trail journals, they can be a bit redundant.

But Belknaps journal just stood out because she talked about how she did things, everyday things, and thats what fascinates me. In 1840, she wrote:

Now it is spring and we have got a few sheep on the shares and they are sheared. All this winter I have been spinning flax and tow to make some summer clothes. I have not spent an idle minute.

Now the wool must be taken from the sheeps bag, washed, picked, and sent to the carding machine and made into rolls. Then it must be spun, colored, and wove to have it ready for next winter.

Spring lambs at Genesee Country Village and Museum, in 2016, feature in Heide Presses project sketchbook in preparation for her homestead paintings. (Courtesy of Heide Presse)

Tender family moments in Heide Presses We Set Our Faces WestwardOne Womans Journey 18391848 project sketchbook. (Courtesy of Heide Presse)

So I started to get this vision of doing a series of paintings depicting the life of one person who went through this process.

Belknap and her husband were newlyweds in their early 20s, who went from Ohio to Iowa to homestead in 1839. Half of my project covers the time that they homesteaded in Iowa from 1839 to 1847, so I am basically painting a picture of everyday life during that period. Then the other half of the project is their journey from Iowa to Oregon in the covered wagon. Belknap and her immediate family went to Oregon from Iowa in 1848.

In 1848, Keturah Belknap and her family travel in a wagon train through sagebrush desert in central Wyoming on the overland trail to Oregon. Destiny, 2018, by Heide Presse. Oil on linen panel; 20 inches by 36 inches. (Courtesy of Heide Presse)

Pioneers travel in the wagon train on the westward trail in the 1840s. Westward Ho! 2016, by Heide Presse. Oil on linen panel; 24 inches by 42 inches. (Courtesy of Heide Presse)

In 1847, when the gold rush began in California, the gold rush stories started to hit the publications in the Northeast and everywhere, and people started migrating to the West. And that started a big change for this country.

I think so many people kept journals during the trip because they knew they were making history.

Belknap just resonated with me. I was just fascinated by her feistiness and everything she went through, and the way she described in such detail how she did every little thing. She also had a very deep Christian faith and spoke of it frequently. Its also a huge presence in many of the journals that I read, because those people generally had a really deep faith.

The only thing Belknap didnt really talk about is that she happened to be pregnant and gave birth on the trail. Its interesting that they never talked about really personal things like being pregnant. You never find out that they were pregnant on the whole trip until the baby is born. But thats the way it was.

Keturah Belknap in the doorway of her family home in Oregon, in Home is at the End of the Trail, 2017, by Heide Presse. Oil on linen panel; 36 inches by 27 inches. (Courtesy of Heide Presse)

Having decided to create a large collection of art based on Belknaps journal, the first thing I had to do was to find a young woman who was going to be my model. I attended a conference in Pennsylvania to learn about mid-1800s culture and clothing and spoke to a young woman who Id first met at the Shenandoah Valley event. Shes an outstanding living history interpreter and a very talented dressmaker.

So I talked to her and I thought, How in the world am I realistically going to do this living in Florida? Once I sat down and had the conversation with her, it was like God just poured all these opportunities into my lap to get this done. It was amazing. Because at that time she happened to work for Genesee Country Village and Museum, which is a wonderful living history museum in New York state with a village of 68 historic structures. She opened the doors to almost everything I needed as reference for my work, including introducing me to other talented historical interpreters who also pose for me.

One of the most lucky finds was someone to pose as her husband, the man in the story. At the time, I really did not know much about mens impressions or have much knowledge of agriculture in that period. She introduced me to a young fellow who worked in the agriculture program at this living history museum where they have heritage breed animals, including the shorthorn Milking Devon oxen. There, they plow the land, grow and harvest crops, and all in the period manner.

For about three years, I would visit the museum a couple of times a year and spend several days there. So that just parlayed into the most perfect situation for me. Thats where I got a lot of my reference material.

Im just always astounded at how lucky I am. Im so grateful that these talented individuals who devote so much of their lives to living history have agreed to work with me. Because the painting is only going to be as good as the subject, I have to have a good reference. And I need to understand what Im painting.

This article has been edited for clarity and brevity.

The transcription of the Keturah Belknap diary comes from the Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections at the Washington State University Libraries in Pullman, Wash.

To find out more about Heide Presses work, visit HeidePresse.com
by Sarah Mahoney @mahoney_sarah, February 17, 2020

Step aside, kimchi and kombucha. Toms of Maine is out to give Americans a whole new way to befriend bacteria, debuting a line of personal-care products that promote the growth of good bacteria.

The company, owned by Colgate-Palmolive, is working with actress Ellie (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) Kemper as it rolls out the collection. And the launch includes toothpaste, bar soap, and a deodorant promising 48-hour protection.

Toms says the idea came from research that finds a third of Americans believe their bodily bacteria is out of whack.

The probiotic category has been booming for years, from supplements to yogurt to beverages. But prebiotic products look to take consumers one step further into the microbial kingdom. Prebiotics are the nutrients that promote the growth of probiotic bacteria that already exist in and on the body by feeding them, while starving and crowding out the bad bacteria that cause bad breath or body odor, according to the company.

advertisement advertisement

Toms research also finds that while more than half of American consumers believe their gut could benefit from a healthier balance of good and bad bugs, significantly fewer recognize that the skin (40%) and mouth (37%) can also be out of balance.

The company is also promoting the collection with videos featuring Amy Shah, M.D., explaining the value of prebiotics.

Its introducing the line at retailers like Target, Amazon, CVS and Whole Foods.

We know most people appreciate the importance of balancing the bacteria in the gut, but often dont realize there are other unique microbiomes across the body to support, as well, says Justin Boudrow, personal care brand manager at Toms of Maine, in the announcement.

Other recent innovations from Toms include charcoal toothpaste, and what it claims is the first recyclable toothpaste tube.

And last year, the company, which has battled perceptions that it is less committed to environmental goals than independent brands, became a Certified B Corporation. That designation is earned through evaluations of social and environmental performance, transparency, and legal accountability. Additionally, it donates 10% of profits to supporting nature, including a $2 million to the Nature Conservancy for waterways protection.
Charles Portis, the author whose 1968 novel True Grit inspired two beloved big-screen Westerns, died Monday at the age of 86.

The Arkansas native had struggled with failing health for several years, according to his brother, Jonathan, who confirmed the death to the Arkansas Times.

Portis was born in 1933 in El Dorado, Arkansas, to Samuel Palmer Portis and Alice Waddell Portis. He served in the Marines during the Korean War before going on to study journalism at the University of Arkansas.

He was a newspaper reporter before going on to write fiction, having written for Fayettevilles Northwest Arkansas Times, Memphis Commercial Appeal, the Arkansas Gazette, and Newsweek. He went on to become the London bureau chief of the New York Herald-Tribune, according to an obituary his family prepared for the Ruebel Funeral Home which was obtained by to the Arkansas Times.

Also Read: 'M*A*S*H' Actress Kellye Nakahara Dies After Battle With Cancer

His 1968 novel True Grit was his biggest success. It inspired a 1969 John Wayne film, and later the 2010 film starring Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and Hailee Steinfeld. It follows the story of a young farm girl who hires a drunken lawman to catch the outlaw who murdered her father. They go on a quest along with a Texas Ranger to track down the villain, and on that adventure, the strength of their grit is tested.

Portis other work includes comic fiction like Norwood, The Dog of the South, Masters of Atlantis, and Gringos, as well as a collection of his shorter works called Escape Velocity.

Read original story Charles Portis, True Grit Novelist, Dies at 86 At TheWrap
With vast data centers that power cloud computing, and a global network for shipping and delivering packages, Amazons own impact on the environment is substantial. In September, the company revealed its own carbon footprint for the first time, disclosing it emitted about 44.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2018  the equivalent of burning almost 600,000 tanker trucks worth of gasoline.

That would put them in the top 150 or 200 emitters in the world, alongside oil and gas producers and industrial manufacturers, Bruno Sarda, president of CDP North America, a nonprofit organization that encourages carbon disclosures, said in an interview at the time.

Amazon employees cheered the companys Climate Pledge, but continued to push executives to stop providing cloud computing services to the oil and gas industry. They argued that making fossil fuel exploration and extraction less expensive would make it harder for the global economy to transition toward using more renewable energy.

Amazon has resisted the pressure, saying in a policy statement that the energy industry should have access to the same technologies as other industries.

Some employees have also said Amazon has retaliated against them for their activism. Amazon has said the employees should channel their ideas through internal forums, like company meetings and lunch sessions with the sustainability team.

The workers, through their group Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, said on Monday that although they applauded Mr. Bezos philanthropy, one hand cannot give what the other is taking away.

They added, The people of Earth need to know: When is Amazon going to stop helping oil and gas companies ravage Earth with still more oil and gas wells? When is Amazon going to stop funding climate-denying think tanks like the Competitive Enterprise Institute and climate-delaying policy?
Hundreds of passengers and crew members aboard the Westerdam cruise ship are undergoing tests for the novel coronavirus at Cambodia after an American traveler tested positive for the virus, the ship's operator confirmed in a statement Tuesday.

The latest: 92 American citizens remain on board the Westerdam, operated by Holland America Line, and another 260 are awaiting travel clearance in hotels in Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, said Dr. William Walters, director of operational medicine at the State Department, during a news briefing Monday.

Cambodian Health Ministry officials are on board the Westerdam, docked off the port of Sihanoukville, testing for COVID-19 on the 255 guests and 747 crew awaiting clearance, Holland America said. The tests are expected to take several days to complete.

U.S. case: The 83-year-old American woman tested positive last Friday in Kuala Lumpur after the ship arrived from Cambodia, per the Malaysian health ministry. Her 85-year-old husband has tested negative for COVID-19, Holland America said.

"The guest was taken to the hospital and is reported to be in stable condition," the statement said.

The big picture: The Westerdam was carrying 2,257 passengers and crew when it docked in Malaysia after several ports denied it entry over coronavirus fears, per the cruise liner. President Trump thanked Cambodia for accepting the ship Friday.

Several countries were trying on Monday to locate hundreds of passengers who departed the Westerdam cruise ship when it docked in Malaysia, where an American traveler tested positive for the novel coronavirus, per the New York Times.

Malaysian officials have now barred all cruise ships from its ports and the remaining Westerdam passengers are not welcome in the country, the Malay Mail first reported.

What they're saying: Health experts have expressed concern that Westerdam passengers were released without a quarantine order, including the woman infected with COVID-19.

Stanley Deresinski, a Stanford University professor and infectious disease specialist at the university hospital, told Fortune magazine, "This woman was on the boat and was infected for a few days  she could have potentially exposed other people on the boat who have now gone home. ... It doesn't require prolonged exposure to be infected."

Jeff Duchin, health officer and chief of communicable disease epidemiology section at Seattle and King County health department, told the Washington Post, "[T]here is transmission occurring in unexpected places that we're not aware of. ... The virus is moving very quickly and silently and presents a real challenge to containment."

All aboard the Westerdam underwent health screenings on Feb. 10 and further checks after disembarking in Cambodia, Holland America said. The woman displayed no symptoms for the virus during the voyage.

Go deeper:

Editor's note: This article has been updated with more details, including comment from Walters and Holland America.
NEW ALBANY, Ohio, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Bob Evans Farms, Inc. announced today that the annual Our Farm Salutes grant-giving program Heroes to CEOs is accepting applications starting today, February 17, 2020 at 9 a.m. ET, and will remain open through March 20, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Now entering its fourth year, Heroes to CEOs helps support veteran entrepreneurs who need role models and mentors that understand their journey after life in the military, and can provide support at every level, no matter where they are on the path toward success.

"Heroes to CEOs is a program that allows veteran entrepreneurs to pitch their business to an esteemed panel of executives with a reputable corporate background for a chance to ultimately win a business grant," said Mark Delahanty, President and CEO, Bob Evans Farms. "In the last several years, the Heroes to CEOs program has made a big difference for veteran entrepreneurs. Not only have the former grant winners successfully furthered their businesses, but they have created a community with ongoing relationships and mentorship with one another and our partners."

In partnership with Bunker Labs, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit dedicated to helping the military-connected community start their own business, Bob Evans Farms will select three veteran-owned businesses as finalists to attend a pitching event at Bob Evans Farms' headquarters in New Albany, Ohio on April 29, 2020. One grand prize-winning veteran-owned business will be awarded a $30,000 business grant as well as an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City on May 11, 2020 for a two-hour mentoring session with world-renowned businessman Daymond John. The other two finalists will also each receive a $10,000 business grant.

"We launched the Our Farm Salutes program in 2016 as a commitment to support America's service members, veterans, and their families through awareness, donations, strategic partnerships, grant opportunities, and volunteerism," Delahanty said. "Now entering its fourth year, the Heroes to CEOs program still garners interest from veteran-owned businesses who are looking for support to get their company off the ground. We're thrilled to keep the momentum, especially with our incredible partners, Daymond John and Bunker Labs."

Bunker Labs is a national network of military-connected entrepreneurs dedicated to helping veteran and military spouse entrepreneurs start their own business. Bunker Labs is committed to seeing that every entrepreneur in the veteran community has the network, tools, and resources they need to start their own business.

"Currently, the Department of Defense estimates that more than 200,000 service members transition off of active duty every year, and the SBA estimates that nearly 25 percent are interested in starting a business, but only 4.5 percent will do so," Todd Connor, CEO, Bunker Labs said. "Bob Evans support of military veteran entrepreneurs through the Heroes to CEOs contest, along with their support of Bunker Labs, will give veterans and their spouses the opportunity to realize their entrepreneurial potential and help them take their business to the next level."

"This is my fourth year working with Bob Evans Farms and their commitment to supporting veteran entrepreneurship," said Daymond John, the People's Shark. "Over that time, I have learned immensely from the veterans who have participated in this contest and truly feel like I am the winner by being able to work with them and mentor them as they take on the new challenges in their business lives."

The Heroes to CEOs grant contest is open to any persons who are a veteran of all U.S. military branches, a legal resident of the United States or District of Columbia, are at least 18 years old, and own an independent registered business or have a plan for an independent business. Eligible entries will be scored based on reason, presentation, feasibility, opportunity, and future success of the business or plan submitted. For a business to be considered, veteran entrepreneurs are required to submit a plan demonstrating a solid business concept, multimedia assets in a video format, and answer a series of questions about their business.

For more information on the Heroes to CEOs grant and rules visit www.ourfarmsalutes.com. For more information about Bob Evans Farms visit www.bobevansgrocery.com and for more information about Bunker Labs visit www.bunkerlabs.org.

About Bob Evans Farms, Inc.

Bob Evans Farms, Inc. is a brand born and raised on the promise of farm-fresh goodness. For more than 70 years, the company has been making delicious, quick-to-table farm-fresh food that is sold in grocery stores all over the country. Today, Bob Evans brand mashed potatoes and macaroni & cheese products are the #1 selling refrigerated side dishes in the United States*. Based in Columbus, Ohio and owned by Post Holdings, Inc., a consumer packaged goods holding company operating in the center-of-the-store, refrigerated, foodservice, food ingredient, and active nutrition food categories. Bob Evans Farms is also a leading producer and distributor in multiple categories including, eggs, refrigerated potato, pasta, pork sausage, and a variety of refrigerated and frozen convenience food items under the Bob Evans, Owens and Pineland Farms brand names. For more information about Bob Evans Farms, Inc., visit http://www.bobevansgrocery.com.

Source: IRI Scan Sales Data Total U.S. 52 Weeks Ending 12/29/19.

About Bunker Labs

Bunker Labs is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in Chicago, with chapters in 32+ cities, built by military veteran entrepreneurs to empower members of the military-connected community to start and grow businesses. Through local chapters organized in cities across the U.S., Bunker Labs provides educational programming, mentors, events, and thriving local networks to help military veterans succeed and thrive as entrepreneurs and innovators. For more information visit www.bunklerlabs.org.

About Daymond John

Daymond John is an original cast member of ABC's four-time Emmy Award winning series, Shark Tank. John is widely recognized for his accomplishments as an entrepreneur and branding expert following the success of his groundbreaking lifestyle brand, FUBU and is a two-time New York Times Best Selling Author and will release his latest book, Powershift, on March 10th. In recognition of his impact in the entrepreneurial space, John was named a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship under the Obama Administration, and has been bestowed the NAACP Entrepreneurs of the Year Award, the Congressional Achievement Award for Entrepreneurship and more. For more information visit www.daymondjohn.com.

SOURCE Bob Evans Farms, Inc.

Related Links

https://www.bobevansgrocery.com


Srinagar: Following the fall of the PDP-BJP government in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir in June 2018, all the political appointees, upholding established convention, resigned from their posts. The chairperson of the State Commission for Protection of Women and Child Rights (SCPWCR), Nayeema Mehjoor, too, stepped down from the chair, leaving the commission headless for a year.

The commission, that came into being in 2000, was without a chairperson till June last year when the administration led by Satya Pal Malik, appointed Vasundhra Pathak Masoodi, a Supreme Court lawyer, as the chairperson of the SCPWCR. The Womens Commission Act was modified in March 2019 and child rights made a part of it.

Pathak started her role with a bang, and her work was unconventional  visiting maternity hospital, doing surprise inspections, summoning police officers. The commission had steadily started functioning like never before.

But before Pathak could start making changes in the system, the commission was shut on October 31, 2019, soon after the Narender Modi government, on August 5 last year, scrapped the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and downgraded the state into a union territory. Over 100 state laws which include the law that governs the functioning of the SCWPR were repealed.

According to the Jammu and Kashmir Re-organisation Act, the National Women Commission Act has been extended to the Union territory of J&K, but three months after the extension of the National Womens Commission Act, the National Womens Commission (NWC) is yet to take up the pending cases of the commission, therefore leaving the women of J&K in lurch.

Masoodi, the last chairperson of SCWPR, said, I have been a legal advisor with the National Women Commission (NCW) in 2009 and 10, so I know how the commission functions. NCW has its own jurisdiction. Just because we have a supreme court, it doesnt mean that all the state-level cases will directly come to the supreme court; for that, you have different high courts for different states and UTs. Similarly, we should have a body in every state and UTs.

Pathak explains that if a woman from Delhi wants to register a case at NCW, she cant because there's a commission in place there. "NCW only takes up cases of NRIs or people who are settled in different states of India. Besides, NCW monitors the functioning of the commissions of other states and UTs as well, she added.

Rekha Sharma, chairperson National Commission for Women, said, Jammu and Kashmir will have its own Womens Commission once the elections will be held in J&K and an Assembly will be constituted.

Women left to fend for themselves

When Pathak received a call from a woman complaining about rats biting babies in the maternity ward of a hospital in Anantnag, she called a journalist in Kashmir, asking her to reach there. Pathak says she is now 'out of power'.

If I were the chairperson, I would have made the authorities answerable. Within 24 hours, I would have resolved the issue, said Pathak.

There are hundreds of cases that are pending with the Commission and now with its closure, no one knows whether the NCW will take them up or they will die a silent death.

The official figure states that over 200 cases, majority of them domestic violence, were undergoing trial at the SCPWCR, the day it was closed.

A victim of domestic violence whose case has been with pending with the SCPWCR since March 2018 says she had some hope of her case being resolved with it being handed to the new chairperson, but, with the commission being closed, she has lost that hope too. My husband and in-laws would beat me up often and one day, on my friends insistence, I went to the Womens Commission. The then chairperson of the commission was trying to settle my marital dispute, and to a little extent, things were working out well. But before my case could be settled, once in for all, the commission was closed, said Lubna.

There are many women who had registered cases of violence domestic violence, eve-teasing, rape, molestation, and harassment-- with the commission. Now, with its closure, they have been left to fend for themselves.

Pathak narrated some of the horrific cases that were with the commission. "A girl from Kupwara was abused and burnt by her in-laws. The girls family was kept unaware about the brutality till she was admitted to SMHS hospital. The police had done nothing to ensure the safety of that girl."

In another case, a girl from Udhampur district was beaten up by her brother in law and tortured till she died. It was a case of dowry death. When the photos of the body were taken, there were visible torture marks on her face. The commission was trying its best to handle all these cases. Unfortunately, it was wound up before it could deliver justice in all these cases, said Pathak, who has gone back to Delhi and is practicing at the Supreme Court.

Importance of women Commission in times of growing violence

Jammu and Kashmir has touched a new low when it comes to the safety of women. There has been a surge in the cases of crime against women.

According to the Crime Branch of polices Crime Gazette for the year 2018, J&K has seen a wanton rise in cases of crime. The cruelty by husband is one of the top crimes, followed by rape, molestation, eve-teasing, and harassment.

In the absence of a women commission, the women in J&K are becoming vulnerable especially in times when crimes against women are showing an upward trend.

I remember when my in-laws and husband were fighting with me day in and day out on trifle issues. One day, my husband, after beating me ruthlessly, threatened to kill me and out of anger and frustration, I told him that I will approach the womens Commission. He stopped beating," said Kounsar Bazaz, a homemaker who left her job at a private bank after her marriage.

Approaching womens commission was a sort of deterrent.

According to the Crime Gazette, 3363 cases of atrocities against women were reported in 2017. These include cases of kidnapping, abduction, rape, molestation, dowry, cruelty by husband and other crimes. Among all the districts in Kashmir, Srinagar has the highest rate of crime against women.

It is sad that when the violence is on the rise, the commission has been shut. The Commission was not only meant for women but also children as well, said Pathak.

I still get calls from victims. The women in Kashmir cant afford to go to courts; womens commission was approachable, affordable and easy, she added.

The erstwhile Women and Child Rights Commission, however, had been silent on some of the major incidents involving violence against women.

The cases include the murder and rape of an eight-year-old girl at Kathua in January 2017, Jammu, molestation of a girl at Handwara in 2016 or the case of the Insha Malik  who was blinded by the security forces during the summer unrest of 2016, triggered by the killing of Hizbul Mujahidin leader, Burhan Muzzafar Wani. The commission never took cognizance of these cases.

But, despite all the omissions, women were registering their cases at the commission with the hope of finding justice.

The closure of the commission has, however, been questioned by the members of the women and child rights commission.

Quoting a order by the central government, a member of the erstwhile commission said, On 24 October, 2019 all the statutory bodies including the commission were asked to close down their offices by 31st of October and a day before  30 October  an order from the Ministry of home affairs came, stating that the heads of the statutory bodies to continue till the new UT administration takes over the charge.

If the governor administration passes an order and the ministry of home affair passed another order related to the same subject, the order of the ministry will supersede. But the commission was closed, despite the order from the ministry, said Pathak.
A vet has shared video of the touching moment in which a koala that lost its mother in the bushfires reached out to embrace a grey teddy bear.

The orphaned marsupial was being cradled by a woman in a veterinary office when the toy was held out in front of the koala.

She gripped onto the soft toy, nuzzling at it with its face in a tender moment that showed the instinct to seek comfort with what it thought was an adult koala.

The young marsupial had just lost its own mother in the bushfires in Victoria's south-west.

The video was captured by American vet Paul Ramos, who had come over to Australia to help treat the animals caught up in the bushfires, and he shared it on Instagram.

'This little girl unfortunately just lost her mother. People and Nature: Truly we are all connected and we can, and must do better,' he wrote.

The koala grips onto the soft toy, nuzzling at it with its face after having just lost its own mother in the devastating bushfires

'To the wildlife carers, local community and wildlife vets who will step in to take care of her and hopefully, release her back to the wild.'

The video was filmed in Koroit, near Warrnambool in Victoria's south west on Sunday February 2.

Fires burnt more than 1000 hectares in the UNESCO World Heritage Budj Bim National Park in early January.
By PTI

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan government on Monday for the first time admitted that former Pakistan Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan, who was responsible for the shooting of Malala Yousafzai in 2012 and carrying out the deadly Peshawar Army school carnage in 2014, has escaped from prison.

Ehsan, in an audio clip released on social media on February 6, said that he escaped the confinement of Pakistani security agencies on January 11, claiming Pakistani forces failed to keep their promises made to him during his surrender in 2017.

Without revealing his current location, Ehsan said that he would make a detailed statement about the days of his confinement in the coming days as well as about his future plans.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Ijaz Shah responding to a question during an informal chat with media in Islamabad said that he had read reports about Ehsan's escape.

When pressed to confirm or deny the report, he said: "The news is true, it's true. He added that the authorities were aware of the escape and working on it.

"A lot is being done. You will hear good news," he said when asked what was being done to arrest him.

Ehsan took the responsibility of several attacks, including the 2014 attack at Army Public School (APS) that killed about 150 people, mostly students as well as the botched attempt to kill Nobel Peace Prize winner and Pakistani education rights activist Malala who.

After the escape, a petition was filed in the Peshawar High Court by the families of the children killed in the school attack against military and civil officials.

Shuhada APS Forum President Fazal Khan said that army chief, ISI chief as well as the federal and provincial secretaries were made respondents.

The petitioner sought contempt of court action against respondents for failing to follow an order by the Peshawar High Court of April 2018 in which it barred officials from releasing Ehsan.

The petitioner claimed that the respondents had filed to steps to bring Ehsan to justice for his crimes and follow clear orders by the court.

So far there was no progress on the petition as still mystery shrouds the escape of the dreaded militant as authorities did not provide complete details about it.
For one stray dog roaming a landfill in Munnar, fate had something amazing in store. Just a few weeks ago, Johnny and Alan, two tourists from Switzerland, spotted the stray right outside their hotel.

Reuters/Picture For Representation

Heartbroken by the plight of the dog, the two decided to feed him, bath him and care for him till they were in Munnar. But in just three days, their bond grew.

So much so, Johnny and Alan decided to adopt the dog they named 'Nandi'. They soon started inquiring about the procedure to fly Nandi to Switzerland.

According to a Mathrubhumi report, as part of the formalities of leaving the country, Nandi needs to go through some medical screening and has to be administered some important vaccines.



Source/mathrubhumi.com

We first implanted a microchip behind his neck for identification. Then we gave him anti-rabies vaccine and a multicomponent vaccine against nine diseases, said Dr. D Shine Kumar of the district hospital told The New Indian Express.

While the hospital will take 14 days to issue the report that he is immune, Nandis blood samples can be collected only after four days, to conduct such a mandatory test in Switzerland.



For now, Jhonny and Alam have decided to extend their stay in India and fly back with their furry friend.
tech2 News Staff

Aerospace company Northrop Grumman launched its Cygnus spacecraft for the international space station on its Antares rocket, on Sunday, 16 February after two failed attempts. This is part of their Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract with NASA and the 13 delivery run to the International Space Station.

The uncrewed spacecraft was launched from Virginia Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceports Pad 0A at Wallops Facility at 1.51 am IST or 3.21 pm EST making it a perfect launch sequence.

The cargo

The spacecraft was carrying 3,400 kilograms worth of supplies, science equipment and other gears that are necessary for the Expedition 62 astronauts. The capsule also some special requests from the astronauts owing to it reaching around the time of Valentines Day. They asked for chocolates and three kinds of gummy candy: Skittles, Hot Tamales, and Mike and Ikes. Wedges of Wisconsin cheddar, Parmesan and Fontina hard cheeses, fresh fruit and vegetables are also part of the delivery.

Periodic supply runs by Russia, Japan, and NASAs two private shippers  Northrop Grumman and SpaceX  bring equipment and experiments, along with family care packages, as well as fresh food to offset the run-of-the-mill station grub.

The astronauts

The space station is currently home to American astronauts Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka. Morgan has been up there since July and the two others since September; theyll remain on board until April. Three other astronauts returned to Earth earlier this month including female astronaut Christina Koch that completed 328 days in space - the longest time a woman has stayed in space.

The delays

The Northrop Grumman aerospace company had faced some issues the previous two times it had tried to launch. The first time, on 10 February, the company had come within a few minutes of the launch but it had to be called off due to trouble with the ground equipment. The launch was then rescheduled to take place no earlier than 13 February. On 15 February, the launch was cancelled as well due to high winds that exceeded the safety limits. The company finally saw success on 16 February and the launch went off without a hitch.

Rocket, check  Chocolate, check  Upper level winds? Unfortunately, check.  We are standing down from today's launch attempt of @NorthropGrumman's CRS-13 mission. Liftoff has been rescheduled for Saturday, Feb. 15 at 3:21 p.m. EST. pic.twitter.com/uWsojE0HmP  NASA Wallops (@NASA_Wallops) February 14, 2020

The science equipment

There are around 20 different experiments that are part of the supply run says Space.com. These experiments include studies into loss of bone density in microgravity, determining how space affects human physiology and identifying ways to mitigate its negative effects, studying the effects of microgravity and radiation exposure on phage, viruses that destroy bacteria without harming human cells, and bacterial host interactions and a lot more.
A Dracut man connected to a stabbing and carjacking in New Hampshire was shot and killed by police in Byfield over the weekend, authorities said.

The suspect, identified Monday as Thomas Murray, was involved with another car theft in Lowell, according to prosecutors. Authorities said Murray forced a woman in a Subaru to get out of the car. He allegedly stole the womans purse after a struggle between the two and fled the scene around 3 p.m., the Associated Press reported.

A second carjacking was reported roughly two hours later at the Tulley BMW dealership in Nashua. The suspect is accused of stabbing an employee at the dealership before stealing a car. He matched the description of the car thief in Lowell, according to the APs report, and police found the stolen Subaru in the dealerships parking lot.

The Nashua dealership employee suffered minor injuries, state police said.

BMW was able to track the stolen car through its onboard location system as the suspect drove on Interstate 95 and pulled off the highway, according to state police. The stolen BMW was located at the Prime Gas Station on Central Street in Byfield around 7 p.m. Officers boxed in the car and approached the man.

At that point in an attempt to evade capture, the suspect rammed the state police cruiser, state police said in a statement. At that point in the confrontation, a police officer, our officers, discharged a weapon or weapons. The suspect was struck.

The 31-year-old was taken to Anna Jaques Hospital in Newburyport, where he later died, authorities said.

Authorities observed a knife inside the BMW from outside the car, state police said. Officials said they could not confirm recovery of the weapon with certainty until they execute a search warrant on the car.

Prosecutors confirmed Murray was involved in another car theft in North Andover and that he may be linked to a third in Boston that occured Saturday.

That part of the investigation has not been confirmed yet, state police said.
New technology developed at UCL is, for the first time, enabling cancer scientists to analyse the individual behaviour of millions of different cells living inside lab-grown tumours - a breakthrough which could lead to new personalised cancer treatments.

The research, published in Nature Methods, provides new insight into how mutated cancer cells "mimic the growth signals" normally expressed by healthy cells - which allows cancer cells to grow unchecked.

Corresponding author, Dr Chris Tape (UCL Cancer Institute), said: "Our new technology allows us to simultaneously measure the behaviour of cancer cells, healthy cells, and immune cells from mini-tumours.

"This new technique revealed that mutations in cancer cells mimic the growth signals normally provided by cells in the healthy tissue microenvironment.

"In healthy tissues, signals from the environment are tightly controlled so the tissue doesn't grow too fast. Unfortunately in cancer, mutations that mimic microenvironment signals are constantly switched on - allowing the cancer to grow unchecked.

"The new technology developed at UCL enabled scientists to observe this phenomenon in minute detail."

Globally, researchers can now study cancer using mini-tumours, known as 'organoids', which are grown by embedding cancer stem cells in collagen in the lab.

The 3D mini-tumours contain lots of different cells and more accurately represent a patient's cancer, compared to more traditional research, which looks at a collection of identical cells grown in 2D. This development means cancer can be studied in more detail than ever before.

However, to this point, most methods used to study mini-tumours have involved grinding up all the cells and analysing it as a mixture. This limits scientists' ability to assess how individual cells behave or how tumours collaborate with other healthy and immune cells known to influence cancer outcomes.

To overcome this, researchers at UCL Cancer Institute, have developed a new mass spectrometry platform to measure communication signals in millions of single cells from bowel cancer mini-tumours.

Specifically, researchers at UCL have developed a new technique to prepare cells for analysis on a mass spectrometer. At the subcellular level, heavy metal-tagged antibodies are attached to individual proteins (known as PTMs): these PTMs are found within all the different cell types (stem, immune, etc).

The different weight of each heavy metal allows the mass spectrometer to differentiate the different proteins and analyse their behaviours and signalling activity within and between the different cell types. More than 40 types of PTM were tagged in this process, enabling researchers to build detailed 'circuits' that describe how the cancer cells are working.

This technological breakthrough means that, for the first time, scientists can now study how cancer cells interact with any cell type using mini-tumour models.

Moving forward, UCL scientists plan to use this technology to study how tumours from individual patients can uniquely communicate with healthy cells and the immune system.

"By understanding how mini-tumours function at the single-cell level, this new technology will enable researchers to identify new ways to treat an individual's cancer," said Dr Tape.

"We expect that in the future an individual patient will have mini-tumours grown as 'living biopsies' alongside their clinical treatment.

"We will be able to test drugs on the mini-tumours and use that to inform how the patient's individual tumour should be treated.

"Unlike old approaches, our new method can also be used to study immunotherapies - not just chemotherapies - because it can measure lots of different cell types at once. Old methods could really only look at one cell type at a time."

###

Peer reviewed | experimental study | cells

This study was conducted by researchers at the UCL Cancer Institute, the MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology at UCL, the Francis Crick Institute and the University of Toronto, and was supported by grants from Cancer Research UK, UCLH Biomedical Research Centre, The Royal Society and the Rosetrees Trust.

Notes to Editors

For more information or to speak with Dr Chris Tape, please contact Henry Killworth (UCL Media Relations) on Tel: + (0) 207 679 5296 or e: h.killworth@ucl.ac.uk

Xiao Qin, Jahangir Sufi, Petra Vlckova, Pelagia Kyriakidou, Sophie E. Acton, Vivian S. W. Li, Mark Nitz, Christopher J. Tape, 'Cell-Type Specific Signaling Networks in Heterocellular Organoids, will be published in Nature Methods at 4pm (UK time) on Monday 17th February, 2020.

The doi for this paper will be: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-020-0737-8
Let me set the scene.

The city of Newark, N.J., is on fire and under siege as race riots break out and blacks demand equality during what history has termed The long hot summer of 1967.

People were being killed; there was looting, property being destroyed, windows busted out, cars turned over  and over it all, the cries of rage from black voices who were tired of unemployment, housing discrimination, lack of opportunity and ongoing poverty could be heard.

Cops and military men were walking the streets and were positioned on rooftops with weapons drawn. A curfew was in full effect.

That was the scene as my mother, brother, two sisters and I were walking rapidly because we were running late getting home from the supermarket.

We were about two blocks from home when we were aggressively stopped.

Have you ever been held in place by law enforcement with military-style weapons trained on you  while overhead, cops with the same type of weapons had you in their crosshairs?

Have you ever had to stand and watch helplessly while a cop pointed a weapon at your mother with his finger on the trigger? Do you have any idea what message that sends when you are young, impressionable and part of what some considered an inferior race when all you want is a better life?

While inspecting our grocery bags, my mother reminded the cops they were pointing their weapons at children.

It doesnt matter to me that police were doing their job; what mattered to me was they pointed a gun at my mother. It was terrifying and an image my brother, sisters and I have never forgotten.

And that is the problem with curfews: Everybody is a suspect  and it will be no different in Bridgeport. City officials recently announced it would resurrect and enforce its youth curfew to curb teen violence after a rash of shootings.

The curfew, which affects those 18 years old and younger, runs from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. on weeknights and midnight to 6 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

It may be a hallelujah moment for city officials and concerned members of the public, but they might want to hold the chorus.

According to well-respected organizations and think tanks such as the Brookings Institute, the Marshall Project and many, many others, not only do curfews not work, but studies suggest they could be counterproductive to public safety.

I think it is just a knee-jerk reaction that is going to do more harm than good to our children, because thats what teenagers are. They are children, said Bridgeport Board of Education member Joseph Sokolovic.

I talked to Sokolovic, as well as Councilman Ernest Newton, on Wednesday while taping my podcast, Real talk, Real people.

If children were nurtured and had a place to go where they felt safe to open up and talk to people, or they had after-school activities, children wouldnt be on the street, Sokolovic said.

On the face of it, a curfew sounds like a good thing. With bullets flying everywhere, kids lying dead on the street, how can any effort to make the streets safer be dismissed?

But not this one. It is a bad move and I agree with the American Civil Liberties Union that it is a violation of constitutional rights.

Still, we clearly have a problem and must find solutions. But that solution cannot lie in taking away rights and blaming all youth for the countrys ongoing failure to deliver the promise of America to all neighborhoods throughout the country.

Bridgeport Police Chief Armando Perez told Hearst Connecticut Media that police tracked trends of minors using stolen cars when they do a shooting, steal other cars or commit a home invasion.

And with new slap-on-the-wrist juvenile laws in place, it is getting difficult to hold them accountable.

We have 13-, 14-, and 15-year-old kids stealing cars because they know the law cant do anything to them, Newton said. And I think with whats going on now with how the laws have changed for our youthful young people, the City Council felt it was necessary to implement this.

But, as usual, the whole thing is convoluted with everything from fines for parents to having teens walk around with permission slips like theyre living in a foreign country and have to show papers on demand.

But Newton has a point. These kids are not dumb.

They are smart enough to figure out the odds are stacked against them, just as they were stacked against their parents and grandparents.

Theyre smart enough to figure out they are low-income, and as far as society is concerned, they have little value and their circumstances make them fodder and whipping boys for all social ills.

And most of all, theyre smart enough to figure out that the adults and alleged role models who come down so hard on them, are led away to jail every day for breaking the law. And though it applies, that is not a reference to Newton.

Perez said, A lot of these kids dont see a future.

Maybe that is because we dont offer them one that doesnt come with the nearly impossible task of climbing out of poverty.

But there is another, more personal reason I am against the curfew.

I have written numerous times about how brutal my childhood was. What I havent written is that there was no help, no one I could turn to, no one I could talk to about the abuse. There was no such thing as mental health services for blacks in those days, and access in 2020 is still minimal.

So, I walked at night. I walked and I walked. From one city to another, from one town through another, I walked because I could fade into the night.

And under that darkness, where no one could see and judge me, I cried and talked to myself. I knew no one was coming to my rescue and I didnt know how to save myself. I screamed at the world for the pain I was in and raged against myself for letting it happen.

I walked and walked for years and I healed as best as I could  and if I hadnt, you would not be reading these words today or hearing my voice Monday on my podcast.

And with the horrors and social pressures that many children are facing today, I have to believe that many are doing the same thing.

Memories are stored for a reason and I have come to believe that mine are so I can tell another side to the story. Because those stories are seldom told or heard.

Curfew? Resurrecting failure never works.

James Walker is the host of the podcast, Real talk, Real people. Listen at https://anchor.fm/real-talk-real-people. He can be reached at 203-605-1859 or at realtalkrealpeoplect@gmail.com. @thelieonroars on Twitter
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Ghina Ghaliya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 17, 2020

President Joko Jokowi Widodo is planning to expand his power through the omnibus bill on job creation, as the bill would grant him the authority to create and revoke laws simply by issuing government regulations to resolve businesspeoples complaints.

Article 170 of the draft law, a copy of which was obtained by The Jakarta Post, stipulates that the government can consult with House of Representatives leaders in devising such regulations.

The omnibus bill, submitted to the House for deliberation last week, would also give the president the authority to revoke provincial and regency/city-level bylaws as well as gubernatorial and regency/mayoral regulations that contradict government regulations by issuing presidential regulations.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 17:25:27|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

GUIYANG, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Wang Yongyan's aunt has prepared a little gift for her -- a wig.

Wang is a nurse from the respiratory department of the People's Hospital in the city of Xingyi in southwest China's Guizhou Province. She has participated in the battle against the coronavirus in the city of Wuhan, Hubei Province, more than 1,300 km away from Xingyi.

Before she went to Wuhan, Wang shaved her head.

"She loves her long hair, and she loves taking selfies," her aunt said. "But she cut it for the convenience of work and to prevent infection."

Hubei Province reported 1,933 new confirmed cases and 100 new deaths Sunday, according to the provincial health commission Monday.

The latest report brought the total confirmed cases in the hard-hit province to 58,182. Wuhan, the provincial capital, recorded a total of 41,152 confirmed cases.

On Feb. 4, Wang, 31, joined the provincial medical team to help assist rescue work in Wuhan. She currently works in a make-shift hospital converted from a convention center in Jianghan District.

"The hospital has six medical teams from Wuhan and 10 from across the country," Wang said. "We have received more than 1,000 infected patients with mild symptoms."

Guizhou's medics took charge of 15 wards at the hospital, with Wang taking care of 29 patients for six hours every day. She goes through all the wards every hour, checks the patients' blood oxygen saturation and asks about their physical conditions.

"If a patient feels uncomfortable, I report to the doctor, who then prescribes medication," she said.

On night shifts, she takes blood samples, collects nucleic acid testing tubes, fetches breakfast and hands out traditional Chinese medicine to the patients.

For the rest of the time, she is mainly answering all kinds of questions from anxious patients, who address her as "Little Wang."

"They would ask me: Little Wang, Little Wang, should I take my diabetes and blood pressure medication?" she said. "Or they would say: Little Wang, Little Wang, I need to change my mask, do you have an extra one? And when can I get out of the hospital?"

"Besides medication, what they need is hope in times like this," she said.

During the day, Wang tries to encourage the patients to get out of bed and exercise to enhance their immunity.

"I apply for 29 masks every day, but the patients need to get out of bed and do some exercises to get them," she said.

After almost two weeks in Wuhan, Wang is happy that one of the patients in her wing has been discharged from the hospital. The patient wrote a thank you note to her before leaving.

"We hope that we will get through this epidemic as soon as possible," Wang said.
"It's an issue even the IRS is struggling to get under control," DiMaggio said.

Here's how ghost tax preparers work. They print out tax returns for clients, tell them to sign and mail it out. What many taxpayers fail to notice is the tax return will not show the tax preparer's signature. For electronically filed tax returns, their name is also left out. These tax returns are filed as "self prepared."

"They can't do that. Self prepared means the taxpayer did their own taxes," DiMaggio said. "The law requires paid tax preparers to sign client tax returns."

Other typical scams include

Sticking a business label on the tax return instead of signing it by name. Clients get the "label" copy so it looks as though they signed it; however, a blank copy without a business label is filed.

Claim they "forgot" to sign the tax return and promise to sign it after payment is received.

"The other big problem is these tax returns are often full of bogus deductions and credits," said Esperanza Escobedo, CRTP and CTEC board member. "Taxpayers may feel like they got their money's worth by getting a big tax refund, but they end up paying for it later in audits, penalties and more taxes."

Taxpayers can submit reports at ctec.org . Anonymous reports are accepted. All reports go directly to the California Franchise Tax Board , the enforcement arm for CTEC.

California taxpayers should always verify the tax preparer is legally qualified. State law requires anyone who prepares tax returns for a fee to be either an attorney , certified public accountant (CPA) , CTEC-registered tax preparer (CRTP) or enrolled agent (EA) .

CTEC is a nonprofit organization that was established in 1997 by the California State Legislature to protect taxpayers against fraud and incompetent tax preparers.

SOURCE California Tax Education Council (CTEC)

Related Links

http://www.ctec.org


Cancer faker Belle Gibson is in financial crisis, drowning under the weight of $170,000 in personal debts including car finance for a BMW she no longer even owns.

That's before she even gets to the $500,000 in fines she's yet to pay back taxpayers for years of lying about having terminal brain cancer and curing it with healthy food.

Daily Mail Australia has exclusively obtained a letter Gibson wrote to Victoria's Department of Justice where the fraudster explains why she can't pay back that mammoth fine.

Belle Gibson has secretly been struggling with $170,000 in personal debts - on top of the $500,000 she owes taxpayers from a fine and interest accrued

In this 'private and confidential' letter to Victoria's Department of Justice - released by a court - Belle Gibson explained why she can't pay back the massive fine she was handed in 2017

In the letter, Gibson explained: 'I am indebted to BMW Finance resulting from a personal guarantee in excess of $50,000.

'I have a fully drawn credit card with ANZ owing $30,000 and another personal debt exceeding $90,000, all of which I cannot pay.

'Consequently, I am not able to pay the amounts ordered by Justice Mortimer', (the Federal Court judge presiding over her case.

Gibson revealed she hasn't got a job and receives the parenting payment from Centrelink to care for her son.

That means, perversely, taxpayers are paying for Gibson - despite the incredible sum she owes them.

The Whole Pantry founder concluded her letter, dated 14 November 2017, by asking the government to approach her accountant directly in the future, 'given my current health'.

She claimed she barely owns $5,000 in minor property assets.

Gibson once drove about in a 2013 model BMW X3 - which may be where her $50,000 debt to BMW Finance came from

Both Belle Gibson and her housemate drive a white Skoda hatchback, and it's unclear whether she actually owns the vehicle. Likewise, her northern suburbs home is rented

Gibson's letter was released to Daily Mail Australia by the Federal Court on Monday, after her white picket rental in Melbourne's northern suburbs was raided by Sheriff's officers about a month ago.

That warrant allows authorities to seize and sell her belongings to recoup the half-a-million dollars she owes the taxpayer - a $410,000 fine which has ballooned past $500,000 due to interest.

But the terms of the warrant allow Gibson to live in basic comfort, and many of the possessions she uses - such as her Skoda hatchback - may be owned by her 'housemate' Clive Rothwell.

Gibson also recently adopted the new guise of 'Sabontu', a headscarf-wearing member of Melbourne's Ethiopian community.

She was filmed speaking about raising money for an Ethiopian ethnic group in October last year, sparking a warning from Consumer Affairs Victoria.
YEREVAN.  Discussion behind closed doors is one thing, but when there is an actual press conference during which the two leaders are battling, it is quite another. In the first case, it is not clear what exactly is being discussed, but one can guess, and the press conference is like a rally. But this is not a rally in Yerevan, and one needs properly prepared for it. Political scientist Aleksandr Manasyan stated this during a meeting with journalists today.

According to him, during the Munich debate between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, the statements of the Armenian side, represented by Pashinyan, were not very convincing. "The historical arguments put forward by Pashinyan about Tigranes the Great and the revolution in Armenia were weak," the analyst said, noting that even the announcer was somewhat skeptical.

As per Manasyan, if the head of the Armenian government decided to go this way, these arguments should have been presented wisely and more carefully so as not to cause a negative reaction.

Referring to the Khojaly tragedy, the analyst noted that the Armenian side has its position on this issue, and he reminded that the Popular Front of Azerbaijan, which carried out the massacre of the peaceful Azerbaijani population in Khojaly, is entirely responsible for what happened.

The political scientist reminded that in the legal sense, Karabakh's independence from Azerbaijan was established three times in the 20th century: in 1918, 1920, and 1991.

Karabakh is in the negotiation process; its us who is pushing it out, Manasyan said. "When representatives of the OSCE Minsk Group visit Karabakh, it actually means that they admit that it is a party to the conflict."

He added that Karabakh should not wait for Baku's demands, but must posit its own conditions. Moreover, according to Aleksandr Manasyan, Azerbaijan still has to apologize to Armenians for the massacre of the Armenian population in Azerbaijan and Karabakh. Otherwise, there can be no negotiations.
Acting Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, has appealed to the Government of United Kingdom (UK) ...





Acting Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, has appealed to the Government of United Kingdom (UK) to extradite the former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke to account for alleged missing of $2.5 billion in her ministry during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.





Magu, at media briefing in Kaduna on Monday, ahead of the Tuesday passing out parade of EFCC trainees at the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), said personnel of the Commission were trained to, shoot and kill corruption in Nigeria, so we cannot be challenged by any threat.





Fielding questions from reporters, the EFCC boss said Diezani has stolen so much money that she needed to be extradited to the country to return the money back to the Federal Government.





According to him: I was in London this year, we did investigation together with the UK team, and anywhere I go I always call for extradition of corrupt Nigerians to return back the money.





This woman has stolen so much, not less than 2.5 billion dollars, but unfortunately she has generation of looters who are supporting her. This is not good.





We are in touch with the international community, she is under protective custody, otherwise, we would have arrested her, return her to Nigeria.





He however, said corruption is surmountable, pointing out that in 2019, a total of 1,218 convictions were secured by the Commission.





The EFCC boss also added that in January this year, 28 convictions were effected, involving billions of dollars and pound sterlings.





We will not allow corruption to work here in Nigeria because it is destructive and disastrous. We blocked several accounts.








Your browser does not support the audio element.

Vietnams Ministry of Public Security has proposed that Dinh La Thang, a former member of the Partys Politburo and ex-chairman at state-run Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN), be indicted for violations at a PVN bio-fuel subsidiary.

The ministrys Security Investigation Agency has concluded its probe into the serious errors at the Petrochemical and Bio-Fuel JSC (PVB).

Nine other suspects are also expected to be indicted along with Thang in this case.

According to the result of the investigation, Thang signed a decision in 2007 approving an ethanol factory project in the northern province of Phu Tho.

PVB later carried out the bidding process for the design, procurement, supply of equipment, and construction of the Ethanol Phu Tho factory.

A total of six contractors applied for the bidding, including a joint venture of PVC/Alfta Laval/Delta-T, with the investigation revealing that all of them were unqualified.

A bird eyes view of the Ethanol Phu Tho project in the northern province of Phu Tho, Vietnam. Photo: Nam Tran / Tuoi Tre

Despite knowing this, Thang gave multiple directive orders that PVC/Alfta Laval/Delta-T be made a contractor, while his subordinates eventually signed deals with the joint venture for the implementation of the project.

During the implementation, the project was forced to suspend in March 2013 due to the joint ventures poor capability, resulting in a state budget loss of over VND540 billion (US$23.4 million).

Thang is already serving two jail terms totaling 31 years on charges of acting against state regulations in separate cases linked to wrongdoings at PVN, where he was chairman between 2005 and 2008.

In April 2018, a Hanoi court handed him an 18-year imprisonment sentence for acting against state regulations on economic management in PVNs loss of VND800 billion ($35.2 million) worth of investment into local lender OceanBank.

Earlier, in January 2018, Thang was sentenced to 13 years in prison for his involvement in financial misconduct at PVN that resulted in separate losses of VND119 billion ($5.24 million).

He was previously a member of the Politburo, the all-powerful body of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and the Party chief of Ho Chi Minh City from 2016 until 2017.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state Health Department is all set to receive the 115 Keralites who were evacuated from Wuhan in China, which is the epicenter of COVID 19.



The Keralites upon their arrival at the national capital were quarantined at the special facility created by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police in Chawla Camp.



According to the Health Department, it received an intimation from the Union Health Ministry that as all of them have tested negative for COVID 19, they will be allowed to travel back to the state from Monday evening.



Meanwhile, the returnees will have to remain in home isolation for 14 days.

Though repeated tests came out negative, all the 115 persons will have to complete 28 days of the quarantine period. They had completed 14 days of quarantine at the Chawla camp. Upon their arrival in the state, they will remain in home isolation for the next 14 days. The respective district medical offices will ensure the same, said Dr Amar Fettle, state nodal officer, public health emergency of international concern.



At the same time, Dr. Raju V R, director-in-charge of health services, said a detailed action plan for the returnees will only get finalized in the rapid response team meeting scheduled to convene on Monday.



As per the daily status report, the state at present has put 2,276 persons under surveillance. Of this, 2,262 are under home isolation and 14 are admitted to various hospitals.
The upturn in the housing market felt during the second half of 2019 also resulted in a strong growth in residential land sales, according to the latest report from the Housing Industry Association (HIA) and CoreLogic.

Residential land sales increased by 45.9% during the final months of the year from their record-low in the March 2019 quarter, according to the HIA-CoreLogic Residential Land Report.

"The first half of 2019 was particularly rough for the residential building industry, with falling house prices, uncertainty surrounding the election, and the credit squeeze all weighing on confidence," said Angela Lillicrap, an economist at HIA.

The demand for land and dwellings rebounded strongly from June, which has led to a 6.7% rebound in national housing values over the past seven months.

This renewed confidence was driven by the three rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of Australia last year and the election results that dispelled concerns about negative gearing and capital gains concessions, said Eliza Owen, head of residential research at CoreLogic.

Also read: Will Coronavirus Impact Property Prices?

"Prices for land and housing are likely to rise further over 2020, though this may be slightly mitigated by higher listing levels coming to market, as sellers take advantage of price increases," Owen said.

Lillicrap said the shortage of land is one of the factors that boosted home prices over the past decade. In fact, land prices in some of the capital cities have increased dramatically since 2009.

For instance, the median land price in Sydney went from $272,750 in September 2009 to $445,000 in the same month last year.

Melbourne also recorded a dramatic 10-year land-price growth from $167,000 to $350,000.

"With demand for land picking up, it is important that an adequate supply is maintained each year to avoid undue pressure on housing affordability," Lillicrap said.

The table below shows the comparison between median land prices in 2009 and 2019:
ALBANY  In December, state Sen. Jim Tedisco sent the office of state Attorney General Letitia James a document with an explosive claim: the pension fund for St. Clare's Hospital was under-funded by $47 million, much more than the $28 million in taxpayer dollars that had been allocated to keep the fund afloat.

Two months later, as more than a thousand retirees from the former Schenectady hospital face reduced or non-existent retirement annuities, Tedisco said the AG's office has not responded to his request to include the document in an ongoing investigation into the fund  and he wants to know why.

"I think we've been patient," Tedisco said Monday. "I think the pensioners have been patient, but weve gotten no response from the AG."

A letter sent last week by Tedisco and Mary Hartshorne, who co-chairs a committee of St. Clare's pensioners, is the latest push by the politician and pensioners to learn more about a shortfall in the hospital's pension fund after St. Clare's merged with the larger Ellis Hospital more than a decade ago. As part of the consolidation, the state paid $58.7 million to cover transition costs, $28 million of which was allocated to keep the pension fund afloat.

But, according to a document Tedisco received from an anonymous source last year, that wasn't nearly enough money to cover the shortfall. The document indicated the fund was experiencing a $47 million deficit by the end of 2006  $19 million greater than what the state had covered.

A lawsuit filed in state Supreme Court in Schenectady in October claims that more than half of the 1,100 affected pensioners who were fully vested in their retirement funds have been told they won't see a dime of their money.

"The document raises significant new questions about what happened to the money that was meant to go to the retirements of more than 1,100 former dedicated health care professionals of the now closed St. Clares Hospital in Schenectady," Tedisco wrote in a December Times Union op-ed.

After receiving the document, Tedisco, a Republican whose district covers part of Schenectady, where Ellis is and St. Clares was located, said he called on the state AG's office to investigate why only $28 million was provided to cover a $47 million shortfall. But since then, Tedisco claims he's heard nothing.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

"In December we asked for you to include in your investigation into the dissolution of the Pension Fund the examination of why there was an agreement for the state to only provide $28 million in taxpayer funds toward shoring up the St. Clare's Pension Fund after the state and all parties were made aware that up to $47 million was needed," Tedisco and Hartshorne wrote in the Feb. 14 letter. "To date, we have not received any response from your office."

The New York Attorney General's Office did not respond when asked about the letter Monday morning. The AG's Charities Bureau is investigating St. Clare's Corp., the entity that oversees the pension, and also fighting efforts by the corporation to dissolve itself in state Supreme Court.

Pensioners have told the Times Union that the debacle has forced them to cut back on essentials like food and clothing in their retirement.

Michael.Williams@timesunion.com or 518-454-5018.
Fotis Dulos' five children visited him in the hospital before he was taken off life support following his apparent suicide attempt on January 28

The five children of alleged wife killer Fotis Dulos visited him in the hospital before he was taken off life support and died last month.

Fotis, 52, gassed himself with carbon monoxide in his garage in Farmington, Connecticut, on January 28. He died two days later at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx.

The visit marked the first time his children had seen their father since he was accused of murdering his wife Jennifer Dulos, who disappeared in May 2019 amid a contentious divorce and child custody battle.

Fotis was on bail when he died after being charged with murdering Jennifer.

The children - who range in age from eight to 13 - have been staying with their maternal grandmother, Gloria Farber, in New York since Fotis was first charged in Jennifer's disappearance in September. The 50-year-old's body still hasn't been found.

'Five children have lost both parents in the span of eight months,' Carrie Luft, a spokesperson for Jennifer's family and friends, said in a statement to Fox News on Saturday.

'Our main priorities are ensuring their well-being and protecting their privacy. Understandably, they wished to say goodbye to their father, which we arranged with the assistance of hospital personnel.'

'Tragically, the children have not been - and may never be - able to say goodbye to their mother, Jennifer, who remains missing,' Luft added.

'This horrific reality continues, and we ask once again that the privacy of the families and loved ones be honored.'

The visit marked the first time the children - who range in age from eight to 13 - had seen their father since he was accused of murdering his wife Jennifer Dulos (pictured with the kids), who disappeared in May 2019 amid a contentious divorce and child custody battle

Fotis, 52, attempted to take his own life by gassing himself with carbon monoxide in his garage in Farmington, Connecticut, on January 28. He is seen being airlifted to Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, where he died two days later

Fotis was found unconscious at his home in Farmington on January 28 when police came to perform a welfare check after he failed to show up for a court appearance in Stanford earlier that day.

First responders performed CPR before rushing Fotis to UCONN John Dempsey Hospital in Farmington.

He was then airlifted to Jacobi Medical Center for treatment for carbon monoxide poisoning, before being taken off life support on January 30.

Fotis maintained his innocence in Jennifer's disappearance up until his death, including in a suicide note obtained by DailyMail.com.

His attorney Norm Pattis has said his legal team will continue their fight to clear his name.

'Mr Dulos was tried and convicted in the court of public opinion. Now he has been executed,' Pattis wrote in a statement confirming his client's death.

'We remain committed to demonstrating he did not murder Jennifer.'

Pattis also denied that Fotis attempted suicide out of guilt.

'We say no. We say it was a conscious worn with the weight of a world that was too busy to listen and that wanted a story more than it wanted the truth,' he said.

Jennifer was last seen on May 24 after dropping her children off at school. Police accused Fotis of attacking his wife in the garage of her New Canaan home before driving off with her body

Fotis maintained his innocence in Jennifer's disappearance up until his death. The couple had been in a contentious divorce and custody battle since June 2017

Emergency workers are shown trying to revive Fotis Dulos at his home in Farmington, Connecticut, on Tuesday

Fotis was found in his car inside his garage. The exhaust pipe he used to try to kill himself is shown attached to his vehicle

Jennifer was last seen on May 24 after dropping her children off at school.

Police accused Fotis of attacking his wife in the garage of her New Canaan home before driving off with her body.

They said there was evidence of pools of Jennifer's blood in the garage that someone had tried to clean up.

They also found traces of her blood in her car - which was later found abandoned in a parking lot - and in the vehicle Jennifer was driving on the day she vanished.

Fotis and his then girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, were also allegedly filmed on surveillance footage dumping trash bags at various locations in Connecticut which were later found to contain traces of Jennifer's blood.

Troconis initially gave her boyfriend an alibi and said they had been together all morning.

She then flipped her story in a second interview with police and, according to arrest affidavits, said he'd given her an 'alibi script'.

TIMELINE OF THE FOTIS DULOS CASE 2004: Fotis Dulos and Jennifer Farber get married. It is his second marriage In the same year, her father Hilliard starts loaning him money for his property business, Fore Group 2015: Fotis and Michelle Troconis start taking trips he paid for which he claimed were for business. They later start an affair January 2017: Hilliard Farber dies March 2017: Gloria Farber takes over his estate June 2017: Jennifer files for divorce, saying she is afraid of her husband February 2018: Gloria Farber sues Fotis Dulos for unpaid loans May 24 2019: Jennifer vanishes after dropping off her five children at school June 2019: Fotis and Michelle Troconis are arrested for evidence tampering Gloria Farber files an order for custody of the children August 2019: Troconis 'turns' on Dulos in police interviews, admits she lied when she said she had an alibi for him September 2019: Fotis is arrested again for evidence tampering January 2020: Dulos and Troconis are charged with murder January 28: Dulos is found unresponsive at his Farmington home January 29: Dulos' family fly in to say their goodbyes as sources say he 'is completely reliant on life support' Police conduct a new search of Dulos' home January 30: Dulos dies at 5.32p.m. at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, New York, surrounded by family, friends and his legal team His attorney files a motion to continue with the murder trial after his death as Dulos' family are 'adamant that his name be cleared' Advertisement

Jennifer had filed for divorce from Fotis and sought custody of their five children in June 2017 after learning that he was having an affair with Troconis.

In divorce papers, Jennifer said she was afraid her husband, whom she married in 2004, would hurt her. She described him as a brutally strict parent to their children.

He disagreed and they were granted shared custody until the end of the divorce proceedings.

'I am afraid of my Husband. I know that filing for divorce, and filing this Motion will enrage him.

'I know he will retaliate by trying to harm me in some way,' she said.

He was still allowed to keep seeing them under supervision, however.

In February 2018, Jennifer's mother Gloria filed a lawsuit seeking $2.5million from her estranged son-in-law. She said he owed it to her family's estate in unpaid loans from her late husband, who by that point had died.

Fotis fought it. He moved Troconis into his palatial mansion in Farmington, one of many homes he owned under his property company.

On May 24, a week after an unsuccessful attempt by Fotis to have unsupervised visits with his children, Jennifer vanished without a trace.

Gloria was granted full custody of the couple's children in September 2019 after filing a motion the same day Dulos and Troconis were arrested for evidence tampering and hindering prosecution in relation to Jennifer's disappearance.

The grandmother continues to care for them in her Upper East Side apartment on Fifth Avenue.

Fotis was charged with murdering Jennifer in January.

He was on strict house arrest at the time of his suicide attempt and faced the prospect of having his $6million bond revoked at an emergency hearing that day over doubts about the equity of the real estate assets he put up as security.

Sources told DailyMail.com that Fotis was 'losing his mind' over the prospect of going to jail.

Troconis and attorney Kent Mawhinney, a friend of Fotis, were both charged with murder conspiracy and are accused of helping to cover up the killing.

Troconis pleaded not guilty a week after Fotis' death.

In his suicide note, Fotis insisted that Troconis and Mawhinney were innocent.

Michelle Troconis (left), Fotis' live-in girlfriend at the time of Jennifer's disappearance, and Kent Mawhinney, Dulos' civil attorney (right), are charged with conspiracy to murder for their alleged roles in plotting and covering up Jennifer's death. In his suicide note, Dulos proclaims the innocence of his alleged accomplices Troconis and Mawhinney
By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Azerbaijan and Georgia have set competitive tariffs for the transportation of Turkmen oil and oil products via railroad in the two countries.

Azerbaijan Railways, the state-owned rail transport operator, said that the tariffs aimed at preserving the available volumes of cargo transportation and attracting additional cargo from alternative routes will be valid for the period from 1 April to 1 November 2020.

The new tariffs apply to the delivery of oil and oil products from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan by ferries to the port and by tankers to oil terminals, as well as transit via the railways of Azerbaijan and Georgia to the Batumi oil terminal.

Chairman of Azerbaijan Railways CJSC Javid Gurbanov, Georgian Railway Director General David Peradze, Chairman of the Azerbaijan Caspian Sea Shipping Company Rauf Veliyev, Deputy Director of the Baku International Sea Trade Port Vahid Aliyev as well as Dubendi and Batumi oil terminals representatives signed a protocol setting new tariffs in Tbilisi.

Note that in 2019, as many as 271,000 tons of oil and oil products were delivered by tankers to the oil terminal in Dubendi from the port of Turkmenbashi, and 90,000 tons by ferries to the port in Alat.

Azerbaijan and Georgia broadly cooperate in regional energy development, transportation and economic partnership projects such as Southern Gas Corridor, Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline (BTC), Kars-Tbilisi-Baku railway (BTK), the TRACECA, and the BSEC.

SOCAR is also deeply involved in the energy market in Georgia which was established in 2006. The company's activity includes retail and bulk selling of fuel in Georgia, importing of petroleum and liquid gas, construction of oil terminals and warehouses. At present, there are over 70 SOCAR filling stations operating in the country.

---

Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Condotel owners are finally set to get titles to their properties with the government issuing guidelines to local authorities for the purpose.

Ownership of condotels and officetels will be valid for 50 years generally, and for 70 years in localities with difficult economic conditions.

Requests for extension will be considered after the period.

The guidelines have been issued following repeated requests by condotel developers and buyers to address the lack of a legal framework though development has been rampant since 2016.

Only in December last year the Ministry of Construction issued regulations for condotels and officetels.

The Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association said other property types such as shoptels should also be included, and there need to be clearer provisions to protect buyers in case of disputes with developers.

Last November thousands of condotel buyers were affected after the developer of a major project, Cocobay Da Nang, said it would stop paying buyers their guaranteed annual returns.
Around 50 students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University gathered at Jantar Mantar on Monday to protest against the CAA and the NRC.

They protesters were demanding the release of Sharjeel Imam, arrested on sedition charge last month and Dr Kafeel Khan, booked under the National Security Act for his speech during an anti-CAA protest at Aligarh Muslim University on December 12.

The protest was led by JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh and vice-president Saket Moon.

"Nowadays, the hate speeches are being celebrated in the country. The ruling party minister used the word 'shoot' and no action was taken against him.

"On the other hand, if someone, specifically Muslim, says that they have issues with the Citizenship Amendment Act, the National Register of Citizens and National Population Register, they are being targeted and sedition case slapped against him," Ghosh said.

They were carrying placards with different slogans, including those which read 'NRC and CAA are anti-poor and communal', 'release Akhil Gogoi', 'release Kafeel Khan', 'release Sharjeel Imam'.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Beijings iconic Summer Palace tourist resort is the home of a huge new ice rink thats opened just ahead of the Winter Olympics. The rink measures 300,000 square meters and consists of two areas designed for different types of activities. The city has opened seven municipal ice rinks and four snow resorts to the public. Since 2014, ice and snow activities in municipal parks have attracted nearly 2 million visitors, according to the Beijing Municipal Administration Center for Parks

Jan 11, 2022 07:26 PM
Fake: Indian National Flag was not waved at rally in Karachi

One day, Karachi will be part of India: Devendra Fadnavis

Karachi: 6 killed, after inhaling 'lethal gas' coming out of vegetable container in Kemari area

International

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Karachi, Feb 17: At least six people have been killed and 15 were hospitalised after inhaling lethal gas emanating from a vegetable container in Pakistan's port city Karachi. This is close to Karachi Nuclear Power Corporation.

The container was unloaded from a cargo ship in Kemari port area on Sunday night.

"The initial investigation showed that as soon as people from Jackson market opened the container fumes emanated from it and people had difficulty in breathing and lost consciousness," DIG Sharjeel Kharal told reporters.

"They were taken to a nearby private hospital where six people died while 15 are under treatment," Kharal said. He said police have sought details of the cargo ship from the port authorities and the Pakistani navy.

NEWS AT NOON, FEBRUARY 17th, 2020

The administration of Ziauddin Hospital has confirmed to a Pakistan Daily that over 50 patients were brought to the hospital suffering from experiencing stomach ache and breathing problems.

It is reported that the hundreds of people have run away from the affected area after the gas leak. Meanwhile, the government is not disclosing real numbers but 6 casualties have been reported so far.
As per industry estimates, Turkish agents would have been buying more than $200 million worth Indian gold jewellery from Dubai.

Export of plain gold jewellery to Turkey zoomed multiple times to $54.31 million in April-December 2019 against a meagre $2.79 million during April-December 2018, as per the data of Directorate of General of Foreign Trade.

Chennai: Owing to higher duties in Dubai and curbs on smuggling, Turkish buyers have started coming back to India to directly buy plain gold jewellery from the market. Exports to Turkey have witnessed significant growth in recent months and the industry believes this will continue to grow in the future.

Export of plain gold jewellery to Turkey zoomed multiple times to $54.31 million in April-December 2019 against a meagre $2.79 million during April-December 2018, as per the data of Directorate of General of Foreign Trade. Though in absolute terms, these direct exports are a small percentage of Indias overall gold jewellery exports, an opportunity has been opened for the industry to tap.

Turkey is a gold-loving nation and it loves Indias hand-made plain gold jewellery. Till 2004-06 we used to directly export our jewellery to Turkey. But Turkey used to have and still has a high import duty of 17 per cent on gold jewellery. Hence later on, Turkish agents started buying Indian gold jewellery from Dubai as it was available duty-free. They would smuggle this jewellery into Turkey, said Pankaj Parekh, former vice-chairman of the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council.

However, after Dubai imposed 5 per cent duty and 5 per cent VAT on its imports in recent times, margins of these agents shrunk drastically. Further, of late, Turkish authorities also have become stricter with smuggling. This is bringing back the Turkish buyers to India.

As per industry estimates, Turkish agents would have been buying more than $200 million worth Indian gold jewellery from Dubai. But April-December exports account for just 25 per cent of this.

We expect the Turkish exports to keep growing in the coming months and Turkey becoming a significant buyer in the future, he said.
Robert Stahelin studies some of the world's deadliest viruses. Filoviruses, including Ebola virus and Marburg virus, cause viral hemorrhagic fever with high fatality rates. Stahelin, professor at Purdue University, examines how these viruses take advantage of human host cells. His latest research, which he will present on Wednesday, February 19 at the 64th Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society in San Diego, California, show how Ebola interacts with a human lipid and that FDA approved drugs that alter lipids block Ebola infection in cells.

Ebola virus causes a rare, often deadly, highly contagious, disease characterized by fever, vomiting, diarrhea, and internal bleeding. "I became interested in how these viruses are working in the body in a way that causes such harsh death," Stahelin says. Filoviruses have lipid envelopes, they take those lipids from human cells during the infection. "I was intrigued that the virus could take human lipids and use it as its protective coat."

For safety reasons Stahelin doesn't work with Ebola virus itself, instead, he works with combinations of its seven genes so the virus can't fully replicate. His latest focus has been on Ebola's VP40 protein, encoded by one of the seven genes.

VP40 forms the virus's matrix layer, a layer of protein beneath the lipid envelope. So it's responsible for hijacking and taking the host lipid membrane to make the long viral envelope." Robert Stahelin, professor, Purdue University

Stahelin found that a part of the VP40 protein, which is made inside the host cell during infection, is important for binding to one human lipid in particular, known as phosphatidylserine or simply "PS." Disrupting that part of VP40 reduced interactions with PS, and diminished its ability to form the viral envelope.

To see if targeting human PS might help against Ebola virus infection, Stahelin found two FDA-approved drugs that alter cellular lipid distribution-;one approved for blood pressure and the other for schizophrenia treatment. Testing these drugs with live Ebola virus, in collaboration with a high-biosafety lab, shows that these drugs "were pretty good at blocking virus replication and spread in the cell culture model for the actual virus," Stahelin said.

Though an effective Ebola vaccine was approved in December 2019, Stahelin said it is challenging to disseminate vaccines in Africa, where most Ebola outbreaks occur. And in the rare instances that an Ebola patient travels abroad before showing symptoms, it would helpful to have a prophylactic treatment for anyone exposed to the patient. "These drugs alone or in combination might be effective at blocking the virus in humans. You would probably take them after symptoms, or if people are exposed and unvaccinated," Stahelin said.


Following a recent break-up from his longtime boyfriend, YouTube sensation and make up maven, Jeffree Star, traded love for late-night partying with a weekend-long celebration at Drais Nightclub at The Cromwell Hotel in Las Vegas.

Arriving in style via private jet, Star began the party on Valentines Day with a large group of friends at the nightlife hotspot. While taking in a live performance from Ty Dolla $ign, the group indulged in magnum-sized bottles of Don Julio 1942 and Ace of Spades rose.

Star and his entourage enjoyed the experience so much that they returned for round two on Saturday night. Amid confetti showers and an elaborate VIP bottle presentation complete with sparklers and the Drais Dolls holding up signs with his name, Star enjoyed a performance by Wiz Khalifa. Star partied at the club well into the early morning hours on both nights, posting several Instagram stories to showcase his epic celebration to his nearly 16 million followers.

Also in attendance at the club on Friday night was Norman Powell of the Toronto Raptors. Reddick Haason of the Arizona Cardinals was also spotted.
Enova, a leading energy and facilities management specialist in the Middle East region, said it has successfully completed and handed over the first-ever retrofit project awarded in Saudi Arabia by The National Energy Services Company (Tarshid).



A joint venture between Majid Al Futtaim, a leading mall and leisure projects developer and Veolia, an optimised resource management specialist, Enova said it had implemented an innovative range of energy conservation measures (ECMs) to cut and guarantee the energy use reduction of Sasos (Saudi Standards, Quality and Metrology Organization) government facility by over 30 per cent.



After being awarded the contract by Tarshid, Enova said it had leveraged its expertise gained from years of experience working on energy retrofitting projects across the region, to boost energy efficiency and reduce the facilitys electricity consumption by more than 6 GWh per year.



The amount of greenhouse gas emissions reduced by Enovas efforts equated to the CO2 emissions produced by nearly 1,000 passenger vehicles driven for a year, it added.

According to Enova, the entire project was completed within just 10 months of Tarshid awarding the contract.



The Majid Al Futtaim JV said the substantial savings at the Sasos facility in Riyadh have been achieved through a mix of ECMs, which began with the installation of a building and chiller management system that helped optimise the pumping system of the entire complex.



The project also called for the replacement of 14,500 conventional lightbulbs with LED lighting, as well as structural building optimisations, such as the installation of air curtains and chilled water line insulation to reduce cooling losses, it stated.



Comprising 11 buildings, which house several offices and laboratories, Sasos complex in Riyadh covers a total floor area of 193,000 sqm, it added.



On the key milestone, CEO Renaud Capris said: "We are proud to have partnered with Saso in achieving its sustainability targets by cutting electricity consumption by over 30 per cent, while at the same time, introducing cutting-edge IoT technologies to maximise occupant comfort."



"We look forward to continuing our work in Saudi Arabia and supporting the countrys efforts toward sustainability," stated Capris.



"As part of its commitment to ensuring the well-being of end-users, Enova focused its efforts on increasing the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) by improving both the air quality and the thermal comfort of occupants," said the top official.



"This was achieved through the deployment of specialized IoT technologies and smart solutions, marking the first instance that such an application has been seen within an Energy Performance Contract in Saudi Arabia," he added.



The Majid Al Futtaim JV pointed out that the award-winning Hubgrade platform was also a crucial component in the success of the project.



"The smart monitoring and reporting center helped to identify saving opportunities, all the way from the audit stage, up to the measurement and verification process after implementation. Dashboards for both the client and end-users were provided, enabling transparency and raising awareness over the course of the project," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Chili Gumbo

Chili Gumbo Ingredient Shopping List:



Ground beef

Canned diced tomatoes

Tomato paste

Tomato sauce

Tomato juice

Ketchup

A yellow onion

Shallots

Green bell pepper

Yellow bell pepper

Celery

Garlic

Spices and herbs include white pepper, black pepper, cayenne pepper, chile powder, turmeric, dried oregano, and ground cumin.



Condiments include A-1 Steak Sauce, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and apple cider vinegar.



The roux in the gumbo was enough to thicken this chili, so you will not need to add any okra or file.



Spices and herbs include white pepper, black pepper, cayenne pepper, chile powder, turmeric, dried oregano, and ground cumin.Condiments include A-1 Steak Sauce, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and apple cider vinegar.The roux in the gumbo was enough to thicken this chili, so you will not need to add any okra or file.

How to make Chili Gumbo

What is Gumbo?

Firehouse Chili Gumbo

Firehouse Chili Gumbo Recipe Print

With Image Without Image Yield: 12 servings

Author: Karen Kerr Chili Gumbo! Make some chili, make some gumbo, and then mix them all together. With a roux and the holy trinity of gumbo (onions, bell pepper, and celery), it's pretty much a creole take on meaty chili. ingredients: For the Chili 2 tablespoons canola or other neutral oil

3 pounds ground beef

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground white pepper

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon dried oregano (I used Mexican oregano)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

3 tablespoons A-1 steak sauce

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes For the Gumbo 2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons flour

1 large yellow onion, diced

2 medium shallots, diced

1 large green bell pepper, diced

1 large yellow bell pepper, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

3 large garlic cloves, minced For the Chili Gumbo 2 6-ounce cans tomato paste

2 8-ounce cans tomato sauce

2 cups tomato juice

1/2 cup ketchup

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons hot sauce

Cheese, Fritos, and/or scallions for topping instructions: How to cook Firehouse Chili Gumbo Recipe To Make the Chili Heat the oil in a Dutch oven. Cook the beef in batches until just browned around the edges. Transfer the beef to a paper towel lined bowl. Pour off the excess fat from the pan and return the beef to the Dutch oven. Add the salt, peppers, chili powder, turmeric, oregano, and cumin, and stir to combine over medium heat. Add the steak sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and the diced tomatoes and stir to combine. Cover the pot and simmer for 15 minutes on medium low, covered, stirring every five minutes. To Make the Gumbo Heat a large skillet over medium heat and melt the butter and oil. Once the butter has melted, add the flour and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture is a deep golden brown. Add the onions, shallots, bell peppers, celery, and garlic, and cook, stirring regularly, for about 15 minutes. To Make the Chili Gumbo Add the Gumbo to the Chili and stir. Stir in the tomato paste, tomato sauce, tomato juice, and ketchup. Cook the mixture, covered, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes. Stir in the vinegar and hot sauce. Serve immediately, or let cool and refrigerate to let the flavors meld. Re-heat to serve. Top with Fritos, cheese, and/or scallions. Calories

495.88 Fat (grams)

43.74 Sat. Fat (grams)

24.18 Carbs (grams)

10.11 Fiber (grams)

1.68 Net carbs

8.43 Sugar (grams)

4.91 Protein (grams)

17.51 Sodium (milligrams)

821.53 Cholesterol (grams)

135.43 https://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2020/02/chili-gumbo.html Karen's Kitchen Stories Chili, Gumbo Main dish Creole, Cajun

Did you make this recipe? Tag @KarensKitchenStories on instagram and hashtag it #KarensKitchenStories Created using The Recipes Generator

Chili Gumbo! Make some chili, make some gumbo, and then mix them all together. With a roux and the holy trinity of gumbo (onions, bell pepper, and celery), it's pretty much a creole take on meaty chili.This chili gumbo is meaty and tomato-y, and there is plenty enough to serve a crowd.I took a cue from Frito Pie Chili and topped the finished chili gumbo with a few Fritos, which turned out to be pretty tasty. It's also delicious topped with shredded cheese, and it's especially decadent with with both melty cheese and chips.First, you make the chili by browning the ground beef and then adding salt, three kinds of peppers, chile powder, turmeric, oregano, cumin, steak sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and canned diced tomatoes.Next, you make the gumbo. You begin with making a roux by melting butter and stirring in flour and whisking until the mixture turns a deep golden brown.Then, you add the "holy trinity" of bell peppers, celery, and onions (plus some garlic and shallots), and cook the mixture until the veggies have softened.Finally, you add the chili to the gumbo mixture along with tomato paste, tomato sauce, tomato juice, and ketchup. You cook this mixture for about 45 minutes, and then season with apple cider vinegar and hot sauce.Dear friends, this is really good. Plus, it's loaded with tons of veggies while still tasting totally meaty.Gumbo is a thick stew of meat, fish, and/or chicken along with Creole and Cajun seasonings. It's often served over rice and can be thickened with file (ground sassafras) and/or okra, along with a deeply colored roux of butter and flour.Gumbo is a celebrated dish in Louisiana, and New Orleans in particular. While its origins can't be pinpointed exactly, its roots are believed to be a combination of Native American (Choctaw), African, and French.The original recipe for this chili gumbo was developed by a Louisiana firefighter in honor of his brother, also a firefighter, who died in the line of duty. This chili won first prize in a national contest run by Hormel for America's best firehouse chili. Hormel runs the contest every year to honor fallen firefighters and support the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.This month the Soup Saturday group is sharing recipes for gumbo, hosted by Sue of Palatable Pastime This firehouse chili gumbo is hearty, delicious, and combines the flavors of chili and gumbo into a tasty dish.
Vietnamese companies, many of whom are facing a shortage of feedstock and raw materials as a result of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in China, have started looking at alternative sources.

Latex is processed at Dau Tieng Rubber Co Ltd's plant in Long Hoa Commune, Dau Tieng District, Binh Duong Province. Vietnamese companies are lacking raw materials for production as global trade has been jammed because of the coronavirus outbreak in China.

The epidemic has had a significant impact on public health, transportation, tourism, education, and, importantly, trade and commerce, experts said.

It has affected Viet Nams trade not only with China but also other markets, and started hurting Vietnamese businesses.

According to the Department of Import and Export under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the impacts include prolonging delivery times and customs clearance due to the quarantine requirements on both sides.

In addition, trade by road, rail and air with China has slumped.

With Chinese goods not available, Viet Nam has been unable to source imports, which has affected its production and exports to third markets.

Many textile and footwear enterprises are therefore looking at raw material imports from other markets such as South Korea, India, Bangladesh, and Brazil.

Pham Xuan Hong, president of HCM Citys Textile Association, said this would only be a temporary solution since China could not be replaced as the main supplier by anyone else due to its much lower costs.

Truong Van Cam, vice chairman and general secretary of the Viet Nam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas), said the textile industry sources a significant proportion of feedstock from China.

The epidemic has caused Chinese businesses to shut down production, especially in Wuhan, where there are a number of large factories, he said.

Since many textile plants in China are likely to be closed until the end of February or even longer, supply to Viet Nam would be hard hit, he said.

If the epidemic continues for the next one or two months, the global economy, including Viet Nam, would be in trouble, he warned.

But this is also an opportunity for Vietnamese businesses to look for other sources to relinquish their dependence on China, he pointed out.

Other countries like Thailand, India and Indonesia are also looking for other markets to source raw materials from to reduce their dependence on China, he said.

Companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, need Government support in the form of preferential loans and access to new technologies to sustain their business, he added.

Vitas has asked members for reports on the impact of the outbreak on their operations and instructed them to follow developments.

It urged businesses to focus on the domestic market and from other markets to sustain themselves and ensure workers are not affected.

Do Thi Thuy Huong of the Viet Nam Electronics Industries Association said most enterprises in her industry are expected to be hit hard in the next one or two months, and face the risk of delaying payments to workers and stopping production.

Tran Thanh Hai, deputy director of the Ministry of Industry and Trades import-export department, said the ministry has worked with the Ministry of Health to take measures against the epidemic, but they would not impact trade.

Recently a number of credit institutions offered to earmark funds to meet credit demand from customers affected by the outbreak. VNS

Industries hit as epidemic cuts off raw materials The textile industry suffers from a shortage of raw materials since they are mostly imported from China, which is reeling under the coronavirus epidemic.
Indian Embassy in Beijing Monday urged its citizens living in coronavirus hit Hubei province, who intend to avail the flight which will return to India after delivering a consignment of medical supplies, to contact the embassy 1900 hours (7pm).

In a series of tweets today, the embassy said, "GoI will send a consignment of medical supplies on a relief flight to Wuhan later this week to support China to fight the COVID-19 epidemic. On its return, the flight will have limited capacity to take on board Indians wishing to return to India from Wuhan/Hubei."

GoI will send a consignment of medical supplies on a relief flight to Wuhan later this week to support China to fight the COVID-19 epidemic. On its return, the flight will have limited capacity to take on board Indians wishing to return to India from Wuhan/Hubei.(1/3) @MEAIndia  India in China (@EOIBeijing) February 17, 2020

"Many Indian nationals currently in Wuhan/Hubei Province and wishing to return to India have already been in touch with @EOIBeijing in the past two weeks. We urge all Indian nationals from Wuhan/Hubei who intend to avail this flight and have not yet contacted us, to urgently call our hotlines 8618610952903 and 8618612083629 or send email to helpdesk.beijing@mea.gov.in before 1900 hours today (17 February 2020)," it added.

Indian Ambassador to China, Vikram Misri expressing his solidarity with the people of China in their fight against the coronavirus epidemic, on Sunday announced that New Delhi will be sending a consignment of medical supplies to China to help with the relief effort.

The death toll from the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has gone up to 1,770 in China, with the total number of registered cases standing at 70,548, reported Chinese Health Authorities, according to South China Morning Post.

Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.
The City of Rio Rancho is putting into place a new incentive to recruit and expand small businesses.

City Councilors Jim Owen and Dave Bency introduced a proposal to expand the Gross Receipts Investment Policy (GRIP) at the Rio Rancho Governing Body meeting Wednesday night at City Hall. Governing body members unanimously approved the first of two readings needed to implement the measure.

GRIP provides for the city to reimburse a portion of gross receipts taxes for a specified time as an incentive for a qualifying business to come to or expand in Rio Rancho. Now, the ordinance requires a business to have $3 million of projected gross receipts tax-eligible transactions per year after three years of operation or at least 25 employees, with exceptions for restaurants, hotels and significant square-footage expansions.

Under proposed changes, from July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2023, those qualifications would be reduced to $1 million in GRT-eligible transactions or at least five employees. The reimbursement rate would increase to as much as 75 percent of the citys share of GRT.

New construction and redevelopment of existing space, including infrastructure upgrades, are eligible.

Bency said attracting small businesses would encourage use of vacant commercial spaces.

Theres need everywhere you look. Theres already infrastructure in a lot of these places, he said.

Bency said the changes were proposed to last for three years because it takes time to let business owners know and get things done, but the program shouldnt go on too long.

Bottom line is, well, either its going to work or its not going to work, he said.

City Economic Development and Business Relations Manager Matt Geisel said GRIP, first adopted in 2002, had been designed for big-box projects.

Those arent happening anymore, he said.

Geisel added that small businesses bring value and roots to a community.

When Councilor Jeremy Lenentine asked if three years was enough to know if the strategy would work, Geisel said it was hard to determine what the perfect span of time was, but the city could consider extending it if there was a lot of interest in three years.

Rio Rancho Regional Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jerry Schalow supported the change and said it could let small businesses that were renting make the lifelong investment of building their own facility.

This creates that opportunity for expansion, growth, he said.

In other business, governing body members:

 Approved submission of a loan application for up to $15 million to help the University of New Mexico build an orthopedic surgery and rehabilitation center at Sandoval Regional Medical Center. Higher Education Gross Receipts Tax revenue will repay the loan, if the New Mexico Finance Authority approves it.

 Rezoned land along Westside Boulevard west of Unser Boulevard from low-density single-family residential use to industrial and business park use. Upon the recommendation of Development Services Director Anthony Caravella, the governing body rezoned less land than originally proposed to lessen impact on neighbors.

 Approved the first reading of an ordinance amendment creating a committee to review technical standards for building projects, with the understanding that they would discuss the matter further in a work session Tuesday and make changes during the second reading.

 Removed a site plan for a multi-family dwelling in Northern Meadows from the agenda at the request of the applicant.

 Approved a master plan for a new Papillon Village subdivision south of Mariposa.

 Approved a new master plan for the Lomas Encantadas development south of Enchanted Hills, but remanded a proposed zone change for part of the area back to the Rio Rancho Planning and Zoning Board.
The impact of outbreak will be felt on global for at least two to three years, as China is the largest producer of the alloy, Union Minister said on Monday.

The minister also asked Indian steel companies to enhance output, particularly special steel, to grab larger global market share.

A strategy paper was being prepared for producing 10 million tonnes of special steel at a cost of Rs 50,000 crore with 50,000 employment potential in the present scenario, he said.

India is the second largest global producer of steel with an annual output of over 106 million tonne (MT), but lags much behind China that accounted for 928.3 MT of the alloy in 2018.

"When some markets in the globe face pressure, its positive reflection is felt in some other markets. This is an automatic (natural) law. India occupies number two slot in steel production. From capital goods to finished products - how can we derive benefit - we are holding talks with stakeholders," Pradhan said on the sidelines of a CII event.

Pradhan also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has offered a helping hand to China to fight the deadly virus. He urged players - both large and small - including the startups to come forward for production of special steel and check its import, as countries like Japan and Korea where exporting finished goods to India after adding value to raw material imported from India.

"India is a technologically competent country. There is lot of manpower, lot of domestic market, lot of raw material ... Synergising all these factors we have to be self sufficient, we have to create a new model...We have to produce good quality of special steel...We can also export," Pradhan said.

The that emerged in central China at the end of last year has now killed nearly 1,800 people and spread around the world.

As of Monday, 70,548 people had been infected across China, the majority in and around Wuhan - the capital of Hubei province, where the outbreak was first reported.

Outside mainland China, there have been about 780 infections reported in nearly 30 locations.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

Trend:

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met with European Commissioner for Trade Phil Hogan within his working visit to Brussels, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

The meeting was held in a constructive and mutually beneficial partnership atmosphere. The sides discussed the issues of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the EU, as well as the negotiations on a new agreement to constitute the legal basis of bilateral relations.

Hogan expressed confidence about the impetus the new agreement would give to raising the cooperation between the sides on a qualitatively new level.

In turn, Mammadyarov briefed Hogan on the current status of negotiations on the new agreement, including the issues that are still open to discussions between the sides.

Hogan noted the importance of intensification of negotiations over the trade-related issues and suggested that the agreement is finalized before the Eastern Partnership Summit to be held in June 2020.

Mammadyarov underlined that the Azerbaijani side is for the continuation of negotiations in a constructive manner, based on equal rights and interests of both sides.

The sides also appreciated the contribution of the Southern Gas Corridor to European energy security and exchanged views on the completion of the Southern Gas Corridor and its further development through other projects.
More than half of all cancer patients undergo radiation therapy and the dose is critical. Too much and the surrounding tissue gets damaged, too little and the cancer cells survive. Subhadeep Dutta and Karthik Pushpavanam, graduate students working in the lab of Kaushal Rege, Professor at Arizona State University in Tempe, and collaborators at Banner-M.D. Anderson in Gilbert, Arizona, developed a new way to monitor radiation doses that is cost-effective and easy to read. Dutta will present their research on Tuesday, February 18 at the 64th Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society in San Diego, California.

Radiation therapy directs high energy beams to destroy the genetic material inside cells and prevent them from growing. Typically, a radiation therapy team decides the total dose of radiation, and then divides that total dose over several sessions. The machines and calculations involved are usually spot-on as far as dosages, but sometimes variations, perhaps due to patient movement such as breathing, or in rare instances due to issues with the machine or software, can be causes for error. Monitoring the dose is critical as both overdosing and underdosing can compromise patient safety-;too much healthy tissue or too little tumor can be destroyed in the process.

Dutta, Pushpavanam, Rege, and colleagues made a hydrogel that can be applied directly to a patient's skin in order to easily measure radiation doses. Mixed into the hydrogel are gold salts and a few amino acids. Without radiation, the gel is colorless, but as it is exposed to radiation it becomes pink. The color intensity is directly correlated to the amount of radiation. At the end of a treatment, it is painlessly peeled off the skin and the color is measured with a common and relatively inexpensive lab instrument, an absorption spectrometer.

Some dose monitors are currently available for patients.

One looks like a sheet of paper (Radiochromic Films), but it is sensitive to light and heat, so it must be carefully handled, and requires long processing times. Another is a tiny sensor (NanoDot), which is expensive and requires multiple arrays to cover an area of the skin. Ours can be used directly onto the skin and is relatively inexpensive." Subhadeep Dutta, graduate student

The gel has performed well in testing and was recently used on canine cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy. "Our next plan is to convert it to an app-based system, where you can take a picture of a gel and that can predict the dose based on programming in the app. It's just measuring color, which is easy to do," says Dutta. The team is hopeful that future studies will lead to translation of this technology for use with human patients in the clinic.
Photo: CTV News Delta's police chief is praising a group of young people who had the presence of mind to call 911 when two children got stuck in the mud on a beach at Fred Gingell Park as the tide was coming in.

A group of students are being praised by the Delta police chief after they called 911 after noticing two children stuck in the mud on a beach as the tide was coming in.

"It took the efforts of two firefighters and three police officers to rescue the two children, a boy and a girl around eight years old," said Delta Police Chief Neil Dubord.

CTV Vancouver reports the kids had been exploring the beach at Fred Gingell Park on Saturday at low tide.

The kids got about 150 metres from shore when they got stuck: the girl up to her waist, and the boy up to his knees.

At around 5 p.m., a group of young people onshore noticed the pair had gotten into trouble and realized the situation was serious.

"They called 911, a very heads-up move," Dubord said.

First responders found the girl very cold when they got out to the beach and she couldn't move her legs or get herself out of the mud,

The two firefighters held her up to prevent her from sinking any further, while the police officers dug her out.

The children were carried to a waiting ambulance, where paramedics checked them before releasing them. Neither child was injured.

"We do see people get stuck in the mud," Dubord said. "But typically not this bad where people need to be pulled out."

- With files from CTV News Vancouver
Anchor and reporter Thanh Truongs last day on air at WWL-TV will be Friday, but audiences wont have to go long without hearing his baritone voice narrating a gripping piece again.

Later this month he and his wife, Anna Christie, will launch a true-crime podcast examining the mysterious death of Edward Wells, a teenager who frequented the French Quarter before his body was pulled from the Mississippi River in 1982.

Truong on Monday avoided discussing many details about New Orleans Unsolved, the podcast whose pilot episode is slated to debut Feb. 27. But interest in Wells case surged after a survivor of child sexual abuse in 2018 publicly accused a former New Orleans cop of having a hand in the death, which was classified at the time as a drowning rather than a homicide.

And evidence turned up by the husband-and-wife teams project has prompted investigators from several law enforcement agencies to also revisit the unsolved deaths of three other teens who may have been targeted by an unidentified serial killer in the late 1970s, officials have said.

Truong on Monday described a mixture of excitement about the podcast and gratitude to the station where he has spent a decade. The Vietnamese immigrant, who arrived in the U.S. with his family as refugees in 1978, said the city embraced him.

Its a place where Im not a stranger, Truong, 43, said of New Orleans. As an immigrant, you feel a sense of displacement your whole life, and this is the place Ive felt most at home.

Truong arrived at WWL in 2003 and two years later was one of 27 staffers who stayed in the city to cover the deadly levee failures during Hurricane Katrina. He later worked at the NBC affiliate in Denver and became an Atlanta-based national correspondent for NBC News before returning to WWL in 2013.

Many will remember his second stretch at WWL for his compassionate portrayals of murder victims and their families. WWL News Director Keith Esparros also singled out Truongs profile of a support group for people whose lives were touched by the neuromuscular disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, as well as his firsthand examination of the citys troubled underground drainage system.

He has a great range when it comes to reporting, Esparros said. One of the hallmarks of his reporting is he brings you somewhere you hadnt been before and helps you understand that you didnt have as full a picture as you thought.

Truong said hes always held a deep respect for long-form radio reporting, the forerunner of documentary podcasts.

He said hes also been intrigued by the international audiences for high-quality podcasts. And, when he first read about Wells in a New Orleans Advocate article, he thought his story was a perfect match for the podcast medium, which isnt under the same time and space constraints as television or newspapers.

The New Orleans Advocate article included interviews with two men who said they were minors when they were sexually molested by Stanley Burkhardt, who was a New Orleans Police Department child abuse investigator before he was convicted of molestation- and juvenile pornography-related offenses.

Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

+4 Mysterious 1982 death, new accuser become part of probe into convicted pedophile and ex-NOPD cop The New Orleans Police Department is intensifying its scrutiny of a man who oversaw the force's child-abuse investigations before he was unmas

The men, Richard Windmann and Vic Groomer, said Burkhardt would show them a crime-scene photo of a boy who had apparently drowned in the river as a threat to keep them quiet about their own abuse.

Windmann said the way Burkhardt described the boy  a hustler nicknamed Eddie Dirt  matched the description of Wells. He said Burkhardt boasted about having killed Wells and told him that he could end up the same way.

Truong turned to his wife, whom he met while based in Atlanta, to collaborate on additional reporting on Wells. Christie still owns a tea shop and bakery in Atlanta, and in 2009 she established a nonprofit meant to help orphans and human trafficking victims in Darjeeling, India.

Truong said Christie contributed valuable investigative research to their project, gathering new interviews as well as evidence aimed at answering the question: Who killed Eddie Wells?

The podcast contains 12 episodes of 30 to 45 minutes each. Future seasons will cover other unsolved cases, Truong said.

We think there will be little doubt on who killed Eddie Wells at the end of the first season, he said.

Louisiana State Police, the St. Tammany Parish Sheriffs Office and investigators in Mississippi caught wind of Truong and Christies project in April 2019. It prompted them to re-examine the unsolved strangulation deaths of Dennis Turcotte, Raymond Richardson and Daniel Dewey.

Authorities believe the three teens, all French Quarter habitues, may all have been murdered by the same killer before being found dead across the region between February 1978 and November 1979.

Authorities have not said Burkhardt is a suspect in those cases. But last summer, a state trooper investigating the three teens killings obtained a warrant to arrest Burkhardt for allegedly breaking sex-offender registration laws after he had been paroled from a life sentence following his conviction on the juvenile sex crime charges.

Burkhardt was returned to federal prison following his arrest on the warrant. A judge on Feb. 24 may rule on whether he should serve out the rest of his life sentence after the arrest.
New York state spends more on education than any other part of the budget. The state spends almost 90% more than the rest of the nation per student, and New York City spends more than twice as much as the national average per student. And many lawmakers and activists say the state is still shortchanging its students, at least based on a decade-old promise that wasnt kept.

So when parents say theres nothing more important than educating our kids, thats literally true in the Empire State.

In the following pages, we highlight the officials, administrators, advocates, executives and union leaders who are shepherding New York governments most meaningful industry.

1. Betty Rosa

Mike Groll/AP/Shutterstock Chancellor, State Board of Regents

Since Betty Rosa was elected chancellor of New York states powerful Board of Regents in 2016, the former New York City principal and superintendent has led the education policymaking panel through a series of rapid pushbacks on the reform-minded policies introduced under her predecessor, Merryl Tisch.

Rosa joined the board in 2008 and became chancellor in 2016, buoyed by support from the opt-out movement of parents whove protested the new, more difficult state tests tied to the Common Core learning standards. Under her leadership, the board quickly relaxed the high-stakes nature of the tests by unlinking them from teacher performance evaluations and reducing the number of days students take them.

This year, Rosa will be front and center as officials consider overhauling high school graduation requirements and, possibly, revamping Regents requirements. Also on her plate: more wrangling over the state education funding formula, a bill to create more equitable school discipline policies, an effort to ban vape use by teens and student privacy issues.

2. Shannon Tahoe

New York State Education Department Interim Commissioner, State Education Department

Shannon Tahoe was appointed interim commissioner at the state Education Department and president of the University of the State of New York in November 2019, stepping into the position vacated by MaryEllen Elia during a rocky period of transition in the department. (Another interim commissioner, Beth Berlin, stepped down as well.) Though shes new to the commissioner role, Tahoe joined the Education Department in 2006. As an attorney, shes provided legal counsel to the Board of Regents, previous commissioners and staff. She currently serves as acting counsel and deputy commissioner for legal affairs, in addition to being interim commissioner.

In 2020, Tahoe has an opportunity to weigh in more publicly, if she chooses, on issues such as accountability measures for struggling public schools, a proposal for state monitoring of the troubled Hempstead School District on Long Island, and oversight of private schools, which sparked several lawsuits during Elias tenure. One thing remains unclear: As the search for a new commissioner continues, is Tahoe interested in throwing her hat in the ring?

3. Richard Carranza

Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office Chancellor, New York City Department of Education

As he nears the two-year mark as chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, Richard Carranza has proven hes not shy about confronting the enormous inequality that plagues the largest school district in the nation. Hes pushing the department to adopt culturally inclusive educational programs and rolling out a new anti-hate crime curriculum following a recent spike in anti-Semitic attacks.

Carranza, along with Mayor Bill de Blasio, supported repealing the citys specialized high school admission test - at least until the mayor gave up his efforts in September. The debate over whether the test should be the sole entrance criterion for the citys elite high schools has been one of the most controversial issues of Carranzas tenure so far. Hes also taken fire from parents and union officials about student safety and discipline incidents, especially in Queens.

A 30-year educator familiar with the challenges of urban school systems, Carranza came to New York in 2018 after superintendent jobs in Houston and San Francisco. Off-hours, hes a multi-instrumentalist who moonlights in a mariachi band.

4. Michael Mulgrew

UFT President, United Federation of Teachers

Michael Mulgrew has clout, in New York and nationally, as president of the union that represents 200,000 New York City public school educators, school child care providers, nurses, adult education instructors and retirees. In his decadelong tenure with the United Federation of Teachers (he also holds executive roles at both the state and national teachers unions), Mulgrew has notched a series of big wins: two back-to-back contracts including substantial pay raises and expanded authority of school-based UFT consultation committees; paid parental leave; and the continuation of no-premium health plans.

As an organizer, Mulgrew possesses the ability to engage parents and rally teachers, and he unapologetically advocates for members concerns in front of the City Council, the mayors office and the state Legislature. Hes also a vocal critic of the charter school sector who has gone head-to-head with deep-pocketed charter school funders and network leaders in a campaign to cap their growth in the city and improve transparency about how charters use public tax dollars.

5. Andrew Pallotta

El-Wise Noisette President, New York State United Teachers

Former Bronx elementary school teacher Andrew Pallotta took over the leadership of New York State United Teachers in 2017, after serving as the unions executive vice president under former president Karen Magee. He was also a Bronx representative with the United Federation of Teachers. In the past, the union has feuded with Gov. Andrew Cuomo over the Common Core rollout, tougher teacher evaluations and the states property tax cap, but during Pallottas term, that relationship has warmed a bit.

On behalf of the unions 600,000 educators, Pallotta has lobbied to prevent school voucher and tax credit programs from passing the state Legislature, helped protect public employees right to organize; and swept millions of dollars into the unions political fundraising arm. In his previous role as vice president, Pallotta is credited with spearheading the unions online Member Action Center to facilitate digital lobbying on key state and federal issues. As he aims to spur membership, Pallotta introduced Next Generation NYSUT in 2019, which offers student loan debt counseling and certification help to new teachers.

Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly suggested that Regents Chancellor Betty Rosa was considering scrapping the Regents exams.
Syrian troops have made significant advances against the last rebel held enclaves in the countrys northwest, state media said on Sunday, consolidating the governments hold over the key Aleppo province.

The Syrian government advance also appeared to put the provincial capital of Aleppo out of the firing range of opposition groups for the first time in years, another sign of Syrian President Bashar Assads growing control of the area.

The armed opposition had been driven out of Aleppo citys eastern quarters in late 2016, which they controlled for years while battling government forces who were in charge in the western part. Rebel groups had continued to harry government forces, however, from outside the city with mortar rounds.

State news agency SANA reported 30 villages and towns around the city in the western Aleppo countryside were captured on Sunday.-

Rami Abdul-Rahman, the head of the Britain-based war monitor Syria Observatory for Human Rights, confirmed the report.

The state-run Al-Ikhbariya TV said government troops were still besieging remnants of opposition fighters in a small part of rural western Aleppo. Also, parts of northern Aleppo region, which straddles the border with Turkey, is administered by Turkey and allied Syrian factions. Another segment of the province further west is controlled by Kurdish-led forces, allied with the United States. Both parts have not been part of the government offensive.

The fighting in the Aleppo region and nearby Idlib province has unleashed a humanitarian crisis. Over 800,000 civilians out of nearly 4 million living in the enclave have been displaced, living in open fields and temporary shelters for the most part in harsh winter conditions.

The armed opposition is now squeezed into a shrinking area of nearby Idlib province, where the government is also on the offensive.

The Syrian people are determined to liberate all Syrian territories, President Assad said according to the Syrian state news agency on Sunday.

Assad was speaking during a meeting with visiting Iranian parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani. Both Iran and Russia have heavily backed Assad in the civil war.

The Syrian leader also claimed terrorists in northwestern Syria were using residents as human shields, in an attempt to stop Syrian troops from advancing into the territory.

Syrias government considers all the opposition in the nine-year war as terrorists and has repeatedly leveled accusation that they take residents of areas they control as hostages. But many of the displaced in Syrias Idlib province have fled the fighting in other parts of the country, choosing to live in areas outside of government control.

Turkey has sent thousands of troops and equipment into the opposition enclave, in an attempt to stall the government advance.

Turkey, which backs the opposition, has called for an end to the Syrian government offensive. It also fears that the displaced may overwhelm its borders. Turkey is already home to more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees. The United Nations has also called for a cease-fire.

Larijani, meanwhile, reiterated his countrys support for Syria in fighting terrorism. Iran has played a key role in supporting Assads war efforts, sending financial support as well as fighters to back up Syrian military operations.

Support from Russia and Iran has enabled Assads forces to regain control of much of the territories they had lost to armed groups who worked to topple him.

Over 400,000 people have been killed and half of Syrias population displaced since peaceful protests in 2011 turned into a civil war stoked by foreign interventions.

SOURCE: AP | PHOTO: AP
"With this hire, the American Heart Association acquired the best of all worlds. Katrina is a transformative brand strategist and innovator. Everywhere she's gone she has created measurable value by unlocking insights to connect the dots that orchestrate authentic consumer brand experiences," said Nancy Brown, American Heart Association CEO. "Additionally, Katrina is uniquely qualified as an experienced marketing veteran with a proven track record of understanding the singular complexities and communications challenges of the nonprofit sector. We're excited by the potential Katrina brings and how it will translate on behalf of the American Heart Association and its lifesaving mission."

In her new role, McGhee will serve as the American Heart Association's chief brand ambassador, responsible for enhancing brand relevance, promoting the organization's mission, and communicating its rich, lifesaving content to consumers and stakeholders across the United States and around the world. She will lead the development and execution of integrated program marketing strategies and community outreach, consistent with the Association's long-term health impact and fundraising goals. She will also help ensure good stewardship through her attention to the most effective and efficient alignment of marketing and communications resources across the charitable enterprise.

McGhee is a global marketing executive with more than two decades of experience in leading brand-building for world-class social purpose organizations. She began her career with the American Heart Association as marketing director, where she created national social marketing programs such as Take Wellness to Heart, Cholesterol Low Down, Covering the Bases, and Choose to Move  a 13-week physical activity program that more than 100,000 women completed to go from sedentary to active lifestyles. While with the Association, she also launched several multicultural marketing programs and developed public-private partnerships that generated millions of dollars in annual revenue.

McGhee later served as the executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Susan G. Komen for the Cure, where she was responsible for global marketing, business development and cause marketing along with oversight of more than 200 corporate partnerships, more than 140 Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Series events and more than $350 million in annual revenue.

Most recently, she worked as an independent consultant and launched the Loving on Me Career Success Academy, helping empower women to take charge of their health, lives and careers. She has also served as a business adviser to corporate executives in the areas of strategic planning, brand building, fundraising and career development, with an emphasis on transforming underserved communities and impacting the lives of women, children and minorities. McGhee is a noted speaker and the author of two books: "Loving on Me!: Lessons Learned on the Journey from MESS to MESSAGE" and "BE BOLD BE BRILLIANT BE YOU: Lessons from the C-Suite to Accelerate Your Career."

"The American Heart Association is emphasizing transformational communications and marketing in order to make a difference, and also leveraging the organization's brand as its most valuable asset," said McGhee. "Few nonprofits enjoy both the scale and vision to go to market in the most relevant and contemporary ways. It is a privilege for me to be able to return to the American Heart Association and work again  literally  to save lives."

McGhee will operate from the American Heart Association's National Center in Dallas.

About the American Heart Association

The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. We are dedicated to ensuring equitable health in all communities. Through collaboration with numerous organizations, and powered by millions of volunteers, we fund innovative research, advocate for the public's health and share lifesaving resources. The Dallas-based organization has been a leading source of health information for nearly a century. Connect with us on heart.org, Facebook , Twitter or by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1.

SOURCE American Heart Association

Related Links

www.heart.org


Pete Buttigieg isn't fretting about what will happen if President Trump won't accept the results of the election.

The former South Bend mayor sees a bright side, joking at a campaign event in Reno on Monday asked what he would do if the 'current occupant'  Trump  says 'this is all a hoax, and the Senate and Fox News agree with him 'when he doesn't want to leave.'

'I mean, if he wont leave, I guess if hes willing to do chores, we can work something out,' he quipped, getting laughs and applause from the crowd.

Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidate former South Bend Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg joked at an event in Reno, Nevada that President Trump could linger in the White House if he agreed to 'do chores'

Buttigieg made the comment after Trump spent last week railing against the impeachment 'hoax,' blasting federal prosecutors, and calling for the Mueller report to be 'expunged.'

After he was acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate, Trump trolled his opponents by posting a video that showed him running for president in 2024, 2028, 2032 and beyond.

Buttigieg also referenced his early comments to HBO talk host Bill Maher. He said it would be 'pretty awkward when Chasten and I are moving in our furniture,' earning laughs.

At the end of the day, theres only one president, he explained. This is one of the reason we not just eke out a win, not just club everybody over the head and hope that we get to 51 per cent and our Twitter followers outnumber your Twitter followers and we somehow piece together a squeaker.

Buttigieg referenced his earlier comments on the Bill Maher show

President Trump has joked about being president for life

Buttigieg drew laughs from a campaign crowd when he made the comment

Trump tweeted a video about being in office for life after he was acquitted by the Senate in his impeachment trial

'I think we want to set a goal of winning big enough that this election is way beyond cheating distance,' Buttigieg said.

'It's got to be a win so big that Senate Republican are reunited with their consciences,' he said, calling for a 'political shock wave.'

Trump last week told interviewer Geraldo Rivera Americans would vote for a gay president. 'I think there would be some that wouldn't, and I wouldn't be among that group, to be honest with you,' Trump said.
Washington: US presidential hopeful and former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg has pushed back against attacks on his sexuality, days after allies of President Donald Trump questioned whether Americans are ready for a gay candidate who kisses his husband onstage.

"Well, I am in a faithful, loving, committed marriage. I'm proud of my marriage. And I'm proud of my husband," Buttigieg, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, said on Fox News Sunday.

"And I'm not going to be lectured on family values from the likes of Rush Limbaugh or anybody who supports Donald J Trump as the moral as well as political leader of the United States," he added. "America has moved on, and we should have a politics of belonging that welcomes everybody."
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) has declared a state of emergency as authorities brace for "historic" floods, with days of rain expected, as the Pearl River continues to swell in and around the state capital, Jackson.

What's happening: Evacuations have already begun, and the river isn't expected to crest until Monday. Reeves described the situation as precarious. "We expect water to stay in the area for 2-3 days, with rain throughout the week," he tweeted.

A tweet previously embedded here has been deleted or was tweeted from an account that has been suspended or deleted.

Projections indicate Mississippi could experience the "third-worst flood in our states history," Reeves said in a Twitter post announcing the emergency declaration on Saturday.

Evacuations: The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries went door-to-door to alert 510 people "in an effort to evacuate the areas," MEMA said Sunday.

The Office of Homeland Security assisted in four evacuations in two counties, it added.

The impact: Four injuries have already been reported and 18 counties had submitted damage reports to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency by Sunday.

Go deeper: Study: Climate change effects apparent in daily global weather data

Editor's note: This story will be updated as it develops.
Advertisement

Caroline Flack flew to Barcelona with a friend a week before her tragic death, it has been revealed.

Flack took her own life aged 40 at her London home on Saturday after she was told she would face trial for the alleged assault of her boyfriend Lewis Burton - a charge she denied and Mr Burton did not want to pursue.

Her friend Sam Campbell had taken Flack along with her on a work trip, but found the Love Island presenter was 'calm and hopeful, but so weak', even while away in sunny Barcelona.

Flack was pictured on a trip to a museum, sitting in the back of a tuk-tuk, and smiling while holding up a cuddly souvenir with the words 'not guilty' emblazoned across it.

Writing a tribute to her friend on Instagram, Ms Campbell said: 'Ive lost count of all our holidays and trips. Last week she tagged along on a work trip to Barcelona with me. Waiting in the hotel while I did meetings.

Sam Campbell took Flack along with her on a work trip to help keep her spirits up, but found the Love Island presenter was 'calm and hopeful, but so weak' even while away on holiday

Writing a tribute to her friend on Instagram, Ms Campbell said: 'Ive lost count of all our holidays and trips. Last week she tagged along on a work trip to Barcelona with me. Waiting in the hotel while I did meetings'

Miss Campbell posted this image as she paid tribute to Caroline Flack following their holiday to Barcelona a week before her death

'Im so so glad she came and we got to have one more adventure together and a few last laughs,' Ms Campbell wrote

'We went on a tuk tuk, walked, saw the sights, went to a house of curiosities and got our caricature done.

'Wed go for dinner then watch Ab Fab till we fell asleep. She was calm and hopeful, but so weak.

'Im so so glad she came and we got to have one more adventure together and a few last laughs. I miss you so much already xxxxx.'

It comes after Caroline Flack's best friend shared a heartbreaking photograph of the late Love Island host holding her eight-year-old daughter as a baby.

Celebrity hair stylist Lou Teasdale posted the picture of Miss Flack and her daughter Lux from 2011 on Instagram last night, saying: 'This little lady misses you ''Calorine''.'

Miss Teasdale, who is known for being One Direction's stylist, wrote: 'Anyone have any nice advice for me with an eight-year-old learning about grief?

'She's lost two very special people who lived with us in the space of 12 months and I wanna make sure I'm saying the right thing - if there's such a thing.'

ITV was facing a reality show crisis last night after the suicide of presenter Caroline Flack, who tragically died on Saturday

Celebrity hair stylist Lou Teasdale posted the picture of Miss Flack and her daughter Lux from 2011 on Instagram last night, saying: 'This little lady misses you 'Calorine''

When Love Island returns tonight ITV will run a showreel tribute to Flack - as the broadcaster faces a reality show crisis.

After talks yesterday the decision was made to push ahead with the current series of Love Island, formerly fronted by Flack, which had already come under intense scrutiny after the suicides of two former contestants in the past two years.

Two episodes of the dating show were cancelled over the weekend but it is set to return to ITV2 and Virgin Media One tonight with a tribute to its former host.

However, TV critic Scott Bryan told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme that it was 'just a bit too soon' for the programme to return.

ITV have been plunged into crisis as talks over the future of Love Island continue (pictured above: Callum Jones, Leanne Amaning, Sophie Piper, Ollie Williams, Shaughna Phillips, Jess Gale, Eve Gale, Connor Durman, Nas Majeed, Mike Boateng, Paige Turley and Siannise Fudge 'Love Island' TV Show, Series 6, South Africa - Jan 2020)

He said: 'Of course there are viewers who would say, well, Love Island isn't really connected to this. As you have rightly pointed out, the reasons why somebody takes their own life is due to a myriad of different factors.

'Then some say that it should be as a tribute for Caroline, but also I think many people would say it just feels too soon. I think I'm in that camp - I feel personally it is just a bit too soon.

'I think it's just the fact that Love Island is such a bubbly show, such a warm show, such an uplifting show  and it just doesn't feel like the cultural mood where we are as a country at the moment, I think.

'I think it's also just incredibly hard for the crew - Laura Whitmore speaking so passionately, I highly recommend people go and watch it - to continue, essentially, continuing the rest of the series when it's incredibly difficult on their mental health.

'But I also want to point out that this has been really devastating news during the weekend, particularly when it's a familiar face.'

Flack stepped down from her presenting role in December after she was arrested for an alleged assault on her boyfriend Lewis Burton, 27.

The decision to press on with the show, which is due to finish next weekend, shocked industry insiders who expected the broadcaster to cancel it after her death.

Caroline Flack oversees the dumping 'Love Island' TV Show, Series 5, Episode 14, Majorca, Spain - 18 June, 2019

Two former contestants  Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis  have taken their lives over the past two years, and Gradon's boyfriend also killed himself weeks after her death.

One of ITV's most high- profile presenters, Eamonn Holmes, questioned whether the series should continue out of 'respect' for Caroline Flack. Writing on Twitter he said: 'Caroline Flack... Dear God. Shocked beyond belief. May she have found peace.

'Has to be repercussions for Love Island now surely?'

He later added: 'Meaning out of Respect, can the series continue?'

Love Island was replaced on ITV2 yesterday by Ibiza Weekender, which pulled in 341,000 viewers compared to 2,173,000 for Love Island the previous Sunday.

On Saturday, the show was replaced by You've Been Framed which attracted 163,000 viewers compared to 507,000 for Love Island the previous Saturday.

The most watched programme on ITV2 on Saturday was FYI Daily with 272,000 viewers, while the same show was also the most watched on Sunday but with 431,000 viewers.

The main sponsors of Love Island, take away service Just Eat, said it was backing ITV's decision to pull episodes at the weekend.

Yesterday sources at the broadcaster defended the organisation against suggestions it had not supported Flack enough after her arrest and subsequent charge for assaulting Lewis Burton.

After Saturday and Sunday night's editions of the dating show were pulled, there had been speculation about whether the rest of the series would air at all.

But yesterday the broadcaster said it would be back tonight with a tribute to Flack.

Confirming that the show would air an ITV spokesman said: 'Many people at ITV knew Caroline well and held her in great affection. All of us are absolutely devastated at this tragic news.'

Explaining the reasons for cancelling Sunday night's show, he said: 'After careful consultation between Caroline's representatives and the Love Island production team, and given how close we still are to the news of Caroline's tragic death, we decided not to broadcast Sunday's Love Island out of respect for Caroline's family.

'Love Island will return on Monday night, which will include a tribute to Caroline, who will be forever in our hearts.'

Flack is the fourth person linked to the ITV2 dating programme to have killed themselves. Contestant Sophie Gradon, who took part in the 2016 series, was found dead in 2018 at the age of 32.

Her boyfriend Aaron Armstrong, 25, killed himself three weeks later. Mike Thalassitis, who took part in the show in 2017, was 26 when he was found dead in March last year.

Last night the hash tag #cancelloveisland was trending on Twitter. Users branded the programme's format 'toxic' and questioned why it was still on air.

Flack, who was described as 'vulnerable' by her management, stepped down from presenting the winter series of Love Island after she was alleged to have assaulted Burton at her flat in Islington, north London, in December.

She entered a not guilty plea to a charge of assault at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court and was released on bail, with conditions that she stopped contact with her boyfriend ahead of a trial due to begin next month.

For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123, visit a local branch or go to www.samaritans.org
(Bloomberg) -- With the U.S. campaign against Huawei Technologies Co. threatening to disrupt the rollout of 5G wireless networks, phone carriers are joining forces to develop technology that can reduce their reliance on a handful of powerful equipment suppliers.

The Chinese company dominates the European market for telecommunications gear, ahead of Ericsson AB of Sweden and Finlands Nokia Oyj. Governments are weighing whether to follow the U.K. and limit Huaweis share of 5G networks over concerns -- denied by the company -- that it represents a security risk.

If they do, it could knock the progress of 5G off course: The big three have designed a lot of their wireless gear so it cant easily be integrated in the same network, much like an electric toothbrush only works with its own brush heads. So building 5G with Nokia or Ericsson kit on top of Huawei 4G infrastructure is fraught with complexity and costs.

Companies including Deutsche Telekom AG and Vodafone Group Plc have decided to combine separate projects to develop a more standardized, flexible network architecture that would make it easier for carriers to use products from multiple vendors, according to people familiar with the matter.

Under the plans, the O-RAN industry alliance, backed by Deutsche Telekom and AT&T Inc. among others, will align its work with the Telecom Infra Project, which was started by Facebook Inc. and is supported by several phone companies, said the people, who asked not to be named as the plans arent yet public.

The industry is pursuing the efforts with greater urgency partly because theyre alarmed by the prospect of restrictions on Huawei in more markets such as Germany, one of the people said. The U.K.s decision to limit Huaweis share of broadband infrastructure already led BT Group Plc to predict a 500 million-pound ($650 million) hit to its finances.

The carriers were planning to announce the O-RAN/TIP initiative at the wireless industrys biggest annual showcase in Barcelona next week, before it was canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak, the people said. An announcement could instead come as early as this week.

Story continues

O-RANs goal from the start has been to invite in more players with new ideas to help make the network stronger and more secure, said Deutsche Telekom spokeswoman Pia Habel. She declined further comment.

A spokeswoman for TIP declined to comment. A representative for O-RAN could not immediately be reached for comment.

Negotiating Power

Ensuring that antennas, switches and other gear from competing suppliers can communicate seamlessly may also make it harder for any vendor -- Ericsson and Nokia included -- to clinch contracts just because the customer already uses its equipment. That could strengthen the negotiating position of carriers in contracts for 5G networks that are set to cost the industry hundreds of billions of dollars.

AT&T has said it wants to replace the proprietary software that Nokia, Ericsson and Huawei use to run their wireless network gear with an open software.

Vodafone has begun issuing small contracts for OpenRAN, an initiative backed by TIP to standardize radio access network hardware and software. CEO Nick Read said in October that Vodafone was ready to fast track it into Europe as we seek to actively expand our vendor ecosystem.

O-RAN began in 2018 as a lobbying and research effort to make the radio access network -- the largest part of a wireless system -- more transparent and inter-operable. TIP is a broader project involving hundreds of companies working across all elements of networks.

O-RAN and TIP may already be changing the economics of the industry and giving newer players more room. Its now possible to design a virtual wireless network, which uses standardized, open-source software in conjunction with hardware from different vendors.

Rakuten Inc. is using such technology to roll out a virtual network in Japan. U.S. satellite broadcaster Dish Network Corp., a member of the O-RAN alliance, aims to build a 5G network along similar lines.

Ericsson and Nokia, reluctant to pick a fight with their biggest customers, have publicly welcomed O-RAN and TIP. Ericsson has joined O-RAN, while Nokia supports TIP and has been helping Rakuten build the Japanese network.

Nokia Chief Executive Officer Rajeev Suri said in April last year its better to be involved than not, although he didnt expect the model to be replicated in other parts of the world.

--With assistance from Thomas Seal, Angelina Rascouet, Niclas Rolander and Scott Moritz.

To contact the reporters on this story: Stefan Nicola in Berlin at snicola2@bloomberg.net;Rodrigo Orihuela in Madrid at rorihuela@bloomberg.net;Natalia Drozdiak in Brussels at ndrozdiak1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Thomas Pfeiffer at tpfeiffer3@bloomberg.net, Jennifer Ryan

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.
New Delhi, Feb 17 : Nuclear scientists from the DRDO reached Kandla port in Gujarat on Monday to inspect a Chinese ship carrying a machine used to launch ballistic missiles which has been detained there.

The ship enroute Port Qasim in Karachi was trying to pass on an autoclave as an industrial dryer.

A team from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) have found that the autoclave was used to make the composite lining for solid-fuel ballistic missiles. Now nuclear scientists have been rushed in to study the autoclave. If their findings corroborate with that of the first team, the autoclave will be seized.

"The commercial ship had a Hong Kong flag and was carrying a machine that is used to launch ballistic missiles," sources said.

The ship was intercepted on February 3 when it halted at the Kandla Port during its onward journey from Jiangyin Port in China. Indian customs officials found the consignment after properly monitoring the ship.

Sources further pointed out that the autoclave -- 18x4 metre in dimension -- found in the vessel was actually a pressure chamber that can be used for both civilian -- scientific and industrial -- and military purposes.

If The vessel's owners could be charged for violating the Special Chemicals, Organisms, Materials, Equipment and Technologies (Scomet) export rules.

The Ministry of External Affairs has refused to comment on the matter.

The vessel named 'Da Cui Yun' had left China for Karachi on January 17.

The port where it was headed in Pakistan is near to the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission, which developed Pakistan's nuclear technologies.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Robert Burnson (Bloomberg)  Mon, February 17, 2020 08:08 694 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2064e3c24 2 Lifestyle Gucci,Louis-Vuitton,lawsuit Free

Saks, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and other luxury retailers were accused in a lawsuit of agreeing to not hire sales clerks from each others stores in violation of US antitrust law.

The companies conspired to enter into no-hire agreements that prohibit them from hiring employees who have worked within six months for rival brands, according to the complaint filed Friday in federal court in Brooklyn, New York.

The three clerks who sued say the practice illegally depresses their earning power by limiting the competition for workers.

Read also: Soon its going to be easier to find a Gucci store in China

One Saks clerk said she learned of the arrangement when she emailed a Louis Vuitton store manager in search of a new job.

Unfortunately we have an agreement with Saks that we cannot take their employees and have to wait 6 months before hiring, the manager replied, according to the complaint. We have strict guidelines we have to follow. Sorry.

In 2015, Adobe Systems Inc., Apple Inc., Google, and Intel Corp. settled claims over no-hire agreements involving high-tech employees for $415 million. Walt Disney Co., DreamWorks Animation SKG and units of Sony Pictures resolved similar lawsuits over workers at animation studios.

US representatives of New York-based Saks Inc. and Paris-based Kering SA, parent of Gucci America Inc., didnt immediately respond to requests for comment after regular business hours. A representative of Paris-based LVMH couldnt be reached.

The case is Giordano v. Saks Inc., 1:20-cv-00833, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn).
Raed Zayed, another customer, said some of his favorite items are the rice, falafel, hummus and the flatbread, called taboon. Ismail is particularly proud of the taboon because of the traditional way it is prepared at the restaurant, cooking in just seconds over wood-heated rocks. Customers can watch the taboon being prepared in a small room through a window as they walk into the restaurant.
Six alleged contract killers were arrested after an encounter with the Special Task Force (STF) of the Uttar Pradesh police in Greater Noida on Monday, officials said.

With this, the Noida field unit of the STF also foiled their plan to kill a Ghaziabad-based trader, they said.

"We had got inputs about the movement of these shooters in Greater Noida. They had taken money to kill a trader in Loni, Ghaziabad. Using the information, we tracked them down in Bisrakh area and they were held after an exchange of gunfire this evening," Deputy Superintendent of Police, STF, Raj Kumar Mishra, said.

Those arrested have been identified as Colonel Giri, Rohit Parmar, Shyam Sundar, Rohit Thakur, Rinku Bhati and Vinod, the STF said.

Giri, who has earlier served a jail term for killing the jailer of Roorkee prison in 2011, was recently released. He had hatched the plan to murder the Ghaziabad-based trader two months ago, it said.

Giri has been associated with dreaded gangsters Sunil Rathi and Anil Dujana. His aide Shyam Sundar has at least 11 FIRs registered against him in Haryana, while Rohit Thakur has been to jail in a kidnapping and extortion case in 2011, it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Attacks on journalists and obstruction to reporting were documented in Bangladesh during the Dhaka North and South city elections on February 1. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemns the series of attacks at polling stations by polling agents and political party supporters and calls on Bangladeshs authorities to do more to quell election attacks on media workers in the country.

The Dhaka City mayoral and councillor elections on February 1 were fraught with suspected irregularities at polling booths, low voter turnout as well as obstruction of journalists attempting to cover polling by activists and political parties. At least nine journalists were attacked while covering the election.

Mostafizur Rahman Sumon, from Agami News, received head wounds when he was attacked with sharp weapons by alleged supporters of AL-backed councillor Md Hossain Khokon. Prior to the attack, Sumon was taking photos of AL activists gathering in Rayer Baazar, Bangladeshs capital. Khokon subsequently shifted blame according to bdnews24.com, stating those who attacked the journalist were wearing his election symbol, but were not affiliated with him. On February 5, Bangladesh Rapid Action Battallion arrested five men suspected of attacking Sumon. One of the men, Rasel Hawlader is the half-brother of Khokon.

In a separate incident, Dipon Dewan, a senior report from BanglavisionTV was barred from entering the Uttara High School polling booth. Dewan said the police officer prevented him from entering the polling booth. Dewan notes the polling presiding officer instructed the police to not allow journalists to enter.

After the election, on February 3, Hasnayan Tanvir and Saiful Islam, a reporter and camera operator for Maasranga Television were investigating reports of AL supporters vandalising the house of a rival councillor who was elected in the Dhaka surbur of Badda when they were stopped by self-identifying supporters of AL councillor Aiub Ansarr Mintu. The media workers were harassed and their vehicle and camera equipment vandalised.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the main opposition party, said its candidates were allegedly attacked and barred from polling centres by AL supporters. Despite questions over the legitimacy of the election results, the Bangladesh Election Commission announced on February 1, Awami League (AL) candidates, Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh was elected as Mayor of South Dhaka and Atiqul Islam was re-elected as mayor of North Dhaka.

Allegations of corruption, all-too-regular attacks on journalists and restrictions on access to information routinely plague elections in Bangladesh. The 2018 general election in Bangladesh resulted in massive internet shutdowns between the days leading up to the election on December 27 until polling ended on December 29. Additionally, seven journalists were attacked and obstructed by activists and politicians from reporting on the polling booths in the 2018 election.

The Bangladesh Manobadhikar Sangbadik Forum (BMSF) said: Freedom of the media is constantly being shrunk by attacks on journalists. BMSF urged the government to ensure journalists are safe when reporting on elections.

The IFJ said: The IFJ condemns inadequate measures taken to ensure media safety and access for reporting during Bangladeshs recent city elections. Greater efforts are needed by government authorities to safeguard journalists from attack at polling stations to to ensure journalists can freely report. We urge the government and the electoral commission to conduct a review into the incidents highlighted by the IFJ.
Grab some scratch-made cupcakes soon, the Town & Country Village location of Katy-based Ooh La La Dessert Boutique is closing on Feb. 22.

The popular dessert shop, which features three Houston-area stores, will be leaving Houston for the outskirts out west.

Owner Vanessa O'Donnell, a native Texan who launched this small dessert chain in 2007, said closing this outpost will allow her more quality time with family.

This was not a decision that Mikemy husband and business partnerand I took lightly, but when the opportunity arose to simplify our lives and have more time to spend with our daughter, we knew we were making the right choice, ODonnell said. Its always challenging to see things come to a close, but well cherish the amazing memories weve made there and are truly humbled by the opportunity to serve and be a part of the Memorial City community for so many years.

HoustonChronicle.com: Texas Restaurant Association launches program to battle human trafficking

The couple lives in Sealy, Texas, just west of Katy. So they will be focusing on their two stores in that area  specifically the Cinco Ranch location and its sibling bakery (and headquarters) at Park Row  which will remain open.

Those shops will offer current Town & Country workers to remain employed. Many of our key employees have been given the opportunity to move to one of our Katy locations if they choose, ODonnell explains.

O'Donnell said she is open to the idea of debuting new stores in Sealy and Fulshear, but for now, she's slowing down.

The Town & Country Village Ooh La La Dessert Boutique at 770 West Sam Houston Parkway North will continue serving up sweet through Feb. 22.
Innerspace, a Wattens, Innsbruck, Austria-based virtual reality startup, raised an over 1m growth funding round.

Backers included High-Tech Grunderfonds and MAD Ventures.

The company intends to use the funds for global expansion and doubling the team to approx. 50 employees.

Founded in 2017 and led by Sebastian Scheler, CEO, Innerspace develops novel, psychologically based training solutions for critical applications in the life science industry. Cleanroom operators are prepared for the key moments of their work using the DeepTraining approach, implemented in virtual reality. With regular practice in virtual space, they can deepen their behaviour patterns and their understanding of production in critical areas of activity. Innerspace already supplies numerous international pharmaceutical companies with its VR training products.

FinSMEs

17/02/2020
GENESEE COUNTY, MI  A military veteran serving as a local resource officer has entered the Genesee County sheriffs race.

Stephen Sanford, 39 of Linden, is a Republican candidate set to appear on the Aug. 4 primary ballot for sheriff.

I am deciding to run at this time because I can win and the changes that are needed arent happening, Sanford told MLive-The Flint Journal. There are some big inefficiencies in the budget.

Sanford plans to use Sir Robert Peels nine principals of policing as part of a multifaceted approach of compassion, respect, investigative efforts and community cooperation to rebuild trust and respect between police and citizens.

He called for streamlining strategies to improve homicide investigations.

(Deterring) violent crime should be the number one thing in law enforcement, said Sanford.

He referenced a 2010 Iowa State University study which attached a monetary amount on the cost of crime to a community.

The study by Matthew DeLisi, a criminology professor at Iowa State University, pointed out each homicide has a $17.25 million impact, based off on terms of the victim costs, criminal justice system costs, lost productivity estimates for both the victim and the criminal, and estimates on the publics resulting willingness to pay to prevent future violence, according to a 2010 press release from the university.

People see a lot of this as a Flint problem, Sanford said. They live where I live or live in Clio. They dont realize this is costing them as well. We have losses in our community and that needs to be addressed.

Anyone living anywhere in the county, things like their car insurance rates are impacted everywhere in the county, he added. Are we going to get the money to fix the roads and water pipes if this is happening?

Sanford noted tackling violent crime goes together with serving the public.

When the community trusts you, youre better able to solve crimes, he said. You need people that are willing to trust law enforcement to come forward as witnesses. Police cant solve these crimes by themselves.

Sanford has served as a reserve officer with the Clayton Township Police Department and within Iraqi communities during his time as a soldier.

Much of what we did in Iraq was law enforcement, he noted. We spent the majority of our time doing community building being able to identify a target, location to go to we had to be able to build bonds and earn their trust.

Sanford was injured in November 2005 while stationed in Mosul, Iraq as part of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

He was shot multiple times while helping to evacuate casualties from inside a home that had come under gunfire. Sanford was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions.

Sanford cites reports and law enforcement projects such as The Marshall Project, which discuss police militarization.

I dont think that police are out there looking to disturb people. However, there are some very questionable shootings and use of force questions that need to be asked, he said while speaking of a Use-of-Force data collection pilot study by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. If we dont know whats wrong. If nobody is studying the data, how can we know what the problems are? Inefficiency in training, policing methods, well have the data.

Sanford is also a stay-at-home father of two children -- a 9-year-old boy and a 2-year-old girl. Sanford writes books in his spare time. He has published a childrens book entitled The Boy and the Purple Heart.

He is the lone Republican candidate on the ballot, meaning he will likley move on from the August primary to the Nov. 3. general election and face off against the winner on the Democratic side that includes Flint police Chief Phil Hart, Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson and former Flint police Chief Tim Johnson.

The election comes after former sheriff Robert Pickell retired in January after more than 20 years in office.

Genesee County sheriff to step down after 20 years in office
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said India has prepared a National Action Plan for the conservation of migratory birds along the Central Asian Flyway (CAF) and would be happy to facilitate the preparation of similar plans for other countries.

I also wish to establish an institutional mechanism for undertaking research, studies, assessments, capacity development, and conservation initiatives by creating a common platform, Modi said in his inaugural speech at the 13th Conference of Parties (COP) to the Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) in Gujarats Gandhinagar.

The CAF covers an area between the Arctic and the Indian Ocean and the associated island chains and comprises several migration routes of waterbirds, mostly extending from breeding grounds in Siberia to the non-breeding wintering grounds in West Asia, India, the Maldives, and British Indian Ocean Territory. Its preservation would require the cooperation of 30 countries and the initiative is likely to be headquartered in India. Representatives from 130 countries will discuss the priorities for the conservation of migratory species for the next decade at CMS-COP 13 from February 17 to 22. The CMS is an international agreement signed under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme in 1979 to conserve migratory species within their migratory ranges.

In his address, Modi also spoke about the measures India has taken to conserve tigers, Asiatic lions, elephants, snow leopards, one horn rhinoceros, and the Great Indian Bustard, which is the mascot of the CMS-COP 13. Modi said the number of tiger reserves has increased from 9 to 50 now. India has achieved the target of doubling the number of tigers two years before the committed date of 2022. India is also supporting 60% of the global Asian elephant population. Thirty elephant reserves have been identified by our states. We have launched the Project Snow Leopard to protect the animal and its habitat in the upper Himalayas, said Modi.

Modi said India initiated an Asiatic Lion Conservation plan in January 2019. ...today, the population of Asiatic lions stands at 523. The one-horned rhinoceros are found in three states in India -- Assam, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. The Government of India launched the National Conservation Strategy for the Indian One-Horned Rhinoceros in 2019.

India will assume the presidency of the UN body on the CMS for three years at the CMS-COP 13. With an eye on ecological connectivity for preserving migratory species, India will spearhead trans-boundary cooperation on securing the CAF.

Migratory birds, mammals, and aquatic species are increasingly in danger on their migration routes and countries need to work together to protect them. But we must not put unrealistic conditions that will affect the livelihoods of people and make them anti-wildlife, said Union environment minister Prakash Javdekar.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Federal High Court in Abuja has barred the electoral commission, INEC, from deregistering some political parties.

Justice Anwuli Chikere gave the order on Monday morning following a suit by some of the affected parties.

The judge, in her ruling, said INEC failed to counter the application by the applicants whose rights must be protected.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how INEC deregistered 74 political parties.

INEC chairman, Mahmoud Yakubu, said the action was in preparation for the coming 2023 general elections.

The INEC chairman further said the deregistration followed the poor performance of the parties in the 2019 general elections and court-ordered re-run elections arising from litigations.

According to him, the 74 political parties did not satisfy the requirements of the Fourth Alteration to the Constitutional Electoral Act 2010 (as amended).

Details later
State Bank of India, on Monday, slipped out of the top 10-most valued companies list on the Bombay Stock Exchange. It has been replaced by Bajaj Finance at the 10th spot. As of Monday morning, SBI had a market capitalisation of over Rs 2.85 lakh crore, while Bajaj Finance had a m-cap of over Rs 2.87 lakh crore.

SBI's share price has seen a dip of almost 7 per cent since the beginning of the year. The share price further fell on Monday as investors were concerned about rising NPAs due to the bank's exposure to the telecom industry.

On the other hand, Bajaj Finance's share price witnessed a jump of 60 per cent in the calendar year 2019. In its Q3 results, Bajaj Finance announced that its net profit rose 52 per cent in Q3 compared with Rs 1,060 crore profit in the year-ago quarter. Total income rose 41 per cent to Rs 7,026 crore for in Q3 against Rs 4,992 crore in year ago period. Net interest income rose 42 per cent at Rs 4,537 crore in Q3 compared to Rs 3,206 crore in the corresponding period of previous fiscal. Interest income rose 39 per cent to Rs 6,105 crore in last quarter from Rs 4,387 crore in Q3 of 2018-19.

SBI, even with an exposure of Rs 29,000 crore to the telecom industry reported its highest-ever quarterly result. The SBI posted 41.17 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth in standalone profit at Rs 5,583.36 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2019, compared to Rs 3,955 crore a year earlier. The public sector lender's net interest income (NII) rose by 22.42 per cent to Rs 27,779 crore in Q3FY20 from Rs 22,691 crore in Q2FY19. Domestic Net Interest Margin (NIM) improved to 3.59 per cent in Q3FY20, registering an increase of 62 basis points (bps) YoY and 37 bps sequentially.

Reliance Industries, with an m-cap of Rs 9.42 lakh crore is the most-valued company in the BSE, followed by Tata Consultancy Services with m-cap of Rs 8.19 lakh crore, HDFC Bank with Rs 6.67 lakh crore, Hindustan Unilever with Rs 4.88 lakh crore, Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC) with Rs 4.15 lakh crore, ICICI Bank with Rs 3.53 lakh crore, Infosys with Rs 3.34 lakh crore, Kotak Mahindra Bank with Rs 3.21 lakh crore, Bharti Airtel with Rs 3.08 lakh crore, and Bajaj Finance with Rs 2.87 lakh crore.

Also read: SBI posts highest-ever quarterly profit of Rs 5,583 crore in Q3

Also read: Bajaj Finance share price hits all-time high amid fundraising plan through ECBs
The government wiretapped phones to find out what civil society groups were saying after the rallies and targeted those with reputations for effectiveness in their fields. To be an advocate for nonviolent democratic reform during the rallies was to transgress the conservative governments norms, to pose a menace to the state. Aksakoglu addressed those charges and wiretaps in a June 2019 hearing, saying that he once planned to write about civil society creativity during the rallies, for the prevention of child brides, the reduction of violence. He is alleged to have talked in one recorded call about the German man who was highlighted in global photos for playing the piano on the square for protesters and about a shared iftar meal called Earth tables that joined communities together.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 13:27:54|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The central fiscal authorities have urged greater efforts to finance the battle against the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The most urgent work for fiscal authorities at all levels is to increase financial input and roll out favorable policies to support epidemic control, said Finance Minister Liu Kun in a written article published on Qiushi Journal, a flagship magazine of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

As of 9:00 p.m. Feb. 12, China has allocated a total of 78.53 billion yuan (about 11.3 billion U.S. dollars) of fiscal funds to support the control of the epidemic, according to Liu.

Supportive measures, including subsidies for medical personnel and tax incentives to manufacturers of epidemic prevention and control materials, should be well implemented, said Liu.

Liu stressed that supervision should be strengthened to ensure those in need get the funds.
Armenian News - NEWS.am presents a daily digest of top news as of 17.02.2020:

 Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev had held a private talk in Munich on Saturday. Later they participated in a discussion on Karabakh conflict within Munich Security Conference.

Starting the discussions, Aliyev noted that according to historical facts Karabakh is the original Azerbaijani territory. The PM, in turn, reminds him there was no country called Azerbaijan during the reign of the Armenian king Tigranes the Great in the South Caucasus.

Later, the PM noted that an Armenian soldier was wounded by an Azerbaijani sniper in the northeast direction of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. And, Aliyev, in his turn, said the Azerbaijani soldier was killed on the contact line.

According to Pashinyan, after he became the PM, he announced the solution to the Karabakh conflict should be acceptable to the people of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Karabakh, I also tried to address Azerbaijani people directly, he added. However, Azerbaijani president is refusing to speak to the people of Karabakh. How is it possible to solve the Karabakh conflict without addressing the people of Karabakh? The PM wondered.

 Meanwhile, Pashinyan presented six Munich Principles following his meeting with Azerbaijani president.

Thus, Munich principles are: Karabakh gained independence just like Azerbaijan did; it is not possible to solve the conflict without negotiation with Karabakh; Karabakh cannot compromise its security; the talks require macro revolutions, then mini revolutions and a breakthrough; any solution has to be acceptable to the people of Armenia, the people of Karabakh, the people of Azerbaijan; there is no military solution to the conflict.

 Artsakh Defense Army contract serviceman, Hayk Asryan, sustained a fatal gunshot wound Friday.

Meanwhile, protests were staged outside Armenia government building on Monday as there have already been 14 deaths in the army in times of peace since the beginning of this year.

The protesters made a statement, signed and handed it to the governments department. They demanded a meeting with PM and the heads of law enforcement agencies immediately after the forthcoming session of the government.

 The campaign on constitutional amendments referendum kicked off Monday.

Earlier, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Armenia has approved the timetable of the main events for organizing and holding a referendum on April 5.

 Artsakh Central Electoral Commission has received 14 applications for participation in the presidential election scheduled for March 31. Applications were submitted by two blocs and 10 parties. They are being studied at the Artsakh CEC.

 Athena Manoukian will represent Armenia in Eurovision 2020 with the song Chains On You.

Eurovision 2020 will take place in Rotterdam on May 12, 14 and 16. Our representative will perform during the second semi-final of the show, which will take place on May 14.

 An Armenian citizen as well as other citizens evacuated from China were discharged from a hospital in Kazakhstan.

They were in hospital for two weeks. None of the 89 people had an infection.

Meanwhile, the death toll from the new coronavirus has reached 1,776, with 106 new deaths recorded in the past day. The total number of infected is at least 71,334.
The Hyundai i20 Active, a variant of the popular hatchback with rough road package, has been removed from Hyundai Indias official website.

This removal suggests that the automaker has decided against updating the variant to BS6 standard which is set to kick in from April 1, 2020. We reported earlier that Hyundai has recently discontinued petrol CVT and diesel variants of the Elite i20 premium hatchback. Only the petrol manual variants will be upgraded to BS6 standards as the company is gearing up to welcome the next-generation model soon.

Compared to the regular version of the hatchback, the Hyundai i20 Active featured different alloy wheels and crossover-like elements such as roof rails, front and rear silver scuff plates and black plastic body cladding. The soft-crossover shared its powertrain lineup with the regular hatchback. The petrol engine was a 1.2-liter unit which produced 82 hp and 115 Nm of torque. The diesel unit displaced 1.4-liter and dished out 89 hp and 220 Nm of torque. The former was equipped with a 5-speed manual transmission while the latter received a 6-speed manual unit.

It remains to be seen if the next-generation Hyundai i20 will spawn a new Active variant or not. The all-new hatchback has been testing extensively in India as well as Europe. Based on the recent teaser sketches released by the South Korean automaker, the upcoming iteration of the premium hatchback features completely overhauled front and rear fascias while the profile bears familiarity.

The interior is all-new as well, and as confirmed by the latest spyshots, the hatchback will sport fully digital instrument console (at least the higher variants will offer this feature). Needless to say, the 2020 Hyundai i20 will come equipped with state-of-the-art connectivity features and an updated touchscreen infotainment system.

We expect the new Hyundai i20 to be offered with two petrol and a diesel engine option in India. The current 1.2-liter naturally aspirated petrol engine with BS6 update is likely to serve the entry level variants while the higher variants are expected to be powered by the new 1.0-liter turbocharged petrol unit. The diesel engine of choice is expected to be a detuned version of 1.5-liter engine which powers the brisk selling Kia Seltos. The 2020 Hyundai i20 is slated to be launched in the middle of this year and India is expected to be the launch market.
Theres a reason Amitabh Bachchan is the most followed actor on Twitter. He keeps his followers entertained with fun trivia, throwback pictures and his frequent riddles. On Sunday, he shared a new puzzle for his fans and asked them if they could solve it.

I am the beginning of everything, the end of everywhere. I am the beginning of eternity, the end of time and space. What am I?, the riddle read. Amitabh tweeted, GUESS, with the riddle.

As his fans and followers put their thinking caps on, so did some of his Bollywood colleagues. Actors Parineeti Chopra and Aftab Shivdasani made the right guess. The letter E?! Haha I love puzzles @SrBachchan, she wrote. Amitabhs son Abhishek Bachchan was sure his daughter Aaradhya would know the answer. Ask your granddaughter, he wrote.

T 3442 - GUESS .. ??? pic.twitter.com/wACvs0GsJa  Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) February 16, 2020

Soon, Amitabh found a tweet with the perfect way for reveal the answer. Amitabh Bachchan answering Amitabh Bachchans puzzle, the tweet read. It was accompanied by a short of video of Amitabh saying E hai, e hai, e hai in a song. Hahahahahaha .. well done .. correct answer, Amitabh wrote in a tweet.

hahahahahaha .. well done .. correct answer ..  https://t.co/scvCZ04iLC  Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) February 16, 2020

Amitabh had earlier paid homage to the late Bollywood actor Pran on his 100th birth anniversary. He shared some of his old pictures with the late actor on his Twitter account and penned a heartfelt tribute to him in an extended tweet. He began the tweet by writing, On his 100th Birth Anniversary .. Pran Saheb an ode to him ...

Also read: Filmfare Awards 2020 full list of winners: Gully Boys 13 wins make history, Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh take top awards

T 3440 - Pran saheb and ode .. on his 100th Birth Anniversary .. se tweet T 3440 .. pic.twitter.com/gh8H26DcJu  Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) February 13, 2020

The sophisticated elegance of dignified presence. A demeanour of a quiet un pronounced , unmistakable marked discipline. The tenderness of a considerate colleague. Soft spoken, reserved, Urdu verse literate, and all other justifiable similar sentiments, for the gentleman called Pran, the senior actor wrote. He further went on to explain the irony that as an actor Pran portrayed roles that are in contrast to his personality traits.

And none of the above could ever be related to the kind of roles he mostly played on screen - the negative villain! Such was the caliber of his acting prowess! This is a distinction beyond par ! read Bachchans extended tweet.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
- Bill Gates has made his concerns over the potential impact of the coronavirus in Africa abundantly clear

- The Microsoft billionaire says the continent's health systems would be overwhelmed

- Gates says the situation could evolve into a pandemic, causing over 10 million deaths worldwide

PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Briefly.co.za News on your News Feed!

Bill Gates has warned of the 'very, very dramatic' potential havoc the coronavirus could wreck in Africa.

The Microsoft founder expressed his concerns that African health systems could become overwhelmed by the outbreak, believing the virus is a greater threat than ebola:

This disease, if its in Africa its more dramatic than if its in China, even though Im not trying to minimise whats going on in China in any way. Will this get into Africa or not and if so, will those health systems be overwhelmed?"

Speaking to The Telegraph, Gates said the coronavirus could evolve into a pandemic, resulting in more than ten million deaths across the world.

READ ALSO: Coronavirus spreads to Africa: Egypt officially confirms first case

Bill Gates has warned of the "very, very dramatic" potential impact of the coronavirus on the African continent, according to a report in The Telegraph.

He said African health systems may be overwhelmed and believes that the virus is more concerning than ebola:

If you look at ebola, most of the excess deaths were caused because the health service shut down. Its not just the direct effect, its also the panic, the overload, and the things that effect health workers, because youre already at very limited capacity.

Briefly.co.za reported that Africa's first confirmed case had been noted recently, with concerns that other cases may not have been reported.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donated R147 million towards the efforts to contain the outbreak.

Half of the support given would go to the response in China, with the other half going to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

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
With three seats on the Court of Criminal Appeals expiring this November, Texans have a chance to add new voices to a bench long-dominated by Republicans. That will require candidates who are equipped with both the breadth of experience and the demeanor to sit on the states highest criminal court.

In the Democratic primary for Place 4, voters must choose between two candidates with impressive resumes and similar desires to bring transparency and fresh ideas to the court. They also both agree that Texas must move forward on bail reform.

Tina Clinton, 49, a state felony district judge in the Criminal District Court in Dallas County brings 25 years experience as a prosecutor, defense attorney, municipal judge, county criminal court judge and state district court judge.

Her opponent, Steve Miears, 60, a former prosecutor with the Lubbock County District Attorney's office, has built a private practice specializing in representing indigent clients. He is board-certificated in criminal appellate law and has argued hundreds of cases in front of the appellate court, including death penalty and exoneration cases.

Miears appellate experience is extensive, but we questioned his method of working with colleagues with whom he who may not agree. Even if Democrats win all three open seats win in November, the court will still have a Republican majority.

Miears said he would use the force of intellectual knowledge to pick up votes on decisions and, if that fails, he would write a blistering dissenting opinion that calls into question their judicial knowledge and their integrity and their ability to be honest about the facts and the law as it's developing in that particular area.

While Clinton said she believes in the importance of writing robust dissents that educate the public about the courts ruling, she told the Editorial Board that the way to garner a majority is by doing your work and holding the line to your principles, but doing in a manner that is still respectful.

That approach could make a pivotal difference on the matters of life and death that come before the Court of Criminal Appeals, which hears appeals on all death penalty cases.

Clinton also calls for more transparency and educational efforts to better inform the public about the decisions and workings of the courts. She would make a worthy addition to the Court of Criminal Appeals.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka is defending the citys sanctuary policies for undocumented immigrants, one day after the Trump administration announced federal agents who patrol the U.S. border will be deployed to cities across the country where local jurisdictions are hindering stepped up immigration enforcement.

In a statement issued Sunday, Baraka called the latest move divisive and disputed Attorney General William Barrs assertion that sanctuary cities protect criminals living in the country illegally. Barrs language incites hatred, Baraka said.

The Trump Administration plan to bolster ICE enforcement forces with tactical units will undermine our efforts to build community trust," Baraka said in a statement released Sunday. When (Barr) says sanctuary is misguided ideology triumphing over common sense law enforcement, he undermines the common decency aspects of our policy."

Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Matthew Albence said additional forces are needed in so-called sanctuary cities because people without legal authorization to be in the country are being released from local jails in sanctuary cities and counties before his agents can take them into custody.

ICE then has to make at large arrests of these immigrants who have been released, Albence said.

According to the New York Times, Newark was one of the cities where the agents would be deployed, in addition to other major hubs like New York City and Chicago.

In 2017, Baraka signed a sweeping executive order aimed at protecting undocumented people in Newark, which, among its key points, pledged no local resources would aid federal immigration law unless required by a court order and barred municipal employees from investigating a residents citizenship status.

In addition, all Newark residents are given municipal ID cards for access to state and city services.

Our policy protects undocumented victims," Baraka said in the statement. This population is prey for criminals and we want them to feel safe and comfortable in the care of our police. Our efforts to have good community relations and build trust with all our residents, must include the undocumented population, otherwise it is incomplete.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

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.
Presidents of Ukraine and Russia Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation. The sides talked about the settlement of the Donbas conflict. And this is perhaps the only thing the two presidents agreed on following the results of the conversation. Because the press releases on the websites of heads of state are strikingly different from each other. Each leader told society what was in his interest.

1. Zelensky said that "the parties discussed the implementation of agreements reached during the Normandy summit on December 9, 2019 in Paris, as well as preparations for the next meeting of the Normandy Four leaders."

But Putin says that "various aspects of the settlement of the intra-Ukrainian conflict were discussed." At the same time, Putin "emphasized the importance of the full and unconditional implementation of the Minsk set of measures "and the decisions adopted at the Normandy format summits, including in Paris on December 9, 2019."

Feel the difference? The office of the President of Ukraine presents the telephone conversation as a discussion on the implementation of agreements made in Paris on December 9. And Putin insists that it is Kyiv that must fulfill the conditions of the Minsk agreements. At the same time, which is quite unusual for such releases, the report says that Putin directly asked Zelensky if he intends to comply with the Minsk agreements. Obviously, the Kremlin has a good track of statements by Ukrainian politicians and Zelensky himself, who in a recent interview declared "the flexibility of Minsk." Therefore, the Kremlins message includes direct and harsh language. However, we do not know what Zelensky answered. Such a presentation is pressure on Zelensky, a demonstration that Moscow is annoyed and does not intend to do anything until Kyiv fulfills the political part of Minsk. Putin said this in Paris, Putin is actually repeating this now.

And yes, there is not a word in the Russian message about preparations for the next meeting of the Quartet. Moreover, it has long been said in Russia that without progress in implementing the December agreements, it makes no sense to meet again.

2. The report of the Ukraines Presidents Office states that a particularly important part of the conversation, which allegedly "Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin focused on," was the "process of releasing detained Ukrainian citizens who are in the temporarily occupied territories of Donbas and Crimea, as well as in the Russian Federation."

However, the Kremlins website says something else - that Putin only agreed to "continue efforts aimed at the release and exchange of detained persons related to the conflict." Of all persons from all sides, and not just those whom Kyiv wants to free.

3. Zelensky informed that "the parties agreed on the need to step up work at the level of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk to implement the agreements reached." Putin does not write anything about this. Whether there was such agreement is completely unclear.

4. At the same time, Putin is said that in the conversation they touched "issues regarding the maintenance of a stable ceasefire, the further disengagement of forces and means on the contact line and mine clearance work." The Ukrainian side does not report this. It is very strange, because until recently Zelensky was a supporter of the forces disengagement.

5. The Kremlins press release, which is much larger than the Ukrainian version, states that Putin told Zelensky about the inadmissibility of distorting the historical truth about the events of the Second World War, and expressed condolences on the death of Ukrainian citizens on February 13 in a traffic accident in the Pskov region. If the first fact may be unpopular in the current Ukrainian realities and it was deliberately missed in the release, then the absence of condolences in Ukrainian message are strange. Either Putin didnt actually express them, or someone at the Office deliberately decided that the Ukrainian people should not read such information. If there was a second option, it does not look quite diplomatic.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

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. 17.

The Armenian armed forces were using large-caliber machine guns.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Your Colleagues

Solomon, Zhuang recognized for mentoring grad students

By SUE WUETCHER

William Solomon and Jun Zhuang are the recipients of the 2019-20 Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring Award, presented by the Graduate School to recognize UB faculty for their support and development of graduate students through their mentoring activities. The award, established in 2012, is given annually to members of the graduate faculty who have demonstrated truly outstanding and sustained support and development of graduate students from course completion through research and subsequent career placement. Solomon, professor in the Department of English, was nominated for the award by Chad Lavin, associate professor and interim department chair. Zhuang, professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, was nominated by his department chair, Victor Paquet, professor of industrial and systems engineering. Zhuang will be UBs nominee for the Geoffrey Marshall Mentoring Award sponsored by the Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools (NAGS). The Marshall award will be presented at NAGS annual meeting in April. Both award winners will be recognized at UBs Celebration of Faculty and Staff Excellence in fall 2020.

Jun Zhuang

In his letter nominating Zhuang for the award, Paquet called his colleague an enthusiastic and accomplished graduate student mentor who feels strongly about ensuring that he is always available to his students, is enthusiastic about his students accomplishments, and is sensitive to and appreciates the different abilities and backgrounds of his graduate students. Zhuang views the ideal adviser-advisee relationship as a lifetime commitment, and enjoys watching his former students mature professionally, Paquet said. He often speaks of how wonderful it is to witness a students aha moment, he added. Paquet says Zhuangs mentorship methods go well beyond the typical one-on-one and small group methods of graduate student mentorship that faculty often use. His methods include comprehensive researcher and educator training through large student team discussion and presentations, cooperative publication efforts, games, conferences and even field trips. Zhuangs mentorship methods have encouraged the best possible performance from students, assisted students who were unlikely to complete their degree, and have supported superior student research and scholarship, Paquet wrote. Another colleague, Ann Bisantz, dean of undergraduate education and professor and former chair of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, noted that Zhuang collaborates with students on his publications, and since joining UB in 2008, almost every one of his over 100 journal publications and over 200 conference publications are co-authored with students! Bisantz adds that Zhuang is committed to his students as individuals and scholars, noting that he hosts large groups of international graduate students for holiday meals and supported a graduate student who was directed to return to Turkey for political reasons in completing his doctorate remotely. Zhuang has long been recognized as an exceptional mentor. He is the recipient of the Office of Student Engagements Exemplary Faculty/Staff Mentor Award, the President Emeritus and Mrs. Martin Meyerson Award for Distinguished Teaching and Mentoring, and the Graduate Student Mentor Award from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he received his PhD and served as a research assistant, instructor, TA and project assistant from 2004 until he joined the UB faculty in 2008. Zhuangs research focuses on integrating operations research, big data analysis, game theory and decision analysis to improve mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery for natural and man-made disasters. He is the recipient of a UB Exceptional Scholar Award  Sustained Achievement, a Koopman Prize from the INFORMS Military Applications Society and a Chauncey Starr Distinguished Young Risk Analyst Award from the Society for Risk Analysis.
Rajesh Kumar Thakur By

Express News Service

PATNA: The poll loss in Delhi has made the BJP touchy over controversial statements by its leaders, with party chief JP Nadda reiterating Union Home Minister Amit Shahs observation that such comments could lead to the drubbing. Nadda, who will be in Bihar on Februray 22 for the first time after his election as the BJP chief, summoned Giriraj Singh, BJP MP from Begusarai, on Saturday and cautioned him over the statement the Union minister had made on Deoband being a Gangotri (den) of terrorists during his recent visit to Saharanpur in UP.

Naddas word of caution came ahead of his Bihar trip, which is seen as preparatory to the state elections.

After the BJPs loss in Delhi, the top brass believes its leaders should restrain themselves from making controversial remarks as the party gears up for the polls in alliance with Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) and Ram Vilas Paswans LJP. It does not want its leaders to use provocative rhetoric, especially in view of Nitishs sensitivity on such issues also. Nitishs had forced the BJP to keep out controversial leaders out of poll campaigning in Bihar in 2005 and 2010 Assembly elections and the intervening Lok Sabha polls.

Meanwhile, BJP said Bihar born Nadda is to be in Patna on February 22 to inaugurate newly built party offices in 11 districts and attend an introductory sessions with the partys office bearers.Prior to his visit in Bihar, a meeting of partys divisional and districts heads and other leaders was held on organisational issues under the chairmanship of national general secretary and Bihar in-charge Bhupendra Yadav on Sunday along with minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai and newly elected state chief Sanjay Jaiswal. The heads of 1,034 mandal (divisions) and 45 district organisational heads, besides other leaders of party attended the meeting at party office.The strategies to win the next Assembly polls under Nitish Kumar were discussed, Yadav said, while claiming that the NDA would sweep the polls.Party spokesperson Nikhil Anand said party chief Nadda would chair the core committee meeting also.
The Vatican effort to reform the disgraced Legion of Christ religious order is coming under new scrutiny, with four Legion priests and a Legion lawyer due to stand trial on charges they tried to obstruct justice and extort the family of a sex abuse victim.

The preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 12 in Milan. The case is significant because it calls into question the effectiveness of the Vatican reform since the alleged crimes occurred at the end of the Holy See's four-year effort to turn the Legion around.

In addition, evidence obtained during the investigation, including documents seized when police raided the Legion's Rome headquarters in 2014, showed an elaborate cover-up that stretched from Milan to Mexico, the Vatican to Venezuela, prosecutors say.

The charges at the heart of the Milan trial center around a settlement proposal offered by the Legion to Yolanda Martinez on October 18, 2013, to compensate for the sexual abuse her son suffered at the hands of a Legion priest at the order's youth seminary in northern Italy.

According to the terms, Martinez's family would receive 15,000 euros from the order.

But in return, her son would have to recant the testimony he gave to prosecutors that the priest had repeatedly assaulted him in 2008, when he was 12. He would have to lie.

Lawyers for the five defendants declined to comment, citing the upcoming trial. The Legion has said they profess innocence.

A Legion spokesman said that at the time, the Legion didn't have in place the uniform child protection policies and guidelines that are now mandatory across the order.

Martinez's son, now 24, had revealed his abuse to his psychologist in 2013, and then repeated his claim to Milan prosecutors after the psychologist reported the case.

The complaint sparked a criminal investigation that resulted in the 2019 conviction of the priest, Vladimir Resendiz Gutierrez, 43, which was upheld on appeal last month. He has until the end of March to appeal to Italy's highest court.

There is no evidence that the pope's envoy running the Legion, the late Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, knew of or approved the settlement offer to Martinez before it was made.

But he didn't report Resendiz to police when he learned in 2011 that Resendiz had abused another child, and didn't report the alleged obstruction attempt when he learned about it in 2013.

And when Martinez called the cardinal one of the Vatican's most respected church lawyers to complain about the settlement proposal, he laughed it off and said this is how such things are done in Italy.

According to a wiretapped conversation on Jan. 7, 2014, De Paolis merely told Martinez not to sign the agreement and to negotiate a different deal, without lawyers: Lawyers complicate things. Even Scripture says that among Christians we should find agreement.

And a few hours after the call, De Paolis opened the Legion's 2014 assembly where he formally ended the mandate given to him by Pope Benedict XVI to reform and purify the religious order. The Legion had been cured and cleaned, he said.

Benedict had entrusted De Paolis to turn the Legion around in 2010, after revelations that its founder, the late Rev. Marcial Maciel, had molested his seminarians, fathered three children and built a cult-like order to hide his crimes.

Benedict gave De Paolis broad powers to rebuild the Legion from the ground up and said it must undergo a profound process of purification and renewal.

But De Paolis refused from the start to remove any of Maciel's old guard, who remain in power today.

He refused to investigate the cover-up of Maciel's crimes. He refused to reopen old allegations of abuse by other priests, even when serial rapists remained in the Legion's ranks, unpunished.

He did authorize a canonical investigation into Resendiz in 2011 that resulted in him being defrocked in April 2013.

But as a general rule, he didn't come to grips with the order's deep-seated culture of sexual abuse, cover-up and secrecy and its long record of avoiding law enforcement and dismissing, discrediting and silencing victims.

As a result, even onetime Legion supporters now openly question his reform, which was dismissed previously as ineffective by the Legion's longtime critics.

Now, victims of these other Legion priests are coming forward in droves with stories of sexual, psychological and spiritual abuse, and how the Legion's culture of secrecy and cover-up has remained intact.

They say they're close to the victims and help their families, Martinez told The Associated Press at her Milan home.

My testimony is this didn't happen. While Milan prosecutors first heard about Resendiz's pedophilia in 2013, his behavior and crimes were old to both the Vatican and the Legion.

Personnel files seized in the police raid, for example, made clear Resendiz was known to the Legion as a risk even when he was a teenage seminarian in the 1990s.

Yet he was ordained a priest anyway in 2006 and immediately sent to oversee young boys at the Gozzano youth seminary near Italy's border with Switzerland.

He's a boy with strong sexual impulses and low capacity to control them, Resendiz's novice director, the Rev. Antonio Leon Santacruz, wrote in an internal assessment on Jan. 9, 1994.

The Legion says it has since overhauled its seminary training and applies more scrutiny before ordaining priests.

The Legion has admitted it received a first report of abuse by Resendiz on March 6, 2011, from another boy who had been a student at Gozzano. The Legion says that boy, an Austrian, had first told a Legion priest of Resendiz's abuse.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In his recent book Backstage: The Story of Indias High Growth Years, former deputy chairman of the now-defunct Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia recalls how, in 2013, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked him whether he should resign after then Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi spoke about dismissing an ordinance Singhs Cabinet had passed.

On September 24, 2013, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-2 government led by Singh had passed an ordinance negating a Supreme Court ruling directing all sitting MPs and MLAs, who are convicted, to resign. Many saw the court ruling as a welcome move and a big step towards sanitising politics in India. The ordinance, however, was dubbed by many, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Opposition, as proof of the Congress dalliance with corruption.

Three days later, on September 27, Rahul Gandhi, at a press conference at the Press Club of India, Delhi, said that the ordinance was nonsense, and that [I]t should be torn up and thrown away Singh was then in the United States on a visit, and Ahluwalia recalls the PMs reactions to Rahul Gandhis statements.

This episode is worth recollecting now as there have been news reports speculating that Rahul Gandhi is set to return as the Congress chief, after his mother Sonia Gandhi vacates the interim chiefs post.

The tear-the-nonsense-ordinance episode is, perhaps, the biggest example of how Manmohan Singh was undermined by the party leadership and how the party leadership was a step above the Prime Minister during the UPA years.

It throws light on the two fundamental factors that make the Nehru-Gandhi family so important for the Congress: One, the Gandhis are the biggest vote catchers for the Congress. Two, the family is the glue that holds the party together.

The first factor has been blunted over the last few years. The Gandhis are still popular Congress leaders, but they have lost the vote-pulling ability once associated with them. Rahul Gandhi lost his Lok Sabha seat of Amethi in 2019, and in the recent Delhi assembly polls the Congress finished at an embarrassing third place despite Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra campaigning.

The second factor mentioned above is a more complex one. At a time when dynasty politics is a shortcoming and nepotism is frowned upon, the grand old party is not able to disassociate itself from the family. Previous non-Gandhi-Nehru party Presidents, who have had run-ins with the family have had to retreat.

In the 1950s, when Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was Prime Minister, the differences he had with Purushottam Das Tandon, the then Congress President, is well documented. In fact, to its credit, the Congress website notes that Tandon had to resign just before the 1952 general elections on account of differences with Nehru over the constitution of the Working Committee and the relationship between the Organisational and Governmental wings of the Party. In the 1970s, Indira Gandhis run-ins with then party presidents DK Barooah and K Brahmanada Reddy are examples of these retreats. Till the end of the 1980s a Nehru-Gandhi as Prime Minister was anytime more powerful than the Congress President. They were the final word in the party.

This equation, however, was not balancing since the 1990s after the demise of Rajiv Gandhi. Congress governments since then have had non-Gandhis as Prime Ministers with either Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi as party President. It is here that the problem of dual power centres emerge  and one which the grand old party is yet to satisfactorily address.

For now it seems that the Congress dual power centre question is unlikely to affect Indias governance in the near future  however, it could affect the partys functioning and its future course.

This anecdote from Ahluwalias book should serve as a reminder of the problems the Congress will be facing if it is unable to settle this festering problem once and for all.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 17:24:26|Editor: zh

Video Player Close

JAKARTA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia was unanimously elected as the chairperson of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Governing Council for the period 2020-2022, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

It was elected at the 43rd Session of the Steering Council in Italy that was held between Feb. 11-12.

Indonesia was represented by an expert staff member for the International Macroeconomics and Finance of the Finance Ministry, Suminto, as the Governor of IFAD Indonesia, the ministry said, adding that in the same period, the IFAD Governing Council co-chairpersons are the IFAD governors from Britain and Cameroon.

The Steering Committee is the highest decision-maker in the structure that determines the direction of policies and strategies in carrying out IFAD mandates.

The IFAD, with 177 members, is the only international financial institution and specialized United Nations agency that has a special mandate to encourage investment in rural areas and support the development of smallholder capacity.

Since 1978, the institution has distributed grants and low-interest loans of 22.4 billion U.S. dollars, capable of touching around 512 million smallholder farmers in various developing countries around the world.

Its governing council's 43rd Session was held under the theme "Investment in a sustainable food system to alleviate hunger by 2030."

According to the ministry, Indonesia presented one of its priorities in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), namely, empowering small farmers by providing easy access to capital and a wider market.

To escalate smallholder production capacity, Indonesia also increased its investment to improve management, processing, storage and marketing capabilities, it noted.
  ,  Cookies        .          cookies.




Uganda has been elected Vice President of the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species of Wildlife (CMS) with Dr Barirega Akankwasah Acting Commissioner for Wildlife Conservation in Ministry of Tourism Wildlife and Antiquities taking up the Vice Presidents seat.

Stories Continues after ad

As Vice President, Dr. Akankwasah will deputise the Minister of Environment, Forestry and Climate Change of India, Prakash Javadekar. Dr. Akankwasah will also chair the Committee of the Whole for the Conference of Parties which clears all business for consideration by the plenary of the Conference. Uganda will hold the position for the next three years.

Speaking at the sidelines of the conference after his elections. Dr. Akankwasah acknowledged the contribution of Ugandas success in conservation.

International recognition of Uganda to steer global UN frameworks is a vote of confidence in the conservation efforts Uganda has had. It is the conservation actors both state and non-state that have made my election happen. I owe this to my motherland Uganda. He said

CMS is an international agreement between governments that provides a global platform for the conservation and sustainable use of migratory animals and their habitats. The body brings together the States through which migratory animals pass, the Range States, and lays the legal foundation for internationally coordinated conservation measures throughout a migratory range.

It was adopted in 1979 and entered into force on 1st November 1983. CMS, also known as the Bonn Convention, recognizes that states must be the protectors of migratory species that live within or pass through their national jurisdictions and aims to conserve terrestrial, marine, and avian migratory species throughout their ranges.

Migratory species threatened with extinction are listed on Appendix I of the Convention. CMS Parties strive towards strictly protecting these animals, conserving or restoring the places where they live, mitigating obstacles to migration and controlling other factors that might endanger them. Besides establishing obligations for each State joining the Convention, CMS promotes concerted action among the Range States of many of these species.

In this respect, CMS acts as a framework Convention. The agreements may range from legally binding treaties (called Agreements) to less formal instruments, such as Memoranda of Understanding, and can be adapted to the requirements of particular regions. The development of models tailored according to the conservation needs throughout the migratory range is a unique capacity to CMS. CMS currently has 124 Parties and Uganda became a contracting Party 1st August 2000.
He's developed a cult thanks to his cynical sense of humour, and comedian Jordan Shanks has left no Married At First Sight star untouched during his brutal review of the show's first dinner party.

On his YouTube channel friendlyjordies on Sunday, the 30-year-old critiqued both the participants and so-called 'love experts' on the hit Channel Nine reality show.

Starting his review with footage of same-sex couple Tash Herz and Amanda Micallef arguing during their honeymoon, he couldn't help but laugh.

Letting loose: Comedian Jordan Shanks left no Married At First Sight star untouched during his brutal review of the show's first dinner party

'Anyone who thinks that that fight was faked, you just haven't been to the western suburbs,' the Sydney-based comedian joked.

He then urged Amanda, 34, to move on from Tash, 31, who has been reluctant to pursue any sort of relationship with her new 'bride'.

'Why do you care about her? There's a million of those in Australia. Anyone who liked The Veronicas a lot in their teens is her now. Just pick another one,' he added.

Fight club: Starting his review with footage of same-sex couple Tash Herz and Amanda Micallef arguing during their honeymoon, he couldn't help but laugh

And after 'love expert' Mel Schilling popped up on the screen, Jordan couldn't hide his disbelief: 'You again! What?! Haven't you been fired?'

Another couple who seemed to rub Jordan the wrong way was Aleksandra Markovic and Ivan Sarakula.

Not a fan: Another couple who seemed to rub Jordan the wrong way was Aleksandra Markovic and Ivan Sarakula

Jordan had some choice words for Ivan.

He also described the show's customary dinner party as 'a medieval banquet for poor people'.

'Could you imagine being in that social situation as a normal human being and pretending' he added.

Food for thought: He also described the show's customary dinner party as 'a medieval banquet for poor people'

Jordan later described the love experts as being like 'the judges on Australian Idol, but without the b***hiness'.

After the experts said they've 'never seen a dinner party like it', Jordan couldn't resist calling them out: 'Honey, I've been here since season one. You have.'

But he saved his most scathing criticism for David Cannon, claiming he wasn't the 'nice guy' the show was making him out to be.

Choice words: Jordan later described the love experts as being like 'the judges on Australian Idol, but without the b***hiness'. Pictured (L-R) Mel Schilling, Trisha Stratford and John Aiken

'He's not a nice guy, he's a whiny b***h,' he said bluntly, after watching David complain about his new 'wife', Hayley Vernon, 32.

He then imitated one of the 31-year-old truck driver's facial expressions and asked: 'How can anyone love someone with this facial expression?'

'You're not a person, you're a hot air balloon,' he concluded.

Whinging: But he saved his most scathing criticism for David Cannon, claiming he wasn't the 'nice guy' the show was making him out to be. 'He's not a nice guy, he's a whiny b***h,' he said bluntly, after watching David complain about his new 'wife', Hayley Vernon, 32
Students from northeastern states at Mumbais Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) have complained of racial discrimination in and around the campus in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in China.

In an open letter to the institute and fellow students on Monday, the Northeast Students Forum of TISS alleged that some of the members of the forum had been accused of carrying the deadly virus, which originated in China, owing to their facial features.

Many students from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, have recently been subjected to racial treatment due to their distinctive identities and features, the letter said.

In one such instant, the letter said that on February 10 a student and her visiting friend, both hailing from Nagaland, were subjected to outright racial discrimination. The forum alleged that a video of the visiting friend was filmed without consent and circulated through social media by people around to raise an alarm about a potential carrier of coronavirus from China. When the student confronted the makers of the video, she was met with other forms of slurs and threatening behaviour. The letter has also said that other students from the northeastern states have not only faced name-calling such as corona and coronavirus at various public places, they have also been subjected to racism within the campus.

The novel Coronavirus outbreak has so far claimed over 1770 lives. Over 71,000 cases have been recorded, most of which are in China. In the past few weeks there have been allegations of racial profiling of people with Asian or mongoloid features across the world.

This form of discrimination, played out in the pretext of health concerns, is a reminder of inherent racial prejudices and stereotyping of particular peoples based on their physical features and perceived cultural inferiority, a student said.

Condemning such discrimination across the country, the forum has now asked the institutes administration to intervene in the matter to ensure the safety of students from the Northeast.

We would like to bring this matter to the notice of concerned authorities of TISS to adopt adequate measures to ensure safety of students from northeast who are vulnerable to racial discrimination. We request the general student body, faculty, and staff to deter any practices of casual and structural racism and promote a sensitive approach towards students. We also request the concerned government bodies to take appropriate measures to ensure the safety of people from northeast states in Mumbai and to deter cases of harassment and racial discrimination, read the letter.

The TISS administration was unavailable for comment.
Students have hit out at lecturers preparing to start a fortnight-long strike this week  fearing it will harm their graduation prospects.

More than a million will be affected by what is the third walkout in less than two years.

And some students are expected to resort to private tuition to avoid falling behind  despite paying more than 9,000-a-year for courses.

More than a million will be affected by what is the third walkout in less than two years. And some students are expected to resort to private tuition to avoid falling behind  despite paying more than 9,000-a-year for courses (stock image)

One student leader, at Cardiff University, privately warned undergraduates may have to repeat a year due to lost teaching time, and another student claimed she would lose 2,575 in fees for missed lessons.

Lecturers, librarians and technicians at 74 UK institutions will walk out over pay and conditions on Thursday.

The University and College union has claimed pension changes will leave members up to 10,000 a year worse off during retirement.

But, at the same time, six-figure salaries have become commonplace among university bosses, with 508 employees across the Russell Group of elite institutions earning more than the Prime Minister's salary of about 160,000 in the last academic year, up from 428 in the previous 12 months.

Nearly 14,000 have signed an online petition calling for universities to refund students the fees for tuition they will now not receive.

One student leader, at Cardiff University (pictured), privately warned undergraduates may have to repeat a year due to lost teaching time

Nina Porter, 20, a second-year student at University College London, told the Sunday Times: 'I am so angry. I still have to pay the fees.

'For me it works out at about 2,575 in fees for [lectures] and seminars I have not or will not receive. That is how much money I have thrown away. I have peers who have been crying in lectures after finding out about the action.'

Liz Chen, of tutoring agency The Profs, added: 'The students... are quite panicked at missing teaching time. They feel they will fall behind.'

Cardiff University said its 'number one priority is to support our students throughout the strike'.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady slammed 'out of touch' vice-chancellors and threatened further strikes if the dispute is not resolved.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-18 01:30:33|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

BERLIN, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- BMW China chief Jochen Goller has expressed his confidence in China's fight against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

"We are confident that China will ultimately win this battle" against COVID-19, said Goller, president and chief executive officer of BMW Group Region China, in a written interview with Xinhua.

"If any country is capable of dealing with an unprecedented crisis like this, it's very clearly China," he wrote.

"The whole country is making great efforts to fight against the epidemic for the benefit of all of us and especially in a critical situation like this," Goller noted, calling on the international community to unite and stand unwaveringly behind China.

Over the past weeks, BMW has been taking decisive actions and supporting the frontline medical personnel. So far, the German carmaker has already donated 35 million Chinese yuan (5 million U.S. dollars) since the outbreak of the epidemic.

Regarding the outlook for the Chinese economy, Goller noted that "we have full trust in the Chinese authorities and the government that they are able to manage this situation. We are very confident in the medium and long-term outlook."

"This great country will arise from the crisis even stronger," Goller added.
[February 17, 2020] Jubilant Receives Favorable Rulings from the U.S. Patent Office Invalidating Bracco Rubidium-Infusion-System Patents

YARDLEY, Pa., Feb. 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On February 7, 2020, Jubilant DraxImage Inc., and certain of its affiliates (Jubilant) were informed by the U.S. Patent Office that it agreed with Jubilants arguments that two rubidium-infusion-system patents owned by Bracco Diagnostics, Inc., (Bracco) are invalid.

Bracco had alleged that Jubilants RUBY-FILL Generator and RUBY Rubidium Elution System were infringing the two patents in a lawsuit filed in 2018, prompting Jubilant to challenge the validity of the two patents in three Inter Partes Review (IPR) proceedings before the U.S. Patent Office. As a result of these favorable rulings, the U.S. Patent Office is expected to cancel all challenged claims of the two Bracco patents. This favorable decision from the U.S. Patent Office comes on the heels of another favorable ruling that Jubilant received in December 2019 from the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), which found three other Bracco patents directed to rubidium infusion systems invalid. The ITC proceeding was instituted in 2018 after Bracco filed a complaint with the ITC accusing Jubilants RUBY-FILL Generator and RUBY Rubidium Elution System of infringing the three patents. As a result of the ITCs invalidity findings, the ITC found Jubilant had not violated section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 and terminated the proeeding in Jubilants favor.



These favorable rulings by the U.S. Patent Office and International Trade Commission further confirm Jubilants right to continue development and commercialization of RUBY-FILL in the U.S. marketplace and to continue focusing on our goal of bringing innovative products to the market for patients in need of the latest technology, stated Pramod Yadav, CEO, Jubilant Pharma Limited. Jubilant Radiopharmas RUBY-FILL Generator and RUBY Rubidium Elution System provide the latest and most advanced technology in PET Rubidium-82 myocardial imaging. RUBY-FILL provides customers a choice in the next generation product, with safety, efficiency, and automation advancements. Jubilant Radiopharmas products are key in its greater commitment to investing in the growth and expansion of nuclear medicine in the global market.

For more information on RUBY-FILL and the RUBY Rubidium Elution Systems technology features and benefits, please visit the website at www.RUBY-FILL.com or www.jubilantradiopharma.com. ABOUT JUBILANT RADIOPHARMA: Jubilant Radiopharma, Radiopharmaceutical Division of Jubilant Pharma Ltd., is an industry-leading radiopharmaceutical business focused on developing, manufacturing, commercializing and distributing high quality and sustainable diagnostic and therapeutic agents for the sole purpose of Improving Lives Through Nuclear Medicine on a global scale. ABOUT JUBILANT PHARMA LIMITED: Jubilant Pharma Limited (JPL), a company incorporated under the laws of Singapore and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jubilant Life Sciences Limited, is an integrated global Pharmaceutical company engaged in manufacturing and supply of APIs, Solid Dosage Formulations, Radiopharmaceuticals, Allergy Therapy Products and Contract Manufacturing of Sterile Injectables and Non- sterile products through 6 USFDA approved manufacturing facilities in the US, Canada and India and a network of over 50 radio-pharmacies in the US. The Company has a team of over 4,300 multicultural people across the globe and is committed to deliver value to its customers spread across over 75 countries. It is well recognized as a 'Partner of Choice' by leading pharmaceutical companies globally. Contact: Investor or Media: Mary Coleman

Jubilant Pharma, Ltd

[email protected]

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
NEW YORK, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --

The global battlefield management systems market accounted for US$ 15.15 Bn in 2018 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.4% over the forecast period 2019-2027. The global battlefield management system would account for US$ 26.24 Bn by 2027. In the battlefield management systems market, various factors are driving the market such as need for enhanced situational awareness technologies; situational awareness empowers to keep track of the soldier while combating. Due to penetration of digitization in in evolving technologies, the military sector is investing in advanced technologies to keep track on the enemies all the time. The military battle is going high-tech as technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) for battle gear embedded with a biometric wearable are deployed to help soldiers identify the enemy and perform better in battle. The IoT has robust military applications in a cohesive network that surge situational awareness. In addition, IoT is a strong edge architecture, by using environmental sensors, biometrics, and other connected devices to send and receive data rapidly, it enables military personnel to respond during potentially dangerous situations on the battlefield. Furthermore, BMS allows absolute situational awareness by efficiently displaying crucial data to the field commander. It also helps tactical commanders to take knowledge-based and alert decisions and implement highly efficient control over operations on the battlefield. Highly advanced tracking devices integrated in BMS allows military forces in headquarters to get live situational awareness of the battlefield. These factors are driving the global battlefield management system market.



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05862082/?utm_source=PRN



In battlefield management systems market, the North America region is highly focused on adopting advanced technologies to integrate with BMS and efficiently use it in the battlefield.The government is engaged in robust R&D activities of the military technologies to handle dangerous situations on the battlefield.



North America is a potential region in terms of technology, and the region invests heavily battlefield management systems market in order to deploy advanced technology in the military industry.The huge adoption of advanced technology in the region has created a positive impact on the battlefield management system market.



The governments of the region are focusing heavily on the military sector, and therefore have increased its budget.In 2019, the US had a budget of US$ 717 Bn, which is four times more than that of China.



The Government of the US continues its efforts to modernize the capabilities in the maritime, air, and land domains. In North America battlefield management systems market, the US and Canada are the major countries, which spend extensively on the military sector across the world. In 2018, Canada spent US$ 21.6 Bn and Mexico spent US$ 6.6 Bn in the military sector. Countries in the region are progressively focusing on military modernization at soldier level. The penetration of advanced technology, such as IoT and AI, in battlefield is creating growth opportunities for the battlefield management systems market. These above factors are driving the global battlefield management systems market.



The military technologies are becoming more advanced and broadly available; rivals are swiftly developing capabilities that put the forces at risk.To counter such threats, the US military is developing battlefield management systems, which help in providing precise real-time information for commanders to make decisions and implement highly efficient control during operations on the battlefield.



Furthermore, Lockheed Martin in 2017 received a contract worth US$ 38 Mn to support the US military's theatre battle management core system.The theatre battle management core system is installed at



<100 locations="" globally="" to="" virtually="" coordinate="" a="" broad="" range="" of="" military="" aircraft,="" such="" as="" helicopters,="" fighters,="" and="" cruise="" missiles.="">Thus, such partnerships in the US are driving the battlefield management system market.



The global battlefield management system market is driven important factors such as technological advancements and innovations in the battlefield management systems, protection of troops, and robust military budget.The US Department of Defense (DOD), Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China, Ministry of Defense India (MoD), and the UK Ministry of Defense (MoD) continue to invest substantial amounts in offering troops with highly advanced technology including weaponries and communication technology that enable them to communicate with each other and efficiently retaliate even in the harshest environments.



The battlefield management system market consists of various well-established defense contractors across the world, which invest massive amounts in delivering the most advanced technologies and products to their customers.This factor is helping the battlefield management system market to surge during the forecast period.



Furthermore, continuous monetization toward the development of BMS by companies in Europe and in developing economies in APAC have fuelled the battlefield management systems market growth. The rest of the developing regions such as South America and the Middle East and Africa are also expected to witness significant battlefield management systems market growth during the forecast period.



The global battlefield management system market is segmented into component, system, application, and geography.Based on component, the battlefield management system market is segmented as wireless communication devices, imaging devices, display devices, computer software, and tracking devices.



Based on system, the battlefield management system market is segmented as navigation & imaging system, computing system, and communication & networking system.Based on application, the battlefield management system market is segmented into vehicle, soldier, and headquarters.



Geographically, the battlefield management system market is segmented into five strategic regions  North America, Europe, APAC, MEA, and SAM.



Major players in the battlefield management system market are BAE Systems PLC, Elbit Systems Ltd., General Dynamics Corporation, L3 Harris Technologies, Inc., Leonardo S.P.A., Raytheon Company, Rheinmetall AG, Collins Aerospace, SAAB AB, and Thales Group. Several other players are also operating in the battlefield management system market and are supplying technologically advanced BMS to different military forces, which is ultimately fostering the growth of battlefield management system market.



The overall global battlefield management systems market size has been derived using both primary and secondary source.The research process begins with exhaustive secondary research using internal and external sources to obtain qualitative and quantitative information related to the global battlefield management systems market.



It also provides an overview and forecast for the battlefield management systems market based on all the segmentation provided for the global region.Also, primary interviews were conducted with industry participants and commentators to validate data and analysis.



The participants who typically take part in such a process include industry expert such as VPs, business development managers, market intelligence managers, and national sales managers, and external consultants such as valuation experts, research analysts, and key opinion leaders specializing in the battlefield management systems industry.



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05862082/?utm_source=PRN



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________

Contact Clare: [email protected]

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001

SOURCE Reportlinker

Related Links

www.reportlinker.com


Even if telecom operators pay a portion of their AGR dues, it will help the government realise a better fiscal deficit figure than it pegged in the recent Union Budget, according to SBI Research Desk. The latest SBI Ecowrap report says that the if the government can collect Rs 1.2 lakh from the telcos, its fiscal deficit for the current financial year will come down to 3.5 per cent.

Notably, telecom operators owe Rs 1.47 lakh crore to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues, following a Supreme Court order in October last year. The payout includes Rs 92,600 crore as pending licence charges and Rs 55,504 crore as spectrum usage charges.

ALSO READ:Airtel, Vodafone Idea subscriber? Should you port out

On Friday last week, the Supreme Court chastised telecom operators for not paying their AGR dues despite an order from in this regard. The apex court has ordered telcos to clear their outstanding licence fees and spectrum usage charges before March 17, the next date for hearing in the AGR case.

"The fiscal arithmetic will change significantly post March 16, 2020... If we assume that the government is able to collect Rs 1.20 lakh crore through AGR dues, the fiscal deficit for FY20 will reduce to 3.5 per cent of GDP," said the SBI Ecowrap report published on Monday.

ALSO READ:AGR issue: Bharti Airtel pays Rs 10,000 crore to govt as part of outstanding dues

"However, this will put a question on the amount that the Government can raise next year from the telecom sector out of Rs 1.33 lakh crore budgeted, which in turn can impair the fiscal arithmetic of FY21," it further added.

The government has estimated its fiscal deficit to remain at 3.8 per cent of the GDP in financial year 2019-20, and 3.5 per cent in 2020-21. "This estimation is consistent with Government's abiding commitment to macroeconomic stability," Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said in her Budget Speech on February 1.

ALSO READ:AGR issue: Vodafone Idea tells SC it can only pay Rs 2,500 crore; gets no relief
A high-profile local Taliban figure who announced and justified the 2012 attack on teenage Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai has escaped detention, Pakistans interior minister confirmed a few days after the militant announced his breakout on social media.

Former Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan, who claimed responsibility on behalf of his group for scores of Taliban attacks, proclaimed his escape on Twitter and then in an audio message sent to Pakistani media earlier this month.

The Pakistani military, which had kept Ehsan in detention for three years, has declined to comment but, asked by reporters about the report, Interior Minister Ijaz Shah, said: That is correct, that is correct.

Shah, a retired brigadier general, added that you will hear good news in response to questions about whether there had been progress in hunting down Ehsan.

Ehsan later told a Reuters reporter by telephone that he had already left Pakistan and arrived in Turkey together with his wife and children. He said he had surrendered to the army under a deal, and escaped only after the agreement was not honoured.

He said he escaped on Jan. 11 but did not clarify how he had broken out of a maximum-security military prison and made his way to another country.

Pakistani analysts and experts on militant Islam have voiced doubt about Ehsans claim to have escaped. They have speculated that he may have been converted into an asset by the state and that reports he was on the run could be a ruse to plant him back in the Islamist militant scene for use as an informant.

After Ehsans surrender in 2017, local Geo News TV aired an interview he gave in custody in which he asserted that the intelligence services of Pakistans arch-rival, India, had been funding and arming Pakistani Taliban fighters.

The Pakistan army pledged to put Ehsan on trial but has not done so.

Taliban attacks in Pakistan have declined in recent months since the army carried out several operations against sanctuaries used by the Islamist militant groups in lawless districts along the border with Afghanistan.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Founder of the Royalhouse Chapel International, Reverend Sam Korankye Ankrah has bemoaned what he describes as the excessive power given to the president.

According to him, it is important to reconsider the limits of the President in terms of some decisions and appointments made by the highest office of the land.

Speaking in an interview with Bernard Avle as part of activities marking his 60th birthday celebrations, Rev. Korankye Ankrah explained that the country needs to move away from the winner takes all politics as it has dire effects on the country.

He advocated for institutions to find innovative ways of running efficiently.

We have to look at the powers of the presidency. I think they have too much powers. Powers to appoint IGP, head of the army etc.

Rev. Korankye Ankrah questioned why a position such as Chief Director for a ministry should be politicised.

Why should the chief directors position be a political position? This is a civil service position, our constitutional arrangement is not helpful. The winner takes all syndrome is not helpful, the general politicking is not helpful and finding faults at your opponents at all costs is also not helpful, he said.

Reverend Sam Korankye Ankrah also called on state actors to ensure stiffer punishment is meted out to individuals who perpetrate crimes and other acts of corruption.

According to him, there have been instances where some people in high places of power have let off offenders who violate the laws of the country.

Its a problem, that the people who come to us and sit in our presence and hear us preach are the same people who govern this nation and are in public office and yet it is very difficult to practice righteousness. Corruption is high.

Our country is not the only country bracing itself with this canker, even in America and everywhere, except that in other jurisdiction the law will deal with you. Over here, when you are caught there is always a way where somebody somewhere will get you off the hook, he bemoaned.

Reverend Sam Korankye Ankrah serves as the Apostle General of the Royalhouse Chapel International, a church in Ghana with more than 30,000 members.

He is also the first vice president of the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council.

Rev. Sam Korankye Ankrah will on February 23, 2020 celebrate his 60th birthday and 30 years in ministry as a man of God.

In 2008, Rev. Korankye Ankrah received the Order of the Volta award, one of Ghana's highest honours, from Ghana's Ex-President John Agyekum Kufuor for his charitable work in the areas of health and education.

citinewsroom
Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - The US Department of State and Federal Bureau of Investigation have partnered to assist Kenya in creating the first Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), to be located outside of the United States, the State Department said on Monday
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-18 01:22:32|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

RABAT, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Morocco and Chile signed on Monday an agreement to set up an instrument for dialogue between the two countries' parliaments.

The agreement was signed by speakers of the Moroccan and Chilean parliaments, Habib Al-Maliki and visiting Ivan Flores Garcia.

The step is poised to enhance dialogue, exchange experiences in the legislative field and boost trade and economic cooperation, Maliki told reporters after the signing ceremony.

Flores Garcia stressed that Chile is aware that Morocco is an important gateway to the African continent while Chile acts as Morocco's gateway to Latin America.

The creation of this parliamentary dialogue mechanism would represent a common platform for work and cooperation between the two countries, he added. Enditem
Eight years ago, the TaxPayers Alliance reported that in the last year, five times more Labour people were appointed to public bodies than Tories.

It currently reports that almost half of avowedly political appointees last year owed their allegiance to Labour Party, compared to less than a third for the Conservatives.

Despite the selection of some Party members or supporters to fill important posts, over time, the Conservatives have punched beneath their weight when it comes to public appointments. One of the reasons seems to be that Tories simply dont apply in the same number as Labour supporters.

To help remedy this, each week we put up links to some of the main public appointments vacancies, so that qualified Conservatives can be aware of the opportunities presented.

         

Office for Budget Responsibility  Chair



Robert Chote will be stepping down as Chair of the BRC later this year, after 10 years in post. We are seeking a successor with deep expertise in economic and fiscal analysis who can lead the BRC and provide intellectual leadership to the OBRs staff. This is a high profile and influential role, requiring outstanding communication skills and integrity. Candidates must command broad respect for their objectivity in dealing with issues of political sensitivity. Appointments to the BRC are for a five-year term. There is the possibility of reappointment at the end of the term and members can serve a maximum of two terms. This post can be undertaken on either a part or full-time basis.

Time: Full- or part-time.

Remuneration: 158,762 per annum (FTE).

Closes: 20 February

         

Treasure Valuation Committee  Chair



The Treasure Valuation Committee provides independent advice to the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, on the fair market value of declared Treasure finds from England, Wales and Northern Ireland, which museums wish to acquire. Its membership comprises experts on the range of antiquities submitted for valuation, on museums and their collections, and on the law relating to antiquities. In addition, the membership includes an individual drawn from those who represent the interests of finders.

Time: Two days per month (likely).

Remuneration: Travel and subsistence.

Closes: 24 February

         

Environment Agency  Board Member



The Secretary of State, working closely with the Chair of the Environment Agency, is seeking to appoint four new members to the Board of the Environment Agency to boost resilience and replace outgoing members. The Secretary of State wants to attract high-calibre and forward-thinking applicants from diverse backgrounds. Applicants will need to demonstrate they are able to carry out a full range of non-executive responsibilities and have relevant skills, knowledge and expertise. Board members have the opportunity to shape the strategic vision of the Environment Agency and think in different ways putting net zero, climate adaptation and innovative finance at the heart of its ambitions.

Time: Four days per month.

Remuneration: 350 per diem, reasonable expenses.

Closes: 25 February

         

Tees Valley Local Enterprise Partnership  Chair



The Tees Valley Combined Authority and Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) are looking to recruit a new LEP Chair and new LEP members from the private sector to deliver our ambitious economic plans. The Combined Authority and LEP strive to ensure an equal and diverse membership, and through this latest round of appointments, have committed to achieve 50% female representation on the LEP board in 2020. Due to the current LEP Chair coming to the end of his term, we are looking to appoint a new LEP Chair who has a strong private sector background, experience of building effective organisations and has the motivation to fully commit to and represent the LEP on a local and national scale.

Time: 6-8 days per month.

Remuneration: Travel and subsistence expenses.

Closes: 29 February

         

Solent Local Enterprise Partnership  Chair



The Solent LEP is seeking to recruit a Chair who is an influential local leader and who can bring energy and passion to act as a champion for the areas economic success. The Chair requires sufficient standing to be able to convene the local business community and public sector stakeholders, while having the insight to oversee the development of an economic strategy and the relationship skills to work effectively with government. We want you to have a voice, make a difference and give something back to the region. The Chair must come from the private sector (Individuals can only be classed as private sector if their organisations do not appear on the Public Sector Classifications guide which can be viewed on the Office for National Statistics website).

Time: Minimum one day per week on average.

Remuneration: Reasonable expenses.

Closes: 29 February

         

School Teachers Review Body  Chair



As Chair of the STRB, you will be responsible for providing strategic leadership and direction to the STRB in fulfilling its functions as a public body; and for delivering high quality recommendations in response to the matters that have been referred to the STRB by the Secretary of State. You will do this by leading the work of the STRB in a way that deals comprehensively with the matters that have been referred to it; where necessary challenging existing assumptions; making effective use of the skills and expertise of the other members of the STRB; and providing effective challenge to the evidence and representations that are submitted to the STRB by the wide range of consultees

Time: Approx. 30 days per annum.

Remuneration: 350 per diem.

Closes: 01 March

         

Childrens Commissioners Office  Advisory Board Member



The Office of the Childrens Commissioner is a dynamic and creative place to work. It is a small organisation, but it has a loud voice and is highly respected. The Childrens Commissioners Advisory Board exists to provide advice and challenge to the Childrens Commissioner in the exercise of her statutory functions. The Commissioner is now inviting applications from exceptional individuals, with a wide breadth of experience, to join this Board, which meets quarterly in London. Candidates need not have previous experience of working with children but should demonstrate an interest in policy issues affecting children, particularly the most vulnerable, and be interested in the role of the Commissioner and able to offer a different perspective on her work.

Time: 3-4 meetings per year.

Remuneration: Reasonable expenses.

Closes: 03 March

         

Home Office  Non-Executive Directors



We are seeking high-calibre Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) with substantial experience of leading complex, delivery focused organisations, to support the Home Secretary in the realisation of her ambitious agenda. Non-Executive Directors provide a key role in diversifying and strengthening the strategic and operational leadership of the Home Office. They complement the skills and experience of Government Ministers and officials by bringing constructive challenge and advice to the Departments work through a fresh, independent, and external perspective. You will work closely with ministers and officials to support the delivery of a portfolio of priorities linked to key departmental commitments.

Time: 3 years.

Remuneration: 15,000.

Closes: 08 March

         

Office for Nuclear Regulation  Security Non-Executive Director



The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) is a Public Corporation responsible for the regulation of nuclear safety and security across the UK. Its vision is to be an exemplary regulator that inspires respect, trust and confidence. ONR is sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) who have principal responsibility for governance, finance and its performance in relation to conventional Health and Safety. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is accountable for the UK civil nuclear regulatory framework and policies and for appointing a Security Non-Executive Director (NED) to the ONR Board.

Time: Approx. 30 days per annum.

Remuneration: 15,000 plus expenses.

Closes: 22 March

         

Financial Conduct Authority  Chief Executive



This is an opportunity to take on an intellectually demanding role at the heart of international financial services, leading a sizeable and complex organisation. There is a requirement for strong leadership in a challenging environment to undertake a critically important role. Under Andrew Bailey, the FCA has formulated a transformation programme, to equip the organisation for the next phase of its development: a data strategy and enhanced analytical skills to rapidly identify harm across an exceptionally broad range of firms of all sizes exploiting fast-moving changes in technology and distribution to target consumers; enhance employee capabilities and processes to act swiftly on the harms identified; [and] and with a regulatory framework which is appropriate following the completion of EU withdrawal, and which takes advantage of the opportunities for better and more efficient regulation brought by technology and behavioural science.

Time: Full-time.

Remuneration: Competitive.

Closes: 27 March
Advertisement

Britain faces even more misery in the aftermath of Storm Dennis with weather forecasters predicting another two inches of rain within 24 hours in parts of Wales.

Large swathes of Wales will be hit by further blustery showers on Wednesday and Thursday after thousands were evacuated from their flood-hit homes over the weekend.

The devastating impact of the flooding is seen in shocking aerial pictures from the Powys village of Crickhowell after the River Usk burst its banks. A major incident was declared in Wales after a terrifying landslide in Tylorstown, Rhondda Cynon Taf yesterday.

York and the Cambridgeshire market town of St Ives are also nearly entirely submerged after flooding of the River Ouse. The River Wye is the highest it has ever been, causing more havoc in Herefordshire.

A fifth person is feared dead amid the bad weather after West Mercia Police announced the operation to the woman in Tenbury, Worcestershire, is now a 'recovery not a rescue' in light of the 'circumstances of the length of time in the water'.

There are currently 462 Environment Agency flood warnings in place, including six 'danger to life' ones, with two inches of rain still expected to fall later this week.

 Slide me  Before and after: The devastating impact of the floods is seen in shocking aerial pictures from the Powys village of Crickhowell after the River Usk burst its banks

Shocking drone pictures show the devastating scale of flooding the Welsh village of Crickhowell after the Usk flooded

The River Ouse burst its banks over the weekend leaving the Cambridgeshire market town of St Ives underwater

Winds and rain are set to die down this week, however floods are expected over the next couple of days, the Environmental Agency warned

A Met Office weather warning has also been issued for ice and snow over the Grampians in Scotland, which will be in place between 6pm tonight and 11pm on Tuesday.

Yellow warnings for wind and rain are also in place for north and south Wales on Wednesday and Thursday.

Two families in 'miracle' escape after automatic brakes on their Tesla Model X cars stopped them being crushed to death by a falling tree during Storm Dennis Two families had a miracle escape when the automatic brakes on their Tesla cars stopped them being crushed to death by a falling tree in Storm Dennis Financial consultant Laurence Sanderson was driving through Dorset in his 86,000 Model X electric saloon when the enormous oak was blown to the ground on February 15, near the village of Sturminster Marshall. Pictured: Laurence Sanderson's car The 400-year-old tree landed on his bonnet, avoiding the roof when the car ground itself to a sudden halt. Mr Sanderson, from Brentwood in Essex, said that had it not been for the automatic brakes, he and his family would have been 'toast'. Remarkably, the car travelling in the opposite direction was another Tesla, with the cutting-edge technology also working in the nick of time. Advertisement

Blustery showers are set to continue throughout Monday and Tuesday, with western areas of England, Scotland and Wales the worst impacted. In the Scottish Highlands there will be snow in higher areas, as well as hail and spells of thunder.

Rain and increasingly strong winds will move in from the west on Wednesday morning spreading across the whole of the UK.

Rain will be persistent and heavy at times in Wales and north western England overnight and a further front will move through on Thursday bringing heavy downpours.

Chief Meteorologist Andy Page said: 'Further rain will arrive on Wednesday evening and this is likely to become prolonged and possibly heavy over areas of high ground. For example, there is a chance that 60mm of rain could fall in parts of south Wales over 24 hours.

'With the ground already saturated there is a chance of further flooding, members of the public should check their flood risk and stay up to date with flood warnings from Natural Resources Wales, SEPA, NI Direct and the Environment Agency.'

Fear of a fifth Storm Dennis death comes after West Mercia Police said they are now treating the operation to rescue a woman swept away by floodwater in Tenbury, Worcestershire, as a 'recovery' one due to 'the circumstances of the length of time in the water and other conditions.'

Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service said it had pulled one man from the River Teme at Eastham Bridge on Sunday morning, with a female casualty still unaccounted for as of about 4pm.

A man in his 60s died on Sunday after being pulled from the River Tawe near Trebanos Rugby Club in Wales, but Dyfed-Powys Police said his death was not being linked to the bad weather.

A 42-year-old hill walker was found dead after he went hiking in the Scottish Highlands on Sunday.

Police were scrambled to Stob Ban, a 3,278ft munro located on the south side of Glen Nevis, northwest of Kinlochleven, Highlands at around 1pm on Sunday, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The bodies of two men were pulled from rough seas off Kent on Saturday as the UK was struck by a storm for the second weekend in a row.

There are fears for a man called Leon Ford, 32, from Guildford, Surrey, who has not been seen since around 2am on Saturday.

Police are also looking for a woman, 36, who disappeared from a nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning and is believed to have run into the sea in Brighton.

The Prime Minister is facing a backlash after it was revealed he has no plans to visit any of the flood-hit areas.

Boris Johnson is currently staying at a country estate in Chevening, Sevenoaks, while Parliament is in recess.

There is no COBRA meeting scheduled, despite the new Environment Secretary George Eustice insisting ministers have a 'firm grip' on the situation.

Terrifying moment strong gust of wind sends a brick wall crashing to the ground in London A brick wall was knocked to the ground after being hit by the gale force winds of Storm Dennis as it battered London. Footage shows trees swaying in the 75mph winds outside a property in Elephant and Castle, London, at around 2am, on February 16. A wall outside a property in Elephant and Castle, London, was knocked over by gale force winds during Storm Dennis Within a few seconds, a wall comes crashing towards the pavement and sends bricks flying across the partially empty street. The wall's trellis was pulled off the top and is seen scattered near a parked car and motorbikes. Moments later, the clip shows the aftermath of the incident with a property's door step and pavement covered in crumbled bricks. Advertisement

Luke Pollard, shadow environment secretary, said it was a 'disgrace' that Mr Johnson had 'refused' to visit affected communities.

Museum worker Robin Williams, 62, of Pontypridd, South Wales hit back at the Government, saying: 'Where's Boris? Where's the help?'

Robin and wife Tracey 55, had moved into their home just one year ago.

Tracey, who works in a care home, said: 'We haven't long been here and a lot of our stuff was new. I asked the council for sandbags but they said you have to wait until the water is coming in, which it was.

'We haven't had any help and nobody has been here from the council. They are out of their depth.

'It was a freak flood and there was nothing put in place to stop it.'

Fellow resident Tracey Waites, 49, is also angry at politicians over the lack of help.

She said: 'We haven't seen anyone. There are no politicians down here helping. Where are they?

'We haven't seen anyone from the government or anyone from the council. We've heard nothing from anyone.'

Tracey Waits, and husband Marc, 52, described how they were desperately trying to get their belongings upstairs when the flood hit.

Marc said: 'Luckily our daughter was awake when it started happening and she alerted us.

'We've just been trying to sort out our insurance as we couldn't get hold of anyone on the weekend.

'We were watching a car bobbing around in the water outside and thought it might come through our front wall. Our car has been towed away as it was caught up in all the water.'

Tracey said: 'When the water was coming in we started passing our belongings to each other up the stairs.

'We managed to save my daughter's school coursework and some photos because they can't be replaced. It's so awful and I can't believe it's happened.'

Aerial images show the extent of flooding in Hereford, Herefordshire, on Monday after the nearby river burst its banks over the weekend

A baby is pictured being rescued from flooded homes in Hereford today after water levels at the Old Wye Bridge reached dangerous heights

Rescue boats are seen helping residents whose homes were flooded in Hereford, Herefordshire, this morning

Shirley Collyer, 83, is pictured in good spirits as she is evacuated from her home in Hereford on Monday after mass flooding

Eighty-three-year-old Mrs Collyer had to be stretchered to safety on a dinghy after her home in Hereford flooded

Colin, 78, went outside to try and poke through the drain but flood water was bursting up through it.

He said: 'The water was coming up the path so I tried to poke the drain to clear it.

'I realised the water was coming up through the drain and then it all came in through the front and back of our house.'

Speaking through tears, he added: 'We saved very little in fact. It's going to take a long time to get this sorted out.'

It was so flooded in a park in Hereford this morning that these two men had to canoe their way through the floodwater

One man is pictured leaning out of his window to speak to Sky News reporter after being confined to the top floor of his house in Hereford due to devastating floods

Neighbours who had not been affected on Berw Road in Pontypridd were out offering to do laundry and make cups of tea.

In the Calder Valley in Yorkshire, local authorities have called for their region to be given the same extra funding as London does to tackle terrorism so they have the best chance of limiting flood damage.

Storm Dennis was described as 'life-threatening' in South Wales, where the Met Office had a red warning in place until 11am today.

Forecasters said that winds of more than 80mph were recorded across parts of the country, with the highest measuring 91mph in Aberdaron in north Wales on Saturday.

A total of 156.2mm of rain fell at Crai Reservoir in Powys in the 48 hours from Friday to Sunday morning, it added. The average monthly rainfall for February in Wales is 111.1mm, the Met Office added.

Severe flood warnings have been issued for the rivers Neath and Taff, as well as the River Teme further north.

One fed-up resident in York put a 'Do one Dennis' sign to block the water from entering his home in the city

The River Ouse is pictured at record-breaking levels in York, where flood defences are struggling under the pressure

Water is pictured being pumped away from York city centre after the River Ouse burst its banks and caused chaos

A terraced house is pictured with sandbags at the front door in York after being inundated with flood water

Pictures on social media show the Taff bursting its banks and flooding parts of Pontypridd, while rescue workers were using boats to get families to safety after further flooding in nearby Nantgarw.

Gwent Police said that residents of Skenfrith, Monmouthshire, were being advised to evacuate due to the flooding.

Flocks of sheep, horses and pets also had to be rescued after falling victim to Storm Dennis in parts of Wales.

Specialist emergency teams from the RSPCA saved sheep and horses in Carmarthenshire, with more than 40 sheep plucked to safety from Newcastle Emlyn.

In nearby Llandeilo only one sheep from a flock of 25 was rescued alive from a flooded field.

People empty out buckets of water from the front of a flooded property after the River Wye burst its banks in Ross-on-Wye

The Ship Inn in Acaster Malbis, near York, is pictured inaccessible after being inundated by floods during Storm Dennis

Sheep had to be rescued in Newcastle Emlyn, Carmarthenshire, south west Wales, after flooded fields left them confined to a tiny patch of grass

Traffic passes over Teston Bridge on Monday as flood waters rise near Yalding in Kent in the aftermath of Storm Dennis

Two young women skirt floodwater from the River Wey by holding onto railings in central Guildford, Surrey on Monday

A woman brushes water away from the Mary Stone Properties shopfront, which has been damaged by flood water, in Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire, on Monday

A water rescue team also went to the aid of 22 sheep trapped by the floodwater in a field in St Asaph, Denbighshire.

Officers checked the condition of the ewes - all heavily in lamb - and made the decision not to attempt a rescue.

Inspector Anthony Joynes said: 'We took hay out to the 20 sheep and fed them in situ. As the sheep were all heavily in lamb and it would have been such a treacherous move to get them out of the flooding we decided to leave them where they were.

'As the flood water has begun receding and the farmer was on hand to monitor them, we felt they would be safer left in situ. Had we have started trying to rescue them they would have spooked and likely fled into the water where they may well have drowned.

'We'll return tomorrow to check on the sheep again.'

Rescue operations were also launched in Hereford today, where hundreds of homes have been evacuated.

Churches and leisure centres have opened their doors to take in evacuated residents as a severe flood warning remains in place for the River Wye.

People are seen walking on the Old Bridge in Hereford, as the waters of the swollen River Wye fill the arches below

An EU flag in a garden in Hereford is pictured almost completely underwater after the River Wye reached record-breaking levels on Monday

A rescue worker helps a resident to safety on a boat following Storm Dennis in Hereford on Monday

Hereford was also blighted by floods on Monday morning after river levels rose dangerously high at Old Wye Bridge

A playground in the cathedral city of Hereford is half hidden by overwhelming levels of rainwater on Monday

Two women were forced to escape their home through a window in Hereford today after the River Wye flooded

Cars are pictured stranded in the middle of Hereford after water levels rose amid Storm Dennis

A camera crew wade through the flooded waters after the River Wye burst its banks in Hereford

John Curtin, the EA's executive director of flood and coastal risk management, tweeted that, despite the heaviest rain passing, there is still 'a live incident as water makes its way through the bigger rivers', with Hereford being 'of most concern'.

David Throup, EA manager for Herefordshire and Worcestershire, tweeted that the River Wye was recorded as its highest ever level.

He said floodwater was slowly receding at Tenbury Wells in Worcestershire, describing a 'horrible sight with many flooded homes and businesses'.

In one area of the city, roads were reported to have been submerged in 6ft of floodwater, local resident Laura Yarwood said.

Flooded fields are pictured near Marden, Herefordshire, on Monday in the aftermath of Storm Dennis

Aerial images show Hereford overwhelmed with floods after the River Wye reached its highest level in history

Pictures show the devastating effect of flooding in Lower Bullingham, Hereford, on Monday

Flooded fields encroach on homes in Hereford, Herefordshire, which is one of the areas worst-hit by Storm Dennis

The 32-year-old nursery owner evacuated her home in nearby Bodenham on Saturday in the face of flood warnings, and said the village has since been 'completely cut off'.

'I think most of the villages in Hereford have been cut off and I think there've been quite a few evacuations. It's just crazy.

'It's the worst anyone in Hereford has ever seen it to be, and the fact that communities are being evacuated, that's unheard of.'

Ms Yarwood closed her nursery in Thorn Business Park on Monday morning, after water began to affect the entrance to the industrial estate.

Aerial pictures showed extensive flooding around the park, the railway line and nearby homes.

Rescue workers are pictured on the beach in Brighton after a 36-year-old woman disappeared from a nightclub on Sunday

Police are also looking for a woman, 36, who disappeared from a nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning and is believed to have run into the sea in Brighton

A coach is seen submerged in floodwater from the River Teme on the A443 near Lindridge, Worcestershire, on Monday

Shown today, a car washed-away during flooding in Nantgarw, south Wales, where residents are returning to their homes to survey and repair the damage in the aftermath of Storm Dennis

The garden of Virginia Davis in south Wales, which was destroyed during floods caused by Storm Dennis over the weekend

Britain is facing another day of widespread flooding and travel chaos as Storm Dennis continues to batter the country with gale-force winds and heavy rain (shown right is wind warnings issued by the Met Office today)

A weather warning is in place for the Grampians in Scotland on Tuesday (left), with two others on Wednesday and Thursday for north and south Wales for rain and wind

Meanwhile, local businesses in South Wales are collecting donations for people who have lost everything and more than a dozen online fundraising appeals have been launched - raising nearly 30,000 in less than 24 hours.

Taff's Well rugby club opened its doors to offer hot showers, food and drink but since then has become a collection point for essential items, such as toiletries and bedding.

A local building firm was also dropping off a large amount of sand for residents needing sandbags in Treorchy and Pentre.

Residents brought shovels and brushes to help clear away flood water and mud from one street in Treorchy.

Special walkways have been erected in York as the city braces itself for even more rain after the River Ouse burst its banks

A car is seen stranded amid floodwater several feet deep in York after the River Ouse bursts its banks during the storm

York city centre is pictured under water after the River Ouse burst its banks over the weekend, despite flood defences being in place

Another vehicle is pictured abandoned in flood water in York where defences are in place to prevent further storm damage

A schoolgirl was in her bedroom in Hanham, Bristol, when a tree came crashing through her window during Storm Dennis yesterday, she was treated for minor injuries and four people were evacuated from the block

Firefighters and the ambulance service were scrambled to a block of flats in Hanham, Bristol, when a tree was uprooted by gale-force winds and it smashed through a window

Army personnel were deployed over the weekend to assist people in parts of West Yorkshire which had already been badly hit by flooding during Storm Ciara.

Passengers stuck on Isle of Wight car ferry for 14 hours amid Storm Dennis More than 100 passengers were stuck for 14 hours overnight on a car ferry as the boat was unable to leave dock due to Storm Dennis. The sea was so choppy that the Red Funnel ferry could not make its 45 minute crossing from Southampton, Hants, to the Isle of Wight. With Southampton to East Cowes boats from 7.30pm on Saturday night prevented from sailing, passengers instead spent more than 14 hours on board being looked after by ferry staff. It finally began its journey across the Solent at 9.15am on Sunday. The passengers finally arrived in East Cowes shortly after 10am on Sunday. Advertisement

The Environment Agency said water levels on the River Ouse in York are set to peak on Tuesday afternoon, but at levels below those seen during the widespread flooding in the city in 2015 and 2000.

A spokesman said: 'Our forecasts are currently showing the River Ouse in York will reach 4.8m on the morning of Tuesday February 18 and is likely to remain at or around this level for a couple of days afterwards.

'At this level, we expect there may be further properties flooded in York.'

Many homes flooded in 2015 when the Foss Barrier - which stops floodwater from the River Ouse washing up the smaller River Foss - had to be left open when the mechanism was inundated.

The barrier, which has been closed for Storm Dennis, has been upgraded over the last five years.

City of York Council leader Keith Aspden said: 'We've deployed over 4,000 sandbags across the city and over 200 one-tonne sandbags to help the residents in the most at-risk locations.

'York is very much open for business and as we move into half-term week, we're encouraging everyone to visit our fantastic city, which always has much to offer.'

The Ouse bursting its banks has also left the market town of St Ives in Cambridgeshire blighted by flood water.

Commuters were warned of mass disruption, with delays expected on roads, railways and ferries, while flights are also likely to suffer from last-minute cancellations.

Roads and railways were flooded on Sunday after torrential downpours and high winds caused by the second storm in just over a week.

A young man empties a bucket of water from a shop in Crickhowell, Wales, which was almost completely underwater after Storm Dennis battered Powys

The clear up after the storm: A fireman adjusts a hose in front of a house with a visible mark on its wall of where the flood level reached while Storm Dennis raged in Crickhowell, south Wales

Pictures show the chaos inside The Bridge End Inn in Crickhowell, Wales, after floodwater savaged homes and businesses

Pub owner Howard Baker stands outside his flood-hit pub, the Bridge End Inn in Crickhowell, Powys, Wales, one of the worst -hit areas in the UK

Nantgarw resident Rachel Cox is pictured in her kitchen, where she was forced to move everything after the floods hit

The Village Kitchen Baguette and Sandwich Shop in Nantgarw, South Wales, is pictured with staff outside trying to salvage furniture almost ruined by the floods

Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford (centre) and Member of the Welsh Assembly for Pontypridd, Mick Antoniw (right), with resident Caroline Jones inspecting flood damage at her house in Oxford Street, Nantgarw, in south Wales

Janette Cox, 68, holding up her wedding photo from 1971 of her late husband Bill, who died nine years ago. She saved it after her other possessions were ruins when floods hit her home in Nantgarw, South Wales

Staff members cleaning outside the Celtic Flooring store, which has been damaged by floodwater in Nantgarw, South Wales

Lee Griffiths throwing out laminate flooring after flooding damaged his house in Nantgarw, South Wales

Storm Dennis caused a third day of chaos across Britain's transport network.

More than 90 flights at Heathrow were cancelled on Monday due to the knock-on effect of what the airport described as a 'technical issue'.

This came after hundreds of flights were cancelled at airports across the UK due to the bad weather on Saturday and Sunday.

Motorists continued to face treacherous driving conditions on Monday, with roads flooded around the country.

RAC Breakdown spokesman Rod Dennis warned that the impact of Storm Dennis 'will be felt by drivers for some time yet'.

He said: 'Aside from the current road closures, with so many flood warnings still in force, there is a very real risk more roads will be affected by flooding over the next few days.

'It's vital drivers take no risks - if they can't be sure the water is shallow enough to safely drive through, turning around and finding another route is always the best option.'

The AA was called out to rescue more than 400 vehicles stuck in water or mud over the weekend, which was more than double the total when Storm Ciara hit one week earlier. Flooding and fallen trees caused chaos to train services on Monday.

CrossCountry, Great Western Railway, Northern, South Western Railway, Southern, Thameslink and Transport for Wales were among the operators with delays and cancellations.

Trains from Swindon towards Bristol Parkway were unable to run. No services could operate through Mitcham Junction in south London as the electric third rail was switched off due to flooding.

Rotherham Central station was closed until at least Tuesday due to flooding.

A fault with the signalling system in the Welwyn Garden City area also caused major disruption between Stevenage and London King's Cross.

A Network Rail spokesman said: 'Just as with Storm Ciara last weekend, Storm Dennis has had a significant impact on the railway.

'The heavy rainfall, combined with already waterlogged ground conditions, has led to flooding in a number of areas across the network.

'Our engineers have been working in extremely difficult conditions throughout Sunday and overnight to clear the tracks and keep passengers moving.

'The majority of services are now running as scheduled, but we do still urge anyone travelling over the next couple of days to check before they travel at www.nationalrailenquiries.co.uk.'

Nearly one in five British Airways flights due to arrive at Heathrow on Monday were cancelled as the airline recovered from the airport's systems failure which led to long queues and handwritten flight information being displayed on whiteboards on Sunday.

At least 61 arrivals and 33 departures were grounded on Monday. British Airways is the largest airline at Heathrow.

More than 100 flights by several airlines were cancelled at the airport on Sunday, due to a combination of the technical glitch and Storm Dennis.

A British Airways spokeswoman said: 'The technical issue with Heathrow Airport's systems has now been resolved but, after 10 hours of disruption across all terminals, we do expect to see a knock-on effect to today's short-haul schedule.

'We've introduced a flexible booking policy and have brought in extra colleagues to help our customers get on their way as smoothly as possible.'

A Heathrow spokesman said: 'Following yesterday's technical issue, Heathrow's systems are stable and the airport is operating as normal. We apologise for the inconvenience this caused our passengers.'

The water-damaged interior of a Mini car in Nantgarw, in south Wales. there are 54 flood warnings in Wales today, as police declared a major incident

Nantgarw, in south Wales, where residents are returning to their homes to survey and repair the damage in the aftermath of Storm Dennis

RAF veteran, 96, saves his World War II medals as he and his daughter, 59, are rescued by boat after Storm Dennis flooded his home An RAF veteran managed to save his Second World War medals before being rescued from his flood-hit home after it was savaged by Storm Dennis. Gordon Churchill awoke on his 96th birthday to find the first floor of his home in Nantgarw, South Wales, underwater after the nearby River Taff burst its banks. Gordon and his daughter Carolyn Churchill, 59, were rescued by officials in a boat but had to leave everything but his medals behind. Ms Churchill said: 'The only thing I've managed to save is his medals from the war. It's ruined. Everything. I've lost everything. At the time I just grabbed every towel, blanket I could find and pushed them up against the front door. 'We'd already got sandbags there because sometimes the front floods a small amount with the drains. 'But as we were blocking up the front door, it was all pouring through the back door as well and there was nothing we could do.' Advertisement

'Aside from the current road closures, with so many flood warnings still in force there is a very real risk more roads will be affected by flooding over the next few days.

'It's vital drivers take no risks - if they can't be sure the water is shallow enough to safely drive through, turning around and finding another route is always the best option.'

Experts have warned that climate change is driving more heavy rainfall in winter storms and increasing the risk of flooding for which the UK is 'clearly' not ready.

Research has shown that the conditions in a previous winter storm, Desmond in 2015, which brought very heavy rain to parts of the UK and caused widespread flooding, were made 40 per cent more likely due to climate change.

In the wake of the latest storms, Dr Michael Byrne, lecturer in climate science at the University of St Andrews and research fellow at the University of Oxford, said more water in the atmosphere is 'an entirely inevitable consequence of climate change'.

'When you warm the planet, the atmosphere holds more water. In many parts of the world, including the UK, rising temperatures go hand in hand with more rain,' he said.

He said the jury is still out on whether climate change will strengthen or weaken the high winds in storms such as Ciara and Dennis, but 'when the storms come there will be more rain associated with them'.

'These storms are nothing new, going back 100 years, but, because we are now more than 1C warmer as a whole versus pre-industrial times, every degree means 7 per cent more water in the atmosphere and more rain in these heavy rain events.

'When they come, they bring more rain, 100 per cent for certain, because of climate change.'

RAF veteran Gordon Churchill, 96, managed to save his Second World War medals before being rescued from his flood-hit home in Nantgarw, South Wales, after it was savaged by Storm Dennis

If temperatures rise by 3C, which is what efforts to cut emissions already outlined by countries currently put the world on track for, storms could be bringing around 20 per cent more rain than they would without climate change.

'It would put a huge strain on flood defences if that were to happen,' said Dr Byrne.

Hannah Cloke, professor of hydrology at the University of Reading, said: 'These types of events are most likely a taster of what is to come and we should be paying very close attention to that.'

And she warned: 'Clearly, we are not ready for them. We've always seen these big floods but we do keep seeing these records being broken, it's very concerning.'

She said more people are living in areas at risk, and there is a need to think about how the landscape is managed.

It is not just down to more hard flood defences, she said, urging: 'We should be using the whole toolkit of things to prepare for floods.'

They include looking after soil so it can soak up water and does not run off the land to block watercourses, using uplands to catch water, diverting it on to fields upstream of settlements, and putting in 'leaky dams' made of wood in streams to slow the water's flow down to the towns.

She also warned against building on flood plains, and said that, where it is absolutely necessary, better, joined-up planning is needed to protect homes from floods.
For decades, the Uighur imam was a bedrock of his farming community in China's far west. On Fridays, he preached Islam as a religion of peace. On Sundays, he treated the sick with free herbal medicine. In the winter, he bought coal for the poor.

But as a Chinese government mass detention campaign engulfed Memtimin Emer's native Xinjiang region three years ago, the elderly imam was swept up and locked away, along with all three of his sons living in China.

Now, a newly revealed database exposes in extraordinary detail the main reasons for the detentions of Emer, his three sons, and hundreds of others in Karakax County: their religion and their family ties.

The database obtained by The Associated Press profiles the internment of 311 individuals with relatives abroad and lists information on more than 2,000 of their relatives, neighbours and friends.

Each entry includes the detainee's name, address, national identity number, detention date and location, along with a detailed dossier on their family, religious and neighbourhood background, the reason for detention, and a decision on whether or not to release them. Issued within the past year, the documents do not indicate which government department compiled them or for whom.

Taken as a whole, the information offers the fullest and most personal view yet into how Chinese officials decided who to put into and let out of detention camps, as part of a massive crackdown that has locked away more than a million ethnic minorities, most of them Muslims.

The database emphasizes that the Chinese government focused on religion as a reason for detention not just political extremism, as authorities claim, but ordinary activities such as praying, attending a mosque, or even growing a long beard. It also shows the role of family: People with detained relatives are far more likely to end up in a camp themselves, uprooting and criminalizing entire families like Emer's in the process.

Similarly, family background and attitude is a bigger factor than detainee behaviour in whether they are released.

"It's very clear that religious practice is being targeted, said Darren Byler, a University of Colorado researcher studying the use of surveillance technology in Xinjiang. They want to fragment society, to pull the families apart and make them much more vulnerable to retraining and reeducation.

The Xinjiang regional government did not respond to faxes requesting comment. Asked whether Xinjiang is targeting religious people and their families, foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said this kind of nonsense is not worth commenting on.

Beijing has said before that the detention centres are for voluntary job training, and that it does not discriminate based on religion.

China has struggled for decades to control Xinjiang, where the native Uighurs have long resented Beijing's heavy-handed rule. With the 9/11 attacks in the United States, officials began using the spectre of terrorism to justify harsher religious restrictions, saying young Uighurs were susceptible to Islamic extremism.

After militants set off bombs at a train station in Xinjiang's capital in 2014, President Xi Jinping launched a so-called People's War on Terror, transforming Xinjiang into a digital police state. The leak of the database from sources in the Uighur exile community follows the release in November of a classified blueprint on how the mass detention system really works.

The blueprint obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which includes the AP, showed that the centres are in fact forced ideological and behavioral re-education camps run in secret. Another set of documents leaked to the New York Times revealed the historical lead-up to the mass detention.

The latest set of documents came from sources in the Uighur exile community, and the most recent date in them is March 2019. The detainees listed come from Karakax County, a traditional settlement of about 650,000 on the edge of Xinjiang's Taklamakan desert where more than 97 percent of residents are Uighur.

The list was corroborated through interviews with former Karakax residents, Chinese identity verification tools, and other lists and documents seen by the AP.

Detainees and their families are tracked and classified by rigid, well-defined categories. Households are designated as trustworthy or not trustworthy," and their attitudes are graded as ordinary or good."



Families have light or heavy religious atmospheres, and the database keeps count of how many relatives of each detainee are locked in prison or sent to a training centre."



Officials used these categories to determine how suspicious a person was even if they hadn't committed any crimes.

It underscores the witch-hunt mindset of the government, and how the government criminalizes everything, said Adrian Zenz, an expert on the detention centres and senior fellow at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in Washington, D.C.

Reasons listed for internment include minor religious infection, disturbs other persons by visiting them without reasons, relatives abroad, thinking is hard to grasp and untrustworthy person born in a certain decade." The last seems to refer to younger men; about 31 percent of people considered untrustworthy were in the age bracket of 25 to 29 years, according to an analysis of the data by Zenz.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Its a good thing Michael Bloomberg is a billionaire.

Because the level of forgiveness and rebranding the former New York mayor is seeking doesnt come cheap. And it shouldnt come easy.

The high-spending Democratic presidential nominee, in the span of one week, has shown a capacity for patriarchal, simplistic thinking on race. He can be heard on audio tape rationalizing discriminatory practices, latching to easily disproven racial threads.

Is this who Bloomberg is, or who he was?

And will African American and Latino voters, two indispensable blocs of the Democratic voting base, forgive him?

In one instance, in a speech delivered in 2015, Bloomberg justified racial profiling through the discriminatory policing tactic of stop-and-frisk, which targeted black and Latino young men, with the disproven premise that they were of criminal mindset and carrying guns. In other newly resurfaced comments, from 2008, Bloomberg blamed the financial crisis on banks making risky loans to black Americans.

To be clear, Bloombergs comments deserve sustained scrutiny not just as racially insensitive, politically incorrect one-offs. These werent just cases of poorly chosen phrasing. Bloomberg, at least in these two examples, latched on to racial threads that arent supported by facts. Baked into policy, beliefs such as these are the very heartbeat of systemic racism.

As crisis control strategies go, Bloomberg surrogates are earning their keep.

Theyre emphasizing his more positive support for racial and ethnic communities, pressed forward by a flood of by advertising as the candidate gears up for Super Tuesday in early March. The hope is that Bloomberg can be seen not only as a loyal friend but also as an economic savior for African American families  and as a pugnacious adversary to President Donald Trump.

In Houston, Bloomberg stood at the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum (Feb.13), unveiling Mike for Black America. This economic development plan for homeownership and small business development appears to be a more realistic counter to Trumps wild claims of how much he loves African Americans and how hes made them prosper.

Bloomberg needs to address his remarks about African Americans and the 2008 financial crisis. At the time, Bloomberg discussed redlining, the practice of real estate agents and lenders refusing to show homes or make loans to African American buyers except within specific boundaries of cities. Once those discriminatory policies were challenged, banks and mortgage firms did an about-face. But some created a whole new scheme and began to target those same communities, luring customers into loans they couldnt afford, offering financing with escalating rates that soon went into default.

Those people were the victims of this scam. The lenders and others who devised the predatory lending schemes profited heavily. They were the instigators.

Bloomberg seemed to miss that crucial detail with his version, instead emphasizing the mortgage borrowers as unqualified, as if they caused the financial crisis. Banks, he said, started making more and more loans where the credit of the person buying the house wasnt as good as you would like.

To his credit, Bloomberg has apologized for stop-and-frisk.

The peak of the practice came in 2011, while Bloomberg was mayor. That year, 685,000 people were stopped, according to New York Civil Liberties Union. Heres the telling statistic: Nearly nine out of 10 stopped New Yorkers were innocent.

The Bloomberg reframing presses that he inherited stop-and-frisk. But it only ended when the pleading voices of those most affected prevailed in the courts.

Even worse, Bloombergs comments show him beholden to the underlying racist mindset upon which the unconstitutional practice is based.

He also rationalized the harsh treatment as necessary because so many black and Latino young men are murdered.

And the way you get the guns out of the kids hands is to throw them up against the wall and frisk them. ... And then they start ... Oh, I dont want to get caught, so they dont bring the gun. They still have a gun, but they leave it at home.

A generation of black and Latino young men grew up under this harassment. It destroyed police-community relations.

And now, Bloomberg  arguably among the best situated to take on Trump by virtue of his wealth  is positioning himself as the savior?

To get there, to convince voters he is a changed man, he needs to do more than spend and say hes sorry.

He needs to explain his record, in longer conversations, with far more context and depth.

Readers can reach Mary Sanchez at msanchezcolumn@gmail.com and follow her on Twitter @msanchezcolumn

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Libya is facing financial disaster if the Libyan National Army does not lift the oil port blockade, the Prime Minister of the UN-recognized Government of National Accord said as quoted by local media.

The continuation of the shutdowns will result in a catastrophic financial crisis, said Fayez Serraj. Losses from the oil shutdowns have exceeded $1.4bn. The figure is increasing every day.

The blockade began in mid-January when a group of paramilitary formations affiliated with General Khalifa Haftars Libyan National Army occupied the countrys oil export terminals along with pipelines and fields. The blockade came amid continued fighting between the LNA, which is loyal to the eastern Libyan government and the forces loyal to the Government of National Accord.

Since then, Libyas oil production has slumped from over 1.2 million bpd to less than 200,000 bpd. In late January, NOCs chairman Mustafa Sanalla told Bloomberg that 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, with no free storage space left to stock oil from still-producing fields.

Certainly, in light of the continued closure of oil facilities, the 2020 budget will face a deficit and [it] will drop to its lowest levels, Prime Minister Serraj said.

For now, however, there does not seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Despite rounds and rounds of talks, the warring sides cannot seem to find common ground for a ceasefire that would last long enough for oil production to start recovering.

We warned against using oil as a pressure card, Serraj also said, as quoted by Reuters. The PM added the Government of National Accord will prosecute the parties that initiated the blockade, although he provided no details as to how this will happen.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Tadbirsaz.com scored 40 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2/5.0 Stars by Social Team

This CoolSocial report was updated on 12 Dec 2012, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

The total number of people who shared the tadbirsaz homepage on Delicious. The total number of people who shared the tadbirsaz homepage on StumbleUpon. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the tadbirsaz homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if tadbirsaz has a Facebook fan page). This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the tadbirsaz homepage on Twitter + the total number of tadbirsaz followers (if tadbirsaz has a Twitter account). The total number of people who shared the tadbirsaz homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button.

Basic Information

PAGE TITLE      DESCRIPTION      -      KEYWORDS OTHER KEYWORDS



The description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The title found in the head section of the homepage. The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. The keywords meta-tag 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.

Domain and Server

DOCTYPE XHTML 1.0 Transitional CHARSET AND LANGUAGE UTF-8 SERVER Apache/2.2.23 (Unix) mod_ssl/2.2.23 OpenSSL/0.9.8e-fips-rhel5 mod_auth_passthrough/2.1 mod_bwlimited/1.4 FrontPage/5.0.2.2635 mod_perl/2.0.6 Perl/v5.8.8 (PHP/5.3.17) OPERATIVE SYSTEM Linux Linux

Type of server and offered services. Character set and language of the site. Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) Operative System running on the server. The language of tadbirsaz.com as detected by CoolSocial algorithms.

Site Traffic trend during the last year. Only available for sites ranked <= 100000 in the world.

Referring domains for tadbirsaz.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 total number of people who like website Facebook page. The description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users. A Facebook page link can be found in the homepage or in the robots.txt file. The total number of people who tagged or talked about website Facebook page in the last 7-10 days. Facebook Timeline is the new layout of Facebook pages. The type of Facebook page. The URL of the found Facebook page.

Twitter account link

TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND
'Another rejection of mediation between India and Pakistan will leave Mr Trump disappointed.'

'In that case, he is likely to point out the war-like situation on the border and press for direct talks which have been stalled on account of continuing terrorism from Pakistan,' notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.

The first of a series of curtain-raisers on the American president's visit to India next week.

IMAGE: US President Donald Trump with First Lady Melania Trump at the Daytona 500, Sunday, February 16, 2020, a week before they board Air Force One on their passage to India. Photograph: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports/Reuters

President Bill Clinton was the last US President to visit India carrying gifts. President George W Bush and President Barack Obama came to India seeking benefits for themselves.

Mr Bush came to promote progress on the civil nuclear deal in 2006, Mr Obama visited India in 2010 in the expectation that India would help him reduce the unemployment rate by purchasing nuclear material worth $10 billion and fighter aircraft worth $10 billion and visited again in 2015 to secure Indian support for security in the Asia-Pacific.

President Donald J Trump too has even a broader agenda of his own ranging from trade and arms deals to mediation between India and Pakistan. Inevitably, his Indian visit and 'Namaste Trump' are part of the election campaign for him.

Mr Trump is notoriously unpredictable, egotistic, boastful and vengeful, but history is likely to judge him as a person of these chaotic times, when traditional diplomacy and development strategies have given way to risky enterprises with clear direction and determination.

In the fourth year of his term, he has emerged as an iconoclastic nationalist who has abandoned traditional methods of winning friends and influencing people. He has pursued his agenda for making America great with his own characteristic disrespect for past alliances and enmities.

Domestically, he focused on his vote bank, including the gun lobby and the anti-abortion lobby and increased his rating.

Abroad, his focus was on his adversaries rather than his allies.

China, North Korea, Iran, ISIS and Venezuela were clearly Mr Trump's adversaries and it appeared that he was inexorably moving towards use of force in each of these cases. But despite the fire and fury he created for each of them, American boots on the ground and Americans in body bags are not likely in any of these situations anymore.

The trade war against China, pushing North Korea to denuclearise the country by threats and talks, disciplining Iran's nuclear adventures, elimination of terrorists and supporting a rival president in Venezuela were without clear precedents in history.

The world watched mr Trump with horror initially, wonder afterwards and relief eventually. The shifting of the US embassy to Jerusalem and the more recent announcement of the settlement plan for the Middle East were unthinkable a few years ago.

Gone are the days when the Middle Eastern tinder box could explode with a mere spark from Israel. With Israel and Saudi Arabia on two sides, Mr Trump had the courage to present an anti-Palestine plan, which repudiated not only international consensus, but also previous American positions.

President Trump has never considered India an adversary, but he was the first US president to take India to task for being the king of tariffs and made an issue of the trade imbalance.

He was grateful to Mr Modi for his friendship and his efforts to lift millions of Indians out of poverty. But he accused India of making billions of dollars out of the US and not spending enough on Afghanistan.

Although the trade balance with China was much higher, Mr Trump used the same language to criticise India on trade policy. He also launched a mini trade war against India which India reciprocated.

He also pushed India to buy more weapons systems from the US and to cancel the missile defence system India had ordered from Russia. Mr Trump also wanted India to stop importing oil from Iran and impose other sanctions.

Above all, he wanted to mediate between India and Pakistan to resolve the festering Kashmir issue, even though he knew it was India's firm position that no mediation was necessary.

Mr Trump's decision to visit India is welcome and overdue, he has a definite agenda to bring India in line with his global strategy.

In anticipation of Mr Trump's demand that India should buy more weapons systems, India has already indicated a deal for helicopters worth Rs 25,000 crores (Rs 250 billion) and a missile system to defend Delhi.

Knowing that the way to Mr Trump's heart is through the barrel of a gun, India is likely to buy more from him. We know that those who buy weapons from him can do no wrong as in the case of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.

If the order placed with Russia for the defence missile system is cancelled, it will gladden Mr Trump's heart even more.

There were indications that a trade deal would be finalised during his visit, but the report that the US trade representative has postponed his trip to Delhi has cast a shadow of doubt on the outcome. That will be considered a setback by Mr Trump.

It was only after signing a trade deal that Mr Trump announced that US-China relations had never been better than now and that Chinese President Xi Jinping had become a close friend.

Whether there is any progress on Mr Trump's agenda on Iran and Russia or not, another rejection of mediation between India and Pakistan will leave Mr Trump disappointed. In that case, he is likely to point out the war-like situation on the border and press for direct talks which have been stalled on account of continuing terrorism from Pakistan.

The slow normalisation in Kashmir will impress him, but he is likely to urge further liberalisation of the situation and the release of leaders in detention.

Mr Trump had mocked India's assistance programme for Afghanistan as 'building of libraries'. In his eagerness to pull out his troops from Afghanistan, he would like India to take a more proactive role which will be difficult if the new government in Afghanistan formed by the US includes the Taliban. If, in desperation, Mr Trump brings Pakistan back into the Afghan imbroglio, India will have another challenge.

Apart from trade issues, India has concerns about migration issues involving Indian technical personnel. Indian companies operating in the US have not been able to get appropriate personnel from India because of the slowing down of visas. Mr Trump has said he would permit more Indian technologists to come and settle in the US to build a strong America.

In an election year, he may not increase migrants, but may quietly allow Indian technologists to enter and work there. It is estimated that the IT industry would not be able to work without Indians for eight more years.

Even with all the risks, Mr Trump's arrival at this time will do Mr Modi a mountain of good. It will prove once again that bilateral relations transcend national issues even if a section of the people are agitated over some decisions. The wishful thinking in certain circles that India has lost its reputation as a democracy on account of the agitation over the citizenship issues will be proved wrong.

Mr Trump may have concerns about Kashmir in the context of his desire for mediation, but he will be supportive of India's discretion to choose the migrants it wants as he himself is doing.

For the rest, the dictum that differences should not be allowed to turn into disputes will take care of any glitch that may develop.

Mr Trump will undoubtedly have much to show his electorate not only in terms of the respect he can command In India, but also the hard cash to bring unemployment further down to qualify for re-election.

Mr Modi has already promised him large numbers at the 'Namaste Trump' event, surpassing the crowds at the 'Howdy Modi' event in Houston last September.

Mr Trump had some adversities in early 2020, but he has turned all of them to his advantage and there is a clear expectation that he has a chance to win a second term, particularly if any of the front runners of Iowa or New Hampshire emerges as the Democratic candidate. Lurking in the background is Michael Bloomberg who can match Mr Trump in money and business success.

Mr Trump has much to gain from a successful visit to India.

Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, (IFS 1967) is a former Ambassador of India and Governor for India of the IAEA. He is currently the chairman, academic council and director, NSS Academy of Civil Services and director general, Kerala International Centre.

A long time columnist for Rediff.com, you can read Ambassador Sreenivasan's earlier columns here.
New Delhi: Senior lawyer Sanjay Hegde has been given the responsibility of talking to the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protesters at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh to find out a solution to the road blockade in the area by the Supreme Court of India. Hegde was on Monday (February 17, 2020) appointed the interlocutor by the two-judge bench of Justice SK Kaul and Justice KM Joseph while hearing a petition against the Shaheen Bagh protest.

The apex court observed that while people have the right to protest, it cannot become a source of inconvenience to others and those using the roads to commute. The court stated that some people have strong views on the new legislation but one cannot say that no one can express strong views. The only issue is if a public road can be blocked for protests," the court observed.

The lawyer for the protesters argued that the roads blocked in Shaheen Bagh are opened for ambulances and other emergency vehicles. However, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj countered that same and claimed that roads have been completely blocked in Shaheen Bagh.

Following the arguments, the apex court suggested that the concerned authorities and Delhi Police should file an affidavit with a solution. Tushar Mehta opined that the solution if to remove the protesters from Shaheen Bagh.
Khalil Baloch, chairman of the Baloch National Movement (BNM) on Sunday urged the visiting United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to take immediate notice of the humanitarian crisis in Balochistan."Pakistan not only snatched our freedom but also exploited our marine and land resources. It also started a systematic genocide of the Baloch people that has further increased in the last two decades.However, the UN`s response over the situation has always been of a silent spectator," Kahlil Baloch said.

Guterres arrived in Islamabad on Monday on a four-day visit to the country. Khalil further added that Pakistan is not only responsible for the occupation of Balochistan but also perpetrating terrorism in the region.

"On the occasion of his visit, we would like to remind the Secretary-General that as an occupied nation, we have a strong hope that you will take notice of ongoing genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Balochistan and would take initiatives to resolve the Baloch national issue," he said. He also noted that the Secretary-General is visiting Pakistan at a time when the forces and agencies of the establishment are committing genocide in Balochistan.

"The ground for Baloch political voices has been narrowed down. The UN Human Rights Council`s Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances has confirmed requests for thousands of forced disappearances of the Baloch people. These are the cases where families have filed their case with consent and identification through meeting the rules and requirements of this group," the activist added.

He said that such a situation is not only limited to the Baloch people, but Pashtuns and Sindhis too are facing genocide at the hands of the Pakistani establishment. The Pakistani atrocities have mounted manifold when China partnered with Pakistan to layout the multi-billion project of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), he stressed.

Khalil said that the CPEC has become a plan for the economic exploitation of his people. "The national resources of Balochistan are being looted under this guise. These projects in the name of so-called development are destroying the environment along with the resources in the region. For example, environmental pollution, which is one of the burning issues has been dangerously ignored," Baloch said.

"No initiative has taken place to protect the indigenous peoples` environmental rights in these projects. Under the CPEC, millions of people from China and Pakistan are planned to have planned settled in Gwadar. This move will further escalate demographic changes in the land," he added.
It's the longest-running game show on Australian television.

But the future of Millionaire Hot Seat is looking uncertain, with an industry expert claiming its days could be numbered after it was bumped from its usual time slot.

TV Blackbox editor Rob McKnight, who previously worked for Channel Nine, believes the move 'doesn't bode well' for the once-unbeatable show.

The beginning of the end for Millionaire Hot Seat? Channel Nine is reportedly 'losing confidence' in the Eddie McGuire-hosted game show

Millionaire Hot Seat, which is hosted by Eddie McGuire, has held onto the strategically-important 5pm time slot for the past 11 years.

But it was recently moved forward by an hour in the Adelaide market to make way for local news, after losing viewers to Channel Seven's The Chase.

'Moving to 4pm indicates Nine is looking for alternatives,' McKnight said, suggesting that the network may have lost confidence in the format.

Bumped: Millionaire Hot Seat, which is hosted by Eddie McGuire (pictured), has held onto the strategically-important 5pm time slot for the past 11 years. But it was recently moved forward by an hour in Adelaide to make way for local news, after losing viewers to Seven's The Chase

McKnight added that the 5pm time slot is crucial to all networks because it is used to feed audiences to the news programs later in the evening.

He speculated that Nine may be looking to replace Millionaire Hot Seat with an Australian version of British game show Tipping Point.

'They are currently running the UK version [of Tipping Point] in the afternoon, just like Seven did before making a local version of The Chase,' he added.

Facing the chop? 'Moving to 4pm indicates Nine is looking for alternatives,' said industry expert Robert McKnight. Pictured: Eddie McGuire in Melbourne on September 29, 2018

Millionaire Hot Seat has been losing viewers since September 2015, when fast-paced game show The Chase premiered on Seven.

Nine tried to shake things up in 2017 by extending the program to an hour and quickening the pace with the inclusion of the Fastest Finger First Round.

But despite these changes, The Chase still remains No. 1 by a significant margin.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Channel Nine comment.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

By Elnur Baghishov - Trend:

Iran's Central Oil Fields Company needs huge technologies beginning from flare gas gathering and ending with the development of desalination, head of technology and research department of the company Abbas Ziyayi said.

Ziyayi made the remark at the conference on the presentation of Iran's oil startups and startup companies at the Research Institute of Petroleum Industry in Tehran, Trend reports referring to Shana news website.

The technology needs of the companys three departments are more important, the head of the department added.

The technology needs of South Zagros Oil and Gas Exploration Company are to repair wells without drilling rigs, explore the process of flare gas gathering, analyze the process of using alternative energy sources and improve the use of acid in wells.

The technology needs of the Eastern Oil and Gas Exploration Company are to gather and process flare gas.

"The Central Oil Fields Company manages 51 gas fields, 28 oil fields, one oil and gas field, two underground gas projects and plays a major role in ensuring Iran's gas consumption," head of the department said.

The conference kicked off on Feb. 16 and will last until February 18.
Bristol, PA -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/17/2020 -- As the leading provider of 10-yard dumpsters in Bucks County and the surrounding areas, Horizon Disposal Services understands that homeowners are always looking for convenient solutions to ensure their home renovation projects progress as smoothly as possible. For those that are a bit perplexed as to where to start, Horizon Disposal Services offers a few steps and tips to help homeowners organize and prioritize a detailed plan that will reduce stress and keep them in budget and on schedule.



Homeowners need a list of wants and needs from their projects, including determining which steps are best handled by a professional. They are to obtain any necessary zoning permits at this time. As they start contacting contractors or home service teams, they should set a budget that includes the cost of permits, building materials, labor, and decoration or interior design elements. This company also recommends setting aside 10% of the budget for unexpected expenses.



When hiring contractors, it's crucial to consider their years of experience, proper licenses/insurance, as well as their preferred payment schedule. Ask them for references or search online to get a third-party perspective on who will be working on the project. Be realistic with them about how long elements of the project will take and use that information to build a timeline that includes time clearing the project area, allows for material delivery, and consists of a few extra days that function as a buffer for unexpected issues.



Don't wait until contractors are piling debris on the driveway to consider the waste removal arrangements! If individuals' home renovation project requires a roll-off dumpster near Bucks County, they're encouraged to Horizon Disposal Services today.



About Horizon Disposal Services

Since 2000, the team at Horizon Disposal Services has offered dumpster and container rental for home and commercial construction projects. Servicing Central New Jersey and the Bucks County area of Pennsylvania, Horizon Disposal Services has proudly served the Greater Philadelphia area for almost two decades. Known for being a proud member of the USGBC, a member of the LEED program and convenient same-day service.



More information can be found by visiting their website at http://horizondisp.com/.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday sought the partnership of the Federal Capital Development Administration (FCDA) and the various state governments to end the importation of milk and other dairy products in the country.

The CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, said the partnerships the apex bank was seeking were in the areas of land allocation and guarantee of credits to small and medium enterprise farmers cooperative societies.

Mr Emefiele, who spoke during his visit to the Minister of the FCT, Muhammad Bello, said the CBN will support projects and programmes by state governments to boost agricultural development.

During the visit, the CBN requested the FCT Minister to expedite action on the allocation of land to three major dairy companies in the country, namely FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc, Nestle Nigeria Plc and L & Z to establish local dairy processing plants in Abuja.

It is CBNs desire to make states self-sustaining and economically viable entities by supporting projects and programmes that will help create jobs and grow the economy, Mr Emefiele said.

He said the allocation of land to the three dairy companies will drive industrialisation, stimulate local production of milk and the development of the local dairy sector.

The development of the local dairy processing industry, he said, will boost employment generation, facilitate linkages along with the dairy sector in Nigeria and conserve huge foreign exchange for the country.

The CBN governor identified two of its intervention programmes, namely Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) and the Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme (CACS), that have started yielding significant results.

With the banks deliberate policy to encourage companies to embrace the backward integration measures and boost job creation and industrialisation locally, he said the economy will experience multiplier impact

The partnership will also bring other benefits of integrating the local pastoralists as well as curb the farmers-herders clashes.

He cited Bobi Grazing Reserve in Niger State as one of such strategic partnerships entered by the bank, adding that over 31,000 hectares of land was allocated by the state government to dairy companies in the state,

READ ALSO:

Mr Emefiele said the bank was also engaging with the relevant agencies to revamp the Abuja Commodity Exchange to ensure standardisation of prices.

Response

In his remarks, the Minister of the FCT, Muhmmad Bello, commended the CBN governor for his passion in revamping the Nigerian economy.

He said the interventions of the bank under the Muhammadu Buhari administration had worked

The minister called for the establishment of a price stabilising mechanism to guarantee prices for farmers to encourage them to always return to farm, with the assurance of their products being taken off them at harvest.

Mr Bello pledged to facilitate the provision of land to the companies to enable them to establish their processing factories within a short period of time.

He said the FCDA had already envisaged the establishment of four grazing reserves in Bwari, Karshi, Gwagwalada and Rubochi in the FCT masterplan.
[February 17, 2020]

ReloQuest Inc. Shortlisted for Best Corporate Accommodation Booking Channel, by ShortTermRentalz

SUNRISE, Florida, Feb.17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ReloQuest Inc. receives shortlisting from ShortTermRentalz for the Best Corporate Accommodation Booking Channel.

The Shortyz Awards inaugural will take place on 11th March in Central London, the evening prior to the Short Stay Show. The Shortyz brings leaders together to recognise individual and company best practice and achievement-to help drive the sector forward.

The Best Short Term Accommodation Booking Channel category was open to agents and specialist booking platforms offering short term rental units to business travellers.

Anyone can now vote on the Shortyz event website here, where you can vote in each category just by clicking on the red 'Vote Now' button below each ctegory title.







For the inaugural Shortyz Awards hosted by International Hospitality Media [IHM], guests will attend a boat party with Bateaux London on the River Thames. The event kicks off at Embankment Pier at 6pm.

Only ReloQuest provides access to the largest Marketplace of Verified Suppliers. Both travel management companies and relocation professionals can better serve travellers/employees via instant availability to locally managed suppliers in over 90 countries, representing millions of accommodations. For information on award-wining ReloQuest contact Jeff Mahoney, at [email protected], or [email protected].

About ReloQuest

ReloQuest is a business travel solution developed for companies and employees to search, compare, and book corporate apartments and hotels around the world. ReloQuest compares global accommodations based on individual needs. The technology simplifies the process of sourcing temporary accommodations while supplying: rapid implementation, transparency, real-time data, substantial cost reduction, direct communication, reported 80% efficiency increases, and 24-7 live support. The new B2E Direct Connect feature was created for employees to support teamwork, compliance and accuracy. Dedicated to solving travel and relocation challenges, ReloQuest serves today's global workforce and the companies that employ them.

Media Contact: Jeana Giordano

[email protected]

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/964501/ReloQuest_Logo.jpg
The DNA recovered from one of Tessa Majorss fingernail clippings matches the DNA profile of Rashaun Weaver, according to a criminal complaint.

The police also accumulated video evidence, witness identification and Mr. Weavers own statements.

Early in the investigation, the police identified Mr. Weaver as the person they believed stabbed Ms. Majors after she bit his hand during a violent struggle with the three assailants. In an audio recording of a conversation obtained by the police and detailed in the complaint, Mr. Weaver said that he stabbed Ms. Majors with a knife because she was hanging on to her phone.

Investigators also reviewed video footage that showed that the boys initially appeared to have targeted a man in the park before switching their attention to Ms. Majors. The police said they had recognized Mr. Weaver because he had been wearing the same jacket he wore in another armed robbery that they had suspected him of committing days earlier.

The police commissioner said Mr. Weaver was arrested without incident at 10:30 p.m. on Friday in the lobby of a building in Harlem in the presence of his mother and other relatives.

Mr. Weavers lawyer, Elsie Chandler, declined to comment.

Why did the police wait almost two months to arrest him?
Congress leader Milind Deora responded to party colleague Ajay Maken who attacked him on Twitter for praising Arvind Kejriwal, who took oath as Delhis chief minister for the third time on Sunday. Deora highlighted the scenario before the Lok Sabah elections last year when there was a discussion over Congress-Aam Aadmi party (AAP) tie-up.

Brother, I would never undermine Sheila Dikshits stellar performance as Delhi CM. Thats your specialty. But its never too late to change! Instead of advocating an alliance with AAP, if only you had highlighted Sheila jis achievements, @INCIndia wouldve been in power today, Deora said.

Brother, I would never undermine Sheila Dikshits stellar performance as Delhi CM. Thats your specialty.



But its never too late to change!



Instead of advocating an alliance with AAP, if only you had highlighted Sheila jis achievements, @INCIndia wouldve been in power today https://t.co/aiZYdizdUL  Milind Deora   (@milinddeora) February 17, 2020

Maken wanted an alliance with AAP on the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, and had even said that he was ready to give up his candidature from the prestigious New Delhi seat if the alliance comes through. Maken represented the New Delhi constituency twice in the Lok Sabha.

This was a sharp u-turn from his earlier stance where he opposed a tie-up with AAP, and led to differences with Sheila Dikshit, who was the chief of Congress Delhi unit then.

Deora had praised Arvind Kejriwal after he took oath on Sunday. Sharing a lesser known and welcome fact - the @ArvindKejriwal-led Delhi Government doubled its revenues to Rs 60,000 crore and maintained a revenue surplus over the last 5 years. Food for thought: Delhi is now one of Indias most fiscally prudent governments, Deora had said on Twitter.

Hitting back, Maken asking Deora to leave the party and then propagate half-baked facts.

Brother,you want to leave @INCIndia-Please do-Then propagate half baked facts! However,let me share even lesser know facts-1997-98-BE (Revenue) 4,073cr 2013-14-BE (Revenue) 37,459cr During Congress Govt Grew at 14.87% CAGR 2015-16 BE 41,129 2019-20 BE 60,000 AAP Gov 9.90% CAGR, Maken said in response to Deoras tweet.

Deora had hailed AAP government for doubling revenue, which Maken rebutted with statistics claiming that the growth rate of Delhi (CAGR) during Congress tenure was 14.87 per cent as against 9.9 per cent under AAP.

Kejriwals Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had made development as its poll plank and countered all the other narratives going into the polls with it. The partys campaign was focussed on development and it helped the party win Assembly elections in Delhi.

The Congress drew blank in the February 8 polls - its second consecutive duck in Delhi polls. Voices stated surfacing after the partys rout, with many Congress leader suggesting taking some action instead of intospection. Others blamed the delay in decision making.

Though the Congress acknowledged the defeat and vowed to make a comeback, leaders like PC Chacko said that the downfall started with Sheila Dikshit, the partys stalwart in Delhi who passed away in July last year.

Deora had recently refuted that statement. Sheila Dikshit ji was a remarkable politician & administrator. During her tenure as Chief Minister, Delhi was transformed and Congress was stronger than ever. Unfortunate to see her being blamed after her death. She dedicated her life to INC India and the people of Delhi, Deora had tweeted, with a snippet of Chackos statement embedded.
Christina Koci Hernandez / The Chronicle 2006

An animal believed to be a mountain lion attacked a child walking along a park trail on Sunday morning near Cupertino, officials said.

Rangers closed Rancho San Antonio County Park, where the attack happened around 10 a.m., while officials investigated the incident and worked to track down the animal. It is the third time since August that the park has been closed because of mountain lion sightings.
Indian Navy's Poseidon 8I anti-submarine warfare aircraft was deployed to carry out surveillance on movement of Chinese troops during the 73-day-long standoff between India and China in mountainous Doklam.

Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat confirmed the use of the naval aircraft while talking about the need for bringing in tri-services synergy in dealing with national security challenges.

"The P-8I aircraft of Indian Navy was deployed in Doklam (during the face-off)," Gen Rawat told a group of journalists.

Troops of India and China were locked in a standoff in Doklam from June 16, 2017 after the Indian side stopped the building of a road in the disputed area by the Chinese Army.

The face-off triggered fears of a war between the two neighbours. The standoff ended on August 28, 2017 after over 10 rounds of talks between diplomats of the two sides.

The P-8Is were also deployed to keep an eye on movement of Pakistani troops after the Pulwama terror attack last year.

"The P-8I aircraft were the most potent platform to carry out surveillance -- be it sea or mountains. The aircraft were live-streaming data to support decision making during the Doklam face-off," said defence expert Capt D K Sharma (retd).

Sharma said deployment of the P-8Is signified synergy among the Army and the Navy in dealing with the major crisis.

The P-8I, based on the Boeing next-generation 737 commercial airplane, is a variant of the P-8A Poseidon used by the US Navy.

India was Boeing's first international customer for this aircraft. The first P-8I aircraft was inducted into the Indian Navy in 2013 and, at present, it has a fleet of eight P 8Is.

In 2016, the defence ministry had placed a follow-on order for four additional P-8I, the delivery of which will begin by April 2020.

Last year the government cleared procurement of another batch of six P-8Is.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Medical staff members work at the COVID-19 isolation ward of the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province, Feb. 16, 2020.

The ruling Chinese Communist Party looks set to postpone the annual meeting of the National People's Congress (NPC) as large parts of China remained under lockdown amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic, state media reported on Monday.

"The party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has ... stressed that the epidemic prevention and control work must be taken as the most important work at present," state news agency Xinhua reported, adding that attempts to contain the epidemic are in a "critical period."

It said many NPC delegates are busy with epidemic control work, and that this should take priority.

But it said the final decision rests with the NPC standing committee.

If, as looks likely, the NPC is postponed, the meeting of its sister body, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) will be postponed too.

Sources told RFA that the parliamentary sessions are now more likely to be held in the second half of this year.

Health authorities said there are now 70,640 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with a total of 1,772 deaths.

In worst-hit Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, 1,933 new cases were confirmed in a single day, with 100 new deaths reported.

The city government has starting banning face-to-face deliveries of food and other items to quarantined households, with goods left at a centralized delivery point in residential compounds for individuals to collect, Xinhua reported.

Online shopping and food delivery

Quarantined residents are relying heavily on online shopping and food delivery services, and passes are now required to move between districts in the city, residents have told RFA.

"All residential communities in the city [were] sealed off starting Feb. 11, amid efforts to further strengthen the control of the epidemic and minimize the flow of personnel," Xinhua cited a city government notice as saying.

Wuhan resident Liu Han said the quarantine regulations imposed by the city government are getting stricter as the epidemic progresses.

"All the households need to buy supplies, so they sent a representative out to get things like food," Liu said. "There's always something that needs to be bought, because this or that has run out."

"But none of us really knows how long the epidemic is going to last."

A Wuhan resident surnamed Wang said some people are relying on online purchases to get by.

"There is [only] one delivery a week made to our residential compound," Wang said. "Some residents in other communities are doing private group buying."

"A lot of supermarket staff are under huge psychological pressure right now, because there have been very high infection rates among them," she said.

Wang said staff at the Wuhan Department Store chain had said morale is running low.

"They told us that four of their colleagues have succumbed so far," she said.

Virus continues to mutate

She said the Wuhan Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had said that the virus continues to mutate, and that while the disease it causes may be getting milder, it is remaining in people's systems without causing symptoms for long periods of time in some cases.

CCTV reported on the case of a 42-year-old man from the eastern province of Shandong who was admitted to hospital in Rizhao and tested positive for COVID-19 even after remaining under quarantine in a clinical setting for 14 days.

Li Xingwang of the Infectious Diseases Diagnosis and Research Center at Beijing Ditan Hospital told local media that asymptomatic infections are largely being found among close contacts of confirmed patients, and more often occur in family members.

Chinese health officials called on Monday for patients who have recovered from the coronavirus to donate blood so that plasma containing valuable antibodies can be given to critically ill patients.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said that plasma therapy is a "valid approach" to treating COVID-19.

Meanwhile, authorities continue to crack down on critics of the government's response to the epidemic.

Former Guangzhou prosecutor Yang Bin was detained in Panyu on Saturday, with sources suggesting she had made comments on the sensitive topic of whistleblowing doctor Li Wenliang, who died of COVID-19 after being accused of rumor-mongering about the threat from the new virus in the early stages of the epidemic.

Yang wrote on her Weibo social media account on Feb. 8: "Just got a calling asking me ... if I live in Guangzhou, and then if I had posted or retweeted anything about Li Wenliang on social media."

Yang said the caller had eventually identified themselves as being from the district police department.

Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Congressional Democrats are on a quest to resurrect the Equal Rights Amendment. This week, the House of Representatives passed a measure attempting to nullify the deadline that Congress had imposed in the resolution sent to states for ratification in 1972.

That deadline has long since come and gone, and the amendment failed to receive the necessary support from three-quarters of the states. But that isnt stopping Democrats from trying again, and many are convinced that it wont be long before the Equal Rights Amendment is added to the Constitution.

In a vote backed by every Democratic representative and five Republicans, the House sought to erase the time limit placed on the amendment by Congress several decades ago. The move came shortly after Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg threw cold water on the progressive notion that enacting the amendment would simply be a matter of ignoring the congressionally created deadline.

In remarks at the Georgetown University Law Center, Ginsburg suggested that, despite her long-time support for the amendment, it likely wont be able to come to fruition for quite some time. Id like to see it start over, Ginsburg said of the process to ratify the amendment. Theres too much controversy about latecomers  Virginia [approved it] long after the deadline passed, she added. Plus, a number of states have withdrawn their ratification. So if you count a latecomer on the plus side, how can you disregard states that said, Weve changed our minds?

Amid the controversy, House speaker Nancy Pelosi shepherded the new resolution through her chamber on Thursday, saying as she did so that the amendment has nothing to do with the abortion issue.

Her allies beg to differ.

An ERA  properly interpreted  could negate the hundreds of laws that have been passed restricting access to abortion care and contraception, according to the National Organization for Women.

NARAL Pro-Choice America agrees. With its ratification, the ERA would reinforce the constitutional right to abortion by clarifying that the sexes have equal rights, which would require judges to strike down anti-abortion laws because they violate both the constitutional right to privacy and sexual equality, the groups website states.

Story continues

Lawyers for the National Womens Law Center have echoed this sentiment. Emily Martin, general counsel for the NWLC, told the Associated Press last month that the ERA would enable courts to rule that abortion restrictions perpetuate gender inequality. Kelli Garcia, director of reproductive-justice initiatives and NWLC senior counsel, told Vice last May that the ERA would help create a basis to challenge abortion restrictions.

A recent Politico article, meanwhile, ran under the headline How the debate over the ERA became a fight over abortion. Conservatives argue that because only women can have abortions, any restrictions on the procedure could be deemed unconstitutional under the ERA, the article states. But this isnt a conservative argument at all  as noted above, this is how abortion supporters themselves view the amendment.

For decades, many legal scholars in favor of abortion rights have disagreed with the logic of the justices ruling in Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion based on a supposed right to privacy located in the Constitution. Instead, these scholars argue, abortion rights are guaranteed to women under the equal-protection clause of the 14th Amendment. The ERA would enshrine in the Constitution a similar basis for this defense of abortion.

Advocates for the ERA acknowledge that abortion needs to be part of the conversation. Any debate over womens rights, they say, must also address control over when and whether to have children, the Politico piece explains. There are no equal rights for women without access to abortion, plain and simple, said Alexis McGill Johnson, acting president and CEO of Planned Parenthood.

The same article notes that advocates of the amendment have dismissed as a nonstarter proposals from pro-life groups that they would support the ERA if it included language explicitly stating that it doesnt apply to abortion.

Though the text of the ERA doesnt explicitly state that it exists to protect abortion rights  and to nullify abortion restrictions, including those that prevent taxpayer-funded abortion  its own supporters have long understood it to do exactly that.

More from National Review
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 21:25:04|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

MOSCOW, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Russian military continues to support the Syrian government forces in their fight against terrorists in the country, the Kremlin said Monday.

"We still regret that terrorists have intensified their activities in Idlib," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a daily brief.

Tensions in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib have flared up recently as the Syrian government forces, which have launched wide-scale offensives against the rebels in the area, exchanged fire with Turkish troops, causing multiple deaths on both sides.

Moscow backs Damascus' military action, citing rising terrorist threats in Idlib.

On Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump told his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a phone call that Washington wants to see an end to Russia's support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and parent company Alphabet, on Monday called for government regulation of artificial intelligence technology in a speech at Bruegel, a think tank in Brussels, and in an op-ed in the Financial Times.

There is no question in Pichais mind that artificial intelligence should be regulated, he reportedly said in Brussels. The question is what will be the best approach.

Sensible regulation should take a proportionate approach, balancing potential harm with potential good, he added, and could incorporate existing rules, such as the EUs General Data Protection Regulation.

We need to be clear-eyed about what could go wrong, Pichai wrote in his FT column. There are real concerns about the potential negative consequences of AI, from deepfakes to nefarious uses of facial recognition.

He pledged to be a helpful and engaged partner to regulators, and offered them Googles expertise, experience and tools to navigate the issues surrounding AI.

AI has the potential to improve billions of lives, and the biggest risk may be failing to do so, he wrote. By ensuring it is developed responsibly in a way that benefits everyone, we can inspire future generations to believe in the power of technology as much as I do.

Pretty Weak Sauce

Pichais editorial is pretty weak sauce, wrote entrepreneur, journalist and author John Battelle in Searchblog, but he did find one of Pichais statements worthy of note: Companies such as ours cannot just build promising new technology and let market forces decide how it will be used.

Pichai is late in coming to that realization, Battelle suggested.

I wish Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple had that point of view before they built the AI-driven system we now all live with known as surveillance capitalism, he wrote.

Pichai is correct when he says AI must be regulated, observed Greg Sterlingvice president of market insights at Berlin-basedUberall, a maker of location marketing solutions.

Society cannot allow technology companies to self-regulate with technology that can be easily abused, Sterling told the E-Commerce Times. Its already happening in China and elsewhere.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

That said, what forms the specific regulation takes, and how global the consensus will are open to question, he noted.

In the U.S., at least, the government needs to consult with a wide array of experts and then come up with legislation and regulations that permit innovation but dont allow these technologies to be used for discriminatory purposes, Sterling said.

Decisions about hiring, healthcare, insurance and so on should not be made by AI, which has no morality, no ethics, and no sense of social good, he continued.

Machine learning and AI will do whatever theyre programmed to do  whatever the algorithms dictate, added Sterling. Humans must set limits on the application of these technologies and absolutely draw bright lines around certain use cases to prevent their abuse by unscrupulous actors. 

Building Blocks of Sensible Regulation

What I most appreciated about Sundar Pichais piece is his acknowledgment that AI principles documents will be an important source of norm building, and facilitate the creation of sensible regulation, Jessica Fjeld, assistant director of the Cyberlaw Clinic at Harvards Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, told the E-Commerce Times.

Three dozen prominent AI principles documents formed the basis for a report on AI ethics that Fjeld and Nele Achten, Hannah Hilligoss, Adam Christopher Nagy andMadhulika Srikumar released last week.

In the documents, the researchers found eight common themes that could form the core of any principle-based approach to AI ethics and governance:

Privacy  AI systems should respect the privacy of individuals.

Accountability  Mechanisms must be in place to ensure AI systems are accountable, and remedies must be in place to fix problems when theyre not.

Safety and Security  AI systems should perform as intended and be secure from compromise.

Transparency and Explainability  AI systems should be designed and implemented to allow oversight.

Fairness and Nondiscrimination  AI systems should be designed to maximize fairness and inclusivity.

Human Control of Technology  Important decisions should remain under human review.

Professional Responsibility  Developers of AI systems should make sure to consult all stakeholders in the system and plan for long-term effects.

Promotion of Human Values  The ends to which AI is devoted and the means by which it is implemented should promote humanitys well being.

The eight themes contribute a view that is ethical and respectful of human rights to the foundational requirements for AI, the researchers noted.

However, theres a wide and thorny gap between the articulation of these high-level concepts and their actual achievement in the real world, they added.

Difficult to Regulate

As determined as regulators may be to keep AI on a short leash, they may find the task a daunting one.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

The reality is that once technology is introduced, people are going to experiment with it, observed Jim McGregor, principal analyst at Tirias Research, a high-tech research and advisory firm based in Phoenix.

The whole idea of regulation is foolish. AI is going to be used in good ways and bad ways, he told the E-Commerce Times.

You hope that you can limit the bad, and that people have respect and integrity in using and developing the technology  but mistakes will be made, and some people will use it nefariously, McGregor said. Just look at what Google, Facebook and other companies have done with their technologies for tracking people, monitoring information and sharing data.

Regulating AI will become increasingly difficult as it spreads, he added.

By 2025, youre not going to be able to buy a single electronic platform that doesnt use artificial intelligence for something, whether its local, in the cloud or a hybrid solution, McGregor predicted.

It could be for something as simple as managing battery power to as complex as operating an autonomous vehicle, he said. Whenever a new technology comes out, theres always this knee-jerk reaction from some segments of the population that says, Its bad. Everything new is bad. In general, though, technology has benefited mankind.
Iranian hackers have been hacking VPN servers to plant backdoors in companies around the world

Iran-linked attackers targeted Pulse Secure, Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, and Citrix VPNs to hack into large companies as part of the Fox Kitten Campaign .

During the last quarter of 2019, experts from security firm ClearSky uncovered a hacking campaign tracked as Fox Kitten Campaign that is being conducted in the last three years.

The campaign targeted dozens of companies and organizations in Israel and around the world, experts pointed out that the most successful and significant attack vector used by the Iranian hackers was the exploitation of unpatched VPN and RDP services.

Iran-linked hackers have targeted companies from different sectors, including IT, Telecommunication, Oil, and Gas, Aviation, Government, and Security

This attack vector is not used exclusively by the Iranian APT groups; it became the main attack vector for cybercrime groups, ransomware attacks, and other state-sponsored offensive groups. reads the report published by ClearSky.

We assess this attack vector to be significant also in 2020 apparently by exploiting new vulnerabilities in VPNs and other remote systems (such as the latest one existing in Citrix). Iranian APT groups have developed good technical offensive capabilities and are able to exploit 1-day vulnerabilities in relatively short periods of time, starting from several hours to a week or two.

Experts explained that Iranian hackers have focused their interest in 1-day flaws and developed a significant capability in developing working exploits for them that were employed in their operations .

ClearSky confirms that Iranian APT groups in some cases exploited VPN vulnerabilities within hours after their public disclosure.

The investigation Fox Kitten Campaign revealed an overlap, with medium-high probability, between the infrastructure used by the attackers and the one associated to attacks carried out by other Iran-linked APT groups, such as APT34, the APT33, and APT39.

In 2019, Iran-linked APT groups were able to quickly exploit the vulnerabilities in the Pulse Secure Connect VPN (CVE-2019-11510), the Fortinet FortiOS VPN (CVE-2018-13379), and Palo Alto Networks Global Protect VPN (CVE-2019-1579).

The attacks exploiting the above issued were initially detected at the end of August, recently Iran-linked hackers also employed exploits for CVE-2019-19781 Citrix ADC VPN flaw in their attacks.

Attackers exploit the VPN flaws to access the enterprise networks, infect systems with a backdoor and from them make move laterally to compromise other computers on the internal network.

After the attackers have exploited vulnerabilities in the VPN systems to breach in the target network, they perform several actions and used multiple tools to maintain their foothold in the network with high privileges.

The list of privilege escalation tools used by hackers includes Juicy Potato, Procdump, Mimikatz, and Sticky Keys.

The threat actors also used legitimate software like Putty, Plink, Ngrok, Serveo, or FRP in their attacks.

ClearSky also reported the use of the following custom-made malware:

STSRCheck  Self-development databases and open ports mapping tool.

 Self-development databases and open mapping tool. POWSSHNET  Self-Developed Backdoor malware  RDP over SSH Tunneling.

VBScript  download TXT files from the command-and-control (C2 or C&C) server and unify these files to a portable executable file.

Socket-based backdoor over cs.exe  An exe file used to open a socket-based connection to a hardcoded IP address.

file used to open a socket-based connection to a IP address. Port.exe  tool to scan predefined ports an IPs

The attacks part of the Fox Kitten Campaign observed by ClearSky aimed that gather information on the target networks and plant backdoors, but experts fear that once inside the target infrastructure the hackers could use data wiper (i.e. ZeroCleare and Dustman) in future attacks.

Further technical details on the Fox Kitten Campaign, including indicators of compromise (IOCs), are reported in the analysis published by ClearSky.

Pierluigi Paganini

( SecurityAffairs  Fox Kitten campaign, VPN)

Share this...

Linkedin

Share this: Twitter

Print

LinkedIn

Facebook

More

Tumblr

Pocket





Share On
Summit Technology Consulting Group (STG), a leading fintech and cloud modernization firm, today announced a collaboration with Infosys Finacle, part of EdgeVerve Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Infosys (NYSE: INFY), and Amazon Web Services (AWS) to bring Finacles leading Digital Banking Suite to community financial institutions in the United States. This announcement was made at the ABA Community Bankers Conference in Orlando on February 11th, to an audience of over 1,000 banking executives from across the US.

Finacle is the industry-leading digital banking solution suite that addresses the core banking, omnichannel banking, payments, treasury, origination, cash management, and analytics requirements of financial institutions to drive business excellence. Banks of all sizes in over 100 countries rely on Finacle to service more than a billion consumers and 1.3 billion accounts. STG and Finacle will deliver the Finacle solution suite as a SaaS offering on AWS.

This initiative is directed at allowing community banks to tap into the power of the Finacle solution suite, while providing a service offering and hosting model that is familiar for customers based in the US.

For years, Finacle has serviced many of the worlds largest banking customers. We recognize that many smaller community banking organizations in the US require modernization within their core and digital systems - we believe this new banking platform initiative will enable new innovation for customers looking to grow, service customers differently, and to optimize the cost of delivery, stated Ben Wallace, CEO of STG. Our announcement today reflects our commitment to help community organizations embrace modern core platform capabilities. The Finacle solution suite brings a full range of open APIs and flexible access to data, delivered as a SaaS offering on AWS.

Venkatramana Gosavi, SVP and Global Head of Client Engagement, Infosys Finacle, Community banks in the US have long struggled with legacy solution stacks that inhibit innovation and growth. Finacles industry-leading digital suite will offer an exciting proposition to transform and gain access to a modern platform leveraged by market disruptors. The suite will help banks dramatically reduce time to market, and operational costs, while empowering them to significantly elevate their customer engagement capabilities. We are happy to collaborate with Summit and AWS to bring this SaaS offering to the market.

To learn more about the Infosys Finacle solution suite visit https://www.edgeverve.com/finacle/

About Summit Technology Group (STG)

For more information, visit: http://www.thesummitgrp.com or http://www.bankers.cloud. Summit was founded over 12 years ago with a mission to bring enterprise class IT services to the mid-tier and commercial space. Summit has formed a unique partnership with industry leaders focused on helping financial institutions of all sizes modernize their technology and back-office operations.

About Infosys Finacle

Finacle is the industry-leading digital banking solution suite from EdgeVerve Systems, a wholly owned product subsidiary of Infosys. Finacle helps traditional and emerging financial institutions drive truly digital transformation to achieve frictionless customer experiences, larger ecosystem play, insightsdriven interactions and ubiquitous automation. Today, banks in over 100 countries rely on Finacle to service more than a billion consumers and 1.3 billion accounts. Finacle is consistently rated as a leader in the market by leading industry analysts and is proven to be the most scalable banking platform globally.

Finacle solutions address the core banking, omnichannel banking, payments, treasury, origination, liquidity management, wealth management, analytics, artificial intelligence, and blockchain requirements of financial institutions to drive business excellence. These solution are available for on-premise deployments or as cloud hosted banking platforms. Finacle has over 500 client deployments across financial institutions of all sizes. The solutions componentized structure and enterprise-class capabilities help banks boost the agility and efficiency of their operations, and significantly improve customer experience across channels. An assessment of the top 1250 banks in the world reveals that institutions powered by the Finacle Core Banking solution, on average, enjoy 7.2% points lower costs-to-income ratio than others.

To know more, visit http://www.finacle.com

About Amazon Web Services

For 13 years, Amazon Web Services has been the worlds most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform. AWS offers over 175 fully featured services for compute, storage, databases, networking, analytics, robotics, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), mobile, security, hybrid, virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR), media, and application development, deployment, and management from 69 Availability Zones (AZs) within 22 geographic regions, with announced plans for 13 more Availability Zones and four more AWS Regions in Indonesia, Italy, South Africa, and Spain. Millions of customersincluding the fastest-growing startups, largest enterprises, and leading government agenciestrust AWS to power their infrastructure, become more agile, and lower costs. To learn more about AWS, visit aws.amazon.com.
The semiconductor industry is turning around. Its no secret that chip stocks lost heavily in 2H18, and had difficulty regaining traction through much of 2019. But in recent months, many of the big chip makers have seen sharp gains.

While individual companies will show idiosyncratic reasons for gains, the sector as a whole has been positively impacted by three major factors starting in 2H19. First, and probably most important, is the continuing expansion of 5G mobile networks. The wireless switchover requires new types of modem chips to handle the new signal bands, and chipmakers are seeing increased orders from the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Wireless handsets, routers, modems, transmitters, towers  all of these will need the new chips.

The next main factor is continued demand for memory chips. Data centers are expanding, meeting an urgent need in the digital economy, and the chip makers are seeing orders for new, more powerful, memory and processing chips. Those same chips are also finding customers in the online gaming community. The memory and processing requirements for business and gaming applications frequently overlap, and gamers are notorious for wanting the best systems they can afford.

Finally, on the geopolitical front, the US and Chinese governments signed off on the Phase 1 agreement of a trade deal, an important development that promises to defuse the long-running trade and tariff disputes between the worlds two largest economies. Chip makers were exposed to the trade war on multiple fronts  as exporters from both the US and China, as suppliers of parts to reexported Chinese electronic goods, and as components in goods imported to the US. Reduced trade tensions in 2020 promises to boost the chip industry.

So, we should expect to see several interesting points among the major chip stocks. They are likely to carry Buy ratings, on mixed reviews from analysts; they are likely to show modest upside, as the analysts have not yet adjusted their outlooks; and they are likely to have recent strong reviews. Weve pulled up the data on three of the larger chip stocks, and looked at them through the TipRanks Stock Comparison tool. Here are the results.

Story continues

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)

AMD, the first stock on our chip list, has gained 43% in the past three months. The company is a leader in both the graphics processors and motherboard chipset segments, and its x86 microprocessors are major competitors to industry giant Intel. AMD can boast that strong sales are fueling growing revenues, despite lower guidance for Q1 2020.

Did the lower forward guidance really merit a 4% share price drop at the end of January? We can get an idea by looking at the Q4 numbers. AMD reported EPS at 32 cents against a 31-cent forecast. Revenue was $2.13 billion, beating expectations, growing 18% sequentially, and showing an impressive 50% gain year-over-year. For fiscal 2019, total revenue grew $6.73 billion, or 4%.

So, Q4 was strong. Looking ahead, the company guided for $1.8 billion in Q1 revenue (matching Q3 results) against an expectation of  $1.86. That 3% difference was it. And AMD shares have, since the earnings report, regained the 4% loss.

One measure of AMDs strength comes from Mitch Steves, a 5-star analyst with RBC Capital. Steves released two notes on the stock last week  and he raised his price target in both. In the first, on February 10, he bumped his target from $53 to $64, writing, We raise our 2021 EPS estimate to $2.10 as we think share gains in PCs will continue to move into the mid-20 percent market share range and we have higher conviction in server units in both 2020 and 2021.

In the second note, on February 13, Steves revised his opinion after Nvidia (more below) released strong quarterly results. Nvidias results imply a healthy gaming sector, and AMD is well-positioned to capitalize on gaming sales. Steves current price target on AMD, backing his buy rating, is $66, implying an upside of 19%. (To watch Steves track record, click here)

AMDs recent sharp gains have pushed the stocks share price well above the average price target, and analysts have not yet readjusted their outlook. As Steves double target upgrade show, events in the chip industry are moving quickly. AMDs Moderate Buy consensus rating is based on mixed reviews, and includes 11 Buy and 13 Holds. (See AMD stock analysis at TipRanks)

Nvidia Corporation (NVDA)

In an interconnected sector like semiconductor chips, nothing happens in a vacuum. We mentioned Nvidia above, in relation to gaming chips. This company is a market leader in graphics processing units (GPUs), a key component in both professional and gaming computing systems. The memory and performance requirements of the graphic design industry run parallel to those of high-end gamers. Nvidias expertise with high performance memory chips has also made its products valuable in the data center market.

With its foundations firm in several markets  professional designers, data centers, and gamers  Nvidia has built up a $186 billion market cap and an annual sales base near $12 billion. With that strong base, NVDA reported both earnings and revenue beats in Q4 2019.

On the top line, revenue came in at $3.11 billion, up 3% sequentially, an impressive 41% year-over-year, and beating the forecast by 5%. EPS was reported at $1.89, a solid 14% over the estimate  and an eye-popping 136% year-over-year gain. The GPU segment rose 40% annually, and gaming revenues were up 56%. Nvidias data center business showed a 33% sequential gain and a 43% annual gain. It was good news all around, even for a stock that has seen 42% growth in the last three months, on top of 76% gains in calendar 2019.

Nvidias strong quarter impressed Cowen analyst Matt Ramsay. Ramsay, who rates 5-stars by TipRanks and is ranked #37 overall in the analyst database, reiterated his Buy rating for Nvidia and raised his price target on the stock by 35%, to $325. His new price target implies an upside potential to the stock of 12%.

In his note on NVDA, Ramsay wrote, [We] believe the results and guidance are driven by a cloud CapEx recovery and the driving force of real-time conversational AI with the scaled ramp of Ampers still to come. (To watch Ramsays track record, click here)

All in all, NVDA shares hold a Strong Buy rating from the analyst consensus, based on 23 Buys and 6 Holds given in recent weeks. Shares are not cheap, selling for $289.79. The average price target is $308.85 which suggests room for a modest upside of nearly 7%. (See Nvidia stock analysis at TipRanks)

Micron Technology (MU)

Last on our chip list Micron, the chip industrys fifth largest player by sales volume, with over $30 billion in annual sales. The company saw its supply chains  both for manufacturing components and finished products  highly impacted by the US-China trade dispute, but the recent Phase 1 agreement relieved that pressure. Micron compensated by lowering guidance on fiscal Q1, and now the results are in.

Micron cleared the lower bar. EPS met the estimates, while revenues beat. The top line number was $5.144 billion for the quarter, 2.3% over the forecast  but, down 35% year-over-year. The annualized drop reflects the lower demand and higher costs in 2019, due to industry pressures related above. EPS, at 48 cents, was as expected, but also showed a steep yoy decline. Still Micron met the analysts' expectations for the quarter, investors were satisfied, and the stock is up 7.2% since the earnings release.

Microns position leading the DRAM chip segment gives the company a clear path to profit from the 5G switchover as the new networks expand nation- and worldwide. And, as with Nvidia and AMD, Micron boasts profitable business in the gaming and data center markets. The companys diverse customer base should allow it to weather a period of lower earnings, while it adjusts to the new markets new demands.

In the last few days, MU shares have received two upgrades from Wall Street analysts. The first, on February 6, came from 4-star analyst Chris Caso of Raymond James. Caso sees the demand for DRAM memory chips as likely to improve further at the year progresses.

With that in mind, Caso raised his outlook on the stock from Neutral to Buy and set a $70 price target. Casos target implies an upside of 19% to MU shares. (To watch Casos track record, click here.)

The second upgrade came on February 16, from Timothy Arcuri, 5-star analyst with UBS. Arcuri also raised his outlook from Neutral to Buy, and went further with the price target. He bumped that up by 59%, from $47 to $75. The new price target indicates real confidence in the stock, along with a robust 28% upside potential.

Supporting his upgrade, Arcuri writes, After only modestly outperforming the S&P 500 over the past two years, we believe the time has finally come when Micron can materially outperform over a sustained period of time Micron is in a much stronger position in a structurally better industry on the cusp of a cyclical upswing that, for DRAM, should last deep into C2021. (To watch Arcuris track record, click here)

Micron shares are selling for $58.50, and the average price target of $66.96 suggests that there is room for a 14% upside to the stock. The Strong Buy analyst consensus rating is based on no fewer than 22 Buys, against just 2 Holds and 2 Sells. (See Micron stock analysis at TipRanks)
Mumbai, Feb 17 : In a significant development, the Maharashtra government will conduct a parallel investigation into the Elgar Parishad-Koregaon-Bhima case, a senior state minister said here on Monday.

"We shall seek legal opinion in the matter. We shall also discuss the matter with the Chief Minister before setting up a Special Investigation Team," Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said.

Earlier Nationalist Congress Party national spokesperson and Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik had said that the state government will set up a SIT to probe the sensitive case soon.

A decision on this will be taken soon by Deshmukh, he added, four days after a Pune Sessions Court assigned the case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The move came a day after NCP President Sharad Pawar alleged that the Centre had handed over the case to the NIA as the previous Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state "wants to hide something".

"There appears to be something that the former (Devendra) Fadnavis government wants to suppress. That's why the probe has been handed over to the NIA. The Fadnavis government was in power when the Koregaon-Bhima violence broke out," Pawar told media persons in Jalgaon on Sunday.

Earlier, on at least two occasions, Pawar had taken a swipe at Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray saying it was "improper" to hand over the case to NIA, but the Sena has not yet reacted.

However, Pawar had also said the CM was within rights to use his discretionary powers and it was the Centre's prerogative to investigate the matter, "but the Maha Vikas Aghadi government should have been taken into confidence".

The Elgar Parishad-Koregaon-Bhima case has been a bone of contention between the Centre and Maharashtra besides creating a huge friction between ruling allies - the Shiv Sena and the NCP-Congress - since the past three weeks.

The row started after Pawar shot off a letter to the state government last month, demanding a separate probe into the role of the Pune police which had investigated the matter, and barely a couple of days after that, the Centre ordered the NIA to take over the case.
3 1 of 3 Courtesy photo Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Courtesy photo Show More Show Less 3 of 3





Cross Creek Ranch invites both those who love art and those who enjoy creating it out for a day of browsing works from paintings to jewelry on Saturday, Feb. 29.

Artists and artisans that are usually at the First Saturday Arts Market and Market at Sawyer Farms will be on hand from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. to display their creations at the Cross Creek Welcome Center, located at 6450 Cross Creek Bend Lane, Fulshear. The free-admission event at the 3,200-acre master-planned community is open to all.
The Alipore zoo in Kolkata announced on Monday the arrival of a zebra and two lemurs.

The zebra foal was named Valentina as she was born on February 14, the Valentine's Day, zoo director Asish Samanta told reporters.

With Valentina, who is doing fine, the zoo now has two male and female zebras, he said.

Two lemurs were also born in the first week of February, raising their number in the zoo to four, Samanta said



The two lemur pups are yet to be named, he said.

Lemurs are mammals and native only to the island of Madagascar.

People will be able to see the newborns in a week's time, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan will participate in the campaign of the referendum on Constitutional changes, ARMENPRESS reports Pashinyan told the reporters coming out of the office of the Civil Contract Party.

The referendum will take place on April 5.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
(Newser)  When a Utah mom of five discovered, at 2am while her husband was out of town, that she couldn't breastfeed her hungry newborn, she called 911and police delivered, literally. Shannon Bird tells KSL-TV that she first called her husband upon discovering that her breast milk had apparently dried up and their 6-week-old was screaming, and they brainstormed ideas. But when she was unable to get a hold of any neighbors or relatives for help, she called police in the hope that they would patrol and make sure her other sleeping children were safe while she ran to the store for formula. Instead, officers showed up on her doorstep with a gallon of milk.

story continues below

Upon realizing the infant was too young for regular milk, they went back out. "Well leave this with you," Officer Brett Wagstaff is heard saying on body-cam footage of the Jan. 28 incident. "Well be right back with some formula for your babyshes adorable." Then, when they got backrefusing to be reimbursedhe added, "Thats the same stuff we gave my daughter when she was first born, so hopefully it doesnt upset her stomach." The Lone Peak Police Department's public information officer applauded his colleagues' actions. "Its been about protect and serve. This is part of the serve. We are here to serve the public." The department posted on Facebook how "proud" it is of the officers. (Read more uplifting news stories.)
Chinese anti-corruption campaigner Xu Zhiyong, who penned an open letter calling on President Xi Jinping to step down, in file photo.

Police in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou have detained dissident Xu Zhiyong -- who had been on the run for seven weeks -- using facial recognition technology and big data analysis, RFA has learned.

Xu, who has already served jail time for his spearheading of the New Citizens' Movement anti-corruption campaign, had also penned an open letter to President Xi Jinping while in hiding, calling on him to step down.

His detention comes amid a nationwide operation targeting human rights lawyers and dissidents who attended a gathering in the southeastern port of Xiamen on Dec. 13 to discuss current affairs and possible futures for China.

The crackdown is being coordinated by police in the eastern province of Shandong.

"Dr. Xu Zhiyong has been mainly in Guangzhou since his escape in December," a source close to Xu told RFA. "He moved between [the homes of] friends from different circles."

"About a week ago, he moved to the home of [Guangzhou lawyer] Yang Bin," the source said, adding that Xu was detained at Yang's apartment.

Yang, her husband and the couple's son were also detained at the same time, sources said.

"According to my information, he was found at Yang Bin's house because he was recognized by the facial recognition system, using big data analysis," the source said.

"Yang, her husband and son weren't released for 24 hours," the source said. "[Yang's] friends are saying that she has now been silenced."

Yang had earlier posted to her Weibo account that she had been contacted by local police regarding social media posts she made about late Wuhan doctor Li Wenliang, who died of coronavirus after being accused of "rumor-mongering" when he tried to warn the public about the virus.

Writer Li Xuewen said Xu is unlikely to receive lenient treatment at the hands of the authorities.

"Xu was probably on their most wanted list," Li said. "The authorities searched his home back in December but they didn't manage to detain him then."

"The authorities are merely drawing the net tight now, and I don't think that he'll get off lightly," he said.

'The Emperor's New Clothes'

In his Feb. 4 letter to Xi, Xu urges China's supreme leader -- who is currently serving an indefinite second term as national president and chairman of the ruling Chinese Communist Party -- not to cling to power.

He says Xi lacks the ability to govern China, citing the public perception of his "belt and road" infrastructure project and the economic damage done by the Sino-U.S. trade war.

"I am willing to play the role of the child in the Emperor's New Clothes, and ask you not to go against the tide, but to take a rest,"

Xu wrote, in a reference to Xi's resignation.

Xu had also penned a New Year's message to China's citizens in 2020, calling on them to think about whether they want to carry on with an authoritarian government or movement towards democratic constitutionalism, an idea that President Xi has said has no place in his vision for China.

Dozens of people linked in some way to the New Citizens' Movement group have been detained and jailed in recent years.

Xu was handed a four-year jail term in January 2014 on public order charges after staging a street protest calling for greater transparency from the country's richest and most powerful people.

Reported by Gao Feng for RFA's Mandarin and Cantonese Services. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
London, Feb 17 : Dozens of Israeli soldiers have had their smartphones hacked by Hamas' hackers posing as women, the Israeli military admitted but asserted that there had not been any "significant breach of information", reports said on Monday.

The Israeli soldiers were sent fake photos of young females and lured into downloading an app without knowing it could access their handsets, a military spokesman said, the BBC reported.

There was no "significant breach of information" before the scam was foiled, he insisted.

The spokesman said that this was the third attempt in recent years by Hamas to infiltrate Israeli soldiers' phones, but was the most sophisticated yet.

He said that the hackers had masqueraded as young women with imperfect Hebrew, claiming to be immigrants or to have visual or hearing impairments, in order to appear convincing.

After striking up friendships, the "women" would send links which they said would enable them to exchange photos, but which in reality caused the soldiers to download malware - programmes that can attack smartphones or computer devices.

Once the link was opened, the programme would install a virus which would give the hacker access to the phone's data, including location, pictures and contacts, as well as remotely manipulate the phone to take photos and make recordings without the owner's knowledge.

The spokesman said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had uncovered the plot several months ago but had let it continue under surveillance until they shut it down.

The IDF has previously warned soldiers about the need for vigilance when using smartphones and issued guidelines to try to prevent hacking attempts.
Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Oleksiy Danilov in Iran honored the memory of Ukrainians who died in the crash of Boeing 737-800 aircraft of Ukraine International Airlines on January 8 this year, the NSDC press service reports.

"Oleksiy Danilov, together with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Islamic Republic of Iran Serhiy Burdyliak, laid flowers at the site of the Ukrainian aircraft crash. Also, 11 candles were lit in memory of the perished at the Holy Savior Cathedral," the statement reads.

On February 15-17, NSDC Secretary Danilov paid a working visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran at the invitation of Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran Ali Shamkhani to discuss the problematic issues of investigating the Ukrainian plane crash.

A Ukraine International Airlines plane (Flight PS752) heading from Tehran to Kyiv crashed shortly after taking off from the Imam Khomeini International Airport at about 06:00 Tehran time (04:30 Kyiv time) on Wednesday, January 8. There were 176 people on board  nine crew members (all Ukrainians) and 167 passengers (citizens of Ukraine, Iran, Canada, Sweden, Afghanistan, Germany, and the UK).

On January 11, Iran admitted that its military had accidentally shot down the Ukrainian passenger jet. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) accepted full responsibility for the downing of the Ukrainian airliner.

ish
A senior DUP MP said yesterday that he is "hopeful" the Treasury will agree to fund a pension scheme for victims of the Troubles.

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP's Westminster leader, said victims had already been waiting far too long for the payments.

"We would hope that the Treasury will be forthcoming with funding," the Lagan Valley MP said.

"The next financial year begins in April, so the sooner we can get a commitment to fund the scheme, the sooner the innocent victims can start to receive their payments.

"Frankly, they have been waiting too long already, and I hope that the Treasury will recognise the need to provide this funding as soon as possible."

Sir Jeffrey said discussions were already under way with the Treasury "on this and a range of other issues".

He also ruled out any role for the Dublin Government in funding the victims' pension scheme, even IRA attacks were sometimes launched from the Republic.

He said: "As far as I am aware, none of the victims are within the jurisdiction of the Irish Republic, so I believe that this is a matter for the UK Government."

Earlier, Sinn Fein Assembly Member Gerry Kelly told the BBC's Sunday Politics programme that the victims' pension plan was a matter for the Treasury.

The North Belfast MLA said: "There's people been waiting for this pension for a considerable period of time.

"The political decision has been made to give a pension, we need to move on that basis.

"So they can't now say: 'We've made this decision, but now it's going to cost too much'.

"The British Government have to deal with it."

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson agreed with this.

"The events that gave rise to the pensions that will be paid to innocent victims happened during a time of direct rule," he told the same programme.

"I think it would be wrong to put paying that compensation on the Northern Ireland Executive. It doesn't have the budget for this.

"The money for the Executive comes from the Treasury, so ultimately this does go back to the Treasury."

An assessment panel headed by a judge will decide on who is eligible for a pension.

The Government has been insistent that anyone who was injured as a result of their own actions will not receive any money from the scheme.

Asked how disputes about eligibility would be resolved, Sir Jeffrey added: "There will be a mechanism for dealing with such cases built into the regulations which will govern the scheme.

"There will be an assessment process built in."

This leaves open the question of how disputes over eligibility will be resolved.

And it raises the prospect that controversial decisions may have to be made during the assessment process.
Leo Varadkar has waved goodbye to the idea of a grand coalition with Fianna Fail, led by Micheal Martin. Photo: REUTERS

Hopes of an early breakthrough in coalition talks were dealt a blow last night when Taoiseach Leo Varadkar bluntly said he intends to take Fine Gael into opposition.

Mr Varadkar's comments came after it emerged many Fine Gael TDs and senators oppose a "grand coalition" with Fianna Fail which was being talked up by some politicians in both parties as a real option for the next Government.

However, the caretaker Taoiseach moved to totally scotch speculation about a political development which would have ended a history of rivalry between the traditional "big two" since early in the State's foundation.

Relish

"Fine Gael is preparing for opposition. The country will need a strong and effective opposition and I relish the challenge of leading it," Mr Varadkar said.

The Taoiseach again urged Sinn Fein to resume efforts to put together a left-leaning coalition with smaller parties and Independents as the Dail numbers made this possible.

He said if that did not work out, Fianna Fail should work with the Green Party, Labour, the Social Democrats and Independents to forge a coalition.

Mr Varadkar said that while his party was determined to head for the opposition benches it might, in extremis, consider helping out with coalition as an absolute last resort.

"We will not let down the State and Republic we founded," Mr Varadkar said.

"We are willing to consider participating in a government but only as a last resort and only if we are wanted and needed."

A depleted band of 35 Fine Gael TDs will today gather at Leinster House to review why they suffered so many losses in the general election.

Ahead of the meeting many of them said their best option now was to go into opposition and try to rebuild the party.

"We went from 75 TDs in 2011 to 50 in 2016 and now we're down to just 35. If we became junior partners to Fianna Fail in a coalition we would risk total wipe-out next time," one senior TD told the Herald.

At the weekend Sinn Fein said it could not put together a broadly left-leaning coalition with parties other than Fianna Fail and Fine Gael. This followed Fianna Fail ruling out a coalition with Sinn Fein.

Excluding

A noisy blame game over the coalition stalemate continued yesterday.

Fianna Fail and Fine Gael continued to insist Sinn Fein had not done enough to pursue a broadly-leftist coalition which did not involve the two traditional big parties.

Sinn Fein again countered that Fianna Fail and Fine Gael were excluding it - and by extension the one-in-four voters who backed the party - from the prospect of government.

Fine Gael yet again strongly rejected ever engaging in government with Sinn Fein.

Fine Gael's Junior Housing Minister Damien English said he believed Sinn Fein could gather enough TDs to form a left-leaning coalition in line with its statements during the election campaign.

This is despite senior Sinn Fein figures such as Eoin O Broin saying they did not think it was possible for the party to form a government without the support of Fine Gael or Fianna Fail.

Sinn Fein's Martin Kenny told RTE's The Week In Politics that he did not accept that his party had "thrown in the towel too early" on forming a left-leaning government.

He also said the voters did not want to see a government which included Fine Gael because the key message from last weekend's election was one of change.

Mr Kenny said Fianna Fail was hugely "out of step" with its own membership and grassroots supporters. He insisted these people would be happy to see the party talk to Sinn Fein about coalition formation.

The Fine Gael parliamentary party gathers at 2pm today in Leinster House for a meeting which will review serious losses in last week's general election. The party is now the third ranking in the Dail and its return of just 35 TDs is comparable with its electoral meltdown in 2002.

Some in the senior ranks would be prepared to discuss the prospect of putting together a coalition with Fianna Fail and the Green Party.

However, several TDs said the most they might eventually consider was talking about some kind of "Tallaght-strategy", which operated under party leader Alan Dukes in 1987-89, when it supported a minority Fianna Fail government.

Fianna Fail TD Stephen Donnelly said Sinn Fein must respect other parties' mandate.

Fine Gael TD Hildegarde Naughton said her party was happy to go into opposition because people voted for change and her party now needed to regroup.
South Africa is suffering a massive brain drain, with skilled professionals leaving to search for better opportunities overseas.

This problem cuts across racial lines, as while emigration was associated with white professionals a few years ago, the number of black professionals leaving South Africa now exceeds white emigrants.

Speaking to MyBroadband, young South African professionals who emigrated to Europe and the United Kingdom cited better job opportunities, travel, and better salaries as reasons for leaving the country.

I am earning almost three-times as much as I was in South Africa, and although it is a lot more expensive to live here, I am able to save more money and travel a lot more than I did when I was living in South Africa, one young IT professional who now lives overseas told MyBroadband.

To determine how lucrative job opportunities are overseas compared to South Africa, we compared the average salaries of popular IT positions in South Africa and in New Zealand.

IT salaries comparison

We used figures from Indeed, PayScale, and Glassdoor to compare average pay in both countries.

The New Zealand salary figures are listed in New Zealand dollars (NZD) and are paired with a converted rand figure based on the exchange rate at the time of writing.

The average salaries for 10 popular IT jobs in South Africa and New Zealand are below.

IT Salary Comparison Job South Africa New Zealand (NZD) Computer Support Specialist R216,000 $53,261 (R509,278) Web Developer R227,076 $54,328 (R519,481) System Administrator R231,787 $59,244 (R566,487) Database Administrator R308,872 $62,046 (R593,280) IT Manager R368,112 $99,686 (R953,191) Software Engineer R401,676 $70,598 (R675,053) Information Security Analyst R509,892 $95,000 (R908,383) DevOps Engineer R575,250 $93,480 (R893,849) Data Engineer R592,079 $114,183 (R1,091,810) Senior Solutions Architect R804,509 $128,344 (R1,227,216)

Taxes and net earnings

While New Zealand has a higher average salary across all the positions listed above, it is important to account for taxes and spending power.

The amount of tax you pay in South Africa and New Zealand depends on how much you earn  placing you within different tax brackets.

The New Zealand individual tax brackets are determined by the Inland Revenue Department each year.

Below are the tax brackets for New Zealand for 2020, according to the Inland Revenue Department (IRD).

New Zealand tax rates 0  $14,000 10.5% $14,001  $48,000 17.5% $48,001  $70,000 30% Over $70,000 33%

Below are the 2020 tax bands for South African citizens, according to SARS.

SA Tax Bands Up to R195,850 18% of taxable income R195,851  R305,850 R35,253 + 26% of taxable income above R195,850 R305,851  R423,300 R63,853 + 31% of taxable income above R305,850 R423,301  R555,600 R100,263 + 36% of taxable income above R423,300 R555,601  R708,310 R147,891 + 39% of taxable income above R555,600 R708,311  R1,500,000 R207,448 + 41% of taxable income above R708,310 R1,500,001 and above R532,041 + 45% of taxable income above R1,500,000

Spending power

The cost of living is more expensive in New Zealand than it is in South Africa, which means that even though you have a higher salary, you might not have as much spending ability.

While the Big Mac Index is by no means an accurate tool for noting currency misalignment, it does provide a rough idea of how currencies are valued against one another.

The Big Mac Index compares the price of a Big Mac in multiple countries across the world to provide a rough estimate of spending power.

The cheaper a Big Mac is in a country, the more purchasing power people in that country have.

There are many factors which may offset real purchasing power, however, and the Big Mac Index is at best a rough indication.

Below is the price of a Big Mac in South Africa, New Zealand, and the United States, according to the Big Mac Index for 2019.

The graph shows that purchasing power in South Africa is much higher than New Zealand, shown by its much lower price on the index.

Now read: MTN sales boosted by Nigeria growth
Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Monday said that asking for reservation is not begging as it is guaranteed by the Constitution.

Speaking to ANI about the Supreme Court's recent judgment which stated that reservation in promotion in jobs is not a fundamental right, Paswan said, "The Court's judgment created confusion among people. Supreme Court judgment said that state government can choose to give reservation in jobs while the reservation in promotion is not a fundamental right. Asking for reservation is not begging, it is given by the Constitution."

"Narendra Modi government amended the constitution to give reservation to the poor people of upper caste. It is constitutional and fundamental right and no government can end the reservation," Paswan said.

"On February 10 we had a meeting with All 73 SC/ST MPs and they demanded that the government should review the decision or should amend the Constitution," he added.

The Supreme Court had on February 7 said the reservation in promotions in government jobs is not a fundamental right and that States cannot be directed to provide promotions to the members of SC/ST community if it chooses not to.

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.)
A mysterious paw print found on a dirt track in the Australian bush has led many to believe big cats are roaming the area.

Four large paw prints were found on a trail in Leura, in New South Wales's Blue Mountains on Sunday.

Blue Mountains resident Kobe Bryant was running through the bush when he spotted the human hand-sized paw prints in the dirt.

He shared footage of his hand next to the paw prints to his Instagram page, sparking dozens of comments from people speculating where they came from.

Some suggested a wallaby, while others believed it could have been from the mythical black panther.

Mr Bryant said that due to the recent rainfall the track was untouched.

'I thought how nice it was to be on a track with no human footprints,' Mr Bryant told Daily Mail Australia.

'We rounded the corner and I nearly fell on it because I was trying not to step on it.'

He said the tracks were each as big as his hand and ruled out the possibility of a dog because they aren't allowed in national parks.

Four large foot prints were found in a bush track in the Blue Mountains with many speculating they belong to a big cat

The group decided to show the footprints to a member from the Hunting and Shooting Association who strongly believed they belonged to a big cat.

'We showed him what we found and the length between the strides. We said that some people thought it was a wallaby and he said it definitely was not,' Mr Bryant said.

'He said that it was a big cat. The prints had no bottom pad mark, and the reason is that it was obviously chasing after something.'

A Blue Mountains resident was running through the bush when he spotted the large prints that measured as big as his hand

Mr Bryant said there has been numerous sightings of big cats throughout the Hawkesbury and Jenolan Caves regions.

'They're shy and very good at stalking. We want to expose the fact that there is cats and cougars and mountain lions out there,' he said.

He said that in the wake of devastating bushfires that wiped out around one billion animals, the discovery of the big cat species in Australia would be remarkable.

'The mountains are massive and we believe there are different pockets that hold secrets,' he said.

Hundreds of sightings of a big cat lurking in the Blue Mountains have been made and rumours of its existence have been circulating for more than a century, but there has never been any undisputed evidence.

A possible panther sighting (pictured) took place near Cox's Rover in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney in June 2018
Federal Judge Denies Injunction Against California Anti-Contractor Law After Admitting It Causes Harm

A federal judge refused to grant Uber and Postmates an injunction against Californias unusually restrictive anti-contractor law, even after acknowledging the law would cause the two companies irreparable harm.

The law, known as AB5, forces companies to reclassify their freelancers as employees, which goes against their business model. When it took effect Jan. 1, the law made it hard for so-called gig-economy companies to classify people who work for them as independent contractors instead of employees.

Employees in California are entitled to benefits not available to contractors, such as the minimum wage, health insurance, and paid time off. The law is strongly backed by labor organizations critical of hard-to-unionize freelance jobs. Unions hope the law will give them an edge in recruiting new members.

Critics say the law has caused hardship and led to widespread layoffs in the Golden State by companies that rely on contractors.

U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee, appointed in 2010 by then-President Barack Obama, found Feb. 10 in Olson v. State of California that even though AB5 disrupts the operations of the two companies, the balance of equities and the public interest outweigh the interests of the companies and independent contractors.

The 24-page order states that the law provides city attorneys with the authority to bring injunctive actions against companies and exposes them to potential criminal penalties under the California Labor Code and Unemployment Insurance Code for violators.

The fact that Uber, a rider-sharing service, and Postmates, a courier service, have demonstrated a likelihood of irreparable harm based on the threats of enforcement against them, does not justify halting enforcement of AB5, Gee wrote.

The court cannot second guess the Legislatures choice to enact a law that seeks to uplift the conditions of the majority of non-exempt low-income workers rather than preserve the status quo for the smaller subset of workers who enjoy independent contractor status.

The law was championed by California Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, an influential Democrat whose legislative initiatives have been widely copied across the country, according to USA Today.

Her bills often start conversations in other states and set the bar for progressive policies around the country, especially when it comes to workers rights.

The lawmaker has had tense exchanges online with opponents of the law, which she argues protects workers from exploitation.

Freelancers shouldnt  have to [work two or three jobs]. And until you or anyone else that wants to [complain] about AB5 puts out cognizant policy proposals to curb this chaos, you can keep your criticism anonymous, she wrote on Twitter on Dec. 18, 1019.

But political opposition has forced her to take a few steps back.

Groups such as the American Society of Journalists and Authors Inc. and the National Press Photographers Association, say by placing an artificially low cap on freelance contributions, the law makes it impossible for their members to earn a living.

Gonzalez wrote in a Feb. 6 tweet that she was willing to consider easing the restriction affecting journalists. Based on dozens of meetings with freelance journalists & photographers, we have submitted language to legislative counsel that  will cut out the 35 [articles] submission cap & instead more clearly define freelancer journalism, she wrote.

Although efforts to block the law have generally failed, one judge has granted a preliminary injunction shielding independent truckers from the reach of AB5 while a legal challenge works its way through the courts, as The Epoch Times previously reported.

In California Trucking Association v. Becerra, on Dec. 31, U.S. District Judge Roger T. Benitez ordered that the state is temporarily enjoined from enforcing Assembly Bill 5 (AB-5) as to any motor carrier operating in California, pending this Courts resolution of Plaintiffs motion for a preliminary injunction.

Association CEO Shawn Yadon said in a previous statement: AB5 threatens the livelihood of more than 70,000 independent truckers.  The bill wrongfully restricts their ability to provide services as owner-operators and, therefore, runs afoul of federal law.
Azhar is not missing: India to call out Pakistan at FATF

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Feb 17: India will call out Pakistan for its Masood Azhar is missing claim. Pakistan has claimed the disappearance of the Jaish-e-Mohammad chief several times before the Financial Action Task Force.

Pakistan has sought the help of several nations to get off the grey list. It is expecting 12 nations to speak in its favour. On Azhar Pakistan said that it could not file an FIR since he could not be found.

However Intelligence Bureau officials tell OneIndia that Azhar is very much in Pakistan and lives under the protection of the ISI at Bahawalpur. He was in fact admitted to a military hospital at the time India hit a Jaish-e-Mohammad training facility at Balakot, the IB officer also said.

Did Pakistan ever act against Azhar? Intel reports show, he remained protected always

Meanwhile Pakistan is likely to remain in the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force. Pakistan is still not fully compliant of the 13 of the 27 actions and hence would remain on the grey list.

Top diplomatic sources however confirmed to OneIndia that Pakistan would however not be downgraded to the black list as of now. The FATF would review Pakistan's case starting today at the plenary in Paris. The plenary would be on until February 21.

The working group and plenary meetings of the Financial Action Task Force in Paris will assess the implementation of a 27 point action plan by Pakistan, which was placed in the Grey List. The plenary would be held between February 16 and 21.

In June, the joint group of the Asia Pacific Group in its assessment had found that Pakistan's compliance to act against 8 terror groups which include the Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Tayiba has been unsatisfactory. The report urged Pakistan to do more against these groups before the FATF comes up with its final decision.

The report states that stringent action should be taken against groups such as the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, their financial entities, Haqqani Network, Al-Qaeda and Da'esh.

NEWS AT NOON, FEBRUARY 17th, 2020

In order to move out of the grey list, Pakistan would need at least 15 of the 36 FATF's members' votes. It would also require a minimum of 3 votes to keep itself out of the black list.

FATF plenary: Pakistan likely to remain in grey list

In April the FATF had asked Pakistan to implement a new set of constraints in its crackdown against terror funding, including documenting and regulating all gold markets.

In the past few months, Pakistan appears to have taken some action. While India considers that the action is only token, Pakistan is doing all it can to avoid being downgraded to the black list.

One key development in recent times is the UN listing of Jaish-e-Mohammad chief, Maulana Masood Azhar. The first action by Pakistan was to put his brother Rauf Asghar in charge of operations.

However, with the heat stepping up, Pakistan claimed that Asghar had been placed under arrest.

Lashkar boss Hafiz Saeed may walk out of jail post FATF meet

The FATF on the other hand had asked Islamabad to collect data of all gold markets and restrict the sale and purchase of gold items using cash. The watchdog has also demanded that the country ensure restriction on supply of gold and jewellery to banned outfits and terrorist organisations.

The FATF had urged Pakistan to collect data of all trusts operating across the country as well as their bank accounts on the district level. It has also asked the country to ensure regulation of thousands of registered trust organisations.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, February 17, 2020, 7:59 [IST]
Control the flow of your thoughts by taking an optimistic route toward the destination of positive feelings

Although we experience feelings constantly, most people have a sketchy understanding of this subject at best. This is why Ted Talks have attracted millions of YouTube viewers who want to learn how to deal with or prevent their unpleasant feelings.

If you were to condense those Ted Talks into just one sentence that simplifies how your brains limbic system affects how you feel, heres what it would say: Your thoughts about the events in your life arouse emotions that when processed by your body, provoke the feelings you experience.

This explanation is based on the research of Antonio Damasio, a doctor and one of Americas leading neuroscientists. He suggests that emotions precede feelings and are distinct from them. But theyre closely related. For example:

Emotions are physical (neurochemicals) and usually last for several seconds. Theyre associated with brain activity and can be objectively measured which makes them more predictable than feelings.

Feelings are not physical. Theyre associated with how your mind experiences an emotion. They can be confusing and persist for some time based on the stories you tell yourself about the past, present, and unknown future.

Although emotions provoke feelings, your feelings can also trigger a thought or memory that arouses emotion. If youre not careful, this can result in a recurring cycle of misery where unwanted emotions and unpleasant feelings feed on one another.

Realize that what youve thought about most often has created a neural circuit in your brain that already has an emotion attached. Its waiting for a thought to arouse it. So just the memory of a problem that pops into your head can release the queued-up emotion. This expedites its processing and without you realizing whats happening, it causes how you unexpectedly feel sad or unhappy.

Researchers from the Netherlands, Matteo Diano, and Allissia Celeghin found that emotion can also be aroused non-consciously or without thinking. Like when driving and a child suddenly runs into the street. Youre jolted by the emotion of surprise and slam on the brakes without having time to think. What happens they believe, is that a visual message bypasses how emotions are normally created and its acted upon by the brain (amygdala) to arouse the emotion of surprise. Then afterward you begin to experience the provoked feeling of relief for not having harmed the child.

Psychologist Joan Rosenberg says that some of your feelings might last only a few minutes. If they last longer, its because youre continuing to arouse more of the same emotions that initially sparked the feeling. Youre either unaware of your thoughts or not supervising them. Its like outsourcing your emotional self-control and increasing the risk of experiencing an unpleasant feeling.

Just remember that how you feel, be it sad, helplessness, shame, anger, disappointment, embarrassment, or frustration, isnt caused by the events in your life. You cause these feelings yourself by how you think about those events. That you have the ability to choose your thoughts enables you the means to prevent unpleasant feelings. Choose thoughts that give your body positive emotions to process. Better emotions yield better feelings; otherwise, its garbage in and garbage out.

Visit YouTube and search for Ted Talks on how to supervise your thoughts. If you were to condense those presentations into a simple explanation, here is what youd learn: Not all of your thoughts are easy to control particularly when in the midst of a trying situation. But if you never attempt to do this, your unsupervised thoughts and emotions will attempt to control you.

Thats when you get stuck inside the previously mentioned cycle of misery. But according to Caroline Leaf, a communication pathologist and cognitive neuroscientist, there is a way you can break free from this self-destructive way of thinking.

Leaf suggests that because your brain is constrained by its existing neural circuits and queued-up emotions, this can cause your thoughts to become habitual. But your brain can change this habit with input from your mind. She says that by thinking intentionally with your mind, you can train or rewire your brain to avoid habitual thinking that causes the cycle of misery. You create new neural circuits and queue-up better emotions.

Psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Norman Doidge refers to this restructuring of your brain as neuroplasticity. He says that in response to how you stimulate your brain, it can change its own structure and how it functions to improve both your health and mental abilities, including how you think and feel as a result.

But when attempting this, says psychologist Martin Seligman, it helps that you become increasingly aware of the thoughts and beliefs that arouse your emotions and how they make you feel. Then when attempting to think intentionally, dont try to think positively when its not always rational to do so.

The rational way to deal with and prevent unpleasant feelings is to think positively when you can. But when this isnt possible or appropriate, dont allow yourself to think negatively. Instead, Seligman suggests that you think non-negatively. You do this by thinking realistically about your situation while infusing greater optimism into the flow of your thoughts.

Like a stream of water, your stream of thoughts flow nonstop regardless if you want them to or not (at least for people that havent mastered the extremely challenging process of stemming this flow). But since you own your thoughts, you have the option to map out the general route of their flow toward the destination of your choice. The idea is to make positive feelings the destination of your stream of intentional thoughts.

Start by creating a set of rules or a mindset for how you plan to think more optimistically about your lifes unfolding experiences. Since your thoughts flow swiftly, you wont be able to apply the rules to all of them. But you can at least try to apply them when you can. Here are some examples of rules:

Rule 1: I direct the flow of my conscious and intentional thoughts toward the destination of positive feelings and the avoidance of negative ones.

Rule 2: I choose to take the optimistic route of thinking non-negatively as often as I can so to comply with rule No. 1.

Rule 3: When a pessimistic thought flows into my head and I become aware of it, I put on the brakes and continue to comply with rule No. 2.

Not everyone is an optimist and its OK if some of your thoughts are pessimistic. Youll simply have to try harder in following the rules you establish for yourself. If you dont, theres a good chance your thoughts will habitually flow down the self-destructive route toward negative feelings. If you dont own your thoughts and are not responsible for supervising them or your feelings, who is? Best to not leave this critical responsibility to circumstance. You might even say that learning to control your thoughts is a foundational skill for any human being hoping to have a healthy and self-realized life.

Jeff Garton is a Milwaukee-based author, certified career coach, and former HR executive and training provider. He holds a masters degree in organizational communication and public personnel administration. He is the originator of the concept and instruction of career contentment. Twitter: @ccgarton
Chinese authorities are monitoring the Uighur populations everyday movements and behaviour and sending people to internment camps over facial hair and having too many babies, leaked documents have revealed.

In one case, authorities sent a Uighur man to a re-education camp and monitored 15 of his relatives after he grew a long beard.

Officials concluded that the mans facial hair and his wifes use of a veil indicated they had been infected with religious and extremist ideas, it is claimed.

One of the couples teenage sons was also detained in a camp in Chinas northwestern Xinjiang.

It was only after closely watching the behaviour of the mans relatives that officials recommended that the man be sent back to his community for further surveillance.

The 137-page document handed to German news channel DW and the BBC is said to list 311 people who were sent off for re-education in the county of Karakax in 2017 and 2018.

Reasons given for detention include fasting, growing a beard, applying for a passport and breaching official birth policy by having too many children.

China destroying Uighur burial grounds Show all 6 1 /6 China destroying Uighur burial grounds China destroying Uighur burial grounds Teywizim cemetery in Hotan (before and after) China is destroying burial grounds where generations of Uighur families have been laid to rest, leaving behind human bones and broken tombs in what activists call an effort to eradicate the ethnic group's identity Earthrise/AFP/Getty China destroying Uighur burial grounds A cemetery in Xayar (before and after) Earthrise/AFP/Getty China destroying Uighur burial grounds A graveyard in Aksu (before and after) An image of a graveyard in Aksu in 2015, where Uighur poet Lutpulla Mutellip was buried and the same view in 2018 and then again in 2019 showing a new park called "Happiness Park" Earthrise/AFP/Getty China destroying Uighur burial grounds A cemetery in Xayar (before and after) Earthrise/AFP/Getty China destroying Uighur burial grounds Sulanim cemetery in Hotan (before and after) Earthrise/AFP/Getty China destroying Uighur burial grounds A cemetery in Xayar (before and after) Earthrise/AFP/Getty

It lists personal details of more than 3,000 individuals from the far western region of Xinjiang, including the full names and identification numbers of more than 1,800 family members, neighbours and friends connected to the 311 sent to the Karakax camp.

Children are also said to feature on the list.

It provides details of downloaded videos and internet chat messages, high-tech surveillance with facial recognition cameras and the widespread use of spies, house visits and interrogations.

The level of detail is overwhelming, Rian Thum, an expert at the University of Nottingham, told DW. I think it is interesting to imagine that these things exist across Xinjiang. The data that is out there must be staggering.

While most of the detainees were later approved for release - albeit under constant surveillance  dozens were forced to work in factories, according to the documents.

Up to two million Uighur Muslims and other ethnic minorities have been detained in camps as part of a supposed counterterrorism campaign since 2014.

China has insisted it is running what it calls vocational training centres to combat extremism in the region. However, former detainees have alleged inmates are subjected to torture, medical experiments and gang rape

Last month it emerged that more than 100 Uighur graveyards had been demolished by the authorities in what human rights groups described as an escalation of the communist regimes campaign to destroy the Muslim minoritys culture.
Satellite data show heavy deforestation in Bosawas Biosphere Reserve in January 2020. Source: GLAD/UMD, accessed through Global Forest Watch. Graphic: Mongabay

By Taran Volckhausen

14 February 2020

(Mongabay)  An illegal armed group connected to land grabbers killed four members of the indigenous Mayangna people, left two injured and burned 16 houses in northern Nicaragua on 29 January 2020, according to the UN Human Rights Office.

The UN Human Rights Office condemned the Nicaraguan government for allowing impunity for crimes committed against Nicaraguas indigenous communities: We are very concerned about the continued attack against indigenous people in Nicaragua, the lack of protection of their rights, and the impunity of the crimes committed against them, UN Human Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet said in a press statement.

Advocacy organizations warn ongoing colonization process by non-indigenous mestizos from the central regions of Nicaragua threatens the cultural existence of Mayangna, whose ancestral rainforest territory is being taken over for gold mining, logging, cattle ranching, and commercial crops. The process has accelerated over the past five years, precipitating a vicious land conflict that has claimed the lives of 40 people since 2015, according to the Center for Justice and Human Rights of the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua (CEJUDHCAN).

The Mayangna people inhabit a region known as La Mosquitia, which straddles the border between Nicaragua and Honduras and is the largest rainforest region in Central America. Alongside the more populous indigenous Miskito people, the Mayangna maintain a cultural tradition of protecting the forest ecosystem they rely on for food and water.

The most recent attack on the Mayangna took place in the Alal community in the Sauni As territory. The region sits mostly within the buffer region of the Bosawas Biosphere Reserve, and belongs to Nicaraguas Autonomous Region of the Northern Caribbean Coast.

Cattle encroach on indigenous lands in the Bosawas Biosphere Reserve in Nicaragua. Photo: Taran Volckhausen / Mongabay

Disappearing refuge

The Bosawas Biosphere Reserve, declared a UNESCO site in 1997, is extremely rich in biodiversity, providing habitat to an estimated 13% of the worlds known species, several of which are threatened with extinction.

The Nicaraguan environmental agency MARENA reported a doubling in Bosawas deforestation in less than two decades, with nearly 31% of the reserves forest lost by 2019. Satellite data compiled by the University of Maryland shows deforestation began to cut into the heart of the Bosawas Biosphere Reserve in January 2018, with the rate of forest loss increasing into 2020.

The Alal community is right inside the core zone of the nature reserve, which contains one of Nicaraguas last remaining areas of forest that is large and undisturbed enough to retain its original biodiversity. Satellite imagery shows mounting deforestation around the community.

Satellite images taken one month apart, on 25 December 2019 and 26 January 2020, show a big recent jump in clearing activity (indicated by yellow circles) in the Bosawas Biosphere Reserve around the indigenous community of Alal, Nicaragua. Source: Sentinel-2 and Landsat 8, accessed through Global Forest Watch. Graphic: Mongabay

Juana Bilbano, director of Center for Justice and Human Rights of the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua (CEJUDHCAN), said that even though the government officially granted land titles to indigenous communities in Bosawas, the laws protecting those titles have not been effectively implemented or enforced as obligated under law.

The government has delivered land titles to the indigenous communities but it has not provided legal protection, Bilbano said. In 2015, the same thing happened to the Miskitos when colonizers arrived to commit massacres as they did in Alal. We have 12 different Mayangna, Miskito and afro-descendent communities at high risk from the invaders. [more]

Massacre in Nicaragua: Four indigenous community members killed for their land
The Centre told the Supreme Court on Monday that its collegium is equally responsible for the delay in the appointment of judges, and added that the government takes 127 days on average to clear a recommendation, while the SC collegium takes 119 days.

The Centres top law officer attorney general KK Venugopal told the Supreme Court that responsibility for the delay in appointing judges to high courts doesnt lie with the government alone. Venugopal pointed out that the delay by collegia of high courts in making timely recommendations as and when vacancies arise and the time taken by the SC collegium in processing the recommendations, all contributed to the delay in appointing judges to the high courts. He also pointed out that out of the 394 vacancies in the various high courts, no recommendations have been made with respect to 199 vacancies.

The apex court sought reports from registrars of all high courts regarding the current vacancy position in the HCs and the time period within which the high court collegia can make recommendations to fill up the vacancies. The order came in a transfer petition filed by a company, PLR Projects, whose case was pending before the Orissa high court and could not be heard due to a strike by lawyers.While dealing with the issues concerning the lack of judges in Odisha, the court entrusted the Centres senior-most law officer attorney general Venugopal with the task of ensuring that the high court vacancies are expeditiously filled up.

During the hearing on Monday, the top court asked the attorney general to explain delay on the part of the Centre in notifying appointments. As per the law laid down by the Supreme Court in its 1993 judgment, the central government is authorised to return the name of a candidate proposed by the SC collegium. However, if the SC collegium reiterates the name, the central government is bound to clear it.

How can Centre hold back recommendations reiterated by the collegiums, asked justice KM Joseph.
Authorities on Monday scrambled to track hundreds of cruise ship passengers scattered across the world after a woman who had been on board tested positive for coronavirus, highlighting the risks of a worsening global infection.

Across mainland China, officials said the total number of coronavirus cases rose by 2, 048 to 70, 548, with 1, 770 deaths.

Outside China, over 500 infections have been confirmed, mostly in people who travelled from Chinese cities, with five deaths, in Japan, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan and France.

Japan and Singapore appeared to be on the brink of recession as the epidemic disrupted tourism and supply chains around the world, while China imposed tougher restrictions to try and stop the virus spreading further.

Holland America Line said it was working with governments and health experts to track passengers who disembarked from its Westerdam cruise ship in Cambodia after an American woman tested positive in Malaysia.

The cruise line, which is owned by cruise giant Carnival Corp, said none of the other 1, 454 passengers and 802 crew had reported any symptoms.

(Reuters/NAN)
In view of the deadly coronavirus disease originating from a meat market at Wuhan in China, India's food regulator FSSAI on Monday said it has stepped up efforts to improve hygiene and sanitation in the country's meat and fish markets.

Expressing concern over poor hygiene in the meat and fish sector, Food and Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) CEO Pawan Agarwal said it has been auditing slaughter houses for the last six months.

The audit of government slaughter houses has been completed. The third party sample audit of 5,500 private slaughter houses is underway, of which around 60 have been audited so far, he added.

The FSSAI said it will soon start hygiene rating of fish and meat shops in the country.

"There is no impact of coronavirus. However because of this incident, there is awareness about hygiene in the country. We are trying to improve hygiene and sanitation efficiency in meat and fish markets," Agarwal told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.

Hygiene in the country's fish and meat markets is "not good", he said but exuded confidence that the situation will improve in the coming years due to its efforts.

The death toll from China's coronavirus epidemic climbed to 1,750, mostly in the worst-hit Hubei Province, and the confirmed cases of infection stood at 70,500.

The coronavirus outbreak originated in central China's Hubei province in December last year and has spread to several countries, including India.

Many countries have banned arrivals from China while major airlines have suspended flights to the country.

Earlier, FSSAI chairperson Rita Teaotia announced that the regulator has decided to set up six new branch offices, four new import offices and two new food laboratories as part of its effort to boost in-house capacity.

With this, FSSAI will have four regional offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, 12 branch offices and 6 import offices.

In addition, it will have four national food laboratories at Kolkata, Ghaziabad (Delhi NCR), Mumbai JNPT and Chennai and two food laboratories at Sanauli and Raxaul on Indo-Nepal border.

FSSAI's new branch offices will be in Bhopal, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad and the new import offices will be at Attari, Kandla, Raxaul and Krishnapatnam.

The FSSAI plans to set up two new food laboratories at Mumbai JNPT and Chennai. Built-up space for the purpose is being taken on long-term lease from Chennai and JNPT Mumbai port authorities.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Perched in the Italian Riviera not far from Genoa, the Cinque Terre is a group of five villages in a national park which is a UNESCO world heritage site. According to an international listing established by Farawayfurniture.com, it is the most 'Instagrammed' village destination in the world, with more than two million pictures.

Travelers who post pictures on Instagram are very fond of Italian villages. The country has no less than three destinations in the top 10 of a ranking of the most-Instagrammed travel destinations. The rugged coastline of the Cinque Terre, now a destination for mass tourism, has an overall total of 2,049,711 hashtags.

Some 350 kilometers to the east of this Mediterranean paradise, the second most Instagrammed Italian village in the list is Burano. Amateur photographers go to town taking pictures of the streets of colorfully painted houses, a feature of the island destination in the Venetian Lagoon, to the point where there are 1,048,053 images on the social network.

The third Italian entry in the list of villages is Alberobello. Considered a must-see destination for visitors to Apulia, the village is famous for its trulli, typical southern-Italian stone dwellings with remarkable conical roofs.

For its part, France has only one destination in the top 10. Surprisingly, it is not a Mediterranean village that is favored by the Instagrammers, but the small town of Colmar in Alsace. Recently, the destination in eastern France has also been in the spotlight for winning a vote that recongized it as one of the best destinations in Europe in 2020.

Here are the world's top 10 most Instagrammed villages:

1. Cinque Terre, Italy (2,049,711)

2. Reine, Norway (1,614,863)

3. Oia, Greece (1,486,743)

4. Burano, Italy (1.048.053)

5. Colmar, France (995.124)

6. Hallstatt, Austria (817,211)

7. Alberobello, Italy (584,207)

8. Hobbiton, New Zealand (499.028)

9. Shirakawa-go, Japan (257.244)

10. Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia (232.785)
Need a budget-friendly new spot? Though apartment hunting can be challenging, don't despair just yet  there are deals to be had. So what does an affordable price on a rental in Downtown look like these days  and what might you get for your money?

According to Walk Score, the neighborhood is somewhat walkable, is convenient for biking and is a haven for transit riders. It also features median rents for a one bedroom that hover around $1,674, compared to a $1,185 one-bedroom median for Houston as a whole.

A look at local listings in Downtown via rental sites Zumper and Apartment Guide offers an overview of what price-conscious apartment seekers can expect to find in this Houston neighborhood.

Read on for the cheapest listings available right now. (Note: Prices and availability are subject to change.)

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.

1125 Providence St.

Listed at $900/month, this one-bedroom, one-bathroom condo, located at 1125 Providence St., is 46.2% less than the $1,674/month median rent for a one bedroom in Downtown.

Amenities offered in the building include garage parking and a swimming pool. The condo also comes with hardwood flooring and a balcony. Pet lovers are in luck: This rental is both dog-friendly and cat-friendly. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee.

(See the complete listing here.)

1718 Jackson St.

This one-bedroom, one-bathroom condo, situated at 1718 Jackson St., is listed for $950/month.

Expect to find a dishwasher and hardwood flooring in the condo. The building features an elevator and a swimming pool. Good news for animal lovers: This rental is both dog-friendly and cat-friendly. There isn't a leasing fee associated with this rental.

(See the complete listing here.)

1611 Fannin St.

Here's a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment at 1611 Fannin St., which, at 601 square feet, is going for $1,180/month.

When it comes to building amenities, expect a swimming pool, a gym and an elevator. In the unit, look for a dishwasher. Pet lovers are in luck: This rental is both dog-friendly and cat-friendly. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee.

(See the full listing here.)

St. Emmanuel Street

Then there's this 700-square-foot apartment with one bedroom and one bathroom at St. Emmanuel Street, listed at $1,200/month.

In the unit, look for a dishwasher, a mix of hardwood floors and carpeting, and a walk-in closet. Good news for animal lovers: This property is both dog-friendly and cat-friendly. The building features garage parking.

(See the listing here.)

This story was created automatically using local real estate data from Zumper and Apartment Guide, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Additionally, get free local real estate marketing ideas and tools for agents, brokers and more.

Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
Sisters due weeks apart give birth on the same day at the same hospital originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com

Charell Anthony and Cierra Anthony, sisters who both live in Indianapolis, plan to raise their newborn babies as "cousin twins."

The sisters gave birth to their healthy newborns on the same day, Feb. 12, at the same hospital, Community Hospital East in Indianapolis.

"Theyre going to be really close," Charell Anthony told "Good Morning America" of her son, Terry Valentino, and her sister's daughter, Dream Monique. "Being born on the same day, thats going to be really special for them."

Charell Anthony, 26, gave birth to her son Terry at 12:40 a.m. on Feb. 12. He weighed 6 pounds, 2 ounces.

PHOTO: Sisters Charell Anthony, left, and Cierra Anthony pose with their babies. (Community Hospital East)

Her due date was Feb. 20 but she rushed to the hospital after her water broke while she was at the library.

MORE: A woman carries twins for her twin sister and 8 other supermom moments

Cierra Anthony, 28, came to visit her younger sister in the hospital and told her she was going to be induced that same day. She gave birth to her daughter Dream at 6:29 p.m. on Feb. 12.

Dream was a week late and weighed 7 pounds, 4.4 ounces, according to her mom.

The two sisters stayed in the hospital in rooms one room away from each other. They described a happy but chaotic and funny scene of their seven siblings plus their mom and dad and extended family members going back and forth between the two rooms meeting the newest members of the family.

MORE: Couple welcomes 9-pound, 11-ounce baby on 9/11 at 9:11

"They were so excited," said Cierra Anthony, who shares a Jan 14. birthday with one of her younger sisters. "Nobody could believe it."

The overflow of visitors led to the newborns going without official names until three days after their births, both sisters said.

Cierra and Charell Anthony wanted to give their children names that both started with the letter "j," but their husbands disagreed. That led other family members to weigh in, according to Charell Anthony.

Story continues

PHOTO: The children of sisters Charell Anthony and Cierra Anthony were both born on Feb. 12. (Community Hospital East)

"It was complicated because everyone was going room to room discussing what names they wanted," she said. "For days, we couldnt agree."

"Our last few hours [in the hospital], no one was there with us so we named the kids then," Charell Anthony added.

The newborn babies give the sisters a total of six children between them.

"We pretty much do raise all our kids as siblings," said Charell Anthony. "Were really close."
Malcolm Turnbull hosted Bill Shorten for dinner following his federal election loss last year - but would only fork out $17 bottle for a bottle of wine with his meal.

The former Labor leader shared details of the private dinner with comedian Lawrence Mooney who relayed the story on Triple M Sydney on Monday morning.

'As many people know, I've spent the past couple of years being Malcolm Turnbull. So whenever there is a Malcolm Turnbull story, Bill loves to tell me,' Mooney said.

Scroll down for audio

Malcolm Turnbull hosted Bill Shorten for dinner following his federal election loss last year - only to allegedly serve him a $17 bottle of wine with his meal

Mooney revealed that shortly after the Federal Election in May, the former prime minister asked Mr Shorten to join him and his wife Lucy at their Point Piper home, saying he knew what it was like to be defeated.

Mr Shorten agreed, making sure to pick up some bottles of wine before dinner as a polite gesture.

He stopped a local BWS, spending about $100 on a bottle of red and a bottle of white.

'The known protocol is you give the wine, they'll put it to one side then Malcolm will probably get the good stuff out of the cellar,' Mooney told hosts Jess and Chris.

Mr Shorten reportedly told comedian Lawrence Mooney Mr Turnbull served him a budget brand of wine, 'like Annie's Lane' (right) at his Point Piper home

Upon his arrival, Mr Turnbull took the wine off Mr Shorten's hands, before offering him a drink from a different bottle - as expected.

Assuming it would be a nice drop, Mr Shorten memorised the wine label so he could look it up later, Mooney said.

'They have a lovely dinner. Lucy was wonderful company, Malcolm was there.

'[Mr Shorten] leaves, he's in the cab on the way home and he Googles the bottle of wine that Malcolm served up. It was a $17 bottle,' he said prompting laughter from the hosts.

Mooney did not specify the brand of wine, but claimed it was similar to a budget label such as Annie's Lane.

'It was on special. When he put it into Google it came out on special at Dan Murphy's,' he added.

Mooney revealed Mr Shorten had told him the story in confidence, but decided to share it anyway because he 'can't keep a secret.'
By Trend

Azerbaijan is able to grow enough potatoes both to ensure the needs of the local market and for export, Elmar Allahverdiyev, director of the Scientific Research Institute of Vegetable Growing of Azerbaijans Agriculture Ministry, told Trend Feb. 14.

Allahverdiyev noted that after eliminating certain problems in this industry, Azerbaijan will stop importing potatoes.

The volume of potato growing in Azerbaijan allows meeting the needs of the domestic market, as well as exporting to foreign countries, the director added. However, entrepreneurs have one problem. Farmers cannot find storage facilities for their products, and this causes problems in the winter months."

"Due to the lack of storage facilities, farmers sell products at very cheap prices. In the Azerbaijani districts, several entrepreneurs have already solved this problem. They built special warehouses where potatoes can be stored. After solving this problem throughout Azerbaijan, the country will no longer import potatoes, Allahverdiyev said.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
The HSE move to stop treating stroke patients at Our Lady's Hospital in Navan, Co Meath from today has been described as "very concerning".

The move came into effect at 8am this morning, according to a directive sent to ambulance and call centre staff. An emergency meeting of the Save Navan Hospital Campaign is due to be called to "mobilise people" on the issue.

"Patients with signs and symptoms of stroke (including transient ischaemic attacks) should not be brought to Our Lady's Hospital, Navan," the directive says. "Instead these patients should be transported to the next nearest hospital emergency department that provides stroke thrombolysis."

The nearest hospitals to Navan are Dublin's Connolly and Mater Hospitals, the Regional Hospital in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, Our Lady of Lourdes in Drogheda, Co Louth and Cavan General Hospital.

It adds that all "self-presenting patients to Navan with subsequent confirmed stroke" will be brought by ambulance to the Mater Hospital.

The rationale behind the decision was stated as "stroke patient outcomes are optimised by treatment in centres with higher volumes of stroke treatment".

The move was met with concern by TD and chairperson of the Save Navan Hospital Campaign Peadar Toibin.

Peadar Toibin

This is a significant downgrading of the hospital and comes on the back of significant disinvestment of services.

"I'd be very concerned for patients of stroke in Meath who need to get to hospital as fast as they can. Time is of the essence in these cases and often delays in the response times of ambulances can be lengthy as it is, without more time being added to get to a hospital further away," he said.

"It's another foundation taken away from the Emergency Department. Government policy wants to close it and there have been many threats in the past.

"It also leads to another question - more pressure on the ambulance services. If an ambulance has to travel to Dublin and wait with a patient, it is out of action for hours which means it will lead to even lengthier ambulance response times.

As chair of the Save Navan Hospital Campaign, I'll be forced to call an emergency meeting to mobilise people on this issue.

The cut to the service was met 'disappointment' by stroke victim and well-known radio DJ Gerry Stevens who is currently broadcasting a series of podcasts with stroke victims and medics in an effort to raise awareness of the condition.

"I was three minutes without oxygen. Two more minutes would've left me needing treatment in a care home due to the level of damage to the brain," he said.

Gerry Stevens

Gerry, 52, from Duleek, Co. Meath suffered a stroke in November 2017 and spent three months in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda - the closest hospital to his home.

Minutes are critical and to close services like these is not good. It's not the direction you want to go in at a time when 2,000 of the 10,000 who suffer stroke each year in Ireland, die.

"One in five will suffer a stroke at some stage in their lives and they are now a common occurrence in the under 40s."

"The quality of life and how much of you that comes out the other side depends on time and we need more investment, not less in local services."

The HSE issued the following statement.

"The Ireland East Hospital Group aim to consistently deliver safe services to its population, based on the advice of the National Clinical Programme for Stroke (NCPS), the Ireland East Hospital Group (IEHG) can confirm that patient's suffering with acute stroke will bypass Our Lady's Hospital, Navan, from today (17/2).

"As per the National Ambulance operating procedure any patient fitting the stroke criteria will be transported to the closest appropriate stroke facility nearest the patients location.

"This new model of service delivery will improve patient safety and outcomes. "
Schools should not close or send staff and pupils home if they have a coronavirus scare, health officials have said.

Public Health England has issued advice to headteachers around the country and told them not to panic if a pupil or employee is suspected of having the virus.

If a case is confirmed, the school will be contacted by the government and told what to do next.

Based on what has happened at other places visited by infected patients, this may involve sending home people who have been in contact with the confirmed case and disinfecting parts of the school.

More than 71,000 people around the world  mostly in China  have been infected with the virus, SARS-CoV-2. Nine people have been diagnosed in the UK.

The PHE guidance comes the week after at least 11 schools in Brighton, Hove and Eastbourne were understood to have told parents that either a staff member or pupil has been advised to stay at home for 14 days by PHE.

Schools messaged parents saying that they would authorise absences for families wishing to self-isolate.

Schools must not panic and should wait for test results before taking steps to send staff or pupils home, Public Health England said. Pictured, British nurses prepare to meet suspected coronavirus patients

Bevendean Primary School in Brighton was one of around 11 schools in and around Brighton which were on high alert after six cases of coronavirus were diagnosed in the city

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced today that 4,501 coronavirus tests had been carried out on people in the UK.

The number of positive tests remains at nine, with eight of those patients now discharged from hospital after recording two negative tests for the strain known as Covid-19.

But 'millions' of Britons with flu-like symptoms could be told by authorities to 'self-isolate' by staying at home for a fortnight if the UK's number of confirmed cases passes 100, the Sunday Telegraph has reported.

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

The newspaper said that senior NHS managers have been told that the service will stop testing for Covid-19 'once around 100 cases have been confirmed' across Britain.

The DHSC did not comment when asked about the self-isolation direction.

NHS England said on Saturday that all 94 people in quarantine at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral had been released.

They had been kept in isolation at the hospital after returning to the UK from Wuhan in China  the centre of the outbreak.

More than 100 people remain in isolation at the Kents Hill Park Hotel in Milton Keynes after being on a later rescue flight, the NHS added.

But Britons on board the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan have accused the Government of 'forgetting' about them after other countries confirmed they were bringing their citizens home.

David Abel called for the Government to evacuate the British citizens on board and added: 'It feels that we have been forgotten.'

It is understood that a repatriation flight is one of a number of options being considered by the Government.

Mr Abel's call comes as it emerged passengers could be stuck in quarantine beyond the initial February 19 deadline.

So far, 355 of the 3,500 people on board the ship have tested positive for the virus.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: 'We sympathise with all those caught up in this extremely difficult situation.

'We are urgently considering all options to guarantee the health and safety of the British people on board the Diamond Princess, in line with the latest advice from the Chief Medical Officer and the World Health Organisation, and are working closely with the Japanese authorities and our international partners.'

The first death from the virus outside Asia was confirmed in France on Saturday.

French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said an elderly Chinese tourist had become the first death to the virus in Europe, Reuters reported.

The patient, a Chinese tourist from the province of Hubei that includes Wuhan, had arrived in France on January 16 and suffered a lung infection caused by the virus.

The death toll in mainland China rose by 105 to 1,770, in figures announced early on Monday morning.

Chinese authorities also reported the number of new cases had increased slightly on the previous day's figure after falling for three consecutive days.

The 2,048 new cases announced on Monday was up by 29 from the previous day's figure.

The number of people infected globally stands at 68,500, according to the country's National Health Commission.
Its been almost five years since the satellite communications provider, NewSat, collapsed, owing about $300 million to US and European banks and another $200 million to retail investors.

While former chair Richard Green, his one-time sparring partner Brendan Fleiter and the trainwrecks other directors have kept a low profile since then, its been easier to keep tabs on founder and chief executive Adrian Ballintine.

Ballintine was pursued by ASIC investigators in the wake of the collapse, and was eventually charged with breaches of the Corporations Act, specifically for authorising the making of a false invoice knowing it to be false or misleading.

On Friday, Ballintine pleaded guilty in Melbournes County Court. He faces up to five years in jail.

Prosecutor Simon Moglia alleges Ballintine asked his accountant, Jason Cullen, to raise three fake invoices for just under $360,000 in 2012.
NEW YORK, Feb. 14, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Weyland Tech, Inc. (WEYL), a leading global provider of mCommerce platform-as-a-service (PaaS), eCommerce managed services, and fintech solutions, has adopted new governance policies and guidelines for social media as the companys presence on emerging communication platforms grows.

The companys new Social Media Committee Charter, as ratified by the companys board of directors, establishes a Social Media Committee (SMC) which will be guided by policies and procedures designed to provide transparency and accountability. Members of the SMC will be appointed by Weylands board of directors nominating committee, and they will be accountable to the board of directors.

The committee will be responsible for ensuring that all of the companys stakeholders have access to timely and accurate information about the company in compliance with Regulation FD, regardless of the communication medium. The complete details of the charter and responsibility of the SMC have been made available on the governance page in the Investors section of the companys website.

This new charter reflects a number of important steps we are taking to strengthen our corporate governance in response to the growth of Weyland on the global stage, said the companys CEO, Brent Suen. We expect our new social media committee to play an important role as we look to leverage the power of this medium to reach and interact with a larger worldwide audience of institutional investors and family offices.

About Weyland Tech

Weyland Tech is a developer and global provider of mobile business software applications. The company operates its CreateApp platform-as-a-service (PaaS) across three continents and 10 countries, including some of the fastest-growing emerging markets in Southeast Asia. The platform provides a mobile presence for small-and-medium sized businesses (SMBs) that is supported locally by distributor partnerships.

Story continues

Offered in 14 languages with more than 70 integrated modules, CreateApp enables SMBs to create and deploy native mobile applications for Apple iOS and Google Android without technical knowledge or background. The technology empowers SMBs to increase sales, reach more customers, manage logistics, and promote their products and services in an easy, affordable and highly efficient way. For more information, visit weyland-tech.com.

Important Cautions Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to the business of the Company. All statements, other than statements of historical fact included herein are forward-looking statements including statements regarding: the ability of the Company to successfully implement new governance policies, the continued growth of the eCommerce segment and the ability of the Company to continue its expansion into that segment; and any other statements of non-historical information. These forward-looking statements are often identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as believes, expects or similar expressions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, they do involve assumptions, risks, and uncertainties, and these expectations may prove to be incorrect. Investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this news release. The Companys actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors, including those discussed in the Companys periodic reports that are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on its website (www.sec.gov). All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these factors. Other than as required under the securities laws, the Company does not assume any duty to update these forward-looking statements.



Company Contact

Brent Suen, CEO

Weyland Tech Inc.

Email contact

Media & Investor Contact

Ronald Both or Grant Stude

CMA

Tel (949) 432-7566

Email Contact
One of 12 men suspected of involvement in a right-wing terrorist group is escorted by police as he arrives for his hearing at Germany's general prosecutor in Karlsruhe, Germany, on Feb. 15, 2020. (Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)

12 Right-Wing Terrorists Arrested in Germany Over Plot to Spark Civil-War-Like Situation

Police in Germany have arrested 12 men suspected of instigating a plot to attack politicians, asylum-seekers, and Muslims across the country.

The arrest of the 12 men on Fridayincluding a German police administrative officerfollowed multiple raids in 13 locations in Germany across six states, according to AFP.

The four prime suspects allegedly wanted to start a civil-war-like situation across Germany and were arrested on suspicion of forming a right-wing terrorist organization last September. The remaining eight suspects allegedly offered the group financial support and agreed to provide them with weapons or take part in future attacks.

A federal court judge ordered them detained on Saturday pending further investigations, prosecutors said.

Popular support for far-right groups is growing in Germany, notably in the countrys former Communist east, as part of a polarization at both ends of the political spectrum that is undermining the mainstream establishment that been in government since World War Two.

The group was named Der harte Kern (The Hard Core) when it was formed by the men in September 2019, reported the German Welt am Sonntag newspaper on Sunday. It had been under surveillance since late last year.

The suspects are all German citizens reportedly aged between 20 and 50, including the police officer, who in the past had been suspended after he was suspected of having links to right-wing extremism, a source at the interior ministry in North-Rhine Westphalia state told AFP.

One of 12 men suspected of involvement in right-wing terrorism is escorted by police as he arrives for his hearing at Germanys general prosecutor in Karlsruhe, Germany, on Feb. 15, 2020. (Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)

North Rhine-Westphalias Interior Minister Herbert Reul said the police officer would be suspended from duty.

The German Attorney General said in a statement the aim of the association was to shake and ultimately overcome the state and social order of the Federal Republic of Germany.

A number of weapons were uncovered in the raids across Germany, including a homemade slam gun which resembled the weapon used in the October 2019 attack on a synagogue in Halle. Investigators also uncovered stores of materials that could be used to produce home-made bombs, Welt am Sonntag reported.

Using Facebook-owned messaging app WhatsApp, the group allegedly regularly held meetings to plan their attacks. Two of the core suspects, named only as Werner S and Tony E, coordinated and organized the meetings.

Minister of Justice Christine Lambrecht said the arrests showed that there is a very worrying right-wing extremist and right-wing terrorist threat in Germany.

We have to be particularly vigilant and act decisively against this threat, Lambrecht added.

Police in Germany have paid special attention to tackling right-wing extremism in the country following the assassination of conservative local politician Walter Lubcke in June last year.

Authorities believe he was targeted for his stance of welcoming refugees into the country. Lubcke received death threats before his assassination for favoring German Chancellor Angela Merkels open migration policy.

Under German law, individuals suspected of being on the verge of committing serious offenses can be detained for up to 6 months, extendable to 12 months in extreme cases, according to legal experts.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg speaking at a campaign rally in New York in January. Read more

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP)  With the Nevada caucuses less than a week away, Democratic presidential candidates campaigning Sunday were fixated on a rival who wasnt contesting the state.

Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg all targeted billionaire Mike Bloomberg, accusing him of buying his way into the election and making clear they were eager to take him on in a debate.

"He thinks he can buy this election," Sanders said of the former New York mayor at a rally in Carson City, Nevada. "Well, I've got news for Mr. Bloomberg  the American people are sick and tired of billionaires buying elections!"

Their attacks are a sign of how seriously the field is starting to take Bloomberg as he gains traction in the race and is on the cusp of qualifying for Wednesday's Democratic debate in Las Vegas. Bloomberg has bypassed the traditional early voting states including Nevada, focusing instead on the 14 states that vote in the Super Tuesday primary on March 3. He has spent more than $417 million of his own multibillion-dollar fortune on advertising nationwide, an unprecedented sum for any candidate in a primary.

The focus on Bloomberg comes amid anxiety among many establishment-aligned Democrats over the early strength of Sanders, who won last week's New Hampshire primary and essentially tied for first place in Iowa with Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana. Sanders is hoping to notch a victory in Nevada on Saturday as moderates struggle to unite behind a candidate who could serve as a counter to the Vermont senator, who has long identified as a democratic socialist.

The hundreds of millions of dollars that Bloomberg has pumped into the Super Tuesday states has only heightened the sense of uncertainty surrounding the Democratic race.

At Sanders' rally, the crowded cheered as the Vermont senator joked that Bloomberg is "struggling, he's down to his last $60 billion" and derided him for skipping the early primary states.

It marked an escalation of the salvo Sanders launched Saturday against the former mayor, when he ticked off a litany of conservative positions Bloomberg has taken in the past, including opposing a minimum wage hike and his opposition to a number of Barack Obama's policies while president. On Saturday, Sanders suggested the former mayor's past conservatism and controversial comments make him a weak candidate against President Donald Trump, charging that Bloomberg, "with all his money, will not create the kind of excitement and energy we need" to beat Trump.

And on Sunday, he was joined by the current mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, who just this week endorsed Sanders. De Blasio introduced Sanders with an attack of his own on his predecessor, telling the crowd, "I'm sorry to report to you the chief proponent of stop and frisk is now running for president."

Klobuchar, speaking on CBS' "Face the Nation," accused Bloomberg of avoiding scrutiny by blanketing the airwaves and sidestepping debates or tough televised interviews.

"I think he cannot hide behind the airwaves and the money," she said. "I think he has to come on the shows. And I personally think he should be on the debate stage."

Klobuchar said she's raised $12 million since her better-than-expected finish in third place in New Hampshire. She's maintained her campaign through a series of strong debate performances and argued that Bloomberg being on stage with his rivals would level the playing field.

"I'm never going to beat him on the airwaves, but I can beat him on the debate stage," she said.

Biden, speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," suggested that Bloomberg will face increased scrutiny as the race continues, pointing to his record on issues relating to race.

"$60 billion can buy you a lot of advertising, but it can't erase your record," he said.

Biden knocked Bloomberg's past support of stop-and-frisk policing policies and his comments suggesting cracking down on racist mortgage lending practices contributed to the financial crisis, as well as his 2008 refusal to endorse Barack Obama for president. Bloomberg has been airing ads that tie him closely to Obama on issues like gun control and climate change.

Buttigieg likened Bloomberg to Trump when asked about reports that Bloomberg made sexist comments towards women and fostered a culture of sexism at his company.

"I think he's going to have to answer for that and speak to it," Buttigieg said.

He later added: "Look, this is a time where voters are looking for a president who can lead us out of the days when it was just commonplace or accepted to have these kinds of sexist and discriminatory attitudes. Right now, this is our chance to do something different."

But even as the front-running candidates kept one eye on their Super Tuesday showdown with Bloomberg, they also focused on the more immediate task of winning over minority voters, who will play a pivotal role in the contests in Nevada and South Carolina.

Biden reminded older parishioners at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in North Las Vegas of 1960s television footage of black protesters in Birmingham, Alabama, being attacked by police dogs and sprayed with fire hoses on the orders of city official Bull Connor.

Biden said today's racists are not "Bull Connors, not out in overalls. They're wearing fine suits, and they're living in the White House."

The former vice president is relying on his strength among black voters and an explicit appeal to Latinos and other minorities to deliver him a strong showing in the coming contests after posting disappointing finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire, which both feature electorates that are whiter on average than the national population.

Biden has been hammering home the need for any Democratic candidate to appeal to voters of color. On Sunday, he told black lawmakers and other political figures at the Nevada Black Legislative Caucus's Black History Month observance that "the black community has in its power to determine who the next president of the United States is going to be."

Nevada and South Carolina are also a key test for Buttigieg and Klobuchar, who have thus far ridden on momentum from stronger-than-expected finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire, respectively, but have both faced questions about their appeal to minority voters.

On Sunday, when asked to name a mistake he had made as mayor, Buttigieg acknowledged that he failed to recognize the pain that his decisions made, particularly for communities of color.

"I was laser-focused on making sure we did the right thing legally ... I didn't always hear the voices who were talking about the story behind the story," Buttigieg said. "I was a data guy."

Later that day, at a luncheon for the Nevada Legislative Black Caucus, Buttigieg said he was proud of his work with black leaders in his city to deliver affordable housing and improve the black unemployment rate, but he said he was "humbled by the work left to do."

Jaffe reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jonathan Cooper and Bill Barrow in Las Vegas contributed to this report.
If you really want to shock leftists, tell them Europe does not have, and has never had, socialized medicine or, indeed, socialized anything. European nations certainly had government-controlled medicine. They also boasted short work weeks, long vacations, year-long maternity leaves, early retirement, fully-paid-for old-age care, and all sorts of other things that made them feel superior to Americans.

However, contrary to Europeans' self-satisfied faux-socialist vision of themselves, Europeans didn't fund their so-called "soft socialism." Instead, for the most part, Americans did. During the Cold War, the government collected taxes from Americans to pay Europe's defense costs, allowing Europeans to spend their tax money on all those little socialist luxuries. Americans, meanwhile; worked 60-hour weeks; got short vacations; and paid for their own medical care, old-age care, and maternity leave.

Meanwhile, even as the Europeans were luxuriating in the lap of America-funded social welfare programs, they constantly criticized America for seeking to have a bigger say in world affairs. As has been the case since WWI, which was the first time America rode to Europe's rescue, Europeans complained that Americans were unsophisticated bullies lacking in nuance. The general attitude was "pay the money, man the guns, and shut up."

With the Cold War's end, American spending dropped in Europe  a drop that coincided with Europeans beginning to have problems funding all their social services. Trump has taken things to the next level by demanding that Europeans start helping to pay for their own defense. (Indeed, Europeans have long promised to pay for that defense, but they have consistently failed to fulfill those promises.)

It turns out that Europeans are not pleased to be called out to make good on their promises. In addition, they're discovering that those gauche, bullying Americans were, in fact, a useful bulwark against evil in the world:

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and French President Emmanuel Macron went toe-to-toe Saturday over the strength of America's alliances. "I'm happy to report that the death of the transatlantic alliance is grossly exaggerated," Pompeo insisted in a speech to the Munich Security Conference. "The West is winning, and we're winning together." His remarks were in response to the forum's theme of "westlessness"  and complaints by other speakers about President Donald Trump's "America First" stance, which has led to increasing pressure on NATO allies to ramp up their military spending.

To hear the Europeans whine, you'd think America was leaving them high and dry. That's not the case. One of the practical things America is doing is pledging $1 billion to Central and Eastern European countries to help them stop being dependent on Russia for gas. This is another Trump policy that harms Putin's power base, proving again that the Democrats' hysteria about Trump being Putin's lapdog and ally is delusional.

Europeans, though, want a return to the status quo: they want once again to get the benefit of American money, without spending their own, while retaining the moral high ground to hector and belittle America:

Pompeo had been, in part, responding to German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who on Friday accused the United States, Russia and China of making the world more dangerous. French President Emmanuel Macron told the conference of international leaders, lawmakers and diplomats he was not surprised by Steinmeier's speech and had liked it. "We cannot be the United States' junior partner," Macron said, adding that while he supported NATO, Europe needed to be able to tackle threats in its neighborhood and at times act independently of Washington. "I'm impatient for European solutions," Macron said. [snip] Macron said the West's policy of defiance toward Russia in recent years had failed and, as nobody wanted to confront Moscow directly, the only option was to have a closer dialogue to resolve differences. "I hear the defiance of all our partners, I'm not mad, but I know that being defiant and weak ... is not a policy, it's a completely inefficient system," Macron told the conference. "There is a second choice, which is to be demanding and restart a strategic dialogue because today we talk less and less, conflicts multiply and we aren't able to resolve them, he added.

It's ironic to hear the Europeans insist on their solutions with America's money. Perhaps Trump will finally teach them that he who pays the piper calls the tune. If they want a different tune, they need to dig deep into their own pockets.
HBOs Watchmen (directed by Damon Lindelof) is a sequel to the comic book of the same name written by Alan Moore, illustrated by Dave Gibbons and published in twelve issues from 1986 to 1987. In the alternate history established by the comic, the publication of the first Superman comic in 1938 inspired a wave of real-life costumed vigilantes.

Three decades later, we learn that the administration of former US president Richard Nixon was able to win the Vietnam War with the aid of superheroes. Instead of resigning after a chain of events flowing from popular hostility to the war, Nixon abolished presidential term limits. By 2019, Vietnam has been incorporated as an American state, and actor Robert Redford has been president for seven terms.

Tim Blake Nelson and Regina King in Watchmen

In Tulsa, Oklahoma, a militant white-supremacist group called the Seventh Kavalry has declared war on the local police force. After the Kavalry murders nearly every police officer in Tulsa in an incident known as the White Night, new police are recruited on the basis that they will be allowed to wear masks or adopt costumed personas to protect their identities.

The Kavalry, apparently incensed by decades of liberal rule under the Redford administration, was formed in response to the administrations promise of reparations to the descendants of victims of the Tulsa massacre in 1921.

The massacre, which the series depicts but does not explain, stemmed from allegations of sexual assault against a white female elevator operator by a young black man, Dick Rowland. Although charges were later dropped, a white mob assembled at the courthouse. On rumors that Rowland was about to be lynched, blacks also arrived, some of them armed and determined to prevent a lynching. Shots were fired and two blacks and ten whites were killed.

African Americans in Tulsa had good reason to fear that a murder of Rowland was being prepared. Lynching was a staple of the Jim Crow system in the South, and the summer of 1919 had seen the outbreak of racist violence against blacks throughout the country, often with the participation of local police, and in one case, in Arkansas, with the participation of the military.

Steven G. Norfleet, Dajour Ashwood and Alexis Louder in Watchmen

The period before and after the First World War saw some of the most militant and left-wing activity by workers and small farmers in US history. Black veterans had returned from the war in 1918 with ideas of social equality, and many were determined to fight for equal rights. The authorities were equally determined to maintain racial segregation.

The events in the US were part of an upsurge of working class struggle around the world in the aftermath of the 1917 Russian Revolution. The US witnessed a general strike in Seattle and mass strikes by steel workers and coal miners, as well as many other battles, which posed the question of the unity of black and white workers in common struggle.

Oklahoma itself participated in this broader radicalization of workers and farmers in this period. In 1914, the Socialist Party in the state had roughly 12,000 dues-paying members. The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) was also very active. During the Green Corn Rebellion in August 1917, hundreds of socialist-minded Oklahomansblack, white and Native American tenant farmers determined to resist conscriptiongathered with the intention of marching to Washington D.C. and overthrowing the government, before they met violent resistance from their neighbors.

The Tulsa pogrom of 1921 was a response to the growing radicalization and the danger of united black-white opposition to capitalism, an effort to whip up the most backward layers on a racist and nationalist basis and implicate them in terrible crimes. The 1921 massacre turned out to be the most violent single action against blacks in US history after the Civil War. It destroyed over 35 blocks of Tulsas wealthy Greenwood District and left as many as 300 people dead. The district, which had been known as Americas Black Wall Street, was lit ablaze by firebombs dropped from private aircraft.

Jeremy Irons in Watchmen

The fictional United States of Watchmens 2019 ignores the reasons for and meaning of the Tulsa massacre. In this alternative history, the US suffers from no apparent crisis of capitalist rule, thanks to the all-surpassing benevolence of the Redford administration. Unlike the immediate pre-and post-World War I periods, there is no working-class opposition to account for the rise of a fascistic mass movement like the Seventh Kavalry. Instead, we are led to believe that the meager prospect of reparations has produced violent racism in Tulsas white population.

There is a definite racialist outlook beneath all this absurdity. Policewoman and main protagonist Angela Abar, alias Sister Night (Regina King), claims she can identify a white supremacist because he smells like bleach, implying that racism is an inherent condition of whiteness.

There is nothing progressive in this outlook, which uses a one-sided version of Tulsas history to portray it as the flashpoint for an inevitable race war. That the series portrays the police as the vanguard against the racists reveals something of the disorientation of the artists involved.

Speaking of disorientation, it must be said that Watchmen the comic book is not especially promising material for a sequel. The comic makes heroes out of violent, fascistic vigilantes, and despite initial pretensions to realistically depicting the superhero genre, it ultimately descends into an empty-headed, contrived plot.

Watchmen the television series attempts to distance itself from fascistic vigilantes. The signature inkblot mask and the fascistic rhetoric of the vigilante Rorschach, one of the main protagonists of the comic book, have been adopted by the Seventh Kavalry, rather than the protagonists of the series.

Watchmen

Contrived plot, on the other hand, returns in full force. At the end of the comic, the smartest man in the world, Adrian Veidt, convinces the world that a hostile alien threat exists by killing half the population of New York City with a bio-engineered, giant, psychic squid. This, the reader is to believe, is the only way to prevent nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union!

The series doubles down on this ridiculous premise, insisting that baby squid raining from the sky have since become a regular aspect of life. Machines controlled by Veidt (Jeremy Irons) drop them at random intervals to what end? One of the series protagonists, Wade Tillman, alias Looking Glass (Tim Blake Nelson), was present during the attack, and suffers from post-traumatic stress. It really couldnt get much more foolish.

Other characters from the comic return. In a technically impressive flashback sequence that juxtaposes black-and-white and full-color objects to represent different periods in time, one of the first costumed crime-fighters is revealed to have hidden that he was African American. This is a somewhat clever interpretation of scattered details in the comic, but the series doesnt make much of it: White men in masks are heroes, a character summarizes, but black men in masks are scary.

Dr. Manhattan (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Darrell Snedeger), who acquired god-like powers in a laboratory accident, returns as well. A sequence in which he demonstrates simultaneous awareness of the past, present and future while romancing a lover has a certain charm, but it is difficult to really admire a character who almost single-handedly conquered Vietnam for US imperialism.

Laurie Blake (Jean Smart) returns as an FBI agent. She has at least one redeeming moment in the final episode of the series, when she says to an antagonist, Im tired, Joe. Im tired of all the silliness. By that point especially, one is inclined to agree with her.
A court showdown was only averted when Buehler agreed to a settlement that required him to declare  falsely, it is now clear  that there was no basis for his accusations that Crypto was working with foreign intelligence services. Crypto agreed to pay Buehlers legal fees, and he signed a document stipulating that he had to stay away from the press. Every violation would cost him 100,000 Swiss francs, according to the CIA history.
Foraying into connected living solutions, Panasonic India has launched Miraie, an AI-enabled smart platform, along with IoT enabled smart devices. Under the connected living platform, the first range of connected products available in the Indian market includes connected air conditioners, smart doorbell and plugs and switches. Aiming to democratise technology, Panasonic's new connected air conditioners have been priced starting at Rs 35,990, similar to the conventional split ACs.

"Over the course of 2020, we plan to expand our connected range of products by adding refrigerator, washing machine, television, fans, geysers, etc giving consumers a full range of Connected Living Solutions for a futuristic home. With Miraie, our aim is to bring down the total cost of ownership as the platform sends users regular notifications for servicing requirement driving optimum output and efficient performance over time," says Manish Sharma, President & CEO, Panasonic India & SA.

India is one of the largest growing electronics markets in the world. According to industry reports, revenue in the smart appliances segment amounts to $1,225 million in 2020 and the household penetration is expected to hit 5.6 per cent by 2024. "We are aiming to drive around 35 per cent of our appliances sales in India for the next fiscal from connected appliances. It is an ambitious step as it is higher than the industry average of 2-3 per cent but we are confident to tap the market. As we manufacture our ACs in India, we will be able to easily scale it up while for some other products it might take some time," explains Sharma.

Also read: Microsoft to set up engineering, innovation hub in Noida

Factors contributing to the growth for smart homes in India include lifestyle upgrades, increasing internet usage on smartphones, rising demand for energy conservation, amongst others. Panasonic's consumer insight study suggests that Indian consumers seek enhanced product experience that can make daily life chores easier and efficient. And 81 per cent are willing to pay a bit extra for connected features. Consumers want their home appliances to be smart and most of them want it to be connected with their smartphones.

A little late to the connected appliance ecosystem, Panasonic's Miraie is a connected living platform. Developed in-house at the Panasonic India Innovation Center (IIC), it will connect all Panasonic IoT enabled appliances under this ecosystem making life convenient, comfortable and connected for our customers. "The intelligent AI enabled platform - Miraie - brings our concept of Connected Living to life and literally translates as 'Future Home' in Japanese. Miraie brings synergised solutions from our well-established portfolio by building a connection powered by IoT and Cloud platform. Advanced AI helps giving prompt notifications on issues, troubleshoot, facilitates technician visit and maximises performance and operational lifespan of products. The intuitive app helps recognise usage patterns and suggests optimal modes extending best comfort," adds Sharma.

The app also offers value-added features such as eWarranty and AMC management, OneTouch-service request, proactive maintenance notifications, etc. Available on both iOS and Android platform, Miraie leverages Google's Voice Assistant and Amazon's Alexa voice recognition technology to offer seamless and hands-free operations and make devices function with voice commands.

Also read: Sony launches HT-S20R soundbar for Rs 14,990; targets 32-inch TV consumers

With privacy being one of the biggest concerns in the smart home ecosystem, Panasonic claims to follow the design principle such as Privacy by Design, Security by Design. Panasonic follows standard procedures and mechanism such as anonymisation, deep encryption, multi-factor authentication etc. to safeguard customer data or PII (Personal Identifiable Information). The platform comes with privacy settings that give users the power to choose how much they want to share with the platform.

Panasonic sees growth across markets for the Miraie range of products. "We believe that while Tier I drives additional and replacement purchases where we will first see Connected ACs, there is huge potential in Tier II-III for first-time buyers. Also, millennials setting up homes for the first time will be a significant audience" avers Sharma.

Panasonic plans to promote the Miraie launch through a 360-degree campaign covering traditional, TV and digital mediums. To enhance the shop floor experience, unique product displays and demo zones are set-up to drive awareness for the Miraie range. This will be further enhanced with strong service support provided by the Panasonic operations team.

Panasonic India's gross revenue for FY19-20 (net of rebate) is projected at Rs 10,615 crore with an expected growth rate at 6 per cent.

Also read: Social media firms should be treated like something between a telco and a newspaper, says Mark Zuckerberg
A subsidiary of AB Linas Agro Group, Panevezys District Zibartoniu ZUB, has signed stock sales-purchase agreement with the owners of the stock of agricultural company ZUB Nemunas for obtaining 67.15% of the stock of ZUB Nemunas. The total investment amount to EUR 2,005,000.



Agricultural company ZUB Nemunas, based in Miegenai village, Kedainiai district, was established in 1992. The company cultivates 1,051 ha of land, from them 243 ha are own. Runs dairy farming, has 496 units of cattle, including 196 dairy cows; also grow cereals and oilseeds - over 3,400 tons per year. The total headcount of the company is 25. In 2019, the revenue of the company exceeded 1 million euros. Assets are valued at EUR 1.89 million.

"We are the neighbors of Nemunas. Our farming company Panevezys District Zibartoniai ZUB is located nearby. The agricultural company Nemunas is attractive to us because it is close to us and its activities are diversified. We believe to have something to offer to our neighbors, and first and foremost our experience. We have been managing agricultural companies since 2003.

All activities of our Group revolve around agriculture: we supply goods to farmers and market their crops, grow cereals, produce milk, operate a full-cycle poultry business in Latvia. The production of agricultural produce is one of our most important activities, where we directly face the same problems like the other farmers, therefore have the opportunity to test how in fact useful the products and equipment we offer are, what is helpful and what isn't. Besides that, these activities allow us to make useful experiments and test various new technologies before offering them to our customers.

Our agricultural companies are not just a testing ground for new technologies - they are strong and efficient businesses. Their employees exchange experiences and learn from each other. This is also reflected in the results of our performance: the average yield of wheat we grow is 38% higher than the average in Lithuania, and the yield of rapeseed is 48% higher. In the poor year 2018, the gap was even larger - 56% and 52% respectively. Taken together, our companies are also a fairly large milk producer in Lithuania, with average milk yields also 74% higher than the Lithuanian average. In the financial year 2018/2019, the milk production at the agricultural company Panevezys District Zibartoniu ZUB increased by 12.2%. Coming to Nemunas we will strive for similar operational efficiency," comments Andrius Pranckevicius, Deputy Managing Director of AB Linas Agro Group.

AB Linas Agro Group owns six agricultural companies located in fertile areas of Lithuania - Panevezys District Aukstadvario ZUB, Sakiai District Luksiu ZUB, Birzai District Medeikiu ZUB, Sidabravo ZUB and Kedainiai District Labunavos ZUB. They are engaged in production of milk, cereals, rapeseed and sugar beet. In 2018 Sakiai District Luksiu ZUB was the second most efficient milk producer in Lithuania in the category of companies, with an average milk yield of 11,262 kg per cow. The third most efficient among the enterprises was the company Sidabravo ZUB, where on average 10,471 kg of milk was milked from a cow.

About AB Linas Agro Group

AB Linas Agro Group together with its directly and indirectly controlled companies (hereinafter - subsidiaries) makes the Group, which was founded in 1991 and operates in four countries - Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and the Ukraine. The Group has 39 companies and 2,064 employees. The financial year of the Group begins on 1 July. The revenue of the Group was EUR 743 million in FY 2018/2019, EBITDA - EUR 5.6 million.

The companies of the Group produce, handle and merchandise agricultural and food products, also provide products and services for farming. The Group is the leading exporter of grains and has own network of thirteen grain elevators. Also is one of the leaders in supplies of agricultural inputs (such as certified seeds, fertilizers and agricultural machinery) in Lithuania, has seed preparation plant. The Group is a major milk producer in Lithuania and the biggest poultry producer in Latvia.

Additional information:

Andrius Pranckevicius

Deputy Managing Director of AB Linas Agro Group

Mob. + 370 687 71 419

E-mail a.pranckevicius@linasagro.lt (mailto:a.pranckevicius@linasagro.lt)
Brussels (AFP) - EU foreign ministers agreed Monday to a naval operation to enforce an arms embargo on war-torn Libya, overcoming objections from countries who feared it may encourage new migrant flows.

The mission will be authorised to intervene to stop arms shipments, EU diplomatic chief Josep Borrell said, insisting the vessels would not be "having a promenade" in the Mediterranean.

The EU hopes to have the operation, focused on the eastern part of the Libyan coast, up and running by the end of March, Borrell said, though many details -- including the rules of engagement for naval units -- are yet to be worked out.

The conflict in the oil-rich but turbulent North African state was on the agenda for EU ministers meeting in Brussels, but Borrell had played down hopes of an agreement over objections from Austria and Hungary.

Making the arms embargo work is seen as crucial to stabilising the Libyan conflict, where the UN-recognised Tripoli government is under attack from the forces of military strongman Khalifa Haftar, who controls much of the country's south and east.

Military commanders will propose many of the operational details, including the number of ships and the exact geographical scope, for EU foreign ministers to approve at their next meeting on March 23.

The EU hopes the new mission -- which replaces Operation Sophia, set up in 2015 to fight people smuggling across the Mediterranean at the height of Europe's migrant crisis -- will be up and running by the end of March.

- 'Pull factor' fear -

Austria had led opposition to reviving Operation Sophia with ships to enforce the embargo, fearing it could reactivate a rescue fleet that would end up ferrying migrants across the Mediterranean to Europe.

Hungary, whose right-wing populist government has taken a tough anti-immigration stance, is understood to have supported Austria's objections.

Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio and his Austrian counterpart Alexander Schallenberg insisted the new mission was quite different from Sophia.

Story continues

"There is a basic consensus that we now want a military operation and not a humanitarian mission," Schallenberg said.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said there had been a long discussion about whether a naval element was needed but finally it was agreed it was "necessary to get a complete picture".

"But it will be only in the eastern Mediterranean, where the weapons routes run," Maas said, not near the current central Mediterranean migration routes.

Crucial to winning over sceptics like Austria was a provision that if the ships are deemed to be creating a "pull factor" -- encouraging migrants to take to the sea in the hopes of being rescued and taken to Europe -- the maritime part of the operation will be halted.

Borrell said that precise details of who would decide on this were still to be agreed, but it would likely be foreign ministers acting on the advice of military commanders.

- Libyan chaos -

A senior UN official warned Sunday that a fragile truce in Libya agreed in January but regularly breached is "holding by a thread".

World leaders agreed at a Berlin summit last month to end all meddling in the conflict and stop the flow of weapons into Libya, but little has changed on the ground since then.

States including Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt support Haftar, while the UN-recognised government led by Fayez al-Sarraj is backed by Turkey and Qatar.

"The arms embargo is being violated systematically and this is going to feed the fighters with an incredible amount of arms that make the ceasefire difficult and the truce very, very weak," Borrell warned.

After a meeting of foreign ministers in Munich on Sunday -- a follow-up to the Berlin conference -- Borrell criticised Austria for blocking the Operation Sophia revival, saying it was absurd for a landlocked country which does not even have a navy to take such a stance.
Press Release

February 17, 2020 Senators Marcos and Gatchalian seek a national evaluation policy for evidence-based budgeting, accountability Lawmakers called for a national evaluation policy that will ensure evidence-based budgeting for all government programs and the accountability of civil servants. "Clearly there has been limited attention, budgetary support, provision of personnel for monitoring and evaluation and only lip service has been given all these years to M&E," Sen. Imee Marcos, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Economic Affairs, said at the National Evaluation Policy (NEP) Forum in the Senate. She noted that the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and the Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS), which conduct monitoring and evaluation, are understaffed with only 12 research fellows keeping an eye on a budget of over 4 trillion pesos. Evaluation in particular should be more comprehensive and better financed, she added. "It is important that evaluation results be established as a requirement for the national budget or for any budgeting for that matter and that no fund releases can be made without monitoring and evaluation first," Marcos said. "Digital technology has made evaluation simpler so there is no excuse not to evaluate government projects and programs comprehensively and well," she added. Bills have been filed in the Senate (Senate Bill No. 788 by Sen. Risa Hontiveros) and House of Representatives (House Bill No. 3293 by Rep. Alfred Vargas) in an effort to put together a national evaluation policy. The NEP forum--the first in a series on crafting such policy--discussed evaluating the Department of Education's (DepEd) K to 12 Program. Marcos said given K to 12's cost to the government and parents, it is imperative to at least determine the program's tangible results and accomplishments. Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture, stressed that monitoring and evaluation are important to exert accountability. "Accountability is very important for all of us, especially for civil servants," he told the forum. "It's also very important to make sure that our schools deliver the goals that we need to deliver. We need to deliver performance." But to do that, he added, accountability must be ensured, and the measure of school performance must also include grades, particularly in national achievement tests. Gatchalian earlier filed a resolution seeking an inquiry into the state of basic education in the country after the global study in 2018 of the Programme for International Student Assessment or PISA showed the Philippines ranked lowest in reading comprehension and second lowest in science and math out of 79 countries. The lawmaker commended the DepEd for acknowledging that quality is a big challenge facing the basic education sector and for starting a process to review the K to 12 curriculum. He called for the reform of what educators admit to be a congested curriculum. Gatchalian quoted an education official as saying that during the school year, students need to learn 200 competencies or about one competency per day. There is also a disconnect between textbooks and the curriculum guides, he added. "To me, the low-hanging fruit - and I hope the DepEd could also acknowledge this later on - is to reform the curriculum as fast as possible," Gatchalian said. Cascading the reform to teachers is a bigger challenge because of the many levels within the huge department, he added. The senator urged the bureaucracy to work fast on tweaking the curriculum so reforms can be cascaded down to teachers in time for school year 2020-2021, which starts in June. He warned that if reforms are not implemented soon, no dramatic change can be expected in the Philippines' score in the next assessment of PISA in 2021.
By Katina Pearl-Blando and Tucker Perkins

Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law last month a measure that will authorize the use of electric school buses in the state. This is great news, and we commend Gov. Murphy. Its clear he is focused on getting students to school in a healthier bus. But what if we could improve student health and also benefit schools, communities and New Jersey taxpayers?

There are two primary options for healthier school buses. Electric is one solution. Propane is another. Both options offer a cleaner, quieter and healthier way to bring children to school. But propane buses also allow school districts to provide the most cost-effective transportation experience. Consider the following:

Emissions: Although electric school buses dont produce direct vehicle emissions, propane school buses are as clean, if not cleaner, when you factor in the emissions from electric power plants. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 27% of electric energy generation comes from coal and 63% from non-renewable sources. Propane Education & Research Council partners have developed a propane school bus that is 90% cleaner than the strictest EPA federal emissions standard.

Cost. A propane school bus costs three to four times less than an electric school bus. The simple math means that New Jersey can achieve three to four times the removal of older, dirtier diesel buses. Any additional budget can, and should, go toward direct educational benefits, such as hiring more teachers, providing teacher salary increases, creating smaller class size and more.

Range. With a range of up to 400 miles on a single fueling, propane buses provide the distance that school systems need to get through daily routes and after-school events. Compare that to electric buses, which are capable of a maximum of 120 miles on a single charge.

Performance. Propane buses start up and operate reliably in all weather conditions, from the hottest days to as cold as negative 40 degrees. Electric vehicles often have operational challenges in both conditions, especially cold.

Fueling. A propane station costs much less than any other type of fueling station, including electric. There are thousands of public stations throughout the nation, but for school districts and school bus contractors requiring onsite fueling, a local propane provider can install a propane station for little  often zero  cost with a fueling contract. Then, there is the fact that fueling a propane bus takes minutes, and not hours, like the time it takes to recharge an electric bus.

Currently, there are more than 18,000 propane school buses on American roads transporting over 1.1 million kids to school each day in almost 1,000 school districts. New Jersey already has almost 100 propane buses. Compare that to a total of 200 electric school buses  nationwide.

Across the country, there is a trend to move away from diesel and toward cleaner fuels in the school bus industry. While electric school buses constitute one opportunity for emission reductions, I encourage the states school districts and contractors to take a hard look at propane buses. Their low upfront and maintenance costs, range, ease of use and, most importantly, ultra-low emissions, make them a more suitable choice for New Jersey schools today. Just ask the states school districts operating propane, including Toms River Regional School District, Randolph Township Schools and Leonia Public Schools. And that doesnt count multiple school bus contractors.

Electric buses may be a viable option in the future for New Jersey. But today, domestically produced, readily available, clean propane is the healthiest and most cost-effective option for our schools, students, communities and taxpayers.

Katina Pearl-Blando is the managing director of the New Jersey Propane Gas Association, based in Trenton. Tucker Perkins is the president and CEO of the Propane Education & Research Council based in Washington, D.C.

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.
Hanwha Announces the 3 Kings: Top Reps Who Build the Brand Published: 17 February 2020 by Chelsey Drysdale by Chelsey Drysdale

CYPRESS, CALIFORNIA  February 2020  Hanwha Techwin Automation Americas, formerly Samsung C&T Automation, recently announced the 3 Kings-three reps who go above and beyond to support and build the brand.

We appreciate and value all our rep partners, but this year Hanwha decided to select the three top performing reps to rein as our three kings, commented Jonny Nichols, Director of Sales & Marketing, Hanwha. We made this announcement at our sales meeting during IPC APEX EXPO in San Diego.

The three kings are:

Mr. Ron Torenko, of Torenko & Associates. Torenko & Associates has been specializing in capital equipment since 1977. This gives our principals the advantage of our people spending 100 percent of their time on selling equipment and not being diverted to consumables. Mr. Torenko has also been awarded Hanwhas Top Gun rep award two consecutive years: 2018 and 2019.

Mr. Kurt Whitlock of Kurt Whitlock Associates. For the 40 years, Kurt Whitlock Associates has searched the world for cutting edge companies to represent and distribute to electronics assembly customers and potential markets. Their array of companies provide unmatched solutions to meet high volume, high mix, and mid to low volume requirements with the same level of service and technical support.

And last but not least, Mr. Murray Percival Jr. of the Murray Percival Company. Murray Percival Company is a third-generation family owned business that is celebrating their 60th year in business this year. They are currently the leading supplier to the Midwest's electronics industry, offering thousands of capital and distribution products as well as the industrys leading process enabler.

For more information on Hanwha Techwin, please visit www.hanwhaprecisionmachinery.com/.
Project began as a tribute to Jayden Whyte, a 29-year-old who died by suicide

as painted as part of the Blue Tree Project to raise mental health awareness

A beloved tribute of a lone tree painted blue has been burned to the ground

A tribute which brought brightness to locals in a drought-stricken region of Queensland has been cruelly destroyed by vandals.

The lone tree, which stood at Dirranbandi, was burned to the ground just months after it was painted as part of the Blue Tree Project.

The project began as a tribute to Jayden Whyte, a 29-year-old who died by suicide in 2018 after trying to seek help for his mental health the same day.

A lone blue tree, standing to raise awareness for mental health as part of the Blue Tree Project was burned to the ground in Queensland's South West just months after being painted

At his funeral a story was read aloud which told of how Jayden pranked his father in 2014, by painting one of the trees on their family farm blue.

The story sparked the Blue Tree Project, which was founded to raise awareness of mental health issues and to remind people to check on their loved ones.

Blue trees soon began to pop up all over Australia.

In October, locals were particularly drawn to one blue tree in Dirranbandi.

Jayden White (left) his sisters Kendall and Erryn and parents Adrienne and Grant (right)

But just a few months after it was painted, the tree was destroyed by fire last week, leaving locals devastated.

'My Dirranbandi commute was looking a little different this morning, someone burnt down the blue tree overnight, what is actually wrong with some people?', one woman said.

'Really? So disappointing,' another wrote.

Since the beginning of the project over 400 trees have been painted.

For anyone seeking support, contact the numbers below.

Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467.
People claiming to be healers are trying to sell bogus cures for the killer coronavirus for up to 80 a time online.

Users on an online marketplace have been trying to cash in on the crisis, which has left governments around the world on red alert.

Sellers on Fiverr claim to be able to cure the virus or protect against it using 'healing energy', 'bio magic principles' and 'Islamic method'.

Prices range from 4 to 80 for the bizarre services which are completely untested, MailOnline can reveal.

The virus has no known cure and most patients who are struck down recover within a couple of weeks without needing medical treatment.

Those who develop more serious infections in their lungs, such as pneumonia, need expert medical care to stop their illness turning deadly.

More than 71,000 cases of SARS-CoV-2 have been recorded worldwide, and almost 1,800 patients have died.

Three separate listings appear on the website Fiverr with claims the 'healers' who posted the listings

The priciest listing is one which claims it can use 'healing based on bio magic principles'  40 is the basic price, with two 20 extras added  one-day delivery and 'I have infection'

One listing, dubbed 'Powerful Protection' and listed for 40.24, is titled 'I will boost immune system and protect you from coronavirus'.

Fiverr user healer_ganna says in the listing: 'Hurry up! Coronavirus everywhere! I will boost your immune system and protect you from coronavirus.'

It adds: 'If you have infection or you feels not so good you need imedatly [sic] neutralize coronavirus.'

Healer_ganna claims to have more than 15 years of experience in bio magic healing  a practice with no clear explanation.

The healing spell costs an extra 20 if a customer admits to already having caught the coronavirus infection.

MailOnline found the adverts after the World Health Organization last week warned about the spread of fake claims about coronavirus cures online.

The global health authority warned of an array of things falsely claimed to protect against the coronavirus.

They included: hand dryers, UV lamps, garlic, sesame oil, spraying alcohol on your body, pneumonia vaccines, saline nose spray and mouthwash.

The WHO director-general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, tweeted: 'Its time for facts, not fear.'

The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus cannot currently be cured through current treatments, the body must simply fight off the infection itself.

However, scientists around the world are trying to find ways to rid the infection. And experts are desperately trying to create a vaccine.

The best way for at-risk people to protect against it is to avoid people who might be ill, use a tissue when they cough or sneeze, and practise good hand hygiene.

Another Fiverr listing, by user waves2cure, claims it can broadcast 'scalar healing waves' to boost the buyer's immune system and heal coronavirus.

A basic, standard or premium service is available for the prices of 16.10, 20.12 or 24.14.

Waves2cure's advert says: 'Im able to produce Scalar Healing Frequencies embedded with information code to energize and rebuild your immune system, using a photograph, name, and address of the person in question.'

It claims to be able to stop the mutation of the coronavirus and to 'neutralize coronavirus'.

Another Fiverr user  faizgujjar648  claimed to hold 'Islamic certifications' from the Quran and promised to 'restore health form coronavirs [sic]'.

They wrote: 'Just talk to me and I will provide you an Islamic supplication for your problems. I am a student of the Quran.'

A Fiverr spokesperson said: 'We are taking active measures to catch these services before they get onto the platform and remove any that do get through as quickly as possible.'

In the text of one of the adverts the writer says 'Hurry up! Coronavirus everywhere!' and then goes on to say they can 'neutralise coronavirus'

This listing says it can produce healing waves if you send a photograph, name and address for the person you want to heal

More than 71,000 people have now been infected with the coronavirus  almost all of them in China

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

The unusual listings come after MailOnline revealed last month that self-confessed 'witches' were trying to charge vulnerable alcoholics for 'spells' to cure their addictions.

African voodoo specialists were found offering bogus remedies to alcoholics from around the world.

One described themselves as a 'very experienced' and 'professional' spell-caster, who could 'bring results very fast' to stop alcohol addiction.

The Fiverr user  an account called afrospells which had dozens of glittering reviews  offered alcoholics a 'single cast' for 199.65.

The Ugandan seller's premium service, which promised customers three witches would deliver a super-strength spell, cost 519.10.

She claimed on her posting: 'My late mother was a very powerful witch and taught me how to perform powerful African Magic spells.'

But a leading addiction expert slammed the listings, saying they were exploiting vulnerable patients desperate for a cure.

And they warned giving up alcohol cold-turkey can be deadly, adding 'miracle cures dont exist'  despite false promises touted online.

Ian Hamilton, a senior lecturer in addiction at York University, told MailOnline he thought the alcoholism spells were 'truly bizarre'.

He said: 'These type of listings are clearly preying on people who are at their most desperate and falsely giving hope when they feel at their most pessimistic about being able to get out of their problematic relationship with alcohol.

'What makes these websites attractive is people can interact with these "specialists" anonymously.

'That's likely to be seductive due to the stigma and shame many people with alcohol addiction experience.'

Mr Hamilton feared anonymity was being used as a selling point, warning that the posts were 'exploiting this vulnerability in people with problems'.

He added: 'The dangerous aspect to this is it encourages the individual to abruptly stop drinking, this can be life-threatening for some dependent drinkers.

'The advice and evidence for people dependent on alcohol thinking about giving up is absolutely clear.

'They [people with alcohol dependency issues] should only do this with medical help and supervision to reduce harming themselves further.'

Fiverr removed the witch services after being alerted to them.
High Commission of the United Kingdom is in contact with Indian authorities over British MP Debbie Abrahams' restricted entry in the country, a spokesperson of the Mission said on Monday.

"We are in contact with the Indian authorities to understand why Deborah Abrahams MP was denied entry to India. We provided consular assistance to her whilst she was in New Delhi Airport," a British High Commission spokesperson told ANI.

Abrahams' e-visa was canceled so she was not allowed entry in Delhi today after she arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Emirates flight from Dubai at 9 a.m.

She was informed about it timely and with due process, informed sourced from the Ministry of Home Affairs told ANI.

According to media reports, Abrahams has been an outspoken critic of the Indian government's actions on Kashmir.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Stacey Abrams, the former Democratic gubernatorial candidate for Georgia who called out alleged voter suppression during her election, said Monday that she would be honored to be the vice presidential candidate on the 2020 Democratic ticket.

It would be doing a disservice to every woman of color, every woman of ambition, every child who wants to think beyond their known space for me to say no or to pretend, Oh, no, I dont want it,' Abrams said on ABCs The View. Of course I want it. Of course I want to serve America. Of course I want to be a patriot and do this work.

Abrams shot to notoriety in 2018 when she ran in Georgia to become the countrys first black female governor. She lost the election by 1.4 percentage points to her Republican opponent, Georgias secretary of state at the time, Brian Kemp, who enforced one of the strictest voter ID laws in the country while he was running against Abrams. Abrams has refused to concede the election ever since, alleging that Kemp engaged in voter suppression.

Abramss openness to accepting a vice presidential nomination comes after she signaled last year she would only run as a presidential candidate.

You dont run for second place, she said in a previous appearance on The View in March.

No 2020 Democratic candidate has asked the former Georgia House of Representatives minority leader to join them on the presidential ticket yet, Abrams revealed before saying she would be honored to serve as vice president.

However, because that conversation started, Im now getting the question a lot from folks, and the answer is of course I would be honored to run for vice president with the nominee and  Its a bit disconcerting because it seems really obnoxious for me to say that out loud since no ones asked me.

Abrams refused to endorse a particular candidate, saying her job right now is to fix our democracy by continuing her fight against voter suppression.

My best service is to be in that neutral space where its not about who the nominee is  its about making sure no matter who the nominee is, any person who wants to go and vote, can vote, she said, citing Fair Fight Action, her national campaign against voter suppression, which worked to expand voting access.

Story continues

Abrams has floated running for president at some point herself in recent months, and last month predicted the country will elect her head of the executive branch in the next 20 years.

Thats my plan, and Im very pragmatic, Abrams said.

I want to do good, and there is no stronger platform than president of the United States. And thats a position I want to one day hold, Abrams said.

More from National Review
In New Mexico, family is your pride in life. For so many, family is your whole life. And family proudly takes care of their own  whether immediate or extended relatives, we are one familia. But taking care of your own doesnt mean you cant accept help, and thats why Im sponsoring the Kinship Guardianship Act, Senate Bill 146, which will better support extended family taking care of children.

I am the proud permanent guardian to a wonderful 7-year-old girl whom I have known most of her life. For the past five years, I have been her caregiver and parent. I wake and feed her in the morning before taking her to school. In the evening we do homework after dinner, watch TV or play. We also have our rough patches, but that is family life. With me, she also has someone to tell her stories about her family, to make sure she knows who they are, and to answer the questions she has about them, especially as shes gotten older and wiser than her years.

With a formal guardianship through the Children, Youth and Families Department, kin  grandparent or other family members  and fictive kin  close family friends such as myself  are able to receive support from the department, which is a godsend when providing for and raising a child. For instance, CYFD ensures children in care have Medicaid throughout their young lives. Subsidies are available to help pay for basic needs because when any household, especially those of families on a fixed income, adds another member, especially unexpectedly, the household budget is strained. CYFD also has resources to help with parenting classes or to support the difficult family conversations that can come up when one is raising a child not born to them.

But right now, about half of those families with children in out-of-home placements are not receiving support from CYFD because of outdated federal law that limits support given to extended family members who have taken on the role of primary caregivers. I believe, as does CYFD, that all children and their caregivers should get the support they need. The Kinship Guardian Act closes this loophole.

Research shows that keeping kids inside their larger family framework greatly benefits the child. These children do better across measures of mental and behavioral health and educational achievement. They also achieve long-term housing permanency faster. Family placements are more likely to keep siblings together and help to maintain safe and appropriate bonds with the childs biological parents. Children experience less trauma in foster care when they are placed with relatives  it eliminates one more adverse childhood experience for that young person.

Right now, New Mexico places about 25% of children with extended family members. CYFD has a comprehensive plan focused on keeping children with their extended families whenever it is safe and healthy to do so. The department is asking more questions about family supports when children come into care, and workers are using family-finding software that helps track down relatives the department may not know about.

There will always be a need for traditional foster care, and CYFD is working hard to improve those relationships as well. Under Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, the department has initiatives planned or under way to make it easier for families to interact with the department as well as cut through the bureaucratic maze and provide trauma-informed support to these families who dedicate their lives to helping other families rebuild and reunify.

Building stronger families means keeping those families together as much as possible. The Kinship Guardianship Act will extend support to any family taking care of a child not their own, help families reunify, and help further the care and support so desperately needed for our most vulnerable children.
Xinhua | Feb. 17, 2020

European aircraft producer Airbus said on Saturday that the United States' decision to increase tariff on aircraft imported from the European Union further escalated trade tensions between the US and the EU.

The decision of the Office of US Trade Representative, or USTR, "further escalates trade tensions between the US and the EU, thereby creating more instability for US airlines that are already suffering from a shortage of aircraft", said the European plane maker in a statement.

"Airbus deeply regrets USTR's decision to increase tariffs on aircraft imported from the EU as well as the decision to maintain tariffs on goods from other sectors," the company said. The decision "ignores the many submissions made by US airlines, highlighting the fact that they--and the US flying public--will ultimately have to pay these tariffs", it added.

The USTR issued a notice on Friday, saying the US was increasing the additional duty rate imposed on aircraft imported from the EU to 15 percent from 10 percent, effective from March 18.

Duties have been at 10 percent since October, when Washington hit European products worth US$7.5 billion with tariffs.

This "further escalation complicates efforts to find a negotiated outcome to this dispute," said Airbus. "This is regrettable."

Airbus said it would continue to push for a negotiated settlement to this dispute.

Following US announcement of tariff action, former EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said: "We regret the choice of the US to move ahead with tariffs."

Noting that the EU and the US have both been found in breach of WTO rules, Malmstrom said "this step leaves us no alternative but to follow through in due course with our own tariffs in the Boeing case, where the US has been found in breach of WTO rules."

The US and the EU have been battling for 15 years over aircraft subsidies. Each side accused the other of failing to comply with the World Trade Organization's rulings and refusing to negotiate any settlement.

After WTO ruling on aircraft subsidies last year, the US levied additional tariffs on a wide range of EU goods, which took effect on Oct 18.

In the newly released statement, USTR Robert Lighthizer said he had decided to revise the action based on a review of the Section 301 action and following public comments.

Aside from hiking the tariffs for certain large civil aircraft, he is also modifying the list of other products of "certain current and former EU member states" subject to additional 25 percent duties, effective March 5.

According to an earlier statement from the Office of the USTR, new airplanes and other aircraft from Britain, France, Germany and Spain are subject to additional tariffs of 10 percent, while Scotch whiskies, cheese, olives, yogurt, and sweaters from certain countries are among the products to be hit by an additional tariff of 25 percent.
Vodafone Idea told the Supreme Court (SC) on Monday that it can only pay Rs 2,500 crore as part of its adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues to the government. The telecom operator added that it will pay another Rs 1,000 crore by February 21.

The telco appealed to the apex court that the department of telecommunication (DoT) should not take any forcible action and call forth any bank guarantees as it would further hinder its operations.

However, the SC did not grant Vodafone Idea any relief, dealing a blow to the telco which has to pay Rs 53,000 crore to the DoT as part of its AGR dues.

"Based on the overall review of the position, the Board has authorised the Company to immediately pay to DoT a portion of the dues calculated based on AGR (Adjusted Gross Revenue), aggregating to a sum of Rs 2,500 crores today and a further Rs 1,000 crores before the end of the week. The Board will take further stock of the situation to see how further additional payments can be made," Vodafone Idea said in a filing to the bourses on Friday.

Also Read: AGR crisis: Vodafone Idea to pay govt dues in next few days

"An urgent oral application made this morning before the Hon'ble Supreme Court for directions to be issued to the DoT to not take any coercive steps for recovery of AGR dues was not entertained by the Hon'ble Court," the telco further added.

Vodafone Idea had said last Saturday that it is assessing the amount that can be paid towards AGR dues, even as it flagged concerns over the continuation of its business.

Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel said on Monday that it has paid Rs 10,000 crore to the telecom department as the part amount of its adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues.

The telecom operator's spokesperson confirmed to BusinessToday.In that, it will pay the balance amount after completing the exercise of calculating (AGR) dues across 22 circles which will take at least a week to ten days. The company added that it shall make the payment before the next date of Supreme Court's (SC) hearing which is on March 17.

Also Read:Vodafone Idea share price rises over 18% after telco proposes to pay AGR dues in next few days

Bharti Airtel's overall AGR dues as assessed by the department of telecommunications (DoT) stand at Rs 35,586 crore including licence fee and spectrum usage charge.

The telecom department on February 14 began issuing orders asking firms such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea to clear past dues immediately.

The DoT, which faced the ire of the Supreme Court for putting on hold recovery of dues from telecom companies, had started issuing circle or zone-wise demand notices to the firms.

Airtel had previously responded to DoT order by offering to pay Rs 10,000 crore by February 20 and the remaining before March 17.

So far, only Reliance Jio has fully paid its AGR dues of Rs 195 crore.

Also Read: AGR-hit telcos set for another jolt; must pay additional service tax, GST on unpaid dues
- Senator James Orengo said he was saddened because the office of DP William Ruto had become a crime scene

- He said the DP was best placed to clear the air about the KSh 40 billion military fraud

- MP Ayub Savula echoed similar sentiments and said Ruto was bound by the constitution to set the record straight

- DP Ruto's office was dragged into a racket believed to have been masterminded by former CS Rashid Echesa

A section of leaders has said Deputy President William Ruto should set the record straight after his office was dragged in former Cabinet Secretary Rashid Echesa's KSh 40 billion fake military tender.

Led by Siaya Senator James Orengo, the leaders said the DP should say what he knows about the fraud which is believed to have been masterminded by Echesa.

READ ALSO: Couple goals: Jalang'o, lovely wife step out in cute matching outfits during Buju Banton concert

Orengo said Ruto should clear the air about the fraud in which his name is dragged. Photo: William Samoei Ruto.

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Send Mpesa: Kenyan boldly asks Justin Bieber for money favor after popstar responded to him

Speaking during an event, Orengo said he was saddened that the office of the DP was in the syndicate and further said Ruto's failure to set the record straight only exacerbates the issue.

"The DP should tell us what he knows because if there is something he knows, he must tell the Republic of Kenya so that the office of the deputy president may be respected," Orengo said.

READ ALSO: DCI wapekua afisi ya DP Ruto, wabeba kamera za CCTV

The senator said the Sugoi man was better placed to shed light about the racket.

" If he does not know, then something is wrong with him," said the legislator.

Ex-CS is believed to have masterminded a KSH 40 billion scam in DP's office. Photo: UGC.

Source: Facebook

Lugari MP Ayub Savula echoed similar sentiments and said the second in command was bound by the constitution to record a statement.

"Whenever matters touching on criminality affect your institution, you ought to record a statement for the police to get a clear indication of what happened.

Savula said Ruto owed it to Kenyans to come clean and explain how the saga unfolded in his office.

James Orengo said the DP's office had become a crime scene. Photo: UGC.

Source: Facebook

DP's office was dragged into the KSh 40 billion fake military tender after the foreign investors who had been contracted to provide military equipment said they met Echesa in Harambee House Annex.

The investors said the former CS had promised them a meeting with the second in command in order to finalise the deal.

However, on Saturday, February 15, the man from Sugoi said his political opponents had choreographed the fraud as a smear campaign.

He told his opponents to leave him alone and let him serve Kenyans in his capacity as the DP.

The suspect was arrested on the morning of Thursday, February 13.

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.

Wife from heaven | Tuko TV | My Story

Source: TUKO.co.ke
The Beckham family came out in force to support Victoria's London Fashion Week autumn/winter '20 presentation on Sunday.

And the Spice Girl turned fashion designer proudly shared behind the scenes photos of her big day.

Victoria took to Instagram after her show at Whitehall's Banqueting House to post photos of her family celebrating, revealing that her daughter Harper, eight, was dressed to impress for the LFW hot ticket.

Her first VB! The Beckham family came out in force to support Victoria's LFW presentation on Sunday, with Harper, eight, modelling her first couture dress from her designer mother

Victoria, 45, shared a snap of Harper modelling her 'first ever couture dress' as she thanked 'Team VB' for creating the floral print design as her delighted daughter posed with Ruta, one of the dressmakers.

'Harper loves her first ever Victoria Beckham dress!! X kisses,' the proud mum captioned the photos.

The designer also shared a sweet photo of husband David, 44, with his mother Sandra and her mum Jackie backstage before the show started.

With both mums dressed in sharp tailored suits from Victoria's collection, a beaming David sat between them, putting his arms around the ladies as they sat in the beautifully decorated room at Banqueting House.

Designer dress: Victoria proudly shared behind the scenes photos of her big day including one of Harper posing with Ruta, one of the dressmakers who helped create the dress

Family: The designer also shared a sweet photo of husband David, 44, with his mother Sandra and her mum Jackie backstage before the show started

Her number one fans: David cosied up his youngest child as the celebrated another triumphant show for Victoria

After the show Victoria uploaded a photo to her Instagram Stories as she celebrated with her family at the Standard London.

The mother of four cosied up to David, with the duo ditching their smart show looks for party outfits. Victoria wowed in a maroon and teal sweater, while her husband was dapper in a leather jacket.

David was front row for the show, sitting with three of the couple's four children  Romeo, 17; Cruz, 14, and Harper, eight  while 20-year-old son Brooklyn missed out on the event.

Party time! After the show Victoria uploaded a photo to her Instagram Stories as she celebrated with her family at the Standard London

Front and centre: David and his children (L-R) Romeo, Cruz and Harper sat frown row at Whitehall's Banqueting House on Sunday morning

Applause: Victoria stepped out onto the runway to enthusiastic applause from the well-heeled crowd following the presentation. She looked typically stylish in a white tiered blouse and with high-waisted black trousers and vertiginous heels

Ever the doting dad, he was seen cradling his daughter in his lap as they settled into their prized seats at Whitehall's Banqueting House, where they were flanked by Vogue's Anna Wintour and British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful.

Following the show, Victoria took to her Instagram account to share half a dozen select images from the presentation, along with a series of captions explaining her inspiration.

She wrote: 'This season I was thinking about the tension between refinement and rebellion.

Chat: David was spotted leaning over for a chat with British Vogue's editor-in-chief Edward Enninful

We are family: Proud dad David sat with his eight-year-old daughter on his lap as he settled in beside Vogue's Anna Wintour

Gentle rebellion: Victoria concluded of her line, 'The collection is about staying true to ourselves and our woman, but still surprising her, and us. Twisting our codes. This is what I call my gentle rebellion'

'I was inspired by different ideas of women - different characters, different moments and different attitudes - but with no restrictions... We dont have to follow the rules. We can follow our instincts. Be spirited.

'The silhouette has evolved with a newness, a freshness. Shorter abbreviated proportions feel different and right for now.

'I wanted to explore how to honor tradition but challenge convention. To be subversive yet still sophisticated.

'The collection is about staying true to ourselves and our woman, but still surprising her, and us. Twisting our codes. This is what I call my gentle rebellion.'

Pics: The doting dad uploaded some shots of himself and his children to Instagram Stories
The Centre told the Supreme Court on Monday that on an average the government takes 127 days for clearing the recommendation sent to it during the process of appointment judges in higher judiciary, whereas the apex court Collegium takes 119 days to deal with it.

Attorney General K K Venugopal told a bench of Justice S K Kaul and Justice K M Joseph that high courts across the country have not even recommended the names for appointment of judges for 199 out of 396 vacancies.

Taking note of Venugopal's submissions, the apex court asked the registrars general of all the high courts to explain the current vacancy position as on today and also the vacancies which would arise in the future.

The bench said registrars general of the high courts would also explain within four weeks the time period required by them for making recommendations for the vacancy of judges.

At the outset, Venugopal apprised the court about the average number of days taken by different authorities during the process of appointment of judges for higher judiciary.

"The number of days taken by the government after receiving IB (Intelligence Bureau) inputs is 127 days. The number of days taken by the Collegium is 119 days," he said.

When the bench referred to the number of days being taken by the government after receiving IB report, Venugopal said, "Suppose there is an adverse IB report, we have to verify it. We cannot blindly forward it. See the number of days taken by the Supreme Court Collegium after recommendation is made".

During the hearing, the bench said there were two suggestions on the aspect of appointment of judges.

"The first is to see how this time period is reduced at all stages. The other is if it is taking too much time then instead of recommending names six months in advance, it can be extended by one year," the bench said.

Venugopal said that as on day, around 80 proposals are pending with the apex court Collegium.

The bench observed, "Last year, the number of appointments were less as compared to 2017 and 2018. The year 2019 saw around 60 appointments. When the Supreme Court Collegium reiterates a name, how can you keep it pending? Because under the law you are bound by it".

"Twenty-five names were reiterated by the Collegium. Can you hold back the appointment?" the bench asked, adding, "The procedure is clear. Once Supreme Court Collegium reiterates any name, it is binding on you. There is no question of state government saying anything on it".

"Neither you nor we can re-open the issue (NJAC). What prevents you from bringing a new law on it?" the bench asked Venugopal who quickly responded, "We can pass one more amendment if you want".

Venugopal then said there are some high courts, like Bombay, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, which takes nearly five years to report vacancy.

"Issue notices to all the high courts and ask them why this delay? Only then the system will fall into place. Where is the question of government doing nothing?," he said.

The bench said it was concerned with the fact that there was around 35 to 37 per cent vacancy in the high courts.

"If we are not doing anything, we need to be pushed. The same goes for the government," the bench said.

Senior advocate Vikas Singh told the bench that there were four high courts where the vacancy was over 50 per cent and out of sanctioned strength of 1,079 judges for high courts there are 396 vacancies.

"I find this in the Delhi High Court also. By the month of June, they will be reduced to strength of 32. This is a problem," Justice Kaul observed.

Venugopal told the bench that "rate of rejection" of names by the Collegium was around 35 per cent. "Collegium of high courts and the Supreme Court do not appear to be on the same page," the bench said.

When Venugopal said that the Law Commission of India should make an elaborate study on the issue of judicial appointments process, the bench said, "We do not have a chairman of the Law Commission after retirement of Justice B S Chauhan."



The bench also observed that once the name of a person is recommended for appointment as judge, there are instances of complaints being filed against him or her.

"Effort should be on how to make the system better," the bench said and posted the matter for hearing on March 21.

The apex court had earlier said that appointments must be made within six months of a person's name being cleared by the Collegium and the government.

The bench is seized of a transfer petition, originating from Odisha, where lawyers were observing strike in several districts demanding circuit benches of high court in other parts of the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Redding police arrest 2 wanted felons

A police stand-off came to an end with two people taken into custody after officers launched pepper spray into the home. It happened in Redding at a home on Peterson Lane. Police said they arrested Derrick Steele and Kaula Reed on warrants. Steele first tried to run, but then went inside the home and refused commands to come out. Police said they eventually forced the door open and made arrested both men.

Chico house party results in shooting

A house party shooting sent one person to the hospital and this morning, police investigators are working to figure out what happened. It happened near West Second Avenue and Warner Street in Chico, just after midnight Saturday. A 20-year-old man arrived at the Enloe Medical Center suffering from a gunshot wound. He is expected to be okay.

6-year-old girl attacked by a mountain lion saved by adult who punched it in the ribs

Park rangers at an open space preserve in Santa Clara County say a mountain lion attacked a 6-year-old girl on Sunday. And adults punched the cat in the ribs and made loud noises, enough to scare the animal off. The girl suffered puncture wounds on her leg, she is expected to be okay. The park is now closed while rangers search for the cat.

Pearl River's third-highest crest on record causes flooding in Jackson, Mississippi

People in Mississippi are bracing for more flooding with more rain anticipated across the state, and the already rain-swollen Pearl River is expected to crest today. The governor issued a state of emergency Saturday. The National Guard and Highway Patrol are on standby. Rescue teams are on the ground helping families and their pets out of homes.

2 people are dead after getting trapped under an avalanche they accidentally triggered

Two people are dead after their snowmobiles triggered an avalanche. Deputies said the avalanche buried three snowmobilers under the snow. One man was able to free himself and go for help. The Colorado Avalanche Information Center said the conditions for an avalanche were rated as considerable risk. This means cautious route-finding and conservative decision making is essential.

US agency to pay for 11,000 miles of fuel breaks in 6 states

The Bureau of Land Management has announced plans to fund 11,000 miles of strategic fuel breaks in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada, and Utah in an effort to help control wildfires. The BIM said wildfires are getting bigger and more frequent across the western states. Between 2009 and 2018, more than 13.5 million acres of BIM acreage burned.

Trading quarantines, Americans from cruise land in US



One of two charters flights carrying more than 300 Americans cruise ship passengers from Japan landed at Travis Air Force base just before midnight. They were allowed to leave that ship where they have been quarantined for almost two weeks due to an outbreak of the coronavirus. Those evacuees will now remain in quarantine at the military bases for another two weeks.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Two European fathers who live in Japan will urge EU lawmakers this week to increase pressure on Tokyo to tackle parental child abduction by changing a law that does not recognise joint child custody following divorce.

Frenchman Vincent Fichot and Italian Tommaso Perina will present a petition to the bloc's legislative assembly in Brussels on Wednesday to demand action against cases of so-called parental child abduction affecting Europeans living in Japan.

The two men -- who both became estranged from their children after their Japanese wives took them without consent -- say Japan should be sanctioned for breaching its human rights obligation under the EU-Japan Strategic Partnership Agreement.

In contrast to most other countries, Japan does not recognise joint custody of children following divorce and children often lose contact with the non-custodial parent.

In what critics say is an even more egregious human rights violation, courts often grant custody to an "abducting" parent even before any legal separation, leaving the second parent with no recourse or help to see their children.

In order to initiate diplomatic actions, the French Senate on Feb. 5 unanimously adopted a non-binding resolution calling on Japan to respect its international commitments under the Hague Convention.

EU lawmaker Geoffroy Didier called on the EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell in a letter dated Jan. 23 to suspend the EU-Japan Strategic Partnership Agreement which is aimed at promoting shared values of "democracy, rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms."

The plight of left-behind parents last year also prompted French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Giuseppe Conte to raise their concerns with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, while Japanese and foreign left-behind parents have also collectively launched a complaint to the U.N.'s human rights body.

Several countries including Italy and Germany have posted travel advisories for Japan, warning of the consequences of parental child abductions as Tokyo prepares to host the Olympic Games this year.

(Reporting by Marine Strauss @StraussMarine and Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Helen Popper)
Stock markets mostly rebounded Monday, with investors assessing the economic fallout from the new coronavirus. After Wall Street's muddled performance on Friday and with US markets closed Monday for a holiday, traders turned their attention to some grim Asian economic news. Japan's economy suffered the worst quarterly contraction in more than five years, while Singapore cut its growth forecast for 2020 as the virus batters the city-state's tourism and trade. Europe's largest economy Germany has reported zero growth in the last quarter of 2019, and the International Monetary Fund warned that the virus could damage global economic activity this year. The euro on Monday hit a near three-year low at $1.0822 in Asian trading hours, before recovering. - 'Without a paddle' - "The European Commission is assuming 1.2 percent growth across euro-area in 2020 but markets appear to be less optimistic," said Jasper Lawler, head of research at traders LCG. However, Eurogroup chief Mario Centeno said on Monday he thought the impact of the coronavirus on the eurozone would be "temporary". Investors in China, comforted by a slowdown in new infections outside hardest-hit Hubei province in recent days, may be in for a rude awakening if economic data start to plunge, said Stephen Innes of AxiCorp. "If it comes out bad enough for confidence to plummet, investors could quickly find themselves up the creek... without a paddle," he said. "Financial markets are not known for their rational thinking lately and given the 500 million or so mainlanders affected by the (COVID-19) quarantine... it's also not hard to come up with more downside risks than upside ones right now," Innes said. Mainland China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed up 2.3 percent after the central bank announced measures aimed at cushioning the economy against the health crisis. - Rate cut in disguise - On Monday, the People's Bank of China offered 200 billion yuan ($29 billion) of one-year medium-term loans at a 3.15 percent interest rate, 10 basis points lower than previously. It also added 100 billion yuan to money markets through reverse repurchase agreements. Wanlong Securities said the central bank's steps amounted to an "interest rate cut in disguise". "The market got a boost from these supportive measures," it said in a client note. - Key figures around 1640 GMT - London - FTSE 100: UP 0.3 percent at 7,433.25 points (close) Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 0.3 percent at 13,783.89 (close) Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 6,085.95 (close) EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.3 percent at 3,853.27 Shanghai - Composite: UP 2.3 percent at 2,983.62 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 0.6 percent at 27,975.57 (close) Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.7 percent at 23,523.24 (close) New York - CLOSED for bank holiday Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0834 from $1.0831 Friday Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3012 from $1.3047 Euro/pound: UP at 83.26 pence from 83.01 pence Dollar/yen: UP at 109.93 from 109.78 Brent Crude: DOWN 0.1 percent at $57.18 per barrel West Texas Intermediate: FLAT at $52.07 burs/jh/pma
Ivanka Trump lauded Sunday a handful of Mideast countries, including close US allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, for embarking on significant reforms to advance women's rights, while speaking at a gathering of women entrepreneurs and regional leaders in Dubai.

The daughter of US President Donald Trump was delivering the keynote address at the two-day Global Women's Forum held in an opulent resort overlooking the city's Persian Gulf coastline.

We know that when women are free to succeed, families thrive, communities flourish and nations are stronger, Trump said.

The theme of the forum in Dubai was The Power of Influence. It was an apt theme for Trump, whose loyalty and support for her father's presidency saw her and her husband, Jared Kushner, take up formal roles in the White House as his advisers.

The 38-year-old mother of three has positioned herself as an Oval Office confidante while spearheading initiatives that broadly back women's empowerment. Her husband has become a top adviser on US Mideast policy.

Once the owner of an eponymous fashion line, Ivanka Trump has wielded her proximity to the president to promote policies affecting women and deliver speeches around the world about women's economic empowerment. She meets with world leaders as a key White House official.

Some of her efforts even have some bipartisan support in Washington, standing in sharp contrast to the level of controversy and political division surrounding her father's presidency.

In her keynote speech at the women's forum in Dubai on Sunday, Trump touted what she said was the progress of women in the United States.

Today, American women are leading in every aspect of society. Last year, there were more women than men in the United States workforce, with women securing over 70 per cent of new jobs, she said in her address.

Trump made no mention, however, of legislative obstacles in the US around paid family leave, which she and the US president support. Currently, just a few US states offer paid leave.

While questions continue to swirl over just how much influence she wields with her father, the US president gave a glimpse into their relationship in 2017 when he wrote on Twitter: She is a great person -- always pushing me to do the right thing!" She's previously said that when she disagrees with her father, he knows it".

During her speech in Dubai, Trump congratulated Saudi Arabia for recent changes in the law that allow women to travel abroad and obtain a passport without the permission of a male relative.

In 2018, a ban on women driving cars was lifted.

The changes are part of a wide-ranging push to transform the Saudi economy, attract greater foreign investment and ease international criticism.

Trump pointed to changes in other Mideast countries, as well. She said Bahrain had introduced legislation against discrimination in the workplace; Jordan had eliminated legal restrictions on women's ability to work at night; Morocco had expanded women's land rights; and Tunisia had introduced laws to combat domestic violence.

She said, though, more work needed to be done. She noted that across the region, women on average still have only half the legal rights of men.

The audience for her speech in the UAE included Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, World Bank President David Malpass and International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva.

The Dubai ruler is wildly popular at home and is seen as a modernising force.

He has, however, faced some criticism abroad concerning women's rights following reports that one of his daughters tried to flee the country and was forcibly returned.

In previous years, Jordanian Princess Haya, with whom Sheikh Mohammed has two children, would have attended a forum of this kind by his side, but she too has reportedly fled the country and is seeking custody of their children in a British court.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia have worked to cultivate close ties with the Trump administration and were early supporters of the Women's Empowerment Fund, a World Bank initiative to help female entrepreneurs that Ivanka Trump strongly backs.

During the first trip abroad of her father's presidency to Saudi Arabia, the two Gulf countries pledged USD 100 million to the fund.

In her speech at Sunday's forum, Trump lauded Emirati leaders for removing barriers to women joining the workforce and developing a national strategy that recognizes that women are central to sustainable growth.

She noted that although 70 per cent of Emirati university graduates are women, only 10 per cent of the UAE's total national income is derived from women.

We know that this going to grow and flourish in the years ahead, she said.

During her two-day visit to the UAE, Trump met with women entrepreneurs and discussed a US government project she's leading that's aimed at helping women in developing countries.

The Women's Global Development and Prosperity Initiative was launched last year with backing by her father.

On Saturday, she toured Abu Dhabi's grand mosque, visited Abu Dhabi's branch of the Louvre Museum, and met privately with the country's day-to-day ruler, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed.
By IANS

RANCHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday targeted the Hemant Soren government in Jharkhand over the brutal killing of seven tribal people in West Singhbhum district in January.

"Seven tribal people were killed in the most brutal way in Jharkhand. I have never heard of such killings in my life. They were abducted and later beheaded. A team of BJP MPs had gone to the spot and the photographs which I saw were disturbing. No action has been taken so far.

"BJP will not sit quietly if law and order continues to deteriorate. BJP will fight both inside the Assembly and on the streets," Shah said while addressing a gathering following the return of former Chief Minister and Jharkhand Vikas Morcha President Babulal Marandi to the BJP here on Monday.

"BJP lost in the Assembly polls and we respect the mandate. We will do more work as the opposition. BJP does not work to grab power, it works to take the country forward. The Raghubar Das govt implemented each scheme of the Narendra Modi-led government -- from electricity, toilets to providing gas cylinders to every household. Now Narendra Modi has decided to take water to each household by 2024.

"The Modi government made way for Ram Mandir. Soon a grand temple will be constructed. We also scrapped Article 370 and made Kashmir part of India. Bodo issues too have been settled," Shah said.

Speaking on the return of Marandi, Shah said, "It is true that I tried to bring Marandi back into BJP since 2014. I can assure you that we consider you as part of BJP. You and the others joinig the BJP will be given respect and position in the party."
The National Company Law Tribunal on Monday granted three days to suspended directors of tours and travel services firm Cox & Kings for submitting statutory information and records to the resolution professional (RP).

The RP of the tours and travel company told the tribunal that the former directors and the erstwhile auditor are not submitting statutory information and records, which is making the insolvency process difficult.

The Mumbai bench of the NCLT in October 2019 admitted an insolvency application against Cox & Kings after the tour operator defaulted on its debt obligations to the company's financial creditor, Ratan India Finance.

In November 2019, the tribunal had directed the suspended directors to cooperate with the RP.

The NCLT Mumbai has granted time till Thursday to the former directors to cooperate, and in case of a failure to do so the tribunal will lodge a police complaint.

In May and June 2019, Ratan India had approved Rs 70 crore loans to Cox & Kings, of this Rs 30 crore was disbursed by the financial creditor at an interest of 13.5 per cent per annum with a maturity date of August 31.

The loans were secured by guarantee deeds extended by the tour operator towards the financial creditor.

Ratan India had recalled its loan facility as Cox & Kings defaulted on repaying an instalment on the loan amounting to Rs 2.50 crore, which was due for repayment in June. The financial creditor filed an application under Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code to recover the amount lent to the tour and travel company.

The tribunal, while allowing the application, imposed a moratorium on institution of suits or continuation of pending suits against Cox & Kings with effect from October 22, 2019, and had directed the interim resolution professional to make a public announcement of the corporate insolvency resolution process against the company.

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

The California Court of Appeal on Thursday upheld a unanimous jury verdict in a retaliation case involving San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera.

The court upheld the jury's finding that Herrera illegally retaliated against San Francisco Chief Trial Deputy Joanne Hoeper by firing her after she discovered a scheme happening at Herrera's office.

The court upheld the jury's verdict, awarding Hoeper $5 million in damages and attorney's fees.

According to Hoeper's attorneys, Hoeper found evidence that the City Attorney's Claims Unit colluded with plumbing companies to pay hundreds of illegal claims involving alleged damage to sewers that weren't really damaged.

Hoeper learned the scheme went as far back as 2007 and cost taxpayers an estimated $10 million, her attorneys said.

When Hoeper informed Herrera of her findings, a Claims Unit employee allegedly told her, "You'll be sorry," according to Hoeper's attorneys.

After Hoeper was fired, Herrera claimed it was because of his dissatisfaction in her handling of matters years prior to the sewer investigation. The jury, however, found that Herrera's criticism was pretextual and her firing was to cover up the scheme, Hoeper's attorneys said.

"I lost the career I loved protecting the city I love," Hoeper said in a statement. "I hope this long-delayed victory encourages other public employees to do the right thing, be true to their oath and report wrongdoing. I hope it sends a strong signal to the city attorney and to other elected officials that, at least in California, firing whistleblowers is illegal and there will be consequences."

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.
A round 10,000 men have taken part in Hadaka Matsuri, a naked festival in Japan's Honshu Island.

Clad in only loincloths, the men braved freezing temperatures on Saturday in celebration of prosperity and fertility.

The main event saw competitors gather at the Saidaiji Kannonin Temple in Okayama Prefacture at around 10pm on Saturday where they tried to snatch one of two 20cm-long "shingi" wooden sticks thrown by a priest into the crowd.

The two sticks, seen as lucky talismans, are thrown among 100 bundles of twigs and if caught are meant to bring the catcher good fortune.

The traditional festival is believed to be around 500 years old / Reuters

This year, most men escaped with just a few cuts and bruises from the 30-minute tussle in contract with to past festivals when some have been crushed to death.

Similar naked festivals are held throughout Japan as part of a tradition that is said to stretch back five centuries.

Clothes were removed after the event became so popular men's clothes would be ripped from their bodies during the tussle / Reuters

"Once a year, at the coldest time in February, we wrap ourselves in just a loincloth to be a man," said 55-year-old Yasuhiko Tokuyama, the president of a regional electronics firm.

"That's the significance of this event and why I continue to participate."

People have been crushed to death during previous years of the raucous festival / Reuters

Plenty of sake and beer is sold outside the temple to warm the revellers who are encouraged to take a purifying plunge into pools of cold water before the start of the festival.
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. Reporter Dana Mazalova who interviewed former president of Azerbaijan Ayaz Mutalibov and published the article in Nezavisimaya Gazeta reaffirms that irrespective of the efforts of the incumbent president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to distort the reality, her article is in full compliance with what former Azerbaijani president Ayaz Mutalibov said during the interview which took place in April, 1992.

The reporter regrets that she was unable to preserve the recording due to technical reasons.

There was no internet, there were no computers, but I reaffirm that what I wrote back then are what Ayaz Mutalibov said, I have not added anything. Now he can deny it as he wants, but he said it the way it is printed in Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper. I have the copy of that newspaper and its available on the net, Ayaz Mutalibov has said it, Dana Mazalova said in an exclusive interview with ARMENPRESS. Mutalibov gave an interview to Dana Mazalova after 1 month following his resignation.

Mazalova heard about the tragic events of Khojaly from the video recordings of cameraman Chingiz Mustafayev, who had personally made exclusive records. Chingiz, whom I met in Kislovodsk, told me in his apartment how those people were killed, they were hurting their knees so they couldn't go. The knees the most vulnerable place on humans body. I was scheduled to take an interview from Ayaz Mutalibov the next day. I could not help asking him what I had seen in the records made by Chingiz. Of course, I did not say the name of my friend Chingiz not to harm him. After 2 months Chingiz was killed, the reporter recalls with grief.

Dana Mazalova told also about another recording of Chingiz Mustafayev. The bodies of the victims of Khojaly events were seen in a video recording done on February 28 in front of the military positions of the Popular Front of Azerbaijani troops. According to Muslim traditions, the bodies should have been buried within two days, but Chingiz Mustafayev could record them also on March 2, but this time the bodies were taken to another place and were vandalized. In the video recording of February 28 it could be seen that Azerbaijani soldiers were walking near the bodies.

I feel very guilty for not taking and copying those recordings. I feel so sorry up till now. I think you understand that my interview with Mutalibov was the result of those video recordings and my conversations with Chingiz, Mazalova said.

To the remark of the reporter of ARMENPRESS that incumbent president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev used the public platform of Munich Security Conference on February 15 to deny the words of Mutalibov, Mazalova emphasized, I will put this way. We know that Turkey denies the Armenian Genocide up till now.

One month after the Khojaly tragedy Azerbaijani president Ayaz Mutalibov was interviewed by Czech reporter Dana Mazalova.

 What would you say about the Khojaly events, after which you resigned? At the time, bodies of people from Khojaly were discovered not far from Aghdam. Someone had shot them in the legs beforehand to prevent them from running away. Afterwards they were axed. On February 29th my colleagues filmed them. When we next filmed on March 2 these corpses had been scalped. What kind of strange game was that?

 As the rescued residents of Khojaly say, all that was organized to create grounds for my resignation. I dont think that the Armenians, who had manifested a clear and knowledgeable approach to such situations, would have allowed Azerbaijanis to obtain evidence that tied them to fascist acts. If I declare that it was the fault of the Azerbaijani opposition I could be blamed for slander. But the overall picture of the conclusions is as follows: the Armenians had, in any case, provided a corridor to let the civilians escape. Why then would they shoot? As soon as Khojaly was surrounded by tanks it was necessary to immediately lead the civilians out. Earlier I had given similar orders regarding Shushi  to evacuate women and children and to leave only men in the city. Its one of the laws of war  civilians must be rescued. My conduct was appropriate and unambiguous  I gave such orders, but why they werent followed in Khojaly is not clear to me.

Photo from Novoe Vremya

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
By Dan Williams

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli commercial planes have started overflying Sudan, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday, casting the new air corridor as the result of a breakthrough meeting with the African Muslim country's de-facto leader this month.

Khartoum said on Feb. 5 it had given Israeli planes initial approval to fly over its territory, two days after Sudan's military head of state, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, met Netanyahu in Uganda.

"Now we're discussing rapid normalisation. The first Israeli airplane passed yesterday over the skies of Sudan," Netanyahu said in a speech to U.S. Jewish leaders, saying the route cut some three hours off flights from Israel to South America.

Sudan, mindful of pro-Palestinian sensitivities, has stopped short of saying it is normalising ties with Israel.

Israel previously considered Sudan a security threat because it suspected Iran used Sudan as a conduit for overland smuggling of munitions to the Gaza Strip. In 2009, regional sources said, Israeli aircraft bombed an arms convoy in Sudan.

The corridor described by Netanyahu would also take planes over Egypt, which made peace with Israel in 1979, and Chad, which in 2018 restored long-severed relations with Israel.

Normalising relations with Sudan, where Arab states gathered in 1967 to issue what became known as the Three Nos - no recognition of Israel, no peace with Israel and no negotiations with Israel - would allow Netanyahu to burnish his diplomatic credentials a month before Israels March 2 election.

Since their meeting, the air corridor is the most prominent development that has been discussed publicly by both sides.

Israeli commentators have speculated that the new contacts with Khartoum could allow for the repatriation of illegal Sudanese migrants in Israel, and that Israel could in turn lobby the United States to improve Sudan's standing in Washington.

(Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Alison Williams)
BANGKOK THAILAND - Media OutReach - 17 February 2020 - Fake account and famous IT store brands such as iStore, Taradphone are being used by scammers to lure unsuspecting online shoppers into fake e-stores, according to a new finding by Taradphone.









Dr. Chaiyapong Akkarakitjinda

Managing Director, Taradphone, Thailand

Scammers frequently used logo and imagery from famous stores or pictures of good-looking people to defraud online shoppers that they are buying phones from reputable sources, when in reality they might receive a counterfeit item or nothing.

Dr. Chaiyapong Akkarakitjinda, Managing Director of Taradphone, Thailand largest online-based used mobile stores, revealed that attractive discount and low instalment on hi-end used smartphone are common strategies online scammers prey on victims.

"There are increasing number of victims, which cause approximately 2.5 million SGD lost each year. Thai polices are working hard on this, but still."

Not only hi-end used smartphone such as iPhone 11 and Samsung Galaxy 9, but also luxury items are popular for online scammers to fool victims.

"There are numbers of website developed to be online tools for shoppers to check and to notify about blacklisted sellers. The growth of these website is on the rise, but not that much."

However, this is like a beacon of hope that consumers help each other fighting cyber crime by actively exposing ill-intent sellers.

Nevertheless, prevention is the best defence, added Dr. Chaiyapong. "Before making any purchase or submitting to a long-term contract, check for seller good tracking records, and verification information regarding their identity and services. Consumers should be well-advised not to conclusively rely on product reviews, because they can be easily made up without any proof by the cyber criminals."





ABOUT TARADPHONE

Taradphone is Thailand largest online-based used mobile stores with 2 branches in leading department stores in the heart of Bangkok.

Story continues

Established in 2018, a broken smartphone gave a young architect an idea for upscale, standardise and increase the quality of second handed smartphone market in Thailand. With the benefits of digital era and social media, Taradphone is now No. 1 most trusted brand for used smartphone store in Thailand. Please visit www.taradphone.com , https://www.facebook.com/taradphonethailand/
Belgium's only coronavirus patient said he was 'going for a kebab and a beer' after he was released from quarantine.

Philip Soubry left the Saint-Pierre hospital in Brussels after testing negative for the virus for two days in a row.

The 54-year-old patient did not show any symptoms of the virus while in hospital and did not feel sick, according to Flemish broadcaster VRT.

As he left the hospital with a suitcase on Saturday night he said he was 'extremely relieved' and would celebrate with a pint, a takeaway and a visit to his parents.

Philip Soubry (pictured) left the Saint-Pierre hospital in Brussels after testing negative for the virus for two days in a row

'After two weeks in such a small room I am very relieved. It was very difficult,' Mr Soubry told journalists outside the hospital.

'First I will say hello to my parents in Gullegem and then I will drink a pint and eat a kebab,' he said.

'I've been looking forward to that for a long time. Because I was really fed up with eating at the hospital.'

Mr Soubry was one of nine Belgians flown home on a rescue flight from Wuhan, the city at the centre of the outbreak.

All nine had a series of tests at a military hospital when they returned, but Mr Soubry was the only one to test positive.

The other eight have been kept under observation at the military hospital, and were due to leave at the weekend.

The Belgian case caused some alarm in Britain after it emerged that the patient had travelled on the same flight as UK citizens returning from China.

Belgium's health agency said the patient was on board the flight back to France, which carried passengers from 30 other countries.

The hospital in Brussels where the 54-year-old patient was kept in quarantine after testing positive for the virus two weeks ago

World health bosses recommend a 14-day isolation period for anyone who may have come into contact with a virus patient.

Drugmakers are racing to develop a vaccine and treatment for the epidemic.

The 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 central Hubei province before spreading across the country.

Outside China, the biggest cluster of infections is from the Diamond Princess cruise ship off Japan's Yokohama, 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.
News reports from Kenya indicate that the country is edging closer to 5G rollout. The early indications are that leading operator Safaricom, pioneer of mobile money and the dominant force in the market, with close to two thirds of all subscribers, will be the first company to launch 5G.

Safaricom has not only suggested that it will this year launch Kenyas first fifth-generation mobile internet services but that the initial focus will be mainly on major urban centres. This will make Safaricom the first operator to offer such services in the East African region. Admittedly ZTE and MTN Uganda recently jointly launched the first 5G SA network in East Africa but this appears to have been a showcase rather than a commercial launch.

Safaricom's acting CEO Michael Joseph told the press that the company had completed testing and trials for the 5G network. The companys aim is to capitalise on burgeoning mobile internet use in the country, not least because of slowing growth in voice calls revenue. It was in fact reported last year that fellow operator Airtel Kenya had boosted its subscriber base after a period of sustained cheaper tariffs, possibly eating into Safaricoms numbers.

That said, figures quoted by the press indicate that Safaricoms web data revenue has grown fourfold over the past five years to approximately $377 million, overtaking sales growth from its voice business. Thus 5G could boost any attempts to expand its data business in what is a sizeable market. GSMA Intelligence figures indicate that mobile coverage has increased to 96 per cent of the population.

Of course the continuing use of 3G and growth of 4G in the country means that subscriber take-up of 5G  requiring expensive new handsets  is unlikely to happen overnight. Also, at the moment Safaricoms choice of vendor partner or partners is unknown.
Obstacles to Ireland's hope of continued lucrative trade with Britain continue to mount up ahead of talks on a new EU-UK relationship which are due to open next month.

The French government has warned London to prepare for a bitter, bloody battle in the Brexit trade talks with the EU.

The French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian yesterday bluntly said the two sides would "rip each other apart".

These comments follow warnings from the UK prime minister late last week that there would be "no border in the Irish Sea", raising concerns about the durability of no visible border between Ireland North and south.

Brussels diplomats are working on ground rules for negotiations on future EU-UK relations in talks not due to start until next month.

But London and Brussels have already clashed over rules for British financial firms' access to the EU after Brexit.

Mr Le Drian said it would be tough to achieve Britain's aim of agreeing a free trade deal by the end of the year, with the two sides far apart on a range of issues.

"I think that on trade issues and the mechanism for future relations, which we are going to start on, we are going to rip each other apart," Mr Le Drian told a security conference in Munich. "But that is part of negotiations, everyone will defend their own interests."

Britain finally left the EU on January 31.

But nothing has yet changed because of a transition period due to last until the end of this year.

France is among eight nations - which also include Ireland - concerned about continued access to UK fishing grounds.

Irish boats take up to one-third of the value of the national catch in these waters and the potential loss to Ireland could run to 500m per year with the extra loss of more EU vessels piling into Irish waters.

For London the amounts at stake are relatively modest.

But fishery waters are a big political issue going back decades and the UK wants full autonomy and limited access for European fishermen.

"Let's hope the talks are done as quickly as possible, but there are a lot of issues and some difficult points to deal with," said Mr Le Drian, who is from the important French fishing region of Brittany.

EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said the EU's top priorities are fishing, security co-operation and maintaining fair trading conditions for European companies.

He has told the UK government it could not presume on continued access to the EU for its prized financial services sector unless it was prepared to make other concessions.

Mr Barnier firmly rejected a British suggestion that City of London companies could be given broad, permanent access to EU markets without conditions.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A 23-year-old man was arrested for allegedly being under the influence of alcohol during a crash on the Goethals Bridge on Sunday morning.

The suspect allegedly was one of two drivers taken into custody in unrelated accidents that happened within minutes of each other on the span.

Two police vehicles were damaged and an officer examined for injuries at a nearby hospital following the crash, according a spokeswoman for Port Authority Police.

Just before 5 a.m., Jonahs A. Hernandez, 23, of New York, allegedly crashed his car on the westbound side of the bridge. He has been charged with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, driving while ability impaired and operating a motor vehicle as an unlicensed driver, according to a Port Authority spokeswoman and public records.

Released on his own recognizance, Hernandez is due to appear in Criminal Court on May. 6, according to public records. An attorney for the suspect did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

While his vehicle was being rigged to a tow truck, Flor E. Zhagui, a 26-year-old woman from Massachusetts, allegedly was driving on the same side of the bridge when she crashed into two unoccupied Port Authority Police vehicles. An officer standing near the crash suffered minor injuries and was transported to a nearby hospital, authorities said.

Zhagui was issued a motor vehicle summons for reckless driving, a spokeswoman for the Port Authority said. Additional information about her case was not available in public records.

In total, two civilian vehicles and two police vehicles were damaged in the crash. One of the vehicles was overturned when crews arrived, according to emergency radio transmissions.
HOUSTON, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Houston-based Personalysis Corporation, provider of a unique personality assessment, used to create strong relationships, and unleash team productivity, recently named Adrienne McDunn as President and CEO. Adrienne takes over the role from Kerry Farrell, who remains chairman of the board. Leadership appointments are effective January 1, 2020.

Adrienne McDunn, President/CEO Personalysis Corporation

Having worked with Personalysis for 28 years, Adrienne will continue the legacy of mentor, James Noland, to support growth, fulfillment and success in all aspects of individual endeavor. "I am privileged to be a part of a mission-driven company that empowers change and improves lives for the better. Personalysis is a powerful conversation catalyst to enable leadership and teams to create, collaborate and consistently perform at the highest level. With our unique perspective on Diversity and Inclusion, we quickly cut through bias and assumption to create true insight on individual differences. This enables conversations to secure agreements on how to work together to harness the collective power of diversity," said McDunn.

Large and small companies alike across a diverse array of industries have used Personalysis in their talent and leadership development programs. Individuals use Personalysis to build strong relationships with a foundation of trust and respect and to discover the work that fuels their passion and inspires productivity.

"The growth opportunities for Personalysis are immense," said McDunn. "In the future expect more innovative offerings as we pursue partnerships with established methodologies in areas of team effectiveness, change acceleration, talent development and expert systems."

Personalysis helps people truly understand themselves and others, lead full and meaningful lives, and be inspired to make a positive difference in all they do.

CONTACT INFO

Adrienne McDunn

Personalysis Corporation

713.784.4421

Houston, Texas

Personalysis.WiredToThrive.com

[email protected]

SOURCE Personalysis
Democratic presidential candidate, former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg delivers remarks during a campaign rally in Nashville, Tenn., on Feb. 12, 2020. (Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)

DNC Announces Qualifications for South Carolina Democratic Presidential Debate

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has announced the qualifications for presidential candidates to take part in the debate on Feb. 25 in Charleston, South Carolina, which will be hosted by CBS News and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute, in partnership with Twitter.

Similar to the qualifications for the Feb. 19 Nevada debate, candidates need to reach 10 percent in four polls approved by the DNC or 12 percent in South Carolina-specific polls, or win at least one delegate to the Democratic National Convention from one of the three preceding early states: Iowa, New Hampshire, or Nevada. The polls must be released between Feb. 4the day after Iowas caucusesand Feb. 24.

Februarys Nevada debate has similar criteria, with the only difference being a shorter polling window and not counting Nevada polls toward qualification, because the debate takes place after some Nevadans would have voted.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) have all already qualified for the event, according to Politico.

Those same five candidates are the only ones to have qualified so far for the debate in Nevada on Feb. 19.

The two billionaires in the race, Tom Steyer and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, have not met the qualification criteria for either the Nevada or South Carolina debates. The deadline to qualify for Nevada is Feb. 18.

Tom Steyer (L), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg (R) listen as former Vice President Joe Biden (C) speaks during the Democratic presidential primary debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 14, 2020. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

However, Bloomberg, 77, who announced his campaign in November 2019 and is yet to appear on a debate stage, needs just one more poll to qualify for the debate in Nevada, and two more polls for the South Carolina debate.

Last month, the DNC scrapped a donor threshold that had been in place for previous debates; that had kept Bloomberg off the debate stage because he is completely self-funding his campaign.

Now that the grassroots support is actually captured in real voting, the criteria will no longer require a donor threshold, Adrienne Watson, a DNC spokesperson, said in a statement sent to news outlets. The donor threshold was appropriate for the opening stages of the race, when candidates were building their organizations, and there were no metrics available outside of polling to distinguish those making progress from those who werent.

Steyer, meanwhile, may struggle to reach the threshold by the Feb. 18 deadline, having only reached 11 percent in a Las Vegas Review-Journal/AARP Nevada poll conducted by WPA Intelligence.

On Feb. 14, the DNC also announced that the 11th Democratic debate after South Carolina will take place on March 15 in Phoenix, and will air on CNN and Univision.

DNC Chairman Tom Perez said the debate will showcase our Democratic presidential candidates, highlight Trumps record of broken promises, and make it clear that Democrats are fighting to give Arizonans a better future.

The South Carolina debate is set to air on CBS from 8 to 10 p.m local time.
Ten thousand men have taken part in Hadaka Matsuri, the annual naked festival on Japans Honshu Island.

The men compete to become luckiest of the year in a celebration of prosperity and fertility which includes plunging themselves in ice water and fighting to grab a sacred object, which is often a stick known as a shingi.

Men compete to become 'luckiest of the year'. (Getty Images)

Although Hadaka Matsuri translates to nudity festival, the men arent entirely naked.

Theyre often dressed in short loin cloths, known as fundoshi as they battle it out for good fortune.

Read more: The seven art and architecture wonders of Chicago

The origins of Hadaka Matsuri

The 500-year old religious event takes place at Saidaiji Kannonin Temple, 30 minutes from Okayama City, although smaller versions of the event take place all over Japan.

Its the largest nudist festival in the country, which sees around 10,000 men compete each year.

It takes place in the winter, which makes the physically demanding event even more challenging - particularly as the men are expected to plunge themselves in cold water for between 1 and 2 hours to purify their souls.

Shinto priests throw blessed shingi into the crowd and the men fight to grab one, legend suggests that it will give them good fortune in the year ahead.

Read more: 2020s cheapest holiday destinations revealed

What happens at the event?

The men will start with a 1-2 hour long ice bath, said to purify them. This is no easy feat in the depths of winter.

This is followed by a fight to grab sacred objects which are thrown into the crowd by priests. The aim is to grab one of the sticks and keep hold of it.

Hadaka Matsuri has become a real spectacle which attracts thousands of onlookers annually. There are food and drinks stands with much of the event now ticketed. In fact, its recommended that you purchase a ticket prior to the event for the best (and safest) views.

It lasts for 30 minutes, during which time two types of sacred objects will be thrown into the crowd; the shingi and the less-sacred twigs - which can be taken home after the event.

Story continues

Surprisingly, theres not often any major injuries at the event, aside from the expected cuts and bruises.

The men wear only loin cloths in freezing cold temperatures. (Getty Images)

Why are the men naked?

The reason for the nudity is quite a practical one; its easier to fight for the much-desired sticks if theyre not wearing at clothes.

At least, thats what Mieko Itano of the Okayama tourist board told CNN.

However, there might be other reasons for the nudity - given that theres more than one naked festival per year in Japan.

Its believed that thousands of years ago Japanese people thought that nudity could drive away evil. In villages plagued with bad fortune, they would nominate a shin-otoko (divine man) who would walk through the village naked.

He would then be banished from the village in the hope that he would take all of their bad luck with him.

Read more: The insiders guide to Margate

How has the festival evolved over the years?

Men used to compete to grab paper talismans but this has evolved over the years. This is mainly because the paper ripped too easily as the festival grew in size.

They eventually swapped the paper for wood, but thats not the only change weve seen over the years.

Nowadays, men are more likely to compete in teams, be it a group of friends or work colleagues. Similar to physically challenging events that take place in the UK, the Hadaka Matsuri is a good platform for co-worker bonding.

This years event also featured hand sanitiser in a bid to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo Style UK:
India, which is hosting the 13th Conference of Parties to the Convention of Migratory Species and Wild Animals, officially took over its Presidency on Monday for the next three years.

Union Environment Minister said will fully cooperate and ensure conservation of environment.

The minister was handed over the Presidency of the COP by the Philippines, which was presiding over the convention from 2017 till now.

will now preside over it till 2023.

"This Presidency will be for three years. We will cooperate with the Secretariat and we want to spread the message effectively to the world to protect environment through migratory species conservation.

"I am very sure will take all initiatives so that this goes to the next level of protection and conservation," the minister said.

With CMS COP 13, India is now presiding over two UN conventions as last year in September, India was handed over the Presidency of UN Convention to Combat Desertification at COP 14 for two years.

CMS COP 13 was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday after two days of pre-COP meetings and is likely to go on till February 22, when the Gandhinagar Declaration is expected to be adopted and released.
Buttigieg Defends Big-Dollar Fundraisers, Cites Precedent

Democratic presidential hopeful says he's following 'same fundraising practices that President Obama did'

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg defended his fundraising practices following criticism from rival Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has called him out for accepting big-ticket donations from billionaires.

Buttigieg, on CNNs State of the Union, called small contributions under $40 the lifeblood of his campaign, while he defended soliciting high-dollar donations on the grounds of both precedent and the imperative to defeat President Donald Trump.

I am following the same fundraising practices that President Obama did and that our leaders have, Buttigieg said on the program, adding that he sought to marshal all available resources to beat Trump.

The campaign that I am building right now is not just for earning the nomination, but for defeating Donald Trump, who with his allies has demonstrated that they will do anything to hold on [to] the power.

Fundraising is a major issue for the Democrats because whoever wins the nomination will become the face of a party that is $6.5 million in debt and has been outraised by over 6-to-1 by Trump and the Republican National Committee, who collectively pulled in more than $600 million last year alone.

On Feb. 15, Trump headlined the most expensive fundraiser of his presidency at the Palm Beach, Florida, home of billionaire Nelson Peltz, pulling in some $10 million, the Palm Beach Post reported. Last weekend, a telethon held at Mar-a-Lago with the presidents sons, Eric and Don Jr., reportedly raised $25 million.

Defending his record on campaign bankrolling and highlighting his ambitions, Buttigieg told CNN his bid was funded by more than 2 million donations that average less than $40, characterizing his fundraising as grassroots.

My campaign is about belonging and inclusion. I dont define the campaign or myself by whose help we reject, but it is about making sure that everybody who shares these values and prepared to defeat Donald Trump is on the same team, he said.

Earlier, at a New Hampshire rally, Sanders called out Mayor Pete as a favorite of Wall Street, separately telling The Guardian that Buttigieg had accepted support from around 40 billionaires.

I like Pete Buttigieg, nice guy, but we are in a moment where billionaires control not only our economy but our political process, Sanders told rallygoers on Feb. 7, The Hill reported.

Sanders dismissed claims that candidates could ignore strings attached to rich contributions.

That is clearly nonsensical. Why would billionaires and wealthy people be making large contributions if it didnt mean something to them? Sanders told The Guardian, arguing that big-dollar donations disadvantage ordinary constituents.

At a rally in Michigan, Trump ribbed Buttigieg. Im not going to say bad things about him, the president said. You know why? Id love him to win.

I thought I knocked off Pocahontas, he continued, referring to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)s controversial claims to Native American heritage. I did it a year too early. A year too early. I give her credit. She then started to come back. I dont think shes going to make it, though.

Shes gasping. Shes gasping for air, Trump said of Warrens campaign, which has also been vocal about Buttigiegs big-dollar donations.

Warren said, Billionaires in wine caves should not pick the next president of the United States, referring to a closed-door fundraising session that Buttigieg held in a wine cave that was full of crystals, and that served $900-a-bottle wine.

A recent RealClearPolitics average of 2020 presidential nomination polls has Buttigieg in fifth place with 10.6 percent. He trails Sanders, who leads at 23.6 percent, Joe Biden with 19.2 percent, Michael Bloomberg with 14.2 percent, and Warren with 12.4 percent.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Omicron variant of COVID-19 identified in Antrim, Charlevoix counties

The omicron variant of COVID-19 has been identified in one Antrim County resident and one Charlevoix County resident.
Microsoft is striving hard to make this world a better place with a slew of products and services for consumers and enterprises.



And now, an official statement has revealed that the Redmond giant has set-up a development centre in Noida to create better and more innovative products.

Reuters

This announcement has surfaced days before the scheduled visit of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to India this month. This will be Microsofts third such establishment in India, after successful centres in Bengaluru and Hyderabad.



The India Development Centre or IDC is the Redmond giants research and development unit, to create products and services for users not just in India, but across the globe.

The Noida outlet will include numerous groups at Microsoft including Microsoft AI & Research, Cloud and Enterprise as well as Experience and Devices group. Itll also involve Core Services Engineering as well as Operations.

It will also be home to Mixer -- Microsofts Twitch-killing live game-streaming platform -- a first outside Microsoft HQ in Redmond.

Bringing numerous job opportunities

The establishment of another research and development is surely good news for Indian techies on the lookout for jobs. Microsoft said in the official statement that it will tap into Indias world-class engineering talent to create solutions for global impact.

Reuters/Getty

The statement added, "The IDC-NCR will play a critical role in Microsoft India's expansion and growth story. The facility will open opportunities for thousands of engineers, with plans to expand to a full-fledged development centre, similar to IDC facilities in Bengaluru and Hyderabad."



Kurt DelBene, Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Core Services Engineering and Operations, and the Chairman of the IDC Advisory Board, said, This represents a critical expansion of our ability to attract world-class technology talent. Our deep commitment to the region will help us further Microsofts mission to empower every individual and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
The first plane carrying US citizens evacuated from a quarantined cruise ship in Japan landed at Travis Air Force Base in California late Sunday.

The charter flight touched down around 11:29 pm (0729 GMT Monday) at the base 40 miles (70 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco, an AFP photographer saw. The passengers will be quarantined at the base for 14 days.

A second flight carrying the rest of the more than 300 US citizens and family members evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship was shortly due to land at another base in San Antonio, Texas.

Fourteen passengers had returned positive tests for the new coronavirus shortly before the flights departed Japan and were transported in an isolated part of the aircraft, the State Department said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hospitals are using plasma from recovered patients, that is rich in protective antibodies, to treat severely affected patients.

Several antiviral drugs to treat the novel coronavirus outbreak in China that has claimed over 1,500 lives are under clinical trials and some have shown fairly good efficacy, a Chinese official said on Saturday.

The death toll in China's novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has risen to 1,523 with 143 new fatalities reported mostly from the worst-affected Hubei province while the confirmed cases have jumped to over 66,000, health officials said on Saturday.

Chinese researchers have narrowed down their focus to a few existing drugs, including Chloroquine Phosphate, Favipiravir and Remdesivir, after multiple rounds of screening, Zhang Xinmin, director of the China National Center for Biotechnology Development under the Ministry of Science and Technology, told reporters here.

In vitro experiments have shown that Chloroquine Phosphate, an antimalarial drug which has been widely used for many years, can effectively inhibit the novel coronavirus infection.

It is now under clinical trials in more than 10 hospitals in Beijing and Guangdong, which enrolled a total of over 100 patients. Clinical trials on the drug will also be launched in central China's Hunan Province soon, Zhang was quoted as saying in the state-run Xinhua news agency.

The preliminary clinical results show that Chloroquine Phosphate is quite effective in treating novel coronavirus pneumonia, he said.

Favipiravir, an influenza drug available on overseas markets, has been put in a clinical trial in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, with 70 patients enlisted, he said. The initial outcome of the trial shows the drug has relatively obvious efficacy and low adverse reactions.

"Three to four days after treatment, the group that takes the drug has a significantly higher turning-negative rate in the viral nucleic acid than the parallel group," he said.

Remdesivir is developed against Ebola infections by Gilead Sciences, an American pharmaceutical company. It has shown fairly good antiviral activity against the novel coronavirus at the cellular level.

The China-Japan Friendship Hospital and the Institute of Materia Medica under the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences have been authorised to conduct a clinical trial on the drug in over 10 hospitals in Wuhan, the centre of the epidemic in central China's Hubei Province.

"Next, we will make timely recommendations on the COVID-19 treatment according to the results of these clinical trials," Zhang said.

The researchers scanned more than 70,000 drugs or compounds through computer simulations and in vitro enzyme activity tests, and selected 5,000 potentially effective drug candidates. Then they were tested at the cellular level against the common coronavirus infection, and about 100 drugs were chosen for further experiments, which helped to select the final drugs for clinical trials, he said.

The most urgent scientific research task is to improve the cure rate and reduce the mortality, which rely on effective clinical treatments, Zhang said.

New products and technologies have been adopted to treat severe and critically ill patients, a key approach to reduce mortality, and some have achieved good clinical effects, he said.

One of the recent progresses is the development of convalescent plasma. It is processed from the plasma collected from recovered patients, which contains a large amount of protective antibodies.

So far, a total of 11 severe patients from several hospitals in Wuhan have received the convalescent plasma therapy, with all their clinical indicators getting better and no obvious adverse reactions.

Clinical studies on the stem cell therapy, which can inhibit the overreaction of the body's immune system, have also been carried out to treat severe patients, Zhang said.

A cause of death for severe and critically ill patients infected with the COVID-19 is "cytokine storm", which is an overreaction of the immune system, said Zhou Qi, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

"We are also searching for existing drugs that can curb the appearance of cytokine storm, including drugs against rheumatism. Some of the drugs that are proven effective at the cellular level have been applied in clinical trials," Zhou said at a press conference.

A trial has been conducted on 14 severe or critically ill patients aged up to 82 in an affiliated hospital of the University of the CAS, and the results appeared encouraging, he said.

"Now, a multicentre, randomised, parallel-group clinical trial is underway. If the initial results show a drug is effective, we may speed up the process and provide severe patients with effective treatments as soon as possible," he added.
Flipkart has kicked off a new sale targetting smartphone buyers. The Mobile Bonanza Sale is offering discounts and offers on a variety of smartphones. Apart from discounts customers can avail exchange offers as well as no-cost EMI options. Flipkart has partnered with Axis Bank where customers can get 10 percent instant discount using credit and debit card transactions. The sale has begun and will continue till February 21.

Here are some of the best offers that you shouldnt miss out:

Apple iPhone XS - Rs 54,999

Apples 2018 flagship, the iPhone XS is available at a reduced price of Rs 54,999. There is also a discount of Rs 14,050 when you exchange your old device. The iPhone XS comes with a dual-camera setup at the back with two 12-megapixel cameras along with a 7-megapixel front-facing camera. It is powered by Apple's A12 Bionic chip and features an OLED panel at the front.

Google Pixel 3a - Rs 27,999

One of the best camera phones at its price, the Google Pixel 3a is currently selling at Rs 27,999. Apart from clicking great shots, the handset also offers stock Android experience and of course the latest updates.

Asus 6Z - Rs 26,999

The flipping camera on the Asus 6Z is one of the most unique features that we saw in 2019. The main camera can rotate and be used as the front camera as well. The phone also packs great specifications and a solid 5,000mAh battery.

Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus - Rs 27,999

If you are looking for a high-end Samsung flagship, then the Galaxy S9 Plus seems like a good choice to buy. Yes, it is an old flagship now but the company is recently released Android 10 update for the handset, which is a win-win.

Oppo Reno 10x Zoom - Rs 26,999

Oppo is selling the Reno 10x Zoom at a low cost of Rs 26,999 ahead of the launch of its Reno 3 series. The handset offers 6GB of RAM, Snapdragon 855 processor and the cameras at the back can shot up to 10x zoom with zero loss in quality.
Families from the Damascus have mourned the loss of their sons who were sent to the front lines after signing settlements with the regime reports Sowt al-Asima.

The people of Mkeilbiyeh town in the Damascus countryside on Friday mourned a member of the settlement groups, who was killed during the fighting on the Aleppo western countryside fronts as part of the regime ranks.

Mamoun al-Okla joined the Fourth Division after undergoing a settlement, as part of the agreement to displace rebel groups and those who rejected the settlement in early 2017.

The people of Sa`asa city in the western Damascus countryside also mourned a soldier in the regimes army, Bilal Ghunaim, who was from the city and was killed on the fronts in the southern Idleb countryside.

The people of al-Tal city in the Damascus countryside on Thursday, mourned two losses, weeks after they joined the Fourth Division, which sent them to fight on the fronts in northern Syria. The family of Ibrahim Qasim mourned him, while the family of Issa al-Bunni were informed of his death without delivery of the body.

The Sowt al-Asima website has documented the killing of more than 200 volunteer members from the settlements, fighting with the militias loyal to the regime, from the eastern and western countryside of Damascus, on the battlefields which have been burning in northern Syria since the beginning of 2019.

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.
Please register or log in to keep reading. No credit card required!

Stay logged in to skip the surveys.
She's known for her risque fashion choices and love of tattoos.

And Geoffrey Edelsten's ex-wife Gabi Grecko didn't disappoint fans on Monday when she flaunted her new body art on Instagram - which included a tattoo on her face!

The 30-year-old looked perfectly calm as she laid back in her tattoo artist's chair ahead of getting the work done. She captioned the post: '1st face tat!'

Psycho! On Monday, Gabi Grecko (pictured) got new ink on her arm in honour of an Alfred Hitchcock classic... and a tattoo on her FACE!

She later shared footage of her tattooist drawing a red mushroom under her arm.

The social media star also revealed her new tattoo that payed homage to Alfred Hitchcock's 1960's film Psycho.

Sitting above two older tattoos, the new artwork depicts a shadowed figure holding a knife above the classic movie's name.

Fans took to Gabi's social media to discuss her new body art, with some pointing out how painful it looked.

Ouch: Sitting above two older tattoos, the new artwork depicts a shadowed figure holding a knife above the classic movie's name

'Love that all your tatts are red/orange! Looks painful tho!' commented one fan.

Gabi rose to fame after marrying Australian billionaire businessman Geoffrey Edelsten, 76, in 2016.

She now lives in New York, where she makes a living as rap artist Glitta Fox.

Past life: Gabi rose to fame after marrying Australian businessman Geoffrey Edelsten, 76, (left)

In April, Gabi revealed to Daily Mail Australia that she was in a better place romantically with her new rapper boyfriend 'Surf School Rico', real name is Eddie Lee, following her split from husband Geoffrey last year.

In addition to being lovers, Gabi and Surf School Rico have also been collaborating in the studio.

'We hang out and make music every day. We're like the same person,' she said.
Berlin, Feb 18 : BMW China chief Jochen Goller has expressed his confidence in China's fight against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

"We are confident that China will ultimately win this battle" against COVID-19, said Goller, President and Chief Executive Officer of BMW Group Region China, in a written interview with the Xinhua news agency.

"If any country is capable of dealing with an unprecedented crisis like this, it's very clearly China," he wrote.

"The whole country is making great efforts to fight against the epidemic for the benefit of all of us and especially in a critical situation like this," Goller noted, calling on the international community to unite and stand unwaveringly behind China.

Over the past weeks, BMW has been taking decisive actions and supporting the frontline medical personnel. So far, the German carmaker has already donated 35 million Chinese yuan ($5 million) since the outbreak of the epidemic.

Regarding the outlook for the Chinese economy, Goller noted that "we have full trust in the Chinese authorities and the government that they are able to manage this situation. We are very confident in the medium and long-term outlook." "This great country will arise from the crisis even stronger," Goller added.
By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Head of the Presidential Administrations Foreign Policy Affairs Department Hikmet Hajiyev has hailed Ilham Aliyev for exposing Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyans deceptive and incorrect statements about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict during a panel discussion of the Munich Security Conference held on February 15.

"We once again witnessed the exposure of Armenias lie. Thats the moment each Azerbaijani citizen can be proud of. President Aliyev defended Azerbaijans interests on the important platform with dignity," he pointed out.

As Hajiyev informed, the organizing committee of Munich Security Conference had previously proposed to hold discussions on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijani and Armenian leadership.

"However, Armenia dodged this proposal. This time they agreed.

Touching upon President Ilham Aliyevs speech in Munich, he noted that during these discussions, Aliyev in a principled, decisive and well-grounded manner, brought to the attention of the conference participants and the international community all the aspects of Karabakh conflict, thats to say, the history, political and legal settlement process.

He spoke about the real situation around the conflicts resolution in the literal sense of the word.

"President Aliyev gave detailed information about the history of Nagorno-Karabakh. He brought to the attention of the international community that there is no tangible cultural heritage of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. He talked about the bloody ethnic cleansing committed against Azerbaijanis, Khojaly genocide and briefed about the aspects of the conflicts settlement," he stated.

Hajiyev stressed that Aliyev reiterated Azerbaijans position on the conflicts settlement, which is the settlement of the problem in phases, namely based on the UNSC resolutions.

"While Armenian PM traditionally began to lie, trying to distort the true essence of the conflict, President Aliyev emphasized that Armenias peaceful position and its commitment to peace is absurd. The killing of an Azerbaijani soldier on the line of contact of Armenian and Azerbaijani troops on the very same day became another example of Armenias hypocrisy," he stressed.

Hajiyev noted that Pashinyan also tried to distort the principle of the right of peoples to self-determination.

"Azerbaijans president explained the Armenian PM the true essence of this principle and noted that the Armenian people have already used this right and created a state called Armenia and Azerbaijan will not allow to use this right on its territory. Armenia can use this right in any other place," he said.

Hajiyev also noted that Armenias illegal activities in Azerbaijans occupied territories were widely discussed during this meeting.

"Everybody once again witnessed the self-exposure of Armenian PM [Nikol Pashinyan], his attempts to justify himself and the ridiculous situation in which he placed himself," Hajiyev emphasized.

Commenting on the importance of the Munich Security Conference, Hajiyev said that it is a place where global security issues on the international agenda are discussed.

Hajiyev considers significant each meeting of President Aliyev held as part of the Conference. In particular, he highlighted the meeting with the World Bank managing director.

"This organization has highly appreciated Azerbaijans achievements in economic reforms, diversification of economy, and poverty eradication. They were given as a factual example for other countries," Hajiyev added.

In addition, he touched upon Azerbaijani presidents meeting with the leadership of the International Crisis Group.

---

Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Labour leadership candidate Rebecca Long-Bailey has reportedly said she would offer Jeremy Corbyn a place in her Cabinet if she becomes prime minister (Getty)

Rebecca Long-Bailey says she would give Jeremy Corbyn a job in her Cabinet if she becomes prime minister, it has been reported.

The Labour leadership candidate and shadow business secretary, who has backed herself to win the race to replace Corbyn at the head of the party, reportedly said: I love him so.

The Sun on Sunday reported that Long-Bailey told supporters in Lewisham, south London, that she would find room in her Cabinet for Corbyn if she gets into Number 10.

She was criticised last month when she rated Corbyns leadership as 10 out of 10 despite the partys disastrous general election showing in December.

Rebecca Long-Bailey was a staunch ally of Jeremy Corbyn before the Labour Party's disastrous general election showing in December (AFP via Getty Images)

The Sun on Sunday said that when asked earlier this month if she would give Corbyn a job in government if she becomes prime minister, the Labour MP for Salford and Eccles replied: Id like to but I dont know whether he wants to do it because he said not.

She added: Its up to him. I love him so.

Read more: Corbyn loyalist Long-Bailey says she would use nuclear weapons as PM

Her comments follow those of deputy leader candidate Richard Burgon, who suggested Corbyn could serve as shadow foreign secretary.

Burgon told the Huffington Post: Ive never met a more principled, less egotistical person than Jeremy Corbyn and plenty of his critics are not fit to lace his boots.

Long-Bailey is currently battling it out to be the next Labour leader with shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer and Wigan MP Lisa Nandy.

Read more: Labour leadership candidates call for social media change

She has been called the continuity Corbyn candidate in the leadership contest, which will be resolved in April.

However, she dismissed the term while being interviewed on BBCs Andrew Marr show on Sunday.

Long-Bailey said: Everybody knows what I believe in and Ill never deviate from that, but Im very much my own person and to suggest Im a continuation of any individual is quite disrespectful, not least because Im a woman.

The three remaining candidates will enter an online and postal ballot of party members and registered supporters which opens on 24 February.
You are the owner of this article.
We must be alert in the actual study of coronavirus data, but we should not be scared or frightened by this virus.

In fact, it is a deadly disease in our time. We have faced many terrible events such as war, natural disaster, as well as various epidemics that have come countless times. But we were able to overcome those crises with the power of unity, a strong heart and the greatness of all Chinese brothers and sisters.

Thai students cheer China amid the ongoing battle against the coronavirus outbreak, holding a sign that reads, "Go Wuhan! Go China". (Photo provided by Sirinpun Yantarat)

In this period, we are all walking in the dark. Though we are not yet able to completely eliminate the epidemic, I believe that we will definitely pass through this crisis, as the light always appears at the end of the tunnel.

Id like to send my best wishes to all Wuhan and Chinese people who have devoted themselves physically and mentally to this great mission.

I hope that the power of love, best wishes and the power of unity will bring happiness and peace for all Chinese brothers and sisters and all mankind.

The author, Sirinpun Yantarat, is a Thai student, who is now studying Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) at Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (LNUTCM).
On Valentines Day 1985, Cassandra Rundle and her two children were found slaughtered inside their Ivywild home.

After a vicious crime that reverberated through Colorado Springs and beyond, police focused their investigation on personal ads Rundle had taken out in a The Colorado Springs Sun, a now-defunct daily newspaper.

She had been looking for one good man. Police were searching for a killer.

Colorado Cold Case, reported and produced by The Gazette, returns for its fourth season Monday, on the heels of the 35th anniversary of the killings of Rundle and her two children, 12-year-old Detrick Sturm and 10-year-old Melanie Sturm.

The six-episode series features interviews with retired investigators, former classmates and others who keep memories of the family close, hoping for justice.

Listeners will retrace the police investigation that never led to an arrest, but pointed to several suspects, including a man on death row for an eerily similar crime committed six years later in another state.

The previous season of Colorado Cold Case looked at the slaying of Palmer Lake mountain biker, Tim Watkins. His body was found in a shallow grave along one of his favorite trails along Mount Herman.

Seasons 1-4 of Colorado Cold Case can be found on iTunes, Spotify and wherever else you get your podcasts. Listen here.
B oris Johnson was caught in a growing storm today over a No 10 adviser accused of repugnant views on race, pregnancies and eugenics.

The Prime Ministers spokesman refused to criticise or defend the controversial views attributed to Andrew Sabisky, and there were no answers from No 10 when journalists asked if the self-styled super-forecaster had been recruited by No 10, what his status was in Whitehall, and how he was selected.

Hours earlier, Cabinet minister George Eustice said on Sky News it was a matter for Dominic Cummings and Number 10 to respond to.

Mr Sabisky was reportedly drafted in to No 10 after the Prime Ministers chief adviser Mr Cummings issued an appeal via his blog for misfits and weirdos to help shake up Whitehall.

The PM's adviser Dominic Cummings / PA

Mr Sabisky is reportedly the author of a series of comments that caused shock among critics, including:

Advocating the use of a purported cognitive enhancer despite it being said to be fatal to some users, on the grounds that it was probably worth a dead kid once a year.

Arguing for compulsory contraception for some young women to prevent an underclass. He wrote on Mr Cummingss own website in 2014: One way to get around the problems of unplanned pregnancies creating a permanent underclass would be to legally enforce universal uptake of long-term contraception at the onset of puberty. Vaccination laws give it a precedent, I would argue.

Highlighting a survey in America that claimed black people had a lower average IQ than white Americans.

Downing Street repeatedly refused to say whether Mr Johnson agreed or disagreed with the views expressed.

A Number 10 spokesman said: Im not going to be commenting on individual appointments.

Boris Johnson was caught in a growing storm today / REUTERS

Geneticist Dr Adam Rutherford wrote on Twitter: Like Cummings, he appears to be bewitched by science, without having made the effort to understand the areas he is invoking, nor its history.

He said the moral repugnance of the remarks was overwhelming, adding: This resembles the marshalling of misunderstood or specious science into a political ideology.

"The history here is important, because this process is exactly what happened at the birth of scientific racism and the birth of eugenics.

The No 10 spokesman batted away questions about the appointment with the response: Im not going to be commenting on individual appointments.

Asked whether Mr Johnson agreed with Mr Sabiskys comments on eugenics or the IQ of black people, the spokesman said: The Prime Ministers views on a range of subjects are well publicised and documented.

Labour Party chairman Ian Lavery said: It is disgusting that not only has Number 10 failed to condemn Andrew Sabiskys appalling comments, but also seems to have endorsed the idea that white people are more intelligent than black people.

Boris Johnson should have the backbone to make a statement in his own words on why he has made this appointment, whether he stands by it, and his own views on the subject of eugenics.

Yesterday Transport Secretary Grant Shapps tried to distance the Government from Mr Sabisky, telling the BBC: I dont know the individual but they are particularly not views that I or the Government shares in any way, shape or form.

Asked if he was speaking on behalf of the Government, No 10 was unclear, saying he was interviewed as Transport Secretary.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps / AFP via Getty Images

Reports said some of the 80 Whitehall special advisers were prepared to boycott meetings if Mr Sabisky was present and refuse to reply to his emails.

More highly controversial comments were surfacing today. Sky News unearthed a tweet from Mr Sabiskys account that said MPs should pay attention to the debate around very real racial differences in intelligence when considering immigration controls.

In an online exchange in 2015, Mr Sabisky appeared to joke about adulterous women being stoned to death.
The Breakthrough Listen Initiative today (Friday, Feb. 14) released data from the most comprehensive survey yet of radio emissions from the plane of the Milky Way Galaxy and the region around its central black hole, and it is inviting the public to search the data for signals from intelligent civilizations.

At a media briefing today in Seattle as part of the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Breakthrough Listen principal investigator Andrew Siemion of the University of California, Berkeley, announced the release of nearly 2 petabytes of data, the second data dump from the four-year old search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). A petabyte of radio and optical telescope data was released last June, the largest release of SETI data in the history of the field.

The data, most of it fresh from the telescope prior to detailed study from astronomers, comes from a survey of the radio spectrum between 1 and 12 gigahertz (GHz). About half of the data comes via the Parkes radio telescope in New South Wales, Australia, which, because of its location in the Southern Hemisphere, is perfectly situated and instrumented to scan the entire galactic disk and galactic center. The telescope is part of the Australia Telescope National Facility, owned and managed by the country's national science agency, CSIRO.

The remainder of the data was recorded by the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia, the world's largest steerable radio dish, and an optical telescope called the Automated Planet Finder, built and operated by UC Berkeley and located at Lick Observatory outside San Jose, California.

"Since Breakthrough Listen's initial data release last year, we have doubled what is available to the public," said Breakthrough Listen's lead system administrator, Matt Lebofsky. "It is our hope that these data sets will reveal something new and interesting, be it other intelligent life in the universe or an as-yet-undiscovered natural astronomical phenomenon."

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and the privately-funded SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, also announced today an agreement to collaborate on new systems to add SETI capabilities to radio telescopes operated by NRAO. The first project will develop a system to piggyback on the National Science Foundation's Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico and provide data to state-of-the-art digital backend equipment built by the SETI Institute.

advertisement

"The SETI Institute will develop and install an interface on the VLA, permitting unprecedented access to the rich data stream continuously produced by the telescope as it scans the sky," said Siemion, who, in addition to his UC Berkeley position, is the Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETI at the SETI Institute. "This interface will allow us to conduct a powerful, wide-area SETI survey that will be vastly more complete than any previous such search."

"As the VLA conducts its usual scientific observations, this new system will allow for an additional and important use for the data we're already collecting," said NRAO Director Tony Beasley. "Determining whether we are alone in the universe as technologically capable life is among the most compelling questions in science, and NRAO telescopes can play a major role in answering it."

"For the whole of human history, we had a limited amount of data to search for life beyond Earth. So, all we could do was speculate. Now, as we are getting a lot of data, we can do real science and, with making this data available to general public, so can anyone who wants to know the answer to this deep question," said Yuri Milner, the founder of Breakthrough Listen.

Earth transit zone survey

In releasing the new radio and optical data, Siemion highlighted a new analysis of a small subset of the data: radio emissions from 20 nearby stars that are aligned with the plane of Earth's orbit such that an advanced civilization around those stars could see Earth pass in front of the sun (a "transit" like those focused on by NASA's Kepler space telescope). Conducted by the Green Bank Telescope, the Earth transit zone survey observed in the radio frequency range between 4 and 8 gigahertz, the so-called C-band. The data were then analyzed by former UC Berkeley undergraduate Sofia Sheikh, now a graduate student at Pennsylvania State University, who looked for bright emissions at a single radio wavelength or a narrow band around a single wavelength. She has submitted the paper to the Astrophysical Journal.

advertisement

"This is a unique geometry," Sheikh said. "It is how we discovered other exoplanets, so it kind of makes sense to extrapolate and say that that might be how other intelligent species find planets, as well. This region has been talked about before, but there has never been a targeted search of that region of the sky."

While Sheikh and her team found no technosignatures of civilization, the analysis and other detailed studies the Breakthrough Listen group has conducted are gradually putting limits on the location and capabilities of advanced civilizations that may exist in our galaxy.

"We didn't find any aliens, but we are setting very rigorous limits on the presence of a technologically capable species, with data for the first time in the part of the radio spectrum between 4 and 8 gigahertz," Siemion said. "These results put another rung on the ladder for the next person who comes along and wants to improve on the experiment."

Sheikh noted that her mentor, Jason Wright at Penn State, estimated that if the world's oceans represented every place and wavelength we could search for intelligent signals, we have, to date, explored only a hot tub's worth of it.

"My search was sensitive enough to see a transmitter basically the same as the strongest transmitters we have on Earth, because I looked at nearby targets on purpose," Sheikh said. "So, we know that there isn't anything as strong as our Arecibo telescope beaming something at us. Even though this is a very small project, we are starting to get at new frequencies and new areas of the sky."

Beacons in the galactic center?

The so-far unanalyzed observations from the galactic disk and galactic center survey were a priority for Breakthrough Listen because of the higher likelihood of observing an artificial signal from that region of dense stars. If artificial transmitters are not common in the galaxy, then searching for a strong transmitter among the billions of stars in the disk of our galaxy is the best strategy, Simeon said.

On the other hand, putting a powerful, intergalactic transmitter in the core of our galaxy, perhaps powered by the 4 million-solar-mass black hole there, might not be beyond the capabilities of a very advanced civilization. Galactic centers may be so-called Schelling points: likely places for civilizations to meet up or place beacons, given that they cannot communicate among themselves to agree on a location.

"The galactic center is the subject of a very specific and concerted campaign with all of our facilities because we are in unanimous agreement that that region is the most interesting part of the Milky Way galaxy," Siemion said. "If an advanced civilization anywhere in the Milky Way wanted to put a beacon somewhere, getting back to the Schelling point idea, the galactic center would be a good place to do it. It is extraordinarily energetic, so one could imagine that if an advanced civilization wanted to harness a lot of energy, they might somehow use the supermassive black hole that is at the center of the Milky Way galaxy."

Visit from an interstellar comet

Breakthrough Listen also released observations of the interstellar comet 2I/Borisov, which had a close encounter with the sun in December and is now on its way out of the solar system. The group had earlier scanned the interstellar rock 'Oumuamua, which passed through the center of our solar system in 2017. Neither exhibited technosignatures.

"If interstellar travel is possible, which we don't know, and if other civilizations are out there, which we don't know, and if they are motivated to build an interstellar probe, then some fraction greater than zero of the objects that are out there are artificial interstellar devices," said Steve Croft, a research astronomer with the Berkeley SETI Research Center and Breakthrough Listen. "Just as we do with our measurements of transmitters on extrasolar planets, we want to put a limit on what that number is."

Regardless of the kind of SETI search, Siemion said, Breakthrough Listen looks for electromagnetic radiation that is consistent with a signal that we know technology produces, or some anticipated signal that technology could produce, and inconsistent with the background noise from natural astrophysical events. This also requires eliminating signals from cellphones, satellites, GPS, internet, Wi-fi and myriad other human sources.

In Sheikh's case, she turned the Green Bank telescope on each star for five minutes, pointed away for another five minutes and repeated that twice more. She then threw out any signal that didn't disappear when the telescope pointed away from the star. Ultimately, she whittled an initial 1 million radio spikes down to a couple hundred, which she was able to eliminate as Earth-based human interference. The last four unexplained signals turned out to be from passing satellites.

Siemion emphasized that the Breakthrough Listen team intends to analyze all the data released to date and to do it systematically and often.

"Of all the observations we have done, probably 20% or 30% have been included in a data analysis paper," Siemion said. "Our goal is not just to analyze it 100%, but 1000% or 2000%. We want to analyze it iteratively."

Breakthrough Listen, based at UC Berkeley, is supported by a $100 million, 10-year commitment from the Breakthrough Initiatives, founded in 2015 by Yuri and Julia Milner to explore the universe, seek scientific evidence of life beyond Earth and encourage public debate from a planetary perspective.
Ryan Sentelle State, 37, pulled the scam in at least two or three hotels in Utah. He faces two charges of theft by deception, three counts of criminal mischief - human health or safety

A Utah man has been arrested and faces charges of theft by deception and criminal mischief, after he unleashed rodents in hotel rooms so he could stay for free.

Ryan Sentelle State, 37, pulled the scam in at least two or three hotels, police report, but 'likely occurred at many more hotels'.

The trick, involving mice and hamsters, may have resulted in a loss of thousands of dollars for the properties.

Two out of three hotels investigated by cops had compensated State after he pointed out droppings.

After the scam was revealed, Hyatt House Salt Lake City/Downtown general manager, Sean Medina, told KUTV.com that State 'also scammed our hotel... out of two nights by releasing 2 mice'.

On average it costs $159 per night to stay at the three-star hotel.

However hotels are forced to contact pest control after the discovery of animal feces.

The hotels also complain that the rodents caused severe damage to the rooms.

State admitted to carrying out the scam at multiple hotels and he was arrested last month.

Now State faces two charges of theft by deception, three counts of criminal mischief - human health or safety.

The five charges are class B misdemeanors.

Salt Lake County cops have urged possible victims to come forward with complaints.

Two of the properties reimbursed State after he pointed out rodent droppings but the scheme 'likely occurred at many more hotels' cops say. File image, left, shows a mouse. The scheme may have resulted in a loss of thousands of dollars for the properties. A hamster is pictured right (file)
Coronation Street's David Platt will be seen getting threatened by a knife-wielding group of thugs in an upcoming episode of the long-running ITV soap.

The Weatherfield regular, played by Jack P. Shepherd, will be shown getting ambushed by the group, before they chase him through the streets.

In a set of newly unveiled shots, a drunken David sprints his way down an alley with a look of sheer terror on his face, as he's relentlessly pursued.

Threatened: Coronation Street's David Platt will be seen getting threatened by a knife-wielding group of thugs in an upcoming episode of the long-running ITV soap

And he appears to be begging his way out of a potentially grisly situation as his would-be attackers corner him against a wall and make violent threats.

While it has yet to be seen how David makes his way out of the harrowing situation, the incident comes after a string of unfortunate events for David.

On Christmas Day, his wife Shona (played by Julia Goulding) was shot, leading to severe memory loss after she regained consciousness.

Chased: The Weatherfield regular, played by Jack P. Shepherd, will be shown getting ambushed by the group, before they chase him through the streets

Drink: In newly unveiled shots, David is seen drinking alcoholic beverages before he's set upon

On knife's edge: David looks terrified as a knife is whipped out in the midst of the confrontation

Cornered: He appears to be begging his way out of a potentially grisly situation as his would-be attackers corner him against a wall and make violent threats

Devastated after realising that his wife also doesn't remember him, things only got worse when an exhausted David drove his two children from an event and crashed the car into a skip.

After being informed that the car was damaged beyond control, he's left worrying about how to see his wife, who is receiving treatment several miles away.

The latest in Ben's dramatic life comes after it was reported that Cironation Street bosses are reportedly lining up a new deal for star Sam Aston.

Sources have claimed the Chesney Brown actor is in a 'great position' to negotiate a new big money deal after 17 years on the soap, and is expected to remain on the Weatherfield cobbles for the foreseeable future.

Unfortunate events: While it has yet to be seen how David makes his way out of the harrowing situation, the incident comes after a string of unfortunate events for David

Terrible luck: On Christmas Day, his wife Shona (played by Julia Goulding) was shot, leading to severe memory loss after she regained consciousness

Crash: Devastated after realising his wife also doesn't remember him, things only got worse when an exhausted David drove his two children from an event and crashed the car into a skip

Menacing: The menacing encounter is set to play out on TV screens in an upcoming episode

Fighting back: While he's outnumbered in the situation, David is seen attempting to fight back

It comes as fans have seen Chesney welcome baby quadruplets with his on-off girlfriend Gemma Winter, and the couple are set to be tested even further in the coming weeks as they discover that one of the newborns is deaf.

A source told The Sun: 'Sam is still six months into his current contract but discussions are already being had about his future on the show.

'Chesney is one of the most loved characters on the street and bosses are keen to keep him in Weatherfield for the foreseeable future.

'Sam will be in a great position to negotiate a good deal for himself with his next contract.'

Reveal: While it has yet to be revealed how David makes his way out of the harrowing situation

Jeering: the group of thugs appear to be taunting David as they jeer at him in the alleyway

MailOnline has contacted representatives for Coronation Street for comment.

Sam has featured prominently in several Coronation Street storylines during his 17 years on the soap, and last year saw Chesney welcome baby quadruplets with Gemma.

While the couple have struggled to adjust to being parents to four babies, things are set to get even tougher in the coming weeks, after they learn that their son Aled is deaf.

Reports of Sam's contract come after Corrie saw numerous cast members depart the soap in succession last year, in what was branded a mass exodus.

Cashing in: Meanwhile, Coronation Street bosses are reportedly lining up a new deal for star Sam Aston, as they try to keep him on the soap for the foreseeable future

Amazing: Sources have claimed the actor is in a 'great position' to negotiate a new deal after 17 years on the soap after his character Chesney welcomed baby quadruplets last year

Sources told The Irish Sun that the increase in cast exits stemmed from fury backstage, as many stars were unhappy with the vastly differing wages, long hours and restrictions on accepting other promotional deals.

Lucy Fallon - who is set to leave Corrie next month - was the seventh star to announce she would be departing the soap in just four months, after stars including Kym Marsh and Katie McGlynn also confirmed they would be exiting the cobbles.

Fans have recently blamed showrunner Iain MacLeod for the increase in cast departures, and it was reported many stars were missing former producer Kate Oates, who quit in May 2018.

But sources told MailOnline that Iain is not to blame for the numerous cast departures, but could be noted that during his stint as Emmerdale boss from 2016 to 2018, 10 cast members quit in a year.

Legendary: Sam has appeared on Coronation Street since 2003, when he arrived on the cobbles as a young Chesney with his beloved dog Schmichael

Mr and Mrs: In real life the actor tied the knot with his yoga instructor girlfriend Briony Gardner in May
Samsung is always working on new Android tablets, in a dying market. Galaxy Tab A 8.4 2020 specs have leaked at Google Play Console.

Google Play console is a place for app management and app publication. Seeing the future tablet at Google Play Console hints that Samsung is prepping the tablet for an upcoming release. Its likely the tablet apps are being certified by Google and the device is being certified to operate on Android. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi certifications are on the horizon.

Galaxy Tab A 8.4 2020 specs leak at Google Play Console

The upcoming tablet specs show a device with 3GB of RAM. Keep in mind that specs often show a device with an odd amount of RAM. In this case, the leaked specs show 2816MB, or 2.816GB of RAM. In the end, RAM is rounded up to the closest whole number, which in this case, is 3GB of RAM. It could very well be the case that the device OS is consuming the missing MB of RAM.

Advertisement

The screen resolution of the upcoming tablet is 1920 x 1200p, which is Full HD+. The Tab A 8.4 2020 will run with Samsungs Exynos 7904 SoC. The Exynos 7904 SoC, an octa-core processor, includes 2 ARM Cortex A-73s and six ARM Cortex A-53s. Octa-core processors are a modern preference for processors. Theres a reason they are preferred to quad-core SoCs: they have eight cores instead of four, with some cores for intensive tasks and others for small, low-powered tasks. In the case of the Tab A 8.4 2020 tablet, the six low-powered cores hint that this tablet is designed for low-powered tasks. It isnt a more budget-friendly Galaxy Tab S6 5G, for those whore wondering.

2020 model shows little change over Tab A 8.0 With S Pen (2019)

The specs for the Tab A 8.4 2020 model show few changes over the 2019 model, the Galaxy Tab A with S Pen 8.0. The 1920 x 1200p screen resolution is the same as last years model. The octa-core, Samsung Exynos 7904 SoC is the same as last years model. There is a Galaxy Tab A 8.0 that didnt have an S Pen, however.

The Galaxy Tab A 8.0 (2019) model, sans S Pen, has specs such as a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 429 SoC, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and an 8-inch, 1280 x 800p screen resolution. The upcoming 2020 Tab A 8.4 has an improved screen resolution over the non-S Pen model. The octa-core Exynos 7904 is much improved over the quad-core Snapdragon 429, with twice the cores as last years.

Advertisement

There is the display size, however. Last years Tab A was 8 inches while the upcoming tablet is slightly wider at 8.4 inches. The new tablet will run Android 9.0 Pie.

Whether or not the upcoming 2020 tablet with feature a 4200mAh battery capacity or the S Pen-enabled 5,100mAh battery is anyones guess. And yet, if Samsungs spec improvements teach anything, its that the company is ready to bless Tab A users with some spec improvements. Will this tablet feature an S Pen? Its possible, if Samsung doesnt intend to release two different models (one with S Pen, one without) this year.

Theres no word on when Samsung intends to launch the Galaxy Tab A 8.4 (2020) model, but leaking specs hint that the device will be ready for the market sooner rather than later.
This June 1995 photo shows Mt. Rushmore, in Keystone, South Dakota. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum started work on Mt. Rushmore Aug. 10, 1927, and continued for 14 years, but only 6.5 years were actually spent sculpting due to harsh weather delays. The presidents were selected on the basis of what each symbolized. George Washington (L) represents the struggle for independence; Thomas Jefferson (2nd L), the idea of government by the people; Theodore Roosevelt (2nd R), for the 20th century role of the United States in world affairs; and Abraham Lincoln (R) for his ideas on equality and the permanent union of the states. (Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images)

Presidents Day? No Way!

Commentary

Visit the website of the U.S. House of Representatives and you will see a calendar informing us that Feb. 17 is one of the 11 permanent federal holidays the United States has established by law and that whats being celebrated is Presidents Day.

The U.S. Senate website also tells us this federal holiday were celebrating is Presidents Day.

There is no such federal holiday as Presidents Day. And there never has been.

Its tempting to quip that the folks in charge at the House of Representatives and Senate dont have a clue what day it is.

Since 1880, the United States has had a congressionally designated federal holiday marking the birthday of our countrys first president. It was always celebrated on the day on which he was born, Feb. 22until in 1968, Congress enacted the Uniform Monday Holiday Act that changed certain federal holidays from specific dates to designated Mondays to create more three-day weekends.

Since it took effect, by law, the third Monday in February is observed as the federal holiday of Washingtons Birthday.

The White House website contains an article titled, The Great Debate: Is it Presidents Dayor Washingtons Birthday? It states: Yet despite the holiday often being referred to as Presidents Day in practice, the official federal holiday continues to be known as Washingtons Birthday.

Give the folks in charge at the White House credit for at least knowing what day it is officially.

But what this federal holiday is supposed to be called and what most Americans wrongly believe it is called are in conflict, causing great confusion over just what the holiday being celebrated today actually celebrates.

The Great Custom and Tradition Weve Thrown Away

When the Uniform Monday Holiday Act was being considered, it was the long-established, widespread custom every February for Americans to celebrate both Washingtons Birthday and Lincolns Birthday (Feb. 12), even though Lincolns has never been a federal holiday.

Children grew up learning a good bit about why America had had such great leaders in Honest Abe Lincoln and in I cannot tell a lie George Washington. And every February, adults would have their memories refreshed.

That was precisely the purpose of this custom and traditionto educate Americans about the ideas and ideals that define our country; to inspire us with models of truly great Americans and nudge us to emulate such qualities and demand them of any who seek to lead the United States.

A Republican congressman from Illinois named Robert McClory, who loved that Lincoln hailed from Illinois, may well have thought he was enhancing Lincolns legacy with his scheming while Congress was pondering moving some holidays from specific dates to designated Mondays, but he didnt and instead helped diminish Washingtons.

He proposed renaming the Washingtons Birthday holiday Presidents Day, apparently thinking it would become a holiday shared by the two great presidents. It caused an uproar, not only among Virginians but also in Congress and among the general public.

He did succeed in positioning the Washingtons Birthday federal holiday to fall on the third Monday in February. We can only speculate as to what extent, if any, spite motivated him in this date pick, but unquestionably he was deceitful about it.

We would make George Washingtons Birthday more meaningful to many more people by having it observed on a Monday, he declared. There was nothing to substantiate such a preposterous claim.

Indeed, he proclaimed, his [Washingtons] birthday will be celebrated frequently on February 22, which in many cases will be the third Monday in February. It will also be celebrated on February 23, just as it is at the present time when February 22 falls on the Sunday preceding.

That was a lie. The third Monday will always fall between Feb. 15 and Feb. 21. He was told that at the time.

Republican congressman Richard Harding Poff of Virginia, who had exposed McClorys lie, moved to keep the Washingtons Birthday holiday in place at Feb. 22. The House, with 248 Democrats and 187 Republicans, rejected that by a vote of 153141. In the Senate, no effort was made in opposition to the change.

Another Republican congressman, Dan Heflin Kuykendall of Tennessee, made a prophetic warning: If we do this, 10 years from now our schoolchildren will not know or care when George Washington was born. They will just know that in the middle of February, they have a three-day weekend for some reason.

And thats exactly what has come to pass.

We now find ourselves at the point where it doesnt matter that U.S. law still officially designates todays federal holiday as Washingtons Birthday; what matters is that most Americans think its Presidents Day.

Nor does it matter much that states can and do set holidays on their own power, because they generally echo federal holidays, so whats a federal holiday is virtually a national holiday.

Is Any President as Worth Honoring as Is Our Greatest?

Sadly, the History Channels website article is correct when it states: Presidents Day is now popularly viewed as a day to celebrate all U.S. presidents, past and present. Most outlets report the same. Some even report that its a celebration of the office of the president.

Does anyone honestly believe that any given president is as worthy of our celebration as any other?

There is grave consequence to our permitting such irreverent diminishment of esteem for The Father of Our Country: Our young will never learn, our adults will soon forget, and it will fade from our national consciousness how blessed America is to have had in Washington such an astonishingly great leader who personified character, integrity, honesty, courage, humility, and profound love of country.

It was because of George Washington more than any other person that the United States of America became a country.

As commander-in-chief of the American Continental Army, he led 13 often-squabbling colonies to victory over the greatest military power in the world.

When things were shaky under the Articles of Confederation, James Madison, the driving force behind uniting the states under a new constitution, instinctively knew that if he could get Washington to be president of the 1787 Constitutional Convention, it would succeed.

And when the states ratified the Constitution, Washington was the obvious choice for first president of the United States.

The Greatest Man in the World

Not long after the British had surrendered to Washington at Yorktown, British King George III asked his American painter, Benjamin West, what Washington would do following his great success.

West replied, They say he will return to his farm.

The King couldnt believe that any mortal held in such awe by so many would walk away from power and said, If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.

He did it twice.

As the end of his second term approached, many beseeched him to continue for another one, perhaps even more. But no such temptation could match his strength of character that compelled him to honor his sense of duty and love for America by once again walking away from power.

When he died, Congress commissioned Henry Light Horse Harry Lee, his dear friend and Continental Army comrade-in-arms, to write a eulogy to express those sentiments of respect for the character, of the gratitude for the service, and of grief for the death of that illustrious personage.

Near the end of Lees 3,500-word moving tribute, we find these immortal words about Washington:

First in warfirst in peaceand first in the hearts of his countrymen, he was second to none in the humble and endearing scenes of private life; pious, just, humane, temperate and sincere; uniform, dignified and commanding, his example was as edifying to all around him, as were the effects of that example lasting.

Washingtons example is edifying for all Americans for all time. We should resolve that the effects of his example shall last as long as the United States does.

We need a restoration of the better culture and tradition that we had, not all that long ago. Its appalling that as America celebrates a federal holiday today, most Americans, even so many public officials and so-called thought leaders, are clueless as to what were really supposed to be celebrating.

Today is the Washingtons Birthday holiday. In honoring The Father of Our Country today, children should be learning and adults should be rememberinglest we ever forgetjust how precious is our great American heritage.

Fred J. Eckert is a former member of Congress and twice served as a U.S. ambassador under President Ronald Reagan, who called him a good friend and valued adviser  one of a kind  a man of great experience and wisdom and declared, He has a quality that is all too rare in the political world, he has political courage; I know, for I have been a personal witness to that courage.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
HBCUs deserve better than what Mr. Hogan is proposing  a paltry $200 million over 10 years. The Coalition for Equity and Excellence in Maryland Higher Education agrees; it proposed a $577 million settlement to lawmakers last year. As students, we are doing our part by working hard to achieve our educational goals. Our hopes and dreams are at stake. We need Mr. Hogan to do his part and accept what is right and fair  and Ms. Joness proposal does just that.
PEOPLE arrested or charged with serious crimes will be named in press communications, the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force has announced.





The new policy, which has received "overwhelming public support will begin next Monday (February 17), a police press release said on Tuesday.





The crimes are serious sexual offences, aggravated burglary, firearms offences, and also when serving police officers are charged with criminal offences.





The decision, which will be made on a case-by-case basis, will help with prevention or detection of crime or for a matter of public interest and build public trust, the release added.





The names will be released with the authority of the Force Executive Team.





Commissioner of Police, Trevor Botting said: "We would like to thank the public for their support in the introduction of this new policy.





"The executive team believes that this decision will assist in generating further intelligence or information regarding the potential offending by the individuals named.





"It will also encourage further witnesses to the offences the individual has been arrested for or charged with, and further provide a level of public reassurance in the Royal Turks and Caicos

Islands Police Force and its response to serious crime.





In the United Kingdom, police are encouraged to name anyone who officially charged with a crime but are advised not to name those arrested except in "clearly identified circumstances.





The College of Policing advice follows a debate about releasing information in the wake of the Leveson Inquiry.




The Jellyfish can be one of the most harmful sea creatures in the world. People who love to swim and dive normally avoid this species as they have been known to cause serious health problems.

Jellyfish stings vary in strength and effect. Some stings cause simple redness, irritated skin, and pain. However, others have been known to cause illness. Sometimes these stings are fatal.

It is also a common assumption of divers and swimmers that jellyfish can only sting a person when they have been touched. That isn't so true anymore.

In a new study published in Communications Biology on Thursday, it was found that there is actually a species of Jellyfish that can harm a swimmer or a diver without touching it. The Jellyfish whas been named the upside-down jellyfish due to the way they position themselves belly-up on the ocean floor.

National Geographic reports that they have been studying these jellyfish for more than a century. However, over the past few decades, no one could determine ut how these upside-down Jellyfish manage to harm people from a distance.

Cheryl Ames, a co-lead author of the new study and Marine Biologist from the Smithsonian National Museum of National History, said that they knew that this Jellyfish has something to do with the animal's mucus. They found that this upside-down Jellyfish can produce tons of sticky mucus that traps small prey. The researchers compare it to how a spider uses its web to catch prey. They also found that the fish quicky perish in the slime of the Jellyfish.

The most interesting part of their discovery is that this type of Jellyfish can cause a person to experience what is known as "stinging water sensation" most especially if a diver's skin is exposed. This was also supported by a series of laboratory tests where they found that this doesn't only cause a diver to feel itchy and burning skin, but can also be very harmful if the ecposure is prolonged.

Ames said that what they found swimming inside the slime of the jellyfish was autonomous and they termed the structures cassiosomes. She said: "They move around like little Roomba vacuums and bumping into the brine shrimp that we fed them, just killing them on contact, and moving on to the next."

The researchers first believed that the structures they found might be parasites. However, when they used new technologies to determine exactly what is in the structures through the jellyfish's DNA they discovered its true origin. They found that the structures present in upside-down Jellyfish are a type of algae, a common feature in other Jellyfish.

Anna Klompen, a co-lead author of the study and a Jellyfish Biologist, said that they don't know what the algae were doing inside the cassiosomes. Ames also said: "But we haven't been able to confirm that with the techniques used so far," she is referring to the algae that may act like solar-powered battery packs.

The researchers also added that more research is needed to determine if these cassiosomes can sense prey and move towards them. "I don't know if they can seek but they can destroy," Klompen said.

A Biochemist and Jellyfish expert from the University of Hawaii, Angel Yanagihara, said that the discovery could help answer long-standing questions about stinging water sensation. Though, Yanagihara is not part of the study he still said: "The pat explanation that the mucus was just in and of itself somehow an allergen or allergenic didn't seem credible to me. So this is quite satisfying to see such an elaborate description and breakdown of exactly what they're releasing into the water."
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-18 05:36:52|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Brazilian government on Monday said it extended the presence of National Public Security Force troops in five states, to "support local security forces" and "combat violent crime."

The 180-day extension was approved for the states of Para in the northern region, Pernambuco in the northeast, Goias in the midwest, Espirito Santo in the southeast, and Parana in the south.

According to a published government statement, the number of forces stationed in each location will follow planning directives determined by the National Public Security Secretariat.

Their efforts will focus on combating crime in the capitals of the five states and in specific towns, such as Ananindeua in Para, Cariacica in Espirito Santo, Paulista in Pernambuco, and Sao Jose dos Pinhais in Parana.

"The operations will have the logistical support of the states and municipalities involved, which should have the necessary infrastructure for the National Force," the government said.
MANILA, Philippines  The Department of Health (DOH) has begun discussing measures for the evacuation of Filipinos on board Diamond Princess cruise currently docked off at Yokohama Port in Japan due to cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The planning has begun. In fact, our people have already sat down with the officers of Magsaysay Shipping Lines to discuss where the 500, more or less, crew and few passengers will be quarantined, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said in an interview Monday (February 17).

The cruise ship, which has been in isolation since February 3, has the largest concentration of COVID-19 cases outside China.

Secretary Duque said the ship has 538 Filipinos  531 crew members and 7 passengers  on board, 11 of them have tested positive of COVID-19.

The ships 14-day quarantine period is set to end on Wednesday (February 19).

According to Duque, the Filipinos will still be asked to undergo another two-week quarantine once they arrive on shore, even if they complete the quarantine period on board the ship.

As for the venue, the Health Secretary said they may opt to stay at the New Clark City temporary quarantine facility.

The decision will eventually come from the persons themselves, Duque said.

Meanwhile, the DOH is still discussing with Magsaysay Shipping Lines, the manning agency that handles the Filipino crew members on board, as to where they will be quarantined.

On Tuesday (February 18), the governments Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Disease will convene to discuss the planned evacuation of Filipino passengers from the virus-stricken cruise ship.

We hope to get some answers before the end of the day so that tomorrow our recommendations will be more definitive, Duque said.

The post PH mulls evacuation of Filipinos from coronavirus-hit cruise ship in Japan appeared first on UNTV News.
Police divers will join the search on Monday for a missing woman, who disappeared last week while walking through the Gold Coast hinterland during heavy rain.

Yang Chen, who disappeared on the Gold Coast last week. Credit:Queensland Police Service

Yang Chen, 26, has not been seen since 11am on Wednesday when the man she was walking with near Gorge Falls, in the Tallebudgera Valley, lost sight of her.

Police said several creeks in the area were affected by recent rain at the time and divers will search those waterways in the area on Monday while searchers scour the area on foot once again.

Monday's search stretched from Springbrook down into Tallebudgera Valley.
Chinese companies make 15 million protective masks per day, but domestic demand is between 50 and 60 million. Local and foreign companies are encouraged to provide their own protective gear. In Hong Kong, a mask costs US.40.

Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies)  The Wuhan's coronavirus (Covid-2019) outbreak, which prompted Chinese authorities to postpone the annual sessions of the National Peoples Congress and the People's Political Consultative Conference (early March), is also creating serious problems with the supply of medical products in China and the rest of the world.

China is the world's leading manufacturer of protective masks, a market it conquered thanks to its low-cost production.

According to the National Development and Reform Commission, Chinas powerful economic planning agency, China produced 20 million masks a day before the outbreak.

Current production is around 15 million, but media reports indicate that daily demands is between 50 and 60 million. And that doesnt include demand from abroad.

In several Chinese cities, masks are mandatory in public spaces. Given the shortages, the government has decided to ration their distribution.

To fill the gap, the authorities are encouraging local companies to switch to manufacturing healthcare-related material, not only masks, but also protective suits, disinfectants, thermometers and other medical equipment.

State-owned companies are contributing to the effort by keeping prices low, whilst some large foreign companies are providing health protection for their employees.

Taiwanese giant Foxconn, which assembles components for Apple products, has moved in that direction, devoting parts of its production to making masks, two million masks a day by the end of the month.

China produces half of the masks sold in the world, five billion last year. Because of the outbreak, production has declined, forcing the authorities to turn to foreign markets to meet the demand at home.

But finding protective medical material is hard, even outside the country, especially the N95 respirator masks, which are said to offer better protection to doctors and patients.

To fill the gap, China has turned to US manufacturers who are unable to fill the gap. Prestige Ameritech, the leading US manufacturer in the sector, normally makes 600,000 masks a day, not enough to meet demand.

Some US mask makers had warned that a pandemic could create production problems worldwide, given the excessive reliance on Chinese production.

The high demand has inevitably led to a surge in prices. In Hong Kong a box of 50 masks now goes for HK,500 (US0).
After a Supreme Court rap for missing payment deadline, top telecom firms Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Tata Teleservices on Monday scrambled to pay a part of the outstanding dues even as the apex court refused to stop the government from taking coercive action for any further delay in clearing full dues.

While Airtel paid Rs 10,000 crore, Vodafone Idea Ltd put in Rs 2,500 crore and promised to pay another Rs 1,000 crore before the end of the week. Tata Teleservices Ltd paid Rs 2,197 crore, the entire outstanding it believes to have arisen after the October 24 ruling of the apex court for calculating dues after adding non-telecom revenues.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), which was last week rapped on the knuckles for ordering no coercive action even after telcos missed the January 23 payment deadline set by the Supreme Court, is mulling the option of encashing bank guarantees given by firms when they got telecom licences, sources said.

Encashing of the bank guarantees may sound the death knell for companies such as Vodafone Idea Ltd which has been struggling to garner the dues.

In a related development, the telecom companies started disputing the DoT estimate of the due amount and indicated they will pay as per their 'self-assessment'.

The telecom department officials will meet on Tuesday to discuss whether or not the bank guarantees should be encashed, as none of the telcos have paid the full payment.

Sources said that the option of encashment of bank guarantees is being considered and that "nothing is off the table". A decision on the matter may be taken on Tuesday, the source added.

Separately, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das in an interview to PTI said that the central bank is "very closely monitoring" the fallout of the crisis on lenders.

In the Supreme Court, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing on behalf of Vodafone Idea, urged for no coercive action after the initial payment of Rs 2,500 crore is made by the end of the day and another Rs 1,000 crore by Friday. The apex court rejected the plea, giving room to DoT to take coercive action including encashment of the bank guarantees.

A financial bank guarantee is equal to two quarters of licence fee and other dues. This amount could be in the range of Rs 5,000 crore for Airtel and Vodafone Idea.

Meanwhile, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday said he believes non-telecom PSUs are not covered by the Supreme Court order that asked telecom licence holders to pay statutory dues after including non-telecom revenues.

Following the October 24 Supreme Court ruling that non-telecom revenues of telecom firms such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea should be included for considering payments of government dues, the telecom department sought Rs 1.83 lakh crore from gas utility GAIL India Ltd, about Rs 48,500 crore from OIL, Rs 21,953.65 crore from Power Grid Corp and Rs 15,020 crore from Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd.

The government's demand from such companies was many times more than their net worth.

"The DoT has served notice to government oil companies due to some communication gap. We have placed our side after doing all legal consultations," Pradhan said adding telecom was not a core business for these PSUs.

The Supreme Court last week rejected a plea by mobile carriers such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea Ltd for extension in the payment schedule and asked them to deposit an estimated Rs 1.47 lakh crore in past dues for spectrum and licences. It threatened to initiate contempt proceedings against top executives of these firms for non-payment.

Some telecom firms are already struggling with mounting losses and debt and the additional liability has raised concerns of them defaulting on existing loans.

Of the estimated dues that include interest and penalty for late payments, Airtel and Vodafone Idea owe about 60 per cent.

While Airtel on Monday paid Rs 10,000 crore out of the Rs 35,586 crore dues that DoT thinks the company owes to the government, Vodafone Idea paid Rs 2,500 crore and promised to pay another Rs 1,000 crore by Friday to clear a part of the DoT estimated dues of Rs 53,000 crore.

Airtel said it will clear the remaining dues before the next date of hearing on March 17 but Vodafone Idea has so far not provided a clear deadline for making further payments.

"Tata Teleservices Ltd and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd have made a payment of Rs 2,197 crore to the DoT towards license fee and spectrum usage charges," the company said in a statement.

The payment is to settle all its AGR outstanding.

"TTSL and TTML have also submitted to DoT the details of calculations in support of the payment," it said.

In a regulatory filing, Bharti Airtel said it has paid "an amount of Rs 10,000 crore to the DoT" which includes an amount on behalf of Telenor India (the firm which merged with the company) and Rs 500 crore on behalf of Bharti Hexacom Limited, a subsidiary.

"The company is in a process of completing the self-assessment exercise expeditiously and will make the balance payment upon completion of the same, before the next date of hearing in the Supreme Court," it added.

In a separate statement, Vodafone Idea Ltd said its authorised the company to pay Rs 2,500 crore immediately and another Rs 1,000 crore before the end of the week.

"The board will take further stock of the situation to see how further additional payments can be made," the company said in a regulatory filing.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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.
Samantha Markle has slammed her estranged sister Meghan and claimed she is 'jealous of Kate Middleton and ruined her birthday on purpose.'

Meghan Markle's half-sister, 54, was referring to the fact the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's announcement about stepping back as 'senior royals' came on the eve of the Duchess of Cambridge's 38th birthday.

'Sad she would do that on Kate's birthday - I believe she was jealous of beautiful Kate,' she said, speaking to Daily Star Online.

The former model went on to lash out at the Duchess of Sussex, 38, for supposedly 'throwing herself' at Disney in an alleged bid to bag a deal with the Walt Disney Company.

Samantha Markle (pictured), 54, has lashed out at her estranged sister Meghan Markle, claiming she is 'jealous' of Kate Middleton

Speaking of Kate, Samantha said: 'Kate is iconic! Perfect Queen material and lovely as a family member especially as a mother.' Pictured, the Duchess of Cambridge and the Duchess of Sussex at Christmas Day church service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham

Samantha was struck by the timing of Meghan and Harry's bombshell announcement, where they also revealed they would be splitting their time between the UK and North America.

'She could never compare  Kate is iconic!' continued Samantha. 'Perfect Queen material and lovely as a family member especially as a mother.'

'I was impressed with how Kate could make a $200 dress look like $2 million.'

Following the Lion King premiere in London last July, footage emerged of Prince Harry seemingly trying to persuade franchise boss Bob Iger to give his wife a job.

Samantha claimed it 'inappropriate' after footage emerged of Prince Harry seemingly trying to persuade franchise boss Bob Iger to give her a job. Pictured, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex attend 'The Lion King' European Premiere at Leicester Square on July 14, 2019 in London

The hushed conversation, caught on camera by a fan, was initiated by the Prince who gestured to Meghan and said: 'You do know she does voiceovers?'

The Duke of Sussex could be seen collaring the powerful Disney chief and advertising his ex-actress partner's 'interest' in doing voiceover work.

'The Disney move would have been fine if initiated after leaving royal roles but seems inappropriate prematurely,' commented Samantha.

'And disrespectful of royal protocol. It's like cheating on a spouse and giving a phone number for a dinner date before being divorced.'

She went on to refer to the royal family as a 'launchpad' which helped Meghan to get to the high places that Suits wasn't able to get her.'
Live birds and poultry products can now be shipped to China from the US as both sides negotiate a trade deal.

China has approved the import of all poultry and poultry products from the United States, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said on its website on Monday.

Beijing had banned all trade in poultry products from the US since 2015 due to outbreaks of avian influenza there.

China approved poultry meat product imports in November 2019 as a concession to the US in the run-up to finalising a limited trade deal.

The new announcement would also allow for the import of live birds, said Li Jinghui of the China Poultry Association, benefitting companies including Aviagen and Cobb-Vantress Inc, both based in the US and among the worlds biggest poultry breeding companies.

Nobody at the China offices of Aviagen or Cobb could immediately be reached by phone.

Imports of live poultry from the US were worth $38.7m in 2013, dwarfed by other poultry products such as chicken feet.

However, the US ban had a significant impact on Chinas poultry producers, who needed breeder chickens to replenish their stock.

Opening up imports of live birds again is part of the trade deal, said Li, although he added that it may not have a major impact.

Both Aviagen and Cobb have increased production of their birds, known as grandparent stock, in other locations such as New Zealand to meet demand from China.

Two of Chinas leading poultry firms, Shandong Yisheng Livestock and Poultry Breeding Co Ltd and Fujian Sunner Development Co Ltd, have also started up breeding programmes to reduce their reliance on imports.

China is the worlds second-largest poultry producer and has been ramping up output to fill a huge meat shortage after an epidemic decimated its pig herd.

But prices have plunged in recent weeks because of measures taken by Beijing to tackle a coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 1,700 people.

Restrictions on moving livestock and extended holidays in many areas have paralysed the supply chain, leaving farmers stuck with large inventories of birds and eggs and slashing demand as restaurants and canteens stay shut.

Containers of frozen chicken feet from the US have also been caught up in the logistics logjam, with many diverted from China because of a lack of capacity to store additional cargoes.
India will send medical supplies on board a special relief plane to China's Wuhan city, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus, this week and bring back Indians as well as citizens from all neighbouring countries who are still stuck there on the return flight, the Indian Embassy said on Monday.

Beijing: India will send medical supplies on board a special relief plane to China's Wuhan city, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus, this week and bring back Indians as well as citizens from all neighbouring countries who are still stuck there on the return flight, the Indian Embassy said on Monday.

Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri said that subject to capacity, the special flight to Wuhan can take nationals from "all our neighbouring countries", besides Indians.

"Subject to capacity limitations and space availability on the incoming aircraft, #India is also willing to facilitate nationals from all our neighbours boarding it on its return journey to #NewDelhi. Those interested are requested to contact @EOIBeijing," Misri tweeted.

China is grappling to contain the deadly disease as the death toll climbed to 1,770 after 105 more people died, mostly in the worst-hit Hubei province, officials said on Monday. Of the new deaths, 100 were from Hubei, three in Henan, and two in Guangdong.

Many Indian nationals currently in Wuhan/Hubei Province and wishing to return to India have already been in touch with @EOIBeijing in the past two weeks. (2/3)@MEAIndia  India in China (@EOIBeijing) February 17, 2020



The Indian Embassy also announced that the Indian government will be sending a consignment of medical supplies on board a relief flight to Wuhan later this week to aid and assist China in its efforts against the COVID-19 epidemic.

On its return, the flight will have some limited capacity to take on board Indian nationals wishing to return to India from Wuhan/Hubei Province, it said, asking the Indian nationals to get in touch with it.

Indian officials said they are in touch with the Chinese authorities to grant necessary permissions to the flight to land and take the stranded Indians.

India operated two special Air India flights on 1 and 2 February and airlifted 647 Indian nationals, mostly students, and seven Maldivian nationals.

Many Indian nationals currently in Wuhan/Hubei Province and wishing to return to India have already been in touch with @EOIBeijing in the past two weeks, a tweet by the Indian Embassy said.

We urge all Indian nationals from Wuhan/Hubei Province who intend to avail this flight for India and have not yet contacted @EOIBeijing, to urgently call our hotlines +8618610952903 and +8618612083629 or send email to helpdesk.beijing@mea.gov.in before 1900 hours today (17 February 2020), it said.

Indian officials said there are still 80 to 100 Indians still stuck in the worst-hit Wuhan and other areas of Hubei province and many of them have been making desperate pleas to the Indian government to airlift them.

This includes 10 Indians who could not board the two special flights due to high body temperatures. They were expected to make it in the third flight as they reported to have recovered.

Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh have airlifted their nationals, while 800 to 1000 Pakistanis are still held in Hubei.

Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan meets the first batch of Indians (who came from Wuhan, China) at the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Quarantine Facility in Chhawla, as they leave for their homes after completing all the #Coronavirus screening. pic.twitter.com/x0qaumD4I0  ANI (@ANI) February 17, 2020

Those who are held up in the province were being taken care of by Chinese authorities with regular supplies for food and other essential materials.

The Indian officials said the operation to earlier airlift two batches of Indians was a logistical nightmare as both Wuhan and Hubai were locked down with a ban on public and private transport.

On Sunday, Misri said in a video message that India will do everything within its means to assist the people of China to combat the deadly coronavirus outbreak and would soon send a consignment of medical supplies.

Earlier, India lifted the ban and cleared some of the medical equipment ordered by the Chinese importers to meet the requirements.

China said it needed medical masks, gloves and suits especially for the medical staff attending the virus-infected patients.

Masks also have become scarce in China in view of the nationwide demand in the last three weeks.

On 9 February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote to Chinese President Xi Jinping, offering India's assistance to China to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.

Hubei and its capital Wuhan have become the epicentre of the virus and most of the fatalities in China have been reported from the province.
Climate Central reports just over an 8-inch increase in December-to-February snow since the 1970s at A.C. International. That trend is also seen in Northeastern cities like Newark, (over 10 inch increase), Philadelphia (over 6 inches) and Hartford, Connecticut (over 6 inches).

It is also the only region of eight in the country that saw an increase in average December-through-February snowfall, as well as in March-to-May season

Its still the classic noreasters that lead to seasonal snow totals increasing.

Because South Jersey is close to the coast, you get the bigger impact from the noreasters. ... You get more moisture in the atmosphere, said Sublette, adding that the effect extends into the Northeast as well.
BRUSSELS - International donors have committed over a billlion euros in relief for Albania in the wake of last years earthquake.

The European Union led the pledging of aid at a special conference gathering funds to rebuild anything from homes and businesses to hospitals which were destroyed in the Nov. 26 quake. In all 51 people were killed and 17,000 left homeless.

The EUs Commission and its member states together pledged some 400 million euros. The meeting brought together donor countries from as far away as the United States, Canada and Israel.

Weve surpassed our target for the reconstruction, said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen of the total pledge of 1.15 billion euros.

This is beyond my wildest imagination, said Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama at the end of the conference.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 14:24:00|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- China has issued more than 1,600 force majeure certificates to shield companies from legal damages arising from the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak.

The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) has issued 1,615 certificates by last Friday for companies involving over 30 sectors, covering a total contract value of 109.9 billion yuan (about 15.7 billion U.S. dollars), said the CCPIT.

The certificate exonerates companies from not performing or partially performing contractual duties by proving they are suffering from circumstances beyond their control.

The COVID-19 epidemic has delayed production for some companies as quarantine measures held back many workers from returning to their posts.

Some firms have presented the certificate to their clients and agreed on a later date to fulfill orders without facing legal liabilities, said the CCPIT.

A manufacturing company in eastern China's Zhejiang Province was the first to obtain the certificate on Feb. 2 to excuse itself from breaching a 2.4-million-yuan overseas order that could incur 30 million yuan of compensation.

The CCPIT's force majeure certificates are recognized by governments, customs, trade associations and enterprises of more than 200 countries and regions, it said.

To minimize losses for foreign trade companies amid the outbreak, especially from contractual breaches, the Ministry of Commerce has instructed six trade associations in sectors like textile, mining, machinery and healthcare to help with legal counseling and applying for force majeure certificates.

Chinese authorities have also urged local officials to help foreign-funded companies with work resumption and operation, with eastern China's Shandong Province rolling out a raft of measures like tax relief and deferring social insurance payments.
Caroline Flack's best friend who was with her just hours before killed herself has broken her silence to share a heartbreaking photograph of the late Love Island host holding her eight-year-old daughter as a baby.

Celebrity hair stylist Lou Teasdale posted the picture of Miss Flack and her daughter Lux from 2011 on Instagram last night, saying: 'This little lady misses you 'Calorine'.'

Miss Flack had pleaded not guilty to assaulting her boyfriend Lewis Burton at her former 1.1million home in Islington, North London, in a court hearing in December.

The 40-year-old troubled TV star, who was said by her management to be 'vulnerable', was found dead on Saturday at her rented flat in Stoke Newington, East London, where Miss Teasdale had been staying with her.

Miss Teasdale, who is known for being One Direction's stylist, wrote on Instagram: 'Anyone have any nice advice for me with an eight-year-old learning about grief?

Celebrity hair stylist Lou Teasdale posted the picture of Miss Flack and her daughter Lux from 2011 on Instagram last night, saying: 'This little lady misses you 'Calorine''

'She's lost two very special people who lived with us in the space of 12 months and I wanna make sure I'm saying the right thing - if there's such a thing.'

It comes as:

It was claimed that the Crown Prosecution Service initially decided not to charge Miss Flack with assaulting her boyfriend last December, but senior police officers are said to have pressed for a charging decision;

Miss Flack was allegedly tormented over the idea of a jury being shown police 'bodycam' footage taken during the night of the alleged assault;

ITV bosses continued to hold high-level crisis talks about the future of Love Island, although staff on the programme have been told the show is safe;

Contestants on the current series have still not been told of Miss Flack's death, although crew described the mood on set as 'on the floor' and 'incredibly low';

It emerged Miss Flack flew to Barcelona with a friend a week before her death, with the friend releasing photographs of her during the holiday.

Lux, who is the daughter of Miss Teasdale and her former fiance Tom Atkin, has her own Instagram page billing the girl as 'the youngest fan of One Direction'.

Caroline Flack's friend Lou Teasdale posted a photograph on Instagram on Sunday of her with Miss Flack in the TV star's flat in Stoke Newington, East London, saying: 'Here's us like five days ago really happy, lolling, telling each other we're really fit and funny... I love you'

Lou Teasdale and Caroline Flack attend a book launch party in London on March 25, 2014

Love Island staff have been told the future of the show is safe, although crew described the mood on set in Cape Town as 'on the floor' and 'incredibly low'.

Contestants on the current series still have not been told of Miss Flack's death, and it is not yet clear whether they will be informed at a later date.

It has also been claimed by sources close to Miss Flack's legal team that the Crown Prosecution Service initially decided not to charge her with assault, but senior police officers pressed for a charging decision, according to The Sun.

The CPS declined to comment on the claims today, while a Metropolitan Police spokesman said: 'The MPS, in line with policing nationally, follows the College of Policing's APP (authorised professional practice) relating to domestic abuse cases. The APP was followed in this matter. We are not discussing further.'

It comes as the row continued over Flack being charged by the CPS, after her management team said she was 'vulnerable' and condemned the decision to go ahead with the case next month.

Today Nazir Afzal, a former chief prosecutor, spoke out amid criticism of the Crown Prosecution Service for continuing with the case.

Speaking about the case, Mr Afzal told BBC Breakfast: 'They just follow the evidence. In this case yes the complainant withdrew his support for the prosecution but undoubtedly they felt they had enough, they had I think a 999 call recording, they had body cameras worn by the police, they would have had medical evidence, they would have had other evidence.

'They have to take domestic abuse seriously because we as a country have decided we need to take domestic abuse seriously.'

Miss Teasdale had volunteered to stay with Miss Flack following concerns about her welfare

Miss Teasdale had been staying with Miss Flack on Valentine's Day after the star was left terrified when she learnt prosecutors were not going to drop her assault case.

Caroline Flack was tormented over jury being shown police 'bodycam' footage Caroline Flack was said to have been tormented over the idea of a jury being shown police 'bodycam' footage taken during the night she was accused of attacking her boyfriend. The distraught TV presenter was understood to be horrified by the prospect of a 'show trial' over an alleged assault on Lewis Burton and was worried she could not cope with the fallout. Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court in North London had heard in December that police found the pair at her flat in Islington covered in blood and that Miss Flack had cuts to her wrist. Miss Flack had hoped the trial would not go ahead. Friends said she was left feeling isolated and scared and was prescribed anti-depressants. One said: 'Her biggest fear was that the bodycam footage would be made public. She realised that it was going to be shown in court if it came to court. 'She felt that from that moment her life would be ruined forever. I hear that the footage is quite distressing.' Advertisement

The 36-year-old stylist had popped out to the shops and Miss Flack took her own life within minutes of her friend leaving the flat in Stoke Newington, East London.

Miss Teasdale had volunteered to be at her side after family and friends grew increasingly concerned about the welfare of the former Love Island presenter.

A source last night said Miss Teasdale had been 'brilliant' with her and that Miss Flack had convinced her friend to go home.

The presenter is said to have persuaded her friend that she was fine after London Ambulance Service paramedics visited the property on Friday night.

A source told the Sun: 'Caroline had been unwell on Friday but by the time crews got there she was feeling much better and was coherent and responsive to them. She refused to go to hospital.'

After returning from the shops Miss Teasdale could not get back into the flat, but called Miss Flack's father Ian who gained entry to the flat and found her body.

A source close to the family told the Sun of Miss Teasdale: 'She was absolutely brilliant with her. On Saturday morning Caroline insisted she was fine and persuaded her friend to go home.

'No one is blaming Lou for a second. She couldn't have done any more. She is understandably distraught. It is so awful for her.'

Miss Teasdale shared an emotional Instagram post in memory of her 'beautiful friend', sharing a photograph taken last week of them together in the flat.

Mollie Grosberg, a TV producer, posted this picture of Caroline Flack in an Instagram story. It is be the last picture of Flack, taken on Valentine's Day just hours before she killed herself

Sharing a series of photographs of the pair together, Miss Teasdale wrote: 'Here's us like five days ago really happy lolling telling each other we're really fit and funny and five years ago, and ten years ago.

Why did the CPS pursue the assault charges when the alleged victim - her boyfriend - wanted them dropped? The Crown Prosecution Service is under obligation to investigate all domestic violence incidents if they believe they are in the public interest. For years there has been growing concern that too few domestic violence cases end in prosecution. Many involve women who have been attacked by their husbands who later withdraw their original accusations under duress or because they are simply living in fear. To try and address this, the CPS introduced reforms in 2014 aimed at greatly increasing prosecution rates. They issued guidance to police urging them to gather multiple sources of evidence rather than just relying on the victim's statement - which may be unreliable or change. One of the most important sources of evidence in domestic abuse cases is likely to be the original 999 call made by the victim shortly after the attack. Other evidence could include witness statements from neighbours, medical examinations or images from the scene captured on police bodycams or CCTV. Miss Flack was understood to be horrified by the prospect of a 'show trial' over the alleged assault on her boyfriend Lewis Burton and was worried she could not cope with the fallout. Advertisement

'I love you. I hope you are at peace now. Til the end my beautiful friend, Caroline x.'

Another of Miss Flack's friends shared what is believed to be the last photograph of the troubled TV star, pictured on Valentine's Day just hours before she killed herself.

Mollie Grosberg, a TV producer, posted the picture in an Instagram story, saying: 'Our funny valentine bought us cookies and oat milk this year.'

Ms Grosberg added that she is looking after Miss Flack's dog Ruby, and it comes as reports emerged that Miss Flack had warned police she would take her own life.

The 40-year-old presenter was taking anti-depressants as she battled mental health problems and was terrified of the prospect of her upcoming trial.

It was claimed yesterday paramedics had been sent to her home the day before she was found dead, following fears for her welfare, but she was not taken to hospital.

The distraught TV presenter was understood to be horrified by the prospect of a 'show trial' over an alleged assault on her boyfriend and was worried she could not cope with the fallout.

Friends said she was tormented over the idea of a jury being shown police 'bodycam' footage taken during the night she was accused of attacking Lewis Burton, 27.

She had hoped the trial would not go ahead.

A court had heard police found the pair covered in blood and that Miss Flack had cuts to her wrist.

The revelations about her mental health prompted questions about whether she was given enough help to tackle her depression and panic attacks.

Miss Flack's friend Sam Campbell took Flack along with her on a work trip to Barcelona to help keep her spirits up, but found the Love Island presenter was 'calm and hopeful, but so weak'

Writing a tribute to her friend Miss Flack on Instagram, Ms Campbell said: 'Last week she tagged along on a work trip to Barcelona with me. Waiting in the hotel while I did meetings'

Police last night refused to reveal if they had referred the star to mental health services.

As stars paid tribute to the Love Island presenter, friends asked if prosecutors, medical professionals and her former bosses at ITV had missed chances to save her.

ITV cancelled scheduled Love Island episodes over the weekend but said the show would return tonight with a tribute to Miss Flack, who presented five series before stepping back following her arrest.

But TV critic Scott Bryan told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme that it was 'just a bit too soon' for the programme to return.

Ms Grosberg posted this picture of her husband Maxwell Grant with Miss Flack's dog Ruby, who they are now looking after following the death of the troubled TV star on Saturday

Miss Flack posted a series of pictures with her dog Ruby in her final Instagram post on Friday

He said: 'Of course there are viewers who would say, well, Love Island isn't really connected to this. As you have rightly pointed out, the reasons why somebody takes their own life is due to a myriad of different factors.

'Then some say that it should be as a tribute for Caroline, but also I think many people would say it just feels too soon. I think I'm in that camp - I feel personally it is just a bit too soon.

'I think it's just the fact that Love Island is such a bubbly show, such a warm show, such an uplifting show  and it just doesn't feel like the cultural mood where we are as a country at the moment, I think.

'I think it's also just incredibly hard for the crew - Laura Whitmore speaking so passionately, I highly recommend people go and watch it - to continue, essentially, continuing the rest of the series when it's incredibly difficult on their mental health.

'But I also want to point out that this has been really devastating news during the weekend, particularly when it's a familiar face.'

In other developments:

Miss Flack's management called the case against her a 'show trial' without merit;

Mr Burton raged against a court ban which had kept him and Miss Flack apart;

Fellow TV presenter Laura Whitmore warned of the pressures faced by those in the public eye, saying: 'It's gone too far';

Government minister Grant Shapps said broadcasters owed a duty of care to reality show contestants and presenters.

Miss Flack died at her home in Stoke Newington on Saturday.

Her death is understood to have come just hours after she learned prosecutors had ruled she would face trial over Mr Burton's alleged assault.

Her management team said the Crown Prosecution Service knew she was 'vulnerable' and condemned the decision to go ahead with the case next month.

Mr Burton, who made the original 999 call to report the assault, later said he did not want her to face charges.

Miss Flack was pronounced dead at the scene after being found 'unresponsive' inside her flat.

It later emerged that paramedics had been called to her road on Friday night.

Miss Flack, 40, was accused of attacking her boyfriend Lewis Burton, 27, pictured together

London Ambulance Service said: 'Crews attended and, following a clinical assessment, the person was not taken to hospital.'

The star had spoken publicly about her battle with depression and panic attacks, which began after she won Strictly in 2014.

Friends said she had become 'fixated' by the prospect that police video footage of her arrest would be made public.

A court hearing was told Mr Burton dialled 999 at 5.25am on December 12 and said he was being assaulted by Miss Flack.

He told police she had read text messages on his phone and thought he was cheating on her, and had attacked him while he was asleep.

Miss Flack is pictured in an Instagram post in June 2019. The star had spoken publicly about her battle with depression and panic attacks, which began after she won Strictly in 2014

At a hearing at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court last year, prosecutors said police found the couple covered in blood and said Miss Flack had two cuts to her left wrist after smashing a glass.

Officers were forced to restrain her, they said, and when she was cautioned, she told police she would kill herself, the court heard.

Her lawyer Paul Morris said Mr Burton disputed the CPS's account and did not want her to be prosecuted.

The pair remained in a relationship and begged to be allowed to see each other, but the court imposed bail conditions which banned Miss Flack from contacting Mr Burton, meaning they were forced to spend Christmas, New Year and Valentine's Day apart.

Miss Flack leaves Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court in North London on December 23 last year

Friends said Miss Flack was left feeling isolated and scared and was prescribed anti-depressants again.

One said: 'Her biggest fear was that the bodycam footage would be made public. She realised that it was going to be shown in court if it came to court.

'She felt that from that moment her life would be ruined forever. I hear that the footage is quite distressing.'

Miss Flack's agent Francis Ridley, of Money Talent Management, said: 'The CPS pursued this when they knew not only how very vulnerable Caroline was but also that the alleged victim did not support the prosecution.

Miss Flack died at her home in Stoke Newington, East London, on Saturday. A police van is pictured outside the property yesterday

Floral tributes placed outside Miss Flack's former home in Islington, North London, today which she put up for sale last year

'The CPS should look at themselves today and how they pursued a show trial that was not only without merit but not in the public interest. And ultimately resulted in significant distress to Caroline.'

Lawyer Nazir Afzal, a former CPS chief prosecutor, said prosecutors could halt proceedings if the risk to the defendant's health outweighed the public interest in them standing trial.

'But he said they were under pressure to pursue convictions for domestic violence amid concerns that too many prosecutions were dropped.

An ITV insider insisted it had maintained contact with Miss Flack, and had offered her support.

For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123, visit a local branch or go to www.samaritans.org

Caroline Flack's final holiday: Friend of tragic Love Island host shares heartbreaking snaps of her feeling 'hopeful, but so weak' during Barcelona trip together

Caroline Flack flew to Barcelona with a friend a week before her tragic death, it has been revealed.

Flack took her own life aged 40 at her London home on Saturday after she was told she would face trial for the alleged assault of her boyfriend Lewis Burton - a charge she denied and Mr Burton did not want to pursue.

Her friend Sam Campbell had taken Flack along with her on a work trip, but found the Love Island presenter was 'calm and hopeful, but so weak', even while away in sunny Barcelona.

Miss Campbell posted this image as she paid tribute to Caroline Flack following their holiday to Barcelona a week before her death

Flack was pictured on a trip to a museum, sitting in the back of a tuk-tuk, and smiling while holding up a cuddly souvenir with the words 'not guilty' emblazoned across it.

Writing a tribute to her friend on Instagram, Ms Campbell said: 'I've lost count of all our holidays and trips.

'Last week she tagged along on a work trip to Barcelona with me. Waiting in the hotel while I did meetings.

'I'm so so glad she came and we got to have one more adventure together and a few last laughs,' Ms Campbell wrote

'We went on a tuk tuk, walked, saw the sights, went to a house of curiosities and got our caricature done.

'We'd go for dinner then watch Ab Fab till we fell asleep. She was calm and hopeful, but so weak.

'I'm so so glad she came and we got to have one more adventure together and a few last laughs. I miss you so much already xxxxx.'

EXCLUSIVE: 'The mood is on the floor... it's horrible': Love Island staff are 'incredibly low' as they prepare for tonight's emotional episode but contestants have STILL not been told of Caroline Flack's suicide

Love Island staff have been told the future of the under fire show is safe following former presenter Caroline Flack's tragic death.

Crew on the ITV2 reality series described the mood on set in Cape Town, South Africa, as 'on the floor' and 'incredibly low' as they got back to work ahead of tonight's episode.

Production have been told the show will not be axed amid claims its future was 'hanging in the balance.'

The summer series is set to go ahead as planned while ITV2 bosses look to recruit winter host Laura Whitmore, 34, on a permanent basis.

Contestants on the current series still haven't been told of Caroline's death. It is not yet clear whether they will be informed at a later date.

An insider told MailOnline: 'Love Island bosses will not be telling stars of the current series.'

'The mood is on the floor, it's horrible': Love Island's crew have been 'reassured' on the show's future and told their 'jobs are safe' following former presenter Caroline Flack's tragic death

In the dark: Contestants on the current series of Love Island STILL haven't been told of Caroline's death. It is not yet clear whether they will be informed at a later date

According to those working on set, Caroline's tribute will be a montage and aired at the top of the show, and her former co-star Iain Stirling, 32, has narrated tonight's episode as normal.

A source told MailOnline: 'The mood on set is on the floor, it's horrible.

'Staff are feeling homesick for the first time ever after Caroline's death  all they want now is to be back at home with their loved ones.

'Seniors are constantly checking everyone's OK but obviously it's all workers can think about.

'Although final decisions for the show are yet to be made, staff have been reassured the summer series will go ahead as planned and their jobs are safe.

'Tonight's episode of Love Island will begin with a montage of Caroline, that producers are hoping will be a fitting tribute to the star.'

'Their jobs are safe': Production have been reassured the show will not be axed as bosses look to recruit winter series host Laura Whitmore, 34, on a permanent basis

Poignant: ITV released the above statement which said that Love Island would return on Monday night and will include a tribute to the former presenter

ITV cancelled Love Island Unseen Bits which usually airs on Saturday night and axed Sunday's episode after Caroline, 40, who fronted the dating series for five years, died on Saturday at her home in east London.

The show will return on Monday evening as planned but Monday's Aftersun has been cancelled in the wake of the tragic news.

Bosses decided to axe the recording 'out of respect for Caroline's friends and family,' after she also presented the spin-off show.

Love Island host Laura paid tribute to her close friend Caroline on Sunday, and described the show as 'loving and caring and safe and protected'.

In a heartfelt speech on her BBC 5 Live show, Laura said: 'Caroline loved to love, that's all she wanted.

'It's all staff can think about': Caroline, who tragically took her own life on Saturday, fronted the ITV2 dating series for five years, and was loved and respected by cast and crew

'Which is why a show like Love Island was important to her because the show is about finding love, friendship and having a laugh.

'The problem wasn't the show. The show to work on is loving and caring and safe and protected. The problem is the outside world is not.'

It has been claimed that Caroline took her own life just minutes after her close friend Lou Teasdale, 36, left her flat, where she had been staying with the star over Valentine's Day.

The distraught TV presenter was understood to be horrified by the prospect of a 'show trial' over an alleged assault on her boyfriend and was worried she could not cope with the fallout.

Star from the shires lit up TV but never found true happiness: ALISON BOSHOFF on how Caroline Flack struggled to escape crippling anxieties of her childhood

Gazing flirtily into the camera wearing a black bra and vampish red lipstick, in her last Instagram post Caroline Flack was the image of joyful self-confidence.

At 40, she had never looked more beautiful. Yet two days after posting these pictures to her 2.6million followers, in what friends believe was a final Valentine's message to boyfriend Lewis Burton, the presenter took her own life.

They say the prospect of standing trial over an alleged assault on the 27-year-old  who she considered to be her soulmate  after a jealous row is what drove her to this desperate act.

'I think that the fact that she did this so soon after being told that the prosecution was going to go ahead is significant,' said a friend.

'The fact that it had been Valentine's Day and she had been apart from her boyfriend also was a factor I believe.'

Beauty Spot: Presenting ITV's Love Island saw her mixing with the young and the glamorous

For behind the deceptive gloss of social media, there was a different story than the happy one Caroline had struggled to maintain. Hers was a tale of crippling low self-esteem, depression and anxiety that dated back years.

Raised in the Norfolk village of Great Hockham, by her father Ian, a pastry chef, and mum Christine, who worked for a local paper, from her earliest days it appears that Caroline felt somewhat insecure.

She constantly compared herself to her non-identical sister Jody, who self-conscious Caroline believed was the prettier, cleverer and more sensible of the two.

Her worries were compounded by her eczema, which made her 'paranoid' about her skin, and she hated her 'skinny' legs, going to school in up to five pairs of tights to try to make them look more substantial.

Despite her insecurities, Caroline had her sights set on a more dazzling milieu than she felt Norfolk could offer.

Her great heroine was pop star Kylie Minogue  a pocket Venus like Caroline, who was 5ft 3in tall  and she set out to achieve fame on as big a scale as possible.

Yet when she first began to pursue her showbiz passions, it seemed Jody was ahead of her there, too. 'When it came to dancing and acting at school my sister was the talented one,' she said. 'To get even close to her I had to work incredibly hard.'

She went on: 'I've always felt the need to overcompensate but I know my limits. My first ambition was musical theatre but I realised quite early on that I wouldn't make the grade.'

It was a crushing realisation. Yet at just 16, Caroline left home to attend the Bodyworks theatre school in Cambridge.

Somewhat precociously, she never really went home again. However she has always remained close to her family, which include older siblings Paul and Elizabeth, and was stunned when her parents announced they were divorcing recently.

She and Jody  now a mum of three  were particularly close. Caroline observed: 'We have completely different lives, but we each enjoy the other's life vicariously.

I'm very lucky to have a twin. We're very close  we shared a bed until we were four and we were in the same class at school  but we're quite different'.

After graduating from theatre school, there were a series of small fry jobs  working in a pork processing factory, waitressing and being a magician's assistant.

Sibling rivalry: Caroline (thought to be on the left) always said her twin sister Jody was the prettier and more talented

She got her first break in 2002 as an actress on comedy sketch show Bo' Selecta! She then went on to present CBBC's Saturday morning show TMi, gaining fans who would later grow up to watch her on Love Island.

A stint on Gladiators followed, before she was picked to front the ITV2 spin-off show I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here Now! in 2009.

'Television is where I'm most at home,' she said. 'I'm not one of those TV presenters who secretly yearns to be a Hollywood actress. Live telly is what I thrive on.'

By this time, she was starting to get noticed on London's busy celebrity scene, hanging out with stars like the late Amy Winehouse and comedian Noel Fielding.

A friend said: 'We would do long long filming days from 9am to 11pm and then she would get a text and say, 'Right, let's go out for a drink'. She had so much energy. She was a great drinker but it wasn't a problem.'

Career break: Caroline Flack with Sam Nixon and Mark Rhodes for CBBC show TMI

As her star rose she became increasingly famous for reported romances with fellow celebrities, including Prince Harry, James Corden and music manager Jack Streets. In 2011 she began dating One Direction's Harry Styles, then 17 to her 32. Naturally, the band's fans were appalled.

Caroline, then hosting X Factor spin-off show The Xtra Factor, said: 'I already knew he had a crush on me. It was flattering and I found it amusing.

'After Harry was pictured coming out of my house people started shouting 'paedophile' at me.

There was a moment when we thought, 's***, this has gone really dark'.' The backlash  particularly on Twitter  was vicious enough for her to seek therapy after the three-month fling ran its course.

She later said: 'It comes with the job. I can't moan about it because I have a really amazing life and I'm very lucky.' But the threats and abuse troubled her.

One associate described her as 'a woman of extremes, laughing one moment and crying the next'. After the fling ended she went through a course of neuro-linguistic programming in 2013 to help her rebuild her self-esteem.

The following year she won Strictly Come Dancing. But at this moment of supreme professional triumph, she sank into depression. 'It all started the day after I won Strictly. I woke up and felt like somebody had covered my body in clingfilm,' she said.

Caroline Flack pictured during a promotional shoot for Love Island which she previously presented

'I couldn't get up and just couldn't pick myself up at all that next year. I felt ridiculous, being so sad when I'd just won the biggest show on telly and had such an amazing job.

'However, I felt like I was being held together by a piece of string which could snap at any time. Anti-depressants helped me get up in the morning, and stopped me from being sad, but what they also do is stop you from being happy.'

Soon after, she was promoted to co-host The X Factor with singer Olly Murs. Yet the critics were unkind, and after suffering panic attacks in her dressing room she ended up on medication for depression again. She said: 'I felt like a bit of a joke.'

She was devastated by Graham Norton's joke at the 2016 Baftas when she said her future return as The X Factor's host was less likely than the executed Anne Boleyn returning to BBC2 historical drama Wolf Hall.

'I remember the person next to me touching my arm in sympathy and just trying not to cry. It was really horrible and my lowest point,' she said.

Winner: Caroline Flack was adored by Strictly Come Dancing fans but her depression set in soon afterwards

But in 2015 came her biggest break  being made the presenter of Love island, with a salary of 600,000 a year and lucrative spin-off deals.

Yet for a woman struggling with self-esteem issues, being surrounded by an endless rotation of bikini-clad women can not have been easy.

When Love Island bosses reportedly requested that she, too, wear a bikini on the show, she refused.

However after the tragic suicides of former contestants Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis, she praised the show for taking care of participants' mental health, saying she had discussed her own worries with them.

Though her professional life flourished as she helped the Love Island contestants look for love, Caroline's own romantic life was fraught.

In recent years she had a rocky on-off relationship with former Apprentice star, Andrew Brady, 28, to whom she got engaged after a few weeks of dating.

In November 2018 he called police after believing that she was on the brink of taking her own life.

After a brief fling with rugby hunk Danny Cipriani, she met tennis pro and model Lewis Burton, 27, in July last year. And so began the romance that would lead to the devastating series of events.

Soulmate: Caroline Flack with her boyfriend Lewis Burton. Friends believed they would marry

On the night of December 12, she and Burton had gone out for a dinner at the Soho nightspot Bob Bob Ricard.

Whatever happened next involved jealousy and a loss of control although a friend of hers told me yesterday through tears: 'She did nothing wrong which is why I cannot understand what has happened now.'

Friends of Flack have always maintained that it was a 'minor argument'. But blood was spilled during the drama, and her career was damaged.

After being charged on the basis of evidence from the police, she was forced to step down from Love Island.

Having reportedly learned on Friday that she would have to stand trial next month, on Saturday, after a friend who was staying with her 'popped out' to the shops, she took her own life.

Though friends confirm that Caroline had been taking medication for depression at the time of her death, they profess themselves stunned that she could reach such a low ebb.

For the signs were that she was recovering. She had given up drinking and had said she was feeling positive after a break in Los Angeles.

Indeed, she had promised friends she was looking forward to giving her side of the events of that night and clearing her name next month.

Red nose turn: Caroline Flack striking a pose during Comic Relief in 2007

And she was happy at least that Lewis  who she adored  was sticking by her. Friends insist she believed they were on course to get married this year, once the court case was over. She had moved to a new house in East London, and started writing a self-help book, part memoir, part advice on getting through problems.

Yet behind the happy facade, fears over appearing in court continued to bubble away.

One friend told me: 'She could not get her head around the court case.' Through tears, he added: 'We always used to say 'it's fixable'. Whatever went wrong we would say: 'Oh never mind, it's fixable.'

Tragically, it seems that no matter how brave a face Caroline showed, after years of mental torment, this vivacious young woman no longer believed she was fixable.

Inside Caroline Flack's flat: Photos reveal interior of tragic Love Island star's 3,000-a-month London apartment where she killed herself - five days after posing for selfie with friend

This is the interior of Love Island presenter Caroline Flack's 3,000-a-month apartment where she killed herself.

The troubled TV star was found dead on Saturday in the two-bedroom top floor loft space in Stoke Newington, East London, which she had been renting in recent weeks after trying to sell her former home in Islington.

She moved into the 1,400 sq ft flat in a former Victorian schoolhouse after putting her former property up for sale last September, three months before she was arrested on suspicion of attacking her boyfriend Lewis Burton, 27.

But Miss Flack, 40, then took the 1.1million Islington property off the market last month so she could rent it out as a source of income, having lost her 1.2million salary as the host of Love Island after stepping down.

Caroline Flack's friend Lou Teasdale posted a photograph on Instagram on Sunday of her with Miss Flack in the flat (above), saying: 'Here's us like five days ago really happy, lolling, telling each other we're really fit and funny... I love you'

Miss Flack was found dead on Saturday in this two-bedroom top floor loft space in Stoke Newington, East London

Miss Flack moved into the 1400 sq ft flat in a former Victorian schoolhouse after putting her former property up for sale

Miss Flack had been renting the apartment in Stoke Newington, East London, in recent weeks after selling her former home

A listing on London Lofts said the property has a 'modern kitchen and access to a fantastic private roof terrace'

The part-furnished apartment was described by the estate agents London Lofts as coming with 'excellent security'

The Stoke Newington home became available last November for 695 a week or 3,020 per calendar month, and was described by estate agents as an 'amazing top floor loft' offering 'character living space in a superb location.'

A listing on London Lofts said it is 'dominated by a huge, triple-height living room, with exposed bricks, parquet flooring and huge period windows', and has a 'modern kitchen and access to a fantastic private roof terrace'.

The part-furnished apartment, where Miss Flack's friend Lou Teasdale had been staying with her, was also described by the agents as coming with 'excellent security and an allocated off-street parking space'.

Miss Teasdale posted a photograph on Instagram on Sunday of her with Miss Flack in the flat, saying: 'Here's us like five days ago really happy, lolling, telling each other we're really fit and funny... I love you.'

The home is 'dominated by a huge, triple-height living room, with exposed bricks, parquet flooring and huge period windows'

The loft property in Stoke Newington became available last November for 695 a week or 3,020 per calendar month

Miss Flack moved to the Stoke Newington flat after being told by a court she could not have any contact with her boyfriend

Love Island presenter Caroline Flack killed herself at the 3,000-a-month apartment in Stoke Newington, East London

Miss Flack had moved into the 1400 sq ft flat Stoke Newington, East London, which is in a former Victorian schoolhouse

Miss Flack was told at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court in North London two months ago that she could not have any contact with Mr Burton before her upcoming trial for allegedly attacking him.

She told police she would kill herself after she allegedly assaulted her boyfriend in December. Miss Flack, who was described as 'vulnerable' by her management, had denied assaulting Mr Burton at her former flat in Islington.

Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court heard that, in the aftermath of the alleged incident, Miss Flack told police 'I did it' and then warned she would kill herself. She was arrested and charged with assault by beating.

Miss Flack stepped down from presenting the current winter series of Love Island after the alleged assault. The ITV programme did not air on Sunday night, but will be back on tonight with a tribute showreel to Flack.

Police cars parked near the apartment building in Stoke Newington yesterday where Miss Flack was found dead on Saturday

A floral tribute placed yesterday outside the building in Stoke Newington where Miss Flack lived and was found dead

The shock news prompted a flood of tributes from celebrities. But it also brought questions about the decision to persist with prosecuting Miss Flack for the alleged assault on her boyfriend.

Miss Flack's management company criticised the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for pressing ahead with what it called her 'show trial' even after her boyfriend said he did not support it.

She is the fourth person linked to the ITV2 dating programme to have killed themselves. Sophie Gradon, who was a contestant in 2016, was found dead at her home in 2018 at the age of 32.

Her boyfriend Aaron Armstrong, who had found her body, killed himself three weeks later aged 25. Mike Thalassitis, who appeared in the 2017 series, was 26 when he was found dead in a park in March last year.

Legal expert defends CPS over death of Caroline Flack by likening case to domestic abuse and arguing lawyers would still prosecute a man even if a female partner tried to drop charges

A legal expert has defended the Crown Prosecution Service following the death of Caroline Flack by explaining why they pursue criminal cases even when alleged victims don't want them to.

The CPS has faced scrutiny for decision to pursue a court case against former Love Island presenter Flack, whose death on Saturday came hours after she found out she would face trial over the alleged assault of her boyfriend Lewis Burton, 27.

Mr Burton did not want to press charges, and following Ms Flack's death a member of her management team hit out at the CPS saying they should 'look at themselves and how they pursued a show trial that was not only without merit but not in the public interest'.

Legal commentator Joshua Rozenberg appeared on Good Morning Britain with Richard Madeley and Ranvir Singh today to discuss how the CPS decide to pursue cases against alleged criminals - and why they might do so even against the 'victim's' wishes.

Ms Singh said that in cases of alleged domestic violence, historically, victims may have refused to support prosecutions for many reasons, and Mr Rozenberg said: 'That's absolutely right. Take the classic example of a man accused of assaulting a woman - maybe a sexual assault.

'They live together and the woman has second thoughts and she says I want to withdraw the charges... or is coerced as you might well imagine could happen in other circumstances.

'Should the CPS say 'oh well don't need to worry about it any more because she has been persuaded to drop the charges?' It's not up to her. It's up to the state to decide.'

Mr Rozenberg said that the Crown Prosecution Service will ask themselves whether there was enough evidence for a reasonable chance of conviction and if a prosecution was in the public interest.

Pictured: Lewis Burton with Caroline Flack, who was facing charges of alleged assault

'It's never going to be in the public interest for somebody to be hounded to their death,' he said. 'I'm sure that the CPS is sympathetic as we all are this morning about this tragedy, but if you could simply say to the CPS I am vulnerable, I am likely to take my own life, well, a lot of people would say that and it wouldn't be true.

'It's very difficult for the CPS to judge, we don't know what evidence Caroline Flack's lawyers gave to the CPS about her state of mind.'

He added that the CPS will consider the welfare of a person who has been accused of a crime, using the example of someone who is terminally ill.

Mr Rozenberg added that prosecutions can be dropped if they're not in the public interest.

Richard Madeley asked Mr Rozenberg if he knew of a prosecution being dropped because somebody said they might take their own life, and he responded: 'Simply saying that would not lead to the dropping of a prosecution because it would be too easy.

Nazir Afzal, a former CPS prosecutor for the North West, posted a series of tweets hitting out at online trolls and explaining why the CPS decides to prosecute cases of domestic abuse, even when the complaint has been withdrawn.

'Producing medical evidence that you'd tried suicide on several occasions in the past, that you were mentally ill, that you'd been taken to hospital, or whatever it may be, is certainly something that may lead to a postponement of a prosecution and perhaps even in extreme circumstances, it being dropped.'

It comes after a former chief prosecutor defended the CPS over pursuing charges against Flack and hit out at social media trolls.

Nazir Afzal, a former CPS prosecutor for the North West, explained why the CPS decides to prosecute cases, even when the victim's complaint has been withdrawn.

Mr Afzal said there were 750,000 reports of domestic violence last year to police, but only 75,000 were prosecuted, and 75 per cent of those convicted.

And more than 120 domestic homicides were prosecuted without any victim evidence, he said.

Mr Afzal added: 'It's to avoid the latter that prosecutors pursue the former. But only when there are allegations of serious violence and there is other strong evidence available such as 999 call recordings, police body worn camera, statements and interview.

'Sometimes you need to protect someone even when they can't see it themselves.

'However you must judge each case on its merits. Prosecutors make decisions without fear of favour - I can assure you the celebrity status or otherwise is irrelevant.

'Most offenders prosecuted aren't even famous in their own homes'.

In the string of tweets, Mr Afzal also took aim at online trolls and the 'cult of celebrity'.

He said: 'The dehumanising of our social media victims means we say anything we like about them without consequences for us, even when consequences for our target can be terrible.

Nazir Afzal, a former CPS prosecutor for the North West, posted a series of tweets hitting out at online trolls and explaining why the CPS decides to prosecute cases, even when the complaint has been withdrawn

'Don't forget there are degrees of harm, short of pushing someone to believe their life isn't worth living.'

Flack's management criticised the CPS in a statement.

Francis Ridley, of Money Talent Management, said: 'We are devastated at the loss of our client and friend Caroline Flack.

'The Crown Prosecution Service pursued this when they knew not only how very vulnerable Caroline was but also that the alleged victim did not support the prosecution and had disputed the CPS version of events.

'The CPS should look at themselves today and how they pursued a show trial that was not only without merit but not in the public interest.

'And ultimately resulted in significant distress to Caroline. Our thoughts are with Caroline's family at this time.

'An immensely talented young woman who was at the top of her game professionally and loved by television viewers across the country. In recent months Caroline had been under huge pressure because of an ongoing case and potential trial which has been well reported.'

The CPS told MailOnline in a statement: 'Our deepest sympathies go to the family and friends of Caroline Flack.

'Given the tragic circumstances, we will not comment on the specifics of this case at this stage.'

Panellist due to appear in TV show hosted by Caroline Flack pays tribute to 'caring and down to earth' star

A panellist who was about to appear in a TV show presented by Caroline Flack has paid tribute to the 'caring and down to earth' star.

Les Langley, of Low Coniscliffe, County Durham, was due to appear in Channel 4's The Surjury after filming with the presenter over three months last year.

The programme, which was set to launch in the next few months, was cancelled after Channel 4 bosses revealed that they had decided 'not to broadcast' the show following Miss Flack's death.

Les Langley, of Low Coniscliffe, County Durham, was due to appear in Channel 4's The Surjury after filming with presenter Carolina Flack (pictured together) over three months last year.

Mr Langley had been part of the programme's on-screen jury, which decided if life-changing surgery brought by a contestant would be granted.

He said: 'I was working on a new show with Caroline last year, there was three parts to filming a new show that was going to come out this year.'

Describing what working with Miss Flack had been like during filming, Mr Langley described the presenter as 'one of us', despite her celebrity status.

He said: 'She was fantastic, she would come in the morning, her timekeeping wasn't great to be honest, but she would ask each one of us how we were this morning.

'She really cared for those people (contestants) on the show, some of those people were coming on for life-changing surgery and were extremely nervous about coming out on stage. She would make them feel at ease.'

Mr Langley said that the ex-Love Island presenter did not act like a celebrity and that despite having her own make-up artist, she appeared down to earth.

He said: 'There was no star feel to it, she was just one of us. She had her make-up artist, but she was one of us.'

Describing what working with Miss Flack had been like during filming, Mr Langley described the presenter as 'one of us', despite her celebrity status

But describing the moment a Whatsapp group made up of fellow panellists erupted with anguish, he said the announcement of her death was difficult to process.

He said: 'I was driving and my phone kept on bleeping - I thought it must have been about when the show was going to air.

'When I got home, I looked at my phone and was in total shock. I turned on the news, hoping it wasn't true. It was really upsetting.'

Mr Langley said members of the group had come together to show their support for each other, while Channel 4 had contacted them to offer emotional support.

He added: 'Channel 4 emailed us within hours of it being announced, I just hope they would have given the same support to Caroline.'

A Channel 4 spokesman said: 'We are shocked and saddened to hear the tragic news about Caroline Flack.

'Our deepest sympathies go out to Caroline's family and friends. Under the circumstances, we have decided not to broadcast The Surjury.'

'You believe you don't have a choice and that's the sad thing for people left behind': Ruth Langsford breaks down in tears on This Morning as she recalls her sister's suicide after Caroline Flack's death

Ruth Langsford spoke out on her sister's suicide during an emotional segment on Monday's episode of This Morning.

The ITV presenter broke down in tears as the show discussed Caroline Flack's death over the weekend.

Telling viewers that 'this happened in my family,' Ruth tearfully explained what it was like for a family member left behind after suicide.

Loss: Ruth Langsford spoke out on her sister's suicide during an emotional segment on Monday's episode of This Morning focusing on Caroline Flack's death

Ruth's sister Julia Johnson, 62, who had battled depression for years, was found dead by her husband Paul at their home in Lingfield, Surrey in June 2019.

At the time, the ITV host, 59, told viewers her sister had died 'after a long illness', with an inquest later ruling she had died by suicide.

Devastated, Ruth was unable to go to work that week and two months later she left the This Morning studio in tears unable to continue with a phone-in on anxiety and depression.

Speaking to psychologist Emma Kenny on Monday's This Morning, Ruth spoke in public about her sister's suicide for the first time, explaining: 'This happened in my family. I remember my shock at that. It's the questions it leaves the families'.

She continued with a list of a list of questions family members may have: 'I should have gone round. I should have phoned. I was going to go round. I was going to phone. Maybe I should have stayed longer,' she said.

Telling viewers that 'this happened in my family,' Ruth tearfully told viewers what it was like for a family member left behind after suicide during a discussion with her husband Eamonn Holmes (left), Nicola Thorp and Matthew Wright

Grief: Ruth's sister Julia Johnson, 62, who had battled depression for years, was found dead by her husband Paul at their home in Lingfield, Surrey in June 2019

Tears: Ruth spoke in public about her sister's suicide for the first time, explaining: 'This happened in my family. I remember my shock at that'

She added: 'You are left with the 'what ifs'. It's her family now that I think will need so much help.'

Later Ruth broke down in tears during a discussion about Caroline with actress Nicola Thorp and Mathew Wright.

'You believe you don't have a choice, that's the sad thing and that's the sad thing for people left behind who say, 'So many people loved you, you did have a choice, you could have called me, you could have called mum'' Ruth said before she was unable to continue.

Emotional: 'You believe you don't have a choice, that's the sad thing and that's the sad thing for people left behind' she continued

Ruth's husband and co-presenter Eamonn Holmes stepped in, reminding audiences that the show's phone in would focus on depression and anxiety.

Sharing a photo alongside Julia last year, Ruth told her Instagram followers: 'My lovely Sis Julia has sadly died after a very long illness. My heart is completely broken.'

'She was the kindest and most gentle soul and I will miss her forever. As I am sure you will appreciate I need to take time to grieve with my family. 'Thank you for your understanding.'

Support: Ruth's husband and co-presenter Eamonn Holmes stepped in, reminding audiences that the show's phone in would focus on depression and anxiety

Loss: Love Island presenter Caroline died on Saturday at her new flat in Stoke Newington, London

Love Island presenter Caroline died on Saturday at her new flat in Stoke Newington, London, hours after she was told she would face trial over the alleged assault of boyfriend Lewis Burton last year - while the producer friend who was staying with her went to the shops.

ITV cancelled scheduled Love Island episodes over the weekend but said the show would return tonight with a tribute to Caroline, who presented five series before stepping back following her arrest.

Ruth's husband Eamonn Holmes paid tribute to Caroline on Saturday, while insisting there needs to be 'repercussions.'

Hitting out: Ruth's husband Eamonn Holmes paid tribute to Caroline on Saturday, while insisting there needs to be 'repercussions'

He wrote on Twitter: 'Caroline Flack .... Dear God. Shocked beyond belief. May she have found peace. #Rip Has to be repercussions for Love Island now surely?' which garnered more than 27K likes.

Eamonn later added: 'Meaning out of respect, can the series continue?' (sic)

Caroline is the third Love Island star to have died in the last two years after former contestants Mike Thalassitis and Sophie Gradon, took their own lives in March 2019 and June 2018.

Heartbreaking: Caroline is the third Love Island star to have died in the last two years after former contestants Mike Thalassitis and Sophie Gradon, took their own lives in March 2019 and June 2018 (L-R pictured during their time on Love Island)

It emerged on Sunday that paramedics were scrambled to Flack's north London home the day before she killed herself - but didn't take her to hospital after a clinical assessment.

Sources told MailOnline that ambulance crews were sent to the former Love Island presenter's Stoke Newington flat over 'concerns for her welfare', but decided against taking her to hospital after checking her over.

Caroline took her own life after a worried friend who was staying with her went to the shops, leaving her alone at her London flat.

The producer friend couldn't get back into the flat when she returned. She called Flack's father Ian who gained entry to the flat where he found the star's body.

Her management team have since described her as 'vulnerable' and criticised the CPS for pushing ahead with a pending court case despite her boyfriend Lewis Burton saying he did not want to press charges.

He had said she hit him with a lamp at her former home in Islington in December and as part of her bail conditions the pair were banned from contacting each other.

On Sunday Lewis shared a picture of the couple on holiday together on Instagram this morning, saying his 'heart is broken' and promising to 'be her voice'.

For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123, visit a local branch or go to www.samaritans.org
British-made steel must be used to build the new high-speed rail link HS2, industry groups and unions have urged ministers.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson last week gave the green light to the 106billion project, despite criticism of cost overruns and delays.

The HS2 network will link London to Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds in a Y-shaped line.

British-made steel must be used to build the new high-speed rail link HS2, industry groups and unions have urged ministers. Pictured: Artist's impression of an HS2 train on the Birmingham and Fazeley viaduct

It will require an estimated two million tons of steel to build everything from track to tunnels and bridges over the next 10 years.

This is equivalent to more than a quarter of the UK steel industry's total annual production and could provide a shot in the arm to the sector, which is battling high energy costs and competition from cheaper - and often state-subsidised - foreign competitors.

But there are growing concerns that foreign-made steel will be used in a bid to keep costs low, which unions have said would be 'a kick in the teeth for our world-class steel producers'.

Yesterday there were reports that the government is in talks with China over HS2 contracts - which ministers quickly denied.

Alasdair McDiarmid, operations director for the steelworkers' union Community, said: 'HS2 should be a big boost to UK steel producers if the Government gets the procurement right.

'When there's this much taxpayer money going into a project, the maximum benefit should be returned to businesses and communities in the UK.

'It's the perfect opportunity for the Government to show the steps that have been made to procurement are working.

'Sourcing steel from anywhere else but our own market would be a failure and a kick in the teeth for our world-class steel producers.'

Prime Minister Boris Johnson last week gave the green light to the 106billion project, despite criticism of cost overruns and delays

The UK is a relatively small player in global steel. It produced just 7.3 million tons of steel a year in 2018 compared with 928 million tons made by China.

But British-made steel is known for being high quality. Its customers include Network Rail, which sources around 97 per cent of its steel in the UK's rail tracks from Scunthorpe-headquartered British Steel.

Industry body UK Steel said it is a 'golden opportunity' for the Government to show its support for the ailing sector.

But there are growing concerns that cheaper foreign-made steel will be used in a bid to keep costs low.

Gareth Stace, director general of UK Steel, said: 'HS2 present the Government with a golden opportunity to show its support for the UK's steel industry and the tens of thousands of people working in it.

'We firmly believe that where projects are paid for by the taxpayer, it is just good common sense to maximise the benefits to the UK in terms of jobs, skills and economic growth and the use of UK steel for HS2 will do just this.

'We are calling upon the Government to now set an ambitious target for the use of UK steel in the HS2 project and identify measures to achieve this.'

UK Steel estimates using domestically produced steel could add 1.5billion to the economy and support more than 2,000 jobs over the next decade.

It comes as the Government has been forced to deny it was in talks with China over building HS2.

China's state railway company, the China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC), told HS2 Ltd it could build the network in just five years for less money than is being budgeted, according to a letter seen by Building magazine.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: 'This has not been a discussion with the Department for Transport.' In a BBC interview, Mr Shapps added: 'I've certainly had no advice on the subject.

'Obviously I will be asking to see what the communication has been.

'This has not been a discussion with HS2 as I understand it.'

China's reported interest in building HS2 follows a Chinese swoop on British Steel, which went bust in May leaving around 4,500 jobs hanging in the balance.

Chinese industrials group Jingye emerged as the surprise frontrunner in the race to save the steelmaker in November, after talks with Ataer Holdings, an arm of Turkey's military pension fund, fell through.

Jingye is offering to buy British Steel in its entirety for about 50m and has pledged to plough 1.2billion into it to keep it afloat.

According to reports this weekend, it will also propose reopening one of the blast furnaces, a part of the factory which produces steel from scratch, as a sweetener to the deal.

It has until the end of this month to finalise a takeover with the Official Receiver.
The Iowa Democratic Party has released updated vote numbers and a new national delegate estimate after completing their review of 95 precincts which campaigns had flagged as potentially inaccurate.

With these updates in place, Pete Buttigieg holds a 0.1% lead over Bernie Sanders in the state delegate equivalent count, which determines the winner of the Iowa caucuses. That margin is unchanged from the previously announced results.

If there are no requests to recanvass or recount, Buttigieg would be the winner of the Iowa caucuses. Though Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir told CNN Sunday night that the Sanders campaign plans to ask for a partial recanvass of the results on Monday.

"You can expect us to be asking the Iowa Democratic party for a recanvass of the discrepancies that we have identified and found tor them. We'll be searching for and identifying even more. 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," Shakir said.

"But you can expect some action from the sanders campaign tomorrow."

According to the Iowa Democratic Party, he will claim 14 delegates. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will receive 12, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren will get eight, former Vice President Joe Biden will receive six, and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar will get one.

The party said it has revised 55 precinct reports -- 3% of precincts -- after campaigns had raised some reports of inconsistencies following Monday's caucuses.

Officials from the party say they cannot alter the data written on the signed caucus math worksheet, a party aide told reporters on Sunday.

"We cannot go back and change results because it would be us changing the data, changing the information provided from each of the precincts," the aide said.

"The Iowa Democratic Party cannot go in and make changes," one aide said.

"We follow the math worksheets and we are obligated to report what is given to us," one aide said.

This story has been updated with additional developments Sunday.
Two more Indians on board a quarantined cruise ship off Japan have been tested positive for the novel coronavirus, taking the number Indian nationals infected with the virus on the vessel to six, according to an official statement on Monday.

The Indian Embassy here said in a statement that 99 new positive cases on-board Diamond Princess have been confirmed on February 17, bringing the total number to 454.

This included 2 Indian crew members who have been transferred to medical facilities for necessary treatment and quarantine. The number of Indian nationals who have tested positive for COVID-19 now stands at six, it said. The four Indian crew members who earlier tested positive continue to receive treatment. Their health conditions are stable and responding well to the treatment, it added. The embassy said it is coordinating with the Japanese government and ship management company for health and welfare of all Indian national on board.

The embassy is in constant touch with on board Indian nationals who are successfully braving out the situation and understand public health safety in such situations, the statement said. A total of 138 Indians, including 132 crew and 6 passengers, were among the 3,711 people on board the ship that arrived at the Japanese coast earlier this month.

The ship was quarantined after a passenger who de-boarded last month in Hong Kong was found to be the carrier of the COVID-19 on the ship.

The Embassy said it was making efforts for early de-boarding of all the Indians from the ship after the end of the quarantine period and was in discussions with the Japanese government and the ship management company for the disembarkation modalities and welfare of Indians.

The US on Monday evacuated its 340 nationals from the ship.

The US embassy in Japan confirmed two jets took off from Japan with its citizens evacuated from the ship and those on board were expected to undergo a further 14-day quarantine period on US soil. The US state department later said that 14 of the evacuees received had the virus, the report said.

China, where the virus outbreak occurred, is grappling to contain the deadly disease as the death toll climbed to 1,770 after 105 more people died, mostly in the worst-hit Hubei province, officials said on Monday.

Of the new deaths, 100 were from Hubei, three in Henan, and two in Guangdong.

The coronavirus outbreak originated in central Chinas Hubei province in December last year and has spread to several countries, including India.

Many countries have banned arrivals from China while major airlines have suspended flights to the country.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Maharashtra Minister Aslam Shaikh on Monday said the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) state government was ready to take on the challenge thrown by BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis daring chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to seek a fresh mandate and said let both central and state government be dissolved.

"MVA Government is ready to take the challenge. Let Devendra Fadnavis speak to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Let the central government get dissolved, let the state government dissolve. Both elections would take place simultaneously. Whatever the results are, people will come to Know," Shaikh told ANI.

Earlier, former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis challenged the Shiv Sena to contest polls again and claimed that his party will defeat the ruling alliance of Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena.

"I challenge you (Shiv Sena) to fight elections again if you are so confident. BJP will defeat Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena in the polls on its own," he had said.

When asked whether there is any rift between NCP and Shiv Sena, the Congress leader said that the Maha Vikas Aghadi government will run its full course of five years.

"This is not the first time Sharad Pawar has taken a meeting before the government formation. Today's meeting was about how the government has to function. Some people are portraying that the government is not stable. But this government will be there for 5 years definitely," he said.

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




Haiti - Tourism : President Moise hands over 10 sea scooters to Club Jet Ski Haiti





Sunday, February 16, President Jovenel Moise during his visit to the Southeast on the sidelines of the Carnival of Jacmel, handed 10 "Sea Scooters" to the Club Jet Sky Haiti as part of a Club project to attract tourists and make this leisure available to young people.



This distribution was made on the occasion of the VagNaval aquatic carnival at "Remon Leben" (Cayes-Jacmel).



"It is a clear sign of my administration's determination to really break down the barriers between those who have the means and those who have nothing. We are fighting so that all the young people of Haiti have the same chances of success," sdeclared Moise.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















It was as he basked there in the Caribbean sunshine that Mr. Cummings, one of the architects of the 2016 Brexit campaign, issued his appeal on his blog for super-talented weirdos to come and work alongside him at Downing Street. The idea was to shake up a cadre of top officials, often educated at Oxford or Cambridges, that Mr. Cummings considers complacent.

We need some true wild cards, artists, people who never went to university and fought their way out of an appalling hell hole,  Mr. Cummings wrote in a post that prompted applications from, among others, Uri Geller, the self-styled magician-psychic famous for bending spoons.

Mr. Geller seems not to have gotten a callback. But Mr. Sabisky, who describes himself on Twitter as a researcher and super-forecaster, was hired as an adviser in the prime ministers office.

Then, over the weekend, reports began to surface about his various online postings.

On Mr. Cummingss blog in 2014, for example, Mr. Sabisky suggested forced universal uptake of long-term contraception at the onset of puberty for what he called the underclass.

Vaccination laws give it a precedent, I would argue, Mr. Sabisky wrote.

In a Twitter post last May, he wrote that womens sport is more comparable to the Paralympics than it is to mens.

And in a separate blog post, he said that when it came to intellectual disability, there were greater diagnostic rates for black Americans than white ones.

On Monday, Scotlands first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, appealed to the government to get a grip fast and demonstrate some basic but fundamental values.
Save the Children hosted its second annual Polar Bear Plunge on February 16, 2020 at Jennings Beach in Fairfield.

Staff, supporters and friends of the global humanitarian organization were "freezin for a reason" to support Save the Childrens efforts to give children in the U.S. and around the world a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm.
Close

Your health is one of the most important aspects of your life, and this is why you shouldn't take it lightly. A lot of people tend to treat their healthcare with levity, but for reasons that are beyond you and me, you mustn't make that mistake. For the people who are looking at choosing the best healthcare service providers, here are some important pointers:

Your Location

If you will like to get a medical center that works for both you and the members of your family, then it's recommended that you choose a healthcare facility that is close to you all. So, if you live in North Phoenix, then look up North Phoenix healthcare facilities around you and pick the best.

When your primary healthcare provider is close to you, you will be able to save yourself the stress of having to drive many miles away to just conduct tests and see someone who can help you attend to medical problems. Also, the healthcare provider's facility will need to be located in a convenient location; thus, you can access it from home, school, or work. sAt the end of the day, the objective of this is that you can have quick healthcare services whenever you need it. You can also easily pick up your kids or take your spouse when they have any healthcare needs.

Also, if you just got to a new neighborhood, then you could ask your neighbors to recommend a healthcare facility. Check out the entire layout of the neighborhood, and get a facility that is convenient for you based on where exactly you live.

The Insurance coverage

When you're selecting a healthcare provider, you need to consider the level of health insurance cover that the options available to you have as well. If your family has been subscribed to a managed care plan, then you will most likely be restricted to the healthcare providers that are currently in the network of your insurance provider. The network, of course, consists of the health centers and doctors that are bound by a contract with your insurance company to offer their services to clients.

There are some healthcare plans which offer their clients the option to patronize healthcare providers outside of the network, although the cost will most likely be increased. However, if you're getting a primary healthcare provider, then an in-network doctor is recommended for sure.

The Services Provider

The best healthcare facilities usually provide a wide array of services, although they aggregate these services under a simple umbrella to provide optimal convenience. Some of these services include pediatricians, dentists, dermatologists, general practitioners, ophthalmologists, orthopedists, and much more. By providing a litany of services, you will be able to schedule an appointment with various specialists, all of whom will work out of the same facility. Some centers even provide a walk-in clinic, which will perfectly cater for urgent care, testing and diagnostics, pharmacy, laboratory services, and others.

See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
A 55-year-old guitar teacher from Mumbai has been arrested for allegedly molesting a female student, then a minor and who flew back from the US more than a decade after the crime and filed a complaint against him, police said on Monday.

A day after his arrest, the accused was on Monday produced before a local court which released him on a cash bail of Rs 15,000.

The victim was around nine years old when the accused began molesting her. She later migrated to the US for higher studies when she was 12, a police official said.

The accused sexually abused the victim for three years between 2007 and 2010 at her home in suburban Andheri when he used to give her music lessons, the official said.

The victim, now around 21 years old and studying at a college in the US, arrived here on Sunday and lodged an FIR against the accused.

After recording her statement, the Oshiwara police arrested the accused, the official said.

The victim, in her statement, alleged that the teacher used to molest her and speak in vulgar language during music lessons, he said.

"We arrested the teacher under Indian Penal Code sections 354 (molestation), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult modesty of a woman) and 506 (criminal intimidation).

"It is an old case of the offence that took place between 2007 and 2010, before the victim went to the US," Oshiwara police station's senior inspector Dayanand Bangar said.

The accused was produced before the metropolitan court in Andheri.

Advocate Shambhu Jha, who appeared for the teacher, said, "He was released on a Rs 15,000 cash bail. We told the the court that the alleged incident took place between 2007 and 2010 and appears highly doubtful."



"Since the victim is undergoing psychiatric treatment, there is a possibility she may have wrongly taken the name of the accused as she was familiar with him in the past," Jha said, pleading for bail for his client.

The accused has an excellent track record and unblemished image, and has given guitar lessons to many high- profile people, Jha told the court.

The police were trying to find out if the accused molested other students also, another official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A broadband provider in the west of Ireland has brought a High Court challenge to a decision that its network does not meet next generation standards under the National Broadband Plan.

Lighthouse Networks, trading as Lightnet, claims the decision by the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment means its functional area will not be excluded from the national plan and that it will then have to compete with the State subsidised service.

Lighthouse says it provides broadband to more than 6,000 premises in Galway, east Offaly, Clare and up to the border of Roscommon. It claims its technology is 30% more spectrally efficient than the current best licensed wireless access services.

It has, it says, spent 5m building up that technology over the last 14 years.

Mr Justice Charles Meenan granted permission to bring judicial review proceedings against the Minister following one-side only represented application on behalf of the company. The case comes back in April.

Lighthouse seeks an order quashing the Minister's decision last November that it operation does not meet the essential characteristics of the next generation access network.

Had it been,the Lightnet area would have been excluded from the national 2.7bn broadband programme area.

Therefore, it says, it would not have to compete with a State-backed broadband provider which could undercut its prices.

It seeks a declaration the Minister's decision is invalid because it does not comply with the criteria set down in a report prepared for the Government by PwC. It is also claimed the decision infringes its legitimate expectation.

Alternatively, it says, there is an underlying bias by the Minister against the technology Lightnet uses.

Lighthouse director Des Chambers, who is also a lecturer in computer science in University College Galway, says in an affidavit the company engaged with the Department and its advisers throughout the assessment process in the expectation that it would apply assessment criteria reasonably, fairly and in line with practice in other EU jurisdictions.

It also relied on the Department's assurance that its (department's) technical experts would attend an on-site meeting to deal with detailed matters.

"Neither of these expectations were met", he says. The impact of this has been the company has not further invested or expanded its network despite having grown rapidly.

The business is now flat lined, Mr Chambers says.
Telling the protesters at Shaheen Bagh not to block public roads, a bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and K.M. Joseph asked solicitor-general Tushar Mehta to suggest alternate places where the protesters could shift to.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said people have a right to protest but not block public places causing inconvenience to others, as it asked senior lawyers Sanjay Hegde and Sadhana Ramachandran to talk to the anti-CAA and anti-NRC protesters at Shaheen Bagh and persuade them to shift to an alternative place.

Telling the protesters at Shaheen Bagh not to block public roads, a bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and K.M. Joseph asked solicitor-general Tus-har Mehta to suggest alternate places where the protesters could shift to.

Finding the suggestion by the court soft sounding, Mr Mehta said it should not be seen as if the government was kneeling before them, and said the government doesnt wish to escalate the situation  a hint of forcible eviction of the protesters who are on the 65th day of their sit-in protest. At the outset, the court made it clear it was not against the protest, which it said was a matter of right, but it shouldnt lead to blocking of public places and roads.

The right to protest is recognised the world over in democracies, especially in India. Its a fundamental right subject only to public order and security of the State, said Justice Joseph.

SCs objection is to place of protest

Noting that the Shaheen Bagh sit-in protest was going on though a large number of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 was pending before the court, Justice Kaul said: We are not saying because it is pending in SC... people dont have the right to protest. The question is  where to protest? It should not be in a public place or on a road.

The court said it feared that the city would be in utter chaos if others too with genuine grievances take a leaf from the Shaheen Bagh protest and start blocking roads and other public places. Telling the protesters that reasoning must prevail, Justice Kaul made it clear that if the efforts being made by them does not succeed, then it would be over to the administration.

Asking senior counsel Sanjay Hegde and Sadhana Ramachandran, a well-known mediator, to try to talk to the leadership of the Shaheen Bagh protests and make them see reason , the court fixed February 24 as the next date of hearing.

The court embarked on speaking to the protesters and urging them to see reason on a suggestion by a lawyer  who it later emerged was appearing for Chandrashekhar Azad, the Bhim Army chief. The solicitor-general, Mr Mehta, said Mr Azad, who was himself a cause of the problem, could not be counted on as a mediator. Then the lawyer appearing for Mr Azad suggested the name of well-known bureaucrat and first central information commissioner Wajahat Habibullah.

The court said this during the hearing of two petitions  one by Amit Sahni and another by BJPs Nand Kishore Garg  seeking directions for the removal of protesters sitting on dharna since December 15, 2019.
A Delhi court Monday said it will shortly pronounce order on the pleas seeking fresh death warrants for the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case.

Additional Session Judge Dharmender Rana reserved the order after hearings during which Mukesh Kumar Singh, one of the four death row convicts in the case told the court that he does not want to be represented by advocate Vrinda Grover.

The court then appointed advocate Ravi Qazi to represent Mukesh.

The court was also informed that another death row convict, Vinay Sharma, is on hunger strike in Tihar jail.

Vinay was assaulted in jail and has head injuries, his lawyer told the court, adding that he was suffering from acute mental illness and hence the death sentence cannot be carried out.

The court directed the Tihar jail superintendent to take appropriate care of Vinay as per law.

Another convict Pawan Gupta's counsel told the court that he wanted to move curative petition before the Supreme Court and the mercy plea against the death sentence before the President.

Gupta is the only one among the four convicts who has not yet filed the curative petition -- the last legal remedy available to a person, which is decided in-chamber. He also has the option of filing a mercy plea.

Akshay Kumar's counsel informed court that he has prepared fresh mercy petition to be moved before the President.

The court was hearing the applications by Nirbhaya's parents and the Delhi government, seeking fresh death warrants for the four convicts after the Supreme Court granted liberty to the authorities to approach the trial court for issuance of fresh date for the execution of these convicts.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Scores of employees were evacuated from the GST Bhavan in south Mumbai after a massive fire broke out in the multi-storey building on Monday, but no casualty was reported, civic officials said.

Nearly 3,500 staffers were working in the building in the Mazagon area in South Mumbai when the fire broke out around 12.30 pm, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said.

He assured a probe into the the fire, but clarified that no records were lost in the blaze due to digitisation of documents.

Firefighters battled for almost three hours to douse the flames, which started on the ninth floor of the 10-storey government-owned building, the officials said.

Speaking to media-persons at the spot, Pawar said the fire spread rapidly due to the presence of papers and wooden material in the building, from where thick smoke billowed out.

Over 20 fire engines were pressed into service to put out the inferno and cooling operations were underway, they said.

The fire started from the ninth floor of the building and spread to the 10th floor, the officials said.

"The fire engulfed the entire ninth floor of GST Bhavan building said Mumbai's chief fire officer Prabhat Rahangdale.

He said the building was smoke-logged and hence firemen used breathing apparatus sets to put out the flames.

According to the Fire Brigade, a portion of the building was under repair.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials said scores of employees were evacuated from the fire-hit building, but no casualty was reported.

Though some staffers blamed short circuit for the fire, the officials said the exact cause was under investigation.

The building was earlier known as the Sales Tax Bhavan, but since the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax regime in 2017, it was rechristened as GST Bhavan.

Photograph: Arun Patil.
The Acting Director, Department of Forestry, Federal Ministry of Environment, Tiamiyu Oladele, has announced plans by the federal government to plant 30 million tree seedlings in 2020 to accelerate afforestation in the country.

Mr Oladele made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.

He said President Muhammad Buhari had promised to plant 35 million trees and there were ongoing programmes to that effect.

Mr Oladele explained that the department has adopted practical measures to achieve planting at least 30 million tree seedlings this year.

We are expecting 30 million seedlings to be planted this year; some will be given to farmers to establish plantations and some to be used as enrichment planting in our reserves.

The seedlings will also be made available this year to every Nigerian at locations close to them to plant, he said.

Mr Oladele noted that the rate of deforestation was faster than the rate of tree planting, saying that the government was sensitising communities on the dangers associated with tree felling as well as encourage tree planting in the society.

We are trying to re-plant but the rate of deforestation is faster than the rate of planting, he said.

The people that are engaged in deforestation are not actually planting back  particularly the wood exporters, loggers and charcoal association. They are the ones cutting trees.

So what we are trying to do is to bring them to a round table to see how they can be part of re-afforestation.

We are sensitising them that if they continue cutting trees at the rate they are doing, they will be out of business very soon because there will be no tree to cut again.

Apart from going out of business they are also doing damage to the environment and once the environment is wrong our health is at risk.

According to him, the department will constitute a task force to monitor tree felling, wood processing and marketing.

The director revealed that membership of the task force would comprise officials of the Federal and State Forestry Departments, private sector, wood dealers, loggers and charcoal producers associations.

(NAN).
There's only so much that new blood can do to fix the troubles afflicting European banks.

The abrupt changing of the guard at Credit Suisse Group this week and the disclosure that UBS Group is seeking a successor to Chief Executive Officer Sergio Ermotti extend what's already been an extraordinary run. HSBC Holdings, ABN Amro Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland Group, not to mention Nordic lenders caught up in money laundering scandals, have all hired new chiefs in past months or are looking to do so.

UBS is hunting for a successor for chief executive Sergio Ermotti. Credit:Stefan Wermuth

The turnover has yielded a fresh cast of characters to confront the same challenges: Interest rates at or near record lows as economies sputter; digital competitors that take away traditional banking business; US giants who are benefiting from higher interest rates. If that wasn't enough, politicians on both sides of the Channel are keeping Brexit tensions turned up, threatening to make an already fragmented banking market even harder to navigate.

"You have to be pretty hard-boiled to become a bank CEO right now," said Andreas Plaesier, a bank analyst at Warburg Research in Hamburg. "It's about scaling back businesses and finding savings to bolster profits. You may be successful on that front, but it's not exactly fun."
Concurs repetat pentru selectarea unei companii sociologice, care sa efectueze un studiu tematic "Barometrul opiniei publice in domeniul schimbarilor climatice"
Kristalina Georgieva says there is great deal of uncertainty around nature of coronavirus and its economic impact.

The head of the International Monetary Fund said the lack of deeper improvements in the global economic system is hindering whats already an anemic outlook for growth, especially as the shock caused by the coronavirus further dims prospects for a pickup this year.

The monetary policy space is shrinking and the reliance on fiscal measures as well as on structural reforms to boost growth ought to be stronger, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Sunday in a Bloomberg Television interview in Dubai. Whats missing is a more aggressive swing in structural reforms.

As the viruss impact raises the threat of disruption across supply chains, most major central banks are on alert but have yet to indicate that they plan monetary easing. Even before the scale of the outbreak in China became clear, the IMF predicted the world economy will strengthen in 2020 at a slightly weaker pace than previously anticipated amid threats related to trade and tensions in the Middle East.

Source: OECD trade in value added, Bloomberg Economics

The fallout is expected to dominate discussions at this weeks meeting of finance ministers and central bankers at a Group of 20 summit in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. Georgieva reiterated that shes hopeful for a synchronized global response to the risks facing the world economy.

I am quite optimistic that in very difficult moments we would see the appetite for more coordinated action, Georgieva said.

While saying it was premature to assess the economic shock of the coronavirus, Georgieva praised China for its very aggressive measures to contain the impact, including with an infusion of liquidity and stimulus to the affected regions.

We need to recognize there is a great deal of uncertainty around the nature of the virus, how exactly it is impacting China, would it spread beyond China, she said.

HSBC Holdings Plc became the latest major bank to cut its outlook for global growth, reducing it to 2.3% from 2.5%. World Bank President David Malpass has warned that the lender will need to lower some of its growth forecasts, in part due to the viruss impact on supply chains. Economists from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to UBS Group AG and BNP Paribas SA see more easing steps ahead in China.

Even a month of reduction in activities inevitably would have an impact on China and some of it would be translated to the rest of the world, Georgieva said. We are still hoping that the most likely scenario would be relatively rapid containment of the virus.
Turkish family reunites with daughter kidnapped by PKK terrorists

With this recent development, the number of families reuniting with their kidnapped children has reached seven on the 167th day of protests.

With the efforts of Turkish security forces, another family has reunited with their daughter, who they claim was kidnapped by PKK terrorists, after five years of longing.

MOTHER HAD ATTENDED SIT-IN PROTESTS

According to security sources on Sunday, Pelda Ayhan surrendered to Turkish authorities in the Suruc district of Turkeys eastern Sanliurfa province. The mother, Gevriye Ayhan, had attended a sit-in protest against the PKK terror group in the southeastern Diyarbakir province.

Turkish family reunites with daughter kidnapped by PKK terrorists WATCH

The protest started on Sept. 3 outside the offices of the Peoples' Democratic Party -- a party accused by the government of having links to the terrorist YPG/PKK -- in Diyarbakir when Fevziye Cetinkaya, Remziye Akkoyun, and Aysegul Bicer said their children had been forcibly recruited by PKK terrorists.

Since then, the number of families in front of the building is growing as they demand the return of their children, who, they claim, were deceived or kidnapped by terrorists.
TEHRAN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th February, 2020) Tehran is open to holding talks with Saudi Arabia, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Sunday despite years of competing interests and covert confrontations between the two regional powerhouses.

"We do not have any unsolvable problem with Saudi Arabia. As soon as Saudi Arabia is ready, it is possible to discuss our existing issues.

Of course, the most important issue in the region is the problem of Yemen," Rouhani said during a press conference broadcast by Iranian television.

According to him, Riyadh made a major mistake in relation to Yemen by embarking on a costly military campaign against Houthi rebels which has virtually crippled the country.

Yemen has been engulfed in an armed conflict between government forces led by President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi and the Houthi rebels since 2015, with Iran said to be providing support for the latter.
LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI)  A Tippecanoe County art exhibit is giving some of the most silenced citizens a chance to be heard.

Tippecanoe Arts Federation is hosting an art gallery called Voices of Homelessness. Lafayette Transitional Housing Center clients are the face of the project. The goal is to help end homelessness by giving the community an opportunity to learn what the homeless experience looks like at a local level.

When you understand where a person has been and you're in that same space with them, I think I would like for them to take away just that 'I understand,' said John McDaniels, LTHC client.

That feeling of being heard and understood is something we want and need as humans. It's also something that feels hard to achieve when youre dealing with homelessness.

When we're on the bus and you're looking at my situation, it may look different from the outside but we're still the same individuals on the inside, said McDaniels.

McDaniels recently fell into homelessness. He's spent the last few weeks working toward permanent housing through LTHC. While there, he came across a flier seeking people to share their journey to finding housing.

The struggle has a voice, it also has an art form, said McDaniels. I just wanted to share something that reflected the homeless experience so I went in the direction of poetry.

Poetry, drawing, and photography are just some of the ways these artists are sharing their experiences.

I gave LTHC photos covering a wide gamut of range, said John Zimmerman, former LTHC client. Housing and homelessness have been something that's been a part of my life for the last four years.

Zimmerman has always loved photography and using it to tell a story.

The first thing I did was take a photo of the house where I was at because having a home when you're homeless is  it's the first big modifier of a change in improvement in your life, said Zimmerman. After that, I believe I took a photo of the refrigerator that had food, obviously, I mean, I guess I was just thinking that I had the four fundamental things, you know, food, clothing, water, and shelter.

This art exhibit is designed to give people a chance to get a new perspective of the homeless experience but the artists are also leaving with a lesson.

Life can take away from you your career, your life, your family, your parents in my case but it can't take away from your creativity and when you're surviving on the streets it can be one thing in my toolbox that I can hold onto that allows me to keep on going, said Zimmerman.

You can din both McDaniels and Zimmerman's work at the Tippecanoe Art Federation located at 638 N St. Lafayette, IN 47901. Its open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. This Friday, is the Artists' Reception where multiple LTHC artists will be there to discuss their work. It'll be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The exhibit will be open until Feb. 28.
An IAF officer, undertaking a military course at a Japanese institute, has been detained by police in Tokyo following a complaint of misconduct by a woman, official sources said.

The Wing Commander was detained by police in Tokyo on February 6 and his family has approached a local court to secure his release, they said.

The allegations against the officer are not known at present.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has approached the Indian embassy in Tokyo for help in the case.

Separately, the IAF is going to seek a detailed reply from the officer once he is released, said a source.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Richard Yanker speaks with a customer during the Vintage Market at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020. Yanker and his wife's business, "A blend of then and now, " have been doing shows for 20 years.

Don't Edit

WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI -- With more than 150 vendors and boutiques to visit, it was a day filled with crafts, antiques, music and much more at the Vintage Market at the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Sunday, Feb. 16.

Those who visited were able to experience a puppy kissing booth, vintage boutiques, henna tattoos, live music, and food trucks. There was something for everyone, from handmade dog treats to clothing boutiques to homemade crafts.

Grosse Pointe resident Leah Toccl said she and her friends came to the event for a girls' shopping day and mommies day off.

The event saw people from around the community along with out of state visitors.

To purchase photos please view the gallery.

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Brooke Krell stands in her booth at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020. Krell's booth is called Always Welcome.

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Puppy kissing booth participants have their photo taken in front of the Devoted Barn booth at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020.

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Joyce Jabro helps a customer at her booth named Grandma's Candy Dish at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020. Jabro named her booth in honor of her grandmother.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Richard Yanker speaks with customers during the Vintage Market at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020. Yanker and his wife's business, "A blend of then and now, " have been doing shows for 20 years.

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Handmade pottery is displayed at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020.

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Handmade wood floral bouquets are on display at the Unique Decor booth during the Vintage Market at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020.

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Handmade wood floral bouquets are on display at the Unique Decor booth during the Vintage Market at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020.

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

There were around 150 vendors at the Vintage Market held at the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Owner of Sadie Janes, Gretchen Molnar, speaks with customers about her crafted dog collars at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020.

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Handcrafted jewelry is displayed at the Boxwood Cottage and Home booth at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020.

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Holly resident Kimberly Heidisch looks at jewelry during the Vintage Market at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020.

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Visitors participate in the puppy kissing booth during the Vintage Market at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020.

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Gibraltar resident Jackson Core and Flat Rock resident Jaclyn Lyall pose for a photo at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020. Lyall came up with the idea for a slime booth because of her love for making slime.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Grosse Pointe resident Leah Toccl looks at jewelry at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020. Toccl said her and her friends came to the event during their mommy day off.

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Co-owner of Baubles by Bev, Chloe McNear, helps a customer at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020.

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Puppy kissing booth participants have their photo taken in front of the Devoted Barn booth at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020.

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Handmade pottery is displayed at the Vintage Market located at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020.

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Monroe resident Olivia Croy has a henna tattoo drawn on her hand at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Succulents and other live plants are displayed during the Vintage Market located at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020.

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

There were around 150 vendors at the Vintage Market held at the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020.

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Handmade chocolate treats wait to be purchased at Grandma's Candy Dish booth at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020.

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Co-owner of Baubles by Bev, Chloe McNear, helps a customer at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020.

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Handmade chocolate treats wait to be purchased at Grandma's Candy Dish booth at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Shoppers look at handcrafted jewelry at the Baubles by Bev booth during the Vintage Market at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020.

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Live music was performed during the Vintage Market at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020.

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Handmade crafts designed from silverware are displayed at "A blend of then and now" booth at the Vintage Market at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020.

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Baubles by Bev handcrafted jewelry is displayed at the booth at the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020.

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Shoppers look at handcrafted jewelry at the Baubles by Bev booth during the Vintage Market at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Canton resident Stephanie Grifka looks at bracelets during the Vintage Market at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020.

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Co-owner of Baubles by Bev, Chloe McNear, helps a customer at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020.

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

The Devoted Barn volunteer, Julie DeFilippo, hands a puppy to participants of the puppy kissing booth at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020.

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Dryer balls and therapeutic products are displayed at Earth Born by L &K LCC booth at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020.

Don't Edit

Mikayla Carter | MLive.com

Hand crafted jewelry made from silverware is displayed at "A blend of then and now" booth at the Vintage Market at Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds on Feb. 16, 2020.

Don't Edit
Two overdose deaths in one week at Temple University strike painfully at home for two addiction professionals. Read more

In the last few weeks, Ive received emails from three people looking for information on collegiate recovery resources at Temple. One was the parent of a prospective student, another was a prospective student, and the third was a current student in recovery. Everyone was interested in learning about recovery housing and recovery support options on campus.

I havent responded because I dont know what to tell them.

As the person whose name is listed as the faculty advisor for Temples questionably disbanded student-run recovery group, every month or so, I hear from parents, students, and sometimes treatment centers looking for similar information. I also get messages from the loved ones of students who have died of overdoses. Over the summer, I received a heart-wrenching email from Temple mom Julia DyReyes, who recently wrote about her son Julians overdose death in The Inquirer.

To clarify, I am not employed by Temple to help students in recovery navigate their time here. Instead, I am a non-tenure track journalism professor with a full teaching load who has volunteered to help students in recovery organize and advocate for resources. Unfortunately, Ive struggled to maintain contact with Temples student recovery group due to both my limited bandwidth and the high student turnover.

Temples student recovery group, which was formed in 2017 by former graduate student Bob Lamb, perhaps bears a misleading name: the Temple Collegiate Recovery Program. I believe this name reflects what Bob and others before him were hoping to accomplish, but were unable for a variety of reasons. As of now, the group is loosely organized.

I believe Temple is worse off for not having a formalized collegiate recovery program  and the emails in my inbox only bolster my opinion.

However, after talking with other Philly-area collegiate recovery advocates, its clear that this is not just a Temple problem.

Collegiate recovery programs  like this one at Ohio State University  have become increasingly common across the country. Today, there are approximately 140 schools nationwide that are registered with the Association of Recovery in Higher Education.

However, while the programs listed on the ARHE website do represent a push for recovery resources at those universities, the ARHE designation is admittedly an unreliable barometer. Its a paid, cheap listing, and therefore, some of the schools listed offer significantly more robust support services than others. For example, Penn State and Rutgers have paid staff and recovery housing, while West Chester has just a student-run recovery group (like Temple).

According to Robert Ashford, a recovery scientist at the University of the Sciences Substance Use Disorders Institute, a fully formed collegiate recovery program should have paid non-student staff, designated space, dedicated programming, and official university sanction. While optional, its also nice when schools offer recovery housing, scholarships, and special considerations for student members, such as early registration.

In Philadelphia, only three schools meet these basic collegiate recovery program standards: the Community College of Philadelphia, St. Joes, and Drexel, which through its partnership with The Haven uses a private/public model. Therefore, Temple  alongside Penn, University of the Sciences, Jefferson, and La Salle  dont have collegiate recovery programs. In a city that experienced 1,116 overdose deaths in 2018, its time for faculty, staff, students, and parents to band together and tell university administrators that this is unacceptable.

Stakeholders across Philly-area universities should launch a standing citywide task force to support each other in our collegiate recovery and harm reduction efforts.

Together, we can and should set the bar higher for the way our colleges support students in crisis. Many of us are tired of students dying preventable deaths while the solutions are stuck somewhere in the system.

Jillian Bauer-Reese is an assistant professor of journalism at Temple University and the editor of Kensington Voice. She is also a person in long-term recovery.
The Western Trust has embarked on a recovery plan to address a significant financial deficit, the Derry News can reveal today.

The Trust confirmed that a recovery plan is a special measure imposed by the Department of Health.

Ms Teresa Molloy, Director of Performance and Service Improvement, and Mr Neil Guckian, Director of Finance & Contracting, appeared before members of Derry City & Strabane District Councils Health and Community committee on February 13.

They delivered a presentation on the Western Trusts financial and recovery framework otherwise referred to as Working TogetherDelivering Together.

The committee heard that the Trust has struggled to deliver within budget. On April 1, 2019, the Western Trust entered a three year recovery plan under instruction from the Department of Health with a target of saving 39m in that time.

Mr Guckian said that could also be likened to special measures.

Defining special measures, NHS UK says: In serious cases where hospitals are not providing good and safe care to patients, and the management cannot fix the problems by themselves, action is taken to improve the hospitals.

The 39m deficit was reduced to 20m, he explained, but due to further cuts it is now sitting around the 30m mark. A 19m financial and efficiency recovery plan has been agreed for 2020/21.

The Trust representatives said it faces unique challenges having five of the top ten most deprived areas in the country.

Ten years of austerity has also taken its toll. Other challenges which are felt more acutely in the Western Trust area are workforce shortages - including junior doctors, medical staff, nursing and services with long term hard to recruit/retain posts.

Other demands cited were rurality, increasing crisis demand and capacity not keeping pace - such as the Emergency Department which is too small. Independent sector provider challenges and reforming services while managing business as usual have also proven difficult.

SDLP Councillor Rory Farrell said the Health Minister Robin Swann revealed that he needs 660m to maintain existing services. Cllr Farrell has had constituents contacting him whove been waiting 4/5 years for a hip replacement.

He asked what additional money the Trust needs and whether waiting lists can be reduced.

Severe pressure

Staffing is a very big issue, DUP Alderman Maurice Devenney said, and he asked if the skills base and nurses were available in this area. The Emergency Department is also under severe pressure, he noted.

The Western Trust spent 27m on locum staff in 2017/18, which amounts to 2m per month, and included admin staff. Cllr Devenney wondered why there wouldnt be enough admin staff in the local area and said the issue could take a decade to resolve.

UUP Alderman Andrew McKane described as astronomical the locum costs and a problem that needs to be addressed. He added that there are no domiciliary care packages in place in the southern section of the Trust and workers arent even being paid for mileage.

In response, Mr Guckian said there is a difficulty recruiting and retaining staff and if they dont fill the rota we are in trouble. He said it is not just senior doctors, but the money spent on junior doctors would scare you too as they are paid by the hour to work weekends.

The clerical issue is an anomaly and shouldnt be happening, he added, and the Trust is a real outlier when it comes to difficulties faced when recruiting medical staff.

A business case for the Emergency Department is rapidly developing and a better strategy is needed to address waiting lists, he said.

Serious issues

Ms Molloy added that an unscheduled care village, incorporating the ED crisis intervention services for alcohol and drugs is some years away and will cost approximately 100m.

The current ED is incredibly small for the number of people coming through and not sufficient.

Alliance Cllr Rachael Ferguson revealed that her mother has been waiting four years for a knee replacement and has now been left needing two knee replacements and a hip replacement.

Independent Cllr Gary Donnelly asked about Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAHMS) saying there is a high rate of self-harm and suicide amongst young people. He said some parents are concerned about gaps in the service which are allowing children to slip through the cracks.

The need for occupational therapists is another issue, he explained, with constituents dying before getting the required adaptations to their homes.

Pointing to ten years of Tory austerity and a Boris Johnson run government, Sinn Fein Cllr Ruairi McHugh said he wouldnt envy the task in front of the Trust. He asked when recommendations from the Bengoa report would be implemented.

Both Western Trust representatives explained that a lot of work is bring undertaken to recruit staff in key areas, including CAHMS where children most at risk are being identified.

They accepted there are significant and serious issues and they assured councillors that more detailed briefings would be prepared for a future meeting.
Oakland International Airport has hit some bumps.

There are no more cheap flights to Rome. JetBlue, which flew to Boston, New York and Long Beach, will leave in April. Southwest, which accounts for a majority of the airports traffic and has been hurt by the grounding of Boeings 737 Max aircraft, is operating fewer flights. After the airport invested $45 million in a new international arrivals area, Norwegian Air, which accounted for close to half of its cross-border flights, left for San Francisco International Airport. And the coronavirus cast a pall on overseas travel.

Oakland has to hustle to compete with San Franciscos name recognition and San Joses Silicon Valley dominance. But the airport, which has grown by more than 41% in the past five years except for a dip in 2019, has better weather than foggy San Francisco, and its home county of Alameda is tied with Contra Costa for the fastest-growing county in the Bay Area.

Experts say the recent blows are part of a boom and bust cycle thats inevitable for an airport that attracts low-cost carriers. This year, Southwest has expanded its flights from Oakland to Hawaii, and Spirit added a route to Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

As the East Bay grows further in population and jobs and infrastructure development, all of those things contribute to growing demand for air travel, said Bryant Francis, aviation director of the Port of Oakland, which oversees the airport. We think were well positioned geographically to respond to that growth.

As roadways become more congested, Francis predicted that travelers will prioritize time and convenience when choosing airports.

Oakland City Councilman Larry Reid, whose district includes the airport, shrugged off the notion that losing two of 16 airlines in a few months spelled trouble.

There are airlines that come and go, and certainly wed like to retain them all, but its the marketplace that dictates whether or not they continue to grow or expand, Reid said.

There are other carriers that are looking at the market that Oakland serves, and hopefully well see those carriers moving in and replacing some of the carriers that weve lost, Reid added.

Jessica Christian / The Chronicle

The Oakland airport says it serves 13.4 million passengers annually. Last year, by contrast, San Joses airport had 14.9 million and SFO had 57.5 million. East Bay passengers pick Oakland because its more convenient and often cheaper.

We choose it because its closer, said Benicia resident Dann Arcandia, returning from Seattle with his fiancee, Gaby Reyes, on a recent afternoon. The couple like Oakland because its fast to get in and out of, with frequent West Coast flights, although Arcandia said his parents fly out of SFO when they go to the Philippines.

Since the coronavirus struck, Oakland International Airport has seen no noticeable changes in the number of passengers, spokeswoman Keonnis Taylor said by email. No quarantines, cancellations or additional screenings have yet been needed, although there is no way to predict impacts to future travel, she said.

Oakland airport is advertising locally, with pictures of Hawaiian paradises luring beleaguered BART commuters at Powell Street and Walnut Creek stations. Its also hoping to use technology to boost the visibility of Oakland airport in online search results, according to John Albrecht, aviation marketing manager.

The challenge is getting out-of-town travelers, who may not think of Oakland first, if at all, when coming to San Francisco. JetBlue announced it will discontinue unprofitable service to Oakland on April 29, although it didnt specify why it was unprofitable. It will still fly from SFO and San Jose.

Norwegian saw more profits across the bay.

While we have been very pleased with Oakland International Airport and their tremendous help to put Norwegian on the map in the Bay Area, we do see bigger returns operating out of San Francisco International Airport, especially on more business-driven routes like London, Paris and Barcelona, Norwegian spokesman Anders Lindstrom said in an email. With SFO, our flights appear more visibly in search engines, and are more appealing to business travelers who enjoy our Premium cabin, providing higher yield from a business perspective.

Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

Last year, airports across the country were hit with the grounding of the Boeing Max 737 after two fatal overseas crashes. Oakland airport saw a 1.5% decrease in passenger numbers, airport data show. SFO also saw a drop in traffic last year, although it was less than 1%. San Jose witnessed more than 10% growth, but a spokeswoman said that without the grounded aircraft, it could have been one to two percentage points higher. The Federal Aviation Administration, which is responsible for certifying Boeings aircraft for safety, has said the Max may get back in the air by summer.

The Max grounding is particularly problematic for Oakland because Southwest, the countrys largest carrier and user of the aircraft, accounts for 70% of Oakland airports traffic. With 10% of Southwests fleet grounded, the airline reduced the number of daily nonstops to certain destinations.

Southwest came to Oakland in 1989 (after SFO but before San Jose) because of its focus on secondary airports with available space and underserved markets, spokesman Brad Hawkins said. The target is local traffic: 8 out of 10 Southwest passengers in Oakland are starting or ending their travel.

Experts said Southwests monopoly is Oaklands asset and a liability.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

That is really a double-edged sword, Ben Mutzabaugh, senior aviation editor for the Points Guy, an online travel news and data source, said, adding: In any airport where one airline has a hugely dominant position, it is a barrier to entry for new airlines or existing airlines to add more service.

What Oakland needs to try to do is attract airlines other than Southwest to focus on supply, said Henry Harteveldt, president and travel industry analyst at Atmosphere Research Group. That would be a huge win for the airport and East Bay community because they feel its a very convenient flight option.

Oakland airports Francis said that in terms of whether other carriers can be successful in a market that is dominated by Southwest, there are multiple examples across the country where that is the case.

Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

Oakland has also sought more international travel. The airport was one of the first destinations for low-cost European carrier Norwegian in 2014, the airline said. The number of international passengers arriving in Oakland soared from just over 387,000 in 2017, when the airport invested $45 million in a new terminal, to 477,730 in 2018. In 2019, international arrivals dropped down to fewer than 370,300. And that was before Norwegian pulled out.

The remaining international flights are six year-round routes to Mexico and one route to the Azores once or twice weekly from June to September. Mexican carrier Volaris expanded its Oakland service 55% last year, ironically after shifting part of its operation to SFO and then back again to Oakland, Albrecht said.

Despite Norwegians pullout, the multimillion-dollar international terminal was money well spent, Francis said. Several international carriers dont have a presence in the Bay Area, which they would naturally want to serve, he added.

You never know when there will be the next discount airline looking to make a splash in the Bay Area, Mutzabaugh said.

For now, Oakland airport projects 10% growth over the next five years and is focusing on reinventing its food and dining program and improving customer experiences.

Theres a lot to be optimistic about, Francis said.

Mallory Moench is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @mallorymoench
leader came under attack from his party colleague, for praising Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, on the day of his swearing-in for the third term in the national capital.

"Sharing a lesser known and welcome fact -- the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi Government doubled its revenues to Rs 60,000 crore and maintained a revenue surplus over the last 5 years. Food for thought: Delhi is now one of India's most fiscally prudent governments," Deora's tweet on Sunday read.

However, Ajay Maken, who has also served as the Speaker of the Delhi Assembly in the past, asked Deora to "leave Congress" before propagating "half-baked facts."

"Brother,you want to leave INC India-Please do-Then propagate half baked facts!However,let me share even lesser know facts-1997-98-BE (Revenue) 4,073cr2013-14-BE (Revenue) 37,459crDuring Govt Grew at 14.87% CAGR2015-16 BE 41,1292019-20 BE 60,000AAP Gov 9.90% CAGR," Maken tweeted.

This comes days after Deora had refuted Delhi-in charge PC Chacko's statements, blaming late Sheila Dikshit for the party's humiliating performance in the recently held Assembly elections in the national capital.

"Sheila Dikshit ji was a remarkable politician & administrator. During her tenure as Chief Minister, Delhi was transformed and Congress was stronger than ever. Unfortunate to see her being blamed after her death. She dedicated her life to INC India and the people of Delhi," Deora had tweeted, with a snippet of Chacko's statement embedded.
An Australian rapper who flaunts his lavish lifestyle online and boasts about money, women and marijuana has made a $10,000 donation to a women's refuge.

Sydney artist Chillinit, whose real name is Blake James Turnell, gave the money to Kings Cross women's refuge Lou's Place, who provide a safe space and support network for women in crisis.

The 25-year-old released his second album The Octagon in January and is currently number two on the Aria Australian Artists Albums Chart. He funded his donation through the album sales, streaming platforms and merchandise sales.

'I want to thank all of you for your support and know that this is a family, don't just say me and say how good I am when I share this next part, this is from everyone who streamed and purchased the Octagon and bought merchandise,' he posted on Instagram.

Sydney rapper Chillinit (pictured with fans) has given a $10,000 donation to Sydney women's refuge Lou's Place

He posted a photo of the $10,000 novelty cheque on his Instagram, with funds coming from his 420Fam.

'We've all raised this money together and its gone to a very very good cause. As a man I love providing for my family and doing cool s**t, but this one is from all of you guys as a family.

'A couple days ago we went down to the women's refuge in the city in the Cross, it's called Lou's Place and they are some amazing people that do some amazing work.

'As a 420 family we raised $10,000 for them and presented them with the cheque and they were blown away with the support, because that $10,000 means that the women's refuge out there can do a lot more stuff for all the woman that are suffering in the city.'

The donation is not the first time Chillinit has given cash to a charity, with the MC handing over $5,000 of his own money to the NSW RSPCA in March 2019, and $6,000 to the Children's Cancer Institute of Australia in December 2018.

Chillinit's generous donation isn't the first time he has given funds to charity, donating $5,000 to the RSPCA in 2019

He also gave a $6,000 cheque to the Children's Cancer Institute of Australia in December 2018

Lou's Place manager Nicole told Daily Mail Australia that this was their first collaboration with Chillinit, and they were thrilled with his generosity.

'These funds will go towards supporting women suffering from domestic and family violence and women who are rough sleepers and trying to make a better life for them,' she said.

'We receive no government funding at all so we rely on the generosity of individuals.

'We're so thrilled and grateful for Chillinit for the really generous donation, it will be really go a long way. This kind of community support keeps us going.'

Grand gestures like these are common for Chillinit, posting recently about buying his brother a car and a Rolex watch for friend and collaborator Huskii.

Chillinit (pictured throwing $50 notes in the air) boasts about his lavish lifestyle online

The Sydney rapper revealed he bought a Rolex watch for his friend and collaborator Huskii (pictured above). He recently bought himself a diamond-encrusted Rolex, which sell for upwards of $50,000

Chillinit performing onstage at the FOMO festival in Melbourne in January 2020

Chillinit also likes to splash his interests on his Instagram account, regularly posting pictures with scantily-clad women and smoking weed.

He even sells his own bongs through his online merchandise store.

Chillinit will tour Australia, New Zealand and the UK on the back of his latest release, and said the support of his fans are what lets him give back to the community with such generosity.

'As well as all the luxury things you see me do like f***ing bitches, getting money, buying rollies (Rolex watches) and flexing all this s**t, we do love to give back and I want you all to know that its not just me who does that, it's you guys who support me to make that happen,' he posted.

'This music s**t is a blessing and it has changed my life so I thrive off being able to give to others as well as turn the f**k up and have some fun myself.

'Good vibes only and live ya best lives fam.'

He regularly posts pictures of himself on Instagram with scantily clad women, and often smoking weed
Microsoft announced the launch of the India Development Center (IDC), National Capital Region (NCR). IDC NCR is Microsofts third Development Center in India, serving as a premier facility for driving cutting edge innovation. The India Development Center represents Microsofts strategy of globally shared development to build products and services for driving digital innovation. IDC, NCR will play a critical role in Microsoft Indias expansion and growth story. The facility will open opportunities for thousands of engineers, with plans to expand to a full-fledged development center, similar to IDC facilities in Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

Kurt DelBene, Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Core Services Engineering and Operations, and the Chairman of the IDC Advisory Board, said, We are pleased to announce the opening of our India Development Center in NCR. We have built a strong engineering presence in India over the past two decades and we are excited to be expanding to Noida. This represents a critical expansion of our ability to attract world-class technology talent. Our deep commitment to the region will help us further Microsofts mission to empower every individual and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

Rajiv Kumar, Managing Director, Microsoft India Research & Development Pvt. Ltd., said, The launch of the new IDC center in NCR is a step towards realizing IDCs vision to be a world class development center and source of innovation for the next billion users. This creates opportunities for engineers to do meaningful work that will have impact across the world. We are excited to tap into the engineering talent available in this part of the country to create a truly pioneering organization that will build innovative solutions for global impact.

IDC NCR will be home to Microsofts engineering teams across various technology groups, including Microsofts Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Research Group, Cloud & Enterprise Group, and Experience & Devices Group, along with Core Services Engineering and Operations. IDC NCR will also house Mixer, Microsofts live streaming gaming platform team, becoming the first center to host the gaming team outside the company headquarters in Redmond.
"Aside from being centrally located in the U.S. for clients, team members, and class participants who take part in our workshops, we also chose Madison, Wisconsin because it leads the nation statistically in many areas that are exciting to us as a business, including," he added, "being number one in population concentration of millennial workers in the U.S., second in the country in employment outlook (rated by Manpower), fifth in the nation among the 100 biggest metros for advanced industry input in 2016, Top 10 among best cities for young entrepreneurs in 2018 (according to Inc. Magazine), Top 15 for global cities in per-capita venture capital investment in 2016 (according to The Atlantic). As a native Wisconsinite, I am honored and proud to call Madison, Wisconsin the home for our headquarters. It is an amazing time to be a part of this great community and to take an active part in the rapid economic expansion and thriving start-up culture going on here."

Lean Focus's new Madison headquarters and Lean Transformation Academy will help further its company vision "to build lasting continuous improvement cultures that create strategic advantage for our clients". Lean Focus is now in its fourth year of operation and has built an impressive client list which includes some of the world's most respected brands and several members of the Fortune 1000.

"The Lean Transformation Academy will provide our current and prospective clients another service delivery option aimed at developing the talent within their organizations by making available our proprietary business system tools and processes," Baker said. "In addition to our world-class course curriculum, Lean Transformation Academy participants will have direct, hands-on instruction from former top-level executives of highly-respected, lean pedigreed, Fortune 200 organizations with long track records of outperformance against their peers. If our clients were to build a similar capability on their own, it could take a decade," Baker said. "We help them dramatically accelerate that process."

"The stated mission of The Lean Transformation Academy is 'Develop People, Drive Performance'. People are the true creators of value in an enterprise and we strongly believe that in order to deliver sustainable results over time, organizations must invest in developing human capital," Baker said. "We aspire to partner with clients who share these same beliefs and want to help them to accelerate their results."

"We've experienced significant growth in revenue and headcount in the last two years," said Baker. "Given this explosive growth, we wanted the new headquarters to improve the innovation of our tools & systems, while providing an exceptional state-of-the-art learning experience for our training participants and clients," Baker concluded.

To schedule an appointment or visit Lean Focus's new headquarters and Lean Transformation Academy, or to enroll in upcoming training/workshops, you can contact Lean Focus, at 630.800.8519, [email protected] or visit online at https://leanfocus.com/lean-transformation-academy/ . Lean Focus is located in the Spark Building at 821 E. Washington Ave., Suite 402, Madison, WI 53703.

About Lean Focus LLC:

Transforming Businesses for Good | At Lean Focus, we help businesses overcome their biggest challenges by transforming them for the better, and for the long-term. A "who's who" of global leaders in every industry, our clients include some of the world's most respected brands and several members of the Fortune 1000.

Applied with our proven, hands-on approach, the Lean Focus Business System utilizes 5 Key ElementsGrowth, Lean, Leadership, Foundation, and Guiding Principlesto build the lasting organizational and cultural infrastructure it takes to transform a business for good.

+ Our VISION is to build lasting continuous improvement cultures that create strategic advantage for our clients.

+ Our MISSION is to change old ways of thinking, be fact-based, radically candid, and deeply committed to delivering breakthrough results.

+ Our VALUES are simple and define how we work: Respect Every Individual, Lead With Humility, Gemba Focus, and Set High Expectations.

To learn more about the services and solutions we offer, visit www.leanfocus.com

Media Contact:

April Lee

Managing Director

Lean Focus LLC

Phone: 630.800.8519

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Lean Focus LLC

Related Links

http://www.leanfocus.com


Allentown, PA (18103)

Today

Mostly sunny and bitterly cold. It will feel like it's in the single digits and low teens..

Tonight

Partly cloudy and extremely cold. Wind chills around or below 0 degrees.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 18:11:34|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Military medics of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force arrives at Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 17, 2020. (Xinhua/Jia Qilong)

WUHAN, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Eight transport aircraft of the People's Liberation Army Air Force Monday sent 676 military medics and medical supplies to virus-hit Wuhan, capital city of Hubei Province.

The eight aircraft including four Y-20s, China's domestically-developed large transport aircraft, landed at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in succession on Monday morning.

This was the second time for the Y-20 to take part in non-war military operations. The aircraft had been tasked with the transportation of medics and supplies on Feb. 13.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the PLA Air Force has dispatched 30 transport aircraft in four batches to carry out large-scale air delivery missions.
A number of politicians, trade unionists, writers and broadcasters will take part in a discussion about a possible future united Ireland in Kildare early next month.

On Tuesday, March 3 (7.00pm) Frances Black (independent Senator and founder of the RISE Foundation), Brian Keenan (author and broadcaster) and Paul Gosling (freelance journalist and economic commentator) will sit on a panel at the Springfield Hotel in Leixlip for what has been described as an event a night of conversation on the planning and preparation for a United Ireland.

It is hosted by Leixlip woman Roisin Feeney, who has long been involved in the Leixlip and Kildare community activities.

The panel will share their thoughts and ideas on Irish unity followed by a question and answer session.

The plan is to call for a citizens assembly on Irish unity.

SEE ALSO: Burt Reynolds biography written by Kildare man to be unveiled in Naas

The evening will be chaired by Peter Bunting, retired Assistant General Secretary of the

Congress of Trade Unions.

Ms Feeney, who is hosting the event, said this is a non-party political night and is open to everyone who is interested in the significant issues arising for the island of Ireland as a result of Brexit.

SEE ALSO: more Kildare stories

She said the chaos of Brexit has, in a curious way, opened up the conversation about the possibility of a united Ireland.

Ms Feeney said that she decided to run a night of conversation here in Leixlip as she felt very strongly that we need to prepare and plan for our future and for the seismic changes ahead. Why dont we the people start this conversation, no need to always leave everything to the political parties, she said.

Roisin Feeney has lived in the north Kildare area for 40 years.

She has a long history of community involvement in a variety of organisations in Leixlip and Kildare.

She played a part in the foundation of Confey GAA Club, Leixlip, was a board member and treasurer of Kildare Youth Services and a member of Leixlip Youth Premises Group whose work greatly helped produce a community building at the top of Captains Hill in Leixlip.

She also sat on the board of the Kildare Community and Voluntary Sector and for a short time on the Kildare County Development Board.

Ms Feeney said she hopes this event will provide the opportunity for people to hear the panels views on possible next steps for the island of Ireland from a range of perspectives.
The Japanese government has provided 2,000 free iPhones to quarantined passengers and crew members aboard the coronavirus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship. On February 17, the total number of confirmed cases on the quarantined ship shot up to 355 with an overall 419 confirmed cases in Japan.

The iPhones were distributed on the cruise to let the stranded passengers get in touch with medical professionals, book an appointment, and discuss the trauma with psychologists. According to media reports, Japans Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare provided 2,000 people on the quarantined ship in cooperation with the Ministry of Private Affairs and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

Read: Coronavirus Outbreak: Australia To Evacuate Over 200 Citizens From Cruise Ship In Japan

iPhone for every cabin

Masuda Jun, Director of CSMO for LINE, took to Twitter to confirm that 2,000 iPhones with pre-installed LINE app were distributed among the people on board the cruise which enables them for online consultation with psychological counsellors and doctors. The iPhones have been distributed in a manner which ensures at least one iPhone is available in every cabin of crew and passengers.

Meanwhile, 40 US citizens, who were infected with the deadly virus, have been evacuated using two chartered flights from Tokyo's Haneda Airport. Around 380 Americans were present on the ship of which 340 were transported from Yokohama port to the airport on 14 buses, informed Japans Defense Minister Taro Kono.

Read: Coronavirus: Letters Of Appreciation Signed By PM Given To AI Crew Members For Wuhan Evacuation

According to the latest report, 2,048 new cases of coronavirus infections and 105 more deaths have been confirmed, taking the total death toll because of the deadly virus to 1,770. While most of the cases are from Hubei province of China and the city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, other countries, including Japan and the Philippines, have also now reported deaths related to COVID-19.

The latest cause of concern has been the deaths of people with no travel history to China. On February 13, Japan confirmed the death of an 80-year-old woman who was not even the part of the quarantined cruised off the Japanese coast.

Read: China Mulls Postponing Annual Parliament Session Amid Coronavirus Spread

Read: 'No Time To Die' China Premiere, Tour Scrapped Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin joined nearly 40 top prosecutors from across the nation, including from Contra Costa and Santa Clara counties, in condemning Attorney General William Barrs remarks criticizing criminal justice reform policies.

The 39 district attorneys, representing counties from the Bay Area to Chicago and Philadelphia, said in a joint statement issued Thursday that their policies reflect research that demonstrates sending people to prisons and jails destroyed lives and took away limited resources from communities affected by crime.

Sadly, we are perceived as a threat by some who are wedded to the status quo or, even worse, failed policies of past decades, the prosecutors wrote. Critics such as Attorney General William Barr seek to bring us back to a time when crime was high, success was measured by how harsh the punishment was, and a fear-driven narrative prevailed.

The joint statement arrived near the end of a week that featured the Department of Justice revising its sentencing recommendation for Roger Stone, a longtime friend of President Trump who was convicted in November of several crimes tied to the 2016 election, after the president berated the prosecutors. Four federal prosecutors quit the case after the sentencing revision. Prosecutors had recommended seven to nine years for Stone.

Barr said he and Trump did not discuss the case. But on Twitter, Trump lauded Barr for taking charge of the case.

Barr has long criticized progressive prosecutors.

In December, the New York Post published an opinion piece Barr wrote about the dangers of policing. He said the district attorneys with social justice reform policies further imperil officers.

Even more demoralizing, police officers must look on as the criminals that they have risked their lives to apprehend get turned loose by social-justice DAs and progressive judges who no longer see their role as protecting the community from predators, Barr wrote.

In their statement last week, prosecutors said policies rooted in fear dont function, pointing to a recent decrease in shootings and homicides in Chicago, a plan to revisit cold homicide cases in Boston and another plan to allocate more resources toward solving unsolved homicides in Baltimore.

We will not deepen the divide and distrust between law enforcement and communities of color, the prosecutors wrote. The voters and our communities demanded better, and so do we.

Deputies use tree branches, drone to rescue Sonoma County juvenile runaway

A juvenile in Sonoma County Probation Camp almost escaped last week. Until he had to traverse a pond.

Staff at the Forestville camp called the Sheriffs Office soon after they saw the juvenile, whose identity was not released, running away Tuesday morning. Deputies arrived within two minutes, set up a perimeter, and set out to look for the juvenile by foot and with a drone, according to the Sheriffs Office.

Deputies spotted the juvenile in a heavily wooded area but lost track. Minutes later, a deputy heard calls for help.

The drone found the juvenile, who did not know how to swim, struggling to stay afloat in the pond. Deputies, armed with tree branches, created a daisy chain and pulled the juvenile out of the pond.

Medics checked the juvenile, who was then booked into juvenile hall.

Santa Cruz may soon ban policing tech

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.

Predictive policing and live facial recognition may soon be formally halted in Santa Cruz.

Mayor Justin Cummings told The Chronicle that City Council leaders expect to vote on the proposed legislation, which would ban predictive policing software and facial recognition, in March. It was sent to a public safety committee in January.

After San Francisco banned facial recognition in May, members of the community and ACLU brought attention to the matter in Santa Cruz, raising concerns about the technologys racial bias, Cummings said.

Police there have stopped using predictive policing software, which tries to predict future crime by analyzing data, but still have it as a tool. The legislation would stop it, becoming the first apparent city to do so in the county. Authorities do use some recognition tools, but not live cameras, Cummings said.

For one, facial recognition and that type of technology is becoming more common and accessible, Cummings said, and members of the community have expressed concern.

Cummings said city residents privacy should be a priority and a lot of similar technology remains in an infancy stage. If police were to use such tech, residents should have a say, he said.

I think its something thats really important, he said. We really have to be careful with the kind of technology we are implementing.

Alejandro Serrano is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: alejandro.serrano@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @serrano_alej
Services on a section of the Delhi Metro's Blue Line were delayed on Monday after a woman allegedly attempted suicide by jumping in front of an approaching train at Anand Vihar metro station, police said.

According to police, a woman attempted suicide at platform number two of the station.

She suffered an head injury and was rushed to a hospital, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Metro) Vikram Porwal.

The Blue Line connects Dwarka in Delhi to Electronic City in Noida and Vaishali in Ghaziabad.

"Delay in services between Vaishaliand Rajiv Chowk due to a passenger on tracks at Anand Vihar. Normal services on all other lines," the DMRC tweeted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
For decades, presidential debates have been taking place on college campuses, including Friday nights Democratic debate in New Hampshire. The reasons are mostly practicaluniversities are typically equipped with spacious auditoriums, parking lots, and media centers. But they also provide students an opportunity to be directly involved in the national political conversation. VOAs Esha Sarai traveled to St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, to find out more about the student experience just ahead of a key primary for the 2020 presidential election. VOA Khmer's Sophat Soeung narrates.
A cured COVID-19 patient waves goodbye to a medical worker at the "Wuhan Livingroom" makeshift hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 15, 2020. Photo: Xinhua

More encouraging signs have emerged outside of Central China's Hubei Province where the coronavirus originated, yet Chinese experts said it was too early to say that the nationwide battle had decisively turned for the better given no real diminution in infection rates and slow progress in development of antiviral drugs.

More importantly, the situation in Hubei continues to be serious. Frontline doctors and experts are cautious in expressing opinion on trend of the epidemic that has been unfolding into a third and fourth generation of cases, and now with a lon-ger-than-expected incubation period and an undecided transmission route.



Some 142 new deaths and 2,009 new infections were reported by the National Health Commission (NHC) on Saturday. Recoveries reached 1,323, the fourth day over 1,000.



Outside Hubei, regions recorded daily decline of new diagnosed infections for the 12th consecutive days since February 3, reflecting that the strict prevention and control measures in Wuhan as well as its surrounding areas have been showing results, according to analysts.



"The downward trend shows that strict measures adopted in the different regions helped contain virus spread in an effective way. The overall medical resources could handle the current situation outside Hubei," Wang Guangfa, a respiratory expert at Peking University First Hospital, told the Global Times on Sunday.



However, Wang noted that there has been no unified definition for the highly expected 'inflection point' amid the outbreak.



Outside Hubei, the consecutive declines for more than 10 days could be seen as a turning point for the epidemic in these areas, said Wang.



Severe infection cases have all significantly declined in Wuhan, Hubei and nationwide, Mi Feng, NHC spokesperson, told a press conference on Sunday. The ratio in Wuhan has dropped from a peak of 32.4 percent on January 28 to 21.6 percent on Saturday, while the ratio in Hubei was down from 18.4 percent on January 27 to 11.1 percent on Saturday, according to the NHC figures.



The overall ratio of severe infections in regions outside Hubei dropped from a peak 15.9 percent on January 27 to 7.2 percent on Saturday, the NHC said.



Measures such as self-quarantining, extended Spring Festival holidays and postponing resumption of work have been implemented by provincial and municipality-level authorities over the past few weeks.



Authorities used artificial intelligence and big data-empowered technologies to screen all possible cases and track down suspect patients and their close contacts via community registration and door-to-door inspection.



The consecutive declines in new infections indicated that the current prevention and control measures outside Hubei are effective, Yang Gonghuan, a former vice-director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told the Global Times on Sunday.



The inflection point will probably come when there are no more new cases reported on a daily basis, Yang said.



Wang Xinghuan, director of the newly built Leishenshan Hospital, was quoted as saying in media reports that the inflection point had already arrived in Wuhan. "The real inflection point [of the outbreak] has come. Over the past 5 days, the number of fever cases has dropped. It is like a downward slope. It's not coming back, I'm confident," Wang said.

Staff members work in a laboratory in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 13, 2020. (Xinhua/Xiong Qi)

Remaining challenges



More recently infected patients appear to have milder symptoms, according to some online posts that cited frontline medical staff dispatched from East China's Shandong Province working in Wuhan.



These anecdotal articles have promoted online speculation that the virulence of novel coronavirus pneumonia, officially known as COVID-19, has been attenuating among the third and fourth generation of infected patients.



Doctors from his team had never published such opinions and such speculation was "irresponsible," Fei Jianchun, who leads the medical team of Qilu hospital from Shandong, was quoted as saying on Sunday after noticing the online trend.



Some analysts noted that the alleged decline in severe cases did not derive from diminished infectivity but more likely from more timely and effective treatment. For now, there has been no evidence suggesting any further mutations of the virus.



"Mutations cannot happen in such a short period and the virulence would not decrease along with its generation transmission," said Yang Zhanqiu, deputy director of the pathogen biology department at Wuhan University.



Scientists racing to learn more about COVID-19, which has reportedly killed 1,665 people in China and infected 57,416, describe it as a "cunning" virus.



In another worrying anecdotal development about the mysterious behavior of the virus, reports emerged last week of a man who quarantined himself for 14 days in the Shandong city of Rizhao but later displayed classic COVID-19 symptoms of a fever and cough after quarantine period ended. Besides, he wife and two children were all tested positive for the coronavirus but showing no symptoms, Shandong media reported on Saturday.



Meanwhile, the transmission route of the coronavirus has not been completely confirmed. The main routes - respiratory, contact, fecal-oral and aerosol transmission - are all still being studied, Yang said.



Tough battle



The government of Hubei, the province with more than 90 percent of reported new cases nationwide, on Sunday ordered all cities and counties, down to streets, communities and residential districts to seal themselves off.



Daily necessities would be collectively purchased and delivered to those disease-stricken areas, the government statement said. All vehicles, except for ambulances, police vehicles and vehicles used for fighting the disease are banned from the roads.



The extreme measures were a necessary response to those virus-stricken regions which still face a severe situation, the provincial government said in its statement on Sunday.



Wang Hesheng, a member of standing committee of Hubei provincial Communist Party of China (CPC) Committee and head of Hubei health commission, told a press conference Saturday that 25,633 medical staff have been dispatched from regions across the country to support Hubei, a larger number than all the medical personnel mobilized for 2008 Sichuan earthquake.



"Stricter sealed-off management of residential areas at such a critical moment is very important to make sure that all previous efforts don't end in vain," a resident surnamed Guo of Yichang, a Hubei city with the fourth-highest number of infected people, told the Global Times on Sunday.



"We can't fight the virus like those frontline doctors and nurses. All we can do is follow the government's regulations and stay at home to help contain the spread of the virus," said the resident.
By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Azerbaijan commemorates the 28th anniversary of the massacre committed by Armenian armed forces in Khojavands Garadaghli village on February 17.

Backed by the 366th infantry regiment of Soviet troops stationed in Khankendi, Armenias invaders launched an attack on the Azerbaijani village of Garadaghli on February 15, 1992. After two-day fierce battles, Armenian forces occupied the village.

Garadaghli village is located 13 km west of the regional center, on the Khojavand-Khankendi road, at the foot of the mountains.

The village underwent completely destruction during the occupation, innocent unarmed people, including women and children, were murdered, tortured and taken hostages. Nearly 80 of 117 villagers taken hostage were killed, six went missing. According to eyewitnesses, nine people were taken hostage.

Some witnesses said the Armenians shot 43 Azerbaijani hostages to death in an area two km away from Khankendi, and some were decapitated.

This act of genocide over peaceful, innocent people living in the region, was the result of hatred of Armenian nationalists towards Azerbaijanis.

As for the chronological order of the tragedy, in 1988, after the Armenian separatists unleashed the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, a tragedy began in the village. Residents showed bravest performance defended every inch of their native land, dozens of villagers fell in an unequal battle with Armenian occupying forces.

On 19 December 1991, the village of Khojavend was occupied and burned.

On 12 February 1992, Shushas Malibeyli village was occupied and burned. Another target was the village of Garadaghli. The situation in the village was complicated, bringing the day of the tragedy closer.

On 17 February 1992, the village of Garadaghli was occupied and burned by Armenian thugs. As many as 118 villagers were taken hostage, 33 people were shot. The prisoners were subjected to inhuman torture, the Armenians committed monstrous in their cruelty killings of peaceful Azerbaijanis.

Overall, 91 people were killed in Garadaghli village, that is, one in 10 residents. In the village 200 residential buildings, a cultural center, a school for 320 children and a hospital with 25 beds were destroyed. About 800 villagers became refugees.

The village of Garadaghli is still under Armenian occupation.

---

Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
A couple who was diagnosed with coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, flew on two airliners earlier this month around Hawaii, according to statements from Hawaiian Airlines and Delta Airlines.

A husband and wife from Japan departed from Oahu later tested positive for the virus, KHON2 reported. Delta told the station that Flight 611 left from Honolulu to Nagoya on Feb. 6.

Delta said it is working in coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Japanese authorities, according to the news outlet. The airline also is attempting to contact any passengers who might have flown on the same flight.

We are aware of reports that two customers who are being treated for novel coronavirus (2019-nCOV) recently traveled together between Honolulu and Nagoya and we are communicating with the appropriate public health officials, Delta told Fox News. It added that it will take the necessary steps to ensure the safety of our customers and crew.

The couple also took Hawaiian Airlines flight HA265 from the Hawaiian city of Kahului to Honolulu on Feb. 3, the airline confirmed.

CDC officials asked Hawaiian Airlines to provide information about the flight, which transported a Japanese visitor who had since become ill and, upon his return to Japan on another carrier later in the week, was diagnosed with COVID-19, Hawaiian Airlines told KHON2.

We extend our sincere wishes for this gentlemens full recovery and are cooperating with public health agencies to support notification of passengers as they determine is necessary, the firm added. We are also in the process of reaching out to crew and agents who supported this particular flight to make sure that they are healthy and supported.

The Japanese couple, who are said to be in their 60s, reportedly stayed at the Grand Waikikian hotel, operated by Hilton Grand Vacations, in Oahu. On Feb. 3, the husband started to exhibit mild, cold-like symptoms without a fever.

When the man returned to Japan on Feb. 8, he was hospitalized with a high fever before officials determined that he had contracted COVID-19. He was also diagnosed with pneumonia, KHON reported.

The wife later tested positive for the virus and was taken to the hospital, officials said.

So far, the United States has 29 cases of COVID-19, including 14 patients who were evacuated from a cruise ship held in isolation off the coast of Japan to two military bases for a mandatory 14-day quarantine period. Those passengers arrived on Monday morning and will now be held at Travis Air Force Base in California and Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.

The 15 other cases have been confirmed in California, Texas, Wisconsin, Illinois, Massachusetts, Washington state, and Arizona. No cases have yet to be confirmed in Hawaii.

From The Epoch Times
The Executive Board of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in New York announced in January that it would fire all four staff librarians, citing significant budgetary shortfalls. YIVO reported a $550,000 revenue shortfall in 2019. It had 39 employees in 2018 and annual expenditure of $5.1 million. Most of the YIVOs revenue comes with donor restrictions.

The Center for Jewish History in New York City where the YIVO is housed.

The YIVO Institute is one of the most important institutions in the world for the study of the Holocaust, the history of European Jewry and of the revolutionary movement in Eastern Europe and Russia before 1945. The YIVO library holds 400,000 volumes, including the worlds largest collection of Yiddish-language works, and is separately organized from the YIVO archives, which hold 23 million items.

The firing of the librarians has been opposed by virtually all academics working in the field of Jewish and Yiddish studies. An open letter to the YIVO Board called for the immediate reinstatement of the library staff, and for more financial transparency, and accountability, to the scholarly community that carries on this work. It stated: The librarians recently laid off include some of the most knowledgeable Yiddish library specialists currently working. The loss of this knowledge and expertise is hard to exaggerate. ... the YIVO library is in high demand by researchers. It requires curatorial supervision, daily cataloging, acquisitions, maintenance, involvement in library outreach, and partnerships in Eastern Europe and other parts of the world. The letter warned that Without its library staff and director, the YIVO library cannot fully serve the scholarly community or call itself a leading academic institution.

The letter was signed by over 1,000 scholars, artists and researchers, including the leading historians of Eastern European Jewry Samuel Kassow (Trinity College), Zvi Gitelman (University of Michigan), David Shneer (University of Colorado), Gennady Estraikh (New York University), Elissa Bemporad (Queens College), Avraham Novershtern (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) and David Fishman (Jewish Theological Seminary). Among the signatories are also hundreds of artists and Yiddish teachers associated with the YIVO Institute, as well as many donors.

The YIVO Executive Board responded to the letter by defending the firing of the librarians as a necessary response to budgetary problems and as being in line with the efforts to modernize the library. It stated that the firing was a short-term measure but did not specify whether and when the librarians would be reinstated. The posting of the open letter by YIVO on its Facebook page prompted an angry and almost universally negative response from many of the signatories of the initial open letter.

On February 12, the Jewish Forward reported that two long-standing members of the YIVO Board, Karen Underhill and Stuart Shear, resigned after the layoffs were announced.

Emanuel Ringelblum

The firing of the librarians is not only an egregious violation of their labor rights but also marks an assault on the access to a cultural and historical institution which is of major significance to the international working class. Many of the YIVO librarys 400,000 books, newspapers and documents have literally been rescued from Nazi barbarism, and are indispensable for the study of European Jewish history before the Second World War, the Holocaust and the pre-war revolutionary movement of the Eastern European working class.

The YIVO was originally founded in 1925 in Vilnius (now Lithuania, then part of Poland) by a group of Yiddish scholars, scientists, and historians. Up until the Nazi genocide of European Jewry during World War II, Yiddish was the main language of Ashkenazi Jews who lived in Eastern Europe and the former Russian Empire.

A more systematic scientific and literary use of Yiddish, however, only began in the late 19th century. The growing Yiddish national movement in the former Russian Empire was closely connected to the development of the socialist movement and the Russian revolution. Many of the YIVO founders and members were part of the revolutionary movement. Most of them were members of the Jewish Social Democratic Labor Bund, which originated in the Russian Social Democratic Party but broke from the Bolsheviks in 1903, or the socialist-Zionist Left Poalei Tsyion (LPZ).

In addition to developing a scientific understanding and study of Yiddish as a language, and developing its use as a language of other sciences, the YIVO was dedicated to collecting (zameln) all the materials relating to the history and life of the Jewish masses. In the inter-war period, this effort involved the collective work of thousands of ordinary teachers, workers, and students who submitted political and cultural periodicals as well as diaries, autobiographies and other personal documents to the YIVO.

During the war, the YIVO faced the danger of imminent and total destruction by the Nazis. In Nazi-occupied Poland, historians associated with the YIVO, most notably Emanuel Ringelblum, ran the Underground Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto, which collected materials about all aspects of the political, social and cultural life in the ghetto.

Shmerke Kaczerginski with books rescued from destruction by the Nazis

In the ghetto in Vilnius, the so called Paper Brigade, which included the major Yiddish poets Abraham Sutzkever and Shmerke Kaczerginski, risked their lives to save tens of thousands of books and cultural artifacts from the YIVO Institute and other libraries of the city from destruction by the task force of the leading Nazi Alfred Rosenberg (ERR). As part of its criminal mission of cultural plunder and destruction in Nazi-occupied Europe, the ERR was planning on destroying 70 percent of the library and archival holdings in all of Vilnius. The rest was to be pillaged for the research of Nazi professors in Germany.

Among the documents and items saved by the Paper Brigade were thousands of manuscripts by Yiddish, Russian and French writers like Sholom Aleichem, Leo Tolstoy, Maxim Gorky and Romain Rolland, as well as works by the painters Marc Chagall and Ilya Repin. The Paper Brigade also collected invaluable documents on the Vilnius ghetto and resistance against the Nazis. After the war, many of these materials were sent to the YIVO Institute in New York, which became the YIVOs new headquarters. Many of these items now form part of the YIVO library.

Another major collection that is now part of the YIVO library, the Tcherikover collection of Jewish history, was likewise saved from Nazi destruction during the war in France.

The anti-Semitic purges and policies of the Stalinist Soviet government in the immediate post-war period made it impossible for the YIVO to continue its existence in Vilnius. Much of the collection was buried by the Stalinist government for decades. The Lithuanian government and the YIVO Institute only recently negotiated the digitization of these materials, which is still ongoing.

This history accounts for the enormous value and complexity of the YIVO library. Apart from many historic rabbinic works and yitzkor (memorial) books that document the lives of pre-war Jewish communities, the library includes the private collections of leading figures of the YIVO itself and the Yiddish movement in the inter-war period, including Chaim Zhitlovsky and Max Weinreich, a Bundist, co-founder and long-time president of the YIVO, who authored an authoritative English-Yiddish dictionary.

The library includes very rare pamphlets and leaflets from the earliest days of Russian Social Democracy by Lenin and other leading revolutionaries. Moreover, countless volumes and periodicals are important to the study of the history of American Jews and the American Jewish labor movement. Many of these materials can be found nowhere else in the world.

It speaks to a significant rightward shift among the layers that have traditionally constituted the base of financial support and operation of the YIVO Institute that the firing of the librarians, who have decades of experience working in this library, and provide a living link to the YIVO scholars and historians who survived the war, could have even be considered. Their firing endangers the access of scholars and the general public to this vitally important history and must be opposed.
The government has said that British parliamentarian who is claiming that she was denied entry into India, had her e-visa cancelled. Labour MP Debbie Abrahams claimed on Twitter that she was informed about her visa cancellation when she reached Delhi.

Ms Debbie Abraham was not in possession of a valid visa to visit India. Entry into the country was therefore denied, home ministry sources said on Monday. Her e-visa was cancelled and she was informed regarding the decision in advance. She didnt have the visa when she landed at IGI airport, the sources further said.

Abrahams told news agency PTI that she had not received any emails before February 13. After that, she had been travelling and was away from office.

An official further told PTI that she was deported to Dubai on Monday.

News agency Associated Press (AP) reported that Abrahams and her aide Harpreet Upal arrived at the airport on an Emirates flight from Dubai at 9 am. She was on a two-day personal trip to India, and was going to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), AP further reported.

Abrahams chairs a parliamentary group focused on Kashmir.

In her statement, Abrahams said she had presented herself at the immigration desk along with her documents and e-visa. ...the official looked at his screen and started shaking his head. Then he told me my visa was rejected took my passport and disappeared for about 10 minutes.

When he came back he was very rude and aggressive shouting at me to come with me. I told him not to speak to me like that and was then taken to a cordoned off area marked as a Deportee Cell. He then ordered me to sit down and I refused. I didnt know what they might do or where else they may take me, so I wanted people to see me, the British MP said.

The immigration officer disappeared again, she said, adding that she phoned her sister-in-laws cousin who she was going to be staying with. Kai got in touch with the British High Commission and he tried to find out what was going on, she wrote on Twitter. She said later several immigration officials came to her but none of them knew why her e-visa was cancelled. Even the person who seemed to be in charge said he didnt know and was really sorry about what had happened.

Abrahams, 59, has been a member of Parliament since 2011, and critical of Indias move to withdraw Jammu and Kashmirs special status.
The number of Christian martyrs worldwide has fallen by half in a decade, according to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Although 800,000 Christians were killed in the 2010s, that was significantly lower than the 1.6 million Christians killed in the 2000s, according to the centers most recent report.

When it comes to tracking global trends in Christianity, the center leads the field. Since it was founded as the World Evangelization Research Center in Kenya in 1965, and then relaunched as the Center for the Study of Global Christianity in 2003, CSGC has monitored a range of global trends, including changes in denominations, populations, conversions, and martyrs.

The good news about the decline of martyrs will be met, however, with skepticism. CSGCs calculations result in a much higher total than those of other groups that track these numbers. Open Doors, for example, reports 4,305 Christians were martyred in 2019. A researcher with the International Society for Human Rights estimated the number is about 10,000 annually.

CSGC puts annual deaths at approximately 90,000.

The difference is due to competing definitions. Open Doors and others define persecution as any hostility experienced as a result of identification with Jesus Christ. CSGC, by contrast, defines martyrs as believers in Christ who have lost their lives prematurely, in situations of witness, as a result of human hostility.

The critical question is why a person was killed. Whereas many evaluate the motive of the persecutors, CSGCs definition prioritizes the motive of the person who is killed.

For us, said Todd Johnson, codirector of CSGC, the important ...

1

You have reached the end of this Article Preview You have reached the end of this Article Preview To continue reading, subscribe now. Subscribers have full digital access.

Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here.
File photo provided the Anti-Poaching Special Squad shows police gathering outside a store suspected of trafficking in wildlife in the city of Guangde in central Chinas Anhui province. AP photo

China cracked down on the sale of exotic species after an outbreak of a new virus in 2002 was linked to markets selling live animals. The germ turned out to be a coronavirus that caused SARS.

The ban was later lifted, and the animals reappeared. Now another coronavirus is spreading through China, so far killing 1,380 people and sickening more than 64,000  eight times the number sickened by SARS.

The suspected origin? The same type of market.

With more than 60 million people under lockdown in more than a dozen Chinese cities, the new outbreak is prompting calls to permanently ban the sale of wildlife, which many say is being fueled by a limited group of wealthy people who consider the animals delicacies. The spreading illness also serves as a grim reminder that how animals are handled anywhere can endanger people everywhere.

Theres a vast number of viruses in the animal world that have not spread to humans, and have the potential to do so, said Robert Webster, an expert on influenza viruses at St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.

SARS and the current outbreak of COVID-19 are not the only diseases in people traced back to animals. The killing and sale of what is known as bushmeat in Africa is thought to be a source for Ebola. Bird flu likely came from chickens at a market in Hong Kong in 1997. Measles is believed to have evolved from a virus that infected cattle.

Scientists have not yet determined exactly how the new coronavirus first infected people. Evidence suggests it originated in bats, which infected another animal that spread it to people at a market in the southeastern city of Wuhan. The now-shuttered Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market advertised dozens of species such as giant salamanders, baby crocodiles and raccoon dogs that were often referred to as wildlife, even when they were farmed.

Of the 33 samples from the Wuhan market that tested positive for the coronavirus, officials say 31 were from the area where wildlife booths were concentrated. Compared with long domesticated livestock like chickens and pigs, researchers say less is known about the viruses that circulate in wild animals.

The Wuhan market was also like many other wet markets in Asia and elsewhere, where animals are tied up or stacked in cages. Activists say its difficult to distinguish between those that were legally farmed and those that may have been illegally hunted. The animals are often killed on site to ensure freshness. The messy mix raises the tiny odds that a new virus will jump to people handling the animals and start to spread, experts say.

Theres a vast number of viruses in the animal world that have not spread to humans, and have the potential to do so, said Robert Webster, an expert on influenza viruses at St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.

SARS and the current outbreak of COVID-19 are not the only diseases in people traced back to animals. The killing and sale of what is known as bushmeat in Africa is thought to be a source for Ebola. Bird flu likely came from chickens at a market in Hong Kong in 1997. Measles is believed to have evolved from a virus that infected cattle.

Scientists have not yet determined exactly how the new coronavirus first infected people. Evidence suggests it originated in bats, which infected another animal that spread it to people at a market in the southeastern city of Wuhan. The now-shuttered Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market advertised dozens of species such as giant salamanders, baby crocodiles and raccoon dogs that were often referred to as wildlife, even when they were farmed.

Of the 33 samples from the Wuhan market that tested positive for the coronavirus, officials say 31 were from the area where wildlife booths were concentrated. Compared with long domesticated livestock like chickens and pigs, researchers say less is known about the viruses that circulate in wild animals.

The Wuhan market was also like many other wet markets in Asia and elsewhere, where animals are tied up or stacked in cages. Activists say its difficult to distinguish between those that were legally farmed and those that may have been illegally hunted. The animals are often killed on site to ensure freshness. The messy mix raises the tiny odds that a new virus will jump to people handling the animals and start to spread, experts say.

This is the second time  the first is SARS, this time is Wuhan. We dont want a third time, Lai Xinping, a project cost assessor, said by phone from her home in Sichuan.

We hate them too, and we are blamed, said Tao Yiwei, a 36-year-old homemaker. She is among those who want the temporary ban on wildlife, enacted to contain the current outbreak, to be permanent.

There are signs the Chinese government may make more lasting changes to how exotic species are raised and sold. This month, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said the country should resolutely outlaw and harshly crack down on the illegal wildlife trade because of the public health risks it poses.

In the eastern province of Anhui, officials sealed farms breeding species like badgers and bamboo rats. In the port city of Tianjin, authorities say their crackdown on the sale of wildlife caught six traders, including three who were selling pythons and parrots.

All told, officials say about 1.5 million markets and online operators nationwide have been inspected since the outbreak began. About 3,700 have been shut down, and around 16,000 breeding sites have been cordoned off.

Its not clear how the measures will play out over time. Before the outbreak began, it was legal in China to sell 54 species like pangolins and civets  as long as they were raised on farms . That made it difficult to distinguish between legal and illegal wildlife in wet markets, and enforcement was lax, said Jinfeng Zhou of China Biodiversity, Conservation and Green Development Foundation, an environmental group based in Beijing.

He pointed to a widely shared image of a Wuhan market advertisement listing 72 species, including peacocks and bullfrogs, as proof that the trade is too lucrative to be stopped by anything less than a total ban on all wildlife. The profit is huge ... like drugs, Jinfeng said.

Others disagree, arguing that banning the wildlife trade is not a realistic way to reduce risk, especially in poorer regions of the world where it can be an important food source. They say improved monitoring, regulation or public education may better control the problem. When wildlife is farmed, for example, it allows for greater surveillance and testing for viruses, said Daszak of EcoHealth Alliance.

Even if China successfully regulates or bans it, the wildlife trade is likely to continue elsewhere. Recent visits to wet markets in the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia and in the coastal city of Doula in Cameroon revealed similar conditions to wet markets in China. Vendors were slaughtering and grilling bats, dogs, rats, crocodiles and snakes, and sanitary measures were scant.

Ongoing destruction of species habitats will likely bring people into closer contact with animals and their viruses, said Raina Plowright, a Montana State University researcher who studies how diseases spread from wildlife to people.

We are inevitably going to be exposed, she said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 21:58:08|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Flags are seen at the Tian'anmen Square and atop the Great Hall of the People during the opening meeting of the second session of the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing, capital of China, March 5, 2019. (Xinhua/Yang Zongyou)

Monday's proposals to postpone China's "two sessions" conform to the reality that China has entered the most crucial stage of fighting the novel coronavirus epidemic and must prevent any risks of rendering the previous sacrifices of the entire nation in vain.

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The proposals to postpone China's "two sessions," a key event in the country's political calendar, came out Monday in a timely and responsible manner, as the latest evidence that China is trying its best to buy time for the world to contain the outbreak of novel coronavirus or COVID-19.

The openings of the annual sessions of the National People's Congress, China's highest organ of state power, and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's top political advisory body, had been held on March 5 and March 3, respectively, since 1998.

Monday's proposals conform to the reality that China has entered the most crucial stage of fighting the novel coronavirus epidemic and must prevent any risks of rendering the previous sacrifices of the entire nation in vain.

Through arduous efforts, the epidemic overall is generally under control. Outside the hardest-hit Hubei Province, the number of confirmed cases had been declining for 13 consecutive days across China by Sunday. China contains 99 percent of COVID-19 cases within its borders.

A cured coronavirus patient prepares before donating plasma at Chongqing Blood Center in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, Feb. 17, 2020. (Xinhua/Tang Yi)

Among nearly 3,000 national lawmakers and more than 2,000 political advisors, many of them are fighting at the frontlines. Any lax efforts at this time will cause huge losses, both for China and the world.

The announcement demonstrates a responsible and transparent attitude toward epidemic control work. The proposals will gain wide public endorsement and boost national confidence.

By postponing the sessions to an appropriate time, decision-makers will have more time to examine the current situation and roll out measures more precisely and effectively to restore normal economic and social activity.

At the two sessions, national lawmakers and political advisors are expected to review and discuss a series of work reports which cover every aspect of China's development and the people's wellbeing. Growth targets and reform goals need to be set. Budgets, development plans and laws need to be reviewed and put to vote.

All these should be done on the basis of full awareness about the virus, what the impacts are, how to minimize them and boost development accordingly. The decisions and measures will also be significant to the world as China contributes nearly one-third of global economic growth.

China has given its top priority to ensure the safety and health of the Chinese people and has created a window of opportunity for other countries to intensify preparedness.

The window is still open and the best way to make up for the loss is to tackle the epidemic with speed, determination and unity. 
Tech giant Microsoft on Monday said it has set up a new development centre in Noida, its third such facility in India, that will serve as an engineering and innovation hub for the company.

The announcement comes ahead of the visit of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella slated for later this month.

"The centre will build on Microsoft's commitment to tap India's world-class engineering talent to create solutions for global impact," Microsoft said in a statement.

The India Development Centre (IDC) represents Microsoft's strategy of globally shared development to build products and services for driving digital innovation, it added.

"The IDC-NCR will play a critical role in Microsoft India's expansion and growth story. The facility will open opportunities for thousands of engineers, with plans to expand to a full-fledged development centre, similar to IDC facilities in Bengaluru and Hyderabad," the statement said.

The company, however, did not disclose the investment being made for setting up the centre.

The IDC-NCR will be home to the company's engineering teams across various technology groups, including Microsoft's Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Research Group, Cloud and Enterprise Group, and Experience & Devices Group, along with Core Services Engineering and Operations, the statement said. The IDC-NCR will also house Mixer, Microsoft's live streaming gaming platform team, becoming the first centre to host the gaming team outside the company headquarters in Redmond, United States.

"We have built a strong engineering presence in India over the past two decades and we are excited to be expanding to Noida," Kurt DelBene, executive vice-president (corporate strategy, core services engineering and operations) and chairman of the IDC advisory board, said.

Rajiv Kumar, managing director at Microsoft India Research and Development, said the centre creates opportunities for engineers to do meaningful work that will have impact across the world.

"We are excited to tap into the engineering talent available in this part of the country to create a truly pioneering organisation that will build innovative solutions for global impact," he added.

Microsoft India Development Centre is one of Microsoft's largest research and development centres outside the Redmond headquarters.

Set up in Hyderabad in 1998, IDC drives Microsoft's strategy of globally shared development to build products and services.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
MERRILLVILLE  Hundreds of people marched 4 miles Sunday in a historic show of support for the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, where church leaders fear a new law could strip the church of its holy sites, shrines and relics.

Carrying banners and signs saying "We're not giving up our holy sites," the faithful made their way from St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church at 9191 Mississippi Street to St. Elijah Serbian Orthodox Cathedral at 8700 Taft Street in Merrillville.

Hundreds of thousands of people in Montenegro have been protesting a new government-backed law that church leaders say will allow the state to confiscate hundreds of churches and monasteries.

It's a clever law, because it requires religious communities to produce evidence of ownership of their property, said the Rev. Marko Matic, of St. Sava Church. Many churches date back hundreds of years and their leaders no longer have the titles, he said.

"It's against not only the future generation, but also our ancestors," he said.

If the state takes control of the Serbian Orthodox churches, history will be wiped out for all who were baptized in them, he said.
The Ghana Beverage Awards Committee has officially closed nominations to the general public and all beverage companies ahead of the Awards event in March, 2020.



The nominations which opened on 12th December, 2019, offered both the public and beverage companies the opportunity to nominate both beverages and companies for awards in different categories.



Under the theme Inspiring Excellence in Ghanas Beverage Industry the awards will promote both local and foreign beverages as well as the participation of small-scale beverage enterprises in the awards scheme.



Speaking after the close of nominations, the Chief Executive Officer of Global Media Alliance (GMA), Mr. Ernest Boateng, shared some statistics from the nominations received;



We have received over 500 nominations from both the public and the beverage industries at the close of the nomination period. This shows an increase compared to the nominations we received last year. We can see the interest and growth being experienced by the Awards Scheme both from the general public and potential winners. he revealed.



In a lead up to this years awards, a beverage Industry Tour will be organized for the GBA board to visit all nominated industries to familiarize with their work and practices. This initiative is one of the activities which have been introduced leading up to the 2019 Awards Night. The tour will be held in the last week of February.



This year, GBA has introduced two new categories; Local Beverage Advertisement of the Year and International Liqueur of the Year. The addition of the new categories is to acknowledge feedback from stakeholders, particularly consumers who have been instrumental in the nominations phase. The Local Beverage Advert of the Year Award goes to the brand in the year under review that is enjoying massive public appeal with its creative publicity.



Voting will begin from 2nd March to 20th March, 2020 for the ultimate award of the year which is the Product of the Year. Voting can be done via the GBA website (ghanabeverageawards.com) and via a yet-to-be-announced USSD code. GBA 2019 will be held on 27th March, 2020.



The Ghana Beverage Awards is organized by Global Media Alliance. Supporting partners are the Food Research Institute (FRI) under CSIR, Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), Consumer Protection Agency and the Food and Beverage Association of Ghana (FABAG).

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.

Featured Video
Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav on Monday said his outfit had demanded time from Union Home Minister Amit Shah to discuss issues like the Citizenship Amendment Act, the National Population Register and the National Register of Citizens.

Shah had told a channel a few days ago that anyone who wanted to discuss issues related to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) with him could seek time from his office and they would be given time "within three days".

Speaking to reporters here, Yadav also said the Maharashtra government should stick to its promise of not allowing the NPR exercise in the state.

The leaders of the Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP having been talking in different voices on the NPR.

Yadav informed that a front called 'Hum Bharat Ke Log' established by some social fronts will launch protests against the NPR across the country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The parents of an 18-month-old girl who is recovering well after a heart transplant have said they will never be able to thank the donor's family enough for giving their daughter the gift of life.

Little Evie Keown is back home in Castlewellan, Co Down, and making 'amazing' progress after the life-saving transplant was carried out at Freeman Hospital in Newcastle in November.

A donor heart became available at a critical time for Evie, who was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, as her own heart function was deteriorating and doctors had been considering using a Berlin Heart. This mechanical device supports patients with end-stage heart failure and can be risky for single ventricle patients like Evie.

Facing the prospect that their seriously-ill daughter could die, her parents Gareth and Kelly-Anne were 'exhilarated' when they received the phone-call on November 15 to say that a heart had become available.

Evie was flown to Newcastle with her parents by air ambulance and later that same night underwent surgery to receive her new heart. The transplant was a success and on December 23 she flew home to spend her first proper Christmas with her mum and dad and two sisters Muireann (7) and three-year-old Maeve.



Expand Close Evie Keown with sisters Muireann and Maeve Gareth Keown / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Evie Keown with sisters Muireann and Maeve

Gareth Keown said he couldn't put into words how grateful he and his wife were to the family of the heart donor. And he said he wanted them to know what a huge difference they had made to all their lives, not just Evie's.

"The day of Evie's transplant I couldn't stop thinking about that family and how, in their own grief and knowing their child was going to pass away, they made the decision to offer someone else the gift of life," said Gareth.

"We are in awe of those parents and will never be able to thank them enough. They haven't just given Evie a new lease of life but our whole family. When Evie was sick it had a knock-on effect on her sisters as well, who were passed back and forth between relatives and often missed out. Now we can look forward to the future as a family.

"We have started to write a letter to the donor's family because we want them to know about Evie's story and what a difference they have made.

"We would love to meet them one day. To give someone the gift of life is the most amazing gift you could ever offer someone. By making the most difficult decision, they made such a difference to our family's lives.

"Everything has changed for us, everything. We will be so grateful to them forever and we want them to know that Evie's heart now pumps for two."



Expand Close Evie withum Kelly-Anne and dad Gareth Keown Gareth Keown / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Evie withum Kelly-Anne and dad Gareth Keown

Gareth was in the Clark Clinic at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children with Evie when the life-changing call came through at 5am from the transplant coordinator in Newcastle.

Kelly-Anne, who was at home with their other two daughters, was alerted and immediately plans swung into action to transport Evie to Freeman Hospital.

By 8am they were en route from Aldegrove, after FaceTiming Muireann and Maeve to break the news that a heart had been found for their baby sister. Within minutes, news had spread and the Keowns started to receive messages from the local community, offering prayers and good wishes. A consultant from the Royal, Dr Jeremy Lyons, travelled with them to Newcastle to oversee Evie's transferral.

Once in Newcastle, the transplant team carried out checks to ensure the donor heart was the right match and at 11.45pm, some 18 hours after the initial call, Evie underwent surgery. The following morning, her parents were told the transplant had gone well and their daughter was in recovery.

With each day that passed, Evie made good progress and took to her new heart well. After a spell in intensive care, then the high dependency unit, she was discharged to Scott House, a self-sufficient apartment with her parents, to ensure her recovery was going to plan.



Expand Close Evie Keown with dad Gareth Gareth Keown / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Evie Keown with dad Gareth

On December 23, Evie was allowed to go home to Castlewellan, just in time for Christmas. It was a day her parents had longed for but hadn't allowed themselves to imagine might come.

"It just seemed to us that all the stars had aligned. We had to keep pinching ourselves," recalls Gareth. "Christmas was magical. We'd had Evie home before for a few hours but then she had to go back into hospital. This was the first time the girls had woken up in the morning and she was still there."

Evie has surpassed all expectations and is doing well. She has colour in her cheeks, is starting to eat properly and is thriving with her sisters. The family is now looking forward to holidays, get-togethers, days out and a happy, healthy 2020.

"We are forever in debt to the donor's family but also, we want to thank the wonderful staff at Clark Clinic and the team at Freeman Hospital too," Gareth adds.



Expand Close Little Evie in hospital Gareth Keown / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Little Evie in hospital

"We wouldn't be sitting here with Evie if it wasn't for all of them.

"We have so much to be grateful for and because of that, I would urge people to have that conversation with family about organ donation. It's a difficult conversation to have but it's an important one.

"We were never able to look beyond a day or a week at most. Now we can look to the future."
CINCINNATI  The floor seemed filthy, and she could not get rid of the grime.

Amie Detzel frantically scrubbed that nursing home floor with cleaning supplies she'd found. On hands and knees, dragging her IV pole with her, the gravely sick woman incessantly scrubbed.

Meth had found its way into the nursing home.

The psychotic episode happened after Detzel spent days (and nights) pushing the drug into the intravenous catheter her caregivers used to infuse antibiotics into her heart, which had become infected by a contaminated needle.

Methamphetamine, the primary drug flooding the streets of Cincinnati and other communities across the country, is a psychostimulant. It can induce psychosis.

That explains the scrubbing.

According to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, a gram of meth in southwest Ohio can sell for as little as $4.50 compared with heroin at $40 per gram.

A new wave of meth is causing government officials, police and parents of users to shift their focus from opioids to the stimulant, which is resurging in a much purer form, coming directly from Mexico, not backyard cookeries or houses or sheds.

The 23 drug task forces funded through the Ohio High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area agency saw a 1,600% jump in meth seized from 2015 to 2019 (and the 2019 numbers are incomplete).

"We just simply move like a herd of locusts from one drug to another," said Mina "Mike" Kalfas, a certified addiction expert in northern Kentucky. "Meth is the replacement for the crack of old. We go from opioid (pain pills) to opioid (heroin) to opioid (fentanyl) to stimulant (meth).

"We try to get them off of the drug they're on," Kalfas said. "What we need to do is treat the addiction. They're using (a) drug as a coping mechanism."

The American Society of Addiction Medicine clamors for more doctors to attend to the problem as a disease.

'Meth. We're On It.' South Dakota spends $449K on new anti-meth ad campaign

Cheap and powerful: 'Meth 2.0' ravages communities and slowly kills its victims

Historically, the medical community largely allowed the criminal justice establishment and treatment programs outside the health care system to deal with addiction, said Lindsey Vuolo, director of Health Law and Policy and public affairs for the nonprofit Center on Addiction in New York City.

Story continues

As overdose death tolls from the opioid epidemic soared, the strategy became: Treat addiction. Save lives. Keep people safe if they use drugs. Carry the opioid-overdose antidote naloxone. Provide more needle exchanges to prevent the spread of diseases such as hepatitis and HIV. Continue treatment for this chronic disease.

"If we don't start to effectively and efficiently address addiction like the public health issue that it is, we will continue to see drug epidemic after drug epidemic," said Courtney Hunter, director of advocacy at the Center on Addiction.

Why meth? Why now?

People addicted to opiates hear others talk about a new high, cheap and easy to get and safer than fentanyl.

Meth is that alternative.

Kalfas calls the meth problem a new tentacle of the opioid epidemic, noting that most patients he sees who switch from heroin to meth don't give up opioids for long.

"They perceive (meth) as different, sometimes even lesser somehow, which is how they underestimate it," he said. "But when their batteries are dry, they need to 'come down,' what will they turn to? The opiate-addicted turns to opiates."

Brittany Christian, 32, who's in recovery, said she learned about meth while she was in treatment for heroin addiction in Louisville, Kentucky.

Brittany Christian, 32, is 18 months in recovery from drug addicition. She started with heroin in her early 20s and moved to meth in 2017. She says she started using meth because she didn't want to go through heroin withdrawal again. "It's just as easy as getting cigarettes at the gas station," she says, but it was mentally paralyzing.

"Everybody had done it, and I hadn't done it, and I really wanted to try it," she said. "I did not want to go through the heroin withdrawal again."

Six months after she left rehab, in May 2017, she decided to find meth.

"It's just as easy as getting cigarettes at the gas station," Christian said.

Detzel, 35, who's been in recovery for a year, said drugs were a way to cope. She was 13 when she was led into a sex-for-drugs trafficking situation orchestrated by someone close to her family.

"I never knew the proper way, you know, to get help," she said. "All I knew was to use because that's what I'd seen ... at a young age."

She was vulnerable to anything that took her away from her real life.

Amie Detzel, 35, who's been in recovery for a year, worships at Vineyard Westside in Cheviot, Ohio, on Jan. 19. She says she started using drugs as a teenager after being sexually abused by a friend of the family. Later, she turned to shooting meth. "I just wanted to try anything, anything that I thought would take me to another level," she says. "I just wanted to escape from what I was feeling."

I just wanted to try anything," she said, "anything that I thought would take me to another level."

Detzel was able to maintain sobriety after her stint in the nursing home. She was prescribed Suboxone for her opioid addiction and had to steer clear of drug use for six months before she could have heart surgery. She learned coping mechanisms, learned she'd been trafficked through no fault of her own and turned to God for help. She celebrated one year in recovery in January.

No such help with meth

Detzel and Christian had medical help for their initial addictions. There is no medication-assisted treatment available for meth addiction, as there is for opioid addiction.

Some addiction experts recommend psycho-social therapy as the best treatment for meth addiction. The method can include talk therapy, learning about the illness and a rehabilitation regimen that helps people develop social and emotional skills they can employ to live a healthy life. Some sufferers are prescribed anti-anxiety or sleep-help drugs or other medications while they detox from meth.

Beth Underwood, forensic scientist in the chemistry section of the Bureau of Criminal Investigation in London, Ohio, breaks down drug samples on Jan. 27. The BCI processed 12,000 samples of meth in 2019, compared with 5,000 in 2017.

In common with other addictions, "you have to look at the underlying issues and really make a treatment plan that's individualized for the person," said Kat Engel, vice president of nursing services for the Center of Addiction Treatment in the West End. "Are they self-medicating?"

Not enough people are getting treatment. Meth-related deaths are rising. The latest figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that from 2012 to 2018, the rate of drug overdose deaths involving methamphetamine and other "psychostimulants with abuse potential" was up almost fivefold.

Christian, who has been in recovery for a year-and-a-half, said treating drug use "absolutely" has to include treating the individual's trauma.

"What's causing someone to use? What issues are they going through?" she said. "You know, I think a lot of it is underneath that needs to be brought up."

In her case, it was sexual abuse she'd endured as a child.

On meth, she was paralyzed, hyper-focused on a single task. Sometimes, she felt empty. She scratched and picked sores on her body and face. She drove to a hospital, expecting to be locked in a psych ward, but she was discharged.

The confines and rules of the Center for Addiction Treatment saved her, she said. She found sobriety by following the rules.

"If they told me I could not have a pair of leggings, oh well, I can't have a pair of leggings," she said. "If they told me to go to group therapy three times a day, I did that. My counselor, when she told me to journal, I journaled."

Brittany Christian, 32, plays with her son, Kyler, 2. While on meth, which she used in 2017-2018, she lost custody of her three children but has her youngest son back and her older two on the weekends.

She and Detzel said their success has at least something to do with their work.

Christian is an admissions specialist for the Center for Addiction Treatment. She loves her job, saying, "Somebody did it for me."

Detzel works at the YWCA downtown in Cincinnati, helping domestic violence and rape victims, as well as people with developmental disabilities who struggle with addiction.

They see the avalanche of meth on the streets. They know the attraction among opioid users to the drug is real.

In Hamilton County, Lakshmi Sammarco, the county coroner, said the crime lab's meth caseload leaped from a little more than 600 in 2016 to 3,600-plus cases in 2019.

The amount of meth seized and tested at the Kentucky State Police Crime Laboratories rose by 77% from 2016 to 2018.

Adam Bisaga, an addiction research scientist and professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center, said, "The mixed stimulant-opioid addiction is a different one. We do not have a strategy to treat it, and many programs will be taken by surprise.

"The number of overdoses and adverse medical outcomes in people using both will increase, and this will be a fourth wave of the opioid epidemic."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: A new wave of meth overtakes opioids in US epidemic of addiction
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

By Samir Ali - Trend:

The Munich Security Conference, held in 2020, will go down in the history of international relations as a brilliant demonstration of Azerbaijans realities to the whole world, Editor-in-Chief of the Baki Khabar newspaper and Political Expert Aydin Guliyev told Trend.

Guliyev noted that during the panel discussions on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with the participation of President Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the Azerbaijani leader surpassed his opponent in all respects.

The Azerbaijani leader brought weighty arguments covering the history, the current essence and the most optimal ways to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, and thereby puzzled the prime minister, said the editor-in-chief. The indestructible position and strong logic of the head of the Azerbaijani state aroused genuine interest of the participants of the panel. The undisguised concern and anxiety that, Nikol Pashinyan, unlike President Ilham Aliyev, demonstrated, spoke of the low awareness of the Armenian prime minister about the essence of the problem. Once again, everyone became eyewitness that Pashinyans arguments were nothing more than an unsuccessful and extremely cynical attempt to justify Armenia's occupation of Azerbaijani territories.

The Munich panel became one of the most obvious scenes of Armenias defeat in the diplomatic and legal plane since the beginning of the Karabakh conflict, Guliyev added. President Ilham Aliyev once again proved to the whole world that, from the point of view of international law, Nagorno-Karabakh belongs to Azerbaijan.

He said that during the discussions Pashinyan couldnt disguise the fact that, contrary to his commitments, he doesnt contribute to the peaceful settlement of the conflict, but acts in the interests of small nationalist aggressive groups in Armenian society.

Pashinyan again lied to the world community, Guliyev noted. However, the Azerbaijani president didnt leave any of his lies unanswered. Moreover, the head of state exposed fraud and destructive activity with the aim of disrupting the negotiations of both Pashinyan and his predecessors. President Ilham Aliyev also exposed the lie allegedly said by Ayaz Mutallibov and accused Pashinyan of hypocrisy over the words that the Azerbaijanis themselves allegedly committed the Khojaly tragedy.

One of the most interesting moments of the discussion was how, unlike Pashinyan, who simply repeated well-known tales and unfounded claims, the Azerbaijani leader made a concrete message to Azerbaijani and Armenian people, Guliev said. The statement by the head of state that the Armenian people wont be able to fight with Azerbaijan forever, completely silenced Pashinyan, who was speaking orienting towards domestic audience.

The expert, as another significant episode of the meeting, noted that President Ilham Aliyev brought Pashinyan to a standstill before the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group and the power centers of the world.

President Ilham Aliyev called on the international community to force Armenia to implement UN Security Council resolutions, Guliyev added. The all-round superiority demonstrated by the head of state in the debate with Pashinyan, shows that President Ilham Aliyev has truly laid the foundation for a new phase of the peace process.

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 New York Times has defended its wedding announcement for Donald Trump's senior adviser Stephen Miller after the newspaper faced a backlash from readers.

Mr Miller married Vice President Mike Pence's press secretary, Katie Waldman, on Sunday evening at the president's Trump International Hotel in Washington DC. The president attended the wedding and even gave a speech joking about Mr Miller's decision to get married over President's Day weekend, according to a Real Clear Politics reporter.

Details about the senior adviser's nuptials were then published in the New York Times, a move that angered some readers.

One of the frustrations expressed was the announcement not mentioning Mr Miller's alleged ties with white nationalism.

"Does the NYT not talk about Stephen Miller being a white supremacist because it would be gauche?" Democratic strategist Adam Parkhomenko tweeted after the announcement was published.

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

Other readers accused the newspaper of "fascism" for its decision to publish the announcement and "ignore" Mr Miller's controversial policies within the Trump administration.

The New York Times just ran an announcement of Millers wedding as though hes an esteemed statesman," politician Saira Rao wrote. "This is how mainstream media supports fascism.

Stephen Miller and Katie Waldman at the White House for a state dinner with Australian prime minister Scott Morrison in September 2019 (AP)

A spokesperson for the paper said in a statement, "We publish wedding announcements from a broad range of people, showing the breadth and diversity of America and also registering unions of note, which we think will be of interest to readers."

Included with the statement were links to past wedding announcements to show the range of people covered by the department.

In the New York Times' announcement, Mr Miller was referred to as Mr Trump's senior adviser who also has influence over immigration, "directly shaping policies that aim to restrict the number of immigrants coming to the country", the newspaper wrote.

The line in the article included a hyperlink to a previous article mentioning released emails that showed Mr Miller citing white nationalist websites when working as a young Senate aide.

Another hyperlink included in the announcement directed readers to a New York Times article about emails with website links demonstrating Mr Miller's anti-immigration views.

Huffington Post reporter Elise Foley noticed the links shared by the paper in the announcement. She tweeted: "Gotta be awkward when your wedding announcement has to link to stories about white nationalism.

Publications such as the New York Post and the Associated Press also covered Mr Miller's wedding, with both mentioning his controversial history working for the White House.

The Associated Press called Mr Miller "combative" and "one of the White House's most conservative and influential voices in pushing moves that Trump has taken to curb immigration". The New York Post listed the different immigration policies Mr Miller helped spearhead, including family separations at the border and reportedly pushing to end birthright citizenship.
Taking a swipe at the anti-CAA protest at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan on Sunday said what is happening there is not an expression of the right to dissent, but "an attempt to impose views on others".

Some people have decided to take the law into their hands and disrupt normal life, he said on the sidelines of a conference here.

A group of protesters, mainly women, have been staging a sit-in at Shaheen Bagh against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR) for the past two months.

The sit-in on the major thoroughfare connecting South Delhi with Noida has led to suspension of vehicular traffic.

"This is not the right to dissent, this is an attempt to impose views on others. You have the right to express your views but you don't have the right to disrupt normal life," the governor told reporters.

Asked about protests in various parts of the country against the CAA, he said that even in 1986 there were lakhs of people who were opposed to the Supreme Court's Shah Bano judgment being reversed.

"But was it justified on my part to say that I am going to sit in (in protest) till the law is withdrawn," said Khan, who had in 1986 walked out of the Rajiv Gandhi Cabinet over the issue.

Khan was here to speak on the topic "Free Speech, Censorship & the Media: Does Law Impede Freedom of Speech?" at the 'Difficult Dialogues' conference at the International Centre Goa.

He said one can have a dialogue with somebody who is expressing an opinion but it is difficult in this instance when protesters refuse to budge.

"When you have this attitude that only I am right then dialogue is not happening. Dialogue happens when you are open to listening. Here, it is being asserted forcefully that we will not get up unless this law is withdrawn. The government is not going to decline dialogue if somebody comes," Khan said.

Citing a survey done by a Pakistan-based NGO, he said in 2019 more than 1,000 girls were kidnapped and forced to change their religion in the neighbouring nation.

"I feel the manner in which Pakistan was created and the manner in which it is conducting its affairs has unfortunately distorted thinking of many people here in India," he said.

He said that taking into consideration India's culture and civilisation "we have to be liberal, opinionated, we have to accept and respect diversity but at the same time we cannot ignore facts".

On the Kerala government invoking Article 131 in the Supreme Court to challenge the CAA, he said the matter will be decided by the court.

"It is for the court to decide whether the government can come to it without clearance from the governor," Khan said.

The Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government in Kerala last month moved the apex court seeking to declare the CAA as illegal for violating of the Constitution's Article 131, which empowers the Supreme Court to hear disputes between the government of India and one or more states.

Under the new citizenship law, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, and facing religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants, and be given Indian citizenship.
Speaker of Chiles Chamber of Representatives Ivan Flores has renewed his country s firm backing to the autonomy plan offered by Morocco for a lasting resolution of the Sahara regional conflict.

Chile recognizes UN resolutions and supports Moroccos credible and realistic autonomy plan for the Sahara, said on Monday Ivan Flores after meeting in Rabat with Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita.

This is a very clear state policy that has not changed and will not change, stressed the Speaker of the Chilean Parliament.

He called on Rabat and Santiago to enhance further their economic, commercial and agricultural cooperation, affirming that the two countries complementary economies offer huge joint business opportunities in the European and Asian markets.

Mr. Flores commended the cooperation agreement sealed between the two countries Parliaments to foster dialogue, contacts and coordinate stands between Moroccan and Chilean MPs regarding issues of common interests on the regional and international scenes.

Actually, Ivan Flores is visiting Rabat just few days after the Morocco-Chile friendship group met in Rabat on Feb.5 to dis-cuss the role of parliamentary diplomacy in promoting bilat-eral relations.

He will hold talks with several other Moroccan officials.
A woman who waited until she was 41 to lose her virginity has revealed she is expecting her first child with her husband.

Amanda McCracken, 42, a writer from Colorado, first revealed she was waiting for the right man to have sex with on TV host Katie Couric's chat show in 2014.

In the summer of 2018, Amanda finally met her match - a drummer named Dave - and 10 months later, she had sex for the first time with him during a romantic holiday to French Polynesia.

The happy couple got married two months later, and Amanda announced on Instagram last week that she is four months pregnant.

Amanda McCracken, 42, from Colorado, who waited until she was 41 to lose her virginity, is expecting her first child with her husband Dave - the only man she's ever had sex with

Taking to Instagram on her birthday, she wrote: 'The following is possibly the best birthday announcement I've ever made.

'Last July, Grandma Velda asked me when Dave and I would be getting married. 'Maybe next July,' I responded. 'JULY?!?!' she exclaimed, 'You could have a baby by then!'

'Well, guess what, friends - grandma's prophecy has come true. We are expecting a baby end of July/early August! As of now, we are waiting until the birth to learn the sex, but we are in awe of our little one already.

'At 6 weeks we heard the heartbeat, and at 11 weeks we saw the baby's hand caressing its face. Next week marks 4 months (almost halfway!) and we are eager to see it swimming butterfly and backstroke'.

She joked of her pet dog: ''Pepper says she is excited about becoming a big sister. Let the next chapter begin! '

In the summer of 2018, Amanda met Dave, a drummer, and 10 months later, she had sex for the first time with him during a romantic holiday to French Polynesia (pictured)

Speaking about why she decided to preserve her virginity this week, Amanda revealed to the BBC how her first couple of boyfriends left her for other women.

She admitted that for the first few decades after that she was 'dating in fear' and decided that if she was going to be left again, at least she'd 'still have her virginity' and be 'in control'.

Speaking of when she lost her virginity, she said: 'It was worth the wait but not in the way people would think. The sex was great, but the journey was never about the sex. I'm now with in a loving and committed relationship with a man who can offer me love'.

Amanda recently told Huffington Post how she'd been intimate with a number of men in her quest for love, but had never had sexual intercourse with them.

She said: 'By the time I was 40, I'd dated over 100 men. While I was intimate with over 50 of these men, I never had sexual intercourse with any of them. I wasn't waiting for marriage or holding out for religious reasons.

Amanda first revealed she was waiting for the right man to have sex with on Katie Couric's chat show in 2014 and even wrote a book about it

Amanda and Dave got married two months after their romantic holiday (seen), and Amanda announced on Instagram last week that she is four months pregnant

'I knew in my gut that I wanted to experience sexual intercourse within a mutually loving and committed relationship. That relationship just never came along.'

Revealing she had received backlash from both conservatives and feminists, she stuck by her decision not to 'conform to society'.

Amanda then described the moment she knew she was ready to have sex, 10 months after her first date with divorcee Dave, who himself had not had sex for three years.

She said: 'Ten months after our first date we flew to French Polynesia. Huahine, the second of five islands we visited, is known as the rebel island because it was the last of 118 to fall under French control.

'Upon arrival our taxi driver told us the island meant "the sex of the woman." This is the place, I thought.'

Describing her first time as 'playful and awkward', she admitted that the passion 'grew' as the couple continued to 'practice' throughout the day and holiday.

Dave proposed two months later, and Amanda sticks by her decision to wait, explaining that it was 'never about the sex, but about waiting for the right man to come along'.
Juliette Parker, 38, was arrested on Friday on kidnapping and assault charges

Two mothers who responded to an ad posted by an alleged baby-snatcher who offered free photo-shoots for infants in the hopes of then stealing the kids have told of their shock after seeing the woman get arrested.

Juliette Parker, 38, a failed mayoral candidate, was arrested in Colorado Springs on Friday on suspicion of attempted kidnapping and assault.

Police say she and her 16-year-old daughter, who has not been named, drugged a mother with a cupcake after going to the woman's house on February 5 under the guise of taking photos of her newborn daughter.

Authorities say Parker was desperate for a baby girl and planned to snatch the woman's infant then take her out of state to raise her as her own.

They fled the woman's house, taking her keys with them but leaving the baby behind, after giving her the cupcake.

The woman sought medical attention then told the authorities.

They arrested Parker on Friday. Now, police are asking any other women she may have contacted to come forward.

Two who spoke with Parker online after she posted in a mothers' Facebook group were interviewed by Good Morning America on Monday.

Parker previously took photos of Victoria Morris when she was pregnant. Morris said she was scared to learn of her arrest because she knows her address

Parker took these photographs of Morris when she was pregnant with her daughter

Amanda Appling also responded to Parker's Facebook ad offering free baby photo-shoots. She has a baby boy who Parker said she did not want to photograph

Parker used this Facebook account to contact mothers on group pages and offer them free photo-shoots

One told how she responded to Parker's Facebook post offering free photos for her son.

'She informed me she wasn't looking for a boy but she'd save his picture and let me know if she was looking for a little boy to do photos with,' Amanda Appling said.

Parker unsuccessfully ran for mayor in Colorado Springs in 2019

Victoria Morris, another woman, had her photos taken by Parker when she was pregnant.

Now that she has a baby, she said the news of Parker's arrest scared her.

'I'm really upset and scared because she had my address and has been in my home,' she said.

Police say Parker wanted to steal a baby girl to raise her as her own.

It is unclear if her 16-year-old daughter, who has not been named, has been charged or arrested.

The victim told deputies that she witnessed Parker taking cell phone selfies with the baby, as well as wiping her fingerprints off items she touched inside the woman's home.

It was on the third visit that the woman alleges that the drugging took place.

Parker's teenage daughter allegedly gave the victim a cupcake and as soon as she ate the treat, the woman immediately felt drowsy.

The victim ordered Parker and her daughter to leave her home, only realizing that they had taken her house keys after they had gone.
NIA charges 7 naxals after recovery of foreign made arms

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Feb 17: The National Investigation Agency has filed a supplementary chargesheet against 7 accused in connection with a naxal case.

Those who were charged belong to the proscribed PLFI, based in Jharkhand. The case pertains to an incident in which members of the organisation had gathered at Titir Mahua forest area and were conspiring to conduct an unlawful act. On the basis of credible information, a raid was conducted and four accused persons were arrested. Foreign made arms and ammunition was recovered from the accused persons.

NIA files charge-sheet against 8 Naxals for Gadchiroli attack

Investigation has revealed that the above chargesheeted accused operatives of PLFI used to extort levy from the contractors of governmental development projects and transporters. Further, they acquired foreign made arms and ammunitions illegally which were used to intimidate the contractors and businessmen for committing extortion. Levies collected from them were not only used for terror activities of PLFI but also for acquiring immovable properties by their members.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, February 17, 2020, 8:38 [IST]
New Delhi, Feb 17 : After receiving two threatening e-mails in the past four days, Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill has sought the Punjab Police's help, while accusing the Delhi Police of inaction on his complaint.

"I have not received any reply from the Delhi Police. Thus, I have written a letter to the Punjab DGP," he told IANS.

"Being resident of both Delhi & Punjab, have filed a complaint via email with @DGPPunjabPolice also in view of the fresh threat received. Will follow this up to a logical legal conclusion so that these cowards who sit behind closed doors & issue death warrants be dealt firmly," he wrote on Twitter and tagged the threatening email with the tweet.

Shergill claimed to have received the first threatening email on Saturday, a day after addressing a press conference on the Pulwama attack anniversary.

"Have filed an official complaint with @DelhiPolice demanding action against aclassguy@gmail.com, sender of email threatening to kill me & rape my family members. Online Hate has become causal business for few, strong message needs to be sent. Hope the culprit is caught," Shergill tweeted.

In his complaint to the Delhi Police, Shergill urged the police to register a case against a person for sending him the hate mail. He also attached the screenshot of the first threat mail received, a day after he questioned the BJP government over the role of disgraced J&K DSP Davinder Singh in the 2019 Pulwama terror attack in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers were killed.

The Congress has reacted sharply on the threat and urged the police for timely action.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 20:23:53|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Facts have proven once again that the United States is the largest state actor of spying in cyberspace, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said Monday, urging the United States to clarify to the international community on relevant affairs.

Reports have emerged that from the Cold War into the 2000s, the U.S. intelligence used the Swiss company Crypto AG's encoding devices to spy on other countries while pocketing millions of dollars.

The company sold the devices to foreign governments and companies, and the machines were encrypted but the U.S. intelligence had rigged the devices so they could crack the codes and intercept thousands of messages from more than 120 governments worldwide, according to reports.

Geng told an online press briefing that the U.S. government and relevant departments have conducted large-scale, organized and indiscriminate cyber theft, surveillance and espionage on foreign governments, businesses and individuals, which is "a fact already well-known to all."

It is a tawdry trick that the United States, on the one hand, has been collecting nearly 5 billion mobile phone call records across the globe every day, spying over German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cell phone for more than 10 years, controlling more than 3 million computers in China every year, and implanting Trojan Horse in more than 3,600 websites in China, and on the other hand, enjoys playing victim of cyber attack, just like a thief crying "stop thief," said Geng.

The U.S. hypocrisy on the issue of cybersecurity could not be clearer, the spokesman said, stressing that the U.S. has no honor and credibility to speak of in front of other countries.

"Facts have proven once again that as the largest state actor of spying in cyberspace, the U.S. is worthy of the name of the 'empire of hackers.' The sky is the limit with the U.S. when it comes to spying," said Geng.

The spokesman called on the United States to clarify the issue to the international community, noting that an explanation concerning the WikiLeaks and Snowden incidents is still owed.
Scores of employees were evacuated from the GST Bhavan in south Mumbai after a massive fire broke out in the multi-storey building on Monday, but no casualty was reported, civic officials said.

Nearly 3,500 staffers were working in the building in the Mazagon area when the fire broke out around 12.30 pm, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said.

He assured a probe into the the fire, but clarified no records were lost in the blaze due to digitisation of documents.

Firefighters battled for almost three hours to douse the flames, which started on the ninth floor of the 10-storey government-owned building, the officials said.

Speaking to media persons at the spot, Pawar said the fire spread rapidly due to presence of papers and wooden material in the building, from where thick smoke billowed out.

Over 20 fire engines were pressed into service to put out the inferno and cooling operation was underway, they said.

The fire started from the ninth floor of the building and spread to the 10th floor, the officials said.

"The fire engulfed the entire ninth floor of GST Bhavan building, said Mumbai's chief fire officer Prabhat Rahangdale.

He said the building was smoke-logged and hence firemen used breathing apparatus sets to put out the flames.

According to the Fire Brigade, a portion of the building was under repair.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials said scores of employees were evacuated from the fire-hit building, but no casualty was reported.

Though some staffers blamed short circuit for the fire, the officials said the exact cause was under investigation.

The building was earlier known as the Sales Tax Bhavan, but since the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax regime in 2017, it was rechristened as GST Bhavan.

Last week, a massive fire had partially gutted a three -storey commercial building in suburban Andheri.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hundreds of farmers on Monday gheraoed the office of the district magistrate here and started an indefinite dharna.

The protesters, led by Bharatiya Kisan Union president Naresh Tikait, demanded the release of pending sugarcane dues and an increase in the crushing capacity of sugar mills.

They vowed to continue their protest until their demands were met.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Some mornings I wake up and feel something weird has happened overnight; there's been a rift in the space-time continuum and part of history has been erased. That happened this week as I absorbed the news that Pretty Woman and Indecent Proposal the musicals were set to open in London.

If your memory needs jogging, both stories were originally '90s films where the dramatic premise centred on multimillionaires who paid to have sex with beautiful women.

Julia Roberts and Richard Gere in Pretty Woman. Credit:

So you can understand why I felt as if third- and fourth-wave feminism, Britain's second female prime minister and the entire MeToo movement had never happened.

Those films felt outmoded when they opened, although Pretty Woman was elevated above its hooker-as-Cinders plot by the billion-watt luminosity of a young Julia Roberts. At that moment in time she could probably have played Rose West and we'd still have forked out money to see her.
Moderate Arab states: Were with Trump By Pinhas Inbari



Mahmoud Abbas at the UN in February 11, 2020 The Palestinian Authoritys loud and vigorous opposition to President Trumps Deal of the Century puts the Palestinians in conflict not only with Israel and the United States, but also with the axis of moderate Sunni Arab states, most notably Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf. The Palestinian goal is to foil President Trump with a coalition consisting of European allies, the UN, and Third World countries such as Venezuela, a stronghold for Palestinian policies in South America. The PA requires a containment policy in the anticipation that Trump will lose in another year. With Trumps defeat, the PA can re-leverage Obama-era policies to strengthen the UN, gain international legitimacy, once again isolate Israel in the international community, and, with the latest UN High Commissioner for Human Rights report, give BDS the stamp of UN legitimacy. This Palestinian position is a nightmare for the moderate Sunni states, for whom it is clear that a return to Obamas policies is also a return to the nuclear agreement with Iran. Such a policy reversal will again leverage Iran and Turkey as regional Islamic powers, representing the Muslim Brotherhood, to the detriment of moderate Sunni Arab states. Sources in Ramallah related a story about this point of contention in the Arab world. After Trump won the U.S. election but before he entered the White House (December 2016), an anti-Israel resolution (UNSC Res. 2334) was raised in the Security Council. The U.S. Administration decided to set a precedent and failed to veto actions against Israel. Egypt had submitted the resolution to the Security Council. At that moment, Mahmoud Abbas was visiting Saudi King Salman, and while they were talking, Egyptian President Sisi called from Cairo. He informed King Salman that he had decided to withdraw the anti-Israel resolution from the Security Council. According to our sources, the King of Saudi Arabia said to Sisi in Arabic: Allah yisahel aleik, essentially saying, Do as you wish. Abbas, disappointed that the Saudis were not encouraging the anti-Israel resolution, interrupted the phone conversation and implored Sisi, At least ask Trump not to move the embassy to Jerusalem. Sisi answered: We are with Trump. We are with Trump is the headline of Arab policy to date, and the current Palestinian policy against Trump conflicts with the fundamental interests of Arab states. Pinhas Inbari is a veteran Arab affairs correspondent who formerly reported for Israel Radio and Al Hamishmar newspaper, and currently serves as an analyst for the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Home
Boris Johnsons chief Brexit negotiator will warn Brussels the UK must be able to set its own laws as the battle over the future trading relationship begins in earnest.

In his first public intervention, David Frost will tell an audience in Brussels that anyone who believes the UK could abide by EU rules fails to see the point of what we are doing.

He will insist that the UK is not bluffing over its opposition to EU supervision on so-called level playing field issues, which include vital protections for workers and the environment.

It comes as Frances foreign minister warned the two sides would rip each other apart in trade talks ahead of the end of the Brexit transition period in December.

Mr Frost will outline the UKs position in lecture at the Universite libre de Bruxelles on Monday, in a move that marks a significant departure from the secrecy that surrounded Theresa Mays approach to the Brexit negotiations.

He was expected to say: We bring to the negotiations not some clever tactical positioning but the fundamentals of what it means to be an independent country.

It is central to our vision that we must have the ability to set laws that suit us  to claim the right that every other non-EU country in the world has.

So to think that we might accept EU supervision on so called level playing field issues simply fails to see the point of what we are doing.

It isnt a simple negotiating position which might move under pressure  it is the point of the whole project.

Thats also why we will not extend the transition beyond the end of this year. At that point we recover our political and economic independence in full  why would we want to postpone it?

The prime ministers Europe adviser will argue that the UKs standards of regulation are often higher than the EU and that democratic consent would snap if either side was forced to accept the others rules.

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

How would you feel if the UK demanded that, to protect ourselves, the EU dynamically harmonise with our national laws set in Westminster and the decisions of our own regulators and courts, Mr Frost will ask.

He will call for open and fair competition provisions in any free trade agreement and say both sides must build on other EU trade deals to strike a bargain.

The call comes after French foreign minister Jean-Yves le Drian predicted a bruising battle on a post-Brexit deal.

Speaking at the annual Munich Security Conference, he said: I think that on trade issues and the mechanism for future relations, which we are going to start on, we are going to rip each other apart.

But that is part of negotiations, everyone will defend their own interests.
Only 10 per cent of the 750,000 reports of domestic abuse in Britain last year ended in prosecution, a former chief prosecutor has said.

Nazir Afzal spoke out amid criticism of the Crown Prosecution Service for continuing with an assault case against the late Love Island presenter Caroline Flack.

The former CPS prosecutor in the North West said there were 750,000 reports of domestic violence last year to police, but only 75,000 were prosecuted.

Nazir Afzal (pictured in 2013) spoke out amid criticism of the Crown Prosecution Service

Mr Afzal added that just 75 per cent of those were convicted, and more than 120 domestic homicides were prosecuted without any victim evidence.

Miss Flack, who was described as 'vulnerable' by her management, had pleaded not guilty to assaulting her boyfriend Lewis Burton at her former flat in December.

Speaking about the case, Mr Afzal told BBC Breakfast: 'They just follow the evidence. In this case yes the complainant withdrew his support for the prosecution but undoubtedly they felt they had enough, they had I think a 999 call recording, they had body cameras worn by the police, they would have had medical evidence, they would have had other evidence.

'They have to take domestic abuse seriously because we as a country have decided we need to take domestic abuse seriously.'

It comes as lawyers said prosecutors may have pressed ahead with assault charges against Miss Flack due to high public concern around domestic violence.

Questions have been raised over whether the case should have proceeded amid concerns over the 40-year-old's mental health.

Pictured: Lewis Burton with Caroline Flack, who was facing charges of alleged assault

A prosecutor will decide firstly whether there is enough evidence to pursue a case, and secondly whether it would be in the public interest to do so.

Why did the CPS pursue the assault charges when the alleged victim - her boyfriend - wanted them dropped? The Crown Prosecution Service is under obligation to investigate all domestic violence incidents if they believe they are in the public interest. For years there has been growing concern that too few domestic violence cases end in prosecution. Many involve women who have been attacked by their husbands who later withdraw their original accusations under duress or because they are simply living in fear. To try and address this, the CPS introduced reforms in 2014 aimed at greatly increasing prosecution rates. They issued guidance to police urging them to gather multiple sources of evidence rather than just relying on the victim's statement - which may be unreliable or change. One of the most important sources of evidence in domestic abuse cases is likely to be the original 999 call made by the victim shortly after the attack. Other evidence could include witness statements from neighbours, medical examinations or images from the scene captured on police bodycams or CCTV. Miss Flack was understood to be horrified by the prospect of a 'show trial' over the alleged assault on her boyfriend Lewis Burton and was worried she could not cope with the fallout. Advertisement

Former director of public prosecutions Lord Ken Macdonald said there would generally be 'a strong presumption' that bringing charges in any domestic violence case would be in the public interest.

He said: 'There is a high public interest presumption in favour of prosecution in domestic violence cases because domestic violence is such a common crime and it's a dangerous crime.

'We have about 170 or 180 people every year, mainly women, who are killed during domestic violence incidents. There is a huge amount of public concern about these offences.

'Generally, there would be a strong public interest presumption in favour of prosecuting a domestic violence case where there is enough evidence to do so.'

Police and lawyers are encouraged to pursue charges even where the alleged victim has withdrawn their support.

Lord Macdonald said: 'One of the major problems there is in bringing these cases is that victims often withdraw their complaint and very often that's because they're being bullied or threatened or manipulated by the person who has attacked them in the first place.

'So the principle has grown up that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) try and bring prosecutions even if the case isn't supported by the victim and indeed they are urged to do that.

'Most of the pressure groups around domestic violence are very voluble in saying the CPS should be building cases that don't rely just on victim testimony.'

Last month a joint report by the CPS and police inspectorates found that investigators and lawyers should boost efforts to pursue domestic cases where the alleged victim withdraws support.

Concerns have also been raised over the level of support given to vulnerable defendants facing charges.

Lord Macdonald said: 'The prosecutors could in theory have said 'we won't prosecute this case because she is too fragile', but that's quite rare to drop the case for that reason.

Caroline Flack was tormented over jury being shown police 'bodycam' footage Caroline Flack was said to have been tormented over the idea of a jury being shown police 'bodycam' footage taken during the night she was accused of attacking her boyfriend. The distraught TV presenter was understood to be horrified by the prospect of a 'show trial' over an alleged assault on Lewis Burton and was worried she could not cope with the fallout. Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court in North London had heard in December that police found the pair at her flat in Islington covered in blood and that Miss Flack had cuts to her wrist. Miss Flack had hoped the trial would not go ahead. Friends said she was left feeling isolated and scared and was prescribed anti-depressants. One said: 'Her biggest fear was that the bodycam footage would be made public. She realised that it was going to be shown in court if it came to court. 'She felt that from that moment her life would be ruined forever. I hear that the footage is quite distressing.' Advertisement

'Normally the prosecutor would say 'well we'll go through the court process and the court can take into account her mental health when it's passing sentence'.'

He added: 'There is a huge, hidden problem of mental health issues in criminal justice.

'Quite a significant proportion of people who are prosecuted have addiction problems or they have mental health problems or they have emotional problems of one sort or another and the truth is there's little or no support offered to them.

'To start offering support at that stage of proceedings would be very expensive and we have to really create a whole new form of social service to do that.'

Mr Burton did not want to press charges against Miss Flack, and following her death a member of her management team hit out at the CPS saying they should 'look at themselves and how they pursued a show trial that was not only without merit but not in the public interest'.

Legal commentator Joshua Rozenberg appeared on ITV's Good Morning Britain with Richard Madeley and Ranvir Singh today to discuss how the CPS decide to pursue cases against alleged criminals - and why they might do so even against the 'victim's' wishes.

Ms Singh said that in cases of alleged domestic violence, historically, victims may have refused to support prosecutions for many reasons, and Mr Rozenberg said: 'That's absolutely right. Take the classic example of a man accused of assaulting a woman - maybe a sexual assault.

Caroline Flack is pictured above leaving Highbury Magistrates' Court on 23 December 2019

'They live together and the woman has second thoughts and she says I want to withdraw the charges... or is coerced as you might well imagine could happen in other circumstances.

'Should the CPS say 'oh well don't need to worry about it any more because she has been persuaded to drop the charges?' It's not up to her. It's up to the state to decide.'

Mr Rozenberg said that the Crown Prosecution Service will ask themselves whether there was enough evidence for a reasonable chance of conviction and if a prosecution was in the public interest.

'It's never going to be in the public interest for somebody to be hounded to their death,' he said. 'I'm sure that the CPS is sympathetic as we all are this morning about this tragedy, but if you could simply say to the CPS I am vulnerable, I am likely to take my own life, well, a lot of people would say that and it wouldn't be true.

'It's very difficult for the CPS to judge, we don't know what evidence Caroline Flack's lawyers gave to the CPS about her state of mind.'

Nazir Afzal, a former CPS prosecutor for the North West, posted a series of tweets hitting out at online trolls and explaining why the CPS decides to prosecute cases of domestic abuse, even when the complaint has been withdrawn.

He added that the CPS will consider the welfare of a person who has been accused of a crime, using the example of someone who is terminally ill.

Mr Rozenberg added that prosecutions can be dropped if they're not in the public interest.

Richard Madeley asked Mr Rozenberg if he knew of a prosecution being dropped because somebody said they might take their own life, and he responded: 'Simply saying that would not lead to the dropping of a prosecution because it would be too easy.

'Producing medical evidence that you'd tried suicide on several occasions in the past, that you were mentally ill, that you'd been taken to hospital, or whatever it may be, is certainly something that may lead to a postponement of a prosecution and perhaps even in extreme circumstances, it being dropped.'

It comes after a former chief prosecutor defended the CPS over pursuing charges against Flack and hit out at social media trolls.

Flack's management criticised the CPS in a statement.

Francis Ridley, of Money Talent Management, said: 'We are devastated at the loss of our client and friend Caroline Flack.

'The Crown Prosecution Service pursued this when they knew not only how very vulnerable Caroline was but also that the alleged victim did not support the prosecution and had disputed the CPS version of events.

'The CPS should look at themselves today and how they pursued a show trial that was not only without merit but not in the public interest.

'And ultimately resulted in significant distress to Caroline. Our thoughts are with Caroline's family at this time.

'An immensely talented young woman who was at the top of her game professionally and loved by television viewers across the country. In recent months Caroline had been under huge pressure because of an ongoing case and potential trial which has been well reported.'

The CPS told MailOnline in a statement: 'Our deepest sympathies go to the family and friends of Caroline Flack.

'Given the tragic circumstances, we will not comment on the specifics of this case at this stage.'
Indian customs officials have detained a ship bound for Karachis Port Qasim for trying to pass on an autoclave as an industrial dryer. The vessel bearing a Hong Kong flag was carrying a machine that is used to launch ballistic missiles.

Customs officials received an intelligence tip-off about the ship. Based on the tip-off, it was intercepted on February 3 when it halted at Gujarats Kandla Port during its onward journey from Jiangyin Port in China.

The autoclave -- 18x4 metre in dimension  is a pressure chamber that can be used for both civilian (scientific and industrial) and military purposes. It is being inspected by officials from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) at the moment. So far, DRDO scientists have found that the autoclave in question is used to make the composite lining for solid-fuel ballistic missiles.

According to a Hindustan Times report, another team of nuclear scientists will be studying the autoclave this week. Moreover, top-level national security officials and intelligence agencies have been indicted about the detention of the vessel. The scientists are supposed to reach Kandla on February 17, to inspect the cargo. If their findings corroborate that of the first team, the autoclave will be seized. Additionally, the vessels owners would be charged for violating the Special Chemicals, Organisms, Materials, Equipment and Technologies (Scomet) export rules.

The Ministry of External Affairs has refused to divulge details of the Chinese vessel, but what is known thus far is that Da Cui Yun is the name of the ship.

Data available on the marinetraffic.com  a website that taps the movement of all listed vessels  has revealed that Da Cui Yun had left China for Port Mohammed Bin Qasim on January 17, 2020. Notably, the port where it was headed is close to the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco), which developed Pakistans nuclear programme.

The development has worried national security officials because of the ties shared by Pakistan and China. Back in 1989, Islamabad entered into an agreement with Beijing to buy 34 solid-fuel M-11 ballistic missiles. These missiles form the core of Pakistans nuclear capability, as everything else in its possession is a derivative of this weapon.

This incident has reminded security officials of the time a North Korean ship named Ku Wol San was intercepted at Kandla during the Kargil War. That vessel was also bound for Pakistan and had similarly lied about its cargo. Although the vessel was carrying missile components, metal casings, missile manuals, etc, it had declared these as water-purification equipment.
Chinese Ambassador said that the Australian governments ban on Huawei for rolling-out next-generation 5G network remains a thorny issue between the two countries. Cheng Jingye, Chinas envoy to Australia, dismissed the security concerns and claimed that the ban imposed by Canberra was politically motivated.

Speaking to Sky News, Cheng said that the sanction was nothing but discrimination against the Chinese company which does not serve the best interest of Australian companies and consumers. Chinese Ambassadors fresh criticism comes amid a dispute between Australia and the United Kingdom due to the latters decision to allow Huawei 5G network.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnsons decision to allow Huawei into UKs 5G network has angered Five Eyes allies including the United States and Australia. Five Eyes is an intelligence-sharing agreement comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

After the UKs decision, US President Donald Trump reportedly lambasted Johnson with apoplectic rage during a heated telephonic conversation over Huawei issue. The Financial Times, in its report, cited officials in London and Washington saying Trump was livid with Johnson for allowing Huawei into its 5G network.

While Downing Street did not deny the claim, the officials pointed towards a statement released on January 28 that said the Prime Minister spoke to Trump and updated him on the outcome of the UKs telecoms supply chain review. The Prime Minister underlined the importance of like-minded countries working together to diversify the market and break the dominance of a small number of companies, the statement read.

Read: Top US Defence Official Warns NATO Allies Of Huawei 5G 'threat'

Trump administration has decided to restrict 5G operations of Huawei and has been pressurising other countries to do the same. In November last year, the United States had urged Canada not to use Huawei 5G technology citing security threats and said that it would jeopardise intelligence sharing between the two countries.

Read: USs Pelosi Urges Countries To Steer Clear Of Huawei For 5G

'Trojan Horse'

Robert C. OBrien, the National Security Advisor to the US President Donald Trump, talking to the reporters at a security conference in Halifax, had called the company Trojan Horse. OBrien said that letting the company in Canada or other western countries will help China profile everything including health record, banking record, and social media post.

Read: Donald Trump 'apoplectic' In Heated Call With Johnson Over Huawei Decision: Report

Read: Boris Johnson Dealing With Tory Backlash Over Huawei Inclusion In 5G Network
Commodity trading houses and the trading units of oil majors have hired oil storage in South Korea to keep crude in tanks until Chinese and general Asian demand recovers from the blow the coronavirus outbreak has dealt to the market, trading sources tell Reuters.

Glencore, Trafigura, Mercuria, and the oil trading unit of Frances Total have rented a total of nearly 15 million barrels of oil storage tanks from Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC), the sources told Reuters.

KNOC currently has nine stockpiling bases with a capacity of 136 million barrels, plus another 10 million barrels of underground storage under construction, according to the state-held South Korean company.

At least one trader has also provisionally rented a supertanker for short-term floating storage, the sources said.

The depressed demand flipped the Brent futures curve in early February into contangothe state of the market in which prices for delivery at later dates are higher than prompt pricesa market situation signaling oversupply and one which traders use to store oil for delivery at a later date.

In recent weeks, traders have been scrambling to find buyers of crude cargoes in Asia, as Chinese demand slumped on the coronavirus outbreak and buying interest in broader Asia was muted due to low refining margins.

Last week, the spot market for Middle East crude cargoes loading in April was virtually non-existent, as demand continued to be depressed due to the coronavirus outbreak while buyers were waiting for cargoes to become even cheaper than they are now.

Traders are now betting on a rebound in crude buying in China and Asia once the situation returns to normal, Reuters source said.

But before the situation returns to normal, it could get worse, with Chinese refiners slashing refinery runs and oil suppliers slashing prices for the Asian market.

Chinese crude throughputs have been cut by 1.1 million bpd in Q1, and are now expected to drop by 500,000 bpd year-on-year this quarter, the IEA said last week, noting that the coronavirus will lead to the first quarterly contraction in global oil demand in more than 10 years.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Extreme weather has the potential to trigger an economic recession worse than anything else in human history, experts warn.

Current financial markets do not account for the risk posed by extreme natural disasters such as floods and droughts, according to a study published in the journal Nature Energy.

As a result, investors are at risk of a sudden correction and crash which devastates the global economy unless unless action is taken to mitigate its impact.

Researchers believe a disaster-induced crash would dwarf the infamous Great Depression and 2008's Great Recession and be the worst economic meltdown ever.

Scroll down for video

Pictured: a dried-up bed of the Namoi River located on the outskirts of his drought-affected property, near the north-western New South Wales town of Walget. Such extreme weather events could one day cause collapse in economic markets

Study author Professor Paul Griffin, of the University of California's Davis Graduate School of Management, said: 'If the market doesn't do a better job of accounting for climate, we could have a recession - the likes of which we've never seen before.'

He explained that the central message in his latest research is that there is too much 'unpriced risk' in the energy market.

Professor Griffin said: 'Unpriced risk was the main cause of the Great Recession in 2007-2008.

'Right now, energy companies shoulder much of that risk. The market needs to better assess risk, and factor a risk of extreme weather into securities prices.'

He said that, for example, excessive high temperatures, such as those experienced in Europe and the United States last summer, can be pivotal.

Current financial markets do not account for the risk posed by horrific natural disasters such as floods and droughts. As a result, investors are at risk of a sudden correction and crash which devastates the global economy unless unless action is taken to mitigate its impact

As well as the risk to human health, they can overwhelm vast parts of energy delivery, as they did in Northern California when PG&E shut down power supplies to almost 200,000 people for risk of fire last year.

Extreme weather threatens other services as well, such as water delivery and transportation.

Professor Griffin said all of those factors strain local and broader economies.

But he said: 'Despite these obvious risks, investors and asset managers have been conspicuously slow to connect physical climate risk to company market valuations.

'Loss of property is what grabs all the headlines, but how are businesses coping? Threats to businesses could disrupt the entire economic system.'

The research was published in the journal Nature Energy.
(Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Monday.







FTSE 100 - LOSERS







NMC Health, down 2.0%. The private healthcare firm reported a slate of board departures, including the resignation of founder and joint Non-Executive Chair Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty. The departures comes as NMC tries to unravel the shareholdings of some of its major investors. The Abu Dhabi-based hospital operator said Shetty, who had been banned from attending board meetings for inaccurately reporting shareholdings in the company, has resigned with immediate effect. NMC announced the departures of Chief Investment Officer Hani Buttikhi and Director Abdulrahman Basaddiq. Their resignations are with immediate effect. Buttikhi and Basaddiq were appointed to the company's board under a relationship agreement between NMC, Shetty, former director Saeed Mohamed Butti Mohamed Khalfan Al Qebaisi and now-resigned Vice Chair Khaleefa Butti Omair Yousef Ahmed Al Muhairi. NMC has been trying to unravel shareholdings of investors Shetty, Al Qebaisi, and Omeir Bin Yousef following the revelation of a complex set of share transfers between the trio.







DS Smith, down 1.3%. The packaging firm said Chief Financial Officer Adrian Marsh is to leave the group to join FTSE 250 bookmaker William Hill. Marsh's departure date will be determined in due course, DS Smith said, but William Hill said he will join the company as CFO later in 2020. Marsh will be replacing Ruth Prior at London-based William Hill, who is departing for product testing company Element Materials Technology. William Hill shares were flat.







SEGRO, down 1.2%. Deutsche Bank cut the warehouse property investor to Hold from Buy.







FTSE 250 - WINNERS







Jupiter Fund Management, up 6.8%. The fund manager confirmed a potential GBP370 million all-share deal for Merian Global Investors. Jupiter will be issuing Merian shareholders 95.4 million shares, giving Merian shareholders an approximate 17% stake in the combined company. There is also an additional deferred payment of up to GBP20 million depending on performance targets being met. Merian had asset under management of GBP22.4 billion as of the end of 2019, and the merger will create a company will assets of GBP65 billion. Jupiter, a member of the FTSE 250, said the deal "significantly enhances" its UK investment capability, and widens the range of investment services available to clients.







FTSE 250 - LOSERS







Tullow Oil, down 4.2%. The oil and gas firm announced disappointing drilling results at the Marina-1 exploration well off the coast of Peru. The well did not find any "significant" hydrocarbons, Tullow said. It was testing the La Cruz and Mal Pelo formations, with some minor gas shows found but no discoveries in the main targets. Tullow said the well was drilled to a total depth of 3,022 metres, in water 362 metres deep. Marina-1 will now be plugged and abandoned. Tullow has a 35% interest in the well, which is operating by Karoon Energy with a 40% stake. Pitkin Petroleum holds the remaining 25%.







IMI, down 3.3%. The engineer was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral by Credit Suisse.







OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS







Share, up 8.0%. The stockbroker agreed to a GBP62 million takeover offer from interactive investor, it confirmed. Share owns the Share Centre, an online stockbroker focused on retail investors. Manchester-based interactive investor, or ii, has its own trading and investment platform. ii will be paying in both cash and shares, with some 90% of the offer in stock and 10% in cash. Shareholders in Share will get 4.1 pence in cash and 0.00084 of a ii share per share in Share held. Based on a value of GBP441.62 per ii share, the deal values each Share share at 41p each, valuing the entire company at GBP61.9 million. This price is a 41% premium to Share's closing price of 19.00p on Friday in London, with the stock 15% higher on Monday morning in early trade at a price of 33.48p. Share shareholders will own around 6.8% of the combined company.







OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS







Laura Ashley, down 42%. The clothing and homeware retailer said trading in its current financial year ending June 30 has been challenging, heaping more pressure on the retailer's already precarious finances. Laura Ashley said its unscheduled update was in response to "press speculation regarding its financial position". The Times reported on Sunday that its Malaysian owners were trying to save the high street chain with an emergency cash injection. The company said for the 26 weeks to the end of December, total group sales were GBP109.6 million, down 11% from GBP122.9 million for the same period a year prior. The decline was attributed to market headwinds and weaker consumer spending. Laura Ashley said recent movement in store stock and customer deposit levels have resulted in a reduction to the amount it can withdraw from its bank facility with lender Wells Fargo. It confirmed that, as a result, it is in discussions with Wells Fargo and majority shareholder MUI Asia to figure out an arrangement that will allow the company to draw down additional amounts to meet its working capital needs in the short to medium term.







By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
H ealth officials will tell schools that they do not need to close or send staff and pupils home if there is a suspected case of coronavirus.

Public Health England is expected to issue the new guidance on Monday saying that no restrictions or special control measures are needed while tests for Covid-19 are carried out on a suspected case.

While a pupil or staff member suspected of coming into contact with the virus is being tested, the guidance says no action is needed.

If a case of the virus is confirmed, then health protection teams will speak to the head teacher and action will be taken.

Most schools are currently closed for half-term break.

The new guidance comes the week after at least seven schools in Brighton, Hove and Eastbourne were understood to have told parents that either a staff member or pupil has been advised to stay at home for 14 days by PHE.

Schools messaged parents saying that they would authorise absences for families wishing to self-isolate.

There remains nine confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK, with eight of the patients have been released from hospital. The Department of Health and Social Care said on Sunday that 3,109 tests have been carried out so far.

The death toll in mainland China rose by 105 to 1,770, in figures announced early on Monday morning.

Chinese authorities also reported the number of new cases had increased slightly on the previous days figure after falling for three consecutive days.

The 2,048 new cases announced on Monday was up by 29 from the previous days figure.

The number of people infected globally stands at 68,500, according to the countrys National Health Commission.

Millions of Britons with flu-like symptoms could be told by authorities to self-isolate by staying at home for a fortnight if the UKs number of confirmed cases passes 100, the Sunday Telegraph has reported.

The paper said that senior NHS managers have been told that the service will stop testing for Covid-19 once around 100 cases have been confirmed across Britain.

The DHSC did not comment when asked about the self-isolation direction.

Britons on board the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan have accused the Government of forgetting about them after other countries confirmed they were bringing their citizens home.

David Abel called for the Government to evacuate the British citizens on board and added: It feels that we have been forgotten.

It is understood that a repatriation flight is one of a number of options being considered by the Government.

Mr Abels call comes as it emerged passengers could be stuck in quarantine beyond the initial February 19 deadline.

So far, 355 of the 3,500 people on board the ship have tested positive for the virus.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: We sympathise with all those caught up in this extremely difficult situation.

We are urgently considering all options to guarantee the health and safety of the British people on board the Diamond Princess, in line with the latest advice from the Chief Medical Officer and the World Health Organisation, and are working closely with the Japanese authorities and our international partners.

The first death from the virus outside Asia was confirmed in France on Saturday.

French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said an elderly Chinese tourist had become the first death to the virus in Europe, Reuters reported.

The patient, a Chinese tourist from the province of Hubei that includes Wuhan, had arrived in France on January 16 and suffered a lung infection caused by the virus.
A driver died when police say he crashed his pickup into his neighbors tree after getting into an argument with family late Sunday night at their southwest Houston home.

The crash happened around 11:30 p.m. in the 5300 block of Mackinaw Road, according to Houston Police Department Sgt. David Rose. The man, in his 30s, was in an altercation with his family when he left the house and got into his pickup, Rose said.
A notice placed at an entrance to Seoul National University Hospital in Seoul, Monday, warns of visiting restrictions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Yonhap



Universities struggle with returning Chinese students



By Bahk Eun-ji



The government said Monday it had confirmed a new case of the novel coronavirus infection, bringing the total number of affected people to 30.



This and the previous case have raised concern among the health authorities over the spread of the deadly virus, and is likely to lead the government to strengthen its measures to prevent "community transmission."



According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), the 30th confirmed patient is the 68-year-old wife of the 29th patient who tested positive Sunday. This patient, 82, had not traveled overseas nor been in contact with anyone infected with the virus.



The 30th patient has been quarantined at Seoul National University Hospital, the same medical institution as her husband, the KCDC said.



The couple had participated in a volunteer program to provide lunch boxes to elderly people living alone and to local senior citizen centers through regional welfare organizations in Jongno-gu, Seoul, prior to testing positive for 2019-nCoV (COVID-19).



These activities could have put many senior citizens, who are especially vulnerable, at risk of contracting the deadly virus.



Older people have a less efficient immune system and are at greater risk of infection by the virus if they are already suffering from other underlying diseases.



"It is true that he had been participating in the volunteer activity through the regional welfare center, but this activity stopped because of the temporary closure of the facilities on February 1 to prevent the spread of the virus," Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip said at a press briefing at the Government Complex in Sejong.



Kim said the health authorities were maintaining their highest level of vigilance as the virus is highly contagious even when an infected person shows few symptoms.



Meanwhile, universities here are struggling to deal with Chinese students who were set to return for the March semester, although the Ministry of Education announced measures to prevent the possible spread of the virus on campuses.



In preparation for possible COVID-19 infection, Chung-Ang University has designated one of its two dormitories as exclusive for Chinese students to quarantine them. The period for Chinese students to move in has been set from March 20 to 25, after Korean students move into dormitories from March 14.



"We are also going to set up a thermal imaging camera and thermometer in the dormitory building for Chinese students," said a Chung-Ang University official.



Kyung Hee University will also designate dormitory buildings exclusively for Chinese students on its Seoul and international campuses. More than 450 Chinese students will be quarantined for two weeks in these two dormitories.



According to the Korean Education Statistics Service, the number of Chinese nationals studying in Korea was 69,287 as of April 2019, or 43.3 percent of 160,165 international students.


Former pastor who shot himself after killing wife, son choked out surviving daughter too, police say

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Richard Logan, a former pastor and CEO of faith-based anti-poverty nonprofit Attack Poverty who fatally shot himself after killing his wife and young son in the family home, also tried to strangle his daughter who survived, police revealed Thursday.

While authorities in Sugarland, Texas, are still investigating the motive for Richard Logan's actions, the Fort Bend County Medical Examiner said Logan shot his wife, Diana, 48, multiple times and then shot their 11-year-old son, Aaron, once, KHOU reported.

He then drove to San Marcos where his daughter, Ambrielle, is in her final year at Texas State University and tried to strangle her before taking his own life, police said.

Police believe Richard Logan shot and killed his wife and son in their home before driving to San Marcos in Guadalupe County, physically assaulting his adult daughter and committing suicide. The handgun recovered at the scene of the suicide is believed to be the same weapon that was used to kill Logans wife and son. Forensic testing results are pending, Sugar Land Police said in a statement, noting that Logans daughter did not report the physical assault.

Authorities further told ABC News affiliate KTRK that Logans wife and son were killed sometime over the weekend of Feb. 8-9. The familys pastor at River Pointe Church said he last saw them together on Saturday about 5 p.m. They believe Logan tried strangling Ambrielle on Monday evening and then sometime between that night and Tuesday around 8 a.m. he fatally shot himself.

According to news station KPRC, police officers went to the home of the 53-year-old CEO to perform a welfare check after law enforcement in Guadalupe County informed them that Logans body was found with what appeared to be a single, self-inflicted gunshot wound on the property of a company called TAS Environmental.

Police Chief Eric Robins said no one answered the door and when they eventually gained access to the home they found the bodies of Logans wife as well as their 11-year-old son.

He said the bodies of Diana and Aaron showed signs of trauma and gunshot wounds. They also appeared to have been dead for at least several hours.

Staff at River Pointe Church, where the family were members and where Logan served as a missions pastor for several years and Diana Logan also served as a small group leader, were shocked.

"We knew the Logans very, very well, pastor Patrick Kelley, a friend of the Logans for 15 years, said, according to KHOU. "And something like this, their death, as tragic as it is, is something you cannot predict or foresee."

He added, "I stand here in shock with everyone else who knew these precious people. I think the healing part and the direction well give is to be together and voice your grief, because we have a shared grief in this case."

Logans nonprofit, Attack Poverty, said he started the work in 2011 after being moved by a desire to transform the lives of people in need through community partnership. It has since evolved into a global organization that serves locally, adopting pockets of poverty and launching what we call Friends Communities.

These are long-term commitments that require mutual relationships and collaborative efforts with local organizations, churches, residents, and stakeholders committed to community transformation. Our community programs include: in-school student support, after school programs, literacy, Adult GED completion, English as a Second Language classes, job readiness training and home repair, the organizations website said.
Vidor was the final destination for two Louisiana men who police say were driving a vehicle under investigation in a robbery and kidnapping out of Northwest Louisiana.

Around 7:20 a.m. Sunday Vidor police officers got a call from two people asking for directions to Beaumont, according to a news release from the department.

When officers got to the area, the men ran away, although Dylan Williams, 20, of Ville Platte, was arrested and officers recovered a pistol they said he was carrying, the release said.

About an hour later, a bystander reported "an individual that came out of the woods and ran back into the woods, which he thought was suspicious," the release said.

Officers found 28-year-old Javis Gallow, of Ville Platte, hiding in the brush, although he ran and later was located under a trailer home on Craig Street by a Beaumont police dog, according to the release.

The arrests come after the Orange County Sheriff's Office on Saturday unsuccessfully chased the men on Interstate 10, Farm Road 1132 and Stanley Drive, where the two men ran into the woods, the release said.

The case is under investigation by the Ville Platte Police Department, which obtained a warrant for their arrest for the unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. A robbery and kidnapping involving the vehicle is under investigation.

The two men also were charged by the Vidor Police Department with evading arrest, the release said.

kaitlin.bain@beaumontenterprise.com

twitter.com/KaitlinBain
Communist Party of India MP in Rajya Sabha Binoy Viswam on Sunday moved a breach of privilege notice against PM Narendra Modi for allegedly misrepresenting Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayans statement on anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests.

The MP alleged that Modi made a devious attempt on the floor of the august house to manipulate the words of my states CM to serve his own political agenda. The implication the PM was making was that the Kerala government believes the ongoing protests against the CAA-NRC-NPR are being organised by extremist elements and thereby sought to de-legitimise the democratic peoples movement, Viswam said in a letter to Rajya Sabha secretary general.

The Kerala CM never questioned the legitimacy of the peoples movement against the CAA nor suggested that extremist elements were organising them, as was implied by the PM in his speech, Biswam contended in the letter. ... I urge you to take notice of this breach of privilege and ensue proceedings, he appealed to the RS secretary-general.

On Saturday, the Kerala CM said his government would neither implement the CAA, nor it will permit NPR process.
Good Morning LALA Land

Amie Harwick, a celebrity therapist and ex-fiancee of comedian Drew Carey, was murdered at her Hollywood Hills home in the early morning hours after Valentine's Day, according to Los Angeles police.

Officers responded to a call of a "woman screaming" around 1am on Saturday to find Dr Harwick below a third-story balcony. She died from injuries "consistent with a fall", according to police.

An ex-boyfriend, Gareth Pursehouse, 41, was arrested the same day and booked into Los Angeles County Jail on 16 February, according to jail records. His bail is set at $2m pending a court appearance.

Her roommate told police that he jumped over a wall to get to a neighbour's house to call for help when he heard Dr Harwick being assaulted inside the home.

Police said they found signs of forced entry and evidence of the suspect leaving the scene of the killing.

"The investigation revealed possible evidence of a struggle in the upstairs as well as forced entry to the residence", according to a Los Angeles Police Department statement. "A canvass of the area located further evidence of an intruder ... entering the property and leaving after the murder."

The FBI's Fugitive Task Force arrested Mr Pursehouse on Saturday afternoon. and police said Dr Harwick had previously filed a restraining order against the 41-year-old suspect but it had expired. They had seen each other as recently as two weeks ago, police said.

Amie Harwick was previously engaged to Drew Carey

Mr Carey, host of The Price Is Right, was engaged to Dr Harwick in February 2018. The couple ended their relationship later that year.

Dr Harwick, who practised marriage and family therapy in the Los Angeles area, wrote The New Sex Bible for Women in 2014. She received her Bachelors of Arts in Psychology from California Polytechnic University and a Masters of Arts in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University. She also graduated from the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality with a Doctorate of Human Sexuality.
WINDHOEK, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- At the Katutura State Hospital Acupuncture Department in Namibia's capital Windhoek, Fang Lianqiang, a Chinese doctor, examined a patient during a consultation.

"It's only my third follow-up, and the ankle pain has been relieved after undergoing acupuncture," Selma Isack, a patient, said Wednesday.

Even though new to Namibia, Fang is already making headway in the provision of public health care.

"My passion and mission are to offer excellent care and service to restore the good health of locals through traditional Chinese medicine. I love the people of Namibia," Fang said, who is also the chief doctor at the acupuncture department.

Fang is part of the 13th batch of Chinese medical team that arrived in Namibia in January this year. The team, composed of two doctors and two nurses, replaced the 12th batch to continue providing health care services at the state hospital.

Because he has always aspired to work in Namibia, it is Fang's conviction that Chinese medicine is unique, and can serve the people of the world, including Namibians.

According to Fang, the 13th batch is prepared to serve the people of Namibia with professionalism to improve broader public health in Namibia.

"We vow to deliver exemplary service to accelerate the provision of health care in Namibia, and help more Namibians get better health," Fang added.

To achieve this, the team would focus on understanding the country's social dynamics, including enhanced engagement with locals, on learning the culture.

"So far, through our patients, we learned that people in Namibia are friendly. We are progressively getting accustomed to the local elements of socialization as well as mastering the general medical care profession standards," he added.

Moreover, they plan to embark upon robust education to raise awareness about acupuncture.

"This is to address the misconceptions, as well as enhance understanding of the local medical fraternity about traditional Chinese medicine," he said.

The drive, said Fang, is to further build good relations between China and Namibia through people-to-people interaction in health care and beyond.

Since 1996, a team of traditional Chinese medical practitioners have been stationed at the Katutura Hospital as part of the cooperative medical projects between China and Namibia.

The 12th medical team, which was headed by Chu Hailin since 2018, treated more than 20,000 Namibian patients over a period of a year and half.

Ben Nangombe, executive director in the Ministry of Health and Social Services, hailed the contribution made by the Chinese medical team to the country's health sector and wellness of locals.

Chinese ambassador to Namibia, Zhang Yiming, said that the Chinese doctors have over the years delivered and sustained quality services beneficial to many Namibians, with the acupuncture department becoming a showcase for China-Namibia ties.

"Namibians are healed or relieved from pain, chronic discomfort and other diseases. We are proud that the team has become well-known for their professionalism, devotion and kind-heartedness among Namibian public," Zhang said.

Meanwhile, the Chinese embassy plans to further strengthen bilateral relations with Namibia and expand cooperation on the health sector to accelerate the provision of health care and more effective medical services.
DMK President M.K. Stalin and alliance leaders Vaiko, K.V. Thankabalu, (Cong), T K Rangarajan (CPM) Thol Thirumavalavan (VCK), K Veeramani (DK) and others hold up the signatures collected to press for scrapping CAA, in Chennai, on Sunday. Over 2.50 crore signatures have been got all over Tamil Nadu to be sent to President. (Photo: DC)

CHENNAI: The ruling AIADMK has on Sunday assured the minorities that their rights would be safeguarded and that they need not have any qualms over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) or National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Allaying the apprehensions of the Muslims, especially in the wake of heightened protests against the Act in Old Washermanpet here, State Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar said a situation leading to the Muslims forfeiting their rights would not arise in Tamil Nadu. Speaking to reporters after meeting a delegation of the Jamath leaders here the Minister said the Jamath leaders have put forth six demands and these would be taken to the notice of Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami for appropriate action.

Among the demands include, the passing of Assembly resolution during the ongoing session declining to implement the CAA in Tamil Nadu, as Kerala and Puducherry Assemblies have done.

As far as the Amma government is concerned, it would always protect the interests of the minorities, especially the Muslims. Even they are aware of this it was also explained in the State Assembly, Mr. Jayakumar said and reiterated that Muslims need not be apprehensive that their rights would be affected.

Meanwhile, there was no let up in the anti-CAA protests which continued for the third day in Tamil Nadu on Sunday. Members from the Muslim community continued the agitation in Old Washermanpet area in the city and other parts of the State, as well. After a transient lull in agitations in December last year, the protesters hit the streets on Friday and the violence that broke out during the agitation left four police personnel besides some protesters injured.
Beijing: China reported 105 new deaths due to the new coronavirus on Monday, pushing the overall death toll to 1,770, as officials announced stringent measures such as closing non-essential public venues and traffic restrictions to control the epidemic in the worst-hit Hubei province.

The National Health Commission said 2,048 new cases of the virus have been confirmed, taking the total number of COVID-19 infected cases to 70,548, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Of the new deaths, 100 were from Hubei Province, three in Henan, and two in Guangdong.

Though 10,844 people had been discharged from hospitals after recovery, the commission said in its daily report said that 7,264 people were still suspected to be infected by the deadly virus.

By Sunday, 57 confirmed cases including one death had been reported from Hong Kong, 10 in Macao, and 20 in Taiwan including one death.

Hubei, where 18 cities with over 50 million people are under lockdown since January 23, announced a slew of more stringent measures to control the epidemic, including enforcing province-wide traffic restrictions on all non-emergency vehicles and closing all non-essential public venues.

A circular by the provincial government said the health screening campaign should be strengthened and no one should be missed. Also, companies should not resume production unless allowed by local authorities. Those that have resumed work including public institutions should follow strict prevention measures.

The measures came as the situation remains "grave", the circular added.

However on Sunday, the commission announced a ?significant drop? in new cases, suggesting that epidemic control measures were taking effect.

"In Wuhan, the epicentre of the epidemic, the proportion of severe cases among the confirmed cases fell from a peak of 32.4 per cent on January 28 to 21.6 per cent on February 15," Mi Feng, a spokesperson with the NHC, said during a media briefing.

Meanwhile, a 12-member team of World Health Organisation experts began assisting their Chinese counterparts to control the virus.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said international experts were now on the ground in China to understand the outbreak and inform the next steps in the global response.

Ghebreyesus also met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Munich Security Conference.

He said "given the misinformation about the novel coronavirus epidemic, WHO has communicated with some companies including Google to ensure that the public will get the authoritative information from the WHO".

He said one of the goals of the joint mission is to rapidly inform the public of the next steps and preparedness activities in China and globally. "Particular attention will be paid to understanding the transmission of the virus, the severity of disease and the impact of ongoing response measures."

In Beijing, the NHC said the joint mission will pay field visits in China's three provincial-level regions to learn the implementation and effectiveness of the epidemic control measures.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday asked the industry to look for ways to expand the country's export basket by adding more value-added products and cut shipments of raw materials.

He said the country's export basket is changing but it is not changing at fast pace.

"We are moving from some raw materials to intermediates. Can we collectively look at changing basket of exports to do more value-added products? Can we reduce exports of, let's say, iron ore and export high-quality steel? Can we stop exporting alumina, and stop importing aluminium products?," he said here.

"Can we see how we can become value-added producers so that the indian basket of manufacturing changes," the minister questioned.

He said India's share in the world's trade is in single digit for many products.

"Our government has identified a few champion sectors, like textiles, fisheries and IT, to expand and become a world leader in exports. Our government is swadeshi and personally, I am swadeshi. Therefore, we want to encourage our domestic investors on priority. We will fight for their cause," Goyal said.

He also said any country, which does not allow equal and reciprocal access to our products and services in their country, by law "we will stop them from participating in government contracts in India".

Talking about scale of production, he said the Indian industry needs to boost its scale to take advantage of the China-US trade war.

"Now, with the China-US trade war, we were trying to see how we can get more Indian companies to benefit from it. The sad part is that we are not producing to scale in our country," he said.

Citing an example of retail giant Walmart, the minister said the company wanted 40,000 pieces of some footwear product.

On this, a big Indian company stated that they can give 20,000 pieces over the next year.

Walmart wanted 40,000 pieces every month without which they cannot place an order as they have 3,000-odd stores all over the world, the minister said.

"So, unless we start looking at scale, we are going to get out of the market very soon," he said.

He asked DPIIT and the department of commerce to identify sectors where India has competitive advantage and where the Indian industry can see business opportunities.

He also asked the industry to highlight their problems in terms of harassment by inspectors of any sort.

Further, Goyal added that although he does not differentiate between domestic and foreign investors, "given a choice, I would urge the domestic industry to invest more than FDI (foreign direct investment)" as " we want to encourage domestic investors".

The minister also asked the DPIIT to discuss with the cabinet secretariat about signing a legally binding agreement with states for abiding contractual obligations.

He said there are cases where states back out from their commitment, when there is a change in leadership.

He asked the industry to identify sectors where the government can promote assembling of products at a lower rate of duty and finished items at a higher rate of duty.

"In a phased manner, we will restrict products' import and ensure that domestic industry can achieve scale," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

Juice Concentrates Market: Overview

Juice concentrates are the frozen and concentrated form of fruit or vegetable or mixed juices by reducing the water content. It has improved shelf life and cost effective as compared to normal juices. Juice concentrates are used in wide range of applications in food industry such as bakery products, confectionery, sauces, and soups etc. as an alternative for fruits and vegetables. The juice concentrates impart the natural flavor and color to the food products. The vegetable juice concentrates are used to improve the nutritious value of the food products. It is increasingly used in the production of healthy juice beverages. The fruit juice concentrates are used as natural sweeteners and as natural food color. The beverage segment accounts for major share in global juice concentrates market in terms of consumption. They are used in manufacturing both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.

Get Sample Copy Of This Report @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/13105

Juice Concentrates Market: Drivers and Restraints

The rising demand for beverage and bakery products among consumers is the major driver for the growth of global juice concentrates market. The increasing adoption of vegetable and fruit juices as an alternative to aerated drinks by health conscious consumers is expected to drive the growth of global juice concentrates market. The rapid growth of natural sweeteners market is expected to boost the growth of global juice concentrates market. The increasing demand for juice concentrates in the beverage industry and as the sugar substitute in bakery products industry is anticipated to propel the growth of global juice concentrates market.

However, the increasing awareness regarding ill-effects of excess consumption of fructose in juice concentrates might hamper the growth of global juice concentrates market.

Juice Concentrates Market: Segmentation

On the basis of product type, the global juice concentrates market can be segmented as follows:-

Vegetable

Fruit

On the basis of application, the global juice concentrates market can be segmented as follows:-

Bakery Products

Confectionary

Jams and Spreads

Beverages Alcoholic Non-alcoholic

Dairy

Sauces and Soups

Juice Concentrates Market: Region Wise Outlook

The global juice concentrates market can be divided into seven regions, namely North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan and Middle East and Africa (MEA). North America and Western Europe accounts for major share in global juice concentrates market. The increasing adoption of healthy convenience food products among consumers is expected to drive the growth of juice concentrates market in the region. The technological advancements in food processing industry and agriculture industry is expected to contribute to the growth of juice concentrates market in these regions. APEJ juice concentrates market is anticipated to project high CAGR during the forecast period. This is attributed to the high population and rapid growth of food industry in the region. The region also accounts for major share in fruit and vegetable cultivation, which is expected to boost the growth of juices concentrates market in the region.

Request For TOC @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/13105

Juice Concentrates Market: Key Players

Some of the key players in the global juice concentrates market are as follows:

Northwest Naturals, LLC.

SunOpta, Inc.

KERR CONCENTRATES INC.

Archer Daniels Midland Company

Welch Foods Inc.

Ingredion Incorporated

DOHLER GmbH

Sudzucker AG

FruitSmart

AGRANA Investment Corp

The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to market segments such as geography, technology and applications.
So far, Pete Buttigieg has made it look easy.

The once little-known former mayor of a midsize Midwestern city vaulted over a former vice president and several U.S. senators in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire presidential primary. The 38-year-olds fresh face, intellect and turn-the-page message won votes across many demographic groups in the kickoff states.

Now the promise of his candidacy is colliding with the reality of the central question about his viability: Can he win among minority voters who form the critical foundation of the partys base?

That will be tested Saturday in Nevada, with a diverse blend of Latinos and African Americans, but especially in South Carolina, where two-thirds of the primary electorate could be black voters, the base of the Democratic Party that Buttigieg has struggled to attract.

Buttigiegs strategy is to earn a fresh look from black and brown voters by flashing his support in the first two contests, drawing on the validation of minority leaders who have endorsed him and leveraging the personal networks of his supporters.

With the South Carolina primary rapidly approaching Feb. 29, he faces a steep climb.

Ive not seen any real support coming from black local officials. Pete has to make the case himself, said state Sen. Gerald Malloy, a longtime supporter of former Vice President Joe Bidens who has not endorsed a 2020 candidate. Hes obviously a tireless warrior and making the calls. The question is: Will people answer?

The former South Bend, Indiana, mayor, who has registered negligible support among black voters nationally, has been to South Carolina 10 times and has been airing ads on black radio stations in South Carolina since last fall, as well as ads in black newspapers.

He has been airing TV ads in the state since December, and this month began a spot reflecting his call for parting with the politics of the past.

In it, Walter A. Clyburn Reed, the grandson of Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, the highest-ranking African American in the House, and Abe Jenkins, grandson of civil rights activist Esau Jenkins, pay tribute to their forebears but call Buttigieg a fresh start.

It and other ads blanketing YouTube and Facebook reinforce Buttigiegs heavy outreach to younger black voters, especially on college campuses, such as the historically black institutions South Carolina State University and Claflin University in Orangeburg.

Reed said college students are intrigued by Buttigiegs Douglass Plan, aimed at ending systemic racism, but especially are drawn to his call for a culture of belonging.

Thats something that they havent heard from a candidate, Reed said. So, really, when he started to hone in on that message, college voters were very attracted to it.

But for older black voters, both in South Carolina and Nevada, Buttigieg faces another kind of test: whether they will vote for a gay candidate.

Joan Welch, a 63-year-old African American minister and social worker in Las Vegas, said she cant support Buttigieg because of his sexual orientation.

Im against homosexuality. I love everybody, but Im against that lifestyle, Welch said as she waited to cast her vote for Biden at an early caucus site.

As part of his effort to persuade voters like Welch, Buttigieg has turned from larger-turnout events to more intimate listening sessions that give the candidate a better sense of South Carolina black voters and them a better sense of him, aides said.

Buttigieg has since hosted small-group meetings and has dispatched black elected officials, such as South Bend Councilwoman Sharon McBride and Waterloo, Iowa, Mayor Quentin Hart.

Buttigieg faced criticism last month for hesitating before committing to attend a Martin Luther King Jr. celebration in Columbia, South Carolina, with other 2020 candidates. He continues to face questions about the departure of South Bends first black police chief shortly after Buttigieg took office and about his departments handling of the deadly shooting of an armed black man by a white officer in June.

And he recently struggled when pressed during the ABC debate in New Hampshire about the disproportionate arrests of black people for marijuana possession.

There are at least modest signs of progress, including in California, one of 14 states in the March 3 Super Tuesday primaries. Nina Smallwood, who attended a Buttigieg event in Sacramento, California, on Friday, said she thought he could win over voters of color.

In this next debate, hes going to have to really make a plea, the 41-year-old Smallwood said. Black people want to feel like our voices are heard, as well as everybodys. I definitely think he has an opportunity.

In Iowa and New Hampshire, Buttigiegs coalition looked more like the electorate overall by age and education than the other top candidates, though voters in those states reflected little racial diversity, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of the electorate.

In New Hampshire, about 1 in 10 voters were nonwhite. Buttigieg earned support from 14% of such voters, roughly comparable to support for other top contenders, except Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, backed by roughly 4 in 10 nonwhite voters.

Buttigieg is also targeting pockets of black voters scattered widely across South Carolina, in part by tapping his campaign organizers personal networks of churches and pastors.

In December, Buttigieg visited tiny Allendale, in southwest South Carolina, which had been visited by one other Democratic presidential candidate  former Sen. John Edwards in 2008  in the past 50 years.

Although Biden is the favorite in South Carolina, Buttigieg could claim success by chinning himself into double-digit support among black voters, aides say.

He has the opportunity to improve his standing with a respectable showing in Nevada, where he also is touting the validation of supporters, such as fellow millennial Nevada state Rep. Sandra Jauregui, who is Latina.

Buttigieg was the first candidate to begin airing Spanish language ads in New Hampshire and began airing a new one last week in which the candidate, fluent in seven languages, speaks Spanish throughout.

His team conducts caucus training in Spanish, as 40% of his organizing staff speaks Spanish.

After opening his headquarters in Las Vegas, Buttigiegs first Nevada field office opened in September in the heavily Latino neighborhood of East Las Vegas.

While Nevada could provide some energy to the campaign, South Carolina will go a long way to answering whether Buttigieg can survive as a candidate, said Malloy.

Hes very capable, and he has the money. But the network and the money without the people with him isnt good enough, Malloy said. Theres time, but Im not sure how much.

___

Associated Press writers Hannah Fingerhut in Washington, Jonathan J. Cooper in Las Vegas and Adam Beam in Sacramento, California, contributed to this report.

___

Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast, Ground Game.

___

This story deletes an incorrect reference to Malloy being a pastor from Hicksville. Malloy is not a pastor and is from Hartsville. The story has also been corrected to show the last name of Joan from Las Vegas is Welch, not Houston.
GTO Team-BHP Support



Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 63,017 Thanked: 225,756 Times

View My Garage





Can Team-BHP please borrow your Tata Altroz? EDIT: 16 cars offered to us (page 8) Mod Note: Our Altroz Report has been taken live at this link. Please continue the discussion over on the new thread. Thanks!



Tata has dispatched 4,500 Altroz in January ( .



Compare this to say, Mahindra. Mahindra has test cars ready for us on the day of the launch itself; sometimes, we also get a colour choice! Weve already exchanged innumerable emails & messages with Tata Motorsto the point of being fed up! The other problem that we face with such long delays is that of bandwidth. Ours is a small team. Right now, friendly Mod Aditya is waiting for the Altroz. But by start of April, there will be many more cars to review (next-gen Creta, next-gen City etc.). Hence, we want to review the Altroz NOW. It is anyways over 2 months since the Altroz media drives were held, and 3+ weeks since the car has been launched. No other manufacturer delays test-drive cars as much as Tata Motors and we cannot wait any longer. I am of the firm opinion that no manufacturer can delay our review of their car (or block it -



Hence, my sincere request: Can Team-BHP borrow your Tata Altroz for our Official Review? Your generosity will greatly help the community as thousands of BHPians & guests are waiting for our test report, before deciding on their next hatchback. Many thanks in advance! As a small token of appreciation, well also gift your car something special  it could be a set of after-market rims, better tyres, an extended warranty + service pack, or anything else you wish.



Would like only the top-end variant as all our Official Reviews feature only the highest trim level. Mumbai or nearby cities (Pune, Nashik etc.) would be much preferred, so that Aditya can do his shoot & review, post which I can also drive the car. But if there are no cars available in Maharashtra, we are open to travelling to other parts of India.



We promise to take better care of your car than we do our own . If we can borrow your Altroz, please reply on this thread / PM me / drop us an email via the



P.S. In case you arent aware, the diesel Altroz isnt available yet (not even to customers). Therefore, we will review the petrol now, do a full photoshoot of it, and add a separate post for the diesel when the car is made available to us (either by you guys or Tata Motors).



P.P.S. Were also waiting for the Nexon EV & I hope the media car comes before Indian law mandates BS7 emissions, 6 airbags & ESP as standard.



Tata has dispatched 4,500 Altroz in January ( source ) and we can safely assume, another 2,000 by mid-Feb already. Despite the parent company having its headquarters in Bombay, and having shipped ~6000 cars, Tata hasnt kept aside a measly 3  4 examples for their media fleet. I also fail to understand how Tata can have several cars available at the media drive event, many more for test-drives at its hundreds of dealerships, but none as part of its media fleet in Bombay? To understand that situation is beyond meCompare this to say, Mahindra.; sometimes, we also get a colour choice! Weve already exchanged innumerable emails & messages with Tata Motorsto the point of being fed up! The other problem that we face with such long delays is that of bandwidth. Ours is a small team. Right now, friendly Mod Aditya is waiting for the Altroz. But by start of April, there will be many more cars to review (next-gen Creta, next-gen City etc.). Hence, we want to review the Altroz NOW. It is anyways over 2 months since the Altroz media drives were held, and 3+ weeks since the car has been launched.and we cannot wait any longer. I am of the firm opinion that no manufacturer can delay our review of their car (or block it - related link ).Hence, my sincere request:Your generosity will greatly help the community as thousands of BHPians & guests are waiting for our test report, before deciding on their next hatchback.As a small token of appreciation, well also gift your car something special  it could be a set of after-market rims, better tyres, an extended warranty + service pack, or anything else you wish.Would like only the top-end variant as all our Official Reviews feature only the highest trim level. Mumbai or nearby cities (Pune, Nashik etc.) would be much preferred, so that Aditya can do his shoot & review, post which I can also drive the car. But if there are no cars available in Maharashtra, we are open to travelling to other parts of India.We promise to take better care of your car than we do our own. If we can borrow your Altroz, please reply on this thread / PM me / drop us an email via the share page . Should you so prefer, your + your car's identity will be kept 100% anonymous. Thanks again - very grateful!P.S. In case you arent aware, the diesel Altroz isnt available yet (not even to customers). Therefore, we will review the petrol now, do a full photoshoot of it, and add a separate post for the diesel when the car is made available to us (either by you guys or Tata Motors).P.P.S. Were also waiting for the Nexon EV & I hope the media car comes before Indian law mandates BS7 emissions, 6 airbags & ESP as standard. Last edited by GTO : 16th April 2020 at 12:24 .
An Iranian human rights organization on Monday reported that student and women's rights activist Bahareh Hedayat who was arrested a week ago is on hunger strike and her health is deteriorating.

The website of Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRANA) on Monday reported that Hedayat who was transferred from Vozara Detention Center to the notorious Qarchak Prison in the south of Tehran on Sunday.

According to other student and women's rights activists, Hedayat refused any food and drink for three days but is now taking liquids.

Thirty-eight-year-old Hedayat was arrest on February 10 by Security Police at the Security Office of Tehran University. She had been called in to the university security office to answer some questions. Chief of the university's security has denied any role in Hedayat's arrest.

Human rights activists say the police beat her, pulled her hair and dragged her to their vehicle when she demanded to be shown an arrest warrant. Hedayat has been on hunger strike in protest to being beaten since her arrest.

In a brief phone call on February 11 Hedayat informed her family that she had been detained and was being questioned. The charges brought against her have not been announced.

Bahareh Hedayat who is a former Secretary of the Office to Foster Unity (Daftar-e Tahkim Vahdat), Iran's largest pro-reform student group has been arbitrarily arrested and imprisoned several times since 2007 for "propaganda against the regime" and similar charges. In total, she has served more than six years in prison.

She was known for her work on the One Million Signatures Campaign aiming to change discriminatory laws against women. In 2012 she was awarded Sweden's Edelstam Prize for "outstanding contributions and exceptional courage in standing up for one's beliefs in defense of human rights".

On Sunday a group of students who held a protest rally at Amir Kabir University of Tehran demanded that Hedayat be released.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 12:23:50|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

SYDNEY, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Around 70,000 people packed out Australia's ANZ stadium on Sunday, to show their support for communities that have been devastated by the country's recent bushfire crisis.

Selling out in just 24 hours after tickets went on sale, the Fire Fight Australia concert was headlined by international rock giant Queen and featured an array of local and international artists including 5 Seconds of Summer, Alice Cooper, Amy Shark, Grinspoon, Jessica Mauboy, Ronan Keaing and Michael Buble.

Thanking Australia's professional and volunteer firefighters, comedian Celeste Barber who hosted the event said, "you will never know how grateful we are."

"Our volunteers across this entire country, they are the ones who saved us," Barber told the crowd.

"They are the ones who cancel holidays to stay here and look after us, and I will speak now very confidently on behalf of a nation when I say to those volunteers, thank you."

Raising over 9 million Australian dollars (6 million U.S. dollars) for people in need, Barber said, "As Aussies, we band together because we have to look after each other."

With a brother-in-law currently serving as a volunteer firefighter in Queensland State, Irish pop star Ronan Keating told the 7 Network it was one show he just had to be a part of.

"I wanted people in Australia to know that we heard you, and that you weren't alone," he said.

"That was really important to me, that I could be here and perform or do whatever just to stand in solidarity."

Donations from the mammoth 10-hour gig will now go to Red Cross disaster relief and recovery fund, rural and regional fire services and animal welfare group, the RSPCA.
A Home Ministry-appointed committee has suggested that 1951 should be the cut-off year for defining the indigenous people of Assam and introduction of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) to control the movement of people from outside the state, sources said on Monday.

The committee has also suggested two formulas for the reservation of seats for the indigenous people in the Assam Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies of the state, including 67 per cent quota for them.

The high-level committee was set up by the ministry to suggest ways to provide constitutional safeguards to Assam's indigenous people.

The sources said the 13-member panel, headed by Justice (Retd) Biplab Kumar Sharma, finalised its report last week, conveyed to the home ministry that it was ready to submit it to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and sought an appointment with him.

The report is expected to be submitted this week itself.

The committee, according to the sources, unanimously recommended that those who were residents of Assam in 1951 and their descendants, irrespective of community, caste, language, religion or heritage, will be considered as indigenous people of the state.

Besides, the panel suggested that the ILP should be introduced in Assam so that movement of people from outside the state could be controlled.

As per the rules, outsiders have to take permission from designated authorities before entering the areas where the ILP is applicable.

The ILP, notified under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873, has been in operation in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram for long and it was introduced in Manipur in December 2019 following an uproar over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

In case of reservation of seats in the Assam Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies in the state, all members, except three, have suggested that 67 per cent seats should be reserved for the indigenous people. The remaining three members suggested that the reservation in legislative bodies should be 100 per cent.

"We have mentioned that there is no dissenting note but there are two suggestions for the reservation of assembly and Lok Sabha seats," a source said.

In addition to the 67 per cent reservation for the indigenous people, 16 per cent will also be reserved for the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities.

"So, effectively, the reservation will go up to 80 per cent if it is accepted," the source said.

In case of state government jobs, the committee recommended 80 per cent reservation for the locals.

A number of other recommendations were also given for the protection and growth of Assamese and other indigenous languages.

"The committee's job is over. After its formal submission, the central government can either modify, reject or implement (the report) in toto," another source said.

The committee was set up in July 2019 as per the Clause 6 of the 1985 Assam Accord. The clause envisages constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards to protect, preserve and promote cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.

On February 7, addressing a rally in Assam, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said the central government will work expeditiously to implement Clause 6 once the high-powered committee submits its report.

In his speech in Rajya Sabha during the debate on the CAA, Shah had said, "In 1985, the Assam Accord happened. There is a provision in Clause 6 to protect the indigenous culture of the state. From 1985 to 2014, the committee was not constituted for Clause 6."



"I want to assure that the NDA government, through Clause 6, will protect rights of the people of Assam. We have constituted the committee and All Assam Students' Union is part of the committee. I want them to send the report of the committee quickly," he had said.

According to its terms and conditions, "The committee will assess the appropriate level of reservation of seats in the Assam Legislative Assembly and local bodies for the Assamese people."



"The committee will recommend the appropriate level of reservations in employment under the government of Assam for the Assamese people," according to a home ministry notification.

Assam has witnessed widespread protests against the CAA. There has been a growing feeling among the indigenous people of the state that the newly enacted legislation will hurt their interests politically, culturally as well as socially.

The Assam Accord provides for detection and deportation of all illegal immigrants, who entered the country after 1971 and are living in the state, irrespective of their religion.

According to the CAA, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who came to India from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, to escape religious persecution will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship.

The protesters in Assam claim that the CAA violates the provisions of the Assam Accord.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Female tradeswomen say the male-oriented clothing used on work sites is not only ill-fitting but could put them in danger.

Research from Bisley Workwear has found nine out of ten tradeswomen have struggled to find protective workwear which fits properly.

Major issues include loose clothing snagging on ladders and frustrations around trying to remove a pair of overalls from inside a portaloo.

Of the women surveyed, a third felt they couldn't work as hard in poorly-fitting uniforms.

Nearly half of all workers resorted to wearing their own casual clothing to worksites rather than proper workwear.

Scroll down for video

New gear has been created that is more form fitting with a feminine design twist to eliminate the risks associated with women wearing men's workwear

Former Block contestent Kara Demmich told the Today Show when she first showed up she was excited by the clothing options but soon encountered problems.

'I was given a bag of clothes and I thought we had hit the jackpot with free clothes but they didn't fit me. They were a bit big and when you're on a work site and climbing over joists you want something that fits and is not going to get caught,' she said.

Female landscaper Coralie Stuart said the lifespan of clothing had also been an issue for her.

'If you have to climb a ladder and if you're not wearing gear that fits properly it's dangerous,' she said.

Research from Bisley Workwear has revealed nine out of ten female tradies have struggled to find protective workwear which properly fits

'And the clothing I was wearing through it in the space of a couple of months and the menswear doesn't fit. So it's good to have something that is fitted to my body not going to get caught on anything and tear things.'

The research also found about 45 per cent of women surveyed felt self-conscious wearing uniforms which weren't designed for the female body.

The rising number of women working in trades and research around workwear has prompted changes to the uniforms.

New gear has been created that is more form fitting with a feminine design twist to eliminate the risks associated with women wearing men's workwear.

A new clothing line from Bisley Workewear has been designed from the ground up to fit women's body shapes

The managing director of Bisley, David Gazal told the Australian that women's clothing is traditionally adapted from men's with very few changes.

'So we then got a men's silhouette and a men's garment and we put in nips and tucks and called it a women's style. It still didn't fit but we called it a ladies style.'

But he said the company's new female workwear was designed for women from the ground up.

'When we put this range together, we put it together knowing that the garment needs a completely different silhouette, and completely different fabric,' Mr Gazal said.

'Fabric needs stretch, it needs wearability, and functionality in the workplace. It needs to be durable and not be restrictive.'
Footwear retailer Shoe Zone has warned it may have to shut down a fifth of its stores, equating to around 100, if the Government does not reform business rates.

Shoe Zone has shut down about 300 stores in the last ten years, falling from 800 at its peak to around 500 at present.

Speaking to the BBC's Wake Up to Money programme, Shoe Zone boss Anthony Smith said: 'It's a simple maths question. Every time a lease comes up, we'll look at the mathematics of it. If we are not making any money out of it... the shop will unfortunately close.'

More store closures? Shoe Zone shut down about 300 stores in the last ten years

The Leicester-based company last month blamed business rate for a 15 per cent fall in profits to 9.8million in the last financial year to the end of October 2019.

Smith said that, although rents had fallen across its 500 shops, the amount it pays in business rates had increased from 26 per cent to 54 per cent over the last decade.

The rates system has been attacked by MPs and businesses amid fears it is putting shops under incredible strain, with some businesses spending more on rates than on rent.

Last week, more than 50 of Britain's biggest shop chains sent a letter to the now expelled Chancellor Sajid Javid ahead of the Budget next month, calling for a shake-up of the business rate system.

The letter, whose 52 signatories include the bosses of Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury's, Dixons Carphone and Greggs warned that the 'burden of business rates has become unsustainable'.

The Leicester-based company last month blamed business rate for a 15% fall in profits

'The business rates system is broken, and fundamental reform is needed,'

Retailers say a mechanism that allows businesses to move slowly to their new rates bill unfairly affects the High Street and areas outside London.

This is because 'transitional relief' staggers the speed at which those facing higher bills see their bills go up  and funds this by slowing down the speed at which bills fall for those who are due a reduction.

Last year was the High Street's worst for 25 years, and 61 shops shut their doors for good every day.

Shoe Zone was founded in 1980 by brothers Michael and Christopher Smith as Bensonshoe in its current home city, Leicester. Their grandfather was himself involved in footwear manufacturing.

Chief executive Anthony Smith and interim executive chairman Charles Smith are sons of the founders, having joined the family firm in the 1990s.

Shoe Zone shares are up 2.2 per cent at 186.55p in afternoon trading on Monday.
Pune, Feb. 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global phosphoric acid fuel cell market size is projected to reach USD 1.12 billion by 2026, surging at a CAGR of 19.0% during the forecast period. Rising demand for clean energy worldwide is set to propel the growth of this market in the foreseeable future. According to the Current Policies Scenario of the International Energy Agency (IEA), global energy demand will increase unhindered at 1.3% annually till 2040. Nearly 50% of this energy demand is expected to be met by renewables, the IEA further states. Meeting this climbing demand for energy will require research into and development of sustainable solutions and phosphoric acid fuel cells (PAFCs) are foreseen to play a vital role in this regard. In particular, PAFC technology can be a game-changer in power generation as these cells are over 85% efficient when used for co-generation of electricity. Moreover, electricity is slated to emerge as the primary energy carrier by 2050 in terms of energy demand, as per the estimations of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). As a result, the demand for PAFCs is poised to spike in the power sector, making it one of the top phosphoric acid fuel cell market trends.

Fortune Business Insights provides the above information and much more in its new report, titled  Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Application (Vehicles, Cogeneration, Others), and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026. According to the report, the value of the market stood at USD 0.28 billion in 2018 and is expected to grow at 19.0% between 2019 and 2026. The other highlights of the report include:

Exhaustive analysis of the key market segments;

Comprehensive research into the factors positively and negatively influencing the market;

In-depth study of the regional dynamics and competitive landscape of the market; and

Precise computation of the market values.



To gain more insights into the market with a detailed table of content and figures, click here: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/phosphoric-acid-fuel-cell-market-102180





Market Restraint

Economic Unviability of PAFCs May Put Constraints on Market Growth

Phosphoric acid fuel cells bring a variety of advantages to the electricity generation domain. For example, they are capable of functioning on available fuels, which makes them commercially popular. Moreover, they are extensively utilized as back-up power generators and many countries are swiftly replacing diesel power generators with PAFCs. However, despite their multiple benefits, PAFCs suffer from some inherent disadvantages, which can negatively impact the phosphoric acid fuel cell market growth. One of their most prominent drawbacks is their continued reliance on hydrocarbons. While this issue has been resolved through the usage of dispersed platinum catalysts, it has made PAFCs economically unattractive as use of platinum has shot up their costs. Furthermore, these cells are not as efficient when generating electricity entirely on their own as they are when used in conjunction with fossil fuels. These disincentives may stymie the growth trajectory of this market in the upcoming years.

Regional Analysis

Supportive Government Energy Policies to Fuel the Market in Japan

The phosphoric acid fuel cell market report presents an analysis of the market across the countries of Japan, the US, the UK, South Korea, Germany, and Rest of the World. Among these, Japan is anticipated to dominate the market share owing to the formulation of favorable energy policies and programs by the national government. In addition to this, the desire to reach long-term carbon reduction targets and presence of well-established players in the country will further drive the market here.

Rapid advancements in sustainable technologies will aid South Korea to strengthen its hold on the phosphoric acid fuel cell market share in the coming years. In the US, rising budgetary allocation for research and development into fuel cell technologies will accelerate the market growth in the country.



Request a Sample Copy: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/phosphoric-acid-fuel-cell-market-102180





Competitive Landscape

Government-backed R&D Defense Projects to Intensify Competition

Strong government support to innovative projects in the defense sector is creating unique growth opportunities in the market. Besides government organizations, the competitive landscape of the market is dotted by a few other private companies, primarily from South Korea and Japan.

Industry Developments:

February 2020: The Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) of India, in collaboration with Larsen & Toubro, successfully showcased the effectivity of its Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) to the Indian Navy. The next R&D stage involves engineering of the Marinised Engineered AIP Energy Module (MAREEM) which will have phosphoric acid fuel cells as one of the central components.

The Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) of India, in collaboration with Larsen & Toubro, successfully showcased the effectivity of its Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) to the Indian Navy. The next R&D stage involves engineering of the Marinised Engineered AIP Energy Module (MAREEM) which will have phosphoric acid fuel cells as one of the central components. July 2019: Germany-based 2G Energy AG, a leader in combined heat and power (CHP) systems, received an order for a hydrogen-powered CHP system from Siemens. The system will be deployed by Siemens at its project site in Dubai to generate hydrogen using electrolysis powered by solar.

Top Players Profiled in the Market Report:

Ingsman Energy and Fuel Cell Research Organization (IEFRO)

Doosan Fuel Cell America, Inc.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)

Fuji Electric Co., LTD.



Have Any Query? Ask Our Experts: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/phosphoric-acid-fuel-cell-market-102180





Table of Content:

Introduction Research Scope Market Segmentation Research Methodology Definitions and Assumptions

Executive Summary

Market Dynamics Market Drivers Market Restraints Market Opportunities

Key Insights Key Emerging Trends  For Major Countries Latest Technological Advancement Regulatory Landscape Industry SWOT Analysis Porters Five Forces Analysis

Global Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell Market Analysis (MW, USD Million), Insights and Forecast, 2015-2026 Key Findings / Summary Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Application Vehicles Cogeneration Others Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Country U.S. Japan South Korea Germany UK Rest of the World



Continued...!!!





Request for Customization: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/customization/phosphoric-acid-fuel-cell-market-102180





(Have a Look at Reports Trending in Energy & Power Industry)



Browse Related Reports:

Fuel Cell Market Size, Share and Global Trend By Type (Solid Oxide Fuel Cell, Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell, Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell, Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell, Alkaline Fuel Cell, Direct Methanol Fuel Cell), By Application (Portable, Stationary, Transportation), and Geography Forecast till 2026

Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Application (Transport, Stationary, Others), and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026

Fuel Cell Stack Market Size, Share and Global Trend By Type (Air Cooled, Liquid Cooled), By Application (Portable Power, Backup Power, Motive Power, Material Handling Equipment, Others) and Geography Forecast till 2026

Direct Methanol Fuel Cells Market Size, Share and Global Trend By Component (Electrode, Membrane, Balance of System, Balance of Stack), By Application (Stationary, Portable, Transportation) and Geography Forecast Till 2026

Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Application (Stationary, Transport, Portable), By End-User (Commercial, Data Centers, Military & Defense, Others), and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026



Automotive Fuel Cell Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Type (Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC), Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC), Others), By Power Rating (Below 100 kW, 100  200 kW, Above 200 kW), By Vehicles (Passenger Vehicles, Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs), Bus, Trucks), and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026



Cryogenic Pump Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Type (Positive Displacement Pump and Centrifugal Pump), By Cryogen Type (Nitrogen, Oxygen, Argon, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), and Others), By End-User (Oil & Gas, Metallurgy, Power Generation, Chemical & Petrochemical, Marine, and Others) and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026



Inverter Duty Motor Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Construction Material (Laminated Steel, Cast Iron, and Aluminum), By Application (Pumps, Fans, Conveyors, Extruders, and Others), By End-User (Chemicals, Oil & Gas, Metal & Mining, Paper & Pulp, Food & Beverage, and Others) and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026



Smart Gas Meter Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Type (Advanced Metering Infrastructure and Auto Meter Reading) By Application (Residential, Industrial, and Commercial), and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026



Electric Motor Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Motor Type (AC Motors, DC Motors, Hermetic Motors), By Power Output (Fractional Horsepower (Up to 1HP), Integral Horsepower (Above 1HP)), By Voltage (Up to 1 kV, 1 kV-6.6 kV, Above 6.6 kV), By Application (Industrial Machinery, Motor Vehicles, Electrical Appliances, Others), By End-User (Industrial, Commercial, Residential, Agriculture) and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026



AC Drives Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Power Rating (Low Power Drives, Medium Power Drives, and High Power Drives), By Voltage (Low Voltage and Medium Voltage), By Application (Pumps, Conveyors, Compressors, Electric Fan), By End-User (Food & Beverage, Oil & Gas, Power Generation, Building Automation, Metal & Mining, Water & Wastewater, Chemical & Petrochemicals) and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026



Heat Exchanger Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Type (Shell & Tube, Plate & Frame, Air Coolers, Cooling Towers, and Others), By Application (Chemicals, Oil & Gas, Power Generation, HVAC, Automobile, Pharmaceuticals, Food & Beverage, Others), and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026



About us:

Fortune Business Insights offers expert corporate analysis and accurate data, helping organizations of all sizes make timely decisions. We tailor innovative solutions for our clients, assisting them address challenges distinct to their businesses. Our goal is to empower our clients with holistic market intelligence, giving a granular overview of the market they are operating in.

Our reports contain a unique mix of tangible insights and qualitative analysis to help companies achieve sustainable growth. Our team of experienced analysts and consultants use industry-leading research tools and techniques to compile comprehensive market studies, interspersed with relevant data.

At Fortune Business Insights we aim at highlighting the most lucrative growth opportunities for our clients. We therefore offer recommendations, making it easier for them to navigate through technological and market-related changes. Our consulting services are designed to help organizations identify hidden opportunities and understand prevailing competitive challenges.

Contact Us:

Fortune Business Insights Pvt. Ltd.

308, Supreme Headquarters,

Survey No. 36, Baner,

Pune-Bangalore Highway,

Pune - 411045, Maharashtra, India.

Phone:

US :+1 424 253 0390

UK : +44 2071 939123

APAC : +91 744 740 1245

Email: sales@fortunebusinessinsights.com

Fortune Business Insights

LinkedIn | Twitter | Blogs


AP

More than 1,100 former employees of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) have called on Attorney General William Barr to step down over his handling of the sentencing of Donald Trump ally Roger Stone.

The decision to reduce the prison sentence faced by the self-described dirty trickster led to four DOJ prosecutors resigning from the case  amid fears the department was being unduly influenced by the Oval Office to offer preferential treatment for Mr Trumps close confidant.

Now in an open letter 1,142 former employees of the government department have called the attorney generals decision to intervene on a case following anger from the president the behaviour of an autocracy.

The growing list of signatories, a group of Democrat and Republican appointees which includes Bush-administration deputy attorney general Donald Ayer, said the move constituted a grave threat to the fair administration of justice.

In this nation, we are all equal before the law, the letter said. A person should not be given special treatment in a criminal prosecution because they are a close political ally of the President.

Governments that use the enormous power of law enforcement to punish their enemies and reward their allies are not constitutional republics; they are autocracies.

Stone, who was found guilty in November on a number of counts including obstructing a congressional investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, had been set to face a prison sentence of nine years following recommendations from justice department prosecutors.

But senior officials in the department, including Mr Barr, overruled the sentence to replace it with a more lenient alternative after the president wrote on Twitter that almost a decade of prison time for the 67-year-old was a horrible and very unfair situation.

Both the attorney general and the president have since attempted to distance themselves from claims of political interference, with Mr Trump saying he has so far chosen not to exert influence over criminal proceedings handled by the department.

Story continues

Shortly after four of his own prosecutors removed themselves from the case, Mr Barr appeared to chide his commander in chief while stating he was not going to be bullied or influenced by anybody whether its Congress, a newspaper editorial board, or the president.

However critics point out that the more lenient sentencing approved of by the president still stands. The letter added: Mr. Barrs actions in doing the Presidents personal bidding unfortunately speak louder than his words.

Those actions, and the damage they have done to the Department of Justices reputation for integrity and the rule of law, require Mr. Barr to resign.

The Independent has approached the DOJ for comment.

Read more

Barr attack on Trump is a carefully staged ruse, former Republican l
Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee has agreed to visit Chhattisgarh in July and monitor specific identified areas for economic decentralization after Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel met him at MIT Cambridge in Boston on Sunday, the government said.

Baghel and his team discussed various issues with Banerjee regarding the scope of economic development of Chhattisgarh, according to an official statement.

CM Baghel interacted in detail about the innovative and unique experiments like Narva, Garvaa, Ghurwa and Bari, Haat Bazaar Clinic Scheme, Suchita Abhiyan and Ethanol Project of Chhattisgarh, said an official present during the meeting.

The officer further said that Banerjee expressed his satisfaction over the innovation of Chhattisgarh government and emphasized on designing and monitoring specific identified areas for economic decentralization.

Accepting the request by the Chief Minister to visit Chhattisgarh to take a look at the experiments and the results, Banerjee also agreed to take a visit to the state around the month of July, the statement said.

Baghel is in the US to participate in the India Conference at the Harvard University. He spoke on Caste and Politics in Democratic India on Saturday.

Baghel also met selected investors from Bay Area in San Francisco to attract more investment in Chhattisgarh.

The Chief Minister along with his delegation discussed investment opportunities in Chhattisgarh with The IndUS Entrepreneurs (TiE) Silicon Valley president BJ Arun and other investors including Nitin Mehta, co-partner in Green Oaks Capital Management and Raju Indukuri, who is an investor in a data centre company in India that is setting up a facility in Raipur.

The TiE (The IndUS Entrepreneurs) is a non-profit association dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship in the Bay Area as well as globally. It supports start-ups through networking and raising capital for both new and experienced entrepreneurs.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Displaced Syrians fleeing govt offensive forced to sleep outside in sub-zero temperatures as camps are full, UN says.

Out in the open in freezing weather, Mustafa Hamadi and his family settled into their makeshift tent in the village of Killi, in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib  their second displacement in less than a year. The sub-zero temperatures on the night of February 11 kept them awake so, just before midnight, Mustafa moved the gas heater inside the tent.

By morning, Mustafa, his wife Amoun, their 12-year-old daughter Huda and their granddaughter Hoor, who was just three years old, were all found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning.

According to Nizar Hamadi, Mustafas brother who was texting with him that night, the tent  constructed of metal pipes and nylon sheets  had no proper ventilation and did little to insulate Mustafas family from the cold.

It must have been minus nine degrees Celsius (15.8 Fahrenheit) that night, Nizar told Al Jazeera. My brother knew better than to bring a gas heater into an enclosed space with no air vents, but what choice did he have?

Mustafa Hamadi and his daughter Huda pose in the snow a day before they were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning in Killi, Idlib province [Courtesy of Nizar Hamadi/Al Jazeera]

The Hamadi family, originally from Kafrouma village in the Maarat al-Numan countryside, were forced to leave their homes last summer and move further north amid an intensifying Syrian government aerial bombardment on Idlib, the last major opposition stronghold in the country.

Mustafa and Nizar settled in an empty unfinished school in the town of Binnish, some 8km (five miles) east of Idlib city, before Mustafa moved to Killi as the shelling escalated.

The school is not fit for living, Nizar said. But there is not a single house that has not been occupied by previous rounds of displaced people. Some rooms have three of four families living in them. The people displaced are like a snowball on the move, getting bigger every day.

Families sleeping without shelter

Backed by Russian air power, President Bashar al-Assads troops in April last year launched a major offensive in Idlib, home to more than a million people, the majority of whom were transferred there en masse from other areas captured by government forces. The military push disrupted a fragile cooperation between Turkey and Russia  backing opposite sides in Syrias conflict  that had designated Idlib as a de-escalation zone.

The campaign continued as several ceasefires failed to hold up. In December, the Syrian government intensified its assault on the region in a bid to seize the strategic M5 highway, which runs through Aleppo and Idlib provinces and was once a major commercial route.

The offensive, which has also forced residents of western Aleppo to flee to Idlib, has killed hundreds of civilians and caused the largest single displacement of people since the war began in 2011, with at least 900,000 people forced to flee since December, according to the United Nations.

In addition to the indiscriminate bombing of civilians, the lack of adequate shelter has resulted in 82,000 people living in the freezing open air, settling under trees or in snowy fields, the UN said.

According to figures from the UN humanitarian body OCHA, 36 percent of newly displaced families are housed by relatives or find rental accommodation, while 17 percent found refuge in already overcrowded camps. At least 15 percent sought shelter in unfinished buildings and 12 percent are still looking for shelter.

Nizar Hamadi, who is still living in the unfinished school in Binnish, said the reality for many people in IDP camps is basically living under the trees in the summer, and setting up blankets and nylon sheets in the winter.

Despite the fate that my brother and his family members faced, there has not been a single humanitarian organisation that responded to this tragedy by giving us provisions or tents, he said. Its been like this for almost two months now. We need help but the sympathy seems to be reserved only for news headlines.

Babies freezing to death

Women and children  who comprise more than 80 percent of the newly displaced people  are again among those who suffer most.

Describing the situation in Syria as having reached a horrifying new level, Mark Lowcock, the UN head of humanitarian affairs and emergency relief, said in a statement on Monday that the displaced are traumatised and forced to sleep outside in freezing temperatures because aid camps are full.

Mothers burn plastic to keep children warm. Babies and small children are dying because of the cold.

In Kalbeet camp a few days ago, a five-month-old baby, Areej Majid al-Hmeidi, froze to death, according to Abu Anwar, an official and resident of the facility near the Syrian-Turkish border.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Anwar said Areejs family do not want to talk to media because they blame themselves for not keeping her warm enough to stay alive.

The conditions here are insufferable, he said.

People are burning rubbish to keep themselves warm, Anwar added. There are 800 families here, or around 5,500 people, and there is only one organisation that is helping us by supplying us with water.

Absolute silence, lack of action

Sara Kayyali, a Human Rights Watch researcher on Syria, said the countrys northwest is facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.

One issue, she told Al Jazeera, is the scale of displacement [that] is simply beyond what the humanitarians are capable of responding to.

The other issue is that the violence  shelling and in some cases air strikes  are not just resulting in the massive displacement, but also impacting the ability to provide shelter and food in a sustained manner, she continued.

Mayada Qabalan, a mental health worker with the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM) who works at a hospital in Idlibs Sarmada, said the conditions for displaced people have reached a breaking point.

What Ive seen with my own eyes is heartbreaking, she told Al Jazeera. Families are sleeping under trees with no cover. Just a few days ago we found a family displaced from Taftanaz, some 17km (11 miles) northwest of Idlib, who were living out in the cold.

A view of the makeshift tents and houses at a refugee camp in Idlib [Anadolu Agency]

Tents cost $150 each, Qabalan said, but humanitarian groups are severely lacking in resources and manpower to offer help.

Aid organisations dont have the capacity for providing for these newly displaced people and the disastrous situation they face, she said.

Kayyali said while the stories coming out of Idlib and western Aleppo are not new in the Syrian conflict, they are surprising in the absolute silence and lack of action that follows.

It is as though people are watching and waiting when they could be acting to save millions of civilians that are effectively trapped, she said.
Brussels: China might have data and the US might have money, but Europe has purpose.

That's the message European Union tech czar Margrethe Vestager aims to convey on Wednesday when she unveils plans to help the bloc compete with the US and China's technological might on its own terms, while conforming with fundamental EU rights including strict privacy and non-discrimination rules.

On the EU's menu: new rules for artificial intelligence (AI), possible legislation for gate-keeping platforms, plans to make data centres carbon-neutral, as well as incentives for businesses to share information with the aim of forming data pools that bolster innovation.

The SAP headquarters in Walldorf, Germany. SAP is one of Europe's biggest tech companies. Credit:Bloomberg

Vestager, the European Commission's executive vice-president for digital affairs, is trying to reassure anxious Europeans that she can handle concerns Europe is becoming irrelevant while Asian and American companies dominate high-tech markets.
By Tren

With his knowledge of history, law and politics, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev vanquished Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani MP Hikmet Babaoglu told Trend.

Babaoglu said that on Feb. 15, panel discussions were held in connection with the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the Munich Security Conference with the participation of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan, prime minister of Armenia, the aggressor country.

Such an open discussion on the settlement of the problem was held for the first time, and the attention of all global information resources was focused precisely on these panel discussions, said the MP.

The Azerbaijani president, demonstrating the undeniable fairness of his position, his brilliant knowledge of history, law and political discussion, logically, witty and in a resourceful manner vanquished the prime minister of the aggressor country, Babaoglu noted. Once again, the world learned that Nagorno Karabakh is the Azerbaijani land, and will forever remain as such. During these discussions, the Azerbaijani president also demonstrated deep knowledge in the field of ethnography and toponymy, skillfully using them to open the eyes of the world community to the realities of Azerbaijan.

The political analyst noted that every Azerbaijani can sincerely be proud of the President, who possesses, among other skills, outstanding qualities of a politician and diplomat.

The prime minister of the aggressor country of Armenia, who looked miserable, was facing the head of our state who was confident in himself and in the support of his people, demanding the restoration of violated justice and respect for humiliated international law, said Babaoglu. It is obvious that during the discussions, both from the point of view of history and international law, President Ilham Aliyev managed to convince everyone that Nagorno-Karabakh surely belongs to Azerbaijan.

Two statements by President Ilham Aliyev inflicted stunning blows on Pashinyan and his patrons, the political analyst added. The head of state said that the Armenian people have already exercised their right to self-determination, and they already have an Armenian state. President Ilham Aliyev advised the Armenians to find another place on the planet for the second 'self-determination'. Secondly, the head of state stressed that Armenia wants to preserve the status quo, and thinks that it will be able to keep Azerbaijani territories under occupation forever. President Ilham Aliyev resolutely stated that this wont happen. It was the message of the Azerbaijani president not only to Armenia, but to the whole world that we will free our occupied lands and restore our territorial integrity.

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 grandparents and uncle arrested Wednesday for the death of a 12-year-old boy near West Yellowstone have been accused of beating and torturing him before killing him.

James Danny Sasser Jr., 47; Patricia Lynn Batts, 48; and James Danny Sasser III, 14, are charged with felony deliberate homicide for the death of 12-year-old James Alex Hurley.

Judge Rick West set bail at $500,000 for Sasser Jr. and $750,000 for Batts in Gallatin County Justice Court and were represented by attorney Ryan Peabody. They remained in the Gallatin County Detention Center Thursday evening.

Sasser III, Hurley's uncle, was seen by Judge John Brown in Gallatin County District Court on Wednesday and is being held at the Yellowstone Youth Services Center in Billings on a $500,000 bail. He will be tried as an adult, according to prosecutor Bjorn Boyer.

On Feb. 3, a Gallatin County Sheriffs deputy responded to Buffalo Drive in West Yellowstone, Montana, for a reported unattended death of a 12-year-old. The deputy found that the circumstances surrounding the death appeared to be suspicious and asked for help from the sheriffs detective division for the investigation.

James had multiple wounds and contusions all over his body, detectives saw. A large gash on the back of the boy's head and other injuries were not consistent with self-inflicted injuries, according to court documents.

An autopsy of the body showed James died from blunt force trauma to the back of the head and is waiting on a toxicology report for a final opinion.

James lived with his grandparents, Sasser Jr. and Batts, for the past two years after being sent by his mother to live with his father. James' father died two years ago, according to documents. James' mother had tried to contact James by phone several times, but she was blocked by Batts.

Batts, Sasser Jr. and Sasser III told detectives James' behavior had become problematic over time, saying that he tried harming himself multiple times and that James could hear voices telling him to kill people.

The family also told detectives that Sasser III woke up during the night of Jan. 27 and saw James standing over the top of Batts with a knife. Sasser III then tackled James and punched the boy several times in the head. The detective noted that Sasser III is about 6 feet tall and 300 pounds, while James was about 5-feet-3-inches tall and about 100 pounds.

The family said several times they had used a wooden paddle with a blue-taped handle to hit and punish James. James and Sasser III had been in multiple fights, but Sasser III denied ever hitting James on the back of the head with the paddle. The last time they fought was on Feb. 1, but the fight on Jan. 27 was a blood bath, according to Batts in court documents.

Sasser III said the fight on Jan. 27 "was worse," and told detectives he beat James "pretty good" after he found James standing over Batts with a knife. Batts told detectives that Sasser III had hit James with his fists but denied that he used the paddle at that time.

The detective division hasnt been able to find records that show the family reported James' behavior to law enforcement or tried to get medical or psychiatric help for the boy.

On Feb. 6, detectives searched cellphones belonging to Batts, Sasser Jr. and Sasser III and found multiple videos of the family torturing James. Detectives also found that a good portion of the food in the house was locked away and James wouldnt have access to it, according to documents.

In court on Thursday, Sasser III admitted to kicking the boy in the head 24 to 36 hours before he died. Boyer requested a higher bail for Batts, arguing she is more culpable in this case.

Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 3 Angry 15
He says NATO "could only worsen" the Ukrainian issue.

Russia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov insists NATO "has nothing to do with Ukraine" and should not interfere in talks on Donbas.

"When they [at NATO] say that they are ready for dialogue with Russia, they are not completely true  they are open for dialogue that they understand as advancing claims against us, primarily regarding Ukraine," Lavrov said after the 2020 Munich Security Conference, according to an UNIAN correspondent in the Russian Federation.

Read alsoRussia names condition for holding Normandy Four summit

According to him, the Russia-NATO Council has never gathered "without an attempted ultimatum to force us to consider Ukrainian problems in this format."

"Our response is  and I mentioned this [to NATO Secretary General Jens] Stoltenberg when we met in Munich  that NATO has nothing to do with Ukraine. We have dialogue with those Western countries that are in charge of the Ukrainian settlement  primarily participants of the Normandy format  France and Germany," he said.

"And as Americans also joined these Ukrainian negotiations from time to time, at least in the last couple of years, we're still in contact with them but NATO as it is  they have nothing to do with the Ukrainian issue. They could only worsen it, deepen the problems by keeping on saying that NATO is looking forward to having Ukraine joining them. That's undermining the efforts to implement the Minsk agreements," he said.
House Leader Steny Hoyer Leads Trip to Puerto Rico to Survey Disaster Needs

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has led a group of lawmakers to Puerto Rico for the first time since a series of devastating earthquakes struck the island in late December and early January.

The two-day trip comes at a time when Democrats are at odds with President Donald Trump about the release of full aid to Puerto Rico for disaster relief.

Joining Hoyer are Reps. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.), Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) had to withdraw from the trip.

Their visit will include updates from Puerto Ricos Governor Wanda Vazquez Garced and other top leaders as well as surveying the damage caused by the earthquakes.

We were supposed to meet with the Governor. The Governor had a family emergency, a health emergency. Ironically, one of our Members, a Member from Louisiana, had a similar emergency, so he could not be here. A Republican Member of the Congress, said Hoyer in a Feb. 17 statement.

Vazquez Garced has faced calls by the public to resign over her handling of disaster relief and firing of Federal Emergency Management Agency officials.

The Congress members are also scheduled to travel to the southern part of the island, where thousands of people have been made homeless by the earthquakes that toppled structures in the area.

We will be going to the south tomorrow, and were going to visit schools in Guanica and were going to talk to citizens who are there and we will be talking to displaced individuals, Hoyer said.

The last earthquake, a 6.4 magnitude tremor, struck the U.S. island territory in January and rendered thousands of people homeless and without power. That quake followed hundreds of quakes that had struck Puerto Rico since late December.

We are here because of our great concern, our great concern Congress of the United States has appropriated over $50 billion to respond to the crisis in infrastructure, human needs, housing, nutrition, education, and transportationall of the issues, including water, sewer, and the electric grid.

After months of protests from Democrats, the White House announced in January that it would release $8 billion in long-term rebuilding aid from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The Trump administration has repeatedly voiced concerns of alleged corruption and mismanagement as the reason for not handing over billions of dollars in disaster funds to the island.

A senior Housing and Urban Development official said in a statement to NPR that they have put in place a financial monitoring team so could move forward with funding disaster recovery.

At the start of January, Trump signed an emergency declaration to coordinate disaster relief efforts.

Trump ordered federal assistance to supplement Commonwealth and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from earthquakes beginning on Dec. 28, the White House stated.

Hoyer said that though their visit is fueled by frustration and anger that rebuilding is not happening fast enough, they are there to find solutions and not to blame anyone for the situation.

This is not about trying to blame people, it is about making sure that the people of Puerto Rico are put back in a position where they are no longer challenged by being homeless, by having nutrition shortage, by being unemployed.

Hoyer said that the goal of the trip is to make sure that Puerto Ricans get the help they need and to show solidarity.
ALBANY  The Rev. Cheryl W. Hawkins had a special-event permit to host her street ministry at Townsend Park last July.

With a bullhorn, Hawkins preached and sang Christian songs on a Saturday afternoon at the small park where Western and Central avenues converge at Henry Johnson Boulevard.

But Hawkins street ministering was cut short when Albany police allegedly threatened to arrest her if she did not leave the park, according to a notice of claim she later filed against the city. Police told Hawkins her permit had been revoked, seized her bullhorn and demanded she pack up her religious literature and leave the park, according to her claim.

In an effort to gain insight into the incident that resulted in a noise ordinance violation issued to Hawkins, the reverends attorney, Louis B. Oliver, Jr., requested a slew of records from the city police department, including footage from dashboard cameras and the ones worn by officers.

In denying Olivers request, and his appeal, the city cited a section of state Civil Rights Law, known as 50-a, claiming the camera footage is exempt because it consists of "personnel records used to evaluate performance toward continued employment or promotion.

Oliver and other proponents of repealing 50-a said the citys denial is yet another example of law enforcement agencies taking broad strokes in the interpretation of the statute that was enacted in the late 1970s to prevent defense attorneys and others from accessing police disciplinary records.

The justification for having body cameras on officers was transparency, so the public would have access and be able to know what happened during interactions with the police, he said. That was the justification for spending taxpayer dollars on these body cameras, and this policy is a betrayal of that representation and its a direct contradiction. Its a lie to the public.

The broadening interpretations of 50-a through the years, including by courts, have motivated advocates and some state lawmakers to push for the law to be repealed. But mounting pressure among state legislators to make more pressing changes to the states newly enacted bail-reform law has pushed efforts to repeal 50-a off their priority list.

Still, a small cohort of advocates for its repeal  which is tucked in a package of bills called the Safer NY Act  recently called on the state Legislature to take action.

Additional measures to reform the criminal justice system included in the proposal include codifying and strengthening the ability to enlist special prosecutors, reducing unnecessary arrests for low-level offenses, reinvesting in communities of color as part of recreational marijuana legalization, and requiring police departments to report demographic and geographic data on enforcement activities.

The cloak of secrecy that police departments use to hide police misconduct is driving a crisis in New York state that gives abusive officers the impression that they are somehow above the law and they act with impunity, said Michael Sisitzky, the lead policy counsel for the New York Civil Liberties Unions advocacy department. The way we start to end that is by passing legislation that fully repeals section 50-a and by passing the police STAT (Act) so we can get basic information on how officers are interacting with New Yorkers across the state.

But the impacts of bail reform and the new pre-trial discovery rules that took effect Jan. 1 have monopolized the conversation.

Assemblyman Dan Quart, D-Manhattan, said despite lawmakers attention being pulled elsewhere, hes dedicated to pushing for the repeal of 50-a, which he called one of the worst laws in the state.

Just because were in the middle of budget session and bail is a topic of discussion, does not mean that we cannot, should not, must not address the full repeal of 50-a to ensure a level of basic transparency in police personnel records, he said.

Discussions about repealing the controversial section of the Civil Rights Law has been ongoing for years, but proponents have had little success in moving the needle, facing staunch opposition from law enforcement agencies and their respective unions. Attorney General Letitia James has called for the law to be repealed, but the advocates for change have not received support from top lawmakers, including Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo or the Legislature's majority leaders.

Thomas Mungeer, president of the state troopers PBA, said he is concerned how the information could be used if records previously withheld under 50-a are released.

An officer could be accused of misconduct several times over his years with a department, but they may be unfounded, Mungeer said. He bristled at the notion officers who misbehave are not dealt with accordingly.

If a police officer runs amiss of the law, theyre dealt with accordingly, he said. When they did the FOIL law in 1974, there was clearly a need for further protections for police officers and thats why you have 50-a in the New York State Civil Rights Law.

A push to repeal a section of the Civil Rights Law is kind of a scary thing, Mungeer said. I find it very interesting that it was not codified in public officers law but civil rights law.

However, there are many documented cases of police agencies, including the State Police, handling allegations of criminal conduct and civil rights violations against police officers in internal, non-public proceedings that may result in discipline or a resignation - but not an arrest.

The law was never intended to block public disclosure of records on police misconduct, including documented criminal behavior, according to former and now-deceased state Sen. Frank D. Padavan of Queens, who sponsored the original legislation.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Through the years, there have been multiple court decisions in New York broadly expanding the 1976 law's original intent, enabling police and prison agencies to conceal internal records that may confirm instances of civil rights violations, excessive force and criminal conduct by officers.

The law shielding disclosure of the personnel records was also extended to firefighters, although it had been crafted to explicitly prevent police officers from being cross-examined about their disciplinary histories during court proceedings.

Greg McGee, president of the Albany Police Officers Union, referred comment to officials with their umbrella union, Council 82, who did not respond to calls for comment.

The sweeping interpretations also have shown disparities in practice depending on the location, too.

In a state appellate court decision last year in Manhattan, the panel ruled against the New York Citys Police Benevolent Association, which had argued body camera footage could not be released without a court order or an officers consent, deeming the footage a personnel record under 50-a. The court disagreed with the PBA, concluding the body camera footage was not primarily intended as a personnel record, but to promote transparency, accountability and public trust building.

Despite that ruling, Albany Corporation Counsel Marisa Franchini contends the city is following the law by withholding the body camera footage in Hawkins case, and that the downstate court decision does not apply in the Capital Region.

It has not been decided upon by the Court of Appeals, so its not yet the law of the state, she said. Were not bound by it.

Albanys body camera policy outlines requests for access will be administered through the Office of Professional Standards  the internal entity that reviews police conduct and rarely provides a public report on their findings and recommendations  and accessibility will be determined by applicable laws leaving public release of footage in a gray area.

A bill introduced by Quart last year would exclude body cameras and other video recordings used by police from being considered personnel records, as some police agencies have asserted.

Those arguing for a repeal of the statute contend it would provided more transparency regarding police conduct and help build relationships between communities and law enforcement.

Recently, former Albany police Chief Brendan Cox, who now serves as director of policing strategies for the LEAD National Support Bureau, came out in support of 50-as repeal, emphasizing how it will strengthen relationships with communities.

People expect law enforcement to be transparent, and the more transparent we can be the better the relationships we can build, he said. We live in a world where people dont want to take you at your word, they want to see the proof of it, and I think thats reasonable.

Sen. Jamaal Bailey, D-Bronx, who is sponsoring legislation to repeal 50-a, agreed with Cox on transparency helping forge stronger community-police relations and said hes hopeful all groups can come to the table and find a middle ground.

I think we have to have more conversations between law enforcement, members of the conference and the advocacy community, who all want the same things  they want to be able to trust law enforcement, Bailey said. My belief is that the bridge between those two sides is transparency and thats one of the reasons why I think we should certainly repeal 50-a, start over and begin a brighter day in New York state.
LafargeHolcim Bangladesh signs agreement with Reckitt Benckiser

17 February 2020

LafargeHolcim Bangladesh Ltd (LHBL) has signed a corporate agreement with Reckitt Benckiser Bangladesh Ltd (RB). Under the agreement RB will take professional waste management services from Geocycle, a project of LafargeHolcim.



Rajesh Surana, CEO, LHBL said: "With the expansion of industrial base and population growth in Bangladesh, larger volumes of waste are generated and there are only few proper waste management solutions available. With the only fully integrated cement plant of the country, situated at Chhatak, Sunamganj, we own the state-of-art waste management facility  Geocycle, which is providing sustainable waste management solutions to some of the leading manufacturing companies of Bangladesh."



Vishal Gupta, managing director of Reckitt Benckiser Bangladesh Ltd, said: "Reckitt Benckiser is a socially-responsible company and we are looking forward to avail the LHBL's Geocycle services which will help us to build a greener world. Through the Geocycle facility of LafargeHolcim we are hopeful to achieve our goal."

Published under
Malaysia has stated that it will adhere to its own security standards in selecting vendor partners as it prepares to deploy 5G this year.

The selection of vendors for 5G network equipment is politically fraught, with the US pressuring its allies to avoid using kit supplied by Chinas Huawei. Malaysias communications minister Gobind Singh Deo acknowledged that concerns that have been expressed around the world about Huawei but noted that the country would follow its own standards.

Singh Deo explained to Reuters: My position is very clear, we have our own safety standards, we have own safety requirements. So whoever deals with us, whoever comes up with proposals, we have to be certain and we have to be sure they meet the security standards that we have.

The US brought a number of accusations against Huawei, claiming that the vendor stole trade secrets and tracked individuals on behalf of the Iranian government. Huawei has denied these charges but is currently blacklisted in the US due to concerns that its equipment could contain back doors that would allow it to spy for the Chinese government.

Huawei has promised the Indian government that its equipment will not feature such back doors. Asked if the vendor had made the same pledge to Malaysia, Singh Deo said: When you talk about security, be it Huawei or anyone else, you want to be assured that whatever system they propose... is suitable for you. We do not say we will not deal with one particular company because generally there are security concerns.

The Malaysian operator Maxis already has a 5G agreement in place with Huawei, and the vendor has provisional deals lined up with other operators in the market, including Celcom and Telekom Malaysia. Nokia and Ericsson are also pursuing 5G agreements in Malaysia, with the government keen to foster competition among vendors for a healthier sector.

Spectrum tenders set to be issued in April with 5G deployments expected in the third quarter. Singh Deo said he expects commercial services to be available by the end of the year or early 2021, with the upgraded fibre and cellular infrastructure likely to cost $5.22 billion over the next five years.
Joint Press Release

Outside trading hours - Regulated information*

Brussels, Budapest, Bratislava - 17 February 2020 - 5.45 p.m. CET

KBC acquires OTP Banka Slovensko (Slovakia)

Today, Belgium's KBC Group and OTP Bank, the Hungarian parent company of OTP Banka Slovensko (Slovakia), reached agreement for KBC to acquire ownership of 99.44% of the shares in OTP Banka Slovensko, a mid-sized Slovakian bank focusing on retail, micro SME and SME customers. The remaining shares are held by a number of private individuals.

The acquisition will have a limited impact (-0.2%) on KBC's solid capital position, keeping KBC's excellent CET1 ratio well above regulatory minimum capital requirements. At the end of 2019, the CET1 ratio stood at 15.7%1 (Basel III fully loaded, Danish compromise).

The transaction is still subject to regulatory approval from the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) and to the authorisation of the National Bank of Belgium (NBB), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic. The parties involved in the transaction expect the deal to be finalised mid-2020 (in the second or third quarter).

After obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals, KBC Bank will become the new parent company of OTP Banka Slovensko. The future merged entity will substantially strengthen CSOB's bank-insurance franchise in Slovakia and enhance its cross-selling potential with CSOB Poist'ovna, CSOB Leasing and CSOB Asset Management.

The next logical step is the legal and operational merger of CSOB Bank and OTP Banka Slovensko, which will further consolidate CSOB's current position of fourth on the Slovakian banking market in terms of assets, with a market share of approximately 12.6%. KBC believes in the positive impact of cooperation and looks forward to welcoming OTP Banka Slovensko's employees into the KBC and CSOB family when the transaction closes. OTB Banka Slovensko's brand name will remain in place for a certain period going forward to ensure a seamless transition for customers and staff until the merger is completed.

In the meantime, OTP Banka Slovensko, with the full support of CSOB, will continue to honour its commitments to the market and to provide professional service of the highest level to all its customers, who will not have to take any action as a result of the transaction.

The merger will not affect the grants system of The Bethlen Gabor Foundation2 awarding or the option for Hungarian-speaking customers of OTP Banka Slovensko to be served in their own language at locations with a Hungarian population.

Johan Thijs, KBC Group CEO, welcomes today's agreement: 'This deal is a further execution of our strategy, which focuses on becoming the reference bank-insurance group for retail customers, small and medium-sized enterprises and midcaps in KBC's core markets. Through CSOB Bank, we have been present in the Slovakian banking market since 2002. Acquiring OTP Banka Slovensko will allow us to substantially strengthen our share of the Slovakian market, while enabling us to benefit from economies of scale and increased visibility in this highly competitive market. It will also create opportunities for us to provide high level, complex financial services to a wider range of customers, who will undoubtedly benefit from this merger.'

Sandor Csanyi, OTP Bank Chairman and CEO, commented: 'OTP Group continually works towards increasing its market share in the CEE region through organic growth and acquisitions. The Group has followed this strategy throughout the almost twenty years it has been present in Slovakia. However, as it was unable to increase its market share to the optimum level, management took the decision to sell this group member. This deal will enable our group to focus on markets where we can achieve a higher market share in the future. From the very beginning of the sales process, it was of crucial importance for OTP Bank's management to come to an agreement with a partner that would be able to continue providing OTP Banka Slovensko customers with the innovative financial solutions and high standard of services they have become accustomed to, and where ongoing professional advancement and a stable employer background would be available to our Slovakian colleagues. I am fully convinced that the change in ownership will offer numerous opportunities for customers and colleagues both now and in the future.

I would like to thank the management and staff of OTP Banka Slovensko for their professional and devoted work during the nearly two decades in which our subsidiary bank has been a stable market player providing high-quality services in Slovakia.'

Daniel Kollar, CEO of CSOB Bank Slovakiaand Country Manager concluded: 'Today's announcement is another milestone for CSOB in Slovakia. It will allow us to substantially strengthen our current market position and help us fulfil our role in the economic fabric of Slovakia and in society as a whole. We are convinced that the customers and employees of OTP Banka Slovensko - whom we all warmly welcome to CSOB and KBC - will benefit significantly from this future merger. We guarantee our new customers access to high quality, modern and innovative financial services enabled by digital technologies, as well as a personal and professional approach. At CSOB, we believe in dynamic collaboration initiatives between employees and advocate adding valuable insights to - and gaining them from - our teams, even across borders. With this in mind, let me take this opportunity to encourage, and invite, our new colleagues from OTP Banka Slovensko to embrace our community and to share their ideas and experiences with us.'

Full press release attached







1 After pay-out of dividend and approval of the announced share buy-back by the European Central Bank and AGM/EGM

2 The Bethlen Gabor Fund (Hungary) is a dedicated public money fund. Its main task is to promote individual and community prosperity, material and intellectual growth in the homeland of Hungarians abroad and to provide support for the preservation of their culture. The Bethlen Gabor Fund operates a transparent tendering system for the use and effective allocation of grants. OTP Bank grants drawdown of the funding and managing an account for awarded applicants free of charge.

Attachment
[February 17, 2020] Databricks Named a Leader in Gartner Magic Quadrant for Data Science and Machine Learning Platforms

Databricks, the leader in unified data analytics, has been named by Gartner (News - Alert) as a Leader in the 2020 Magic Quadrant for Data Science and Machine Learning Platforms. The complete report was published on February 11, 2020, and is available at: http://databricks.com/p/whitepaper/gartner-magic-quadrant-2020-data-science-machine-learning Databricks' Unified Data Analytics Platform allows organizations access to all of their big data and traditional data for business intelligence and machine learning on one platform. On its journey to help data teams solve the world's toughest problems, Databricks has lasered in on being customer obsessed, building a strong partner ecosystem and continuing to innovate and contribute to the open source community, including the development of new open source projects, Delta Lake and MLflow. "Data science and machine learning is top of mind within every organization. Even traditional, hundred-years old companies are trying to become high-tech companies to keep a competitive advantage over data-driven startups. In order to be successful, organizations require one cohesive platform for data teams to collaborate on business intelligence and machine learning," said Ali Ghodsi, cofounder and CEO at Databricks. "We see this placement as a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant, along with our other recognition this year, as a clear sign of the growing massive demand for unified data analytics." Databricks has contributed significant innovations to the open source community. In addition to being the original creators of Apache SparkTM, Databricks leads the development of Delta Lake, MLflow and Koalas, which has earned the company a reputation as an innovator within the open source community.



Databricks continued its momentum by closing its Series F funding, which raised the company's total funding amount to $900 million. The capital is intended to accelerate innovation and scale across the globe, and values Databricks at $6.2 billion. Thousands of global organizations such as Nielsen, Hotels.com, Overstock, Bechtel, Shell and HP are leveraging Databricks to unify data science and data engineering teams across the end-to-end data and machine learning lifecycle. Gartner's report evaluated 16 vendors based on their ability to execute and the completeness of their vision for its Magic Quadrant for Data Science and Machine Learning Platforms. Gartner's completeness of vision axis comprised eight evaluation criteria: market understanding, marketing strategy, sales strategy, offering (product) strategy, business model, vertical/industry strategy, innovation, and geographic strategy. The ability to execute axis comprised seven criteria: product or service, overall viability, sales execution/pricing, market responsiveness/record, marketing execution, customer experience, and operations.

Databricks will showcase its Unified Data Analytics Platform as an exhibitor at upcoming Gartner Data & Analytics Summits taking place in Sydney Australia (February 17 - 18), London, England (March 9 - 11) and Dallas, Texas (March 23 - 26). For more information about Databricks, visit www.databricks.com. (1) Gartner "Magic Quadrant for Data Science and Machine Learning," written by Peter Krensky, Pieter den Hamer, Erick Brethenoux, Jim Hare, Carlie Idoine, Alexander Linden, Svetlana Sicular, Farhan Choudhary, February 11, 2020. Gartner Disclaimer

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. About the Gartner Data & Analytics Summit 2020

The Gartner Data and Analytics Summit is the premier gathering for chief data/analytics officers and senior data and analytics leaders. Gartner analysts will provide analysis on data and analytics trends, along with the tools to build on the fundamentals of data management, business intelligence (BI), and analytics to accelerate the shift toward a data-driven culture. Follow news and updates from the Summit on social media by using #GartnerDA. About Databricks

Databricks helps data teams solve the world's toughest problems. As the leader in Unified Data Analytics, Databricks helps organizations make all their data ready for analytics, empower data-driven decisions across the organization, and rapidly adopt machine learning to outpace the competition. The company's global customer base has thousands of organizations including Comcast, Shell, Expedia (News - Alert), and Regeneron. Databricks is venture-backed and founded by the original creators of popular open source projects, including Apache Spark, Delta Lake and MLflow. To learn more, follow Databricks on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Apache, Apache Spark and Spark are trademarks of the Apache Software Foundation. Copyright  2019 Delta Lake, a Series of LF Projects, LLC. For website terms of use, trademark policy and other project policies please see https://lfprojects.org. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200217005397/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Women released from prison are almost three times less likely to be employed on release than men leaving jail, a damning new report has found.

The study, carried out by the Prison Reform Trust and Working Chance, found fewer than one in 20 women were in employment six weeks after leaving prison, compared with more than one in 10 men.

Researchers warned women face a litany of obstacles in securing employment  drawing attention to a dearth of childcare support, low pay and the fact they are more likely to have suffered domestic abuse.

Nearly three in five women leaving prison were found to have been reconvicted within a year of release but this figure surges to nearly three-quarters of women serving sentences of less than a year.

Around three quarters of jail sentences given to women are for six months or less, which is indicative of the fact that a higher proportion of women carry out less serious, non-violent offences than men.

UK prison conditions: in pictures Show all 8 1 /8 UK prison conditions: in pictures UK prison conditions: in pictures A cell covered in graffiti at HMP Liverpool. PA UK prison conditions: in pictures HMP Liverpool has some of the worst conditions inspectors have seen. HM Inspectorate of Prisons/PA UK prison conditions: in pictures A broken window in a cell at HMP Liverpool HM Inspectorate of Prisons/PA Wire UK prison conditions: in pictures A shower unit with protruding electric cable at HMP Liverpool HM Inspectorate of Prisons/PA UK prison conditions: in pictures Litter at HMP Liverpool HM Inspectorate of Prisons/PA Wire UK prison conditions: in pictures A wall damaged by damp at HMP Liverpool HM Inspectorate of Prisons/PA UK prison conditions: in pictures A pool table at HMP Liverpool HM Inspectorate of Prisons/PA UK prison conditions: in pictures A sign for HMP Liverpool, where drones are seized at a rate of more than one a week. The prisons watchdog flagged up the impact of the remote-controlled flying devices at HMP Liverpool. PA

Such sentences have the highest reoffending rates and give inmates scant time to take part in training or work while inside.

A recent report from the Prison Reform Trust found 80 per cent of women in jail were inside for non-violent offences.

Katy Swaine Williams, of the Prison Reform Trust, told The Independent women are less likely to obtain jobs on release from jail than their male counterparts because they are more likely to be the sole carers of children.

She said: Poverty is a major factor in womens offending. The UKs very expensive childcare system means that it is very difficult for sole parents to go out to work. A driver for womens offending is to shoplift to get food for their children. This is a systemic problem.

Also, many women are discharged to homelessness, so employment is not the first thing on their list. Instead, it is having a roof over their head. They are also potentially coming out to a situation where they are forced to return to an abusive partner to avoid homelessness or encountering new abusive situations on the streets.

Ms Swaine Williams, who noted female inmates have higher levels of mental health problems than the male prison population, drew attention to the fact women are also more likely to have worked in a caring profession prior to entering prison.

She notes those in the care sector are more likely to be subjected to an enhanced DBS check and called for the government to look at the rules on disclosure of spent convictions for those working in care.

Ms Swaine Williams added: So much of womens offending is driven by trauma. If someone has a violent offence on their record, it should not be an automatic bar from jobs. It could have been violent resistance against an abusive partner or ex. Women need to have the opportunity to move on with their lives.

A large proportion of women are in prison for shoplifting. Women who are experiencing poverty and also may be living in a controlling relationship where their income is restricted can be driven to shoplifting which can lead to imprisonment.

The report looks at the disproportionate impact the current rules for disclosing convictions and cautions have on women. The most common sectors for women in the general population to work in are health and social work, retail and education, and many of these industries involve an enhanced check  meaning even convictions that have long been spent have to be revealed.

Natasha Finlayson, the chief executive of Working Chance, said: Women with criminal convictions face social exclusion, prejudice and multiple obstacles to employment, as this report shows.

Most have survived very difficult childhoods as well as struggles with poverty, poor mental health, substance abuse and domestic violence. For the women we work with, a job is more than an income  it means a future where she can flourish and contribute to society. Supporting these women into employment creates social and economic value and makes society safer by reducing reoffending.

Frontline service providers have frequently warned women in prison are often victims of much more serious offences than the ones they have been convicted of.

Jenny Earle, the director of the Prison Reform Trusts programme to reduce womens imprisonment, said: It is widely acknowledged that most of the solutions to womens offending lie in the community. Addressing the economic marginalisation that can drive women into crime, and the lasting impact of a criminal conviction, is therefore critical.

Tapping into the skills and talents of women who deserve a second chance makes sense for families, the economy and society as well as women themselves. The government knows the solutions, and has already committed to many of them, but as our briefing reveals, a significant gap remains between aspiration and reality.
- Former reality star Nina Ivy recently tied the knot with the man of her dreams

- The former reality star shared a message for those who want to know more about her married life

- Nina Ivy shared a tweet, stating that people who want to see her husband will never see him

Former Big Brother Naija star Nina Chinonso Onyenobi, popularly known as Nina Ivy, recently said her marriage vows at a beautiful traditional wedding ceremony.

Before Nina Ivy tied the knot, there were a series of speculations about the wedding. The young lady had announced that she is a soon-to-be Mrs and some Nigerians could not believe it, which led to people asking questions about her husband-to-be.

After her traditional wedding, which took place on Saturday, February 15, the former reality took to social media to flaunt her wedding photos. She also noted that her new name is Mrs A.

PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigeria's #1 news app

The newlywed shared a new post directed at those who doubted her engagement on the popular micro-blogging platform, Twitter. Nina Ivy noted that those who were searching for her husband will never see him..

In the tweet, she stated that they have been working overtime to find him and they never will. She added that her traditional wedding day was the best day of her life.

PAY ATTENTION: Do you have news to share? Contact Legit.ng instantly

READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had earlier reported that Nigerian actress Anita Joseph finally said her marriage vows to her husband, Real Mc Fish. The actress and Real Mc Fish tied the knot on Friday, February 14, which was Valentine's Day, a day to celebrate love.

The couple tied the knot in the presence of their friends and family members. The actress shared photos from the wedding ceremony on her Instagram page with videos of the ceremony on her story.

Their wedding photos showed the actress dressed in a beautiful lacey white dress while her husband stood by her side dressed in a white suit paired with a black bowtie, black vest and a pair of black shoes.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have upgraded to serve you better

BBNaija stars 2018: Where are they now? - on Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng
Christian makeup line EverBe aims to inspire women to believe what God says about them

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

A new makeup line called EverBe is drawing inspiration from Scripture by inscribing verses on their products to encourage women to embrace who they are in God.

Pegged as the first-ever makeup line to affirm a womans God-given identity, EverBe was created by Candice Coffey, a former elementary school teacher who followed Gods instruction and created an array of beauty products.

The collection features a variety of colors of lip butters, eye shadows, a bronzer and highlighter sticks, each with a different word from verses in Psalm 34 written on them, such as Favored, Fruitful, Pure, Humble, Radiant and Redeemed.

The following is an edited transcript of The Christian Post's interview with Coffey in which she shares her goals for EverBe and desire to inspire women while combating the hyper-sexualized messages constantly aimed at them.

Christian Post: Where did the idea of EverBe come from?

Coffey: The idea for EverBe actually came in a dream. I spent much of 2018 seeking the Lord about my own purpose. I so longed for an opportunity to be used for His Kingdom. I told Him that I didnt want my life to be comfortable, and I asked Him for a calling and purpose that was unique, that didnt look like everyone elses.

What Ive realized since then is that all of our individual callings are unique to us if we are truly seeking Gods plan, and not borrowing callings from those around us.

One night I had a dream about being in a department store, and in front of me was a long makeup counter. I reached down and picked up a tube of black and gold lipstick that had "Psalm 34" written on the side. I then began picking up other compacts that also had Scripture written on them. The next morning, I immediately went to Psalm 34 (in The Passion Translation), and as I was reading His Word, the Lord showed me that He wanted me to create a new beauty brand, drawing on this portion of Scripture as inspiration. That is how EverBe was born.

CP: Why do you think it's important for beauty to be reclaimed?

Coffey: Now, more than ever, our culture says that a womans beauty and value are reflected only by her sexuality. But every woman wants to feel beautiful, loved, and know she has purpose.

EverBe is a call for women to rise above culture's definition of beauty, and discover that their worth and true identity is found only in their Creator  their Heavenly Father  and what He says about them.

We can tell our girls that beauty comes from within, but words alone will not solve the problem of poor self-worth. We have to pair experiences with those messages. EverBe is a tangible act that reminds a woman to speak, apply, and be what our Father has said we are in his Word.

CP: How did you decide on choosing Psalm 34 as the chapter for the line?

Coffey: The Lord clearly gave me this Psalm in the dream. He applied His Word to a problem in our culture.

CP: Your makeup package includes an erasable marker. In what ways do you want women to use it?

Coffey: The purpose of the marker is to fill your mirror with truths about who you are. I encourage a woman to write out the verses from Psalm 34 and say them out loud each day, making declarations about her day and her life. If mirrors everywhere were filled with God's written word, and women were speaking the word of God out loud, every day, the impact for the Kingdom would be unimaginable.

CP: What have you learned in your own experiences about the power of Speak It. Apply It. Be It."?

Coffey: Speak It. Apply It. Be It. is actually a huge (and ongoing) part of my testimony in this journey. When the Lord called me to create EverBe, I didn't realize I would have to go through my own process.

The idea of starting my own business sounded fun, however, walking it out was much more difficult. I went into this thinking that my own life was just fine, and that I must have it all together for God to be calling me into something like this. But I quickly learned that there were things in me that God wanted to deal with, not before, but during the process of walking out the creation of this brand.

When I began the journey, I pretty quickly faced the fears, doubts, intimidation and the nagging feeling that I was totally unqualified for this assignment. After all, I went from being a school teacher to a business owner in an industry where I had no previous experience or even real knowledge, practically overnight. Everywhere I turned, boom, fear! Boom, intimidation!

At first, I had people pray with me, expecting this would make it go away. But I finally realized the Father wanted to walk with me through this process, and teach me more about intimacy with Him through these experiences. He showed me the roots of the fear, doubt, and intimidation, and I faced each one of these things daily with Him.

He gave me the idea for "Speak It. Apply It. Be It." in the beginning stages of EverBe, and though I had all the passion and Scriptures to support the truths behind the call, the Lord showed me that I had no business telling other women to do those things if I hadnt done them myself.

So I began to Speak It. Apply It. Be It. every day when putting on my makeup. Months later, I am living proof that fear, doubt, and intimidation have no authority in my life, and could not stop what God was doing. I finally started believing who I am called to be, and Speak It. Apply It. Be It. helped me get there. EverBe is so much more than just product, it is about a lifestyle of Speak It. Apply It. Be It.

CP: What do you say to those who believe God doesn't want women to wear makeup?

Coffey: Most women desire to feel beautiful and feminine, and I believe this is how God created us, especially when it is driven from the inside out. Look at Queen Esther  it was her beauty paired with her bravery and boldness that literally saved the people of God. I don't think we serve a God that is consumed with "dos and don'ts," but rather a God who is passionate about a relationship with us. Our own dos and don'ts will naturally follow after our heart is postured toward Him.

CP: How has your life changed since creating this product?

Coffey: On the outside, my life doesnt look all that different. The biggest change has been in me. My husband has been so supportive, and my two girls (11 and 8) have mirrors filled with truths and their favorite scriptures. Speak It. Apply It. Be It. is part of their daily routines as well.

Our family is also having new meaningful conversations around entrepreneurship and business; we have been able to talk about the wins and struggles, but most importantly the faithfulness of God.
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg appeared dismissive of America's farmers, claiming he could teach 'anybody' to be a farmer.

The Boston area native made the comments at the University of Oxford while discussing how an ancient agrarian society transformed into an information-driven economy  of the kind that helped him become the billionaire head of a media technology empire.

'The agrarian society lasted 3,000 years and we could teach processes. I could teach anybody, even people in this room, no offense intended, to be a farmer,' Bloomberg said during his 2016 remarks.

GETTING AN EARFUL: 'You dig a hole, you put a seed in, you put dirt on top, add water, up comes the corn. You could learn that.' The comment drew criticism from the Bernie Sanders campaign

He made the remarks at Oxford in 2016 (pictured on the stage)

'It's a process. You dig a hole, you put a seed in, you put dirt on top, add water, up comes the corn. You could learn that,' Bloomberg said.

He continued, in comments captured on video: 'Then we had 300 years of the industrial society. You put the piece of metal on the lathe, you turn the crank in the direction of the arrow and you can have a job. And we created a lot of jobs. At one point, 98 percent of the world worked in agriculture, now it's 2 percent in the United States.'

'Now comes the information economy and the information economy is fundamentally different because it's built around replacing people with technology and the skill sets that you have to learn are how to think and analyze, and that is a whole degree level different,' Bloomberg continued, making a point about the dignity of work and using incentives to stave off revolution.

PRO-GROWTH: John Mellencamp, Mike Bloomberg, New York Mayor, and Willie Nelson stroll through the farmer's market in Union Square

The People for Bernie account accused Bloomberg of 'insulting' the middle class

'You have to have a different skill set, you have to have a lot more gray matter. It's not clear the teachers can teach or the students can learn, and so the challenge of society of finding jobs for these people, who we can take care of giving them a roof over their head and a meal in their stomach and a cell phone and a car and that sort of thing. But the thing that is the most important, that will stop them from setting up a guillotine someday, is the dignity of a job.'

Fox News reported on the comments.

The comments were reposted by rival Bernie Sanders' supporters, as the two candidates battle for support ahead of the Nevada caucuses and Super Tuesday primaries.

Bloomberg has opened his wallet and hired more than 2,000 aides in a bid focused on a clutch of Super Tuesday states. Many include agricultural areas. Among them are Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Minnesota, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
New Delhi, Feb 17 : The Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that its Collegium is equally responsible for the delay in the appointment of judges, noting that the government completes the process of clearing a recommendation in an average of 127 days whereas the Collegium takes an average of 119 days.

The response from the Centre came when it was questioned on the delay in the appointment of the judges. It recommended, in order to fine-tune the exercise of clearing names, the top court introspect and clear the hurdles within the judiciary causing this delay.

Arguing before a bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and K.M. Joseph, Attorney General (AG) K.K. Venugopal contended why should the Centre be blamed for the inordinate delay against the backdrop of High Courts consuming nearly five years in sending names for the appointments.

"Why question the government for this 100 odd days in vetting a name... High courts across the country have not even recommended the names for appointment of judges for 199 out of 396 vacancies. Let the High Courts reform themselves first," he said.

The AG pointed out that the Bombay, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh High Courts have taken more than five years to recommend names for appointments to high courts.

In the previous hearing on the matter, the court had asked Venugopal to make pictorial representation, through a chart, on the timeline on the judicial appointments in high courts and the Supreme Court. The AG explained the court through the chat that various authorities under the Centre took 127 days to clear the name of a judge, and this includes the report from the Intelligence Bureau (IB).

As the court questioned the AG on the length of the time consumed in this IB report, he said: "The number of days taken by the government after receiving inputs from the IB is 127 days. Whereas, the Collegium takes 119 days." He also explained the court the process involved in verifying the IB report, if it were to be adverse on the name of the recommended judge.

The AG, in his arguments, cited the statistics deciphering the overall vacancies in the High Courts and also identified the list of names of judges pending before the central authorities. Justice Joseph insisted that once the names have cleared by the Collegium, then the government is bound to process these appointments into effect.

The AG contested this observation, stating that the government has a duty to see the process of appointing judges. He cited the "rate of rejection" of names by the Collegium was around 35 per cent.

At this, the court observed: "It seems the Collegium of high courts and the Supreme Court do not appear to be on the same page." The bench also queried the AG as to what are hurdles which obstruct the government from bringing a new law on this delay in the appointment of judges. The AG replied if this were to be the case, then the government could introduce another amendment, if this suggestion were to come from the court.

Venugopal said the apex court could issue notices to all 25 High Courts and seek their response on the delay. The court replied that it could only work towards making this system smooth, as nearly 40 per cent of chairs in the high courts are presently vacant.

At the end of the hearing, the top court sought response from the Registrar Generals of all high courts in connection with the vacancies and the tentative timeline on the process of sending recommendations.

The bench is hearing a transfer petition, originating from Odisha, where lawyers were on strike in many districts seeking circuit benches of the high court in other parts of the state.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 17, 2020 16:17 694 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2064fbb30 1 Business Go-Pay,Gojek,e-wallet Free

Forget traditional payment methods or bank transfers; users of Gojeks digital wallet platform GoPay, now have the option to pay for school tuition and other bills for students and student activities with just one click through the GoPay app.

The homegrown decacorn has struck a partnership with around 180 education institutions  including pesantren (Islamic boarding schools), madrasah (Islamic religious schools) and learning centers across the country  making payment options for them available on the apps GoBills feature.

This latest feature enables parents and guardians to pay for their childrens tuition anywhere they want, without having to physically go to the school. Busy parents should no longer worry about missing tuition deadlines, GoPay senior vice president of sales Arno Tse said in a statement on Monday.

He went on to say that schools would also benefit from digital payments made through GoPay, as every transaction would be automatically recorded and organized for posterity.

So far, schools and institutions that have joined with GoPay and are featured in the apps GoBills include, among others, the IPMI International Business School in Jakarta, UNICEF (Universal Central English Foundation) Kampung Inggris in Kediri, East Java and Al Hidayah boarding school in Depok, West Java.

We hope to be able to reach out to more educational institutions in Indonesia to implement digital payments, Arno said.

GoPay has previously cooperated with Tarumanegara University in Jakarta; Bunda Mulia University in Tangerang, Banten; and Madrasah Miftahul Akhlaqiyah in Semarang, Central Java, on the implementation of the Quick Response Indonesia Standard (QRIS).

The company also provided electronic payment infrastructure for over 50 vocational high schools (SMK) in North Jakarta, early last year. (rfa)
Nothing can rain on London Fashion Weeks parade  not even a sprightly storm named Dennis. The downpour might have raged on as editors, celebrities and buyers darted between shows in Westminster and Whitechapel, but designers including Margaret Howell and Roland Mouret ensured nobodys spirits were dampened, with autumn/winter 2020 collections that enlivened and brightened in equal measure.

Defiance was a common theme  and not just against the weather. At Victoria Beckham, the collection was intended to reflect, the tension between refinement and rebellion and Beckham urged her customers to follow their instincts, to twist the codes of femininity and to be spirited, all of which gave way to Beckhams boldest collection to date.

The mood was no less lively over at Preen by Thornton Bregazzi, which was just a hop, skip and a puddle-jump away. Models stomped down the runway in wrinkled knee-high boots whose grit was offset by sculptural sequin gowns and glistening sheets of gold leaf that illuminated their faces. Even at Margaret Howell, where the aesthetic is famously English heritage and the palette is neutral, there was something transgressive in the air as women went bare-legged under cropped trench coats and tucked their hair into bucket hats that lent the aesthetic a more androgynous feel.
Xiaomi has been diversifying into accessories for a long time and one of its first few offerings in 2020 is a new portable Bluetooth speaker. It's called the Mi Outdoor Bluetooth Speaker and it costs Rs 1,399. As the name suggests, the speaker is meant for outdoor usage and hence, it gets features that make it more useful for those who want a compact speaker while exploring the outdoors. The speaker is available on Mi.com.

Similar to many affordable Bluetooth speakers, the Mi Outdoor Bluetooth speaker is compact and it comes in only a black colour variant. Since it's meant to go outdoors, Xiaomi has given the speaker an IPX5 rating, which means the speaker can continue to work even after a few splashes of water or light rain. It also has a lanyard cable for tying it to bags or other stuff.

Xiaomi claims a battery life of up to 20 hours which is possible with a large 2000mAh battery. The speaker comes with a micro USB port for charging as well as an AUX port for connecting to other devices. The speaker gets Bluetooth 5.0 for connectivity. The speaker has an output rating of 5W.

Xiaomi is looking to diversify this year with a new range of products for the Indian market and the Mi Outdoor Bluetooth speaker is the first glimpse of that, even though Xiaomi has been selling quite a lot of speakers since the last few years. Earlier in the year, Xiaomi said that it wants to go into the premium segments with the Mi brand while the Redmi brand will continue to come up with value-for-money devices.

Hence, Redmi recently launched a new series of power banks last week that introduced some premium features at a much lower price than the Mi powerbanks. Redmi also released an updated version of the Redmi 8A, known as the Redmi 8A Dual that got a new dual-camera setup at the back.

Meanwhile, Xiaomi is looking to bring some of its premium smartphones to India this year. The Mi 10 series, which debuted last week in China, is expected to come to India but Xiaomi has already said that it might end up carrying a premium pricing as the phone will be imported directly from China. The Mi 10 series is one of the first few phones in the world to come with a Snapdragon 865 chipset and it might be Xiaomi's shot of taking on the OnePlus 8 in India in the months to come.
Until last spring, Justin Faircloth supported his family of three by working on the assembly line at the Honda plant in Talladega County. But his life was upended when he found out that he was dying.

In April 2019, the 33-year-old Odenville man was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer that had spread to his liver. He underwent several rounds of chemotherapy. But in December, Faircloth was booked into the Etowah County Jail on a probation revocation after being arrested and charged with crimes including drug possession and resisting arrest in the preceding months.

Since then he has been transferred to state custody. But he has not received chemotherapy or other necessary cancer treatments since October, according to his oncologist, Dr. Aasim Sehbai of Alabama Cancer Care in Anniston, who says that Faircloth's condition is worsening with each passing day.

I havent received any treatment. They havent even let me speak to my doctor since the 17th of January, Faircloth said in a call from Limestone Correctional Facility last week.

"They have me in [general] population and I have no immune system. I have problems digesting and I've got some bleeding in my stool."

Faircloth's situation is extreme, but it demonstrates the difficulty many inmates have getting access to sufficient medical care in jails and prisons across Alabama. For years, inmates and their loved ones have complained about inadequate care. Many have sued the Alabama Department of Corrections and local sheriff's offices for failing to provide needed treatment and protect people in their care from illnesses, medical complications and even death.

Beginning in December, Faircloth was held for a month in the Etowah County Jail in northeast Alabama, less than 40 miles from his wife, Amber, and their four-year-old daughter. He was transferred next to Kilby State Correctional Facility, a state prison near Montgomery, where he was incarcerated for two weeks. Then he was transported to Limestone, a state prison near Athens in north Alabama. He remains behind bars at Limestone, over 100 miles from his home and family.

The Alabama Department of Corrections, like the Etowah County Sheriff's Office before it, has not taken Faircloth for the chemotherapy and other treatment he needs to slow the progression of his cancer, according to Sehbai.

Today, Faircloth is one of dozens of inmates housed in a crowded open section of a dorm at Limestone. He says that he has lost over 20 pounds in recent weeks, that he is cold, dehydrated and hungry, and that he has experienced a wide range of symptoms since his incarceration, from severe pain and constipation to lightheadedness and nausea.

Over the first four months of his incarceration, Faircloth says he did not have access to the opioid painkillers, anti-nausea pills and other medications most people with stage 4 cancers rely on to keep the symptoms at bay. Instead, he says he was sometimes given ibuprofen, the anticoagulant Eliquis, and Colace, a stool softener. Earlier this month, he was put on hydrocodone, the first time he has been able to take a painkiller stronger than ibuprofen since he was booked into the Etowah County Jail in December.

Sehbai has repeatedly called for Faircloth to be released, or at least given access to adequate treatment.

"I feel like his care has been compromised. If he doesnt get treatment, which is already delayed, he can really die in the next month or two," Sehbai said in a phone interview late last month. "With proper treatment he could live two or three years, even up to five years. One way or the other, he needs to get treatment."

Justin Faircloth receives a chemotherapy treatment last year.Courtesy Amber Faircloth

'Kindly be lenient'

In Alabama, inmates serving long sentences who suffer from severe medical conditions can be released from jail or prison before their sentenced terms only under specific circumstances. Sometimes, as AL.com and ProPublica reported last year, sheriffs urge judges to grant their release from local jails on medical bond in order to avoid paying their medical bills.

But once they reach the state prison system, the only ways prisoners can typically be released early are if they are pardoned, if a judge grants their release, if the Department of Corrections grants them a medical furlough, or if they are paroled by the Bureau of Pardons and Paroles either via the normal parole process or medical parole. Allowing inmates to be released from prison early due to medical issues is often referred to as compassionate release.

In a Jan. 13 letter to Etowah County Circuit Judge Sonny Steen, who presided over Faircloth's case, Sehbai made a plea for mercy. Steen did not respond to requests for comment, and Sehbai said he did not receive a response from the judge.

"I will request that the Judge kindly be lenient with him as he has advanced stage 4 colon cancer and a short survival," Sehbai wrote to the judge.

Four days later, Faircloth was transported to Kilby.

Etowah County Sheriff Jonathon Horton said in a phone interview that the judge made the call to move Faircloth to state custody. He said Steen determined that Faircloth should remain behind bars because he is a chronic offender.

A self-described former drug addict, Faircloth has been charged with numerous crimes over the course of his life, including theft, burglary, drug possession and manufacture, writing bad checks, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and others. He was arrested three times over the four months before he was taken into custody in December, for charges including resisting arrest, drug possession and violating probation.

"He's using his sickness as an excuse to get out of jail over and over again. In layman's terms, he just ran out of his chances. So the judge revoked [his probation] and says he has to serve his days," Horton said.

"Judge Steen said, basically, because of his offenses, he can't just keep cutting him loose and hoping he'll do the right thing.'"

The earliest date Faircloth can be released, barring such an intervention, is April 1, 2031, according to the DOCs online inmate records. Without treatment, hell be lucky to make it to 2021, Sehbai said.

DOC spokeswoman Samantha Rose said via email that while the department "can present a request for medical furlough as established with specific eligibility criteria" as outlined in state law and departmental regulations, "ADOC does not have the authority to release an inmate under a compassionate release, that is a decision made by the courts when requested and petitioned by the inmates attorney."

Last month, the Bureau of Pardons and Paroles sent an email response to a written request by Amber Faircloth for relief for her husband.

"The Board can only consider someone for parole if they are eligible under the law. Mr. Faircloth's file is being processed and he will receive a notice with his parole consideration eligibility date," the letter, which was signed only by "Board Operations Staff," states.

"However, for any health-related concerns you need to contact the Alabama Department of Corrections. The Bureau of Pardons and Paroles cannot arrange for any health-related treatment."

Justin Faircloth holds his daughter last year.Courtesy Amber Faircloth

'Cancer don't wait for nobody'

Justin and Amber Faircloth were in relatively good spirits when they sat down for a late breakfast at the Cracker Barrel in Trussville one chilly day in October.

His medical bills were piling up because he had recently lost his Medicaid coverage due to a slight monthly income increase. He had already been billed for tens of thousands dollars worth of life-saving procedures and treatments, and he was warily anticipating future costs totaling many thousands more.

A month later, the couple laid out copies of some of those bills on the table in a booth at a Waffle House in Irondale, a ten-minute drive from the house in the hills on the outskirts of Birmingham where they were temporarily staying. The numbers were eye-popping: $16,233.87 due to Regional Medical Center in Anniston for charges incurred between April and June; $742 for an October ambulance ride; a $1,314 balance with Surgical Clinic of Anniston.

Faircloth had no insurance, he was very sick and he was facing jail time. His wife was struggling to care for him, make a living and provide for their young daughter.

Im really concerned. His liver is just destroyed. He has no immune system with stage 4 colon cancer. It would be bad even if he just got a cold, she said.

And yet the Faircloths were quick to laugh as they discussed their lives over waffles and orange juice, and they seemed hopeful about the future, despite all the challenges they faced. They were unaware that the worst trials were yet to come.

Today, Justin Faircloth is behind bars and his wife has dedicated most of her non-working hours to trying to find a way to get him proper medical attention.

Calls to advocacy groups and lawyers have gone unanswered or led nowhere. The letter Sehbai sent to Judge Steen, which noted that Faircloth had not had a chemotherapy treatment since October, has gone unanswered.

Rose, the DOC spokeswoman, said via email that Faircloth "will continue to receive his prior free world care treatment and any future treatment as ordered by his treating physicians while" he remains in state prison.

But that has not been his experience to date, according to Sehbai and Amber Faircloth, who said that the department waited until nearly a month after he was transferred to state custody to take him to an initial screening appointment on Monday at a cancer treatment center in Huntsville that he had never visited before.

"They took Justin to a different cancer treatment center and they took his blood and didnt know anything about his medical stuff and said it could be another two weeks to a month before a chemo treatment," she said Monday.

Justin Faircloth confirmed that version of events.

They didnt transport me to any of my prior providers. I havent seen Dr. Sehbai since the Monday before I went to Etowah County, he said in a call from Limestone last week.

"It's all new faces and they have no clue what's going on with me. [The doctor at the Huntsville cancer center] was asking me what side the cancer was on and what was going on."

If Faircloth doesn't receive chemotherapy for another full month, that would bring the time since he has gone without a chemo treatment to more than five months.

"I'm not receiving the proper medical care. By now, I shouldve already had at least three treatments since I've been locked up and I haven't received one," he said.

Theyre doing enough to make it look like theyre doing something. But [the Huntsville doctor] told me it could be another month before I get treatment. And I said, You know, as well as I do, that cancer dont wait for nobody.
Days after the Indian crew members stranded on Diamond Princess, a luxury cruise ship quarantined near Japan's Yokohama port, sent an SOS to the Indian government seeking immediate help, an Indian couple has now reached out to the government pleading for help.

Ashish Yadav and his wife Neha, originally from Uttar Pradesh, are stuck in China's Wuhan city, the epicentre of the deadly Coronavirus outbreak that has killed over 1700 people so far. And the numbers continue to increase with each passing day.

 Reuters

Ashish is an Associate Professor at the Wuhan Textile University while Neha is a PhD scholar. According to a report in NDTV , the couple couldn't evacuate earlier when the government sent Air India flights to Wuhan because of Neha's surgery.



So now they are appealing to the government to rescue them. The media outlet quoted Ashish as saying, "Namaste, my name is Ashish Yadav and this is my wife Neha Yadav. I am an associate professor in the Wuhan Textile University. I appeal to the Prime Minister to evacuate us from here soonest."

His wife Neha said, "Our parents are very worried I would request that we should be evacuated soonest." They sent a video in which they are explaining how Wuhan has turned into a 'ghost town', the situation is getting worse day by day and that they are running out of supplies.

Asish said, "You can see the weather is very bad today. There has been heavy rain and light snowfall since yesterday afternoon. There is no one in our building. Yesterday, I had just a few empty bottles of water (he shows the bottles) and I had appealed for some water to be given and so today (camera pans to new water bottles), I have been sent some water and this food by the authorities here. We have rations only for a few days so I again appeal to the Indian government to evacuate us soonest."

GoI will send a consignment of medical supplies on a relief flight to Wuhan later this week to support China to fight the COVID-19 epidemic. On its return, the flight will have limited capacity to take on board Indians wishing to return to India from Wuhan/Hubei.(1/3) @MEAIndia  India in China (@EOIBeijing) February 17, 2020

Meanwhile, the Embassy of India in Beijing, China has been tweeting to the Indians stuck in Wuhan, sharing helpline numbers so that people who wish to return can do so by contacting the officials.

We urge all Indian nationals from Wuhan/Hubei who intend to avail this flight and have not yet contacted us, to urgently call our hotlines +8618610952903 and +8618612083629 or send email to helpdesk.beijing@mea.gov.in before 1900 hours today (17 February 2020) (3/3) @MEAIndia  India in China (@EOIBeijing) February 17, 2020




A college in Bhuj town of Gujarat's



Kutch district has suspended its principal, hostel rector and peon after police registered an FIR against them for allegedly forcing over 60 girls to remove their undergarments to check if they were menstruating.

Principal Rita Raninga, girls' hostel rector Ramilaben and college peon Naina were suspended on Saturday after the FIR was registered against them, Shree Sahajanand Girls Institute (SSGI) trustee Pravin Pindoria said on Monday.

Apart from these three, a woman, identified as Anita, who is not associated with the college, was also named as an accused in the FIR lodged by Bhuj police.

The accused have been booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 384 (extortion), 355 (assault with intent to dishonour a person) and 506 (criminal intimidation).

No one has been arrested so far.

SSGI is a self-financed college, having its own girls' hostel. It is run by a trust of the Swaminarayan Temple, Bhuj. The college is affiliated to the Krantiguru Shyamji Krishna Verma Kutch University.

After the incident came to light, a seven-member team of the National Commission for Women (NCW) on Sunday met the girl inmates the hostel, who were allegedly forced by the authorities to remove their undergarments to check if they were menstruating.

A student earlier told mediapersons that the incident took place on February 11 in the hostel, located on the campus of SSGI, which offers graduate and under-graduate courses.

She alleged that over 60 students were taken to the washroom by a woman staffer and made to remove their undergarments to check if they were menstruating.

After a probe, Darshana Dholakia, in-charge vice chancellor of the university to which the college is affiliated, had earlier said the girls were checked because the hostel has a rule that girls having periods are not supposed to take meals with other inmates.

The hostel authorities decided to check them after they came to know that some menstruating girls had broken the rule and taken the meal.

The police earlier said that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed, with woman police officials as its members, to probe the incident.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Editorial Board (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 17, 2020 09:05 694 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2064e524c 1 Editorial tax,tax-allowance,tax-cuts,digital-economy,Sri-Mulyani,omnibus-bill,editorial Free

The omnibus bill on taxation that the government has submitted to the House of Representatives will offer a wide range of tax incentives (rebates and exemptions) and simplify tax-payment procedures, all designed to make it much easier to do business, thereby reinvigorating investment in the country.

Like most other reforms, the new fiscal policy will cause short-term pain as the tax rebates and exemptions would immediately cut tax receipts. But the new tax measure is badly needed for the long-term good of the economy. This structural reform not only will boost investment but also enable the government to increase its tax-collection capacity that is now estimated at only 50 percent of the total tax potential.

Read also: Government to liberalize investment in omnibus bill on job creation

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has admitted that the tax incentives offered through the omnibus bill on taxation would cut government tax revenues by about Rp 80 trillion (US$6 billion) this year. This does not yet include the potential impact of the coronavirus on our economy, given our heavy dependence on Chinas economy. Even though the economy last year did not do as badly as predicted, government tax revenues were still 14 percent short of the target.

Indonesia has long been notorious for extensive tax evasion, as the government revenue-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio is low, at just 12 percent, compared with an emerging economy average of 27.8 percent, and tax collections are lower than both regional peers and countries with similar levels of GDP per capita.

The planned cut in the corporate income tax rate from 25 percent to 22 percent in 2021-2022 and to 20 percent in 2023 will make the country more competitive with other countries in the region, attracting investment. The tax exemption given to dividend incomes from domestic and foreign sources that are invested within the country, is designed to stimulate investment.

The tax cut and simplified tax-payment procedures are expected to significantly broaden the tax base, including taxes on digital-economic activities, as the degree of voluntary tax compliance will increase and investment activities thrive. Taxpayers have long complained about onerous business processes for registration, filing and payment, including the auditing process for value added tax refunds.

Read also: Indonesia plans sweeping tax reforms for 'expatriate' income, dividends, penalties

However, these policy reforms will also require significant investments in tax administration capacity and significant investment in information technology and human resource development. Especially disappointing is the poor capacity of the tax authorities to collect personal income tax that averages just about 1.1 percent of GDP. This is further evidence of huge tax evasion in the country, given the large number of rich families.

We expect the deliberations on the omnibus bill on taxation will run much more smoothly and faster than the bill on job creation because the political process will involve only about three commissions within the House.

We retain reservations, however, on how fast the government will complete the many presidential regulations and ministerial decrees to implement the law. Past experiences have shown many provisions of laws remain unenforced due to the absence of implementing regulations.
Asker, Norway (17 February 2020)  TGS has today appointed Fredrik Amundsen as the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the company. He has been with the company for 16 years and comes from the position as Executive Vice President (EVP) Europe at TGS.

Kristian Johansen, CEO at TGS, stated: "Following the acquisition of Spectrum in August 2019, TGS has been through a period of integration and right-sizing of the organization to realize synergies. We are now moving into a phase where our focus will be on realizing maximum value and efficiency from our internal operations. Few people know the TGS operations better than Fredrik Amundsen, and I am positive that he will contribute to further developing the company in his new capacity as CFO.

He added: Dean Zuzic joined TGS as CFO through the acquisition of Spectrum in 2019. We would like to thank him for his great contribution during the integration phase and wish him best of luck in his future endeavors.

Fredrik joined TGS in 2003 as Financial Controller and has since served TGS in a variety of capacities. These include several positions in the Finance department, including Director of Finance and Interim CFO. Thereafter, he held a number of commercial roles, responsible for business units in Asia Pacific and Europe/Russia. Fredrik received a B.A in Business Administration from Washington State University in 2001.

Rune Eng, EVP of Southern Hemisphere will take over the executive responsibility for the Europe business following Fredrik Amundsens move into his new role.

About TGS

TGS provides multi-client geoscience data to oil and gas Exploration and Production companies worldwide. In addition to extensive global geophysical and geological data libraries that include multi-client seismic data, magnetic and gravity data, digital well logs, production data and directional surveys, TGS also offers advanced processing and imaging services, interpretation products, machine learning and data integration solutions.

All statements in this press release other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, which are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict, and are based upon assumptions as to future events that may not prove accurate. These factors include TGS' reliance on a cyclical industry and principal customers, TGS' ability to continue to expand markets for licensing of data, and TGS' ability to acquire and process data product at costs commensurate with profitability. Actual results may differ materially from those expected or projected in the forward-looking statements. TGS undertakes no responsibility or obligation to update or alter forward-looking statements for any reason.

For more information, visit TGS.com or contact:

Kristian Johansen, CEO

Chief Executive Officer

Email: investor@tgs.com





This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 07:52:21|Editor: Liu

Video Player Close

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Police shot and killed a man in a vehicle Sunday when it was stopped by police officers for traffic violation investigation near the Merrill Field airport in downtown Anchorage in the U.S. state of Alaska, authorities said.

The Anchorage Daily News quoted the police as saying that the male passenger in the back of the vehicle fired at the police officers, who shot back and fatally injured the person.

One of the officers suffered minor injuries in the upper body during the shooting, but no other people, including the rest of the passengers in the vehicle, were wounded, said the police.

Police authorities said the name of the killed man will not be disclosed until his family is informed.

This is the third officer-involved shooting that has occurred in Anchorage since early this year, which is also the first fatal one in the city.
Chinese health officials Monday urged patients who have recovered from the coronavirus to donate blood so that plasma can be extracted to treat others who are critically ill.

Drugmakers are racing to develop a vaccine and treatment for the epidemic, which has killed 1,770 people and infected over 70,500 people across China.

Plasma from patients who have recovered from a spell of pneumonia triggered by COVID-19 contains antibodies that can help reduce the virus load in critically ill patients, an official from Chinas National Health Commission told a press briefing Monday.

I would like to make a call to all cured patients to donate their plasma so that they can bring hope to critically ill patients, said Guo Yanhong, who heads the NHCs medical administration department.

Eleven patients at a hospital in Wuhan -- the epicentre of the disease -- received plasma infusions last week, said Sun Yanrong, of the Biological Center at the Ministry of Science and Technology.

One patient (among them) has already been discharged, one is able to get off the bed and walk and the others are all recovering, she said.

The call comes days after Chinas state-owned medical products maker reported successful results from its trial at Wuhan First Peoples Hospital.

China National Biotec Group Co. said in a post on its official WeChat account that severely ill patients receiving plasma infusions improved within 24 hours.

The World Health Organization said exploring the use of plasma as a treatment for the novel coronavirus was important, but cautioned it needed to be done with safety.

It is a very important area of discovery, head of WHOs emergencies programme Michael Ryan told reporters in Geneva, pointing out that plasma had proven effective in saving lives when combatting a range of different diseases.

It is a very valid way to explore therapeutics, especially when we dont have vaccines and we dont have specific anti-virals, he said.

His colleague Sylvie Briand, who heads WHOs Global Infectious Hazard Preparedness division, meanwhile cautioned that plasma-based treatments could be difficult to scale up to reach large numbers of patients, and stressed the need to carefully follow safety protocols.

With blood products you can also transmit other diseases, so the protocol ... is very important, she told reporters.

Sun stressed that clinical studies have shown that infusing plasma (from recovered patients) is safe and effective.

Blood donors will undergo a test to ensure that they are not carrying the virus, said Wang Guiqiang, chief physician at Peking University First Hospital.

Only plasma is taken, not all the blood, he said.

Other components of the blood including red blood cells and platelets will be infused back into the donors.
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.
NUR-SULTAN -- Dozens of protesters from across Kazakhstan have gathered in the capital Nur-Sultan to demand a meeting with former President Nursultan Nazarbaev about what they say are "faulty mortgages" and "wrongful" court decisions by Kazakh judges.



In addition to Nazarbaev, who now heads Kazakhstan's powerful Security Council and has the title "leader of the nation," the demonstrators on February 17 were also demanding to meet with Nazarbaev's eldest daughter, Senate Chairwoman Darigha Nazarbaeva, as well as with the head of President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev's office, Erlan Qoshanov.



Police blocked the demonstrators near the presidential headquarters in Nur-Sultan, preventing them from reaching the building where President Toqaev's office is located.



Many of the visibly frustrated demonstrators said they've been paying mortgages on apartments in buildings that have not yet been completed.



Some protesters also complained that their attempts to attain justice in Kazakhstan's civil and criminal courts have failed. They say they want senior officials to intervene on their behalf.



The demonstration was taking place while President Toqaev was in Germany following the February 14-16 Munich Security Conference.



Protests have taken place in Nur-Sultan for more than a year following a February 2019 house fire in the capital that killed five children from one family while both parents were working overnight shifts to make ends meet..



The 79-year-old Nazarbaev had been president of the former Soviet republic in Central Asia since before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.



Nazarbaev, who has tolerated little dissent during almost three decades in power, continues to head Kazakhstan's ruling Nur-Otan party.



Nazarbaev named Toqaev as his choice to replace him when he announced his sudden resignation from the presidency in March 2019.



Toqaev was inaugurated in June after a weakly contested election marred by what international observers called "widespread voting irregularities."



Opponents, critics, and rights groups say Nazarbaev has denied many citizens their basic rights and has prolonged his power in the country of 18.7 million people by manipulating the democratic process.



No vote held in Kazakhstan since 1991 has been deemed free and democratic by international observers.



Kazakhstan's capital, formerly called Astana, was renamed in Nazarbaev's honor in 2019.
An American passenger on the coronavirus cruise ship in Japan has been separated from her husband after testing positive for the deadly infection just hours before they were due to fly home.

Jeannie Hopland, of Elizabethton, Tennessee, was removed from the Diamond Princess yesterday and taken to a Tokyo hospital but her husband Arnold, a doctor, was not allowed to go with her.

The couple, who have four children and 15 grandchildren, had been set to fly back to the US with around 400 other Americans but Dr Hopland says they might not be able to go home until the end of next month.

Dr Kevin Hopland with his wife Jeannie in their cabin on the Diamond Princess cruise ship

The cruise ship was carrying more than 3,700 passengers and crew from more than 50 countries and territories when it docked in Yokohama Bay on February 5

Dr Arnold Hopland was not allowed to accompany his wife to hospital after she tested positive for coronavirus

Mrs Hopland said: 'I feel fine,'but I certainly don't want to get anyone sick so I'm glad I didn't get around others.

'It's the fear of the unknown, you know. But the Lord has hold of me, so I don't have to be afraid.'

The couple believe Mrs Hopland contracted the disease from the ship steward who was bringing them their food before he tested positive a few days ago.

Dr Hopland's coronavirus results came back negative but he was not allowed to leave the ship to accompany his wife and doesn't know for how long they will be apart.

'We have no idea what's next,' Dr. Hopland said. 'But all indications are that if we're not on the planes leaving Japan, we won't be allowed back in the United States until late March.'

He added: 'Her biggest worry was having to leave me,' he told WJHL.

The couple received the positive test result as they were getting ready for the bus ride to the airport Sunday morning.

The ship was carrying more than 3,700 passengers and crew from more than 50 countries and territories when it docked in Yokohama Bay on February 5.

The number of confirmed cases and deaths continues to rise around the world

An ambulance believed to be carring an infected passenger of the Diamond Princess cruise ship leaves the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama on Sunday

Passengers wave on the cruise ship Diamond Princess, as the vessel's passengers continue to be tested for coronavirus, at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama

It was placed in isolation after authorities found a passenger who got off in Hong Kong during the voyage had tested positive for the virus.

Japanese officials continued to find new infections among the passengers and crew and rushed them to local hospitals, while others have been told to stay inside their cabins during the 14-day quarantine period set to end Wednesday.

Dr Hopland blames a mismanaged quarantine on many of the ship's 356 coronavirus cases.

'Had we been removed days ago, Jeannie and many others likely would be much better off,' he said.

The couple's son, Dr Kenny Hopland, told WJHL he believes his parents were exposed to the coronavirus by an infected ship worker who brought them food.

'A few days ago, the steward who had been bringing them food to their cabins tested positive for this virus,' he said.

'There's no question that they got exposed to the virus because they were forced to stay on the ship.'

The number of worldwide cases of coronavirus has soared past 70,000 while the number of deaths is over 1,700.
Some diseases are like black swans. They occur so rarely that many physicians never encounter them in their clinical practice, complicating efforts to treat them.

How many rare diseases are there? According to a new study co-led by University of New Mexico data scientist Tudor Oprea, MD, PhD, no one really knows -- and that's a problem, because it's likely that many rare disease patients do not receive appropriate medical care.

In a commentary published in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, a high-impact research journal, Oprea and colleagues from the U.S., Australia, France and Germany point out that as much as 10 percent of the world's population suffers from a rare disease, which translates into hundreds of millions of people.

"You have thousands and thousands of papers a year related to rare diseases, yet very few translate into cures," says Oprea, professor and chief of the Translational Informatics Division in UNM's Department of Internal Medicine.

A big part of the problem has to do with definitions, the authors argue, because the inability to reliably diagnose a rare disease hinders researchers' ability to develop treatments for it.

In the U.S., the Orphan Drug Act of 1983 defines a rare disease as one affecting fewer than 200,000 people. In the European Union, legislation introduced in 2000 defines it differently: when fewer than one in 2,000 people is affected.

And, the authors point out, a disease that is considered "rare" in the general population might be relatively common within a subgroup -- examples include Tay-Sachs disease among Ashkenazi Jews and sickle cell disease among people of sub-Saharan African descent.

Another complicating factor is that the terms used to define diseases are often inconsistent and imprecise, and they sometimes vary from country to country. For example, "breast cancer" actually encompasses a variety of tumor sub-types with unique genetic signatures and different optimal treatments, Oprea says. Should it be classified as one disease or many?

Estimates of the number of rare diseases usually settle in the range of 7,000, the authors report. But their recent analysis of an international disease classification database known as the Monarch Disease Ontology -- or Mondo -- suggests it could be as much as 50 percent higher.

"The Mondo project is the first computer-assisted human curation process to bring together separate efforts in the rare disease community in order to catalog and annotate all rare diseases, regardless of country or disease type," Oprea says.

Improving care for patients with rare diseases requires reaching consensus on the physical, genetic and environmental characteristics of each condition, but overlapping terminologies and models makes that difficult. The authors are calling upon the World Health Organization, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the European Medicines Agency, the National Academy of Medicine and other entities, to adopt a unified definition of rare diseases.

"We encourage the community to get together and come up with more precise rare disease definitions," Oprea says. "There needs to be a forum to discuss this and dedicated funding mechanisms to address it."
HONTIVEROS EXPOSES 'PASTILLAS' MODUS IN BI

PH border in danger due to Chinese bribery

"Traydor sa bayan (traitor to the country)."

This was the remark of Sen. Risa Hontiveros as she exposed the 'pastillas' modus within the Bureau of Immigration [BI], a system allegedly centralized by agency higher-ups where Chinese nationals are allowed seamless entry into the country for a 'service fee' of PhP10,000.

During a committee hearing on Monday investigating the link of the boom of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators or POGO to prostitution and trafficking in the country, the Senator showed a video of an immigration officer escorting Chinese nationals to BI's inner office, seemingly validating the Chinese nationals' identity against a list with a supervisor.

"Bakit parang may VIP escort itong mga Chinese nationals papasok ng bansa?" Hontiveros asked during the hearing. The Senator also showed screenshots of Viber groups containing names, flight details and photos of Chinese nationals.

"'Wag na 'wag niyong lolokohin ang taumbayan. Hindi standard procedure yan", Hontiveros remarked. The Senator said that the materials were sourced from an informant within the BI itself.

'Pastillas'

The senator also exposed photos from the whistleblower of the cash distributions, called 'pastillas', within the BI. "Tinanong ko bakit pastillas ang tawag. Dati daw kasi, wala pang mga sobre so nilalagay sa bond paper at niro-rolyo na parang pastillas," she said.

"Ngayon, mas professional na: may sobre parang legit na pasuweldo, may bonus pag perfect attendance, at may pa-lunch pa mula sa mga Chinese," Hontiveros added.

"Ayon sa aming informant, mas lumakas ang ganitong modus dahil sa libu-libong mga POGO workers na dumarating sa bansa araw-araw," she also added said.

The Senator detailed that of the 10,000-peso service fee per Chinese national entering the country, only 2,000 pesos actually trickle down to airport immigration.

"Nasaan na yung 8,000 pesos? Ayon sa aming informant, distributed na, bago pa man makarating sa airport: sa Chinese tour operator, sa ka-kontratang local tour operator, at sa sindikatong magdodownstream sa airport," Hontiveros claimed.

Chinese bribery endangers PH border

The Senator also said that around a billion pesos may have already been disbursed as kickbacks to corrupt officials. "Somebody sold our country's borders for Chinese money," Hontiveros claimed.

"Kung sasabihin nating 1 million ang pumapasok gamit ang 'pastillas' system, one billion pesos na ang nabayad na kickbak," the Senator explained. In the last hearing, BI revealed that 1.8 million Chinese nationals have entered the country in recent years.

"The lion's share goes to the bosses," Hontiveros told BI officials during the hearing. "Somebody rigged the system, centralized the operations, and made this into a billion-peso enterprise.

Pinapapasok ang mga Chinese nationals kapalit ng pera, effectively making us borderless," she also added.

Further investigation

The Senator also vowed further investigation into the 'pastillas' system to weed out corrupt officials within the BI and propose policy changes.

"Hindi magiging ganito ka-systematic ang operasyon sa loob ng Bureau of Immigration kung walang padrino ang mga ito . Hindi magiging ganito ka-garapal ang mga ilegal na POGO operations kung walang protektor at kumikita ng milyon-milyon," the Senator said. "Kailangan natin matunton kung sino ang pinaka-pinuno nitong scam na ito," she aadded.

"Sabi nila maraming dalang investments itong POGO. Pero imbes na investment ang dala nitong POGO, bakit parang naging invasion?" the Senator concluded.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 20:44:57|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

ADEN, Yemen, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- An official of the newly-recruited security forces was killed by unknown gunmen in Yemen's southern port city of Aden on Monday, a government official told Xinhua.

"Two masked gunmen opened fire and assassinated a security official named as Abu Raghed while he was driving his vehicle in the northeastern parts of Aden," the local government source said on condition of anonymity.

The gunmen escaped to unknown whereabouts after assassinating the security official who was leading a key checkpoint in the area, the source said.

He added that a security unit arrived in the area and began a search operation to capture the assailants.

No group has claimed responsibility for the recent assassination incidents yet, but the drive-by shooting attacks were blamed on the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch.

Politicians and high-ranking southern security commanders have been the prime targets in such armed attacks launched by unknown gunmen in recent months particularly in Aden and neighboring provinces.

The impoverished Arab country has been locked into a civil war since the Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels overran much of the country militarily and seized all northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa, in 2014.

Saudi Arabia leads an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after Houthi rebels forced him into exile.
Every name on the BrandBucket marketplace is exclusively listed with BrandBucket. That means that all of our sellers are very responsive, making for quick domain transfers.

A dedicated BrandBucket agent will manage your domain transfer from beginning to end, ensuring a secure and easy transaction. They will manage the receipt of the domain into one of BrandBuckets secure registrar accounts and then complete the transfer to you.

1. Verification and registrar choice

After we receive the payment and verify it, we will reach out via email to confirm which registrar you want the domain transferred to. We also provide a link to our tracking system, where you can communicate with us, check on the status of your transfer, view your invoice, and download your logo files.

In most cases, if a domain is moved between accounts at a single registrar, the transfer is quick and usually completes within 48 hours. If a domain changes registrars (in other words, you would like to move it away from where it is currently registered), the transfer is slower. The total transfer time can then be anywhere from 48 hours to 7 days.

BrandBucket has vetted and supports the following registrars:



GoDaddy

Namesilo

Uniregistry

NameCheap

Google Domains

Network Solutions

Name.com

Dynadot

Amazon Route 53

123 Reg

Gandi

2. We request the name from the seller.

Once we know where you would like the domain transferred, BrandBucket will request the domain from the seller. All of our sellers are very responsive, making for a quick process.

3. Transfer the name into your account

As soon as we receive the name from the seller, we start the transfer into your account and guide you through the whole process.

4. Verify with the buyer that the transfer is complete

Once we confirm that you have received the name, we consider the escrow process to be complete. Only then do we release payment to the domain seller.
by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, February 14, 2020

Cars may not yet be self-driving, but that isnt stopping them from becoming advertising vehicles.

At the third annual Synapse Summit in Tampa, Florida, this week, a local startup showed its approach to on-car advertising combined with state-of-the art location tracking.

In a novel twist to outdoor advertising, Nickelytics signs up drivers of ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft, wraps their cars in advertising and then tracks who sees the ad.

Nickelytics adds an Internet of Things device to the car, which counts nearby Wi-Fi signals and disregards phone MAC addresses belonging to devices other than smartphones and then identifies phones near the vehicle.

It then uses a data aggregator to correlate the unique phone identifiers and sends the data to the customer dashboard for digital retargeting on social media including LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram as well as ads in mobile apps.

All data remains anonymized through the entire process, with no personal identification, Justin Christie, director of operations, told me at the company display at Synapse.

Nickelytics also can dispatch vehicles to specific locations, such as a fleet of cars with the same ad to an event for additional driver compensation.

The car ads are running in a dozen campaigns in Florida, Colorado, Maine and Louisiana.

Advertisers include the law firm Kelleher Firm, realtors Re/Max and Point South Group, the credit union 121 Financial, and others including Exiom, The Sheets Team, The Penny Hoarder and Social Security Works.

Cars wrapped in ads are becoming part of the IoT ecosystem.
A bipartisan group of senators met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv just over a week after the Senate acquitted President Donald Trump on charges he abused his power by asking Ukraine to to investigate his political rivals.

The three lawmakers, Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), met with Zelensky on Feb. 14 in a bid to improve relations with Ukraine following the House-led impeachment inquiry into Trump.

We just finished a very difficult moment in American politics, Murphy told reporters after the meeting, adding that although the three senators voted differently in the impeachment trial, they are united in their goal of showing support for Ukraine.

We are here together because there is no difference between us or between Republicans and Democrats in Congress in our support for Ukraine, for our support for continued funding for Ukraine to defend itself, and our continued support for reform, he said.

Trump was acquitted by the Senate on Feb. 5, nearly along party lines, of the two charges against him: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The senators voted 52-48 on the first article of impeachment and 53-47 on the second article.

During the Senate trial, Democratic impeachment managers accused Trump of abusing the power of his office by pressuring Zelensky. It was alleged that the president leveraged a hold on $400 million in aid to Ukraine to pressure Zelensky to do his bidding, and that once Congress began investigating the alleged scheme, Trump obstructed the inquiry.

Trumps attorneys, led by White House counsel Pat Cipollone, argued that the Democrats failed to prove their case, highlighting the lack of firsthand witnesses who could back up the claims.

Throughout the impeachment inquiry and Senate trial, Trump denounced the proceedings as a partisan hoax. The president pointed to the transcript of his July 25, 2019 call with Zelensky as the ultimate evidence of his innocence.

Murphy emphasized after the meeting with Zelensky that the two countries hope to put the impeachment question behind them and focus on strengthening U.S.-Ukraine relations.

We want to be moving together, Republicans and Democrats, in supporting Ukraine, Murphy said. We all are confident that President Zelensky does not want to be involved in U.S. politics, and we hope that any pressure [that] existed in the past to do so is over.

The Democratic lawmaker told NPR that the impeachment inquiry left Zelensky nervous over the commitment the United States would extend to Ukraine.

He [Zelensky] wants to know that we have his back. His number one priority is ending hostilities with Russia in eastern Ukraine and in Crimea. And he cant do that if Russia perceives there to be weakness, Murphy explained.

The key to convincing Russia that Ukraine is never going to give in is that the United States is going to continue to support them until the Russians give in and give Ukraine back to the Ukrainian people, he added. And so hes nervous. I think hes still nervous that that commitment isnt there because the things that were the subject of the impeachment inquiry.

Zelenksy thanked the senators for their support and the United States for financial, military, and technical assistance, according to a news release.

I want to thank you for the bipartisan support. We know that representatives of both U.S. parties support Ukraineour sovereignty, territorial integrity, and help us not just in words.

He added that he wanted to change the image of Ukraine in the world, from one associated with corruption, to an image of a wonderful country with good people and an attractive investment climate.

The meeting came a day before Zelensky disputed claims in an interview with CNN that Ukraine is a corrupt country, saying from now, its not true, and that we want to change this image, while adding that hes ready for another phone call with Trump.

From The Epoch Times
Dino Impagliazzo cuts onions like a professional cook. The Italian man makes a great vegetable soup, but most of his longtime customers can't even pay for a piece of bread.

Working with the energy of a much younger man, the 90-year-old, Impagliazzo is known as Romes chef of the poor.

Three days a week, he sets out to gather food with other volunteers. They are all part of RomAmoR (RomeLove), a group that he started. The volunteers go to markets and bakeries to collect donated food.

The other four days of the week, RomAmoR volunteers cook food and serve it in different places across the city.

Such efforts help Impagliazzo live out his dream of feeding the homeless.

It all began 15 years ago when a homeless man at a Rome train station asked Impagliazzo for money to buy a sandwich.

I realized that perhaps instead of buying one sandwich, making some sandwiches for him and for the friends who were there would be better, and thus began our adventure, he said.

On Saturday nights, a RomAmoR group sets up in an area protected from bad weather outside St. Peters Square. This is where they feed the growing number of homeless who sleep in the area. It is also where Pope Francis has opened spaces for medical and bathing places for the homeless.

Impagliazzo once worked for Italys social security department. He launched his work to feed the needy with a handful of other retired people.

They quickly went from making sandwiches to cooking more complex hot meals. They first started at home. Later, they cooked in a convent, a building that houses religious women.

Now there are more than 300 RomAmoR volunteers, both young and old. They use their own fully equipped kitchen.

Impagliazzo recently received an award from Italian President Sergio Mattarella. He was recognized as a hero of our times. He never dreamed his idea would become so successful, or create such good will.

On a recent Saturday night near the Vatican -- where the Pope lives -- four extra volunteers showed up.

I am happy because we never tell anyone we dont need you tonight, he said. They stay among us.

Im Anne Ball.

Emily G. Roe wrote this story for Reuters. Anne Ball wrote this story for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

How do people help feed the hungry in your city? What do you think of this story? Write to us in the comments section below.

________________________________________________

Words in This Story

chef  n. a professional cook who usually is in charge of a kitchen in a restaurant

sandwich  n. two pieces of bread with something (such as meat, peanut butter, or other food) between them

realize  v. to understand or become aware of

adventure  n. an exciting or dangerous experience

kitchen  n. a room in which food is cooked
A police raid on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation over the leaking of classified documents was today deemed legal by one of the highest courts.

The Federal Police raid on the ABCs Sydney headquarters last June sparked public outrage amid claims of media intimidation.

The leaked documents had been used by the ABC for a 2017 report about alleged unlawful killings by Australian forces in Afghanistan.

The ABC launched a challenge to the validity of the warrant but the case was dismissed by Federal Court Justice Wendy Abraham, who ordered them to pay the costs of the other parties.

Security laws state it is illegal for Commonwealth officers to leak or publish documents.
DENVER, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Colorado Denver Business School recently announced that it will be launching a fully online Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) degree program in fall 2020.

Reinforcing the high quality and innovative tradition that CU Denver is known for, this new online program was designed, developed, and will be taught by the same CU Denver Business School faculty that led the high-demand, on-campus BSBA program.

"As today's business world continues to evolve, there is increasing demand for well-rounded, savvy professionals who have the foundational business skills necessary to hit the ground running," said Gary Colbert, dean of the CU Denver Business School. "In an effort to meet the needs of working students and the increasing requirements for today's workforce, we've transformed our BSBA program into an accessible, online format. Our online BSBA offers adult learners across Colorado the opportunity to gain the practical business knowledge that employers are looking for while earning a bachelor's degree in business on their terms."

The online BSBA program blends essential business skills with experiential learning opportunities, providing students with insight into current business needs and trends. In addition to a holistic business education, online students will have the opportunity to specialize their degree with one of three majors: accounting, management, or marketing.

The online BSBA degree program prepares students to enter the business world with its in-depth, applied curriculum and its focus on hands-on training throughout the program. Students will choose between an internship, a project-based course, or study abroad to satisfy an experiential learning requirement, allowing students to apply their education directly to problems facing business today.

The new fully online, eight-week course format for the BSBA program offers nontraditional learners and working students the flexibility to complete their business degree by focusing on one course at a time. Students will emerge from the program with a strong foundation to launch a career in business or continue on to a graduate degree program.

"Our partnership with CU Online gives learners across Colorado the opportunity to develop industry-relevant skills that can make a lasting impact," said Emily Vera, director of Online Programs and senior instructor of Accounting. "Each course offered in our online program has gone through a rigorous design process to ensure high-quality learning outcomes for our students. The comprehensive curriculum, exceptional faculty, and collaborative learning environment empower BSBA students to critically analyze and reflect on real-world business problems with a global perspective."

About CU Online

Since offering our first online course in 1996, CU Online has been a pioneer in distance education. We have grown to provide the people of Colorado and across the U.S. with high-quality, engaging online degrees and certificate programs. Today, CU Online offers the same world-class undergraduate, graduate, doctorate, and certificate programs available at the University of Colorado Denver | Anschutz campuses. With a continually growing number of online degree and certificate offerings, CU Online is designed for adult learners, working professionals, and anyone looking to earn their degree in a way that fits their lifestyle.

About CU Denver Business School

For more than 30 years, the CU Denver Business School has been developing leaders capable of changing the business world for the better. Located in the heart of downtown Denver, we provide students with direct access and exposure to top firms in the Denver business community, with over 300 strong business partnerships in Colorado and around the country. With renowned faculty across all disciplines and a strong alumni community, CU Denver Business School puts students at the forefront of the business community. AACSB global accreditation places the CU Denver Business School in the top five percent of business schools worldwide.

Contact CU Online at:

1380 Lawrence St., Suite 1300, Denver, CO 80217 | 303-315-3000

cuonline.edu | www.facebook.com/cuonline/ | twitter.com/cuonline |

linkedin.com/school/cu-online/ | instagram.com/cuonline/

SOURCE University of Colorado
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court judgement granting permanent commissioning of women officers in the Army and allowing command positions to them.

Around 1,500 women Army personnel are likely to benefit from the Supreme Court order.

"I wholeheartedly welcome the Supreme Court's judgement on giving the women officers permanent commission in the armed forces. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has supported the idea of permanent commission for women and announced the change in policy in his Independence Day speech in 2018," Singh tweeted.

The apex court directed that within three months all serving SSC women officers have to be considered for Permanent Commissions (PCs) irrespective of them having crossed 14 years or, as the case may be, 20 years of service.

Singh also said that a "historic decision" to allow women in field operations was taken earlier during the previous NDA regime when it was announced that women will be inducted into the military police of the Army.

"The recruitment process has started in 2019. The plan was to recruit women in roles ranging from probing crime cases to assisting the army in field operations wherever required," Singh said.

He said there have been instances where certain women officers have been in the job for nearly twenty years, while short service commission term terminates in 14 years.

"In 2019, the defence ministry granted a permanent commission to women in all 10 branches of the Indian Army, including Signal Corps, intelligence, aviation, engineering, service corps and ordinance corps," added Rajnath Singh.

He said before 2016, women made up just 2.5 per cent of India's armed forces, working in mainly non-combat roles.

"As of January 2019, 3.89 per cent of the army officers comprised women, while 6.7 per cent of the navy and 13.28 per cent of the air force personnel respectively were women as of June 2019," Singh said.

Officials said the government is likely to come out with a comprehensive policy on permanent commissioning of women in the Army, Navy and the Indian Air Force.

The three services have allowed permanent recruitment of women in select streams including medical, education, legal, signals, logistics and engineering.

The women officers recruited through the SSC in the IAF have the option of seeking permanent commission in all streams except the flying branch.

The Navy has allowed permanent commission of women in a host of departments such as logistics, naval designing, air traffic control, engineering and legal.

The Army offers permanent commission to women officers in two branches judge advocate general (JAG) and education.

Both the Navy and the IAF recruit women pilots under SSC.

The Army recruits women officers under SSC for streams like air defence, engineering, signals and services.

Under SSC, officers are allowed tenures ranging from five to 14 years of services. Permanent commission allows them to serve till the age of retirement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Presidents Day reminds Americans of our priceless national heritage

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

On Monday, Americans will celebrate Presidents Day honoring the birthdays of the countrys two greatest presidents: George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Washington, the aristocratic southern plantation owner, and Lincoln, the log cabin-born mid-western self-made man. They came from starkly different backgrounds and life experiences, and yet they literally shaped America into the nation it ultimately has become. No other presidents have been as formative and inspiring in molding both the American national character and its form of government, not to mention the presidential office itself.

George Washington was indeed the father of the country. He guided the newborn nation successfully through its formative crisis, the Revolution. Overwhelmingly popular as a national hero, having led the Continental Army to victory over the modern worlds first superpower, Great Britain, Washington rejected offers to become a monarch, and refusing to shackle Americans with the prerogatives of European monarchy.

Most historians believe Washingtons greatest gift to his country was to impose upon himself a voluntary two-term limit on presidential service, surrendering political power and retiring to private life in Mount Vernon. This extraordinary, virtually unprecedented, voluntary surrender of political power bequeathed our country the tradition of the restraint of executive power in the federal government that has served America so well for more than two centuries. King George III is reported to have said when he heard that Washington had stepped away from power after only two terms, Then Washington is truly a great man.

Almost all Americans would agree. He helped us forge a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

Abraham Lincoln became president in the midst of the nations second great crisis the split over slavery that descended into a horribly bloody civil war, American against American, for four terrible and destructive years. The entirety of Lincolns presidency was filled with preparation for war, war itself, and its bitter aftermath, made yet more bitter by perhaps the worse individual calamity to ever befall the American people Lincolns assassination. In the midst of the terrible bloodletting that was Americas Civil War, Lincoln struggled for answers to provide greater meaning and purpose that would justify the agonizing suffering, tormenting the nation, North and South. Elton Trueblood meaningfully described Lincoln as the theologian of American anguish.

Lincoln had been a spiritual skeptic in his youth, but increasingly became a man of deep faith as he walked through the fiery crucible of the Civil War where Americans were killing their fellow Americans in horrifyingly heartbreaking numbers. Lincoln declared, I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day.

In November 1863, President Lincoln journeyed to Gettysburg, the site of the bloodiest battle ever fought on American soil. The land was still scared and littered with the aftermath of the great three-day battle that had been fought there three and a half months earlier. Lincoln had come to dedicate a cemetery for the tens of thousands of Union soldiers who had been killed. His speech became an almost instant classic, as Lincoln managed to distill into simple, but eloquent language the ultimate meaning of the struggle and the unique nature of the American experiment in self-government. The timeless words of Lincolns Gettysburg address touched hearts and minds as they were spoken: Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.

During this address, Lincoln also distilled the essence of the America experiment, as he declared, that these dead shall not have died in vain  that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom  and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Now we know from an eyewitness what Lincoln emphasized verbally was in the last lines of that speech. Most people today say of the people, by the people, for the people, but Lincoln, when he delivered the speech, said government of the people, by the people, for the people, with the emphasis on the American people.

For President Lincoln, and Washington before him, the people were sovereign, and the government gained its authority from the consent of the governed, not top-down government. It is important for Americans to remember this priceless national heritage, as evidence abounds that America faces a crisis of confidence in our governing institutions and in our future itself. It is time for Americans to look to their historical heritage as embodied in Presidents Washington and Lincoln for inspiration and to remember that we are the ones who confer power on the government by our consent, and the government is there to serve us.

This November, we will elect  or re-elect  our nations president, along with senators, representatives and governors. We have the opportunity once again to remind our elected officials and those who would be our elected officials that they derive their authority from the people, and that they can be replaced when they forget for whom they work. After all, we have a government of the people, by the people, for the people that shall not perish from the earth.
Specialist Dante Battle from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division secures the perimeter outside of a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle on the way to cross the Kuwaiti border as part of the last U.S. military convoy to leave Iraq on Dec. 18, 2011, near Nasiriyah, Iraq. (Lucas Jackson/Getty Images)

Make Rules of Ranging Your Rules for Business: Part 8

Commentary

In 1757, in the middle of the French and Indian War, Maj. Robert Rogers composed a list of 28 rules intended to serve as operational guidelines for his legendary and groundbreaking light infantry force, the original special operations unit known as Rogers Rangers.

These Rules of Ranging were a hybrid combination of Native American combat techniques and his own blend of guerrilla warfare, revolutionary in their own time and still a foundational element in special operations units such as the U.S. Armys 75th Ranger Regiment.

This list of combat-proven knowledge isnt just applicable to the battlefield. In Part 8 of this series, well continue to explore how you can adapt these strategies in your professional daily life.

Rule 22: When returning from a scout, use a different path as the enemy may have seen you leave and will wait for your return to attack when youre tired.

Or Mission success doesnt mean you can let your guard down.

Any veteran of the United States most recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan can tell you that the first 100 days of a combat deployment are the most dangerous. This is due to the convergence of new units who are the least familiar with the situation on the ground arriving into asymmetrical situations in which failure has dire consequences.

The enemy knows this and uses their institutional knowledge and familiarity of the terrain to their advantage, often with fatal returns for the opponents they view as foreign invaders attempting to destroy their way of life.

However, its also been my experience that the end of a missionwhether it be an entire deployment or a single operationthe last stretch before the finish line, is also extremely dangerous. When the stakes are high and yet you have still somehow been experiencing success and defying the odds, its all too easy to begin to allow complacency to creep in.

When you have a full belly and its getting late, its easy to fall asleep. This also applies to a feeling of satisfaction after an extended period of peak performance: Its easy to give in to comfort and gradually lower your focus on maintaining situational awareness. When this happens, its only a matter of time before disaster strikes.

Rule 23: When following an enemy force, try not to use their path, but rather plan to cut them off and ambush them at a narrow place or when they least expect it.

Or If youre happy following in the steps of your competition, youll always be behind.

When in pursuit of a highly desired target, its easy to get tunnel vision or end up with an unhealthy target fixation. Its even easier to treat your competition as a pace man; when they speed up, you speed up, and when they slow down, you start coasting.

One of the best pieces of advice Ive ever received for running in races is when youre training, always sprint all-out for the last 100 meters. This simple exertion trains your body, mind, and spirit to push yourself to the very end. Cultivating an explosive mindset that can be incarnated in your flesh is how you learn and evolve to push past the competition and overcome the obstacles in your path.

When race car drivers are drafting cars in front of them, they dont settle into a mindset of comfort. Theyre actively looking for the right time to explode into the lead. Growth isnt a comfortable process in any organization or organism. The temptation to settle into comfort and ease should be a signal youre ready for retirement. If youre not, you need to snap out of it and get to work.

Theres a reason trailblazers get to see new worlds first and fourth place medals dont get handed out. If youre fine with accepting a participation ribbon, at least be honest with yourself and your peers about it.

Rule 24: When traveling by water, leave at night to avoid detection.

Or Know your vulnerabilities and avoid exposing them.

Heres the brutal truth: You have vulnerabilities and so does your organization. You can try to harden up these soft spots, but you would be foolish to pretend you can eliminate all weaknesses, or that you dont have any to begin with.

If youre not honest with both the extent of your vulnerabilities and the limits of how much you can mitigate them, know that while youre sleeping soundly, your opposition is going to find a way to exploit them in devastating and surprising ways.

If your teams mantra is We do it this way, because weve always done it this way, you might as well have one of your interns draft up an obituary for your organization and have it ready for release as a press release. Repetition gives your competitors a schedule by which they can more accurately attack you; staying the course is a fast path to destruction.

If youre not surrendering, dont expose your soft belly. Be aware of the gaps in your armor and act as if your opposition knows where they are as well. Being vulnerable is inevitable, but you shouldnt encourage an operational posture that allows outside forces to target it at their convenience.

Chris Erickson is a combat veteran and former Green Beret, with extensive experience deployed to various locations across the world. He now works in the communications industry. You can follow him on Twitter @EricksonPrime.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
By PTI

KOLKATA: Political circles in West Bengal were abuzz on Monday with speculations that poll strategist Prashant Kishor is likely to be accorded 'Z' category security by the state police.

However, both the state secretariat and top leadership of the TMC remained tightlipped.

Repeated calls to Kishor also went unanswered.

The development comes amid hearsay that the architect of several successful political campaigns might join Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress ahead of the 2021 assembly polls.

Hitting out, CPI(M) Legislative Party leader Sujan Chakraborty asked why was Kishor being provided 'Z' category security at the expense of the state government despite having no relation with public life in West Bengal.

"Is @PrashantKishor being provided Z Category security? At the #GoWB expenses? Why? No relation with public life in #Bengal. Is it planted by @AmitShah ? Seems the closeness with @MamataOfficial is causing one insecure! Highly deplorable & conspicuous!" he tweeted.

ALSO READ | Bihar Assembly election: Prashant Kishor to disclose his strategies on February 18 in Patna

The JD(U) last month expelled Kishor, who was its vice-president, saying his conduct in the recent past had made it clear that he did not want to abide by the party's discipline.

Kishor, like the West Bengal chief minister, has been a strong critic of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Population Register (NPR).

According to TMC sources, Kishor shares a very good rapport and working relation with Banerjee.

After its dismal performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the TMC hired Kishor to strategise and fix the lacunae before next year's assembly elections.

Kishor's strategy worked for the party in the November bypolls as it won all three assembly seats.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 14:55:03|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

TAIYUAN, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Instead of traveling during the winter vacation, Pakistani student Muhammad Waleed Bin Zafar studied pharmacology for two hours every afternoon.

"Now that teachers have told us not to travel, I have more time to spend on my weak subjects in school," said Muhammad, majoring in the clinical science of integrated Chinese and Western medicine in the Shanxi University of Chinese Medicine, northern China's Shanxi Province.

Due to the spread of the novel coronavirus, Chinese universities have taken comprehensive measures to safeguard the health of international students such as restricting access to outsiders, distributing masks and regularly checking body temperatures.

"My campus life has barely changed, except that I make a video call every day telling my family I'm safe," Muhammad said.

"Faculty workers sterilize our dormitory, and teachers provide authoritative information as well as psychological counseling services. I believe the campus is safer than anywhere else," said Afghan student Shadab Abdul Samir from Taiyuan University of Technology (TUT), who described the measures as "reassuring and necessary."

According to the TUT administration, the school of international exchanges has provided food delivery to the students to avoid cross-infection at the dining hall and uploaded online courses so that the students will not fall behind.

Agba Chinaza Frances is a Nigerian student studying in Shanxi University. At the beginning of the epidemic, her mother called her three times a day asking her to go home.

"I explained to her what was going on here and what the local government and school had done to protect us," she said. "Traveling is more dangerous, so I'm not leaving."

She said she could finish her assignments in her dorm, and she also does indoor exercises to keep fit.

Statistics show some 600 foreign students have stayed on campus in the province, and none of them have been infected so far, according to the provincial education department.

"We have already required universities to take full measures since Jan. 21 to ensure the safety of the international students," said Han Ruiyong, an official in charge of international affairs from the department.

Meanwhile, overseas students are paying close attention to the battle against the epidemic.

Muhammad said he was impressed by China's efforts of mobilizing tens of thousands of people for the building of two makeshift hospitals in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.

"I've never seen any country mobilize their citizens like China. People from everywhere are rushing to the rescue, and a hospital with 1,000 beds was built in 10 days," Muhammad said. "I don't think there are any difficulties that can defeat Chinese people."

China's daily new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus pneumonia outside Hubei, the epicenter province in the outbreak, have dropped for 13 consecutive days to 115 by Feb. 16, a sharp decrease from 890 on Feb. 3, according to the National Health Commission.

Waled Yahya, a TUT doctor student from Libya, said Wuhan was a "heroic city" as it had made a tremendous sacrifice to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

"When the epidemic is over, I will pay a visit there to figure out what happened and how they triumphed," he said.

Wuhan, and later a few other cities in Hubei Province, have been sealed off to aid the nation's fight against the coronavirus.
While some Libyans mark the revolutions anniversary, others say there is nothing to celebrate amid increasing violence.

Libyans from a number of cities have gathered in the capital, Tripoli, to celebrate nine years since the beginning of an uprising that eventually toppled Muammar Gaddafi after 42 years in power.

Waving flags and playing music, the large crowds took to the streets to mark the 2011 uprising that began in the coastal city of Benghazi.

But nearly a decade later, the power vacuum that followed Gaddafis killing continues to fuel violent conflict, with the deeply divided country no closer to lasting peace amid a fierce contest by two rival administrations in the west and east.

This years celebration came as the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli is facing an offensive by the eastern-based forces of renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar.

Al Jazeeras Mahmoud Abdelwahed, reporting from the rally in the capital, said participants had also staged sit-ins to condemn the military push launched in April last year by Haftars self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA).

[They are] also denouncing the war crimes, as they say, committed by his [Haftars] forces, especially the targeting of residential areas in Tripoli, he added.

The LNA has failed to breach Tripolis defences amid fierce fighting that has so far killed hundreds of people and displaced tens of thousands.

Haftar has received support from the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt and Russian mercenaries while Turkey has recently stepped up its support for the GNA.

Countries backing the warring have repeatedly violated an arms embargo on Libya, according to the United Nations, which has recorded more than 100 violations since January 12, when the warring sides conditionally agreed to a truce.

So many tragedies

While many on Monday marked the uprisings anniversary, others said they had nothing to celebrate after 10 months of attacks.

{articleGUID}

Samira al Mehdi, a Tripoli resident, told Al Jazeera she had experienced the spike in violence first-hand.

I swear the horror that this little girl has seen, no other child has witnessed in all of Libya, she said while holding her daughter, weeks after her home in the outskirts of Tripoli was bombed.

Now she resides in a shelter along with other families.

The whole building in front of us collapsed. The bombs were coming from all sides. Our home was completely destroyed. We could have been killed, she added.

There are so many tragedies. Huge problems and theres people suffering even more than us. I dont have an ounce of hope. Theres no security, [so] why and what are they celebrating?
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Marchio Irfan Gorbiano and Budi Sutrisno (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 17, 2020 19:05 694 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206507486 1 National Moeldoko,Paniai,Papua,West-Papua,human-rights,human-rights-violations,human-rights-abuse,Komnas-HAM,State-Palace Free

Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko has expressed his disagreement with the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) recent declaration that the shootings in Paniai, Papua in December 2014 were a gross human rights violation.

We need to look at [the case] correctly. It must be seen properly because it was not a structured, systematic event. There were no direct orders from those in charge, Moeldoko told journalists at the Presidential Staff Office in Central Jakarta on Monday.

The incident, also referred to as the Bloody Paniai case, occurred when security forces opened fire at a crowd of demonstrators in the Karel Gobay Field in Madi district, Paniai regency, after the demonstrators threw stones at a military office. The protests were sparked by allegations that Army personnel had beaten local youths.

Four high school students were killed instantly and one died later in hospital. They were Otianus Gobai, 18, Simon Degei, 18, Yulian Yeimo, 17, Abia Gobay, 17, and Alfius Youw, 17. Twenty-one other civilians were injured in the incident.

Moeldoko, who was the Indonesian Military (TNI) commander at the time of the shooting, said that he did not think that the actions of the military personnel involved had been premeditated.

Read also: We demand proof, not promises': Papuans urge Jokowi to bring justice to Paniai tragedy

In my opinion, what the security forces did was a sudden reaction because they were attacked, which caught them by surprise. There was no policy to do such a thing. We need to look at it carefully and not come to inaccurate conclusions, he said.

Five years after the high-school students were shot, Komnas HAM issued its findings that the authorities had carried out gross human rights violations by killing and persecuting civilians.

This incident constitutes a crime against humanity, the commissions chief investigator Muhammad Choirul Anam said in a statement on Monday, as reported by AFP.

The commission interviewed two dozen witnesses, analyzed documents and visited Paniai to determine whether the military was responsible for the deaths.

Komnas HAM said it had forwarded its dossier on the incident to the Attorney Generals Office (AGO) for possible prosecution.
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!)
A group of southeast Queensland SES volunteers are beside themselves after low lives flung mud at their rescue vehicle.

Logan City SES posted a photo on Facebook of one its utes on Sunday with mud caked onto the drivers side door while parked at the Loganlea boat ramp.

Its unfortunate that this is the thanks Logan City SES members receive from some members of the public, it wrote.

Volunteers at Logan City SES were less than amused with the mud flung at their vehicle. Source: Facebook/ Logan City SES

Its incredibly sad to know that they think creating even more work for our volunteers is a laughing matter.

To this person, your five-minute mud slinging just added more time to our cleanup Time away from our loved ones. So, thank you.

People on Facebook were furious with the SES workers treatment by the lowlives who threw mud.

Geez, there really are some fools around, one man wrote.

Another man added he was very disappointed to see no respect for the states frontline volunteers.

Sorry you had some brainless person do this to your truck, another man wrote.

Other people threw their support behind the SES and some offered to clean the truck.

Don't lose heart SES, you are valued and respected by many. Thanks for all you do, one woman wrote.

Wayne Hepple, State Emergency Services (SES) regional manager, South Eastern Region said volunteers are an integral part of the emergency services in Queensland and are well-respected.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) understands that it was likely the SES vehicle was left covered in mud after another vehicle drove through mud nearby, causing it to spray over the vehicle, he said.

QFES believes it was an isolated incident. SES volunteers were conducting training at the time.

Since the start of February, South Eastern Region SES crews have responded to approximately 820 requests for assistance. The majority of these requests were for tarping leaking roofs and to provide sandbags, following heavy rainfall across the region.

Story continues

People on Facebook called those responsible for the mess 'low lifes'. Source: Facebook/ Logan City SES

Logan SES volunteers kept very busy

SES volunteers Queensland have been kept busy over the past week due to flooding and heavy rain throughout the southern parts of the state.

Logan City was battered 59.6mm of rain on Thursday and 75.8mm on Friday. The city also received 43.2 last Monday.

A bird enjoys a flooded football field in Woombye on the Sunshine Coast last week. Source: AAP

Severe storm warnings were in place for areas between Brisbane to the Gold Coast, which included Logan on Thursday with most beaches along the southeast coast closed too.

More than 160 calls for assistance were made on the Sunshine Coast, the ABC reported.

Logan City SES also spent a very busy Saturday fixing roofs and madly sandbagging homes.

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.
Indore has been enjoying the tag of the cleanest city for a few years now. In 2019, it was crowned the cleanest city in the country for the third consecutive time, under Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan.



The city authorities now want to curb noise pollution and make Indore the most 'silent city' as well.

Among the plans that have been made to achieve this, is the curbing of sound amplifying systems, and the installation of 'smart traffic signals' that stay red longer if honking is above a certain decibel limit - like the ones set up in Mumbai - a senior official told news agency PTI.



Representational Image

"We want to free Indore from noise pollution and earn the status of silent city of India by March 2021. This is an unofficial title but people are being motivated to achieve this goal," District Collector, Lokesh Kumar Jatav, said.



The city authorities have identified 39 'silent zones' - the Madhya Pradesh High Court bench in Indore, old age homes, hospitals, educational institutions among others, have been identified, where the use of pressure horns, sound amplifiers and loudspeakers will be banned.

"There is a lot of noise pollution in the city due to the sound of DJs (amplifiers) during wedding ceremonies. To curb this, discussions are being held with different communities so that these equipment are played within the approved sound and time limits," he added.



Representational Image

Indore has a population of around 30 lakh and traffic on roads leads to incessant honking and hence, noise pollution.

The plan is to install smart traffic signals, like the ones in Mumbai, would be installed to deter motorists from honking at junctions.

In November 2019, Mumbai Traffic Police conducted a social experiment in which some signals were configured in such a way that they would stay red for longer if the honking and din at the junction exceeded 85 decibels. This experiment received a thumbs up from the public.

Authorities in Indore will also seek public suggestions to work towards earning the tag.
KALAMAZOO, MI  A man arrested Feb. 13 in connection with a bank robbery in Kalamazoo will have his case tried in federal court.

Daniel Augustine Solis, 28, according to court documents, has already admitted to authorities he robbed the Chase Bank at 141 E. Michigan Ave. around 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 12, 2020.

Solis, according to a news story in the Spokesman Review, is also being connected to a developing child pornography case in Spokane, Washington in which his ex-girlfriend says he asked her to film sex acts with her child and send them to him.

Solis ex-girlfriend Audree Pederson, of Chattaroy, Washington, was arrested Feb. 10 on multiple charges in Washington, including three counts of child rape, according to court records.

Pederson, 24, is suspected of molesting her 2-year-old son on three different occasions in one night and filming each of the assaults, which she then sent to Solis after he moved to Kalamazoo, according to the Spokesman Review story.

Solis, who moved to Michigan in December, was arrested in connection with the Chase Bank robbery Thursday, Feb. 13.

His arrest came less than 24 hours after the robbery, and was aided by Kalamazoo Township police detectives who recognized Solis from surveillance photos.

The township detectives assisted Kalamazoo Public Safety officers in tracking Solis to a home in the 1700 block of Alamo Avenue in Kalamazoos West Douglas neighborhood, Kalamazoo Public Safety Capt. Craig Habel told MLive.

The Kalamazoo Metro SWAT team executed a search warrant at the home around 2 p.m. Feb. 13 and found Solis, along with a large amount of currency, believed to have been taken in the robbery, Habel said.

Solis, according to a federal complaint filed in U.S. District Court Western District of Michigan, admitted to robbing around $7,000 from the downtown Kalamazoo Chase Bank branch last week.

According to the complaint, he told arresting officers, after being read his Miranda rights, that he had already spent approximately $2,000 of the cash he stole at Angels Gentlemans Club in Kalamazoo.

Solis faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine if convicted on the bank robbery charge. He was unarmed when he robbed the bank, according to police.

Solis is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Feb. 20 in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids.

Also on MLive:

Kalamazoo man, 28, arrested in robbery of Chase Bank downtown

Man accused of ordering girlfriend to record sex acts with girl, 9, heads to trial

Woman accused of sharing childs sex assault on internet
Finland man finds ring lost in Maine: A high school class ring that was lost in Maine in 1973 has been found in a forest in Finland. Debra McKenna, 63, lost the ring in Portland when she was a student at Morse High School, the Bangor Daily News reported. She said the ring was largely forgotten until a sheet metal worker found it under eight inches of soil in a Finnish forest 47 years later. How it got there is a mystery. The ring belonged to McKenna's late husband, Shawn, whom she dated all throughout high school and college. The couple was married for 40 years until Shawn died in 2017 after a six-year battle with cancer. Shawn gave McKenna the ring before he left for college, and she accidentally left it in a department store.
UK consumers will face higher prices on goods coming from the European Union after Brexit, whether Boris Johnson signs a free trade agreement with the bloc or not, according to a major business group.

Products imported from the EU after January 1, 2021 will require customs declarations, which cost between 16 pounds ($21) and 56 pounds per product line. They will also need documents like rules of origin paperwork, new red tape that is automatically triggered by Britain leaving the blocs single market and customs union.

These things will have to happen regardless of how good the deal is, said William Bain, policy adviser at the British Retail Consortium, which represents 5,000 businesses making 180 billion pounds of retail sales. Any increase in cost in a low margin industry is ultimately going to be faced by the consumer.

Looming higher costs for companies dealing with the EU, which is Britains largest trading partner and a source of half its imports, is a result of Prime Minister Johnsons approach to trade talks with the bloc. Johnson is seeking a more distant economic relationship with the EU -- akin to the blocs deal with Canada -- so that the UK does not have to align with EU rules and can independently sign trade agreements with other countries.

Costs and delays for businesses will rise further if the UK and EU fail to be pragmatic on other customs processes, the BRC said. The most burdensome will be export health certificates (EHC), a form required to move products of animal origin into the EU, which cost about 100 pounds each and must be issued by a vet or other qualified professional. Such products include meats, fish, cheeses and yogurts.

Switzerland has been able to remove the need for EHCs with the EU through a deal based on regulatory alignment, but Johnson has said the UK wants regulatory autonomy. Last week, cabinet office minister Michael Gove told businesses to prepare for animal health checks after Brexit.

Boris Johnson runs up against his red wall in escape from EU

Thats going to be a significant bit of extra red tape, Bain said, noting a recent example of a goods truck heading to Northern Ireland which was carrying 1,392 different product lines, 800 of which wouldve required EHCs after Brexit. Its a significant amount of money per truck, he said.

Another major concern for retailers is tariffs. Commerce between the UK and the EU will default to World Trade Organization terms if no accord is struck in 2020, and Britain is currently consulting on the levies it would apply. The EU has said a zero-tariff, zero-quota trade deal with Britain is conditional on a satisfactory agreement on fishing rights and the UK respecting the blocs rules in areas like environmental protection, labor standards and state aid. Johnson has so far rejected the idea of being bound by the EUs so-called level playing field requirements.

Prices of goods are a commercial decision for businesses and depend on a variety of factors, but its in their interests too to make them competitive and affordable, a government spokesperson said. Leaving the EUs single market and customs union gives us the opportunity to strike trade deals around the world, widen choices available for consumers, and set our own independent tariff strategy that is best for UK businesses and consumers.
The issue needs to be solved through cooperation with the command, and I dont rule out changes of personnel. This is what Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia Alen Simonyan told reporters today as he touched upon the rise in the number of murders and suicides in the army in peaceful conditions.

I cant speak on behalf of the Prime Minister, but Im sure the government will take actions. We can always justify or explain in a certain way, but the actions need to be drastic in order to rule out such cases, the deputy parliamentary speaker said.

When asked about the necessary steps, Simonyan said there are various reasons for certain cases and that both the command and the society need to deal with this issue so that we know that our soldiers must feel safe.
The election of Free Democratic Party (FDP) politician Thomas Kemmerich to the position of Minister President in Thuringia with the support of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) revealed to the world that Germanys ruling elite is once again ready to collaborate with Nazi apologists and fascists.

The alliance of the Christian Democrats (CDU) and FDP with the AfD was neither an accident nor a mistake. It was carefully planned and discussed. The rise of the AfD is bound up with the shift of the entire ruling class to the right. Numerous AfD members emerged from the state apparatus or the established parties which have systematically paved the way for the right-wing extremists.

The Left Party is no exception to this rightward shift. Although it was the target of the AfD in Thuringia, the party has responded with evasions, concealing the truth, appeasement, and stretching out the hand of cooperation to the CDU and FDP. The Left Party wants at all costs to prevent the widespread outrage over the promotion of the AfD from being directed against all of the established parties and the capitalist system. The party is itself part of the conspiracy that has strengthened the AfD. This was made very clear by the appearance of former Thuringia Minister President Bodo Ramelow on the ARD talkshow Meischberger last Wednesday.

Ramelow was well aware that his defeat was the result of a plan worked out behind the scenes. He cited a number of examples to back this up. The evening prior to his election, Kemmerich announced that the SPD ministers could retain their portfolios in his governmentthus indicating his expectation that he would win the election with the votes of the AfD.

Ramelow also reported that the spin doctor in the CDU, Mr. Dr. Hahn, a man with a right-wing extremist past, documented the scenario in a public debate on the Sunday prior to the vote. He continued, The evening before the election, CDU deputies allegedly met with AfD representatives in a pub in Erfurt. So none of them could really have been surprised; the only person who was surprised was me.

Nonetheless, Ramelow extended an offer of close cooperation to the very same parties who connived with the AfD against him. His demand was for orderly new elections, although the emphasis was placed on the orderly.

Thats the offer to the CDU. Vote for the state government so we can remain capable of taking decisions, Ramelow said. If I am not elected, we will have 150 days of an election campaign without a state government, he warnedapparently Ramelows worst nightmare.

His intention is clear. If new elections were held immediately, as a majority of 63 percent called for in a recent Infra poll, the results for the CDU and FDP would be devastating. The FDP would no longer surpass the 5 percent hurdle required for parliamentary representation, while the CDU, which governed the state uninterrupted between 1991 and 2014, would achieve just 14 percent. By contrast, the Left Party would secure a record result of 40 percent of the vote. The AfD, SPD, and Greens would achieve similar results to the last election.

Ramelow hopes to avoid such an outcome through orderly elections. This will give the CDU and FDP the time they need to recover. He repeatedly stressed his concern about the decline of these parties during his appearance on ARD. He is being forced to watch as the CDU tears itself apart as one of the large peoples parties, Ramelow complained. And it is the condition of the SPD that really concerns me. He added that he believes in the necessity of stable parties.

Asked about his opinion on the announced resignation of CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, whose interventions in Thuringia played an important role in establishing the coalition with the AfD, he responded, It troubles me. I know the colleague Kramp-Karrenbauer from the Saarland. In some areas, we fought together for good conditions.

He also praised his close cooperation with CDU Thuringia leader Mike Mohring, which was blocked by the party leadership in Berlin. Ramelow stated that he was in continuous talks with Mohring since December 23, discussing 22 different projects with the CDU state leader. According to Ramelow an agreement between the two would have enabled the CDU to elect him as Minister President on the third round of balloting to head a minority government of the Left Party, the SPD, and Greens. Instead, the CDU voted en masse for the candidate of the smallest party, the FDP, who was then elected with the votes of the AfD.

Ramelow also vehemently protested when Sandra Meischberger referred to him as a socialist Minister President. He is obviously prepared to do anything to demonstrate his reliability to the ruling class.

Ramelows appeal for favours from the CDU and FDP prove that the Left Party, its name notwithstanding, is a right-wing, bourgeois party for which the defence of the capitalist order comes before everything else, and which fears nothing more than the independent political mobilisation of the working class. Wherever the Left Party is or has been in governmentin Berlin, Brandenburg, Thuringia, and Mecklenburg-Pomeraniaits social, refugee, and other domestic policies have been no different to those of the other bourgeois parties.

Ramelows stance recalls Hans Modrow, who set the stage for capitalist restoration in East Germany as the last Stalinist Socialist Unity Party (SED) head of government, and now leads the Left Partys advisory council of elders at the age of 90. In my estimation, the road to unity was unavoidably necessary and had to be pursued decisively, he later wrote in his autobiography. I was mainly concerned about ensuring the countrys governability and preventing chaos. Millions of workers paid a bitter price for that.

Ramelows approaches to the CDU and FDP will only strengthen the AfD. The only way to prevent their rise and the return of fascism and war is through the independent mobilisation of the working class on a socialist perspective.
Finding the SS Cotopaxi outside the borders of Bermuda has debunked the Bermuda Triangle theory because the wreck was not found inside the dreaded Devil's Triangle. For many years the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle has captured the imagination of believers. The wreck is supposed to have disappeared within the Devil's Triangle.

However, the location of the actual wreck site is not even the stretch from Bermuda, Florida, and Puerto Rico where major disappearances have been reported over the years. This includes the SS Cotopaxi in 1925 that was lost on its way to Havana under unknown conditions in the notorious Devil's Triangle.

According to Michael Barnette, most disappearances were not within the triangle. There is more to all these disappearances than "total rubbish" as the diver and marine biologist said.

The "Bermuda Triangle" term was not invented until the 1960s in a magazine article. Llater the book "The Bermuda Triangle" in 1974 made the term well-known. One fantastical notion in the book is that the Bermuda Triangle was created after the sinking of Atlantis.

Over the years, the Bermuda Triangle is bundled with Bigfoot, also the Loch Ness Monster myster, that is muttered in the same breath. The SS Cotopaxi's disappearance was tied in by the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" with the alien activity as well.

Michael Barnette's investigation of the last 20-years when he moved to Florida has tested the veracity of the SS Cotopaxi incident. As an avid diver, he looked for wrecks to investigate, and one caught his attention. The "Bear Wreck" was 35 nautical miles from the east coast from St. Augustine, found in North Florida that interested him.

Also read: Loch Ness Monster Claims Surface as Mysterious Skeleton is Found After Storm Ciara

The "Bear Wreck" is larger than others in the surrounding area which piqued Barnette's focus more. In the process of knowing more about the shipwreck, delving into more newspaper clippings, insurance records and finally the artefacts that were retrieved from the wreck.

More evidence that seems to negate the Bermuda triangle theory began to stick out like a sore thumb. All his records and evidence points to the "SS Cotopaxi" as the large wreck on the ocean floor.

A ghost ship was found by the Cuban coast guard in 2015, claimed to be the Cotopaxi and no other ship. But Barnette posted an online video that the SS Cotopaxi is sitting on the Atlantic Ocean floor when the Science Channel worked with him to broadcast his shipwreck.

Here are the events leading to the disappearance of the Cotopaxi.

a. In 1925, the Cotopaxi left the port of Charleston, South Carolina. It was carrying coal onboard, it encountered a storm and sank with 32 souls forever.

b. After the disappearance of the Cotopaxi, the company was sued by the sailor's families. The ship's carpenter was rescued, and he said latch covers for the coal was broken.

c. The broken latch covers allowed water to enter the holds, and sink the ship.

d. All cargo hold covers were under repair when ordered to sail.

e. before sinking the Cotopaxi sent signals for help on Dec.1, 1925. The SOS was received in Jacksonville, Florida.

f. Brass valves were found by another diver with SV marking on it. It stood for "Scott Valve Manufacturing Co. that had parts used in the ill-fated ship.

Pervading belief in the Bermuda Triangle Theory is now unclear as Michael Barnette's "Bear Wreck" might be the SS Cotopaxi. Having the wreck found in the Atlantic Ocean should put a wrinkle whether the Devil's Triangle does exist, or it might be one of those debunked mysteries.

Related Article: Large Ancient Galaxy Stopped Making Stars, Confusing Astronomers

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) to forthwith remove all illegal hoardings at public places that pose a risk to public safety and deface properties.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar passed the order while hearing a matter, initiated on its own, relating to illegal hoardings and boards at public places.

The court said it expects that the civic body will abide by the terms of the 2017 outdoor advertisement policy and "illegal hoardings will be removed forthwith".

The bench added that it sees no reason to further monitor the case of removal of such illegal hoardings and violation of the policy.

Under the 2017 policy, advertisements are not allowed in national parks, historical monuments, world heritage areas and religious places.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Democrats are growing alarmed about Republican attempts to prop up an insurgent liberal candidate in North Carolina  fearful that GOP meddling will undercut the partys prospects in a key Senate contest.

What seems like a generic campaign ad pitching Erica Smith, a North Carolina state senator, as the only proven progressive in the states high-profile Senate race is actually part of a multimillion dollar investment from a mysterious super PAC  the innocuously named Faith and Power PAC  with apparent ties to Republicans.

The ad campaign, which began last week ahead of the March 3 primary, immediately disrupted the bid from frontrunner and Democratic leadership favorite Cal Cunningham to emerge from his primary and face incumbent GOP Sen. Thom Tillis in November.

The North Carolina race is critical: Without beating Tillis, Democrats' path back to the Senate majority is nearly impossible. Cunningham, a military veteran and former state lawmaker, lost a Senate primary in 2010, and Democrats are eager to avoid the same result this year. But things are getting messy  and expensive.

Smith, whose low-budget campaign has otherwise posed little threat to Cunningham, has denounced the intervention. But the episode threatens Democrats hopes of getting the better-funded, more moderate Cunningham through the primary unscathed.

FILE - In this March 14, 2019, file photo, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., attends a Senate Armed Services hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Garland Tucker, a former investment firm CEO who announced months ago his Republican primary challenge of Tillis said Monday, Dec. 2, he won't officially enter the race after all. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Its so brazen and obvious.  They recognize that Cunningham is a strong candidate, and theyre worried about holding on to that seat, said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.). When Republicans are weighing in for somebody, theyve made the judgment that theyre worried about Cal, and theyre not worried about her.

Privately, Senate Democrats have been discussing the matter internally, with one fretting that Smith is unelectable in a general election and will be painted as a Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) acolyte. Few in the party want to criticize Smith publicly since no matter who emerges as Democrats nominee, North Carolina is a must-win to take back the Senate.

Story continues

But the GOP infusion of money is increasing worries about disarray.

You want your strongest candidate. And if shes not the strongest candidate, yes, it makes it much tougher, said Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who supports Cunningham. Theres just too much money in politics, and they spend it on trying to get the weakest candidate to run against Tillis.

Democrats have used similar tactics in past Senate races in Missouri and West Virginia to elevate weak Republicans but decry the practice in their own internal politics. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), who referred to Tillis as extremely weak in his reelection campaign, said the GOP is known for voter suppression and playing games with voters, and they are taking it to new heights here.

Still, some Democrats worry the effort will be at least partially successful.

It's certainly made it more challenging to have over $2 million dumped into an ad buy against Cal Cunningham and what looks to be an attempt by Republicans to sway the primary, said MaryBe McMillan, president of the North Carolina AFL-CIO, which endorsed Cunningham. I still feel confident about his chances in the primary. It's just unfortunate that it's going to mean spending more resources.

Faith and Power PAC's ads were placed by a media buyer used by a number of conservative organizations, and the PAC uses Chain Bridge Bank, which has deep ties to Republicans. Faith and Power PAC did not respond to emails. A spokesperson for the GOP super PAC Senate Leadership Fund, which also uses Chain Bridge Bank, did not respond to requests for comment.

Cunningham and his campaign have sought to amplify the super PAC's GOP ties.

My gut tells me North Carolinians have a really strong BS meter. And this is triggering it," Cunningham said in a statement.

The turn in the race has been stunning: Just three months ago, Tillis faced a barrage of attacks from his own party and booked a massive TV buy to defend against a challenger accusing him of being insufficiently conservative. His challenger ultimately dropped out and Tillis scaled back his TV buy, though he is still working to win back his conservative base.

Cal Cunninghams spending a lot of his cash on hand. So, I think he must be worried. Otherwise you wouldnt spend your cash on hand in advance of the primary, Tillis said in an interview.

He also brushed aside a question about Republicans appearing to intervene in the Democratic race, pointing out the ads were a positive message about Smith.

Democratic leaders said the GOPs interest in tanking Cunningham is a sign of his strength.

Republicans think Cal Cunningham is the strongest, from what Ive seen, to take on the Republican incumbent there, said Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairwoman Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada.

The public polling in the race is scarce, though Democrats believe months of heavy spending laid the groundwork for Cunningham to prevail. VoteVets, a group that supports Democratic veterans and endorsed Cunninghams campaign, has spent $6 million between its super PAC and an affiliated nonprofit on positive ads for his candidacy. Cunningham has spent six figures on TV, and his campaign is also running TV ads with coordinated spending from the DSCC. Most of those efforts were underway before the apparent intervention from Republicans, but the spending has increased in the past week.

Another mysterious super PAC  Carolina Blue  was created last week and has spent $1.1 million backing Cunningham, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission. The group has ties to national Democrats: It uses the same media buyer and bank as Senate Majority PAC, a top Democratic outside group. A Senate Majority PAC spokesperson did not return requests for comment.

A poll released Wednesday showed Cunningham leading Smith by double digits, but with nearly half of likely voters still undecided. But even if Cunningham wins, Republicans are reveling in Democrats internal discord.

Cal Cunningham has never won a federal race hes ran for. To suggest that this is an unbelievable recruit that Chuck Schumer got? He has no proven track record and is not known in the state, said Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.). Schumer has funded 100 percent of the Cunningham campaign. Why would they complain if somebody else funded the opponent?

Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., right, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., committee vice chair, speak to the media after receiving closed briefings from Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire and National intelligence inspector general Michael Atkinson, Thursday Sept. 26, 2019, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Cunningham, who represented an area north of Charlotte in the state Senate for one term nearly two decades ago, is a veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and has the endorsement of the DSCC, as well as a variety of North Carolina politicians and organizations.

Smith was first elected in 2014 to an eastern North Carolina state Senate seat. Shes struggled to raise money, hauling in only slightly above $200,000 last year, with just $94,000 in cash on hand at the end of 2019. Cunningham entered January with $1.7 million in the bank.

Smith expressed frustration at the idea that she is a weaker general election candidate, saying in an interview that there is a "certain privilege that exudes from these statements."

"Traditional D.C. says that the strength and the weakness of a candidate is based on their money.  We know that their theory is wrong," she said. "Time and time again, the DSCC and D.C.  they've backed well-financed candidates, only to have them lose."

Still, the Republicans' tactic may be a boon for Smith's campaign, which hasnt spent any money on TV. Harrison Hickman, a pollster and consultant for former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.), said Republicans were astute in boosting Smith because what an unknown candidate needs more than anything else is name recognition and popularity. But he said there could be backlash if voters are aware of the groups GOP ties.

Gary Pearce, a longtime Democratic strategist in the state, said Cunningham had a very comfortable lead in the race just a few weeks ago. Now, he said, its no sure thing.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Buck, the massive canine hero of Jack Londons The Call of the Wild, was intense, gritty and adaptable, possessing lightning-fast fangs, intelligence and an innate ability to intimidate and lead.

What Londons Buck did not have was a gift for comedy and Precious Moments eyes.

With that in mind, Harrison Fords CGI co-star in the otherwise beautifully photographed remake of the classic tale was a deep disappointment.

London wrote his book, and its companion tome White Fang, after having ventured to Alaska to seek his fortune at the age of 21. Only 40 when he died in 1916, his style of writing was somewhat akin to that of Ernest Hemingway, though Hemingway was a bit better at brevity. Each shared a gift for creating images in the minds of those who read them.

The original Buck, a Saint Bernard-Scotch Collie mix, had been plucked from a comfortable California estate and essentially sold into slavery in the harsh land of the north during the Klondike gold rush. He survived by virtue of his size and strength, and having the intelligence to understand that he had to adapt to a self-preservationist, me-first attitude in such surroundings.

Londons Buck learned the hard way that weakness is death in an environment where wintertime temperatures often hovered around 50 degrees below zero, and that the only options are either to thrive and survive or surrender and die. And the only way to do that was to answer The Call of the Wild and tap into the genetic memories of the wolves that were all dogs ancestors.

The movie Buck, as portrayed by director Chris Sanders in a screenplay by Michael Green, bears little resemblance to the gruff, aloof and independent Buck of Londons tale. Indeed, the CGI Buck is more like a Disneyesque Tramp, showing a fatherly protectiveness for his pack of sled dogs after ascending into the lead dog role.

In Londons version, Buck gets the top job by killing his predecessor in a vicious fight, crushing his rivals forelegs with bites before slashing his throat to cover the snow with crimson blood. Its an epic scene, one that came from Londons own experience and observations of reality on the gold rush trails in the Yukon. Theres still a fight in the film, but the victory is far less gruesome.

Omar Sy is Perrault in Twentieth Century Fox's "The Call of the Wild."Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

Its doubtful even that London would recognize this Buck, who bears more resemblance to Old Yeller than a Klondike sled dog coming to grips with and finally embracing his ancestry.

Thats not to say the movie is a total wash. Ford and his CGI friend share a bond as great as that of Timmy and Lassie, or Rusty and Rin-Tin-Tin (if you get that reference, youre as old as I am). And the scenery is beautiful.

As an Army brat, I spent a total of four years in Alaska in two separate postings to The Last Frontier. The last saw my family travel the Al-Can Highway, which took us through Dawson and Whitehorse in British Columbia, and to Delta Junction, Alaska, and nearby Fort Greeley. Basically, thats the route that the Klondike gold rush miners took.

Though shot in California and not in the wilds of Alaska and the Yukon, the cinematography (a death word for movies) is a remarkable facsimile of the geography of the Great White North.

Ford is, as usual, outstanding as John Thornton, who befriends Buck and is in turn befriended by him, something that is true to Londons original incarnation of the relationship between man and dog. It seems a bit odd to say, but its through Thornton that Buck  in the book and the film  discovers his own humanity.

The backstory for Fords Thornton is one wholly created by the filmmakers, but it works here. But I will be honest: During certain tense scenes in which danger is clearly just around the bend, I expected and hoped to hear Ford/Thornton/Han Solo say, Ive got a bad feeling about this.

Omar Sy is a likable and funny Perrault and Cara Gee shines as his droll and beautiful partner, Francoise, a pair of French-Canadian mushers who carry mail throughout the region on the sled hauled by Buck and his pack. Of course, this is another of those puzzling rewrites, as Londons original story had two men sharing the trail together.

The movie has its moments, some touching, some funny, but most feel contrived to appeal to todays uber sensitive (i.e. wishy-washy) audiences. And that taming of Londons story is the most problematic.

The Call of the Wild is a classic because Londons ability to describe the harsh reality of life in the Yukon during the Klondike gold rush in vivid, unblemished terms. This telling is better retitled The Call of the Mild.

REVIEW

The Call of the Wild

Who: With Harrison Ford, Omar Sy, Cara Gee and a CGI version of a Saint Bernard-Scotch Collie mix named Buck; directed by Chris Sanders; written by Michael Green, based on the book by Jack London.

Rated: PG for violence.

Running time: 105 minutes.

When: Opens Friday.

Where: Area theaters.

Grade: C-

Also by Chuck Yarborough:

Sonic the Hedgehog gets series off to a running start

The pot thickens, so to speak, in The Gentlemen

Robert Downey Jr. talks to the animals in new Dolittle
Hong Kong: HA staff asymptomatic

The Hospital Authority today said its staff who had a meeting with two patients infected with novel coronavirus show no symptoms of the disease.

The authoritys Chief Manager (Quality & Standards) Dr Lau Ka-hin made the statement at a press conference this afternoon.

Dr Lau said: The five colleagues of the Hospital Authority who had a meeting with the two patients, the 57th and 59th cases, have no symptoms at this moment.

We have asked our staff to check their body temperatures daily as well as to report any symptoms or discomfort to their supervisors in the coming week.

He added the authority is observing the trend of the novel coronavirus infection in Hong Kong and is following the Governments infection control strategy.

This story has been published on: 2020-02-17. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The mother of 2012 Delhi gangrape victim has said that she is hopeful of a positive outcome at the hearing on her petition for fresh death warrants for the four convicts today. The Delhi court hearing the matter had adjourned the matter till 2 pm on Monday.

Several dates (of court hearing) have come and gone but fresh death warrants havent been issued yet. But we go with new hope in every hearing. Their lawyers use new tactics everyday, I cant say what will happen today but Im hopeful, said Asha Devi.

At the last hearing on Thursday, Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana had pointed to the rights of the convicts under Article 21 of the Constitution for posting the matter for further hearing on Monday.

In my considered opinion, Article 21 of the Constitution protects the life and liberty of a condemned prisoner till his last breath. It is a matter of right to exhaust his legal remedies and the court cannot afford to ignore the fundamental rights of the convict, the judge had said.

The judge also appointed an advocate to represent Pawan Gupta, one of the four death row convicts in the case, after he refused to take a lawyer offered by the Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DLSA) as legal aid.

He also said that deciding this application would lead to further legal complications. A dejected mother of the gangrape victim, Asha Devi, said, I am keeping faith in you (the judge), but when the death warrant is not passed, I will again come on the next date with the same hope and faith.

The parents of the 2012 Delhi gangrape case victim, through their lawyer, had told the court during the hearing on Thursday that patience of the society is being tested by this case.

The parents of the victim moved the Delhi court last week for issuance of fresh death warrant after the seven-day period given by the Delhi high court expired on February 12.

The families of the four convicts, meanwhile, said they are innocent and asked for one more chance for them. I have no one except him. My husband died and other son Ram Singh (the prime accused in the case) committed suicide, said the mother of Mukesh Kumar. The sister of another accused Pawan Gupta also demanded that her brother should not be hanged. He is innocent, she told HT.

The date of execution for the four convicts - Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Kumar Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar (31) - was first fixed for January 22 in Tihar jail, was later postponed for 6 am on February 1 by a January 17 court order.

The physiotherapy intern was gang-raped and savagely assaulted on the night of December 16, 2012, in a moving bus in South Delhi. She died of her injuries a fortnight later in a Singapore hospital.

Six people - the four convicts, Ram Singh and a juvenile - were named as accused.

The trial of the five adult men began in a special fast-track court in March 2013.

Ram Singh, the prime accused, committed suicide by hanging himself in Tihar jail days after the trial began. The juvenile, who was said to be the most brutal of the attackers, was put in a correctional home for three years.

He was released in 2015 and sent to an undisclosed location amid concerns over a threat to his life. He, when released, was 20 years old.

Mukesh, Vinay, Akshay and Pawan were sentenced to death in September 2013 by the trial court.
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's aviation regulator will support restructuring or mergers to help airlines cope with the coronavirus outbreak, it said on Wednesday, noting that the epidemic has hurt the bottom lines of many carriers.

The epidemic, which originated in the transportation hub city of Wuhan and quickly spread to the rest of China, has caused global airlines to cancel thousands of flights after dozen of countries imposed travel restrictions amid virus fears, dampening demand.

On Feb. 11, airlines cancelled 12,662 flights in China, according to aviation data provider Variflight.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China will continue to lobby authorities to subsidise airlines hurt by travel curbs due to the coronavirus, Xiong Jie, a CAAC spokesman, told a media briefing, adding that more fees would be waived for carriers.

The regulator will also support restructuring and mergers among airlines based on their needs, and support them to optimise capacity so they can weather the difficult time and win the battle against the virus, Xiong said.

Discussions of possible mergers have swirled since conglomerate HNA, which owns Hainan Airlines, started experiencing liquidity issues, said Chinese aviation expert Li Xiaojin. Li added that small airlines such as Lucky Air and Okay Airways were looking to get acquired.

"But the issue is the airlines looking to be bought were asking for a high price... after the outbreak, everyone is having difficulties, but small airlines may struggle more, so it's possible for them to lower their asking prices," Li said.

Passenger traffic in China declined 5.3% in January from a year earlier, compared with a growth rate of 7.9% for 2019.

"The coronavirus has had a huge impact on the civil aviation industry, which resulted in significant reductions in flight volume and could create new or spill-over safety risks," Xiong said.

The CAAC hopes countries will lift virus-related travel restrictions as soon as possible, in line with guidance from the World Health Organization and International Civil Aviation Organization, said Liang Nan, another CAAC official at the briefing.

For international flights affected by the coronavirus, the CAAC, in communication with other aviation authorities, will strive to retain the rights and landing slots for airlines, Liang said, adding that flights would be restored as soon as possible when market demand returns.

(Reporting by Stella Qiu and Brenda Goh; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Gerry Doyle)
Representative Image

The room tariffs of hotels in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar have increased by 30 to 50 percent, as Donald Trump gears up for his maiden visit to India on February 24.

According to a Financial Express report, luxury hotels in these cities are see a higher occupancy during this time around due to the peak NRI season.

Standard rooms, which are usually available in the range of Rs 3,000 to Rs 7,000, are now being booked at Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 per day. Suite rooms of some luxury hotels were even booked at Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 per day.

Narendra Somani, president of Hotel & Restaurant Association of Gujarat (HRAG), was quoted by Financial Express saying, Tariffs would shoot up in coming days for February 23 and 24 as there is an unprecedented rush for booking on the dates. Prices of suit rooms would go even higher as there is a limited number of such rooms. Such rooms are being booked for celebrities, industrialists and top leaders,

Even bookings in ordinary hotels would be difficult to book a room in the twin cities as people will start searching for rooms using online platforms the moment the dates of the mega event are finalised. "We have kept a few rooms reserve for an emergency also for February 23rd and 24th, said Rajesh Sinha, business head of The Blues Hotel.
Over 2,000 Former DOJ Officials Call for Barrs Resignation Over Handling of Roger Stone Case

More than 2,000 former Justice Department officials have signed an online letter urging Attorney General William Barr to resign following his intervention in the case of former Trump campaign associate Roger Stone.

The online letter was organized by Protect Democracy, a nonprofit advocacy group staffed by former government officials, political operatives, and activists that have been opposing Trumps agenda via legal means. Some of the groups actions include helping to shut down Trumps voter integrity commission, suing to block Trumps border emergency declaration, and a running campaign to have Trump prosecuted for obstruction of justice.

In their letter, the signees claim that Barr and President Donald Trump had interfered with the fair administration of justice. They say that it was unheard of for the Departments top leaders to overrule line prosecutors while alleging that it was done in order to give preferential treatment to a close associate of the President.

It is even more outrageous for the Attorney General to intervene as he did hereafter the President publicly condemned the sentencing recommendation that line prosecutors had already filed in court, the group wrote in their letter.

Prosecutors originally recommended seven to nine years in prison for Stone, who was convicted of lying to and obstructing Congress and witness tampering. The Justice Department, however, intervened in the case, calling the recommendation excessive and unwarranted.

The department then filed a revised sentencing memorandum that asked for a sentence of incarceration far less than 87 to 108 months imprisonment, but did not offer a specific prison recommendation.

The departments announcement to revise their sentencing recommendation came hours after Trump weighed in on Twitter about the seven to nine years recommendation. Justice Departments spokeswoman Kerri Kupec told media outlets that the DOJ didnt consult with the White House about Stones sentencing. She added that the decision to change the sentencing request was made before the president wrote on Twitter about it.

Four prosecutors involved withdrew from the Stone case on the same day of DOJs announcement.

The letter has been signed by around 2,000 former department officials as of Monday, which the group says is vetted to the best of [their] ability.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to our request to comment.

This comes as the attorney general is under new scrutiny after allegations that his actions are politicizing the Justice Department.

On Monday, the Atlantic published an op-ed by Donald Ayer, the former deputy attorney general under George H. W. Bush, who accused Barr of acting as the presidents personal advocate than as an attorney general in several high profile cases such as during former special counsel Robert Muellers Russia probe. He also alleged the attorney general is un-American and is working to tear down the institutional system built up after the Watergate scandals.

During an interview on Feb. 13, Barr confirmed that the actions of the Justice Department had nothing to with the president, his tweets, or anyone from the White House. I have not discussed the Roger Stone case at the White House, Barr said.

The attorney general also criticized the president about his Twitter posts in the wake of one of Trumps posts about the sentencing of former campaign adviser Roger Stone.

To have public statements and tweets made about the department, about people in the department, our men and women here, about cases pending in the department and about judges before whom we have cases, make it impossible for me to do my job, Barr said, and to assure the courts and the prosecutors in the department that were doing our work with integrity.

I think its time to stop the tweeting about Department of Justice criminal cases, he added.

Petr Svab contributed to this report.
Couple Diagnosed With Coronavirus Flew on Delta and Hawaiian Airlines Planes, Companies Say

A couple who was diagnosed with coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, flew on two airliners earlier this month around Hawaii, according to statements from Hawaiian Airlines and Delta Airlines.

A husband and wife from Japan departed from Oahu later tested positive for the virus, KHON2 reported. Delta told the station that Flight 611 left from Honolulu to Nagoya on Feb. 6.

Delta said it is working in coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Japanese authorities, according to the news outlet. The airline also is attempting to contact any passengers who might have flown on the same flight.

We are aware of reports that two customers who are being treated for novel coronavirus (2019-nCOV) recently traveled together between Honolulu and Nagoya and we are communicating with the appropriate public health officials, Delta told Fox News. It added that it will take the necessary steps to ensure the safety of our customers and crew.

The couple also took Hawaiian Airlines flight HA265 from the Hawaiian city of Kahului to Honolulu on Feb. 3, the airline confirmed.

CDC officials asked Hawaiian Airlines to provide information about the flight, which transported a Japanese visitor who had since become ill and, upon his return to Japan on another carrier later in the week, was diagnosed with COVID-19, Hawaiian Airlines told KHON2.

A Hawaiian Airlines jet taxies out to the runway at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Ariz., on Feb. 14, 2006. (Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images)

We extend our sincere wishes for this gentlemens full recovery and are cooperating with public health agencies to support notification of passengers as they determine is necessary, the firm added. We are also in the process of reaching out to crew and agents who supported this particular flight to make sure that they are healthy and supported.

The Japanese couple, who are said to be in their 60s, reportedly stayed at the Grand Waikikian hotel, operated by Hilton Grand Vacations, in Oahu. On Feb. 3, the husband started to exhibit mild, cold-like symptoms without a fever.

When the man returned to Japan on Feb. 8, he was hospitalized with a high fever before officials determined that he had contracted COVID-19. He was also diagnosed with pneumonia, KHON reported.

The wife later tested positive for the virus and was taken to the hospital, officials said.

So far, the United States has 29 cases of COVID-19, including 14 patients who were evacuated from a cruise ship held in isolation off the coast of Japan to two military bases for a mandatory 14-day quarantine period. Those passengers arrived on Monday morning and will now be held at Travis Air Force Base in California and Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.

The 15 other cases have been confirmed in California, Texas, Wisconsin, Illinois, Massachusetts, Washington state, and Arizona. No cases have yet to be confirmed in Hawaii.
Yet even this cautious depersonalization of the Russian political system is significant and indicative of a long-term change that Russian society is undergoing. Todays Russians seem to be less and less impressed by the show of strongman leadership at home and Russias military might abroad. A demand to be acknowledged as dignified citizens, not obedient subjects, is palpable in numerous protest movements that are ready to stand up to government and police pressure.

The changes that the government has been quietly introducing testify to the fact that the challenge has been accepted. Few Russians would dispute that for an average citizen, interaction with the Russian state is now much more formalized and efficient than even five years ago.

In todays one-window government service offices, citizens get a slip, pour themselves a coffee, wait a few minutes in a clean waiting area and soon get their requests processed quickly and efficiently. It is a far cry from the time when people had to bribe their way into getting a passport or to get some paperwork done fast and easily required going through an unpredictable, unpleasant interaction with a rude person behind thick glass in a stale government office.

It is important to understand, though, that none of this is meant to make Russias governance system less authoritarian. It is meant to make it less corrupt, chaotic, personalized and thus prone to human error. Replacing people with algorithms is a right-on way to achieve that goal. Mikhail Mishustin, a former technocrat who headed Russias tax service and was one of the leading officials responsible for bringing the state into the digital age, has become Russias new prime minister. His mandate is to cement the system, not to develop it.

Valorization of family and clan values over the interests of the individual or the public has been a feature of Russian life ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Now, as Mr. Putins overarching goal appears to be achieving a peaceful transfer of power and wealth, he seems to be reining in clan interests and even some features of his personalist rule. What does not change is the value he places on cohesion among the ranks over any individual political stance. He has always made a point of saying that a traitor is worse than an open enemy.

Against this background, it is all the more amazing that Americas conservative establishment acquiesces to the fact that not just a politician but a family is running its countrys administration. The speed with which President Trump managed to turn a political party into a clan is eye-opening. Republicans are learning that to get re-elected, they must accept that unity of the ranks is more important than any individual political stance. They now need to defend President Trump at all costs and, indirectly, adopt Mr. Putins stance that a traitor is worse than an enemy.

Of course, Russia is as far from achieving a fully rule-based political system complete with separation of powers as the United States is from descending into a personalist autocracy. What we are seeing is a convergence of sorts: Russias authoritarianism becoming less personalized while the American system of democratic governance acquires more familial and clan-based features.

At the end of the 1960s, the Soviet physicist and staunch dissident Andrei Sakharov was developing a theory of political convergence, by which he meant the gradual drawing closer together of the socialist and capitalist systems. History has yet to prove him right or wrong. The convergence we are seeing now is of a different kind: The Russian form of civil governance underpinned by family, even tribal values, is developing some rule-based features, while the American system, based on checks and balances, slides deeper by the month into a form of personal leadership that tests the rule of law.

Maxim Trudolyubov is an editor at large for the business magazine Vedomosti in Moscow and editor of The Russia File, a blog published by the Kennan Institute in Washington.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. Wed like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And heres our email: letters@nytimes.com.

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.
Shraddha Kapoor is one of the best actresses in Bollywood today. She works hard and also relaxes in the best way possible after every movie release. She consistently figures out how to keep herself happy and reviving. The star keeps posting pictures of her travelling and trying different things in life. According to an interview with a daily, Shraddha Kapoor thinks travelling brings out happiness.

Goa & Ladakh Are Shraddha Kapoor's Favourite Travel Destinations?

Shraddha Kapoor revealed in an interview that Ladakh, Goa, and New York are her favourite travel destinations. While travelling, she generally carries 5 things for sure: her phone, house keys, the Body shop lip juicer, happy go lash mascara, and Skin Defence Mist with SPF.

Read: Shraddha Kapoor Reveals Her WhatsApp Groups, Speed Dial List & Who She Stalks On Instagram

According to Shraddha Kapoor, travelling loosens up your brain and makes you a better individual in light of the fact that as you travel, you explore new places, learn new things and you are closer to nature. But when it comes to food, she is not an experimental eater. Shraddha revealed that she does not try any new or too weird food dishes.

Read: Baaghi 3s 'Dus Bahane 2.0' Starring Tiger Shroff-Shraddha Kapoor Invites A Meme-fest

When she was asked about solo travelling, Shraddha said that she visited Florence, Italy alone. She said the place was stunning. She further divulged that she has visited 19 historical centres in 7 days and did a ton of walking. Not just abroad but she also travels individually in India, be it for work or just her other outings. Except for the best places that she has visited, her dream goal is to visit Bhutan.

Read: Sara Ali Khan Vs Shraddha Kapoor: Who Wore The Metallic Dress Better?

Being a travel enthusiastic, Shraddha Kapoor gave voyaging tips too. She said, it's essential to moisturise your skin as movement and long flights dry out the skin. The diva advised drinking a ton of water while voyaging and to always wear sunscreen. She also revealed that her preferred travel partner would always be her mother.

Read: Alia Bhatt To Shraddha Kapoor: Celebs In White Sneakers To Take Style Inspiration From

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.
Advertisement

Because AMD often has no early warning signs, getting regular comprehensive eye exams from an ophthalmologist is critical. Academy guidelines state that adults with no signs or risk factors for eye disease get a baseline eye disease screening at age 40  the time when early signs of disease and changes in vision may start to occur. From age 40 to 54, get your eyes examined every 2 to 4 years; from 55 to 64, every 1 to 3 years. By age 65, get an exam every one to two years, even in the absence of symptoms or eye problems. If you have risk factors for eye disease, you will need to be examined more frequently.Ophthalmologists - physicians who specialize in medical and surgical eye care - have more tools than ever before to diagnose AMD earlier, and to treat it better. But these advances cannot help patients whose disease is undiagnosed, or patients who are unaware of the seriousness of their disease."People's lack of understanding about AMD is a real danger to public health," said Rahul N. Khurana, MD, clinical spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology. "As the number of people with AMD is expected to explode in the coming years, it's more important than ever that we prioritize eye health and have our eyes examined regularly."More needs to be done to elevate eye health as a priority. According to that same Harris Poll, while 81 percent of respondents say they do everything they can to protect the health of their eyes, only 11 percent say eye appointments top their list of the most important doctor appointments to keep.But Marlene is not one of them. She is vigilant about keeping appointments with her ophthalmologist."I keep going back to see my ophthalmologist every month because I want to be able to see my husband's face and to see my three, beautiful daughters," said Marlene. Her commitment has paid off. Even though her initial diagnosis was dire, today she can recognize the faces of her family and friends and cook without nicking her fingers. Learn more about Marlene's story here.Some Seniors May Be Eligible for a Free Eye ExamFor individuals age 65 or older who are concerned about their risk of eye disease, you may be eligible for a medical eye exam, often at no out-of-pocket cost, through the American Academy of Ophthalmology's EyeCare America program. This public service program matches volunteer ophthalmologists with eligible patients in need of eye care across the United States. To see if you or a loved one qualifies, visit EyeCare America to determine your eligibility.About the American Academy of Ophthalmology The Academy is the world's largest association of eye physicians and surgeons. A global community of 32,000 medical doctors, it protects sight and empowers lives by setting the standards for ophthalmic education and advocating for its patients and the public. The Academy innovates to advance the profession and to ensure the delivery of the highest-quality eye care. Through its EyeSmart articles on AAO.org, the Academy provides the public with the most trusted information about eye health. For more information, visit aao.org.Source: Newswise
Travelers are seen wearing masks at the international arrivals area at the Toronto Pearson Airport in Toronto, Canada, on Jan. 26, 2020. (Cole Burston/AFP via Getty Images)

Nurses Unions Warn National Standards for Coronavirus Protection Too Low

The Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions is warning that the federal public health agencys guidelines to protect front-line health care workers from outbreaks of diseases like the Novel Coronavirus dont go far enough, and might be putting them and patients at risk.

The standards, which the Public Health Agency of Canada updated last week, layout the precautions health care workers should take when assessing and treating a patient with a possible case of the coronavirus, including what protective equipment should be used.

The public health agency has committed to updating the guidelines as they learn more about the new coronavirus the World Health Organization (WHO) has named COVID-19, which has sickened tens of thousands.

Travelers wearing protective masks wait in line for taxi after arriving at Hong Kong High Speed Rail Station in Hong Kong, China, on Jan. 29, 2020. (Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)

Linda Silas, president of the labor organization, says the safety protocols are inadequate compared to those in Ontario and some other countries.

Silas said the standards assume the coronavirus cant spread through the airrather than through dropletsbut she contends the science isnt settled on that front and the government should be taking greater care until they can be 100 percent sure.

When we do not know, we have to go for the best precautions for workers, said Silas.

Nurses, doctors, and other medical staff who come into contact with patients must be protected, not only for their own health but to stop the potential spread of the virus, she said.

We need to make it clear that if health care workers are not safe, then patients are not safe, said Silas, who has written to federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu about her concerns.

The Ontario government released its own guidelines calling for constant use of disposable respirators when interacting with a potential coronavirus patient, while the federal guidelines require only a surgical mask unless certain medical procedures are being done.

The federal protocols are in line with the World Health Organization, but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and its European counterpart have also recommended higher standards and a greater degree of precaution.

In Canada the protection is much lower, and we will not accept that, Silas said.

She recommends all health care workers, regardless of where they are, follow the CDC or Ontario standards rather than the federal ones.

Other provinces are still developing their own protocols to respond to a potential coronavirus outbreak in Canada while others, like Manitoba, have opted to rely on the federal recommendations, leaving some health care providers more protected than others, Silas said.

Theresa Tam, chief public health officer at the Public Health Agency of Canada, said on Saturday there are eight people in Canada who have tested positive for the virus, following news on Feb. 14 that a new case was discovered in British Columbia.

There have been three cases in Ontario and five in British Columbia, pending confirmation of the latest case by a laboratory.

Passengers disembark an airplane carrying Canadian citizens flown out from the coronavirus zone in Wuhan, China, after arriving at CFB Trenton in Trenton, Ontario, Canada, on Feb. 7, 2020. (Chris Wattie/AFP via Getty Images)

The Public Health Agency of Canada was created in the wake of the SARS outbreak in 2003.

Mario Possamai, the former senior adviser on occupational health and safety matters for the SARS Commission, a judicial inquiry into how Ontario handled the deadly outbreak, said the federal public health agency is failing to learn from the experience of the province.

Nearly half of the 247 cases in Ontario affected nurses, physicians, respiratory therapists, cleaners, or other front-line workers.

The SARS outbreak was 17 years ago, and I cant believe they havent learned, he said.

The final report of the SARS inquiry described a tale of two citiesVancouver and Torontowith afflicted patients arriving at hospital within hours of one another.

The Vancouver patient was put into isolation within two-and-a-half hours of being admitted and treated by health-care professionals with respiratory protection.

In contrast, a similar patient in Toronto wasnt isolated for 21 hours, and doctors wouldnt start wearing respirators for weeks.

The report concluded that the procedures in place helped to save British Columbia from a major outbreak, while Ontario was thrown into a full public health crisis.

Millions of dollars have been dispatched by governments around the world so global researchers can answer some of the lingering questions about the coronavirus, but until the science is settled lives could be saved by preparing for the worst-case scenario, Possamai said.

Thats why Im so passionate about this, and so concerned, he said.

By Laura Osman
Last week Nedbank announced that it has discovered a security breach at Computer Services Ltd, a third-party service provider which issues SMS and email marketing on behalf of the bank.

This security breach compromised the personal information of Nedbank clients, including names, ID numbers, telephone numbers, physical addresses, and email addresses.

Nedbank said the security breach was discovered during a routine monitoring procedure. Once the bank became aware of it, it immediately conducted an extensive investigation.

1.7 million clients were affected by this security issue, with 1.1 million of those clients being active.

We have moved swiftly to proactively secure and destroy all Nedbank client information held by Computer Facilities, Nedbank said.

Nedbank said the incident was isolated to Computer Facilities systems, which it has disconnected from the Internet until further notice as a precautionary measure.

Nedbank CEO Mike Brown shares details

Nedbank CEO Mike Brown said in a CNBC Africa interview that the data breach was first discovered two weeks ago.

We have done everything in our power to contain the incident. We have been on the premises of the supplier, deleted all the Nedbank data and they shut them off the Internet, he said.

Brown said they currently assume that all the data which Nedbank sent to Computer Facilities over time has been compromised.

While this data was sent to Computer Services in an encrypted format, it currently looks like it was stored in plain text.

He highlighted that none of Nedbanks systems was compromised, meaning no bank account numbers, PINs or passwords were leaked.

Nedbank also uploaded information related to the incident into its fraud database, which will alert the bank to any unusual levels of activity on these accounts.

What this data could be used for

Names, ID numbers, telephone numbers, physical addresses, and email addresses can be powerful tools in the hands of cybercriminals.

Brown said in other scenarios where this data has been exposed, criminals have used it to launch social engineering attacks against banking clients.

In these targeted attacks, criminals try to get other data from banking clients like their bank account number, PIN, or password by calling them and pretending to be from Nedbank.

Brown urged clients to be vigilant and never give sensitive information like their banking details to people who phone them.

He advised clients who see suspicious activity or have concerns to contact the bank via email [email protected] or call 0860 777 5775.

MyBroadband tested the [email protected] email address promoted by Brown.

While the bank responded quickly, the consultant did not answer any of the questions asked. Instead, he simply reiterated the statement sent out by Nedbank previously.

Computer Facilities

Computer Facilities is a direct marketing company based in Randburg which focuses on data, marketing, and development.

It describes itself as a data-driven direct communications centre with a highly successful track record in excess of thirty years.

The company said it used various marketing tools to communicate to the right client at the right time through the right channels.

Computer Facilities added that it adheres to the strict laws laid down in the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI) and the Consumer Protection Act (CPA).

The company is a B-BBEE Level 1 contributor, which may be why it is an attractive supplier to large corporate clients like Nedbank.

MyBroadband asked Computer Facilities about the data breach and whether the data was stored in encrypted format, but the company did not respond by the time of publication.

How Computer Facilities was selected by Nedbank

Brown said they have agreements with suppliers like Computer Facilities to ensure they adhere to all standards necessary.

He said the bank also does due diligence on all their suppliers to test their systems and make sure they comply with the needed security protocols.

Brown admitted that their systems failed in this case, which resulted in their clients data being compromised.

We need to be better in how we monitor and control the use of our data in the third-party environment, he said.

Even if our contracts require suppliers to store the data in an encrypted form, we need to be sure that it is always kept in that form, he said.

He said the investigation into the cause and extent of the data breach is ongoing, after which Nedbank will assess what the appropriate way forward is regarding its relationship with Computer Facilities.

The Nedbank CEO, however, does not anticipate legal action because of the incident. This, he said, is thanks to the effective way in which Nedbank has handled the situation.

We think the way we acted and reacted to this is in line with what will come from a legal point of view, he said.

The legal framework in South Africa will be POPI. We think we have done everything required if POPI was effective, he said.
Streams are flooding all over Michigan, except for Twin and Chippewa creeks, which are not, said Peggy Case, president of the group Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation. The city aquifer is down 14 feet now, and its not recharging. There are people with wells in the area that are starting to run dry. They no longer are as happy with Nestle as they used to be.
The Foundation's core principles are to support Martin Guitar's engagement with nonprofit music, arts, education, and environmental action organizations. The Foundation does not fund political or religious organizations or activity. The Trustees manage the Foundation's assets conservatively to allow for long-term planning and seek best value from Foundation grant-making for the people and causes that their grantees serve.

Lehigh Valley and regional organizations receiving Foundation support in 2019 were: Allentown Art Museum, Allentown Rescue Mission, Allentown Symphony Association, ArtsQuest, Community Music School, Da Vinci Science Center, Godfrey Daniels, Lehigh Gap Nature Center, Meals on Wheels of the Greater Lehigh Valley, Miller-Keystone Blood Center, Moravian Historical Society, Muhlenberg College, New Bethany Ministries, Northampton Community College Foundation, PBS 39, State Theatre Center for the Arts, WDIY-FM, and several other Lehigh Valley charities. In Nazareth, the Foundation supported the YMCA, Memorial Library, Nazareth Area Food Bank, and several other Nazareth-area charities.

The Foundation also made grants to national organizations with strong arts presence and programs in acoustic guitar education and research: Guitars in the Classroom (San Diego, Calif.), International Bluegrass Music Museum (Owensboro, Ky.), Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City), Musical Instrument Museum (Phoenix, Ariz.), Museum of Making Music (Carlsbad, Calif.), Old Town School of Folk Music (Chicago, Ill.), Southern Folklife Collection at University of North Carolina, WHYY (Philadelphia), Woody Guthrie Center (Tulsa, Okla.), and several other organizations.

The 2019 Foundation Trustees are C. F. Martin IV, Chairman and CEO of Martin Guitar Company and Foundation President; Diane Martin, Foundation Vice President; Dick Boak, retired Martin Guitar Director of Museum, Archives, and Special Projects; Debra Karlowitch, retired Martin Guitar Vice President of Human Resources and Foundation Secretary; Susan Kubik, Managing Principal of eAdvancement and retired Executive Director of Northampton Community College Foundation; Dr. Roland Kushner, Associate Professor of Business at Muhlenberg College; John Messer, retired Martin Guitar CFO; and Charles J. Peischl, Esq., of Peters, Moritz, Peischl, Zulick, Landes & Brienza.

The Foundation will accept applications for 2020 grants between August 1, 2020, and September 1, 2020. To obtain guidelines, send an inquiry by email to [email protected].

About Martin Guitars and Strings

C. F. Martin & Co. has been Inspiring Musicians Worldwide for nearly two centuries with their superior guitar and string products. Martin guitars and strings remain the choice for musicians around the world for their unrivaled quality, craftsmanship, and tone. Throughout the company's long history, Martin products can be seen and heard across all genres of music and in all segments of pop culture, from concert and theater stages to television and movies.

With an unwavering commitment to environmental sustainability and responsible manufacturing practices, Martin continually drives the acoustic guitar market forward, introducing innovative features that have become standards across the industry. These groundbreaking innovations include the introduction of X-bracing, the 14-fret guitar, and the "Dreadnought" size guitar.

Martin has also led innovations in strings, such as introducing the first high-tensile strength steel-string core wire; the first nickel acoustic strings (Martin Retro); the proprietary Titanium Core strings; and now the groundbreaking, new Authentic Acoustic line, which offers unmatched stability, tone, comfort, and longevity. Learn more here: www.martinguitar.com/aa.

Connect with Martin Guitars and Martin Strings on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, and via www.martinguitar.com.

SOURCE C.F. Martin & Co.

Related Links

http://martinguitar.com


ROME - Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said at an EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels Monday that the Sophia operation had not been revived and that an EU mission to enforce an arms embargo on Libya had been agreed on instead.



"The Sophia mission was not enough to block the entry of arms. And it cannot exist any more. And it does not exist any more," he said.



"This new mission, with a new mandate, advanced here today, will give a major naval contribution that will be deployed on the eastern side of the Libyan coast, where the arms flow is arriving.



"The proposal to halt the mission if it were to exercise a pull factor is also excellent, although that will not happen if we only have the ships in the east.



"Obviously for this we need a new mandate for this mission".



"I'm very happy," he went on.



"All the EU States have agreed to create a mission that blocks the entry of arms into Libya.



"Now the EU is committing with a naval and air mission, and with ground resources too, to block the entry of arms into Libya".



He stressed "the Sophia mission no longer exists, now there is a mission that blocks arms".



Di Maio said the new mission would be halted if it exerts a pull factor on migrants.



He said the decision on the new mission "means that finally Italy has been heard".



With this mission, he said, "we return as EU and as Italy to be protagonists in Libya, but with the posture of those who want peace and not those who want to feed war".
Google, Facebook, Amazon and other tech giants spent a day in secretive talks with the World Health Organization to tackle the spread of coronavirus misinformation.

Social media companies including Twitter and Youtube have already been working to remove post about the virus that are proved to be fake.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has offered to work directly with the companies on fact checking in a bid to speed up the process.

Posts on the virus that needed to be removed have ranged from those calling it a fad disease or created by the government to claims it can be treated with oregano oil.

Companies at the meeting agreed to work with WHO on collaborative tools, better content and a call centre for people to call for advice, CNBC reported.

The above picture shared by China's National Microbiology Data Centre shows the first-ever specimen of the novel coronavirus, known as '2019-nCov', extracted from a patient

The 'shocking' rise in misinformation about the 2019-nCov virus has been described as an 'infodemic' by Andy Pattison from the World Health Organization.

He said sites were 'awash' with misinformation and conspiracy theories but that big tech companies were stepping up to combat the problem.

The meeting was organised by WHO but was hosted by Facebook at its Menlo Park campus in California, a spokesperson for the social media company told CNBC.

According to a CNBC report Amazon, Twilio, Dropbox, Google, Verizon, Salesforce, Twitter, YouTube, Airbnb, Kinsa and Mapbox were all at the meeting.

Apple, Lyft and Uber were invited but didn't attend, according to the report.

WHO shared information with the companies about its response to the virus and attendees gave their own ideas to address the outbreak.

As well as fake news stories appearing on Google and Facebook, books and products claiming to cure the disease were showing on Amazon.

Other outlandish hoaxes doing the rounds on social media include the implication the US government has patented coronavirus.

Fact-checkers have found this to be completely untrue and the Silicon Valley tech firms are battling to stop such claims from spreading to avoid mass hysteria.

A total of 18 nations including the US, Australia, Canada and France, have confirmed cases of coronavirus.

The disease is now confirmed to have infected at least 4,500 people around the world and to have killed 106 in China since the outbreak a month ago.

Thai Airways employees are pictured disinfecting an empty plane cabin at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok today, January 28. Thailand has 14 confirmed coronavirus cases  the most outside of China

Cyber security experts warn that some malicious links posing as innocent articles or videos about the outbreak of the killer Wuhan virus actually contains code designed to pilfer personal information.

Hackers are spreading articles, posts and videos masked as legitimate file formats, such as PDFs or MP4s, to hide their true nature.

If clicked on and downloaded onto a phone or computer, hackers can gain access to the user's stored information and can destroy, block or copy data at will.

When you search for What is coronavirus on Google you get a mixture of news stories, an SOS alert and tweets before the results start appearing

'The coronavirus, which is being widely discussed as a major news story, has already been used as bait by cybercriminals,' said Anton Ivanov, Kaspersky malware analyst.

'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 and more malware hidden inside fake documents about the coronavirus being spread.'

In order to avoid falling foul of the links, cybersecurity experts advise going directly to an official source.

According to Pattison some of the companies are further along in tackling the spread of misinformation about the virus than others, but didn't say which.

'The purpose of that was to plant seeds of ideas, and it worked well,' Pattison told CNBC. 'I encouraged collaboration and innovation. During a crisis, it's a good time for that.'

Twitter has added a prompt to search results about coronavirus to direct users to official Government information.

When searching for the term 'coronavirus' on Twitter, users are presented with a link to the Department of Health and Social Care website and its official Twitter account, where official updates are issued

The social media platform said the tool was part of efforts to ensure correct information reached those searching from it and prevent misinformation spreading.

Facebook has a similar prompt when searching for the disease, as well as showing a link to the World Health Organization page prominently in the results.

When searching Google for the virus you get news stories, tweets, help guides from WHO and safety tips before the results.

Amazon and Facebook offered to share ad space or provide volunteers to help stop the spread of misinformation and the companies all agreed to meet every few months until the virus was under control.

The virus has had an impact on the tech industry with companies having to delay production of new products and the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona - the world's largest mobile conference - was cancelled outright.

Apple has closed shops in mainland China and a number of airlines have cancelled flights to the country.
A Solar Orbiter sent to give an unprecedented view of the Sun has sent back its first measurements.

The spacecraft was blasted off on a journey to the Sun a week ago, and will fly up to its poles in an attempt to see a region largely unknown to scientists.

One of the instruments that will allow them to do so  the magnetometer that is carried on board  has sent back its first data to Earth, according to the UK Space Agency.

"We measure magnetic fields thousands of times smaller than those we are familiar with on Earth," said Imperial College's Tim Horbury, principal investigator for the magnetometer instrument.

"Even currents in electrical wires make magnetic fields far larger than what we need to measure.

Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures Mystic Mountain, a pillar of gas and dust standing at three-light-years tall, bursting with jets of gas from fledgling stars buried within, was captured by Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope in February 2010 Nasa/ESA/STScI Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures The first ever selfie taken on an alien planet, captured by Nasa's Curiosity Rover in the early days of its mission to explore Mars in 2012 Nasa/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures Death of a star: This image from Nasa's Chandra X-ray telescope shows the supernova of Tycho, a star in our Milky Way galaxy Nasa Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures Arrokoth, the most distant object ever explored, pictured here on 1 January 2019 by a camera on Nasa's New Horizons spaceraft at a distance of 4.1 billion miles from Earth Getty Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures An image of the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy seen in infrared light by the Herschel Space Observatory in January 2012. Regions of space such as this are where new stars are born from a mixture of elements and cosmic dust Nasa Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures The first ever image of a black hole, captured by the Event Horizon telescope, as part of a global collaboration involving Nasa, and released on 10 April 2019. The image reveals the black hole at the centre of Messier 87, a massive galaxy in the nearby Virgo galaxy cluster. This black hole resides about 54 million light-years from Earth Getty Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures Pluto, as pictured by Nasa's New Horizons spacecraft as it flew over the dwarf planet for the first time ever in July 2015 Nasa/APL/SwRI Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures A coronal mass ejection as seen by the Chandra Observatory in 2019. This is the first time that Chandra has detected this phenomenon from a star other than the Sun Nasa Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures Dark, narrow, 100 meter-long streaks running downhill on the surface Mars were believed to be evidence of contemporary flowing water. It has since been suggested that they may instead be formed by flowing sand Nasa/JPL/University of Arizona Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures Morning Aurora: Nasa astronaut Scott Kelly captured this photograph of the green lights of the aurora from the International Space Station in October 2015 Nasa/Scott Kelly

"That's why our sensors are on a boom, to keep them away from all the electrical activity inside the spacecraft."

The orbiter - which was constructed by Airbus in Stevenage - took off in the Atlas V 411 rocket from Nasa's Cape Canaveral site in Florida at just after 4am UK time on lift-off day.

Recommended Nasa and Europe launch solar orbiter to give unprecedented view of Sun

The satellite will orbit the Sun, beaming back high-resolution photos and measuring the solar wind as part of the mission led by the European Space Agency (ESA) and partly funded by the UK Space Agency.

Ground controllers at the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, switched on the magnetometer's two sensors around 21 hours after lift-off.

One can be found near the end of the 14.4ft (4.4m) long boom, and the other close to the spacecraft itself.

The instrument recorded data before, during and after the boom was deployed, so that scientists can understand the influence of the spacecraft on measurements in the space environment.

Next, the instruments will have to be calibrated, with the scientific data being collected from mid-May.

It will take the Solar Orbiter about two years to reach the Sun, which scientists call the "cruising phase".

Additional reporting by agencies
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Monday staged a walkout from the State Assembly alleging that they had asked that a resolution be brought in the House against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) but the Speaker did not allow it.

"The Speaker has set a wrong example by denying us time to speak on a resolution against CAA. Since there was no discussion on this issue in the Assembly before, it would not be wrong to have a discussion on it now," DMK chief MK Stalin told reporters outside the House.

The party further alleged that they are not satisfied with Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami's explanation over issues being discussed in the House.

"Washermanpet people have been protesting non-stop. It is a misleading campaign by Chief Minister Palaniswamy that protesters indulged in damaging government property. His explanation is not satisfactory, hence DMK walked out of the Assembly," Stalin said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
F or those of you thinking that electric cars didnt exist before Elon Musk and Tesla, think again. Those stepping out into the manure-strewn streets of Manhattan in 1897 could have hailed a battery fuelled, as opposed to horse drawn, taxi. In 1900, more than 1,000 electric cars were made in the US, 28 per cent of total American car production that year.

A few years later, however, Henry Ford produced the petrol-powered Model T and the electric starter motor replaced the hand crank. From that point on, the electric car was seemingly doomed: not enough power, not enough range and, as petrol stations proliferated, not enough charging points.

To be fair, electric vehicles still managed to flourish in niche areas. The humble milk float had a maximum speed of around 15mph, could travel roughly 25 miles (following a seven-hour charge) and blocked the streets of Britain for decades. Floats were cheap to run and could easily be charged at the milk depot after the days deliveries (a model that could be used in the 21st century if we end up with huge fleets of self-driving cars). Still, floats could never compete with a Ford or, for that matter, a Ferrari.

Tesla, however, can. And, increasingly, so can other manufacturers of electric cars, one reason why the Government is now planning to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2035. Range is less of an issue than it once was. The cars  unlike milk floats  are quick. Fuel-wise, theyre incredibly efficient: they dont rely on the controlled explosions taking place in an internal combustion engine (which creates too much by the way of heat and too little by the way of miles). And, over time, the maintenance bills will be a lot lower: no gearboxes to go wrong, no spark plugs to clean, no engine oil to be changed.

Yet, before we get too excited about this belated electric-transport revolution  and its consequences for the environment  its worth dwelling on three major challenges: the generation of electricity, its distribution and, finally, tax.

Stephen King / Alamy Stock Photo

The advantages of going electric are hugely reduced if the electricity itself depends on the burning of coal, oil or gas. The good news here is that, unlike some countries, we have already made considerable progress in reducing our dependency on carbon: last year, for the first time, more of our electricity came from renewables  solar, wave, wind  than from fossil fuels. The bad news is that we will need a lot more generating and grid capacity if we really are going to meet the Governments electric car ambitions.

The same goes for the distribution network. Other than Teslas bespoke Superchargers, theres a tremendous shortage of ultra-rapid chargers able to fill up an electric car in less than an hour. Ionity claims to be Europes dominant rapid charging network but, to date, has only three charging stations in the UK: great if Maidstone or Milton Keynes happen to be nearby and rather handy if youre planning to elope to Gretna Green but otherwise somewhat limiting.

There are only three ultra rapid charging stations in the UK but these challenges need not be insurmountable

As for charging more generally, only 57 per cent of UK households have access to off-street parking, the ideal place to charge an electric car overnight. And almost 40 per cent of the nations charging points are to be found in London and the South-East. When it comes to the electric-car revolution, theres little evidence to date that the UK is levelling up. Admittedly, such infrastructure challenges need not be insurmountable. The Victorians, after all, managed to build 20,000 miles of railway track. Along the way, however, many investors lost an awful lot of money (the 1840s Railway Mania remains a textbook example of financial excess). And history suggests that, once a new infrastructure has been constructed, governments have a nasty habit of regulating price down to the marginal cost of providing the service (with renewables, thats virtually zero): good for consumers (and voters) but very bad news for the investors who stumped up the money in the first place (its one reason why the share prices of mobile phone operators have tumbled since their late-Nineties heyday).

If investors cannot easily be persuaded to part with their cash on the appropriate scale, future governments may have to dip into their own pockets to plug the gap. Ironically, however, the electric-car revolution may mean government pockets are not as deep as they once were. For decades, the Treasury has been heavily dependent on income from fuel duty (which, in 2020, is likely to stand at a little less than 30 billion or approaching four per cent of total tax revenues). Its a bigger source of government income than capital gains tax, inheritance tax, stamp duty, alcohol or tobacco. And, in 15 years time, it will begin to disappear.

Making up the eventual shortfall would require the equivalent of six per cent on the basic rate of income tax or 4.5 per cent on VAT. As neither of those is likely, the Treasury will have to look elsewhere. Taxing electricity more heavily isnt terribly attractive if it ends up penalising those who choose not to own a car. Taxing road users would seem a better option, but is only likely to be fair if allowance is made for both location and time of day: that, however, would require more or less continuous monitoring of peoples movements, an obvious challenge to civil liberties (even if our smartphones do more or less the same on a minute-by-minute basis).

Boris Johnson has always been an enthusiastic supporter of transport revolutions: hes banned bendy buses, backed Boris bikes, and boasted of building bridges. And hes probably right to be backing battery electric vehicles. Theyve come a long way in the past 10 years. If, however, the electric revolution is to succeed, we need to go beyond the first baby steps. As Mao Zedong once wrote  admittedly in rather different circumstances  a revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery. There is much work to be done.
Mahagathbandhan ready to take on NDA, Nitish will be shown the door for riding communal bus, says RJD chief.

New Delhi: Delhi voters have shown the way by opting for real nationalism and the electorate in Bihar should emulate them to vote out chief minister Nitish Kumar who has no qualms in taking off his secular veil on issues such as the CAA, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said on Sunday.

The onus of defeating the divisive agenda of the NDA government in Bihar also lies on the Opposition that should provide a formidable and unified alternative, Yadav told PTI in an interview ahead of his Berozgari Hatao Yatra starting on February 23 with a massive rally in Patna.

He said the mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) was ready to take on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) against its divisive agenda and 15 years of misrule in the Assembly polls.

Nitish Kumar has never criticised the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act), NPR (National Population Register) and the NRC (National Register for Citizens). He didnt utter even a single word on the recent reservation issue. He doesnt have any courage to criticise any of the BJPs policies, the Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly said.

While the Janata Dal (United) helped the Bharatiya Janata Party in getting the citizenship bill passed in Parliament, Kumar only said his government will not implement the NRC in the state, Mr Yadav said.

Nitish Kumar is a cunning politician. He knows that once the BJP makes NRC an Act, he can do nothing but comply. Then he will cry over his helplessness in light of constitutional norms. His party could have made a difference during voting for the CAB in Parliament, but there he exhibited his true communal character, the 30-year-old leader said.

The whole exercise of the CAA, NPR and the NRC is for dividing and polarising the nation on religious lines for political gains and Kumar has no qualms in shunning his secular veil to show his true colours, Mr Yadav alleged.

Talking about the Delhi polls won by the Aam Aadmi Party comprehensively, Mr Yadav said the message was loud and clear not only for the Bihar polls but also for the whole nation that if the government works for necessary amenities and social and financial security, then no diversion will work.

Welfare of the citizens is real nationalism. Dividing people on communal lines is proving catastrophic for the nation. Youth is on the streets fighting, lynching and abusing. Union ministers are pushing the citizens to indulge in violence against those who are asking questions of the government, the RJD leader said.

Union ministers are delivering veiled incendiary and communal speeches against citizens who are protesting, he said.

Voters of Delhi have shown the nation the right path and now it is up to the people of Bihar and the whole country to emulate them, the former Bihar deputy chief minister said.

Delhi elections were assembly polls which should be fought on local and state-level issues, but the way the BJP is trying to rake up national issues every time sets a very dangerous precedent, Mr Yadav said.

For 15 years in power, Nitish Kumar kept on terming his rule as sushasan (good governance) and misused state exchequer for filling the coffers of a few obliging media houses to project his image, he alleged.

He claimed that Kumars days as the chief minister and a politician are numbered as people will not stand false propaganda anymore.

He (Kumar) has destroyed the education system, health services are in ICU, law and order has completely collapsed, his own MLAs, MPs, Union ministers are questioning the deteriorating law and order, farmers are dejected...And with all these failures he has failed the aspirational citizens of Bihar, Mr Yadav alleged.

In such a gloomy situation, the only option that this government has is to play communal politics. And Nitish Kumar will ride the same communal bus, but this time communal and divisive politics will not bear any fruit, he asserted.

Talking about his Berozgari Hatao Yatra, Mr Yadav said unemployment is the biggest issue that is bothering the educated youth.

Nitish Kumars 15-year rule had been totally directionless and visionless. He failed to attract a single major investor or any industry worth mentioning. All he could offer to the young people was temporary contract jobs with exploitative fixed salaries, Mr Yadav alleged.

For this huge monumental failure of his, he should tender an unconditional apology to the people of Bihar and resign from politics, he said.

A concerted effort was needed in a planned manner to create necessary industrial infrastructure, he said.
RAQQA, Syria  Since the city of Raqqa was freed from the Islamic State (IS) in October 2017, the Religious Affairs Foundation in Raqqa held its first Islamic forum in the city. The conference  titled, "The eternal message of Islam: concepts and challenges"  attracted 140 representatives of religious institutions from the various northern and eastern parts of Syria, members of the Raqqa Civil Council, Raqqa tribal elders, representatives of the Syrian Democratic Forces and officials at the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (Rojava).

On the first day of the event, on Feb. 1, Sheikh Anas al-Hamad, a member of the Religious Affairs Foundation, said that the forums goal is to rectify the religious path of Islam that IS in Raqqa misinterpreted, to counter IS extremist ideas that mushroomed among some of the youth segments that were influenced by IS ideology, to turn the mosques into places to disseminate peace and charity, and grant the rights that IS denied to women and advance their status.

Commenting on the forums axes, Sheikh Hassan Ziad, also a member of the foundation, told Al-Monitor, Our discussions focused, among other things, on the role of religious scholars in spreading the true [teaching] of Islam and shedding light on [the Islamic teachings] that IS misinterpreted, especially when it comes to demonstrating respect for the rights of other religious communities in the region.

He added, IS perceived [these communities] as infidel, executed Raqqas Christians, and captivated and enslaved Christian women. The forum called to renounce violence and grant women their rights in accordance with Sharia.

Aram Zaven, an Armenian from Raqqa, told Al-Monitor that IS killed his father because he refused to convert to Islam while the group was controlling the city. Islam stipulates that there is no compulsion in religion. IS, however, forced the adherents of the other religious communities to abandon their religion and convert to Islam. Zaven, who currently resides in the city of Hasakah, added, IS killed those who refused to convert, including my father five years ago, he said.

Aziza Khanafer, co-chair of the Religions and Beliefs Office at the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, told Al-Monitor that while women are dignified in Islam, IS violated their rights. IS leaders would force women into five, six or seven marriages and divorces on the same day, disregarding the Iddah rule [waiting period] for divorced women and the Quran. This is based on published reports on IS radical teaching and as testified by the residents of Raqqa and Deir ez-zor who lived under IS occupation, she said.

Ghaida Salem, a clothing vendor in Raqqa, told Al-Monitor that women were forced into marriages with IS fighters, saying that the husband of her sister, 20-year-old Reem, joined IS ranks and was killed in the battles against the Kurds in al-Tabqah. She said, Two days after he was killed, the IS religious female police  known as the hesba  forced my sister to move to a madafa [a guesthouse for IS widows and non-Syrian women who joined IS], which are numerous in the city. The following week, [the hesba] forced her into marriage with another IS fighter without taking into account the Iddah rule that Muslim widows are required to abide by.

Haifa Naeimi, a mother of three girls, told Al-Monitor that IS accused her cousin Noura of apostasy and forced her into marriage with six of its gunmen on the same day. Naeimi who resides in Raqqa said, Every time she would get divorced by an IS judge who would then get her married to another [fighter]  contrary to Sharia law. Noura committed suicide five months before the city was liberated.

Head of the Religious Affairs Foundation Ali Nayef al-Shuaib told Al-Monitor that the two-day conference concluded its work with outputs to be applied in the lectures and forums involving the various social segments in Raqqa. He said that the committee established following the conference will organize these lectures and forums in the near future, with the goal of bridging the gap IS created among the people of Raqqa. IS managed to distort the image of Islam. In turn, as clerics we will seek to repractice the principles of true Islam and close the gap that IS created with the other religious communities in Syria.

In his closing statement on the last day of the conference, on Feb. 2, Shuaib called for respecting religious symbols and venerated figures of the various Syrian components, as well as their religious values. He also called for upholding the unity of the Syrian community; promoting the values of charity, equality and peace among fellow countrymen; and renouncing and fighting against extremist ideas.
The EU should allow vital concessions like zero tariffs in a spirit of generosity during trade talks, retailers in Northern Ireland have said.

Higher costs and less availability will hit the region hardest unless extra measures are taken to mitigate the effects of Brexit, the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium (NIRC), which represents larger businesses, said.

It urged the UK Government to establish import and export processes and all necessary infrastructure now.

Director Aodhan Connolly said: "We need the UK government to work with us to deliver key mitigations that could reduce the impact on consumers and retailers. And we need a generosity of spirit from the EU to allow these mitigations to happen."

The lobby group called for pragmatic solutions on compliance and regulatory checks that will apply from January 2021 as the Brexit transition period ends.

Almost 80% of all the food that UK retailers import comes from the EU, making the negotiations particularly important for such essentials, traders said.

Mr Connolly added: "Without the mitigations recommended within this report, there will be higher costs and less availability for Northern Ireland consumers and this will hit us hardest.

"We already have half of the discretionary income of Great British households and so our households in Northern Ireland simply can't afford these cost rises.

"We are talking about costs that have simply never been there before.

"It is a simple equation that if the new costs are higher than the profit margin then either the product or that particular business model needs to change or becomes unviable.

"We also already have between 12 and 18 hours' less shelf life on some products than shops in Great Britain due to our geographical location. Any further delays affect availability."

Measures the lobby group is seeking include:

 A zero tariff trade deal.

 Co-operation with the EU to minimise trade friction.

 Coordination on VAT, customs and excise procedures.

 Advance information on new checks and paperwork, and

 Timely construction of necessary infrastructure at UK ports.

Meanwhile, the French government has warned London to prepare for a bitter, bloody battle in the Brexit trade talks with the EU. French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian yesterday bluntly said the two sides would "rip each other apart".

These comments follow warnings from Boris Johnson late last week that there would be "no border in the Irish Sea", raising concerns about the durability of no visible border between Ireland north and south.

Brussels diplomats are working on ground rules for negotiations on future EU-UK relations in talks due to start next month. But London and Brussels have already clashed over rules for British financial firms' access to the EU after Brexit.

Mr Le Drian said it would be tough to achieve Britain's aim of agreeing a free trade deal by the end of the year, with the two sides far apart on a range of issues.

"I think that on trade issues and the mechanism for future relations, which we are going to start on, we are going to rip each other apart," he told a security conference in Munich yesterday.

"But that is part of negotiations, everyone will defend their own interests."

Britain finally left the EU on January 31 but nothing has yet changed because of a transition period due to last until the end of this year.

France is among eight nations, including the Irish Republic, concerned about continued access to UK fishing grounds.

Irish boats take up to one-third of the value of the Irish catch in these waters and the potential loss to the Republic could run to 500m per year with the extra loss of more EU vessels piling into Irish waters.

For London the amounts at stake are relatively modest. But fishery waters are a big political issue going back decades and the UK wants full autonomy and limited access for European fishermen.
live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

Even as the deadline to submit bids for Jet Airways expires later on February 17, there is apprehension in the industry if the airline will finally get a bid, or if there will be yet another extension.

Two suitors remain. One is South Americas Synergy Group that has now been trying to woo Jet Airways for nearly six months but has not been able to submit a bid yet.

The second is the newcomer Prudent ARC, a New Delhi-based firm that put in the Expression of Interest on January 15.

Even as there is murmur of a new interest in Jet Airways, will the airline land a proposal?

Looking ahead

In the last one month, a couple of interesting developments have occurred, signally that, while some have moved ahead, others are still hoping for a revival of the airline that suspended its operations in April 2019.

Vinay Dube, who was the chief executive when Jet Airways was forced to stop operations, has taken over as the CEO of GoAir. Soon after exiting Jet Airways in May 2019, Dube started advising GoAir.

To his credit, say insiders, Dube rallied around several Jet Airways stakeholders - including its employees - to find a way to keep the airline flying. Surely, there was no quick fix for the carrier that now has a total liability north of Rs 20,000 crore. It owes banks about Rs 8,000 crore.

In another development, The Economic Times reported that employees of JetLite, the low cost arm of Jet Airways, had moved the National Company Law Tribunal, to be included in the latters insolvency process.

As Moneycontrol reported in 2019, the resolution professional overseeing the insolvency process had rejected claims of JetLite employees.

JetLite was formerly Air Sahara, bought by Jet Airways in 2007. Consequently, it operated as a budget carrier. JetLite remained a separate entity, and its brand was Jet Konnect. It was a part of the Jet Airways group. And, that is probably the reason for the rejection.

JetLite employees have claims of about Rs 50 crore, which may seem like a small amount compared to the total claim. But it is a reminder that thousands of employees of the airline are still hopeful that the insolvency process will end with a new owner, who will clear their salary arrears.

But, time is running out. The 270-day period of the insolvency process ends in the second week of March, just a month away. Will the Jet Airways lenders manage to get a buyer? Or, as it increasingly seems, will the once-feted airline head for liquidity?
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 17:22:26|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

A staff member measures temperature of people entering Ping'an International Financial Center in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, Feb. 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Liang Xu)

Experts from China and the WHO will go to Beijing, Guangdong Province and Sichuan Province to conduct inspections.

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- A joint expert team consisting of experts from China and the World Health Organization Monday began field inspections on the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus outbreak, a Chinese health official said Monday.

The expert team will go to Beijing, Guangdong Province and Sichuan Province to conduct inspections, said Mi Feng, spokesperson for the National Health Commission (NHC), at a press conference.

A symposium was held by the NHC Sunday, which was attended by nearly 80 people, including joint expert team members and representatives from the State Council's joint prevention and control mechanism, Mi said.

A staff member works at the health and quarantine comprehensive laboratory of Sichuan International Travel Health Care Center (Chengdu Customs Port Outpatient Department), in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan, Feb. 15, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Kun)

At the symposium, NHC deputy director Li Bin briefed attendees on nationwide prevention and control measures, vowed to work with the international community to address the challenge of the epidemic and welcomed suggestions from the expert team, according to Mi.

Representatives from State Council ministries and administrations introduced their prevention and control work. The attendees talked with Hubei, the virus-hit province, during a teleconference, and discussed the epidemic situation, control and prevention measures in communities and rural areas, wildlife management and drug and vaccine development.

The joint expert team acknowledged China's prevention and control measures, as well as the dedication of Chinese medical workers, Mi said. 




Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has a mission to provide humanitarian relief to people in the developing world. Since 2016, it has been using data collection and machine learning to help guide those efforts.

CRS, established by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1943 to aid World War II refugees in Europe, is an international humanitarian agency in the U.S. and a member of the Caritas International network of Catholic humanitarian agencies.

CRS began developing the Measurement Indicators for Resilience Analysis (MIRA), a protocol for monitoring and evaluating the resilience of disaster-stricken communities, in Malawi. Malawi, a land-locked country in southeastern Africa, is particularly vulnerable to weather-related shocks. Eighty-four percent of its population lives in rural areas and relies on subsistence agriculture.

MIRA is used to predict hunger and study household recovery trajectories in Malawi. The increased severity of natural disasters exacerbates food insecurity, says James Campbell, regional technical director for monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning at CRS.

Severe flooding displaced hundreds of thousands of people in southern Malawi in 2015. The flooding was followed by a severe drought, which in turn led to crop destruction by a crop pest called fall armyworm.

Planning and targeting the appropriate response in the face of such disasters requires understanding which households are at risk of food shortages. To that end, Campbell and his team developed MIRA, a high-frequency data collection protocol that gathers information about shocks and then uses two machine learning algorithms  k-nearest neighbors (KNN) and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO)  to predict which households would be at risk of food shortages one to two months before they occurred.

This early warning information is now regularly shared with local village development committees to help them plan and target responses, Campbell says.

The project has earned CRS a FutureEdge 50 Award for applications of emerging technologies.

Predicting resilience

CRSs MIRA protocol uses embedded enumerators, people who live in the selected communities, to collect data using mobile survey and case management software. They collect data about demographics, livelihood, economics, and shock history. That survey is administered annually or biannually. The enumerators also administer a high-frequency follow-up survey monthly to the same households, tracking continued and new shocks.

Surveyed households were selected based on their location on flood exposure maps based on data from the Dartmouth Flood Observatory. Once surveyed, the results are organized according to flood risk groups and three resilience variables:

Well-being outcomes: This variable measures welfare via a coping strategies index and hunger score. A lower welfare value implies lower vulnerability to shocks.

Shocks experienced: Enumerators follow up with households monthly to allow them to report new and continued shocks to measure persistence, with drought being the most frequent.

Capacities and characteristics: MIRA also includes characteristics that can affect the probability of recovering from shocks, such as land assets, livestock, flood plain location, secondary houses, age, gender, education, and disability.

CRS began working on the project in 2013, though Campbell says it took more than two years to settle on the methodology and identify a project on which to implement MIRA and test the approach. The work was based on resilience metrics developed by researchers at the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University. An alliance of NGOs for the establishment of resilience metrics, including CRS, contributed to that work. Cornell and several other universities went on to form a Resilience Measurement Technical Working Group under the auspices of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Program.

The working group generated a series of technical papers outlining a framework, an analytical model, and other design principles for resilience measurement. Our MIRA protocol was largely influenced by the work developed by this group and the Food Security Information Network, Campbell says.

Humanitarian AI

CRS says it measures the MIRA protocols success through its adoption rate. In addition to the Malawian government, other NGOs and USAID have expressed interest in CRSs approach, and CRS is looking for communities to take ownership of the module and use the data to inform their own mitigation strategies.

MIRA was developed in Malawi as part of the United in Building and Advancing Life Expectations (UBALE) Project, but has since won the Microsoft AI for Humanitarian Action Grant, under which Microsoft will help CRS develop a plug-and-play solution for any project that wishes to implement the MIRA protocol.

CRS says that will allow any country program to identify household characteristics driving food insecurity and predict future shock outcomes using a comprehensive set of machine learning algorithms. That capability will give CRS the ability to pre-position food aid in areas that are about to experience food insecurity, getting aid to the people who need it faster and more efficiently.

Artificial intelligence will massively impact many sectors, including international development and humanitarian assistance. An important role of technology leaders is to strike the right balance between opportunity and risk. We must bring the best digital capabilities to our programs while carefully addressing risks around data privacy and ethics of AI, says Steven Hellen, director of information and communication technology for development at CRS.
(CNN)  Fourteen Americans evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship on US-chartered flights have tested positive for novel coronavirus, the US departments of State and Health and Human Services said.

The passengers were among more than 300 Americans who had been quarantined on the ship since February 4 at the Japanese port city of Yokohama.

The infected passengers were isolated from the other passengers during the flights, said a joint statement from departments of State and Health and Human Services.

But questions abound over why the 14 passengers with coronavirus were allowed to board the flights while 46 other infected Americans from the same cruise ship were forced to stay and recover in Japanese hospitals.

US officials said they were notified of the 14 passengers' test results during the evacuation process, after passengers had already disembarked the ship. The passengers had been tested two to three days before the evacuation flights, the HHS and State departments said.

"After consultation with HHS officials, including experts from the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, the State Department made the decision to allow the 14 individuals, who were in isolation, separated from other passengers, and continued to be asymptomatic, to remain on the aircraft to complete the evacuation process," the agencies said.

One charter flight carrying evacuated Americans arrived at Travis Air Force Base near Fairfield, California, around 11:28 p.m. local time Sunday. A second arrived at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in San Antonio, Texas, at 3:56 a.m. local time Monday.

Quarantined again

Karey Maniscalco sobbed after learning she and the hundreds of other Americans evacuated would face 14 days of quarantine in the US. They had already been quarantined on the cruise ship since February 4.

"They have sent over a dozen emails assuring us that there would not be an additional quarantine, and they just told us that we'd be re-quarantined for 14 more days," Maniscalco said.

"I've just lost a whole month of my life."

Passengers arriving to Travis Air Force Base will be housed in the same facility as evacuees who arrived from Wuhan earlier this month, a spokesperson for the base told CNN. New evacuees will be kept in a separate area of the Westwind Inn on the base, the spokesperson said.

Some Americans chose to stay on the cruise ship

Before news broke of the 14 infected flight passengers, some Americans on the Diamond Princess said they didn't want to evacuate for fear of possible infection.

Sacramento resident Matthew Smith told CNN affiliate KOVR that he would rather deal with issues in Japan than be evacuated and quarantined in the United States.

"We decided we would just face whatever consequences here rather than exposing ourselves to that situation," Smith said.

His wife, Katherine Codekas, was met with some surprise when she told authorities that she and her husband didn't want to evacuate yet.

"I said no, we're not going, and they very sincerely wished us luck," Codekas told KOVR. "But there was a little look of surprise on their face."
The Associated Press

Indian environmentalist Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, under whose leadership a U.N. climate change panel shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, has died after recent heart surgery. He was 79.

Pachauris death was announced late Thursday by The Energy and Resources Institute, or TERI, a research group he headed until 2016 in New Delhi.

He chaired the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change panel from 2002 until he resigned in 2015 after an employee at his research firm accused him of sexual harassment.

The IPCC and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore were awarded the 2007 peace prize for their efforts to expand knowledge about man-made climate change and lay the foundations for counteracting it, the Nobel committee said in its award.

Pachauri had undergone surgery in a New Delhi hospital earlier this week. He died at his home on Thursday, the Press Trust of India reported.

Pachauri won civilian awards from Indias government in 2001 and 2008.

TERI Chairman Nitin Desai hailed Pachauris contribution to global sustainable development.

His leadership of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) laid the ground for climate change conversations today, Desai said in a statement.

The allegations against Pachauri included claims that he sent suggestive text messages, e-mails and WhatsApp messages harassing a 29-year-old female employee in his organization.

Pachauri had denied the charges and his attorneys claimed that his messages were hacked in an attempt to malign him. New Delhi police filed a complaint in court, but the trial could not be completed.

Professor Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, IPCC vice-chairman from 2002-2015, said coming from a developing country, Pachauri should be credited for drawing the attention, long before others, to the importance of finding synergies between climate policies and sustainable developing agenda.

Unfortunately, he was sometimes overconfident as when he refused to quickly acknowledge and correct the insignificant error that had been present in an IPCC report. This led to escalated and undue criticism of the organization he chaired, he tweeted.

He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.
We will do our best to avoid unintended consequences. But, obviously, there will be intended consequences.

MARGRETHE VESTAGER, the executive vice president of the European Commission, as the body debates a new digital policy, including rules on the ways that artificial intelligence can be used by companies.
The founder and CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg speaks during the 56th Munich Security Conference in Munich, southern Germany, on February 15, 2020.

EU industry commissioner Thierry Breton said on Monday it was for Facebook to adapt to Europe's standards, not the other way round, as he criticized the U.S. social media giant's proposed internet rules as insufficient.

The blunt comments came after a short meeting with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and two days before Breton is due to present the first of a raft of rules to rein in U.S. tech giants and state-aided Chinese companies.

"It's not for us to adapt to this company, it's for this company to adapt to us," Breton, a former CEO at French telecoms provider Orange and French technology company Atos, told reporters after the meeting.

Zuckerberg had earlier told reporters he had a good, wide-ranging conversation with Breton.

Breton also said he would decide by the end of the year whether to adopt tough rules as part of the digital services act to regulate online platforms and set out their responsibilities.

He dismissed a discussion paper issued by Facebook on Monday that rejects what it calls intrusive regulations and suggests looser rules whereby companies would periodicially report content and publish enforcement data.

"It's not enough," Breton said, adding that Facebook had omitted any mention of its market dominance and also failed to spell out its responsibilities.

EU justice chief Vera Jourova, who also met Zuckerberg, was equally adamant on Facebook's role in the fight against online hate speech, disinformation and election manipulation.

"Facebook cannot push away all the responsibility. Facebook and Mr Zuckerberg have to answer themselves a question 'who do they want to be' as a company and what values they want to promote," she said in a statement.

"It will not be up to governments or regulators to ensure that Facebook wants to be a force of good or bad."

Breton will announce proposals on Wednesday aimed at exploiting the EU's trove of industrial data and challenging the dominance of Facebook, Google and Amazon. It will announce rules to govern the use of artificial intelligence too, which will also affect companies such as Facebook.

Referring to the possibility that the EU may hold internet companies responsible for hate speech and other illegal speech published on their platforms, Facebook in its discussion document said this ignored the nature of the internet.

It urged regulators to understand the capabilities and limitations of technology in assessing content and allow internet companies the flexibility to innovate.

Zuckerberg's visit came on the heels of visits by Alphabet Chief Executive Sundar Pichai and Microsoft President Brad Smith to Brussels last month.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-18 02:52:38|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

WARSAW, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Coal miners working for Polish Mining Group (PGG), Poland's biggest mining company, held a two-hour warning strike on Monday demanding a 12-percent pay rise and assurances that Polish coal will be used in the country's power stations, local media reported.

"Currently the collieries are working normally. We haven't had signs of any exceptional events," PGG spokesman Tomasz Glogowski was quoted as saying by the Polish Press Agency.

Earlier, the company's management board expressed the hope that the strike action would be conducted in a responsible manner. The firm intends to continue talks on a pay rise after summing up its financial results for the first half year.

Unionists said that following Monday's warning strike, union delegations would visit the offices of ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party MPs in selected regions, including the office of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

Later on Monday, Polish Deputy Minister of State Assets Adam Gaweda said that the next round of talks between PGG management and the company's unionists would take place on Thursday in the southern Polish city of Katowice. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State Assets Jacek Sasin will also participate in the meeting.
The Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) of former Jharkhand chief minister Babulal Marandi merged with the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday, giving stimulus to the saffron party smarting from defeat in the November-December 2019 state assembly polls.

IMAGE: Former Jharkhand chief minister Babulal Marandi with Union hime minister Amit Shah during the merger of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha with the Bharatiya Janata Party at Prabhat Tara ground in Jagannathpur area of Ranchi. Photograph: PTI Photo

Union home minister Amit Shah, credited with BJP's phenomenal expansion as its president, was present at a well-attended public rally where he welcomed Marandi, a respectable tribal leader and the first chief minister of Jharkhand, back into the saffron party.

Shah also assured the tribal leader that he will get due respect and responsibility in the BJP.

"I am delighted that Babulal Marandi has returned to BJP. I was working for his return since 2014 when I became the party president," Shah told the gathering that cheered lustily.

Shah said after quitting the BJP over "personal and organisational" issues in 2006, Marandi became "a 'ghumantu' (wandering) leader, sharing the sorrow and happiness of the people of Jharkhand, setting an example of how to be among people without power, too".

"Today, he is back with lotus (BJP's election symbol) in hand. The BJP will now grow further in strength," he said.

Referring to the defeat in the assembly election, the home minister said, "Electoral win or loss is not BJP's goal. Its goal is the progress of the state. We worked hard when in power, we will work harder in the opposition. We will fight corruption, terrorism and naxalism with even greater vigour."

He also spoke about the Ayodhya dispute and withdrawal of special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Shah praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for resolving intractable Reang-Bru crisis and for the new Bodo accord.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ensured Kashmir becomes an integral part of India forever by scrapping articles 370 and 35(A) of the Constitution," he said.

The home minister said he was confident that the BJP will move forward and establish greater connect with the masses in Jharkhand under the triad of Marandi, Union tribal affairs minister Arjun Munda and former chief minister Raghubar Das.

He assured all leaders and workers of the JVM-P who joined the BJP that they will feel at home and get the respect they deserve.

Marandi was the chief minister of Jharkhand from November 2000 to March 2003.

A four-time former MP, he gradually drifted away from the BJP and launched his own outfit -- Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik in 2006.

In his address, Marandi said his return to the BJP was not sudden and that leaders of the saffron party had been trying to persuade him to return since the time he floated the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik.

"PM Modi had sent an emissary to me during my visit to Kolkata in 2014 after my party lost both Lok Sabha and assembly elections but I refused. I was stubborn (ziddi). But I admit whatever I am today is because of the BJP," he said.

Marandi said he never hankered after power and position, and will accept whatever responsibility he given by the party.

He also briefly touched upon the issue of the contentious citizenship law, claiming "fear" was being spread about it by opposition parties.

"Our country is secular because of Hindutva and the BJP is its foremost proponent. Most parties now work for one family. If there is one worker-centric party, it's the BJP," he said.

The JVM-P had won three seats in the 2019 assembly polls.

Marandi, who also won, later sacked two MLAs-Pradip Yadav and Bandhu Tirkey, for hobnobbing with the Congress.

The JMM-Congress-RJD alliance had won 47 of the state's 81 seats, while the then ruling BJP, which ploughed a lonely furrow, bagged 25.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the Trump administration is working to determine what level of American military forces is needed in West Africa to counter the rise of extremist violence in the region.

Speaking at the end of his visit to Senegal, Pompeo said he discussed the issue of the U.S. military presence in West Africa with President Macky Sall amid reports that the Trump administration intends to reduce troops in Africa.

We did have a lot of conversation about security issues here, about Americas role in those. Weve made it clear that the Department of Defense is looking at West Africa to make sure we have our force levels right, Pompeo said to reporters Sunday. I was here as CIA director, so I know these security issues very, very well. Well get it right, well get it right collectively; Im convinced of that.

Pompeo said the U.S. will work with Senegal, other West African countries and France to counter the growing threat of extremist violence.

We have an obligation to get security right here, in the region  its what will permit economic growth and were determined to do that, Pompeo said. And Im convinced that when our review is done, well have a conversation with not just Senegal, but all the countries in the region ... Well deliver an outcome that works for all of us.

Senegals Foreign Minister Amadou Ba confirmed that West Africa is concerned about the extremist violence that is spreading in West Africa.

Terrorism has no border, and it is very costly, said Ba at the news conference with Pompeo. He said that Senegal and the region wants continued military support from the U.S.

Yes, we are under threat, Ba said. We want them (the U.S.) to remain present. We hope they will continue to support in security areas. We hope they will continue to support us in training and intelligence. This was discussed with the president of the republic.

Pompeo came to Senegal to start his tour of Africa, the first U.S. Cabinet official to visit in more than 18 months. He left Senegal Sunday to go to Angola and after that will travel to Ethiopia as the Trump administration tries to counter the growing interest of China, Russia and other global powers in Africa and its booming young population of more than 1.2 billion.

In Angola, an oil-rich country whose people remain impoverished, Pompeo will meet with President Joao Lourenco, who is making strides against corruption, including actions against close relatives of the former leader.

Then Pompeo heads to Ethiopia, Africas second-most populous nation with more than 100 million people and the headquarters of the African Union.

Ethiopia, a key U.S. security ally in the Horn of Africa, has undergone dramatic political reforms since Nobel Peace Prize-winning Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office in 2018. The loosening of repressive measures has been exploited by some with long-held grievances, leading to sometimes violent ethnic tensions that threaten a national election later this year.
Kaspersky researchers identified a new version of the Ginp banking Trojan, first discovered by the company's analyst in 2019.

Apart from the standard functions of Android-focused bankers - capacities to intercept and send SMS, perform window overlays - the new resurfaced version involves a highly unconventional function to insert fake text messages into the Inbox of a regular SMS app.

These messages appear under the guise of reputable vendors informing users about an undesired event (blocked account access, for example). To prevent this, the user is requested to open the application. Once victims do that, the Trojan overlays the original window and asks them to input the credentials for a credit card or a bank account. As a result, their payment details are handed over to cybercriminals.

"Ginp is simple but efficient--and effective. And the rate at which it evolves and acquires new capabilities is concerning. While this attack has so far only been seen in Spain, based on our previous experience, this Trojan could begin to emerge in other countries as well; Android users need to be on alert," says Alexander Eremin, Security expert at Kaspersky.

Kaspersky products successfully detect and block the threat.

To reduce the risk of being exposed to Ginp or other banking Trojans, Kaspersky experts recommend:

Only download apps from the official Google Play StorePay attention to what permissions apps requests--they shouldn't be asking for access to SMSInstall an antivirus solution on your phone, like Kaspersky Antivirus & Security for Android.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Vietnamese language course for young Vietnamese generations opened in Vienna, Austria on February 15.

Overseas Vietnamese in Austria

Speaking at the event, Vietnamese Ambassador Le Dung said apart from Vietnamese teaching and learning, it is necessary to give overseas Vietnamese youths an insight into Vietnams traditional culture and inspire their patriotism.

He hoped that the Vietnamese language teaching model will be expanded to other Austrian localities, especially those home to many Vietnamese people.

Chairwoman of the Vietnam Womens Association (VWA) in Austria Bui Thanh Hai also thanked the Vietnamese embassy for supporting the opening of the course, which was planned last year.

Before the course is launched, the embassy, in coordination with the State Committee on Overseas Vietnamese Affairs, held courses to standardise Vietnamese language teaching programmes for VWA members and Vietnamese students who engage in teaching.

The embassy called on philanthropists to establish a study encouragement fund to maintain classes every Saturday on its premises./. VNA

Five universities granted Vietnamese language certificates for foreigners The Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) has just issued a Decision to assign five higher education institutions to train, evaluate and grant certificates on Vietnamese language to foreigners.
HOLLYWOOD, Md.

(February 13, 2020)County Commissioner John O'Connor said this week that St. Mary's County should resolve to become a Second Amendment sanctuary county."I think it's important, after watching what's going on in Annapolis, that we take that initiative," O'Connor said at the Feb. 11 business meeting of the Commissioners of St. Mary's County.Local gun rights advocates have been speaking privately for months about encouraging local elected leaders to make the move, which would mirror the more than 90 counties in Virginia that have already done so.Where gun rights once appeared secure in Virginia, which has been strongly Republican for the last generation, a recent shift in power towards the Democrats there in the state government has emboldened Gov. Ralph Northam to back a bevy of gun control laws, including an assault weapons ban that includes a prohibition on owning high capacity ammunition magazines.The rapid shift in power in Richmond ignited the Second Amendment sanctuary movement just as quickly.In the Maryland General Assembly, a new bill threatens to tighten restrictions on certain so-called assault weapons even further, imposing strict costs for their registration if the new law is passed.Many such weapons were banned from further sale in 2013 the legislature.John Mountjoy, a local gun rights advocate, said he and others started the sanctuary movement after the dramatic changes in Virginia; the climate in Annapolis towards their point of view had also chilled further."We're being blatantly ignored," Mountjoy said. "The current incumbents... they will not listen to us."Commissioner Todd Morgan said that the commissioners, Sheriff Timothy K. Cameron and State's Attorney Richard Fritz should have a public conversation on the issue."I'm a strong supporter of [the Second Amendment] and [Second Amendment] rights," Morgan said.In a statement to The County Times, Commissioner Eric Colvin said: "I think having the sheriff, state's attorney and all the commissioners on the same page will send a strong message that St. Mary's County is a strong supporter of the Constitution."County Attorney David Weiskopf said he was researching the issue and what legal force, and ramifications, such a resolution or decision would have."I'm still researching it," Weiskopf said, adding he planned on making a report to the commissioners in the next several weeks on his findings.St. Mary's County, a Republican stronghold in a Democrat-controlled Maryland, has shown broad support for the Second Amendment.Last year, at the county GOP sponsored Lincoln/Reagan Day Dinner, Cameron told attendees "no St. Mary's County law enforcement it going to go into homes and take guns."His comments were in response to then Democrat presidential candidate Robert "Beto" O'Rourke's vocal support of confiscating legally owned military-style rifles.Cameron called such plans illegal and unconstitutional."I support the idea of St. Mary's County being a Second Amendment sanctuary," Cameron said Wednesday. "Largely it's symbolic, but it's very important symbolism."It sends a clear and distinct message to our legislators."Cameron said he would press challenges in the courts to gun control laws that were unconstitutional to seek relief.If St. Mary's enacted a resolution declaring it a Second Amendment sanctuary, it would be the fourth county in Maryland to do so; Carroll, Cecil and Harford counties have already adopted such declarations.Calls to Fritz's office seeking comment were not returned as of press time.
The Supreme Court (SC) is set to decide on Monday (February 17) if women officers in the Indian Army can be given command position and whether women officers should be granted permanent commission on par with male officers.

Notably, the Centre has submitted a note to the apex court highlighting a list of issues, including "physical prowess" and "physiological limitations", as challenges for women Army officers to meet the exigencies of service.

"Composition of rank and file being male, predominantly drawn from rural background, with prevailing societal norms, troops are not yet mentally schooled to accept WOs (women officers) in command of units," said the note.

"Inherent physiological differences between men and women preclude equal physical performance resulting in lower physical standards and hence the physical capacity of WOs (women officers) in the IA remain a challenge for command of units," it added.

The note also mentioned that officers are expected to lead their men 'from the front' and they should be physically fit to undertake combat tasks.

Responding to the Centre's note, the SC had said that "administrative will" and "change of mindset" are required to give command posts to women officers in the Army.

The top court also addressed the issue raised in the Centre's note about a situation where a women soldier or officer may become a 'prisoner of war', saying there were other services in addition to direct combat operations where the Army can allow women officers to serve.

"It would be a situation of extreme physical, mental and psychological stress for the individual, the organisation and above all the government. Therefore, such a situation is best avoided by keeping the WOs away from direct combat," the Centre has said in the written note.

The Centre also said in its note that India has two unsettled borders and Armymen are mostly deployed in isolated and detached posts in difficult terrain and tough climatic conditions.

"The lines of communications are extended and the internal security situation in the north-east and J&K puts severe limitations on the functioning of units in these areas. These conditions have a major bearing in the employment of WOs in light of their physiological limitations accentuated by the challenges of confinement, motherhood and child-care," it said.

Live TV

The Centre has also said in its written note before the SC that women officers up to 14 years of service would be considered for permanent commissions and further career progression in staff appointments only.

It added that women officers above 14 years of service would be permitted to serve up to 20 years without consideration for permanent commission and would be released with pensionary benefits subject to meeting disciplinary and medical criteria.
Kareena Kapoor Khan celebrated 20 years in Bollywood by turning showstopper for the grand finale of the Lakme Fashion Week Summer/Resort 2020 fashion extravaganza.

The 'Good Newwz' actor walked the ramp in an Amit Aggarwal creation from his AXIL collection. The line is inspired by Lakme's theme for Summer/Resort '20 - Better in 3D.

Kareena's ensemble was a dark forest green off-shoulder sequined dress with a plunging neckline and accentuated waist. "No better way to celebrate it than with a brand that is synonymous with me, a brand that has added tremendous value to my career, my brand, and name," the actor said of celebrating 20 years in the industry.

The 39-year-old actor further added, "As everyone knows that there is no Lakme fashion week finale complete without me, and I take great pride and honour to say that because I love walking the ramp, maybe I am a hidden model, I enjoy walking the ramp for my brand. There is something so special about the fashion week as time and time again I get to meet beautiful designers, put on my Lakme makeup and just feel like an absolute diva."

The 'Veere Di Wedding' actor further added, "Tonight is a little more special because I am wearing Amit's design for the first time and one of my favourite colours, he has designed this outfit especially for me and it fits me like a glove. I feel alive and sexy tonight, and the only person missing from the crowd is my husband and he should have come because I am feeling fabulous."

Kareena thanked the brand Lakme for celebrating the 20th anniversary with her and stated, "I thank Lakme for giving me this honour each time. Twenty years is less as we are going to be associated, and we are not going anywhere and see you again next season."

Designer Amit Aggarwal thanked Kareena for gracing the event and said, "Kareena epitomizes the glory of the past, the beauty of the present and I think she is someone who is here to stay."

The Lakme Fashion Week 2020 kick-started in Mumbai on Tuesday with Vicky Kaushal and Janhvi Kapoor as showstoppers. The fashion event was also attended by Riteish Deshmukh, Genelia Dsouza, and Tara Sutaria.

.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The late U.S. House Speaker Tip ONeill often said that all politics is local  and thats true.

Regardless of the issue, it always comes down to how things play out where people live their lives. In that spirit, its true that impact from a deadly disease spreading mostly overseas can be local, as well. That sounds like a stretch of the imagination regarding the COVID-19, or coronavirus, since most of the cases have been clustered far away in China. But, far away is not the type of world we live in anymore.

As I write this, the number of deaths from this coronavirus has climbed above 1,300, beating out the 2002 SARS coronavirus, and the number of people infected worldwide is in the neighborhood of 60,000. As I understand it, coronaviruses include those that cause many routine respiratory illnesses, as well as the common cold. What is different about COVID-19 is that it has mutated and become something we have not encountered before.

Fortunately, for Americans not living abroad, the vast majority of the cases remain in China. Unfortunately, we also live in a world where people travel around the globe in a matter of hours, and their infections travel with them. Also, because it could be days before COVID-19 symptoms show up, people might not know theyre sick when they get on a plane. Of course, one obvious response to all of this is to restrict travel, lock down borders and quarantine anyone who is suspected of having the virus. And so we shall.

But Im not so sure thats the only way to protect ourselves. The effects of this outbreak are not just health-related, but economy-and job related. We live in a just-in-time economy, which means many manufacturers and distributors order just what they need or can sell in the short term  thus conserving cash and warehouse space. Gone are the days when companies have months of inventory on hand. Given that U.S. firms and consumers purchase an extraordinary amount of goods from China, what happens there could have a huge impact here if this outbreak continues at its current pace much longer.

Whether its auto parts, medical equipment or one of a thousand other things, a factory shutdown in cities with names we cant pronounce can impact our lives in very profound ways. As much as we might like to think of the rest of the world and its problems as far enough away that we dont have to care what happens to those people, our own well-being doesnt provide that luxury anymore. This matters because it dictates how our own elected leaders will respond, and how theyll engage with other nations.

One option is to close our eyes, seal our borders, limit travel and hope that weve done enough to prevent infected people from circulating among us  while also hoping we have enough critical supplies to ride out the storm. The other option is to fund and invest in epidemiology and preparedness both here and around the globe, so that small outbreaks dont become major pandemics, no matter where they originate.

A few years ago, the nation was headed in the right direction with a global health security director who was part of the National Security Council, a sort of czar able to coordinate a government-wide response over multiple agencies. As important as the czar was, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) plays the most critical role in keeping epidemics and pandemics from reaching our shores by working proactively on the front line in nearly 40 countries, on everything from surveillance to detecting drug-resistant bacteria.

Unfortunately, this position is no longer attached to the NSC due to a reorganization by the current administration. Also, federal budget cuts in such key areas as emerging and zoonotic diseases, and preparedness and response leave us more vulnerable than we might otherwise be right now.

Funding cuts aside, lets hope the experts get a handle on this thing soon because, if they dont, local impacts will include sick people in our midst, shortages of critical parts and supplies that squeeze employers and jobs, and a widening overall mess in our just-in-time economy.

Albert B. Kelly is mayor of Bridgeton. Contact him by phone at 856-455-3230 Ext. 200.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.
The Ngarbuh Massacre with at Least Fourteen Children Murdered by Cameroun Military :: CAMEROON

In the early hours of Saturday, February 15, 2020, soldiers of the Republique of Cameroun attacked the village of Ngarbuh in Donga-Mantung. In this unprovoked attack, the Cameroun soldiers killed at least thirty-five (35) unarmed Ambazonian civilians, including fourteen (14) children and a pregnant mother, and burnt down at least forty-five houses.

The children were all between one year and thirteen years old. The baby in the womb of the pregnant mother was also killed by the same Cameroun military.

The death of these innocent children, mothers and others touches the sense of collectivity and solidarity that characterizes our existence as a people of Ambazonia. I want to assure the bereaved families that in this moment of underserved pain, we as the people of Ambazonia stand with them in all aspects as necessary.

This massacre is a war crime! It is one in a long chain of systematic violation of the human rights of the Ambazonian people by the Republic of Cameroun, war crimes committed in Ambazonia by Mr. Paul Biya and his regime, and a conscious, deliberate and intentional design by the Republic of Cameroun to annihilate the Ambazonian people.The genocidal actions of the Republic of Cameroun in Ambazonia constitute a crime against humanity.

I have directed the Ambazonia Governing Council to take appropriate action on multiple fronts against this barbarism, and work is ongoing intensively in this regard.

The government of the Republic of Cameroun and its military shall be held accountable in the short, medium and long terms for this act.

All Ambazonians should remember that this massacre is one reason that the freedom of our homeland from annexation, illegal occupation, oppression, rule and domination by the Republic of Cameroun is an existential imperative. The defense of everyone, especially women and children in Ambazonia is a national emergency to which every Ambazonian must now fully commit himself or herself.

This massacre justifies the existing military and economic sanctions by the United States of America on the Republic of Cameroun, and calls on other countries to take similar actions as the USA to bring these senseless killings of the Ambazonian people by the Republic of Cameroun to an immediate end. The ongoing genocide and this infanticide make clear that the international community cannot expect the Cameroun government to provide a solution to this conflict in which the Republic of Cameroun is rather the perpetrator of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

This massacre iterates that the Republic of Camerouns National Dialogue was a window dressing hoax, and there is no will in Mr. Biyas government to commit to a peaceful resolution of this conflict.

Nations that uphold democracy and human rights, the African Union and the United Nations have a duty to invoke the principle of the Responsibility to Protect the Ambazonian people. In accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960, which affirmed that all peoples have an inalienable right to complete freedom, the exercise of their sovereignty and the integrity of their national territory, all member States of the UN have a duty to recognize the right of the people of Ambazonia to self-determination and to live in peace and safety in their own country.

This recognition is necessary to bring a speedy end to this continuous massacre of innocent children by the Republic of Cameroun, to provide a sustainable solution to the ongoing conflict, and to restore peace and stability in the Gulf of Guinea.

Dr. Cho L. Ayaba

President

Ambazonia Governing Council
NMC Health Plc, a hospital operator targeted by short seller Muddy Waters, said founder Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty resigned amid investor concern he faced a margin call and misrepresented his stake.

The board asked for Co-Chairman Shettys resignation, which takes effect immediately, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. NMC has lost four board members since Friday, including Vice Chairman Khaleefa Butti, whose holdings are also being probed. The stock, the worst performer in the FTSE 100 Index this year, fell Monday morning and then rebounded, gaining as much as 2.3%.

The share ownership and pledge debacle is a symptom of systemic rot and corruption at NMC, Carson Block, founder of Muddy Waters, said in a tweet.

NMC lost almost half its value the first week of February on speculation the companys main investors faced a margin call, in which banks seize shares pledged as collateral. NMC said Friday that First Abu Dhabi Bank and Al Salam Bank Bahrain obtained 20 million shares in the company from BRS International Holding, an investment vehicle of NMCs top shareholders. The banks sold more than 8 million of those shares as enforcement of security, NMC said.

NMC operates the largest medical network in the United Arab Emirates and in 2012 became the first Abu Dhabi company to list in London. The shares started teetering in mid-December when Muddy Waters alleged that NMC manipulated its balance sheet and inflated the prices of companies it acquired.

Shetty, 77, was born in India and founded NMC in the 1970s after moving to Abu Dhabi. His spokesman said a legal review of the situation is ongoing and declined further comment.

Chief Investment Officer Hani Buttikhi and board member Abdulrahman Basaddiq also stepped down because they were appointees of the principal shareholders, NMC said, adding that they had no knowledge of the share transfers.

Questions remain over the role of Shettys family at the company. His wife and son-in-law both hold roles in senior management.

Almost 10% of NMCs freely traded shares are shorted, according to data from IHS Markit Ltd. In mid-December about a third of them were.

Last week Swiss-based GKSD Investment, an investment company backed by hospital investors, said its studying a possible offer for NMC. In the first announcement released to the market on Feb. 10, GK Investment, a company also based in Lugano, Switzerland and founded by Tunisian businessman Kamel Ghribi, was said to be the possible bidder. GKSD later clarified GK Investment had contacted NMC on its behalf and was acting as an adviser.

When Bloomberg News contacted GK Investment Monday, a woman who picked up the phone said shed been told to make no comment. The websites of both GK Investment and Ghribi said they were under maintenance.

N.M. Rothschild & Sons Ltd. and Goldman Sachs are advising GKSD. Under U.K. takeover rules, it has until March 9 to make a bid. NMC also said it got an approach from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. last week, but the private equity firm said Tuesday it had no plans to make an offer.

NMC has said Muddy Waterss claims are false and the company hired former FBI Director Louis Freeh to conduct an independent review. The review is due to be completed before the company issues its financial results in March, said the person familiar with the situation, who asked not to be identified because the investigation is ongoing.

NMC said Mark Tompkins will continue as the companys sole chairman.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Earlier in January, in a move now dubbed as "Megxit," Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced their decision to step back as senior members of the royal family to have a private life in North America with their son.

In their announcement, they also unveiled their plan to become "financially independent," meaning they will not be using British taxpayers' money to fund their lavish lifestyle.

However, despite recent reports of the royal couple showing no regrets over their decision, one royal expert claimed that Prince Harry has become "very isolated" in the aftermath of 'Megxit."

Per Express U.K., London Evening Standard royal editor Robert Johnson told Sky News that Prince Harry would feel how his wife felt when she was living in the U.K.

"Harry is very isolated now, and that is the danger. Where she was saying she felt isolated in the UK, and that she didn't feel there was any support, her family was on the other side of the world," Johnson explained.

Moreover, as Johnson notes, because the Prince is away from his home country, he is in danger. He pointed out that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have fewer security and they are at risk" of getting attacked in a country that is quite lenient when it comes to gun control.

Last month, there were reports that the Duke of Sussex was warned that "freaks of nature" could target him and his family in Canada.

According to the former head of royal protection Dai Davies, losing the couple's royal status meant that they were "at-risk" even if they were in a safe country like Canada.

"They still have hard-line nutters, freaks of nature that unfortunately think that blowing people up is the way to get what they want. Unfortunately, that is replicated around the world," Davies shared.

The royal security expert also pointed out that Canada has "more firearms by head in population" than "virtually anywhere."

"Unfortunately, he is who he is, she is who she is, and in my humble opinion, they are at risk," the ex royal security furthered.

It was reported that there are already three men in their custody who were plotting to harm Prince Harry.

Security Funds Coming From Royal Family?

Royal expert Dickie Arbiter also talked about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's security in Canada.

According to the expert, while things are still being finalized, the money that will be used to pay for the royal couple's security will come from British taxpayers.

Because Prince Harry once served the army in the past, he is also a target for terrorists, so he needs to be protected, Arbiter said.

Scotland Yard continues to guard the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their baby Archie until they can come up with an alternative plan.

Struggling Royals

The royal family has its fair share of controversies and scandals. After Prince Andrew's controversial interview about his connection with Jeffrey Epstein and Prince Harry's decision to move to another country with his wife, Queen Elizabeth was hit with another bombshell news that her grandson Peter Phillips is splitting up with wife Autumn Phillips.

Moreover, with the said news, the family became more concerned about the Sussexes. While they have already stepped back from their royal duties, a palace insider told New Idea that Queen Elizabeth II is concerned about the state of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's marriage.

"The Queen is now very nervous about their relationship. This new divorce announcement puts a lot of pressure on them to stay together," the said source mentioned.

It was also reported that the Queen told them that they must work on their marriage in Canada and put each other first because "the monarchy cannot handle more drama."
The Australian sharemarket is poised for a flat open after a quiet night globally, with Wall Street closed for President's Day. At 7.20am AEDT, futures are pointing to a loss of 3 points at the open.

1. A slow start to the trading week: US markets were out of action overnight, for the Presidents Day holiday, so it was a relatively slow start to the trading week. News flow and data was rather thin, but the primary concern for market participants remains the coronavirus outbreak.

In general, markets still appear to hold the view that outbreak is coming under some sort-of control. And that though itll clearly prove disruptive to global economic activity, it wont entirely derail the global economy in the longer term.

2. Chinese stimulus supports risk-taking: A part of the reason for that prevailing view is Chinese policymakers continued attempts to support Chinas financial markets and economy. The PBOC took further measures to ease financial conditions in China on Monday, lowering the rate it offers investors on its Medium-Term lending Facilities.
The Spanish governments apparent change of position with regard to Venezuela has raised eyebrows in the United States, where officials used the terms disappointment and discouraging about Prime Minister Pedro Sanchezs recent description of Venezuelas Juan Guaido as the head of the opposition rather than the acting president.

Guaido declared himself the acting president of Venezuela in January 2019 after calling the 2018 elections illegitimate. US President Donald Trump recognized him immediately and dozens of countries followed suit, including Spain.

I dont see Sanchez or Spain positioning themselves on the side of the dictatorship Carlos Vecchio, Guaido's charge d'affaires

In November 2019 Spain held a general election that was won by Sanchez, of the Socialist Party (PSOE), but he was forced into a coalition government with the leftist Unidas Podemos group. His Cabinet was sworn in on January 13.

When Guaido visited Spain later that month as part of an international tour to drum up support for his cause, Sanchez was noticeably absent. The Venezuelan leader was instead received by Spains foreign minister, Arancha Gonzalez Laya, prompting speculation in the media about a change of tack.

Backed by Trump

During his recent visit to Washington DC at the close of his international trip, Guaido had a long meeting with Trump and his aides at the White House. On February 4 he received a standing ovation from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress, where he was a guest at the State of the Union address.

There is going to be action in the coming days or weeks to increase pressure on the Maduro regime, said Guaidos charge daffaires in Washington, Carlos Vecchio, in statements to EL PAIS.

Vecchio said that in recent conversations with members of the US administration, he has seen concern about what they consider Europes insufficient involvement. These US officials also seemed puzzled at Madrids lack of leadership. For obvious reasons, everyone expects Spain to lead this process, said Vecchio.

Washingtons official reaction to the change of attitude in Spain has been low-key, and the US State Department has declined to comment.

But on February 7, the US Special Representative for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, said that the Venezuelan vice-presidents recent layover at the Madrid airport seemed a violation of European sanctions, adding that we dont understand what happened 100% [...] and what weve seen in the papers has been changing from day to day.

The controversial meeting between Venezuelas Delcy Rodriguez and Spains Public Works Minister Jose Luis Abalos inside an aircraft was described as disappointing and discouraging by Joe Piechowski, a deputy assistant secretary at the US State Department. The US also has questions about this alleged meeting.

Unfortunate

On February 6, Special Representative Abrams noted the fact that Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez did not personally receive Guaido when the latter stopped in Madrid.

We think its unfortunate that Sanchez did not agree to meet with Guaido. We have received a number of assurances that Spains commitment to the restoration of democracy in Venezuela remains firm, he said at a briefing.

Guaidos team is equally cautious. What the government of Spain has officially said, and the minister has said it directly, is that they continue to recognize Juan Guaido as the interim president and president of the National Assembly, said Vecchio, the charge daffaires.

We have received a number of assurances that Spains commitment to the restoration of democracy in Venezuela remains firm Special Representative Elliott Abrams

We kept the contacts with the Sanchez government, with the person that he designated, and we reaffirmed that for us, Spain has to play a key role within Europe, added Vecchio. I hope, and there is no reason for me to doubt it, that Pedro Sanchez is on the side of defending human rights. I dont see Sanchez or Spain positioning themselves on the side of the dictatorship.

When Guaido came to Madrid, we met with the minister and she ratified that the policy had not changed one bit, said Antonio Ecarri, Guaidos representative in Madrid. When we seemed a little uncertain about the coalition government, we were told that international policy fell outside the agreement signed with Podemos and the other groups. We dont have a different official version.

English version by Susana Urra.
US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper on Saturday launched a string of attacks against China at the 2020 Munich Security Conference, claiming that China has posed challenges to the world by "manipulation of the long-standing international, rules-based order."

His accusations are completely groundless. China has always been an advocate of multilateralism as it pursues a community with a shared future for mankind. In contrast, the US is the true challenger to the current world order.

US President Donald Trump's administration has formulated and implemented foreign policies under the guidance of the "America First" doctrine, placing its own interests above those of all others. In addition, Washington has withdrawn from several international organizations and treaties, as it believes those mechanisms no longer benefit the US itself. All of these moves have greatly disrupted the existing international order.

Esper also accused China of "more predatory economic practices" and "a more aggressive military posture" which is "most concerning" for him. Regarding China's economic activities, he accused China of stealing the intellectual property of Western countries. The fact is that many US companies provided China with technologies on their own initiative in exchange for entering the Chinese market. Only recently have they started to make unfounded charges.

In terms of China's military, this is not the first time Esper has accused China of "military expansion." In December 2019, a spokesman for China's Ministry of National Defense responded to his previous remarks, saying, "If someone insists on forcing China into being a competitor, then China will certainly be a formidable one." Washington needs to reflect on its own military behavior. For instance, the Trump administration has established the US Space Force, sparking an arms race in space. Such examples are numerous, giving the US no grounds to find faults with China. The US itself has long sought superiority and has militarized its foreign relations.

Since Trump assumed office, US policy toward China has seen an obvious adjustment. It has turned into one that underlines great power competition. High-ranking US officials would miss no opportunity to smear China at international arenas. At the just ended Munich Security Conference, Esper again called on Europe and other countries to "wake up" to China's threat. It's obvious that Washington has put great efforts into targeting China, hoping its European allies will help it impede China. At NATO's 70th anniversary summit from December 3 to 4, 2019, the US also attempted to unite its allies by hyping China as a major threat.

These nefarious efforts by Esper and other US officials are futile. From my perspective, Europe is indeed waking up, but not to some make-believe China threat. It is becoming aware of the weakness of its own strength, and that it has been overly dependent on the US. Recent remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have implied that Europe should be more independent and enhance its own power base. I believe the continent will stop pinning its hope on the US and start relying more on itself.

The 2020 Munich Security Conference was focused on "westlessness." A major cause of "westlessness" is the divergence within the Western camp. With the rise of populism and unilateralism inside the US, the traditional values of Europe have suffered huge impacts. As some European scholars put forward, the US has posed many more threats to the West than China or Russia.

In response to Esper's arbitrary accusations, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi refuted that Esper and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo "say the same thing about China wherever they go," and laid bare that their words are only lies. He also appealed to all countries to practice multilateralism and get rid of the old divisions that separate the West and the East.

It is believed that with China's development and its increasingly significant role in the international community, the world will gradually cast off prejudice, manage differences through cooperation, and eventually build a community with a shared future for humanity.

The author is an assistant research fellow with the Institute of American Studies of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations. [email protected]
The Government of Canada launches public consultations on possible modernization of the Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement.

Canada is committed to ensuring that Canadians and businesses have access to the opportunities and customers available in the global marketplace. A more interconnected world creates real, tangible benefits for everyonecreating more good, middle-class jobs for Canadians and strengthening our economy. Through this public consultation, I encourage all Canadians to have their say on the future modernization of our landmark free trade agreement with Ukraine, Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade of Canada, announced.

As noted, consultations on modernizing this agreement will provide businesses, industry and all Canadians the opportunity to help Canada define its interests in its negotiations with Ukraine.

 They [consultations] will inform how the government diversifies and expands Canadas preferential access to Ukraine while ensuring that this creates opportunities that will benefit everyone, the news release at Global Affairs Canada reads.

All Canadians are encouraged to participate in the consultation, which will take place from February 15 to March 16, 2020.

The Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement entered into force on August 1, 2017. The agreement on its extension was reached during the visit of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to Canada last summer.

ol
New Delhi, Feb 17 : India has strongly warned Turkey against interference in Jammu & Kashmir after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently reiterated his support to Pakistan over Kashmir.

Pakistan has been perpetrating cross-border terrorism in Kashmir for the last three decades. However, during his recent visit to Islamabad, the Turkish President in his address to Pakistan's Parliament had said, "Today the issue of Kashmir is as close to us as it is to you. Like in the past, we will continue to support Pakistan in the future." In response to a media query about Erdogan's remarks, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that India "rejects the repeated attempts by Turkey to justify cross-border terrorism practiced so blatantly by Pakistan." These developments, he said, have strong implications for India's bilateral relationship with Turkey.

Calling President Erodgan's provocative comments "unacceptable", Kumar said, "This recent episode is one more example of Turkey interfering in the internal affairs of other countries." Erdogan's "remarks reflect neither an understanding of history nor of the conduct of diplomacy. They distort events of the past to advance a narrow minded view of the present," he said.

India has made a strong demarche with the Turkish government, Kumar told the media. The demarche was made by the Secretary (West) to the Ambassador of Turkey in New Delhi earlier on Monday.
[February 17, 2020] Global Multiparameter Patient Monitoring Devices Market, 2020-2025 - Key Players are Nihon Kohden, Koninklijke Philips, OSI Systems, Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics, and GE Healthcare

DUBLIN, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Multiparameter Patient Monitoring Devices Market - Global Outlook and Forecast 2020-2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global multiparameter patient monitoring market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 4% during the period 2019-2025. Key Market Insights The analysis of the multiparameter patient monitoring market provides sizing and growth opportunities for the forecast period 2020-2025.

Provides comprehensive insights on the latest industry trends, forecast, and growth drivers in the market.

Includes a detailed analysis of growth drivers, challenges, and investment opportunities.

Delivers a complete overview of segments and the regional outlook of the multiparameter patient monitoring

Offers an exhaustive summary of the vendor landscape, competitive analysis, and key strategies to gain competitive advantage. The global multiparameter patient monitoring market is likely to witness absolute growth because of the increasing application in hospitals, home care settings, and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). These devices are widely used in ICUs, emergency departments, and general wards to continuously monitor vital signs such as heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration rate. The introduction of advanced technologies, such as real-time, continuous, and remote patient monitoring (RPM), is expected to influence the market during the forecast period.



Moreover, the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases and the increase in the elderly population are likely to be the major drivers for the multiparameter patient monitoring market. Globally, the prevalence of chronic diseases such as cancer is increasing at an alarming rate due to changing lifestyles, aging population, environmental pollutions, and increasing smokers; therefore, all these factors are expected to increase the demand for such devices.



These devices are portable and do not hinder the mobility of patients and enable them to shift them within the ward or transfer from one hospital to another. Advanced healthcare infrastructure and favorable reimbursement policies allow a high adoption of these devices, thereby expecting to drive the market growth in developed economies during the forecast period.



Market Dynamics



Growth Enablers

Growing Demand for Real-time Patient Monitors in Critical Care

Increasing Target Patient Population with Various Diseases

Technological Advancements in the Field of Multi-parameter Patient Monitoring Growth Restraints False Alarms & Alarm Fatigue Associated with Multi-parameter patient Monitoring

Increasing Regulatory Complexities for Multi-parameter Patient Monitors Manufacturers

High-Cost of Multi-parameter Patient Monitoring Devices Market Opportunities and Trends Increasing Demand for Multi-parameter Patient Monitoring in Home-care Settings

Growing Demand For Portable/Compact Multi-Parameter Monitors

Growing Focus on Integration of Multi-parameter Patient Monitors With Wireless and Remote Monitoring Platforms Multiparameter Patient Monitoring Market: Segmentation



This research report includes a detailed segmentation by devices, acuity level, patient group, end-user, and geography.



The portable monitoring devices segment is likely to grow at the fastest CAGR during the forecast period. The ease of remotely monitoring and the availability of portable features are expected to increase their application in-home care settings and enable real-time vital signs monitoring. These devices reduce continuous monitoring costs and decrease frequent hospital visits. There has been increased adoption of advanced RPM platforms in the remote healthcare market.



The demand for real-time, remotely, and continuous patient monitoring is adding new dimensions to the global telehealth market. Moreover, the usage of portable systems enables hospitals to shift the patient from intense care units to normal wards without switching off multiparameter patient monitor systems.



The launch of advanced portable monitoring devices is likely to hinder the growth of fixed devices. Fixed monitors are majorly used in hospitals and ASCs. These devices limit the mobility of patients and are less preferred by healthcare providers. These typs of devices have a high risk of losing data during power outages. Hence, these devices are less preferred and are expected to experience steady growth in the market.







The high-acuity segment is likely to grow due to the growth in the occurrence of chronic diseases that require continuous monitoring. The demand for high-acuity monitors is expected to increase as patient monitoring in high-acuity conditions is a major priority for healthcare providers. However, these systems have a limitation due to restricted area usage and are only used in ICUs and operation theaters. Hence, there is a lower demand than low-acuity devices.



The mid-acuity level is expected to grow at the slowest rate on account of the low availability of vendors offering such monitors. These types of monitors are used in ambulances, and the patient's condition is unpredictable in such circumstances. Hence, ambulances prefer high-acuity monitors over mid-acuity, which is likely to impact the sale of these devices adversely.





The low-acuity level segment is expected to grow at the fastest rate. The growth is majorly driven due to the low cost of low-acuity monitors, which is expected to bolster the demand for these devices from developed and developing regions. These monitors are portable and offer advanced features of RPM that enable healthcare professionals to monitor the patient continuously. Hospitals are likely to emerge as the major end-user for these advanced feature monitors due to their cost-effectiveness.



The geriatric group segment dominates the segment and is expected to grow at the fastest rate because of the increasing elderly population that is vulnerable to chronic diseases and often requires immediate medical interventions. According to the WHO, there were around 962.3 million people aged 60 and above in 2017, and the number is expected to reach 2,080.5 million by 2050 globally, which is expected to impact the segment positively. The increasing number of premature births is likely to lead to the demand for pediatric multiparameter patient monitoring equipment. Around 15 million babies are born prematurely throughout the globe annually, and the number is growing YOY.



These systems enable healthcare professionals to monitor heart rates, respiration levels, and vital organs to ensure the healthy growth of premature infants. The adult group segment is expected to grow gradually due to the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and asthma in the adult population. The change in lifestyle patterns, lack of physical activities, and the increasing work-related stress both in developed as well as developing countries are likely to promote the sales of these devices.



The hospital segment is expected to grow during the forecast period due to the usage of patient monitoring devices in the emergency care setting, surgical units, and special wards to monitor the health condition regularly. The home care setting segment is expected to grow at a steady rate on account of the increasing awareness and adoption of home care monitoring systems. These devices enable to monitor vital signs at home and avoid regular hospital visits. This is considered to reduce hospital costs and help individuals to monitor their health regularly.



Ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) are likely to grow at the fastest rate as these centers are cost-effective and offer high-quality care with a minimal indirect treatment cost. Chronic disease patients that do not have insurance coverage are expected to prefer these healthcare settings over hospitals. The cost of surgeries in these centers is also significantly low than in hospitals. Hence, the demand for same-day discharge (SDD) procedures is rapidly increasing, and the demand for access to multiparameter patient monitoring devices is likely to increase in these centers.



Market Segmentation by Devices Portable/Compact

Fixed Market Segmentation by Acuity Level High Acuity

Mid Acuity

Low Acuity Market Segmentation by Patient Group Geriatric Group

Adult Group

Pediatric Group Market Segmentation by End-user Hospitals

ASCs

Homecare Settings

Others Insights by Geography



In 2019, North America dominated the market. The region is expected to grow at a steady pace due to the increasing old age population, the moderate increase in the ICU admission, and the availability of advanced technology for RPM. The presence of a large pool of population with several chronic diseases, coupled with high acceptance of advanced and innovative multiparameter patient monitoring devices, is likely to support the region's dominance in the global market.



Europe is expected to gradually grow on account of the rising incidence of chronic diseases. There are likely to be more than 50 million people in Europe having more than one chronic disease. Germany, France, the UK, Italy, and Spain are the major revenue contributors to the European market.



The high awareness levels of the availability of multiparameter monitoring devices, an increase in R&D investment for the development of innovative devices, and growing technological advancements in new product approvals/launches are expected to offer a positive impact on growth during the forecast period. The APAC region is expected to witness rapid growth during the forecast period. India and China together have a significant population with chronic diseases such as cancer and diabetes.



The incidence of cancer in China and India was 4,285,033 and 1,157,294, respectively, in 2018. China is the major revenue contributor to the multiparameter patient monitoring market in APAC. Japan, India, South Korea, and Australia are expected to witness the significant growth rate because of the rise in healthcare expenditure and favorable public and private initiatives for an increase in healthcare access.



Insights by Vendors



The market is highly competitive and characterized by the presence of global, regional, and local players offering multi-parameter patient monitoring devices. Key players are expected to maintain a strategic focus on North America and Europe as they are the top two major revenue contributors. Leading players are likely to focus on expanding portable/compact multiparameter monitors product portfolio as the demand for such devices is expected to increase among end-users.



Local manufacturers, in particular, Chinese and Japanese manufacturers, are expected to offer stiff competition to global players. The market is likely to witness technological advancements and significantly affect new product launches. Global players are focusing on developing innovative products and expanding their product portfolio to remain competitive in the market. They are expected to invest extensively in R&D and product development related activities.



Key Vendors NIHON KOHDEN

Koninklijke Philips

OSI Systems

Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics

GE Healthcare Other Vendors Contec Medical Systems

Draegerwerk

AS-Motor

EPSIMED

GUANGDONG BIOLIGHT MEDITECH

BIOLIGHT MEDITECH Kizlonmedical

Lutech Industries

Mediana

MEDION HEALTHCARE

Opto Circuits ( India )

) SCHILLER

Skanray Technologies For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/x0836n 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

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-multiparameter-patient-monitoring-devices-market-2020-2025---key-players-are-nihon-kohden-koninklijke-philips-osi-systems-shenzhen-mindray-bio-medical-electronics-and-ge-healthcare-301006042.html SOURCE Research and Markets

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
In a shocking development, Pakistani terrorist Masood Azhar and his family have been reported missing on Sunday, ahead of the beginning of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary meet. Muttahida Qaumi Movement's (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain stated that Azhar having gone missing from the custody of the Pakistani Army raised questions on Pakistan's policy towards the banned outfit. Currently, Pakistan is hoping to avoid being blacklisted at the FATF plenary meet.

US responds as Pakistan court convicts Hafiz Saeed for first time, on FATF plenary eve

Masood Azhar goes 'missing'

Azhar - the Jaish-e-Mohammed chief, was the mastermind behind the dreaded Pulwama attack on February 14, 2019, which killed 40 CRPF personnel and the attacker. While the main conspirators of the module have since then been terminated by the Army, Azhar has reportedly been taken into custody by Pakistan. But intel sources state that Azhar had been secretly freed by Pakistan early in September, despite facing the heat of FATF.

On 1 March 2019, Foreign Minister of Pakistan Mehmood Qureshi had inadvertently admitted that Masood Azhar was in Pakistan but is 'unwell'. He even admitted that the Pakistani administration is in contact with the UN-designated terrorist. Azhar, who was initially placed under house arrest in Pakistan after the 2001 parliament attack, but was freed later. While Pakistan claimed that he was arrested after the 26/11 attacks, his last known location was Markaz Subhan Allah, Bahawalpur.

Aus supports FATF greylisting of Pak based on its performance on tackling terrorism: Envoy

Hafiz Saeed conviction and FATF meet

Ahead of the FATF plenary meet, on February 12, the 26/11 mastermind, Hafiz Saeed was convicted under ATA Section 11-F (2) and 11-N. Additionally, he has been slapped with a fine of Rs15,000 in each case. This came even after the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Lahore accepted his plea to club all the pending cases against him and then announce the verdict. The 26/11 mastermind and UN-designated terrorist Hafiz Saeed had also pleaded "not guilty."

Hafiz Saeed most likely to be released after FATF verdict, say sources

Pakistan which is already placed in the greylist by FATF- a Paris-based global terror-financing watchdog, is looking to avoid the blacklist. In an attempt to show 'action' on terrorism, it has convicted Saeed, who may be released post-FATF meet as per reports. Pakistan is courting to Turkey, China and Malaysia to seek their support by fearmongering over Kashmir and revocation od Article 370.

US asks Pakistan to prosecute terrorists Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar
Last week, my five-year-old son Tom barricaded himself in his room and refused to talk to anyone. After 20 minutes of cajoling, I finally got it out of him  and it had nothing to do with turning off Paw Patrol. No, hed simply lost a tiny piece of Lego down the bathroom plughole and was sure it would kill a fish.

Because a while ago, I had told him that plastic is clogging up the oceans and could wipe out pretty much everything that lives in the sea.

Oh yes, he was absolutely too young to process that. But like many parents, my own underlying eco-anxiety has started to spill out into our conversations. Lying to my two children goes against all my instincts  Im terrified for their future and I want them to be prepared. Australia is still burning, floods seem to get worse and more frequent every year, the rainforest is being razed for palm oil and soya beans, and every year we are wiping between 200 and 2,000 species off the face of the earth. Our window for action is shrinking rapidly, and yet in the UK we are cutting down more irreplaceable ancient trees  the natural solution to our carbon crisis  to make the train journey to Birmingham a bit quicker.

Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Show all 50 1 /50 Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent Youth Strike for Climate: London protest in photos Angela Christofilou/The Independent

But while I have no certainty to offer my kids about the earth theyll inherit, the least I can do is give them the childhood they deserve. And the fundamental principle of that is to feel safe.

The world was a different place when I was young. Before digital media came along, the news was on a need-to-know basis. Newsround was an interstitial, slightly boring programme we sat through before Grange Hill came on. The most engaged we got with global issues was watching Comic Relief and Live Aid. And lets be honest, whatever donation our parents did or didnt make, we were in it for the laughter and the music.

My world was a suburban village in Hertfordshire. The Falklands, the recession and "the environment" were all part of the great big other that existed outside my immediate experience. Age 10, I read the Funday Times. I had all the time and space in the world to play, create and dream.

Our kids dont have this kind of separation. Their bubble now contains the entire world  and its there at their fingertips. We cant recreate the haven of our own childhood, or protect our youth from whats happening. But if were going to give the next generation something to fight for, we need to take a deep breath, count to three and paint a more hopeful picture than the one we see.

Eco-anxiety is hitting children the hardest. In a recent survey by Global Action, 77 per cent of kids said they are worried about the environment. Most of my friends kids are worried, heck, Holly Willoughbys children are worried. And, according to the same survey, more than half of our teachers feel ill-equipped to deal with the issue. How do you promote positivity when you dont believe it yourself?

The first answer is to stop trying to forge mini-Greta Thunbergs. To me, she is a beacon of hard facts, unaffected by the lies, flattery and political power games that try to obscure her. But lets not forget that before she made the decision to strike from school by herself every Friday, she was so depressed about the future that she stopped speaking and eating. So yes, while older kids can engage with a positive protest, I was uneasy about taking Tom, then four, to the climate marches last year. Why introduce complex issues with so many overwhelming negatives to a child before hes old enough to understand them?

The second is to stop over-explaining. Its natural to vent to the audience that listens to you when those in power wont. But looking back, Tom didnt really need to know about the impact of grazing animals when we gave up meat  we could have just said we wanted to save money for Christmas. Im also pretty sure he didnt ask for a lecture on intensive farming practices when we started ordering organic veg boxes, but he got one. And then when I told him we wouldnt be having balloons at his birthday parties anymore because balloons dont compost Ok, that one needed a real explanation, but maybe we didnt have to tell him about the plastic island in the Pacific just yet.

There are no easy answers to our childrens questions. But having learnt my lessons with Tom, Im determined not to confuse or scare his younger brother by telling him too much too soon. So Im stepping back until he asks. In the meantime, well do beach cleans, plant wildflowers and donate to rainforest charities as birthday presents. And maybe our kids will have the space to play, create and dream in safety, until the day they can do something about it.
One such child, Zaid Hussain, donning a Kejriwal attire, stood in a queue to enter the venue.

New Delhi: After Delhi resident Avyaan Tomar hogged the limelight by wearing an attire similar to that of the Aam Aadmi Party supremo during winters, several other similarly dressed children could be spotted on Sunday at Ramlila Maidan where Arvind Kejriwal took oath as the chief minister for the third time.

One such child, Zaid Hussain, donning a Kejriwal attire, stood in a queue to enter the venue. We have come here from Bawana. Kejriwal has done good work in our constituency. Kejriwal zindabad, said his mother Ruksana Begum. Zaid obliged dutifully when she directed her son to repeat the slogan in favour of Mr Kejriwal.

Avyaan, over-a-year-old, was pictured all dressed up in signature Kejriwal sweater, spectacles, AAP cap, sketched moustache and a muffler outside AAP headquarters on February 11, when the votes polled in the February 8 Delhi Assembly elections were counted. But he was not the only Little Kejriwal drawing attention and admiration of the crowd, as five more Baby Mufflermen, all belonging to the same family, added joy to the atmosphere.

Three brothers, Kashif, Sajid and Wajid from the Mirza family of Old Delhi brought their children, all five infants, aged two to six years, dressed in matching maroon sweater, black trouser and a muffler to boot.

The youngest among them, Abu Bakar, son of Sajid Mirza, 32, rode his fathers shoulders as he waved a big tricolour in his hands. I am Kejriwal, quipped Abu, when asked his name, and chanted, Lage raho Kejriwal.

Abu goes to KG (kindergarten), so he is a KGwal, Sajid said in a lighter vein. His brother, Basit, 6, the eldest among the children of the Mirza family, flashed a victory sign and showed his white aam aadmi cap. Wajid Mirza, Sajids twin brother, also brought his two sons  Hadi (5) and Umar (3), and 35-year-old Kashif Mirza, the eldest of the three brothers, brought his son Abdullah (3), the two generations were super excited to attend the event.
Persons with coronavirus symptoms won't be accessed on board of aircraft evacuating Ukrainians from Wuhan  Health ministry

Persons with coronavirus symptoms will not be allowed on board an aircraft evacuating Ukrainian citizens from Wuhan, Deputy Minister of Health Viktor Liashko has said.

"There is no reason for panic, we are bringing healthy people to Ukraine," he said at a briefing in Kyiv.

He noted that the plane for Ukrainian citizens will fly on Tuesday, it is expected to return to Ukraine on Thursday.

To date, not a single laboratory-confirmed case of coronavirus has been recorded in Ukraine.
Visitors take a look at artworks during the Korea Galleries Art Fair at COEX in southern Seoul in this 2017 file photo. This year's Korea Galleries Art Fair will also be available through online marketplace as people avoiding gatherings due to coronavirus concerns. Korea Times file



By Kwon Mee-yoo



Establish in 1979, the Korea Galleries Art Fair is the oldest event of its kind in Korea. With many avoiding areas of social gathering due to coronavirus concerns, this year's Korea Galleries Art Fair has been turning to online promotion in addition to traditional onsite events at COEX from Thursday through Sunday with a preview on Wednesday.



The decision to postpone the 38th edition of the event came from 70 percent of the participating galleries, which are struggling to stimulate the local art market.



The Galleries Association of Korea, which organizes the fair, held an emergency board meeting and collected opinions from various experts in the art world. The final decision was made by the participating galleries.



This year, 110 galleries were to take part in the first art fair of the year, presenting some 3,000 pieces from 530 artists. The association called all 110 exhibitors of the event and asked whether or not they felt the event should go on or face cancellation; 70 percent of the galleries wanted to go ahead with this year's fair.



Choi Woong-chol, president of the Galleries Association of Korea, said the opinion of the members was the most important in deciding whether to continue this year's Korea Galleries Art Fair.



The cancellation penalty for pulling out of the fair at COEX, one of the largest convention centers in Korea, also influenced the decision. The penalty for breach of contract includes cancellation fees, as well as a two-year exclusion from COEX.



"We were ready to take the financial loss in case we called off this year's event, but 70 percent of our members wanted to take part in the art fair and we decided to continue," Choi explained.





Chung Sang-hwa's "Work B-6_1970" will be presented at the Korea Galleries Art Fair at COEX in southern Seoul from Thursday through Sunday. Courtesy of Galleries Association of Korea
Pooja Hegde who is making young hearts aflutter has been paired up with Akhil Akkineni for the first time. They are acting together as a romantic pair in director Bommarillu Bhaskars Most Eligible Bachelor.

Pooja Hegdes first look from the film has been unveiled. She plays the role of Vibha.

Produced by GA2 Pictures, the film is set for the summer 2020 release. Gopi Sundar is providing the music. Pooja Hegde has scored a massive hit with Ala Vaikunthapurramloo this year and this will be her second Telugu release in 2020.

Images: Pooja Hegde on Instagram

Text: Telugucinema.com
A brand new budget-friendly device from Lenovo-owned Moto brand, dubbed the Moto G8 Power Lite, is set to launch at some point in the near future. Thats based on a recent report stemming from a recent listing on Thailands NBTC certification website. The listing shows the device with the model number XT2055-1 but also specifically with the Moto G8 Power Lite model designation.

Not much information is made available on this device. But it does confirm at least a couple of details. For starters, this is a 4G LTE phone. It will work with GSM and WCMDA networks. The Moto G8 Power Lite is set to be produced in the United States.

Whats the point of the Moto G8 Power Lite

Now, its also previously been revealed in an FCC listing that this device model number packs a 5,000mAh battery. Thats hardly surprising since the purpose of the Power branding is to designate devices that have better battery life. In fact, Lenovos Moto G7 Power currently occupies that position on the Android Headlines top budget devices list  expressly for its battery life.

Advertisement

The company has already revealed some information about the Moto G8 Power though and that should give some indication as to what this device is.

The Moto G8 Power is an Android 10 handset. It comes in a 6.4-inch fullHD+ display format with a 5,000mAh battery. Qualcomms Snapdragon 665, a 64-bit octa-core processor, will power that device. Lenovo is backing that SoC up with a healthy but not stellar 4GB of RAM. 64GB of storage will provide an adequate amount of space for apps and media.

Thats alongside a few novelty features such as Dolby-tuned stereo speakers. Rumors have implicated a 25-megapixel selfie snapper, coupled with a 16-megapixel and 2-megapixel dual rear camera. 18W fast charging may also be a part of the package so that the device will be quick to charge within its price bracket, even if it isnt the fastest due to its battery capacity.

Advertisement

Judging by the Lite branding, the Moto G8 Power Lite will be a similar device but the specs will be drawn back. So it will likely arrive with a less powerful processor, less RAM, and less storage. Thats not necessarily guaranteed since Lenovo could ultimately only choose to cut any of those corners in any combination. But this will undoubtedly be a lesser, more affordable variant.

When exactly will this phone arrive?

The expected launch timeline for the new budget-friendlier Moto G8 Power variant was initially thought to be around March. But that was also reportedly directly tied in with the now-canceled MWC 2020 global mobile event.

The worlds biggest mobile event takes place in Barcelona near the end of February. But GSMA called off the event over global concerns centering around the coronavirus outbreak. Several major vendors and companies such as MediaTek and Intel pulled out of the event well ahead of the cancellation as well. That undoubtedly impacted GSMAs decision to call the whole thing off for this year.

Advertisement

That doesnt necessarily mean Lenovo will choose a different launch timeframe for its Motos. But it could, considering the fact that its lost the worlds largest mobile event as a platform for that announcement.
ASYMTEK and DIMA Products Now Entirely Represented in Switzerland by neutec electronic AG Published: 17 February 2020 by Chelsey Drysdale by Chelsey Drysdale

Carlsbad, CA, USA - 17 February 2020 - ASYMTEK, a part of Nordson ELECTRONICS SOLUTIONS - a global leader in electronics manufacturing technologies - announces that their distributor, neutec electronic AG, has expanded its representation of all ASYMTEK and DIMA products to the French-speaking areas of Switzerland. neutec electronic AG will distribute conformal coating, fluid dispensing, and hot bar soldering equipment and provide technical support to new and existing Swiss customers. This agreement was effective November 1, 2019.

"With more than 30 years of experience in the distribution of equipment for electronics assembly in the Swiss market, neutec electronic AG has been providing excellent local support to our customers in major parts of Switzerland," says Stephane Etienne, business development manager, Nordson ELECTRONICS SOLUTIONS. "This expansion will ensure that all Swiss customers have reliable, local support for their ASYMTEK and DIMA products."

neutec electronic AG, based in Mellingen Switzerland, was established in 1989. Their team of experts and highly trained technical staff understand the special requirements of electronics manufacturing and industrial production and can help customers with a wide range of services to ensure that manufacturers get their processes up and running quickly, smoothly, and efficiently.

For more information contact neutec at info@neutec.ch, phone 044.948.17.11, or visit the website at www.neutec.ch.
DUBLIN, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Multiparameter Patient Monitoring Devices Market - Global Outlook and Forecast 2020-2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global multiparameter patient monitoring market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 4% during the period 2019-2025.

Key Market Insights

The analysis of the multiparameter patient monitoring market provides sizing and growth opportunities for the forecast period 2020-2025.

Provides comprehensive insights on the latest industry trends, forecast, and growth drivers in the market.

Includes a detailed analysis of growth drivers, challenges, and investment opportunities.

Delivers a complete overview of segments and the regional outlook of the multiparameter patient monitoring

Offers an exhaustive summary of the vendor landscape, competitive analysis, and key strategies to gain competitive advantage.

The global multiparameter patient monitoring market is likely to witness absolute growth because of the increasing application in hospitals, home care settings, and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). These devices are widely used in ICUs, emergency departments, and general wards to continuously monitor vital signs such as heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration rate. The introduction of advanced technologies, such as real-time, continuous, and remote patient monitoring (RPM), is expected to influence the market during the forecast period.



Moreover, the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases and the increase in the elderly population are likely to be the major drivers for the multiparameter patient monitoring market. Globally, the prevalence of chronic diseases such as cancer is increasing at an alarming rate due to changing lifestyles, aging population, environmental pollutions, and increasing smokers; therefore, all these factors are expected to increase the demand for such devices.



These devices are portable and do not hinder the mobility of patients and enable them to shift them within the ward or transfer from one hospital to another. Advanced healthcare infrastructure and favorable reimbursement policies allow a high adoption of these devices, thereby expecting to drive the market growth in developed economies during the forecast period.



Market Dynamics



Growth Enablers



Growing Demand for Real-time Patient Monitors in Critical Care

Increasing Target Patient Population with Various Diseases

Technological Advancements in the Field of Multi-parameter Patient Monitoring

Growth Restraints

False Alarms & Alarm Fatigue Associated with Multi-parameter patient Monitoring

Increasing Regulatory Complexities for Multi-parameter Patient Monitors Manufacturers

High-Cost of Multi-parameter Patient Monitoring Devices

Market Opportunities and Trends

Increasing Demand for Multi-parameter Patient Monitoring in Home-care Settings

Growing Demand For Portable/Compact Multi-Parameter Monitors

Growing Focus on Integration of Multi-parameter Patient Monitors With Wireless and Remote Monitoring Platforms

Multiparameter Patient Monitoring Market: Segmentation



This research report includes a detailed segmentation by devices, acuity level, patient group, end-user, and geography.



The portable monitoring devices segment is likely to grow at the fastest CAGR during the forecast period. The ease of remotely monitoring and the availability of portable features are expected to increase their application in-home care settings and enable real-time vital signs monitoring. These devices reduce continuous monitoring costs and decrease frequent hospital visits. There has been increased adoption of advanced RPM platforms in the remote healthcare market.



The demand for real-time, remotely, and continuous patient monitoring is adding new dimensions to the global telehealth market. Moreover, the usage of portable systems enables hospitals to shift the patient from intense care units to normal wards without switching off multiparameter patient monitor systems.



The launch of advanced portable monitoring devices is likely to hinder the growth of fixed devices. Fixed monitors are majorly used in hospitals and ASCs. These devices limit the mobility of patients and are less preferred by healthcare providers. These types of devices have a high risk of losing data during power outages. Hence, these devices are less preferred and are expected to experience steady growth in the market.



The high-acuity segment is likely to grow due to the growth in the occurrence of chronic diseases that require continuous monitoring. The demand for high-acuity monitors is expected to increase as patient monitoring in high-acuity conditions is a major priority for healthcare providers. However, these systems have a limitation due to restricted area usage and are only used in ICUs and operation theaters. Hence, there is a lower demand than low-acuity devices.



The mid-acuity level is expected to grow at the slowest rate on account of the low availability of vendors offering such monitors. These types of monitors are used in ambulances, and the patient's condition is unpredictable in such circumstances. Hence, ambulances prefer high-acuity monitors over mid-acuity, which is likely to impact the sale of these devices adversely.



The low-acuity level segment is expected to grow at the fastest rate. The growth is majorly driven due to the low cost of low-acuity monitors, which is expected to bolster the demand for these devices from developed and developing regions. These monitors are portable and offer advanced features of RPM that enable healthcare professionals to monitor the patient continuously. Hospitals are likely to emerge as the major end-user for these advanced feature monitors due to their cost-effectiveness.



The geriatric group segment dominates the segment and is expected to grow at the fastest rate because of the increasing elderly population that is vulnerable to chronic diseases and often requires immediate medical interventions. According to the WHO, there were around 962.3 million people aged 60 and above in 2017, and the number is expected to reach 2,080.5 million by 2050 globally, which is expected to impact the segment positively. The increasing number of premature births is likely to lead to the demand for pediatric multiparameter patient monitoring equipment. Around 15 million babies are born prematurely throughout the globe annually, and the number is growing YOY.



These systems enable healthcare professionals to monitor heart rates, respiration levels, and vital organs to ensure the healthy growth of premature infants. The adult group segment is expected to grow gradually due to the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and asthma in the adult population. The change in lifestyle patterns, lack of physical activities, and the increasing work-related stress both in developed as well as developing countries are likely to promote the sales of these devices.



The hospital segment is expected to grow during the forecast period due to the usage of patient monitoring devices in the emergency care setting, surgical units, and special wards to monitor the health condition regularly. The home care setting segment is expected to grow at a steady rate on account of the increasing awareness and adoption of home care monitoring systems. These devices enable to monitor vital signs at home and avoid regular hospital visits. This is considered to reduce hospital costs and help individuals to monitor their health regularly.



Ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) are likely to grow at the fastest rate as these centers are cost-effective and offer high-quality care with a minimal indirect treatment cost. Chronic disease patients that do not have insurance coverage are expected to prefer these healthcare settings over hospitals. The cost of surgeries in these centers is also significantly low than in hospitals. Hence, the demand for same-day discharge (SDD) procedures is rapidly increasing, and the demand for access to multiparameter patient monitoring devices is likely to increase in these centers.



Market Segmentation by Devices

Portable/Compact

Fixed

Market Segmentation by Acuity Level

High Acuity

Mid Acuity

Low Acuity

Market Segmentation by Patient Group

Geriatric Group

Adult Group

Pediatric Group

Market Segmentation by End-user

Hospitals

ASCs

Homecare Settings

Others

Insights by Geography



In 2019, North America dominated the market. The region is expected to grow at a steady pace due to the increasing old age population, the moderate increase in the ICU admission, and the availability of advanced technology for RPM. The presence of a large pool of population with several chronic diseases, coupled with high acceptance of advanced and innovative multiparameter patient monitoring devices, is likely to support the region's dominance in the global market.



Europe is expected to gradually grow on account of the rising incidence of chronic diseases. There are likely to be more than 50 million people in Europe having more than one chronic disease. Germany, France, the UK, Italy, and Spain are the major revenue contributors to the European market.



The high awareness levels of the availability of multiparameter monitoring devices, an increase in R&D investment for the development of innovative devices, and growing technological advancements in new product approvals/launches are expected to offer a positive impact on growth during the forecast period. The APAC region is expected to witness rapid growth during the forecast period. India and China together have a significant population with chronic diseases such as cancer and diabetes.



The incidence of cancer in China and India was 4,285,033 and 1,157,294, respectively, in 2018. China is the major revenue contributor to the multiparameter patient monitoring market in APAC. Japan, India, South Korea, and Australia are expected to witness the significant growth rate because of the rise in healthcare expenditure and favorable public and private initiatives for an increase in healthcare access.



Insights by Vendors



The market is highly competitive and characterized by the presence of global, regional, and local players offering multi-parameter patient monitoring devices. Key players are expected to maintain a strategic focus on North America and Europe as they are the top two major revenue contributors. Leading players are likely to focus on expanding portable/compact multiparameter monitors product portfolio as the demand for such devices is expected to increase among end-users.



Local manufacturers, in particular, Chinese and Japanese manufacturers, are expected to offer stiff competition to global players. The market is likely to witness technological advancements and significantly affect new product launches. Global players are focusing on developing innovative products and expanding their product portfolio to remain competitive in the market. They are expected to invest extensively in R&D and product development related activities.



Key Vendors

NIHON KOHDEN

Koninklijke Philips

OSI Systems

Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics

GE Healthcare

Other Vendors

Contec Medical Systems

Draegerwerk

AS-Motor

EPSIMED

GUANGDONG BIOLIGHT MEDITECH

BIOLIGHT MEDITECH Kizlonmedical

Lutech Industries

Mediana

MEDION HEALTHCARE

Opto Circuits ( India )

) SCHILLER

Skanray Technologies

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/x0836n

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

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

http://www.researchandmarkets.com


In the seven presidential elections since 1992, the Republican presidential nominee has won the popular vote exactly once. The lone GOP candidate to receive a majority of the national vote was George W. Bush in 2004. Bushs election-day victory over Democrat John Kerry, who had, in most observers views, won the debates between the two, was explained by the respected Democratic pollster Peter Hart: Voters preferred I Like over IQ.

One test of deciding between presidential nominees is, Who would you rather have a beer with? which is another way of asking which White House challenger the voter personally likes more than the other. In short, our ballot for president is the most personal vote we Americans cast. Almost always, we pick the candidate with whom we are more comfortable and, more significantly, the candidate whose judgment and character we think we could depend upon in a personal crisis.

As evidence of the weight of the I like factor in presidential voting, lets look at recent contests: In 2012, Barack Obama, the winner, was rated 52% personally favorable by voters, while Mitt Romneys scores were 47% favorable and 50% unfavorable. In 2008, Americans had a rare positive choice. In the last Gallup poll before election day, John McCain was given a favorable rating by 57% of Americans and was barely eclipsed by Barack Obamas 61% favorable score. In 2004, winner George W. Bush was 53% favorable among voters on election day, while John Kerrys numbers were at 47%-51%. In 1992 and 1996, voters liked Democrat Bill Clinton more than they liked both then-President George H. W. Bush and Sen. Bob Dole. Of course, the outlier election was 2016, when both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump received historically low favorability scores. About 1 in 5 voters rated both candidates unfavorably but, when forced to choose between the two, voted for Trump with 3-2 odds.

But what about the 2020 Outsider whos on our living rooms TVs at every timeout of every game, at every commercial break between weather reports, news coverage and even during the Super Bowl? Former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, an authentic billionaire, is spending at a rate unprecedented in American politics. And it is paying off. In most recent national polls, Bloomberg -- on the strength of his wall-to-wall media campaign -- has risen to double digits and as high as third place in some surveys.

We know that Michael Bloomberg has supported and spent generously to back candidates and initiatives that reflect his own priorities of gun control and climate change. In the eyes of some Democrats, Bloombergs political history -- his quarter-million-dollar gift to South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham; the more than $11 million the mayor donated in 2016 to Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, whose narrow win secured Mitch McConnell as senate majority leader; and his endorsement of George W. Bush for reelection -- suggest his commitment to the Party in 2020 is more convenience than conviction.

But we do not know who Mike Bloomberg really is. Does he have a temper or a sense of humor? Can he laugh at himself? Would we want him as a neighbor? Can he personally ask the machinist in Dayton and her husband for their votes? Or is he a billionaire who, like so many people with money, is most comfortable surrounded by high-priced, professional bootlickers who tell him how much smarter, more successful and more qualified he is to be president than anyone else?

Through his sophisticated and expensive TV and internet campaigns, we are learning what Mike Bloomberg wants us to know about him. What voters have yet to find out -- and will not know until hes in the arena, mixing it up with the other Democrats and on the debate stage -- is whether we will like Mike.
Pakistan and the UN refugee agency are holding a conference to highlight the challenges facing Afghan refugees.

Pakistan and the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, are holding a conference to highlight the challenges facing Afghan refugees.

It is estimated more than two million are sheltering in Pakistan, with some displaced since the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Continuing violence makes returning home dangerous.

But a repatriation programme is set to resume next month.

Al Jazeeras Kamal Hyder reports from a refugee camp in the city of Peshawar.
Foreign currency worth over Rs 42 lakh, concealed inside perfume cans, has been seized by CISF personnel at the Delhi airport, a senior official said on Monday.

The official said the currency was recovered from a 40-year-old Delhi resident, Mohammad Arshi, when he arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Sunday afternoon to take an Air India flight to Dubai.

As the passenger's behaviour looked suspicious, he and his belongings were subjected to intense frisking by Central Industrial Security Force personnel, he said.

"1,97,500 Saudi Royal and 2,000 Kuwaiti Dinar worth about Rs 42.35 lakh were found finely concealed in perfume cans and some cloth pouches kept in the passenger's bag," the official said.

As the traveller had no documents to justify carrying such huge currency, he was handed over to Customs officials for further investigation.

Last week, the force had made a similar interception at this airport and had recovered Rs 45 lakh worth foreign currency hidden in peanuts, cooked meatballs and other eatables.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Monday said Mahatma Gandhi was a "hardcore Sanatani Hindu" who stuck to his faith and respected other faiths as well, and asked if anyone in present times would atone like Gandhi if their agitation goes wrong and creates law and order problem.

Gandhi's ideals were purely Indian therefore he never shied from showing his Hindu credentials, Bhagwat said, asserting that India of Gandhi's dreams is now being realised.

"Gandhiji at times said that he is a hardcore Sanatani Hindu and since he is hardcore Sanatani Hindu, he doesn't distinguish between the different ways to worship God. Therefore he stuck to his faith and suggested respect for other faiths as well," the RSS chief said at the unveiling of a book on Gandhi.

Bhagwat said Gandhi had the quality of atoning for his mistakes.

"If his experiments or his agitations digressed from their path, he would do penance. If (in current times) something goes wrong during an agitation or it creates law and order disturbance, is there someone to atone for it," he said, adding those who are in the front of protests usually pay the price as they are killed or jailed.

"But for those who are behind (such agitations), it is only a matter of winning or losing," Bhagwat said in the event at 'Gandhi Smriti' memorial.

His remarks come in the backdrop of violence during protests against the amended citizenship Act in several parts of the country.

Bhagwat said he has full faith in the present generation that it will give shape to India of Gandhi's dreams.

Perhaps 20 years from now, Bhagwat said, "we would be in a position to say that India of Gandhiji's dreams has been created."



Describing Gandhi as a "saint", the RSS chief said he was the voice of India in his times and always emphasised on development which centred around human beings.

Gandhi always looked at India from Indian perspective, and others too shared the same thought process, Bhagwat said while referring to RSS founder KB Hedgewar.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Camera-ready: Kate and Will leaving the Lindo Wing of St Marys Hospital in London with Prince George (left), Princess Charlotte (centre) and their as yet unnamed son (right)

An undated handout photo issued by Kensington Palace of Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Prince Louis, Princess Charlotte and Prince George taken in Norfolk earlier this year by Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, obtained on December 25, 2019.

The Prince of Wales with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children Prince George and Princess Charlotte arriving to attend the Christmas Day morning church service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk. Joe Giddens/PA Wire

Undated handout photo taken by the Duchess of Cambridge of Princess Charlotte smelling a bluebell at their home in Norfolk in Spring 2019, which was referred to by the Duchess in the 'Happy Mum, Happy Baby' podcast with Giovanna Fletcher

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge during a visit to the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre, Stanford Hall on February 11, 2020 in Loughborough, United Kingdom

A picture of Princess Charlotte smelling a bluebell has been released after the Duchess of Cambridge spoke poignantly about how important being outside is for children.

In the candid discussion about parenthood, Kate described herself as a "hands-on mum", but said she often feels she falls short of expectations about being a mother.

The duchess - mother to Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis - was interviewed for the Happy Mum Happy Baby podcast hosted by Giovanna Fletcher, who has also written about being a mother to three children with her husband Tom Fletcher, a member of the band McFly.

Kate was asked what parts of her childhood she wanted to give to her children, and spoke poignantly about a picture of her four-year-old daughter which was released on Saturday.

Expand Close Undated handout photo taken by the Duchess of Cambridge of Princess Charlotte smelling a bluebell at their home in Norfolk in Spring 2019, which was referred to by the Duchess in the 'Happy Mum, Happy Baby' podcast with Giovanna Fletcher / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Undated handout photo taken by the Duchess of Cambridge of Princess Charlotte smelling a bluebell at their home in Norfolk in Spring 2019, which was referred to by the Duchess in the 'Happy Mum, Happy Baby' podcast with Giovanna Fletcher

It was taken by the duchess at their home in Norfolk in spring last year.

She said: "I've got this one photo of Charlotte smelling a bluebell, and really for me, it's moments like that mean so much to me as a parent. And I try every day to put moments like that in, even if they're small or even if I don't have time - but that in an ideal world is what I would like to do."

Read More

Kate said that she felt "really passionate" about children spending time outside.

She added: "As children we spent an awful lot of time outside and it's something I'm really passionate about. It's so great for physical well-being and also mental well-being and actually really laying those foundations. It's also a really great environment to spend time building those quality relationships without the distractions."

The Duchess of Cambridge also confessed to struggling with "mum guilt" and said she tried "hypnobirthing" when pregnant.

Kate suffered from a severe form of morning sickness during her pregnancies, which led her to mindfulness and meditation to remove the fears mothers can feel about childbirth - known as hypnobirthing.

It was "hugely encouraging" that the duchess had used the practice, Siobhan Miller from The Positive Birth Company told the PA news agency.

Expand Close Camera-ready: Kate and Will leaving the Lindo Wing of St Marys Hospital in London with Prince George (left), Princess Charlotte (centre) and their as yet unnamed son (right) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Camera-ready: Kate and Will leaving the Lindo Wing of St Marys Hospital in London with Prince George (left), Princess Charlotte (centre) and their as yet unnamed son (right)

"It's amazing that Prince William got involved too," the hypnobirthing teacher said. "Birth partners play a vital role in the birth process and knowledge acquired through hypnobirthing can be as important and helpful for the birth partner as it is for the mother."

Asked if she struggled from "mum guilt", the duchess replied: "Yes absolutely - and anyone who doesn't as a mother is actually lying. Yes - all the time."

Read More

The duchess, who has a nanny, Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo, said during the podcast: "There's such a pull, but I am such a hands-on mum, and whatever you're doing you want to make sure you're doing the uttermost best job you can for your children."

Kate said she wanted to begin a "generational change" in early years development, and highlighted her Five Big Questions On The Under-Fives survey, launched in January to spark a UK-wide conversation about creating the best foundations for children to thrive.

The month-long online poll, conducted by Ipsos Mori on behalf of Kate's Royal Foundation, is thought to be the biggest survey of its kind and the data will guide the duchess' future work.

The Five Big questions On The Under-Fives has now attracted 200,000 responses.

Expand Close An undated handout photo issued by Kensington Palace of Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Prince Louis, Princess Charlotte and Prince George taken in Norfolk earlier this year by Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, obtained on December 25, 2019. / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp An undated handout photo issued by Kensington Palace of Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Prince Louis, Princess Charlotte and Prince George taken in Norfolk earlier this year by Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, obtained on December 25, 2019.

"What we're doing with the survey is asking people - what is it that matters for them in raising their children today,"' Kate said. "It's going to take a long time, I'm talking about a generational change, but hopefully this is the first small step: to start a conversation around the importance of early-childhood development."

Kate's interview was recorded at the end of January after the duchess made an early-morning visit to a nursery and pre-school in Stockwell, south London, and she joked about how her two eldest children chastised her over her priorities as a mother.

She said: "And you know, even this morning, coming to the nursery visit here, George and Charlotte were like, 'Mummy how could you possibly not be dropping us off at school this morning?'

"But no, it's a constant challenge, you hear it time and time again from mums. Even mums who aren't necessarily working, aren't pulled in the directions of having to juggle work life and family life - there's always something."

Kate added: "And always sort of questioning your own decisions, and your own judgments, and things like that, and I think that starts from the moment you have a baby."

At the start of all of her pregnancies, the duchess suffered from a form of morning sickness called hyperemesis gravidarum - which causes severe vomiting and can lead to dehydration, weight loss and a build-up of toxins in the blood or urine.

Because of the illness, she described herself as "not the happiest of pregnant people", adding: "Lots of people have it far, far worse, but it was definitely a challenge. Not just for me but also for your loved ones around you."

The duchess went on to say: "You know, William didn't feel he could do much to help and it's hard for everyone to see you suffering without actually being able to do anything about it."

The duke revealed in 2017 when his wife was pregnant with Prince Louis that they had been trying a host of remedies after a well-wisher said Kate should nibble on ginger biscuits.

He replied at the time: "Ginger biscuits - but there's not much ginger can do to stop that, we've done all that."

The duchess explained how her experience with the severe morning sickness led her to hypnobirthing, as she came to realise the importance of "mind over the body" after trying everything to overcome the illness.

She joked: "I'm not going to say that William was standing there sort of, chanting sweet nothings at me. He definitely wasn't. I didn't even ask him about it, but it was just something I wanted to do for myself.

"I saw the power of it really, the meditation and the deep breathing and things like that, that they teach you in hypnobirthing, when I was really sick, and actually I realised that this was something I could take control of, I suppose, during labour. It was hugely powerful."
Summer Yang recounts ordeal of seeking treatment for her father who died after falling ill with the coronavirus.

Beijing, China  It was in early January that Summer Yang first heard about a mysterious virus sickening people in her home city of Wuhan.

The 40-year-old property investor was concerned for her elderly parents. But authorities told the public on January 5 there was no evidence the new type of coronavirus could be transmitted from human to human.

So, Summer put her fears away.

Then, on January 17, Summers 64-year-old mother came down with a fever. Following a CT scan and a blood test, doctors said they suspected a coronavirus infection. The family decided to keep her at home, believing she was safer there.

A week later, soon after Chinese authorities confirmed human-to-human transmission and imposed a virtual lockdown on Wuhan and Hubei province in an effort to contain the virus, Summers 65-year-old father also contracted a fever.

Yang Liguo was already suffering from high blood pressure, diabetes and coronary heart disease, so Summer rushed him to the Wuhan Central Hospital. There, doctors told her they suspected a coronavirus infection and treated him with intravenous antibiotics for three days.

His condition did not improve but he was told to go home.

On January 30, Yangs fever subsided but he began experiencing breathing difficulties and extreme fatigue. Summer called an ambulance and took him to Wuhans Yaxing Hospital but he was turned away.

She then sought treatment at Wuhan Hankou Hospital, one of several hospitals designated to treat people infected with the coronavirus. But the facility refused to take him, saying he could not be admitted as he had not yet had a nucleic acid examination to determine if he indeed had the coronavirus.

Summer had to take her father home after another dose of intravenous antibiotics.

As Yangs condition deteriorated over the following days, Summer and her brother took him to a third hospital, Xiehe, for laboratory tests to confirm if he had the coronavirus.

The test came back positive.

They immediately took him to Hankou, but the facility rejected him again, saying they did not have enough beds.

Desperate, Summer brought in a camp bed and put her father in it in front of Hankous emergency room. I did that because at least he could get oxygen and IV fluids, she said.

Over the following days, Summer and her brother took turns caring for their father at the hospital.

But his health only worsened, and an increasingly-distraught Summer began calling all the government and hospital hotlines and posting messages on social media, seeking better medical help.

Finally, on February 5, she received a call from the Beijing Epidemic Supervision division in Wuhan, telling her she could go get her father admitted at the hospital. A day later, Yang was finally taken to the Intensive Care Unit at the Hubei Peoples Hospital.





Summer and her brother went home.

On February 7, soon after Yang was hospitalised, a doctor called to say he was in critical condition.

Summer and her brother called the hospital repeatedly over the next few days, seeking news of their fathers status, but the calls went unanswered.

At 6:24pm on February 11, a doctor telephoned Summer to say her father had passed away.

Im out of words to describe how angry I am, she told Al Jazeera. Who takes the responsibility for all this pain?

Summer believes it was the governments delay in disclosing information of the outbreak that was to blame for the chaos in Wuhan.

Summer Yang with her father [Courtesy of Summer Yang]

The government made a huge mistake and now everyone is suffering because of their misconduct, she said.

She did not feel any sense of relief when the heads of the Communist Party in Wuhan and Hubei province were fired on February 13. And she was even more furious when she commented on a post about the sacking of the officials on Baidu, Chinas biggest search engine, only to find out her post was censored seconds later.

She does not trust government figures on the deaths either  Chinas National Health Commission on Monday said nearly 1,800 people have died and more than 70,000 people have been infected.

I was at the hospitals all the time. One night, within two and half hours, I saw four dead people being carried out. Do you believe only over one thousand have died? No way! she said.





They covered up with lies and lies and now the whole country is feeling unbearable pain, she said, vowing to seek justice for her fathers death.

More and more people will stand up like me and demand justice. Have they ever apologised to us? Has anyone said anything on our behalf? Im paying tens of thousands of dollars a year on tax, only to feed all these officials for nothing.

Yangs body has now been cremated. But the mortuary failed to notify Summer or her family when the cremation happened and said they have no information on where his ashes are, despite many calls.

Summers mother is recovering slowly at home but she does not know her husband has died. Summer kept the news from her because she is worried it might make her condition worse.

I want them to apologise to my family. I will protest, Summer said. Then Ill leave. I dont want to live in this country any more.
There was a time in the recent past when fraudster Michael Avenatti was celebrated as the savior of the republic by the media adjunct of the Democratic Party  the savior of the republic from Donald Trump et al. He was celebrated as such by savants who continue to regale us with their wisdom. David Rutz documented the celebration in the Washington Free Beacon supercuts video below.

They will never look back. They will never apologize. They will never shut up. However, they shouldnt be allowed to forget. Their noses should be rubbed in it.

By contrast with the savants, however, Tucker Carlson had it right on Fox News.

Via Ed Driscoll/InstaPundit.
Western Australia is too reliant on China and needs to look to other emerging Asian superpowers to diversify its trade partnerships, one of the world's leading independent economists has warned.

The global economy has been rattled since January when countries were made aware of the deadly coronavirus COVID-19, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan and has since killed 1700 and infected more than 70,000.

Economist Jonathan Pain.

Its presence threatens to dent the global economy. Australia has banned tourists travelling from mainland China, where nearly half a billion people have been placed into some form of quarantine.

Speaking at an Urban Development Institute of Australia WA luncheon on Friday, economist Jonathan Pain said Australia  and particularly WA  was vulnerable to such economic shockwaves.
Beleaguered Indian wireless carrier Vodafone Idea will pay 35 billion rupees ($490 million) in telecom dues to the federal government by the end of this week, the company said on Monday.

Hopes that Vodafone Idea could outlive the financial squeeze due to the outstanding dues payments helped its shares gain as much as 23.5%, their best intraday gain since Jan. 21, after dropping more than 24% on Friday. The stock ended flat on Monday.

While there is a concern that Vodafone is against the wall, there is a slim hope that they will get through, said Siddhartha Khemka, head of research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services in Mumbai.

Earlier on Monday, a lawyer for the company said Vodafone Idea would pay 35 billion rupees in dues to the government by Feb. 21. The lawyer declined to be named as the matter is still in court.

The Indian government last week ordered mobile carriers to immediately pay billions of dollars in dues after the countrys top court threatened the companies and officials with contempt proceedings for failing to implement an earlier ruling.

Vodafone Idea, a venture between the Indian unit of Britains Vodafone Group Plc and billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birlas Idea Cellular, said its board had approved a payment of 25 billion rupees to the government that would be made on Monday itself.

A further 10 billion rupees shall be paid before the end of the week, the company said.

Vodafone Idea also said its application on Monday to Indias Supreme Court to direct the telecom department to refrain from taking coercive steps to recover the dues was not entertained.

The company owes roughly $3.9 billion to the Indian government in dues, interest and penalties. The countrys telecoms ministry did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Local rival Bharti Airtel Ltd said on Monday it had made a payment of 100 billion rupees towards the dues.

Analysts covering Indias telecoms sector say Vodafone Idea is the most fragile of Indias three major wireless carriers and if it shuts shop, the market would shape up as a duopoly of rivals Airtel and Reliance Industries Jio.

Vodafone Idea has previously said its ability to continue as a business was contingent on the Supreme Court allowing it to modify issues such as payment timelines with the government.
The Supreme Court today, in a landmark verdict, pronounced that female officers in the Army should be granted permanent commission within three months, terming the government's argument of physiological limitations and social norms for denying them command posts as "disturbing."

The apex court observed, that woman officers in the past have brought laurels to the country and change of mindset is required on the part of the government to put an end to gender bias in the armed forces.

Last month, the Supreme Court nudged the government to lift the militarys official ban on women in combat roles, and give them combat roles.

"Test them on [the] same footing as men. Do not exclude them [women officers] as a class. [A] change of mindset is required," the court said.

However, lawyers representing the Centre responded by saying women were not fit to serve in ground combat roles. For one, male soldiers are not "yet mentally schooled to accept women officers in command". Then there were the "challenges of confinement, motherhood and childcare."

Centres arguments threw light on the intrinsic patriarchy and gendered roles for men and women, which are more often than not, divisive and create a stark contrast between the two genders in society.

However, womens role in combat is not a new chapter in India.

Looking back in history, women had larger presence in military forces. Netaji Subhash Chandra Boses Azad Hind Fauj  or Indian National Army (INA) - was a staunch believer in women's power.

Courtesy of HarperCollins

In a speech Why I left Home and Homeland, on July 9, 1943, in Singapore, Bose called for every able-bodied Indian to enlist in the INA and concluded with an impressive demand: I want also a unit of brave Indian women to form a Death-defying Regiment who will wield the sword, which the brave Rani of Jhansi wielded in Indias First War of Independence in 1857.

He reiterated his words several days later at a meeting of Indian women held under the aegis of Women's Section of the Indian Independence League (IIL).

A female guard of honour was organised for Bose. Close to 20 women were persuaded to train to present arms using Lee-Enfield 303 rifles borrowed from the INA. There was little time to stitch uniforms, so women wore white saris.



Indian women had already been a part of the freedom struggle. Much like today, the idea of having women in combat roles shocked men.

Rani of Jhansi Regiment was formed as an all-woman soldiers unit under the Azad Hind Fauj. Women were given training, night marches, bayonet charging, tactical combat, weapon skills including rifles, machine guns and grenades and made ready for the battle, just like men in the armed forces.

BCCL

By the time RJR was formally inaugurated on October 22, 1943, on Singapores Waterloo Street, Janaki was an integral part of INAs 500 fighting Ranis. Janaki Thevae, an 18-year-old girl took over the leadership of the 'Rani of Jhansi' regiment. The women trained under the command of Captain Lakshmi Swaminathan (later Lakshmi Sahgal), the daughter of an Indian National Congress leader who had settled in Singapore, after the onset of the war.

Janaki soon rose to the position of a Lieutenant. In April 1944, Captain Lakshmi was transferred permanently to the base hospital in Maymyo, and 18-year-old Janaki became the commander of the Burma contingent of RJR.

The Azad Hind Fauj participated in two military encounters during the Second World War - In Arakan in Burma (now Myanmar) in January-February 1944 and in Imphal, Manipur in March 1944.

Even as INA was disbanded after the British won the war, the RJR made clear that women were in no way inferior to men, even in combat roles.

The Supreme Courts historic verdict is a reminder that no battle in the world has been won by men alone. Women mostly work in the shadows and it is time their work be recognised.

Indian armed forces began inducting woman officers in 1992. Over the years, they have been assigned combat roles in the Air Force. Women have been inducted as fighter pilots and have flown sorties in combat zones. Last year, a 24-year-old became the navy's first woman maritime reconnaissance pilot.

However, the Indian Army is a different case. Women have worked here as doctors, nurses, engineers, signalers, administrators and lawyers. They have been given a permanent commission. In 2019, they were cleared to join the military police. But men in the Army have their own set of apprehensions. Women have been doing everything in the Army, except combat roles: women are still not allowed to serve in infantry and the armoured corps.

Having women in combat roles has been a hard won battle around the world. Currently, only a few more than a dozen countries allow women in combat roles.

There's no denying the fact that a woman's and a man's physical capabilities vary significantly, but those who are capable, must be given an opportunity.
As we prepare to open a world-class hospital in Pine Township, we are extremely pleased to partner with Peoples Natural Gas to power the facility with an environmentally responsible energy solution that will greatly benefit the region and its many residents.

Residents in Pine Township and the surrounding areas will have convenient access to a wide range of clinical services when AHN Wexford Hospital opens next year. Allegheny Health Network (AHN) and Peoples Natural Gas (PNG) officials announced today that the hospital will also be powered by an onsite, state-of-the-art and environmentally friendly energy solution.

Construction of a natural gas-fired electric power generation, heating and cooling facility is currently underway on the future Wexford Hospitals campus. A combined heat and power (CHP) system within the 18,000 square-foot, two-story power plant facility will simultaneously produce up to two megawatts of electricity and thermal energy onsite to meet all of the facilitys energy needs including electricity, heat, chilled water, hot water and steam.

At AHN, we strive to be good corporate citizens in every endeavor we take to invest in our facilities and expand access to care in the communities we serve, said Allan Klapper, MD, president, Wexford Hospital. As we prepare to open a world-class hospital in Pine Township, we are extremely pleased to partner with Peoples Natural Gas to power the facility with an environmentally responsible energy solution that will greatly benefit the region and its many residents.

The Wexford Hospital power plant project has been supported by a $1.8 million grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and the Department of Environmental Protection as part of the Alternative and Clean Energy (ACE) program. The program provides financial assistance for utilization, development and construction of alternative and clean energy projects in the commonwealth.

According to PNG, the combined heat and power system offers a number of benefits compared to conventional electricity and thermal energy production, including increased efficiency achieved from the onsite generation which eliminates wasted energy during typical transmission and distribution. The system also reduces emissions of greenhouses gases and air pollutants.

In the event of a grid disruption, the system will provide a redundant source of power to the hospital, supporting continuous operations and maximizing patient safety.

Peoples is proud to partner with AHN to help bring this amazing new hospital to life in an environmentally friendly way for the residents of Wexford and the surrounding region, said Morgan OBrien, president and CEO, Peoples Natural Gas. Innovation is at the heart of many new developments currently underway in or planned for our region, and AHNs Wexford Hospital is a great example of that vision and commitment to its future.

Construction of the plant is expected to be complete by the end of this year, meeting all of the hospitals energy needs as construction of the hospital proceeds towards its expected completion in 2021.

AHN Wexford Hospital will offer comprehensive women and infant care, including labor and delivery services; advanced cardiac, neurosurgical, orthopaedic, and cancer care; a 24-room emergency department and short-stay observation unit; an adult intensive care unit (ICU); operating rooms that provide minimally-invasive robotic surgical capabilities; 160 all-private inpatient rooms; and a host of other patient- and family-friendly clinical programs, amenities and services.

The Township of Pine is excited that AHN and Highmark Health have made a significant investment in transforming health care in this region and is doing so in a way that also prioritizes the health and wellbeing of the environment, said Larry Kurpakus, Director of Code Administration and Land Development, Township of Pine.

About Allegheny Health Network

Allegheny Health Network (http://www.AHN.org), a Highmark Health company, is an integrated healthcare delivery system serving the greater Western Pennsylvania region. Among the networks 250 clinical locations are nine hospitals  Allegheny General Hospital, its flagship academic medical center in Pittsburgh; Allegheny Valley Hospital in Natrona Heights, Pa.; Canonsburg Hospital in Canonsburg, Pa.; Forbes Hospital in Monroeville, Pa.; Grove City Hospital, Grove City, PA; Jefferson Hospital in Jefferson Hills, Pa.; Saint Vincent Hospital in Erie, Pa.; West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh; and Westfield Memorial Hospital in Westfield, NY. AHN also is home to a comprehensive research institute; Health + Wellness Pavilions; home- and community-based health services; and a group purchasing organization. The network employs 21,000 people and has more than 2,500 doctors on its medical staff. Established in 2013, AHNs member hospitals share legacies of charitable care that date back more than 160 years.

About Peoples Natural Gas

Peoples is an energy provider serving approximately 740,000 homes and businesses in Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky. The companys mission is to improve the lives of its customers and to help build long-term economic growth for the regions it serves. For more information about Peoples, visit http://www.peoples-gas.com and follow Peoples on social media @peoplesnatgas.
Capital regulator on Monday decided to amend its investment manager eligibility norms for Infrastructure Investment Trusts and also permit fast-track issuance of units to existing investors in REITs and InvITs.

The changes in the eligibility norms, approved by Sebi's board at a meeting here, will help a mega offering worth an estimated Rs 20,000 crore by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which is in the process of setting up an Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) to monetise its completed public-funded national highways.

The board approved a proposal to revise eligibility conditions for investment managers in InvITs and for streamlining the process of rights issue of REITs and InvITs, the regulator said after the meeting.

At present, InvIT regulations require the investment manager to have at least 5 years of experience in fund management or advisory services or development in the infrastructure sector. Besides, the investment manager needs to have at least two employees, each with five years of experience in the infrastructure sector.

As an alternative, will now allow a combined relevant experience of at leat 30 years of directors, partners and employees of the investment manager, even if it is a newly created entity.

The (Sebi) has been receiving representations from the industry and the market participants for considering alternative measures for relevant experience of the investment manager and considering the experience of employees or directors for meeting the experience criteria.

In one such representation, NHAI had told the regulator that it is considering to set up an InvIT for monetising its completed public-funded national highways and it has proposed to set up a new company to act as the investment manager for the proposed InvIT.

The NHAI had proposed that this new company would be headed by a board comprising 4-5 members, each having an experience of at least 15-20 years in fund management or development of infrastructure or highway activities.

The new company, which would act as the investment manager, is also proposed to have five managerial-level employees, each having at least 5 years of experience in development of infrastructure or highways.

While the intent of regulations prescribing experience requirement was to ensure that the investment manager had requisite expertise, the present norms do not permit a new entity even if it had sufficient number of experienced personnel to meet the regulatory intent, the officials said.

Accordingly, Sebi decided that an alternative measure of the experience can be considered which can be defined in terms of multiple of the combined experience of the directors, partners and employees of the investment manager.

While the combined experience requirement of the investment manager (IM) currently stands at 15 years (5 years for the IM and 5 years each for 2 employees), Sebi proposed that the alternative measure can be made stricter at two times of the current combined requirement at 30 years to be met by directors/partners/employees having individual experience of at least 5 years.

"This is expected to enable people with expertise in the relevant areas to be able to set up a new entity to act as IM to an InvIT and leverage such expertise in management of the InvIT," an official said.

For fast-track rights issue, the current regulations specify that any follow-on offer or rights issue can be made by an REIT or InvIT within a period of one year from the date of issuance of observations by Sebi.

However, listed companies are allowed to raise capital through rights issue without the requirement of obtaining Sebi's observations if they are in compliance with the continuous listing and disclosure requirements and certain other conditions.

On receipt of representations from market participants for allowing similar facility to REITs and InvITs, Sebi has now decided to allow them to launch similar fast-track rights issue of units, provided they satisfy the registration conditions and no regulatory action has been imposed on them in the three preceding years.

(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.)
(Newser)  Sen. Tom Cotton over the weekend again floated a controversial theory about how the coronavirus came to be. On Fox, the Arkansas Republican suggested the outbreak is linked to a Chinese biochemical lab in the city of Wuhan. We dont have evidence that this disease originated there, said Cotton, but because of Chinas duplicity and dishonesty from the beginning, we need to at least ask the question to see what the evidence says, and China right now is not giving evidence on that question at all. The problem? As both the Washington Post and the New York Times point out, scientists have rejected the idea that the Chinese government is somehow responsible for the outbreak as a conspiracy theory with zero evidence to support it.

story continues below

Theres absolutely nothing in the genome sequence of this virus that indicates the virus was engineered, a Rutgers chemical biologist tells the Post. The possibility this was a deliberately released bioweapon can be firmly excluded. And the World Health Organization has called such claims part of an "infodemic" of faulty information. Cotton previously suggested the idea earlier this month, earning a rebuke from the Chinese ambassador to the US, who said that such "rumors" will only create panic. Later Sunday, Cotton issued a series of tweets clarifying that he thinks the idea is only one of a number of "hypotheses" that warrant investigation. He added that the idea of a "deliberate release" is "very unlikely," though he said it can't yet be ruled out. The Times notes that another China critic, Steve Bannon, also has been a prominent purveyor of the theory. (Read more Tom Cotton stories.)
Andrew Sabisky said he did not want to be a distraction (PA)

A Downing Street adviser who once suggested enforcing the uptake of contraception to stop unplanned pregnancies "creating a permanent underclass" has quit his post.

In the midst of growing controversy over his views, Andrew Sabisky said he was standing down because he did not want to be a distraction to the UK government.

He tweeted: "The media hysteria about my old stuff online is mad but I wanted to help HMG not be a distraction.

"Accordingly I've decided to resign as a contractor.

"I hope no.10 hires more ppl w/ good geopolitical forecasting track records & that media learn to stop selective quoting."

In another tweet he said: "I know this will disappoint a lot of ppl but I signed up to do real work, not be in the middle of a giant character assassination: if I can't do the work properly there's no point, & I have a lot of other things to do w/ my life."

It came after Boris Johnson was put under mounting pressure to sack Mr Sabisky, who was drafted in to Number 10 after the Prime Minister's chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, called for "misfits and weirdos" to apply to advise the government.

Earlier on Monday, a Number 10 spokesman said: "I'm not going to be commenting on individual appointments."

Labour said Number 10's refusal to condemn the remarks was "disgusting", while Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the Government must "demonstrate some basic but fundamental values".

Speaking after Mr Sabisky's resignation, Labour Party chairman Ian Lavery said: "It's right that Andrew Sabisky is no longer working in government. He should never have been appointed in the first place.

"After Number 10 publicly stood by him today, Boris Johnson has serious questions to answer about how this appointment was made and whether he agrees with his vile views."

Mr Sabisky also reportedly once suggested that the benefits of a purported cognitive enhancer, which can prove fatal, are "probably worth a dead kid once a year".

Writing on Mr Cummings' website in 2014, he said: "One way to get around the problems of unplanned pregnancies creating a permanent underclass would be to legally enforce universal uptake of long-term contraception at the onset of puberty.

"Vaccination laws give it a precedent, I would argue."

He also suggested that black Americans have a lower average IQ than white Americans.

Number 10 insiders insisted that Mr Johnson did not support eugenics, but the Prime Minister has courted controversy with his views on IQ in the past.

In a speech in 2013 he said any discussion about equality had to take account of the fact that 16pc of "our species" had an IQ below 85 while around 2pc had an IQ above 130, adding: "The harder you shake the pack, the easier it will be for some cornflakes to get to the top."

In 2000, while Mr Johnson was editor of the Spectator, the magazine carried an article from columnist Taki which said: "On average, Orientals are slower to mature, less randy, less fertile, and have larger brains and higher IQ scores. Blacks are at the other pole, and whites fall somewhere in the middle, although closer to the Orientals than the blacks."

Ms Sturgeon said: "These are really not acceptable headlines for any government to be generating (or allowing to be generated).

"They need to get a grip fast and demonstrate some basic but fundamental values in the terms of our public debate."

Tory MP Caroline Nokes, chairwoman of the Commons Women and Equalities Committee, said: "Cannot believe No 10 has refused to comment on Andrew Sabisky.

"I don't know him from a bar of soap, but don't think we'd get on ....... must be no place in Government for the views he's expressed."

Labour leadership hopeful Rebecca Long-Bailey said: "We've got a Prime Minister who once published an article saying black people 'are at the other pole' in terms of IQ.

"It's no accident that Johnson has hired someone who supports eugenics."

Acting Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: "He (the Prime Minister) must also make crystal clear why he signed off on this appointment and curb Dominic Cummings' power to appoint and sack at will."

Geneticist and broadcaster Dr Adam Rutherford also criticised the comments, writing on Twitter: "Like Cummings, he appears to be bewitched by science, without having made the effort to understand the areas he is invoking, nor its history."
(Sharecast News) - Plaza Centers announced on Monday that its indirect subsidiary has signed a definitive sale and purchase agreement for the sale of its plot of and in Brasov, Romania.

The London-listed firm had said on 29 November that it had signed a pre-agreement for the sale of the property.



It said the total gross consideration agreed under the sale and purchase agreement was 623,952.32 (?519.090.35).



"As agreed in the sale and purchase agreement, the purchaser paid to the indirect subsidiary the price balance in the amount of 573,952.32," the Plaza Centers board said in its statement.
By Yi Whan-woo



The ASEAN-Korea Centre ran joint programs with the Indonesian government on animation and tourism last week, as part of efforts to expand bilateral and multilateral ties with 10-member ASEAN.





A poster for the "Indonesia-Korea animation industry cooperation forum"
While border gates with China have been reopened, the impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic are felt strongly across many export sectors in Vietnam

11 out of 45 of the major export items to China reached a turnover of $11 billion, including computers, electronics, mobile phones and accessories, vegetables, fibre, and shoes.

Among the three main groups of export items, agriculture-forestry-fisheries contributed the most, with $8.2 billion. Therefore, the blow the novel strain of coronavirus (COVID-19) has dealt to this group by reducing exports to China, will be felt in the full-year 2020 export turnover of Vietnam.

In addition to the large turnover of agricultural, forestry, and fisheries products, seafood, and vegetables, preservation was another headache as these products do not keep for long. To solve this problem, the agricultural sector might need to actively search foralternative markets.

In terms of imports, 15 out of the 43 largestimport items from China reached over $1 billion, such as machinery, equipment, tools, and spare parts ($14.9 million), computers, electronic products and components ($12.1 million), fabric ($7.7 million), mobile phones and accessories ($7.6 million), iron and steel of all kinds ($3.3 million), plastic products ($2.7 million), and textile, garment, and footwear materials and accessories ($2.5 million).

As a large portion of raw materials imported is used to produce export items, the fluctuations in imports will affect production and exports as well.

Among imports, textiles accounted for a relatively high proportion (import turnover of fabrics, textile materials, footwear, and fibre in 2019 was $11.5 million). Since trade was restricted due to the COVID-19 epidemic, raw materials imports shrank, greatly affecting production in the industry and forcing businesses to let workers go.

The COVID-19 epidemic also affects Chinese visitors to Vietnam. In 2019, more than 5.8 million Chinese visitors arrived to Vietnam, making the country Vietnam's largest source market accounting for nearly one-third of total foreign arrivals, up 16.9 per cent against the previous year.

Since the beginning of this year, due to the epidemic, the number of Chinese tourists to Vietnam fell sharply, leading to a severe impact on the aviation and tourism industries.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) said that the Chinese market is accounting for more than 18 per cent of the global market. Particularly for domestic airlines, this market accounts for 26.1 per cent of international passenger volume.

The preliminary figures provided by the CAAV show that Vietnam's total air transport market reached 1.95 million passengers, down 4.5 per cent over the same period in 2019, of which the international market decreased by 14.1 per cent.

Vietnamese airlines reached 1.06 million passengers, down 4 per cent, of which international passengers decreased by 28 per cent over the same period of 2019.

The initial damage of cancelling flights of Vietnamese airlines is over VND10 trillion ($434.78 million).
Eighty per cent of women travellers are choosing to travel solo every year, while bookings by groups are also growing steadily by 50 per cent year-on-year, highlighted Zostel- a community-led, experience-driven. Solo travellers - across all genders - made 37 per cent of the total bookings it received in 2019, while 42 per cent of travelers preferred to travel in groups. It also cited millennials and couples (21 per cent) as the top travelers in the past year.

It makes us incredibly hopeful and even more proud to see so many women taking a leap of faith to explore diverse destinations during solo travels. It validates the path we consciously chose to follow to create a safe and free environment for everyone to experience travel, especially for our female travellers, Dharamveer Singh Chouhan, Co-founder & CEO Zostel said.

The company forecasts a larger number of new-age travelers to prefer short trips to multiple trips, while highlighting the swelling popularity of on-the-go, unplanned longer journeys. This development will be accompanied by a shift towards remote working and freelancing career choices along with an increase in travelers interaction and engagement with the local community.

Zostel is also anticipating a 150 per cent increase in bookings towards offbeat, new locations in the first year of the new decade and expects this trend to see an upswing for the foreseeable future.

The company has also noted an increasing emphasis on multiple Zostel bookings by inbound travelers looking to complete Zostel circuits across the Himalayas, Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Kerala in a single trip.

Speaking on the growth expectations, Dharamveer commented: Millennials and couples comprise the majority of our customers at Zostel. We ended 2019 on an extremely high note with more than 2 lakh bookings registered and we expect our growth momentum to attract even more travelers across all ages in 2020. Seeing that the next generation of chill-seekers is laying increasing focus on experiential traveling, we have decided to boost our portfolio by unlocking deep locations across popular off-beat holiday hubs such as Himachal, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, and Kerala, among others.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.)

Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter
The United Nations said Monday that 900,000 people, most of them women and children, have been displaced since the start of December due to a Russian-backed regime offensive in northwest Syria.

That figure is 100,000 more than the United Nations had previously recorded. "The crisis in northwest Syria has reached a horrifying new level," said Mark Lowcock, the UN head of humanitarian affairs and emergency relief.

He said the displaced were overwhelmingly women and children who are "traumatized and forced to sleep outside in freezing temperatures because camps are full. Mothers burn plastic to keep children warm. Babies and small children are dying because of the cold."



The Idlib region, including parts of neighbouring Aleppo province, is home to some three million people, half of them already displaced from other parts of the country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CINCINNATI, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Projetech , a global provider of IBM Maximo as a Service (MaaS), is ringing in 2020 reflecting on 30 years in business. Founded in 1990, the business to business (B2B) SaaS company has clients all over the world in many industries.

"The legacy established by Projetech over the last 30 years has far exceeded my own expectations since founding the company," said Steve Richmond, founder and CEO of Projetech. "We have dedicated employees and a loyal customer and business partner base to thank for our growth and success over the past three decades. We value these relationships and it's our privilege to learn from them and grow our offering as a result."

At its inception, Projetech was a traditional project consulting company for Facilities Management departments at various organizations. The name "Projetech" was coined by its founder, Steve Richmond, as a play on the inverse of the words "technical projects." In the early 1990's, Projetech was hired to find a Computerized Maintenance Management Solution (CMMS) for a microchip fabrication plant in Cincinnati. After researching several applications, 'CHIEF' (Computer Help in Engineering Functions) was the product Projetech recommended. Projetech became a Value-Added Reseller (VAR) and systems integrator of the CHIEF CMMS which was eventually phased out for a new Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) solution called Maximo. In 2006, Maximo was acquired by IBM and Projetech became an IBM Business Partner focused on Maximo.

In 1999, Projetech stepped towards a Managed Cloud Offering (MaaS). A client, who's on-premise Maximo was not running well on their limited infrastructure, had a small OpEx budget to spend on Maximo support every month. Projetech was contacted and responded by setting up a server in the office where they could dependably manage the client's Maximo for a low monthly subscription. The client was able to access and use Maximo via a modem and a remote desktop connection (RDP). Then, MaaS was born.

"30 years ago, we were a small consulting firm seeking a focused offering for our clients and last year marked the 20-year milestone of our Maximo as a Service offering, making us the most experienced provider of MaaS across the globe," said Julie Rampello, Vice President of Business Development. "As someone who has been here over 25 years, it's remarkable to look back on the challenges we encountered as a company and see how our vision of being the best Maximo as a Service provider in the world is being realized!"

Projetech employs an entire team of information security, infrastructure, developers, and Maximo technical support staff. Its business partners and clients benefit from the ability to use Maximo reliably without the cost and risk associated with managing in-house. Clients can simply consume Maximo as opposed to manage Maximo.

For more information, please visit www.projetech.com.

About Projetech

Projetech, a Gold IBM Business Partner, offers IBM Maximo: the global standard in software for Enterprise Asset Management and maintenance. Since 1999, Projetech has been providing Maximo as a Service (MaaS), which allows clients to manage, maintain and scale their solution requirements while benefiting from flexible services and lower operating costs. Projetech is a strategic business partner for clients in small to mid-sized businesses, government agencies and Fortune 500 companies. Projetech takes threats to the availability, integrity and confidentiality of its clients' information seriously. As such, Projetech is an ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certified provider whose Information Security Management System (ISMS) has received third-party accreditation from the International Standards Organization. Learn more about Projetech at www.projetech.com.

Media Contact:

Alexandra Domecq



9497771354

[email protected]



SOURCE Projetech

Related Links

https://www.projetech.com


The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has unveiled its latest edition of the Z-10 attack helicopter, featuring exhaust openings that face upward instead of outward, with experts claiming the chopper's infrared signal will make it harder to target.

The upgrade also indicates that the domestic-made attack helicopter is equipped with stronger engines, experts also said.

The upgraded Z-10 participated in a military exercise with the PLA's 80th Group Army on February 8, according to official photos uploaded on the military's WeChat account.

The latest Z-10 edition is distinguishable from the photos, which features exhaust openings facing upward instead of outward like the early model, reported Weihutang, a column on military affairs affiliated with China Central Television.

An export version of the Z-10, the Z-10ME, also featured this design, but was not intended for domestic service.

Having heat gas from engines pointed upward instead of outward can lower the helicopter's infrared signal, and weapons like infrared guided missiles will less likely lock on to the helicopter, giving it a better chance of survival on the battlefield, military analysts said.

However, this design will also inevitably increase drag force, raising the power requirement for the helicopter's engines, analysts said, noting the latest Z-10 edition more than likely has greater engine power.

China's most recently developed helicopter, the Z-20, which made its public debut at the National Day parade on October 1, 2019, is equipped with homemade engines that are powerful enough to take the helicopter to plateaus thanks to technological breakthroughs, Chen Guang, vice general manager of AVICOPTER, the helicopter branch of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, told the Global Times in a previous interview in October 2019.

"The Z-20 will contribute to China's future helicopter development as new models will learn from its advanced technologies," Chen said.

If installed with more powerful engines, the Z-10 could also carry more protective armor plates, payloads and even install an additional millimeter wave fire control radar on top of its rotor for longer attack range and higher accuracy, analysts said.

A millimeter wave fire control radar was installed on the Z-19 light attack helicopter, which was displayed at the Fifth China Helicopter Exposition in Tianjin last October.
The argument then, that hate speech cannot be penalised is therefore a common one.

The Cambridge Dictionary defines hate speech as public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex or sexual orientation. In its mildest form, hate speech seeks to cause discomfiture and unease; while its ugliest form seeks to incite violence by instigating others and allowing them the space to turn rhetoric into action.

Individuals who indulge in hate speech often counter objections to their words by raising the provision of free speech, which, by definition, allows them the right to express ones opinions without censorship, restraint or legal penalty. The argument then, that hate speech cannot be penalised is therefore a common one. In certain liberal democracies, such as the United States of America, this argument does hold up legally. Hate speech is not a punishable offence, and is protected under the First Amendment. The Indian Penal Code, however, treats hateful messaging differently. While the Indian Constitution provides every individual freedom of expression, Article 19 stipulates that is subject to reasonable restrictions for preserving inter alia public order, decency or morality.

In addition, Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code says, inter alia:

Whoever (a) by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise, promotes or attempts to promote, on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community or any other ground whatsoever, disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities, or (b) commits any act which is prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities, and which disturbs or is likely to disturb the public tranquillity, ... shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.

However, what we are seeing lately is that despite these laws and safeguards, there have been many recent instances of hateful messaging, many of which have been made by political aspirants who seek to indulge in divisive politics. The peril of hate speech is that they are not just words, as argued by those who seek to legitimise discourse that fuels animosity between communities who have religious differences. When a minister raised the slogan Desh ke gaddaro ko goli maaro s***** ko, in an election rally in New Delhi on January 27, it was followed very literally by a teenaged youth less than a week later, who opened fire on a group of protesters at Jamia Milia Islamia, injuring one student. The fact that the politician was allowed to raise the slogan in the first place leads one to wonder if there was no threat perceived by the authorities appointed to police hateful messaging in permitting political aspirants to encourage fellow citizens to shoot at those they consider traitors.

That the close and dangerous link between hate speech and violence is well understood and documented is made evident by the fact that not only the Constitution and the Indian Penal Code have made provisions to keep it under check, but also so has the Code of Criminal Procedure. In recent times, however, the courts have provided contradictory views regarding the violation that hate speech is. In 2013, the Supreme Court issued a notice to the Central government directing them to frame guidelines that would ensure the control of hate speech delivered by politicians. This notice was also issued to the Election Commission of India. However, in 2014, when a PIL was filed asking the Supreme Court to direct the Election Commission to curb hateful speeches made by politicians, this was dismissed on the grounds that the fundamental right of people to express themselves cannot be curbed.

In contrast, the social media has taken up a slightly more responsive role in the censoring of hate speech. Despite an enormous room for improvement, there are policies in place. Hate propaganda reported by users on Facebook is reviewed, and if found to be inflammatory, taken down within 24 hours. Twitter takes down hateful content and issues warnings to accounts that violate their Hateful Conduct Policy, suspending accounts that are repeat offenders. Following the horrifying lynchings that took place in India a couple of years ago, wherein innocents were killed on suspicion of being child kidnappers, WhatsApp placed a restriction on the number of times a piece of content can be forwarded. Although there is still a long way to go, there does appear to be an attempt to reduce the visibility of hateful content on these platforms.

As an ordinary citizen, you may recognise your limitations in controlling hate speech itself, but you might seize the opportunity of counter speech as a direct response to hate speech. This is a powerful tool which can be used in a multitude of ways.

If its on the social media, you might choose to engage with the speaker and battle his/her hateful messaging by putting forward a contrary message. The #iamhere campaign, a counter narrative to hateful messaging, which was started in Sweden, spread quickly to other parts of the world because of its simplicity of function. Admins of the group routinely post articles that contain hate propaganda onto their page, encouraging members to counter speak with the hashtag #Jagarhar (which means I am here). This drives up the counter posts, effectively drowning out the hateful content. A few weeks ago, at New Delhis Shaheen Bagh protest site, a young man fired into the air in an attempt to register his dissent towards the protesters. The next day, a group of young citizens decided to counter speak by launching a campaign called GoliNahiPhool (Flowers, not Bullets) and showered the protesting women with flower petals in a demonstration of peace and solidarity.

Another method young Indian counter-speakers have embraced is through the creation of art  whether music, poetry, paintings or street art. From Bankim Chandra Chatterjees Vande Mataram to Faiz Ahmad Faizs beautiful yet defiant poem Hum Dekhenge, strong resistance art has been known to possess the power to move people and to unite them  the ultimate goal of any counter speech.

Lastly, you might choose to reclaim words that are used as slurs against communities, minorities or any other group. An example of this is the way the Slutwalk campaign, a global campaign calling for the end of rape culture and slut shaming chose to reclaim the offensive word and rebrand it, rejecting the idea that women should experience shame over their sexualities, sexual preferences and choice of clothing.

A democracy always needs to tread the thin line between freedom and oppression. The freedoms enjoyed by one cannot be translated into oppression suffered by another. This is the very principle that cements the line between freedom of speech and hate speech. In times of turmoil, then, it falls upon us, ordinary men and women, to self-police and counter speak when faced with an objectionable idea or piece of content. Because when it is the best of times, and the worst of times, it is always the ordinary citizen who takes up the torch and leads the way.
The pictures were an afterthought. Once Soviet soldiers had liberated Auschwitz in January 1945, they realized they needed a record. They needed to show the world the horror they had discovered. So, they dressed survivors back up in their uniforms and paraded them around for the cameras.

Who were they, these human beings the Nazis had reduced to numbers? What became of them?

The little boy, B-1148, four years old then? His name is Michael Bornstein. Now 79, he lives in New Jersey and tells his story in schools, showing his numbered tattoo.

The nine-year-old girl, number A-60989? Ruth Muschkies Webber, now 84, from Michigan.

Teichner asked, "The 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, as opposed to the 70th or the 60th or 50th. Why is this one so very important?"

"They're all important, but this is very important, 'cause it's one of the last ones we will do when we have the survivors," Lauder replied.

Preserving Auschwitz has been Lauder's mission since his first visit in 1987, while he was the U.S. Ambassador to Austria. He is chairman of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation, and president of the World Jewish Congress.

Teichner asked him, "When you walk around here, when you see what's here to see, what goes through your mind? What do you feel?"

"Well, for me, I feel ghosts," Lauder replied. "I feel people all around me, 'cause I've been through here with survivors, and they told me, 'This is the place where my father was killed.' 'This is the place where my little brother was taken away from me.' Every place here has a story, and I've been there with survivors, and they tell me what happened."

He won't say how much exactly, but admits he's personally given tens of millions of dollars so that these objects will bear witness long after survivors of Auschwitz are dead.

"The one word that symbolizes what happened to the Jewish people was the word Auschwitz," Lauder said. "It's the largest cemetery in the world. There are a million people buried here. We are now three generations later, and what do we see over and over again is that people forgot."

Story continues

According to a recent Pew poll, fewer than half of U.S. adults (45%) know that six million Jews died in the Holocaust. A 2018 study found that more than six out of ten American millennials can't identify what Auschwitz is, and more than one out of five haven't heard of the Holocaust, or aren't sure.

For Ruth Webber, the memory never goes away. Teichner asked her, "To this day, do you have flashbacks?"

"Yes," she replied.

"And from the minute you got off the train, were you afraid?"

"Afraid? I was always afraid. There wasn't a minute that I was not afraid, except when I was in my mother's arms. Or at night, when I hugged her and held onto her. I was always afraid. You never knew when something is going to happen. Never.

"You saw a German with a gun, and my mother would say to me when we passed by, 'Don't look, because if somebody sees you looking, they'll shoot you.'"

Her mother survived; her father did not.

Children would try to stay safe by hiding among the bodies. "One of the places where we had made ourselves little places where we could squeeze into was the barrack," said Webber. "One of the barracks next to us had the skeletons."

"Protected by the women around her, she remembers their anguish whenever someone disappeared. "They would say, 'God Almighty, please, please see what is happening. Let somebody survive, especially the children.' And this is what we were to do, is have a family and hopefully live long enough to have grandchildren, and to not forget that there was somebody up there that listened to all those voices.

"And I was the one that survived."

Ruth Webber did what those women asked. She has three children and five grandchildren, who could only have been born because she did not die at Auschwitz.

Michael Bornstein has four children and twelve grandchildren. He celebrates the occasions survival brought him by raising a dented silver cup, the only thing not stolen from the stash of valuables his parents buried before being forced from their home.

"And to us, it means the world," said Lori Bornstein Wolff. "To us, it stands for life before, and the life that comes."

The last time Bornstein saw his brother, Samuel, and his father, Israel, was by the railroad tracks the day the family arrived at Auschwitz in July 1944. "The memories I seem to remember is the smell," Bornstein said. "The smell was absolutely terrible in Auschwitz. And later on, I find out that it's really the smell of burning flesh."

His brother and father were sent one way, to die; Michael, his mother, Sophie, and grandmother, Dora, were sent another, and managed to live. "My grandmother hid me under straw, under a mattress," he said. "And at the end took me to what was quote-unquote an infirmary. And so the Nazis were germophobic, so to speak; they really didn't want to get into an infirmary where people were sick."

For most of his life, Bornstein, who was four when he arrived at Auschwitz, didn't speak of his time there. But after seeing his photo from liberation on a Holocaust denier's website, everything changed: "Debbie and I  my daughter, Debbie Bornstein Holinstat  were on a computer. And we see a deniers group saying, 'Auschwitz isn't so bad. Look at this picture. The kids aren't, you know, that sick.' I was outraged. We basically slammed the monitor down and we decided, 'It's time to talk.'"

For survivors, pictures from before are priceless. For survivors' children, inherited history can be a demanding legacy.

"It's a burden in a great way," said Holinstat, a television news producer, who wrote a book with her father, "Survivors Club," aimed at young adults. "It's an honor, it's a privilege that I can pass this story on to the next generation If the next generation doesn't absorb the meaning and the importance of the Holocaust now, these memories are gonna be dust."

michael-bornstein-speaking-to-students-620.jpg

Michael Bornstein shares his story of Auschwitz to students at the Robert Treat Academy Charter School in Newark, N.J. CBS News

"Education is key to fighting deniers and people that are biased," said Bornstein, "whether they're biased against Jewish people, against Hispanics, against Muslims, against African-Americans. Education is key. Because these people get it from their parents and from areas around them. And we see it all around us right now with all the discrimination that's going on. So, we need to educate. I think that's key."

Anti-Semitic incidents have spiked in the U.S., doubling between 2015 and 2018. Amid this increasingly hateful backdrop, Ronald Lauder flew 100 survivors to Poland for the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

"We're doing this for the next generation, and for the generation after," said survivor David Marks, who is now 91 and lives in Connecticut. "It should never happen, and never again.

"I arrived here with a family of 35 by train from Hungary. And by the afternoon, I was all alone. Thirty-five of my family were sent to the crematorium."

survivors-revisit-auschwitz-620.jpg

David Mark (right) was among the survivors who returned to Auschwitz 75 years after being freed. Mark lost all 35 members of his family. CBS News

He had never been back before. His fiancee, Cathy Peck, talked him into going, to make his peace.

"Ten hours a days we could hear children coughing, crying, choking from the gas," said Yvonne Engelmann, of Sydney. At 92, she remembers too much, such as the time she was inside the gas chamber, about to die: "The gas didn't work," she said, "so we were marched out. How can you explain that?"

She survived, and moved to Australia. "I'm here. I was able to make the journey. I'm surrounded by children and grandchildren and the spouses of my children. So, I am the victor."

For Ruth Webber, the trip was one last chance to mourn: "It makes me feel like I'm walking in the ashes of friends, and people I didn't know."

And to thank those women who prayed she would survive.

martha-teichner-with-ruth-muschkies-webber-at-auschwitz-620.jpg

Correspondent Martha Teichner with Ruth Muschkies Webber (center) at Auschwitz. CBS News

Teichner asked her, "Can you forgive the people who did this?"

"What do you mean by forgive?" said Webber. "Can you forgive somebody killing somebody else? I am continuing the life that others wanted me to. So, forgive? I live with it."

Bornstein's family clung to each other, including his daughter, Debbie Bornstein Holinstat, and her daughter, Katie. "I've never been here with one of my kids before," said Holinstat. "I just think of the, like, when people got here, they were like, it was chaos. And they did not know that they would never see their kids again."

michael-bornstein-and-family-pass-through-gate-at-auschwitz-620.jpg

Michael Bornstein and his family pass through the gate at Auschwitz, 75 years after he was freed. CBS News

Katie said, "If it was me, I'd probably go walking in here. I wouldn't be here anymore."

Lori Bornstein Wolff said, "My son, when he was four, it would hit me all the time that my father was in Auschwitz [at age four]. That my little boy with his cute, little bowl cut that I was buying, like Star Wars, characters for, my dad was hiding under straw and looking for potato peels. ...

"You know, in a way I feel like my kids are really lucky and they should feel really lucky. Because we shouldn't be here, right?" said Wolff. "And on the other hand, they do have a big responsibility. They should know this burden. This is our family's burden."

In 1939, before the Holocaust, there were 16 million Jews in the world. Now, only 14.8 million, seventy-five years after Auschwitz was liberated.

Outside the only crematorium still standing, three generations of Bornsteins prayed together, a kaddish, for those they lost, and everyone else who died here.

"We are very lucky," said Michael.

sun-over-auschwitz-620.jpg

CBS News

BOOK EXCERPT: "Survivors Club: The True Story of a Very Young Prisoner of Auschwitz"

For more info:

Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial FoundationAuschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, Oswiecim, PolandWorld Jewish Congress"Survivors Club: The True Story of a Very Young Prisoner of Auschwitz" by Michael Bornstein and Debbie Bornstein Holinstat (Farrar Straus Giroux), in Hardcover, Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available via AmazonUnited States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C.

Story produced by Michelle Kessel.

Charlotte Alter on young voters and "socialism"

Nature: North Dakota

Yad Vashem: Remembering victims of the Holocaust
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Sunday rejected an offer of mediation proposed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Kashmir, saying the focus instead should be on getting vacated the territories that are "illegally and forcibly occupied by Pakistan". "India's position has not changed. Jammu and Kashmir has been, is and will continue to be an integral part of India. The issue that needs to be addressed is that of vacation of the territories illegally and forcibly occupied by Pakistan. Further issues, if any, would be discussed bilaterally. There is no role or scope for third party mediation," MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in response to a media query regarding comments made by Guterres in Islamabad.

"We hope the UN Secretary-General would emphasise on the imperative for Pakistan to take a credible, sustained and irreversible action to put an end to cross-border terrorism against India, which threatens the most fundamental human right - the right to life, of the people of India, including in J & K," he added. The UN chief, who arrived in Pakistan on a four-day visit, addressed a press conference along with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, wherein he also expressed his "deep concern" over the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and tensions along the Line of Control (LoC).

Guterres also said that it was important for India and Pakistan to de-escalate "militarily and verbally" and exercise "maximum restraint", amidst tense relationship between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. "I have offered my good offices in relation to the dispute. He further noted that he exchanged thoughts with Qureshi on the security situation in South Asia and that mediation, as well as talks, were the only solution to regional conflicts," the Secretary-General said. Tensions between India and Pakistan spiked after New Delhi abrogated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5 last year. India''s decision evoked strong reactions from Pakistan, which downgraded its diplomatic ties with India. ANI
Experts from India and abroad have acknowledged the efficacy of herbal drugs in treating non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular ailments, diabetes and stroke at a three-day global conference which concluded here on Monday.

The seventh International Congress of the Society for Ethnopharmacology was organised here by the Jamia Hamdard University where experts and representatives from the industry deliberated on the strengths of the traditional medicine system and the challenges it faces.

The event supported by the Ministry of AYUSH and the Department of Biotechnology among others saw participation of over 60 experts from around 40 countries such as Canada, Nigeria, the USA and Australia.

Dr Ikshit Sharma from AIMIL Pharma spoke in details about the potential of herbal drug BGR-34 in managing diabetes by not only providing consistent blood sugar lowering effects but also acting as metabolic regulator.

Sitesh C Bachar, Professor and Chairman, Pharmacy Department in the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, stated that many modern medicines have been demonstrated to be strong radical scavengers but they are also carcinogenic and cause liver damage.

His study highlighted the evaluation of natural compounds found in plants as effective drugs against hepatic complications.

Dr Peter O Ajagbouna, an expert from Nigeria, spoke about the pharmacological effects of a plant --Mausanga Cecropiodes -- against cardiovascular diseases which he has experimented on animal models of hypertension myocardial infraction and diabetes.

"Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of mortality in the world today. Although modern drugs are effective, they have their adverse effects. In our country, therefore many researchers have focussed screening natural sources that have been intended with minimal side effects while being used in the treatment of these diseases," he said.

Director of Trigonella Labs in Australia Dr Dilip Ghosh dwelled on medicinal properties of fenugreek seeds which has the generally recognised as safe (GRAS) status in the USA and is as an effective and safe neutraceutical ingredient for blood sugar management.

Similarly, Dr Pradeep Visen who is from Toronto, Canada, shared results of clinical validation of medicinal herbs in the management of Type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease risk factors.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), heart diseases, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases, once linked only to affluent societies, are now global, and the poor suffer the most.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Valerie OCarroll, who suffers from motor neurone disease, remains positive about her diagnosis and will start a drug trial at the end of the month in a bid to slow down the disease. Photo: Mark Condren

There are currently less than 400 people living with motor neurone disease (MND) in Ireland. These figures may be low but the progressive neurological condition, which attacks the motor neurones (nerves) in the brain and spinal cord, can strike at any age. And while wasting and weakness of the limbs is a common characteristic, it also affects the muscles in the tongue, which can cause slurring of speech or for some, the loss of speech altogether.

This month, The Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association (IMNDA) is running a sponsored silence campaign. It is encouraging people to stay silent for a minimum of 30 minutes to experience what it is like to be unable to communicate.

Valerie O'Carroll lives in dread of this happening, as last year the 57-year-old was diagnosed with MND after her husband noticed that she was slurring her words.

"During the summer of 2018, my voice started to get a little strange," says the mother-of-three. "I was speaking a lot slower and slurring my words a bit and my husband picked up on it and asked what was wrong.

"I tried to brush it off, but he kept nagging me to go to the doctor. Like most women, I put it on the back burner and just got on with things as I thought I would wait until I had something more serious to ask the doctor about - but eventually I gave in and went to my GP in November of that same year.

"Initially the doctor thought I had suffered a mini stroke and sent me down to A&E so I could get checked out properly. But after having every test under the sun, they couldn't find any evidence of a stroke, so I was sent home."

As the weeks and months went on, Valerie, who is married to Kieran, saw a variety of different specialists but no one could determine what the matter was. Then in October of last year, she finally received the shocking news that she had motor neurone disease.

"After seeing a throat specialist and a speech therapist, I was sent to see a neurologist who did a number of tests and then told me that I was being referred to Professor Orla Hardiman. I looked her up online and, having also Googled my symptoms over the previous months, I kept seeing the words MND, but I refused to believe that it could have anything to do with me.

"But sure enough when I had my appointment with Professor Hardiman, she told me that this was indeed what I had. Kieran was with me and we were both utterly devastated. I had never told him what I had found out online, so it was a total shock to him and we both found it so hard to believe it.

"Breaking it to my kids was particularly difficult, even though they are all adults, as it just didn't seem possible that I could have such a devastating condition."

There is no cure for MND, and it is a life-limiting condition, but the Dublin woman was put on a course of medication which would hopefully slow down its progress.

She feels her symptoms have plateaued and while waiting to take part in a drug trial, which she hopes will keep the disease at bay for longer, Valerie is determined to make the most of her life.

"Needless to say, we were all shocked and distressed by my diagnosis but I am a positive person so I decided that I could either lay down and not get up again or I could grab hold of the life I have been given and live it to the best of my ability, which is what I decided to do," she says.

"I am trying to encourage the family to be the same way - my children are managing well as they are taking my lead but sometimes I wonder about Kieran as, like most men, he doesn't say much and I worry that he is bottling too much in because he knows that if he gets upset, so will I.

"However, we are putting on a good front and things are positive at the moment. The symptoms haven't worsened, I can still move, and I can still make myself understood. I am also still working full-time [in a family resource centre] and my colleagues say they don't notice me being any different.

"I will be going on a trial drug at the end of this month which will hopefully slow things down even further and I have planned to go on the Camino in May with my friends from work, so I'm still making plans and looking to the future - it's all I can do. Each morning when I wake, I check my legs and arms to see if I can move them and then I force myself up and out of the bed to face the day."

Despite her positivity, a diagnosis of MND can be very difficult to accept and Valerie would advise anyone who has just been diagnosed to seek help and open up about fears.

"Being told you have MND is absolutely shocking and I would never undermine the devastation people undoubtedly feel when they find out," she says. "But I really believe we have to try and be positive to make the most out of life, so people should surround themselves with others who will support them rather than bring them down.

"Also I would encourage them to go to the IMNDA for help - they are absolutely fantastic, and I would have been lost without them. They have given me advice, support, counselling and holistic therapy even though there are only four nurses looking after everyone in the country with MND.

"Which is why I would ask people to get involved in the sponsored silence as they need all the support they can get. Thankfully I still have my voice, but I don't know how long for and I know that the reality is dreadful for those who have lost theirs through this disease."

Specialist nurse Louise Hennessy agrees: "MND is a progressive, life-limiting disease and the rate of progression varies greatly from one person to another," she says. "This is variable from three to five years [or occasionally longer] after onset, depending on the activity of the disease and the particular muscle groups affected. There is currently no cure but there is one licensed drug which has shown to slow progression of symptoms and prolong survival - so investment into research and drug trials is vital.

"Symptoms are generally well managed under the care of specialist palliative care, neurologist, primary care team and specialist multidisciplinary team. And all we ask with the campaign is that you stay silent for a minimum of 30 minutes so you can experience what it would be like to lose your voice. Imagine one hour, one day, one week without your voice.

"All you have to do is pick a day and duration for your silence. Then maybe think, if you had no voice for a day how would you communicate? Sometimes silence can speak volumes. Take on our challenge this February, lose your voice so that others can be heard."

MND nurse Louise Hennessy explains the disease:

 There are currently 360 people living in Ireland with MND

 It strikes people of all ages - most who develop MND are between the ages of 40 and 70, with an average age of 55 at the time of diagnosis

 The cause of the disease is not known but there may be environmental factors which trigger the damage in those who are susceptible to MND. Ongoing research is necessary to find out the nature of these factors, and what makes one person more susceptible than another.

 Approximately 15pc of people diagnosed with MND will have an inherited, or familial, form. This form of MND is extremely rare as the great majority of people diagnosed with MND (85pc) have the sporadic form.

 MND presents itself in various ways, depending on the particular groups of muscle fibres which degenerate initially. Wasting and weakness of muscles of the hands, sometimes one side a first, stiffness in the legs with dragging of one leg or the development of marked weakness in the legs may be the initial symptom.

 Sometimes the muscles of the tongue and swallowing mechanism are affected early, with slurring of speech, difficulty in swallowing and coughing.

The disease may remain relatively stationary for some time or may progress to other limbs, to the tongue and to the breathing muscles. It does not cause bladder or bowel symptoms and does not cause sensory, visual or hearing disorders.

To get involved in the Sponsored Silence campaign, email fundraising@imnda.ie for your silence pack. Spread awareness by sharing your sponsored silence on social media #Voice4MND. You can also donate by texting MND to 50300 to donate 2 (100pc of text goes to IMNDA across most network providers. Some providers apply VAT which means a minimum of 1.63 will go to IMNDA. Service Provider: LIKECHARITY. Helpline 076 6805278). See imnda.ie
A newly appointed government adviser who suggested black Americans have a lower average IQ than white Americans and labelled public outcry over female genital mutilation a 'moral panic' has been pictured posing outside Number 10.

Andrew Sabisky also said that 'women's sport is more comparable to the Paralympics than it is to men's' and reportedly advocated legally enforcing the uptake of contraception to stop unplanned pregnancies 'creating a permanent underclass'.

Boris Johnson is under growing pressure to sack Mr Sabisky, 27, who was apparently drafted in to Number 10 after the PM's chief adviser Dominic Cummings called for 'misfits and weirdos' to apply to advise the government.

Downing Street repeatedly refused to condemn the remarks this morning.

The Prime Minister's deputy official spokesman said: 'I am not going to be commenting on individual appointments.'

Asked whether Mr Johnson condemned the comments, the deputy spokesman said: 'The Prime Minister's views are well publicised and documented.'

Downing Street also would not confirm whether Mr Sabisky was actually working in Number 10 but this afternoon reports suggested he has been employed as a contractor as a forecaster, covering defence and other policy areas.

The Financial Times said Mr Sabisky, a self-described 'super-forecaster', had been in Number 10 for a 'couple of days' but is currently in America.

It came as a photograph of Mr Sabisky in front of the famous black door emerged on Twitter with the caption: 'Number 10 Downing Street lads!'

A picture published on Twitter by Michael Story (pictured middle) on January 17 of this year showed Andrew Sabisky (pictured left) stood in front of the famous black door of Number 10

Mr Sabisky, a researcher who describes himself as a 'super-forecaster', has been criticised for previous remarks after he was appointed as an adviser to the government

Boris Johnson, pictured at a meeting of the Cabinet on Friday, is now under growing pressure to sack Mr Sabisky

Tory MPs criticised the governmental silence today, with former immigration minister Caroline Nokes tweeting: 'Cannot believe No 10 has refused to comment on Andrew Sabisky.

Who is new government adviser Andrew Sabisky? A 27-year-old Cambridge graduate, Andrew Sabisky is believed to have been appointed as an adviser to the government. Downing Street today refused to comment on his appointment and would not confirm whether he is actually working in Number 10. He is believed to have applied for a position following a blog post from Dominic Cummings in which the PM's top aide urged 'weirdos and misfits' to seek employment with the government. But the appointment of the self-described 'super-forecaster' has sparked fury after a number of his previous remarks came to light. He is believed to be a government contractor rather than a fully-fledged special adviser.

Advertisement

'I dont know him from a bar of soap, but dont think wed get on ....... must be no place in Government for the views hes expressed.'

Writing on Mr Cummings' website in 2014, Mr Sabisky said: 'One way to get around the problems of unplanned pregnancies creating a permanent underclass would be to legally enforce universal uptake of long-term contraception at the onset of puberty.

'Vaccination laws give it a precedent, I would argue.'

In another post being circulated on social media, Mr Sabisky claimed black people had lower IQs than white people.

In the article, entitled 'Disabilities by race' he reportedly said: 'If the mean black American IQ is (best estimate based on a century's worth of data) around 85, as compared to a mean white American IQ of 100, then if IQ is normally distributed, you will see a far greater percentage of blacks than whites in the range of IQs 75 or below, at which point we are close to the typical boundary for mild mental retardation.'

On the issue of FGM, he reportedly wrote: 'It is still unclear to what extent FGM represents a serious risk to young girls, raised in the UK, of certain minority group origins. Much of the hue and cry looks more like a moral panic.'

Controversial comments reportedly made by Andrew Sabisky On women's sport: 'I am always straight up in saying that women's sport is more comparable to the Paralympics than it is to men's.' On enforced contraception: 'One way to get around the problems of unplanned pregnancies creating a permanent underclass would be to legally enforce universal uptake of long-term contraception at the onset of puberty.' On female genital mutilation: 'It is still unclear to what extent FGM represents a serious risk to young girls, raised in the UK, of certain minority group origins. Much of the hue and cry looks more like a moral panic.' On race: 'If the mean black American IQ is (best estimate based on a century's worth of data) around 85, as compared to a mean white American IQ of 100, then if IQ is normally distributed, you will see a far greater percentage of blacks than whites in the range of IQs 75 or below, at which point we are close to the typical boundary for mild mental retardation.' Advertisement

He also once tweeted that former defence secretaries Penny Mordaunt and Gavin Williamson - both now back in government - were 'proper morons'.

Ian Lavery, the chairman of the Labour Party, said: 'It is disgusting that not only has Number 10 failed to condemn Andrew Sabisky's appalling comments, but also seems to have endorsed the idea that white people are more intelligent than black people.

'Boris Johnson should have the backbone to make a statement in his own words on why he has made this appointment, whether he stands by it, and his own views on the subject of eugenics.'

A photograph of Mr Sabisky standing in front of Number 10 Downing Street has emerged on Twitter.

The photo was published by fellow 'super-forecaster' Michael Story on January 17 of this year. It showed Mr Sabisky alongside Mr Story and Thomas Liptay.

Mr Story and Mr Liptay are both co-founders of an app designed to improve the accuracy of forecasts.

Geneticist Dr Adam Rutherford criticised the comments made by Mr Sabisky, writing on Twitter: 'Like Cummings, he appears to be bewitched by science, without having made the effort to understand the areas he is invoking, nor it's history.'

He said the 'moral repugnance' of the remarks was 'overwhelming', adding: 'I am all for scientifically minded people advising government. In fact I am all for scientists advising government. From this perspective, Sabisky and indeed Cummings look bewitched by science without doing the legwork.

'Instead this resembles the marshalling of misunderstood or specious science into a political ideology. The history here is important, because this process is exactly what happened at the birth of scientific racism and the birth of eugenics.'

New government adviser Mr Sabisky also made the above controversial comment on women's sport

It has been reported that some government special advisers are prepared to boycott meetings where Mr Sabisky is present and are also planning to refuse to reply to any emails he sends.

Environment Secretary George Eustice said it was a 'matter for Dominic Cummings and Number 10' when asked about the remarks on Sky News.

On Sunday, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told the BBC: 'I don't know the individual but they are particularly not views that I or the Government shares in any way, shape or form.'

Asked if Mr Shapps had been speaking for the government, the PM's deputy spokesman said: 'He was speaking as the Transport Secretary.'
17.02.2020 LISTEN

This is the third and final installment in my series of conversations conducted with African-Americans who moved from the United States (US) to establish new lives in Ghana and along the journey became citizens of Ghana. I had this last chat with Yahoshua Williams.

To read my first publication with Tahira Mohammed and the second one with Masao Meroe click on their names or visit TheAfricanDream.net and type their names in the search engine in case you missed them. Do feel free to read and share and let me know if you have any personal lessons for me. For now, its the turn of Yahoshua Williams who first visited Ghana in 2003 as part of a group of 34 adults and children that moved to Ghana.

Yahoshua said to TheAfricanDream.net that at the time: We lived in Cape Coast, but gradually everyone in the group began to return to the US. My wife Candace and I were not married to each other at the time  we also joined the others to the US eventually. But out of that group, we are the only 2 who decided to return permanently to Ghana. Yes, it was a long time between 2003 and 2017 when we came this time, but we always longed to return since we left. Below are Yahoshuas answers to my questions

Q: Where were you born originally and where did you live/work in the US?

A: I was born in Baltimore, Maryland. My family moved to Columbia Maryland which is between Baltimore and Washington DC when I was 10 years old. I worked in Columbia and Baltimore for many years.

Q: What made you decide to relocate to Ghana?

A: The first thing that comes to mind when someone asks about what made us decide to relocate to Ghana was FREEDOM! Plus, Ghana was our first encounter with the continent since our ancestors were taken from here. But the main reason was and still is freedom, it is a spiritual connection. I dont mean spiritual from a religious perspective either. What I mean is that its an inward connection and vibration that feels right.

We know Ghana isnt perfect. However, we firmly believe we together with our Ghanaian family can make her perfect. We also believe that Ghana is the perfect place to bring healing and restoration not only for us coming from the African Diaspora and for those born here, but to be a catalyst for the rest of Africa to return to our GOOD WAYS before colonialism. All of us lost something, especially that edge that made us self-reliant, innovators, and not seeking European approval and support.

We believe that that virtue can be restored in us all. But we must first be honest with ourselves and see clearly that we are not who we should be and that we must rid ourselves of the things that prevent us from being who we should be.

Read also: The City of Memphis To Honour Ghana In A Month-Long Celebration

Q: What did you do to get by after moving to Ghana

A: For me, I have retired. However, we dont want to depend upon that. If the system back in the US collapses, then what? I know whats rightfully mine also. But we came here to start a new life. We also have an NGO called The RepatAssistance Initiative formerly known as the The ME Within Me Youth Empowerment Program. Im a graphic designer by trade so I do some freelance work also. Again, we will soon be launching our online retail shop promoting African goods.

On another note, we decided to merge the efforts of our NGO with a true advocacy organization called BADA,  Bureau of African Diaspora Affairs. We didnt see any need to duplicate efforts with an already existing organization. We thought it was wiser to work together and make a bigger stronger more impactful organization. And we are beginning to do just that. We have some major plans in the working that will positively impact all of us. Our website is www.repatassistance.org . On another very important note, we will be concentrating our efforts not only on major projects here in Ghana but also to empower the young adults and youth. All too often, older adults exclude the youths from present-day projects. All of us not only have to know and understand our roles but we also need to know when to pass the baton.

Far too many visions die when the progenitor dies. We have to know when to transition from workers to counselors and wisdom-givers. Most of our youth are dissatisfied with many of the seniors today. I say seniors because, respectively, I believe its a difference between a senior and an elder. Everyone who is old isnt suitable for eldership, in my opinion. This is where the term old fool comes into place. We should respect our elders, but unfortunately too many are in the way of progress because they make most things about them which also includes excluding new ideas, new methods, new people, and the youth and young adults.

Q: When did you get your citizenship, describe the feeling and the sense of responsibility it now gives you towards Ghana

A: I received my citizenship Wednesday, the 27th of November 2019 when the 126 other applicants got theirs. I had mixed feelings because of what transpired. Some clear mess-ups have yet to be rectified. My wife and I both applied at the same time in 2017 with one organization. We were on the master list. There was an opportunity to apply with another organization in 2018 to assure we were going to make the list. We applied the second time because we were not hearing anything as far as updates from the one organization. We both went to the interview process together and got interviewed together. Whats strange is that, everyone on that day  I wont forget August 22, 2019  was missing on the master list. We worked with the advocacy organization I mentioned to help rectify this mess up but were not successful as many including for including my wife fell through the cracks.

We in the process discovered that many married people who applied with their spouses were left off by mistake. My wife and I do everything together. And what should have been not just a historical moment for everyone was missed. I was hurt and disappointed, to say the least. Keep in mind we were helping behind the scenes for a long time and are active in advocacy. I know things happen and I was assured by good people in high positions in this process that it will be fixed. Our team of leaders submitted a list of all the missing names. We are just waiting to hear about the way forward.

But here is another important part. We need advocacy for The Right to Return which is part of international law to help in this process. As was in 2016, this citizenship process also happened via executive order. We need legislation in place that we will all know the process for us coming from the Diaspora via the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Our situation and circumstances are different than any other group of people in the world. Our ancestors were taken from here as Africans and we, their children have returned as Africans.

Q: If you could, what would you love to change about Ghana and why

A: I would change the education system and the laws about churches. The education system should not be a system whereby the curriculum is British based. It needs to be African centered. Students should know their history as that will help them with self-esteem, ethnic and cultural pride and also help them know who we are. Also, the education system should not be modeled after the Western world. It should be purpose-driven, meaning each child should have choices after learning basic core courses. They should be prepared to fill the pipeline for Ghanas future. Trades should be emphasized as well as specialty areas so that we dont have to keep looking to foreigners to do what we should be equipped to do for ourselves.

As far as the churches are concerned, there are way too many churches in Ghana. If churches paid taxes like any other businesses, I guarantee you wouldnt see as many still standing. Pastors should also be held to high standards and be accountable to their local communities. They should be putting money into roads and schools and other infrastructure-related things, especially where they are set up instead of spending money on fine clothes and fancy cars.

Q: What future do you see for yourself now as a Ghanaian and American and how do you want to bring about positive change.

A: I see the future as very bright! I see the best parts of both worlds coming together to make for a better Ghana. Some people seem to believe that we should come here and rid ourselves of everything we have learnt from the US. I disagree. Granted there are some bad things just like there are some bad things here. However, not all that we were taught there was bad. Ghana can benefit from some of the things weve acquired.

Q: Besides your Ghanaian name [Kojo] what other Ghanaian identity are you proud of?

A: Well, I feel more so than and Ghanaian identity its being truly connected to the continent itself. My wife and I did our African Ancestry DNA. My maternal DNA test revealed that Im 100% connected to the Temne people living it whats called modern-day Sierra Leone. Now any sensible person should know that at one point in history before colonialism, there werent these invisible borders. Many of our people are the same people but because of migration and often survival they separated and moved to different areas. In my discoveries, we found many of the peoples of West Africa migrated from North East Africa, what is known today as Egypt Kemet and Israel. My ancestry suggests that also.

Most people here know me as Yahoshua, I was given that name many years ago. Yahoshua is the Hebrew variation of Joshua. The name simply means savior or deliverer or Yahweh/Yahowah will save. What comes naturally to me is helping to wake up the minds of our people towards liberation and self-reliance. I love helping gather people together and dont mind sharing positive things that provoke thinking so that we can again, analyze present-day things and situations and find viable solutions amongst ourselves.

I believe there are two sides we can choose to be on in life; its either the side of helping to liberate us as a collective or to keep us enslaved on one level or another. There is no gray area. This is why my motto is If you dont work to help make the world better for the next generation while you are alive, youre wasting your life.
Syria will continue to liberate Aleppo and Idlib from terrorists, in spite of foreign pressure. This is what President of Syria Bashar al-Assad said today in his statement on the successful attack of the Syrian army in northern Syria.

The battle for the liberation of Aleppo and Idlib continues, Assad said, the Presidents Office cites. He added that the fight against terrorism continues, in spite of foreign pressure and the meaningless words and screams heard from the northern borders of Syria. We are fully aware that this liberation doesnt mean the end of war or eradication of terrorism, the President said, adding that the successes in Aleppo and Idlib are a prelude to the full defeat of extremists.
District judge questionnaire

David Glenn Rogers

Age: 54

Please describe your family, including number of times you have been married. I have 2 children, James David Rogers (Jad) age 21 and Mary Ellis Rogers (Elle) age 17. I have been married and divorced one time, and I am presently engaged to Michele Greene, a local attorney. Our wedding date is May 23, 2020.

State educational degrees which you have obtained and from where? I graduated from Midland High school in 1984. I attended Texas A&M University, where I and was a member of the Corps of Cadets. I graduated from Texas A&M University in 1988 with a B.A. degree in history. I went to law school at St. Marys University in San Antonio, Texas, and I received my Juris Doctorate degree in 1993.

State when you licensed as an attorney? I was licensed in 1993.

Years lived in Midland County after becoming a licensed attorney? After being born and raised in Midland County, I left for college. I then returned back to Midland County after becoming a licensed attorney in 1993, and I have lived continuously in Midland County for the past 26 years.

What areas of law is the concentration of your law practice typically? For the first 10 years of my law practice, I worked for the law firm of Brockett & Lindemood practicing primarily in the area of civil trial law. In 2006, I opened my own law office, and I focused my legal practice in the areas of criminal law and family law. I became Board Certified in Criminal Law in 2007.

Have you ever been subjected to discipline by the State Bar of Texas? If so, what was the discipline and why? No.

Have you ever been accused of, indicted for or convicted of a felony or a crime of moral turpitude? If so, what was the offense and how was it disposed of? No.

Have you ever had a lien filed against you and why? If so, has it been fully paid? No.

State how many criminal jury trials and how man civil jury trials you have tried to a verdict. I have tried 120 criminal jury trials to verdict, and 15 civil jury trials to verdict.

What do you regard to be your duties as a district judge? The primary duties of a district judge in criminal cases is to follow the law, ensure that both the state and defendants receive a fair trial, and when necessary, listen to the facts and render appropriate punishments. The primary duties of a district judge in civil cases is to follow the law, ensure both sides are treated fairly, and resolve the legal disputes amongst the parties. A secondary duty of a district judge is to administratively handle the courts docket in a cost-effective manner. As part of his administrative duties, a district court must make timely rulings, set and enforce scheduling orders and utilize new technological tools in his courtroom. Another duty of a district judge is to work with courtroom personnel, the clerks offices, the District Attorneys Office, the probation department, law enforcement and the other district judges to insure that the legal process in his courtroom runs smoothly, fairly and efficiently for all persons involved--whether those individuals are serving on a jury, testifying as witnesses, or appearing as parties.

What do think the temperament of a judge should be? What in your personality, if anything, do think you would have to be aware of? First and foremost, a judge should be even-tempered and have the ability to deal with people in a calm and courteous manner. A judge should also be patient and open-minded. While a judge should be empathetic to the positions of the litigants in his courtroom, he should also be firm, confident, and decisive in his decision making. A judge should have the fortitude to make final decisions -- even in the difficult cases. A judge should have the courage and resolve to follow the law rather than to follow current public sentiment.

What is the most important aspect of handling a docket of criminal and civil cases for a judge? The most important aspect of handling a docket is to make sure cases move forward in an efficient, but effective, manner. The Texas Code of Criminal Procedure requires that criminal actions are given priority over civil trials; therefore, criminal cases must take precedent on the courts docket. Generally, civil jury cases should be brought to trial within 18 months of being filed and civil bench cases should be brought to trial in 12 months from of being filed. In moving ones docket, it is important that a judge works with the other judges, courthouse personnel, attorneys, law enforcement, and the parties to avoid scheduling conflicts.

What is your philosophy regarding interpretation of the law? Judges should not legislate from the bench. I strongly believe judges should strictly interpret the law.

Is there ever a situation when a judge should create new law to address a social injustice or inequity? No.

How many civil cases have you handled that required more than five pretrial hearings before the potential trial court? Approximately 15-20 cases.

Has a Court of Appeals ever found you to be ineffective during trial? Have you ever had a malpractice claim filed against you that was either settled or taken to trial?No on both questions.

Please describe in detail what experience you have in managing dockets?

Since opening my own law firm in 2006, I have had a high-volume criminal law and family practice. Consequently, I have to manage both family law and criminal law dockets; both state and federal criminal law dockets, and both local and out-of-county dockets. Due to my multiple dockets, I am in the courtroom on a daily basis, and I routinely have multiple hearings in different courtrooms and/or courthouses during the course of a day. My heavy caseload requires advanced scheduling, advanced review of calendars and constant communications with various judges and court coordinators, as well as with my staff and clients. Due to my active trial schedule, I am frequently required to reschedule various hearings to accommodate the jury trial settings. I therefore, have ample experience in managing both active trial and hearing dockets.

When is the last time you voted and in which partys primaries have you voted in since 2010? I voted in the November 2019 Midland County mayor/school bond election. Since 2010, I have voted exclusively in Republican primaries.

Are your taxes paid in full currently both on any property you own and your income taxes? Yes.

What community service, including professional associations, have you been involved in?

State Bar of Texas; State Bar College; Texas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; American Bar Association; Texas Board of Legal Specialization  Criminal Law; National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; Former associate municipal Judge for the city of Midland; The United Way; Teen Court; Midland County Bar Association; American Trial Lawyers Association; Permian Basin Trial Lawyers Association; YMCA Board; First Presbyterian Church; and Pro Bono legal services for Safe Place domestic violence victims.
British passengers that are stuck on the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama have turned their hopes to billionaire Richard Branson to get them evacuated after a serious coronavirus (or COVID-19 virus, as its now called) outbreak onboard.

A total of 74 British passengers, including 22 crew members, are still stuck on the COVID-19 virus-stricken cruise ship Diamond Princess thats held in quarantine in Yokohama, Japan, since February 3.

The Brits have become increasingly desperate as they feel their government is doing little or nothing to help them repatriate. One passenger, 73-year-old David Abel, made an emotional plea to Virgin Atlantic owner and billionaire Richard Branson on Friday to get all the British passengers off their floating prison.

Abel said during a live video on Youtube that he has no confidence in Boris Johnsons swift handlings.

He said: When he [Mr. Johnson] just says, keep calm, dont panicId like to see you in this situation, mate. I really would the Daily Mail reported.

Im asking, what would it cost to hire one of your smaller planes, put all the Brits on boardno flight attendants, packaged food?

Take us to Brize Norton, take us straight into the medical facility, and let us do our quarantine there by people who can speak our language.

Im serious, Richard Branson, absolutely serious. I think he is the man. Hes not afraid to speak his mind. Hes the guy who could resolve this for the Brits.

He added: Whatever the cost, we will somehow find a way of paying for that plane. Dont know how but we wouldnt want you to be out of pocket on that.

Branson replied on his Twitter page: Virgin Atlantic does not fly to Japan, but we are in discussions with the UK government and seeing if there is anything we can do to help.

.@VirginAtlantic does not fly to Japan, but we are in discussions with the UK government and seeing if there is anything we can do to help. https://t.co/Fv4tPriFWA  Richard Branson (@richardbranson) February 16, 2020

Of the total of 519 cases of coronavirus diagnosed in Japan, 454 were aboard the Diamond Princess.

Earlier on, UK authorities said they are considering evacuating 74 UK nationals on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, said a spokesperson for the Foreign Office, but nothing has happened so far.

We sympathize with all those caught up in this extremely difficult situation. We are urgently considering all options to guarantee the health and safety of the British people on board the Diamond Princess, in line with the latest advice from the Chief Medical Officer and the World Health Organisation, and are working closely with the Japanese authorities and our international partners, a Foreign Office spokesperson told CNN.

Our staff in Tokyo, including the Ambassador, have been in regular contact with the British passengers and crew on the Diamond Princess, and we have also been speaking to families in the UK, the spokesperson added.

About 300 Americans have already been evacuated and were transported to military bases in the United States for further quarantine measures.

Australia, Hong Kong, and Canada have said they are planning to evacuate citizens from the cruise ship, located off the coast of Yokohama, Japan.
Let me be clear: I respect the separation of powers, and anyone who suggested I was using our security forces for anything other than to protect the safety and integrity of the National Assembly is misreporting the truth. Our security plan enjoys more than 90 percent support from the people, crime is down, and forced migration is at a historic low.
YouTube has deleted pro-government website PestiSracoks channel after finding that it had been used to upload child pornography.

In response to what they argue is an unfair decision, leaders of the website have announced a demonstration to be held at the Hungarian headquarters of YouTubes owner Google, at 5 p.m. on February 20.



PestiSracok editor-in-chief Gergely Huth declared on HirTV that the channel containing more than 700 videos and running for seven years had been deleted last week.



He said PestiSracok did not post any paedophile material, and that YouTubes explanations for its action were concocted. He accused Facebook and Google of political bias, and said freedom of speech is at stake.



Global technology companies must honour the Hungarian Basic Law, he added.



Huth told 444 that the website had made a video about Hungarian child pornography, which, for illustration purposes, included a few seconds of another recording.



The video was intended to expose a suspected crime, and the original footage was sent to the police before being banned on YouTube, Huth added.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-18 04:10:44|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

MONTREAL, Canada, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Canadian company Bombardier announced Monday it has agreed to sell its transportation unit to French company Alstom for a price of 8.2 billion U.S. dollars.

The agreement came a few days after Montreal-based multi-national Bombardier announced the sale of its C-series program to Airbus at a price of 600 million U.S. dollars last Thursday to help pay down 9.3 billion U.S. dollars in debt.

"We are confident that the sale of our rail business to Alstom is the right action for all stakeholders," Bombardier President Alain Bellemare said. "Above all, they recognize our talented and passionate employees and the great work they have done."

Bombardier Transportation, based in Berlin, makes high-speed rail cars, tramways and subway trains.

The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2021.

Bombardier has been struggling to recover from a massive debt load in past few years. It has sold off its water-bomber business, the turbo prop program, its aviation-training simulator business and the C-series program.

The sale of the rail division leaves the once multi-faceted giant with only its executive jet division remaining.
University of Limerick researchers have helped Brazilian Federal Police devise one of the best ways of arresting gangs involved in the distribution of videos and photographs of children being sexually abused.

The initiative was a first for both Brazilian Police and the University of Limerick and came about after a Brazilian police officer came to Limerick to do a research PhD.

The research Dr Bruno da Cunha was involved with centred around mathematicians from Limerick working out which paedophiles detectives should go after on the so-called dark web.

As a result, police officers targeting them in the future look set to be more efficient.

The research project worked on data from a Brazilian police operation carried out between 2014 and 2016.

It led to the arrest and identification of 182 users  170 of whom were distributors  and the rescue of six children.

Of over 10,000 users, 766 were sharing content.

The team of researchers from the Mathematics Applications Consortium for Science and Industry (MACSI) and the Centre for Social Issues Research, both based at UL, investigated how effective the operation was in disrupting the distribution of the content.

The research team, which was led by Professor James Gleeson, used the analysis to suggest the best ways to target individuals to maximise the effect of this disruption.

Network analysis has previously been applied to drug trafficking networks and terrorist networks to identify structural weaknesses and key figures in these illicit networks, Dr Padraig MacCarron said.

He is the postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Social Issues Research and MACSI who worked with Dr Bruno da Cunha, Kleber Oliveira and Professor Gleeson on the research.

The dark web network in this study, however, was much denser. There were more connections between users than normal, making it more difficult to break down using traditional network methods.

It was found that the 60% of those core 766 distributors would need to be removed to completely fragment the network."

The research was partly funded by Science Foundation Ireland and by the European Research Council.
Once again Lahinch in Co. Clare gets lashed by the high tides and winds brought in by storm Dennis. Photograph Press 22

Ireland was battered by "bomb cyclone" Storm Dennis as torrential rainfall and winds gusting to over 120kmh caused power cuts, flooding and travel disruption.

Many areas were battered by violent hailstones as the storm also forced the cancellation of major sporting events across Ireland.

More than 1,000 homes were still without power on Monday morning.

However the country avoided the severe Storm Dennis- related flood chaos that struck Britain, where three people were killed.

A "ghost ship" ran aground off Ballycotton in east Cork amid raging seas, and was left wedged on rocks.

It is understood the vessel had been abandoned more than a year ago on the high seas as part of a complex maritime dispute.

Unconfirmed reports indicated that the "shot ship" involved, a merchant vessel, could be the MV Alta which was abandoned in October 2018 roughly 1,400 nautical miles south east of Bermuda.

The MV Alta made global headlines in 2018 when the US Coast Guard rescued its 10-strong crew after they had been stranded on the disabled ship without food or water for 20 days in the west Atlantic.

A group of kayakers were lucky to escape serious injury in Co Clare when they attempted to descend a river raging in full torrent.

Minutes after the group began their descent of the River Aille outside Doolin they got into difficulty - and one kayaker spent two hours trapped at the bottom of a 15m gorge.

Clare Fire Brigade, the Coast Guard's Doolin unit, the National Ambulance Service and gardai had to mount a rescue operation.

One rescuer said the incident on Saturday evening was: "Crazy - it was lucky no one was taken out of here in a box."

Rivers including the Shannon, Blackwater, Suir, Nore and Lee were all close to breaking their banks.

At its peak, almost 15,000 homes and businesses were left without power over the weekend due to fallen trees and lightning strikes.

Galway was worst hit with 2,000 homes losing power due to the storm.

However one couple braved the storm yesterday to get engaged on the city's windswept Salthill promenade. Dawid Skowronski, originally from Poland, popped the question to a delighted Jade McCormack from Shannon who said "yes".

Ferry services were suspended off Cork, Galway and Mayo while some UK flights at Dublin and Cork airports were delayed or cancelled.

The Allianz hurling league clash between Galway and Tipperary at Pearse Stadium, the Limerick-Waterford clash at LIT Gaelic Grounds, and the Dr Harty Cup final between CBC Cork and St Flannan's in Mallow were among the sporting events cancelled due to the bad weather.
A passenger cruise ship by the name of Diamond Princess was recently not allowed to dock in Yokohama, Japan -- with over 350 passengers onboard diagnosed with the Wuhan Coronavirus. The ship was carrying 2,666 guests and 1,045 crew members on board when it set sail on January 20.

Reuters

While they were eventually allowed to dock to the port, passengers werent allowed to get off the ship, asking them to stay in their cabins to stay safe from the novel coronavirus.



And now, as per reports by Macotakara, Japanese authorities have provided the people onboard with 2000 iPhones -- with at least one phone in each cabin. This is being done because Japanese authorities want passengers to access the Japanese Ministry of Health app to allow passengers to connect with a doctor aboard the ship.

Most of the passengers have smartphones purchased from outside Japan, which means the aforementioned app wont be available in their App stores/ Google Play Store. The phones are loaded with Softbanks service to give them access to the app as well as data aboard the ship.

Twitter: @masujun

Passengers aboard the Diamond Princess are asked to stay in their cabins throughout the day with just a few minutes of access to step out on the deck -- whilst wearing masks and maintaining a distance of at least three feet between each other.



People who show symptoms are put in a quarantine section aboard the ship, away from the passengers to limit the spreading of the novel coronavirus.

With the disease claiming over 1700 lives in China and infecting over 70,000 people in China, the incident aboard the Diamond Princess with over 350 infected is the largest cluster of cases outside of China.

Reuters

On Sunday, the U.S Government sent aircraft to retrieve around Americans trapped aboard the ship. They were transported to an airport in Tokyo, from where they travelled in a chartered aircraft for Travis Air Force Base in California, where theyll be under a 14-day quarantine.

The quarantine imposed on Diamond Princess cruise ship is set to end on February 19.
A woman kept a photograph of a "distressed" schoolteacher who was tied to a chair before he was killed by a truck on a northern New South Wales highway.

Police allegedly found the photo of Anthony Stott on Lauren Clair Grainger's phone while investigating how he was struck while walking along the M1 near Cudgera Creek on February 10.

School teacher Anthony Stott, who was hit by a truck on the M1.

Grainger, 39, initially denied knowing the Brisbane-based school teacher had been at the Kanes Road property she shared with Mark Francis Frost, 46.

However, the photo on her mobile allegedly showed Mr Stott tied to a distinctive white chair.
Prince Harrys upcoming series on mental health has involved visits to UK-based hospitals and treatment centres, a charity has confirmed.

Combat Stress, which helps military veterans struggling with anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and other issues, said it had been involving in filming for the series with Oprah Winfrey, to be broadcast on Apple TV later this year.

Meghan Markle is also thought to have been involved with the production.

The sixth-in-line to the throne has recently opened up about his struggles with mental health, and revealed he needed counselling after the death of his mother, Princess Diana.

Prince Harry's new series on mental health has involved visits to UK-based hospitals and mental health centres, charity Combat Stress confirmed. Meghan Markle is also thought to be involved. The couple are pictured together visiting Canada House in London last year

The series is been made with Oprah Winfrey for Apple TV and is due to be broadcast this year (She is pictured at the launch)

A spokesperson for Combat Stress confirmed the charity had been involved in filming, and said that visits to UK-based hospitals and health centres have taken place.

The leading mental health charity has three treatment centres in Britain, based in Newport, Shropshire, Hollybush, Ayr and Leatherhead, Surrey.

The charity's patron is Harry's father, Prince Charles. He launched the 'At Ease Appeal' last year, which aims to raise 10million to help fund treatment for mental health and transform how mental health services are delivered by 2022.

Buckingham Palace refused to reveal details of the upcoming series to MailOnline tonight.

The Royal Foundation, which has the Duke and Duchess of Sussex alongside the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as its patrons, has set up several mental health initiatives.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex pictured at the launch of mental health charity Shout last year, which offers a 24/7 text helpline for those suffering a mental health emergency

Combat Stress's patron is Prince Harry's father, Prince Charles. He launched an initiative to raise 10million for the vital charity by 2022 last year (pictured)

It helped launch Heads Together, a campaign to tackle stigma and change the conversation around mental health, and Contact, which aims to help members of the armed forces access mental health and support.

The Duke and Duchess also attended the launch of mental health charity Shout last year, backed by the Royal Foundation among others, which offers a 24/7 text service to those struggling with mental health issues.

Prince Harry and Meghan revealed their plan to split from the Royal Foundation and establish their own foundation in June 2019, six months before they decided to step back from the royal family.

RadicalMedia, which was appointed to make Prince Harry's upcoming series, has offices in London, Los Angeles, New York, Berlin and Shanghai.

Prince Harry announced he was involved with making the series in April last year.

The dynamic multi-part documentary series will focus on both mental illness and mental wellness, inspiring viewers to have an honest conversation about the challenges each of us faces, and how to equip ourselves with the tools to not simply survive, but to thrive, a statement on SussexRoyal Instagram account says.

This commitment builds on The Duke of Sussexs long-standing work on issues and initiatives regarding mental health, where he has candidly shared personal experience experience and advocated for those who silently suffer, empowering them to get the help and support they deserve.

Prince Harry pictured at the launch of mental health charity Shout in May last year. Meghan Markle is pictured behind him

A message posted on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's Instagram page announcing the launch of Prince Harry's mental health series with Oprah Winfrey

Kensington Palace said in April: We are excited to announce that The Duke of Sussex and Oprah Winfrey are partners, co-creators and executive producers on their forthcoming mental health series launching on Apple in 2020.

The pair have been developing the series for several months and are looking forward to sharing such an important project on this global platform (Apple TV).

The multi-part series aims to encourage viewers to talk about mental health and provide advice on how to cope with mental health problems.
He has long been interested in nature, the outdoors and the environment.

In 2013, two years after his retirement, his wife pointed out an item in the Sierra Club magazine about an opportunity to do volunteer work in natural areas. He decided to give it a try, and that first year he traveled to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon (the less-traveled side) to clean up "downfall" such as fallen tree limbs that posed a fire danger. He also raked pine cones and needles away from buildings in the built-up area.

After that first experience, Meier was hooked, and he has gone on trips twice every summer since then for a total of 13. He missed last summer because he had a heart attack a week before his departure date. But following surgery, he is revascularized and back at it, he said.

This summer, he intends to participate in the archaeological survey in Utah that he missed out on last year and return to the Yosemite National Park area of California with his daughter, Ellen, who has accompanied him on several previous trips.

While Meier began with the Sierra Club and still does some of those trips, most have been with a group called Wilderness Volunteers. "And when they say it will be a 'rustic' experience, that is an understatement," he said.
Samsung's new foldable Galaxy Z Flip smartphone has come under fire yet again over the durability of the handset.

One noted reviewer posted a video on YouTube where he claims it does not have a glass screen as advertised.

YouTuber Jerry Rig Everything, who performs durability tests on newly-released phones, found the surface became scratched from a fingernail.

He also called into question the legibility of Samsung's 'glass screen' claims.

Scroll down for video

Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip (pictured) was the first product announced at Samsung's 'Unpacked' product event on Tuesday and comes with several new tricks, including the ability to fold and stay at 90-degrees for a hands-free experience

His video review shows the screen's sensitivity to pressure, including lasting damage from finger marks and open flames. These would not appear on glass but did show up on the Z Flip.

GALAXY Z FLIP SPECS Display: Main Display 6.7' FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED Display(21.9:9) Infinity Flex Display 2636 x 1080 425ppi Cover Display: 1.1' Super AMOLED Display 300 x 112 303ppi Dimension & Weight Folded: 73.6 x 87.4 x 17.3mm (Hinge) - 15.4mm (Sagging) Unfolded 73.6 x 167.3 x 7.2mm - 6.9mm (Screen) Weight: 183 g Camera Front Camera: 10MP Selfie Camera: F2.4 Pixel size: 1.22m FOV: 80  Rear Dual Camera: 12MP Ultra Wide Camera: F2.2 Pixel size: 1.12m FOV: 123  12MP Wide-angle Camera: Super Speed Dual Pixel AF, OIS, F1.8 Pixel size: 1.4m FOV: 78  AP: 7  64-bit Octa-Core Processor  2.95  (Maximum Clock Speed) + 2.41  + 1.78  Memory: 8GB RAM with 256GB internal storage Charging: Fast Charging compatible via power cord and wireless OS: Android 10 Advertisement

The phone has been dubbed the world's first smartphone with a foldable glass screen and was unveiled last week at Samsung's Unpacked event in San Francisco.

The 1,300 luxury device is the first ever commercially-available folding phone to have a horizontal crease across the centre.

It's Samsung's second folding smartphone after last year's Galaxy Fold.

'Samsung is calling this glass but this display clearly doesn't have the scratch resistance or structural benefits that customers are expecting from glass,' Jerry Rig Everything said in his review.

'We shouldn't be calling this screen glass when clearly my fingernail is leaving marks on the surface.

'I don't know what material this is but Samsung definitely shouldn't be calling it glass and I'm disappointed.'

After testing the display with a series of Mohs hardness picks, Jerry Rig Everything says that the so-called 'glass screen' is likely made with a combination of plastic and glass in his video review, which was posted at the weekend.

'This screen is in no way scratch-resistant whatsoever,' he says.

In a cryptic statement provided to The Verge, Samsung said: 'Galaxy Z Flip features an Infinity Flex Display with Samsung's Ultra Thin Glass (UTG) to deliver a sleek, premium look and offer an immersive viewing experience.

'Samsung's first-of-its-kind UTG technology is different from other Galaxy flagship devices.

'While the display does bend, it should be handled with care. Also, Galaxy Z Flip has a protective layer on top of the UTG similar to Galaxy Fold.'

The YouTuber's scathing review continued: 'The real danger of calling something glass means that people will think they have the protection of glass when that clearly is not the case.

'Glass distributes pressure along the whole phone, while this plastic allows that pressure to get in and damage pixels.

Once unfolded, the main screen appears to separate into a video display section and a control panel

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

Jerry Rig Everything also tested the screen's 'puncture points' and found he was able to destroy a whole line of pixels.

Each puncture point creates a black spot of dead pixels that can spread across the device simply when force is applied by the finger.

'A puncture or cut in the plastic screen is a cancer that will eventually spread across the whole display,' he says.

The phone also shows a permanent orange mark from the application of an open flame, which wouldn't have appeared if the screen was true glass, the YouTuber contends.

Elsewhere in the video, the Galaxy Z Flip's fingerprint reader on the side of the phone stops working after a few scratches, while the phone hinge on the back initially does a good job of preventing the phone from folding backwards.

After more force is applied, the back panel shatters into tiny pieces  although the display still works.

The base of the phone once folded shows the Samsung logo embossed in the metallic base

On the plus side, the mirror-like metal shell that covers the phone appears to show good resistance to the tip of a knife, as does the scratch-resistant glass that covers the rear camera.

At its unveiling event for the phone last week, Samsung said the Galaxy Z Flip 'not only bends glass, but bends physics'.

The Korean tech giant maintains that the glass screen withstand more than 200,000 times  or 182 times a day for three years.

However, the company advises that Galaxy Z Flip users should handle the phone with at least a degree of delicacy.

When users start up the phone, the screen shows a warning that advises users not to press hard on the screen.

It reads: 'When you fold the phone, make sure there's nothing inside that could damage the screen, such as cards, coins or keys.

'Your phone isn't water or dust resistant. Don't allow any liquids or small particles to enter it.'

The Galaxy Z Flip comes in black, purple or gold and relays video calls while folded at various angles.

Galaxy Z Flip users can bend the device at a 90-degree angle for taking videos and pictures and enjoying video-chat hands-free.

The phone folds up to reveal a compact square that can fit easily in a user's pocket, while the back of the hinge shows the embossed Samsung logo.

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.
Kentucky to pay atheist over $150K for rejecting 'IM GOD' license plate

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

A federal judge ruled last week that the state of Kentucky violated the First Amendment by denying an atheist a license plate saying IM GOD, and has ordered the state to pay more than $150,000 in legal fees to the attorneys who represented the lawsuit.

Freedom From Religion Foundation and American Civil Liberties Union-Kentucky attorneys represented Kenton County resident Ben Hart, a Postal Service retiree, and an atheist, and they will be paid for the work they performed for the lawsuit.

Groups such as ours have to put in a lot of work to ensure the constitutional rights of ordinary folks, FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said in a statement. We truly appreciate that the court recognizes this.

Last November, a federal judge allowed Hart to obtain the personalized license plate, ruling that the Transportation Cabinets denial of that plate violated the First Amendment. To allow such plates as IM4GOD AND LUVGOD but reject IMGOD belies viewpoint neutrality, U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove said.

According to FFRF, Hart was raised in a religious family but began questioning religion as a child and now identifies as an atheist.

Hart moved to Kentucky in February 2016, and in March, he received a letter from Kentuckys Division of Motor Vehicle Licensing about the rejection of his application for the "IM GOD" plate. According to the letter, the IM GOD plate was considered in violation of laws against vulgar or obscene license plate messages.

Senior Counsel J. Todd Ship of the Kentucky's Office of Legal Services had said in a letter that the use of IM GOD is not in good taste and would create the potential of distraction to other drivers and possibly confrontations.

FFRF and ACLU of Kentucky member Hart sued the secretary of the states Transportation Cabinet in November 2016 over being denied the vanity license plate.

The Defendants acts, practices and policies constitute an impermissible infringement of Plaintiff's right to free speech, as-applied to Plaintiff's intended future speech in the form of a personalized license plate stating IM GOD, read the lawsuit.

[T]he threat of repeated enforcement by Defendant ... to deny Plaintiffs future application impermissibly discriminates against Plaintiffs speech on the basis of content and/or viewpoint, and has chilled and continues to chill Plaintiff's protected speech, thereby depriving him of rights secured by the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.

In an earlier statement, Hart said, I simply want the same opportunity to select a personal message for my license plate just as any other driver There is nothing obscene or vulgar about my view that religious beliefs are subject to individual interpretation.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Britain will not be threatened into following EU rules in the future by talk of economic rifts and is ready to trade with the bloc on basic international terms if needs be, Prime Minister Boris Johnsons Europe adviser said on Monday.

Britain left the EU last month and the two sides will now start negotiating a new relationship from trade to security.

We are not frightened by suggestions there will be trade frictions, David Frost told a lecture at a Brussels university. We are not asking for anything special, we are asking for a simple free trade agreement.

Should that not be possible because of the blocs insistence that Britain aligns itself with EU rules ahead, London was ready to trade with the 27-union according to the same basic international rules as Europe now follows with Australia.

The speech came as a response to one delivered recently in London by a top EU official, Ursula von der Leyen, who called on Johnson to agree to so-called level playing field guarantees of fair competition based on ambitious environmental and labor standards.

For access to its market in the future, the EU demands these level playing field clauses to protect itself from any dumping from the British side.

It is central to our vision that we must have the ability to set laws that suit us, Frost said. To think that we might accept EU supervision on so-called level playing field issues simply fails to see the point of what we are doing.

Frost, who described himself in the lecture as one of the few Brexit voting diplomats in the UK, said Britain would not extend the current, status-quo Brexit transition period that runs until the end of this year.

Frost, who said Britain would set out its own state aid system after the transition ends, described how he started his early career in the EU hub Brussels as a euro-enthusiast but soon became disillusioned.

He said that any easing of the Johnson governments Brexit stance would not be supported by the general public at home and that the EU must treat Britain as an equal if it wants to have a durable and sustainable new partnership.

He said it was perfectly possible for the EU and Britain to be economic competitors but political allies.
 Flash

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday that his administration will never negotiate with the United States under "maximum pressure."

"Iran will never negotiate in a weak position. We will make the enemy come to the negotiating table in a fair condition," Rouhani said at a press conference.

"The path ahead for the Iranians is the path of resistance against the U.S. pressures," he added.

Despite "sanction impacts on the livelihood of the people," the Iranians have overcome the pressures, the Iranian president noted.

Rouhani urged the United States to return to the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action (JCPOA), and remove sanctions against the Islamic republic.

"If this happens, we are ready for talks with the United States within the framework of JCPOA," he said.

Since its unilateral exit from the Iranian nuclear deal in May 2018, Washington has been mounting pressure on Tehran through a series of sanctions.




(Alliance News) - Sylvania Platinum Ltd on Monday reported the departure of long-serving boss Terry McConnachie after an "excellent" first half.

McConnachie will be stepping down at the end of February. He first joined Sylvania as managing director in 2006, and under his tenure Sylvania's dump operations have grown front one plant to seven operations, and it paid its first dividend in 2018.

He will be replaced by Jaco Prinsloo, who has most recently been managing director of Sylvania's South African operations. Before joining Sylvania, Prinsloo worked at Anglo American PLC.

Sylvania also announced a new chief financial officer on Monday, Lewanne Carminati, who has been in the role of executive officer of finance for South Africa since 2011.

"Terry's contribution to Sylvania over the years has been immense, whilst riding out one of the longest and most difficult downturns in the platinum group metals industry. With his hands-on and entrepreneurial leadership style, Sylvania has grown into one of the world's lowest-cost platinum group metal producers. On behalf of the board, I wish to thank Terry for this legacy," said Chair Stuart Murray.

"Although Terry leaves the company in excellent shape and in good hands, I am nevertheless pleased to advise that Sylvania will continue to have access to Terry's counsel and expertise, as he will assist in an advisory capacity for a minimum 12-month period. This will provide continuity for Sylvania and contribute to the bedding down of the new chrome/coal pelletising joint venture project that was highlighted in my chair's statement in the financial 2019 annual report," Murray added.

Sylvania's revenue for the six months to December surged 84% to USD59.0 million, with pretax profit multiplying to USD33.7 million from USD9.3 million.

Sylvania said profitability has been helped by current PGM prices, as well as an 18% rise in production to 40,003 PGM ounces.

Sylvania has dump operations in South Africa, which comprise of seven platinum group metal recovery plants that treat tailings from surrounding mines on the Bushveld complex. It also owns exploration targets on South Africa's Northern Limb.

"I am pleased to present the half-year results to our shareholders and commend our management and operations teams for the record first-half performance they have achieved, despite the period being known for its challenges experienced due to disruptions relating to the holiday period shut down as well as the additional issues relating to power and water supply constraints," said outgoing CEO McConnachie.

"It is evident the corrective action and implementation of various improvement measures to address challenges experienced during the previous financial year are now showing results and management and the board remain confident the operations should achieve the previously announced guidance for production of 74,000 PGM ounces to 76,000 ounces," he continued.

"Whilst the results for the first half are excellent, the board is mindful of the potential challenges ahead and have therefore decided not to increase guidance until further clarity is obtained."

At the end of January, Sylvania had warned problems such as power and water supply in South Africa were hindering operations.

By George Collard; georgecollard@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Chuang Tzu was a great disciple of Lao Tzu and an enlightened mystic in his own right. His teaching was mystical and at the same time, deeply immersed within everyday life. He was a master storyteller and his parables were unique and thought-provoking, pointing to deeper issues of life.

For example, read this story, it is so unique and original: Once I, Chuang Tzu, dreamed I was a butterfly and was happy as a butterfly. I was conscious that I was quite pleased with myself, but I did not know that I was Chuang Tzu. Suddenly I awoke, and there was I, visibly Chuang Tzu. Now, I have a great problem that I am unable to solve. I do not know whether it was Chuang Tzu dreaming that he was a butterfly or the butterfly dreaming that he was Chuang Tzu. Between Chuang Tzu and the butterfly, who am I?

Such paradoxes revealed by Chaung Tzu remind us of Ulatbaansis of the Indian mystic Kabir, who talks of the paradoxes with such words: Ek Achambha Hamne Dekha, Nadiya Laagi Aag. Or this one that is even more difficult for the mind to understand: When a drop merges into the ocean, everyone understands it. But when the ocean merges into the drop, seldom does one understand it.

The true mystics have a wonderful way of taking us beyond our worldly mind  into the realm of higher consciousness, where the mind is left far behind, or one can say, where there is no-mind space, and where there is no ego also. Our ego functions as a great Chinese wall and makes it difficult to relate cordially with others. Chuang Tzu tells us the secret of Tao: How does the true man of Tao/ Walk through walls without obstruction/ And stand in fire without being burnt?/ Not because of cunning or daring/ Not because he has learned  But because he has unlearned./ His nature sinks to his root in the one./ His vitality, his power/ Hide in secret Tao.

Osho explains this: If you dont have any obstruction within you, no obstruction can obstruct you. This is the rule. If you have no resistance within you, in your heart, the whole world is open for you. There is no resistance. The world is just a reflection, it is a big mirror; if you have resistance, then the whole world has resistance.

This is very difficult for the ego to understand. Ego is the wall within us and ego is the main resistance. Ego is in conflict with others, and others are also not without ego. This is the reason that the world is full of violence. And a violent man is violent not only towards others, he is violent towards nature also. This is the basic cause of the destruction of nature.
Air India's disinvestment will not face any problems this time as the interest shown by prospective buyers has been reassuring, Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Monday. He said the government wants Air India to keep flying as a brand for years to come.

The minister also assured the employees at Air India that their requirements would be foremost in the airline and factored in whatever arrangement is decided with the successor.

In the Preliminary Information Memorandum issued a few weeks ago for Air India's stake sale, the government had stated that the brand name would have to kept as it is by the future owner.

"The strongest support that you have on your future comes from the government. We not only want to keep Air India flying as a brand but we want to ensure that continued operation will end the uncertainty of last many years," Puri said at an event here.

The fact that Air India has been facing financial challenges is not something that is unknown, he added.

"I don't think anyone can run an airline without the people that actually make it," Puri said.

"Somebody asks what will happen to the staff. The staff will be required by whoever will be the new entity managing or owning it. There has been no recruitment for how many years. There is no surplus staff," he said.

"Don't ever be under the impression that this time around, there will be any problems (in disinvestment). There will not be. The amount of interest I am seeing in the acquisition and the quarters from where I am seeing it, I am reassured," he added.

Various employee unions of Air India in the last few months have expressed uncertainty about their future as the government has moved ahead with the stake sale plan.

"Whoever are the eligible bidders, the requirement of the staff the people who run the airline would be foremost," the minister said.

Addressing the concerns of employees, he said, "Your good work is not only being appreciated but will also be factored into the successor arrangement which will come in after this.
Opposition Samajwadi Party, the BSP and the Congress staged a walkout in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on Monday as they accused the BJP-led state government of being "insensitive" towards Dalits following the recent caste clashes in Mangta village where 25 people were injured.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, however, dismissed the allegation and said every incident should not be seen through a "political prism" and local disputes should be resolved "locally".

The matter was raised during Zero Hour by BSP leader Lalji Verma, who alleged that the state government was insensitive towards Dalits and demanded compensation to the victims.

Congress leader Aradhana Mishra Mona also joined him and termed the incident as serious.

Twenty-five people were injured in clashes that broke out between two groups in Mangta village here in Kanpur Dehat district on February 13.

According to media reports, the two groups allegedly clashed during the 'Bhim Shobha Yatra', which was being taken out after the culmination of 'Bhim Katha', organised by members of the Scheduled Caste community.

The police said they have arrested 11 people in connection with the incident.

Rubbishing the opposition charges, Adityanath said, "The incident arose from a local dispute among villagers".

He advised the opposition members not to "add fuel to fire" and allow peace to prevail.

"Every incident should not be seen through a political prism. The administration officials are camping in the village and the government is committed to provide security to the people. Timely action was taken by the police and arrests were also made," the chief minister said.

He also said compensation was promptly paid to those affected as per the provisions under the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and there was no need for opposition members to recommend doles for the victims.

Dissatisfied with the reply, opposition SP, BSP and Congress staged a walkout from the House.

Superintendent of Police (Kanpur Dehat), Anurag Vats had said children belonging to the upper caste tore a poster of Dr B R Ambedkar that led to clashes between the two groups.

Reacting to the incident, Congress general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh East, Priyanka Gandhi had tweeted in Hindi, "In Mangta village of Kanpur Dehat, Dalits reciting Bhim Katha were attacked by bullies. Several people are hospitalised".

"Be it Shabbirpur or Mangta incident, the BJP government did not listen to the victims' families. The BJP has attacked the Constitution and now the attacks are even happening on recitation of Babasaheb story," she said.

Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party members also tried to stall the proceedings over alleged threat call to party chief Akhilesh Yadav.

As soon as the House met for the day, Leader of the Opposition Ram Govind Chaudhary of Samajwadi Party demanded immediate discussion on the matter, but the Chair did not allow the same.

Responding to Chaudhary, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna, however, said Akhilesh Yadav had been provided 'Z-Plus' category security which comprises 182 security personnel led by an Additional SP rank officer, circle officer, six inspectors, 14 sub-inspectors besides CoBRA commando jawans.

The SP chief had recently claimed that he received a threat message from a BJP leader after a youth shouted "Jai Shri Ram" at one of the gatherings addressed by him.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Medical team members cheer for themselves at the Guiyang Longdongbao International Airport in Guiyang, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Feb. 16, 2020. A medical team comprised of 137 medical workers from Guizhou left for Wuhan on Sunday to aid the novel coronavirus control efforts there. (Xinhua/Tao Liang)
Vijayawada: Under fire from rival political parties, especially the ruling YSRC, in the aftermath of income tax raids on P. Srinivas, former personal secretary of Telugu Desam supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu, the Telugu Desam has produced the panchanama report of the Income Tax department, showing possession of cash of Rs 2.63 lakh and a few tolas of gold on his premises.

The Income-Tax department official press release on Friday said stated that the preliminary investigation from raids on three infrastructure companies, and a former personal secretary of a prominent person (Mr Naidu), combined, revealed siphoning of Rs 2,000 crore. The ruling YSR Congress launched a scathing attack alleging that it was Mr Naidu who primarily benefited out of the siphoned money.

The two panchanama reports purported to have been issued by the IT department to Mr Srinivas started doing rounds on social media since Sunday morning.

Taking a cue from these, former minister and senior TD leader Yanamala Ramakrishnudu demanded that the ruling party and media outlets belonging to Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy should apologise to Mr Naidu for spreading false news.

Ramakrishnudu told mediapersons that YSRC party leader and media house owned by CM Reddy magnified I-T raids on the former PS. They propagated that Rs 2,000 crore was seized in cash when I-T sleuths actually only found only Rs 2 lakh whereas the projected money was routed through 26 bogus companies.

It would be better if they change their partys name to Liar Congress, Mr Ramakrishnudu said, adding that the party was considering proceeding against the YSRC party leaders and media house legally. Meanwhile, the appearance of panchanama report on social media and TD picking it up as a basis to defend Mr Naidu raised many an eyebrow. The former personal secretary to former chief minister Naidu is a state government employee, who is currently posted in the planning department.
Bringing the iconic character of Mr India back to the screens, 'Bharat' director Ali Abbas Zafar is all set to make a trilogy based on the classic film - 'Mr India' - in collaboration with the production company Zee Studios.

After a lot of speculations around the trilogy, the director made the announcement on Monday.

"Excited to partner with @ZeeStudios_for an epic trilogy #MrIndia! It is a huge responsibility to carry forward an iconic character loved by everyone. Currently, working on the script, no actor has been locked till now. Once we lock the first draft of the script, casting begins!" tweeted the director.

Zafar is currently working on the script of the film and will soon sign in actors and technicians for the film after completing the script.

The original film 'Mr India' that featured Anil Kapoor in the lead was one of the first sci-fi films of Indian cinema and was released in 1987.

The Shekhar Kapur directorial introduced several iconic characters like that of Mr India and Mogambo that continue to be etched in the hearts of cinema lovers.

'Mr. India' tells the story of a poor but big-hearted man (Anil) who gives shelter to orphans. After discovering his scientist father's invention of a device that would make its user invisible, he fights to save the children and the country from a villain named Mogambo, an unforgettable portrayal by late actor Amrish Puri.

The film garnered a lot of appreciation from critics as well as the audiences at the time of its release and even after 23 years of its release, it continues to be one of the most iconic Bollywood films.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Fourteen people who had tested positive for the new coronavirus were among the more than 300 US citizens and family members evacuated by plane from a quarantined ship in Japan, the US State Department said Monday.

The passengers had already disembarked from the Diamond Princess and were preparing to return to the United States on chartered aircraft when US officials were informed 14 of them who had been tested days earlier were positive for COVID-19, it said in a joint statement with the Department of Health and Human Services.

"These individuals were moved in the most expeditious and safe manner to a specialized containment area on the evacuation aircraft to isolate them in accordance with standard protocols," it said.

"During the flights, these individuals will continue to be isolated from the other passengers." The first flight is due to land shortly at a US Air Force base in California, where all passengers will undergo 14 days quarantine.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Leading alcoholic herbal drink brand, Adonko Bitters has unveiled top celebrities and influencers as brand ambassadors. The official signing which took place at The Oriental Hotel, in Lekki on Thursday 13th February 2020, is an efficient move to maintain the link with key target audience and as leader in the herbal beverages industry, it creates a flawless visibility across board.

The brand ambassadors unveiling was hosted by Ghanaian - Actress, Tv and Radio Host Selly Galley. The choice of these ambassadors is a bid to create a consistent connection between the customer and the brand. They have proven over the years to have a distinct relationship with different categories of the target audience. To this end, they will individually represent the brand at different levels and maintain excellent relationships with key audiences. This will further create more presence for the brand amongst key consumers in the market.

Representing Adonko Bittles Limited were, Head of International Marketing Adonko Bitters - Vincent Opare, Mr Enest Gyamfi -Head of Sales, as well as Ernest Brobbey Country Manager Nigeria Adonko Bitters.

Speaking at the event, the country manager Ernest Brobbey stated that We are very excited to reach out to our core target audience through these amazing talents; it is a partnership that will be impactful, seeing that these ones have had excellent results in their different fields and the passion they put in their careers. One of the things we stand for as a brand is to create a bond with our customers and this I believe is one of the ways to do that. Adonko Bitters is well taken in the Nigerian market and I believe with these new development, we are on the right track to creating amazing experiences with our partners, and consumers

Adonko Bitters has been a major player in the herbal beverages sector, with its unique blend of herbal mixtures and alcohol. Given that the herbs have health benefits to the body, including being anti-malaria, libido boosting, and helping ease of menstrual cramps amongst many others. The brand has thrived through the market on this unique identity and the customers have created a relationship with the drink and its taste. Having created a huge impact in Ghana before launching in Nigeria, Adonko Bitters has consistently created an experience that puts utmost satisfaction on the consumers faces.

About Adonko

Agya Adonko: The Master Mixologist, Agya Adonko, prepares the finest herbal alcoholic beverage you have come to know as Adonko Bitters. As a young herbalist in the 70s selling herbs on the streets of Kumasi, Accra and across the country, his herbal practise sought to help people with several ailments and diseases for decades.

Yet, he had always been interested in preserving such herbal concoctions in the form of alcoholic beverages. Thus, given the opportunity, Agya Adonko blends eleven different types of herbs carefully handpicked from deep within many of Ghanas virgin rainforests. He also came up with the name Adonko to compliment the great benefits of Adonko Bitters.

From 2015, Agya Adonko has been blending the ultimate alcoholic herbal beverage in Ghana to great reviews from across the West African sub-region.
Their Special Forces team was back in Afghanistan just as peace talks were reaching a peak again, along with efforts to hold the line against the Taliban in the field and pressure them to stay at the negotiating table.

In Shirzad district, in the eastern province of Nangarhar, the Afghan Army had pushed back the Taliban. But the operations were stuck. So on Feb. 8, a group of Afghan commandos accompanied by the Green Berets arrived early in the morning in helicopters to see if they could help, according to interviews with more than a dozen Afghan and American officials.

The Afghan Army battalion had taken up as their base a two-story building that resembled office space more than military barracks. It was struck by a double car-bombing last year, so the belts of security around it had expanded. American soldiers climbed the towers around the base right away, keeping guard the whole time they were there.

Among the battalions soldiers was Sergeant Jawed, a six-year veteran of the Afghan Army and the oldest son of a brick layer. He left school in 10th grade, faked an ID that bumped his age by two years, and joined the security forces like several other of his relatives. For $200 a month, the army sent him to fight the Taliban.

Image An undated photo of the shooter, Sergeant Jawed.

He got married, and he and his wife had their first child, a boy, three months ago. Sergeant Jawed had managed a transfer just an hours drive from home but, busy with the fighting in Shirzad, had not been able to go home to meet him yet.

By dusk that day, the work of the Afghan commandos and their American Special Forces partners was over. They had met the leaders, gone over operation plans. They walked out of the building, into the compound yard, waiting for their helicopters to take them away. The sun had just gone down.
The digital/online Haj process



has fulfilled the dream of "Ease of doing Haj" for the Indian Muslims, Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said here on Monday.

Addressing a training programme of Haj 2020 trainers at Haj House in south Mumbai, Naqvi said the unprecedented reforms undertaken by the Modi government ensured that the entire Haj process has been made digital and transparent and the Haj pilgrimage has become affordable.

Making the Haj process 100 per cent digital/online has removed middlemen ensuring Haj pilgrimage becomes affordable in comparison to the cost incurred in last several decades, he said.

Even after removal of Haj subsidy, no additional financial burden has been put on the pilgrims, Naqvi said.

India has become the first country to make the entire Haj 2020 process 100 per cent digital, he said.

Online application, e-visa, Haj mobile app, E-MASIHA health facility, E-luggage pre-tagging providing information in India itself regarding accommodation/transportation in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina have been provided to Indian Muslims going for Haj, he said.

For the first time, facilities have been provided for digital pre-tagging of baggages of Haj pilgrims, he said.

Linking SIM card to the mobile app ensures Haj pilgrims immediately get the latest information regarding Haj in Mecca-Medina on their mobile phone, he said.

Haj Group Organisers (HGOs) have also been connected with the 100 per cent digital system which has ensured transparency in their functioning and this has also led to better facilities to Indian Haj pilgrims.

A portal (http://haj.nic.in/pto) for Haj Group Organisers has been developed. It contains details of HGOs and their packages, he said.

India in coordination with Saudi Arabia is working to ensure safety and better medical facilities for the pilgrims during Haj 2020, he said. This year, a total of two lakh Indian Muslims will perform Haj, that too without any subsidy, he said.

About 1.23 lakh Muslims will go through Haj Committee of India and remaining through Haj Group Organisers, he said. This year over 2100 Muslim women will go to Haj without Mehram (male companion), he said.

A total of 650 trainers participated in the training programme. They will train Haj pilgrims in their respective states regarding the pilgrimage, accommodation in Mecca and Medina, transport, health facilities and safety measures.

The trainers include a large number of women trainers. Officials from the Haj Committee of India, Customs, Air India, BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation, various banks and disaster management agencies guided the trainers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Want to see a cosmic magic trick?

Look to the sky early on Tuesday, and the crescent moon will make Mars disappear. Then about an hour later, the red planet will return, as if nothing ever happened.

This celestial event is known as a Moon-Mars occultation, and it occurs from some vantage point on Earth about twice a year, according to NASA. Skywatchers from much of North and Central America will have a front-row seat to Tuesdays occultation, and those along part of the West Coast will have an especially good view, with a chance to watch the entire show before sunrise.

This pre-dawn meetup is a useful preview of how Mars will be central to space exploration this year.

Three robotic rover missions are expected to launch to the red planet this summer  one built by NASA, a second by China and a third produced by a European-Russian collaboration. The United Arab Emirates will also launch a Mars mission, an uncrewed orbiter called Hope.
Online quotes can help drivers find better insurance deals and avoid insurance scams, said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company.

Car insurance is an important investment and no one should recklessly buy coverage without doing some research on the car insurance market.

Drivers that use online car insurance quotes will have the following advantages:



Get better insurance deals. The main reason for obtaining car insurance quotes is to help drives find affordable car insurance deals. Policyholders that will compare several quotes can find better deals that are cheaper with 5-10% of their current insurance costs. In most cases, drivers will save hundreds of dollars per year, but drivers that have multiple coverages and are driving expensive cars can save even thousands of dollars.

Online quotes can help drivers avoid scams. Insurance companies analyze multiple factors before granting coverage to someone. These factors are almost the same to all insurance companies and there are only a few small differences. Drivers that input the same data and ask for the same coverage, should not notice any great difference between insurance offers. If one insurance offer price is too low, then it might be a scam and drivers should avoid that company.

Online questionnaires are good negotiations simulators. The same questions that an insurance agent will ask during the negotiations can be found in the online questionnaires. Knowing this, drivers will be mentally prepared for the real negotiations. Also, drivers won't be caught unprepared and will know exactly what to answer and what documents they need to bring.

Compare-autoinsurance.org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc.

For more information and money-saving tips, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.org/.
(Natural News) World health authorities are about to commit a gross error that could literally end up costing millions of lives.

So far, 355 passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship have been diagnosed with coronavirus infections. As you may recall, this started from just one passenger, then grew to 10, then 30, and now more than 10% of the entire passenger manifest is infected.

The 3,000+ passengers have been quarantined on this cruise ship for 12 days. But the ship isnt a level-4 biohazard facility, and passengers are sharing the same recirculated cabin air  a critical realization, considering that coronavirus spreads through the air.

Two days from now, on Feb. 19th, the original 14-day quarantine comes to an end. All the remaining passengers who do not test positive for the coronavirus will be released by the government of Japan and allowed to board commercial flights to any city, anywhere in the world.

Whats wrong with this picture?

Cross-infected passengers may have just been infected today, and wont show symptoms for weeks

Consider the fact that thousands of people on board that ship may have been infected just yesterday, or today or tomorrow. They wont show symptoms for up to 24 days, and they wont test positive for the coronavirus until much later in the incubation period.

While some passengers are opting for government-chartered evacuation plans, others are about to board commercial planes and fly to their destinations across the world, all with zero quarantine protections. Once there, they wont be subjected to any further quarantine measures by their local governments, since they can claim theyve already been through a 14-day quarantine on board the ship (which is false, technically speaking, see below). A week or two later, they may develop full-blown symptoms, and during this entire incubation period, they may be spreading the virus to others in their local communities.

Apparently, no government health authorities have yet realized that a quarantine which allows shared air among the quarantine participants is no quarantine at all because cross-infections can be initiated during any day of the 14-day quarantine. A real 14-day quarantine must secure total isolation for all participants so that each individual is isolated from all others for the entire duration of the quarantine. Thats the only way you can know they arent infected. (And technically, it needs to be 24 days, not just 14.)

Yet that protocol is not being followed here.

A passenger from the Diamond Princess is about to take a commercial flight back to Marina del Rey, California, to the horror of informed Americans

As the New York Times now reports, a woman named Linda (we withhold her last name for her own privacy) says she cant wait to get off the ship and take a first class commercial flight back to Marina del Rey, California.

Via the NYT:

Some remained hesitant about whether to take the charter flight. Linda T-oto, 63, a retired retail manager from Marina del Rey, Calif., said she had signed up for the evacuation flight, but changed her mind at the last minute.

Ms. Toto stuck a Post-it note on her door reading: Im staying. Three military doctors came to her door and advised her to go. Their emphatic tone, she said, was scary, but she is standing her ground.

Id rather go home first class on United Airlines than a cold, noisy military charter when the Japanese Ministry of Health releases us, she said.

In just two days, the Japanese Ministry of Health will release Linda and thousands of other passengers, who will then proceed to take international flights to cities across the globe. Theres no question that many of those people will, of course, be asymptomatic carriers of the coronavirus. Their travel back to America, absent any further quarantine measures, places the continental United States at risk of an outbreak.

Utter incompetence of government health authorities will get many of us killed

Every rational, intelligent person knows that a 14-day quarantine doesnt count if you have infected people sharing air with non-infected people, combined with an airborne disease that has a 24-day potential incubation period. Just holding people on a ship for 14 days does absolutely nothing to guarantee that new people werent infected on day 13, for example.

Note carefully that the infections on the Diamond Princess currently represent about half of all the infections outside China. Clearly, the risk of yet more passengers being symptomless carriers is extremely high, yet health authorities are allowing these individuals to exit the ship in two days and walk right into public airports.

Yes, we feel extremely sorry for those individuals, and theyve been through a horrible ordeal as involuntary prisoners in a floating quarantine camp. But until theyve spent 24 days completely isolated from other potentially infected individuals, it isnt a real quarantine. Its just what I call medical theater.

Welcome to the world of medical theater where government authorities PRETEND to run quarantines that actually arent quarantines

So instead of carrying out a real quarantine, we have the theater of a quarantine. Its all being done to try to convince the public that really powerful, intelligent people who know what theyre doing are in charge and protecting us from germs. Yet, in reality, its being run by clueless, incompetent bureaucrats who seem to have little understanding of the very basic principles of how infectious disease spreads.

Sadly, we will all have to pay the price for their incompetence since it only takes 4-5 infected people to set off a sustained human-to-human outbreak in any given nation. It looks like that day will soon arrive for many nations far beyond China, thanks to Japanese health authorities earning an F in basic medical science.

Perhaps our world will revert back to the belief systems of five centuries earlier when no one believed in the existence of germs, and everybody just pretended that angry gods (or whatever) caused infectious disease. Praying to various gods would be no worse than pretending to run non-quarantine quarantine centers, it seems.

Thats why Ive said quarantine camps are really just elaborate death camps. Listen to my full podcast below to find out why:

Hear new, uncensored podcasts daily at the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com:

www.brighteon.com/channel/hrreport

And remember that the Health Ranger Store has been China free for nearly six years and counting.
By Anna J. Park



With the foreign language film 'Parasite' winning a historic four Oscars earlier this month, one of the beneficiaries of the buzz around the film is stocks in Korean food companies that produce items related to the film.



Those who watched the film would remember the iconic scene, where Mrs. Park  played by actress Cho Yeo-jeong  asked her housekeeper Mrs. Kim to make a bowl of "Chapaguri"  a twin ramen recipe mixing both black-bean sauce flavored "Chapaghetti" and seafood flavored spicy "Neoguri"  and finishes the dish quickly.



Thanks to such powerful imagery in the multi-award-winning film, food conglomerate Nongshim, the producer of long-time bestselling instant noodles "Chapaghetti" and "Neoguri," has seen its stock price soaring since the film started winning awards.







As the film won the four Oscars on Feb. 9, the stock price went up by 10.5 percent from 232,500 won ($196.35) on Feb. 7 to 257,000 on Feb. 14. The stock also continued its rally Monday, finishing at 260,000 won, up 1.17 percent from the previous close.



Another food manufacturer CJ Cheiljedang, a subsidiary of CJ holding company, also saw its stock price rise by 13.3 percent from 243,500 on Feb. 7 to 276,000 on Feb. 14, as CJ ENM, another affiliate of CJ holdings, receives media spotlight as the Bong Joon-ho film's main investor and distributor.



Shim Ji-hyeon, analyst at eBest Investment & Securities told The Korea Times that Nongshim's stock price increase is definitely in relation to the film's popularity, while CJ Cheiljledang's rise has other factors involved as well.



"It seems obvious that Nongshim's price hike has been attributed to the film's success. The food company's revenue result of the last quarter also falls into the expected market consensus range," Shim said.



"In addition, Nongshim has put forth its key strategy of promoting content-based exposures by proactively using SNS to lead trends among young generations around the globe. All these effects have generated the stock's current rally," she continued, adding that the case of CJ Cheiljedang seems to be more impacted by its positive revenue announcement than the film's success.



In a report Monday, Hana Financial Investment expects that Nongshim's revenue and operation profit will increase by 6.5 percent and 31.6 percent, , respectively, this year from a year ago.



The report also forecast that the sales in the U.S. by Korea's major food manufacturers, such as CJ Cheiljedang, Nongshim, Pulmuone and Samyang, will increase by 25.8 percent, 12.3 percent, 12.1 percent and 40.9 percent, respectively, based on improved brand awareness in the U.S. market.


A Delhi court Monday dismissed the bail plea of former Fortis Healthcare promoter Malvinder Singh, arrested for alleged misappropriation of funds at Religare Finvest Ltd.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gurmohina Kaur rejected the bail application, saying Malvinder was required to be kept in judicial custody for a proper investigation.

Malvinder (46); his brother Shivinder, also a former Fortis Healthcare promoter; former CMD of Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL) Sunil Godhwani (58); former CEO of REL Kavi Arora (48) and former CFO of RFL Anil Saxena were arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police for allegedly diverting RFL's money and investing in other companies.

The EOW registered an FIR in March last year after it received a complaint from RFL's Manpreet Suri against Shivinder, Godhwani and others, alleging that loans were taken by them while managing the firm but the money was invested in other companies.

"They put RFL in a poor financial condition by disbursing loans to companies with no financial standing and (which were) controlled by them. The companies to which the loans were disbursed willfully defaulted in repayments and caused a loss to RFL to the tune of Rs 2,397 crore," the police had alleged.

The police had earlier disputed Malvinder claims that he paid back the money to the entities concerned and said the money was still with RFL's holding company, RHC, controlled by him.

The police counsel claimed that loans were disbursed to shell companies known to the promoters and the ultimate beneficiary was Religare Holding Company (RHC), of which Malvinder and Shivinder are promoters.

Advocate Mohit Mathur, appearing for complainant Manpreet Suri of RFL, said that Malvinder as one of the promoters of RHC had siphoned off money that came to the RHC.

Malvinder had earlier told the court that he has paid back the money to the 14 entities through which he had received it.

Advocate Manu Sharma, appearing for Singh, had said that the EOW "cherry picked" him because of his affiliation with the family of spiritual head of the Radha Soami Satsang, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, who allegedly conspired with other co-accused in the case in allegedly carrying out financial fraud.

RFL owes money to RHC, Sharma said.

Senior advocate Nidhesh Gupta, appearing for Suri, had earlier told the court that loans were disbursed to shell companies known to the promoters and the ultimate beneficiary was RHC Holding company.

He had further claimed that unsecured loans had been given to shell entities without any due diligence as they were known to the promoters.

Gupta had alleged that documents showed the involvement of Shivinder in disbursal of unsecured loans to the shell companies which were further diverted to other companies and co-accused Malvinder, resulting in huge amount of public money being misappropriated.

RFL is a group firm of REL - Religare Enterprises Ltd, which was earlier promoted by Malvinder and his brother Shivinder.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ST.JOHNSVILLE, N.Y. --- A new wave of phone scams have resurfaced throughout our area. NEWSChannel 2 has received numerous calls and messages on our Facebook page from people who have almost fallen for one of the elaborate traps.

One person in St. Johnsville nearly lost all the money in her savings after receiving a terrifying call about their son in law.

Josephine Oliver of Fonda N.Y. said a man called claiming to be her son asking for $7,000 dollars in bail money. The person claimed he was in a two-car accident but couldn't talk well because of the injuries and was now in jail in Boston.

This upset Josephine so much, that she actually went to the bank and took out some of the money from her savings account.

A different person claiming to be the son inlaw's lawyer told her to fax over the transfer receipt so they could access the money and allegedly save her son-in-law from jail time.

"When I went to fax it I don't know if I didn't write the number down right because I was all upset at the time. But the fax would not go through," said Oliver.

It's a mistake that would ultimately save her after later finding out it was a scam. Josephine called her daughter who immediately told her to go to the bank and put a hold on the transfer. Josephine's daughter Julie called her husband John, who was not in Boston, and found out that he was okay.

Undersheriff Joe Lisi with the Oneida County Sheriff's Department said he wasn't surprised that she fell into the trap because these scams are now becoming so elaborate.

"They're very good at getting people to talk about their finances, if they owe money, and talk about relatives. If they say your nephew got into a bad accident or your nephew is in jail you might say which one, John? And now they know," said Lisi.

Lisi said Josephine was lucky, and that once the money is transferred, catching these scammers is nearly impossible.

"Most of these people are operating out of internet cafes in other parts of the world, not the country, the world. And that money gets sent into an account out of the country and then it's next to impossible to catch them once that money is released," said Lisi.

The Oneida County Sheriff's department urges people to stay vigilant as the scammers are still out there working to get your information.

They said that if you see a number that you don't recognize, don't answer. Lisi also said that scammers have the ability to change phone numbers to make them identical to law enforcement or collection agencies, so make sure you verify who you are talking to.

Lisi also encourages family members to talk to those who are elderly to make sure they are informed about these scams.
We need to rethink our approach to public safety, proclaims Elizabeth Warren, transitioning away from a punitive system. Given that prisons and jails are nothing if not punitive, it is incumbent on Warren to tell us just how she plans to deal with murderers, rapists, robbers, and other major offenders without punishing them. While you wont find a good answer to that question, even in Warrens comprehensive plan for criminal justice, her statement gives us a sense of the position on that issue of the Democratic presidential candidates  or at least most of them.

Warren, Sanders, and Buttigieg are not terribly interested in the traditional concern with reducing crime rates and protecting the public from criminal assaults (with the exception of female victims of rape and domestic violence). Rather, they would take steps to reform the criminal justice system  making it less punitive.

In a sense, this is understandable. The United States is still in a crime trough, with violent crime rates down 51 percent since 1991. When crime is low, pressures mount to reduce especially punitive measures, such as long prison sentences or the death penalty. Meanwhile, progressives are also motivated by the belief that the criminal-justice system is biased against African Americans, as a disproportionate number of them are in prisons and jails. Though blacks are roughly 13 percent of the United States population, they are 31 percent (see table 3 of the BJS report) of state prison inmates. (No one has convincingly demonstrated that this gap is the result of anything other than a disparity in crime rates, so the racism allegation is unsupported.)

The truth is that we are already in a period of retrenchment in criminal justice, a cutting back on arrests, prosecutions and incarceration. Imprisonment rates have fallen steadily since 2007, dropping by 15 percent. For African Americans the decline was 31 percent. The Democratic candidates for president have latched on to the cutback trend, some a lot more aggressively than others, whereas President Trump, to the extent that he takes a stance at all, has chosen a more traditional road, aiming at crime control rather than system reform.

Story continues

The risk in the Democrats leniency approach is that it may fuel another crime wave, a long-term crime boom, such as the terrible ordeal the country endured from the late 1960s to the early 1990s. The weakening of the system (fewer arrests and imprisonments, shorter sentences) was a major factor in the late 60s rise in crime. On the other hand, however, past crime booms have had multiple causes in addition to a weak criminal-justice system, such as a rise in the young male population. So far at least, these other crime correlates are not currently present.

Ill examine the central criminal-justice positions of the candidates in more detail momentarily, but first a word on impact and feasibility. Some of the Democratic proposals are minimalist. Take Amy Klobuchars plan to give the White House more control over federal clemency decisions and reduce the role of the Department of Justice. This will have very little impact on the criminal justice system. The president already has final and virtually absolute authority to reduce sentences  but only for federal prisoners, who are 12 percent of the U.S. prison population. If a President Klobuchar wanted to reduce some of these sentences, or even if she were to reduce thousands of them, as President Obama did in his final year in office, it would have no impact on the other 88 percent of the prison population. Furthermore, if she didnt want to heed the advice of the Justice Department but rather preferred a White House advisor to counsel her on clemencies, that would be her prerogative. This proposal is basically a yawner; no one should get exercised about it one way or the other.

At the other end of the spectrum are the maximalist proposals, which would have a major impact on the system  were they attainable. A good example is Pete Buttigiegs and Bernie Sanders endorsement of a 50 percent reduction in the number of people incarcerated in the United States. Such proposals are highly unlikely to garner enough public support to be enacted or, as is the case with some of the gun-control plans, will rouse the NRA and its supporters who would mobilize to block them.

Now for the proposals themselves. Ill begin by analyzing some proposals that are advanced by multiple candidates. Then, Ill turn to proposals that are unique to the individual candidates.

Where the Candidates Agree

Reducing incarceration. Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders propose to reduce by 50 percent the number of people incarcerated in the United States at both the federal and state level. This would be quite the lift. If by incarcerated they mean every prison (as opposed to jail) inmate, they would have to persuade the states (responsible for 88 percent of 1.5 million prisoners) to reduce the sentences for some very serious crimes, eliminate mandatory minimum sentences, and maybe even sharply curtail the use of recidivism as a sentencing criterion.

Since over half of all state prisoners are in for murder, rape, robbery or assault, and another 14 percent were sentenced for burglary, major theft or fraud, public enthusiasm for leniency would be limited. The public will be even less enthusiastic when they come to understand that three out of four prison inmates are repeat offenders. Of course, theres always the old left-wing standby of eliminating imprisonment for drug offenses, but drug possession accounts for only 3.5 percent of state prison populations. Wed have to free drug traffickers to downsize imprisonment a meaningful 11 percent.

If Buttigieg and Sanders were to include the jail population in their 50 percent solution (about 745,000 nationwide at any given point in time, but with very rapid and high turnover), they would have to find a way to reduce the number of arrests, perhaps by shrinking the size of police forces or curtailing arrests for quality-of-life offenses, such as aggressive panhandling or defacing public property. The most tempting option is bail reform by compelling local judges to release more defendants.

Bail reform. Bail reform is often billed as the antidote to discrimination against the poor, and Warren, Biden, and Sanders favor ending cash bail. Of course, nearly all street criminals  the vast bulk of offenders  are poor, and anything with a price tag hurts them more than the affluent. But that doesnt make bail discriminatory. Discrimination depends on intent, and defendants arent admitted to bail because theyre indigent, but rather because theyve been arrested and are likely to abscond or commit additional crimes. Besides, we dont know a better way to ensure justice and public safety. One-third of arrested defendants nationwide fail to show up for their court dates or do additional crimes once released (from 1990 through 2004, 33 percent of defendants were charged with committing one or more types of misconduct after being released, including failure-to-appear and rearrest). And thats without bail reform.

Its possible that governments can develop an algorithm to improve their release decisions, as New Jersey recently has attempted. But the final proof of effectiveness isnt in yet. The wrong way to do bail reform is New York States rigid new law that rather arbitrarily declares broad segments of the penal law bail-ineligible. This law will release thousands of arrested suspects, including, as I analyze it, many serious, violent and high flight risk defendants. I found at least 25 violent felonies for which judges are forced to put the just-arrested defendant right back on the streets. And my analysis didnt even include the many violent misdemeanors. This sort of bail reform will definitely reduce the population of New Yorks jails  if it survives without amendment, which I dont think likely. The results of the New York State bail reform  a slowly unfolding debacle  may well determine the future of this type of policy proposal.

Eliminating private prisons. Buttigieg, Biden, and Sanders want to eliminate or reduce privately run corrections, a proposal affecting only 8 percent of the prison population. Privatization seems to be a preoccupation among progressives, based on the specious claim that somehow, private prisons caused mass incarceration  a view pretty much demolished by law professor John Pfaff. There is modest evidence of cost savings with privatized prisons, a principal reason that governments rely on them. There is contradictory evidence regarding private corrections and recidivism. One study found somewhat longer prison stays before release from privately managed prisons as they have an incentive to keep cells occupied. But the study involved only one state (Mississippi), so it isnt at all clear that eliminating private prisons will reduce incarceration.

Curtailing mandatory minimums. All of the Democratic candidates want to curtail mandatory minimum sentences. These are sentences for certain crimes  usually violent crimes or drug trafficking  that remove sentencing discretion from the judge in order to prevent overly lenient or inconsistent punishments. A case for eliminating mandatory minimums for simple low-level drug possessions certainly can be made. But what about the mandatory sentences for crimes committed with guns?

Reducing the minimums instead of eliminating them is a feasible alternative. But since these are established by state as well as federal law, this proposal would require state-by-state buy-in, something no president could achieve on her own authority. Congress would have to bribe the states with grant money to get them to change their policies.

Decriminalizing cannabis. Warren, Biden, and Sanders all propose to decriminalize it federally. There is a pressing need to harmonize federal and state law. Cannabis is currently a Schedule 1 substance under the federal Controlled Substances Act, along with such drugs as ecstasy, LSD and heroin. This makes possession and distribution a federal crime  even if state law permits it for medicinal use or recreational sale. The national trend is toward legalization, but not all states favor this, perhaps recognizing the risk of more crime, more addiction, more DUI cases and road accidents, more use by underage teens, and user escalation to other, more dangerous drugs (the gateway theory of addiction).

That said, the federal government probably needs to get out of the marijuana business, except for multistate and international enforcement, and leave it to the states to resolve the question on their own. It isnt clear, however, that Sanders (or Biden or Warren) have this in mind.

Where the Candidates Differ

Joe Biden. Bidens main emphasis is on gun control, though he also endorses policy changes to reduce incarceration, which Ill get to shortly.

Biden favors a renewed ban on assault weapons: semi-automatic rifles and guns with high-capacity magazines. A ban was approved by Congress in 1994, but it expired ten years later. The 1994 ban did not reduce gun murders, which constitute over 70 percent of all homicides in the United States. The main reason for the lack of success is that the bulk of homicides occur in big cities and involve handguns which are easily concealed.

A second problem is that there are already thousands of these firearms in private hands, and a serious debate over a new ban would stimulate even more purchases. Bidens answer to this is a buy-back policy, under which police would offer cash or other benefits to anyone who turns in a gun. However, such policies are unlikely to work so long as possessors are wary of identifying themselves to police or they can readily obtain replacements for the surrendered firearm. Australia adopted a gun buy-back along with other firearm measures in 1996, but gun assaults did not decline.

Biden, Warren, and Donald Trump favor enhanced background checks for gun buyers  a policy notably omitted from Klobuchars, Buttigiegs and Sanderss campaigns. Sanders was attacked by Hillary Clinton for voting against a 1993 background-check bill, and for opposing civil liability for gun manufacturers in 2003 and 2005. So he may be avoiding the subject of gun control.

The other big criminal-justice issue for Biden involves reducing incarceration. Among other things, he favors prohibiting jail as a punishment for those who fail to pay fines. The problem is that we cannot differentiate with certainty defendants who cannot pay from those who simply refuse to pay, and if there is no jail for refusal to pay then there will be no incentive to pay fines at all. If judges resort to jail instead of fines this proposal will not reduce incarceration, though it may instead result in more sentences to probation instead of fines or incarceration.

Elizabeth Warren. Warren offers a different approach to Bidens proposal to prohibit jail as a punishment for the failure to pay fines: capping fines at a certain percentage of the defendants income. This is at odds with the standard criterion which ties the amount of the fine to the reprehensibility of the offense, not the means of the defendant (except for the relatively few affluent defendants, who get penalties at the high end of the scale). Many defendants have no regular jobs or verifiable income so it isnt clear how this would work. If fines are impermissible in this circumstance, jail or probation will be the only alternatives.

In keeping with her Ive got a plan for that candidacy, Elizabeth Warren also offers a long list of policy positions. Perhaps the most controversial are her ideas for restricting the police. She proposes the following:

investigate police departments with high rates of police violence and whenever there is a death in custody

incentivize state attorneys general to conduct police oversight; and create independent citizen review boards

restrict police use of force

end stop-and-frisk

end availability of surplus military weapons for police departments

expand funding for body cameras

Such rank-and-file police organizations as the PBA will strongly oppose most of these recommendations, especially citizen-review boards, which they once defeated after a bruising battle in New York City.

More generally, there is a risk of demoralization if elected officials try too aggressively to curtail the police. Officers may become reluctant to engage in proactive law enforcement for fear of charges or accusations against them. This could make big-city policing less effective and result in an increase in crime. It also could adversely impact the recruitment of new officers.

As for stop-and-frisk: While the New York City policy under Mayor Michael Bloomberg was overly aggressive, especially in black neighborhoods, police will continue to stop and question suspicious people, which they have the authority to do without probable cause to arrest. In fact, this is precisely the type of proactive policing that reduces crime. It isnt clear whether Warren wants to eliminate all stop-and-frisk  probably impossible and certainly unwise  or just the excessive policy that was once adopted in New York.

Bernie Sanders. The Vermont senator offers the following proposals, aside from those identified above:

eliminate solitary confinement

end the death penalty

increase funding for public defenders

With regard to solitary confinement: Long-term solitary confinement is used to isolate prison gangs or in some instances deal with obstreperous and violent inmates. A compelling case can be made that this is cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment, especially if it goes on for years. On the other hand, used short-term as a way of managing especially disruptive prisoners, it is an appropriate tool that corrections personnel need in order to do a very difficult job.

Meanwhile, the death penalty, which the Supreme Court declared constitutional in Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 (1976), is currently a matter of state choice. Sanders would have to appoint two anti-death-penalty justices to the Court in order to overturn Gregg and compel the states to abolish capital punishment. If this happened, we can expect an effort to reverse the Court through constitutional amendment.

* * *

Several Democratic candidates, especially Warren, Sanders and Buttigieg, want to sharply reduce the punitive effects of the criminal justice system. But punishment is the systems stock-in-trade. Whether we seek retribution, deterrence, or incapacitation, we dont know of a better way to achieve our ends than locking up criminals.

The Democrats, however, are more focused on what they consider the systems unfairness and injustices than on controlling crime. Some of their proposals are unrealistic, either because they are outside the authority of the federal government or are politically unattainable. Some of them risk increased threats to public safety. Nevertheless, even if they are only wish lists, these positions reveal the stark choices presented to the electorate  in criminal justice as in most other public-policy areas.

More from National Review
The Northeast Development Commission (NEDC), on Monday, took relief materials to the people of Auno, a village in Borno State, that came under attack by Boko Haram insurgents last week.

The attack left at least 30 stranded villagers killed.

The Managing Director of NEDC, Muhammed Alkali, said the trucks of food, bedding, and clothing were given to the partially displaced people of Auno, following the directive of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Faruq.

Ms Faruq, who visited Auno on Thursday to sympathise with the people, instructed the management of NEDC to conduct a needs assessment and ensure relief is taken to them.

So far so good, we have done the assessment, and the first step is to provide the food items, and non-food items to help them stabilise before we can begin to consider the need to provide them with means of livelihood, like support for them to return to their businesses, while we make arrangements to see how we can help them rebuild their destroyed homes. As you can see, some of the houses have been burnt.

The chairperson of State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Yabawa Kolo, had earlier said a total of 4000 persons, who make up 800 households, have been profiled and documented to benefit from the relief items.

She added that some members of the attacked community who fled to Auno would also be reached for further support.

She said the NEDC provided 1000 bags of rice, 1000 bags of beans, 5000 blankets, 1000 mattresses, 200 units of 5-litre cooking oil, 50 cartons of tomato paste, 50 cartons of Maggie cube, 50 pieces of plastic buckets and 1000 pieces of mats.

Abba Umar, the ward head of Auno, thanked the federal government for the quick response, saying that the relief items came at the time they are most needed.

One of the beneficiaries of the relief items, Ibrahim Abba-Alkali, expressed his relief, saying, we didnt have to wait in hunger for long before this relief got to us.

The icing on the cake of this effort should be the provision of security to protect our people here.

The ward head reiterated his call on the federal government to deploy security operatives to protect the town as most of the people who have fled are scared of returning.
Peter Szijjarto, the foreign affairs and trade minister, said Hungary could start importing natural gas from Azerbaijan from 2023 on.

Addressing a press conference after a meeting of the Hungary-Azerbaijan mixed economic committee, Szijjarto said the annual 1-2 billion cubic metres of gas Hungary would import from Azerbaijan would greatly boost the security of the countrys gas supply.



He said Hungarys purchase of Azeri gas had been made possible by the near completion of the southern gas corridor and Azerbaijans increase of its gas output which now exceeds 45 billion cubic metres a year.



Azerbaijan places great emphasis on increasing its gas delivery capacity which is set to exceed 30 billion cubic metres a year, Szijjarto said.



He highlighted an agreement between Hungarian oil and gas company MOL and the US company Chevron which resulted in MOL acquiring a 9.5% stake in the largest offshore Azeri oil field which also meant a nearly 9% stake in the largest oil pipeline of Azerbaijan and the Caucasus. He said this had been the largest Hungarian investment in the Caucasus.



Hungary offers 200 scholarships to Azeri students at universities each year, he said. Interest has been very high in this opportunity, with nearly 600 applicants this year, he added.



Azeri Minister of Labour and Social Protection Sahil Babayev said that Azerbaijan and Hungary were strategic partners in both politics and the economy.



He praised the scholarship scheme and added that nearly a thousand Azeri students had benefited from it.



MTI Photo: Bruzak Noemi
A Labour MP was refused entry to India today after landing at New Delhi airport, following her outspoken criticism of the country's dealing with Kashmir.

Debbie Abrahams, a Labour Party Member of Parliament who chairs a parliamentary group focused on the disputed region of Kashmir, was unable to clear customs after her valid Indian visa was rejected, the aide, Harpreet Upal, said.

Abrahams and Upal arrived at the airport on an Emirates flight from Dubai at 9am.

Upal said the immigration officials did not cite any reason for denying Abrahams entry and revoking her visa which is valid until October 2020.

A spokesman for India's foreign ministry did not immediately comment.

This photograph provided by Harpreet Upal, an accompanying aide of British Member of Parliament Debbie Abrahams shows Abrahams at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, India today

Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani speaks during a rally in Sopore, north of Srinagar 1 November, 2013. Abrahams has been an outspoken critic of the Indian government's move last August stripping Kashmir of its semi-autonomy and demoting it from a state to a federal territory

Abrahams has been a member of Parliament since 2011 and was on a two-day personal trip to India, she said in a statement.

'I tried to establish why the visa had been revoked and if I could get a "visa on arrival" but no one seemed to know,' she said in the statement.

'Even the person who seemed to be in charge said he didnt know and was really sorry about what had happened. So now I am just waiting to be deported ... unless the Indian Government has a change of heart. I'm prepared to let the fact that I've been treated like a criminal go, and I hope they will let me visit my family and friends.'

Abrahams has been an outspoken critic of the Indian government's move last August stripping Kashmir of its semi-autonomy and demoting it from a state to a federal territory.

A February 3 file photo shows an image Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing his ruling party at a campaign rally ahead of Delhi state elections in New Delhi, India. India took more than 20 foreign diplomats on a visit to Kashmir last week, the second such trip Prime Minister Narendra Modis Hindu nationalist government has organized in six months

Shortly after the changes to Kashmir's status were passed by India's Parliament, Abrahams wrote a letter to India's High Commissioner to the UK, saying the action 'betrays the trust of the people' of Kashmir.

India took more than 20 foreign diplomats on a visit to Kashmir last week, the second such trip Prime Minister Narendra Modis Hindu nationalist government has organized in six months.

Access to the region remains tight, with no foreign journalists allowed.
Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/17/2020 -- Global Textile Chemicals Market: Key Highlights



According to United Nations' projections, global population is estimated to reach 8.5 billion by 2030, and further exceed 9 billion by 2050. The consumption of textiles depends directly on the growth of population and consumer spending levels.



To know more, visit our Report Overview@ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/textile-chemicals-market.html



In terms of demand, Asia Pacific led the global textile chemicals market in 2018, and the same trend is anticipated to continue throughout 2019 and 2027. Changing consumer needs and an evolving retail marketplace are factors driving the apparel sector in Asia Pacific. The apparel sector in Asia Pacific is projected to expand at a CAGR of nearly 5% during the forecast period.

The technical textiles market has witnessed evolution from passive to active smart and ultra-smart fabrics over the last few years. First-generation passive fabrics were capable of sensing only environmental stimuli, whereas, second-generation active fabrics included actuators, sensors, and a control unit in order to sense electric, thermal, and other stimuli.



The demand for textile chemicals in Bangladesh is projected to rise at a CAGR of ~3% between 2019 and 2027. Bangladesh's exports of clothing and apparel more than trebled between 2008 and 2018. The country is estimated to continue to receive increased number of orders for its finished garments from international partners in the near future, due to the availability of cotton as well as other fabrics at a low price.

Global Textile Chemicals Market: Key Drivers and Opportunities



Focus on enhancing the functional quality of textile chemicals and cost reduction are likely to be key factors driving the global textile chemicals market in the next decade.

Major players operating in the global home textiles industry, such as IKEA and H&M Home, are expanding their presence in Asia Pacific in order to tap immense opportunities in the region. Moreover, the advent of e-Commerce in the home furnishing sector is expected to boost the home furnishing textiles segment in the global textile chemicals market during the forecast period.



Request A Sample of Textile Chemicals Market - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=205



The demand for textile chemicals in India is anticipated to rise at a rapid pace, as the country is a leading exporter of textiles in Asia Pacific. Since 2014, around 19 Textile Park projects have been sanctioned in India, under the Scheme for Integrated Textile Park (SITP) in the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode, with 40% government assistance valuing up to INR 40 Crore (US$ 5.6 Mn). The country's share in the Asia Pacific textile chemicals market is likely cross 11% by 2027.



Europe has also been a significant consumer of carpets and technical fibers over the last few years. Europe has become a leader in the digital printing of textiles, wherein, designs are printed on fabric by a printer that is controlled by a software. These trends depict significant potential for the growth of the textile chemicals market in the region.



The Ministry of Industry & Trade of Russia is focusing on supporting technical textiles and nonwovens industries in the country. The Government of Russia aims to increase the share of domestically made technical textiles in the local market up to 80% by 2020. Lately, the country has been utilizing its large reserves of oil and other resources, including timber and other raw materials, for the production of synthetic fibers.



For More Information,Request Brochure@ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=205



Asia Pacific to be Highly Lucrative Textile Chemicals Market



In terms of value, Asia Pacific held a major, i.e. more than 60% share of the global textile chemicals market in 2018.



Shift in the production of textiles and their subsequent consumption by traditional production centers, such as the U.S. and Western Europe toward Asia Pacific, is a major factor anticipated to drive the textile chemicals market in Asia Pacific from 2019 to 2027.

Also, changes in consumer trends, especially in home decoration, followed by changing lifestyles, have propelled the demand for textiles. This, in turn, is anticipated to drive the global textile chemicals market during the forecast period.



Countries such as China and India are major textile chemicals markets in Asia Pacific. These countries accounted for more than 60% share of the Asia Pacific textile chemicals market in 2018.

Global Textile Chemicals Market  Key Developments
It was a unique arrangement in New Jersey public education, and it lasted for more than eight decades.

Now officials in Montague, the only municipality bordering New York and Pennsylvania, are seeking a return to the not-so-distant past.

The Montague school board wants to resume sending high school students out of New Jersey, to Port Jervis High School in New York, and is asking New Jerseys education commissioner to approve it.

High Point Regional High School in Wantage has been enrolling Montague students since the 2014-15 school year after the school district walked away from an 85-year relationship with Port Jervis.

The agreement would appear to result in a cost savings for Montague, which is being billed $16,041 per student by High Point. Thats in addition to Montague students qualifying for substantially lower, in-state college tuition rates in New York, as well as New Jersey.

However, while Port Jervis has agreed to cap the tuition at $10,000 for general education students, the rate for students receiving special education or additional services has not been negotiated, Port Jervis Superintendent Mike Rydell told NJ Advance Media.

Montagues reversal is causing some hurt feelings at High Point Regional, which enrolls students from five other Sussex County municipalities.

There are 891 students at High Point, including 84 from from Montague, schools superintendent Scott Ripley said.

While High Point cannot oppose the petition, we do hope that Montague remains part of the High Point family for years to come, Ripley said in an email.

Montagues school board voted 6-0 in October to seek a return to Port Jervis, six years after a board with different membership voted 4-2 to leave.

The resolution adopted last fall states that the Montague board has had increasing concerns with the quality of the education being provided to its students at High Point Regional High School as well as continued safety concerns regarding transportation.

The Montague Elementary School on Route 206 enrolls students from kindergarten through eighth grade.Rob Jennings / NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

The attorney for High Point, in a Feb. 5 filing with the education department, countered that the schools graduation rate is higher than at Port Jervis, and that Montague students are showing gains in standardized testing.

While some Montague students are traveling through High Point State Park, where the elevation exceeds 1,400 feet, High Points attorney wrote that no accidents due to road conditions have been reported.

An administrative law judge will hold a hearing but the state education commission, Lamont O. Repollet, is authorized to override whatever decision is reached, subject to a possible review by the state Appellate Division.

It could take more than a year to resolve the matter, education department spokesman Michael Yaple said.

While a little-known New Jersey law allows a local district to send students to New York or Pennsylvania, only Montague has utilized it.

Montague is home to 3,753 and among the states most remote municipalities, covering more than 45 square miles but without a single traffic light. Until 1980, when Montague got a post office, mail reached residents via the 12771 zip code in Port Jervis.

Montague Mayor Richard Innella said the location debate has been going on for decades. Innella moved to Montague from Port Jervis in 1976.

One side wants New Jersey. The other side wants New York, to save the money, and some people really do love Port Jervis. Its been a difficult thing here," said Innella, emphasizing that he has not taken a public position.

In the mid-1990s, a group of Montague residents filed a lawsuit arguing that the arrangement was in violation of the state Constitution. They claimed that the Montague children were subject to different standards than those in New Jersey, and that it amounted to taxation without representation because they did not get a vote in Port Jervis school matters. A judge rejected their argument.

Innella, whose daughter graduated from Port Jervis High School, recalled serving as Montagues liaison to the Port Jervis school board around that time.

When the Port Jervis board went into an executive session, to discuss personnel or other sensitive topics, Innella said he had to wait outside.

You had input in the meeting, but you didnt have a vote, he recalled.

Innella said his daughter went to college in New Jersey despite also having the option of in-state tuition in New York - a not-inconsequential perk.

The State University of New York, SUNY, is the nations largest comprehensive university system, with 1.3 million students enrolled at 64 institutions. At Binghamton University, located 140 miles from Montague, the annual tuition is $7,270 for New York residents and jumps to $24,660 for non-residents.

Port Jervis offers quite a contrast to Montague. It has more than twice as many residents, 8,614, but is less than 6 percent of Montagues land size. The high school also enrolls students from Deerpark, N.Y., which covers 66 square miles and is home to 7,759.

Rydell said that 754 students attend Port Jervis High School.

In a review of the potential number of students that could possibly attend Port Jervis High School from Montague, coupled with the current class sizes, we do not foresee any staffing or personnel impact in the general education realm, Rydell said in an email that did not address the potential impact on special education or additional services.

It is about a 17-mile drive between High Point Regional and Port Jervis High School.

For Montague students taking Route 521 to New York, Port Jervis High School is two miles over the border. Arrivals pass a diner, cemetery and Port Jervis Middle School - where Montague sent its 7th and 8th graders before expanding the townships lone elementary school several years ago - before reaching the sprawling grounds of the high school.

A sign at the entrance to Port Jervis High School in Port Jervis, N.Y.Rob Jennings / NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Ripley, though, appears not to be giving up on keeping the Montague students.

High Point opened 1968, about four decades after Montague began sending high schoolers to Port Jervis.

Asked for examples of High Points successes, Ripley touched on a wide range of topics - from teachers who will be honored next month in Baltimore for their work in technology education and engineering, to concurrent enrollment agreements enabling students to attain college credits.

In his Jan. 7 letter to parents, Ripley restated his hopes for retaining Montagues students.

We believe in our relationship with the Montague community and aspire to continue to provide a world-class education to all our students, he wrote.

This story has been updated with comments from Port Jervis schools superintendent.

Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RobJenningsNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.
Tata-SIA joint venture airline Vistara on Monday said its codeshare pact with the US carrier United Airlines has come into effect from last Friday.

The two airlines had signed the codeshare pact that allows United Airlines to book seats for its passengers on Vistara's flights in India last June.

Codesharing allows an airline to book its passengers on its partner carriers and provide seamless travel to destinations where it has no presence.

The agreement enables United Airlines to codeshare on Vistara-operated Indian domestic flights starting February 28, Vistara said adding that passengers on both airlines have been enjoying the ability to earn and redeem frequent flyer points/miles on either of the frequent flyer programmes since the beginning of February.

"The US continues to be one of the biggest source markets for foreign travellers into India and the region, and this partnership allows us to provide a seamless travel offering for customers to and from the United States," Vistara Chief Commercial Officer Vinod Kannan said in a release.

The codeshare agreement enables United Airlines to put its 'UA' designator code on 68 Vistara-operated flights to 26 destinations every day, including but not limited to Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Goa, Hyderabad, Jodhpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Pune, Raipur, Ranchi, Srinagar, Thiruvananthapuram, Udaipur and Varanasi.

"We are excited to offer our shared customers the option of building a seamless itinerary when planning travel to cities beyond New Delhi and Mumbai," said John Gebo, senior vice-president (alliances), United Airlines.

United Airlines operates daily flights between New York/Newark and Delhi and Mumbai and also San Francisco-New Delhi.

"Our relationship with Vistara opens up even more options for customers to travel between our East and West Coast hubs and multiple destinations throughout India," he added.

Since February 1, members of Vistara's and United Airlines' frequent flyer programmes, Club Vistara and United MileagePlus, have been able to earn and redeem their CV Points/United MileagePlus miles when flying on either of the airlines' network, which means Club Vistara members can now earn and redeem CV Points on flights operated by United Airlines, and vice versa.
Two Houston-based appeals court judges who married decades after meeting at a 1979 confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C. had many brushes with history.

His wife suggested they wed: A courtship four decades in the making

Heres a timeline of key historic moments in the lives of Carolyn Dineen King  formerly Carolyn Dineen and Carolyn Dineen Randall  and Thomas Morrow Reavley.

1. 1945 mission: Reavley on Roosevelts secret convoy to Yalta

Reavleys service in the U.S. Navy involved action in two theaters during World War II. Among the most momentous experiences was when Reavley participated as a lieutenant in a convoy that secretly delivered President Franklin D. Roosevelt to meet with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin at Yalta in the Soviet Union.

2. Election 1948: Dineen family backs Dewey over Truman

Dineen grew up in Syracuse, N.Y., with three siblings and parents who were both lawyers. In 1943, New York Gov. Thomas E. Dewey appointed her father, Robert E. Dineen, as the states superintendent of insurance. Her parents were Republican stalwarts in a blue-collar Irish neighborhood where all the schoolchildren she knew backed Harry S. Truman. She recalls a classmate hauling off and slugging her in the stomach one snowy afternoon when she told him she wanted Dewey to win the 1948 election.

3. Early 50s: Dineen family relocates to Justice William Reinquists neighborhood

Dineens parents moved to Milwaukee when she was a young teenager and they happened to pick Shorewood, the neighborhood where future Chief Justice William Rehnquist grew up. In fact, the future 5th Circuit appeals court judge learned years later, from the chief himself, that Rehnquist had lived two blocks away in Shorewood.

4. Election 1960: Reavley helps Kennedy-Johnson ticket

Reavley, whod known Lyndon B. Johnson in Texas political circles, offered to help after Johnson didnt make the top of the ticket. Reavley, a lay minister in the Methodist church, offered to broker a meeting for Sen. John F. Kennedy with protestant clergy in Houston.

5. Summer of 1961: Dineen Randall hears from boss, Bobby Kennedy

Dineen stayed with her father-in-law, who was an ambassador, and his wife when she interned at the Justice Department during the summer before her final year at Yale Law School. During that summer drafting briefs in the tax divisions in appellate section, she worked with the solicitor general and sat in Attorney General Robert F. Kennedys office for a talk on civil rights.

6. Judicial appointments 1979: President Jimmy Carter taps Dineen Randall and Reavley

After Carter nominated them to fill vacancies on the 5th Circuit, Reavley, of Austin, and Dineen Randall, of Houston, testified the same day before the Senate judiciary committee. They were married to different people at the time but wed 25 years later.

7. Devitt honors 2007: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lauds Dineen King

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was among the luminaries in Houston in 2007 to honor Dineen King for her service on the federal bench as the first women to serve as chief judge in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Edward J. Devitt Distinguished Service to Justice Award goes to one judge in the entire country. Ginsburg said Dineen King was being honored for her devotion to the fair and impartial administration of justice, humanity and intelligence and for the example she has been to legions of young women.

gabrielle.banks@chron.com
Quickly Locksmith  your safety is our priority

Quickly Locksmith  your safety is our priority.

If you're looking for a strong, reliable locksmith service with record response times and unbeatable prices  you're probably looking for us! Quickly Locksmith is the leading locksmith service in Miami!

We've been around for over a decade, keeping Miami safe  one lock at a time! Our emergency locksmith units are well equipped with the latest locksmith machinery so we're there in 15 min with everything it takes to fix any emergency on the spot and get you up and running for the rest of your day.

Where there's a lock - there's a locksmith!

We have a wide range of business and residential clientele and we operate all over Miami Florida, so we know each area of this town holds its own security restrictions as well as various requirements. Quickly Locksmith is the kind of service who'll provide you with what you need ASAP. But also, reliable enough you can trust us with early construction development security measurements and a reliable security Audit performed by the leading locksmiths around.

Call Quickly  safety is on its way!

Here at Quickly Locksmith we have been providing security & locksmith solutions for over a decade, so we know safety is the kind of term you must treat with a full 360 holistic POV; safety is having your locksmith there 24/7- available to handle any emergency, certified and reliable!

Safety is that one number on your phone book that could always offer onsite support as well as accompany you / your family members / your employees via remote support with any security system / locks incident, so you dont really have to worry.

It doesnt have to be an emergency - we're here for any locksmith and security inquiry you might have; a locksmith is known in history books (and computer games as well) as a true craftsmanship, and with the risk of sounding a ted kitsch- we'll stand by that statement any day.

Our years long experience allows us to gain a better perception and offer cost-worthy, strong locksmith & security solutions to both residential clientele as well as massive developments. It's all about the best brands, impeccable service and accurate solutions to secure any soft spot in your property.

For further info, you're welcomes to check out About Us and for further locksmith & security inquiries please contact us at:

Phone: 305-984-9922

786-294-8768

Mail:

info@quicklymiamilocksmith.com

quicklylock@gmail.com
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 17

By Elchin Mehdiyev  Trend:

Even if the voting results in Azerbaijan are canceled in all polling stations where video footage in connection with violations were shot and spread on social networks, this will not affect the general parliamentary election results, Chairman of the Azerbaijani Central Election Commission (CEC) Mazahir Panahov said.

Panahov made the remark in Baku at the CEC meeting, Trend reports on Feb. 17.

The CEC chairman stressed that these video footages were shot in about three percent of polling stations.

Sometimes people think that there were violations at all polling stations in the country, but that's not true, Panahov said. Of course, such negative cases are undesirable. Bu I always say that all negative cases will be thoroughly considered in accordance with the legislation and the measures will be taken against the offenders.

The parliamentary elections were held in Azerbaijan on February 9.
West Bengal Finance Minister



Amit Mitra accused the Centre on Monday of depriving the state of funds and alleged that the BJP-led Union government is deliberately taking steps to sicken public sector undertakings.

While speaking on the state finance bill, Mitra said steps have been taken to ensure that NPAs in LIC increases.

Listing out details of the Centre's "deprivation", the minister said Rs 11,213 crore has been reduced on account of devolution to the state, while grants amounting to Rs 37,973 crore have been denied this fiscal.

"Moreover, Bengal is not getting GST compensation of Rs 1,300 crore," he said.

Mitra told the Assembly that the central devolution to states had grown from 32 per cent during the 14th Finance Commission to 42 per cent during the 15th.

The central devolution includes a portion of the CGST, the IGST, corporation tax, income tax, Union customs and excise duties, service tax and grants.

The amount of money alotted to us has been reduced in the revised estimate, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SoftServe , a leading digital authority and consulting company, will participate in the Mohamed Bin Zayed International Robotics Challenge (MBZIRC), a biennial international robotics competition, in collaboration with Czech Technical University to bring expertise and innovation in advancing drone algorithms to address new challenges. The competition is organized by Khalifa University and will take place at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre on February 23-25, 2020.

SoftServe will utilize real-time computer vision algorithms on drones to enhance thermal cameras for firefighting and incorporate artificial neural networks to track multiple objects following complex 3D trajectories. Additionally, a Robot Operating System (ROS) will ensure drones autonomously complete each challenge successfully. SoftServe, together with the Czech Technical University team, will take part in all stages of the competition including the final grand challenge where teams will compete in a triathlon type event that combines the previously completed challenges.

"SoftServe is at the forefront of robotics innovation and we look forward to participating in this world-renowned competition where we can demonstrate how we are transforming drone operation and the implications this has," said Dr. Lyubomyr Demkiv, robotics lead, advanced technologies programs at SoftServe. "Drones face a number of challenges due to limitations of sensors in smoke filled environments, however our collaborative approach with Czech Technical University combines information from LIDAR, RBG-D cameras, and lightweight thermal cameras to show an entirely new approach to fighting fires autonomously."

The MBZIRC 2020 event consists of a series of challenges aimed at pushing technological and application boundaries in robotics. Some of the technological challenges to be addressed include fast autonomous navigation in complex, low visibility environments, tracking dynamic objects in 3D, sensing and avoiding obstacles, GPS denied navigation in indoor-outdoor environments, and physical interactions. Participating teams will use autonomous aerial and ground robots to perform a range of tasks during the competition.

"SoftServe's expertise in computer vision tasks involving multi-robot systems will significantly strengthen our ability to compete at a high level during the competition," said Dr. Martin Saska, head of the multi-robot systems group at Czech Technical University. "It is an exciting opportunity to collaborate with new team members who possess innovative and technological backgrounds that will not only aid us in the MBZIRC competition but future collaborations between our organizations."

About SoftServe

SoftServe is a digital authority that advises and provides at the cutting-edge of technology. We reveal, transform, accelerate, and optimize the way enterprises and software companies do business. With expertise across healthcare, retail, energy, financial services, software, and more, we implement end-to-end solutions to deliver the innovation, quality, and speed that our clients' users expect.

SoftServe delivers open innovationfrom generating compelling new ideas, to developing and implementing transformational products and services.

Our work and client experience is built on a foundation of empathetic, human-focused experience design that ensures continuity from concept to release.

We empower enterprises and software companies to (re)identify differentiation, accelerate solution development, and vigorously compete in today's digital economy. No matter where you are in your journey.

Visit our website, blog, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter pages.

SoftServe Media Contact

Tyler Mahan

Public Relations Manager

[email protected]

830-832-8898

SOURCE SoftServe
The Supreme Court on Monday objected to blocking of road by the protest at Shaheen Bagh, but asked the authorities to provide an alternate site to the protesters.

Right to protests has been recognised world over in democracies, especially in India. It is a fundamental right subject only to public order and security of state, said Justice KM Joseph.

Posting the matter for further hearing on Monday next, the court tasked advocates Sanjay Hegde and Sadhana Ramachandran to talk to protesters to persuade them to shift protests to an alternate site.

Both Hegde and Ramachandran are senior lawyers who will act as interlocutors between the government and the protesters.

The court also said that the two lawyers can talk to former information commissioner and ex-IAS officer Wajahat Habibullah and request his assistance.

Ramachandran has been practising in the Supreme Court since 1978, and involved in mediation efforts since 2006. She has served as organising secretary of Delhi High Court mediation and conciliation centre and has been involved in training of several lawyers in different high courts.

Supreme Court lawyer Sanjay Hegde began his career in 1989. Most recently, he appeared in Aarey forest case in Mumbai. Hegde was designated senior advocate by Supreme Court in 2015.

Protest at Shaheen Bagh has continued since December 15, 2019, when a group of 14-15 women protesters first assembled in opposition to the passage of the amended citizenship act (CAA), calling it unconstitutional.

The continued sit-in by people, especially women, has since continued and gained nationwide attention. The protesters have pitched a tent on a main road linking Noida to south-east Delhi via the Kalindi Kunj bridge, which, according to an official estimate, witnesses movement of around 1.75 lakh vehicles on a daily basis.

The closure of the road has led to hassles for commuters and school children. All the efforts to negotiate with the protesters have so far failed.

So, some people filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in Supreme Court seeking appropriate directions to the Centre and others for removal of protesters from Shaheen Bagh.
RAPID CITY  A Lakota warning helped prompt the city council here to pass a resolution against large-scale upstream gold prospecting just two days before the Black Hills National Forest closed its comment period on the F3 Jenny Gulch Exploration Drilling Project

First of all, let me remind you of the sacredness of the Black Hills, Oglala Lakota tribal member Dennis Yellow Thunder told the Rapid City Common Council during a February 3 hearing on the resolution submitted by the Planning and Zoning Committee at the urging of grassroots organizations.

Remember what happened the last time gold was discovered. It was the end of our way of life, he said in reference to the 1874 Black Hills gold rush that resulted in theft of the Black Hills from the Great Sioux Nation in constitutional violation of the treaties of Ft. Laramie, as determined by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The subsequent homesteading and jurisdictional framework imposed on the area abridged Oceti Sakowin (Seven Council Fires) freedom to hunt, fish and worship, noted Yellow Thunder, who is a Black Hills National Forest Advisory Board member.

This time, should this proposed exploratory drilling activity go on, it will be the end of your way of life, he warned. You draw a lot of tourism dollars from these Black Hills. It will be the end of your way of life when it dries up because no one wants to fish or swim or kayak or hunt in these hills because of the contamination that will occur, he said.

So, think really hard about that and vote in support of this resolution, he concluded.

Volunteers in Rapid City, South Dakota, regularly held signs during December and January to warn the public of modern minings threats to water supplies. This one was at Rushmore Civic Center during the Lakota Nation Invitational tournament. Photo courtesy Black Hills Clean Water Alliance

The resolution refers not only to the Jenny Gulch proposal by Minneapolis-based F3 Gold near Silver City but also to another exploration project By Canadian Mineral Mountain Resources Ltd. already underway on a huge patch of claims adjacent to the tribal trust land of Pe Sla further upstream near Rochford. Both are in the Rapid Creek (Mniluzahan Wakpa) watershed, which forms Pactola Lake, the source of drinking water for Rapid City, Box Elder and Ellsworth Air Force Base.

It states: WHEREAS, Mineral Mountain Resources Ltd. and F3 Gold LLC have submitted applications to the U.S. Forest Service, Mystic District to explore for gold in the Rapid Creek watershed; and WHEREAS, Mineral Mountain Resources Ltd. is drilling for gold in the area near Rochford, S.D., and Pe Sla; and WHEREAS, gold exploration could lead to gold mining, which involves the use of cyanide and other toxins and often leads to permanent acid mine drainage, which could go into Rapid Creek;

And WHEREAS, the Rapid Creek watershed and its connected aquifers are the sources for Rapid Citys water supply; and WHEREAS, the Rapid Creek watershed, including Pactola Reservoir, is a major recreation and tourism area, supporting Rapid Citys economy; and WHEREAS, maintaining the quality and quantity of the water supply is of utmost importance to the city and to Ellsworth Air Force Base;

And WHEREAS, comments on the F3 Gold LLC project are due to the U.S. Forest Service, Mystic District, by Feb. 5, 2020; and WHEREAS, the Common Council of the City of Rapid City believes that gold exploration in the Rapid Creek watershed poses an unacceptable risk to the source of Rapid Citys drinking water.

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the City of Rapid City that due to the potential risk to the Rapid Creek watershed, the Citys water supply, and the local economy, the city expresses opposition to gold exploration and potential gold mining in the Rapid Creek watershed.

The council members voted 6-4 in favor.

Thanks to all who made this possible, especially the City Council members who voted for the resolution  Laura Armstrong, Darla Drew, Ritchie Nordstrom, Lisa Modrick, Chad Lewis, and Bill Evans! said the grassroots Black Hills Clean Water Alliance. People are becoming more aware and, when theyre aware, they dont want to be the target of the gold industry.

Contact Talli Nauman at talli.nauman@gmail.com

Copyright permission Native Sun News Today

Join the Conversation
Ischinger believes that Europe shouldn't accept Russia's isolation and should instead strengthen dialogue with Moscow.

Chairman of the Munich Security Conference, Wolfgang Ishinger, has commented on the scandalous "Munich Plan "Twelve Steps toward Greater Security in Ukraine and the Euro-Atlantic Region", which was developed, including, by the Russians.

Ischinger believes that Europe should not accept Russia's isolation and should instead strengthen dialogue with Moscow, keeping the doors open  that's despite the Kremlin's actions in Syria, Georgia, and Ukraine, TSN Tyzhden reports.

Ischinger also wonders why the document sparked such a controversy.

Read alsoMFA Ukraine comments on "Munich plan" for Donbas settlement

"I did privately sign this document, just like Carl Bild did. But there is no reason to be so indignant. We put forward many different offers and I hope that from time to time we make reasonable ones. But all this should not be taken so terribly seriously," Ischinger said, according to a report delivered in Ukrainian.

As reported earlier, the Plan titled "Twelve Steps toward Greater Security in Ukraine and the Euro-Atlantic Region" appeared on the website of the Munich Security Conference before being taken off the website.

However, later, the document was put on the website again.

The document noted that its signatories were the chairman of the Munich Security Conference, Wolfgang Ischinger and former Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov.

Among signatories were the three Ukrainian experts  Vasyl Filipchuk, Oleksandr Chaliy, and Oleksiy Semeniy.

The document did not address Russia's military aggression against Ukraine and the occupation of Ukrainian territories, at the same time echoing certain talking points and narratives of Russian propaganda.

The Plan offered the gradual lifting of sanctions off of Russia subject to the step-by-step implementation of the Minsk agreements and the start of a comprehensive dialogue in Ukraine regarding national identity, which would take into account the positions of Russia, Hungary and Poland.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said the document was not official paper and contradicted the official position of Ukraine.
Wuhan garners African support

By:Wu Qiong | From:english.eastday.com | 2020-02-17 16:47

Renowned African people who have long been friends with China sent messages of encouragement to support Wuhan, the epicenter of the CORVID-19 epidemic.

Manne Dipico, president of the South Africa-China Peoples Friendship Association, wrote a letter to his Chinese friends on February 6, saying that, China has informed the WHO and all other countries in a timely manner after discovering the virus, which successfully reduced the spread of the epidemic worldwide. All over China, more and more patients are being cured and discharged. I have faith and belief that China will defeat the epidemic soon with its strong leadership, efficient methods and advanced biotechnology.

Medical staff in Wuhan are the real heroes, said Ehab Gouda, co-founder of the Egyptian Dragon Boat Academy. He was also touched by a video which has gone viral on social media where people in Wuhan shouting Jiayou (Stay Strong in English) to each other.

With emotions, he wrote a poem:

The real heroes

medical staff in Wuhan

Go China!

Wuhan refueling

Wuhan doctor refueling

Revive China

He also said, Egyptian leadership and its people are in cooperation and solidarity with China. We hope the virus can be eradicated as soon as possible and life can be back to normal.

Sherif M. Abdel Hamid, foreign affairs coordinator of Cairo Governorate, also sent a letter to his friends in China: Dearest friends,my heart cries out for those who have lost loved ones to coronavirus and for all those impacted by the virus in China. We sincerely pray for the protection of China and all other affected nations, hoping the virus will stop spreading further.

Ezzeddine Jebali, president of the Tunisia-China Friendship Association (TCFA), said his heart cries out while learning that such a large-scale epidemic is occurring in China. He hoped Chinese friends can stay healthy and safe, and that China will be able to overcome the difficulty as soon as possible.
Israeli commercial planes are flying over Sudan after a meeting with its de-facto leader last month, Netanyahu says.

Israeli commercial planes began overflying Sudan, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, casting the new air corridor as a result of a breakthrough meeting with the African Muslim countrys de-facto leader this month.

Khartoum said on February 5 it had given Israeli planes initial approval to fly over its territory, two days after Sudans military head of state, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, met Netanyahu in Uganda.

Now were discussing rapid normalisation. The first Israeli airplane passed yesterday over the skies of Sudan, Netanyahu said in a speech to US Jewish leaders on Sunday, saying the route cut some three hours off flights from Israel to South America.

Sudan has stopped short of saying it is normalising ties with Israel.

After the meeting in Uganda, the Associated Press news agency quoted a Sudanese military official as saying the decision was coordinated by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and also aimed at removing Sudan from the USs list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Security threat?

In January 2016, Sudans former Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandoor said normalising relations with Israel would be possible in exchange for the lifting of US sanctions on his country.

Israel previously considered Sudan to be a security threat because it suspected Iran used Sudan as a conduit for overland smuggling of munitions to the Gaza Strip. In 2009, regional sources said, Israeli aircraft bombed an arms convoy in Sudan.

The corridor described by Netanyahu would also take planes over Egypt, which signed a peace deal with Israel in 1979, and Chad, which in 2018 restored long-severed relations with Israel.

Normalising relations with Sudan, where Arab states gathered in 1967 to issue what became known as the Three Nos  no recognition of Israel, no peace with Israel, and no negotiations with Israel  would allow Netanyahu to burnish his diplomatic credentials a month before Israels March 2 election.

Since the al-Burhan-Netanyahu meeting, the air corridor has been the most prominent development discussed publicly by both sides.

The restoration of ties was decried by Palestinian leaders, with Palestinian political factions saying the move undermined efforts to thwart US President Donald Trumps so-called Middle East plan for Israel-Palestine.

The plan heavily favours Israel and proposes it keep all its illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in the 1967 war.

Israeli commentators have speculated the new contacts with Khartoum could allow for the repatriation of undocumented Sudanese migrants in Israel, and Israel could in turn lobby the United States to improve Sudans standing in Washington.
New Delhi, Feb 17 : One of the top civil administrators of Kashmir Baseer Ahmad Khan on Monday questioned United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres over his appreciation of Pakistan's efforts at curbing terrorism.

Guterres on Sunday said that Pakistan is "one of the most consistent and reliable contributors to UN peacekeeping efforts around the world." The secretary general in a tweet said that he was travelling to Pakistan where he planned to "express his gratitude to the people serving for peace".

In a series of tweets, Guterres praised Pakistan for its role in peace-building in Afghanistan. "I am closely following vital peace efforts in Afghanistan to reduce violence, especially against civilians. By building regional consensus, Pakistan's role in this process remains crucial." Pakistan, he said, has sheltered Afghan refugees and stood in solidarity with them for 40 years -- showing how generosity in not always proportional to wealth. "Our world needs more compassion and responsibility-sharing," he said, urging the world "support host countries and show similar leadership in standing with refugees".

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) on Monday tweeted that Guterres applauded the country's efforts in fighting terrorism and appealed to the global community to support Pakistan.

Taking note of this, Kashmir's divisional commissioner and a native of the valley, Baseer Ahmad Khan responded to a self-congratulatory tweet of Pakistan's ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), saying, "World must be laughing. Those who are responsible for the bloodshed in Kashmir valley are being applauded by UN secretary general. Many civilians, Kashmiri Pandits, cops, security forces, political activists and peace activists were killed in Jammu and Kashmir by those whom UN secretary general is applauding for curbing terrorism." Over 50,000 people have been killed due to Pakistan's cross-border terrorism in Kashmir in the last 30 years.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  The end result of a Stapleton mans visit to Dongan Hills two years ago was a felony narcotics conviction and prison sentence.

Jermal Dixon, 42, was sentenced Thursday to two years behind bars stemming from his arrest on March 2, 2018.

A criminal complaint said Dixon, of the 200 block of Osgood Avenue, possessed cocaine at the corner of Buel Avenue and Jefferson Street at around 10:30 p.m.

Afterward, he was indicted on felony and misdemeanor drug-possession charges.

Last month, Dixon pleaded guilty in state Supreme Court, St. George, to third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance to resolve the case.

It was the top charge against him.

Besides prison, the defendant was sentenced to three years post-release supervision.

Attorney Thomas Reilly represented Dixon.

Assistant District Attorney Timothy Pezzoli prosecuted the case.
Starbucks Korea's 2020 ambassador Yoon Byung-kwon introduces his takju latte at a coffee shop in Seoul, on Feb. 12. / Courtesy of Starbucks Korea



By Kim Jae-heun



Every year, American coffeehouse chain Starbucks selects one ambassador to represent some 17,000 baristas working in Korea. Starbucks ambassadors must have a deep knowledge of coffee and show passion for their job as they are required to participate in various company events, giving lectures and promoting the brand. They also get to visit the Starbucks headquarters in Seattle to join the exchange program with global coffee experts there.

This year, Starbucks Korea has chosen two ambassadors. The company said it is to raise the level of their baristas here, where the country's coffee consumption ranks No. 6 in the world.



29-year-old barista Yoon Byung-kwon is one of two ambassadors to represent Starbucks Korea in 2020.



Yoon won the contest by introducing the world' first "takju latte," which is made by adding espresso to non-alcoholic rice wine.



Takju is a broad term for Korean rice wine, better known as makgeolli, which has a mild and slightly bitter taste.



"While working at Starbucks here, I have seen many beverages that have been launched here uses local ingredients. Then I came to think that I want to invent a coffee drink that not only uses local agricultural product but also contains a story native to Korea," said Yoon during the interview with The Korea Times.



"There is no other local drink that goes well with espresso's bitterness and full-bodied taste than takju. Rice is a common source of meal in East Asia and among them, Korea is the only country that enjoys unrefined rice wine," Yoon added.



Yoon said removing alcohol from the rice wine was the most difficult job while inventing the takju latte. Initially, the acidity and unique flavor of takju would evaporate with the alcohol when he boiled the wine.



"I invented the takju latte only for this contest and I am not sure it will launch here at regular shops," Yoon said. "Though, I will work with other Starbucks baristas to try many different ideas and come up with new drinks."



As a new Starbucks ambassador, Yoon hopes to become a coffee expert who shares his knowledge and experience with various customers in different regions in the country.



"Our customers vary from beginners to experts. I also want to become a lighthouse that can give directions for novices in the field and share my passion with those who already have good knowledge of coffee drinks. In the end, I want our lives to be enriched with experiences that can only be enjoyed at Starbucks," Yoon said.


Former Punjab Police deputy inspector general (DIG) Kultar Singh and four others were convicted on Monday by an Amritsar court of abetting the suicide of five members of a family in 2004.

The five were also held guilty of criminal intimidation and extortion.

Besides, the court held guilty Hardev Singh, a serving deputy superintendent of police (DSP), of destruction of evidence. The quantum of sentence will be announced on Wednesday.

Hardeep Singh, a resident of Chowk Karori locality in Amritsar city, his wife Romi, mother Jaswant Kaur, and children Simran and Ismeet, ended their lives by consuming poison on October 31, 2004.

The family left a suicide note scribbled on a wall of their house besides posting a letter to their acquaintance, accusing four of their relatives, including Hardeeps sister, and Kultar Singh, who was then serving as Amritsar senior superintendent of police (SSP), of forcing them to take the extreme step.

The other convicts are Hardeeps sister Parminder Kaur, her husband Palwinder Pal Singh, Hardeeps uncle Mohinder Singh and his daughter-in-law Subreen Kaur. It was alleged that Hardeep was allegedly being blackmailed by his relatives and Kultar Singh for his having allegedly committed a crime.

Hardev Singh, who was then in-charge of the police station where the first information report (FIR) in the incident was registered, was accused of tampering with evidence to protect the then SSP.

While charges under Sections 306 (abetment to suicide), 388 (extortion by threat of accusation of an offence) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code were framed against all six in the court, Kultar and Hardev were also charged with Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and Section 201(destruction of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code.

In 2009, Punjab Human Rights Organisation (PHRO) activist Sarabjit Singh Verka brought the matter before the court, seeking justice for the victims as the police were not probing the case seriously despite having instituted three inquiries.

On the basis of the application moved by Verka, Kultar and Hardev were again summoned in January 2016 and a chargesheet was filed against the accused.

The trial in the case began in March 2016 on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Women have been playing an important role in the armed forces and even serving in combat roles in countries like Australia, Canada, Israel and New Zealand.

The role of women in the armed forces assumes significance after the Supreme Court delivered a landmark verdict, directing the Centre to grant permanent commission to all women officers in the Army within three months.

The apex court also described the government's argument of physiological limitations and social norms for denying them command posts as "disturbing".

There are 1,653 women officers in the Indian Army, 3.89 per cent of the total number of officers in the force. The Indian Air Force has 6.7 per cent of women officers, while the Indian Navy has highest number of female officers -- 13.28 per cent -- among the three armed forces.

The US and the United Kingdom are among the latest to lift the curbs and allow women in combat roles.

In 2018, then UK defence secretary Gavin Williamson had announced that women already serving in the Army were able to transfer into infantry roles in the British Army.

Women make up 10.4 per cent of the UK regular armed forces. The Royal Navy has the largest proportion of women serving, with 14 per cent, while the British Army has the lowest with 9.3 per cent.

The US military, too, has lifted a ban on female soldiers serving in combat roles.

The Australian Defence Forces (ADF) opened direct entry for women to all combat roles since January 2016. It has also introduced targets for women in the ADF. By 2023, it is aiming for 25 per cent in the Navy, 15 per cent in the Army and 25 per cent in the Air Force.

Currently, women represent 17.9 per cent of the permanent ADF (21.2 per cent in the Navy, 14.3 per cent in the Army and 22.4 per cent in the Air Force.

All military occupations were open to women in 1989 in the Canadian defence forces, with the exception of submarine service, which opened in 2001.

In 1987, occupations and units with the primary role of preparing for direct involvement in combat on the ground or at sea were still closed to women: infantry, armoured corps, field artillery, air-defence artillery, signals, field engineers, and naval operations, the Canadian armed forces website states.

Women also serve in combat roles in the Israeli armed forces.

"Regardless of those exemptions, many of those exempt from military service do volunteer to serve in the Israel Defense Forces. Once enlisted, men are expected to serve for a minimum of 32 months and women are expected to serve for a minimum of 24 months," the Israeli armed forces website states.

Since 2001, the women serve in the armoured corps of the army, fighter aircraft and navy, including submarines. They do not serve as rifle-toting infantry, though.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 22:05:09|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

MOGADISHU, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- A senior al-Shabab militant on Monday surrendered to Somali National Army (SNA) forces in Hudur town in the southern region of Bakol, officials confirmed.

Abdullahi Hassan, SNA commander in Bakol, told reporters that Olad Abdirahman, a senior al-Shabab member gave himself up and joined government forces following operations by government forces in southern regions.

"The militant contacted our forces and informed us he is willing to leave the militants and surrender to the army," Hassan said.

Ibrahim Issack Ibrahim, Hudur district security commissioner, said the militant was one of the residents of Hudur region who had served the group in various positions including being a driver.

The defected al-Shabab militant, who also spoke to the journalists, said he left al-Shabab group willingly after being part of the group for 11 years.

The move came amid intensified operations by Somali forces against al-Shabab extremists in southern regions where the militants still hold swathes of rural areas, conducting ambushes and planting land mines.
Jharkhand: Is Babulal Marandi hinting at allying with former party BJP?

After big shock, now BJP gets a breather: Six JVM MLAs join Saffron brigade

Babulal Marandi to campaign for Nitish in Bihar polls to check BJP

JVM chief Babulal Marandi all set to merge party with BJP; 14 years down to dust

India

oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P

Ranchi, Feb 17: Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Babulal Marandi and founder of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha is all set to merge his party with the BJP at an event that is scheduled to be held in Ranchi today. According to reports, Marandi will join the nation's single-largest party in the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda.

In 2000, Babulal Marandi became the first Jharkhand chief minister and also the first BJP CM in the state. He later formed Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) after breaking ties with the BJP. Now, the former BJP leader is all set to make a homecoming.

Six ministers in new Jharkhand assembly have pending criminal cases

Reports suggest that the JVM chief will merge his party with BJP and will join BJP along with workers of his party.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah and party President JP Nadda are scheduled to arrive at the event venue around 12:45 pm.

NEWS AT NOON, FEBRUARY 17th, 2020

According to Pratul Shahdeo, Jharkhand BJP spokesperson, said that thousands of BJP workers and leaders from across the state welcomes former Jharkhand chief minister back to the party at Jagannathpur Maidan in Ranchi.

In a statement, JVM principal general secretary, Abhay Singh said that more than 20,000 party workers would attend the event.

It can be seen that JVM's merger with the BJP will be historic in Jharkhand politics.

Marandi had on February 11 announced JVM's merger with the BJP, 14 years after quitting the saffron party and started his own party.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, February 17, 2020, 12:08 [IST]
All 19 passengers survived; no one even needed medical assistance

Open source

A bus with Russian tourists flipped over on its way to Finland. Interfax reported that on Monday morning.

"The bus with tourists aboard was en route from Petrozavodsk to Finland. However, the car flipped over onto the right side and fell in the ditch while on the Sortavala roadway", a source told the news agency.

All 19 passengers, including a child survived; according to initial reports, medical assistance was unnecessary.

Earlier, we reported that rescuers removed a car with four dead people from the lake in Lviv region. The press center of the State Emergency Situations Service (SES) reported this information. The tragedy took place near the village of Koty, on the Rava-Ruska - Sudova Vyshnya highway.

"[Driver of] Audi-80 car lost control and flew into the lake," the SES's message said.

The circumstances of the accident are being clarified. Fire and Rescue Department inspected the bottom of the lake.

As we reported before, on the night of February 13, eight Ukrainians were killed in a road accident that took place in the Pskov region of the Russian Federation; another one was hospitalized.
Novelist Charles Portis, a favorite among critics and writers for such shaggy dog stories as Norwood and Gringos and a bounty for Hollywood whose droll, bloody Western True Grit was a best-seller twice adapted into Oscar nominated films, died Monday at age 86.

Portis, a former newspaper reporter who apparently learned enough to swear off talking to the media, had been suffering from Alzheimers in recent years. His brother, Jonathan Portis, told The Associated Press that he died in a hospice in Little Rock, Arkansas, his longtime residence.

Charles Portis was among the most admired authors to nearly vanish from public consciousness in his own lifetime. His fans included Tom Wolfe, Roy Blount Jr. and Larry McMurtry, and he was often compared to Mark Twain for his plainspoken humor and wry perspective. Portis saw the world from the ground up, from bars and shacks and trailer homes, and few spun wilder and funnier stories. In a Portis novel, usually set in the South and south of the border, characters embarked on journeys that took the most unpredictable detours.

In Norwood, an ex-Marine from Texas heads East in a suspicious car to collect a suspicious debt, but winds up on a bus with a circus dwarf, a chicken and a girl he just met. The Dog of the South finds one Ray Midge driving from Arkansas to Honduras in search of his wife, his credit cards and his Ford Torino. In Gringos, an expatriate in Mexico with a taste for order finds himself amid hippies, end-of-the-world cultists and disappearing friends.

The public knew Portis best for True Grit, the quest of Arkansas teen Mattie Ross to avenge her fathers murder. The novel was serialized in the Saturday Evening Post in 1968 and was soon adapted (and softened) as a film showcase for John Wayne, who starred as Rooster Cogburn, the drunken, one-eyed marshal Mattie enlists to find the killer. The role brought Wayne his first Academy Award and was revived by the actor, much less successfully, in the sequel Rooster Cogburn.

Rooster was so strong a character that a new generation of filmgoers and Oscar voters welcomed him back. In 2010, the Coen brothers worked up a less glossy, more faithful True Grit, featuring Jeff Bridges as Rooster and newcomer Hallie Steinfeld as Mattie. The film received 10 nominations, including best actor for Bridges, and brought new attention to Portis and his novel, which topped the trade paperback list of The New York Times.

No living Southern writer captures the spoken idioms of the South as artfully as Portis does, Mississippi native Donna Tartt wrote in an afterword for a 2005 reissue of the novel.

Portis was born in 1933 in El Dorado, Arkansas, one of four children of a school superintendent and a housewife whom Portis thought could have been a writer herself. As a kid, he loved comic books and movies and the stories he learned from his family. In a brief memoir written for The Atlantic Monthly, he recalled growing up in a community where the ratio was about two Baptist churches or one Methodist church per gin. It usually took about three gins to support a Presbyterian church, and a community with, say, four before you found enough tepid idolators to form an Episcopal congregation.

He was a natural raconteur who credited his stint in the Marines with giving him time to read. After leaving the service, he graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1958 with a degree in journalism and for the next few years was a newspaper man, starting as a night police reporter for the Memphis Commercial Appeal and finishing as London bureau chief for the New York Herald Tribune.

Fellow Tribune staffers included Wolfe, who regarded Portis as the original laconic cutup and a fellow rebel against the boundaries of journalism, and Nora Ephron, who would remember her colleague as a sociable man with a reluctance to use a telephone. His interview subjects included Malcolm X and J.D. Salinger, whom Portis encountered on an airplane. He was also a first-hand observer of the civil rights movement. In 1963, he covered a riot and the police beating of black people in Birmingham, Alabama. Around the same time, he reported on a Ku Klux Klan meeting, a dullish occasion after which the grand dragon of Mississippi disappeared grandly into the Southern night, his car engine hitting on about three cylinders.

Anxious to write novels, Portis left the paper in 1964 and from Arkansas completed Norwood, published two years later and adapted for a 1970 movie of the same name starring Glen Campbell and Joe Namath.

Portis placed his stories in familiar territory. He knew his way around Texas and Mexico and worked enough with women stringers from the Ozarks in Arkansas to draw upon them for Matties narrative voice in True Grit. He eventually settled in Little Rock, where he reportedly spent years working on a novel that was never released. Gringos, his fifth and last novel, came out in 1991.

Portis published short fiction in The Atlantic during the 1990s, but was mostly forgotten before admiring essays in Esquire and the New York Observer by Ron Rosenbaum were noticed by publishing director Tracy Carns of the Overlook Press, which reissued all of Portis novels. Some of his journalism, short stories and travel writings were published in the 2012 anthology Escape Velocity.

In recent years, the author lived in open seclusion, a regular around Little Rock who drove a pickup truck, enjoyed an occasional beer and stepped away from reporters. He did turn up to collect The Oxford Americans Award for Lifetime Achievement in Southern Literature and was known to answer the occasional letter from a reader. But otherwise Portis seemed to honor Matties code in True Grit for how to deal with journalists.

I do not fool around with newspapers, Mattie says. The paper editors are great ones for reaping where they have not sown. Another game they have is to send reporters out to talk to you and get your stories free. I know the young reporters are not paid well and I would not mind helping those boys out with their scoops if they could ever get anything right.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
An interdisciplinary team of bio-engineers and economists from KU Leuven has mapped out how wood could replace petroleum in the chemical industry (symbolic image).

An interdisciplinary team of bio-engineers and economists from KU Leuven has mapped out how wood could replace petroleum in the chemical industry. They not only looked at the technological requirements, but also whether that scenario would be financially viable. A shift from petroleum to wood would lead to a reduction in CO 2 emissions, the researchers state in Science.

Our plastics, cleaning agents and building materials are usually made from chemical components derived from petroleum, rather than from renewable materials. Petroleum is currently cheaper to use as a raw material. But that doesn't have to be the case. The team of researchers previously published on how wood can be transformed into chemicals that can be used in a plethora of products. That process has now been fully mapped out. Moreover, they calculated that it can be financially feasible to build and run a biorefinery that converts wood into chemical building blocks.

To extract chemicals from wood, it is first split into a solid paper pulp and a liquid lignin oil. The pulp can be used to produce second generation biofuels or natural insulation, while the lignin oil, like petroleum oil, can be further processed to manufacture chemical building blocks, such as phenol, propylene, and components to create ink. The lignin can also be used to make alternative building blocks for plastics. Chemical compounds based on lignin are less harmful to humans, compared to those made out of petroleum.

"In the paper industry, lignin is seen as a residual product and usually burned. That's a pity, since just like petroleum, it can have many high quality uses if it can be properly separated from wood and the right chemical building blocks are extracted," explains Professor Bert Sels of the Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems. As a result, wood could replace petroleum in the chemical industry.

The new publication is an important milestone in the team's long-term research. "What's so special about this study is that we calculated the economic viability of a switch from petroleum to wood," says Bert Sels. To create a realistic scenario, the researchers joined forces with a Belgian-Japanese ink company. This is because certain compounds from lignin can be used to make ink. The calculations indicate that a chemical plant that uses wood as a raw material can be profitable after a few years.

CO 2 storage

Through smart forest management, wood can be harvested sustainably. "Moreover, as a result of the shrinking paper industry, there is currently a surplus of wood in Europe", Sels explains. The researchers are also collaborating with waste processors and landscape managers to use prunings and other waste wood.

The environmental cost of using wood would be smaller than when using petroleum, since chemical compounds made from wood cause less CO 2 emissions. Moreover, products made from wood derivatives can store CO 2 , just like trees do. "As a result, it would be possible to store carbon from CO 2 in plastics - preferably recyclable ones," Sels said.

To demonstrate the application of their research, the team will now scale up the production process. The first test phase has already started. Ultimately, they want to create a wood biorefinery in Belgium. In the meantime, the researchers are in conversation with various business partners who can process the cellulose pulp and lignin oil in a variety of products.
By Trend





SOCAR Ukraine Trading House has won the court case against Ukrainian Energy Exchange, SOCAR Ukraine told Trend.

The Commercial Court of Kiev granted the claim of SOCAR Ukraine Trading House LLC for invalidating and canceling the decision of the Ukrainian Energy Exchange, which in August 2019 publicly accused traders of deliberate actions with the purpose of manipulating the market , applied penalties to them and temporarily suspended them from participating in the auction, said the company.

Moreover, according to the court decision, Ukrainian Energy Exchange committee was obliged to refute the inaccurate information discrediting SOCAR's business reputation, the company said.

The conflict occurred during the exchange trading of natural gas. SOCAR Ukraine Trading House for the first time took part in an auction on the Ukrainian Energy Exchange as a buyer and acted strictly within the rules and regulations of the exchange, said the company.

SOCAR has been operating in Ukraine since 2008.

SOCAR Energy Ukraines Trading House is a permanent member of the Ukrainian Energy Exchange and regularly takes part in e-trading. Its sole goal is to acquire a resource for commercial needs.

The company first participated in natural gas trading at the Ukrainian Energy Exchange e-platform on August 13, 2019. During the auction, lots of 50,000 cubic meters were traded.
It was a jarring sight in this community, where neighbors cherish their privacy and the quiet. A neighbor who declined to be named said that residents largely keep to themselves. The man introduced himself to the Norwoods when they moved in last year but since then has not interacted with them.
The Director, Broadcast Policy and Research at the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Armstrong Idachaba, has resumed office as the acting Director-General of the agency.

PREMIUM TIMES exclusively reported how Mr Idachaba was directed to take the position following the suspension of Modibbo Kawu by the federal government at the prompting of the anti-graft agency, ICPC.

Mr Kawu is standing trial for corruption.

The ICPC requested his suspension to carry out an investigation into the allegations against Mr Kawu unhindered.

The NBC spokesperson, Antia Ekanem, on Monday confirmed that Mr Idachaba resumed work and also held a meeting with the management.

Mr Idachabas appointment was contained in a letter signed by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, Grace Gekpe, on February 14, that its most senior director should oversee the affairs of the Commission.

Profile

Mr Idachaba, according to his official profile, was born on July 16, 1962, in Kaduna, Kaduna State. He obtained his first degree in 1985 from the University of Jos in Theatre Arts. He also earned a Masters in Theatre Arts from the University of Jos in 1993, and a PhD in Media Studies from the University of Abuja in 2008.

He undertook executive management courses from Georgetown University (2003) and Kennedy School, Harvard University (2016).

Mr Idachaba worked from 1986 to 1996 as a lecturer and the head of the department of English and Theatre Arts at the College of Education, Ankpa, Kogi State. He was a Feature Writer for the Nigerian Voice Newspaper; Artiste and Presenter for NTA Makurdi, and; Director Movies Theatre Promotions, from 1986 to 1990.

He joined NBC as an Assistant Chief Research/Monitoring Officer on grade level 13 on November 1, 1994, and rose to become the Zonal Director of the then Umuahia Zone, Zonal Director Uyo, Zonal Director, Abuja, and Zonal Director, Lagos. He was also the Director of Broadcast Monitoring, Headquarters.

Until his appointment as Acting Director-General, Mr Idachaba served as the Director, Broadcast Policy and Research.

He has published several paperbacks on Media, Digital Technology, Theatre Arts and Broadcast Regulation. He has and continues to, make an exceptional contribution to the Commissions Monitoring and Research activities.

His contribution to knowledge includes visiting lectureship at Bingham University, Abuja; Nassarawa State University; Godfrey Okoye University; and Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.
By Nicholas Yong and Dhany Osman

SINGAPORE  From Tuesday night (18 February), all travellers returning from mainland China outside of Hubei province within the last two weeks will not be allowed to leave their house during a 14-day period as part of measures to curb the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.

The new arrangement, announced by the multi-ministry taskforce on the coronavirus on Monday, will mean that returnees will not even be allowed to leave their homes briefly to buy meals or household supplies during the period.

The 14-day Stay-Home Notice (SHN) will be stricter than the existing leave of absence (LOA), made mandatory for all returnees, Singapore residents and long-term pass holders, from mainland China outside of Hubei province.

The notice will also cover returning workers from mainland China on work passes.

Calling the SHN essentially a home quarantine scheme, National Development Minister Lawrence Wong, co-chair of the taskforce, said, At the same time, there are substantial number of Singaporeans, citizens, permanent residents, and long term pass holders still in China. I think at some point in time, they will want to come back to Singapore, especially after the Chinese New Year holidays. And there is a higher chance now that some of them will be infected with the virus.

Those who flout the notice may face penalties and can be prosecuted under Section 21A of the Infectious Disease Act. Foreign workers may have their work passes revoked and be repatriated, while employers may have their work pass privileges withdrawn.

Students may face disciplinary actions from their schools or institutions, while long-term visa pass or dependant's pass holders may have their re-entry permits, or relevant passes revoked or validity shortened.

Wong reinforced that the authorities will be enforcing the requirements "strictly" with a whole range of methods, including technology such as video calls and identifying where their locations are to implement surprise spot checks.

Story continues

With the introduction of the SHN, the government will no longer be issuing any more new LOAs to returnees with recent travel history to mainland China outside of Hubei, the authorities added.

Re-assessing the situation

Wong noted that when the LOA regime - a useful and important precaution - was started in end-January, there were 4,000 cases outside of Hubei in China. But the most recent figures have seen the number of confirmed cases tripling to 12,000.

And while there have not been any confirmed cases among returnees from mainland China so far, authorities have decided to introduce the SHN regime as an additional precautionary measure.

Asked how many people might be expected to serve a SHN, the minister noted that it was difficult to have a sense of the numbers, given that the returnees were not just Chinese nationals, but Singaporeans and permanent residents as well.

Neither do we know how many will be coming back. Some may be there, and happy to stay there. (But) we want to just prepare for a scenario where they do come back in waves after the Chinese New Year period. And that's why we think we need a tighter and stricter regime to be put in place right now.

In this regard, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will extend the Leave of Absence Support Programme (LOASP) to businesses and self-employed persons affected by SHN requirements.2

Under the LOASP, eligible employers can apply for $100 daily per affected worker for the required duration of SHN. Affected workers include Singapore citizens, PRs and work pass holders who travelled to mainland China on or before 31 January 2020, and who were placed on SHN upon their return to Singapore.

Eligible employers will aqualify for levy waiver for affected foreign workers for the SHN period. Self-employed citizens and PRs who are similarly affected can also apply for the daily support of $100.

Wong also revealed that a total of 1,200 individuals are currently serving on quarantine, with about half in government quarantine facilities and the remainder serving out their quarantine at home. We have a total capacity of about 2,000 for government quarantine facilities. So we still have some buffer. But we do need to build this up.

Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore

Related stories:

COVID-19: Singapore confirms 3 new cases, 2 linked to Grace Assembly of God church; total at 75

Housewife who was Singapore's 15th COVID-19 case discharged; thanks NCID medical staff

Coronavirus: How it's spreading in Singapore and the world

COVID-19: Catholic Church in Singapore suspends all Masses

COVID-19: Singapore 'very confident' about test kits used to assess cases, says MOH

COVID-19: 'Please help stop rumours' on Dorscon red  Health Minister Gan Kim Yong

COVID-19: Singapore economy to 'take a hit', recession possible due to outbreak - PM Lee
Douglas Murray writes:

Recent analysis by the Tax Payers Alliance (TPA) proves the trend. Its scrutiny of appointments to public bodies or quangos over the last decade breaks down appointees by declared political activity. Over the last decade Labour appointees exceeded Conservatives in almost every year. Even in 2018-9 there were 54 appointees who declared significant political activity in the Labour party as opposed to 36 who said the same about the Conservative party. Given some of the other numbers over the decade it is surprising the Conservative presence was so high. But it is also a demonstration of a pathetic and craven oversight by three consecutive Conservative governments.

The Conservatives have been in power for 10 years, yet theyre still appointing Labour activists to more boards than their own people.

I suspect we see some of the same here. National often appointed ex Labour people to boards, but you never see the same in reverse unless it is a Bolger like figure who is there just to blunt attacks from the opposition.

National in Government supported Mike Moore to the WTO and Helen Clark to UNDP. Cant imagine the same being done in reverse.

Which brings me to the third excuse of the party faithful. We just cant find people willing to be put forward they say. To which  assuming that is true  one might pertinently ask And why might that be? One reason is because of something like what happened to Toby Young during the weakest days of the Theresa May minority government. Readers will remember that over New Years Eve 2018 the Conservative government slipped out the news that Young  a prominent, writer, journalist and founder of and campaigner for free schools  was to be appointed as a member of a 15-member advisory board called the Office for Students. Now frankly the whole OfS is the sort of entity that shouldnt exist. If the entire board of the OfS agreed as one to do something bold it would still merely land as a recommendation to sit as a paper on a ministerial desk and possibly provide a blueprint for future consideration and action. I am amazed that Young wanted anything to do with such a eunuch-like body. But the Left went for him when it discovered one of its toys might land in his hands. They picked his life apart, found some sophomoric tweets from a decade earlier and destroyed him in public view. During the ensuing firestorm the government allowed Young to step down from the role he had not started. So it isnt exactly difficult to work out why Right-wing, or even just vaguely conservative people, might not find the whole appointments thing attractive. Well here is a thought. I would think that the present government has no more than three to six months to enact it. Flood the public sector with Right-of-centre cultural and political figures. Change the weather. Re-centre the culture. If they dont do it now they never will, and the frit-ness of the last decade will remain the default position of this one. As well as all the other appointments the Conservatives should also focus on making appointments that enrage their opponents. To demonstrate that the era of Clegg-ism and May-ism is over. Appoint Toby Young  and worse  to meaningful, damaging roles. Watch the Left scream and stamp their feet once more. At which point we can all turn round to them and say Well, perhaps you should have won a majority of 80 at the last election. And Isnt this what you would do?

Boris might do it. The screaming alone should make it worthwhile. First though he needs to move the House of Lords to Birmingham.

Share this: Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Reddit

WhatsApp

More

Pinterest

Print



Tumblr


Food Processing Industries Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Monday met her UAE counterpart Mariam bint Mohammed Saeed Hareb Al Muhairi and discussed about investment opportunities in the food sector.

Badal met UAE's Minister of State for Food Security on the sidelines of 'Gulfood 2020'.

"Both the ministers discussed UAE investments in food corridors in India in accordance with the vision given by the top leadership of the two countries," an official statement said.

Badal highlighted the enormous potential for investments in food processing sector in India and said that UAE side stays positive on opportunities for investing in various areas of food processing such as cold chains, food parks, contract farming and logistics.

"The two ministers expressed satisfaction at the existing bilateral cooperation in the field of food security, with India being one of the largest food exporters to UAE," he said.

They further deliberated upon ways and means to further increase cooperation and collaboration in the food sector.

Both ministers mentioned that the two sides could also exchange information in new areas such as saline water agriculture, the statement added.

Earlier in the day, Badal addressed a business roundtable on opportunities in food processing sector in India, and invited UAE companies to participate in the first organic food exhibition being organised in Delhi on February 21-23, 2020.

She also held one-on-one meetings with various companies in trading of food products and investing in the sector.

India is the largest participant in Gulfood with almost 300 companies. India's food exports to UAE stand at almost USD 1.8 billion(about Rs 12,780 crore).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has lauded the efforts of the Air India crew and medical team which evacuated Indians from the coronavirus-hit China's Wuhan city, saying the rescue operation has reassured the Indian diaspora across the world that the entire nation will stand by them in times of crisis.

A total of 68 AI crew members, six doctors and four nursing officers from Delhi's Safdarjung and RML hospitals, who were part of two special flights that evacuated 647 Indians and seven Maldivians from Wuhan, were on Monday handed over letters of appreciation signed by the Prime Minister.

Commending the "life-saving efforts" of the team, the prime minister said the "grit, determination and compassion displayed by the rescue team only goes to prove that the true test of character lies in adversity".

"Strength during adversity gets expression in the collective effort of Air India personnel and the medical team from Safdarjung and Ram Manohar Lohia Hospitals," he said.

China is grappling to contain the deadly coronavirus as the death toll climbed to 1,770 on Monday after 105 more people died, mostly in the worst-hit Hubei province.

"In such a scenario, the evacuation of Indian citizens in distress has not only given relief to those rescued but has also reassured the Indian diaspora settled across the globe that in time of crisis, the entire nation stands firmly united. Your indefatigable effort inspires every citizen to serve the nation with dedication and commitment," the PM's letter to the crew and the medical team read.

Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri handed over the letters of appreciation to each crew member at a ceremony here, while Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan gave the letters to the team of doctors and nursing officers at Nirman Bhawan in the national capital.

Vardhan congratulated each and every member of the two teams which had gone to Wuhan as part of the evacuation mission on February 1 and 2.

"For a medical professional, it's just not a duty but a responsibility to help our fellow citizens in times of distress and this has been displayed very gracefully by our team," he said.

Vardhan also met the Indians evacuated from Wuhan at an ITBP quarantine facility here, as the first batch of nearly 200 of them left for their respective homes.

They have all tested negative for the COVID19 or (Coronavirus disease 2019) and will be going back to their homes in phases, he said.

The centre housed a total of 406 people, including seven Maldivians, who were evacuated from Wuhan in an Air India flight. The remaining evacuees were housed at quarantine camp set by the Army in Manesar.

Vardhan also informed that as on date 3,21,375 passengers from 2,996 flights and 6,387 passengers from 125 ships have been screened for suspected infection.

India has so far reported three confirmed cases of the virus, all in Kerala.

Two of the three medical students who had tested positive for novel coronavirus infection have now been discharged, Vardhan said.

The condition of the third one is stable, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
When Korean financier and philanthropist Michael ByungJu Kim decided to write a book, he could have easily written a memoir about growing up in Seoul, South Korea, receiving an education in America, and becoming one of the most successful financiers in the world. Or he could have written a nonfiction book about spearheading one of the most successful investments in South Korea: the sale of KorAm Bank by Carlyle Asia Partners to Citigroup during the Asian financial crisis in 2002. Another option: a nonfiction account of creating MBK Partners, a private-equity firm that manages more than $20 billion in capital.

Instead Kim, a self-made billionaire and Shakespeare enthusiast, chose to write the novel Offerings. I thought it more compelling to let the reader make the connections, Kim says, and figure things out in their personal way.

Offerings, which tells the story of Dae Joon, an investment banker from Seoul who works on Wall Street, is a roman a clef and timely bildungsroman. Known as Shane to his American friends, Dae Joon works with colleagues to rescue South Korea from sovereign default during the Asian financial crisissomething that could lead to a worldwide economic meltdown. To that end, Dae Joonalso known as jangnam, or first-born songoes back to his homeland, where he discovers that his Eastern upbringing and Western sensibilities dont easily mix. Conflicted both culturally and morally, Dae Joon finds himself in the grips of a personal crisis that can be resolved only by making a difficult decision.

I started writing the book many years ago, Kim says. But I thought it propitious, in this time of political and cultural conflicts amid economic globalization, for a story to come out about offerings attempts to forge connections between the West and Asia, between business and family, and between father and son.

And while Kim is the 23rd wealthiest Korean on the planet, he says that finding the time to write a 278-page novel proved more difficult than he anticipated. I have a day job that is fairly consuming, Kim says. So I wrote every evening when I could steal a few hours and every weekend I could get away.

While carving out the time proved difficult, Kim says writing the novel, especially finding the right voice for Dae Joon, proved that much harder. English is my second language, he says. So I tend to be a conscious, deliberative writer to start with. But the discipline of working and reworking a sentence to get it just rightI found this as challenging as it is gratifying.

But Kim has never been one to shirk a challenge. He began Offerings when he was in his early 30s and finished it his mid-50s. What happened is that as the years passed and I moved from my 30s to 40s and 50s, I found my perspective changing, he says. To remain true to the voice of energy, and some anger, of my 30s, I decided to keep the main narrative voice to a young man in his 30s, but heeding the calmer, somewhat wiser voice of my 50s, I bookended the story with an older mans perspective.

And while Offerings is a roman a clef, Kim wants to make one thing clear: while Dae Joons thoughts and feelings, he says, are thoughts and feelings Ive experienced, the circumstances, even if familiar or based on historical events, are fictional. That said, the author is sure readers familiar with the Asian financial crisis will engage in a character guessing game. My hope is that readers will be able to wring out from a specific environment certain universal truths, Kim says, that go beyond time and place.

Though Offerings will be of particular interest to readers with a background in banking, Kim says the book will appeal to general readers as well, even those not well versed in finance. The finance parts were what I ended up spending the most time on during the editing, he says. I tried to simplify the financial writing so the layperson would understand. In the end, I tried to strike a balance between verisimilitude and clarity.

Striking that balance took Kim 25 years. Now he can focus on the other stories he would like to tell. As with many first-time novelists, I had so much to say, Kim says. I learned to save some stuff for the next book.
Oman Air Cargo, one of the leading air cargo carriers in the region, has awarded CHAMP Cargosystems, a successful global IT provider dedicated to the needs of the air cargo industry, a five-year contract for its suite of e-cargo solutions.



Following a request for proposals for cargo IT solutions, CHAMP won the contracts from a wide field of competitors, said a statement.



Seeking solutions for the next step of its digital transformation, Oman Air Cargo chose to open up the decision-making process to the market.



Following a rigorous competition, Oman Air not only decided to continue using Traxon cargoHUB and Traxon Global Customs, but also signed for two new solutions.



Mohammed Al Musafir, senior vice president  Commercial Cargo at Oman Air, said: The solutions speak for themselves. This is one more step towards our goal of 100 per cent digitisation offering information transparency to our valued customers.



CHAMP is proud to win these contracts for Oman Air Cargo, said Nicholas Xenocostas, vice president commercial and customer engagement.



Having a long-standing relationship, we are thrilled to have had the opportunity to compete in an open market and continue supporting Oman Air Cargo in their digital transformation while adding additional value to their business, he added.  TradeArabia News Service
The U.S. is ignoring the internationally-accepted approach to the Middle East settlement, which is not helping resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the Italian daily La Stampa.



The United States, in its usual manner, has offered to resolve one of the most long-lasting conflicts of our time "in one go," he noted.

But they ignored the universally recognised international legal basis for a Middle East settlement, which includes resolutions of the Security Council and the UN General Assembly; and the Arab Peace Initiative, the Russian diplomat recalled.



According to the Russian foreign minister, the new US peace plan stipulates the resolution of all key issues relating to the status of Palestinian territories by means of unilateral concessions in favour of Israel.



Lavrov noted that it is necessary to hold multilateral talks to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and that a Quartet of international mediators (Russia, the United Nations, the US, and EU) could take up that responsibility.



"We are convinced that for a real advance towards a just two-state settlement of the Palestinian issue, first of all, genuine efforts by the Palestinians and Israelis themselves are necessary, and second, the most balanced and unbiased international support of the process is needed," Lavrov stressed.
Prince Charles looked in high spirits as he paid a visit to a local shirt-making business in Gloucester today.

Charles, 71, who looked dapper in a dark grey suit, arrived at the Emma Willis LTD factory and could be seen smiling and clapping as he unveiled a commemorative plaque to mark the occasion.

During his stay, he spoke to Andy Reid, veteran and fundraiser for 'Style for Soldier' - a charity started by Emma to provide complimentary smart clothing for injured service men and women.

The store boasts a whole host of celebrity fans - including the likes of Gary Barlow, Daniel Craig and David Gandy.

Prince Charles, 71, looked in high spirits as he arrived for his visit at the Emma Willis LTD factory in Gloucester today

The Prince of Wales unveiled a commemorative plaque to mark his visit at the Emma Willis LTD factory, while Emma Willis watched on

Prince Charles was all smiles as he spoke to employees during his visit at the Emma Willis LTD factory

Following his arrival, Prince Charles was welcomed to Bearland House, in Bearland, by Emma Willis.

He then signed the guest book, before meeting various members of staff at the factory who were eager to meet him.

Emma Willis Ltd first set up her clothing brand in 1989, where she set to work making bespoke shirts in a South East London factory.

In 1999, she opened a shop on Jermyn Street, before opening the factory at Bearland House in 2010.

Emma Willis LTD first set up her clothing brand in 1989, where she set to work making bespoke shirts in a South East London factory. Pictured, gifting Charles a present

The Prince of Wales looked delighted as he received a present from Emma Willis and the employees during his visit

The 71-year-old could be seen admiring the work of some of the 30 members of staff who work at the factory in Gloucester

A member of staff looked only too happy to be speaking with Prince Charles as he visited the cutting room

Prince Charles engaged in conversation with Emma Willis and employees during his visit at the Emma Willis LTD factory

In 2018, Emma's charity 'Style for Soldier' put on an exhibition which showcased painting, poetry, film, and sculpture by injured service personnel who are using their creativity to help recover from the traumas they endured at war.

Emma Willis Ltd also works closely with Gloucester-based companies in a bid to help vulnerable members of the public struggling with employment.

She now has over 30 employees - including two Syrian refugees - one being Nareen Hussain, a cutter, who Charles could be seen speaking to in the cutting room.

Before his departure, Charles looked delighted to be gifted a present by Emma, as employees watched on.

Emma Willis and her employees appeared to share a joke with Prince Charles as he embarked on a tour of the facilities (pictured)

The Prince of Wales looked deep in thought as she spoke with Emma Willis (R) and employees during his visit

Prince Charles engaged in conversation as he greeted Nareen Hussain, a cutter and Syrian refugee, in the cutting room

The 71-year-old looked the part in a dark grey check suit, white shirt and detailed patterned tie for the occasion

Emma Willis took Charles on a tour of the facilities during his visit to the shirt-making company
China has opted out of the 13th Conference of Parties to the Convention of Migratory Species and Wild Animals due to travel restrictions in the wake of coronavirus outbreak, sources said, as the summit got underway here on Monday.

The conference was opened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to sources, China, which is not a party to the convention, sent an apology for backing out from the conference due to travel restrictions imposed by India in the wake of coronavirus outbreak.

China was interested in attending the conference with a big delegation but could not come due to the restrictions, they said.

Besides China, Pakistan, which is a party to the convention among 130 countries, also did not turn up for the conference, sources said.

They said Pakistan has registered for the summit but there is still no word on whether they will attend in the coming days.

The eight-day-long CMS COP 13 is being held in Gandhinagar in Gujarat to engage with countries over conservation of migratory birds, animals and other species.

India was handed over the Presidency of the COP by Phillippines for next three years with Union Minister Prakash Javadekar taking charge as its President.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
DETROIT  A cold front brought some interesting phenomena to Lake Michigan: first ice balls, now ice volcanoes.

National Weather Service meteorologist Ernie Ostuno captured some amazing photos of erupting ice volcanoes Sunday at Oval Beach in Saugatuck, Michigan.

An ice volcano is a cone-shaped mound of ice formed over a lake by the eruption of water and slush through an ice shelf.

"Ice volcanoes occur in locations in which waves hit accumulated ice on the shoreline with some force," said Cort Spholten, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service of Grand Rapids.

"Ice volcanoes" erupt on Lake Michigan.

"We were cold enough to form ice on the shore of Lake Michigan, and water had broken the surface of that ice," Spholten said. "The waves ... were strong enough so the water channels through, it squeezes water upwards and tosses the floating ice up. As it happens, over the course of hours or days, it forms a cone, and it resembles a volcano."

According to Spholten, there have to be very specific conditions for ice volcanoes to form.

'Ice volanoes' erupt on Lake Michigan on Sunday Feb. 16

"It needs to stay cold enough to keep the ice around, and waves need to be large enough to force water upwards against the ice shelf," he said.

How long will they last?

"Today, winds from the southeast should diminish the waves. It's unlikely ice volcanoes will be seen today compared to yesterday, but it's not impossible," Spholten said.

Ice volcanoes can be dangerous, especially when people climb on them. There may be no way to get out of the icy water if someone slips down the side of one of the mounds.

Ice balls, a rare phenomenon on Lake Michigan, rolled up on the beaches Friday at Holland State Park.

The ice volcanoes formed after another rare phenomenon on Lake Michigan.

Friday, thousands of ice balls rolled up onto the lake shore. According to experts, the weather conditions have to be just right: The temperatures are just below freezing along shallow beaches. Slush collects into round shapes, and the waves sculpt ice chunks into orbs.

Follow Bisma Parvez on Twitter @bismapar

Story continues

A Portland woman lost her class ring 47 years ago: It showed up in a forest in Finland

Record-setting bear: 700-pound black bear shot in New Jersey sets world record, bowhunting group says

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Lake Michigan: Ice volcanoes erupt after cold front hits Great Lakes
(Photo : REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo ) FILE PHOTO: A man wearing a mask walks past the headquarters of the People's Bank of China, the central bank, in Beijing, China, as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, February 3, 2020.

Contagion, the 2011 movie about a deadly virus outbreak, unexpectedly became popular again as the 2020 coronavirus outbreak proliferated. The film briefly broke into the top 10 at the iTunes chart on Jan. 28. As of Feb. 3, it was holding regular at No. 11, right at the back of The Farewell.

Many people reading the news turned to movies to understand what's going on, and that might have been smart. Contagion, upon its launch, was lauded by the medical community for its unusually correct depiction of how a deadly, notably transmissible virus should unfold across the globe.

The movie is a taut thriller for wonks, deeply researched, and filled with jargon that coaxes visitors to pay attention. Behind the amusement is information that would have an actual impact on your own life.

Contagion portrays an international wracked by not only a virus, but a whole set of ills that come at the side of it. The film also showed disorder, societal breakdown, the problems inherent in locating a remedy, those who refuse to comply with rules, and individuals who set priorities that defend their loved ones before the general public.

Contagion is both scary and a bit comforting. The scientists do sooner or later discover and release a vaccine, and even though lots of people die, most of the international's populace manages to survive. World conflict doesn't spoil out. It's each a horror movie and not the worst-case scenario.

Contagion argues that wrong facts are at least as contagious as the virus itself

Alan Krumwiede is a sort of character who nonetheless felt a little fantastical. He's a blogger, a conspiracy theorist, a "freelance journalist" inside the mold of Alex Jones, with 12 million committed fanatics and a penchant for the spotlight. Krumwiede peddles various theories about the virus to his audience, including the idea that it's been genetically engineered. He is going on national television to accuse CDC director Dr. Ellis Cheever and the whole authorities' apparatus of conspiring with Big Pharma to suppress an easy homeopathic treatment to generate a vaccine.

But Krumwiede is a charlatan who stands to earnings off forsythia himself. In a video published to his website, Krumwiede fakes the signs of the virus and then "heals" himself with forsythia. Later, we see him roaming the streets in complete protecting gear, even though he's supposedly immune; it became all a scam.

Yet Krumwiede's falsehoods incorporate just enough of the reality that it unfolds quickly. Falsehood infects visitors liable to worry, paranoia, and mistrust of authorities, particularly folks who are supposed to be searching out for them.

When he confronts Cheever on TV, Krumwiede said that what's merely happening is being hidden from the ordinary man. Cheever, attempting to keep his cool, rebuffs him. The doctor said one must touch with a sick person or something that they touched before being infected. He added what Mr. Krumwiede is spreading is far riskier than the disease.

ALSO READ: Is Coronavirus Man-Made? Baseless Conspiracy Theories about Its Origin Including China Bioengineering Debunked

Krumwiede said an email written by Cheever has surfaced and is circulating on Facebook. Cheever had despatched it to his fiancee, warning her of a quarantine about to be enforced in Chicago, where she lives. The quarantine wasn't announced to the overall public until numerous hours after the email changed into despatched. See? You can almost pay attention to Krumwiede's 12 million viewers shouting thru the screen. They are withholding the fact from us.

Krumwiede's "virus" infects people's minds and reasons them to behave in approaches that expressly counteract their personal interests and the greater good. Once the vaccine has been developed, he threatens to propose his viewers to keep away from it. While he's arrested and charged with securities fraud, conspiracy, and possibly manslaughter, they pool their cash and publish his bail.

Even "reasonable" people seem at risk of his way of thinking within the wake of the virus, regardless of coming in contact with Krumwiede themselves or could ever concentrate on someone like him in different circumstances. One scientist tells another, offhandedly, that the Americans have a cure and are manufacturing it in secret; while she asks him in which he examines that, he says, "The internet."

ALSO READ: Coronavirus isn't a Chinese bioweapon! Here Are The Most Popular Coronavirus Youtube Hoaxes, Rumors, and Lies You Should Ignore

Contagion says internet allows bad stats to spread

Obviously, humans have continually been able to promote theories and fake treatments for all sorts of issues in the course of history. But Contagion reminds us that the shape of the internet permits bad statistics to spread in a way that uncannily mimics a completely contagious virus. And that false facts - those unverified rumors and sinister theories - have actual-world implications.

But even practical humans locate it challenging to resist hoarding masks or shutting out hoaxes about the unfold of coronavirus. We're afraid, and our fear combined with rumor and gossip can have dangerous consequences.

This is why Contagion nevertheless jewelry so authentic today - and why, maybe, it's suitable that humans are watching it in times like these. It's probably no longer an injection against paranoia. Still, it at the least provides a piece of a barrier between us and the virus.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Let's look at what we do know - and rate the various options.

1. Nobody wants another early general election: That view is shared by all shades of opinion at Leinster House. An opinion poll published yesterday suggested that only about one in seven voters wants to see an early return to the polls.

But those wishes will not of themselves stave off another election. In 1981/1982, with the economy teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, it took three elections over 18 months to give stable government.

Avoiding a general election requires key people in several parties to change their stances. Somebody or something has to give here. We have seen it happen before in our recent history. In 1989, Charlie Haughey breached a core Fianna Fail value and shared cabinet seats with the breakaway Progressive Democrats.

In 1992, Dick Spring of Labour got over his antipathy for the politics of Albert Reynolds's Fianna Fail and joined a coalition. In 1994, John Bruton put aside his mistrust of the Democratic Left to form a rainbow coalition. This time the gaps to be bridged look wider and the obstacles to be overcome appear bigger. But a formula can be found.

2. A Sinn Fein coalition with all other parties - bar Fianna Fail and Fine Gael: This was talked-up by Mary Lou McDonald and her leadership colleagues in the course of the election campaign.

But last Friday morning, Sinn Fein's housing spokesman Eoin O Broin said that such a left-leaning coalition led by his party, and made up of left-wing parties and individuals, was just not possible. After just two days of effort, he said there would not be sufficient numbers in the new Dail.

He was criticised by People Before Profit's Dun Laoghaire TD Richard Boyd-Barrett, who said Sinn Fein had "thrown in the towel" too early. But Solidarity's Cork North-Central TD Mick Barry said the Dail numbers were not there and urged measures to ensure it may be there next time out.

Fianna Fail and Fine Gael TDs, including Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, also criticised Sinn Fein for being half-hearted about its pan-left coalition efforts. Sinn Fein countered by accusing "the two big parties" of disregarding its 24pc support and also warned groups like the Green Party and Social Democrats not to help either Fianna Fail or Fine Gael get into government.

Given all that hot air, it appears safe to file this one as "less likely". Not impossible - rather improbable.

3. Fianna Fail-Sinn Fein-Green Party and possibly others: Fianna Fail has ruled this out after its TDs and senators met for over four hours last Thursday. During a long campaign, its leader Micheal Martin not only shut down and locked out that option, he actually nailed the door shut on it many times.

That does not mean it will definitely not come around again, especially if this process drags on without success.

The move has led to Sinn Fein again playing the "face-at-the-window", arguing the party, and its voters, are being excluded by the "old boys' club".

It's a useful propaganda tool - but it does not stand scrutiny. Yes, Sinn Fein did have a great election with the biggest vote share. But another way of looking at things is that three out of four people did not vote for Sinn Fein and one citizen's vote carries no more weight than that of another.

Mr Martin does want to provide a government and wants to be Taoiseach. But, like most parties, whichever coalition option emerges must be endorsed by the membership at a special conference.

This one is again less likely to happen.

4. Fianna Fail-Fine Gael-Green Party and possibly others: The grandson of Fianna Fail's founder, Eamon O Cuiv, let the cat out of the bag on this one last week when he went on Raidio na Gaeltachta after his parliamentary colleagues ruled out Sinn Fein.

'Dev Og', as he's known to some, said Micheal Martin wanted Fianna Fail to lead government and this eventually was the only permutation which added up.

Mr O Cuiv said his party's grassroots were strongly opposed as were some of his colleagues.

The reality is all three parties would have a hard sell to their members on this one. But it should go nicely over the magic 80 TDs needed to give a majority.

Fine Gael TDs and senators may also be strongly opposed. Having gone from 75 TDs in 2011, to 50 in 2016, and down to 35 this time, some see opposition and a rebuild as the only way to avoid extinction. There could be a very noisy first meeting of the Fine Gael parliamentary party today.

This one has lots and lots of snags - not least the prospect of leaving the opposition field wide open to Sinn Fein. But the arithmetic is compelling.

5. A Fianna Fail-led conglomerate of the Green Party, Social Democrats, others and a large group of Independents: Achieving numbers here would be hard work.

Some amenable rural Independents might struggle to overcome their anti-Green political rhetoric. In fact, some of them are talking about re-grouping as a counterweight and alternative to the Green Party in coalition.

This one might have to involve also coaxing Labour, which has already said it is heading into opposition no matter what. At first glance, this one appears to have a problem for every solution.

But it could emerge - eventually - as the 'dark horse' option.
Having shots poured into their mouths on the dancefloor, belting out Taio Cruz hits and dancing the Macarena - four Labor MPs partied the night away on a recent holiday to Bali.

Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos and three male colleagues were filmed letting their hair down at Seminyak's Motel Mexicola in December.

The mobile phone video, obtained by the Herald Sun, showed the group singing and dancing in the packed bar popular with young tourists.

At one point in the video, a bartender poured a shot directly into one MP's mouth.

The group were also seen huddling and jumping up and down to Taio Cruz hit Dynamite - while another MP showed off some very eccentric moves to Katy Perry song Firework.

Left to right: Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos, Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer Steve Dimopoulos and Bentleigh MP Nick Staikos

The three male MPs were Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer Steve Dimopoulos, Bentleigh MP Nick Staikos and Bayswater MP Jackson Taylor.

One witness told the Herald Sun they behaved like there were on 'a Year 12 Schoolies trip'.

The footage shows the group lifting each other up, linking arms and high-fiving other patrons.

The MPs returned from their privately-funded Bali holiday on January 2, ahead of Victoria declaring a state of disaster for much of the east of the state that evening.

Opposition Leader Michael O'Brien said the health minister should have been home after East Gippsland evacuations began.

'We had massive pressure on our country hospitals, we had people being injured...The health minister should have been on deck,' he told reporters on Tuesday.

The footage features the group dancing at the club, linking arms and high-fiving other patrons. Pictured: Bayswater MP Jackson Taylor

Ms Mikakos says she returned as soon as she could - having tried unsuccessfully to get an earlier flight from December 29.

'I am not going to be distracted by this,' she told reporters in the wake of the video leak.

'I have been busy visiting bushfire-affected communities, including health services that were on the front line during the fires.'

She stressed there is no issue with her having taken a holiday or enjoying a dance, with the video showing her and her colleagues doing the Greek Zorba dance.

'It is important that ministers have the opportunity to take some leave and to refresh, so we can refresh for the year and the big job that we have, that we take very seriously,' she said.

'The fact that I do enjoy a Zorba would be no surprise to anybody,' the Greek-Australian MP said.

A spokeswoman for the Andrews Government assured the public the MPs were on a personal trip and that no taxpayer dollars funded the night out.

'This was a privately-funded trip by MPs,' she said.

Premier Andrews said it was appropriate ministers have some leave.

'I'm happy to stand beside an outstanding health minister. This is not a story,' he told reporters, standing alongside Ms Mikakos.

Fellow holiday-maker Mr Staikos also dismissed the significance of the story.

Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos, who was not seen drinking alcohol in the footage, reportedly shared information regarding emergency evacuations in East Gippsland the day after partying

Nick Staikos (left) and Jackson Taylor (right) were both filmed partying in Bali last December

'The biggest revelation is that I'm a bad dancer, and I'm just glad that they didn't get footage of Footloose,' he told reporters.

Mr Dimopolous said he had been behaving how he would around friends. Video shows him having liquid from a bottle being poured into his open mouth.

'It was a personal holiday with friends, and I felt very comfortable and safe with friends.'

The next day Ms Mikakos used Twitter to voice her concerns and discuss emergency evacuation orders in place for East Gippsland as entire towns were engulfed in flames.

Opposition spokesman David Davis said the Health Minister should not have left the country while the nation was burning.

'The Health Minister had a specific role and should have been in the state, prepared to be on deck at short notice,' he said.

'Hospitals and health services play a critical role at times of disaster management and as events showed, our country hospitals were stretched.'

Prime Minister Scott Morrison faced similar backlash for heading to Hawaii for a family holiday during Australia's worst bushfire crisis on record.

He defended his choice to travel by saying volunteers knew he 'would not stand there and hold a hose'.

'I am not a trained firefighter nor am I an expert like those in the next room doing an amazing job,' he said at the time.

He later apologised for disappointing the Australian public.

Mr Morrison admitted he had caused 'great anxiety' by leaving Australia, and said he would have done things differently if he had the benefit of hindsight.
(Correcting that Gavin Oldham is executive chair of Share PLC, not chief executive.)

(Alliance News) - Share PLC has agreed to a GBP62 million takeover offer from interactive investor, it confirmed on Monday.

Share PLC owns the Share Centre, an online stockbroker focused on retail investors. Manchester-based interactive investor, or ii, has its own trading and investment platform.

Back in 2017, ii acquired TD Bank Group's UK direct investing business to create the UK's second largest online investment broker behind FTSE 100-listed Hargreaves Lansdown PLC.

ii will be paying in both cash and shares, with some 90% of the offer in stock and 10% in cash. Shareholders in Share PLC will get 4.1 pence in cash and 0.00084 of a ii share per share in Share PLC held.

Based on a value of GBP441.62 per ii share, the deal values each Share PLC share at 41p each, valuing the entire company at GBP61.9 million.

This price is a 41% premium to Share PLC's closing price of 19.00p on Friday in London, with the stock 11% higher on Monday morning at a price of 32.12p.

Share PLC shareholders will own around 6.8% of the combined company.

Share PLC Executive Chair Gavin Oldham said: "I am delighted to welcome this combination of our businesses, designed to transform the prospects for individual share ownership and personal investment across the UK.

"At our AGM in June 2019, I spoke of our major strategic ambition to transform Share PLC's business over the coming years. We have to grow significantly in order to achieve this, not only in profitability but also in scale and in substance," Oldham continued.

Richard Wilson, the CEO of ii, added: "We are delighted with this transaction. The firms' shared values and combined strengths reinforce the ii Group's position as a leader in the retail investment services marketplace. With our fair flat fees we have built a strong and compelling alternative to percentage fees, in a business that puts the customer first.

"Combining our individual strengths brings further scale and the opportunity to deliver enhanced value, service and customer experience to an enlarged customer base."

"Our purpose is to help customers take direct control of their financial future, providing tools and support to make informed investing decisions. This transaction contributes significantly to that goal," Wilson continued.

By George Collard; georgecollard@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
ATLANTA, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --

WHAT: Atlanta Housing schedules special meeting to consider lawsuit settlement related to the sale of 90 acres of Atlanta Housing land.

WHEN: Friday, Feb. 21 at 4 p.m.

WHERE: Atlanta Housing, 230 John Wesley Dobbs Ave., Atlanta, GA. 30303, 7th Floor Board Room.

BACKGROUND: A copy of the settlement agreement related to the matter styled Grady Redevelopment, LLC; Capitol Gateway, LLC; Harris Redevelopment, LLC; and Carver Redevelopment, LLC v. The Housing Authority of the City of Atlanta, Georgia, Civil Action File No.: 2017CV294880, Superior Court, Fulton County and the contracts that are the subject of the lawsuit are posted along with the Special Meeting notice on the Atlanta Housing website and can be accessed at the following links:

https://www.atlantahousing.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Lawsuit-Settlement-Agreement.pdf

https://www.atlantahousing.org/notices/

https://www.atlantahousing.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Capitol-Revitalization-Agreements-and-Purchase-Option.pdf

https://www.atlantahousing.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Carver-Revitalization-Agreements-and-Purchase-Option.pdf

https://www.atlantahousing.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Grady-Revitalization-Agreements-and-Purchase-Option.pdf

https://www.atlantahousing.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Harris-Revitalization-Agreements-and-Purchase-Option.pdf

ABOUT ATLANTA HOUSING

The Housing Authority of the City of Atlanta, Georgia (AH), is the largest housing authority in Georgia and one of the largest in the nation.

Through its diverse portfolio of owned communities, collaboration with private developers, supportive housing arrangements and homeownership opportunities, AH provides and facilitates affordable housing resources for more than 24,000 low-income households. In FY 2018, AH invested $2.8 million in human development services, provided scholarships for 46 AH-assisted students and helped 177 families transition from homelessness. AH's programs are funded and regulated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Visit Atlanta Housing at http://www.atlantahousing.org or follow on Twitter at @housingatlanta.

SOURCE Atlanta Housing

Related Links

https://www.atlantahousing.org


I am proud to live in Tennessee, where the Republican-led General Assembly is working to pass legislation that will protect our unborn children. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the socialist liberals running for president who would allow our tax dollars to be used for abortions. At the same time, some Democrats have even promoted infanticide. This socialist agenda is a direct threat to our unborn children, and we must work to elect Christian conservatives who will stand with President Trump and be a voice for the voiceless.



Thats why I am supporting Bill Hagerty for U.S. Senate. As a Christian and a father of four, Bill understands how important it is to stand for life. Bill grew up with Tennessee values, and like so many of us, he truly values the sanctity of life. Bill always says, abortion is not a human right; it takes a human life, and he is exactly right. Bill will uphold his values and support legislation to strengthen protections for unborn children. He will also push to provide more options for mothers to turn to, such as crisis pregnancy centers, community groups, and faith outreach groups.



President Trump is leading the fight for life, and he made history earlier this year, when he became the first sitting President to speak at the March for Life. But President Trump cannot do it alone, he needs strong allies he trusts, like Bill Hagerty in the Senate to help him.



Most importantly, Bill understands that Planned Parenthood must be defunded. For your awareness, just between 2017-2018, Planned Parenthood performed 332,757 abortion procedures - the most since 2011-2012. It is far past time for Congress to act and stop this organization and any other abortion provider from receiving federal funding. With Bill in office, he will do everything he can to prevent taxpayer funding from going to the most prolific abortion provider in the United States. He will stand side-by-side with Senator Marsha Blackburn and President Donald Trump to defund Planned Parenthood.

But one of the best ways we can ensure our unborn children are protected is by confirming more Constitutionalist judges to the bench. That would be one of Bills main objectives in the Senate.

Radical Democrats want to pack the court with activist judges who will legislate from the bench. The Trump administration and the conservative Senate Majority have already confirmed nearly 200 federal judges, and we need to make sure that number continues to rise. Bill will vote to confirm more of President Trumps judicial nominees to the federal bench and the Supreme Court, who will uphold the rule of law and respect the Constitution.

I strongly encourage you to join me in supporting Bill Hagerty for Senate. We must send a message to the Democrats in Washington that Tennesseans do not support their radical pro-abortion ideas. Tennesseans value the sanctity of life, and so does Bill Hagerty; he will be a strong voice for the unborn in Congress.

Richard Floyd
English is the first thing you notice at Hillsong Berlin. The church was meeting at the Kino in der Kulturbrauereia movie theater in a historic brewery, just one tram stop from the last standing section of the Berlin Wallbut on Sunday night the sign out front said, Welcome Home. A smiling cadre of young, fashionable, and diverse volunteers from around the world greeted people in accented English.

Inside, the entire service is in English, including the sermon and all the worship songs. Participants sing Wake, What a Beautiful Name, and King of Kings. Most international Hillsong churches translate their services from the local language into English. In Berlin, there is no translation. The service is just in English. That isnt Hannah Fischers first language, but thats part of why she comes to Hillsong Berlin.

People from outside Germany cant really understand how awkward it is to be Christian here, she said. I could never praise God like that in my language.

Five hundred years ago, Martin Luther insisted that Christians needed to hear the gospel in their own language, in words they could understand. When the Reformation swept Germany, people abandoned Latin worship for German prayers and praise.

Today, however, German Christians like Fischer are turning from their own language to a more global tongue: English. They say the foreign language allows them to loosen their German identity, praise God in an uninhibited way, and connect with a global, cosmopolitan Christianity.

Deborah Justice, an ethnomusicologist at Syracuse University, researched transnational evangelical groups in Germany, including Hillsong, ...

1

You have reached the end of this Article Preview You have reached the end of this Article Preview To continue reading, subscribe now. Subscribers have full digital access.

Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here.
The announcement comes two weeks after Egypt sent a special jet to bring back hundreds of Egyptian nationals from Wuhan as the epidemic caused a global scare

Egypt has ended a 14-day quarantine for hundreds of Egyptian citizens who had returned home from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus, Health Minister Hala Zayed announced in a press conference.

Zayed said that all tests conducted on the 302 Egyptian citizens during the 14-day period, which is how long it takes for the disease to incubate, have shown that they are free of the virus or any other infectious diseases.

The Egyptian government had designated El-Negelah Central Hospital in Marsa Matrouh as a quarantine hospital to house the returnees.

The ministry has already taken the citizens back to their residences in Cairo and Alexandria on buses.

The announcement comes two weeks after Egypt sent a special jet to bring back hundreds of Egyptian nationals from Wuhan as the epidemic caused a global scare.

Last Friday, Egypt confirmed its first coronavirus case in the country, adding that the ill person was a foreigner, without giving further details.

The person tested positive for the quick-spreading virus but had no symptoms, health ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed said over the weekend, adding that he had been quarantined in a hospital.

This is the first reported case in Africa amid the outbreak of the epidemic which killed 1,770 since December, with over 70,000 infected globally, with the vast majority in mainland China.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to accept Vodafone Idea's proposal to pay Rs 2,500 crore by Monday and Rs 1,000 crore by Friday to Department of Telecommunications and that no coercive action be taken against it.

A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra declined to accept the proposal given by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Vodafone, after he mentioned the matter.

ALSO READ: Is it the end of the road for Idea of Vodafone?

Rohatgi said they are willing to pay Rs 2,500 crore today and another Rs 1,000 crore by Friday but no coercive action be taken against the company.

He said the bank guarantee deposited with the government by Vodafone should also not be encashed.

Vodafone Idea, whose liability is estimated to be around Rs 53,038 crore, including Rs 24,729 crore of spectrum dues and Rs 28,309 crore in licence fee, has already warned of shutdown if no relief is given.

ALSO READ: Airtel pays Rs 10,000 crore to DoT as part of its AGR due

"As disclosed in the Company's financial statements for quarter ending December 31, 2019, the Company's ability to continue as a going concern is essentially dependent on a positive outcome of the application for modification of the Supplementary Order," the company said in the filing. The next date of hearing is scheduled for March 17, 2020.
By PTI

BENGALURU: Internet and connectivity issues in Jammu and Kashmir will be eased further in the coming months, Kewal Kumar Sharma, advisor to the Lt Governor of Jammu and Kashmir said here on Monday.

"The restrictions remain to make sure that these facilities are not misused for promoting disorder. In some months from now it should be possible to ease various restrictions related to the connectivity," he said during an interaction with investors.

He was part of the Road Show by the Jammu and Kashmir government for its Global Investors Summit sometime in May this year.

Sharma also said after the Supreme Court directed to review the situation, the administration is holding meetings every week and every fortnight further relaxation in terms of access to internet is given.

Speaking about the law and order situation, he said the overall situation in Jammu and Kashmir is much changed after August 5 when special status to the state was withdrawn with the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution.

"Things are getting better and better," he added.
New Delhi, Feb 17 : The Delhi High Court on Monday issued notices in a petition seeking CBI-monitored probe into the Gargi college molestation incident.

The court sought the response from Central government, Delhi Police and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) till April 30.

The plea, filed by Advocate M.L. Sharma, sought court-monitored CBI probe into the alleged molestation of female students during an annual cultural festival at the Gargi College here last week.

Sharma had filed a similar petition before the Supreme Court but was asked to move the Delhi High Court.

In his plea, the advocate sought investigating agency to probe, siege videos and CCTV recordings of cameras surrounding Gargi college campus.

He also demanded arrest of perpetrators, including political leaders who he claimed were allegedly behind the criminal conspiracy.
A s Julian Assanges court date looms, the cavalry has arrived for the WikiLeaks whistle-blower.

Andrew Wilkie and George Christensen, two MPs from Assanges native Australia, have flown to the UK on a four-day self-funded visit to lobby for his release from prison.

The Australian government has so far been reluctant to agitate for Assanges release, although Prime Minister Scott Morrison did respond to a letter from former Baywatch star and Assange activist Pamela Anderson saying it was unable to intervene in Mr Assanges legal proceedings.

Wilkie and Christensen are two members of Bring Julian Assange Home, a 14-strong parliamentary group in Australia. Ahead of a hearing on Assanges extradition on February 24, the two condemned the Australian government.

He had hard evidence of US war crimes, claims Wilkie. Now the country guilty of the war crimes is trying to get a hold of him. For the Australian government to be going along with this is unconscionable.

They are scheduled to meet Assange in Belmarsh Prison tomorrow, according to Australian media.

Assange faces 175 years in a US jail if convicted and is currently said to be in poor phsical and mental health.

Wilkie will also today meet Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who strongly condemned Assanges threatened extradition to the US.

Corbyns stance, however, has been criticised by some who cite a disparity with Labours treatment of its own whistleblowers in relation to a Panorama documentary on anti-Semitism.

Some whistleblowers are more equal than others, writes human rights barrister Adam Wagner.

A Swedish investigation into a rape allegation against Assange was dropped last year, with the deputy chief prosecutor Eva-Marie Persson saying that after nearly a decade the witnesses memories had faded but many womens groups have argued he avoided justice.

Boycott benefits

Roger Mosey, the former editor of the Today programme, says ministers boycotts of the show may be anti-democratic bullying but this often makes it more interesting. Instead of the junior ministers from the department of paperclips there are experts and commentators, he writes in the Radio Times. He adds defiantly: Many of us would rather hear from a scientist who knows something about epidemics than from Matt Hancock.

Theres more drama for the BBC. Today its deputy political editor John Pienaar, a Beeb veteran of nearly 30 years, announced he is jumping ship to new station Times Radio.

--

An update on our story about the International Booker Prize book tower that dwarfed prize chair Ted Hodgkinson. The stack of 124 works of translated fiction reached the ceiling in Hodgkinsons house  and then promptly fell down. I survived, Hodgkinson tweeted, adding: Relieved to report the photographer survived too. Books can kill, people.

Akala and co send 'positive vibes'

Getty Images for YouTube

Music executives Lyor Cohen and Tuma Basa hosted a YouTube music brunch this weekend to send positive vibes to all those representing black culture during the awards season. Artistic manager Chanelle Newman, rapper Akala and broadcaster Jasmine Dotiwala attended the 14 Hills Restaurant in Fenchurch Street. Fashion stylist Irene Agbontaen and founder of Music of Black Origin Awards Kanya King also celebrated the vibes.

Meanwhile, designers Vivienne Westwood and Alexa Chung, American performer Billy Porter, actor Cate Blanchett, British stage costume designer Sandy Powell, Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and British Fashion Council chief executive Caroline Rush also lapped up Londons finest sartorial offerings. Lewis Hamilton, who teamed up with Tommy Hilfiger to create the most sustainable collection to date, revealed the fruits of their labour this weekend.

SW1A

Recently departed Chancellor Sajid Javid celebrated his freedom with a Five Guys burger home delivery last Thursday, but could it have been a signal to colleagues? A source tells us that under Theresa May he would often meet in private with Michael Gove, Geoffrey Cox, Dominic Raab and Jeremy Hunt for top-level discussions. The gatherings were known as Five Guys. They didnt confirm whether cheeseburgers were consumed.

--

Remember the Tory Brexit countdown clock, which kept having to be reset? Its back! Counting down to Mays local elections. Tory chair Amanda Milling posted a snap of it over the weekend. Exciting times or the Doomsday Clock?

--

Britains beleaguered Lefties were bombarded this weekend by texts from Labour candidates. The Londoner received seven in 48 hours. A highlight was Rebecca Long-Baileys choice of yes or unsure. Only another six weeks to go!

Scarlett shields trolling target Jamil

Scarlett Curtis has come to the defence of her friend Jameela Jamil, the actor and presenter who has recently been accused of making up health issues.

Watching someone you love be abused online by a conspiracy theory is a particular kind of pain, the campaigner and daughter of Richard Curtis and Emma Freud said. I would have crumbled.

Shes the strongest person I know, Curtis added on Instagram. Jamil has turned this horror into a blazing light giving a voice to thousands of people who are suffering with chronic illnesses and still arent believed. Time to dial down the trolling.

Quote of the day

'Don't ruin telly for the rest of us'
LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / February 17, 2020 / Compare-autoinsurance.org (http://compare-autoinsurance.org/) is a top auto insurance brokerage website, providing car insurance quotes online from trustworthy agencies all over the United States. This website offers car insurance info about different coverage types, available discounts, and money-saving tips.

Using online estimates will tell the policyholders if they still pay fair prices for their coverage. Comparing prices from multiple companies will help drivers have a better view of the market. When shopping online, it is important to follow the next tips:

Compare prices every six months . Insurance rates are based on multiple factors that may change a lot in 6 months. Legislation changes, recent callbacks, increased criminality or extreme phenomena frequency will modify the prices. Also, major life events influence the costs.

. Insurance rates are based on multiple factors that may change a lot in 6 months. Legislation changes, recent callbacks, increased criminality or extreme phenomena frequency will modify the prices. Also, major life events influence the costs. Check prices before renewing the contract. If the new rates seem too high, and there is no reason for that, ask the insurer to provide some explanations. Do not forget that some companies practice "price optimization" tactics. Getting online quotes will help drivers get better rates.

If the new rates seem too high, and there is no reason for that, ask the insurer to provide some explanations. Do not forget that some companies practice "price optimization" tactics. Getting online quotes will help drivers get better rates. Online quotes will help drivers save money. Online forms will help drivers customize an affordable policy. These forms take into consideration multiple options and coverage limits. The user can simulate various scenarios and their respective prices.

Online forms will help drivers customize an affordable policy. These forms take into consideration multiple options and coverage limits. The user can simulate various scenarios and their respective prices. Online questionnaires also provide a list of discounts. Based on the added info, some questionnaires will highlight the available discounts. They will be automatically applied during the quote process. Some questionnaires will even offer to help you get more discounts. Usually, there will be a big button named "Search for more discounts".

Based on the added info, some questionnaires will highlight the available discounts. They will be automatically applied during the quote process. Some questionnaires will even offer to help you get more discounts. Usually, there will be a big button named "Search for more discounts". Making several coverage changes will help drivers save money. There is a wide range of discounts and customization options that will help drivers save money. For example, the Paid-In-Full discount may help drivers save as much as 10-15%. Bundling auto with home insurance can lower the costs by as much as 20%.

For additional info, money-saving tips and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.org.

Compare-autoinsurance.org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc.

"Online quotes will help you get in touch with the best offers on the market and obtain an advantageous deal", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company.

CONTACT:

Company Name: Internet Marketing Company

Person for contact Name: Gurgu C

Phone Number: (818) 359-3898

Email: cgurgu@internetmarketingcompany.biz

Website: https://compare-autoinsurance.org

SOURCE: Internet Marketing Company

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/576639/Best-Car-Insurance-2020-How-To-Save-Money-Using-Online-Car-Insurance-Quotes
Ok, gender critical feminist might sound like something youd roll your eyes at, shouting at the screen, For heavens sake! What are these lefties on about now?. But the beliefs that GCs hold  that gender (as opposed to sex) is a social construct, and that ones biological sex is not something that can be changed  were, until recently, extremely mainstream.

In response to Rebecca Long-Baileys claim that a certain set of people  best described as gender critical feminists, or GCs  have no place in the Labour movement, an impressive number of female party members have publicly asked to be expelled.

Yes, this has largely consisted of the candidates attempting to outwoke each other  rather than engaging in valuable substantive debate  but this itself exemplifies an increasingly serious societal problem we all face.

An absence of discussion about sex  in the sense of biology, rather than shagging  is one of the many ways in which Conservative discourse remains starkly different from that of our friends on the left. Its been hard to miss, for instance, the way in which such matters have become central to the Labour leadership contest.

Rebecca Lowe is the former director of FREER, and a former assistant editor of ConservativeHome. She is co-founder of Radical .

Indeed, Id bet a considerable amount of money that most Conservative members and voters are actually GCs. Yet professing such beliefs has become, in many circles, social suicide; it can even get you in trouble with the law.

Check out the case, for instance, of Maya Forstater  a think tanker who was sacked for openly expressing such beliefs, and whose former employers decision to sack her was recently upheld by a UK court. And also two further cases  involving Harry Miller and Kate Scottow, respectively  that you might have noticed in the news last week.

Meanwhile, there are increasing instances of the no-platforming of GC academics  women who often face physical threats, even to the extent of needing personal security guards on campus. And, meanwhile, an increasing number of detransitioners are going public, against ongoing campaigns to keep them quiet.

These are mostly young adults who have started to realise the lifetime effects of the medicalised path they set out upon as children. They are recognising that an institutional avidity to prescribe them hormone blockers meant that their mental health concerns were left untreated, and that their confusion about their sexuality was deemed fixable.

Here, again, the strongest response has also come from the Left. There is a seriously impressive set of practical campaigners and theorists who are fighting, day in day out, on these matters  at events, in the courts, and online. And this charge has been largely been led by women, often gay women  brave, honourable people to whom we all owe a huge debt of gratitude, regardless of our own political allegiances, sex, or sexuality.

Meanwhile, people on the centre-right have largely been ducking the issue. And most men, regardless of their political persuasion, seem simply too scared to get involved. This just doesnt seem good enough; if youve followed these matters properly, youll realise that it really isnt.

Just before Christmas, therefore, my lawyer friend Victoria Hewson and I launched a small, non-funded campaign called Radical, aimed at fighting for truth and freedom in this arena. Although our campaign is non-party-political  and our focus so far has been on building alliances across the so-called political spectrum, alongside making the case to responsible people in government  wed become particularly concerned by the way in which people on the centre-right either didnt seem interested in the topic, or didnt want to shoulder the risks involved in speaking out. We hope to begin to rectify that.

Now, these matters are complicated and emotive, and Im aware that I havent really explained, here, exactly what Im on about. Which side is it that were on? You might well be wondering whether Radical is one of those nasty TERF things, set on provoking hatred towards trans people.

Well, countering purposeful misdirection and unhelpful name-calling is half the battle, here. GCs like us (I hate labels, but have come to embrace the term out of the need for quick clarification) categorically do not hate any person, or any set of people.

Indeed, what we are fighting for is the adherence to truth that is necessary to any fight for justice and freedom. After all, without truth as a common ground, you cannot ever hope to persuade your opponents through rigorous argument. Instead, the most powerful person simply silences everyone else.

Alongside this commitment to searching out truth, Radical also standards for an appreciation of civility. To choosing to respect one other as the equals we all are, as human beings; to fighting for the right of any person to express themselves along the lines of whichever gender stereotypes they wish.

Of course trans people should be treated just the same as anyone else, all things being equal. But it is also the case that biological women need societal recognition of their right to certain single-sex spaces. And it is simply wrong to allow children to be subject to life-changing medical interventions to which they cannot in any possible sense consent. And the denial of the concept of biological truth leads only to an anti-vaxxing hellhole.

This debate, therefore, is anything but simple. It ranges from issues of free expression, to truth denial, to child abuse. It involves complex considerations of how the interests and needs of one set of people can be balanced against the interests and needs of another.

But several important concerns remain clear. And one of these is that we must begin to speak rigorously about these matters, not only because they are important, but also because such discussion is being purposefully suppressed. A powerful lobby has taken over, and is in the process of capturing our institutions  our schools, our universities, our police force, our healthcare services. It comes dressed in the language of rights; it comes with knives for our children, and refutation of the mental health concerns of our teenagers. It comes to take away our freedom, and crowd out our norms of civility and kindness.

Brave people on the Left have led the charge on this topic so far. Please, Conhomers, consider joining us in joining them against those who have hijacked this important debate. Armed with science and with compassion, we can work together on this, for the good of all.
B ritish diplomats are scrambling to get nearly 80 UK citizens off a coronavirus-stricken cruise ship in a Japanese port.

They were urgently considering all options including transferring passengers on the Diamond Princess to a Japanese medical facility for 14-day isolation, a UK chartered repatriation flight or a multi-nation response to the crisis.

Fears over the spread of Covid-19 on the liner spiralled this morning as Japan reported 99 more cases, taking the total to 454, including at least three Britons, out of the 3,700 passengers and crew on board.

David Abel, 74, from Oxfordshire, on the ship with his wife Sally, said the latest from the UK Government was that they consider it best that we go into a medical facility in Japan where we will get the top treatment.

David Abel, who is on board Diamond Princess with his wife Sally / David Abel

Health experts say that the preferred option to contain the virus is to quarantine people locally as part of efforts to stop its global spread.

Japan has an advanced healthcare system but it is not clear whether it could find a quarantine facility for hundreds of passengers from the ship docked at Yokohama, south of Tokyo.

Ministers are also under pressure to bring home UK citizens after a US repatriation flight landed back in California this morning, followed by another arriving at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.

The quarantined ship Diamond Princess / AP

Australia will evacuate more than 200 of its citizens from the ship, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said, with similar flights being arranged by Canada, Hong Kong and Israel.

However, the repatriation moves raised fears that they could actually spread the virus, as 14 out of the 340 US citizens brought home were infected.

They were allowed to fly home in a separate part of a plane as they were not showing symptoms, which is believed to reduce the risk of contagion.

US passengers on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship fly back to the United States / via REUTERS

In a video on Facebook, Mr Abel said: We understand the latest information from the UK is they have been tirelessly working... and they consider it best that we go into a medical facility in Japan.

Voicing anger at such a move, he added: They have made it clear, what they intend to do, going to leave it to the hands of Japan.

Ahead of high-level talks in Whitehall on the Diamond Princess, the British Embassy in Tokyo tweeted: We are considering all options to guarantee the health and safety of the British people on board the #DiamondPrincess in line with latest advice from the Chief Medical Officer and the Who.

There are 78 British citizens, including around 20 crew, on the ship which has been under quarantine since February 3. Richard Branson stepped into the repatriation row after being urged to intervene to help the Abels.

He tweeted: @VirginAtlantic does not fly to Japan but we are in discussions with the government and seeing if there is anything we can do.

Separately, authorities around the world were racing to track hundreds of passengers on the Westerdam cruise ship after it was allowed to disembark them in Cambodia and then an American woman who was on board tested positive after arriving in Malaysia.

The cruise ship MS Westerdam at dock in the Cambodian port of Sihanoukville / REUTERS

The cruise line said none of the other 1,454 passengers and 802 crew had reported any symptoms. Guests who have already returned home will be contacted by their local health department and be provided further information, a statement said.

British officials were contacting citizens to advise them to self-isolate if they develop symptoms of a cough, fever or shortness of breath, and to call the health authorities.

Across mainland China, officials said the total number of coronavirus cases rose by 2,048 to 70,548 yesterday, a bigger increase than the previous day, but the daily death toll fell to 105, with the total fatalities now at 1,770.

Health experts believe the figures are inaccurate and that far more people have been infected, from which 98 per cent or more are expected to recover.

Outside China, more than 500 infections have been confirmed, mostly in people who travelled from Chinese cities, with five deaths  in Japan, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan and France.

Health officials in Britain are to tell schools that they do not need to close or send staff and pupils home if someone had come into contact with an individual with coronavirus.

The guidance comes a week after at least seven schools in Brighton, Hove and Eastbourne were understood to have told parents that either a staff member or pupil has been advised to stay at home for 14 days by PHE.

So far 3,109 tests for coronavirus have been carried out in the UK, with nine positive results.
The Pakistan High Commission here on Monday said it has issued visas to a group of Hindu pilgrims to visit Shree Katas Raj temples in Punjab province's Chakwal district.

The group is planning to visit Shree Katas Raj temples, also known as Qila Katas or complex of Katas temples, from February 19 to 25, the Pakistan High Commission said in a statement.

Katas Raj temples surround a pond which is considered sacred by the Hindus, it said.

A group of 88 Indian Hindu devotees had also visited Shree Katas Raj temples last year from December 13 to 19.

Both these visits are covered under the Pakistan-India Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines, 1974.

The issuing of visas to Sikh and Hindu pilgrims is in line with the Pakistan government's efforts to facilitate visits to religious shrines, the statement said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav



Thackeray on Monday said he reached the top post in the state due to blessings of the soil of Shivneri Fort, the birthplace of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

He was speaking at a function in Poladpur tehsil in neighbouring Raigad district to dedicate the samadhi of the Maratha Emperor's general Tanaji Malusare, whose exploits during the Battle of Sinhagad made him a revered figure in military folklore.

The fort was called Kondhana before this battle but it was renamed Sinhagad to honour the bravery and supreme sacrifice of Tanaji Malusare.

Monday's function was organised to mark the 350th death anniversary of the famed general, whose life was the subject of a recently released film Tanhaji.

Calling the day an auspicious one, the CM said it was necessary for people to know about the exploits of great men of history.

"I had taken the soil of Shivneri Fort to Ayodhya and within one year the verdict on the Ram Temple there was delivered. I became chief minister of Maharashtra because of the blessings of the soil of Shivneri Fort which creates wonders. Many have shed blood on this soil," Thackeray said.

The protection of forts was the responsibility of every citizen, Thackeray said, and promised all out support from the state government for their upkeep.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Given how bulkily he towers over the European debate, and has since the end of the Second World War, maybe a good starting point for assessing Britains troubled, ambiguous, and now emotionally charged relationship with Europe is with Winston Churchill. Although various notions of a more politically united Europe had been floated over the years (excluding the imperial designs of Napoleon and Hitler, of course), these had mostly been idealistic and academic; few practising politicians, and none of the stature of Churchill, had put forward such a vision.

Yet, in a speech in Zurich in 1946, Churchill did precisely that, and in terms that would still make the Eurosceptics of today squirm, not least with embarrassment at the way they lazily invoke his memory and reputation to get Brexit done. Only one year after the end of the war, Churchill told his startled audience this:

If Europe were once united in the sharing of its common inheritance, there would be no limit to the happiness, to the prosperity and glory which its three or four hundred million people would enjoy. Yet it is from Europe that have sprung that series of frightful nationalistic quarrels, originated by the Teutonic nations, which we have seen even in this twentieth century and in our own lifetime, wreck the peace and mar the prospects of all mankind.
Luxembourg felt the brunt of Storm Dennis over the course of Sunday night.

Notably, wind gusts of around 90 km/h were recorded in parts of the country, including 91 km/h in Useldange and 94 km/h in Wiltz. Thankfully the fallout in Luxembourg was less severe than other parts of Europe, such as the United Kingdom, where a record number nearing 600 flood warnings were issued in England and Wales.

A man also died after falling into a river in Wales, where the army had been drafted in to help evacuate flooded towns.

Heavy flooding: Man dies as Storm Dennis slams UK, power cuts hit France

In Luxembourg, the Grand Ducal Fire and Rescue Corps reported two roofs damaged alongside five objects blown away by high winds. Firefighters were dispatched around a dozen times due to fallen trees or branches blocking roads.

Some other parts of Europe were afflicted by electricity shortages and flight cancellations. In France, around 45,000 households were left without electricity on Sunday. The TGV service was also affected. Trains in Germany and the Netherlands were delayed by high winds and fallen trees.
Ras Al Khaimah will host its first energy summit next June as part of the RAK Energy Efficiency and Renewables Strategy 2040, under the theme ''Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy''.



The summit will take place at the Al Hamra International Exhibition and Conference Centre on June 15 and 16, and will bring together international thought-leaders and trailblazers, along with decision-makers from the government and private sector, reported Emirates news agency Wam.



The RAK Municipality Department, organiser of the event, said the meeting will gather a wide range of keynote speakers and participants from the energy industry, including government bodies, regulators, developers, building owners and managers, consultants, contractors, project managers, bankers, and utilities and power companies, to discuss the evolving role of governments on sustainability and energy efficiency, hybrid energy mix, electric and hybrid vehicles, renewable energy sources, water reuse and efficient irrigation, and emerging technologies.



The event seeks to enhance dialogue within the industry, and cross-learning opportunities across similar strategies in the region and the world, the organiser added.



The Government of Ras Al Khaimah considers energy efficiency and the adoption of renewable energy as important drivers for the competitiveness and sustainability of its economy.



The RAK Energy Efficiency and Renewables Strategy 2040 targets 30 percent electricity savings, 20 percent water savings and 20 percent renewable energy in the generation mix by 2040. The strategy, already well underway through a multitude of programmes and initiatives, connects with federal strategies and supports the UAEs commitment to climate change mitigation as part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
LERNA  The man for whom Coles County was named freed his own slaves and fought to make Illinois a free state.

But there were also places in Illinois where a "reverse" Underground Railroad operated, with free blacks kidnapped and taken to other states to be enslaved.

Some of the state's storied, long and deep history connected to the slavery issue is shown in "The Illinois Freedom Project," a traveling museum-style exhibit now on display at Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site.

"It takes us through the story of slavery and freedom here in Illinois," site Manager Matthew Mittelstaedt said. "Today our every thought is of Illinois as a free state but we do have this long history."

Indeed, Illinois, known as "The Land of Lincoln," has abundant ties to Abraham Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, whose father and stepmother made their farm home at what's now the historic site in southern Coles County.

With the exhibit, viewers can learn some of the not-quite-as-famous history. That includes how Edward Coles, the man who gave the county its name, freed his slaves and conducted an anti-slavery campaign for his 1822 election as Illinois' second governor.

Mittelstaedt noted that, for some, Coles' idea of freeing slaves "wasn't looked on well" because they didn't want free blacks living in Illinois, making for sort of "an odd place in between."

The traveling exhibit comes from a project by the state Looking for Lincoln organization and the National Park Service. It's on display in the Lincoln Log Cabin visitors center and is set to be there until at least mid-March.

Each of the 12 panels of the exhibit has photos and text along with a bar code that can be scanned with a smartphone. That accesses a video with more information related to the panel's topic.

The panels' titles include "Perseverance," which tells of the 1787 Northwest Ordinance that established the U.S. territory that included Illinois and how slavery would be addressed there.

There's also the "Courageously Taking the Step" panel that covers the Civil War era, the "Community" panel with information on free blacks in Illinois and "Facing Injustice" that tells of the "reverse" Underground Railroad.

Others, such as "Stand Against Intimidation" and "Proud Heritage" address race riots and the civil rights movement.

"It's all about telling the story of Illinois," Mittelstaedt said. "It gets us from slavery and beyond."

Though the story is "complex" and "Illinois had to struggle," the exhibit is designed for anyone to understand, he added.

Mittelstaedt said the site also has books and materials from The Illinois Freedom Project for educators to use if they want to do lessons on the exhibit and its topics.

In conjunction with the exhibit is a small display related to the book "Henry's Freedom Box." The book was featured at the site's most recent Saturday story series and tells of a young slave who seals himself in a box and mails it to a free state.

Mittelstaedt also said an upcoming presentation at the site fits with the topic. The Feb. 29 event will feature a talk on efforts to keep Illinois a non-slave state.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
As India is set to carry out yet another evacuation exercise this week to bring back home its nationals from Hubei in China, it also offered to airlift citizens of all its neighbouring countries from the epicenter of Covid-19 outbreak.

The Government earlier airlifted 645 Indian and seven Maldivian citizens from Hubei province of China as a B-747 aircraft of Air India made two sorties between Wuhan and New Delhi on January 31 and February 1 last. New Delhi is now set to bring back home some of the remaining citizens.

New Delhi will send an aircraft to Wuhan later this week with medical supplies to help Chinese Government contain the outbreak, which infected 51857 people around the world and caused 1666 deaths in China and three more elsewhere by Sunday.

GoI (Government of India) will send a consignment of medical supplies on a relief flight to Wuhan later this week to support China to fight the COVID-19 epidemic. On its return, the flight will have limited capacity to take on board Indians wishing to return to India from Wuhan / Hubei, Embassy of India in Beijing posted on Twitter.

Many Indian nationals currently in Wuhan / Hubei Province and wishing to return to India have already been in touch with @EOIBeijing (Embassy of India in Beijing) in the past two weeks, the Embassy of India tweeted, adding: We urge all Indian nationals from Wuhan/Hubei who intend to avail this flight and have not yet contacted us, to urgently call our hotlines.

At least 10 citizens of India could not board the aircraft to return home on January 31 and February 1, as they were found to have high body temperatures during screening by Chinese Government's immigration officials at the airport at Wuhan.

Several other Indian citizens had chosen to stay back, but some of them had later conveyed that they would also now like to come back home.

Ashish Yadav, an associate professor at the Wuhan Textile University, could not make it to the Air India aircraft on January 31 and February 1, as his wife Neha, who herself is a PhD scholar, had to undergo a surgery. The couple recently posted on social media a video, appealing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to get them evacuated as they had been left with food only for a few days.

Some Indian citizens living in and around the Ground Zero of the Covid-19 outbreak could not be evacuated earlier, because the Embassy of India in Beijing could not be contacted.

Subject to capacity limitations and space availability on the incoming aircraft, #India is also willing to facilitate nationals from all our neighbours boarding it on its return journey to #NewDelhi | Those interested are requested to contact @EOIBeijing, Misri posted on Twitter.

Raveesh Kumar, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), had on February 6 told journalists in New Delhi that India could consider evacuating Pakistani students from Wuhan and other places of Hubei in China if such a situation arises and resources were available. He, however, added that Pakistan Government had made no request for it till now.
Ash Wednesday is a significant day in the Christian calendar denoting the beginning of the repentant period of Lent which precedes Easter.

In 2021, the day falls on Wednesday 17 February, marking the start of Lent.

It's observed by individuals from various sectors of Christianity, including Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans and Methodists.

The practices of Ash Wednesday, such as the placing of ashes on the foreheads of participants, go back centuries.

Here's everything you need to know about Ash Wednesday:

What does the day signify?

Ash Wednesday marks the first day of Lent, a six-week period during which Christians often abstain from rich foods such as meat and dairy.

Some who take part also abstain from everyday habits such as watching excessive amounts of television.

Christians take part in the annual abstinent period of Lent in order to commemorate Jesus Christ, who, according to a biblical narrative, once spent 40 days and nights fasting in the Judaean Desert while being tempted by Satan.

In pictures: Ash Wednesday 2015 Show all 8 1 /8 In pictures: Ash Wednesday 2015 In pictures: Ash Wednesday 2015 Ash Wednesday 2015 Roman Catholics queue up to have crosses etched to their foreheads with ash by nuns and laymen as the country marks Ash Wednesday, the official beginning of the Christian Lenten season in Manila, Philippines In pictures: Ash Wednesday 2015 Ash Wednesday 2015 A Catholic nun uses ash to mark a cross on the forehead of a woman in observance of Ash Wednesday at The Redemptorist Church at suburban Paranaque city south of Manila, Philippines In pictures: Ash Wednesday 2015 Ash Wednesday 2015 With their foreheads marked with ash, Catholic devotees pray after lighting candles in observance of Ash Wednesday at The Redemptorist Church at suburban Paranaque city, south of Manila, Philippines In pictures: Ash Wednesday 2015 Ash Wednesday 2015 An Indian Catholic priest (L) marks the symbol of the cross with ash on the forehead of a Christian devotee during an Ash Wednesday service at Saint Mary's Basilica in Secunderabad, the twin city of Hyderabad, India In pictures: Ash Wednesday 2015 Ash Wednesday 2015 East Timorese Catholic worshippers receive black soot marks on their foreheads as they observe Ash Wednesday at the Auxiliadora Komoro Catholic church in Dili, East Timor, also known as Timor Leste In pictures: Ash Wednesday 2015 Ash Wednesday 2015 Indian Catholic Christians offer prayers during an Ash Wednesday service at Saint Mary's Basilica in Secunderabad, the twin city of Hyderabad, India In pictures: Ash Wednesday 2015 Ash Wednesday 2015 A man maintains oil lamps at the entrance to the Aedicule of the Tomb on Ash Wednesday In pictures: Ash Wednesday 2015 Ash Wednesday 2015 A nun prays at Golgotha on Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. The Church of The Holy Sepulchre preserves the most important moments of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ

When is it?

This year, Ash Wednesday takes place on Wednesday 17 February. Ash Wednesday occurs exactly 46 days before Easter Sunday, which is a moveable feast.

Easter Sunday is always held on the first Sunday after a full moon following the Spring Equinox.

Ash Wednesday occurs a day after Shrove Tuesday, otherwise known as Pancake Day.

On Pancake Day, as the name suggests, it's customary to eat pancakes and other rich foods in preparation for Lent.

How is it observed?

During church services on Ash Wednesday, members of the clergy mark crosses on the foreheads of worshippers using ashes, or sprinkle ashes over their heads as a sign of repentance.

The ashes, which are mixed with holy water or olive oil, are made by burning palm leaves on Shrove Tuesday.

These leaves will have last been used during the church service for Palm Sunday the previous year.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

Palm Sunday occurs on the Sunday before Easter Sunday, and commemorates Christ's entry into Jerusalem days before the Last Supper.

As the cross is marked on a person's forehead by a member of the clergy, they say: "Remember that you are guest, and to dust you shall return."

Alternatively, the priest may say: "Repent and believe in the gospel."
NEW YORK, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --

The global aircraft MRO market accounted for US$ 80.38 Bn in 2018 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.6% over the forecast period 2019-2027, to account for US$ 119.41 Bn by 2027. Considering the growing competition worldwide, the implementation of digital technologies is a necessary step toward the growth of MRO companies; this helps them create a continuous stream of data flowing through different levels of the supply chain, further streamlining the communication between the stakeholders and accelerating innovation in various operations. The digital transformation in the aviation industry substantially impacts all areas of the supply chain of the aviation industry, including air traffic management, aircraft operations, and aircraft and component manufacturing and servicing. The data-driven technologies such as data analytics which helps in tracking aircraft MRO activities in real-time would also optimize the air travel experience of crew and passengers. In addition, other advanced technologies such as AI and machine learning facilitates the airline crew and management to understand the airworthiness of the aircraft. This enable the airline to opt for MRO services. Also, the MRO service providers incorporate AI technologies to boost their procedures by easily and efficiently conducting visual checks and understanding the degree of maintenance and repairs required on the aircraft. Thus, growing trend of inclusion of digital technologies such as AI and machine learning is driving the aircraft MRO market.



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05862056/?utm_source=PRN



Furthermore, to implement digitization in the aviation industry for automating and streamlining the processes, governments around the world are undertaking initiatives to spread awareness about digital technologies.For instance, IATA, a US government regulated body, initiated digital aircraft operation that enable airlines in recognizing the aircraft component that require more effective maintenance, repair, and overhaul activities.



Thus, such governmental initiatives encourage the airlines to opt for MRO activities frequently, which further help the airports to boost their aircraft MRO facilities. Hence, growing demand for digital technologies among the airlines as well as aircraft MRO service providers to boost respective business is catalyzing the growth of aircraft MRO market.



The Asia Pacific is a diverse region that houses more than 4 billion population, and also comprises of dynamic economies that cumulatively generate 35% of the global GDP.The aviation industry in the region is widely a pivotal contributor to its social and economic development.



In the year 2017, Asia Pacific surpassed North America in terms of the leading digital travel market.The growth of Asia has been primarily contributed by the wide range of income levels and rapidly growing middle class.



This resulted in robust sales gain in fast-developing economies of the region, such as India and China. APAC is expected to be the region experiencing ample of opportunities for providers of aircraft MRO services.



Additionally, the aviation industry in the Southeast Asia region is one of the fastest-growing in Asia as well as globally.In 2017, Thailand's Suvarnabhumi Airport and Singapore's Changi Airport became the first airports in the Southeast Asia region that handled more than 60 million annual passengers.



Apart from swift economic growth, the immense growth of low-cost carriers has been the main driver of air traffic growth in the Southeast Asia region which also impact the growth of aircraft MRO market positively. Thus, potential countries in terms of the aviation industry in Southeast Asia region, such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and others, generate more revenue for the aircraft MRO market in the APAC region.



The global aircraft MRO market has been segmented on the basis of component, aircraft type, and end-user.Based on component, the aircraft MRO market has been segmented into engine MRO, avionics MRO, airframe MRO, cabin MRO, landing gear MRO, and others.



Based on aircraft type, aircraft MRO market has been segmented into fixed wing aircraft and rotary wing aircraft. Further, based on end-user, aircraft MRO market has been segmented into commercial and military.



The global aircraft MRO market has also been analyzed on basis of five major regions such as North America, Europe, APAC, MEA, and SAM. The major players profiled in the global aircraft MRO market are AAR Corp, Barnes Group Inc., Collins Aerospace, Inc., Delta TechOps, FL Technics, GE Aviation, Lufthansa Technik AG, Rolls-Royce PLC, Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd, and Turkish Technic Inc.



The overall global aircraft MRO market size has been derived using both primary and secondary source.The research process begins with exhaustive secondary research using internal and external sources to obtain qualitative and quantitative information related to the global aircraft MRO market.



It also provides an overview and forecast for the aircraft MRO market based on all the segmentation provided for the global region.Also, primary interviews were conducted with industry participants and commentators to validate data and analysis.



The participants who typically take part in such a process include industry expert such as VPs, business development managers, market intelligence managers, and national sales managers, and external consultants such as valuation experts, research analysts, and key opinion leaders specializing in the aircraft MRO industry.



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05862056/?utm_source=PRN



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________

Contact Clare: [email protected]

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001

SOURCE Reportlinker

Related Links

www.reportlinker.com


Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 11:27:44|Editor: Xiaoxia

Video Player Close

WASHINGTON, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump spoke over phone with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday to discuss issues concerning Syria and Libya, said the White House on Sunday.

During their talks, Trump expressed concern over the violence in Idlib, the last rebel-held stronghold in Syria, and called for a political solution to the Syrian conflict, a White House statement said.

Trump and Erdogan exchanged views on ending the crisis in Idlib as soon as possible.

Earlier on Friday, the Turkish Defense Ministry said 63 Syrian government troops had been killed in Idlib in a Turkish offensive, according to information from various sources.

The Russian military on the same day refuted Ankara's claim and warned in a statement that Turkey's accusation "only aggravates the situation and may lead to hasty decisions that do not meet mutual interests of Russia and Turkey."

Tensions in Idlib have flared up recently as the Syrian government forces, which are launching wide-scale offensives against the rebels in the area, exchanged fire with Turkish troops, causing multiple deaths on both sides.

With regard to Libya, Trump reiterated that continued "foreign interference" will worsen the situation in the war-torn country, the statement from the White House added.
The 34-year-old man who was indefinitely banned from Missoula City Council meetings a week ago for making threats against city officials in a Youtube video has been jailed on $100,000 bond.

Brandon Bryant, who allegedly threatened in a December Youtube video to hunt down and eliminate city officials, was charged in Missoula District Court on Feb. 7 for threats in official and political matters, a felony that carries a possible 10-year prison sentence and $50,000 fine.

At his initial appearance on Thursday, Judge Shane Vannatta held Bryant's bail at $100,000.

"Certainly there is the right of free speech," Vannatta said during the hearing. "It's when the right of free speech transcends to the threat of violence "

"Sir, I never talked about the City Council, I never threatened the City Council," Bryant said, cutting the judge off.

Bryant denied the allegations multiple times as he appeared via video from the Missoula County Detention Center on Thursday. Deputy County Attorney Selene Koepke told the judge prosecutors sought the high bail because they believed Bryant to be a threat to public safety.

"Those videos had a terrifying effect, and while the state acknowledges that some of his language is cryptic and vague, it is clearly threatening and essentially threatens mass murder," Koepke said.

Bryant became an imposing character in City Hall last November, when he erupted in a diatribe against city officials over tax increment financing, or TIF, and its role in fostering more business for a small number of developers. The explosion at the Nov. 18 meeting prompted Mayor John Engen to call the meeting into recess rather than allow Bryant to continue hollering from the podium.

After Bryant was issued a written notice of trespass from City Council meetings a week ago, Interim Police Chief Mike Colyer told the Missoulian law enforcement was both investigating whether Bryants conduct crossed the threshold for criminal activity and working to connect him with resources if he was struggling with personal problems.

Thursday, Missoula City Council Vice President Gwen Jones said she hopes Bryant "gets the resources and help that he needs" and that the council can "return to normal city government dynamic."

"It would be irresponsible to not take something like this seriously," Jones said.

Charging documents filed Feb. 7 state multiple council members brought Bryants activity to a police officers attention during a Jan. 29 training, reportedly disturbed by the large walking staff he had banged on the table during the public comment period.

On Jan. 30, Council President Bryan von Lossberg emailed the officer a Youtube video titled Brandon Bryant promises to eliminate people over the next year. The man in the video, who identified himself as Bryant, identifies the City Council members as targets to be eliminated, according to charging documents.

In other parts of the video, prosecutors wrote Bryant is unclear to whom he is referring when he states all you deserve to be eliminated.

One of the videos posted to Youtube contains images from the City Council meeting in which Engen gaveled Bryant down in November. Additional videos posted by the account, believed to be run by Bryant, include tirades about killing his enemies.

When interviewed by the officer, Bryant reportedly said he made the video to get a response.

While Mr. Bryant admitted to making the videos and posting them, he stated that the username Pick Your Battles was actually used by a former colleague and used to portray him in a negative light, Missoula County prosecutors wrote in charging documents.

On Thursday, Bryant spoke several times, against his public defender's advice, and denied directing the video into the council's view.

"It was someone else who took my video and sent it to the council, under the guise of me threatening, and I never threatened anyone," he said.

The courtroom gallery was nearly full Thursday with Bryant's family and supporters. Rembrandt Miller and others who attended the hearing on Bryant's behalf told the Missoulian they believed the charges were meant to silence those who speak out against TIF funding, but conceded Bryant's video was not justified.

"The video is indefensible," Miller said. "I think he has a tendency toward hyperbolic language, and I don't think that's helpful to his situation."

"His bark is worse than his bite," said another supporter, Troy Callihan.

Bryant was booked into the Missoula County Detention Facility on Tuesday, according to jail records.

Reporter Cameron Evans contributed to this story.

Please sign up on Missoulian.com to subscribe to Under the M, the weekly email about the University of Montana and higher education news in Montana.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th February, 2020) Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu is set to arrive in the Serbian capital of Belgrade on Monday, February 17, with a working visit.

It will Shoigu's his first visit to the country since his reappointment as the Russian defense minister.

In August, 2019, Shoigu's Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vulin invited the Russian minister to evaluate the development of the Serbian armed forces.

Shoigu will participate in laying the founding stone of the eternal flame in the city's Liberators of Belgrade Memorial Park, which is expected be ignited in May, as apart of the celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany.
The Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, Miroslav Lajcak, is paying an official visit to Romania.

On Tuesday, the Slovak official will hold political consultations with the head of the Romanian diplomacy, Bogdan Aurescu.

"The visit of the Slovak high official is part of the joint efforts to strengthen bilateral relations, at an excellent level and aims to promote cooperation in areas of common interest, as well as an exchange of views on regional, European and international developments of interest for both states," informs the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) in a press release sent to AGERPRES on Monday.

According to the cited source, the agenda of the talks will focus on the stage and development possibilities of the bilateral political dialogue, as well as of the economic and sectoral level.

The talks will include current issues of the European, international and security agenda, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs specifies.

Miroslav Lajcak will also be welcomed by President Klaus Iohannis at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace on Tuesday, according to the schedule of the head of state posted on the website of the Presidential Administration.
Plymouth Rock and other historic landmarks were vandalized with red graffiti Sunday night, according to photos of the iconic site shared over social media.

Breaking - #Plymouth Rock and Other National Landmarks #Vandalized Last Night in Coordinated Attack.America's most cherished, iconic landmark to faith and freedom was targeted last night for desecration and vandalization. #PreserveLandmarks #SaveHistory pic.twitter.com/UVUAJteuh7  Pilgrim 400th (@pilgrim400th) February 17, 2020

The rock  engraved with the year 1620, when the Mayflower arrived in Massachusetts  and several large painted seashells were among the monuments sprayed over with red graffiti, according to tweets from Boston25News.

Several monuments have been vandalized in Plymouth, including Plymouth Rock. Residents are sharing these photos of the vandalism online. Police are aware @boston25 pic.twitter.com/urfNF0glHj  Julianne Lima (@JulianneLimaTV) February 17, 2020

The Plymouth Area Chamber of Commerce is working to remove the paint from the monuments, according to WCVB.

Plymouth resident Peter Sullivan discovered the graffiti on the boulder while walking around the Pilgrim Memorial State Park, according to an interview with CNN.

Sullivan said the vandals tagged everything in the park.

All the statues, monuments," he told CNN. These people went around town all night and did all kinds of damage.

The vandalism comes as municipalities across the region and Europe gear up to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Mayflowers voyage and the founding on Plymouth Colony.
A ghost ship which went adrift a year ago has washed ashore in Ireland thanks to the power of Storm Dennis.

MV Alta, originally from Tanzania, was spotted near Ballycotton, in County Cork, by a member of the public on Sunday.

It is believed it washed up on the southwest coast of Ireland as a result of Storm Dennis over the weekend.

The vessel first made news in September 2018 when the US coastguard rescued 10 crew members 1,380 miles southeast of Bermuda.

The abandoned cargo ship the MV Alta / PA

It was then spotted again on September 3 last year when the Royal Navy's ice patrol ship tweeted that its crew had spotted Alta in the Mid-Atlantic.

Waterford Coast Guard shared a video of the abandoned vessel on its Facebook saying: Tasked earlier today to a vessel aground near Ballycotton, Cork. Thankfully there was nobody onboard today.

Engineers and senior officials from Cork Country Council will inspect the 80-metre cargo vessel while it remains aground in Ireland.

According to RTE, a pollution risk assessment will be carried out, but it is not believed to pose any immediate concern given the length of time the ship has been adrift.

Following the assessment, the contractor will board the vessel at the next suitable opportunity, which is expected to be at low tide tomorrow at around 7am, the council has said.

Members of the public have been warned to stay away as the cargo vessel is stranded on a dangerous stretch of the coastline.
A Catholic priest who was accused of sexually abusing a minor more than 100 times in the 1970s in New Jersey was later assigned by his religious order to Birmingham, where he lived and worked for 20 years and helped run a youth outreach to the Marks Village housing project.

The Diocese of Paterson, N.J., is facing a lawsuit accusing the priest, who taught at the now-defunct Don Bosco Technical High School, of molesting a student, according to a report by NJ.com.

Sean Rooney was assigned in 1983 by his religious order, the Salesians of Don Bosco, to Birmingham and remained in residence as an administrator through 2003. The Salesians for decades maintained a priest residence in Gate City next to Holy Rosary Catholic Church and ran a youth oratory, an outreach to young people in the nearby housing project. Salesian priests were assigned to oversee both Holy Rosary and St. John Bosco Catholic Church in Woodlawn.

In 2001-2002, now-deceased Bishop David Foley assigned Rooney to serve as pastor of both St. John Bosco and Holy Rosary churches. In 2014, the Salesian order withdrew from Birmingham and the Catholic Diocese of Birmingham took over administration of the parishes.

In 2003, Rooney returned to the Salesian Provincial House in New Rochelle, N.Y. In 2008, the former priest was laicized  meaning he had his status as a priest revoked - by the Salesians of Don Bosco.

There have been no reports of Rooney being accused of misconduct in Alabama.

In 2018, Bishop Robert Baker, current head of the Catholic Diocese of Birmingham, released a list of all priests credibly accused of sexual abuse during the history of the diocese. He said at the time the list came from case files of the diocese that involved priests accused of misconduct during their ministry in the Diocese of Birmingham.

The New Jersey lawsuit, filed Feb. 7 in Superior Court in Bergen County, accuses Rooney of abusing a student at various locations including the school from 1973-75, beginning when the victim was 13, according to a report by NJ.com. The victim, identified only by his initials in the suit, is now a Florida resident.

The website bishop-accountability.org, which tracks allegations against priests, says Rooney was also accused in a 2013 lawsuit of sexually abusing a 14-year-old seminary student at a retreat house in Massachusetts and at a seminary in New York.
1.4k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Pete Buttigieg had the perfect answer for what he will do if Trump calls the election a hoax and refuses to leave the White House after he loses.

Here was Buttigiegs answer for what he would do if Trump loses and refuses to leave:

.@PeteButtigieg is asked what he'd do if Trump calls election a hoax and refuses to leave the White House if Buttigieg wins. "I guess if hes willing to do chores we can work something out,'' he says.  Trip Gabriel (@tripgabriel) February 17, 2020

Trump cant stay president if he loses. There is a fear among some on the left that Trump could lose and refuse to leave, but Trump doesnt have that option. At noon on inauguration day, the new president constitutionally assumes the duties of the presidency.

Sure, Trump could refuse to leave the White House, but whoever defeated him would assume the powers of the presidency, and would have the authority to have the Secret Service remove the former president.

It doesnt matter if Trump would shut himself in his bedroom and throw a tantrum, he wouldnt be the president anymore. His power would be gone.

Trump will definitely try to discredit the election if he loses, but he has no options for staying in power once the Electoral College votes and the new president is sworn in.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook
Police on Monday identified a man who killed in an accidental shooting over the weekend in Midwest City.

According to police, a man, later identified as 21-year-old Joshua Allen, was playing video games inside a mobile home when he was shot and killed Sunday afternoon.
Fuel Your Pipeline. Close More Deals. Our full-service marketing programs deliver sales-ready leads. 100% Satisfaction Guarantee! Learn more

A digital forensic analysis conducted by Anthony Ferrante of business advisory firm FTI Consulting concludes with medium to high confidence that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos smartphone was hacked through a malicious file sent from the WhatsApp account of Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The malware was in an MP4 file attached to a WhatsApp message.

FTI Consulting forwarded its findings to United Nations special rapporteurs who released technical elements of the report.

Rapporteurs investigate the promotion and protection of freedom of opinion and expression, among other things.

FTI Consulting declined our request to comment for our story, stating that all client work is confidential.

Saudi Arabias embassy in the United States has denied the allegations.

Element of Uncertainty

The reason FTI qualified its conclusion likely is because computer forensics isnt always an exact science, and the experts might be limited by the data and evidence they have in hand, said Tim Erlin, VP of product management and strategy at Tripwire.

There may also be unanswered questions or alternatives to consider, he told TechNewsWorld.

FTIs conclusion suggests they have a sequence of events that makes it likely that the video attachment carried malware, but they either didnt prove causality or cant be sure the crown prince created the hack as opposed to his just forwarding a compromised email, suggested Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.

It rarely gets stronger than this unless the alleged perpetrator confesses, or the intelligence organization gets access to the entire chain of evidence, he told TechNewsWorld.

The malware appears to have had a self-destruct built in, making it impossible to have 100 percent concrete proof, noted Liz Miller, principal analyst at Constellation Research.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

FTIs investigators did not find even remnants of the malware code on the device, but did find a file with an encrypted downloader that had been delivered with the video, she told TechNewsWorld.

WhatsApp, which hosted the downloader, has end-to-end encryption, which prevents investigators from accessing the downloaders contents or code, Miller pointed out.

Chain of Events

The prince initiated a WhatsApp messaging conversation with Bezos on April 28, 2018, after they met at a dinner in Hollywood.

On May 1 Bezos received a message with a video attachment from the princes WhatsApp account.

Within hours, the volume of data transmitted from Bezos phone skyrocketed by 30,000 percent, FTI found. Data spiking continued over several months, at rate as much as 106 million percent higher than before the video was received.

How did it take months for this to be noticed? wondered Constellations Miller.

FTI found that on two later occasions the prince sent messages to Bezos that suggested he had knowledge of his private communications:

One, on November 8, 2018, included a photo of a woman strongly resembling Lauren Sanchez, whom Bezos was dating;

The other was sent February 16, 2019, two days after Bezos had participated in phone conversations about the Saudis alleged online campaign against him.

The UN special rapporteurs have linked the hack of Bezos smartphone to stories in his newspaper, The Washington Post, about the role of the Saudi prince and the Saudi government in the murder of Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Pegasus Threat

I cant remember how many times in the past decade Ive read something about a critical security flaw in WhatsApp that allows access to users phones, remarked Oliver Mnchow, founder of security awareness and training company Lucy Security.

Im surprised no one told Jeff not to use it after its history of epic security fails, he told TechNewsWorld.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

The malware used was most likely mobile spyware such as NSO Groups Pegasus, or, less likely, Hacking Teams Galileo, FTIs analysis suggests.

The Saudi Royal Guard acquired Pegasus-3 spyware from NSO Group, an Israel-based firm, FTI found. The spyware also was used against Saudi dissidents.

Pegasus spreads through malicious links often sent through chat apps like WhatsApp and Messenger, said Paul Bischoff, privacy advocate at Comparitech.

Once on a device, the malware jailbreaks iPhones so that it can track phone calls, texts, keystrokes and location, and access the phones microphone and camera. It also affects Android phones, he told TechNewsWorld.

Consumers must maintain a healthy sense of paranoia when it comes to links and attachments, said Rosa Smothers, senior VP of cyber operations at KnowBe4.

Think before you click on any links or attachments sent to you, she told TechNewsWorld. Were you expecting the email or attachment? If your spidey sense tingles, call the sender and confirm they sent it.

That said, security always ranks high on surveys of the things consumers want, but no one is ever willing to pay for it, remarked Jim McGregor, principal analyst at Tirias Research. As a result, its never a priority.

Security also is challenging because of the rapid pace of technology, he told TechNewsWorld. Artificial intelligence should eventually improve security, but nothing will ever be 100 percent secure.

Aftermath of the Hack

The UN rapporteurs have called for an investigation into the hack and said the use of WhatsApp as a platform to enable installation of Pegasus onto devices has been well documented.

Meanwhile, Facebook and WhatsApp have filed suit against NSO Group Technologies in a U.S. federal court, and a court in Israel has begun hearings to determine whether the NSO Group should have its export license revoked.

NSO has denied allegations against it.

If someone with Bezos power and position is a target, it doesnt bode well for anyone who doesnt have that level of protection, Enderle observed. It makes you wonder how many other U.S. citizens are being spied on like this by a hostile state.
SALEM  Top Democrats in the Oregon Legislature will slow down the cap-and-trade plan that is their highest priority bill this session, House Speaker Tina Kotek announced Monday afternoon.

Kotek said she made the decision in consultation with Senate President Peter Courtney, after House Republicans expressed the need to understand the bill better for their constituents.

Were willing to have more conversations this week, Kotek said during a briefing with reporters. "Its too critical for everyone to cry process.

Last week, House Republicans complained that another greenhouse gas cap-and-trade bill  which members of both parties acknowledged was likely not the version that would move forward  was moved by Democrats to the House Rules Committee to keep it alive, despite the bill never having received a hearing. Republicans on the House Committee on Energy and Environment exited before that vote, a move they characterized as stepping out, which left Democrats to vote on it.

Senate Bill 1530 had been scheduled for a possible vote in the Joint Committee on Ways and Means Tuesday morning, opening up the possibility it might have come up for a Senate floor vote by the end of the week. That also raised the possibility Senate Republicans might once again walk out to stop the bill, as they did in 2019. But the budget committee work session was canceled early Monday afternoon.

Kotek said she now plans to have an exact copy of Senate Bill 1530 introduced by the House Rules Committee tomorrow, including any technical changes that a budget subcommittee might make during a scheduled work session later Monday afternoon.

"That allows us to then have a public hearing so people can then submit testimony, Kotek said. It will also be an informational hearing for House lawmakers so they can learn details of the bill, Kotek said.

There has been a lot of work on this bill, two-and-a-half years worth, Kotek said.

On Monday evening, House Republican Leader Christine Drazan, of Canby, responded to Koteks announcement with a written statement.

Slowing down the pace allows us to work together to govern, rather than simply substituting closed-door negotiations with special interests, for a public process with elected officials, Drazan said. "We now have an opportunity for our nonpartisan experts to take the time needed to analyze this bill and I will be calling for leadership to allow additional hearings to ensure a thorough review and a fully transparent process for the citizens of Oregon.

 Hillary Borrud | hborrud@oregonian.com | 503-294-4034 | @hborrud

Visit oregonlive.com/newsletters to get our 2020 Oregon Legislature newsletter delivered to your email inbox.
At the invitation of Prime Minister Modi, Trump is slated to travel to India on 24 and 25 February

India Inc expects tangible outcomes from US President Donald Trump's maiden visit to the world's fifth-largest economy later this month, including a bilateral "mini" trade deal and higher investment commitments from American companies, industry groups said on Sunday.

The two countries are negotiating a trade package to iron out certain issues and promote two-way commerce.

India is demanding exemption from high duties imposed by the US on certain steel and aluminium products, resumption of export benefits to certain domestic products under the Generalised System of Preferences, and greater market access for its products from sectors like agriculture, automobile, auto components and engineering.

On the other hand, the US wants greater market access for its farm and manufacturing products, dairy items and medical devices, data localisation, and cut on import duties on some information and communication technology (ICT) products. The US has also raised concerns over high trade deficit with India.

"Expectations remain high on achieving a bilateral 'mini' trade deal, which hopefully lays the foundation for a more comprehensive economic partnership," said Chandrajit Banerjee, Director of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

"As Indian industry enhances its investment and job creation in the US, we expect an interaction of President Trump with leading Indian companies operating in the US," he added.

"Trade negotiators from India and the US have been working hard to add value to the bilateral economic engagement, leveraging on their mutual advantages. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosts Trump to a national reception, the two leaders would give a decisive lift to bilateral ties," Assocham Secretary General Deepak Sood said.

At the invitation of Prime Minister Modi, Trump is slated to travel to India on 24 and 25 February. According to sources, Trump will meet the country's top business leaders here on 25 February in a bid to push for deeper trade and business ties.

A CEO's round-table will be organised to facilitate a meeting between the US President and corporate honchos in the national capital. Senior bureaucrats are also expected to attend the meeting, besides top executives from American corporations.

Leaders including Reliance Industries CMD Mukesh Ambani, Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal, Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra, Larsen and Toubro Chairman A M Naik and Biocon CMD Kiran Mazumdar Shaw are expected to attend the round-table meeting with Trump, one of the sources said, adding that the US Embassy in New Delhi is coordinating the event while the list of attendees has been shared with the White House for clearance.

Research by CII shows that at least 100 Indian companies have invested nearly $18 billion and created over 1,13,000 jobs in the US.

"There have been several recent announcements by Indian companies, that have shown the growing impact Indian investment can have on US economy and society, and we fully expect that to increase. Likewise, we expect even higher investment commitments from US companies into India," Banerjee observed.

"Most of the Fortune 500 US companies have an overwhelming presence in India, while leading Indian corporates in manufacturing and services have expanded their foothold across the US market. When it comes to goods, the US is finding greater market access in India, as is reflected in the trade data," Sood said.

In 2018-19, India's exports to the US stood at $52.4 billion, while imports were $35.5 billion. Trade deficit dipped from $21.3 billion in 2017-18 to $16.9 billion in 2018-19.

India received FDI worth $3.13 billion from the US in 2018-19, higher than $2 billion in 2017-18.
One day last summer, I noticed that one of our Middle East correspondents was visiting the Financial Times newsroom. Im head of cyber security at the paper, and I have found that foreign correspondents are often at the tip of the spear for strange and interesting threats. So I stopped to chat.

The correspondent, who I will not name for reasons that will soon become clear, mentioned that in recent weeks they had been receiving mysterious WhatsApp calls. The numbers were unrecognized. Afterward, their phone battery had drained quickly. And they were sometimes unable to end other calls, because the screen seemed to freeze.

They had been working on an investigation into surveillance on journalists and human rights activists in a particular Middle Eastern nation, and had been in contact with sources the government was hostile to. We decided the reporter was safer with a separate device for this story.

The next morning, as I took a similar turn around the newsroom, four other correspondents reported that they, too, had had the same issue. All were either on the same desk or helping out on the same story. It is vastly unlikely that five phones would face such a specific issue at the same time by chance. This was no ordinary bug.

The draining battery indicated that something or someone was using the phones resources. We did a forensic analysis, and could not easily identify this software or person. So we began to suspect a sophisticated effort, one that not many people, or even companies, could manage. It was almost certainly an attack by a nation statemost likely the one we were investigating. Theres no real way to defend against such attacks. So we decided to use disposable phones and SIM cards.

It was the first incident in a summer of relentless and sophisticated attacks on our journalists, most of which bore the hallmarks of state actors. About one a week was reported (and I dont want to think about how many were unreported or unknown).

Sign up for CJR 's daily email

ICYMI: Is Facebook really concerned about privacy?

It has long been the case that state actors and big companies have sought to intimidate and attack journalists. But in my experience the incidence has spiked since the 2016 elections in Britain and America, when such efforts came off without consequence. State actors seem to feel they can now act with impunity.

One group of foreign correspondents, working on sensitive stories, were finding that their phone calls to some sources were automatically redirected. That is not an easy thing to doit suggested to me that those numbers, or people, were being watched at all times. Nobody but a nation state would have access to such capabilities.

Others in the newsroom had fake SMS authentication codeswhich would ordinarily act as a one-time password for logging into Instagram or Telegram or WhatsAppsent to them unprompted. Some were tricked into downloading questionable software. Others had their phones taken from them physically  at checkpoints or conferences only to find they were behaving strangely when they returned.

Late last year, I visited several Financial Times bureaus around the world. I found that each region or nation has its own signature style of attack on reporters. In parts of Eastern Europe, the flavor seems to be plausible deniability: threats commonly manifest in the form of creative phishing attacks, such as imposters trying to connect on LinkedIn or impersonating emails from known contacts. Someone pretending to be a source might send attachments or link you to material containing malware. The Moscow office router turned out to have the default username and password combination. That might not have been such a big deal, but the office is overlooked by the offices of the FSB, the Russian intelligence agency.

In Asia, journalists are more often targeted by people on the ground. State agents often inexplicably show up where correspondents and their sources are scheduled to meet. Some countries have a centralized database of residents IDs, including facial recognition, so the federal police and regional police are largely in sync. In some areas, messaging apps can be disabled based on where youre located.

One FT bureau, in an Asian nation, felt that security was robust. But then the state bureaucracy started calling to question precise wording in stories that they had never been sent.

Private companies, who have fallen behind recently in their efforts to surveil and intimidate reporters, seem to be catching up. Several months ago, the FT was pursuing an investigation into a bank. One lunchtime, staff members crossing the bridge over the Thames from the office into the City of London caught on video a shadowy figure rather unashamedly pointing what appeared to be a laser microphone straight into the editorial floor from across the river.

In some ways, big corporations like banks and tech companies now have greater resources than state actors; including targeted data about individuals, and the finances to deploy their tactics of intimidation with relative impunity.

What journalists can do to help themselves is determined by individual paranoia. But at the least, its essential to ensure that two-factor authentication is turned on everywhere, especially personal social media and any messaging apps. Phishing is the easiest way to compromise, and is now widespread not just on email, but on texting apps. It is imminently sensible to assume surveillance and eschew digital communication for very sensitive topics, if your sources are available in person. If not, it is perhaps worth the extra five minutes to encrypt the contents of an email. Whilst traveling to a high-risk location, you might carry your devices in a Faraday bag  which blocks their signals.

The truth is that something like WhatsApp is probably fine for most communications. The sensitive stuff, though, should go on something more trustworthy, such as Signal. The app is open source, which means its code is available to anyone. Any breach, then, will be immediately knownnot be hidden for months while a company tries to navigate the PR consequences, leaving its users exposed in the meantime. It may also be worth separating your work into two devices: business-as-usual and more critical material, with the latter device a disposable one.

As newsrooms shrink, and as publishers invest less in secure technology, theres a danger that journalists will develop a sense of complacency born of hopelessness: Theyre listening to me anyway, so why bother. It has never been more important that we not give in to that feeling.

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Tech journalisms on background scourge

Proceeds from this article were donated by the author to the charity Privacy International.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Ahana Datta is the head of IT risk and cyber security at the Financial Times, prior to which she served in the UK government for a number of years. She can be reached at [email protected]
Dublin, Feb. 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "World - Plums And Sloes - Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



This report provides an in-depth analysis of the global plum market. Within it, you will discover the latest data on market trends and opportunities by country, consumption, production and price developments, as well as the global trade (imports and exports). The forecast exhibits the market prospects through 2025.



Data Coverage

Plum market volume and value;

Per Capita consumption;

Forecast of the market dynamics in the medium term;

Global plum production, split by region and country;

Global plum trade (exports and imports);

Producer, export and import prices for plums;

Plum market trends, drivers and restraints;

Key market players and their profiles.

The global plum and sloe market revenue amounted to $15.7B in 2018, going up by 12% against the previous year. This figure reflects the total revenues of producers and importers (excluding logistics costs, retail marketing costs, and retailers' margins, which will be included in the final consumer price).



The market value increased at an average annual rate of +4.7% from 2007 to 2018; the trend pattern indicated some noticeable fluctuations being recorded in certain years. The most prominent rate of growth was recorded in 2011 with an increase of 13% y-o-y. Global plum and sloe consumption peaked in 2018 and is expected to retain its growth in the near future.



Consumption by Country



China (7.1M tonnes) constituted the country with the largest volume of plum and sloe consumption, accounting for 59% of total consumption. Moreover, plum and sloe consumption in China exceeded the figures recorded by the world's second largest consumer, Romania (453K tonnes), more than tenfold. The U.S. (420K tonnes) ranked third in terms of total consumption with a 3.5% share.



In China, plum and sloe consumption expanded at an average annual rate of +3.6% over the period from 2007-2018. In the other countries, the average annual rates were as follows: Romania (+1.8% per year) and the U.S. (+1.7% per year).



In value terms, China ($10B) led the market, alone. The second position in the ranking was occupied by the U.S. ($757M). It was followed by Iran.



The countries with the highest levels of plum and sloe per capita consumption in 2018 were Serbia (33 kg per person), Romania (23 kg per person) and Morocco (5,363 kg per 1000 persons).



From 2007 to 2018, the most notable rate of growth in terms of plum and sloe per capita consumption, amongst the main consuming countries, was attained by Morocco, while the other global leaders experienced more modest paces of growth.



Market Forecast 2019-2025



Driven by increasing demand for plum and sloe worldwide, the market is expected to continue an upward consumption trend over the next seven year period. Market performance is forecast to retain its current trend pattern, expanding with an anticipated CAGR of +1.8% for the seven-year period from 2018 to 2025, which is projected to bring the market volume to 14M tonnes by the end of 2025.



Production 2007-2018



Global plum and sloe production amounted to 12M tonnes in 2018, going up by 2.9% against the previous year. The total output volume increased at an average annual rate of +2.3% over the period from 2007 to 2018; the trend pattern remained consistent, with somewhat noticeable fluctuations over the period under review. The growth pace was the most rapid in 2009 when production volume increased by 6.3% y-o-y. Global plum and sloe production peaked in 2018 and is expected to retain its growth in the near future. The general positive trend in terms of plum and sloe output was largely conditioned by a measured expansion of the harvested area and a slight increase in yield figures.



In value terms, plum and sloe production totaled $16.3B in 2018 estimated in export prices. In general, the total output indicated a strong expansion from 2007 to 2018: its value increased at an average annual rate of +2.3% over the last eleven year period. The trend pattern, however, indicated some noticeable fluctuations being recorded throughout the analyzed period. Based on 2018 figures, the plum and sloe production increased by +25.6% against 2016 indices. The pace of growth appeared the most rapid in 2018 with an increase of 16% year-to-year. In that year, global plum and sloe production reached its peak level and is likely to continue its growth in the immediate term.



Production by Country



China (7M tonnes) constituted the country with the largest volume of plum and sloe production, comprising approx. 58% of total production. Moreover, plum and sloe production in China exceeded the figures recorded by the world's second largest producer, Romania (441K tonnes), more than tenfold. The U.S. (430K tonnes) ranked third in terms of total production with a 3.5% share.



From 2007 to 2018, the average annual rate of growth in terms of volume in China stood at +3.5%. In the other countries, the average annual rates were as follows: Romania (+1.5% per year) and the U.S. (+1.6% per year).



Harvested Area 2007-2018



In 2018, approx. 2.7M ha of plums and sloes were harvested worldwide; increasing by 1.6% against the previous year. The harvested area increased at an average annual rate of +1.2% from 2007 to 2018; the trend pattern remained relatively stable, with only minor fluctuations being recorded throughout the analyzed period. The most prominent rate of growth was recorded in 2013 with an increase of 4.8% year-to-year. In that year, the global plum and sloe harvested area reached its peak figure of 2.7M ha. From 2014 to 2018, the growth of the global plum and sloe harvested area remained at a somewhat lower figure.



Yield 2007-2018



Global average plum and sloe yield totaled 4.6 tonne per ha in 2018, therefore, remained relatively stable against the previous year. The yield figure increased at an average annual rate of +1.1% from 2007 to 2018; the trend pattern remained consistent, with only minor fluctuations being recorded throughout the analyzed period. The pace of growth appeared the most rapid in 2009 when Yield increased by 4.8% year-to-year. Over the period under review, the average plum and sloe yield attained its maximum level in 2018 and is expected to retain its growth in the near future.



Exports 2007-2018



In 2018, the global exports of plums and sloes stood at 615K tonnes, leveling off at the previous year. The total export volume increased at an average annual rate of +1.2% from 2007 to 2018; the trend pattern remained relatively stable, with only minor fluctuations throughout the analyzed period. The pace of growth appeared the most rapid in 2011 when exports increased by 12% against the previous year. Over the period under review, global plum and sloe exports attained their maximum at 689K tonnes in 2013; however, from 2014 to 2018, exports stood at a somewhat lower figure.



In value terms, plum and sloe exports totaled $776M in 2018. The total export value increased at an average annual rate of +1.9% from 2007 to 2018; the trend pattern remained consistent, with somewhat noticeable fluctuations being observed throughout the analyzed period. The pace of growth was the most pronounced in 2008 with an increase of 16% against the previous year. Over the period under review, global plum and sloe exports reached their peak figure at $838M in 2013; however, from 2014 to 2018, exports remained at a lower figure.



Exports by Country



In 2018, Chile (121K tonnes), distantly followed by Spain (73K tonnes), South Africa (58K tonnes), Moldova (53K tonnes), Italy (45K tonnes), China, Hong Kong SAR (43K tonnes), the U.S. (33K tonnes) and Uzbekistan (28K tonnes) represented the largest exporters of plums and sloes, together making up 74% of total exports. Serbia (16K tonnes), Turkey (14K tonnes), France (13K tonnes) and the Netherlands (11K tonnes) occupied a minor share of total exports.



From 2007 to 2018, the most notable rate of growth in terms of exports, amongst the main exporting countries, was attained by Moldova, while the other global leaders experienced more modest paces of growth.



In value terms, Chile ($174M), Spain ($113M) and South Africa ($78M) appeared to be the countries with the highest levels of exports in 2018, with a combined 47% share of global exports. These countries were followed by China, Hong Kong SAR, the U.S., Italy, Moldova, the Netherlands, Uzbekistan, France, Turkey and Serbia, which together accounted for a further 39%.



Moldova experienced the highest rates of growth with regard to exports, among the main exporting countries over the last eleven year period, while the other global leaders experienced more modest paces of growth.



Export Prices by Country



In 2018, the average plum and sloe export price amounted to $1,262 per tonne, surging by 3.7% against the previous year. In general, the plum and sloe export price continues to indicate a relatively flat trend pattern. The growth pace was the most rapid in 2008 an increase of 11% against the previous year. Over the period under review, the average export prices for plums and sloes attained their maximum at $1,317 per tonne in 2014; however, from 2015 to 2018, export prices failed to regain their momentum.



Prices varied noticeably by the country of origin; the country with the highest price was the Netherlands ($1,862 per tonne), while Moldova ($528 per tonne) was amongst the lowest.



From 2007 to 2018, the most notable rate of growth in terms of prices was attained by China, Hong Kong SAR, while the other global leaders experienced more modest paces of growth.



Imports 2007-2018



In 2018, approx. 575K tonnes of plums and sloes were imported worldwide; dropping by -6.6% against the previous year. The total import volume increased at an average annual rate of +1.1% from 2007 to 2018; the trend pattern remained consistent, with somewhat noticeable fluctuations throughout the analyzed period. The most prominent rate of growth was recorded in 2016 with an increase of 12% y-o-y. Over the period under review, global plum and sloe imports reached their peak figure at 659K tonnes in 2013; however, from 2014 to 2018, imports remained at a lower figure.



In value terms, plum and sloe imports totaled $721M in 2018. The total import value increased at an average annual rate of +1.0% over the period from 2007 to 2018; the trend pattern remained relatively stable, with only minor fluctuations being observed in certain years. The pace of growth was the most pronounced in 2016 when Imports increased by 16% y-o-y. Over the period under review, global plum and sloe imports attained their maximum at $849M in 2013; however, from 2014 to 2018, imports remained at a lower figure.



Imports by Country



China (93K tonnes) and Russia (77K tonnes) represented roughly 30% of total imports of plums and sloes in 2018. It was distantly followed by the Netherlands (38K tonnes), Germany (32K tonnes) and the UK (30K tonnes), together committing a 17% share of total imports. The U.S. (23K tonnes), Kazakhstan (19K tonnes), Brazil (16K tonnes), Canada (15K tonnes), China, Hong Kong SAR (13K tonnes), Egypt (13K tonnes) and Saudi Arabia (12K tonnes) occupied a relatively small share of total imports.



From 2007 to 2018, the most notable rate of growth in terms of imports, amongst the main importing countries, was attained by Kazakhstan (+59.5% per year), while the other global leaders experienced more modest paces of growth.



In value terms, China ($155M) constitutes the largest market for imported plums and sloes worldwide, comprising 21% of global imports. The second position in the ranking was occupied by Russia ($56M), with a 7.8% share of global imports. It was followed by the Netherlands, with a 7% share.



In China, plum and sloe imports increased at an average annual rate of +24.0% over the period from 2007-2018. In the other countries, the average annual rates were as follows: Russia (+3.9% per year) and the Netherlands (-3.2% per year).



Import Prices by Country



In 2018, the average plum and sloe import price amounted to $1,255 per tonne, standing approx. at the previous year. Over the period under review, the plum and sloe import price continues to indicate a relatively flat trend pattern. The pace of growth was the most pronounced in 2008 when the average import price increased by 3.5% year-to-year. Over the period under review, the average import prices for plums and sloes reached their maximum at $1,328 per tonne in 2014; however, from 2015 to 2018, import prices stood at a somewhat lower figure.



There were significant differences in the average prices amongst the major importing countries. In 2018, the country with the highest price was Canada ($1,901 per tonne), while Kazakhstan ($722 per tonne) was amongst the lowest.



From 2007 to 2018, the most notable rate of growth in terms of prices was attained by Canada, while the other global leaders experienced more modest paces of growth.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/6hjy9t

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.
I went to Scoil Oilibheir in Ballyvolane, Cork, for primary school. My dad was in fact the vice principal there, so any time I ever got remotely close to doing something that would get me in trouble, he would miraculously appear. It was a huge school. In Junior Infants there were 44 children in my class and I remember the teacher looking around and saying Jesus, youre everywhere.

I was outgoing as a child but I was quite suspicious. I was both outgoing and shy at the same time, so Id suss somebody out and take a while to decide whether I liked them or not. If I liked them then I was all over them like a rash.

I was a very good little girl and not in any way rebellious. Any time I did get into trouble it was usually for something craic-related. So Id get into awful trouble for chatting too much a lot.

My mam and dad were both teachers. The had this ethos, which I think is great, that they never helped us with homework; they were just our parents. Anything that happened in school, stayed in school. So if I got into trouble, then dad wouldnt talk about it again when we got home.

I loved school. Primary school in particular didnt knock a feather out of me and I enjoyed it. I am the youngest of three so I definitely had a slight emphasis on having the craic, but I just happened to be quite academic too.

I went through every kind of friend. By the end of school I think I had been friends with every group and person at some stage. I think primary school is funny in the sense that it would want to be a very solid friendship to last the distance, but its rare enough.

I think in primary school you kind of experiment with emotionally dealing with groups. I remember there being a group of three of us and there would nearly always be one day where you would be odd with one of them.

Growing up in a trio, I guess that gave me extra skills to deal with this kind of thing  my brother and sister used to speak Irish to each other when they didnt want to speak to me.

I fancied every single boy in primary school, towards the end. I loved them. There was one boy who I had fancied through fifth and sixth class.

We were good old buddies but I dont think that there were reciprocal feelings on his end. I remember on the last day trying to build up the courage to give him a hug. And I didnt do it! Now he wasnt my first love. When I turned seven, on my birthday I got married to one of the lads in the class. My sister was the priest. It wasnt a long marriage  he left the school two weeks later.

I knew that I wanted to go into the creative arts from second class and thats down to my teacher Mrs Ann Horgan. She did everything through drama. So when she was teaching us long multiplication she would make us stand up and physically carry the one. She was an amazing teacher  I remember she did Cinderella through Irish with us and it was the first time that I realised that acting was a thing that you could do for a job.

I said to my mam and dad then that I wanted to do acting. I think they thought that it might go away after a while but it never, ever left me. I always pinpoint it to Mrs Horgan. She opened up this world to me that changed my life. I still have contact with her, and she is a great support to me still.

I went to Colaiste an Phiarsaigh in Glanmire then for secondary school. I loved learning and despite the fact that I wanted to pursue acting, I wanted to be clever. I didnt want anyone to think that I was just coasting. The great thing about Colaiste an Phiarsaigh is that if you are a good student or if you are willing to represent the school in something, they just let you off  there is no limit on you.

In secondary school the biggest complaint was that I talked too much  that would come up in every parent teacher meeting. I can envisage this happening with my little girl and I will be dug out of anyone who says she talks too much.

I think its great for children to talk and I will stand up for her to the bitter end. I think that school-age Laura would be quite happy with the way things have turned out. I think I would like to tell her that life will be grand, not to worry too much and that somebody will love her and she will have a lovely time altogether.

Laura OMahony brings her hilarious show, The Peoples Princess to The Everyman Theatre on Saturday March 14. Tickets cost 18 and can be purchased at everymancork.com
The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Monday said a new version of "J&K 2.0" was all set to emerge as the Union territory was now "at par" with the rest of the country.

Seeking investments in Jammu and Kashmir, the government flagged off grand pan-India roadshows, starting with Bengaluru and Kolkata.

The roadshows are aimed at allowing prospective investors have a dialogue on the investment opportunities in the region.

Providing a platform for the business communities to deliberate upon how the newly-formed Union territory's potential may be leveraged, the roadshows will cover cities like Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad in February and March.

They intend to get along business hubs to draw together investors, decision-makers, senior government officials and the local business community in a dialogue that can spur the region's industrial growth and manufacturing across 14 identified focus sectors.

Speaking on the occasion, Kewal Kumar Sharma, adviser to the lieutenant governor, emphasised that a "new version of J&K -- J&K 2.0 is all set to emerge as the UT is now at par with rest of India."



Every district of Jammu and Kashmir has a distinct heritage, culture and history, and huge untapped potential, Sharma said.

Rohit Kansal, principal secretary, Planning Development and Monitoring Department, highlighted 14 sectors, including tourism, education, healthcare and infrastructure, which present the opportunities for potential investors.

With an aim to make Jammu and Kashmir an industrial hub, more than 48 investible projects and new 14 focus sectors have been identified, which are investor-friendly and easy to business, Kansal said.

"Six thousand plus acres of industrial and sector-specific land bank has been identified to attract large, mega and small industries to create more employment opportunities in the newly-formed UT.

"Jammu and Kashmir Trade Promotion Organisation (JKTPO) has also started its Investment felicitation Cell at Delhi and planning for Jammu and Srinagar," Kansal said.

"We are coming up with two IT parks with plug and play facility, and are also in process of finalising our new industrial promotion policy," said Bipul Pathak, principal secretary, IT, J&K.

The Union Territory of J&K is one of the best destinations in the country for setting up residential schools, smart schools, skill centres, according to Hirdesh Kumar, commissioner secretary, school education.

"We are confident that such steps coupled with the Centre and UT administration's efforts to restore normalcy in J&K will soon create an environment for attracting industry to the UT," said Sandipan Chakravortty, former chairman, CII, eastern region.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Delhi court on Monday ordered that the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case be hanged on March 3 after it issued fresh death warrants, observing that deferring the execution any further would be "sacrilegious" to the rights of the victim for expeditious justice.

The court directed that the four men--Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Kumar Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar (31)--be hanged by neck on March 3 at 6 am until they are dead. It is for the third time that the death warrants were issued by the court against them.

"It is hereby directed that the death warrants, as issued by this court vide order dated January 7, 2020 in respect of the condemned convicts namely Mukesh, Pawan, Akshay and Vinay shall now be carried into effect by causing the said convicts to be hanged by neck until they are dead on March 3 at 6 am," Additional Session Judge Dharmender Rana said.

The court noted that death warrants were earlier issued on January 7 and the execution was later deferred twice, i.e., on January 17 and January 31.

"Now deferring it any further would be sacrilegious to the rights of the victim for expeditious justice," it said.

Nirbhaya's mother expressed the hope that the four convicts would finally be hanged on March 3.

"We hope the order (death warrant) is finally executed," she told reporters.

Nirbhaya's father said the family has been receiving congratulatory messages stating their seven-year-old struggle for justice will finally come to an end.

He, however, was a bit cautious.

"We are happy with the issuance of death warrant. But our struggle will continue till they are hanged," the father said.

In its order, the court further noted that the criminal appeal of the convicts was dismissed by the Supreme Court on May 5, 2017 and after a lapse of about 33 months, convict Pawan has opted neither to file any curative petition nor any mercy petition has been filed on his behalf.

Pawan is the only one among the four convicts who has not yet filed the curative petition -- the last legal remedy available to a person, which is decided in-chamber. He has not filed the mercy plea either.

"There is only two possible inferences for such indolence; 1) either convict Pawan is satisfied with the verdict of the Supreme Court or 2) he is simply interested in merely delaying the court proceedings, In either case, he cannot claim that the execution of the sentence needs to be delayed further," the court noted.

It further noted that the Delhi High Court had given "one more opportunity" to Pawan, "unambiguously clarifying to exercise his rights within a week, failing which requisite action shall be initiated without any further delay".

"Convict Pawan cannot be permitted to defeat the ends of justice by simply opting to remain indolent," it said.

The first date of execution, January 22, was postponed to February 1 by a January 17 court order. Then the trial court, on January 31, stayed, "till further orders" the execution of the four convicts as they had not exhausted all their legal remedies.

The court said "there cannot be any quarrel with the proposition that protection under Article 21 (no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to a procedure established by law) of Constitution is available to the convicts till their last breath."



During the proceedings on Monday, Pawan's counsel, advocate Ravi Qazi, told the court that the convict "intends to move a curative petition before the Supreme Court and mercy petition before the President."



Akshay's counsel A P Singh submitted that "in the earlier mercy petition due to poverty and ignorance the complete facts could not be brought before the President of India and thus convict Akshay has already prepared fresh complete mercy petition and it would be very soon moved before the President".

The court refused to entertain the plea, saying "mere preparation of a fresh mercy petition or in the words of court 'a complete mercy petition' cannot be a ground to defer the execution of the death warrants."



The court was also informed that Vinay was on hunger strike in Tihar jail.

However, he later broke the strike, the court was told.

It directed the jail superintendent to take appropriate care of Vinay as per law.

Vinay's lawyer told the court that the convict was assaulted in jail and has head injuries, adding he was suffering from acute mental illness and hence the death sentence cannot be carried out.

The court rejected the ground of "mental illness", saying that the issues was raised before the apex court and it rejected the plea on the basis of the report submitted by the doctors, who said the convict was "psychologically well adjusted" and the "general condition of the petitioner is stable".

Mukesh told the court that he does not want to be represented by advocate Vrinda Grover, after which it appointed advocate Qazi to represent him.

Last Thursday, the court appointed Qazi to represent Pawan after being informed by Tihar jail authorities that the convict refused to choose a lawyer offered by Delhi Legal Services Authorities (DLSA).

The court was hearing the applications by Nirbhaya's parents and the Delhi government, seeking fresh death warrants for the convicts after the Supreme Court granted liberty to the authorities to approach the trial court for issuance of fresh date for the execution of these convicts.

The 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, who came to be known as 'Nirbhaya' (fearless), was gang-raped and savagely assaulted on the night of December 16, 2012, in a moving bus in South Delhi. She died of her injuries a fortnight later in a Singapore hospital.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Squirmed for a bit before going still: The final moments of Nirbhayas killers

Nirbhaya convicts to be hanged on March 3 at 6 am

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Feb 17: A Delhi court on Monday issued a fresh death warrant to all the four convicts in the 2012 Delh gangrape case. They will now be hanged on March 3 at 6 am.

This is the third black warrant issued by the court, the two earlier ones issued could not be carried out as the convicts used every legal loophole to delay the execution.

The court was hearing the applications by Nirbhaya's parents and the Delhi government, seeking fresh death warrants for the four convicts after the Supreme Court granted liberty to the authorities to approach the trial court for issuance of fresh date for the execution of these convicts.

Tihar Jail authorities also filed a status report before the court, stating that no legal option was preferred by any of the convicts in last seven-day-period, granted by the High Court.

Meanwehile, Mukesh Kumar Singh, one of the four death row convicts in the case told the court that he does not want to be represented by advocate Vrinda Grover. The court then appointed advocate Ravi Qazi to represent Mukesh.

Nirbhaya: Justice Banumathi faints in SC while adjourning Centres plea

During hearing of applications that were moved by the Delhi government and Nirbhaya's parents, the convict's lawyer reportedly said that Vinay is suffering from an acute mental illness, hence death sentence cannot be held.

According to reports, the court directed jail superintendent to take required care as per law after Additional Session Judge Dharmender Rana was informed that the convict was on a hunger strike in Tihar jail.

On February 5, the High Court gave the convicts one week's time to exhaust their legal remedies and also rejected the government's prayer to allow them to be executed separately.

The 23-year-old girl was brutally gang-raped and assaulted on the intervening night of December 16, 2012, in a moving bus in South Delhi. The victim later died of her injuries.
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Rich Sex & Co. announced today the brand will premiere its line of luxury fragrances candles and intimate offerings through its web store.

Handcrafted in Los Angeles by perfumer Sarah Horowitz and designed by CEO Rickey Colley. These unique unisex fragrances were designed with everyone in mind. The two Eau de Parfums "Drip" and "Promiscuous" have notes of fresh Oud, Italian bergamot, Palo Santo, Sweet Tobacco and Deep Vanilla. The two fragrances can be mixed for a personalized blend or worn alone.

Rich Sex & Co. prides itself on developing 100% organic and plant-based products. The company specializes in aromatics but is not limited to that alone. Rich Sex & Co. also has a wide variety of product offerings including fragrances, candles, massage and essential oils, condoms, lubricant, and many more.

The concept is simple. Rich Sex supersedes the desires of millenials and all ages alike. Amalgamating pop culture while providing a lifestyle and erogenous environment for you and your partner, Rich Sex encompasses the ultimate intimate experience.

A native of South Central Los Angeles, Rickey Colley is a dynamic representation of what it means to defy the odds. Determined to overcome his early life deterrents, Rickey has embodied what it means to turn a minor setback into a major comeback. He took lessons from his past whether positive or negative and made something meaningful out of them.

He states, "On a flight back to LA I found myself reflecting on my life and lifestyle. Fragrance has always been something I'm passionate about. I'm intrigued by the sensuality surrounding aromas, the science of pheromones and how they can heighten our most intimate moments." A family man, Rickey sets out to break generational curses and promotes a healthy intimate lifestyle. Rich Sex & Co. is a luxury brand meant to enrich and uplift people of all backgrounds, orientations, and status.

SOURCE RSX LLC

Related Links

https://rsxco.com


Kings XI Punjab is set to acquire the St Lucia franchise of the Caribbean Premier League, becoming the second IPL team to own a CPL outfit after Kolkata Knight Riders.

"We are about to sign an agreement to be part of CPL. We are getting the St Lucia franchise. The structure and name of the company will only be communicated after we get the BCCI's approval," KXIP co-owner Ness Wadia told PTI on Monday.

"Mohit Burman (co-owner) is in the Caribbean at the moment to sign the agreement. We want to especially thank the Prime Minister of St Lucia Allan Chastanet for making this possible. We have been pursuing this for almost nine months," added Wadia.

St Lucia Zouks is one of the six teams competing in the CPL. The team is led by former West Indies captain Darren Sammy.

Another Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders had acquired Trinbago Knight Riders in 2015. It is the most successful CPL franchise till date, having won three titles.

St Lucia's best performance till date came in 2016 when it finished fourth.

The Caribbean Premier League, which began in 2013, is among the established T20 leagues in the world.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India on Monday issued a "strong demarche" to Ankara's ambassador here, over the remarks made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Jammu and Kashmir during his recent visit to Pakistan.

The demarche was made by Secretary (West), MEA to the Ambassador of Turkey in New Delhi.

"India has made a strong demarche with the Turkish Government on the remarks made by President Erdogan on the Indian Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir during his recent visit to Islamabad. These remarks reflect neither an understanding of history nor the conduct of diplomacy. They distort events of the past to advance a narrow-minded view of the present. India made a strong demarche with the Turkish Government," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a statement.

Stressing that recent episode is one more example of the pattern of Turkey interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, the MEA spokesperson said, "India finds that completely unacceptable. We particularly reject the repeated attempts by Turkey to justify the cross border terrorism practiced so blatantly by Pakistan."

The MEA warned that these developments have strong implications for "our bilateral relationship."

Earlier on Saturday, India had reacted sharply to the references of Jammu and Kashmir in the Turkey-Pakistan joint declaration, calling upon Ankara to not interfere in New Delhi's internal affairs and develop a proper understanding of the facts on the grave threat posed by terrorism emanating from Pakistan.

Responding to queries regarding reference to Jammu and Kashmir by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his visit to Pakistan, as well as in the joint declaration between the two countries, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had said, "India rejects all references to Jammu and Kashmir, which is an integral and inalienable part of India."

"We call upon the Turkish leadership to not interfere in India's internal affairs and develop a proper understanding of the facts, including the grave threat posed by terrorism emanating from Pakistan to India and the region," he had said.

In a joint declaration issued by Pakistan and Turkey at the end of Erdogan's talks, the two countries had underscored the need for resolution of all outstanding disputes between Islamabad and New Delhi, including Kashmir issue through a sustained dialogue process, and in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

Pakistan has been rattled by the Indian government's move to revoke Article 370 of the Constitution that accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir. India has maintained that the move is its internal matter -- a stance which has been supported by several countries across the world, including SAARC nations, with the exception of Pakistan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has said that the divided people of Southeast and South South were b...

Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has said that the divided people of Southeast and South South were brought together again by the burial of his parents.





Kanus parents, HRH Eze Israel Kanu and his wife, Ugoeze Sally Kanu, who died last year, were laid to rest on Friday in their royal compound in Afaraukwu community, Umuahia, the Abia State capital.





The IPOB leader was absent during the burial ceremony of his parents.





Kanu was last seen in Nigeria on September 10, 2017 after some soldiers invaded his residence in Afaraukwu community in Abia State.

The burial was well attended by politicians, traditional and religious leaders from the two neighbouring regions and beyond.





Nnamdi Kanu tweeted, Im joyful my parents burial finally brought the artificially divided people of SE and SS together as one Biafran family.





Thank you Biafrans, friends and well-wishers for a truly memorable funeral.
When blasts ignited a massive fire at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery last June, residents feared that the spectacular blaze contaminated the air they breathe.

Now that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court has approved the sale of the refinery complex to Hilco Redevelopment Partners, which wants to replace the refinery with a mixed-use development, concerns have shifted from air quality to contamination of the ground and the water beneath the two-square-mile property.

Indeed, a host of hazardous chemicals including cancer-causing benzene lurk beneath the land where crude oil was processed, stored, and shipped starting 150 years ago, according to government and corporate documents reviewed by The Inquirer.

Many compounds, especially benzene, have been found to exceed levels set by the state as acceptable for nonresidential property, according to reports compiled by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and Evergreen Resources Group, which is handling a cleanup plan for Sunoco and has posted thousands of pages of documents online. Sunoco owned the refinery for decades until 2012, when it was sold to PES.

After the fire, PES was forced into bankruptcy, paving the way for Hilcos $252 million bid to turn the area into a commercial and industrial site that would no longer include a refinery.

Records reflect pollution that occurred before, during, and after the Sunoco years, though officials say theres no way to tell exactly who is responsible for each kind of pollution over the propertys long industrial history.

Sunoco, now a subsidiary of Energy Transfer LP, entered the refinery into a state program for cleanup in 2006. The cleanup plan is still being reviewed and applies only to environmental liabilities during Sunocos ownership. But some remediation has taken place over the years. Hundreds of wells have helped recover thousands of gallons of gas, oil, and other petroleum products from water beneath the ground.

So although the full extent of the contamination is still being assessed, documents show that more than a dozen tongue-tripping chemical compounds have leaked, spilled, or otherwise found their way into the ground or aquifers in excess of state safety standards.

The complex has been divided into 11 areas of interest for the cleanup. Portions of all 11 are contaminated.

Charles Haas, an environmental engineering professor at Drexel University, said the situation warrants caution, not alarm.

Risk is based not just on concentrations of contaminants but on exposure pathways, Haas said. As far as I know, the public isnt using that area for drinking water, or walking around on it.

That risk, he said, could change depending on the complexs future use. Digging foundations for new buildings, for example, could unleash vapors or could further contaminate groundwater, according to students in his class who are studying the site.

Alexa Ross, with Philly Thrive, a local activist group, said she still has concerns about potential benzene vapors she fears could be emitted from old tanks or other infrastructure, and has already been in contact with Hilco over its plans.

We still have loads of concerns, Ross said, including contaminated groundwater.

More than a century of pollution

The property likely has been contaminated ever since refining began there in 1870, a century before the Clean Water Act, the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and other regulations. Leaking lead-lined tanks and pipes, as well as petroleum processing, caused much of the damage, documents show.

In the past, some compounds flowed into the citys sewer system, leading directly into the Schuylkill, which flows into the Delaware River. Most of those discharges were addressed starting in the 1990s. Though some contamination has reached the river, according to Elizabeth Rementer of the DEP, the impact hasnt been fully evaluated yet and groundwater modeling will continue.

Refining petroleum  turning crude oil into such products as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, kerosene, and home heating oil  requires the use of numerous chemicals.

The South Philly refinery processed up to 335,000 barrels a day of crude oil, using a vast network of tanks, pipelines, and a hazardous-waste facility, as well as a rail network that traces back to the 19th century, all offering opportunities for hazardous chemicals to spill, leak, and be dumped.

Benzene, a natural component of crude oil and other petroleum products such as gasoline, is linked with cancer and other diseases. Exposure to high levels, over the course of a year, is connected with immune-system and bone-marrow damage, bleeding problems, and a decrease in red blood cells.

Contaminated soil and water

The aquifer beneath the property isnt used for Philadelphias drinking-water supply, which comes from the surface upstream on the rivers.

Some contaminated plumes of underground water are trapped in pockets of clay or sand. The DEP is concerned that others could migrate.

A portion of the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer runs beneath the property, and beneath the Delaware River toward New Jersey, which draws its drinking water from the aquifer.

Sunoco characterized contamination to the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy (PRM) from the refinery as minor, and said that it could not reach the rivers. Evergreen, the subsidiary handling the cleanup, said there are no residential or agricultural wells within a mile of the facility, so it posed no risk to users.

The DEP was not convinced. In one memo, an official wrote: The evaluation of groundwater exposure pathways for potential human receptors is incomplete." The DEP mentioned concerns about the water supply in New Jersey in multiple documents.

Contaminants of concern (COC) that exceed the departments non-residential statewide health standards (NRSWHS) in deep groundwater medium are: chrysene, benzene, MTBE, naphthalene, cobalt, arsenic and manganese, a DEP official wrote in 2011.

As for the aquifer that supplies drinking water in New Jersey? Groundwater flow from areas of contamination in South Philadelphia to adjacent downgradient areas of New Jersey has the potential to affect supply wells drawing water from the lower aquifer of the PRM," the DEP official wrote.

Cleanup

Sunoco has cleaned up hundreds of thousands of gallons of groundwater containing light non-aqueous phase liquids (LNAPLs), which are contaminants from gasoline, diesel, and other hydrocarbons, according to the documents. The land isnt considered clean enough for people to live on, but its appropriate for industry, according to state standards.

Sunoco has not been fined for any violations found at the complex during its operations, according to the DEP, because so many operations have contributed to pollution at the site over the decades.

Hilco has said it has an aggressive cleanup plan and will convert the site to a mixed industrial facility. However, how that cleanup could work with the Sunoco efforts remains unclear.

At this time, its too early to determine exactly what agreements or plans will be needed moving forward," said Rementer, the DEP spokesperson.

Sunoco says it is still committed to the cleanup.

We understand that this effort is important to those who live and work in the area, and we remain committed to fulfilling the agreements made between Sunoco/Evergreen and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the EPA," said Vicki Granado, a spokesperson for parent company Energy Transfer Partners. "Our cleanup efforts have been ongoing for decades and will continue after the sale of the facility.
Coronavirus numbers continued to climb in China's Hubei province on Sunday (February 16). Officials reported nearly 2,000 new cases and 100 new deaths.

That's despite authorities imposing tough new restrictions on movement.

Authorities imposed a ban on vehicle travel across the province and at least 48 cities have new lockdown policies where residents of building blocks or neighborhoods must register to be let in or out.

Meanwhile, Singapore reported its biggest jump in virus cases so far rising to 67 one of the highest tallies outside of China.

The city also downgraded its 2020 outlook for its economy.

It and Japan now face the looming possibility of recession under the impact of the virus.

Some 300 Americans who had been quarantined for two weeks on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship were flown home on a chattered flight Sunday.

The ship is the largest cluster of cases outside China at over four hundred.

Other countries including Canada and Israel are set to follow suit and repatriate symptom-free citizens.

A top official at the U.S. National Institutes of Health calmed fears that any passengers testing positive were returning.

(SOUNDBITE) DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NIH, SAYING:

People who have symptoms will not be able to get on the evacuation plane. Others are going to be evacuated starting imminently to Air Force bases in the United States. If people on the plane start to develop symptoms, they'll be segregated within the plane. When you come back to the United States, importantly, they're still subjected to a 14 day quarantine. And the reason for that is that the degree of transmissibility on that cruise ship is essentially akin to being in a hot spot."

Another cruise, the MS Westerdam was cleared to let passengers off in Cambodia.

But an 83-year-old American woman from the cruise tested positive when she arrived in Malaysia.

It's sent officials and experts scrambling to track those from the boat more than 100 people have already left the country.
Service in UN peacekeeping operations, fighting Taliban terrorists in Afghanistan and deployment in Syria, Lebanon, Ethiopia and Israel are some of the achievements of women Army officers which caught the attention of the Supreme Court for giving them parity with their male counterparts for permanent commission.

The apex court cited the examples of Lieutenant Bhavana Kasturi and Captain Tanya Shergill, who led separate all-men contingents, and Major Madhumita (Army Education Corps) who became the first woman officer in the country to receive the Gallantry Award (Sena Medal) for fighting Taliban terrorists in Afghanistan.

It also referred to the women officers who are convoy commanders in Leh and Udhamnagar among other places.

A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Ajay Rastogi referred to a detailed elaboration of the service rendered by women Short Service Commission (SSC) officers to the nation, working shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts.

"Yet, that role is sought to be diluted by the repeated pleas made before this court that women, by the nature of their biological composition and social milieu, have a less important role to play than their male counterparts," the bench said.

"Such a line of submission is disturbing as it ignores the solemn constitutional values which every institution in the nation is bound to uphold and facilitate. Women officers of the Indian Army have brought laurels to the force," it said.

It also cited the example of Lieutenant Colonel Sophia Qureshi (Army Signal Corps), the first woman to lead an Indian Army contingent at a multi-national military exercise named 'Exercise Force 18', the largest ever foreign military exercise hosted by India.

She served in the United Nations Peacekeeping Operation in Congo in 2006 where she, along with others, was in charge of monitoring ceasefires in those countries and aiding in humanitarian activities, the apex court noted.

Lieutenant Colonel Anuvandana Jaggi served as the Women's Team Leader of the UN Military Observers Team in the UN mission in Burundi. She was awarded the UN Force Commander's Commendation and an Appreciation Epistle from the Chief of Army Staff for her commendable effort, it said.

The bench noted that in September 2010, the Sword of Honour in the Officers Training Academy, Chennai (the only training centre for SSC male and female officers) was given to Lieutenant A Divya amongst 170 male and 57 women officers.

By a letter dated September 8, 2009, women officers were also made part of the Quick Reaction Teams where female and male officers perform similar duties.

The top court noted that the Army also entrusts women officers with complex tasks of transporting convoys of 30-50 vehicles in militant prone areas in Leh, Srinagar, Udhampur and the North East.

It was informed about a movement order from Leh to Pathankot dated September 15, 2010, which was issued to one of the respondent women officers, Major Gopika Bhatti who, in the role of a convoy commander, handled junior commissioned officers, jawans (drivers and supporting staff), vehicles (filled with logistics, arms and ammunitions) and other military equipment.

Major Gopika Ajitsingh Pawar was awarded the UN Peacekeeping Medal by the UN Secretary General for her role as a military member of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon.

It noted that Majors Madhu Rana, Preeti Singh and Anuja Yadav were awarded the UN Medal completing the qualifying service as military members of the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Similarly, Captain Ashwini Pawar (Army Ordinance Corps) and Captain Shipra Majumdar (Army Engineer Corps) were awarded the Sewa Medal by the President in 2007.

Women officers from the Indian Army have also been participating in the UN Peace Keeping Force since 2004 and have been deployed in active combat scenarios in Syria, Lebanon, Ethiopia and Israel.

Lieutenant Bhavana Kasturi recently led a contingent of the Indian Army Service Corps, becoming the first woman to lead an all-men Army contingent in the history of India.

Similarly, Captain Tania Shergill recently became first Indian woman Parade Adjutant to lead an all-men contingent in Delhi on January 26 this year.

"Numerous other commendation certificates and laurels achieved by women officers have been placed on record. Their track record of service to the nation is beyond reproach. To cast aspersion on their abilities on the ground of gender is an affront not only to their dignity as women but to the dignity of the members of the Indian Army men and women who serve as equal citizens in a common mission," the bench said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
End of an era: Shane Ross with wife Ruth Buchanan after he was eliminated in the Dublin Rathdown constituency

FINE Gael and the independents will remain in power, but paralysed until a deal is struck on a new coalition.

While the electorate may have voted for change, the fragmented outcome of Election 2020 has led to immediate stagnation.

It means that if a new revelation were to emerge about the FAI scandal then Shane Ross would be in the hot seat.

Over in the Department of Social Protection  which is grappling with major pension reforms  Regina Doherty is still at the levers.

And defeated Wexford TD Michael DArcy must continue his work on insurance reform, even though hes no longer in the Dail.

In total, 13 out 30 senior and junior ministers were rejected by the electorate on February 8. They are no longer TDs.

However, Article 28.11.2 of the Constitution states: The members of the Government in office at the date of a dissolution of Dail Eireann shall continue to hold office until their successors shall have been appointed.

It is open to outgoing ministers to down tools and vacate their offices, but the more likely scenario is that they will continue working  albeit in a relatively low-profile way.

On the other hand, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar must continue to represent Ireland on the international stage for the foreseeable future.

He will travel to Brussels on Thursday for what is expected to be an acrimonious EU Council meeting as leaders try to figure out their post-Brexit budgets.

The UKs withdrawal has left a huge 75bn hole in the budget for the next seven years, 2021 to 2027.

Irish farmers are particularly worried about possible cuts to the Common Agriculture Policy  and despite admitted he lost the election, Mr Varadkar will be the man at the table defending their interests.

Before he takes off on the government jet, the Fine Gael leader will first have to sit through a Dail session where Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail are likely to try to unseat him.

Neither will have the numbers to elect Mary Lou McDonald or Micheal Martin as Taoiseach, meaning Mr Varadkar will stay in-situ by default.

We were defeated in this election, there is no point in trying to dress that up in any way, the Dublin West TD said last week.

It may have been a tight finish, but we were defeated. So that means that people are saying to us that Fine Gael should go into opposition and we are absolutely willing to do that.

Which is fine, except that he cant right now  and as the number-crunching continue, you couldnt rule out Fine Gael being part of a grand coalition when this all ends.

Mr Varadkar has said that until a new government is formed, all the ministers and ministers of state will continue to fulfil their duties as they are required to under the Constitution.

Ministers  including six who are no longer TDs  will continue to attend Cabinet meetings and discuss affairs of State.

But the Taoiseach has already promised they wont make any major financial or policy decisions. In other words, they wont be launching any legislative initiatives or announcing billions for new projects.

If this period of instability drags then its almost inevitable that they will have to react to events, be they domestic or international.

Where a significant decision cannot be put on the long finger, Mr Varadkar plans to consult with the leaders of the other main parties before signing off on a direction of travel.

One complication is that ministers are responsible to Dail Eireann, but those who lost their seats are no longer members of the House.

They could be called before Oireachtas committees to answer for their actions  but, if were honest, normal politics has been suspended.

When the electorate threw up a similarly difficult result in 2016, it took 70 days for Fine Gael and Fianna Fail to reach a deal on confidence and supply that allowed Enda Kenny form a new government. Its worth recalling that back then most of the debate was around water charges.

During that period the Dail sat 12 times, including the three attempts it took for Mr Kenny to be re-elected as Taoiseach.

For the most part TDs made statements on topics that had gotten the electorate excited during the campaign.

These included insurance costs, health reform, crime statistics, housing and Dail reform.

There were also expressions of sympathy following the Brussels terror attack  but nothing by way of legislation.

The politicians were being fully paid during this period.

With Fine Gael insisting that they will only talk to Fianna Fail as a last resort to avoid another election, this new impasse could run for weeks yet.

In the meantime, Shane Ross, Katherine Zappone, Regina Doherty, Sean Kyne, Mary Mitchell OConnor, Pat Byrne, Catherine Byrne, Andrew Doyle, Kevin Boxer Moran and Michael DArcy will continue to have access to their departmental offices and staff.

So too will the ministers who retired from politics before the election: Finian McGrath, John Halligan and Jim Daly. They are effectively trapped in their jobs until the stalemate is resolved.

One date worth watching for is St Patricks Day. The White House will be expecting the leader of the Irish government for the annual meet and greet with the American president.

As things stand, Mr Varadkar will be the one in the Oval Office hoping Donald Trump doesnt call him a loser.
The Reserve Bank of India's first-ever long term repo operation (LTRO) saw massive demand on Monday with banks bidding for 7.8 times the funds on offer.

The central bank had announced that it will auction funds worth a total 1 trillion rupees ($14.03 billion) via long-term repos at a fixed rate of 5.15% which is the current repo rate.

The RBI conducted the first such auction for 250 billion rupees for 3-year funds earlier today with banks bidding for 1.94 trillion rupees worth of funds. The RBI made an allotment of 12.86% on the 63 bids it received for 250.35 billion rupees.

The funds are expected to help lower banks cost of funds and prompt them to lend to customers in an effort to boost consumption and kickstart the flagging economy.

"We had expected 4X bid cover ratio. The demand is quite strong. It reflects that the terms of the LTRO are quite attractive," said A. Prasanna, economist with ICICI Securities Primary Dealership.

Traders said with the benchmark 3-year benchmark bond yield at 5.78%, 3-year funds at 5.15% was highly attractive and offered a straight yield arbitrage.

"Banks can also buy corporate bonds with the money and get an extra spread," a senior trader with a private bank said.

Bankers said the funds would cover several rate resetting cycles for banks and thus will also be used for lending purposes.

The RBI will be conducting a second auction for 1-year funds totalling 250 billion rupees on Feb. 24 but traders said that auction may not see as hefty demand as the 3-year one.

"There are likely to be only four auctions, so demand at all four will be high but 1-year funds are not as attractive as 3-year funds. 1-year auction will be mostly for the banks' asset-liability management desks," another senior fixed income trader at a private bank said.
Before I was a teacher, I was a business woman.

My background taught me to look at the overall flow of a business: its health, teamwork, schedule, tasks, effectiveness of those tasks, and systems to see whether or not it was thriving and what I might do to get it to a better place.

Now in the classroom, both my students and I are aware that Im not your usual teacher and that has taken some grace on both our parts.

Here are some things that Ive noticed in education that I naturally want to tinker with and improve: Students with ADHD and the way we make them test. Students not knowing how they learn and not being told that everyone is a unique mix, therefore each person needs to learn their own way of meeting the benchmarks.

We have a cookie cutter system; you take 4 years of math, 4 years of science, and 4 years of English and you come out a high school graduate ready to do life. Hmmwhat about life skills and character traits? Are we sure weve prepared students to be adults? Have we taught them who they are? Have we taught them how to think and question things? Have we given them the tools to have original ideas?

Breaking old systems

I am not the answer to each one of these problems. I happen to notice, though, I am a fan of breaking old systems and making new ones as is my generation. Little by little, choice by choice, each day I hold loosely these puzzle pieces and ask myself if I can make a difference.

There is a beauty with being an elective teacher. The pressure to produce isnt between the relationship of student and teacher. Therefore, its easy for those students who want to process to choose to come in on breaks and linger in my classroom. Its an easy place to speak into the lives in front of me and I am thankful, as this holds an important place in the decisions I make.

There are some students who want to grow up to be professional creatives. There are some who are taking these classes to meet their graduation requirements. There are some students who process emotion in what they create, and there are some who dont understand the relationship mood and color can even have.

To step up and serve the need

Ive been asking myself how a classroom can have four walls and all these different people categories inside and I can see it would be easy for some to fall through the cracks, tick the box, and leave. Thankfully, I also have been in enough teams to know there is a reason we are placed with the people that we are with and so I look daily for those clues and combinations to be able to step up and serve the need I see.

This week, for example, was first week back from break. I could have chosen to leap into a painting unit straight away, but I wasnt ready and I kept having this pause cross my mind. I think these moments are the Holy Spirit chatting with me.

I then had this idea to make a week of inspiring stories of people in creative careers. In each story, there was a seed I hoped specific students would pick up and lessons like, dont let relationships fall apart while your chasing your dreams, or even - work hard, dont give up, and take a business classit will help you!

Hat tricks

I have some hat tricks from my previous career that have helped me as an educator.

Assess the team - what their strengths are and what they can actually do vs what they tell you they can do. Then get close and learn how they think and what inspires them. This helps me pick relevant projects and shows me how to train them up. For the record - I have a Justin Bieber shrine in one of my classroom closets as a result of this method, but I won some key people.

I have also found grading to be a helpful platform for relationship building. Its easier to lead people where you want them to go if they trust you. Grading is a monthly platform to assess artwork, and also personal style, thoughtfulness, and identity.

Here is where Id like to land. I was listening to a podcast about the Helsers property and school in North Carolina, The 18 Inch Journey. Jonathan David mentioned that in the school there is a flow: they teach people who they are in Christ, how to hear God, and Fathering, and then turn them loose on a creative element to learn and process.

What would happen if we taught in regular educational institutions such simple progressions? Teach the person first who they are, how they learn, how they work, their unique thumbprint so they can then take the classes to get where they were created to go.

Could we not change society if kids knew their programing and how to walk with God prior to the moment they become collegiates?
Former President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili has announced his return to politics, stressing that the current Georgian Dream ruling party has crossed the red line.



"By choosing authoritarianism, Georgian Dream crossed red lines. No democracy - no national unity, no western path. Wont watch this happen. Returning to active politics. Will serve the mission of our western choice with my friends and the Georgian people," he wrote on Twitter.

He did not give more details about his political plans, Agenda.ge reported.



Margvelashvili was elected to the position in 2013. He refused to run again for the presidency in 2018.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has again rejected accusations that his country is harboring militants, and insisted that his government has done "everything" to facilitate the peace process in neighboring Afghanistan.



"Normally there was an idea that the security forces in Pakistan had their own policy, and the government a different one. This is not the case in Pakistan anymore, Khan on February 17 told an international conference in Islamabad marking 40 years since hundreds of thousands of Afghans found refuge in the country.



Pakistan is seen as key to helping secure and implement any peace deal in Afghanistan. U.S. and Afghan officials have long accused the countrys military spy agency of harboring Taliban militants. Islamabad has repeatedly rejected the accusation.



Whatever the situation might have been in the past, right now I can tell you, all of us, there is one thing we want is peace in Afghanistan," Khan said.



With about 2.7 million Afghan refugees living in Pakistan, it was impossible to rule out militants hiding among them, he said, adding that his government has done all it could to prevent attacks in Afghanistan, including by building a border fence.



His comments came after Sarwar Danish, Afghanistan's second vice president, accused Pakistan of allowing the Taliban to recruit fighters from Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan.



Addressing the Islamabad conference, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres praised Pakistan for supporting Afghan refugees.



"For 40 years, the people of Afghanistan have faced successive crises, for 40 years, the people of Pakistan have responded with solidarity," he said, while calling on the international community to do more for refugees.



Guterres also said he was very encouraged by Pakistan's strong commitment for peace in Afghanistan.



He said it was "time for Afghans to have peace and that no Afghan will forgive us if this opportunity is not seized."



The U.S. special representative for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, told the conference he was "cautiously optimistic" about progress toward an eventual peace deal with the Taliban.



Khalilzad has for more than a year led talks between the Taliban and Washington.



On February 17, Afghanistan's Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah said the Taliban had agreed to a seven-day reduction of violence ahead of a peace deal with the United States that may be signed by the end of the month.



However, bloodshed continued over the weekend, including a deadly Taliban attack in the northern province of Kunduz.

With reporting by dpa and AFP
Democrat hatred for Donald Trump and his supporters has become so evil that when you look up "demonic" in the dictionary, a Democrat group photo is there. These people are consumed with hate, collecting scalps, and destroying the lives of anyone associated with President Trump.

Ludicrously, Democrats seek to impeach Trump and A.G. William Barr for righteously unraveling their sham investigation, which suggested a seven- to nine-year prison sentence for Roger Stone for questionable process crimes. Rapists and armed robbers have received less than Stone's effective life sentence.

Deep State bad players want Stone to die in jail because they hate him for not giving in whimpering to their demands and not providing them ammo to "get Trump" in the Mueller witch hunt. Folks, our terrifying reality is that government agencies are weaponized to punish anyone Democrats don't like. Remember when Obama used the IRS to punish the Tea Party?

David Limbaugh is a #1 national bestselling author. His book, Guilty by Reason of Insanity: Why the Democrats Must Not Win, is truly chilling.

In 2016, Google's manipulation of votes gave 2.6 million additional votes to Hillary Clinton. With Google, Facebook, and Twitter rallying behind the Democrat/socialist presidential candidate in 2020, they can deliver 15 million additional votes without leaving a paper trail or the public realizing it. Along with various hidden tricks, they will launch a tsunami of "go-vote" notices to Democrats.

Trumpers, we must get out our voters.

Fox News's Sean Hannity said that while he believes that Trump will win in November, he fears we may become overconfident. Sean believes we must campaign intensely as if Trump is trailing in the polls.

I agree with Sean. I am campaigning my butt off to ensure the re-election of our president.

Here is the link to the commercial promoting the launch of the Trump Train 2020 music video. Please spread this commercial far and wide.

The full music video will be released TUESDAY, MARCH 3 at 11:55 A.M. Ask people to have watch parties. We want all of America aboard the Trump Train!

Lloyd Marcus, The Unhyphenated American

Help Lloyd Spread the Truth

https://www.trumptrainusa2020.com/

http://LloydMarcus.com
What did the armpits of ordinary working people smell like in the days of El Cid Campeador? Hardly fragrant, that is for certain. There was no deodorant or scented bath soaps for sale on street corners. There was no way to brush your teeth with pleasant disinfectant pastes, or detergents to scrub dishes and clean the inns and taverns. There was no toilet paper, or refreshing shaving cream, cologne, or aromatic lotions.

In Cuba, 1,000 years later, in the 21st century, the same thing may be said. The Minister of Internal Trade, Betsy Diaz, recently announced that until April there will be no personal grooming products for sale, because the "tense financial situation" has forced the regime to use its scant funds to import food and fuel. Then it was reported that the wait would not be until April, but rather March. (Apparently, not considered a big difference).

In short, the dictatorship is dragging Cubans on the island back in time, into the Middle Ages, a time the country never saw (it did not exist, except the natives), but they it was given, in the 20th century, as a gift from the Castro brothers (I always stress my reference to ordinary Cubans, because the dictatorial elite lacks nothing, thanks to the exploitation to which it subjects everyday Cubans).

Since January shortages of everything have skyrocketed: there is an intermittent or continuous lack of cooking gas, flour, bread, pork, chicken, eggs, fish, tomato sauce, salt, vegetable oil, milk, fruit, coffee, and even rice; as well as medicines, gasoline, transport, and housing. All this is compounded by the stench and danger of epidemics emanating from foul garbage dumped in the streets.

But now something unusual has been added: people may also have to reek if they do not buy hygiene products on the black market, at inflated prices, as the law of supply and demand makes no exceptions.

And it is likely that, in March or April, Betsy will appear again to tell the media that they still do not have the funds to import hygiene products, and that the situation will be "normalized" in August.

Of course, the minister claimed that "the financing must be used to overcome the adversities of the crude blockade." That is, the foul odors and lack of hygiene are also Washington's fault.

When almost all hygiene products were produced in Cuba

What the official did not point out is that before 1959, when the Castros began their war against the US by confiscating American properties worth some 1.8 billion dollars, Cuba produced the vast majority of the grooming, cleaning and hygiene products that it consumed. There was no need to import them. Three large Havana factories Crusellas, Sabates (founded in the 19th century) and the Gravi Laboratories were largely responsible for this, along with other plants.

Crusellas (800 workers) was affiliated with the American company Colgate-Palmolive; and Sabates, with Procter & Gamble. Crusellas produced the Candado, Palmolive and Hiel de Vaca soaps, Colgate toothpaste, Ajax cleaner, 1800 Cologne, and Myrka; Rhum Quinquina hair tonic, lavender water, Colgates Halo shampoo, as well as deodorants, brillantine, powders and talc.

The Cuban market also offered the detergents FAB, Tide, Ace and Lavasol; the soaps Rina, Camay, Heno de Pravia, Suave, Oso, Tornillo, Llave, and Elsa, Glostora (for hair), Gravi toothpaste, and other high-quality products made in Cuba.

Older Cubans will remember the commercials on TV, radio and in the press. And Cuba was a Latin American leader in advertising techniques. I recall slogans like "Ponga el Oso a trabajar" (Put the bear to work) "Rina es duro, duro de verdad" (Rina is tough, really, really tough), "Jabon Camay, embellece desde la primera pastilla" (Camay soap, more beautiful from the first bar), the "Colgate smile", "New Ajax perfumed cleaner"; "Lavasol da blancura de sol (Lavasol means sunny white), "Ace lo hace todo" (Ace does it all) and many others, with their jingles and everything.

'Is it possible to imagine a Cuban minister in 1958 telling the people that they cannot use soap or brush their teeth for three months?'

Defenders of the regime cannot claim that Cuba's "working people" could not afford these kinds of products. An industrial employee or worker could hardly be found in Cuba - the average salary was $130 in 1958, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO) - with body or mouth odor because he could not buy soap or a tube of toothpaste.

Value-added goods that increased GDP

Most important of all is that, although produced in association with American companies, these products were actually made in Cuba. They were Cuban products that generated jobs for thousands of Cubans whose consumption made the national economy grow. The raw material was imported, but the value added to the finished product bolstered the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

This is why Cuba's trade balance before Communism was always positive. Exports exceeded imports. What a stark contrast: for six decades, with the exception of an almost token surplus of 10 million dollars in 1974, since the Sovietization of the economy (October 13, 1960) Cuba's trade balance has registered one deficit after another.

These continued shortfalls (some astronomical) generated an extremely high external debt relative to the small size of the Cuban economy. Suffice to say that in the 80s Cuba's debt, at 51 billion dollars, was equivalent to 85% of its GDP, making it, proportionally, the largest debt in Latin America, according to the IMF.

With the USSR and other Communist countries the debt exceeded 40 billion dollars, and with the Paris Club it reached 11.1 billion, of which the Castros had 8.5 billion pardoned in 2015. In 2014 Russia erased 90% of the 35 billion dollars Havana owed it. Putin, aware that he would never collect it all, reduced the debt to 3.5 billion  which was rather pointless, as he will never collect that either.

Restaurants closing their doors

As for the lack of hygiene plaguing Cuba, it not only prevents Cubans from the proper cleanliness consonant with the 21st century (and not the 11th, when the legendary Don Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar roamed) but also strongly impacts the private sector.

From all across the island there are many reports that paladares (restaurants) are closing because they have no detergent to wash the dishes, or products to clean up, and they have been invaded by flies. The last straw: in Moron (Ciego de Avila) freelancer Dairis Gonzalez was fined 3,000 pesos (143 dollars) for not having detergent to clean his car, from which he sells slushes.

Thus, 62 years after the "Revolution" Cubans eat worse, and less and less, there are more shortages of everything at stores, the country produces less food, basic consumer goods, fuel, and raw materials, there is no money to import them... and now the people cannot even clean themselves properly.

Moreover, it will continue to get worse, as Venezuela cannot increase its subsidies or send free oil to the island, and cash from the US (remittances, packages and visits) will not be enough to keep an economy afloat that is incapable of standing on its own two feet.

In short, Castroism is giving Cubans, in the third millennium, a taste of life at the beginning of the second, 500 years before Columbus proved that the Earth is not flat.
It is clear that Apple wants to distance itself as far as possible from Qualcomm, even though they settled the long legal battle with them last year. News has popped up claiming that Apple is trying to design their own 5G antenna for the upcoming 2020 iPhones that will be released soon, in attempt to use as little Qualcomm products as possible.

Since the end of the legal battle, Apple has been trying to reduce its dependence on Qualcomm in its future products. They are tired of paying Qualcomm an unfair amount of royalties for their intellectual property license and products. Apple recently bought Intels modem business and has been investing heavily in designing their own modems which may replace Qualcomms modems in the iPhone in the future. However, They will face a lot of complications as 5G antennae, especially milli-meter wave 5G antenna is extremely hard to design and manufacture.

Another issue is that Apple is unhappy with Qualcomms QTM 525 antenna module as they believe the chip is not a good fit for the 2020 iPhones sleek industrial design. Apple claims it would require a thicker design, which is something that they are not keen on. Qualcomm, on the other hand, has stated that the QTM 525 antenna module will support 5G smartphone designs sleeker than 8 millimeters thick.

Apple has designed antennae in the past, but not with great success. The Antennagate issue that plagued the iPhone 4 back in 2010 created a lot of backlash for Apple. The phone would drop its signal and drop calls when held in a certain way. With a lot of focus on the 2020 5G iPhones, Apple cant afford to mess it up with another antennagate.

Source
A health official watches travelers on a thermographic monitor at a cruise ship terminal in Port Klang, Malaysia, amid worldwide concerns about the spread of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Feb. 13, 2020.

A second test confirmed that an elderly American woman, who had traveled on a cruise ship allowed to dock in Cambodia, was accurately diagnosed with the coronavirus upon arriving in Kuala Lumpur on a flight from Phnom Penh, Malaysias deputy prime minister said Sunday.

The Cambodian government and the cruise ships operator asked Malaysian authorities to retest the 83-year-old U.S. citizen after Malaysias health ministry announced Saturday that the woman had initially tested positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19).

This is not the case of a false positive. I repeat, the result is still positive for the wife, negative for the husband, Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said in a statement.

The unidentified American woman is the first confirmed case of a person diagnosed with the virus after being aboard the ship, the M.V. Westerdam. It set sail from Hong Kong on Feb. 1 but was prevented from docking in Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines and Guam over concerns that its more than 2,200 passengers and crew could be infected with the mystery virus, which originated in Chinas Hubei province.

On Feb. 13, health authorities in Cambodia  a close ally of China  allowed the ship to dock at the port of Sihanoukville after declaring its more than 2,200 passengers and crew free of the mystery virus, which first broke out in the Chinese province of Hubei.

Cambodian authorities allowed the passengers and crew to begin disembarking from the ship on Friday.

The Ministry of Health said it cleared them for disembarkation after it conducted thorough health examinations on the Westerdams passengers and crewmembers, and had worked with the World Health Organization (WHO) and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in doing so, according to Agence Kampuchea Presse, the state news agency.

The Holland America Line, the ships operator, said it had screened all 2,257 passengers and crew for illness  but no one displayed a fever  and disembarking passengers were screened a second time as well as asked to fill out a health questionnaire.

The passports of everyone onboard the Westerdam were also reviewed to ensure no one had traveled through mainland China in the 14 days prior to the cruise, the company said in a statement Sunday.

During the voyage there was no indication of COVID-19 on the ship, Holland America said after Malaysia announced that the woman had tested positive a second time for the virus.

The guest who tested positive did not visit the ships medical center to report any symptoms of illness.

So far, no other passengers or crew on the ship or on their way home had shown signs of the illness, the shipping line said, adding it was working with Malaysian and Cambodian authorities, along with WHO and the CDC, to deal with the situation.

We are in close coordination with some of the leading health experts from around the world, said Dr. Grant Tarling, chief medical officer for the Holland America Line. These experts are working with the appropriate national health authorities to investigate and follow-up with individuals who may have come in contact the guest.

Malaysia bars entry to other passengers from ship

The American woman and her husband were both first tested after showing symptoms while being screened at Kuala Lumpurs international airport, where they and 143 other passengers from the ship had arrived on a chartered Malaysia Airlines flight on Friday while heading back to their home countries, Malaysian officials said.

Three other chartered flights that were scheduled to bring more passengers from the ship as they transited home via Kuala Lumpur have since been canceled over public health safety concerns, Malaysia authorities said.

The Malaysian government confirmed that no additional passengers from the Westerdam will be allowed entry into Malaysia, the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur said in a statement posted on its website Sunday.

Upon their arrival, the Malaysian health authorities have conducted health screenings on all passengers, where an American couple was detected through the thermal scanner of having symptoms and they were immediately taken to the Sungai Buloh Hospital for further checks, Wan Azizah said.

The American woman had a cough but no fever or difficulty breathing, and an X-ray scan revealed she had signs of pneumonia, the deputy prime minister said.

The woman and her 85-year-old husband, who tested negative for COVID-19, were both being treated at a local hospital, Wan Azizah said, noting that the man was diagnosed with a bacterial infection.

Of the other 143 passengers on the charter flight that brought the American couple to Malaysia, 137 had departed the country after undergoing health screenings, officials said. The remaining six  four U.S. citizens and two Dutch nationals  were cleared for departure late Sunday after testing negative for the virus, Noor Hisham Abdullah, Malaysias director-general of health, said in a news release.

22 cases

The case of the infected American woman brought to 22 the number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Malaysia.

That number includes two other cases that were also confirmed by the health ministry on Saturday but unconnected to the woman who had traveled aboard the Westerdam.

The 21st case is a 32-year-old Chinese citizen married to a Malaysian man and living in Malaysia. Between Jan. 22 and Jan. 30, she traveled to China to visit relatives, and tested positive for the coronavirus after complaining of a sore throat, officials said.

The 20th case was identified as a 27-year-old male Chinese national who was first detected with fever by a thermal scanner as he crossed into Malaysia from Thailand at the overland border crossing in Kedah state, the health ministry said.

On Saturday, Thailand confirmed its 34th case of the coronavirus, a 35-year-old Thai female health care worker who got the virus through contact with a patient, authorities said.

According to the latest information released from WHO on Sunday, the number of COVID-19 cases has topped 51,800 cases in 25 countries, with the vast majority concentrated in China. At least 1,669 people have died from the virus, which the U.N.s health agency has declared a global emergency.

As of Sunday, neither Indonesia, the most populous country in Southeast Asia, or Bangladesh had confirmed any cases of the virus on their territory.

Last week, Terawan Agus Putranto, Indonesias health minister, pushed back against research by a Harvard University professor, Marc Lipsitch, who had suggested in a study that Indonesia was possibly underreporting the coronavirus situation. The minister described the Harvard report as insulting.

On Saturday, hundreds of citizens from both Indonesia and Bangladesh, who had been evacuated from Hubei province, were allowed to return home after being quarantined for two weeks on home soil after being evacuated by plane from Wuhan  the provincial capital and epicenter of the outbreak  reports said.

Meanwhile in the Philippines, which has recorded three cases  including the first death from coronavirus outside of China  President Rodrigo Dutertes government said it was considering evacuating hundreds of Filipinos who were part of the crew on the virus-stricken Diamond Princess, a cruise ship that had been quarantined for two weeks off Japan.

On Sunday, Japanese health authorities announced that 70 new cases of COVID-19 aboard the ship docked in Yokohama had been confirmed, bringing the total number of cases aboard the Diamond Princess to 355  the largest concentration outside of China.

Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.
The Spokesman of Iran Electrical Power Industry on Monday said a shortage of fuel for power plants is responsible for blackouts in Tehran and several other cities across Iran.

In the past few days unannounced power cuts, as well as Internet disruptions, have affected many businesses, banks, homes and even caused heavy traffic jams in Tehran and Tabriz. In cold winter months more gas is consumed for heating.

Some of the country's power plants rely on gas for fuel and high consumption of gas has starved the power plants, Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi told a local economic publication on Monday.

Domestic and industrial gas consumption in Iran amounts to 600-690 million cubic meters per day, depending on the time of the year. Iran officially says it produces 800m cubic meters of gas daily of which about 60m cubic meters is allocated to power plants for electricity production. But this level of production might be somewhat exaggerated, since it is unable to export the amount of natural gas it has committed to pump to Iraq.

Nonetheless, the Islamic authorities have repeatedly boasted in the past year that natural gas production has significantly increased in the country.

However, such claims have never been supported by facts and figures.

For example, the NIGC's dispatching director, Mehdi Jamshidi, maintained on November 20 that the total amount of natural gas consumption in Iran had reached 693 million cubic meters. But the figure given was exactly the same as the one published in the previous year, indicating no real increase.

Iran's power plants in recent months had to use the low-quality fuel oil (mazut) that Iran has not been able to sell due to U.S. sanctions, Isa Kalantari, the Head of the Department of Environment said on January 19. According to Kalantari using mazut has worsened air pollution.

On February 2, Deputy Chief of Power Generation and Transmission Company (TAVANIR) said power plants will have to use liquid fuel if domestic use of gas is not reduced.

Power cuts in winter are quite rare in Iran. "Blackouts across the country in winter do not seem normal," Morad Vaisi, Radio Farda analyst wrote in a tweet on Monday. He pointed out that the capital was usually exempted for security reasons even when power cuts were inevitable.

Ministry of Energy officials say "emergency" power cuts, two hours per day, will continue in large cities unless domestic gas consumption is reduced by 10 percent.

Some social media users claim the power cuts are meant to identify the source of massive cyberattacks that have plagued the country's infrastructures since February 8.

Deputy Minister of Telecommunications and Head of Iran IT Organization on Monday said some of the recent attacks may have originated from inside the country.

"They shut down the global Internet [to repel the attacks] but realized the source was inside the country so they cut the power district by district to find the source but could not find it," @eshghbaz1 wrote in tweet while another user claimed there are rumors that cyberattack on power management networks has caused the blackouts.
A 9-year-old North Carolina girl went missing 20 years ago in the middle of the night.

Asha Degree disappeared on the night of February 14, 2000. The fourth-grader lived in the Fallston neighborhood near Shelby, North Carolina and was believed to have left home hours before dawn.

20 years later, her family, along with FBI Charlotte and local investigators, are still seeking answers to her disappearance.

Valentine of 2000

Harold, Asha's father, had checked on Asha and her older brother around 2:30 am. When Iquilla, Asha's mother, went to wake the kids for school at 6:30 am, they found Asha missing.

According to the investigation, no sign of forced entry was found. There was also no promising scent trail for the search dogs to follow.

Investigators received two separate reports that afternoon. Two individuals had seen a young female walking along Highway 18 around 4 am. One person had gone back to check on the girl, but she had already disappeared into the woods. The highway was in the opposite direction of the Degree's home.

That was the last anyone had seen Asha.

August 3, 2001

In a Facebook video released by the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office in 2018, they announced two "new possible clues" that could help explain the disappearance of Asha Degree---and possibly find her.

The clues were items found on August 3, 2001, by construction workers in neighboring Burke County. The workers were digging an access road some 30 miles north from where Asha was last seen when they found a bag.





Investigators found a children's book by Dr. Seuss titled McElligot's Pool, as well as a T-shirt featuring boy band New Kids On The Block. The book was from the library at Fallston Elementary where Asha attended school. The shirt did not belong to Asha.

Investigators claim Asha had packed her bags before she left, as evident in the contents which they said: "looked like something a child would pack."

2015 Re-investigation

An anonymous tipper gave the investigators another possible lead to the case. According to the tip, Asha may have gotten into a car. The vehicle was said to be either a dark green 1970s-model Lincoln Continental Mark IV or a Ford Thunderbird. The FBI released images of the vehicle models in 2016 in a public announcement.

Asha at Present

FBI worked with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to create and release photos, including one showing how Asha may look like today.

"We encourage anybody out there that if they have any information-no matter how small or minor it may seem-it might be extremely crucial to further us getting one step closer to Asha," FBI Special Agent Michael Gregory said.

Investigators are offering a reward of $45,000 dollars for information on the case. $25,000 will come from the FBI, while the other $20,000 will be given by the Cleveland Country Sherrif's Office and the community.

The FBI continues to accept leads and information about the disappearance.

The Degree family continue to appeal to anyone who has information about their daughter's disappearance. They are also calling for anyone involved to come forward.

"That's my prayer every night, that God will get into their heart and let them come forward because it's got to be a weight on them," Iquilla, Asha's mother, said.

"If Asha walked in the door right now, I wouldn't care what I missed. All I want to do is see her."
In a boost for its Graduating Companies initiative, the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) launched its first batch of 15 Emirati student projects, incubated at the HCT innovation and economic free zone in HCT-Dubai Mens campus, with the aim of the projects being transformed into internationally competitive companies.

The launch, at the UAEs first higher educational innovation and economic free zone, was in the presence of Nasser Bin Thani Al Hamli, Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation and HCT

Chancellor, and Dr Abdullatif Al Shamsi, HCT President & CEO, together with representatives of the various funds that play a key role in supporting youth and entrepreneurship projects.

These funds included the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, Mohammed Bin Rashid Fund for Small and Medium Enterprises, ICT Fund, and Dubai Technology Entrepreneur Campus (DTEC).

The 15 student projects are based on the development of innovative products and services, providing hi-tech solutions serving diverse dynamic industries. Of the 15 showcased student projects, three obtained a trade licence, whereas five are in the process of licensing.

Al Hamli, reiterated that the student projects represent HCTs strategic priority which is closely aligned to the directives issued in in March 2019 by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai, where he announced UAE universities can become innovation and economic free zones, enabling students to carry out business and creative activities as an integrated part of their higher education, in implementation of the 50-year Charter.

The Minister further expressed his pride in announcing the first positive outcomes of the HCT innovation and economic free zones, whereby the 15 projects will utilise advanced technologies and Artificial Intelligence, and will cater to the needs of diverse economic and service sectors, including healthcare, security, safety, online learning, transportation, communications, media and quality of life.

Al Hamli emphasised the HCTs eagerness to collaborate with its strategic partners, particularly the local institutions that are supporting small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurship, in order to introduce to them the student projects incubated in the economic free zones. He confirmed that HCT will work jointly with these institutions to transform these projects into economically feasible companies that can be of benefit to society. He said the projects reinforced the efficiency and capabilities of Emiratis in generating creative internationally competitive ideas.

Dr Al Shamsi expressed his pleasure with the innovative student projects that reflect HCTs efforts dedicated towards turning the vision of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum into reality.

He added that under the HCT 4.0 strategic plan  Employability and Beyond, HCT students and graduates have been creating their own future opportunities, equipped with the job- relevant skills and applied research skills acquired during their studies at HCT. This has resulted in many of them establishing their own small and medium hi-tech enterprises.

He added that the implementation of capstone projects, which meet industry needs, raised students awareness of the labour market needs, while boosting their abilities to generate creative ideas transformable into future projects.

Dr Al Shamsi thanked the representatives of the various institutions for their great support of HCTs entrepreneurship and innovation-focused initiatives, with the projects being selected from HCT students capstone projects exhibitions, while others were independent entries for the innovation and economic free zones.

Following the presentation of the innovative projects, Al Hamli, spoke to the HCT student entrepreneurs, expressing his pride in their successful implementation of the UAEs strategic vision and ability to contribute to the UAEs economic development. He affirmed HCTs willingness to provide full-fledged support to student projects and hi-tech companies that generate job opportunities for Emirati youth.

The Minister advised the 15 students that the support and trust of the UAEs leadership, particularly that of HH Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE President, and HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai.

The UAE youth is regarded as the countrys true wealth and they have proved that they are deserving of this great confidence, the Minister added.-- Tradearabia News Service
(Newser)  An odd footnote to the story of Kim Jong Un's 2019 rides up a snowy sacred mountain on a white horse: It turns out North Korea imported 12 purebred horses from Russia in October, the same month as Kim's first ride. Reuters reports that customs data shows the 12 horses were worth $75,709, and it's not the first time North Korea has turned to Russia for horses. The 12 were part of a larger group of 138 horses that have been imported by North Korea since 2010, with an overall tally of $584,302.

story continues below

NK News spoke with experts who said there's no concrete evidence that the horses imported in October were the same ones Kim and his entourage rode, though one says it's likely the horses were ones Russia supplied at some point. Another notes that the Russian export doesn't run afoul of UN Security Council resolutions, as "it represents a non-restricted trade cooperation of Russia with North Korea." (Kim's first ride up Mount Paektu in October was described as Putin-like.)
A court in Amritsar on Monday convicted former Punjab Deputy Inspector General Kultar Singh and Deputy Superintendent of Police Hardev Singh and four others in a 2004 case where a family of five including children had committed mass suicide putting the blame on the accused.

In 2004 five members of a family, Hardip Singh along with his wife, mother and two children allegedly committed suicide after consuming a poisonous substance.

Before taking this extreme step, the family had written a suicide note on the walls of a room of their house blaming DIG Kultar Singh the then Senior Superintendent of Police of Amritsar holding him responsible for forcing the family to take the extreme step.

A legal team of advocates Rajvinder Singh Bains, Sarabjit Singh Verka and Utsav Singh Bains had provided legal aid and represented the victim's family in various courts.

Advocate Sarabjit Singh Verka played an important role in collecting crucial pieces of evidence in the case which ultimately lead to the conviction of accused.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mexico City depends on a fleet of 45 official, publicly funded ambulances to cover its 9 million residents. All of the others are private, the equivalent of mom-and-pop businesses. And they might be experts or entirely incompetent, depending on your luck.

The Ochoas  Juan, his father Fer, younger brother Josue, and relative Manuel Hernandez  have been driving their ambulance for more than a decade. Night after night they confront horrifying accidents, cops on the take and rival ambulance corps. And for almost three years, filmmaker Luke Lorentzen tagged along.

Lorentzen was there as the Ochoas responded to crashes, fires, fights, overdoses  every disaster and tragedy one could imagine. And in his documentary Midnight Family, he shows what its like to live through endless crises.

We would show up to an accident that would really push the limit of what I felt I could handle, Lorentzen tells InsideHook. I remember crossing my fingers so tightly that we wouldnt get hit that night with another one as intense.

Lorentzen spaced out his time with the Ochoas, and developed coping techniques to help deal with what he was seeing. But as he pointed out, the Ochoas are trapped in that world 24-7, year after year. However desensitized theyve become to their work, Lorentzen feels it must affect them on a deeper basis, buried somewhere in their psyches.

There are different types of burn-out, Lorentzen said. The work, the hours, the exhaustion  Ive never worked harder in my life, and I think Im just now recovering. Theres also the emotional impact of being exposed to all those traumatic events. In the end, I dont know if I protected myself enough.

The directors first method of coping was to avoid the accident victims entirely. In fact, his initial plan was to limit all the shots in the film to those taken by a camera mounted on the ambulance dashboard. Unhappy with the results, he tried shooting from the back of the ambulance, the camera locked down on a tripod. But that wasnt enough either. He realized that he needed to participate in what was happening.

The next step was, Okay, Im going to try shooting a little handheld here and there,' Lorentzen explained. Then I would actually leave the ambulance when we got to an accident, take some wide shots. Okay, then get closer to the accident. It was like building up this muscle, figuring out how do I exist in this space, and do it in a way that is right for the Ochoas, right for the film, right for the patients.

Sometimes that meant looking away.

Dont look patients in the eye, dont let yourself engage with them, he said. That sounds cold, but it was something I needed to do to get through each night. Try to focus on camerawork, on what shots I needed, instead of letting myself fall off an emotional cliff.

Lorentzen often found himself in dicey neighborhoods, trusting the Ochoas for protection, their reputation serving as a kind of de facto security blanket. But when the Ochoas raced other ambulances through heavy traffic, Lorentzen couldnt do much more than hold on.

Those driving scenes were probably when I was most at risk, he said. I dont want to come across as the sort of person who doesnt care about safety. I put a lot of thought into what I was comfortable with, and I made a decision early on that those chase scenes were a risk worth taking.

Risk of a different kind came in Lorentzens encounters with policemen. After they emptied my wallet a few times, he learned to carry only enough cash to get through the night. Arriving at an accident, even the Ochoas wouldnt know if the police on the scene were honest or corrupt. At one point in Midnight Family, cops handcuffed Juan Ochoa and pushed him into the back of a patrol car. Then they demanded the memory chip from Lorentzens camera.

Juan still had his mike on, and I could hear him yelling in my headphones, Whatever you do, dont delete the footage, its the only thing we have,' Lorentzen remembered. I had two cards in the camera, and I popped out one that was blank and gave that to them.

The director describes dealing with police as chaos, one of the most unpredictable, frustrating things Ive been through. Once I was pulled over and my wallet was emptied, they tried to take my iPhone, and those were just traffic cops.

Lorentzen admitted that he knew next to nothing about healthcare in Mexico City when he moved there after film school. In his thesis film, New York Cuts, he shot in six different hair salons in New York City, from Manhattan to Brighton Beach. He initially thought of trying a similar strategy of compare and contrast in Mexico City traffic. Cut from two guys in a cement truck to first graders in a school bus.

I lived about two blocks from Mexico Citys general hospital, the largest one in the city, Lorentzen recalled. I would walk by hundreds and hundreds of people outside the emergency room waiting for care. An ambulance was going to be a vignette in my original idea about transportation, so I was already looking for one. But the moment I met the Ochoas, it was clear that they needed to have their own film.

Lorentzen gained the Ochoas trust by working as hard as they did. A typical day began in the early afternoon, then might continue on until eight the next morning. The director grew close to Juan and the others during down time, waiting on sidewalks in the middle of the night, listening to police calls on the radio.

When people think about filmmaking, its things like cinematography, editing, directing that come to mind, Lorentzen said. But with this film the task at hand was: Can I get this family to let me in? Can we build a relationship thats intimate enough so the story gets told, warts and all?

He had two great fears. One, cross an ethical boundary with viewers and lose their trust, making them feel like voyeurs. Two, show so much that viewers become desensitized to the accidents. He struggled over several different edits of the film, shaping 400 hours of material into a terse 81 minutes.

I really needed to control the extent to which I burned people out, he explained. I wanted each accident in the film to be significantly more intense than the previous one. So the first one is enough to get you on the edge of your seat, but its not pedal to the metal. Then little by little I kind of heighten that.

More than from the accidents themselves, Midnight Family gains its power through the moral and ethical issues Lorentzen raises. If there werent any accidents, the Ochoas didnt make any money. And as the last accident in the documentary shows, their profit comes at the patients expense.

Lorentzen filmed that accident, the most important scene in the movie, early in the production. His challenge then was to find another 8 to 12 scenes to set up the ending. One crucial scene of Juan discussing hospitals with a patient he placed halfway through the documentary.

If viewers are paying attention, they will understand that the Ochoas are getting kickbacks, Lorentzen pointed out. Its important to show, but I didnt want to throw the Ochoas under the bus. There were many different versions of the film where theyre either too heroic or too shady, depending on just a couple of shots here and there.

Lorentzen began the project unsure of what it would actually be. And he confessed that a lot of the footage he shot was me trying to learn how to make a movie. When it came to editing, Lorentzen tried to cut the material himself, only to find out that he needed to return to Mexico for another shoot.

In 2017, Paloma Lopez Carrillo, a Mexican editor, came onto the project. Lorentzen submitted their cut to Sundance, but it was rejected.

We had this crucial moment where we needed to either call it quits, submit that cut to other festivals, or pull the film and give it more time, Lorentzen explained. I decided to give it another year. I went back for one last shoot, where about 75% of the film came in a three-week period. I took over the edit, cut for another five or six months, and that finished out the film.

Since then the film has won awards for directing, cinematography, and editing at festivals around the world, from Sundance to the prestigious EnergaCAMERIMAGE in Poland. Lorentzen has brought the Ochoas to screenings, and said they love to sit front row, center.

The post Meet the Vigilante Paramedics of Luke Lorentzen's "Midnight Family" appeared first on InsideHook.
JACKSON, Miss.  For 11 years, Sacheen Stamps never thought about flooding. She bought insurance when she moved into her home and promptly forgot about it.

It's all the 43-year-old can think about now. She can't sleep.

Sunday afternoon, she watched the water creep higher. It had inundated her neighbors only a few dozen feet to the south. It filled the gutters of her front yard.

"I'm very nervous," said Stamps, a Nissan manager who lives in the one-story brick home with her mother and 17-year-old daughter.

The family stayed with a relative nearby. They packed some furniture in a U-Haul and left other belongings behind, propped up on cinderblocks.

"Things can always be reobtained," Stamps said, "but life can't."

Stamps was one of hundreds of Jackson residents who either watched their homes flood over the weekend or worried their residence would soon be drenched as the Pearl River rose toward 38 feet.

Moving vans were parked in many southeast Jackson driveways Sunday afternoon, ready for additional evacuations. Usually quiet neighborhoods were bustling as people checked on their neighbors and friends or tried to catch a glimpse of engorged creeks spilling into neighborhoods. Police cars swarmed.

I have a lot of money tied up in this house," said Iietta Sanders, who anxiously monitored water levels on her street Sunday afternoon. "You cant probably sell it  because who wants to move in? Im hoping and praying the water dont come this far. I hope it stops where its at.

Previously reported: Historic flooding slams Mississippi as river rises

Kathy Covington, center, watches the powerful floodwaters of the Pearl River rush through her yard Feb. 16 in Florence, Miss. A stranger, right, stopped to give her support.

Mark Wakefield knows what it takes to rebuild after flooding: His in-laws home in Jackson has flooded four times before. The worst was in 1979 when the house was 8 feet underwater. The home has flooded again, he said, and this time, they might not come back.

Its no fun, Wakefield said. Once the waters in the house, were looking at months of cleanup and reconstruction. Its nothing life-threatening to us, were careful enough ... but its just extremely frustrating and disgusting to have to go through this.

Story continues

Nate Green and his two kids, ages 6 and 8, couldnt get through Jackson streets by car, so they went by canoe. Paddling through the streets, he and his children came across floating debris  clumps of leaves and someones doormat.

Its going to be financially crushing to a lot of people, Green said.

Nate Green and his children, Owen, 8, and Anna Kate, 6, use a canoe to navigate the streets of Jackson, Miss., on Feb. 16.

Stamps isn't sure she'll stay: Whether her home floods or not, it's stressful.

"Do you see these bags (under my eyes)?" Stamps said half-jokingly to her friend, who arrived with several others to provide moral support. "Do you see I have not slept for days?"

The friend, Pamela Hedrick, tried to keep the mood upbeat. She sat in Stamps' driveway in a folding chair, cracking jokes, smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer. Then she turned serious.

"Everyone is just walking around with a dreadful look on their face," Hedrick said.

Follow Luke Ramseth on Twitter: @lramseth

This article originally appeared on The Clarion-Ledger: Jackson, Mississippi, flooding: Residents worry about homes, finances
SAN DIEGO, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Roswell Biotechnologies, Inc., the pioneer in the development of a molecular electronics platform for DNA sequencing, today announced that it is a member of a team led by Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) that has been awarded a US government contract worth up to $25 million to develop a sequencing technology capable of reading data stored in DNA at speeds up to 10 TB per day, or more than 400x times the speed of currently available sequencing technologies. The award comes from the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity's (IARPA) Molecular Information Storage (MIST) program, IARPA which supports the development of new technologies of interest to the agencies of the US Intelligence Community, including the CIA, FBI, NSA, and the Department of State.

Molecular Electronics

"This IARPA program confirms our vision that ultra-fast ultra-low-cost DNA sequencing will open up major new sectors of the DNA economy outside of health-care," said Roswell President and Chief Executive Officer, Paul Mola. "While we are focused on delivering the $100, 1-hour Genome for Precision Medicine, we are extremely excited to play a critical role in the future of data storage, which is foundational to today's economy and to the future of information sharing."

The government contract is part of a comprehensive 4-year program to demonstrate the feasibility of using DNA as a data storage medium for Exabyte-scale data storage. The GTRI led program also involves the University of Washington and Microsoft for the system architecture, data analysis, and coding algorithms and Twist Bioscience for the DNA synthesis portion. The award to Roswell supports development of a high-speed, low-cost, and energy-efficient platform for reading data that has been stored in DNA.

"We are very happy to work with Roswell to increase the DNA data storage read throughput while making it more robust," said Karin Strauss, principal research manager, Microsoft Research. "Developing encoding algorithms for new DNA reading technologies is an exciting goal, and will further our efforts to establish DNA as a suitable data storage method in the future."

"The DNA reading goal of IARPA is far beyond the limits of existing sequencing technologies," said Roswell Chief Scientific Officer, Barry Merriman. "The program goal is the equivalent of delivering a $10 genome. Our unique Molecular Electronics chip technology was specifically designed to achieve these lofty goals, and we are excited that this contract allows us to accelerate demonstration of such performance."

About Roswell Biotechnologies

Roswell Biotechnologies is a privately held company focused on developing innovative DNA sequencing technologies for the research, drug discovery, and diagnostic markets. The Company's single-molecule sensor technology leverages proprietary molecular electronic biosensors on CMOS chips, to deliver the disruptive performance required for Precision Medicine.

For more information, please contact:

Jushua Mayo

858-360-7995

[email protected]

https://www.roswellbiotech.com

Related Images

iarpa-pr.jpg

IARPA PR

Molecular Electronics

SOURCE Roswell Biotechnologies Inc.

Related Links

https://www.roswellbiotech.com


Press Release

17 February 2020

Minor Hotels Acquired Gold Coast Hotel in Australia

Advertisements

Thailand-based Minor Hotels, the hospitality arm of Minor International Public Company Limited ("Minor International"), has acquired the 108-key Gold Tower, which adjoins the 370-key Crowne Plaza Surfers Paradise Hotel, at an undisclosed price from a Singapore-based private investment group. The hotel owner and operator has acquired the management letting and caretaking rights and freehold of the management lot of the 22-storey property for more than AUD5 million. Located on the Gold Coast Highway, the hotel has since been rebranded under Minor International's Oaks Hotels, Resorts & Suites brand, as the Oaks Gold Coast Hotel. The acquisition marks the group's third property in its Gold Coast management portfolio which includes the 161-key Avani Broadbeach Gold Coast Residences and 135-key Oaks Calypso Plaza in Coolangatta. The Oaks Gold Coast Hotel was recently refurbished and features meeting rooms, a swimming pool and views of the new Jewel development, as well as the Gold Coast's beaches and hinterland.

India and Maldives Signed Five MoUs to Establish Addu Tourism Zone

India and Maldives

have signed five Memorandum of Understanding ("MoUs") for establishing the Addu Tourism zone in five islands of Addu atoll at a cost of USD2.49 million. The five eco-tourism projects would be run in Hithadhoo, Feydhoo, Hulhudhoo, Meedhoo, and Hulhumeedhoo. Located at the southernmost point of South Asia, Addu comprises more than two dozen of Maldives' 1,192 islands. It also accommodates about ten per cent of actual Maldives residents with unique culture and dialect. In a bid to fulfil the project, India is expanding its tourism and infrastructure development limits through offshore development works. It is expected that the Addu Tourism Zone will attract national and international tourists and diplomats that will boost India's and Maldives' tourism sector. Apart from five MoUs signed, a sixth MoU was inked to establish a water bottling plant in Hoarafushi at a cost of USD51,900.

Queensland Government Announces the Development of Ecotourism Project

The Queensland Government has announced the development of the largest ecotourism project to be built on the west of Gold Coast, in Queensland, Australia. The government had contributed AUD2.5 million to support the AUD10 million project to open the Scenic Rim Trail for a world class, long range six-day, five-night walking experience. As part of the project, the government has established partnership with Australia-based accommodation provider, Spicers Retreats, to build two new eco-camps at the Main Range National Park. Stretching more than 50 kilometres, the trail will run from Thornton Trailhead to Spicers Peak Nature Refuge, within and adjacent to the Main Range National Park and the Gondwana Rainforests of the Australia World Heritage Area. Other key infrastructure, to be supported through the government's Growing Tourism Infrastructure Fund, includes the Amphitheatre Eco-camp and the Timber Getters Eco-camp within the Main Range National Park. The project is currently under construction and is scheduled to be completed in mid-2020.

Thailand Launches New Campaign to Attract and Boost MICE Travellers from Neighbour Countries

Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau ('TCEB') has announced the new campaign called "Fly, Meet, Shop" to increase MICE visitors from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Vietnam ('CLMV'). Due to the success of the previous campaigns launched in 2018 and 2019 with Thailand-based Bangkok Airways ("BA"), TCEB has extended the strategic partnership and include Thailand-based Central Department Store ('CDS') to this new campaign with added shopping privileges for MICE visitors from CLMV. The benefits include financial support, fast track immigration service at Suvarnabhumi airport, cultural performances, ten per cent discount on Bangkok Airways' in-flight shopping, one free ticket of every 30 tickets purchased, pre-assign group seating, priority boarding, priority baggage tagging and ten kilograms extra baggage allowance. The requirement to enjoy these benefits is that each group must comprise at least 30 delegates, fly to Thailand on BA, stay for at least two nights, or hold an event at a venue recognized by the Thailand MICE Venue Standard or a registered hotel. CLMV recorded 44 groups in 2019 as compared to 19 groups in 2018. It is expected that CLMV will continue to grow at approximately six to seven per cent as Thailand has now developed 115 new MICE products, activities and attraction in five major MICE cities.

Coronavirus Causes Collapse in Chinese Travel

According to the data from ForwardKeys, a Spain-based leading provider for global travel intelligence, the outbreak of novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) in China has caused a significant decrease in flight bookings for the Chinese New Year (CNY) period from 10 January to 6 February 2020. As of 19 January 2020, outbound travel bookings from mainland China recorded a year-on-year (y-o-y) increase of 7.3% while a week later, up to 26 January, those for the CNY period were down by 6.8% y-o-y due to revevant control policies introduced by the Chinese and local governments. On the other hand, the coronavirus crisis has also severely affected China as a tourist destination. As of 19 January 2020, inbound travel bookings for the CNY period grew by 4.5% compared to the same period last year. A week later, a decrease of 7.2% y-o-y was observed. In view of the situation, it is expected that the outbreak will continue to have a profound impact on the tourism and travel industry both globally and domestically in the following several months.
Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) - Botswanas Department of Wildlife and National Parks has issued a warning that elephants have been spotted in the Southern District close to the capital, Gaborone
In launching the range at a dedicated forum, the Korean CE giant said that it was committed to pioneering technology that meets the needs of consumers evolving lives. It added that range will offer consumers connected features, with what it claims will be the most interactive and meaningful experiences possible in particular in the fields of immersion and home integration.We are in a new era of intelligent display; this year will bring even more demand for TV personalisation, said Nathan Sheffield, head of TV and sound devices, Samsung Europe. Our 2020 TV and sound device line-up is our strongest, smartest and most immersive yet, catering to a variety of lifestyles without the need for compromise.Leading the range is the Q950TS QLED 8K TV. Available in Europe in 65, 75 and 85 inches, the Samsung Q950TS QLED 8K TV is based on Infinity Screen technology that delivers a 99% screen to body ratio. The Q950TS, with a slim 15mm profile and six built in speakers, is claimed to redefine what is meant by an immersive screen by eliminates boundaries between the TV and its surroundings to provide the ultimate home viewing experience.In addition to the Q950TS, Samsung also announced the Q900T and Q800T, expanding its range of QLED 8K TVs . Offering sizes from 55, to 98 inches to ensure there is now an 8K TV fit for all needs and spaces.Samsungs QLED 4K TVs are also a major proponent of Samsungs overall TV portfolio. 2020 brings Samsungs deepest QLED 4K line-up yet, with Q60T, Q70T, Q80T, Q90T and Q95T models now available in sizes from 43 to 85 inches.Above the improvements in screen technology, Samsung says that what sets its new line-up apart are enhanced Smart Screen artificial intelligence capabilities.The firms Quantum Dot AI combines Samsungs 8K content processor with the Tizen platform to upscale any content. Samsung says that regardless of source or current resolution, content can now be displayed across 33 million pixels. Adaptive Picture technology analyses light conditions as well as the content on the screen to ensure perfect picture quality, regardless of whether the TV is watched in a bright or dark room.Active Voice Amplifier is designed to eliminate background noise, European consumers second largest distraction when watching TV. It automatically recognises interruptions and adjusts voice clarity accordingly. Objecting Tracking Sound+ (OTS+) creates a three-dimensional sound effect by combining the multiple speakers on the top, side and bottom of the TV with a proprietary AI algorithm. OTS+ matches audio with the on-screen action.Yet in making its improvements, Samsung has also looked at what people are watching and how to give access to the content. To that end it has developed and expanded partnerships with leading content providers and will continue its rollout of integrating the Disney+ direct-to-consumer service on its sets across Europe from 24 March. It is already available in the Netherlands.Samsung TVs will offer multiple voice assistant options, including Amazon Alexa, the Google Assistant and Bixby, in order to provide consumers with more choice. Users will now have easier access to news headlines, weather and other content with expanded smart home and TV control capabilities.A new multi-view feature will be offered for consumers who frequently use other devices whilst watching TV and allows users to extend their mobile device to a bigger screen, with the flexibility to choose between 14 different layout options for two windows. Tap View makes it easier to connect smartphones to the TV and consumers can now mirror their phone screen to the TV by touching the two devices together.Samsung also announced the European launch of The Sero, a brand-new Lifestyle TV (pictured). The Sero rotates between horizontal and vertical orientations  just like a smartphone. Consumers can enjoy a variety of content and transition between the display orientation, mirroring its connected smartphone.In addition, Samsungs design-first TV, The Serif, will this year be available in 43, 49 and 55-inch models in two new colours, Cloud White and Cotton Blue. Concluding in the Lifestyle TV line-up is The Frame. New for 2020, 32 and 75-inch models have been added to the existing screen sizes. With its new-AI based auto-curation feature, the Frames Art Store is now able to suggest artwork in line with the specific tastes of the owner.Samsungs additions to its MicroLEDs modular technology range mean that the companys offers in this area range from 75 to 292 inches. They are said to provides a personalised, unparalleled sense of immersion for the at-home viewing experience.
The chances of the North East regional minister Solomon Boar to return to parliament is likely to suffer as a finance officer of the Bagabaga College of Education Tingoti Francis Kombon has filed to challenge him in the ruling NPPs primaries slated for April 25 for the Bunkpurugu Constituency.

Mr. Tingoti who filed his nomination on Friday is seen by his supporters as the right choice for the 2020 parliamentary elections since they believe the incumbent who doubles as the regional minister for the area has failed to live up to expectations. The ceremony which attracted a huge crowd of party faithful, some of whom are delegates in the upcoming primaries, is said to have sent shock waves in the spines of fanatics of the incumbent MP.

Delegates Choice

Some delegates who spoke to Starr News believe the incumbent MP must be shown the exit to increase the chances of the party in the 2020 elections. One of them who gave his name as Solomon said, if you look at his(Solomon Boar) performance in the last two elections it will tell you that the people are not happy with him. His votes dropped significantly so the party should not make a mistake to repeat him as it will be suicidal. Another delegate who did not give his name told us, there is nothing to show in our area since he entered parliament. See how our roads are bad, our young people are not getting jobs to do. So we need someone who thinks about the people to lead us into 2020 else we will lose this seat.

MP has lost touch

Speaking to Starr News about why he entered the race, Mr. Tingoti Francis said his desire to serve his people is pushing him to contest.

He said, I have been serving my people for ages but if you look at where we are now, I think serving my people as MP will give me a bigger platform to lobby for development for the area. Our area has been deprived for a long time hence the need for someone who is not reactionary to lead the people and that person is me.

Our MP who has been there for two terms has done his part and the people want a change and I responded to the call for change to ensure the party maintains the seat. If we keep our MP as our candidate we will lose this seat and as someone who loves the party, I want to ensure we keep the seat, he stressed.

National interference

On rumored attempts to impose the incumbent MP Solomon Boar on the party by some elements at the national level, Mr. Tingoti warned of dire consequences for the party in the general elections. He said,  We have heard some people at national say that the incumbent must be maintained so they are planning to come and help him. Let me say this, our constituency is not like other constituencies, if that is done, it will even make us lose more. If they want they should come and do their own survey here, it will tell them what the people want. I am not contesting because I just want to be MP, I want to make sure the seat remains with the party and also win the presidential here.

Anger over declaration by secretary

An open declaration by constituency Secretary Paul Louknaan for the incumbent MP to be retained has incurred the wrath of Mr Tingoti Francis Kombon who believes the regional executives must call the executive to order.

This action of the constituency secretary who represents the party at such functions flouts the rules of engagement regarding the primaries. These things can create problems for us in the primaries. I expect the regional executives to take action against the secretary and any other person who openly endorses or promotes a candidate.

Though four people have picked up forms and filed, the battle for who represents the party in the 2020 parliamentary elections will be a straight fight between the incumbent MP Solomon Boar and Tingoti Francis Kombon.

---Starrfm.com.gh
THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Lawyers for Equatorial Guinea told United Nations judges Monday that French authorities illegally seized a mansion in Paris that the African nation insists operated as its embassy. The building was seized as part of a money laundering investigation into the son of the central African nations president.

France has submitted my country to treatment which is totally arbitrary, discriminatory, and consequently contrary to international law, Carmelo Nvono-Nca, who led Equatorial Guineas legal team, told judges as public hearings in the case got underway.

The International Court of Justice case is focused on the diplomatic status of a multimillion-euro (dollar) mansion on one of the French capitals most prestigious streets, Avenue Foch.

French authorities seized it in 2012 as they investigated Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue for misuse of public funds and money laundering. Equatorial Guinea argues that, under an international treaty governing diplomatic relations, France had no right to seize the building as it had been operating as the countrys embassy since 2011.

Equatorial Guinea filed a case with the world court in 2016 arguing that Obiang, who is his countrys vice-president, had immunity from prosecution. However the United Nations highest court said in 2018 that it did not have jurisdiction over that issue and narrowed the case down to the status of the mansion.

An appeals court in France a week ago upheld Obiangs 2017 conviction and three-year suspended sentence for embezzling millions of dollars in public money, and fined him 30 million euros.

The conviction also ordered the Avenue Foch mansion confiscated, but the ruling cannot be carried out pending the outcome of the world court case.

Nvono-Nca told judges that France was continuing its attacks against the dignity of my country which started almost 10 years ago before the French courts. The French courts where our vice-president was accused  and even our head of state was accused  of crimes which in our view, simply never occurred.

Lawyer Michael Wood told the court that Equatorial Guinea would be seeking compensation for material and moral damage caused by Frances actions.

Lawyers representing France are scheduled to present their arguments on Tuesday. Judges will likely take months to issue a ruling.
[February 17, 2020]

Want to Know the Best Way to Surprise Your Loved One Back Home? Read This Gifting Guide by GiftstoIndia24x7.com

KOLKATA, India, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- When one lives far away from home, he/she would love to make an attempt to celebrate the love in spite of the distance by sending gifts on special occasions. Often, one misses out on the joy of doing so because of the lack of delivery options to send birthday gifts to India. GiftstoIndia24x7 is filling this void by offering helping non-residential Indians to send gifts back home at the convenience of a click.

An unmatchable product line, timely deliveries, strong channel of distribution, quality customer service and unbeatable price points makes GiftstoIndia24x7 the one-stop destination for all gifting needs.

Here's a gifting guide put together by gift-curators of GiftstoIndia24x7 to ensure users have a hassle free experience:
By West Kentucky Star Staff Feb. 17, 2020 | 02:27 PM | MCCRACKEN COUNTY





The event will take place at the Lone Oak Church of Christ on March 28, beginning at 6 pm. There will be ten rounds of trivia, a silent auction, a bake sale, concessions, Mulligans, and trivia jail.







The cost for a team of six players will be $120, or $20 per person. Each member of the winning team will receive a $50 gift certificate.







John Lovell, Director of bands with McCracken County High School, spoke with West Kentucky Star about the event.







He said, "We try to think outside of the box to do something a little more creative that is not only helpful to the band, but fun for the community. I think this is a good start to do that."







Anyone interested in playing will need to register by emailing mchsbandboost@gmail.com, or by visiting the website linked below.

The McCracken County High School Bands will be hosting a trivia night to raise money for the program.

On the Net:
The former Union minister also said that altho-ugh it was the prerogative of the centre to investigate the Elgar Parishad case.

Mumbai: NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday reiterated that it was not appropriate to transfer the Elgar Parishad case to the National Investigation Agency. Mr Pawar alleged that the Centre had handed over the investigation to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) as the Devendra Fadnavis government wanted to hide something.

The veteran Maratha politician had earlier demanded to set up of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the case, in which human rights activists have been arrested for alleged links with Maoists.

Then former Union minister said that the subject of law and order is with state as per the Cons-titution of India, which has already initiated the probe into the matter. Transferring the concerned incident to the NIA means that they want to hide something as when the incident occur-red Devendra Fadnavis was the chief minister of the state. I think it is not appropriate, the NCP chief told reporters in Jalgaon.

The former Union minister also said that altho-ugh it was the prerogative of the centre to investigate the Elgar Parishad case, the Centre should have taken the state government into confidence before handing over the case to NIA. He also asked whether speaking against the government is an anti-national activity.

Koregaon-Bhima, and Elgar Parishad, held in Pune a day before the violence, are two different issues. Is writing rebellious literature and speaking against the government an anti-national activity? the NCP chief asked.

Earlier in the week, the Maharashtra government said that it had no objection to NIA taking over probe into the Elgar Parishad case. The Centre last month transferred the probe in the case from the Pune Police to NIA, a move that was criticised by the state government.
ARCHIVED - 80 illegal migrants intercepted off the Costa Calida over the weekend



Another 6 boats were spotted as migrants took advantage of calm sea conditions

The fine weather and calm sea conditions in the Mediterranean over the weekend coincided with another wave of north African migrants being intercepted as they attempted to cross to southern Spain and EU territory, and on Saturday and Sunday those on board six small boats were brought ashore by the authorities prior to the initiation of repatriation procedures.

The start of this latest episode was on Saturday afternoon, when a boat carrying 14 people including two minors was spotted, and during the evening and in the early hours of Sunday another 53 were taken into custody as four more crafts were identified by the coastguards. All of them were of Algerian nationality, and Cruz Roja volunteers in the port of Cartagena found them to be in good health on arrival on Spanish soil.

The last of the interceptions took place at approximately 12.45 on Sunday when the maritime rescue services and the Guardia Civil collaborated to intercept a boat not far from the coast between Cabo de Palos and Monte de las Cenizas before taking the 13 occupants (including three women and one under the age of 18) to the port of Cartagena.

Follow Murcia Today on Facebook to keep up to date with all the latest news, events and information in the Region of Murcia and the rest of Spain: https://www.facebook.com/MurciaToday/
Union Minister for Steel and Petroleum & Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan said that apart from having strategic implication, there is immense economic and social implications of enhanced steel usage across Railways and defence sectors. He said this will also help in creation of jobs. Emphasising the Ministry of Steel's role as a bridge between the steel industry, Railways and Defence sectors, he called for a strategic paper highlighting the specific long term requirement of these sectors to form an action plan with the steel industry for domestic fulfilment of the requirement.

Speaking about reducing imports, he emphasized on zero imports in railways and defence sector and further encouraged the domestic industry to produce special steel as per the industry requirements to support indigenisation. The Minister stressed upon the need to develop an ecosystem for start-ups that will support production of special steel and urged the investors and industry to come together in nation's interest.

The Minister mentioned that Japan and Korea which earlier used to import raw materials and then produce value added steel to export, are experiencing rising cost of production. Hence, it is opportune time for the Indian industry and the Ministry to create an action plan for production of value added steel for fulfilment of domestic demand and international demand going forward, he added.

He also stressed the importance of Steel Import Monitoring System (SIMS) in identifying imports for end use sector and reiterated that this data will enable the domestic steel industry in creating an action plan to manufacture specific steel domestically. He said, Our Government has launched a mission named 'Har Kaam Desh Ke Naam'. Every work we undertake must be towards building a stronger and more prosperous New India. Shri Pradhan also released the Safety Guidelines for Iron & Steel Sectors on the occasion to ensure a zero-accident workspace for the steel sector.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The coverage on this live blog has ended  but for up-to-the-minute coverage on the coronavirus, visit the live blog from CNBC's U.S. team. All times below are in Beijing time.

7:50 pm: China's drinkers get happy hour margaritas delivered to their door as coronavirus lockdown continues

Bars in major Chinese cities are delivering their happy hour drinks deals to customers' places of residence as a large number of people remain stuck indoors because of the outbreak of the new coronavirus. But with people staying at home in China and some cities putting a ban on dining out in groups, to try to contain the spread of the virus, bars are taking drinks to where their customers are. In the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, a major trading and economic hub, a number of bars have started delivering their discounted drinks. Bandidos, a Mexican eatery, is packing its 25 yuan ($3.58) Margaritas into jars and sending them with a straw to customers. Their happy hour is from Monday to Friday between 4 p.m. to 7 p.m local time. Customers can contact one of the representatives for the bar on messaging app WeChat to order their drinks.  Arjun Kharpal.

6:30 pm: Russia confirms citizen aboard Diamond Princess cruise ship has coronavirus

Russia has confirmed a citizen who had been aboard the Diamond Princess cruise liner docked in Japan's port of Yokohama has tested positive for the coronavirus. The woman will be taken to hospital to undergo a course of treatment in the near future, the Russian embassy to Japan said in a post on Facebook on Monday. She is thought to be the first Russian national to contract COVID-19, after the two previous cases of the virus found in the country were both Chinese citizens.

6:15 pm: Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways warns of hit to results in first half of the year

Cathay Pacific Airways has warned its financial results in the first half of the year will be "significantly" lower than last year. The Hong Kong-based airline said Monday that it had slashed overall passenger capacity by 40% in February and March, citing the coronavirus outbreak. It also said a reduction in passenger capacity was likely in April. "The first half of 2020 was already expected to be extremely challenging financially," Cathay Pacific Group Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Ronald Lam said in a statement. "As a result of this additional significant drop in demand for flights and consequential capacity reduction caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak, the financial results for the first half of 2020 will be significantly down on the same period last year."

4:45 pm: Chinese health official reportedly claims coronavirus is 'preventable and treatable'

The coronavirus outbreak that has infected more than 70,000 people and caused 1,770 deaths in China is both "preventable and treatable," according to an official from the country's National Health Commission. Guo Yanhong, a hospital administration official at China's National Health Commission, delivered the remarks at a daily press conference, Reuters reported on Monday. His comments come shortly after the commission reported 105 additional deaths and 2,048 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Feb. 16. That brings the country's overall total to 70,548 confirmed cases, and 1,770 deaths, according to authorities. (See 8:50 a.m. update).

4:10 pm: US confirms 14 cases of coronavirus from passengers on board Diamond Princess cruise ship

The U.S. facilitated the voluntary repatriation of over 300 U.S. citizens and their immediate family members who had been passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, the State Department said in a statement on Monday. During the evacuation process and once the passengers had disembarked the ship, which is currently quarantined in Japan's port of Yokohama, U.S. officials said they received notice that 14 passengers had tested positive for coronavirus. After consultation with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the State Department made the decision to allow these 14 individuals, "who were in isolation, separated from other passengers and continued to be asymptomatic, to remain on the aircraft to complete the evacuation process." The flights, which departed Japan at approximately 4:30 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday, landed in the U.S. Monday morning. All passengers will now remain under quarantine for 14 days. "Passengers that develop symptoms in flight and those with positive test results will remain isolated on the flights and will be transported to an appropriate location for continued isolation and care," the statement said.

US passengers embark in a plane at the Haneda Airport, in Tokyo on February 17, 2020 after disembarking in Yokohama from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, where people are quarantined on board due to fears of the new COVID-19 coronavirus. KAZUHIRO NOGI | AFP via Getty Images

4:00 pm: China to consider a plan for delaying key economic meeting

The standing committee for China's top legislative body will meet next Monday, Feb. 24, and consider a draft proposal for postponing the third session of the 13th National People's Congress, according to state news agency Xinhua. The congressional meeting, expected to begin March 5, is a key annual event in Beijing at which China releases its economic targets for the year, including GDP. Since a new pneumonia-likevirus began spreading in the last several weeks, Chinese authorities have discouraged locals from traveling and gathering together. The Beijing municipal government announced Friday that any new visitors to the city must quarantine themselves for 14 days after arrival.  Evelyn Cheng.

2:50 pm: Australia to evacuate more than 200 citizens from Diamond Princess cruise ship

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Monday that more than 200 citizens on board the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship will be evacuated, according to Reuters. More than 350 passengers on board the ship, currently off the coast of Japan, have tested positive for the virus. That includes 24 Australians, the report said. Morrison added that seats on the plane will also be allocated for New Zealand citizens who are on the cruise ship.

1:35 pm: Malaysia bars entry of MS Westerdam cruise passengers after American tests positive for virus

Malaysia has barred the entry of remaining passengers from a cruise ship docked in Cambodia  after an American passenger tested positive for the new coronavirus upon her arrival in Kuala Lumpur. The cruise  which carried 1,455 guests and 802 crew  departed Hong Kong on Feb. 1. The ship arrived in Cambodia last Thursday after being turned away by several countries including Japan, the Philippines, and Thailand, which were afraid passengers on board might be infected. Following the confirmation of the infected American, the ship operator is now tracking the other passengers who have departed the ship. (see 11:30 a.m. update)  Lee

12:50 pm: 78% of companies face labor crunch due to shutdown, Amcham survey finds

Nearly half the companies polled by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai report their global operations have suffered from the shutdown in China, a survey of 109 manufacturers in Shanghai, Suzhou, Nanjing and the Greater Yangtze River Delta region has found. 78% of those companies say they don't have sufficient manpower for full production, while 30% said logistical challenges will be their biggest concern, according to the survey, which was released on Monday.

11:30 am: Passengers of cruise ship docked in Cambodia to be tracked after one tests positive

Excited passengers disembark from the MS Westerdam. The cruise ship arrived in Cambodia on February 14, 2020 after being stranded for two weeks. Paula Bronstein | Getty Images

All passengers who have already disembarked from a cruise ship docked in Cambodia are now being tracked, after an American passenger tested positive, according to a Reuters report. Holland America Line said it is working with governments and health authorities to track the other 1,454 passengers, who had been given the go-ahead to travel by Cambodian authorities after health checks were done. Many have left the country as of Sunday, the report said. The ship has 802 crew. The MS Westerdam had spent almost two weeks at sea after being rejected by five countries on fears that its passengers could be infected, before being accepted by Cambodia.

10:35 am: More support to boost businesses hit by outbreak

China's central bank cut rates on its medium-term loans on Monday, in a bid to support businesses which are reeling from the disruption to activity. That followed several moves in the past few weeks to support businesses. On Friday, China said it will tolerate more bad loans, and also said it has supplied more than $76.9 billion in credit.

10:00 am: More food companies offer 'contactless' delivery in China

McDonald's, Starbucks and other fast food companies in China are increasing their "contactless" delivery and pickup services as the outbreak continues, according to a Reuters report. Customers can opt to order online, and their orders will be placed in a location for pickup  without human contact, according to the report.

8:50 am: China reports 105 additional deaths

China's National Health Commission reported there were 105 additional deaths and 2,048 new confirmed cases as of Feb. 16. That brings the country's overall total to 70,548 confirmed cases, and 1,770 deaths, according to authorities.

8:10 am: Singapore downgrades GDP due to virus, likely to spend big in annual budget

Singapore, one of the worst-hit from the outbreak with among the highest number of cases outside of China at 75, downgraded its growth forecast on Monday. To cushion the economic blows from the virus outbreak, economists said the Singapore government will likely register one of its largest fiscal deficits on record this year  with estimates ranging from 7 billion Singapore dollars ($5.04 billion) to 8 billion Singapore dollars.  Lee

7:30 am: Hubei reports 100 more deaths and 1,933 new cases

China's Hubei province said it has confirmed 1,933 new coronavirus cases and 100 more deaths as of Feb. 16. It said that the virus has infected 58,182 people in the province and killed 1,696 people in the region alone. Hubei is the center of the outbreak and where the majority of cases and deaths are located. Wang

Chinese customers wear protective masks as they line up single file to buy dumplings at a popular local shop on February 16, 2020 in Beijing, China. Kevin Frayer | Getty Images

All times below are in Eastern time.

11:30 am: American citizens begin evacuating quarantined cruise ship in Japan

American passengers quarantined on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan began evacuating on Sunday. Officials said they would be taken on a charter flight to one of two U.S. military air bases, where they will undergo a 14-day quarantine. Passengers will be screened for symptoms prior to boarding. Americans that decide to not return on the charter flight will be unable to travel to the U.S. until March 4, according to the American Embassy in Tokyo. Japanese officials said the quarantine aboard the ship should end on Feb. 19. There were 355 cases of the virus confirmed as of Sunday, with roughly 3,700 total passengers and crew on board. Newburger

10:50 am: China pharmaceutical company to sell Favipiravir drug as potential virus treatment

Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical, one of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturers in China, has received approval to start selling Favipiravir as a potential treatment for the virus, according to a company filing. The company must still continue clinical trials of the antiviral drug, which is being developed by Toyama Chemical of Japan, after it hits the market. Newburger

6:21 am: Taiwan confirms death of man with no known history of travel to China
(Newser)  Dr. Amie Harwick, who was engaged to Drew Carey for about a year before splitting in 2018, was murdered in the wee hours of Saturday, and another ex of hers has been arrested. LAPD officers responded to her home in the Hollywood Hills after reports of a woman screaming; her roommate, who'd fled over a wall and to a neighbor's house to call police, met them and told them Harwick was being assaulted inside her home. Officers found the 38-year-old unresponsive on the ground underneath a third-floor balcony, with grave injuries consistent with a fall. She was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she died, Deadline reports. Police say there were signs of forced entry and a struggle inside the home of Harwick, a well-known family and sex therapist who appeared in the 2015 documentary Addicted to Sexting, and detectives learned she'd been concerned about an ex-boyfriend hurting her, TMZ reports.

story continues below

Indeed, she'd had a restraining order against Gareth Pursehouse, 41, but it had expired, and police say the two, who'd only recently broken up, had seen each other during the past couple of weeks. Pursehouse was arrested outside his Playa del Rey residence Saturday afternoon on suspicion of murder. Carey broke his silence after news of the murder broke Monday, telling Fox News in a statement, "Amie and I had a love that people are lucky to have once in a lifetime. She was a positive force in the world, a tireless and unapologetic champion for women, and passionate about her work as a therapist. I am overcome with grief. I would like to thank you in advance for giving myself and everyone who loved Amie privacy while we try to work through this tragic situation." He also tweeted a short video of the couple, writing, "I hope youre lucky enough to have someone in your life that loves as much as she did." (Read more Drew Carey stories.)
Family members of those stranded in Wuhan demand the evacuation of Pakistani students from the Chinese city

Family members of Pakistani students studying in Wuhan, China, hold a demonstration calling for the evacuation of their relatives after the Chinese city was badly hit by the coronavirus, in Karachi, Pakistan AP photo

Pakistans government has so far ruled out evacuating the more than 1,000 Pakistani students in the province, home to the city of Wuhan, at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak.

State Health Minister Zafar Mirza said on Twitter on Friday that he and other ministers would hold a meeting for parents in Islamabad on Wednesday and that his government was working with Chinese authorities to ensure students were taken care of.

But many students and their families have expressed growing frustration as the death toll in China mounts, pointing to other countries, including neighbouring India and Bangladesh, evacuating their citizens.

For Gods sake, we request from the government representatives please bring back our children, please listen to a mothers grievance, one protester, who declined to give her name, told media while bursting into tears.

The protesters chanted bring back our children and held up banners with the same message.

Earlier in the week dozens of families in Lahore held a similar protest outside the Chinese consulate.

A spokesman for Mirza did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for further comment.

He said on Twitter six Pakistani students in China confirmed to have had the virus had fully recovered and one was still receiving treatment.

Nonetheless, students in touch with Reuters from China over the past days said they wanted to leave.

Mir Hassan, a student whose father died of a heart ailment this month while he was stuck in Wuhan, said he had been told by Pakistani officials he would not be evacuated despite wanting to return home to his grieving mother.

She is also begging me to come back home. Unfortunately, I havent any idea when I will go back home and see my mom, he told Reuters.

Sahil Hassan, a PhD student in Wuhan, said he was finding it hard to receive scholarship payments, leaving them unable to afford food and bottled water from their universitys food delivery service while in lock down.
Moondust brought back to Earth by Neil Armstrong on Apollo 11 is being studied to see if it can be turned into water, as well as fuel and bricks.

Experts from the Open University in Milton Keynes have been experimenting to see whether the oxygen stored in simulated moon dust could be used to produce water.

The team also found more water in real moon rocks than noted by previous studies  potentially paving the way to tests on the moon in around five years.

Such techniques for using lunar resources could help to make future moonbases more self-reliant.

Scroll down for video

Moondust brought back to Earth by Neil Armstrong on Apollo 11 is being studied to see if it can be turned into water, as well as fuel and bricks. Pictured, lab-made moon dust, designed to simulate the samples brought back from the moon, that the researchers work with

Planetary scientists Mahesh Anand and Hannah Sargeant of the Open University have been exploring whether water could be viably produced directly from the lunar surface.

'Water is one of the most critical resources we need for space exploration  not just for the life support needs of humans but also to make rocket fuel,' Ms Sargeant told the BBC.

'The production of water, either from frozen deposits at the lunar poles or generating water from the rocks themselves, will be the first step to enable such long-term space exploration missions.'

In their experiments, the researchers heat up samples of simulated moon rock with the aim of getting the oxygen contained within to react with added hydrogen to make water.

The researchers also work with tiny samples of moon dust collected by Neil Armstrong during NASA's Apollo 11 mission in 1969  and so they have to be careful with such precious resources.

'We have to account for every milligram,' Ms Sargeant told the BBC.

The team report detecting higher concentrations of water in some of the dust samples that had been identified during previous studies.

The researchers hope that in around five years time  with the assistance of the European Space Agency and experts in Russia  tests of lunar water production could take place on the moon itself, in the south polar region.

The tiny samples of moon dust that the researchers are working with were collected by Neil Armstrong during NASA's Apollo 11 mission in 1969, pictured

In their experiments, the researchers heat up samples of simulated moon rock with the aim of getting the oxygen contained within to react with added hydrogen to make water

The team have found greater concentrations in some rocks than noted by previous studies  potentially paving the way to tests on the moon in around give years. Pictured, Ms Sargeant poses with a vat of liquid nitrogen, which is used as coolant in her experiments

Alongside trying to see if moon rocks can be used to produce water, Dr Anand and colleagues are also looking for other ways future astronauts could exploit the moon's resources during future expeditions to the lunar surface.

Together with colleagues in Cologne, Germany, the researchers are experimenting to see whether microwave radiation could be used to 'melt' moon dust and form building bricks that could be used in the construction of moon bases.

Meanwhile, fellow Open University researcher Simon Sheridan has been working to develop a mass spectrometer device for a prototype of the Lunar Volatiles Mobile Instrumentation (LUMVI) rover which could hunt down water on the lunar surface.

Planetary scientists Mahesh Anand and Hannah Sargeant, pictured, of the Open University have been exploring whether water could be viably produced directly from the lunar surface
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday warned that Pakistan may face another refugee crisis if the international community failed to take notice of the current situation in India.

Speaking at the two-day refugee summit in Islamabad on 40 years of hosting Afghan refugees in Pakistan, he said Indias ultranationalist ideology going unchecked could lead to destruction and the region could become a flashpoint, The Express Tribune quoted him as saying.

He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modis statement that India can destroy Pakistan in 11 days is not a responsible statement by a premier of a nuclear state with a huge population, the paper reported. Khan made the statement in the presence of visiting UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who was also attending the summit.

He said because of the Hindutva ideology, Kashmiris have been lockdown for over 200 days. He alleged under the same ideology, the BJP-led government passed two discriminatory nationalistic legislations, targeting 200 million Muslims in India.

Khan was referring to Indias Citizenship Amendment Act and the revocation of the special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

The new citizenship law passed by the Indian Parliament in December 2019 offers citizenship to non-Muslim persecuted religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The Indian government has maintained that the CAA is an internal matter of the country and stressed that the goal is to protect the oppressed minorities of neighbouring countries. India revoked Jammu and Kashmirs special status on August 5. Reacting to Indias move, Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties with New Delhi and expelled the Indian High Commissioner.

India has always maintained that Jammu and Kashmir is its integral part and ruled out any third party mediation, including either from the UN or the US, saying it is a bilateral issue with Pakistan.

Khan said if the international community does not take notice of this situation, it will create another refugee crisis for Pakistan as Muslims of India will move to Pakistan. This is not the India of Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi. The United Nations (UN) must play its role otherwise it will become a very big problem in the future, Duniya News quoted Khan as saying.
Owen F. Bieber, who as president of the United Auto Workers from 1983 to 1995 steered a proud former flagship of unionism through an era of declining bargaining power, falling membership and contracts limited by harsh economic realities, died on Monday. He was 90.

His death was confirmed by the U.A.W., which did not specify where he died.

In a union that had battled goons in 1937 at Fords River Rouge Plant and made history as a progressive postwar labor organization, Mr. Bieber had the misfortune to take the helm as globalization and foreign-car competition were undercutting Detroits once dominant auto industry and the livelihoods of workers whose contracts had been the envy of blue-collar America.

On his 12-year watch, U.A.W. membership fell to 800,000 from 1.1 million, a result of layoffs by Chrysler, Ford and General Motors; of buyers changing preferences for smaller, fuel-efficient foreign cars, and of inroads by Japanese, Korean and European automakers whose imports and cars made at nonunion plants in the United States often captured 30 to 40 percent of the American market.

As a union vice president in 1982, a year before winning the presidency, Mr. Bieber negotiated the unions first concessionary contract, a two-year deal that let G.M. take back 3 percent annual raises, eliminate nine paid holidays, defer cost-of-living adjustments and pay new workers 20 percent less. In exchange, G.M. agreed to a two-year moratorium on plant closings.
VALENCIA, Spain, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Spanish smart water company IDRICA will start operations this month after gathering more than a decade of experience in the deployment of services and technological solutions for the water industry.

Headquartered in Valencia, Spain - and with operations in Europe, United States, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America - IDRICA aims to become a leading company in the digital transformation for the water sector, providing services and technological solutions for managing the entire water cycle.

It will focus on improving drinking water, irrigation and wastewater management around the world.

Jaime Barba, IDRICA's founding CEO, stated: "Innovating the ways and means of managing the entire water cycle and looking into the needs of future generations is a responsibility for all of us in the water industry. We want to reshape the future of the industry and enable citizens to have safer and wider access to water. We have the best engineers, developers and experts to do it," he explained.

The company is born with a founding team of 180 experts, and around the GoAigua technology, developed a decade ago by centennial Spanish company Global Omnium.

GoAigua constitutes a scalable solution for public and private clients, with the ability to transform water management in major cities across the world.

The company is born with a brand new engineering division, responsible for creating ground-breaking water projects in the areas of management, operation and maintenance, engineering and consultancy.

IDRICA also offers high added-value services based on its experience in the sector and technology implementation.

These include Master Plans, Digital Transformation, Non-Revenue Water reduction, Smart Metering Roll-out and analytics, Digital Twin, project management, technical support and energy efficiency via processes optimization and automation.

The company also has the required competence to run the Operations & Maintenance of water networks and infrastructures.

IDRICA is launched internationally to become a global benchmark in fostering 'Smart Water for a Better World.'

In the United States, the company will work under the brandname GoAigua Inc. under the direction of its American CEO, Mr Pablo Calabuig.

"Our unique differential value is based on its experience and knowledge of the sector. We want to be identified by private and public clients, globally, as experts in digital transformation for the water industry," Calabuig stated.

www.IDRICA.com

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1091352/Idrica.jpg
[February 17, 2020] Wellsite Navigator Launches Major Upgrade

Wellsite Navigator, the most popular oilfield app of all-time, announced the release of its much-anticipated total redesign. The navigation app has added new functionality and highly-requested features that will improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of oilfield workers across the U.S., including 5-day satellite imagery updates of 22 states. This is the first major upgrade since it launched in 2012. Wellsite Navigator has long been the indispensable mobile app that new oilfield workers download when they enter the industry. The app allows users to find and navigate to over one million oil and gas wells in 22 states, even when they are outside of wireless coverage. Active wells are updated every month. The new Wellsite Navigator modernizes its user interface based on years of feedback from tens of thousands of users, adding new features such as showing all nearby wells, showing saltwater dispoals, and showing rig locations in some regions. Users now get cloud profiles that allow them to save and share favorites across devices.



Most significantly, the Wellsite Navigator now updates its satellite imagery of the whole U.S. every five days, instead of relying on Google (News - Alert) imagery that is often years out of date in the remote areas where Wellsite Navigator users work. Navigating unmapped and ever-changing private lease roads is one of the most challenging aspects of oilfield work. With five-day satellite updates Wellsite Navigator will do even more to help users get where they need to go quickly and safely. Wellsite Navigator will now offer enterprise licensing so that companies can cover their whole field teams for less than $10 per month per driver.

"Wellsite Navigator is the most widely used and trusted tool in the pocket of American oilfield workers. In today's tough market, we knew we could do more to help our users do their jobs better, faster and safer. This relaunch is just the beginning of our investment in making Wellsite Navigator the leading logistics platform for the U.S. oil and gas industry," said Josh Adler, CEO. About Wellsite Navigator, LLC: Based in Houston, Texas, Wellsite Navigator is the most trusted and widely-used oilfield app. The company has been helping oilfield professionals search, map and navigate to well sites since 2012. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200217005002/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
By IANS

NEW DELHI: India will have two to five theatre commands by 2022, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat said on Monday.

He pointed that in the southern part of the country, India will have a Peninsula command by integrating existing naval eastern and eastern Naval command centres and the Jammu and Kashmir would come under a single be command theatre.

The peninsula command under the Navy that will deal with maritime security should come in earlier as directive for a study is expected to be out by March 31.

It would spread from Sir Creek in Arabian Sea to Sunderbans in Bay of Bengal.

The study should be completed within three to four months and by the end of next year the command under one naval commander should start functioning, General Rawat said.

ALSO READ: India looking to set up separate theatre command for J&K, says CDS General Bipin Rawat

He also said that by end of the year a study for theaterisation or joint commands will be in place. By 2022 theatre commands should roll out. The number of theatre commands could vary from two to five, the CDS added.

The Chief of Defence Staff is mandated to set up joint commands comprising the Army, Navy and Air Force -- in addition to two existing ones.

There are 19 commands as of now and only two of these are tri-service commands. These are the Andaman and Nicobar Command and the Strategic Forces Command, which is in charge of nuclear assets.

General Rawat added that there is an option of having either one command for China or two separate commands; one East of Nepal and another West of Nepal.

Similarly for Pakistan, a separate command for J&K is on the cards, while a separate one for the international border South of Jammu.

ALSO READ: Afghanistan-Pakistan region continues to be epicentre of terrorism, says CDS General Bipin Rawat

While the Army and the Air Force have seven commands each, the Navy has three commands.

It's felt that reducing the commands and making them function under one umbrella with representation from all three forces -- depending on the region and threat assessment -- will make the military more effective.

China and the US function under this model, and there have been suggestions that the Indian military follows a similar tri-service command system.

According to some of the recommendations, the commands can be reduced from existing 19 to 9 with a tri-service mix. This will also include the strategic forces command, cyber command and Special Operations Command.

The Air Force will be the lead agency for Air Defence Command that has already been announced.

General Rawat said that March 31 the study will be completed and the report should be ready by April 10. The implementation order for the air defence command is expected by year end, General Rawat said.

He also said joint training, and uniformity in procurement procedures will be a key priority.
By Express News Service

Goldman-backed cyber security startup firm Cyfirma has raised an undisclosed amount under Series A investment from an early growth private equity fund Z3 Partners. With this investment, Z3Partners joins Goldman Sachs and Zodius Capital as a shareholder of Cyfirma. The Company has raised $8 million till date including the current round. With this investment, Z3Partners joins Goldman Sachs and Zodius Capital as a shareholder of Cyfirma. The Company has raised $8 million till date including the current round, the company said.

The Singapore-based company said that it will use the fresh funding to further capitalize on its position in the cyber visibility and threat intelligence category in Japan to expand into markets across Asia, including India, and the US. The funds will also be used to support the development roadmap of Cyfirmas cyber-intelligence analytics platform.

According to Gartner Inc., the global information security market is expected to grow at a five-year CAGR of 8.7 per cent to reach $188.8 billion by 2023. This new spending will be driven by regulations and increased awareness as organizations need to evolve to address more complex threats. Cyfirmas threat intelligence platform is already used by Fortune Top 500 companies. With the new funding, Cyfirma will further capitalize on its position as a leader in the cyber visibility and threat intelligence category in Japan to venture into markets across Asia including India and the US, said Kumar Ritesh, Cyfirma founder, CEO.

The firm was said to have raised $5 million from Goldman Sachs and Zodius Capital in October last year. Z3Partners has invested in the India technology and digital market for over 20 years. The platform is a powerful solution to bring threat intelligence conversations into boardrooms and we look forward to collaborating with them as they work to build a great company, said Gautam Patel, Managing Partner, Z3Partners.
Its Presidents Day.

These days the holiday is more associated with car dealerships, retail sales and a much-appreciated three-day weekend than it is with reflection on the leadership that helped America thrive over the past 230 years.

And, yet, as the country becomes increasingly fractured and vulnerable  we need presidential leadership more than ever.

The holiday was created in 1879 to celebrate George Washingtons birthday and later, Abraham Lincolns as well. The first president was born Feb. 22, 1732, and the 16th  credited with keeping the union together during the Civil War  Feb. 12, 1809. Both men showed extraordinary leadership, and each helped the country navigate critical, complex and costly transitions in its history. Washington by pioneering a new government with a democratically elected leader, and Lincoln by helping repair the single greatest division the country ever experienced.

But what does presidential leadership even mean in todays world of increasing complexity and rapidly shifting geopolitics? What is most needed  in the highest office of the land  to lead our country through a time of deep polarization and into a better future?

Designing the President is on a mission to find out.

Designing the President is a non-partisan, issue agnostic approach that uses design to help voters (both current and future) find clarity on the leadership qualities most important to them. Launched last fall, Designing the President has been piloted in diverse groups, including high school voters participating in the presidential election process for the first time.

It reframes the question from asking which person do you like best to a more foundational reflection: What is the job of the president, who holds the highest leadership position of our country? And, given that, what specific leadership traits are needed in the Oval Office right now?

If we were able to design the president, what criteria would we use to make choices? What are the past experiences, leadership qualities and personal attributes that matter most?

Designing the President also examines what good has looked like in the past so we can learn from leadership in a historical context.

For example: Who was your favorite president, and why? Early results vary, but some interesting patterns have emerged :

 Lincoln, due to his ability to unite the country during its greatest time of division and his moral conviction to end slavery  even at great cost.

 Washington, for his military victory over the British army and commitment to a peaceful transfer of the presidential office.

  John F. Kennedy, for his bold vision of space travel to put humans on the moon.

 Franklin D. Roosevelt, for his ability to build the alliances that brought an end to World War II.

 Teddy Roosevelt, for his vision to protect our precious lands as a national treasures.

Great design starts with user requirements. This approach asks people to complete the statement, I want a president who is ... 

The answers have included descriptors like compassionate, empathetic, unifying, moral, honest and trustworthy. Responses that you wont necessarily find in the latest media poll, but more authentically reveal what might be needed to create the future that people want.

This process asks voters to reflect on the leadership qualities that we believe will best serve the country now and in the future, prototyping those qualities against events that could unfold, such as more extreme weather events, infrastructure crises and rising geopolitical tensions, among other national challenges.

Clarifying and exploring these criteria in context helps people develop their own point of view and articulate their assumptions, embodying one of our foundational democratic principles articulated in Lincolns Gettysburg Address: A government of the people, by the people, for the people.

While we know we cant design a president, this approach offers a more proactive, informed stance to the presidential 2020 election. We want to build voter agency  outside of the noise and reactive campaign vitriol that has become our new normal.

This is particularly important for new voters, who are exercising their democratic right and responsibility for the first time but may not have had a way of thinking about their choice beyond listening to opinionated family members, the media or social media echo chambers.

As we head into the next wave of primaries and debates, heres a small holiday prompt to get you thinking about the presidential leadership qualities that most matter to you. Consider answering this for yourself or using it as a conversation starter with others:

In thinking about our next president, I hope the country becomes _______ as a result of the presidents leadership qualities and time in office.

Chances are, regardless of political affiliation, policies or background, youll likely choose an adjective that describes a more unified, less divided, resilient country thats more committed to a stronger whole.

Lisa Kay Solomon is the co-author of the bestseller Moments of Impact: How to Design Strategic Conversations that Accelerate Change, and Design a Better Business: New Tools, Skills and Mindset for Strategy and Innovation. She teaches leadership, futures and design to leaders of all ages, from K-12 to executives.
The Conference on Social media challenges and ways to promote freedoms and protect activists brought together over 300 participants across the globe including journalists and their unions' leaders, think tanks, human rights activists, NGOs and international organisations.



The conference included speeches from prominent human rights, press freedom advocates, UN Special Rapporteurs, and experts on anti-terrorism and international law as well as IFJ unions' leaders.

Two days of fruitful debates

Discussions highlighted the need to hold online platforms responsible for tracking down hate speech. A high number of speakers and participants called for an end to the criminalisation of defamation and fake news as a tool to curb freedom of expression.



Pointing at the number of activists in jail in the region, discussions warned against anti-terror laws that are used as a weapon to jail activists and journalists across the globe, the importance to define terrorism and the threats such laws represented for freedom of expression.



A specific highlight was put on the need to reinforce privacy laws and encourage journalists to secure their digital safety and use encryption and tools to protect their messaging and sources.



Participants said that social media companies must explore all legal options before accepting requests that are excessively intrusive such as requests for shutdowns, and in the case of implementing then they should disclose all relevant and publishable information and provide regular updates about the services affected or restored, among other demands.



UNI Global General Secretary Christy Hoffman highlighted the role of social media in the wake of social protests and pointed at the Internet shutdowns as a tool to curb revolutions. She stressed the importance to break up tech giants.



Gender-based violence and harassment of minority groups online were specifically denounced throughout the conference ending with a strong message to speak up against those who are the target of online abuse.

In the final recommendation, the IFJ highlighted the importance of implementing global journalism standards, including the IFJ Global Charter of Ethics for Journalists.

IFJ President Youness MJahed said: "These technologies have contributed to the development of the democratic struggle, especially in countries where there is no free press, but political, human rights and activists are subject to harassment and persecution, which requires more commitment and means for their protection. This issue must be considered vital and a priority for all human rights defenders, in particular journalists' unions. It is necessary to underline the need to protect the right to freedom of expression as a fundamental human right. We are obliged, as journalists, activists and leaders of organisations, to be aware of the extreme importance of the issue of collateral damage of modern communication technologies. And for this to happen, quality press must play its pioneering role, providing a credible service to citizens. Moreover, we cannot accept the use of collateral damage as a justification that allows some governments to restrict freedoms or to adopt restrictive policies. "

The two-day conference was organised by the IFJ together with the European Parliament, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the National Human Rights Committee of Qatar (NHRC), the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI).
Despite owing retired civil servants pensions and gratuities for several years, the Osun State Government has bought new Toyota Camry XLE 2019 cars for the 26 members of the state House of Assembly.

The expenditure is at least N266 million, going by the unit price of $29,175 for each in the U.S.

Considering the cost of importation, the expected profit by the supplier, and inflated prices associated with government expenditure in Nigeria, the state government is expected to have paid much more for the cars.

A spokesperson to the Osun State governor refused to disclose the exact amount paid for the vehicles and the company that supplied them.

Critics described the governments action as a misplacement of priority for a state said to be cash strapped, but Governor Gboyega Oyetola has justified the expenditure.

PREMIUM TIMES in January reported the complaint of neglect by retirees in the state who are being owed their entitlements.

Some have died, some said they had been ejected from rented houses while others said they had withdrawn their children from schools.

After serving two terms of eight years, Rauf Aregbesola bowed out as Osun governor in 2018 and handed over to Mr Oyetola of the same All Progressives Congress (APC).

Many civil servants who retired between 2015 and 2018 under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) told PREMIUM TIMES in January that they were neither receiving monthly pension nor the lump sum due them as bond.

Questionable Accountability

Checks by PREMIUM TIMES revealed that the state under Mr Aregbesola gots several bailout funds from the federal government but still defaulted in payment of salaries and pensions.

To assist them in payment of salaries and owed arrears, President Muhammadu Buhari disbursed N338 billion to states in 2015. Osun State got N34.9 billion.

Also, in November 2016, the Osun government received N11.74 billion as refunds from the Paris Club.

Again, Mr Buhari approved the release of more funds from the London-Paris Club refund to state governors across the country in 2017 out of which Osun State received N6.3 billion as the second tranche of Paris Club refund in July.

The president had advised the state governments to give priority to offsetting salary arrears as well as pension and gratuity liabilities in spending the bailouts.

In 2016, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) said the Aregbesola administration disbursed only N16.3 billion out of the N34.9 billion bailout released in 2015.

The report added that the commission was investigating allegations that the state had not paid salaries since July 2015. Mr Aregbesola countered the allegations of diversion but did not dispute that only N16.3 billion was disbursed.

The Senate in December 2016 promised to investigate the allegations but nothing was heard of the probe.

Governor justifies purchase

In his first term, Mr Aregbesola also bought official cars for the state lawmakers.

However, many of the current lawmakers were not in the assembly then.

Justifying his action for the purchase of Toyota Camry XLE 2019 for the current lawmakers, Governor Oyetola through his spokesperson, Ismail Omipidan, said the government was controlling its expenditures.

The state is not rich but we have a governor who is creative financially in ensuring that governance did not stop. It is even by a miracle that we are paying salaries. Mr Governor has control over his expenditures. He is also making personal sacrifices to make sure that workers welfare is being taken care of.

Advertisements



Just two days ago, we presented the bond of N1.2 billion to retirees under the contributory pension scheme. We appreciate the fact that we have a backlog but the fact that we are paying shows that the government is committed to the welfare of the workers and the retirees. If we are not paying anything at all, then critics can make criticism.

Mr Omipidan said: it would be unthinkable to say lawmakers got cars eight years ago and they should continue to use the same thing. Dont forget that it is not the same set of people in the house eight years ago that are there now. Even for the ones re-elected, theres always a budget and emoluments of office which must be provided. It is a three-arm government and everybody must be taken care of.

He refused to disclose the exact amount the state paid for the vehicles

but assured that the expenditure on cars would not affect the running of government and payment of workers and pensioners.

A source at the government house, however, told PREMIUM TIMES that the state government had not fully paid for the vehicles.

There is what we call leasing The govt leased the money they used to get the vehicles for the lawmakers. It is not that they got the money in cash.

There is an agreement that is signed and it will be deducted from the account of the government on monthly or yearly basis. It is a loan, the source said asking not to be named.

Recklessness  Critics

Critics and public affairs analysts said the action of the government although not new in Nigeria is recklessness that has becomes the norm.

It is quite unfortunate that we have a weird system of government in Nigeria and unless the people demand what is actually theirs, a social commentator, Jide Ojo, said.

Beyond the fact that it is a waste of money, none of those lawmakers are poor. But when you see members of the executive cabinets riding big cars, it is expected that the lawmakers get same.

My father retired from Osun service in 1995 and died three years after. He never collected pension and gratuity. The sad thing is that the situation still remains the same today. If those that have retired are finding their pay difficult, what message are we passing to those in service?

A rights lawyer, Tope Akinyode, in his reaction said: the reckless act of government in Nigeria continues to contribute to poverty.

He said many state governors give their lawmakers such expensive gifts at the expense of citizens.
BJP leader with RSS background now Cong nominee for MLC elections in Maharashtra

Kerala: Two leaders killed in last 10 hours in Alappuzha; Section 144 imposed

Hindu and Hindutva are not different things: Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi

Kerala cop under scanner for sharing info of RSS, BJP workers with right wing Muslim groups

Sonam Kapoor tweets RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's divorce remarks as "regressive foolish"

India

oi-Mousumi Dash

New Delhi, Feb 17: Bollywood style icon, actor Sonam Kapoor waded into controversy by calling Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat's comments on divorce "regressive" through a tweet on Monday.

The 'Neerja' actress tweeted, "Which sane man speaks like this? Regressive foolish statements," this comes as a sharp response to the news report on Bhagwat's comments.

Which sane man speaks like this? Regressive foolish statements https://t.co/GJmxnGtNtv  Sonam K Ahuja (@sonamakapoor) February 16, 2020

A day before, the RSS chief had made a controversial statement saying that cases of divorce are found more in educated and affluent families. He also added that education and wealth comes with arrogance that destroys families.

Reportedly, Bhagwat said in a statement issued by the RSS that nowadays the number of divorce cases has increased a lot. People fight over trivial issues. The cases of divorce are more in educated and affluent families.

Those shouting 'kagaz nahin dikhayenge' will be defeated in Delhi poll: RSS' Ram Lal

The RSS chief also argued against confining women in homes while addressing a gathering.

Sonam's tweet received a mixed response of the netizens on Monday. The 34-year-old actor is known to be outspoken on social media.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, February 17, 2020, 19:01 [IST]
Russia will continue to insist on the observation of already reached agreements

Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Aleksandr Grushko EADaily

The readiness of Kyiv for holding of a normal dialogue with Donetsk and Luhansk is necessary for the implementation of Minsk Agreements as RBK reported citing Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Aleksandr Grushko.

According to Grushko, Russia will continue to insist on the observation of already reached agreements. We can meet but if there are no changes for better then the benefit from such meetings is doubtful, he explained.

Grushko called absence of readiness of Kyiv for a normal dialogue with Donetsk and Luhansk to be one of the main obstacles for implementation of Minsk Agreements. This commitment is not fulfilled flagrantly; however, it is one of the main conditions of the Minsk package, the diplomat noted.

Earlier, Russia stated that the decision to hold a new Normandy format summit would be made on the basis of progress in implementing the current agreements.

Last time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met on December 9 in Paris at the Normandy Summit.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the aides to Presidents and Foreign Ministers of the Normandy Four would prepare a new summit in four months.






CHARLESTON, S.C., Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- South Carolina lags far behind other states to strengthen gun safety laws, almost five years after the Charleston Emanuel AME mass shooting and two years since the Parkland, FL school massacre.

Despite these statistics, the SC legislature is considering two Open Carry bills (S.139, also permitless; H.4472) that would make communities "inherently less safe," say law enforcement and community leaders.

Recent polls show South Carolinians support stronger gun laws to reduce gun violence, including growing opposition to pending state legislation to allow Open Carry of handguns in SC.

According to the annual Giffords Gun Law Scorecard published this past week, dozens of states have passed more than 135 gun safety laws since the tragedy in Parkland, FL on Feb. 14, 2018. In the 2019 state legislative cycle alone, 22 states and DC signed 70 gun safety bills into law.

Nationally, South Carolina is 12th in gun death rate, 8th in firearm homicide rate, 5th in domestic violence fatalities, with rising gun violence in urban areas. According to scorecard data, gun violence is the 2nd leading cause of death for SC children under 17 and ranks 7th in crime gun exports.

Resistance to Open Carry is growing, as reported by Arm-in-Arm, a non-partisan, SC non-profit. The policy is being challenged by law enforcement, mayors of Columbia and Charleston, The League of Women Voters SC, Christian Action Council, Safe Schools Project and others.

"South Carolinians overwhelmingly support stronger gun safety laws," said AIA Board Chairman Peter Zalka. "Not only are we ignoring opportunities to create safer communities, Open Carry takes us in the opposite direction."

Polling indicates SC residents support background checks for all gun sales (84%) including 82% of Republicans and 86% of Democrats (Public Policy Polling 2016). There's also a strong consensus for completed background checks (80-86%; Winthrop 2015, 2018, 2019) a position echoed by 83% of SC gun owners (Winthrop 2018).

Arm-in-Arm

Galvanized by the Emanuel AME Church shooting, Arm-in-Arm is an independent, non-partisan grassroots group of more than 1,200 South Carolinians working to close gaps in SC laws that allow guns to fall into the wrong hands, while supporting the right of citizens to lawfully own guns. The group's objective is to reduce the public health crisis of gun violence by supporting relevant legislation and inspiring SC communities to work toward practical solutions.

Links:

www.ArminArmSC.org Blog Facebook Twitter

Contact: J. Dean Foster  843-810-0346, [email protected]

Or, Peter Zalka  843-906-5727, [email protected]

SOURCE Arm-in-Arm
Press Release

February 16, 2020 Drilon to join bipartisan move to question VFA termination in SC Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said he will join Senate President Vicente Sotto III and other administration senators in filing a petition that will question in the Supreme Court the President's decision to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) without the concurrence of the Senate. "This will be a bipartisan move to assess the Senate's role in foreign policy. While the President is the chief architect of our foreign policy, the Constitution is clear that such a very critical role is shared with Congress, particularly the Senate," Drilon said in a statement on Sunday. In an interview with radio station DWIZ on Saturday, Drilon said that Sotto relayed to him that the he is already preparing the petition and asked him to be a co-author. Drilon confirmed that he would join the petition as a co-author. Drilon said that since the Constitution is silent on the termination of treaties and internation agreement, it is only the Supreme Court that can rule with finality on the issue. "The Supreme Court should rule on this issue once and for all. We cannot continue putting the fate of critical treaties such as the VFA, which termination has far-reaching consequences, in the hands of one man," he stressed. "It is our firm belief that if treaties and international agreements the President entered into cannot be valid without the approval of the Senate, the termination of, or withdrawal from, the same should only be effective with the concurrence of the Senate," he stressed. Once ratified and concurred in by the Senate, a treaty or an international agreement becomes part of the law of the land. Hence, a treaty may not be undone without that shared power that put it into effect, he added. In 2018, Drilon and minority senators Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan, Bam Aquino, Leila de Lima, Risa Hontiveros, and Antonio Trillanes IV filed a petition urging the Supreme Court to declare the Philippines' withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC) "invalid or ineffective." The former justice secretary explained that once the SC ruled in favor of the ICC petition, the termination will be deemed invalid and the membership of the Philippines in the ICC will continue, saying that the VFA will benefit if the SC upholds the power of the Senate. Lastly, the four-time Senate President reiterated his call on Senate Foreign Relations Committee, chaired by administration senator Aquilino Pimentel III to finally report out Senate Resoultion 305, a measure that he authored seeking to assert the role of the Senate in treaty termination or withdrawal.
Two alleged criminals were killed in an exchange of fire with the Special Cell of Delhi Police at Pul Pehlad Pur area here on Monday morning, officials said.

The encounter took place around 5 am, they said.

Raja Qureshi and Ramesh Bahadur, who were injured during the encounter, were rushed to a nearby hospital, where they were declared brought dead by doctors, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) P S Kushwah said.

According to police, the two men were involved in multiple cases of murder and robbery.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Huw Davies is the deputy Chairman of the Newport West Conservative Association and stood for the Conservative Party in the 2017 Welsh local elections.

As one constitutional door closes another one opens. Now that we have finally left the European Union, federalism  or home rule as some call it  has returned as a potential constitutional settlement to preserve the unity of our country.

This resurrection has mostly come from within the Labour Party as it picks its new leadership team. The current front-runner, Sir Keir Starmer, believes it will rebuild trust in our politics. His fellow contender, Lisa Nandy, described a federal future as inevitable. The leader of Scottish Labour, Richard Leonard, said that such a settlement is the only solution to reunite the country and defeat the SNP.

But to turn the United Kingdom into a federal state would be totally reckless. The idea that federalism will somehow bring about the demise of the nationalists is absurd. It is the same rhetoric used by those who disastrously advocated devolution in the 1990s.

Whenever I hear this argument, I hear the repetition of George Robertsons naive proclamation that, A Scottish Parliament will kill the SNP we are are in their thirteenth year of power in Holyrood! If it wasnt such a serious matter, Id find the current situation we see in Scotland as totally laughable considering the warnings made at the time.

Starmers proposal for a federal state consists of a written constitution, which Id assume will consist the new powers and responsibilities of the devolved administrations.

But will this new federation consist of an exit clause? If there were still an SNP administration in Edinburgh when Labour were creating this new federal settlement, it would be hard to resist the pressure not to create a British version of Article 50. If this flirtation with federalism continues, not only would we have given the Nationalists the institutions they wanted in Scotland and Wales, but also possibly the legal mechanism to leave the UK altogether. The UK will be in the absurd position of not just building a car for the Nationalists to play with, but also giving them the keys to drive off with it!

The fact of the matter is that if those of us who wish to maintain the unity of the United Kingdom must realise simply repeating the old line of more powers will not kill nationalism. A federal settlement would not only strengthen the Nationalists, but further enable them to break up the UK.

I am also frustrated with proponents of federalism using modernity to sell their idea. Starmer, in a piece for the Daily Record, described how his new settlement was intertwined with Labours history. He used Keir Hardie as an example of how Labour were the original proponents of Scottish home rule when the party was founded in 1900.

But his proposals do not tell me that that the idea is new, it tells me that the those who have advocated devolution have ran out of ideas, so they are looking to the past. Id hardly regard it as a modern idea. Jane Dodds, the Welsh Liberal Democrat leader, also proposed reviving the old Liberal Party campaign of Cymru Rydd (Young Wales), the original campaign for devolution/federalism in Wales founded in 1886. Her idea for federalism was challenged on the basis that it was an old idea, she admitted that it was but said that old ideas can be good ideas.

But I doubt her party would say that if anybody proposed the reversal of devolution process. Im sure anybody who would dare suggest such a thing would be accused of taking Britain backwards  yet our federalists friends look as far back as the late Nineteenth Century for inspiration. Devolutions proponents are in denial that it has failed to tackle nationalism and provide better public services in the devolved nations. Federalism is the next stage of their refusal to admit its failure, therefore they continue along with their project walking the UK into constitutional oblivion.

Those who advocate federalism are, Im sure, thinking in the best interests of the future of the UK. But unfortunately, they are mistaken  they are putting the needs of the devolved institutions over and above the needs of the people of the United Kingdom.

If we were to have an American-style federal system, then we can assume that there will be a principle of states rights. This would mean that if a certain power isnt reserved by Westminster specifically, then the devolved institution would solely be in control over it with no interference. In the US, this has meant that many states have tried to undermine abortion laws, make voter registration more difficult, and most famously, engaged in gerrymandering.

I am not suggesting that this would all happen in the UK, but it is an example where a central government cannot get involved to right certain wrongs because of their federal system. Such a system in Britain would have meant the legislation which rightly brought Northern Ireland into line with the mainland regarding abortion and same-sex marriage simply wouldnt have happened, because the rights of the devolved institutions would be more important than the rights of UK citizens.

I want every person is our country to be treated equally under the law. That is the essence of my conservatism and more importantly my unionism. I regard myself as a One Nation Conservative, in the sense that I believe that we should be governed as one nation, and Im pleased at our partys commitment to levelling up our country.

But in order to level up the UK we must fight against a system of government which would prevent us from doing this. The British Government must maintain the right to build new infrastructure across the UK  if it had had greater control over it then my patch of Newport may have had its much needed M4 relief road. Parliament must also remain the guardian of the rights of the British people, and if they seem them abused in any part of the country it must have the power to intervene.

For real decentralisation, we need to focus on empowering local government to ensure that power is truly in the hands of the people, not the ever-centralising devolved institutions which show no signs of giving up that power. Our country must begin a period of reunification, not waste time entrenching our constitutional divisions with ideas of federalism. Its proponents are making the same arguments as the advocates of devolution in the 1990s. And we know what happened there.
Hyundai Motor Group and Canoo recently announced their plans to develop an electric vehicle (EV) platform patterned around Canoos proprietary skateboard design for the much-anticipated release of the newest Hyundai and Kia electric vehicles (EV) models.

The collaboration will allow Canoo to take charge of the engineering services that will develop and create a fully-scalable, all-electric platform to meet both companies specifications. Once completed, this platform will be used by Hyundai Motor Group and Kia Motors in creating competitively-priced electric vehicles that will range from small-sized EVs to Purpose-Built Vehicles (PBV).

Canoo is a Los Angeles-based company that specializes in creating subscription-based EVs. It offers a skateboard platform that contains the most important parts of the vehicle. And with a strong emphasis on functional integration, it aims to use all the components features in as many ways as possible.

Thanks to engineering techniques, Canoo was able to lessen the skateboards size, total number of parts, and weight, allowing for a more spacious interior cabin. Reducing the number also has other perks: its cheaper to make, which makes it cost-effective. It is also an independent unit that can be shared with any cabin design.

Canoos scalable skateboard architecture is important, since it will simplify and standardize the development process for all Hyundai and Kia EVs. This makes vehicle production more efficient, and reduces the production steps of its EV assembly line. Moreover, it can reduce costs that can be passed along as additional expense to consumers.

We were highly impressed by the speed and efficiency in which Canoo developed their innovative EV architecture, making them the perfect engineering partner for us as we transition to become a front runner in the future mobility industry, said Albert Biermann, Head of Research & Development, Hyundai Motor Group. We will collaborate with Canoo engineers to develop a cost-effective Hyundai platform concept that is autonomous ready and suitable for mass adoption.

Story continues

We have been working diligently to develop a bold new electric vehicle and partnering with a global leader like Hyundai is a validating moment for our young company, said Ulrich Kranz, In Charge of Canoo. It is a real honor for us to help Hyundai explore EV architecture concepts for their future models.

Hyundai and Kia had just announced its plans to create 100% electric Purpose-Built Vehicle (PBV). Hyundai initially showed its first PBV concept during the Consumer Electric Show (CES) 2020 last January. Meanwhile, Kia announced its plans to create PBVs specifically for shared-service companies and logistics companies.

So far, Hyundais only available EV model in the Philippines is IONIQ, while Kia has yet to release an EV model here in the country. And as far as we know, there hasnt been any PBVs released by both manufacturers, either. Whatever the case, Canoos EV architecture will surely make a lot of difference in creating electrified vehicles in the future.

Also Read:

The post Hyundai, Canoo team up for EV Platform appeared first on Carmudi Philippines.
Bombardier may sell its $7 bn train business to Alstom: report

Days after Canadian plain and train maker Bombardier Inc announced the transfer of its 33.5 per cent stake in the A220 passenger jet programme of Airbus, completing its exit from civil aviation, the firm is reported to be close to selling its $7 billion train business to Frances Alstom SA.

Montreal-based Bombardier ceded control of the A220 programme to Airbus in 2018 for a token C$1 as part of broader efforts to improve its finances.

Reports citing a source familiar with the matter said an announcement could come today, adding a deal has only to be signed now.

The Wall Street Journal said Alstom is expected to use a cash-and-stock deal to acquire the business.

Quebec pension fund Caisse de Depot et Placement, which owns a 32.5 per cent stake in Bombardiers train business, has agreed to sell its stake to Alstom and buy a minority stake in the combined train company, the WSJ report said.

Bombardier has been struggling to contain higher rail costs generated by a few problematic contracts in its nearly $36 billion order backlog.

The deal would help Alstom compete more effectively against Chinese rail giant CRRC Corp Ltd, after the French maker of TGV bullet trains was blocked last year by European regulators from merging with Germanys Siemens.

Alstom confirmed it is in discussions with Bombardier regarding a possible acquisition of Bombardier Transportation by Alstom.

Alstom said discussions are on-going and no final decision has been made, adding that it would inform the public of any material developments in this respect.

Bombardier is a global leader in the transportation industry, with production and engineering sites in 28 countries and employing over 68,000 worldwide. The company has a broad portfolio of products and services for the aviation and rail transportation markets.
The Gujarat High Court on Monday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Congress leader Hardik Patel in an unlawful assembly case registered in connection with the 2015 Patidar stir for quota for the community in government jobs and educational institutions.

Justice V M Pancholi rejected Patel's bail application after considering the government's objection on the ground of his criminal antecedents.

Opposing the plea, the government told HC there are more than ten criminal cases against Patel, and that he had gone underground fearing arrest.

The case dates back to August 2015 when the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti under Patel had organised a mega rally in Ahmedabad as part of the quota stir, and an FIR was lodged for "unlawful assembly" as the police claimed the event did not have requisite permissions.

The police further contended that this unlawful gathering led to violence, in which over a dozen youths were killed and property was damaged.

In his anticipatory bail plea, Patel claimed he was being "victimised by the ruling party of the state" which has slapped "several false, frivolous and concocted cases against him".

He said police was acting under "political pressure" to arrest him.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Having registered a stunning victory, Arvind Kejriwal along with six ministers took the oath for the third time as Delhi chief minister at Delhis historic Ramlila Maidan on Sunday. This victory in itself was remarkable, with 62 of the Assemblys 70 seats, but what was even more remarkable was that the AAP was up against an army of very experienced BJP leaders who campaigned relentlessly against the AAP and Arvind Kejriwal, some of whom engaged in a very shrill and negative campaign. But the AAP sailed against all odds to victory. The message by Mr Kejriwal in his public address after the oath made this victory far more remarkable. Mr Kejriwal said that irrespective of who voted for him or not, he considered everyone as part of his family and promised to work for all the people of Delhi. He added he forgives his opponents for their remarks against him, and wanted take everyone along with him. He also sought the blessings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

There was also a clear signal that he wanted to expand the AAP beyond Delhi. In his speech, he urged people to call your villages and tell them that their son has become the chief minister, and there is no need to worry. After all, he had taken the oath as Delhis CM, so why should he ask people to call their family members in villages? This was a clear indication he would try to reach out to people beyond the geographical boundaries of Delhi.

However, for the AAP, expanding the party beyond Delhi at this juncture would be a tall order. The sweeping victory in Delhi does not give any indication of the rising popularity of the AAP or Arvind Kejriwal in other states. Even in Delhi, this victory should only be seen as voters wanting Mr Kejriwal to be Delhis chief minister. There is no indication if voters would express the same political choice if there was a Lok Sabha election soon. Prime Minister Narendra Modi still remains a very popular leader with the people of Delhi when it comes to heading the government at the Centre. The verdict of four elections  the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the 2015 and 2020 Assembly elections  are clear evidence of the voters of Delhi expressing a spilt verdict. While in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP managed to win all seven Lok Sabha seats and cornered a huge chunk of votes, the same voters voted for the AAP in the 2015 and 2020 Assembly elections in a big way. During the 2015 Assembly elections, the AAP won 67 seats and polled 54 per cent votes while in 2020 it won 62 seats and polled 53.5 per cent votes. The CSDS survey also indicated that one-third of those who voted for the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls switched their vote to the AAP in 2020.

Mr Kejriwal, in his Ramlila address, seemed somewhat on the defensive over the charge that he had only won because of the freebies. He said: I am accused of distributing freebies. But all good things in the world like a mothers love and a fathers blessings are free. Delhi loves Kejriwal. I love Delhi. This love is for free. It is true that the freebies handed out by the Kejriwal government contributed to this massive mandate, but this election remained largely focused on the development work done by the AAP government in the past five years. The CSDS governance study conducted in early December 2019 captured the mood of the people of Delhi regarding the AAP governments work in the fields of education and health  and indicated widespread approval of the AAPs work. Though Delhi witnessed an acerbic campaign waged by the BJP on the basis of emotive and national issues, the voter sentiment that the CSDS survey had captured in early December did not change much. This was because voters saw the election mainly as a question of Delhis governance. In this sense, the victory of the AAP was clearly a vote for performance on the ground. The water, electricity, education and healthcare record of the government was clearly its USP. The CSDS survey indicated that three of every five of those who traditionally backed the BJP said they favoured a AAP victory due to the governments performance record. This mattered a lot for the pro-incumbency sentiment in favour of the AAP.

By asking the people of Delhi to convey to friends and relatives in their villages that their son had become the chief minister, Mr Kejriwal was trying to send out the message that the people of Delhi had rejected BJP leaders equating Arvind Kejriwal as a terrorist. The Delhi elections remained focused around the face of Mr Kejriwal. During his campaign, he went to the extent of saying vote for me only if you consider me as your son, dont vote for me if you consider me as a terrorist. The AAP benefited from the fact that it had Mr Kejriwals face at the head of its campaign. The BJP, on the other hand, had no such credible, visible face. It once again depended on the charisma and charm of its top national leaders  mainly Prime Minister Modi. In a state poll, this clearly worked in favour of the AAP as almost two-fifths of those satisfied with the Modi governments performance voted for the AAP. Mr Modi remains very popular with Delhis voters; yet they chose Mr Kejriwal over Mr Modi mainly because

they were conscious that this was a question of who would head the state government.

The BJPs last-minute efforts to polarise voters and win back the support of those who voted for it in the Lok Sabha polls six months ago didnt cut much ice. While possibly it did contribute to the BJPs rise in voteshare compared to the last Assembly election, it was not sufficient to reduce the wide gap that had developed between the BJP and AAP. At the end of the day, governance and service delivery appeared to trump the politics of emotive appeals and divisiveness. Mr Kejriwal in his address did say that the elections were over, and whether you had voted for the AAP or not, you are a part of my family  clearly trying to send out a positive message of his commitment to work for all the people of Delhi as he begins his third innings in government.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 23:00:17|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

RIGA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Latvia's national fiscal watchdog on Monday urged the government to take measures to increase tax revenue after a combined loss of 645 million euros in the past two years as a result of its tax reform.

Speaking at a press conference, the Fiscal Discipline Council's chairperson Inna Steinbuka said the Baltic country's budget revenue was not growing as fast as they should because of the 2018 tax reform.

According to the watchdog's estimates, 245 million euros worth of revenue was lost in 2018 and another 400 million euros in 2019, accounting for 0.8 percent and 1.3 percent of Latvia's GDP, respectively.

The Fiscal Discipline Council is, therefore, calling for a moderate rise of the tax burden in the coming years, said Steinbuka.

The short-term target, in Steinbuka's words, might be to increase the tax-to-GDP ratio from 31.4 percent to 35 percent.

In the medium term, the figure should be brought closer to the European Union's average, which in 2018 was 40.3 percent, Steinbuka said. ( 1 euro = 1. 08 U.S. dollars)
A pilot wears protecting clothes on a rescue flight from Hanoi to Wuhan City, China on February 10, 2020. Photo courtesy of Vietnam Airlines.

Vietnamese businesses are expecting to get government rescue packages amid fears that the novel coronavirus outbreak could cause more losses this year.

Tourist hotspot Da Lat saw 10,000 room bookings being canceled in February, and much the same has been happening in other tourist destinations such as Nha Trang and Da Nang since the Covid-19 outbreak several weeks ago.

The huge decline in the number of tourists, especially from China, could cause losses in tourism revenues of $7 billion in the first quarter, and could double to $15 billion if the outbreak persists in Q2, according to the Vietnam Tourism Advisory Board (TAB).

Tran Trong Kien, the TAB chairman, estimates the damage to last 6-12 months in some tourism subsectors. This is also expected to cause collateral damage for other industries.

Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet and the countrys three other airlines estimate that the suspension of Vietnam-China flights could cause losses of over VND10 trillion ($430.5 million).

The sector accounts for 26 percent of Vietnamese airlines international services. The epidemic has resulted in 640 flights a week between the two countries being canceled, or a loss of 400,000 passengers a month, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam.

Duong Tri Thanh, the CEO of Vietnam Airlines, estimated his airline would lose $196 million if flights to China resume in July.

Manufacturing industries that depend on China for feedstock are also taking a hit.

Nguyen Xuan Duong, chairman of Hung Yen Garment Jsc in Hung Yen Province, said raw material stocks would run out by the end of this month since China has limited manufacturing and exports since the outbreak began.

The company is facing losses worth tens of millions of dollars and could fail to meet delivery deadlines, he said.

Textiles, one of Vietnams largest export industries, could see businesses close and people lose jobs if the shortage of materials persists after March, the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association has warned.

Foreign companies, which accounted for almost 70 percent of Vietnams exports last year, are also struggling to source raw materials, according to a report by the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

It said Samsung, with four electronics plants in Vietnam, has hundreds of containers of components coming from China stuck at the border, and South Korean companys sales could plummet by half this year if the situation continues.

Taiwanese Formosas steel plant in central Vietnam has not resumed normal operations since thousands of Chinese workers have been barred from entering Vietnam until February 15.

Many businesses are proposing rescue measures such as scrapping or reducing tax and extending their debt repayment periods, and the investment ministry will submit their proposals to the government.

As of Monday Covid-19 has infected 16 people in Vietnam and killed 1,775 globally.
With some districts of



Kerala sweltering, the India Meteorological department on Monday issued a heat warning for six districts, saying the mercury level will rise by three degrees above normal.

On Monday, Thiruvananthapuram recorded 34.9 degree Celsius which is 2.2 degrees more than the normal 32.7.

Alappuzha registered a maximum of 36.8 degree Celsius and Kottayam 37.8.

While Kannur recorded 37.2 degree Celsius, Kozhikode showed 35.4 degree Celsius, the IMD said



The IMD, in its website, has issued a maximum temperature warning for the districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Kannur.

Maximum temperature is most likely to be above normal by 2 to 3 degree Celsius in these districts on February 17 and 18, the website read.

The Labour department has already issued orders to reschedule working hours of those who work in open sunlight by allowing mandatory break times to prevent sunstroke.

The order has come into effect from February 11 to April 30.

The State Disaster Management Authority has warned those exposed to sunlight, including construction workers, roadside vendors, traffic policemen, media reporters and traffic inspectors, to take adequate precaution during their duty hours.

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

Have you ever looked up at a dark night sky filled with millions of stars, and felt the wonder and awe of the universe? Its a rare experience in 2020, since the night sky is so bright due to light pollution, that even the brightest stars appear dim. Fortunately, dont need a dark sky to appreciate the wonder of the heavens; you only have to have a look at what todays astronomers can see.

Astronomers now use telescopes that view with more wavelengths than the human eye can see, and process the images with advanced computing, to reveal fantastic visions that even Galileo could not have imagined as he turned his little telescope towards the moon and planets. Views of everything from our neighboring planets to planets in different solar systems, to distant galaxies and even black holes! Read on, Ill show you some of my favorites from the skies of 2020.

Our first stop is that most familiar of modern telescopes, the Hubble Space Telescope. Because Hubble is orbiting 350 miles above the earth, it is well above the clouds, light pollution, and atmospheric distortion that limit our view from down here. For over 30 years Hubble has captured images of outer space and relayed them back to the earth. The first few pictures that were released were almost beyond belief, as you can see in the figure. Who could ever have imagined how many galaxies were out there, and how beautifully they filled the heavens?

Hubbles images are more than just pretty pictures. The data they contain is helping astronomers pin down the size and age of the universe, as well as features of the early universe, because light from the most distant stars originated many billions of years ago. Hubble examines our own system, too, because it can see so much more planetary detail than an earthbound telescope. It has obtained detailed observations of seasons of nearby planets, and discovered new moons of Pluto. It has even detected planets in solar systems other than our own, exoplanets

The first exoplanets were discovered about twenty years ago, and astronomers have been scouring the skies for them ever since. Initially thought to be rare, exoplanets are actually very common. As of January 2020, there are 4,108 confirmed exoplanets, and 2,430 potential planets! Most of these were discovered by the orbiting Kepler space telescope. The way Kepler finds planets is ingeniousit looks for stars whose brightness gets dimmer in a regular pattern. The stars dimming is due to an orbiting planet that blocks out the light whenever it moves across the star. Most of the exoplanets recorded to date are very large, gas giants similar to Jupiter and Saturn, since they are the easiest to detect. Some of these planets have actually been viewed by telescopes, although this requires multiple observations and image analysis. The Hale telescope produced a picture of one such star system showing four planets, each more massive than Jupiter, orbiting the young star HR 8799. Images like this really fire up my imagination. Think of how exciting it would be to visit this star system and see these planets close upbut since they are 127 light years away thats not very likely.

Planet-hunters are now actively seeking exoplanets that are more like our own: made of rocks instead of gas, closer in size to earth, and located in the Goldilocks zone of their star, where sunlight is neither too strong nor too weak. This distance is more likely the right temperature to have liquid water on its surface, with the best chances for life to exist. The closest earth-like planet is called Proxima Centauri b, which is about four light-years away. The planet is slightly larger than earth, and appears to be a rocky planet, in the Goldilocks zone of the dwarf red star Proxima Centauri. Proxima Centauri b is only 4 light years away, which is within range of radio transmissionsas long as you are patient. Sadly, this planet is unlikely to support water-based life because it always keeps the same face to the sun, so the sun side is boiling hot, while the rear side is frozen. An artists depiction of the surface of Proxima Centauri b is shown on the left.

There are ongoing searches for rocky (non-gaseous) planets in the Goldilocks zone. One noteworthy project is called TESS, Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. TESS is collecting an enormous amount of data for repeating patterns indicating a planet crossing its suns path. TESS project is relying on crowd sourcing to help, since the human brain is much better at finding these repeating patterns than is any computer program. If you want to learn more about TESS and are interested in participating at the next data release, check out the TESS planethunters zooniverse web site and register as a volunteer: Perhaps youll stumble on the signal that indicates a planet that has intelligent life!

If youre interested in planets, you need look no further than our own solar system, where numerous probes have show us detailed images of all the known planets, and many asteroids. Mars is the host of several probes that have landed and are actively collecting data and looking for signs of water and life. Theres not enough space to go into detail about the planets, but you can read more and see some incredible pictures on the NASA site.

And if were looking for a sign of intelligent lifethat is, radio signalsthe best way to detect them is by radio telescope. My favorite telescope array is known as the Very Large Array (VLA), which is tuned to capture radio signals from space. Because these signals are so weak, and the radio background from the earth is so high, scientists compensate by adding up the signals from many telescopes. The VLA is made up of 27 independent dishes, each of which has a diameter of 82 feet. The dishes are distributed over about 15 miles in Socorro, New Mexico. You may remember this array from the movie Contact.

VLA observes objects that emit radio waves, many of which are invisible to conventional telescopes, such as radio galaxies quasars, pulsars, supernova remnants, gamma-ray bursts, black holes, and the hydrogen gas that constitutes much of the galaxy. A search of the galaxies M31 and M32 was conducted in December 2014 through January 2015 with the intent of quickly searching trillions of systems for extremely powerful signals from advanced civilizationsjust like the movie Contact. So far no contact has been reported, but data analysis is ongoing. You never know

And we cant forget one of the most significant discoveries of the century, the image of a real black holeor rather of the material orbiting a black hole, known as the accretion disk. The image, shown here, is of a supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy M87 was released April of last year. The M87 black hole is 53 million light years away, and is composed of matter that is equivalent to 6.5 billion times the mass of our sun. Capturing this picture required coordinated viewing of 8 telescopes around the world for a week, and is a story in itself. This planet-scale telescopic array is known as the EHT or Event Horizon Telescope, and it images gamma rays. If you want to inspire your imagination even more, have a look at this video made by the EHT group, zooming in to the heart of M87; it is an image of celestial beauty.

And Ill close with one of my favorites, a 3-D map of the entire universe! This map was published in August by the University of Hawaii. Although there are other 3-D maps of the universe, this gives a much better sense of proportion since it is a video. The universe, which is now thought to be 93 billion light years in size, has considerably more structure than anyone realized, and is more beautiful than you could have imagined! Watch the video and take a brief journey through the 93 billion light-year span of the universe.

Astronomy has given us new eyes to see the heavens and has revealed things about the sky that I could never have imagined. Weve had a glimpse of the beginnings of the universe, and had close up views of the surface of the planets, their moons and nearby asteroids. Weve identified hundreds of exoplanets, some of which may have the capability to support life. In deep space, weve seen distant galaxies, the birthplace of stars, quasars, found evidence of dark matter, and even observed a black hole! Although neither us nor our spaceships will ever visit these far distant objects, which are millions of light years away, our horizons continue to expand as we learn more and more about our universe. So look to the skies, youll be surprised at what you can see. You can find some of the beautiful images and discoveries that these telescopes have made, as well as detailed information the telescopes, probes, and other space science at the NASA web site, nasa.gov.
Update, 7 a.m. Feb. 17: This post has been updated to reflect that closing arguments have been delayed until Wednesday. They were originally scheduled for Tuesday, but the lawyers need more time to devise jury instructions.

After three weeks of testimony, attorneys in the double murder trial of Jeremy Christian are expected to make their closing arguments Wednesday.

Attorneys questioned their final witnesses and presented the last of their evidence on Friday. The Multnomah County Circuit Court is closed Monday in observance of Presidents Day.

Christian is accused of killing Ricky Best, 53, and Taliesin Namkai-Meche, 23, and wounding Micah Fletcher, then 21, on May 26, 2017, on a Green Line train as it pulled into the Hollywood Transit Center in Northeast Portland.

Heres what happened last week.

Defense mounts self-defense case

Stephen Yerger, a use-of-force consultant hired by Christians defense team, testified Monday that Fletcher, the only stabbing victim to survive, 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.

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.

Prosecution, defense witnesses debate Christians mental state

On Tuesday, a neuropsychologist testified that Christian has slightly slower than normal processing speeds and trouble assessing unfamiliar circumstances -- and that those cognitive deficits could have led him to stab three men.

Glena Andrews, a professor of clinical psychology at George Fox University in Newberg, said Christian has trouble understanding a situation from another persons perspective, and he can get fixated on his fervent belief in free speech.

He will not see the full picture, Andrews said.

Also Tuesday, another psychologist testified that he diagnosed Jeremy Christian with autism spectrum disorder and that sometimes people with that condition lose emotional control of themselves.

But on Friday, a forensic psychiatrist who assessed Christian for the prosecution told jurors that the MAX train stabbings defendant doesnt have any major mental illnesses and isnt a psychopath.

Rather, Christian has a way of interacting with the world common to many criminals, said Dr. Alan Newman.

Newman diagnosed Christian with antisocial personality disorder, which is characterized by violence, aggression, lack of compassion for others and criminal thinking.

Christian declines to testify

Christian said Wednesday he would not exercise his right to testify in his trial.

The development clearly came as a surprise to some in the courtroom. Both before and after the stabbings, Christian said he cherishes free speech and that speaking his mind is one of his most important rights.

Christian told Multnomah County Circuit Judge Cheryl Albrecht that he alone made the final decision not to take the witness stand. He said he spoke to his attorneys Tuesday night about whether hed testify. One of his lawyers said theyd also discussed the topic many times before that.

Stay informed

-- The Oregonian/OregonLive
By Sangmi Cha and Hyonhee Shin

SEOUL (Reuters) - 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, already having netted three other Oscars in a historic first for the country.

Director Bong Joon-ho's "Parasite" 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.

"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.

LANGUAGE BARRIERS FALLING

Although South Korea's film industry is one of the largest in the world, the Korean-language "Parasite" made unprecedented waves in international markets.

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.

Story continues

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.

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.

"HISTORIC MOMENT"

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 realized that the status of Korean films has dramatically increased thanks to 'Parasite,'" the company said in a statement.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said the film's cast and crew helped instil "pride and courage in our people as we come together to weather difficulties."

"I am very pleased to see a Korean film shoulder to shoulder with those of other countries," he added.

Hashtags Parasite and DirectorBongJoonho 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."

(Reporting by Sangmi Cha and Hyonhee Shin; Additional reporting by Hyun Young Yi, Daewoung Kim and Chaeyoun Won; Editing by Josh Smith, Himani Sarkar and Gerry Doyle)
A two-day international conference to mark forty years of Afghan refugees' presence in Pakistan began on Sunday, attended by world leaders and United Nations (UN) officials.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated the conference in Pakistan, extending support in his speech for the Afghan peace process.

Khan said he believed people in Afghanistan "have suffered more than any human community" in the last 40 years, and that "we have tried our best whatever support we can give to these peace talks."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, attended the conference, with ministers and senior officials from around twenty countries also expected.

Addressing the opening event of the conference, Guterres said, "we know the solutions lies in Afghanistan and I hope the signals of a possible best way for peace will lead to a better future for the people of Afghanistan."

The conference is taking place at an important juncture, as efforts at consolidating peace in Afghanistan make progress.

Pakistan is home to an estimated 5 million registered and undocumented people who fled neighbouring Afghanistan during various conflicts.

More than 1.5 million Afghan people still live as refugees in Pakistan, many living in camps, while others have built lives for themselves in Pakistan's cities.

The conference, titled "40 years of Afghan Refugees Presence in Pakistan," is being organised jointly by the Government of Pakistan in collaboration with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
Indian Navy's Poseidon 8I anti-submarine warfare aircraft was deployed to carry out surveillance on movement of Chinese troops during the 73-day-long standoff between India and China in mountainous Doklam.

Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat confirmed the use of the naval aircraft while talking about the need for bringing in tri-services synergy in dealing with national security challenges.

"The P-8I aircraft of Indian Navy was deployed in Doklam (during the face-off)," Gen Rawat told a group of journalists.

Troops of India and China were locked in a standoff in Doklam from June 16, 2017 after the Indian side stopped the building of a road in the disputed area by the Chinese Army.

The face-off triggered fears of a war between the two neighbours. The standoff ended on August 28, 2017 after over 10 rounds of talks between diplomats of the two sides.

The P-8Is were also deployed to keep an eye on movement of Pakistani troops after the Pulwama terror attack last year.

"The P-8I aircraft were the most potent platform to carry out surveillance -- be it sea or mountains. The aircraft were live-streaming data to support decision making during the Doklam face-off," said defence expert Capt D K Sharma (retd).

Sharma said deployment of the P-8Is signified synergy among the Army and the Navy in dealing with the major crisis.

The P-8I, based on the Boeing next-generation 737 commercial airplane, is a variant of the P-8A Poseidon used by the US Navy.

India was Boeing's first international customer for this aircraft.

The first P-8I aircraft was inducted into the Indian Navy in 2013 and, at present, it has a fleet of eight P 8Is.

In 2016, the defence ministry had placed a follow-on order for four additional P-8I, the delivery of which will begin by April 2020.

Last year the government cleared procurement of another batch of six P-8Is.
Kawhi Leonard was honored with the first-ever Kobe Bryant MVP Award.

The Clippers star recorded 30 points on 11-18 shooting and led Team LeBron to a victory over Team Giannis at the United Center. As soon as he was announced as the recipient of the first ever Bryant MVP Award, 'The Klaw' shared his admiration for the 'Black Mamba'.

Its very special. Like I said, I had a relationship with him. Words cant explain how happy I am for it. Able to put that trophy in my room, in my trophy room, and just be able to see Kobes name on there, it just means a lot to me. Hes a big inspiration in my life. He did a lot for me, he said.

Leonard, who was two finals MVPs after helping San Antonio and Toronto win championships, made history as the 7th. player in history to be named as an All-Star starter with three different teams.

Even though the 28 year-old is only missing the regular season MVP in his trophy cabinet, he revealed that is not a priority for him at this point.

My mindset is always just to try to make my team the best team at the end of the regular season, Leonard said. And if I'm fortunate enough to win a regular season MVP, then I'll be happy with it. I always just want to win championships. I'm not really concerned with the personal goal. So I always want to play to win championships.
Randeep Hooda is a great actor and time and again he has proved that. Even in his latest release, Love Aaj Kal, which failed to impress the audiences, his cameo is the saviour, people say. Randeep's performance is being loved by critics as well as audiences.

Twitter

His fans know that he advocates wildlife protection in real life. Randeep has often tweeted about animal cruelty. He has even adopted nine horses. He is indeed an ardent animal lover.

Twitter

So much so, that some time ago, he tweeted to Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways and Coal, about the poor state of railway infrastructure that was causing elephant deaths.





Dear sirs @PiyushGoyal @narendramodi @drharshvardhan @nitin_gadkari ji all infrastructure development has to consider its a dire necessity & if so then its sensitivity towards voiceless creatures who have withstood many empires & are now at our mercy..it cant be just kilometres https://t.co/lRlnD9dCbn  Randeep Hooda (@RandeepHooda) November 24, 2018





Now, he has been named as the ambassador for migratory species along with Internationally-renowned conservationist Ian Redmond OBE, award-winning explorer and environmentalist Sacha Dench.

They have both been named as CMS Ambassadors for Migratory Species until 2023 under the redesigned Ambassadors Programme launched at CMS COP13.

Ambassadors can either be global celebrities who have expressed a desire to contribute to raising awareness of migratory species and the work of the convention, or prominent individuals from conservation, science, literature, or other fields who can mobilize attention for specific issues or species.

pinimg.com

"Migration is a part and parcel of the life cycle of many species. It is not only important for them but also important for our planet. They make this world a healthy and more diverse place. Many of them are under threat and we need to work jointly across the globe to protect them," Randeep Hooda said.

glamsham.com

Aquatic species are often the least discussed but undertake amazing migrations. Biodiversity underwater needs to be conserved. "As an Ambassador, I hope to take the conversation about conservation from conferences to local cooperation," Hooda added.


Parents of children who suffer from Cystic Fibrosis are to hold a candlelight vigil outside City Hall this Friday night.

The event is part of a national campaign urging the HSE and the Minister for Health to make the drug Orkambi available to those who have the disease.

Manufactured by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Orkambi is a breakthrough drug that could change the lives of hundreds of CF sufferers in Ireland.

Its the first drug to treat the underlying cause of the most common form of CF  Double Delta F508.

Months of negotiations last year failed to produce an agreement to supply the drug to around 550 Irish patients.

While Vertex initially sought 159,000 per patient per year, it says it substantially reduced its asking price during the talks.

The candlelight vigil, which begins at Merchants Quay at 7pm, has been organised by close friends Joy ODonoghue and Katie Sheehan whose two sons  Jason (8) and Michael (3)  both suffer from CF.

Basically, there was a protest in Dublin before Christmas and we are looking for access to Orkambi. There are people on it in Ireland as part of a trial and they are still on it and its halted the diease and it has prevented them for having long stays in hospital and it has dramatically changed their lives but the government dont want to fund it at the price its being offered, said Joy.

A number of local politicans are expected to attend the candlelight vigil which is due to last around an hour.
Cubas oppositional culture and its citizens belief in their countrys exceptionality were forged in three wars for independence from Spain in the 19th century. These wars unleashed the dream of a meritocratic nation founded on the promise to reverse four centuries of genocide and colonialism.

The United States stole this dream by occupying the island and denying Cuba a victory over Spain in 1898. The United States also began a century-long policy of near-constant political intervention and support for dictatorship that engulfed not only Cuba until 1959, but also most of Latin America until the 1990s.

By the 1950s, a radical political culture and belief in the rights of citizens to control their government and create a more equitable economy had not gone away in Cuba. What the country lacked was a sovereign and accountable state that would fulfill their visions. From 1902, when the first American military occupation ended, and 1959, Cubans launched no less than five armed revolutionary movements against a corrupt state more beholden for its existence to American businesses than to the people.

Remembering this history became tantamount to treason among exiles in Cuban Miami, but the anti-imperialist nationalism it produced on the island was a powerful weapon for Castro. For decades, the Cuban state has relied on this weapon to justify the silencing of critics and create a vast Soviet-trained security apparatus and culture of siege.

Through block organizations established in 1960 called Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, for example, the Cuban state demanded and enforced loyalty to itself. Until the collapse of the Soviet Union and the disappearance of its over $4 billion annual subsidy forced the Cuban government to pass reforms, one could not run a nail salon or organize a chess club unless it was owned or authorized by the Cuban state.

Since the early 1990s, the state, strapped for cash, has reversed its condemnation of neoliberal capitalism in favor of million-dollar joint ventures with foreign investors. Today, Cuban Army officers have become wealthy running Gaesa, a conglomerate that owns Cubas tourist facilities and operates free trade zones. Yet at least 80 percent of ordinary Cubans rely on government jobs that paybetween $17 and $44 a month and food rations that dont meet basic needs. Why dont Cubans rebel? They have a ready answer: Como vas a manifestarte si hasta los hombres aqui se encuentran descalzos y embarazados? (How can you protest when even the men here are barefoot and pregnant?)

After the 1959 Revolution, Cubans who arrived in the United States had to abandon in most respects the very principles that had defined what it meant to be Cuban in order to justify living in the United States. They had to reconcile the facts of Cubas fight against the United States control before 1959 with their abandonment of that fight and its outcome: the rise of a Communist state under the leadership of Fidel.
YEREVAN.  The story of the caviar is 100 percent true; it happened. Narek Samsonyan, President of the "Civil Consciousness" NGO and founder of the Antifake website of Armenia, said this during a discussion today, referring to the criminal case brought against him.

According to the indictment, Samsonyan, knowing that the information he provided was false, he informed on Facebook and then during a questioning at the Special Investigation Service as a witness stated that the Armenian Prime Minister allegedly bought black caviar from a Yerevan restaurant for $3,000/kg. After that, the Prime Minister's security officials visited the restaurant and wanted to buy another kilogram of black caviar on the condition of payment by bank transfer, but the restaurant administration informed that in that case, one kilogram of black caviar would cost $5,000. According to Samsonyan, after learning about it, the Prime Minister decided to punish the restaurant through the State Revenue Committee.

"Now they have no way back and that criminal case created," Samsonyan said. "This is a part of hate speech and is a consequence of hate speech."

He added that they have uncovered the YouTube channels that are directly funded by a prominent government SNCO and a deputy who has links to a prominent oligarch, and which are spreading hatred in favor of PM Nikol Pashinyan.

"Today we are dealing with a type of media that is encouraged by the power, which spreads lies, hate speech, and slander," Samsonyan said. "In terms of media, today we are heading toward North Korea."

He noted that there are currently three criminal cases against him.

"The NA [National Assembly] Speaker [Ararat Mirzoyan] has filed a lawsuit against me; this time asking for big sums - 3.5 million drams," he emphasized. In the case when I have two witnesses, in the presence of whom Ararat Mirzoyan used drugs; we will not reveal our sources."
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 14-Feb-20 (MM) (US$MM) 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2019E %

Altius Minerals Corp ALS 1.8 C$10.65 42 $338 0.42 0.50 0.48 21.1 22.3 0.35 0.96 1.03 11.1 10.3 -- 1.6%

Anglo Pacific Group PLC (UK) APF 1.8 GBP$1.54 181 $363 0.18 0.21 0.21 7.4 7.4 0.20 0.23 0.22 6.7 6.9 16.9 4.6%

Franco-Nevada FNV 2.3 US$115.59 189 $21,773 1.17 1.72 2.15 67.2 53.6 2.55 3.25 3.89 35.6 29.7 44.8 1.1%

Maverix Metals (CA) MMX 2.1 C$6.45 108 $526 0.04 0.06 0.13 NM 49.0 0.24 0.22 0.34 29.9 18.9 -- 0.0%

Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd OR 2.1 C$13.64 157 $1,624 0.20 0.26 0.32 53.3 42.6 0.53 0.62 0.73 22.1 18.7 56.2 1.6%

Royal Gold Inc RGLD 3.2 US$102.92 66 $6,749 1.60 2.05 2.69 50.3 38.3 4.45 4.51 5.35 22.8 19.2 24.8 0.9%

Sandstorm Gold Ltd (CA) SAND 2.1 US$7.16 175 $1,252 0.03 0.09 0.13 79.6 56.5 0.24 0.30 0.40 23.9 18.1 34.0 0.0%

Wheaton Precious Metals WPM 1.9 US$29.99 447 $13,399 0.48 0.57 0.89 52.3 33.8 1.22 1.17 1.50 25.7 20.0 23.6 1.4%

Average 47.3 37.9 22.2 17.7 33.4

Gold

Large Cap Gold

Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd AEM 2.1 US$49.87 239 $11,913 0.31 0.96 1.64 51.9 30.5 2.60 3.70 4.79 13.5 10.4 15.3 0.9%

Barrick Gold Corp ABX 2.1 US$19.72 1778 $35,040 0.35 0.51 0.73 38.7 27.2 1.51 1.61 2.30 12.2 8.6 11.9 1.1%

Kirkland Lake Gold (CA) KL 2.7 US$36.99 210 $7,745 1.36 2.74 2.81 13.5 13.2 2.58 4.27 4.50 8.7 8.2 40.6 0.3%

Newcrest Mining Ltd (AU) NCM 3.2 US$18.79 769 $14,457 0.66 0.85 0.99 22.1 19.0 1.90 1.84 1.87 10.2 10.0 11.8 1.1%

Newmont Goldcorp NEM 2.1 US$44.07 820 $36,130 1.34 1.30 1.94 33.9 22.7 3.41 3.88 4.88 11.4 9.0 17.7 1.5%

Polyus Gold International (UK) PGIL 2.0 RU$8,003.00 134 $16,884 617.74 769.61 826.34 10.4 9.7 589.63 1054.82 1014.76 7.6 7.9 -- 2.3%

Zijin Mining Group (HK) 2899 1.6 CNY$3.44 25377 $15,611 0.18 0.17 0.21 19.7 16.2 0.44 0.37 0.49 9.3 7.1 24.4 0.0%

Average 27.2 19.8 10.4 8.8 20.3

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 14-Feb-20 (MM) (US$MM) 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2019E %

Alamos Gold AGI 2.2 US$6.01 391 $2,349 0.05 0.21 0.26 29.2 23.0 0.55 0.73 0.71 8.3 8.4 14.3 0.7%

AngloGold Ashanti Ltd AU 2.8 US$19.89 415 $8,235 0.51 1.13 2.24 17.6 8.9 2.05 2.60 4.82 7.6 4.1 6.6 0.4%

B2Gold Corp BTG 1.6 US$4.14 1026 $4,246 0.16 0.24 0.39 17.3 10.7 0.43 0.50 0.67 8.3 6.2 13.8 0.0%

Buenaventura (ADR) BVN 2.9 US$12.31 276 $3,462 (0.02) 0.40 0.62 31.0 19.8 1.36 0.58 0.99 21.1 12.5 12.3 0.8%

Centerra Gold (CA) CG 2.3 US$7.37 294 $2,163 0.26 0.70 1.00 10.5 7.3 0.74 1.44 2.01 5.1 3.7 6.4 0.0%

Endeavour Mining Corp (CA) EDV 1.8 US$18.77 110 $2,061 0.49 0.58 1.51 32.4 12.4 2.33 2.90 3.96 6.5 4.7 11.8 0.0%

Evolution Mining Ltd (AU) EVN 2.8 AUD$4.23 1704 $4,843 0.14 0.16 0.21 26.0 19.7 0.39 0.43 0.50 9.9 8.5 10.7 3.4%

Gold Fields Ltd (ADR) GFI 3.3 US$6.10 829 $5,262 0.07 0.20 0.48 30.5 12.8 0.75 1.08 1.46 5.7 4.2 5.7 0.6%

Kinross Gold Corp KGC 2.5 US$5.05 1254 $6,330 0.10 0.34 0.41 14.9 12.4 0.63 0.97 1.06 5.2 4.8 9.0 0.0%

Northern Star Resources (AU) NST 2.9 AUD$13.58 739 $6,746 0.30 0.44 0.73 31.2 18.6 0.58 0.81 1.15 16.8 11.8 21.5 1.3%

NovaGold Resources Inc NG 2.0 US$9.02 328 $2,950 (0.10) (0.09) -- -- -- -- -- (0.03) -- -- -- 0.0%

Polymetal International PLC (UK) POLY 2.4 US$16.60 470 $7,806 1.00 1.17 1.55 14.2 10.7 1.14 1.44 1.97 11.6 8.4 12.6 4.0%

Pretium Resources PVG 2.9 US$7.42 185 $1,375 0.54 0.55 0.48 13.5 15.5 1.07 1.21 1.09 6.1 6.8 -- 0.0%

Saracen Mineral Holdings (AU) SAR 2.0 AUD$4.13 1103 $3,060 0.10 0.17 0.27 24.4 15.4 0.25 0.32 0.43 12.8 9.6 47.5 0.0%

Sibanye Gold Ltd (SA) SGL 1.7 ZAR$42.10 2670 $7,522 (0.01) 1.86 9.41 22.6 4.5 5.31 3.18 12.99 13.2 3.2 12.8 0.0%

SSR Mining SSRM 2.0 US$18.13 123 $2,232 0.23 0.76 1.02 23.9 17.8 0.50 1.55 2.11 11.7 8.6 10.0 0.0%

Yamana Gold Inc AUY 2.5 US$4.10 950 $3,894 0.12 0.35 0.19 11.7 21.8 0.43 0.52 0.67 7.9 6.1 7.7 0.8%

Zhaojin Mining Industry Co Ltd (HK) 1818 2.3 CNY$7.74 3270 $3,625 0.15 0.21 0.32 37.3 23.9 0.53 0.78 1.10 10.0 7.0 20.3 0.5%

Average 22.8 15.0 9.9 7.0 13.9

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 14-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$4.66 295 $1,370 0.05 0.37 0.40 12.6 11.5 0.33 0.86 0.85 5.4 5.5 49.0 0.0%

Centamin Egypt (CA) CEE 2.3 US$1.77 1156 $2,043 0.06 0.07 0.11 26.6 16.8 0.19 0.11 0.15 16.6 12.0 4.4 4.8%

Continental Gold Inc (CA) CNL 2.3 US$4.11 214 $880 (0.16) (0.15) 0.13 -- 31.2 (0.07) (0.07) 0.35 -- 11.9 -- 0.0%

DRDGold Ltd (ADR) DROOY 5.0 ZAR$9.50 865 $550 0.06 0.38 0.80 25.0 11.9 1.17 1.26 -- 7.5 -- 20.4 5.8%

Dundee Precious Metals (CA) DPM 1.9 US$4.44 181 $802 0.16 0.19 0.60 23.4 7.5 0.55 0.55 1.01 8.1 4.4 10.9 0.0%

Eldorado Gold Corp EGO 2.8 US$6.74 159 $1,057 (0.17) 0.06 0.88 NM 7.7 0.42 1.02 2.15 6.6 3.1 9.3 0.0%

Equinox Gold Corp (CA) EQX 2.2 US$8.96 113 $1,015 (0.10) 0.17 0.65 54.0 13.9 (0.25) 0.79 1.33 11.4 6.7 -- 0.0%

Gold Resource Corp GORO 2.0 US$5.05 66 $331 0.15 0.44 -- 11.6 -- -- -- -- -- 0.7%

Gold Road Resources Ltd (AU) GOR 2.3 AUD$1.65 879 $974 (0.02) 0.01 0.09 NM 17.6 (0.02) 0.06 0.15 28.4 11.4 -- 0.0%

Golden Star Resources GSS 2.5 US$2.90 160 $318 (0.02) 0.17 0.25 17.1 11.4 (0.09) 0.32 0.69 9.1 4.2 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 2.3 ZAR$46.68 542 $1,694 1.80 4.10 7.05 11.4 6.6 8.56 11.42 15.36 4.1 3.0 6.7 0.0%

Hecla Mining Co HL 3.2 US$2.92 523 $1,528 (0.11) (0.13) 0.02 -- NM 0.22 0.23 0.31 12.5 9.3 8.3 0.3%

Highland Gold Mining Ltd (UK) HGM 2.0 US$2.67 364 $973 0.15 0.31 0.32 8.8 8.4 0.37 0.44 0.49 6.1 5.5 7.8 6.1%

Hochschild Mining PLC (UK) HOC 2.5 US$2.13 514 $1,093 0.05 0.12 0.14 18.2 15.1 0.36 0.46 0.46 4.6 4.7 3.7 1.7%

Iamgold Corp IAG 2.7 US$2.98 468 $1,398 0.06 (0.03) 0.17 -- 17.4 0.41 0.51 0.80 5.8 3.7 3.8 0.0%

K92 Mining (CA) KNT 1.4 US$3.03 213 $644 0.07 0.12 0.26 25.7 11.6 0.09 0.21 0.33 14.2 9.1 -- 0.0%

Leagold Mining Corp (CA) LMC 2.5 US$2.92 285 $831 0.07 0.13 0.34 22.9 8.5 0.20 0.47 0.64 6.2 4.6 -- 0.0%

Lundin Gold Inc (CA) LUG 2.0 US$8.69 224 $1,942 (0.12) (0.21) 0.38 -- 22.9 (0.17) (0.12) 0.62 -- 14.1 -- 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$0.75 673 $508 (0.02) (0.08) (0.03) -- -- 0.33 0.43 0.39 1.8 2.0 3.8 0.0%

Oceanagold Corp (AU) OGC 2.1 US$1.87 622 $1,173 0.20 0.05 0.17 37.2 11.3 0.55 0.34 0.40 5.6 4.6 4.6 0.2%

Orla Mining Ltd (CA) OLA 2.0 C$2.33 187 $329 (0.17) (0.17) (0.09) -- -- (0.14) (0.12) (0.08) -- -- -- 0.0%

Osisko Mining Corp (CA) OSK 1.8 C$3.61 291 $792 (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 $317 0.01 0.02 0.03 8.1 5.2 0.01 0.03 0.04 6.3 4.0 12.2 1.3%

Perseus Mining Ltd (AU) PRU 2.2 AUD$1.19 1168 $934 0.00 0.02 0.05 59.8 24.3 0.10 0.14 0.17 8.5 6.9 -- 0.0%

Petropavlovsk PLC (UK) POG 2.0 US$0.22 3310 $726 0.01 0.02 0.04 13.7 5.8 0.07 0.02 0.03 14.6 6.7 6.5 0.0%

Regis Resources Ltd (AU) RRL 2.9 AUD$4.29 508 $1,465 0.33 0.38 0.44 11.4 9.7 0.53 0.57 0.61 7.6 7.1 8.1 3.0%

Ramelius Resources Ltd (AU) RMS 1.8 AUD$1.26 658 $555 0.05 0.06 0.10 20.6 12.2 0.23 0.23 0.26 5.5 4.8 9.0 1.4%

Resolute Mining Ltd (AU) RSG 2.1 AUD$1.12 1036 $776 0.06 0.19 0.22 5.9 5.0 0.14 0.28 0.33 4.0 3.3 -- 0.0%

St Barbara Ltd (AU) SBM 2.4 AUD$2.73 699 $1,282 0.32 0.25 0.29 11.0 9.5 0.52 0.41 0.46 6.6 6.0 3.4 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$17.43 63 $831 (0.34) (0.12) (0.08) -- -- (0.16) (6.29) -- -- -- -- 0.0%

Semafo (CA) SMF 2.3 US$2.36 334 $789 (0.01) 0.25 0.28 9.4 8.4 0.34 0.77 0.69 3.1 3.4 5.8 0.0%

Silver Lake Resources (AU) SLR 2.8 AUD$1.69 880 $999 0.03 0.07 0.10 25.1 16.3 0.14 0.17 0.21 10.2 8.2 21.5 0.0%

Silvercrest Metals Inc SILV 1.8 C$8.77 105 $697 (0.07) (0.10) (0.06) -- -- (0.08) (0.08) (0.05) -- -- -- 0.0%

Teranga Gold Corp (CA) TGZ 1.3 US$5.78 108 $622 0.17 0.13 0.41 44.5 14.2 0.86 0.75 1.12 7.7 5.2 7.4 0.0%

Torex Gold Resources (CA) TXG 1.9 US$14.07 85 $1,200 0.23 0.69 0.88 20.4 15.9 2.68 3.14 2.95 4.5 4.8 8.0 0.0%

Victoria Gold Corp (CA) VIT 2.0 C$8.43 58 $366 -- 0.98 0.83 8.6 10.2 -- (0.40) 0.18 -- 48.2 -- --

Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd (CA) WDO 2.2 C$9.29 138 $966 0.11 0.33 0.47 27.8 20.0 0.34 0.59 0.60 15.7 15.4 73.4 0.0%

Westgold Resources Ltd (AU) WGX 2.0 AUD$2.19 400 $588 0.02 0.09 0.24 23.3 9.0 0.13 0.31 0.47 7.1 4.6 -- 0.0%

Average 21.3 12.8 8.5 9.1 12.9

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 14-Feb-20 (MM) (US$MM) 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2019E %

Alexco Resource Corp* AXU 2.3 C$2.33 119 $208 (0.08) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.0%

Americas Gold & Silver Corp (CA) USA 1.8 US$3.04 83 $251 (0.25) (0.27) 0.14 -- 22.2 0.21 0.00 0.45 -- 6.8 57.7 0.0%

Coeur Mining Corp CDE 2.8 US$5.98 241 $1,438 (0.01) (0.25) 0.20 -- 30.1 0.11 0.49 0.99 12.1 6.1 7.8 0.0%

Endeavour Silver Corp EXK 3.2 US$1.96 140 $274 (0.10) (0.26) 0.04 -- 54.1 0.21 (0.02) 0.24 -- 8.2 7.8 0.0%

First Majestic Silver Corp AG 2.6 US$9.60 205 $1,966 (0.21) 0.08 0.22 NM 44.2 0.18 0.53 0.49 18.1 19.5 17.8 0.0%

Fortuna Silver Mines FSM 2.1 US$3.50 160 $561 0.24 0.17 0.43 20.8 8.1 0.52 0.36 0.81 9.7 4.3 7.5 0.0%

Fresnillo (UK) FRES 2.7 US$8.81 737 $6,489 0.46 0.22 0.31 39.6 28.7 1.09 0.86 0.95 10.2 9.3 6.9 2.9%

MAG Silver Corp MAG 1.9 US$10.16 87 $879 (0.09) (0.05) 0.28 -- 36.9 (0.05) (0.04) 0.08 -- NM -- 0.0%

New Pacific Metals Corp (CA) NUAG 2.7 C$5.69 147 $632 (0.03) (0.02) (0.02) -- -- (0.02) (0.01) -- -- -- -- --

Pan American Silver PAAS 2.4 US$22.42 210 $4,691 0.39 0.64 0.77 35.3 29.3 1.01 1.49 2.26 15.0 9.9 17.9 0.9%

Silvercorp Metals Inc SVM 2.0 US$3.96 172 $682 0.21 0.21 0.21 18.5 18.6 0.40 0.43 0.40 9.3 10.0 -- 0.4%

Average 28.6 30.2 12.4 9.3 17.6

Platinum Group Metals

African Rainbow Minerals (SA) ARI 2.1 ZAR$162.00 224 $2,427 25.61 29.06 29.28 5.6 5.5 13.97 17.61 22.93 9.2 7.1 34.6 7.1%

Anglo American Platinum Ltd (SA) AMS 3.1 ZAR$1,261.51 270 $22,765 28.22 70.50 112.67 17.9 11.2 59.17 82.91 121.53 15.2 10.4 36.2 2.2%

Impala Platinum (SA) IMP 2.1 ZAR$164.55 799 $9,514 1.23 11.97 24.02 13.7 6.8 9.05 18.54 26.41 8.9 6.2 44.9 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$133.88 510 $4,567 (0.92) 4.87 12.68 27.5 10.6 3.39 15.79 25.08 8.5 5.3 89.8 0.0%

Average 12.6 7.4 8.1 18.4 51.4

Select ( Precious Metals >US$20MM Mkt Cap)

Gold Springs Resource Corp (CA)* GRC 2.0 US$0.09 249 $23 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.0%

Lion One Metals Ltd (CA)* LIO 2.0 C$1.92 106 $154 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.0%

Minera Alamos Inc (CA) MAI 2.0 C$0.28 407 $84 (0.02) 0.01 0.03 27.5 9.2 0.03 -- -- -- -- -- 0.0%

Northern Vertex Mining Corp (CA)* NEE 2.0 US$0.18 247 $44 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.0%

Paramount Gold Nevada Corp* PZG 1.7 US$0.90 28 $25 (0.26) (0.21) (0.15) -- -- (0.19) (0.13) -- -- -- 0.0%

Average 27.5 9.2

*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 14-Feb-20 (MM) (US$MM) 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2019E %

Anglo American PLC (UK) AAL 2.6 US$27.31 1367 $37,331 2.50 2.78 2.81 9.8 9.7 5.50 5.41 6.05 5.1 4.5 7.8 4.0%

Antofagasta PLC (UK) ANTO 2.7 US$11.32 986 $11,164 0.52 0.52 0.50 21.7 22.9 1.33 1.90 1.69 6.0 6.7 9.1 0.9%

BHP Billiton Ltd BHP 2.7 US$25.95 5058 $122,648 1.81 1.93 1.98 13.4 13.1 3.45 3.47 3.37 7.5 7.7 8.4 4.7%

China Molybdenum Co Ltd (HK) 3993 2.2 CNY$3.60 21599 $15,751 0.22 0.08 0.13 46.8 28.8 0.44 (0.18) 0.30 -- 12.0 60.2 0.0%

Freeport McMoran C&G FCX 2.3 US$12.24 1451 $17,759 1.52 0.02 0.36 NM 33.9 2.65 1.02 1.52 12.0 8.1 7.2 --

Glencore International PLC (UK) GLEN 2.1 US$3.05 13324 $40,667 0.41 0.16 0.22 19.3 13.8 0.81 0.58 0.63 5.3 4.8 7.2 2.9%

Grupo Mexico (MX) GMEXICOB 2.4 US$2.81 7785 $21,897 0.17 0.22 0.24 12.9 11.9 0.22 0.32 0.37 8.7 7.5 9.0 7.0%

Hindustan Zinc (IN) HZ 2.6 INR$190.65 4225 $11,295 19.47 17.85 18.81 10.7 10.1 21.39 21.57 23.63 8.8 8.1 5.8 0.0%

MMC Norilsk Nickel (RU) GMKN -- RU$5,429.84 158 $53,535 -- 899.94 1210.92 6.0 4.5 -- 689.72 1388.13 7.9 3.9 17.0 11.7%

Rio Tinto PLC (UK) RIO 2.8 US$54.75 1618 $92,627 5.12 6.21 5.42 8.8 10.1 6.88 8.74 8.00 6.3 6.8 8.2 5.3%

South32 Ltd (AU) S32 2.3 US$1.77 4900 $8,657 0.22 0.13 0.10 13.8 17.2 0.34 0.30 0.27 5.9 6.5 4.7 2.1%

Southern Copper Corp SCCO 2.4 US$39.26 773 $30,350 2.00 2.06 2.19 19.0 17.9 3.02 2.76 3.16 14.2 12.4 16.0 4.7%

Sumitomo Metal Mining (JP) 5713 2.3 JPY$3,172 291 $8,401 265.40 221.45 253.53 14.3 12.5 438.78 448.41 404.09 7.1 7.8 10.9 1.7%

Teck Resources Ltd TCK 2.0 C$17.83 547 $7,379 4.07 2.91 2.49 6.1 7.2 7.62 6.45 5.99 2.8 3.0 4.4 0.9%

Vale SA (ADR) VALE 2.5 BRL$51.01 5284 $62,714 5.27 4.85 7.10 10.5 7.2 9.94 9.35 9.28 5.5 5.5 9.5 4.1%

Average 15.2 14.7 7.3 7.0 12.4

Mid Cap

Assore Ltd (SA) ASR 2.8 ZAR$231.00 140 $2,158 55.70 58.61 50.79 3.9 4.5 14.60 18.27 27.33 12.6 8.5 7.9 6.5%

Aurubis AG (GR) NDA 2.9 EUR$50.96 45 $2,483 5.17 3.24 3.81 15.7 13.4 4.75 5.50 5.70 9.3 8.9 6.6 2.3%

Boliden AB (SW) BOL 2.7 SEK$233.40 274 $6,601 26.32 21.15 22.76 11.0 10.3 43.03 34.52 41.97 6.8 5.6 6.9 0.0%

Exxaro Resources Ltd (SA) EXX 1.7 ZAR$125.37 359 $3,009 20.57 26.00 27.05 4.8 4.6 (0.17) 15.24 11.81 8.2 10.6 7.7 8.8%

First Quantum Minerals (CA) FM 2.1 US$9.19 689 $6,329 0.71 0.36 0.33 25.5 28.2 2.87 1.29 2.51 7.1 3.7 15.7 0.1%

Iluka Resources Ltd (AU) ILU 2.9 AUD$9.53 423 $2,705 0.72 0.67 0.75 14.2 12.8 1.49 0.98 1.18 9.7 8.1 -- 2.2%

Independence Group NL (AU) IGO 2.9 AUD$5.75 591 $2,282 0.11 0.22 0.34 25.6 17.1 0.59 0.72 0.83 7.9 6.9 20.6 2.2%

Ivanhoe Mines Ltd (CA) IVP 2.1 US$2.72 1196 $3,246 0.03 (0.00) (0.04) -- -- (0.02) (0.03) (0.04) -- -- -- 0.0%

Jiangxi Copper Co "H" (HK) 358 2.3 CNY$8.75 3463 $6,081 0.70 0.74 0.83 11.9 10.6 2.36 1.57 1.14 5.6 7.7 14.5 2.2%

Kazakhmys PLC (UK) KAZ 2.2 US$6.46 472 $3,051 1.18 0.99 0.97 6.5 6.7 1.51 1.43 1.50 4.5 4.3 23.9 1.3%

KGHM Polska Miedz (PO) KGH 3.4 PLN$93.90 200 $4,798 8.29 10.96 10.12 8.6 9.3 19.30 20.40 19.13 4.6 4.9 5.7 0.0%

Lundin Mining Corp (CA) LUN 2.0 US$5.53 734 $4,058 0.30 0.21 0.44 26.2 12.6 0.65 0.73 1.10 7.6 5.0 8.0 0.0%

Mineral Resources Ltd (AU) MIN 2.0 AUD$18.76 188 $2,374 1.15 1.39 1.60 13.5 11.7 1.59 1.35 1.73 13.9 10.8 8.7 3.3%

MMG Ltd (HK) 1208 2.5 US$0.24 8055 $1,919 0.01 (0.01) 0.01 -- 36.1 0.21 0.09 0.14 2.7 1.7 12.0 0.0%

Oz Minerals (AU) OZL 2.5 AUD$10.16 324 $2,213 0.73 0.53 0.42 19.3 24.1 1.45 1.27 1.33 8.0 7.7 8.7 2.3%

Sesa Sterlite Ltd (ADR) SSLT 2.4 INR$141.10 3702 $7,324 17.89 15.81 16.98 8.9 8.3 60.18 53.92 49.94 2.6 2.8 4.3 1.2%

Vale Indonesia Tbk PT (ID) INCO 2.0 US$0.23 9936 $2,274 0.01 0.01 0.01 41.8 28.4 0.02 0.02 0.02 12.4 11.0 15.0 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 15.6 14.5 7.3 6.4 11.1

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 14-Feb-20 (MM) (US$MM) 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2019E %

Adriatic Metals PLC (AU) ADT 1.7 GBP$0.87 311 $350 (0.02) 0.01 0.30 80.7 2.9 (0.02) -- -- -- 0.0%

Atalaya Mining PLC (UK) ATYM 1.2 EUR$2.21 137 $329 0.25 0.24 0.42 9.1 5.3 0.40 0.17 0.27 13.0 8.3 20.7 0.0%

Eramet (FR) ERA 1.7 EUR$39.56 27 $1,142 1.83 (0.12) 5.63 -- 7.0 16.01 9.44 16.47 4.2 2.4 6.3 1.0%

Ero Copper Corp (CA) ERO 2.4 US$13.42 86 $1,149 0.03 0.60 1.03 22.3 13.0 0.94 1.46 1.71 9.2 7.9 -- 0.0%

Hudbay Minerals HBM 2.3 US$3.12 261 $813 0.40 (0.15) (0.06) -- -- 1.84 1.14 1.21 2.7 2.6 3.1 0.4%

Kenmare Resources (UK) KMR 1.8 US$3.39 110 $372 0.46 0.42 0.43 8.2 7.9 0.79 0.48 0.49 7.0 6.9 71.0 1.2%

Mitsui Mining & Smelting (JP) 5706 2.3 JPY$2,857 57 $1,491 58.51 111.75 223.16 25.6 12.8 649.22 624.86 732.96 4.6 3.9 6.6 2.4%

Nexa Resources NA NEXA 3.0 US$8.91 133 $1,187 0.25 (0.03) 0.13 -- 68.9 2.61 1.38 2.72 6.5 3.3 -- 6.5%

Outokumpu (FN) OUT1V 2.8 EUR$4.28 416 $1,930 0.34 (0.20) 0.18 -- 23.3 0.52 0.90 0.68 4.8 6.3 9.8 3.6%

Sandfire Resources NL (AU) SFR 2.6 AUD$5.22 178 $624 0.72 0.66 0.81 8.0 6.5 1.44 1.48 1.74 3.5 3.0 3.4 3.4%

SolGold PLC (UK) SOLG 1.6 US$0.25 1923 $481 (0.01) (0.01) (0.00) -- -- (0.00) 0.00 -- -- -- -- 0.0%

Trilogy Metals Inc TMQ 2.2 US$2.01 141 $286 (0.18) (0.20) (0.09) -- -- (0.18) (0.17) -- -- -- 0.0%

Turquoise Hill Resources TRQ 3.0 US$0.62 2012 $1,229 0.20 0.14 0.05 4.3 11.4 0.09 0.03 0.00 22.7 NM 6.9 0.0%

Volcan Cia Ninera VOLABC1 2.3 US$0.15 4077 $2,059 0.01 (0.00) 0.01 -- 11.8 -- -- -- -- -- 9.9 0.0%

Western Areas NL (AU) WSA 2.4 AUD$2.55 274 $469 0.04 0.14 0.26 17.8 10.0 0.32 0.43 0.51 5.9 5.0 8.9 1.0%

Average 22.0 15.1 7.6 5.0 14.7

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 14-Feb-20 (MM) (US$MM) 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2019E %

Alcoa Inc AA 2.6 US$15.67 186 $2,908 3.58 (0.99) (0.08) -- -- 2.38 3.70 2.38 4.2 6.6 5.1 0.0%

Alumina Ltd AWC 3.3 US$1.48 2880 $4,276 0.24 0.12 0.08 12.6 19.4 0.22 0.13 0.09 11.1 16.0 5.7 11.2%

Aluminum Corp China Ltd (ADR) ACH 2.4 CNY$2.02 17023 $6,973 0.04 0.07 0.10 27.7 20.4 0.77 0.84 0.85 2.4 2.4 14.3 0.0%

Century Aluminum CENX 2.5 US$5.67 89 $504 (0.14) (1.45) 0.18 -- 31.5 (0.79) 0.06 1.01 94.5 5.6 26.3 0.0%

United Company Rusal Ltd (HK) 486 2.1 US$0.55 15193 $8,431 0.11 0.08 0.11 6.9 5.2 0.05 0.10 0.08 5.3 6.7 10.6 0.0%

Average 15.8 19.1 23.5 7.5 12.4

Iron Ore

Cliffs Natural Resources CLF 2.7 US$7.39 271 $2,006 3.71 1.09 0.71 6.8 10.4 1.57 1.85 1.01 4.0 7.3 10.4 3.1%

Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (AU) FMG 3.2 US$7.38 3079 $22,732 0.69 1.17 1.06 6.3 6.9 0.96 1.57 1.47 4.7 5.0 6.3 4.8%

Kumba Iron Ore Ltd (SA) KIO 3.8 ZAR$351.23 322 $7,570 30.06 56.08 46.19 6.3 7.6 47.32 88.62 66.02 4.0 5.3 5.8 9.3%

Labrador Iron Ore Royalty (CA) LIF 2.1 C$21.03 64 $1,014 2.01 3.29 2.59 6.4 8.1 2.32 3.56 2.67 5.9 7.9 14.3 5.2%

Mount Gibson Iron Limited (AU) MGX 3.3 AUD$0.80 1158 $622 0.07 0.12 0.10 6.8 7.8 0.07 0.10 0.15 7.8 5.3 25.8 3.9%

Average 6.5 8.2 5.3 6.2 12.5

Fertilizers

CF Industries CF 2.6 US$38.30 217 $8,328 1.24 2.31 2.13 16.6 18.0 6.40 6.79 6.21 5.6 6.2 17.2 2.5%

Compass Minerals CMP 2.2 US$63.20 34 $2,141 1.93 1.90 3.36 33.3 18.8 5.63 4.71 7.35 13.4 8.6 12.8 --

Incitec Pivot Ltd (AU) IPL 2.8 AUD$3.09 1613 $3,349 0.18 0.11 0.17 27.9 17.9 0.36 0.29 0.39 10.7 7.9 10.1 1.4%

Intrepid Potash IPI 3.0 US$2.14 132 $282 0.09 0.12 0.13 18.2 16.5 0.49 0.33 0.32 6.6 6.8 -- 0.0%

Israel Chemical (IS) ICL 2.4 US$4.16 1280 $5,328 0.37 0.37 0.40 11.2 10.4 0.48 0.77 0.71 5.4 5.9 7.5 3.9%

K & S Aktiengesellschaft (GR) SDF 2.6 EUR$8.90 191 $1,846 0.22 0.49 0.59 18.3 15.2 1.61 2.69 2.72 3.3 3.3 8.8 2.0%

Mosaic Co MOS 2.3 US$18.75 379 $7,102 2.12 0.46 0.94 41.1 20.0 3.75 3.30 3.23 5.7 5.8 10.2 0.7%

Nutrien Ltd NTR 2.1 US$41.28 573 $23,603 2.69 2.28 2.65 18.1 15.6 3.28 6.58 5.35 6.3 7.7 -- 3.5%

Sirius Minerals PLC (UK) SXX 2.0 GBP$0.05 7020 $483 (0.00) (0.00) (0.01) -- -- -- (0.00) (0.00) -- -- -- 0.0%

Sociedad Quimica Minera (ADR) SQM 3.1 US$30.57 263 $7,555 1.67 1.06 1.22 28.9 25.1 1.99 1.58 1.56 19.4 19.6 10.8 4.6%

Yara International ASA (NO) YAR 2.3 US$40.94 272 $11,152 1.68 3.09 3.33 13.2 12.3 2.77 7.00 6.28 5.8 6.5 9.0 4.1%

Average 22.7 17.0 8.2 7.8 10.8

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 14-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 $3,087 0.01 0.01 0.01 6.6 7.5 0.03 0.02 0.02 4.1 4.3 5.1 9.5%

Banpu Public Co Ltd (TH) BANPU 2.8 US$0.32 5162 $1,660 0.08 0.02 0.03 13.6 9.3 0.08 0.07 0.06 4.3 5.2 15.5 5.8%

China Coal Energy Co (HK) 1898 2.4 CNY$2.46 13259 $7,190 0.34 0.49 0.47 5.0 5.3 1.54 1.53 1.53 1.6 1.6 11.4 2.7%

China Shenhua Energy Co (HK) 1088 2.5 CNY$13.09 19890 $45,897 2.22 2.22 2.07 5.9 6.3 4.44 3.98 3.43 3.3 3.8 4.8 6.3%

Consol Energy CNX 2.9 US$6.08 187 $1,135 1.36 0.60 0.42 10.1 14.3 4.13 5.12 3.99 1.2 1.5 6.9 0.0%

Whitehaven Coal Ltd (AU) WHC 2.3 AUD$2.50 1026 $1,723 0.54 0.34 0.17 7.2 14.7 0.87 0.62 0.40 4.1 6.3 6.1 8.0%

Yancoal Australia Ltd YAL 2.5 AUD$2.89 1320 $2,546 0.63 0.41 0.40 7.0 7.2 -- -- -- -- -- -- 9.0%

Yanzhou Coal Mining Co Ltd (HK) 1171 2.8 CNY$5.73 4912 $5,517 1.75 1.83 1.59 3.1 3.6 3.71 3.63 3.36 1.6 1.7 16.2 0.0%

Average 7.3 8.5 2.9 3.5 9.4

Small Cap

Alliance Resource Partners LP ARLP 2.3 US$8.04 127 $1,020 2.99 0.67 0.61 12.1 13.3 5.31 1.81 1.90 4.4 4.2 2.6 19.8%

Arch Coal Inc ARCH 2.0 US$56.01 15 $848 15.15 12.58 10.61 4.5 5.3 20.26 24.26 22.19 2.3 2.5 -- 2.5%

Fushan Int'l Energy Group (HK) 639 2.3 HK$1.63 5302 $1,113 0.21 0.22 0.22 7.3 7.4 0.31 0.32 0.42 5.1 3.9 6.7 10.0%

NLC India Ltd (IN) NLCINDIA -- INR$52.40 1387 $1,019 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 8.0 0.0%

Natural Resource Partners LP NRP -- US$16.87 12 $207 6.43 5.20 4.12 3.2 4.1 9.19 7.06 5.28 2.4 3.2 3.2 7.1%

New Hope Corp Ltd (AU) NHC 2.0 AUD$1.90 832 $1,062 0.31 0.28 0.21 6.9 9.0 0.44 0.36 0.34 5.3 5.6 12.4 6.8%

PT Tambang Batubara Bukit (ID) PTBA 2.5 IDR$2,330 11521 $1,963 477.00 371.62 324.44 6.3 7.2 746.44 297.65 315.30 7.8 7.4 8.1 15.0%

Average 6.7 7.7 4.6 4.5 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 14-Feb-20 (MM) (US$MM) 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2019E %

Cameco Corp CCJ 2.4 C$12.25 396 $3,659 0.53 0.10 0.03 NM NM 1.68 0.90 0.77 13.5 16.0 8.2 0.7%

Denison Mines DNN 2.1 C$0.50 590 $222 (0.04) (0.04) (0.03) -- -- (0.04) (0.04) (0.02) -- -- -- 0.0%

Energy Resources Australia (AU) ERA 4.0 AUD$0.15 3691 $372 0.03 (0.03) (0.09) -- -- (0.11) 0.17 (0.03) 0.9 -- 11.9 0.0%

Nexgen Energy Ltd (CA) NXE 1.7 C$1.51 356 $405 (0.06) (0.07) (0.08) -- -- (0.02) (0.04) (0.04) -- -- -- 0.0%

Uranium Participation Corp (CA) U 2.1 C$3.98 138 $415 (0.03) (0.15) 0.43 -- 9.3 (0.04) (0.06) (0.05) -- -- -- 0.0%

Average 9.3 7.2 16.0 10.1

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 (14-Feb-20)

Silver ($17.72 / oz)

Palladium ($2310 / oz)

Platinum ($964 / oz)

Aluminum ($0.77 / lb)

Cobalt ($15.20 / lb)

Copper ($2.60 / lb)

Lead ($0.85 / lb)

Molybdenum ($10.68 / lb)

Nickel ($5.91 / lb)

Tin ($7.50 / lb)

Zinc ($0.97 / lb)

Uranium ($24.65 / lb)
Uber and Delhi Police announced a partnership to integrate the Himmat app, which, in case of an emergency will enable Delhi Police Headquarters to receive the real-time location of a driver or a rider so that they can assign a police station to provide potentially life-saving assistance to them.

In Delhi, when an Uber driver or rider uses Ubers in-app emergency button and if the driver/rider so wishes, Uber can now share their real-time location and other trip details with the Delhi Police Control Room for immediate support.

Shri. Amulya Patnaik, Commissioner of Police, Delhi Police, said, Our core mission is to ensure the safety of the public. This new integration with enhanced location services and travel information will help save lives. We welcome the use of technology that enables Delhi Police to react more quickly and efficiently during an emergency. With conscious efforts like QR Card distribution among driver partners, we are happy that private partners like Uber are working with us directly in making Delhi safer for all our residents and visitors.

Commenting on the partnership, Mr. Prabhjeet Singh, Head of Cities  India & South Asia said, Every second counts in an emergency and we want to ensure our technology enables our riders and drivers to get immediate assistance when they want it the most. We are proud to assist Delhi Police by integrating this tech that will now help them access the exact location of a rider or driver, in case of an emergency. Our partnership is an absolute game-changer, and law enforcement professionals tell us that this can potentially save lives.

Uber and Delhi Police distributed over 1,000 Himmat QR Verification Cards to driver-partners. Once a rider scans the QR Card, they can access driver partners details and vehicle information in the Himmat app, and can report their journey directly to the Delhi Police via the Himmat app.

How it works

To get riders/drivers the help they need in an emergency situation, a user can access the emergency feature in the safety toolkit to talk to Police.

As an additional measure, a safety expert from the Uber Safety Response Team will call the user and inquire if they want to share real-time location link and a few other details with Delhi Police Control Room.

If the rider consents, the following details will be shared with the Delhi Police headquarters,

1. Name

2. Contact number

3. Emergency contact number

4. Live link of the current GPS location of the driver

5. Car Details

6. Driver Details

1. Name 2. Contact number 3. Emergency contact number 4. Live link of the current GPS location of the driver 5. Car Details 6. Driver Details Ubers Safety Response Team will feed the live location link to the Himmat app back-end and share it to help you get assistance.

Uber and Delhi Police will be extending their partnership to expand QR Cards to more drivers on the Uber app along with possible integration of emergency number 112 to the Uber app.
ORLANDO  The stakes are high when a major civic exercise involves a large population, new technology that has not been thoroughly tested and an entire country waiting on the results.

Just ask the organizers of the Iowa caucuses, which offered a cautionary tale on the technological woes that could befall a big political event. Some observers worry that this years census carries the same potential for mayhem  except on a vastly larger scale.

The U.S. Census Bureau plans to try out a lot of new technology. Its the first once-a-decade census in which most people are being encouraged to answer questions via the internet. Later in the process, census workers who knock on the doors of homes that have not responded will use smartphones and a new mobile app to relay answers.

A government watchdog agency, the Census Bureaus inspector general and some lawmakers have grown concerned about whether the systems are ready. Most U.S. residents can start answering the questionnaire in March.

I must tell you, the Iowa (caucus) debacle comes to mind when I think of the census going digital, Eleanor Holmes Norton, the congressional delegate for the District of Columbia, said at a hearing last week on the census. A newly developed smartphone app was blamed for delaying the reporting of results from the first-in-the-nation presidential contest.

Cybersecurity is another worry. Experts consider the census to be an attractive target for anyone seeking to sow chaos and undermine confidence in the U.S. government, as Russia did in the 2016 presidential election.

In a worst-case scenario, vital records could be deleted or polluted with junk data. Even a lesser assault that interfered with online data collection could erode public confidence. In 2016, a denial-of-service attack knocked Australias census offline, flooding it with junk data.

The Census Bureau says its ready. The agency promises that responses to the questionnaire will be kept confidential through encryption and that its working with the Department of Homeland Security and private-sector security experts to thwart cyberattacks. To hinder illegitimate responses, the bureau is blocking foreign IP addresses and stopping bots from filling out fake responses, among many other measures.

The bureau says it has developed two secure data-collection systems, so that if one goes down, the other can substitute. Other mechanisms are in place to prevent failure and to back up essential functions.

All systems are go, bureau Director Steven Dillingham said.

Mike Schneider is an Associated Press writer.
Bengaluru, Feb 17 : Passing the buck, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said the Telecom Ministry would decide on the payment of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) arrears by the defaulting telcos as directed by the Supreme Court recently.

"The Telecom Ministry has been engaging with the telcos soon after the Supreme Court's ruling on February 14. I will wait to hear the Ministry's decision," Sitharaman told reporters here.

Justice Arun Mishra-led bench ordered Airtel and Vodafone Idea to pay the AGR dues immediately to avoid contempt of court on Friday.

On the same day, the telecom department withdrew its letter that said no coercive action should be taken against them for not paying the dues in time.

"The Telecom Ministry has been in touch with Airtel and Vodafone Idea since the apex court order. It will only be proper for me to hear from the Ministry on the verdict, added Sitharaman.

Sitharaman was on a day's visit to the tech city to explain the fiscal 2020-21 Union Budget to the representatives of industry and trade, including startups entrepreneurs.
The aircraft is supposed to depart on February 18 and land in Kyiv on the next day

Ukrainian passenger aircraft will take Ukrainian and Argentinian citizens aboard on February 18; it is supposed to deliver them from China's Hubei province, the epicentre of coronavirus to Kyiv on the day after that. The press office of Argentinian Foreign Ministry reported that on February 17.

The government of Ukraine informed our embassy in Kyiv about the readiness to provide a place on an aircraft for Argentinian citizens who stay in Wuhan; this country prepared a flight that is to depart on February 18 and plans to return to Kyiv on the next day", reads the message.

The Argentinian side already began to prepare documents for its citizens who stay in China and wish to leave the country.

Previously, Ukraine's Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk claimed that Ukrainians who are supposed to be evacuated from Wuhan on February 18 will be held under the 14 days-long quarantine.

As we reported earlier, the Chinese coronavirus claimed another 100 lives in Hubei province; this made the worldwide number of fatalities as big as 1,770, CNN reports.

Most of the lethal cases have been reported in mainland China. Over 1900 new cases of infection were observed on Sunday; the overall number of reported cases in Hubei reached 58,182.

The global count currently shows more than 71,200 of contamination with coronavirus; most of these, again, are observed in China. The country's National Committee for Healthcare will publish the data regarding all provinces in the country.
Na-yeon died four years ago, aged seven, from a rare blood disorder that killed her within a month of diagnosis. "It's very important to appreciate not just the technological capability but also the social, economical and ethical side of these advances," says Carl Ohman, an academic at the Oxford Internet Institute. He notes that there remains "a lot of disagreement" among researchers about the cathartic nature of such experiments. "The community that forms around social media pages of the deceased can be a great comfort," he notes. "But when it comes to people using bots for this, it seems very nefarious. It's really not something we know much about. The opportunity for exploitation is definitely there." Someone who has thought a great deal about such matters is Pete Trainor, a technologist who met and became great friends with a seriously ill young man from Liverpool in the UK called James Dunn. Dunn, who I met last year, had epidermolysis bullosa, a condition that deprives the skin of collagen, leaving it fragile and as easy to tear as the wing of a butterfly - which is why it is known as the butterfly syndrome. It is fatal, and in the months before he died, aged 24, he and Trainor used microphones to collect and compile his thoughts into a "corpus" - a data set which would allow artificial intelligence (AI) to "recreate" him in text form, after he had died. It was a project driven by Dunn. But even so, says Trainor, "my experience of being at the epicentre of one of these projects has really tested my morality.

"We didn't think about any potential weirdness when we started," he explains. "It was purely a project to document James' memories. It was never motivated by the desire to be reanimated. But I did start to realise quite quickly that there was going to be some real oddity. Because it speaks back. These memories are not a one-way thing. Having them respond - that's deeply strange." Dunn's parents, Lesley and Kenny, he notes, have never used the virtual James "bot" to communicate with him. Lesley prefers to sit by her son's graveside. Jang Ji-sung, a mother of four, dons a virtual reality headset. From a technological point of view, the weirdness is becoming more and more accessible. So-called "deep fake" software, which allows sophisticated video recreations of anyone, is available to download online, while we all commit more and more personal information to the internet - images, stories, thoughts, feelings - from which AI "corpuses" to recreate our own personalities can be derived. "We leave behind so much data now, everything that was once ephemeral is now captured," says Elaine Kasket, author of All the Ghosts in the Machine, a book about the digital afterlife. "Search history, health and biometric data, conversations - somebody who wanted to put that all together and assemble a picture of you would know you better than you know yourself," she says. This collision of deep fake technology and the deceased's data can only mean, says Trainor, that "there will be companies popping up saying, 'For 100 quid we're going to allow you to have conversations with dead relatives'."

And there will be increasing numbers of us choosing digital immortality. Indeed, it's already out there: online service, Eterni.me, offers the chance to "live on forever as a digital avatar" and claims that more than 46,000 people have already signed up to its service. "Deep fakes are already controversial, but with deep fakes of the dead there is an extra layer of controversy," adds Kasket. "For the first time we can revivify people in a realistic way. We've never been there before." The heart-wrenching "reunion" between a mother, Jang Ji-sung, and an avatar of her deceased daughter, Na-yeon. One of the problems is that, for all their realism, avatars are only inferring from the body of data what the real person might have said or done, using AI code written by others. So there will always be a question of whether its response is "real" or an effect of the software, or the software's creator. "These are essentially dreams designed by human programmers," says Kasket. "Grief is so personal, [it's] different to everyone." She points to services such as Safebeyond, which the dying can use to send text messages to their relatives after they have gone. These can be triggered by a date - say birthdays - or a location. "Some companies think 'Won't it be comforting and wonderful for widows to get messages from a husband on their anniversary'," says Kasket. "Or that a geolocation triggers a message at the Eiffel Tower saying 'Darling, I wish I was in Paris with you.' Well, some might think that's lovely but some might be horrified, like being stalked by the dead."

These are the questions that those behind the digital afterlife industry must wrestle. But it's not all about death. The research project Augmented Eternity wants to compile a library of avatars for use in life, which we might be able to borrow and swap as needed. Faced with a tricky situation at work? Why not assume the identity of your most Machiavellian friend for an hour to scheme your way through it digitally? Loading And therein lies the problem. Because any commercialisation of avatars, even children, will mean that the customer is always right. "Regardless of what the company says they're in it for, in a totally free market you will always head to the most profitable version of the deceased," says Ohman. "So rather than create an avatar just like the dead person, you create the avatar you can sell - a version of them at their best, maybe more pleasant, charming, less complaining." Or, in a child's case, sweeter, better behaved, angelic...
The Russian beauty queen who married the former King of Malaysia has told how she answered his phone two days after they tied the knot  and was shouted at by a Czech model claiming she was his wife.

Oksana Voevodina and her former husband the Sultan Muhammad V of Kelantan are at war after their ill-fated and short-lived marriage.

The former spouses are locked in a bitter battle over a financial settlement and over the paternity of her nine-months-old son, Leon, with the Sultan, 50, who denies that the child is his.

Wealthy Sultan Muhammad - who 13 months ago quit his throne after his marriage to the ex-Miss Moscow had become publicly known - has not acknowledged her child who she says is his only son and heir.

Soon after the then monarch used Islamic law to divorce her and the couple are now in a bitter financial battle.

Oksana Voevodina with her then husband, Sultan Muhammad V of Kelantan. The couple were married in a low-key Islamic ceremony in Malaysia in June 2018

Muhammad V Faris Petra with his previous wife Diana Petra, the woman Oksana said called her in a rage two days after her secret wedding to the sultan

Oksana said that the then king - known as Faris - had insisted in secrecy of their Islamic wedding in Malaysia and a later Russian ceremony but details were leaked out by his friends.

Now, speaking in Moscow on state-run Channel One, Oksana has detailed the spectacular royal marriage breakdown.

The 27-year-old Russian beauty queen told how just two days after her nuptials she answered her husband's phone while he was in the bathroom and saw it displaying the name 'Bob'.

She said: 'Two days later occurred the moment which changed everything. My husband was in the bathroom.

'His phone rang, displaying the name Bob. I was sure it was his mate or his American friend who wanted to congratulate us on the wedding.

'I picked up the phone and heard an hysterical female voice yelling at me: 'I am his wife. And never dare to pick up the phone of my husband'.

Oksana said the Czech woman called herself only as Diana Petra, her Islamic name. She said it sparked a row with her new husband, who she calls Faris.

Oksana Voevodina (right) and (left) with her nine-month-old son Leon. The former King of Malaysia has denied the child is his

Diana Petra's messages to Oksana's father (left) and the Russian translation (right) as it was broadcast during her interview on Russian state TV

Oksana during her second wedding to the then-sultan in Moscow in November 2018, five months after their Malaysian nuptials

She said: 'Faris came out of the bathroom and I asked what was going on. 'He took the phone and went into another room.

'He came back after a while and told me it's his former wife who didn't know about me and got upset.

'He also said there some questions between them about property were not sorted out yet.'

She said: 'Faris told me I was the only wife. And my wedding certificate was given to the first and the only wife.'

Oksana also claimed that the same woman had contacted her father Andrey Gorbatenko, a surgeon, claiming she was still married to the royal.

In the interview with Ksenia Sobchak, so famous in Russia she is nicknamed Vladimir Putin's 'godchild', Oksana produced an Islamic wedding certificate purporting to show the Sultan's marriage in 2010 to the Czech woman.

Her former husband has not commented on these claims.

Earlier sources close to the English-educated sultan's Malaysian palace blamed Oksana for the leak over the Moscow wedding.

It was claimed the divorce was also due to revelations of a 2013 TV reality shows in which she took part which purported to show her having sex in a Mexican swimming pool.

Oksana Voevodina told how a 'hysterical female voice' yelled at her two days after her wedding to the Malaysian Sultan

Secret wedding: Marriage certificate of Oksana Voevodina and Muhammad V Faris Petra

Sultan Muhammad alongside Oksana not long after their wedding. The pair divorced not long after the ceremony

The TV interview was in a 'safe house' in Moscow because Oksana is 'afraid' for her life and that of her small child, claimed Russian newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets.

Oksana and the sultan wed in a low-key Islamic ceremony in Malaysia in June 2018. He had wanted his June Islamic wedding to Oksana to remain secret.

They also claimed he was shocked that following a second Moscow wedding ceremony in November 2018 - five months after their Malaysian nuptials - newspapers revealed she had taken part in the lurid TV reality show when it was claimed she had sex in a swimming pool in Mexico with a male actor.

He abdicated his throne in January after details leaked in Russia of his secret marriage to Oksana.

Five months later he abruptly ended the royal marriage using the harshest form of Islamic divorce. She insisted she heard about it from the Internet.

Model Oksana is known to be consulting London lawyers over the row over their divorce settlement.

The palace claimed she refused twice to have a DNA test on the child, something she denies, stressing she is ready anytime.

She has told the former monarch that the baby is 'a copy of you' and is ready for a DNA test.

Oksana Voevodina and her son Leon. The Sultan denies the child is his but Oksana said she is ready to take a DNA test

Purported Islamic marriage certificate of Sultan Muhammad V of Kelantan and his previous wife, Diana Petra

Her son was conceived on a romantic Australian royal holiday after their secret Islamic wedding in 2018, she said.

Ms Voevodina has enraged the sultan by releasing images of their intimate moments before they split.

The couple are now locked in a feud over a financial settlement, with the palace portraying the Russian as a gold digger, claiming she had demanded an 8 million London house as well as a 1.2 million Moscow flat and 24,000-a-month.

The Sultan has offered a package worth around 275,000 but this was dependent on Ms Voevodina's child being raised a Muslim, and a promise that the boy and his mother should never contact the royal, MailOnline revealed last year.

She rejected his offer. He imposed what she believed were draconian curbs on her use of social media and made clear he would not publicly admit he was the father of the half-Russian child.

Oksana Voevodina (right outside a mosque) and (left) with her son Leon at three months old

The alleged Islamic marriage certificate of Sultan Muhammad V of Kelantan and Diana Petra as shown on Russian TV

The TV interview was in a 'safe house' in Moscow because Oksana is 'afraid' for her life and that of her small child, claimed Russian newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets.

Oksana said: 'We had big age gap of 23 years. I was certain that a man of this age who didn't have children will unlikely want to look for someone else given that he had already had his wild time.

'When he told me that a previous wife aborted their baby, and that a girl that he had at university also aborted his baby...he spoke with tears in his eyes. 'He was saying that he wanted to make a family so sincerely that I was certain that I would be the last woman in his life.'

In the programme called DokTok, Oksana showed Sobchak her engagement ring which she had earlier indicated she had sold to pay medical bills.

She said the ring was given to her soon after the the king saw the first scan showing she was pregnant.

Sobchak called Leon - her son almost who is nine months old - 'the Russian King of Malaysia'.
Mumbai Students from north-eastern states at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) here have complained of racial discrimination in the wake of the coronavirus epidemic.

In a letter to the institute and students on Monday, the Northeast Students Forum of TISS alleged racial profiling of some members of the forum as potential carriers of the virus (Covid-19), which originated in China, owing to their facial features. Many students from TISS have recently been subjected to racial treatment due to their distinctive identities and features, the letter said.

It mentioned one such instance, of February 10, when a student and her visiting friend, both hailing from Nagaland, were allegedly subjected to outright racial discrimination. The forum alleged that a video of the visiting friend was filmed without consent and circulated on social media to raise an alarm about a potential carrier of coronavirus from China. When the student confronted the makers of the video, she heard other slurs and faced threatening behaviour. The letter said that other students from the north-eastern states have not only faced name-calling, such as corona and coronavirus at various public places, they have also been subjected to racism on the campus.

This form of discrimination, played out in the pretext of health concerns, is a reminder of inherent racial prejudices and stereotyping of particular people, based on their physical features and perceived cultural inferiority, a student said.

Condemning such discrimination across the country, the forum has now asked the institutes administration to intervene to ensure the safety of students from the north-east.

We would like to bring this matter to the notice of concerned authorities of TISS to adopt adequate measures to ensure safety of students from north-east who are vulnerable to racial discrimination. We request the general student body, faculty, and staff to deter any practices of casual and structural racism and promote a sensitive approach towards students. We also request the concerned government bodies to take appropriate measures to ensure the safety of people from north-east states in Mumbai and to deter cases of harassment and racial discrimination, read the letter.

Asha Banu, dean, student affairs, told HT that students approached her office to discuss the matter. What happened with the student and her friend was unfortunate. As an interim measure, we are providing her with hostel accommodation, said Banu, adding that the administration is mulling ways to spread awareness within the campus and in nearby areas.

We need to increase awareness about misinformation regarding the virus. At the same time we need to make people understand that name-calling and discrimination based on features are a form of structural racism, and must be avoided. We are looking at ways to do that, said Banu.

Close to 200 of around 2,900 students at TISS are from the north-east.
Dr. Prakasam Tata CTWT and Mary Eggert global water works felicitate the Governor of Telangana Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan in a international conference and expo on Water and Waste Management at a hotel in Begumpet. (S.Surender Reddy)

Hyderabad: Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan said the need for development and designing of waste water treatment technologies should be highlighted, as well as the efforts of the Union government and initiatives of the state government for managing waste water. She said initiatives in water and waste management in Telangana state would be strengthened by a memorandum of understanding entered to between Environment Protection Training and Research Institute (EPTRI) and The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.

She was speaking after inaugurating the second International Conference and Expo on Water and Waste Management here on Monday. The conference brought together environmental experts from the USA, India, Germany, Thailand and other countries, lawmakers and implementing agencies along with solution providers from across the globe.

Since water and waste management is a burning topic in India, the status of water and waste management, the challenges and possible technical solutions and the legislation required for a better and stronger water and waste management policy in India are areas that the conference may cover.

The emphasis of the two-day conference is on womens leadership, agriculture, sanitation and hygiene, resource recovery and energy, solid waste management and business opportunities in water and waste management.

The Governor said specific action plans with respect to water and waste management proposals in Telangana state that that would provide solutions for managing water and waste must be encouraged. She invited delegations to Raj Bhavan to discuss the action plan further.

Dr Prakasam Tata, co-chair, waste water management, from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD), Chicago, highlighted the importance of ensuring water availability in India. He added that identification of water and energy nexus for implementation of the policy in the context of Swachh Bharat. He emphasised the need for initiating an action plan as per the MoU of EPTRI with MWRD and its utilisation for extending cooperation for river rejuvenation and waste and water management.

Mr Shyam Pappu, president of WWM, said that the management of natural water resources is very important for sustainable development and building of model villages. Water and waste water management on a daily basis has become a major challenge for municipalities. We need sustainable solutions to overcome the challenge.

Mr Bhaskar Chilukuri, CEO of the conference, said that this second edition of the WWM International Conference will definitely be a platform for exchanging knowledge and research on water and waste management.
Drivers who choose Autos of Dallas for their next automotive purchase will find a massive inventory of pre-owned luxury vehicles, affordable prices and free delivery in Texas.

Consumers who live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area may find their dream car at a dream price at Autos of Dallas. Potential owners who choose Autos of Dallas will discover a one-of-a-kind experience that caters to online car shoppers with low prices, a massive inventory of pre-owned luxury vehicles and free delivery in Texas.

Autos of Dallas provides an automotive option for everyone with more than 950 pre-owned luxury vehicles in the dealerships inventory. Popular automotive brands that consumers will find at the dealership include Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Lexus, Audi, Infiniti, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Jaguar, Land Rover, Bentley, Tesla, Acura, Cadillac, GMC, Lincoln, Porsche, Volvo and many more.

The easy-to-navigate inventory can be filtered by year, make, model, trim level, body style, color, powertrain, price, mileage and more that will help drivers find the perfect fit. With many pre-owned vehicles priced below $12,000, Autos of Dallas has something for every budget. Add the ability to get credit approval online, calculate monthly payments, calculate trade-in value and calculate fuel savings and Autos of Dallas will help potential owners find the right fit at the right price.

Texas is 268,597 square miles in area with a population of 28.7 million and many residents live outside the Dallas-Fort Worth area. To cater to drivers who live outside of the immediate area, Autos of Dallas provides free luxury car delivery to Texas residents. Drivers who live outside of the Lone Star State can take advantage of affordable nationwide delivery with prices that start at $499 to select states.

Individuals in search of their dream car at a dream price in the Lone Star State can learn more about what Autos of Dallas has to offer online at http://www.autosofdallas.com. Those who prefer a more personal interaction can contact a dealership representative directly by calling 972-484-9200.


(Photo : pixabay)

Selecting the right college is an important life decision that could have a significant impact on a student's future. And as most students step out to the world on their own for the first time, safety and security should be among the top criteria considered for this decision.

Here is our list of the safest colleges in America for 2020 compiled based on reviews, safety programs initiated by colleges and their previous track records.

1. Liberty University, Virginia

Liberty is a Christian university based in Virginia, offering 300 residential programs and 400 online courses in associates, bachelor's, masters, and doctoral degrees. It claims for a total enrollment of over 100,000, with 58% of its student population being female. And as per the university, 57% of its residential students are based on-campus.

Liberty University has been consistently ranked among the safest universities and colleges in the US by many studies. According to research by Nuwber, it has very low reported cases of hate crimes and violence against women, which stand at 0.03 and 0.12 respectively for every 1000 students. It also has a low number of sexual and non-sexual offenses and arrests.

2. Millersville University, Pennsylvania

With a history of more than 150 years, Millersville University offers over 100 graduate and undergraduate study programs in a range of disciplines from business to social studies.

It has been recognized for its diversity efforts as well as student and staff safety. Their most notable initiatives include the campus police that provides round-the-clock support, the LiveSafe safety app for students, the Behavioral Intervention Team, and the Centre for Counselling and Human Development.

3. Foothill College, California

Foothill College is based in Los Altos Hills, right in the center of Silicon Valley. It was established in 1957 and offers more than 160 degree and certificate programs in mainly Arts and Science.

This is another college that has consistently ranked high for its low crime rates despite its student population of around 15,000. From free emergency alert services to the Active Shooter Defense Training programs, the university has several initiatives focused on assuring the safety of its students.

4. Lincoln Memorial University, Tennessee

Based in Harrogate, Tennessee, Lincoln Memorial University was established in 1897 as a memorial to Abraham Lincoln. This private university with a history of over a hundred years is relatively smaller in size with just over 4,800 enrollments.

Lincoln Memorial University is considered one of the safest in the US based on on-site and off-campus crime statistics and efforts taken for the safety of students and staff over the years. The university, which has 9 other extended learning sites, has various measures in place to ensure safety and security. These include after-hours escort services, LMU security patrols, and security camera monitoring.

5. Oakland University, Michigan

Based in Rochester, Michigan, Oakland University enrolls around 20,000 students for its undergraduate and graduate programs.

It has been ranked high for student safety not only among universities in Michigan but also at the national level for low crime rates. Oakland University's student safety services include the Rape Aggression Defense program for female students, its campus police department and the SAFEwalk program that provides police service aide to escort students within campus premises after dark.

6. University of Massachusetts Amherst, Massachusetts

Popularly known as UMass Amherst, the University of Massachusetts Amherst is a highly rated education institute that offers more than 200 bachelors, associates, masters, and doctoral programs. It has annual enrollments of more than 31,000 students and a full-time faculty of over 1,400 academics.

The university has been ranked as the safest in Massachusetts, and also among the safest colleges in America. The campus police department, the university's extensive diversity education programs, the 24-hour crisis hotline as well as programs such as the UMass Men and Masculinities Center to educate young men about developing healthy masculinity have all contributed towards this.

7. University of the Cumberlands, Kentucky

Established in 1888, the University of the Cumberlands offers a range of associates, bachelor's, masters, doctoral and other programs. It has total enrollments of over 11,000 in both on-campus and online courses.

The university's safety and security initiatives include round-the-clock police patrols, access controls, emergency notification systems as well as various educational programs on topics such as preventing sexual assaults and dating violence.

8. Lakeland Community College, Ohio

With a student population of more than 10,000, Lakeland Community College offers over 135 associate degree programs and technical certificate programs.

According to the college's Annual Security Report, it has consistently reported very low or zero cases of sexual offenses, theft, violence, and hate crimes, and is regarded as one of the safest colleges for students in the country. Some of the programs in place for student safety include motor and foot patrols by the campus security, access controls, Rape Aggression Defense program for women, counseling services, the crime prevention workshops to educate students as well as the C.A.R.E. team that assesses individuals in crisis and provides community-based responses.

9. Princeton University, New Jersey

Located in one of the safest areas in New Jersey, Princeton University is a highly prestigious education institute with enrollments of over 8,000. It has a faculty of nearly 1,300, offering around 150 programs.

The university has various measures and programs in place to ensure the safety of the students and staff. These include the TigerSafe app that provides safety alerts and emergency response guides, as well as self-defense classes for its students, staff and the local community.

10. Fairfield University, Connecticut

Fairfield University is a relatively small private university based in Fairfield, Connecticut. It has a 75-year history and enrolls over 5000 students every year for undergraduate and graduate programs in various disciplines including nursing, arts, science, and business.

The Fairfield University Department of Public Safety is responsible for the safety and security of the students. It has initiated various steps such as the S.M.A.R.T. program (Sexual Misconduct and Assault Response Team), round-the-clock campus escort service and the Whistle Defense Program. The university also has access restrictions, emergency alerts for students and regular patrols. To add to that, Fairfield is also ranked among the safest college towns in America.
SHANGHAI, Feb 15 (Reuters) - China's market regulator announced on Saturday policies to encourage companies to resume work amid a coronavirus outbreak, saying it would accelerate the approval process for production licences.

The State Administration for Market Regulation would also facilitate online reporting for merger and acquisition deals, as well as anti-monopoly reviews, it said in a statement on its website. (Reporting by Brenda Goh and Huizhong Wu; Editing by Edmund Balir)
M*A*S*H star Kellye Nakahara passed away at the age of 72 following a short cancer battle.

The veteran actress was surrounded by family when she died 'peacefully' at her home in Pasadena on Sunday, as reported by TMZ.

Nakahara portrayed the role of Lieutenant Nurse Kellye on the hit CBS comedy, starring in a total of 165 episodes.

Never forgotten: M*A*S*H star Kellye Nakahara passed away at her home in Pasadena on Sunday following a short battle with cancer; seen in 2003

The once in a lifetime part was the actress' first ever acting role, but she would go on to land minor parts in a number of productions from Clue in 1985 to Kevin Bacon's 1988 film She's Having A Baby.

When she initially suited up as Lieutenant Nurse Kellye during the series' early days, her character was simply named Nurse 1.

But when M*A*S*H producer Gene Reynolds and the show's star Alan Alda began to get to know the vivacious Kellye, Nurse 1 began to adapt the actress' qualities.

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in 2018, Nakahara discussed the evolution her character underwent at the hands of Reynolds and Alda.

Lieutenant Nurse Kellye: She portrayed the role of Lieutenant Nurse Kellye on the hit CBS comedy, starring in a total of 165 episodes

'Gene and Alan liked me. All of a sudden, I was being written in as Nurse 123 and then Nurse Able, Baker and Charlie. At some point, Alan said he couldn't keep calling me Nurse 1. "You're Kellye. Nurse Kellye."'

During the interview, the then 70-year-old actress discussed how her race was never a point of contention at the network, on set, or in the show's scripts.

'I was the first Asian who didn't play one. I was just an American soldier, a nurse on the same level as everyone else. My true ethnicity never even came up,' she said.

Kellye was a native of Hawaii, born and raised on the island of Oahu, before making the trek to San Francisco to pursue her initial dream of becoming an artist.

Minor roles: Kellye Nakahara dressed in a maids uniform while smoking a cigarette in a scene from the film Clue in 1985

Part of history: The show would span over a decade with Kellye remaining a part of the cast until the show's end in 1983; Nakahara pictured here with McLean Stevenson in an episode of M*A*S*H from 1972

That is where she would meet her husband of nearly 52 years, David Wallett.

Upon the pair's eventual move to Los Angeles, David encouraged his artist wife to pursue acting, which led to ever eventual M*A*S*H legacy.

The couple went on to have two children, daughter Nalani and son William. The Hawaiian native also leaves behind two grandchildren.

A special role: 'I was the first Asian who didn't play one. I was just an American soldier, a nurse on the same level as everyone else. My true ethnicity never even came up,' revealed Nakahara during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in 2018; Kellye Nakahara pictured at the 7th Annual TV Land Awards in 2009

M*A*S*H aired its very first episode in September of 1972 and continues to be considered one of the most prolific series in the history of television.

Members of the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital took their final bow in 1983 for its series finale that would rake in a record-breaking 106million viewers.

The show continues to live on through reruns and syndication.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration on 14 January had issued an order banning all social media sites to curb their misuse by miscreants for propagating false information and rumours.

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Monday registered a case against various people for defying government orders on use of social media.

The Union Territory's administration on 14 January had issued an order banning all social media sites to curb their misuse by miscreants for propagating false information and rumours.

"Taking serious note of misuse of social media, the cyber police station in Kashmir has registered a case against various social media users who defied government orders and misused social media platforms," a police spokesman said. "There have been continuous reports of misuse of social media sites by miscreants to propagate secessionist ideology and to promote unlawful activities," he said.

Social media is their "favourite tool" as it largely provides anonymity to the user and also gives wide reach, the spokesman said. The FIR has been registered after taking cognisance of social media posts by miscreants through different virtual private networks (VPNs), he said

Miscreants are propagating rumours with regard to the current security scenario of the Kashmir Valley, the spokesman said. He said these posts are "propagating secessionist ideology and glorifying terror acts and terrorists". Incriminating material has also been seized in this regard, spokesman said.

This is the first FIR registered in the Cyber Police Station (Kashmir Zone) in Srinagar since it came into existence through a notification of the government.
(Newser)  An elderly woman in northern California would have had her bank account cleaned out by scammers if it wasn't for a conscientious cab driver, police say. Officers say the 92-year-old woman told Roseville Cab owner Raj Singh that she was going to the bank to withdraw $25,000 to give to the IRS, the New York Times reports. She told him that somebody she didn't know had called her and said she owed the money. Singh warned the woman that it might be a scam but she refused to believe him, even after he called the person who had contacted her, who claimed not to know the woman, CNN reports. She finally agreed to stop at the Roseville Police Station, where officers convinced her that she was being swindled by somebody posing as an IRS agent.

story continues below

"I am an honest guy, and these are old people. They need help," Singh says. "It just made sense." Roseville police praised the cabbie in a Facebook post. "We love this story because several times throughout, Raj could have just taken his customer to her stop and not worried about her wellbeing," they wrote. "He took time from his day and had the great forethought to bring the almost-victim to the police station for an official response. His quick thinking saved a senior citizen $25,000 and for that, we greatly appreciate his efforts. " Police thanked Singh with a $50 gift card. The IRS has some tips on avoiding scams here. (This fraudster in Italy spent two years hiding out in convents.)
Trucks and construction



machinery engaged in road work in Chhattisgarh's Balrampur were set ablaze by Naxals on Monday morning, police said.

Around a dozen armed Maoists raided the construction site near Bandarchua village under Samri police station limits, some 450 kilometres from here, between 10am and 11am and set afire three trucks, two excavators and one concrete mixer machine, an official said.

"The vehicles and machines were deployed for a work under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. The site is on the border of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. The ultras escaped into the jungles of the neighbouring state. A team under Balrampur Superintendent of Police TR Koshima has rushed to the spot," he added.

The arson took place in north Chhattisgarh which incidentally the state government has earlier claimed to be an area freed from Left Wing Extremism (LWE).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With different parts of the world reeling from the coronavirus outbreak, the US State Department on February 17 stated that a total of 14 people out of more than 300 American evacuees tested positive for COVID-19, days after they were tested for the same. According to reports, the Americans were evacuated from the quarantined cruise ship in Japan.

Passengers had already left the ship

The US State Department and Department of Health and Human Services in a joint statement said that the passengers had already left Diamond Princess and were planning to return to the United States when authorities informed that 14 people had tested positive for COVID-19, days after being subject to tests.

Two Department of State charter flights with more than 300 passengers from the #DiamondPrincess will land in the U.S. later today. The United States remains committed to protecting Americans and fighting the spread of #COVID-19. https://t.co/kAX0ry0Dii  Department of State (@StateDept) February 17, 2020

According to reports, both the departments' statement further added that the infected people were shifted to a specialised containment area onboard the chartered evacuation aircraft and were put in isolation. The 14 people were isolated from the rest of the evacuees during the entire journey.

The first evacuation aeroplane would be landing at a United Staes Air Force base located in California where all the passengers will be subject to a 14 days quarantine period. A second evacuation flight will be heading towards another base located in San Antonio, Texas.

The death toll from China's novel coronavirus epidemic surpassed 1,700 after 100 more people died in the country's Hubei province. As per the Chinese government, the new death toll now stands at 1765. At least 70,400 people have now been infected nationwide in China, with most cases being recorded in Hubei, where the virus first emerged in December.

Read: Coronavirus Outbreak: Australia To Evacuate Over 200 Citizens From Cruise Ship In Japan

Read: China Mulls Postponing Annual Parliament Session Amid Coronavirus Spread

Epidemic could damage global economic growth

On February 16, the IMF warned that the coronavirus epidemic could damage global economic growth this year. The International Monetary Fund's managing director Kristalina Georgieva while addressing the Global Women's Forum in Dubai stated that while there may be a global decline, a sharp and rapid economic rebound could follow.

"There may be a cut that we are still hoping would be in the 0.1-0.2 percentage space," she said. She also said that the full impact of the spreading disease that has already killed more than 1,700 people would depend on how quickly it was contained".

Read: China Mulls Postponing Annual Parliament Session Amid Coronavirus Spread

Read: Hong Kong: Armed Gang Robs Toilet Rolls Amid Coronavirus Panic-buying
The airport in Syria's northern hub of Aleppo is to reopen to civilian flights this week for the first time since the war forced its closure in 2012, state media said Monday.

The SANA agency quoted Transport Minister Ali Hammoud as saying that "Aleppo International Airport has resumed operations".

The first flight - from Damascus to Aleppo - is scheduled for Wednesday, with more flights to Cairo and Damascus lined up in following days, it said.

The announcement comes days after Damascus secured the perimeter around Aleppo during a broad offensive against rebels in the north of the country.

The offensive against the last rebel bastion in Syria has also seen government troops and allied forces retake significant ground in neighbouring Idlib province.

The assault, which has displaced more than 800,000 people in less than three months, allowed the government to secure the M5 highway connecting Aleppo to Damascus.

Civilian flights had stopped completely at Aleppo airport when rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad seized control of large parts of the city in 2012.

Trial flights took off from Aleppo in 2017, days after the end of a devastating siege that ended rebel groups' hopes to taking over Syria's second city.

With its troops engaged on several fronts, the government took time to secure areas around Aleppo and to reopen trade routes from the city.

Regime forces are still sweeping areas west of Aleppo from which rebels have chronically fired rockets at the city.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
THE COST of reunification would not be "disastrous" for Ireland, according to a new economic assessment.

The budget costs of a united Ireland would be large, but may come in lower than many are forecasting.

Consultancy Capital Economics said in a report published yesterday that there were potentially large offsets if the annual subvention from London were to be replaced under unification.

Unification has emerged as a key issue following Sinn Fein's strong showing in the recent elections.

Fiscal transfers from the rest of the UK to the North ran at 9.4bn (11.3bn) in the 2018/19 fiscal, a figure that implies either huge budget cuts for the Belfast Government or a very rapid rise in the States deficit.

The consultancy says that the burden might not be as high as these figures suggest and notes that the Norths budget deficit fell by 2pc of its gross domestic product, a fall that is equivalent to 0.3pc of the States GDP.

Whats more, the Republic is currently running a small budget surplus, so even if there were a sudden move into deficit, the implications for the public finances would not be disastrous," said Jack Allen-Reynolds, Senior Europe Economist at the firm.

And its also possible that the UK would continue to make payments to the North for a while even after reunification, in order to ease the transition, he said in the report.

The costing of any reunification is controversial, with Sinn Fein, saying that it is overstated considerably in most studies, although the partys own estimate that it could cost as little as 2.7bn was dubbed false by Eufactcheck, t he fact-checking arm of the European Journalism Training Association.

Traditional estimates run at around 24.1bn.

The Capital Economics study said that the Northern Irish economy could be given a substantial boost if its tax rate were cut from 19pc to the States 12.5pc.

So reunification, with the North cutting corporate taxes and adopting the Republics regulatory regime, could help it to close the gap in per capita incomes, it said.

Another key issue is the share of UK public debt would be adopted by Ireland.

Capital Economics said that if the North took on none of the UKs existing public debt, but Irish GDP rose as the North and Republic combined, the debt ratio would decline from 68pc to about 58pc, while if the North took on a proportion of UK debt based on its share of the UK population, a united Irelands debt ratio would be 75pc.

In both scenarios though, the debt ratio looks manageable, so arrangements for dividing up the debt would not have much of an effect on a united Irelands economic performance, Mr Allen-Reynolds wrote.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 18:26:36|Editor: zh

Video Player Close

TALUQAN, Afghanistan, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Five militants have been confirmed dead as clash erupted in Eshkamish district of the northern Takhar province on Monday, local police official Abdul Rashid said.

The clash, according to the official, broke out after a group of the insurgents attacked local police checkpoints in Kata Qaroq area of the restive district early in the morning and police retaliated, forcing the militants to flee after leaving five bodies behind.

Three more insurgents were wounded in the firefight which lasted for a while, the official further said.

The official said that three villagers, all civilians, sustained injuries in fire exchange.

Taliban militants haven't commented.

A similar fighting had also left four militants dead in the neighboring Kunduz province on the same day, according to provincial officials.
Rebekah Vardy has been seen for the first time since she broke down on live television discussing her feud with Coleen Rooney.

The TV personality, 38, was pictured out on a stroll in London on Monday with her newborn daughter, Olivia Grace.

Rebekah, who is married to Leicester City player Jamie, looked sombre on the outing, keeping a low-profile for the stroll.

Back out: Rebekah Vardy was seen on a stroll with her newborn daughter on Monday, her first sighting since she broke down on live television discussing her feud with Coleen Rooney

The WAG was casually clad for the appearance in a baby pink coat and jeans, whilst she wrapped up in a cream scarf and grey beanie hat.

Rebekah's outing came after she appeared on Thursday's episode of Loose Women, where she tearfully admitted the WAG war 'was the worst thing she had been through since being abused by her step-dad.'

Coleen then responded to Rebekah's emotional Loose Women appearance amid their so-called feud in a curt statement.

Low-key: Rebekah, who is married to Leicester City player Jamie, looked sombre on the outing, keeping a low-profile for the stroll

Casual: The WAG was casually clad for the appearance in a baby pink coat and jeans, whilst she wrapped up in a cream scarf and grey beanie hat

A representative for the star, 33, tweeted that she is 'confident in the legal process' and feels no need to comment further.

In the statement, a representative for Coleen penned: 'Coleen has nothing to add to what she has already said.

'She remains confident in the legal process and sees no reason to take the numerous opportunities that have been offered to engage in further public debate on this matter.'

Coleen re-tweeted the statement minutes after it was posted.

Hitting back: Coleen Rooney then responded to Rebekah's emotional Loose Women appearance amid their so-called feud in a curt statement

Replying: A representative for Coleen tweeted a statement, which she re-tweeted minutes later

The post was shared after Loose Women, where Rebekah discussed their bitter feud dubbed the 'Wagatha Christie' scandal.

In October last year, Rebekah was explosively accused by Coleen of leaking stories about her to The Sun newspaper - a claim she fiercely denies - leading to a WAG war which captivated the nation.

Coleen launched an incredible social media attack on Rebekah, revealing how she set up an elaborate sting on Instagram to 'catch' her leaking fake stories.

Her dramatic revelation enthralled Britain and sparked an angry denial from pregnant Vardy who said 'I don't need the money' and pointed out other people have had access to her Instagram account.

Fans praised Rooney for the sensational way in which she revealed Vardy was the alleged culprit by concluding her post with a thriller-worthy: 'It's......... Rebekah Vardy's account.'

Emotional: Rebekah tearfully admitted she was hospitalised three times during the famous WAG war while she was pregnant with her daughter Olivia, one month

In tears: As the WAG, 37, made her first TV appearance since the fall-out, Coleen, 33, uploaded a Instagram photo of herself cuddling sons Kit, four, and Cass, one

Rebekah, who was joined by her one-month-old daughter Olivia Grace, reflected on the feud and revealed she was hospitalised three times as a result of the trolling she received.

The mother-of-five recalled the effect of backlash and subsequent trolling on her physical and mental health.

Rebekah shared: 'It just kind of escalated and it was not great. The trolling was the worst part for me.

'I have been trolled before and I do get it all the time but it kind of escalated. This was a whole new level...

'I had people messaging me saying nasty stuff, one in particular, "You fat ugly rat. I genuinely hope you and your baby rot." I think people just don't realise when they're saying stuff how it affects you.'

The full statement: In October last year, Rebekah was explosively accused by Coleen of leaking stories about her to The Sun newspaper

'I don't need the money': Her dramatic revelation enthralled Britain and sparked an angry denial from pregnant Vardy who said 'I don't need the money'

'I was hospitalised': The mother-of-five recalled the effect of backlash and subsequent trolling on her physical and mental health

Revealing she was sent to the hospital three times while pregnant with Olivia, Rebekah added: 'I was struck with serious anxiety attacks and ended up in hospital three times. I ended up with kidney stones.

'I had severe anxiety, I felt like I couldn't go out without people just looking at me and questioning, "Did she do it? Did she not do it?"

'No one would ever say anything to your face and that's the whole thing with trolling. They won't say it to your face.'

The trolling also had a huge affect of Rebekah's husband Jamie and her eldest child, Megan. Explaining how it not only affected her but her family too, she added: 'Jamie really struggled seeing me upset and down. It was a hard time.

'Megan found it really difficult. There are people finding out what her Instagram account was and sending her horrible messages.'
Doctors have noticed a rise in anxiety disorders over the years. With an increasing number of people suffering from panic attacks, heres a lowdown on how to identify an attack and how to handle it right

When 27-year-old Ravi Kumar started experiencing chest pain and breathlessness one late evening, he thought he was having a heart attack. Needless to say, he rushed to the nearby hospital, where a slew of tests were conducted to understand what was wrong with his body. But all the test results were normal and he was soon sent home. But the same thing happened a few days later and he was again rushed to the emergency room, where he was evaluated by many doctors including a cardiologist and a neurologist. However, once again, all his body functions were found to be normal, including the functioning of his heart and lungs. That was when it was suggested to him to go see a psychiatrist.

It was a panic attack that he suffered from, says Dr B. Kapur, consultant psychiatrist, Vikram Hospital, Bengaluru. Once we did a psychiatric evaluation, took his history and spoke to him, it was revealed that he had lost his uncle recently to a heart attack. The shock of his sudden death had triggered panic attacks. We counselled him and told him that it is not a life threatening condition. We started counselling and soon after started with medications. The treatment usually takes eight to 10 months. We also advise yoga and exercise routines. He is fully recovered and back to work now, says Dr Kapur adding, This is a typical presentation of panic disorder.

Understanding the problem

A panic attack is a sudden feeling of intense fear that triggers many physical reactions. It comes suddenly and is usually seen in young to middle-aged people. It is extreme or heightened anxiety, explains Dr Kapur. One may experience symptoms like shaking of limbs, dryness, trembling, giddiness, chest pain, and breathing difficulty. The patient feels like something really bad is happening. There is a fear of impending doom. They feel like they are going to die and rush to the hospital in extreme fear, adds Dr Raghu Krishnamurthy, consultant psychiatrist, BGS Gleaneagles Global Hospital. Usually the symptoms will last a few seconds to a few minutes, sometimes extending beyond that. Within half-an-hour to an hour, things completely settle. But the experience is quite distressing, points out Dr Krishnamurthy.

People, who have had one panic attack, are at a greater risk for having subsequent panic attacks than those who have not suffered from a panic attack. When one has three to four episodes of panic attacks, is it characterised as panic disorder, states Dr Venkatesh, consultant psychiatrist, Fortis Hospital.

Apart from palpitations and shortness of breath, one can also experience numbness, tingling sensations and loss of control. There is also a fear of the next episode of panic attack, he says.

Increasing incidence

Studies over the years have indicated that mental health problems in India are increasing at an alarming rate. In fact, the National Mental Health Survey (NMHS) 2015-16 states that India needs to talk about mental health. Every sixth person in the country needs mental health help. Dr Kapur believes that the increasing stress in life is leading to an increase in anxiety disorders.

Earlier we hardly saw patients with panic disorders, but now just in my morning session, I see 5 to 6 such patients, he says. Chronic exposure to multiple stressors or acute stress can lead to a panic attack. Stress leads to biochemical changes in the brain causing the symptoms, he explains.

There is an increasing trend in mental disorders, concurs Dr Venkatesh. He explains that when there is a mismatch between expectation and reality, there is anxiety. And many dont know how to deal with that. There is less bonding today, change in family structures. There can be many social conditions that can contribute to such problems, he says.

The treatment for panic disorder includes therapy along with medications to treat anxiety. We study anxiety behaviours of the person and develop strategies to combat that. We help them detect early anxiety symptoms and teach them how to deal with it. We help them identify the warning signs, adds Dr Krishnamurthy. This can help reduce the incidence of full-blown attacks. Yoga and exercise are also immensely helpful in dealing with the problem, he says. Treatment must go on for months, adds Dr Kapur.

Preventing the problem

Since this disorder is often triggered by stressors, it can be prevented by a healthy lifestyle. Following good food habits, exercise and pursuing positive activities can help prevent such disorders. Yoga is of tremendous help in prevention and treatment of panic disorder, says Dr Kapur.

The main problem believes Dr Krishnamurthy is that no one takes care of their mind. People need to know how to keep the mind in good condition. If you dont do that the mind takes them for granted as well. The two important things one can do to keep the mind in good shape are  walk regularly and learn meditation and practice it for half-an-hour every day. This can help prevent anxieties and stress, he summarises. It is also important, say doctors, to not ignore such attacks and seek help from a certified mental health professional.
Northrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/17/2020 -- According to a research report "Data Center Liquid Cooling Market by Component (Solution and Services), End User (Cloud Providers, Colocation Providers, Enterprises, and Hyperscale Data Centers), Data Center Type, Enterprise, and Region - Global Forecast to 2024", published by MarketsandMarkets, the data center liquid cooling market size is expected to grow from USD 1.2 billion in 2019 to USD 3.2 billion by 2024, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 22.6% during the forecast period. The key factors driving the growth of the data center liquid cooling market include increasing need for energy-efficient cooling solutions, growing demand for compact and noise-free solutions, need for lower operating costs, and need for better overclocking potential.



Download PDF Brochure @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=84374345



Browse in-depth TOC on "Data Center Liquid Cooling Market"

121- Tables

29- Figures

149- Pages



Based on solutions, the Indirect liquid cooling segment to hold the largest market size during the forecast period



Indirect liquid cooling is usually possible through liquid-cooled cold plates mounted onto the chips. Indirect liquid cooling solutions are usually able to remove over 70% of the heat generated using liquids that do not come into direct contact with the equipment. Indirect liquid cooling solutions can be categorized into single phase and two phase.



Based on services, the installation and deployment services segment to hold the largest market size during the forecast period



Installation and deployment service providers also provide services related to rapid transition from primal air-cooled infrastructure to efficient liquid-cooled infrastructure. These services can be used by small as well as large organizations for assistance in the deployment of reliable data center liquid cooling solutions in a cost-effective manner. Moreover, they act as one-stop shop for hassle-free deployments accompanied by minimum downtimes caused due to change in existing cooling infrastructure. These services are increasingly being used by organizations worldwide.



Based on regions, North America to account for the largest market size during the forecast period



North America is estimated to dominate global data center liquid cooling due to the presence of large number of data centers in the region and the rise in popularity of technology. The adoption of cloud-based computing and big data analytics requires highly efficient data storage capabilities. Moreover, an increase in demand for green initiatives for ecological data center solutions and substantial growth of power density have fueled the growth of the data center liquid cooling market in North America. Furthermore, the presence of technology giants such as Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Apple add to the growth of the data center liquid cooling market in North America.



Speak to Research Expert @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/speaktoanalystNew.asp?id=84374345



The data center liquid cooling market comprises major providers, such as Asetek (Denmark), Rittal (Germany), Vertiv (US), Green Revolution Cooling (US), Midas Green Technologies (US), Allied Control (Hong Kong), Schneider Electric (France), Chilldyne (US), CoolIT Systems (Canada), Submer (Spain), Iceotope (UK), Fujitsu (Japan), Aspen Systems (US), DCX The Liquid Cooling Company (Poland), Ebullient (US), Aquila Group (US), ExaScaler (Japan), Cooler Master Co (China), Asperitas (Netherland), Liqit.io (Ukraine). The study includes the in-depth competitive analysis of these key players in the data center liquid cooling market with their company profiles, recent developments, and key market strategies.



About MarketsandMarkets

MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions.



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, and 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.



MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets.



Contact:



Mr. Shelly Singh

MarketsandMarkets INC.

630 Dundee Road

Suite 430

Northbrook, IL 60062

USA: 1-888-600-6441

Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com

MnM Blog: https://mnmblog.org

Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/data-center-liquid-cooling.asp
CSV MP Nancy Kemp-Arendt submitted a parliamentary question on child sexual abuse claims, asking the government to confirm figures supplied by the child and youth hotline (Kanner-Jugendtelefon).

Minister of Justice Sam Tanson, Minster for Internal Security Francois Bausch, and Minister of Education Claude Meisch supplied details in a response to the parliamentary question. Kemp-Arendt pointed out that the Kanner-Jugendtelefon (KJT)'s reports of child sex abuse online had quadrupled over the past two years, referring to pornographic images and videos.

In 2019 alone, there were 3,039 reports of images or videos depicting children in sexual situations. The MP compared this to the previous years, which saw 2,047 reports in 2018 and 750 in 2017. Kemp-Arendt asked ministers to confirm the figures and provide clarifications concerning certain aspects of dealing with the issue. Notably, she pointed out that the department investigating such reports is allegedly at capacity. She also asked whether the government has further measures to quickly react to reports and how perpetrators have been treated.

The ministers confirmed the KJT's figures, revealing that reports were submitted through the BeeSecure Stopline. Of around 3,039 reports, 2,521 were confirmed to be illegal and 2,327 of those cases were passed to the police. Referring to the smaller number of cases passed on to the police, the ministers highlighted that only those cases hosted in Luxembourg were passed on to the police.

The ministers conceded that the police department is at capacity due to the general issue with recruitment within the police. However, Bausch has initiated an 'extraordinary recruitment plan' which will include reinforcing the department focusing on child sex abuse cases.

In terms of sentencing perpetrators, the ministers detailed that 25 people were taken to trial in 2019. Luxembourg does not offer therapy for those who commit crimes relating to child sexual abuse.
A report of a kidnapping after a woman got into a ride-hailing service car Sunday in Boston turned out to be a misunderstanding, authorities said Monday.

A Boston police spokesman said no charges are being sought in the case. The incident occurred because of a dead cell phone and a language barrier.

Boston police said the woman got into an Uber mistakenly after she had previously ordered a ride from Lyft. The driver took the woman to the destination ordered through Uber and there was a language barrier, a police spokesman said.

Police have now closed the case.

The woman, who is in her 20s and from Allston, was leaving the area of Faneuil Hall Sunday and had ordered a Lyft around 1 a.m.

A group of men pointed out a sedan to her and told her it was her ride home after the womans cell phone died. The woman then got into the car.

The driver took the woman north and drove for about 30 minutes. The woman then told police she escaped from the car when the driver stopped at a gas station for snacks.

She was able to flag another car and get a ride home.

The womans boyfriend called police around 3 a.m. The woman told police she had not been assaulted.
They are reportedly engaged after he is said to have proposed to her on the set of the US winter version of Ex On The Beach, named Ex On The Peak.

And Georgia Steel put on an animated display as she flashed peace signs with beau Callum Izzard during a romantic getaway to Venice on Monday.

The Love Island star, 21, looked effortlessly chic in a white blazer as she them joined the hunk, 25, as they strolled through the Italian city.

High spirits: Georgia Steel put on an animated display as she flashed peace signs with beau Callum Izzard during a romantic getaway to Venice on Monday

Georgia draped her stylish blazer over her shoulders and paired it with a taupe cardigan and nude top.

The reality star added a pair of rolled-up stone coloured trousers which she teamed with box fresh white trainers.

Completing her look, the star draped a designer bag across her body and shielded her eyes with an over-sized pair of sunglasses.

Georgia left her brunette tresses to cascade down her back, while she added a slick of pink lip gloss.

Romantic trip: The Love Island star, 21, looked effortlessly chic in a white blazer as she them joined the hunk, 25, as they strolled through the Italian city

Meanwhile, Callum cut a casual figure in a black hoodie, and echoed his partner's look with stone trousers and white trainers.

Accessorising his attire, the reality star added a white beanie hat and a Burberry cross-body bag.

The happy couple looked besotted with each other and they held hands while strolling through the streets of Venice.

Georgia is said to have fallen head over heels for Callum after her brief romance with hunky D&G model Addis Miller, 21, came to an end the month before.

Stylish display: Georgia draped her stylish blazer over her shoulders and paired it with a taupe cardigan and nude top

Doncaster born Callum, previously starred as a rep on ITV2 show Ibiza Weekender, as well as series five of Celebs Go Dating.

He and Georgia are said to be 'smitten' after meeting in August and have reportedly kept their romance a secret from even their friends and family.

They were seen holding hands and sharing a joke after a night of clubbing at Drama Park Lane in London's Mayfair, but it appears Georgia has ended things with Addis to pursue Callum instead.

Georgia's latest romance comes just months after she claimed her former convict ex-boyfriend Medi Abalimba, 26, stole 'stole thousands of pounds' from her bank account, before dumping her and leaving her heartbroken.

In April, Georgia opened up about being 'too terrified to sleep and fearing for her life' after claiming her ex had stolen thousands of pounds from her bank account before dumping her, a claim which Medi denied.

Fashionista: The reality star added a pair of rolled-up stone coloured trousers which she teamed with box fresh white trainers

The reality star told The Sun at the time: 'I'm devastated and I'm fearing for my life. I don't want anyone to go through what I have. I feel like this is going to affect me for life.'

Georgia soared to fame during her time on the Love Island villa in Mallorca, which saw her partner up with Josh Denzel, before he ditched her for Kaz Crossley in Casa Amor.

The former drama student did not let Josh hamper her time in the villa and soon went on to form a relationship with Sam Bird.

In a shock twist, the couple were told they could only stay in the villa if they parted ways and tried to find love with someone else.

The couple initially stayed in the villa but after just a few days, they decided to leave the show together.

The pair later moved in together but split up at the end of last year after Sam claimed he found selfies of Georgia in bed with her ex taken while he was with her.
On the 11th day of strike called by casual and daily wage workers of the public health engineering (PHE) department over various demands, CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami on Monday urged the Jammu and Kashmir administration to resolve the issue immediately.

The casual labourers and daily wage workers have been on strike in Jammu since February 7 demanding release of their pending wages, regularisation of jobs, filling up of vacant posts, repair and maintenance of faulty pumping houses and water stations and basic facilities at water stations for the staff among others.

While assuring full support to the agitators, Tarigami said, "I urge Lieutenant Governor G S Murmu to look into issues pertaining to regularisation and release of wages to daily rated workers because their strike has impacted utility services leading to drinking water crisis especially in most parts of Jammu and Srinagar cities," Tarigami said.

"The administration must talk to the representatives of the PHE workers and try to figure out a reasonable solution to their issues urgently," he said, adding they have been working sincerely for the department for the past many years, but "unfortunately they have been neglected".

Hitting out the administration's "lackadaisical" approach, he alleged that this was the reason for the present crisis as successive governments always made deceptive commitments to buy time and avoid the crisis.

"It is apathetic on the part of the administration that instead of holding parleys with the workers on strike, it adopts coercive methods to avoid the crisis," Tarigami said.

The CPI(M) leader said that any problem concerning employees of important departments which is kept unresolved badly affects the output and the performance of the government.

The administration must understand the difficulties faced by these workers who have no money to pay their children's school fees or to manage their day-to-day family affairs, Tarigami said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As many as 154 prominent citizens, including former judges, bureaucrats, armed forces officers and academicians, on Monday said a "false and motivated" campaign is being launched against the CAA, NPR and NRC with a sinister design to harm the nation and sought action against trouble-makers.

In a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind, the citizens urged the central government to look into the ongoing protests with all seriousness and safeguard the democratic institutions of the country, and take stern action against those people behind them.

The citizens, including11 former judges of different high courts, 24 retired IAS officers, 11 former Indian Foreign Service officers,16 retired IPS and 18 former Lieutenant Generals, said "fear" is being spread across the length and breadth of India which appears to be "motivated and with a sinister design" to harm the nation.

They said the campaign is being carried out in a "coordinated manner" leading to violent protests in which public and private property has been destroyed.

The citizens said there has been a "false and nefarious narrative" about the recently enacted legislations like the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the idea of the National Population Register (NPR) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).

They said that while the CAA has been enacted, the idea of NPR and NRC which has been a part of the Indian discourse since Independence remains to be implemented.

"This (protests) has grave security implications and does not bode well for our motherland.

"These protests, while ostensibly claiming to oppose the policies of Government of India, are in effect designed to destroy the very fabric of this country and harm the nation's unity and integrity," they said.

The citizens claimed that they strongly feel that there is also an external dimension to the disturbances being created.

According to CAA, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, facing religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship.

The NPR will be carried out along with the house listing phase of the census exercise from April 1 to September 30.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah had recently said the government has not yet taken any decision on implementing the NRC.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Monday registered a case against various people for defying government orders on social media.

The union territory's administration on January 14 had issued an order banning all social media sites to curb their misuse by miscreants for propagating false information and rumours.

"Taking serious note of misuse of social media, the cyber police station in Kashmir has registered a case against various social media users who defied government orders and misused social media platforms," a police spokesman said.

"There have been continuous reports of misuse of social media sites by miscreants to propagate secessionist ideology and to promote unlawful activities," he said.

Social media is their "favourite tool" as it largely provides anonymity to the user and also gives wide reach, the spokesman said.

The FIR has been registered after taking cognisance of social media posts by miscreants through different virtual private networks (VPNs), he said



Miscreants are propagating rumours with regard to the current security scenario of the Kashmir Valley, the spokesman said.

He said these posts are "propagating secessionist ideology and glorifying terror acts and terrorists". Incriminating material has also been seized in this regard, spokesman said.

This is the first FIR registered in the Cyber police station (Kashmir Zone) in Srinagar since it came into existence through a notification of the government.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The electricity crisis in South Africa and the rest of the continent has fuelled ongoing efforts by the mining industry to adopt emerging technology such as AI-based predictive analytics to optimise operations, bolster safety, and attract investors.

Mine production has dropped significantly in the wake of recent electrical-grid load shedding. The problem has sparked calls for privatisation or liberalisation of the energy sector, opening up the possibility of mining industry enterprises establishing private power systems.

The possibility of big change in the sector has given mining enterprises a renewed sense of urgency to modernise and embrace emerging technology, judging from industry insiders at the recent 26th Investing in African Mining Indaba in Cape Town.

The South African government recognises that self-generation private power is key to closing the energy gap and is keen to allow mining companies to set up their own power projects, said Gwede Mantashe, South Africas minister of mineral resources and energy, at the conference.

Heath Muchena The Investing in African Mining Indaba conference took place in February 8-11 in Cape Town.

The sentiment was well-received. Private power is going to help diversify the energy mix, said Roger Baxer, CEO of Mineral Council South Africa.

Meanwhile, the energy crisis has put further pressure on mining enterprises to tap emerging technology to operate more efficiently, as a way of conserving energy, optimising costs and attracting investors to potentially fund expansion into power generation.

The future of mining should promote artificial intelligence and data automation, said Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio, who delivered a keynote address at Mining Indaba.

Data analysis aims to improve safety

Companies are also looking at various technologies to accelerate and enable systematic measures to reduce catastrophic risk exposure and fatalities around mining operations. In South Africa, weve seen a decrease in fatalities which is in line with the global trend but the issue of risk reduction remains top of the agenda for mining companies, said Marco Pagnini, Principal, DuPont Sustainable Solutions.

A number of vendors at the conference sounded the theme of using predictive analytics to improve safety and operations. We offer mining companies an all-in-one smart solution that includes hardware and software developed by the South African IT team and aimed at improving human safety in the mining environment as well as improving production solutions, said MineTecs marketing manager, Gina Kunene.

Minetecs collision avoidance device or proximity detection system for example, is being used by a Kenyan coal company as a solution that enables machines to detect each other such that if they are on a collision course, the device warns the operator of potential danger. The solution will compete for market share with related solutions from market leaders such as SAFEmine.

We utilise proprietary ontology based text mining and machine learning based data mining solutions as well as traditional stat tools and techniques, Kunene said.

Analytics can solve myriad problems for mining companies, and vendors at Mining Indaba were eager to tell success stories.

Recently, we helped a large mining corporation that was losing production in one of its main operations due to milling equipment inefficiencies, said Mark Evans, Principal at Partners in Performance (PiP).

Predictive analysis cuts downtime

We proceeded to debottleneck their gold mine processing plant to help prevent further failures and improve performance by partnering with a data scientist firm to leverage big data using machine learning techniques, developing insights and transforming them into actionable recommendations for the client onsite, Evans said. The efforts ultimately resulted in increased production levels and better equipment failure prediction, he added.

We were also able to get reduced planned downtime for the client through maintenance schedule optimisation and put in place a better system of managing assets by combining millions of data points of equipment variables into a weight-adjusted single degradation index metric that could help track asset health overtime, explained Evans.

Multinational conglomerate ABB has tried to quantify the cost savings that could be realised via real-time analytics and other data management systems.

Our research reveals that mine digitalisation could save an estimated US$373 billion by 2025 by raising productivity, reducing waste and keeping mines safe, said John Manuell, local business line manager of ABB South Africa, which offers an operations management system featuring near real-time planning, production scheduling and fleet management.

Industry insiders pointed out that the mining sector has already embarked on the path to digitisation. Our solutions are used at more than 2,000 sites in over 90 countries, said Andrew Osmond, senior business development manager at Micromine, whose solutions cover the full mining cycle from geological exploration and data management, to resource estimation, mine design, planning and production control. the company. We are even offering open training courses for anyone interested in improving their software skills especially graduates in the mining field without adequate exposure to work experience.

Mining companies under pressure to be more efficient

The mining industry, though, still has a way to go on its path to digital transformation. Mining enterprises in some ways are going through a transformation similar to what communications companies are undergoing, said Nkululeko Magadla, managing executive for resources, manufacturing and agriculture at Vodacom Business.

Over the last two decades Vodacom has picked up a lot of core capabilities around different technologies. Were in the process of transforming our business from a telecommunications company to a technology company. Incidentally the mining industry finds itself in a similar environment where they have to increase their productivity, improve on their safety record and take care of the environment, Magadla said.

Vodacom sees opportunity in the mining sector. One of the huge challenges the mining industry has struggled with is the technology that would allow companies to view its operations on a real-time basis.

Typically, the mining industry works on three to eight-hour cycles from the time that they have a process event to the time that they can take corrective action, explained Magadla. Part of what Vodacom is trying to do is help the mining industry have access to more real-time information, more relevant information and have the ability to make the right decisions that save lives.

Addressing fears that digitisation would have a negative impact on mining jobs, Magadla said that technology can help the workforce to safe tasks that are a more optimal fit for human resources.

If you can infuse technology into mining you can remove people from the most dangerous parts of the mining environment, improve productivity, and ensure that people are trained in those skills that are more relating to themselves as individuals  more than just to themselves as workers in a particular mine, Magadla said. Thus technology is a big enabler in mining transforming itself into the next century.
Vodafone Idea has asked for its AGR dues to be adjusted against Rs 7,000 crore owed to it by the tax department. The tax refund is related to a Supreme Court order which clarified that the Vodafone-Hutchison deal was not taxable in India. The telecom operator is looking at a payout of Rs 53,000 crore as pending Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues to the government.

Following a change in the Income-tax Act 2012, the Supreme Court had ruled that the Vodafone-Hutchison deal could not be taxed in India. This resulted in tax refund due to the company from the tax department for several assessment years up to 2004-05.

ALSO READ:AGR issue: Vodafone Idea tells SC it can only pay Rs 2,500 crore; gets no relief

Vodafone Idea has written to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Income Tax Department, seeking adjustment of its AGR dues against the pending tax refund, a CNBC-TV18 report said.

Apart from adjustment against the tax refund, Vodafone Idea has told the Supreme Court that it can pay Rs 2,500 crore today. The company further added that it will pay another Rs 1,000 crore by February 21. The telecom operator appealed to the Supreme Court that the DoT should not take any coercive action to call forth any bank guarantees as it would further hinder its operations.

ALSO READ:AGR issue: Bharti Airtel pays Rs 10,000 crore to govt as part of outstanding dues

However, the apex court denied any extra time to the telecom operator for paying its dues. The Supreme Court also refused to order the telecom department against taking coercive action against Vodafone Idea.

On Friday last week, the Supreme Court lambasted telecom operators for not paying a single penny towards their AGR dues despite its order in this regard. The telecom department also faced the apex court's ire for its order staying coercive action against telcos in the event of non-payment of AGR dues. DoT had withdrawn its 'non coercive action' order immediately. The court has asked telecom players to clear their AGR dues before March 17, the next date of hearing on the matter.

ALSO READ:Airtel, Vodafone Idea subscriber? Should you port out

On Monday, Bharti Airtel said that it has paid Rs 10,000 crore to the telecom department as the part amount of its adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues. Its spokesperson confirmed to BusinessToday.In that, it will pay the balance amount after completing the exercise of calculating (AGR) dues across 22 circles which will take at least a week to ten days. The company added that it shall make the payment before the next date of Supreme Court's (SC) hearing which is on March 17.
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif takes part in the panel discussion 'A conversation with Iran' during the 56th Munich Security Conference in Munich on February 15, 2020.

MUNICH  Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that when it comes to the rising tensions in the Gulf, the United States and Saudi Arabia are to blame.

"I believe our neighbors, especially Saudi Arabia, do not want to (de-escalate)," Zarif said Saturday when asked about the status of the relationship at the Munich Security Conference. He added that he suspected Riyadh was operating under the influence of the Trump administration's "maximum pressure campaign" on Iran.

Zarif also accused his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, who attended the Munich Security Conference as well, of reshuffling the security forum's agenda so that the two of them wouldn't have to meet.

Prince Faisal reaffirmed, less than an hour after Zarif spoke, that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would not hold meetings with Iran until the regime takes responsibility for its malign activities in the region.

"Our message to Iran is to change its behavior first before anything is to be discussed," the Saudi prince said during a discussion at the conference. "Until we can talk about the real sources of that instability, talk is going to be unproductive," he added.

Tensions in the Gulf took an anxious turn last month when the U.S. conducted a deadly strike on Iran's top military leader. The Jan. 2 strike that killed Gen. Qasem Soleimani, a key military figure of Iranian and Middle East politics, followed a string of attacks on locations that hosted U.S. and coalition forces, including the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

On the heels of Soleimani's death, Iran launched at least a dozen missiles from its territory on Jan. 7 at two military bases in Iraq that house U.S. troops and coalition forces.

A day later from the White House, Trump said that Iran appeared "to be standing down" and warned Tehran to abandon its nuclear ambitions.

"As long as I am president of the United States, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon," Trump said speaking from the grand foyer of the White House.

But he suggested that the U.S. is open to negotiations with Tehran. "We must all work together toward making a deal with Iran that makes the world a safer and more peaceful place," he said on Jan. 8. He then urged other world powers to break away from the Obama-era nuclear agreement with Iran and work out a new deal.

Read more: Iran's foreign minister blames Trump's advisors for 'very dangerous moment' in relations with the US

The tit-for-tat strikes follow what the U.S. called an Iranian attack on the world's largest crude-processing plant and oil field.

Last summer, the U.S. blamed Iran for the predawn strikes in Saudi Arabia that forced the kingdom to shut down half its production operations. The event triggered the largest spike in crude prices in decades and renewed concerns of a budding conflict in the Middle East. Iran maintains that it was not behind the attacks.

In September, Saudi Arabia's defense ministry said drone and missile debris recovered by investigators shows Iranian culpability. Saudi coalition spokesman Col. Turki al-Maliki said during a press briefing in Riyadh that all military components retrieved from the oil facilities "point to Iran."

Read more: Attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities was 'sophisticated' and had a 'dramatic impact on global markets,' Pentagon says

Tensions between Tehran and Washington have soared following Trump's withdrawal from the landmark Iran nuclear deal brokered by the Obama administration.

The 2015 nuclear agreement lifted sanctions on Iran that crippled its economy and cut its oil exports roughly in half. In exchange for sanctions relief, Iran accepted limits on its nuclear program and allowed international inspectors into its facilities.

And while Trump's "maximum pressure" policy has crippled Iran's economy, slashing its oil exports, Tehran has said it will not negotiate with Washington while sanctions are in place.
The housing market is likely to see continued significant pressure for the next couple of years, despite ambitious promises by the major political parties during the general election.

That is according to EY, which  in its latest economic outlook for Ireland  said that the high cost of renting coupled with a scarcity of suitable accommodation makes the go-to solution of accelerated migration more challenging.

The three main political parties recently promised between 100,000 and 200,000 new homes over the full-term of the next Dail.

However, in its latest economic commentary last week, the Central Bank said reaching 34,000 new housebuilds per year is achieveable but only over the medium-term of 10 years. It also said it expects Irish GDP to grow by 4.8% and 4.2% this year and next; down from an estimated 6.1% in 2019.

EY remains less bullish on the Irish economy, but still expects it to grow by 3.4% this year  up from its previous estimate of 3%.

However, it envisages growth to moderate to 2.8% and 2.7% over the next two years respectively.

Regardless of the shape of the next government, we are likely to see a focus on public services, quality of life and what can be characterised as more internal, or personal, outcomes, rather than a singular drive for growth and globalisation, said EY Ireland chief economist Neil Gibson.

The contrast between economic growth and election results is striking as the incumbent government could not secure a majority with headline growth rates of well over 5%, he said.

EY said it sees job growth to continue, but at a slower pace  with 192,100 jobs to be added across the island over the next five years, and the ICT sector set to be the greatest job creator.

It has also urged vigilance over Brexit.

Hopes for a free trade agreement are high, but firms still need to plan for the potential practical outcomes that translate that into trade reality, said EY Irelands Brexit lead, Simon MacAllister.

Adaptable plans, nimble and flexible supply chains and efficient systems remain the order of the day for Irish firms in preparing for a post-Brexit island, he said.
Four days after suspended inspector Ravi Kant Sharma, the former SHO of Mansa Devi Complex (MDC) police station, surrendered in a local court, the police on Monday got him back in custody citing need for probe after new facts have cropped up in the case.

Sharma, who was suspended in December last year for allegedly extorting money from a beauty salon and stalking its woman employee, has remained out of police reach for over two months.

Confirming the development, assistant commissioner of police Vijay Deswal, investigating officer in the case, said, We have taken Sharma back in custody from Ambala Central Jail for two days as we have come across new facts in the case that needs to be investigated. We cannot disclose more as it is part of investigation.

Sharma had surrendered in court on February 13, and was sent to judicial custody after police interrogated him for more than two hours. With his surrender, the police, on Thursday, had also moved an application in court regarding his voice sampling, which was allowed.

On February 3, the Punjab and Haryana HC had dismissed Sharmas plea for anticipatory bail. Police had argued that they needed his custodial interrogation in view of incriminating evidence against him. Police had told the HC that 121 calls were exchanged between Sharma and the guard between September 3, 2019 to 10 December, 2019, even as they had no business to be in touch.

THE CASE

It was on December 10, 2019, that Panchkula police had registered an FIR against Sharma and a home guard volunteer, Jashan Lal, for allegedly extorting money from the salon, as well as stalking and manhandling a woman manager. The complainant, who is the owner of a beauty lounge and salon in Sector 5, MDC, had submitted a CD containing CCTV clippings of the salon with his complaint.

DVR CORRUPT

Sources said matter related to DVR submitted by the complainant was taken up in court during Sharmas anticipatory bail. However, the police had told the court that as per the forensic lab report, the DVR did not function as it was corrupt.
Their calls could go on like that for an hour. But lately, Adelaida has had homework to do and friends to play with and books to read. The Florida Standards Assessments test was coming up and she was nervous. She excused herself.
Since the time Coronavirus began spreading in Wuhan, China, there are multiple magical cures that have cropped up and are floating across the internet. Don't fall for them. Don't drink chlorine dioxide. They are all fake.

One such fake screengrab of a news bulletin that shows marijuana is effective in killing the deadly Coronavirus has made way to social media, and filmmaker Vikramaditya Motwane apparently fell for it. So much so, he even appealed to make it "legal."



On Feb 8, Vivek Agnihotri posted a screengrab doing the rounds on social media that says Breaking News: Weed kills coronavirus.

Twitter

"Cannabis is a magic plant. Till mid-80s it was sold by Govt. Because of Rajiv Gandhi and western Pharma companies it got bad name, he wrote, ending his tweet with an appeal, Make cannabis legal.

Solution to a lot of worlds problems lie in India. But you cant find them as long as you ridicule our ancient wisdom.



Cannabis is a magic plant. Till mid-80s it was sold by Govt. Because of Rajiv Gandhi and western Pharma companies it got bad name.



Make cannabis legal. pic.twitter.com/qrwynpT6IW  Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) February 8, 2020

He became a target of trolls on social media. Now, after several days, Sacred Games director Vikramaditya Motwane has joined the bandwagon to mock him.

Sharing a tweet by ANI that showed BSF in Tripura having seized 889 kg 'ganja' & destroyed around 4500 mature cannabis plants in forest land of Sepahijala District, Motwane wrote, Theyre destroying ancient Indian wisdom sir @vivekagnihotri.



In response to that tweet, a user wrote, "One day Mr. Agnihotri will write a book about how 40% of India is infested by gyms and how gyms are going to rule the country. It'll be called Urban Muscle."

To this, Vivek replied, "Great idea. Will follow up.

Great idea. Will follow up.  Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) February 17, 2020

Meanwhile, the death toll in China has reached over 1700. India has so far reported three cases of coronavirus as of now.


Family members of Pakistani students studying in Wuhan, China, display students pictures on their mobile phones during a demonstration for the evacuation of their relatives after the Chinese city was badly hit by the coronavirus, in Lahore, Pakistan. AP photo

Family members of those stranded in Wuhan demand the evacuation of Pakistani students from the Chinese city

Pakistans government has so far ruled out evacuating the more than 1,000 Pakistani students in the province, home to the city of Wuhan, at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak.

State Health Minister Zafar Mirza said on Twitter on Friday that he and other ministers would hold a meeting for parents in Islamabad on Wednesday and that his government was working with Chinese authorities to ensure students were taken care of.

But many students and their families have expressed growing frustration as the death toll in China mounts, pointing to other countries, including neighbouring India and Bangladesh, evacuating their citizens.

For Gods sake, we request from the government representatives please bring back our children, please listen to a mothers grievance, one protester, who declined to give her name, told media while bursting into tears.

The protesters chanted bring back our children and held up banners with the same message.

Earlier in the week dozens of families in Lahore held a similar protest outside the Chinese consulate.

A spokesman for Mirza did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for further comment.

He said on Twitter six Pakistani students in China confirmed to have had the virus had fully recovered and one was still receiving treatment.

Nonetheless, students in touch with Reuters from China over the past days said they wanted to leave.

Mir Hassan, a student whose father died of a heart ailment this month while he was stuck in Wuhan, said he had been told by Pakistani officials he would not be evacuated despite wanting to return home to his grieving mother.

She is also begging me to come back home. Unfortunately, I havent any idea when I will go back home and see my mom, he told Reuters.

Sahil Hassan, a PhD student in Wuhan, said he was finding it hard to receive scholarship payments, leaving them unable to afford food and bottled water from their universitys food delivery service while in lock down.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - An Anchorage homeowner was shot and injured during a robbery by a group of men, authorities said.

Officers were called to the home just before 1 a.m. Monday.

One of the five men who broke into the home fired several shots and hit the homeowner once in the upper body, police said.

The victim was transported to a hospital and police said his condition was not immediately known.

A woman and child who were also in the home were not hurt, police said.

The men stole several items from the house before fleeing on foot. Police used a K-9 unit to search for the suspects, who were not found, authorities said.

Authorities did not say whether the victim and the suspects were acquainted.

An investigation is ongoing, police said.
Students from north-eas-tern states at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) have complained of racial discrimination in and around campus in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

In a letter to the institute and students on Monday, the Northeast Students Forum of TISS alleged racial profiling of some members of the forum as potential carriers of the virus (Covid-19), which originated in China, owing to their facial features.

Many students from TISS have recently been subjected to racial treatment due to their distinctive identities and features, the letter said. Asha Banu, dean, student affairs, confirmed that students approached her office to discuss the matter.

The letter stated one such instance, on February 10, when a student and her visiting friend, both from Nagaland, were subjected to outright racial discrimination. The forum alleged that a video of the visiting friend was filmed without consent and circulated on social media as an alarm about a potential carrier of coronavirus from China. When the student confronted the makers of the video, they directed other slurs at her and threatened her, according to the forum.

The letter also said that students from north-eastern states have faced name-calling, such as corona and coronavirus. Around 200 of 2,900 students at TISS are from the north-east.

Condemning such discrimination across the country, the forum asked the institutes administration to intervene and ensure the safety of students from the north-east.

We would like to bring this matter to the notice of concerned authorities of TISS to adopt adequate measures to ensure safety of students from north-east who are vulnerable to racial discrimination. We request the general student body, faculty, and staff to deter any practices of casual and structural racism and promote a sensitive approach towards students. We also request the concerned government bodies to take appropriate measures to ensure the safety of people from north-east states in Mumbai and to deter cases of harassment and racial discrimination, read the letter.

What happened with the student and her friend was unfortunate. As an interim measure, we are providing her with hostel accommodation, said Banu, adding that the administration is mulling ways to spread awareness within the campus and in nearby areas. We need to increase awareness about misinformation regarding the virus. At the same time we need to make people understand that name-calling and discrimination based on features are a form of structural racism, and must be avoided. We are looking at ways to do that.

This form of discrimination, played out in the pretext of health concerns, is a reminder of inherent racial prejudices and stereotyping of particular people, based on their physical features and perceived cultural inferiority, a student said.

The novel coronavirus has so far claimed more than 1,770 lives. More than 71,000 cases have been recorded, most of which are in China. In the past few weeks, there have been allegations of racial profiling of people with Asian or Mongoloid features across the world.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  A 41-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the death of family therapist Amie Harwick in Hollywood, Los Angeles police said.

At 1:16 a.m. Saturday, officers were initially called to the residential building in the 2000 block of Mound Street after getting a report of a woman screaming," police said in a statement.

IN LONDON: Ex-'Love Island' host Caroline Flack found dead

The officers were met by a roommate who was in front of the building, police said.

He told them Amie Harwick was being assaulted inside of the home, police said. The roommate had jumped a wall and went to neighboring residences to call for help.

Harwick was found suffering grave injuries after she had apparently fallen from a third-floor balcony, police said. Harwick was unconscious, police said.

The Los Angeles Fire Department took Harwick to a nearby hospital, where she later died from her injuries, police said.

Officers found evidence of a struggle and a forced entry to the home, police said. The officers also found evidence of an intruder entering the home and leaving after the slaying, police said.

Detectives learned Harwick had recently expressed fear about an ex-boyfriend and had previously filed a restraining order against him, police said.

The restraining order had expired, and Harwick had seen the former boyfriend two weeks ago, police said.

The FBI-LAPD Fugitive Task Force arrested the former boyfriend outside of a home in Playa Del Rey, police said.

Harwick was the author of "The New Sex Bible for Women." She was once engaged to comedian Drew Carey.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 19:48:48|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- China is willing to continue maintaining close communication and coordination with Japan and strengthening bilateral cooperation in fighting novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic, a spokesperson said Monday.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang made the remarks when asked to comment on the epidemic situation in Japan at the daily press briefing online.

Geng said China is closely following the novel coronavirus epidemic development in Japan, and called on the international community, especially neighboring countries, to step up cooperation and jointly tackle the challenge as virus knows no border.

He said China is thankful for and would never forget the sincere support and assistance offered by the Japanese government and people from all walks of life, adding that China has stood ready to share information and experience with Japan and offer support and assistance to Japan as per its needs, although the epidemic situation in China remains tough.

"In fact, the two sides have already started detailed arrangements in this field," Geng added.

"We would like to continue maintaining close communication and coordination with Japan and strengthening bilateral cooperation in epidemic control, so as to jointly protect lives and health of the two peoples and uphold regional and global public health security," Geng said.
What are the beliefs that guide religious parents as they attempt to pass their faith down to their children? When sociologist of religion Christian Smith, collaborating with doctoral students Bridget Ritz and Michael Rotolo, interviewed over 200 of Americas more religious parents, his team expected to find diverse answers to this question. Instead, they discovered surprising uniformity.

Although there are many differences between, for example, a white, conservative Protestant and a Thai Buddhist immigrant, when asked about their beliefs regarding the meaning of life, how the world works, their hopes for their children, and how all that informs their approach to parenting, the answers were remarkably similar. It was as if they had been indoctrinated in a particular way of thinking. There were occasional disagreements, of course, but mainly over matters the parents themselves considered secondary.

In Religious Parenting: Transmitting Faith and Values in Contemporary America, Smith and his co-authors summarize the de facto American religious parenting catechism this way:

Parents are responsible for preparing their children for the challenging journey of life, during which they will hopefully become their best possible selves and live happy, good lives. Religion provides crucial help for navigating lifes journey successfully, including moral guidance, emotional support, and a secure home base. So parents should equip their children with knowledge of their religion by routinely modeling its practices, values, and ethics, which children will then hopefully absorb and embrace for themselves.

Each chapter summarizes a key cluster of parental beliefs (The Purpose and Nature of Life, Religions ...

1

You have reached the end of this Article Preview You have reached the end of this Article Preview To continue reading, subscribe now. Subscribers have full digital access.

Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here.
French auto company Renault announced plans for $2.2 billion in cuts last Friday after a dismal economic performance in 2019. The company lost 141 million euros last year after making 3.3 billion in profit in 2018, and overall sales fell 3.3 percent. Dividend payouts from its corporate partner Nissan fell from $1.6 billion to $262 million as a result of the deep crisis at the Japanese automaker.

Acting Renault CEO Clotilde Delbos pledged that nothing would be taboo as the company reviewed areas to slash costs. This includes the possibility of job cuts, as well as a review of performance across all factories, according to Reuters.

The phrasing of Delbos statement recalls the incendiary speech last month by Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess, who pledged to slaughter sacred cows as the company pursued a radical restructuring, including 20,000 job cuts in Germany alone. Volkswagens former brand manager Luca de Meo is set to take over the reins at Renault later this summer.

Renaults announcement is only the latest in a series of announced layoffs, which constitute a global jobs massacre in the auto industry. More than 500,000 auto-related jobs were shed last year, including tens of thousands in Europe and North America.

Analysts expect job losses to increase over the course of 2020. More than 80,000 job cuts were already planned by auto companies worldwide in December, according to Bloomberg News. This figure does not include the announced cuts at VW, meaning the current number is at least 100,000.

The estimate also does not include parts suppliers, which employ a far higher percentage of the global auto workforce. Volkmar Denner, CEO of German supplier Bosch, speculated in the press last month that the world economy may already have passed peak car production. Indian parts suppliers warn that if global auto sales continue to decline as expected, as many as 1 million out of the countrys 5 million auto part jobs may be at risk.

Other announced job cuts throughout the industry include: 9,500 cuts at VW subsidiary Audi, 10,000 at Daimler, 12,000 cuts by Ford throughout Europe and 12,500 at Renaults corporate alliance partner Nissan. Nissan is reportedly considering an additional 4,300 white collar job cuts and the closure of two plants. Additional layoffs are also a real possibility at Ford, which announced a reshuffling in its top leadership after experiencing a 99 percent decline in profits last year. Ford is already under intense pressure by Wall Street to speed up job cuts under its global fitness program.

While these layoffs are occurring worldwide, Europe is particularly vulnerable. Europe is a lower-margin region for automakers due to higher proportional sales of sedans and other small vehicles, rather than the high-profit pickup trucks and SUVs which are more popular in North America. In addition, European autoworkers still retain certain job and income protections although the European unions are rushing to catch up to their American counterparts in abolishing such gains to boost the competitiveness of car companies in Germany, France and Italy.

Many auto companies complain of excess capacity in their European plants, making workers on the continent more at risk for new plant closures. Facilitating plant closures was no doubt a major goal of last years abortive merger between Fiat Chrysler and Renault, whose plants are the most underutilized in Europe. Fiat Chrysler is now moving ahead with merger plans with Renaults French rival Peugeot.

The most immediate cause of the cuts is the onset of what is expected to be a prolonged industry slump. Global auto sales, which peaked in 2017 at 95.2 million cars, fell year-on-year by 4 percent in 2019. Renaults internal outlook for the year is that sales in Europe and Russia will decline a further 3 percent in 2020.

A major driver of the downturn is slumping sales in emerging economies, especially China, where the auto market has exploded from virtually non-existent to the worlds largest in the space of three decades. Chinese vehicle sales fell for the first time in a generation in 2018. Major urban markets in China are reaching saturation, according to industry analysts.

However, vehicle ownership rates in China remain low, with only 181 vehicles per 1,000 people, less than Ukraine, Thailand and North Macedonia. For the vast majority of the Chinese working class, who toil for long hours for low pay, car ownership remains a financial impossibility.

A major aggravating factor is the impact of trade war measures by the Trump administration and other governments, to which the auto industry, which relies on highly integrated global supply chains, is especially vulnerable. Supply chains have already been severely disrupted by the near-total shutdown of the Chinese auto industry in response to the coronavirus, whose outbreak is centered in Chinas motor city Wuhan. Renault jointly operates a plant in Wuhan with Chinese automaker Dongfeng, whose idling impacted production at Renaults plants in Korea.

Global job cuts are also being driven by the industrys transition to electric and self-driving vehicles, anticipated to be the most disruptive technologies in the industry since Henry Fords assembly line. However, the research and development costs are enormous, and the technologies may not reach maturity for a generation. Electric vehicles will not achieve cost parity with gas-burning vehicles until 2027 and are not expected to overtake traditional vehicles in overall sales until 2040. The timeline for self-driving vehicles is even further out.

The costs associated with these technologies is driving automakers to cut expenditures through layoffs. However, the layoffs are also part of a restructuring of the industrys labor force for the new technologies, which will require a vastly reduced workforce.

For Renault, another major factor is the chaos surrounding its corporate alliance with Japanese automakers Nissan and Mitsubishi after the arrest and prosecution of former chairman Carlos Ghosn.

Le Cost Killer, as Ghosn was affectionately known in financial circles, exercised an unprecedented personal control over the alliance, which he engineered in the 1990s. He was arrested by Japanese police in 2018 on allegations of financial misconduct and fraud, including misusing tens of millions of company dollars for private jets, yachts, overseas residences and investment in his sons company. Since his ouster, Nissans financial performance has plummeted. The companys stock is at its lowest in 10 years, and Nissan last week cut its profit forecast for the year by 43 percent.

While the charges against Ghosn are certainly credible, they emerged out of a bitter conflict within Nissans top executives, who secretly began an internal investigation against him. Nissan executives blame the companys disastrous performance on Ghosns policy of aggressive expansion. Another major point of friction between Renault and Nissan is the imbalanced cross-ownership between the two companies. Renault owns 43 percent of Nissan, but Nissan owns only 15 percent of Renault and has no voting rights. Nissan has pushed for years to get Renault to reduce its stake.

Ghosn, who escaped from house arrest last year and fled Japan for Lebanon, where he holds citizenship, has used extremely favorable treatment in the Western media to present himself as the victim of a conspiracy and denounce Nissans current top leadership and the Japanese legal system.
Futenma Air Station in Ginowan City, Okinawa, Japan on Oct. 1, 2012. The relocation of the air station has been complicated by a drawn-out environmental approval process. (JIJI PRESS/AFP/GettyImages)

Trumps Efforts to Reform Environmental Impact Statements Draw Cheers, Jeers

President Donald Trumps efforts to streamline, accelerate, and modernize the environmental review process could curtail abusive litigation practices that undermine economic development and jeopardize national security, according to congressional figures and energy policy analysts.

The 50-year-old National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which hasnt been amended since 1986, has been weaponized by anti-development groups to delay vital federal infrastructure projects and exploited to serve as a tool for excessive litigation to the detriment of Americas military readiness, they argue.

But Trumps proposed overhaul of NEPA, which he officially announced during a White House press conference in January, has also been the subject of intense criticism from environmental advocacy groups that have been among the most aggressive litigators targeting federal construction projects and military exercises.

Some of these same environmental groups have also come under scrutiny for potential violations of foreign agent registration requirements since their litigation practices appear to align with the geopolitical interests of foreign powers, according to congressional correspondence.

Proposed Reforms

NEPA stipulates that federal agencies must consider the environmental impact of any federal actions that could significantly impact the quality of the environment. The law also states that federal agencies must consider potential alternatives to proposed actions.

Current regulations call for federal agencies to produce documents called environmental impact statements in anticipation of any significant federal actions and to prepare environmental assessments to determine if the environmental statement is necessary or to explain why it isnt.

The Trump administrations proposed rules would set a time limit of two years for the completion of environmental impact statements and one year for the completion of environmental assessments. The proposed reforms would also specify page limits for NEPA reports and require joint schedules to be established across multiple agencies so workers and companies could have greater certainty in their planning.

As part of its proposed NEPA overhaul, the Trump administration also seeks to simplify what is meant by environmental effects and to clarify that effects must be reasonably foreseeable and have a reasonably close relationship to the proposed action, while also declaring an analysis of cumulative effects would no longer be required, according to the administrations proposal.

Green Activists Condemn

Green activists who view NEPA as a safeguard against the potential long-term effects of climate change have been particularly critical of the administrations efforts to redefine what is meant by environmental effects and to limit the scope of what is included in NEPA reviews.

Gina McCarthy, president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a nonprofit group headquartered in New York, has released a statement describing Trumps proposal as a dangerous move. McCarthy, who served as President Barack Obamas EPA director, also said in her statement that NEPA has been an essential part of the public process, providing critical oversight that the federal government relies on to fully understand the potential implications of projects that can harm peoples health and environment.

In a blog for the NRDC, Sharon Buccino, a senior director for the nonprofit group, warned against excluding cumulative effects as a major consideration within NEPA.

The current regulations recognize that individually minor actions may add up to a significant impact over time or space, she wrote. Agencies must consider how their actions will contribute to or be affected by these combined, incremental effects of human activity in their environmental review.

Other prominent opponents of Trumps regulatory rollback include the Center for Biological Diversity, a green legal advocacy group based in Tucson, Arizona.

If the administrations proposals become law, federal agencies will be empowered with the ability to ignore the potential impact a projects greenhouse gases would have on climate change, the group claims in a press release.

The proposal would also eliminate consideration of cumulative impacts, such as damage to public lands and wildlife from fossil fuel extraction, the release states.

NEPA a Tool for Excessive Litigation

But it is precisely because nonprofit advocacy groups such as the NRDC and the Center for Biological Diversity have continuously misused NEPA to the point in which vital projects are needlessly delayed without any appreciable environmental benefit that the time has come to upgrade the law and improve its implementation, Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.

When NEPA was signed into law, it was originally intended to ensure that each federal agency carefully considered the environment when making decisions, the congressman said in the email. However, NEPA has devolved into a tool for excessive litigation aimed at impeding necessary infrastructure projects. To boot, the myriad of lawsuits have left our military vulnerable as our judiciary system is exploited under the guise of environmental justice. For our foreign adversaries, such litigation serves as an inexpensive tool to reduce our military readiness and defense capabilities.

When he served as chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee in 2018, Bishop led an effort to probe into potential violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which requires anyone who acts as an agent of foreign principals in a political or quasi-political capacity, to disclose that relationship periodically, as well as activities, receipts, and disbursements in support of those activities, according to the Justice Department.

Bishop sent letters to the NRDC, the Center for Biological Diversity, the World Resources Institute, and Earthjustice in 2018 inquiring about any relationship between the nonprofit environmental advocacy groups and foreign governments, especially China. In his correspondence, Bishop also asked each group if they were in compliance with FARA requirements. Earthjustice, a nonprofit public interest law outfit based in San Francisco, California, registered under FARA in September 2019. But the other groups have repeatedly denied operating as foreign agents.

In his letter to the NRDC co-signed by Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) who then chaired the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Bishop expressed concern about the NRDCs role in aiding Chinas perception management efforts with respect to pollution control and its international standing on environmental issues in ways that may be detrimental to the United States.

Bishop and Westerman also made the point that the green groups relationship with China has many of the criteria identified by U.S. intelligence agencies and law enforcement as putting an entity at risk of being influenced or coerced by foreign interests. The letter also calls attention to the NRDCs long history of litigation against the U.S. Navy under NEPA, and other environmental laws.

Over the last two decades, your organization has also sued the U.S. Navy multiple times to stop or drastically limit naval training exercises in the Pacific arguing that naval sonar and anti-submarine warfare drills harm marine life, Bishop says in the letter. We are unaware of the NRDC having made similar efforts to curtail naval exercises by the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army Navy.

Bonner Cohen, a senior fellow with the National Center for Public Policy Research in Washington, concurs with Bishops assessment of NEPAs defects and credits the Trump administration for pressing ahead with proposed changes.

There is no doubt that NEPA has been a huge strategic asset to Americas geopolitical rivals, he said in an interview. Without having to raise a finger, China, Russia, and other adversaries have been able to let American environmental groups do their dirty work for them. Sometimes they have even been rewarded for the services they render, in the form of Russian money duly laundered through offshore and onshore entities, not to mention the remarkable partnership that has developed between the NRDC and the PRC. The cumbersome and time-consuming NEPA process has been a blessing to Americas rivals, who rightly fear the implication of American global energy dominance.

Still saddled with a flawed law that only Congress can fix, the Trump administration has grasped the essence of the problem and is using administrative reforms to speed up the process. NEPA-related delays will still happen, but the amount of time lost should be reduced through the deadlines and page limits on environmental impact statements and other paperwork requirements.

Every Citizen a Voice

The Epoch Times contacted the NRDC and the Center for Biological Diversity and asked both organizations for further comment about the impact the proposed NEPA reforms might have on their litigation practices and if they had any further response to allegations that they might be in violation of FARA requirements. The NRDC didnt respond by press time, but Brett Hartl, the government affairs director for the Center for Biological Diversity, did respond in an email.

Regarding NEPA, one of the two foundational goals of NEPA is to give every citizen a voice in how the federal government acts on its behalf, he wrote. And most of the thousands of NEPA processes (environmental assessments and environmental impact statements) are completed on time. Litigation  which is brought by all sides of an issue, industry and NGO alike  is the process to hold the government accountable to follow the law.

So, there are two ways of reducing litigation, follow the law or try to change the rules so the government doesnt have to follow the rules. That latter tactic is what the Trump regulations attempt to domake NEPA so boilerplate and meaningless that there are no checks upon the power of the federal government. Whether or not Trumps changeswhich are not in effect yetwill ultimately reduce litigation, or increase litigation is hard to predict. I dont think there will be less litigation, it will probably be worse as agencies try to come to grips with these completely new rules.

Despite what Trumps critics have suggested, Bishop views the reform process Trump has started as an opportunity to strike a better balance between economic and environmental concerns.

The administrations goals of reducing redundancies, enhancing coordination with states and tribes, and establishing time frames for completing paperwork will yield a stronger economy and greater environmental protection, he said. It will focus resources on supporting our military, American infrastructure, and clean air and water, over red tape and litigation. These are all good things that should be universally embraced.

Okinawa

In his 2018 letter to the Center for Biological Diversity, Bishop highlighted the advocacy groups legal representation on behalf of coalition of Japanese and American environmental organizations that have been working to block a planned relocation of the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma located on the island of Okinawa. Bishop concluded the letter by asking the Center for Biological Diversity if it had registered under FARA, and to explain why it hadnt.

Hartl, the groups government affairs official, addressed the foreign agent allegations in his message.

Regarding FARA, as our press release from October of last year notes, we offered to Mr. Bishop that we would come testify in open at a hearing about our work to save the Okinawa Dugong from extinction, even though the Foreign Agent Registration Act is outside the purview of the Natural Resources Committee (in fact we offered to testify in front of the House Judiciary Committee as well), Hartl said. Mr. Bishops harassing and onerous document were little more than a personal vendetta against our organization, and he declined to hold such a hearing even though as chairman he could have done so.

Competitive Disadvantage

While NEPA was initiated with good intentions, the time for reform is long overdue, since it puts the United States at a competitive disadvantage, David Kreutzer, a senior economist with the Institute for Energy Research based in Washington, explained in an email.

Anti-development groups weaponized NEPA long ago to unconscionably delay important infrastructure projects, he said. While countries like Canada, Germany, and Australia approve most projects within two years, NEPA approval in the U.S. averages more than six years for certain projects and in some cases, the NEPA approval takes well over a decade. Its time to end regulatory abuse that squanders taxpayer dollars and delays needed projects, while adding little to environmental quality.

Even if Trump succeeds in implementing his NEPA reforms, Cohen anticipates that green activists will still find ways to tie up energy and other natural resources and infrastructure projects in court by invoking environmental laws. Even so, he suggests there is another reason for the proponents of responsible energy development to remain hopeful.

What has changed is the composition of the federal judiciary, he said. Trumps judicial appointments are remaking the federal courts in a way not favorable to green groups. If Trump wins a second term, this trend will continue. Greens can still sue to stop this or that, but their prospects for ultimately prevailing will diminish.
The Supreme Court's appointment of two interlocutors to persuade the Shaheen Bagh protesters to move to another venue brought a little disappointment to the demonstrators though many of them believe there is finally an avenue to talk to the government about their dissent.

Hundreds of people, especially women, have been camping at Shaheen Bagh here for over two months in protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act, blocking an arterial road due to which the city has been facing traffic congestions.

A section of the women protesters said the tent put up by them symbolised the venue as their "battleground for justice and equality". They said they were not averse to the idea of moving but first demanded detailed talks with the government on the CAA.

"We started our protest on December 15 when the students at Jamia Millia Islamia were beaten up miserably by police. We won't be too happy to move but since it is the court's decision, we will accept it with full respect," said Shaheeda Khan, a resident of Batla House.

"However, moving the point of protest won't be a decision accepted by all," she added.

Ritu Khosla from the Shaheen Bagh Co-ordination Committee told PTI, "The SC's decision is welcome and we fully accept it. We will be happy to meet the mediators who have been appointed by the apex court. I don't know if the protesters would agree to move. The decision to change the venue of the protest will entirely depend on the joint decision taken by all protesters of Shaheen Bagh."



The famous grandmothers or 'dadis' of Shaheen Bagh welcomed the decision saying they now expect genuine mediation with the government.

"We have wanted to talk to the government for two months. We tried various times to have a dialogue and marched towards the home minister's house too. However, the police always stopped us. We are ready to talk but there should be a genuine interaction and mediation between us and the government," Sharvari Dadi of Shaheen Bagh said.

The Shaheen Bagh protestors had marched towards Union Home Minister Amit Shah's residence on February 16 seeking to talk to him about the new citizenship law. They were stopped by Delhi Police midway. The march had included senior citizen women, popularly known as the 'Dabangg Dadis' of Shaheen Bagh.

The men at Shaheen Bagh said the SC's decision had brought a small but important victory for the protesters as the Centre will now have to talk to them.

"We are happy that at least the SC thought that there should be a dialogue because the government has been avoiding a dialogue. The government may think that removal of the protest point is their victory but the victory is ours because now we will directly talk and bring a solution in rolling back the CAA," Azim Khan, a resident and shop keeper at Shaheen Bagh, said.

The on Monday, while hearing a plea against the blockade, appointed senior advocate Sanjay Hegde and advocate Sadhana Ramachandran to mediate with the protesters and persuade them to move their protest to an alternative site where no public place is blocked.

The apex court said people have a fundamental right to protest against a law but the blocking of public roads is a matter of concern and there has to be a balancing factor.

The top court was hearing an appeal filed by advocate Amit Sahni 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.
With Yonkers Raceway offering a hefty Presidents Night (Monday, Feb. 17) Pick-5 wager, featuring a double carryover of $16,144.27 and a $35,000 guaranteed pool, the Hilltop oval has enlisted the assistance of Peter Venaglia to dissect the sequence.

Venaglia, in addition to his many hats as co-host of Yonkers Saturday broadcast, first vice president of the Standardbred Owners Association of New York, and horse owner, has been known to handicap with aplomb.

His Hilltop Helper is a Saturday selection sheet, offered both in-house and online. The popular and effective Helper includes analysis along multi-horse and multi-race plays.

Thus, Yonkers has entrusted Venaglia to put together a ticket for the Monday Pick-5 (50-cent base wager, races 5 through 9), including his thoughts behind the choices.

Race 5: 1 - Gypsy Leather and 2 - Pop Icon. Former has speed from pole, latter figures to get a trip second off class dip.

Race 6: 3 -Twin B Impressive, 4 - Barimah A and 5 - Fox Valley Inferno. Impressive finally gets a post he can work with, Barimah A just missed cutting mile this level two starts ago, and Inferno has been chasing at least as good out of town.

Race 7: 2 - Razors Edge and 4 - Sugar Shock. Razor has won two of last four elsewhere and gets 10-hole mulligan in last, while Sugar actually beat theoretically better last month.

Race 8: 1 - Spectrum and 5 - Magritte. Spectrum took seven-hole money at this level when last here but could not reach, and Magritte did outrace his odds in last few, though figures to chase.

Race 9: 2 Mister Daytona N, 4 - Capozzo and 5 - Knocking Around. Daytona beat up lesser and is full of back class, Capozzo  beaten favorite in last  has perhaps never been in this cheap, while Knocking Around nearly blew up the board in his latest effort.

Thats 72 combinations for a $36 investment.

Program pages for the Monday Pick-5 are available here.

(Yonkers Raceway)
ANSAmed - Today's events in the Mediterranean

(ANSAmed) - ROME, FEBRUARY 17 - These are the main events scheduled in the Euro-Mediterranean for today: MADRID - Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will be meeting with opposition leader Pablo Casado.



BRUSSELS - EU foreign ministers meeting.



BRUSSELS - European Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen will be holding a joint press conference with Albanian prime minister Edi Rama after the international donors conference entitled 'Together for Albania'. BARI - Exhibition entitled 'By Sea: Landings and Shipwrecks' (until March 30). (ANSAmed).




That '70s Show alum Wilmer Valderrama vacationed with his bikini-clad fiancee Amanda Pacheco in the Mexican town of Tulum on Sunday.

At 40, the Miami-born groom-to-be is 11 years older than his San Diego-born bride-to-be, and it's hard to believe they've only been dating for 10 months.

Amanda later threw an orange-knit tank dress over her black two-piece, while Wilmer wore a clingy grey T-shirt over patterned swim trunks.

Cheeky: That '70s Show alum Wilmer Valderrama vacationed with his bikini-clad fiancee Amanda Pacheco in the Mexican town of Tulum on Sunday

On Saturday, Pacheco shared an emotional behind-the-scenes video from their January 1 proposal in honor of the birthday of her mother Tracy, who passed away in 2014 after battling ovarian cancer.

After saying yes, the betrothed couple were hit with a wave, which she considered a sign from her mother, and she warmly embraced her father Armando who was present.

'Every time I talk about [Valderrama], I can see your giant smile light up in my mind, and I can hear your mischievous laugh, like you knew he was going to come into my life and change it forever,' Amanda wrote to her late mother.

'I have faith in an everlasting love, I believe in marriage and alll the things I was terrified to do without you here, like start a family without your guidance every step of the way.

Whirlwind: At 40, the Miami-born groom-to-be is 11 years older than his San Diego-born bride-to-be, and it's hard to believe they've only been dating for 10 months

Beach bums: Amanda later threw an orange-knit tank dress over her black two-piece, while Wilmer wore a clingy grey T-shirt over patterned swim trunks

'#f***cancer': On Saturday, Pacheco shared a video from their January 1 proposal in honor of the birthday of her mother Tracy, who passed away in 2014 after battling ovarian cancer

It's a sign! After saying yes, the betrothed couple were hit with a wave, which she considered a sign from her mother, and she warmly embraced her father Armando (R) who was present

'Perfect partner in life!' The 5ft8in action star gave the Scout SF Model and PADI divemaster a 2.5-3 carat pear-shaped diamond set on a stone-studded band estimated to cost $40K-$80K

'I have the most incredibly perfect partner in life to do it all with now, and I'm excited and anxious for it all!'

The 5ft8in action star gave the Scout SF Model and PADI divemaster a 2.5-3 carat pear-shaped diamond set on a stone-studded band estimated to have cost between $40K-$80K, according to Page Six.

Before Pacheco - Wilmer famously loved (and left) several celebs including Chantel Jeffries, Minka Kelly, Demi Lovato, Avril Lavigne, Ashlee Simpson, Lindsay Lohan, Mandy Moore, and Christina Milian.

Catch more of Valderrama as special agent Nick Torres in the 24-episode 17th season of police procedural NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service), which airs Tuesdays on CBS.
As many as 60 people have tested



negative for the new Coronavirus (Covid-19) so far in Maharashtra out of 64 suspected cases of the viral infection, a state health official said on Monday.

Passengers arriving at the Mumbai International Airport are being screened as a preventive measure by state health officials after the outbreak of the Coronavirus in China in December-end.

Out of the 60 who have tested negative, we have discharged 59 so far. The remaining five people have been admitted to state-run hospitals in Mumbai and Sangli for further observation, he said.

Swab samples sent to Pune based NIV have tested negative so far, the official said.

Test reports of four patients are awaited, he said.

"So far, no person has been found to be infected by the Coronavirus in Maharashtra, he said.

Health officials have screened 38,131 passengers as a precautionary measure at the airport since January 18, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Supreme Court on Monday (February 16) upheld Delhi High Court order on giving command positions to women officers and criticised the Centre for failing to implement the judgment of the Delhi HC which had held that women SSC officers should be granted permanent Commission at par with male counterparts.

The apex court said that the nature of arguments in the written submissions of the Centre was contrary to its own policy framed in 2019 regarding Permanent Commission for women.

SC bench headed by Justice Chandrachud said that Centre's written note for opposing permanent commission and command appointment to women citing physiological features perpetuates "gender stereotypes".

The top court remarked that it is an insult to women as well as the Army when aspersions are cast on women, their ability and their achievements in the army.

"Absolute exclusion of women from command assignments is against Article 14 and unjustified. Centre's argument that women can be given only Staff appointments is unenforceable," said the SC.

The top court also ruled that denying permanent commission to women on ground that they have over 14 years service is a travesty of justice and the rules must apply equally to all. The SC bench observed that it is indefensible to deny permanent commission to women and the "blanket ban on command posting cannot be sustained in law".

Live TV

Notably, the Centre has submitted a note to the apex court highlighting a list of issues, including "physical prowess" and "physiological limitations", as challenges for women Army officers to meet the exigencies of service.

"Composition of rank and file being male, predominantly drawn from rural background, with prevailing societal norms, troops are not yet mentally schooled to accept WOs (women officers) in command of units," said the note.

"Inherent physiological differences between men and women preclude equal physical performance resulting in lower physical standards and hence the physical capacity of WOs (women officers) in the IA remain a challenge for command of units," it had added.

The note also mentioned that officers are expected to lead their men 'from the front' and they should be physically fit to undertake combat tasks.
The Great One has some company.

No, not Wayne Gretzky.

Im talking about New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge. He will not be the only player in the American League East to wear No. 99 during the 2020 season.

The Boston Globe reports Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo has asked for and received No. 99. He was initially assigned No. 12. Verdugo, acquired by Boston in the blockbuster trade which sent right fielder Mookie Betts and left-hander David Price to the Los Angeles Dodges, becomes the first player in Red Sox history to wear No. 99.

Blue Jays left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu will wear No. 99 as well. Thats the same number he wore for six seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers before signing a four-year, $80 million contract with Toronto in December.

NJ Advance Medias Randy Miller reports Judge has worn No. 99 since it was assigned to him at spring training in 2016. They gave it to me in spring training and it just kind of stuck with me a little bit, Judge told NJ Advance Media back in 2016. The first person to ever wear No. 99 in MLB also was a Yankee: outfielder Charlie Keller in 1952.

Buy Yankees tickets: StubHub, SeatGeek

Judge still prefers a couple of other numbers. For instance, his twitter name is @theJudge44 because 44 is a number I really like. Its also a number that Judge never will wear as a Yankee because 44 has been retired for Hall of Fame slugger Reggie Jackson.

Back in 2016, Judge said his favorite number has always been 35. But at the time, No. 35 was already issued to pitcher Michael Pineda. When asked if he could see himself wearing No. 99 throughout his Yankees career, Judge said, Yeah, I dont see why not, he said. Its a good number.

Sports Illustrated reports Judge also wore No. 99 as a member of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees in Triple A. Former reliever Brian Bruney was the last Yankee to wear No. 99 before Judge."

(NJ Advance Medias Randy Miller contributed to this report.)

Mike Rosenstein may be reached at mrosenstein@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rosenstein73. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Dominion Energy Virginia officials say 2019 was a good year, as the companys North Anna Power Station kept the electricity flowing, stayed safe and remained secure.

The company, which operates two power generation facilities at the nuclear plant in Louisa County, will present its annual State of the Station report to the countys Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, immediately following the boards regular meeting.

The presentation of the report is open to the public.

Dominion also has filed notice with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that it will request to continue operating the two generation units for another 20 years after the current licenses end.

The company applied to the regulatory commission in 2007 for permission to build a third reactor at the Lake Anna facility. That request was approved in 2017.

The report is part of a 1984 agreement between the county and Dominion. It will include the operation of the plant, storage of radioactive wastes from spent fuels, safety and environmental and health issues.

Were going to be talking about North Annas operational performance in 2019, which was excellent with only one unplanned outage for the units and planned refueling outages completed successfully at both, said Ken Holt, Dominions manager of nuclear fleet communications.

Well also be discussing the fact our industrial safety performance was also very good with only one OSHA recordable injury in 2019, he said. Well also be talking about fuel storage, employee involvement in the community and environmental monitoring programs.

The report is available at louisacounty.com under the agendas tab on the Board of Supervisors page.

According to the document, there were no environmental issues during 2019. The plant had one emergency on March 3, 2019, when there were indications of a possible fire inside the reactor containment facility.

The onsite fire team was promptly dispatched and verified that a fire did not exist, the report states. All notifications were made appropriately to the state and Nuclear Regulatory Commission in accordance with station procedures.

The plants Unit 2 nuclear generation facility was shut down for refueling for 37 days between March and April, according to the report. The Unit 1 reactor was shut down for 23 days for refueling in September and October.

Issues with transmission lines required both units to be shut down briefly, but were returned to full power after the issues were addressed.

The facility passed a June emergency preparedness inspection by the regulatory commission with no problems identified. According to the commissions nuclear power plant scorecard, the North Anna units both scored top marks across the topics, from containment to operation to site security.

In 2010, North Anna detected the radioactive hydrogen isotope tritium in one monitoring well inside the plant. Leaks were detected and repaired and additional testing wells were installed on site. No tritium has been reported since, the report states, and no unusual occurrences were noted at the facility in the last year.

Dominion hopes to keep both plants operating through the middle of this century and is filing its request this year with the regulatory commission.

We have informed the [commission] that we intend to file an application with the NRC to relicense North Anna for an additional 20 years. That application will be made this year although I dont have a firm date.

According to the report, the original 40-year licenses for North Anna were renewed in 2003 and are slated to expire in 2038 and 2040. Approval would extend the plant operations at the units until 2058 and 2060.

According to Dominion, the advance notice is needed to allow the regulatory commission to plan its staffing to review the license renewal, which will include updates needed to the reactors, storage facilities and operation of the generating plants.

The company is reviewing all technical aspects associated with the renewal of North Anna Power Stations licenses, and while not yet complete, sees no significant barriers that would prevent a license renewal submittal in 2020, the report states. The company expects to invest up to $4 billion on upgrades to North Anna and Surry [Power Station] as part of the relicensing process.

The company has not decided whether to build the third reactor at the site, the report states.

Having [permission] means that [Dominion] can build and operate the unit at a time that makes sense to move forward, the report states. The company must, however, first get approval from the Virginia State Corporation Commission before it can construct the unit.

According to the report, the North Anna Power Station employs nearly 850 full-time employees with as many as 1,000 temporary workers during refueling. Dominion Energy paid an estimated $12.6 million in taxes to Louisa County in 2019.

North Anna provides 1,892 net megawatts of electricity, enough power for 473,000 homes, according to Dominion.

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
HARFORD, N.Y.  A 14-year-old boy has died after falling through ice on a creek in Harford Saturday, New York State Police reported today.

Crews responded to the creek near Route 200 in Harford, southwest of Cortland, around 4:35 p.m., police said in a news release.

They discovered that the teen fell through the ice, and he was found just outside the water, troopers said. Crews rushed him by ambulance to Guthrie Cortland Medical Center, where he later died, troopers said.

New York State Police were called to the creek, in addition to the Cortland County Sheriffs Office, the Dryden and Harford fire departments and paramedics.

Troopers did not immediately release the boys name or give more details about the circumstances. They said the investigation is ongoing.

Thanks for visiting Syracuse.com. Quality local journalism has never been more important, and your subscription matters. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
A gang of youths have been captured on camera brutally beating a schoolgirl as she screams and cries on the ground.

Footage has emerged on social media of a horrific attack carried out by a group of teens believed to be students in Edmonton, south of Cairns, on Saturday.

Video shows the group running after a young girl as one of them yells out, 'Grab her!'

The clip then cuts to show the victim cowering on the ground as one of the attackers delivers repeated blows to her face while the rest of the gang watches.

Footage has emerged on social media of the horrific attack carried out by a group of teens believed to be students in Edmonton, south of Cairns, on Saturday

The video shows the gang running after a young girl as one of them yells out, 'Grab her! before pummeling her to the ground

After viciously bashing the victim for several seconds, the attacker then pauses to rummage through the girl's pockets for money.

'Give me your money, give me your money,' the bully is heard saying.

The attacker then continues to bash her before a boy joins in and kicks the girl in the head.

Throughout the video, the victim is heard screaming and crying as she tries to protect herself

A girl who was believed to be involved in the attack later shared an Instagram story addressing the fight.

'Hope youpla choke on my name like a fat c*** gone down the wrong hole dead dogs,' the expletive-laden post said.

'Youse are disgusting cant ask me the truth but youpla all play dirty but eh can wadth don't f w it.'

Queensland Police said they are aware of the incident and are investigating.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Ardila Syakriah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 17 2020

In the not so distant future, you will no longer need to apply for a visa and fly south to study at some top Australian universities. With the ratification of a landmark trade deal with Canberra, the Indonesian government has decided to bring them here instead.

Indonesia is already open to foreign colleges. But the trade pact, ratified by the House of Representatives earlier this month, allows the government to further relax its rules regarding the establishment of local branches of Australian universities.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login
Chinese banks have been ordered to disinfect cash before issuing it to the public in an effort to curb the spread of the new coronavirus that has so far killed 1,770 people in the country.

The Chinese government said during a press conference on Saturday that banks would only be permitted to release new bills which had been sterilized.

Banks across the country had been told to withdraw potentially infected cash from circulation and disinfect it using either ultraviolet or heat treatments, the government's State Council told reporters. Decontaminated cash would then be stored for seven to 14 days before it could be returned to the market.

Money removed from high-risk sites such as hospitals and markets would be sealed and specially treated, but it would then be held by the People's Bank of China (PBOC) instead of re-entering circulation, officials said.

Cash transfers between China's provinces had also been suspended, which the State Council claimed had minimized the movement of personnel and reduced the risk of transmitting the new strain of coronavirus  formally named COVID-19  during transit.

In a separate press conference on Saturday, Fan Yifei, deputy governor of the PBOC, told reporters the central bank was working to issue new, uninfected bills across mainland China.

"After the outbreak, we paid great attention to the safety and health of the public's use of cash," he said, according to a translation by Google. "Prior to January 17 this year, the People's Bank of China arranged to allocate nearly 600 billion yuan ($86 billion) of new banknotes to the country."

Authorities issued 4 billion yuan in new banknotes to Wuhan, the city at the epicenter of China's coronavirus epidemic, before the Lunar New Year holiday in late January.

Fan added that the Chinese state would accelerate work in the field of mobile payments in a bid to prevent human contact through cash exchanges.

"It should be said that China's electronic payment system is relatively advanced," he said. "Recently, there have been some new developments in various places  people pay for their orders on their mobile phones, and they can buy fresh and affordable meat, eggs, vegetables and fruits without going out, which has solved a major problem in people's lives during the outbreak."

However, Muhammad Munir, a virologist at Lancaster University in England, told CNBC Monday that China's efforts to decontaminate cash would have a minimal impact on containing the coronavirus.

"While COVID-19 can spread through contaminated objects, the duration of virus survival on currency notes is not determined," he said in an email, explaining that this made it difficult to determine an effective method of removing traces of the virus from cash.

"The majority of daily purchases are already made through online shopping  the actual impact of restricting currency notes usage or disinfection will be slight," he added.

Munir noted that maintaining good hand hygiene was the best way to reduce the risk of transmitting the virus  advice shared by many medical professionals amid the coronavirus outbreak.

"The exchange of money among hands is one of several ways of person-to-person contact," he said.

"The logical approach to intervene in virus transmission is hand-washing using alcohol-based hand sanitisers. Viruses can spread through touching contaminated surfaces, door handles, chair arm rests and the sharing of electronics. Maintaining hand hygiene is an appropriate means to prevent the spread of the virus."

China's National Health Commission reported on Monday that 2,048 new cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed on Feb. 16, bringing the country's total number of infections to date up to 70,548.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Marchio Irfan Gorbiano and Rizki Fachriansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 17, 2020 19:25 694 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2065079b3 1 National health-minister,Terawan-Agus-Putranto,health-ministry,COVID-19,Indonesia Free

Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto has reiterated the importance of praying amid the country's ongoing battle against China's coronavirus (COVID-19), saying that the weary public should use religion as a guiding principle in turbulent times.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Terawan answered questions regarding his previous statements in which he suggested that prayers were among reasons why Indonesia had been able to confirm zero coronavirus cases to date amid the global outbreak, which had spread to most other Southeast Asian countries.

In accordance with [state ideology] Pancasila, our country believes in God. No matter the religion, as long as we uphold Pancasila, praying is of utmost importance. We work and pray. Its an honorable thing, Terawan said.

"If there are other countries protesting [our approach], just let them; it is our nation's right to rely on the Almighty," he said. "Why should we be ashamed of relying on the Almighty? We should not be ashamed of praying."

As of Monday -- more than a month since COVID-19 spread globally from the Chinese city of Wuhan -- Indonesia has avoided having any confirmed cases, unlike its neighboring countries, including Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, which have recorded dozens of infections.

Read also: It's meant to help: Harvard professor responds after government dismisses study on undetected coronavirus cases

More than 200 evacuees from Wuhan and the surrounding cities of Hubei province were declared free of coronavirus and discharged on Saturday after a 14-day quarantine in Natuna, Riau Islands. Terawan also previously said that prayers were among the contributing factors for the successful quarantine.

The zero confirmed cases, however, had raised concern among scientists that the virus might have been spreading in Indonesia undetected.

A study conducted by researchers from Harvard University suggested that Indonesia should have already confirmed from one to 10 cases of the new coronavirus, given the high average daily air-travel volumes from Wuhan to the country. Terawan, however, had dismissed the study and said "it's insulting".

Terawan also responded to questions on Monday regarding why the government had only tested a total of 104 specimens for suspected coronavirus cases so far -- 102 of which had tested negative, with two awaiting results -- saying that it was done for "budget efficiency" reasons.

We have to be rational; we have to avoid any inefficient budgeting. If I have to check everyone who coughs, what would the budget be? he said, adding that the government tested those who had shown symptoms, had travel records and contacts with infected countries or people.

As of Monday, COVID-19 had killed more than 1,700 people, including five outside of mainland China. The far-flung virus has spread to nearly 30 countries, with tens of thousands of infections recorded globally.


Delhi CM Arvind Kejirwal Displaying political propriety Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal exchanged good-natured remarks, here on Sunday. While the Prime Minister congratulated the Chief Minister for taking oath, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said they must work together to make the national capital a 'pride city'. "I congratulate Arvind Kejriwal on taking oath as Delhi's CM earlier today. Best wishes to him for a fruitful tenure," Modi said. Responding to the PM's tweet, Kejriwal said he wished Modi could have attended the oath ceremony. "Thank you for the warm wishes sir. I wish you could come today, but I understand you were busy. We must now work together towards making Delhi a city of pride for all Indians," the Chief Minister said. Kejriwal on Sunday took oath as the Chief Minister for a third time. Though Modi was invited by the AAP to the ceremony, he could not make it due to his pre-decided schedule. Modi was to visit Varanasi, his Lok Sabha constituency. Kejriwal said this in his address after the swearing-in ceremony. "I want to work with the central government to make Delhi a world-class city. I had also invited the PM for the oath ceremony, but I guess he could not make it because he is busy. I want the PM to bless us so that we can work for development and progress of Delhi," he said. Thank you for the warm wishes sir. I wish you could come today, but I understand you were busy. We must now work together towards making Delhi a city of pride for all Indians https://t.co/hHFvH8cLCJ  Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 16, 2020 Modi had congratulated Kejriwal on February 11, when his party won 62 of the 70 Assembly seats. Similarly, when Modi was re-elected as the Prime Minister, the Delhi Cheif Minister had congratulated him. Given the unique status of Delhi, the Centre plays a big role. During the previous term, Kejriwal had accused the Centre of creating hurdles in his work. However, this time he hopes for a fruitful term.




In this hire-and-fire context, workers might not get decent pay even at the amount of the minimum wage, The Jakarta Post quoted him as saying at a seminar on an omnibus bill on job creation.

The Office of the Coordinating Economics Minister said that the bill will lay the ground for hourly-based employment in some industries  such as consultants, freelancers, and those working at start-ups. However, labour unions have expressed disapproval to the bill, as it could end up enabling violations of workers rights to decent pay.

According to Bhima, under an hourly-based scheme, employers will be more likely to outsource tasks which will leave employees in a more vulnerable position. Thus, he called for the government to review which types of jobs should be included in the scheme.

Bhima also raised the importance of unemployment insurance, which was necessary in the creation of outsourcing and hourly pay systems, which has worked in developed countries. This type of insurance would allow the government to provide training for unemployed individuals, as well as other benefits.
By Park Ji-won







The institute for Korean church history unveiled a note written in the 1970s by the late Cardinal Stephan Kim Sou-hwan to mark the 11th anniversary of his death. He died of pneumonia on Feb. 16, 2009.



The hand-written note is one of the documents the institute released on Sunday.



The institute said the records contain rare information on 250 personal items of Kim, including this note, his writings and clerical clothes which have found their way to different places across the nation following his death.







"The Archdiocese of Seoul continued to make efforts on finding our ancestors' records of spreading faith," Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung said in a congratulatory statement.







"Kim, who was the first cardinal of the Korean church was a priest and shepherd who guided grassroots believers well We hope that these records can help people remember Cardinal Kim."







In the note, Kim designated the acting cardinal and other positions to be taken after his death and asked people to follow canon law.







He left the related notes on Jan. 16 and Oct. 19 in 1970 and Feb. 21 in 1971 in case of his death or vacancy of the position, according to the records.







In addition to the notes, the records include the information on Kim's baptism and confirmation.







Kim was baptized by J. Vermorel, pro-vicar of the then Daegu Catholic Church on July. 25, 1922, according to the data. It also says "The baby's baptismal name is Stefano who was born between Kim Joseph and Suh Martina in Namsan-dong, Daegu on July. 2. The godfather's name is Lee Peter."


Kirk Roccaforte (i)

Age: 67

Highest level of education pursued or completed: Graduated Bishop Byrne High School in 1971; attended Lamar University in 1972

City of residence: Bridge City

Job title: Orange County Precinct 3 Commissioner

Up to three examples of other elected office or volunteer involvement:

1. Former Bridge City mayor

2. Former Bridge City city council member

3. Member of the Southeast Texas Regional Planning Commission executive committee

Q: In your opinion, whats the biggest challenge Orange County faces?

A: Of course the biggest issue is drainage.

Q: What should the eight-county flood control board be pursuing when it comes to drainage? How should Orange County be preparing itself for future storms?

A: In the eight-county coalition, were in the process of securing some funds to do a regionwide drainage plan. Other than drainage and roads, which are our two main issues in the county, were still dealing with recovery from recent flooding. That recovery is still a top priority in Orange County. Were not done with Harvey and were just getting going with Imelda. Were definitely involved in mitigation. Were trying to acquire grants for mitigation projects and create plans to mitigate future flooding events. Those are areas were moving as rapidly as possible.

Q: Is Orange Countys drainage adequate? What should change?

A: No, although were continuously working on improving drainage. Were currently working with Jasper and Newton counties as a regional group. Were doing a regional drainage study, so we qualify for grant funds. Any of the funds that are available require that you do it in a regional fashion, so you dont have one county doing something that creates problems in another county. Being in both regional groups increases the opportunities we have to request grants.

Q: Should refineries or petrochemical plants that come to this area prioritize county residents and businesses when hiring workers and purchasing supplies? If so, how should the county hold plants accountable for this?

A: They should prioritize using county businesses and county residents in their projects. To hold them accountable, if we are making any kind of contracts for those types of developments, there is a requirement that deals with employees and local industry. Different contracts have different provisions, but the expectations are included and laid out.

Q: Why did you decide to run for office and what makes you the best candidate?

A: I was appointed to this office in July due to unforeseen situations in the county. I feel like I was appointed because I already had the qualifications, such as my time as Bridge City mayor, to carry on this office. I was mayor during Hurricane Ike. Im very familiar with dealing with disasters. Ive been involved in city and government business for 25 years. Ive been a member of the Southeast Texas Regional Planning Commission. Im past president of that. I think my credentials are the reason Im more qualified for this job.

Carl LeBlanc

Age: 63

Highest level of education pursued or completed: Attended Lamar Institute of Technology in 1975

City of residence: Just outside the city limits of Bridge City

Job title: Retired

Up to three examples of other elected offices or volunteer involvement

1. Former volunteer with the Bridge City Volunteer Fire Deparment and EMT

Q: In your opinion, whats the biggest challenge Orange County faces?

A: Everybody knows drainage is the issue.

Q: What should the eight-county flood control board be pursuing when it comes to drainage?

A: As far as the eight-county flood control board, my first concern is they need to be posting minutes. If its an eight-county district, minutes should be posted in each county. For their operations, theyre competing against bigger counties like Harris, that have engineers on staff to get projects together so theyre shovel-ready jobs when the grant money is available. They need to have engineers on staff so they can get grants.

Q: Is Orange Countys drainage adequate? What should change?

A: Drainage could be better, but it has improved. In my neighborhood, drainage district crews came and cleaned out the ditch at the end of my road. But cleaning out the ditch once every 10 or 15 years means it doesnt matter if you clean out the ditch. We need to work together to get a better schedule for cleaning out ditches.

Q: Should refineries or petrochemical plants that come to this area prioritize county residents and businesses when hiring workers and purchasing supplies? If so, how should the county hold plants accountable for this?

A: They should employ as many Orange County residents as possible. The county needs to hold the company accountable for that if they give them any abatement deals. For example, recently a company with 100% abatement did a yearly report to the county. It showed how many people were employed from Orange County, or they called it locally. They will come to the county with a report every year they have abatements. We need to make sure other companies have that as well and the county is verifying the numbers in the report.

Q: Why did you decide to run for office and what makes you the best candidate?

A: Ive been going to county meetings off-and-on and Ive been more regular in the past year. After the county judge resigned, an old judge was brought until the 2020 election. Then all of the sudden, the Precinct 3 commissioner resigned, and the sitting judge appointed Kirk Roccaforte to be commissioner. To me, that was all brother-in-law stuff. I dont think they sought any other possibilities to be appointed to the commissioner or judge seat. They should have solicited applications from anyone interested in serving on the court. They did follow state law, but they should have solicited other candidates other than these two people. Im not a politician, but Ive been around a while. I know how things work. I think Id do as good a job as anyone else. I dont think anyone should run unopposed on any ticket.

Some answers have been edited for length.
A top official at the U.S. National Institutes of Health said the outbreak of the new coronavirus, called COVID-19, is on the verge of turning into a global pandemic unless efforts to curb its spread become more fruitful.

Technically speaking, the [World Health Organization] wouldnt be calling this a global pandemic. But it certainly is on the verge of that happening reasonably soon unless containment is more successful than it is right now, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CBS News on Sunday.

As of Sunday, about two-dozen countries have more than 500 cases, he said. Several of them, are starting to get to the second and third transmission, Fauci said, adding that a pandemic means that there are several countries with sustained transmission from person to person to person.

The World Health Organization has already declared the virus a health emergency of international concern.

Over the weekend, health officials in France and Taiwan confirmed two deaths in their respective countries.

The United States has confirmed a total of 15 cases of the virus from California, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Texas, Illinois, Arizona, and Washington State. The latest patient was confirmed to have the virus at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland near San Antonio, Texas. The person was among a group of Americans who were flown out of virus epicenter Wuhan, China, late last month.

Meanwhile, more than 350 cases of people infected with the COVID-19 virus were confirmed on the Diamond Princess cruise ship located off the coast of Yokohama, Japan. U.S. officials announced that they were evacuating hundreds of Americans who were being held on the ship on Sunday evening.

They are not going to go anywhere. Theyre going to be in hospitals in Japan, Fauci told CBS News of those passengers. People who have symptoms will not be able to get on the evacuation plane. Others are going to be evacuated starting imminently to air force bases in the United States.

The U.S. Department of Defense has said it is preparing to receive two flights with passengers, and one will land at Travis Air Force Base, California and the other at Kelly Field-Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. The evacuees would be subject to a 14-day quarantine.

Another cruise ship, Holland Americas MS Westerdam, docked in Cambodia on Thursday after being rejected by ports elsewhere. An 83-year-old American passenger tested positive for the COVID-19 virus upon arriving in Malaysia, authorities there said. A second test requested by the cruise operator confirmed the finding.

Reuters contributed to this report.

From The Epoch Times
The long-running issue of toilets for the quay area of Drumsna was revisited at last Monday's Carrick-on-Shannon Municipal District meeting.

A motion put forward by Cllr Enda Stenson sought clarity on whether or not any progress has been made in relation to the issue of providing public toilets.

A reply from the Director of Services for Economic Development, Planning, Environment and Transportation stated: Drumsna harbour belongs to Waterways Ireland. Waterways Ireland have stated repeatedly they will not erect public toilets at Drumsna harbour as it does not meet its selection criteria.

Read Also: Leitrim County Council meeting hears asbestos pipes need urgent attention

However, the Council has been engaging with the local community and also continues engagement with Waterways Ireland to look at finding alternatives to traditional direct delivery.

The reply concluded by stating: the matter will continue to receive attention.

Cllr Stenson said he found the term 'traditional direct delivery' to be confusing.

Director of Services Joseph Gilhooly explained: traditional direct delivery is strategic locations along the waterways.

Cllr Thomas Mulligan offered his own interpretation on the phrase saying: It depends on the speed of your boat.

The issue of toilet facilities at the harbour in Drumsna has been an ongoing issue for many years. In 2016 then Cllr Sinead Guckian raised the issue saying the problem stretched back to 2009.

Read Also: 903 new safety camera zones come into effect from today

The matter was revisited in July of 2019 by Cllr Sean McGowan and Cllr Finola Armstrong-McGuire with Waterways Ireland advising that their policy in relation to service blocks is to have one at every 12 miles stretch of water unless there are extenuating circumstances.

There are currently service blocks in both Carrick-on-Shannon and Dromod which is approximately 12 miles apart.
SALEM, Ore. - Experts say the big one is coming to the Pacific Northwest: a massive earthquake that will cause buildings and bridges to collapse and unleash a tsunami that will devastate the coast.

But, doubling down on its decision last year to allow the construction of critical facilities in tsunami inundation zones, the Oregon Legislature appears headed to approve building standards for those facilities, like police and fire stations. The House Committee on Natural Resources last week approved the measure by a 6-1 vote, sending it to the House floor for a vote.

A leading earthquake expert, and the lone dissenting voter, says lawmakers are making a big mistake.

I dont think that we should have ever opened up tsunami inundation zones to important infrastructure like police, fire stations and so forth. So thats why Ill be voting no for the bill, Rep. Chris Gorsek, a Democrat from the Portland suburb of Troutdale, told the committee.

Most other countries in the world prone to tsunamis have a land-use philosophy in which construction of certain structures are banned depending on their proximity to tsunami inundation zones, said Chris Goldfinger, an Oregon State University professor and an earthquake geologist.

Its just probably best not to put things into the tsunami zone at all, no matter how strongly they build them, Goldfinger said in a telephone interview.

Oregon, however, abandoned that approach last year when the Legislature, with hardly any discussion, repealed a ban enacted in 1995 on construction of certain public facilities in inundation zones.

The American Society of Civil Engineers has decided to recommend allowing buildings in tsunami zones if theyre built to certain standards, Goldfinger noted. The new bill adopts the ASCE standards.

Rep. David Brock Smith, a Republican from the coastal town of Port Orford, tried to convince Gorsek to reconsider his vote by pointing out that there currently are no building standards for critical facilities in the tsunami zone, and that this bill provides them.

The bills sponsor, Rep. David Gomberg, a Democrat representing a coastal district, said in an email to voters that new science, engineering, and architecture are showing us how to construct better and safer.

Goldfinger, who submitted written testimony opposing the bill, said the ASCE standard is useful in building a vertical evacuation structure, and is aimed only at keeping a building from being knocked down

If you were to build a tsunami-proof, ASCE-coded hospital in a tsunami zone, everybody could well die inside the hospital and the function would be lost, but the steel skeleton would still be there, he said. This makes no sense.

An earthquake in the Cascadia subduction zone, which extends in the ocean off Northern California to Canadas Vancouver Island, has a 37 per cent probability of happening off Oregon in the next 50 years, with a slightly lower chance of one striking near Washington state, Goldfinger said. Cascadia earthquakes have an average magnitude of around 9, making them among the worlds biggest.

The last time the ocean reared up from a Cascadia earthquake was in 1700.

___

Follow Andrew Selsky on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andrewselsky
By Express News Service

Sobhita Dhulipala will be playing a pivotal role in Mani Ratnams upcoming multi-lingual historical drama. The film, which is based on Kalki Krishnamurthys fictional historic novel Ponniyin Selvan, tells the story of Arulmozhivarman, one of the kings of the Chola dynasty during the 10th and 11th century. The film stars a mix of actors from Bollywood and South industries, including Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Vikram, Karthi, Trisha and Jayam Ravi.

A source revealed that Sobhita, a trained classical dancer, is playing the pivotal role of a princess, who is a master in Bharatanatyam and Kuchupudi. Shooting for the film has already begun. The Thailand schedule was wrapped up in January, while the rest of the will be shot on sets as well as real locations across the country through the year.

The cast had done reportedly multiple workshops, with Sobhitas focused on classical dance techniques. Like Bahubali, Ponniyin Selvan is being made in two parts, with the first part slated for release in January 2021.Sobhita made her acting debut in Anurag Kashyaps Raman Raghav 2.0.
King Mohammed VI of Morocco had in recent months urged measures to promote the development of a rural middle class via promoting agricultural activity and making loans easier to access in the countryside.

After calling for a revamp of the agricultural promotion strategy in Morocco, building on the achievements of the Green Morocco Plan, the King oversaw the launch of a new plan dubbed Generation Green 2020-2030, which aims at creating 350,000 jobs.

The new plan is thus designed to foster a rural middle class that will benefit from access to one million hectares after the King gave instructions in that regards in October 2018.

The goal is also to boost Moroccos agricultural exports to 6 billion dollars while bolstering agricultural GDP to 25 billion dollars.

Encouraging agricultural production and investments goes hand in hand with protecting the environment, adopting climate resilient practices and sustainable agriculture.

Morocco also launched an initiative to protect its 9 million hectare forests including planting 130,000 hectares with trees in an initiative that would create 27,000 forest-related jobs.

The King also urged making loans easier for young entrepreneurs including those in rural areas. The preferential rate offered to young investors and project holders was set at 2% in urban areas and 1.75% in rural areas.

A special fund was created to guarantee these loans worth 6 billion dirhams with Hassan II fund for social and economic development adding 2 billion dirhams exclusively earmarked to investors in rural areas.

These measures are implemented as Morocco seeks a new development model that is geared to encourage entrepreneurship, reduce disparities and fight poverty.
An 'exceptionally foolish' paramedic drove his ambulance through a red light and nearly smashed into a van while racing his colleague round a blind bend at 41mph, a tribunal has heard.

Noel Scott was caught after hospital security guards witnessed his vehicle speeding out of the emergency department and attempting to overtake a colleague at Pinderfields General Hospital, West Yorkshire.

He admitted 'irresponsibility' and said he had been 'exceptionally foolish' at a panel of the Health and Care Professions Tribunal, held in London, which viewed CCTV from the hospital alongside data from inside his ambulance.

Noel Scott drove his ambulance at 41mph around a blind bend. He works at Pinderfields General Hospital, West Yorkshire (pictured)

The was seen by security guards working at, racing another ambulance out of the emergency department.

The tribunal was told: 'Members of the security team at Pinderfields General Hospital said they had seen, via CCTV, two ambulances racing from the emergency department and that one was trying to overtake the other.'

The tribunal heard the data helped prove that Scott drove his ambulance in excess of the speed limit, on the wrong side of the road through a blind left hand bend and through a set of red traffic lights.

Scott was also caught racing at 41 mph along Stanley Road, Wakefield, West Yorkshire where the speed limit is just 30mph.

At the time, Scott and the other ambulance were not responding to an emergency call.

The apologetic Yorkshire Ambulance Service paramedic told the tribunal: 'I left Pinderfields (Hospital) and my colleague was on the inside lane and I went around it, a van came towards me and I pulled back in...

'I was irresponsible on the occasion.'

He was caught after security guards noticed him overtaking another ambulance at speed as he left Pinderfields General Hospital (stock)

He admitted his driving was 'exceptionally foolish' at a meeting of the Health and Care Professions tribunal in Kennington, London (pictured)

Scott accepted he had been exceptionally foolish but that his conduct was an isolated incident, and he would not do it again.

The tribunal concluded: 'The Registrants driving was repeatedly reckless, albeit that it related to a short period of time, and put his colleagues and other road users at risk of serious harm...

'The nature of the Registrants driving posed an unjustifiable risk to himself and others.'

Scott was handed a caution which is to remain on the register for a period of 1 year.
Karl Stefanovic locked horns with a businesswoman who criticised comedian Celeste Barber for trying to dictate where her $52million bushfire relief donations will go.

Tania Burstin, founder of crowdfunding site MyCause, called Barber 'attention-grabbing' on the Today Show on Monday morning.

The comedian's online appeal last month attracted more than one million donations from across the world as catastrophic bushfires devastated the country.

She told donors the funds would go towards several charities, including wildlife relief.

But a legal roadblock could mean the donations never reach those it was intended for, prompting Barber to call in lawyers to remedy a dispute over the funds.

Tania Burstin, founder of crowdfunding site MyCause, called Barber 'attention-grabbing' on the Today Show on Monday morning

A visibly irritated Karl Stefanovic defended Celeste Barber's fundraising efforts and slammed Ms Burstin's 'whining'. Pictured with co-host Sylvia Jeffreys

Ms Burstin slammed Barber for trying to redirect where the funds are donated.

'I think that her words, trying to now bring in the legal fight and try to move where the funds are going is attention grabbing because the funds can't be moved,' she said.

'She's done an amazing job, but she said that the funds were going to places that unfortunately the funds are not going to.

'The funds have been donated to RFS. That is where people understood the funds were going to but, unfortunately, she misled people by saying the funds were going to wildlife charities or to Victoria.'

Barber directed the money to the RFS Brigades Donations Fund, but was unaware donations sent to this fund is only used on training, resources and fire equipment - not the volunteers and their families or fire-affected communities.

Despite her criticism of Barber, the MyCause managing director acknowledged her 'amazing' fundraising efforts.

'I think it's terrific and her fundraising has been incredible and ground breaking,' Ms Burstin said.

Barber's online appeal last month attracted more than one million donations from across the world as catastrophic bushfires devastated the country. Pictured at the Fire Fight Australia bushfire relief concert at ANZ Stadium on Sunday

But a visibly irritated Stefanovic defended Barber's efforts and slammed Ms Burstin's 'whining'.

'If people are listening around the country right now, they would say what is this woman, that's you, whining about this morning?,' he said.

'Celeste Barber has gone above and beyond to raise money for the RFS. There is obviously devil in the detail that needs to be sorted but overall why are you so upset, given how much money has been she's raised and how much good she's done?'

Ms Bustin responded: 'There is no confusion, the funds were donated to RFS New South Wales.'

Stefanovic doubled down on his criticism of the show's guest, bluntly asking: 'What is your beef?'

'I don't have a beef,' she responded. 'I am just concerned that people are mislead that their funds are going to to fire-ravaged communities and wildlife, which unfortunately they're not.'

So far, none of the $51.2 million has been spent due to RFS rules that state donations directed to the trustee of the service must be spent on firefighting equipment and training, not on families or charities

NSW RFS spokesman James Morris says the service wants to distribute the money in line with Barber's wishes but it isn't confident it could be done because of legal reasons.

'We have our lawyers working with Celeste's lawyers to find a way this can be done,' he told AAP on Sunday.

'Everyone is being amicable about it and we are working together to hopefully come to a solution.

'The NSW RFS trust exists solely for the purpose of supporting the volunteer-based fire and emergency service to assist with the cost of purchasing and maintaining firefighting equipment and providing training to volunteers.'
Former Jharkhand chief minister Babulal Marandi merged his party Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday at an event that was attended by Home Minister Amit Shah. Shah welcomed Marandi, the first chief minister of the state and his supporters into the saffron party at a rally in Ranchi.

Former Jharkhand chief minister Babulal Marandi merged his party Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday at an event that was attended by home minister Amit Shah. Shah welcomed Marandi, the first chief minister of the state and his supporters into the saffron party at a rally in Ranchi.

Shah assured the tribal leader, who was a BJP member before he launched JVM(P) in 2006, that he will get "due respect and responsibility" in the saffron party, PTI reported.

"I am delighted that Babulal Marandi has returned to BJP. I was working for his return since 2014 when I became the party president," Shah said. "Someone rightly said that he is quite stubborn. We couldn't persuade him easily. He has now joined BJP as per the wish of the people of Jharkhand."

"While being in the Opposition, BJP will support the public welfare schemes of the Jharkhand government. But we will oppose attempts of encouraging Naxalism, terrorism, and corruption. We will fight against these issues in and outside the Assembly," Shah added.

Jharkhand: Babulal Marandi, former Chief Minister and Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) chief merges his party with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at an event in Ranchi, in the presence of Union Home Minister & BJP leader Amit Shah. pic.twitter.com/8EiDUHEZQI  ANI (@ANI) February 17, 2020

The BJP, which had ruled the state since its creation in 2000, was removed from power in the November 2019 Assembly polls. The Hemant Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha formed the government with Congress as its ally.

Marandi was the chief minister of Jharkhand from November 2000 to March 2003. A four-time former MP, he gradually drifted away from the BJP and launched his own party.

Marandi had announced the merger with the BJP on 11 February.

The announcement was made a day after Marandi met BJP national president JP Nadda in Delhi.

JVM expelled its MLA Pradeep Yadav from the party's primary membership on 6 Febryary, days after the MLA met Congress leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi. The party had issued a similar notice to party leader Bandhu Tirkey after which he was expelled from the party.

The JVM(P) had bagged three seats in the Assembly polls. Apart from Yadav and Tirkey, Marandi had won from the Dhanwar Assembly in the Giridih district of the state.

With inputs from agencies
ON MAY 23, 2015, an overjoyed Kate Stoica said Yes when her long-term girlfriend Billie proposed to her with a sapphire engagement ring  on the same day Ireland said Yes to marriage equality.

Kate, we make a great team. I love you inside and out, head to toe, I don't want to waste another minute of my life without you as my wife, Billie said to her bride-to-be at the count centre at University of Limerick, surrounded by friends, family, and flashing cameras capturing the special moment.

They quickly became Limericks iconic LGBT duo, after the sensational moment was given the spotlight by numerous newspapers, radio stations and TV networks across the country.

And the Cappamore couple have now tied the rainbow knot, following their special wedding ceremony at Hotel Doolin, in Clare, last Sunday.

But Billie, 44, who doesnt use a surname, admits that she watched a layer of dust cover the sapphire stone over four years, doubting that the prospect of a proposal would ever become a reality.

That day was important because we had spoken about getting married for a long time. Kate was very clear that I had to be the one that proposed. And I had a ring made, and we were four years waiting to use this ring, because we had agreed that we wouldnt get engaged until we could get married.

The ring was dusty. The box was dusty. It was like a forgotten dream, and then suddenly it was real.

Billie and Kate, 29, first met in 2008, and it was later a friendship that had blossomed into romance.

Billie is a community support worker with GOSHH on Davis Street, while Kate is an art psychotherapist.

The wedding, attended by 120 guests, was festival-themed, with a marquee adorned with colourful decor from floor to ceiling, designed by Grace Events.

On their special day, Kate wore a soft cream vintage dress with chantilly lace and a matching headpiece, from Lilac Rose. Billie brought about her Scottish ancestry with the family tartan, a kilt designed by Stephen Lynch of Bowman Lynch Designs. Including her family heritage was extremely important because my mother died in 2004, and that was the only way she could be with me.

The bridesmaids navy dresses, from Be Fabulous, matched Kates sapphire engagement ring.

It was overwhelming, the amount of joy that was in the room, it was just mind-blowing. I spent the day watching Kate moving around, looking absolutely stunning, feeling quite breathless and not being able to get hold of her! an elated Billie said.

Still relaxing in Doolin this Tuesday, Kate said: It was so special. We designed the ceremony ourselves with Marry Me Ireland, so it was really personal. And so many family and friends wouldnt be used to a wedding outside of a church, and they thought it was better than any other wedding that they had been to, in terms of how personal and touching it was. I was overwhelmed by that.

A unique feature of the wedding, they said, was the knotting of colourful ribbons for the handfasting ceremony.

So we ended up with a rainbow flag of ribbons tying our hands together. And that was really special.

The newly-weds will celebrate their honeymoon in Crete.
Welcome to Morningstar.co.uk!

You have been redirected here from Hemscott.com as we are merging our websites to provide you with a one-stop shop for all your investment research needs.To search for a security, type the name or ticker in the search box at the top of the page and select from the dropdown results.Registered Hemscott users can log in to Morningstar using the same login details. Similarly, if you are a Hemscott Premium user, you now have a Morningstar Premium account which you can access using the same login details.
Nguyen Thanh An, from the southern province of Dong Nai, picked up a bronze medal in the Open category for monochrome pictures for his photo entitled Connect.

An snapped a joyful moment of two children playing with lambs. In this category, Nguyen Ngoc Sons Grandmother Ninh won the Salon HM award.

Three other pictures by An, entitled Industrious, Mother and Together also receive honourable mentions.

In the Nature and Travel categories, Tran Phong grabbed gold for the picture entitled Mother and Child 2; the Silver Salon medal for his picture Exported Coconut Fibre and Gold PSA medal for Colourful Tay Bac (Northwest).

The photo competition is held for amateur and professional photographers worldwide and includes categories such as open in colour, open in monochrome, nature in colour or monochrome, and photo travel in colour or monochrome.

The Balkan Exhibition attracted numerous quality photographers from around the world including Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the UK, and Vietnam.
US president expressed concern over escalating violence and a desire for Moscow to end support for Syria government.

Russia must halt its support for the Syrian governments atrocities, US President Donald Trump said, as fighting rages in the countrys dwindling rebel-held areas.

In a statement released by the White House on Sunday, Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere said Trump  in a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan  conveyed the United Statess desire to see an end to Russias support for the Assad governments atrocities and for a political resolution to the Syrian conflict.

Trump expressed concern [yesterday] over the violence in Idlib, Syria and thanked Erdogan for Turkeys efforts to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe, Deere said.

Syrias military announced on Monday its troops regained control of territories in northwestern Syria in record time, vowing to continue to chase armed groups wherever they are.

The announcement came hours after troops consolidated the governments hold over the key Aleppo province, capturing over 30 villages and hamlets in the western countryside in one day and securing the provincial capital that had for years remained within range of opposition fire.

The new advances, along with securing a key highway that ran through rebel territory, are set to facilitate movement between northern and southern Syria, including the city of Aleppo, Syrias commercial centre before the war.

The Shaam Network, an opposition media platform, said the advances cut the rebels supply line, effectively driving them out of the area.

The developments sparked late-night celebrations in the city, with state media showing images of residents waving flags and dancing in streets packed with vehicles.

Turkeys foreign minister, meanwhile, pressed his Russian counterpart over the attacks by Damascus on the last rebel-held bastion in the country.

Backed by Russian air power, Syrian President Bashar al-Assads forces made significant gains Sunday as they intensified the assault on the holdout northwestern province of Idlib.

Must stop

Turkey has 12 observation posts in Idlib as part of a 2018 deal reached between Ankara and Moscow to prevent a government offensive, but al-Assads forces have pressed ahead regardless.

Four of the Turkish posts are believed to be encircled by Syrian forces and Ankara has threatened to attack Damascus if they do not retreat by the end of February.





I stressed that the attacks in Idlib must stop and it was necessary to establish a lasting ceasefire that would not be violated, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told journalists at the Munich Security Conference, after he met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Turkey, a supporter of the Syrian opposition, and Damascus ally Russia have worked closely on Syria in recent years despite being on opposing sides of the nine-year conflict.

A Turkish delegation will head to Moscow on Monday after Russian officials visited Ankara last weekend but failed to reach a concrete deal.

War monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) on Sunday said government forces were in control of all the villages and small towns around Aleppo for the first time since 2012.

Government forces have for weeks been making gains in northwest Syria and chipping away at territory held by armed opposition fighters, focusing their latest operations on the west of Aleppo province.

The Russian-backed offensive has triggered the largest wave of displacement in Syrias civil war, with 800,000 people fleeing since it began in December, the United Nations has said.

Backed by Russia, Iran and the Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah, al-Assads forces now control more than 70 percent of Syria and the president has repeatedly promised to retake the entire country.

Libyas war

In the Saturday phone call with Erdogan, Trump also reiterated that continued foreign interference in Libya would only serve to worsen the situation.

Libya has been mired in chaos since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising killed longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi, with two rival administrations vying for power.

Countries including Russia, France, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Egypt support renegade commander Khalifa Haftar, while the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) is backed by Turkey and Qatar.
Millions of people in Britain plan to ditch their day job to start their own business - because they think they would be better than their boss.

A study of 2,000 employed adults found there is a growing trend of "side hustlers" with 65 per cent aiming to make their side job their main career this year.

More than a quarter already have a secondary venture and spend an average of four hours a day working on it.

It was revealed four in five want to start their own business, with more than half aspiring to be their own boss.

And 24 per cent went as far as to say they want to set up alone as they think they could do a better job than their current manager.

Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled  leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: Europes largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid 3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rues contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped 4m off of Flybes revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airlines estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year.

Helen Whetton, director of Soho and SME at Three, which commissioned the research, said: As our research shows, the way we work and find job satisfaction is changing.

Its no longer about a 9-til-5, or same job for life.

The "side-hustle" trend is growing each year, and theres never been a better time to take the leap of faith and start your own business.

The study also found 55 per cent already know what their new venture will be, but the prospect of setting up alone still comes with some reservations.

The biggest barriers included a fear of failure (42 per cent) and limited knowledge (42 per cent).

But having the right skills and tools (47 per cent), determination (47 per cent) and confidence (42 per cent) are traits which will help business owners-to-be.

Inspiration comes in all shapes and places, with the bedroom named the best location for ideas to come - a third claimed their news business idea came to them in bed.

Other locations which proved to be an unlikely source for brainwaves were the toilet (15 per cent) and on a date (10 per cent).

Famous faces also provide creative inspiration, with Richard Branson voted the number one role model for business owners, followed by Bill Gates and Sir Alan Sugar.

Ms Whetton added: At Three we are committed to making that leap as pain-free as possible, which is why we created Three Means Business.

We want to make 2020 the Year of the Boss - inspiring more people to make that side-hustle a full-time reality.

With our partnerships and subscriptions, we give entrepreneurs a helping hand with some of the new business hurdles, to allow them to concentrate on building the business they love.

SWNS
MILTON  Dona Dutchers office at Blackhawk Community Credit Union is a small glimpse into bold plans to remember the history of auto-making in Rock County.

She has piles of photographs, hubcaps and a mannequin wearing a pair of coveralls with employee number 40-19-10414.

There are bricks from the General Motors Assembly smokestack, a place setting from the executive dining room, a nameplate from a 307 Chevrolet and United Auto Workers Local 95 campaign buttons touting Jim Boz Bosben, Terry Meyer, Mike Sheridan and Archie Bailey.

In the basement of the credit union, two separate rooms, one of them a vault, hold frayed and fragile blueprints of GM buildings, reports from a transportation company GM used to haul vehicles from the plant to dealers, postcards, tools and Janesville Gazette newspapers documenting the strike of 1937.

Ive got a lot of stuff, as you can see, Dutcher said last week.

And its only a fraction of her collection.

Dutcher has other storage facilities in Milton, Janesville and Beloit that hold larger items such as industrial fans, three-wheeled bikes used to get around the plant, handrails, carts, welding equipment and cabinets full of tools. She even has lights from the parking lot, multiple fire hydrants and three flagpoles.

And sometime in 2021 the artifacts will come under one roof in downtown Janesville.

Thats where the credit union will open a Legacy Center in the former First National Bank building that was constructed in 1913 at the corner of Main and River streets.

Dutcher, director of the Blackhawk Community Credit Union Legacy Center  and whose husband, Brad Dutcher, started working at GM in 1986 and is a former president of UAW Local 95  has worked for the credit union since 2002 and doesnt consider the Legacy Center a museum. Instead, it will be more interactive. Beyond the exhibits, it will include educational programs and research facilities and be a place for reflection and remembrance of an industry that touched nearly every aspect of Janesville and provided good-paying jobs to generations of families.

GM was just so connected to the veins of this community, Dona Dutcher said.

The need for a place to take in the history of Rock County auto-making became apparent after years of hearing from former employees, and after 1,200 workers there lost their jobs when production of Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe and GMC Yukon sport utility vehicles ended just before Christmas 2008. The Isuzu truck line closed the following April, ending the jobs of the remaining 110 employees. Another 800 or so employees of a long list of GM suppliers and contracted transport companies also were put out of work over the succeeding months.

In 1990, GM employed 5,100 people in Janesville. At its peak in 1978, the sprawling plant on the citys south side had more than 7,100 employees.

So when it came time to remodel the Milwaukee Street branch of the credit union, where Dutcher was working a few years ago, she started looking at ways in which historical items could be displayed in the branch. Her board of directors, however, began thinking about something more that just a few historical photos and signs.

They initially considered combining the Legacy Center with a new corporate headquarters but when plans for the site along the river fell through, the credit union purchased the former Moose Lodge in the city for its headquarters and the First National Bank building last summer for the Legacy Center, located in the midst of a downtown that is undergoing massive redevelopment.

It is important to us that our expansion plans continue to contribute to Janesvilles overall redevelopment strategy, Sherri Stumpf, the credit unions CEO, said when she announced the plans. We are excited that this will not only return a building to its historical significance, but it will make a great backdrop for a museum that honors the men and women and families and friends of General Motors and the UAW.

The history of GM in Janesville dates back to 1918, when the company branched out into farm vehicles by buying the Samson Tractor Co. Within 12 months after the purchase, nearly 150 tractors per day were rolling off the production line. Car production at the Janesville plant began in 1923, but the Great Depression shuttered the plant from 1932 to 1934. The plant made 16 million 105mm artillery shells during World War II and then returned to automotive production after the war.

Its only fitting that Blackhawk Community Credit Union is creating the Legacy Center to pay homage to GM and the other companies created in the city because of GMs presence. The credit union was formed in 1965 with employees of the Fisher Body Division of GM and office employees of UAW Local 95. Today, the credit union has 12 branches, over 60,000 members and over $600 million in assets.

But its safe to say that Dutchers office at the Milton branch that opened last fall is the only one that resembles a museum.

She has archival software on her computer and is always pursuing garage sales, thrift stores and auctions for anything related to auto-making in Rock County. She also gets a steady stream of phone calls and emails from former workers or the families of former employees offering up memorabilia.

Dutcher has collected identification badges for some of the 153 GM employees who worked at a temporary production facility at the year-long Century of Progress International Exposition, also known as the Chicago Worlds Fair, in 1933. She has David Kinservicks UAW membership pins from 1936 to 1942 that were handed out each month, photo albums, shirts and jackets made for specific departments at GM and even a couple of the artillery shells produced in the 1940s.

Im all over the area grabbing things, Dutcher said. I dont know if I know what I need right now because were archiving everything so were getting to a place where were getting a better idea of what we have.

Some of her most physical work came in the spring of 2018, just as the buildings at the GM site were going to be removed. Armed with a headlamp and a power drill tipped with a screwdriver attachment, Dutcher began scouring the buildings for items. She pulled out dozens of signs, found a box of DVDs and VHS tapes that are likely training videos, and removed a fire hose reel. She also scrounged for pieces of wood and metal that could be used in art projects or in the creation of keepsakes like pens and pendants.

I just grabbed, Dutcher said. I didnt know what was going to be important.

Bricks from the buildings and smokestack were given away at two events in May and August and drew thousands of people from around the country. Some of her most prized items from the plant are salvage carts, which were used to move a wide range of bulky items. Some were on the third floor, and with no electricity to power the elevator she had to carry the carts down the steps by herself.

I flipped the carts over and stood them up on their ends and put them on my back and just slowly made my way down the staircase, Dutcher said. It was one step at a time. It took a while but Im so glad I did it because theyre just cool-looking and theyre part of the history.

[Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Blackhawk Community Credit Union CEO Sherri Stumpf's last name and Dona Dutcher's title.]

Photos: Janesville automotive Legacy Center

Barry Adams covers regional news for the Wisconsin State Journal. Send him ideas for On Wisconsin at 608-252-6148 or by email at badams@madison.com.

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 17 : The Congress-led opposition continued its attack on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over his silence on the hard hitting CAG report on Kerala Police.

Speaking to the media at Kottayam on Monday, Chennithala who has been consistently raising this since it was tabled last week, reiterated that what has come out is the biggest scams in the history of the Kerala Police.

"Since Vijayan is also the Home Minister, nothing will happen without his knowledge. If he has no role in the alleged corrupt deals as pointed out by the CAG, why is he silent. He should come out and tell the people what it is all about," said Chennithala.

The CAG report for 2013-18 tabled in the Kerala Assembly on Wednesday (Feb 12) pointed out to missing guns and cartridges, misuse and diversion of funds. What has come as a surprise, the report pinpoints State police chief Loknath Behera. It also pointed to the alleged collusion between Keltron, a state public sector company and police in purchases made by the latter.

"Hitherto the amount that the state police chief could spend was Rs 2 crore and this government raised it to Rs 5 crore. Things are pretty bad in what has come out and the CPI-M is also silent and has ruled out even a probe. Either a CBI probe or a judicial probe has to be done," added Chennithala.

"Galaxon company that bagged a huge contract is a benami company and in the days to come more things will come out," added Chennithala.

In a related development, State Crime Branch police chief Tomin Thachenkery after conducting a physical verification said that no rifles are missing, while a probe is going on about the missing cartridges and none will be spared.

Speaker of the Kerala Assembly P. Sreeramakrishnan on Monday joined issue on the CAG report and echoed the fears of the CPI-M state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan that from what has surfaced it should be believed that the CAG report was leaked.

"Anyway the public accounts committee of the legislature will now look into it. Let their report come and what needs to be done on the leak will be looked into," said Sreeramakrishnan.

Ahead of the CAG report being placed in the Assembly, senior Congress MLA P.T. Thomas had raised numerous allegations against the police and many were surprised to find striking similarities with the CAG report.

Meanwhile, newly appointed State BJP president K. Surendran also breathed fire and demanded Vijayan break his silence.

The Congress leadership is meeting here to finalise its strategy on how to deal with this issue.
B ritain's chief Brexit negotiator has insisted the UK being able to set its own laws is a "fundamental" point for departing the bloc.

David Frost, the prime minister's Europe adviser, will use a major speech in Brussels to hit back at the EU's push for alignment in certain aspects, so as to stifle trade competition.

The bloc has long insisted that the extent of access Britain has to the single market will be dependent on how much Britain follows EU rules. While the Government has insisted some divergence will be necessary in fulfilling its post-Brexit vision.

We bring to the negotiations not some clever tactical positioning but the fundamentals of what it means to be an independent country," Mr Frost is expected to use a lecture to students and academics at the Universite libre de Bruxelles.

Boris Johnson has insisted the transition period will end this year / REUTERS

It is central to our vision that we must have the ability to set laws that suit us  to claim the right that every other non-EU country in the world has.

So, to think that we might accept EU supervision on so called level playing field issues simply fails to see the point of what we are doing.

It isnt a simple negotiating position which might move under pressure  it is the point of the whole project."

Brexit briefing: 318 days until the end of the transition period

He will also insist that Britain will refuse any extension to the transition period, which the EU has also called for in order to facilitate negotiations.

At that point we recover our political and economic independence in full  why would we want to postpone it?

In short, we only want what other independent countries have," he is expected to say.

It comes as French foreign minister Jean-Yves le Drian predicted a bruising battle on a post-Brexit deal.

I think that on trade issues and the mechanism for future relations, which we are going to start on, we are going to rip each other apart, he said.

But that is part of negotiations, everyone will defend their own interests.

Mr le Drian, a close ally of president Emmanuel Macron, is the latest senior EU figure to warn that the negotiations will be difficult.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and chief negotiator Michel Barnier have both cast doubt on Mr Johnsons aim to reach a comprehensive agreement by the end of the year, which is when the Brexit transition period runs out.

The EU has repeatedly warned Britain cannot expect to enjoy continued high-quality market access should it insist on diverging from EU social and environmental standards.

There is expected to be a particularly tough fight over fishing rights, with the EU insisting continued access to UK waters must form part of any agreement.
KANSAS CITY, Mo., Feb. 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- To take its tax experience from industry leading to industry defining, H&R Block (NYSE: HRB) has focused on elevating its talent and culture, most recently in promoting four H&R Block executives and hiring one to vice president roles in its U.S. retail and information technology organizations.



H&R Blocks greatest strength and opportunity is its people, said Jeff Jones, H&R Block president and CEO. Our talent, including our newly promoted and hired vice presidents, is what empowers our transformation journey we first embarked upon last year.

Mark Darling, workforce planning and tax pro experience, U.S. retail

Mark Darling was promoted to vice president of workforce planning and tax pro experience. In this role, Darling is responsible for implementing processes and tools to deliver efficiencies and optimization while improving tax professionals work experience. Darling was previously a top-performing regional director in the east market and has been with H&R Block for six years, leading offices and districts from Florida to New York City. Before joining H&R Block, Darling worked for Bijoux Bellagio and Sprint.

Amy Walker, remote tax preparation, U.S. retail

Amy Walker was promoted to vice president of remote tax preparation to lead H&R Blocks virtual fulfillment strategy. In addition to holding several different roles within H&R Blocks finance and U.S. retail organizations, Walker has led several projects focused on optimizing various processes and leading product pilot programs. With seven years at H&R Block, Walker has a background in finance and has worked at CommunityAmerica Credit Union, Embarq, Sprint, Marriott International and Deloitte. She is a certified public accountant as well as an H&R Block tax professional.

We know the success of our tax professionals is the key to our future growth. Their expertise and the care they offer our clients is our human advantage and one reason why it is better with Block, said Karen Orosco, senior vice president of U.S. retail for H&R Block. Another reason it is better with Block is that we can help you however you choose to file. So while we focus on improving our tax pros experience to provide even better care and expertise to our clients, we are also ensuring our remote and virtual tax professionals can consistently deliver a great client experience.

Mark Kelly, cloud, infrastructure and operations, information technology

Mark Kelly joined H&R Block as the vice president of cloud, infrastructure and operations after 25 years of experience in architecture, engineering, and DevOps in the media and software industries. Kelly spent the last eight years leading the cloud migration efforts for Discovery, Inc., including high traffic and well-known sites such as Foodnetwork.com, HGTV.com, and TravelChannel.com.

Bret Reimer, information technology for Canada

Bret Reimer was promoted to vice president of information technology for Canada. In this role, Reimer is responsible for all technology across H&R Block Canada. Reimer has been with H&R Block since 2013, most recently serving as an IT director leading the development of H&R Block tax applications. Previously, Reimer had roles with Cerner and ConocoPhillips.

John Roe, modern tax platforms, information technology

John Roe was promoted to the role of vice president of modern tax platforms. In this role, Roe is responsible for leading the delivery of H&R Blocks first set of cloud native applications utilizing DevOps practices to completely change the way applications are built and supported. Roe has been with H&R Block since 2005, serving in roles as an IT director and manager over many areas of the company. Before joining H&R Block, Roe worked for Birch Telecom, RiverPoint, Sprint and George Butler Associates.

Building operational excellence in our information technology infrastructure and tax platforms simplifies how work gets done and creates greater quality and consistency of execution, said Alan Lowden, senior vice president and chief information officer for H&R Block. Its better with Block because of the choice and expertise we offer, and the right technology systems empower our brand.

Learn more about career opportunities at H&R Block or H&R Blocks purpose and strategic pillars .
- In 2019, a project to construct a research institute and hospital in Kirinyaga was launched

- The county government pushed to have 30% of the residents employed to work in the project which was to be undertaken by KEMRI

- On Friday, February 14, PS Kibicho visited the area to assess progress of the project but was disappointed after realising nothing had been done

- Kibicho accused Waiguru of opposing the project which was meant to help the residents

- In her defence, Waiguru accused the PS of turning the matter into a political circus

Kirinyaga governor Anne Waiguru has hit out at Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho calling for his resignation on allegations of engaging in village politics.

The county boss was responding to Kibicho who on Friday, February 14, told the residents of Kirinyaga that their county boss had opposed the national government's move to construct a Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) centre in the county.

READ ALSO: Detectives raid William Ruto's office, Rashid Echesa's home over military tender scam

Interior PS Karanja Kibicho addressing the public during a past function at DCI. Photo: DCI

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Afisa wa DCI akamatwa kuhusiana na wizi wa mamilioni ya pesa

The institute whose construction was expected to begin is yet to kick off after the county government declined to surrender the title deed for the 100-acre parcel of land in Wamumu, Mwea.

According to the agreement, KEMRI was to build a level five hospital, a university, a medical supplies factory and a medical research center at Wamumu area, all valued at KSh 15 billion.

However, the construction was stopped through a court order after one resident, Leonard Kuria, filed a civil suit on grounds that KEMRI had not involved the public in the process.

Kirinyaga governor Anne Waiguru says her concern with KEMRI is to have local residents given 30% of the jobs. Photo: Anne Waiguru

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Seneta Kang'ata afiwa na babake

On Friday, when Kibicho visited the region he held a meeting with local leaders and accused the county boss of delaying the project which was meant to benefit her people.

The governors decision to sabotage the project is sheer stupidity that should not be allowed to continue. I am shocked that your governor is opposed to the KEMRI project, which will go a long way in boosting the economy of Kirinyaga county,"

"It is stupid and foolish for one to oppose such a viable project that, upon completion, will be very important to the people of the county that she leads, said Kibicho.

Kirinyaga deputy governor Peter Ndambiri was denied access into Kibicho's meeting in Mwea. Photo: K24 TV

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Jowie's father to sell land for suspect's release as friends raise KSh 80K

In her defence, Waiguru said the project had stalled after KEMRI refused to execute an earlier agreement with the institute which required it to set aside 30% of the jobs for Kirinyaga residents.

"On our part as the county, we have signed the KEMRI MOU and forwarded it to them for their execution. We remain committed to looking out for the interest of Kirinyaga people. Am sure asking 30% of manual and non technical jobs for Kirinyaga residents is not too much to ask," she said ina Twitter post.

The governor further accused the tough PS of making the matter a political issue when it actually was not.

READ ALSO: Kirinyaga police officer arrested over escape of 4 suspects from cell

"If PS Karanja Kibicho wants to engage in village politics and insults he can resign and join others in early campaigning. In the meantime can he concentrate on the difficult task of ensuring internal security including in the turbulent parts of the country," waid Waiguru.

Kirinyaga deputy governor Peter Ndambiri who had arrived for Kibicho's meeting at a social hall in Mwea was denied access into the meeting which was attended by national government leaders in the region.

Ndambiri and his team of CECs were asked to wait outside as Kibicho chaired the meeting which went on for over two hours. He was later allowed in after Kibicho was done.

The PS told Ndambiri to implore upon the person who filed a case in court seeking to stop the KEMRI project to withdraw the suit immediately.

If that doesnt happen, then I would advise Kirinyaga County residents to protest, demanding withdrawal of the said-case, said Kibicho.

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
SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science, today announced that several of its analytical instruments and solutions have received industry recognition through multiple respected awards. These award-wining analytical solutions are enabling scientists and organizations to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer by unlocking a greater understanding of the human proteome, advancing development of novel biotherapeutics and enhancing the analysis of time-critical samples within routine testing environments.

"To serve science, we continually invest in providing our customers with advanced scientific solutions that will enable them to overcome their research challenges," said August Specht, vice president, global R&D, chromatography and mass spectrometry, Thermo Fisher Scientific. "We are honored that our analytical technology is receiving industry recognition through these distinguished awards, and that our instruments will continue to play a critical role in scientific advancement."

The Thermo Scientific Orbitrap ID-X Tribrid Mass Spectrometer was a recipient of the R&D 100 Award for the Analytical/Test category by R&D World magazine. The Orbitrap ID-X Tribrid Mass Spectrometer was recognized for its easy-to-use analytical platform and advanced capabilities to confidently identify and characterize small molecules.

Enabling biopharmaceutical laboratories to replace the complicated sequence of methods required to characterize protein-based therapeutics with a single, verified mass spectrometry-based workflow, the Thermo Scientific HR Multi-Attribute Method (MAM) was included in The Medicine Maker's 2019 list of groundbreaking drug development and manufacturing technologies.

Included within The Analytical Scientist's Top 15 Innovations of 2019, were two innovative products including the Thermo Scientific VeriSpray PaperSpray Ion Source for its ability to simplify sample preparation and increase throughput for a wide range of routine mass spectrometry-based applications, including drug analyte testing and drugs of abuse analysis. Also awarded for its innovation was the Thermo Scientific Orbitrap Exploris 480 Mass Spectrometer, a new-generation system that is advancing quantitative proteomics and translational research. The Orbitrap Exploris 480 Mass Spectrometer is facilitating this through a combination of proven technology, advanced capabilities and intelligence-driven data acquisition strategies.

And, as a winner of the Gold Award for Best New Product for Protein Analysis at the 2019 Life Science Industry Awards (LSIA), the Orbitrap Exploris 480 Mass Spectrometer was recognized for its ability to deliver enhanced quantitative performance across label-free and tandem mass tag (TMT) experiments, as well as access to new Thermo Scientific SureQuant methods for ultra-sensitive targeted protein assays.

The Orbitrap Exploris 480 Mass Spectrometer was nominated by the SelectScience community for the Scientists' Choice Award for Best New Drug Discovery & Development Product of 2019.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, with annual revenue exceeding $25 billion. Our Mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. Whether our customers are accelerating life sciences research, solving complex analytical challenges, improving patient diagnostics and therapies or increasing productivity in their laboratories, we are here to support them. Our global team of more than 75,000 colleagues delivers an unrivaled combination of innovative technologies, purchasing convenience and pharmaceutical services through our industry-leading brands, including Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific, Unity Lab Services and Patheon. For more information, please visit www.thermofisher.com.

Media Contact Information:

Laura Bright Thermo Fisher Scientific +1 562-335-8318 [email protected] Janice Foley

BioStrata +1 617-823-5555 [email protected]

SOURCE Thermo Fisher Scientific

Related Links

http://www.thermofisher.com


T here is a secret which I have been hiding since my early 20s but the lies have finally become too much. It is time for me to come out  again. No, Im not ashamed and yes, I have the full support of my family and friends. I can only hope that the public will be as kind as they have always been to me.

Here goes. I hate Charlotte Brontes writing and I dont know how anybody can sit through Mozarts Don Giovanni. The most expensive fine wines taste like, well, ordinarily priced wine. Around 90 per cent of art exhibitions bore me. And practically every modern play Ive seen is forgettable drivel. So there it is. Im out and proud and hoping I can finally find the happiness everyone deserves.

I began faking how I really felt when I was young. As a working-class boy, perfecting the art of liking what one is supposed to seemed like a vital step towards belonging and passing amongst the hallowed middle class. So I devised myself a persona, skulking about in the posh bits of town and fantasising about living in the fancy houses and talking to my posh new friends about art. I couldnt go to the boarding school I was dying to attend so I made do with devouring what I believed to be the right books, the right operas, and the right toe-curling bores droning on at exhibitions. Alarmingly, this worked. And the more hideous dinner parties I found myself attending, the more important it became to keep up the charade.

Sure, Ive had profound moments at the opera. But equally, Ive endured interminable rubbish, looking around flabbergasted while everybody else appeared rapt by what I considered pretentious babble. Ive read most of the classics and, while some were life-changing, others were Jane Eyre, a book so miserable I dont believe anyone could enjoy. And I dont care what fruit my wine has top notes of, so long as its pleasant to drink and Im tipsy. Its taken years to summon up the courage to come out about this. I owe my recent uncharacteristic bravery to the Jamaican Booker Prize-winning writer Marlon James, who gives his honest view of great literature along with his editor Jake Morrissey, on their podcast Marlon and Jake Read Dead People. In his opinion, the Bronte sisters dont get human emotion. He likes what he likes and that is the only thing that really matters.

The pressure to brainwash yourself into liking what youre supposed to is enormous but this inauthenticity comes at a price: your soul. Loving food, wine, music and art is supposed to be joyous and the whole point of sharing cultural experiences is to bring your own opinions to the table. You can find the Mona Lisa drab (she is) and music by female grime artists an endless wellspring of creative joy (I do). But, for most of my adult life, I suppressed my true opinions and forced my tastes into line with what others considered to be good because I thought it was the only way to gain social cachet.

I dont care what fruit my wine has top notes of as long as its pleasant to drink and Im tipsy afterwards

The lies I was telling about what I enjoyed had an emotional cost too. Unless all of us find the courage to own up to what we like and what we hate, the narrowest, smallest, poshest amongst us will continue to determine what is good and what isnt.

Paris Opera dancers perform at the Palais Garnier during a dress rehearsal of "Giselle" / AFP via Getty Images

Its time to come out, to ditch the cultural sacred cows and start living our best lives. I feel liberated already.

Im off on a big macho mega triathlon

How do you fancy spending four days in sub-zero temperatures competing in a 100-mile triathlon for Sport Relief? my agent asked a couple of months ago. I rarely listen to anything he has to say, as he works in media, so most of our interactions involve him talking nonsense.

On this occasion I heard the words triathlon and Sport Relief so replied I was in. I gave it almost no further thought. Fast forward a month later to me on The One Show getting ready to go on an adventure. Camping on the ice is going to be the hardest, said Matt Baker. I didnt reply. Instead I went a sort of peritonitis grey  the same colour my driving instructor used to go as I approached traffic lights.

Nick Grimshaw, who is also set to trek 100 miles across a lake in Mongolia in aid of Sport Relief (PA) / Comic Relief/BBC

I looked desperately over to my fellow adventurer Nick Grimshaw, who was totally at ease about the challenge ahead. Im getting increasingly worried as our departure looms (Im off to Mongolia on Friday, assuming coronavirus doesnt scupper the trip). Im trying to channel Nicks macho confidence between now and then. Wish me luck.

100 mile Mongolian adventure in aid of mental health

The mission behind my crazy 100 mile adventure across a frozen lake in Mongolia is to encourage better conversations about mental health. Bad mental health, low self-esteem and unfulfilled work blight the lives of millions of us.

This problem is especially lethal among men who are most likely to suffer in painful silence.
Good morning and welcome to On Politics, a daily political analysis of the 2020 elections based on reporting by New York Times journalists.

Sign up here to get On Politics in your inbox every weekday.

With momentum comes resistance: Its a lesson Michael Bloomberg is learning the hard way as he rises in the polls. His record is a complicated thing, because he not only governed New York City for three terms (first as a Republican, then as an independent) but has also been deeply involved in politics as a philanthropist. As our reporters Alexander Burns and Nicholas Kulish outlined in an investigation into Bloombergs empire of influence that was published over the weekend, many of the organizations and officials now supporting his presidential run have received funding from his charity in the past.

As Bloomberg has risen  hitting 15 percent in a Quinnipiac University national poll last week  he has provided a rare common enemy for his Democratic rivals. Joe Biden criticized Bloomberg on an episode of NBCs Meet the Press that aired Sunday: Sixty billion dollars can buy you a lot of advertising, but it cant erase your record, he said, referring in particular to Bloombergs expansion of stop-and-frisk policing tactics during his time as mayor, and his suggestion in 2008 that the end of discriminatory housing practices had helped cause the financial crisis.

Elizabeth Warren has repeatedly attacked Bloomberg for his remarks on housing discrimination. At an event in Virginia last week, she said, That crisis would not have been averted if the banks had been able to be bigger racists, and anyone who thinks that should not be the leader of our party.

Bernie Sanderss stump speech now includes broadsides against Bloomberg. Sanders has argued that Democrats should not nominate a self-funding billionaire, and at a state Democratic Party dinner on Saturday he took aim at the notion that Bloomberg is more electable than the Vermont senator. The simple truth is that Mayor Bloomberg, with all his money, will not create the kind of excitement and energy we need to have the voter turnout we must have to defeat Donald Trump, Sanders said.

The latest Nevada poll, conducted for The Las Vegas Review-Journal and AARP Nevada, found Sanders with an outright lead in the state for the first time this cycle. Sanders had 25 percent in the poll, followed by Biden at 18 percent and Warren at 13 percent. It is the first poll to come out of the notoriously hard-to-poll Nevada in over a month; with less than a week to go before the caucuses there, not many more are expected.

Biden is also seeking to stanch some of Sanderss momentum in Nevada, lashing out at him for, as Biden put it, failing to disown supporters who had made online attacks against officials with the states culinary union. (The union opposes Medicare for all, a pillar of Sanderss platform, but said last week that it wouldnt endorse a candidate.) Sanders in fact said last week, Anybody making personal attacks against anybody else in my name is not part of our movement.

Heres one notable finding from the Nevada poll: By the time caucus day officially rolls around, most ballots may already have been turned in. Thats because roughly three in five likely Nevada caucusgoers said they planned to vote early  that is, at some point between this past Saturday and Tuesday. Theoretically, that could lighten the load on caucus site managers, who will be using a data-entry system that was thrown together at the last minute after the smartphone app that the states Democratic Party had planned to use malfunctioned in Iowa.
That moment is now here: Over the weekend, the concern about Mr. Bloombergs ascendancy was evident as rival Democrats campaigning in Nevada unleashed a barrage of attacks on the former mayor, including familiar laments that he was trying to buy an election and new criticism aided by resurfaced videos that invoked his past controversies.

Speaking in Las Vegas, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont devoted an entire portion of his speech to Mr. Bloomberg, accusing him of supporting racist policies like the so-called stop-and-frisk searches of young minority men and attacking him for opposing minimum wage increases in the past.

Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden said in an interview on NBCs Meet the Press on Sunday, Sixty billion dollars can buy you a lot of advertising, but it cant erase your record. And he appeared relieved that the scrutiny had shifted from him to Mr. Bloomberg. You all are going to start focusing on him like you have on me, Mr. Biden said.

Mr. Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, is skipping the first four nominating contests, including the Nevada caucuses on Saturday, and instead will join the race on Super Tuesday, on March 3. The two weeks leading up to those contests figure to be the most intense and trying for him so far  not just because of the attacks that are certain to keep coming, but because they will test the resolve and restraint of a candidate who has never displayed much patience when confronted with criticism.

Hes not a career politician, said the Columbia mayor, Stephen Benjamin, who is also Mr. Bloombergs campaign co-chairman. Citing what he said was the campaigns internal polling of Super Tuesday states, which showed Mr. Bloomberg leading in Arkansas and in second or third place in North Carolina and Texas, Mr. Benjamin said: Thats when arrows start flying. Thats when the daggers come out.
Christians risk lives to help fight coronavirus in China as death toll skyrockets

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

As the death toll from the coronavirus reaches at least 1,383, according to numbers released by the Chinese Communist Party, Christians on the mainland are risking their lives to provide aid to families in cities that have been deemed high risk for the disease.

Mark Hogsed, World Helps vice president of international programs, told The Christian Post that the Christian nongovernmental organization is partnering with local pastors to distribute emergency relief in the provinces surrounding Wuhan, where the infection now known as COVID-19 is thought to have originated last December.

For over 20 years, wed been working with a network of local Chinese pastors and church planters doing Bible distribution, church planting, and evangelizing, he said. So we heard this network is willing to distribute protective masks as well as food to the people theyre ministering to. All they needed were the resources. We are actively on the ground right now, providing masks and food to as many people as they can to help prevent the virus.

With an additional 5,000 reported Friday, the number of coronavirus cases in mainland China has now surged past 63,000.

Adam Kamradt-Scott, an infectious diseases expert at the Centre for International Security Studies at the University of Sydney, told Reuters the new figures give no indication the outbreak is nearing a peak.

"Based on the current trend in confirmed cases, this appears to be a clear indication that while the Chinese authorities are doing their best to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the fairly drastic measures they have implemented to date would appear to have been too little, too late," he said.

Over 1,700 medical workers have been infected by the virus, and six have died, Reuters reports. Additionally, hospitals are experiencing a severe shortage of face masks and other supplies.

While the pastors and other aid workers partnering with World Help are taking preventive measures, they are risking their lives to provide aid to those in need, Hogsed told CP.

Our partners are being as safe as possible, theyre taking every precaution they can, but they feel this is a calling and a time to step up, he said. One of the effects of the virus is people are staying inside. Theyre not going outside if they dont have to, so these pastors are choosing to go out into their communities out of love for the people and as a practical way to spread the Gospel."

We feel strongly that we can be an example of a very practical Gospel, he added. This is one way that Christians on the ground can practically help those who need it, even in the face of danger.

In Hubei province numerous areas are under quarantine. Last week, the government ordered officials in Wuhan to round up everyone who should be rounded up, as part of a wartime campaign to contain the outbreak, reports The New York Times.

On Friday, Chinese state-run television announced that everyone returning to Beijing would be required to isolate themselves for 14 days. Anyone who does not comply shall be held accountable according to law, according to a text of the order released by state television.

Because of this, Hogsed told CP that World Help is focused on the provinces surrounding Hubei, adding, Theres so much lockdown right now and the threat of a spread is so real that we are primarily focusing on the outskirts of Hubei, which is also a high-risk area.

The coronavirus is now a global concern: At least 25 countries have confirmed cases and three deaths have been recorded outside mainland China  one in Hong Kong, one in the Philippines, and one in Japan.

The World Health Organization has warned the virus poses a "grave threat" to the world. Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the virus could have "more powerful consequences than any terrorist action.

As the number of novel coronavirus cases rises, Christians are on the frontlines sharing the Gospel and practical aid to those in need, Hogsed said. God, he stressed, is present even in the darkest of times.

It is an awful, awful tragedy and its hard to find any good that would come of this, he said. But hopefully, those that are being ministered to in a practical way will see that this is what Jesus has commanded us to do, to help those in need of help. Hopefully, that will in turn into the spread of the Gospel.

The Gospel has been rapidly spreading throughout China throughout the last several decades despite severe persecution, Hogsed declared, adding that God continues to bless the efforts of those who are so dedicated to reaching China for Christ, even at risk to themselves.

He encouraged Christians to pray for those affected by the coronavirus, stressing, We need to pray for those who have been affected and for those who have lost loved ones to it.

Theyre saying a vaccine is months away, so pray for a quick vaccination for this deadly disease, he said.

He also asked believers to donate to World Help, revealing that just $20 can provide one person a weeks worth of food and a protective mask to help stop the spread of the illness.

When were providing practical, tangible help like this, its with the goal that physical aid will translate into spreading the Gospel and everyone is helped will come to know Jesus, he said.

Visit World Help to find out more information or to donate.
Employers who underpay workers could be forced to name and shame themselves with public signs admitting their wage theft as part of industrial relations reforms Attorney-General Christian Porter is considering.

Businesses which fail to prevent wage underpayment could also be banned from hiring migrant workers for a period of time, and company directors disqualified from holding office.

Mr Porter, who will introduce legislation to criminalise the worst cases of wage theft in the coming weeks, is seeking feedback from unions and employers on further changes to tackle underpayments  including a beefed-up Fair Work Ombudsman and "streamlined" small claims court process.

Attorney-General Christian Porter is consulting on the next stage of his wage theft reforms. Credit:Rhett Wyman

Adverse publicity orders  forcing an employer to "display a notice admitting to having underpaid their employees"  are one option flagged in a discussion paper that Mr Porter, the Morrison government's industrial relations minister, will release on Tuesday.
London Computer Systems (LCS), developer of Rent Manager property management software and other business-critical technologies, is pleased to announce its sponsorship of the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM), making Rent Manager a President Level Partner for 2020. Through this partnership, Rent Manager will be continuing its ongoing support of IREM and its initiatives.

We are thrilled to commit our time and energy to the Institute of Real Estate Management. This is a great opportunity for Rent Manager to support the real estate management industry, as well as further our understanding of the industrys needs, said Brittany Christerson, Director of Sales and Marketing, Rent Manager.

As a part of their partnership with IREM, Rent Manager will be sponsoring the Certified Property Manager (CPM) Leadership Track within the Next-Gen CPM Program as a commitment to guiding the next generation of real estate management professionals. The IREM Next-Gen CPM Leaders program is a talent management initiative that offers an exclusive opportunity for property management firms to fast-track their younger employees to earn the CPM.

Were very pleased that our President-level industry partner, Rent Manager, continues to collaborate with IREM to reach the most respected community of real estate management professionals with products and services that facilitate building efficiencies and increase tenant satisfaction, said Denise Froemming, IREM CEO and Executive Vice President. These important relationships provide multiple channels to offer our members best-in-class solutions to issues they face each day.

With this continued International partnership, Rent Manager will take an active role in IREM events across North America this yearincluding greater involvement in the 2020 IREM Global Summit. Rent Manager will also participate in local and regional IREM events throughout the year as well as the Chapter Leadership Retreat.

We are excited to further develop our partnership with IREM, which has long been the leading institute for industry education and certifications. Our commitment to the CPM Leadership Track within the NextGen CPM Program further demonstrates our ongoing support of the industry, as well as IREMs members and future leaders, added Abbie Huffman, Business Development Manager, Rent Manager.

About the Institute of Real Estate Management

IREM is an international force of 20,000 individuals united to advance the profession of real estate management. Through training, professional development, and collaboration, IREM supports their members and others in the industry through every stage of their career.

They believe in their people, and provide the tools needed to succeed. They open doors, forge connections, and help show the way forward. Backed by the power that comes with being an affiliate of the National Association of REALTORS, they add value to their members, who in turn add value to their teams, their workplaces, and the properties in their commercial and residential portfolios.

Their memberships empower college students, young professionals, and industry veterans who are committed to career advancement. Earning their credentials, including the CPM, ARM, ACoM, and AMO, demonstrates a commitment to, and passion for, good management. These credentials, along with their courses and array of resources, all exist with one goal in mindto make a difference in the careers of those who manage.

About LCS

Incorporated in 1987 and headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, London Computer Systems (LCS) is a developer of business-critical software used in all 50 states and several markets throughout the world. LCS products include Rent Manager property management software, rmVoIP telephone systems, and enterprise-level hosting solutions via its Sentry Data Center.

LCS also provides complete network design, implementation, and support services, and custom website development through its IT Services and Web Design Services divisions. With more than 30,000 users, LCS combines best technologies with best practices to create unique, affordable, customer-focused products and services.

For more information about LCS, please call 800-669-0871 or visit LCS.com


Massive jellyfish washed up on the shores of Australian beaches have 'melted' amid the scorching heat.

A dozen true jellyfish were seen sprawled across the sand in Wongaling Beach in North Queensland last week while temperatures soared to 35C and 36C.

Some of the jellyfish were as big as 60cm wide and swimmers have been urged to steer clear as they carry a painful sting.

A dozen true jellyfish were found sprawled across the beach in Far North Queensland

Kerryn Bell who runs a charter tour group in the area said the jellyfish looked like 'melting ice creams'.

'They came in during the big tides we had, and they've been sitting out in the hot sun, and it looks like they're starting to melt,' Ms Bell told the Cairns Post.

'I've never seen that before. It was like looking at melting ice cream.'

While true jellyfish aren't as lethal to humans as other species like the box jellyfish, they can still cause a lot of pain including a skin rash and muscle cramps.

Other beaches along Queensland's Far North Coast have been plagued by jellyfish in recent weeks.

The jellyfish were seen lying on the shores of Wongaling Beach in North Queensland (pictured) last week and appeared to be 'melting' after temperatures hit above 35C

Four people were stung by the deadly irukandji jellyfish late last month.

One woman had to be rushed to hospital after she was stung in Port Douglas.

TYPES OF JELLYFISH Scyphozoans known as true jellyfish are usually found in large groups and can be found in all oceans across the world These jellyfish can cause muscle cramps and a skin rash if a person is stung True jellyfish can grow to two metres wide Irukandji is one of the smallest jellyfish in the world Irukandji can be found in South East Asia, the Caribbean, Hawaii, South Africa and the United Kingdom If you get stung you can suffer symptoms of lower backache or a headache, overall body pain, muscular cramps or shooting pains in the victim's muscles, chest and abdomen, nausea, vomiting, breathing difficulties Advertisement

The scare came after three children were stung by the same type of venomous jellyfish in Cairns.

A seven-year-old boy was stung at Kewarra Beach and a five-year-old girl was stung Palm Cove.

A 16-year-old boy was also stung at Palm Cove but his symptoms did not develop until he was at home.

All three were rushed to hospital but have since recovered.

On Saturday another swimmer was stung in Palm Cove and taken to Cairns Hospital.

Several beaches along the coastline in Cairns were closed over the weekend after lifeguards found 30 jellyfish.

Surf Life Saving Queensland Cairns lifeguard supervisor Jay March urged people to stay out of the water.

'It's simply not safe to have the beaches open at this point in time, particularly with these sustained conditions, and the sheer number of stingers we're seeing in the water,' he said on Thursday.

'The beaches will be closed over the coming days and, at this stage, they won't be reopened until conditions change and take those stingers back out to sea.'
A Russian-administered court in Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula ruled on February 16 to detain four Ukrainian fisherman for 10 days as civil punishment for "illegally fishing" in the Sea of Azov where they were detained and had their boat impounded the previous day.



Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) border guard force said it apprehended the four Ukrainians off the coast of Crimea and accused them of "violating the rules for catching aquatic biological resources."



The fishermen didn't have documents on their person and the catch on board the vessel was illegal, said Larisa Opanasyuk, the human rights ombudswoman on the Russian-occupied peninsula.



A 2003 Russia-Ukraine treaty stipulates unimpeded access to the Kerch Strait and Sea of Azov.



Ukraine's presidential representative in annexed Crimea based in the southern Kherson region said it was the monitoring the situation with the four fishermen.



On November 25, 2018, Russian border guards attacked, intercepted, and seized three Ukrainian Navy boats off Crimea, taking 24 crew members prisoner.



The following November, Russia returned the severely damaged Ukrainian vessels and a UN tribunal had ordered Russia to immediately release the crew members and ships in May.



The sailors were freed after 10 months in a landmark prisoner exchange in September.



Russia invaded Crimea in early 2014 and has controlled the peninsula ever since, triggering Western sanctions that are still in place.
A MAJOR study on the potential impact of the M20 from Cork to Limerick is underway.

Cork Chamber and the Limerick Chamber have teamed up to commission Indecon economic consultants and RedC research to undertake a study into the proposed 1bn road.

In advance of the autumn 2017 mid-term review of the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Plan, the Chambers believe the M20 must take priority with additional funding and a clear timeline allocated towards the project.

When complete, the M20 would create a seamless Atlantic motorway corridor between Irelands second and third cities and on to Galway, helping to create an economic complement to the east coast.

The original need to upgrade the N20 was identified as far back as 1998 and, according to the chambers, the road is now at capacity and posing safety concerns. Transport Infrastructure Ireland, (formerly the National Roads Authority) had previously submitted the scheme to An Bord Pleanala in 2010, which was subsequently withdrawn due to financial constraints.

Transport Minister Shane Ross has reignited the project, and told Transport Infrastructure Ireland it may proceed with early activities at a cost of approximately 1m.

The report is due to be finalised in May and will be jointly presented to Government by the two Chambers with a view to see additional funding allocated towards the M20 in the Capital Plan.

Limerick Chamber chief executive Dr James Ring said: This motorway would have a hugely beneficial impact on our city regions. With the right road network linking them, they would effectively become one large labour and customer marketplace. Its a game changer for the corridor and all the more important because of the looming uncertainty about Brexit.

Dr Ring added the joint approach heralds a new and necessary approach to regional development: By coming together, our cities and towns, together with Galway, are creating a dynamic and formidable Atlantic corridor.
Pakistan has played its due role in facilitating direct talks between the US and the Taliban that are "nearing fruition", Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Monday, taking credit for arranging the negotiations aimed at promoting peace and stability in the war-torn country.

Qureshi made these remarks during a meeting with United States special envoy for Afghan reconciliation ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad who is in Islamabad to attend the conference on Afghan refugees and discuss the Afghan peace process.

The Pakistan Foreign Office said in a statement that ambassador Khalilzad updated Qureshi on the US' efforts to promote peace and stability in Afghanistan and shared that the Afghan peace and reconciliation process was moving forward steadily.

The Foreign Minister welcomed the progress in the peace process. He also appreciated efforts of ambassador Khalilzad, it said.

"The Foreign Minister said that Pakistan had played its due role in facilitating direct talks with Taliban that was nearing fruition," the Foreign Office said.

Qureshi said Pakistan believed that a stable and peaceful Afghanistan was essential for regional peace, economic development and connectivity, it said.

Noting that the international conference being hosted by Pakistan to mark 40 years of Pakistan's hospitality to the Afghan refugees, the Foreign Minister said that a time bound and well-resourced road-map for return of the Afghan refugees with dignity and honour should form part of the future Afghan settlement deal.

The meeting was held amidst reports that US and the Taliban were going to sign a historic agreement by the end of this month to end America's longest war.

Khalilzad also called on Prime Minister Imran Khan and Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, officials said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Lucknow In a flip-flop, the Lucknow University claimed that the question paper of the LLB third semester exam in December was not leaked. The announcement came a month after a committee found that the paper was leaked.

To recall, audio clips had gone viral in which two male voices could be heard leaking questions to the accused student, ahead of the exam.

The new committee came to this conclusion after it questioned students of law department and the accused student Richa Mishra. The committee found that the questions given to her were not shared with other students, said Durgesh Tripathi, spokesperson, Lucknow University.

Based on the findings of the new committee, the university decided to declare the results of LLB exams (third semester). The decision was taken during the examination committees meeting on Monday.

The university administration realised that it would not be wise to make all students suffer because of a mistake by one person, said Tripathi.

He said a team of Special Task Force (STF) that looked into the paper leak scandal also submitted similar findings.

This came a month after another committee hinted that the exam questions were leaked. Based on the finding, the university announced that four papers of the LLB third semester exam were deemed cancelled and would be held afresh as per the new schedule. Four papers with exam code 2620, 2621, 2622, 2623 were cancelled.

The decision did not go down well with students who staged protest against the university administration. Subsequently, the university constituted the new committee.

The LU administration had also lodged an FIR against Richa Mishra, assistant professor of law department Ashok Kumar and an unidentified person regarding the matter. The case was still being investigated by the police.
The trio was arrested on Saturday for raising pro-Pakistan slogans and posting it on social media on the first anniversary of the terrorist attack that left scores of CRPF soldiers dead at Pulwama in Kashmir and let off on Sunday after execution of a bond under Section 169 of CrPC

Hubballi: The three Kashmiri engineering college students in Hubbali, facing sedition charges, were re-arrested on Monday after protests broke out against police for releasing them on executing a bond.

"They (Kashmiri students) have been arrested again, produced before the court and remanded to judicial custody," the Hubballi-Dharwad police Commissioner R Dileep told PTI.

The trio, students of a private engineering college, were arrested on Saturday for raising pro-Pakistan slogans and posting it on social media on the first anniversary of the Pulwama terrorist attack that killed 40 CRPF soldiers.

They were released on Sunday on executing a bond under Section 169 of the Criminal Procedure Code (release of accused when evidence deficient).

Police had come under flak for releasing the youth. They said the trio were apprehended this morning and taken to court, which remanded them to judicial custody till 2 March.

The action came after members of right-wing outfits staged demonstrations outside the police station on Sunday. Sri Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik was among those who flayed police for releasing the youth who, he alleged, demonstrated their "anti-India vitriol" on the first anniversary of the Pulwama attack.

Police said Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai too spoke to higher police officials about the case.

The three students were reportedly manhandled by a mob at the court.

Meanwhile, Ashok Anvekar, a member of the Hubli Bar Association, said they had decided none from the bar would appear as counsel for the three Kashmiri students.
Civil Aviation Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri handed Letters of Appreciation to 68 members of the Air India staff who were involved in the evacuation operation conducted to rescue stranded Indians in Wuhan. These letters of appreciation were issued by Prime Minister Modi. Pradeep Singh Kharola, Secretary of Civil Aviation, Rajeev Bansal, the current Air India CMD and Ashwani Lohani, Ex Air India CMD were present at the felicitation along with senior Aviation ministry officials.

In order to appreciate the efforts of the Air India team, Civil Aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri said,"We are proud of the intensive commitment shown by the Air India team to bring home their countrymen in spite of very trying conditions in the epidemic-hit Wuhan." He further went onto say, "I feel proud to confer the appreciation of our Prime Minister expressed through personal letters to all those who had been part of this historic mission. I heartily thank all of them once again for their service to the nation."

The team conducting these operations was headed by Captain Amitabh Singh and comprised 8 pilots, 30 cabin crew, 10 cabin crew members and 1 senior officer. Air India carried out an emergency rescue operation in Wuhan on January 31,2020 and February 1,2020. Air India sent 2 423-seater B-747 aircrafts to Wuhan consecutively for two days.

Earlier this month, Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri had said that the operations to rescue Indians stranded in Wuhan was a 'logistical nightmare' as it had to be done in a region that was sealed from all sides. In this rescue operation, around 647 Indians and 7 Maldivians were evacuated from the Novel coronavirus-hit Wuhan.

Also read: India's evacuation effort was a 'logistical nightmare', says Indian Ambassador to China

Also read: Air India suspends Hong Kong flights over coronavirus fears
LEADER of the Opposition Washington Misick has called on the United Kingdom to re-examine the territorys pathway to citizenship and to initiate talks with Haiti.





The call came during Tuesdays (February 11) visit by Sir Simon Gerard McDonald, Permanent Under Secretary and Head of the Diplomatic Service at the Foreign Commonwealth Office.





During his visit, Sir Simon joined the governor, the premier and the Opposition leader for an hour-long lunch meeting at the Governors Office, Providenciales.





Hon. Misick noted that given the compressed time, the conversations on the various topical challenges facing the TCI were brief.





But it was an opportunity nevertheless to speak directly to the most senior civil servant in the FCO, he said, through his lens as a TC Islander and the leader of the alternative to the current Government.





Matters discussed included illegal immigration, boarder security and crime, expansion of the franchise, and the environment.





In a press statement on Thursday, Hon. Misick outlined the engagements he had with the FCO representative.





"I reiterated the PNPs position on all of these matters and in the strongest terms expressed that current pathway to citizenship needs to be re-examined in light of the declining proportion of the TCI Islander proportion to overall population numbers.





"TC Islanders currently make up between 35 to 37 percent of the total population and it is estimated that under current trajectory this number will decline to between 24 to 26 percent by 2027.





"I also called on Her Majestys Government to engage with Haiti at the highest level in partnership with the US by using its international clout to effect democracy





This should be done in the interest of the TCI and other vulnerable micro states in the region in the same way they have attempted to do so in many unstable resource rich countries, he said.





He added: "Crucially, the discussion did not include constitution advancement. That matter is the subject of a dedicated meeting with the minister and FCO technocrats towards the end of March 2020 to which Hon. Akierra Missick will be attending.




Interim Prime Minister Ludovic Orban has evoked the priority granted by the Government in Bucharest to the swift lift of the Co-operation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) within a meeting with Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova.

The meeting took place on Sunday, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.According to a Gov't release sent to AGERPRES on Monday, the PM voiced Executive's commitment to implement the recommendations made by the European Commission."The Prime Minister has evoked, in this context, the measures adopted since taking over the office in order to combat corruption at government level. In her turn, Commissioner Jourova commended Romania's comeback on a positive trajectory in this area, however, underscoring the importance of sustainability of the recorded progresses," the release shows.The two high officials have reiterated their support for the continuation of the EU enlargement policy, voicing hope for a favorable decision in terms of opening the accession negotiations with Albania and the Republic of North Macedonia, on the occasion of the Summit in Zagreb, in May 2020.PM Orban also underscored the importance of the European Union further endorsing the member states of the Eastern Partnership
Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

The global temperature sensors market size is expected to reach USD 6.13 billion by 2020, according to a new study by Grand View Research, Inc. Increasing global demand for smarter consumer electronics and automobiles is expected to favor market growth over the forecast period. Temperature sensors are increasingly used in smartphones and other consumer electronics to monitor their temperature and enhance performance.

Basic temperature sensors include resistive temperature devices (RTD), thermocouples, liquid expansion devices, silicon diodes, infrared sensors etc. Additionally, fusion of communication, computing and sensing is expected to drive the MEMS market, which is expected to benefit global temperature sensor demand. Technological advancements and device miniaturization also drive market growth. Need for ensuring safety and favorable regulatory scenario is expected to fuel market growth over the forecast period. However, intense competition and significant price cuts may restrain the temperature sensors market over the forecast period.

Request a Sample Copy of the Global Temperature Sensors Market Research Report @

www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/temperature-sensors-market/request/rs1

Further key findings from the study suggest:

Consumer electronics and environmental applications are expected to grow at a considerable rate over the forecast period. Temperature sensors are increasingly used standalone or integrated with diverse equipment. This technology is spurred by factors such as low cost and power and wireless connectivity. Introduction of new raw materials such as polymers is expected to lower the weight, size and cost of electronic devices.

Sensors are used in wide range of applications such as consumer electronics, automotive, process industries etc. owing to easy equipment integration. Temperature sensors are increasing used in automotive applications such as cylinder head temperatures, coolant, and air intake. Therefore, rise in automobile production is expected to favor market demand. Temperature sensors are also used in HVAC, environmental control, food processing, medical devices and chemical handling applications.

The Asia Pacific temperature sensors market accounted for over 30% of the global demand and is expected to grow at a considerable rate over the next six years. The regional market is expected to be driven by advancements in sensor technology and demand for high-performance sensors that can be fitted into handheld portable devices. China is expected to be the largest contributor to regional market revenue generation over the next six years.

Key market participants include ABB, Delphi Automotive, Analog Devices Inc., Siemens AG, Freescale Semiconductor, Honeywell International, Texas Instruments, NXP Semiconductors, Panasonic, etc. Honeywell serves various industries including aerospace & defense, medical, transportation, industrial etc. Key players are increasingly moving their manufacturing facilities in countries with economical labor particularly in Asia Pacific to reduce their overall cost. Cost effective and differentiated services are expected to be a critical success factor for the industry participants.

Grand View Research has segmented the global temperature sensors market on the basis of application and region:

Temperature Sensors Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2012 - 2020)

Automotive

Consumer Electronics

Environmental

Healthcare & Medical

Process Industries

Others

Temperature Sensors Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2012 - 2020)

North America U.S.

Europe Germany UK

Asia Pacific China Japan India

RoW Brazil



Access full research report on global temperature sensors market:

www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/temperature-sensors-market
ITHACA, N.Y. - After times of major conflict, such as the civil wars in Liberia from 1980 to 2003, peace often leaves a power vacuum, especially in remote areas not yet reached by a developing government.

"In areas of limited statehood, a country's central authority lacks the ability to implement and enforce rules and decisions," Sabrina Karim, assistant professor of government, wrote in new research published in the American Political Science Review.

The paper, "Relational State Building in Areas of Limited Statehood: Experimental Evidence on the Attitudes of the Police," is based on Karim's research in Liberia. She finds that personal contact between police officers and citizens encourages a positive attitude about the country's central authority because such relationships provide information and facilitate social bonds.

The state earns legitimacy when the public accepts state authority over other sources of authority, including traditional chiefs, criminal groups or external forces such as United Nations peacekeepers.

"As the state expands its enforcement capacity, and as individuals have positive experiences with new state agency personnel, citizens' attitudes toward state authority may change," Karim wrote.

To reach this conclusion, Karim coordinated a study with the Liberian National Police (LNP) to test whether household visits from a pair of police officers - either two male or two female - improved residents' attitudes toward police. Her study also measured whether police officers' gender influenced citizens' acceptance of them.

Building on relationships she's established in Liberia through years of work in the country, Karim collaborated with the LNP to conduct outreach into a rural area, Grand Kru County, as a part of the LNP's community policing expansion.

She prepared four Liberian police officers - teams of two females and two males - to go door to door in randomly selected villages, accompanied by Liberian enumerators. Both teams paid visits of 20-30 minutes each to 375 households; at the end of each visit, officers left a card with the police phone number.

Three weeks later, the 750 households were surveyed about a variety of topics, including perceptions of police. A third set of households, a control group, received no police visits.

The data showed that visits increased citizens' preferences for the police, over alternative sources of security, for a wide range of security issues.

"This could be due to social bonds created with the new state security actor," Karim said. "If citizens did not have personal relationships with a police officer before, the visit put a face to police officers and started a process of trust in the individual police officers who visited them. It led community members to prefer those specific officers to come back and respond if there is a dispute in the community."

There was, however, no added improvement in perceptions of the police among female residents who were visited by female police officers. Karim was surprised at this outcome, but sees it in a positive light.

"Female officers elicit the same response among local men and women as male police officers," she said. "It shows that local men and women are not put off by female police officers."

Based on this study, Karim suggests that building relationships may help a new government earn legitimacy in the eyes of citizens and could help prevent violence in the future.

"The most important kinds of reforms are ones that enable trust-building in the formation of real positive relationships between different groups of people," Karim said, "even more so in a post-conflict country because there's a deficit of trust overall."

###

This research was funded by grants from the National Science Foundation, Emory University and the Folke Bernadotte Academy 1325 Working Group.

Cornell University has dedicated television and audio studios available for media interviews supporting full HD, ISDN and web-based platforms.
Bihar is set to have a bird



ringing station, devoted to observation, monitoring and research on migratory birds -- the fourth such facility in the country and the first to be set up with the support of a state government -- a top official said on Monday.

Principal Secretary, and Forests, Dipak Kumar Singh, said a Memorandum of Understanding was exchanged by representatives of the Bihar government and the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) at Gandhinagar in the presence of C K Mishra, secretary to the Union Ministry for Environment, Forests and Climate Change.

"The MoU was exchanged on the sidelines of CMS-COP 13, or the 13th Conservation of Migratory Species-Conference of Parties, held at the Gujarat capital where delegates from 130 countries are participating in discussions on preservation of migratory species," Singh told PTI over phone.

"So far, there were three bird ringing stations - at Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Orissa. The Bihar government will spend Rs 5 crore for the new project. As per the MoU, which is for a period of five years, the new bird ringing station will be manned by trained scientists and other skilled manpower from BNHS," the principal secretary stated.

He said the MoU was signed by Pradeep Apte, Director BNHS, and Bihar's Chief Wildlife Warden Prabhat Kumar Gupta.

"This will be the first bird-ringing station in the country to be set up with support of a state government. Its main center will be at Bhagalpur, located close to the Ganges, and is known to be a favorite destination of migratory birds.

"In fact, it happens to be among the only three breeding places of Greater Adjutant across the world, the other two being in Assam and Cambodia," Singh added.

At these stations, rings are placed on legs of birds. The rings come with chips which help in tracking the origin of the birds and the route taken by these during migration.

In Bihar, migratory birds are also spotted in large numbers in Jamui, Begusarai, Darbhanga and Vaishali, he added.

"At the CMS-COP 13, we had put up a Bihar stall at the India pavilion, which was inspected by Babul Supriyo, Union Minister of State for and Forest and Climate Change. He was appreciative of the efforts made by Bihar in preserving wildlife. He was presented with a report on breeding of Greater Adjutant in Bhagalpur," Singh said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ON Valentines weekend, reigning Rose of Tralee, Dr Sinead Flanagan will make her first voyage to Belarus on a mission thats been embarked on by hundreds of Roses before her.

Joined by 14 fellow Roses and Escorts, Sinead will work as a medical and teaching volunteer for children with special needs through Adi Roches Chernobyl Children International charity.

The 27-year-old Adare woman has been working as a junior doctor in Cork having graduated in medicine in May 2018.

Prior to studying medicine, she studied physiotherapy in UL. She will be joined by an international group of Roses from USA, Australia, UK, Germany and 20 Irish counties.

We are a diverse group of teachers, nurses, medical care workers, all different types of people from different backgrounds who have had different life experiences. We all have different things that we can learn from each other, said Sinead.

Many of the Roses and Escorts have medical, nursing, social work, training and teaching skills which will allow them to make an important contribution to the work which is being carried out at in Vesnova Childrens Mental Institution where they will be spending the week.

Vesnova is located about 175 kilometres from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The facility, which caters for 174 children with severe physical and intellectual disabilities is supported by Adi Roches Chernobyl Children International.

Teams of volunteer Irish builders have spent the past 15 years turning it from a once derelict asylum into a world-class child care centre.

In a collaboration between Chernobyl Children International (CCI) and the Rose of Tralee Festival, the team has traveled to Belarus twice a year since 2011 to spend a week in the centre.

This years group also includes teachers and disability support workers. The group of 15 are all using their professional skills, working alongside Vesnovas permanent staff to stimulate the children and to support them with the rehabilitative work they are undertaking in a bid to improve their quality of life.

Ahead of flying to Belarus to oversee programme development, CCI Voluntary CEO Adi Roche paid tribute to the group who are taking time out of their busy schedules to volunteer: For the past decade, CCI have been so blessed by the immeasurable contributions of the Roses and Escorts. This trip is timely in the run-up to the 34th anniversary of the Chernobyl Disaster. Over the past year, the chilling Chernobyl mini-series has done so much to raise awareness for this cause and a new interest has been generated in this tragic tale. The series raw truth-telling of the deception and cover-up is deeply disturbing as it replaces the narrative of what has been convenient all these years and the series sees Chernobyl as never articulated or envisioned before.
Students of food and agriculture at six third level colleges from across the island of Ireland will gather in Queens University Belfast for the 5th Annual Great Agri-Food Debate on Thursday February 27, 2020.

The debate is a joint initiative between Dawn Meats & McDonalds and this is the first year the competition will be held in Northern Ireland, reflecting the importance of all-island dialogue in addressing some of biggest issues affecting farming today.

Students from Queens will be joined by five other third level colleges in a competitive programme of debate. University of Limerick, University College Dublin, College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE), Dundalk Institute of Technology and last years winners Waterford Institute of Technology will compete across six motions, including the final "Global free trade, not subsidies, will deliver a sustainable future for European agriculture".

Looking to the future of agriculture, and the challenges and opportunities that it presents, is a central theme of this years event and students will also debate motions including;

Precision Agriculture is the only viable future to feed 10bn people

The gender inequality issue in the agri-food industry has been solved

Todays vegan climate solutions will be the deserts of tomorrow

Zero waste to landfill is no big deal - waste prevention is the only conversation we should be having

The impact of African Swine Fever is a wakeup call for everybody on the risks associated with intensive production of protein and a further reason to encourage sustainable grass-based production system.

The judging panel will include Nina Prichard from McDonalds, HE Mrs Deike Potzel, German Ambassador to Ireland, Pamela Byrne CEO Food Safety Authority of Ireland, Niall Browne CEO Dawn Meats and Dunbia, Tara McCarthy CEO Bord Bia, and representatives from the wider Agri Food industry, academia and the financial services sector.

Commenting, Niall Browne, CEO Dawn Meats said:

This is the fifth year of the Great Agri-Food Debate and were delighted to host proceedings this time in Belfast. Queens Universitys Institute for Global Food Security is world renowned and provides the perfect backdrop for some of the brightest young minds to debate issues of central importance to our industry north and south.

"This event has gone from strength to strength in the last five years and I wish all the participants well in what will be a lively and competitive series of debates, which give us all food for thought.

Commenting, Nina Prichard, Head of Sustainable and Ethical Sourcing, McDonalds UK & Ireland said:

Were proud to support this years Great Agri Food Debate in Belfast. Its wonderful to help deliver such a high standard of informed and impassioned debate, with students from colleges across the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland participating.

"McDonalds Farm Forward programme aims to shape a positive future for the agri-food sector across Ireland and the UK, we believe young people are vital to this conversation; which is why it will be so encouraging to see students debating the issues of the day and coming up with innovative solutions to some of the challenges faced.
The future of Sydneys Cockatoo Island is back in the news, with a proposal to attract private investors already stirring deep emotions here in the harbour city.

The federal government is now considering whether to change existing planning rules and sell long-term leases of the island to private interests.

Proponents say these changes will attract the cash needed to develop the site as a key tourist destination and valuable asset for the city.

But without careful planning rules, opponents including Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese fear private development of the landmark could easily turn into an ugly Sydney property scandal.

The jewel of the western end of the harbour, Cockatoo Island is home to both world heritage-listed convict-era buildings that date back to 1839 and unique industrial structures from last century when it was Australias great naval shipbuilding base.
Amid the Coronavirus outbreak that has crippled major businesses across the globe, Apple is also one of the companies that are scaling down the manufacturing processes carried out in China, which is the epicentre of the outbreak. But, even though the production of the iPhone may be disrupted, Apple may not push back the launch schedule of the iPhone 12 series, as per a new report.

According to Digitimes, citing some supply chains in China, the next-generation iPhone model, dubbed iPhone 12, may as well be launched in September without facing any postponements. Although the production of iPhone 12 models could see a snag, it will not intensify into causing a delay in the launch later this year. Apple could, however, push back the availability of select models from the iPhone 12 to meet any surging demands.

The report also mentions that Apple is anticipating higher demand for the iPhone 12 series units, owing to a production ramp-up for the A14 chipsets. The demand for A14 chipsets could be well more than 50 per cent than the same time last year for A13 Bionic chips because Apple is placing high hopes for its first 5G iPhone models. The A14 chipset will enable 5G connectivity on this year's iPhone models, which Apple is anticipating will churn higher revenue. Apple is said to release more new iPhone models this year, with 5G to be the mainstay among all of them.

According to the Apple analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is poised to launch four 5G iPhone models this year. There will be a 6.1-inch OLED display iPhone with two rear cameras, another 6.1-inch OLED display iPhone with three cameras and a Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensor, and a 5.4-inch OLED display iPhone. But much before that, Apple is highly likely to launch the iPhone SE 2 aka iPhone 9, which is also tipped to support 5G networks.

Moreover, Apple is also said to have stopped sending key people from the iPhone engineering team to China. The engineering team is responsible for validating various hardware and software aspects of the iPhone, such as the engineering validation, design validation, and production validation. The absence of engineers will delay the process of validation, which in turn will affect the iPhone manufacturing schedule for this year.

Previously, Apple had to shut its stores in China in the wake of concerns centring the Coronavirus. It has also asked employees to halt travel to China and other regions hit by the epidemic. The maximum number of cases of Coronavirus has been reported in a few Asian countries.
The sit-in by



lawyers of the Palamau district and sessions court in Jharkhand entered its second day on Monday as they protest against the "inappropriate" behaviour of a judge with the district bar association president.

Palamau bar association general secretary Subodh Kumar Sinha told reporters that the sit-in will continue indefinitely till the matter is resolved.

An argument broke out on Saturday when the bar association chief went to a courtroom to discuss a matter with the judge who then behaved "inappropriately" with him, Sinha claimed.

The sit-in has affected about 1,200 cases, he said.

The Jharkhand state committee of the All India Lawyer's Union condemned the "behaviour" of the judge.

In a statement, its secretary M A Choudhary demanded appropriate legal action against the judge.

Superintendent of Police Ajay Linda said that the president of the bar association had filed a complaint against the judge, but later withdrew it.

"The police are keeping a watch on the situation," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - General Motors will retire the Australian car brand Holden. The move will end 160 years of the Holden name's association with Australia. The announcement comes as GM is accelerating its exit from unprofitable markets as it focuses on the US, China, Latin America and South Korea. The company said it will wind down Holden sales, design and engineering operations in Australia and New Zealand by next year. 'After comprehensive assessment, we regret that we could not prioritize the investment required for Holden to be successful for the long term in Australia and New Zealand, over all other considerations we have globally,' said GM International Operations Senior Vice President Julian Blissett. The company will also shutter Maven and Holden Financial Services operations in Australia. GM reportedly said China's Great Wall Motors had agreed to buy its manufacturing plant in Thailand. 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.
Michael Bloomberg, whose ubiquitous television ads in California feature old recordings of President Obama praising him, would have you believe that President Obama endorses him for president.

This isn't true, but it's interesting that Obama hasn't protested. Over in San Diego, the local Democratic Party had a fit when moneybags-lefty candidate Sara Jacobs slyly attempted to suggest she had their endorsement, but she didn't. Endorsements are jealously guarded on the left.

No complaints from Obama.

And with Bloomberg after that coveted Obama endorsement, that means at a minimum a quick about-face on Obamacare, Obama's signature "achievement," which he also touts in his ads. He decries high health care costs and then sounds the alarm about President Trump trying to get rid of the root of it, which is Obamacare:

Turns out he knew the truth about Obamacare all along. A new tape has surfaced of him blasting it in 2010, the year it passed  for most of the right reasons.

Michael Bloomberg in 2010:



Obamacare is a disgrace... It would do "nothing to fix the big health care problems in this country and just created another program that's going to cost a lot of money."pic.twitter.com/pAsqFxMona  Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) February 16, 2020

"A disgrace." "Do nothing to fix the big health care problems in this country." "Just created another program that is going to cost a lot of money." Every last part of those statements is true, and well known to people cursed to have to pay rent-sized checks for the one-size-fits-all-program.

So he knew all along how bad it was.

Now he's changed his tune, cynically advocating for it, presumably in the name of winning that coveted Obama endorsement. He knows how bad it is, yet like a snake oil salesman, he is now trying to bottle it and sell it to Americans as something good in exchange for their votes, all to have Obama onboard for the endorsement.

Maybe he already has it, given that he's getting no pushback for his use of Obama-praise in ads. Check out Thomas Lifson's post here on how much Bloomberg has relied on disguised bribery to leftist foundations to buy off potential critics. Could the Obama Foundation have been on the list? No sign so far based on this donor list, but pass-through donations are often a technique, something to be looked into.

Bottom line: It's not the American people's interests he has in mind as he continues with his leveraged buyout of the Democratic Party.

Image credit: Photo illustration by Monica Showalter with use of public domain sources.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has kicked off a four-day visit to Islamabad, praising Pakistan as a reliable and generous partner for hosting millions of Afghan refugees.

Despite its own challenges, Pakistan has sheltered and protected Afghan refugees with limited support from the international community," Guterres said on February 16 in the Pakistani capital, where he was set to address an international conference on refugees fleeing conflict in neighboring Afghanistan.

He called on other countries to support Pakistan and show similar leadership in handling refugee flows across the world.

Pakistan is home to an estimated 2.4 million registered and undocumented people who have fled neighboring Afghanistan after their country was invaded by the Soviet Union in 1979 or during later conflicts.

Many live in camps, while others have built lives for themselves in Pakistan's cities.

Islamabad will host a two-day international conference, starting from February 17, to mark 40 years since hundreds of thousands of Afghans found refuge in the country.

The event, co-organized by Pakistan and the UN refugee agency UNHCR, will be inaugurated by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Ahead of his visit, Guterres tweeted that Pakistan was one of the most consistent and reliable contributors to peacekeeping efforts around the world.

I am travelling to Pakistan, where I plan to express my gratitude to the people #ServingForPeace, he wrote.

Based on reporting by dpa, AFP, and AP
Democratic presidential hopeful former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the sixth Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign season at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, Calif., on Dec. 19, 2019. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden Says He Has to Do Really Well in South Carolina

Former VP Says Democrats Lost in 2016 Because African American Vote Was Taken 'For Granted'

Former Vice President Joe Biden, a 2020 Democratic contender, suggested that South Carolina may be the make-or-break state for his campaign after two dismal showings in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Biden was asked about whether the Palmetto State is his final stand to make up ground that was lost during the start of 2020 after leading the field in national polls for most of last year. Biden finished in fifth place in New Hampshire and fourth in Iowa, triggering speculation that his main touted advantage over other Democratic candidateselectabilitymight be showing cracks.

Well, I think I have to do really well in it, but right, Biden told NBC News on Sunday about South Carolinas primary, which is Feb. 29. He noted that then-Gov. Bill Clinton suffered a series of poor primaries during the 1992 campaign cycle before he took home his first primary win and later went on to defeat incumbent President George H.W. Bush.

Bill Clinton lost his first eight, 10, 12 primaries and caucuses before he won one. I dont plan on taking that long. But were just getting to the meat of getting to the number of delegates you need to be able to win this election. And Im confident were going to be in good shape, Biden said.

Following the Nevada and South Carolina primaries, the 2020 candidates will face off on the March 4 Super Tuesday. Biden said that in these states, Polling data is now showing me doing incredibly well.

Since his losses in Iowa and New Hampshire, the former vice president has attempted to focus more heavily on courting African American voters. You cant winyou cant take it for granted. Last time we ran it was basically taken for granted, Biden said on NBCs Meet the Press, referring to Hillary Clintons failed 2016 bid against President Donald Trump.

He said, Im the only one who has the record and has the background and has the support. They know me. They know who I am.

A Quinnipiac University poll released last week showed that his support among black voters might be slipping, showing his support among that demographic falling to 27 percent while former New York City Mayor Michael Bloombergs support rose to 22 percent.

Ahead of the Nevada caucuses, the states Democratic lieutenant governor, Kate Marshall, endorsed Biden.

In a moment of such intense partisanship and division, the most radical message we as Democrats can offer is one of unity and moving past the Washington gridlock. Joe embodies that spirit and gives me hope that we as a country can move past our current political climate, said Marshall in a statement on Sunday, according to local station Fox11.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar, who is in Brussels to bolster relations with the European Union, on Monday defended the Centres decisions to amend the citizenship law and abrogate the special status for Jammu and Kashmir.

The minister is the guest of honour for EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels. EU president Ursula von der Leyens new Commission wants to give Brussels a more geopolitical role and as part of that hopes to host a March summit with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

India and the European Union share a lot of things, said Europes high representative for foreign policy Josep Borrell, citing climate change, the digital revolution and rise of China as shared challenges.

Jaishankar, standing by Borrell, noted that the new government in India and the new commission in Brussels are both quite fresh and that they hoped to take relations to a new level.

He added that he hoped the lunch talks would confirm the strategic partnership.

Lawmakers in the European Parliament have drafted a resolution condemning the CAA as discriminatory and dangerously divisive. But Jaishankar said Delhis critics have misunderstood the governments policy taken in by the politics of a very passionate democratic society.

Defending the Centres move on Kashmir, he said: Its our case that Jammu and Kashmir is moving in the right direction but we also have been honest enough in saying that, well, there are there are challenges still ahead.
Dividend payments to investors around the world kept rising last year thanks to strong growth in the US, Japan and emerging markets, although the UK and Europe lagged behind.

Global dividends rose 3.5 per cent in 2019 to hit a new record high of $1.43trillion (1.1trillion), but the pace of growth was the slowest since 2016 as global economic growth slowed down.

UK investors pocketed a record $105.8billion (81.3billion) in dividend payments last year, up 6.2 per cent thanks to huge special dividends from miners Rio Tinto and BHP and Royal Bank of Scotland.

Dividend payments: The US, Japan and emerging markets did better than the UK and Europe

However, once these special divis are taken into account, and adjusting for the weakness of the pound, underlying growth was more subdued at 2.9 per cent, below the world's global average.

'Many of the UK's largest dividend payers, including Shell, HSBC, BP, Glaxosmithkline and Astrazeneca have shown almost no dividend growth in the last four years, though Shell is returning $25billion in capital via share buybacks,' said the latest Janus Henderson Global Dividend Index report.

'This explains the relatively slow recent rate of growth for the UK overall, as these companies have high yields and payout ratios, so there is less room to grow payouts.'

Europe also fell behind the rest of the world's average, particularly in Germany, which has seen a weakened economy in the past year, although France held up well.

Japan saw record payouts of $85.7billion (65.9billion) in 2019, up 6.3 per cent on an underlying basis.

In the emerging markets, Russia saw payouts rise by nearly 27 per cent to a new record $32.8billion (25.2billion), boosted by oil companies, miners and state-owned bank Sberbank.

Other top dividend payers among emerging economies were China, India and Brazil.

The report says 2020 is on track to deliver the fifth consecutive year of record dividends

US and Canadian companies also did well, with underlying dividend growth only second to Russia at 7 per cent.

Investors in North America received $534.6billion (410.9billion) in dividend payments in 2019.

Overall, the oil sector continues to dominate the highest-paying companies, with dividends up by a 10th.

Looking at the overall picture, Ben Lofthouse, co-manager of Global Equity Income at Janus Henderson, said: 'With the exception of a few specific sectors, the pace of earnings growth slowed across the world in 2019 as the global economy lost some momentum.

'This has inevitably driven a reduction in the pace of dividend growth, after a particularly strong two years. But there is still growth.'

Looking ahead, he expects the global economy and company profits to continue to expand, with dividends set to grow further.

'2020 is on track to deliver the fifth consecutive year of record dividends,' he added.

With the decade also coming to a close, researchers revealed that dividends doubled compared with the previous decade - although this was flattered by the financial crisis severely hitting payouts in 2008 and 2009.
The aftermath of a landslide following historic flooding in Tennessee: Hardin County Fire Department

Authorities managing dams in Tennessee and Mississippi must make difficult decisions as floodwaters swell along the states rivers; the surging water pressing against the dams has to be released at some point, and when it does, it often spells disaster for individuals living downstream from the dams.

Case in point: two large homes slid into the flood-swelled waters of the Tennessee River over the weekend.

Luckily no one was hurt in the landslides. One of the homes was unoccupied and the other was evacuated before the structure slid into the river. The first of the homes crumbled on Saturday night. The second fell into the river on Sunday.

Drone footage of the aftermath of the landslide revealed debris scattered down the face of the bank.

Tennessee Valley Authority spokesman Jim Hopson told the Associated Press that the organisation was working to mitigate the damage caused when water is released from the dams.

It absolutely kills you, knowing that, he said, referring to the knowledge that homes downstream from the dams are destroyed by the water. We have engineers on duty 24-7 trying to figure out whats the most effective way to move this water downstream with the least impact. They feel it. I feel it.

Mr Hoposon said that this months rains have been 400 per cent of normal and that more was on the way.

Its kind of a never ending battle, he said.

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves held a press conference on Sunday in which he called the floods historic and unprecedented. He said that it was unlikely the situation would end anytime soon.

Officials at a reservoir upriver of the state capitol said Sunday that the water levels there had stabilised and would require less water to be sent downstream.

Hopson said the region around the Pickwick Dam was flooded, and that while water output from the dam had decreased, it wasnt down much; output declined from 2.5 million gallons per second on Sunday night to 2.36 million gallons per second on Monday.

Story continues

Mother Nature is really the one in charge - we simply try to manage what Mother Nature gives us, to minimise the impacts along the 652-mile Tennessee River and its thousands of miles of tributaries and streams, Mr Hopson said.

Residents in the area are still being urged to keep abreast of evacuation orders and to pay attention to road closures.

In some flooded neighbourhoods, residents used small boats to paddle through the swell and check on their homes and neighbours.

Nearly 2,400 structures across the three Mississippi counties closest to the Pearl River are at risk of being flooded or being surrounded by flood waters.

John and Jina Smith, residents of a riverside community, were forced to leave their homes when officials at the Barnett Reservoir upstream determined it would be necessary to allow blocked water to flow downstream.

The couple fled, and upon returning found a foot and a half of water inside their house.

Its going to take a while for us to rebuild, but we are safe, and were all OK, Ms Smith said.

Read more

Woman presumed dead after being swept away in flood water
New Delhi: Delhi High Court will on Monday (February 17) hear the plea seeking court-monitored Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged molestation of students during a cultural festival at the all-women Gargi College on February 6.

The Delhi High Court had on Friday said that it will hear on February 17 advocate ML Sharma's petition seeking a CBI probe in the Gargi college incident. Sharma mentioned his plea before a division bench of Justices GS Sistani and Justice C Hari Shankar seeking an urgent hearing in the matter.

The bench enquired Sharma about the urgency with regard to his plea. He responded by stating that there are chances of destroying evidence related to the case.

The advocate told the court that nothing major has been done so far and an FIR was registered on February 9 following the arrest of 10 people.

Sharma has also sought direction for the CBI investigation into the matter and to seize all video and CCTV records surrounding Gargi campus. The bench asked him to approach the High Court as the Telangana High Court earlier had issued a similar direction to preserve CCTV footage while hearing a gang-rape case in the state.

The petition filed by Sharma claimed that the state government took no action and its clear criminal conspiracy hatched by the political party to deploy mass accused persons to provoke the people of Delhi for effecting voting in their favour.

"Despite being present on spot as well as complaints by the girl students, the college administration under the office of the Principal, took no action on the incident with alleged sexist, homophobic and moral policing comments," the plea read.

The petitioner also said that despite the presence of Delhi Police and reserve Delhi force on the spot on February 6, neither the Principal nor state authorities tried to stop the accused.

In a recent development, one more person was on Sunday arrested in connection with the case. The total number of arrests made by the police in this incident has reached 15. A Delhi court had on Friday granted bail to 10 people, who were arrested in connection to this case.

The Delhi Police had earlier received a complaint from Gargi College against the alleged sexual harassment of female students by a number of unidentified men during their annual cultural fest on February 6.

A case was registered at Hauz Khas Police Station and several teams were constituted to investigate the matter. The police have been looking into available evidence and visited various sites in NCR for the identification of suspects.
L ondons museum walls are already crammed to the ceiling with thousands of the world's greatest paintings, photographs, sculptures and drawings.

Every so often, though, a gem of an artwork goes on display that the public rarely gets a chance to see.

Whether it's normally kept in a museum with an entry fee or held in a private collection, we've picked out a few masterpieces you've only got a limited time to see for free.

From a celebrity portrait to a decadent installation, here are some of the artworks you should see now in London, before theyre gone:

Queen Elizabeth I Armada Portraits

Nigel Howard

One of the most famous paintings of Queen Elizabeth I celebrating the failed Spanish invasion of 1588 is on permanent display in Greenwich. The image of Liz  red hair, pale skin, wearing a ruff and adorned in pearls  is what will come to the minds eye when you think of her; its partly because of this painting. Three near identical portraits exist  another belonging to the Woburn Abbey Collection and a third at the National Portrait Gallery. They have been temporarily brought together at Queens House Greenwich, and exhibited alongside each other for the first time. A very royal game of spot-the-difference.

When and Where? Until August 31, Queens House Greenwich, rmg.co.uk

Sketch for Berthe Morisot with a Bouquet of Violets by Edouard Manet

(  The Trustees of the British Museum) /  The Trustees of the British Museum

Berthe Morisot was a grande dame of Impressionism, and also the subject of one of Manets greatest masterpieces. The pair had a deep friendship, and she soon married his brother not long after this likeness was taken. An early sketch for the painting is on display in the British Museums exhibition of French prints, which also includes rarely-seen works by Cezanne, Degas and Gauguin.

When and Where? Until August 9, French Impressions at British Museum, britishmuseum.org

Filthy Lucre by Darren Waterston

Amber Gray

An interior design scandal of the 1890s was splashed across the tabloids when James Abbott McNeill Whistler went way overboard decorating his friends house. Frederick Richards Leyland invited him to consult on a dining room, but when Leyland left London, Whistler redesigned the room in extravagant colours and peacock designs. Darren Waterstons installation reimagining of the Peacock Room turns up the dial on its decadence showing the room collapsing under its own grandeur.

When and Where? Until May 3, Filthy Lucre at V&A Museum, vam.ac.uk

Stormzy by Olivia Rose

 Olivia Rose

Olivia Roses portrait of grime artist Stormzy shows him in his trademark socks and slides. Originally published in her 2016 book This Is Grime, co-authored with Hattie Collins, the photograph is exhibited in the National Portrait Gallerys Inspiring Photographs exhibition, which celebrates the sitters significant contributions to Britain. Roses portraits of Jorja Smith and Julie Adenuga are also on display in the gallery.

When and Where? Until June 28, Inspiring Photographs at National Portrait Gallery, npg.org.uk

Study for Ju-Jitsu by David Bomberg

( Photo: Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, University of East Anglia  The Estate of David Bomberg. All Rights Reserved, DACS 201) / Photo: Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, University of East Anglia  The Estate of David Bomberg. All Rights Reserved, DACS 201

At his first solo show in 1914, David Bomberg said that he rejected the traditions of Renaissance painters. His paintings were radical, but the National Gallerys exhibition shows just how much he learned from old masters, such as Botticelli and El Greco. Many of the pieces are available to view at Tate Modern, however this Study for Ju-Jitsu, created in 1913 shows the fascinating detail behind his works. While the figures in the finished version of the painting are partially obscured by layers of colour, the sketch gives a new depth to the piece.

When and Where? Until March 1, Young Bomberg and Old Masters at the National Gallery, nationalgallery.org.uk
Poland suggests revising the Normandy format and involving the EU and the US in the negotiations to end Russian aggression against Ukraine.

"Perhaps, its time to raise one very important question: is the Normandy format a good institution for solving this problem? ... We support the format as President Zelensky and the Ukrainians support it, but, perhaps, we need to look for other solutions," Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz said during the Ukrainian Lunch at the Munich Security Conference, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

He noted that the three members of the format - Germany, France and Russia - were seeking opportunities for greater cooperation.

Czaputowicz informed that Poland as UN Security Council non-permanent member [in 2018-2019] tried to involve as many international players as possible in discussing the issue of Ukraine.

We discussed the possibility of a peacekeeping operation, the inclusion and involvement of the US, possibly the UK, in the debate, the Polish diplomat emphasized, adding that EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell also could be involved in the discussion.

The Polish Foreign Minister stressed that Russia posed a strategic challenge for the EU countries, in particular Sweden, Poland and others, but this challenge should be responded to not only within the EU but NATO as well.

"We should welcome the involvement of the US in resolving this conflict. Poland will welcome the internationalization of the debate and will wait for the appropriate steps on the part of Ukraine, Czaputowicz stated.

The Polish minister also noted that Russia was trying to deny its presence in Donbas, attempting to shift responsibility for the situation in the region only to the Ukrainian side.

"But at the same time we know that the presence of exclusive Russian weapons [in Donbas] is a clear confirmation of Russias presence in Donbas," the Polish Foreign Minister underscored.

ol
This Classic Answer Man was published in July 2010.

Hello, Answer Man: I have a question for you about that nice home on the hill near Crenlo, at 1753 Third Ave. N.W. Back in the early 1980s I remember hearing a tale that gangster Al Capone traveled to Rochester in the 1920s for some type of treatment and stayed overnight at this house. I'm wondering if there's any truth to the story.  Mike

This is one of Rochester's most popular legends, for whatever reason. I last wrote about this subject in 2006, so it's probably time to revivify the rumor.

The claim is that the notorious Capone was here, if only briefly, during his heyday in the late 1920s or up to about 1931, when he went to prison. Some say he hid out briefly in the hillside house, which has a commanding view of the area, while it was under construction. Jeff Bolin, who owns the home with his wife, Ann, says it was designed by a Chicago architectural firm and that construction started in the mid-1920s.

Work on the house stopped when the owner, Dr. Joseph T. Asbury, was killed in a tractor accident on the property on July 4, 1929. His family moved back to Chicago with the house left unfinished; it was boarded up, and presumably it was during this time that Capone might have dropped by unannounced.

"There's nothing documented" that confirms the Chicago gangster's use of the house as a hangout, Jeff says, but it remains a historical oddity that people continue to talk about.

ADVERTISEMENT

Northern Wisconsin was the real hangout for Capone and other Chicagoland gangsters in the 1920s and 1930s. Earlier this year, a northern Wisconsin Ojibwe tribe bought an estate in Couderay, Wis., that was a former Capone hideout. Sale price: $2.7 million.
Orange Egypt Builds Horizontal Cloud on Red Hat Technologies, Improving Time-to-Market by up to 10x

Red Hat (News - Alert), Inc., the world's leading provider of open source solutions, today announced that Red Hat's open hybrid cloud technologies are providing a horizontal cloud platform for Orange (News - Alert) Egypt's virtual network functions (VNFs), helping the service provider to more quickly deliver new services to customers, optimize its network investments and reduce operational expenditure. Building on the foundation of Red Hat OpenStack Platform and Red Hat Ceph Storage, Orange Egypt is the first Orange affiliate to manage 100% of its live customer traffic over a fully software-based platform spanning several sites across its region.

To maintain its position as Egypt's leading mobile operator, Orange Egypt wanted to use the latest in hybrid cloud and network functions virtualization (NFV) innovation to be able to respond in real-time to market dynamics and network conditions to best serve its more than 30 million customers. As part of this initiative, Orange Egypt looked to virtualize its mobile packet core, which had been running standalone functions on dedicated appliances.

Accordingly, Orange Egypt set out to move strategically from a centralized evolved packet core (EPC) supplier to a software-defined, distributed architecture on standard hardware, using Red Hat OpenStack Platform supported by Red Hat Ceph Storage. Red Hat Consulting provided certified training courses and professional services to support Orange Egypt's teams derive greater value from open technologies, tools and methodologies.

In less than a year, Orange Egypt launched vEPC in 12 datacenters across six sites in Cairo and Alexandria. Today, 100% of Orange Egypt's mobile broadband traffic is served by its virtualized packet core platform.

With its Red Hat-based open cloud, Orange Egypt gains access to an ecosystem of thousands of certified providers. The freedom to choose diverse suppliers as well as a reduced reliance on specialized hardware has helped Orange Egypt to lower its capital expenditure and operational expenses.

Red Hat OpenStack Platform is massively-scalable infrastructure with unified automated management, enabling Orange Egypt to launch and adapt services to better fulfill customer demand. With Red Hat Ceph Storage, Orange Egypt has a massively scalable storage solution for its workloads. It has been able to roll out software-defined capacity expansions for its telecom packet core to serve summer hotspots in Alexandria and Northern coastal areas. Orange Egypt was able to make 50% capacity upgrades in only two working days per site, which is nearly 10 times quicker than its traditional process.

With this new deployment, Orange Egypt was also able to deliver new cybersecurity services such as parental controls and malware protection to its consumer and business customers faster than previously possible with its traditional system. The third VNF that Orange Egypt has launched on its platform is mobile data optimization (MDO), enabling transmission control protocol (TCP) acceleration aimed at reducing network latency and improving the user experience.

Supporting Quotes

Darrell Jordan-Smith (News - Alert), global vice president, vertical industries & accounts, Red Hat

"Orange Egypt is on a drive towards network transformation, and Red Hat is helping it meet this goal through a multi-vendor, multi-application network that can make full use of the scale and agility offered by cloud computing. Trusting in Red Hat's open hybrid cloud technologies as the backbone for its horizontal platform approach, Orange Egypt has gained greater flexibility and freedom to optimize its network performance, expenditure and service delivery for the benefit of its customers."

Ayman Amiri, cief technology officer, Orange Egypt





"We decided to lead the way in digital services innovation and provide outstanding customer experience. Open source is powering the development of next-generation cloud-native platforms and Red Hat augments this with enhanced security, stability and support, enabling us to create solutions that best fit our customers' unique needs. With our horizontal telco cloud based on Red Hat technologies, we can act more dynamically to address business challenges and opportunities, and make a greater contribution to the digital development of Egyptian society."

Additional Resources

Connect with Red Hat

About Red Hat, Inc.

Red Hat is the world's leading provider of enterprise open source software solutions, using a community-powered approach to deliver reliable and high-performing Linux, hybrid cloud, container, and Kubernetes technologies. Red Hat helps customers integrate new and existing IT applications, develop cloud-native applications, standardize on our industry-leading operating system, and automate, secure, and manage complex environments. Award-winning support, training, and consulting services make Red Hat a trusted adviser to the Fortune 500. As a strategic partner to cloud providers, system integrators, application vendors, customers, and open source communities, Red Hat can help organizations prepare for the digital future.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including: risks related to the ability of the Company to compete effectively; the ability to deliver and stimulate demand for new products and technological innovations on a timely basis; delays or reductions in information technology spending; the integration of acquisitions and the ability to market successfully acquired technologies and products; risks related to errors or defects in our offerings and third-party products upon which our offerings depend; risks related to the security of our offerings and other data security vulnerabilities; fluctuations in exchange rates; changes in and a dependence on key personnel; the effects of industry consolidation; uncertainty and adverse results in litigation and related settlements; the inability to adequately protect Company intellectual property and the potential for infringement or breach of license claims of or relating to third party intellectual property; the ability to meet financial and operational challenges encountered in our international operations; and ineffective management of, and control over, the Company's growth and international operations, as well as other factors. In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic and political conditions, governmental and public policy changes and the impact of natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

Red Hat and Ceph are trademarks or registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and other countries. The OpenStack Word Mark is either a registered trademark/service mark or trademark/service mark of the OpenStack Foundation, in the United States and other countries, and is used with the OpenStack Foundation's permission. Red Hat is not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by the OpenStack Foundation, or the OpenStack community.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200217005016/en/
Why are they in Juarez? A slew of policy changes enacted over the last year by the Trump administration has made it nearly impossible for asylum-seekers to enter the United States through the southern border. Among them is the Migrant Protection Protocols program, which requires asylum-seekers who try to enter the United States through the southern border to remain in Mexico while their asylum cases are processed in U.S. immigration courts. Since last January, when the new protocols were put in place, more than 60,000 asylum-seekers have been stranded in Mexico.
With elections scheduled for March 19, the Pacific Island state of Vanuatu will be at the centre of regional tensions as the imperialist powers, including the US, Australia, Japan and New Zealand, seek to assert their dominance over the country, as part of the deepening economic, diplomatic and military confrontation with China.

The election campaign in the tiny nation, which lies 2,000 kilometres east of Australia and has a population of just 270,000, starts on 2 March. It is the first since a major constitutional crisis in 2015. Prime Minister Charlot Salwai, who is seeking re-election, formed a coalition in the wake of a snap poll called after half the previous government was jailed for corruption. A court ruled that the accused had either given or received payments designed to influence MPs in their capacity as public officials.

Salwais Reunification of Movements for Change party has survived a full four-year term in office, the first after a decade of unstable coalitions. In a sign of ongoing volatility, however, Salwai is facing a charge of perjury, along with several other high-profile defendants. Radio NZ reported on February 5 that they will appear in court later this month on charges relating to corruption and bribery, aiding and abetting, conflict of interest and perjury.

The case stems from a controversial move by the government to introduce parliamentary secretariespaid positions that the Supreme Court has ruled void and of no effect. The opposition called for a criminal investigation into what it deemed were corrupt political appointments. Salwais spokesperson said the case was a political ploy and would not affect his campaign.

According to Radio NZ, Salwais party is likely to again form the core of the new coalition. This is despite claims that his last government has not met the expectations of the people, including promises of 400 new public service jobs. A 10 percent increase to the minimum wage in September brought it to just $US1.59 per hour. Sections of the working class have threatened strike action, including by parliamentary staff seeking a 25 percent pay rise.

Immediately on the agenda will be the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) which Vanuatu hosts in August. Last years PIF in Tuvalu was all but derailed over bitter conflicts around climate change and the refusal of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to agree to place limits on coal production.

Writing in the Guardian following that event, Vanuatus Foreign Minister Ralph Regenvanu warned: Vanuatu has a message for Australiawe ask that Australia prepares well ahead of the next forum meeting in 2020 and comes to the table ready to make real, tangible commitments on climate change.

Projections forecast an increase in the intensity and frequency of tropical cyclones, such Cyclone Pam which hit Vanuatu in 2015, causing damage equivalent to over 64 percent of GDP. Regenvanu declared that if Canberra is not prepared to help Pacific nations address the existential climate crisis it needs to decide if it wants a seat at the [PIF] table or not.

Vanuatu is also closely involved in the escalating geo-political tensions across the Pacific as the Trump administration and its allies, including Australia and New Zealand, intensify preparations for war with China.

Last week, an Australian naval ship, the HMAS Leeuwin, docked at a Chinese-built wharf in Vanuatus northern town of Luganville for a three-day visit. The wharf was previously the subject of an alarmist Australian media beat-up. Citing unnamed intelligence and security sources, the Sydney Morning Herald reported in April 2018 that China had pressured Vanuatu to build a permanent military facility and that it was a globally significant move that could see the rising superpower sail warships on Australias doorstep.

The Vanuatu government vehemently denied the claims. Regenvanu criticised the Australian medias paranoia and declared that, as a non-aligned country, Vanuatu was not interested in any sort of military base in our country.

As part of its Pacific Step Up policy, however, Canberra has upgraded its military operations involving Vanuatu. The recent ship visit is just the latest in a series of Australian navy deployments. Australias Defence Force has also increased its engagements with Vanuatus Police Force, alongside training and exercises. Official visits by Morrison to Vanuatu, Fiji and the Solomon Islands in 2019, and another by Foreign Minister Marise Payne, were the first by an Australian prime minister to Canberras supposed Pacific family in more than a decade.

According to the Melbourne Age on February 1, Japan has recently intervened in the Pacific to combat Beijings growing influence. Japan spent US$1.1 billion on aid and infrastructure projects from 20112017, ranking third after Australia ($7.5 bn) and New Zealand ($1.5 bn). China came fourth, with $1.28 bn, but in 2017 Beijing increased its Pacific commitments to $4.78 bn, prompting alarm in both Canberra and Washington.

Director of Japans ministry of foreign Affairs, Maya Hamada, told the Age that Tokyos Pacific engagement is supporting the rule of law, freedom of navigation and pursuit of peace and prosperity, including opposition to attempts to change the status quo. The language echoes that used by Washington to invoke its dominance in the Pacific in the period following its victory in World War II.

Vanuatu is a major recipient of foreign aid. Chinas contribution, at $99.65 million, is Beijings largest to any single Pacific country, exceeding that from Australia ($53.91 million) and Japan ($29.97 million) combined. Private Chinese investment, including an 86-hectare apartment and shopping centre development near the capital Port Vila, is also booming, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The European Unions new Pacific ambassador Sujiro Seam meanwhile presented his credentials in Port Vila in January, declaring that the EU wants a closer relationship with Vanuatu, covering more than aid and including gradual integration in the global economy and deepening political dialogue.

Across the region, the issue of so-called Chinese interference is playing out in domestic politics, promoting nationalism, xenophobia and racism and boosting the broader war preparations against Beijing.

A scandal erupted in Vanuatu last year over a murky episode in which six Chinese nationals were detained on the premises of a Chinese company with large government contracts. Without access to Vanuatu courts, they were escorted to a waiting aircraft by Chinese and Vanuatu police and deported. Four of the six detainees had earlier successfully applied for Vanuatu citizenship.

The Vanuatu Daily Post sharply criticised the governments handling of the affair and the secrecy surrounding it, claiming Beijing had convinced Vanuatu to enforce Chinese law within its own borders. A Daily Post editorial last July accused Minister of Internal Affairs Andrew Napuat, who had given the go-ahead for the operation, of being complicit in illegal acts that had seen citizenship rights stripped away.

In November, Dan McGarry, a Canadian citizen and media director for the Daily Post, was denied his work visa renewal. McGarry, who has lived in Vanuatu for 16 years, was unable to board a plane to return from a media freedom conference in Brisbane. The reporter claimed the Vanuatu government was seeking to silence his newspapers critical reporting about Chinese influence. The Supreme Court subsequently ruled that the ban denying him re-entry was unlawful.

The author also recommends:

The legacy of Tongas late pro-democracy PM Akilisi Pohiva

[12 February 2020]

China set to become largest aid donor to Pacific

[15 August 2018]

Unstable government in Vanuatu following snap election

[8 February 2016]
The coverage on this 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.

6:58 p.m. China says total death toll from virus outbreak at 1,868 people

China's National Health Commission said there were 1,886 confirmed new cases on the mainland and 98 additional deaths related to the new, deadly strain of coronavirus, most of them occurring in Hubei province. As of Feb. 17, the Chinese government said there was a total of 72,436 confirmed cases and 1,868 people have died so far.

6 p.m. China's Hubei province reports 93 additional deaths

As of the end of Monday, there were an additional 93 deaths and 1,807 newly confirmed cases reported in China's Hubei province. Those numbers were slightly lower compared to the previous day. Thus far, a total of 1,789 people have died in Hubei from the coronavirus disease and there have been a total of 59,989 confirmed cases.

4:30 p.m. Apple says it will miss its quarterly sales forecast, blames coronavirus

Apple said Monday that it would not meet its quarterly revenue forecast because of constrained worldwide supply of its iPhones and lower Chinese demand resulting from the virus outbreak. The company says its iPhone manufacturing partner sites have all reopened, but that they are "ramping up more slowly than we had anticipated." "The iPhone supply shortages will temporarily affect revenues worldwide," Apple added. Adding to the issue, many retail stores, including Apple's own shops, have been closed or offering only reduced hours for the past few weeks. Elisabeth Butler Cordova

2:05 p.m. Runners curse coronavirus as organizers close the Tokyo Marathon to non-professionals

Two weeks before the Tokyo Marathon's start gun was slated to fire, race organizers booted all non-professional runners out of the annual marathon. Some took to social media to voice their frustration and disappointment over sunk entry fees and airfare costs, as well as potentially squandered time and effort training. Ryan Lederer of Chicago told CNBC that while he agreed with prioritizing public safety, his inability to run in March feels like "a bit of a waste" after months of conditioning and dieting.  Franck

2:00 p.m. 10 Diamond Princess passengers deemed "high risk" and taken to Nebraska hospital

Ten Diamond Princess cruise ship passengers deemed high risk, along with their spouses, have been transported to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha for isolation, U.S. State Department officials said. Three passengers who were flown to Travis Air Force Base in California experienced elevated temperatures and were taken to a local hospital for evaluation. They will be cleared to return home after 14 days under supervision. Roughly 60 Americans from the ship are still in Japan, including those who are hospitalized.  Lucas

12:15 p.m. Macao casinos to reopen Tuesday

Casinos in Macao will reopen Tuesday, the Associated Press reported, citing Macao's public broadcaster TDM. The Chinese territory imposed a two-week suspension on gaming operations to stop the spread of the virus. Authorities said that Macao has not reported any new cases since Feb. 4. Lucas

11:35 a.m. Coronavirus trends outside China seem promising, but every scenario is still on the table, WHO leader says

The latest data provided by China shows a decline in new cases of coronavirus infections, but "every scenario is still on the table" in terms of the epidemic's evolution, the World Health Organization says. Dr. Mike Ryan, head of the organization's emergencies program, noted a positive trend in the virus' existence outside of China. "The real issue is whether we are seeing efficient community transmission outside of China and at the present time we are not observing that," he said. Reuters

11:00 a.m. Tokyo marathon canceled for non-professional runners

The Tokyo Marathon Foundation said Monday that it will cancel the running event for non-professional runners as the coronavirus continues to pose a significant public health threat for large-scale events. More than 35,000 runners had registered for the March 1 marathon, which will now be open only to competitive runners. The Tokyo marathon is an Olympic trial race.  Tom Franck

10:30 a.m. Geneva inventions exhibit postponed due to coronavirus

An annual International Exhibition of Inventions held in Geneva has been postponed by six months due to the coronavirus epidemic, its organizers said on Monday. Half of its 700 exhibitors come from Asia. The exhibition was slated to feature 1,000 new inventions and products from 40 countries, according to the organization, and some 57,000 visitors were expected to attend. "...The exhibition management has chosen to be wise and decided to postpone the largest event of its kind in the world until September," organizers said in a statement, citing difficulties for inventors planning their trips. Reuters

10:05 a.m. Beijing Auto Show delayed

Organizers of China's annual car show, which was scheduled for late April, will delay the event due to the outbreak, Reuters reported on Monday. A new date for the auto show has not yet been set.  Amelia Lucas

9:35 a.m. Coronavirus could impact 5 million companies worldwide, new research shows

The new coronavirus outbreak and subsequent shutdown of huge swathes of China could impact more than 5 million businesses worldwide, according to a new study from global business research firm Dun & Bradstreet. The Chinese provinces most impacted by the virus are intricately linked to the global business network. The affected areas with 100 or more confirmed cases as of Feb. 5 are home to more than 90% of all active businesses in China, according to the report, and around 49,000 businesses in these regions are branches and subsidiaries of foreign companies. About 19% of the companies with subsidiaries in impacted regions are headquartered in the U.S. Elliot Smith

9:10 a.m. China is sterilizing cash in an attempt to stop the coronavirus spreading

Chinese banks have been ordered to disinfect cash before issuing it to the public in an effort to curb the spread of the new coronavirus that has so far killed 1,770 people in the country. The Chinese government said during a press conference on Saturday that banks would only be permitted to release new bills which had been sterilized. Money removed from high-risk sites such as hospitals and markets would be sealed and specially treated, but it would then be held by the People's Bank of China instead of re-entering circulation, officials said. Chloe Taylor

8:50 a.m. Biotech firm Novacyt's shares jump on coronavirus test update

Novacyt said on Monday that it has launched a "CE-Mark" molecular test to help detect COVID-19, the new coronavirus that is afflicting China. Novacyt CEO Graham Mullis says the test can produce a result in less than two hours. Novacyt shares jumped more than 30% in late session trading in Paris. Reuters

7:50 a.m. WTO warns that COVID-19 could further weaken expected growth of global trade in goods

Growth of global trade in goods is likely to remain weak in early 2020, the World Trade Organization said on Monday, adding that the below-trend performance could be reduced even further by the new coronavirus. The WTO said that, based on a decline of its trade outlook indicator, year-on-year merchandise trade growth may fall again in the first quarter of 2020. Reuters

6:50 a.m.: China's drinkers get happy hour margaritas delivered to their door as coronavirus lockdown continues

Bars in major Chinese cities are delivering their happy hour drinks deals to customers' places of residence as a large number of people remain stuck indoors because of the outbreak of the new coronavirus. But with people staying at home in China and some cities putting a ban on dining out in groups, to try to contain the spread of the virus, bars are taking drinks to where their customers are. In the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, a major trading and economic hub, a number of bars have started delivering their discounted drinks. Bandidos, a Mexican eatery, is packing its 25 yuan ($3.58) Margaritas into jars and sending them with a straw to customers. Their happy hour is from Monday to Friday between 4 p.m. to 7 p.m local time. Customers can contact one of the representatives for the bar on messaging app WeChat to order their drinks.  Arjun Kharpal.

5:30 a.m.: Russia confirms citizen aboard Diamond Princess cruise ship has coronavirus

Russia has confirmed a citizen who had been aboard the Diamond Princess cruise liner docked in Japan's port of Yokohama has tested positive for the coronavirus. The woman will be taken to hospital to undergo a course of treatment in the near future, the Russian embassy to Japan said in a post on Facebook on Monday. She is thought to be the first Russian national to contract COVID-19, after the two previous cases of the virus found in the country were both Chinese citizens.

5:15 a.m.: Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways warns of hit to results in first half of the year

Cathay Pacific Airways has warned its financial results in the first half of the year will be "significantly" lower than last year. The Hong Kong-based airline said Monday that it had slashed overall passenger capacity by 40% in February and March, citing the coronavirus outbreak. It also said a reduction in passenger capacity was likely in April. "The first half of 2020 was already expected to be extremely challenging financially," Cathay Pacific Group Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Ronald Lam said in a statement. "As a result of this additional significant drop in demand for flights and consequential capacity reduction caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak, the financial results for the first half of 2020 will be significantly down on the same period last year."

3:10 am: US confirms 14 cases of coronavirus from passengers on board Diamond Princess cruise ship
(Bloomberg) -- Elon Musks SpaceX launched its fifth batch of 60 Starlink satellites Monday morning, another step toward Musks vision of creating a space-based network to provide broadband service around the world.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket rumbled aloft from Cape Canaveral Air Station in Florida at roughly 10:05 a.m. local time and the satellites successfully deployed. The rockets first stage appeared to narrowly miss landing on an uncrewed drone-ship in the Atlantic ocean.

Gywnne Shotwell, SpaceXs president and chief operating officer, said earlier this month that SpaceX will likely spin out Starlink and sell shares to the public.

SpaceX is one of a handful of players that wants to build out a space-based internet system that can serve people who struggle to access the web today via fiber optic and cellular connections. Starlink would beam down relatively high-speed data from its network of satellites orbiting the Earth. Its targeting service in the northern U.S. and Canada this year.

Such a service would effectively make SpaceX a telecommunications company that also has a rocket launch business.

SpaceX has been launching roughly 60 satellites at a time into orbit, and with a few more should have global coverage. The service will be less than what you are paying now for about five to 10 times the speed you are getting, Shotwell said earlier this month at a private investor event hosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Miami.

SpaceX has come to dominate the commercial rocket industry, with customers that include NASA, the U.S. military and commercial satellite operators.

Starlink and its ability to provide high-speed internet across the globe has helped private investors in SpaceX justify a roughly $33 billion valuation. Musk has long maintained that SpaceX itself is unlikely to go public until it is regularly ferrying people to Mars.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
MONTREAL, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Turquoise Hill Resources today announced the submission of the Feasibility Study for the Tavan Tolgoi Power Plant (TTPP) Project to the Government of Mongolia by Oyu Tolgoi LLC.

Oyu Tolgoi LLC is obliged under the 2009 Oyu Tolgoi Investment Agreement (Investment Agreement) to secure a long-term domestic source of power for the Oyu Tolgoi mine. The Power Source Framework Agreement (PSFA) entered into between Oyu Tolgoi LLC and the Government of Mongolia on December 31, 2018 provides a binding framework and pathway for the construction of a Tavan Tolgoi-based power solution for the Oyu Tolgoi mine by June 30, 2023. The power plant would be majority-owned by Oyu Tolgoi LLC and situated close to the Tavan Tolgoi coal mining district located approximately 150 kilometres from the Oyu Tolgoi mine.

Oyu Tolgoi is currently sourcing power from China's Inner Mongolian Western Grid via overhead power lines, via a back-to-back power purchase agreement with National Power Transmission Grid JSC (NPTG), the power importing entity, and the Inner Mongolian Power Company (IMPC).

The Tavan Tolgoi Power Plant (TTPP) Feasibility Study is based on a 300 MW coal fired power plant to be located in Tsogttsetsii soum of Umnugovi province, with a total project cost estimate of up to $924 million, pending consideration of certain amounts yet to be finalized such as government fees, licenses and certain reimbursements per the Tavan Tolgoi Investment Agreement.

It is anticipated that back-up power requirements will be provided by IMPC until such time as they can be provided within Mongolia. The project aligns with the Parliament Resolution No.73 (2018) and the government policies to develop a power plant at the Tavan Tolgoi coal fields.

Oyu Tolgoi LLC has made significant progress to develop a cost competitive and optimal solution for TTPP with a fully negotiated EPC contract that is now ready for signature. The current schedule targets two units of the TTPP to be operational by June 2024.

The existing PSFA specifies target dates for milestones to be achieved through mutual cooperation between Oyu Tolgoi LLC and the Government of Mongolia, several of which have now passed. In accordance with the Contingency Arrangements clause 7 4 a ii of the PSFA, Oyu Tolgoi LLC has given notice and is currently seeking a mutually acceptable alternative basis on which to proceed with securing long term domestic power supply for Oyu Tolgoi.

"Certainty of safe, reliable and stable long term power supply is fundamental to the development of an underground mining project like Oyu Tolgoi," stated Ulf Quellmann, Chief Executive Officer of Turquoise Hill, "We will continue to work with the Government of Mongolia and Rio Tinto on behalf of all stakeholders to determine the preferred power solution for Oyu Tolgoi."

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements made herein, including statements relating to matters that are not historical facts and statements of the Company's beliefs, intentions and expectations about developments, results and events which will or may occur in the future, constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements and information relate to future events or future performance, reflect current expectations or beliefs regarding future events and are typically identified by words such as "anticipate", "could", "should", "expect", "seek", "may", "intend", "likely", "plan", "estimate", "will", "believe" and similar expressions suggesting future outcomes or statements regarding an outlook. These include, but are not limited to, statements and information regarding the construction and timing of construction and operation of the Tavan Tolgoi Power Plant, the expectations set out in the Tavan Tolgoi Power Plant Feasibility Study, anticipated sources of power for the Oyu Tolgoi mine and other statements that are not historical facts.

Forward-looking statements and information are made based upon certain assumptions and other important factors that, if untrue, could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements or information. There can be no assurance that such statements or information will prove to be accurate. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding the availability and timing of required governmental and other approvals for the construction of the Tavan Tolgoi Power Plant, present and future business strategies, local and global economic conditions, and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future, including the price of copper, gold and silver and projected gold, copper and silver grades, anticipated capital and operating costs, anticipated future production and cash flows, the status of the Company's relationship and interaction with the Government of Mongolia on the continued operation, development of the Oyu Tolgoi mine and Oyu Tolgoi LLC internal governance. Certain important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements and information include, among others, the risk that certain commercial uncertainties relating to the Tavan Tolgoi Power Plant may not be resolved, including with the Government of Mongolia, with respect to land rights, funding, back-up power, accession of Oyu Tolgoi to the TTPP Investment Agreement and the extension of the existing Electricity Purchase and Sale agreement between IMPC and NPTG; copper; gold and silver price volatility; discrepancies between actual and estimated production, mineral reserves and resources and metallurgical recoveries; development plans for processing resources; the outcome of the definitive estimate review; matters relating to proposed exploration or expansion; mining operational and development risks, including geotechnical risks and ground conditions; litigation risks; regulatory restrictions (including environmental regulatory restrictions and liability); Oyu Tolgoi LLC's ability to deliver a domestic power source for the Oyu Tolgoi project within the required contractual time frame; communications with local stakeholders and community relations; activities, actions or assessments, including tax assessments, by governmental authorities; events or circumstances (including strikes, blockages or similar events outside of the Company's control) that may affect the Company's ability to deliver its products in a timely manner; currency fluctuations; the speculative nature of mineral exploration; the global economic climate; dilution; share price volatility; competition; loss of key employees; cyber security incidents; additional funding requirements, including in respect of the development or construction of a long-term domestic power supply for the Oyu Tolgoi project; capital and operating costs, including with respect to the development of additional deposits and processing facilities; and defective title to mineral claims or property. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements and information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. All such forward-looking statements and information are based on certain assumptions and analyses made by the Company's management in light of their experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors management believes are appropriate in the circumstances. These statements, however, are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements or information.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information or statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, which contribute to the possibility that the predicted outcomes will not occur. Events or circumstances could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those estimated or projected and expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements are included in the "Risk Factors" section in the Company's Annual Information Form dated as of March 13, 2019 in respect of the year ended December 31, 2018 (the "AIF") as supplemented by our Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 (MD&A).

Readers are further cautioned that the list of factors enumerated in the "Risk Factors" section of the AIF and in the MD&A that may affect future results is not exhaustive. When relying on the Company's forward-looking statements and information to make decisions with respect to the Company, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events.

SOURCE TURQUOISE HILL RESOURCES LTD
The cargo of a Karachi-bound ship



detained at Kandla port in Gujarat's Kutch district a week back has been offloaded and kept in a godown, a senior official of the Deendayal Port Trust, which manages the port, said on Monday.

While there was no official word from any of the security agencies, and Customs, about the nature of the cargo and reasons for unloading, sources claimed the Karachi-bound ship bearing Hong Kong flag was detained after some suspicious cargo was found on board.

"We have shifted the ship to the inner anchorage and unloaded all the cargo it was carrying. We have kept the cargo in godown number 13," said the port official.

The vessel has Chinese crew members and was headed to Karachi in Pakistan from China, port officials said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Fears: Workers and army officers wearing protective suits walk away from the cruise ship Diamond Princess in Yokohama, Japan, yesterday. Photo: Reuters

Two quarantined Irish passengers on board the coronavirus-stricken cruise liner the Diamond Princess may be rescued as part of an international airlift.

The Department of Foreign Affairs is exploring the potential for the Irish couple to be included in a rescue flight organised by other countries for their citizens.

A Department spokesman said it is "examining its options."

However, even if it arranged the international airlift and the Irish couple accept the transport they are likely to have to endure another two weeks isolation in another country before returning to Ireland.

As of yesterday they were not counted among the passengers with the virus.

Another 99 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed on board the Diamond Princess, with hundreds of passengers unclear of when they will leave.

The dozens of new cases bring the total on board the ship to 454 just two days before the quarantine is due to end.

The latest cases were revealed today after another 504 tests, with 70 of the 99 new patients not showing any symptoms of the virus.

The remaining hundreds of passengers are expecting to leave the ship when the two-week lockdown ends on Wednesday.

Princess Cruises say they are being led by Japanese authorities and are waiting for foreign governments and embassies to say how they will move to transfer citizens.

But the arrangements are still highly uncertain, meaning that passengers could have to stay on board beyond the end of the quarantine.

The US has already evacuated more than 300 of its citizens with Australia, Canada and others also lining up rescue flights.

Yesterday, 40 American passengers who were diagnosed with the virus were transferred to hospitals in Japan.

Japanese public health experts advising the government defended the decision to isolate passengers and crew on the ship, even as the number of cases increased again .

Shigeru Omi, the chief director of the Japan Community Health Care Organisation said : "Many people are testing positive on the ship, but that is because we are testing everyone on board, regardless of their medical condition.

"And 70pc of those testing positive are not showing any symptoms at all."
In a month where much of the nations attention has focused on election politics and the arrival of winter storms, raising our gaze heavenwards provides a far more enticing prospect.

When the European Space Agencys (ESA) Solar Orbiter spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral last week on a mission to the sun, it offered a vision of the future  and an emerging industry in which Ireland is destined to play a crucial role.

Our membership of the ESA, funded through the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, has enabled Irish industry and research institutes to participate in the development of technologies for missions such as Solar Orbiter.

Dublin-based company Enbio is supplying the mission-critical thermal Solar Black coating technology which will protect the spacecraft from the suns 500 degree celsius radiation.

Just 0.05 mm thick, the width of a human hair, and made from light titanium alloy, this satellite sunscreen will play a key role in the overall success of the mission.

Technology by another Irish company, Captec, is providing independent verification of the on-board software that will guide and control the spacecraft when in flight. In addition, Trinity College Dublin and the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies received ESA funding to support the development of imaging software for the Stix instrument, one of 10 science instruments onboard.

Twenty years since its inception, and six years of construction, the Solar Orbiter is ready to study the sun up close. It will join with NASAs Parker Solar Probe, which is already engaged in its mission.

Indeed, Irelands role in the study of outer space cosmos goes back much further than the extended preparation for this mission. When the first man to walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong, visited Ireland in 1976, he expressed an interest in visiting Newgrange, the neolithic structure dating to 3,200BC possibly used by the Celts in their study of lunar and solar cycles.

Mr Armstrong noted the expertise of the ancients around the cosmological activity of the sun, moon and stars, and which was subsequently studied by Greek mathematicians Hippolytus and Pythagoras.

The first ever Irish National Space Strategy envisages our membership of the ESA, which dates back to 1975, enabling Irish companies tender for projects in this burgeoning sector. The strategy sets out a number of goals to achieve by 2025, including the doubling of revenue and employment in space-active Irish companies.

It also envisages supporting 100 companies to benefit from ESA engagement; doubling the value of contracts won through the EU Horizon programmes in space-related activities; and the development of a sustainable Earth Observation services sector based on advanced data analytics capability.

The delivery of these goals is underpinned by a target to increase Irelands overall public and private investment through ESA by 50% to an annual level of 32m by 2025. Commercial sales by Irish companies directly resulting from ESA support expanded from 43m in 2013 to more than 75m in 2015, and is projected to grow to 133m by 2020.

Companies involved in ESA contracts had a combined turnover of 274m in 2013, a figure that is projected to increase to more than 500m by the end of this year.

The international space sector is currently undergoing a rapid transformation due in large part to an increasing demand for services catering to the emergence of Space 4.0  an evolution into an era characterised by increased private sector investment and interaction between governments and industry.

Space 4.0 will drive contemporary technologies in automation and miniaturisation with advanced manufacturing and big data, stimulating the interaction of different sectors and enabling increased levels of technology exchange between space and non-space domains.

Space technologies are already well integrated into our daily lives  most notably in the areas of location services, satellite-based media services and weather forecasting.

A telling example of the technology was demonstrated by the instant information provided to emergency services during the recent Australian bushfires, which derived from real-time satellite images and navigation services.

The industry has also deeply impacted on advances in medicine, communications, energy, marine and environmental protection. The National Space Strategy notes that, as new opportunities emerge,Ireland will continue to support commercial opportunities in both the upstream and downstream space sectors.

One of those key opportunities has recently emerged on foot of a 2017 agreement between Enterprise Ireland and the ESA, allowing access to an unprecedented volume of data concerning planet Earth and its environment harvested by the EUs Copernicus programme.

It has estimated that Copernicus could generate a financial benefit of up to 30bn, in addition to more than 50,000 new jobs, by 2030.

Ireland is ideally positioned, given our strong heritage in ICT, to seize this opportunity around the increasingly important areas of climate change, mitigation and food security.
As the battle against COVID-19 is at a critical stage, some outside noises have posed a threat of their own.



Since the outbreak, China has introduced the unprecedented lockdown of a metropolis at the center of the outbreak, applied stringent quarantine measures across the country, pulled extensive resources into hard-hit areas and shared information with the international community.

China made these efforts not only for the sake of its own people, but also for the people of the world. Viruses know no borders. Ensuring the safety of the world's most populous country is a key step to shield people in other countries from further crisis.

Faced with the spread of a contagion, relying on our community with a shared future becomes all the more vital.

Regretfully, some people outside of China have gotten the wrong message. Out of prejudice or habit, they vilify China's quarantine measures as a violation of human rights, smearing its release of information as not transparent, fanning unnecessary panic and causing overreactions.

This rhetoric played up the side-effects of the quarantine, ignored the basic laws of epidemic prevention and control in modern society, and worryingly politicized the issue of science.

In fact, China's efforts are paying off. As a professional multilateral organization focusing on public health, the World Health Organization (WHO) sees the whole picture. It praised China's hard work as unprecedented and incredible, having helped prevent large spillover effects to other countries.

Outside of China, there are 526 laboratory-confirmed cases from 25 countries and two deaths, according to Feb. 15 figures from the WHO.

The Chinese people "are protecting the world from an even faster spread through their willingness to make sacrifices and their commitment," said Michael Schumann, head of the German Federal Association for Economic Development and Foreign Trade. "They deserve our respect and our active and energetic support."

When people's lives are in peril, discussing how to protect human rights is nothing but empty talk. In the face of a virus epidemic, applying strict quarantine measures is an absolute necessity. Without quarantine, how can people's lives be secured?

The speed and transparency of China's response is also impressive. After China detected the outbreak, it isolated the virus, sequenced the genome and shared it with the WHO and the world. The government holds daily briefings and updates the numbers of new infections, deaths and recoveries. It alters the statistical method to help patients get faster access to treatment. As leaders of many foreign governments and international organizations have put it, in many ways, China is setting a new standard for outbreak response. This is no exaggeration.

Now, China is fighting two battles: containing the epidemic and restoring momentum in its economy. How to steer the world's second-largest economy through the choppy waters of the epidemic is a severe test for China's decision-makers. China contributes nearly one-third of global economic growth. Properly handling the economy in this critical period will also leave a deep impact on the global economy.

Epidemic control is a global issue. Solidarity, not stigma, is needed to fight the common enemy of mankind. Vilification, malicious attacks on China, and politicizing public health issues will only undermine our strength against the virus, risk writing off previous gains, and harm the common interests of the global community.

The battle is still intense. It is time to push unhealthy emotions aside, and let science and unity take the lead.
Kerala received 135 per cent extra rain this month, says IMD

India rains: 41% more rainfall from October 1-21 in country, Uttarakhand records 5 times higher rain: IMD

14 killed in Tamil Nadu rains so far: Rain red alert withdrawn, Flight arrivals resume

Snowfall in hills, rainfall in northwest and central India likely from Nov 30: IMD

2021 was fifth hottest year on record

IMD issues heat warning for 6 districts of Kerala

India

oi-Mousumi Dash

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 17: The India Meteorological department on Monday issued a heat warning for six districts, as some districts of 'God's own country' sweltering, the IMD said that the mercury level will rise by three degrees above normal.

Reportedly, Thiruvananthapuram recorded 34.9 degree Celsius which is 2.2 degrees more than the normal 32.7 on Monday.

On the other hand, Alappuzha recorded a maximum of 36.8 degree Celsius and Kottayam 37.8.

While Kannur recorded 37.2 degree Celsius, Kozhikode showed 35.4 degree Celsius, as per the IMD.

The IMD, in its official website, has issued a maximum temperature warning for the districts such as- Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Kannur.

According to the PTI, maximum temperature is most likely to be above normal by 2 to 3 degree Celsius in these districts on February 17 and 18, the website read.

The Labour department has already issued orders to reschedule working hours of those who work in open sunlight by allowing mandatory break times to prevent sunstroke.

As per the direction it will be come into effect from February 11 to April 30.

The State Disaster Management Authority has warned those exposed to sunlight, including construction workers, roadside vendors, traffic policemen, media reporters and traffic inspectors, to take adequate precaution during their duty hours, says a PTI report.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, February 17, 2020, 21:28 [IST]
Mumbai Police has arrested four Bangladeshi nationals for residing in the country illegally.

The arrest took place on February 12.

Two of them were arrested from the Malad area while others were held from the Meera Road in Thane district. According to the police, all were residing in India on the basis of fake documents.

This comes days after about 23 illegal immigrants from Bangladesh were arrested from Palghar district adjoining Mumbai.

Earlier, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) held a march demanding the ouster of illegal Bangladeshi and Pakistani immigrants living in Mumbai, following which this arrest has been made.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At least two people were killed and six others injured when a portion of an under construction bridge collapsed on Sunday evening in West Bengals Malda district.

Labourers of a private construction firm were trying to fix an iron girder on a pillar of Farakka bridge when the incident happened.

BJP MLA of Baishnabnagar, Swadhin Sarkar, said, During construction, an iron girder slipped and some people got trapped. Two people have died.

The injured were rushed to Malda Medical College and Hospital. All of them are in a very critical condition.
A US inspection team, which also includes representatives from the UK and Canada, will check one of the military units in Belarus, the press service of the Belarusian Defense Ministry said on Monday

MINSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th February, 2020) A US inspection team, which also includes representatives from the UK and Canada, will check one of the military units in Belarus, the press service of the Belarusian Defense Ministry said on Monday.

"From February 17-20, a US inspection team will examine one of the Belarusian armed forces' military units in accordance with the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe," the press service said.

According to the ministry, representatives from the UK and Canada will also participate in the inspection.
MECOSTA COUNTY, MI  A man who was walking his horse home after it got loose was struck and killed by a vehicle.

Robert Johnston, 85, of Stanwood, died Sunday, Feb. 16. His horse also died.

A state police trooper was injured when the vehicle crashed into his patrol car with the trooper inside, Lt. David Cope said in a statement.

The crashed happened around 9:40 a.m. in Mecosta Countys Austin Township.

The trooper had responded to Eighth Mile Road and 170th Avenue on a report of a horse running loose. The trooper caught the horse then determined that Johnston, who lived nearby, was the owner.

Passerby alerted Johnston that his horse had been captured. He showed up at the scene and began to lead the horse home. As Johnston started to walk his horse, the driver of a vehicle going west on Eight Mile Road crossed the center line and struck them in the eastbound lane, state police said.

The vehicle, driven by a 43-year-old Mount Pleasant woman, then struck the patrol car. The trooper was treated for injuries then released.

The Mount Pleasant woman was not hurt.

The crash remains under investigation. State police did not release the name of the driver or trooper.

Mecosta County sheriffs deputies and Mecosta firefighters responded with state police.

Man rescued after falling through ice was in water for 20-plus minutes

Presidents Day 2020: Whats open and closed, post office, Secretary of State, UPS, banks

Michigan woman arrested in Rome in 2002 killing of husband, burning of body
The oil industrys drive to show investors and the world that the sector is taking climate change seriously has reached the largest Russian oil producer, state-controlled Rosneft, which has just pledged to invest US$5 billion in environmentally-friendly projects within the next half decade.

Rosneft will invest in projects to curb carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and for better utilization of associated petroleum gas, Reuters quoted Rosneft as saying on Monday.

The Russian oil firm will also look to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 8 million tons through 2022, according to Reuters.

Rosnefts commitment to invest in reducing carbon emissions comes days after UK-based supermajor BP, which holds nearly 20 percent in the Russian oil giant, announced plans to become a net zero company by 2050 or sooner.

Last week, BP said that it aims to become a net zero company by 2050 or sooner in the latest pledge for net zero carbon emissions by an oil major. BP will also target to halve the carbon intensity of the products it sells by 2050 or sooner, joining other majors such as Shell and Equinor, which also aim to reduce the carbon footprint of the energy products they sell.

Earlier this month, Equinor unveiled a plan to reduce the net carbon intensity, from initial production to final consumption, of energy produced by at least 50 percent by 2050. Shell has also set short-term targets for reducing the net carbon footprint of the energy products it sells.

In Russia, Ruslan Edelgeriev, the senior adviser on climate change to President Vladimir Putin, said earlier this month that Russia needs to take urgent steps to fight climate change and reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. Russiathe worlds fourth-largest greenhouse gas emitter after China, the U.S., and Indiareduced the use of oil and coal in its energy mix by 4 percent between 2015 and 2018, while the share of natural gas has increased by 3.5 percent annually in each of those years, The Moscow Times quoted Edelgeriev as saying at a news conference in early February.

Russia has a recent plan to adapt to climate change until 2022, but Putin said at his annual press conference in December that nobody really knows the causes of climate change, at least global climate change.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The parliament of Mauritania has opened a parliamentary inquiry into the regime of ex-president, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz.

The inquiry will probe alleged corruption and mismanagement of the countrys resources.

Last December, 30 out of the 157 lawmakers in the National Assembly requested to form the panel after calls from opposition parties to investigate corruption during the former presidents tenure.

The ex-leader had ruled Mauritania for 10 years as the 8th president.

Lemrabott Bennahi, spokesman for the enquiry commission said, the commission is perfectly conscious of the need to undertake a professional and impartial work and commits to make every effort to shed objective light on this dossier, considering the national interest as its only motive.

Mauritania, a Western ally, had been in the grip of extremist violence. However, in the past few years, during the tenure of Mohamed Ould Abdel, the government has been able to bring down the levels of conflict.

Al-Qaida documents seized from Osama bin Ladens hideout in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad indicated that the Islamist group had discussed a possible peace deal with Mauritanian authorities in 2010, a year prior to bin Ladens killing by US forces.
Naomi Campbell commanded attention in a transparent PVC trench coat as she attended Burberry's show at London Fashion Week on Monday night.

Opting for a show-all transparent plastic trench, the supermodel kept it classy with an all black outfit of fitted trousers and a roll neck underneath as she arrived at Kensington Olympia.

Naomi, 49, paired the modern-take on the Burberry classic coat with a peep-toe black bootie and a silver cross body bag.

Flashy: Naomi Campbell, 49, flashed her svelte figure under a transparent PVC Burberry trench coat as she attended the fashion house's show at London Fashion Week on Monday night

Supermodels Kendall Jenner, 24, and Bella, 23, and Gigi Hadid, 24, lead the glamorous runway at the Burberry show - with Naomi spending the show in the front row.

Earlier in the week she wowed fans by posting a topless selfie for her 8.4 million Instagram followers after stealing the Tommy Hilfiger show in a baggy tracksuit.

After returning back to her hotel on Sunday, Naomi Campbell stripped off the baggy set, posing topless in her bed and adding a sticker over one nipple to adhere to the Instagram guidelines.

A flash of toe: Naomi paired the modern-take on the Burberry classic coat with a peep-toe black bootie and a silver cross body bag

Dripping in diamonds: Naomi did not hold back on the jewellery with a diamond faced watch and several sparking rings

#SelfieSunday,' she merely captioned the topless snap.

Naomi used one hand to take the photo and had her long brunette tresses covering up her other nipple.

She accessorised with a gold necklace and some bracelets on her wrist.

Front row friends: Naomi Campbell and Top Boy actor Micheal Ward attend the Burberry Autumn/Winter 2020 show during London Fashion Week

Take my hand: FKA Twigs and Naomi Campbell hold hands as they enter the Burberry show

Understated make-up: The model looked radiant with a glowing highlight and a rosy lip gloss

The UK beauty's topless selfie comes after she walked the runway at the TommyNow show in London on Sunday.

She stunned in a very baggy tracksuit set with highlighter yellow accents throughout.

Naomi was joined on the runway with Alessandra Ambrosio, Winnie Harlow and Candice Swanepoel.

Baring all: After walking in the Tommy Hilfiger show, Naomi Campbell stripped off the baggy set and posed topless from her bed for her 8.4 million fans on Sunday

Runway star: The UK beauty's topless selfie comes after she walked the runway at the TommyNow show in London on Sunday

Naomi, who never met her biological father, was last in a relationship with Russian businessman, Vladislav Doronin.

The pair were together from 2008 to 2013.

Before him she was engaged in an on-and-off romance with Formula One racing star, Flavio Briatrore (1998 - 2003) and was also engaged to U2 bassist, Adam Clayton, in 1993.

Can't miss her! She stunned in a very baggy tracksuit set with highlighter yellow accents throughout

Fashion royalty: Naomi was a vision as she stepped out for the LOVE Magazine bash later in the evening
Elderly pastor brutally beaten, mocked by Hindu extremists: 'I am ready to die for Christ'

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Hindu extremists in Andhra Pradesh, India, brutally beat an elderly pastor and verbally abused his wife amid escalating tension over the presence of a Christian church in their community.

Morning Star News reports that Pastor Eswara Rao Appalabattula was attacked by a group of Hindu extremists after he pleaded with them to stop building a wall meant to block people from attending worship services at his home in L.B. Patnam village, Andhra Pradesh.

They wanted to build a wall right in front of the church and ban us from using the path, Appalabattula told Morning Star News. I pleaded with them to not do so. But the group of at least six neighbors, both male and female, punched me in my stomach several times and pushed me to the floor.

They picked up a wooden pole and started beating his hands repeatedly with it, he said. Doctors later told him his hand had been fractured.

I was lying there on the floor screaming for help, he said. My wife came running and begged them to stop beating me  it was traumatic.

That same month, a Hindu priest led a group of extremists to the pastors home, where they threatened to kill his wife, Karuna Appalabattula, as she was doing chores outside.

I did not go to fight with them but I was panicked, Karuna Appalabattula told Morning Star News. I did not know what to do. I asked them, What is this you are doing? Why are you after us?

The Hindu priest picked up a large log of wood and came running toward her, she said.

He kept screaming that he would kill me, she said. I was crying for help. But their priest abused me in extremely foul language. They called me names they would never use for a mother, wife, sister or any female member of their families. He called me a Christian prostitute and warned me that he would kill my husband.

When the pastor informed a police official of the abuse his family had endured, he was told to resolve the matter himself.

They told me that, Your God has to protect you  when your God is not protecting you from your attackers, what can we do staying here? the pastor said. I told them that it was my God who had been protecting me, if not I would not have been alive in front of you.

The Hindu extremists were reportedly angered by the presence of a church in their village and intimidated worshipers to discourage them from gathering. Pastor Appalabattula said the Hindu villagers had stopped worshipers from coming to services throughout January.

They would threaten and abuse them in foul language and not let them even park their motorbikes in the area, he said. Even before they stop at the church, they are chased and sent away.

My wife and I witnessed drug and alcohol addicts, and the sick, come to Christ, and then they had refused to be a part of Hindu rituals in the village.

Because of the ongoing persecution, youths and Christians from neighboring villages who used to come to their home daily for worship and hours of fellowship are too fearful to come now, the pastor said.

They were like our own children, she said. I would prepare meals and feed them. We sang and worshiped together  We both are very old and weak and are in need of prayers and support.

Pastor Appalabattula said they are going through a very difficult time.

I am ready to die for Christ. But the ministry we had started here has come to a sudden halt, he said. Not even four members are gathering for Sunday worship. The believers have been very scared, and nobody dares to come and see us.

India is ranked 10th on Christian support organization Open Doors 2020 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.

Over 1,400 incidents of persecution against Christians in India have been reported since the year Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party rose to power, according to an initiative of ADF India.

Recently, it was reported that Hindu extremists in southern India beat Christian children during a worship service before filing a false police complaint against the congregation.

International Christian Concern, an advocacy organization based outside of Washington, D.C., said it often receives reports of rapes, communal violence, forced conversion charges and other abuses committed against Christians in the Hindu-majority country.

Cases such as these are becoming commonplace in India and are largely fueled by rhetoric of BJP and other [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh] officials, ICC Advocacy Director Matias Perttula said. They show a clear indication of the decline of religious freedom and an increase in the persecution of Christians and other religious minorities.
The girlfriend of a dad who died during a violent neighbour dispute claims he had gone to confront a man who'd called her a 'silly b**ch' when she called time on a play date.

Mark Beecham, 44, died after confronting his neighbour Mick Simpson, 44, minutes after he had verbally abused his partner Renae Hailes outside a home in Jarra Crescent at Glenmore Park, in Sydney's west on Sunday evening.

Ms Hailes claims she had gone to the Simpson home, two doors away, to tell a friend's son who had been playing there it was time to go home when Mr Simpson unleashed.

She claims Mr Simpson called her a 'silly b**ch' and a 'c**t, and she went home upset and called her partner Mr Beecham - who walked back over to the house carrying a metal pole.

A distraught Ms Hailes on Monday recounted how she heard the struggle unfolding next door - and was later told her boyfriend had died.

'I went down to tell a neighbour's boy that he had to go home and as I walked off he (Mr Simpson) swore at me, using really rude words and names,' Ms Hailes claimed.

Mark Beecham (pictured) died on Sunday night when he was involved in an altercation with a neighbour. His partner Renae Hailes (pictured with him) claims she was verbally abused which kicked off the fight

Emergency workers were called to the brawl at Jarra Crescent in Glenmore Park just after 10.20pm on Sunday (pictured)

Mick Simpson was hit over the head with a metal pole during a neighbour dispute in Glenmore Park, in Sydney's west, on Sunday night, but survived the attack. His girlfriend Adra Biscossi said he was 'acting in self-defence'

'I turned to him and said 'What did you say?' and we had a bit of an argument. Then I came home and spoke to Mum, and then called Mark to talk to him and he got upset about it.'

Ms Hailes said she was in her backyard having a cigarette, when she heard screaming and went out the front to discover Mr Beecham and Mr Simpson fighting.

'Mark was on the floor and Mick was on top of him. I was trying to get them off but couldn't so I went to a neighbour to get help,' Ms Hailes said.

'I came back and he (Mark) was hitting him and I could hear it but I couldn't see because she (Mark's partner Adra Biscossi) wouldn't let me go into the garage. I was just screaming.'

Ms Hailes said after spending the night with police, she had only just told the couple's young son the devastating news.

'He was a good husband, a good father and a good man,' she said. 'He was basically just defending me.'

But the surviving man Mr Simpson's partner insists her man was acting in self-defence when he was swung by Mr Beecham who was armed with a metal pole.

Adra Biscossi said Ms Hailes had been to her house looking for another child, and a short time later, Mr Beecham returned carrying a metal pole.

She said Beecham swung the pole at Mr Simpson, knocking him out briefly and splitting his head open.

The Glenmore Park home of Ms Biscossi and Mr Simpson where the deadly neighbour dispute took place in the garage

Kids bikes outside the house where a man died on Sunday night after an altercation with his neighbour

HOW A NEIGHBOURHOOD BLUE TURNED DEADLY: Renae Hailes goes to a house two doors away to call time on a children's play date She claims the occupant, Mick Simpson, verbally abused her and called her a 'silly bi*ch' Ms Hailes returns home and calls her partner Mark Beecham to tell him about it Mr Beecham arrives in the street and arms himself with a metal pole before going to Mr Simpson's house to speak to him Witnesses said the two men were 'fighting and wrestling' on the ground Mr Simpson was hit over the head with a metal pole and knocked unconscious - he suffered a split head Mr Beecham collapsed during the fight and died at the scene Police are investigating the incident and no one has been charged Advertisement

Detectives at the home of Mr Simpson and Ms Biscossi on Monday, carrying out the investigation into the death of another man, Mark Beecham, who died on Sunday night

'Mick tried to shut it off. He said: 'I'm not talking about it, go away, there's kids inside you need to go home',' Ms Biscossi said.

But Ms Biscossi claims Mr Beecham did not listen, and pursued Mr Simpson inside their double garage.

After splitting Mr Simpson's head open with the pole, a struggle ensued while Ms Biscossi and her four children hid inside.

'He was on the ground and they were fighting when it happened, I don't know how (he died),' she said.

'Mick was just trying to defend himself. We tried to get him (the neighbour) out and I called police straight away.

'As soon as I saw him run into the garage I said: 'That's it, I'm calling police'.'

Mark Beecham's mother-in-law Leanna (pictured) claimed he went to the Simpson and Biscossi house to ask why Mr Simpson had been rude towards his wife, when a fight then broke out

After splitting Mr Simpson's head open with the pole, a struggle ensued while Ms Biscossi (pictured) and her four children hid inside

The dead man's mother-in-law Leanna Hailes described the haunting scene as Mr Beecham lay dead in the street.

'They were screaming 'he's got no pulse' and they just stood their helpless watching him (die),' she claimed.

'It's so sad. He had a child with my daughter and he was just a really nice guy.'

Police said an autopsy will be carried out within the next few days to determine how he died, and if he suffered a heart attack.

Mr Simpson, who is at his home recovering on Monday, has been interviewed by police but released without charges.

Officers from Nepean Police Area Command have established a crime scene and commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, center, speaks during a media conference after a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, on Feb. 17, 2020. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is on a one day visit to Brussels to meet with leaders of the EU and NATO. (Virginia Mayo/AP)

US House Speaker Pelosi Warns Allies Against Using Huawei

BRUSSELSNo NATO ally should succumb to the temptation of letting Chinese tech giant Huawei into their next-generation cellular networks, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Feb. 17 at Allied headquarters, turning U.S. opposition to Huawei into a bipartisan effort.

Pelosi said the invasion of privacy that would result from having Huawei integrated into Europes 5G communication networks would be like having the state police, the Chinese state police, right in your pocket.

She insisted such technology was far too sensitive to turn to over to Chinese interests, even though they can deliver such technology cheaper, thanks to the fact that the company relied on Western know-how to build its systems.

While some people say that its cheaper to do Huaweiwell yeahits a Peoples Liberation Army initiative using reversed engineering from Western technology, Pelosi, the senior Democratic lawmaker, told reporters in Brussels. So, of course its going to be cheaper to put on the market. And if its cheaper, then they get the market share and then they (China) bring in their autocracy of lack of privacy.

U.S. President Donald Trumps administration has also raised national security concerns about Huawei, the worlds largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer, and is a lobbying Western allies to bar the company from their wireless, high-speed networks.

Trump administration officials, including Cabinet secretaries, say Huawei can give the Chinese regime backdoor access to data, allegations that the company rejects.

The United States has been trying to have European nations ban the gear from next-generation cellular networks, but countries are shying away from banning it altogether. Britain, notably, announced last month that it would allow Huawei to participate in certain non-sensitive areas of its networks.

Pelosi warned allies not to cave in to Chinese pressure to take Huawei.

You cannot sell the privacy of the people of your country down the river, Pelosi said.
Pair unwittingly first met when they were in a play together, both aged eight

A teacher who was diagnosed with two brain tumours is set to marry her boyfriend of ten years following a romantic New Year's Day proposal - after the pair were coincidentally in a play together at eight years old.

Beth Titterton, from Staffordshire, believed she first met her now-fiance Sam at a youth club during a Duke of Edinburgh Award training weekend when the pair were both 18.

But by a sweet coincidence - although they don't remember - the pair soon discovered they were in a play together at a local theatre, in which Beth was a narrator and Sam played a king.

Two decades after their forgotten first encounter, Beth and Sam, 28, were celebrating their 10-year anniversary with a walk in the forest on New Year's Day when Sam fell to one knee and asked his girlfriend to marry him.

The proposal followed a six-year ordeal that saw Beth being diagnosed with two brain tumours and even at one point telling Sam to leave her if he couldn't cope with the impact of her illness.

Beth Titterton, from Staffordshire, believed she first met her now-fiance Sam (pictured together) at a youth club when the pair were both 18

Beth (front right) and Sam (front left) had appeared in a play together - as a king and a narrator - when they were eight years old

Beth and Sam met when they were 18 at a youth club during a Duke of Edinburgh Award training weekend.

'Sam was trying to impress me and attempted a big belly slide in the mud  but it was an epic fail!' said Beth. 'I laughed and thought he was an absolute idiot but he decided there and then that he wanted me to be his girlfriend.'

'A few months later, we met properly at a New Year's Eve party  this time we clicked and I loved his sense of humour.

'Sam walked me home in the early hours of New Year's Day and kissed me outside the house. I found out later that my mum and sister Libby had been peeking out of the window at us!'

Two decades after their forgotten first encounter, Beth and Sam were celebrating their 10-year anniversary when Sam fell to one knee and asked his girlfriend to marry him (Pictured: Beth and Sam after their engagement)

Sam's heart-warming proposal followed the devoted couple's six-year ordeal of Beth being diagnosed with two brain tumours (Pictured: Beth's scar after brain surgery)

Seven months after they got together, Beth went to Bangor University to do childhood studies and Sam to Coventry University to study physiotherapy, but they managed to visit each other regularly and their relationship blossomed.

But in April 2014, when Beth was 22, she began to suffer bouts of dizziness which were put down to labyrinthitis, an inner ear disorder.

'But it just wouldn't clear up for over a month even with my prescribed drugs, and I was in bed for two weeks,' said Beth.

'Eventually, I felt better, but then I started suffering headaches in the morning, which woke me up, and severe head pains when I bent down or lowered my head.'

Pictured: Beth with her sister Libby, 23, father Rob and mother Denise when on holiday

Beth (pictured with Sam) began to suffer bouts of dizziness and headaches which were put down to labyrinthitis, an inner ear disorder, in April 2014

The GP then referred Beth to Stafford Hospital for an MRI scan - where it was revealed she had two brain tumours.

'When I got home, Mum and Dad were sitting on the settee waiting for me,' said Beth.

'Dad looked really serious and told me our GP who we'd been with for years had been round the house to tell them the results of my MRI scan.

'There was nothing wrong with my ear  I had two brain tumours.

'I was shocked and Mum rang Sam to break the news as I was struggling to process the news myself, never mind relay it to him.

When the dizziness didn't clear up with medication, Beth was referred to Stafford Hospital for an MRI scan - where it was revealed she had two brain tumours

A week after her diagnosis, Beth had a five-hour operation to remove the largest tumour near her brain stem (Pictured: Beth and Sam in Dubai)

'When we told Libby after she got in from school, she burst into tears and then blurted out: "It's like a storyline from Hollyoaks".'

A week after her diagnosis, Beth had a five-hour operation to remove the largest tumour near her brain stem.

Beth was soon dealt another devastating blow when biopsy results revealed her tumour was cancerous (Pictured: Beth's radiotherapy mask)

There was then another devastating blow when biopsy results revealed her tumour was cancerous.

'But I was determined that I wasn't going to be defined by my brain cancer and that it wasn't going to take over my life  it had to fit into my life,' said Beth.

Beth underwent a robotic radiotherapy treatment called Cyberknife which is more targeted than traditional radiotherapy with fewer side effects. It got rid of rest of the larger tumour and the smaller tumour.

'By far, the worst part of my treatment was the steroids, which I was put on as soon as I was diagnosed for three months,' said Beth.

'I put on two-and-half stone and felt painfully bloated. I hated my moon face and neck fat  when I looked in the mirror, I didn't recognise myself. I didn't feel like me anymore.

'Although Sam reassured me he still found me attractive, it wiped out my confidence. We didn't have sex for months because I didn't feel good about myself.

'I also didn't want to be touched as it was uncomfortable because I was so bloated with water retention from my steroid treatment.

'And I had terrible mood swings  poor Sam ended up agreeing with everything I said to keep the peace.

Pictured: Beth and Sam are seen not long after they first met as teenagers at a Duke of Edinburgh training weekend

'He was an absolute rock and knew when to take the mickey out of me  which we do a lot to each other  and when to listen.'

Beth has even revealed she once told her now-fiance to leave her if her cancer became 'too much for him' to handle.

'Living with a brain tumour doesn't just affect my life, it has a huge impact on Sam and my family too,' said Beth.

The most typical symptoms of brain tumours in children and young people include: Persistent or recurring vomiting

Persistent or recurring headaches

Balance / co-ordination problems / walking problems

Blurred or double vision

Poor balance and co-ordination

Abnormal eye movements

Abnormal head position

Fits or seizures

Behavioural changes, especially tiredness

Increasing head circumference in babies

Delayed puberty in teenagers Symptoms vary across age group, visit HeadSmart for more information. Advertisement

'I told him I understood if he wanted to leave if it was too much for him  but he said he wasn't going anywhere.'

Despite the support from Sam and her close-knit family, at times Beth felt isolated and fearful  until The Brain Tumour Charity became a lifeline.

'I tried my best to be positive but, of course, I had my dark days,' she said.

'Then I found The Brain Tumour Charity's Facebook page and asked to join, it helped so much instantly being able to connect with people who were going through what I was experiencing  I wasn't alone anymore.

'Libby and I have both had fantastic support from the charity's young adults service.

'We became Young Ambassadors to support other young people as I wanted to be there for others as the charity had been there for me.'

By September 2014, Beth was back to teaching. But the next January, a routine scan revealed Beth's cancer had come back.

'We knew it would probably come back at some stage, but were shocked at how quickly that happened,' Beth said. 'I had more radiotherapy and further sessions after more regrowth in 2016 and 2017.'

Beth (pictured right) and her sister Libby (left) both received support from The Brain Tumour Chairty and became Young Ambassadors to help others

Determined to live her life to the fullest, in February 2016 Beth went on three-month trip to teach in Fiji and travel to New Zealand, Hong Kong and Dubai with Sam

Determined to live her life to the fullest, in February 2016 Beth went on three-month trip to teach in Fiji and travel to New Zealand, Hong Kong and Dubai with Sam.

Though her tumours have grown back three times, Beth has now been stable for four years and has scans every three months.

Brain tumours in children and young people  the facts Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of children and young people.

Some 600 children and young people are diagnosed each year with a primary brain tumour.

A quarter of these children and young people will die  that's one child every three days.

The cancer is also the largest cause of preventable or treatable blindness in children. Find out more at the Brain Tumour Charity and Headsmart Advertisement

'Scanxiety has become part of our lives, but I'm grateful I'm doing so well and we choose to focus on the positive,' said Beth, who is supporting The Brain Tumour Charitys Big Bake to raise money for vital research, which runs throughout Brain Tumour Awareness Month (BTAM) in March.

The couple became engaged at New Year after 10 years together and some hinting from Beth.

'Over the years, I'd dropped so many hints subtle and not-so-subtle that he should propose, but it felt the right time.

'We were in Northumberland for the weekend and walking in Kielder Forest with our dog Milo,' said Beth, who lives apart from Sam during the week due to work but spends weekends with him in their house.

'I was moaning about how cold and muddy I was and looking behind me to see where Milo was.

'Then I heard Sam say, "I've got a question to ask you." I turned around and he got down on one knee and said, "Will you marry me?"

'I couldn't believe it and blurted out, "Of course I will  about time".

'We haven't set a wedding date yet but it'll most likely be 2022.

'I feel blessed that Sam he loves me for who I am  he makes me feel like Beth, a person, a woman, not solely a brain tumour patient  and I'm excited about our future together.'

Sarah Lindsell, The Brain Tumour Charity's chief executive, said: 'We are so very grateful to Beth for sharing her story to help raise awareness about brain tumours  the biggest cancer killer of children and under-40s in the UK.

'Like Beth, many young people feel alone and isolated as they come to terms with their diagnoses and the physical and emotional impact of living with a brain tumour, which is why our support services are so important.

'Beth is a fantastic advocate for the charity and we send her and Sam our very warmest wishes on their engagement and wish them every happiness for their future.'
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 17)  The Philippine National Police (PNP) has filed criminal charges against a Cebu-based optometrist for allegedly spreading fake news over the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, Monday.

The said optometrist was identified as Josephil Brian Consuelo from Mandaue City, and was arrested last Thursday.

Consuelo allegedly posted on Facebook that a patient infected with COVID-2019, has died at the University of Cebu Medical (UCMed) Center, which has caused panic among people in Cebu.

In response to the social media post, the PNP Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit of Central Visayas, conducted a fact-checking operation. The report was then proven to be false by UCMEds Human Resource and Legal Officer.

Police Brigadier General Dennis Agustin said that they have filed cases against Consuelo after he violated Article 154 of the Revised Penal Code in relation to Online Libel under Section 4 and Section 6 of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.

PNP Chief, Police General Archie Francisco Gamboa also said that they will continue to take countermeasures against misinformation on all social media platforms.

"Again, we urge the public to refrain posting unverified information that creates panic and confusion and we will file criminal charges to those proven spreading these false reports," Gamboa said.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) was earlier tasked by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to look into the spread of fake news concerning the outbreak of coronavirus, now named as COVID-19.
New Delhi, Feb 17 : After two Congress leaders -- Ajay Maken and Milind Deora -- engaged in a war of words on social media, the party on Monday cautioned all its leaders to refrain from such things in public, avoid commenting on the matters of other states and advised them to introspect about their role in the party.

The Congress also told Deora not to comment on the Delhi election results.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, "People make such remark in the heat of the moment, but it should not be treated (as an) affront." Party leaders need to look after their own performance, responsibilities and their commitment towards the party, Surjewala said.

A war of words erupted between Deora and Ex-DPCC chief Ajay Maken on Twitter after the former Mumbai Congress president praised the Arvind Kejriwal government of Delhi.

Deora in his tweet on Sunday said, "Sharing a lesser known & welcome fact - the @ArvindKejriwal-led Delhi Government doubled its revenues to Rs 60,000 crore & maintained a revenue surplus over the last 5 years. Food for thought: Delhi is now one of India's most fiscally prudent governments." Maken was the first to react to Deora's tweet as he said, "Brother, you want to leave @INCIndia - Please do - Then propagate half baked facts!"

He even compared the revenue generation in Delhi from 1997-1998 onwards and claimed that it grew at 14.87 per cent CAGR during the Congress regime, while during the AAP's regime the growth has been only 9.90 per cent CAGR.

Deora hit back on Monday morning as he said, "Brother, I would never undermine Sheila Dikshit's stellar performance as Delhi CM. That's your specialty. But it's never too late to change! Instead of advocating an alliance with AAP, if only you had highlighted Sheila ji's achievements, @INCIndia would've been in power today." Earlier, former AAP MLA from Chandni Chowk, Alka Lamba, who joined the Congress to unsuccessfully fight the 2020 Assembly elections, too had attacked Deora, considered close to Rahul Gandhi.
The search for German Chancellor Angela Merkel's eventual successor begins in earnest this week, as her centre-right CDU party opens the race to elect a new leader after her heir apparent stepped down. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who was Merkel's preferred successor, was toppled after just 14 months as CDU leader following a row over apparent cooperation with the far-right AfD party in a regional parliament. The 57-year-old will hold talks this week with the three favourites to succeed her: long-time Merkel rival Friedrich Merz, Health Minister Jens Spahn and Armin Laschet, the premier of Germany's largest federal state North-Rhine Westphalia. After Kramp-Karrenbauer failed to unite the party behind her, fears abound that the bid to find a worthy successor to Merkel could split the CDU, as the top candidates have differences in political direction. "The problem with political giants is that they haveto end like giants... an orderly transition of power is not possible," wrote popular daily Bild on Sunday, comparing Merkel to former CDU chancellor Helmut Kohl. - Conservative roots - After nearly two decades in which Merkel has positioned the CDU firmly in the centre, the race is set to be defined by differing visions of the party's future. Merz and Spahn, both of whom ran against Kramp-Karrenbauer in the last leadership race, advocate a return to the party's conservative roots, while Laschet is more of a centrist like Merkel. Merz, a 64-year-old former lawyer and board member at the German arm of investment firm BlackRock, called Merkel's government "unsustainable" and "abysmal" last November. Ambitious 38-year-old Spahn, meanwhile, has combined social liberalism on issues such as gay marriage with a harder line on immigration. Speaking to Bild on Sunday, the leader of the CDU's parliamentary youth wing Mark Hauptmann said a "team solution" between Merz and Spahn would be "ideal". "They would speak to the conservative wing but also to the youth, and cover both rural and urban milieus," he said. Though widely seen as the continuity candidate, 58-year-old Laschet criticised Merkel's European policy in a speech Sunday, calling for a "quicker and more decisive response" to French President Emmanuel Macron's EU reform proposals. And some believe that cooperation between all three candidates may be the best way to keep the CDU united. "The CDU needs all three, regardless of which roles they take," former CDU general secretary Ruprecht Polenz told Bavarian radio on Saturday. - Electoral pressure - The contest comes as the CDU struggles to fend off electoral pressure from the AfD to the right and the Green Party, which is soaring in the polls, to the left. It has tumbled from 40 percent of the vote under Merkel in 2013 to poll at just 26 percent, according to an Infratest survey published last Thursday. Leading conservative figures have warned that the party could lose further support if the leadership question is allowed to drag out. "We need clarity, quickly," Alexander Dobrindt, the parliamentary leader of the CDU's Bavarian sister party CSU, told broadsheet Die Welt on Sunday. Kramp-Karrenbauer herself has repeatedly said she wants the question of her succession to be resolved by the summer. After this week's meetings with candidates, she will hold further talks with CDU grandees next Monday before agreeing a definitive time frame for her departure. There may yet be another twist in the tale, however. Kramp-Karrenbauer has called for her successor to also be named as the CDU and CSU's joint candidate for chancellor at the next elections. Yet CSU leader Markus Soeder said Monday that he believes the two questions should be answered separately. While the CSU would not meddle in the CDU leadership debate, Soeder said, "the question of the election candidate can only be answered together". His comments will prompt speculation that the CSU leader favours a fourth prospective successor to Merkel: himself. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Merkel's preferred successor, was toppled after just 14 months as CDU leader following a row over apparent cooperation with the far-right AfD party in a regional parliament Merz, a 64-year-old former lawyer and board member at the German arm of investment firm BlackRock, called Merkel's government "unsustainable" and "abysmal" in November Health Minister Jens Spahn, 38, has combined social liberalism on issues such as gay marriage with a harder line on immigration Though widely seen as the continuity candidate, Laschet, 58, criticised Merkel's European policy on Sunday, calling for a "quicker and more decisive response" to French President Emmanuel Macron's EU reform proposals
Victoria Fuller has been at the center of multiple controversies on this season of The Bachelor which features pilot Peter Weber.

But the biggest backlash came after it was revealed she modeled merchandise that said 'white lives matter,' before coming on the show.

Now the 25-year-old is breaking her silence on the controversy and is apologizing for being a part of the campaign in now-deleted Instagram stories.

Apologizing: Victoria Fuller is apologizing for appearing in a campaign to save Marlins that included the phrase 'white lives matter' and symbols close to the confederate flag

Fuller denied racial motivations in her work for the campaign and said, 'My intention was only to support an endangered species.'

Adding: 'I want to say that I unequivocally reject the beliefs of the white lives matter movement or any propaganda that supports racism of any kind.'

She took time to directly apologize to communities of color that experience racism daily.

'I would like to specifically apologize to people of color that are affected by racism daily,' she said. 'It was never my intention to add fuel to the racial fire in this country.'

I'm sorry: 'I want to say that I unequivocally reject the beliefs of the white lives matter movement or any propaganda that supports racism of any kind,' Fuller said

Backlash: When the photos surfaced fans slammed her on Twitter, though she said she has learned from the controversy, and that moving forward, she hopes to speak out against racism

Fuller said she has learned from the controversy, and that moving forward, she hopes to speak out against racism.

She said: 'This has truly been an educational moment for me and I hope to be a voice against racism moving forward. I hope I can be shown grace as I navigate through this process.'

Fuller modeled the clothing for a Marlin Lives Matter organization in an effort to save the species and other pieces included 'blue lives matter,' a frequent retort to the Black Lives Matter movement in defense of police officers.

Though along with the 'white lives matter,' slogan, other clothing, not modeled by Fuller but included in the campaign featured designs similar to a Confederate flag.

Background: White Lives Matter was previously deemed a 'racist response to the civil rights movement Black Lives Matter, is a neo-Nazi group that is growing into a movement as more and more white supremacist groups take up its slogans and tactics,' by the Southern Poverty Law Center

Competing for love: Fuller has been a contestant on the 24th season of the Bachelor competing for the love of Peter Weber

White Lives Matter was previously deemed a 'racist response to the civil rights movement Black Lives Matter, is a neo-Nazi group that is growing into a movement as more and more white supremacist groups take up its slogans and tactics,' by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Once photos surfaced online as Fuller competes for the love of pilot Peter Weber on the ABC show, she was slammed online and lost a Cosmopolitan cover.

Earlier this month, the contestants competed for a magazine cover, though once the controversial campaign came to light Jessica Pels Editor-in-Chief of Cosmopolitan pulled Fuller's cover and spoke out against the campaign.

Lost cover: Earlier this month, the contestants competed for a magazine cover, though once the controversial campaign came to light Jessica Pels Editor-in-Chief of Cosmopolitan pulled Fuller's cover and spoke out against the campaign

Pels said: 'It wasnt until a few weeks ago that I found out that the woman Id chosen had, in her past, modeled in an ad campaign wearing White Lives Matter attire.'

'(Its been reported that what she modeled for was actually a Marlin Lives Matter organization focused on preventing white and blue marlin from being overfished, which used white lives matter and blue lives matter messaging on its promotional shirts and hats. In my view, the nature of the organization is neither here nor thereboth phrases and the belief systems they represent are rooted in racism and therefore problematic.)'

'Unequivocally, the White Lives Matter movement does not reflect the values of the Cosmo brand. We stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter, and any cause that fights to end injustices for people of color.'
(CNN)  The US plan to evacuate Americans and their families from the Diamond Princess cruise ship appears, on its face, to be the case of a powerful government coming to the aid of its most vulnerable citizens.

But the decision has prompted anger from some exhausted passengers, who believe the move could actually set back their ability to return to normal life  just as that option was within their grasp.

Thousands of people have been stuck in their cabins under mandatory quarantine aboard the Diamond Princess, which is docked off the Japanese port city of Yokohama, since February 3. With 356 confirmed cases of coronavirus on board, 70 of which were announced Sunday, the ship has the largest concentration of novel coronavirus cases outside mainland China. On February 19, the controversial quarantine period was set to finally end.

Until Saturday, the US government seemed on board with that plan. The consensus among government agencies, which had been communicated to the more than 400 Americans aboard, was that remaining on the ship for the quarantine period was the best course of action.

Most passengers weren't thrilled but accepted the plan.

After the quarantine, virus-free passengers were told they could take commercial flights back to the US.

Then came the email.

On Saturday afternoon, the US Embassy in Tokyo sent a notice to Americans on board the Diamond Princess laying out plans to evacuate nearly 400 Americans back home.

Once there, another 14 days of mandatory quarantine would begin. Anyone who chose not to get on the flight would have to wait another 14 days in Japan to ensure they were symptom-free before returning to the US.

That decision has prompted anger among the American passengers, with many demanding answers to two simple questions about the US response: Why did the American government wait so long to make the about-face decision? What prompted such a dramatic shift in US policy?

'Financially and emotionally devastating'

On February 18, the Japanese government plans to begin testing all those who remain on board for the virus. Results should be provided within three days. From February 21, staggered disembarkations would begin.

But American passengers who are evacuated will not be tested.

"From tragedy to comedy to farce," tweeted American passenger Matthew Smith, pulling no punches. "The US government instead wants to take us off without testing, fly us back to the US with a bunch of other untested people, and then stick us in 2 more weeks of quarantine? How does that make any sense at all?"

Those who decide not to board the flight will still have to spend two weeks in Japan before being able to head home.

For Karey Mansicalco, who owns a real estate company in Utah, the news yanked freedom from her hands at the 11th hour.

"It's like a prison sentence for something I did not do," she told CNN from her cabin. "They are holding us hostage for absolutely no reason."

Mansicalco said another two weeks away from home would cost her upwards of $50,000. "It is financially devastating as well as emotionally devastating. I was in tears when I got the news and ... I did not have the words to explain how I felt. And now I just feel angry," she said.

The evacuation also puts the family of Americans who have tested positive for the virus in a tough spot. There are 46 Americans who have tested positive and anyone who has the virus or is showing symptoms won't be able to board the chartered flight.

"We are spinning out of control again," said Kent Frasure, whose wife Rebecca tested positive last week and was moved to a Tokyo hospital. "I would not get on a flight without Rebecca."

A failed quarantine?

One reason the passengers are so upset is because, as early as last week, experts had been questioning the Japanese government's decision to quarantine people on the ship.

"I don't understand why they have to be kept on a ship," said Peter Hotez, of the Baylor College of Medicine. "We're employing what I call 14th-century approaches and ethics to individuals with transmissible disease."

The abrupt change in US policy led some to believe that Washington lost faith in the effectiveness of the Japanese response. Earlier this week, it emerged that some 1,000 crew on board the ship had not been kept in quarantine, eating meals together with masks off and working side by side.

The American move has put pressure on other governments with citizens on board the ship to respond.

Rose Yerex, a Canadian who along with her husband has struck a decidedly positive tone throughout the quarantine, could not hold back her anger on Saturday.

"It really kind of shows the difference here between the two countries," she said. "So, hey, congratulations to you guys who are Americans and you are getting to leave. Your government is supporting you, ours isn't."

On Sunday, the Canadian government announced its own evacuation plan. The Hong Kong government also announced Sunday that it was arranging a chartered flight to bring home residents free of charge as soon they were permitted to disembark.

But perhaps worst off are the Diamond Princess crew.

After some crew members issued desperate pleas for help, Princess Cruises told them on Saturday that once all passengers had left the ship, they would have to endure their own 14-day quarantine.

"It is disappointing for all of us," said Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises.

On Sunday, Princess Cruises announced it would cancel voyages aboard the Diamond Princess through April 20 because of the prolonged quarantine period.

Customers with questions about their itineraries are being asked to consult the Itinerary Modifications and Cancellations page on the company's website.

"We ask that you please minimize calling our call center for itinerary change information as we work through all the travel changes and subsequent impacts on itineraries. Thank you for your patience and understanding," the company tweeted.
Campaigning officially began in Armenia on Monday for a referendum on constitutional changes sought by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and denounced by his political opponents.

The draft amendments to the Armenian constitution call for the dismissal of seven of the nine members of the Constitutional Court accused by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian of being linked to the countrys corrupt former regime.

The Armenian parliament controlled by Pashinians My Step bloc decided on February 6 to put them on a referendum after months of tensions with the court and its chairman, Hrayr Tovmasian, in particular. Tovmasian has resisted strong government pressure to resign.

My Step has already set up a campaign headquarters for a Yes vote in the referendum scheduled for April 5. To pass, the amendments drafted by the ruling bloc have to be backed by a majority of referendum participants making up at least one-quarter of Armenias 2.57 million or so eligible voters.

The National Assembly initiated the vote amid serious procedural violations alleged by opposition lawmakers. Some of them said the amendments also run counter to other articles of the constitution. Pashinians political allies deny this.

One of them, Alen Simonian, insisted at the weekend that the proposed constitutional changes are part of broader government efforts to strengthen judicial independence in Armenia. He said the authorities want to replace Tovmasian even though the latter was always ready to serve them.

We want to have the kind of judicial system that may say No to us on some issues but will be independent, Simonian told RFE/RLs Armenian service. This judicial system has already proved that its not independent.

Critics say that Pashinians team is on the contrary seeking to fill the Constitutional Court with their loyalists and predetermine its future rulings.

Gevorg Gorgisian, a senior member of the opposition Bright Armenia Party (LHK), argued that Armenia has far more pressing issues to deal with. We will be spending a huge amount of money on this process in order to fire one person, ignoring the most important issues, Gorgisian said, singling out security challenges stemming from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

LHK leader Edmon Marukian last week described the upcoming referendum as completely illegal.

The former ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), which installed Tovmasian as court chairman in 2018, described the referendum as an unconstitutional farce aimed at satisfying Pashinians dictatorial ambitions.

Pashinian came to power and hundreds of thousands people wanted changes not for Hrayr Tovmasians being or not being [in office]  but in order for their lives to get better, said HHK spokesman Eduard Sharmazanov.

Sharmazanov reaffirmed the HHKs pledge not to participate in the unfolding referendum campaign. He also said that the party led by former President Serzh Sarkisian will urge supporters to boycott the vote.

The LHK and the other parliamentary opposition force, the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), have similarly decided not to officially campaign for a No vote. The BHK leadership questioned the legality of the referendum on Friday.
 Close Eight patients who tested positive for coronavirus released from hospital

Britons quarantined on a coronavirus-hit cruise ship in Japan will be evacuated as soon as possible, the government has announced.

We hope the flight will be later this week, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said, as some passengers were allowed to leave the ship after two weeks in isolation.

It came as the death toll from the virus, known as Covid-19, passed 2,000 in mainland China, with over 74,000 cases reported.

Follow the latest updates
China is grappling with an outbreak of infections from a new coronavirus that began in December. Caixin Global will continue covering this story as it develops. Please check back regularly for updates.

Caixins coverage of the new coronavirus







Monday, Feb. 17, 7 p.m.

The biggest news of the day came in the afternoon when the official Xinhua News Agency reported that Chinese lawmakers have proposed postponing this years session of the 13th National Peoples Congress, which is set to be held in early March.

Then came the news that may signal closer cooperation between China and the World Health Organization (WHO). A team of international health experts led by the organization arrived in China, the country's top health body said Monday (link in Chinese).

The team of 12 foreign health experts, including several from the WHO, had arrived by Sunday. On Monday, they joined a group, which also includes Chinese experts, visiting three Chinese regions  South Chinas Guangdong province, Southwest Chinas Sichuan province and Beijing  to look into the coronavirus situation.

A tragic case

Sundays tragic news that four members of a family in Wuhan died of the coronavirus while quarantining themselves in the same apartment has again raised serious questions about the policy of staying home at the start of the epidemic.

Fifty-five-year-old Chang Kai, a notable director at a film studio in Wuhan, died Friday from pneumonia caused by the virus. His father, mother, and older sister also died from the same illness between Jan. 28 and Friday.

The story of their deaths shows how authorities in the disease-stricken city may have contributed to the viruss spread by initially pursuing a policy of home quarantine in an effort to relieve the pressure on overburdened, undersupplied hospitals.

First coronavirus autopsies completed in China

A hospital in China has completed the countrys first autopsies on two patients who died from the coronavirus, in a development that could help doctors understand more about the disease as the medical community searches for a cure.

The autopsies were carried out Sunday at Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan, state broadcaster CCTV reported (link in Chinese). Both families gave their permission for the procedure.

Separately, dozens of people in a same organization in Beijing have been put under quarantine after being designated close contacts of a colleague who had been diagnosed with the coronavirus. An official from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced (link in Chinese) the news Sunday.

The infected colleague went back to work at the office late last month after returning from his hometown outside Beijing without subjecting himself to a 14-day self-quarantine, according to the official.

Also, regarding the situation in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, there is one bit of good news. Of all confirmed coronavirus patients in the city, the share of those in critical condition has fallen to 18%, Chinas State Council announced (link in Chinese) on Monday, down from 38% at its peak.

In other coronavirus news:

 Xiaogan, a city close to Wuhan, further tightened travel restrictions on its residents. Starting on Monday, local residents will not be allowed (link in Chinese) to leave their homes outside of designated hours, according to a new rule. Those who disobey the rules will be subject to up to 10 days of detention.

 Three armed robbers stole about 600 rolls of toilet paper (link in Chinese) from outside a Hong Kong supermarket on Monday morning. They robbed a delivery man outside the supermarket in the Mong Kok neighborhood, the police said.

The ongoing coronavirus outbreak has caused shortages of daily necessities including toilet paper as panicked residents have resorted to hoarding supplies.

 All scheduled exams for the TOEFL English language proficiency test on the Chinese mainland in March have been canceled (link in Chinese), the exams administrator, Educational Testing Service, said Monday. Previously, administrators of other English language proficiency tests, which Chinese students must pass to go to school abroad, have also made similar decisions.

Monday, Feb. 17, 4 p.m.

China is set to postpone the annual meeting of its national legislature as the country grapples with the still-spreading epidemic of a new coronavirus.

Lawmakers have proposed delaying the third session of the 13th National Peoples Congress (NPC), currently scheduled to be held March 5, the official Xinhua News Agency reported (link in Chinese), citing a meeting held in Beijing on Monday. Lawmakers will discuss the proposal in another meeting to be held later this month.

Every year, starting in early March, about 3,000 delegates gather for the NPC, which usually lasts about 10 days. Many of the delegates include officials currently fighting the coronavirus on the frontlines, according to Xinhua. In order to ensure that they can concentrate on that battle, the NPC standing committee thinks that it is necessary to suitably postpone the meeting, Xinhua said.

Monday, Feb. 17, 11 a.m.

 By the end of Sunday, China had confirmed 70,635 cases of people with Covid-19, according to the latest data (link in Chinese) from the countrys health authorities. The total death toll rose by 106 on Sunday to 1,772.

Among the current 57,934 cases with Covid-19 on the Chinese mainland, about 18% (10,644 cases) are now in critical condition.

 Another 2,051 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed on Sunday with most of them (1,933 cases) in Hubei province, at the epicenter of the outbreak. New cases outside of Hubei declined for a 13th straight day, in a positive sign that may show infection rates are slowing in other parts of China.

 A total of 10,844 people have officially recovered on the Chinese mainland.

 As of the end of Sunday, Taiwan had 20 infections, with its first death reported on Sunday; Hong Kong had 57, while Macao had 10.

 By Monday morning, 694 confirmed cases, with three deaths, were reported outside China in a total of 25 countries.

In Singapore, three more infections were reported on Sunday, bringing the total number to 75, according to its health ministry.

Read More

Coronavirus Sunday Update: Taiwan Reports First Death, Wuhan Virology Institute Denies Rumors

Compiled by Mo Yelin
Covid-19's effect on global energy markets has been disastrous. OPEC slashed its oil demand forecast last week, and Goldman Sachs doubled down on its bearish oil take and has cut its oil price target by $10 to $53 for the year, as a result of a "demand shock" that is set to collapse Chinese oil consumption by 20%, or as much as 4 million barrels per day.

The sharp decline in demand in China, which by the way, is the world's largest oil importer, is now stranding oil cargoes off the country's coast and across Asia.

Bloomberg's Stephen Stapczynski records footage of an impressive parking lot of tankers and other vessels off the coast of the anchorages of the port of Singapore, one of the largest freight hubs and busiest ports in the world.

Tankers... tankers everywhere.#singapore pic.twitter.com/RCEysNtDKo

 Stephen Stapczynski (@SStapczynski) February 15, 2020

Much of the oil consumption decline is because, as we reported on Friday, China's economy is faltering as its industrial hubs remain shuttered.

Take a look at the chart below, in the Feb 7-13 week, steel apparent demand is down a whopping 40%, but that's only because flat steel is down "only" 12% Y/Y as some car plants have ordered their employee to return to work.

Real-time measurements of air pollution (a proxy for industrial output), daily coal consumption (a proxy for electricity usage and manufacturing), and traffic congestion levels (a proxy for commerce and mobility) suggest that the second-largest economy in the world has frozen. This all indicates the demand for energy products to power machines and vehicles has abruptly stopped.

A significant bottleneck for Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) deliveries to China is developing, forcing some ports to reject new tanker loads, contributing to a parking lot of tankers sitting off the coast and in other regions in Asia.

Some cargos have been diverted to Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, but even in those regions, tanker traffic jams are building.

Crude storage in China filled up near full capacity last summer, mostly due to declining demand thanks to a decelerating economy.

China's overall crude storage is around 760 million barrels, versus a peak of 780 million barrels last June.

Middle East traders who export crude via VLCCs to China reported weaker demand. VLCC rates from the Middle East to China have plunged since the virus outbreak began early last month.

"In gas markets, a one Chinese company declared force majeure, potentially allowing it to walk away from contractual commitments. The measure was rejected by Total SA and Royal Dutch Shell Plc. There are now 12 empty liquefied gas carriers sitting off the coast of Qatar, one of the world's biggest producers. While the precise reasons for the idling vessels aren't known, the timing coincides with ship diversions, cargo cancellations and reduced demand in Asia since the virus took hold. Oil tankers have been dawdling off China," reported Bloomberg.

The parking lot of tankers developing off the coast of not just China but other countries in the region have forced some traders to transfer crude to less expensive tankers to save on demurrage costs, over the fear cargos could be moored offshore for an extended period as an economic crisis in China unfolds.

And to summarize what we know so far: China's economy is collapsing, crude consumption is plunging, which has forced refiners to cut runs as a glut is developing, has now led to tanker parking lots moored off the shores of many countries in Asia.

What is also known is that bunker fuel prices at major ports in Asia, including Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan, have been declining since the virus outbreak began early last month.

The world is bracing for a huge virus shock from China, not seen in over a decade  this could easily tilt the world into recession.

By Zerohedge.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The Irish-owned Four Star Pizza chain is looking to expand into Great Britain, saying it has reached saturation point in Ireland.

The company opened five new franchises last year bringing the number of outlets on the island of Ireland to 60, including 14 in Northern Ireland.

Director Brian Clarke said a big challenge for the companys future going forward is what he calls a capacity ceiling for growth in Ireland, which has led to expansion into the British market being considered for 2020.

Last year saw us add five new stores and wed like to do the same again this year, which would take our total to 65, but we are very conscious of the fact that there is only so much room for growth in this market with every franchise having its own dedicated delivery territory as part of its contract, he said.

Our core markets of Dublin, Cork, and Belfast have already pretty much reached saturation point, which means that it is important for us to focus on expanding the brand outside of these areas.

What this means from a wider business perspective is that we are now seriously looking at expanding our operations into the GB market, which is very exciting, and we certainly expect to see some developments in that respect over the next 12 months.

The first Four Star Pizza store in Ireland opened in Crumlin, Dublin, in 1986.

The company now employs more than 1,000 people on the island of Ireland, selling 4.75m pizzas last year.

In Northern Ireland, the company opened its first store in Belfast in 1999. Last year, Four Star Pizza said it sold 4.75 million pizzas using more than 525 tonnes of cheese and 1,050 tonnes of flour in the process.
The royal family is facing yet another scandal involving the Queen's "favorite son," Prince Andrew.

Another strong evidence has snowballed the allegations on Prince Andrew's involvement with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, living the disgraced royal in the middle of a new controversy.

In an interview with Vanity Affair, U.S. Virgin Islands attorney general Denise George claimed that the Duke of York openly "groped girls" during pool parties while staying at the private Caribbean island of the late Epstein.

"An employee told me that he saw Prince Andrew on a balcony out at Little St James groping girls right out in the open," George said. "He said he remembered walking up to him and saying, "Good morning, your Highness".'

Former employees of the said private island were made to sign non-disclosure agreements to cover up the activity. It was said that the wealthy financier and his associates would bring in underage girls and engage in lewd behavior.

Dirty Little Secret

Dubbed as "Pedophile Island" or "Orgy Island" by locals, according to the Los Angeles Times, Little St. James was Epstein's 500 million estate situated in a 72-acre private island.

Virginia Roberts Giuffre, one of the nine victims, accused Prince Andrew and Epstein of sexual harassment when she was just around 18-years-old.

"The third time I had sex with Andy was in an orgy on Epstein's private island in the US Virgin Islands," Giuffre wrote in evidence to a Florida court in 2015, via New York Post.

"I was around 18 at the time. Epstein, Andy, approximately eight other young girls, and I had sex together. The other girls all seemed and appeared to be under the age of 18 and didn't really speak English."

No Comment From The Queen

Buckingham Palace remained silent amidst the rumors surrounding Prince Andrew, the second son of Queen Elizabeth II.

The Duke of York, however, denied the claims made by Giuffre and insisted he has no idea about the sexual charges by his late friend. He even went on to say that he has never met the accuser despite photos of them together showing otherwise.

The Favorite Son Resigns From Royal Duties

It was November of 2019 when the 59-year-old prince decided to step down from public duties for the foreseeable future with the permission given by Her Majesty, The Queen and his brother, Prince Charles.

In his announcement, he called the controversy "major disruption" from his royal duties.

"It has become clear to me over the last few days that the circumstances relating to my former association with Jeffrey Epstein has become a major disruption to my family's work and the valuable work going on in the many organisations and charities that I am proud to support.

"Therefore, I have asked Her Majesty if I may step back from public duties for the foreseeable future, and she has given her permission."

Epstein's Suicide

The 66-year old New York-based financier and accused child trafficker was found dead in his cell at Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan on August 10, 2019.

New York's chief medical officer cited that Epstein's death was "suicide," pointing to multiple broken bones in his neck. Autopsy shows that the cause of death was by hanging himself at the bunk of his cell.
A 10-member central team will be visiting locust-affected areas of Rajasthan in next two days to take stock of the damage to crops due to the insects.

Rajasthan Agriculture Minister Lal Chand Kataria had informed the state assembly earlier in the month that crop on over 1.49 lakh hectares was damaged in various districts due the locust attack since May last year.

The team, which arrived in Jaipur on Monday, will assess the damage in Bikaner and Jodhpur divisions in three parts.

The team held a meeting with Chief Secretary D B Gupta and other officials of the state Agriculture Department. The state officials urged the Centre to provide an early assistance of Rs 200 crore.

Gupta said the team was apprised of the fact that Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had earlier written to the prime minister and the Union minister for agriculture for assistance on the matter.

On Tuesday, the team will meet public representatives in Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Jalore and Barmer districts besides visiting the affected areas.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The death of 6-year-old Faye Swetlik, who vanished outside her home in South Carolina this week, is "linked" to a neighbor whose body was discovered shortly after hers was found, police say.

The corpse of Coty Scott Taylor, 30, was found in his residence about 150 feet from the girl's house, Cayce Department of Public Safety Sgt. Evan Antley told reporters Friday before releasing the frantic 911 call of Faye's mother.

Faye went missing Monday. Her body was found Thursday and identified by the coroner.

"Evidence and our investigation does link these two together," Antley said of the deaths. "I can confirm that he was a neighbor, that he was not a relative. He was not a friend. He was merely a neighbor."

Antley said investigators had spoken to Taylor, who had no criminal history and was unknown to law enforcement, soon after the girl went missing.

"We had been inside his home," Antley said.

Investigators located "a critical item of evidence" in a trash can at Taylor's home, Antley said. The item would have been listed on a missing person's flyer, he added, without elaborating.

Her body was found in a wooded area between her family's house and an auto parts store, Antley said. Faye's body hadn't been there long when found.

Taylor's body was discovered a short time later. Antley provided no details on the condition of his body or cause of death.

The sergeant assured residents the area is safe.

"At this time I want to assure you, our community and all of our parents out there, that we have no reason to believe that there is an active threat in the ... community or the city of Cayce as a whole," Antley said. "We have no suspects at this time. We have made no arrests and we are not seeking any persons of interest as of this time."

Police are treating the girl's death as a homicide. Her autopsy will be conducted Saturday, according to the Lexington County Coroner's Office.

Taylor's autopsy is also scheduled for Saturday.

Faye's mother, sobbing uncontrollably at times, described her daughter to 911 dispatcher

The first grader was last seen playing in her front yard after taking the bus home from Springdale Elementary School on Monday, Antley said.

But sometime around 3:45 p.m., her family realized Faye was missing, he said.

Police were called around 5 p.m.

On the 911 recording, Selena Collins, Faye's mother, is heard weeping, her voice barely audible, and she repeats her address to the disptacher.

"We can't find my daughter," Collins cried. "She was playing outside."

She added, "She's going to be 7 in June."

The dispatcher told Collins to remain on the line while she connected the call to a Cayce 911 operator, who asked what Faye was wearing.

"She was wearing polka-dotted rain boots, a flowered skirt ... and a black T-shirt that has a neon design on it."

Collins said Faye was about 3 feet tall and weighed 65 pounds. She had been missing about an hour.

"I checked all the houses in my neighborhood and anybody that answered is actually out looking for her too," she said.

"OK. An officer will be there in just a few minutes."

The search initially involved more than 100 officers, including dogs. By Tuesday, more than 250 were searching and the FBI was assisting.
A simple search with the words extravagant and Kardashian-Jenner will yield a LOT of results, and its no wonder. The family is not only rich but is constantly in the spotlight, representing the epitome of what it means to live the lifestyle of the rich and famous.

While some fans may envy their excess, others look upon their extravagance with disgust. Some even go so far as to call the family hypocritical because of their supposed support of environmental causes.

The philanthropy of the Kardashian-Jenners

Kim Kardashian West and Kylie Jenner | Taylor Hill/FilmMagic

Whether its through social media posts, donations, or fundraising events, the Kardashian-Jenner crew does support many worthy causes. Kendall Jenner, for example, used her 22nd birthday to raise funds for Charity: Water stating: I made a donation to fund 25 wells in Ethiopia that will bring clean water to 5,000 people, and I cant wait to see how many more lives we can change together.

Her little sister Kylie Jenner used her cosmetic business to do some good in the world as well by creating a lip kit specifically to raise money for SmileTrain, an NGO dedicated to helping children with cleft palates, while Kim Kardashian reportedly regularly donates to a variety of charities. Past donations include the California Wildfire Foundation and Hurricane Harvey Relief.

These are just a few of the known examples of their philanthropic deeds, and there may be even more donations from the family than the public knows about. Khloe Kardashian admonished those who want public praise for donations adding of her own giving practices, I give to give. I dont give to get.

Kourtney Kardashian is especially focused on environmental issues

Many of the Kardashians have chosen a variety of causes to focus on, some of which include environmental issues, but Kourtney Kardashian may be the most well known for environmentalism being her thing.

Many of her social media posts have some plug for the environment, and wouldnt you know it, one even promotes her brand Pooshs reusable water bottles. Still, it doesnt seem that she puts her money where her mouth is.

For instance, she was slammed for being seen drinking bottled water in the very same episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians where she lectured Kim Kardashian for doing the same.

One Twitter user called her out on this very issue: Im so sick of kourtney kardashian posting on social media trying to save the world yet she lives in calabasas and deffffff has clean water but STILL DRINKS BOTTLED WATER.

She lives a lifestyle that appears just as lavish as the rest of her family, even getting a Hummer limo for her children Reign and Masons joint birthday party. Its going to take a lot more than switching to reusable bags to undo that damage.

The Kardashian-Jenner family is undeniably wasteful

Whatever donations they make and causes they champion, some fans are not at all impressed with their over-the-top lifestyles. One Reddit user started an entire thread about just that, slamming their wasteful birthday parties, use of private jets, and overall lavish consumerism.

The post ended with: I mean, this kind of lifestyle is just falling extremelyyyy out-of-fashion and just leaves an icky taste in peoples mouths in 2020, in my opinion.

The poster was not wrong. The Kardashians and Jenners go all out time and time again for parties, events, and vacations. Among just the parties they hold are personalized party favors, balloons, gobs of decorations, and flowers, lots and lots of flowers.

Flowers may seem harmless, but flower farming is often extremely detrimental to the environment for a variety of reasons, such as the effects of pesticide run-off.

Twitter users have been vocal about their distaste as well. One user wrote: Ive never seen a more wasteful bunch of people than the Kardashians. Their carbon footprint as a whole is ridiculous. For people who keep having kids, they pay very little attention to the future theyre leaving them.

Another bemoaned the wasted potential of their influence writing: If Kylie Jenner can get girls to stop wearing lip fillers, imagine if she got everyone to be conscious to take care of the environment.

Yet another user aptly pointed out that their impact on the environment goes beyond just their personal lives.

Many of the family members have their own businesses and product lines, and with those comes more factory waste. It looks like the Kardashian-Jenner family has a long way to go before they can be considered true environmentalists.
Shocking footage taken outside an illegal rave in London shows police brutally dragging youths from the scene while others are filmed being held down by officers in riot gear.

Witnesses at the scene in the Neasden area said they had 'never seen anything like it' and that officers had 'threatened them with dogs' after police descended on the event at around 10.30pm on Saturday night.

Hundreds of youths had been in attendance at the unlicensed music event which had been hosted at a newly-refurbished warehouse in the area.

One officer was caught on camera on top of one reveller and was holding their head down with their hand.

Video footage taken at the scene showed one youth being dragged away by an officer who had him in a head lock

One clip showed a youth having their head held to the floor as an officer detained him

This is while one officer appeared to have a youth in a headlock and was seen dragging him away.

Officers were also seen kicking party-goers to the floor.

One witness told MailOnline that police often attend such events but are usually only there as a safety precaution.

The youngster said he and his friends had arrived at around 12pm and police were already on the scene.

A line of police officers was seen in London on Saturday night and the early hours of Sunday morning

One youth was seen being dragged on the floor by officers who were taking him away from the scene

'It was already crowded with police and they were being aggressive with people pushing and shoving.

'The outside area was stormed and people were questioning them because most of us were doing that they were telling us to.'

He added that one youth received a bloodied nose after an officer punched him in the face and said he himself was victim to some police brutality.#

'I was just walking through the crowd and one officer barged into me on purpose  he grabbed my shoulders and pulled me through the crowd and tried to swing for me. My friend stopped him.

'I don't know why there were so many officers there, it could have been because of the size of the venue, but I've never seen anything like that before.

Party goers were seen inside the warehouse enjoying their evening before police put a stop to it

'They are supposed to be the people that keep us safe and they are the people making us feel less safe,screaming in our faces and threatening us with the dogs.

'They were violent towards are 80 per cent of the people there'.

Other footage posted on social media on Sunday showed people inside the rave having a good time before officers raided it.

Footage from outside the warehouse also showed officers lined up on the street - while some police vehicles appeared to have been vandalised with spray paint.

In a statement, Met Police said: 'Police were called at approximately 22:30hrs on Saturday, 15 February to reports of a large number of people at an unlicensed music event at a building on the North Circular Road, NW2.

'Officers attended and attempted to engage with the organisers. Three people were arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage. They have been taken into custody.'
AR Rahmans daughter Khatija Rahman has shared happy family pictures with her father and sister Rahima, a day after her choice of wearing a burqa was described as suffocating by writer Taslima Nasreen.

Sharing pictures from their Baku vacation, Khatija wrote in caption, Peaceful time with family away from suffocation tbt #baku #azerbaijan #livingmylife #beingawayfromhome #beingawayfromnegativepeople #bosslife #bosslady #burqawalisareempowered #respectingmysisterschoices #nobodymesseswithme #singapengal. While Khatija is in a burqa, her sister Rahima is in black distressed denims and jacket.

Her reaction was in response to Taslima sharing her photo and writing, I absolutely love A R Rahmans music. But whenever i see his dear daughter, i feel suffocated. It is really depressing to learn that even educated women in a cultural family can get brainwashed very easily!

Khatija also wrote a new note ahead of posting the family pictures along with a picture of a woman in a burqa. She wrote, Why the double standards and sudden concerns only when it comes to women belonging to a certain faith? Havent we seen men wearing turbans? Women wearing habits ? Why only when it comes to a particular faith are women targeted for the choices they make wholeheartedly and with pride. Why ? Why ? And why ? I simply do not understand.

Also read: AR Rahmans daughter Khatija trolled by Taslima Nasreen for wearing burqa, replies Google up what true feminism means

Khatija had shared multiple posts in reply to Taslima and talked about her choice of wearing a burqa. She wrote to her, Dear Taslima Nasreen, Im sorry you feel suffocated by my attire. Please get some fresh air, cause I dont feel suffocated rather Im proud and empowered for what I stand for. I suggest you google up what true feminism means because it isnt bashing other women down nor bringing their fathers into the issue. I also dont recall sending my photos to you for your perusal.

In an earlier post, she had said, Been only a year and this topic is in the rounds again..theres so much happening in the country and all people are concerned about is the piece of attire a woman wants to wear. Wow, Im quite startled. Every time this topic comes the fire in me rages and makes me want to say a lot of things..Over the last one year, Ive found a different version of myself which I havent seen in so many years. I will not be weak or regret the choices Ive made in life. I am happy and proud of what I do and thanks to those who have accepted me the way I am. My work will speak, God willing.. I dont wish to say any further. To those of you who feel why Im even bringing this up and explaining myself, sadly it so happens and one has to speak for oneself, thats why Im doing it.

Dear Taslima Nasreen, Im sorry you feel suffocated by my attire. Please get some fresh air, cause I dont feel suffocated rather Im proud and empowered for what I stand for. I suggest you google up what true feminism means because it isnt bashing other women down nor bringing their fathers into the issue I also dont recall sending my photos to you for your perusal.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 19:11:41|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

MOSCOW, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has raised doubts about the efficiency of the U.S.' plan for a peaceful settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, known as the "Deal of the Century."

Washington's proposal for a solution through unilateral concessions favor Israel, Lavrov said in an interview with Italian newspaper La Stampa, which was published by the Russian Foreign Ministry Monday.

Such an approach is unlikely to help rectify the situation, and this is also indicated by the fact that the U.S. plan is categorically rejected by the Palestinians, the minister added.

Washington has essentially ignored the universally recognized international legal basis for a Middle East settlement, which includes the resolutions of the United Nations (UN) Security Council, the UN General Assembly and the Arab Peace Initiative, he said.

Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump announced his 80-page plan for peace in the Middle East in the presence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The proposal outraged the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, who demonstrated and clashed with Israeli soldiers against the plan.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Asip Hasani and Riza Roidila Mufti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 17, 2020 12:45 694 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2064ef948 1 Business Kediri,Airport,East-Java,Gudang-Garam,development,construction,Transportation,transportation-ministry,Transportation-Minister-Budi-Karya-Sumadi,land-acquisition Free

A subsidiary of publicly listed tobacco company Gudang Garam will start the development of Kediri Airport in East Java in April, with a target to finish first-phase construction by April 2022.

Kediri Airport is one of the governments national strategic projects and will be located around 20 kilometers from the city center. It is expected to reduce the overburdened Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, which is around a two-hour drive from Kediri.

The company has met all major technical requirements to build the airport. Kediri administration acting secretary Dede Sujana said that out of the total land needed to build the airport, only 0.6 percent had yet to be acquired.

Two years is enough time to finish phase one, considering that the [new] Yogyakarta International Airport in Kulonprogo was finished [in] about a year a half, Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said during his visit to Kediri over the weekend.

Kediri Airport, which would be the first-ever in the country to be fully funded by the private sector, will be developed in three phases under a public-private partnership scheme with a concession period of 30 to 50 years.

"This means that some part of it will be given to us [the government] while Gudang Garam has the right to operate it for 30 years to 50 years, said Budi Karya. This is a good example for other regions to use the same [financing scheme].

Read also: Gudang Garam-funded Kediri airport to break ground in March

Budi Karya said the government would let Gudang Garam choose an airport operator.

"We will provide a special guideline for whoever is capable of managing the airport, he said. "But air traffic control must be handled by AirNav Indonesia.

Gudang Garam, through its subsidiary Surya Dhoho Investama, will spend around Rp 10 trillion (US$732.4 million) to acquire 457 hectares of land needed for the airport and for construction.

After the first phase is complete, Kediri Airport is expected to accommodate around 5 million passengers, bigger than the capacity of nearby Abdul Rachman Saleh Airport in Malang.

Once completed, it will have a 3,000 meter by 45 m runway to accommodate a wide range of aircraft, from Boeing B777s to Airbus A350s, as well as a passenger terminal, cargo terminal and parking area.

Nyaman, a citizen of Grogol village in Grogol district, Kediri regency, East Java, tends to his cow on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020, within the site where a new airport will be developed by cigarette company Gudang Garam. Kediri administration acting secretary Dede Sujana said that out of the total land needed to build the airport, only 0.6 percent had yet to be acquired. (JP/Asip Hasani)

Transportation Ministry director general of civil aviation Novie Riyanto said the airport would serve domestic flights, while Juanda Airport would focus on international flights for the East Java area.

Kediri Airport will focus on serving passengers from nearby East Java cities along the southern Java coast, such as Kediri, Tulungagung, Trenggalek, Blitar, Madiun and Pacitan, he added.

The airport will be a new [transportation] lane for other areas in southern Java, which is very crowded, Novie said. As you know, the southern Java area is very developed with the existence of Kertajati Airport in West Java, Jenderal Sudirman Airport in Central Java and Wiradinata Airport in Tasikmalaya.

The idea to build a new airport was first initiated by East Java Deputy Governor Emil Dardak to help boost tourism and agriculture in the southern part of East Java. Several regencies previously expressed their interest in hosting the airport before Gudang Garam decided on Kediri.
The first-ever National Cat Show commenced in Hanoi to the delight of many animal enthusiasts.

Organized by World Cat Federation (WCF) and partner Vietnam Cat Lovers Club last weekend, the show featured around 50 cats from different breeds, including British Shorthair, Scottish Fold, Maine Coon, etc.

After playing with the judges, felines were placed in three categories: Kittens (3-10 months old), Cats (Over 10 months old) and Sterilized Cats. In the last round, the most beautiful were chosen to compete for the winning general position.

A cat is seen on the shoulder of her owner during the Vietnam's first cat show in Hanoi, February 16, 2020. Photo by Reuters/Kham.

Seven cats received the "best of class" awards.

President of WCF Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Son said the aim of the competition was to make people see that cats are worthy of love, according to Reuters.

"We also want to form a national playground for pet owners to practice and gain experience before competing in international shows," the news agency quoted Son as saying.

Before entering their felines in the competition, pet owners were asked to take good care of their cats by keeping them warm and preventing bacterial infections on winter days. Toys, food and diapers were also brought to the show to keep the animals calm among strangers.

Catwalk has feline fashionistas purring Vietnam hosts first ever national cat show Vietnam hosts first ever national cat show. Video by Deutsche Welle.

Judged by WCF President Annaliese Hackman and Vice President Wojciech Kurkowski, this was the first-ever cat show in Vietnam. Organizers admitted their intention to stage a similar event for cat lovers in Ho Chi Minh City in future.

Vietnam does not have laws related to killing, selling and eating cats and dogs.

In 2018, Hanoi Municipal People's Committee clarified the killing and selling of dogs and cats for human consumption cast the city in a negative global light.
According to new research from Duke University, the best helmet to protect soldiers from direct blasts may be more than 100 years old.

The researchers, from Duke's Pratt School of Engineering, tested four different military helmets to see how modern military equipment compares to older gear.

The team chose the Advanced Combat Helmet (ACH), the current US Army standard that has been in use since 2002, and tested it against three helmets from World War I.

Researchers at Duke University found the French Adrian helmet from World War I was better at absorbing blasts to the top of the head than the Advanced Combat Helmet currently used by the US Army

The World War I helmets included the French Adrian helmet, the German Stahlhelm helmet, and the American Brodie helmet.

To test each helmet, the researchers placed them on a test dummy head and exposed them to a series of blunt force blasts.

They then took readings from sensors on the dummys head to measure how much of that force made it through the helmet's protective barrier.

The pressurized helium blasts were designed to deliver an equivalent amount of force to several different types of German artillery shells exploding a distance of three feet to 16 feet.

The blasts were generated by a shock tube, a wide cylinder that had a membrane behind which helium gas would build up until it reached a high enough pressure to explode through the barrier.

The team measured the force conveyed by a forced blast of helium gas to test dummy heads wearing four different helmets, three from World War I and the current standard US Army helmet

The ACH performed slightly better than the German and American WWI helmets, but the French Adrian helmet outperformed the three others, relaying around half the amount of pressure of the more modern helmet.

The amount of pressure recorded by the sensors under the Adrian helmet were correlated with less than a one percent chance of internal bleeding in the brain, compared to around five percent chance for the other three helmets.

As a baseline measurement, the team also tested the amount of force on an unprotected helmet, which conveyed force enough to correlate with a 50 percent chance of brain bleeding.

The helmets tested, from left to right: the American Brodie helmet, the French Adrian helmet, the German Stahlhelm helmet, and the modern American Advanced Combat Helmet. The final panel is the bare test dummy head

The result is intriguing because the French helmet was manufactured using similar materials as its German and British counterparts, and even had a thinner wall, Dukes Joost Op t Eynde said in an interview with the universitys website.

The main difference is that the French helmet had a crest on top of its crown. While it was designed to deflect shrapnel, this feature might also be deflecting shock waves.

Researchers believe the benefit came from the additional ridge built into the top of the Adrian helmet

The advantages of the Adrian helmet disappeared when the blast was applied to other parts of the head.

The difference a simple crest or a wider brim can make in blast protection, shows just how important this line of research could be, Op t Eynde said.

With all of the modern materials and manufacturing capabilities we possess today, we should be able to make improvements in helmet design that protects from blast waves better than helmets today or 100 years ago.
The six most promising logistics markets remained unchanged over year

The 2020 Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index indicates that the group of six markets identified by survey respondents as having the most promising logistics markets was unchanged in 2020. India and China maintain a marked lead in this ranking as they do in the data-driven Index. Vietnam remains third as confidence matches the progress it has made in improving its infrastructure and domestic market in recent years, in addition to the export growth it has seen as trade shifts from China.

If businesses are going to relocate from China, Vietnam and India are the most likely investment destinations, according to 48 per cent of those surveyed. Mexico and Cambodia were the lowest-rated relocation options amongst survey respondents.

In addition, Vietnam also ranked 11th overall in the 2020 Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index, down one spot against last year. In Southeast Asia, Vietnam ranked fourth, trailing behind Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.

In line with survey respondents assertions, Vietnam currently appears to be the "winner" of the trade war as both air and sea imports to the US are forecast to increase 23 and 25 per cent, respectively, in 2019.

Chinas largest export items (in terms of volume) to the US by sea via container was furniture, bedding, and lamps in 2018. This accounted for 14 per cent of sea freight volumes exported to the US. Goods from this product category were hit in the tranche of tariffs applied on $200 billion worth of goods, initially 10 per cent in September 2018 before rising to 25 per cent in May 2019.

As Chinese exports of these products to the US have fallen, Vietnam has benefitted, exporting 333 million kilogrammes more furniture to the US over the same period. Projecting the whole year at this level, Vietnam could export over 2.1 billion kg of furniture to the US. This would be the highest growth rate over this time period and comfortably the largest increase in absolute terms, according to the report.
Iran is ready for talks on security in the Persian Gulf with all parties, including Saudi Arabia, senior adviser to Iranian FM Mehdi Sanaei told reporters.

Iran offers talks with Saudi Arabia and expressed readiness for talks on bilateral relations, on regional issues, he said adding he is ready to explain it to everyone and work with everyone according to the Hormuzs plan for ensuring security in the Persian Gulf, Sanaei said.

He also noted that regional security should be ensured by regional initiatives.

The aggravation in the Persian Gulf began after the July 19 after the Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps detained the British tanker Stena Impero in Iranian territorial waters and subsequently escorted him to the port of Bandar Abbas. The incident with Stena Impero was the actual response of the Iranian authorities to the detention of the Iranian tanker by the authorities of British Gibraltar.
by Steven Rosenbaum , Featured Contributor, February 17, 2020



When McClatchy filed for bankruptcy this week, news industry insiders were saddened, but not surprised. Meanwhile, in an unrelated case, the owner of Newsweek was found guilty of financial fraud.

Unrelated, but together they signal a significant change in the nature of news. There are old trusted brands hanging on by a thread, but who owns those brands has gone through a remarkable change -- with little notice.

Heres the point that matters: News is now owned almost entirely by financial entities whose motives are troublingly clear. They want to make large returns on their investments, even as the nature of the news business and the changing behaviors of readers and platforms make a renewed investment in innovation critically important.

As The New York Times has reported, the new owners of the news business are almost entirely private equity firms. Private equity is the new name for a financial mechanism formerly known as an LBO: leveraged buyout firms, which got a bad rep for buying up companies and selling out their assets for a quick buck.

advertisement advertisement

Today Fortress Investment Group owns Gannett, the nations largest newspaper group. Fortress is owned by the Japanese firm SoftBank (notable for its wild investment in WeWork). SoftBanks money comes from the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. (cue Howard Beale: Who IS CCA???  the fictitious corporation, also with ties to Saudi Arabia, that owns the fictitious UBS TV network in the movie Network ).

Alden Global Capital, another private equity fund, owns MediaNewsGroup, which owns many major papers including The Denver Post and the San Jose Mercury News. Alden is now the largest shareholder in the Tribune Company, which owns the New York Daily News, The Baltimore Sun, the Chicago Tribune, and a long list of other major market daily newspapers.

Ken Doctor, a well-known news media analyst, told The New York Times that this trend ratifies the almost complete financialization of the American newspaper industry.

So now, McClatchy. The leading bidder is Chatham Asset Management, which owns the notorious American Media. Hmm you remember it, right? It owns the National Enquirer, the supermarket tabloid drawn into one of the many Trump scandals including the so-called "cats and kill" scheme to purchase and then shelve Ttrump accuser stories, and of course the Bezos photographs that were stolen and published. All of Trumps dirt put in a mystery "safe" that has yet to be opened. So, journalism or corrupt extortion -- depending on how you look at it.

So why would a financially driven private equity firm buy an ailing newspaper chain in an industry under siege?

A quick rewatching of Michael Douglas in Wall Street might be timely here. Greed is good, says Gordon Gekko ,with no hit of remorse. Back then, he bought an aging wire and cable company. But the payoff was to sell the real estate and shut down the factory, leaving all the workers without jobs.

Is private equity buying newspapers for the business, or is it just the buildings and the hard assets they plan to spin off as they wind down the businesses? We cant know the strategy, but rebuilding and investing in the newspaper business doesnt seem to be on the agenda.

Meanwhile, IBT Media, which bought Newsweek from Barry Diller's IAC/InterActive in 2013, finds itself guilty. Its a mess of a story, and I wont bother you with the details, which you can read about here..

Here's how the once-storied media brand came unglued: Newsweek began in 1933 as a competitor to Time magazine. In 1961 The Washington Post Company purchased Newsweek. The Post solid it, for just $1, to Sidney Harman (of Harmon/Kardon Audio fame). He merged it with The Daily Beast (which is a Diller publication) and Diller sold it for some undisclosed sum, to IBT. So you can see the downward slide,

So some Gordon Gekko outfit will buy McClatchy or bail it out. It is in grave danger. As Howard Beale so wisely understood -- or "Network" writer Paddy Chayefsky speaking through Beale: The whole world's people are becoming mass-produced, programmed, numbered, insensate things. Because this is no longer a nation of independent individuals. It's a nation of some two-hundred-odd million transistorized, deodorized, whiter-than-white, steel-belted bodies, totally unnecessary as human beings and as replaceable as piston rods.

If those words arent familiar to you, its time to watch the movie Network, perhaps the most chilling film ever made. Because in many ways, Beale would have turned into Donald Trump if hed run for office.
Communism is National as well as International

This week marks our new monthly theory theme: internationalism. Presented here is an article by former CPA president E W Campbell on the international and national character of communism and why both are important. On the following page, we are celebrating the 172th anniversary of the publishing of The Communist Manifesto, the founding document of our movement. In celebration we are looking back at what the CPA had to say about it at the 150th anniversary in 1998.

In the third of his recitals of lies against Communism, Prime Minister Menzies charged the Australian Communist Party with being an integral part of the world Communist revolutionary movement, which, in the Kings Dominions and elsewhere, engages in espionage and sabotage and in activities or operations of a treasonable or subversive nature.

Communism is a world movement, Menzies declared.

This is the one true statement in the whole of his recital, but the conclusions he draws are as false as the promises which won the elections for the Liberal Party.

The international character of Communism has never been denied. On the contrary, it has been boldly proclaimed since the movements inception more than a hundred years ago. The immortal Communist Manifesto of Marx and Engels closes with the great rallying call: Working men of all countries, unite!

Capitalism is international in character. This is particularly apparent, in the present epoch of imperialism, wherein big capitalist monopolies, having achieved domination in the internal market of their own country, have combined with monopoly capitalists to form international cartels to control the world market.

P G Spender, Minister for External Affairs in the Menzies Cabinet, typifies the international character of monopoly capitalism. Spender is a director of the Goodyear Tyre and Rubber Company, whose headquarters are in America, and whose ramifications extend throughout the capitalist part of the world.

Others who sit in the Menzies Cabinet have close ties with the Collins House monopolists, who have among other things, investments in Malaya worth about 25 million.

Because capitalism is international in character, the working class movement, in order to succeed, must also be international.

This lesson was learnt by workers long before they realised the need for Communist parties.

The First Workingmens International was formed in London in 1864. Under the leadership of Marx and Engels it united British trade unionIsts, Chartists, French Socialists and workers of other political trends. It went out of existence after the defeat of the glorious Paris Commune in 1871.

The Second International  the Labour and Socialist International  was formed in 1889. The British Labour Party was one of the leading parties in this International, and Ramsay Macdonald, who later ratted to become a Tory Prime Minister was one of its most prominent spokesmen.

The Second International collapsed ignominiously in 1914, when its opportunist leaders shamefully betrayed working-class internationalism by deserting to the side of their own capitalists in the imperialist war.

The Third  Communist  International was formed in 1919 and existed up until 1943, when it was voluntarily dissolved because it was no longer practicable to guide the international movement from a single organisational centre, and because the Communist parties had reached such a stage of ideological and organisational maturity that they were well able to apply Marxist-Leninist theory to the conditions prevailing in their respective countries.

There exists at present a Communist Information Bureau, which embraces eight European Communist Parties, and whose purpose, as the name indicates, is to exchange and disseminate information of mutual benefit on Communism and related questions.

The Communist Party of Australia, which was formed in 1920, became affiliated with the Communist International in 1922 and remained affiliated until 1943. Since then it has had no organisational connection with any overseas body.

Shorn of its obscure verbiage, Menzies recital is reduced to a repetition of the hoary capitalist lie that Australian Communists take their orders from Moscow and are primarily interested in advancing the interests of the Soviet Government.

To bolster his slander, Menzies, seemingly, found no irony in turning to a foreign source for arguments.

He quoted as his authority on the viewpoint of Russian Communists a report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the US House of Representatives, entitled The Strategy and Tactics of World Communism.

In so doing he confirmed the international character of capitalism, and in addition revealed that the Liberal Party and the Australian capitalist class are an integral part of the world counter-revolutionary movement, whose headquarters are in Washington.

The Yankee Governments cooked-up document brazenly attributed to communists the views held by the imperialists  They are incapable of accepting the idea that peace can endure from now on, and they expect one more catastrophic war.

It described the Communist Parties outside the Soviet Union as junior partners or auxiliaries.

This slander is refuted by the general secretary of the Australian Communist Party. L L Sharkey, in his pamphlet, Australian Communists and Soviet Russia.

The Australian Communist Party has no relations, official or otherwise, with the Soviet Government, nor did we ever have such relations. Formerly, there existed the Third International, now abolished and, like the Communist Parties of every other country, the Australian Communist Party was affiliated.

The Communist International had no relations with the Soviet Government, but was an independent organisation ... 

Posing the question, What is the true relation of Australian Communists to the Soviet Union, Sharkey answers:

First, the Australian Communist Party fights for Socialism; Socialism is already a fact in the Soviet Union. This at once establishes a community of interest, not only between the Communists and the Soviet Union, but between the labour movement as a whole, which desires to see socialisation of industry similar to that already attained in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ...

Secondly, Australian Communists subscribe to the slogan propounded by Karl Marx, Workingmen of all countries, unite! That is to say, we are internationalists and believe that the working people of all countries must co-operate in order to improve their living standards and achieve the goal of a Socialist society ...

Our relation to the Russian people can be summed up, then, as based on the Marxist principle of working class internationalism, of support for them in their struggle to establish a Communist society in their own country, and of using the lessons of their experience in building socialism, to the advantage of the Australian labour movement.

Adherence to working class internationalism does not mean Communists are lacking in national pride.

This was made clear by Lenin in an article written in December 1914, entitled The National Pride of the Great Russians.

Is the sense of national pride alien to us, Great-Russian, class conscious proletarians? Lenin asked. Of course not! We love our language and our country, we are doing more than anybody to raise her toiling masses ...

It pains us more than anyone to see and feel the outrage, oppression and humiliation inflicted on our splendid country by the tsarist hangmen ...

This is also the attitude of Australian Communists. We love our language and our country and are doing more than anybody to raise living standards, defend peace and to save our country from falling a victim to the war plots of the Yankee billionaires.

It pains us more than anyone to see and feel the outrage, oppression and humiliation inflicted on our splendid country by the Liberal hangmen, who are destroying democratic rights and betraying our national independence to the foreign imperialists of America.

Ours is an Australian Party. It is part of the world revolutionary movement but is deeply rooted in our own national life and traditions.

Australia has what might be called a militant-democratic tradition established in the course of the mass popular movement to end convictism in the 1850s, the armed struggle of the gold diggers at Eureka in 1854, which expedited self-government and gave the institutions a more democratic form than they would otherwise have had, the strikes in Sydney and Melbourne in 1855-56 which won the eight-hour day for building workers, and the great popular struggle to break the squatters land monopoly.

Therefore, Communists, by leading militant unions and attacking the Collins House industrial and financial monopolists, as our forefathers attacked the land monopolists, and by calling on the Australian people to prevent our country becoming a colony of American imperialism, as it was once a colony of British imperialism, is living up to the best Australian traditions.

Australia also has an anti-militarist tradition. For three-quarters of a century after the British Redcoats withdrew in 1870 there was no standing army in this country. Anti-militarist feeling was so pronounced that two conscription referendums were defeated during the first world war.

Therefore, Communists, in leading the fight for peace, for banning the atom bomb, and for general disarmament, are again acting in the best traditions of their country and its working people.

The significance of the Australian militant-democratic tradition in preparing the way for Communism is discussed by Lance Sharkey in his booklet, Australia Marches On. Referring to the formative period of the Australian nation in the last century, he says:

It was in this high, wide and handsome period that the independent, individualist character of the Australian toilers was most pronounced. The workers were not so dependent on capital, on employment in mass industries, which made them more independent in character than their fellows in more strongly established capitalist States ...

Monopoly capitalism must never be allowed to crush the characteristics of independence, pride in themselves, and initiative of the Australian masses.

That is precisely the aim of Menzies fascist legislation, to crush the characteristic fighting spirit of the Australian working people as a prelude to plunging our country into a disastrous war organised by the foreign imperialists of the United States.

The attack on the Communist Party is not only an attack on the labour movement as a whole, it is also an attack by monopoly capitalism on all that is best and most progressive in the Australian nation.

Therefore, in defending their democratic rights, the Communists are not only defending the interests of the working class, but also the interests of Australia as an independent nation.

This article appeared in Tribune, May 1950.
System error

error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.

context: ... 21: </%method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: </%perl> 28: <table width="90%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 29: <tr> ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25

/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951

/var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17

/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149



Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f048234b118)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0482564f40)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f048234b118)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0482564f40)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f048244cd90)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0482564f40)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0482564f40)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0481b67790)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f048235e360)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f048235e360)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
ATLANTA, Feb. 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The board of directors of Crawford & Company (NYSE: CRD-A and CRD-B), the worlds largest publicly listed independent provider of claims management and outsourcing solutions to carriers, brokers and corporates, today announced the election of Dame Inga Beale as an independent director, effective February 11, 2020.



Inga brings an array of international insurance carrier experience that will positively impact Crawford strategy going forward, said Harsha V. Agadi, president and CEO of Crawford & Company. She will provide insights, counsel and perspectives that will complement those of the existing board members and from which Crawford will benefit. I look forward to partnering with Inga as we continue to deliver on our mission of restoring and enhancing lives, business and communities across the globe.

Beale is the former CEO of Lloyd's of London, a post she held for five years before stepping down in 2018. She was the first female CEO in the global insurance and reinsurance market's 325-year history. Beale started her career at Prudential Assurance Company in London and is trained as an underwriter specializing in international treaty reinsurance. She worked for General Electrics insurance division for 14 years where she held numerous management roles, including leadership roles in Kansas City, Paris and Munich. Beale then headed Swiss reinsurer Converium, where she spearheaded a company turn around. In 2008, she joined Zurich Insurance Group as a member of their Group Management Board. The following year she was named the group's Global Chief Underwriting Officer. From 2012-13, she was the Group CEO at the privately held Lloyd's insurer Canopius. Beale is a Chartered Insurer and studied economics and accounting at Newbury College, Berkshire England and was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to the economy.

Crawford has long recognized the value of maintaining a more inclusive board of directors and proudly celebrates the legacy of Virginia Crawford, the companys first female director. With the election of Dame Inga, Crawford now has three female directors on its nine-strong board and proudly joins other leading companies who have taken the important step of having at least three female directors, stated Charlie Ogburn, non-executive chairman of the Crawford & Company board.

About Crawford

Based in Atlanta, Crawford & Company (NYSE: CRDA and CRDB) is the worlds largest publicly listed independent provider of claims management and outsourcing solutions to insurance companies and selfinsured entities with an expansive global network serving clients in more than 70 countries. The Companys two classes of stock are substantially identical, except with respect to voting rights and the Companys ability to pay greater cash dividends on the non-voting Class A Common Stock (CRD-A) than on the voting Class B Common Stock (CRD-B), subject to certain limitations. In addition, with respect to mergers or similar transactions, holders of CRD-A must receive the same type and amount of consideration as holders of CRD-B, unless different consideration is approved by the holders of 75 percent of CRD-A, voting as a class. More information is available at www.crawco.com .

Media Contacts:

Lynn Cufley

Crawford & Company

+44 207 265 4067

Lynn.Cufley@crawco.co.uk
Detectives have charged a second man after a ram raid and theft at the Louis Vuitton store in the heart of Brisbane last week.

It will be alleged a stolen white BMW station wagon was reversed repeatedly into the security doors of the Queen Street store about 4am last Thursday.

Police said the two men covered their faces during the theft. Credit:Nine News Queensland

Two men got out of the car and stole several luxury items, including handbags that sell for thousands of dollars each.

The burnt-out vehicle was later found in Tiffany Street, Browns Plains, about 22km south of the Brisbane CBD.
Local officials have reached out to the U.S. Census Bureau requesting that a regional census office be established in Oneida County.

Assemblywoman Marianne Buttenschon, State Sen. Joseph Griffo, Assemblyman Brian Miller and Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente all signed a letter to the bureau.

The four believe a nearby location would allow residents to have better access to information about the process, which would help avoid underrepresentation in the county.

The letter reads:

The U.S. Census Bureau has opened regional field offices across New York State, including Syracuse and Albany. We question the reasoning behind limiting such offices to larger, urban areas of the state. By doing so, it is more difficult for all residents to provide input, ask questions or get more information. This is the case especially for those New Yorkers living in rural areas, the elderly and refugee families in the Mohawk Valley.

It is our belief that it would be in the Census Bureaus best interest to establish a regional field office in Oneida County, which is centrally located and equidistant to several larger cities in the region. A census field office was located in the former Doyle Hardware Building in downtown Utica in 2010. By again operating an office in Oneida County, we would be able to provide more access to important information and resources related to the census process. It also would help to ensure that all of the regions residents, including its refugee population, are counted.

While Utica and Oneida County have welcomed and helped to resettle thousands of refugees and their families over the last four decades, immigrant communities are often undercounted in the census. Door-to-door census takers can only do so much to answer questions from people who either know little about the census or who face a language barrier. As a result of these and other obstacles, some individuals may choose to not participate in the process. This in turn puts the state and its residents at risk of losing out on congressional representation and crucial federal funding that is necessary for communities within our districts. A regional field office in Oneida County would help to alleviate concerns those in the local refugee community may have regarding the census.

Thank you for your consideration of this matter. We are hopeful that you will consider operating a regional field office in the Mohawk Valley and have written to our federal representatives to request that they engage in this effort.

A similar letter was also sent to senators Charles Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand, and U.S. Rep. Anthony Brindisi.
A fire swept through a Haitian childrens home run by a Pennsylvania-based Christian nonprofit group, killing 15 children, officials said Friday.

Rose-Marie Louis, a child-care worker at the home, told The Associated Press that the fire began around 9 p.m. Thursday and firefighters took about 90 minutes to arrive. The orphanage had been using candles for light due to problems with its generator and inverter, she said.

About half of those who died were babies or toddlers and the others were roughly 10 or 11 years old, Louis said.

Late Friday afternoon, police raided another home also run by the Church of Bible Understanding and took away several dozen children in a bus over protests from employees.

The fire happened at the groups orphanage in the Kenscoff area outside Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital.

It could have been me, said Renadin Mondeline, a 22-year-old who lived in the home with her son, now 6, for about two years until she started making enough money as a street vendor to start renting her own place to live last year. These little girls inside were just like my baby.

Rescue workers arrived at the scene on motorcycles and didnt have bottled oxygen or the ambulances needed to transport the children to the hospital, said Jean-Francois Robenty, a civil protection official.

They could have been saved, he said. We didnt have the equipment to save their lives.

The Associated Press has reported on a long-standing series of problems at the two childrens homes run by the Church of Bible Understanding.

We are aware of the fire in the childrens home in Haiti, said Temi J. Sacks, a spokesman for the group, which is based in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It would be irresponsible for us to comment until after all the facts are in.

The Church of Bible Understanding lost accreditation for its homes after a series of inspections beginning in November 2012. Haitian inspectors faulted the group for overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, and not having enough adequately trained staff.

Members of the religious group were selling expensive vintage building fixtures like banisters and chandeliers at high-end stores in New York and Los Angeles and using a portion of the profits to fund the homes.

The Associated Press made an unannounced visit to the groups two homes, holding a total of 120 kids, in 2013 and found bunk beds with faded and worn mattresses crowded into dirty rooms. Sour air wafted through the bathrooms and stairwells. Rooms were dark and spartan, lacking comforts or decoration.

The Church of Bible Understanding operates two homes for nearly 200 children in Haiti as part of a Christian training program, according to its most recent nonprofit organization filing. It has operated in the country since 1977. It identifies the homes as orphanages but it is common in Haiti for impoverished parents to place children in residential care centers, where they receive lodging and widely varying education for several years but are not technically orphans.

We take in children who are in desperate situations, the organization says in its tax filing for 2017, the most recent year available. Many of them were very close to death when we took them in. The nonprofit reported revenue of $6.6 million and expenses of $2.2 million for the year.

Associated Press journalists Evens Sanon reported this story in Port-au-Prince, AP writer Michael Weissenstein reported from Havana and AP writer Ben Fox reported from Washington.
People wearing face mask walk at a downtown street in Hong Kong Monday, Feb. 17, 2020. (PHOTO: AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

By Vinicy Chan, Julia Fioretti and Ken Wang

(Bloomberg) -- Investment banking is all about building relationships and providing that personal touch. With the coronavirus rippling through China, bankers confined to home offices cant do much of either, grinding deals to a halt in the worlds second-largest economy.

The virus outbreak, whose death toll has topped 1,700, has barred many dealmakers from traveling to China, making client meetings and on-site due diligence nearly impossible. Announced mergers involving a Chinese company dropped to $25.9 billion so far this year, the lowest for the period since 2014, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Its a similar story on the equity front, with just one initial public offering in the last 30 days in Hong Kong.

Its inevitable that there are delays in deal execution as a result of restrictions on travel and office closures which continue to disrupt business activities, said Sze-shing Tan, a principal in the mergers practice at Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow law firm in Singapore.

The list of delayed deals is growing. Auto parts maker Chongqing Sokon Industry Group Co. said in a filing to Shanghais stock exchange that the virus outbreak has had a direct impact on its planned takeover of Dongfeng Motor Corp.s joint venture through a 3.85 billion yuan ($553 million) stake sale. The target firm, based in the hard-hit Hubei province, hasnt been able to update its financials amid the suspension of on-site audit and verification.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. has delayed the sale of its Zambian operations because the virus outbreak is preventing face-to-face meetings with potential Chinese buyers, the Canadian company said last week. The asset has drawn interests from companies including Jiangxi Copper Co., people familiar with the matter have said.

In Hong Kong, where many bankers and lawyers are also confined to home offices, restaurant operator Daikiya Group Holdings Ltd. canceled its IPO, while Chinese biotech firm InnoCare Pharma Ltd. postponed investor meetings for its planned Hong Kong listing. The move, which could delay the entire share sale, doesnt bode well for other IPO candidates in the pipeline. 58 Home, the maid and home-maintenance service owned by Chinas Craigslist equivalent 58.com Inc., delayed its planned U.S. IPO as the coronavirus outbreak cripples customer demand.

Story continues

Chinas domestic IPO market has charged forward though. Twelve companies have priced offerings this month, with a combined value of $2.8 billion, according to Bloomberg data. The momentum might not last long as these listings were cleared before the Lunar New Year holiday, when concerns over the virus surged.

For dealmakers, the deadly virus is exposing the limits of technology. In an era of digital banking and lightning-fast electronic trading, some transactions still require a hand shake and face-to-face contact. Pitch meetings, due diligence and regulatory reviews are best done in person. Its a service industry after all, much like the restaurant business: You cant do a billion-dollar deal over WeChat, said one banker, referring to Chinas popular communication app.

Some tales from the front lines:

Still, outside China, some deals are progressing. British supermarket chain Tesco Plc. is inviting suitors to the second round bidding of its operations in Thailand and Malaysia worth more than $7 billion. Central Group, a conglomerate with businesses spanning from department stores to hospitality, raised more than $2 billion through a spinoff of its retail arm in Thailand.

In southeast Asia our M&A pipeline is as strong as it has been over the last five years and we continue to see a number of billion dollar plus IPOs, said Gregory Thiery, head of Southeast Asia investment banking at Morgan Stanley.

Central Retail, controlled by the Chirathivat family, is among several companies pursuing billion-dollar IPOs in Southeast Asia. Billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, Thailands richest person, is also considering a listing of his brewery business in Singapore, while PTT Oil & Retail Business Pcl plans to kick off its IPO process this year.

Having a strong Asean franchise is a good hedge against any potential China slowdown, said David Biller, head of Asean banking, capital markets and advisory at Citigroup Inc., who added that Citigroups revenue in southeast Asian investment banking has increased by double digits in the last year.

Sector Strength

The M&A activity is centered on energy, consumer, transportation as well as banking and insurance, according to Morgan Stanleys Thiery. Thats partly because global private equity firms are getting more active and multinational corporations are selling their non-core assets in this part of the world.

KKR & Co., for example, is exploring a potential sale of Singaporean provider of intermediate bulk container Goodpack Ltd. for about $2 billion, Bloomberg News reported previously. Malaysias sovereign fund and Telenor ASA have revived talks on a potential deal involving Axiata Group Bhd., people familiar with the matter have said, just a few months after the carriers scrapped negotiations on a broader merger of their Asian operations.

The strong presence of wealth management clients in the region also means theres significant cash to be deployed, underpinning deals, according to Nicolo Magni, head of global banking for southeast Asia and India at UBS Group AG.

Logistically in the current context, it may take longer for these cross-border deals to proceed but they will get done, Magni said.

Back in Hong Kong and China, even as dealmakers extend their holidays or stock up on masks, they remain optimistic that a second-half rebound is likely once the virus subsides and travel resumes. Yet the threat of a washed-out 2020 looms if the impact drags on for months.

With the travel ban in and out of China, we are expecting to see a decline in China inbound and outbound deals, said Grace Tso, a partner at Baker McKenzie in Hong Kong. Whether it is a matter of short-term investment sentiment or will have a rippling effect to other sectors will depend on whether the epidemic can be contained in a shorter period of time.

 2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 23:14:19|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

MINSK, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Belarus has expressed its disappointment with the European Union's decision to extend sanctions against it for next year.

In a statement, the country's foreign ministry called the EU restrictions groundless remnants of the past that inhibit political dialogue.

On Monday, the European Council extended restrictive measures against Belarus for a year until Feb. 28, 2021.

The EU introduced restrictive measures against Belarus in 2011, partially reduced in 2016, but an arms embargo and visa sanctions on four Belarussian citizens have been extended annually.
The good guys catch the bad guys, and sometimes Shemar Moore is shirtless. Thats the basic premise of CBSs procedural drama Criminal Minds, which will air its final episode on Wednesday after 15 seasons. For the past decade and a half, the show has followed a revolving cast of FBI agents as they track down serial killers for the fictional Behavioral Analysis Unit. Buzzier shows like Mindhunter and True Detective and docuseries like Conversations with a Killer or The Keepers have since provided fresher serial killer content, but when Criminal Minds aired in 2005, its concepta slight remix on the tried-and-true villain of week formulawas relatively unique. Despite it now being part of a rather crowded field, the show has been one of my consistent guilty pleasures over the past 10 yearsone whose appeal I have long struggled to explain to others.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

I started watching Criminal Minds in junior high, before I fully understood the ramifications of cop procedural shows and their tendency to function as propaganda that glosses over the discrimination and brutality thats baked into law enforcement. And yet even as I grew more familiar with the brokenness of our criminal justice system and the abhorrent history of the FBI, I still found myself turning to Criminal Minds in quiet moments when I didnt have the mental bandwidth for anything else. Why do I like this objectively not-great show? The most compelling reason is that, by virtue of focusing on serial killersone of the whitest subsets of criminals, at least in the public imaginationCriminal Minds made it pretty easy to ignore the racial dynamics that make early episodes of Law & Order so cringey. A less compelling (though probably more honest) reason is that Criminal Minds at its very best is just my kind of formulaic fun, despite the morbidity baked into its premise. When the show attempted season-long arcs or social commentary was when I was most likely to tune out. But episodic case-of-the-week plotsor better yet, the one-two punch of a two-episode archit the perfect sweet spot.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

The prime example of this, and the place where I would recommend any Criminal Minds neophyte start, is a two-episode arc in the third season: Lucky and Penelope. (Tragically these episodes came before Thirst Aid Kit-verified hottie Adam Rodriguez became a series regular, and for that I apologize.) The beating hearts of the entire series are Dr. Spencer Reid, an awkward wunderkind played by Matthew Gray Gubler, and Penelope Garcia, a brilliant technical analyst with a flamboyant wardrobe played by Kristen Vangsness. As you can probably guess from the second episodes title, Garcia is the primary focus of this plotline, and thats where the sweet spot comes in. Most procedurals have to balance revealing enough backstory of the main characters to keep audiences emotionally invested while simultaneously making sure the villain of the week doesnt get short shrift, and Lucky and Penelope are masterclasses in that balance. The first episode opens in Florida in 1988one of the many lessons Ive learned from this show are never to go to Florida or anywhere near a swampwhere a mysterious 17-year-old is being released from a mental hospital against his doctors recommendation. A hospital chairman says that the hospitals hands are tied, because the patient has to be released once he turns 18. The doctor responds in a bit of clunky foreshadowing: Its not your hands that Im worried about.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Fast-forward to the present (or at least, sometime in the late aughts) to Garcia walking into a coffee shop in Quantico, Virginia, where she has a meet-cute with a stranger whose computer needs fixing. She heads into the office in a dreamy daze, bumping into fellow agent Derek Morgan, played by Moore, who calls her out for not giving him a proper greeting. Every day I say, Good morning, he teases her. Every day you say, Ill show you a good morning, hot stuff. Not today? If that exchange made you cringe reading it, it also made me cringe watching it. And yet Morgan and Garcias borderline workplace-inappropriate flirting is one of the many joys of Criminal Minds that kept me coming back season after season.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Still, theres no time to linger, because their conversation is quickly interrupted when the team gets a new case: The body of a 19-year-old girl is found in Bridgewater, Florida in what locals believe is a satanic cult killing. (Another tip I learned from this show: never go to cities with a high concentration of college-aged girls. They will surely end up dead.) The good detectives of the Behavioral Analysis Unit know that theres no such thing as killing satanic cults, setting up one of the familiar dynamics of the show where the team has to swoop in and lord their superior crime-solving skills over the local law enforcement. What proceeds from there is pretty straightforward: That 17-year-old from the flashback grows up to be a cannibalistic serial killer who makes his victims eat the fingers of previous victims. (Remember that clunky foreshadowing?) I wont reveal more here, but suffice to say, dont eat chili while youre watching this episode.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Garcia goes on a date with the man whose computer she fixed, but just as she turns around for what she thinks is a goodnight kiss, something unexpected happens. The second episode, Penelope, sees Garcia being transported to the hospital. Despite a scene where team lead Aaron Hotchner (Thomas Gibson) says It doesnt look good as they all wait for her to emerge from surgery, Vangnesss presence as a series regular for the next 12 seasons clues you in to the fact that the wound isnt fatal. But the rest of the episode is spent trying to track down Garcias attacker and as the team investigates, more and more of her backstory as an underground hacker comes to light. In making one of the most universally beloved members of the BAU team the target of an attack, the bond between the agents and the chemistry of the cast are allowed to come to the fore. Its in these sorts of episodes that the admittedly sometimes elusive appeal of the show is at its most obviousif you can get over the cannibal chili.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Alaska approved a regulation change establishing a personal-use salmon dipnet fishery on a portion of the Susitna River.

The Alaska Board of Fisheries voted last week to create the fishery that will be available from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays between July 10 and July 31, The Anchorage Daily News reported.

The Susitna system empties into Cook Inlet and is home to all five species of Pacific salmon.

Dipnetters will be able to harvest up to 25 salmon in the new fishery in Southcentral Alaska, though chinook salmon will be off limits.

Several groups backed the new fishery, including the Matanuska Valley Fish and Game Advisory Committee and the South Central Alaska Dipnetters Association, which both submitted proposals to the board.

Personal-use fisheries are only open to Alaska residents and allow permit holders to harvest up to 25 salmon per head of household each year, with an additional 10 salmon for each additional family member.

Personal-use salmon fisheries already exist in Cook Inlet on the Kenai River, Kasilof River on the Kenai Peninsula and Fish Creek. There is also a personal-use fishery at the Copper River, which empties into Prince William Sound southeast of Anchorage.

The proposal submitted by the Matanuska Valley committee said the new fishery would give area residents an opportunity to harvest salmon closer to home.

Residents of the Mat-Su Valley would like the option of a (personal-use) fishery on the Susitna River and not having to travel hundreds of miles away to the Kenai or Copper Rivers, the committee wrote.
JDU MLA from Hayaghat, Amarnath Gami on Monday said that no government in the state has ever worked to address the issue of unemployment.

"There is unemployment in Bihar without a doubt. If there was no unemployment then people would not have left Bihar to work in other states. No government has ever worked to address this issue in the state. The government should focus on this issue to solve this problem. It is not possible to remove unemployment without the centre's help," Gami told reporters here.

"If Tejashwi Ji is taking out a 'yatra' against unemployment, he should know that just by doing this unemployment will not be removed. For solving this issue, a plan should be made and the public should be informed about it," he added.

Another JDU MLC from Banka, Javed Iqbal Ansari went on to support Tejashwi Yadav's "Berojgaari Hatao Yatra" and questioned Nitish Kumar's failure on unemployment and migration in the last 15 years.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) will hold a 'Berozgari Hatao' (Remove Unemployment) Yatra in Patna on February 23.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav will lead the rally in the state capital, following which it will be held in every district of the state.

This bid can also be seen as RJD's attempt to increase its voter base in the state ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in Bihar.

Assembly elections in Bihar are likely to be held in October-November 2020. Currently, Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) is ruling in a coalition with BJP in Bihar.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
When state and federal agencies receive a report of feral hog sightings or sign on private land, a member of the Missouri Feral Hog Elimination Partnership is dispatched to review the evidence and visit with the landowner. The Missouri Department of Conservation has said it is important that landowners know what to expect when they embark on the process of eliminating feral hogs on their land.

The partnership is made up of 12 state and federal organizations that work together on feral hog elimination. Partnership members participating in on-the-ground trapping efforts include the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), USDA APHIS Wildlife Services (USDA WS) and the L-A-D Foundation.

We respond to the initial request within five working days to let the landowner know we received their request and give them a timeframe of when they can expect a visit from us, said Jason Jensen. Normally MDCs private lands division chief, Jensen is currently representing MDC as an incident commander on the elimination partnership.

Jensen said when visiting with a landowner, theyll be walked through the process, step by step on what will happen. From start to finish of the feral hog trapping process, Jensen said, the most important thing for landowners to know is that theyre in control of what happens on their land.

We work with the landowner the entire time. If they want to stop trapping during hunting seasons, thats what we do. If they want to work with us to eliminate feral hogs from their property, thats what we do, he said. ...We tell them how well place the bait and game camera, how we ensure the feral hogs are hitting the bait consistently before we set up the trap, how its important that they get accustomed the trap before we set a trigger, and how we catch and dispatch them, he said.

Jensen said the team works to communicate with the landowner frequently, so the landowner knows how the effort is progressing.

When we get the full sounder of feral hogs, we will pull the trap and take it to the next site, but we can always come back if needed, Jensen said.

Jensen said before the process begins, its important for landowners and the trapping team to agree on refraining from activities that could impede the trapping process. For example, although it takes some time to bait, set traps and ultimately trap the feral hogs, hunting and shooting at feral hogs that come to a trap will condition them to stay away from traps.

This is why we ask landowners to take a break from hunting or shooting at hogs, because it conditions those hogs that a trap with corn equals getting shot at and ultimately causes the hogs to be trap shy, Jensen said.

One complication landowners should be aware of is that, since corn is used to bait feral hogs, sometimes deer and turkeys will also gather at a bait station. To keep landowners and hunters from being in violation of baiting laws, MDC conservation agents and landowners work with the trapping technicians to designate a No Hunting Zone around the trap site and, if possible, allow hunting on the remainder of the property, subject to approval of the landowner. The size of the no hunting areas are determined by a conservation agent. The same occurs on public land where no hunting areas are designated around trapping and baiting sites during deer and turkey season.

On smaller properties, we typically suspend hog trapping efforts until after all hunting has stopped, Jensen said. If you are hunting deer on 40 acres, theres a good chance that you are probably going to run the hogs off your property anyway. Ultimately, the decision to stop trapping and hunt, or stop hunting and trap, or have a no hunt zone is up to the landowner.

After eliminating feral hogs, the landowner makes the decision of what is done with the carcasses. If the landowner does not want the carcasses, technicians dispose of the carcasses on the property.

One of the most common questions we receive about disposing of feral hog carcasses is if they can be eaten, Jensen said. While there are many people that eat feral hog meat, its important to know that wild, unvaccinated hogs can be a reservoir for many diseases and parasites.

Animal disease control and prevention is a priority in the feral hog population from the Missouri Department of Agricultures perspective. The USDA plays a cooperative role by testing around 100 feral hogs each year in Missouri. In the past, feral hogs have tested positive for diseases that concern hog farmers, like pseudorabies and brucellosis. It is against state regulations to possess, transport or breed feral hogs without an MDA permit. Due to the risk of disease, its also important landowners note that carcasses cannot enter the food supply.

State and federally regulated processing centers cannot accept euthanized feral hogs for donation due to the possibility of disease, Travis Guerrant, USDA APHIS Wildlife Services state director, said. If we are trapping on private land, the landowner makes the decision of what is done with the carcass  whether to keep the carcass or to dispose of it.

Jensen also said deer and turkey season is a good time to watch out for feral hog sign while out in the woods. Report feral hog sign or sightings at www.mdc.mo.gov/feralhog.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
The Netherlands Public Prosecutor's Office does not express concern over the dismissal of Ukrainian prosecutors involved in the MH17 probe.

"The Netherlands Public Prosecutor's Office is not concerned over the reorganization consequences for upcoming MH17 trial as the Dutch court's files are almost ready," Spokesperson for the Netherlands Public Prosecutor's Office Brechtje van de Moosdijk said in a commentary to an Ukrinform correspondent in The Hague.

According to her, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine remains a reliable partner of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) which conducts the investigation into MH17 crash.

"The rotation of prosecutors do not change this," the spokesperson said.

Today it became known that four representatives of the Prosecutor General's Office are involved now in the JITs probe into the MH17 crash.

Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vadym Prystaiko stated that the dismissal of Ukrainian prosecutors previously involved in the MH17 probe would not affect further investigation.

Earlier, the Dutch media outlet NRC.NL reported about the dismissal of the Ukrainian prosecutors involved in the MH17 probe, including two prosecutors who had represented Ukraine in the Joint Investigation Team (JIT).

As noted, such developments could play into the hands of suspects, who might use the dismissal of Ukrainian prosecutors during the trial, and could affect further investigation into identification of other possible suspects.

As reported, the trial of suspects in downing MH17 flight will start on March 9, 2020.

On June 19, 2019, the international Joint Investigation Team named four suspects believed to be involved in the transportation and combat use of the Buk missile system, from which MH17 flight had been downed. Three of them are Russians: Igor Girkin, retired officer of the Russian Armed Forces, and former colonel of Russias Federal Security Service; Sergey Dubinskiy, colonel of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces; Oleg Pulatov, lieutenant colonel of the Russian Airborne Forces Reserve. The fourth suspect is Leonid Kharchenko, a Ukrainian civilian, who fought on the side of the so-called Donetsk Peoples Republic.

Oleg Pulatov expressed a desire to join the legal proceedings and will be represented in court by a Dutch law firm.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down over conflict-hit Donbas in July 2014. There were 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board. All of them died. The JIT reported that the plane had been shot down from a Buk missile system that belongs to the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces stationed in Kursk.

ol
OTTAWA - The competing demands of natural resource development, environmental protection and Indigenous reconciliation appear poised for a head-on crash  with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority government caught in the middle as Parliament resumes Tuesday.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 17/2/2020 (693 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The closed train tracks are seen in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, Ont. on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2020, in support of Wet'suwet'en's blockade of a natural gas pipeline in northern B.C. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg

OTTAWA - The competing demands of natural resource development, environmental protection and Indigenous reconciliation appear poised for a head-on crash  with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority government caught in the middle as Parliament resumes Tuesday.

The NDP is asking House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota for an emergency debate on anti-pipeline blockades that have shut down swaths of the country's train system and interrupted traffic on highways and bridges for more than a week.

The blockades are in support of Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs who oppose a natural-gas pipeline project that crosses the First Nation's territory in northern British Columbia.

Trudeau faces a blockade of a different sort  from his own Liberal backbenchers  over another energy project.

Many Liberal MPs are openly campaigning against approval of Teck Resources' proposed Frontier oilsands mine in Alberta, which they see as antithetical to Trudeau's pledge to combat climate change.

Cabinet must decide by the end of this month whether to approve the project and risk the wrath of Liberal MPs and voters concerned about climate change, or nix it and risk raising "roiling western alienation to a boiling point," as Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has warned.

Either issue is politically explosive but the combination makes for something of a perfect storm for Trudeau's fragile minority.

NDP House leader Peter Julian wrote to Rota on Monday to request that emergency debate on anti-pipeline blockades.

"The prime minister's refusal to take more substantive and timely action has allowed tensions to rise, put significant pressure on the Canadian economy and threatened jobs across the country," Julian wrote.

"He has said that no relationship is as important to him as Canada's relationship with Indigenous Peoples but those words must be backed up by actions," he added, calling for a "swift and just resolution."

Trudeau, who was overseas last week trying to drum up support for Canada's bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council, spent hours Monday holed up with some of his cabinet ministers trying to figure out a way to end the blockades quickly and peacefully. He has said governments in Canada do not order the police to clear out protesters but it was unclear Monday what other action the government might take to end the standoff.

The Conservatives, who've called for police enforcement of court injunctions against the protests, have an opposition day on Thursday and may use that opportunity to further pressure the government over its perceived inaction on the blockades, if the issue isn't resolved by then.

Or they could pressure the government to approve Teck's Frontier project. Conservative MPs have echoed Kenney's contention that the project would create thousands of jobs and bolster Alberta's struggling economy and that rejection would be a blow to national unity.

But many Liberal MPs aren't buying those arguments.

Toronto MP John McKay says Liberal caucus members are "darn close" to unanimous in their opposition to the Teck mine.

"My guess is that (Trudeau) will not go against the views of caucus," he says, adding that he sympathizes with Trudeau's having to make a "lose-lose" decision.

Some aren't convinced the project will ever be built, pointing to Teck CEO Don Lindsay's admission that the mine will only proceed if oil prices substantially increase and the company obtains joint-venture partners.

Nor are they buying Kenney's portrayal of the project as the sole saviour of Alberta's economy. They note that there are some 20 other oilsands projects that already have approval and are ready to go but are on ice because they're not economically viable given low world oil prices.

University of Alberta environmental economist Andrew Leach says some of those other projects could be viable at much lower oil prices than Teck but they are on hold because of production limits imposed by the Alberta government.

"It's easier for Premier Kenney to be able to say it's not happening because of the federal regulatory process than for him to say ... the provincial government hasn't given final approval or, in the general case, it's not happening because of broader economic circumstances that are sort of beyond his control and don't have an obvious someone else to blame," Leach says.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2020.
SAN MATEO, California, Feb. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Celigo, the leading integration Platform-as-a-Service (iPaaS) provider for both business and technical users, today announced its partnership with SangIT Israel. SangIT Israel is a leading iPaaS consulting firm in the Israeli market. By partnering with Celigo, SangIT Israel will be able to provide clients with pre-packaged integration solutions that will connect hundreds of cloud and on-Prem applications such as Salesforce, Concur, Microsoft, Jira, Zuora, Zendesk, Shopify, and many more, seamlessly and automatically.

"SangIT teams are very experienced in the core business application integration, such as ERP, CRM, BI, PLM, QMS," said Roman Mitshel, VP Sales at SangIT Israel. "The Celigo platform will enable SangIT customers to evaluate and adopt iPaaS. The Celigo integrations will save our customers time with a complete iPaaS and pre-built integrations designed to get them up and running quickly."

SangIT provides global B2B and B2C integration solutions either on Cloud or On-Premises environments. SangIT will leverage the integration flows of Celigo's Integration templates to jump-start integrations between the core tools their customers use within their workflow.

"As more organizations deploy applications to automate business processes, integrating across them is key," said Jan Arendtsz, founder and CEO of Celigo. "Our EMEA presence continues to grow, and we're thrilled to partner with SangIT as a part of our global outreach to provide their customers with the leading integration solution."

The Celigo Integrator.io iPaaS enables partners and customers to expand using functional consultants and tech-savvy business users, without having to spin up developer-led, long, expensive integration projects. Celigo offers a guided approach to application integration by offering an intuitive step-by-step wizard and integration assistants and templates for hundreds of applications.

The partnership will be kicking off with the joint webinar titled "How Israeli Companies Automate Business Processes in NetSuite with Integration" on Wednesday, February 26th at 3 p.m. IST. Led by integration experts from Celigo and SangIT, this webinar will cover the critical role that integration plays in any automation strategy for growth, and lessons learned from having connected thousands of customers over the last 10 years.

To start using Celigo for free, sign-up at www.celigo.com or contact info@celigo.com.

About Celigo:

Built for both IT professionals and business users, Celigo is the next-generation integration platform (iPaaS) that easily connects and automates processes across thousands of applications. Celigo allows users to quickly build, manage and handoff complex integrations at scale, requiring fewer IT resources and lowering total cost of ownership.

For more information visit www.celigo.com, and follow Celigo on YouTube and Twitter.

About SangIT Israel:

SangIT Israel combines a unique merger of strong Business Orientation & Technical Expertise. SangIT team is a leading consulting group specialized in Global implementation services of enterprise applications. SangIT is an IT project-oriented firm, with a proven project methodology. SangIT consultants and managers have led dozens of iPaaS & BPM, DW, ERP, CRM projects worldwide.

Learn more at sangit.co.il.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1090969/celigo_logo.jpg
France's health minister Agnes Buzyn quit on Monday to save efforts by President Emmanuel Macron's political party to clinch the city hall of Paris.

Buzyn will now run for mayor of the city, after another Macron ally -- Benjamin Griveaux -- resigned his campaign over a sexting scandal.

Griveaux was forced out of the race on Thursday (February 13) after videos he sent to a woman were posted online showing him masturbating.

(SOUNDBITE) (French) OUTGOING FRENCH HEALTH MINISTER, AGNES BUZYN, SAYING:

"Of course there is the unpredictability of political life, the unexpected moments that are sometimes unworthy of an election campaign. But today is a new beginning, it all starts now. (Late British Prime Minister Winston) Churchill has said, 'Success is not final, failure is not fatal, it's the courage to continue that counts'. (APPLAUSE AS BUZYN CRIES) I have that courage. The men and women of Paris can count on my efforts."

Buzyn is stepping down at a critical time for the health ministry, as it grapples with response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Making Europes most critical infrastructure dependant on Chinese technology opens the door to blackmail and sabotage, argues George Soros.

NEITHER the European public nor European political and business leaders fully understand the threat presented by Xi Jinpings China.

Although Xi is a dictator who is using cutting-edge technology in an effort to impose total control on Chinese society, Europeans regard China primarily as an important business partner.

They fail to appreciate that, since Xi became president and general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC), he has established a regime whose guiding principles are diametrically opposed to the values on which the EU was founded.

The rush to embrace Xi is greater in Britain, which is in the process of separating itself from the EU, than in the EU itself. Prime minister Boris Johnson wants to distance the UK from the EU as much as possible and to build a free-market economy that is unconstrained by EU regulations.

He is unlikely to succeed, because the EU is prepared to take countermeasures against the type of deregulation Johnsons government seems to have in mind.

But, in the meantime, Britain is eyeing China as a potential partner, in the hope of re-establishing the partnership that former chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne was building between 2010 and 2016.

The Trump administration, as distinct from US president Donald Trump personally, has done much better in managing its ties with China. It developed a bipartisan policy that declared China to be a strategic rival and put tech giant Huawei and several other Chinese companies on the so-called Entity List, which forbids US companies to trade with them without government permission.

Only one person can violate this rule with impunity: Trump himself.

Unfortunately, he appears to be doing just that by putting Huawei on the bargaining table with Xi.

Since May 2019, when the US placed it on the entity list, its Department of Commerce has granted Huawei several three-month exemptions in order to prevent undue hardship for the companys US components suppliers.

Huawei is a very unusual  in some ways unique  company. Its founder, Ren Zhengfei, received his technical education in part as a member of the Peoples Liberation Army engineering corps, and the PLA became one of his first major customers.

At the time of Huaweis founding in 1987, all of Chinas technology was imported from abroad, and Rens goal was to reverse engineer foreign technologies with local researchers. He has succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.

By 1993, Huawei launched the most powerful telephone switch available in China. Subsequently, it received a key contract from the PLA to build the first national telecommunications network.

It then benefited from the governments policy, adopted in 1996, for nurturing domestic telecommunications manufacturers, which also meant keeping foreign competitors out.

By 2005, Huaweis exports exceeded its domestic sales. In 2010, Huawei was included in Fortune magazines global list of the 500 largest companies.

After Xi came to power, Huawei lost whatever autonomy it may have enjoyed.

Like every other Chinese company, it must follow the CPCs orders. Until 2017, this remained animplicit understanding; with the adoption of the National Intelligence Law that year, it became a formal obligation.

Soon after that, a Huawei employee was involved in a spying scandal in Poland, and the company has also been accused of other cases of espionage.

But spying is not the greatest danger for Europe. Making Europes most critical infrastructure dependent on Chinese technology means opening the door to blackmail and sabotage.

It is clear to me that, under Xi, China poses a threat to the values on which the EU was founded. Apparently this is not clear to the leaders of EU member states, nor to the leaders of industry, particularly in Germany.

The EU faces a tremendous challenge: The silent pro-European majority has spoken, saying its primary concern is climate change, but member states are fighting with one another over the budget and are more focused on appeasing Xi than maintaining the transatlantic relationship.

Instead of fighting a losing battle against Huaweis dominance in the 5G market, the US and the EU, or the EU alone, ought to co-operate in building up Ericsson and Nokia as viable competitors. Xi will meet the heads of state and government of the 27 EU member states at the EU-China summit in Leipzig in September.

Europeans need to understand that this will hand him a much-needed political victory unless he is held accountable for, and questioned about, his failure to uphold human rights, particularly in Tibet, Xinjiang, and Hong Kong.

Only the Chinese political leadership can decide Xis future. The harm caused by his mishandling of the coronavirus outbreak has become so visible that the Chinese public, even the Politburo, must recognise it.

The EU should notfacilitate his political survival.

George Soros, founder and chair of the Open Society Foundations, is the author of In Defense of Open Society.
Canada's Bombardier said on Monday it had agreed to sell its rail division to France's Alstom for an enterprise value of $8.2 billion, as it focuses purely on business aviation and pays down debt. That price tag includes equity plus debt. The deal will be done majoritarily in cash, with a chunk paid in new Alstom shares, Bombardier and Alstom confirmed in separate statements. Bombardier said it would be receiving net proceeds of between $4.2 and $4.5 billion, once it accounts for the portion that will go to Canadian pension fund manager Caisse de depot et placement du ...
[February 17, 2020] Trax Moves Closer to its Vision of Digitizing Physical Retail with Qopius Acquisition

Trax, a leading provider of computer vision and analytics solutions for retail, today announced its acquisition of Qopius, a top provider of AI-based in-store technology solutions in Europe. The acquisition will serve as a force multiplier in pushing real-time store monitoring and autonomous inventory management into mainstream adoption, helping retailers across the world embrace data and digital innovation to cut costs and boost sales at every shelf. Retailers and consumer goods manufacturers around the world leverage Trax's in-store execution and retail analytics solutions to better manage on-shelf availability and optimize merchandising. These solutions are powered by proprietary fine-grained image recognition algorithms which convert photos of retail shelves into granular, actionable shelf and store-level insights. Qopius' hardware-agnostic computer vision platform helps retailers monitor in real-time on-shelf inventory for out of stocks, compliance, inventory levels and price integrity at scale. Their platform leverages advanced retail data integration and analytics to empower store managers and staff to take the right action at the right time for streamlined store operations and higher sales. Qopius' customers include leading retailers such as Carrefour, Casino, Metro and MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group. Computer Vision Saves Retailers from Costly In-Store Execution Issues Trax's acquisition of Qopius comes at a time when exceptional customer experience has become the rallying call of every retail executive. A 2019 research study by Trax and Coresight found that 8 in 10 of these executives believe consistent in-store execution - which entails the improvement of issues such as out of shelf or misplaced items, planogram non-compliance and pricing errors - remains the biggest impediment to customer satisfaction. Only 32% of respondents had the right data to monitor how long an item was missing from shelves, while 52% of respondents said they were planning to adopt image recognition technology within the next two years.



Trax CEO and co-founder Joel Bar-El said, "The key to retail success in the new decade is using technology to support employees. This means capturing critical shelf data in real-time to enable employees to fix merchandising and availability issues faster than ever before. Qopius' proven expertise in digitizing supermarket shelves across Europe and phenomenal talent make it a strategic fit for Trax. We are truly excited to welcome Qopius to the Trax family." Trax Empowers Store Employees with Always-on Shelf Monitoring Solution

The Qopius acquisition deepens and broadens Trax's reach within the grocery retail space. With the combined platforms, Trax intends to better serve grocery retailers by offering them a holistic, closed-loop approach to improving store operations efficiency through always-on shelf monitoring. Qopius co-founder Roy Moussa said, "Qopius' mission is to transform brick-and-mortar into a data-driven and frictionless operation, while empowering store employees to focus on providing the best customer experience. We are thrilled and honored to join Trax, a company we all know is passionate about bringing AI into the physical retail world. Together with the reach and resources of the Trax group of companies, we will deliver scalable, easy-to-deploy digitization solutions to improve the health of every shelf, which will revolutionize how shopping is done today." About Trax Trax is a leading provider of computer vision solutions and analytics for retail. It recently was selected as a Red Herring (News - Alert) Top 100 Global and ranked in the top 25 Fastest Growing Companies on Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 list. The company enables tighter execution controls in-store and provides clients with the ability to leverage competitive insights through its in-store execution tools, shelf monitoring solutions, market measurement and analytics services to unlock revenue opportunities at all points of sale. Many of the world's top brands and grocery retailers leverage Trax in over 80 countries to manage in-store execution and increase revenues at the shelf. Trax is headquartered in Singapore with offices worldwide. To learn more about Trax, please visit www.traxretail.com. About Qopius Qopius helps retailers to digitize brick-and-mortar retail by offering reliable, real-time shelf analysis using hardware-agnostic computer vision. The Qopius platform helps retailers track the behavior of their products on the shelves and take corrective action in real-time to ensure the shopping experience is at its best and grow revenues at the shelf. Qopius is helping some of the largest European retailers leverage computer vision to improve in-store execution. To learn more, visit www.qopius.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200217005190/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
JACKSON, Miss.  The swollen Pearl River appeared to have crested Monday in Mississippis capital, but authorities warned the hundreds of evacuees in the Jackson area not to rush back home until they got the all clear, and a forecast of more rain put counties further south at risk of flooding.

No injuries were reported from the major flooding in central Mississippi and southern Tennessee. But as the high water recedes, officials expect to find damaged roads and problems with water and sewage pipes. In Savannah, Tennessee, two houses slid down a muddy bluff into the Tennessee River, although its residents had fled earlier.

Please do not move back into your neighborhood or into your home until authorities and officials give you the OK to do so, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said at a news conference.

A near-record rainy winter has forced authorities to release water from swollen reservoirs, potentially worsening the flooding for those living downstream.

It is a chess match were playing with Mother Nature, said Jim Hopson, spokesman for the Tennessee Valley Authority.

The Pearl River appeared to crest at just under 37 feet (11.3 meters), Reeves said. It is forecast to fall below major flood stage at 36 feet (11 meters) around midnight Tuesday, although more problems could arise if rains in the next few days are heavier than forecast.

We as a state are not in the clear yet, Reeves said.

The Pearls highest recorded crest was 43.2 feet on April 17, 1979. The second-highest level occurred May 5, 1983, when the river rose to 39.58 feet.

Reeves thanked residents for heeding evacuation orders. Only 16 search-and-rescue missions were needed, he said, even though as many as 1,000 homes were flooded.

One of those homes belongs to Chris Sharp, who had enough time to find an 18-wheeler, load it with his possessions and drive away Friday from the house his parents bought in the 1970s. The house was inundated in those previous two flood years.

On Monday, he tried to go back with a boat, but a police officer turned him away.

All you can do is just sit back and watch, Sharp said by phone from his brothers nearby house.

He expects several inches of water in his home, and this flood finally has Sharp considering whether his family should move. The home isnt covered by flood insurance because he said the cost has grown too expensive in recent years.

Ive been through it before, so I kind of knew what to do, Sharp said, giving a resigned laugh. But theres a bunch of people who didnt do anything.

Elsewhere in Jackson, residents paddled canoes, kayaks and small fishing boats to check on their houses, giving lifts to other neighbors. Some were able to enter their homes, while others peeked into the windows to check on damage inside. Floodwaters lapped at mailboxes, street signs and cars that had been left in driveways.

The momentary break in the rain enabled water levels at the Barnett Reservoir upriver of the capital to stabilize, but officials repeated their warnings to pay attention to evacuation orders, check on road closures before traveling and stay off any flooded roads.

Mississippi emergency management officials said Sunday that they had received preliminary damage reports from 11 counties connected with the severe weather that began on Feb. 10.

River gauges in four states from South Carolina west to Mississippi are reporting moderate flooding, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Forecasters predict more rain across the Southeast this week. It shouldnt be as heavy as previous weeks, but with lakes and reservoirs nearing capacity, it wont take a deluge to require authorities to release more water.

Dramatic video posted by a Tennessee fire department showed the impact near Savannah: Two houses tumbled down a bluff over the Tennessee River, while many others have been swamped to their rooftops, as entire neighborhoods disappear in muddy water below the Tennessee Valley Authoritys Pickwick Reservoir.

Dozens of other homes in more low-lying areas were swamped, the departments drone video showed.

It absolutely kills you, knowing that houses are getting destroyed downstream from the dam, the TVAs Hopson told The Associated Press on Monday. We have engineers on duty 24-7 trying to figure out whats the most effective way to move this water downstream with the least impact. They feel it. I feel it.

Februarys rains have been 400 percent of normal, and we have more coming in this week. Its kind of a never-ending battle, Hopson added.

The Pickwick is the next-to-last dam in the TVAs system, and all the water from a river basin stretching into Virginia and Georgia has to flow through it before reaching the Ohio River and then the Mississippi. Water levels behind upstream tributary dams used to contain the flooding have risen as much as 40 feet this month, but even then, the Pickwick was releasing 2.36 million gallons per second Monday, down only slightly from 2.5 million gallons per second Sunday night, Hopson said.

Mother Nature is really the one in charge  we simply try to manage what Mother Nature gives us, to minimize the impacts along the 652-mile Tennessee River and its thousands of miles of tributaries and streams, Hopson said.

___

Deslatte reported from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, and Michael Warren in Atlanta contributed.
Torrential rain from Storm Dennis has swelled rivers to exceptional levels in parts of Britain, with more forecast to fall later this week, the Environment Agency (EA) warned.

Communities across the country are counting the cost of the weekends storm which has left more than 400 properties flooded.

Among the worst affected areas were South Wales, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire where major incidents were declared.

Around 1,000 staff were on duty, with 5km of flood barriers deployed and 90 pumps in action, the EA said.

It warned the flood risk continues, with further heavy rain forecast in the north of England for Wednesday and Thursday, possibly falling on already flooded areas.

One woman, swept away by floodwater near Tenbury in Worcestershire on Sunday, was feared dead by police as a search resumed on Monday.

Emergency evacuations were also under way in Hereford, where the River Wye reached its highest level on record.

The aftermath of the storm caused transport disruption on Monday, as train lines and roads were blocked by flooding and fallen trees.

The AA said nationally it had attended more than 400 vehicles stuck in water or mud over the weekend, more than double that under Storm Ciara a week ago.

Hereford residents were advised that flooding could trigger periodic power cuts and some roads were closed.

Wondering why the weather is staying unsettled this week?



The reason is down to the #jetstream remaining strong and close to the UK this week. This will steer further areas of low pressure our way pic.twitter.com/Qik6uAB8tN  Met Office (@metoffice) February 17, 2020

Speaking in Worcester, the EAs David Throup, West Midlands environment manager, told Sky News: I think its peaking now in Hereford, the levels that youve got there are truly exceptional levels, they are the highest levels weve ever recorded on the River Wye and those records go back 200 years.

He added: Here in Worcester, the River Severn is also at a level that is similar to the big floods in 2007.

As of 3.30pm on Monday, six severe danger to life flood warnings from the EA were in place for the River Wye at Blackmarstone, Hereford, and at Hampton Bishop; the River Severn at Uckinghall and at New Street and Waterside, Upton upon Severn; and the River Lugg at Hampton Bishop.

The agencys executive director of flood and coastal risk management, John Curtin, tweeted that 420 properties were flooded by Storm Dennis and 18,500 protected, with both figures expected to rise.

He indicated that 800 properties were flooded by Storm Ciara.

Locals in the inundated area around Hereford described devastating flood scenes that struck roads, a business park, the railway line and homes.

Greg Smith, who took drone images of the flooding, said: Ive never seen anything like this.

Meanwhile, residents living near Eastham Bridge in Worcestershire described 48 hours of chaos as they lost count of the number of vehicles  including a fire engine and a petrol tanker  caught in floodwaters.

Over in South Wales, one of the worst-hit areas was the village of Nantgarw, near Cardiff, where entire streets were left underwater from the early hours of Sunday morning.

Jeanette and Rachel Cox had a terrifying evacuation from their home in Oxford Street after waking at 4am to the floodwater.

Everything downstairs has completely gone, said 68-year-old Mrs Cox, who was only able recover a wedding day photo of her with husband Bill, who died from cancer in 2009.

Visiting the flooded village of Trehafod, near Pontypridd, Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price criticised the Welsh Governments level of investment in flood defences, saying the weekends events were a wake-up call.

Natural Resources Wales said provisional data indicated the River Taff at Pontypridd had reached its highest level for over 40 years.

Youth climate strikers said they had to cancel their first ever national conference, with delegates coming from across the UK, due to serious flooding in Staffordshire.

#StormDennis continues to bring disruptive weather to parts of England.



Stay safe and know what to do in a flood  pic.twitter.com/imLL0drs6p  Environment Agency (@EnvAgency) February 17, 2020

The Prime Minister resisted calls to chair a meeting of the Governments emergency committee, Cobra, to tackle the flooding crisis, despite criticism from the Labour Party.

Luke Pollard, shadow environment secretary, said it was a disgrace that Boris Johnson had refused to visit affected communities.

Asked why Mr Johnson was not making personal visits, a Number 10 spokesman said he was receiving regular updates and that Environment Secretary George Eustice was leading on the issue.

Mr Eustice defended the Governments response, saying it was not possible to protect every house from flooding and pointed to 4 billion of funding committed to flood defences in the next five years.

Meanwhile, local authorities hit by flooding will be able to recoup some of their costs via emergency financial assistance available through the Bellwin Scheme, the Government said.

A record number of flood warnings and alerts, more than 600, were issued by the EA across England on Sunday, with this falling to below 500 on Monday afternoon.

The Met Office has issued two yellow weather warnings for snow and ice over parts of Scotland from 6pm on Monday, with further warnings of persistent rain in Wales for Wednesday and Thursday.
Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki in an article for the Tuesday edition of the German daily Die Welt wrote that Poland wants Europe to be a global player.

At the same time the PM appealed for drafting a common budget that will help the EU to become, among others, a world leader in new technologies.

"The European Union has found itself at a turning point in history. Brexit as well as negotiations on the Multi-Annual Financial Framework is an occasion to avoid sliding into the sidelines of history and build a Union which will not only take part in a race for a better and more just future but will also have a chance to win this race. We want Europe to be a global player," wrote the Polish PM in the article made available on Die Welt's website on Monday.

According to the Polish PM, the first step towards achieving this is reaching agreement on an EU budget.

"That is why I would like to say with full conviction that there is nothing that could be a better foundation for a bold European project than a good budget," stressed Morawiecki, noting that budget negotiations have been carried out according to a well-known scenario where "the roles in this scenario were assigned to the fiscally-responsible North, in-need-of-investment East and plunged-into-crisis South." In effect "in such conditions it is easy to reduce the budget to a bag of gifts, to which older members of the European family have pitched in while the gifts are taken by the younger ones. But this is not only a fundamental mistake, but above all a false interpretation," wrote the Polish PM.

Morawiecki recalled that it is the richer countries, mainly older EU members, which benefit most from the single internal market.

"In 2017, Polish economists assessed that 80 percent of the EU's contributions via the Cohesion Policy to the economies of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia (V4) were returned to the Community in 2007-2015. You might think this is an incomprehensible paradox, but that is the logic of European development. The North does not subsidise the East and the South, it makes profits, and to be precise, everyone makes profits," wrote the PM.

Explaining the situation, Morawiecki wrote that "for example Poland is twice as important to Germany in terms of German exports than Russia. Poland and the Czech Republic combined are more important than China. In turn, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary together carry more weight for Germany than the United States."

The PM added that in 2018, Poland's GDP was 71 percent of the EU average. Since 2003 this index has gone up by almost a half. "We owe this primarily to the entrepreneurship of Polish women and men who are able to take advantage of the opportunities created by the common market," wrote the PM.

"We must draft our budget as to build a Union that is a world leader in the field of new technologies and in which four basic freedoms are strengthened, especially the freedom to provide services. We must not argue about transfers or alleged benefits, because, as already mentioned, those who give, also benefit," emphasised the PM.

Mateusz Morawiecki also said that 2020 is a special year for Poland as well as for Europe. "We are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Solidarity movement, which helped defeat communism and united people in Europe regardless of their views. The EU needs a budget in the spirit of Solidarity," concluded the Polish PM. (PAP)

aa/ mf/
Chicks run around a barn at a farm in Osage, Iowa on Aug. 9, 2014. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

China Approves Imports of Live Poultry From US

BEIJINGChina has approved the import of all poultry products from the United States, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said on its website on Feb. 17, including breeding birds in addition to poultry meat approved late last year.

Beijing had banned all trade in poultry products from the United States since 2015 due to outbreaks of avian influenza there.

But it lifted the ban on poultry meat imports in November 2019 as a concession to the United States ahead of finalizing a limited trade deal.

The new announcement would also allow for the import of live birds, said Li Jinghui of the China Poultry Association, benefiting companies including Aviagen and Cobb-Vantress Inc., both based in the United States and among the worlds biggest poultry breeding companies.

Nobody at the China offices of Aviagen or Cobb could immediately be reached by phone.

Imports of live poultry from the United States were worth $38.7 million in 2013, dwarfed by other poultry products such as chicken feet.

However, the United States ban had a significant impact on Chinas poultry producers, who needed the breeders to replenish their stock.

Opening up imports of live birds again is part of the trade deal, said Li, although he added that it may not have a major impact.

Both Aviagen and Cobb have increased production of their birds, known as grandparent stock, in other locations such as New Zealand to meet demand from China.

Two of Chinas leading poultry firms, Shandong Yisheng Livestock and Poultry Breeding Co. Ltd., and Fujian Sunner Development Co. Ltd., have also begun their own breeding programs to reduce their reliance on imports.

China is the worlds second-largest poultry producer and has been ramping up output to fill a huge meat shortage after African swine fever decimated its pig herd.

But prices have plunged in recent weeks because of measures taken by Beijing to tackle a coronavirus outbreak.

An outbreak of the H5N6 bird flu has been reported on Feb. 10 in Sichuan Province and is separate from the coronavirus outbreak that has prompted lockdowns in other parts of the country. 1,840 of 2,497 birds died on the farm, and the remainder of the birds were culled to prevent the spread of the virus.

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.

Restrictions on moving livestock and extended holidays in many areas have paralyzed the supply chain, leaving farmers stuck with large inventories of birds and eggs and slashing demand as restaurants and canteens stay shut.

Containers of frozen chicken feet from the United States have also been caught up in the logistics logjam, with many diverted away from China because of a lack of capacity to store additional cargoes.

By Dominique Patton. The Epoch Times contributed to this report.
13 Christian leaders criticize Trump policies they fear will increase poverty

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Thirteen Christian leaders have signed onto a letter speaking out against President Donald Trumps budget proposal and other administration policies that they say will add to the nations poverty and hunger issues.

The Circle of Protection, a coalition comprised of leaders from various Christian organizations, published an open letter Tuesday calling out administration actions that affect people in poverty.

As leaders from all the families of U.S. Christianity, representing church bodies and networks serving more than 100 million Americans, we are concerned about administration action to cut safety net programs that help low-income people, the letter reads. The gospel of Gods love for all people moves us to speak together on this issue.

The coalition is comprised of mostly left-leaning Christian leaders, including Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, Sojourners founder Jim Wallis, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton and Barbara Williams Skinner of the National African American Clergy Network.

Other signatories to the letter include the National Association of Evangelicals President Walter Kim, Gabriel Salguero of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, Jim Winkler of the National Council of Churches and Bread for the World President David Beckmann.

We can do better. Jesus taught that the peoples of the world will be judged by what we do for the hungry, the stranger, the sick and the prisoner, the letter explains, citing Matthew 25.

Among many things, the letter takes issue with an executive order signed by Trump in April 2018 that instructs government departments to look for ways to impose tougher rules and work requirements for eligibility in means-tested public assistance programs.

The agencies were instructed to gauge whether programs are helping individuals and families avoid long-term dependence.

The leaders argue that while they support the goal of helping Americans toward financial independence, they fear some of the administrations policy changes and proposed cuts to low-income programs are likely to add to the hunger, poverty and economic insecurity which are already far too widespread in our country.

Nearly 40 million people are living in poverty in the U.S., according to Poverty USA.

The letter blasts new rules from the Department of Agriculture that some fear will lead to 3.7 million people being stripped of their food stamps through the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program. There is also concern that proposed changes will lead to 1 million schoolchildren losing automatic eligibility for free school meals.

The administration has taken a series of actions to reduce the number of people who get health insurance on the Affordable Health Care exchanges, and the number of people covered by health insurance has dropped by 7 million since the end of 2016, it says.

The administration now wants to allow states to impose work requirements on Medicaid. Courts have ruled that this is inconsistent with the law. But Arkansas moved ahead before the courts acted, and 18,000 people lost health insurance.

The leaders argue that if work requirements on Medicaid are implemented nationwide, anywhere from 1.4 million to 4 million people may lose their health insurance, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The leaders spoke out against a proposed rule change that would allow states to convert federal funding they receive to expand Medicaid coverage into block grants. However, the letter contends that the block-granting over time will take too many families on the edge of poverty off of health insurance.

On housing, they criticized two proposed measures that they believe will increase poverty. The administration submitted a budget proposal that would cut the Department of Housing and Urban Development budget by 15 percent.

One [measure] would reduce protection from discrimination against people with disabilities, seniors and people of color, they contend. Another would evict from public housing 100,000 legal immigrants whose families include undocumented people.

The administration has proposed changes in how the poverty line is calculated that would, over time, reduce means-tested assistance for millions more people. Courts have ruled that many of these changes are inconsistent with the law.

The Christian leaders also call out a Department of Homeland Securitys public charge rule that the U.S. Supreme Court let go into effect last month. The rule altered the way the federal government judges the the public charge ground of inadmissibility for immigrants applying for visas and green cards who rely on government assistance.

Even before this rule went into effect, the threat of it was enough to convince millions of people to forego needed assistance with food or health care, the leaders argue. The administration has also restricted opportunities and protection for immigrants, refugees and people of color in other ways, and our nation has neglected humanitarian concerns in other parts of the world.

The leaders fear Trumps budget proposal submitted Monday will mean even more massive cuts to low-income programs over the next 10 years.

As Congress considers and passes FY21 appropriations bills, we ask them to maintain adequately funded safety net programs that provide help and opportunity for our most vulnerable neighbors, both at home and abroad.

Continued growth of the U.S. economy since 2010 has improved job opportunities for many struggling families. But while the stock market has soared, poverty and hunger have declined very gradually. Neither the administration nor Congress has taken any steps to address our ballooning federal debt and deficits in order to preserve our nations long-term economic health.

Circle of Protection has asked all 2020 presidential candidates to make short video statements answering the question: What would you do to provide help and opportunity to hungry and poor people around the world.

To date, seven 2020 presidential candidates have submitted videos to the Circle of Protection.

Show me your budget and I will tell you your values, Wallis said in a statement. Let me be clear: a budget is a moral document and an articulation of priorities. As Christians, we are compelled to protect and uplift the poor in our nation and beyond. The current budget, and continued executive action, has an outsized negative effect on people in poverty.
UNIVERSITY of Limerick mathematicians have teamed up with Brazilian police to combat the distribution of child pornography on the dark web.

Praised by Brazil's Minister for Justice, Sergio Moro, the "innovative collaboration" between the two bodies has sought to make police operations in this area more efficient.

The research looks into network analysis of Brazil's Operation Darknet, a federal police crackdown on one of the world's largest paedophile online forums.

These forums are hidden by the Tor browser, an open-source software that allows users to browse the internet anonymously without their IP address being tracked.

According to the research, published in Nature's Scientific Reports journal, shows that six children were rescued, while 182 users were identified and arrested following the operation between 2014 and 2016.

One-hundred and seventy of these users were distributors. Among the 10,000 users analysed, 766 were sharing content.

The team of researchers from the Mathematics Applications Consortium for Science and Industry (MACSI) and the Centre for Social Issues Research, both based at UL, subsequently investigated how effective the operation was in disrupting the distribution of the content.

The research team, which included a Federal Police Officer from Brazil, used the analysis to suggest the best ways to target individuals to maximise the effect of this disruption.

Network analysis has previously been applied to drug trafficking networks and terrorist networks to identify structural weaknesses and key figures in these illicit networks, explained Dr Padraig MacCarron, a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Social Issues Research and MACSI who worked with Dr Bruno da Cunha, Kleber A. Oliveira and Professor James Gleeson on the research.

The dark web network in this study however, was much more dense  as in there were more connections between users than normal - making it more difficult to breakdown using traditional network methods. It was found that the 60% of those core 766 distributors would need to be removed to completely fragment the network. This makes the network highly robust.

The approach was then taken to try to disrupt the most content shared. Ten of those distributors each had their content viewed more than 100,000 times. This contributed to almost one third of the total views. Of those ten distributors, eight of them were arrested. Of the twenty arrested who had received the most views, they provided 39% of the content. The best the police could have achieved with twenty arrests would have been a reduction of 43%.

Initially the police investigation was highly effective, quickly arresting those responsible for more than half the content provided. However, subsequent targets were less optimally selected, so that the total arrests reduced the posts by 58% of a possible 92%. This analysis hopes to help lead to more efficient police interventions, he added.

The team believe the collaboration to be a first between Brazilian law enforcement and Irish mathematicians. Brazilian ministry of justice, Sergio Moro, mentioned the UL research in a recent interview, outlining that one should invest in intelligence methods to enrich police work and that the publication is an index of the quality of the scientific know-how of the Brazilian Federal Police.

The research was partly funded by Science Foundation Ireland and by the European Research Council.
Bahrain Islamic Bank (BisB) recently announced the appointment of three new board members, Jean-Christophe Durand, Yaser AlSharifi, and Dana Buheji, following the decision of the Board of Directors during its meeting held last week.

Commenting on the occasion, the Chairman of BisB, Dr Esam Abdulla Fakhro, said: On behalf of the Board of Directors of BisB, it is with great pleasure that I extend my congratulations and welcome to the new members of the Board of Directors. We look forward to working together to achieve unprecedented levels of growth for BisB.

Dr Fakhro added: These appointments come in light of the plans drawn up after the success of National Bank of Bahrains (NBB) acquisition of additional shares in Bahrain Islamic Bank by 49.75 per cent, bringing the total shares owned by NBB in BisB to a total 78.81 per cent. We are extremely confident in the competencies and expertise of the new members that span across key areas including banking, Human Resources and Corporate Strategy development, this addition will further enable the Board of Directors of BisB to increase its effectiveness and achieve the goals and visions of the Bank.

The three newly appointed members of the Board of Directors of BisB currently occupy key positions within the structure of the executive management of NBB, where Durand has held the position of CEO since 2016, bringing over 37 years of international and regional banking and finance experience which he gained across senior leadership roles at leading global banking institutions. Buheji, the Chief Human Resources Officer of NBB, has more than 19 years of experience in Human Recourses across major corporations and organisations in the kingdom. AlSharifi, the Chief Strategy Officer of NBB, boasts over 24 years of experience in investment management and corporate finance across the GCC, Europe and the US. He also leads NBBs digital transformation and innovation efforts, specialising in strategy definition and implementation as well as supervising NBBs operations in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.-- Tradearabia News Service
Prosecutors were placed under renewed pressure to bring more domestic violence cases to court just weeks before Caroline Flacks death.

Two official watchdogs told prosecutors and police there was room for improvement in the handling of cases where the victim stops co-operating with the investigation.

The criticism takes on a new dimension after the TV stars apparent suicide just hours after she learned prosecutors had decided to press ahead with a court case.

CPS lawyers decided to prosecute Miss Flack even after her boyfriend Lewis Burton asked police not to proceed. A court was told she hit him over the head with a lamp.

A court previously heard that Caroline Flack had hit her boyfriend Lewis Burton with a lamp (pictured together above)

Flack is pictured above leaving Highbury Magistrates' Court in December last year

Known as an evidence-led prosecution, it would have relied not on his testimony but on material gathered by police such as bodycam footage taken at the presenters north London home in the early hours of December 12.

A former director of public prosecutions said the CPS was under a lot of pressure to bring cases against a victims wishes.

In a report published just three weeks ago, police and prosecutors were told to be pro-active in instances like Miss Flacks, and were criticised for allowing too many domestic abuse cases to slip through the net.

The report by HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services found a fifth of domestic abuse cases where the victim had stopped co-operating with the police were incorrectly dropped.

The TV presenter, aged 40, took her own life after a worried friend who was staying with her went to the shops, leaving her alone at her London home (pictured)

It has now been suggested that Flack's trial had been a 'show trial' by the CPS (Flack is pictured above in a promotional shot for Love Island in 2019)

Inspectors examined a sample of 78 cases marked no further action by police in England and Wales. They concluded that in 15 cases, or 19 per cent of the total, reasonable lines of enquiry had been missed.

In a joint statement, inspectors Wendy Williams and Kevin McGinty said: Domestic abuse can have a devastating impact on victims lives and it is important that the police and CPS are proactive in their approach to dealing with this type of offending.

The law allows police and prosecutors to carry on building a case against the alleged perpetrator without the victims help, using evidence such as statements from other witnesses, CCTV evidence and 999 recordings.

Prosecutors can even force victims to give evidence against their alleged abusers. Former director of public prosecutions Lord Ken Macdonald said there would be a strong presumption that bringing domestic violence charges would be in the public interest.

The CPS is under a lot of pressure these days to bring cases where victims withdraw their co-operation, he told BBC Radio Fours Today programme. Indeed theres a recent report by the CPS inspectorate that called on prosecutors specifically to do this.

Prosecutors can often be damned if they do and damned if they dont, he said.

As 170 to 180 people a year, mainly women, are killed in domestic violence incidents there is a huge amount of public concern about such offences, Lord Macdonald added.

And it would be quite rare to drop a prosecution because a defendant was in a vulnerable mental state.

Human rights barrister Charlotte Proudman, of Goldsmith Chambers, suggested the prosecution of Miss Flack was a show trial.

Dr Proudman told Today: Looking at the circumstances of the case, Im struggling to see why it was in the public interest to prosecute when its very clear that Caroline Flack, at the time, was struggling with her mental health.
John Micklethwait, the editor in chief of Bloomberg News, walked into his Washington bureau on a Friday morning in December with a daunting task: explaining to his political reporters how to cover a presidential campaign when the boss is a candidate.

Addressing roughly 100 journalists spilling out of a glass-walled conference room, Mr. Micklethwait said Michael R. Bloombergs entry into the Democratic race had not changed his commitment to skeptical coverage. We always knew it would be tough, he told the group. But we are actually showing what we are: an independent news organization.

Not every reporter was reassured. Rival candidates had attacked the journalists coverage as biased; some sources had stopped returning calls. One reporter said the bureaus credibility was at stake, citing Mr. Micklethwaits public memo that Bloomberg News would refrain from investigating Mr. Bloomberg and his Democratic competitors.

Mr. Micklethwait said he had been referring to a team of specialized investigative reporters and not the broader political staff, but he declined requests from the journalists in the room to issue a clarification. Many reporters left feeling unsure how to proceed, according to several people who described the previously unreported town hall meeting.
Amid reports of differences arising among the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar has called a meeting of party ministers in Mumbai on Monday.

At the meeting called to review performance of the ministers, the NCP chief may apprise them about the partys stand on contentious issues, NCP leaders said. It is an internal party meeting, Pawar said.

Pawar saheb has called an important meeting of all the 16 ministers of the party, said deputy chief minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar in Sangli on Sunday.

The NCP meeting is also being watched in the context of Pawar expressing displeasure over chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackerays decision to allow handing over of the Elgar Parishad case to the National Investigation Agency. It was the first time since the formation of the MVA that the NCP chief publicly expressed his unhappiness on a matter concerning the government. However, both Pawar and Thackeray also shared the dais while attending a farmers rally in Jalgaon on Saturday. Pawar saheb is likely to assess the performance of the ministers and issue directives, said a NCP functionary.

Meanwhile, Pawar said the state has powers to conduct probe in the Elgar Parishad case. The action taken by the police needs to be investigated. To ascertain whether the action taken against activists was fair or not, I was demanding a probe by a retired high court judge-led committee. I have also written letters to the CM and home minister. If it was a fair decision, I have no objectionHowever, the state, too, has powers to conduct a probe, Pawar told reporters in Jalgaon.

Pawar abruptly cancelled his Nashik trip and left for Mumbai on Sunday. He was supposed to attend the State Lawyers Conference along with the CM, but after reaching Nashik, he decided to leave. I dont know the reason why he cancelled the trip, said NCP minister Chhagan Bhujbal.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
A firefighter has killed himself while on duty in the West Midlands.

Andrew Moore, 50, was found dead at Wolverhampton Fire Station, where he had been on duty on the night shift.

A statement from West Midlands Fire Service said: We are extremely saddened by the death of one of our firefighters on the evening of Sunday 16 February 2020.

Firefighter Andrew Moore, aged 50, was found dead at Wolverhampton fire station where he had been on duty on the night shift with colleagues from Red Watch. He had taken his own life.

A firefighter has killed himself at Wolverhampton Fire Station.

Chief fire officer Phil Loach said: Andrews death has come as a great shock to the entire service. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with his family, friends and colleagues.

One of our senior officers informed Andrews family of his death. We will continue to provide them with all the support they need at this very difficult time.

Members of West Midlands Fire and Rescue Authority (WMFRA) observed a minutes silence in memory of Moore on Monday morning.

Tributes poured in on the West Midlands Fire Service Facebook page.

Luke Handley posted: Devasted by this... Thoughts go to his family, and the watch and service....Be there for each other through this tough time! I'll never forget the butt kicking he gave me over Cannock Chase or the time he gave me the eye when we had left our race numbers in the car at HPP....then followed by encouragement when he lapped me! #rideandracefreeandy.

Councillor Greg Brackenridge, chair of WMFRA, said: Our thoughts are very much with Andrews family. I know that his death has affected many people, within and outside of the service. We will ensure that we do all we can for those who need support.

Moore joined North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service in September 1993 and transferred to West Midlands Fire Service in May 1996.

For confidential emotional support at times of distress, contact The Samaritans at any time by calling 116 123 or emailing jo@samaritans.org
He's currently touring Australia on his Master of His Domain tour while celebrating the 30th anniversary of Seinfeld.

And on Monday, American actor Jason Alexander cut a low-key casual figure as he arrived in Perth ahead of his show.

The 60-year-old star, best known for playing George Costanza in the long-running television series Seinfeld, looked to be in good spirits as he made his way through the terminal.

American comedian Jason Alexander (pictured) cut a low-key casual figure as he arrived in Perth ahead of his comedy tour on Monday

Doing his best to remain under the radar, the actor opted for a blue T-shirt with a peace symbol, denim jeans and joggers.

He accessorised his look with a black Comedy Central hat and silver watch.

It comes after Jason shocked fans of the long-running sitcom after he revealed that the cast weren't actually as close as they appeared to be on screen.

Low-key! The 60-year-old star best known for playing George Costanza in the long-running television series Seinfeld, looked to be in good spirits as made his way through the terminal

The comedian said he and his colleagues weren't 'social friends' but just 'work mates'.

During an appearance on The Project ahead of his Master of His Domain tour, Jason said the Seinfeld cast didn't have much in common.

'We were never social friends, we were work friends. We had very different lives,' he said.

Casual: Doing his best to remain under the radar, the actor opted for a blue T-shirt with a peace symbol, denim jeans and joggers

However, he did grow close to Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who played Elaine Benes, because they both had children at the same time.

'But we really hung out with each other at the show. We were workmates,' he added.

'After nine years, when the show ended, we kind of went, "Oh, bye, see ya!"'

According to Jason, the main cast members still send each other birthday emails, but they don't catch up regularly.

Retro: Seinfeld, which ran from 1989 to 1998 on NBC, starred Michael Richards (left) as Cosmo Kramer, Julia Louis-Dreyfus (second from right) as Elaine Benes, Jason Alexander (right) as George Costanza and Jerry Seinfeld (second from left) as a fictionalised version of himself

'But when we do see each other, it's like no time has passed,' he hastened to add.

The Seinfeld cast also included Jerry Seinfeld, portraying a fictionalised version of himself, and Michael Richards, who played oddball neighbour Cosmo Kramer.

The sitcom, which ran from 1989 to 1998 on NBC, was co-created by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David of Curb Your Enthusiasm fame.

Jason's Australian speaking tour continues in Perth on Tuesday before making its way to Sydney on February 23.

Every episode of Seinfeld is available to stream on Stan.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Paris, France  Tue, February 18, 2020 05:44 694 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20650c39e 2 World #France,#sex,sex-video,scandal,Russia,artist Free

A Russian artist and his girlfriend will face a judge over a sex-video scandal that damaged the career of an ally of French President Emmanuel Macron, prosecutors said Monday.

Pyotr Pavlensky and Alexandra de Taddeo could be charged on Tuesday with invasion of privacy and publishing images of a sexual nature without consent.

Pavlensky has already admitted publishing a video showing a man masturbating, along with racy text messages sent to a woman.

The video prompted Benjamin Griveaux, a married father of three, to pull out of the race to be Paris mayor a month before the first round of voting.

Griveaux has filed a complaint and politicians from across the spectrum have come to his defence, portraying the 42-year-old as a victim of a hatchet job.

Pavlensky, 35, told AFP last Friday that he wanted to expose the "hypocrisy" of Griveaux and his campaign pledges to uphold family values.

Taddeo, 29, is believed to have been the recipient of the videos sent in 2018.

Griveaux's fall left Macron's Republic on the Move (LREM) party scrambling to find a replacement candidate for Paris mayor.

Health Minister Agnes Buzyn is set to take his place despite the daunting odds -- Griveaux was already running in a distant third place before the scandal broke.

Pavlensky, who has a long record of provocative performances, received asylum in France in 2017 after several radical protests in Russia.

He was originally detained on Saturday on accusations he pulled a knife during a brawl at a New Year's Eve party in Paris, before investigators shifted their focus to the leaked sex video.
Presidents Day sales are everywhere, at auto dealerships, furniture and electronic stores, Walmarts, on eBay and in all shopping malls across the US of A.

Schools, courts, government offices are closed and there is no regular mail delivery.

But on a federal level, Presidents Day, doesnt exist.

Instead, the holiday is recognized as Washingtons Birthday.

Although, the Father of Our Country was born on Feb. 22 (in 1732), Washingtons birthday is observed on the third Monday of February.

A look at the federal governments Office of Personnel Managements list of holidays doesnt include a Presidents Day.

Next to the Feb. 17, 2020 holiday is a red asterisk that explains: This holiday is designated as Washingtons Birthday in section 6103(a) of title 5 of the United States Code, which is the law that specifies holidays for Federal employees.

Though other institutions such as state and local governments and private businesses may use other names, it is our policy to always refer to holidays by the names designated in the law.

The National Weather Service ditched Presidents Day on its forecasts in 2011.

But wasnt the holiday changed to Presidents Day when it was established by Congress to be observed on the third Monday in February?

No. It never happened.

The effort to rename the holiday Presidents Day, intended to honor the birthdays of both Washington and Lincoln, failed in Congressional committee, the NWS explained.

The bill, which was then signed into law on June 28, 1968, specified that the Federal holiday would retain the name Washingtons Birthday. The Uniform Monday Holiday Act of January 1, 1971, established its observance on the third Monday in February.

But why do most people refer to the holiday as Presidents Day, the time to honor all our presidents, including Donald J. Trump?

Part of the confusion stems from what states have called the holiday.

The National Constituition Center said one website, Geometrx, went to the trouble of looking at the official holiday calendars for all 50 states, in a quest to see who actually calls the holiday Presidents Day, or Presidents Day, or Presidents Day. Or something else.

The tally showed that approximately 16 states celebrated Presidents Day, and another 15 states - including Connecticut - observe it as Washingtons Birthday.

Nine states dont observe a holiday on the third Monday in February. The other celebrated a holiday that includes the words President, Washington, Lincoln or Thomas Jefferson.

Arizona calls the holiday Lincoln/Washington/Presidents Day.

Arkansas celebrates the day as George Washingtons Birthday and Daisy Gatson Bates Day.

Daisy Bates was an American civil rights activist, publisher, journalist, and lecturer who played a leading role in the Little Rock Integration Crisis of 1957.

Add a barrage of commercials for Presidents Day sales, its no wonder why many believe the holiday honor all presidents.

Happy 287th birthday George Washington!
JERSEYVILLE  The Jersey County Against Drugs Coalition will host a Family Wellbeing Forum to help families to prevent and treat substance abuse in children and teens.

The forum is from 6-8:30 p.m. Thursday, March 12, at the Jersey Community High School gymnasium, 801 N. State St., Jerseyville. The event will run from and the doors will open at 5:30pm.

The Jersey County Against Drugs Coalition (JCAD) focus is on youth who are age 11-18 and their families in Jersey County. The group helps families by identifying and implementing evidence-based substance abuse prevention services with a focus on alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use. JCAD does this in cooperation with the schools, law enforcement, government and community, as a whole.

Substance abuse is prevalent in our community, said JCHSs Rich Portwood, school resource officer.

We deal with it and the effects on individuals and our community as a whole everyday.

It can be easy to look at our own families and think that substance abuse is something that happens to other people, in different circumstances, he said.

But experience tells us that substance abuse can happen to anyone who isnt properly educated. It happens to the rich and famous, to kids from good families and to people with no prior history of abuse.

JCADs Family Wellbeing Forum will have resources available to help families and children with prevention, treatment and recovery. Resources such as D.A.R.E., the Jersey County Health Department, Alton-based Oasis Womens Center and Chestnut Health Systems will be there, available with further information and to answer questions that anyone might have.

Additionally, from 7-8 p.m., there will be a question and answer session with an expert panel, when JCAD members will pose some common questions. This will be followed by an opportunity for the audience members to ask their own questions.

Grant Coordinator Rita Robertson, with the Substance Use Prevention Services for Jersey Community School District 100, is one of the many people organizing this forum.

This is not your typical health fair, she said. This is a call to action.

This is a community outreach in response to the ever-growing presence of underage drug use among youth and adults. Drug use encompasses alcohol, marijuana, e-cigarettes of all forms, cigarettes, including smokeless tobacco, opioid use and other forms of drugs.

We want parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, caregivers, concerned citizens and kids themselves, she continued, to understand the effect of substances on the developing brain.

A 17 year old having a beer is not the same as a 30 year old having a beer, she noted.

Aside from it being illegal, the alcohol has a different consequence for a developing brain in a 17 year old, than it does for the 30 year old, she said.

The same is true for nicotine, whether it is vaped or smoked, marijuana or any other substance.

The world our kids are growing up in is different than the one that we grew up in, she said.

The things that worked for our parents, wont necessarily work for us now. But the good news is that we have so many more resources than our parents did.

Todays access to information about prevention and treatment is much greater than years ago, she noted.

If we work together, we can make a difference.

Contact Robertson at 618-498-5527 or rita.robertson@jersey100.org for more information.








Web Toolbar by Wibiya

(Natural News) While most people are focused on the direct human impact of the Wuhan coronavirus in terms of its risk of spread, far fewer are paying attention to the dire economic impacts of having to keep Chinese factories closed due to the outbreak, including at least one factory owned and operated by Apple iPhone maker Foxconn.

According to reports, Foxconn recently warned its staff to stay far, far away from its Shenzhen facility where they all otherwise would have returned to work after the recent conclusion of the Lunar New Year break on February 10.

Instead of ramping up its production machines and churning out new iPhones for the masses this past week, Foxconn Shenzhen is still closed, and will remain so indefinitely. This is according to a memo that was obtained by Bloomberg News, which explains that Foxconns Chinese headquarters will need to stay shuttered to protect not only the tens of thousands of employees who normally work there, but also the surrounding community.

To safeguard everyones health and safety and comply with government virus prevention measures, we urge you not to return to Shenzhen, the company told its employees, many of whom are out-of-towners that would have had to drive or fly back to Shenzhen after the holiday.

Well update you on the situation in the city, this memo further stated. The company will protect everyones work-related rights and interests in the duration. As for the happy reunion date in Shenzhen, please wait for further notice.

Listen below as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, talks about how the global economy, including the stock market here in the United States, will eventually be impacted by the novel coronavirus:

Apples supply chain will be disrupted by this and likely other closures

As was also recently reported, other major corporations are feeling the burn of factory closures in China, including South Korea-based Hyundai and Kia, both of which are unable to receive critical parts from their Chinese suppliers because these suppliers arent currently operating.

In response to these and other expected disruptions, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Foxconns other name, has reportedly slashed its 2020 outlook in anticipation of Apple being unable to maintain its carefully calibrated production chain.

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 could disrupt Chinese manufacturing and hence the worlds supply of made-in-China electronics, warns Bloomberg News.

At this time, it remains unknown whether or not any of Foxconns other Chinese manufacturing facilities are also shuttering their operations. We do know that a Hon Hai facility in Zhengzhou did officially resume production on Feb. 10, with the caveat that all out-of-town workers returning from outside the province first be sequestered for two weeks.

As a matter of policy and for reasons of commercial sensitivity, we do not comment on our specific production facilities, Foxconn said in a statement when asked about the operating status of its other production facilities.

We have been closely monitoring the current public health challenge linked to the coronavirus and we are applying all recommended health and hygiene practices to all aspects of our operations in the affected markets.

As of this writing, the official infection count for the coronavirus is just under 65,000, with nearly 1,500 being reported dead from the disease. A more realistic estimate, however, is that there are probably more than 200,000 coronavirus infections, along with more than 20,000 deaths.
(Photo : Screenshot From The Cruise World (Bilingual) Facebook Page) the MS Westerdam

After about two weeks of aimlessly navigating for a port to land on, a Quarantined Cruise was finally able to dock in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, on Saturday, Feb. 15. The MS Westerdam cruise passengers seemed to have an extended vacation, which they could not complain about. The only single biggest complaint was from a 60-year-old Robert Sayers saying that the hash browns run out as well as the tomato sauce!



The world thought was ready to pity them

Although the whole world was going on about how they pity the quarantined cruise passengers for not being able to dock around and being turned away from Japan, Taiwan, Guam, Philippines, and even Thailand. It seemed like Cambodia was the only country that let this ship dock after a seemingly two-week voyage.

Read Also: Is There A Cure for Boredom? Quarantined Coronavirus Cruise Passengers Gets Free Access to Adult Site CamSoda

A beautiful statement was given by Hun Sen, who is viewed as an authoritarian ruler and is facing condemnation from Western countries for various human rights abuses. The warm message stated that the bigger disease around the world is fear and discrimination and gave direct remarks about Cambodia opening its doors to this cruise ship by saying if they did not allow this ship to dock, where would the 2,000 passengers go?

Aside from the wonderful cruise, passengers would even be reimbursed!

Holland America personally sent a letter to the passengers stating that the complete cost of the cruise would be reimbursed! The passengers were basically able to board the cruise ship for free! The cherry on the top of the cake was when Holland America even offered to give passengers another free 14-day cruise as well as chartering their flights home! The company even stated that the class of the flight of the passenger's original booking would possibly be matched according to Holland America's capacities.

Comments of the passengers resulted in nothing but positivity.

According to a retired Canadian aerospace engineer named Pierre Ashby, this experience was the best cruise ever! According to Ashby, when people book their cruises, they are usually offered just what they expected, but the cruise was different because it was nothing like he expected! In fact, Ashby stated that it was quite an enjoyable adventure and the best cruise of his life.

Nobody on this cruise ship was found to be positive of the coronavirus

When further results came to light, it was also found that the coronavirus actually infected none of these passengers from Wuhan, which has already claimed the lives of about 1,500 people. Although the gravity of the situation was pretty serious, the quarantined cruise passengers were able to experience the cruise of their lives absolutely free!

Read Also: With Global Coronovirus Cases Now at Alarming Level, U.S. Will Use Influenza Surveillance System to 5 Pilot Cities

The coronavirus from Wuhan has been making headlines everywhere, which have affected the decisions of certain countries to ban passage from other countries like what happened to the MS Westerdam. Now, because of the unfair discrimination experienced by the quarantined cruise passengers, they can now enjoy another 14-day cruise for free! Free Porn. Free Food. Free Internet. And now, A FREE 14-DAY CRUISE ONCE AGAIN!

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Sunday, February 16, 2020

Here's crisis management expert and author Edward Segal's latest advice, insights, and perspectives about how companies, organizations, and high-profile individuals are responding to and managing their crisis situations.

Resignations Can Often Follow Scandals

"One result of a crisis can be the resignations or firings of top officials of the company or organization where the crisis occurred. They may not always be the right or prudent thing to do in every instance, but the firings and resignations can quickly satisfy demands that 'someone must pay for this' and 'heads must roll.'

"The latest example? The resignation of Troy Price last week as the chair of the Iowa Democratic Party. The party continues to be the butt of jokes after the app meltdown following the first Democratic caucuses of the year.

Managing Expectations about a Crisis

"It is important to manage people's expectations about when and how it will be addressed or resolved. The World Health Organization did just that when they announced last week that a vaccine to combat the Wuhan coronavirus could be available in about 18 months. Until then, however, countries are on their own in trying to combat the rapidly spreading disease.

"The agency held a news conference where World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that, "The first vaccine could be ready in 18 months, so we have to do everything today using the available weapons to fight this virus." He noted that, "the development of vaccines and therapeutics is one important part of the research agenda. But it's only one part. They will take time to develop  but in the meantime, we are not defenseless.'" (Source: The Hill newspaper)

Avoiding Another Fiasco

"It's always better to learn from the mistakes of others. That's what the Nevada Democratic Party apparently did in the aftermath of the recent Iowa Democratic Party's caucus app debacle.

"The bad news is that Nevada officials had already paid $50,000 to the app company that was behind the Iowa crisis, and were planning to use a similar app in their own election.

"The good news is that when news reports surfaced about the problems with the Iowa app, Nevada party officials cancelled plans to use it and found alternative methods to tabulate and report the results. As reported by CNN, 'In a statement, state Democratic Party Chairman William McCurdy II promised that Nevada's caucuses on February 22 will not be a repeat of Iowa's. 'We will not be employing the same app or vendor used in the Iowa caucus,' he said. 'We had already developed a series of backups and redundant reporting systems, and are currently evaluating the best path forward.'

"But it never pays to become complacent or over-confident about avoiding or dealing with a crisis. Will the Nevada Democratic Party  and election officials in other states  be able to avoid the same fate as their counterparts in Iowa? Or will they face a different kind of crisis?

"Everyone will be watching to see what happens."

Segal is the author of the forthcoming book on crisis management -- Crisis Ready: 101 Ways to Prepare for and Bounce Back from Disasters, Scandals, and other Emergencies (Nicholas Brealey/Hachette) which is now available for pre-orders at https://www.amazon.com/Crisis-Ready-Disasters-Scandals-Emergencies/dp/1529361427.

For information about Segal and his new book, visit GetCrisisReady.com.

###
Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State has urged the state House of Assembly to expedite passage of the 2020 Appropriation Bill he would soon present for consideration.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Diri made the appeal when he met the 24-member state legislature on Monday in Yenagoa, the state capital.

Mr Diri was inaugurated on February 14.

His predecessor, Seriake Dickson, had declined to forward the Appropriation Bill since a new government was being expected to succeed him.

Mr Diri, however, said the meeting with the lawmakers was part of the process for the submission of the bill.

There is no time at all. We want to hit the ground running, hence this meeting with you all.

Let me assure you that the document will come in no distant time. This is the synergy we need to ensure the development of the state, Mr Diri said.

The governor called for the cooperation and support of the lawmakers in the new order to meet the aspirations of the people.

Let us join hands to build Bayelsa State. We must leave a legacy of development, love and hope for our people.

Our state is in dire need of development in all facets. Education for instance is the bedrock and foundation of any society. We will invest more in critical infrastructure, said Mr Diri.

He also said he would be the servant and not master to the people of the state.

Besides, Mr Diri called on the people to eschew violence and work for peace in the state.

We cannot use our hands to destroy the state we all sought to have. All the feuding should stop and let us see ourselves as brothers and sisters, then focus on things that will bring us together. That is when we can experience development, said the governor.

He called for genuine reconciliation, restating that he is governor to all Bayelsa people and not a PDP governor.

The Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Monday Obolo, said they were in Government House to formally congratulate the governor and his deputy, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, on the Supreme Court declaration and subsequent inauguration.

He said all members of the legislature, comprising both the ruling PDP and opposition APC, were ready to work closely with the executive arm for the development of the state.

The speaker said the 24 members have confidence in the governor and deputy governor to deliver on mandate.

Mr Obolo however reminded the governor of the urgent need to present the 2020 budget proposal to the lawmakers for consideration.

(NAN)
Jharkhands first chief minister Babulal Marandi, who quit the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2006 to form his own party Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P), merged his party with the BJP in presence of Union home minister Amit Shah at a function here on Monday.

In last 14 years, I made extensive tours (about 6-7 lakh kilometres) across the state. I understand the problems of this state and its people What I am today is because of the BJP. I have never demanded any post or position in 30 years of my political career. I want to assure it again that I would happily take whatever responsibility entrusted on me Marandi said.

Addressing the gathering, Shah said that he had been trying to bring Marandi back to the BJP fold soon after he became partys president in 2014.

BJP has got another experienced leader in the state and it will immensely bolster the partys prospects, Shah said, adding that  Marandi will be given fitting responsibility in the times to come.

Reacting to the development, Jharkhand Congress spokesperson Alok Dubey said, His [Marandis] MLAs went to the BJP in 2009 and 2014 as well. He has always been helping the BJP. It is his real face of Marandi.

Meanwhile, two expelled legislators of Marandis party  Pradeep Yadav and Bandhu Tirkey  joined the Congress in New Delhi. The legislators said that they have merged JVM(P) into the Congress.

Jharkhand Congress in-charge RPN Singh said, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has approved the merger and on March 1 a big rally will be held in the state to be addressed by Rahul Gandhi.On the legality of the merger, Singh said the Jharkhand assembly speaker will take a call on the issue.

.JVM (P) had won 11, 8 and 3 assembly seats in 2009, 2014 and 2019 elections respectively.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
(CNN)  As the deadly novel coronavirus spread throughout China and the world last month, it was clear that something had gone wrong.

Officials in Hubei, the province at the center of the outbreak, were blamed for downplaying  and potentially even deliberately covering up  the severity of the virus, ignoring evidence that it spread from person-to-person until it was too late.

Against this tale of irresponsibility there was another story being told in China, one of a competent central government which had been denied the full picture by local officials, and once it understood the true ramifications stepped in to take drastic action to stop the virus' spread.

And indeed, there was a major shift on January 20, when Chinese President Xi Jinping commented publicly for the first time on the virus, and ordered "resolute efforts" to control the outbreak. Speaking alongside Xi in Beijing a week later, World Health Organization (WHO) director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praised the "seriousness with which China is taking this outbreak," and thanked Beijing for its "transparency."

Over the weekend, however, a transcript of an internal Communist Party speech appeared to throw doubt on this narrative, revealing Xi knew about and was directing the response to the virus on January 7 -- almost two weeks before he commented on it publicly.

The revelation raises major questions about whether it was the central government, not authorities in Hubei, who dithered on their response, allowing the virus to spread through the country and eventually the world.

It also underlines the difficulty in maintaining Xi's image -- carefully cultivated by state media -- as an almost omniscient ruler who oversees, and is aware of everything that is happening in the country. With criticism growing of the failure to contain the coronavirus, both at home and abroad, Beijing was faced with either choosing to admit that Xi was ignorant of the true nature of the crisis until almost a month into it, or that he was aware of it and involved in the response.

By choosing the latter option, however, no matter how much blame can be placed onto provincial officials for failing to "implement" Xi's instructions, the government is admitting that ultimate responsibility for the outbreak lies with the man at the center.

Who knew?

In the transcript of the speech, published Saturday by the official Communist Party journal Qiushi, Xi "issued requirements for the prevention and control of the new coronavirus" during a meeting of the Politburo Standing Committee, China's most powerful decision making body on January 7.

He gave further instructions on January 20 and two days later, when he "explicitly requested Hubei province to implement comprehensive and strict control over the outflow of people" -- essentially placing the province on lockdown.

"I have, at all times, monitored the spread of the epidemic and the progress in prevention and control work, and continue to give oral orders and instructions," Xi is reported to have said.

It is the 13-day period between January 7 and 20 that is most crucial, not least because it is when officials in Hubei held two key provincial Party meetings and Wuhan invited more than 40,000 families to attend a mass banquet in an attempt to set a world record. It's also when officials in both Wuhan and Hubei appeared to downplay the outbreak, an assessment that was repeated by state officials: Wang Guangfa, head of a team of researchers sent from Beijing to investigate the situation, said on January 11 that it was under control.

Wang, like others on the front line during the initial outbreak, was subsequently diagnosed with the virus.

Provincial officials have faced intense criticism for their handling of the crisis during this period, coming as it did in the run up to the Lunar New Year travel period, in which hundreds of millions of people criss-cross the country. Passenger screening was not put in place in Wuhan -- itself a major international and domestic travel hub -- until January 14 and further restrictions over a week later.

Wuhan Mayor Zhou Xianwang later admitted that the city's "warnings were not sufficient," and offered to resign.

"We understand that the public is unsatisfied with our information disclosure. On one hand, we failed to disclose relevant information in a timely manner; on the other, we did not make sufficient use of valid information to improve our work," Zhou said in an interview with state broadcaster CCTV. "As for the late disclosure, I hope the public can understand that it's an infectious disease, and relevant information should be released according to the law. As a local government, we can only disclose information after being authorized."

Zhou's reference to being authorized to release information was initially seen as something of an attempt to cover his own back, by pushing some of the responsibility onto his superiors. But if Xi was directing the response at this point, then Zhou may have indeed been waiting for guidance from Beijing before he did anything, and any blame for his inaction may lie elsewhere.

Xi at the center

Wu Qiang, a Beijing-based political analyst who specializes in analyzing Xi's speeches, described the recently published address as "unprecedented" during an interview with the South China Morning Post. "It sounds like he is defending and explaining how he has done everything in his capacity to lead epidemic prevention," said Wu.

In recent weeks, there has been an apparent effort to push any blame for the crisis onto provincial officials, who either misled Beijing or failed to implement the Party leadership's instructions. This was exemplified by China's ambassador to the US, Cui Tiankai, who said in an interview with NPR on Saturday that "you cannot talk in very general terms 'the government' (in China)."

"Sometimes government at a particular level makes some mistakes. This is possible. This is, I think it is all natural all over the world," he said. "But you cannot say the whole government in China is making a mistake. This is not true."

This was already something of an awkward narrative for Xi, who has amassed more power than any Chinese leader since Mao Zedong and severely ramped up internal discipline within the Communist Party. By emphasizing his personal involvement in the response from an early stage, Xi has potentially undermined that narrative even further -- you can't blame local officials for their failures, and then reveal you were watching them the entire time.

Ultimately, however, the awkwardness of sharing some of the blame with Hubei officials might be preferable than admitting that Xi and those around him were potentially unaware or ill informed about what was really going on.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Did Xi Jinping know about the coronavirus outbreak earlier than first suggested?"
A new 20 banknote featuring the artist JMW Turner is set to enter circulation this week .

The new note will be made of polymer and features sophisticated security features with the Bank of England hailing it as the "most secure banknote yet".

It will also contain a tactile feature to help vision-impaired people identify it, similar to the polymer 10 which features Jane Austen on it.

Here's all you need to know about the new 20 banknote:

The old 20 note will still be in circulation for at least six months / Alamy Stock Photo

When does the new 20 note enter circulation?

The new polymer note will be issued for the first time on February 20, 2020, as the notes leave cash centres and enter general circulation.

The old note will not be withdrawn from circulation for at least six months, with the Bank of England announcing the date once the new note has been issued.

Can I still use the old paper 20 note?

People can carry on spending the current paper 20 notes, featuring the economist Adam Smith, for now and the Bank said that notice will be given six months ahead of legal tender status of the paper 20 being withdrawn.

Most bank will accept withdrawn banknotes once the date has been announced.

What is new about the polymer banknote?

Along with a tactile feature to help vision-impaired people identify the denomination, the new 20 note incorporates two windows and a two-colour foil to thwart counterfeiters.

There is also a large see-through window with a blue and gold foil on the front depicting the Margate lighthouse and Turner Contemporary on the note.

The foil is silver on the back and the shape of the large window is based on the shape of the fountains in Trafalgar Square.

A smaller see-through window inspired by the Tintern Abbey is in the bottom corner of the note along with Turner's self-portrait.

A metallic hologram which changes between the word 'Twenty' and 'Pounds' when the note is tilted also features, as does the Queen's portrait in the see-through window with "20 Bank of England" printed twice around the edge.
Vodafone Idea share price rose in early trade today after the telco on Saturday said it was assessing the amount that it would be able to pay to DoT towards the dues calculated based on AGR (Adjusted Gross Revenue). The company proposes to pay the amount so assessed in the next few days. Share price of Vodafone Idea gained over 18% to Rs 4.09 compared to the previous close of Rs 3.44 on BSE. Vodafone Idea stock has gained after five days of consecutive fall.

The mid cap stock lost 80.28% in last one year and fallen 41.88% since the beginning of this year. In last one week, the stock has lost 30%. 405.52 lakh shares of Vodafone Idea changed hands amounting to turnover of Rs 15.31 crore on BSE. Market cap of the firm rose to Rs 10,804 crore.

Share Market LIVE: Sensex falls 40 points, Nifty below 12,100; ONGC, SBI, HDFC top losers

"The company is currently assessing the amount that it will be able to pay to DoT towards the dues calculated based on AGR (Adjusted Gross Revenue), as interpreted by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in its order dated 24 October 2019. The company proposes to pay the amount so assessed in the next few days," said Vodafone Idea in a communication to bourses.

On Friday, Supreme Court (SC) dismissed all fresh petitions filed by telcos such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea in a case related to payment of AGR (Adjusted Gross Revenue) dues. The pleas filed by Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel, and Tata Teleservices sought more time for payment of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) related dues. The telecom companies wanted to negotiate a fresh payment schedule with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), which has issued demand notices to them.

Vodafone Idea has maintained that continuation of its business will depend on the outcome of its modification plea filed before the Supreme Court. The firm is seeking more time to pay the dues, which is estimated to be over Rs 52,000 crore. After the SC hearing, DoT issued fifth and final notice to telecom operators on February 14 for making payment on the same day but none of the companies paid the dues. Vodafone Idea said that it has received notice from the DoT directing immediate payment.

By Aseem Thapliyal
Concerned food importers have revealed the mountain of paperwork they face under Boris Johnsons hard Brexit, making price hikes and shortages inevitable.

The prime minister has been told there is no time to lose to reach an agreement with the EU to prevent the worst possible damage  and to begin expensive preparations at channel ports.

The warning comes after ministers admitted traders will face multiple border checks on almost all goods from January, even if a no-deal Brexit is avoided, with any hopes of frictionless trade abandoned.

Now a hard-hitting report from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has listed no fewer than six documents its members will have to fill in if there is only a skeleton deal after the transition period.

They are: VAT and customs documents; freight forms; health and veterinary paperwork; export health certificates; exit and entry summary declarations; and safety and security permits.

The BRC also said new IT systems must be created and tested before 1 January 2021  after Michael Gove warned they would take five years.

The government must set about to negotiate a zero-tariff agreement that minimises checks and red tape otherwise it will be consumers who suffer as a result, said Helen Dickinson, its chief executive.

The introduction of excessive or avoidable checks would mean businesses face a mountain of paperwork to be filled out by an army of newly trained staff, coupled with exhaustive checks on thousands of lorries every day.

And the result for consumers would be higher costs and reduced availability on the shelves. The government has no time to lose.

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

The report comes after Mr Gove finally lifted the lid on the realities of leaving the single market and customs union, after the issue was ducked during the election campaign.

The checks will be the consequence of seeking a loose Canada-style agreement, allowing the UK to break free of some EU rules  and a far cry from the pre-referendum promise that Brexit would reduce red tape.

The BRC fears checks will see thousands of vehicles held at Dover, where even a two-minute hold-up would trigger 17-mile tailbacks  and where there is very little space for new infrastructure.

It is calling for: zero tariffs, coordination on VAT and excise procedures, advance information on new checks and timely construction of necessary infrastructure at ports.

Almost 80 per cent of the food imported by retailers comes from the EU, the report points out, with 7,000 lorries passing through Dover and Folkestone every day.

However, the government has made it clear it will pursue a deal with no alignment  throwing into jeopardy even the EUs proposal of a no-tariffs, no-quotas agreement.

At the Munich Security Conference on Sunday, the French foreign minister, Jean-Yves le Drian, laid bare the bitter battles ahead, saying: I think that on trade issues and the mechanism for future relations, which we are going to start on, we are going to rip each other apart.
(SAN ANTONIO) - Recognizing and addressing the widespread problem of sleep disorders in military personnel and veterans, the U.S. Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense (VA/DoD) jointly have issued new guidelines for assessment and treatment of insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea.

"This is a major step for these two organizations in recognizing the importance of appropriately diagnosing and treating sleep disorders in these unique populations," said Vincent Mysliwiec, M.D., a sleep medicine physician, researcher and retired U.S. Army colonel who helped author the guidelines.

Dr. Mysliwiec, a professor of research in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, is also lead author of a synopsis of the guidelines written for the March 2020 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, a leading medical journal.

Military service is an established risk factor for sleep disorders, which are considerably more prevalent in military personnel and veterans than in the general U.S. population. These populations also have high rates of traumatic brain injury, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other mental health disorders, which combined with insomnia and/or sleep apnea complicate treatment of affected military personnel and veterans.

Nearly half of U.S. military personnel have reported poor sleep quality, including insomnia symptoms. Insomnia is one of the most common sleep disorders and affects up to 41 percent of active-duty military personnel deployed to combat zones, 25 percent of noncombatants and 20 percent of those preparing for deployment.

One study found a six-fold increase in sleep disorders among veterans between 2003 and 2010, when millions were deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. In that study, 4.5 percent of veterans were diagnosed with sleep-disordered breathing, including sleep apnea, a condition in which blockage of the airway interferes with breathing at night. Importantly, sleep apnea increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and motor vehicle crashes. The study also found that 2.5 percent of veterans were diagnosed with insomnia.

Dr. Mysliwiec's group concluded in the journal article that the actual prevalence of chronic insomnia among veterans likely is considerably higher, because it often is not documented in the medical record. Insomnia can cause daytime sleepiness and cognitive impairment and can adversely affect mental and physical health.

In other research, veterans have reported insomnia rates as high as 50 percent.

The "VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Chronic Insomnia Disorder and Obstructive Sleep Apnea" is based on evidence-based and effective therapies for military personnel and veterans with chronic insomnia disorder and sleep apnea, while including evidence from civilian studies. The VA/DoD work group's 41 recommendations in the clinical practice guideline (CPG) are relevant to all military, VA, and civilian providers who treat patients with sleep disorders.

For treatment of sleep apnea, notable recommendations in the CPG include:

Use of positive airway pressure therapy (commonly known as CPAP) for the entirety of a patient's sleep period.

Continued use of CPAP even with patients who do not use it for at least the common insurance provider standard of four hours per night, while addressing barriers to CPAP adherence.

Interventions to improve CPAP adherence in patients with sleep apnea and co-occurring PTSD, anxiety, and/or insomnia upon initial diagnosis because these patients have higher rates of non-adherence. For chronic insomnia, notable recommendations include:

Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia is the recommended treatment, but a shortened version called brief behavioral therapy for insomnia is also acceptable for some patients.

Sleep hygiene - habits that promote nighttime sleep quality, such as limiting length of daytime naps and avoiding stimulants close to bedtime - while important, should not be used as a stand-alone therapy for chronic insomnia disorder.

Some medications may be used as a second-line treatment for chronic insomnia, but anti-psychotic drugs and over-the-counter agents such as antihistamine and melatonin are not helpful for treating chronic insomnia.

"We expect the guidelines to be far-reaching and lead to necessary changes in clinical practice while helping to determine what clinical and research questions will need to be addressed in military personnel and veterans," Dr. Mysliwiec said. "Whereas in the past, problems with sleep disorders have been discounted, there is growing recognition of the importance of sleep health and treating sleep disorders."

###

The full VA/DoD clinical practice guideline is available at: https://www.healthquality.va.gov/guidelines/CD/insomnia/index.asp

The Long School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is named for Texas philanthropists Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long. The school is the largest educator of physicians in South Texas, many of whom remain in San Antonio and the region to practice medicine. The school teaches more than 900 students and trains 800 residents each year. As a beacon of multicultural sensitivity, the school annually exceeds the national medical school average of Hispanic students enrolled. The school's clinical practice is the largest multidisciplinary medical group in South Texas with 850 physicians in more than 100 specialties. The school has a highly productive research enterprise where world leaders in Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, cancer, aging, heart disease, kidney disease and many other fields are translating molecular discoveries into new therapies. The Long School of Medicine is home to a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center known for prolific clinical trials and drug development programs, as well as a world-renowned center for aging and related diseases.

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, dba UT Health San Antonio, is one of the country's leading health sciences universities and is designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education. With missions of teaching, research, patient care and community engagement, its schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have graduated more than 37,000 alumni who are leading change, advancing their fields, and renewing hope for patients and their families throughout South Texas and the world. To learn about the many ways "We make lives better," visit http://www.uthscsa.edu.

Stay connected with The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.
Bhopal, Feb 17 : The Congress leadership is trying to make peace between Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath and party General Secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia amid raging war of words between them.

The two leaders are expected to meet this week to resolve differences. They would meet to discuss the modalities to fulfill the promises made to the voters, said Deepak Bawaria, General Secretary and in-charge of MP, here on Monday.

"Nath and Scindia will work on pending issues, and find solutions to concerns and demands of people," Bawaria said.

Refuting talks of differences between the two, he said all party leaders were working for public welfare and providing good governance.

Nath had snubbed Scindia for repeatedly threatening to hit the street if the promises listed in the manifesto were not delivered. Scindia should go ahead and carry out his threat, Nath said.

Former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh tried to make the spat light by saying he didn't have to be a broker between the two as there was no communication gap between them.

State Minister Govind Singh on Sunday criticised Scindia for attacking the government and asked him not to issue public statements on the issue.
Like finding a needle in a haystack, Liviu Movileanu can find a single molecule in blood. Movileanu, professor at Syracuse University, and recently graduated Ph.D. student Avinash Thakur will present their research on Monday, February 17 at the 64th Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society in San Diego, California. Their new technology has wide-ranging applications from diagnostic tests to drug discovery.

Movileanu began "chasing protein-protein interactions under disease-like conditions" after his postdoctoral studies. As a postdoc, he began using nanopores, tiny holes in cell membranes through which scientists shoot electrical currents. When an individual molecule, like a protein, enters the pore the electrical current changes in a way that allows scientists to identify the molecule's identity. But in order to understand how different proteins interacted with each other, he needed to modify the system. One of the challenges was that grouped proteins are too big to fit into the nanopore, where the measurement typically takes place. To overcome this, Thakur and Movileanu went fishing.

Thakur and Movileanu created molecular "fishing" by fusing a modified receptor that acts like a "hook and bait," via a short flexible protein "line," to a protein nanopore "rod and reel." Then they added an extra little protein that acts like a fishing "bobber." When there is nothing on the "hook" it bobs rapidly into and out of the nanopore. Yet, when something grabs hold it stops moving around, which alerts scientists that there's something on the "hook." This ingenious approach enabled them to use a pore that's too small for big protein complexes to become a sensor for protein interactions.

Unlike fishing bait, where a worm might catch a trout or a catfish, Thakur and Movileanu's bait is both extremely specific and totally customizable to find any protein of interest, and it even works in complex solutions like blood or biopsy samples. This precise protein engineering has practical significance in diagnostics, and because of its specificity there are no potential false-positive signals produced by the constituents of a complex biofluid sample. Additionally, calculations with several of these "fishing rods" can reveal the concentration of the protein of interest in the solution.

This sensor has realistic prospects in many biomedical areas." Liviu Movileanu, professor, Syracuse University

It could be scaled up to include many proteins for diagnosing diseases, discovering disease biomarkers, or finding new drugs that disrupt or enhance protein interactions. "We demonstrated the proof of concept," said Movileanu, and the next step is scaling it up to find the needles in a lot more haystacks.
LifeStyle

The best Lifestyle shows are right here, from Australia and around the world. Catch up with the experts on home design and interiors, food and cooking, the property market, and get fresh ideas with the savviest of renovators. Whether you need inspiration for cooking up a storm, to refresh a tired room, or tips to sell your property, Foxtel Lifestyle will always something new for you to watch. Enjoy your favourite experts like Andrew Winter and Neale Whitaker, or Shaynna Blaze and Jamie Oliver live or On Demand.
Huawei has repeatedly and vehemently denied the espionage allegations.

US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper told the Munich Security Conference that Washington was already working with vendors to develop and test new 5G technologies. (Photo: AP)

The United States is seeking to rally European support for competitors to Huawei Technologies following disappointment in Washington over Britains decision to use 5G equipment made by the Chinese company.

US officials at a global security conference in Germany this week urged governments and business leaders to build an ecosystem of industry champions that can provide alternatives to Huawei, the worlds biggest maker of mobile networking equipment.

Previous US efforts to convince allies to bar the Chinese company from their networks have primarily focused on warnings that its equipment could be used by China for spying.

Huawei has repeatedly and vehemently denied the espionage allegations. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Reuters on Friday there was no credible evidence that Huawei was a threat to US security.

Speaking on Saturday, US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper told the Munich Security Conference that Washington was already working with vendors to develop and test new 5G technologies.

We are encouraging allied and US tech companies to develop alternative 5G solutions and we are working alongside them to test these technologies at our military bases as we speak, Esper said.

The United States has used high-profile events in recent years to raise security concerns about Huawei equipment, warning that allies that use it in their networks risked being cut off from valuable intelligence-sharing feeds.

Officials in Munich repeated those concerns but also struck a softer tone, emphasizing the need to work with Huawei competitors to support their market position. They stopped short, however, of detailing any concrete plans or measures.

White House advisor Robert Blair told reporters the United States was already working with Scandinavian suppliers Nokia (NOKIA.HE) and Ericsson (ERICb.ST), as well as Koreas Samsung (005930.KS) and other smaller firms.

We will have some sort of a partnership with industry, were not sure what thats going to look like but ... we will have a big tent, said Blair, White House special representative for international telecommunications policy.

It will be very much a US-led effort but with like-minded partners around the world and well have to see where that discussion goes. And thats a matter of months not years.

People with knowledge of the matter said Blair had met with senior executives from both Nokia and Ericsson on the sidelines of the conference but declined to detail the contents of the conversations.

One industry executive said the US arguments about alternate suppliers were not new but had been stepped up following a British decision last month to use Huawei equipment, partly due to a lack of alternatives.

If people oppose one brand or another then they have to tell us what is the alternative, right? British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said ahead of the UKs decision.

The Americans are frustrated by the weak response from Britain, and worry Germany and France will think the same, said the industry executive, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations with American and European officials.

As they see it, European leaders are not basing their statements on facts.








Web Toolbar by Wibiya

On Monday, when Vancouver activist and out-and-proud transgender woman Norma Lize receives an award for her work in the local LGBT community, it'll be the culmination of a long journey.

"I never imagined that the day will come when I am recognized and honoured and just appreciated for the work that I was doing and for being who I am ... a visibly trans person," Lize told host Stephen Quinn on CBC's The Early Edition.

Growing up in Lebanon, Lize, 27, always felt that there was something missing in her gender identity.

That changed when she met a trans person for the first time when she was 18. It planted a seed of an idea that Lize, too, might be transgender.

But the incident also brought up complicated feelings  and a lot of fear.

"[The trans woman] was rejected from the community. She was rejected from her family, from her society, and I didn't want to be rejected just like her," Lize said.

The social stigma of being transgender or gay in Lebanon is very high, Lize said, with fewer legal protections.

"Being born and raised in the Middle East and in Lebanon, [it] is not an easy thing, especially when it comes to gender and sexuality."

Lize grew more comfortable in her own gender identity and started working with LGBT organizations in Lebanon  but she was still not fully out.

"I was never out as a trans person in Lebanon," Lize said. "I kept my trans identity in the dark for a long time just to be able to be safe and to help my trans community."

Lize eventually applied for asylum in Canada and moved to Vancouver in 2018.

She recalled the first time she walked down Davie Street in heels, wig and makeup.

"I looked around and was like, 'oh my God, this is not Halloween. I'm not the only person here. This is very normal. No one is looking at me,'" she said. "That's when I knew I was like 'OK I'm staying here.'"

Even her chosen name  Norma Lize  hearkens back to that feeling, and the fact "we are human beings just like everyone else."

As part of her life in Vancouver, Lize, who is fluent in English and French, has been connecting with transgender refugees moving to Vancouver and helping them navigate the bureaucratic network of government and non-profit organizations.

Monday's award  named after January Marie Lapuz, a transgender Filipina woman who was murdered in New Westminster eight years ago  recognizes Lize's involvement, commitment and leadership in the LGBT community.

It was presented by the non-profit LGBT organization Sher Vancouver, and was sponsored by DIVERSEcity Community Resources Society, a charity that works with newcomers.

"I'm here to learn from the organizations here, from the nonprofit organizations and from the community. I'm here to learn and hopefully one day, I'd be able to share this back home [in Lebanon]."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday asserted that his government firmly believes in the path of sustainable development and is ensuring that growth happens without harming the environment.

New Delhi/Gandhinagar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday asserted that his government firmly believes in the path of sustainable development and is ensuring that growth happens without harming the environment.

He also said India is one of the few countries whose actions are compliant with the Paris Agreement goal of keeping the rise in temperature below two degrees Celsius.

Addressing the 13th Conference of Parties (COP) of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) at Gandhinagar via video, he said India has been championing climate action based on the values of conservation, sustainable lifestyle and a green development model.

"My government firmly believes in the path of sustainable development. We are ensuring that development happens without harming the environment," Modi said.

India, the prime minister told the conference, has been traditionally practising the mantra of 'Athithi Devo Bhava'. "This has been reflected in the slogan theme for the CMS COP 13  'Migratory species connect the planet and together we welcome them home'," he said.

India proposes to strengthen its bonds with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and East Asia Summit countries. This would be in sync with the India-Pacific Ocean Initiative (IPOI), wherein New Delhi will be playing a leadership role, the prime minister said.

He also said India will hold presidency of the Convention for the coming three years and has prepared a national action plan to conserve migratory birds along the 'Central Asian Flyway'.

Several protected areas in the country share common boundaries with other nations, he pointed out, pitching for cooperation in conservation of wildlife that could lead to positive outcomes.

The number of protected areas increased from 745 in 2014 to 870 in 2019 with an area coverage of nearly 1,70,000 square kilometres, Modi said, adding, the range of "our initiatives include ambitious target of 450 MW renewable energy with push towards Electric Vehicles, smart cities and conservation of water".

"For ages, conservation of wildlife and habitats has been a part of the cultural ethos of India, which encourages compassion and co-existence... India is one of the most diverse countries of the world. With 2.4 percent of the world's land area, it contributes about 8 percent of the known global biodiversity," Modi noted.

Modi also said the critically endangered bird  the Great Indian Bustard  which is also the mascot of COP 13, has also been the focus of India's conservation efforts.

"The Great Indian Bustard, a critically endangered bird, has also been at the focus of our conservation efforts. As part of the captive breeding programme, nine eggs have been successfully hatched from the wild.

"This has been accomplished by the Indian Scientists and Forest Department with technical assistance from International Fund for Houbara Conservation, Abu Dhabi. "We have, therefore, made the mascot 'GIBI - The Great', as a tribute to the Great Indian Bustard," he said.

Speaking about four biodiversity hotspots, the Prime Minister said India is blessed with diverse ecological habitats. "India is blessed with diverse ecological habitats and also has four biodiversity hotspots. They are the Eastern Himalayas, Western Ghats, Indo-Myanmar landscape and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

"In addition, India is also home to around 500 species of migratory birds from across the globe," he said.

Talking about tiger population in India having gone up, he called upon tiger range countries to come together to strengthen the big cat's conservation.

The number of tiger reserves has increased from nine since its formative years to 50 at present, Modi said. He said at present India has the distinction of having a population of almost 2,970 tigers and that India has achieved its target of doubling the number of tigers two years before the committed date of 2022.

"I call upon Tiger Range Countries present here and also others to come together to strengthen tiger conservation through sharing of benchmark practices," Modi said.

The Prime Minister said during its presidency, India would actively work towards conservation and an action plan has been prepared to protect migratory birds along the Central Asian Flyway.

"India is part of the Central Asian Flyway for migratory birds. With a view to conserve the birds along the Central Asian Flyway and their habitats, India has prepared a 'National Action Plan for conservation of Migratory Birds along the Central Asian Flyway'.

"India would be happy to facilitate preparation of action plans for other countries in this regard. We are keen to take the conservation of migratory birds to a new paradigm with active cooperation of all the Central Asian Flyway Range Countries," he said.

Modi said he wishes to establish an institutional mechanism for undertaking research, studies, assessments, capacity development and conservation initiatives by creating a common platform.

He also mentioned about the Project Snow Leopard to protect the species in the upper Himalayas.

"India recently hosted the Steering Committee of the Global Snow Leopard Ecosystem Programme of 12 countries, which resulted in New Delhi declaration envisaging development of country specific framework for snow leopard conservation.

"I am happy to share that India would be taking a leadership role in promoting Green Economy including conservation of mountain ecology with people's participation," he said.
Citing Chinese data, WHO chief says COVID-19 not as deadly as SARS, and children not affected in same way as adults.

The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in mainland China reached 1,770 as of the end of Sunday, up by 105 from the previous day, according to the countrys National Health Commission.

At least 100 of the new deaths were from the province of Hubei, the epicentre of the epidemic, the commission said on Monday morning. Across the country, there were 2,048 new confirmed infections, about 1,933 from Hubei alone, pushing the new total to 70,548.

On Sunday, Hubei announced tough new measures to try to curb the outbreak, ordering its cities to block roads to all private vehicles. Meanwhile, a newly published speech revealed Chinese President Xi Jinping was aware of the potential severity of the outbreak long before the public was informed.

Here are all the latest updates:

For February 18 updates, click here.

Monday, February 17.

Virus causes mild disease in four out of five people infected: WHO

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said Chinese medical data shows that more than 80 percent of patients have mild symptoms and will recover, while 14 percent suffer from severe complications such as pneumonia, 5 percent are in critical condition and 2 percent die from the disease.

It appears that COVID-19 is not as deadly as other coronaviruses, including SARS and MERS, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva, adding that officials were starting to get a clearer picture of the outbreak.

The UN health agencys chief also said that children were not suffering from COVID-19 the same as adults and that the risk of death increases the older you are.

Chinese doctors using plasma therapy on patients

Doctors in Shanghai are using infusions of blood plasma from people who have recovered from the coronavirus to treat those still battling the infection, reporting some encouraging preliminary results, said Lu Hongzhou, professor and co-director of the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Centre.

According to Hongzhou, the hospital had set up a special clinic to administer plasma therapy and was selecting patients who were willing to donate. We are positive that this method can be very effective in our patients, he said.

Speaking to reporters in Geneva, Mike Ryan, the head of WHOs health emergencies programme, said using convalescent plasma was a very valid approach to test, but that it has to be carefully timed to maximise the boost to a patients immunity.

You are essentially giving the new victims immune system a boost of antibodies to hopefully get them through the very difficult phase, Ryan said, cautioning, however, that the method is not always successful.





On epidemics evolution, every scenario still on the table: WHO chief

The latest data provided by China on people infected indicates a decline in new cases but every scenario is still on the table in terms of the epidemics evolution, according to Tedros.

Speaking to reporters in Geneva, the WHO chief cited a new Chinese medical report that analyses more than 44,000 COVID-19 cases.

Asked whether the outbreak was a pandemic, Mike Ryan, head of WHOs emergencies programme, said: The real issue is whether we are seeing efficient community transmission outside of China and at the present time we are not observing that.

Separately, WHO expert Sylvie Briand said the health agency was working closely with Japanese authorities and the chief medical officer on the Diamond Princess docked off Yokohama on infections and evacuations, adding: Our focus is on our public health objective that we contain the virus and not contain the people.

Two more cases confirmed in Taiwan

Taiwan has reported two more confirmed cases of the coronavirus, saying they were linked to the islands first death and lifted the number of those infected to 22.

The mother of the deceased, who died on Saturday, and a male relative were tested positive, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung told a televised news conference.

Geneva inventions exhibition postponed

The International Exhibition of Inventions held annually in the Swiss city of Geneva has been postponed by six months due to the coronavirus epidemic, according to its organisers.

The exhibition management has chosen to be wise and decided to postpone the largest event of its kind in the world until September, it said in a statement, citing difficulties for inventors planning their trips.

Organisers said half of the exhibitors come from Asia, a third of whom are from mainland China and a further third from Hong Kong.





Asian Weightlifting Championships moved to Uzbekistan

The International Weightlifting Federation announced the relocation of its Asian tournament from Kazakhstan to neighbouring Uzbekistan because of the coronavirus.

The IWF said Kazakhstan had restricted travel to and from countries neighbouring China, forcing organisers to seek other options.

They settled on Uzbekistan which will now host the April 16-25 competition in its capital, Tashkent.

Effect of virus on eurozone to be temporary

Eurogroup head Mario Centeno said he expected the effect of the coronavirus outbreak on the economy of the eurozone to be temporary.

The Eurogroup is the name given to meetings of all finance ministers of countries using the euro.

Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Centeno said the European Union should carefully assess developments for the long term.

Biotech group launches test for coronavirus product

Biotechnology company Novacyt said it had launched a CE-Mark molecular test to help detect the coronavirus, marking a step forward in plans to commercialise a product for the disease.

I am very pleased to announce the launch of our COVID-19 CE-Mark test, which we believe is the first CE-Mark approved test for clinical diagnosis of the 2019 strain of the novel coronavirus, said Novacyt CEO Graham Mullis.

He added the research use only test produced a result in less than two hours.

Russian city orders woman who fled virus quarantine back to hospital

A court in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg ordered a woman to be forcibly returned to coronavirus quarantine in hospital after she broke out and went home.

The citys Botkin hospital filed a highly unusual request for a court order to hospitalise 33-year-old Alla Ilyina after she posted on social media about breaking out of her isolation room, complaining of inedible food and a lack of necessities such as shampoo.

China seeks to track coronavirus with QR codes

Chinas government plans to use a colour-based QR code system based on health status for tracking individuals affected with the coronavirus nationwide.

Last week, Alipay, a payment app operated by Alibabas financial division Ant Financial, released a feature in collaboration with the government in which residents of Hangzhou are given a code based on a health assessment they fill out online. The company says it is helping the government to expand the feature.

A traveller shows a green QR code that indicates his health status on his mobile phone to a worker at a railway station, following an outbreak of the novel coronavirus in the country, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province [Reuters]

Organisers cancel Tokyo marathon for 38,000 runners over coronavirus

Organisers said they are cancelling the amateur portion of the Tokyo marathon, affecting around 38,000 runners, on fears about the spread of the new coronavirus in Japan.

We reached the conclusion that unfortunately it is difficult to organise the event  after several cases (of the virus) were confirmed in Tokyo, the Tokyo Marathon Foundation said in a statement.

Russia says citizen aboard cruise ship has coronavirus

A Russian woman who was on board the Diamond Princess cruise liner docked in Yokohama, Japan, has tested positive for coronavirus following examinations by the Japanese authorities, the Russian Embassy to Japan said.

The woman will be taken to a hospital and treated, the embassy said in a post on Facebook. The woman is thought to be the first Russian national to contract the virus after the two previous cases found in Russia were Chinese nationals.

Cruise operator races to track Cambodia passengers

A US cruise operator is working to track down hundreds of passengers who disembarked a luxury liner in Cambodia after one traveller was later diagnosed with the deadly new coronavirus.

The Westerdam was at sea for two weeks during which it was barred from Japan, Guam, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand. Cambodian officials had cleared the passengers, but Malaysian officials said a US woman who had been on the ship tested positive for the virus.

Beijing to fast-track new mask factory in virus fight

The Chinese capital of Beijing will set up a new mask factory within just six days to meet soaring demand for protective gear in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, the official Xinhua news agency said.

The factory, to be converted from an industrial building by China Construction First Group, will be able to turn out 250,000 masks each day, it said, adding that work began on Monday and was set to be completed by Saturday.

Employees work on a production line manufacturing face masks at a factory in Fuzhou, Fujian province, as China is hit by an outbreak of the novel coronavirus [Reuters]

Macau casinos to resume operations after suspension

Macau, the worlds biggest gambling hub, will allow casinos to resume operations from February 20, after authorities imposed a two-week suspension to curb spreading of the coronavirus, public broadcaster TDM reported, citing authorities.

The unprecedented halt of gaming operations started on February 5 and was due to end on February 19. Macau has not reported any new cases of the virus since February 4, authorities said. There have been 10 confirmed cases of the virus in total.

Security guards stand outside the closed Grand Lisboa casino, following the coronavirus outbreak in Macau [Tyrone Siu/Reuters]

J apan confirms 99 more cases of new virus on cruise ship

Japanese officials have confirmed 99 more people infected by the new virus aboard the quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess, bringing the total to 454, the Health Ministry said.

The ministry has been carrying out tests on passengers and crew on the ship, docked in Yokohama, a port city near Tokyo. Outside China, the ship has had the largest number of cases of the COVID-19 illness caused by the virus that emerged in China late last year.

A medical worker in protective suit interacts with a patient inside an isolated ward at Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak, in Hubei province [Reuters]

US firms in China report staff shortages, say coronavirus hitting global operations

Nearly half of the US companies in China say their global operations are already seeing an impact from business shutdowns due to the coronavirus epidemic, according to a poll by Shanghais American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham).

Some 78 percent of the respondents also said they did not have sufficient staff at their Chinese plants to resume full production, while 48 percent of respondents said plant shutdowns had already impacted their global supply chains.

China parliament body to discuss delaying key annual March session

A top legislative body of the Chinese parliament will meet on February 24 to discuss a proposal on delaying the key annual March meeting of parliament, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Monday.

The reason for the delay is the coronavirus outbreak, Xinhua reported

China says WHO delegation to visit Beijing, Guangdong, Sichuan

China says a WHO delegation of experts will visit Beijing, and the provinces of Guangdong and Sichuan from February 17 onwards.

A spokesman for the National Health Commission announced the details of the visit at a media briefing on Monday.

Armed gang steals toilet rolls in panic-buying Hong Kong

A gang of knife-wielding men jumped a delivery driver in Hong Kong and stole hundreds of toilet rolls in a city wracked by shortages caused by coronavirus panic-buying.

Toilet rolls have become hot property in the densely packed business hub, despite government assurances that supplies remain unaffected by the virus outbreak. There has also been a run on staples such as rice and pasta, as well as hand sanitiser and other cleaning items.

A delivery man was threatened by three knife-wielding men who took toilet paper worth more than HK$1,000 ($130), a police spokesman told the AFP news agency.

US State Dept: 14 test positive among US plane evacuees from Japan virus ship

Fourteen people who had tested positive for the new coronavirus were among the more than 300 US citizens and family members evacuated by plane from a quarantined ship in Japan, the US State Department said on Monday.

The passengers had already disembarked from the Diamond Princess and were preparing to return to the United States on chartered aircraft when US officials were informed 14 of them who had been tested days earlier were positive for COVID-19, it said in a joint statement with the Department of Health and Human Services.

Buses carrying passengers from the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship leave a port in Yokohama, near Tokyo [File: Jae C Hong/The Associated Press]

Health official: Thailand records one new case of coronavirus

Thailand has recorded one new case of coronavirus, bringing the total in the country to 35 since January, a senior health official said on Monday.

The new case is a 60-year old Chinese woman, whose family members earlier contracted the virus, Sukhum Kanchanapimai, the health ministrys permanent secretary said in a news conference.

Fifteen people have recovered and returned home.

Japan cancels Emperors birthday public celebrations amid virus fears

Japan said on Monday it would cancel a public gathering to celebrate the birthday of new Emperor Naruhito, as fears grow over the spread of the new coronavirus in the country.

In light of various situations, we have decided to cancel the visit by the general public to the palace for His Majestys birthday, the imperial household agency said in a statement, a day after the government warned people to avoid crowds and non-essential gatherings.

Japans Emperor Naruhito waves to well-wishers during a public appearance for New Year celebrations at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Japan [File: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]

Australia to evacuate more than 200 citizens from quarantined cruise ship

Australia will evacuate more than 200 of its citizens on board the coronavirus-stricken cruise, the Diamond Princess, which has been quarantined since arriving in Yokohama, Japan on February 3.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the passengers will depart on Wednesday and will be taken to Australias tropical north, where they will be required to be quarantined for another 14 days.

Filipino crew members infected by coronavirus on cruise ship rise to 27

The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs reported on Monday that there are now 27 Filipinos on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship who have been infected with the coronavirus.

The number includes 16 new cases confirmed on Saturday, February 15, according to the statement issued by the Philippine embassy.

There are an estimated 531 Filipino crew members and seafarers, as well as seven Filipino passengers on board the Diamond Princess, which is now docked and under quarantine in the port of Yokohama, Japan.

At least 634 passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship have been diagnosed with coronavirus [Franck Robichon/EPA]

Japan keeps high coronavirus alert as more citizens return from China

Japan evacuated more citizens from the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak on Monday, while the diseases spread prompted a hospital to stop accepting new patients and raised the possibility of restricting participants at the Tokyo Marathon on March 1.

A fifth government-chartered flight carrying 65 Japanese citizens arrived in Tokyo from Wuhan, China, early on Monday, bringing the total number repatriated from the city to 763, broadcaster NHK reported.

A hospital in Sagamihara, 50km (31 miles) west of Tokyo, said it would suspend admissions of new patients as one of its nurses tested positive for the virus after treating a patient who later died of the disease.

With more than 400 people infected, most of whom are passengers on a cruise ship docked in Yokohama, Japan is the country most affected by the epidemic after China, where the outbreak was first detected in December.

Read the updates from Sunday, February 16 here.
A motocross charity event said to be as good as Nitro Circus will take place in Tauranga next weekend.

Onlookers can expect to see front flips, backflips, and possibly even a triple flip from some of the worlds best riders.

There are all sorts of dirt bike antics. Shes a pretty stacked event this year  its going to be good.

Thats according to event organiser Luke Price who has been running the event for the past six years.

This year he hopes to raise more than $14,000 for New Zealand charity Cure Kids, which funds medical research for children in New Zealand.

In the past they have raised up to $18,000 for Cure Kids, he says.

BMX riders include Jed Mildon, Paul Langlands, Billie Clerke and Hugh Wotherspoon. FMX riders include Nick Franklin, Levi Sherwood, Caleb DeLacy and Alex Bennett.

All the athletes are donating their time for free  some would normally charge a huge fee to ride at an event like this. Some of the Kiwis are huge on the global riding stage.

According to freestyle motocross rider Levi Sherwood, this is the only event worldwide where people ride for free.

But what will it be like to watch? Oh my god - its fun, scary - a number of emotions all rolled into one, says Luke.

You have to see it in real life. But I can say that Levi will be doing a double backflip on his dirt bike.

And theres a bar right there as well, so you can have a beer while you watch.

See the worlds best freestyle athletes perform on Saturday, February 22 at the Worlds End Bar and Restaurant at Fraser Cove Shopping Centre, Tauranga. Entry by gold coin donation.

There will be three ride times: 1pm, 3pm and 5pm.
One of the most controversial seasons of Bigg Boss might have ended on the television screen but the hangover of the drama, that brewed in the house for months, continues to keep fans busy and entertained.

After Sidharth Shukla was declared the winner on Saturday, Asim Riazs fans were totally upset over the results. Adding to the drama, a leaked video from BB control room also fuelled rumours that the show was rigged and apparently suggested that both the boys got equal votes.

Now Shehnaaz Gill, one of the most entertaining contestants in the history of BB, is all set to continue entertaining us with her new show which will actually be her swayamvar.

Now while the fans of this Punjab Ki Katrina Kaif are all ready to support her new innings, unfortunately Shehnaazs father has expressed his disappointment over this new show which, according to him, will hamper her growth and her public image as well.

He feels that the channel didnt justify her talent and while some contestants were even paid a whopping amount of over Rs. 2 crore, Shehnaaz was compensated with just around Rs. 10 lakh.

In a statement to the media, he explained how he feels. We have a meeting with the channel. If the channel is not considered, then we will take help of Shiv Sena. I don't want to make my daughter Rakhi Sawant from Katrina Kaif. Will not let my daughter get married. These people knew that Shehnaaz could win the show, but the makers made this plan to win the show to Siddharth Shukla.

He feels that the makers have been unfair to her and the promos of her next show have already been released in order to cash in on her stardom.

They have made sure the (Swayamvar) promo is already out because they wanted the voting for Shehnaaz to stop so that they could make Sidharth Shukla the winner. My daughter has really worked very hard throughout the show but now she is just being given Rs 10 lakh as compensation, he said.

They have made her toil so hard. There are other contestants who have been paid Rs 2 crores but they havent quite done anything in the show. But my daughter is just given Rs 10 lakhs. She has done so much in the show and now they are literally driving her mad and they are making her do things, he added.

 Instagram

Looks like her reel life drama has been translated into a real life drama. As per the reports, her swayamvar will air today on Colors TV and while one can understand her fathers concern about her getting married, we can't help but understand how the blame game escalated to this level.



One assumes that an actor signs an official contract with a channel and all the legal aspects are discussed prior to something going on air. So let's hope this is not just another publicity gimmick.

Source: The Quint
The partner of former French president Francois Hollande, actress Julie Gayet, reportedly sent an angry text to French First Lady Brigitte Macron for excluding her from a party at the Elysee Palace - and inviting her love rival instead.

The claim was made in Paris Match magazine, which interviewed Hollande and Ms Gayet and spoke to their associates for a feature - however the actress asked not to be quoted directly in the piece.

Whether the story came directly from Gayet or someone close to her is unclear, but the magazine reports that the actress, 47, was enraged when Ms Macron, 66, failed to invite her to a lunch for former First Ladies at the Elysee Palace in 2019 - and even sent her an angry message to complain.

To add salt to the wound, the lunch was attended by none other than Valerie Trierweiler, Hollande's former partner whom he very publicly cheated on with Ms Gayet in 2014.

The magazine also reported Ms Gayet referring to Emmanuel Macron as 'the traitor' for threatening to cut public funding for her partner's French-American Foundation.

A feature by French magazine Paris Match revealed that Julie Gayet, 47, the girlfriend of former French President Francois Hollande, was enraged when Brigitte Macron, 66, (right) failed to invite her to a First Ladies dinner party she threw at the Elysee Palace in 2019. Left, Julie Gayet in Paris on January 23 2020, right: Brigitte Macron at the Elysee Palace during the Argentina state visit on February 5

Although Ms Gayet shunned a public role as First Lady, she lived at the Elysee Palace with Hollande until he was ousted by Emmanuel Macron in 2017.

However, Ms Macron chose not to invite her to the lunch with former French First Ladies at the palace.

Guests included Carla Bruni, the wife of Nicolas Sarkozy, who was Head of State from 2007 to 2012, and Valerie Trierweiler, who was dating Francois Hollande from 2007 until his infidelity was exposed in 2014.

Ms Gayet had kept silent at the time, but her absence at the occasion had raised eyebrows among journalists and political watchers, who had wondered why she was not on the guest list.

Julie Gayet (pictured at the Robin Hood premiere in Cannes in May 2010) and Francois Hollande have been dating since news of their affair broke in 2014, while he was President of France

But behind closed doors, not one to back out from a fight, Ms Gayet apparently addressed the humiliating snub in a text message to the host herself.

The feature also revealed that Ms Gayet did not attend the funeral of former president Jacques Chirac in Paris last year because she 'could not stand to see the Macrons'.

The sombre event, which took place on September 29, was attended by President Macron and former president Nicolas Sarkozy, as well as numerous French politicians and foreign head of states like Bill Clinton. Francois Hollande attended the funeral, at Les Invalides in the French capital, alone.

The magazine also reported that Ms Gayet referred to Emmnauel Macron as 'the Traitor'. It read: 'She cannot stand the way in which they [the Macrons] switched sides and thought about cutting the public funding to Hollande's foundation, nor the fact they are getting closer to the Sarkozy couple.'

Earlier this week, two Le Monde journalists revealed that the former Head of State Nicolas Sarkozy might have been the one to tip off the press about Hollande's visits to Ms Gayet while he was still officially dating Valerie Trierweiler.

Fabrice Lhomme and Gerard Davet made the claim during a radio show on Europe I on Tuesday, reported French tabloid Voici.

Two French journalists have revealed that former French president Nicolas Sarkozy tipped them off about the affair between then president Francois Hollande and actress Julie Gayet in 2013. Pictured: French president Francois Hollande during a visit by King Carl Gustaf of Sweden and Queen Silvia of Sweden in December 2015

The two men claimed that they were tipped off about Hollande's infidelity by none other than Nicolas Sarkozy, who summoned them to his offices because he was annoyed with their investigation into allegations of financial irregularity during his 2012 re-election campaign.

Mid-rant, he reportedly told them to 'look into Hollande's business' and added that the president regularly visited a 'good friend', despite being in a long-term relationship with author Valerie Treierweiler.

While the two men did not follow through themselves, the news hit the French tabloids three months later, with pictures of Hollande riding a scooter to Ms Gayet's Parisian apartment, a scandal that no one has forgotten yet.

When the scandal hit, Francois Hollande had been dating author and journalist Valerie Trierweiler for five years. The couple are pictured visiting the Ground Zero 9/11 Memorial on January 10 2014 (the day the news of the affair broke in France)

'We go see Nicolas Sarkozy in his offices, we get told off for half an hour - it's always quite violent,' recalled Gerard Davet.

'Then, he says, "You should look into Francois Hollande. Rumour has it he rides a scooter out of the Elysee to see his good friend. Very often," and bam, three months later it's in Closer.'

They added that there was a lot of animosity between the rivals, with Hollande unseating Sarkozy in the 2012 election, making him the first incumbent president to lose since 1981.
By Deepak Chopra, MD

In every age there has been a dominant worldview that people tried to conform to. In an age of faith, everyone asked how they could better serve God. This was their daily concern. In the Industrial Age the question shifted to economics and improving one's lot in life. In an age dominated by science the question shifted again--people asked every day how they could keep up with progress and add to it. As times change, so do people's vision of what is important, and usually they thought they had a better vision than the one which preceded them.

Yet if you back away to see the bigger picture, each age had one thing in common, and it wasn't God, economics, or progress. It was the fundamental idea that life is well lived only if you have a vision. Without one, purpose and meaning are limited.

It turns out that the one question you should ask every day is this: How can I fulfill my vision today? Whether they put it exactly in these words, this is the secret behind the greatest success stories. Someone dedicated his or her life to a plan, project, or set of values larger than any individual. A worthy vision, I think, needs to fulfill certain criteria.

1. Your vision should be suited to who you really are. It can't be borrowed from someone else, and it can't be chosen out of obligation. Your parents may desperately have wanted you to follow the family business or go to medical school because they weren't able to. Those are laudable motives, but it's risky to adopt a vision that isn't really your own.

2. Your vision should be valuable no matter how much money you expect to make. Of course, you can always make it your vision to get rich, but there are two problems with that. First, the day you arrive at a financial goal, it will tend to feel empty. Second, a life totally devoted to money never stops. Making more and more--greed and competition fuel an insatiable desire.

3. You should compare the visions that seem most appealing, which means doing research and dipping your toe into more than one pool. Philosophy, religion, science, business, and scholarship are rich with potential, and you owe it to yourself at least to sample what they are like.

4. Your vision should be ambitious. the old saying that a man's reach should exceed his grasp still holds true (or a woman's reach). Settling isn't visionary. Pick something that will feel like a challenge every day for as long as you can see into the future.

5. Finally, don't lose sight of two words that often escape notice when someone has burning ambition and drive: happiness and love. The more you can increase these two qualities, in your life and the lives of others, the more worthwhile your life will seem as it unfolds. A hugely successful life devoid of happiness and love is what Scrooges are made of.

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. 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. His 90th book, Metahuman: Unleashing Your Infinite Potential, 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.
Videos

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.
Caroline Flack was found dead at her home on Saturday. (PA via Getty Images)

The Crown Prosecution Service has explained how it decides whether or not to charge someone, in the wake of criticism following the death of Caroline Flack.

The 40-year-old Love Island presenter was found dead at her home in north London on Saturday.

A lawyer for her family said she had taken her own life.

She had been scheduled to face trial next month for allegedly assaulting her boyfriend, Lewis Burton, 27, at her then flat in Islington in December.

Caroline Flack leaves Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court in December after being charged with assault. (Getty Images)

Read more: Tributes paid after Caroline Flack found dead aged 40

She stepped down from presenting the current edition of Love Island after the alleged incident.

Flack entered a not guilty plea to the charge at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court and was released on bail, with conditions that stopped her having any contact with Burton ahead of a trial in March.

Her management company criticised the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for not dropping the charge even though Burton said he did not want the case to go ahead.

What did Caroline Flacks management company say?

The company accused the CPS of pressing ahead with a show trial of a vulnerable person.

Francis Ridley, from Money Talent Management, said: The Crown Prosecution Service pursued this when they knew not only how very vulnerable Caroline was but also that the alleged victim did not support the prosecution and had disputed the CPS version of events.

The CPS should look at themselves today and how they pursued a show trial that was not only without merit but not in the public interest. And ultimately resulted in significant distress to Caroline.

Watch the video below

What was the response of the Crown Prosecution Service?

Initially, the CPS said its deepest sympathies go to the family and friends of Flack but did not comment further.

However, on Sunday, the CPS said it had been asked questions about the role of the CPS in deciding whether to charge an individual with a criminal offence.

On its website it published information that explains our role and approach.

Story continues

The CPS said the information was not a comment on any individual case.

How does the CPS decide on whether or not to charge someone with a criminal offence?

The CPS said: We do not decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence  that is for the jury, judge or magistrate  but we must make the key decision of whether a case should be put before a court.

Read more: How Caroline Flack's rise to Love Island fame made her household name

It said every charging decision is based on the same two-stage test in the Code for Crown Prosecutors:

 Does the evidence provide a realistic prospect of conviction? That means, having heard the evidence, is a court more likely than not to find the defendant guilty?

 Is it in the public interest to prosecute? That means asking questions including how serious the offence is, the harm caused to the victim, the impact on communities and whether prosecution is a proportionate response.

Floral tributes placed outside Caroline Flack's former home in north London. (PA Images via Getty Images)

What about when an alleged victim does not want to proceed?

The CPS said: Guidance for prosecutors when considering domestic abuse allegations gives specific advice on how to proceed when a complainant does not want to support a prosecution, which can often be a feature of these difficult cases.

It provides guidance on the information required to understand why a complainant may withdraw support and the different options that should be considered, including proceeding without the complainants support if other evidence is available.

In a section of the CPS website with the heading Retractions and withdrawals by complainants, it says: It is possible that a complainant may ask the police not to proceed any further with a prosecution case and say they no longer wish to give evidence.

There may be a number of reasons why a complainant will withdraw their support from a prosecution, or retract their allegation, but this does not mean that the case will be automatically stopped.

Why might a complainant no longer support a case?

The CPS said factors include fear of other offences being committed or risk of further harm, fear of coming face-to-face with the abuser in court, pressure from the perpetrator, fear of repercussions that may follow from peers of the perpetrator, fear of being publicly shamed and a wish to be reconciled with the perpetrator.

Read more: Newspapers react to 'Valentine tragedy' after Caroline Flack's death

The CPS say reasons such as these should be considered as a means to assist prosecutors in understanding how they will need to consider the next steps to be taken.

What have other legal experts said?

Nazir Afzal, a former chief prosecutor for the North West, wrote on Twitter: "To those who want to understand why prosecutors pursue cases of domestic assault even when the victim withdraws.

To those who want to understand why Prosecutors pursue cases of domestic abuse even when the victim withdraws pic.twitter.com/Oow1yhCTzh  nazir afzal (@nazirafzal) February 16, 2020

"Sometimes you need to protect someone even when they can't see it themselves."

The lawyer who writes anonymously under the name of the Secret Barrister tweeted: As fingers are frantically pointed in every direction, and articles are deleted and history is hastily rewritten, maybe our priority should instead be to look at how we treat the people  the living, breathing, bleeding human beings  at the centre of our criminal justice system.
A rail blockade in Tyendinaga, near Belleville, Ont., on Feb. 16, 2020, in solidarity with the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs opposed to the LNG pipeline in northern British Columbia. (The Canadian Press/Lars Hagberg)

Blockades: Authorities Must Not Be Cowed by Radical Protesters

Commentary

Canada is supposed to be the land of peace, order, and good government. At the moment, all three are in jeopardy. Thanks to illegal actions taken by a fistful of hereditary band chiefs and their eco-warrior allies, Canadians are holding their collective breath. When and how will this scofflaw-initiated standoff end?

When trains dont run in Canadaand a huge number of them arent at the momentfar more is at stake than inconvenienced passengers, undelivered goods, and revenue/job loss. The railway united this country. But unlike airports, where security is tight, train lines are extremely vulnerable. Rail security is based on the honour system, which is why even peaceful disruption to its function strikes a certain dread in the national heart.

Those causing the stoppage know that very well. And they enjoy flipping law enforcement the bird. When a court injunction to remove the rail blockade near Belleville, Ont., was delivered to protesters, they torched it on the tracks. Theres an implicit message for Canadians in this grossly insulting gesture to law enforcement: See how easy this was? Nobody will use force against us, because the next time, instead of merely blockading the rail lines for a few weeks, we could just as easily blow them up. And not just at Belleville, but at transport hubs across the nation.

Spoken threats have come straight out of activists own mouths. In June 2010 (quoted by Al Jazeera, no less), Shawn Brant, a Mohawk who led the 2007 Highway 401/CN railway blockade, ominously observed: The government ran its infrastructure through our land  it serves as an incredibly powerful tool of influence that allows us now as a society to engage government in  a relationship based on us having the power.

Even before that, in 2008, a Canadian Security Intelligence Service assessment had concluded, Multi-issue extremists and Aboriginal groups have demonstrated the intent and the capability to carry out attacks against critical infrastructure in Canada.

Protest morphing into domestic terrorism is something we are not supposed to imagine, let alone say aloud. This is Canada, for heavens sake, not the Middle East. But our politicians do think about it every time such protests happen. And its why they tread very carefully.

Oka in Quebec (1988), Burnt Church in Nova Scotia (2000), Deseronto and Caledonia in Ontario (2008)all of these standoffs reveal reluctance to push back against Indigenous triumphalism in order to enforce judgments. Since 1995 in Ipperwash, Ont., when unarmed Ojibway protester Dudley George was killed by a police officera disaster on Premier Dick Harriss watch that no premier wants repeated on his or her watchpoliticians prefer watching and waiting to risking another such incident.

Every once in a while we get a glimpse of just how scared authorities are of Indigenous militants. When then-police commissioner Julian Fantino was criticized for refusing to enforce the law at Caledoniawhere a lands-claim dispute in 2006 became a years-long clash between town residents and protesters from the nearby Six Nations reserve involving violence to non-Indigenous peoplehe responded with spontaneous candour: If I were to do something at Caledonia, [wed] have an uprising across the country.

If Fantino really believed that, the remark should have provoked a national discussion on what the federal government was doing to protect vulnerable targets. But that didnt happen. We just dont know how to have that conversation.

The government and law enforcement justifications for inaction in todays crisis are particularly gormless. Transport Minister Marc Garneau said, Freedom of expression and peaceful protest are among the most fundamental and cherished rights in a democracy. But if pro-lifers peacefully protested abortion by preventing women from entering an abortion clinic, they would be removedand rightfully, because thwarting access to services isnt protest, it is obstruction of the rights of others.

The Ontario Provincial Police commented rather gnomically, The proper exercise of police discretion should not be confused with a lack of enforcement.

Since when does law enforcement have the discretion to abandon protection of people and property?

Meanwhile, there are more than 180,000 warrior-age Indigenous people living alongside Canadas critical resource lines, all difficult to defend. Many of these restless young men hold revanchist views about colonialism. They receive not-so-subtle messages from people in high authority that their agitation is justified. In 2011, Justice Murray Sinclair, who was the chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission at the time, declared that Canadian society must heal the damage caused by the Indian residential school system or deal with the violence that will be undoubtedly unleashed against it. Undoubtedly? What a provocative statement.

Societyyou and Icannot provide descendants of past injustices with a subjective feeling. To my ears, Sinclairs irresponsible words offered pre-exoneration for the use of violence by grievance-collectors on emotional grounds. In any case, how can people raised in a culture of identity politics begin to heal when they have been overtly encouraged by their prime minister not to heal, since, as Justin Trudeau has said, they continue to be victims of an ongoing genocide?

In 2008, during a meeting of the Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples, Sen. Romeo Dallaire asked Prime Minister Paul Martin about the Aboriginal Day of Action, Is the internal security risk rising as the youth see themselves more and more disenfranchised? In fact, if they ever coalesced, could they not bring this country to a standstill? Mr. Martin replied, My answer, and the only one we all have, is we would hope not.

Hope not? That is the governments plan? Trudeau is hardly likely to rush in where more muscular leaders feared to tread. He was for much of this crisis literally and figuratively AWOL. From Africa, he called for all parties to dialogue. He urges resolution. Empty phrases. A blaring headline in the National Post said it best: Leaderless. Amid the mounting criticism, he cancelled his trip to Barbados (related to his quest for a U.N. Security Council seat) and met with cabinet ministers to discuss the blockades.

The old, comforting paradigm of the passive, stoic Indigenous person who turns his grievances inward is long gone. The defeated survivors of the residential school era have been replaced by confident leaders who are impatient with plodding negotiations, resentful of Canadas fetish with multiculturalism, which obscures the singularity of indigeneity; and who are well versed in a global rights culture supportive of all oppressed people of colour struggling against white European oppressors.

An older generation of Aboriginals has seen the shift from the inside, and they have been made uneasy by it. Elder Andrew George of the Wetsuweten nation told APTN (an Aboriginal TV network), When you look at whats happening with the youth, its spreading like wildfire, but theres no control. He said many other elders are concerned. We are afraid something bad might happen.

Barbara Kay has been a weekly columnist for the National Post since 2003 and also writes for other publications including thepostmillennial.com, Canadian Jewish News, Quillette, and The Dorchester Review. She is the author of three books.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Pastor Telley Gadson was the calm center of St. Mark United Methodist Church in Taylors, South Carolina, as the congregation prepared for a visit from Joe Bidens presidential campaign and a North Carolina congressman who would speak on Bidens behalf. The historic black church is known as the 9-1-1 because of its street address. And the church did seem like it was responding to a minor emergency Sunday morning as people rushed around to get ready.

An usher burst into Gadsons office to announce a reporter from Christianity Today just as two deacons hurried out to make sure good seats had been saved for the Biden campaign staff. But Gadson was calm. Its just another Sunday at the 9-1-1, she said.

The service kicked off with an organ trio, an amplified Hammond backed by thumping bass and drums. As the music started, about 100 people found their places in the purple upholstered pews and another 25 or 26 got up on stage. Everyone started praising Jesus.

A minister stood up and said the thing black Christians say across the South when they gather to worship: I want to thank the Lord who woke me up this morning. And the people sang more.

Then it was the congressmans turn. G. K. Butterfield, a former head of the Congressional Black Caucus, got up in the pulpit to deliver his message, and the church got quiet. Butterfield said, Im here to ask you to support my friend Joe Biden. And its easy to do, because Ive known Joe Biden for a long time.

Democratic candidates are doing an unprecedented amount of faith outreach this presidential primary campaign. Some Democrats in the past have talked about their faith, like Jimmy Carter and Barack ...

1

You have reached the end of this Article Preview You have reached the end of this Article Preview To continue reading, subscribe now. Subscribers have full digital access.

Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here.
She's no stranger to putting on racy displays on-camera and at high-profile events.

And Lady Victoria Hervey pulled out all the stops as she hosted her jewellery, fashion and fragrance collaboration, Hervey Lloyd Henshall, with Scott Henshall at Mayfair's sketch during London Fashion Week on Sunday evening.

The socialite, 43, commanded attention as she slipped into an incredibly bold gown, with its sheer material flashing her black underwear.

Wow-factor! Lady Victoria Hervey hosted her jewellery, fashion and fragrance launch with Scott Henshall at Mayfair's sketch during London Fashion Week on Sunday evening

Ensuring all eyes were on her the woman of the hour looked sensational in her daring number, which featured a feathered neckline and lace detailing throughout.

The aristocrat showed off a hint of her pink pedicure in peep-toe heels, and carried her belongings in a classic box-shaped clutch.

Amping up the glamour, Victoria accessorised with diamond, chandelier-inspired earrings and a thick bangle.

With her blonde tresses styled into glossy waves, The Jump star highlighted her youthful-looking complexion with dewy make-up.

Daring appearance: The socialite, 43, commanded attention as she slipped into an incredibly bold gown, with its sheer material flashing her black underwear

Looking good: Ensuring all eyes were on her the woman of the hour looked sensational in her daring number, which featured a feathered neckline and lace detailing throughout

Standing tall: The aristocrat showed off a hint of her pink pedicure in peep-toe heels, and carried her belongings in a classic box-shaped clutch

All in the details: Amping up the glamour, Victoria accessorised with diamond, chandelier-inspired earrings and a thick bangle

Glowing: With her blonde tresses styled into glossy waves, The Jump star highlighted her youthful-looking complexion with dewy make-up

Last January, Victoria told The Mail On Sunday she froze her eggs in a fertility clinic, costing her 11,000.

Victoria has said she hopes to have a child before she is 45. She explained: 'I had six eggs removed from my ovaries and frozen in a fertility clinic.

'At the end of this month, I intend to go through the exhausting procedure again in the hope that I will produce another half-dozen or so eggs. It will, I hope, fill what has become rather a hole in my life.

Victoria confessed she would like 'two children' and turned to freezing her eggs - a decision prompted by Stacey Solomon, whom she met while competing on The Jump in 2015 - following her fears she has 'left it too late' to become a mother.

Busy bee: Earlier in the day, Victoria attended Aspinal of London's AW20 presentation

Catching the eye: The reality star dazzled in a black sequinned jumpsuit, tied in with a brown fedora hat

Explaining she wants the 'emotional aspect' of a relationship, rather than favouring a sperm donor, the blonde added: 'I'm hoping science might be able to stop the clock until I find the right man to be a father to my babies.

'A major part of the problem is that I'm still single. Despite some intense relationships in my early 20s, they all fizzled out eventually. I do have a back-up plan if my Prince Charming doesnt materialise.

'Ive got friends whove said theyd be prepared to father my child, and Im considering that option very seriously.'
You are here: World

 Flash

One person is dead and four others are injured following a nightclub shooting in the northeastern U.S. state of Connecticut early Sunday, local police have said.

"Shooting investigation underway at south-end nightclub. Preliminary info, 5 people shot/451 Franklin Ave, 1 fatally. MCD/CSD and support units on scene," Hartford police tweeted.

The dead victim was a 28-year-old man, the Hartford police said on Twitter.

Two of the wounded were still in surgery as of 7:30 a.m. (1230 GMT), the tweet said, while the two others were "stable."

Hartford police Lieutenant Paul Cicero told the Associated Press that police left the scene at around 7 a.m. (1200 GMT), amid a "long, complex investigation."

Further details, including information about the shooter, were not immediately available.
We are accustomed to thinking of America as a young country, with all the energy, and perhaps brashness, of youth. But the most distinguishing mark of the US presidential election so far this year has been the plethora of oldsters in the political arena. It's a fiesta of septuagenarians!

There's President Trump, confident of winning again, aged 73. There's the Democrat considered to be have the most realistic chance of beating Trump - Joe Biden, aged 77. There's the socialist firebrand Bernie Sanders, aged 78. The feminist favourite, meanwhile, is left-of-centre Elizabeth Warren, who is 70.

Another possible challenger could be multi-billionaire and 77-year-old Michael Bloomberg. And presiding over so much of the political theatre is the glamorous and forceful Nancy Pelosi, who, at 79, can rip up the text of a Trump speech without batting a false eyelash.

We can bet too that Hillary Clinton (72) even if she's not a candidate, will be a full-on campaign activist.

Pete Buttigieg, the Democratic mayor of South Bend, Indiana, looks like a positive outlier at a mere 38. There's no problem with Pete being gay - but in a contest where old guys and gals litter the field, his tender age sure makes him unusual.

Not only are so many of the political contenders mostly past the Biblical three score year and 10, they're also capable of acting like irresponsible teenagers - from The Donald's boastful tweeting swaggers to Bernie's Fidel Castro act of radical leftie out to destroy wicked old capitalism. The measured wisdom supposed to be associated with age isn't always to the fore.

Yet at a time when discourse over pensions and the desirable (or fiscally sensible) age of retirement is a mainstream issue, it's encouraging for senior citizens to observe so many active, frankly elderly, leaders in the political arena.

These American oldsters have shown fizz and energy, even when they have had health problems associated with age (Bernie Sanders' heart trouble, Joe Biden's senior moments). Like Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones, Trump, Sanders, Pelosi, Biden, Warren and Bloomberg could be role models for other septuagenarians who don't want to retire yet from the hurly-burly of an active working life. Being in that category myself, I can identify.

Still, generational power needs to be kept in balance. A gerontocracy - majority rule by the old - would not be good for any society. Progress means going forward and the driving force for innovation will always be the young. A bunch of oldies would never have formed the core collective intelligence of Silicon Valley or, like Mark Zuckerberg, invented Facebook, as he did aged 19. Original thinking is highly correlated with youth: creative artists may do good work in old age, but it is mostly a repetition of their youthful productivity.

Mathematicians are reckoned to reach their peak between the ages of 17 and 23. Second or third languages learned before the age of 24 are absorbed by the youthful brain; after the mid-twenties it's harder to acquire that fluency. Novelists often run out of ideas after middle age and turn to writing books based on fact or reportage. Young people may be justified with being impatient with their elders - the young know that the future belongs to them, while the old are custodians of the past.

(A current form of inter-generational insult is 'Okay, boomer!' directed at the 'baby-boom generation' born just after the Second World War. It's amusing, but not strictly applicable to Ireland, since there was no baby-boom in Ireland in the Forties or Fifties; indeed, there were loud lamentations at the falling population.)

So even if, as seems likely, America does elect a septuagenarian this autumn, the country's leader will need around him - unlikely to be a her, this time - a cohort of people who are a lot younger.

And often a multi-generational approach is enriching. Climate-change warrior Greta Thunberg (17) has angrily accused older generations of ruining her future and yet she has teamed up very harmoniously with the 93-year-old David Attenborough.

As iconic theatre director Peter Brook - aged 94 - has said about forming any working ensemble: "Everyone brings something to the table." Diversity in any policy group is itself creative, as the sociologist Matthew Syed has shown in his book Rebel Ideas. With a mix of class, ethnicity, gender - and age - there is a greater dynamism of ideas, including the dynamism of dissent which arises from diversity.

The challenge for the young is to appreciate that experience really does count for something. The challenge for the old is to keep up with the world as it changes. The screen actor Kirk Douglas lived well past his century, but he could never adjust to a new Hollywood - for him, it would always be Burt Lancaster and Marlon Brando.

What's astonishing about the American political septuagenarians is that they don't seem to display the best values associated with the elderly - more patience, the tolerance wrought by time, the measured weighing of words and a forgiving attitude to the human failings of their opponents. No - they're in it for the fight and they'll be in full combat mode for the prize.

It may be left to young Pete Buttigieg to show maturity!
A young girl has been raped, murdered and dumped in bushes in Pakistan, sparking fury across the country.

The child, identified only as Madiha, was found on Sunday after vanishing the day before from her home in Saro Khel, a village in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region.

Her age has been reported in multiple sources as between seven and nine years old.

After her body was found, her family and other locals took to the streets and formed a roadblock to demand justice for Madiha.

The child, identified only as Madiha, was found on Sunday after vanishing the day before from her home in Saro Khel, a village in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province

After her body was found, her family and other locals took to the streets and formed a roadblock to demand justice for Madiha

The demonstration ended after police arrived, according to local media.

The incident has sparked fury across the country with many taking to social media to call for justice for the youngster.

Anthropologist and documentary filmmaker Samar MinAllah Khan tweeted her outrage today, saying: 'Stop making excuses! Children of Pakistan are screaming for help. Child sexual abuse is happening in homes, streets, madrassas, villages, cities.

'Yet another child brutally raped & murdered in #Hungu. #JusticeForMadiha #ChildSexualAbuse.'

Anthropologist and documentary filmmaker Samar MinAllah Khan tweeted her outrage today

It comes as a Senate committee in Islamabad today approved an amendment to expand the jurisdiction of the Zainab Alert Bill to the entire country.

The bill which addresses sexual crimes against children and proposes sentences was passed by the National Assembly in January. It is named after six-year-old Zainab Ansari who was raped and murdered in Kasur in 2018.

Zainab's case brought nationwide protests after she was found dumped in the trash and her case was the 12th such brutal incident surrounding the city within the last year.
Queen Letizia of Spain looked polished in a black midi dress as she joined her husband King Felipe for an awards ceremony in Madrid today.

The Spanish queen, 47, appeared in high spirits as she arrived at the Royal Palace of El Pardo alongside her husband, 52, for the National Research Awards.

She paired her chic, long-sleeved gown - which feature an elegant asymmetric neckline - with a statement leather belt around her waist and wore knee-high heeled boots for the occasion.

The mother-of-two wore her brunette locks in her typical style - loose around her shoulders and tucked behind her ears - and opted for a light layer of make-up.

Queen Letizia of Spain looked polished in a black maxi dress as she joined her husband King Felipe for an awards ceremony in Madrid today

She paired her chic, long-sleeved gown with a statement leather belt around her waist and wore knee-high heeled boots for the occasion

Letizia completed her stylish ensemble with small silver hoop earrings and a gold ring with a circular design by designer Karen Hallam.

King Felipe also dressed to impress in a dark, pinstripe suit as he sat alongside his wife in the audience at the annual ceremony.

He paired his suit with a classic white dress shirt and wore a powder blue tie for the occasion.

The couple were attending the National Research Awards in Madrid - an annual ceremony for innovators in the fields of medicine, biology, engineering, social sciences and humanities.

Letizia was joined at the ceremony by her husband King Felipe VI, who dressed to impress in a dark pinstripe suit

The mother-of-two wore her brunette locks in her typical style - loose around her shoulders and tucked behind her ears

Pictured: King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain sit in the audience at the National Research Awards in Madrid

Later on, they posed with two men and two women who were awarded plaques in the ceremony held at El Pardo Palace.

The ceremony followed a busy week for the royal couple, who attended two engagements in Andalusia in the south of the country on Friday.

Letizia and Felipe travelled to Almonte to chair a closing scientific congress, held in the Salvador Tavora Theater, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Donana National Park.

Prior to their tour of the natural reserve, the couple stopped in the Plaza Virgen del Rocio, where they were greeted by a patriotic crowd.

Felipe paired his suit with a classic white dress shirt and wore a power blue tie for the occasion

Pictured: The royal couple posed with two men and two women who were awarded plaques in the ceremony held at El Pardo Palace

Letizia and Felipe met with the mayor of Almonte, Rocio del Mar Castellano, who led them through the town.

During the visit the queen showed her maternal spirit as she cuddled a baby, while delighted members of the crowd took photographs.

The couple travelled through the square until they arrived at the Parish of Our Lady of the Assumption, on the occasion of the Mariano del Rocio Jubilee Year.

There they paid homage to the much-venerated Virgin of El Rocio (Virgen del Rocio), a small carved wooden statue of the Virgin and Child.

The monument is usually at the Hermitage of El Rocio, the destination of an annual pilgrimage known as the Romeria de El Rocio held on the second day of Pentecost, which draws around a million people each year.

However, the Virgin is temporarily being held at the cathedral located in the Plaza Virgen del Rocio.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 17:17:25|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

CHANGSHA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Dai Fa, 26, could have been a folk musician, but he stepped off the stage and chose to teach in his mountainous hometown.

Dai is a music teacher of a middle school in Luxi, a county in central China's Hunan Province with 62.3 percent of the ethnic minority population. It is one of the 11 national-level deep poverty-stricken counties in the province.

Like many remote areas, Luxi saw an outflow of talent, who are attracted by the opportunities in cities. The local education faced a grave situation with teachers leaving and young talent reluctant to come.

As a Luxi native, Dai had never planned to return to his hometown before graduating from university.

"When I was a child, the development of education in my hometown was lagging behind," Dai said. The poverty and lack of educational resources in Luxi made him eager to leave there and earn a living in big cities.

After graduating from the Tianjin Conservatory of Music in 2018, he got a job as an erhu (a traditional Chinese instrument) performer in a song and dance troupe in Hunan.

Tan Zihao, director of Luxi's education bureau, watched one of Dai's performances and was deeply impressed. After many attempts, Tan later managed to persuade Dai to return to Luxi to help develop the local education.

Many of Dai's students had only seen an erhu and cello that he brought to the school on TV before, and they were very excited to learn how to play them.

"The spark in their eyes reminded me of myself in the high school," Dai said.

"The faculty is the key to education. Only by keeping them can we help more people get out of the mountains, broaden their horizons to develop local industries, and eradicate poverty from the roots," said Du Xiaoyong, the county's Party chief.

To balance teaching resources between urban and rural areas, Luxi established a mechanism to award and select academic leaders in favor of rural teachers and encourage urban teachers to work in rural schools.

The local government also offers the teachers monthly subsidies as well as free apartments or low-rent housing.

To ensure that education reaches even the most remote villages, the county has set up "teaching sites," schools with few teachers and students, in almost all the villages in the county.

"As long as there is one student, there will be a teacher there," Tan, the education official, said.

Yang Shuqing, the only teacher in a school at Dengyun village of Heshui Town, has been working there for 10 years. At present, there are 15 preschool students, three first-graders and four second-graders.

The students from two villages in a nearby county also come to the school because of the good campus environment and teaching quality.

"Although they are far away from the county, my students never score below 80 out of 100 on a test," said Yang. "As a teacher, this is my greatest pride."

To show their gratitude, the students often bring her homemade food and specialties, Yang said, adding that the recognition from students and parents is the most valuable gift.

"In the past, my dream was to shine on the stage, now my dream is to let more children leave the mountains and embrace a better future," Dai said.
224 Shares Share

Recently I made a self-deprecating joke among friends, when one of them said, thats so Jewish, to which another quipped, What do you expect? Its in the genes.

The idea of a Jewish gene is not necessarily new, but it has become more popular and more concerning in recent years. For example, today, direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies, like 23andMe and Ancestry.com, identify people with certain genetic markers as being a percentage Jewish, leaving those customers who have previously considered themselves as anything but Jewish wondering what this report means.

The 2017 National Jewish Book Award in the category of Education and Jewish Identity went to The Origin of the Jews: The Quest for Roots in a Rootless Age, whose last chapter was dedicated to the genetic roots of the Jewish people. Also in 2017, the head rabbi of the Eretz Hemdah Institute in Israel issued a ruling that, according to Jewish law, specific genetic tests may be used as proof of Jewish descent.

This ruling allows immigrants from Europe who have lost all other evidentiary support to still be able to claim that they are part of the Jewish community without having to undergo conversion.

In one respect, the search for genetic similarities among Jews is neither surprising nor alarming. Given the traditional Jewish assumption that the Jewish people began as a family sired by Abraham before it became a nation, its only natural to assume certain common genetic markers are shared between Jews. For any close-knit family, where relatives marry each other through generations, genetic similarity should be a natural consequence.

What I am really concerned about regarding the Jewish gene or Jewish genetic markers is that people will think they know mewill developing preconceived notions about mebecause they know my genes

What about the person who converts to Judaism? That person presumably does not possess the requisite Jewish gene to be considered part of the club based on biology alone, yet Judaism accepts conversion as a legitimate way to join the Jewish family. On the other side, consider a person who converts to a different religion. There is a principal in the Talmud that once a Jew, always a Jew. But from a social, cultural, and even political perspective, community-affiliation demands voluntary engagement. For someone who opts out of the community, I cannot imagine there being a moral justification to force that person to do so based on his or her biology or previous affiliation alone. Its like forcing a divorcee to continue to attend family dinner.

In Israel, where there is a Law of Return, which gives Jews from all over the world the right to gain Israeli citizenship, the Israeli government recognized the political limitations accepting personal Jewish identity contrary to communal Jewish engagement when it refused to apply the law to Oswald Rufeisen, a Polish-born Jew who became a Catholic friar in the Discalced Carmelite Order. Contrary to the way President Trump speaks about Jews and Israelis, Jewish Law and Israeli Law are not the same.

Its dangerous to think a Jew or anyone else possesses any trait by virtue of their genetics  whether that trait is exceptional or debase. Every once in awhile, articles are published in various news outlets about Jewish genius or creativity or Jewish humor and anxiety. Similarly, television and movies constantly allude to Jewish stereotypes as genetically determined. For example, in season three of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Midge gives her audience a primer on the Jewish people. Yet, the idea of the Jewish gene as a social or cultural marker is not only prejudicial, it is incorrect. Research has already shown the unreliability of the Warrior Gene and the strict genetic determination of complex human traits such as intelligence or character. There are too many environmental and social factors that affect a single genes expression, let alone a combination of many genes that all impact a persons behavior, to think that knowing that a person has a particular gene will tell you who that person is. Moreover, given how different even siblings could be, depending on their shared and unique life experiences, it is absurd to think that shared Jewish genetic common markers can justify saying that all Jewish are alike in any particular way.

Jewish  or any  identity is so much more than a persons biology. The way that I see myself and choose to be seen by others is influenced by my beliefs, life-choices, the people with whom I share experiences, and the friends and relatives who I deem as family. It may be interesting to know what your genes say about your past, but it doesnt tell the whole story  just a very small part of it.

Ira Bedzow is an associate professor of medicine and director, Biomedical Ethics & Humanities Program, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
A senior Australian air traffic controller sent his former partner a screenshot of airspace he was controlling above Brisbane last year with a message that the Virgin flight on his radar was "trying to crash" into another plane.

The woman who received the message said she took it to mean that it would be her fault if the two planes collided. It was part of an increasingly disturbing pattern of behaviour and she later took out an apprehended violence order against the man.

Screenshot and words sent from an air traffic controller in Melbourne to his former partner suggesting two planes under his control could crash.

The Melbourne-based controller sent the images from the Airservices Australia radar in February last year, and remained on duty for more than six months until his employer was alerted to the incident in September. Airservices has confirmed that he was then suspended pending an investigation.

That investigation recently finished but Airservices Australia has declined to detail its outcome, citing privacy reasons. The organisation has not said if any disciplinary action was taken or whether the man has since been reinstated to normal duties.
Eight-year-old Musa and her older sister Moleboheng walked slowly downhill to get water from a dirty waterway. The girls really wanted a drink and were tired of waiting for trucks to bring water to their neighborhood. The trucks never came.

But Musa never returned from the stream, her mother Phindile Mbele remembers, trying not to cry. The little girl drowned in the stream, which is thick with mud and pollution. A strong underwater current probably pulled her down.

We rushed down there. She was still under the water... Two boys from the neighborhood went in and one carried her out, Mbele said. The house is empty without her. She was such a sweet, quiet child.

Musas death last month angered people living in Mandela Park Township, near Qwaqwa, in South Africa. What had been off-and-on protests over water shortages became a week-long riot.

Protesters burned businesses, overturned government vehicles and threw bricks and bottles at riot police. The police reacted by firing rubber bullets.

South Africans have protested for years because they cannot depend on water and power supplies. Their long-term mismanagement and a lack of rainfall last year made the situation worse. Climate change is thought to be the cause of the drought.

It rains here all the time but they say theres drought. Then how did that little girl drown because that stream was full? said Malgas Skinny John. He used rocks and burning tires during the January riot to block the road leading into Qwaqwa.

We have to strike and burn things, only then do we get water, John said. A father of two, he stood in line with neighbors to fill his container from a water truck.

Well do it again, well keep burning things if we have to, he added.

Officials fear riots like the one at Qwaqwa could be a sign of more social problems related to climate change in the future. The dams and water pipes get older and sometimes break down while the population and the demand for water continues to grow.

South Africas water minister Lindiwe Sisulu has promised 3 billion rand, or $203 million, to end the shortages in Qwaqwa. The local government owes about 500 million rand for water.

Sisulus own department needs 3.5 billion rand more to carry out maintenance. Without those repairs, there could be what the government calls harmful effects on the national economy.

Weve been drinking this brown, filthy water since 2016, said Musas mother Phindile Mbele.

Nothing will change. I know, soon, I will have to go the same stream where my daughter died to get water.

Im Jill Robbins.

Mfuneko Toyana reported on this story for the Reuters news agency. Jill Robbins adapted the report for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

________________________________________________

Words in This Story

stream  n. a natural flow of water that is smaller than a river

rush  v. to hurry

brick  n. a building material; a small block used in building

drought  n. long period of time during which there is very little or no rain

tire  n. a rubber covering for a wheel

mismanagement  n. the process of leading or something very badly or wrongly

filthy  adj. very dirty

What do you think of the water problems in South Africa? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.
On Saturday, United States officials started their plans of moving the Americans who are stuck aboard the Diamond Princess after it was locked down and anchored in Yokohama, Japan after the 2012 coronavirus joined them at sea.

Although some of the passengers are relieved that they will be going back to American soil soon, some of them are outraged after learning that they will again be quarantined for 14 days when they arrive in the U.S., which is the same isolation period that Americans who were evacuated from Wuhan had to go through since the virus has an incubation period of 14 days.

Upon arriving in the U.S., passengers which disembarked from the coronavirus-stricken Diamond Princess were temporarily housed at San Antonio-Lackland in Texas or at the Travis Air Force in California. They will be kept in separate isolation from the previous evacuees as advised by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC added that before leaving the ship, all passengers were screened and constantly monitored along the way.

The flights chartered by the US government departed on Sunday and will be the only chance that the stranded passengers have to return to the US before March 4. The chartered flights will be paid for by the U.S. government. However, the cost for their travel home after arriving in the U.S. and passing through quarantine will be taken from their own pockets. However, those who will choose not to board the government chartered flights will still need to spend two more weeks in Japan before they can go back to the U.S. since the U.S. government does not consider the Diamond Princess lockdown as proof of being free from the virus.

Also read: Red Cross Blamed for Deficient China Coronavirus Supplies

On the other hand, an 83-year-old woman from the U.S. who was aboard another cruise ship, was tested positive for coronavirus. The ship is currently docked in Cambodia and has been there since Friday after it was refused by five other ports. The woman and other passengers on the ship were already cleared out by Cambodia. But when the woman got tested in Malaysia after showing symptoms, she was found to be positive for COVID-19.

The woman's case remains unclear, however, it might force the U.S. and other countries to conduct more tests and evaluations before letting passengers from the ship MS Westerdam, inside their country.

Meanwhile, after prolonged negotiations with the Chinese government, a team of experts from the World Health Organization arrived in China on Sunday. The team travelled to the outbreak's ground zero in Wuhan and to other cities that have been affected by the virus to monitor and check the efforts that have been taken to contain the virus and treat patients.

According to WHO Director-General Tedro Adhanom Ghebreyesus, it is impossible to predict the direction that this epidemic would take. The virus has already infected more than 68,500, and the deaths have reached approximately 1,666 people. France has also announced that a patient had died due to COVID-19, which marked the first death outside of Asia.

Related article: Coronavirus Vaccine May Be Out in 18 Months, But California Lab Claims Making It in 3 Hours

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Irish Greyhound Board (IGB) spent almost 18,000 on public relations consultants in the three months after an RTE Investigates programme exposed shocking welfare abuses in the industry last year.

The IGB, which receives annual state funding of around 16m, hired top communications firm Heneghan PR a week after the documentary claimed that 6,000 greyhounds were being killed every year.

Records released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal efforts to restrict media coverage of stadium closures, and to ignore press queries relating to welfare issues as the authority sought to manage the fallout from the controversy.

Heneghan PR  predominantly the firms MD Nigel Heneghan, and former government press secretary Eoghan O Neachtain  also advised the IGB in relation to its appearance before the Oireachtas agriculture committee, and its unsuccessful complaint against RTE over the documentary last year.

The company also assisted with a separate complaint to RTEs Liveline last August, in which the IGB expressed disappointment in an initial draft at not being invited to contribute to a discussion on the radio show about the treatment of greyhounds.

However, Nigel Heneghan removed the reference to disappointment in an email to the IGBs press officer because they could say if you are that disappointed, why dont you come on air tomorrow  which is what we want to avoid.

He added: They could still ask us, but the updated wording might make it easier to say no!

'Limiting stories to local coverage'

A number of greyhound stadiums closed in the months following the RTE documentary. Emails between the IGB and Heneghan PR reveal a strategy of limiting stories to local coverage if we only release locally for now.

I agree with [the IGB press officer] in terms of endeavouring to keep it local in the short term, wrote Nigel Heneghan.

In the case of Longford Greyhound Stadium, it was decided not to inform local media of its closure at all. The stadium had not issued a statement locally due to a poor relationship with the media, according to the IGB press officer.

On that note, it might be a case of alerting Longford media to the story if we send our statement out of the blue, he wrote. My suggestion again is to put it up on our own website for now and deal with queries from there.

'Ignore the emails'

IGB CEO Ger Dollard intervened in a discussion about how to deal with repeated queries from a Mail on Sunday journalist concerning the welfare of a greyhound owned by a syndicate of current and former Oireachtas members.

I would ignore the emails, he wrote. Nigel can tell her if he wishes that he has sent on to the IGB and is awaiting a response?

The strategy appears to have worked, as Nigel Heneghan wrote on August 11: Nothing in Mail on Sunday  good.

A total of 17,785.80 was paid to the PR firm by the IGB in the first three months after the RTE documentary was aired.

A spokesman for the organisation said that it maintains consistent engagement with all media, and has endeavoured to respond to a large number of media queries at all times.

The situations regarding the closures of Lifford and Longford greyhound stadia were, at the time suggested, fluid and changeable A decision was made to prioritise informing local media in these areas of impending closures before national media to ensure the greyhound community in these areas were fully and adequately informed, he said.

He added that the journalist who inquired about the Oireachtas syndicate was extensively engaged with but the ongoing submission of queries on a welfare case was seen as unreasonable, and the IGB chose not to further respond.
As death toll climbs, China blames US for coronavirus, 'causing panic'

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

As coronavirus cases and deaths spike in China, Communist officials have attempted to deflect blame away from the central government by accusing the United States of both starting the virus and causing panic in its response to the outbreak, according to a human rights outlet.

Religious liberty magazine Bitter Winter reports that on Jan. 26, Chinas military online portal Xilu.com published an article, claiming that the coronavirus is a biochemical weapon produced by the US to target China.

Imperialism has never stopped attacking, destroying, and annihilating China. But China is developing so rapidly that imperialism rips off its mask of hypocrisy and openly acts [against China], the article says.

The Global Times, a Communist Party-controlled tabloid, also accused the U.S. of immoral conduct and repeatedly claimed the Wests response to the disease is stained by racism and a yellow peril mythology.

In a briefing for reporters earlier in February, Hua Chunying, a spokesperson for Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs, similarly deflected blame by citing an overreaction from the U.S. government that has spread fear and set a bad example for other nations, reports the BBC.

The U.S. is turning from overconfidence to fear and overreaction, she said, citing the Trump administrations decision to evacuate some U.S. Embassy personnel and impose a ban on Chinese travelers.

She also accused the U.S. of failing to provide any substantial help to China since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, which emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan and has infected more than 70,548 people in mainland China and killed 1,770.

Hundreds of cases have been confirmed elsewhere, with the virus being reported in 26 countries in the Asia-Pacific region as well as Europe, North America, Africa and the Middle East.

Chinas criticism of the U.S. comes amid widespread dissatisfaction with the Chinese governments inability to deal with the crisis and seeming lack of transparency over the magnitude of the outbreak.

In an essay, Xu Zhangrun, a law professor from one of the countrys top universities, blamed the crisis on a culture of suppression and systemic impotence that Chinese President Xi Jinping has created.

The cause of all of this lies with The Axelrod and the cabal that surrounds him, Xu wrote, referring to Xi, according to a translation of the article by historian Geremie Barme, published Monday by the website ChinaFile.

It is a system that turns every natural disaster into an even greater man-made catastrophe. The coronavirus epidemic has revealed the rotten core of Chinese governance; the fragile and vacuous heart of the jittering edifice of state has thereby shown up as never before.

Xu described the outbreak as a national calamity that involves politics, the economy and the nations ethical fabric, making it more perilous than total war itself.

Shortly after the article was published, Xu was detained by authorities in the southern city of Guangzhou and remains missing. His girlfriend, Li Qiaochu, a social activist, also went missing on Sunday, according to The New York Times.

Xu had also joined a group of Chinese academics in signing an open letter, calling for the government to issue an apology for reprimanding Li Wenliang, a young doctor who died just weeks after trying to alert the world to the dangers of the illness.

The letter also called for freedom of speech and rights guaranteed by the constitution to be protected amid the governments efforts to limit dissent in China, according to the South China Morning Post.

Amid the chaos, Christian humanitarian organizations are stepping up to provide hope and physical aid to those suffering.

International evangelical humanitarian agency World Vision aims to help 390,000 people in 10 Chinese provinces by distributing personal protective equipment and sanitation products that include face masks, thermometers, sanitizers and soap.

Erica Van Deren, World Vision program manager for humanitarian and emergency affairs, told CP the cost of World Visions coronavirus-related efforts in China is estimated to be about $3.7 million.

So far, the group has already distributed 50,000 hospital-grade face masks to people in five counties in four provinces.

These are incredibly poor families, she said. World Vision China has a history of addressing the needs of these communities.

Additionally, World Help, an organization serving the physical and spiritual needs of people in impoverished communities around the world, announced it is partnering with pastors on the ground to distribute emergency relief in the provinces surrounding Wuhan.

The aid includes protective face masks and food for those living in areas where the coronavirus is spreading.

While the pastors and other aid workers partnering with World Help are taking preventive measures, they are risking their lives to provide aid to those in need, Mark Hogsed, World Helps vice president of international programs, told CP.

Our partners are being as safe as possible, theyre taking every precaution they can, but they feel this is a calling and a time to step up, he said. One of the effects of the virus is people are staying inside. Theyre not going outside if they dont have to, so these pastors are choosing to go out into their communities out of love for the people and as a practical way to spread the Gospel."

We feel strongly that we can be an example of a very practical Gospel, he added. This is one way that Christians on the ground can practically help those who need it, even in the face of danger.
The European Union will launch a new naval and air mission in the eastern Mediterranean to stop more weapons reaching the warring factions in Libya, foreign ministers agreed on Monday, after Austria lifted its veto.

The decision marked a breakthrough after weeks of fruitless negotiations and warnings by EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell that the bloc risked becoming irrelevant if it could not act, potentially leaving Libyas fate to Turkey and Russia.

We all agree to create a mission that blocks the flow of arms into Libya, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi di Maio told reporters following a meeting in Brussels, referring to a U.N. arms embargo first imposed in 2011 but now barely upheld.

In a compromise to assuage Austrias concerns that any naval mission could bring more migrants to Europe, EU ships will hail and inspect suspicious vessels in the eastern Mediterranean, where most arms smuggling takes place, away from migrant routes, diplomats said.

Borrell said he hoped the EU operation could be patrolling by the end of March. At first, it would operate in international, not Libyan, waters. Borrell also said the EU could not be expected to patrol the Egypt-Libya land border, through which artillery is still being delivered.

It would be very difficult for us to act between two sovereign countries, he told reporters.

Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said that was acceptable but that Vienna would still be vigilant for any signs that the mission, which will take several weeks to set up, was attracting migrants into Europe.

Operation Sophia to end

Initially Borrell had hoped to revive the EUs current military mission, known as Operation Sophia, which stopped deploying ships last March after Italy, facing an anti-immigrant backlash, said it would no longer take migrants rescued at sea.

One compromise was to use aircraft, rather than ships, to monitor smugglers who supply Libyas two rival governments.

But German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas urged the EU to agree on a naval mission, saying overflights would not be enough. On Sunday, a senior U.N. official warned that the arms embargo was meaningless because there was no-one to enforce it.

Story continues

In a largely symbolic move, Operation Sophia will now be scrapped.

If ceasefire emerges, peacekeeping mission could follow

Schallenberg said Austria had dropped its veto because the new mission was purely military, not humanitarian. However, under international law, EU ships are still required to rescue those in trouble on the high seas.

Borrell said earlier on Monday he did not expect a deal because Vienna was still blocking. He publicly said on Sunday it was unacceptable that Austria, a country with no navy, could hold up an EU sea mission.

But Borrell needed the backing of all 27 governments to proceed.

Following a summit of world leaders last month in Berlin that aimed to seek a ceasefire in Libya, the EU will also consider a peacekeeping mission if a fragile truce becomes a ceasefire, diplomats said.

Turkey prefers UN oversight to EUs

A spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans AK Party said the United Nations, not the European Union, should oversee the arms embargo on Libya.

Ankara has backed Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Serrajs internationally recognised government in the conflict, while Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt support eastern Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar.

We think the European Union overseeing the arms embargo on Libya will not reach realistic results because some countries in the European Union directly support Haftars side and are sending weapons to Haftars side, Omer Celik said during a news conference.

Turkey sees the United Nations mechanism as the best mechanism here. Of course, the implementation of a ceasefire should be prioritised, he added.

(REUTERS)
New Delhi, Feb 17 : India will have two to five theatre commands by 2022, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat said on Monday.

He pointed that in the southern part of the country, India will have a Peninsula command by integrating existing naval eastern and eastern Naval command centres and the Jammu and Kashmir would come under a single be command theatre.

The peninsula command under the Navy that will deal with maritime security should come in earlier as directive for a study is expected to be out by March 31.

It would spread from Sir Creek in Arabian Sea to Sunderbans in Bay of Bengal.

The study should be completed within three to four months and by the end of next year the command under one naval commander should start functioning, General Rawat said.

He also said that by end of the year a study for theaterisation or joint commands will be in place. By 2022 theatre commands should roll out. The number of theatre commands could vary from two to five, the CDS added.

The Chief of Defence Staff is mandated to set up joint commands comprising the Army, Navy and Air Force -- in addition to two existing ones.

There are 19 commands as of now and only two of these are tri-service commands. These are the Andaman and Nicobar Command and the Strategic Forces Command, which is in charge of nuclear assets.

General Rawat added that there is an option of having either one command for China or two separate commands; one East of Nepal and another West of Nepal.

Similarly for Pakistan, a separate command for J&K is on the cards, while a separate one for the international border South of Jammu.

While the Army and the Air Force have seven commands each, the Navy has three commands.

It's felt that reducing the commands and making them function under one umbrella with representation from all three forces -- depending on the region and threat assessment -- will make the military more effective.

China and the US function under this model, and there have been suggestions that the Indian military follows a similar tri-service command system.

According to some of the recommendations, the commands can be reduced from existing 19 to 9 with a tri-service mix. This will also include the strategic forces command, cyber command and Special Operations Command.

The Air Force will be the lead agency for Air Defence Command that has already been announced.

General Rawat said that March 31 the study will be completed and the report should be ready by April 10. The implementation order for the air defence command is expected by year end, General Rawat said.

He also said joint training, and uniformity in procurement procedures will be a key priority.
Border Patrol agents in California discovered 26 illegal immigrants who were allegedly being smuggled into the United States. (Border Patrol)

Border Patrol Finds 26 Smuggled Immigrants Hidden Inside a Tractor-Trailer

Border Patrol agents in California discovered 26 illegal immigrants who were allegedly being smuggled into the United States in the back of a tractor-trailer and arrested the driver after he handed them a fake drivers license.

A man driving a tractor-trailer who was driving to a Border Patrol checkpoint was stopped and agents carried out an immigration check. A canine detection team alerted agents to the rear of the trailer, according to a Feb. 13 news release from the agency.

Upon inspection, agents found 26 undocumented immigrants sitting inside the trailer, the release stated.

The immigrants were locked inside the trailer with no safety restraints and with no way to extricate themselves from the inside. Agents safely removed all the occupants, said officials.

The truck driver, who wasnt identified, was arrested for smuggling illegal immigrants and it was discovered that a California drivers license that he presented to agents was actually an imposter document, according to the release. The driver was determined to be a Mexican national illegally present in the United States.

The 26 undocumented immigrants, which included male and female juveniles, were also detained.

The undocumented immigrants were locked and trapped inside this tracker-trailer in below 45-degree weather with no safety restraints, said Chief Patrol Agent Gloria I. Chavez in the release.

These passengers were between the ages of 16 and 56, Border Patrol agent Carlos Pitones told the Los Angeles Times.

The driver will face criminal proceedings, and the smuggled immigrants will be processed in a case-by-case basis, Pitones told the paper.

The incident comes just days after three Mexican women died after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border and apparently got lost in Californias Laguna Mountains during a snowstorm.

Due to the inclement weather all rescue efforts were fruitless and all lifesaving attempts were exhausted, said the border agency, adding that the three women ultimately succumbed to their injuries after they were discovered. Two men who were with the women were arrested for illegally entering the United States.

Chief Patrol Agent Aaron Heitke said their deaths could have been easily avoided.

We have said it many times, do not place your life or the lives of your loved ones in the hands of ruthless smugglers, he said a Border Patrol news release. I am proud of the heroic efforts that these agents and our partners made to locate and provide aid to those in need. Our agents also put their own lives at risk traversing the dangerous routes that these criminal organizations smuggle people through in an attempt to avoid apprehension.
(Newser)  The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the US almost doubled overnight with the arrival of two planes carrying American citizens evacuated from a cruise ship in Japan. Officials say they were notified during the evacuation process that 14 of the passengers had tested positive for COVID-19, reports CNBC. The infected passengers, who were not showing symptoms, were allowed to board the evacuation flight but were isolated from others, officials say. The flights landed early Monday at Travis Air Force Base in California and Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. Before their arrival, there were 15 confirmed cases in the US. Japanese authorities said Sunday that some 340 Americans from the Diamond Princess had been brought to Tokyo's Haneda airport on buses from Yokohama port, the AP reports.

story continues below

At least 355 passengers from the ship, which has been in quarantine since Feb. 5, have now tested positive for the virus. The State Department agreed to repatriate the American passengers after a high-level push from Washington, the Wall Street Journal reports. But some passengers who had spent close to two weeks in quarantine on the ship are unhappy about the fact that they will have to spend another 14 days in quarantine after arriving in the US, reports CNN. "The US government ... wants to take us off without testing, fly us back to the US with a bunch of other untested people, and then stick us in 2 more weeks of quarantine?" tweeted passenger Matthew Smith, who decided to stay on the ship. "How does that make any sense at all?" (Read more coronavirus stories.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-17 19:05:41|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

KABUL, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- An Afghan army chopper made an emergency landing in the western Nimroz province on Monday, leaving a pilot injured, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

According to the statement, the MD-530 helicopter made an emergency landing in Khashrod district of the Nimroz province at 11:45 a.m. local time and only the pilot was slightly injured.

However, the statement added that an investigation had been initiated to determine the cause of the incident.

In a similar accident on Jan. 25, four people were injured in the southern Helmand province. A U.S. military plane crashed in the eastern Ghazni province on Jan. 27, killing two Americans aboard.
Five armed men made off with around 30kg gold ornaments valued at 12 crore (approx) and  3 lakh cash from the branch of a finance company  India Infoline Finance Limiteds (IIFL)  on Gill Road in Ludhiana on Monday morning.

Police said the accused, two of them masked, entered the branch and executed the crime in 25 minutes after taking the staff at gunpoint, while the fifth one waited outside in a Maruti Suzuki Ciaz car in which they all drove off towards Malerkotla Road. The robbers also took along the digital video recorder (DVR). Police suspect the role of some insider.

A case of robbery has been registered against unidentified accused at Division 6 police station.The crime spot is located opposite Punjab Polices crime investigation agency (CIA) office.

The accused entered the bank around 9.45am and took the five employees at gunpoint, seeking keys of the chest. There were no customers at the time and the branch doesnt have a security guard. The chest was open as a customer had left the branch only minutes ago.

The robbers have been captured in the closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed in the market. The shopkeepers learnt about the incident only after the employees raised an alarm once the robbers had fled with booty.

Branch manager Harpreet Singh told the police that the robbers had held them captive in a cabin. They collected the gold in four bags, he said.

Police commissioner Rakesh Agrawal, deputy commissioner of police Ashwani Kapoor and additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP, City 2) Jaskiranjit Singh Teja visited the crime scene.

Didnt know robbers were inside

Gurpreet Kaur, the lone woman employee of the branch office, said when she reached the office around 10am, everything seemed normal from outside. I stepped inside only to find armed robbers holding my colleagues captive at gunpoint, she said.

The robbers snatched my mobile phone after pointing a gun on my head and locked me inside the cabin where other colleagues already were. One of them kept pointing a gun at us while others were collecting gold ornaments and cash, said Gurpreet.

The robbers had locked the main gate from outside and the branch manager had to call the building owner, who came with a duplicate key to free us,she added.
New Delhi, Feb 17 : The next three months of the ongoing 2019-20 season will be a golden opportunity for Indian sugar exports as India is likely to face a tough competition from Brazil in the global market in the next season, say experts.

After the recent rise in sugar prices in the global market, the production of sugar will prove to be more beneficial than ethanol for Brazil and it's likely to focus more on producing sugar.

At present, India has surplus stock of sugar and this year the sugar prices have seen a sharp rise due to supply shortage and a higher global demand. This has made it easier for Indian mills to export sugar.

However, after the new season of sugar production begins in Brazil and Australia, the increase of sugar supply in the global market will increase competition for India.

The government has set a quota of 60 lakh tonnes of sugar exports under the Maximum Admissible Export Quantity for the country's sugar mills for the current season 2019-20 (October-September), on which the government provides a subsidy of Rs 10,448 per tonne.

Experts say that the next three to four months will be important for sugar mills to meet the export quota fixed in the current season, because after that Brazil's sugar will enter the world markets.

Adhir Jha, Managing Director and CEO of Indian Sugar Exim Corporation Limited (ISEC), told IANS that Brazil may produce more sugar than ethanol in the coming season, given the recent spurt in sugar prices in the international market. Sugar production may prove to be more beneficial for Brazil.

Brazil was the largest producer of sugar in the world until two years ago, but after the fall in sugar prices, it started producing more ethanol than sugar. India has been the world's largest producer of sugar for the last two years.

Jha said that the price of sugar has increased recently, while the price of oil has come down. In such a situation, Brazil can produce more sugar than ethanol in the new season.

He said that Brazil does not have sugar stocks for export, at present, so it's a good opportunity for India to export more and more sugar to other countries before the arrival of the new season.

India has so far signed more than 30 lakh tonnes of sugar exports deals in the current season.

Prakash Naiknavare, Managing Director of the National Federation of Co-operative Sugar Factories Limited, said India will achieve the target of exporting 60 lakh tonnes of sugar as India currently has sugar stocks to export and the export demand is also there.

Recently, the International Sugar Organisation (ISO) Executive Director Jose Orive has urged the sugar importing countries to buy sugar from India, saying that India has sufficient stocks of sugar for exports.

Naiknavre said that Orive's statement comes the right time.

The prices of sugar in the international market is at the highest level since 2017. The price of raw sugar (US sugar-11) has gone up by 15 cents per pound, while that of white sugar (London sugar) has gone up to $456.60 per tonne last week.

According to the Indian Sugar Mills Association, sugar production in India is estimated at 260 million tonnes this year.

At the same time, the remaining stock of last year is about 145 lakh tonnes. Thus the total supply is 405 lakh tonnes while the annual domestic consumption is around 260 lakh tonnes.

If India exports 60 lakh tonnes of sugar in the current season, there will still be about 85 lakh tonnes of sugar stock available in the country by the end of this season on September 30, 2020.
Edison, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/17/2020 -- Advance Market Analytics recently introduced Global Internet Browser Market study with in-depth overview, describing about the Product / Industry Scope and elaborates market outlook and status to 2025. Internet Browser Market explores effective study on varied sections of Industry like opportunities, size, growth, technology, demand and trend of high leading players. It also provides market key statistics on the status of manufacturers, a valuable source of guidance, direction for companies and individuals interested in the industry.



Definition: An internet browser is also called as simply a browser, is refer as software program that is used for viewing web pages on computer. An internet browser is termed as an application which is used to access the websites. There are variety of browsers with different features are available to run on different operating systems. Some of the common browsers available are Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari. The main purpose behind the internet browser is to translate the code which the computers use to create websites into the graphics, text, graphics, and other several features of the web pages.



Major Players in This Report Include,



Google Chrome (United States), Firefox (United States), Safari (Apple) (United States), UC Browser (China), Internet Explorer (Windows) (United States), Opera (Norway), Symantec (United States), Citrix Systems (United States), Ericom Software (United States), Cyberinc (United States), Tucloud Federal (United States), Bomgar (United States)



Free Sample Report + All Related Graphs & Charts @: https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/sample-report/44559-global-internet-browser-market



Market Trend

- For enterprise security data there is adoption of browser isolation tool, which is lifting the demand for solution of remote browser



Restraints

- Growing in the number of threats like cyber-attacks



Opportunities

- Increase in recent technological advancements and demand in the connectivity of improved internet



This research is categorized differently considering the various aspects of this market. It also evaluates the current situation and the future of the market by using the forecast horizon. The forecast is analyzed based on the volume and revenue of this market. The tools used for analyzing the Global Internet Browser Market research report include SWOT analysis.



The Global Internet Browser segments and Market Data Break Down are illuminated below:

by Type (Remote browser, Web browser), Application (PC, Mobile phone), End User (BFSI, Healthcare, Retail, IT and Telecom, Education, Others)



For Early Buyers | Get Up to 20% Discount on This Premium Report: https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/request-discount/44559-global-internet-browser-market



The regional analysis of Global Internet Browser Market is considered for the key regions such as Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Latin America and Rest of the World. North America is the leading region across the world. Whereas, owing to rising no. of research activities in countries such as China, India, and Japan, Asia Pacific region is also expected to exhibit higher growth rate the forecast period 2019-2025.



Highlights of the report:

- A complete backdrop analysis, which includes an assessment of the parent market

- Important changes in market dynamics

- Market segmentation up to the second or third level

- Historical, current, and projected size of the market from the standpoint of both value and volume

- Reporting and evaluation of recent industry developments

- Market shares and strategies of key players

- Emerging niche segments and regional markets

- An objective assessment of the trajectory of the market

- Recommendations to companies for strengthening their foothold in the market



Try a limited scope research document specific to Country or Regional matching your objective.



GET FULL COPY OF United States Internet Browser market study @  USD 2000

And, Europe Internet Browser market study @  USD 2500



Strategic Points Covered in Table of Content of Global Internet Browser Market:

Chapter 1: Introduction, market driving force product Objective of Study and Research Scope the Internet Browser market

Chapter 2: Exclusive Summary  the basic information of the Internet Browser Market.

Chapter 3: Displaying the Market Dynamics- Drivers, Trends and Challenges of the Internet Browser

Chapter 4: Presenting the Internet Browser Market Factor Analysis Porters Five Forces, Supply/Value Chain, PESTEL analysis, Market Entropy, Patent/Trademark Analysis.

Chapter 5: Displaying the by Type, End User and Region 2013-2018

Chapter 6: Evaluating the leading manufacturers of the Internet Browser market which consists of its Competitive Landscape, Peer Group Analysis, BCG Matrix & Company Profile

Chapter 7: To evaluate the market by segments, by countries and by manufacturers with revenue share and sales by key countries in these various regions.

Chapter 8 & 9: Displaying the Appendix, Methodology and Data Source



finally, Internet Browser Market is a valuable source of guidance for individuals and companies.



Get More Information: https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/reports/44559-global-internet-browser-market



Key questions answered

- Who are the Leading key players and what are their Key Business plans in the Global Internet Browser market?

- What are the key concerns of the five forces analysis of the Global Internet Browser market?

- What are different prospects and threats faced by the dealers in the Global Internet Browser market?

- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?



Definitively, this report will give you an unmistakable perspective on every single reality of the market without a need to allude to some other research report or an information source. Our report will give all of you the realities about the past, present, and eventual fate of the concerned Market.



Thanks for reading this article, we can also provide customized report as per company's specific needs. You can also get separate chapter wise or region wise report versions including North America, Europe or Asia.
NEWBURY, Mass. - Police officers shot and killed a man connected to carjackings in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, authorities said.

Massachusetts State Police identified the man Monday as Thomas Murray, 31, of Dracut, Massachusetts. He is also a suspect in a carjacking in Lowell, Massachusetts, and a subsequent carjacking from a dealership in Nashua, New Hampshire, during which an employee was stabbed, news outlets reported.

Police in Lowell said a man, believed to be Dracut, told a woman in a red Subaru to get out of the car, and wrested the victims purse away during a struggle, before taking off in the car around 3 p.m. Sunday. Less than two hours later, police were notified that the car had been tracked to Nashua, but responding officers couldnt find it.

Around an hour later, police received word of a carjacking at a BMW dealership in Nashua. Authorities said the car was stolen at knifepoint and the description of the suspect matched the description of the Lowell carjacker. Nashua police later found the Subaru stolen from Lowell at the dealership lot.

A Massachusetts State Police trooper found a BMW matching the description of the one stolen at a gas station in the village of Byfield in Newbury, Massachusetts, around 7 p.m., state police said in a statement.

Responding officers boxed in the mans car and approached him, at which point he rammed a state police cruiser and Newbury police cruiser, district attorney Jon Blodgett said. In response, police shot him. Its unclear how many officers fired their weapons, Blodgett said.

Authorities rendered aid and took the man to a hospital, where he later died. No officers were injured.

A knife was found in the BMW, Blodgett said. The Nashua dealership employee was released from the hospital with minor injuries, a spokeswoman for Blodgetts office, Carrie Kimball Monahan, told news outlets.

Monahan said the suspect might also be connected to two vehicle thefts  in Boston and North Andover  on Saturday.
UPDATED 1:40 p.m.

An additional 144 people joined the federal quarantine at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland early Monday, but none have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, State Department officials said.

They were among 338 Americans who were evacuated by air Sunday from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which had docked in Japan as coronavirus continued to spread onboard. The ship had hosted the largest cluster of cases outside of China, where the virus originated.

Seven other Americans infected with the highly contagious virus were also on the federally chartered flight that landed in San Antonio. But the sick passengers were flown on to Omaha, Neb., to be treated at University of Nebraska Medical Center, Dr. William Walters, executive director and managing director for operational medicine at the State Departments Bureau of Medical Services, said during a call with reporters Monday.

Two other people were isolated during the flight with symptoms but have not yet been diagnosed with the virus, he said.

With the new evacuees, the federal quarantine at Lackland has grown to 234 people, including 90 who have been held at on-base lodging there since Feb. 7. One other person who was diagnosed with coronavirus last week while under quarantine in San Antonio is being treated in isolation at Methodist Hospital | Texsan.

Another flight carrying 177 people, including another seven people infected with coronavirus, landed Monday at Travis AFB in California. Four people who tested positive were taken to hospitals there, and the three others traveled on to Omaha with their spouses.

ORIGINAL STORY

An unknown number of novel coronavirus evacuees from Japan arrived in San Antonio early Monday morning to be quarantined at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.

The evacuees come from the Diamond Princess cruise ship that has been docked in Japan under quarantine since Feb. 5. Out of the ship's 3,700 passengers, there are about 400 Americans on board. Forty of the Americans showing symptoms have already been taken off the ship.

Initially, officials said Sunday that no infected passengers were on board the two flights headed to the U.S. On Monday, however, on Monday officials said that 14 Americans diagnosed with coronavirus were on at least one of the flights but were not showing symptoms. The 14 were diagnosed after they got off the ship, but before they boarded the plane, officials said.

Those passengers were kept in a separate quarantined area on the plane, according to the Health and Human Services Department and U.S. State Department.

FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox

On Monday afternoon, city officials confirmed that none of the infected got off the plane in San Antonio.

This has been a difficult time for our fellow Americans that were on this cruise and we will do our best to make them feel safe and comfortable while in our city, said city manager Erik Walsh. Our top priority is the safety and health of our residents, and CDC, DSHS, and Metro Health are working together to prevent disease transmission by evaluating and monitoring the travelers."

The evacuees who arrived in San Antonio on Monday morning is the second set of quarantined Americans to come to Lackland since the coronavirus outbreak started in China last month.

Our extensive coordination with the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control, Joint Base San Antonio and our other state and local partners has gone according to plan, said Mayor Ron Nirenberg. As of today, the risk to the general public of contracting COVID-19 continues to remain low. Every precaution has been taken to keep the public isolated from these travelers who are in a precautionary quarantine and any travelers who have shown symptoms of the virus. Our residents should continue to go about their lives.

The passengers onboard the cruise ship that was docked in Yokohama, Japan, were being monitored for symptoms. As of Sunday, 335 onboard had been diagnosed with the virus.

READ ALSO: Unknown number of American evacuees from quarantined cruise liner in Japan coming to JBSA-Lackland

All the passengers were monitored throughout the flight and were screened again upon exiting the plane, said a spokesperson from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Those coming to Lackland will be quarantined at the base for two weeks and monitored.

Our team is prepared to provide the same lodging support for the quarantine in the same facilities we provided DHHS and the CDC earlier this month, JBSA officials said Sunday. The health and safety of the men, women and families living and working on JBSA-Lackland and in the San Antonio community is our number one priority.

Some of the evacuees were also sent to Travis AFB in California for the quarantine. The additional 14-day quarantine is being set up because of the "degree of transmissibility on that cruise ship is essentially akin to being in a hot spot," said Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sunday on CBS. Fauci is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health.

The CDC said the U.S. State Department decided to bring the Americans home to reduce the burden on the Japanese health care system and reduce the risk of exposure for uninfected passengers and crew.

One evacuee, who arrived Feb. 7 with a group from China, was diagnosed with the virus on Feb. 13 and taken to an area hospital. That group had 91 evacuees who will be in quarantine until Friday.

The new group from the Diamond Princess will be housed separately from the China evacuees.
No media source currently available

The URL has been copied to your clipboard

The code has been copied to your clipboard.

Teargas in Zimbabwe's High Court in Masvingo as MDC deputy chairperson is acquitted of charges of attempting to subvert a constitutionally elected government.